Doing the “Illinois Shuffle” Updated X1: Done Deal

January 17th, 2008 at 02:43pm Andrea Zimmermann

He danced, she danced, they all danced — but at the end of the day, Gov. Rod Blagojevich got his way.

House Democrats lined up to blast the governor for his personality and his policy, but in the end, the mass transit bill narrowly passed 61-47.

Now the bill moves to the Senate. Republicans are currently meeting separately to discuss strategy before the vote and are expected to return shortly.

The bill would send significant money to the Chicago mass transit system. The bill also provides additional money for downstate systems, such as Rockford, which is scheduled to receive $1.2 million.

The newest addition to the bill was the governor’s proposal to let senior citizens ride mass transit free of charge.

The House debated Blagojevich’s amendatory veto for about an hour and a half today.

Rep. Robert Molaro, D-Chicago, said today’s debate about the governor’s political games was the “Illinois Shuffle.” The reference reminded me of a new popular dance tune called the “Cupid Shuffle,” in which everyone dances to the same tune.

Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, decried Illinois’ amendatory veto, saying there is a reason only seven states give their governors amendatory veto powers.

“We were a signature away last week,” Fritchey said. “Leadership is not about press conferences. … It’s not about playing ‘Gotcha,’ with the public… ‘gotcha with the media.”

Fritchey, like most of his Democratic colleagues, ended his speech by saying he did not want to hold up the bill and be the one responsible for the massive transit cuts that would occur Sunday in Chicago.

House Republican leader, Rep. Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said although the Democrats blasted the governor now, they are the ones to blame for this mess.

“What I find a little fascinating about today, many on teh Deomcratic side of the aisle want to pick on teh governor,” Cross said. “It’s your party, it’s your leadership … You run everything in this state. You love to tell us that.”

In the end, most of the Democrats did dance to the same tune, and a few Republicans joined in. Of the Rockford delegation, Rep. Chuck Jefferson was the only member to vote for the bill. Reps. Dave Winters, Jim Sacia and Ron Wait all opposed the bill.

UPDATE 1

The Senate followed the House, voting 32-19 in favor of the governor’s change to the mass transit bill. The Senate, however, declined to consider the “trailer” bill that would narrow the class of seniors eligible for free rides.

It’s now up to the governor to certify that the Legislature’s “acceptance” of his changes “conforms to his specific recommendations.”

Entry Filed under: House of Representatives, Transit, Rod Blagojevich, Illinois politics