SPRINGFIELD -- In a blunt show of disgust with Gov. Blagojevich, the Illinois House moved Tuesday to give voters the right to recall state officeholders who are either incompetent or unethical.

"This is about cronyism and corruption and stopping it," said Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), who spearheaded the plan.

"How many of our governors have to go to jail before we wake up?" he said.

The 75-33 House vote for the proposed constitutional amendment sends the recall issue to the Senate, where its prospects are iffy given that Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) is the governor's chief legislative ally.

Jones essentially gave a non-answer when asked his personal views on the recall amendment or whether he'd allow the issue to be voted on in his chamber.

"I haven't read the bill," Jones said.

Told the package's contents, Jones jokingly said as long as it subjected Democratic House members to recall, "I'll support it."

A state officeholder can be impeached by the House and removed by the Senate. While some House members have privately toyed with attempting to impeach Blagojevich because of the litany of federal investigations that have targeted the administration, impeachment is currently regarded as an impossibility given the governor's close bond with Jones.

Gov safe until at least 2009

That political reality, in part, is what has given life to the recall movement. Both the House and Senate must pass the recall amendment by May 4 by three-fifths majorities in order to place it before voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.

If 60 percent of voters this fall were to approve putting a recall provision in the Constitution, the soonest Blagojevich could face a voter-led ouster would be in 2009 -- and then only after 416,000 signatures had been gathered. His current term ends in January 2011.

Opponents of the recall effort included an unusual mix of Blagojevich loyalists and some of the governor's harshest critics, including House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie).

Critics contended the plan --patterned after those in 18 other states -- would empower losing political candidates and special-interest groups angry at a politician's action.

"Recall is a seductive idea. Let the people speak. Hold the politicians accountable, 24/7, 365 days. But its promise, I believe, is deceptive, and it risks a properly functioning democracy," said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), who also voted no.

A Blagojevich spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

Historically, it is rare for constitutional amendments to pass one legislative chamber or the other and even moreso to pass both the House and Senate.

Last amendment was in '94

The last time a constitutional amendment passed either chamber was eight years ago.

The last time a proposed amendment was acted on by both the House and Senate and went before voters was 1998.

That year, addressing fallout from misconduct charges against then-Supreme Court Justice James Heiple, the Constitution was changed so that two non-judges could be added to the Illinois Courts Commission, a panel that disciplines judges.

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