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Decisions have consequences

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Illinois

* As I told you yesterday, the Senate is refusing to return to town…

Hundreds of state layoffs and the closing of two dozen state historic sites and parks will proceed as planned in the comings weeks as Illinois lawmakers appear unable to agree on how to prevent them.

A day after the Illinois House voted to restore $221 million in funding cuts by tapping special state bank accounts, the Senate announced it would not return to the Capitol to consider it and other moves until Nov. 12. […]

“We took the tough votes in May,” Davidsmeyer said, adding that the Senate approved taking $530 million from the state accounts to keep programs and sites open. “Frankly, $221 million [which the House approved this week]does not reflect the concerns we have about the budget,” she said.

* And, of course, there’s this…

The fate of high-profile ethics legislation is up in the air now that Senate President Emil Jones is waiting until after the Nov. 4 election to call senators back to Springfield, prompting charges he wants to kill the reforms. […]

Jones told Democrats in a memorandum Thursday that the Senate would not return until its already scheduled veto session Nov. 12. His spokeswoman, Cindy Davidsmeyer, said ethics legislation does not need attention now because, if enacted, it would not take effect until Jan. 1.

But several lawmakers from both parties said Jones is wrong to wait because doing so will jeopardize the legislation. They cited a provision in the state constitution that a 15-day clock starts ticking once one chamber votes on a governor’s proposed changes and delivers the legislation to the second chamber. Without action after 15 days, the legislation would die.

The House delivered the ethics legislation Thursday to the secretary of the Senate, but Jones said the 15-day clock does not start until the Senate returns and reads the bill into the official record.

* What most concerns the ethics reform proponents is this point…

Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, said this has never happened in the Senate before. By interpreting the Constitution in a “unique” way, she said, the leadership is jeopardizing the ethics reform. Ultimately, the legislation could land in court and further delay the implementation of the contribution limits. “In the meantime, the fundraising machines keep rolling.”

* But it’s not as clear-cut as you might think. Even the Senate sponsor of the ethics bill believes Jones’ interpretation is correct…

Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, sponsored the ethics bill in the Senate. He said he agrees with Jones’ interpretation of when the time limit kicks in.

“I think we can take it up in November,” Harmon said. “A lot of members would be happy to go down (to Springfield) sooner than that to get this done.”

* More…

Ann Lousin, a 1970 constitutional convention delegate, a former House parliamentarian and a current law professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, agrees with the Senate’s interpretation. Although she disclaimed that she has not been a House parliamentarian since January 1975, said she recalls, “The House is not the House unless it’s in session.” It follows, she said, that if the Senate is not in session, then it cannot receive the bills acted upon by the other chamber. She compared it to getting a letter on Sunday, which you can’t actually receive until the post office opens for business Monday.

Charlie Wheeler, longtime Statehouse reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and current director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said while the more logical argument would be that the clock doesn’t start running until the message has been read into the record, the interpretation could be argued either way.

* Even prominent reformers aren’t sure. This is a statement from ICPR director Cindi Canary..

I have consulted with at least half a dozen attorneys today, and they are pretty evenly split on whether the clock starts now or can be delayed until the Senate returns. The only thing that they agree on is that this has never been litigated, so it is a gray area. I, for one, have no interest in seeing this become the test case.

We know that we have a nexus between large campaign contributions and state contracts, and the Senate has it in its power to enact this workable solution tomorrow. After three years of fighting this battle, I don’t understand why, when the legislature knows what to do to address a problem, they continue to let politics and ego trump effective government. The bill is far from dead, but it is disheartening that another round of games playing has been proposed by President Jones.

* The Tribune editorial board, is not interested in the grey areas…

Jones sat on [the ethics bill] for nearly a year, but the federal corruption trial of Blagojevich pal Antoin “Tony” Rezko finally shook it loose. The Senate couldn’t afford to be seen as protecting the pay-to-play culture; it tweaked the bill and passed it unanimously. Both chambers pledged to override any veto, and it was clear they had the votes to do so.

Blagojevich spent the next several weeks hustling up campaign cash at fundraisers that would be illegal under the bill gathering dust on his desk. Then he loaded it up with amendments, sent it back to lawmakers to squabble over and crossed his fingers that it would die. The House answered with a resounding 110-3 vote to override.

It’s back to you now, President Jones. The people of Illinois haven’t forgotten.

* Related…

* 500 attend meeting on parks

* OneMan: Wouldn’t it be interesting if there were folks camping at the state parks that are closing and they refused to leave on closing day.

* Bill on hospital-care discounts may be scuttled by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s amendatory veto - Governor’s changes too expensive, hospital group says

* CTA is Blagojevich’s latest villain

* Huntley: Gov brings his mismanagement style to CTA

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 10:57 am

Comments

How come Blagojevich never faces any real consequences for his illegal actions, lies, false bravado and the list goes on and on?

Comment by iMAGINE Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:04 am
These are exactly the little jigs I have been arguing the current leadership will dance around any constitutional changes. You can’t have a 2,000 page document that foresees and protects against any possible maneuvers against it.

Reform begins and ends at the ballot box (or these days, the scary machine doohickey). Voters should be uniting around replacing do-nothing and me-me politicians, not challenging them with little puzzles to solve in order to continue their bad works. They’ve already shown themselves to be as adept as “the Riddler” with that.

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:07 am
SW, the other way of looking at is to think of it this way: Let’s learn from our mistakes and fix the problems that have arisen.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:10 am
Rich:I hate to have to correct you but Ann Lousin was a staffer at the 1970 constitutional convention not a delegate. Just to keep the record straight.

Comment by Lefty Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:18 am
Capitol politics is like watching a Banjo/Accordian Festival, with few notes hit properly (how would one know, anyway?). Blago is the roving Clown picking pockets as he smiles down Main Street; Emil is Head of Concessions (He personally manning the Food Stamp stand), and making sure his close relatives all get most of the money; Cross and Watson sit on the sidelines sucking their thumbs when not whispering expletives about the Democrats….Mikey M patrols the grounds with his nightstick (looking for the Clown)….all the other legislators are busy yanking their self-imposed wedgies out….what a disgusting, sickening place Illinois is these days.

Comment by Anon Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:19 am
I don’t disagree with the intent behind the point, Rich, just the means of accomplishing the same goal.

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:19 am
Lefty, you didn’t correct me because I didn’t write that piece. I just linked to it.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:20 am
This state never had proper ethics laws so waiting till November shouldn’t be a problem, but to lay people off and close historic landmarks and parks simply because you won’t call a vote is borderline criminal. An abuse of power or misuse of brains. The House has voted-now it is the Senate’s turn. If the Senate doesn’t agree, let them say so.

As I wrote this I figured it out, Blago will call a special session so he can look like the hero. OK-now it makes sense.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:41 am
Phineas J. Whoopee, you are a genius! What he said.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:56 am
So let me get this straight. Our dear Democratic brethren who chastise the evil Republicans as cold,aloof and unfeeling are going to:
Put State employees out of work and close access to State facilities to citizens, but they will continue to collect money from all those sources identified in the ethics bill?

Atta boy Dems. Whenever the Reps screw up and establish a new ethical low, you get out the dynamite, oicks and shovels and blast through the bottom and establish a new level.

Never forget that Emil Jones is/was Sen Obama’s political godfather. Is this the type of political maneuvering that he passed on?

Comment by Plutocrat03 Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 11:58 am
It would border on malpractice for any attorney to advise President Jones that his interpretation is correct. The only correct legal advice is, “There is a [good?] argument that the 15-day period does not begin until the Senate reconvenes, but you can be certain that the Senate’s action will be timely only by acting now.” By failing to act now, Jones is telling everyone that he is happy to take a totally unnecessary chance that the ethics bill (as originally passed) will not become a valid law. Whether that is because he doesn’t want any ethics bill or because he wants the amendatory veto version so badly he won’t jeopardize its chances of eventual enactment by enacting this “watered down” version now, or because he has more important matters to attend to right now, I leave to the mind-readers. But I have my suspicions.

Comment by Anon Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 12:01 pm
It seems to me that the Constitution treats delivery and entry as two separate actions. It explicitly says that the originating house doesn’t have to start the clock until the veto is entered, but says the second house must act within 15 calendar days of delivery, not entry, and not business days or session days. While the President’s interpretation may be correct, it’s not a bet I’d be willing to make.

Comment by Juice Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 12:10 pm
I thnk the real surprise is not the Godfather’s refusal to reconvene to consider the ethics override - since Emil clearly isn’t ready for reform.
However, Godfather Jones’ cavalier attitude toward the fate of state employees and substance abuse providers/clients, who really could benefit from the prompt roll-back of the recent budget cuts, is really shocking! But I guess if your’e retiring you don’t have to worry about problesm caused for real people adversely affected by your arrogance.

Comment by Captain America Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 1:56 pm
Wanna hear something that really bites, Capt, America and Phineas, if a park ‘closes’ and then reopens a month later , the employee who bumped out to another park and kicked off a different newer employee, will be the first called back to the reopening park–meaning right back to where they started this little party. Now how much sense does it realy make for Emil to play this game? Musical chairs with employees and all for nothing just because Emil does not want to come back.

Comment by Princess Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 2:57 pm
Juice,

I gotta agree with you. It does seem like there are separate timelines for originating and second legislative body, and that the Senate has 15 days from delivery. The question though, remains: can delivery occur if the Senate is not in session?

Comment by South Side Mike Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 3:30 pm
The real question is whether the courts will overcome their natural reluctance to get into this internal stuff.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 3:36 pm
I believe that I have found the answer. Stay tuned.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 4:22 pm
Don’t leave us hangin’ for the weekend, John!

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 4:51 pm
“The House is not the House unless it’s in session.” Pure, unadulterated drivel. A bigger bunch of incompetent losers have never before come together to run a government!

Comment by David Friday, Sep 12, 08 @ 5:32 pm