Sun-Times: Mike Madigan's Law Firm Represents State Contractors

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's law firm has been helping state contractors save on state property taxes, when they have property development business before the state. According to the Sun-Times:

Over the past nine years, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's law firm has made $171,000 by seeking property tax breaks for developers who get state financing to build low-income housing, records show.

His firm's payments came through the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the state agency that financed those projects.

Among the more outrageous cases the firm of Madigan & Getzendanner has represented is with TPG Realty Co.'s State Building Venture. That firm has been managing the 64,000 square foot atrium mall in the Thompson Center since 1984. The mall has suffered from vacancies, to the extent that they have argued that they should receive a discount on state property taxes. In 2003, Madigan & Getzendanner successfully won that discount in 2003, saving the contractor about $300,00 over three years.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown told the Sun-Times that the Speaker "complies with the law and often goes beyond that," adding that "The only thing they handle is property tax stuff, which is at the local level.... There's no conflict because the firm does no work before state agencies."