Hon. Michael J. Madigan

Illinois Budget Impasse

Michael J. Madigan was re-elected Speaker of the House in January 2015, a position he has held continuously since 1983, with the exception of the 89th General Assembly (1995-96). He has also served as House Democratic Leader and House Majority Leader. As Speaker of the House, Madigan has worked to build consensus, bring equitable treatment to all regions of the state and work in a bipartisan manner to address Illinois' most pressing issues. He advocates for honest, efficient government and has fought to improve the quality of life for working families. Madigan believes that Republicans and Democrats at all levels of state government must work together and share responsibility in making the tough decisions to get Illinois back on track. Under his leadership, the Legislature has enacted sweeping ethics laws, the first campaign finance limits in state history, needed reforms to the state budget process and workers' compensation system, reforms to the state's Medicaid system to reduce costs while protecting needed service for the state's sickest and most needy residents, and long-term multi-billion dollar infrastructure construction programs to repair and rebuild roads, bridges, schools and mass transit across the state. Madigan is working to implement a new capital construction plan to create needed jobs and strengthen economic development. Madigan's efforts to reform the state budget have resulted in the reduction of billions of dollars of unpaid bills amidst difficult fiscal challenges following state and national recessions, putting Illinois on a path to fully fund the state's pension systems, and cuts to lawmakers' salaries, including his own. Speaker Madigan is standing up for middle-class families across Illinois by fighting for better wages, better housing, and safer neighborhoods. Madigan believes that children's success begins at an early age, which is why he supports a greater investment in birth-to-five initiatives. Knowing how increasingly difficult it is for families to afford the costs of higher education, Madigan believes the state should do more to help make sure more students can afford to attend college and receive a degree. Following the deregulation of the state's utility industry, skyrocketing electric rates left many consumers financially struggling. Madigan argued for the implementation of a freeze on rising electric rates and the re-regulation of the industry. Madigan's efforts on behalf of utility consumers resulted in $1 billion in rebates for Illinois ratepayers, the creation of a power authority independent of large power companies to handle power procurement on behalf of utility customers to bring fairer utility costs, and a comprehensive renewable energy policy. Madigan's work in the Legislature has been consistently marked with honors and distinctions from a wide range of civic, community, educational and business organizations. Speaker Madigan was first elected as a delegate to the 1970 Constitutional Convention and then as a state Representative the same year. He was born April 19, 1942, in the district he now represents. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Loyola University School of Law and practices law in Chicago. Madigan and his wife, Shirley, have three daughters, a son and three granddaughters.