News

House fails to override veto of higher truck speed limit

Posted October 10, 2007 11:00 pm

Adriana Colindres

The Illinois House on Wednesday blocked a proposed law that would have raised the speed limit for trucks on rural interstate highways from 55 mph to 65 mph.

Senate Bill 540 overwhelmingly passed both chambers of the General Assembly earlier this year, on a 45-10 Senate vote and a 90-22 House vote.

But Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing safety concerns, vetoed it in August.

If enacted into law, the measure would have enabled tractor-trailers to go faster on highways with at least four lanes that are outside of urban areas. The higher speed limit for trucks would not have applied in metropolitan areas, such as Interstate 55 in Chicago or Springfield, or Interstate 74 in Peoria. Trucks in those areas would have been required to stick to the existing 55 mph limit.

The Senate last week voted to override the governor's veto. If the House had done the same thing, the measure would have become law despite Blagojevich's objections.

In House debate Wednesday, supporters of the legislation argued that traffic safety improves when all vehicles are bound by the same speed limit.

Opponents said that letting big trucks go faster would threaten the safety of other motorists.

House members supported the override motion on a roll call vote of 57-53, but 71 "yes" votes were needed.

Thirty House members, mostly from the Chicago area, backed the bill when it passed the House in May, but they opposed it Wednesday.

Lawmakers from the Peoria and Springfield areas voted the same way both times.

Those who supported the higher speed limit for trucks on rural interstates included Reps. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg; Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield; David Leitch, R-Peoria; Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley; Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth; Donald Moffitt, R-Gilson; Richard Myers, R-Colchester; Raymond Poe, R-Springfield; Aaron Schock, R-Peoria; Mike Smith, D-Canton; Keith Sommer, R-Morton; Jil Tracy, R-Mount Sterling; and Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville.

Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, was the only central Illinois lawmaker to vote no on the bill. He also opposed it in May.

Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, was one of the House members who switched from a "yes" vote in May to a "no" vote Wednesday.

"The governor's opposition had nothing whatsoever to do with my decision," Lang said.

"I could care less what the governor thinks, but I have rethought my position. It just seems that the weight of the evidence is that public safety demands that we keep the roadways as safe as possible."

The legislation's House sponsor, Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, pointed out after the vote that the measure has failed four times in recent years. Still, he said he might make another push for it in 2008.

"It's pretty hard to compete when members are getting personal phone calls from the governor's office," Flider said of Wednesday's outcome. "The governor's office, they cranked up the opposition. They cranked up the grass-roots effort against it, and so they were effective in peeling votes off."

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said the governor had called some House members in the past few days "and basically pitched his position."

"Quite honestly, it wasn't a tough sell for the governor," she added. "We really are talking about saving lives."

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.

Article Categories
News