Gov. Bruce
Rauner has made local right-to-work empowerment zones a big issue since taking
office, but hasn’t introduced a bill in the Legislature. On Thursday, House Speaker Michael
Madigan introduced a right-to-work measure of his own–and then voted against it.
The vote was intended as a message to Governor Rauner that pro-union legislators will never support any form of right-to-work.
The vote was the third time in two weeks the speaker has engaged in what some have called
“political theater.” He has twice called
a Committee of the Whole on key issues such as workers’ compensation and tort
reform, but both committees were so lopsided no one really took
them seriously.
The speaker has
continually called on the governor to put his TurnAround Agenda ideas into
legislation so the House could vote on them. The governor has refused, preferring instead to build support for his
proposals among voters and try to get consensus among lawmakers and legislative
leaders.
So, the speaker introduced a proposal he didn’t plan to support. HB 1286 would have created the Local Employee Empowerment
Zone Act and allowed a county or municipality to adopt an ordinance or resolution
to be designated as an employee empowerment zone for public and private
employees. In these zones, no employee would
be required, as a condition or continuation of employment, to become or remain
a member of a labor organization, pay dues, fees, assessments, or other similar
charges to a labor organization.
Organized labor has
been preparing for this vote since Governor Rauner was sworn into office, and
they made it clear they would use this roll call to determine who their friends
were in the Illinois House. Governor
Rauner had asked Republicans to vote present, given that the bill wasn’t his and that it was mostly a display of partisanship.
Madigan’s bill failed by a vote of 0-72, with one Republican, Rep. Raymond Poe, joining Democratic lawmakers in voting against it. Thirty-seven Republicans voted “present, while two Republicans were listed as excused and seven simply didn’t vote.
In a news release, Madigan said the House would vote on the governor’s proposals to reform both workers’ compensation and our
legal system the week of May 18. It was unclear whether these will be serious votes or simply another attempt by the speaker to send the governor a pro-union message.
