From the State Journal-Register:

Statehouse INSIDER

BY DOUG FINKE

June 15, 2003

Gee, it seemed like such a good plan, that legislative coup pulled off by beloved phone giant SBC.

Unable to get what it wanted from the Illinois Commerce Commission (not exactly a wildly pro-consumer outfit), SBC hired WILLIAM DALEY, brother of Chicago Mayor RICHARD DALEY, as its president. The company then signed on an army of contract lobbyists and spread around the campaign contributions to lawmakers. By the time it was done, SBC got a rate increase from the General Assembly that it didn’t get from the ICC. It was all about saving SBC jobs, don’t you know, so lawmakers didn’t have to come away from the deal feeling soiled.

Last week, a federal judge stopped the rate increase, ruling that the maneuver was a violation of federal law that stipulates phone rates must be set by regulatory agencies, not legislatures. Oops.

Remember a few years ago when liquor distributors showed up during the six-day veto session? They said their employees’ jobs were threatened by the predatory business practices of liquor manufacturers.

The distributors hired an army of lobbyists and got a bill passed essentially giving them monopoly power. It was all about saving liquor jobs, don’t you know, so lawmakers didn’t have to come away from the deal feeling soiled. The law passed and as soon as it took effect, liquor prices shot up, just as critics of the bill said they would. The courts eventually shot down that law, too.

So now the General Assembly has a 0-2 record when playing this kind of footsie with powerful special interests. You think they’ve learned their lesson? Neither do we.

The SBC bill never would have become law without Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH’s signature. Blagojevich signed the bill about four hours after it passed the legislature. There was no way the governor could have given that very complex bill a thorough review before he signed it.

As you might expect, Blagojevich insisted he did the right thing in signing the bill. He also offered up a pretty bizarre view of what it means to be governor.

“One of the good things about being governor is I don’t have to be a lawyer again, at least for now,” Blagojevich said. “I don’t have to sit here trying to figure out what the constitutionality is of all of those questions. I’ll leave that for the constitutional lawyers and the judges to make that decision.”

Isn’t that comforting? The guy who has the power to enact or veto laws isn’t going to worry about whether something might be unconstitutional.

“I’m not a constitutional scholar,” Blagojevich said. “In fact, I got a C in constitutional law, and I was lucky to get that.”

Makes you want to look at the rest of the report card to see what other surprises might be in store.

Doug Finke can be reached at 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.