Macon Reporter

Gov. J.B. Pritzker's (D-IL) veto to amend an ethics bill that passed by a landslide earlier this year wasn't accepted by the state House of Representatives on Aug. 31 when it failed to obtain the necessary votes in order to be approved. 

Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) said their "vote was vindicated" when colleagues in the state legislature agreed to refuse the changes Pritzker wanted to see in the ethics legislation.

"We need real reform in this state, and everybody knows it," Halbrook wrote in a Sept. 3 Facebook post. "As your state representative, I will continue to call out the scams and have the courage to vote against groupthink meaningless legislation."

Although the state Senate unanimously passed the technical changes made by Pritzker, not enough Democrats remained in the chamber to reach the three-fifths vote needed for it to pass after Republicans removed their support for the bill, Capitol News Illinois reported.

If it passed, the bill would have placed restrictions on lawmakers to prevent them from going to work as lobbyists immediately after leaving office, according to Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois also reported lawmakers overrode Pritzker's veto of a bill that removed non-emergency ambulance services from Medicaid managed care.