PRESS RELEASE from the
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE

CONTACT: Micky Horstman (312) 607-4977

Statement from the Illinois Policy Institute’s Austin Berg, author of “The New Chicago Way”

CHICAGO (March 2, 2022) – “Today’s indictment of Michael J. Madigan is a victory for every Illinoisan unlucky enough to be born ‘nobody nobody sent.’

Madigan is the single man most responsible for Illinois’ debt crisis, record-high taxes, and lax ethics rules – all of which stand as crushing burdens on the backs of families and businesses. He should be punished to the fullest extent of the law for any illegal actions.

Today we should celebrate.

But real justice requires change beyond punishing the actions of one corrupt politician. 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.

And we should be incredibly wary of giving even more power to Madigan’s strongest funders and backers: corrupt government union bosses.

Madigan’s political muscle will spend millions of dollars this year to push Amendment 1, which would enshrine backroom deals between government unions and the politicians they fund in our state Constitution, if adopted this November.

The fight to end the culture of corruption in Illinois politics doesn’t end with Madigan’s indictment. Because the people of Illinois continue living under the corrupt machine Madigan built.”

In 2016, the Illinois Policy Institute launched the documentary, “Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics.,” which exposed Madigan’s corruption and the system he’d built, which gave him the power to call the shots in Springfield for decades. Learn more here.

For bookings or interviews, contact media@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977.