August 26, 2011

To the Honorable Members of the

Illinois Senate,

97^th General Assembly:

I hereby return Senate Bill 2062 with specific recommendations for change.

I commend the sponsors for their hard work on this bill. My administration is strongly committed to bringing the FutureGen project to Illinois. We have been working closely with the FutureGen Alliance and federal and local partners to see that this near-zero emissions, state-of-the-art plant is developed in Illinois. Our investment in FutureGen will help bring thousands of jobs to Illinois and put our state on the international clean coal map, while continuing to promote the use of Illinois' coal resources in an environmentally responsible way. This legislation contains an important next step in that process and this action reinforces that commitment.

However, this bill also moves the Illinois Power Agency into the jurisdiction of the Executive Ethics Commission. The purpose of this Commission is to ensure compliance with our State’s ethics laws. This task is of paramount importance and requires the Commission utilize every resource at its disposal. To additionally require the Commission to oversee complex processes of electricity procurement and planning will not only weaken its ability to ensure adherence to ethics laws in state government, but it will also exhaust resources and place nine individuals, without appropriate experience, at the head of an essential state agency.

Therefore, pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 2062, entitled “AN ACT concerning regulation.”, with the following specific recommendations for change:

by deleting line 14 on page 17 through line 17 on page 31; and

on page 36, line 4, by deleting “1-15,”; and

by deleting line 16 on page 39 through line 7 on page 40.

With these changes, Senate Bill 2062 will have my approval.  I respectfully request your concurrence. 

Sincerely,

PAT QUINN

Governor