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* Most of the news media has centered its analysis of the new House Speaker almost solely on what the super-minority Republicans say about him. But that’s just a tiny part of the story. Ignored is what fellow Democrats say about the new speaker, including the governor. Here’s my weekly syndicated newspaper column…
I interviewed both Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch and Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week, so I thought I’d tell you about one of the overlaps.
Welch followed a man who had been in office for decades, so comparisons are unavoidable. When former House Speaker Michael Madigan was around, we were always playing guessing games.
What is he really up to? What does he really want? What’s he really trying to say?
I almost never got that sense with Welch this year. He was usually pretty upfront. He’d say he was going to do something and then, for the most part, he’d do it. There were no major guessing games. I wondered if that was a conscious decision and whether it would continue in the future.
“You know, Rich, I like to say I’ve been successful in politics for 20-plus years now because what you see is what you get. I try to be straight-up with people. They may not like the answer that I give them, but they like the fact that I give them the truth. And I think that’s been a successful recipe for me in politics, and I’m going to continue to be that way. I think it’s important that you just be straight-up and straightforward with people no matter what the position is.”
“A pretty transparent” guyIt’s one thing for Welch to pat himself on the back, but I was curious about what Gov. Pritzker thought. Pritzker dealt with Madigan during the 2018 campaign (when Madigan’s inner circle was battered by a series of sexual harassment scandals), and during his highly successful first spring session in 2019 (when Madigan was very helpful in getting loads of bills passed), then through the federal investigation of Madigan and his allies which ultimately resulted in Madigan’s ouster as House speaker this past January.
So I asked Pritzker about the biggest changes he’s experienced since the House elected a new speaker. He essentially confirmed what Welch said about himself.
“Look, these are two very different personalities,” Pritzker said. “I was friends with Chris Welch before he became speaker. He’s outgoing. He has a manner of addressing people and working with people that’s very different than Speaker Madigan.
“You know, everything’s close to the chest with former Speaker Madigan. Chris is a reasonable, I think pretty transparent and honest guy.
“And then the last thing I’ll say is that you understand who Chris Welch is on a policy level. You know his ideology, what he believes in. Obviously he’s got to make some tough decisions sometimes being speaker, but understanding that we share a commonality of direction on most issues just makes it easy to deal with him.
“Look, I’m not trying to denigrate the former speaker. I’m just telling you that Chris Welch is somebody that I regularly have the opportunity to speak with. I can text with Chris Welch or I can call Chris Welch and he will answer the phone. I mean, it took, I don’t know, two phone calls through whatever to get through to Speaker Madigan. [There’s] nothing wrong, he’s from a different era.”
I mentioned to Pritzker that every day was a different guessing game with Madigan. And, so far, we haven’t had to play that game with Welch. Senate President Don Harmon, I said, has been a different story.
Harmon unexpectedly tanked an agreement on a massive energy omnibus bill last week at literally the last minute, then appeared to play some parliamentary games with the new state budget. He’s gaining a reputation as someone who, like Madigan, keeps his cards close to his vest.
Harmon and Pritzker are not on the greatest of terms. In public, they refer to each other as friends, but Pritzker backed someone else for Senate president in 2019 and the tension has been evident ever since.
“I won’t even, I don’t know if I should even put you on the spot on that one,” I joked to Pritzker about my Harmon reference.
“I always enjoy hearing your views,” the governor said. And then his staff abruptly cut off the interview. Not totally because of the line of questioning, mind you, but also because we’d gone several minutes beyond our allotted time.
To be fair, the governor defended the Senate president earlier in the interview, saying, for instance, that Harmon was merely speaking up for members of his caucus when he temporarily tubed the Exelon deal and that Harmon has been a reliable environmentalist throughout his career.
“I know that he wants to do the right thing on energy legislation,” Pritzker said about Harmon.
That bit about Welch’s ideology and “what he believes in” is also important because Speaker Madigan didn’t believe in much at all except power.
I decided last week that I’ll soon be reaching out to various House Democrats who banded together to force Speaker Madigan into retirement to hear what they think of how the session went with their new leader. So, stay tuned.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:22 am
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I too, think speaker Welsch has done a super job. Passing the 4 pillars of equity has had an almost an immediate effect on the crime rate throughout the state. Given time, I believe we could see a turn around never witnessed before.
Comment by Blue Dog Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 10:09 am
It is a lot easier to be more transparent when you have a supermajority. Over Madigan’s term, he sometimes had very slim majorities and once was in the minority. In those times, you really do have to play your cards close to the vest, especially on the big issues, until you have a better sense where your caucus is. After that, I guess it becomes habit.
Comment by Rasselas Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 11:03 am
Pritzker likes Welch over Madigan and definitely over Harmon.
At least the governor didn’t choose sides on the Speaker, as he did with Lightford.
Great stuff, Rich, appreciate the angle you chose as opposed to some tired choices others chose for their time with the governor.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 12:08 pm
All things considered, JB’s response on Sen. Harmon was pretty measured. The Gov has a clear idea about the separation of powers in the state.
It is clear, though, that his policy preferences are more aligned with those of Speaker Welch. And as noted above, the legislation passed this term was remarkable both for its breadth and for its forward-looking orientation.
Comment by dbk Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:48 pm
=== The Gov has a clear idea about the separation of powers in the state.===
Any governor will learn that after their candidate for senate president loses.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 1:49 pm
–Any governor will learn that after their candidate for senate president loses.–
JB is a quicker study than some of his peers. I doubt he’ll express similar preferences in future.
Comment by dbk Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 3:17 pm
== it took, I don’t know, two phone calls through whatever to get through to Speaker Madigan==
Whoa. That’s a pretty crazy and arrogant way to treat the governor of your state no matter how long you’ve been in office.
Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Jun 8, 21 @ 4:48 pm