McHenry Times

In the ethics reform-driven mind of Illinois state Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva), a new law restricting Chicago aldermen and city employees from working as lobbyists is just a first step toward rooting out statewide political corruption.

“It’s going to help state government in that one of the largest bodies to lobby the government won’t be allowed to do so anymore,” Ugaste told the Kane County Reporter. “I think something like this needs to be done on a statewide level and I’ve co-sponsored a bill to do just that.”

The changes have been prompted by a rash of federal corruption probes now affecting numerous Illinois lawmakers, just one result of which is Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's push for anti-corruption ordinances restricting aldermen’s outside employment and giving watchdog groups more power to investigate violations. The moves also come on the heels of a University of Illinois-Chicago study that found the state now ranks as the second most corrupt in the U.S. and Chicago rates as the most corrupt city.

Embattled Chicago Ald. Ed Burke

“Illinois has never been known for having strict ethics laws and this is a good first step,” Ugaste said. “But even with this, there’s a lot of hard work ahead to get to where we need to be.”

At least 30 Chicago aldermen have been convicted of corruption over the last four-plus decades, and the city’s longest-serving of them all, Ald. Ed Burke, now faces a 14-count federal indictment. In addition, over the last several weeks longtime state lawmakers Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) have both been forced to step down from office after being implicated in separate probes alleging bribery and kickbacks.  

“The general public’s reaction to the legislation I’ve proposed has been quite good,” Ugaste said. “Some of my colleagues have also been very supportive while others have remained silent. To me, that means you’re not in favor and that’s a real problem given where we are.”

Ugaste plans to keep on pushing, regardless of any potential setbacks.

“Whatever resistance [I get] doesn’t take away my motivation, and may even make me stronger,” he said. “We need to be spending time getting other things like property tax and pension reform done. These kinds of things should be low-hanging fruit.”