In
state legislative politics, your word is supposed to be your bond, but that
doesn't always happen. Illinois legislators will often tell one person one
thing and tell another something completely different. Rank and file
legislators aren't completely trustworthy.
Legislative
leaders, on the other hand, are supposed to be different, particularly when it
comes to promises they make to each other. The Senate President, House Speaker
and the two minority leaders share an historic bond that is never breached.
By
tradition, when the four leaders come to an agreement the pact is considered
almost holy writ. They are all obligated to do everything they possibly can to
implement their agreement. That trust is absolutely crucial to getting anything
done at the Statehouse. When leaders make a bargain, it's almost always about
large, important and politically delicate matters. And nobody can remember a
time when those vows have ever been broken.
Until
last week, that is.
This
legislative session has been a year of firsts in Springfield. It's been the
longest overtime session in modern Illinois history and has showcased some of
the nastiest fights ever between the governor and some of the legislative
leaders. We've had open talk of the governor's impeachment on the House floor
and legislators have publicly questioned the governor's sanity and mocked his
mental acuity.
So,
I guess it should come as no surprise that this is also the first year anyone
can remember when the four leaders' agreement on the budget deal was broken.
Last
week, Senate President Emil Jones took the extraordinary step of announcing
that he wouldn't follow through on his pledge to enact the state budget that he
negotiated with the other leaders. This was the first year since Jim Thompson
was governor that the leaders did the budget on their own, without the
governor's input.
Gov.
Rod Blagojevich objected to parts of the leaders' budget, mainly because they
didn't include funding for his health care initiatives. So, last week he
announced that he would veto out all the legislative "pork" from the
budget and use his executive authority to add $500 million in new spending for
health care programs. The Constitution forbids that sort of thing, but he
didn't really mean it that way anyway, and, besides, that's another story.
Everybody
expected Blagojevich to veto out parts of the bill, but since the leaders had
all agreed to support the budget there was no doubt that all of his vetoes
would be swiftly overridden.
The
big surprise came when Sen. Jones stood with the governor at that announcement
and announced that he wouldn't allow any overrides to pass the Senate. Without
Jones' cooperation, the budget will be implemented exactly the way the governor
wants over the objections of the other legislative leaders.
The
shock is still reverberating through Springfield, despite Jones' attempts to
explain his unprecedented move.
Jones
claims that House Speaker Michael Madigan interfered with his agreement with
the two Republican leaders to pass a multibillion dollar bond plan for the
state's aging infrastructure. Others suspect darker motives for Jones' action,
pointing to his family's financial success under Gov. Blagojevich's
administration.
Jones
claimed last week during an angry tirade that Madigan telephoned Senate
Republican Leader Frank Watson during a Republican caucus meeting just before a
series of votes on the infrastructure package. Jones charged that Madigan
convinced Watson to pull votes off the measures. Watson's caucus did indeed
vote "Present" on the first of the capital spending bills - a
proposal on bond authorization - depriving the measure of the 36 votes needed
for passage. Watson's spokesperson flatly denied that Madigan had anything to
do with the vote.
But
even if Jones is right, his explanation is less than satisfying, to say the
least.
Madigan
was not a direct party to those capital project talks and was therefore under
no obligation to abide by any agreement. In other words, he was free to
interfere. Unlike Jones and the budget, Madigan never gave his word.
"I
don't see how we can do anything here now that we can't trust another leader's
word," said a top legislative official last week.
That's
exactly right. There are still some big issues to be resolved this summer,
including what to do about the mass transit crisis in Chicago and the suburbs.
If the other leaders can't trust Jones, then nothing will happen.
I'm
not sure how Jones ever repairs this damage. His reputation is probably forever
tarnished.
-30-
Rich
Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com