capture of the Senate in the 1970 general election. The 1972 election left both chambers again in the hands of the G.O.P. but the voters retired Ogilvie in favor of Walker.

Now, two years later, David J. Caravello, a Walker aide, notes that Walker, a former Chicago business executive, "'came into office without being part of the political club, which included legislative leaders." In the words of Caravello, a one-time seminarian who handles Walker's liaison with the House, "The Governor just had no legislative relations, one way or the other. Some legislators were outright hostile. There were few we could ask to do anything."

The major session in 1973, Walker's first, justifies Caravello's assessment. Walker submitted few proposals to the legislators, and made only sporadic attempts to inject himself into their deliberations. More often than not, he was rebuffed. The resulting leadership vacuum provided an opportunity for the leaders and also rank-and-file lawmakers to seize initiative on government policy, a chance which some eagerly grabbed. But, not surprisingly, this resulted in a particularly disjointed opening session for the 78th General Assembly. No faction in either of the virtually evenly divided houses was able to clearly assert its will.

Legislative committee retaliated
The Governor's serious legislative problems can be traced to the session's third month when the General Assembly took the unusual step of overriding Walker's amendatory veto of a bill that gave emergency aid to mass transit operations. About the same time, the Senate Executive Committee, dominated by conservative Republicans, began an almost

'cannot remember ... Ogilvie or Kerner going into caucuses of their party's legislators, as Walker has, to appeal directly for support of gubernatorial proposals'

systematic rejection of a number of Walker appointments to key posts. Not just Republicans, but many persons -in both parties looked forward to the panel's hearings with relish. Walker won office by flouting the political establishment, and the establishment through the legislature, and particularly this committee, retaliated by turning down several of Walker's nominees.

Hostility has not slackened
G.O.P. legislators' hostility to Walker has not slackened. But events since that initial session have shown that Walker and Democratic legislators, especially from downstate, have begun to accommodate each other. Walker supporters point out, for instance, that threatened overrides of Walker's reductions of budgetary measures never materialized in the fall of 1973. Furthermore, Walker did not seem to be appreciably worse off for all the hubbub in the principal session of 1974. "After the smoke screen lifted," contended Caravelio, "people could see that, in spite of all the noise, we did not suffer serious wounds."

Walker has suffered embarrassments though, most noticeably as a result of the G.O.P. drive to eliminate Walker's special investigative team and other pet operations of the Governor's office. However, the final record of Walker's administration will show his successful call for approval of a major coal development program and his push for passage of Illinois' first campaign finance disclosure law. The reasons for Walker's progress with the General Assembly are also linked to the unorthodox manner in which he attacks political obstacles. It cannot be put as simply as Caravello's explanation that "the legislators just have taken more time than usual in realizing that he (Walker) is Governor, and what that means."

'Never saw a more personal pitch'
Out of the sight of the public, Walker has courted Democratic legislators in such a personal way that he has reduced the distance that most of his predecessors maintained between the two branches. Observers cannot remember, for example, Ogilvie or Kerner going into caucuses of their party's legislators, as Walker has, to appeal directly for support of gubernatorial proposals. After one of Walker's first such excursions, a Democratic legislator was heard to say that "the guy showed us he intends to be the leader, with or without the heckling he got. 1 ever saw a more personal pitch."

Walker's wooing of Democratic legislators took an even more intense, uncamouflaged turn in the period before the election. When Victor de Grazia, the deputy to the Governor, took a leave of absence in the weeks prior to the election, no attempt was made to hide de Grazia's intended involvement in key legislative contests.

Later, reporters were invited to a Springfield country club to observe as Waiter's Illinois Democratic Fund (IDF) raiser netted a reported $100,000 in contributions from those individuals who accepted an IDF invitation to donate $1,000 and spend a day with sports and television personalities. Most of the money, gubernatorial aides noted, was to be spent on Walker's television blitz for the legislative candidates.

These developments undoubtedly added a new dimension to legislative-gubernatorial relations, something that may not be evident until the new 79th General Assembly gets into full swing in 1975.

Illinois Issues I February 1975/53




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