Will County Gazette

Illinois state Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) has filed a pair of bills she hopes will pave the way for ethics reform in Springfield.

House Bill 3997 would prohibit lawmakers who retire from office from taking a post as a lobbyist throughout the duration of their term or for one year, whichever is longer. House Bill 3998 would require sitting lawmakers to include on a statement of economic interest the identity of any client or entity with whom the person making the statement, or their spouse, has financial dealings.

HB 3998 would also require that the lawmaker reveal if they or their spouse has accumulated any income beyond salary as a member of the General Assembly during the preceding calendar year related to that association. All of McDermed’s work on these bills comes in direct response to the spate of federal corruption probes still playing out in Springfield that find numerous Democratic state lawmakers at the center of the investigations.

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago)

“Our side of the aisle has concerns about the seriousness of this commission and the commitment of the majority party to actually make substantive changes,” McDermed, who filed her legislation to coincide with the first scheduled meeting of a newly formed ethics and lobbying reform committee, said in a press release. “To say I was disappointed that a year filled with countless ethical violations and criminal federal probes resulted in the legislature doing nothing but creating yet another commission is an understatement. There’s some obvious low-hanging fruit we can tackle right away.”

The veteran legislator also argues that Monday's first meeting of the task force likely will not attract as much attention as it could, given its close proximity to the holiday. But McDermed is doing everything she can, including joining a group of GOP lawmakers who recently demanded the resignation of longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago), under whose watch much of the corruption and dysfunction has taken root.  

“Legislation that would have brought forth meaningful change was blocked while Democrats approved ethics reform bills that have no hope of improving ethics in Springfield,” McDermed said in a separate release. “Speaker Madigan has the power to advance or kill legislation, and he controls the committee process through his House rules.”