SE Illinois News

The resignation of Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope has spurred Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) to renew the call for substantial ethics reform in Springfield.

In a Facebook post, he wrote, "The root of the problem leads directly to the governor and his Democratic cronies. We have lost the public’s trust in our state to do business and until substantive ethics reforms are passed, nothing will change."

In her resignation letter, Pope expressed regret that her oversight had not been able to bring about the change that she had hoped for. She said, “When I took this job as the Legislative Inspector General, I thought I might be able to make a difference working from the inside. I thought I could be useful in improving the public’s view of the legislature and help bring about true ethics reform. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do so. This last legislative session demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority.”

Bailey highlighted the need for oversight, saying, “Corruption runs deep in Illinois politics and it’s unfortunate that time after time, we continue to face roadblocks in our efforts to reform the state’s ethics laws. This year, my colleagues and I sponsored several bills to help overhaul a broken system by curbing corruption and holding legislators accountable.”