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| PRITZKER: Will he have anything to sign into law? |
There’s
a good chance that Illinois will move extremely close to enacting new laws
doing away with the notion that people using marijuana ought to be regarded as
criminals, degenerates and an all-around scourge on our society.
WE
MAY ALSO get changes in the law meant to allow for people to legally gamble on
sports events other than horse racing.
This
on top of the notion of implementing a graduated income tax over the current
flat-tax system – a move that would require an amendment to the Illinois
Constitution to be enacted. Which the Illinois House of Representatives gave its approval to Monday afternoon.
It’s
possible that the General Assembly will finish up the spring 2019 legislative
session by approving a constitutional amendment that could be put up for a vote
in 2020. In addition to the gambling and marijuana measures.
This
spring – whose session comes to an end Friday – could turn out to be one of the
most significant legislative sessions of all time.
OR
MAYBE NOT!
Because
there’s always the chance that our state Legislature could turn out to be
cowardly, spineless and all-around gutless.
There’s
the chance that legislators may decide that marijuana and gambling are just too
big a step for them to want to take. They may well decide to wait for another
time before taking on these issues.
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| This may be a big week in Springfield, … |
Think
I’m kidding? Just realize how many decades the issue of building a new Chicago-area
airport near Peotone has been contemplated by the Illinois Legislature.
THE
BOTTOM LINE is that I honestly don’t know what to expect from our state’s
Legislature this year, or any time for the next few years.
Theoretically,
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has the potential to run roughshod over his political
opposition. He has, in theory, Democratic majorities in both the Illinois House
and state Senate so large that they would overrule the Republican caucuses that
would be inclined to oppose him.
But
it’s also possibly that our legislators have the backbone of the cowardly lion.
They may not want to have history record that they legitimized marijuana or
made it legal to place a bet on a ballgame (provided that the ballclubs get a
share of the gambling proceeds).
Or
if they do, they’d rather have the final vote turn out to have Republican
support along with Democrats. So that neither side can take total blame for the
issue for those people eager to impose their sets of morals on everybody else.
THEY
MAY THINK that taking on all these issues could be too much to take on at one
time. Or maybe they just don’t have enough ambition to want to do significant
things – fearing that too much change will be held against them.
All
these things that the Illinois General Assembly spent the spring contemplating?
It makes me think our legislators have the ambition level of way too many
people (and myself, sometimes, to be totally honest) that I knew in college.
We
did enough to make sure we’d get passing grades, and wound up waiting until the
last minute before going on a work binge to ensure all our papers were written
for our course loads.
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| … but activity returns next wk. to Thompson Center |
Which
is why the General Assembly likely will work its way to a hectic pace at week’s
end – and may well have a final day of legislative action that pushes
dangerously close to a midnight deadline.
BUT
WHO’S KIDDING whom?
It’s
the equivalent of collegiate “cramming.” Whether anything of significance will
change in Illinois? It could turn out that, years from now, we’ll wonder how we
could ever have thought the Legislature would accomplish anything this spring!
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