Sangamon Sun

State Rep. Jed Davis (R-Newark) said ethics reform is needed in Illinois.

Davis’ comments came after the conviction of the ComEd Four. He noted that conviction was small in comparison to the corruption problems in Illinois.

“It is just kind of the tip of the iceberg of everything that has transpired down here in Springfield over the last few decades,” Davis told WCSJ. “So it is unfortunately just the mode of operation of what has transpired in Springfield. We need true reform. We need transparency. There is no transparency down here, even from a simple voting of what is coming up. So I think that is just a byproduct of just everything controlled by one or two people in Springfield. And then ultimately this corruption kind of happens.” 

Calls for ethics reform have been increasing after former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker along with Madigan associate Michael McClain and lobbyist Jay Doherty, who previously ran the City Club of Chicago, were convicted of scheming to pay $1.3 million to Madigan-connected people and companies. 

The four defendants face sentencing in January 2024. As part of the scheme, ComEd provided jobs – some of which were no-show – and contracts to those with connections to Madigan who at the time controlled the Democratic Party and had wielded power as the state’s most powerful politician as the longest-serving state House Speaker in the nation. 

ComEd, the state’s largest utility, engaged in the scheme to influence Madigan in order to get preferential treatment in the state House. Prosecutors called the defendants "grandmasters of corruption.” ComEd paid a $200 million fine in July 2020 and admitted to the scheme.

The 81-year-old Madigan was in power as House Speaker from 1983 to 1995 and then from 1997 to 2021. He was an Illinois House member from 1971 to 2021 before stepping down amid the scandal. He is charged in a separate filing of 23 counts of public corruption related to the ComEd scandal and is facing a single count of public corruption from a similar scheme with AT&T. Madigan will go on trial in April 2024. Despite being under investigation, he reportedly took part in the 2022 election campaign and is still holding onto to one elected position as 13th Ward Democratic committeeman, a position he has held since age 27. Madigan has transferred the last $10 million from his campaign budget to his defense fund.

The criticism of corruption against state Democrats comes just after former state senator Tom Cullerton was spotted working in Springfield as a lobbyist after serving jail time for taking a no-show position from the Teamsters, DuPage Policy Journal reported.