Quinn signs three Illinois Policy Institute-backed bills

Although it has been reported that Gov. Pat Quinn has nearly 400 bills to sign, veto or change by the end of August, in the past week he has enacted three important pieces of legislation that the Illinois Policy Institute championed throughout the spring legislative session that ended in May. Last Friday, Quinn signed the Illinois Water...

Although it has been reported that Gov. Pat Quinn has nearly 400 bills to sign, veto or change by the end of August, in the past week he has enacted three important pieces of legislation that the Illinois Policy Institute championed throughout the spring legislative session that ended in May.

• Last Friday, Quinn signed the Illinois Water System Viability Act into law, allowing for the privatization of certain public utilities in Illinois. The passage of this legislation will remove regulatory roadblocks and provide clarity to the valuation, ratemaking and acquisition processes if a private water utility company decides to purchase a public water system. This legislation provides needed – yet voluntary – alternatives to communities that desperately need to upgrade their water and/or wastewater systems. This law improves transparency on a critical public service and increases competition in a way that benefits consumers; in this case, the taxpayers who reside in communities that privatize water services.

• Also on Friday, Quinn signed into law changes that will improve the Local Government Debt Reform Act, making it easier for voters to oppose local borrowing proposals by tightening the issuance of alternative revenue bonds. The governor’s adoption of these changes institutes model reform for backdoor referendums, which gives citizens the power to unite against local borrowing they don’t agree with. Brian Costin, the Illinois Policy Institute’s Director of Government Reform, said of this legislation: “solid reforms like this are definitely on the path to adding more protections for taxpayers. At the very least, it gives them more opportunities to say, ‘This is a bad idea, and we’re going to stop it.’”

• On Monday, Quinn signed a workforce transparency measure that will establish acomprehensive reporting system through an online portal that houses accurate and reliable data on annual workforce characteristics such as compensation, mobility and labor representation of state and local government workers. The passage of this legislation is especially meaningful in light of the fact that in 2012 alone, Illinois taxpayers contributed $1.1 billion more to the State Employees’ Retirement System than state employees did. Taxpayers can now easily access this information, and this legislation is a step in the right direction when it comes to tax-dollar accountability.