Allow a vote on state ethics bill

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones has acquired a bad habit: stifling the democratic process.

Most notably the Chicago Democrat initially refused to give senators a crack at reinstating the governor's $463 million in cuts to the state budget, even though their House colleagues were allowed to do so, and even though the concept of veto override is something they teach in Civics 101. For the most part, he did not back down. More quietly, Jones has for months held up important pay-to-play legislation, House Bill 1. He simply never called it for a vote.

Not every bill makes it out of committee, nor should it. But House Bill 1 is legitimate, promising to curb some of the monkey business that goes on between private businesses and the state officeholders who award them lucrative contracts. For example, if this bill became law, contractors who do more than $25,000 in state business a year would be banned from making campaign contributions to those officeholders. Firms vying for upwards of $10,000 in state business would have to disclose their political contributions.

It's a small but important step toward more meaningful ethics reform.

HB1 also enjoys bipartisan support as wide and deep as Lake Michigan. Nearly 50 House members and as many senators signed on as co-sponsors. "Even though a majority of Democrats in the Senate are co-sponsors of this ethics reform legislation, President Jones has turned a deaf ear to them," said Jim Bray, a spokesman for the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. "More likely, he is listening to Gov. Blagojevich, the only statewide officer who has not endorsed HB1."

Jones' spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer said her boss hasn't called House Bill 1 because he's working on a separate measure "that goes much farther," though she declined to be more specific. She said Jones' "comprehensive" pay-to-play reforms would touch on pensions and procurement, too. That's great, but Jones' alternate package has been in the works for months, with nothing concrete to show for it.

Meanwhile, HB1 has been ready since last winter. It's the bird in hand, which the Legislature should take without hesitation. If Jones ever produces a real proposal, then legislators should get their chance to vote on that.

Lawmakers who just ended the veto session are likely to return to Springfield in November to consider the governor's Illinois Works capital spending program. With $13 billion and then some that could soon be floating around, it's more important than ever to clamp down on pay-to-play politics.

We suspect many Illinoisans have had it up to here - OK, go a little higher - with their state government being up for grabs to the highest bidders.