Illinois Senate To Override Governor's Veto Of Ethics Legislation SPRINGFIELD, IL (wsiu) - If the Illinois senate is to override the governor's veto of ethics legislation, how soon must they do it? That continues to be the question, and officials from all levels of state government are weighing in.
Attorney general Lisa Madigan says the issue of whether the 15 days the senate has to concur with the house on a veto override counts calendar days or session days has never been determined. She says relying on prevailing on the point that it is 15 session days would result in litigation that will stall this ethics reform for years.
Dozens of senators say they want a chance to override the veto and enact a law that bans political contributions by state contractors. The Illinois House of Representatives overrode the veto earlier this month.
Senate president Emil Jones says he has no plans to call the senate into session until Nov. 12.
The bill passed the General Assembly unanimously in the spring. Gov. Rod Blagojevich applied an amendatory veto that would expand the ban on contributions to include lawmakers and state political parties, neither of which oversees state contracts. The amendatory veto also would prohibit some employees of local governments from serving in the general assembly.
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