Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) says the “Madigan Rules” remain staunchly in place in Springfield.

“The latest House rules are essentially the Madigan rules with toothless term limits and committee Zoom calls,” Mazzochi told the DuPage Policy Journal. “On the House floor, its proponents admitted that they plan to use these rules to prevent people from contacting their legislators, when they see legislation that they do not want. That isn't fairness. That is perpetuating the use and abuse of procedural rules to deny the people of Illinois a representative voice and vote.”

Even as Democrats are touting changes imposed by new Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, which include a 10-year limit on the time an individual can serve as Speaker or as minority leader and a rule that establishes the Rules Committee will now be required to refer all House bills “to a substantive committee” before the deadline for committees to act on them expires, as examples of his political independence, Mazzochi rages it’s just more of the same.

“This shows that Democrats plan to continue their unethical approach to passing a budget, including dropping several-hundred-page budget bills on the General Assembly with perhaps minutes to an hour or less to read them before demanding a final vote,” she said of a Republican-backed proposal that would have put in place a one-day requirement between the date that the final proposed budget is put on the House floor and the day a final vote is taken.

“Mike Madigan became an entrenched power center at the heart of corruption charges because the procedural rules in Illinois, unlike any other state, give him unfettered discretion in countless areas and no right to a voice for the minority or even members of his own party who disagree,” Mazzochi added. “Chris Welch showed he is all too happy to be a Speaker who will exercise those powers. You cannot change Illinois' reputation for corruption if your first vote is 'meet the new rules, same as the old rules.'"