Illinois state Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills)
Illinois state Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills)
Veteran Illinois state Rep. David McSweeney’s (R-Barrington Hills) dogged push to bring ethics reform legislation to Springfield is picking up momentum.
“It's time to get serious about stopping corruption in Illinois,” McSweeney said in a post to Facebook. “The adoption of my bill to add five years of prison time for lawmakers convicted of a felony would send a signal that we're beginning to get tough on corruption."
House Bill 3951 is a direct response to the flood of ongoing federal corruption probes that now find various state lawmakers at the center. Over the last month alone, veteran state Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) was forced to walk away from his seat in the 3rd District after being arrested on federal bribery charges, and longtime state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) was pressured into relinquishing his post as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee after being implicated in an ongoing kickback scheme.
“We need to end corruption in the state of Illinois,” McSweeney said in a separate video post to Facebook. “We need to lock up corrupt legislators.”
McSweeney is also pushing legislation that would require that all reports filed with the legislative inspector general be made public when instances of misconduct are alleged.
“You deserve to know,” he said. “Enough cover-ups here in Springfield by insiders that have been here too long.”
McSweeney previously told the Daily Herald that the state has now become a “national laughingstock” and he’s convinced only strong action will bring about substantive change.
“Citizens are sick and tired of the corruption in the General Assembly and throughout the state," he said. "We need action now, not task forces."
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