The state of the House rules

'Rules guru' McCracken

Gov. James R. Thompson's State of the State address may have generated the news on February 1, but debate over the rules that will govern the Illinois House in the 86th General Assembly generated all the heat. The rules are the parliamentary mechanics that dictate the flow of legislation. Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-30, Chicago) has used them to consolidate his power. After the dignitaries and television cameras filed out of the House chamber, while the impact of Thompson's address was still being assessed, lawmakers began the 86th General Assembly on a divisive note.

Votes were along partisan lines. All Democratic sponsored amendments endorsed by the party leadership passed, and all Republican sponsored amendments failed. But Rep. Thomas J. McCracken Jr. (R-81, Downers Grove), Republican floor leader and rules guru, said that although the votes were preordained, he used the floor debates to air abuses by the majority party.

McCracken has been critical of a number of rule tactics employed by Speaker Madigan over the last six years. "We feel we have not had access to the legislative system. We should be a part of the process [and] that's been frustrated in the last few years," he said. Rep. John S. Matijevich (D-61, North Chicago), House Rules Committee chairman, said Republican concern that they are shut out of the legislative process "runs totally in the face of all parliamentary procedure. It is the function of the majority party to direct." He continued, "You don't move business in a fluid, proper manner if you have a division of authority."

McCracken proposed creation of a calendar committee in an attempt to wrest some control over scheduling of the daily order of House business away from Madigan. In the House, unlike the Senate where bills appear on the daily calender in numerical order and are called in that order, the speaker decides the order of business. During the rules debate Democrats cited the efficiency of the House under Madigan's tenure. "The speed of legislation is not as important as an open, fair debate," rebutted McCracken.

Resurfacing in the rules changes is the ongoing war between Thompson and Madigan over the governor's use of the amendatory veto to rewrite legislation. The new House rule, created by a Democratic amendment, allows a bill's chief sponsor to ask that the House clerk notify the governor that the sponsor wishes to be consulted on any changes. Matijevich characterized the rule as an "experimental stage of trying to do some thing on what we think is abuse of the governor's amendatory veto power." McCracken said that while the new rule appears to encourage communication between the branches of government, it is "constitutionally suspect." During floor debate he was harsher. He pointed a finger at Madigan and and said, "You don't like the Constitution and how it is written, and that's too bad."

The Democrats were also able to pass an amendment that changed the manner of electing the House speaker a and minority leader. The change effectively prevents a small number of one party's members from joining the ranks across the aisle in unseating a speaker or minority leader. For example, if nine Democrats joined 51 Republicans to elect a Democratic challenger to Madigan, the representative receiving the second highest number of votes (Madigan) would be elected minority leader. In this scenario there would be a Democratic speaker and a Democratic minority leader. The prospect of Madigan as minority leader precludes a union of Republicans and dissident Democrats against Madigan. Rep. Michael J. Tate (R-102, Decatur) chided Madigan on the floor: "Are you paranoid, Mr. Speaker? Is it the Sawyer people, the Daley people or the downstate people you are afraid of?" Matijevich said Madigan has backing from all House Democrats, but "like a good general he takes care of problems before they happen."

Republican frustration became evident when Rep. Robert W. Churchill (R-62, Lake Villa) sponsored an amendment to eliminate the Rules Committee outright. The House Rules Committee, one of two service committees, considers House rule changes, but its power comes in the second year of the two-year session when lawmakers can consider only budget and emergency matters. The Rules Committee defines "emergency" and in the process kills many bills. Churchill said that his proposal was not intended to be a symblolic gesture. "Everything is rigged from the start. Why even have the committee? It's a rubber stamp for the speaker,'' he said. As a rule of thumb, Chairman Matijevich waives committee votes, and they are recorded along strictly partisan lines. Matijevich said on the floor that this "is the silliest amendment we have had yet." The failed amendment received 48 of 51 Republican votes.

Thompson's State of the State address was accommodating and less confrontational than in the past. But the goodwill dissipated quickly when the attention was turned to revisions in House rules. It may have been a kinder, gentler address, but the rules debates illustrated it was business as usual in the House. □

March 1989 | Illinois Issues | 26