Kane County Reporter

Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) wants to strip convicted public officials of their pensions.

Bailey said, "Illinois should be the state with the highest penalties in the country for public corruption crimes."

"It is time to get serious about the corruption that has been the calling card of Illinois politics for too long," Bailey said. "We should not accept what is happening in Illinois as just business as usual. We can and must do better."

Bailey is proposing legislation that will disallow any convicted public official from receiving their pension fund. 

“Stopping crime and supporting the rule of law begins with punishing corrupt public officials. One of the best places we can start is to enact legislation denying pension benefits to any public official convicted [of] public corruption.”

The proposal comes as former House Speaker Michael Madigan continues to receive his $149,000 taxpayer-funded pension after retiring from the House in 2021, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Madigan is facing a 22-count federal indictment on charges of bribery, racketeering and extortion. He has denied all charges.

Despite the charges, Madigan appears to remain active in politics. According to an NBC Chicago report from April, Madigan was seen in his former campaign office on Chicago's southwest side, according to Prairie State Wire. 

In January, a Cook County judge ruled against a lawsuit seeking restitution for millions of Illinoisans and businesses that claim harm from the ComEd bribery scandal.