Sangamon Sun

State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) joined the Illinois Railroad Association as a Lobbyist only weeks after winning re-election and announcing his resignation in the 95th District. 

By retiring before the end of his term Butler sidesteps ethics laws that disallow legislators to transfer directly into advocacy positions to the same body they just departed.

"I can understand why people would scratch their heads on this. This wasn't an opportunity on my radar screen when I decided to run for reelection," he told Illinois Times, which ran a blistering article on him and others taking advantage of a loophole in ethics laws.  

Butler, an Assistant Republican Leader, resigned from the General Assembly only three days after winning re-election. 

“I have been privileged to serve as the Representative for the 87th District since 2015. The constituents of our district have bestowed upon me one of the greatest honors of my life,” Butler said in a statement announcing his resignation. "As I have said from the day I was sworn in, I am not going to do this job forever. My fourth great-grandfather, Lewis Barker, served in four General Assemblies. Abraham Lincoln served in four General Assemblies. If four terms are good enough for them, four terms are good enough for me.” 

Butler told Bishop On Air that he knew when he started representing the 87th District, that "probably 8 to 12 years is a sweet spot to do it and then move on to do other things."

"As much as I enjoy my work in the Illinois House, the time has come to move on and pursue a new avenue in my career. One never knows when opportunities will arise and I have had an excellent opportunity come before me just recently. I plan to resign from the House before the start of the 103rd General Assembly to work full-time with the Illinois Railroad Association," the four-term 87th District Representative added. “The people we serve come first in these positions, and I profoundly thank everyone from the 87th District for putting your trust in me to be your voice.”

Butler and former House GOP Minority Leader Jim Durkin – who also resigned – were behind a disastrous statewide performance by Republicans in the Nov. 8 elections in which incumbent Republicans Reps. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) and Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) both lost their seats. The GOP House leadership took criticism early this year for backing several candidates in June primary campaigns against conservative reformers thereby depleting GOP campaign reserves before the general elections. Butler and Durkin supported GOP primary candidates of their choice with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funding while criticizing others for backing more conservative choices. The failure of the Irvin campaign, for which Butler was heavily involved, led many to question the continued leadership of those in the House’s GOP.

Butler himself faced an insurgent primary challenge this year from conservative reformer Springfield attorney Kent Gray. Gray sued Butler for libel days prior to the election for allegedly spreading false information about Gray's child support obligations in a text message to supporters. "It violates state and federal law on campaign disclosure and text messaging sender disclosure by the FEC and the State Board of Elections," Gray said, according to Yahoo! News.