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 Federal authorities have taken a keen interest in Illinois
House Speaker Mike Madigan, according to a Dec. 5 report from the Chicago
Tribune.
Four individuals questioned by FBI agents and prosecutors told Tribune reporters
Ray Long and Jason Meisner that authorities questioned them about a number of
issues involving Madigan. Topics included connections between the speaker and
Commonwealth Edison lobbyists, contracts doled out by lobbyists to Madigan
associates, and jobs for Madigan allies at various levels of state and local
government throughout Illinois.
In addition, Crain’s Chicago Business reported Dec. 6 that federal authorities
are believed to be investigating annual six-figure fundraisers for the
Democratic Party of Illinois facilitated by ComEd. Madigan has been the chairman
of the state party organization since 1998, and was first elected speaker of the
Illinois House of Representatives in 1983.
Madigan is the most powerful state lawmaker in the nation.
That power comes from extremely lopsided legislative rules that allow him to
block key legislation on his own, control over the state’s legislative maps, and
his dual role as speaker and party chairman, which no other state legislative
leader in the country enjoys.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has thus far been unwilling to push for substantial ethics
reform in Springfield, despite Illinois standing as the second-most corrupt
state in the U.S. and corruption costing the state economy at least $550 million
per year.
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Illinois state lawmakers should adopt a number of
ethics reforms common in other states, and recommended by a 2009
state panel convened in the wake of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s
indictment on corruption charges, including:
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Adopting revolving door restrictions on state
lawmakers becoming lobbyists.
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Empowering the Illinois legislative inspector
general to investigate lawmaker corruption. As is, this muzzled
watchdog office must seek approval from a panel of state
lawmakers before opening investigations, issuing subpoenas and
even publishing summary reports.
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Mandating state lawmakers recuse themselves
from votes in which they have a conflict of interest. There is
no current state law or even parliamentary rule requiring
Illinois lawmakers to disclose a conflict of interest or to
excuse themselves from voting on issues where they have personal
or private financial interests.
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Reforming the Illinois House rules, which grant
more concentrated power to the House speaker than any other
legislative rules in the country.
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Using objective scoring criteria for capital
projects, akin to Virginia’s Smart Scale model. This ensures
infrastructure dollars are directed by need rather than clout.
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Passing a bipartisan constitutional amendment
to end politically drawn legislative maps in Illinois.
Until Springfield tackles meaningful anticorruption
reforms, political leaders should not be surprised that many
Illinoisans are skeptical of sending more tax revenue to state
government. Nearly half of Illinois voters see Pritzker’s
progressive income tax hike as a blank check, rather than a “fair
tax.”
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