SZALINSKI’S SUMMARY: House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, wants excommunicated Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, to “apologize” before he lets him back into the Democratic Caucus. But it’s a request Crespo tells us he wasn’t aware of and is not sure why he would have to fulfill.
CONTEXT: Welch kicked Crespo out of the Democratic caucus last year, essentially for working on his own budget proposal with a staffer and “not communicating” with leadership about the plan. Crespo, who was an appropriations committee chair at the time, says he was working on crafting a plan to respond to cuts by the Trump administration.
NOT SPEAKING: Welch said this week that he hasn’t spoken to Crespo since he informed him last May that he was no longer welcome in the caucus and was being removed from his committee chairmanships.
“Fred Crespo hasn’t taken any initiative to come see me as the speaker of the House,” Welch said. “Fred Crespo has seen me on elevators, in the hall. He doesn’t even speak to me as a member of this body. He has every right to come talk to me and apologize to me, apologize to our caucus, apologize to his district. He hasn’t done any of that.”
Welch said Crespo’s actions were “egregious.”
“Here’s a gentleman that, you know, thought he was above accountability,” Welch said. “And in a role like this, to be respected as a leader, you have to make sure people are held accountable, and that’s what I did.”
OTHER SIDE: Crespo told us he doesn’t know what he did wrong and didn’t know Welch wanted him to apologize. He said his budget project and plan to file it as a bill is part of the process. Lawmakers routinely file bills for the House Rules Committee to consider — most of them go nowhere.
“I’m still not sure exactly what it is that he claims I did wrong,” Crespo said. “For him to claim now a year later that I need to apologize as a condition — that’s news to me. And number two, I’m not sure what it is that I need to apologize for.”
“It’s just a bill that goes to rules, and it was a byproduct of things that happened the last few years,” he added. “I needed a document that people could touch and feel.”
INCLUDED: Crespo said despite the consequences he received, the fiscal year 2026 budget included a similar concept to what he wanted to propose. It set aside $100 million for the new BRIDGE Fund that Gov. JB Pritzker could tap into to fill gaps in state agency budgets left by a lack of federal funding.
“After I was kicked out of the caucus for proposing to set aside reserves of $1 billion to deal with the Trump cuts, months later, the governor pretty much adopted my concept,” Crespo said.
Crespo was also a vocal critic of the tax plan in the fiscal year 2025 budget a year before being kicked out of the caucus. He warned that year that lawmakers were increasing spending too rapidly and should exercise restraint.
NOT LOSING SLEEP: Crespo has been in the General Assembly for 20 years, and though he no longer leads any committees, he is still a member of three. And though he’s out of favor with Welch, no Democrat would challenge him in the March primary. He is expected to win reelection in November in a heavily blue district.
But one thing about the whole affair bothers him.
“Not one single member of the caucus bothered to ask me first, ‘hey, what happened,’” he said. “They just took his word.”
NOT ALONE: Crespo is not the only person Welch has removed for the caucus. Before him, Welch sent former Rep. Mary Flowers away after comparing a staff member’s appearance to Adolf Hitler. And earlier this year, Welch removed Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, following allegations of sexual harassment against him. Benton’s situation is still being evaluated by the Legislative Inspector General.
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