State GOP Chairman calls on RTA Board to rescind employment agreement of Speaker Madigan’s son-in-law

 

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady called upon the Board of Directors of the Regional Transportation Authority to rescind the employment agreement of Speaker Mike Madigan’s son-in-law, Jordan Matyas.  Matyas, who is married to Madigan’s daughter, was recently given a $130,000 per year lobbying position with the RTA. 

“Whether the job offer was a peace-offering with the Speaker or an attempt to curry favor, it stinks and we need to stop running the State of Illinois like a banana republic,” said Brady.  “How about hiring an experienced Government Relations professional with a deep understanding of regional transportation issues instead of an individual whose only qualifications are family dinners at the Madigans and an occasional ride on Metra?” 

According to the GOP, last summer, it was widely reported that Matyas, while employed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, helped a company called Veritic set up a database to track payday loans.  Matyas subsequently left state payroll and, as a lobbyist, helped secure three contracts for Veritic that, among other things, monitored payday loans.  These contracts would not have been possible without the efforts of Attorney General Lisa Madigan to introduce legislation, later enacted by her father Mike Madigan, that made this monitoring necessary due to new regulation on payday loans. According to news reports, Matyas helped draft the legislation that ultimately benefitted his own financial interests.