Thursday, Apr. 26 2007
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A downstate resident who complained to his local lawmaker about his Ameren electric bill last week was so upset over the issue that police ended up at his door, confiscated guns from him and are continuing to investigate, several sources confirmed Wednesday.
However, state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, whose office fielded the angry call, said initial media reports that there was a death threat against himself and Senate President Emil Jones aren't accurate.
"There was never, ever a death threat. We just had a concerned person … who was upset about his Ameren bill,'' Forby said Wednesday.
He said the man, a Benton resident, did talk about Jones, and said things that raised concerns he might injure himself. "We thought there could be an issue with his safety … so we asked the state police to look into it,'' Forby said.
The incident, which began Friday and continued over the weekend, is the latest fallout from the electricity rate controversy that has raged in the Legislature this year.
That debate continues today, when a House committee is expected to take up a bill that would roll back and freeze rates for Ameren customers. Many believe that measure is ultimately doomed because of opposition by Jones, the Senate leader.
Forby and Jones, a Chicago Democrat, have been at the center of the rate controversy in recent weeks. Forby sponsored the Ameren rate-freeze bill that's now in the House. Jones, a rate-freeze opponent, sparked outrage Friday by using an obscure parliamentary maneuver to prevent ComEd from being included in that bill, an omission that could scuttle the whole rate-freeze proposal.
As that issue was playing out in Springfield on Friday, Forby said, a man called his district office in Benton and talked to a staff member there about the electric rate issue. Based on the tenor of that conversation, Forby said, his office alerted police. Police went to the man's house and confiscated several guns, according to local media and other sources.
An Illinois State Police spokesman confirmed Wednesday that there is an investigation but declined to provide further information. No charges had been filed in the case as of Wednesday afternoon.
A spokeswoman for Jones declined to comment.
Oh you are right again - NOT!