On Thursday, Jan. 29, the Illinois state Senate voted 59-0 to sustain an article of impeachment from the House of Representatives and removed Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich from office. IGPA professors Andrew Morriss and Brian Gaines comment on the decision and what lies ahead for the state.
Andrew Morriss: It is important to remember this was not a criminal case and that the Senate’s decision is not a criminal conviction. The question the Senate faced was, in effect, whether or not the state government could continue under the governor’s leadership given both the serious criminal charges and his conduct of state affairs, as shown by things like the Family Care rules episode.
The governor’s unwillingness to obey settled Illinois law with respect to the administrative process and his inability to work with anyone in the legislature meant that state government had ground to a halt at a time when the state needs careful, thoughtful leadership to navigate the financial crisis. Removing him was the only course open to the Senate – it was simply not possible for Illinois to continue with a governor unable to govern because he had no credibility left with anyone in the state.
Brian Gaines: We're in uncharted waters. It has been 40 years since we've had a lieutenant governor succeed a governor in Illinois, and Samuel Shapiro replaced Otto Kerner because Kerner had been appointed a U.S. Appeals Court judge, so that transition was pretty orderly. (In keeping with Illinois's battered reputation for bad government, however, Kerner was later convicted on charges of bribery and conspiracy.)
Governor Quinn is something of a wild card in Springfield, and I don't think anyone knows yet just how much clout he'll be have in the General Assembly. But, even as an "accidental governor," he has a spotlight and an opening to tap into public unhappiness with stalemate and a lack of transparency. He has different priorities from many of his fellow Democrats. For example, in recent years, with almost no Springfield allies, he pushed for recall and a constitutional convention, unsuccessflly. Suddenly, he's been promoted and is much harder to ignore.
House and Senate Republicans, meanwhile, could be sidelined and ignored because Democrats maintain their sizeable majorities. But all Democrats are likely to be nervous that the shadow of a disgraced governor from their own party (whom they supported in his 2006 campaign) will be long and dark. So I think the balance of power in the capital is up in the air.
The public certainly has a low opinion of the state of the state, and legislators and others may have boosted expectations by suggesting that Governor Blagojevich was somehow single-handedly responsible for the all of the failures of Illinois government. In fact, the state has major fiscal problems without easy solutions, so it is unlikely that in two years time, all will be well and voters will not remain unhappy and restless.
