Vella Fights for Ethics Reform with Elected Officials as Lobbyist Ban

ROCKFORD, Ill. – As one of his first pieces of legislation, state Rep. Dave Vella, D-Rockford, filed House Bill 2389 to prohibit ex-legislators immediately becoming corporate lobbyists after leaving office in an effort to help restore faith in government.

“For too long we have seen a revolving door of legislators leaving office, often part way through their term, only to immediately become a lobbyist,” said Vella. “This revolving door in Springfield has allowed for too many crooked deals with elected officials no longer acting in the best interest of the public and only the best interest of themselves.”

Vella recently filed House Bill 2389 to put an end to the revolving door of elected officials becoming lobbyists. In previous General Assemblies, legislators could resign part way through their elected term to start lobbying their former colleagues of behalf of private companies. Vella’s legislation would put a five-year ban on elected officials registering as lobbyists after leaving office.

House Bill 2389 is one of several bills on ethics reform that Vella is sponsoring. Vella is working to restore faith in government by removing automatic pay raises and exit bonuses for politicians (House Bill 178 and House Bill 3104). He is also fighting to end taxpayer funded pensions for legislators (House Bill 2428) and has personally refused a pension for being a legislator.   

“We have politicians abusing their elected office to get lobbying jobs and leaving office before the end of their term. This leads to politicians still influencing legislation without having to being held accountable by voters,” said Vella. “Our elected officials need to be focused on helping the communities they represent, not focused on finding a bigger paycheck.”