Franks takes 2nd try at recall amendment
By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com
An amendment to the Illinois Constitution allowing for recall elections died in the Senate last May, just three votes shy of going to the voters to decide.
But what a difference an impeached former governor who turned Illinois into a national punch line makes.
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, who drafted the last recall bill, is giving it another try. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is gone after a unanimous vote by the same Senators who rejected the last attempt. Stalwart Blagojevich ally Emil Jones no longer is Senate president, and the biggest supporter of recall besides Franks, Pat Quinn, now is governor.
“I think that if we would have had recall when George Ryan was governor, we never would have had the six years of terror with Rod Blagojevich,” Franks said. “And the citizens of Illinois would have removed him long before we had to impeach him.”
Franks’ bill would allow voters to petition to recall Illinois statewide officers and members of the General Assembly. It would not allow recall of members of Congress, who are governed by the U.S. Constitution, which has no recall provision.
If both houses approve recall by a three-fifths majority, it then would go to voters, who could approve it by either a three-fifths majority of people voting on the question, or a simple majority of all voters in the election. But the soonest voters could see the amendment, providing it clears the General Assembly, is the February 2010 primary.
Franks and Lt. Gov. Quinn stumped for the original bill, which passed the House by five votes. But it fell short in the Senate after its Executive Committee made changes such as allowing for recall of any salaried elected official in Illinois.
Supporters called the changes intentional attempts to kill the bill – one aimed squarely at Quinn required the governor and lieutenant governor to be recalled together because they run together in the general election.
Quinn could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia allow for recall of state elected officials to varying degrees, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-six states allow for recall of local elected officials.
Voters in only two states, North Dakota and California, have ever successfully recalled a governor. California voters made 32 attempts since 1911 to recall their governors, but only the successful 2003 recall of Gray Davis ever made the ballot.
Franks said he knew that recall rarely had been used or successful, but given Illinois’ poisoned political climate, it was a small but necessary step to regain voters’ trust.
“Even though it’s hardly ever used, having that deterrent, I think, will make a huge difference in how [elected officials] act,” Franks said.
