By CYNTHIA PETERS

Snafu begins the session

THE NEW session started with a snafu. As unusual as it was for the General Assembly in the fall session to send 45 new substantive bills to the governor, the fate of two of these bills was even more peculiar. Of the 45 pieces of legislation, Gov. James R. Thompson vetoed three: H.B. 720, an abortion bill; H.B. 1978, concerning the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA); and S.B. 1336, concerning pensions for Cook County officials. The other 42 bills were signed into law. Due to what House Speaker Michael J. Madigan's staff called a "snafu," no attempt was made to override Thompson's veto of the abortion bill, and it died, as did the CTA bill, sponsored by Rep. Ralph C. Capparelli (D-13, Chicago). The decision was a shock to the abortion bill's sponsor, Rep. John T. O'Connell (D-47, Western Springs), who believed he would have had the votes to override, and it astounded other government leaders. Madigan's chief of staff Gary LaPaille said the death of the bill was due to an "unfortunate chain of events" set in motion by the governor's delay of his State of the State address.

O'Connell's bill was designed to bring the new Illinois abortion "squeal law" within constitutional boundaries. H.B. 720 would have provided a minor the right to petition the court to waive the parental rights to notification granted in the abortion bill enacted over Thompson's veto in the fall session. That was S.B. 521 (P.A. 83-890), sponsored by Sen. Leroy Lemke (D-24, Chicago), which was scheduled to take effect January 31 (see "Legislative Action," February 1984, p. 32). Thompson vetoed O'Connell's bill December 19 as unconstitutional, arguing that federal courts had struck down similar laws in other states. (Lemke's bill was not allowed to become effective by a federal district judge, who was expected to rule on the bill in April.) The CTA bill was vetoed the next day.

As the Illinois Constitution requires, both vetoed bills were returned to their house of origin at its first scheduled meeting — which was January 10 — and the 15-day constitutional deadline for overriding the vetoes began. Alas, there was no regular legislative meeting scheduled for January, so the bills died.

It all started when the governor decided in December to move his State of the State address from January 10 to February 8. Madigan then decided the House would meet only in perfunctory session January 10 (the Constitution says the General Assembly must convene each year on the second Wednesday in January). Lawmakers are not required to attend a perfunctory session and were notified they wouldn't be reimbursed if they did. After the bills were vetoed, LaPaille said Madigan decided consideration of only two vetoed bills did not warrant meeting in regular session — even though that meant the vetoes would stand and the bills would die. By the time Thompson vetoed the bills, "we were pretty well programmed not to be in session," LaPaille said.

O'Connell said, "if the fault lies anywhere, it would be in the governor's office." He said that "the governor could have waited" to veto the bill, when he knew the House wouldn't be meeting in regular session January 10 and that his action would create confusion and prevent an override. O'Connell also said he did not receive the usual notification from Thompson's office when his abortion bill was vetoed.

But Thompson said the matter was entirely within the House's control. "They did meet in January, and it was their decision to have a perfunctory session rather than a regular session. They can meet anytime they want to without regard to the State of the State speech. That's got nothing to do with anything," he said. "It's sort of amazing that they could lose an abortion bill," Thompson said, adding that it "surprises me — given the assumption that the House was so well run this year under its new leadership."

As for the third vetoed bill, it was business as usual. S.B. 1336, sponsored by Sen. John A. D'Arco Jr. (D-10, Chicago), would raise pensions of elected Cook County officials. Thompson vetoed it on January 11, saying it was a "poor pension law" which jeopardized the tax status of the county's pension fund. D'Arco's bill was scheduled at this writing (January 31) to go back to the Senate February 7, the day before the House and Senate were scheduled to meet in joint session to hear the governor's annual State of the State address.

For the record (as of January 11), there were 1,700 bills alive for the General Assembly's consideration in the spring session. Last spring session 3,631 bills were introduced by July; of those, 1,219 were passed, 794 died, and 1,618 are still alive. In addition, lawmakers had introduced 82 new pieces of substantive legislation since July — 44 in the House (11 are already law) and 38 in the Senate. The new bills were all in committee by January 11.

In even-numbered years, House rules specify that all substantive House bills will go to the Rules Committee for review. The Senate was expected in February to set rules for consideration of bills during the 1984 session. Real work of the session is not expected to get underway until after the March 20 primary.

March 1984/Illinois Issues/33