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Blagojevich bypassing legislature to expand health care

Posted August 14, 2007 11:00 pm

Doug Finke and Adriana Colindres

Unable to get lawmakers to approve his plan to expand Illinois' health-care coverage, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday he will do it himself, offsetting the expense by cutting $500 million from the state budget awaiting his approval.

Legislators from both parties said the announcement took them by surprise, and they questioned if Blagojevich has the constitutional authority to follow through.

In a brief public appearance outside his Statehouse office, Blagojevich said he will use his "executive authority" to expand existing state health-care programs to cover an additional 717,000 people at a cost of $463 million.

In addition, Blagojevich said he will cut $200 million in what he called pork projects included in the $59 billion spending plan lawmakers sent him Monday, along with $300 million more in "special interest spending." The itemized list of cuts will not be available until later this week, according to the governor's office.

"In short, I am cutting pork and special-interest spending, and in its place, I'm using the legal authority I have to expand health care to more than 500,000 people," Blagojevich said.

His spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said later that the $500 million cut from the budget will not be used to pay for the expanded health-care programs. Instead, she said, fund transfers and "managing programs and costs" will generate the money needed.

That approach apparently is aimed at negating some lawmakers' argument that, constitutionally, Blagojevich will still need their approval to spend money on his health-care plan. Although the governor can cut spending in a proposed budget, he cannot add to it.

Blagojevich offered no details on how he plans to implement the expanded health-care program or what exactly he will cut from the budget. Ottenhoff could not provide one example of "special interest spending" the governor plans to cut.

Normally, the General Assembly would have a chance to restore cuts made by the governor, but Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, said he will not allow the Senate to do that. Jones, a close Blagojevich ally, appeared with the governor at the Capitol.

"We do not plan to move to override the cuts in spending that will put the governor in a position where he could not do anything for health care," Jones said. "That's what we are going to do. Case closed."

Both Blagojevich and Jones then returned to Blagojevich's office without answering questions.

House Speaker Michael Madigan's office did not respond to the governor's announcement. Madigan, also a Chicago Democrat, has opposed most of Blagojevich's legislative agenda during the spring session that has extended well into the summer.

Jones' decision to stand with Blagojevich came just hours after the governor signed into law a supplemental spending bill giving lawmakers nearly 10 percent in cost-of-living pay increases. Jones strongly supported the raises, though on Tuesday, he denied there was any connection between approval of the raises and his support for Blagojevich's health-care initiative.

"Oh, no. I've been fighting for these pay raises for a year," Jones said.

Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, said it appears Blagojevich is exceeding his constitutional authority.

"I think it's unprecedented," Watson said. "To me, I just think it would be an end run of the whole legislative process for him to do this."

"It's another stunning disregard of the will of the General Assembly," said Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont.

In his March budget address, Blagojevich proposed giving every Illinoisan access to health insurance. He wanted to pay for it with a 3 percent tax on employers who spend little or nothing on health insurance for their employees.

Even though the program's been scaled back from its original form, it has never been called for a vote in either the House or Senate because it does not have the votes to pass.

"We discussed the governor's health-care proposal at length over many months, and there was no consensus on that," said Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville. "Now for the governor to use his executive authority to reach some of his goals, I guess I don't agree with the process."

The pork Blagojevich threatened to veto is "member initiative" money set aside for lawmakers to spend on projects in their districts as they see fit. Some planned to use the money for street or other infrastructure work, while others wanted to spend it on things like literacy or youth programs.

Some lawmakers said they think Blagojevich's decision to veto the money for lawmakers' pet projects is designed to restart talks on a $10 billion infrastructure program that bogged down in the Senate last week. In the wake of the Minnesota bridge collapse, Blagojevich wants an infrastructure program passed, and all of the legislative leaders said they do, too, although they disagree on the scope and how to pay for it.

While Blagojevich plans to veto part of the budget, and Jones will accept the cuts, it does not mean the entire spending plan passed last week is dead. Once Blagojevich formally makes the cuts, the remainder of the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 can take effect, and Comptroller Dan Hynes can begin writing checks again for state expenses.

State government has been without a budget since Aug. 1, when a temporary budget expired.

Dana Heupel of GateHouse News Service's State Capitol Bureau contributed to this report. Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com. Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.

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