Governor Blagojevich’s Rope-A-Dope

As children prepare to return to school, the Chicago Bears prepare for another run at the Super Bowl and the long hot days of summer fade into fall, Illinois 2007 SPRING legislative session appears to finally be reaching its conclusion.

Last Friday, both the House and Senate passed a compromise budget plan that increased funding for schools and maintained spending at the rate of inflation for most other state responsibilities. However, after almost a half a year of bluster and bullying, the Governor’s prized universal health care plan was left in the legislative scrap heap in what appeared to be the clearest sign yet of his failed leadership and his administration’s tin ear when it comes to listening to the Legislature as a co-equal branch of government.

Since Blagojevich’s reelection last November and Senate President Emil Jones’ landslide victory creating a Democratic super-majority in the Senate, the two have been working closely to push for universal health care and dramatic increases in education funding. Their style has been one of confrontation and threat which caused the Governor’s healthcare proposal to twice fail when called for a vote in the Senate. In addition, it appeared that President Jones was losing a lot of support from his own caucus members because of the President’s often reported cozy personal relationship with the Governor.

So when Jones came together with Speaker Madigan and Republican Leader’s Cross & Watson to pass the budget without the Governors consent last week, many thought the Governor had lost. It looked like Madigan and some well placed Senate Democrats had worn Jones down and his alliance with the Governor had broken. People forgot the Governor is a former boxer and well known endurance athlete. It looks as Rod may have been using Rocky Balboa’s old Rope-A-Dope tricks to wear down Speaker Madigan and his other legislative opponents while he waited to land the haymaker and end the budget fight. Also forgotten was the fact that Rod’s friend President Jones loves to lay in the weeds and wait to show his true intentions until the final critical moment when he can say “Checkmate”.

Governor Blagojevich and President Jones called “check” today. In a parliamentary maneuver that many think is the beginning of a constitutional crisis, Governor Blagojevich amenditorily vetoed the budget, eliminating $500 million appropriations (most notably the member initiative projects that legislators use to fund needs in their district) and re-appropriating the $500 million to fund his universal health care coverage. President Jones joined the Governor at a press conference Tuesday to state that, “we do not plan to move to override the cuts on spending that would put the governor into a position where he could not do anything for health care. That’s our position. That’s what we’re going to do. Case closed.”

Without both Legislative chambers voting to override the veto, the Governor, President Jones and their lawyers believe the changes become law and they get their victory even though the Legislature never voted to fund universal health care. Speaker Madigan and other lawyers will claim that the Governor has the power to remove the $500 million appropriation through veto, but his actions to re-appropriate the money to his health care plan require Legislative approval.

So now we must wait to see if Tuesday’s proclamation is only “check” or if the Blagojevich and Jones pulled off a procedural coup and can state “checkmate Speaker, the game is over.”