SPRINGFIELD – The General Assembly met in a special session at the State Capitol on Thursday to debate a proposal to create a special election for Illinois comptroller in 2016.
“Our state Constitution says that the comptroller is an elected office. We shouldn’t have a politically appointed comptroller for four years. The people should have the right to decide who’s making decisions on their behalf,” said State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), who supports a special election. “It’s common sense and good government.”
Under current law, Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner will be able to appoint someone to the position for the next four years due to the untimely death of Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.
SPRINGFIELD – After outgoing Governor Pat Quinn appointed a new executive director at the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority with little more than a month left in his term in office, State Senator Julie Morrison decided to find a way to prevent such appointments by future governors.
“The executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is among the highest paid state employees,” Morrison said. “A governor who’s leaving office shouldn’t be able to use the position as a cushy landing spot.”
The executive director of the Sports Facilities Authority is paid $160,000 per year.
SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) issued the following statement in response to the passing of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka:
“Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka will be sorely missed. She has long been a role model for all women seeking to serve in Illinois government, regardless of party. Our state has lost a great woman and a great leader.”
Over the past week, I read the Tribune’s stories about the astonishing failures at DCFS’s residential treatment centers, and each day I become more troubled.
Last year, after the Tribune and other news sources reported on the disturbing number of children who die in DCFS custody, I launched a series of hearings about the problems at the state agency charged with protecting abused and neglected children. We found that the agency has problems that run from its director to its hourly workers, and we started taking steps to address them, passing several laws that should help protect children who may be victims of abuse.
Nothing we heard came close to the horror stories coming out of the agency’s residential centers recently reported by the Tribune.
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