WILLIAM ALOYSIUS REDMOND: Child model, attorney, legislator, three-time speaker of the Illinois House, an Irish politician who gives credence to the claim of the late Mayor Daley that the Irish have no peers as politicians.

But Redmond is a downstater, not a Chicago Democrat. And he's party chairman in DuPage County, which is the Republican stronghold among the suburban collar counties. It was these credentials that qualified Redmond as a compromise candidate when House Democrats deadlocked on electing a speaker in 1975. Daley's first choice, Clyde Choate, couldn't pull the down-state vote, despite the fact that he represented the southernmost 59th District. Redmond has never forgotten that it was Daley's nod that gave him the speakership on that record-setting 93rd ballot, catapulting him into the chair after 16 years on the back benches.

Redmond could easily retire now. At 71, he'd like to have more time for his family. After 20 years in the House, he could retire with a full pension. He could point with satisfaction to his six-year record as speaker — he's the first Democrat to hold three consecutive terms (Republican Warren Wood set the record for consecutive terms at four in the early 1950's).

Yet Redmond says that if Chicago Democrats still find him "reasonably" acceptable next year, he will run for a fourth term. There are a few more things he wants to do. One of them, undoubtedly, is to silence critics within his own party. If there's anything that brings out the Irish in Redmond, it is the charge that he is not a leader for the Democrats. The critics seem to be downstaters who want a champion, not a peacemaker, on occasions when the all-powerful Chicago bloc puts its interests ahead of the party's.

The fault lies in the party, not the man, Redmond argues. Daley's death left the Democrats without any one, preeminent leader. Certainly there was no one designated spokesman in the legislature. Even if Redmond, as speaker, was willing to assume that leadership, he knows it would be an impossible job: He's not from Chicago. "How in the hell can any Democrat get in there and do anything if the Chicago people are not going to pay any attention to them?" he asks. "What powers of persuasion do you have? I mean there just aren't any."

Only Louis Capuzi, a Republican from Chicago, can match Redmond's seniority in the House. Clearly Redmond is the elder statesman among the Democrats, who, although they have a majority in the legislature, remain the opposition party with a Republican in the governor's chair. As such, Redmond is the best qualified to expound on the state of the state, from the viewpoint of the loyal opposition.

Illinois is in good shape — financially and otherwise, Redmond said. He admitted there is a "certain amount of uncertainty" about the state's financial condition. Inflation could run much higher than projected. Federal aid, fully a fourth of the state's revenue, could

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be cut substantially. Revenue sharing is likely to go.

But Redmond dismissed Gov. James R. Thompson's talk of a crisis which could unbalance the state's budget. "It's hard to state a Democratic position," he said. "Obviously, the City of Chicago has got a different position than I have. I can be about as irresponsible as any, for I don't represent any government, specifically, except the state. The people from Chicago. . . . don't enjoy that same luxury. . . ."

The Democratic position has always been that Thompson underestimates revenue. Inflation "always has" produced a windfall in tax revenue in the past, Redmond said. Cuts in federal aid could "slow us down a little bit," Redmond said, "but I think we can go ahead with some things.

"I don't see how we are in a crisis when we have about a $500 million surplus," Redmond said. "The theory of government is that you don't raise any more than you need. You're not supposed to stash it away in the corner. A lot of those surpluses are transmitted right down the line."

The Democrats see the loss of federal revenue sharing to the states as a case in point. "I happen to believe that there is a certain folly in asking the federal government, which runs these big deficits, to give money to state governments that are running surpluses," Redmond said. "I think that the reason you got into all this revenue sharing is because of the hue and cry and fuss over people raising taxes locally." Turning to Springfield or Washington for money may be "the easy thing to do," Redmond said, but in effect it only forces the state or federal government to raise taxes.

Since the governor proposes the state budget but the legislature actually appropriates the state's revenue, Thompson has, in the past, accused the General Assembly of jeopardizing Illinois' financial condition by overspending. But Redmond argues that it's still Thompson who sets the priorities for spending. The General Assembly, Redmond says, merely authorizes more or less money than Thompson requests for individual programs. "What I wanted to do this time was to put in [introduce] his [Thompson's] budget bills and cut them 15 percent under what they were the last time," Redmond said. But that would be difficult, if not impossible, since the governor's appropriation bills don't match his budget.

"I don't think that even the governor's Bureau of the Budget, or the legislature, really keeps track of the money as carefully as I think they should," Redmond said, pinpointing what many observers see as the key to controlling government spending. "We have a study going on now to try to see if we can't be a little bit better," he said, "but we're kind of at the disposal of the bureaucrats."

The "obvious" issues of the 1980 legislative session are tax relief and spending control, Redmond said. If Redmond has been identified with a single issue in his three terms as speaker, it's sales tax relief. After a bitter political fight last fall, the General Assembly removed the first penny of the four-cent state sales tax on food and nonprescription drugs. And the legislature is expected to remove a second penny this spring.

'The theory of government is that you don't raise anymore than you need. You're not supposed to stash it away in a corner'

"But there hasn't been, in my opinion, enough sympathy for the 12 to 15 percent [of taxpayers who are] senior citizens, who just can't pay these taxes," Redmond said. "That includes the sales tax, property taxes, those things that you have no control over." Last winter, the General Assembly doubled the homestead exemption giving seniors some property tax relief, and the legislature is expected to expand the circuit breaker to provide more income tax relief this spring. Referring to proposals of Thompson and others to limit government spending by constitutional amendment, Redmond said, "I'm not so sure spending controls should be done by constitutional amendment." The old Constitution limited state debt, and that's "what got us into a lot of trouble," according to Redmond. The legislature "invented all sorts of ways to get around it," he said, and the new 1970 Constitution doesn't set a ceiling. Now, he said, "we've got $4 billion."

If the Illinois General Assembly has problems, they stem from Thompson, according to Redmond, who is not that concerned with headline grabbers who would reduce the size of the 177-member House. "I personally like him [Thompson], but that doesn't mean you can ever give anybody a free ride." Redmond said. "I think it's his responsibility to prove to the legislature that what he is seeking is right. I just think he has tried to exert too great an influence in that way, and I think the legislature is getting its back up."

Perhaps Redmond's most controversial maneuver as speaker came in the waning hours of the 1977 session when he killed Thompson's Class X legislation by ruling that the amendment which spelled it out was not germane to the bill selected as a vehicle. Redmond was evidently furious with the governor for bypassing procedures, especially since the legislature was ready to pass its own criminal sentencing bill after two years of study.

Redmond, who easily recalls when the General Assembly met biennially, takes a dim view of Thompson's repeated attempts to force legislative action by calling special sessions. Thompson called four special sessions between the end of the regular 1979 session and the beginning of the 1980 session. As a result, Illinois' part-time General Assembly has become a full-time legislature. Arguing that Thompson doesn't have the right to limit special sessions to specific bills, Redmond said, "I think the governor is usurping the perogatives of the General Assembly. . . . but nobody has ever raised the question."

But it's Thompson's increasing use of the amendatory veto as a legislative tool which most worries the speaker. When the 1970 Constitution gave the governor that power, most observers contended it was intended for technical, not substantive changes. But because the courts later ruled that the governor could, in fact, rewrite legislation, the amendatory veto became an "absolute fright,'' Redmond said. "There is a danger to put anything on the governor's desk."

And the General Assembly and

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Thompson are still at odds over the appropriation of federal aid. The legislature has passed bills spelling out its right to control all, not most, of that money, but Thompson has vetoed them. Overrides passed in the House, but failed in the Senate, Redmond said. "I think as long as we have the responsibility of raising money and making determinations as to how it should be spent, we ought to be able to do that," he said. "But that's a fight between the legislature and the governor in every state in the union, I guess."

On the other hand, the self-styled Coalition for Political Honesty has made an issue of the size of the House. But the speaker warns that all of the reduction proposals also would end cumulative voting which he feels is vital to fair representation under the two party system. "I think one of the strengths of cumulative voting is that every section of the state is sure of having a member of the General Assembly that is of the same political party as the governor — and that is a pretty important thing in terms of carrying the mail back and forth," he said. Some "pretty significant jurisdictions," like Sangamon, Rockford, Lake and DuPage counties, to name a few, would have no Democrats now without cumulative voting, Redmond said. He points to himself as an example, since his 40th District probably would never have elected a Democrat otherwise. "I have been here for 12 years of Democratic governors, and I think I have been able to serve my county very, very well. I'm not talking on a philosophic basis. I'm talking about flood control of Salt Creek. I'm talking about transferring 500 acres of state land to the DuPage County Forrest Preserve District — all that kind of thing, that I seriously question whether a Republican [under Democratic governors] would have been able to do for the county."

Generally speaking, Redmond believes there is "real quality" among the members of the General Assembly today. "I don't equate academic success with excellence necessarily," but he is obviously proud of the fact that the Democrats can claim three Ph.D.'s in economics and five Phi Beta Kappas. "And on top of that you have people with a very broad and vast experience," he said.

Sen. Daley's victory over Mayor Byrne's candidate for state's attorney 'will put the decimal point where it belongs, and relationships will be better than ever'

The state of the Democratic party? Mayor Daley's death put leadership of the party in a "holding pattern," leaving Democrats without a single, designated spokesman, Redmond said. "I would look for the holding pattern to last awhile. I think that Chicago has to shake down. Mayor Byrne obviously upset the apple cart when she was nominated, but of course they [the party] supported her for election. Still, there were some people [in the party] that were unwilling to accept the results of the election and thought that maybe she won, but that maybe she didn't really win." If those people were "testing the water," Redmond said, Byrne's reaction in many cases has been designed to "show them who the boss is."

The sales tax veto last fall was the biggest legislative consequence of Byrne's presumed succession as the single, designated spokesman for the Democrats. Byrne switched her support to Thompson's proposal, ordering Chicago Democrats to dump their efforts to override his veto of their proposal. But the override was led by the late mayor's son, Sen. Richard M. Daley, who pressed the issue and divided the Chicago Democrats.

"It was not so much that it happened, as the way it happened," Redmond said, assessing Byrne's style. "I think if there had been some discussion and if there had been meetings — if, for instance, someone had said 'the financial situation in the city is such that we have second thoughts on this,' — I think that maybe it wouldn't have had the results that it did," Redmond said. "But to come in like a bolt out of the blue and do it that way, it did engender some very, very hard feelings. I think there was a strong possibility that there might have been repercussions on that. But to measure the quality of the Democratic side, the first thing that came up was that the Chicago Board of Education was in trouble. And nobody, nobody exacted their vengeance on that. I think people have learned lessons over that, and I don't think a thing like that would ever happen again," he said.

Byrne won last fall. But Sen. Daley "won" this spring, defeating the candidate Byrne backed for state's Attorney in Cook County. That probably won't "make any difference" in the General Assembly, Redmond said. "I have a feeling that it will put the decimal point where it belongs, and relationships will be better than ever." He added, "The thing you have to remember is that it is very, very rare that you find anything on which you can get every Democrat to agree — or anything on which all Republicans agree."

Byrne's attempts to speak as Daley spoke may have affected Democratic leadership, but they haven't affected performance, Redmond said, pointing to the fact that the Chicago Democrats remain the most powerful bloc in the legislature. "I think that the corporate personal property tax replacement was very, very difficult. Finally getting around to eliminating sales tax on food and medicine was very difficult. There has always been fighting over the school aid formula, but this time [1979 session] we got that out of the way pretty early — and it was done as a Democratic bill.

How will the Democrats do in the crucial election this fall, which will decide which party controls the General Assembly during reapportionment of the legislative and congressional districts next year? In Redmond's opinion, the Democrats will have no trouble holding on to their one-vote majority, 89 seats, and should be able to widen the lead considerably, despite the split Byrne forced over the sales tax veto. "But you look and see who voted for the override and, in many cases, those are the districts where we can have two Democrats [unseating one Republican]," he said. "I think that the Republicans who voted against the override are in trouble."

As for reapportionment, Redmond predicts the battle lines will fall along sectional, not political lines. And he sees the new map, like its predecessors,

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winding up in the courts. "I would hope that we [the legislature] would do it, because I don't like the courts' intervention," he said.

If Redmond is right and the Democratic leadership in the legislature is in a holding pattern, perhaps the House is best served by a speaker who is impartial.

Redmond should know. His rulings are generally considered fair. He denies partisanship even when his rulings have appeared political, as in the case with Thompson's criminal justice package. Redmond insisted his ruling stemmed from the governor's attempt to "usurp" the powers of the legislature rather than Thompson's Republican affiliation. Redmond confounds his critics by maintaining that that the speaker's role is precisely that: a referee, not a leader. "I happen to believe that government belongs to the people and I think the people should have a maximum opportunity to participate," he said. "The people they elect should be accorded courtesy and the full opportunity to represent their views.

"There are limits to what you can do [as speaker]," Redmond said. "You've got a representative body out there. They expect fairness. I think they are entitled to it. Whoever has 89 votes, that ought to carry it."

'You've got a representative body out there. They expect fairness. I think they are entitled to it. Whoever has 89 votes, that ought to carry it'

By that definition, Redmond feels he's "handled the job well." How well does he stack up against the late Paul Powell, whose legendary skill set the standard? "It's a different ball game; a different lifestyle," Redmond said. "When Paul was here, the speaker could be ruthless. The speaker couldn't be ruthless today."

That's what his critics seem to forget, Redmond said. "They don't know what they're talking about when they say that I leave the chair when there's something controversial. Who was presiding when the transportation package [Thompson's four-year road program] came up?

"If the suggestion is that I walk away from something, that is absolutely untrue. The fact that I don't rant and rave and scream and holler should not be misunderstood as to thinking that I am not capable. I think I am capable."

Both Republicans and Democrats describe Redmond as "a nice guy," although the Chicago bloc, not to mention downstaters, probably wish he'd take the late mayor's widely publicized advice: "Don't get mad, get even." Redmond prefers, as he says, to leave vengeance to the Lord.

Daley's death changed almost everything, but one thing has remained the same: Redmond has continued to referee the action in the House, winning reelection as speaker in 1977 and again in 1979 with no real opposition. By Redmond's own admission, no one remains speaker without the blessing of the Chicago Democrats. He obviously feels that his constancy as House referee qualifies him as a leader, if not the designated spokesman for Democrats.

"Don't forget, "Redmond said, "that I was speaker for two years when Gov. [Dan] Walker was governor, but he did not get along with a significant number of Democrats. Now it's a different ball game. If we'd had a Democrat, and [former comptroller Michael] Bakalis had been elected [governor] and we did have some programs that our governor wanted, then the ball-game would have been different. Distribution of monies is not Republican or Democrat; it's more geographical or parochial."

"You know the thing that has always amazed me is that the talk that I am not a leader and I am not this or I am not that," Redmond said. "When you look back, I have always had a certain amount of success. I was president of my class at Marquette University. I have been county chairman, speaker of the House three terms, and I've had pretty good success in having bills passed and signed into law that I wanted.

"I don't know anybody who's really done much more."

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