* Perhaps the funniest quote to come out of yesterday’s weirdness was printed in the Sun-Times…
[After the governor announced his intentions], one of the [transit] legislation’s staunchest supporters privately called the governor a “madman” and “narcissist” for providing his legislative input in the transit bill after it had passed rather than before.
Well, that’s certainly one explanation.
* More from that article…
Some said the governor’s move was driven by an all-consuming desire to one-up the wily House speaker, who has been pushing Blagojevich for months to accept a sales tax increase to deal with mass transit, knowing full well the governor would have to retreat on his earlier anti-tax pledge.
Whatever the motivation, at the end of the day, an unpopular governor battered by corruption allegations seemed exuberant over what he and his aides viewed as a potentially rare and significant legislative win — even if it came at the expense of sacrificing what once was his most significant promise to voters.
“This is a nice, happy ending to what has been a long process,” Blagojevich said. “And as the old saying goes, all’s well that ends well.”
* So, why didn’t the Senate vote on the transit measure which didn’t raise any taxes at all? The Trib explains…
Madigan sent such a bill to the Senate. But the legislation was dead on arrival, because too many lawmakers feared the state’s precarious finances would be damaged without any clear way to fill the sudden hole in the budget.
* The Senate Dems had hoped to attract more Republican votes with this new addition to the bill…
…Jones added a key provision that would give the five collar counties more flexibility in how they could spend some of their expected windfalls from the half-cent increase. It was aimed specifically at lawmakers from DuPage County, which is asking voters to support a Feb. 5 sales tax referendum proposal to pay for police and prosecutors.
They only got three SGOP votes - but they hoped to get six.
* Sen. James Clayborne explains his switch from “Present” on Wednesday to “Yes” on Thursday…
He voted for the bill Thursday, saying it would be “irresponsible to allow services to be cut in Chicago.”
* Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, who walked out of the chamber on Wednesday night rather than vote, didn’t vote for it Thursday, either…
“I said all along I cannot vote for one over the other,” said Halvorson, who is running for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill. “I did not vote for the transit bill because we didn’t have a capital bill.” […]
Halvorson said she held her vote hostage to pressure lawmakers into discussing a capitol program. Her current district extends as far north as Chicago Heights, where the Chicago-area mass transit funding bill will have an impact. Yet, the congressional district which she is running in, extends farther south into areas that have little to do with Chicago transit.
* So, now what?
Republicans fear the politically difficult, clunky legislation for a gaming expansion coming any time soon is “as likely as the Cubs winning the World Series,” as Sen. Kirk Dillard said during Senate floor debate. […]
Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson said he’s disappointed but that he would never tell his fellow lawmakers that they shouldn’t vote with their districts. But now they’re back to square one on capital. “I think we’ve lost an opportunity to make sure that capital, infrastructure would be a part of any solution here,” Watson said. “I think we’ve taken a step backwards”
* And what about the vote to accept the amendatory veto? Speaker Madigan says he supports the governor’s changes, but we don’t know yet when the GA will return to town…
Exactly when that vote will occur is uncertain as lawmakers adjourned Thursday and aren’t due back at the Capitol until next month, well after the “doomsday” deadline. Supporters said they expect a vote next week and the deal to be approved.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 10:48 am:
So we will no longer see any working relations between the governor’s office and the speaker’s office? To get this done, Blagojevich couldn’t find the testicular virility to act gubernatorially enough to settle political differences enough to work with Madigan on this?
We cannot continue to watch the Governor play games like this because it is too time consuming and too wasteful. Blagojevich does not benefit by continuing to show that his administration and the General Assembly cannot function as a team. He was not elected to create a crisis every Friday like a soap opera diva, just to reappear regally the next Monday.
Halvorson still loses. If her vote didn’t make news, then she could have gotten away with it, but after she was called out on her “Obama” move, she needed to behave like a Majority Leader.
Now instead of just looking partisan, she looks shifty and partisan which goes against her well earned reputation of being a liberal straight shooting.
Another question I have for her is about the new reports that those Gardasil injections are too painful. Since these shots require multiple injections, many girls are not returning to finish the treatments. As a sponsor of the bill that would have forced all Illinois girls to endure this, I’d like to know how she could still be an advocate for this idea. She needs to be prepared for appearing as a naive majority leader who was willing to force Illinois girls to suffer painful injections that profit one large pharmaceutical corporation who sucessfully lobbied her at our expense.
- Cassandra - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 11:00 am:
I wonder if Todd Stroger and pals, the ones who want a two percent sales tax increase in Cook so they can shore up their Democratic jobs and contracts base,see this as a positive or negative development.
Will voters be more likely to clamor against an even higher sales tax increase.
Or will the commissioners figure, hey, those taxpayers are so clueless, we can roll them again,
no problem.
- Anon - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 11:09 am:
So is this bill going to need a week of review before it’s certified and sent to the Gov? Is that game going to be played?
- Bill Baar - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 11:18 am:
Halverson is a real profile in courage.
This what she’s going to do in Wash when the votes get tough?
- anon - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 11:22 am:
The bill does not have to be even sent to the Governor for 30 days. We should see how long that action it will actually take, then see how long it takes before the Governor returns it with the AV he says he will impose (if indeed he does AV it in the manner in which he says he will). That could be another 60 days. Then it could be several days before the legislature votes on an AV. It could be May before we see what teh actual result will be!
- fedup dem - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 11:51 am:
If Halverson gets to Washington, she fit right in with the rest of the Chicago-area Democrats in the House, of which I would gladly trade the entire lot of for a good Italian Beef sandwich!
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 12:23 pm:
Halverson was in a lose-lose situation. Whichever way she voted, her critics would complain. If she votes yes, she’s Emil’s shill, if she votes no or passes, the reactions above. Give me a break! I won’t hold this one against her.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 12:25 pm:
I was coming on to comment on Hendon’s comment that Blago did not break his no tax pledge. According to Hendon, the pledge was that there would be no “state-wide” increase. Wow!
- Fan of the Game - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 1:15 pm:
Pot calling kettle,
It’s called leadership, and we expect majority leaders (and minority leaders) to exhibit it when crunch time comes. Halvorson walked out instead of voting for her constituents, seemingly thinking only of her election to the U.S. House. And she still–to my knowledge–has not released the ethics bill from committee.
This state is thirsting for leadership, and Halvorson provided none this week.
- Greg - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 2:03 pm:
Funny how Metra is moving ahead with the 10% fare increase despite the doomsday scenario not playing out. Was this expected?
- Bluefish - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 2:09 pm:
Lost in all of this (unless I’m mistaken) is the fact that the Chicago city council still needs to approve their real estate transfer tax to support the CTA pension bailout.
- Been There - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 2:11 pm:
To anon at 11:09. The bill has just been sent to the gov.
1/10/2008 House Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 House Concurs 062-051-001
1/10/2008 House Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 House Concurs 062-051-001
1/10/2008 House Senate Floor Amendment No. 5 House Concurs 062-051-001
1/10/2008 House Passed Both Houses
1/11/2008 House Sent to the Governor
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 2:27 pm:
Fan: I would rather criticize her for keeping the ethics bill in committee. The mass transit bill was not about leadership, it was about petty bickering which set up a lose-lose situation. We do not know what Halverson advocated during negotiations, but what came out was clearly not what she wanted.
From my view, walking away was showing leadership. It says the bill was bad, no bill was equally bad. Every legislator has three options per vote: yes, no, and NV, each option is legit.
- Cassandra - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 3:36 pm:
Oops, but if Metra is going to raise fares anyway, isn’t that going to be a bit of a setback?
- Angry Chicagoan - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 4:00 pm:
Well, if there’s any transit fare in the Chicago area that is genuinely low by national and international standards, it’s Metra. I tell people I know in the UK and in other US cities what Metra fares are, and they just can’t believe it. Especially the UK folks, who pay four or five times the money for service that in many cases is slower.
- Bill - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 4:12 pm:
The funniest quote was from Rod at a northwest side media event today where he sais soemthing about how the GA sent him a pile of “horse manure” and he rode out of it on a pony…or something like that.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 4:25 pm:
Even funnier may have been when he said MJM would qualify for the senior discount.
- NoGiftsPlease - Friday, Jan 11, 08 @ 8:29 pm:
It seems to me that they have to raise fares, since they have a 50% farebox recovery ratio and so “nominally” have to collect an extra $1 in fares for every $1 they get in operating subsidy. We’ll see more fare increases–especially if a whole market segment will now be paying no fares.
- ji_john - Saturday, Jan 12, 08 @ 11:00 pm:
Keep up the poor work, Rod. We’ll be glad to fire you in 2010. And Emil Jones, the Senator from my district, you too, and a lot sooner, hopefully. You two guys stalled on the CTA/RTA bailout, and on the Capital bill, by trying to build these on the back of casino-generated money. One quarter of a percent to one half of a percent, not a penny on a dollar, but a quarter to fifty cents on every $100 to fund the CTA and RTA, and the Governor wanted to hold out because of his pledge of no new tax increases, with him and the Senate president holding out for casino funding. I can’t wait until your respective elecyions come up, so that I can officially say, with glee, gooooooodbye.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 14, 08 @ 8:21 am:
ji_john, if you live in Jones’ district you should know by now that he is unopposed.