SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 3 -- The Illinois House took action Tuesday that one lawmaker said amounts to 'a declaration of war' against Chicago, approving a bill that allows the state to take over Meigs Field, the downtown Chicago airport that Mayor Richard M. Daley wants to turn into a park. The measure, approved along party lines, is effective June 1.
It now goes to the Senate. Daley and Gov. Jim Edgar have been battling over the airport for months and the governor sought the takeover legislation after both federal and state courts refused to block Daley's plan to turn the land into a nature preserve. Edgar has said he is willing to compromise and reach a deal by which a park and airfield, which is used by corporate planes and the state's air fleet, could co-exist but Daley has said such an idea is impractical. Tuesday's action is seen as a political maneuver to force Daley to the negotiating table. Illinois Rep. Miguel Santiago of Chicago called the move political interference in a local issue, and he said the city likely would seek a court order to prevent the law from ever being enforced. 'When the sovereignity of a city is threatened, that is a declaration of war,' Santiago said. 'That is what has happened here.'
