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* I interviewed Senate President Don Harmon earlier this month and he told me about the axe-throwing outings with Republicans. From Brian Mackey’s interview this week…
Mackey: I understand you and your fellow Senate Democrats invested a lot of time to try and build some areas of consensus with Republicans this spring. Did that actually start with an axe throwing outing in Springfield? Is that true? Did I read that correctly?
Harmon: It did. Somewhat organically, we were looking for opportunities to get together out of the Capitol, off campus and just socialize, get to know each other as people. And someone came up with the idea of going axe throwing on MacArthur Boulevard in Springfield. We ended up doing it several times in small groups. And I don’t give that all the credit for a good working relationship with the Republican caucus this session. But it’s certainly disarming when you get to play together a little bit in that context.
Mackey: Oh, ‘disarming.’ It’s going to come thick now, because I was gonna say something about axes to grind. Speaking of which, ultimately, you ended up not getting any Republican votes on the budget. Why, from your perspective, despite some effort, I understand and that was thought of to be a possibility, from your perspective, why didn’t that come together?
Harmon: Well, I do want to be clear, we’ve worked with the Republican caucus from the beginning. We involved them in the budget conversations all during the spring session. And frankly, we have a better budget because of it. There’s much input from the Republican caucus in our budget. In the end, we weren’t able to get the votes on the budget from Republicans. We weren’t able to cross the divide on a couple of non budgetary related items that they thought were precursors to supporting the budget. But I’m not discouraged. I think it was a process worth undertaking. And we’ll do it again next year.
Mackey: What did you learn about bipartisanship from this spring legislative session? Is that still a worthwhile goal? Because I mean, you’ve been in the Senate long enough, you know that that hasn’t always been the dominant, sort of prevailing attitude among senators.
Harmon: It validated for me my belief that bipartisanship is almost always better. There are certain issues where we’re just never going to see eye to eye. And that’s okay. In those cases, we have a strong majority elected by the people of Illinois and we’ll pursue those in a partisan fashion. But on the routine business of governing, we are always better off with a bipartisan coalition. And Brian, you know, 95 percent of what we pass in a typical session is bipartisan or unanimous. But on the tough issues, if we can get good people from both sides of the aisle to sit down eyeball to eyeball and work towards a compromise, we almost always get a better product.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* The Question: Do you have any suggestions for future Senate bipartisan outings? Snark is not exactly encouraged, but allowed since it’s a Friday afternoon in late June.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:07 pm
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Laser Tag / Paintball / Escape Room. A great way to get folks to cooperate/have a sense of humor.
Comment by Former ILSIP Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:12 pm
I’ve heard chainsaw juggling can be a good time.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:15 pm
Karaoke night.
Comment by Give us Barabbas Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:19 pm
How about the old fashion “lawn darts”?
Comment by Blackhawk Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:20 pm
Water Slide at Knight’s Action Park?
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:21 pm
Springfield area bar hopping. This time at real bars, not downtown establishments. Weebles one night, then Curve Inn the next, followed by Harrys Adult Day Care, then Crows Mill, etc.
Comment by Stuck in Celliniland Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:23 pm
I know they say it’s for kids but I am sure the Ninja Zone can accommodate them.
https://757zone.com/ninja-zone/
What do Ninjas do in class?
Learn Sweet Moves
Kick Stuff
Jump, Run, Flip, and Climb!
Compete in Cool Obstacles Courses
Might I also suggest up in Bloomington
Nerf Battle
https://ironcoyote.aluvii.com/store/shop/productdetails?id=1&productId=33
Comment by OneMan Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:23 pm
A make and take/crafting class
Comment by Squirrel Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:36 pm
Serving others. Without media to show off.
Comment by Bolingbrook party of 7 Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 12:36 pm
Demolition derby. Is Rauner’s old van still around?
Comment by very old soil Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:00 pm
Once the CPZ seat is filled the numbers will work out for the Senate to divide into teams of two Democrats and one Republican and go on a scavenger hunt to find Sen. Van Pelt.
Comment by The Opinions Bureau Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:03 pm
WhirlyBall, mixed teams. So some Dems and Repubs have to work together at all times, but they can also let off some steam and ram partisans on the other squad, too.
Comment by ZC Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:14 pm
A Cornhole contest. Because sometimes politics can be beanbag.
Comment by a drop in Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:30 pm
Habitat for Humanity build. Fosters teamwork and they can actually help a needy person.
Comment by Captain Obvious Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:51 pm
Slip ‘n Slide
Comment by Banish Misfortune Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:01 pm
All legislators should meet up in Sparta and partake in some shooting sports.
Comment by Anon123 Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:26 pm
The Annual Legislative Square Dance.
Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:28 pm
Have a good ‘ol fashioned Demolition Derby down at the fairgrounds.
Comment by In_The_Middle Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 3:48 pm
Noodling. Lake Springfield near the power plant.
Comment by It comes in peace Monday, Jun 26, 23 @ 3:13 pm