On Monday, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will report to federal prison. This is far more than a personal downfall. It’s proof that our current system remains vulnerable, permissive and fragile.

I came to the Better Government Association four years ago with a mission: to help build bridges between good policy and good governance, to work alongside lawmakers, not against them, in the pursuit of a more transparent, equitable and accountable government in Illinois.

We’ve made some progress. But the job is far from done.

Over the last several years, the BGA Policy team has held dozens of meetings with lawmakers across the political spectrum to discuss our ethics reform agenda. Too many of them seem to believe their work on this front is over — that surely, after the series of scandals that peaked with Madigan’s conviction, significant ethics reform must have taken place.

That’s not the case.

The few ethics reforms that have occurred over recent years are, so far, a weak and ineffective response against the conduct that has come to light.

Ethics reform in Illinois is a process that must be improved and sustained. If we stop now, if we treat Madigan’s prosecution as an exception rather than a symptom, we are almost guaranteed to find ourselves here again, with a different name but the same corrupt story.

Illinois is too often an outlier when it comes to ethics. But that doesn’t have to remain our identity. Let this moment, instead, be a turning point. We need to ensure that future generations of public servants know: Corruption will not be tolerated.

Below are targeted reforms from BGA’s 2025-2026 State Policy Agenda that, if adopted, would strengthen the rules of accountability, reduce opportunities for abuse and begin reshaping the culture of government in Springfield. They reflect best practices and represent guardrails that public servants should welcome.

Regarding lobbying, conflicts and disclosure:

• Impose a ban on ex-legislators lobbying their former body. Extend and strengthen “cooling off” periods so former members cannot immediately return as lobbyists to Springfield. Close the revolving door loophole, which in some cases allows people to begin lobbying the day after they leave the legislature.
• Prohibit elected officials from registering as lobbyists altogether. A person who commits to public office should not be able to lobby other units of government.
• Disclose lobbyist compensation and client business. At the state level, we currently require only limited disclosure; we should match federal and best‑practice standards.
• Empower the secretary of state to oversee lobbyists. Authorize auditing, suspension or revocation of lobbyist registrations.
• Strengthen economic interest disclosures. Require dollar amounts and mandate disclosure of government contracts with family members, interests in regulated industries and large gifts above a threshold.
• Require reporting of ex parte contacts regarding employment/admissions. Extend existing ex parte rules to cover communications about jobs or university admissions tied to state institutions.

Regarding structural and institutional reforms:

• Empower the legislative inspector general. Give the office subpoena power, the ability to issue independent reports and the authority to demand documents.
• Impose leadership term limits. Codify in statute a 10-year cap on service as House speaker, Senate president or minority/majority leader.
• Immediately remove from leadership upon indictment. When a legislator is charged with a serious crime, especially a charge of public corruption, they must be stripped of leadership posts until and unless they’re cleared.
• Limit campaign spending on legal defense. Ban the use of campaign funds for legal defense unrelated to public duties.
• Restrict contributions from state contractors. Any entity doing more than $10,000 in state business should be limited in campaign contributions to ensure contracts are not bought.

Laws alone won’t eliminate misconduct. But well‑designed deterrents do work, especially when enforced by independent oversight. It’s been proved in other states that aren’t famous for corruption scandals.

Madigan’s incarceration may feel like the end of a chapter. We can’t allow that to happen. We need to make it a prologue for meaningful reforms to come.