* Media advisory…
Rep. Spain to Present Ethics Reform Amendment Alongside Former IL Gov. Pat Quinn
Who: House Deputy Republican Leader Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) and former Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.
What: Leader Spain and former Gov. Quinn will discuss the pressing need for reform to state ethics regulations and present a bipartisan amendment to the Illinois Constitution recently filed by Spain.
When: 10:30 AM on Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Where: Capitol Blueroom in Springfield (event will also be streamed on Blueroom Stream).
Rep. Spain’s proposed constitutional amendment is here…
Amendments to Section 2 of Article XIII shall be limited to establishing and enforcing stronger ethical standards for candidates for or office holders of: (i) State office; (ii) offices in units of local government and school districts; and (iii) a position on a commission or board created by this Constitution.
* I asked Rep. Spain to explain his proposal…
We have lots of restrictions for ballot initiatives in Illinois. This resolution will allow referenda on ethics issues each election that are initiated by petition. Basically it gives more opportunities for citizen reform initiatives.
…Adding… Press release…
Today at the Capitol, Deputy House Republican Leader Ryan Spain (R-73rd District) was joined by former Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to propose an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that will give Illinois citizens the ability to establish and enforce stronger ethical standards on elected officials in the state.
“It was two years ago, on March 2, 2022, that former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan was indicted on federal racketeering and bribery charges for the network of corrupt behavior he oversaw,” said Spain. “While his trial is still pending, since then, we’ve seen his associates convicted in the ComEd Four trial and his closest confidant, Tim Mapes, convicted, and the rash of ethical lapses in Illinois continues to be a serious problem. However, the state legislature has failed to deliver needed ethics reform to clamp down on this behavior.
“Fortunately, there is a different way we can approach this problem by creating an avenue for Illinois citizens to use a petition initiative to enact anti-corruption measures. As March is National Ethics Awareness Month, this is the perfect time to draw attention to this issue and empower the people of Illinois to establish the more ethical government they deserve.”
House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 19 (HJRCA 19), which was filed by Rep. Spain on March 1, proposes to amend the Illinois Constitution to establish a petition process that will allow citizens to propose changes to state ethics requirements via ballot initiatives to be voted on by the voters of Illinois. Any ethics requirement approved by the voters would apply to candidates and office holders of state offices and local governments, as well as boards and commissions created in the state constitution.
In a show of the bipartisan nature of this proposal, Rep. Spain was joined by former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who, like Spain, has sought to champion ethics reform in Illinois.
“In 1976, I was part of a petition initiative called the Political Honesty Initiative to add ethics requirements to our state constitution,” said Quinn. “At the time, we collected 635,158 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. Unfortunately, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution did not allow for a petition initiative process to amend the constitution for ethics matters. That is why this proposal is so important today. The legislature has shown it’s not able to adequately reform its ethical requirements on its own, so now is the time to give that power to the people of Illinois and allow them to hold government officials accountable through direct initiative action.”
As a constitutional amendment proposal, HJRCA 19 would need to be approved by both houses of the Illinois General Assembly by May 5. Once it passes that legislative hurdle, it would then be placed on the November 5, 2024, General Election ballot for Illinois voters to approve the use of the petition initiative process for ethics matters.
For more information about HJRCA 19, Rep. Spain or video of the press conference held today, visit RepRyanSpain.com.
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:21 am:
Just because Quinn and the GOP are shamelessly self-serving doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing (Quinn particularly shameless as he’s the one who threw his own reform comission under the bus for the sake of Madigan’s support). The Dems have buried reform for decades, the “Combine” GOP did the same , the MAGA GOP would do the same if the situation was reverse. Let the voters have at it. The Bring Chicago Home folks agree, right?
- Friday Addams - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:37 am:
Pat Quinn is the new Paul Vallas
- Will Colquhoun - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:40 am:
Honestly this looks like an attempt to enshrine in the Illinois Constitution the means to throw a wrench in the works of government under the guise of “ethics”. The intentions of GOP over the last 6 years has been pretty clearly one of destruction when they have some power (a la Rauner) and obstruction when they don’t.
Look at all the shenanigans they pulled in regard to government handling of the covid emergency, which was clearly something the government needed to handle but you had all these kooks coming out of the woodwork screaming about anti-science nonsense.
And since “Ethics” are not defined I could Tom DeVore trying to sue every dem in the GA for “violations” made up from wholecloth.
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:48 am:
Hasn’t Pat Quinn done enough damage?
- Rasselas - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:48 am:
Since the amendments are limited to ’stronger’ ethics standards, that means if one were to be adopted that turns out to have all sorts of unintended consequences, voters couldn’t seek to have it repealed, since the repeal would not be ’stronger’.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:55 am:
Pointless nonsensical stunt legislation. In other words a perfect opportunity for Pat Quinn to get in front of a camera light again.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 8:58 am:
Aren’t we ethics to death? Every election cycle the “ethics reform” bills are trotted out.
They do little to curb bad behavior by elected officials and become onerous impositions on State employees.
- Michelle Flaherty - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:03 am:
Unlikable former governor partners with inconsequential super-minority Republican.
- Homebody - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:09 am:
@Huh? ==They do little to curb bad behavior by elected officials and become onerous impositions on State employees.==
My very first state employment boss many years ago had this exact complaint. She had lateralled into a management position from a midlaw firm where she was a partner, and her biggest complaint was complying with all the red tape related to hiring and procurement. Naughty people did naughty things, and the only result seemed to be that the people who weren’t doing naughty things had to jump through more hoops to accomplish anything.
- Back to the Future - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:17 am:
Good to see Governor Quinn still fighting the good fight.
Anything to address the corruption problem in Illinois is a step in the right direction.
It is clear the elected folks won’t do anything.
Perhaps some progress can be made through this idea.
- Nick Name - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:36 am:
Pat, how can we miss you if you won’t go away?
- Suburban Mom - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:37 am:
Yeah, frontloading ethics reform adds more red tape. If you want to solve it, it needs to be way more prosecutable on the back end, and prosecutors need to be willing to pursue it aggressively.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:37 am:
Do Republicans realize how hypocritical ethics reform is when they push it? They blindly defend and promote and insurrectionist who’s guilty of wrongdoing in multiple civil cases and has dozens of pending criminal charges while trying to push Democrats to toe the line. Laughable.
- Hank - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 9:40 am:
This is what you get when two entities starving for relevancy find each other.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:19 am:
= and prosecutors need to be willing to pursue it aggressively.=
So incredibly true. And for many other things beyond just ethics issues.
- H-W - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:27 am:
=== They do little to curb bad behavior by elected officials and become onerous impositions on State employees. ===
I am not so sure we can conclude they do little to curb bad behavior. We can say some people will behave improperly even when they know better. But I think it safe to say less unethical behavior occurs when employees know what unethical behavior is.
As to the second clause, I am not so sure the two annual sets of ethics tests need to be onerous. I agree they are, but from my perspective, they are onerous by design, not intent.
I admit I hate taking the one on gift bans, obligation to participate in investigations, etc. It seems to me, the Governor’s Office (I am in education) could do a better job creating different modules for employees based on years of service. The current module is great for new employees in that it is thorough.
But for old cronies like me, having to read two hours worth of 75 pages that say the same thing I have read for 20 years is an annoyance. A refresher module based on a pretest would be better.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:31 am:
==Basically it gives more opportunities for citizen==
I’m generally not in favor of citizen driven action. We have representatives for a reason. We aren’t a direct democracy where citizens get to vote on every single thing.
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:33 am:
Just because Quinn and the GOP have ulterior motives doesn’t make this a bad thing. Look what the Democrats or the previous “combine” have delivered. I get it, we’re not a direct democracy, but when things that consistently poll 80% can’t get enacted, there’s a virus in the democracy (that’s a reference to the Paul Simon Institute’s polls on gerrymandering)
- Jocko - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:44 am:
I guess the Capitol Blueroom in Springfield is an improvement over Spain and Quinn being found on the back of milk cartons under the words “Have You Seen Me?”
Is this the same Rep. Spain who had nothing to say during BVR’s last two years in office?
- Jack - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:49 am:
Unfortunately, the public won’t be able to watch this or their government at work unless they want to shell out a minimum of $150/month.
- Macon Bakin - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:59 am:
Who here agrees that mayors+village presidents should not serve simultaneously as state legislators? It’s a common sense belief, let’s make it the law of the land.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 11:12 am:
Sorry I forgot my handle before posting that barn door comment
- Pundent - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 11:26 am:
I’m cynical of the motives of all involved. For Quinn it’s nothing more than part of his on-going effort to stay relevant. And the GOP has a very stilted view of what the average person would consider ethical behavior.
- Shytown - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 11:36 am:
Can’t we get through one year in IL without a headline that starts with “Former Gov Pat Quinn today…” Is that asking too much?
- low level - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 12:31 pm:
Pat Quinn jumped the shark 30 years ago when he ran for Senate
against Durbin. Yet he keeps returning like Freddy K. Please Pat, please go away already. Wasnt it bad enough when you gave us Bruce Rauner??
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 12:49 pm:
- please go away already. -
Can all of you super original commenters who repeat this endlessly every time Quinn is mentioned get it through your heads he’s not going away? Why not use your brain and comment on the substance of the post for once.
I hope they’re successful, the more democracy the better.
- Jocko - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 1:17 pm:
==Why not use your brain and comment on the substance of the post for once.==
The scorn being heaped upon Pat (”I was put on this Earth to fix this pension mess.”) is well-deserved. The synopsis of HJRCA0019 is word salad of the highest order.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 1:45 pm:
I think the server nuked my comment, to restate it; most proposed “reforms” are reactive, not proactive, responding to something done by bad actors by locking that specific barn door but ignoring the windows.
As far as the ethics quiz/ review, the rank and file state workers are rarely in a position to do the violations in that training; it’s usually their bosses that sometimes forget the eighth commandment. The average worker in the trenches might sometimes abuse the office copier or browse too much internet, but they aren’t colluding with lobbyists on a daily basis or shaking down constituencies.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 3:20 pm:
==The average worker==
I think the annual ethics training is a joke but there are many “average” workers who are in positions to do more than abuse copy machine privileges.
- Gordon Geico - Tuesday, Mar 5, 24 @ 10:24 pm:
Spain and Quinn probably disagree on most partisan hot topics but they’re both right on this issue. Will be interesting to see which, if any, Democratic and Republican leaders of the ILGA support it.