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House Speaker Michael Madigan’s (D-Chicago) political influence in Illinois is unrivaled, extends far beyond his role in the General Assembly and must be countered, John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, argued in a column recently.
According to Tillman, Madigan’s position as House speaker, which allows him to name committee chairs and decide which bills receive public hearings and when bills are called before the House, is only the beginning of his power.
“Madigan’s law firm makes millions from using his political clout to lower property taxes for Chicago’s biggest developers and large corporations,” Tillman wrote. “This, in turn, increases the property tax bills for Illinoisans like you. Let me say that again: Madigan uses his political clout to make millions at the expense of taxpayers like you.”
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago)
| By illinoislawmakers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7C51rHSd6w, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30435112
Tillman, marking the institute’s 15th anniversary, noted that Madigan has frequently been a topic of conversation over the years and called for donations to the institute to assist the group’s efforts to push him out of office.
“Madigan has stayed mostly behind the scenes for decades,” Tillman wrote. “And as a result, most people don’t understand how he amassed his immense power, how he maintains control and how he has institutionalized corruption in our state’s political structure."
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