Everything At Once, Or Nothing At All

May 31st, 2008 at 06:30am Aaron Chambers

The powers that be of Illinois government do little in moderation, especially when it really counts.

Today, on the last day of spring session, they’re poised to do it all. They’re gearing up to pass not only a spending plan of roughly $60 billion for the next fiscal year, but also a $31 billion multi-year capital construction program.

Oh, and to help raise money to cover that spending, they may also approve a massive expansion of gambling and agree to lease the Illinois lottery to private investors.

The last day of session is a long, long day. Negotiations continue behind closed doors as lawmakers dart from committee to floor debate and back. Staff rush to put into writing conceptual agreements brokered by legislative leaders. Then they rush those budget plans back to rank-and-file lawmakers, who vote on them even as they attempt to read and understand them.

When voting is over — often just minutes before midnight — they party. They head to a nightclub near the Capitol, and dance, drink and eat until sunrise. Then they say goodbye and head home for the summer.

Or not.

The larger a budget agreement, the more complication it can be to move – with all its parts — through the Legislature in a way that satisfies lawmakers highly suspicious of each other.

If they can’t pull it off by midnight, the beast implodes. They need only a simple majority — 50 percent plus one vote — to approve most of the package by midnight. Democrats, who control both chambers of the Legislature, can advance their plan largely without a single Republican vote.

Once midnight strikes, they need a three-fifths majority. The Democrats can’t get that without the help of Republicans — the same Republicans they have, until this point, kept in the dark.

Entry Filed under: Illinois Republican Party, Illinois Budget, Illinois finance, Illinois politics