Severin Says – Valentine’s Day 2025

Severin: Madigan Guilty on Multiple Counts of Bribery Conspiracy and Wire Fraud, Illinois Must Tackle Public Corruption Immediately

SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Representative Dave Severin (R-Benton) says former longtime Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan’s guilty verdicts on multiple counts of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud in his federal corruption trial is step one in rooting out the public corruption that has plagued state government and made Illinois a poster child for unethical, criminal political behavior for decades.

“Five governors sent to jail, multiple legislators busted for bribery and corruption, and now, the longest ever serving Speaker of the House has been found guilty by a jury of his peers on multiple counts for a decade-long conspiracy that saw Madigan using his power to illegally influence companies and land jobs and contracts for his political pals,” Severin said. “It’s about time. I’m thankful to the jury for their service. The time to start cleaning up Illinois government was many years ago.”

“Hopefully, these guilty verdicts will be a stark wake-up call to Madigan’s handpicked Democrat leadership that still runs the House of Representatives that the time is NOW to move on ethics and corruption reforms. No more lawmaker one day, lobbyist the next. No more trading jobs for passing bills. No more kneecapping the Legislative Inspector General. It’s time to clean up state government so our citizens can have faith in the process and so our state is no longer the laughing stock of the country when it comes to corruption,” Severin said.

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Severin: Homeschool Regulations Bill Amounts to Outrageous Government Overreach, Launches Petition to Protect Homeschool Freedom

BENTON, IL – State Representative Dave Severin has released the following statement in response to the filing of HB 2827 by three far-left Democrat legislators who are working to place new burdensome regulations on families who choose to homeschool their children.

“My immediate reaction to reading through the sweeping new regulations on homeschool families is this: NO. I believe firmly that homeschooled children are largely well-cared for, prepared, and ready to enter college or the workforce, as their families have invested thousands of hours, and years of hard work in providing a quality, non-public school education for their children. This legislation wrongly presupposes that homeschool families are inherently abusive and neglectful of their children. That is wrong.”

“The provisions of HB 2827 place the heavy hand of state government on the families that are working hard to provide their children with a safe and productive learning environment. If legislators on the Democrat side of the aisle want to reform education in the state of Illinois, they should start with their own Illinois State Board of Education and the multitude of onerous unfunded mandates placed on public schools that force teachers to spend time checking bureaucratic boxes rather than teaching our students to read, write, and do math at grade level. I will be voting NO on this ridiculous overreaching homeschool regulation bill and would urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to reject this outrageous overreach and expansion of government into the lives of homeschool families.”

Rep. Severin has launched a petition drive to collect signatures from residents of the 116^th district who oppose HB 2827. The petition can be found at the following address: https://www.ilhousegop.org/severin_homeschool_petition

HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEEK IN REVIEW

MADIGAN TRIAL

Ex-Speaker Madigan guilty on 10 counts in landmark federal corruption trial. Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan was found guilty this week in federal court on 10 felony counts that centered on bribery, bribery conspiracy, and wire fraud.

Madigan’s long-running reign as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives ended with his ouster as Speaker in January 2021 amid a federal bribery investigation. He resigned his legislative seat one month later. Madigan had served in the legislature for more than 50 years, 36 of those years as Speaker of the House. For much of that time he simultaneously led the Illinois Democratic Party, tightening his stranglehold not just on legislators, but on all Democratic elected officials in Illinois.

In March 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Madigan on racketeering and bribery charges. The 23-count indictment accused Madigan of leading a criminal enterprise to enhance his political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates.

Madigan was alleged to have received $120,000 from ComEd in the form of no-work contracts for his allies in exchange for his support on an energy bill that benefited the energy giant. He was also accused of accepting bribes from AT&T Illinois, which allegedly funneled $22,500 in funds to a former State Representative with the understanding that Madigan would support legislation ending AT&T’s obligation to provide landline service to all Illinoisans. The former House Speaker has spent millions of dollars from his campaign fund to cover his legal fees using a loophole that House Republicans have worked tirelessly to patch.

Madigan’s trial began in October 2024. Closing arguments wrapped up on January 28 and the jury began deliberations one day later. The jury deliberated for 64 hours over the course of two weeks before returning a partial verdict, finding Madigan guilty on multiple corruption charges.

Even though Madigan was found guilty, the culture of corruption in this state remains very much evident.

Emanuel “Chris” Welch, the current Speaker of the House, is Madigan’s hand-picked successor.

Let’s not forget the lengths he went to stall and hinder a bipartisan committee that was investigating Madigan’s corruption. Speaker Welch chaired that committee, and shut it down, calling it a “sham show trial.”

Despite the Democrats’ attempts to sweep Madigan’s web of corruption under the rug, justice has caught up with them. The majority party was complicit in the way that Madigan ruled Illinois politics, and many House Democrats remain silent and refuse to stand up for meaningful ethics reforms.

Madigan joins a growing list, including many cronies that enabled Madigan’s corrupt activities, of Illinois government officials who have used corruption tactics to assert power and serve themselves.

This verdict should send a message to the leaders in our state that something has to change, and the pattern of corruption Illinois is plagued with can no longer be tolerated.

In wake of Madigan verdict Illinois must embrace ethics reform. During the months-long trial of former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, the jury heard testimony about the powerful Democrat’s use of pay-to-play tactics that included bribery and ghost jobs. That testimony ultimately led to a guilty verdict for the longtime politician.

Despite the guilty verdict, the culture of corruption cultivated by Madigan is still in play in the Land of Lincoln and we cannot afford to be complacent. Madigan’s handpicked successor now presides over the House of Representatives, and the House chamber is still governed by Madigan’s rules.

The culture created by Madigan gives the current Speaker the ultimate power to control what legislation is acted upon, allowing one person to block laws like implementing term limits or preventing politicians from drawing voting districts. It is a culture that permitted a corrupt politician to select a successor – one who, incidentally, single handedly shut down an investigation into corruption allegations against that politician.

It is a culture that lets legislators lobby while in office, puts roadblocks in front of those trying to enforce accountability and allows public officials charged with crimes to use campaign funds for their legal defense.

In the wake of the Madigan verdict, Illinois should move full steam ahead to enact ethics reforms and finally eradicate the culture of corruption that has plagued our state for far too long. House Republicans are ready with a plan and a legislative ethics package that would put power back in the hands of Illinoisans, where it should be. Provisions in the legislative package includes:

Suspending pensions from retired lawmakers who face corruption charges stemming from their work as legislators
Requiring elected officials to recuse themselves from voting on legislation when they or a family member would directly benefit it
Prohibiting legislators and Constitutional officers from lobbying at the local level
Putting ‘teeth’ into the Legislative Inspector General’s office to subpoena people without first getting approval from the people they may be investigating
Stopping the ‘revolving door’ practice of one day being a Member of the General Assembly and the next day becoming a lobbyist
Lengthening the ‘revolving door’ prohibition and removing loopholes so that a legislator cannot be a member of the General Assembly one day and the next day be able to lobby their former colleagues
Not allowing public officials to use campaign funds for their legal defense

Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s state pension suspended following conviction. Former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s $158,000 annual state of Illinois pension is being halted following his high-profile corruption conviction.

Timothy Blair, executive secretary of the Illinois General Assembly Retirement System, said Thursday he “sent the letter out today” to notify Madigan the pension system will stop sending his monthly checks because Illinois law bars elected officials in the legislative pension plan from collecting payments once they are convicted or enter a guilty plea in a felony tied to their government job.

But Blair said Madigan will receive his nearly $13,170 pension check for February because that has already been processed.

In a felony case that rocked Illinois politics, a federal jury on Wednesday convicted Madigan on 10 of 23 counts, including bribery conspiracy and other corruption charges focused heavily on a Commonwealth Edison bribery scandal and his plot to get a state board appointment for alderman-turned-government-mole Danny Solis. […]

Madigan lost the speakership in January 2021 as an expanding federal probe started to clearly indicate he was a target. He had served a nationwide record 36 years as speaker but a group of 19 House Democrats, mostly women, refused to back him for another two-year term as leader of the chamber.

Soon thereafter, Madigan, who was first elected to the House in 1970, resigned as a state representative. He was indicted in March 2022.

Since his retirement, Madigan has been collecting his monthly legislative pension payments, receiving more than $521,000 with this month’s check, Blair said. During his half-century in office, Madigan contributed $352,345 into the pension system, Blair said in an email.

Severin Says – Valentine’s Day 2025

February 14, 2025