Recall amendment officially dead, for now

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois Senate Republicans on Thursday called a swift vote to squash recall "nonsense" and a "blatant power play."

"To give the people an opportunity to have a vote on this, and slam it down as they did ... I've never seen a quicker roll call taken," said Senate Republican leader Frank Watson of downstate Greenville. "I never thought it was going to get a true hearing and I don't think it did today."

The idea to let voters recall statewide elected public officials -- plus adding local offices and judges to the mix -- was rejected by a vote of 33-19. As a constitutional amendment, it required 36 votes in the 59-member Senate to win approval.

All Senate Republicans voted for the recall, except for state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora, who was out of town on business. Four other lawmakers were either absent or didn't vote, while two senators voted "present."

"It's a sad day for Illinois when it has come to this, where we have to ask the people of Illinois to put a recall constitutional amendment in our constitution," said state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican. "It's pretty clear our government is broken, the (Blagojevich) administration is corrupt and we got gridlock."

State Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat who voted against recall, said its push was fueled by animosity against Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Years ago when former Republican Gov. George Ryan was under investigation, Link said the recall idea never came up.

"I just don't think recall is what we need," he said. "We have recall every two years -- it's called the ballot box."

Other lawmakers voiced problems with the Senate's inclusion of judges in its measure, citing a hampering of judicial independence.

Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat, said universal health care and public works projects should have taken precedence over the recall vote. Jones, who aligns himself heavily with Blagojevich, added that sometimes governors and lawmakers make "tough" or "unpopular" decisions.

"No piece of legislation should ever be aimed at any individual," Jones said. "You do it (the recall) to yourselves, then you don't deserve to be here."

After the proposal failed, Senate Republicans offered to stay the weekend, along with the House, in an attempt to pass a different version of recall by Sunday's deadline. But the Democrats who run the chamber quickly cut them off and the Senate adjourned until Wednesday.

In the House, Republican recall supporters accused Democratic leaders of a conspiracy to shoot down the proposed amendment.

"The old two-step got played here," said House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego.