Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks demonstrated for a second time that he won’t have a chapter in a book called “Illinois Profiles in Courage.”
When the bill to strip union negotiating power from Governor Bruce Rauner was first voted upon, Franks is listed as “Not Voting.”
In the original House vote on Senate Bill 1229, Jack Franks “took a walk” and did not vote.
Wednesday, when the roll was called down yonder, Franks followed the example set by State Senator Barack Obama.
He voted “Present.”
Jack Franks voted “Present” on the veto override of SB 1229.
Jack Franks
By not being part of a successful veto override, Franks probably has escaped the wrath of Governor Bruce Rauner.
Franks is vulnerable, at least in my opinion and as evidenced by his knocking on doors much earlier than normal.
If Rauner decided he would rather have a Republican in Franks’ district, he could have brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to a campaign for a Republican opponent.
Congratulations Jack!
You honestly believe we are so proud of you because you did NOT VOTE?
You embarrass your constituency.
Please, Please do not run again for this office.
I agree.
This just goes to show that Jack is no longer needed in Springfield!
Time for someone who will truly do our bidding down state.
Go Steve go.
So Senate Bill 1229 (SB 1229) fails.
So Governor Rauner can continue to negotiate with AFSCME state employees with the same collective bargaining rules that have been in place.
If Madigan wanted SB 1229 to pass, why would he call it to vote before he’s sure it would pass.
71 votes were needed in the House to override Governor Rauner’s veto of SB 1229.
Only 68 votes were attained.
@Mark: Madigan began the day thinking he had all 71 members of his caucus in the building.
When one didn’t show up for the vote, he lost his 71st vote and it was every person for him/herself. The Herald has the story here:
http://www.nwherald.com/2015/09/03/override-of-illinois-gov-bruce-rauners-afscme-arbitration-veto-falls-short/aezvzh2/
Madigan said that had he had a full caucus, he’d have had his 71 votes.
That means Franks was going to vote for override until he didn’t have to.
Another profile in political courage.
This quote from the NWH article tells it all:
Franks said after the vote.”
Now, how does that compute?
Without passage of SB1229, negotiations were between the Administration and the union.
In other words if he “wanted these guys to work it out” he would have voted against SB1229 AND he would have voted NO yesterday.
Those Republicans who have voted for Jack in the past can now claim they have supported a guy whose veracity, imho, is quite lacking.
But then, the Supreme Court has ruled that politicians may lie.
Another take on this: “I didn’t support the override, or either side” could be that he does not support the taxpayers.
In public sector negotiations there are two sides, those who fund the payment of wages and those who get them – taxpayers and unions.
Here was an opportunity for Jack to do the right thing but instead he hid!
The problem I have with unions in the public sector is that the union employees are FORCED to pay some of the taxpayer dollars they receive to the union which uses those dollars to get ‘union friendly’ candidates elected.
Cal: WRONG.
Madigan needed Franks vote and didn’t get it.
While We would all prefer that he would have led the fight to sustain the veto, he played his cards perfectly and has solidified his position as a bi-partisan statesman that both sides need.
When you consider how little Schaeffer, Klemm, Hughes, and Brown did during their decades on the public dole, except protect the gravel industry which destroys our roads and sends us the bill to rebuild them, Franks has made a career of bringing our tax dollars back to McHenry county.
Do you want someone smart running our county?
Jack Franks, Republican for County Board President.
It sounds so good.