Dupage Policy Journal

Republican Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives is hardly surprised by the revelation of charges in a long-running bribery scheme that, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, involved the Commonwealth Edison utility company and payments to individuals connected to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, ComEd will pay a $200 million fine to end a federal investigation that uncovered payments of more than $1.3 million to associates of Madigan. Madigan is named in the U.S. Attorney's office statement as "Public Official A."

“The truth is, rate-payers will pay $200 million in corruption charges," Ives, who previously served as a state legislator, said. “ComEd’s rates were set in Madigan’s General Assembly. And paid by the people of Illinois. Nothing is passed in Springfield without Madigan’s approval. I know this first hand. In 2011, ComEd received an estimated $20 billion in rate hikes. Then in 2016, Exelon, parent company of ComEd, received a bailout of $2.4 even though the company had posted $2.25 billion in profits the previous year. Rinse and repeat. Crony deals all around."  

Ives said she voted against the ComEd/Exelon bailout bill and publicly spoke out against it as a state legislator. 

“The corruption that Madigan has sewn into the very fiber of Illinois government is dependent on the silence and complicity of those in his own party,” she said.

She questioned how much her opponent in the Congressional race, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Illinois), knew of the situation and urged Casten to speak out.

“Sean Casten knows this game," she said. "Given his own ties to the energy industry, his history of lobbying for and receiving massive government subsidies, and his recent push for an estimated $16 trillion energy deal, he needs to speak out today. His constituents have been forced to pay the price of his party’s corruption. Sean Casten’s continued silence shows his disrespect for and disinterest in the impact government has on the lives of those he represents."

Ives went on to question why Casten hasn't pledged to take on government abuse in the same way she has.

"We can either have leaders who protect against corruption and abuse or we can have leaders who protect corruption and abusers," Ives added. "I stood up against corruption and crony deals as a legislator because I promised to protect my constituents against government overreach and abuse. Why won’t Sean Casten?”

At the time of this story, no charges have been filed against Madigan.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has urged Madigan to “fully cooperate with the investigation and answer all questions as quickly as possible,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

During a news conference on an unrelated issue in Waukegan, Pritzker addressed the controversy.

“These allegations strike at the core of what public service means . . . If these allegations of wrongdoing by the speaker are true, there is no question that he will have betrayed the public trust, and he must resign,” Pritzker said.