Lake County Gazette

For Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods), ethics should not be a partisan matter. He called on Gov. Pritzker and Democratic lawmakers to support anti-corruption measures during a Senate Republican-held press conference on May 17.

McConchie filed SB1350 in February amending the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, but it has not moved on the floor since March. On May 13, Sen. John F. Curran (R-Downers Grove) filed an amendment to the bill, which the caucus announced at the conference.

“We continue to have a situation here in the state in which the attorney general is not allowed to actually be able to use all of the tools that should be at his disposal,” McConchie said. “This is about fundamentally reforming a system that doesn't allow us to police our own house. I believe it's un-American, it's unfair, and it's just fundamentally wrong…so I call upon the governor and the Senate Democrats to support these very important anti-corruption initiatives.”

McConchie emphasized that there should be a common goal of making the system better and pieces of legislation aimed to achieve the objective should be discussed.

“There's no reason not to bring Republican ideas forward,” he said. “Let's have a debate on those.”

He recalled Pritzker’s 2020 State of the State address when the governor said “We must root out the purveyors of greed and corruption in both parties whose presence infects the bloodstream of government. It's no longer enough to sit idle while under-the-table deals, extortion or bribery persist. Protecting that culture or tolerating it is no longer acceptable. We must take action to restore the public's trust in government. That is why we need to pass real, lasting ethics reform this legislative session.”

“Governor, we agree.” McConchie said after recalling Pritzker’s statement. “But unfortunately, since that point, since he spoke these words, what, 14 months ago, the governor has sat idle on the sidelines.”

Republican lawmkers have been pushing for ethics reform through several measures but with a few days left in the session, they get more frustrated that these bills have not been heard.

The House Republicans offered an "End the Silence on Illinois Corruption" petition urging for a special session on ethics reform.