http://www.dailyherald.com/news/cookstory.asp?id=330140&cc=c&tc=&t=
By Eric Krol
Daily Herald Political Writer [email protected]
Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich injected gun control into the state budget overtime mess Monday but watched the political move backfire in Springfield.
The governor was joined outside Children’s Memorial Hospital by gun control advocates and families of gun crime victims to call on House Speaker Michael J. Madigan to approve legislation banning high-capacity ammunition clips used in assault weapons.
“How is it that a bill that passed the Senate that would ban ammunition clips like this didn’t get a chance to have a vote in the House?” asked Blagojevich, who ducked reporters’ questions despite his administration’s promise he would take them after his speech. “If some legislative leaders don’t want to call these bills for a vote on their own, we’ll call special sessions and make ’em.”
The governor’s gambit, however, shed some light on his tenuous political standing. The Democratic House member pushing the gun clip legislation said it’s been his decision, not Madigan’s, to not ask for a vote, while Democratic sponsor Sen. Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge declined to show up at Blagojevich’s largely symbolic news conference.
Blagojevich’s comments appeared to just add more rancor to the already-stressed situation in Springfield, where the governor has gone nearly a month and a half past the May 31 deadline to get a new spending plan in place. Blagojevich has called Madigan a “right-wing Republican” for opposing his plan for a major tax increase to pay for more health care and education funding, while Madigan said he told Blagojevich to “knock it off.” Meanwhile, a Republican lawmaker suggested over the weekend that an impeachment investigation of Blagojevich begin.
Madigan’s top lieutenant, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, said Blagojevich should use special sessions for emergency issues.
“The only emergency we are in at the moment is the budget emergency,” said Currie, a gun control supporter from Hyde Park.
She suggested Blagojevich could have spoken up earlier rather than leading the charge in an overtime session, while other lawmakers suggested the governor’s move Monday hurt, instead of helped, move toward a budget deal.
In Chicago, Blagojevich predicted “a long and continuous special session” that could last months.
While Blagojevich declined to talk to reporters, spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff briefly stopped for questions, denying that the governor was having a tough time getting his agenda passed due to a spate of federal subpoenas including his campaign fund.