Crespo Responds After Committee Chair and Staff Stripped
Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates) at a hearing in 2020. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates), a longtime fiscal moderate and now former chair of one of the House Appropriations committees, says he “is trying to understand” House Speaker Chris Welch’s rationale for removing him from his committee chair position, removing his staff support, and disinviting him from House Democratic Caucus meetings.
An “excommunication” from the party, as one member called it Thursday.
Speaking to The Illinoize Thursday, Crespo confirmed he was working on legislation that would potentially “hold back” $4 billion in state spending in case the state saw a dramatic drop in revenue from either the federal government or a recession.
It was a natural follow up, Crespo said, to an idea he presented in the waning days of session last year to cut $300 million in spending that Governor JB Pritzker had claimed was presented too late in the budget process.
“I figured things are worse than they were last year, that I would use that plan that I discussed last year and have it in bill form to have something tangible that people can see and hopefully will become part of the conversation (that’s) not too late in the game like the governor said last year,” Crespo said. “So, what I was working on was a method to set money aside. If we were to come during the summer, we would have a tool in the toolbox to deal with [the potential deficit]. The Governor has talked about coming back in the summer, to which I always responded, ‘well, if you come back in, the summer without a plan and without money, that's no plan at all.’ It doesn't make any sense. Let's at least have a plan to set some reserves on the side. So the plan that I was working on has close to $4 billion of withholding, not cuts and not touching essential services.”
Crespo confirmed Speaker Welch called Crespo into his office Wednesday to make the extraordinary move to punish Crespo.
“The Speaker feels that I went behind his back, and when I told the speaker and I told many folks, this is how we operate. We we work on bills. We don't ask for permission. We just work on bills,” Crespo said. “We drop the bill, and then it's reviewed by leadership, and they decide if it goes to rules or it's a scientific committee.”
But, we’re told Welch believes Crespo was working against his fellow Democrats and outside of the purview of his role as a committee chair.
“When the Speaker makes an appointment, those are made on behalf of the entire House Democratic Caucus, and the systems he has put in place are intended to give every community a voice,” said Jon Maxson, a spokesman for Welch, in a statement Thursday. “Members are always free to speak their minds and vote their consciences, but the Speaker will not let anyone use our caucus’ leadership roles to pursue an agenda that is antithetical to our shared goals.”
We asked what Crespo did that was “antithetical to our shared goals,” but did not receive a response.
Crespo has also been accused of “not communicating” with House budgeteers and leadership, a claim he denies. He does admit to missing one of “four or five” meetings with budgeteers recently due to a scheduling mistake.
“One of the things that they they accused me of is ‘working outside your silo.’ And my response is ‘since when are we limited?’ No legislator is limited to silos,” Crespo said. “We introduce bills that impact the entire state. People who know me know that I'm very fiscally responsible. That's no secret. This is this is a critical moment.”
“I'm trying to understand the Speaker feeling that he was left out. I hear that, but that's not how the process works,” Crespo said. “And this is any bill that would have been filed was not going to pass. It had to be reviewed. They controlled that. The whole objective here is to have a plan to be considered and be part of the conversation.”
While numerous Democrats privately voiced their support for Crespo Thursday, we’re told there was no push back to Welch during Thursday’s House Democratic caucus meeting.
Many believe Welch is now likely to fund a primary challenge to Crespo, as he did to former Rep. Mary Flowers last year after she was removed from the caucus for harassing staff members.
Crespo, who was elected in 2006, says he’s planning to run for re-election, but isn’t putting much stock into what may happen in the primary.
“I did what I thought was necessary to get this in front of people, to make sure it's part of the conversation moving forward, because we need to have that conversation because times are dire,” Crespo said. “And I think what I bring to the table is I, you know, I know the budget better than most.”
