* Gov. JB Pritzker about the House scandal and what to do about it…
I think the important thing is, honestly, when we talk about who’s going to be Speaker of the House, it’s the members of the House of Representatives who make that decision, not the governor and the members are, in fact, I believe, holding the speaker responsible, that is for responding to their questions and making sure that he comes up with an appropriate process and one that actually works for someone to get justice when they work for the 118 members of the House of Representatives and they are harassed.
It seems like other states have figured this out, but not the House of Representatives in the state of Illinois. So I am looking forward to quickly. By the way, I know there’s been talk about a working group. I’ve seen working groups go on for a year and a half. There is no time here. There are already models for dealing with this in other states, I believe that there doesn’t need to be much of a discussion through a working group. You have to write legislation or at least write rules in the House. But it is important, in my opinion, for this to happen very quickly because there’s no reason for this to be, we’re not reinventing the wheel here, the the nation has figured out how to allow someone to come forward and make sure that they get justice when they’ve been harassed. […]
So it shouldn’t take long for us to get a result here.
- Pumpsss - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:03 pm:
The Gov may not determine who gets to be the speaker, but he has called on legislators to resign before. Just sayin.
- Tax And Spend - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:04 pm:
Working Group
The history/road
of “Working Group” results are like the path to the other side…..littered with good intentions…
- SpiDem - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:11 pm:
That is one heck of a statement. Without directly pointing the finger at Welch, he still navigated the bus right over him.
- Been There - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:18 pm:
The gov is definitely right about doing something sooner rather than later. One of the first things a new General Assembly does in both chambers is vote on the rules. If it is just a rule change to get something done there should be proposals put forth before early January. If something is not done at that time it is a big fail.
- Billy the Kid - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:19 pm:
It seems like the guv is getting impatient. In other words, reading between the lines… “Mr Welch, you better act now, before I say that it’s time for you to go.”
- Irreverent - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:31 pm:
Calls out the BS and lays responsibility where it belongs. He’s right. There are already solutions to this problem. Anything that’s not immediately grabbing and implementing one of them is nothing more than an excuse to not solve it.
- Candy Dogood - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:32 pm:
So, the Governor is suggesting that Chris Welch needed a working group to tell him not to invite a victim of sexual harassment to join him for a fancy steak dinner alone?
- Pundent - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:33 pm:
I’m a few years older than the speaker. I received my first workplace training on sexual harassment over 30 years ago. This notion that people don’t know what is considered harassment or how to address it in the workplace and now need a working group to come up with rules is an insult to our intelligence. The excuse of “I didn’t know” simply won’t cut it. It is a basic expectation of leadership.
- Simon - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:34 pm:
JB has a point. The Speaker doesn’t really need a working group to put a new personnel policy in place. He could appoint an HR liaison for district staff tomorrow.
But that’s not Welch’s style. When there’s good news, he’s in “me” mode. Like earlier this week when he seemed to take credit for the large number of female members. But when the heat is on, he is in “we” mode. (He used the word “we” a lot during his interviews Wednesday.) One could argue his 60 vote rule is a product of that mentality. The caucus is the bad guy if a bill isn’t called, not him.
So a working group is necessary because this is a “we” problem. He wants the message to be the House failed, not the Speaker.
- Nick - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:38 pm:
Candy Dogood, his statement reads as the opposite of what you’re suggesting. He’s dismissing the idea of a working group as buck passing when other states/institutions already have working frameworks for how to deal with this.
- Regular democrat - Friday, Aug 7, 26 @ 3:41 pm:
Wow thats leadership. Good for him he realizes the gravity of the situation.