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"I came to this office to reform state
government and put the priority back on helping the citizens of
Illinois build better lives," said Gov. Blagojevich. "Through the
work of the executive inspector general and her office, we have been
able to help rebuild the trust of Illinois citizens in their
government and lay a solid foundation of integrity and
accountability." The State
Officials and Employees Ethics Act, which was signed on Dec. 9,
2003, created a comprehensive set of ethical guidelines for state
employees and a new means of ethics enforcement through the Office
of Executive Inspector General. The Ethics Act also placed clear
restrictions on state employees' political activity, tightened the
Gift Ban Act, banned lobbyists and individuals with a personal
financial interest in state contracts from serving on boards or
commissions, and closed the "revolving door" by prohibiting state
workers from immediately accepting jobs with companies they
regulated or were involved with in awarding state contracts worth
more than $25,000. It also instituted protections for whistleblowers
and established tough penalties for those found guilty of unethical
conduct.
Since the Office of Executive
Inspector General opened its doors in May 2003, it has created
processes for citizens to file complaints and for state employees to
receive ethics training. The office's achievements, which are
summarized in the special first anniversary report, "A Celebration
of Integrity," include the following:
- The launch of the Ethics Hotline,
1 (866) 814-1113, which has taken nearly 3,000 calls since
September 2003.
- The launch of a website,
www.inspectorgeneral.il.gov, that contains information about
the Office of Executive Inspector General, downloadable complaint
forms and a summary of the Ethics Act.
- The creation of an online annual
ethics training program, which has trained a total of over 115,000
state employees since its inception in January 2004, including 100
percent of the more than 60,000 state employees in the 40 agencies
under the governor.
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- The training of more than 54,000
employees of the nine university systems, with the goal of 100
percent compliance by the end of the calendar year.
- The training of more than 2,500
employees and appointees of over 300 state boards and commissions,
with the goal of 100 percent compliance by the end of the calendar
year.
- The intake of 1,781 complaints,
1,012 of which have been referred to other agencies or declined,
550 of which have been fully investigated and closed, and 219 of
which are under current investigation.
"We are very proud of all that we
have accomplished in just one year," said Z. Scott, the executive
inspector general. "We are grateful for the commitment and
tremendous support we have received from the Office of the Governor
and the agency directors. We look forward to continuing to play an
important role in promoting and protecting the integrity of the
Illinois state government for the citizens of the state."
The Office of Executive Inspector
General is an independent, nonpartisan office empowered to conduct
investigations of alleged unethical conduct by state employees and
state contractors. The office has jurisdiction over the governor,
the lieutenant governor, and officials, employees and appointees of
all agencies, boards and commissions under the governor, as well as
the nine public university systems. The Office of Executive
Inspector General, which has offices in both Chicago and
Springfield, has 42 employees, including 20 investigators.
The complete report, "A Celebration
of Integrity: A Special First Anniversary Report of the Office of
the Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois
Governor," is available at
http://www.inspectorgeneral.il.gov.
[News release from the
governor's office] |
