Just
about nothing happened in the first week of veto session in the House and the
Senate. The Democratic legislative leaders are still trying to figure out what
their members want to do in the wake of Republican President-Elect Donald
Trump’s victory and whether that can be done. Whether that action starts in the
second and final week of veto session, or in the lame duck January session or
in the regular spring session is still up in the air as I write this.
“We’re
going to have to do something,” House Speaker Chris Welch told me, but he
couldn’t say what that “something” was just yet. “I think it’s important that
we let the conversations happen. Those conversations have to happen so that we
come to alignment on that.”
Asked
about Trump’s economic message of consistently railing against inflation and
promising no income taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security, Welch said, “I
think the economic message worked. I think the economic message and what we’ve
been through in this country was very important, and we’re going to have to
listen and acknowledge that. And as Democrats in Illinois, I think we’ve already
done a good job of doing that, but we’re going to have to continue to listen to
the voters when it comes to that economic message. Listen, Trump won, and he
won in a resounding way. We have to acknowledge that, and we have to be
responsible.”
Welch
continued: “If we don’t listen to voters here and make the necessary changes,
particularly on the national level, quite frankly, I think nationally, they can
do a lot more of what we’ve done here in Illinois. If we don’t listen to the
voters, we’re not going to reverse what happened here on Tuesday.”
When
asked about the projected massive budget deficit, the House Speaker said, “The governor
and I need to sit down and have some serious conversations about how we’re
going to approach next year’s $3.1 billion budget deficit and come to an
agreement. I think it’s important that we be in alignment and walk in the same
direction on that, and we’re prepared to do that.”
Speaker
Welch recently hired a new appropriations staff director. While praising the
outgoing director, Welch said his new director, Madeline McCune – a former
House staffer who left to run the legislative shop for the Illinois Association
of School Administrators – is drawing kudos from far and wide.
The
House Democrats haven’t been able to draft a budget during the past two
sessions.
“I
think she’s going to take us to another level,” Welch said of McCune. “There’s
a history there with the Senate team. There’s a history with the governor’s
team. And one of the things that we’re going to have to do going into a very
difficult budget year, we’ve got to work together. We have to all be clicking
on the same page and on all cylinders, and with Madeline there, we’re not going
to just not miss a beat, we’re going to elevate our game.”
Speaking
of staff, Welch also acknowledged that he’s telling his members to expect some
significant changes in his operations during the coming year. “I have to
acknowledge that we have to do things a little bit different,” Welch said.
The
House Democrats have had serious staffing shortages, underqualified staff and
major staff turnover problems. One of the reasons is a decades-old handshake
agreement that the party caucus dollars are divided equally in both chambers,
with the Senate getting more overall because their districts are twice as large
as the House districts.
So,
even though Welch has 78 members, his caucus is appropriated the same amount as
the House Republicans, who have 40 members. And it receives less than the
Senate Democrats, who have 40 members, and less than the Senate Republicans,
who have a mere 19 members.
“We
have to address that,” Welch said. “And I’m gonna fight like hell to address
that, because that’s the way that I can address a number of my staffing
issues.”
“Where’s
the fairness and equity in that?” Welch rhetorically asked about the
disparities. “And so, do know, as the leader of this chamber, that’s one of the
things that I’m laser-focused on. And the voters have spoken. They’ve elected
78 Democrats twice now, possibly more, and we’re going to fight to make sure we
have the proper resources to address the staff and the concerns.”
Welch
also promised to make further “necessary tweaks to elevate our game,” in the
coming spring session.
This article appears in Springfield grapples with increased crime.
