A state representative wants to ban late-night lawmaking

Posted on June 25, 2021
State Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) – with the end of session in mind – has a bill to put a midnight curfew on lawmaking. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Cinderella’s coach turned into a pumpkin at midnight, and a state lawmaker thinks the General Assembly could learn from that.

State Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport), pointing to a couple of all-night sessions in 2021, is sponsoring a bill to, except when legislative leaders declare an emergency, restrict floor votes to the hours between 6 a.m. and midnight.

“I just don’t think the average citizen believes is appropriate to have a committee meeting at one in the morning and pass a $43 billion (budget) bill, say, at three in the morning,” Chesney said.

Chesney says this is intentional; an annual tactic by supermajority Democrats to tire everyone out and pass big bills when neither the public nor the media are awake and paying attention.

When asked if Speaker of the House Chris Welch (D-Hillside) agreed with the concepts of the bill, or with Chesney’s assertion that Democrats burn the midnight oil deliberately, Welch’s spokeswoman Jaclyn Driscoll said there would be no response.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

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