One amendatory veto slips through

Starting in January, all parents will be able to decide whether to extend their health insurance coverage to their children up to age 26. Veterans will be able stay on their parent’s policies until age 30.

The Illinois Senate on Tuesday agreed with House to accept Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s changes to legislation he made through his amendatory veto powers.

The Senate approved House Bill 5285, but it rejected changes the governor made to House Bill 4201, which Blagojevich changed to extend property tax exemptions to all veterans with service-connected disabilities. The Senate failed to secure enough votes, with 15 voting present as a way to show they don’t oppose the concept. But many do oppose the governor’s method of changing legislation to initiate major new policies without debate.

Sen. Dan Rutherford, a Chenoa Republican, voted against his own bill because he said the governor’s amendatory veto prevents legislators and citizens from dealing with the policy in a public forum. “We’re in a political debate here,” he said. “We’re not doing this as a good public policy process.”

Rutherford also said he hopes one of the governor’s amendatory vetoes ends up in court, which could help define a rather vague power in the state Constitution. His comments echo statements made by Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat who said last week that the courts could help “answer this question that has been so contentious between the two branches ever since 1971,” when the current Constitution took effect. Read more background here.

Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat, said during floor debate that the governor’s changes to let adult dependents remain on their parents' insurance policies is an improvement. “This is a great opportunity to address a major challenging issue for parents and families,” he said. “It also gives employers a chance to provide this coverage, and employers don’t have to pay for it.”

But several Republicans said that the new law could negatively affect small businesses. While the young adults can be among the healthiest policyholders, Sen. Dale Righter, a Mattoon Republican, said it could be cheaper for parents to buy individual policies for their dependents rather than lump them in with their group policies and raise the price for their employers.

Other amendatory vetoes are expected, particularly on ethics legislation that Blagojevich has repeatedly said he looks forward to “improving.” He has to act before August 29, or the original version automatically becomes law. He also has said he could change as many as 50 bills.

Watch for Illinois Issues magazine's September print edition to gain more context about this and previous governors' uses of the amendatory veto power.

Read more...

The right thing, or the wrong way?

There is a process. And House Speaker Michael Madigan will never let this or any governor forget that. He believes in the legislature as an institution, and the he will not stand by if anyone tries to circumvent the legislative process. The House took action tonight that some believe could lead to another court challenge of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s executive authority. Others truly agree with the governor’s changes, which include expanding health insurance options to young adults and giving property tax breaks to injured veterans.

But the two changes, along with some of Blagojevich’s previous agenda items, bring to light two fundamental questions about the policymaking process and the legislative prerogative:

• What is the scope of the executive power to use an amendatory veto to change legislation other than for minor changes?
• And what is the rulemaking authority of the executive branch, and is that power limited by a legislative panel’s power to review the proposed rules?

They’re both questions that have been asked since the adoption of the 1970 Illinois Constitution. My boss and executive editor of Illinois Issues magazine, Dana Heupel, asked, “How far can governors go with amendatory vetoes?” in 1999, when he wrote from the Statehouse for Copley News Service. In that article, he analyzes then-Gov. George Ryan’s use of the amendatory veto to change how generic drugs could be approved for use in Illinois.

“His amendatory veto of the generic drug bill, along with others he has issued, will set in motion a process that House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has followed for a decade because he believes governors sometimes abuse their authority in changing legislation. ‘What he’s concerned about is a preemptive strikes by the governor’s office on the work of the legislature,’ said Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown.”

The speaker’s position hasn’t changed.

That sets up this summer’s controversy. Blagojevich is embarking on what he calls a “rewrite to do right” campaign. He recently said he’ll change some 50 bills. See details of the first two amendatory vetoes at the bottom of this post.

The House tonight approved two of the governor’s amendatory vetoes, and some legislators supported because they agreed with the governor’s changes, while others — House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, among them — voted to accept the governor’s amendatory vetoes so that the issue could land in court.

Currie, a Chicago Democrat, chairs a special House Rules Committee that carries out Madigan’s longstanding process of determining whether the changes are germane to the original intent of the legislation. If the committee members think the change violates the intent, then the bill usually dies. On the other hand, if there’s a motion to override or to accept the governor’s changes, then the measure goes straight to the floor for a vote. It also needs approval by the Senate.

Tonight’s vote to accept the governor’s changes about health insurance and veterans’ property taxes, then, allows the separation of powers to be studied, again, Currie said on the House floor.

“I think that the lack of clarity from the court decisions may mean that it’s time for a second crack for the judicial branch. Maybe we ought to invite the question before the courts whether this particularly amendatory veto, for example, does go beyond the scope of that authority provided in the Constitution. For that reason, I would suggest that an eye vote may help us answer this question that has been so contentious between the two branches ever since 1971.”

The intent of the delegates at the 1970 constitutional convention was to allow the governor to correct technical errors or minor drafting mistakes, not give him or her carte blanche to totally rewrite legislation, said Charlie Wheeler, longtime Statehouse reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and current director of the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

To this day, however, the state Constitution does not specify the scope of the amendatory veto power. Courts have ruled that the governor is limited in that he or she can’t completely rewrite legislation and can’t change the fundamental purpose of bills. But what qualifies as changing the purpose of legislation is open to interpretation, leading numerous governors to try to use the power as broadly as possible.

“There are bounds beyond which a governor can’t go, but this particular issue before us isn’t one of them,” Wheeler said.

Blagojevich said at a Statehouse press conference tonight that he believes the Constitution is very clear. “The governor has complete opportunity to be able to take bills like that and rewrite them, and in this particular case, expand them and widen them. And the General Assembly can then choose to approve or not approve or ignore what I did. To the credit of the House of Representatives, they acted on it. And they voted in favor of that [health insurance] expansion, and it’s pretty good.”

Wheeler, who spoke with me before the House accepted Blagojevich’s first two amendatory vetoes, referred to the governor’s “rewrite to do right” campaign as the “rewrite to screw things up campaign,” basically with the intent to make Madigan look like an obstructionist. But Wheeler stressed that the debate about Blagojevich’s amendatory vetoes is deeper than a manifestation of the personality battles and power struggles between Madigan and Blagojevich. It’s more of a constitutional question about the checks-and-balances system between the legislative and the executive branches.

“In my mind, I think Madigan has the better argument because Madigan has a long history as somebody who’s very concerned about legislative process,” Wheeler said. “He’s concerned about the institution. He cares about that stuff. And Blagojevich has sort of a shorter history of following the Constitution, the statutes, administrative regulations, when they’re convenient. And when they’re not convenient, ‘Hey, they’re advisory.’”

That’s exactly the argument Blagojevich used when a bipartisan panel of legislators rejected his previous health care expansions. The governor tried to use his executive authority to expand state-sponsored health care to middle-income adults, but the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules rejected the plan because members believed there was no money to cover the health care expansion and that the administration lacks authority to initiate the plan without going through the legislative process. The governor said he would expand the program anyway because the panel only served an advisory role. The expansions, however, landed in court and actually were stopped.

To send a message that the governor can’t enact such programs without legislative oversight, Madigan started attaching language to the end of bills that would require the administration’s proposed rules to come back before the General Assembly before they could be enacted.

While the Constitution is unclear about some executive powers and legislative oversight, it remains crystal clear that Madigan will do whatever necessary to preserve the legislative prerogative.

Here are the two amendatory vetoes Blagojevich so far has issued and that the House has accepted:

HB 5285, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Chuck Jefferson of Rockford and Sen. Rickey Hendon of Chicago.
Original intent: College students could stay on their parents’ health insurance plans for a year if they took a medical leave of absence or reduced their course loads to part time because of an illness or injury.
Governor’s AV: All parents could decide whether to extend their health insurance coverage to their children up to age 26. Veterans could stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 30.

HB 4201, sponsored by Republicans Rep. Keith Sommer of Morton and Sen. Dan Rutherford of Chenoa.
Original intent: Extended a tax increment-financing district in the Village of Downs.
Governor’s AV: Extend property tax exemptions to all veterans with a service-connected disability certified by the U. S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The more disabled they’re labeled by the federal system, the higher the property tax exemption.

Read more...

Ready, set, repeat

Reminiscent of last year, a whole host of state policy issues remain up in the air throughout the summer. Inaction mostly rests on the shoulders of Democrats, who are repeating history by agreeing on practically nothing. The main culprits are Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan, each of whom blames the other for lack of action. Meanwhile, Illinois is in its ninth year without a capital construction plan, campaign funding reform remains dormant, many state services and agencies are operating with stagnant or decreased funding and long-term costs of health care and pensions continue to compound.

Legislators and the governor will return to Springfield this week with lots to talk about, but little progress is anticipated. Here’s a chronological list of activities with some context.

Today: Comptroller Dan Hynes issued a statement that he would not cut the checks for pay raises for state legislators and officers if they are enacted because the General Assembly never gave him authority to spend the necessary money. “We cannot implement the pay raises without an appropriation. But more importantly, I am of the opinion that this is no time for pay raises,” he said in a release, citing budget cuts for social services and Medicaid providers. The House rejected the pay raises, but the Senate has yet to do so. In the larger scheme of things, the pay raises simply are a battle of public perception. While such state services as substance abuse treatment struggle to meet demand because of $43 million in budget cuts, it would look disingenuous if legislators received their annual 3 percent cost-of-living adjustments at the same time they receive significant pay raises, costing about $1.1 million just for constitutional officers, legislators and top state agency officials, according to the comptroller’s office. That doesn't count pay raises for judges.

Tuesday: Expect Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s idea to move about 140 state employee positions from Springfield three hours south to be rejected by a bipartisan legislative review panel. Expect that rejection to be followed by the governor’s statement that the move is going to go forward, anyway. Lots of union-backed employees will be up in arms again. Meanwhile, they’re still working under last year’s contract with the state while their union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, remains gridlocked (click this link and scroll down) with the administration. Among the key sticking points are employee wages and employee contributions to health care and pension benefits.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Gov. Rod Blagojevich called legislators back to the Capitol to address two major issues: funding for education on Tuesday and funding for capital construction projects Wednesday. But neither session meets until late in the afternoon, giving legislators time throughout the day to attend various events at the annual State Fair in Springfield. Governor’s Day (a.k.a. Democrats’ Day) is Wednesday and Republican Day is Thursday. Watch for political fireworks off stage.

Ongoing: The governor says he’ll “rewrite to do right,” his slogan for changing agreed-upon bills to include his agenda. If the General Assembly rejects his changes, then the underlying bill dies. So far, he’s changed two bills. One would allow all adults up to age 26 to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans. The original intent was limited to college students who took a medical leave or who reduced their course loads to part time because of an illness or injury. They would have been covered for a year on their parents' plans. A second amendatory veto would extend property tax exemptions to all veterans with service-connected disabilities certified by the U. S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The original bill regarded a tax increment financing district in the Village of Downs. Blagojevich has said he will continue amending numerous bills in his Rewrite to Do Right campaign, “to take positive action on legislation that has been sent to him by the General Assembly,” according to a statement from Brian Williamsen, his spokesman.

August 29: Later this month marks the deadline for the governor to sign, change or reject ethics reforms sent to his desk in June. His office repeatedly has said he doesn’t think the ethics reforms go far enough. One potential amendment could include banning state contractors from donating to statewide political parties. The original legislation, which received unanimous approval by the General Assembly in May, only prevented state contractors holding contracts worth $50,000 or more from donating to statewide officeholders who sign the contracts.

Also coming up: One of the House Democrats’ point people on education, Rep. Mike Smith of Canton, announced that he’ll host a series of public hearings to consider a proposal to abolish property taxes for school funding by 2010. It’s been floated by Sen. James Meeks, a Chicago Democrat who previously threatened to run against Blagojevich for governor in the absence of education funding reforms. Meeks didn’t run, but he also didn’t get what he wanted. So here we go again. Add education funding reform to a huge pile of politically sensitive Statehouse issues that likely will grab some headlines but will remain stalled, at least before the November elections.

Read more...

2 yrs. later, is Illinois still 'state of shame'?

Not much here to report apparently other than the governor's plan to help unemployed veterans' find a job. According to this article in 2005 1 in 3 veterans who sought help from state's Department of Employment Security were able to find jobs. I suppose there question here is what's the situation now?

Read more...

Passing the buck

by Patrick O’Brien
The State of Illinois is passing the buck on veterans’ tuition grants to universities, according to testimony at a House committee Thursday. Schools whose bottom lines already suffer from years of reduced funding are being forced to bear the cost of an unfunded mandate, said Rep. David Miller, a Lynwood Democrat and committee chair. That results in higher tuition rates for students as schools try to cover the costs of educating veterans.

A state grant pays for tuition and certain fees at Illinois schools for men and women who have been on active military duty for at least a year. Schools provide waivers for the veterans to attend, and the state reimburses the institution. But the problem is, the grant money often runs out, forcing universities to make up the difference.

State universities are facing a combined shortfall of $22 million because of an increasing number of veterans attending college and the lack of funding from the state, Miller said. The program’s costs have more than doubled in five years. “Instead of being a taxpayer issue, it’s become a user tax on students.”

The Illinois Board of Higher Education reports that the program, the Illinois Veterans Tuition Grant, was budgeted at a little more than $19 million this year. State schools have received $18 million so far.

The program has been budgeted at $19 million since 2004, while the number of veterans returning from active duty continues to increase. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission reports that the deficit has been a problem since at least 2004, when the state was $5 million short on payments for the grant.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education said the program would receive no extra money next year, making six consecutive budget cycles without an increase for the program.

University of Illinois president B. Joseph White said a lack of funding from the state will cost the school $4 million this year to cover the program, even after state money is figured in. Illinois State University president Al Bowman told the committee his school lost $600,000 in tuition that the state didn’t reimburse in 2007, and that number will increase to $1 million this year.

One university official laid the responsibility at the feet of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. “It’s the law, but the governor was supposed to provide funding,” said Cheryl Peck, spokeswoman for the University of Illinois at Springfield. Peck said the university took $490,000 from other areas of the budget this year to ensure that veterans’ tuitions are covered.

Like most state institutions in a tough budget year, higher education is feeling the squeeze.

The proposed state budget leaves funding flat for state schools, which actually decreases their funding, according to Rep. Rich Brauer, a Petersburg Republican. Brauer said the 3 percent to 4 percent increase in costs due to inflation will give the schools less money to work with and that most state universities already receive less money than in 2002.

Read more...

State representative will serve in Iraq

In two to three weeks, Rep. Jim Watson, a Jacksonville Republican, will put his legislative duties on hold to serve in Iraq. He’ll deploy about eight months after he re-enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves out of a sense of duty.

He previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves from 1985 to 1991, including one year overseas during Operation Desert Storm.

This time, he says he expects a lot more interaction with the Iraqi civilians. As a staff sergeant with the Marine’s 3rd Civil Affairs Group based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., he expects to help build the local governance and infrastructure. That will require recognizing and working within the differences of the Iraqi culture. “You have a system where you have a tribal culture, where shame and honor are very important. They have different ways, different rules, different customs to deal with that,” he says.

The goal is to create a stable, democratic system that’s unique and specific to Iraq. “I hope I am successful in helping to build a level of stability in their governance — because that’s how we win, that’s how we get out of there, that’s what will keep my kids from having to go back or anybody else’s kids.”

Serving in the Illinois House since 2001, he says he re-enlisted out a sense of duty to his fellow soldiers. He explains by citing former President John F. Kennedy: One man can make a difference, and every many should try. “This is a case where I know I’ve got some skills that can help in that conflict. We win over there by helping them establish a stable infrastructure, stable government, stable rule of law. And you can’t let the same people carry the water over and over again. So, I step up.”

While deployed for the expected 270 days, Watson’s constituent services will be shared by fellow lawmakers Sen. Deanna Demuzio, a Carlinville Democrat, and Rep. Gary Hannig, a Litchfield Democrat. Watson plans to return to the legislature to carry out his two-year term.

Read more...

Sacrifices

Flags will be at half-staff today, the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It always hits home. I spent more than a year of my undergraduate studies interviewing World War II veterans for a marketing research book for the University of Illinois Food and Brand Lab (then in Champaign-Urbana, now at Cornell University in New York). I spent about two hours interviewing each veteran, typically in his 80s. It was heartbreaking to see them cry when they talked about the number of friends they lost while overseas, and they never really told you all the details of the things they went through. It was difficult to see the widows and widowers sit in their homes, remembering those details and being surrounded by black-and-white pictures of the time.

What feels even worse is to consider statistics about the number of veterans who don’t even have homes. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which reports that about one third of the nation’s homeless are veterans. That’s at least 195,000 people on any given night. About 45 percent of them have a form of mental illness. Many more also suffer from substance abuse.

The federal VA system has numerous initiatives to address homeless veterans. In Illinois, the Veterans Cash scratch-off lottery game does generate about $3 million a year, some of which helps pay for homeless initiatives. But many veterans either feel ashamed to ask for help or don’t know they qualify for the programs or benefits.

The need will only grow as more men and women come home from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, the need has already affected the state’s program G-I Loan for Heroes that administers low-interest mortgages and helps with down payments for veterans. The Illinois Housing Development Authority says 275 veterans have applied, leading the administration to double the available money from $15 million to $30 million since it started. And according to Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, there’s potential to secure another $15 million.

“This program would not be as wildly successful as it is if there was not a desperate need among our veterans of that age group, those young guys coming home, the 20- to 40-year-olds,” Duckworth said at a Springfield policy luncheon last month. “I just think it’s ironic that the people who fought and were willing to lay down their lives for other people to pursue their American dreams are the ones who are having some of the toughest time accessing their American dreams for themselves and for their family members.”

Here’s more from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Read more...