The ethics game
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The pressure is increasing on Senate President Emil Jones to “do something” about not only allegations of improprieties about himself, but also about the ethics situation in the state…
[Jones’ relatives] have been the beneficiaries of a ton of financial good fortune in the last few years, thanks in no small measure to the taxpayers of Illinois. That includes his wife, Dr. Lorrie Jones, who in 2005 was promoted by the Blagojevich administration to state mental health chief and given a $70,000 raise, taking her annual salary to $186,000. It includes his son Emil III, who recently got a new state job and salary bump from the state Commerce Department, and is now making $57,360. And most prominently of all, it includes Jones’ stepson, John Sterling, who has gotten tens of millions of dollars in city, county and state computer technology contracts.
It was just this week that WMAQ-Channel 5 and the Sun-Times discovered an additional $11 million in contracts and subcontracts given to Sterling through city, county and state governments. That’s in addition to the $45 million no-bid deal he received from City Colleges. And in addition to an additional $55 million he had already been paid by City Colleges. […]
State Sen. James Meeks, a fellow Chicago Democrat, suggests a different approach, telling McKinney on Monday, “If I was him, I’d ask all of them, ‘Who’s doing business?’ ” Meeks went on to say, “For the legislative leaders to not want to face these stories or deal with hints of impropriety, they can handle it in one of two ways. They can disclose all of the business their family members have, or they can choose not to know anything about business their families have. If they choose not to know, when stories come out, there are people who won’t believe them. And it’s their choice.” […]
In response to our most recent report, Jones told the Sun-Times he might soften his stance in opposition to legislation that would put the names of subcontractors on the Internet. That bill, sponsored by a Republican, Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont, has been deader than a doornail, locked up in the Rules Committee, which the Senate president controls. But late Tuesday, it sure looked like Jones would try instead to pull a legislative end run, tacking a thus far unseen “ethics” amendment on another bill instead.
* That “end run” is most likely connected to Rep. Fritchey’s ethics bill, which received some more attention yesterday….
Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, said the governor should call a special session about ethics legislation that Fritchey sponsored earlier this year. House Bill 1 is meant to end “pay-to-play politics” in Illinois by banning campaign contributions from most state contractors.
The measure sailed through the House on a 116-0 vote in April but never emerged from the Senate Rules Committee, which is the first stop for all bills that reach the Senate.
“Governor, you and you alone have the power to put years of public cynicism and distrust in state government to rest in a matter of minutes,” Fritchey said on the House floor. “You now have the opportunity to send one of two messages to the people of Illinois: You can call a special session on House Bill 1 and help restore public confidence in state government, or you could do nothing and tell them to expect more business as usual.”
The idea might be for the Senate to pass its own ethics bill, which would specifically be designed to be unacceptable to the House. It’s the usual game.
* By the way, one aspect of Fritchey’s call for a special session that was ignored yesterday was Comptroller Dan Hynes’ support of the idea. From a Fritchey press release…
State Comptroller Dan Hynes, who initiated the legislation, has joined in the calling for the special session, stating, “This overtime session provides us with an opportunity to do something we should have done long ago, to end pay-to-play politics and to help restore confidence in our elected officials.”
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 9:42 am:
If Hynes is on board, Quinn can support it too. Then Giannoulais and AGMadigan.
Ignor Blagojevich - it is time to move on without him.
- Captain America - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 9:47 am:
Kudos to John Fritchey and Dan Hynes too. Lisa Madigan should be supporting this ethics initiative too! It’s a no brainer!
I doubt that Senate President Jones is really interested in ethics reform, However, since the pressure/scrutiny of Senator Jones is now heightened, this is one special session topic that might produce genuine political reform.
- Team Sleep - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 10:13 am:
This needs to happen. The problem in this state is not the employees or the advocacy groups; it’s the elected officials and the people who are enablers and who take advantage of lucrative contracts and abuses. 45 sponsors in the Senate should tell Emil and Rod something. The old way of business needs to end and it needs to end now.
It’s nice to see Dan Hynes take the lead on this issue. It’s also good to see Alexi be a leader in the ethics reform battle. Other prominent politicians should weigh in as well.
And Rep. Fritchey, super-kudos to you. I appreciate the wind of fresh air in Springfield that you are helping bring about.
- HOT ROD MOVIE - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 10:36 am:
Isn’t there a provision which allows for the chambers to call for a special session? Why not have the House pass a special session resolution on HB1 and force the Senate to ignore the resolution or pass HB1???
- Lula May - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 10:37 am:
Ethics and Illinois - isn’t that an oxymoron ?
- i d - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 12:49 pm:
Why try to suggest political reform or ethics in government to elected officials; they cannot even comprehend the precept of theft being against the law.
- Squideshi - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 12:53 pm:
Elections should be about competition in our marketplace of ideas, based on the strength of those ideas–not who is the best fundraiser or who has the wealthiest friends. What we truly need is full public financing of public elections in Illinois.
You know, there was a time in Illinois history when the political parties themselves paid for and printed their own ballots. Problem was that they came in different sizes and colors for each party; and therefore, it was easy to tell for whom someone was voting as they carried their ballot to the polling place. In addition, it was common for voters to be overwhelmed at the polling place, with partisan operatives attempting to literally shove their party’s ballot into their hands.
The passage of the Australian Ballot Act, which implemented taxpayer funded printing and standardization of ballots, was a huge advance in Illinois. This was the start of the secret ballot (An idea that we borrowed nearly wholesale from Australia.)
There were people that squawked about taxpayer funded printing of ballots at that time, just like there are people who squawk now about public financing of elections. The truth is that voters have a right to be informed about the positions of all candidates on the ballot–this is part of the infrastructure of our democracy and should be paid for with taxpayer dollars, just like are the printing of ballots, renting of polling places, and hiring of elections judges.
- Captain America - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 1:36 pm:
I just read Carol Marin’s column about ethics reform and President Jones’ charges that racism it the cause of all his recent problems and I am outraged anew. He just doesn’t get it!
Repeat after me Democratic Senators: Senate President Emil Jones has got to go. If you don’t dump him, then I think there will be adverse consequences in the 2008 elections, particularly given the Senator’s failure to enact a timely electricity rate relief package.
I alredy extended kudos to Fritchey and Hynes for their position on the ethics reform bill. After reading Carol Marin’s column, I want to congratulate Christine Radagno too.
Where do Lisa Madigan and Alex Gianoullis stand on the ehtics reform bill? Shouldn’t they stand up and be counted??
Let’s change the way business is routinely conducted in Illinois. “Pinstripe patronage’ is where all the action/money is! Do we have to wait until our second consecutive Governor is indicted?
- HOT ROD MOVIE - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 1:39 pm:
(25 ILCS 15/1) (from Ch. 63, par. 191)
Sec. 1.
A special session of the General Assembly may be convened at any time by a joint proclamation issued by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, stating the purpose of the session and the date and time for the session, and filed with the Secretary of State and by notice to the members as provided in Section 2. Only business encompassed by the purpose stated in the joint proclamation, together with any impeachments or confirmation of appointments, may be transacted at the special session.
(Source: P. A. 77‑1783.)
Madigan should present a proclamation to the Senate President for signature.
Pingback Illinois’ ethically challenged Senate President | Peoria Pundits - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 3:24 pm:
[…] Rich Miller links to several good pieces about Sen. President Emil Jones, including a Sun-Times repot. [Jones’ relatives] have been the beneficiaries of a ton of financial good fortune in the last few years, thanks in no small measure to the taxpayers of Illinois. That includes his wife, Dr. Lorrie Jones, who in 2005 was promoted by the Blagojevich administration to state mental health chief and given a $70,000 raise, taking her annual salary to $186,000. It includes his son Emil III, who recently got a new state job and salary bump from the state Commerce Department, and is now making $57,360. And most prominently of all, it includes Jones’ stepson, John Sterling, who has gotten tens of millions of dollars in city, county and state computer technology contracts. […]
- This voter will remember - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 5:03 pm:
If they can call a special session for gun control, then this should be addressed also. My preference would be to get the budget completed first, however with the Governor’s attention span, it maybe a hopeless case. Maybe they should throw in term limits for politicians – this might take care of the embarrassment called Emil Jones.
- curious george - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 6:28 pm:
If GRod was such a wonderful, conscientious and ethical person he would call a special session and support moving the ethics reform bill forward to passage now to pave the way .
This would help show his continued concerns for no longer supporting ” business as usual” occurring in state government. That should really help him get re-elected in 2010. ( assuming he is not too busy collecting campaign contributions to run for president in 2012.)
- Holdingontomywallet - Wednesday, Jul 11, 07 @ 8:16 pm:
The Gov did say he would “rock the system” and he has basically kept his promise. The problem is that most people thought he was talking about fixing the problem and ending pay for play. He did “rock the system” - he took corruption to a new level. He did tell the truth on this issue…