Granberg

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois state Rep. Kurt Granberg, D-Carlyle - one of the few House members who has remained in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s corner during the tumultuous past two years - resigned his seat last night, less than two weeks before he was to formally end his 20-year legislative career.

Granberg didn’t run for re-election last year, and was expected to join Blagojevich’s administration this year, after the new General Assembly is sworn in Jan. 14. In a conversation outside his Statehouse office just now, Granberg told me his decision to step down now instead of finishing out his term wasn’t because he wants to avoid having to vote on Blagojevich’s impeachment in the next few days, as some are speculating.

“That had nothing to do with it,” Granberg said. He said it was because he discovered that his state health insurance coverage ended on Dec. 31 because he’s an outgoing lawmaker.

Granberg had planned to promote downstate economic development from a post within the Blagojevich Administration, a plan that’s obviously on hold now as the impeachment drama unfolds. When I asked him if he’d talked to Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn about working for him if he ends up replacing Blagojevich, Granberg laughed and said, “Pat and I don’t get along.”