State Representative Ryan Spain (il) | Representative Ryan Spain (R) 73rd District Deputy Republican Leader
State Representative Ryan Spain (il) | Representative Ryan Spain (R) 73rd District Deputy Republican Leader
State lawmakers in Springfield concluded their committee deadline week without passing any ethics reform legislation. House Republicans expressed frustration with their Democratic colleagues for not bringing any bills addressing corruption to a committee vote.
There is a belief among some lawmakers that this session was an opportune moment to demonstrate their commitment to closing the "lawmaker to lobbyist revolving door" and ending the use of campaign funds for defense against public corruption charges.
"When Democratic politicians were arrested, indicted, charged, convicted and incarcerated, we waited for action," stated Rep Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis). "We’ve been disappointed time after time."
Currently, all Republican-proposed ethics reforms are stalled at the House Rules Committee unless Democratic leadership chooses to extend the deadline for committee discussions on these bills.
The House Ethics & Elections Committee has been focusing solely on election-related bills in its hearings since January, with ethics reform remaining an outstanding issue.
The original full story, authored by Mike Miletich, is available on WAND News.
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