Chambana Sun

State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) argues the latest indictment of a former top ComEd executive in an ongoing federal corruption probe says everything you need to know about the Springfield way.

“I think that it’s really unfortunate that these executives felt that they had to go along with (House Speaker) Mike Madigan and his scheme or be punished because he held all the cards,” Caulkins told the Chambana Sun. “I think they firmly believed in order to get anything done in Springfield they had to bow down to Speaker Madigan. They had no choice and that’s the problem when you have one person and one party that controls the process. You either play along or you get run out of town.”

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.

“I think that the federal government is building a case and we will continue to see the circle shrink until they get to the center of this corruption,” Caulkins added. “I hardly think that this will be the end.”

Caulkins said in his mind that explains why Madigan and Gov. J.B. Pritzker have been so opposed to the idea of the General Assembly reconvening in Springfield.

“They especially don’t want anything like that before the election,” he said. “I think they feel there would be too many questions that they don’t want to have to answer.”