Legislative Action

By PORTER McNEIL.

Gaggles of kids get glimpses

SPRING is the season when busloads of Illinois' school children flock to House and Senate galleries to get their first view of legislative life. Gaggles of attentive school kids are whisked into the Senate and House for five minutes apiece, and there's no telling what thoughts about government these kids carry home after a mere 10-minute sample of the apparent chaos.

Some of the kids in the House chamber might have wondered if the House floor was actually a cafeteria, as they watch, high school-aged pages dutifully deliver trays of burgers and fries, salads and gyros, soft drinks and shakes and coffee to legislators.

When they were in the Senate, the school kids might have seen a staffer, with a bill analysis in hand, squatting half-obscured behind a senator's desk or standing by the senator's side, quietly feeding him or her answers during debate. While watching in the House, they might have wondered if they were back in grade school when they saw a red plastic airplane sitting atop the desk of Rep. Linda M. Williamson (R-52, Franklin Park). Williamson has been a leading supporter of various bills that would curtail noise and air pollution around O'Hare International Airport. They might have been amused by the colorful legislative style of Rep. Sam Vinson (R-90, Clinton) who, between joking with colleagues and chomping on gigantic unlit cigars, rarely finds a bill that isn't worth speaking on. In fact, on one occasion he began speaking about a bill before the sponsor, Rep. John J. Cullerton (D-7, Chicago), had a chance to open his mouth. Cullerton quickly cut in and thanked Vinson for letting him speak. "After all," said Cullerton, "I am the sponsor." Or as House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-30, Chicago) said the following day during another debate, "Mr. Vinson, we do love to hear from you, but . . . ."

If the kids were paying attention, they might have seen countless search-and-destroy-the-Democrats missions, usually perpetrated by Rep. Thomas J. McCracken Jr. (R-81, Westmont). The typical scenario: The Democrats gain a few more than the 60 votes necessary to pass a bill, and a Republican asks for a verification of the votes in an attempt to erase the votes of those Democrats who are not in the chamber. House rules require that during such verifications all legislators be present in order for their vote to count. Usually McCracken then sends staffers (to the kids watching, they might have resembled spies) to roam near the Democrats, clipboards in hand, to determine which ones aren't in the chamber.

. . . they might have seen countless
search-and-destroy-the-Democrats missions,
usually perpetrated by Rep. Thomas J. McCracken Jr.

The kids parading through the House probably wouldn't have believed political observers who have tagged this session of the General Assembly a snooze. Instead, they may have mistaken what some would call inflated election-year hyperbole over minor bills for serious debate. For instance, an innocuous sounding bill (H.B. 2913), sponsored by Rep. Woods Bowman (D-4, Evanston), that would have restricted the possession and storage of guns by owners and personnel in day care homes and centers became engulfed in the typical single-issue, election-year rhetoric. Rep. Mike Tate (R-102, Decatur) even said that the bill would leave day care centers defenseless against a possible attack.

And the visiting kids might have been amused by the mixed metaphors when the rhetoric got downright silly May 23, the deadline for passing bills out of their house of origin. Madigan and the Democrats voted to suspend House rules and extend the deadline for three insurance "shell bills" until June 12, which triggered an attack by Rep. Jack Davis (R-84, New Lenox). "He [Madigan] doesn't want to solve this issue [the so-called liability insurance crisis]," shouted Davis. "What he wants to do is stonewall the process to strengthen his hand.... While the speaker fiddles, Rome is already burning out there."

A few minutes later, House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels (R-46, Elmhurst) took up another metaphor: " ....We hide in private meetings and now, above all, we do what Scarlett O'Hara did in Gone with the Wind when she said [raising his voice to sound like Vivien Leigh playing Scarlett]. 'I think I'll deal with that problem tomorrow.' [dropping his voice back to normal] And that's what, Mr. Speaker, you are doing.... Well, I guess you can because your office is big enough, Scarlett."

The kids would have seen a lot of wasted time and heated barbs in May, but they would have seen the House get down to business, too, if they came at the right time. For instance, on a single one-second voice vote the House passed 128 amendments to the Build Illinois appropriations bill.

And as of May 30, when the kids were winding up their school year, legislators were winding up their session: 456 out of 1,081 bills introduced in the House this year had passed and were sent to the Senate, while 587 out of 815 bills introduced in the Senate had made it over to the House, according to the Legislative Information Service.

Whatever impressions the kids took home, they might never feel the same about state government. And while they started summer vacation, the House and Senate carried on, dealing and dozing and snacking and passing bills, working toward the June 30 deadline for final passage of legislation in both chambers"

32/My 1986/Illinois Issues