Every now and then you get a story that helps explain the statehouse power dynamic. The saga of the “intoxicating hemp” regulation bill is one of those stories.
The governor’s office began last week by handing House Speaker Chris Welch a list of 62 House Democrats who said they would vote for the hemp regulation bill.
The day ended with the bill in flames and a decision by the House speaker not to move forward.
The reasons for one of the biggest high-profile legislative setbacks the governor has ever had are varied.
Last month, the governor surprised some folks by endorsing legislation that had passed the Senate but then completely stalled out in the House after fierce opposition among a clearly divided House Democratic caucus. Instead of working to modify the legislation to mollify most concerns, Gov. JB Pritzker decided to push ahead, albeit with some changes.
That, as it turns out, was a mistake. Enough residual opposition remained to create big problems.
As you may already know, Welch has required almost every bill to have the support of 60 House Democrats before he’ll agree to advance the legislation to the floor. And Pritzker’s Monday roll call was hotly disputed by some members.
Asked if the governor really had more than 60 votes nailed down going into that marathon caucus meeting, Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said, “I can’t say for sure, but it certainly didn’t seem like it from sitting in that room.”
That caucus was about as raucous as it could get. At Welch’s request, the governor sent some top policy experts to make a presentation and answer questions. The two staffers were angrily heckled with insults and misinformation, to the point where one of Pritzker’s staffers left in tears after being called a liar and worse. The other was pulled out of the meeting by top staff shortly afterward.
The governor is understandably highly protective of his staff. And his top staff, who have the sharpest elbows in the business, were enraged.
Going off the rails
The meeting left the Pritzker folks feeling like they’d been set up. They’d done what they were asked to do with the roll call, but instead of just bringing the bill to the floor, where it was likely to receive wide bipartisan support and as many as 90 votes, Welch stood back and allowed some of his members to go completely off the rails during an hours-long caucus that resulted in the bill’s demise (although it could be said in his defense that having an argument like that in private would be preferable to letting all that vitriol against the governor become public during a floor debate).
Welch tends to pull back when his caucus is divided. We’ve seen that happen before, including on budget deals that had to be redone after Welch received negative internal feedback.
That behavior can be seen as a good thing — an improvement over the days when Speaker Michael Madigan would tell his members they were doing something even when they were reluctant. But most leaders have also tended to know what their caucuses would stomach before they cut any deals or allowed a governor to lobby their members.
Throw in the recent chaos caused by the loss of just about every member of Welch’s senior staff, and now you’ve got even bigger problems.
In this business, there’s support and then there’s support. Members might know that they’ll have to vote for a bill if it reaches the floor, but they’d rather not be forced to choose. And peer pressure can be a major factor in stuff like this, particularly in a caucus where it seems like everything goes and no brakes are ever being applied.
The bill was perceived to be a threat to the very existence of hemp businesses owned by those locked out of the legal cannabis system. And many of those folks are people of color, and lots operate in neighborhoods that don’t have an abundance of local storefront entrepreneurs.
Many Illinoisans dislike the myriad janky gas stations and head shops that are openly selling an intoxicating product to anyone who is tall enough to reach the counter. But the main pushback was about how the regulatory bill favored the existing cannabis industry and long-established alcohol distributors at the expense of the little guy. The basic Senate proposal was seen as: Gather the big powers around the table and divide up the spoils. But that didn’t go down well in the House this time.
And now nobody is quite sure how to clean up this mess.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
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