By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – That legislative staff unionization bill has passed the House. The vote came a day after a committee approved the bill Tuesday, the first day of veto session.
But the subject of the floor debate Wednesday turned from staff unionization to how the state budget is put together.
Debating State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), the bill’s sponsor, House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) said the supermajority party actually gave Republicans lots of time to study the budget bill.
Welch: “Instead of using that ample time to read the budget, you wrapped it in a bow and stuck it on the desk.”
Davidsmeyer: “I didn’t wrap any budget – “
Welch: “Because if you read the budget, you would have seen in that document – that you voted No to – that your caucus of forty members gets the same amount of members that our caucus gets with 78. You have the same amount of money that we do – even though YOU VOTE NO!”
House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) sounded a familiar theme: Republicans complaining about being shut out of budget talks.
“Knock it off, it’s fine,” said McCombie to Welch.. “If you don’t want us in negotiations, so be it. We get it, we’re the minority. This is about staff, that’s right. But our staff staffs the same amount of committees that your staff does, without the insights of what’s going to be called in those said committees. So if you’re talking about having respect for staff, then have respect for staff – and give ours a heads-up.”
Now it’s on to the Senate!
HB 4148 has passed the House, 74-35-4.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
