CORRUPTION
‘Everyone in the system is beholden to the speaker’: Opening statements kick off trial of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan. AT&T Illinois had tried for years to win powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan’s support for a bill ending mandated landline service, but it wasn’t until the company’s president agreed to secretly pay thousands of dollars to a Madigan associate for a do-nothing contract that the deal got done, federal prosecutors told a jury Wednesday.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a case about a corporate executive paying off the most powerful politician in Illinois to help pass his company’s prized piece of legislation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mower said in his opening statement in the bribery trial of former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza.
The trial is the latest chapter in the blockbuster federal investigation of Madigan and his once-vaunted 13th Ward political operation, a probe that helped put an end to Madigan’s record run as both the leader of the House and the state Democratic Party.
While Madigan was not physically in court Wednesday, prosecutors wasted no time putting his smiling driver’s license photo on display as Mower walked the jury through the vast influence the Democratic leader wielded for decades in the state legislature.
“That power was no secret — including to the defendant,” Mower said, displaying emails where La Schiazza himself referred to the speaker as “King Madigan” and told colleagues, “Everyone in the system is beholden to the Speaker … he rules the House with an iron fist.”
So when Madigan’s right-hand man, Michael McClain, came to AT&T in early 2017 and asked them to kick some money to former state Rep. Edward Acevedo, a longtime Madigan acolyte, La Schiazza jumped, Mower said.
“Lets move quickly to get this done,” La Schiazza emailed to his internal lobbying team in March 2017, according to a copy shown by Mower in his opening statement. “We did get the GO order … Gotta love it! Try to get him for $2500/mon.”
Read more on this story from the Chicago Tribune.
JOBS
Big Lots bankruptcy; chain announces Illinois store closures. The nationwide discount retail superstore chain Big Lots has filed for bankruptcy. This filing affects the status of the 29 Big Lots stores located in Illinois. Under the chain’s current filing, nine of the 29 stores are scheduled to close. The targeted store locations are holding going-out-of-business sales.
Each Big Lots store has approximately 20 employees, counting both full-time and part-time associates. The Big Lots closing cycle could lead to the loss of approximately 180 Illinois jobs, including many jobs in the Chicago area. The Big Lots closure announcement was released on Tuesday, September 10. It is possible that further Big Lots stores, including additional Illinois locations, will be affected by the continuation of the reorganization process.
The burden of stacked costs on Illinois manufacturers. As the economic landscape in Illinois becomes increasingly challenging, small businesses – particularly manufacturers – are finding it more difficult to thrive. The phenomenon of “stacked costs” has become a significant hurdle, imposing financial burdens that stifle growth, innovation, and job creation.
Stacked costs are the cumulative financial pressures arising from various regulatory requirements, litigation risks, and economic factors. For manufacturers, these costs have become an almost insurmountable barrier to success when combined with the high energy and wage costs local businesses experience.
As a result, Illinois manufacturers are seeing a decline in output and orders, layoffs are becoming a norm, and plants are closing and going out of business. While we continue to see more tax increases and regulatory pressure, it’s just a matter of time before doing business in Illinois is no longer an option if a manufacturer wants to survive.
During a recent visit by Illinois State Reps. Martin McLaughlin and Tom Weber, hosted by my company HM Manufacturing in Wauconda, the impact of these burdens was clearly highlighted.
The representatives witnessed firsthand the precision and dedication required to produce exceptional products.
Rep. Miller says Governor Pritzker lies about job growth:
“Job opportunities in Illinois are deflated because of Pritzker’s handouts and he continues to feed the public with lies about job growth,” said Rep. Miller. “Companies are fleeing Illinois and layoffs continue across the state. The only growth our state has is growth in unemployment.”
However, this dedication is being undermined by unrelenting increases in operational costs. High tort expenses, escalating insurance premiums, and the constant threat of litigation are diverting resources away from innovation and production, which are essential for economic growth.
Like other manufacturers, I’m focused on running my business and getting high-quality products out the door. The constant threat of lawsuits from trial lawyers detracts from production and the economic output we would be adding to our state’s economy.
This sentiment resonates across the manufacturing sector in Illinois, where businesses are being forced to allocate substantial resources to navigate the complex web of regulations and legal challenges.
The economic impact report from CALA-IL revealed that Illinois faces direct losses of $14.48 billion annually due to frivolous lawsuits, translating into a hidden “tort tax” of more than $1,800 per person.
Read more of this op-ed from The Center Square.