* ComEd had been predicting for days that they could find veto-proof majorities in both chambers. But the bill fell four votes shy of that three-fifths margin in the House and five in the Senate…
Before the House vote Monday, ComEd lobbyists had been telling opponents they were confident they had more than enough support. Then several African-American representatives, who normally vote with ComEd on contentious energy bills, surprised the utility and voted “no.”
* So, now what? Negotiations are likely…
Mr. Quinn could veto the bill outright or amend it. When the Legislature meets in November for its annual veto session, it could try to override or agree to the governor’s changes, if he opts for an amendatory veto. Many are expecting ComEd will enter into negotiations with Mr. Quinn over the summer.
“This means that ComEd and (Downstate electric utility) Ameren will have to work with the governor’s office to see if there are changes they can agree to,” said David Kolata, executive director of consumer watchdog Citizens Utility Board, which opposes the bill.
Areas the governor would be expected to focus on include strengthening the consumer protections in the bill. In particular, the bill doesn’t allow electric rates to rise more than 2.5% in a given year, but the rate cap is only good through 2014. From 2015 to the end of 2017, there are no rate caps. In addition, the bill mandates that the utility earn a return on equity of at least 10.25%, but that figure rises as the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond does—with no ceiling. So, if interest rates rise from their rock-bottom current levels, as many expect, electric rates will, as well.
* But…
Quinn’s “position has not changed” from days ago, when he vowed to veto the bill, Quinn spokesman Grant Klinzman said.
Sponsoring Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“I know what he says, but let’s see what he does,” Jacobs said. “When people move away from the intense lobbying of the attorney general, the governor and every state agency in Illinois, I think at some point people will look at it for what it is: It’s progress.”
* Speaking of Sen. Jacobs…
State Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, accused state Sen. Mike Jacobs of “using profanity and pointing his finger before he punched me with his fist in my chest” following a heated debate.
McCarter said he gave a statement about the incident to the Secretary of State police.
Jacobs, D-East Moline, brushed off the incident as an emotional outburst common at the end of a legislative session when big issues are being debated and tempers are flaring.
* Here’s what started the dustup…
Jacobs was infuriated that McCarter had accused Jacobs and his father of a conflict of interest on a controversial measure Gov. Quinn has threatened to veto.
Jacobs was chief sponsor of the utility-backed Smart Grid bill. It included an electric utility rate increase worth tens of millions of dollars to Com Ed. Among Com Ed’s army of Springfield lobbyists: former state Sen. Denny Jacobs, father of Sen. Mike Jacobs.
* There’s a disagreement over what actually happened…
“He stood in front of my desk while I was completing a bill…then he proceeded to verbally just curse at me, then he punched me in the chest with his fist,” McCarter told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s totally inexcusable. I think the citizens expect more.”
Shortly before midnight, McCarter said he filed a complaint against Jacobs with the Secretary of State Police, who provide security at the Capitol.
Offering a different account, Jacobs demanded an apology from McCarter, whom Jacobs said “came at me.”
“If he wanted to say something about me, that’s one thing. For him to attack my family members, that’s out of bounds,” Jacobs said, holding a copy of the Senate rules book that bars personality-laden debate. “In effect, what he’s saying is I’m a 50-year-old man that does whatever my father tells me, which is a bunch of crap.”
Reporters were attending a media availability by Senate President Cullerton, so there was no video of the alleged fisticuffs.
- John Bambenek - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:12 am:
So Sen. Jacobs gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, decks someone when he’s called out, and then decides to go NBA and talk trash about it?
Genius.
What is this, amateur hour? If your daddy is lobbying for a bill, you find a colleague in a back corridor, ask him to sponsor the bill and ask what you can do for him in return. That way you can “take a walk” when the vote comes up and there is no perception of conflict of interest.
Geez… can’t anyone do ANYTHING in Springfield anymore?
- anon - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:21 am:
I dont agree with members hitting each other, particularly on the senate floor, but mccarter filed a formal complaint? Im sorry, but that is extremely lame. Jacobs needs to exercise better judgement, and perhaps enter treatment to handle his temper, but McCarter has been reduced to a schoolyard tattletale.
I suggest that President Obama dust off the Presidential keggerator and invite these two gentlemen to a beer summit.
- Loop Lady - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:22 am:
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in the Jacobs family…isn’t the Senate supposed to be the classier governmental body? Guess not…
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:31 am:
What is the proper venue for a legislator to point out a potential conflict of interest? McCarter may have been a bit crass, but he did nothing wrong. Jacobs should be officially reprimanded by the Senate, and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, if McCarter wishes to pursue the matter. The investigation should not be delayed by the Capitol Police since that would look like some sort of cover-up of an assault because one party is a legislator.
One more thought, Jacobs would not have been standing after punching me. McCarter showed remarkable restraint.
- Springfield Skeptic - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:44 am:
OK. We’ll set up the ring in the Capitol Rotunda. Rich will referree and Madigan and Cullerton will be the judges.
- Cheswick - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:47 am:
Gentlemen, please report to the day room. It’s medication time.
- George - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:50 am:
Isn’t this the second time Jacobs has gotten in fisticuffs in the statehouse?
- walkinfool - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:51 am:
Agree Jacobs should have expected heat for an appearance of conflict of interest, and overreacted — but McCarter filing a police report on this minor dustup is ridiculous. Both claim victimhood. How about both apologize and move on. People do get a little touchy at end of session, and it’s usually laughed off.
- TheGerry - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:52 am:
No surprises regarding Jacobs - he gets contributions from all the utilities: Ameren, AT&T, ComEd, the Illinois Energy Association. Look up the Board of Elections site, it’s all there! He got $5K from ComEd before last year’s general election, among other, many other things: http://www.elections.il.gov/campaigndisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=18410
- Fed up - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:54 am:
It is a conflict of interest by Jacobs and then to act like a 5th grade bully after getting called on it is inexcusable.
- David Lawson aka Federal Farmer - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 10:58 am:
We can rename the Capitol Building to “Thunder Dome”. Two Senators in, One Senator out.
Sure the punch was out of line, and it is assault, but I think it should be handled internally by the Senate rather than involving police.
As to conflict of interest: Yes. Tip of the iceberg. Let’s have some real ethics reform.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:04 am:
–The investigation should not be delayed by the Capitol Police since that would look like some sort of cover-up of an assault because one party is a legislator.–
You mean the coverup we’re talking about here?
- Just a Citizen - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:06 am:
Agree totally with John Bambenek’s comment. Some one needs to remind Mr. Jacobs that perception is reality.
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:07 am:
Federal Farmer,
An assault is an assault. If Jacobs just punched his wife once, we’d be seeing howls of outrage about his assault. And rightfully so. An assault by members on one another should not be an internal matter. If I walked up to Jacobs in the hallway outside the Senate and clubbed him, would I be facing possible internal Senate sanctions, or would I be sitting in Springfield jail using my one phone call and getting to know my cellmate Bubba better.
There is an important underlying current here. Will the good Senator Jacobs be treated as would you or I, or will he receive privileges that you and I can only dream of? Couple this with his incredibly large part-time salary, his generous benefits, his large (probably multiple-dipped) pension, and we really have the beef people have with politicians right in front of us. How this is handled will speak volumes about Illinois government.
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:08 am:
- One more thought, Jacobs would not have been standing after punching me. -
Heh, not sure how big a fella you are Cincy, but Jacobs isn’t exactly a featherweight. McCarter may have been showing more wisdom than restraint.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:08 am:
===perception is reality. ===
Only to the deluded.
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:11 am:
- Will the good Senator Jacobs be treated as would you or I, or will he receive privileges that you and I can only dream of? -
Oh please, can you try to get through a day without agonizing over the injustices you suffer? If McCarter wants to press the issue, I’m sure the police will take it seriously. Try to remember once in a while that this isn’t exactly Stalin’s Russia we’re living in.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:20 am:
===perception is reality. ===
Ugh. I hate that line.
Reality is reality. Perceptions can be many things, but oftentimes are just rationalizations for a predisposition.
- Angry Chicagoan - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:38 am:
I have a suggestion for the ComEd rate request. They can have it as long as they agree to immediately begin the process of closing and replacing Dresden, the Fukushima-clone BWR nuclear power station just southwest of Chicago. Otherwise, no dice.
- Bigtwich - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:00 pm:
There should be a Senator John Knuppel award (free soup)given to both.
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:05 pm:
Both of these guys are emblematic of the problems in our legislature. Jacobs gets called out for being an obvious legacy comed shill with a parental sized conflict of interest and he responds in typical classy style by punching a guy.
Umm, Senator, if you don’t think being the chief sponsor for a bill your dad lobbies for is a conflict of interest, that’s your problem.
And McCarter has in a very short time distinguished himself by becoming a little bully who gets righteously indignant when confronted on his own bs.
As far as I’m concerned, these guys deserve each other…without police involvement.
- Lil Enchilada - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:11 pm:
Where can I find the video? I think that if Jacobs punched McCarter there would have been some damage. I think it might have been more like a finger in the chest?
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 12:22 pm:
Jacobs is right to be angry about the personal attack during the debate.
One could have just as easily have accused McCarter — a business owner — of a conflict-of-interest in pushing worker’s compensation legislation.
But that’s not how we do things on the floor of the General Assembly.
A better response from Jacobs though would have been to ignore the slight from the minority.
They are, after all, in the minority. And Jacobs could have simply put a brick on every bill the McCarter sponsored until a formal apology was offered on the record.
- Left Leaner - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 1:06 pm:
Stay classy Springfield!
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 1:53 pm:
It’s not about me, STL, it’s about Jacobs, you know, the assaulter. Glad to see you sticking up for him by deflecting from the real issue, as you usually do. And while Jacobs may be big, he probably has never dealt with anyone who can take care of himself.
- Well, yeah. - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 2:02 pm:
“In effect, what he’s saying is I’m a 50-year-old man that does whatever my father tells me, which is a bunch of crap.”
The Senator doth protest too much.
- Small Town Liberal - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 2:31 pm:
- Glad to see you sticking up for him by deflecting from the real issue, as you usually do. -
What is the real issue? Obviously the Senator was out of line. And obviously if McCarter feels he was assaulted he should pursue legal action. You’re pulling a John Kass and acting like Jacobs is going to use his powerful Moline influence to keep ahead of the law. Try relaxing once in a while, the combine can’t come for us all…
- Tamale - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 2:51 pm:
It’s one thing to verbally spar, quite another to do so physically. Throwing a punch / forearm / slap / anything on the Senate floor is ridiculous and unacceptable.
This wasn’t just an instantaneous overreaction, either. Jacobs had to walk over to McCarter’s desk, trade comments and then allegedly punch him.
I don’t care what party you’re from or how heated things get, please at least PRETEND you’re a grown-up while on the Senate floor.
Get angry and raise your voice. But save the in-your-face confrontation and physical contact for somewhere else. Anywhere else.
- fred - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 3:11 pm:
I saw the whole thing and Jacobs never “punched” McCarter.
- dumb ol' country boy - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 4:39 pm:
Its been my experience when one defense themself by choosing the words the Sen Jacobs has choosen, they are usually attempting to hide something. I believe Mr. Jacobs needs to admit and appologize before he has to post bond at the Sangamon County Jail…..
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 5:52 pm:
Jacobs makes close to 100,000 a year, best health care and pension we can pay him and yet there’s a family member who “works” as a lobbyist for monopoly company that will be making yet again record profits on the backs of ordinary people from Illinois while unemployment is still very high, housing values is at a 9 year low, etc.
Long run on sentence but it’s true.
- Well, yeah. - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 7:00 pm:
It doesn’t help that Denny uses his sons’ office to lobby out of. I hope this episode exposes the public to one aspect of the status quo corruption in the Senate.
- Justsickofit - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:07 pm:
@Well,yeah — I hear ya.
- Allen Skillicorn - Wednesday, Jun 1, 11 @ 11:19 pm:
They should wear uniforms with all their contributors names, like in NASCAR.
- State of Ill - Thursday, Jun 2, 11 @ 2:47 am:
At least the Jacobs boys don’t try to hide who butters their bread ! Bought and owned by the utilities - no problem, mon.