* As i told you early Sunday morning, the governor is considering calling a special session this month. The Tribune has a piece today entitled “End to spring session may be short-lived for Illinois lawmakers.”
Legislators shook hands, slapped backs and loaded boxes into cars after their spring session was gaveled to a close, but the celebration was clouded by the realization that their liberation from the state capital may only be a temporary reprieve.
After approving a proposed ban on the style of pay-to-play politics alleged to have taken place in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration, sending him an underfunded state budget and stalling his push for a huge public works program, the legislature’s return to Springfield may be counted in weeks instead of months.
Anyone thinking that the squabbling among the state’s Democratic leaders ran its course with the legislature’s rare on-time adjournment late Saturday night need only to look at the official statement Blagojevich issued after his pet $33 billion public works plan passed the Senate but was quashed by House Speaker Michael Madigan about 10 p.m.
“I want to congratulate three of the four legislative caucuses for their efforts to pass a capital [construction] plan,” the Democratic governor said… “Despite the House Democratic leadership’s effort to kill the jobs bill, this is only the beginning.”
* Only the beginning. Oy. Gov. Blagojevich asked GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock what Schock would do about the unbalanced state budget if he was the governor. Said Schock…
“I told him I’d veto it. And he looked at me and goes, ‘You know, I just might do that.’”
* How underfunded is next fiscal year’s budget? The AP takes a look…
It assumes tax revenues will grow by $1 billion despite the weakening economy. That’s twice the growth that Blagojevich’s office estimated in his budget proposal. It doesn’t include $500 million the state will have to contribute to government pension systems. It ignores significant red ink in the current budget, which will carry over to next year.
* Gatehouse claims the deficit is $2 billion, while the Sun-Times says it may be as high as $2.5 billion. Speaker Madigan says the guv can just use his line item and reduction veto powers to put the budget into balance, but…
“I always took the view that the General Assembly could not appropriate more than it estimates to be available in funds, and that doesn’t mean after the reduction vetoes, etc.,” said Lousin, who was the House’s chief lawyer in the early 1970s.
I’m pretty sure she’s right.
* And then there’s the promised amendatory veto of the ethics bill…
There’s no telling what sort of amendments the governor has up his sleeve this time.
* If we do come back to session, it may not be for long. Here’s why…
But given the threat of impeachment, even his allies don’t believe Blagojevich will play the special-session card in the coming weeks after last year’s draining summer-long budget impasse when little was achieved but ill will.
“He knows what’s going on,” said Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) said of the governor. “From what I’ve heard, he certainly doesn’t want to stir up the natives and have them start talking about impeachment and all this other kind of stuff.”
* Madigan was asked Saturday night about impeachment. Patterson summarizes part of the back and forth…
Q: What would it take to impeach Blagojevich?
A: “It’s going to take 60 votes in the Illinois House.”
* If you were reading the blog Saturday night, you saw that Gov. Blagojevich made a rare visit to the House floor. More from Patterson…
Blagojevich: I’ll call you. Will you take it?
Madigan: Ha, ha, ha
* And what about the stalled capital bill? Bethany Jaeger has the lowdown…
(T)he speaker said the biggest problem with recent attempts to approve a capital plan is that legislators don’t want to accept the tough choices. “My position is there should be a construction program, but it’s going to require some people to do something which is going to carry some pain. They’re not going to be applauded when they vote for a fee increase or a tax increase.”
He wouldn’t offer any alternative revenue sources tonight, “but we’re open,” he said.
* Translation: Madigan wants to do this on his timeline and his way, just like the electric rate issue and the mass transit bailout last year. And, like the transit bailout, he wants higher taxes. Here’s a story that Rep. Jim Sacia has been telling lately. The legislative leaders and the governor are on a bus with four flat tires, so…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich blows up a tire. House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, blows up a tire. Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, blows up a tire. Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, blows up a tire.
“We’ve got all four tires blown up,” said Sacia, R-Pecatonica. “Now what’s the problem? Madigan has got the keys to the bus.”