Category: News

Now more than ever, Illinois Republicans believe it is time to address the crisis of public trust created by deep rooted Democrat corruption that seemingly produces a new story of malfeasance on a weekly basis. 

Yesterday, members of the House GOP held a virtual press conference to demand immediate action. 

“Illinois Republicans say Madigan should resign after Commonwealth Edison last week admitted to bribing the speaker through hiring lobbyists and staff he recommended.  Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Members of the Illinois House GOP say that scandal is reason enough for Governor J.B. Pritzker to bring lawmakers back for a special session dealing with ethics legislation.“

Republicans don’t just want to oust the Speaker, they want real change. 

“The Republicans suggest a ban on lawmakers becoming lobbyists and using political funds for criminal defense. But they deeply want a change in leadership.

“Speaker Madigan has spent decades creating his Springfield machine. So Madigan must go. That much is clear. But it does the people of Illinois no good if his crony culture stays. Otherwise, another insider is just going to take the reins and the corruption cycle is going to start all over again. This is an area where Governor Pritzker certainly could have been leading, it’s unfortunate that he didn’t, but I’m ultimately here because I want good governance.”

“I want real change. I want a culture of public servants who again are choosing people over power, who choose the people of Illinois over a political machine who do what’s best for Illinois instead of what’s best for the insider political class,” said Representative Deanne Mazzochi (R-Naperville).“

The response from Pritzker?  “Requests for comments from the Speaker and Governor’s offices were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.”

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During a stop in Peoria yesterday in what’s becoming a statewide “Madigan Defense Tour,” Governor JB Pritzker was asked if he still considers Speaker Michael Madigan a political ally.

Pritzker refused to answer.  Instead, he seemed to defend Madigan by calling “some” accusations against Madigan “just implied.”

Just implied?  What part of naming Mike Madigan as “Public Official A” in a years-long bribery scandal was “just implied?”  Maybe Pritzker should read this overview of accusations described by WBEZ yesterday:

• Does Juan Ochoa, Madigan’s former ComEd board members, think these accusations are “just implied”?
•  Individual A “explained that for decades, [Madigan] had named individuals to be ComEd employees, such as meter readers, as part of an ‘old-fashioned patronage system.” Does Individual A think the accusations are “just implied”?

In Champaign, Pritzker called for ethics reform as he openly condemned ComEd and blamed a culture of corrupt Springfield lobbyists.  For Pritzker, it seems, everyone is to blame except Mike Madigan.  The most urgent ethics reform Pritzker seems unable to support is Mike Madigan’s resignation.

Pritzker’s inability to cut off ties with Madigan and call for his resignation is reminiscent of a moment during the 2017-2018 gubernatorial primary when Pritzker refused to distance himself from Madigan and called accusations of his corruption nothing more than a Republican “talking point.”

Meanwhile, WBEZ reported that Pritzker is also doubling down in his defense of Madigan ally and daughter-in-law of a person of interest in the Madigan bribery investigation who Pritzker appointed to chair the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates ComEd.  The Zalewski family is part of Madigan’s inner circle.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday staunchly defended the politically-connected head of the state agency that regulates the scandal-scarred Commonwealth Edison power company and other public utilities.

Pritzker’s appointee as chairwoman of the Illinois Commerce Commission is Carrie Zalewski — whose father-in-law, former 23rd Ward Ald. Michael Zalewski — profited from the broad and long-running bribery scheme ComEd has admitted to perpetrating in Illinois politics.

According to federal court records unsealed Friday, the giant electric company acknowledged steering consulting contracts to allies of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, in exchange for favorable government action in Springfield.

The feds said a former alderman they described as “Associate A” got a ComEd subcontract worth $5,000 a month after he retired from the Chicago City Council in May 2018, and Madigan allegedly brokered the “arrangement” with ComEd’s chief executive. Michael Zalewski left the Council in May 2018, and a source familiar with the ongoing federal investigation confirmed he is Associate A.

Madigan’s office had also repeatedly recommended Carrie Zalewski for a job at the ICC before Pritzker appointed her to the $136,800-a-year post in April 2019, less than three months after the governor took office, WBEZ has reported.

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Criticism of Governor JB Pritzker is growing after his failure on Friday to demand Speaker Michael Madigan’s immediate resignation.  In its editorial calling for Madigan to resign, the Daily Herald slammed Pritzker for saying Madigan should resign only “if” the allegations are true.  “With respect, Governor, that if is neither necessary nor relevant. The speaker’s effectiveness is too deeply compromised,” the Daily Herald wrote.  Pritzker is also facing questions of why he appointed the daughter-in-law of a close Madigan ally (referred to as “Associate 3” in Friday’s court documents) to be ComEd’s chief regulator and why he would retain her after the US Attorney’s announcement.

Meanwhile, Pritzker’s own legal problems are growing.  The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday about the US Attorney’s expanding investigation into Governor JB Pritzker’s potential property tax fraud schemes.  Here are two important things we learned: 1) the US Attorney’s Office is investigating the matter; and 2) the probe has already moved beyond the Governor’s Gold Coast estate to include additional properties.

From the Sun-Times on Friday:

Federal prosecutors have made a series of requests to the Cook County assessor’s office over the past five months for records regarding the $330,000 property tax break that Gov. J.B. Pritzker got on a Gold Coast mansion — a break he got in part because the toilets were disconnected during a stalled remodeling job.

From the Tribune late Friday night:

In addition to seeking records on the assessments of Pritzker’s side-by-side mansions on Astor Street in the Gold Coast, the U.S. attorney’s office also requested information related to assessments and appeals filed by the Schmidt, Salzman & Moran law firm “on behalf of entities affiliated with the Pritzkers, including (the) Hyatt (hotel chain), Astor Street and Pritzker Group, from Jan. 1, 2016 to present,” according to documents provided to the Tribune through an open records request.

The revelations that federal prosecutors are widening their Pritzker property tax fraud probe alongside criticism of Pritzker’s refusal to demand Madigan’s resignation prompts a few obvious questions:

1.     Did the Governor refuse to call for Speaker Madigan to step down immediately because of the expanding investigations into his own potential fraud?

2.     What did the Governor mean that the Speaker should resign if the allegations are true?  When would that be – this week, when he’s indicted, only after he’s convicted?

3.     Will the Governor discuss why he appointed Carrie Zalewski to chair the Illinois Commerce Commission, which oversees ComEd, at Madigan’s direction – and whether he is concerned that the appointment may be connected to the US Attorney’s investigation?

4.     Why would the Governor retain Zalewski as ComEd’s chief regulator after the US Attorney revealed Friday that her father-in-law – a close Madigan ally – may have been involved in the bribery scheme?

5.     At what point does the Governor believe he would have to resign based on the expanding federal probe of his property tax issues?

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Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider has released a statement following the separate press conferences of Governor Pritzker and U.S. Attorney Lausch: 

“Based on the evidence presented today by the United States Attorney’s Office, and in the context of months of revelations about the federal investigation into Speaker Michael Madigan and his closest associates, we believe it’s time for Speaker Madigan to do the right thing for Illinois and resign his office.

Governor Pritzker’s refusal to make such a clear statement may have to do with his own federal investigation into property tax fraud.  Perhaps he is concerned that calling on Speaker Madigan to resign will lead to calls for his own resignation.  We cannot discern when Governor Pritzker thinks Speaker Madigan should resign: next week, only when he’s indicted or only after he’s been convicted.  Nor can we discern whether Governor Pritzker will commit to resigning should the allegations against him bear truth.

The people of Illinois cannot afford this scandal to drag on for months and years.  Speaker Madigan should spare the citizens of Illinois by resigning immediately.  Should the federal probe of Governor Pritzker’s property tax fraud continue to escalate, we would expect him to do the same.”

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This morning, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois announced that after a years long federal investigation into a widespread bribery scheme, ComEd has agreed to pay $200 million to resolve the case. In their release, the U.S. The Attorney’s Office stated that “ComEd Admits Arranging Jobs and Contracts for Political Allies of High-Level State of Illinois Official.”

That high-level State of Illinois Official is none other than Speaker Mike Madigan.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response to today’s news along with the ongoing federal investigation into Governor JB Pritzker: 

“The people of Illinois now live in a state where both the Speaker of the House and the Governor are under criminal investigation.  Even for a state with a history of corruption, this is unprecedented.  Crimes of bribery and tax fraud cannot be tolerated from our elected officials.  As we learn more about the bribery investigation into Speaker Madigan and the property tax fraud investigation into Governor Pritzker, our hearts go out to the people of Illinois who are once again left yearning for elected leaders who work for them, not for themselves.  The Democratic culture of corruption in Illinois must come to an end.”

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Regional hospitals, a major employer in the IL-13 economy, would be devastated under the Londrigan-backed Medicare X Plan

“Betsy Londrigan refuses to answer questions about her radical plan to cut hospital funding by $800 billion because she knows her plan will force local frontline healthcare workers like nurses out of a job. In a district where major regional hospitals employ thousands of Illinoisans, not only does the Londrigan-backed funding cuts to local hospitals put public health at risk, they would also devastate our local economies.” – Joe Hackler, ILGOP spokesperson

Betsy Londrigan continues to dodge questions about her support for the Medicare X public option, which will cut funding for hospitals by almost $800 billion over a decade, according to the American Hospital Association.

Yesterday, Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller asked the Londrigan campaign to respond to criticisms of her support for the Medicare X public option, and Londrigan again dodged and stuck to their talking points.

Miller also noted how critical regional hospitals are to the IL-13 economy:

“This congressional district has a huge number of major regional hospitals, likely the most in Illinois and perhaps one of the most in the country. Those hospitals are significant local employers and they also drive technological development. Not to mention that hospitals have been especially hard-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The AHA said the Medicare X plan “would result in the largest ever cut to hospitals” and “could have a significant impact on patient access to care.”

WCIA also recently covered Londrigan’s support for Medicare X and the hospital funding cuts the AHA’s non-partisan study says will go into effect, if the plan is signed into law.

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From the Liberty Justice Center:

CHICAGO (June 16, 2020) – The Illinois Republican Party and three local Republican party committees have filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker over his ban on gatherings of 10 or more people. Last week the governor marched in and endorsed large-scale rallies with crowds numbering in the thousands, yet other political speech groups including the Republicans are banned from gathering under Pritzker’s Executive Order. Attorneys are asking the court to take immediate action to allow the party to operate in-person events in the run-up to the November 2020 election.

The lawsuit, Illinois Republican Party v. Pritzker, was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The Illinois Republican Party, Schaumburg Township Republican Organization, Northwest Side GOP Club and Will County Republican Central Committee are represented by attorneys from the Liberty Justice Center, the Chicago-based public interest law firm that won a landmark First Amendment case at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.

Under the state’s lengthy, successive executive orders, Illinoisans cannot gather in groups greater than 10. Yet last week the governor personally participated in rallies with crowds numbering in the thousands as well as other gatherings in which people were not socially distanced. Pritzker defended the large gatherings, telling the Chicago Tribune: “It’s important to stand up for people’s First Amendment rights…It’s important to have the governor stand with them on issues that are important.”

The lawsuit highlights the selectivity and arbitrary nature of Pritzker’s Executive Order regarding group gatherings. Some groups can exercise their First Amendment rights, while others face restrictions and the threat of criminal penalties for violating the governor’s order.

“The governor’s actions are both hypocritical and illegal. The First Amendment applies equally to everyone in Illinois – not only people whose political views are supported by Gov. Pritzker,” said Patrick Hughes, president and co-founder of the Liberty Justice Center. “The governor claims to believe that the freedom of assembly is such a critical right that he not only allowed last week’s rallies, he even walked in one in violation of his own executive order. The governor must be stopped from depriving the Republican Party and its local groups of the same right.”

While Pritzker grants carve outs to organizations he likes, other groups are limited to gatherings of 10 people. For fear of criminal penalty, the Illinois Republican Party held its statewide convention virtually – over videoconference – instead of in person. “Last week the governor’s double standard was on full display as he defended, joined and endorsed large gatherings that violate his very own Executive Orders,” said Tim Schneider, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. “It’s clear the governor keeps one set of rules for the people in politically advantageous photo ops and another for the rest of Illinois.”

You can find a copy of the case HERE.

“Governor Pritzker dismissed as “complaining” a press conference where Republican House leaders outlined the failures of the state unemployment claim system, read aloud letters from frustrated constituents, and offered ideas on how to solve the issues at the state agency responsible. This crisis has forced hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans into unemployment, and the Governor is now failing them as they struggle to pay their bills. While other states like New York, California, and Florida are rolling out new online platforms and adding hundreds of new workers to process claims, Illinois continues to fall behind.  These are facts – not complaints – and they need to be addressed.”  – Tim Schneider

In the face of unprecedented jobless claims, other Governors across the nation, Democrat and Republican, have been leading by adapting and getting creative to address the onslaught of unemployment benefit claims.

How New York is dealing with the unprecedented number of claims:

• Ramped up staffing to 1,000 workers taking calls and processing claims.
• Partnered with Google to roll out last week a new and improved platform for New Yorkers to file claims online quickly and efficiently. 

How California is dealing with the unprecedented number of claims:

• Ramped up staffing by hiring other state workers and recently retired Employment Development Department (EDD) employees, adding 850 new workers. 
• EDD has maintained its’ three-week turnaround from when someone files a claim to when they receive their first payment.

How Florida is dealing with the unprecedented number of claims:

• Redeployed 2,000 state workers to take calls and process claims.

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Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response to Governor Pritzker’s Budget Address:

“Illinois’ fiscal crisis demands urgent action and serious solutions. Today, the only thing Governor Pritzker offered was new spending proposals and a false choice between the progressive income tax and devastating cuts. It’s disingenuous for the Governor to attempt to scare the public into voting for higher taxes to plug our budget hole and then turn around and advocate for new spending – in the same speech.

The Governor promises the progressive income tax will do a few things, including filling our nearly $3 billion dollar structural deficit, paying down the backlog of bills, and providing a tax cut for 97% of Illinoisans – all while providing property tax relief for everyone. Add into the picture that the Governor proposed over $10 billion dollars in new spending during the campaign, and it’s clear the progressive income tax and it’s currently proposed rates are a Trojan horse for California-style marginal tax rates and massive middle class tax hikes.

Any budget address or solution that stops short of proposing substantive reforms to our pension mess is an unserious attempt at papering over our fiscal disaster with accounting gimmicks and false promises. Illinoisans deserved to hear from a courageous Governor willing to make tough budgetary decisions today. Instead, they heard from a politician hiding behind scare tactics and impossible promises.”

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The AP is reporting that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has won the New Hampshire primary tonight. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following response:

“Bernie Sanders is an avowed socialist who wants to unleash a ‘revolution’ upon the American people. His socialist revolution would include eliminating the private healthcare insurance of 150 million Americans, government run healthcare, massive middle class tax hikes, and elevating voices of radicals like AOC and Ilhan Omar. This agenda is increasingly becoming the preferred agenda for Democrats nationwide, not just New Hampshire. A match-up with socialist Bernie Sanders in the general election is one President Trump welcomes.” 

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