Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Next Post: Open thread
Posted in:
* Dave McKinney at WBEZ…
On the crime issue, the Hillside Democrat didn’t divulge details of what would be in the measure but said his party intends to push back against GOP portrayals that Democrats have been soft on crime.
“We’re early in the session, but I anticipate before we leave, you’re going to see some action on an anti-crime package,” Welch said.
“One of the messages that we’re going to send out loud and clear this session is that we believe that if you do the crime, you should do the time,” he said. “We believe that police should be properly funded and trained and educated. But it’s going to take us all working together to make sure that we bring this violence down.” […]
Welch said he has been in contact with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association about how to confront the rising prevalence of organized retail theft, but neither he nor the organization would divulge specifics of possible legislation. […]
Welch said he is not open to delaying an end to cash bail as part of any anti-crime initiatives this spring.
“I don’t know how we take a look at something that hasn’t even gone into effect yet,” Welch said. “There’s no data on that at all other than fear-mongering by folks on the other side of the aisle. That law doesn’t take effect till 2023 so it clearly hasn’t had any impact on the crime that has taken place last year or the crime that is taking place in the first few days of this year.”
* Craig Wall at ABC 7…
But in mid-term elections the party in power very often loses seats.
“We’re certainly aware of the political climate as we enter election season here in 2022. And what we have to do as Democrats is we have to do the work,” said Welch.
Welch said Democrats can tout to voters successes on the climate and equitable jobs act, and legislation to protect voting rights and women’s reproductive rights.
Welch said he’ll work hard to keep his super-majority, but for now is focused on the upcoming legislative session.
* Tahman Bradley at WGN…
“I think if you talk to folks in this space, they will tell you that it’s been a big difference,” Welch said. “First of all, my style is more collective and working with everyone in a team approach.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin views Welch’s first year differently. He says his party’s bills rarely see the light of day.
“The speaker, his predecessor at least, would give us a few bites at the apple and we’re just not getting there,” Durkin said.
“So you had more to eat as a party under Mike Madigan than Chris Welch?” WGN News asked.
“That’s correct,” Durkin answered.
*** UPDATE *** The numbers tell a different story than Leader Durkin’s…
By my count, in 2019 we saw 89 bills with a House Republican sponsor become law. In 2021, 97 bills with a House Republican sponsor became law. That works out to about 15% of the total for either year. https://t.co/cLekjIQvaS pic.twitter.com/TumJHnpsZe
— John Amdor (@JohnAmdor) January 12, 2022
Amdor said he looked at “chief house sponsors of bills that became law. Because that’s the metric that matters.”
* Peter Hancock at Capitol News Illinois…
“It’s a very time intensive job,” he said when asked what he’d learned in his first year. “And literally, you’re working seven days a week no-stop. …A lot of work involved. It takes cooperation from your friends from your family, from your employers.”
During his first year, Welch worked to put his own imprint on the speaker’s office, setting a much different tone than Madigan, who seldom gave media interviews and shunned the use of email or social media.
“I certainly think that it’s a new day in Springfield,” he said. “I think Democrats up and down our ranks would agree with that. I think if you get past Republican leadership, the rank-and-file Republicans would agree that it’s a new day.”
“The office of the speaker has been open more than it ever has, I believe in the last 36 to 40 years,” he continued. “Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle came into the office of speaker and said they had never been in there before. They came in to meet with me about ideas they were proposing last year in the Legislature, ideas that got out of Rules (Committee), got out of the House, got out of the Senate, and hit the governor’s desk and became law. Many of those rank-and-file Republicans were able to go home and talk about victories that we actually had in the General Assembly. I think they’ll tell you that that’s a new thing for them.”
* Mike Miletich at WGEM…
The Hillside Democrat said lawmakers should continue to work on a path toward financial stability, help people keep a roof over their heads and provide lifelines for businesses struggling during the pandemic. Welch would also like to see the House address the rise in crime with more investments included in the state budget and new policies to curb carjacking and organized retail theft.
Both chambers are starting the first month of session with most of their work done remotely due to the resurgence of COVID-19. However, Welch says that won’t prevent lawmakers from getting important work done this spring.
“Our number one goal is to keep everyone as safe as possible,” Welch said. “We proved last year that we can do the legislative work in a hybrid model. It just turns out that with this surge of COVID-19, we’re going back to doing our committee work virtually. If we were in Springfield in person, all we would be doing is going from committee room to committee room having meetings.”
Welch hopes to see the House and Senate return to Springfield once the number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations start to decrease and move in a better direction.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 6:59 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Next Post: Open thread
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Forget about that anti police bill and the black-gloved fist raised high on the House floor. Democrats are now all about solving the crime problem.
Comment by How high Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 7:56 am
The GOP went from “Because Madigan” to “Because [we miss] Madigan”
Comment by huhhhhh Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 9:23 am
Durkins dream comes true, it’s a nightmare
Comment by Rabid Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 9:43 am
Durkin’s complaint probably has some uses in terms of member management, but the voters don’t care. If the voters wanted more Republican bills to pass, they would’ve elected more Republicans.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 9:47 am
Re: Amdor’s tweet. Did he look at any bills just WITH a Republican sponsor or did he look at bills actually filed by Republicans? Because there’s a big difference between those two things.
Comment by Question Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 9:53 am
===Did he look at any bills just WITH a Republican sponsor or did he look at bills actually filed by Republicans?===
Will Republicans say they sponsored those passed bill in ads or newsletters?
The answer you’re looking for is yes.
I mean… (sigh)
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 9:56 am
Comments like that just add to the irrelevance of Durbin. I’d had some hopes for him. It’s sad really.
Comment by Lt Guv Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 11:08 am
While I appreciate the data analysis as a helpful tool to illustrate that House Minority Leader Durkin is full of it, there is definitely some false equivalency being made for all introduced legislation.
It is not any Democratic legislators fault that a Republican legislator cannot introduce or does not introduce bills that would ever be capable of securing a majority of votes in the House, pass in the Senate, and get signed by the Governor.
The Speaker of the House is under no obligation to make sure that legislation that would not gain a majority on it’s own passes with support from the members of his party. There are no quotas for GOP bills and the Speaker of the House isn’t a lifetime appointment. Encourage your members to support to many things they don’t want to support to give the GOP better talking points and legislative wins they don’t deserve is a good way to shorten your tenure as Speaker.
Elections have consequences. I understand that the GOP is struggling to understand when an election is lost and currently working very hard to deny losing elections, but still. Their platform, views, and behavior are out of step with a majority of Illinoisans.
When they change. When they introduce better legislation that is more likely to pass, maybe they’ll experience better results. What a sense of entitlement he must have to believe that he and his caucus deserve more bills being passed when they continue to introduce unpalatable garbage.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 11:22 am
Candy- I truly wished that’s how this process worked. That bills that can get a majority vote on the floor get to the floor. Unfortunately, some bills won’t make it to the floor precisely because they would get a majority vote and the party in power doesn’t want either the R victory or their guys on the record on it.
Ever wonder what happened to the House Bill from last year that put term limits on GA leadership positions?
Republicans filed that bill for years. Never gets a hearing. Then, last year Democrats file the same thing and it gets to the House floor. Why? Did this idea suddenly become good? Why not any of the other times it was filed by a Republican? You don’t think their bills would have gotten a majority vote on the floor?
House Democrats got to do their victory press on the issue. And then happened to that bill? It died in the Senate.
Comment by Question Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 11:34 am
Where did my reply to OW go? Why did it get removed?
Comment by Question Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 11:36 am
Many people are saying they heard Durkin using a favorite Madigan phrase …
Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 11:37 am
Perhaps Durkin was talking about the recent not so transparently rammed through redistricting votes the Federal Court felt were extremely partisan, but not constitutionally illegal as defined by the United States Supreme Court? One heck of a great campaign ad would be videotape of those locked doors that were floating around a while back.
Comment by Louis G Atsaves Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 12:11 pm
=== Perhaps Durkin was talking about the recent not so transparently rammed through redistricting votes the Federal Court felt were extremely partisan, but not constitutionally illegal as defined by the United States Supreme Court?===
Meh.
The new map was given the ok, meeting the VRA, over what Durkin or others thought.
So there’s that.
You are then highlighting the other map that is now in place, and within VRA parameters, that Durkin disliked.
Congrats.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 12:16 pm
—You are then highlighting the other map that is now in place, and within VRA parameters, that Durkin disliked.—
So your rebuttal ad would be but we kind of fixed it later on even though the court felt it was still extremely partisan?
Comment by Louis G Atsaves Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 12:59 pm
===So your rebuttal ad would be…===
“Republicans are making it harder for folks to vote and make your voice heard”
…
Anything else?
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jan 12, 22 @ 1:01 pm