As the Illinois General Assembly was speeding to adjourn late last month, a Lake County lawmaker had spiritual leanings overtake his temporal duties. He introduced a bill to honor the first American pope, Leo XIV.

State Rep. Martin McLaughlin, R-Lake Barrington, filed his legislation to recognize native Chicagoan Pope Leo XIV as leader of the Roman Catholic faith.

Normally a numbers guy — McLaughlin’s a small businessman and financial expert, specializing in pension management — his proposal drew bipartisan support in Springfield, picking up a co-sponsor in fellow Lake Countian, state Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove.

Yet, the measure was promptly shuffled into the House Rules Committee, where it could be buried to perdition. One would think lawmakers would have wanted to move quickly on such an accolade with an Illinoisan named the Bishop of Rome.

Legislators did manage to rapidly adopt a 3,000-page, $55 billion budget bill, which McLaughlin voted against, hours before rushing to adjournment. Perhaps the Pope Leo measure will be dealt with later this summer or year, as the legislature is due back to consider a number of unmet goals, including funding regional mass transit.

Or members of the Democratic-controlled committee will anoint one of their own as sponsor of the bill. I can’t believe a legislator from a Chicago or southern Cook County district wouldn’t want to claim the first U.S. pope for his or her own and scrap McLaughlin’s measure. It’s happened before in the hallowed halls of Springfield’s legislative temple.

The elevation of an American cardinal to pontiff after some 2,000 years of the Holy See is an unprecedented event in Illinois and world history. It shouldn’t be overlooked in his birth state. McLaughlin’s bill takes that into consideration, and the Republican was way ahead of the curve by introducing his bill.

Pope Leo, 69, is so popular that tickets to Saturday’s celebration and Mass of his elevation at Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, sold out. The White Sox wish they could get that many fans into seats at the South Side ballpark. Several reports noted tickets for the event, originally costing $10, were being resold for upwards of $1,200.

Additionally, the village of Dolton wants to take the childhood home of the former Robert Francis Prevost through eminent domain, aka condemnation. Village officials want to work with the Chicago Archdiocese to turn his eminence’s old residence into a historic site.

McLaughlin’s measure amending House Bill 2083 proposes establishing a commemorative area and statue on the state Capitol grounds for the new pope, who was elected May 8 in Rome by the College of Cardinals. It seeks to honor, “his legacy in a lasting and visible way,” the bill spells out.

Importantly, no taxpayer funds would be used under the proposal. The legislation sets up a commission with the intention of receiving donations, while other costs would be covered through the sale of a new specialty Illinois license plate.

If the state can offer vehicle tags for Chicago professional sports teams, Illinois certainly can have a Pope Leo XIV plate. Design of the specialty plate would be left to the Secretary of State’s Office and could be purchased for $27, with $12 of that going toward the Pope Leo XIV Commemoration Fund, according to the bill.

“This is not a religious monument,” McLaughlin, a former Lake Barrington village president, asserted in a statement. “It’s about acknowledging a truly historic moment. It’s a global story with Illinois at the heart.”

The proposal directs the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, in collaboration with the state’s interfaith community, to come up with the design and fabrication of the Pope statue, “within a reasonable period of time.” Other historical and Illinois-centric statues adorn various parts of the Capitol grounds in Springfield and its vicinity.

It’s pretty straightforward stuff, which is why McLaughlin, too, wonders why the bill didn’t move rapidly through the General Assembly to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk for signing. He’s been representing the House 52nd District since first being elected in 2020.

He noted lawmakers have adopted symbolic resolutions on hundreds of picayune issues over the years.

“Surely, we can agree that elevating an Illinoisan to the highest position in global religious leadership warrants acknowledgement,” he added. “This pope’s message of tolerance and global cooperation deserves recognition, not gridlock.”

I’m not sure what the legislative holdup is, but Catholics across the region might want to prod their Springfield lawmakers to endorse recognizing the first American pope after 266 previous pontiffs. Such an epic event doesn’t come along every papal conclave.

Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. sellenews@gmail.comX: @sellenews