A press release from State Rep. David McSweeney:
Senate Approves Rep. McSweeney-Backed Initiative Ending Mailing Requirement for Constitutional Amendment to Eliminate the Office of Lt. Governor
Eliminating mail requirement would save taxpayers about $1.3 million
Springfield, IL – The Illinois Senate approved legislation to end the requirement for the Secretary of State to mail out information about a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the Office of Lieutenant Governor according to State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) who introduced the legislation.
Under current law, any proposed change to the Illinois Constitution requires a mailing to all Illinois households informing them of the change as it will appear on the ballot. House Bill 348 removes this requirement for any constitutional amendment aimed at eliminating the Office of Lieutenant Governor. The legislation would add an online notice requirement and still require newspaper notices for all constitutional amendments.
David McSweeney
“The goal here is to eliminate the Office of Lieutenant Governor, which would save taxpayers about $1.5 million annually,” McSweeney said.
“We also want to save taxpayers money by eliminating the cost of the mailing requirement. It makes no sense to incur mailing costs on a Constitutional Amendment that has as its sole purpose to save taxpayers money.”
McSweeney said removing the requirement to mail voters about a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the Lieutenant Governor’s office would save taxpayers about $1.3 million.
In 2013, the Illinois House voted 83-28 to support McSweeney’s measure to eliminate the Office of Lieutenant Governor. Last year, the House overwhelmingly approved a similar McSweeney-sponsored Constitutional Amendment with 95 votes in favor of the measure and only 10 votes against it.
Unfortunately, a former Republican nominee for Governor filed to become the chief sponsor of the measure in the Senate in a hostile move to ensure the Constitutional Amendment was never called for a vote. Senator Tom Cullerton, who supports eliminating the Office of Lieutenant Governor, is the lead Senate sponsor of Representative David McSweeney’s HJRCA 5, which is a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
“I thank Senator Cullerton for his hard work on this issue,” McSweeny said. “Let’s stop wasteful spending and start saving taxpayers money – nearly $3 million – by eliminating the Lieutenant Governor’s office and eliminating the mailing requirement.”
House Bill 348 passed the Senate on a vote of 54-0 and now moves to the Governor’s Desk for further consideration.