Legislative Action
Marking time until after the primary
THE 1976 legislative session has begun
and it is following the normal "off year"
pace (see Legislative Action, January
1976, p. 26). The General Assembly
returned to Springfield on January 14
for a one day session during which it
heard Gov. Dan Walker's "state of the
state" address (see p. 25) and took final
action on a handful of bills. Then it
adjourned until March 3, the date set by
law for the governor to deliver his
annual budget message. But the full
activity of the spring session will not
begin until after the March 16 primary
election.
The legislative leaders hope to limit this year's session mainly to budgetary matters. Yet, Gov. Walker called for action on a number of substantive matters during his speech. It is unlikely that there will be much of a response to his call, not only because of the stated intent of leadership and the shortness of the "off year" session, but because of the difficulties that will be apparent in arriving at agreement on appropriations under the current financial crisis; most agree it is a time of tightening of the belt while specific groups still press for spending increases in their special interest areas.
The substantive action taken by the General Assembly on its one day in Springfield in January basically was in two areas. The first was a supplemental appropriation to the Illinois Racing Board of $985,000 to enable it to continue operation for the balance of the fiscal year (S.B. 1508, Bruce, D., Olney). The need for this was brought about by the unusual decision of the legislature to pass only a six months appropriation for the Racing Board during the regular 1975 session (included in P.A. 79-273). If the supplemental appropriation had not been passed, the winter racing season would have ceased in mid-January.
The second action was the passage of two bills sponsored by the House Transportation Committee (H.B. 3164 and H.B. 3165). They are designed to help maintain freight service on certain rail lines in the state at the level of 1975 service. The action included authorization to the state Department of Transportation to provide assistance and a $1,600,000 appropriation to cover costs including funds to be reimbursed by the federal government; the legislation was necessary to avoid a drastic reduction of freight service in a number of rural areas (see "Abandon railroads? Illinois replies NO," November 1975, p. 323). Discontinuation of the service would adversely affect the movement of crops, creating additional hardships for a number of Illinois farmers.
Bill introductions
The House study calendar in January already contained about 800 bills. Some
of these will eventually come out to the
floor. Some of the new introductions
will emerge from committee. Additional
bills of a substantive nature are sure to
be introduced when the General Assembly swings into full session later this
spring. And pressure will be there to act
on some of the measures called for by
the governor in his state of the state
address, particularly those related to
changes in the criminal justice system,
All of this naturally raises questions
about the shape of the 1976 session and
its eventual adjournment date. The
leadership will probably have difficulty
restricting the session to "money matters." It is an election year and there are
bills of a substantive nature that some
members may want passed this spring to
use in their general election campaigns.
If large numbers of bills do come up for
floor action, it will be extremely difficult
for the General Assembly to complete
its work before July 1, the usual target
date for adjournment.
One other sidelight of the single
legislative day was that 48 bills were
introduced in the House. While this is
not significant by itself, it does help to
pinpoint the difficulty the legislative
leaders will have in trying to limit the
balance of the session to budgetary
matters. Regardless of the stated objectives of those responsible for setting the
schedule for the General Assembly, the
members insist on introducing increasing numbers of bills which will have to
be dealt with even if that only means
placing them on a committee's study calendar.
The lameducks
The presence of so many lameducks
will have an interesting, although still
unpredictable, effect on the 1976 legislative session. An additional dimension of
interest will be added by the March
gubernatorial primary, regardless of the
outcome./ L.S.C. 24 / March 1976 / Illinois Issues
On the other hand, a considerable
number of members not running for
reelection creates a large body of
legislators who are relatively independent of their constituencies and who
may support the leadership in trying to
restrict the session. Most of the leaders
have little to risk in their desire to limit
the scope of action during the session.
Senate President Cecil Partee, Senate
Minority Leader William Harris, House
Majority Leader Gerald Shea, and
House Minority Leader James Washburn are all leaving the General Assembly. Only Speaker William Redmond, among the top leaders, is seeking
reelection. Therefore, the leadership can
also act, if they choose, with somewhat
less regard for the pressures put on them
by rank and file members since they will
not be in need of future support to
maintain their current positions.