SPRINGFIELD – State Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona) says he is not surprised by Wednesday’s indictment of former House Speaker Michael Madigan on federal racketeering charges, and urged his Democrat colleagues in the Illinois House to enact sweeping reforms to prevent a future Madigan-style reign.
“Speaker Madigan consolidated the most power for the longest period of time of any politician in the history of the State of Illinois. They say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and I believe that is what was revealed by the US Attorney’s office upon news of today’s indictment. Corrupt politicians using public office for personal profit is not new in Illinois, and today’s indictment reveals allegations that Speaker Madigan was working not for public service, but for self-service. These allegations are disturbing, and underline the urgent need for the Illinois General Assembly to enact strong and sweeping anti-corruption reforms immediately. I hope my colleagues on the Democrat side of the aisle, those that aided and abetted Speaker Madigan’s political reign are paying attention, and that they join me to pass badly needed ethics reforms to prevent this kind of corruption from overtaking our state ever again.”
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