State Capitol Report

January 30, 2009

“The genius of impeachment lay in the fact that it could punish the man without punishing the office.” - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

This week the national spotlight was on Springfield, and in particular the Senate chambers, as the trial of the impeached Governor began on Monday and ended on Thursday with the unanimous vote in the Senate to convict the Governor and to forever ban him from holding public office in Illinois.

As you may be aware, neither the Governor nor his counsel appeared during most of the trial. However, as the last witness was testifying late Wednesday, President John Cullerton made a surprise announcement that the Governor had made a request to appear on Thursday to make a closing statement as allowed by rule 16 (c) of the Senate Rules of Impeachment.
The Governor spoke for 47 minutes, repeating much of what he had said in his media blitz earlier in the week. Following the closing statement of the both the prosecutor and the Governor and the prosecutor’s rebuttal of the Governor’s statement the debate on the Senate floor began. Thirty seven Senators spoke on the Senate floor in debate that lasted over two hours Thursday afternoon. Illinois Supreme Court chief justice, the presiding judge then called the first of two questions- “Shall the Senate sustain the Article of Impeachment against Rod R. Blagojevich and remove him from office?”
The vote was taken in an oral roll call where each Senator stood to announce their vote. The unanimous vote to convict was announced and Senator Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign) made the motion to disqualify Rod R. Blagojevich from ever holding office in Illinois, effective immediately.
Known as the “political death penalty” this motion was also approved on a unanimous roll call vote. Pat Quinn was immediately sworn in to office as the 41st governor.

The General Assembly returns to Springfield on Wednesday, February 4th to begin the 2009 spring session. The House Executive Committee is expected to take quick action on legislation to delay the annual budget address, originally scheduled for February 18th, for one month to allow Governor Quinn the time to assess the state’s financial condition.

Reminder

The 33rd annual Capitol Conference is Tuesday, March 10.

The IAR day at the Capitol offers you the unique opportunity to learn about legislative issues and political developments and to discuss the REALTOR agenda with your state legislators.
Please note that this year registration and the briefings will take place at the Springfield Hilton- 700 East Adams Street due to scheduled construction at the Howlett Building. Registration begins at 12:30 and the program will begin at 12:50 p.m.
Capitol visits are scheduled from 2:00-5:00 and a reception follows at the IAR Headquarters (522 S. 5th Street) at 5:30 p.m.
Registration is only $15 until February 25th- after that date you must pay the walk-in fee of $25. To register, visit www.illinoisrealtor.org or call 800-252-2910.