Illinois State House District 104 issued the following announcement on Nov. 13.
State Representative Mike Marron (R-Fithian) is sponsoring a new package of tougher ethics laws he says is aimed at stamping out corruption and self-dealing in Illinois government.
“I want to address the extreme events that have taken place over the last several weeks that have led to an outpouring of constituent concern over government corruption,” Marron said. “I have received many inquiries about disturbing news reports regarding members of the General Assembly being investigated or arrested for corrupt activity. I want to let everyone in the 104th District to know that I have signed on as a co-sponsor to a package of tougher ethics bills being supported by the House Republican Caucus.”
“We must restore confidence in the General Assembly and give the people of Illinois a State Government they can trust and respect,” Marron said. “These ethics reform bills are just the first step, but I am urging that we join together to pass them during this final week of the Veto Session!”
The House Republican ethics package includes:
House Bill 3954 will revise statement of economic interests to include more details similar to the information required for judicial statement of economic interest forms. This forces full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and provides greater transparency for members of the General Assembly.
HJRCA 36 will require a special election to fill General Assembly vacancies through the same laws governing our party primaries. This will prevent political power brokers from picking their preferred candidates for the vacancies.
House Resolution 588 will allow a chief sponsor of any bill with five co-sponsors from each party to call it for an up or down vote in a substantive committee.
House Bill 3947 would ban members of the General Assembly, their spouses, and immediate live-in family members from performing paid lobbying work with local government units. Currently, members of the Illinois General Assembly – state representatives and state senators – are prohibited from lobbying the State of Illinois, but are not prohibited from lobbying local government units, such as counties or municipalities.
House Bill 3955 will create mandatory and publicly available documentation of General Assembly communications with any state agency regarding contracts.
“Another bill we feel is very important to address corruption in the long-term would trigger a “revolving-door” ban for legislators that wish to become lobbyists,” Marron said. “HB 165 would prevent a member of the General Assembly from becoming a lobbyist or engaging in lobbying efforts in Springfield for a period of two years after leaving office. This measure has been stuck in Speaker Madigan’s House Rules Committee since its introduction in January 2019.”
“As your State Representative, I vowed to the people of the 104th District that I would stand up against the status quo and fight for the majority of Illinoisans that have always wanted a fair, responsible representative body,” Marron said. “I will do my best to build consensus and help move these bills out of Committee. I hope Speaker Madigan will finally allow these bills to be debated by the whole General Assembly, and hopefully we can start making inroads on the rampant corruption that continues to plague our state.”
Original source can be found here.
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