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In the hyperreactive world that is the Illinois
Statehouse, every move made by every major player is analyzed to death in
an attempt to figure who’s zooming whom. Speaker Michael
Madigan’s Illinois Gaming Board reform plan is a case in point.
The proposal, which Madigan unveiled last week, has
drawn praise from reformers like the Illinois Campaign for Political
Reform, but it includes language that looks to have been designed
specifically as a jab at the speaker’s political nemeses.
For instance, Madigan’s proposal would ban all
contact regarding gaming-board matters between the board and the
governor’s office, state senators, and Senate staff, but not a word
is said about Madigan’s House. Zing.
Madigan appears determined to make it very difficult
for Senate President Emil Jones to score a casino for the Indiana-border
area near Chicago. It’s been rumored all year that Jones was helping
pals of his in that region, to the point of specifically excluding a
competing area near the border backed by allies of a rival, U.S. Rep. Jesse
Jackson Jr.
At first Madigan rejected any new casinos outside the
Chicago Loop, a move that was also seen as a shot at Jones, but Madigan has
lately relented, sources say, and as I write this he is just about ready to
support one additional boat. Madigan apparently wanted to make sure that
neither Jones nor Blagojevich could unduly influence the siting of that
additional casino, which explains why he put that “no contact”
language into his reform plan.
Then there’s Madigan’s proposed process
of appointing an all-new gaming board, something Madigan has said is an
essential precondition of his support for a new casino plan.
Under Madigan’s complicated proposal, the
Illinois Supreme Court would appoint a panel of experts to choose a pool of
candidates for the board from which the governor would pick his nominees.
Besides the obvious and glaring statement of mistrust of the
governor’s appointment powers and the Senate’s constitutional
role of advice and consent, Madigan, as state Democratic Party chairman,
has been involved in the selection of Supreme Court justices. He actually
ran the campaign of one justice, Thomas Kilbride.
So even though Madigan may be moving forward with a
gaming proposal, he has done so in a way that has likely insulted his
political opponents. Typical.
Also, Madigan has so far refused to agree to a demand
by the other legislative leaders that several hundred million dollars in
“excess” cash raised by any new casino legislation be directed
toward operational expenses for schools. The provision was included in a
Senate-approved bill, and Blagojevich also supports the idea.
There are several explanations floating around out
there, but the two most often mentioned are that Madigan’s proposal
won’t raise as much upfront money as the other plan, so the cash
won’t be available for schools (and so the governor and Jones
can’t claim a big win on this topic) or that Madigan wants the money
to be used to fund most of his members’ projects vetoed by
Blagojevich earlier this year.
Madigan is just chockfull of games these days. The
House speaker unveiled a new budget implementation (a.k.a. the BIMP) bill
last week that took a big swipe at Blagojevich.
School advocates were saying last week that if the
BIMP bill didn’t pass by Friday more than 700 school districts across
the state would see reduced state-aid payments next month. The BIMP also
provides new money for schools in the form of a higher
“foundation” level and more money for special-education
reimbursements. Madigan has declined to pass a Senate-approved BIMP bill
because, he says, Jones violated a budget agreement during the summer
overtime session. Jones points the finger of blame right back at Madigan.
With the pressure on, Madigan couldn’t resist
playing another game.
Buried on page 25 of Madigan’s alternative BIMP
bill was language that authorized Secretary of State Jesse White to make
grants to “units of local government, school districts, educational
institutions, private agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and
for-profit entities.” The grants under White’s control
would cover education, transportation, construction, capital improvements,
and social services.
In other words, Madigan essentially wanted to give
White the powers normally delegated solely to the governor and his
agencies.
Fortunately, Madigan withdrew that proposal and
submitted another one without the above language, but the original language
gives you an idea of how far things have gone this year.
Rich Miller publishes Capitol
Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.
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