DeKalb Times

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has neither signed nor vetoed omnibus ethics reform legislation after House Republicans called for an amendatory veto following the resignation of the state legislature's latest Legislative Inspector General.

Senate Bill 539, which makes changes to the state's ethics laws and would take effect Jan. 1 if Pritzker signs it, passed both houses on the last day of the most recent legislative session and was sent to the governor's office on June 30.

About two weeks later, Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope tendered her resignation, saying her office is "essentially a paper tiger" and that she can't do her job without permission from the legislators she's supposed to be watching, The Center Square reported.

Before Pope's announced resignation, some Republican lawmakers and conservatives offered praise for SB 539, Illinois Policy reported, particularly provisions that would prevent lawmakers from immediately becoming lobbyists. But the entire Republican House Caucus declared otherwise after Pope, in her resignation letter, cited provisions in SB 539 that would further limit jurisdiction of the Legislative Inspector General.

"There are very tiny aspects of this bill that are necessary, but it barely scratches the surface of what truly needs to be accomplished to clean up our state government and produce real ethics reform," state House Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) said in a statement issued two days after Pope's resignation letter. "The biggest fault of this bill is that it limits the Legislative Inspector General, who is supposed to be an independent watchdog over the legislature. At a time when we have seen countless elected officials indicted and ongoing federal investigations — we need stronger anti-corruption reforms to restore the public's trust."

Bourne, who debated SB 539 on the House Floor and ultimately was among 113 yeas in favor of passage against five nays, was among the Republican lawmakers who sent a letter on July 16 to Pritzker asking for a rethink on SB 539.

"With the news of the Legislative Inspector General resigning her post and citing the recently passed Senate Bill 539 as one key reason she cannot remain in the post, there must be strong and decisive action to reform our state's Ethics Act," the letter said. "We must truly empower the Legislative Inspector General to be an independent watchdog. We are calling on you to take the first step and issue an amendatory veto to SB 539."

The Legislative Inspector General office has been a volatile place for years. Pope was appointed to succeed former assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Porter, who was herself appointed on an interim basis in 2018 to deal with a backlog of 27 ethics complaints against lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly, the Prairie State Wire reported. The seat had been vacant for about three years prior to that, and Porter's appointment followed sexual harassment allegations against now-disgraced former Sen. Ira Silverstein.

Pope was appointed to replace Porter in December 2018.

The following April, Porter said in a Chicago Tribune op-ed that the Legislative Inspector General's office is not independent, as it's supposed to be, because it's overseen by the very people the office is supposed to monitor.

"Unless and until the legislature changes the structure and rules governing the LIG, it is a powerless role, and no LIG — no matter how qualified, hardworking and persistent — can effectively serve the public," Porter said in her op-ed.

The structure and rules have not changed during Pope's time in the office, though she did ask for reforms when she testified before the House and Senate ethics committees this past spring. Pope asked to be able to issue subpoenas without first seeking approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission, publish investigation reports and create another seat on the ethics commission for a nonpartisan, not-legislative member.

"None of these reforms were adopted," Pope wrote in her resignation letter.

"When I took this job as the Legislative Inspector General, I thought I might be able to make a difference working from the inside," Pope said in the letter. "I thought I could be useful in improving the public's view of the legislature and help bring about true ethics reform. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do so. This last legislative session demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority."

Ethics reform bills that Pope did request, Senate Bill 551, Senate Bill 1870, Senate Bill 2529 and Senate Bill 4014, all were introduced into the state Senate, but Ethics & Elections Committee Chairperson Sen. Kelly M. Burke (D-Oak Lawn) did not call any of those bills for a hearing.  

Senate Republicans introduced their own comprehensive ethics package, Senate Bill 1350, but it also stalled in committee.

The day she received Pope's letter of resignation, Senate Assistant Minority Leader and Legislative Ethics Commission Chair Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy), a SB 551 and SB 1350 sponsor, issued a statement saying she agreed there is a need for more ethics reform in the state Legislature.

"As Chair of the LEC, I know the toll public corruption has taken on Illinois’ resources and residents," Tracy said in her statement. “This Legislative Inspector General has done an outstanding job and we thank her for her commitment to better government. Our Caucus has long supported her efforts. It is unfortunate that the Majority legislative leaders did not make better use of her skills and her willingness to make some much-needed changes that would benefit ALL lawmakers. Ethics reform in Illinois has long been an ongoing challenge."