News From
State Representative Mark Batinick
For Immediate Release
February 1st, 2019
Batinick Opposes Democrats’ House Rules
SPRINGFIELD – This week in the House of Representatives, lawmakers voted on the House Rules, which will govern operations in the House for the next two years.
State Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) proposed a fair set of reforms to include the 101st General Assembly’s House Rules, to create a better process for governing and foster greater bipartisanship. This set of suggested reforms included required committee votes for bipartisan bills and resolutions, longer waiting periods so that legislation can be reviewed, required votes for bills & resolutions supported by a bipartisan supermajority, and extended time for the House to consider discharging special committees.
During the House floor debate, Representative Batinick spoke out against the Rules presented–which were written to consolidate power in the hands of the Speaker of the House.
Holding up a large bill for emphasis, Rep. Batinick stated, “I have a bill here that is this thick. The way the rules are operating right now, is we could do a gut and replace, do a floor amendment and in one hour you’re going to be voting on a piece of legislation. I don’t believe that’s transparency.”
Rep. Batinick joined his fellow House Republican colleagues in opposing the House Rules for the 101st GA, proposed by Democrats. “This is incredibly frustrating as a lawmaker, but also for Illinois residents,” said Batinick. “We all deserve better. To produce good policy, we need to start with a fair law making process.”
The House Rules ultimately passed on party lines. The House of Representatives will commence legislative session on February 5th in Springfield.
