Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey has shown extremely troubling behavior recently. That’s why I’m calling for his removal and a complete overhaul of ethics oversight in Illinois.
Last week, McCuskey made a number of inappropriate statements during an interview on Springfield’s WMAY radio station.
When pressed about omissions and major inaccuracies in the quotes in his report on now-former state Rep. Harry Benton, he claimed the minor details are not important. He tried to explain that certain words are only harassment if the individual saying them is “creepy,” saying there is a “fine line between words of sexual harassment.”
He then went on to repeatedly share confidential information, at one point admitting, “I shouldn’t even be telling that, but what the hell? They can’t take my job away because it’s not a felony. They’re stuck with me for two more years.”
These statements show a total disregard for confidentiality, basic investigative standards and the seriousness of ethics violations. Under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, the Legislative Ethics Commission has the authority to fire McCuskey. Commission members should do so immediately.
But McCuskey’s behavior is a symptom of a much deeper problem. After former LIG Carol Pope resigned over the office being a toothless “paper tiger,” a statutorily mandated search committee identified multiple qualified candidates for the Legislative Ethics Commission to consider. Instead, Senate President Don Harmon bypassed the legally required process and forced his own candidate, McCuskey, through on a party-line vote.
This highlights how broken Illinois’ ethics laws are. The LIG is chosen by the very lawmakers the watchdog is supposed to oversee, and the LIG needs approval from those lawmakers to issue subpoenas or release reports. The Legislative Ethics Commission is made up of four Democratic lawmakers and four Republican lawmakers, leaving it perpetually deadlocked.
The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and comptroller are each overseen More Top Picks Best Digital Voice Recorder
In summary: Most state elected officials are overseen only by individuals they choose and control. That’s why former LIG Julie Porter stated that in Illinois, “the fox is guarding the henhouse.” Illinois does not have independent watchdogs investigating fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct or neglect in state government, agencies or public programs.
That’s why my campaign is calling for a complete overhaul of state government oversight through a unified independent commission that oversees all state-level elected officials and state employees, similar to the Florida Commission on Ethics. This commission would combine the existing LIG, Offices of Executive Inspector General and the Executive and Legislative Ethics Commissions into a single independent body.
To respect constitutional separation of powers and separation of executive authority, dedicated inspectors general would be appointed in the commission to investigate specific executive branches and the legislature. These inspectors general would conduct initial investigations and submit their findings to the independent commission, which would conduct hearings and rule on disciplinary actions.
The commission and its inspectors general would have full independent statutory subpoena power to compel documents and testimony during investigations, an independent budget and independent authority to release reports after finding wrongdoing.
The commission would be made up of nine members. The Illinois Supreme Court would vet and submit nominees, from which the governor would select one to serve as chair; the Senate president, speaker of the House, Senate minority leader and House minority leader would each select one; and the secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer and comptroller would each select one.
To fill inspectors general vacancies, the Illinois Supreme Court would vet and submit nominees, from which the independent commission would make the final selection. Commission members and inspectors general could not be sitting lawmakers, state employees, political party leaders or employees or lobbyists.
What we’re proposing is an ambitious overhaul of the entire ethics oversight system in Illinois. But scandal after scandal has proved it’s time we finally take ethics seriously in this state.
Though I’d argue this will never happen under the current broken two-party system. The same partisan politicians who have refused to police themselves aren’t going to agree to real, independent oversight. That’s why voters should seriously consider independent leaders in November.
Collin Corbett is an independent running for governor of Illinois.
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