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Lawmakers Furious Over Backlog Of State Ethics Complaints

Seth Perlman
/
AP
State Sen. Karen McConnaughay, R-West Dundee, speaks to reporters in the rotunda at the Illinois State Capitol.

An inspector general is required to consider ethical complaints at the Illinois State Capitol. But the state has failed to hire one for two years, resulting in a backlog of 27 complaints.

Some lawmakers are furious that complaints have gone unanswered due to “a technicality.”

Democratic state Sen. Terry Link, the chairman of the ethics commission, said  none of this should be new information for each member, which is why he’s been advocating for an inspector general for a year.

“I think the commission itself is being blown out of proportion, and it kind of upsets me in the sense that we’ve been a very conscientious commission. We take our jobs seriously. I think we do what’s supposed to be the right thing.”

Republican state Sen. Karen McConnaughay, a member of the ethical commission, said she only learned of the backlog of complaints Wednesday and is calling for emergency changes to the reporting procedures.

“Who made the decision that the commission would be told there are quote, no cases, technically correct, but at the same time not disclose you have 27 complaints that are backed up because you have no inspector general?” McConnaughay asked.

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