Illinois state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) said
last week that the Senate Democrats will seek "feedback" from the
Senate Republicans before making final decisions on new rules for the chamber.
Steans was put in charge of devising new rules by Senate President John
Cullerton several months ago.
That statement, probably more than anything else
that was said or done yesterday, illustrates how much things are about to
change in the Illinois Senate.
For ten years, Republican Senate President Pate
Philip justified his partisan games by pointing to past grievances over how the
Democrats had treated his caucus. Since Democrat Emil Jones became Senate
President in 2003, we've heard an almost exact replica of Pate's old refrains
time and time again, only with the aggrieved parties reversed.
It was long past time to get beyond this endless
back-and-forth goofiness, and that appears to be happening now that Jones has
finally retired.
The chamber's rules have always been the province of
the Senate President, and he (it's always a "he") has held tightly to
that power and used it for his own and his own party's advantage. So, the
President's majority party consulting the minority party on proposed new rules
is absolutely without precedence.
The old rules allowed the Senate President to
control almost every single aspect of the Senate's activities. Members couldn't
advance any legislation of any kind without the Senate Rules Committee's
approval. The committee, of course, was completely controlled by the Senate President.
In other words, nothing moved without one person's say-so. It has been an
intolerable situation, particularly for the party that was out of power.
The new rules will be addressed and adopted once the
impeachment trial of Gov. Rod Blagojevich ends sometime early next month. The
one change that appeared yesterday was a new "Committee on
Assignment" in place of the old, and often-hated Rules Committee. Killing
off the Rules Committee would be akin to knocking down the Berlin Wall.
Cullerton also pledged last week to end a notorious
practice made infamous by Pate Philip and continued with gusto by Emil Jones:
Sending bills to the House that are obviously doomed in order to put some sort
of political pressure on the other chamber. The tactic never worked, and more
often than not backfired badly on the Senate.
"We must reach agreement [with the House]
rather than trying to one-up each other by passing bills that will never be
enacted," Cullerton said during his inaugural address.
Sen. Cullerton's new chief of staff even wandered
over to the press box last week for a chat - something that I've never seen
happen in the almost 19 years I've been covering the chamber. He later promised
a much more open approach by the Senate Democrats' operation.
And when the governor's defense lawyers quit in
protest over the Senate's impeachment trial rules last week, Cullerton said it
wouldn't delay the trial.
"That's his problem. Get another lawyer,"
said Cullerton, adding, "Rod can defend himself, he's a lawyer."
A response like that would've been unheard of during
Blagojevich pal Emil Jones' tenure.
It's more than just a new day. If this stuff
continues, then we will be in an entirely new era. And once that fresh openness
starts in the Senate, it may spread to the House.
And speaking of the House, Speaker Michael Madigan
has refused to return Gov. Rod Blagojevich's phone calls for years, and has
even refused to be in the same room with him since 2007. That intransigence
(albeit for good reasons) has triggered a massive government meltdown since the
governor's 2006 reelection.
But things may be changing soon. Madigan told a
Chicago radio station recently that he has met "on and off" with Lt.
Gov. Pat Quinn during the past two years. Madigan also revealed that the two men
have discussed Quinn's transition to the governor's office. When the transition
comes, Madigan said, "We'll be ready to move forward to try and resolve
some of these huge problems that afflict the state."
Madigan said the first order of business would be to
"Balance the books... pay the bills," noting that the state is 90-120
days behind in its payments to state service providers.
The two men may not see eye to eye on solving all
the problems, but at least Madigan will physically be looking Quinn in the eye
if and or when he says "No."
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily
political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com.