Decades of institutionalized financial mismanagement left Illinois with the nation’s worst fiscal health. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has been at the center of nearly every bad decision along the way.
Illinois averaged over one federal public corruption conviction a week during the Madigan era. That is the most convictions per capita among the top 10 most populous states between 1983 and 2018.
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has funded a lot of campaigns – and his legal defense – with money from government unions. Even if unions still back him in the New Year, members have options.
A trio of Illinois counties are known for being plaintiff friendly, especially for asbestos and no-injury biometric screening cases. COVID-19 liability is expected to fill future court dockets.
The lawyers who over 50 years ago started the fight against political patronage in Springfield and Chicago are arguing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is not ready to lose federal oversight of hiring. Efforts to hide hiring records prove that point, they said.
Enough Illinois House Democrats already said they would vote to end Mike Madigan’s 35 years as speaker but losing a party leader will make it much more difficult for him to retain power.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.