In the wake of the numerous, ongoing federal investigations involving bribery, influence peddling and insider-trading impacting state government officials and lobbyists, a broad coalition of lawmakers gathered Aug. 13 to announce its support for nine specific ethics reform measures that they believe could receive bipartisan support in the upcoming veto session. Democratic lawmakers from both the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate said
State Sens. Heather Steans and Sara Feigenholtz raise doubts about the speaker’s future. The political pressure on Mike Madigan to step down from his public and party posts ratcheted up a notch today as one Democratic state senator called for him to resign as House speaker and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, and a second moved in that direction. The call to
One of the Illinois lawmakers feeling the tension between health and business most acutely is Senator Sara Feigenholtz. Her Chicago district includes Lakeview and Lincoln Park, with some of the state’s most visited attractions and restaurants. She said she gets it. “I am the daughter of a doctor,” she said, “but I also have a tremendous appreciation for what these businesses are going through.”
