Kane County Reporter

Laura Curtis can’t see how anyone can be surprised by House Speaker Mike Madigan’s refusal to appear before a Special House committee looking into some his most questionable behavior.

“It’s about self-preservation,” Curtis, running against Democrat Maria Hirschauer in the 49th District, told the Kane County Reporter. “With him, it’s always the same game, different day. His business as usual way of doing everything speaks volumes about his character. In his mind, there’s nothing to be gained by stepping forward. He’s convinced there’s no need to testify when you’ve already got the support of your entire party.”

The committee is digging into a purported pay-for-play scheme involving ComEd in which profits were allegedly steered to Madigan in exchange for favorable legislation and appointments. The state’s longest tenured lawmaker is also under federal scrutiny on the matter in a criminal probe. 

Madigan made his decision not to appear before the bipartisan panel known in a letter sent to the committee where he also forcefully defended his widely known practice of patronage hiring as not being “ethically improper.”

“Everything he does is so calculated,” Curtis added. “It’s like he’s entrenched in a culture where you just accept all the corruption around you as just status quo.”

Curtis said her motivation for being in Springfield revolves around bringing change to that culture.

“When I get there, we’ll be having real conversations about corruption,” she added. “One of the biggest ways to tackle the issue is by instituting term limits. Another idea is we need to get rid of all the redundancy in government. Smaller government means less opportunity for chaos and corruption. All of that will go a long way toward cleaning things up and it’s a fight I’m definitely looking forward to having once I get to Springfield.”