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State Representative candidate works to get Illinois Anti-Corruption Act on November ballot
By Kathryn Menue
EDITOR
Illinois State Representative candidate for the 69th District, Angelique Bodine, has made it her mission to get the Illinois Anti-Corruption Act on the ballot for the November election.
Bodine began her quest on Feb. 9 at the Boone County Finance, Taxation, and Salaries Committee meeting. From there, Bodine has spoken with board members and has attended other Boone County board meetings to discuss the same issue.
“You can see how important this is to me, as I have spoken to you about this on numerous occasions, now,” Bodine said at the Monday, July 11 Boone County Administrative and Legislative meeting.
“This is not only important to me; it’s also a very important issue to most of the other members of the community. The reason it’s so important is because constituents are very concerned about corruption, specifically the corrupting influence of money on our politics. It’s very important for elected officials to be willing to effectively address the issues of corruption within our government.”
Bodine feels as though the Illinois Anti-Corruption Act will be a good start to help Illinois weed out corruption from all political bodies.
If put on the ballot, voters would get to vote yes or no on the Illinois Anti-Corruption Act, which reads: “Do you support removing the corrupting influence of money on our political system by prohibiting politicians from taking campaign money from industries they regulate; increasing transparency for campaign funding; empowers all voters through a tax rebate voucher to contribute to the candidates they support; prohibiting representatives and senior staff from all lobbying activity for five years once they leave office; and placing limits on super PACs.”
If citizens vote ‘yes’ come Election Day, then they are voting in favor of “removing” corruptive influences from government. If citizens vote ‘no,’ then they are voting for no change to policies.
Winnebago and DeKalb Counties already passed this act, and McHenry County is working to get the act on their November ballot.
“Five out of six voters in our neighboring counties (Winnebago and DeKalb) support this initiative. I have seen statistics that it passed with an overwhelming 87 percent approval in both counties, and a whopping 89 percent in Genoa Township. A community that is very similar to Belvidere,” Bodine said. “McHenry County is also moving toward putting this on their ballot for the November election, as well. I, for one, don’t want to see Boone County be the last one in our region on this.”
Bodine thinks it is about time that Boone County stepped up with the other counties to fight corruption. A good way to move forward is to put the Illinois Anti-Corruption Act on the ballot for the November election, so citizens can have the right to voice their opinions on the matter.
“According to a new poll conducted by the Paul Simon Institute [source at: WBBM on Sunday, July 10], 82 percent of voters think Illinois is headed in the wrong direction,” Bodine said.
At the Administrative and Legislative meeting on July 11, Bodine advocated to the board that they make the right decision.
“Please do right by the constituents and put this on the ballot,” Bodine said.
She said many of the board members were supportive of the initiative and that the community is one step closer to having the Illinois Anti-Corruption Act on the ballot.
“Several people on the committee stated that they were in favor of the question going onto the ballot and were willing to approve it then,” Bodine said.
However, one of the board members “voiced” his “apprehension” over the initiative.
The board moved the initiative to their August committee meeting where they will vote on whether or not to send the Illinois Anti-Corruption Act proposal to the regular August meeting.
“That’s where the board will decide whether or not to put it onto the ballot,” Bodine said.
