Peoria Standard

Republicans “will continue to send a meaningful ethic reform package to the governor,” minority spokesperson for the Senate Ethics Committee and chairwoman of the Senate Ethics Commission, Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy), promised.

Tracy and the Senate GOP are committed to pushing what they consider as a true ethics reform.

“This year the Senate Republicans introduced more than a dozen bills aimed at curbing corruption in Illinois and holding legislators accountable for their actions,” Tracy stated at a news conference. “It is unfortunate that we seem to be meeting opposition every step of the way in our effort to reform the process.”

Senate Republicans' reaffirmation on their thrust to an enhanced ethics reform came on the heels of the resignation of Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope.

“As Chair of the LEC, I know the toll public corruption has taken on Illinois’ resources and residents,” Tracy said in a statement. “This Legislative Inspector General has done an outstanding job and we thank her for her commitment to better government. Our Caucus has long supported her efforts. It is unfortunate that the Majority legislative leaders did not make better use of her skills and her willingness to make some much-needed changes that would benefit ALL lawmakers. Ethics reform in Illinois has long been an ongoing challenge.”

She has earlier mentioned that despite a few ideas from them that have been considered in the final ethics bill package sent to the governor, Tracy said “there is no denying there is a lot more work to be done,” the Peoria Standard reported.

“There is no doubt that the accusations, probes, and indictments that have riddled the Majority Democrats caucus organization have many people, including us, concerned about the ethical standards and procedures of our state government,” Tracy said.

Determined to root out corruption in the state, she pledged that the caucus will “not give up on the need to enact stronger legislator-to-lobbyist revolving door (legislation) so that sitting legislators can't resign and become a lobbyist the very next day,” according to the Peoria Standard.

An anti-corruption report in February showed that the state had the highest federal public corruption convictions by Judicial District from 1976 to 2019. Illinois was also reported to be among the top 10 states with the most numbers of convictions per capita covering the same period.

Pope announced her resignation would be effective Dec. 15.