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* News-Gazette editorial…
Hats off to members of the Black caucus in the Illinois General Assembly.
They introduced four major bills — criminal justice, education, health care and economic equity — on Jan. 8 and passed three of them through the House and Senate in six days. The health care bill was approved in just one of the two legislative bodies.
Their political play using last-minute action by a lame-duck legislature could not have been handled with more sophistication and raw power. The legislation now goes for signature by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
It will be amazing if he, in deference to the politics of the moment, doesn’t swallow them whole.
But while political calculations may have been splendid, the policy questions remain wide open.
And if you read on, there’s not a single actual policy argument made in the editorial. It’s all about process.
The bills all passed in a lawful manner. Individual legislators were free to vote however they wished. Some huge compromises were made with opponents, some fixes were promised down the road. Also, human beings tend to push things off to the deadline, which is why so many people file their taxes on April 15th.
Process can certainly be an issue. The horrific schedule of the lame duck session is most definitely worth criticism. But I can’t help but wonder if a lot (not all) of the criticism of this “process” is more about the legislators who were pushing the bills and the people who were opposed rather than the substance. And some of it is just wrong…
Defenders of this process argue that the Black caucus held a series of online hearings to listen to interested parties discuss general concepts related to these extremely complicated policy proposals.
But those discussions did not result in substantive legislation until Jan. 8, when the measures were introduced by Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford. She later explained she did not show her hand until the last minute to avoid having to submit them to public scrutiny and debate.
There were hearings during the lame duck session. I wrote about some of them and watched many of them. And they all resulted in changes to the legislation, sometimes even drastic changes. The health care bill didn’t pass partly because of those hearings.
* Also, if editorialists were truly concerned about process, you’d think we would see something written about the new Senate rule that allows the Assignments Committee to send the same bills to multiple committees, which is likely going to be a huge boon to Statehouse contract lobbyists who spend most of their time killing legislation.
*** UPDATE *** Speaking of process…
At a September news conference announcing the agenda, Black Caucus Chair Kimberly Lightford, a state senator from Maywood, acknowledged the national scrutiny and building momentum as a chance to address longstanding grievances and reforms sought by Black lawmakers and activists.
“This moment in time is presenting us with an unlimited opportunity to at long last address systemic racism and oppression that has plagued our communities for generations,” she said.
That same day, the Black Caucus held its first subject matter hearing, both for the agenda and for its criminal justice policy pillar. The topic was use-of-force laws and police transparency, and witnesses included representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police who clashed in their testimonies.
This scene would be repeated more than four months later on the House floor, where many of the use-of-force provisions discussed in that hearing were included in the Black Caucus criminal justice bill. The ACLU and IACP would again disagree on use-of-force provisions as witnesses in a House Criminal Judiciary Committee hearing during the lame duck session.
Following that first subject matter hearing in September, Senate committees held eight more hearings through November. Police certification, mandatory minimum sentences, drug laws, collective bargaining and transparency issues were all debated with input from relevant stakeholders months before the bill was introduced.
* Related…
* Illinois poised to become first state to end wealth-based pre-trial detention
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:32 am
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That’s a great headline, Rich
Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:37 am
Amen.
Comment by notsosure Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:44 am
I am so glad you are calling this argument out. All I hear when folks talk about “process” with these bills are people frustrated they didn’t have more time to kill them.
Comment by Montrose Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:44 am
All good points by Rich — and I think most capfax followers agree. But your average citizen (and even your average editorial writer) is never, ever going to believe that a bill passed at 4:00 a.m. is the product of a solid, deliberative process. Not ever.
We really need to return to the regular, pre-COVID order of legislative business. Fairly or unfairly, the lame duck session undercut confidence in the legislative process — we can’t afford that right now.
Comment by Roman Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:49 am
Hmm. I suspect some of this “but the process” rhetoric may actually be employed to conceal opposition to the substance of these bills.
Illinois now has a progressive, pragmatic Governor - okay, yes, he’s still learning, he’s made mistakes - and a progressive, pragmatic Dem GA which is going to lead the nation in legislation addressing justice, healthcare, education, and financial equity.
My very humble suggestion to those opposed: don’t hide behind “process” (which was impeded, yes, agreed); just come out and state in print your policy objections to these bills.
In the meantime, as the Guardian piece makes clear, our state is leading the nation in abolishing cash bail and instating racial equity in the pre-trial phase of prosecution. Illinois’ legislation will almost certainly become the model for other states in future.
I’m proud of Illinois.
Comment by dbk Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:02 pm
Also, they have been discussing these items since the summer. Sorry you just started paying attention.
Comment by Ok Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:09 pm
This is a newspaper with a circulation of like 20,000 people on a good day. Who cares what they think?
Comment by Upstate Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:18 pm
To the post,
The discussion of process, it sometimes comes down to folks unhappy that things have 60 and 30.
In this case, a discussion to process has a great navy grains of salt towards process and not much to merits.
It’s also a better argument, “process”, than to come out and say the merits themselves have issues, putting the discussion to a political stance that might face more blowback than posturing towards the “how”.
If indeed elections have consequences, and the idea that stopping what has legislative support by the majority of seated members, and can get through due to the politics, all you can argue against then is process.
If those upset with the legislation want it changed, even if it’s due to process, win elections towards making legislative changes. Arguing the nuance, that’s the easiest and safest way to say, without saying it, we didn’t have the votes, and I need to blame something else outside that.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:21 pm
When a bill comes together at the last minute and there has been no opportunity for lobbyists or the media to identify problem areas or run economic analysis on the impact of the legislation, the criticism is going to be about the process. I don’t think anyone has had time to digest what the legislature passed.
Comment by Chicagonk Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:27 pm
I didn’t hear a harumph from that guy over there - Mel Brooks
Comment by Frank talks Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:32 pm
“They’re free to vote against it if they wish”
Sure. We can all read and digest 400+ pages, on multiple bills, and form cogent opinions on them, in just a couple hours.
I mean, who can’t do that?
Something democracy something something darkness.
Comment by JB13 Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:47 pm
Quoth my neighbor, a layperson, dismissing media caterwauling about the hour the criminal justice legislation passed the Senate, “Would the bill had been any different if you had voted on it at noon?”
Comment by Mugs Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:57 pm
Mugs is right
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:58 pm
- Chicagonk - Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:27 pm:
Literally look at the language. Copied and pasted from bills that have existed for years. Maybe the big time lobbyists could spend some time reading legislation when introduced? Or better yet, maybe they could have attended one of the numerous Senate hearings in the fall? Or even better than that, when repeatedly asked to offer reform ideas, maybe they could have done that? Nothing stopped the police groups from refusing to work with Sen. Sims and Rep. Slaughter. Well, I think one thing did.
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:59 pm
sending one bill to multiple committees is just a terrible move.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:05 pm
They are representatives of the people of Illinois not the lobbyist or other representatives. The process should have been to present it in a timely manner too the people and get input from all. The process looks bad doing it in a Lame Duck session when it has been to dangerous to meet the last 10 months. This timing right after the holidays was near one of the peak times of the pandemic or was supposed to be according to the Governor so why was a Lame Duck session so important all of the sudden. Most of us know the answer to that question. And yes reforms have been needed for a long time and maybe legislative reform maybe should have been just as important and done by a different caucus at the same time.
Comment by Arock Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:15 pm
Let’s face it – even if the Black Caucus held open public hearings every week for a year in a row law enforcement leaders would still find 100 excuses not to support it. Most want to maintain the status quo. And despite the fact that the caucus held official public hearings - over 30 - on their four pillars and over multiple months (just as they could’ve done during session) it’s still not good enough. Then outlets like the Champaign news gazette write thinly veiled diatribes about “process” instead of substance and policy. And it’s no surprise – just look at who makes up the editorial leadership at that paper. These aren’t a bunch of guys who’ve been sitting around talking about how systemic racism has hurt people of color for generations snd what should be done to at long last address it. But they’ll sure complain about how it got done.
Comment by Shytown Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:54 pm
Editorial writers will always be outraged about the legislative process — it liberates them from the burdens of studying and understanding any policy.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 6:03 pm