Not only did Edgar sweep Republicans into office, he was a giant pain in the ass to Mike Madigan for 8 years. A Republican sweep like 1994 isn’t going to happen. Illinois’ ’94 sweep was a smaller product of a larger wave of Republican success that was temporary in Illinois. The conditions aren’t present for the Democrats to lose all three branches this cycle. Certainly the Governor could lose, but the downballot races on statewide tickets are pretty safe. Treasurer might be a serious race, but there’s little evidence that L Madigan, Hynes or White are in trouble. For that matter, on his own, Pat Quinn wouldn’t be in any trouble. The Senate is slightly problematic, but the map is pretty forgiving. The House could lose seats, but it isn’t going Republican during this cycle under the crurrent map. The Districts just aren’t there.
So Madigan doesn’t want to lose seats, but he especially doesn’t want a return of Edgar who was difficult to work with for the entire 8 years from Madigan’s perspective. Blagojevich might be a pain, but he’s a manageable pain. If Judy was the biggest worry, he could work well with her.
But the Madigan and Edgar’s first two rounds were not pleasant for the Speaker.
Madigan enjoyed that kind of give-and-take with the deal-making Thompson, a Chicagoan. But when Edgar, a downstater, moved into the governor’s mansion, the relationship between the legislative and executive branches changed. In the first legislative session under the new governor, Madigan battled Edgar over property tax caps and state spending.
The enmity was clear.
“I remember when I was first elected governor in 1990. It took almost four months before he’d meet with me. I met with Daley. I met with [former state Senate President Phil] Rock. But he went out of his way to make comments that were negative,” Edgar says. “This time, it’s been the opposite. Every time I’ve asked to see him, he’s come to see me.”
It returns a fight over Peotone that Madigan doesn’t want–he’s fine with a scaled back deal that doesn’t cost the state much. Madigan fought Edgar over tax increases in 1992–Edgar wanting them.
Edgar himself got into the act, describing the House Democrats’ cuts as a “meat ax approach.” The governor said that Democrats chose the wrong priorities, sidewalks and buildings for cities, while he favored human services. “My priorities are abused kids and others in our society who have special needs,” Edgar charged.
Madigan was undeterred. He continued his attacks on Edgar and moved to take the offensive, in the process labeling the House GOP plan as “budget gimmicks.” On June 17 Madigan put the entire state budget on two bills and moved them out of the House with 62 Democratic votes.
In those two bills, there were $372 million in cuts and a lot of pain. By Madigan’s count the plan would have laid off 1,800 workers, eliminated 1,000 proposed new jobs and 600 vacancies. Madigan included no funding for the built-but-unopened prison at Mount Vernon or for four prison work camps. His plan returned spending levels for the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities to their fiscal 1992 budget levels. It kept education funding, however,at Edgar’s proposed level.
And upon hearing Edgar might run, both Daley and Madigan probably sent bulldozers back to Meigs just to make sure the airport was gone.