Democratic lawmakers in Illinois seek to mend bridges following the Blagojevich debacle as the push to give Illinois citizens the power of recall continues to move forward. On Monday, Governor Quinn continued his push for the Illinois Senate to adopt a joint resolution allowing a constitutional amendment for the power of recall to be placed upon the 2010 ballot. The Illinois House has already passed the joint resolution and is expected to pass the Senate by Thursday. The joint resolution will then require passage by Illinois voters during the 2010 election.
Despite likely passage, critics of the resolution are stepping forward to highlight the faults of the current proposal. When a majority of voters think of recall legislation they undoubtedly travel back to the recall of California Governor Davis. The public would assume that a recall is as simple as obtaining a specified number of signatures within a petition drive and a subsequent ballot initiative. However, as critics point out, Illinois' recall legislation has built-in provisions that protect elected officials from such a grassroots movement. The proposed legislation contains the requirement that a bipartisan group of 30 State legislators must approve a recall effort prior to a required petition drive. As a result, the group consisting of 20 house members and 10 senators will have the ability to protect an elected official from removal.
Critics such as Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Scanlan have blasted the proposal as Illinois politics as usual. In a press release this morning, the gubernatorial candidate stated, "Governor Quinn's proposed recall is a sham. It is a sham because -- in effect -- his proposal requires the approval of party insiders before the measure can be put in front of the people. This is more of the same kind of sneaky
politics that Illinois voters have long suffered and are fed up with."
Governor Quinn, to his benefit, has long supported recall legislation, including the blocked attempt to add a recall initiative to the 2008 ballot in Illinois. Last May, the Democrat controlled Illinois House passed a bi-partisan bill to place a recall initiative on the November ballot. However, the bill stalled in the Illinois Senate, after Senate President Emil Jones invoked cloture rules to prevent a full Senate vote. The move by Jones was part of effort to protect his political ally, former Governor Rod Blagojevich, and avoid potential political fallout for then Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. Although Republicans were able to garner the support of a large number of Democrat Senators, their efforts came up three votes shy of overcoming Jones legislative block. The bipartisan effort, largely driven by opposition to ousted Governor Blagojevich, failed.
The current recall proposals are expected to pass this week along with a bill moving to "dump" Blagojevich-era political appointees that remain in unelected positions of power.
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