Illinois state Reps. (from left) Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur), Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City), Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake), Chris Miller (R-Oakland) and Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) are calling for a special legislative session on ethics reform.
Illinois state Reps. (from left) Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur), Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City), Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake), Chris Miller (R-Oakland) and Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) are calling for a special legislative session on ethics reform.
Illinois state Rep. Allen Skillicorn’s (R-Crystal Lake) plan for bringing ethics reform to Springfield is as clear as it direct.
“Ending the culture of corruption is not rocket science,” Skillicorn recently posted on Twitter. “Gov. Pritzker, call a special session now. Republican lawmakers push for a special session on ethics reform.”
Skillicorn belongs to a group of five GOP lawmakers demanding that legislators convene in a special session to tackle ethics reform rather than waiting for the regularly scheduled session to commence on Jan. 28. The group also includes Reps. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville), Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City), Chris Miller (R-Oakland) and Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur).
This sense of urgency comes in the wake of two veteran Democratic lawmakers being forced to abruptly step down from office after being implicated in separate federal corruption probes. Former Illinois state Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) was taken into custody at the end of October on charges of bribing a sitting state senator in exchange for a favorable vote on a gambling bill.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), who also served as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, tendered his resignation effective Jan. 1 after being implicated in an alleged shakedown scheme.
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