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ARCHITECT
OF ILLINOIS GAS TAX HIKE RESIGNS COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP AMID FEDERAL
PROBE
Illinois Policy Institute/
Vincent Caruso
State Sen. Martin Sandoval has resigned as
chairman of the powerful Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, weeks
after federal authorities raided Sandoval’s home and offices as part of
an ongoing corruption probe.
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 The lawmaker credited for Illinois’ massive gas tax hike will
no longer occupy the powerful leadership post he used to shepherd that bill to
the governor’s desk.
State Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, submitted his resignation as chairman of
the Senate Transportation Committee, Illinois Senate Democrat spokesman John
Patterson confirmed to Springfield blog Capitol Fax.
As committee chair, Sandoval played an integral role in shaping the $45 billion
capital plan Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law in June, which doubled the state
gas tax and raised a variety of other taxes and fees. The increase raised
Illinoisans’ total gas tax burden to third-highest from 10th in the nation.
At the time of Pritzker’s signing, Sandoval’s website boasted, “The $45 billion
construction package is the culmination of a three-month negotiation process led
by state Sen. Martin A. Sandoval.” An Illinois Policy Institute analysis in July
found that waste and pork-barrel spending included in the plan amounted to more
than $1.4 billion. In May, the Institute published a report finding lawmakers
could have spent $10 billion extra on infrastructure without hiking taxes.
Federal probes into Illinois corruption have included Chicago aldermen, those
close to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and state Sen. Thomas Cullerton,
D-Villa Park, who faces federal embezzlement charges that state during three
years he was paid about $275,000 in salary and benefits but performed little to
no work for the Teamsters Union. Cullerton has pleaded not guilty, and while he
was removed as chair of the Labor Committee, he remains chair of the Veterans
Committee and sub-chair of Utility Rate Regulations.
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Confirmation of Sandoval’s resignation as
Transportation Committee chair came the same day the Illinois Senate
released an unredacted search warrant federal agents served on Sept.
24 before raiding the lawmaker’s Springfield office. The warrant
shows agents were seeking information on red-light camera company
SafeSpeed and Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, among other
individuals and companies.
SafeSpeed, a longtime political donor to Sandoval, was also at the
center of a separate raid conducted on the village hall of suburban
McCook, where Tobolski doubles as mayor. Tobolski’s county chief of
staff Patrick Doherty is a paid consultant for SafeSpeed.
In September, FBI and IRS agents conducted raids on the home and
offices of Sandoval as well as government buildings in McCook and
two other suburban Cook County villages. The Chicago Tribune
reported Oct. 5 SafeSpeed was among the subjects for which federal
authorities were seeking information.
In August, a Downers Grove resident added Sandoval as a defendant in
a lawsuit alleging the senator had used his position as head of the
Transportation Committee to land his son a job at the Regional
Transportation Authority, despite lacking relevant qualifications
and experience.
Federal authorities have accused neither Sandoval, SafeSpeed nor any
of the local public officeholders targeted during the September
raids of a criminal offense.
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