Post-Blagojevich scandal reforms a mixed bag

CHICAGO — In Illinois lawmakers' spring session, barely a mention was made of the government reform initiatives stemming from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption scandal.

The clean-up movement picked up steam after his 2008 arrest and resulted in some landmark reforms, but it has since taken a back seat to lawmakers' current focus on fixing the state's finances amid a massive budget deficit.

The reform campaign has had mixed results. Illinois imposed caps on political donations and fines for violating the Freedom of Information Act. Voters approved a constitutional amendment that allows them to recall a governor, though the process is complicated.

But efforts failed to overhaul the way the state draws new political maps every 10 years. Democratic leaders are now exploiting the unchanged system to cement their control of the state's politics.

Here's a look at the status of those reforms:

CAMPAIGN FINANCE: In response to Blagojevich's prolific fundraising, captured on FBI wiretaps played in court, Illinois imposed its first-ever caps on political donations. The new donation limits went into effect this year and cap how much money individuals, political action committees and interest groups can give to candidates.

Individuals are barred from donating more than $5,000 to a candidate in both the primary and general elections. Businesses, unions and other associations can give candidates twice that much, while political action committees can give $50,000 to a candidate in each election.

Critics say the law has a loophole because it only caps what political parties and the four legislative leaders can give to candidates in primaries, not in general elections, making candidates beholden to the state's powerful political bosses.

The limits were passed in direct response to the allegations against Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat, and of trying to shake down businessmen for campaign contributions.

"What passed would certainly curtail the next Blagojevich," said David Morrison, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

REDISTRICTING: One survivor of the reform campaign was Illinois' much-maligned system of drawing congressional and state legislative boundaries every 10 years after new census numbers are released.

The current system allows a political party to draw the maps if they control the governor's office and both legislative chambers. Democratic leaders passed new maps for both legislative and congressional districts this year that could preserve the Democrats' lock on the state's politics until the next census in 2020.

Quinn has yet to sign the congressional map. The GOP and minority groups may take the matter to court.

A coalition of good government groups wanted a bipartisan commission to handle redistricting but they failed to collect enough signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The "Illinois Fair Map Amendment" citizens' movement promises to bring the issue back before the 2020 census.

Meanwhile, other states have moved ahead with reforms. In California, a voter-initiative created an independent redistricting commission instead of the political process controlled for decades by the Legislature.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: The state established its first-ever fines for Freedom of Information Act violations as part of a new law to prevent abuses by state offices that sought to deny or delay responding to requests, something the Blagojevich administration routinely did.

The law included training public employees so they would understand how to comply with public records laws, and it gave the Illinois attorney general's office enforcement authority.

But in a step backward from the reforms, lawmakers during their spring session gave the government more leeway about when it responds to repeated information requests. Overall, however, the reforms have led to improvements.

RECALL AND TERM LIMITS: In the direct wake of the Blagojevich saga, Illinois voters in 2010 approved a constitutional amendment that allows them to recall a governor, although the process is complicated and a recall would be very difficult to achieve. An idea to put term limits on legislative leaders, including powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, has gone nowhere in the Legislature.