Sangamon Sun

New House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside) said an enacted ethics reform package would be his administration's primary objective.

With Illinois ranked as the second most corrupt state in the nation for more than the last four decades, many hope Mike Madigan's successor means what he says on the issue.

Madigan ended his nearly 40-year run of power under investigation in an ongoing federal corruption probe involving ComEd and an alleged pay-for-play scheme.

To achieve any measure of the reforms, Welch has maintained he's interested in Illinois Policy Institute reports, a system that empowers those charged with holding lawmakers accountable, more transparency and a ban on allowing lawmakers to work as lobbyists, that need to be instituted.

Supporters claim a series of House bills now being proposed would do just that. With Welch, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Senate President Don Harmon having all publicly signed onto the reform movement, many hope the time is now.