Overview
- Michael McCuskey has filed to resign as Illinois Legislative Inspector General, creating an imminent vacancy in the office that handles complaints about lawmakers.
- House Republican leaders used the resignation to revive a slate of ethics measures that would let the next inspector issue subpoenas without approval from the Legislative Ethics Commission.
- GOP proposals include bills to bar officials from using campaign funds for criminal defense and to stop officials charged with felonies from collecting pension benefits.
- A lobbyist who complained in a recent harassment probe accused the inspector of breaking confidentiality and failing to take contemporaneous notes, raising questions about the thoroughness of past investigations.
- Lawmakers hope to press the reforms when the legislature meets for its fall veto session and the LEC has posted the inspector vacancy with applications due later this month while House Democratic leaders have not publicly responded.