Opinion

Asset forfeitures a good step

Posted May 22, 2010 11:00 pm

Kudos to the General Assembly for cracking down on government corruption with harsher penalties for elected officials convicted of selling out the people of Illinois for their own interests.

The House of Representatives recently approved the Public Corruption Profit Forfeiture Act. As a McHenry County resident, I follow State Rep. Jack Franks' work closely. Last year, Franks passed a version of this bill inspired by Blagojevich that will take away any profits Blagojevich earns from his notoriety, if he is convicted at his upcoming trial. This new act takes Franks' law further by allowing the attorney general or state's attorney to force a convicted elected official to forfeit not just profits, but also goods, property or ownership interest in a business if criminally obtained.

With Illinois' reputation of corruption, these asset forfeitures could really help dent our budget deficit. I don't agree with everything the General Assembly has been working on lately, but they hit the mark on this issue. Keep up the good work.

Ron Lapinksi

Woodstock

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