(WSIL) -- “We just think it is ridiculous that we’ve had to wait till a lame duck session. We’ve been ready to go to work for a long time,� said Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton).
The Illinois House of Representatives is heading back to Springfield in one week. A "lame duck" session will take place between Jan. 8-12.
“I’m just going to say—I don’t think anything good can come from a lame duck session when you have things that are still brewing like investigations of Speaker Madigan,� said Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro).
“The amount of days we’re going to be in session tells us that the other side of the aisle has got some plans to move some things forward and through and so we’re very concerned about that. Concerned about just what those items are going to be,� Severin said.
Bryant and Severin say it is frustrating they weren't called together sooner. Downstate republicans say key issues like COVID-19 relief, fraud at the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and a backlog of FOID card processing are issues that should have already been addressed.
“We felt like there was plenty of things left for us to do that were unresolved from the one week we had in May. Particularly as it relates to COVID relief and having oversight over the governor’s executive orders. We felt like the legislature should be involved,� said Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis).
While Windhorst is excited to get back to work, he says there are many unknowns right now. He and his colleagues haven't been told which committees will gather during the session.
He sits on the joint committee on ethics and lobbying reform. That group was supposed to have report done by the end of March that has yet to be completed. Windhorst hopes the session offers a chance to finish the report and get reforms in front of fellow lawmakers.
“We should ban legislators from being lobbyists for local government. We should make anyone who lobbies register with the state of Illinois so people know who is acting as a lobbyist and who isn’t. We also need to ban what’s called the revolving door where people leave the legislature and immediately become lobbyists. We should at least have a one or two year time frame—where after you leave the legislature you can’t become a lobbyist,� Windhorst said.
He said those reforms would be able to come together in a short amount of time.
WHAT MIGHT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?
The agenda for the "lame duck" session hasn't been set. But Windhorst and Bryant both share concerns that "narrow" issues like police officer licensing and eliminating cash bail may come to the forefront.
Bryant also worries leading democrats may call for a tax increase.
“Which is unconscionable considering the majority party’s mantra is to keep spending, spending, spending. It appears to me they are going to be using the very serious situation of COVID as their excuse for continuing to spend irresponsibly,� Bryant said.
Bryant points out that no republicans approved the state's budget and she doesn't believe her party should be asked to make cuts or get behind a call for new taxes to balance out the state's spending habits.
Windhorst says the legislature should have already been addressing unemployment fraud and pandemic.
“Because we’ve not been in session those have not been addressed by the legislature and the need to be. It just highlights what we’ve been talking about in the summer and fall. We should have been in session essentially this entire time and not just relying on one branch of government---the governor—to make all the rules,� Windhorst said.
MADIGAN CONTROVERSY IMPACT
Severin believes work is being done in the background to try and get votes to have Madigan keep his speakership.
Windhorst says the controversy surrounding Madigan may not show up on the floor during debate but the issue will be the talk of lawmakers behind the scenes.
COVID-19's CONTINUED IMPACT
Downstate republicans argue the economy is essentially shutdown in Southern Illinois. The state remains in right now.
“There is a real disconnect between the Pritzker administration at all levels and what real people are going through every single day,� Bryant said.
Bryant says she can't ask questions in real time to Governor Pritzker and other IDPH leaders. She's reached out about moving to "Phase 5" of the Restore Illinois plan now that a vaccine is available. However, she says officials tell her it won't happen for "quite some time."
Bryant did travel out of state on Christmas to see family. She tells News 3 WSIL she and her family wore masks and kept their distance. She says she saw many businesses that were open and saw success operating with lower capacities.
“The governor is wrong to have these restaurants closed--in the way he has them closed. If other states have figured out how to do it we should be able to figure out how to do it. And I’m going to continue to call on him everyday to reopen this state,� Bryant said.
Bryant argues this change should happen right now. Not in the Spring, but now to kick off a new beginning for businesses in 2021.
Bryant, Severin, and Windhorst are planning Facebook Town Halls to help share information about the "lame duck" session with their constituents.
