Politics
After Madigan’s Conviction, Lawmakers Ask: Has Illinois Done Enough to Root Out Corruption?
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after the first day of his corruption trial on Oct. 22, 2024. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)
Like the prosecutors in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s corruption trial presenting evidence, Republicans and ethics advocates are seizing on Madigan’s conviction Wednesday as proof that Illinois needs to root out corruption.
“The time to start cleaning up Illinois government was many years ago,” House Minority Floor Leader Patrick Windhorst (R- Harrisburg) said. “That work should begin in earnest now.”
Read More: Michael Madigan Found Guilty of Bribery Conspiracy, Other Charges as Jury Deadlocked on Racketeering
Some Democrats say with Madigan four years out of the speaker’s chair, that change has already happened.
In a statement, Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the verdict an “important message to anyone in government” that “if you choose corruption you will be found out, and you will be punished.”
“Trust in public officials is something that’s hard earned,” Pritzker, a Democrat, said. “Public service ought to be a high calling for honest people with integrity. And those who violate the public’s trust must be held accountable if confidence in the system is to be restored.”
Madigan, whose 36 years as speaker made him the longest-serving legislative leader in modern American history, maintained his grip on power for six months after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago revealed that Commonwealth Edison had agreed to pay $200 million in exchange for admitting to a yearslong scheme of bribing Madigan with no-work jobs and other perks for his allies in exchange for the speaker’s help passing favorable legislation.
Madigan then — as he did on the witness stand during the trial — maintained his innocence, and said it was not uncommon for legislative leaders to request jobs or recommend lobbyists for work.
When Republicans on the heels of that ComEd admission called for the House to form a special investigative committee to investigate whether Madigan should be removed from office, Madigan in a September 2020 statement called it a “political stunt.”
“The law does not prohibit members of the General Assembly from making job recommendations,” Madigan wrote. “I have never made a legislative decision with improper motives.”
The investigative committee, which deadlocked on party lines and ended without any finding of misconduct, was chaired by Madigan’s successor as speaker, state Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D- Westchester), who at the time called the process a partisan “joke.”
State Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) said Welch got his current position as a “reward for political loyalty” and that the investigative committee’s off-the-hook outcome for Madigan is demonstration that the legislature needs to create a better mechanism to investigate its own members.
Republicans — who are suing to undo a legislative district map they say Democrats gerrymandered to their advantage — argue redistricting is another area left untouched to Illinois’ ethical detriment.
The House is largely operating under the same rules that Madigan put in place, with a structure that leaves rank-and-file lawmakers largely beholden to leadership and a speaker who has control over which bills get called for a vote.
“We have to hit the reset button entirely,” Spain said. “We have to have new rules, we have to have term limits on the speaker of the House — not just in the rule book but in statute. We have to have ethics reforms. We can’t continue doing things the same way that Mike Madigan did and expect that we’re going to see changes in our state government.”
Spain noted that much of what Madigan was found guilty of involved his ability to control the fate of measures, like those pushed by ComEd.
Welch in a statement said he “always believed that a court of law was the place for this to all be sorted out. Today’s outcome leaves me with great appreciation and respect for our legal system. Investigators, prosecutors, and a jury of Illinoisans did their job.”
“House Democrats have been focused on delivering for working people, rebuilding Illinois’ fiscal house, and prioritizing our shared values to combat the divisive tactics coming from Washington—and only through new leadership and a new vision of how the People’s House can operate would that work be possible,” Welch said. “House Democrats will continue to do our job and deliver for the people.”
Under rules passed under Welch that govern how the Illinois House operates, no member can serve as speaker for more than five General Assembly terms, or 10 years.
Rules can be changed easier than law.
Many members of the House say there has been a culture shift under Welch.
For instance, while the speaker can still unilaterally determine whether a bill gets called for a vote, Welch — per an informal policy — polls House Democrats and puts forth a bill when 60 members support it.
“Illinois has turned a corner under the current leadership of Speaker Welch, and I believe that we will continue to show the residents of the state of Illinois that we will be fiscally responsible, balance our budgets and work hard for those who gave their trust in their elected officials to do the People’s Work,” state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Aurora) said in a statement.
Kifowit was among the first Democrats to say she wouldn’t vote for Madigan for another term as speaker, and openly put her name in to challenge him.
State Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) also put herself on the line when Madigan was still speaker by calling for his resignation.
“It’s been almost five years since I followed my conscience and led the call for Michael J. Madigan to resign as Speaker of the House and Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” Howard said in a statement. “Today, the jury has spoken, and Madigan stands convicted of corruption. At a time when the principles that have guided our government and our country for generations are under attack, I am deeply encouraged that our justice system has delivered this verdict. Corruption and unethical behavior by political leaders cannot be allowed to pervert our government and undermine the people’s trust. Today, the people won.”
It’s not just Republicans who say that Illinois hasn’t done enough to clean up state government. Self-described good government groups reacted to the verdict with a collective statement saying that the ethics package passed in 2021 “fell short” and was “full of loopholes.”
That plan banned fundraisers in Sangamon County, where the Capitol is located, during and just before the legislative session meets; required lobbyists to take ethics training; and gave the legislative inspector general the ability to begin investigations with a commission’s authorization.
Reform for Illinois, Common Cause and Change for Illinois called for empowering the inspector general, putting stronger restrictions on when legislators leaving the General Assembly can lobby their peers and creating stronger conflict-of-interest provisions.
The groups said that though Pritzker at the time called the ethics package a “first step,” they “haven’t seen any progress on these issues since then.”
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
