Steady As She Goes

Another week down for lawmakers until the budget deadline on May 31 and still not much action in either the House or the Senate. Yes, both chambers have been doing some work in committee, but honestly there isn't a lot of major legislation up for discussion at this point. It's not clear whether or not a civil unions bill will ever get called, though it seems to be gaining some momentum thanks to the gay marriage bills that recently passed in New Hampshire and Maine. So we'll see if Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), the main sponsor of the civil unions bill in the House, can get together enough votes to pass something this spring.

That's not to say that this week was without any major developments. Far from it. Though I didn't have the pleasure of covering the story myself, on Thursday House Speaker Mike Madigan did something we rarely see him do: hold a news conference to announce major legislation he's introduced. His proposed legislation would fire nearly 3,000 state employees and board members who were hired or appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich or former Gov. George Ryan. The bill targets anyone appointed to a state board or commission, any state appointees subject to Senate confirmation, or any state employees hired to positions exempt from patronage hiring limits -- if they were hired from the time Ryan took office to the time Blagojevich was removed from office. Madigan argued that current Gov. Pat Quinn hasn't moved quickly enough to "fumigate" state government as he promised the day he took office. But since the proposal is coming from Madigan, you can bet he's got other motives. Democratic leaders have been taking some heat recently for not moving faster on ethics reforms proposed by Quinn's reform commission, so this might be an attempt to show he's doing something. Quinn said he supports the proposal, but there are already signals that it's going to be amended before it gets to the floor to reduce the number of people that would get the axe.

State Senate weighs in on Afghanistan

Although lawmakers are taking their time in dealing with the budget, a capital plan and ethics reform, they took a few minutes out of their day on Thursday to essentially tell President Barack Obama -- a former state senator himself -- how to do his job. The Senate approved a resolution urging the president not to escalate the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and to instead withdraw all U.S. troops from the country. State Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) essentially argued that the only thing the U.S. has accomplished since ousting the Taliban is to watch Afghanistan turn into the world's leading heroin supplier. Personally, I was surprised that more senators didn't get up to defend the president's policy in Afghanistan, but then again, they passed a similar measure on the Iraq war a few years back and former President George W. Bush obviously paid little attention. I doubt Obama really cares what the Illinois State Senate thinks about the war in Afghanistan either.

State Buildings In Springfield To Go Green

The State of Illinois and the City of Springfield finalized a deal this week that will convert state-run buildings in Springfield to 100 percent wind power. It was the result of an agreement between the city and the Sierra Club to prevent delays on the completion of a new coal power plant for the city's utility, City Water, Light and Power. With state buildings running on wind power, emissions should be reduced at CWLP coal plants. The city has struck a deal with two Iowa wind farms to supply the power. The deal also means that Springfield residents and businesses can soon purchase wind power for themselves. Officials said that should start happening next month. CWLP customers won't be able to convert their homes or businesses to 100 percent wind power like the state, but officials say they can do their own small part to reduce emissions at coal plants. Of course, wind power is more expensive than coal power, so they'll have to shell out a little more money if they want to use wind power, but officials say it won't lead to a huge spike in power bills.

Shift in Swine Flu policies

Granted, if you run a public health department it's probably a better policy to respond to some new health, but even so, it seemed a bit extreme when they started advising schools last week to shut down when there were suspected cases of swine flu. They did a 180 on that policy pretty quick this week when it became clear that the swine flu isn't any worse than traditional seasonal flu viruses. I think Illinois Public Health Director Damon Arnold pretty much nailed it on the head when he essentially said that if a school shuts down every time a student gets the flu, schools would never be open in the fall or spring.