Legislative session ends with full plate
By RYAN KEITH
The Associated Press
06/03/2005
State lawmakers will
tackle casinos, other
issues again in the fall
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - After all the action and the deal-making, Illlinois state legislators left behind a long list of unfinished business that is likely to resurface when they return in the fall.
More and larger riverboat casinos, updated telephone and electricity regulations, a new system for funding public schools, stricter campaign finance laws and a host of gun-control measures were discussed by the Legislature without any final decisions.
For some, the timing wasn't right. For others, the politics were a little too sensitive. Either way, they won't fade away.
With the state facing a $1.2 billion deficit, backers of gambling expansion had good reason to believe this was their year.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich initially criticized the idea of using gambling to prop up the state budget. Eventually, though, he proposed funding education by more than doubling the number of gaming positions at the state's nine riverboat casinos. Senate President Emil Jones proposed an even more extensive plan that would also put slot machines at horse racing tracks.
Ultimately, though, Democrats pushed through a budget plan that relied on pension funding, blaming Republicans for the lack of progress on gambling and other revenue ideas. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's push near the end of the session for a Chicago casino didn't help matters either, lawmakers said.
"In the end, I believe that if we had acted sooner we would have had a chance to pass one of those (gambling) bills," said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, who heads the House Gaming Committee.
Lawmakers say they expect that gambling expansion will be on the negotiating table again next year.
Another issue still simmering is how the state pays for schools.
Jones pushed this spring for a sweeping shift in the school finance formula from a reliance on local property taxes to a reliance on state income taxes. Proponents of the tax swap plan said the current system shortchanges poor students and provides vastly different educational opportunities, depending on an area's property values.
Blagojevich vowed to veto the plan, and enough lawmakers were opposed to the idea of increasing income taxes that it died.
Other issues on the agenda got less attention from lawmakers but could have had a wide impact on consumers.
One was a bid to deregulate Illinois' local telephone market. Telephone giant SBC made a strong push for cutting back state regulation; the state Senate agreed, but the House balked amid complaints from consumer groups and competitors.
Lawmakers decided to extend the current telecommunications law for two years. Gun rights advocates led by the National Rifle Association enjoyed a string of successes this spring, defeating a number of measures by Chicago Democrats to tighten gun laws.
The failed proposals included allowing lawsuits against the gun industry, limiting handgun purchases to one a month, banning assault rifles and strengthening penalties for illegal gun possession. Gun-control advocates did have one victory when lawmakers voted to require background checks for buyers at gun shows.
And Blagojevich's proposal to "rock the system" of Illinois campaign finance by limiting political donations and tightening restrictions on lawmakers and lobbyists went nowhere after it was introduced just 20 days before the end of the session. The governor said legislators were too focused on other important issues.
"We proposed it, we intend to keep trying to get it and make it happen," Blagojevich said.
I know that HB2414 (Assault Weapons/50 cal ban) has been extended through 31 December. We will undoubtedly see it again in the Fall veto session. We need to somehow reach those collar county republicans over the summer and make them understand that voting for this will have bad political consequences.
Jeff