No Ethics Hearing Date Set For Turner Investigation

The Star's Tony Cook set out to learn when the first hearing date for the House Ethics Committee investigation of State Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero) and his use of his Speaker Pro Tem leadership position to lobby on behalf of his family's nursing home business interests and came up empty. Cook rhetorically asks, "What do earthquakes, stock market bubbles, and Rep. Eric Turner's ethics hearing all have in common?" "It's not easy to predict when any of them will happen." Despite the passage of more than a month since House Speaker Brian Bosma announced the ethics investigation, no initial hearing date has been scheduled. The committee's chairman, State Rep. Greg Steuerwald (R-Avon), told reporters that it would likely occur the second week of April, which never happened.

According to Cook, some lawmakers are speculating that House leadership is waiting until after the May primary election. Turner is opposed by Parvin Gillim, an architect and former Sheridan Chamber of Commerce president. Bosma and Steuerwald aren't responding to questions about a hearing date, and their spokesperson is only saying that it isn't being delayed because it has yet to be scheduled. It could be that the House Republican leadership has reached an agreement with Turner to resign his leadership position, and they don't want that news to negatively impact his primary race. Or, then again, an even bigger scandal may intervene that draws attention entirely away from this matter.

 

UPDATE: WTHR is reporting that Rep. Steuerwald has announced that the Ethics Committee will meet on April 23 at the State House to begin its work on investigating Turner's alleged ethical lapses.