January 9, 2009
House Impeaches Governor; Senate Trial Begins Next Week
After less than two hours of debate, the House voted 114-1-1 today to impeach Governor Blagojevich. The vote came after a Special Investigative Committee conducted a series of investigative hearings over the holidays to produce a long list of evidence for impeachment. The Illinois Constitution gives the House broad authority in determining the existence of cause for impeachment, requiring only a simple majority vote once the investigation determines there is grounds for impeachment.
The House Special Investigative Committee released an extensive report of its findings early yesterday only to vote unanimously later that evening to recommend impeachment. HR 1671, which calls for Governor Blagojevich’s impeachment, cited numerous reasons for impeachment that not only included the latest criminal allegations, but also his blatant disregard for the legislative process when he sought to expand FamilyCare, implement I-SaveRx, purchase flu vaccinations, and consolidate agency responsibilities under his “Agency Efficiency Initiative.”
Retiring Democrat Representative Milton Patterson was the only “no” vote on the impeachment resolution with Democrat Representative Elga Jefferies voting “present.” Representative Jefferies lost her primary election and will not be returning for the 96th General Assembly. Democrat Representative Ken Dunkin was absent for the vote.
Governor Blagojevich is the first governor in Illinois’ history to be impeached. He now joins a notorious list of 11 other state governors that have been impeached throughout the nation’s history, with the most recent being former Arizona Governor Evan Mecham in 1988. Governor Mecham and six other impeached state governors were ultimately removed from office after a Senate trial convicted them. Even more recently, former Connecticut Governor John Rowland faced inevitable state impeachment proceedings before he resigned in 2004 amid serious corruption allegations for which he was later criminally convicted.
The Senate convenes on Monday to begin its trial proceedings against the governor that could result in a conviction and ultimately, removal from office. Unlike the House, the Senate requires a two-thirds majority vote for a conviction. If the Senate convicts, the governor would also be rendered ineligible to hold any public office in the State of Illinois.
House Committee Approves Some Pay to Play Clean-up; Major Compliance Issues Still Need to be Addressed in the New General Assembly
The House Elections Committee moved legislation this week that provided some technical clean-up to the state’s new “Pay to Play” law that went into effect January 1, 2009, but failed to address major compliance concerns the Chamber has raised over the past several months. SB 761, as amended, authorizes the State Board of Elections to register and certify business entities via a paper-based or e-mail based system until the Board is able to implement an electronic business registration database.
The Board of Elections has already established a temporary paper- and e-mail-based registration system through emergency rule, but has expressed concern that this temporary system violates the new law as it currently stands. P.A. 95-0971 (HB 824) requires the Board to provide for electronic registration and a searchable database of the business entities and individuals prohibited from making political contributions to the governor and other executive officers responsible for the awarding of state contracts.
SB 761, as amended, also addresses a concern raised by the U.S. Department of Transportation that P.A. 95-0971 conflicts with federal law and regulations governing construction contracts of Federal-aid funded projects. The bill calls for the exemption of contracts eligible for federal funding in order to avoid disruption of federal transportation dollars.
The Chamber has and will continue to push for critical clean-up provisions that seek to reduce the burden placed on businesses by the new law’s registration requirements. P.A. 95-0971 requires registering entities to track and report hundreds, and possibly thousands, of affiliated entities and persons, making compliance extremely onerous, if not impossible, for most businesses.
The Chamber had hoped to secure these changes and/or an implementation delay prior to the new law’s effective date, but has received commitment from both House and Senate sponsors, as well as the State Board of Elections, that these compliance issues will be addressed in the 96th General Assembly.
SB 761, as amended, is still awaiting a vote from the full House. The Senate must concur on the legislation before it moves to the governor’s desk for approval. Both chambers must act on the legislation before they closeout the 95th General Assembly on Tuesday or else the bill will die.