(Editor's note: This article was published first at Illinois Policy Institute)
A trio of bills that would punish state lawmakers accused of felonies while in office were introduced by state Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport.
- Senate Bill 1687: Prohibits General Assembly members from paying lawyers, expert witnesses and investigators through political committees. Lawmakers can currently use political donations to pay for their legal defenses.
- Senate Bill 2137: Implements a $100,000 fine for legislators convicted of using their General Assembly office to commit a felony.
- Senate Bill 1662: Strips retired lawmakers or constitutional officers of their specialty license plates if convicted of a felony related to their official duties.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has used more than $8.5 million in campaign funds to pay for his legal defense against federal corruption charges.
Madigan is still collecting a state pension.
State Rep. Curtis Tarver II, D-Chicago, also introduced House Bill 3971, which bans politicians from seeking office after they’ve been convicted of a felony and imposes restrictions for other crimes related to abuse of their offices.
Illinois law bans certain offices from running if convicted of a felony, bribery, perjury and other “infamous crimes,” but not the Illinois General Assembly.
But the ban from Tarver II’s bill ends once convicted lawmakers serve their sentence. Tarver introduced a similar bill in the last legislative session where the ban extended beyond serving the sentence, but it died in the House Rules Committee.
Corruption cost Illinois taxpayers over $10.6 billion in lost economic growth from 2000 to 2020.
That’s more than $830 per Illinoisan. Illinois is ranked as the nation’s second-most corrupt state, so more deterrents to corruption are needed.