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Lawmakers' nerves, plans frayed by budget impasse

Posted July 10, 2007 11:00 pm

Adriana Colindres and Dana Heupel

For their 30th wedding anniversary later this month, state Sen. Larry Bomke and his wife, Sally Jo, planned to journey to California, where they would visit their daughter and tour the coast.

But thanks to the impasse over a new budget for state government, Sally Jo might be taking the trip by herself.

"She's disappointed. I'm disappointed," Bomke, R-Springfield, said Tuesday. "I was looking forward to seeing our daughter, looking forward to traveling around California."

The legislative overtime triggered by the lack of a budget agreement has been "very disruptive in all of our lives," he said.

"You know, as frustrated as I am, I can only imagine how it must be for members who have to travel to Springfield once a week and continue to do this," Bomke added. "At least I can go home every night. At least I can go to my private office, which is five minutes from here."

No budget deal was in sight after Tuesday's closed-door meeting among Gov. Rod Blagojevich, legislative leaders and other lawmakers.

"Unfortunately, the governor came very close to losing his temper, but I tried to act like a father again, and he made a real nice recovery," House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, told reporters afterward.

"I'm not sure why he lost his temper. He may have been dissatisfied with some things that were being said to him. He raised his voice and flailed away with his arms."

But the governor, also a Democrat, denied losing his temper.

"I implored the speaker - good naturedly - to come back and be a Democrat again," Blagojevich said. "And I told him, no one can do it better than you …(that) you're as good as it gets when it comes to passing things you want to pass, and all we need you to do is want to do this."

Blagojevich also suggested cutting Republicans out of the budget-making process by delaying the effective date of his proposals to provide near-universal health insurance and to dramatically increase education funding. By pushing back the effective date to June 1, 2008, legislation on those issues would need a simple majority to pass, rather than a three-fifths' majority. Democrats control the House and Senate and, in theory, would be able to pass that legislation without any help from Republicans.

Madigan said that part of Tuesday's discussion "really went nowhere."

For the fourth day in a row, the meeting took place at the Executive Mansion, which has enough room for the rank-and-file legislators who attend.

Today (Wednesday), lawmakers involved in the budget negotiations are expected to break up into smaller groups to discuss various issues.

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate and the House convened, as they planned to do even before Blagojevich called a special session on the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' supportive-living program.

The Senate met for about an hour and passed one bill on a 45-0 vote. Senate Bill 766 calls on the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to work with a nonprofit organization to ensure that all Illinois residents and businesses "have access to affordable and reliable high-speed Internet service."

The House, meanwhile, spent part of its three-hour session listening to testimony from Barry Maram, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Some House members also expressed frustration with the lack of progress toward a new state budget and with the governor, who called today's (Wednesday's) special session - the eighth - on gun-control legislation.

Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, said the governor should call a special session about ethics legislation that Fritchey sponsored earlier this year. House Bill 1 is meant to end "pay-to-play politics" in Illinois by banning campaign contributions from most state contractors.

The measure sailed through the House on a 116-0 vote in April but never emerged from the Senate Rules Committee, which is the first stop for all bills that reach the Senate.

"Governor, you and you alone have the power to put years of public cynicism and distrust in state government to rest in a matter of minutes," Fritchey said on the House floor. "You now have the opportunity to send one of two messages to the people of Illinois: You can call a special session on House Bill 1 and help restore public confidence in state government, or you could do nothing and tell them to expect more business as usual."

As the House wrapped up work Tuesday, Rep. Gary Hannig, a Litchfield Democrat who is one of Madigan's top lieutenants, announced the House's weekend schedule for the rest of the month. The House will convene at 9 a.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. Sundays as needed, Hannig said.

That schedule, however, sets the stage for another potential standoff with Blagojevich.

Last weekend, Blagojevich administration officials said they were considering a court battle to force the House to convene at the time specified in the governor's proclamations for special sessions. The governor's proclamation for Saturday's special session set a 2 p.m. start time, but Madigan called his chamber in at 10 a.m. and later sent them home until 5 p.m. Sunday - giving members enough time to return home briefly.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com. Dana Heupel can be reached at (217) 788-1518 or dana.heupel@sj-r.com.

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