Question of the day
Tuesday, May 9, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Former Gov. Pat Quinn had his own ethical issues with the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative and hiring at IDOT and crafting a new job for Madigan crony Patrick Ward and being accused by Dick Durbin of having been a ghost payroller under Dan Walker. But those days are long-forgotten and he held a press conference today to demand that Gov. JB Pritzker call an immediate special session on ethics. His proposals…
(1) Amending Article XIV, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution to allow voters to enact stricter ethics laws directly by initiative petition and binding referendum;
(2) Enacting a mandatory conflict of interest law to prevent legislators from voting or taking official action on matters involving personal, family, or financial interests;
(3) Prohibiting taxpayer-paid pensions for legislators and former legislators convicted of public integrity felonies;
(4) Strengthening the office and powers of the Legislative Inspector General including subpoena powers to help perform thorough investigations and root out misconduct;
(5) Prohibiting legislators from doubledipping by being on two public payrolls while in office;
(6) Restrictions on the campaign contributions and charitable donations of regulated utilities and monopolies;
(7) Stronger revolving door prohibitions on legislators leaving the General Assembly and joining the payroll of an entity with a lobbying interest; and
(8) Robust income tax disclosure requirements for statewide constitutional offices and legislative leaders.
We did this with the House GOP proposals, so let’s try it again.
* The Question: Which, if any, of these ideas do you support the most and which, if any, do you oppose? Make sure to explain your answers, please. Thanks.
…Adding… From Senate President Don Harmon’s spokesperson John Patterson…
We appreciate Mr. Quinn’s input and look forward to reviewing his letter.
At the end of the day, the people in the ComEd Four trial were convicted because what they did was already, and always has been, illegal.
Senate President Harmon will continue to be a champion of ethics. The point he has been trying to drive home is that what we need in public service are good people focused on the state’s welfare rather than their own self-interests.