Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Seth Lewis (R-Bartlett) views Legislative Inspector General Carol’s Pope’s sudden resignation as a desperate call to action in Springfield.

“This week, the Legislative Inspector General resigned because the legislature makes it impossible to do her job,” Lewis posted on Facebook. “The time for real ethics reform is now. Today, I joined with colleagues from the Illinois House of Representatives to call on Gov. Pritzker to issue an amendatory veto to SB 539 to enact meaningful reform.”

A former judge and prosecutor, Pope stressed in her resignation letter that too often she felt handcuffed while serving in the position.

“This last legislative session demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority,” she said. “The LIG has no real power to effect change or shine a light on ethics violations; the position is essentially a paper tiger.”

While Pope said she still holds out hope that the General Assembly will be able to find a quality replacement for her, "I think it will be difficult to find someone of high integrity to take the job because of the limitations in the statute,” she said.

For anyone sitting in the seat to have any chance of doing their job, Pope said the position needs more independence, with the LIG having the power to issue subpoenas and reports without first being required to get the approval of the bipartisan Legislative Ethics Commission.

Since appearing before a Joint Commission to offer testimony on Ethics Reform nearly 18 months ago, Pope said all of the issues she raised about her office “are still unimproved today” with the exception of a provision in HB 539 that would let the inspector general initiate an investigation.