*** UPDATED x1 *** Twenty-one percent of legislative incumbents have left or are leaving
Friday, May 4, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller * The [again] updated retirement, lost a primary, etc. list…
* So, that’s 13 House Democrats, or 19 percent of the total caucus; 14 House Republicans, or 27 percent of the total; 5 Senate Democrats, which is 13.5 percent of the total and 5 Senate Republicans, which is 23 percent of their total. Grand total so far: 37. Whew. And we’ll likely be adding Rep. Silvana Tabares (D-Chicago) if and when she is appointed to the Chicago city council in the coming weeks. That’ll push the grand total percentage to 21.5. *** UPDATE *** Retired Sen. Donne Trotter isn’t on that list, so I adjusted the numbers, including the headline. Former Rep. Elgie Sims took Trotter’s place, but I don’t know what to do about him, so I left that count alone. Also, there are some good points in these text messages, which I’ve cleaned up a bit…
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- Chicago - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 11:47 am:
And that is even before election day which might have a mini red wave south of Springfield but sure looks like a blue wave coming to the Chicago area. Buckle up!
- Thoughts Matter - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 11:50 am:
This can be used as a response to the call for term limits. The system works on its own. People arrive, learn, mentor new arrivals, and eventually leave.
- Just Me - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 11:58 am:
#TermLimits
- Chris Widger - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:01 pm:
The ideal number is 100% turnover, but this is progress.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:03 pm:
If over 1 in 5 are leaving… that’s a lot of turnover in of itself.
===13 House Democrats, or 19 percent of the total caucus===
and…
===4 Senate Democrats, which is 11 percent of the total.===
Versus…
===14 House Republicans, or 27 percent of the total===
and…
===5 Senate Republicans, which is 23 percent of their total.===
Rauner seems to be shooing more Republican away (and the Trump midterm, and… )
The elevated “percentage” of GOP caucus members gone is alarming to the point… what does a Republican GA member look like and are they all to monolithic to what is a narrowing of the party?
That’s what worries me.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:05 pm:
===The ideal number is 100% turnover, but this is progress.===
Institutional knowledge > anarchy of 100% turnover.
It is Friday, the dorm rooms are starting early, and finals are over for some too.
- Chris Widger - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:09 pm:
==Institutional knowledge > anarchy of 100% turnover.==
There’s a saying in sports–”you can’t fire the players.” But you can fire the coaches, and Illinois’s track record suggests we do that. Incidentally, that’s an argument for getting rid of Rauner too, which I’m fine with if the Legislature is out too.
What sorts of things does the Legislature know how to do that would be lost if there were complete turnover, and how do those things benefit the state on average?
- wordslinger - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:14 pm:
Term limits kind of take care of themselves. Unless you have just a few specific people in mind.
- Anon - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:16 pm:
Wonder how many became or are going to become lobbyists.
- Spliff - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:21 pm:
what about Trotter?
- Jocko - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:22 pm:
Since they’re not seeking re-election, I wish the 36 would be honest about our state’s need for tax revenue and investing in higher education/social services (instead of partisan bickering).
- Smitty Irving - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:29 pm:
Chris Widget
100% turnover is what CA has had since the mid-90s, and other than Gov. Brown pulling rabbits out of hats during his 2nd tour as Gov, it has been a disaster.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:34 pm:
===what about Trotter?===
Bridget is already gone too
- allknowingmasterofracoondom - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:37 pm:
So much for term limits huh?
- Almost the Weekend - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:53 pm:
The tier 2 caucus
- Lucky Pierre - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 12:54 pm:
1 in 5 are leaving probably because the most powerful state legislator in the nation is not a “change person”
People with good intentions arrive, learn and realize they are powerless, get frustrated they cannot reform anything and leave
No wonder we lead the nation in distrust of state government
- James Knell - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:05 pm:
So Rauner gets his term limits by creating a perma-war toxic environment that not even the perks of the IL General Assembly can make up for. Bruce must be the Inspector Clouseau of private equity moguls… or perhaps it’s just really hard to fail. It’s not like any of the panhandlers in front of my local Jewel-Osco are ex-tycoons wiped out in the Great Recession.
- SaulGoodman - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:05 pm:
**People with good intentions arrive, learn and realize they are powerless, get frustrated they cannot reform anything and leave**
Good theory. Except for the fact that many of them (especially on the HGOP side) are leaving because they realized they were NOT powerless, and stood up and made a touch decision and tough votes, and are now essentially being forced out.
- Rich Miller - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:06 pm:
===1 in 5 are leaving probably because the most powerful state legislator in the nation is not a “change person”===
lol
Yeah, that’s it.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:08 pm:
===1 in 5 are leaving probably because the most powerful state legislator in the nation is not a “change person”===
If that’s the case, no need for term limits…
- JS Mill - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:25 pm:
=What sorts of things does the Legislature know how to do that would be lost if there were complete turnover, and how do those things benefit the state on average?=
So you would prefer that lobbyists, big money contributors, and career bureaucrats be in charge instead of publicly elected officials?
Do you even know what you really believe?
- Joe Bidenopolous - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:38 pm:
7 D lame ducks - Beiser is already gone. Autocorrect made it “Bridget”
- Lucky Pierre - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:52 pm:
Except the most powerful state legislator in the country is not term limited
Make the argument that legislators terrified to avoid taking tough votes on taxing retirement income, raising other taxes, reforming pensions and cutting spending because they know it jeopardizes their reelection prospects is not the reason for the unbalanced budgets for the past 18 years
- wordslinger - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 1:53 pm:
–1 in 5 are leaving probably because the most powerful state legislator in the nation is not a “change person”–
The “probability” you would write that was 100%. No doubt in my mind.
One-trick pony, but really not that good at it.
- Rich Miller - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 2:02 pm:
===Except the most powerful state legislator in the country is not term limited===
Coulda passed that leader term limit out of the Senate if the grand bargain hadn’t been undermined by the governor. Woulda put a huge amount of pressure on MJM. But, y’all gotta be all or nothin’ and, once again, y’all got nothin’.
- SaulGoodman - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 2:34 pm:
**Except the most powerful state legislator in the country is not term limited**
Yea, he is. His term is limited to two years, every cycle.
- Demoralized - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 3:01 pm:
==1 in 5 are leaving probably because the most powerful state legislator ==
lol. Different day, same bot talking points. Perhaps try some new programming.
==most powerful state legislator in the nation is not a “change person”==
At least he’s never claimed to not be in charge.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Friday, May 4, 18 @ 3:41 pm:
==lol. Different day, same bot talking points. Perhaps try some new programming==
Our IT support staff left step-by-step instructions for corrective programming of the Luckybot 6000 application just last week. We have not heard back from anyone in that division yet, hopefully someone will follow up soon. Darned thing is just gonna keep producing the same errors until then, and may even overload and fry the whole system sometime between early November and mid-January.
- Numbers Agustine - Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 10:52 pm:
Really good blog, thank you very much for your effort in writing this post.