Associated Press: Bribery scheme implicating Madigan revives term limits talk

07.26.2020 / By JOHN O'CONNOR
Associated Press: Bribery scheme implicating Madigan revives term limits talk

So remarkable is his run that, for many, “term limits is code in this state for opposition to the speaker,” said Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois. Young calls limits a “blunt-force tool” when other reforms, such as overhauling the way legislative districts are drawn, would do more good.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — When federal prosecutors unveil a bribery scheme in the state Capitol that points a finger at the House speaker, and the speaker has been in charge for 3 1/2 decades, it’s natural that some would turn to a popular but contentious solution:

Term limits. …

Madigan was just 40, a 12-year House veteran, when he was elected speaker on Jan. 12, 1983. His mettle shone during the 1990s, a decade governed by a legislative-district map drawn to favor Republicans. The GOP put a decade-long lock on the Senate but was able to win the House just once, from 1995-97, before Madigan’s rebound.

And thus, the anomaly of Madigan. No one approaches his 18 terms. Since 1819, only five people have served more than two terms at the top of the House, led by Republicans David Shanahan, with six intermittently between 1915 and 1933, and William Wood, with four in a row during the 1950s.

Nearly 7 in 10 speakers had just a single two-year stint. During Madigan’s tenure, there have been five Senate presidents, although four of them are leaders in Senate top-job tenure.

So remarkable is his run that, for many, “term limits is code in this state for opposition to the speaker,” said Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois. Young calls limits a “blunt-force tool” when other reforms, such as overhauling the way legislative districts are drawn, would do more good.

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