Perspective: Who is Senate President John Cullerton really kidding on ethics reform? Patrick Collins, chairman of the Illinois Reform Commission, res

Perspective: Who is Senate President John Cullerton really kidding on ethics reform? Patrick Collins, chairman of the Illinois Reform Commission, responds to essay
By Patrick Collins
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
June 21, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-perspec0621collinsjun21,0,7119628.story


Illinois Senate President John Cullerton declared in an essay in Friday's Tribune that Illinois citizens "won big" on ethics reform this year.

He has every right to defend his record on ethics reform. But in defending that record, he also denigrated the work of the Illinois Reform Commission. He claimed that portions of our proposals may have been motivated by "partisan" interests and that we did not advance actual legislation. He largely dismissed us, claiming that while commission members "toured the state," his legislative team enacted landmark reforms.

I understand that it's part of the Springfield political game to ascribe partisan motives and to inaccurately portray the work of others. But Cullerton has it wrong here.

Truth is, the commission's members had no partisan agenda. We submitted real legislation, after hundreds of hours of volunteer work. We did interview Illinoisans who live and work far from the Statehouse rotunda -- and who, like our commission members, are not welcome at the closed-door meetings of their state legislators.

We thought that our leaders in Springfield would engage in shared sacrifice and enact across-the-board ethics reforms that would be a model for the nation.

In retrospect, that was hopelessly naive.

Rather than criticizing the good-faith work of the commission, Cullerton and his leadership team should rededicate themselves to the cause of ethics reform. For even as Cullerton has acknowledged, more work needs to be done.

If this truly remains a priority, why not start this week when all the legislators convene in Springfield in special session? How about holding public debates and then renewing an ethics agenda?

Here's what we could talk about:

--What will ensure that we have integrity in redistricting in 2010? How about replicating the apolitical "Iowa plan" model that we drafted, or some other plan not run by party bosses?

--Why not enact public financing for judicial elections right now? Legislators passed a law that only requires a study of this be done by 2012? Why should we have to wait three years? The reform commission drafted a law that would be effective in 2010.

--Why do we have a wiretap law that covers many serious crimes, but not corruption by public officials? Most states have a law similar to what the commission proposed. Why are we carving out the politicians' crimes -- sparing them from full investigations?

--The General Assembly passed a campaign-finance bill. Why don't the major provisions of the bill go into effect now instead of after the 2010 election? Why should we have to wait another election cycle for the caps to kick in? Why didn't lawmakers put limits on the "in-kind contributions" from legislative leaders to their members? That would truly help to make lawmakers independent from leadership.

-- Cullerton vigorously defends Springfield's sausage-making process. Why not discuss how the process could be more transparent? Why do important bills sponsored by leadership get an immediate vote while other bills that have widespread support sit, undebated, for months?

There's certainly room for good-faith disagreement between Cullerton and reform advocates about whether Illinois "won big" this year. But the bar for what constitutes meaningful ethics reform will not be set in Springfield. It won't be set by the commission members. It will be set by Illinois citizens.

Let's hear if they think they won.

Patrick Collins was chairman of the Illinois Reform Commission.