North Central College in the News
North Central College dean interviewed on CBS 2 Chicago
Feb 19, 2021
Dr. Stephen Maynard Caliendo discussed Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s resignation
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is the longest-serving lawmaker in Illinois history, but now, his time in Springfield is coming to an end. He announced his resignation on Thursday, Feb. 18. Many saw this outcome as inevitable – and had expected Madigan’s resignation for the past month since he ended his campaign to continue as House Speaker.
For half a century, Springfield was Madigan’s kingdom. As the powerful and longest-serving House Speaker in not just the state’s history, but the country’s, Madigan had tremendous influence over what laws passed, who got elected – and, as the head of the state’s Democratic Party, who got campaign money.
But Madigan’s fiefdom began to crumble last summer when he was implicated as “Public Official A” in a scandal in which ComEd officials admitted to paying out bribes and doling out jobs to those who supported him.
Dr. Stephen Maynard Caliendo, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at North Central College, interviewed with CBS 2 Chicago, where he discussed the connection to Madigan’s involvement in the scandal and whether it was the cause for the resignation or if it was just time to be done.
“It’s impossible to know how much this is related to some of the trouble that’s swirling, and how much of it’s related to, it’s simply time,” said Dr. Caliendo.
