McLean County Times

State Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason) and other Senate Republicans remain hopeful that ethics reform can happen when a new legislative inspector general is named. Turner discussed what authority LIGs should have.

LIG Carol Pope recently announced her resignation saying that her role is “essentially a paper tiger.”

“It’s precisely her job to act as the protector and to make sure that the legislature is doing everything it should be doing,” Turner said.

Pope exits from her position on Dec. 15. Turner said that it is critical to understand the function and needs of a certain role for the person to efficiently execute tasks and responsibilities.

“I think it’s important that we look to the person running that office to find out what is it they need in order for them to effectively do their job," she said.

The Senate Republicans who have been advocating for ethics reform and have introduced a number of measures, previously said that the Senate Ethics Committee was slow to act. The committee’s first meeting was in April, almost four months after the start of the 102nd General Assembly — even months after corruption studies reveal how corrupt the Illinois government is.  

“It was Carol’s job in order to handle those things without having interference from anyone from the legislature,” Turner said. “And I think that that is how it looks right now is that there could be interference.”

Research conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Political Science showed the state had the highest number of federal public corruption convictions by Judicial District from 1976 to 2019 and is included in the top 10 states with the most convictions per capita during the same period, according to Peoria Standard.

Pope offered her testimony on Ethics Reform at a joint hearing over a year ago. Since that time Pope noted that apart from a provision in HB 539 that would let the inspector general initiate an investigation, all of the issues she raised about her office “are still unimproved today.”