Will County Gazette

The indictment of former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan brought calls for ethics reform from leaders such as Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield).

“Sadly, many Illinoisans won't be surprised by the details that emerge in the corruption investigation against Madigan because it’s been “business as usual” for our state for far too long,” Batinick wrote on Facebook. “It’s time for Democrats to join us in passing the sweeping ethics reform measures needed to end the culture of corruption in Illinois.”

Madigan was indicted on March 2 on federal racketeering and bribery charges. A release from the Department of Justice said, “The 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates.” 

Madigan is facing charges of racketeering and conspiracy, as well as individual counts of using interstate facilities to carry out bribery, wire fraud, and attempted extortion. The release notes that in addition to his role as Speaker of the House, Madigan has also held the positions of representative of Illinois’s 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner.

“It was very clear that the FBI was looking to get him,” said Alaina Hampton, a former Madigan campaign worker who settled a lawsuit against Madigan's organization in 2019 over sexual harassment allegations against another staffer, according to ABC 7.

A recent report has ranked Illinois the third most corrupt state in the country, WTTW reported. The report was co-authored by a University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former 44th Ward Ald. Dick Simpson, draws on data from the U.S. Department of Justice. In the Northern District of Illinois, which covers Chicago and the northern third of the state, 22 public officials were convicted on corruption-related charges in 2020. That number is a decrease from 2019 when 26 Illinoisans were convicted of public corruption. 

Some of the corruption cases detailed in the report are related to Madigan and his alleged schemes with Commonwealth Edison.

“There were a lot of dealings with quid pro quo going on and I can’t state that exactly with Madigan and himself but like a lot of the people in his inner circles, you know, cutting deals and things like that, which always seemed a little fishy and off to me,” Hampton said to ABC 7.

During this last legislative session, Senate Republicans championed a package of bills that would have addressed ethics reform.

SB 3636 would have empowered the Attorney General to utilize a statewide grand jury to investigate and prosecute public contractor misconduct. The legislation would have also amended Illinois' RICO law, giving wiretap authority to state attorneys investigating public corruption.

Members of the General Assembly and their immediate families would also be prohibited from working as lobbyists while that person is a member of the legislature. SB 3030 would have given the Legislative Inspector General (LIG) the authority to issue subpoenas without prior permission from the Legislative Ethics Commission.

Madigan started his time in office in 1971.

“Despite the Madigan indictment and other indictments of high-ranking Illinois politicians, the Senate Ethics Committee did not meet even once during the 2022 session,” Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) said in a newsletter. “Instead, leading Democrats chose to block a comprehensive ethics package filed by Senate Republicans. The Senate Republicans’ bills were never assigned to a committee."