2 senators better than one? Yes, experts say

Illinois' been a one-senator state since President-elect Obama resigned in November.

Newly elected senators get sworn in on Tuesday in Washington, and if Gov. Rod Blagojevich's surprise appointee Roland Burris isn't among them, the vacancy couldn't come at a worse time, some experts say.

But others say a vacancy is better than a senator chosen under Blagojevich's cloud.

With the financial crisis, lawmakers will be called upon to quickly act on consequential policies ranging from Cabinet and judicial appointments to multibillion-dollar infrastructure spending packages and economic recovery plans.

"There's a need for Democrats and Republicans to come together to pass legislation," political scientist Ann Durkin Keating said. "You need the voice of a second senator. You want everyone who can be at the table to be there."

The state is in turmoil with the arrest of Blagojevich, who is empowered to appoint Obama's successor. Blagojevich's choice Tuesday of former Illinois Attorney General Burris is being challenged by Senate Democrats and other state officials, throwing the process further into chaos.

"If the appointment had been made in a straightforward fashion before the problems came to light, the senator would have been seated ahead of the new, incoming ones," said Durkin Keating, a professor at Naperville's North Central College and co-author of "The Encyclopedia of Chicago."

That slight edge in seniority would have counted for committee appointments, which can be vitally important for states, insiders say.

But clout isn't everything, argues Jay Stewart, executive director of The Better Government Association. "The worst thing would be to have someone appointed by Blagojevich serving," said Stewart. "There are 99 other senators and they will have a quorum."

As a former Lake County chairman, Jim LaBelle, a Republican, has worked with Illinois senators in the past.

"It's better with two than one," LaBelle admitted. "We're a big state and the Senate is not proportional representation. It's a relatively bigger gap not having a senator compared to if one of the congressional delegation is not seated."

The state also has many infrastructure needs, including the modernization of O'Hare International Airport, an aging public transit system and freight railroad congestion, said LaBelle, vice president of the civic group Chicago Metropolis 2020, and Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul University's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.

A strong voice in the Senate would help direct dollars to Illinois when the infrastructure bill is discussed. But the state isn't without influence given Obama is in the White House and Sen. Dick Durbin, a downstate Democrat, is one of the top-ranking leaders in the Senate, experts recognized.

"Obama in the White House may trump everything," Schwieterman said.

Even if a second Illinois Democrat was seated, Senate Democrats would fall at least one short of a filibuster-free supermajority of 60 seats.

But Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said nothing is given in politics.

"Some votes will be purely partisan," he said.