By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Republicans say the supermajority Democrats’ game on ethics is like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard — empty.
“I don’t have to state again the urgent need in Illinois for true and meaningful ethics reform,” said State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) during an online news conference Wednesday, “but this bill we may take up (Thursday) falls extremely short. We brought up many of our concerns with this bill in the debate on the House floor: suggestions like, why in the world in your bill are legislators allowed to lobby the city of Chicago?”
Another frequent argument: there should be a hard, one-year buffer between a legislative career and a lobbying career.
State Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian) has seen quite enough. “In my short tenure in Springfield, all I have seen is the majority party taking a go-it-alone approach to cleaning up this mess, ignoring real reforms and instead passing meaningless reforms that don’t get to the root of the problem.”
The House is in Thursday to debate energy legislation, though an ethics bill could also come up.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
