From the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette:

June 9, 2003

EDITORIAL

Ethics reform bill a start but not enough

The Illinois General Assembly passed an ethics reform bill on the last day of its spring session -- only it wasn't the broad, far-
reaching piece of legislation that had been on the table for most of the spring. Some of the reforms that most affected lawmakers, such as limits on meals paid by lobbyists or on the number of golf outings lawmakers could accept from lobbyists, were removed. Also eliminated was an important provision that would have created two commissions to hear ethics complaints.

The legislation was watered down, and advocates of reform have every right to be disappointed. But the bill sent to Gov. Rod Blagojevich is an improvement that should be signed into law. Once that is done, work can begin anew on further strengthening Illinois' ethics laws.

Here are some of the improvements in HB 3412. It broadens the scope of workers covered by ethics laws to include temporary and contractual workers. It requires electronic filing of lobbyist registration and gift reports. It bars any more state-funded public service announcements by candidates during election campaigns, such as those ads for the College Illinois savings program with State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. It bans state employees from directly going to work for a state contractor after leaving state employment. It would require most state employees to undergo ethics training (it remains to be seen how thorough that will be). It would prohibit offering or promising employment or promotions in exchange for campaign contributions.

Those and other provisions are good, but not enough. Citizens must let their legislators know that more reform is needed, lest Illinois government continue as the nation's laughingstock.

There have been complaints that this ethics proposal lacks teeth. That's not entirely true. As long as there are aggressive federal and state prosecutors -- and, thankfully, we have aggressive federal prosecutors -- lawbreakers will feel the heat. But not all ethics concerns rise to the level of violations, nor do all missteps require prosecution. That's where the proposal for ethics
commissions for the legislative and executive branches makes sense. Ethics commissions, as explained by Cindi Canary of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, could serve as a guide to ethical behavior in political offices.

HB 3412 is a baby step toward reform. We'll be interested to see whether Gov. Blagojevich signs the legislation and, if he does, whether he thinks it goes far enough. We hope he has the courage to push the Legislature to do more.