SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A bill to ask voters to abolish Illinois’ lieutenant governor’s office failed to advance this year after lawmakers couldn’t agree on who should be the successor to the governor.
The bill easily passed the House but stalled in the Senate on Tuesday. Republican Sen. William Brady, the sponsor, wanted the governor’s successor to be the highest-ranking member of the governor’s party. He refused to proceed when his amendment failed.
As introduced, the attorney general would be next in line for the governorship.
Republican Rep. David McSweeney, the sponsor in the House, called Brady’s amendment “a poison pill” because if adopted it wouldn’t allow the House enough time to consider it before a Saturday deadline.
Brady says he wanted to address concerns a governor’s successor might be from an opposing party.
