DECATUR, IL… State Representative Regan Deering (R-Decatur) issued the following statement after former Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who reigned for almost 40 years in the Illinois legislature, was sentenced in Federal court to 7 ½ years in prison, 3 years of probation, and a $2.5 million fine following his felony convictions on bribery conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud.
“Mike Madigan will now be in prison, where he belongs,” said Rep. Deering. “Justice has finally been served, but working families continue to pay the price with higher taxes, wasteful spending, and the stain of Madigan’s corruption will remain as long as do-nothing Democrats continue to refuse to work with Republicans to end public corruption.”
“The people of Illinois deserve a government they can trust and that is responsive to the needs of the people,” continued Deering. “Unfortunately, Democrats have repeatedly stopped Republican efforts to clean up state government and enact tough and lasting reforms to our ethics laws so that government serves the people, not the political elites. The culture of corruption that he fostered is still alive in well in Illinois politics.”
“Madigan’s trial confirmed that he was more interested in making money for himself and his political cronies than he was in serving the public,” Deering said. “House Republicans have introduced legislation that would strengthen Illinois’ ethics laws and stamp out public corruption, but Democrats have refused to call a single ethics reform bill in this General Assembly as they continue to ignore the very real problem of public corruption in Illinois.”
“We need a new way of doing business in Illinois and one centered around ethical government,” Deering said.
To offer solutions, House Republicans filed multiple bills this spring to stamp out public corruption. Bills that address ‘putting teeth’ into the Legislative Inspector General’s office to issue subpoenas without first seeking approval from the people they may be investigating, banning public officials from using campaign funds for legal defense, and implementing a 72-hour budget review process before the budget can be voted on have all been filed but remain in the Rules Committee thanks to the inaction of the Democratic Supermajority.
For more information, please contact Rep. Deering at (217) 876-1968 or by visiting RepDeering.com
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