The new inspector general for the Illinois secretary of state's office is pushing for changes that would help him head off any more trouble like the CDLs-for-bribes scandal that has dogged the office.

Jim Burns is trying to get public support for a bill pending in the state Legislature that would give him police powers. Without the power to subpoena witnesses and documents, it's harder for him to catch potential abuses, he says.
With that power, he told employees at drivers license bureaus this week, his inspectors could be proactive and "nip things in the bud" if a scheme appeared like the one that had license bureau employees taking bribes in exchange for passing unqualified drivers for their commercial licenses.
The bill also would protect whistleblowers in the secretary of state's office.
Before the Legislature adjourned May 31, the Senate modified the original House bill with three amendments. Burns hopes the differences can be worked out in the Legislature's fall veto session in November.
Burns' predecessor, Dean Bauer, was sentenced in April to a year in prison after he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice on charges he covered up the sale of licenses and other scandals to spare then-Secretary of State George Ryan political embarrassment. (Ryan is now Illinois governor; he has not been charged in the investigation.)