Lake County Gazette

State Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) is requesting an ethics reform as Illinois ratepayers discover they will receive a compensation of $4.80 credit for Mike Madigan's bribery scheme with ComEd.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has approved ComEd's $31 million settlement offer for their involvement in Mike Madigan's bribery scheme, meaning the average Illinois ratepayer will receive a credit worth $4.80 in exchange for Madigan's nine years of bribery with the company; a recent Daily Herald report said. Between 2011 and 2016, Madigan helped pass multiple laws that resulted in "hundreds of millions" of extra revenue for ComEd, including the formula-rate authority that ComEd used to increase rates with minimal oversight from the ICC.  

"ComEd customers are getting less than $5 to account for Madigan’s wrongdoing, but as a lawmaker I won’t stop working for ethics reform to root out political insiders and remove the cloud of corruption thriving in Springfield," Bos said in an Aug. 18 Facebook post. "The Illinois Commerce Commission on Tuesday approved the refund plan…but what really needs to be addressed is the ongoing theme of bad actors in Springfield."

Madigan, the former Illinois speaker of the House, was indicted on March 2 for federal racketeering and bribery charges. 

"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," a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

 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 release noted that in addition to his role as speaker of the House, Madigan has also held the positions of representative of Illinois’ 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.

A recent report ranked Illinois the third-most corrupt state in the country, a May WTTW News release said. The report, which was co-authored by University of Illinois at Chicago professor and former 44th Ward Ald. Dick Simpson, draws on data from the DOJ. In the Northern District of Illinois, which covers Chicago and the northern third of the state, 22 public officials were convicted on corruption-related charges in 2020. That number is actually a decrease from 2019, when 26 officials were convicted of public corruption.