In the closing weeks of 2016, Illinois House Democrats received an interesting memo.
It was from the office of the longest-tenured legislative leader in the nation, House Speaker Mike Madigan. He’s held the speakership for 32 of the past 34 years, longer than some of his caucus members in the House have been alive.
Titled “Social Media Outreach Program” and first posted by the political blog Capitol Fax, the speaker’s memo announced that 16 years into the new millennium, he would be investing $12,000 into a social media presence for the House Democrats.
It was classic Madigan: total control and reluctance to change. The man does not use a cellphone or an email account. And under Madigan’s legislative rules, he controls every piece of legislation that flows through the House.
The former has led to an Internet presence that bears more resemblance to the original Space Jam website than a modern political operation – one can’t help but cite this as a reason Illinois Democrats lost four House seats in November.
The latter has led to one-man rule that serves just as much to muzzle debate over progressive policy ideas as it does to stymie favorites of Illinois Republicans, such as term limits and property tax reform.
A new report from the Illinois Policy Institute takes an unprecedented look at the power of state legislative leaders across the nation. The conclusion: Madigan is king. No other state grants so much power to a single lawmaker.
A great deal of that power emanates from the House Rules Committee. This committee is meant to serve as a traffic cop, directing each bill to the appropriate committee to receive a proper hearing. But under Madigan’s tenure it has served as a graveyard for bills the speaker doesn’t like.
In order to force a bill out of the Rules Committee, three-fifths of both the minority and majority caucuses must sign a petition, and each member of those three-fifths must also become a sponsor of the bill.
The only other way to get a bill out of the Rules Committee is a “motion to discharge” requiring unanimous consent of the House, including Madigan.
Getting a bill out of any other committee just requires a simple majority vote.
In short, it is virtually impossible for reform-minded Democrats to receive a hearing on a bill that Madigan dislikes. The speaker has the power to kill discussion on any bill, no matter how popular.
Democratic House members have voiced frustration with this despotic system.
After voting for Madigan as speaker, in 2009 state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, voted against the legislative rules. "From the research I've done, our rules are more leadership-centered than other states," Nekritz said in 2012.
"If [Madigan] doesn't like it, nothing happens," she said.
Saying that the speaker has “kind of outlived his usefulness,” outgoing state Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, told WQAD in January 2017 that ideas like redistricting reform are as good as dead.
"As long as you have the speaker controlling what gets out of the Rules [Committee] for legislation, I don't see it coming anywhere close to hitting the floor," he said.
Notably, ilhousedems.com does not highlight any Democratic policy agenda or outreach efforts, but rather Madigan’s redrawing of Illinois’ legislative maps in 2011. Madigan has had the power to redraw the state’s political map in the wake of the 1980, 2000 and 2010 censuses.
In a 2015 documentary film about the speaker, outgoing House Democrat Ken Dunkin of Chicago spoke about the speaker’s use of the Rules Committee.
“There’s been plenty of issues that I’ve disagreed with him on that I thought should have been released out of the Rules Committee,” he said. “For example, I think police should have a psychological examination after two or three years in a particularly high-crime area.”
The Chicago Tribune editorial board on Dec. 20, 2016, put a finer point on Madigan’s blockade of progressive House members:
“Democrats who support so-called progressive policies aren't accomplishing those changes with Madigan in charge anyway: No increase in the minimum wage. No graduated income tax. No tax hike on the wealthy. No strengthening of the social safety net. No additional money for education. No changes to the state's flawed school funding formula. They're not getting done under Madigan because he doesn't care about policy. It's about power.”
While his manipulation of legislative rules may frustrate enterprising Democrats, Madigan’s primary source of income should also be a concern for those who want to brand themselves as advocates for poor and working-class residents.
For decades, Madigan has made millions of dollars through his law firm Madigan & Getzendanner, which helps large corporations in downtown Chicago lower their property tax bills. Every dollar Madigan saves his clients ends up on the bills of other Chicagoans without the necessary political connections.
A Robin Hood he is not.
These factors and more should come into play when House members vote for their speaker on Jan. 11. Should Madigan win the post for the 17th time, the completion of his two-year term will make him the longest-serving House speaker in modern American history.
Should House Republicans stand united in their vote for a new speaker, a mere 9 Democrats need defect for Madigan’s reign to end.
Austin Berg is a senior writer with the Illinois Policy Institute and served as a writer for “Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics.”