Record General Assembly Session Ends And Rate Bill is Signed

After a Spring session that stretched well into Summer and was of unprecedented length, the Illinois General Assembly finally passed an operational budget and went home in early August. But it may be back soon to deal with the Governor's amendatory changes to the budget and perhaps to work on a budget for capitol projects.

In the end, the Governor signed the $59 billion budget but struck about $460 million in various spending line items. He characterized them as "pork". He also pledged to use his executive authority to scrape together about $500 million in spending for expanded health care in the state.

Senate President Emil Jones has said he will support the Governor. House Speaker Michael Madigan has held open the possibility he will move to override the Governor's veto and restore the struck funding. However, a House override without a comparable action in the Senate will leave the Governor's action intact.

Meanwhile, after weeks of delay, the Governor signed a bill that granted rate relief and some rebates to the state's investor-owned electric customers and that also creates a new Illinois Power Agency. The bill (SB 1592) was placed on the Governor's desk July 31 and he signed it August 28. Press reports also said the Governor would seek unspecified changes in the power agency provisions of the bill.

Now that the bill is law, ComEd and Ameren will begin their relief programs. From figures provided by the utilities, the majority of the rate relief will be targeted to the customers with the highest bills, especially all electric costumers. The approximately $1 billion in relief is front loaded over the first two years then decreases. By the end of the fourth year, rates are to be back to the prevailing market level. It is hoped, according to various officials, that the new power agency will be successful in negotiating prices that will be lower than those that the previous reverse auction would have produced.