Governor threatens to keep lawmakers at Capitol for weeks
SPRINGFIELD - If state lawmakers are considering a tax increase to come up with more money for schools, Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants them to do it now, not wait until after the November elections.
Blagojevich said Thursday he's considering ordering lawmakers back to the Capitol in September and keeping them there until they fix education funding - a move that most believe would require some kind of tax increase.
The catch is Blagojevich would then veto any such increase.
"If it increases income taxes, yeah," said spokesman Lucio Guerrero. "Any kind of taxes."
During an unrelated appearance Thursday, the governor mentioned the September special sessions. Afterward, Guerrero said they remain only an option.
Education funding is heating up politically with both the approaching elections and start of the school year. State Sen. James Meeks, a Chicago Democrat, is encouraging Chicago public school children to skip classes one day next month and, instead, try to enroll at Winnetka's New Trier High School.
The move is supposed to highlight the funding disparities in Illinois' school finance system that relies on local property values.
Meeks supports raising state taxes to come up with more money for districts where low property values inhibit the ability to come up with local dollars for education and typically translate into fewer academic and extracurricular offerings.
Blagojevich's hint of keeping lawmakers in Springfield is sure to provoke lawmakers' ire. They finished their regular session in May and weren't scheduled back until November.
"I just think that this would be a waste of taxpayers' dollars," said state Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat.
Such sessions could spark renewed efforts to add recall of elected officials to the state Constitution if not prompt impeachment proceedings against the governor. Additionally, the timing would cut into a key campaign season back in local districts. Unlike lawmakers, Blagojevich is not up for election this year.