* From my syndicated column this week…
The toxic combination of an overabundance of testosterone and fragile male egos seems to be contaminating everything it touches during the Illinois General Assembly’s overtime session.
More issues were added last week to the large pile of bills being held hostage to the never-ending feud between House Speaker Michael Madigan on one side and Senate President Emil Jones and Gov. Rod Blagojevich on the other.
The legislation designed to ease phone company AT&T’s entrance into the cable TV marketplace reportedly has stalled in the Senate. The bill passed the House unanimously and has strong bipartisan support in the Senate, but it apparently has hit an ego snag.
* The Southtown’s editorial board had this to say about the troubles with the cable bill…
But late in the week, passage of the bill did not appear to be a sure thing. And according to Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax, ego apparently was the reason. The personality clash between Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Mike Madigan, which has played a major role in producing a most ineffective legislative session, is responsible for souring the cable bill for now.
According to Miller, Jones may be irritated at the credit being handed out to Madigan and his daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, for their roles in crafting this important piece of legislation. Jones also is upset by a provision that give the attorney general more oversight of the cable industry.
We hope that this latest snit is just a small bump in the road and the Senate promptly advances the bill and sends it on to Gov. Rod Blagojevich for his signature. Adults should stop acting like kids in Springfield, forget about who’s being handed gold stars by the teacher and get on with the important issues at hand.
* Aaron Chambers adds another issue to the huge pile of bills held up by the Great Ego Snag of 2007…
In late May, lawmakers authorized the allocation of $1.2 billion to pay the hospitals. Both chambers of the Legislature approved it more than a week ago, but they have not transmitted the bill to Gov. Rod Blagojevich for consideration.
That’s where the political gamesmanship comes in.
Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, must certify that passage of the bill “met all procedural requirements for passage” before it moves to the governor. Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer said it’s up to Madigan to certify it first.
“We’re continuing our review of it, so that’s why it hasn’t moved along,” said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown.
A big reason this bill has stalled is that the legislative leaders are afraid that Blagojevich will hold a splashy press conference to announce that he is vetoing out the pay raise component.
* Kristen McQueary makes an excellent point about that pay raise provision…
Had lawmakers approved a modest cost of living adjustment of, perhaps, 2.5 percent (the 2006 COLA), I wouldn’t be whining. But after years of patting themselves on the back for rejecting automatic raises, they gave themselves retroactive pay hikes. Retroactive.
* Finke on obstinance…
Remember the gross-receipts tax, Blagojevich’s cure-all for a massive expansion of state spending? Remember how it went down 107-0 in the House? Remember how it’s never come up for a vote in the Senate because most observers think it would go down in flames there, too?
Guess what? Blagojevich still brings up the GRT during budget talks. We mention that just in case you’re wondering why the budget talks are going nowhere fast.
* And, finally, our quote of the week…
“We’re going to be here till November. We might as well get it right.” - State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives during a discussion on whether a particular piece of legislation should be revised before coming up for a vote.
Thoughts?
LIVE session coverage...
- fedup dem - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 1:24 pm:
I had always thought The Three Stooges were funny. Oh, that’s right. Those Stooges were Moe, Laary and Curly. These Stooges are Mike, Rod and Emil, and they are not being funny at all!
- bored now - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 1:29 pm:
wrt the qotw: perhaps the illinois legislature ought to consider making themselves a full-time job and give up the pretense that it can accomplish it’s goals in a spring session. going full time might lesson some of the conflicts of interests legislators bring to the job, as well…
- steve schnorf - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 1:34 pm:
I don’t want to be argumentative, but I’m not sure the GA rejected its pay raises over the past 4 years.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 1:36 pm:
Steve, that’s why the raises are retroactive. They were rejected in the past.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 1:41 pm:
“According to Miller,”‘…Jones also is upset by a provision that will give the attorney general more oversight of the cable industry.’
God forbid the AG has more statutory authority to protect Illinois consumers against the cable industry.
I guess Emil has now sold-out to the cable industry as well.
He’s thrown his own members (Munoz, Forby, Viverito, all SDem freshmen) under the bus; sold out to the cable and electric utility industries; failed to call ethics reform and education funding reform legislation; sold-out to Blago; claims to have no knowledge of all of the contracts, pay raises and state business his family members keep getting; claims that he didn’t know about a little nugget burried in a bill that would transfer a percentage of new gaming revenue to Chicago State University (which would probably fund more “leadership cruises” for the university’s president); wants to give his buddies the Shaw Brothers their own casino; and I’m sure there’s more that I’m missing.
Now he’s apparently sitting on a bill because he thinks (according to Miller) that the Speaker is getting too much credit for it?
Two words: President Cullerton.
- steve schnorf - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 1:52 pm:
Rich, I’m still not sure. It seems to me I recall they didn’t reject them, but the Comptroller didn’t allow them because the GA didn’t pass a specific approp, something I don’t recall being required in the past. I could just be goofy, though.
- Captain America - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 2:03 pm:
I’m casting my vote/throwing my support to Lou Lang for Speaker of the House when Mike Madigan decides to retire. I don’t know if he’s popular with the Democratic caucus, but he seems like a very knowledgeable and sensible guy. I know for certain that he is a champion of mental health, and sanity/rationality seems to be in short supply among some of our top leaders.
Regime change seems to be entirely in order.
- 312 - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 2:27 pm:
Bring back the pub ‘Play It Again Sam’and put the 3 big guys together at one table. After a few drinks and enough cigarette smoke to choke themselves, they’ll figure it out and get everyone out of here.
- Jeff Trigg - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 2:48 pm:
“overabundance of testosterone”? Now don’t be falling into that anti-male bias. The problem isn’t them being men, it’s that they have too much power.
What imagery would you be using if the leaders were all women? And it is NOT safe to think that women leaders wouldn’t behave in a much similar way, but I wouldn’t blame that on estrogen unless I wanted NOW after me.
I’m just sayin’.
- VanillaMan - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 3:31 pm:
Blago, Emil and Mike were in charge since 2002, right?
So, why is it hitting the fan this year?
If it is ego, wouldn’t we have been seeing something like this for a couple years?
So, we can see that ego is playing a role in 2007, but what has pushed the situation over the cliff now?
Was is because Blagojevich overstayed his welcome, right after his re-election? His plummeting popularity? His incredibly tone-deaf approach to the GRT? His misteps on health care?
Was it Jones’ marriage? His negative publicity on ComEd? His strong arm tactics? His partnership with Blagojevich?
Was it silent Mike’s problem? His daughters?
Or is it all about the lack of cash and the lack of workable credit after four years of Blagojevich? Could these guys get along if there was enough cash in our pockets for them to take?
What has made 2007 the year of the meltdown?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 3:32 pm:
“VanillaMan,” where were you in 2004?
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 4:11 pm:
Hey, Trigg - imagine the session with Governor Lisa Madigan, Speaker Barbara Currie and Senate President Debbie Halvorson. I doubt we’d be in overtime and a whole lot more would have gotten done.
- Ghost - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 4:52 pm:
Vanilla man made me sad to live in Illinois.
- Rob_N - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 4:55 pm:
Rich, you’re missing the letters “-hit” in your post’s title. I’ll let you figure out where they go. ;)
- ole timer - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 6:37 pm:
Sure looks like Hairdo is trying to rival the Current Occupant for the ‘incompetence crown’. Hey, who needs REAL leaders?
- Tessa - Monday, Jun 11, 07 @ 9:11 pm:
What a stinking mess Springpatch has become, and the stench is spreading across the state as the budget mess starts to affect the different departments and people who need state services. Gads.
Sadly, those of us who elected these people (or who didn’t) must suffer the consequences of their lack of action.
- so-called "Austin Mayor" - Tuesday, Jun 12, 07 @ 2:29 pm:
Rich,
Your suggestion that a toxic level of testosterone is at the root of this problem gave me an idea: We could sell tickets to a public neutering of the Four Tops and our governor. The event would be spread out over several weeks of overtime and in American Idol style the public would vote for who would be altered each week with the survivors moving on to the next week’s competition. The proceeds — live and pay-per-view ticket sales plus 900-number voting — could then be used to balance the budget and fund state-wide health care. And we could probably get Bob Barker to emcee it for free.
Now, who has a difficult question?
– SCAM