Illinois families deserve a state government that is honest and transparent. For decades, Illinois politics has been synonymous with corruption, with major scandals landing leading figures in both political parties in prison. Now, the most powerful and influential politician who ruled over state government for nearly 40 years has his date with justice in federal court. Longtime former House Speaker Michael Madigan is set to stand trial just weeks from now, facing a 23-count indictment on racketeering and bribery charges.
Ironically, the former speaker’s defense lawyers have asked the trial judge to ban the word “corruption” from being used during the trial, contending that it would prejudice jurors against him. They also want the word “patronage” banned. The term applies to government jobs given to associates in exchange for their campaign work and/or cash contributions. Speaker Madigan was well-known for having an extensive patronage operation.
Regardless of the ultimate verdict in the upcoming Madigan trial, we need to take action to eradicate corruption in state government and begin to restore public trust. As the Illinois House Minority Leader, I am spearheading efforts to advance the commonsense ethics reforms we need in Springfield. Ethics legislation my caucus members and I have filed include:
- House Bill 4119 – Stops political campaign donations being used to pay for criminal defense.
- House Bill 1277 – Suspends pension payments if the member or participant is charged with a felony.
- House Bill 4286 – A revolving door ban on lobbying.
- House Bill 4289 – A definition and clarification bill on lobbying.
The Illinois majority has not passed ANY ethics legislation this year as promised, and I would argue any significant ethics reform since I first came to Springfield in 2017. We have watched investigations, arrests, trials, and convictions come and go for decades, and the Illinois House of Representatives over which Speaker Madigan ruled for decades has an opportunity to lead the way to reform the system in a way that ensures public officials are held to the highest standards.
The Illinois House of Representatives is scheduled to return to veto session November 12-14 and November 19-21, in all likelihood shortly after the Madigan trial ends. There are no more excuses, this is the time to pass meaningful ethics reform.