“If everyone would be moderate in their approach, we would reach an agreement.” – Speaker Madigan
At the City Club of Chicago, House Speaker Michael Madigan made his first appearance before the organization in ten years, and used the forum to pitch his version of why Illinois is locked in an historic power tug-of-war between the Speaker and Illinois’ Republican Governor, Bruce Rauner.
In an address that ran nearly 40 mins, the Speaker continued to insist that Gov Rauner is holding up an agreement by insisting on having “non-budgetary” items included in the budget negotiations.
Among the Governor’s demands are reforms to the legislative process, by having term limits on members, a reformed process to drawing of legislative districts by establishing a non-partisan task force, and reforms to the state’s Workers Compensation insurance. Studies show that Illinois’ Workers Compensation costs are the fourth highest in the nation, which the governor and business leaders have long held puts Illinois at a great disadvantage when trying to draw new business to the state, or even to have existing businesses expand their businesses within Illinois.
