North Egypt News

Conservative activist Karen Tucker wonders if state House Speaker Mike Madigan will ever be required to pay for what she sees as his sins on Springfield.

“I think things are getting closer to Madigan, but I still have doubts it will actually hit him and that he may never pay for all the damage done to Springfield,” Tucker told the North Egypt News. “I hope he’s finally made to answer for what I believe he’s done, but if you look at what’s happened previously it’s almost certain there will be fall guys that make it where the guy at the top rarely sees anything happen to him.”

Federal authorities recently moved to charge Fidel Marquez, who formerly served as vice president of governmental affairs, with bribery and conspiracy stemming from his alleged part in a pay-for-play scheme in which indictments say jobs, contracts and payments were steered to associates known to be close to Madigan in exchange for his support on certain legislation.

Earlier this summer, federal investigators also announced that the utility giant had been charged with a years-long bribery scheme where at least $1.3 million in perks were steered to Madigan associates. At the same time, Madigan’s office was served with a grand jury subpoena seeking more information about their dealings with such companies as at AT&T, Walgreens and Rush University Medical Center.

Despite lawmakers recently moving to convene a special House bipartisan committee to look into Madigan’s actions and determine if any disciplinary actions are warranted, Tucker is all but convinced the only way real reform can now come to Springfield is by having the feds involved.

“I don’t think they can do much,” she said. “The committee will ask questions and they’ll go back and forth but I don’t see anything happening. Nothing will ever come of it as long as Mike Madigan is still in charge of the Democrats.”