Lawmaker's fundraising letter prompts criticism

SPRINGFIELD - A miniature battle of legislative ethics hit Day 2 on Friday, as a suburban Democrat charged that a Senate Republican illicitly used a symbol of the state for campaign purposes.

The allegation against state Sen. Dan Duffy, a Republican from Barrington, came on the same day the Daily Herald reported on similar charges against state Sen. Michael Noland, a Democrat from Elgin.

Noland recently endured criticism from several House Republicans after sending a letter to lawmakers and special interest groups written from his state stationery. In addition to concerns that Noland's letter used state resources for campaign purposes, multiple recipients disdained the letter's implication that they opposed a tax increase only in order to get re-elected.

Friday, state Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Democrat from Park Ridge, charged on the Senate floor that Duffy abused his elected powers in a different way. A letter Duffy mailed to constituents in March seeking campaign donations featured a replica of the Illinois State seal - an image Kotowski said has no business appearing in materials related to campaigns.

"I just find that to be kind of contradictory," Kotowski said following Duffy's comments on ethics Friday, which concerned a $104,000-a-year appointment to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations that recently was given to Lynne Sered, wife of Democratic state Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg of Evanston. "And you have to watch very closely when it comes to these issues."

Kotowski said he doesn't use the state seal on any campaign mailers or on his own campaign website.

"I don't want to give the impression that the state has sanctioned my fundraising activity," he said.

Duffy said that appearance doesn't matter, however, as state law allows conditional use of the seal. As long as the materials the seal is reproduced on are not paid for by the state, no laws are being violated, he said.

"I paid for the paper. I paid for the printing. it's completely different than my Senate letterhead," Duffy said.

Jo Johnson, an attorney for the Senate Republicans, agreed that Duffy's use adhered to both the State Designations Act and the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.

"While there is a perceptional issue, I do not believe that it is an ethics violation to use the state seal in a fundraising letter," Johnson said.

Duffy said he even provided a disclaimer at the bottom of his letters for constituents concerned about where funding for the mailers came from.

"So I'm going above and beyond the call," he said.