Democrats Block Real Reform

In November 2014, Illinois voters chose shared government, electing Republican Bruce Rauner as Governor while keeping Democrat majorities in the Illinois House and Senate. In his remarks at the inauguration of the newly elected and returning members of the General Assembly on January 14, longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said to Republicans that we [House Democrats] “wish to welcome you back — back to the active participation of state government.” He went further, as quoted by the Chicago Tribune, saying “…there will be many difficult roll calls up ahead. And we Democrats are very anxious to work together on those tough roll calls…”

My, how quickly things change.

Here we are, in the final weeks of the regularly scheduled spring legislative session, and in recent days we have witnessed a parade of carefully-orchestrated political theatrics from Speaker Madigan and his allies in the House of Representatives.

First, it was the budget. Democrats brought forward sixteen sham amendments disingenuously claiming they represented the Governor’s budget proposal, forcing votes on each one. None received even one solitary “Yes” vote, a clear indication of the political motivation behind them.

Next up was tort reform. On May 12, we spent an entire legislative day listening to a one-sided lecture from invited guests of Speaker Madigan on the evils of the business and insurance industries, conveniently ignoring the full scope of this important issue as it relates to Illinois’ competitiveness and the need for balance in our civil justice system.

Then on May 14, the Speaker’s agenda moved on to so-called “right to work” legislation. The Speaker introduced an amendment to a bill and dispatched one of his lieutenants to the House Floor with the disingenuous claim that the language represented Governor Rauner’s agenda, even though Madigan’s henchman admitted the bill had not been vetted by the Governor’s Office.

As if that wasn’t enough, on May 15 we were subjected to another political exercise, debating and being forced to vote on a fake property tax relief bill; one that would not actually reduce the property tax burden on suburban homeowners. When I stood up to motion that the real property tax legislation I introduced be considered (HB 136/HB 137), my request was denied by the Speaker.

Considering all this, we are left to ask, what has happened to shared governance, to the spirit of cooperation we all embraced back in January? The people of this great state are tired of the bickering and they want our state fixed. They want us to work together. It’s time for honesty and bipartisanship. My reform-minded colleagues and I will continue to stand up and be the adults in the room, advocating for an end to business as usual in Springfield and working together with our new Governor to move Illinois forward.