From the Daily Herald

Will Illinois lawmakers race the clock or mark time?

By John Patterson Daily Herald State Government Editor
1/8/05
SPRINGFIELD -- Slicing up suburban counties to potentially elect more
Democratic judges might be one of the final moves state lawmakers
make in their final 48 hours in session.
Lawmakers convene at the Capitol today for what either could be
a mad dash to wrap up business or 48 hours of taxpayer-sponsored futility
before new members and those re-elected are sworn in on Wednesday
and the legislative slate is wiped clean.
Carving the collar counties into judicial subcircuits is one of
several heated issues in the waning days. Supporters of legislation
banning discrimination against gays and lesbians say they've rallied
support and expect a vote today or Tuesday.
In addition, lawmakers have yet to decide how to fund billions in
pending construction projects statewide, including several suburban
school projects. And they have been at odds on additional state spending
that includes beefed-up security at the Capitol in the wake of a guard
being shot and killed last year.
Pushing this last-minute frenzy is the Wednesday swearing-in of
new and re-elected lawmakers. At that point all previous pending legislation
is wiped out, and plans start from square one. These final two days
provide a last chance to cut deals.
Suburban judges
Democrats are pushing a plan that would take Lake, McHenry, Kane
and Will counties and divide them into judicial subcircuits instead
of having judges elected from across the entire judicial circuit.
DuPage County is not affected, and Cook County already has judges
elected from subcircuits.
Supporters say it's needed to bring diversity and better local representation
to the bench.
"We are responding to requests from members of the public in these
communities, people who feel that they do not have a close a connection
to the candidates who are selected for the judiciary as they would
if they were dealing in smaller population numbers," said state Rep.
Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat pushing the changes.
Of course, depending on the district boundaries, it could open the
door for Democratic judicial candidates in an area dominated by Republicans.
Suburban Republicans say Democrats are trying to ram through a fix
to a problem that doesn't exist and consider this a not-so-subtle
power grab under the guise of diversity.
"I've represented Kane County -- my entire district's in Kane County
-- for six years. I've never received one letter, e-mail or phone
call on anything remotely close to (judicial) subcircuits," Batavia
Republican state Rep. Tim Schmitz argued at a recent hearing.
Gay rights
Also likely to generate a heated debate is a plan banning discrimination
against gays and lesbians. The proposal passed the House at least
twice in recent years but stalled in the Senate where Republicans
and conservative downstate Democrats have mustered enough votes to
narrowly block it.
But the sponsor, state Sen. Carol Ronen, a Chicago Democrat, says
she has the votes and the plan will be put before lawmakers. The proposal
would give gays and lesbians legal protection by prohibiting discrimination
based on sexual orientation. In other words, people could no longer
be fired, denied housing or barred from restaurants because they are
gay.
Ronen said she saw no problem with pushing the plan in the final
48 hours before new members are sworn in.
"If anything, we're late in finally enacting it," she said.
Wait for spring thaw
However, legislators expect several other high-profile issues will
likely wait for the next session for consideration. Among them is
a state bailout of the Chicago Transit Authority, something suburban
lawmakers fear will amount to a raid on their public transportation
dollars.
Also likely to be carried over into the spring is renewal of an
early retirement program for suburban and downstate teachers and approval
of millions of dollars worth of construction projects throughout the
state.
In each case the issue is money, or the lack thereof. Gov. Rod Blagojevich
has, at different times, touted closing a tax break on business software
purchases to raise $65 million for either the CTA or to fund stalled
school construction projects. That plan has yet to garner support.
However, these plans and other traditional hotbed issues like gambling
and school funding are expected to get renewed attention once new
lawmakers are sworn in and the spring session begins Wednesday. Lawmakers
are scheduled to finish up their session on May 27.
Push: Many issues may wait until spring session