State Representative Dan Swanson voted NO on House Rules proposed by Speaker Madigan on Tuesday.
“We are supposed to be a representative democracy, where all Illinois residents from every district are represented with equal voice. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in the Illinois House and continues to not be the case under the new House Rules,” said Swanson.
Under House Rules, the all-powerful House Rules Committee has the ability to sideline any proposal not supported by Speaker Madigan and his legislative majority. Public Posting requirements are lax or non-existent and there are no limits on the amount of terms a legislative leader may serve.
“What we see reflected in the House Rules is a system in which Speaker Madigan and his stalwart supporters exercise total control over not only the debate, but which issues are debated,” Swanson continued. “It’s past time to break the Speaker’s stranglehold on power and instead, give power back to the people of Illinois and their duly elected representatives.”
In a counter-proposal supported by Rep. Swanson, public review and notification would be required for legislative business and all bills with bipartisan support would be required to have an up or down committee vote. As one might have come to expect in Illinois, this counter-proposal was assigned the House Rules Committee, where it died and was not debated by the Illinois House.
The Madigan-supported House Rules passed with no Republican votes 73-42. No Democrats joined Republicans in dissenting against Madigan’s Rules.