‘Buttongate’: Quinn wants probe of votes cast for absent legislators
BY DAVE MCKINNEY Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief dmckinney@suntimes.com October 27, 2011 6:58PM
Governor Pat Quinn presents his demands for signing the gaming expansion bill, Monday, October 17, 2011. | Jean Lachat~Sun-Times
Updated: November 29, 2011 8:29AM
SPRINGFIELD — Escalating his war of words with the Legislature, Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday called for an investigation into who cast votes for as many as 18 House members who were off the House floor when utility rate-hike legislation that he opposed passed in the blink of an eye.
“Anybody watching this whole procedure where members may not have actually voted their own switch on such an important bill would say it’s rotten,” the governor told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“On a bill involving such high stakes and so much money, to have anyone other than the member casting a vote is a very serious matter that should be investigated immediately by the House,” said Quinn, who said such absentee voting “doesn’t work in the federal Congress” and is “breaking the law.”
“It’s a serious violation of ethical conduct,” he said.
The governor’s angry statements, about what one top House Republican characterized derisively as “Buttongate,” came after Quinn suffered a major political defeat when the House and Senate Wednesday overrode his veto of rate-hike legislation sought by Commonwealth Edison and Ameren. Quinn’s administration had made the defeat of the rate-hike package its No. 1 priority during the fall veto session, which began this week.
Shortly before the first part of the rate-hike package surfaced in the House, as many as 18 Democrats were called off the floor to attend a budget briefing. Some of those lawmakers told the Sun-Times they returned from the briefing to see their votes had been recorded, even though they personally hadn’t cast them and, in some cases, opposite of the way they wanted.
Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago), a rate-hike opponent who wound up having his vote cast mistakenly in favor of ComEd by a seatmate on the first of two measures, expressed frustration that the important vote was allowed to proceed when Democratic leadership knew members were off the floor.
“It’s not usual for a bill as important as this to not have the full body in the chamber in their chairs. I think there should be some explanation as to why a bill like this came up without checking out the chambers,” said Ford, who later wound up voting Quinn’s way on the override.
The outcome of the vote on the initial piece of the rate-hike package would not have shifted had everyone been in their seats and voted the way they really intended. The measure passed by a 91-24 vote when 71 votes were necessary for passage.
A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan insisted there were only “a couple of instances where people may have been voted contrary to their wishes” and, in those cases, it “was probably done by seatmates.”
An examination of the roll calls on the initial ComEd “trailer” bill and the later override vote showed that seven House members who were at the budget briefing were recorded as voting ComEd’s way on the first bill but later voted with Quinn on the override.
House rules state that “no member may vote on any question before the House unless on the floor before the vote is announced.” But that edict is interpreted liberally when lawmakers get called off the House floor to meet with constituents or lobbyists. In such momentary absences, legislative staffers or other state representatives often operate lawmakers’ voting switches, which can be locked by legislators if they choose.
“This has been going on in Illinois for too long,” Quinn said. “To have anyone else voting someone else’s switch is shameful and ought to be looked into right away because the voters didn’t vote for a staffer or someone else’s colleague to vote their switch.”
But Madigan spokesman Steve Brown dismissed the governor’s complaint with a chuckle.
“Quinn suffered a fairly huge defeat there, and I’m sure he’s going to try to find some reason to explain the outcome,” he said.
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