Capitol Fax

Rich Miller's commentary on State Government

There is a defect in Illinois' constitution which is so fundamentally fatal that it practically begs voters to approve a state constitutional convention this November.

You cannot correct this flaw by throwing every incumbent out of office. The prospect of legislating a solution is nil.

The problem is that the Illinois constitution has allowed three people to accumulate infinitely more power than the framers ever dreamt possible.

Those three people are the House speaker, the Senate president and the governor.

The problem was exacerbated in 1980, when voters were misled into approving a constitutional amendment which slashed the size of the General Assembly by a third. Before then, there were three House members in each Senate district and both major parties were assured of holding at least one of those seats.

Republicans in Chicago, who currently have no voice in any governmental body, all had at least one GOP state Representative. The same was true for Democrats in DuPage. But the voters decided that fewer legislators was a better idea.

The independent thinkers were mostly wiped out in 1982, the first election after the Cutback Amendment took effect. A few months later, a brilliant Democratic politician named Michael Madigan was elected House speaker. Madigan was eventually nicknamed "The Velvet Hammer" for the way he consolidated power over the now much more easily governable House.

Ten years later, a new district map allowed the Senate Republicans to seize control from the Democrats and their leader decided to wage war on Madigan's House. The Senate used the war to justify passing a new set of rules which stripped rank and file members of numerous basic rights. Those powers were now completely in the hands of Senate President Pate Philip.

The House Republicans essentially adopted the Senate GOP's rules when they took control two years later. Madigan took back the House in 1996 and kept the Republican rules in place.

No bill or amendment can advance without the approval of the speaker or the president. Members are simply powerless.

Over time, the legislative party leaders also learned how to control who would be elected to the General Assembly. Once elected, they are beholden to their leaders for literally everything.

Something else happened during this time period. All state budgets were negotiated behind closed doors by the House speaker, the Senate president and the governor. The multi billion-dollar budgets were then presented "as is" to members, who would dutifully pass it so they could leave town for the summer. Then, other issues were added to the budget negotiations, and pretty soon all big issues were being decided by the three men.

And then Rod Blagojevich was elected governor.

Blagojevich despised Speaker Madigan while he was in the Illinois House during the early 1990s, and he set out to use his new power to fight Madigan at every turn.

Blagojevich has sought to expand the power of his office ever since, and he has accelerated the pace since being reelected in 2006. He has called umpteen special sessions merely as a tactic to publicly humiliate Madigan. He has abused his amendatory veto power to add radical proposals to legislation in order to put Madigan on the spot. He has also recently abused his power to issue executive orders in an attempt to cut off campaign contributions to the Democratic Party of Illinois, which Madigan controls.

All along, Senate President Emil Jones has used his own rock-solid control of the Senate to back Blagojevich's every move. And Madigan has retaliated by stifling almost all legislative progress this year.

The power that the three men have carved out for their respective offices will likely remain after they're gone. That's the thing about expansions of power - it's a genie that's almost impossible to put back into the bottle.

Every twenty years, Illinois voters are given the right to call for a constitutional convention. Delegates are then elected and voters have the final say over the end product. It's a reasonable system and we simply can't wait another twenty years for change.

We essentially have an elected dictatorship of three men. Our only hope of breaking that stranglehold is a constitutional convention that can force democratic reforms on the process.

So, please, vote "Yes" this November on the constitutional convention.

I'll propose some reform ideas in my next column.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com.

Follow Up

In a letter to editor last week, I wrote that "thousands" of people who were near the World Trade Center when it was attacked in 2001 were harmed for life because of the toxicity of the air they breathed that day.

I'd like to correct that statement. I should have said hundreds of thousands.

A few weeks ago, the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released the results of a three-year analysis of problems reported by the 71,437 enrolled in the WTC Health Registry. They include rescue and recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, area workers, commuters and passers-by who agreed to be tracked for 20 years.

Remember, all of them had been assured publicly by no less a government authority than Christy Todd Whitman, President Bush's Administrator of the EPA, that the air and water were safe to breathe and drink that day.

Among the registrants, more than 50 percent reported being in the dust cloud, 70 percent witnessed a traumatic sight and 13 percent suffered physical injury. New asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe psychological distress were the most common complaints.

Based on those figures, the study's authors estimate that actually, more than 410,000 people were exposed to the disaster. They suspect, for instance,that 35,000 to 70,000 probably developed PTSD and another 3,800 to 12,000 developed asthma as a result of the day's events. The others simply haven't registered, for whatever reason.

Also, 12,234 workers and volunteers have filed formal worker's compensation claims and 31,543 have filed notices preserving their right to do the same.

Just think how many citizens could have been spared such suffering if government officials had told the truth.

Sincerely,

Richard O'Connor

Pearl City IL

The Threesome

We have suffered through 8 years of an ineffectual, disaster president and a pit bull VP, and the country can't tolerate more of the same.

Sarah Palin as John McCain's VP was a gimmick to gain traction and lure Clinton women, nut women are smarter than the political games - Palin, a pretty face that talks the McCain/Bush talk. In the event that something should happen to McCain, she would become president. That alone should scare the pants off of any republican, democrat or independent.

McCain/Palin team offers more of the same as McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time, and McCain's words and proposals are from the same Bush mold. McCain now wants change, yet the few details he has spoken about . . . more of the same.

Bush, as his house of cards - housing crisis & financial institutions - comes crashing down, says "The economy is strong." McCain admitted he knew nothing about economics and he will bring about economic change? His economic advisor says "We are a country of whiners." With McCain, the country will be heading down the same dismal road.

Today, as 3 of the biggest financial institutions floundered, McCain says "The economy is strong."

Bush gave tax breaks to oil companies. To consumers, he says "We need alternative fuels."

McCain, in relation to record high gas prices, says "Put more air in your tires." McCain also voted for oil company tax breaks and proposed to continue them. Bush gave tax breaks to the rich and McCain proposes to extend them. Both say the tax breaks brought in more revenue. Hogwash!

US Treasury drained by Bush's induced wars, McCain proposes to continue down the same bloody path.

Privatizing Social Security was a failed Bush proposal, but McCain wants to enact privatizing. Both call this a reform, their words for elimination.

Bush reformed functional programs by creating Homeland Security, which ended up dysfunctional with inexperienced, well-connected political people heading these programs. McCain also offers reform . . . voters should duck and learn to swim (remember Katrina?).

Bush ownership society has become a "you are on your own" society. This country does not need another of the same tilt. Our country needs positive change, which is not McCain/Palin/Bush.

Julie Kilpatrick

Hanover, IL

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

As you may recall, when the Governor first advocated the lease of the Illinois lottery for $10 billion to partially fund a jobs and infrastructure (capital) plan, I was adamantly opposed. My rationale: the lottery is a cash-cow monopoly generating more than $600 million per year for our education fund. How could we accept $10 billion, have to backfill $600 million per year, and then have all the benefits zero-out in 12 to 15 years. In my opinion: "no way".

Senate Bill 2595 which I supported along with 74 of my House colleagues would lease 80% of the lottery for 50 years for $10 billion. The State would retain 20% ownership, and that makes a big difference. That 20% ensures at least $600 million per year for the common school fund will continue to be generated.

The bill includes job protection for American Federation of State, County and Municipal (AFSCME) workers and requires 37% of the lottery's contracts for goods and services be awarded to businesses owned by minorities, women or those with disabilities.

The bill included complicated language for reconstructing the Illinois Gaming Board. This is an area of the bill I still struggle with, but I'm confident it will be further amended.

All in all, I believe the bill is a good start to working out a funding mechanism for our very necessary and overdue capital bill that will put Illinoisans back to work and improve the state's infrastructure. To my chagrin, and I'm sure yours as well, the House of Representative's work on this and also finding the funding we need to prevent the closing of our state parks and historic sites and restoring drastic cuts inflicted on social service programs may all be for naught. Senate President Emil Jones has decided not to call the Senate back into session to act on any of the proposals. He defiantly insisted that he will not return until Veto Session in mid November.

If you're feeling disenfranchised, you should! You, the 12.8 million citizens of this state remain captive to our 3 powerful leaders from Chicago: Governor Blagojevich, President Jones and Speaker Madigan. In this case, it is Mr. Jones who has shut the process down. Back on May 31st, it was the Speaker who single-handedly stopped all forward progress on the capital bill.

Individually, each of these leaders is a fine individual. Together, their chemistry is toxic. You deserve better.

As I complete this writing we have just been notified that the Governor has ordered us back to special session on Monday, September 22, allegedly to discuss ethics. It is my fondest hope that this will force the senate to act. Will they then pass something not palatable to the speaker?

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at 815/232-0774 or e-mail us at jimsacia@aeroinc.net. You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.