Welch Promises Unity, Term Limits, Fair Maps as New Speaker
New House Speaker Chris Welch addresses the Illinois General Assembly on the makeshift House floor at the BoS Center in Springfield after being sworn in as Speaker Wednesday afternoon. (Pool Photo/Justin Fowler)
Fifty years to the day then 28-year-old Michael J. Madigan was sworn in to his first term in the Illinois House of Representatives, the power he accumulated over the last half century was gone in the blink of an eye.
Now 78-year-old Michael J. Madigan watched silently Wednesday afternoon in Springfield as Rep. Chris Welch (D-Hillside) was sworn in as Illinois’ 70th Speaker of the House and the first African American to lead the chamber.
“It is not lost on me that when Speaker Madigan was sworn into the General Assembly in January of 1971, I wasn’t even born yet,” said Welch, speaking to reporters after taking the oath of office. Welch turns 50 next month.
Welch wasn’t a candidate for Speaker as late as Monday night. When Madigan suspended his campaign earlier in the day, Welch says members of the House Black Caucus began trying to recruit him into the race. With added floor votes and hours of debate on racial equity bills, Welch says the 48 hours leading up to his elevation to Speaker were a blur.
“I haven’t had time to digest anything. It’s been like a whirlwind 48 hours. When we adjourned at 4 o’clock this morning, I got, like, two hours of sleep. And that two hours of sleep felt so good because I hadn’t had any sleep before that for, like, 24 hours,” he said. “I’m gonna take it all in at some point and it’s gonna hit me. I’m gonna really try to soak it all in and enjoy it with my family at some point because this really is an awesome position and responsibility that I’m receiving.”
After Madigan served 36 of the past 38 years as Speaker, a reporter asked Welch how long he believed a Speaker should stay in office.
“I think 10 years is an appropriate term limit,” he said.
Asked if he would pledge to serve no more than a decade as Speaker, Welch surprised many with his support of term limits legislation.
“I think we can make it a law. Let’s pass a bill,” he said.
Welch also pledged to redraw legislative district maps later this year with fairness and transparency.
“In my time in the legislature I’ve always supported fair maps,” he said. “We’re gonna work on this collaboratively and try to do the best we can and try to be as transparent as we can. I think that’s how you build trust is by doing it in a transparent way.”
Asked if that process included Republicans, Welch assented.
“They’re gonna be a part of the process.”
Welch says he wants to bring both sides together to tackle the state’s massive budget deficit and structural spending issues. He said he’ll even try find agreement with conservative Republican members on those issues.
“It’s all about trying to find what you can agree on first,” he said. “Once you do that and go through that process and build trust, you can start tackling more difficult issues.”
He knows there will be difficult decisions ahead.
“We’ve got some real budget issues to tackle,” he said. “And a whole lot of other issues in front of us. It’s time to get to work.”
Welch also said he was likely to leave active practice from his Chicago firm, but would need to work out details with his partners. Madigan had been criticized for many years of legal work on property tax appeals, implying he was gaming the system with his clout.
Emanuel Christopher Welch, who says he goes by “Chris,” attended Proviso West High School in Hillside. He graduated from Northwestern University and The John Marshall Law School. While attending law school, he worked as a television news assignment desk editor.
He and wife ShawnTe have two children, ages 8 and 6. He has a dog named Rico, which drew chuckles from reporters due to the federal racketeering law of the same name.
His district covers all or parts of River Forest, Forest Park, Maywood, Broadview, Bellwood, Hillside, Westchester, La Grange Park and Berkeley in western Cook County.
As he ascends to his first day as Speaker Thursday, Welch was shocked at how much his life had changed in less than a week.
“I didn’t come down here thinking I’d be leaving town as the Speaker of the House.”
