Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Freedom Caucus is demanding an ethics investigation after four Democrat House members voted in favor of legislation despite not being present at the time.

The caucus said a "more ethical, transparent and accountable government" is needed reason why they are "exploring an ethics complaint with the Legislative Inspector General."

“As Members of the Illinois House of Representatives, it is our duty to serve the people,” the Illinois Freedom Caucus said in a Facebook post. “Our mission is to enact and support legislation that is beneficial for the working families and taxpayers of Illinois. Voters have sent us to Springfield to act in good faith and to conduct business ethically and in accordance to state law. Unfortunately in the late hours of March 24th, that public trust was violated by members and staff of the House Democratic Caucus in the General Assembly.” 

The post further described what occurred on March 24.

"In typical fashion, our government was debating substantive legislation way behind schedule until nearly midnight," the Illinois Freedom Caucus wrote. "During the debate, the Democratic leadership attempted to shut off the opportunity for opposing speakers to discuss legislation. Shortly after this time, it became apparent that many members of the Democratic Caucus were absent from the House Floor, and in fact were absent from the Capitol Complex entirely. Yet somehow, they were still voting on legislation.” 

The accuracy of votes cast was questioned by Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) who has "requested a verification of votes cast for the previous bill. A verified roll call means for any ‘YES’ votes to count, legislators had to be in the chamber in order for those votes to count. Initially, his request was denied, but after a debate of the verification request, verification was granted.” It was then revealed that "at least four votes were cast on the motion which could not be verified. Those votes were removed, the bill failed to pass, and shortly after the verification, the House adjourned. However, there is no denying that votes were improperly cast for members who were not present to vote, and there were attempts to prevent verification from proceeding in an effort to cover up false votes.” 

“The Democratic majority has power in Springfield, and they are certainly not shy about reminding us of that fact. But it is possible to exercise power without abusing it," the caucus added. "The abuse of power must come to an end.” 

In the incident four Democrats had their votes removed from a bill after a verification request from Republicans. All four were found not to be present at the time of the vote. 

“Maybe they went back to their hotels, I’m not sure, but they were still being accounted for in the vote roll call. Even though they weren’t on the floor, their switch, their box was still being voted, and that’s what we questioned,” State Rep. Jed Davis (R-Newark) told WMAY. ”We are there to hold up an ethical oath on behalf of the people who elected us, and we just want to ensure that all 118 members are complying with that.” 

Jaclyn Driscoll, a spokesperson for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, told The Center Square in an email the objections from the Illinois Freedom Caucus to House members voting while not present were mere antics. 

"Their one goal is to obstruct the will of the majority of voters in Illinois because their policies continuously fail at the ballot box," Driscoll said. "Democrats remain focused on getting the work done and lifting up communities across this state."

The Illinois Freedom Caucus is comprised of GOP State Reps. Brad Halbrook, Blaine Wilhour, Adam Niemerg, Dan Caulkins, Chris Miller, Jed Davis and David Friess. It is part of the broader State Freedom Caucus Network. 

“We need patriots who will serve in our state capitals to fight federal overreach and stand firm against those — in both parties — who prioritize seizing political power over representing constituents,” the group’s website reads.