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Quinn urges recall measure

Posted November 01, 2007 11:00 pm

Dana Heupel

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn called on lawmakers Thursday to support legislation to allow voters to recall elected officials, but he wouldn't say whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be a target.

However, the House sponsor of the bill, Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, was clear in his intentions.

"I would not have filed this if the governor was getting the job done," he said at a Statehouse news conference with Quinn.

Quinn said he supported giving voters the right to recall officials long before he ran on the same ballot ticket as Blagojevich. He did allow, however, "This whole year has been so disappointing, with the gridlock and the failure to respond to the public interest, that I think it underlines the need for having extraordinary tools of direct democracy like recall."

Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich, responded later, "The governor's doing exactly what he told voters he would do in a second term."

She added that Blagojevich supports the concept of voter recall, as well as the related issue of term limits. Rausch said she couldn't speculate on whether he would support a particular piece of legislation until he could review it further.

The Chicago Tribune, the state's largest newspaper, called earlier this week for a recall of Blagojevich, citing his "multiple ineptitudes … his reckless financial stewardship, his dictatorial antics (and) his penchant for creating political enemies."

Quinn acknowledged he has serious disagreements with some of the governor's initiatives, "but I think at this time in our state's democracy we should focus on a principle of establishing a power that will empower the voters for years to come."

Under the legislation, voters could place a recall question on the ballot for a constitutional officer by submitting signatures totaling at least 12 percent of the previous votes for that office. For instance, the total votes cast for governor and lieutenant governor in 2006 was 3,486,671, Quinn said, so a recall initiative would require at least 418,401 signatures - 12 percent of the total.

Removing the official from office then would require approval of more than 50 percent of those voting on the question during the election.

Eighteen states allow recalls in various forms, Quinn said. Franks said he patterned his legislation after the law in California, where voters recalled former Gov. Gray Davis in 2003.

Quinn said he also would support calling a constitutional convention in 2008 and adding a recall provision at that time. He said, however, that he would prefer that lawmakers do it before then.

"The deadline is May 4 of next year" for the House and Senate to approve the legislation by three-fifths margin, Quinn said. The question of whether to change the Constitution would then appear on the ballot in November 2008, where three fifths of the voters would have to support it.

If that happened, the first recall vote could be on ballots in April 2009, Franks said. He said he expects to try to call the legislation for a vote in the House after Jan. 1 of next year.

Sen. Dan Cronin, R-Elmhurst, also sponsored legislation in the Senate with the same language, Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 70. Quinn said, however, he would prefer to see the legislative initiative start in the House, where it has a better chance to pass.

Dana Heupel can be reached at 788-1518 or dana.heupel@sj-r.com.

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