To: The Illinois State House, The Illinois State Senate, and Governor J.B. Pritzker
Veto Lake County Election Commision
Gov.Quinn, please use your line item veto to veto this specific unfunded legistlation that is directed specifically at Lake County, IL even though the county not named in the law specifically. "In essence, what it does is create another unfunded mandate out of Springfield that will cost the county an additional $600,000 to administer elections that we already do very well," said Aaron Lawlor, Lake County board chairman. Lake County knows how to run elections exceptionally well through the Lake County Clerks Office. Leave elections in Lake County the way they are. Gov. Quinn, please veto this one paragraph in the election law.
Why is this important?
The Illinois Legistlature has passed a huge bill to update election laws. Included in that bill is a requirement that Lake County create an Election commision. This unfunded requirement will cost Lake County taxpayers $600,000 that we do not have. The text of the paragraph relating to the creation of the election reads: "any county with a population of more than 700,000 persons … that borders another state and borders no more than 2 other Illinois counties." Lake County is the only county inthe State of Illinois that meets that specific criteria.