Dupage Policy Journal

Illinois State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi blasted the corruption among state politicians after former Illinois House Leader Luis Arroyo was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

“Illinoisans have been paying the high price of corruption for far too long,” Mazzochi wrote on her Facebook page. “It's time to hold our elected officials to the highest possible standards, pass robust ethics reform and end the culture of corruption in Illinois.”

Arroyo was sentenced to 57 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Steve Seeger for giving a $2,500 bribe to an unnamed sitting senator, who was wearing a recording device, to promote illegal “sweepstakes games,” according to the criminal complaint and NBCChicago. Arroyo was charged in October 2019 and resigned in November after spending nearly 13 years in the House. He pleaded guilty last November.

In March, former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan was indicted on federal racketeering and bribery charges. According to a release from the Department of Justice, the 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade whose purpose was to “enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates."

In addition to the racketeering charges, Madigan is facing individual counts of using interstate facilities to carry out bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion, according to the release. Madigan has also served as a representative of Illinois’s 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner.

The recent spate of legal trouble for state politicians adds to Illinois’ reputation for corruption. A recent report ranks Illinois the third most corrupt state in the country, according to WTTW. The report, co-authored by the University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former 44th Ward Ald. Dick Simpson, draws on data from the U.S. Department of Justice.

In the Northern District of Illinois, which covers Chicago and the northern third of the state, 22 public officials were convicted on corruption-related charges in 2020. Some of the corruption cases detailed in the report are related to Madigan and his alleged schemes with Commonwealth Edison.

During this last legislative session, Illinois Senate Republicans proposed several bills that would have addressed ethics reform. One bill – 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 given 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. Another bill – SB 3030 – would have given the legislative inspector general the authority to issue subpoenas without prior permission from the Legislative Ethics Commission.

State Sen. Craig Wilcox has put the blame for the legislation failing on Democrats.

"Despite the Madigan indictment and other indictments of high-ranking Illinois politicians, the Senate Ethics Committee did not meet even once during the 2022 session," Wilcox said in a newsletter. "Instead, leading Democrats chose to block a comprehensive ethics package filed by Senate Republicans. The Senate Republicans’ bills were never assigned to a committee."