Eye On Illinois: Constitutional officers keeping busy while not involved in current campaign cycle

Statewide offices aren’t on the ballot this election season, but the incumbents remain busy attempting to showcase their influence.

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs this week encouraged Illinoisans to participate in his Enhanced Money Match program, which he said has returned more than $102 million in assets to almost 422,000 people since 2018.

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias last week announced a pilot program involving automated kiosks at 15 grocery stores, allowing residents to renew identification or vehicle registration without going to a driver services facility or using the office’s website.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza added to her office’s website a dashboard detailing the $46 million the state has spent on its Breast and Cervical Cancer Program over the past four years (Illinoiscomptroller.gov/IBCCPdata).

Attorney General Kwame Raoul Monday took the lead on filing a brief in which he and counterparts from 23 other states asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court’s ruling that keeps the federal government from enforcing an Affordable Care Act provision on preventive care.

These examples are only a portion of each constitutional office’s duties and the elected officials’ political decisions. But they represent expressions of a strategic approach to the job as well as offer insight as to what each person – all Democrats – consider electorally valuable.

“We put technology to work to return more money to people in our state,” Frerichs said. “After all, the money belongs to them, but some people see the check in the mail and don’t think it’s real. Please don’t forget to deposit or cash the check, or it ends up back with us as unclaimed property.”

“This is a big step in our ongoing effort to modernize the office and enable Illinoisans to obtain more services online and remotely,” Giannoulias said.

“My office prioritizes transparency, and our efforts focus on making sure taxpayers know how their money is being spent,” Mendoza said. “There is no doubt programs designed to catch and treat breast and cervical cancer in its earliest stages are a great investment.”

“All patients in Illinois and across the country deserve continued access to what are often lifesaving, preventive health services,” Raoul said. “I will continue to collaborate with other attorneys general to preserve access to care that will save lives, reduce disparities in health care and improve public health in our communities.”

The point in sharing these developments isn’t the actual news but a reminder that quite a bit of administering a government happens between seemingly interminable campaign cycles, and a key to understanding the next election is observing what incumbents do when they’re not on the stump.

Many voters believe actions mean more than words. As such, now is the perfect time to pay attention.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.