Quincy Reporter

Illinois state Rep. Jil Tracy says she and fellow Republicans are recommitting to bringing about the changes she argues are sorely needed in Springfield.

“The Republican caucus has a long history of supporting ethics reform, but today we are rededicating ourselves to fight the government corruption that has flourished under the Capitol Dome for years,” Tracy said during a news conference following the recent resignation of Legislative Inspector General (LIG) Carol Pope. “We’ve made some progress in the last year, but in the last six months Democrat lawmakers have done what they can to stymie the process and our progress.”

Tracy argues taxpayers across Illinois are being done a disservice by a system that allows the LIG post to sit empty and allows for no one in place to answer complaints lodged against lawmakers, or to investigate them.    

“The last quarterly report issued by our Inspector General mentions that as of Dec. 23, she has a complaint but she didn't open it because she felt like it was up to the next inspector general to proceed as they saw fit,” Tracy added. “So, it highlights just how important it is that we have an LIG in place, acting, with no gaps in the service. We had a search committee appointed by the four leaders last fall to interview the candidates that made application. Carol Pope made it clear July 14 that she would be leaving the post of LIG effective Dec.15th. So, the time of veto session presented the perfect opportunity for us to name and get in place a legislative inspector general.”

In making the decision to walk away, ABC 20 reported that Pope, a former appellate court judge, mentioned a lack of power to probe unethical conduct on the part of state lawmakers and an ethics reform bill now being weighed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that she considers counterproductive. Prior to Pope’s tenure, the General Assembly went four years without a permanent inspector general.

Tracy argues it adds up to one thing.

“Obviously, it's clear that legislative ethics is not a priority of the democratic majority powers,” she said. “It is to us the Senate Republicans and the House Republicans as well. We're going to try to keep making the public aware that there is not a method in place right now. There's not a person in place that will receive their complaints, but we're going to keep trying to get this rectified. It’s a disgrace to the people of Illinois who trust us.”

To counter, Tracy said she now plans to file Senate Bill 3030, which seeks to grant the LIG more powers while allowing for greater transparency.

“Senate Bill 3030 will give us more transparency. It would publish minutes. I know it's been a confusing process the way that LEC (Legislative Ethics Commission) operates, and I think we can operate with the same amount of confidentiality and retraction of names when a complaint has not been founded, but still there are ways that we can publish minutes and let the public hear our meetings and the like,” she said. “I think that would allow us to operate in a better manner and of course, all three of the past inspector generals have asked that they have subpoena power. Senate Bill 3030 would allow for that.”

In her resignation letter, Pope told The State Journal-Register she now views the LIG post as “essentially a paper tiger,” adding “I think it will be difficult to find someone of high integrity to take the job because of the limitations in the statute.”

Since testifying in front of the Joint Commission on Ethics Reform nearly two years ago, she added that all the issues she raised about her office are “still unimproved today.”