East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) gets a good chuckle anytime he hears about the new ethics plan now being pushed by Democrats.

“I think anytime you hear Democrats talking about getting serious about ethics reform you have to take it tongue and cheek just based on what we’ve experienced,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “In the last year, Republicans have filed somewhere around 30 reform bills that never even saw the light of day.”

With longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) now embroiled in a widening federal corruption probe involving utility giant ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme, a group of democratic legislators are now pushing a package of nine reform measures they insist will quickly lead to the kind of culture change in Springfield most agree is critically needed.

Topping the list of proposals are measures that would ban legislators from becoming lobbyists, require greater financial disclosures, establish a censure process, make the legislative inspector general more independent, and institute term limits.

Miller argues it’ll take a lot of heavy lifting to get from here to there.

“They’ve made a mockery of everything,” he said. "I’ve heard Madigan has spent almost $2 million on lawyers since the beginning of year. Most times people don’t lawyer up like that unless there is some need. All of these things are pointing to the extreme ethics violations involving Democrats.”

Miller adds it’s not enough for Democrats to just talk about there being change.

“You have to see the change in behavior to believe they’re actually serious,” he said. “The reality is Illinois has become a laughingstock when we should be the brightest, shining city in the Midwest.”

In the end, Miller said the reform has to run as deep as the corruption..

“And that’s layered and layered, so it has to be the same,” he said. “We can’t just think ousting Madigan will clean up everything. So many people are attached to cronyism and that also needs to be addressed.”