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 Mike
Madigan’s approval rating was only 20% before the ComEd bribery scandal
exploded, yet the vast majority of Illinoisans have no power to remove him as
the powerful leader of the Illinois House.
Two members of the Illinois General Assembly want to change that.
State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, and Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield,
during 2021 plan to introduce three amendments to the Illinois Constitution that
would allow the House speaker and other elected leaders at all levels of
government to be recalled by voters.
“It is a failure of our state that we don’t allow our people and our public and
our citizens to have more say on the corruption that exists in the state,”
Barickman said.
As it stands, Illinoisans only have the power to recall the
governor. That constitutional amendment was approved by voters in 2010 following
the corruption indictment and conviction of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and it
is a complicated process that only starts after bipartisan permission from
lawmakers.
With Madigan facing his own federal corruption investigation and the recent
indictment of his closest confidant, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are
calling for an end to Madigan’s 35-year reign as House speaker.
[INSERT animated GIF here: https://files.illinoispolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Madigan-voters-v03.gif]
To date, 19 House Democrats of the 73 expected to vote Jan. 13 have stated they
will not vote to reelect Madigan as speaker. That leaves Madigan six votes shy
of the 60 votes needed to again lead the House.
Additionally, top Democrats upset with the Nov. 3 election results – Gov. J.B.
Pritzker and U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin – have called for
Madigan to step down as chair of the Illinois Democratic Party. The party
chairmanship lets him control millions of dollars of campaign funds, which in
turn help him maintain lawmaker loyalty and his position as speaker.
In theory, Madigan could be voted down by House members, however his colossal
influence on political careers and funding has historically left representatives
little choice but to continue to fall in line and support his leadership. He has
been lobbying members, telling the House Black Caucus Dec. 5 he can provide the
strong leadership needed to deliver the new legislative maps as well as an
income tax hike if Pritzker asks for one.
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Madigan was just reelected to his House seat by
fewer than 30,000 constituents. Yet, with over 6 million votes cast
Nov. 3 and such poor approval ratings, putting the power to end his
speakership in the hands of voters would make the House speaker and
other elected positions more responsive.
“When you have somebody like the speaker who
literally is not accountable to the people of the state, the people
that he has a lot of control over, I think that’s a problem,”
Batinick said.
Regardless of whether Madigan is removed by a federal indictment,
the votes of his peers or an eventual public vote, removing him only
wins a battle. There war against corruption in Illinois remains.
A new speaker will still be subject to the old rules which allowed
Madigan’s consolidation of power in the first place. Other reforms,
including term limits and legislative redistricting, can give the
public even more say and the ability to stand up to and protection
against corruption.
Madigan at 35 years is the longest-serving Statehouse speaker in
U.S. history, yet that long a term could never happen in the
Illinois Senate. In 2017, the Illinois Senate set term limits on
leadership positions, including a 10-year limit on the Senate
speakership. The House would do well to follow that example.
Illinois lawmakers in 2021 will also have their
decennial opportunity to redraw legislative districts. In 2020, half
of the Illinois Senate races, and almost half of the Illinois House
races went uncontested, a testimony to Madigan’s skill at protecting
his party’s incumbents. State lawmakers should not have the power to
restrict competition for their seats. Illinois should consider
independent redistricting, as 14 other states have done.
To stop another Madigan, state lawmakers must rewrite the House
Rules, which currently allow the speaker to solely decide which
bills make it to the floor, strengthen ethics rules to mandate
transparency and hold lawmakers accountable for their conflicts of
interest, and free the legislative inspector general to investigate
and publicize wrongdoing without hindrance from lawmakers.
Those reforms could change the state’s culture of corruption, and in
less time than will be required to amend the Illinois Constitution
and then recall corrupt leaders.
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