East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) says Springfield strikes him as the same place it’s been now for nearly the last four decades.

“I think when we heard new House Speaker (Chris) Welch’s speech after he was first elected we thought maybe the stories about Springfield being a new town weren’t a complete fairytale, but then we get these new House rules and it’s the same old story it’s always been,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “As Republicans, we had a few reasonable requests that weren’t even entertained. I can’t tell Welch from (former House Speaker Mike) Madigan with what they’re doing. It looks like just more business as usual, which means more of the same taxing, borrowing and over-regulations that have already destroyed so many lives in this state.”

While Democrats are touting the new rules put forth under Welch as a sign of political independence, Miller and company are dismissing the vast majority of them as just more smoke and mirrors.

“It’s one thing to be able to file a bill, but with the way these rules are worded, Democrats are still under no obligation to ever call any of the measures for a hearing,” he said. “They can still play the same partisan games and tie up good legislation because they don’t think it benefits Democrats.”

Of the last 132 bills he’s filed or signed onto, Miller argues only a couple of them have actually gotten a hearing and he doesn’t see much changing under the system now being pushed by Welch.

“It’s really maddening because these are all common-sense proposals set forth to create better public policy,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll decide to work together instead of continuing to destroy this state with just more partisan politics.”