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READER COMMENTS CLOSED UNTIL MONDAY AFTERNOON

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

IMPORTANT NOTE: Subscribers looking for late budget updates should go here and here. In case I update this weekend, the password will remain the same.

Also, Capitol Fax will be published Monday, but it probably won’t arrive until early afternoon.

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I feel like death. Sure glad it’s Friday. I may be updating over the weekend with new stuff about the budget talks, but right now I’m going to take a nap.

Barring updates, we’ll resume blog posts and comments early Monday afternoon, shortly before the House and Senate are back in session.

Do yourself a favor and head to Illinoize to check out all the new bloggers. They’re very good. Of course, our “old” bloggers are pretty darned good, too.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Leaders meeting reports *** Updated x12 *** (Now with full audio of both media availabilities)

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Cross presser; SDems; Corporate loophole survey; Generation tax roundup (Use all caps in password) *** Updated x2 ***

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Name one currently legal product or activity which you’d like the state to ban, and name one currently illegal product or activity which you’d like the state to legalize.

48 Comments

More audits, more bad news

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* First up, CMS…

For a second straight year, Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration has failed to renew hundreds of leases and keep up with rent and utility payments for private office space used by the state, a new audit showed Thursday.

Auditor General William Holland’s review of the controversial office-management agency, the Department of Central Management Services, found the department’s failure to promptly deal with billings from landlords and utilities resulted in eviction notices and disconnection notices for some state agencies.

* From the same story, Orlando Jones appears once again…

Meanwhile, a separate state audit of the Illinois State Board of Investment showed that Orlando Jones, the godson of former Cook County Board President John Stroger and a well-connected political insider, collected more than $471,000 in marketing fees from William Blair & Co. to promote the investment firm before the board. The state investment board is the oversight panel for state pension systems for lawmakers, judges and state workers.

Jones also has had business ties to Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a top fundraiser and adviser to Blagojevich who was indicted last fall on federal corruption charges. Jones was previously a vice president of Rezko’s real estate development firm.

* And then there’s Chicago State University, Senate President Emil Jones’ pet project. Maybe they have too much money there…

Even as Chicago State University faced budget pressures, the university’s president spent public funds to attend two extended “leadership seminars” aboard cruise ships in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, bringing five family members along on one, state officials said Thursday.

* More from the AP…

University president Elnora Daniel attended the cruises and on at least one, the room rate was 3,000 for the nine-day affair when $1,499 rooms were available, according to the report by Auditor General William Holland.

Five family members attended one or both cruises at state expense, a perk allowed by Daniel’s contract, which allows for $10,000 in travel for family members.

Thirteen charges to the university’s credit card totaled $3,932 for “various theatrical events,” including “The Lion King” and the Lyric Opera, but included no details or reasons for the spending, the audit found. Employees slept in hotel rooms whose rates exceeded the state limit; stayed past the end of conferences they attended; and were reimbursed for movies, gifts and alcohol.

* And check out the university’s laughable defense…

Robyn Wheeler, spokeswoman for the 6,600-student school, refused to answer specific questions about Daniel’s travel, the audit, or the $10,000 in family travel perks.

‘’The substance of the transactions represent valid university business,'’ Wheeler said.

* You can find all the above audits at this link.

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Leadership, or lack thereof

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My Sun-Times column this week is mainly about how long Speaker Madigan and Senate President Jones have been in power without producing results on an issue both claim to wholeheartedly support…

llinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was first elected to the House in 1970. I’m 45 now, so I was 8 years old at the time. Senate President Emil Jones was first elected to the House two years later, in 1972. I was in fifth grade. Both men have held legislative leadership positions for pretty much my entire adult life.

Madigan and Jones’ combined 70-plus years of experience can be a good thing. They’ve seen almost everything, so it’s tough for a lobbyist or a governor or anyone else to sneak something past them.

Lately, though, I’ve been getting the urge to change the channel and watch a new program. Over the years they have become little more than self-perpetuating power machines. Plus, the two men have so much history between them, much of it antagonistic, that they too often can’t seem to put aside their differences for the good of the state.

* My Sun-Times editor, Steve Huntley, has a column today about the lack of gubernatorial leadership, among other things…

All this doesn’t add up to the kind of leadership Illinois needs any time, but especially this year with pension, education and transportation funding in dire need of help. Because of a no-tax-pledge made in spite of mounting fiscal problems and in the face of ambitions by the governor and Democratic legislators for new spending, the campaign of 2006 has come back to haunt Springfield. Where all this will end is anybody’s guess, but it tells you a lot that lawmakers are talking about an expansion of gambling.

* The Sun-Times also runs an editorial today entitled “Get leadership failure off legislative agenda”…

Maybe a deal can still be reached to address the state’s funding problems, but it will take more flexibility and leadership than our government has so far displayed.

* And Eric Krol looks at why the governor’s tax plan tanked and includes this bit…

Where to from here? Looks like a session that’ll last half the summer, depending on whether Senate President Emil Jones decides to stand firm with ally Blagojevich (and is able to keep his members with him) or cut a scaled-back deal with House Speaker Michael Madigan.

* More tax and spend stories, compiled by our ever-popular intern Paul…

* Dem leaders finally talk budget, get nowhere

* Last minute jockeying in statehouse

* Budget meeting finally happens, leaders appear no closer to a deal

* Gambling emerges as key state budget item

* Blagojevich, Madigan, and Jones meet on budget

* Can Illinois bettors balance budget

* Some ready to bet on gambling

* Casino legislation back on the burner

* Looks like bet is off for Rockford casino

* Tribune Editorial: Illinois, Land of Baccarat?

* Editorial: Madigan speaks, cards are on the table

* AARP lobbies with apples for health bill

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Morning Shorts

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Innocent plea to bilking the state

Blagojevich and his staff said Mahajan’s long-standing, no-bid state contract preceded the relationship with the first lady and that there was no connection between the two. Blagojevich called the Tribune inquiry “Neanderthal” and sexist.

* AG Madigan denies Pepmeyer bias

* A look at why IL gas prices are higher than anywhere else

* Senator files measure to exempt casinos from smoking ban

* Illinoize: New boats

* Lawmakers push for casino exemption on smoking ban

* Ryan says he’ll be broke without pension

* Teen driving reforms nearly law

* Tribune Editorial: Limiting the collateral damage from guns

* House panel OKs bill to reimburse service groups

* Tollway gets green light for oasis hotels

Critics said the idea would put existing hotels at tollway interchanges at a disadvantage and could enable politically connected developers to find a new way to cash in on government business.

* State recognizes acts of courage

* Illinois officials optimistic on Mississippi River bridge

But a letter last month — disclosed this week — from Pete Rahn, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation, to his Illinois counterpart, Milton Sees, shows that Missouri is willing to back down on its position on tolls.

* Election Board privacy breach: lawsuit claims controversial data can be seen by all

* Michael Sneed: Phil Cline & Horse slaughter

* Illinoize: Illinois doctors wary on Wal-Mart clinics

* Illinoize: An unnamed public official

* Blagojevich OKs horse slaughter ban; more here and here

* Sun-Times Editorial: New York has a good tax idea, lets go green with envy

* CTA giving fare warning

* CTA presents doomsday scenario

* Local leaders decry CTA proposals; more here

* CTA threatens to raise fares

* Ald. sours on Bourbon St’ spirits around Wrigley

* Business owner admits role in Cook Co. fraud

* Editorial: Deteriorating services, twisting priorities are Stroger’s problems

* Surprise inspection finds Stroger Hospital lacking

* HDO member may change plea

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