Governor Urges Madigan to Step Up or Step Down

The Governor says the Speaker of the House Mike Madigan should either stand before the press and the people and answer each and every question about the on-going corruption investigation that is surrounding him, or he should resign as Speaker of the House.

Pritzker says the time of printed statements and not going to hearings about the investigation is over.

“If the Speaker cannot commit to that level of transparency then the time has come for him to resign as Speaker.”

As four more people are indicated in connection to the ComEd bribery scheme the calls for Madigan to resign are only growing louder.

Both St. Rep. Blaine Wilhour and St. Rep. Darren Bailey say Madigan's only option is to resign or retire from the Illinois House.

Bailey said, "When you have one man who for nearly four decades has controlled his party's organization and the Illinois House, which means controlling the purse strings and the flow of legislation on public policy, that's too much power for one person." Bailey noted that more than enough legislators in his own Caucus saying they won't vote for him for Speaker again.

Wilhour said, "Speaker Madigan needs to resign immediately and the General Assembly should convene to enact the toughest and most transparent anti-corruption measures in the country to ensure that corrupt politicians can never accumulate this kind of power again."

House GOP Leader Jim Durkin agrees and says as the state is in crisis and Madigan needs to go. "Do you think that we can get any of this resolved with Mike Madigan serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives? The answer is no."

Madigan has been identified as Public Official A in a corruption scandal connected to ComEd. Madigan issued a statement noting that he has not been accused of a crime and is innocent of wrongdoing.