Kendall County Times

According to Rep. Mark Batinick, it’s time to start building a better reputation for Illinois, which he says is drenched in corruption.

Batinick said Illinois is corrupt and needs serious ethics reform after former state Rep. Luis Arroyo collected a taxpayer-funded pension of almost $130,000 after being charged with bribery.

"While Democrat lawmakers drag their feet on meaningful ethics reform in Illinois, our residents continue to pay the high price of corruption," Batinick posted on his Facebook page on June 8. "It's time to build a better reputation for Illinois by holding elected officials to the highest ethical standards."

Arroyo, a Democrat and former Illinois House leader, was recently sentenced to almost five years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, NBC reported. Arroyo tried to get a promotion from an unnamed sitting state senator by bribing him, according to the criminal complaint. Arroyo had held a House seat for almost 13 years before he was charged with bribery in October 2019.

In the period between his arrest and his sentencing, Arroyo was paid $53,694 each year, and he also collected a taxpayer-funded pension of almost $130,000, Illinois Policy reported. Although the pension was rescinded after he was found guilty, Illinois taxpayers were left on the hook for the other $107,388. Apart from costing the Illinois taxpayers $556 million every year, corruption slows economic growth, disincentivizes investment and erodes public faith in government.

A recent report has ranked Illinois the third most corrupt state in the country, according to WTTW. The report, which was co-authored by by University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former 44th Ward Alderman Dick Simpson, draws on data from the U.S. Department of Justice. In the northern district of Illinois, which covers Chicago and the northern third of the state, 22 public officials were convicted on corruption-related charges in 2020. That number is actually a decrease from 2019, when 26 Illinoisans were convicted of public corruption. Some of the corruption cases detailed in the report are related to former House Speaker Mike Madigan and his alleged schemes with Commonwealth Edison.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was indicted on March 2 for federal racketeering and bribery charges, according to a Department of Justice release.

"The 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan's political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates," the Department of Justice release said.

Madigan is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, as well as individual counts of using interstate facilities to carry out bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion. The release notes that in addition to his role as House speaker, Madigan also has held the positions of representative of Illinois's 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago's 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner.