Lawmakers Return to Springfield for Fall Veto Session

From pension reform to pregnant prisoners, lawmakers returning to Springfield face a packed agenda. Since adjourning in the spring, state legislators have been on standby while Gov. Pat Quinn took his turn.

Quinn used his veto power to alter, cut and outright dismiss measures ranging from the state budget to college scholarships. Now the focus is back on the General Assembly, which returns to the capitol on Tuesday for the fall veto session.

Legislators say they expect to vote on a gambling expansion bill, again, after Gov. Pat Quinn rejected several pillars of the plan they sent him in May. Quinn said he can accept new casinos in Danville, Chicago, two suburban towns, and Rockford. But he is drawing the line at allowing slot machines at racetracks, airports and other locations.

"We have no interest in becoming the Las Vegas of the Midwest," Quinn said during a press conference last week. "We have to maintain our culture (and) our character."

That opposition may jeopardize the entire package. Quinn is betting there will be a lot of negotiations and variations of gambling proposals during the veto session.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he hopes lawmakers and the governor can find common ground. Otherwise, a casino for Chicago, which the mayor wants to help ease budget constraints, could be placed on the back burner after finally getting through both chambers for the first time in more than a decade.

The day before he was sworn into office, Gov. Quinn wiped out state money that funds the salaries of regional superintendent. Quinn says regional superintendents are not the state's responsibility, but fall in the hands of local governments.

It will be up to legislators to decide if they will let Quinn's vetoes stand, or if they want to overrule the governor. Those in the offices who continue to work are responsible for things like inspecting school buildings, and certifying teachers and bus drivers, tasks that could have prevented schools from opening if they weren't done.

County regional school superintendents hope to get paid. Thomas Campbell considers himself a patient person. But after going without pay nearly four months, Campbell turned in his letter of resignation as Christian and Montgomery County's Regional Superintendent. He hasn't got a paycheck since he began the job July 1.

"We are elected just like the governor's an elected official, and to suddenly without discussion without sitting down across the table without any type of democratic approach to resolving any issues, we just got lined out of the budget and put out there in no man's land," Campbell said. "I just think it did show a great deal of disrespect. I think it has brought on a lot of disillusionment and disenchantment with what i call common sense governance."

Quinn eliminated their salaries from the budget in May, but support has emerged for a plan to pay them out of local tax dollars.

State support for school transportation was also reduced by Quinn. He also wants to delay how much hospitals get for taking care of Medicaid patients.

While some legislators want to keep overall spending down, others say it's clear the budget legislators approved in the spring doesn't provide enough funds.

Quinn wants to save money by closing a handful of state facilities, including a juvenile prison in Murphysboro, a medium security prison in Lincoln, mental health centers in Chester, Tinley Park and Rockford. Developmental centers in Jacksonville and Dixon would also be affected, and 1,900 state workers could be laid off. Unions and the communities that host those facilities are fighting the proposed shutdowns.

A legislative commission will continue holding hearings this week, and it will begin issuing advisory opinions about the future of these facilities.

Also set for a committee hearing is a bill to prohibit the Department of Corrections from shackling prisoners while they are giving birth. The bill arose after national news stories highlighted that restraints were being used on women during labor.

Look out for another controversial measure too, which pits the governor and consumer advocates against literal powerhouses ComEd and Ameren. Lawmakers narrowly passed a plan that would allow the utilities to raise monthly bills to pay for a modernized power grid. Quinn vetoed it. ComEd CEO Anne Prammagiore argues it's needed.

"A modern grid, while requiring an investment on the front end, would deliver multiple layers of economic benefits over the long run," Prammagiore said. "These benefits are real, and they've been enhanced."

But the Paul Gainer with the Attorney General's office said it's bad for electric customers' wallets.

"ComEd and Ameren have set the bar so low on the performance metrics that they know they will have absolutely no problem meeting those metrics, and getting exactly what they want - certainty, rate hikes, double digit profits," Gainer said.

It's unknown if the utilities have the clout to win over enough legislators to get their plan into law.

Also unclear is the fate of a legislative scholarship program the governor wants abolished. Many legislators want to keep their ability to hand out tuition waivers to students in their districts. But the program has been a magnet for scandal through the years, after some officials awarded the scholarships to campaign contributors' children.

Finally, public employees are on guard. They are concerned about the possible resurgence of a plan to reduce their future retirement benefits. Several bills are expected to move through committees that would eliminate a loophole in pensions for leaders of organized labor, along with revamping the pension boards that oversee systems for city of Chicago and Cook County employees. It is likely legislators will respond to stories about Chicago union leaders receiving both city and union pensions, a practice known as double dipping.

The veto session will run for six days, split over several weeks.

(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)