'Case closed' on budget deal?

SPRINGFIELD -- Cut out of last week's budget deal, Gov. Rod Blagojevich reasserted his relevance Tuesday, swapping fatter paychecks for lawmakers for a half-billion-dollar health care expansion.

The state's Democratic chief executive announced he'll eliminate $500 million in "pork" from the $59 billion state spending plan lawmakers sent him last week. Instead, he'll use that cash to pay for expanded health benefits for lower-income children and families, amid question of whether the move is legal and the potential it'll be blocked.

Blagojevich is doing this even though lawmakers overwhelmingly said "no" to the governor's health care ideas. Faced with repeated rejection, he decided to simply move on his own and dared lawmakers to stop him.

"In short, I am cutting pork and special-interest spending, and in its place I'm using the legal authority that I have to expand health care to more than 500,000 people," Blagojevich said. He walked away from reporters' questions.

Democratic Senate President Emil Jones Jr. backed up Blagojevich, saying he won't allow any attempt to override the governor's vetoes to come to a vote in his Senate. "Case closed," Jones said.

The move comes just hours after Blagojevich signed off on increasing lawmakers' paychecks by nearly 10 percent, a plum Jones and many Senate Democrats coveted.

Despite repeatedly ripping lawmakers as being more interested in their own pay than other state needs, Blagojevich signed off on the raises shortly before midnight Monday after letting the plan linger in his office for nearly two months.

On Tuesday, Jones abandoned a coalition of legislative leaders who'd cut their own budget deal last week without Blagojevich and agreed to stick together and override any vetoes.

Jones denied there was any deal to back up the governor in return for higher pay. "Oh no. I've been fighting for these pay raises for a year," Jones said.

But suspicion hung thick at the Capitol, where Jones' move was viewed as a double-cross.

Senate Republican leader Frank Watson of downstate Greenville said the swap put "poison in the air" at the Capitol.

"We don't know for sure what kind of deals have been made, if any," he said.

Many Democrats said they were caught off guard. However, state Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat and member of Jones' leadership team, suggested Jones' move was payback for what Democrats believe was a double cross on the part of Senate Republicans regarding last week's vote on a $12 billion construction spending plan.

Democrats claim Republicans backed out at the last minute, leaving them just shy of the votes needed for approval.

"If you want to double cross, let's let the chips fall where they may," Link said Tuesday.

Politically, Blagojevich appears to be setting up a situation where he can rail against "pork barrel" spending with his vetoes and insulate himself by spending the money on health care. That would get Blagojevich back on the populist political ground he feels comfortable traversing.

But there is no shortage of questions regarding whether Blagojevich can legally veto out the $500 million for projects and then spend it on health care. A Blagojevich aide even acknowledged late Tuesday that the governor would need lawmaker approval to spend the money.

House Speaker Michael J. Madigan wasn't talking Tuesday, but he still might have some ability to block Blagojevich.

Regardless, the $500 million plan is a far cry from the more than $3 billion health care expansion Blagojevich first demanded with a major tax increase to pay for it. To that extent, Madigan would get his desire for a limited-growth budget.

Still others believe Tuesday's move was designed to force legislative leaders back to the bargaining table with the governor. As of Tuesday, Blagojevich had only talked about what he planned to do, he'd not taken any final action on the state budget plan.