Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno announced her resignation Thursday, another sign of the lack of progress at the Capitol as Illinois teeters toward a third year without a comprehensive spending plan.
The first woman to lead a legislative caucus left little doubt her departure was in part born of frustration over the partisan stalemate that has sent state government finances spiraling downward despite her efforts to reach a compromise that would satisfy a demanding Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and a Democratic-led General Assembly.
"I will say that I feel strongly that the governor has the right agenda, but it's not that easy getting there. We need fundamental change in this building, but we need to compromise in order to get there," said Radogno, 64, of southwest suburban Lemont.
"We have to put aside personalities. We have to prioritize what we want. Nobody gets 100 percent, but what do you absolutely have to have? When you negotiate, you need to understand and get in the skin of the person you're talking to," she said, providing advice for the governor and other legislative leaders.
The 20-year veteran lawmaker had earned plaudits for working with Democrats. Radogno said for months she had been looking for a "natural break" in the legislative schedule to begin her retirement. In what could be viewed as an ominous acknowledgment, Radogno said she chose Saturday, the start of the state's new budget year, to retire because "I'm not sure there's another natural break coming anytime soon."
Radogno's announcement came as the state faced increased warnings of financial doom if it went past Friday's deadline without a spending plan.
Facing a downgrade to "junk" credit status, a federal court ruling that could require increased payments to Medicaid providers, uncertainty for some school openings in the fall, the future of what remains of a frayed social service safety net and the prospect of road construction project shutdowns, Democratic Comptroller Susana Mendoza said the consequences to the state of failing to reach a budget agreement by midnight Friday go from the current "horrific" to "catastrophic."
Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan pledged to open Friday with a House vote on his members' version of a state $36.5 billion spending plan, despite no agreement on items Rauner has made a prerequisite toward signing a budget and tax increase -- including changes in workers' compensation and a freeze on property taxes.
Rep. Greg Harris, Madigan's top budget negotiator, said that depending on the fate of the spending plan, Democrats would then vote on their tax plan. Filed late Thursday, the proposal would raise the personal income tax rate from the current 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent.
Unlike tax legislation approved earlier by the Senate, it would not be retroactive to Jan. 1 but instead begin with the July 1 start of the budget year. That change is designed to avoid having people pay even more in income taxes the rest of the year to catch up for the past six months. Also out is an expansion of sales taxes to some services. The hike would be permanent, against Rauner's desire to make it temporary.
By calling the budget and tax plan in the House, Madigan will be taking the temperature of House Republicans with Rauner's must-have issues still undecided. Even if all House Democrats vote for measures in this special legislative session, at least four Republican votes are needed for passage.
"We are staring into the abyss," Harris said. "I think everyone who cares about the state of Illinois should support this. This is the chance."
If those measures fail to gain enough support, Harris said Democrats would consider a series of backup bills to spend money in key areas such as social services and education. But those efforts would not come with the needed dollars to actually pay for the programs, meaning they are likely designed to provide political cover to allow Democrats to say they voted in favor of projects important to their districts even if a broader deal isn't reached.
"Those are the contingencies, we don't want to vote on those," Harris said.
Madigan also maintained that he and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton insisted that Rauner sign a Democratic-passed bill to rewrite how the state divvies up money for public schools. Rauner had previously vowed to veto the measure, calling its level of funding for Chicago Public Schools a "bailout."
Madigan also said that any efforts to change the workers' compensation system for people injured on the job must include a rate review of premiums charged by insurers. Democrats contend 2011 changes should provide more savings to businesses, but insurers are increasing their profits instead. Republicans are pushing for further cuts to fees doctors, hospitals and pharmacies receive for treating workers with rates closer to those set under Medicaid.
On property taxes, Democrats have agreed to Rauner's call for a four-year statewide freeze, but are pushing for several exemptions that Republicans contend would result in little relief. They include exemptions for Chicago and troubled school districts such as CPS. The freeze also would not apply to levies that are used to pay debt or pension payments for employees, including police and firefighters.
Madigan declined to detail areas where Democrats may be open to further "adjustments" on their property tax proposal. He also refused to predict if a resolution would come ahead of the start of the new budget year, saying anything is possible if the sides remain "reasonable." That was a dig at Rauner, who he has repeatedly accused of pushing an "extreme" agenda.
"I think I have moved considerably to engage on all of these issues," Madigan said. "I don't see that I am being unreasonable. I am here. I am proposing to vote for things I don't believe in. I don't think the government should be about the business of reducing the benefit level of an injured worker. That's not the right thing to do. But in the spirit of compromise I am prepared to vote for that."
House lawmakers Thursday also approved a new version of an already passed measure that could raise monthly phone fees for 911 services -- money that Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes to route toward paying down Chicago's pension debt. Rauner has threatened to veto the initial measure.
The version of the bill that's now on Rauner's desk would extend the Emergency Telephone System Act, which is set to expire Saturday, and would allow Chicago to raise its 911 fee to $5 per month from $3.90, while jurisdictions outside the city would see their monthly rate go from 87 cents to $1.50 per line.
A Rauner aide last week called on lawmakers to pass a new bill that does not include the surcharge hikes but ensures that the Emergency Telephone System Act is extended to provide for local 911 services.
Instead, Republicans and Democrats in the House came together to pass a backup version of the bill that continues the 911 funding stream if the law expires because of a Rauner veto or inaction of the original proposal. The Senate approved the legislation Wednesday.
The idea is that if Rauner vetoes the first bill while lawmakers are out of town, they can send him the second bill without having to make a special trip to Springfield to take a vote.
But the day's news was dominated by word of Radogno's retirement from a leadership post she has held since 2009 -- when she succeeded Frank Watson of Downstate Greenville, who had suffered a stroke.
Even before her announcement, behind-the-scenes efforts to replace Radogno were being made by state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, who served as her top deputy in the Senate GOP caucus, and by state Sen. Karen McConnaughay, the former Kane County Board chairman from St. Charles.
In a statement, Rauner called Radogno "a consummate professional and public servant, who has championed fiscal responsibility and human services that help our most vulnerable residents."
Talk of Radogno's decision had begun spreading privately during the closing days of June in the aftermath of months of contentiousness with a Democratic legislative majority and a Republican governor who has extensively used his personal wealth to command loyalty among GOP lawmakers.
But Radogno found her members' loyalty to Rauner sometimes created conflict with loyalty to her leadership, some Republicans said privately. That surfaced in working with Cullerton to try to negotiate an end to the impasse known as the "grand bargain."
Rauner eventually contended the so-called bargain did not go far enough to satisfy him, and Democrats accused him of stripping away GOP votes from a version of the package.
Radogno said she was "disappointed" that a bipartisan package failed to materialize in May but told reporters, "If that was my motivation (to resign) I would have been gone then."
Though Radogno has been in the General Assembly for two decades, a decision to step down had been expected as the grind of legislative sessions, particularly serving in the minority, began to take its toll.
Besides the political battles, Radogno also had some personal tragedies during her tenure, including the June 2014 death of her 31-year-old daughter, Lisa, who worked for then-U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's office in Washington.
"As you may know, my daughter was on the Hill, so politics was really important to her, so knowing (that, I) doubled down my interest in it," Radogno said, tearing up.
"But it did give me the perspective that nothing's forever and I don't want to be squandering my life with my husband and my grandkids and my other daughters," she said. "We only all have a certain amount of time and that experience told me that's for sure."
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