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Monday, Apr 2, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Blagojevich plan ups business tax provides property tax relief

* Governor will hit the road to promote business tax plan

* Democratic lawmakers lukewarm on tax plan

* Editorial: Poor business climate a threat to Illinoisans

* Opinion: Note how business owners are saving on power costs

* Casinos, lawmakers wary on smoking ban:

And Metro East legislators think they do. The Senate vote of 34-23 wasn’t divided along partisan lines, but regional ones, with border-area lawmakers largely opposing it. No Metro East-area legislator of either party voted “yes.” Several said afterward that they feared that a smoking ban on the two Metro East casinos would drive gamblers to Missouri’s casinos.

* Urban League’s new leader: Judge my accomplishments, not vision

* Training will help black with trades:

Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), Senate chairman of the caucus, said it was the first time since the 1970s that black political leaders in Illinois were able to meet with trade union representatives and work out a mutually agreeable plan to encourage more blacks to enter the field.

* Bill would force owner to sell â€˜Jewish Gracelandâ€™

* Tribune Editorial: Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in trouble

* State fund for warâ€™s dead out of money:

Twenty-two families are waiting for a combined $6.5 million in payments, as deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan outstripped the fund and the funding mechanism became mired in the state budgeting process in Springfield.

* Dennis Robaugh: Jessicaâ€™s Law status in Illinois Assembly

* Editorial: Inflamed illegal immigrant rhetoric does little to further health care debate

* Editorial: Lawmakers should put nose to grindstone

* Illinois Review: Evidence of intra-GOP arson on statewide smoking ban

* Illinois Review: Hunting rifle ban challenged by Illinois-based gun manufacturer

* `Cousins’ provision complicates gay unions bill

* Illinois Democratic leaders just canâ€™t seem to get along:

Earlier this year, Madigan laughed when asked if he trusted the governor to act responsibly with the stateâ€™s finances. A week later, Blagojevich torpedoed Madiganâ€™s pet program targeting predatory lenders.
Blagojevichâ€™s biggest ally on the business tax hike is Jones. And Jonesâ€™ Senate once added so much spending to a budget plan that Blagojevich publicly compared the Democratic senators to â€œdrunken sailorsâ€ engaged in a â€œspending orgy.

* A 20K â€˜tough schoolsâ€™ carrot

* Church opposes more time for sex abuse victims to sue

* Editorial: Driverâ€™s licenses for illegals can make roads safer for all

* 2nd ward runoff growing more heated

8 Comments

- Pat Hickey - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 8:03 am:
Paul,

Nicely balanced assortment of links. Old Increase Miller picked up a great apprentice - probably paying you in walnuts. Nice work.

- Cassandra - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:38 am:
Well, maybe the GRT property tax relief provision will result in a real estate boom in the areas getting the $600 million in property tax relief.

If I were starting out, I’d be more likely to look at an area with lower property values (and accompanying higher economic stress and crime) if
property taxes were substantially lower and there were substantial increases in school funding and performance. The performance bit, not the money, is the tricky part, though, what with the education unions’ stranglehold on quality and performance.

- Squideshi - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:19 am:
Why can Chicago have majority elections, using runoffs; but the rest of us have to deal with plurality winners, often with a small minority of the total vote?

- Honest Abe - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:49 am:
Why bother with creating certificates for “undocument immigrants” who operate cars without proof of insurance and driver’s licenses? Just let them use their Matricula Consular cards issued by the Mexican consulate.

- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:54 am:
What? No link to the 3-part Trib series on the population exodus from Cook County? Crikey, it was their headline story in Sunday’s paper, and continues today and tomorrow.

- i d - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:05 am:
People who are in this country illegally may sign up for the “certificate” to drive, but they are not going to continue to pay for insurance and be recognized on data bases as being illegal. I’ll beat this horse until one way or other, it is a dead issue.

- Squideshi - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:11 am:
Speaking of Democratic leaders, there is a story over at Insight Magazine that reports Al Gore is considering another run for the presidency in 2008, as the candidate of the Green Party!

- just say no - Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:43 pm:
Surprised that you didn’t include this in your stories on the 2nd Ward race:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070402fioretti,1,7344862,print.story?coll=chi-news-hed

NOW pulls endorsement of aldermanic candidate

The National Organization for Women’s Chicago chapter has again pulled its endorsement of 2nd Ward aldermanic candidate Bob Fioretti, saying he misled them regarding his relationship with a woman who filed an order of protection against him in 2003.

“Chicago NOW originally endorsed Mr. Fioretti based on the information he provided to us, but we now have discovered that he misled Chicago NOW regarding his relationship to the woman who filed the emergency order of protection,” Przekop said in the statement. “Mr. Fioretti has been less than forthcoming and after days of inquiries to his campaign we still do not know why.”

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