McHenry Times

State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) insists he’s not surprised to learn of how hand-in-hand Gov. J.B. Pritzker and House Speaker Mike Madigan have worked over the governor’s first 18 months in office, even as he argues it runs counter to everything Pritzker has publicly proclaimed.

“This whole time, Gov. Pritzker has indicated he is completely independent of the speaker,” Ugaste told the McHenry Times. “We know stuff like this happens all the time and in this instance I think it clearly indicates that the governor is not independent of Madigan and has worked closely with him from the start of his campaign.”

A new WBEZ report finds that since taking over as governor roughly 18 months ago, Pritzker has made at least 35 hires from a so-called “clout list” compiled by and submitted to him by Madigan.

“If we’re looking for the different branches of government to operate independently of each other and run their own programs, this may raise some eyebrows,” Ugaste added. “Working together is one thing, but this may be different.”

Ugaste said all of it screams for the kind of term-limit reforms he’s been pushing for since his days of being a candidate.  

“I think the underlining fact of the matter is we have someone that has been in power so long and amassed so much power we’ve reached the point where we should have term limits,” he said. “I’m going to limit the number of terms I have and I think that is something we definitely need in this state. I think we reach a point and time where the negatives of someone serving that long definitely outweigh the positives.”