Photo by Terry Farmer

EXTEND the increase in the state income tax? "Pate" Philip and the Senate Republicans served notice months ago: "To just make it very simple — no. Hell no." Philip said that in November. "I've told the governor . . . 'if you think you're going to get us in that position, you're wrong. There won't be one [Senate] Republican to vote to extend that tax [increase]. Now we're all running for reelection. We all said it [the increase] was temporary — and it better be. . . . You couldn't get a vote out of my 26 members if your life depended on it.' "

That little communique — which the minority leader said he wrote the governor last fall — tells you all you need to know about James A. "Pate" Philip's style: blunt, often abrasive, but never ambiguous. It's a style that suits Philip's DuPage County constituency, long the stronghold of Illinois' suburban Republicans. A style that hasn't really changed in the 17 years Philip has served in the General Assembly, though it has become more visible in the three years he has led the Senate Republicans. A style that's guaranteed to juxtapose Philip's ultraconservative position with the more moderate stances of Senate President Philip J. Rock, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels — and Gov. James R. Thompson himself.

Style was the subject when Illinois Issues spoke with Philip in November, at the end of the fall session, asking for his assessment of the role Senate Republicans play as minority party, the role he plays as minority leader, and the relationship they have with Thompson.

Philip's no-nonsense style reflects the size, scope and strength of his political base of power. He's been calling the shots for 15 years now in the most Republican county in Illinois — and one of the most Republican in the nation — DuPage. First in the state in per-capita income and second only to Cook County in population, property values and tax rates, DuPage County had 63,000 Republicans voting in the 1982 primary and only 8,900 Democrats. Philip is its second county chairman in 35 years. He took over in 1970 when his mentor, the late Elmer Hoffman, a three-term congressman from Wheaton, stepped down.

Newspaper profiles have described Philip as "more of a schemer than a dreamer." Certainly his reputation as a competitor has been built on his penchant for practicing not preaching politics. But Philip was sharpening those skills long before he was elected to office in the 1960s or even before he joined the Young Republicans in the 1950s. By then he'd already gone to Korea with the Marines, played semi-pro football (as a tackle) and lined up a career in sales. At 53, Philip, an Elmhurst native, has been a district sales manager for Pepperidge Farm for years. He and his wife, the former Nancy Britz, are the parents of four children. The stability of Philip's private life contrasts with the fiercely competitive nature of his public career in politics.

Philip has long waited for the chance to compete statewide. It was no secret he felt passed over in 1980 when Thompson appointed Jim Edgar to succeed Alan J. Dixon as secretary of state. At the time, Philip found little comfort in Thompson's argument that he would be more useful to the GOP as Senate minority leader. Last fall, Philip announced he was considering running for Congress in the 13th District, most of which is located in DuPage County. But he was apparently more interested in protecting his patronage base as county chairman than in seeking higher office. With U.S. Rep. John Erlenborn, a Republican from Glen Ellyn, not seeking reelection, the prospects of Philip's candidacy may have scared off any contenders Philip didn't want to support.

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Aspirations aside, few legislators — and fewer Republicans — can match Philip's perspective when it comes to Statehouse politics. With four two-year terms in the House and five in the Senate, he's been watching the fortunes of the GOP wax and wane for nearly 20 years. Nobody knows the Republicans' role as minority party better than Philip. Democrats have controlled the 59-member Senate "for, I hate to say it, going on eight years...." In his analysis, the role Senate Republicans play is reduced to two words: numbers and issues.

As to numbers, perhaps the Republican minority's most spectacular coup occurred in 1981 when they "stole" the Senate presidency from the majority Democrats. All 29 Republicans were there to vote, but two of the 30 Democrats were missing. The coup, in effect, created two Senates until the Illinois Supreme Court gave the gavel to the Democrats a few weeks later (see Illinois Issues, March 1981, p. 4). On the issues, traditionally the Republican minority has fought the Chicago Democrats and has won when it has formed a coalition with downstate Democrats. Intriguing new possibilities (or coalitions, however, were created last spring when the bitter feud broke out between Mayor Harold Washington and Alderman Edward R. Vrdolyak. "There are always the Vrdolyak people, who are looking for some accommodation against the mayor," Philip said. "Most of the time we agree with them — periodically — just on issues."

As a result of the split in the usually solid bloc, Philip said the Democrats' influence in the Senate has waned considerably. "You have the Vrdolyak people, the Daley people, the downstate people, the liberals, the conservatives, the Harold Washington people, the Jayne Byrne people," Philip said. "I mean they have more division than they've ever had. It makes it much more difficult for Rock and easier for me." Not that the Republicans haven't enjoyed watching the same thing happen after every Chicago election since the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1976. "When Mayor Daley was here, they all fell into line," he said. "When Jane Byrne was here, the first year — two years — of her administration, she had a lot of clout. The longer she was here, the less credibility she had. So her influence dwindled. Harold Washington never had any influence and will never have."

The longer Illinois feud is the one between Chicago and its suburban counties. "The people in the suburbs don't trust the city," said Philip. "They know the city gets more money per capita than [they] get and they just tend to say, 'Don't do anything for the city of Chicago — whether it's the World's Fair, McCormick Place or the CTA [Chicago Mass Transit Authority]'. . . . People say, 'Hey, don't you dare do anything.' And of course, when Mike Royko writes nasty columns

'And, of course, when Mike Royko writes nasty columns about me and says I wear pinky rings . . . . and I'm a Chicago hater, they love me'

about me and says I wear pinky rings . . . and I'm a Chicago hater, they love me."

It's the Chicago media more than anything else that's polarized the city and its suburbs, Philip said. "I mean the media — the Tribune and all of them — they're on the take of the city," Philip said. "No matter whether the city is right or wrong, the media defends the city. Who defends the suburbanite? Now when Colonel McCormick was alive and lived in DuPage County, there was never a problem. The colonel was probably turning over in his grave when they endorsed Harold Washington and John Anderson."

So will the Republicans pick up the four seats they need to become the Senate majority? "We have high hopes of gaining some seats," Philip said. Even the Democratic-drawn map means nothing, he said, when it's weighed against the odds that the GOP will ride Ronald Reagan's coattails to victory in November. "Two things really cut the election the most," Philip said. "No. 1: how the president runs. It would appear, in the polls. . . he's been running extremely well, particularly after Grenada. Americans want to win; they're sick and tired of having the Communists step all over us. ..." No. 2, Philip said, is the economy: "You know, the media used to use the word 'Reaganomics,' and you can't find it in the press any more. Why? Because it's working. Inflation is way down; employment is up; interest rates are down — they should be down more — and I think by the time of the next election they will be under 10 percent. If they're under 10 percent, the housing industry will go, automobiles will go and all those related industries. If he can do that — and cut down the federal deficit ... to where it's manageable — I think that you could have the greatest landslide you've ever seen."

Should the Republicans take the Illinois Senate, Philip, of course, is in line for the Senate presidency. He moved from the House to the Senate in 1974, was named an assistant minority leader under the late Sen. David C. Shapiro in 1979 and was unanimously elected minority leader after Shapiro's death in 1981. And he was unanimously reelected in 1983 — after he outmaneuvered the Democrats and won his seat back under the map they'd drawn to circumvent his constituency. Should the Republicans fail to pick up the four seats they need, Philip is sure to be tapped for a third term as Senate minority leader: He's got the job down cold.

Philip heads a five-man leadership team for the Senate Republicans: Assistant Minority Leaders Stanley B. Weaver (R-52, Urbana), Aldo A. DeAngelis (R-40, Chicago Heights) and John E. Grotberg (R-25, St. Charles); and Caucus Chairman John A. Davidson (R-50, Springfield).

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When the legislature is in session, the leadership meets "every day or every other day — and we always kick around . . . sensitive problems," Philip said. For information, he relies on Roger Sweet, his chief of staff, "to bring things to my attention." To solve problems, Philip said, he tells his staff to bring him "one, two or three solutions," but he makes the decision. Frequently those alternatives come from Sweet's 30-member staff — attorneys, public information people and analysts — which researches both substantive and appropriations bills. The staff often sits in when the leadership meets.

When the problem is fiscal, Philip said: "We take all of the agencies we so-called 'have some faith in' . . . and we just average them. . . . We found out that's the best way to do it."

In 1983, Philip along with Rock, Madigan and House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels negotiated with Thompson on three major questions: how to ease overcrowding at state prisons, how to raise the state income tax, and how to reform the state's unemployment insurance system. Despite the toughness of the decisions, Philip appeared to approve of the summit method. "I suppose we seem much more harsh and partisan than we really are," he said. "When it comes right down to it, I think we're pretty reasonable people, the five of us. . . ."

How reasonable is the governor? "I think he's had on-the-job training," Philip said. "He used to go into a corner somewhere. The staff would come up and say, 'This is it.' That doesn't happen anymore. ... I think he's learned that unless there's some legislative input. . . he's not going to go very far.

"I'll tell you one thing: I've served under five governors; he's the most cooperative, hard-working governor I've served under. I mean he's always available; you can always get down and see him. . . .

"Our relationship is very good. I like him personally. I like his wife and family; they're very nice people to go out with socially. He's a little more liberal than I am, and I am always giving him hell about some of his goofy liberal appointments, but you know, I like the person. And he's a hell of a good candidate."

As the minority leader, Philip bears the onus of being Thompson's point man — whether or not he agrees with Thompson. Philip has never had any doubts about his usefulness to Thompson. "He needs me more than I need him," Philip said. "You've got to understand that. Now he can't do anything, unless we pass it in the Senate right?"

Philip's sponsorship of Thompson's tax hike legislation last spring put his skills as a legislative leader to the acid test. The distance between his own position and Thompson's had never been wider. Philip introduced the governor's tax bill with a statement that he had no intention of voting for it. Thompson's tax proposal appeared to be Philip's albatross, but the final negotiated tax increase was jointly authored. At summit meetings, Rock, Madigan, Daniels and Philip sat down with the governor to hammer out the terms of the increase.

Thompson's January 25 announcement that he would not seek or support an extension of the increase in the state income tax was undoubtedly, to Phillip the only correct decision.

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