Illinois Ranks as Second Most Corrupt State

Illinois has just ranked as the second most corrupt state in a University of Illinois at Chicago report. 

A good government reform group says lawmakers must pass reforms that make themselves uncomfortable to regain the public’s trust.

Using statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, researchers at UIC found in the decades since 1976, Illinois had more corruption convictions per-capita than every other state except Louisiana.

“The statistics do not completely reflect it, but 2019 was a highly explosive year, during which some of the most important political corruption in the history of Chicago and Illinois was exposed,” researchers said. “Bombshell corruption news reports that year dethroned the city's most powerful alderman, upset Chicago's mayoral election campaign, torpedoed the most powerful and well-known candidate, and threatened the political existence of Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and Chairman of the State Democratic Party, Michael Madigan.”