A new initiative announced Wednesday by embattled Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch does little more than pay “lip service” to addressing Springfield’s persistent culture of sexual harassment, according to an influential Chicago Democrat in Welch’s caucus.
During an apology tour with local media outlets in the wake of his office’s delayed response to allegations of sexual harassment by disgraced ex-state-Rep. Harry Benton, Welch said a new House Culture and Accountability working group will soon begin developing systemic changes.
But state Rep. Kelly Cassidy — who didn’t support Welch’s 2021 ascent as speaker over concerns about past allegations against Welch — said she didn’t have confidence the group would be empowered to make a difference.
In a statement, Cassidy said she “asked a series of questions to ensure that the group would offer more than lip service or a PR stunt. My questions were not answered.”
“I believe a working group on this topic could be necessary and important,” Cassidy said. “But we have a responsibility to victims and survivors to ensure any such body is credible and effective, and I currently do not have confidence it will be. As such, I will not be participating at this time.”
Welch told WGN-TV the group led by state Rep. Dagmara Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, will meet for the first time next week “and their charge is to make some recommendations to us for legislation.”
It’s the most tangible response to the scandal yet from the three-term speaker, who acknowledged he failed to adequately address the initial allegation against Benton, but insisted his office was hamstrung because the victim did not want to file a formal complaint.
Welch also apologized for sending emojis that made the complainant uncomfortable in their social media interactions with Welch, resurrecting concerns about harassment in the Capitol and whether the speaker is adequately addressing the issue.
He made his first public comments five days after the release of a legislative inspector general’s report on Benton’s alleged misconduct, which showed Welch was aware of allegations against Benton but still put $1.4 million into his reelection campaign. Representatives for the speaker ignored repeated requests for comment from the Sun-Times.
“My office did its best,” Welch told WGN. “They followed their processes and procedures in place. But clearly, we failed this young woman and all women who are afraid to come forward. The system failed. We can do better.”
Welch said his former chief of staff “heard that something was going on” in Benton’s office in 2023, reached out to the woman and encouraged her to document her allegations that the representative made a series of troubling sexual comments.
Welch noted the state’s “biggest new tool” in the wake of the 2018 harassment scandal that preceded ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s downfall was the legislative inspector general process, which the victim did not want to pursue.
“Even though she didn’t want to go through a formal complaint process, we did do an informal investigation, and we still documented Rep. Benton because of the information that was brought forward,” Welch said. “And it was that information that we documented that allowed me to move swiftly when things came forward in 2026.”
Political committees controlled by Welch still backed the hotly contested 2024 reelection bid by Benton, who “was entitled to a constitutional right to due process,” Welch said.
“I had to support a member, and I supported a member. Obviously, today as we sit here, do I regret that? Certainly,” Welch said. “But at that time, with the information available to us, had to support a member. And labor was a big advocate of Rep. Benton as a union member himself.”
That changed early this year, when a lobbyist accused Benton of making lewd comments to her at a River North bar. Welch removed Benton from the Democratic caucus pending the investigation by the legislative inspector general. Ultimately, Welch called for Benton’s resignation.
Benton, who has denied wrongdoing, stepped down last month.
As for sending heart-eye emojis in response to a complainant’s Instagram feed, Welch said he never thought it would make her feel uncomfortable until she shared details of the exchange with the Chicago Tribune.
“I sincerely want to apologize to her, because it was never my intent to make her or anyone feel uncomfortable,” Welch said. “I certainly have learned a lot from this situation, certainly have changed, already, my social media behavior.”
He also downplayed his invitation to the woman via an encrypted messaging site to meet at Gibson’s Bar in Oak Brook, “a place that I have a whole lot of meetings” at, Welch said. “But I understand the optics of that, and again, I’m going to apologize for making her feel uncomfortable.”
The speaker also denied his abrupt public statement in support of supplemental state funding for Chicago Public Schools — a long-shot in the cash-strapped Capitol — was made in an effort to shore up support for his speakership.
“That’s what I’ve always done, but that fight isn’t just for CPS,” Welch said. “That fight’s for all schools.”