Attorney General proposes new ethics fines

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois lawmakers hope to repair the state's image after spending months as the punch line of late-night TV, spurred by jaw-dropping headlines involving a governor who allegedly tried to sell a U.S. Senate seat and his senate choice who has changed his account of how he got the appointment.

Democrats and Republicans both say they're serious about ethics reforms that could repair the public trust damaged by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and now in question regarding Sen. Roland Burris.

Lawmakers from both chambers met Wednesday to kick off seven weeks of hearings with experts and the public who have ideas on improving the state's ethics laws.

"Right now everything is fair game," said Rep. Arthur Turner, a Chicago Democrat who sits on the special ethics committee. "It's an answer to all the things that's been happening over the last year."

Committee members expect to come away with at least a few ideas the General Assembly can use to usher in political reform and "transparency," or open government.

Lawmakers impeached and booted Blagojevich on charges he exchanged political favors for personal and political goodies like campaign donations and high-level jobs. He faces a federal criminal indictment for those and other charges, including attempting to sell President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Before he was removed, Blagojevich defied lawmakers by appointing Burris to Obama's seat. Now Burris is accused of lying to an Illinois House committee back in January when he testified he hadn't had contact with key Blagojevich staffers or offered anything in return for the seat.

Blagojevich has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Burris insists he never raised money for Blagojevich while the governor considered whom to appoint to the seat.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who may run for governor in 2010, told the committee Wednesday she wants to slap governments with up to a $1,000 fine for denying citizens the right to view public documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The fine would help enforce current laws that currently go unpunished, she said.

"The current Freedom of Information Act is a toothless tiger," David Bennett, executive director of the Illinois Press Association, told the committee. "People ignore it routinely and will continue to ignore it unless there are proper penalties built into the law."

Blagojevich repeatedly refused to release public records, like federal subpoenas and hiring eligibility lists.

Madigan said she also plans to propose whistleblower protections along with making public the findings of internal government misconduct investigations.

Lawmakers also plan to examine limits on campaign donations and to dissect gift bans, lobbyist registration requirements and revolving door policies for lawmakers who leave government for certain private sector jobs.

But committee members don't know what exactly will make it into law.

Open documents and meetings laws have the best chance, said Sen. James Clayborne, a Democrat from Belleville and Senate Majority leader. Campaign finance laws will be a harder sell, he said.

The state's ethics troubles boil down to one thing: money, said Cindi Canary, director of the Chicago-based Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

"These are interconnected issues," Canary said. "If they don't deal with campaign fiance reform, then they are sort of ignoring the tumor of the body politic."