Dupage Policy Journal

Jeanne Ives, former House Representative for Illinois, took to Platform X to criticize Tim Mapes, a former aide of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, of collecting a sizeable pension despite being convicted of two felonies.

"There is nothing any government employee does in Illinois to deserve a guaranteed mostly taxpayer-funded pension worth $150,000," Ives said on the social media site. "Convicted perjurer Mapes is just one of many."

Tim Mapes served as the chief of staff for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan for 25 years. Maps was found guilty on charges of lying before a grand jury that occurred in 2021. The conviction, handed down on August 24th, 2023, includes obstruction of justice charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the perjury charges have a maximum of five years.

Mapes resigned from his position in 2018, at the instruction of Madigan. Shortly after he left, he began collecting pension checks, collecting a total of $723,775 in payments over the next five years. Despite his felony convictions, the pension laws in Illinois require that crimes have to be committed during an official’s duties to be grounds for halting the pension, and Mapes’ lying to the grand jury occurred in 2021 after he resigned from his position under Madigan. The office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul will be responsible for reviewing the case after conviction to determine whether Mapes is eligible to continue receiving pension payments.

Former House Speaker Michael Madigan is charged with racketeering charges, having been indicted in 2021. A guilty verdict in the ComEd Four trial that came in May of 2023 found several former confidants of Madigan guilty of bribery, fraud, and conspiracy schemes, with around $1.3 million shown in payouts over the years. Madigan will face his own trial in 2024.