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New year for state lawmakers, same old results

Posted January 02, 2008 10:00 pm

Doug Finke

New year. Same issues. Same result.

Illinois lawmakers were ordered back to Springfield Wednesday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who wanted them to deal with a Chicago-area mass transit funding bill.

Most lawmakers skipped the session. Neither the House nor the Senate met for more than 15 minutes before adjourning without voting on anything. They are not scheduled to return until Jan. 9.

Although Blagojevich was briefly in Springfield Wednesday, three of the four legislative leaders were not. Both Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, and House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, attended the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day and missed the session because they were en route back from California.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, also did not attend, and no one would comment on his whereabouts.

Only Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, showed up.

"I was supposed to leave on vacation (Tuesday)," Watson said. "I stayed here to do something productive for the people of the state, and it didn't happen. I'm not happy about it."

Only about 14 of 59 state senators showed up for Wednesday's session. In the House, 70 of 118 members answered a formal attendance roll call.

"I think it's totally outrageous that the governor continues to call us into these special sessions, and nothing gets done," Watson said.

"The governor called this special session at a time that he knew people had other plans," said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. "The governor had no expectation that anything would happen, and it's his own fault."

Blagojevich's office issued a statement saying he was "disappointed" most lawmakers skipped the session.

Chicago-area mass transit systems need an influx of cash to avoid service cuts and fare increases. The latest so-called doomsday deadline is Jan. 20.

One bail-out proposal calls for a small sales tax increase in the areas served by the mass transit systems. Blagojevich opposes this because it involves an increase in the sales tax.

The governor prefers an option that diverts to the mass transit systems about $375 million in sales tax revenue from gasoline purchases statewide. However, that money is already committed to the state budget, and neither Blagojevich nor lawmakers have figured out a way to replace it.

During a House committee hearing Wednesday, administration officials said the money could be replaced by closing tax loopholes or by taking money from restricted state accounts.

"It's hard to say we are going to take statewide money to fix a regional problem," said Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, who doesn't think either of the options suggested by the administration will be acceptable to lawmakers.

Another suggestion was to raise the state cigarette tax by 90 cents a pack and use the money for mass transit. However, committee members reacted cautiously because they expect the state to collect less tobacco tax revenue in coming years due to the newly enacted statewide smoking ban that's expected to result in fewer smokers. A large tobacco tax increase could cause even more people to quit.

The Senate has already approved a 90-cents-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, but to be used for paying down the state's Medicaid bills. Madigan has also said any increase in the cigarette tax should be used to pay for health-care programs.

Meanwhile, Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, said that downstate Senate Democrats are still unwilling to support a mass transit funding bill unless a public works construction bill financed by expanded gambling is approved at the same time. Unless they change their minds, the downstaters could block approval of a mass transit bill in the Senate.

"We can't vote for a mass transit bill until we have a capital bill," Halvorson said. "It needs to all be worked out (together). You can't pass one and then hope you do the other."

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.

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