In the Illinois House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House, and in their stead, the presiding officer, is responsible for maintaining decorum in the House Chamber during session and in committee hearings. The House decorum is guided by Rules established by the majority political party. The Democrat supermajority adopted House Rules for the 104th General Assembly in January of this year that include a provision on Decorum.
House Rule 51 on Decorum dictates how legislative members are to address the presiding officer and each other, how legislators will be recognized to speak and directs the general conduct of the legislative body within the House Chamber and in committee. The Speaker of the House (and or the presiding officer) plays a key role in enforcing these rules and preserving order.
In an ideal world, rules of decorum would be respected, and a breach of decorum would be considered in a measured, systematic and consistent manner. After all, what good are rules if they are not enforced? More importantly, what does it say about leadership if their own rules are applied arbitrarily?
In truth, inconsistently and unfairly enforcing rules erodes decorum and creates an even greater divide. It also serves to keep the legislative body off balance, a tactic used to enhance the Speaker’s considerable power not only among the minority, but also among his own political party.
Recently a Democratic legislator on the House Floor made statements that amounted to name-calling. Republican lawmakers asked multiple times over a two-week period for a determination from the presiding officer if such statements breached the House rules of decorum. Republicans were forced to jump through arbitrary hoops before being told the behavior did not breach decorum and what’s more there was not an appeal process. The Democratic supermajority’s decision was final – because – well, they said so.
This isn’t the first time Democrats knowingly broke their own rules. During the final hours of the 2024 legislative session, Democrat leadership allowed lawmakers to vote three times on one piece of legislation to raise taxes, violating their own 2-vote rule. The bill passed on the third vote after failing twice before. The supermajority didn’t care and since they made the rules, they could break them.
That brings us to the bigger question: Shouldn’t those responsible for making the laws of the land be held to the same Rule of Law standard? To put it another way, those in power should be subject to the same laws (rules) as everyone else.
Other Aspects of Illinois House Rule 51 on Decorum
Here are a few more provisions of House Rule 51 on Decorum drafted by the Majority Democrats:
Legislators may be called upon to present their bills in the House of Representatives at the discretion of the Speaker of the House. They may also seek recognition to speak on the House Floor either to address a piece of legislation that is being presented or to speak on a point of personal privilege, which is a statement by a legislator that is not relevant to pending business, such as a request to be recorded as voting "yes" or “no" on a previous roll call or a request to recognize visitors in the gallery.
The following provisions of House Rule 51 apply whenever a legislative member is about to speak to the members of the House of Representatives:
- When called upon, the legislator shall stand and address the Presiding Officer of the House as "Speaker." The Presiding Officer is in charge of maintaining decorum in the House Chamber.
- The Presiding Officer, upon recognizing the legislator, shall address the legislator by name, upon which the legislator’s microphone will be turned on. The Presiding Officer controls microphones and can have them switched off at any point. Debate time limits are also set by the Presiding Officer, at will.
- When speaking to a bill or responding to another lawmaker, the legislator shall confine themself to the subject matter under discussion and avoid personalities.
- If two or more legislators signal their wish to speak at the same time, the Presiding Officer shall name the legislator who is to speak first.