Avery Bourne (L) of Raymond was part of a land sales scheme led by indicted House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) | Wikipedia/Irvin Bourne campaign
Avery Bourne (L) of Raymond was part of a land sales scheme led by indicted House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) | Wikipedia/Irvin Bourne campaign
State Representative Avery Bourne helped former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan carry out a real estate scheme that's become the subject of his federal indictment.
The 29 year-old from Raymond, now running for lieutenant governor, sponsored a bill for Madigan that was central to a scheme detailed by federal prosecutors over 106 pages last Wednesday.
As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Madigan asked his lobbyist and Bourne friend, Nancy Kimme of Chicago, to find him a state legislator willing to sponsor a bill required to allow the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to sell a plot of land it owned in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood.
Lobbyist Nancy Kimme
| Illinois Secretary of State
"But Kimme ran into problems. IDOT didn’t want to sell the land," the Sun-Times reported. "State Rep. Theresa Mah,D-Chicago, who represents Chinatown, declined to sponsor the legislation that Kimme wanted. (So) Kimme turned to state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Morrisonville, a downstate representative who already was sponsoring a bill to sell surplus state property."
Kimme, 60, is one of the most prolific lobbyists in Springfield on both sides of the aisle. Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) records show she has donated to both Madigan, and Illinois House GOP Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), who originally appointed Bourne in 2015 to office, at age 22.
Last Sept., Madigan's longtime chief counsel, Michael Kasper, made a $500 donation to Bourne's campaign through his law firm, ISBE records show. The firm had previously donated $600 to Bourne, back in 2015.
Bourne replaced former 95th District State Rep. Wayne Rosenthal of Litchfield, who was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner to run the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. She previously worked for U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) and U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Collinsville).
The 95th District includes parts of Montgomery, Christian, Macoupin and northern Madison Counties, including the communities of Carlinville, Litchfield, Hillsboro, Taylorville and Pana.
Alerts Sign-up