Two major proposals backed by Gov. JB Pritzker did not advance out of legislative committees before last week’s passage deadline.
Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton confirmed that she won’t be advancing her legislation supported by the governor that would dissolve townships with populations below 5,000 (SB2217), and eventually abolish townships with populations below 50,000 and lower the petition threshold to 5% from 10% to put a township abolition on the ballot.
“We’re still having conversations,” the Western Springs Democrat said. Pritzker did not highlight the proposals during his State of the State address, but they were included in his budget book. Township officials throughout the state have bombarded legislators with their negative opinions of the legislation.
But Pritzker took a much bigger hit last week.
The governor has trumpeted his plan to allow community colleges to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees during his State of the State address, on numerous national TV programs, big-time podcasts and a tour of the state.
Well, that proposal (HB3717) was not called for a vote in the House Higher Education Committee last week after fierce opposition from four-year universities, as one top Pritzker administration official and some Pritzker allies hovered outside the hearing room for hours.
The chair of that committee, Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, did her best to downplay the significance of the committee’s refusal to take up the bill, saying, “I think that there’s a way that we can make sure that this is very narrowly tailored to meet what’s not being met with the four-year institutions.”
Stuart, a member of House Democratic leadership, also said the legislation as written could “collapse” the student base of minority serving institutions like Chicago State and Northeastern Illinois University.
It’s routine during committee passage deadline week to advance bills to the floor that need more work, with the promise to not move the bills until all issues are worked out. That committee courtesy is routinely given to even the lowliest of legislators.
The indignity of denying that routine courtesy was heaped upon unpopular, ineffectual governors in previous years. But Pritzker is a popular billionaire governor with perceived national ambitions. Yes, he’s trying to accomplish a very difficult task of passing bills that have failed in years past, but not getting his legislation to the floor during crunch week is quite the rebuke.
So, what the heck is going on? On a basic level, several sitting legislators previously served in township government. Many others are strong political allies of township officials. And others believe that townships deliver services at lower costs than counties. The townships have successfully fended off efforts to get rid of them for decades, so they have a tried and true oppositional playbook.
As far as the community colleges are concerned, the universities years ago successfully fended off an attempt by then-Sen. Andy Manar to allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees in nursing. Manar is now Pritzker’s deputy governor.
The Higher Education Committee is filled with members who have universities in their districts, which is mainly why they serve on that committee. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is in Chairperson Stuart’s district, after all.
But these Pritzker defeats seem like much more than that, and they come just a couple of months after House Speaker Chris Welch refused to advance a Pritzker-supported bill to regulate the wide-open intoxicating hemp industry.
The governor’s office downplayed the significance of the setbacks, saying there was still plenty of time to pass something before adjournment. But they clearly made a strong late push to get the community college bill to the House floor. They insisted they had enough votes to pass the bill, but those alleged proponents didn’t lift a finger to pressure the committee chair to advance the legislation.
The hearing finally ended shortly after what I’m told was a tense meeting between the governor’s chief of staff and the House speaker’s chief of staff, during which the speaker’s chief urged the governor’s chief to convince her boss to lay out his priorities to Welch, which, of course, the governor already did during his State of the State and budget address. Welch’s chief was told that this move was not helpful, to say the least.
What the universities did was pure gangsta. They clearly out-muscled the governor. Pritzker may not like it, but the universities showed that the negotiations would be on their terms, at least in the House, unless the governor can convince them to back down.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
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