Voters aren’t the only ones who think their views are often overlooked by legislators in Springfield.
Suburban lawmakers also aren’t paying much heed to the needs of local governments, a coalition of suburban mayors says.
A recently released survey by the Suburban Mayors Action Coalition shows that 24 senators graded by the group sided with the key positions of the area’s village officials an average of 58 percent of the time.
In the House, the mayors’ positions were supported an average of 67.5 percent of the time by 37 state representatives whose districts are located mainly in suburban Cook County but also border portions of Du Page, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties, the survey found.
SMAC consists of the Northwest Municipal Conference, the West-Central Municipal Conference and the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, accounting for representatives of 126 suburban villages and townships.
To show their appreciation for the lawmakers who do better than average, the coalition published a 1993 list of “champions” for municipal causes that included nine state senators, headed by Grace Mary Stern (D-Highland Park), who voted with SMAC positions 87 percent of the time.
In the House, Minority Leader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) and Reps. Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines) and Kathleen Wojcik (R-Schaumburg) headed the champs list. They each supported SMAC positions 85 percent of the time.
Four other representatives received honorable mentions for having voting records better than the House average.
Failing to make the grade on the coalition’s Legislator Report Card were 33 lawmakers, who were rated by comparing the coalition’s positions with the positions the legislators took on 22 bills affecting local government, especially unfunded mandates, home-rule powers, and revenue sharing.
“I think the results are very telling about the relationship between the suburban Cook County area and the legislators who represent us,” said Dave Bennett, executive director of the West Central Municipal Conference, which represents 35 western suburbs.
“I guess we didn’t do too well this year,” said Beth Ruyle, executive director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, which represents 40 south and southwest suburbs.
Part of the disillusionment on the part of some SMAC members is due to the fact that while legislators were responsive to their positions on relatively minor issues, they differed on big-ticket items.
A key example of the difference was a Senate vote on whether to let voters decide on a statewide property tax cap. SMAC opposed the measure, and it failed, but 16 of 21 voting senators from the area voted for it.
Another major issue that SMAC opposed and lawmakers generally supported was a measure to block home-rule communities from imposing new taxes on cigarettes after July 1. SMAC was against the measure, but 46 lawmakers voted for it.
Only one lawmaker from the south suburbs, Rep. Bill Balthis (R-Lansing), made the list of champions. And one of the area’s most prominent lawmakers, Sen. Aldo DeAngelis (R-Olympia Fields), who chairs the Senate’s Revenue Commmittee, was dropped from the list of honorees after being declared a champion last year.
Only Rita R. Athas, executive director of the 35-member Northwest Municipal Conference, had a positive reading of the report, which gave highly favorable ratings to nearly half of the 35 lawmakers who represent at least some portion of the north and northwest suburbs.
What particularly impressed Athas was the fact that three champion lawmakers from the area-Sen. Marty Butler (R-Park Ridge) and Reps. Verna Clayton (R-Buffalo Grove) and Carolyn Krause (R-Mt. Prospect)-are former mayors used to dealing with municipal issues.
“We think there’s definitely a sensitivity to municipal issues if you come out of local government,” Athas said. “They certainly have an understanding of the issues. Obviously, we have to get work on getting more local government people in the General Assembly.”
Rounding out the list of champions in the Senate were Jesus Garcia (D-Chicago), Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), Senate President James “Pate” Phillip (R-Wood Dale), Judy Baar Topinka (R-Riverside), Howard Carroll (D-Chicago), Adeline Geo-Karis (R-Zion) and David Barkhausen (R-Lake Bluff).
In the House, the champions also included Thomas Johnson (R-West Chicago), Carole Pankau (R-Roselle), Robert Biggins (R-Elmhurst), James Meyer (R-Bolingbrook), Anne Zickus (R-Palos Hills), Roger McAuliffe (R-Chicago), Douglas Hoeft (R-Elgin), Andrea Moore (R-Libertyville) and Thomas Walsh (R-La Grange Park).
Terry Parke (R-Hoffman Estates), Angelo Saviano (R-Elmwood Park), Virginia Frederick (R-Lake Forest) and Al Salvi (R-Libertyville) were honorable-mention representatives.
Several lawmakers who just missed making the list of champions, such as DeAngelis and 1992 champion Rep. Margaret Parcells (R-Northfield), defended their records on municipal issues. But DeAngelis and Parcells, a former Northfield Township supervisor, also supported their votes on issues that could have resulted in higher taxes for voters.
“Sometimes, there is a conflict between being fiscally conservative and being on their side because local governments do tend to want, and need, more money,” DeAngelis said.
“I don’t vote for taxes, and they wanted the income-tax surcharge,” said Parcells, who said she has championed municipal causes in other ways, such as fighting against unfunded mandates.
Other lawmakers, like freshman Sen. Steven Rauschenberger (R-Elgin), who basically received one of the lowest marks from the coalition, said he just didn’t always agree with the group’s positions.
“I don’t know if you want your state legislators and your local lawmakers always agreeing,” said Rauschenberger, who was penalized for voting “present” on two key issues. “The other thing is voters vote for me, and not municipalities.”
Coalition leaders, however, said their positions should not be taken for granted or ignored.
“We all know it’s a very political world, but we represent the same constituents,” Ruyle said.
