A press release from State Rep. David McSweeney:
McSweeney Proposes Constitutional Amendment to Eliminate the Office of Lt. Governor
Eliminating office would save nearly $1.5 million
Cary, Illinois…In an ongoing effort to reduce the cost of state government, State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington) is once again sponsoring legislation to eliminate the office of Lieutenant Governor.
The same McSweeney sponsored constitutional amendment passed the House in the 98th General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support on a vote of 83-28-2.
David McSweeney
“The unfortunate reality is that the office of Lieutenant Governor has very few duties under our constitution and I think, given the severe financial problems the state is facing, we have to always put taxpayers first and do everything we can to save money.
“My only purpose in filing this Constitutional Amendment is to save taxpayers money and reduce the cost of state government,” McSweeney said.
House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 5 (HJRCA 5) would eliminate the office of the Lieutenant Governor beginning with the term of office commencing in 2019. The bill provides for a new Gubernatorial succession with Attorney General, Secretary of State, and then as provided by law, respectively.
“By eliminating this unnecessary office we will save the state about $1.5 million dollars a year,” said McSweeney.
“We are in a fiscal crisis and this is a positive step in the right direction. The state’s fiscal crisis requires bold initiatives, which includes the elimination of unnecessary or redundant government spending. No state government agency should be spared the scrutiny of a cost-benefit analysis.
“The Lieutenant Governor’s office has little authority and responsibility other than being involved in the Rural Bond Bank of Illinois, Illinois Main Street program, and the Illinois River Coordinating Council. All of these functions could be absorbed by other agencies.
Like the former iteration, the current HJRCA 5 is quickly garnering bipartisan support, with State Representative Jack D. Franks (D-Woodstock) recently joining as a Lead Co-Sponsor.
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If passed by the General Assembly and ratified by the electorate, the Attorney General would be in line to be Governor should the Governor become indisposed or in jail.
Nice. McSweeney has been trying to do some good stuff lately.
He should also propose consolidating Treasurer and Comptroller.
Franks has proposed bills like that in the past.
Rep. McSweeney got a bill passed last year to stop the abuse of alternate revenue bonds by governments that hired consultants with obvious conflicts of interest.
It was good work, and he deserves praise not only for taking on the issue, but for his skill in steering it through a Democrat-conrolled legislature and getting a signature from a Democrat governor.
It would be great if he were to introduce a bill to eliminate the abuse of TIF bonds via the same method — the hiring of obviously tainted consultants.
It’s doubtful he can eliminate TIF bonds completely because Chicago uses them as a slush fund.
But he could limit their abuse outside of Chicago by drafting a bill that applied only to non-home rule units of government.
Sweeney is creating change in Illinois, and this is just the beginning.