SPRINGFIELD – Springfield WCIA local news revealed the latest gotcha story on Illinois lawmakers: Candy Crushgate. Lawmakers were caught playing video games during a recent higher education budget debate.
Two Democrats, State Rep. Mike Smiddy (D-Port Byron) was playing an unknown video game and Katherine Cloonen (D-Kankakee) was playing Candy Crush on her tablet. She put away the game when she noticed WCIA's camera in the balcony. Gallery ushers have in the past banned cameras used by anyone other than media sources, which must obtain the chambers' permission to record.
Then, WCIA discovered that lawmakers were skipping votes and letting colleagues and staff push their "Yes" or "No" buttons for them while they were were aware from their floor seats.
This voting for buddies goes back for decades. In the 2000s, it was common practice for former State Senator Bill Mahar (R-Orland Park) to sit in the Republican section of the Senate and use a cane to reach over from his chair to tap his colleagues' voting buttons.
The Candy Crushgate revealing video is HERE.
