The state of the State
For new lawmakers in the General Assembly, please note that Mr. Scolare was the original author of the materials presented for your orientation to the legislature — The Preface to Lawmaking. Will these be days of "glory" for the new 88th General Assembly and Illinois state government in general? There is new blood in the legislature and in the courts, which when all the dust has settled has the final say over laws passed, vetoed and overridden. But power is usually the long-range goal in Illinois politics, and legislation is passed or squelched for the grist of future campaigns, especially the "crown" of the state: the governor's chair. Consider the prospects for glory. Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass tried Alice's patience with his riddles, including why "unbirthdays" were better than birthdays. He explained, using his formula, ". . . there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents—" "Certainly," said Alice. "And only one for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you." "I don't know what you mean by 'glory,' " Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't — till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!' " "But 'glory' doesn't mean a 'nice knock-down argument,' " Alice objected. "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less." "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said HumptyDumpty, "which is to be master — that's all." Gov. Jim Edgar is at the midpoint in his term and will be the first Republican governor since 1981 to have a Republican-controlled chamber in the General Assembly. (In 1981 James R. Thompson was governor and Secy. of State George H. Ryan was the speaker of the House.) Edgar quickly will have to fine-tune his working relationship with Sen. James "Pate" Philip (R-23, Wood Dale), who is about to be anointed as president of the Senate by the new Republican majority. State finances are tight, but the plums are still juicy in a state where $30,826,930,842 was appropriated for spending in fiscal year 1993. And the next gubernatorial election is at stake. Philip is expected to be none too bashful at pushing the agenda of Republicans in suburbia. Will he be brash and bold, putting down all Chicago interests and others more closely allied to the Democratic party? The spring session is crucial for Edgar in campaigning for a second term. Democratic contenders abound, and the sorting out process will partly depend on Edgar and Philip working together to keep Democrats from any advantage. It took Chicago and its dominant Democratic party a score of years before getting their rightful share of legislative seats based on the city's share of the state's population. Michael J. Madi-
8/January 1993/Illinois Issues
gan (D-22, Chicago), a legend in his time as the all powerful speaker of the House, still leads a House Democratic majority. Madigan was House minority leader when Ryan was speaker, and Madigan has maintained and built his power through six Democratic mayoralties in Chicago. He never did manage while speaker, however, to help put a Democrat in the governor's office. The Democrats lining up to take on Edgar in 1984 will push their own agendas to grab any inch in the fight for the "crown." They will also have to decide among themselves who will challenge Edgar without hurting each other. With the new General Assembly to convene this month in Springfield and filing for governor and other 1994 contests only 11 months away, the lions and the unicorns will be at it again. As Lewis Carroll tells it in Through the Looking Glass: "When Alice thought that in all her life she had never seen soldiers so uncertain on their feet: they were always tripping over something or other, and whenever one went down, several more always fell over him, so that the ground was soon covered with little heaps of men." Then the messenger came from town and told the White King what was happening, "They are at it again!" And Alice asks the White King,"Who are at it again?" "Why the Lion and the Unicorn, of course," said the King. "Fighting for the crown!" "Yes, to be sure," said the King: "and the best of the joke is, that it's my crown all the while! Let's run and see them. "And they trotted off, Alice repeating to herself, as she ran, the words of the old song:— "The Lion and Unicorn were fighting for the crown: The Lion beat the Unicorn all round the town. Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown: Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town." The new members of the legislature will need the powers of a looking-glass to fathom the conflicting motives at work this spring as choices are presented them for committing the wealth of Illinois present and future taxpayers. *
January 1993/Illinois Issues/9
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