Chambana Sun

Illinois State Rep. Dan Caulkins recently voiced his opinion on the recent indictment of former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan.

Caulkins argues the federal corruption indictment of Madigan is an overall indictment on the way Democrats operate in Springfield.

"This is another stain on politics in Illinois and our elected officials," Caulkins told Chambana Sun. "It proves that Illinois politics led by democrats have been corrupt for decades and those corrupt democrats have corrupted the rest of state. Over the last 30 years, you’ve had one party and one man lording over all of this. The indictment of Madigan is an indictment of whole Democrat party."

On March 2, Madigan was indicted for federal racketeering and bribery charges. Madigan is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, as well as individual counts of using interstate facilities to carry out bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion.

"The 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan’s political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates," according to a release from the Department of Justice.

The release notes that in addition to his role as speaker of the House, Madigan has also held the positions of Representative of Illinois’s 22nd District, committeeman for Chicago’s 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and partner at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner.

Illinois legislators passed an ethics reform bill last year, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed in October, according to Illinois Policy. The legislative inspector general at the time, Carol Pope, announced her resignation in response to the "ethics reform" bill.

ABC reported that in her letter of resignation, Pope called the office of LIG a "paper tiger" and stated that the so-called ethics reform bill did not go far enough, and actually tied her hands more than they had been before. 

"I'm thinking that the legislature knows the limitations of the power of the LIG and that they want it that way," Pope told ABC. "That's why I said I am a paper tiger. There are no real teeth to this legislation the way it is now."

Caulkins said he agrees with Pope that the ethics reform bill did not go far enough.

"We need to do a lot more," Caulkins told Chambana Sun. "We need to have a balance of power in Illinois, where you don’t have total control of government in the hands of just one person or one party."

The state Representative also said he believes that the office of Legislative Inspector General should have more power to fight corruption. 

"We proposed given more powers to the position," Caulkins told Chambana Sun. "Now if either party wants to stop an investigation it can go forward because it takes a majority to proceed. We need to give that person more power."