Madigan: Awaiting attorney's advice on veto override
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said Tuesday he won't decide whether to call for an override of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's veto of $463 million in the state budget passed by lawmakers until his attorneys finish studying the issue.</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">"We're waiting for a definitive opinion from our counsel on that question," said Madigan, D-Chicago. "We're not certain when that'll be available."</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">He said his efforts had been directed recently toward promoting legislation to help the Chicago-area Regional Transportation Authority. As for how he might respond to the governor's cuts, Madigan said, "We haven't settled on that yet."</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">Even if an override vote were successful in the House, Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, has said he would not allow a vote in the Senate.</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">On Aug. 23, Blagojevich revealed his budget cuts, saying he was freeing up money for his proposed health-care plan, which had failed to gain legislative support. </font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">After questions about whether the governor had the constitutional authority to do that, he let the cuts stand but said he would find another $463 million elsewhere in the $59 billion budget.</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">Blagojevich also sued Madigan on Aug. 24, contending the House speaker did not have authority to change the times of special sessions called by the governor. In addition, Blagojevich contended Madigan should ensure that a quorum is available to vote on legislation and that the speaker could not excuse absences by lawmakers.</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">"Concerning the lawsuit filed by the governor against the speaker of the House," Madigan said Tuesday when asked about the issue, "our attorney, David Ellis, is preparing our response. He's going to spend a lot of time preparing the response, and when the response is available, we'll share that with you."</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">The lawsuit "won't affect my performance in office," Madigan added. "I plan to continue to take all of these issues before the legislature on their merits."</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">Blagojevich has called 16 special sessions so far this summer. All have dealt with budget issues except for one called on gun legislation.</font>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="BODY"><font face="Imperial">Dana Heupel can be reached at (217) 788-1518 or dana.heupel@sj-r.com.</font>