The legislative changes we need to prevent getting another Madigan

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has been Illinois' top political leader for 35 years. He has made millions as a property tax attorney in the state with the highest property taxes in the nation. He is the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. He controls Illinois' legislative map.

And as of July 17, Mike Madigan, is implicated in a federal bribery case against Commonwealth Edison, alleging the utility firm won Madigan's favor to back legislation by directing $1.3 million in contracts and payments to his associates and letting him name people for jobs, from meter reader on up.

State leaders have begun calling on the nation's longest-serving House speaker to resign in the wake of his implication in a federal bribery case against Commonwealth Edison, if the allegations are found to be true. That could take years. It's worth noting that in 2019 Gov. J.B. Pritzker called immediately for former state Sen. Martin Sandoval to step down as Senate Transportation Committee chairman just days after his home was raided as part of an investigation into bribery and other corruption crimes. Sandoval submitted his resignation from the Illinois Senate in November 2019.

But no matter when or how Madigan leaves office, that won't signal the end of the unprecedented power bestowed upon the role of House speaker in Illinois, and Madigan's ousting wouldn't prevent someone else from building a powerful political machine once he's gone.

So how do we prevent another Madigan? Reform the rules.

In large part, Madigan's power is granted by the Illinois House Rules: parliamentary rules that govern the House of Representatives' legislative process. According to Illinois Policy Institute original analysis, no other state grants their House speaker as much power as Illinois. As speaker, Madigan decides which lawmakers are allowed to vote in committees. No bill will pass in Springfield, much less receive a vote or public debate, without his blessing.

Here's what has to change.

Illinois has to stop letting one person appoint committee chairs and choose who votes in committee. Under the House Rules, the speaker appoints the majority of each committee's members, including the chair. Each chair receives a stipend of $10,574, which can be used as a reward or taken away as punishment. These lawmakers become loyal lieutenants for the speaker. The speaker can also swap out lawmakers facing tough committee votes at any time to ensure the result he wants. That's a puppet show – not democracy.

The speaker should never be allowed to substitute votes. Further, House legislative committee chairs in Illinois should be appointed by a majority vote of their caucus, and minority chairpersons should be appointed by a majority vote of their caucus. In Nebraska, the unicameral legislature appoints committee chairs by secret ballot on the chamber floor.

Illinois has to make it easier for bills to get a fair hearing. Why do so many good policy ideas never see the light of day in Illinois? Because Madigan's Rules Committee is the gatekeeper for moving bills into other committees and then onto the floor, and the House speaker appoints the chairperson for the committee and a majority of the members.

Illinois has to stop allowing the speaker to call bills at will, and start sticking to a schedule. Right now the House speaker can decide when a bill will be called to vote on the floor and is not required to share this information with anyone else. This prevents lawmakers from knowing when they are needed to vote on a bill that affects their constituents. For example, on May 15, 2015, there were 244 bills scheduled on the calendar. The General Assembly chose 16 bills to act on that day, and only Madigan knew for sure which bills those would be, and in what order they would be called.

These House rules passed by his caucus members every two years give Madigan more power than any other legislative leader in the nation.

Mike Madigan has accumulated and abused power time and time again. It's time for him to step down so Illinois can get a clean start. But even more importantly than ending Mike Madigan's iron grip on Springfield is fixing the broken system that allowed him to wreak so much havoc in the first place.

Austin Berg is author of “The New Chicago Way” and vice president of marketing at the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute.