SE Illinois News

Veteran state Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) wonders why Gov. J.B. Pritzker is making his sudden push to remove a federal decree banning patronage hiring in the midst of an ongoing federal probe into a pay-for-play scandal at the highest levels of state government.

“Maybe it’s to protect some of his friends, and possibly even himself and his own interest,” Bailey told the SE Illinois News. “Some time when people do stuff this blatantly is obvious why they’re doing it.”

Long a staunch Pritzker critic, Bailey’s latest stand against him adds to a growing number of GOP lawmakers expressing concern about the fate of the Shakman decrees that prohibit lawmakers from controlling state government jobs. The decrees also created federal oversight of hiring practices in Springfield and Cook County.

While the governor argues the state is no longer in need of the nearly half-century old laws, his efforts come at a time when longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan finds himself cast as a central figure in an evolving federal investigation targeting utility giant ComEd.

“He’s acting like a loose cannon, a total tyrant and the people of Illinois have to stand up and push back against him,” Bailey added. “Voters have to speak up at the ballot box. I fear if the people of Illinois don’t wake up soon and realize what’s happening, we’re going to be in more trouble than you can imagine.”

Bailey said Pritzker’s gall in turning himself into a one-man government never ceases to amaze him.

“It’s almost embarrassing that he would be doing this,” he said. “I’d like to think people have had enough and are ready to take matters into their own hands, but as representatives of the people I think we have to keep pushing the message that things can and need to be better.”