Pat Quinn

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Patrick J. Quinn (born December 16, 1948) is the current Governor of Illinois. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 2002 and took office in 2003. In 2009 he assumed the office of Governor following the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich.

In 1980, Quinn led the ultimately successful statewide campaign for the Cutback Amendment to the Illinois Constitution, which reduced the size of the Illinois House of Representatives. Before the Cutback Amendment, three state representatives had been elected from each of 59 districts, yielding a total of 177 members. After the amendment, only 118 representatives were elected, from single member districts.

Before becoming lieutenant governor, Quinn was a tax attorney. He earned an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from Northwestern University. He gained some early fame in the late 1970s by leading an ultimately unsuccessful drive to amend, via a petition drive, the 1970 Illinois Constitution with the "Illinois Initiative". This amendment would have provided people from Illinois with the same power to enact statutes through the process of referendum that is used in other states, notably California. Though Quinn's petition drive was successful, his efforts were blocked by the Illinois Supreme Court that ruled that the Illinois Initiative was an "unconstitutional constitutional amendment", and it was never allowed to be placed before the voters.

After serving one term as State Treasurer, Quinn ran for the office of Secretary of State in 1994, losing in the general election to the incumbent (and future Governor) George H. Ryan.

Quinn sought the office of Lieutenant Governor in 2002, and after winning the Democratic primary in March of that year, he ran together with Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Rod Blagojevich. In Illinois, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run separately in the primary election, and are then joined together as a ticket in the General Election. Blagojevich and Quinn defeated Attorney General Jim Ryan and State Senator Carl Hawkinson in the general election. In the Illinois primary election in March 2006, he ran unopposed as a Democrat. In November 2006, he and Governor Rod Blagojevich won re-election to their respective offices.

Ballot Question 1 in 1980

Quinn led the charge in 1980 for the one initiated constitutional amendment that has ever qualified for the Illiois ballot: Illinois Ballot Question 1 (1980). This amendment reduced the number of members of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 to 188. As the petition drive to put the measure on the ballot gained momentum, it also inspired the members of the state legislature to act to eliminate a practice whereby they paid themselves drew two years' advance pay at the start of each two-year legislative session.[1]

Quinn expressed his appreciation for the initiative process in his state as the campaign proceeded, saying, "Lawmaking by initiative is both practical and workable in Illinois. Other large industrial states like Michigan Ohio, Massachusetts and California have found the initiative process to be an excellent way of directly involving average citizens in state government decisionmaking. Average voters should not be looked upon as little children who need to be protected against themselves. They have common sense and good judgment for making responsible decisions on tough policy questions that affect their lives and pocket-books."[1]

Contact information

Springfield
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Phone: 217-782-0244
TTY: 888-261-3336

Chicago
Office of the Governor
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph, 16-100
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-814-2121

See also

External links

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 United Press International, "Pat Quinn: A man politicians love to hate", February 8, 1980
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