Bill Black was a lawmaker who alternated between being outraged and outrageous.
The former Danville high school history teacher died Sept. 9. He was one of my favorite people in the Illinois General Assembly. Black was a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1986-2011, representing the 104th district, which stretches from Champaign to Danville.
Humor was a big part of how Black legislated.
When he sponsored the legislation that ultimately outlawed bestiality, he told me: "I'm from farm country. I've heard all the jokes: 'Honest, officer, I was just trying to help the sheep over the fence.' But until recently, I didn't know that this stuff actually goes on. But I've seen police reports that show that dogs and cats have died while having sex with humans."
He later added, "I think it is the type of behavior that would be very hard for someone to say, 'What I do in the privacy of my own pasture is only my business.'"
Another time during a House debate on a bill to allow alcohol to be served for formal events in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, he suggested that men would be staggering back into the replica of the Lincoln log cabin to urinate.
Former state Rep. Tom Ryder, who now lives in Springfield, said Black was his guiding star.
"I got there in August of '83. Bill came a few years later. We matured through the General Assembly together. He eventually became the floor spokesman. His responsibility was to tell (Republican members) on the floor about each and every bill, ask questions where appropriate and sometimes to slow down the process to keep things from moving along.
"He loved to give speeches. Sometimes they were fiery and sometimes they were eloquent. But he always knew what he was doing – even in his worst moments – like when he threw a Kleenex box at the speaker, which, by the way, didn't go more than about two rows. He had the worst pitching arm in the General Assembly."
Despite being of different political parties and having had a Kleenex box hurled at him, Black maintained a friendship with longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan.
"I can say pretty safely that of all the folks on the Republican side with whom I've served, Bill Black was the only one who was welcomed into Mike Madigan's office whenever he wanted to talk to him," Ryder recalled.
In the hyper-partisan environment of Springfield, such friendships are becoming increasingly rare. And Black paid a political price for breaking with his party on a significant bill.
In 2010, House Republican Leader Tom Cross demoted Black from his leadership position after Black voted for a Democratic-backed pension borrowing measure.
It was not only the ultimate slap in the face that a leader could give a subordinate, it also was a significant cut in pay.
Black was no fool. He knew the consequences of voting against his party's leadership. But he considered his boss to be the voters of east-central Illinois, not some caucus leader in a fancy Statehouse office.
"Sometimes he'd get mad and he'd say, 'I'm done with this and head back for Danville, and we have to talk him out of it,' Ryder recalled. "But he was my rock. He was my North Star. I did appropriations for over a decade, which meant I was off the floor (during debates) a lot.
"And occasionally they'd call us back to the floor on a particular vote. I always looked to see how Bill Black was voting, because I knew he knew the issues. And most of the time, if Bill was voting that way, that's the way my vote should be as well. There were a few occasions in which he said to me, 'I gotta be this way, but you should be the other way.'"
In an environment where politicians are often obsessed with position, Black was ambivalent.
After serving 25 years in the House, he returned to Danville where he again held elective office, first as an alderman and later as a Danville Area Community College Trustee.
Neither was as prestigious as serving in the legislature from which he resigned. But Black valued service more than status.
Former Gov. Jim Edgar added, "We all have egos in this business. But he had his under control. He liked to be in the middle of things, but he always wanted to get something done. There are some people who like power for power's sake. There are others who like power to be able to get things done. And he liked to get things done."
Edgar added that the political process is producing fewer politicians like Black today.
"I think today we've got a lot of legislators who would just rather be right in their own minds than to get things done for their district. Bill had strong opinions and he'd voice them. But at the end of the day, he knew he had to work with other people if he was going to get anything for his people. Unfortunately, that is not as abundant in Springfield as it used to be."
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at [email protected].
