Ethics Reform Makes Its Way to Springfield

(Posted 5/26/2009) - Both the House and Senate passed several measures this month to implement stronger ethics laws in Illinois.

Senate Bill 1333 terminates about 750 people who were appointed by former Governors Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan. The termination will affect directors, assistant and deputy directors of agencies, members of boards and commissions, and “double-exempt” employees, (those employees not protected by the Civil Service Commission). The bill also creates a task force to review hiring practices and patronage abuse to ensure political influence is left out of the process.

Legislators also passed a bill that expands the Attorney General’s power to investigate violations of the Ethics Act. Senate Bill 54 also allows Inspector Generals to self-initiate investigations as well as review agency compliance with state hiring laws.

Another bill was approved to address the way the state doles out state contracts. Under Senate Bill 51, no sole source contracts can be awarded without a public hearing. Emergency contracts can be awarded for a time period of 90 days and extended only after a public hearing has been held. The bill also prohibits a state agency from entering into a contract to issue bonds or other securities by the state with any entity that uses an independent consultant.

I supported each of these measures in the House; however, I believe this is just the beginning of what is really needed in Illinois. I am pleased that these measures were brought forward for discussion but I don’t think they go far enough to address the issue. I am disappointed that the General Assembly did not allow the other reform measures proposed by the Illinois Reform Commission to be heard and debated on the House floor.

Just a week before these ethic reform proposals were passed, the House Republican Caucus held an open meeting for its members and other interested public with the Illinois Reform Commission asking commission members to explain the concepts behind their recommendations.

On May 15th, Reform Commission Chairman, Patrick Collins, along with commission member, Brad McMillan, met with members of the House, the media, other public officials and members of the public..

Collins reiterated the importance of the reform commission and the need to work with Illinois legislators. “We’re grateful for this forum. We have this voice,” Collins said. “We have this document but we don’t have a vote. We’re hopeful that in the next few weeks, we will have a vote on this issue.”

In its 100-day report, the Commission determined that core Illinois laws and operations pertaining to ethics were not up to standard. For example, 46 other states were found to have stronger campaign finance regulations in place than Illinois, and 46 states give their law enforcement agents stronger tools to root out corruption and crime.

The Commission studied six broad categories they believed would comprehensively address reform. Those categories are: Campaign Finance, Procurement, Enforcement, Government Structure, Transparency, and Inspiring Better Government.

Major reforms proposed in the Report include:

Real time reporting of contributions Campaign contribution limits (federal limits) Move up primary election date Create new “Department of Procurement” Create independent “Public Corruption Division” within the Illinois State Police Provide for public disclosure Redistricting Legislative leader term limits (exclusive employment) Establish independent “Office of Transparency” Appoint independent “Patronage Monitor” Uniform pension calculations for all state employees/officials

“We deliberated and discussed and these are the topics that we’re proposing,” Collins said. “Everything we’re proposing is being done somewhere else in the U.S.”

Following Collins’ presentation, audience members were allowed to ask brief questions of the officials. Gov. Pat Quinn established the Illinois Reform Commission in January of 2009. The mandate to the Commission was to recommend meaningful ethics reform for the State of Illinois in one hundred days.

I introduced House Resolution 364 that called for a Committee of the Whole meeting to be convened in the General Assembly for the purpose of considering the recommendations of the Illinois Reform Commission and to hear testimony from the Chairman and other members of the Commission. That request, however, was blocked by Speaker Michael Madigan, which is what prompted the sponsors to call our own open caucus meeting so that these recommendations could be discussed in a meaningful forum.

I applaud the Commission’s work thus far and I urge the Governor, all members of the General Assembly and the public to review and consider these important reforms.

As always, I am honored to represent you in Springfield and I hope that you will be encouraged to contact me with your concerns and thoughts on this important topic. Feel free to contact me anytime at my district office at 630-858-8855.

Sincerely,

Sandra Pihos