Senate Republicans roll out ethics package
Thursday, Sep 24, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
As indictments, charges, and investigations into state legislators continue to make headlines, today members of the Senate Republican Caucus have introduced a package of bills seeking to root out government corruption among members of the General Assembly.
The legislative package focuses on two main objectives: enhancing investigative authority within existing laws and ensuring legislators are serving the public’s interest.
While Illinois already has some strong anti-corruption laws in place, Senate Republicans say many of them are rendered toothless because the appropriate authorities aren’t given adequate ability to investigate wrongdoing.
To address these shortcomings, the legislative package proposes the following enhancements:
* Senate Bill 4012: Allows the Attorney General to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate, indict and prosecute bribery and misconduct by members of the General Assembly.
* Senate Bill 4013: Provides states attorneys with wiretap authority.
* Senate Bill 4014: Grants the Legislative Inspector General the ability to investigate members of the General Assembly without first receiving approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission, and changes the composition of the Legislative Ethics Commission to make them all members of the general public rather than legislators.
“It’s no secret that Illinois is among the most corrupt states in the nation, so to continue to drag our feet on this issue is an insult to the people of Illinois,” said State Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove). “The laws currently on the books aren’t enough. We need to provide the appropriate authorities with greater tools to investigate legislator misconduct. In a time when the actions of corrupt elected officials have undermined the public’s confidence, continued inaction only further erodes public trust.”
The Senate Republican anti-corruption legislative package also includes measures to ensure that legislators serve the public’s interest and not their own pocketbooks.
Proposals include:
* Senate Bill 4015: Bans legislators from lobbying other branches of state government or units of local government for compensation.
* Senate Bill 4016: Creates a revolving door legislator-to-lobbyist prohibition for one year after leaving office, or until the end of the current term, whichever is longer.
* Senate Bill 4017: Prohibits a legislator from leaving office and continuing to use their campaign fund to support lobbying activities. Also prevents an appointee to a board or commission that is confirmed by the Senate from fundraising for or donating from their campaign committee while serving as an appointed public official.
* Senate Bill 4018: Updates the Statement of Economic Interests to enhance the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.
“These are common-sense reforms that will help ensure that legislators are representing the people’s interests instead of their own,” said State Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy). “The recent scandals involving legislators are clear examples that we need ethics reform now. We can’t wait any longer.”
“These aren’t new ideas. In fact, many of these concepts have been supported by legislators on both sides of the aisle for years and yet here we are still fighting for real reform,” said State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods). “There is no good reason to continue to delay addressing government corruption.”
“Within the last year, four legislators have recently been indicted, and another one is under investigation, yet there have been zero anti-corruption bills signed into law,” said State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon). “It makes us wonder what exactly it will take for Democrats to get serious on the issue.”
* John Patterson with the Senate Democrats…
They’ve got some interesting ideas. We look forward to them working with us to pass and enact meaningful ethics reform for the people of Illinois.
- the Edge - Thursday, Sep 24, 20 @ 11:17 am:
These all look reasonable, don’t they? The only questionable one I see is allowing DA’s the ability to wiretap.
- GOP - Thursday, Sep 24, 20 @ 11:22 am:
That SB 4017 appears to be a direct shot at former GOP Senator Nybo who did not campaign much and is now lobbying with his campaign fund in tow. His former colleagues are obviously still upset.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Thursday, Sep 24, 20 @ 12:53 pm:
Yeah, given that there are numerous State’s Attorneys out there who won’t enforce Public Health guidelines and think they know best what should be legal and what shouldn’t, I would NEVER give them wiretap authority.
- Unionman - Thursday, Sep 24, 20 @ 4:28 pm:
They should add in: (1) that campaign funds can only be used for campaign expenditures and only during campaign periods. (None of this Madigan using his funds to pay for lawyers for his defense)
(2) Add in that they cannot fundraise outside of campaign periods. So maybe 30 days prior to signature gathering time is the start until 30 days after the election.
(3) Also, add in that campaign accounts must be closed up following each election. Remaining funds must within 60 days of the end of the election either be returned proportionally to the donors or donated to a NFP. That way everyone starts off each season with the same amount-$0.
- Quenton Cassidy - Thursday, Sep 24, 20 @ 5:53 pm:
GOP -
That’s a good point, but unfortunately he’s not the only former member who has ended his or her career with a reasonably high balance in their campaign account, then used those funds to write checks to legislators, hoping to “open doors” for their new lobbying career. Since personal use of campaign funds is already against the law, there’s a good argument that such practice is already illegal, but no prosecutor has been willing to take on the issue.