Metro East Sun

Wood River Township Supervisor Mike Babcock can’t see how anyone can be surprised by the findings in a new University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) study pointing to the staggering price taxpayers are now forced to pay for Springfield’s corruption.

“There’s a price to pay for corruption,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “And here in Illinois it’s so massive it’s causing a lot of people to just walk away in disgust.”

UIC researchers now place the annual price-tag at $556 million or roughly $830 per resident. Since the turn of the millennium, the overall price-tag balloons to an astronomical $10 billion and counting.

“I actually think it’s a lot more than that when you factor in everything that’s happening,” Babcock added. “Honestly, I think we’re talking billions. Can you imagine what we could do in this state right now with those kinds of added revenues?”  

 Babcock argues things won’t get any better as long as Mike Madigan remains in charge as House Speaker.

“He’s set the culture,” he said. “Everything starts from the top and trickles down.”

This year alone, at least four lawmakers in Springfield have already been indicted on federal corruption charges, adding yet another chapter to the state’s long sordid history of having seen four governors jailed on corruption charges over the last five decades.

And then there is Madigan, the state’s longest tenured lawmaker, who finds himself at the center of an ongoing federal probe involving utility giant ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme.

Babcock fears things could get a lot worse before they get better.

“The progressive tax now being pushed by Gov. (J.B.) Pritzker would make sure of that,” he said. “The thought that it will only mean higher taxes for the rich is crazy. It’s already set up to allow for the taxing of retirement income. The bottom line is we need a new Springfield and that starts with showing Mike Madigan the door.”