Daily Herald opinion: Patrolling legislative ethics: Departure of yet another inspector general emphasizes the urgent need for reform

Another legislative inspector general in Illinois has resigned and all we can say is, can we finally get this right?

The legislative inspector general is tasked with investigating ethics complaints against members of the Illinois General Assembly. It seems simple enough, but in the last dozen years, the office has been a revolving door of resignations, accusations and frustrations. Now is the time to dig in and fix what ails the office, building it into a trusted and useful arm of the legislature.

The latest resignation is from the current LIG, Michael McCuskey, who will leave office Sept. 30, dogged by complaints that during his investigation into reported sexual harassment by former Plainfield Democratic Rep. Harry Benton, he committed serious mistakes that include violating victims’ confidences, sharing confidential information and making errors in his eventual report.

The recent history of the LIG office is best characterized by a lack of seriousness. The office was actually vacant from 2014 to November 2017, when Julie Porter was hired as acting LIG. Disillusioned, she quit in February 2019, saying the job was rendered pointless by her overseers on the Legislative Ethics Commission — a group of lawmakers — who denied subpoenas, stopped investigations altogether and refused to publish her findings. Carol Pope, who followed Porter and was given the title of full LIG, left in 2021, complaining the legislature did not prioritize genuine reform and that she had no power to make real change.

Now, with McCuskey leaving, the Legislative Ethics Commission this week has appointed an interim LIG, David Risley, to start on Oct. 1. We wish him well and hope he uses his investigative experience to hold fair, professional investigations and uses his toughness to push back on political interference. He has been a legal and ethics adviser in the LIG’s office, an assistant U.S. Attorney in central Illinois and an ethics officer at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Plus, he investigated crimes against humanity in Iraq, among other qualifications.

The legislature needs to use this time to improve how the LIG operates and to take up discussion of suggested reforms. For example, House Republicans have argued the LIG should have subpoena power without needing legislative ethics commission approval. Others say the LIG should be able to investigate complaints that are older than one year, since legislative terms are two years long.

Whoever is hired as permanent LIG should be a trained investigator, with a basic core decency and the skills to run a team of other good investigators. This LIG should be protected as much as possible from politics, allowing him or her to hold the office to the highest standards. This is the core mission, and everyone — no matter of what party — should get behind it.

The veto session begins in November. What time like the present?