On Thursday, former Chief of Staff to longtime Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan was found guilty of lying to the Federal government in the investigation into Madigan’s corruption. The Mapes conviction follows the guilty verdict in the ComEd Four trial in May, in which Madigan confidante and lobbyist Michael McClain and three former ComEd executives were convicted in a bribery scheme involving the now former Speaker.
Rep. Joe Sosnowski and Illinois House Republicans continue to put pressure on House Speaker Chris Welch and the Democratic majority to act on tough ethics reform legislation Republicans introduced this year, including:
– House Bill 1277 would suspend pensions from retired lawmakers that face corruption charges stemming from their work as legislators.
– House Bill 1641 requires elected officials to recuse themselves from voting on legislation when they or a family member will directly benefit from any legislation.
– House Bill 3756 states that the Legislative Ethics Commission shall adopt no rule requiring the Legislative Inspector General to seek the Commission’s advance approval before commencing an investigation or issuing a subpoena.
– House Bill 3582 would put ‘teeth’ into the Legislative Inspector General’s office to subpoena people and conduct investigations without first getting approval from the people they may be investigating.
– House Bill 3953 would stop the ‘revolving door’ practice of one day being a member of the General Assembly and the next becoming a lobbyist. This bill would impose a three-year waiting period before any legislator could benefit and make money as a lobbyist working with his/her colleagues in the legislature.
– House Bill 4119 would prohibit the practice of politicians utilizing their campaign committee war chests for legal defense against the politician in charges of misconduct, sexual harassment or discrimination.
As of today, House Democrats have not allowed any of these bills to receive a committee hearing or a vote.