GOP leaders see little hope in 2008

SPRINGFIELD -- Personal animosity among state leaders has become so deep that it threatens lawmakers' ability to approve anything of significance for the foreseeable future, one leader tells the Daily Herald.

"It's deteriorated into a personality clash unlike one I've ever seen before," said House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego.

Coming off a 2007 legislative session that spilled over into months of overtime, cost taxpayers more than $1 million to cover expenses and produced few results, Cross said he finds little reason to think 2008 will be different.

"I'm not so sure it gets any better and that's the sad part of it. I think the animosity that exists between the people is pretty real, pretty deep and I don't see a lot of big things happening around here," Cross said.

Although Democrats controlled the General Assembly, throughout 2007, they showed little ability to agree and approve things on their own. By the end of the year, Cross had become the informal point man on negotiating a possible agreement to use gambling expansion to finance billions of dollars in road, bridge and school construction.

That pact, if struck, could free up downstate votes for a state bailout of Chicago area mass transit agencies. Those agencies are threatening fare hikes, route cuts and layoffs on Jan. 20 if lawmakers don't come up with nearly a half billion dollars in aid.

Lawmakers return to the Capitol today under orders from Gov. Rod Blagojevich to find such a deal. But Cross conceded there's been little appetite to compromise among leaders, some of whom often won't appear in the same room with each other.

Additionally, he said rank-and-file lawmakers remain wary of Blagojevich and it may be too late for the second-term Democrat to mend the political ill will many feel toward him.

"I think members of the General Assembly in many ways are a pretty forgiving group, but I'm not so sure right now," Cross said. "I just don't know if he can repair it. When I say they're forgiving, they're forgiving if you give them a reason to forgive. He just hasn't done that."

A Blagojevich spokeswoman downplayed the personal friction among leaders and said the governor has worked with Republican leaders and Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat. She didn't mention House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, who's become the governor's chief political rival.

"Gov. Blagojevich is focused on doing things for people, including finding a long-term solution for mass transit that doesn't require working people to pay higher fares, pass a capital plan to build roads, schools and bridges, expand access to healthcare, and fund education," spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said. "It's not about personalities. It's about priorities."