Behind the Scenes in Springfield

In the Illinois legislature’s spring session, Shriver advocates collaborated with chief sponsors Rep. Will Burns and Sen. Kwame Raoul to introduce a bill that significantly improves access to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the cash assistance program that provides a critical safety net for families most in need of help. Travelling to Springfield nearly every week the legislature was in session (ADD # weeks), we testified in committee and persuaded 43 Representatives, and 21 Senators to co-sponsor the bill. We helped usher the bill through the House by a vote of 68-38 and through the Senate by a vote of 38-12.  But citing the state budget crisis, Governor Quinn “amendatorily” vetoed the bill, to delaying its effective date for one year until July 1, 2010. 

Our bill sponsors were left with the option of either moving to concur in the Governor’s amendatory veto (requiring a simple majority in each house) or attempting to override it (requiring a 3/5 majority).  Although we believe that the changes made by the bill are needed immediately, we agreed with our sponsors that we were much more likely to succeed in obtaining concurrence rather than an override.

As veto session approached, we learned that House leadership believed that the Governor had exceeded his constitutional authority by using the amendatory veto to delay the bill’s effective date.  Thus, the bill could not be called for concurrence and it would die. 

Through continued advocacy with the Governor’s office and House and Senate leadership, the contents of HB 2383, along with the new effective date, were placed into a “vehicle bill” during veto session.  On a very accelerated schedule (veto session lasts only 6 days), our chief sponsors and we moved this bill, through the House and the Senate, clearing both houses by an even greater margin than in the spring.  The bill awaits the Governor’s signature.