Prairie State Wire

Mark Curran is trying to see the positive in what some see as a dereliction of duty on the part of lawmakers in Springfield.

“At least they won’t be there to do more harm to the state,” Curran told the Prairie State Wire after Illinois legislative leaders recently canceled the fall Veto Session. “The less they’re there, the fewer bad laws they can pass and the less money they can spend on the wrong things.”

In the end, Curran argues nothing in Springfield is now what it seems, including the reason of rising COVID-19 infection rates offered up by the office of House Speaker Mike Madigan for the cancellation.

The state’s longest-tenured lawmaker, Madigan now finds himself at the center of a still evolving federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme where all the perks were allegedly steered to him in exchange for favorable legislation. At the same time, a special House committee has been convened to look into some of his most suspect behavior to determine if any sanctions up to expulsion are warranted.

“I would say the speaker not wanting to have to answer any questions about ComEd may have something to do with him not wanting to be in Springfield right now,” said Curran, who lost out in his run against U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin this month with 40% of the vote in a six-candidate field.

“He’s a pretty hard guy to figure out, one that really doesn’t talk much to begin with, but I think you can assume that,” he added. “He’s like the king of a crime family where you rarely ever hear from the king.”

Through it all, Curran argues one thing is clear.

“Speaker Madigan owes answers to the taxpayers of Illinois,” he said. “I don’t know if he will give them, but that much is clear.”