Lake County Gazette

As divided as they were on so many issues, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Springfield were united in their disgust in former longtime Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan’s connection with a federal corruption investigation, having vowed to beef up the state’s ethics laws.

It also appeared that the criminal investigations of seven current or former state legislators, three Chicago aldermen and one Cook County commissioner would be the wake-up call officials needed to tackle a nagging issue in Illinois politics.

But to hear one Republican state representative tell it, much of the General Assembly isn’t ready to embrace ethics reforms.

"We have to hold elected officials to the highest ethical standards to get our state on a better path forward. Illinois needs robust ethics reform to end public corruption and earn back the trust of our residents," Rep. Martin McLaughlin wrote in a Facebook post on June 8. "It is a shame that the dozens and dozens of House Republican ethics proposals filed this year were again thrown out by the House Democrats. One day, I hope to see real ethics reforms implemented for the people of Illinois."

Lawmakers passed an ethics bill yet the legislation barely scratches the surface on lawmakers’ need to do business.

The measure prohibits constitutional officeholders from immediately becoming employed as lobbyists once their terms are over, requiring a six-month waiting period.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the new time limit, however, doesn’t carry over into the next legislative session, enabling outgoing legislators to lobby the state some 24 hours after the end of their term.

A ban on legislators getting hired to lobby state or local governments had been implemented, but a loophole allows officials to lobby at the local level so as long as their client isn’t registered with the General Assembly, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.