You may know that embattled Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey has agreed to resign his post by the end of September. But this sorry saga shouldn’t end there. The Legislative Ethics Commission should immediately launch an investigation into why so many women over the years have said they believed they were mistreated and even belittled […]
Rich Miller
Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
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Legislature needs to question its inspector general
In the past week or so, three women have told stories about their dissatisfaction with the way they were treated by the state’s legislative inspector general. And it’s clear that at least three of the four legislative leaders are quickly becoming fed up with the LIG and that another leader may have trouble sustaining his […]
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Groups eye Meta settlement money
Hours after the social media giant Meta agreed last Wednesday to settle a case brought by 47 state attorneys general and implement reforms to protect children from social media harms, the Illinois Federation of Teachers issued a demand that all of Illinois’ portion of the $17.1 billion settlement – $768 million – be designated “to […]
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10 years at the top not guaranteed
After Michael J. Madigan’s 36 years as Illinois House speaker, a 10-year term limit on current and future speakers doesn’t seem like a lot of time in the big chair. Except it is. Nobody prior to Madigan had ever served 10 years as speaker in this state going back to when Illinois became a state […]
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Welch discusses Benton investigation
House Speaker Chris Welch sat down for interviews with some selected reporters last week. He told most of them that his office had conducted an “informal investigation” into sexual harassment allegations against former Rep. Harry Benton (D-Plainfield) in 2023. Welch’s staff has not responded to our request for an interview (same goes for the Chicago […]
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Welch pledges to seek more funds for Chicago schools
House Speaker Chris Welch promised the Chicago Teachers Union last week that he will “lead” the effort to send more state money to Chicago Public Schools during the upcoming fall veto session. Welch made his pledge in a CTU-posted video yesterday while holding a union poster blasting proposed CPS layoffs and budget cuts. “The state […]
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The House and harassment complaints
By now you’ve probably read at least something about the scandals surrounding former state Rep. Harry Benton (D-Plainfield). In a nutshell, a young female district office staffer alleged Benton sexually harassed her in 2023. Two of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s top staffers asked her to file a complaint with the legislative inspector general, but […]
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GOP trails Dems in campaign cash
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223,000 in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual […]
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Politicians and due process
Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 28, 2019, for attempting to bribe a state senator. House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was under investigation himself, called on Arroyo to resign that same day. The next day, Rep. Chris Welch (D-Hillside) was one of three House Democrats who signed a petition to […]
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More budget fallout
About a week after the state budget passed both chambers in the dark of night, Attorney General Kwame Raoul spoke to the City Club of Chicago to complain that his budget was cut by $10 million. “For every dollar of General Revenue Fund spending on the attorney general’s office, we return $21. Anybody who has […]
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The AFL-CIO and endorsements
The news earlier this month that the Illinois AFL-CIO has “deferred” all decisions on legislative and statewide endorsements in the upcoming fall election generated quite a bit of headlines. “Springfield not only failed to advance key priorities, but the process by which legislation was considered fell short of what working people deserve,” a statement by […]
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Pritzker offers some lobbying advice to Chicago Bears
Gov. JB Pritzker last week squarely placed the responsibility for passing a Chicago Bears stadium bill on the team itself and had some unsolicited lobbying advice for the Bears as he attempted to brush off his own session attendance issues. The governor continued to downplay his own role in passing a stadium or stadium-related bill, […]
