Lawmakers could take ‘master class’ on corruption with ‘ComEd 4’ closing arguments set

[April 24, 2023]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The “ComEd Four” trial preparing for closing arguments in Chicago could provide what one state representative says is a “master class” on needed ethics reforms at the Illinois capitol.

Closing arguments are set in the trial where prosecutors allege a nearly decade long bribery scheme involving a utility and powerful statehouse actors.

Three lobbyists and a former ComEd official on trial the past six weeks all pleaded not guilty in the scheme allegedly involving former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan, who faces more than 20 corruption-related charges, has pleaded not guilty with a trial expected next spring.

State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said some changes he sees arising out of the trial is closing lobbying loopholes, making better disclosure on the origins of legislation, bringing reforms to how bills move out of committees, and how witness slips are managed.

“We really got to take a master class in the manipulative practices of the leaders of this body of the past and the way that business is done here,” Spain told The Center Square.

The statehouse can’t avoid the issues revealed at trial, Spain said.

“And if you listen to those tapes and you serve in the Illinois General Assembly and it doesn’t compel you to take aggressive action to clean up corruption in the state of Illinois, then I don’t think you deserve to be here anymore,” Spain said.

He’s yet to see any urgency.

State Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, chairs the House Elections and Ethics Committee. He said he’s going to push for reforms.

“Because we as a commission work to bipartisanly, together, to find minor loopholes in our ethics and we want to make sure that members are being proactive in being ethical,” West told The Center Square. “I’m the chair of a committee that needs a concerted, agreed effort before anything moves. I can’t just move it at willy-nilly on my own. But I am being persistent that there is something by the end of session.”

Closing arguments in the trial are slated for Monday. Lawmakers return Tuesday.

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.