By Kevin Lee 217-528-9604

SPRINGFIELD  — Lawmakers are pushing two proposals to move back the state’s primary election date.

They say voters and constituents are not satisfied with the current February date.

State Representative Elaine Nekritz is proposing a law that would push the primary back to March.

The Suburban Democrat says lawmakers moved the date from March to February to boost Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.

State Representative Dave Winters says a later primary would give voters and media more time to discuss the candidates.

The Rockford Republican says voters and media may have dismissed Scott Lee Cohen had the primary been held at a later date.

Cohen won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, but withdrew Sunday due to concerns of a previous allegation of domestic violence.

Another proposal from House Republican Leader Tom Cross would move the primary back to June.

State Senator Michael Frerichs says a new primary date should not interfere with budget talks that take place in early summer.

The Champaign Democrat wants to make sure lawmakers are not trying to juggle election bids with legislative duties.

Lawmakers did not know when changing the primary date would be discussed.

EDITOR’s NOTE: Extra graf available.

Republican State Senator Gary Dahl thinks moving the primary back would boost voter turnout, which was around 20 percent during last week’s election.

Dahl says voter turnout is low in February in part because of the difficult winter conditions.

By Kevin Lee 217-528-9604

SPRINGFIELD  –  Lawmakers say voters and candidates are not satisfied with February’s primary election date.

So they’re trying to push back the day when voters choose their party’s nominees.

Lawmakers and then-Governor Rod Blagojevich approved of a February primary date to boost Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

State Rep. Dave Winters, R-Rockford, said a later primary would give voters and media more time to discuss the candidates.

020910Winters1                                                :12                                                …been the nominee.”

Cohen won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, but withdrew Sunday due to concerns of a previous allegation of domestic violence.

Republican State Senator Gary Dahl thinks moving the primary back would boost voter turnout, which was around 20 percent during last week’s election.

020910Dahl1                                                            :12                                        …because of the weather.”

Lawmakers say they did not know when legislative committees would discuss their proposals.

EDITOR’s NOTE: Extra clip available.

020910Frerichs1                                                :13                                                         …the best date.”

State Sen. Michael Frerichs, D-Champaign, said a new primary date should not interfere with budget talks that take place in early summer.

By Kevin Lee 217-528-9604

SPRINGFIELD  –  In the wake of an eventful election, lawmakers are seeking to push back the date when voters pick their party’s nominees.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, has introduced legislation that would move the primary election to June.

State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, has proposed a law moving the primary back to March.

Cross introduced his proposal last May, while Nekritz introduced her plan last month.

Lawmakers passed and then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved in 2007 of advancing the date of the state’s primary elections to February.

Nekritz said lawmakers moved the primary date from March to February, in part, to accommodate for the presidential campaign of then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois resident.

But Nekritz added that attitudes towards the early primary date have since changed.

“With the constituents, the candidates, there was the general sense that there was not adequate time for grassroots efforts and the issues to develop (because of the February primary),” she said.

State Rep. Dave Winters, R-Rockford, said a later primary would give voters and media more time to discuss the candidates.

“We did see with Scott Lee Cohen, I think if you had given it another two or three weeks, that it very well could have been that some of the other candidates would have highlighted his weaknesses and he would not have been the nominee.”

Cohen was voted the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, but stepped down on Sunday due to concerns over a previous allegation of domestic violence.

State Sen. Gary Dahl, R-Granville, thinks moving the primary back would help voters avoid the difficult weather conditions they experienced during last week’s primary election.

Dahl said snowfall and wind may have dampened voter turnout, which was around 20 percent for the recent primary election.

“Had the primary been today, [voter turnout] would have been 10 percent instead of 20 percent. So if you get to April or later, your chances of having turnout are better simply because of weather,” he said.

State Sen. Michael Frerichs, D-Champaign, said moving the primary date back would be beneficial, but holding a primary in June would be difficult.

“I think moving it to June will make it very difficult to get anything done with the budget at the end of the year if you have members running in primaries who want to get back home campaigning. I think that unless you want to move it back to August or so, I think March is probably the best date,” Frerichs said.

Nekritz previously introduced legislation to move the primary back to August, but said there would be complications with a primary so close to the November general election.

The state and local election boards would have to prepare ballots and organize early voting efforts within a matter of weeks, Nekritz said.

The Des Plaines Democrat said she had no timeline on when a legislative committee would hear her proposal.

By Benjamin Yount    217-528-9844

SPRINGFIELD  –  There’s a new legal challenge to the one of Illinois’ post-Blagojevich ethics reforms.

The Illinois Society of Association Executives on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Springfield to stop the state from enforcing a portion of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act that focuses on lobbyists at the statehouse.

A piece of that new law that would require all lobbyists in Springfield pay a $1,000 registration fee.

The Association’s Pamela Tolson said the fee starts at $1,000 per organization, and then grows with each lobbyist.  Tolson said many non-profits will soon find themselves paying thousands of dollars in fees, regardless of what they are doing in Springfield.

“I get very frustrated when lobbyists are always painted as the bad guys. There are a lot of different types of lobbyists out there, there are for-profit corporate lobbyists. But the majority of us who are at the statehouse are representing not-for-profit organizations, and we’re there representing our industries and we’re there providing mostly information and education.”

Most of the $1,000 would be spent making sure lobbyists follow the new rules, though some of the money could go into the state’s general bank account.

State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, said the lobbying reforms included in the new law came in response to the way some lobbyists acted when Rod Blagojevich was in office.

“There is a perception that lobbyists play too large a role in the lawmaking and budget making process. And shining some light on that can be healthy for the process.”

Reform advocates have said in the past that the lobbyist reform law as a whole is needed to take away some of the power that connected insiders and lobbyists have accrued in Springfield.

Nekritz added there was a lot of debate over the specifics of the lobbying reform law.  She said she understands the needs of some non-profits who lobby at the Illinois Capitol.

“The question is how do you distinguish between those groups that really have no funding, and there are non-profits that are quite well healed.”

Tolson said 25-percent of the lobbyists in her association will have trouble paying the new fee.

But others in the Illinois Society of Association Executives will not.  The group represents some of the largest lobbyists in Springfield.

The Society’s membership includes representatives from the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Banker Association, and the Illinois Pharmacists Association.

Tolson said she doesn’t like the tone in Springfield that lumps all lobbyists together as bad guys or special interests.

“Well, yeah, we are special interests, because we represent teachers, we represent nurses, we represent public health workers.”

The Society of Association Executives case is just one challenge to the new lobbying law.  The ACLU of Illinois has already had a pair of hearings in their lawsuit.  The group expects a ruling from a judge in Chicago early next week.

Tolson said she expects to be before a judge, and hopes to have a ruling by the end of the year.

The lobbying reforms, and the rest of the specifics in the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act are set to take effect January 1^st.

By Benjamin Yount 217-528-9844

SPRINGFIELD  –  One of the largest groups of lobbyists in Illinois is going to court to try and stop a new law written to take away some of their power.

As part of last spring’s sweeping ethics law, the Illinois General Assembly included a new law that requires lobbyists at the statehouse to pay more in fees and be much more open about their business.

Suburban Democrat Elaine Nekritz says there’s a perception that lobbyists have too much power, and thinks the reforms tried to balance that power.

Pamela Tolson with the Illinois Society of Association Executives says the law that passed goes too far.  She says not every statehouse lobbyists is a “bad guy” or a “special interest.”

Tolson says a lot of non-profit groups will be hurt by the new lobbying laws 1-thousand dollar registration fee.

But many won’t, Tolson’s group also represents statehouse heavy hitters like Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Banker Association, and the Illinois Pharmacists Association.

The new lobbying law, as well as a host of other reforms go into effect January 1^st.

Tolson says she hopes to be before a judge, and hopefully have a ruling before then.

By Benjamin Yount 217-528-9844

SPRINGFIELD  –  A judge in Springfield is being asked to hold back a piece of Illinois’  reform.

The lobbyist group,  Illinois Society of Association Executives filed a lawsuit  on Thursday to stop the state from enforcing lobbying reforms included inb a new ethics law.

The Society’s Pamela Tolson says the law is too broad, too costly, and lumps all lobbyists together as bad guys or special interests.

1218Tolson1                                 :08                                    …public health workers.”

Tolson is also very upset about a new 1-thousand dollar fee for lobbyists and non-profit organizations.  State Representative Elaine Nekritz says she under stands that.

1218Nekritz2                              :22                                 …with a way to do that.”

Nekritz says lawmakers wrote the bigger reform law, in part, as a response to the way some lobbyists acted under the Blagojevich administration.