Carbondale Reporter

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) hopes the Reimagine Illinois campaign will address the plethora of ethics issues that have long plagued the Illinois statehouse. 

Reimagine Illinois is a campaign promoting anti-corruption legislation, fiscal responsibility, job growth and community safety. It is championed by several House Republicans including Windhorst, who joined state Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Rock Falls) in a May 7 IL House GOP video to discuss the campaign and what it hopes to solve. 

"For too long, Illinois as a state has been stuck in a rut," Windhorst said to explain the importance of the campaign. "It's easy for our citizens to think, 'this is the way it has to be because this is the way it always has been.' Reimagine Illinois is telling us that we can have a different state if we change the direction of the state."

In terms of ethics, Windhorst wants to address the fact that, under current Illinois law, state lawmakers are allowed to lobby local governments. 

"Under current state law, a state legislator can lobby local governments, so I filed a bill that would prevent state legislators from being lobbyists on the local level," Windhorst said. "It’s a common sense solution I think most of the public would think that that is already the law, and it should be the law. We don’t need legislators using undue influence on our local officials.”

Windhorst's bill, HB 7093, amends the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act to prohibit a General Assembly member, their spouse or any immediate family member from lobbying any state or local government official, and provides that a lawmaker guilty of lobbying be charged with official misconduct. 

Ethics reform has been a crown jewel platform issue for many Republican lawmakers. Windhorst's colleague, Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee), also discussed Reimagine Illinois and its ethics agenda in a recent House GOP video. She said that the state's corruption has significant impact on the people of Illinois. 

“I think we've known for far too long Illinoisans have been paying a high price for corruption. We’re painfully aware that  corruption decreases economic growth and discourages development in our state. Corruption further serves to disadvantage the already underserved  in our state and in our communities,” Haas said, according to Will County Gazette.