SE Illinois News

Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis) said the new House rules installed under Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) set the state up for more of the heartbreak and failure it endured under Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).

“These rules do not serve the people well,” Niemerg told the SE Illinois News. “They are essentially the same rules that gave former House Speaker Madigan limitless power in the House. It will still be the speaker who decides what bills get to be heard and which ones don’t. Good bills, good ideas, good policies will succeed or fail not on their merits but rather on the whims of the House leadership.”

While Democrats are touting Welch’s new rules, which include a 10-year limit on the time an individual can serve as the speaker or minority leader,  as examples of him flexing his political independence, the Republican representative dismisses it all as just more empty bravado. 

“Individual members of the House are rendered powerless by these rules, and that is not in the best interest of the people of Illinois,” Niemerg added.

After serving nearly four decades as House Speaker, Madigan was recently shown the door after finding himself at the center of a still-evolving federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a bribery scandal where all the perks were allegedly steered to him in exchange for favorable legislation.

While ComEd agreed to a fine, Madigan has denied any wrongdoing. The long-serving has not been charged by federal investigators. 

Up until this point, several of Madigan’s former associates have already been indicted in connection with the probe and Madigan recently also found himself the subject of a Special House committee probe looking into his purported role in the scheme.