Galesburg Reporter

More than a month ago, many Illinois legislators from both parties took a united front when it comes to advocating for ethics reform in Springfield.

But lately, Republican leaders believe that their Democratic counterparts are not as serious toward the issue as they once thought.

What brought forth such a rare show of bipartisanship was anger toward former House Speaker Mike Madigan and his implication in a federal corruption probe involving ComEd, Prairie State Wire reported.

Such goodwill is put to the test by what state Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Mount Sterling) claims is the Democratic machine’s refusal to move further on ethics reform.

Tracy told the Capitol Report it was “extremely frustrating” to get the Senate Ethics Committee to meet despite a year that saw a plethora of investigations, indictments, and arrests of elected officials. The committee finally met  April 21.

“It’s just very disappointing that because the Democrats control this process ... our bills are not going to get the hearing they deserve and improve Illinois’ ethics,” the senator said.

She said the Senate Republicans have a new ethics reform package that can remedy the problem, but time appears to be running out with the current legislative session having just a few weeks to go.

“If they’re genuine about really wanting to have ethics reform, we’ve got the ideas and we’re willing to work with them and have them encompass the ideas we have into their bill and make it better,” Tracy said.