SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • Illinois has not yet shaken its corrupt reputation.
Illinois is currently ranked the third most corrupt state in the country behind New York and California, according to a new report by the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The study also ranked Chicago as the most corrupt city in the country.
The report was released shortly after Gov. Pat Quinn announced his proposal for an ethics reform amendment to the Illinois Constitution. Quinn's proposal would allow Illinoisans to enact ethics reforms without going through the General Assembly.
Jim Nowlan, a senior fellow with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs and co-author of the report, said he supports Quinn's proposal because he believes Illinoisans should have a say in the matter of ethics.
"The public seems to be distressed about the fact that Illinois has become a bit of a laughingstock on the Saturday night and evening television shows," Nowlan said. "This will give the public a chance to weigh in on codes of ethics or other changes in requirements for ethical behavior."
Nowlan also said he supports an ethics reform amendment because he thinks the legislature is hesitant to place "strict regulations upon their own body."
"The legislature is reluctant to impose regulations of which they might be amiss," Nowlan said. "Rare is the person who enters public life planning to be corrupt, yet since 1976 about 1,828 persons in Illinois have been convicted of public corruption crimes."
The report was measured by 35 years of public corruption convictions recorded by the U.S. Department of Justice. Illinois ranked third in both total numbers of public corruption convictions, behind New York and California, as well as public corruption convictions by population, following the District of Columbia and Louisiana.
The report indicated that the Northern District of Illinois was much more corrupt than Central and Southern Illinois. However, Nowlan said that could be misleading because cases that are located in Central or Southern Illinois could be prosecuted in the Northern District.
Nowlan also said the report does not include "legal corruption" which he defined as people who try to "achieve private gain at public expense," citing Former state Rep. Robert Molaro, D-Chicago, who allegedly doubled his pension after one month in Alderman Ed Burke's office. "Unfortunately, we've found no way to measure that," Nowlan said.
In a separate study, Nowlan conducted a national public opinion poll, which mirrored the findings of his study. Americans chose Illinois as the third most corrupt state, behind New York and California. Nowlan said the rest of the mid-western states trailed behind in the poll of corruption.
"We stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the heartland," Nowlan said.
In recent years, 31 alderman, two senators and four of the last seven governors were convicted of crimes.
"I think the issue of the Illinois-way is one that needs a broad look at the ethical upbringing we have, generally speaking," Nowlan said. "The Chicago nexus of corruption has been with us for more than a century and it is rooted in machine politics."
Nowlan is currently directing a new Illinois integrity initiative with Former Gov. Jim Edgar.
"We're looking at how you change a culture of corruption," Nowlan said. "I think we will need to go beyond laws themselves. It might require major ethics education in our schools and public education and a change of the mindset of young people."
