From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Springfield vote will tell who wants to end corruption

Editorial

June 15, 2003

Ethics are everybody's best friend. Saying you're not for them is like saying you're not for kittens and puppies. But in the political arena, when you get away from ethics as a concept and endeavor to legislate standards of conduct, not everything is sweetness and light. Just ask Gov. Blagojevich, who saw the Senate wiggle and waffle on an attempt to curb corruption in Springfield by watering down his ethics bill.

After the House passed legislation last month that erected prohibitive borders between official and political activities by state workers and tightened lobbying and fund-raising rules, the Senate gutted the bill by removing provisions for its enforcement. Not about to settle for that, Blagojevich last week said he would issue an amendatory veto--as is his right under the Illinois Constitution--to put the teeth back in the language.

Under the provisions of his rewritten bill, which draws on ethics laws in other states while incorporating sweeping powers that will be unique to Illinois, there will be a seven-member ethics commission (four members appointed by the governor and three by the highest-ranking state Republican, currently Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka). There also will be an ethics inspector general with broad subpoena powers and the oversight to investigate complaints--something sorely lacking when scandals clouded the Ryan administration.

Not surprisingly, the proposal drew its share of boo-birds, who attacked it as an attempt by the governor to extend his powers for political purposes. "Who watches him?" asked Topinka, questioning his power to name an ethics commissar. That, of course, is not an unreasonable question. Nothing an elected official does takes place in a political vacuum. But what's good for the governor can also be good for the people. The primary intent of this bill is to make every state employee accountable to ethics rules, including the chief executive, and to restore a climate of openness and fairness at a time when federal corruption investigations are still in full swing in Springfield.

As is, the Senate's ethics legislation allows special interests to ply state officials with unlimited golf and food and other recreational perks. The rewritten bill would close loopholes by imposing a $75-a-day limit on food and drink offerings. Blagojevich's changes to current "revolving door" limits, by which a state employee who has negotiated a $25,000 contract with a firm must wait a year before going to work for it, would prohibit officials who have "participated personally and substantially in the subject matter of transaction" from profiting. State officials also will be banned from appearing in public service announcements.

When lawmakers meet in the fall, they will vote to accept the changes, reject them or let the bill die. Choice (a) is the recommended course: The time to chase the stench of corruption is sooner, not later. This is a good way to start doing just that.