Already one governor duty conflicts with court date

SPRINGFIELD - Gov. Rod Blagojevich's two worlds - that of chief executive and criminal defendant - are set for a Jan. 14 collision course.

On that date, the governor has the constitutional responsibility to preside over the Illinois Senate in Springfield as new members are sworn in. The governor runs the Senate until members elect a Senate president. While mostly ceremonial, it's one of the few times the Illinois Constitution requires the governor be in the Capitol.

Also on that day, some 200 miles away, Blagojevich faces a federal court date in Chicago. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to establish whether there's probable cause for the case against him to proceed. His attendance is required.

The conflict underscores the problems the governor, lawmakers and perhaps the entire state face in the coming weeks and months. This burgeoning corruption scandal threatens to paralyze the governor and state government, which already was snarled like rush-hour traffic in an ice storm.

The governor is adamant he's innocent and will not be bullied into quitting. His attorneys said he'd step aside only if convinced Illinoisans are suffering. So far, his spokesman says the work of the people is getting done.

"I think the governor has shown that he can continue to fulfill his duties as governor. In the last 10 days or so, he has been to his office ... almost every day meeting with staff members to go over the budget and to go over pending legislation," spokesman Lucio Guerrero said last week. "In that time, he has also signed over a dozen bills ... and acted on 60 clemency cases."

"In the coming weeks, I suspect the governor will continue working on finding ways to help Illinois through this budget crisis, continue working on legislation and continue fulfilling his duties as governor," Guerrero said.

But calls for his resignation reverberate through Illinois politics.

Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, told lawmakers investigating Blagojevich's impeachment that the appearance of corruption "has impeded the governor's ability to govern."

Canary pointed to Blagojevich's aggressive fundraising, the likes of which Illinois has never before seen, and how donors have been linked to billions in state business doled out by the governor and his agencies.

"I do not personally know if the governor has committed acts of corruption, but the appearance of corruption ... is indisputable," Canary said. "Over the past six years, it has eaten away at the trust of Illinois citizens in their governor and eviscerated his ability to govern."

And things are expected to get worse.

As this case unfolds, the governor faces a February deadline for submitting a nearly $50 billion state budget plan to lawmakers for consideration. It comes as the state is mired in recession and nearly every moneymaker - from casinos to income taxes - falters. Billions of dollars' worth of requests for payment and reimbursement are piling up in state offices as the state simply doesn't have the cash flow to keep up with the businesses, schools and groups who educate, medicate, rehabilitate and otherwise carry out services on the state's behalf.

Making matters worse, the scandal already consumed one of Blagojevich's deputy governors who's also a key budget aide. Bob Greenlee quit after his name surfaced in connection with what prosecutors call an attempt to get the Chicago Tribune to fire writers in exchange for state help selling the Tribune Co.'s Wrigley Field.

The key political problem for all involved is that any attempted fix for the state's economy is likely to require giving Blagojevich authority to spend or cut millions if not billions of additional dollars.

Even before his arrest, many lawmakers were loath to trust the governor, claiming he uses state resources to reward allies and punish critics. That's why a multibillion-dollar plan to jump-start the economy by building schools, roads and other infrastructure had stalled and appears dead so long as the governor is deciding whose projects get funded and when.

"We can't move forward without this governor either resigning or the (impeachment) process taking place because nobody trusts the governor to spend the money we've given him," said state Rep. Dennis Reboletti, an Elmhurst Republican and member of the impeachment investigation. "We don't have the full faith and credit of his office."

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