I just have to share a rare experience with you all.
By the grace of timing and complementary personalities, I was on the floor of the House of Representatives in Springfield, covering the 22nd special session called by Gov. Blagojevich.
July 9-10, 2008.
As you may have noticed, my Springfield experience relates mostly to Rep. Mary Flowers' Illinois Single Payer bill HB 311 because it just makes sense to me.
But this special session made no sense, suggested the State Journal-Register:
Blagojevich made it clear in the interview he’s not about to make peace with the speaker. He said he routinely calls Madigan’s office, knowing he’ll just have to leave a message.
Madigan says meetings with the Governor is not productive.
Join me behind the curtain...
It was an exercise in futility...
All the parties involved knew what the outcome would be. Most of us in Illinois knew what the outcome would be...
It just cost us a hell of a lot of money according to AP/Saulk Valley.com
In a state where the government plans to spend $59 billion this year, it's not a lot of money. But taxpayers can expect to cough up at least $80,000 for this week's special legislative session.
Actually, attending the 22nd special session, is like learning how to use a bandsaw in shop class. It’s noisy, it’s clunky and if you’re not paying attention you can lose something.
In the special session sense, it’s control.
Imagine coming into the middle of an argument that has been going on between the Governor and House Speaker for over 2 yrs. It's all kinds of dum.
I’ve never been a fan of the Gov. (Anybody left who is?) And have grown increasingly tired of his games and his love of them. The Sun Times headlines billow with his alleged-ness:
Gov. Blagojevich angrily denied being a target of a federal corruption investigation, calling questions about the matter "ridiculous," "absurd" and "stupid."
and the New York Times:
Former allies have called on Mr. Blagojevich to quit. His lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, has asked him to "clear the air" by clarifying his relationships with the accused. And his plummeting popularity fueled a drive in the Legislature to give voters the power of recalling elected officials. It only narrowly failed.
This session, for me anyway, showed how toxic things have become and how both sides of the aisle have tried to capitalize on it.
Yes, the big Capital bill...or Gaming Bill... HB 2651
You know.
Road work...School funds...Slots...Obvious grouping...
Let’s start where I did. In the middle.
"Have a good time", Capitol Security told me, as they brought me to the the press box, which is surprisingly small. Room for about 6 chairs and little jack-laden cubby holes to plug into the press feed. (All of the audio and video is available for the asking, but I just wanted to get you some sooner and pick out the good stuff.)
Stealthy sort that I am,
I was able to manage some shots of the hot hot legislative Action...
Laptops...
Union boys...
And Republicans...Oh My!
Gotta give a shout out to Dave from IRNwho I sat next to and introduced me around a bit. Here’s a little payback Dave...Daveshomeroast.com. See, he's not just a reporter...he also roasts his own coffee beans. Showed up day two pulling on a thermos of his own concoction. All the best, man!
Day One:
Panel presentations and questions from the Representatives,
Exceed your time limit, and find yourself talking into a dead mic. Not that it stopped some of them.
It was Speaker's discretion to turn it on if he thought it was worth it.
I thought this an interesting nugget...
The Reps. are put on a list to ask their question, but they don’t know when they will be called...which can mean some of them are out of the room, stuck with a lobbyists, or just distracted and are left scrambling for a mic.
Some never get a chance to ask their question. Happens for votes too...
The day ended with a rather pointless panel discussion on the leasing of the lottery...
That died in committee.
Rep. Monique Davis (D) 27th said it was like a "hen farmer selling the hen house. The lottery is Illinois' hen house!"... Audio
The big point of contention was that everyone wanted to vote on a Capital Bill but why THIS Capital Bill?
The lead balloon of an answer was there was no other bill on the table...Republicans loved that...
It’s the only game in town...And we are running out of time....
-Rep Black (R)104
My dog Willie ate the House Democratics Jobs Plan!
-Rep Hoffman (D)112
Audio
By the end of the day the threads were starting to show and the confusion set in.
A valid question-
What's our timeline here? Is it months? Is it till November? Is it 15 days?
-Rep. Dunkin (D) 5th
Audio
He does go on-I had to listen to it twice.
Followed by the ever animated Rep. Black reading a press release from the Governor's office dated July the 9th (still the first day of the session) stating the failure of the House to pass revenue to support 2 billion dollars in spending, forces Governor to make spending reductions...
When did we fail? Isn't this a little premature? We've got a whole day left. How does he know what we're going to do? I've been here a few years and on any given day I'm not sure that I know what we're going to do!
Audio
In my room that night, I wondered what the hell had just happened and what the point of all this was...Then it hit me-
Oh...Control.
Oh...Image.
Oh...Lordy.
Day Two
Madiganat the helm...whether you're a fan or not, you can't deny his presence...
I did get to see him lower the wall once...One of the Reps had a guest who wanted a picture with the Speaker. The Rep asked and he nodded. They trotted up to the podium and embraced, and the Speaker smiled...Then...The game face went back on and the slog continued.
Here are some hi-lights
The bill goes on to state very clearly that that extra land based casino (in Chicago) is STATE owned...STATE OWNED...This bill creates unfair competition...We're saying we don't have to regulate ourselves the way we regulate you...This state should not be in a business that we regulate. We should not own a business that we regulate...No one could possibly think that that is a fair thing to do.
-Rep. Lang (D)16
Assistant Majority Leader
Audio
We cannot responsibly send this to the Governors desk... I intend on voting NO or Present. However we cannot wait more than a few days or a few weeks.
-Rep. Molaro (D)21
Chief Co-Sponsor of HB 2651
Audio
Which prompted this snarky exchange from Reps. Black(R) and Stephens(R)...
Black: Mr. Speaker I just want you to know and I want "Hans Christian" Molaro to know that that fairy tale moved me...Could he read to my Grandchildren?
Stephens: Mr. Speaker, I'd like to make the following offer. I'd hate to see Rep. Molaro vote against a bill in which he is the Chief Sponsor...Could I take the bill over? Just this once? So he doesn't have to be embarrassed.
Audio
None of this had to happen.
The Governor has the power to make the budget reductions, which he ended up doing anyway, but not without the appearance of even more pettiness, as he slashed the office budgets of his political rivals.
He also didn’t have to promise more than he was willing to give in the first place, although his "force you to buy private health insurance while the state subsidizes the health insurance industry with your tax money" health care plan wasn't much of a promise of anything...
Has there been a more awkward time in political history when Republicans are supporting a Democratic Governor's Capital Bill and the Democrats are split and indignant?
Some political legacy.
One of my favorite speeches on the capital bill came from Rep. Franks(D)63:
The Gov. has basically asked us to give him a blank check for 34 billion dollars and then trust him to do the right thing...This is not a Capital Bill which we are debating right now. This is a Gambling Bill. Each Bill must stand on it's own. I'm going to give you one reason why none of us should vote for this bill....It's a small paragraph in the bill but it's one that should get your attention. It says in the bill that The Chicago Public Schools Capital Needs Board will be appointed by the Governor and they will not be subject to review ,and these are the same individuals who will decide how the hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on private contracts. This is the same Gov. who appointed the members of the pension board who have pled guilty to bribery...We have a Gov. office that's looking more and more like the Nixon White House.
Audio
The people that work the capitol keep it pretty real. One of the security guards asked me..."What was this all about? Casinos or road work?" I said: Unfortunately, it was more about casinos.
All in all the Representatives rant and they finger point and call each other names, but they also walk across the aisle and shove an elbow in a rib and slap a shoulder now and then.
If only it would result in policy than made sense.
Unfortunately, all this political theater and in-fighting is doing nothing but messing with people’s lives, jobs and health.
Finally...I can say I’ve done one thing that the Gov. appears to abhor...
Spend the night in Springfield.
By the way...It all starts over again tomorrow.
-mew.