Button-gate??!? Please!

It has been just over a decade since the days when I was an Illinois Statehouse reporter, yet I still vividly remember the day that a now-former member of the Illinois House of Representatives called me over to his desk on the House floor.



Gov. Pat Quinn would like to think the Statehouse lingers under a dark cloud (as in this century-old postcard) on account of the "Smart Grid" votes last week. But all he's doing is making himself the butt of various legislative jokes.



Specifically, he wanted me to see for myself the mechanism set up at each legislator’s desk that enabled them to push a button in order to cast their votes on the issues.

WHAT HE THOUGHT was key for me to understand was that there was “a key” – it had to be inserted and turned into the device in order to turn it on and make it possible to vote.

This legislator insisted with all the earnestness he could muster up that he took that key everywhere he went, never gave it to anyone else, and therefore it was impossible for ANYONE ELSE to even think of leaning over and pushing a button on his behalf to record a vote.

I can’t help but wonder how many legislators these days are making variations of the same argument – on account of the fact that this “dirty little secret” of the General Assembly has cropped up yet again.

It is Gov. Pat Quinn who is stirring up this stink – claiming that the only reason he lost on the “Smart Grid” issue is because many legislators were not on the floor to vote when the issue came up. Therefore, somebody voted for them.

THE GOVERNOR HAS demanded an investigation. He throws out hints that somebody deserves to be prosecuted for causing the votes that resulted in the General Assembly overturning his veto of the bill that was so desired by the Commonwealth Edison and Ameren utility companies.

Of course, that just has legislators and other political observers snickering at the governor’s expense. They won, and he lost. Now, the Mighty Quinn is being a sore loser and the only debate is who is being the bigger whiner – the Illinois governor or fans of the Boston Red Sox who still haven’t gotten over the fact that their favorite team wasn’t good enough to even make it to the playoffs this season.

I was not at the Statehouse when these bills were debated and voted upon this week. So I don’t have first-hand information.

But I can recall the scurry of people when votes were taken to either get back to a desk to vote, or to have someone reach around and vote for a buddy (who may have left a key in the device) who sits near them in the legislative chambers.

THERE USED TO be a lot of jokes about all the new laws that got approved because the pages (those youthful kids who are supposed to be fetching papers and sandwiches for the legislators) were present to cast the votes.

What I also recall is the fact that that the ambiance of the chambers of the Illinois House or state Senate is nowhere near as formal or organized as people might want to believe.

It usually is a free-for-all with few people actually paying attention to what is being said by whoever happens to be speaking publicly at any given moment, and people do come and go.

In fact, it often seemed that the only people who were paying any serious attention to the details of what was happening at any given moment were the reporter-types sitting in the press boxes that exist off in the corners of each floor.

SO DO I find it believable when Quinn says a large number of legislators in the Illinois House were not anywhere near their desks when the vote was taken? Yes, I do.

Could there have been some people going around casting votes for others who were not present? Yes, there could.

Although I do seriously believe the bulk of those votes, if not all of them, were cast in accordance with the wishes of the legislator in question.

For let’s not forget that this was an issue that the General Assembly, for many reasons, was determined to shove right up the governor’s (my mother would be offended at the use of such language, even though she’d agree it was accurate).

WHICH IS WHY by complaining now, Quinn comes off as a mere whiner (all too similar to those Los Angeles Angels fans who still complain about the ’05 American League playoffs and White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski “cheating” them out of a victory).

You lost, dude. You got outmaneuvered by Com Ed and the lobbyists who came up with that trailer bill that bought the legislators off into wanting to support the issue by claiming they offered some utility bill help to lower-income people.

Whining about buttons being pushed improperly will play about as well this time as it has in the past. This is a perpetual issue that crops up, only to wither away a few days later.

Which means the only person who can win now are the “Smart Grid” backers because continued complaining by Quinn will merely make his “crusade” appear to be all the more foolish (at least one legislator is now going around calling him “Gov. Spin”) – even if, deep down, Quinn does have a few legitimate points to make.

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Why is this not bribery? Because it’s “Smart Grid” legislative politics

The Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session begins Tuesday, and one of the key issues that will come up will be the fate of the “Smart Grid,” that new technology desired by Commonwealth Edison that they want near-guaranteed rate hikes to pay for its implementation.

JONES: $50 million for LiHEAP is his price



Gov. Pat Quinn used his “veto” power this summer to kill the bill. Or should I say, try to kill it. Because this measure is likely to rise from the dead as many legislators, particularly those who are upset that Quinn won’t go along with their desired gambling expansion plan, are more than willing to vote to over-ride him.

FOR SOME, IT’S payback. They’ll dump on Quinn’s attempt to keep Com Ed in check. Of course, they’ll claim other reasons for it. Some of them will even sound altruistic on the surface.

Take the case of a statement issued Monday by state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, who made it publicly known that although he voted against the “Smart Grid” bill during the spring, he is now inclined to vote “yea” when the issue comes up in the veto session.

Now I don’t know that there’s a direct tie for Jones between the Smart Grid and casino expansion bills (although Jones once said he thinks Quinn is looking at gambling in the wrong way – focusing on problems it causes rather than the money it can raise to help pay to fix problems).

But the reason that Jones gives isn’t much better.

HE CITES A “trailer” bill that will be forthcoming during the fall session. In politico-speak, a trailer bill is one that is approved separately from its main bill, but provides for various issues that are related to the original vote.

In this case, the trailer will include up to $50 million in extra state funding for the LiHEAP energy assistance program. State Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the trailer could get a vote in the state Senate as soon as Tuesday.

That program is one that gets tapped into every winter by low-income people who, because of the excess cold that is a Midwestern winter, run up extremely-high heating bills that they cannot possibly afford to pay off on their own.

The program helps those people pay those bills, thereby assuring that no one gets cut off in mid-winter and dies from the cold. For those who are now going to spew an ideological argument about how government shouldn’t be paying utility bills, figure that government believes that the expense of paying a few bills is better than having to cover the cost of an indigent person’s funeral – or the bad public image of letting people freeze to death.

AND FOR JONES, the idea of the state providing extra money to help cover those costs (particularly since he represents a portion of Cook County filled with suburban communities where the economic struggles of our nation have impacted harder-than-elsewhere) is a plus.

“For that reason, I will vote to support …the Com Ed ‘Smart Grid’ bill,” Jones says, in his statement.

He also points out that he’s not the only former “nea” vote who will flip to “yea” on Smart Grid. It seems that this trailer bill is meant to give a lot of legislators something they desire – in exchange for getting them to go along with the desires of Commonwealth Edison on this particular issue.

Which means they will be able to put the political spin that they brought something back to their home communities – rather than just knuckled under to the utility company. Because if it had to run purely on its merits, I think the negative image Com Ed has in many peoples’ minds is strong enough to kill this issue off for good.

I DO BELIEVE that Quinn tapped into a public sentiment on this issue; which is to say that the ‘Smart Grid’ technology that has the potential to pinpoint outages to their exact location and give repair crews detailed explanations of the problem before crews even get there is a noble goal.

But I wonder how many people don’t trust Com Ed to be able to implement it without significant problems. Which is why they resent the idea that the bill provides for rate increases to pay for its implementation.

Those television commercial spots of recent days that imply the current infrastructure is a century old and too primitive to accommodate our society much longer aren’t going to sway those who don’t trust the utility.

It could be said that the distrust is Com Ed’s payback for years of screw-ups and incompetence.

SO HOW DO the political powers-that-be respond? By making the payoff.

In the case of Jones, his price is $50 million more for the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program. (although nowhere do I see an explanation of where this money will come from – at a time when so many state government bills are going unpaid).

Other legislators, I’m sure, have their own prices. In fact, I probably shouldn't give the impression that Jones is the only legislator guilty of such conduct.

So if it turns out that the General Assembly does decide to override Quinn on this issue, keep in mind that part of it is meant to embarrass the governor. While the rest is just a good ol’ fashioned payoff – albeit one that is legal and only the most hard-headed of assistant U.S. attorneys would dare to even think of in terms of prosecution.

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Quinn or the Illinois Legislature: Who understands our ComEd fears better?

Maybe, just maybe, Gov. Pat Quinn is not a complete nincompoop totally out of touch with what the people of this state, particularly the Chicago-area, think.

QUINN: On our side?



That clueless impression is the one that too many political people want to give these days – even some state government officials who theoretically should be the Mighty Quinn’s allies.

HE’S REALLY TAKING his hits for not giving in promptly on casino gambling expansion. And his proposed budget cuts to allow the state to have a chance to make it through the full fiscal year without running short on cash also get him his share of pot shots.

Yet Quinn on Monday made a move that will also get him some criticism in many quarters. But it has me thinking that Quinn is viewing this issue a little more like a regular person than any other state official.

I’m referring to the measure approved by the General Assembly during the spring that would allow Commonwealth Edison the ability to implement its so-called “smart grid” technology that truly would revolutionize the way the utility provides electrical power to its customers and address emergency situations (such as power outages) in a more efficient manner.

What has the consumer activists, along with a lot of other type of activists (AARP, to name a few), upset is that the bill also contains provisions by which utility rates would go up significantly in coming years to pay for the upgrade.

ACTIVISTS INSIST THIS is just a scheme by ComEd to get those rate hikes, without having to submit to the usual procedures by which the Illinois Commerce Commission reviews rate hike proposals.

These hikes potentially could come every year. And it would be put upon the activists to have to justify why ComEd should NOT get an increase. Rather than the typical process by which the utility in question has to justify why it needs more income.

Quinn, the man who likes to think he’s still that activist who helped found the Citizens Utility Board, sided with the activists. He used his “veto” power to kill the bill.

And he didn’t just slip his rejection through late on a Friday night out of hopes that no one would pay attention. He waited until a bright, sunny Monday morning at the Thompson Center, where he spoke before all the television cameras.

MAJOR PRESS COVERAGE, because there wasn’t much else happening – except for the hangover from this weekend’s “Sept. 11 memorial” frenzy.

“It’s a nightmare for Illinois consumers,” Quinn said – which will be the soundbite that gets used against him as the state Legislature already is plotting how they’re going to override the governor’s rejection.

This bill, along with the casino expansion measure that has yet to come before the governor due to legislative maneuverings, seem to be the issues that state officials are determined to shove right down Quinn’s throat – even though he is inclined to reject them both.

Yet is that really the right thing to do?

I HAVE TO confess to coming to my conclusion about ComEd and the “smart grid” back in June. In my work for one of the suburban Chicago newspapers, I covered a municipal hearing during which ComEd officials appeared to explain in detail how the technology works.

I must admit – it is impressive. It sounds like something that the utilities ought to be striving to accomplish, in large part because it would have made so many past catastrophes easier to cope with and less consuming in the amount of time they took.

This measure has the capability to point out almost immediately the exact location where a problem has developed that has caused a power outage – and can even tell them what caused the problem.

Crews rushing to the scene to make repairs can literally be aware of exactly what will confront them. Instead of the current situation where they only know a general area where a problem has arisen and then they have to scour the scene for the problem – all the while people are getting more and more frustrated without electricity.

BUT MY SENSE is that this issue ultimately comes down to the question, “Do you trust Commonwealth Edison to be capable of implementing the 'smart grid' successfully?”

Be honest.

How many of you immediately responded “Hell, No!!!!!” Then, upon further reflection, changed your answer to a more calm and sincere, “No!”

I sense that too many people fear a “smart grid” system that ultimately won’t work, but will still wind up spending all that cash from rate hikes in the near future to install. All the talk in the world about how much better things could be just isn’t going to sway people who feel they have been burned by ComEd too often in the past.

YET WE STILL have a state Legislature that is plotting the veto override, probably sensing that they need to put Quinn in his place on this issue – like they have done on so many others in recent months.

Which makes me wonder if this is going to be an issue that ultimately bolsters Quinn’s reputation. Will it turn out that he had enough sense to be skeptical of ComEd, and that perhaps the rest of us should have listened to him?

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Did you spend the weekend in the dark?

As a reporter-type person, I fully appreciate the reason why the big headlines during the weekend related to the severe storm that pushed through the Chicago area Friday night were related to mass transit and the one-time Sears Tower.

The latter structure that for many years was the world’s tallest had some of its windows knocked out by the winds that reached speeds of about 70 miles per hour. That’s a lot of shattered glass on the streets of the south Loop (and around the area, depending on how far the high winds blew it about).

WE SHOULD BE thankful that no one who happened to be in downtown Chicago Friday night was killed or severely maimed by glass shards flying through the air.

There also were the delays in running the Metra commuter trains for people trying to get home during the Friday evening rush hour – which is when that storm that spread across the United States and has now worked its way to the East Coast managed to hit Chicago.

It was an inconvenience experienced by many as crowds trying to get on board delayed trains meant a human backup that must have been unpleasant to experience – particularly on a night when most people were just eager to get home following yet another week of hard work.

Yet I also realize that when most people recall this weekend, they’re not going to think of it as the time that glass flew through the air above the Loop. Nor will they think much about the delay they experienced in getting home Friday night.

IF ANYTHING, THEY’RE going to recall the conditions they found once they got home.

Because those storms managed to play havoc with the electrical power lines, which meant that many people got home to find they had no electricity. Some people had to endure the entire weekend without electricity.

Considering that temperatures also reached the high-80s at times, that meant no air conditioning.

Which means it was a miserable weekend for many.

NOW I HAVE to confess that I was lucky. Where I live, our inconvenience was minimal.

When those winds hit our area at about 4:30 p.m. Friday, they created a situation where electrical power kept fading in and out.

At the time, I was using my laptop computer to try to write a story for someone willing to pay me some money for my work. While my laptop had a battery that immediately kept it going continuously, my electrical “loss” was that the lights kept going on and off, and the device that gives me a wireless connection to the Internet kept starting and stopping.

Which meant that one moment, I had Internet access, while another moment, I did not. I had to wait about a half-hour before I was able to verify a couple of facts I was using to write a story.

I WAS LUCKY in that power never was lost for more than a few seconds, and after about a half-hour it quit misbehaving. I didn’t lose power. Some 555,000 customers of Commonwealth Edison can’t make the same claim

That is more than I can say for many Chicago-area residents, some 64,000 of whom still hadn’t had their electricity restored as of Sunday morning. ComEd officials said the utility company expected most of those to be restored by day’s end.

But there were some people who came home Friday night without electricity, and never got it back. Perhaps they had to leave for work Monday morning, wondering what they would come home to (even though theoretically, they knew it was likely it would be restored by then).

In my case, the closest I personally came to such a case involved my father, who lives in a nearby town but happens to be on a vacation trip with my step-mother. His house lost power at about 5 p.m. Friday and did not get it restored until 11 a.m. Sunday.

HE PICKED THE perfect time to be away from the house, which as far as I can tell did not sustain any other weather-related damage. He will return Monday having to do little more than figure out which items in his refrigerator went bad because of the forty-plus hours it endured without electrical power. Not that everybody in the Chicago area was lucky enough to be on vacation when the storm struck.

For those who couldn’t find a friend or relative to impinge upon, it must have been a primative weekend – on account of how dependent our society has become on having a steady source of electicity to keep us going.

They get my sympathies because I recall the time I experienced a lengthy power outage in my residence. But that was for about 19 hours – most of which was overnight while I slept. I’m sure the sweaty, clammy conditions I woke up in that morning without electricity were nowhere near as bad as what some people experienced this weekend.

Which is why I almost wonder if those stories emphasizing the Willis Tower windows went so far as to trivialize the weekend. It may be a significant building in Chicago (and the United States), but I doubt it had much to do with what most people experienced during the weekend.

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