From the Peoria Journal Star

Tougher ethics bill should improve political climate

November 7, 2003

Cindy Canary has been around Springfield long enough to understand the limits of legislation to police the Legislature. So the head of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform is pragmatic about the value of the ethics bill before the General Assembly.
"The bottom line is if somebody absolutely wants to be a crook, they'll be a crook. Do our laws against murders stop murders? No. But I think that this will help us catch people who are doing the wrong thing a lot earlier, and it will help people who are trying to do the right thing know which direction to turn," Canary says. "So don't expect perfect, but do expect better."
Indeed, Canary says the most valuable element in the ethics legislation is the message it sends to those who work for the state, to its citizens and to lawmakers themselves. That message is that Illinois will no longer tolerate official corruption. Those who flaunt that premise will face public embarrassment and criminal prosecution.
Of course, if the General Assembly fails to pass an ethics bill, it will send the opposite message. Lawmakers effectively will be saying that they intend to tolerate corruption.
For that reason alone, the Legislature must pass an ethics bill this month, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich must sign it. This shouldn't be much of a problem. Blagojevich has threatened to call a special session if necessary. And lawmakers, who resisted passing the full package in the spring, are starting to sound like Jimmy Carter.
Oversight and education are the key elements of the proposal. Inspectors general would examine the activities of every statewide officeholder and of the Legislature. Ethics committees would oversee the inspectors to make sure they remain independent. Whistleblowers would get protection from retaliation.
Annual ethics training would be provided every state employee. The idea may sound simplistic - people should know right from wrong - but Canary says state employees pressured to do political work too often don't know how to say no or where to turn for advice and reinforcement. Training would educate them and their bosses about what's permissible and what's not.
The bill also requires public disclosure of those found guilty of wrongdoing.
Ethics legislation won't make Illinois politicians pure, but it should help change the climate in a state which has to date convicted 58 in the license-for-bribes scandal. And a climate change in Illinois is long overdue.