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Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

UPDATE (4:45 pm): The House just adjourned the spring session. And it’s still daylight. Wow. The party will start around 6pm.

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ANOTHER UPDATE (3:45 pm): Sen. del Valle just emerged from the governor’s office and told reporters that he didn’t think there was a need for an amendment to the budget. He implied, but did not say explicitly, that he was speaking for all the Latinos. He was reportedly promised that there would be much improved communication with the governor’s office and some other stuff. Details later.

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VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE: Rumors are running wild today, so let’s try to clear up a couple of them.

1) Nobody got punched. Apparently there was a loud argument during the Senate Democratic caucus (over the Latinos’ refusal to vote for the budget) and two members took it outside. They were eventually separated and things have cooled off a bit.

2) No Latino legislators have been “escorted from the building” by security. The person rumored to have been hauled out of the governor’s office hasn’t even been to the governor’s office today and is on the Senate floor right now.

Now, back to the fun. And, please, don’t expound on those untrue rumors in comments. I’ll ban you from posting forever and hunt you down.

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UPDATE: Sen. Miguel del Valle is in the governor’s office now (3:20 pm). Madigan and Jones were both in there earlier.

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From the AP:

Senate President Emil Jones says he’s not worried that last-minute demands from some senators are stalling a budget vote.

He says he expects those issues will be resolved but he won’t say whether that will happen today.

The House approved the budget yesterday with all Democrat votes. But concerns from Hispanic Democratic lawmakers in the Senate about needing more education spending prevented a vote there last night.

Some Hispanic lawmakers say Governor Blagojevich should address their concerns.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Audio of Madigan vs. Cross (Use all upper-case in password)

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Budget; Madigan vs. Cross; Martinez; Meeks (Use all upper-case in password)

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Do you think Gov. Blagojevich’s TV ads are working yet? I’m told his own polling now shows him ahead of Judy Baar Topinka. James Meeks’ poll also showed Blagojevich leading.

Also, should Topinka respond now if she has the money or wait until the election is closer?

81 Comments

Ryan juror complains

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

This is interesting spin. “Don’t investigate others because I could get dragged into it.”

One of the jurors who convicted former Gov. George Ryan of racketeering and fraud jumped into the tormented aftermath of his trial Wednesday, telling a federal judge that the proceedings “are degenerating into a tug of war with the jury as the rope.”

“Ms. Losacco’s desire is to return to a normal life outside of the media and the judicial spotlight,” said attorneys for juror Leslie Losacco in a brief filed with the court.

They said interviews with dismissed juror Evelyn Ezell requested by Ryan’s defense team would be guaranteed to set off a chain reaction of events leading to a heavily spotlighted hearing on possible juror misconduct — wrecking Losacco’s hope to get back to her private life.

“Unlike Ms. Ezell, Ms. Losacco has turned down the opportunity to (get) her 15 minutes of fame — she has given no interviews,” attorney James A. Murphy said in a six-page memorandum.

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Claypool wonders who’s in charge

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I wondered if he’d ever get around to this.

After weeks of whispering about who is actually running Cook County government since Board President John Stroger suffered a stroke, a prominent Democrat raised the question in a public setting Wednesday.

“We don’t know, essentially, who’s running this government,” County Commissioner Forrest Claypool said during a board meeting.

Claypool, who lost to Stroger in the Democratic primary in March, asked for, but did not receive, information from the administration about who is making policy decisions.

“I think it’s an important issue to raise. I think it’s the elephant in the room,” said Claypool. “Right now it might appear, and may in fact be, that unelected bureaucrats are making critical, important decisions that should be made by elected officials as a matter of public policy.”

County officials responded by insisting that Stroger is still in charge, although last week Stroger’s son said his father was not running the county.

How long do you think should John Stroger should be given before he has to decide whether he returns to work?

Meanwhile, Sneed has this to say:

Sneed hears Ald. Todd Stroger (8th), son of ailing Cook County Board President John Stroger, is a shoo-in for his father’s job.

20 Comments

I-Pass chief resigns

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

More reform and renewal.

A state employee embroiled in a criminal investigation linked to a firm whose owners have been big political donors to Gov. Blagojevich quietly has left his $87,000-a-year post overseeing the state tollway’s popular I-Pass program.

Scott D. Okun resigned on March 22, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis said Wednesday. He had been on unpaid leave since early February, when tollway officials accused him of awarding I-Pass-related printing work to a firm that employed a relative of his.

Involved in the routing of that work was IGOR the Watchdog Corp., whose owners, Michael and Sherry Guthrie, have donated $76,000 to Blagojevich. Okun — who volunteered for the Blagojevich campaign in 2002 but is no longer active with it — oversaw IGOR’s contract to deliver I-Pass transponders to Jewel-Osco stores. […]

The DuPage County state’s attorney’s office is investigating the matter. Tollway officials initially said they weren’t aware of the probe, but McGinnis acknowledged Wednesday “we have been fully cooperative with the state’s attorney’s office.”

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Morning shorts

Thursday, May 4, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Â· Police in most DuPage County towns stopped a higher percentage of minority motorists last year than reflected in the racial makeup of their communities.

Â· Soda distributors to end most school sales

Â· Ryan juror wants her life back

Â· Illinois seeks experimental coal power plant

Â· Tuition, fees rise at both SIU campuses

Â· Senate passes tax cap reform

Â· The president of the Illinois Road & Transportation Builders Association has concerns about a longterm tollway lease

Â· NY Times favors “net neutrality.” So do I.

Â· Pretend pandemic: Crews practice for crisis in suburbs

Â· Feds sue firms selling phone records

Â· Program could bring jobs to East St. Louis

Â· Cook Co. may lose its 7% cap on taxes

Â· Topinka stumps in Shorewood

Â· How to pay for a new Mississippi bridge? A few ideas

Â· State submits site proposals for FutureGen

Â· Bill would boost court costs for tickets

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One down, one to go

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

AP:

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.)

68 Comments

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?

30 Comments

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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