Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2006

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Illinois House approved a $56 billion state budget Wednesday that emphasizes education and public safety while leaving some major costs for future years.

The budget, which now goes to the Senate, includes money to expand preschool programs, offer more grants to college students and increase general education spending.

It also would allow for about 250 additional prison guards, specialized treatment for inmates addicted to methamphetamine, new state police cars and improvements in testing DNA evidence.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Budget trouble?; Lots of other budget stuff; TIFs (Use all upper-case in password)

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

First, the setup:

Blagojevich’s Republican opponent in the Nov. 7 election, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, called on Tuesday for a constitutional amendment to require that the budget be made public for a week before the Legislature could vote on it.

Topinka said the current system in Illinois - in which budget negotiations are conducted in secret between the governor and a handful of top lawmakers, then rubber-stamped by the Legislature - was “absolutely stupid.”

Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, dismissed Topinka’s proposal as “a gimmick.”

Read more here if you want.

Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?

UPDATE: And then there’s the little issue of how candidate Rod Blagojevich proposed a 48-hour budget review period when he was running for governor in 2002…

(I accidentally added this update to the wrong post earlier. Oops.)

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The Meeks beat

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Meeks talked to the press yesterday during an event with AFSCME.

State Sen. James Meeks on Tuesday still wouldn’t say if he plans to launch a third-party bid for governor.

“If I was going to run for governor, I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to give the answer standing on the sidewalk,” he said at a news conference outside an Illinois Department of Human Services office on the city’s South Side. […]

Meeks said Tuesday that a new poll he commissioned shows him taking voters away from the Republican candidate, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.

Capitol Fax subscribers saw that poll yesterday.

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C’mon, Sheila

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I missed this one yesterday. They really should at least try to tell some semblance of the truth at Blagojevich Central.

In the advertisement, an announcer says Topinka “sits on a board that oversees $10 billion in state pension investments,” and that “for 11 years, she’s never attended a single meeting. Not one.”

“That’s the kind of no-show job I’d like,” a man says in the ad, followed by the announcer saying, “Eighty missed meetings. What’s she thinking?”

Dave Loveday, Topinka campaign spokesman, said Monday it is “hypocritical of them to throw this out when she sends a representative, when he (the governor), too, is an ex officio representative” on boards he does not attend.

Sheila Nix, spokeswoman for the Blagojevich campaign, said “the key difference” is that Topinka is a voting member on the pension board, while Blagojevich appoints members of the tollway and university panels, but “he’s non-voting,” at least on the U of I board.

“If you appoint people to the board, … they carry out your priorities,” Nix said.

Actually, the governor is on each board “ex officio,” meaning by virtue of his office, but spokespeople at both boards say he is a voting member.

[Emphasis added.]

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Lane Evans open thread

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· Evans finally withdraws.

U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., submitted his official withdrawal from the November general election ballot in a letter sent Monday to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

When the letter is received in Springfield today, it will pave the way for Democrats in the 17th District to finalize the race for a replacement candidate.

Don Johnston, the 17th District state central committeeman, said a nomination meeting will be held in Galesburg about one week after Evansâ€™ official withdrawal. That meeting will be exclusively for the purpose of nominating and seconding candidates, with the actual voting by precinct committeemen done through a mail ballot sent out shortly after the meeting. […]

Although a judge, citing Evansâ€™ health problems, appointed his brothers as temporary guardians with the power to make decisions on financial and medical matters, the congressman did sign the withdrawal of candidacy form himself, his aides said.

Â· Meanwhile, a former Evans aide has endorsed Sen. John Sullivan for the spot.

Jeremiah Posedel, who also was the downstate director for U.S. Sen. Barack Obamaâ€™s 2004 campaign, said Sullivan would best represent the 17th Congressional District, which includes all or parts of 23 counties.

â€œIâ€™ve been to every single county in that district. I just thought John Sullivan was the best fit,â€ he said Monday. Posedel said that Sullivan, like Evans and Obama, is â€œabove a lot of the political fray.â€

Posedel, 27, was Evansâ€™ political director from 2001-04, and is now a law student at the University of Illinois at Champaign. He sent an e-mail over the weekend making the endorsement. The Sullivan campaign is expected to announce it later this week, he said.

Â· John Sullivan is profiled here and here.

What have you heard?

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Marin goes all-out

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I get the distinct impression that Carol Marin is not a happy camper.

If George Bush is the Great Decider, Rod Blagojevich is the Great Proposer.

Call a big news conference. Invite the press. Prop up all those good government types behind you for the photo op and look like you really mean “No more business as usual.”

And then, fast as you can say George Ryan, get back to business as usual. […]

I don’t know about you but I’ve had about all I can stand of charm and good hair in Illinois politics.

She even includes all of the governor’s contact information. Go read the whole thing. “Stinging” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

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Morning shorts

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· No longer just a rumor: Sheila Simon announces bid for mayor

Â· Midway lease clears House; Chicago could reap billions

Â· American Airlines to leave Midway

Â· Sun-Times: Topinka urged to back gov’s mercury plan… Medill: Topinka Joins Blagojevich In Call To Limit Mercury

Â· Illinois has no helmet requirement for motorcyclists

Â· Immigrant numbers by state

Â· Press worried Ryan judge, lawyers

Â· What they said

Â· Major congratulations to my buddy Ryan Hermes for his new promotion to Statehouse Bureau Chief for the Illinois Radio Network. Also, a big welcome to Melissa Hahn, who has joined the IRN Statehouse staff.

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