The stain of corruption on Illinois’ government is sadly well known. In recent years, federal prosecutors have been cleaning up the mess caused by Illinois’ lax ethics laws with several high-profile corruption convictions against some of the most powerful politicians in Illinois history. The ComEd Four, the longest-serving House Speaker in Illinois, Michael Madigan, long-time Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, Madigan’s Chief of Staff Tim Mapes, and others are now behind bars.
Despite these many corruption cases, Illinois Democrats who control the state legislature still refuse to pass the meaningful ethics reform necessary to stop the graft in Illinois politics and restore trust in government to the people of Illinois.
This year alone, House Republicans have served up bills to empower the Legislative Inspector General, improve lobbying regulation , enforce conflict of interest rules and prevent campaign funds from being used for criminal defense. Unfortunately, since Madigan was removed as Speaker, Democrats have allowed only one ethics-related bill to pass. However, the new law (Public Act 102-664) was so watered down and filled with loopholes that the Legislative Inspector General ultimately resigned in protest. This bill actually made it harder to investigate corruption. It is not reform when you tie the hands of the person tasked with investigating legislative corruption.
