June 23, 2004

BY CHRISTOPHER WILLS ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD-- With only a week left before the state budget expires, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday ordered lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session that he hopes will jumpstart stalled budget negotiations.

Blagojevich called for the special session to begin Thursday afternoon and said it would continue "until our work is done." Top lawmakers have been negotiating with the governor but are still deeply divided on a new spending plan to pay for state services after the new budget year starts July 1.

"Now is the time for everyone who is part of this process to come on back to Springfield and get engaged," Blagojevich told The Associated Press in an interview before announcing the special session.

The Legislature had been scheduled to adjourn May 31, but even with the same party controlling the governor's office and both chambers of the Legislature, there was no budget agreement in sight. The four legislative leaders sent rank-and-file lawmakers home and have been holding negotiating sessions intermittently since then, trying to close a roughly $2.3 billion hole in a $54 billion budget plan.

While governors can order special sessions, they cannot actually force lawmakers to do anything once the session convenes. And since the Democratic governor and legislative leaders are deadlocked, simply calling lawmakers back to Springfield is unlikely to produce movement right away.

But Blagojevich said he hopes it generates discussion that will help. The four legislative leaders often tell him they can't give a firm position on budget proposals before talking to other lawmakers.

"Having the General Assembly back in session will help facilitate that and get the job done sooner rather than later," Blagojevich told the AP. "I would be astounded-- astounded-- if any of the legislative leaders chose to adjourn the special session before we finish work on the budget."

Blagojevich proposes increasing spending by about $1 billion in the budget year that starts July 1, with most of that money going to education and health care for the poor. He and Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, want to balance the budget by closing two prisons, trimming spending across the board, raising business taxes and taking money out of special-purpose government funds.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and the two Republican leaders prefer a bare-bones budget and accuse the governor of trying to spend money the state doesn't have. They are pushing for smaller spending increases and fewer business taxes.

Both sides have said they are within about $200 million of agreeing, but that last $200 million involves difficult policy questions, such as how much additional education spending the state can afford and whether to depend on one-time revenues.

Meanwhile, the governor and leaders have started preparing contingency plans to keep government running in case they can't reach an agreement before the current budget expires. Two House committees asked state agencies last week to submit lists of basic services that must be provided in the new budget year, and Blagojevich said he was looking at an "alternative interim budget" as a last resort.

Lawmakers also now face a rule change that makes getting a budget passed even more challenging. After May 31, under state law, the number of votes required to pass a budget jumps from a simple majority to a three-fifths vote in each chamber. That increase now gives Republicans a greater say.

Also after May 31, lawmakers don't get their $95 daily expense check, though they are entitled to that money during special sessions.

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