Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson to endorse Illinois ballot access bill

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Watch a video of the press conference here:

Free & Equal will hold a press conference with Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson to support HB2854, a bill in the Illinois legislature which would allow filing fees as an alternative to the petition process.

The press conference will take place on Thursday, March 24th at 10:45am CST, at Free & Equal’s Chicago office at 407 S. Dearborn St., Suite 1170. There will be a live feed of this press conference at www.freeandequal.org .

HB2854 would generate revenue for Illinois, as opposed to the current system of petition reviews at taxpayer expense. Taxpayers United of America, one of the largest taxpayer organizations in MidAmerica, has endorsed the bill, which has also generated strong interest amongst Tea Party groups in Illinois.

Gary Johnson served as Governor of New Mexico for two terms, from 1995 to 2002. During his tenure, he vetoed more bills than the other 49 governors combined — 750 in total. Johnson also vetoed thousands of “line items” to reduce wasteful spending, cut taxes 14 times, and saw New Mexico’s GDP increase almost 30 percent during his tenure. When he left office, New Mexico had a balanced budget and a $1 billion surplus. He is considered a strong contender for the Republican Presidential nomination. Johnson will have a message to deliver to Illinois state legislators regarding this bill.

Gov. Gary Johnson is currently the honorary chairman of the OUR America Initiative, a policy advocacy committee that promotes fiscal responsibility, civil liberties, and rational public policy. Perhaps Illinois’ legislators can learn some fiscal responsibility from Governor Johnson.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 at 1:46 pm. It is filed under Free & Equal, Gary Johnson, Illinois, Legislation, Petitioning, Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

4 Responses to “Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson to endorse Illinois ballot access bill”

  1. Gov Johnson Endorses New IL Ballot Access Bill 2854 | ThirdPartyPolitics.us says:
    May 15, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    [...] Source: Free and Equal [...]

  2. Illinois legislators face two paths regarding independent voters | Free And Equal says:
    May 5, 2011 at 10:01 am

    [...] Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson to endorse Illinois ballot access bill [...]

  3. Chris Edes says:
    March 25, 2011 at 11:46 am

    Hi Debi! Filing fees will actually make it cost less to get on the ballot. Right now, all independent and third party candidates must hire paid petitioners to meet Illinois’ high signature requirements. Since filing fees cost less than hiring people to circulate petitions, they actually make it easier for low income candidates to get on the ballot.

  4. Debi Todd says:
    March 25, 2011 at 11:42 am

    I am all for lowering the taxpayers burden, but at what cost? Will they be able to *buy* their way into politics instead of getting votes? Is this another way to lower the social classes?

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