House Speaker Michael Madigan avoided calling the General Assembly back into session during the pandemic for several reasons, many of them having to do with himself.
But new Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch told me earlier this month that “The legislature is back in business. We’re going to work in 2021.”
“We’re going to probably use the BOS Center for a little while,” Welch said of the Springfield convention center that the House has been meeting in. “But that’s a pretty costly place. So we’re also trying to explore how to safely transition back into the Capitol. There will probably be a hybrid version of remote committees and limited things at the Capitol, but we’re about to go back to work.”
The remote legislating bill failed to pass both chambers during the recent lame duck session, but Welch said there are some new things they can do, “And we can do it pretty quickly if we’re actually working.”
Here are some more highlights from my interview:
* Chief of Staff: The new Speaker said he’s asked Madigan’s chief of staff Jessica Basham to stay on through the end of the remap process and she has agreed. Basham has been diligently studying the remap process for the past two years, but she is also Madigan’s former appropriations director, which is crucial knowledge and experience to have during what looks to be a possibly horrific budget-making process.
“I’m looking forward to working with Jessica,” Welch said. “I think she’s been a great chief of staff. She knows this process and I’m going to lean on her as well. And I think everyone would understand the need to have a transition period. You don’t come in a door and immediately start making changes, especially when three days ago you didn’t even expect to be in the position.”
* Speaking of the Remap: Welch told reporters after he was elected Speaker that he supports “Fair Maps.” I asked how committed he actually is to the concept of redistricting reform.
“I’ve believed in fair maps since I’ve been in the legislature,” Welch said. “And so we’re going to begin that process. We’re going to work with Democrats and Republicans, we’re gonna work with the Senate, we’re gonna work with the governor. Because my definition of fair maps may be different from what everyone else’s is. So, we have to do this in partnership. Remember that if we’re not doing this in partnership, we already have a difficult task ahead of us, it’s only going to get more difficult if we don’t do this with all the voices around the table.”
* New Rules?: Speaker Welch said he wants to talk with his members before making any decisions on new House rules, “because I heard a lot about that in my conversations,” with House Democrats during his election.
“After I talk to the members, I’ll reach out to [Jim] Durkin,” he said of the House Republican leader. Welch said he will “take a quick, hard look” at the rules “and make changes where we deem appropriate.”
* Campaign Structure: The House Republicans years ago separated their government staff from their campaign staff. Madigan never followed suit. The House Democrats’ Issues Staff does double-duty on campaigns. Does he plan to change that?
“We’re talking through with a number of folks getting guidance, and we’ll see how things go,” Welch said.
“I want to say this,” Welch continued, “because there’s 73 Democrats in the House. Two years ago, we had 74. That’s a super-majority. So Madigan was doing something right. And his structure was doing something right. And so we’re not gonna throw the baby out with the bathwater.
“What we’re gonna do is take a good system and add a little polish to it, and fine-tune it and add some modern touches to it, give it a little bit more transparency. But we’re gonna do some things that are already being done because they’re proven things that elect Democrats.”
Welch said he hasn’t yet talked with Madigan about control of the caucus’ Democratic Majority PAC, “but that’s on the agenda.”
* Madigan: Asked if Madigan had left him a letter of advice like many governors do for their successors, Welch said he hadn’t.
“But you know, he is available to me, we’ve sat and talked twice,” Welch said. “And both of those conversations have been very helpful to me already.
“He has told me to call him for advice on anything I need. And trust me, with his type of knowledge, I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna lean on that institution.”
- Commisar Gritty - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:24 am:
Amazing how there are no “fair maps” movements in states that already have Koch brothers dominated legislatures. That they only seem to pop up in Dem controlled states that still have labor protections. IL, unlike our conservative neighbors, have not been accused by courts of drawing maps that “disenfranchised minority voters with a near surgical precision”.
I’m for fair maps, but only if instituted Federally across the board. Otherwise we’re just giving the billionaire donor class an easier step in their Conventions of States crusade to destroy what little remains worker protections in this country.
- tdavs1 - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:28 am:
IL maps are fair in the sense that the number of seats each party has is proportional to the popular vote cast for each party.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:35 am:
Can’t decide which word is more subjective,
Fair or Normal.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:35 am:
Finding out that using the BOS facility was going to run 30k a day made me change my mind about prioritizing legislators and their staff for the vaccine.
As much as I despise some of the troglodytes who have literally campaigned on encouraging the deaths of their constituents in a deadly pandemic, my spite isn’t worth 30k a day.
- facts matter - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:44 am:
There’s a difference between “Fair Maps” and “fair maps”. “Fair Maps” is a concoction created by people who want to take politics out of mapmaking and “fair maps” is a noun with a subjective adjective. Pretty sure the later is what Welch is focused on because the former would not help him with his caucus.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:46 am:
If they mess up the fair map the way they messed up the fair tax, there’s no telling how bad things could get for the majority party.
- Anyone Remember - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 9:52 am:
After Durkin’s “speech” Welch should give him the same “consideration” Pate gave Emil in 1993.
- Anon221 - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 10:09 am:
“…Welch said of the Springfield convention center that the House has been meeting in. ‘But that’s a pretty costly place.’”
$92,000 of that was for catered lunches and dinners, according to commentary by Charlie Wheeler on State Week. He said Hannah Meisel had posted those menus during the session. There are no COVID restrictions on packing your own lunch, legislators (banned punctuation).
Start at 17:30 mark-
https://www.nprillinois.org/post/state-week-illinois-entering-next-phase-vaccine-rollout
- Ferris Wheeler - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 10:43 am:
@Anon221 -
Seems nit picky. All that money is presumably going right back into the Springfield economy I presume.
On the other hand, the members do receive a per diem that covers meals. Perhaps they should reimburse the taxpayers. I am undecided because it seems unrealistic to expect everyone to pack a lunch and dinner when you’ve got no access to refrigeration, nor can you have 100 delivery drivers in and out.
Maybe the IMA could buy lunch one day and the AFLCIO the next?
- DuPage Saint - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 10:53 am:
I guess I am all for fair maps. Who could be against “fair”. But I think I would much rather have politicians draw than some “independent “ commissions. I don’t believe any appointed commission is independent. I only wish they could drawn them as squares but I bet a good computer program could draw a good map
- Anon221 - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 11:01 am:
Ferris Wheeler- Not nit picky, rather it seems an excessive cost. And, I agree with you on the per diem reimbursement. If they did receive catered meals AND a meal per diem on top of that, then their per diems need to be pro-rated or eliminated for that line item. As to refrigeration, I’ll bet there are some frigs at the BOS that could have been used:) Deliveries could have been coordinated, too, perhaps requiring some “working across the aisles” to order in.
- Perrid - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 11:53 am:
Anon221, how many hundreds of people were fed for how many days on that? I don’t have the numbers, but if each represenative had 2 staff that ate, let’s call that 350 people, and let’s say 15 lunches for both sessions (again, I’m making all these numbers up, google is failing me), that’s in the neighborhood of $17-$18 per meal. That’s… not a lot. People gotta eat.
If they’re getting add on meal pay and having the food bill picked up separately, yeah that’s a problem. Small, but a problem.
- Anon221 - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 12:04 pm:
Perrid- “People gotta eat.” I’m sure some of their constituents are currently feeling the same thing… just not in a catered sense during this pandemic.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 7:15 pm:
I think avoiding conflict is often a good press strategy, but sheesh that is a lot of saying nothing.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 25, 21 @ 8:30 pm:
Thanks, Rich. Lots of ground covered.
The post?
I’ve tried to step back, step back and watch. Watch and read. I dunno how this is going to play out.
The growing pains, to fair maps, the caucus politics, to the raw politics of campaigns… to the questions Welch needs to look at, there’s no road map, there’s no precedent.
These markers, these are the foundations of thoughts, to, well, every thought at least.
Then… throw in a pandemic, the thoughts to even convening any semblance of session, outside what was… and serving the state while being a stewart of the state… as Speaker.
Everything is new. Everything. Even what might seem a continuation, nope. It’s all new. New to a fault, and to a gift.
The map thoughts will swirl, as they always do, while self preservation is wrapped around the thoughts of changing the game.
We need governance. Seems like a theme these days. This time from the lower chamber of the Illinois statehouse.
Thanks, Rich. This piece might be revisited a time or nine.