Metro East Sun

Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Raymond) doesn't want any more ethical failures among Illinois legislators. 

To that end, Bourne is sponsoring a bill to hold lawmakers to a higher standard when it comes to their annual ethics exam, which tests them on regulations surrounding political work, accepting gifts and whistleblower protections.

House Bill 526 would require lawmakers to pass the annual multiple choice and true/false test on their first attempt rather than being able to repeat questions they answer incorrectly until they finish with all answers correct.

“Lawmakers, as elected officials, should be held to a higher standard of accountability,” Bourne said. “We are charged with crafting the laws of Illinois. Understanding our ethics laws is the first step. Not knowing the laws of ethics in this state and being unable to answer questions about them is simply unacceptable.”

The annual ethics test is part of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, enacted in 2003 in response to rampant ethics violations in the state. When it is time for their test, lawmakers first read through summaries of the laws they will be tested on. The exam presents them with scenarios and covers the state’s ethics laws on subjects like political work on state time, the Gift Ban Act, how to record the amount of time they have worked and the state’s whistleblower regulations.