Daily Herald opinion: Additional ethics reform sadly missing from Illinois laws going into effect Jan. 1

Nearly 300 new Illinois laws take effect Jan. 1. Among them are measures that will raise the minimum wage, cap the cost of epinephrine injectors and make canceling gym memberships easier.

But as notable as what’s on the list is what is not: meaningful additions to Illinois’ ethics reform package signed into law three years ago.

At the time, we hailed the package as a “baby step,” one that needed to be followed by others. For too long, Illinois has been the butt of jokes for its high-profile history of corruption. After all, it’s not every state that can claim four of its last 10 former governors served time behind bars.

And Illinois is wrapping up the year against the backdrop of the ongoing corruption trial of Michael Madigan, the former all-powerful speaker of the Illinois House.

The 2021 reform package, while offering progress, left major work to be done, starting with giving the legislative inspector general — the state’s top watchdog — more authority and greater autonomy.

As it works now, the person holding that post is responsible for investigating ethics complaints against legislators. But the legislative inspector general is required, for example, to get permission from the Legislative Ethics Commission to subpoena witnesses and documents and to publish findings. And who’s on that commission? Lawmakers, colleagues of those the inspector general is investigating in the first place.

Also in need of refinement is the way the ethics reform package addressed the revolving door of lawmakers leaving the General Assembly one day and becoming lobbyists the next. The new law banned state lawmakers from registering as lobbyists for six months once they left office, but it left a massive loophole by making it apply only to the General Assembly that a wannabe lobbyist serves in.

Therefore, if someone wanted a way around it, all a lawmaker would have to do is give up their seat before a new General Assembly convened, making the already too-short “cooling off” period unnecessary. As we have pointed out in the past, that practice invites temptation to public officials to establish an in-office record that would appeal to future employers.

Those two moves are among others on the wish list of Illinois reform advocates, who’ve long pressed for change in Springfield. The next Illinois General Assembly will convene for the first time in January. Among those to be sworn in are members who spoke on the campaign trail about the need for additional ethics reform.

Was it lip service or a genuine promise to do better? Only time will tell, but Illinoisans have a right to be skeptical.

Alisa Kaplan, executive director of Reform for Illinois, sums it up well: “There’s been a lot of talk and very little action.”

It’s long past time to change that.

In the coming months, those elected in November will have the opportunity to initiate change and fight for further reform. Voters should pay close attention to those who do — and those who don’t.