NW Illinois News

Illinois state Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) recently marked Global Ethics Day by joining a team of lawmakers committed to tightening state ethics rules in Illinois government through the newly created State Ethics Task Force.

McCombie and company are expected to formally propose new legislation during the upcoming Veto Session that commences next week.

“To have the public’s trust, we must take action whenever confidence is broken,” McCombie said in a press release. “We’ve seen the headlines of the FBI’s recent activity, including raiding the homes of legislators, lobbyists and offices within the State Capitol. The cost of corruption is too high for Illinoisans to ignore.”

McCombie, who also serves as chair of the House Republican Organization, pointed to recent instances where authorities have indicted a state senator on embezzlement charges, launched a federal investigation into the Illinois Auditor General over possible campaign finance violations, and probed another state senator over potential economic conflict of interests as examples of rising corruption.

“The State Ethics Task Force will identify areas of concern, study best practices for ethics and transparency in public business, implemented by other states and the federal government, toward proposing legislation early next year to ensure Illinois has among the toughest ethics laws in the nation,” McCombie said.