What purpose does Michael J. Madigan serve for Illinois Democrats anymore?

Until recently, the speaker of the Illinois House was the state party's problematic but predictably dogged counterpuncher to former Gov. Bruce Rauner, a ruthless enforcer of discipline on matters of policy and power if not principles, a deployer of patronage armies, an arbiter of who got what votes, money and, bottom line, permission to pursue any agenda of import in Springfield. To be frozen out by Madigan was to be frozen out—period—and generations of Democrats during his three-decade-plus hold on the legislative reins learned to live with the downsides of his omnipresence in exchange for the seemingly ineradicable grip on control that his speakership guaranteed the party.

All that power, remarkably concentrated in one man, could have been wielded for the larger good since Madigan became speaker in 1983—resolving, say, the pension crisis that threatens to swamp Illinois' government and ultimately its economy, improving education and services for Illinois residents, or enacting taxation and regulatory reforms that would make the state more competitive with its neighbors as a place to live, work and invest. Instead, that firepower has seemingly been targeted toward one distinct purpose: the acquisition and maintenance of one man's influence, that of Michael J. Madigan, the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, the state has suffered a slow decline, punctuated by the occasional body blow—governors sent to jail, corporate headquarters opportunities missed, one credit rating downgrade heaped atop another. Illinois now lands at No. 45 out of 50 states on U.S. News & World Report's recent ranking of state-by-state economic growth and 50th on its measurement of fiscal stability. Illinois' higher education system, its nonprofit social safety net and its infrastructure are only just recovering from the two-year-long budget stalemate between Madigan and his former nemesis, Rauner. And Illinois has lost population every year since 2014. Along the way, Madigan has become the most despised public official in the state, a persona so toxic as to be a public relations liability for every Democrat seeking office from dogcatcher on up.

Meanwhile, as the Chicago Tribune notes, the homes of three Madigan allies have been raided by federal agents probing the lobbying practices of Commonwealth Edison, and a Cook County grand jury has subpoenaed election records about the City Hall campaign of Ald. Marty Quinn in the 13th Ward, where Madigan long has served as committeeman. Madigan also is facing federal civil lawsuits alleging that he put up sham candidates in the 2016 primary to undercut an opponent's chances of winning and that a Democratic campaign worker's career was stifled once she reported sexual harassment by a Madigan political aide.

Those sexual harassment allegations—on top of others that came to light in 2018—reached a crescendo Aug. 20 with the release of a bombshell report commissioned by the speaker himself to investigate allegations of harassment within his office and the wider Illinois House.

The report by former Illinois Inspector General Maggie Hickey said less than expected about sexual harassment claims and also more: a culture of "negative treatment that faced people who were perceived to challenge Speaker Madigan on any issue." The report detailed the sort of bullying that apparently helped Madigan retain and wield power with the help of his now-fired chief of staff, Tim Mapes—threats to the future careers of men and women alike if they did not do what they were told.

"For workers in the Speaker's Office, this fear of retaliation meant a fear of losing their jobs, not having their contracts renewed, losing access to decision-making processes, having opportunities taken away, having their ideas ignored, having prospective employers receive negative calls, or losing positive references for outside employment," the report states. "Representatives in the Democratic Caucus, in turn, feared losing campaign contributions, having their legislation stalled or stopped, or being removed from the caucus."

Despite or perhaps because of all that, Illinois Democrats today own state government in the wake of the 2018 election.

The question now is why they need Madigan.

The speaker has pledged to adopt the reforms recommended in the Hickey report and said in a statement accompanying its release, "I take responsibility for not doing enough previously to prevent issues in my office." But taking responsibility apparently isn't what it used to be. Madigan, who unquestionably set the tone for the entire organization under his watch, still has his job. There was a time, not so long ago, when it would have been laughable to suggest the Dems kick Madigan to the curb. But the Hickey report—as well as the party's gubernatorial win last year—have changed the cost-benefit analysis when it comes to Madigan. He's a liability the Democrats can no longer afford.

The Hickey report cost just under $650,000 to produce. If it leads to Madigan's ouster from the speakership, it'll be the best $650,000 Illinois taxpayers ever spent.