|
 Madigan is arguably the most powerful man in Springfield, with the
ability to make or break deals. But anyone hoping to find out
specifically where he stands on some of the state's most urgent
issues wouldn't have learned it from his address at the annual
Elmhurst College Government Forum.
Changing future pension benefits for current state employees would
make an interesting national debate and ultimately could be decided
by the courts, he told a packed room. Illinois' underfunded pension
liability now exceeds $85 billion, and lawmakers already have
changed benefits for future employees to help reduce the costs.
But Madigan didn't mention that he, along with House Minority Leader
Tom Cross, had introduced legislation to create a three-tiered
pension system for current employees, and he wouldn't address
reporters' questions afterward on whether there are enough
Republican and Democratic votes to bring the bill to the House
floor.
School districts don't pay into teachers' pension systems like other
employers do, leaving that obligation to the state -- accounting for
half of the $4 billion the state pays into five pension systems
annually, he complained. He said later that it would be reasonable
to ask the districts to pay, but he would not say whether anyone was
planning to introduce legislation to force them to do so.
He noted that he helped establish a spending cap for state
government and pass a budget that was $2 billion below the amount
requested by Quinn -- and he said lawmakers should be prepared to do
it again, explaining: "Budget makers in Springfield must learn to
live within their means."
But he gave no examples of where the state could trim expenses and
didn't address whether the state should borrow more money to help
pay a backlog of millions of dollars in unpaid bills owed to
vendors.
"There's a limit to how far you can raise taxes; there's a limit as
to how much you want to cut," Madigan said, noting the state's
support of education and social services. "It's easy to say cut, but
when you take out the knife ... not so easy to do."
Madigan has a reputation for not revealing too much, and that comes
as no surprise to longtime political watchers.
"You don't play in the big leagues as long as he has by giving
anything away," said Paul Green, a political scientist at Roosevelt
University. "He has made a career out of being very hard to read. If
there was a world series of poker for politicians, he would be the
overwhelming favorite."
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said it should have been clear where
Madigan stood on the main issues he discussed because the Democrat
helped pass legislation dealing with those issues -- the budget,
education reform, workers' and unemployment compensation, and
pension reform.
[to top of second column] |
Former Republican House Speaker Lee Daniels, who serves as special
assistant to the president for government and community relations at
Elmhurst College, said he found Madigan's speech "very informative,
very straightforward and nonevasive."
"He talked to us in an intellectual and academic sense because we
are an academic institution, and I think he did that very well,"
said Daniels, who served in the Legislature for 32 years. "He didn't
try to sugarcoat (the issues), and he didn't try to snow anyone with
an intellectual discussion." After being asked to describe the governors he'd worked with over
the years, Madigan told the crowd that Quinn was "well-intentioned"
and that they were working through their many differences. True to
form, he didn't outright say whether he thought Quinn was a good
governor.
Instead, he called him a former political "gadfly" who became
governor. Quinn ascended to the position after former Gov. Rod
Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges and impeached by
lawmakers, but Quinn won the election outright in 2010.
Quizzed by reporters after his speech, Madigan would not say whether
he thought the state should make the recent 66 percent income tax
increase permanent, saying he couldn't address that until it's set
to expire in 2015. He wouldn't discuss his own re-election campaign,
brushing off questions about a potential Republican challenger in
the general election by saying "drive through the neighborhood" to
see how much support Madigan already has.
Madigan has been speaker since 1983, except for two years when
Republicans took the majority and Daniels held that position.
The Chicago Democrat has been a state representative since 1971 and
built his power through political clout in Chicago, the money he raises and
doles out to favored politicians, and his ability to kill legislation. He
controls who sits on which committee and which committee handles each bill. He
can block virtually any legislative proposal and, when he wants to, can pass
nearly anything out of the House.
[Associated Press;
By TAMMY WEBBER]
Associated Press Political Writer Christopher Wills
in Springfield contributed to this story.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
 |
