{"id":2783,"date":"2025-01-21T08:25:37","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thexradio3.com\/news\/?p=2783"},"modified":"2025-01-21T08:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:26:30","slug":"budget-constraints-caucus-tensions-face-house-speaker-welch-in-his-third-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/2783-budget-constraints-caucus-tensions-face-house-speaker-welch-in-his-third-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget Constraints, Caucus Tensions Face House Speaker Welch in His Third Term"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><em>HOUSE SPEAKER EMANUEL &#8220;CHRIS&#8221; WELCH SPEAKS DURING THE INAUGURATION OF THE 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON JANUARY 8 (CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS PHOTO BY ANDREW ADAMS)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>BY PETER HANCOCK, CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SPRINGFIELD \u2013 When state Rep. Emanuel \u201cChris\u201d Welch was sworn in for another term as speaker of the Illinois House this month, he called on his colleagues to \u201crise to the occasion\u201d and confront the moment that faced them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are all defined by the moments in our lives and by our responses to them,\u201d Welch said in his inaugural address. \u201cThere are young people here today witnessing a very special moment. How we lead in that moment is so important. What we say in that moment is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In many ways, Welch\u2019s political career has been defined by his handling of critical moments. That was especially true in January 2021, when then-Speaker Michael J. Madigan, struggling under the weight of a burgeoning corruption scandal, began losing the grip on the power he had held for most of the previous 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>It was Welch, a Democrat from the western suburb of Hillside then in his fifth term, who rose from a crowded field of potential contenders to take over one of the most powerful positions in Illinois government.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent statement from his office, Welch pointed to several legislative achievements that occurred during his first four years as speaker \u2013 a series of balanced budgets and increases in the state\u2019s credit rating; increased funding for K-12 and higher education; promotion of renewable energy; and criminal justice reform measures, to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>But now, as he enters his third term as speaker, Welch and the Democratic caucus he leads face several new challenges, including significant budget constraints and divisions within the caucus itself. Those divisions erupted in a closed-door caucus meeting during the recent lame duck session and spilled over into public view during contentious negotiations over a bill to regulate the hemp industry.<\/p>\n<p>That caucus meeting reportedly included shouting, name-calling and accusations leveled against state agency staff members, leading to open criticisms from Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker over Welch\u2019s handling of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>During a recent interview with Capitol News Illinois, however, Welch downplayed the significance of those tensions and insisted his relationship with the governor\u2019s office remains in good shape.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me say that we had a caucus on a very divisive issue,\u201d Welch said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had three caucuses in three different years now on that particular issue, and it gets very emotional. And I have talked to members who, I think, crossed the line and asked them to apologize. And it\u2019s my understanding, at least one member has reached out to a staffer and tried to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for the governor, Welch said, \u201cour relationship is great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love and respect the governor. In my four years as speaker, we\u2019ve accomplished some great policy victories,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got two more years here as speaker again, thank God, and we\u2019re going to land more big policy victories. You know, the governor has a job to do, but I have a job to do too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the most challenging tasks ahead for Welch could be holding the Democratic caucus together on budget and revenue issues during a time when the state faces significant fiscal pressures.<\/p>\n<p>For most of Welch\u2019s time in the speaker\u2019s office, Illinois has enjoyed a period of sustained revenue growth. That has enabled lawmakers to fund such popular things as increased school spending, financial aid for college and university students, and expansion of health care coverage under Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>But revenue growth has been slowing in recent months. During the 2024 regular session, lawmakers&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/once-again-working-through-the-night-lawmakers-finalize-531-billion-budget\/\">struggled to pass a revenue package<\/a>&nbsp;needed to close a roughly $1 billion budget gap. Even with Democrats\u2019 supermajority in the House, it took three votes on the final night of the session in May to pass a bill that included tax hikes on sportsbooks and businesses.<\/p>\n<p>This year could prove even more challenging as lawmakers face a projected $3.2 billion budget shortfall. But Welch said he is confident lawmakers will work through the budget challenge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/while-deficit-looms-in-next-years-budget-current-year-revenues-remain-on-track\/\">While deficit looms in next year\u2019s budget, current-year revenues remain on track<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been speaker four years now. We balanced the budget every year I\u2019ve been speaker, and some of those years we had very grim forecasts and we still managed to produce budgets with surpluses, make additional payments to our pension obligations and receive credit upgrades,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I do believe that we\u2019re going to continue to pass balanced budgets that are compassionate and responsible, like we\u2019ve done the last four years that I\u2019ve been speaker,\u201d he added. \u201cYou know, I\u2019m looking forward to the next credit upgrade we receive after we do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To help meet the challenge, Welch announced the formation of a new leadership team shortly after being reelected speaker, including the appointment of a new team of lead budget negotiators.<\/p>\n<p>For the past four years, Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, served as the House Democrats\u2019 lead negotiator \u2013 what lawmakers refer to as the \u201cbudgeteer.\u201d But starting this year, Welch will rely on a team of three \u201cco-budgeteers,\u201d all Chicagoans: Reps. Kam Buckner, Eva-Dina Delgado, and Will Guzzardi.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon-Booth will remain a part of the leadership team as an assistant majority leader. She previously held the title of speaker pro-tempore, a position that will now go to Buckner. Rep. Robyn Gabel, of Evanston, will continue to serve as majority leader.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\"><em>Capitol News Illinois<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HOUSE SPEAKER EMANUEL &#8220;CHRIS&#8221; WELCH SPEAKS DURING THE INAUGURATION OF THE 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON JANUARY 8 (CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS PHOTO BY ANDREW ADAMS) BY PETER HANCOCK, CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Budget Constraints, Caucus Tensions Face House Speaker Welch in His Third Term - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/2783-budget-constraints-caucus-tensions-face-house-speaker-welch-in-his-third-term\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Budget Constraints, Caucus Tensions Face House Speaker Welch in His Third Term - 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