Kendall County Times

Amid new charges against former Speaker of the House Mike Madigan, Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) took to Facebook to push ethics reform.

"New charges were filed against former Speaker Mike Madigan on Friday, marking yet another shameful day for Illinois state government," Batinick posted. "Democrats in the General Assembly have let this type of bad behavior go unchecked for decades, it's time to show the people of Illinois that we will not tolerate corruption and pass meaningful ethics reform today."

Michael McClain, a Madigan ally, is accused of conspiring with Madigan to accept bribes from AT&T Illinois, Capitol News Illinois reported. Paul La Schiazza, the former AT&T Illinois president, is also accused of attempting to influence Madigan.

AT&T Illinois has agreed to pay $23 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement in the investigation of Madigan's political operation, Yahoo reported. AT&T Illinois has admitted to attempting to influence Madigan to advance legislation in their interest by sending payments to one of his allies. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will drop the charges against AT&T in two years since the company admitted guilt.

Madigan was indicted on March 2 for federal racketeering and bribery charges. According to a release from the Department of Justice, "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." 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. 

During the spring legislative session this year, Senate Republicans championed a package of bills that would have addressed ethics reform. SB 3636 would have empowered the Attorney General to utilize a statewide grand jury to investigate and prosecute public contractor misconduct. The legislation would have also amended Illinois' RICO law, giving wiretap authority to state’s attorneys investigating public corruption. Members of the General Assembly and their immediate families would also be prohibited from working as lobbyists while that person is a member of the legislature. SB 3030 would have given the Legislative Inspector General (LIG) the authority issue subpoenas without prior permission from the Legislative Ethics Commission.