One of the most important duties of the
Fraternal Order of Police is also one of the least glorious: dealing with the
state legislature.
Monitoring hostile legislation, fighting it,
keeping lawmakers informed of the FOP’s stance, and most of all, submitting our
own bills is a daunting task.
But Blue Voice presidential candidate Kevin
Graham has a plan to resurrect the FOP’s voice in the legislature after it has
been so badly diminished during the Dean Angelo administration.
It’s part of Graham’s plan to assemble a slate
of knowledge, experienced representatives, along with new members who have
established their own reputation of fighting for FOP members.
“In order to get the FOP back on track, I made
sure the right people were on our slate, people who will be working where they
belong. Fortunately, we have that with members like Mark Donahue,” Graham said.
Consider how badly the FOP has dealt with the
legislature under Angelo. For the first time in the history of the Lodge, the
FOP never submitted one bill to the legislature. Not one.
And, just as Angelo has never written a letter
to the editor of a newspaper, nor written a guest column, just as Angelo has
been the whipping post of the media, the wrongful conviction lawyers, and the
politicians, Angelo turned the Lodge into a whipping post for hostile
legislation.
What is the greatest sign of just how low the
FOP has sunk in the political world of the state legislators?
The Investigative Stop Reports (ISR). A two-page
monstrosity that virtually opens the door to the malevolence of the ACLU and
their armies of lawsuit-wielding attorneys.
The ISRs emerged without even a tepid fight from
Angelo and his private lobbyist.
Would the ISRs have come to be if Graham had put
his people in charge? It’s impossible to predict. But one thing is for sure:
The ISR reports would not have come to be without a powerful fight.
Angelo’s dismal failure with the state
legislature is one of many weak points in his administration. It’s a subject he
dances around with the lame deflection that his rivals in the election are
lying.
What lies?
In the face of his failure with legislature, Angelo
is clinging to another hopeful life raft this week. Angelo announced with great
fanfare that a bill to create a casino in Chicago passed the senate. A casino
bill becoming law would be a godsend for Angelo, because he traded $173 million
in pension contributions last year in exchange for revenue from such a casino.
Up until last week, that casino legislation had never gone anywhere.
But the casino bill has only passed the senate. That’s
a long way from getting through the full legislature.
And there is something Angelo neglected to tell
the membership when he blasted an email to the FOP members taking credit for it
passing the senate: The bill was proposed by the city, not by Angelo.
Talk about desperate. Angelo is now taking
credit for bills he didn’t even propose.
In any case, the casino legislation is now crucial,
directly tied to our pension funding.
Getting it passed is best left to experienced,
proven FOP reps who have the members’ best interests in mind, leaders like
Kevin Graham, not an incompetent amateur all too willing to roll the dice on
our pension security.
