Will County Gazette

House Republican Floor Leader Mark Batinick is clear about what he thinks is Speaker Mike Madigan’s motivation for moving to cancel this month’s fall Veto Session.   

“It’s all because he doesn’t have the 60 votes needed to be reelected as House Speaker,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “We’ve got people working at grocery stores and restaurants that are still doing so because they’re taking the necessary precautions to do so to protect them from COVID. There’s no reason we can’t do that in Springfield, too.”

Citing rising infection rates, Illinois legislative leaders recently called off this month’s session, with staffers from Madigan’s office claiming they have the backing of a “strong majority” of House Democrats in calling for the cancellation in light of the situation. Batinick isn’t buying it.

“All this has to do with the Speaker’s own troubles and him not wanting to have to answer any questions related to any of that,” he said. “Right now, there are a growing number of even Democrats saying that they won’t vote for him again and he doesn’t want them getting together where more of them might talk about things.”

The state’s longest-tenured lawmaker, Madigan now finds himself at the center of a still evolving federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme where all the perks were allegedly steered to him in exchange for favorable legislation.  

Meanwhile, Batinick argues no one should be surprised to see Madigan take the approach he has.

“He’s never talked about anything he’s been involved in,” he said. “It’s the way Mike Madigan’s operated ever since he’s been in Springfield. Our citizens are the real losers because right now none of us has any idea when we might be back in session working on their behalf.”