In a TV spot last year, then-candidate George H. Ryan strolled comfortably down the center aisle of the Illinois House chamber, underscoring the image his handlers promoted of someone who worked well with lawmakers of both parties, a dealmaker able to broker agreements on tough issues.

"Compromise is not a bad word," the new governor said in his inaugural address. "We need people who can work out issues and offer solutions. ... I'll try to formulate compromise and a deal."

For once, the spinmeisters weren't stretching the truth; the ceremonial oratory wasn't a flight of fancy. Indeed, Ryan himself might not have imagined in January how well he'd do in his initial legislative session, which ended a few days ago.

"I am very pleased with the outcome of the session," Ryan said shortly after the General Assembly left town until November. "I got everything I wanted and every issue I campaigned on."

Well, not exactly. But the governor's batting average was so good that a little hyperbole can be excused. Consider how Ryan fared on his major issues:

• Illinois First. Lawmakers approved the governor's $12 billion public works program after Ryan agreed to revamp the tax hikes needed to bankroll the plan. The final package includes higher vehicle registration and title transfer fees and stiffer taxes

For once, the spinmeisters weren't stretching the truth; the ceremonial oratory wasn't a fight of fancy.

on beer, wine and hard liquor. The increases will help pay for road and mass transit improvements, school construction, water and sewage treatment plants and scores of other projects.

• A 51 percent slice of new general fund revenues for schools and workforce development. Under the $42.8 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1, education's share of new dollars tops that mark.

• A tuition tax credit for families with children in grade or high school. Lawmakers approved tax breaks for parents who spend more than $250 a year for tuition and fees, up to a maximum $500 credit for a family spending $2, 250.

• Longer prison sentences for certain crimes if a firearm is involved. Under the 15-20-life proposal lawmakers passed, a defendant would receive an additional 15 years for possessing a gun during the crime, an extra 20 years for shooting it, and 25 years to life if the shot kills or seriously wounds someone.

• Requiring gun owners to store their weapons safely away from children. The Child Access Prevention proposal headed to the governor would require firearms to be equipped with a trigger lock, placed in a locked container or stored in a secure location if they could otherwise be accessible to a child under 14.

Then factor in the governor's success in nurturing compromises on several perennially vexing problems, including:
• Regulation of factory farms. Pork producers and environmental groups agreed on a plan to provide added safeguards for water quality and land use without placing undue burdens on large-scale hog farms.

• Managed care reform. After House Democrats dropped a demand that consumers be allowed to sue HMOs for malpractice, lawmakers passed a wide-ranging measure that would allow patients to select primary- care doctors, have easier access to specialists and emergency room care, and appeal managed care plan decisions to an independent panel.

• Gaming law revisions. Under a massive rewrite of the state's gambling laws headed to Ryan, riverboats could operate while docked and the owners of a now-closed boat in East Dubuque could move it — almost certainly to northwest suburban Rosemont — where a portion of its take would be tunneled to the state's ailing horse racing industry. The plan, a product of unusual cooperation among gaming interests, also includes state and local tax breaks aimed at reopening Arlingt on International Racecourse.

On the other side of the ledger, the negatives were scant. Moreover, Ryan will keep pushing on the few misses, which his end-of-session scorecard called "initiatives in progress." They include $1, 000 career scholarships for high school graduates wanting

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vocational or technical training, a "Rainy Day Fund" to help the state through tough economic times and consolidation of child support enforcement in the attorney general's office.

Ryan — and his fellow constitutional officers — also couldn't convince lawmakers to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in jobs, housing, public accommodations and credit transactions.

The governor will continue to be hammered for what some see as reneging on campaign pledges to hold the line on taxes and to oppose gambling expansion. Whether he made iron-clad promises can be debated; clearly, though, he never proposed higher license sticker fees and alcohol taxes or a gambling boat in Cook County. Should he run again, however, any political fallout could be offset by the ribbon-cuttings for all

The secret, according to George Ryan, was his knack for working with the legislature.

the new roads and schools.

Critics also complained of a "rich man's session," with tax breaks for Arlington race track owner Richard Duchossois and legislation to provide near monopoly status for liquor distributor William Wirtz and Pepsi-Cola bottler Harry Crisp, all three well-heeled and well-connected.

And the fiscal year 2000 budget sets nary a penny aside for a cost-of-living increase in welfare grants, frozen for more than a decade. Still, Medicaid coverage for adult vision, dental care and other medical services — axed in the budget crunch of the early 1990s — will be restored. And human service providers will get modest rate hikes.

Such warts aside, Ryan fared very well. The secret, he said, was his knack for working with the legislature. "That's what government's about, sitting down to negotiate your differences.... I worked hard for people to cooperate, to make sure we got done what had to be done."

Judging from his success in this session, that's a pretty sound formula.

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

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