It's hard to believe that one year ago today, federal FBI agents arrested Rod Blagojevich at his Ravenswood home for engaging in what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald would call a "staggering" level of corruption. To mark the occasion, the Capitol Fax's Rich Miller drudged up an entertaining (and infuriating) string of old clips. Editorial boards throughout the state, on the other hand, assessed what progress -- if any -- Illinois legislators have made in the past 12 months to clean up the mess in Springfield. The consensus? Things aren't as different as they'd hoped.

Take this piece by the Rockford Register-Star. Despite a popular mandate to "repair Illinois' image," the paper writes, Springfield lawmakers did not move quickly to fix the state's intense fiscal problems:

Sure, there were some half-hearted reforms that incumbents will trumpet as they hit the campaign trail, but the fiscal problems are getting worse.

The budget hole could be as much as $13 billion, depending on who’s counting. Gov. Pat Quinn wants to borrow $500 million to help the state pay its bills. The borrowing strategy hasn’t helped. The state borrowed $1.25 billion in August. [...]

Voters will want clear plans on how to get out of this mess. Blagojevich charmed most voters in 2002 and 2006, but we expect them to be very critical in 2010.

The State Journal-Register struck a similar note, blasting all the parties in Springfield for failing to reach an agreement on a responsible budget plan:

Now we enter an election season in which most candidates for governor still refuse to recognize and address the scope of the state’s financial trouble. If we believe those who say we can cut our way back to solvency, we’ll get exactly what we deserve. (As columnist Mike Lawrence noted on Sunday, “We could wipe out the entire state government work force and reap $3 billion. We could level the legislature and dent the $12-billion deficit by some $70 million.”)

One year ago today, Illinois became a national symbol of corruption, thanks to a governor with a funny name, memorable hair, some choice wiretap quotes and a love of the spotlight. He’s gone on to a fine career as a national joke. We won’t soon forget him, and we’ll always remember this day as the anniversary of the world discovering Rod Blagojevich.

His role as all-purpose scapegoat for Illinois’ political problems, however, is long past.

It'd be wrong to suggest that no progress was made, however. The Bloomington Pantagraph points to the Blagojevich impeachment, as well improvements to the state’s freedom of information and open meetings laws, as signs of hope. But the "public’s perception within and outside of the state," the paper continues, "is that Illinois is still 'one hell of a competitor' for 'most corrupt state in the nation'":

The work of the Reform Commission and the legislative panel sparked frank discussion and many good ideas. But only a few of them have progressed from idea to implementation.

The Reform Commission made nine recommendations on campaign finance alone. A bill which Gov. Quinn reportedly will sign today addresses some, but not all, of those recommendations. Enforcement tools are still lacking — meaning the state will probably need to continue relying on the federal government to root out corruption.

As for recommendations on government structure, the Senate has amended its rules to provide greater assurance that bills will receive an up-or-down committee vote. However, much-needed term limits on legislative leadership positions are going nowhere and — although several proposed amendments have been introduced — no action has been taken on the recommendation to “substantially” reform Illinois’ redistricting process.

Voters need to demand that candidates tell them what they will do to reform Illinois government. Let them know the issue is important. Make them be specific.

The Sun-Times was equally disappointed that legislators "tweaked and twiddled on reform measures," eventually passing a campaign finance bill (that Gov. Quinn will sign this morning) that isn't strong enough:

When other states get hit with massive, nationally embarrassing corruption scandals, political leaders upend the status quo, throw the bums out and do their level best to ensure it can't happen again.

In Illinois, state lawmakers have tweaked and twiddled on reform measures, in hopes voters forget what they're mad about.

So far, the strategy has worked.

A few modest improvements have made their way into law -- a beefed-up Freedom of Information Act, tighter state procurement laws and pension board reforms -- but the most serious matters lay tossed in the trash or gutted by the side of the road.

Columnist Carol Marin agreed with the take of her paper's editorial board, writing that while we've taken a "few reform steps forward," we still have "miles to go":

Neither the arrest, impeachment, removal and indictment of Rod Blagojevich nor the imprisonment of the governor before him, George Ryan -- as cataclysmic as those events might seem -- have changed the culture in Illinois.

Instead, the new ethics reform measures and campaign finance limits the Legislature has passed, which Gov. Quinn will sign today, are more like a set of narrow codes. Or as Cindi Canary, head of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform puts it, an attempt to address the "specific crisis at hand and make minimal necessary changes so that we can move on."