Some people believe that any time politicians are in session, the potential for bad policy exists. That may well be true.
But if one has to come up with a positive aspect to having our state’s Legislature remaining in session a month-and-a-half after they were supposed to be finished putting together a state budget, it could very well be that they were present at the Statehouse when the whole fiasco regarding the Burr Oak Cemetery in suburban Alsip came to light.
OF COURSE, A more truthful perspective would be that our General Assembly did nothing but engage in cheap rhetoric on the issue, unless one gets seriously excited about Gov. Pat Quinn's creation of a task force to study the issue further.
Now I know that Illinois law puts some duties concerning the licensing of cemetery owners in the hands of the state Comptroller’s office (I still remember back in 1998 some reporter-types asking then Comptroller candidate Dan Hynes questions about cemeteries, just so they could get vapid answers that would show his government inexperience).
So I have no doubt that Hynes would have joined the mass of people who in recent days seem determined to show that they are cracking down on the vandals who would dare desecrate graves in order to make some more money.
At least that’s the case, if you fully believe the prosecutors who have since arrested four people for the situation at the cemetery that once was one of the few places where black people could be buried – and remains a popular choice for African-American families today.
ON A SIDE note, the statistic that will stick in my mind is the number “27,” as in the number of relatives that state Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, has buried at Burr Oak – which makes this situation a personal cause for him and many other black people.
But the individual legislators would not have truly had their say if they had been back home in their districts on their summer recess from government activity. We would not have gotten the chance to see them pontificate, so to speak, on the issue of cemetery regulation.
We would not have been able to hear them make demands for tougher criminal penalties for people who desecrate a grave – even though such an offense already has the potential for a Class X felony charge.
For those of you normal people who haven’t bothered to memorize all the legalese of the criminal justice system – that is a crime punishable by a prison term that must be somewhere between six and 30 years in length.
IT IS SEVERE. The only more severe punishments given out in Illinois are for those people who are convicted of the actual crime of murder – which has the potential for natural life without the option of parole (unless a zealous prosecutor has managed to get a jury and judge to impose a death sentence).
What amazed me about this past week is that at a time when the Legislature was in Springfield supposedly for the sole purpose of putting together a state budget proposal for the fiscal year that began 17 days ago, many lawmakers seemed just as concerned about Burr Oak.
Hence, we literally had legislators on Tuesday talking about the cemetery reform proposal they were ready to vote on – about 24 hours before they had a budget proposal agreed upon.
I’m not saying that Burr Oak detracted from the budget negotiations (because our political people are capable of dealing with more than one issue at a time), but I have to wonder what the legislators would have done if they had had to wait until November when they convene for the fall veto session to address the issue as a group.
WOULD IT HAVE withered away just because by that time the “crisis” would have become a dim memory to many Chicagoans?
Or would we have had people demanding of Gov. Pat Quinn that he call a “special session” so that legislators could get their moment on the television news programs acting as though they were trying to resolve the problem.
So what is the big reform that the Legislature talked about giving us, but which Quinn said he didn’t want them rushing into “in a haphazard manner – resulting in the General Assembly doing nothing more than giving us cheap political talk?
It basically amounted to getting more government agencies involved with cemeteries, which largely answer to few people – other than owners having to get a license periodically renewed by the state comptroller (who isn’t exactly a cemetery expert).
THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT of Professional Regulation (which regulates everyone in Illinois from doctors to boxers) would get some say in cemetery management because, as it turns out, they already regulate the licenses of those people who perform embalming services on bodies prior to funerals.
The Cook County Recorder of Deeds office (which keeps track of who owns every single plot of land in the state’s largest county) would have a chance to require additional maps and records of gravesites in cemeteries.
But it didn’t happen. Some claim it was because of opposition from the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese, which maintains many cemeteries of its own but did not have any representation when the deal was negotiated (largely by members of the Legislature’s black caucus – who are most directly affected by the imagery of Burr Oak).
Others say it will just be a matter of time, that some plan will get approved later this year. Perhaps they are right. Patience will keep us from rushing into something that could cause long-term cemetery hassles.
BESIDES, THIS WEEK was entertaining enough. It gave us the sight and sound of Quinn setting himself up as some sort of cemetery authority, telling reporter-types in Springfield on Wednesday that his father worked in cemeteries for 38 years.
Under what other circumstances would we have heard our “beloved” governor tell us, “I know all about cemeteries. I go to a lot of funerals. I believe in showing reverence.”
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