CHICAGO — Ever since it opened late and over budget in 2005, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield has been regularly beset by problems tied to the historically transactional nature of Illinois politics.
Former Gov. George Ryan had his name put on the cornerstone before going to prison. Likenesses of modern-day political power brokers found their way into paintings depicting Lincoln and 19th-century scenes. Indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed to set up the museum as a free-standing state agency, raising fears it would become a haven for patronage.
A measure passed this month by legislators and now headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk is the latest effort to rebuild trust in one of the state’s prized institutions. The bill would restructure some of the museum’s operations and further centralize fundraising and decision-making power under the museum’s executive director and a board of trustees appointed by the governor.
