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* Some folks have asked me over the years why I use the “It’s just a bill” headline here on the ol’ blog.
Several years ago, I ribbed a legislator hard who was known back then for his friendliness with the utility interests. He’d just sponsored yet another in a long line of outrageous bills written by and for a utility company. My recollection is I referred to him as being what some used to call a “lady of the evening,” or (more likely) words to that effect.
“It’s just a bill, Rich,” was his cheery reply.
In other words, the legislation was, to him, merely a starting point. Plenty of negotiations were ahead and the bill would be changed. No worries.
But by sponsoring that legislation as written, he was allowing the utility company to set the terms of the coming debate. Sure, changes would be made to that bill, but it was still the utility’s bill. They controlled the debate, and the committee it would be heard in, as well as the chairman of that committee and the bill’s sponsor.
* And, so, yesterday we saw yet another utility bill written by yet another utility unveiled in the General Assembly…
Commonwealth Edison on Thursday unveiled a plan that it billed as an expansion of ongoing efforts to overhaul the power grid and invest in renewable energy but that critics said would result in customers paying more to the electricity giant. […]
Opponents decried the move as an effort by the utility to set into law a major change in rate structures. They argue ComEd is trying to protect its bottom line by billing at peak usage times because households are increasingly becoming more energy-efficient.
Now, consumers can cut their energy bills by switching to more efficient light bulbs or buying more efficient appliances. Those investments pay off over time when consumers use less energy and bills decrease.
* But check this out…
ComEd was vague about the expected impact on residential customers’ power bills. ComEd Senior Vice President Thomas O’Neill said the company was still evaluating its plan.
So, ComEd - one of the most sophisticated and successful lobbying entities in Illinois - doesn’t even have a ballpark on how much money it’ll make off its own bill?
Please.
* And in other just a bill-related news…
An Illinois Senate committee advanced legislation Thursday to make sweet corn the official state vegetable, but not before giving the sponsor a tough time.
State Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, introduced the proposal after being contacted by fourth-grade students in Chatham. […]
State Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Rock Island, was accompanied at the committee meeting by his son Steel.
“Just to give my colleague a little bit of a hard time. My son is in fourth grade. Steel, is corn a vegetable?” Anderson asked.
Steel replied no.
“Is it a grain?” Anderson asked.
“Yes,” Steel replied.
Doesn’t Illinois already have a bad enough reputation without making a grain our state vegetable?
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 12:49 pm
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Be careful! New Hampshire made news on a similar issue yesterday.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nh-lawmakers-kill-4th-grader-bill-change-state-raptor-article-1.2155979
Comment by Democrowhat Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 12:55 pm
I think in the debating world, corn is considered both a vegetable and a grain, depending on when it is harvested. Harvest it as sweet corn for eating - it’s a vegetable. Harvest it for grinding when it is drier - it’s a grain.
I can’t believe I just engaged in a debate on corn.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 12:58 pm
Demo, Please go on man… lol.
Comment by A guy Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 12:58 pm
Glad to see Senator McCann tackling one of the most challenging issues of the day.
Comment by Sir Reel Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 12:59 pm
The definitive answer:
http://www.extension.org/pages/36971/please-settle-a-dispute-is-sweet-corn-a-vegetable-or-a-grain-what-is-the-difference-how-about-field-#.VQxhEnIcRv4
Comment by Anon221 Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:04 pm
Trying to figure out a way to tie Aaron Schock and Corn Shock together in this debate.
Comment by John A Logan Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:06 pm
Corn? It is such a hotly debated crop since Monsanto has messed with it so that most of the crop is GMO-itized. And, all of the junk food made with the associated corn products that get a bad rap?
I realize corn is a hot commodity in this state and brings a lot of dough here. I do not think it currently brings good publicity along with it.
Soybeans are worse since it is the only crop that is 100% GMO.
Comment by Belle Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:06 pm
We already have official state vegetables - our elected General Assembly legislators!
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:09 pm
=We already have official state vegetables - our elected General Assembly legislators!=
VM- you WIN!!!
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:11 pm
The video gaming bill was written by the video gaming industry according to news reports quoting one of the industry attorney. I think this happens all the time.
Comment by Not just utilities...... Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:11 pm
Corn? It is such a hotly debated crop…
Yeah - I can’t believe all the hot debate we have about corn! Corn? Sorry, I thought you said porn.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:13 pm
===I think this happens all the time===
Yes, it does. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right way to go.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:14 pm
Wait - isn’t corn a fuel?
Comment by OldSmoky2 Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:14 pm
I believe most of Illinois corn should be call Franken-food more like it! Still hard to believe that people cant wake up and realize that GMO agriculture is not a good thing.
Comment by BlameBruceRauner Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:15 pm
Rich–
I thought your “It’s Just a Bill” was an Illinois play on the Schoolhouse Rock song “I’m Just a Bill” video–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0
Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:15 pm
And what rewards and perks does the corn get for being named the official state vegetable? Grand marshaling a parade? A scholarship?
It’s just a STUPID bill, is more like it.
Comment by ??? Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:16 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0
here’s a live link, I hope.
Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:16 pm
Anon221:
Sorry to burst your bubble.
We have been telling kids too eat their fruits and vegetables for years. Grains, too, belong to a mutually exclusive taxonomy.
“Vegetables” is a food group classification, and corn belongs in the “grain” category, pure and simple.
Comment by Juvenal Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:17 pm
And then, there is the SNL version of the “I’m Just a Bill”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82mG_RV1Fys
that shows how Guvmint really works!!
Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:20 pm
Good to know little Steel is getting a good education at his private school in Iowa.
Comment by Mongo Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:23 pm
I had the corn conversation yesterday with Jasper in the session coverage comments. I initially said it was a grain. After Jasper’s challenge I researched further and found what Demoralized stated. If there is ambiguity regarding the identity of the food item, perhaps we should adopt something that is without question a vegetable. (This discussion is better for my blood pressure than the usual topics.)
Comment by Demise Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:28 pm
It’s not corn, it’s “maize.”
Wheat and barley are “corn.”
Just to add to the critical debate.
Steel cut through the blather. Good kid, I’m sure.
Comment by walker Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:32 pm
Picked at just the right time, boiled or grilled just right, seasoned just so, Illinois sweet corn is heaven on a cob.
You ever had sweet corn in Florida? I don’t think the hogs up here would eat it.
Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:37 pm
From 2007-when New York wanted to make CORN their State Vegetable
http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/corn-vegetable-fruit-or-grain/comment-page-1
Comment by lil' enchililada Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:38 pm
I am no expert but shouldn’t we be more concerned with genetically engineered food rather than GMO’s? technically hybrids can be considered GMO’s.
Comment by Cable Line Beer Gardener Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:39 pm
Attorney General Ryan called a meeting of all his Assistants. He brought in a respected legislator to address us on the legislative process. He showed us Schoolhouse Rock, “I’m Just a Bill”.
Grain,vegetable, or fruit?
Comment by Bigtwich Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:50 pm
Everyplace grows sweetcorn but IL produces over 90% of pumpkins for eating. (horseradish too, but not everyone likes horseradish).
Comment by anon. Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:57 pm
A lot of trivial bills seem to surface on days when leaders are behind closed doors finalizing deals. It fills the time and distracts the members who don’t play with the starting five.
Just sayin’.
Comment by walker Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 1:58 pm
The only one who voted to make pumpkin the state vegetable, instead of corn, was someone named Peter Peter
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:07 pm
Why do I find it both humorous and ironic that the Senator who usurped Senator McCann’s position on the Senate Ag Committee utilized his son to throw Senator McCann under the bus?!
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:09 pm
Corn makes whiskey. And we will need whiskey to get through this session. Raise more corn!
Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:10 pm
It’s now clear to me….
“He’d just sponsored yet another in a long line of outrageous bills written by and for a utility company”
“yesterday we saw yet another utility bill written by yet another utility”
“video gaming bill was written by the video gaming industry according to news reports quoting one of the industry attorney”
If a union tries to lobby for it’s members, then it’s a corrupt special interest.
I want to thank King Rauner for explaining that to me, I have always been confused about that concept. /s
Comment by Finally Out (and now very glad to be) Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:12 pm
To Juvenal-
I’m not taking a stand any which way:)
The post I posted was direct from the Extension Service and a taxpayer funded answer.
Enjoy your ‘corn however which way-
grain, vegetable, fruit… or liquid!
Comment by Anon221 Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:23 pm
I don’t want to be a jerk, but….
noun
1.
any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.
2.
the edible part of such a plant, as the tuber of the potato.
3.
any member of the vegetable kingdom; plant.
Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vegetable
Comment by Try-4-Truth Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:36 pm
If the big 10 can have 14 teams, then why not have the state vegetable be a grain?
Comment by Jerry 101 Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 2:51 pm
I think these comments are pretty funny. (Just hope none of those 4th graders read this blog.) They’re probably really into learning the process involved in the introduction of a bill becoming law and are feeling pretty proud of being a part of it. Encourage-not discourage. In fact, this bill is as sensible as some of the others I’ve seen submitted by the adults in the Legislature. (but I still love the comments)
Comment by Minnow Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 3:09 pm
Bigtwich: That never happened.
Comment by 100 West Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 3:22 pm
You’re all wrong - Corn is a fruit.
Corn belongs to the Poaceae family, and while eaten sometimes as a
vegetable and sometimes as a grain, it is actually classified by botanists as a
fruit, as are tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and other squashes.
Sweet corn is a variant in which the sugar in the fruit kernels turns from sugar
to starch less slowly after harvest.
Comment by 1776 Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 3:35 pm
“Bigtwich: That never happened.”
Steve Rauschenberger in the squaretunda in Springfield or someone has implanted a false memory in my brain.
Comment by Bigtwich Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 4:20 pm
This brings Nero’s actions to mind.
Comment by Anon 2 Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 4:29 pm
Dig into the curricula of any vegetable crops course at any ag school in the US and you will find sweet corn covered. Not a grain of truth it is a grain.
Comment by vole Friday, Mar 20, 15 @ 5:04 pm