Peoria Standard

In response to the multiple scandals that have been once again rocking the Illinois General Assembly, members of the state Senate Republican Caucus have offered up for consideration a series of bills intended to begin cleaning the state House – and state Senate – of corruption and misuse of power.

The package of bills centers around enhancing investigative authority and ensuring legislators are serving the public’s interest, according to state Sen. Chuck Weaver (R-Peoria).

“Right now, the actions of corrupt elected officials and the legislature's lack of action to address the root of the corruption has undermined the public’s trust," Weaver said. “With all of the recent scandals involving legislators, we cannot afford to wait any longer to pass meaningful ethics reform.”

To remedy the problem of investigative authority, Republican lawmakers have proposed three pieces of legislation intended to give more authority to those charged with rooting out abuses of power in the General Assembly. Those added powers would include giving wiretap authority to states attorneys; giving the Attorney General the power to impanel a grand jury to pursue charges against members of the General Assembly; and removing the requirement holding back the Legislative Inspector General that the Legislative Ethics Commission approve any investigation of a member of the General Assembly before it can begin. The Legislative Ethics Commission would also be composed of members of the public rather than legislators.

Senate Republicans have also put forward four bills to reduce the opportunities legislators would have to engage in corrupt activities. Provisions of those bills include banning legislators from lobbying other branches of government or units of local government for compensation; prohibiting former legislators from working as lobbyists for at least a year after leaving office; prohibiting a former legislator from using their campaign fund in lobbying activities after leaving office; and adding a disclosure of potential conflicts of interest to the Statement of Economic Interest.