Got an idea on how Congress should be run? Lawmakers want to hear it
Fancy that, a lawmaker looking to Joe Citizen for input on how better to run our government.
In what he calls a new twist on an old idea, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton is doing just that, seeking a few good ideas from area constituents in the 6th Congressional District -- ideas that actually could become law.
Roskam and several local lawmakers are calling on constituents to e-mail them with proposals for legislation that would benefit the district, which serves Cook and DuPage counties.
No idea's too wacky.
No legislative proposal will be turned away.
And the best part is constituents will be able to vote on the top five ideas submitted to Roskam's office via www.oskam.house.gov/YourSolutions.
Think "American Idol," only with your tax dollars at stake.
Sound gimmicky?
No, says state Sen. Christine Radogno, who joined Roskam in a near-empty gymnasium Monday at Erickson Elementary in Bloomingdale to tout the initiative, dubbed "There Ought to be a Law."
"We need our constituents to get more involved and talk to us," said Radogno, a LaGrange Republican. "We don't have the corner of the market on good ideas."
Most of the legislators, which included state senators Dan Cronin of Elmhurst, Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale and Carole Pankau of Roselle, acknowledged their staffs already get regular e-mails from constituents suggesting ideas to be pursued in the General Assembly.
And Roskam said his staff is never short on correspondence from 6th District residents.
"It's a new invitation on an old idea," Roskam said of the "There Ought to Be a Law" initiative. "We're expecting these to be more solution-oriented e-mails."
Within the next few weeks, Roskam said he hopes to have a list of the top five legislative ideas up on his Web site, and will allow constituents to vote on the proposal he should draft into a legislative bill.
Roskam gave no concrete timetable for when he expected to have a citizen-initiated bill drafted.
"We'll let you know," he said.