Will Illinois Get the Recall?

By Kevin Robinson in News on Apr 3, 2008 5:26PM

Just when you thought we might get a break from the feuding downstate, the drama gets weirder. A bill passed the Illinois House yesterday, 80-25, that would give voters the right to recall elected officials including the governor, a la California. (.pdf of the bill here.) The recall election would work much like California's recall provision, asking voters if the office holder should be recalled while voting on a successor at the same time.

Woodstock Democrat Jack Franks, a Blagojevich critic and sponsor of the bill, said that the proposal was motivated by the "dismal performance" of this governor. "Our state is dysfunctional.... We are stuck at an absolute impasse because the governor refuses to lead and refuses, frankly, to show up for work. He won't govern, and he can't govern." Jay Hoffman, a Collinsville Democrat and Blagojevich support lashed out at the proposal, calling the amendment unnecessary. "End the cycle of finger-pointing," Hoffman said. "Stop the bullshit!"

A recall amendment isn't a done deal just yet. Although Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said that the governor "supports the idea of giving voters that kind of choice," Senate President Emil Jones, a staunch Blagojevich ally, hasn't taken a public position on the matter. Both chambers must act by May 4 if the amendment proposal is to appear on the ballot this November, and it doesn't need the governor's signature to become law.

Blagojevich at the St. Patrick's Day parade by Julius Lim