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POLITICS

Will the duck quack
during lawmakers' fall session?

by Charles N. Wheeler III

If the GOP keeps control of the new General Assembly, the lame duck fall session should be quiet. But if the Democrats win control, a few feathers could fly.

Will the Illinois legislature's fall session be a yawner? Or will the lame duck meeting produce fireworks?

The answers likely will come on November 5, when voters elect the 90th General Assembly. Forty Senate and all 118 House seats are to be filled, with Republican control of the legislature at stake. If Republicans maintain their legislative majorities, the lame duck session should come off with scarcely a quack. Should Democrats succeed in wresting control of one or both chambers, however, feathers could fly in the next couple of months as GOP leaders scramble to act on key items on their agenda before losing their uncontested grip on the legislative machinery.

Not for two decades have the political constellations so aligned to produce such uncertainty for the majority party going into an election. The last time they did, the veto session failed to produce a torrent of "last hurrah" legislation by the party losing its lock on lawmakmg. But that was in 1976, when Republican James R. Thompson was about to replace Democrat Dan Walker as governor while Democrats retained control of the Senate and the House. Of course, Walker spent most of his tenure feuding with Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and other party leaders; indeed, lawmakers of both parties joined forces in that lame duck session to restore budget cuts, an annual event during Walker's time in office.

Budget cuts won't be an issue in the coming fall session; Gov. Jim Edgar signed the fiscal year 1997 spending plan without change. That's become almost the norm for Edgar, a Republican who for the last two years has worked with GOP margins of 33-26 in the Senate and 64-54 in the House. That trifecta has enabled Republicans to enact much of their longtime wish list, from tax caps to tort reform, as Democrats watched from the sidelines. With a GOP governor a fixture for at least two more years. Democrats would have to win veto-proof majorities in both chambers to roll back Republican initiatives. While that won't happen, a takeover of either the Senate or the House would make Democrats relevant again when the new legislature takes office in January, leaving the GOP little time for unilateral action on leftover issues. A list could include:

* Airports. Legislation to create a regional airport authority in the Chicago area — long a cherished goal of some suburban lawmakers — has been on hold since 1995, when Mayor Richard M. Daley signed a bistate airport agreement with officials from Gary, Ind. More recently, the mayor's decision to close Meigs Field over the governor's objections sent state transportation officials into court claiming a right to take over and operate the lake front field. So far, the state is 0-for-3 at the circuit, appellate and U.S. district court levels, and the lame duck session could be Republicans' last chance to keep Meigs open and create a regional authority to deal with air and noise pollution problems at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

* Workers compensation. Republican efforts to revamp the system stalled last year over provisions to hold down employer costs by limiting some medical options for employees injured on the job. The dispute pitted against each other two powerful special interest groups — the business community and the Illinois State Medical Society — that also are generous financiers for GOP campaigns.

A Democratic majority in either chamber would bring organized labor to the table as well. That prospect is a strong incentive for Republicans to fashion a compromise acceptable to both business and doctors during the lame duck session.

* Riverboat gambling. While many rank-and-file lawmakers are opposed to any more floating casinos, Edgar has said he will accept new boats for Cook and Lake counties, both shut out of the original legislation. Acting on gaming during the lame duck session would provide greater assurance that Republicans could shape the plan to their liking. Perhaps just as important, lawmakers who are not coming back might be more willing to support controversial proposals than col-

46 / November 1996 Illinois Issues

leagues who face future elections.

If the upcoming election preserves the status quo, however, look for the fall session to be low-key and limited largely to accepting the governor's vetoes, the purpose for which it was ostensibly set.

Perhaps the one most worth watching is Edgar's amendatory veto of legislation calling for identification of future legislative scholarship recipients. The measure, passed in the wake of newspaper accounts detailing how some lawmakers secretly awarded grants to politically connected students, requires only that a recipient's name — nothing more — be revealed. The governor rewrote the bill to include additional information about each recipient, including home address, university and degree program. Should the legislature fail either to accept his proposed changes or to override the amendatory veto, the measure dies, and lawmakers can continue to bestow the grants in secret.

Watch for action in the fall session on legislative scholarships, riverboat gambling, large-scale livestock operations and financing for prisons.

Two other significant issues could be on the agenda: a moratorium on large-scale livestock operations, intended to buy time for crafting rules to safeguard the environment from giant hog production facilities, and authorization of new bond sales to finance prison construction.

Regardless of the election outcome, however, it's a safe bet current lawmakers won't match the 1978 lame ducks for intrigue and outrage. The highlight — low point? — of that session occurred on November 29, when legislators voted themselves, judges, the governor and other top officials 40 percent pay raises, saw the vacationing Thompson veto the bill by autopen, then overrode his veto — all in less than six hours. The raises later were scaled back, but an unforgiving public approved the Legislative Cutback Amendment two years later — and eliminated the jobs of 59 House members.

Charles N. Wheeler III is director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Illinois Issues November 1996 / 47