Kane County Reporter

The Illinois House of Representatives recently voted to pass a reform bill that will limit legislative leaders from serving no more than 10 years as Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and Minority Leader of both the House and Senate.

House Bill 642 passed with 115 “yes” votes and one abstention. Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) was among those who co-sponsored the bill.

"What a difference a few months make," Wheeler said in an April 22 Facebook post. "Now that Mike Madigan is gone, we were finally able to pass a bill today imposing term limits on legislative leaders, including Speaker of the House and House Minority Leader. I was pleased to co-sponsor this bill and help to get it passed."

Former state Rep. Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) served as Illinois Speaker of the House for 36 years before being replaced in January amidst a federal bribery investigation. He was succeeded by Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Westchester), who pledged to hold the position for no more than 10 years. Madigan has not been charged and has admitted no wrongdoing.

During Madigan's extensive reign as speaker, he amassed immense personal power and contributed to the state's freefall into massive debt. Illinois went from having a perfect credit rating with just under $6 billion in unfunded pension debt to having the nation's lowest credit rating and upward of $144 billion in pension debt.

House Bill 642 now heads to the State Senate for further consideration and is expected to pass easily.