Fire Up The Chainsaw

Another bad apple has been plucked from the poison tree that is Illinois State Government. Friday the assistant majority leader of the House of Representatives, Luis Arroyo, resigned after he was caught up in a federal bribery sting.

The feds allege Arroyo offered a colleague $2500 a month to vote with him. The conversation was apparently caught on a federal wire. The episode has spawned a move to update ethics rules for Illinois lawmakers, especially their dealings as lobbyists.

Yes, members of the General Assembly can lobby at the same time they serve as lawmakers….which is crazy. Did you know that it is currently totally legal for an elected official in Illinois to be a paid lobbyist…as long as they aren’t lobbying the same branch of government they are elected to serve.

Arroyo allegedly was operating for the highly profitable and largely unregulated one-armed bandits which have cropped up with vengeance in our own little town. The co-called “Sweepstakes machines” generate an unbelievable amount of money…..meaning they’re ripe for corruption.

Here’s what has to happen. Illinois needs ethics legislation forbidding lawmakers from getting paid to lobby local governments. And make sure the ban extends to the wife and kids too. Our own state rep, Darren Bailey, wants it to go further. He wants the revolving door of former lawmakers becoming lobbyists after leaving office forbidden in the new law. Bailey’s proposal would mirror the 2-year minimum waiting period already in place for the executive branch. It deserves support.

We either need to pick a bushel basket of bad apples off the tree in Springfield…..or just chain saw the sucker.