Article week of January 17th, 2007

Just as anticipated, the two leaders of the General Assembly, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Emil Jones, stuck to their own versions of what was best regarding the impending electric rate increases and nothing was passed last week to deal with the issue. The rate freeze legislation which passed the House was nothing more than a cruel hoax that never had any chance of being called for a vote in the Senate. The rate phase-in bill that was passed in the Senate was not called for a vote in the House even though Speaker Madigan allowed the phase-in bill to be passed out of committee to the House floor and even stated that he “planned” to call the phase-in bill for a vote in the House. Later in the week, when he was questioned as to why the phase-in bill was not being called for a vote, Madigan’s reply was, “the plans changed”.

Simple enough, right? The two leaders strongly believed that their version of what was best was the plan to follow. The fact that there are 275 other elected representatives (117 House members in addition to the Speaker and 58 other Senators in addition to Senate President Emil Jones) did not seem to make much of a difference. The way Springfield works is that these two men totally control all legislation that is called for a vote. They do so by controlling all committee assignments. This time, although there were many other possibilities for compromise on this issue, these two leaders dug their heels in and the people of the state were the losers as no legislation passed to deal with a problem that affects everyone.

I am hopeful that the stalemate and feud between House Speaker Madigan and Senate President Jones does not turn the 95th General Assembly into a “do-nothing” venture. This situation reminds me of the opening lines of the classic by Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times……” seems to be an appropriate description for the Democratic Party in Illinois. The recent election resulted in a veto-proof majority in the Senate for President Jones and Madigan picked up a seat to pad his comfortable majority in the House. In addition, Democratic Governor, Rod Blagojevich, was reelected. Democrats control the House, Senate and Governor’s office (I would say Governor’s mansion, but that’s a story for another time). So far, all they have been able to do is argue over a solution to this major problem.

In his speech last week when he was reelected as Speaker of the House, Madigan did specifically mention a couple of items that shed some light as to what he would like to see happen this session. First, he referred to a recent report that indicates Illinois has a debt of over $100 billion. He further indicated that he is ready to make tough decisions and take difficult action in order to deal with the reality of the budget problems we face here in Illinois. Many take this to mean that he is willing to talk about various revenue enhancements. He was careful not to specifically support an income or sales tax increase although many seem to believe that he was not taking those options off the table. However, keep in mind that the Governor has indicated that he will not support an income tax increase.

The other item that Madigan brought up was his intention to introduce legislation that would move the date of Illinois Primary Election in 2008 from March to February. His reasoning was that by the time the Illinois Primary takes place, often the Presidential election process is well underway and he feels Illinois would be more of a factor if our Primary was held sooner. He also specifically mentioned that Illinois could help give Barack Obama an early boost if he decides to run for President. I am interested to hear your thoughts on this proposal.

In his opening speech after being elected Senate President, Emil Jones stated that he feels very strongly that this is the year that the State should deal with school funding reform. He feels that it is very important that Illinois close the spending gap between the wealthy schools and poor schools. Of course, to accomplish that, a large increase in the per pupil foundation level would be necessary and we would need to find a large revenue stream to accomplish this goal.

Will the two leaders get together in these issues? Will the Governor agree with them? Time will tell. There will also be plenty of other items to consider. The important thing is that we are able to work to solve problems in a bi-partisan manner regarding issues that are important to Illinois and not witness a stalemate between leaders with differing agendas.

One controversial issue that is getting some early attention is the proposed state-wide smoking ban that Senator Cullerton has introduced. A couple of years ago, legislation passed that allows local municipalities and county governments to ban smoking in indoor establishments. Many localities have passed ordinances to prohibit smoking. Now, Senator Cullerton wants the State of Illinois to pass legislation that would ban indoor smoking everywhere in Illinois. I am interested in your input regarding this proposal,

Last week, I mentioned a project that sees to change some of what is wrong with State government by getting the people involved in their government again. The project, called the Democracy Project, would require bills to be posted for a certain length of time prior to any final vote. It would allow the people to once again become a factor in the process. Once again, I would ask that you go to www.showus.org and read the important information on that site and sign up to help. It will take thousands of concerned citizens in order to get this accomplished. Share this site with friends and acquaintances all over Illinois. Urge them to go to the site, read about the initiative and sign up.

If you have thoughts to share with me regarding any issue, contact me at either P.O. Box 125, Hutsonville, IL 62433 or 234-N, Stratton office Building, Springfield, IL 62706. or you can also e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com. I will also keep you updated on my web site: www.peopleforeddy.com