FBI recordings revealed new details about indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his scheme to exchange political favors for patronage appointments. He made a joke out of it.

Laws that go around the normal rate-setting process are driving up energy prices for Illinois consumers. These laws were central to the scandal that brought down the nation’s longest-serving House speaker.

Politicians use a loophole to bypass the Illinois Constitution’s requirement that bills be read on three separate days before they are passed. Instead, they often gut minor bills and put significant legislation in the bills within a day of the vote.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has been indicted for racketeering and bribery in a federal corruption probe spanning more than two years.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of millions of ratepayers sought to recover the costs incurred during Commonwealth Edison’s attempts to sway former House Speaker Mike Madigan. It was dismissed for a second time.

Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez argued a publicly elected official facing corruption charges should not be able to use campaign funds for a legal defense. If the person is not running for office, the legal bills are a “personal” expense, he contended.

A former Illinois House leader pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and then offering bribes to a state senator in an effort to push gambling legislation.

Illinois made an important first step in its break with the corrupt practices that defined the legislative process under former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. New ethics rules about lobbying, financial disclosures and the legislative watchdog were passed in the final hours of the session, but the reforms may die after the House rejected a technical change to the legislation by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.