State Representative Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) is calling for a vote to remove Mike Madigan as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.Two weeks ago ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine for a pay-to-play scheme that involved Speaker of the House Mike Madigan, dozens of lawmakers are calling for the Speaker’s resignation.
“The level of corruption outlined by the FBI is just the beginning of our understanding of how Mike Madigan’s operation really works,” said Rep. Meier. “Unfortunately as the days and weeks unfold, we’ll learn that the corruption problem in Illinois has tentacles that reach deep into the corporate and political institutions in our state. It’s time for Mike Madigan to resign and since he won’t, it’s time for lawmakers to return to Springfield and vote to remove him as Speaker of the House.”
Rep. Meier recently co-sponsored (HR 855) to remove Mike Madigan as Speaker of the House. As of July 30th, Madigan said he will not step down as Speaker of the House. Leaving the legislature with no alternative except to return to Springfield for a special session and vote to remove Madigan as Speaker of the House. Meier is urging Governor Pritzker to call a Special Session of the General Assembly to address Illinois’ ongoing ethics crisis and to immediately consider legislation he is sponsoring to remove Madigan from his role as House Speaker.
Rep. Meier added, “We’ve got a constant ‘drip, drip, drip’ of corruption related news coming out of Springfield and Chicago. One way we can turn off the corruption faucet, so to speak, is to get lawmakers back to Springfield to pass a sweeping ethics reform package. My House Republican colleagues and I have introduced more than 30 bills aimed at ending public corruption. The Governor has the power to call lawmakers back to Springfield. I urge the Governor to call us back to Springfield so we can remove Madigan from his post as Speaker of the House and pass stricter ethics reform.”