Lake County Gazette

Rod Drobinski, a GOP candidate for the 62nd District state House seat, is appalled by the move by Democrats to dismiss a Republican attempt to cancel a scheduled recess.

“Technically, under the rules, this motion is non-debatable and requires an immediate vote,” Drobinski wrote on his Facebook page. “In the end, the Democratic caucus decided it was more important to take the month off without a vote.”

In an earlier post, Drobinski posted a picture of the vacant House chamber.

“What's wrong with this picture? The lights are on, but nobody's home,” Drobinski said. “We still don't have a budget, and my opponent and his fellow legislators gave themselves the month off.”

Dawn Abernathy, GOP House candidate for the District 59 state House seat, did not hold back and called out House Speaker Mike Madigan for adjournment and criticized her opponent, State Rep. Carol Sente, for going along with Madigan’s agenda.

“It is completely unacceptable," Abernathy said. "The State of Illinois has no budget, programs are getting cut and our speaker of the House, Mike Madigan, will not call a session until April? Crazy.” Abernathy wrote on her Facebook page. “House members are paid over $67,000 a year in taxpayer dollars; they are scheduled to work January-May. We need new leadership. Carol Sente's first vote of every session has been for Mike Madigan. She continues to vote for the man that funds her campaign. I promise to never vote for him to be speaker of the House. We need people that will work to get a balanced budget, spending reforms and bring jobs back to Illinois."

In an earlier post, Abernathy questioned whether her opponent is independent or simply goes along with Madigan.

“Where are all the Democrats? Where is Carol Sente? Why isn't she in Springfield working on a budget? She says she is independent, yet Mike Madigan doesn't want to work, so she has to do what he says," Abernathy said. "Not really independent."

During a floor speech on March 3, State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dist. 90) addressed the House and asked for his fellow legislators to meet the following day to continue working to solve urgent issues, instead of taking the scheduled break.

“Mr. Speaker, several times during today’s debate, we’ve heard this is not a solution, that there’s still work to do, that we still have a lot of conversations to have and bills to work on,” Demmer said. “I’m asking that the House stand adjourned until tomorrow at 12 noon.”

Demmer went on to request an official vote.

“If you vote ‘Yes,’ you’re voting to keep working," Demmer said. "If you vote ‘No,’ you’re voting to leave for more than a month and not come back until April. I ask that you stand with me. I ask for a recorded vote on a motion to adjourn 'til Friday, March 4, at the hour of noon.”

According to House rules, a motion to adjourn can be made at any time, except when a prior motion has been defeated.

Despite the motion being in line with House rules, Demmer’s motion was quickly dismissed by Democratic leadership before a formal vote on the matter was made and was ruled out of line with the rules before the monthlong break was declared.

“It’s egregious that House Democrats would find it acceptable to take a month off during the heart of the  legislative session, especially given the challenges we face,” Demmer told The Caucus Blog. “My motion to stay in session was legitimate and was made completely in line with the House rules -- the Democrats’ own rules.”

The House will be back in session April 4.