SE Illinois News

Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis) said the indictment of former Speaker of the House Mike Madigan was overdue, but more work is needed to fight corruption in Springfield.

"This indictment has been a long time coming and it is my hope that justice will be served in this case," Niemerg said. "But the indictment of Mike Madigan will only matter if we take the necessary steps to root out the culture of corruption in Springfield. Punishing Madigan won’t do any good unless we enact the necessary anti-corruption reforms, we need to restore confidence in state government."

Madigan was indicted by the U.S. Attorney' Office on March 2 on 22 counts of bribery, extortion and racketeering. 

A release from the Department of Justice said “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 denied the allegations.

“I was never involved in any criminal activity,” he wrote in a statement. “The government is attempting to criminalize a routine constituent service: job recommendations. That is not illegal, and these other charges are equally unfounded.”

An ethics reform bill signed into law by Gov. Pritzker last year spurred the resignation of Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope who said the bill didn't give her enough tools to prosecute corruption.

“Carol Pope made it clear in her resignation that she was dissatisfied with the lackluster ethics reform bill,” Niemerg said. “I concurred with her view of the bill, which is why I voted against it. We need real reform, and that legislation was far from the reform we need.”

Niemerg hopes the indictment may bring some change in Springfield.

"Some of my colleagues and I have been pushing for such reforms for a long time," Niemerg said. "Unfortunately, the majority party has done little to act on these efforts. It is my hope, Madigan’s indictment will lead to less talk and more action on the meaningful reforms our state so desperately needs.

ABC reported that in her letter of resignation, Pope called the office of LIG a ‘“paper tiger” and stated that the ethics reform bill did not go far enough, and actually tied her hands more than they had been before.

“I’m thinking that the legislature knows the limitations of the power of the LIG and that they want it that way,” Pope said to ABC. “That’s why I said I am a paper tiger. There are no real teeth to this legislation the way it is now.”

Niemerg agrees with Pope's assessment.

"The Legislative Inspector General does not have the independent authority to even launch investigations," Niemerg said "How can we expect to end corruption when the process we have of investigating legislators is so flawed and ineffective? The simple answer is we can’t." 

Illinois has a history of corruption in high places. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached and convicted of multiple corruption charges. He served nearly eight years in prison. Former Gov. George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and served five years in prison. Former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski was  convicted of corruption and served 17 months in prison.