A bluff? Or does governor think poor people don’t deserve air conditioning?

This summer has the potential to be even more sweaty and uncomfortable than most; and not because we’re expecting any record heat wave in 2015!

It may be hotter than usual. But it is partisan politics that is causing the potential for the heat to get the best of us.

I’M REFERRING TO the measures that Gov. Bruce Rauner said last week would be essential because of the alleged budget proposal that was put together by the Democratic leadership of the General Assembly.

That budget calls for far more spending for government services than the state expects to have for revenue. The plan’s approval was meant to be a statement to make Rauner realize how short-sighted he is in persisting with his thoughts that he will not approve anything that calls for more revenue to be raised.

It was hoped that Rauner would (as John Belushi’s “Jake Blues” character would say) “see the light” and come to his senses in approving some sort of revenue enhancer for the upcoming fiscal year.

Instead, Rauner is persisting with his talk, and came up with cuts that would balance what he calls the “phony Madigan-Cullerton budget.”

MUCH ATTENTION HAS been paid to the fact that the cuts would wipe out the Illiana Tollway construction, close several state juvenile corrections facilities and work camps that create jobs in their rural communities, wipe out the state’s fleet of airplanes AND close all five state-operated museums.

But Rauner also included the suspension of the state’s contribution to the Low Income Heating Assistance Energy Program. Come July 1, the program in Illinois will only exist with the portion of funds provided by the federal government.

RAUNER: Let them sweat?!?

That’s about $170 million. Which sounds like a significant amount of funds. But it really isn’t.

For those people who aren’t aware, LIHEAP is a program that offers help to low-income people in terms of paying their utility bills. It’s a $150 payment to electric providers on behalf of people who can show a medical condition that would be improved by air conditioning or heat.

THEY OFFER HELP during the winter months when the need to have the heat going often causes the bills to go up. Also needed is help during the summer months when the need for air conditioning can also cause the utility bill to skyrocket.

MADIGAN: How will he fight back?

Because let’s be honest. Utility bills can be a factor that makes or breaks a person on a fixed income. It can be an uncertainty that can devastate someone who has to count every penny of their income – because there just isn’t any additional funds to be found.

As a reporter-type person, I have done my fair share of stories about people who were found dead either because of extreme cold (during the winter) or heat exhaustion (during the summer).

These LIHEAP grants try to help people whose physical existence would be at risk by the weather extremes that can be a life-or-death issue for those with lower incomes.

NOW I REALIZE that Rauner’s actions are political rhetoric in-and-of themselves. He’s trying to scare Dem types into accepting the business-oriented rhetoric he wants placed in state law by threatening to make these kinds of cuts if they don’t get with his program.

BELUSHI (as Blues): Will anyone 'see the light'

It may also appeal to those ideologue types who probably view LIHEAP’s existence as an affront – as though heat and air conditioning is some sort of luxury that poor people aren’t entitled to.

Now I don’t doubt that the Illinois Legislature’s leadership, particularly Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is capable of playing political hard-ball at an equal level. But let’s be honest – this is the level to which this particular political fight has the potential to sink. If this cut goes through, somebody is going to have to decide which low-income people will still get help with their utility bills. As for the rest, they get nothing.

Or perhaps the thought process going through certain rather abhorrent political minds is, “Let them sweat!!!”

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Button-gate??!? Please!

It has been just over a decade since the days when I was an Illinois Statehouse reporter, yet I still vividly remember the day that a now-former member of the Illinois House of Representatives called me over to his desk on the House floor.



Gov. Pat Quinn would like to think the Statehouse lingers under a dark cloud (as in this century-old postcard) on account of the "Smart Grid" votes last week. But all he's doing is making himself the butt of various legislative jokes.



Specifically, he wanted me to see for myself the mechanism set up at each legislator’s desk that enabled them to push a button in order to cast their votes on the issues.

WHAT HE THOUGHT was key for me to understand was that there was “a key” – it had to be inserted and turned into the device in order to turn it on and make it possible to vote.

This legislator insisted with all the earnestness he could muster up that he took that key everywhere he went, never gave it to anyone else, and therefore it was impossible for ANYONE ELSE to even think of leaning over and pushing a button on his behalf to record a vote.

I can’t help but wonder how many legislators these days are making variations of the same argument – on account of the fact that this “dirty little secret” of the General Assembly has cropped up yet again.

It is Gov. Pat Quinn who is stirring up this stink – claiming that the only reason he lost on the “Smart Grid” issue is because many legislators were not on the floor to vote when the issue came up. Therefore, somebody voted for them.

THE GOVERNOR HAS demanded an investigation. He throws out hints that somebody deserves to be prosecuted for causing the votes that resulted in the General Assembly overturning his veto of the bill that was so desired by the Commonwealth Edison and Ameren utility companies.

Of course, that just has legislators and other political observers snickering at the governor’s expense. They won, and he lost. Now, the Mighty Quinn is being a sore loser and the only debate is who is being the bigger whiner – the Illinois governor or fans of the Boston Red Sox who still haven’t gotten over the fact that their favorite team wasn’t good enough to even make it to the playoffs this season.

I was not at the Statehouse when these bills were debated and voted upon this week. So I don’t have first-hand information.

But I can recall the scurry of people when votes were taken to either get back to a desk to vote, or to have someone reach around and vote for a buddy (who may have left a key in the device) who sits near them in the legislative chambers.

THERE USED TO be a lot of jokes about all the new laws that got approved because the pages (those youthful kids who are supposed to be fetching papers and sandwiches for the legislators) were present to cast the votes.

What I also recall is the fact that that the ambiance of the chambers of the Illinois House or state Senate is nowhere near as formal or organized as people might want to believe.

It usually is a free-for-all with few people actually paying attention to what is being said by whoever happens to be speaking publicly at any given moment, and people do come and go.

In fact, it often seemed that the only people who were paying any serious attention to the details of what was happening at any given moment were the reporter-types sitting in the press boxes that exist off in the corners of each floor.

SO DO I find it believable when Quinn says a large number of legislators in the Illinois House were not anywhere near their desks when the vote was taken? Yes, I do.

Could there have been some people going around casting votes for others who were not present? Yes, there could.

Although I do seriously believe the bulk of those votes, if not all of them, were cast in accordance with the wishes of the legislator in question.

For let’s not forget that this was an issue that the General Assembly, for many reasons, was determined to shove right up the governor’s (my mother would be offended at the use of such language, even though she’d agree it was accurate).

WHICH IS WHY by complaining now, Quinn comes off as a mere whiner (all too similar to those Los Angeles Angels fans who still complain about the ’05 American League playoffs and White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski “cheating” them out of a victory).

You lost, dude. You got outmaneuvered by Com Ed and the lobbyists who came up with that trailer bill that bought the legislators off into wanting to support the issue by claiming they offered some utility bill help to lower-income people.

Whining about buttons being pushed improperly will play about as well this time as it has in the past. This is a perpetual issue that crops up, only to wither away a few days later.

Which means the only person who can win now are the “Smart Grid” backers because continued complaining by Quinn will merely make his “crusade” appear to be all the more foolish (at least one legislator is now going around calling him “Gov. Spin”) – even if, deep down, Quinn does have a few legitimate points to make.

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Why is this not bribery? Because it’s “Smart Grid” legislative politics

The Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session begins Tuesday, and one of the key issues that will come up will be the fate of the “Smart Grid,” that new technology desired by Commonwealth Edison that they want near-guaranteed rate hikes to pay for its implementation.

JONES: $50 million for LiHEAP is his price



Gov. Pat Quinn used his “veto” power this summer to kill the bill. Or should I say, try to kill it. Because this measure is likely to rise from the dead as many legislators, particularly those who are upset that Quinn won’t go along with their desired gambling expansion plan, are more than willing to vote to over-ride him.

FOR SOME, IT’S payback. They’ll dump on Quinn’s attempt to keep Com Ed in check. Of course, they’ll claim other reasons for it. Some of them will even sound altruistic on the surface.

Take the case of a statement issued Monday by state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, who made it publicly known that although he voted against the “Smart Grid” bill during the spring, he is now inclined to vote “yea” when the issue comes up in the veto session.

Now I don’t know that there’s a direct tie for Jones between the Smart Grid and casino expansion bills (although Jones once said he thinks Quinn is looking at gambling in the wrong way – focusing on problems it causes rather than the money it can raise to help pay to fix problems).

But the reason that Jones gives isn’t much better.

HE CITES A “trailer” bill that will be forthcoming during the fall session. In politico-speak, a trailer bill is one that is approved separately from its main bill, but provides for various issues that are related to the original vote.

In this case, the trailer will include up to $50 million in extra state funding for the LiHEAP energy assistance program. State Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the trailer could get a vote in the state Senate as soon as Tuesday.

That program is one that gets tapped into every winter by low-income people who, because of the excess cold that is a Midwestern winter, run up extremely-high heating bills that they cannot possibly afford to pay off on their own.

The program helps those people pay those bills, thereby assuring that no one gets cut off in mid-winter and dies from the cold. For those who are now going to spew an ideological argument about how government shouldn’t be paying utility bills, figure that government believes that the expense of paying a few bills is better than having to cover the cost of an indigent person’s funeral – or the bad public image of letting people freeze to death.

AND FOR JONES, the idea of the state providing extra money to help cover those costs (particularly since he represents a portion of Cook County filled with suburban communities where the economic struggles of our nation have impacted harder-than-elsewhere) is a plus.

“For that reason, I will vote to support …the Com Ed ‘Smart Grid’ bill,” Jones says, in his statement.

He also points out that he’s not the only former “nea” vote who will flip to “yea” on Smart Grid. It seems that this trailer bill is meant to give a lot of legislators something they desire – in exchange for getting them to go along with the desires of Commonwealth Edison on this particular issue.

Which means they will be able to put the political spin that they brought something back to their home communities – rather than just knuckled under to the utility company. Because if it had to run purely on its merits, I think the negative image Com Ed has in many peoples’ minds is strong enough to kill this issue off for good.

I DO BELIEVE that Quinn tapped into a public sentiment on this issue; which is to say that the ‘Smart Grid’ technology that has the potential to pinpoint outages to their exact location and give repair crews detailed explanations of the problem before crews even get there is a noble goal.

But I wonder how many people don’t trust Com Ed to be able to implement it without significant problems. Which is why they resent the idea that the bill provides for rate increases to pay for its implementation.

Those television commercial spots of recent days that imply the current infrastructure is a century old and too primitive to accommodate our society much longer aren’t going to sway those who don’t trust the utility.

It could be said that the distrust is Com Ed’s payback for years of screw-ups and incompetence.

SO HOW DO the political powers-that-be respond? By making the payoff.

In the case of Jones, his price is $50 million more for the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program. (although nowhere do I see an explanation of where this money will come from – at a time when so many state government bills are going unpaid).

Other legislators, I’m sure, have their own prices. In fact, I probably shouldn't give the impression that Jones is the only legislator guilty of such conduct.

So if it turns out that the General Assembly does decide to override Quinn on this issue, keep in mind that part of it is meant to embarrass the governor. While the rest is just a good ol’ fashioned payoff – albeit one that is legal and only the most hard-headed of assistant U.S. attorneys would dare to even think of in terms of prosecution.

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Quinn or the Illinois Legislature: Who understands our ComEd fears better?

Maybe, just maybe, Gov. Pat Quinn is not a complete nincompoop totally out of touch with what the people of this state, particularly the Chicago-area, think.

QUINN: On our side?



That clueless impression is the one that too many political people want to give these days – even some state government officials who theoretically should be the Mighty Quinn’s allies.

HE’S REALLY TAKING his hits for not giving in promptly on casino gambling expansion. And his proposed budget cuts to allow the state to have a chance to make it through the full fiscal year without running short on cash also get him his share of pot shots.

Yet Quinn on Monday made a move that will also get him some criticism in many quarters. But it has me thinking that Quinn is viewing this issue a little more like a regular person than any other state official.

I’m referring to the measure approved by the General Assembly during the spring that would allow Commonwealth Edison the ability to implement its so-called “smart grid” technology that truly would revolutionize the way the utility provides electrical power to its customers and address emergency situations (such as power outages) in a more efficient manner.

What has the consumer activists, along with a lot of other type of activists (AARP, to name a few), upset is that the bill also contains provisions by which utility rates would go up significantly in coming years to pay for the upgrade.

ACTIVISTS INSIST THIS is just a scheme by ComEd to get those rate hikes, without having to submit to the usual procedures by which the Illinois Commerce Commission reviews rate hike proposals.

These hikes potentially could come every year. And it would be put upon the activists to have to justify why ComEd should NOT get an increase. Rather than the typical process by which the utility in question has to justify why it needs more income.

Quinn, the man who likes to think he’s still that activist who helped found the Citizens Utility Board, sided with the activists. He used his “veto” power to kill the bill.

And he didn’t just slip his rejection through late on a Friday night out of hopes that no one would pay attention. He waited until a bright, sunny Monday morning at the Thompson Center, where he spoke before all the television cameras.

MAJOR PRESS COVERAGE, because there wasn’t much else happening – except for the hangover from this weekend’s “Sept. 11 memorial” frenzy.

“It’s a nightmare for Illinois consumers,” Quinn said – which will be the soundbite that gets used against him as the state Legislature already is plotting how they’re going to override the governor’s rejection.

This bill, along with the casino expansion measure that has yet to come before the governor due to legislative maneuverings, seem to be the issues that state officials are determined to shove right down Quinn’s throat – even though he is inclined to reject them both.

Yet is that really the right thing to do?

I HAVE TO confess to coming to my conclusion about ComEd and the “smart grid” back in June. In my work for one of the suburban Chicago newspapers, I covered a municipal hearing during which ComEd officials appeared to explain in detail how the technology works.

I must admit – it is impressive. It sounds like something that the utilities ought to be striving to accomplish, in large part because it would have made so many past catastrophes easier to cope with and less consuming in the amount of time they took.

This measure has the capability to point out almost immediately the exact location where a problem has developed that has caused a power outage – and can even tell them what caused the problem.

Crews rushing to the scene to make repairs can literally be aware of exactly what will confront them. Instead of the current situation where they only know a general area where a problem has arisen and then they have to scour the scene for the problem – all the while people are getting more and more frustrated without electricity.

BUT MY SENSE is that this issue ultimately comes down to the question, “Do you trust Commonwealth Edison to be capable of implementing the 'smart grid' successfully?”

Be honest.

How many of you immediately responded “Hell, No!!!!!” Then, upon further reflection, changed your answer to a more calm and sincere, “No!”

I sense that too many people fear a “smart grid” system that ultimately won’t work, but will still wind up spending all that cash from rate hikes in the near future to install. All the talk in the world about how much better things could be just isn’t going to sway people who feel they have been burned by ComEd too often in the past.

YET WE STILL have a state Legislature that is plotting the veto override, probably sensing that they need to put Quinn in his place on this issue – like they have done on so many others in recent months.

Which makes me wonder if this is going to be an issue that ultimately bolsters Quinn’s reputation. Will it turn out that he had enough sense to be skeptical of ComEd, and that perhaps the rest of us should have listened to him?

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