Lake County Gazette

State Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington) is warning Illinois residents not to believe the hype stemming from the state’s first credit rating upgrade in almost two decades.

“Illinois politicians claiming our credit rating trend is a sign we are being fiscally responsible is sad and pathetic,” McLaughlin posted on Facebook. “The federal bailout of Illinois enhanced our ability to temporarily pay obligations with our own money sent to Washington, borrowed from the Chinese, and charged on a credit card to our children and grandchildren. Without structural changes to our spending habits and addressing of our long term unsustainable liabilities, we will be right back where we were, hanging by our fingernails just above insolvency for our once great state.”

 McLaughlin has also been among those in Springfield leading the charge in the call for ethics reform.

In addition to longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan recently being forced from power after being implicated in a federal corruption probe involving ComEd, at least seven current or former state legislators, three Chicago aldermen and a Cook County commissioner have all recently been ensnared in criminal investigations.

"We have to hold elected officials to the highest ethical standards to get our state on a better path forward,” McLaughlin said in another post to Facebook. “Illinois needs robust ethics reform to end public corruption and earn back the trust of our residents. 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.”

Lawmakers in Springfield recently passed an ethics bill, yet many like McLaughlin insist it hardly goes far enough in doing the job that needs to be done.

While the measure bans constitutional officeholders from immediately becoming employed as lobbyists once their terms are over, McLauglin said, “one day I hope to see real ethics reforms implemented for the people of Illinois."