FAST-TRACKING ALPLM

Abraham Lincoln and the state lottery go together like, well, let’s face it. They don’t go together at all. But that hasn’t stopped House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, from tacking an overhaul of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum onto a bill that heretofore would have established a new scratch-off lottery game with proceeds dedicated to substance abuse recovery programs. Madigan’s amendment is designed to do the same thing that he’s been wanting to do for months: Wrest control of ALPLM from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and give power to an ALPLM committee that is now advisory. All 11 members of the new governance board would be appointed by the governor. Why not just introduce a new bill? A new bill would take at least three days to pass out of the Senate. By contrast, the Senate could approve Madigan’s amendment in a single day and send it to the House, which last spring approved the speaker’s preferred governance plan by a wide margin. The House State Government Administration Committee has scheduled a hearing on Madigan’s plan for next Wednesday, the first day of the veto session. IHPA board members have asked that lawmakers not do anything until an ad hoc committee issues a report on ALPLM governance in January, but Steve Brown, Madigan spokesman, allowed that the General Assembly could settle the governance controversy before the report is finished. “We’ve gone through a lot now, in terms of the back and forth,” Brown said. “I’m not sure exactly what a fresh report adds to the debate. … Anybody I’ve spoken with says something needs to be done.”