Bosma Dumps Eric Turner From His Leadership Team

Apparently State Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero) has become too toxic for House Speaker Brian Bosma, who today announced that he had removed Turner as Speaker Pro Tempore, the number two person in his Republican leadership team. Bosma stated in a release to the media today that he had removed Turner many weeks ago due to his "irreconcilable conflicts," which refers to the constant self-dealing Turner has engaged in since becoming a state lawmaker to build his family's nursing home business into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Turner, a former Democrat, only switched to the Republican Party back in the 1990s when it became apparent to him that he could not win office as a Republican. I've never understood the rationalization of members of the House Republican caucus to elevate him to such a high level of their leadership team knowing what they knew about his self-dealing tendencies, saying nothing of his insincere affiliation with the Republican Party. Here's the text of the statement released by Bosma today:

“There is no more important precept in a free democratic system than the expectation of impartial decision making by elected policy makers.  In a part-time legislature we each carry with us our own personal conflicts and influences and we must continually be on guard to set them aside, or recuse ourselves entirely from influencing that matter.   Our greatest concern must be the confidence of the public in their elected officials. 

“Given the recently disclosed magnitude of Rep. Turner’s personal and family financial interest in the outcome of the nursing home moratorium debate, any involvement in the decision-making process, whether in public debate or through private discussions with fellow elected officials, presented an irreconcilable conflict.  Rep. Turner should have recused himself entirely from influencing the matter in any way given the personal financial stake involved.  I have no doubt the House Ethics Committee review of this matter was thorough and resulted in the correct conclusion; however, it also revealed significant gaps which must be addressed.  In consultation with our colleagues across the aisle and in the Senate, I intend to present a comprehensive ethics bill to address many of these issues during the 2015 session. 

“Calls for resignation or removal at this point mean little, as the General Assembly is officially adjourned until after the November election.  The public can rest assured that I made the decision many weeks ago that Rep. Turner will not be part of our leadership team come November.  My greatest concern is restoring the confidence of the public in their elected officials.”