Metro East Sun

Illinois state Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) says that reports of criminal investigations into Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) mean there is a lot of work ahead for Illinois lawmakers.

McClure represents the 50th Senate District, which includes all of Calhoun, Greene, Morgan, Pike and Scott counties, and sections of Jersey, Macoupin, Madison and Sangamon counties. He says that elected officials must respond to these allegations and the call of the public to put an end to corruption in state government.

“Any and all news about investigations into elected officials is troublesome,” McClure told the Metro East Sun. “I have been calling for ethics reforms ever since the first news stories broke about federal investigations involving sitting members of the General Assembly. People are losing their faith in state government and it’s time we get back to the capital to pass needed reforms.”

McClure, a freshman lawmaker, told West Central Reporter in March that ending the long history of corruption in Illinois government will take the people at the top moving against it. He has seen few signs of that in his first year in office.

“No one in Springfield really seems to be taking this too seriously,” McClure said. “You got some on both sides that want it, but the powers that be haven’t signed on. It has to start at the top and with the ones in power wanting to get things right.”

Prior to taking office after the 2018 election, it was revealed that Pritzker – whose estimated worth of $3.4 billion makes him the wealthiest elected official in the U.S. – was being investigated for reportedly obtaining a reduced tax assessment in 2015 on a second home he owns on Chicago's elite Gold Coast. The mansion was valued at $6.25 million, but was labeled “uninhabitable” when five toilets were taken out, lowering the value to $1.1 million and saving the soon-to-be governor $330,000 in taxes. 

Pritzker repaid the disputed amount during the closing days of the campaign. However, that has not stopped the investigation into the tax discrepencies. Federal prosecutors are currently examining communications between Pritzker and the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

The toilet tax break bubbled to the surface during the 2018 gubernatorial election and floated back to the top this year with media reports that Pritzker was under investigation.

That followed news that Commonwealth Edison had agreed to a $200 million penalty and three years of probation to settle a single count of bribery for attempting to influence “Public Official A,” identified as Madigan, who has been Illinois' House Speaker for all but two years since 1983.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago also is looking into the relationship between Madigan and AT&T lobbyists.

It’s a familiar story for Illinois residents, who have seen four governors go to jail since the 1960s. But it’s still frustrating to McClure, who is just getting his feet wet in government service, which has been a family tradition. A Springfield native, both his parents worked in state government and his grandfathers served in the military.

McClure, 36, earned two bachelor’s degrees in four years at Arizona State University, one in history and the other in political science, before receiving a master’s degree in political studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

While working on his master’s, he worked as a legislative intern for the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus, where he analyzed budgets on the appropriations staff.

McClure is familiar with criminal law, earning a law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana and then working as an assistant state’s attorney in the Sangamon County Juvenile Division. He rose to become a felony attorney who prosecuted drug dealers, burglars, violent criminals, gang members and perpetual thieves, while also investing time to protect vulnerable seniors.

McClure has resigned that position to focus on his work in the state Senate — but a background in criminal law could come in handy soon.