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Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com Jul 14, 2021 | 3:45 PM (The Center Square) – The Illinois state legislature will have to start looking for another watchdog to police them after Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope said the position is “essentially a paper tiger,” and announced she’s going to leave the post in December. In a letter to members of the bipartisan Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission Wednesday, Pope said she hoped to make a difference from the inside and improve the public’s view of the legislature by bringing true ethics reforms. “Unfortunately, I have not been able to do so,” Pope said. “This last legislative session demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority. The LIG has no real power to effect change or shine a light on ethics violations, the position is essentially a paper tiger.” ....
Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch gave his standard reply to a question about redistricting reform last week when queried at the Chicago Economic Club, saying different people have different opinions about what a “fair map” actually is. But then the new House speaker leaned a bit harder into the concept of protecting minority rights when redrawing the new legislative district maps than I’ve heard him do in the past. “I think a fair map is a map that reflects the diversity of our state,” Welch said. “Diversity is the strength of Illinois. Look at the Democratic Caucus, for instance. Diversity is the strength of our caucus. If you look at a map and it doesn’t reflect the diversity of the state, I don’t know how anyone can call that a fair map.” ....