Nov 19, 2007 6:09 pm US/Central
Governor Calls Special Session For Transit Funding
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he's a man with a plan. He believes he can single-handedly fix the transit crisis and provide health insurance to children in Illinois. Blagojevich says he's calling a special session next week so lawmakers can bail out Chicago-area mass transit agencies.
Two short-term bailouts have so far kept the Chicago Transit Authority and their suburban counterparts from increasing fares and cutting service, but that money runs out in January.
Blagojevich and lawmakers have been unable to break a logjam over transit funding, a massive statewide construction program and a proposed casino expansion to pay for it all.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, there are critics who doubt the governor has the kind of power he claims to wield.
Shortly after Blagojevich said he would summon the general assembly for yet another special session next week, a spokesman for House Speaker Mike Madigan said his chamber would likely adjourn almost immediately after convening. He said that might change if the governor sent specific legislation to consider. But the governor has not done that all year, though he has floated suggestions in press releases and news conferences.
In another signal that transit riders ought to prepare for the worst, the governor's move will likely escalate his confrontation with the general assembly. He announced that he is ignoring the decision of a legislative oversight committee to kill a Blagojevich executive order extending state-subsidized health insurance to 147,000 more people, including some making $82,000 a year.
The governor and his lawyers called the legislative oversight committee unconstitutional.
Madigan has suggested Blagojevich's executive orders may be unconstitutional. House Democrats claim that the newly insured could cost up to $350 million in taxpayer money the general assembly has not appropriated.
"The governor has a very, very, very broad, perhaps unconstitutional view of what the governor's powers are," said Loyola University Professor Alan Gitelson. "I am skeptical he has the power he is claiming."
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages
Slideshow: The Search For Stacy Peterson
Slideshow: People's Sexiest Men Alive
Slideshow: '90s TV Stars Then & Now
Slideshow: World's Most Bizarre Deaths
Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities
Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
