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Quigley Statement on Today's Action by State Legislature to Reform Cook County

October 14, 2009

WASHINGTON From his Capitol Hill office today, Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) issued the following statement following a vote at home by the Illinois House of Representatives to immediately reduce the extraordinary veto power of the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The bill reduces the threshold to override the President's veto from the current four-fifths majority (fourteen commissioners) to a three-fifths standard (eleven commissioners).

"I'm glad that the General Assembly is taking steps to protect both the wallets and best interests of our taxpayers. The fact that my constituents pay the highest sales tax in the country while their county also requires the most votes to override a veto is no coincidence. I've been fighting for this kind of reform since 2003. The balance of power has been out of whack for too long, and I hope this helps to restore fiscal sanity and common sense."

House Bill 4625 reduces the number of votes needed to override a presidential veto from 4/5 to 3/5. Unlike earlier iterations, if approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor, the bill would be effective immediately.

Quigley first wrote about the veto override issue in 2003, in his "Reinventing Cook County"report. In 2006, he joined State Representative John Fritchey to call for the reform once again. Perhaps forecasting what was to come with regard to the recent sales tax veto vote, Quigley commented in 2006 that "the time to change the override provisions and make other structural changes to county government is now and not after a crisis has arisen."

The four-fifths majority in Cook County is the highest threshold in the country. In all other counties in Illinois, an executive veto may be overridden by a three-fifths majority of the board. In the Illinois General Assembly, a three-fifths vote of both houses is required to override a gubernatorial veto. The U.S. Congress can override a presidential veto by a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.