Former Gov. Pat Quinn is very active in causes close to his heart, including StreetWise, a nonprofit organization that supports employment for the city’s homeless, and Portrait of a Soldier, a traveling art exhibit that features portraits of all Illinois service members lost to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Facebook photo)

Pat Quinn was known for his pledge to restore open and fair state government following his appointment as Illinois governor to fill out the term of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat who was charged with Articles of Impeachment by the Illinois State Senate in January 2009.

Seen by many as a leader who could work with lawmakers from either party and bring diverse interests, such as agriculture and environmentalism, together at the same table, Quinn has continued to stay in close touch with state politics, leveraging his knowledge of governmental processes to help social activists file petitions for voter initiatives, or boosting the profile of inner-city nonprofits that assist Chicago residents.  

One such cause Quinn embraces, StreetWise, is a monthly urban street newspaper that homeless or disadvantaged residents can sell to generate personal income. The newspaper, familiar to many city dwellers, has been published for more than 30 years, with Quinn serving on its board for the past eight years.  

“The vendors buy the paper for a very modest amount of money, and they are free to sell the newspaper for a contribution (of $3 or more) on the street. A very large number of people have received their StreetWise credentials to sell the newspaper, and there are social services connected to the newspaper’s office, including the StreetWise Mission,” said Quinn, whose law office is located in downtown Chicago. “People earn a living, stay away from homelessness, get a daily lunch and other services. It’s quite an impressive mission, and I am impressed by their commitment.” 

Quinn also remains committed to the Portrait of a Soldier initiative, which began with a series of artist renditions of Illinois service members killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and continues as a traveling exhibit consisting of hundreds of portraits rendered by Mattoon artist Cameron Schilling.  

Charles Neely, a schoolmate of the artist’s, became the subject of Schilling’s first hand-drawn portrait after becoming the first U.S. serviceman killed in the Iraq War.  

“(Neely’s) family was very touched by this drawing and its generosity,” said Quinn. “I had been going to the military funerals of Illinois soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I went to over 300 funerals, memorials and wakes as both lieutenant governor and governor, and Cameron asked me to put him in touch with family members so he could do portraits for them as memorials. I think everyone was touched by the fact that this young man would be willing to do this, and he did more than 300 portraits.” 

Inspired by artwork dedicated to families of lost service members at Arlington National Cemetery, Quinn reached out to Schilling with the idea of a traveling exhibit featuring tributes to all service members memorialized by the artist. The exhibit now is offered for viewing in municipal buildings, schools, libraries and other venues across the state.  

“Next year will be the 25th anniversary of 9/11, and when we go to schools these kids who weren’t born then can see the remembrances, look in the eyes of these people in the portraits and see how young many of them were. It’s important that we don’t forget their purposeful lives, and Portrait of a Soldier is part of my mission,” he said.  

Politically, Quinn has long been known as a public watchdog. As a 34-year-old activist he railed against an unprecedented series of “back-breaking” utility increases, leading to the development of the Citizens Utility Board. The birth of CUB came after advisory referendums were placed on the ballots of communities throughout Illinois, culminating in the CUB Act of 1983. CUB is said to have saved Illinois consumers more than $20 million since its inception.  

In 2011 and 2013 Quinn vetoed bills pushed by utility provider ComEd that raised rates for consumers. Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan and the Illinois General Assembly overrode the vetoes. In 2019 when evidence of improper payments to Madigan from ComEd arose, Quinn represented CUB in a class-action lawsuit over the legislation’s dismissal, seeking cash reparations to ComEd customers.  

A court determined that customers would not receive compensation from ComEd, though a Chicago jury recently convicted Madigan of receiving improper payments from ComEd in a bribery and conspiracy case. To this day, Quinn remains a member and proponent of CUB, the largest consumer group in Illinois.  

As a practicing attorney, Quinn currently focuses on ethics reform and conflict of interest standards in Illinois politics. “Cleaning up political corruption should be our top priority,” he said. “Mostly I represent people when it comes to their rights to pass petitions and put things on the ballot in the initiative and referendum process.”  

Quinn is active in urging legislators to approve term limits for elected state leaders. Currently, there are around 25 Illinois municipalities that have assigned term limits on mayors and council members, and he would like to see the state adopt similar standards.  

“Most of the time term limits are put on the ballot by voter petition. Springfield has term limits, Naperville and Oak Lawn have term limits,” Quinn said. “We were trying to get term limits on (former Chicago Mayor) Rahm Emanuel and had about 88,000 petition signatures. The mayor got the city council to pass three advisory referendums to put on their ballot just before we filed, and because you can only have three on the ballot, we couldn’t get the referendum on the ballot. We went to court and the judge said the rule of three applies, and it was kept off the ballot.” 

Though the petition drive failed, Emanuel did not seek a third term. As a lawyer in the case, Quinn was disappointed but nonetheless encouraged by the groundswell of support for term limits. Just recently, the city of Chicago settled a case brought by Quinn alleging harassment of four petitioners seeking term-limit signatures in Millennium Park by city employees, resulting in significant cash awards.  

“This opinion can be used in the case of petitioners all over the country, so it was quite a great victory,” he said. “Those are the kinds of cases I look for now.” 

In 2024, Quinn aligned with Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, to put a referendum on the ballot that would allow citizens to directly place constitutional amendments on the statewide ballot. He’s also lending legal advice to a grassroots petition drive to discourage the city of Chicago from investing taxpayer funds in a new stadium for the Chicago Bears, while also trying to get a state “millionaire tax” placed on the 2026 ballot as a binding referendum.  

“I believe in direct democracy, grassroots democracy,” said Quinn, who is also involved in an Oak Park voting initiative that would allow citizens to propose ordinances via petition and decide issues through binding referendums. The issue will be decided in the April 1 election.  

“People from all over Illinois call me for advice on how to start a petition and what the rules are,” said Quinn, who shows no indications of slowing down his social activism and petition passing anytime soon.  

“The actor Martin Sheen told me that though he acted for a living, he used activism to stay alive. In a lot of ways that’s my motto too; in order to stay alive do things that are important that hopefully help others, and keep breathing. The heart of America and the heart of Illinois is the heart of a volunteer.”