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FEDERAL
COVID-19 RELIEF GOING TO ILLINOIS DEBT RATHER THAN BUSINESS RELIEF
Illinois Policy Institute/
Brad Weisenstein
Tim Mapes, longtime chief of staff to
former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, pleaded ‘not guilty’ to
federal charges he lied to a grand jury about Madigan and bribery.
Strong ethics reforms can help fix Illinois’ culture of corruption. |
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 Illinois state lawmakers can still take a strong stand on
corruption as they enter the final hours of the legislative session, a move that
might stop them from being in the position Tim Mapes was May 28.
Mapes, former chief of staff to former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan,
pleaded “not guilty” to federal charges that he lied to a grand jury during
questioning amid the Commonwealth Edison scandal. He was granted immunity in
March, but then gave false testimony about Madigan’s relationship to confidant
Mike McClain.
McClain was charged as the architect of a $1.3 million bribery scheme to win
Madigan’s nod on legislation worth $150 million to electricity giant
Commonwealth Edison. Mapes was questioned about his role as the conduit between
Madigan and McClain.
Federal prosecutors clearly timed Mapes’ indictment to send a message to the
Statehouse. Lawmakers appear to have heard.
“I think it’s critically important because it’s the first step to helping
reestablish the public’s trust in the General Assembly and the legislative
process,” state Sen. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, told the Chicago
Sun-Times. “The scandals we’ve had over the last couple of years have really
raised a lot of questions for people, and I think it’s important that they see
that we’re serious about this.”
She said her ethics bill, Senate Bill 4, is being amended to strengthen the
measures and incorporating ideas from the Republicans’ proposal, Senate Bill
1350, and other ideas.
That’s encouraging from a group that understands they don’t have the public’s
trust and need to do something meaningful about it. Illinoisans are watching and
will know if lawmakers just pay lip service to this important issue.
SB 4 should be strengthened as follows:
Strengthen financial disclosures for public officials. Lawmakers’ financial
disclosure forms are mockingly known as “none” sheets because the questions are
so vague that lawmakers can answer “none” to most of the questions. SB 4 expands
and simplifies the requirements for lawmakers to disclose each source of income
above $1,200, each asset worth more than $5,000 and creditors holding debt above
$5,000, including for their spouse or minor children. The new statements would
also require lawmakers to reveal if their spouse works in government and any
relationships with lobbyists. Disclosure requirements should expanded to include
the economic interests of lawmaker’s close family members so they cannot easily
avoid revealing potential conflicts of interest.
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End lawmaker lobbying. The bill prohibits
lawmakers, executive branch constitutional officers and elected
officials of units of local governments from being employed as
lobbyists while holding office, but only if the lobbying firm is
registered to lobby the General Assembly or the executive branch in
the case of members of the General Assembly, and only if the
lobbying firm is registered to lobby the local government over which
they preside in the case of local government officials. The bill
needs to close that loophole to bar members of the General Assembly
from lobbying for compensation in Illinois, period.
Stop the revolving door. Lawmakers can quit today
and return to the Statehouse tomorrow as lobbyists paid to influence
their former peers. SB 4 should be amended to lock the revolving
door for at least a year, in line with most other states.
Free the legislative watchdog. The legislative inspector general is
controlled by a group of eight lawmakers, who can stop the inspector
general from investigating their peers or even reporting results
when wrongdoing is found. SB 4 should free the inspector general to
conduct investigations into complaints and publish any findings of
wrongdoing without seeking permission. The inspector general’s
oversight body, the Legislative Ethics Commission, should consist of
members who are not state employees, lobbyists or politicians.
A few other fixes. SB 4 should prohibit lobbyists from serving as
the officer or candidate of a candidate’s political committee. The
authority of a statewide grand jury should be expanded to
investigate public corruption crimes, a change supported by Illinois
Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Lawmakers may be worried about the public trust when it comes to
asking for reelection and tax increases, but they should also pass
ethics reforms to hit at the harsh costs of corruption.
Nearly 79,000 more Illinoisans live in poverty than otherwise would
were Illinois to lower its corruption rate to the U.S. average,
according to an Illinois Policy Institute analysis. The Institute
also found corruption cost each Illinoisan $830 between 2000 and
2018.
A stronger SB 4 is how state lawmakers can begin to regain public
trust and prove they are really making a break with Madigan-style
public corruption.
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