AFTER the organization of the Senate under President Thomas Hynes, a Chicago Democrat, a number of issues competed for the attention of the 80th General Assembly during the remainder of February and into March. Among these were restoration of the death penalty, the reenactment of a constitutional State Board of Elections, limited licensed physicians, the lifeline utility proposal, a possible gas tax increase, mine subsidence, the federal Equal Right Amendment, government reorganization, aid to crime victims, motor vehicle repairs, branch banking, currency exchanges and citizen initiative in introducing and passing state laws. There is more; the list is long.
With the deadline for introduction of new bills set for April 2 in the House and April 8 in the Senate, the last few weeks of March were marked by numerous bill filings. Neither house, however, was able to meet the Supreme Court deadline of March 15 to enact constitutional procedures for appointing members of the State Board of Elections. The March 15 deadline was extended until March 22 and then a second extension was granted by the court until May 11.
Board of Elections
In contrast to action on the Elections
Board, uncommon speed was evident in
the passage of a bill to permit capital
punishment once again in Illinois.
Stalled for a few weeks in a House
judiciary committee headed by Rep.
Harold A. Katz (D., Glencoe), an
opponent of capital punishment, three
death penalty measures were moved to
consideration by the whole House. H. B.
10, sponsored by Rep. Roman J.
Kosinski (D., Chicago), passed the
House March 10 by a vote of 118 to 41
and went on to the Senate where
supporters expected similar success. Lack of any substantial confrontations was apparent in Gov. Thompson's
dealings with the legislature in his first
three months in office. He scored
notable victories on two fronts in
March, with passage of emergency
legislation regarding the licenses of
foreign physicians in the state's mental
health facilities and with the quick
approval of 12 cabinet appointments. Thompson's emergency measure,
H.B. 615, was supported by leadership
in both houses. The bill received little
opposition other than having an amendment added which requires the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities to submit regular
progress reports to the General Assembly during the year. H.B. 615 amends
the Medical Practices Act to allow the
department until March 1, 1978, to
phase out the practice of issuing limited
licenses. The practice, which has been in
effect for 25 years, allowed foreign
trained doctors to practice medicine in
state institutions without full medical
licensing. During consideration of the
legislation Thompson had suspended
about 150 permit physicians. Perhaps more significant than the
limited license bill passage was the
Senate approval of Thompson's cabinet
choices. Twelve of the governor's
appointments were approved March 24.
Eleven we re approved unanimously,
with only Richard Mathias' appointment as director of the Department of
Insurance receiving any opposition. The
quick approval was in clear contrast to
the disputes over several of former Gov.
Daniel Walker's appointments four
years ago.
Six bills on this topic had been filed in
the House and Senate by the end of
March. Two House bills to create a new
Board of Elections were heard in the
House Elections Committee March 16.
H.B. 380, sponsored by Rep. Gerald
A. Bradley (D., Bloomington) was
reported favorably, while H.B. 254,
sponsored by Rep. William Kempiners
(R., Joliet) was still in committee in late
March. Gov. James R. Thompson and
Republicans from both houses prefer
Kempiners' bill, while Democrats lined
up in favor of Bradley's. Kempiners' bill
would create a new State Board of
Elections with five members appointed by the governor to five-year terms with
three-fifths Senate confirmation. One of
the five is to be a political "independent.'" Bradley's bill provides for four
members, two from each of the major
political parties, with three-fifths confirmation by both houses. According to
a proposed amendment, two of the
members would be appointed by the
governor and the other two by the next
highest constitutional officer of the
other party. The sixth bill, H.B. 1036,
introduced by Rep. David Robinson
(D., Springfield), provides for a 12-member State Board of Elections,
appointed by the governor on a judicial
district basis to four-year staggered
terms.
Governor's reorganization
Thompson said nine public hearings
will be held throughout the state to give
public officials, special interest groups
and private citizens the opportunity to
speak out on reorganization. There will
be a panel of three permanent members
and three local individuals chosen by the
League of Women Voters at each of the
hearings. The meeting dates are May 5,
Chicago; May 12, DuPage County; May 19, Springfield; May 26, Peoria; June 2, Champaign; June 9, Carbondale; June 16, Edwardsville; June 23,
Moline; June 30, Rockford. / Mary C.
Galiigan
Gov. Thompson's proposed reorganization plan presents another matter for
the legislature to consider soon. In two
executive orders submitted March 31
(see State of the state, page 24) he
announced plans to reorganize in the
areas of law enforcement and general
services. According to Article V, sec. 11
of the Constitution, the orders automatically become effective unless rejected by either house within 60 days.
This would give the legislature until
May 30 to consider the executive orders.
After April 1, the governor may still
submit executive orders to reorganize,
but the General Assembly cannot
consider them until the next annual
session.
May 1977 / Illinois Issues / 27