Chambana Sun

Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) used the last day of the legislative session to lament that no serious attempt was made at ethics reform.

"Here we are, it's Groundhog Day for me, four years, four end-of-sessions and still no ethics reform. Year after year, none," Caulkins said April 9 from the House floor. "We did pass some bill that was termed ethics reform … We now have another member of this body under investigation and we still have not addressed ethics reform. The people of this state look at this body and they lump us all together and it's beyond the pale. We have to make a commitment that we must address ethics reform if we're going to restore the confidence and the trust of the people of this state. Another year has gone by without it and it's a tragedy."

Caulkins was referring to Rep. Thaddeus Jones (D-South Holland), who is also the mayor of Calumet City. Jones is under federal investigation, though no charges have been filed.

In January, the U.S. Attorney's Office issued a grand jury subpoena to the Illinois State Board of Elections regarding three campaign funds that were under Jones' charge.

The January subpoena was seeking quarterly campaign reports that dated back to 2015 for three funds: Jones for Mayor, Jones for State Representative and Citizens for Jones.