House Passes Ethics Legislation; Wilhour Says It's Far from What's Needed

On the heels of a federal investigation into Commonwealth Edison that in part led to former House Speaker Michael Madigan's resignation, and federal charges against a number of other legislators in recent years, members of the Illinois General Assembly from both sides of the aisle passed an ethics reform package. 

House Republicans, though, say Senate Bill 539 is far from what needs to be done in Illinois.

The bill would require lawmakers to identify their personal assets, debts, sources of outside income, and their relationships with lobbyists. The measure proposed by Democrats also strengthens the position of the legislative inspector general. However, the Republicans' ethics bill, which was not called, would also grant more power to the attorney general for investigating public corruption. The bill would give the Legistlative Inspector General the ability to issue subpeonas for lawmakers without getting prior approval from the General Assembly.

St. Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City said there is a habit in the General Assembly of "pretending to care about the important issues without dealing with the real pressing issues." Wilhour calls it "legislating for press releases." 

Here are some of Wilhour's remarks as to the issue...

We earlier reported Wilhour voted for the ethics legislation. He actually voted against the measure. Our apologies.