Senate President Emil Jones engineered a vote Wednesday denouncing House Speaker Michael Madigan’s budget proposal before it even made it to the Senate, the latest sign that the Democrats are far from an agreement that could end the legislature’s fiscal deadlock.
In the third week of overtime, Jones used the non-binding resolution to underscore both his opposition to the Madigan budget and his support for Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to pump more money into education and launch a broad health-care system.
Jones bristled as he lashed out at the budget plan passed by the House, which Madigan has called his chamber’s “high-water mark” on spending.
“This resolution sends a clear message that the high-water budget that they talked about is really a low-water budget that the Senate is going to reject,” Jones said, adding later that the vote signaled Madigan’s budget would be “dead on arrival.”
In a statement, Blagojevich said he was “delighted” by the vote.
Madigan criticized the vote. “It appears to me that certain people are grasping at straws in terms of what they perceive to be a budget debate,” he said.
Only Madigan’s House Democrats mustered enough votes to pass a budget this session and before the May 31 adjournment deadline. But because Downstate lawmakers insisted on addressing soaring electricity bills before the budget was resolved, they used a parliamentary maneuver to physically hold the legislation in the House rather than allow it to move directly to the Senate for a vote.
The Democratic and Republican leaders have made little, if any, progress in a series of negotiating sessions with the Democratic governor over a budget plan as a July 1 deadline for the new fiscal year looms.
Jones decided he didn’t want to wait for the House Democratic budget to arrive in the Senate before sending a message. Instead, he orchestrated the high-profile vote in the Senate, one that spurred a third of the senators to rise in debate.
Blagojevich and Jones have argued the House budget falls short by as much as $600 million and would lead to cuts in education and health care. Madigan and House Democrats have maintained the governor could use his executive authority to hold down spending in some areas and manage the budget better overall to address fiscal shortcomings.
In Senate debate, Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) railed against Jones’ resolution, calling it shameful political gamesmanship with the House.
“It’s frivolous. It’s childish,” Cronin said. Democrats shouldn’t be acting like they are “so important” as they oversee “this silly back and forth,” he said.
“I got news for you. You’re not,” Cronin said.
The comments prompted Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) to chastise Cronin and Madigan.
“Sen. Cronin, if you don’t feel that you are doing anything down here, I think you should resign,” Hendon said. “What would you have us do? Just lay down for Mike Madigan?”
Hendon said the Senate should not roll over “like little puppy dogs” for Madigan or be a “rubber stamp.”
The resolution was supported by 33 Democrats and opposed by 19 Republicans. Two Chicago Democrats, Sens. Martin Sandoval and Tony Munoz, voted present.
Madigan seized on the outcome of the vote because Jones only collected 33 out of 37 Democratic votes in his caucus even though the resolution is non-binding. Passing an actual budget in the Senate now requires a super-majority of 36 votes.
Sandoval said he is unwilling to vote on any matter that fails to advance education, school construction, public transportation and property tax relief.
The governor, Jones, Madigan, House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville) met on Wednesday. But Madigan, Cross and Watson contended the discussion on local taxing districts failed to address the budget crisis.
Jones suggested consideration of a one-month budget to avoid a shutdown of the government in July, but Madigan said the focus should be on adopting a yearlong spending plan.
“It’s getting to be to the point that it’s rather embarrassing and actually a bit disgusting,” Cross said. “We’re not getting anywhere.”
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