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.
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan made a pitch for keeping his leadership despite a federal corruption probe. He told Black state lawmakers he can deliver a tax hike and a new legislative map, again favoring Democrats.
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.
Madigan already had lost enough support to end his 35-year run as House speaker, but the gap continued to widen as Illinois’ governor added his rebuke.
The indictments are the closest yet to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s inner circle. Now enough Democrats are pledging they won’t support him to cost him the speaker’s gavel.
After decades under Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s rule, Illinois is corroding from his concentration of power. Robust ethics laws, rules and norms could stop a new Madigan from rising.
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.