Chicago City Wire

State Rep. Michael Madigan’s (D-Chicago) reign as House Speaker has ended after nearly 40 years.

The House voted today to have State Rep. Chris Welch (D-Hillside) take over the job as House Speaker.

Wirepoints’ Ted Debrowski and Mark Glennon said in a news release that the ending of Madigan’s tenure as speaker is important, though they doubt his removal will actually have any impact on the political machine he has built over the last 37 years.

That machine includes the rule that gives the House Speaker the ability to kill a bill before it even makes it onto the House floor; the collective bargaining laws and constitutional protections that allow for a generous pension and benefits; Illinois’ nearly 7,000 units of government that are the machine’s power-base; and control over redistricting for the state’s legislators.

Madigan’s removal will also not reverse the state’s downward spiral, Debrowski and Glennon said.

The state has been in a steady state of decline for the last 40 years, with pension debts that have grown into the nation’s largest retirement crisis; a credit rating collapse that brought Illinois from one of the highest in the nation to the lowest; and the state has steadily lost population.

“To date, no lawmakers on either side of the aisle have introduced a structural reform plan that can help reverse the above,” the news release states. “Without such a plan, Illinois will continue its downward spiral regardless of who is House Speaker.”