Chambana Sun

Veteran state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) is keeping an open mind about how the ethical reform he insists absolutely has to come to Springfield ultimately arrives.

“I’ll say it’s better late than never,” Caulkins told the Chambana Sun of a push now coming from Democrats for a package of reforms measure. “It’s an encouraging sign that maybe (House Speaker) Mike Madigan may be losing his iron grip on his caucus a bit. Hopefully they’ve had enough as well and are even willing to go out on their own to push for reform.”

With Madigan now embroiled in a widening federal corruption probe involving utility giant ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme, some Democrat legislators are now pushing a package of nine reform measures they insist will quickly lead to the kind of culture change in Springfield most agree is critically needed. Heading the list of proposals are measures that would ban legislators from becoming lobbyists, require greater financial disclosures, establish a censure process, make the legislative inspector general more independent, and institute term limits.

“We’ll see,” Caulkins added. “I don’t want to be too critical because you want to encourage Democrats to continue their reform push. We’ve got bills we proposed as far back as last year. So, it’s way past time.”

On a political front, Caulkins said pressuring Democrats to now actually get something done on the issue could blunt all talk of Republicans not being able to get anything accomplished in Springfield given their minority party standing.

“I look forward to perhaps co-sponsoring something if it’s real,” he said. “Ethics reform is not a partisan issue; it applies to every member of the General Assembly. This is something we should have come together to do a long time ago.”

As for Madigan, Caulkins said he doesn’t expect the state’s longest-serving lawmaker to make any of it easy, especially when it comes to relinquishing any of his power or influence.

“Speaker Madigan is a very disciplined, strong-willed person and he’ll seek to go out on his terms or have to be taken out,” he said.