(The Center Square) – Former elected officials are recalling the extent of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s power and the impact he had on the state’s politics and finances.
Madigan served as a state representative for 50 years, most of that time as Illinois House speaker, and he chaired the Democratic Party of Illinois for 23 years. He is now facing 23 federal counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct.
Several of the allegations against Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain involve their dealings with utility companies.
Earlier this month, former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said Madigan voted to override his vetoes on bills favoring ComEd in 2011 and 2013.
“I think he should have taken my advice and his daughter’s advice back then and not gotten involved in that. We’ll see what the court system and the justice system produces,” Quinn said.
Madigan’s daughter, Lisa Madigan, was Illinois attorney general at the time. Lisa Madigan was in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for the first day of opening arguments for the trial involving her father.
Quinn said Illinois needs an ethics initiative.
“If you lived in places like Ohio or Michigan or Missouri, nearby neighbors, voters by binding referendum through initiative petitions, can put ethics measures for their elected officials on the ballot. We need to do that in Illinois,” the former governor said.
Former Illinois State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, told The Center Square that Democrats were not standing up to Madigan when she first entered the statehouse in 2013.
“Anything that looks like maybe there was a disruption or conflict within this caucus is completely false, unless it was used for their own benefit,” Ives said.
Ives recalled that Madigan pushed through a pension bill for political purposes in 2013, even though he truly opposed pension reform.
“He knew all along, and so did the Democrats, that what he passed was unconstitutional,” Ives said.
The pension reform bill, which became law in June 2014, was referred to in litigation as Public Act 98-599. The bill reduced retirement annuity benefits for members of state-funded pension systems.
In 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that the measure was unconstitutional.
The trial of Madigan and McClain is scheduled to resume Monday.