Many new lawmakers come to government with big dreams but often find they have little power at the start. This is how several first-time Central Illinois lawmakers learned how to enact change in their own ways.
Republican state Rep. Regan Deering, who represents parts of Bloomington, went to Springfield with the aspiration to affect change, but after five months Deering realized she has less influence than she expected.
“I wish I knew how little power I would have,” Deering said. “I came in very optimistic, trying to be an authentic citizen legislator, knowing that I ran because I was frustrated that, apparently a small group of elites was kind of running the show, and it is the reality."
It's also harder when you are in the minority party. Democrats rarely need Republican support to get legislation passed.
Deering also said the majority Democrats were efficient with their time, noting how much time was spent not working on the thousands of bills that were stuck in committees while the state budget got done in the final minutes.
John Shaw is director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He said these frustrations are a natural reaction from rookie lawmakers.
“Oftentimes, their campaign promises are ‘quote unrealistic’ and out of touch with what is most likely to happen,” Shaw said. “But still, if they're shrewd and smart and disciplined, they can move the needle a bit, and then as the longer they stay, they become more effective at moving the needle and shaping policy, and hopefully they don't lose all the idealism they had when they first walked in the door.”
Shaw’s advice to first-time lawmakers when they are not legislating is to research and meet with experts on topics they are interested in advocating for.
Republican State Sen. Li Arellano from Dixon in north central Illinois said focusing on certain topics rather than a broad agenda helped him get some bills passed.
Arellano worked with neighboring Republican State Sen. Chris Balkema on bills to help modernize state government systems such as electronic signing for local government documents, electronic reporting, and other technical changes.
While small, Arellano said those bills were productive and helped transition his skills as a prior Mayor of Dixon to the General Assembly.
Arellano also said the role of a first-time lawmaker is to ask good questions and listen to advice from veteran lawmakers and staff.
“You are looking at practices and procedures and dynamics for the very first time," Arellano said. “And making judgments on them, not based on some history of what the intent was or how we've always done it, but how does it look today, right now, for this generation? This snapshot in time, in 2025 and so I embrace that role, both within my own caucus, and more broadly in some of my speeches on the Senate floor.”
Fellow freshman State Sen. Chris Balkema agrees. He said working with his Senate staff has improved his ability as a lawmaker over the session.
Balkema said that comes with a balance between being a lawmaker, husband and father. He represents a huge district. It spans all the way from Peoria and Bloomington-Normal to Naperville and the Indiana border.
“It's great to have Senator Chris Balkema at every event across the district and have Senator Chris Balkema in meetings in Springfield working on legislation, and have, dad and the husband all in the same places,” Balkema said. “Obviously, that doesn't work, and so we're getting more done through our team members, by having folks really become seasoned and trained in if somebody is talking to one of my staff members, they're talking to me, there's no difference.”
Balkema said he also wants to get results, but being an ambitious rookie lawmaker can make that task difficult.
“I have to respect those that have been here in the positions longer than me, and I learn a lot from them,” Balkema said. “I also want to be assertive enough that we actually drive change, so folks didn't put us in our elected offices and folks in District 53 didn't put me in in office to be a career politician, I need to actually get results.”
Arellano also said he wanted more results this session on ethics reform and redistricting after it went nowhere.
Arellano said real ethics reform cannot happen if the state does not change its map to follow the state’s constitution to allow for more fair elections.
“We've had a bipartisan, although mostly democratic, in recent years, history of Chicago alderman, local officials and state legislators getting convicted during trial, getting accusations,” Arrellano said. “When only Louisiana has beaten you in the number of public officials getting convicted, you got a lot of work to do in ethical forms, and I think that should be top of the ticket.”
Deering introduced 11 bills in her first term. Ten of them went nowhere. One passed unanimously. It would require the State Board of Education to list submitted career and technical opportunities for high school students on its website.
Deering says education policy was one of her priorities when coming to Springfield but not her only priority.
Within the first few days of the session, Deering filed a bill to ban transgender girls from playing sports with other cisgender girls. It also would create a gender-neutral co-ed option.
The bill never got a hearing. After it got no traction for several months, Deering held a news conference to advocate for the bill. The bill still went nowhere but got full Republican support in the Senate.
Deering said she learned she needed to be vocal, and she wouldn't change any of her actions.
“A lot of the pushback in the chamber, for me, was that it was a small percentage of the community that was trying to compete in the sport of their identity, per se,” Deering said. “My response was I was advocating for the majority, which was, 99% of our athletes and our young ladies that are trying to feel competitive and safe.”
While the spring session is over, the legislators' work is not.
Arellano said lawmakers are likely to be called into a special session to address anticipated cuts from the federal government.
He expected that will be more of the same, where Republicans were cut from conversations.
As for Arellano's political future, he still has four years to figure out whether he wants to run for re-election or seek a higher office.
Balkema is instead focusing on next spring, working on a bill to remodel the evidence-based funding formula for K-through-12 schools.
“Most other states have more proper or more of the school funding coming from the central source,” Balkema said. “So can we pick up all of the local property taxes that are paid into the schools and just shift all that and take our $55 billion budget to 22 billion more, is what it would be. So, 77 billion, no, that wouldn't fly. But is there [a] difference in the middle there where we can work on a better format formula that really capitalizes on the evidence-based funding formula that's already in place and build on that foundation.?"
State representatives have to run every two years. Deering, who previously ran Congress, said she's already preparing her campaign for a second term.
