Posts filed under 'Michael Madigan'
August 8th, 2008
Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, set out to help people.
He sponsored a bill requiring health insurance policies to continue providing coverage to dependent, full-time college students who must leave school or reduce their classload to part-time because of a catastrophic illness or injury. His fellow lawmakers approved that plan overwhelmingly; the House voted 105-3 and the Senate voted 56-1, sending the measure to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s desk.
Little did Jefferson know that his bill might amount to nothing more than ammunition in Blagojevich’s political war with House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Now Jefferson is staring at a bill that may be dead. And if it’s dead, he will need to start all over again by re-introducing it and maneuvering it through the legislative process all over again.
What did Blagojevich accomplish in hijacking and possibly killing Jefferson’s bill? He took a swipe at Madigan and other House Democrats. He won a day of favorable publicity. And that’s that.
So much for Jefferson trying to help people.
On Wednesday, Blagojevich vetoed Jefferson’s bill to add language giving parents the option of keeping their children on their private health plan until they turn 26 — or, in the case of veterans, the age of 30.
That may sound like a well-intentioned initiative from the governor. But the fact is that lawmakers — both Republicans and Democrats — are tired of Blagojevich attempting to force his will upon them.
Blagojevich, notorious for his absence from Springfield while lawmakers are in session, didn’t bother attempting to maneuver his initiative through the legislative process. Instead, he hijacked a bill sponsored by somebody who had already done that work.
Oh, and that person — Jefferson — just happened to be a Madigan surrogate.
Jefferson told the Register Star: “Whatever feud might be going on between Speaker Madigan and the governor, I’m not a part of that. And I don’t think that you need to make me a part of that by hijacking one of my bills.”
But Jefferson is a member of Madigan’s exclusive leadership team. That means he joins high-level meetings not attended by other House Democrats. And it means he’s under additional pressure to act in lockstep with Madigan — particularly when it counts, like when Madigan is waging a political war with the governor. In Blagojevich’s view, Jefferson is very much a Madigan guy.
It’s no accident that Blagojevich targeted one of Jefferson’s bills.
And if there was any doubt that Blagojevich had escalated the war by personally attacking Madigan’s closest allies, any such doubt was removed Friday morning when Blagojevich used an appearance at the State Fair to verbally attack Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield, for helping Madigan engineer the defeat of Blagojevich’s capital plan. Hannig is one of Madigan’s top lieutenants.
In 2007, Blagojevich’s administration canned the wife of Tim Mapes, Madigan’s trusted chief of staff.
There’s a chance that lawmakers could vote to override the governor’s veto of Jefferson’s bill, thereby putting Jefferson’s bill — without the governor’s language — into law. But it’s not such a great chance. For as long as Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, continues to serve as Blagojevich’s ally in chief, then it’s unlikely Jones will allow the Senate to vote on an override.
Lawmakers are even less likely to vote to accept the governor’s changes.
If both chambers of the Legislature don’t agree on whether to accept or reject the governor’s changes, then the bill is dead.
Blagojevich certainly knew all of this when he decided to hijack Jefferson’s bill. He did it anyway.
Update 1
Wow, Blagojevich sure did rip into Gary Hannig, the Madigan lieutenant, at the State Fair today. The audio is here.
He also ripped a group of 10 House Democrats he labeled the “double-dippers” — 10 state lawmakers also on the City of Chicago or Cook County payroll.
Basically, the governor argued that these 10 people, who all enjoy two paychecks, are hypocrites for sticking with Madigan, who engineered the defeat of Blagojevich’s capital plan. Blagojevich says the capital plan would generate hundreds of thousands of jobs.
According to a Blagojevich spokeswoman, the 10 “double-dippers” are:
Rep. Edward Acevedo
Rep. Luis Arroyo
Rep. John Bradley
Rep. Annazette Collins
Rep. John D’Amico
Rep. Monique Davis
Rep. Deborah Graham
Rep. Joe Lyons
Rep. Susana Mendoza
Rep. Cynthia Soto
“There’s nothing more important than getting our economy going in Springfield, in Decatur, in Rockford, in Carbondale, in Danville — than investing in our infrastructure and putting people to work,” Blagojevich said.
“And we have the Republican leaders supporting the capital program. We have the Democrats in the Senate supporting the capital program. And Mike Madigan and 10 double-dipping Chicago Democrats who work for the City of Chicago full-time and then have part-time jobs as state reps killed the jobs bill that impacts people in downstate Illinois,” he said. “So if people feel there is this sense that some from Chicago don’t care about them, just look at that roll call and I can appreciate their frustration.”
Yep, it’s safe to say the political war is on.
July 17th, 2008
State lawmakers are back home today and are not scheduled to return to Springfield until after the Nov. 4 general election.
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| Dog in Pajamas, complements of spoilurpets.com |
It’s just me, a couple dozen other reporters, some legislative staff, secretaries and a bunch of security guards remaining at the Capitol. Once again, I can show up to work in my pajamas.
But my bliss in puffy slippers may not last long. With Gov. Rod “Madman” Blagojevich, House Speaker Michael “King of the Mountain” Madigan and Senate President Emil “I’m Powerful Too” Jones running the state government, it’s a safe bet we won’t have to wait long for the next drama in Springfield.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all with these characters, it gets even goofier. Yesterday, Blagojevich declared that he might send state troopers or even the National Guard into the neighborhoods of Chicago to help stem “out of control” violence. Only, Blagojevich hadn’t bothered to mention this to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley before mentioning it to rolling television cameras. As CapFax Blog noted, Blagojevich apparently just “blurted” it out.
By the time the House completed work Wednesday, its members had restored to the state budget more than $400 million in spending Blagojevich had cut. Only, Blagojevich said he cut that spending because there was inadequate revenue in the budget to support it, and the House didn’t bother voting for any additional revenue-raising plan to back up the additional spending.
Blagojevich’s people were quick to say the House had acted irresponsibly. Then again, Blagojevich cut just $1.4 billion from the budget after insisting it had a $2.1 billion hole. How did the governor plan to manage that other $700 million in spending for which he claimed there was no revenue? Who knows.
And in any case, Blagojevich has long lacked any credibility regarding budget numbers. It’s prudent to take everything the man says about the budget with a huge — I mean huge — grain of salt. Even as the state faced the worst general-fund deficit in the nation near the end of his first term, Blagojevich insisted it wasn’t possible for the state to have a deficit.
Oh, and remember how the governor tried to cut state funding for 4-H and other agricultural programs from the budget that ended June 30 because he claimed it had a $750 million hole? The governor agreed to restore funding for those programs when fellow Democrats in the Senate agreed to defeat a plan that would have allowed voters to recall Blagojevich from office. And though Blagojevich’s people had threatened to withhold nearly $400 million in payments for schools during the month of June to help close that budget gap, they released that money too.
How did the governor patch that $750 million hole? Who knows. Did such a hole even exist? Who knows.
If there’s another thing Blagojevich does not do well, it’s sit still with his mouth shut. Though Madigan engineered the defeat of the governor’s $34 billion capital plan by out-foxing him on the last day of spring session, Blagojevich is working feverishly to build public pressure to topple Madigan and push the plan through.
Blagojevich seldom misses an opportunity to promote his plan. Yesterday, when he offered to send troopers or troops into Chicago yesterday, he clumsily painted his capital plan as a means to quell violence in Chicago.
“The mayor can be a great help in this in getting the House Democratic leadership to pass that big capital program,” [Blagojevich] said.
That capital program would funnel millions into communities he says need money to fight crime in a comprehensive way.
It’s safe to assume Blagojevich will continue beating that drum. Perhaps he’ll go so far as to call lawmakers into special session. Who knows.
In the meantime, I’m getting cozy with flannel.
June 13th, 2008
If Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey has been anything toward state government leaders — even when they haven’t been Rockford’s friend — it’s diplomatic.
When unpopular Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to deep-six Morrissey’s chief legislative priority last spring, Morrissey had nary a critical word about Blagojevich. And though Rockford’s own state senator, Republican Dave Syverson, has for the second year in a row failed to advance Morrissey’s objectives in the Senate, Morrissey hasn’t offered much criticism about Syverson, either.
And so I was particularly surprised to see Morrissey join a recent staged event in Rockford dedicated to bashing House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. From Chuck Sweeny’s column:
Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen said Madigan was stifling democracy and demanded, “Mr. Speaker, pass the (word I can’t use) bill.” Mayor Larry Morrissey, not to be outdone by the county, said maybe it’s time for voters to change the state’s rules by having a constitutional convention, something they’ll be asked on the Nov. 4 ballot.
“Who here voted for Mike Madigan?” the mayor shouted. “I’m angry, I’m (word I can’t use) off.”
It’s true that voters in Rockford did not elect Madigan. Voters in Madigan’s district on the southwest side of Chicago elected him to the House. Other Democratic representatives — including Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford — elected him speaker of their chamber.
It’s also true that Madigan quashed a recent plan for a new statewide capital construction plan — a plan backed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the state’s other three legislative leaders. The plan could have meant more than $100 million in funding for local infrastructure projects.
In a news conference Saturday night, Madigan said he supports a new capital plan. But he said Blagojevich — his fellow Democrat and political adversary — must first modify his governing style.
He also undercut plans to expand gambling and lease the state lottery — two ways in which supporters of the defeated plan hoped to raise money to support it. Madigan prefers an income tax hike.
“It’s the fairest tax. If you make money, you pay the tax. If you don’t, you don’t pay the tax,” he said, adding he was not actually proposing an income tax hike.
But it’s also true that Madigan has arguably sent more state dollars to Rockford than any other legislator — including Jefferson, Syverson and former Rep. Doug Scott, D-Rockford — since Rep. Zeke Giorgi, the city’s last great Springfield mover and shaker, died in 1993.
In 2002, Madigan secured $14.5 million in grants for Rockford, including $3.9 million for MetroCentre improvements, $3 million for water-main extensions and $2.5 million for two additional levels to the Pioneer parking deck. The money was part of $1.6 billion that former Gov. George Ryan and legislative leaders set aside to cement support for Ryan’s Illinois FIRST capital program.
As Sweeny noted in his column, Zeke was a Madigan mentor, and Madigan has always had a certain affection for Rockford. To this day, Madigan has framed photos of Zeke and Zeke’s family in his sparsely decorated Statehouse office. He has a conference room named after Zeke.
Over the last two years, Madigan has consistently gone out of his way to support Rockford initiatives sponsored by Jefferson, who last spring became a member of Madigan’s exclusive leadership team. Morrissey’s office didn’t get its anti-truancy plan — one of the mayor’s chief legislative initiative — to legislators until late April, a little more than a month before the end of spring session. But Madigan’s staff worked with Jefferson to twice maneuver Morrissey’s plan through the House before session ended.
Madigan’s staff also was instrumental in winning approval of Morrissey’s top priority last spring — a change in state law that allowed Rockford to impose an extra 1-percentage-point sales tax six months earlier than law otherwise would have allowed. When Blagojevich vetoed Morrissey’s expedited sales tax plan, Madigan’s staff was again key to winning the Legislature’s override of Blagojevich’s veto.
Madigan helped Morrissey even though Morrissey, running as an independent, ousted Madigan’s ally — Democrat Doug Scott — from the mayor’s office in 2005.
Jefferson is a well-intentioned legislator. And over the last two years, he was worked to assert a higher profile for himself. But without Madigan’s staff, I’m not sure either of these Morrissey initiatives would have advanced, given the considerable obstacles they faced.
Morrissey has said much over the last two years about his desire to hire a lobbyist in Springfield. But Rockford already has a virtual lobbyist: Michael Cassidy, a Madigan staffer who works closely with Jefferson and, by extension, Morrissey and his staff. Cassidy has coached Jefferson on everything from drafting to passing bills. And when Morrissey and his staff have worked to press their agenda, Cassidy coached them too.
Madigan killed the capital plan in the course of his ongoing feud with Blagojevich, whose stature has crumbled under a federal probe of his administration. Call Madigan’s move on the capital plan what you will — irresponsible, petty, vindictive. But it is what it is. Madigan isn’t budging.
Madigan withstood pressure from Blagojevich and every other legislative leader, not to mention members of his own caucus, and he killed the capital program anyway. His determination to undermine Blagojevich trumps other political and practical considerations. Did Morrissey, Christiansen and others at the “bash Madigan” event in Rockford truly think they would muster the pressure necessary to finally break Madigan?
Madigan is famous for his attention to detail. I’d bet it’s safe to say he has already taken notice of Morrissey’s “bash Madigan” remarks. I’m eager to see how much Madigan helps Morrissey now.
UPDATE 1
Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, authors a weekly column that he distributes to local newspapers. Here’s the relevant portion of last week’s column:
What a gutsy lady. Though I often disagree with Representative Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) on issues she brings before the House, she hit the nail on the head last Saturday evening at about 10:30. Ms. Hamos expressed her anger and disgust on the House floor (and on the record) as she chastised Speaker Michael Madigan for refusing to allow our $31 billion capital jobs and infrastructure plan from moving forward. The bill passed out of the Senate with bi-partisan support, but was manipulated in the House and killed with procedural maneuvering by the Speaker’s leadership team.
Ms. Hamos stated for all to hear that Speaker Madigan didn’t want this Governor traveling the state for the next two years cutting ribbons and accepting accolades. What a shame. 700,000 jobs – good jobs repairing and building roads, bridges and schools – lost; at least for now. Northwest Illinois stood to benefit greatly as did every part of our state.
Former U. S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, a Republican, and former Congressman and current Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard, a Democrat, had been traveling the state garnering support for a capital jobs bill at the Governor’s request. You could literally feel the excitement building as the bill passed out of the Senate Saturday afternoon. The Governor himself worked very hard for the bill’s passage. Sadly, many of us recognized early on that the Speaker would come up with some maneuver to prevent it from passing the House.
The Speaker’s excuse is that he believes the funding mechanism is not correct. He says there should be some “pain” involved. (Translation: he wants an income tax increase). He also has said that you can’t trust this Governor with that kind of money. Certainly the trust issue is significant. But is it significant enough to prevent the creation of 700,000 new jobs and to punish the 13 million people in this state without even trying to come to consensus? I personally think not and I believe most lawmakers agree with me.
The Governor was on the floor with us Saturday night talking with individual members about the capital bill. From my seat, which is literally in the first row right in front of the podium, I was able to watch what appeared to be a cordial exchange between the Governor and Speaker Madigan. I’m told, however, that it was anything but cordial. The Speaker’s press secretary, Steve Brown, said “The speaker, based on his experience, has determined that meetings with this Governor are not a productive use of his time.” What a shame. Isn’t it time to move this state forward?
UPDATE 2
Blasts from the past …
During Morrissey’s 2005 campaign to unseat Scott, both Blagojevich and Madigan worked to save Scott and defeat Morrissey.
Blagojevich said access for Scott is, in fact, a matter of friendship. He said he’d “like to think” that he’d take phone calls from the Rockford mayor regardless of his or her party affiliation, but that the nature of his “close, personal relationship” to Scott means phone calls get answered on the fly.
“If my brother calls, I get that call directly. When Doug calls, I get that call directly,” Blagojevich said. “A lot of other calls, you tend to get it on a sheet at the end of the day.”
Madigan, who also is chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, was less diplomatic. He implied the absence of Scott would be Rockford’s loss.
“He’s got a personal relationship with me,” Madigan said. “So when he calls, I take his call. If I get a call from the mayor of Peoria, I may not take it; I may not return it. I don’t even know who he is, the mayor of Peoria.”
Later that year, Morrissey made his Capitol lobbying debut.
As he departed the Capitol Thursday, Morrissey brushed aside a question about whether tension underscored his meetings with Blagojevich and Madigan.
“What we’ve got are two professionals who want to get progress done,” he said. “They understand that the mayor of the city of Rockford, no matter who it is, is the leader of a region of close to 300,000 people. They recognize that. Plus, Speaker Madigan is a Notre Dame guy, so we had that in common.”
June 11th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich will try once again today to kickstart talk about correcting a budget plan that he says is $2.1 billion out of balance. At 10:30 a.m., Blagojevich plans to meet with legislative leaders in his Chicago office, just as he did in the first such meeting last week.
But just as he did last week, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is expected to skip today’s meeting and instead send a surrogate. So when Blagojevich takes he seat this morning at a table with legislative leaders, he won’t see the face of one man whose support probably is necessary to win approval of any budget change — a tax or fee increase, perhaps, or an expansion of gambling — that the others all may agree on.
For his part, Madigan is busy promoting the notion that lawmakers ought to consider impeaching Blagojevich. A memo Madigan sent to House Democratic candidates says, “Criminal activity in the Blagojevich administration is no longer
theoretical - it is proven.”
It also says, “Blagojevich is clearly not an innocent victim of circumstances,” and that, “One thing we learned from the George Ryan case is that we should excise a tumor when it is first discovered; not leave it in the body to continue to spread and do further harm.”
You read that right. The governor has now, in the eyes of the House speaker, been relegated to “a tumor.”
As governor, Blagojevich has the power to veto the budget and send it back to lawmakers for their reconsideration. But as I noted in a previous post, Blagojevich has not mustered the courage to so much as threaten to veto the budget or, for that matter, call lawmakers back to Springfield in special session. By calling a series of meetings with legislative leaders, Blagojevich may look as if he is pursuing solutions, but without actually using — or even threatening to use — the actual tools at his disposal as governor.
Then again, Blagojevich could not veto the out-of-balance budget plan even if he wanted to do so. Though the Senate and House both approved that budget, the presiding officers of those chambers — Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, and Madigan — have not yet transmitted that budget to the governor. The governor cannot act on bills that lawmakers have not sent to him for his formal consideration.
As the CapFax Blog noted on Tuesday, this conundrum puts Blagojevich squarely at odds with Jones, his chief ally in the Legislature. The budget consists of multiple bills. And because most of those bills originated in the Senate, Senate President Jones therefore is the first to decide when to release those bills to the governor. (Both Jones and Madigan ultimately must sign off on each bill.) Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer did not respond to my requests for comment on Tuesday.
Under the state Constitution, the Legislature has 30 days to transmit the budget to the governor. Since the core of the budget did not pass until May 31 — the last day of spring session — the Legislature may wait until June 30 to send Blagojevich the budget. That’s the last day of this fiscal year. If Blagojevich does not act on the budget by the following day, then this state will enter its new fiscal year without a budget. If there still is no budget a couple weeks later, state workers will start missing their paychecks. Schools could miss out on their state money. And so on.
If the Legislature waits until late June to send Blagojevich the budget, he will face tremendous political pressure to approve it in full or make only limited cuts, rather than vetoing it in full. If vetoes the entire budget anyway, there is no telling when the state might have something resembling another budget. The political complications would be numerous.
For starters, lawmakers need a three-fifths majority to approve any budget at this point. That requires Republican votes — the same Republicans shut out of negotiations leading to the budget that passed May 31. Republicans would have lots of catching up to do, to say the least.
Jones may have another reason to avoid a summer session: If the Senate is in session for just a few days this summer, then pay raises will automatically kick in for Jones and other senators because Jones and fellow Democratic leaders refused to allow senators to vote on whether to reject that pay raise.
Lawmakers have just 30 days to act on the pay raise recommended by an obscure commission, or it automatically becomes law. The House has already voted to reject the raise; now it’s up to the Senate. Jones may prefer for the pay raise to kick in after the Nov. 4 general election. But to suspend the 30-day clock until then, the Senate must avoid session days.
For his part, Blagojevich also has reason to avoid a summertime session. The longer lawmakers are sitting idle in Springfield, as they did for much of last summer, the more likely they are to talk about impeaching the embattled Blagojevich.
Madigan is doing his part to fuel talk of impeachment. He said recently that his legal counsel had already researched the law on impeachment and he noted it takes just 60 votes in the House, a 118-member chamber, to impeach the governor. He also distributed a 14-page memo with talking points on impeachment to House Democratic candidates, according to news reports published Tuesday.
A Madigan aide said the document is not necessarily reflective of the speaker’s personal views but was prepared by House Democratic campaign staff.
“Candidates get incessant questions from the media about the impeachment process. Some asked staff if they could have background and information,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
Blagojevich responded:
“This is another example of the pettiness, silliness and backroom games that Speaker Madigan has been playing for months to prevent progress,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. “We wish he would drop his behind-the-scenes maneuvering and come to the [legislative] leaders’ meetings.”
The full memo is here. If you’ve got 10 minutes, it’s well worth a read:
The list of Blagojevich’s malfeasance and inability to govern grows with every passing
day. It is not simply his legal problems that brought him to where he is today. These are
not stray, isolated incidents, but rather taken together they represent a clear pattern of
behavior and demonstrate Blagojevich’s consistently poor judgment and third-class
temperament. Time and again Blagojevich has been tested and found wanting.
From there, the memo lists precisely 30 examples of Blagojevich’s alleged “malfeasance and inability to govern.”
More to the point, it lists three reasons for the House to launch an impeachment investigation:
1. The ongoing federal criminal investigations of his administration,
including his role as Public Official A, have significantly impaired his
ability to do his job as governor. With Ali Atta’s guilty plea, the governor
has been directly implicated in a bribes-for-jobs scheme - the latest
revelation of malfeasance in the governor’s office. The conviction of Tony
Rezko on 16 or 24 federal corruption counts related to Blagojevich
administration activities also suggests something is seriously amiss. Using
common sense, and the totality of what has been learned so far about these
investigations, prudence demands that lawmakers act. Already, six
individuals associated with his administration have pled or been found
guilty of federal criminal charges in connection with their roles in corrupt
activities. Criminal activity in the Blagojevich administration is no longer
theoretical - it is proven.
Blagojevich is clearly not an innocent victim of circumstances.
Legislators have a responsibility to do what is in the best interests of the
state and not depend on the federal government to save us. One thing we
learned from the George Ryan case is that we should excise a tumor when
it is first discovered; not leave it in the body to continue to spread and do
further harm.
2. Blagojevich’s violation of his oath of office by repeatedly attempting to
operate outside of the Illinois constitution and state law - expanding
FamilyCare beyond the limit authorized by the General Assembly,
spending money absent express statutory authority, failing to comply with
AG ruling that federal subpoenas are subject to FOIA, and a gross abuse
of the constitution’s special session power - using special session as a
blunt force instrument for dealing with the General Assembly and
attempting to force it to submit to his will - rather than for deal with
emergency situations.
3. Finally, Blagojevich’s legal problems have clearly become a distraction
for the governor. He is largely withdrawn from the legislative process spending
most of his time hunkered down at home or in a political
campaign office in Ravenswood hiding from the public and refusing to
answer the media’s questions. Aside from an occasional meeting or event
appearance, he is not faithfully executing the duties of his office.
Blagojevich acts like an absentee governor - content to let his underlings
do as they wish. That’s not acceptable. We need an engaged governor
who wants to be the governor.
Governor Blagojevich’s inability to govern is the principal reason that the
state is in its current predicament and that stalemate is the order of the day
in Springfield. The first step to cleaning up the mess and getting the state
back on track may be to remove the governor from office. If the evidence
warrants it, we cannot afford to wait until 2010. That will be too late and
he will have had two-and-a-half years to do even more damage to the
state.
Yowsers.
June 10th, 2008
This couldn’t help matters between Madigan and Blago …
House Speaker Michael Madigan is circulating a memo to legislative candidates spelling out how they can discuss whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be impeached - with talking points that compare corruption under the governor to a tumor that must be removed.
The 14-page rundown of Blagojevich’s alleged “misdeeds and malfeasance” is sure to deepen the feud between the two Democrats and lend substance to talk of impeachment.
A memo sent to some House Democratic candidates, obtained Tuesday by the Associated Press, offers detailed talking points on the merits of impeachment.
“One thing we learned from the (imprisoned former Republican Gov.) George Ryan case is that we should excise a tumor when it is first discovered; not leave it in the body to continue to spread and do further harm,” the memo reads.
June 5th, 2008
Gov. Blagojevich insists there’s a $2.1 billion hole in the budget lawmakers approved on Saturday.
Yet, he has not vetoed — or even threatened to veto — that spending plan. Nor has he called — or threatened to call — lawmakers back to Springfield in special session, as he did repeatedly last year. Remember that circus?
So what gives?
First and foremost, Blagojevich is far more politically vulnerable this summer than he was last summer (if you can imagine that). The trial of Tony Rezko, Blagojevich’s former fundraiser and adviser, is now complete, with Rezko found guilty on 16 of 24 counts.
The feds clearly signaled during that trial, which lasted most of the spring, their keen interest in Blagojevich’s activities. Witness after witness testified about Rezko’s extraordinary influence over Blagojevich’s administration. Rezko hand-picked workers and advisers for the governor. Lon Monk, the governor’s former-chief-of-staff-turned-lobbyist, allegedly checked with Rezko before the governor’s office made decisions.
Oh yeah, and there was that pair of $25,000 donationsAli Ata made to Blagojevich just as Blagojevich gave Ata a high-ranking state post.
Meanwhile, certain House Democrats are clamoring to begin impeachmentproceedings against the wounded governor. House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, coyly acknowledged Saturday night that his legal counsel had already researched the law on impeachment. Madigan added that “60 votes” in the House is all it requires to impeach the governor.
It just so happens that the Illinois Constitution says lawmakers may consider three matters during a special session called by the governor — the subject of the governor’s order, “impeachments” and confirmation of appointments.
The Governor may convene the General Assembly or the
Senate alone in special session by a proclamation stating the
purpose of the session; and only business encompassed by such
purpose, together with any impeachments or confirmation of
appointments shall be transacted.
Throw into that mix the fact that lawmakers now need a three-fifthsmajority to modify their existing budget plan or approve a new one, making any budget deal far more complicated than it would have been prior to May 31. If Blagojevich vetoes the budget, it could take weeks or months for lawmakers to put that budget back together. And if lawmakers spend weeks of months wrestling through another summertime session, chances are good that they will talk seriously about impeachment.
Blagojevich, at least at this juncture, does not appear willing to go there.
And then there’s the political interest of Blagojevich’s ally, Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago.
Salary increases recommended by an independent board automatically take effect unless they’re voted down by both houses of the General Assembly, which didn’t happen before legislators adjourned for the spring Saturday night. […]
Those increases would raise the basic salary of a state representative and senator more than $7,000 a year to nearly $73,000. Legislative leaders’ compensation would top $100,000, and the governor’s salary would rise $20,000 to $190,000.
The House voted to reject the raises. The Senate never acted, and Senate President Emil Jones has made remarks supporting the additional money. […]
There’s still time for senators to reject the newest recommendation. Lawmakers have 30 session days to act, and four days remain before that deadline.
In other words, senators may need to spend just four more days in Springfield, and their raise automatically goes into effect. (I must note that there is considerable debate about when this 30-day clock expires; there’s even debate over when the clock started ticking. The AP’s “four days” conclusion is just one interpretation I encountered.)
Jones and his Senate Dems likely do not want to be hanging around in Springfield, fighting their way through another budget that they failed to balance during the regular spring session, even as their pay raise becomes effective simply because they refused to vote on whether to reject the raise.
By refusing to call special sessions, Blago can help Jones by pre-empting such a political pickle. If there are no special sessions this summer, the raise won’t go into effect until after the Nov. 4 general election.
You might say Blago is in a bind.
May 9th, 2008
Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, recently made what struck me as a remarkable observation about the politics of race and leadership in the General Assembly. In response, Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, provided some insight into how he sees those powerful, yet delicate, dynamics.
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| Jefferson |
I was talking to Winters about the status of Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey’s truancy agenda — sponsored by Jefferson — and he said he was confident that Jefferson could garner Senate President Emil Jones Jr.’s support for Morrissey’s plan once it clears the House and lands in the Senate.
I’m no expert on Jefferson’s relationship with Jones, I told Winters, but I wouldn’t think Jefferson would necessarily have the inside track to Jones. Last spring, Jefferson joined House Speaker Michael Madigan’s leadership team. Jones and Madigan, both Chicago Democrats, are feuding. So my first assumption would be that Jones would view Jefferson as a Madigan surrogate and would therefore be hostile toward him, I told Winters.
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| Winters |
“I would assume that he is not seen as Madigan’s guy as much as he is the Black Caucus guy,” Winters responded. “Emil probably has very good relations with the Black Caucus.”
Members of the House Black Caucus — the collection of African-American state representatives, all Democrats — pick three members of Madigan’s exclusive leadership team. Last spring, they picked Jefferson for one of those three seats.
Like Jefferson, Jones also is black.
“Blood is stronger than water,” Winters said.
Jefferson disagreed with Winters’ interpretation. In fact, Jefferson suggested the sentiment may be just the opposite of what Winters suggested — that perhaps Jones is disappointed in black House members for following Madigan’s lead.
“Jones has some animosity toward the House members as it relates to the Black Caucus because we are under Mike Madigan’s reign,” Jefferson said.
“Well, he’s the speaker of the House. That’s who we supposedly follow. (Jones is) upset sometimes that maybe we don’t follow his lead the way he feels we should. And that’s OK. That’s his perception of the situation. Just like Emil holds his members accountable, we’re accountable to Mike Madigan. And because we’re accountable to Mike Madigan, it doesn’t get us favoritism with the president of the Senate.”
Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer declined to comment.
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| Jones |
“(Jones) views that sometimes it’s maybe not (the House Black Caucus) being in his corner as it relates to a lot of things. Well, that’s not the case,” Jefferson said.
“If we’ve got to pick an issue, we’re probably going to be more supportive of the House issue, under Mike Madigan’s reign, than we would under his leadership as president of the Senate. I don’t think we’re enemies. But I don’t think that I can get anything done (in the Senate) any sooner than (Sen.) Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) in the Senate. If anyone is going to champion a bill, I’d certainly want to go and talk to President Jones about the bill. But I think that we need to pick it up on that side with Sen. Syverson to make sure he’s doing everything.”
Jefferson concluded, “We need to be able to cut across party lines. And the fact that I’m black and Emil is black, I don’t think carries a lot of weight with Emil at this point in time.”
April 14th, 2008
It’s the greatest of perennial questions at the Illinois Capitol: What’s Mike Madigan Up To?
He is the Capitol sage, a man widely regarded for political acumen but difficult if not impossible to read. So it goes that last week when Madigan antagonized House Republicans, Capitol insiders found themselves again asking themselves and each other this question.
The speaker’s strategy over the last week doesn’t make sense on the surface. It doesn’t seem rational. Here we are, less than two months from the formal May 31 end of session, and Madigan and other state leaders have not even a basic framework for the next state budget. Yet Madigan acts to divide the parties in his own chamber — thereby making the prospect of a budget deal even more elusive.
He is already facing off with Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones Jr., his fellow Chicago Democrats, and now he is poised to fight House Republicans too. Is he yearning for a long, ugly summertime session — just like the one last year, only worse? It’s one thing to relish a good fight. It’s quite another to invite additional opponents into the fight against yourself.
Theories on Madigan’s motives abound among political insiders: Perhaps he is trying to supercharge the Democratic base in advance on the Nov. 4 general election. Perhaps he is trying to whip the House Republicans into line. Perhaps, amid a toxic political climate, he is getting paranoid.
It’s not clear when we’ll know what Madigan is up to, or when the mess is Springfield might work itself out. But I’ll do my best to sort through some of the variables at play, and maybe, just maybe, I can put some of this chaos into order:
- The Obama factor. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama may appear light years away from his days in the Illinois Senate, but as a candidate for president he may do much to shape the politics of Illinois this year. If the ultra-popular Obama leads the Democratic ticket in the November general election, he could pull other Democratic candidates upward. In other words, Democratic and independent Illinois voters likely will turn out in droves to vote for Obama, if he is the Democratic presidential nominee, and in doing so they are more likely to support other Dems on the ballot. And that means the Dems controlling Springfield may have substantial wiggle room this year. They may be able to take risks — such as a brutal, intra-party, summer-long fight over the budget — and not suffer losses in the November general election.
- The Rezko Factor. Tony Rezko, a former top fundraiser and adviser to Blagojevich, in on trial for allegedly using his insider clout to shake down firms seeking business with the state. As I noted in my Saturday column, Blagojevich has been MIA for much of the last two years as the feds closed in on his inner circle. (Chris Kelly, another former top Blagojevich fundraiser and adviser, also is under indictment on federal tax-related charges.) If Rezko is convicted, pressure will build on Rezko and Kelly to share with the feds any dirt they have on Blagojevich, who has already been named as “Public Official A” in the Rezko case. I would expect Blagojevich to head even deeper underground; he won’t want exposure to rank-and-file lawmakers, the public or the media. If Rezko is acquitted, Blagojevich could feel emboldened and be much more enthusiastic about a high-profile fight at the Capitol.
- Madigan v. Jones. The intensity and sincerity of the animosity between Madigan and Jones cannot be exaggerated. These two men are locked in a political battle of the titans — a brawl dominating state government matters large and small.
- Jones & Blagojevich. At least until further notice, Jones is in lockstep with Blagojevich.
- More cash to spend. If Madigan and Jones agree on anything, it’s that they both have expressed support for income tax hike to generate more state revenue. Jones is a longstanding proponent of a tax hike to help public schools with more state money. Last spring, Madigan kicked off the spring session by saying it was time for the state to take responsibility for its pension debt and other fiscal problems (you can’t pay off this debt without raising more money). Last summer, he went a step further by actually suggesting an income tax hike.
- Blago’s tax-hike pledge. Blagojevich continues to insist he won’t raise taxes on “people.” His no-tax-hike pledge, in fact, is the pledge from his races in 2002 and 2006 that he has most often repeated. Only, he violated that pledge by approving a sales tax hike for the Chicago-area early this spring, as part of an effort to bail out mass transit systems. Will he now support an income tax hike?
- Supermajority after May 31. The formal end of spring session is May 31. After that, lawmakers must produce a three-fifths majority to approve any bill with an effective date prior to the following June 1. A budget for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1, obviously must be effective before then. Passing a budget after May 31, therefore requires a three-fifths majority. It is not possible to achieve a supermajority in the House without at least four Republican votes, and that’s assuming every one of the 67 Democrats in the chamber sticks together. Jones does have a supermajority in the Senate, but he failed repeatedly to keep his own members together last year. Even with his supermajority, Jones failed to steamroll Senate Republicans when it really mattered.
Now, back to the question of what Madigan is up to. What if he is three steps ahead of everybody else at the Capitol, as he is so often said to be? What if he is acting in accordance with a rational plan to advance his political objectives?
All of the conventional theories of Madigan’s motives assume he will continue his fight with Blagojevich and Jones. They discount the possibility of the three Democrats making a deal.
Is it possible that Madigan is trying to signal to Jones that he is prepared to make a deal, perhaps on a tax hike, by pushing the Republicans away? It’s a radical theory, but I’ve certainly crazier ones.
Madigan, Jones and Blagojevich could make a budget deal by May 31, and approve it without a single Republican vote. Come June 1, they do need Republican support, and it’s anybody’s guess what that might mean — particularly if the parties are divided in both chambers.
Then again, the lines of communication between Madigan and Jones, just as between Madigan and Blagojevich, and now between Madigan and House GOP Leader Tom Cross, are dead, sources say. Any deal among the Dems appears a long way off, at best.
And the summer fast approaches.
Last summer, work at the Capitol resembled the scene near the end of “Animal House”where frat guy Stork wanders into a parade, shoves aside a drum major, and then leads the marching band into a dead-end alley. The band members, still playing their instruments, march themselves into a wall, crushing each other.
Last summer, Blagojevich and lawmakers repeated this scene twice daily.
February 18th, 2008
A great pastime at the Capitol is speculating on the objectives and motives of House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Madigan seldom speaks in public and he generally is the last of state leaders to show his cards.
When he does show them, he tends to stake out a contrarian position. By positioning himself opposite other interests, he creates leverage to accomplish his goals — whatever they may be.
This spring session, Madigan was the first to show a card when he spread word last week that no major initiative will clear the House, the chamber that he controls, unless it contains language effectively pre-empting Gov. Rod Blagojevich from attaching rules elaborating on its thrust.
It’s uncanny for Madigan to announce such a radical position before the governor has a chance to set forth his own strategy Wednesday in his State of the State/budget address. Then again, Blagojevich and Madigan are great political adversaries. Together with Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a third Chicago Democrat allied with Blagojevich, the two last year faced off in a battle last so fierce that session literally dragged from the spring straight into this year.
But to truly understand the extraordinary nature of Madigan’s pre-emptive strike, you must consider the actual substance of his plan. By requiring all major bills to include language prohibiting the governor or his agencies from attaching administrative rules, the strategy could potentially shut down the legislative process.
In other words, Madigan has kicked off the session with a strategy that may do nothing but disrupt and delay the legislative process.
If Jones continues to side with Blagojevich through this session, he is unlikely to adopt Madigan’s strategy in the Senate. If the Senate rejects the strategy, and Madigan refuses to budge, it will be impossible for the two chambers to agree on legislation. And even if Jones does capitulate, and both the Senate and House do agree on legislation including the no-rules language, the governor could simply veto the language and send each bill back to lawmakers.
Lawmakers would then need to decide whether to override the governor. But I’m getting way ahead of myself here.
The bottom line is that Madigan does not often bluff. If he does bluff, he is not one to quickly go back on it.
Blagojevich and Jones, for their part, don’t tend to quickly swallow Madigan’s wishes.
UPDATE 1
Rep. Chuck Jefferson. D-Rockford, supports Madigan’s new strategy. Jefferson is a member of Madigan’s leadership team, so this is not surprising.
Jefferson echoed the speaker’s position, articulated last week by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, that the governor directly assaulted the Legislature when he declared that the body’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which reviews the governor’s administrative rules, lacks the power to reject his rules.
“I think it’s a good idea if in fact the governor is going to continue to try and pull the political maneuvers to undercut what JCAR is in place to do,” Jefferson said. “I think it’s to the governor’s advantage at this point, but he doesn’t seem to think so.”
UPDATE 2
Rockford GOP Sen. Dave Syverson also supports Madigan’s strategy, at least the concept, he said.
Syverson said state agencies have misinterpreted his bills when they write the rules, but he could not think of any examples. He said he is then forced to pass another bill to clarify the first legislation.
“I agree with the Speaker to the extent that we need to put more in there in regards to the major issues because the governor has taken more leeway to expand definitions … taking it way beyond what the intent was and we need to rein that in,” Syverson said.
“The House version may go too far but the what’s currently in place does not go far enough. There may be some room for compromise, which we hope we can do.”
UPDATE 3
In line with the House Republican party line, Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, disagrees with the House Democrats’ plan. He said rule-writing needs to be done by people with the expertise in that bill, such as those at the state agencies.
“I think the administrative rules should be written by the agencies that are to administer them,” Winters said, “not by a bunch of legislators who are not bureaucrats.”
