* Yesterday morning started off on a note of unity…

[Rep. Mike Zalewski] spent much of his Wednesday working to get support from people who are in favor of gun rights, including Rep. Brandon Phelps, the man behind concealed carry legislation, and Todd Vandermyde of the NRA.

They were worried the bill could send lawful gun owners to prison for making a simple mistake, so they got rid of the parts of the bill dealing with first-time offenders.

“It just shows when you sit down and find out people’s bottom line, you can get a lot of stuff done here,” said Phelps.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was a major force behind the bill and the negotiations.

“He’s the first mayor, since I’ve been here, who’s ever reached out,” said Phelps. “And it’s nice to know you have somebody like that, in Chicago.”

* But things quickly deteriorated…

Within an hour, his legislation is up in the House. Zalewski runs through the routine things you have to do to start debate. Then, suddenly, Speaker of the House Mike Madigan hits the breaks.

“The clerk advises there are outstanding notes on the bill, so the bill shall be taken out of the record,” Madigan says.

Two seconds pass. “The chair is prepared to adjourn,” Madigan says, and he does.

The reaction among the sponsors can best be described as “You’ve got to be kidding.”

One minute, they’re about to debate the mayor’s gun bill. The next, Speaker Madigan points out some paperwork is missing, then abruptly adjourns the last scheduled session day of the year.

Herein lies the intrigue.

The “notes” the speaker referred to are requests for information that can only be provided by the administration of Gov. Pat Quinn. Things like how much the new, longer prison sentences would cost the Department of Corrections.

* The notes were filed by Rep. Ken Dunkin…

African-American lawmakers in the Illinois House used a procedural measure to delay the proposed legislation. The bill to set higher mandatory minimum sentences for illegal gun possession was stopped cold after a rarely used parliamentary move by the Black Caucus chairman.

“It was not a parliamentary trick. It was a parliamentary procedure that we have in the Illinois House rulebook,” said State Rep. Ken Dunkin, (D) Chicago.

Dunkin complained that sponsor Mike Zalewski had not answered all the questions raised during Wednesday’s committee hearing.

“I don’t understand why one member has the right to dictate to the other members that this isn’t a good public policy,” said Zalewski, (D) Riverside.

* Rep. Dunkin and other members of the Black Caucus want some more state programs…

“We want a bill that has a comprehensive approach toward dealing with getting bad guys off the street. We want that 100 percent,” Dunkin said. “The challenge with this bill still is there are collateral damages that will impact innocent people, potentially.”

The legislation’s prospects now appear fuzzy since lawmakers are not scheduled to return to the Capitol until Jan. 29 for the start of the spring session, though they could return earlier in the event of a pension breakthrough.

“We do enhancements down here every single year, and they fly out of the chamber,” Zalewski told reporters Thursday morning while acknowledging opposition from black lawmakers before the aborted vote.

“And all of a sudden, the one time we’re going to do enhancements for gun offenses, that’s the straw that’s going to break the camel’s back?” he asked.

* More…

The quick adjournment avoided a potentially fiery debate pitting African-American and Latino legislators against largely white Chicago-area and Downstate lawmakers, which would have put on display philosophical fissures among Democrats. It would have been the second time this week, following approval of gay marriage, that black lawmakers would have been asked to support a high-profile bill opposed by some of their constituents.

“Today was a day that we wanted to make sure that the sponsor and the mayor of Chicago (are) aware that we have a real problem” with this gun legislation, said Dunkin, who said crime fighting should not be done in a “piecemeal way.”

By blocking the legislation, the lawmakers aligned themselves on the issue with a re-election seeking Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn rather than Emanuel. Quinn has sought more money for programs to rehabilitate first offenders and re-entry programs for inmates.

Emanuel, who had billed the legislation as a way to help crack down on gun violence that continues to plague city streets, decried what he called “political stunts” to derail it.

* As I told you yesterday, Gov. Quinn had his liaisons working against the bill yesterday morning. Those weren’t the only Quinn fingerprints, however…

Often, the administration responds to requests for notes on legislation within an hour, although state law allows five days for a response.

The Department of Corrections is responsible for the notes covering the cost and impact on prison population. Zalewski’s legislation was changed Wednesday afternoon and Corrections spokesman Tom Shaer said each change requires careful analysis.

But Zalewski pointed out that for weeks, the agency has been able to quickly respond with inmate and cost projections based on differing versions of his bill. Corrections has opposed the measure, saying it would cost $700 million extra over a decade.

No way did Quinn want that bill on his desk. No way.