Hot-button Issues Pile Up For Springfield Finale
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Five months of debate, negotiation and procrastination among lawmakers led to a high stakes Friday adjournment showdown that could decide the fate of the state's most controversial and contentious issues —public pension reform, gun control, gay marriage and a Chicago casino.
On Thursday, the Senate overwhelmingly rejected the House's pension reform plan. In the House, talk of a final vote to legalize gay marriage circulated but a roll call didn't materialize. A deal remained elusive on adding five new casinos. But a potential agreement was in the works on a way to regulate carrying concealed firearms in the state.
The end-of-session angst was perhaps best summed up by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who wants a city casino, pension changes for city workers and a new arena near McCormick Place approved before lawmakers go home for the summer on Friday night.
"The most important hours in Springfield time are now upon us," Emanuel said in Chicago, then proceeded to talk about the need for pension reform. "Denial is not a long-term strategy. We have to deal with it. We can no longer defer it. We have to turn those challenges into opportunities to meet our obligations to the people who pay the bills in the city."
Emanuel saw the House quickly approve his controversial McCormick Place arena plan for DePaul University. In an ironic, if not symbolic, move, it had to be hitched to a proposal giving state and local tax incentives for building a downstate fertilizer plant.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Five months of debate, negotiation and procrastination among lawmakers led to a high stakes Friday adjournment showdown that could decide the fate of the state's most controversial and contentious issues —public pension reform, gun control, gay marriage and a Chicago casino.
On Thursday, the Senate overwhelmingly rejected the House's pension reform plan. In the House, talk of a final vote to legalize gay marriage circulated but a roll call didn't materialize. A deal remained elusive on adding five new casinos. But a potential agreement was in the works on a way to regulate carrying concealed firearms in the state.
The end-of-session angst was perhaps best summed up by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who wants a city casino, pension changes for city workers and a new arena near McCormick Place approved before lawmakers go home for the summer on Friday night.
"The most important hours in Springfield time are now upon us," Emanuel said in Chicago, then proceeded to talk about the need for pension reform. "Denial is not a long-term strategy. We have to deal with it. We can no longer defer it. We have to turn those challenges into opportunities to meet our obligations to the people who pay the bills in the city."
Emanuel saw the House quickly approve his controversial McCormick Place arena plan for DePaul University. In an ironic, if not symbolic, move, it had to be hitched to a proposal giving state and local tax incentives for building a downstate fertilizer plant.
Read more in our daily News Update...