Good Policy Lost because of Springfield Power Struggle

Everyone knows about the ongoing feud between Speaker Madigan and the Governor. Most are also aware Senate President Jones is the Governor’s strongest ally (not only strongest but one of the few remaining). After last year’s never ending battle, and Blagojevich’s refusal to recognize rules instilled by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (instead insisting that JCAR is merely “advisory” and he can craft his own rules), the Speaker decided any legislation that will need implementation rules must contain an amendment stating these rules have to be adopted by the legislature.

No one was quite sure how the “rule making amendment” was going to work out, but it was obvious the Senate President was not going to go along with idea. It wasn’t long before good, meaningful pieces of legislation were caught up in the fray. What happened was amended House Bills that were passed over to the Senate were then stripped of the rule making amendment in that chamber, and sent back to the House (Senate Bills sent to the House were loaded up the rule making clause and sent back to the Senate). In many cases these bills were stuck in a back and forth ping pong match between Madigan and Jones, and most never made it to the Governor’s desk. Below are a few legislative proposals that can be added to victim list of the Hatfield-McCoy, I mean Madigan-Blagojevich, feud.

• HB 5595 would require insurance coverage for a series of conditions related to autism, cerebral palsy and other early childhood disorders.
• SB 2091 would require state’s attorneys to notify school superintendents when a teacher is convicted of specific felonies.
• SB 2906 would allow soldiers who are on active duty leave from the Armed Forces to hunt and fish without a license.
• SB 2473 would allow the state to access the public healthcare registry in order to plan for an act of bioterrorism or other large scale, public health emergency.

Only in Chicago

It was recently announced that Chicago is one of four finalists in the bidding to host the 2016 Olympic Games. This would be a great boost for our entire state and provide the city of Chicago with world wide attention. Mayor Daley supposedly has a site already picked out for the Olympic Village, none other than the financially troubled Michael Reese Hospital. The Hospital was scheduled to be closed in the near future, and many found the area to be a perfect location to house the athletes, visitors and have all of those neat Olympic attractions. I just hope the Governor hasn’t heard about this, or he may have a renewed interest to provide free healthcare for the entire Olympic world.

Everyone Say Cheese

Rep. Sommer and I will be hosting a group photo with thousands of residents who support keeping the Pontiac Correctional Center open. The photo will take place at the Courthouse Square in Pontiac on Saturday, June 21 at 10:30 a.m. Bring anyone and everyone and be sure to wear your “Save Pontiac T-shirts” so we can show the entire state just how many people support keeping the facility open.