Prairie State Wire

Former Republican House Floor Leader Peter Breen's view of Springfield's troubles hasn't changed with new House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Hillside) putting his first rules in place.

"Illinois House rules have long been some of the worse in the country, and nothing about the new ones is going to change that," Breen told the Prairie State Wire. "The rules have nothing to do with putting in place good policy. The primary purpose of them is to take care of special interests and choke off the freedom and flexibility of legislators."

So far, Democrats have supported Welch's changes. Those rules include a 10-year limit as the speaker or minority leader. Welch's policies also call for the Rules Committee to refer House bills "to a substantive committee" before the deadline for committees' action expires.

Breen said Welch's changes signal more of the abuse that became commonplace during Mike Madigan's nearly 40-year run leading the House.

"Illinois government is for sale to the highest special interest bidder, and the people of Illinois are last in line for consideration by the General Assembly," he said. "If you care about getting good policy into law, you don't do things like surprise people with complex bills that then can't be debated or studied in an appropriate way before being forced to take a vote."

Breen argues nothing about the new rules makes it easier for residents to receive good government.

"House members need the power to get floor votes on amendments and bills," he said. "They don't have that under these rules. The ability of the speaker to send up surprise legislation without any notice is the opposite of good government."