In 2021, Reform for Illinois testified before the Committee on Ethics and Elections of the Illinois House. Read our testimony below.

Read RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan’s April 5, 2021 testimony about lobbyist registration, statements of economic interest, and revolving door prohibitions here.

Read RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan’s April 13, 2021 testimony about the Legislative Inspector General, the Legislative Ethics Commission, and conflicts of interest here.

In 2020, Reform for Illinois participated in the hearings of the Illinois Legislature’s Joint Commission on Government Ethics and Lobbying Reform. Read our testimony below. 

Read RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan’s January 15, 2020 testimony about reforming Illinois’ lobbying industry here.

Read RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan’s January 30, 2020 testimony about reforming conflict of interest disclosure and enforcement here.

Read RFI Executive Director Alisa Kaplan’s February 6, 2020 testimony about reforming the Legislative Inspector General’s office and the Legislative Ethics Commission here.

Reform for Illinois has been fighting for ethics reform in Illinois for more than two decades. With corruption scandals mounting around the state, it has never been more important to enact meaningful reforms that strengthen oversight and ensure that public officials put their constituents first.

One important step is to make the Legislative Inspector General’s office a truly independent office, rather than one that must seek permission to conduct investigations from the legislators it is supposed to oversee:

• Empowering the Legislative Inspector General to open investigations and subpoena documents and witnesses without permission from the legislators on the Legislative Ethics Commission.
• Enabling the Legislative Inspector General to publish founded reports about ethics violations that involve members of the legislature without permission from the legislators on the Legislative Ethics Commission.
• Placing members of the public on the Legislative Ethics Commission, which currently is comprised only of legislators.

Reform for Illinois also supports:

• Lobbying reforms such as a two year “revolving door” restriction, which provides a “cooling off” period before former legislators can begin lobbying their peers in the General Assembly.
• Increased disclosure requirements that would enable citizens to know who is paying lobbyists to influence our elected officials.
• Conflict of interest reforms that would reduce opportunities for officials to use their public office for private gain.
• Increased disclosure of “dark money”.
• Public campaign financing so our representatives can pay attention to the people, not to big donors, party insiders, and special interests.