State Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) says Senate Bill 539 will compel officials to act according to what is expected of them.
Curran is pleased to work with state Sen. Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) and be the lead Senate Republican in crafting an ethics legislation package to improve transparency in the state.
"Through Senate Bill 539 we will hold elected officials to a higher ethical standard," Curran said. "We will also provide our legislative Inspector General the ability to independently investigate allegations of political corruption without first coming to the body comprised of legislators for approval.”
He stressed the significance of a few priorities that have been considered part of the reform.
"We wanted to strengthen the statement of economic interest to make them more robust, more transparent and more user-friendly for the public as they look to hold us accountable,” Curran said. “We wanted a ban on legislators acting as lobbyists for local governmental bodies. What we got were very tightened restrictions which will be a big step forward."
Serving as a prosecutor for 19 years in Cook County prior to being elected to the Illinois State Senate, Curran saw the need to have the necessary tools to clean the government.
"We wanted to tighten restrictions on the allowable uses of campaign funds,” he said. “We wanted to untie the hands of the legislative Inspector General so he or she has greater autonomy to investigate allegations of political corruption."
Senate Bill 539 amends various acts and provisions including the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act, State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, modifying requirements concerning the Executive Ethics Commission and the Legislative Ethics Commission, and the General Assembly Act among others.
The bill has passed both chambers and has been sent to Gov. J.B Pritzker for his approval.
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