House Speaker Michael Madigan needs the monetary muscle of billionaire J.B. Pritzker, or why else would he still be supporting Pritzker in the wake of two controversies, the Illinois Republican Party said in a recent press release.
"After all, Pritzker’s already told Madigan insiders behind closed doors that he would support a massive tax hike without reform," GOP spokeperson Steve Yaffe said, according to the release. "They know Pritzker is an insider who will never stand up to them, because they’ve seen what he’s like when he thought no one was listening."
According to the State Journal Register, Pritzker's woes began in May when the Chicago Sun-Times revealed Pritzker’s efforts to reduce his property tax bills on two properties. Through an appeal of the properties’ assessments, he cut his bill by more than $230,000, according to the newspaper.
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago)
| By illinoislawmakers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7C51rHSd6w, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30435112
Pritzker is now in hot water again following a Chicago Tribune story that identified previously undisclosed FBI tapes of Pritzker speaking with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving a federal sentence for corruption.
Blagojavech was convicted for seeking compensation for filling Barack Obama’s state Senate seat after he was elected to the presidency, and while Pritzker is on tape discussing an appointment to state treasurer, the call does not appear to expose any legal wrongdoing.
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