CHICAGO — Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has announced his resignation after 50 years in the Illinois House of Representatives.
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Original analysis from the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute on Madigan’s legacy:
During Madigan’s 36 years as speaker, Illinois’ finances deteriorated from a perfect credit rating and just under $6 billion in unfunded pension debt to the lowest credit rating in the nation and over $144 billion in pension debt.
The state saw 1,978 public corruption convictions since Madigan first became speaker, averaging over one per week. That is the most convictions per capita among the top 10 most populous states between 1983 and 2018, according to Department of Justice data.
Illinois has seen the worst population loss in the nation over the last decade in raw terms, experiencing seven consecutive years of population loss and shrinking from the fifth to the sixth largest state. It is expected to lose a congressional seat following the 2020 Census results.
Austin Berg, vice president of marketing at the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute and writer of the “Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics.” documentary, offered the following statement:
“Former Speaker Madigan cut his teeth in the Daley political machine, and followed in the footsteps of his political mentors to the detriment of Illinois – accumulating a massive political war chest and building an unmatched patronage army, all financed by the worst state and local debt crisis in the nation.
“It’s time to fix the corrupt, failed institutions that fueled Madigan’s unprecedented accumulation of power. Now that Madigan is gone we have no excuse not to deal with the laws that allow for lawmakers to leave office and immediately become lobbyists, or even to lobby while still in office; we have no excuse not to enact fair maps; we have no excuse not to deal with a constitution that puts pensions above all other public services Illinoisans rely on. Ending the Madigan Machine means putting a nail in the coffin on corruption and fixing the pension crisis once and for all.”
