South Central Reporter

State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) argues that Senate Bill 539 doesn’t go as far as needed to bring about the level of ethics reform needed in Springfield.

"This bill was sorely lacking in substance,” Bourne recently tweeted. “With so many investigations ongoing, people have very low trust in state government. We need reform that’s serious, broader & a lot stronger. We have the opportunity and obligation to pass real ethics reform. Let’s get it done."

SB 539 bans government officials from engaging in some forms of compensated lobbying while expanding what falls under the umbrella of being considered a lobbyist. The measure also expands public reporting of lobbyist activities and puts in place a provision aimed at curtailing the “revolving door” of lawmakers resigning only to soon return to Springfield as lobbyists targeting former colleagues.

Bourne aggressively lobbied Gov. J.B. Pritzker to issue an amendatory veto to the legislation that eventually passed on the final day of the session, citing now-former Legislative Inspector General (LIG) Carol Pope referring to provisions in SB 539 that limit the jurisdiction of the LIG in her resignation letter.

“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,” Bourne added in a post to her website. “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.”

While conceding that the measure features elements Republicans have long pushed for, such as giving General Assembly members pro-rated pay when they resign rather than for a full month and banning fundraisers the day before and after legislative sessions, Bourne isn’t convinced the good outweighs the bad.

“Some of our worst concerns were realized," she said after Pope walked away. “And we realized at that point this is clearly not enough."

In her resignation letter, Pope questioned if “true ethics reform” is a priority in Springfield based on the way SB 539 seeks to restrict the LIG’s jurisdiction by requiring the filing of a complaint before the LIG can officially launch an investigation. Without major changes, she said the position amounts to “a paper tiger.”