SE Illinois News

Republican state House candidate Paul Jacobs is hoping the six lawmakers assigned to a special House committee simply follow the evidence as they decide whether Speaker Mike Madigan should be disciplined for his alleged role in the ComEd scandal.

“I believe that the committee that has been formed could get some information that we have not been privy to at this point,” Jacobs told the SE Illinois News. “If it does show wrongdoing, obviously there would have to be a vote. Therein lies the problem; we must have a two-thirds vote to do any type of removal of a legislator from the house. The Democrats still have a super majority and can easily block anything that the committee might find in their research.”

In a year in which four Springfield Democrats have been indicted on corruption related charges, the committee was formed at the insistence of House Minority Leader Jim Durkin after Madigan was implicated in an ongoing federal probe involving utility giant ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme.

The six-member bipartisan committee is made up of three GOP lawmakers (state Reps. Tom Demmer of Dixon, Deanne Mazzochi of Elmhurst and Grant Wehrli of Naperville) and three Democrats (state Reps. Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside, Elizabeth Hernandez of Cicero and Natalie Manley of Joliet). A majority vote is needed for the probe to proceed to the next stage – a new committee empowered to determine potential sanctions that would then be voted on by the entire House. A two-thirds majority would be required for any discipline to be taken against Madigan, which could include expulsion.

“Ultimately, I feel that appointing the committee is the right thing to do, but they will more than likely have their hands tied,” added Jacobs, who is running in the 115th District. “We will probably have to rely on the federal investigation for anything to actually happen.”