Peoria Standard

State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) views the passage of Senate Bill 539, an ethics reform measure, as just the beginning in the fight to bring real reform to Springfield.

“There are some provisions in here that I think we like, but I think you’re also hearing the frustration from our side that we need to go much further,” Butler said in a video posted to YouTube. “It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s a lot more work to do.”

One of Butler’s biggest gripes about the bill is that it will still allow sitting legislators to act as lobbyists for local governments.

“The Luis Arroyo loophole continues,” he said. “As a member of the General Assembly he was a registered lobbyist as well,” he said. “That won’t change. We had the chairman of the city appropriations committee standing back here tonight. He is a registered lobbyist in the city of Chicago right now. That won’t change.”

Arroyo (D-Chicago) was forced to step down after being hit with bribery charges, and not long after that Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) pleaded not guilty to federal embezzlement charges and collecting more than $250,000 in salary and benefits from a Teamsters ghost job.

Since then, former longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan was shown the door after being implicated in a pay-for-play scheme involving utility giant ComEd.

“I hope we continue in a bipartisan fashion, not with bills dropped in the middle of the night at the end of session,” Butler said of the push for reform. “Let’s work as a team on this and get it done for the people of Illinois.”

Butler has also been a major voice in the fight over redistricting, arguing that a fairer process would go a long way in ending some of the corruption now plaguing Springfield.

"A fair map means we're going to have more balance in the General Assembly," he said. "We're going to have more balance demographically, and we're probably going to have more balance when it comes to Republicans and Democrats. Having a super-majority of one party over the other does not lead to good legislation and having a fair map keeps corruption at bay."