Illinois state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) said last week that the Senate Democrats will seek “feedback” from the Senate Republicans before making final decisions on new rules for the chamber. Steans was put in charge of devising new rules by Senate President John Cullerton several months ago.
That statement, probably more than anything else that was said or done Thursday, illustrates how much things are about to change in the Illinois Senate.
For 10 years, Republican Senate President Pate Philip justified his partisan games by pointing to past grievances over how the Democrats had treated his caucus. Since Democrat Emil Jones became Senate President in 2003, we’ve heard an almost exact replica of Pate’s old refrains time and time again, only with the aggrieved parties reversed.
It was long past time to get beyond this endless back-and-forth goofiness, and that appears to be happening now that Jones has finally retired.
The chamber’s rules have always been the province of the Senate president, and he (it’s always a “he”) has held tightly to that power and used it for his own and his own party’s advantage. So, the president’s majority party consulting the minority party on proposed new rules is absolutely without precedence.
The old rules allowed the Senate president to control almost every single aspect of the Senate’s activities. Members couldn’t advance any legislation of any kind without the Senate Rules Committee’s approval. The committee, of course, was completely controlled by the Senate president. In other words, nothing moved without one person’s say-so. It has been an intolerable situation, particularly for the party that was out of power.
The new rules will be addressed and adopted once the impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich ends sometime early next month. The one change that appeared Thursday was a new “Committee on Assignment” in place of the old and often-hated Rules Committee. Killing off the Rules Committee would be akin to knocking down the Berlin Wall.
Cullerton also pledged last week to end a notorious practice made infamous by Philip and continued with gusto by Jones: Sending bills to the House that are obviously doomed in order to put some sort of political pressure on the other chamber. The tactic never worked, and more often than not backfired badly.
“We must reach agreement (with the House) rather than trying to one-up each other by passing bills that will never be enacted,” Cullerton said during his inaugural address.
Cullerton’s new chief of staff even wandered over to the press box last week for a chat - something that I’ve never seen happen in the almost 19 years I’ve been covering the chamber. He later promised a much more open approach by the Senate Democrats’ operation.
And when the governor’s defense lawyers quit in protest over the Senate’s impeachment trial rules last week, Cullerton said it wouldn’t delay the trial.
“That’s his problem. Get another lawyer,” said Cullerton, adding, “Rod can defend himself, he’s a lawyer.”
A response like that would’ve been unheard of during Blagojevich pal Jones’ tenure.
It’s more than just a new day. If this stuff continues, then we will be in an entirely new era. And once that fresh openness starts in the Senate, it may spread to the House.
And speaking of the House, Speaker Michael Madigan has refused to return Blagojevich’s phone calls for years, and has even refused to be in the same room with him since 2007. That intransigence (albeit for good reasons) has triggered a massive government meltdown since the governor’s 2006 re-election.
But things may be changing soon. Madigan told a Chicago radio station recently that he has met “on and off” with Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn during the past two years. Madigan also revealed the two men have discussed Quinn’s transition to the governor’s office. When the transition comes, Madigan said, “We’ll be ready to move forward to try and resolve some of these huge problems that afflict the state.”
Madigan said the first order of business would be to “balance the books … pay the bills,” noting the state is 90 to 120 days behind in its payments to state service providers.
The two men may not see eye to eye on solving all the problems, but at least Madigan will physically be looking Quinn in the eye if and or when he says “no.”
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 8:58 am:
Good to hear Madigan say balancing the books is the first order of business. That should bring some sobriety as to the real situation and insight as to what needs to be done.
In light of the mess Emanuel got himself and Obama into by just talking to Blago, Madigan’s refusal to speak to him privately seems more cautious than intransigence. He didn’t want to put himself in a position to hear or be asked something that could get him in trouble.
- One of the 35 - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 9:14 am:
Gasp! You don’t mean to tell us that we may soon have a real live representative type government where the elected officials are actually informed and empowered to make decisions on our behalf?
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 11:37 am:
WHat interesting time in which we live, from Obama to Cullerton; Illinois is driving some impressive changes in how buisness in government is being done.
- Captain Flume - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 11:52 am:
== . . . from Obama to Cullerton. Illinois is driving some impressive changes in how buisness in government is being done. ==
A little early in the term of either to make any kind of assessment on changes. Let’s wee where we are in six months or a year. And it really is Chicago, anyway, not Illinois that is doing any of the “driving.”
- Anonymous45 - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 12:53 pm:
Quinn will at least maintain a relationship on speaking terms even if he disagrees with every last legislator in the the Statehouse…you don’t get your way or at least part of what you want by takin’ the marbles and going home…
- Bubs - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 1:19 pm:
The same Speaker Madigan who strongly participated in the sandbox games that put the State into meltdown, now accuses people that were trying to keep the state out of meltdown, such as Republicans Cross and Watson, as “Blagojevich enablers.”
It is therefore uncertain how much change is coming to the House.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 1:22 pm:
Bubs, I’m not quite following you. Did either of those guys present a budget?
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 1:51 pm:
While it is nice to hear these people agree that bills need to be paid and government should be open and transparent, funny things happen when there is a need to agree on who pays those bills.
We have put off the Day of Reckoning for a decade. I will be pleased when Illinois government addresses the structural debts forcing it into bankrupsy. Not another dime in taxes until we see Illinois government govern. Not another dime until we know that the billions we currently pay Illinois governments in taxes is not being wasted, and I mean wasted by throwing more billions into bottomless pits everyone in the General Assembly knows exist, but are afraid to peer into. Any new tax money will fall into Illinois’ structural debt without benefit. You don’t put more gasoline in a car without a fuel tank, and you don’t put more wages into a government without a functioning budget infastructure.
New era? Agreeing to take more of our money isn’t new. New is when our state leaders plug the hole in the sinking ship that is Illinois state government finances.
- How Ironic - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 2:13 pm:
Nice speech VM. However, nice speeches are not going to be able to “plug the hole” as you put it. As you correctly pointed out, we have put off the day of reckoning for a decade.
We are going to need some sort of revenue hike. And gambling, and fee sweeps isn’t going to get it done.
Tax hikes are going to have to pass. At 3% IL is one of the lowest in the nation. We should have our income tax at least at 4% or 4.5%.
Then we can begin to “plug the hole”.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 3:54 pm:
CF, both Obama and Cullertons decision to appoint rivals to plumb positions and to invovle republicans in current activities may be gauged today.
- Amy - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 4:44 pm:
Cullerton dumped Link from Leadership, right? if that’s true, i don’t like that one bit. the Leadership choices were thorny.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 4:45 pm:
That’s not true, amy.
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Jan 20, 09 @ 11:39 pm:
VM-as always I am intrigued by people who know things I don’t about things I spent a long time doing. You must really be intimately involved.
Educate me, and perhaps some of the rest of us, by telling me, say two black holes we are throwing billions into here in Illinois. Thanks.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jan 21, 09 @ 1:28 am:
Schnorf, I’m with you, brother.
I’m making a belated New Years resolution. As President Obama reminded us, the scriptures say there comes a time to put aside childish things.
That would be VMan.
It’s a new day.
Steve, keep sharing your experience and insight. God knows we need them.