“Unfortunately, the Illinois General Assembly continues to do business the same way it has always done, with no oversight, no checks and balances and no true ethics reform,” Rep. Jim Durkin said. | repdurkin.com
“Unfortunately, the Illinois General Assembly continues to do business the same way it has always done, with no oversight, no checks and balances and no true ethics reform,” Rep. Jim Durkin said. | repdurkin.com
House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) reasons there’s a good reason why Illinois Democrats are rejecting many of the recommendations made by the search committee aiding in selecting a new Legislative Inspector General.
“A reasonable person would think that members of the General Assembly would want a strong Legislative Inspector General to regain public trust and send a clear signal that the old ways are done, that it really is a new day in Illinois,” Durkin posted on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the Illinois General Assembly continues to do business the same way it has always done, with no oversight, no checks and balances and no true ethics reform.”
Insisting the watchdog position is “essentially a paper tiger,” Carol Pope abruptly announced last summer she was walking away from the position she held for nearly two years. In her resignation letter, Pope hinted for her the last straw came when state lawmakers approved an ethics reform package that would not give the office the power it needs to effectively conduct its own investigations of alleged wrongdoing by lawmakers or their staff.
“This last legislative session demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority,” she added. “The [Legislative Inspector General] has no real power to effect change or shine a light on ethics violations.”
Pope’s decision came amid an ongoing federal corruption involving ComED that has already led to several indictments of lobbyists, past and current lawmakers, and former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff. After more than four decades of being in power, Madigan also walked away from his Speaker post.
Appointed in 2019, Pope had sought the power to be able to issue subpoenas without first having to gain approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission, a bipartisan panel of eight lawmakers. She added she was handcuffed to the point of not being able to launch an investigation even if she reads about potential wrongdoing involving a legislator in the news without first receiving a formal complaint.
“I am unable to remain in a position where I cannot be as effective as I hoped to be,” she wrote.
Pope replaced Julie Porter, who had also complained that some of her findings were not publicly released.
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