Prairie State Wire

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker again made it clear at a press conference last week that House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) needs to come forward and answer questions regarding his relationship with Commonwealth Edison that has spurred a federal bribery investigation.

"I’ve been clear about my stance on this," Pritzker said. "The speaker has an enormous amount to answer for. There are questions the public needs answers to. And I do, too. That’s what I would start with."

Pritzker is looking for the longtime House Speaker to shed some light on what he called "vague" allegations.

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) | File photo

"What happened here?" the governor said at the press conference. "These allegations that have been made are somewhat vague and more clarification needs to be made. There is an obvious reference to the Speaker and those around him. I want to know those connections and understand what he was doing."

Pritzker also expressed some frustration that there has yet to be any real progress by legislators on much-needed ethics reform.

"This is a serious issue," he said. "The issue of ethics legislation — which I am the one who called for and wanted before COVID-19 hit. I wanted us to have a session where we could debate and get through a major ethics package. As you saw because of COVID-19, that session was only four days and we didn’t get through it. We need to end the revolving door; we need to be much more stringent regarding lobbyists."

As of now, Pritzker said, the U.S. Attorney's Office is investigating the matter. Madigan was named last month in documents connecting ComEd lobbyists to an alleged bribery scheme, for which the state's largest power company has agreed to pay a $200 million fine.

"We’re going to learn more," Pritzker said at the news conference. "That will inform us on how to go about this and write this legislation in the future."