What happens if you close the barn door after the horses are halfway down the slippery slope?
We’re mixing metaphors here to reflect a mixed reaction for one of the steps lawmakers took near the end of the spring session. As Capitol News Illinois reported, House Bill 3903 earned unanimous approval. Now awaiting the governor’s signature, the measure places new limits on the political involvement of companies involved in red-light and speed camera.
Under the plan, those businesses and their officers could no longer donate to candidates for local or state office. It also would bar state and local officials form taking contracts or jobs with such entities at any point during their time in office or for up to two years after leaving public service.
The “why” here is obvious: multiple lawmakers have been implicated in bribery investigations specifically related to this industry. Two former suburban mayors and a former Cook County commissioner also pleaded guilty in similar circumstances.
State Sen. Marin Sandoval, D-Chicago, admitted to accepting bribes from SafeSpeed and died while awaiting sentencing. State Sen. Emil Jones III, D-Chicago, has pleaded not guilty to bribery charges connected to the same company, for which he allegedly agreed to shied SafeSpeed from a statewide study of red-light systems. Jones is still in the Senate and voted yes on HB 3903.
So while this bill addresses a clear problem, it’s May 2023 and the conviction of former assistant Chicago transportation commissioner John Bills happened in 2016, putting him well past the halfway point of his 10-year prison sentence.
“Traffic cameras are perhaps more intertwined with government operations than other private sectors, but a more serious approach at ethics legislation would cast a significantly wider net.”
Scott T. Holland
And while lawmakers praising the move have called the plan “a great first step” (state Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy) instead of hailing it as a cure-all, taxpayers need only look at the much larger list of industries not subject to similar limitations to begin guessing which less-regulated sector might generate the next bribery scandal.
Traffic cameras are perhaps more intertwined with government operations than other private sectors, but a more serious approach at ethics legislation would cast a significantly wider net.
Other of the bill’s provisions are more laudable: granting the Department of Transportation conditional power to deny permits for automated traffic enforcement systems and mandating local governments review safety impacts of such systems every other year.
Local governments also would have sole authority to decide to issue tickets, ending the current option of delegating decisions to camera companies.
Lobbying and bribery are closely related – ComEd convictions, anyone? – and it’s important to try keeping lawmakers in check, even in “better late than never” situations. Yet more applicable to the daily routines of citizens, though, is taking sincere steps to ensure any of this automated technology actually delivers on its stated safety goals.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
