Citing a BGA investigation, nine lawmakers requested a funding freeze in the wake of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s 22-count federal indictment on charges he traded his office to enrich himself and his friends.
State Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, leads a group of lawmakers calling to freeze payments on projects earmarked by indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Following a review by state bureaucracies, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office has lifted a freeze on funding for projects earmarked by Illinois’ now-indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan.
The temporary freeze came after a group of nine Democratic state representatives requested it in the wake of Madigan’s 22-count indictment on corruption charges on March 2.
“Although some of the funding for these projects may have already been allocated,” said the March 7 letter submitted to Pritzker by the lawmakers. “We request another layer of review to determine whether they were an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.”
The lawmakers cited a Jan. 21 investigation by the Better Government Association, published in the Chicago Sun-Times, that found four projects included by Madigan in a 2019 infrastructure bill all benefited those to whom the former speaker has personal, professional or political ties.
But two days after their initial letter to Pritzker the same group of lawmakers, led by State Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, backtracked and asked Pritzker to unfreeze the funding after getting pushback from other lawmakers in the state’s Latino caucus.
“They and other community leaders have been vocal advocates for these projects, and they remain vital investments in their communities,” the lawmakers wrote in a second letter to Pritzker. “We stand behind their need to get these projects finished.”
Read more from the Better Government Association here.
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