Another alternative pushed by Republicans would be to hold a special election in 2016 to vote on a Constitutional Amendment to merge the Comptroller’s office with the Treasurer’s office. The legislation has been coined “Judy’s Amendment,” because Topinka had advocated in favor of combining the two statewide constitutional offices. Though Deputy Republican Leader Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) and State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) revived their 2013 legislative efforts to merge the offices, and their Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 11 was discussed in the Senate Executive Committee on Jan. 8, their legislation was not called for a vote.
Senator Murphy and his Republican colleagues pledged to renew their bipartisan efforts to merge the two offices after the Inauguration of the 99th General Assembly on Jan. 14. SJRCA 11 would save taxpayers $12 million a year by merging the offices.
The Comptroller keeps the state’s “checkbook” and is in charge of paying bills. The Treasurer’s office is responsible for making investments with public funds and protecting the state’s investment portfolio from possible market fluctuations.