Just as Illinoisans elect state representatives, state representatives elect the speaker of the House every two years. To become the speaker, Madigan just needs a majority vote.

October saw a former Chicago Public Schools CEO plead guilty to wire fraud and several other instances of criminal charges and civil lawsuits against public officials, as well as crony deals between businesses and government.

April saw two major players in Illinois education ensnared in charges of cronyism, among more than 60 other corruption-related stories.

April was a very busy month for public corruption stories in Illinois. In total, there were 45 different public corruption-related news stories in just 30 days. A full list of those stories can be found here. Here are the April inductees to the Illinois Hall of Shame: 5. The city of Chicago spent more than...