|
 Opposition to Mike Madigan on the vote he values most is
transcending party lines.
For the first time in the Chicago Democrat’s nearly 35 years holding the
speaker’s gavel, a member of his own caucus in the Illinois House of
Representatives publicly stated her intention to reject him as speaker of the
House in advance of the January vote.
And she’s calling on other House Democrats to join her.
Incoming state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Naperville, confirmed Nov. 12 on
Facebook that she would fulfill her campaign pledge to reject Madigan as speaker
of the House.
“Legislators are deciding THIS WEEK on whether or not to commit to vote for
Madigan as speaker,” she wrote.
“I have committed to voting ‘nay,’ a campaign promise I will keep. Some other
reps are currently considering speaking out against bullying and voting ‘Nay’ to
Madigan and community support could help them commit sooner.”
House members will soon decide whether to grant Madigan his record-breaking 18th
term as speaker.
The vote
The vote for House speaker is fairly simple, and will likely take place Jan. 9,
2019, when Illinois House and Senate members are inaugurated. Here’s how it
works:
First, a temporary clerk of the House calls for nominations for speaker from
House members, all of which require a second. Then, after nominations are done,
House members take a roll call vote where they each voice the name of their
preferred speaker. No debate is permitted before the vote.
The nominee who receives 60 votes or more becomes speaker of the House for the
following two years.
This means Stava-Murray’s call for a “nay” vote on Madigan could conceivably
come in one of two forms. The first is to vote “present,” and the second is to
cast her vote for another nominee. She could even cast a vote for herself should
another House member second her nomination.
Madigan was first elected speaker of the House in 1983, following his
controversial redrawing of Illinois’ legislative maps and a constitutional
amendment that reduced the size of the House to 118 members from 177. House
members have elected him speaker for all but two years since then.
Save for Republican control of the House from 1995 to 1996, only two Illinois
House Democrats have ever rejected Madigan as speaker.
[to top of second column] |
The first was former state Rep. Richard Mautino,
D-Spring Valley, who dared to cast a “present” vote for speaker in
1987. He was immediately deprived of a vice chairmanship on a House
committee. Two years later he would vote for Madigan, who promptly
made Mautino chairman of the House Insurance Committee.
It would be 30 years until another House Democrat refused to cast a
speaker vote for Madigan.
In 2017, state Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highland Park, voted “present”
for speaker. Drury will not be returning to the General Assembly in
2019 after making a run for the governorship.
The power
Support for Madigan as House speaker should not fall along party
lines, as the power he has amassed through the speakership has done
nothing less than undermine democracy in Illinois.
No other state legislative body in the nation grants such extreme
powers to the House speaker. Through the House rules, which like the
speaker vote are passed into law by Illinois lawmakers, Madigan
wields the power to:
-
Dole out committee chair positions and the
stipends that come with them
-
Control who votes in committees
-
Dictate when a bill will be called for a vote
-
Control what bills make it to a vote
Republican leadership expanded the power these
rules granted legislative leaders in the 1990s, and Madigan has been
more than happy to continue that trend in the two decades since
Democrats took back control of the House.
But it’s not just the rules from which Madigan draws power. He is
also the only legislative leader in the nation to head a state
political party. As chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois,
Madigan controls policy, politics and purse strings at the same
time.
A September 2018 Illinois Policy Institute analysis revealed more
than 60 sitting state representatives received nearly $15 million in
total from Madigan’s campaign committees, according to campaign
finance reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Those representatives have collectively cast 281 votes for Madigan
for speaker.
Stava-Murray has not taken any money from Madigan-controlled
committees, according to public records.
To be sure, the new Democratic House member from Chicago’s western
suburbs will draw Madigan’s ire for her choice to stand up to the
status quo. It remains to be seen how many of her colleagues will
stand with her.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article |
