© 2024 NPR Illinois
The Capital's Community & News Service
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Illinois Issues
Archive2001-Present: Scroll Down or Use Search1975-2001: Click Here

Ends and Means: Lawmakers got inoculated in time for the campaign season

Charles N. Wheeler III
WUIS/Illinois Issues

Had your flu shot? Some public health officials are expecting a record number of Americans to receive the influenza vaccine this fall, with demand for the shots driven by people's recollection of last year's shortage and their concern about the virulent avian flu slowly making its way toward the western hemisphere.

Illinois politicians also seem worried about falling victim to a potentially lethal malady, "displicentia populi," roughly translated as voter discontent, in the 2006 elections. Indeed, the hope of forestalling polling place casualties was a major theme in the fall legislative session that ended last month.

Consider, for example, the House vote to repeal the Riverboat Gambling Act on July 1, 2007. Taken at face value, the measure is almost as fiscally irresponsible as last spring's decision to shortchange the state's pension systems some $2.3 billion over two years. The 17-line bill makes no mention of how to replace the more than $700 million loss in state revenue, nor the more than $100 million hit to communities with boats. As for the estimated 9,000 casino workers who would lose their jobs, the legislation simply calls for the local community colleges to retrain them for some other line of work.

But don't take the bill at face value. Even House Speaker Michael Madigan,  a Chicago Democrat who voted for it, explained he didn't really want to scuttle the boats. Instead, he said, he wanted to encourage a closer look at how the industry operates, in particular whether the state should auction the gaming licenses when they are up for renewal.

Perhaps. But does anyone seriously believe the only way Madigan could get anyone to pay attention to him was to pass legislation killing the industry? Usually, just a quiet word from the powerful speaker is enough to make things happen.

A more plausible explanation would be Madigan's desire to inoculate downstate Democrats against socially conservative voters for whom legalized gambling is a moral issue. In fact, nine of the 18 Democrats elected from districts outside the Chicago area voted for repeal. Eight of the "no" votes represent districts either hosting — or next door to — one of the five downstate riverboats.

Moreover, the roll call found several potentially vulnerable Republicans — including the Democrats' top target, Peoria Rep. Aaron Schock — voting to protect the boats' economic value to their towns, at the risk of alienating some of their conservative base.

Nor was Madigan the only one looking ahead to 2006.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich also sought immunization from voter discontent over impending higher electric rates with his choice of Martin Cohen, former executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, to become the new chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission.

The panel is studying a proposal from the state's two major electric suppliers — Commonwealth Edison and Ameren — to buy power through a reverse auction process when a 1998 rate freeze expires a year from now. Utility officials acknowledge that rates are certain to increase, but say their plan is vital if customers are to have reliable power in the future.

Illinois politicians also seem worried about falling victim to a potentially lethal malady, "displicentia populi," roughly translated as voter discontent, in the 2006 elections.

In his CUB role, Cohen has criticized the reverse auction proposal, and the utilities and business groups opposed his ICC nomination, claiming his track record as a consumer advocate raised concerns that he could not be an impartial arbiter.

The nomination fell two votes short of the 30 needed in a carefully orchestrated roll call in which most senators who might face voter discontent next year supported Cohen, allowing them to burnish their pro-consumer credentials, while opponents cited the consumer watchdog's perceived conflict of interest.

Afterwards, a disappointed Cohen blamed his rejection on "the rancid combination of money and politics in Illinois" and said the real conflicts of interest might lie with lawmakers who voted against him after getting campaign money from the utilities for decades.

Despite the Senate rebuff, though, Blagojevich still may come out ahead politically. He can claim he's on the side of the ratepayers, not the utilities, so when voters contemplate soon-to-be-higher rates, they might not blame him.

Ethics reform is another preventive medicine for lawmakers, although most take it with about as much enthusiasm as they would castor oil. Still, 115 House members voted for an ethics package last month, sending it to the Senate for consideration in January.

Given Cohen's complaint about electric utility campaign contributions — more than $1.3 million to state candidates since January 2003, according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform — one reasonably might expect ethics legislation to address the issue of donations by regulated industries.

But one would be wrong, for the House package had neither limits on who could give nor on how much could be given, as Blagojevich proposed in the spring. Nor was Comptroller Dan Hynes' plan to limit contributions from state contractors — intended to curb "pay-to-play" abuses — anywhere to be found.

But the Madigan-sponsored measure dealt with one area under close scrutiny by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald — how state pension systems make their investments. In August, prosecutors in Chicago charged a former trustee of the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System and two attorneys with seeking kickbacks from investment companies that wanted to do business with the fund. The attorneys have pleaded guilty while the third defendant awaits trial.

Under Madigan's plan, pension trustees and administrators would face stronger economic disclosure and conflict-of-interest rules. Lobbyists would be banned from collecting contingency fees from companies wishing to handle investments. Adviser services would have to be bid competitively, and advisers would have to disclose their fees and commissions.

The ethics measure also contained less dramatic revisions to existing rules, but the pension fund changes are the ones most likely to bolster lawmakers' campaign well-being. And that's what vaccines are all about.

 


Charles N. Wheeler III is director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Illinois Issues, December 2005

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Related Stories