February 27th, 2008
Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, objected to plans to replace Cole Hall with Memorial Hall in a press release:
Syverson supports honoring NIU victims, questions whether new building is right approach
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2008/bc
SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) agrees the victims of the Northern Illinois University (NIU) shooting should be honored in a respectful way, however he questions whether demolishing Cole Hall and constructing a new facility is the right approach.
“I think everyone agrees a tragedy of this magnitude should be recognized in some way,” Syverson said. “But razing Cole Hall and constructing a new building isn’t necessarily the right approach. It will likely be a major financial commitment in the tens of millions of dollars at a time our state budget is facing a $1 billion budget deficit. I believe we can honor the victims of this tragedy, and do it in a fiscally responsible way.”
One possibility, Syverson suggested, is the creation of scholarships in the names of the shooting victims that could be developed through private partnerships – scholarships that could last for perpetuity. Another option would be to rename Cole Hall “Memorial Hall” – the name of the proposed new building – and to create an appropriate memorial in or around the current facility.
“I am 100 percent behind paying tribute to the victims, and helping NIU move past this tragic event,” Syverson reiterated. “But let’s not rush into anything. We should take an appropriate amount of time to come up with something that balances the need for remembrance with the need to ensure our state budget remains fiscally sound.”
Syverson also noted the proposed new building comes at a time tuition costs have skyrocketed in Illinois, rising by 50 percent in a few short years. He says part of the reason is the lack of a commitment by state leaders in funding higher education.
“We need to be thinking about how we can better help college students, not just at Northern Illinois University, but around our state,” Syverson said. “Tuition is rising at alarming levels, and families are struggling to put their students through college. Let’s look at ways of alleviating this burden – and perhaps the funding being proposed for this new building could be used for that purpose.”
February 27th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich today urged the General Assembly to give Northern Illinois University $40 million to help replace Cole Hall, where the Feb. 14 deadly shooting took place.
Earlier today, the governor and NIU officials announced the plan to demolish Cole Hall and replace it with a new, state-of-the-art building named Memorial Hall.
It is still unclear how much the total project would cost, but the governor, flanked by Rep. Robert Pritchard and Sen. Brad Burzynski, said in his news release that the state should give NIU $40 million to help rebuild. The governor’s spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
Pritchard and Burzynski agreed to sponsor the legislation to get the money, to “cover the cost of building Memorial Hall,” according to the release.
Also according to the release, university officials decided against re-oepening Cole Hall, and drew up the plan to demolish and construct a new building, which would take about two years.
Portions of the news release are below:
DEKALB – To honor the victims and help the student body move forward, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich joined NIU President John G. Peters, legislators and students today at Northern Illinois University (NIU) to announce new plans for Cole Hall, the scene of the tragic shooting that claimed the lives of five students and injured 17 more. Gov. Blagojevich said that he will introduce emergency funding legislation and work with state Sen. J. Bradley Burzynski (R-Sycamore) and state Rep. Robert Pritchard (R-Sycamore) to provide the University with $40 million for the project. Cole Hall will be demolished and replaced with a state-of-the-art classroom building to be named “Memorial Hall”.
…
Memorial Hall will be a modern facility designed to accommodate the needs of today’s students. The new building will be approximately 40 percent larger than Cole Hall and will contain up to ten classrooms of varying sizes, three smart classroom auditoriums with capacity seating of approximately 250 each, instructional and media production computer labs, and additional office, storage and support space. The new building will be centrally located on campus in near proximity or in the same proximity as Cole Hall. Cole Hall is slated for demolition this Spring. The new building is expected to open in late 2010 or early 2011.
…
Built in 1968, Cole Hall has been a staple for NIU’s academic programs and large general classes. The building houses the campus’ larges lecture halls, which are in great demand given the university’s rapid student growth. In addition to the auditoriums, Cole Hall houses Anthropology and Journalism space in the basement level. …
UPDATE 1
Sen. Brad Burzynski said the entire cost of the project will be $40 million.
Also earlier, he said the NIU administration brought the plan to the state, after consulting with other universities that had endured similar tragedies, such as Virginia Tech.
February 27th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s schedule:
**Governor’s Public Schedule**
For TODAY, Wednesday, February 27, 2008
DEKALB – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will join NIU President John G. Peters, local legislators and students today at Northern Illinois University (NIU) to announce state funding that will enable the university to demolish Cole Hall, the scene of the tragic shooting that claimed the lives of five students and injured 17 more, and replace it with a state-of-the-art general classroom building to be named “Memorial Hall”.
WHO:
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
NIU President John G. Peters
Jarvis K. Purnell, President, NIU Student Association
State Senator Bradley Burzynski
State Representative Robert Pritchard
WHAT:
Gov. Blagojevich and NIU announce plans for Cole Hall.
WHEN: 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: In front of Cole Hall
(Cole Hall is located in the center of campus, near the visitor parking lot on Carroll Avenue)
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
UPDATE 1
There’s no question the governor’s announcement will tug at the heart strings of thousands around this state, and perhaps even the nation. It doesn’t get much more dramatic that destroying the building in which evil occurred.
But questions remain about how exactly Blagojevich will pull this off.
As you may know, seemingly every infrastructure project that’s worth doing in this state is contingent on passage of a capital plan. So the first question is: Will funding for this project depend on passage of a capital plan?
If the answer to that question is yes, the next question is: Is it fair to get everybody all excited about the prospect of a “Memorial Hall” in place of the shooting site when there is no capital plan and it’s not clear when the state might actually have one?
If this building project would not depend on a capital plan, then where exactly is the money coming from? And what bills will the state not be able to pay so that it may replace the building?
UPDATE 2
This doesn’t pertain directly to NIU or Cole Hall, but it certainly will be forefront on the minds of reporters covering the governor’s appearance today: Will Blagojevich finally acknowledge that he is “Public Official A,” a central figure in a federal corruption probe, now that a judge has outed him?
Yes, I know that may seem insensitive to mention that. But the fact is that Blagojevich went into hiding yesterday, the day after the “Public Official A” revelation, and his aides refused to answer questions about it. His visit today to NIU will mark his first public appearance since it became official that Blagojevich is “Public Official A.”
Frankly, knowing Blagojevich’s consistent track record (he and his staff work extra hard, after each of his crises, to deflect the public’s attention elsewhere), I must wonder whether his staff cooked up this event on the fly to deliberately cause a diversion from a growing media focus on the federal probe.
In any case, Blagojevich is taking a risk today. He and his staff may think that they can keep the media’s attention focused on NIU and Cole Hall. But it’s hard to imagine that questions — if Blagojevich’s staff even allows them — will turn to the federal probe before the public appearance is over. That could lead to lots of shouting by both reporters and the governor’s staff. And that, in turn, could put NIU President Peters and hundreds of mourning, everyday people in an especially awkward spot.
UPDATE 3 by AZ
The proposed demolition of Cole Hall and construction of Memorial Hall will not depend on a capital plan, lawmakers say, and that’s good news for NIU. As noted above, it’s not clear when the Legislature will ever agree on the massive construction proposal.
Sen. Brad Burzynski and Rep. Robert Pritchard said they are drafting emergency legislation that will deal specifically with the building’s construction, which could take two years to build. There would be two bills: one to authorize the sale of bonds to pay for the project and one to give NIU the authority to spend the money.
It takes a three-fifths majority in both chambers of the Legislature to authorize bonding. The lawmakers said it was not clear on Wednesday morning where the state would find the money to pay off the bonds.
Burzynski said the money to pay off the loan would probably come from the state’s general fund, but because the legislation is not drafted yet details are still unclear. The general fund is the state’s central account for operating expenses.
“I’m confident we will be able to find a revenue stream to pay for these particular bonds,” said Burzynski, R-Clare.
And if he can’t find the money in the state’s coffers?
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.
Pritchard, R-Sycamore, said he doesn’t believe the logjam in Springfield will be a problem.
“We can’t allow government just to shut down because of personalities or lack of leadership or whatever other adjectives you want to say,” Pritchard said. “We have to address the needs of the citizens of Illinois.”
Before the shooting, every NIU undergraduate had a class in Cole Hall, which was built in 1968. Prtichard said about 150 classes were held each week in the building, including several large lectures.
Pritchard said university officials have moved Cole Hall classes into other buildings, but may build temporary structures until the new building is finished.
Sadly, the university has several other schools to look for examples of how to deal with a building where a deadly shooting occurred. Fellow Register Star reporters looked at this issue here.
Pritchard and Burzynski said the university is still computing the cost of razing and constructing a new building. The NIU public affairs office could not be reached.
Pritchard said the new building likely will be modeled after NIU’s new College of Business building, Barsema Hall, which is pictured here.
UPDATE 4
Sen. Burzynski said he believes the idea to replace Cole Hall originated with NIU officials, and not with the Blagojevich administration.
February 27th, 2008
There’s the government you learn about in grade school. And there’s the government at work in Springfield.
Occasionally, they’re one in the same. More often than not these days, they have little in common.
On Tuesday, a special committee of lawmakers met to vote on whether to make Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s latest health care plan permanent. The governor sent surrogates to present his position. The committee members asked questions. Then they voted on the plan.
That’s where the scene on Tuesday in Springfield ceased to resemble the government you learned about in grade school — an institution where level-headed individuals give and take over policy, ultimately reaching a compromise that’s somewhere in the ballpark of the public’s best interest.
But then, that’s the climate in Springfield. There is little give and take resulting in compromise. Few of the elected officials around here seem to have meaningful public dialogue. The days of work tend to end in gridlock, not any particular advance in policy.
The governor’s surrogates did present his plan to the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules, which reviews rules proposed by the governor’s agencies. This, oddly enough, prompted the first bout of confusion among committee members.
You see, the governor previously declared that the committee has no authority to block his administrative rules, even though state law says the committee does have that power. After the committee voted in November to reject his health care plan, which he couched in an “emergency” rule, he said he would go ahead with it anyway.
His administration is now in court defending a lawsuit brought by a suburban attorney who says the governor violated the law by ignoring the committee’s defeat of his plan.
But Blagojevich’s aides nonetheless appeared before the same committee on Tuesday and asked members to approve a permanent version of the “emergency” rules they already rejected. Here’s an exchange between committee member Lou Lang and officials with the governor’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services including Barry Maram, the department’s director, and Tamara Hoffman, its chief of staff:
Rep. Lou Lang: Did you say 3,200 people have been added to the program?
Agency Official: 3,300
Lang: 3,300 people have been added to the program. And from what day till today were people added to the program?
Agency Official: Dec. 1 was when we started coverage.
Lang: And what day was it that JCAR told you folks that we didn’t approve of this emergency rule? Right around (Dec. 1), give or take?
Hoffman: It was before that.
Lang: Under what guideline, rule or hutzpah, does the department decide, on its own, when you come to JCAR for approval and they don’t give it to you that you sign people up for a program that we told you you shouldn’t have?
Hoffman: We believe that we have the authority to do so.
Lang: So why would you come to JCAR in the first place? Why are you here?
Hoffman: Because we are going through the process.
Lang: You are going through a process that you don’t believe in?
Maram: I think what we are trying to discuss here is the fact that these families…
Lang (interrupting): No, this is not a question about the families. This is a question about the process. I’m going to ask the question again. … Under what hutzpah do you come to this body, and ask us to approve a rule that we already rejected when you had the unmitigated gall to put 3,300 people on a program that you asked us to approve that we didn’t approve. Why are we here?
Hoffman: To have an open forum to hear comment to participate to try to make sure that what we are implementing … concerns.
Lang: So if JCAR had said yes, that would have been a really good thing, but since we said no, it doesn’t really matter what the hell we say here in JCAR.
Hoffman: That’s not what I am saying, Representative, and actually you are talking about the emergency rule, and we are here today to talk about the second notice on the…
Lang (interrupting): And in the meantime, when you are rejected on the emergency rule, you went ahead and put 3,300 people on a program where the emergency rule was rejected. … Do we have an answer to why you have blithely ignored what we have said to you over this period of time?
Hoffman: We don’t believe that we have …
Lang: You didn’t answer my question. … Well I want an answer from somebody as to why 3,300 people were added to a program that we told you you could not have.
Hoffman: We believe that we have the authority to do so.
Lang: Then let me ask the second question again. Why did you come here at all?
Hoffman: We are prepared to be here in front of this group.
Lang: You are prepared to be here in front of this group. You will accept a good answer but not a bad one, is that correct?
Hoffman: We are prepared to discuss and respond to questions.
Lang: Fine, thank you.
Blagojevich’s chief policy objective is universal health care. Last year his efforts consumed the entire legislative session, and they helped create today’s logjam. Additional background on this story is here, here and here.
This logjam, in part, was created by Blagojevich’s apparent inability to concede defeat. In today’s committee, the bipartisan panel of lawmakers had a choice to make.
a) Convince 8 of the 12 members to stop the governor from administering a program that never received legislative approval, with questions about how it would be funded and how much money it would cost.
b) Let the program pass through for the sake of working families who desperately need healthcare.
Few lawmakers do not want to see everyone have access to health care and be able to have health care insurance coverage. Blagojevich, somewhat skillfully, has put lawmakers in a tough position, because a legislator who votes to preserve procedure, in this case, casts a vote against health care.
The committee on Tuesday rejected the governor’s plan.
It is hard to imagine how lawmakers and the governor will be able to have a real conversation when dialogue is this unproductive.
UPDATE 1
The SJ-R has a news story:
For the second time since last fall, a legislative panel threw a wrench Tuesday into Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to expand health-care access to 147,000 Illinoisans — an initiative he enacted even though lawmakers never approved it.
Later Tuesday, two Democratic members of the Illinois House unveiled legislation that they said would accomplish what the Democratic governor has said he wants to do by making more people eligible for the Family Care program. The legislation is House Bill 6297, sponsored by Reps. David Miller of Lynwood and John Fritchey of Chicago.
The developments were the latest in a months-long skirmish between the Blagojevich administration and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a bipartisan panel consisting of 12 state senators and representatives. Miller and Fritchey serve on JCAR.
