Latest news with #RulesCommittee
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Mayor Brandon Johnson faces city grocery tax pushback as state levy expires
Mayor Brandon Johnson faced stiff criticism from a City Council opponent Wednesday as he introduced an ordinance to implement a grocery tax at the city level. Johnson's administration has argued the 1% city grocery tax is necessary as a state grocery tax that sent revenue to municipalities ends. But Ald. Brendan Reilly accused Johnson of sneaking the ordinance's introduction during a meeting to avoid legislative pushback, in what he characterized as a violation of the Open Meetings Act. 'They intentionally are leaving the public in the dark,' Reilly told reporters later. 'It is obvious the mayor is not proud of this ordinance because he tried to sneak it in without anyone understanding what it would actually do.' Moments after the measure was introduced — the first step in a typically months-long legislative process that includes committee discussion, full City Council votes and often opposition delay tactics — Reilly accused Johnson of hiding the measure with an inaccurate description. Reilly called the introduction 'a cute trick' by Johnson's Law Department. The two debated back and forth, with Johnson at points appearing to not recognize Reilly and Ald. Scott Waguespack as they raised their hands to speak. The mayor dismissed Reilly's claims that his corporation counsel was behind the alleged scheme. 'It was read into the record correctly, if you have an issue with the content or context, that sounds deeply personal, but it was read correctly,' Johnson said. Reilly responded that he would have sent the measure to the City Council's Rules Committee, a move that would delay the tax's passage by adding another layer of required approval. 'Well, what you would have done or could have done, you had an opportunity,' Johnson said. Reilly later cited the Open Meetings Act to argue Johnson was trying to avoid public scrutiny on the tax. And he continued to speak when he was not recognized. 'You have to recognize that,' Reilly shouted, his microphone off. 'I can sue.' The heated back-and-forth marks the official start of what is sure to be a complicated effort by Johnson to keep the tax going for Chicago consumers. Gov. JB Pritzker led the charge last year to rid the state of its decades-old grocery tax, arguing the regressive tax hits poor families hardest. The state tax will expire at the start of 2026. But Pritzker also left the door open for local governments to decide to implement the tax on their own, an offer around 200 municipalities across Illinois have already taken. Johnson's budget director, Annette Guzman, urged aldermen to implement the tax earlier this month. Failing to do so before the Oct. 1 deadline would blow an $80 million hole in the city's already unbalanced future budget, she said. After council adjourned, Reilly told reporters he plans to file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General, saying the ordinance is now 'ripe for a lawsuit' should it pass. He said City Clerk Anna Valencia traditionally reads aloud the subject matter of the new items, and the obfuscation on Wednesday prevented him from using a parliamentary move to delay the legislation. A spokesperson for City Clerk Anna Valencia told the Tribune Wednesday that the clerk's protocol is to read aloud new items based on the language used in the mayor's transmittal letter to her office. A copy of the letter from Johnson regarding the grocery tax instructed her to introduce the legislation as 'an ordinance amending revenue-related provisions of Title 3 of the Municipal Code,' which was what she did during the meeting. Aldermen also passed a Wrigley Field security upgrade plan that involves $32.1 million from the Cubs, city and state. The team and city officials are hopeful the added safety will check off a final box for Major League Baseball and help land Chicago an MLB All-Star Game. The City Council also decided to grant St. Adalbert Catholic Church landmark status. The decision marks a decisive turning point in a long preservation battle over the closed Polish Pilsen church. Activists who want the church reopened were dismayed that the final landmark status only protects the church building and not other buildings on the property. The narrowed landmarking clears the way for the Archdiocese of Chicago to sell the plot to a nondenominational Christian ministry. Aldermen delayed consideration on an ordinance that would grant them the power to ban Airbnb's and other short-term rentals on a precinct-by-precinct basis. The measure would allow short-term rental companies to overturn aldermen's decision by collecting signatures of support from 10% of an affected precinct's voters.
Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Matt Paprocki: Michael Madigan has left Illinoisans with a corrupt political system he refined
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was sentenced Friday to 71/2 years in federal prison and fined $2.5 million after being convicted on 10 counts of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud. While Illinoisans finally see some justice, they also see Madigan's corrupt political legacy still hurting them. Madigan was the longest-serving statehouse speaker in U.S. history. Under his reign, Illinois achieved the nation's lowest credit rating and ranked as the second-most indebted and corrupt state. On average, more than one Illinois public servant per week — for 40 years between 1983 and 2023 — was convicted of corruption just in federal court, not including local prosecutions. High taxes, the pension crisis, massive debt and corruption have driven residents to better-governed states. Much of it can be traced to Madigan and how he pulled the levers. The structure Madigan built concentrated power in ways exclusive to Illinois. He crafted rules that continue to give Illinois House speakers unparalleled power to control which bills become law, he is responsible for the state's extreme gerrymandering and he nurtured the culture of corruption that continues to plague Illinois. Lawmakers must unravel Madigan's influence and the control he built through little-known rules of procedure. Madigan rewrote these to gather power and co-opt the legislature, effectively silencing voters' voices when in conflict with leadership's agenda. Through these House rules, the speaker wields nearly absolute control over the legislative process. The most troubling of which allows the speaker to effectively control which bills, amendments and motions even make out of the Rules Committee. Madigan designed the process so everything must first pass through this committee, so that the speaker hand-picks the majority and bills opposed by leadership can simply die there through inaction. Getting a bill out of the Rules Committee requires either unanimous consent — virtually impossible — or three-fifths support from both parties' caucuses, with each supporter required to sponsor the bill. That's an extraordinarily high barrier found in no other state. The Rules Committee has rarely voted contrary to the speaker's wishes. Madigan's successor, Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch, has adopted a similar rule by which only bills with 60 Democratic sponsors get called for a vote on the House floor. That makes it very difficult for bills without a large, progressive-leaning caucus to emerge. Additionally, Madigan championed the state's extreme gerrymandering by drawing the maps during the 1980s, 2000s and 2010s, plus influenced the 2020s effort. It was how he first started gathering power, saving Chicago Democrats' seats in the state legislature by nipping off just enough of the growing suburbs to dilute their voting power. By doing so, he exacerbated Illinois' uncompetitive elections in the following decades, leaving voters without choices and little reason to go to the polls. When more than 560,000 registered voters in 2016 tried to stop him and ensure legislative maps were independently drawn, he used one of his ComEd cronies to sue and kill the effort. That decision still thwarts any reforms unless state lawmakers initiate them. Illinois lawmakers should make that break with Madigan's corruption by adopting an independent political mapmaking process for the people's representatives in Springfield and in Washington, D.C. There's little they could do of greater significance than giving voters back their power. In addition to the elimination of Madigan's rules and creating independently drawn political maps, the state needs comprehensive ethics reforms. Those reforms must go beyond the toothless package the legislature passed after his indictment. They include: Until Illinois reforms gerrymandering, ethics laws and House rules to better reflect democratic principles seen in other state legislatures, Madigan will continue controlling us. The power to make law will remain concentrated in the hands of a few. Madigan's punishment should include sitting in his cell knowing his machine is being dismantled. That would be full justice for Illinoisans. Matt Paprocki is president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute
The Hill
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
House Republicans tee up tweaks to Trump megabill
House Republican leaders on Tuesday teed up changes to the 'big, beautiful bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities that are slated to come up for a vote of the full chamber this week. The tweaks come after the Senate parliamentarian reviewed the sprawling package and identified provisions that do not comply with the upper chamber's procedural requirements for using the budget reconciliation process, which allows Republicans to circumvent a Democratic filibuster and approve the legislation by simple majority. Leaving the language in the bill risks losing the ability to pass the bill under budget reconciliation. The parliamentarian's process is known as the 'Byrd bath.' One House Republican described the House tweaks as preventing 'fatalities' from remaining in the bill when it hits the Senate. 'There are a small number, I mean, could count them on one hand, of fatalities that have been identified by the parliamentarian,' the GOP lawmaker said. 'Of course we can't transmit the bill with fatalities so those fatalities will be cured through a rule this week.' While the lower chamber is planning to strip those terms from the bill, party leaders are not giving up on the policy: House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Senate Republicans will fight for the provisions when the bill hits the floor. 'We disagree; ultimately we're gonna try it again on the Senate floor,' Scalise told reporters. 'We disagree with the parliamentarian… but you can't take the risk on any of them. You cannot take the risk because if any one of them is ruled on the Senate floor to be fatal, it's a 60-vote bill. The whole bill is a 60-vote bill — you can't take that risk.' The full House will vote on approving those changes this week, with the adjustments tacked on to a 'rule' resolution — a procedural measure that governs debate for legislation. The rule making the fixes to the megabill will also tee up the terms of debate for unrelated legislation to claw back $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. It advanced out of the Rules Committee on a party-line, 8-4 vote Tuesday evening. Rule resolutions are typically passed along party lines and are tests of party loyalty, but Republicans sometimes buck leadership and vote against the procedural rules in protest of process or policy. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — one of two House Republicans who voted no on the bill when it passed the Hoise last month — voiced his disapproval of making the changes to the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' via a rule in a post on X. 'Nancy Pelosi once said the House needed to vote for a bill to find out what was in it. Today @SpeakerJohnson said 'hold my beer.' He just announced he's using the Rules Committee to change the text of the Big Beautiful Bill a week after we voted on it!' Massie said. While House Republicans have already passed the bill in the lower chamber they have not officially transmitted it to the Senate — enabling them to make the fixes via the rule mechanism. Republicans are using the special budget reconciliation to push the megabill through Congress while avoiding the Senate's 60-vote cloture rule, enabling them to pass the bill on party lines without support from Democrats. The tweaks in the House come as party leaders are holding out hope that they can enact the package by July 4, which was their self-imposed deadline. Trump, however, opened the door to the process blowing past that timeline, saying 'if takes a little longer, that's okay.'
New Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Proposal for independent secretariat for Delhi Assembly
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly's Rules Committee has agreed in principle to the proposal for setting up an independent secretariat and granting financial autonomy. The Rules Committee is expected to submit its report during the upcoming Monsoon Session, when it will be presented in the House. Since its formation in 1993, the Delhi Assembly has operated without a dedicated secretarial cadre or financial independence. Unlike Parliament and State Legislatures—where the Speaker controls appointments and administration—the Delhi Assembly depends on officers deputed from various government departments. This has caused operational difficulties and limited the Assembly's functional independence. 'If implemented, the proposal would be a major step toward ensuring the Assembly's institutional independence, dignity, and effective functioning as a constitutional legislative body,' Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijendra Gupta said. Acknowledging this concern, the Speaker has proposed in the meeting the establishment of a separate legislative secretariat and financial autonomy for the Assembly. This proposal aligns with Articles 98 and 187 of the Constitution, which ensure such provisions for Parliament and State Legislatures respectively. In the 82nd All India Presiding Officers Conference held in Shimla from 17th to 19th December 2021, which is presided by the Lok Sabha Speaker, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: '…the Conference resolves that all the Legislatures should get financial autonomy enjoyed by both the Houses of Parliament.'
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Rules committee's nod to independent secretariat, fin autonomy for assembly
New Delhi: The Rules Committee, led by speaker Vijender Gupta, has approved a proposal to establish an independent secretariat and grant financial autonomy to the Delhi Assembly. According to sources, the committee is expected to submit its report during the upcoming monsoon session of the assembly for tabling in the house. Officials said the move aims to strengthen the institutional framework of the Delhi Assembly in line with the constitutional principle of separation of powers. Since its reconstitution in 1993, Delhi Assembly has functioned without a dedicated secretarial cadre or financial independence. Unlike Parliament and state legislatures—where the speaker holds authority over appointments and administration—Delhi's legislature depends on officers deputed from various government departments. This reliance, officials argue, has led to operational inefficiencies and curtailed the assembly's functional autonomy. "To address these concerns, the speaker proposed the creation of a separate legislative secretariat and the granting of financial autonomy during a recent meeting of the Rules Committee. This proposal aligns with Articles 98 and 187 of the Constitution, which provide for such arrangements in Parliament and state legislatures respectively," said an official. A senior assembly official noted that the 82nd All India Presiding Officers' Conference, held in Dec 2021 under the chairmanship of the Lok Sabha Speaker, adopted a resolution that all legislatures should get financial autonomy enjoyed by both the houses of Parliament. This resolution was later shared with the Delhi chief secretary, along with a request for prompt action in consultation with the Vidhan Sabha. Among the three Union Territories with elected assemblies — Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir — Delhi is the only one constituted as a constitutional body, with a specific provision for an independent secretariat. "In view of Article 239AA(b) of the Constitution, which empowers Parliament to regulate matters concerning the Delhi Legislative Assembly, the Rules Committee may recommend an amendment to the GNCTD Act, 1991. This would facilitate the establishment of a separate secretariat and financial autonomy, bringing the Delhi Assembly on par with state legislatures," said an official.
