Partisan working groups have become the favored form of policymaking for House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch since he took over as the presiding officer of the Illinois House of Representatives in 2021. By all appearances, the working groups are his not-so-subtle way of shutting Republicans and, more importantly, the public out of the process. An end-around, if you will, to stave off opposing viewpoints.
By comparison, Senate President Don Harmon doesn’t feel the need to engage in these partisan shenanigans. Instead, he has opted for public hearings in the committee framework set forth in the Illinois Constitution. This leads us to question the Speaker’s intentions.
The Speaker’s Democrat Senate counterpart holds bipartisan public committee hearings on important issues like the teacher shortage, public safety, immigration, and most recently, public transit. The Speaker could do the same, after all, House Rule 13 gives him the authority to create bipartisan committees whenever there is a need. Nonetheless, the Speaker has gone in a different direction, establishing Democrat-only behind the scenes working groups, including these:
- Firearm Safety and Reforms Working Group
- New Arrivals Working Group
- Mental Health Working Group
- Public Safety Working Group
- Public Transit Working Group
- Reproductive Health and Dobbs Decision Working Group
- Social Media and Online Extremism Working Group
- Teacher Shortage Working Group
So, why does the Democrat Speaker prefer one-party, closed-door working groups? If the outcomes of past working groups are any indication, the goal is to stifle debate, prevent the vetting of controversial legislation, and even more egregious, keep the public in the dark.
Illinoisans deserve a deliberative, inclusive, and transparent legislative body that is responsible to its Constitutional duties. In addition, Illinoisans deserve a legislative body that works within the committee process, allows for public hearings held at times when the public can attend, and robust debate from a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
Senate President Harmon understands the need to bring his chamber together, both Democrats and Republicans. He’s not afraid to consider the myriad of viewpoints and the vast experiences that all members of his chamber bring to the table. Harmon’s bipartisan Senate Transportation Committee is working to address the issues by holding public hearings around the state to gather the information that all senators will need to cast an informed vote.
When announcing his newly formed “Transportation Working Group,” the Speaker said the working group … “members will talk with stakeholders, review transportation proposals and create new solutions for public transit.” Republicans will not get the opportunity to weigh in nor, it seems, will the public.
As the minority caucus, the role of the House Republicans is to hold the majority accountable, shine a light on improprieties, and speak out when the more than four million Illinoisians they represent are not included in the process that affects their everyday lives. We feel it is important to call out the Speaker’s working group strategy and urge him to allow full debate of these important issues in committee.
We have to ask: What is the Speaker afraid of? After all, Democrats hold the supermajority and they can pass or kill any piece of legislation they want with their votes. Why not hold in-depth hearings and consider testimony from all sides of an issue? Why the need to suppress debate? Why stand in the way of public bipartisan committee hearings?
Shutting out the public and opposing views makes for a vicious cycle of partisanship. Speaker Welch could easily reverse this by adhering to his promise when he was first elected to lead the House, which was to work with Republicans in a bipartisan manner and to ensure all Illinoisans have a voice in Springfield.