THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Lobbying reform?...Madigan trial...Planning for Trump 2.0
November 18, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
It’s the second week of veto session this week in Springfield. We’re still not exactly sure what’s going to happen, but we’ll all see soon enough.
Governor Pritzker is in Joliet at 10 celebrating state-funded EV chargers.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Lobbying is so ingrained in Springfield it’s practically a branch of government, but lawmakers are reluctant to regulate it (Chicago Tribune)
When former state Sen. Tom Cullerton walked out of federal prison on April 14, 2023, after serving time for public corruption, he was following in the footsteps of scores of convicted Illinois politicians before him.
Eleven days later, Cullerton headed down another well-worn path for ex-officeholders in the state — he became a lobbyist in Springfield. Lobbying not only earned Cullerton a paycheck but also enabled him to use the access and influence he had accumulated over nearly a decade in the statehouse to help shape public policy, only this time on behalf of paying clients.
Cullerton served seven months of a yearlong sentence after pleading guilty to pocketing a quarter-million dollars in pay and benefits from the Teamsters through a no-show job. A union boss told federal investigators the Democrat from west suburban Villa Park was given the organizer gig as a “favor” to another state senator, who has never been publicly identified.
Because of provisions in federal law, the conviction meant Cullerton was banned from working for a union or employee benefit plan for 13 years after his release.
But there was nothing stopping him from joining the ranks of the Illinois General Assembly’s so-called Third House — the group of nearly 2,300 registered lobbyists who are paid to bend the ears of state officials and sway the votes of lawmakers on behalf of interests ranging from megacorporations such as Amazon and Apple to unions and tiny nonprofits.
Cullerton’s quick turn from federal inmate to statehouse lobbyist underscores the insular nature of Springfield, where legislators and lobbyists hash out issues by day in hushed conversations around the Illinois Capitol rotunda’s circular brass rail and hang out in the same downtown restaurants and bars by night.
The cozy, at times co-dependent, relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists, coupled with some of the flimsiest regulations in the country, contributes to the greed and graft that permeate Illinois politics, which the Tribune is exploring in its ongoing series “Culture of Corruption.”
Unlike nearly every other state, Illinois until recently had no restriction on how soon former lawmakers could start lobbying their onetime colleagues, creating an environment that can tempt officials to legislate with an eye toward their future employment prospects rather than the public good.
Go read the whole thing.
Defense hammers star Madigan witness on gun form gaffe, divorce, memory, motive: 'Did you really believe that?' (Chicago Sun-Times)
Michael J. Madigan’s longtime friend wrote a seemingly thoughtful email to ComEd executive Fidel Marquez in 2014, sharing details of a dinner conversation where Madigan had allegedly pondered Marquez’s allegiance and wondered out loud, “Are there two Fidels?”
But Wednesday — 10 years to the day after Michael McClain fired off that email — Marquez found himself on a witness stand in a federal courtroom. That’s where Madigan’s defense attorney asked Marquez incredulously, in front of a jury, “Did you really believe that?”
“Did you really believe that Michael Madigan, at dinner, was telling Michael McClain — kind of doing a psychological evaluation of you that there’s ‘two Fidels’ — do you really believe that conversation took place?” attorney Tom Breen demanded.
Marquez assured him that he did, but Breen had sent his own message. He and a colleague spent their day trying to plant doubt in jurors’ minds about the weeklong testimony from Marquez, who hopes to avoid prison by working with the FBI. His testimony against McClain and Madigan, Illinois’ once-powerful House speaker who resigned in 2021, has spanned five days.
The defense attorneys asked Marquez Wednesday about a false answer he gave while trying to buy a gun, about legal trouble in his divorce, and about his deal with prosecutors that led him to secretly record McClain and three other colleagues. Marquez testified he couldn’t “recollect” whether the FBI had offered him anything when they first approached him.
“You’re telling us that the FBI did not give you any consideration — any inducement — to set up your four friends?” Breen pressed at one point, raising his voice and gesturing toward Marquez.
“What I said was, ‘I don’t recall,’” Marquez insisted.
Related: 'Wholesale attack' on feds' star witness opens door to testimony about criminal charges in Madigan trial (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘The speaker jumped all over it’: Jurors hear call where Madigan talks about getting job for state rep’s wife (Chicago Tribune)
‘Make it a federal court suit’: Jurors hear wiretap of McClain describing subcontracts alleged to be bribes (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois Democrats brace for second Trump administration amid return to Springfield (Capitol News Illinois)
During Donald Trump’s first term as president, Gov. JB Pritzker and Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly spent much of their time enacting laws and policies in direct opposition to the conservative agenda they saw coming from the White House.
Those included the 2019 Reproductive Health Act that declared abortion access to be a “fundamental right” under state law, which lawmakers passed in anticipation that a conservative Supreme Court would eventually overturn Roe v. Wade.
It also included numerous head-to-head confrontations with the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Pritzker was ordering public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the disease while openly criticizing Trump for refusing to do the same.
Now, as Trump prepares to take office again, Pritzker and Democratic leaders are bracing themselves for another round of conflict with the White House while planning for legislation and policies to blunt the potential impact of a second Trump administration.
“Over the years ahead, we’ll do more than just protect against the possible reversion to an agenda that threatens to take us backward,” Pritzker said at a Nov. 7 post-election news conference. “We will continue to advance a positive, productive and inclusive agenda of our own, one that brings opportunity to Illinois and helps uplift the nation as a whole.”
On Wednesday, Pritzker and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, also a Democrat, announced the formation of Governors Safeguarding Democracy, a coalition they say will focus on protecting against “the dangers of authoritarianism and the undermining” of state-level institutions.
That announcement came as lawmakers were convening at the Statehouse for the start of their scheduled two-week fall veto session.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Pritzker said he does not yet have a list of specific measures he wants lawmakers to consider immediately, but that some sort of action could come as early as January, before Trump is sworn into office.
“I haven’t heard anything that has to be addressed right now during this veto session,” he said. “Having said that there is time to be able to do that before the Jan. 20 inauguration.”
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Judge to rule in mid-December on whether to acquit a former AT&T exec accused of bribing Mike Madigan (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker isn’t surprised by Madison County's recent secession vote (St. Louis Public Radio)
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Mayor Brandon Johnson skips slain officer’s funeral after all (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago's higher-income ZIP codes got the biggest Democratic convention host committee spending (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Illinois must step up as Trump prepares to back away from protecting our environment (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Mayor Johnson’s property tax hike was defeated by a score of 50-0. Now the real work begins. (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Progressive-income-tax plan back on Legislature's drawing board (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Local governments beginning to reinstate grocery tax (Shaw Media)
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