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Governor Blagojevich on Gambling
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/03/06/news/doc47cf2266b0d7c143663607.txt
Blagojevich's No. 2 backs recall option for Illinois
March 6,
2008
Daily
Pantagraph
Kenneth Lowe
SPRINGFIELD -- At the urging of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, an Illinois House
committee Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of asking voters if they want to
allow California-style recalls of elected officials.
"The fact that recall is even on the books makes all of us as officeholders in
the executive branch and every other branch be on our toes - not just on
Election Day, but 365 days a year," Quinn told members of the State Government
Administration Committee.
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, said he proposed the constitutional
amendment because of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's performance, and that he expects
overwhelming support for the bill in the House.
"Illinois voters deserve a way to remove an incompetent elected official who has
not committed a crime," Franks said. "After what happened last year and the
continued problems that this administration is having, I think people would be
hard-pressed to vote against a constitutional amendment that would empower the
people to recall an elected official that is not doing his or her job."
Many legislators have expressed a desire to provide a system of recalls solely
for the purpose of ousting Blagojevich, including state Sen. Dan Rutherford,
R-Pontiac, who has provided information on the recall amendment proposal to
voters.
Blagojevich, who has battled with lawmakers over the past year, has stated in
the past that he would be in favor of an amendment to the Illinois Constitution
allowing voters to recall elected officials.
If the proposal passes the legislature and is signed by the governor,
Illinoisans would vote on whether to adopt the constitutional amendment during
the next election.
Assuming voters could gather what Quinn called "a Herculean number of
signatures," the question of recall would then appear on the ballot of a special
election. A second question on the same ballot would ask voters who should
replace the official if they are recalled.
"Only if the electorate at large is truly engaged in the issue does the recall
question even appear on the ballot," Quinn said.
Only two governors have ever been recalled in American history – California's
Gray Davis in 2003 and North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921.
The legislation is House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 28.
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