McHenry Times

Illinois state lawmakers will have to find another watchdog to police them after Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope announced last month that she is leaving, but it hardly matters, Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry)said recently.

Pope said her position is “essentially a paper tiger” and she's got that right, Wilcox told the McHenry Times.

Senate Assistant Minority Leader and Legislative Ethics Commission Chair Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) in a 2017 photo | facebook.com/SenatorJilTracy/

"The departure of the legislative IG is indicative of how hollow the ethics legislation is in regards to curbing what appear to be Democrat-prevalent abuses of power," Wilcox said.

Pope left after Democrats blocked an ethics reform package she had requested in favor of Senate Bill 539, which she said addressed none of her complaints.

Wilcox said ethics reform legislation should make the LIG more independent from the legislature. "There have been many ethics reforms proposed that actually have teeth," he said, "or that would increase the ability of the LIG to actually do the job."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has neither signed nor vetoed SB 539, nor acted on House Republicans' calls for an amendatory veto following Pope's resignation.

Pope tendered her resignation in July, saying her office is "essentially a paper tiger" and that she can't do her job without permission from the legislators she's supposed to be watching.

Pope had been appointed to succeed former assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Porter, who was herself appointed on an interim basis in 2018 to deal with a backlog of 27 ethics complaints against lawmakers in the General Assembly, the Prairie State Wire reported. The seat had been vacant for about three years prior and Porter's appointment followed sexual harassment allegations against now-disgraced former Sen. Ira Silverstein.

Pope's resignation will be effective at the end of this year.

More ethics reform aimed at state lawmakers is needed, Senate Assistant Minority Leader and Legislative Ethics Commission Chair Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) said in a statement issued shortly after Pope's resignation.

"As Chair of the LEC, I know the toll public corruption has taken on Illinois’ resources and residents," Tracy said in her statement. “This Legislative Inspector General has done an outstanding job and we thank her for her commitment to better government. Our Caucus has long supported her efforts. It is unfortunate that the Majority legislative leaders did not make better use of her skills and her willingness to make some much-needed changes that would benefit ALL lawmakers. Ethics reform in Illinois has long been an ongoing challenge."

In his comments to the McHenry Times, Wilcox declined to speculate whether Pope was qualified for and should have remained in her job.

"I don't really have knowledge or evidence to address this question," Wilcox said.