In Chambers
The judge will see you now. Step into Springfield Bureau Chief Aaron Chambers’ chambers for an insider’s view on Illinois politics and government. No, Chambers isn’t a real judge. At least not in the sense of wearing a robe, wielding a gavel and issuing orders. But like a good judge, Chambers tells it like it is. |
 |
Add comment June 30th, 2008
Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere, and other Republicans say that if Gov. Rod Blagojevich is going to cut spending from the state budget he says is more than $2 billion out of balance, then he ought to cut dollars earmarked for lawmaker pay raises.
Their letter is here.
3 comments June 26th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich today issued a statement to express his displeasure with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that individuals — folks unconnected with service in a militia — have the right to possess guns.
Only, the governor’s brief statement included at least two apparent typographical errors. It also was missing an apostrophe.
Can you find the errors? Here’s the governor’s statement:
Statement from Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich
On the Supreme Court Ruling on Gun-Control Law
CHICAGO – “I want express my extreme disappointment with the decision issued today by the Supreme Court. Every day, around the country, too many lives are lost to senseless gun violence. The Courts decision today will only add to the pain that parents, classmates and communities are forced to endure. It will also put more police officers at risk. I am an advocate for common sense gun laws. Gun laws that save lives, protect communities and offer greater safety protections for police officers. I look forward to working the Illinois General Assembly to provide additional protections for Illinois communities.”
Add comment June 26th, 2008
Gov. Blagojevich is on a fundraising tear, even as the floor drops out of state government and his popularity rating hovers near record lows.
Gov. Blagojevich has a major fund-raiser in Chicago on Thursday, in a big fund-raising week done with no transparency. On Monday, Blagojevich headlined a fund-raiser at the Hyatt on Wacker aimed at female donors. Labor leader Margaret Blackshere was the m.c.
Increasingly, Blagojevich has used his campaign fund to pay Chicago law firm Winston & Strawnfor legal representation. The feds are probing the governor’s hiring, contracting and fundraising practices, having just won the conviction of Tony Rezko, a top Blagojevich insider.
Add comment June 24th, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has scheduled an afternoon news conference regarding the budget plan for next fiscal year …
**Governor’s Public Schedule**
For Tuesday, June 24, 2008
CHICAGO – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will brief the media with an update on the status of the FY09 budget.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
WHAT: Gov Blagojevich holds media availability on FY09 budget.
WHEN: 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Governor’s Office
JRTC, 16th Floor100 W. Randolph Ave.
Chicago, IL 60601
The governor says that budget plan is more than $2 billion out of balance. But he has yet to say how he might rectify that plan. Will he finally take a stand?
UPDATE 1
From the AP …
Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to make a staggering $1.5 billion in cuts to the state budget lawmakers approved last month unless legislators step in with money to prevent them, The Associated Press has learned.
Blagojevich intends to detail the proposed cuts at a Tuesday afternoon news conference at his Chicago office.
The governor also will try to use the cuts to pressure the House to send him two ideas that would spare more than $1 billion in the proposed cuts, said an aide to the governor who did not want to be identified because the plans had not yet been publicly announced.
One would borrow $16 billion to free up $500 million now directed to the vastly underfunded pension systems, while the other would sweep $530 million out of state funds set aside for special purposes. The Senate approved both ideas in late May but they did not come up for a vote in the House.
Blagojevich does not plan to call lawmakers back into special session right away but will urge the House to come back to town soon to prevent the cuts that will start being felt when the new budget year begins next Tuesday.
Blagojevich will make the reductions if no new revenue is passed, the aide said.
UPDATE 2
From the governor’s news release …
A lack of additional revenue would mean:
o Significant reductions in staffing throughout State government at agencies such as Department of Natural Resources, Department of Human Services, Department of Corrections, and others.
o Increased workload for DCFS caseworkers.
o A $110 million reduction in education spending.
o Nearly $260 million in reductions to social services programs. Over 100,000 individuals would see a reduction in services or access to community health and prevention services; 21,000 individuals with developmental disabilities living in the community would face reductions in service; mental health services and programs for individuals with developmental disabilities would be reduced; rates for foster parents would not increase.
o A $257 million reduction to economic development and transit. More than 100,000 workers will not receive job-skills training, and state support for RTA fare subsidies for students and people with disabilities would be eliminated.
o More than $600 million in healthcare reductions. This includes a $530 million Medicaid reduction resulting in healthcare providers such as hospital and pharmacies waiting an additional 20 days for payment from the State, on top of the 70 days they already wait; 20,000 outpatients would not receive service at Oak Forest Hospital; and up to 10,000 uninsured residents who are unaware of their HIV status would not be identified and linked to healthcare.
o More than $106 million in reductions to services for seniors and Veterans. Expansion of the Elder Abuse Line would not be funded, despite a 25 percent increase in calls to the line since its inception. An additional 40 bed expansion at the LaSalle Veteran’s Home would not open.
Add comment June 23rd, 2008
Will the great flood of 2008 save Rod Blagojevich’s political career?
It’s doubtful, given the Illinois governor’s extreme unpopularity (his popularity rating neared 13 percent in recent months) and his ongoing troubles (continuing federal probe of his administration, talk about possible impeachment and his fundamental difficulty with managing state government).
But it’s clear that catastrophic flooding of Illinois communities was, for Blagojevich over the last week, the gift that kept on giving. Each day, the governor traveled to flood-ravaged scenes while his handlers focused on producing a steady stream of news releases highlighting the governor’s efforts.
From the AP …
When Gov. Rod Blagojevich stopped to visit volunteers filling sandbags to fight floodwaters threatening this Mississippi River town, the spotlight was not on impeachment. Or his ongoing feud with lawmakers. Or the conviction of his top political fundraiser.
Instead, the Democratic governor was greeted with smiles and handshakes — even by 25-year-old Quincy Republican Kent Voth, who took a break from shoveling sand to mug for a picture with Blagojevich.
“I’m glad he came,” Voth said.
Besides offering the governor a chance to show himself as a leader with his finger on the pulse of real concerns in Illinois, the flood was a great distraction last week from matters the governor would perhaps rather not focus on.
For starters, there’s that state budget plan the governor claims is more than $2 billion out of balance. The governor has done his best to make a big fuss about how he believes this budget plan is unconstitutional, but he has yet to say exactly what he might do to rectify the problem.
Will he veto the budget? Call lawmakers back into special session? He won’t say. The next fiscal year — a year for which this state does not have a budget — begins July 1.
The flood gave the governor a week off from that intensifying public conversation. He’s just a hard-working governor trying to make things right for the hard-working, regular people of Illinois, and not the least bit concerned about all that budget and impeachment talk, after all.
Today, the governor plans to continue his publicity tour:
EAST ALTON – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will sign a new law allowing Mississippi river counties to collect funds for emergency levee repair and flood prevention to provide immediate assistance to areas affected by recent flooding in Illinois.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
Mayor Don Sandidge
State Sen. Haine
State Sen. James Clayborne
State Rep. Jay Hoffman
State Rep. Dan Beiser
State Rep. Tom Holbrook
Alan Dunstan, Madison County Board Chairman
Mark Kern, St. Clair County Board ChairmanWHEN: 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Melvin Price Lock & Dam
1 Lock and Dam Way
East Alton, IL 62024
The flood also served as nifty cover for Blagojevich to skip a forum that Barack Obama sponsored on Friday to show support for his presidential bid from Democratic governors (like Blagojevich).
Obama’s people said they had in fact invited Blagojevich to attend (Blagojevich is Obama’s home-state governor), but it’s hard to imagine Obama and his people weren’t happy not to have Blagojevich sharing the stage with Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee. Obama must worry about the luster of his own spotlight.
1 comment June 18th, 2008
Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland today took another whack at the state’s dysfunctional Department of Healthcare and Family Services. For starters, Holland’s audit said the department was slow to provide its financial statements to auditors.
From his audit summary:
The Department did not provide the auditors with timely and accurate financial statements. Financial reporting matters were first brought to the Department’s attention on June 19, 2007. On May 27, 2008 the Department ultimately agreed with the accounting presentation recommended by the State Comptroller and the Office of the Auditor General.
The Department’s actions resulted in significant delays in the financial reporting process, were dilatory and were a disservice to the users of the State’s financial reports.
The Department made inappropriate payments of Workers’ Compensation Act claims from its appropriation for health care coverage. These payments totaled approximately $20 million.
The Department did not pay the fiscal year 2007 hospital improvement access payments on a timely basis. All fiscal year 2007 payments totaling $1.2 billion were paid on September 25, 2007.
The Department did not require Cook County to comply with an Intergovernmental Agreement that was executed between the Department and the County. Cook County owed the Department $10 million at June 30, 2007.
The Department did not exercise adequate internal control over voucher processing. A total of $1.6 million in 2008 medical services was paid from fiscal year 2007 appropriations. Further, an estimated $17.6 million in interest is owed to medical providers at June 30, 2007.
The Department did not pay interest on intercepted State income tax refunds. The Key Information System is not capable of automatically calculating interest on intercepted State income tax refunds.
Holland is on a roll.
Add comment June 17th, 2008
I recently told you about a major political fight over the re-appointment of former Chicago cop Salvador Diaz to the Prisoner Review Board, just as the board prepares to vote on whether to parole local cop killer Ted Bacino.
The State Journal-Register has much, much more today:
A collection of law enforcement and victims’ rights groups is decrying what they view as an effort to make the Illinois Prisoner Review Board more lenient.
In a letter sent to state senators and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the organizations say the “recent debacle” over reappointing a former Chicago police officer to the 15-member board shows that the process is becoming politicized.
“The incident was an absolutely unacceptable act of political manipulation and patronage that endangers the Illinois public and the political reputations of those pressured into supporting such an effort,” says the letter signed by 12 groups. “We ask your most sincere efforts to prevent patronage and political deal making from being used when it comes to the Prisoner Review Board.”
Sen. Rickey Hendon, a Chicago Democrat who led the fight to oust Diaz repeated his stock explanation that Diaz violated protocol by failing to ask Hendon for his blessing. He said his determination to remove Diaz from the parole board was not part of an effort on his part to steer the board leftward.
Hendon gave a similar explanation in 2005 when he worked to reject the nomination of consumer advocate Marty Cohen to the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates utilities. Hendon said Gov. Rod Blagojevich violated protocol by by not seeking his blessing for the Cohen appointment.
“Marty Cohen is not the only talent in this town,” bellowed Sen. Rickey Hendon, a Chicago Democrat who chairs a committee that, earlier Thursday, voted 7-0 against the nomination.
Hendon said his opposition was meant as a message to Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat who failed to consult with him before advancing Cohen’s name.
“Rod Blagojevich,” Hendon shouted on the Senate floor, “get your act together!”
Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat who teamed with Hendon to reject Cohen, said their effort had nothing to do with trying to protect ComEd by preventing one of the utility’s adversaries from joining the ICC — one of the greatest donors to Jones’ campaign fund.
Utilities contributed more than $1.3 million to the campaign funds of Illinois policymakers and candidates since the beginning of 2003, according to a report published in October by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a nonpartisan government watchdog.
The report said Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, took $219,400 of that money, making him the top recipient. It said ComEd parent company Exelon, together with its subsidiaries, lead the donors with $535,400 in contributions.
“No contributions that I receive impact the decisions that I make here,” Jones said after the Senate panel rejected Cohen.
More background on the Cohen fight is here and here.
After the Senate rejected Cohen, Blagojevich appointed former Rockford Mayor Charles Box to head the ICC, and the Senate confirmed him. Box promptly voted to rubber-stamp ComEd’s plan to procure power through reverse auctions — a plan that consumer advocates opposed. (The Legislature later abolished reverse auctions.)
Anyway, back the parole board.
Republicans, like prosecutors, believe Hendon and Jones are in fact trying to make the parole board more sensitive to the calls of prisoners seeking freedom.
“There’s no doubt the Senate Democrats want to remove law enforcement personnel (from the board),” said Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale. “They’re seen as too strict when it comes to parole.”
“I’ve heard that they are trying to remove all of the law enforcement people from the Prisoner Review Board,” said Sen. John Millner, R-Carol Stream. “From behind the scenes and people talking in back rooms, there’s (supposedly) not enough prisoners being released.”
Millner said he thought it inappropriate to oust the last former law enforcer from the board. At one time, there were three: Diaz, former Tazewell County Sheriff James Donahue and ex-Peoria Police Chief John Stenson.
Blagojevich didn’t reappoint Donahue, and Stenson’s reappointment was rejected by the Senate in 2007.
The Prisoner Review Board is expected to vote Thursday on Bacino’s request for parole.
2 comments 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.”
2 comments 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 politicalcampaign 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.
Add comment 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.
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | ||||||
