* 5:34 pm - Senators are trickling into the chamber, so let’s open up a new thread. It could be an interesting evening as the Democrats may attempt to move a budget, the governor’s health care bill, a 90 cents per pack increase in the cigarette tax and the rate relief legislation. We can probably expect a long wait while the two parties caucus, however.
Also, if you’re just joining us, or missed part of the old thread, there’s been an update on the Cardinal George story. Despite the repeated insistence by the governor’s office that the Cardinal was calling Senate Democrats on behalf of the Illinois Covered plan, and other sources reporting the same thing, a lobbyist for the Catholic Conference said several minutes ago that to his knowledge, the Cardinal “has had no direct communication on this issue at this time” and it was “unknown” if he would.
Some other big news in the old thread which kinda got buried is that Congressman Ray LaHood is planning to announce his retirement tomorrow. Word is that Rep. Aaron Schock is giving the race a close look, which would be very bad for the Illinois House GOP since Schock’s district is so heavily Democratic.
* 5:45 pm - Sen. Rickey Hendon is in the chair and just said that the Senate would be taking votes very soon. The Rules Committee is about to meet.
* 5:48 pm - I’ve told Paul to abandon his post and head to Boone’s. No sense in making him wait around. So, the party will start soon. Get over there and buy the guy a beer if you can.
* 5:56 pm - Interesting news from the Daily Herald…
Suburban lawmakers are on the verge of cutting a deal to raise the sales tax by a half-cent to bail out the CTA, Metra, Pace and build more roads.
A quarter-cent would go to keep trains and buses running, while the other quarter cent would go to suburban counties to build new roads and widen existing ones. […]
Initial suburban opposition was quelled Wednesday as the RTA cut the amount of cash going to the CTA, raised the amount going to Metra and Pace and required Chicago taxpayers to pony up much more in the form of a real estate transfer tax.
* 6:06 pm - House Republicans voting “Yes” on the electric rate relief bill: Bost, Cole, Coulson, Cultra, Durkin, Hassert, Bill Mitchell, Moffitt, Munson, Myers, Pritchard, Reboletti, Sommer, Tracy, Watson.
U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood says he will retire next year after seven terms in Congress.
The Peoria Republican said in an interview Thursday with Peoria radio station WCBU that he decided to move on after 30 years in politics.
*** 6:38 pm *** The Senate has approved the electric rate relief bill 40-13-1. You can find the roll call here. It now goes to the governor.
*** 7:10 pm *** The Senate has adjourned for the evening without taking up the budget bills or the health insurance bill - or anything else beyond several resolutions. That’s it for me. Time to head to the party.
It looks like a vote on the electric rate relief package will be coming this afternoon. […]
A source tells me that [problems] should be ironed out soon and the relief plan should pass both the House AND Senate today.
*** 2:11 pm *** It looks like the Senate has a new amendment that increases the proposed cigarette tax increase from 75 cents a pack to 90 cents a pack. The old amendment imposed a 37.5 mills per cigarette tax increase, while the new amendment proposes a 45 mills increase. It also has this language…
The county board of any county may, by ordinance or resolution, impose a county cigarette tax upon any person engaged in business as a retailer of cigarettes in a county located in this State. If imposed, the tax may not exceed the rate of 100 mills per cigarette sold or otherwise disposed of in the course of such business in this State.
[Adding… 100 mills would be $2 a pack.]
Meanwhile, Health care providers have been asking for an increase in their reimbursement rates as part of any agreement to support the governor’s health insurance plan. (The Illinois State Medical Society filed in opposition to the insurance bill this week, however.) That same Senate amendment would create a new “Healthcare Provider Relief Fund.” According to the amendment, 17 percent of the cigarette tax money raised will go into that fund.
* 2:27 pm - An amendment to be taken up in Senate Executive Committee at 3 pm will raise the state’s borrowing authority to $34,348,149,369 from $27,658,149,369 - if you’re having trouble reading those big numbers, the increase is about $6.7 billion.
* 2:29 pm - The Illinois House is debating the electric relief bill. Listen here.
* 2:37 pm - The Senate plans to runs its budget proposal through the Approriations 2 Committee today at 3:30 pm. Download the proposal here and here.
*** 3:11 pm *** Bringing out the big guns. The governor’s office confirms that Cardinal Francis George is telephoning some Senate Democrats (Catholics, of course) to urge them to change their minds and vote for the governor’s health insurance bill. He appears to be making progress.
The governor asked the Cardinal earlier today to make the calls.
******************
5:18 pm UPDATE: The governor’s office has insisted, and did so yet again a few minutes ago, that the Cardinal made the calls, and other good sources backed that up. But I got through to the Catholic Conference a bit ago and was given this statement by one of their lobbyists:
“To my knowledge, he has had no direct communication on this issue at this time.”
The lobbyist added that it was “Undetermined” whether the Cardinal will make calls on this bill.
Contacts were apparently made by the Cardinal’s staff, however. Sorry about that.
******************
* 3:49 pm - The president of Dominick’s Finer Foods has released a letter praising the governor’s health insurance plan, but offering some additional suggestions. It’s not the Cardinal, but it’s something.
* 4:01 pm - The Daily Herald has a story up about the new cigarette tax hike…
Told Thursday that their 75-cent cigarette tax increase likely won’t bring in as many millions as first predicted, Senate Democrats responded by adding another 15 cents to make it a 90-cent per pack hike. […]
As proposed, all other counties in the state would gain the same authority to impose up to a $2 per pack tax as well. DuPage County has been lobbying lawmakers for this in an effort to try to fill its budget shortfalls. […]
Raising the tax another 15 cents would bring in nearly $50 million more.
*** 4:48 pm *** Rumors have been circulating in Washington, DC that Congressman Ray LaHood will announce his retirement tomorrow. A very top source with close access to LaHood says that will, indeed, happen. More later, perhaps.
*** 4:49 pm *** The House has approved the electri rate relief bill 80-33.
Adding… The roll call can be found here.
* 4:59 pm - The House has adjourned until tomorrow morning.
A Peoria County juvenile court judge, Albert Purham, Jr., would not allow a blogger, Elaine Hopkins for Peoriastory.com, to observe and cover a July 25 juvenile court hearing. He ruled that a blogger is not a journalist under Illinois law.
Juvenile court is closed to the public in Illinois, but by law is open to journalists.
Operating a a “so-called blog” doesn’t make the person a journalist, Purham said.
Before the ruling he consulted the lawyers in the courtroom. A lawyer for the parent in this child welfare case had no objection, and her client, Lorraine Singleton who lost her children in 2003 and is trying to get them back, also had no objection.
But assistant state’s attorney Susan Lucas objected, as did an unidentified female lawyer apparently representing the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
An explanation that Peoriastory.com has operated since February 2007, has business cards, and is run by Hopkins, a former newspaper reporter known to court personnel, did not sway the judge.
One wonders what Judge Purham would have done were he a judge decades ago when the first radio journalists began doing their jobs. Most early broadcast reporters were, like Elaine, veterans of the print world who were trying their hand at a new exciting way to distribute the news. Would Purham have turned away young Walter Cronkite, a United Press reporter before he became Uncle Walter?
What makes a person a journalist isn’t the particular media he or she uses to disseminate the news. It’s the fact that they are disseminating the news to a mass audience.
My own advice to all bloggers who are doing legit journalism and want to avoid problems with jerks like Purham: Join the National Writers Union. Dues are relatively inexpensive and they have a vetting process for issuing press passes, so their approval adds substantial weight when dealing with those unfortunate souls who are still living in the 20th Century. There are other benefits as well. I’m a member.
*** UPDATE 1 *** YDD makes an excellent point in comments about this issue by citing state law [705 ILCS 405/1-5(6)]
The general public except for the news media and the crime victim, as defined in Section 3 of the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act, shall be excluded from any hearing
Which YDD points out means…
I don’t think you’ll find anyone on the street today who would disagree that the Internet is a medium for news. Whether a blogger fits the definition of “journalist” is another question, but a completely irrelevant one under the law.
This Act shall be liberally construed to carry out the foregoing purpose and policy.
YDD…
In other words, when in doubt, use the most liberal interpretation.
*** UPDATE 2 *** This was no run of the mill hearing. The grandmother of the girl in question claims she was abused in a foster home and has criticized a local judge. Elaine Hopkins, the blogger who was banned from the courtroom, is a former journalist and has covered the story on her blog…
Crystal Clark has settled down in front of the Peoria County courthouse, on the corner of Main and Jefferson, to protest the treatment of her grandchildren in foster care, and the refusal of Chief Judge Rick Grawey to meet with her group to discuss child welfare issues. […]
She said her grandchildren had been found to be dehydrated at the hands of foster parents, and she plans to refuse both food and water to call attention to their treatment. […]
Clark’s daughter lost the children when she was sent to prison for petty theft, but the children remained in the home they all were sharing with Clark. Then the children were removed from Clark’s care by a Catholic Social Service caseworker and placed in foster care. […]
While in foster care the children were abused, she said, and placed in several homes including one condemned by the the city of Peoria, before landing in foster care in a rural Peoria home. They have not been taken to their own church, she said, adding religious discrimination to the list of problems.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Google News is not 100 percent comprehensive, but it appears that the story about the foster care case is not being covered by the local media. I also have found no mention of the main players on the Peoria Journal-Star’s website.
Elaine Hopkins appears to be the only media person in the area who’s expressed any interest in this case. Without her reporting, nobody is gonna know anything. Maybe that’s how the Peoria judges like it.
Instead of the standard question today, I’d like to ask you a favor.
My intern Paul Richardson’s last day is tomorrow. He may be sticking around to do Morning Shorts for a while, but he’s leaving town on Saturday. Here’s what I wrote about him in this morning’s Capitol Fax…
My faithful and trusted intern, Paul Richardson, is leaving us tomorrow. Paul is going back to UIUC to finish his master’s degree and then perhaps to law school. I don’t know what I’m gonna do without that young man. He’s been a real treasure. Dependable, smart, honest, you name it. If you’re in Springfield this evening, head to Boone’s after session and help us send Paul off with gusto.
First, please try to make it to Boone’s tonight if you can.
Second, let’s all wish Paul well in comments. Thanks.
* Jack Darin of the Sierra Club describes a completely overlooked aspect of the electric rate deal…
…the General Assemlby is poised to approve a mandate that 25% of our electricity come from clean, renewable sources like wind by 2025; and to require that utilities plan for helping us customers use less energy.
The environmental benefits of the clean energy pieces of the rate deal are as significant as the shift in the politics of environmental protection in Illinois.
* Meanwhile, the Republicans are still complaining about the proposal, which cleared a House committee yesterday on partisan lines…
Republicans opposed the deal during Wednesday’s hearing, saying that the $1 billion wasn’t enough and that the state’s attorney general shouldn’t drop lawsuits against the utility companies.
Republicans also complained that Democrats kept them out of the negotiating process.
“It was my understanding that the door was open,” state Rep George Scully, D-Flossmoor, said.
Even though Democrats control the state House and Senate, Republican opposition could block the deal’s approval in the House.
Republican votes are needed to pass the plan if the [House] chamber votes, as planned, on Thursday. Republicans complained in committee that ComEd is helping to underwrite relief for Downstate consumers served by Ameren Corp. and they questioned how much the package would help individual consumers.
“It’s chump change,” said Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria. “I get to tell all these constituents whose bills have doubled and tripled and quadrupled that they get eight bucks a month in relief?”
One controversial portion of the deal that’s unsettling to some is that the state would dismiss six lawsuits brought against the utilities and power companies as a result of the September power auction. That includes the case filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office that alleged the power companies colluded to set electricity prices that robbed customers of an extra $4.3 million.
Rep. Jim Durkin, a Western Springs Republican, was one of the skeptics. “How’s the public protected by not following through and getting to the bottom of each one of these lawsuits instead of just dismissing them with the signing of this letter of understanding and the passage of this legislation? How in good faith can the state of Illinois settle those two cases when you have made serious allegations of manipulation and fraud upon the public?” He was the lone Republican to vote “present” in committee because he said he supported offering rate relief but didn’t like the process of coming to this deal.
Susan Hedman, senior assistant attorney general, justified the dismissal of the lawsuits by saying her office believed rate relief was needed now and that the procurement of power needed to be reformed for the future. “There’s a tradeoff between getting relief up front and waiting. If we do not get reforms in the procurement process now, it would mean that every year that we’re litigating that case, there could be another reverse auction with the danger of the same problems that we observed last time.” She later cut someone off and said, rather bluntly, that without dismissal of the lawsuits, “the deal falls apart.”
“I am told that there are some Republicans that plan not to vote for the rate relief for electric ratepayers,” said Madigan, who supports the deal. “And if there are Republicans, especially from the Ameren service territory, that are going to vote against rate relief, why, I welcome them to do it.”
* John Patterson has an excellent story on the cigarette tax today. As you already know, the bill passed a Senate committee yesterday…
There’s a cycle that’s developed with state cigarette tax policy. The state raises the tax, rakes in the added millions, watches it begin to drop off after a couple years and then pushes another tax increase.
This cycle has played out at least three times since the early 1990s.
The last state cigarette tax increase was 40 cents per pack, approved in 2002. It increased the state’s tax take by 33 percent. But by 2005, cigarette tax revenue plunged 14 percent, followed by a 2.7 percent drop in the 2006 budget year.
The result? The latest push for a cigarette tax increase, this time on the heels of a statewide ban on smoking in public places such as restaurants and bars.
Critics said the volatility shows why the tax is a bad idea. Supporters said it’s still better than raising other taxes.
* I’m probably quoting too much, but I just had to add this tidbit from Patterson’s piece…
However, later that same year [2002], Blagojevich’s campaign waylaid Republican nominee Jim Ryan when Ryan suggested he’d consider raising sin taxes to balance the budget if elected.
“Name a kind of tax (increase), Rod is opposed to it,” Blagojevich’s campaign spokesman told the Daily Herald in October 2002.
Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, has previously opposed cigarette tax hikes, including in 2005 when Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposed an identical increase.
“President Jones is behind it,” said Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, a member of Jones’ leadership team. “He wants it moved, and he wants it passed.”
Asked why Jones has had a change of heart, Link said, “It’s July 25th, and there’s a lot of change of hearts around here.”
The Illinois Department of Revenue said it supports the proposed cigarette tax, straying away from the governor’s campaign pledge not to sign any legislation that would increase sales tax. “This is different than the sales tax,” said Larry Doll, spokesman for the department. “It’s an excise item. It’s different than a general sales tax. A sales tax is applied to all items included necessities. People need food, clothing, what have you, whereas I don’t think you can make the same argument for cigarettes.” Doll also said it’s his understanding that the governor would sign the legislation if it wins approval.
* The Senate Democrats are talking about passing a budget of their own this week…
Meanwhile, a key budget negotiator for the Senate Democrats said his caucus is crafting its own full-year budget that they hope to pass by the end of the week and send to the House. Even some Democrats said the proposed spending plan is unrealistic, though, since it is balanced using revenue from a massive expansion of gambling that is stalled in the House. […]
“Something will be done before the end of the week,” pledged Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, a key budget negotiator for the Democrats. “It will be a balanced budget based on revenue streams that have already been passed or will be passed.”
That includes more than $2 billion from a massive expansion of gambling in Illinois. The Senate approved the expansion — which adds new casinos and allows existing casinos to expand — but the House has not taken up the bill. Madigan has said he doesn’t think the House will pass an expansion bill that includes new casinos.
Trotter said the Senate Democrats’ plan will increase school spending by $900 million, fully fund pensions and pay raises and provide additional money for Medicaid payments.
“We do not anticipate needing Republican votes (to pass it),” Trotter said.
* But the Sun-Times has the real story on its chances, as well as the prospects for the governor’s health insurance plan, which aren’t exactly great…
But Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) indicated he likely would not support the Jones-crafted spending plan as configured if it was “not a compromise budget that we can send to the governor.”
Sen. Louis Viverito (D-Burbank), an ally of Madigan whom Jones kicked out of leadership meetings, said he would be another no vote on a Jones budget.
“The budget he’s proposing is unrealistic. It’s a fairy tale,” said Viverito, who was angrily confronted on the Senate floor by Jones after Viverito made his views known during the private Democratic meeting.
The votes also appear well short of what is needed in the Senate for Blagojevich’s less-expensive, health-care plan. Legislative sources said the $1.2 billion plan has only about 25 votes in the Senate. Thirty are needed to pass it to the House.
Capitol Fax reported on that 25 figure yesterday, but the governor’s people insist they’re getting closer to passage. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, a stripped-down version of the governor’s health care expansion plan won approval in a Senate committee. It would cost about $1.2 billion, down from its original $3 billion.
The plan would levy a 3 percent tax on businesses that spend less than 4 percent of their payroll on health insurance.
Opponents said it would hurt small-business owners whose margins may be too small to pay for the program.
State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, scolded supporters for not offering enough details about how the plan would work.
“You can’t even tell me how many businesses you’re going to tax?” he asked.
Under a 2003 law, state agencies were responsible for running software programs designed to clean hard drives 10 times on each machine they were sending to CMS for disposal or resale.
But in 2005, Auditor General William Holland’s office examined 50 computers ready for resale and found 15 still had sensitive state data on them. Holland would not reveal what was found but said it would be “publiclyembarrassing” and could cause a security breach.
The memo from CMS Acting Director Maureen O’Donnell said during the fiscal year that ended in June 2006 — more than a year after the audit — 4 percent of the 10,000 computers that CMS processed contained data that
violated the law. Another 900 could not be turned on to see if they were clean, so they were not resold.
* Editorial: Huffing and puffing over smoking ban will pass
* Editorial: Don’t water down statewide smoking ban
State Rep. Patrick Verschoore, D-Milan, is proposing that the ban not take effect in casinos for five years or until smoking is banned in casinos in neighboring states.
Verschoore’s Quad City-area district includes Casino Rock Island. Iowa does not have a statewide smoking ban.
Harrah’s Metropolis Casino, located across the Ohio River from Kentucky - which also does not have a smoking ban - is planning to offer a smoking area that would not be affected by the Illinois ban but would be protected from the weather and “temperature controlled.”
The North Shore, once heavily Republican, has changed politically since 2000, when Kirk succeeded his former boss, longtime Republican Rep. John Porter. A majority of the area’s state legislative districts are held by Democrats, and presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry carried the 10th District in 2004.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of Democrats in the House, has taken notice and put a bull’s-eye on Kirk.
* 10:58 am - Chicago TV stations 2, 5 and 7 have all sent crews to Springfield. The Chicago TV people think something is about to happen. They’re gonna be sorely disappointed [or maybe not - see the next post]. Still, they did manage to get interviews with the governor yesterday, so the trip hasn’t been a total loss. Perhaps that’s why there was no leaders meeting yesterday. The guv may have been just too busy with the TV guys.
* 11:37 am - The Senate just waived posting requirements so that the cigarette tax hike bill (HB 556, SA 1) could be heard in the Senate Revenue Committee at 12:45.
Also, Senate Public Health Committee will meet at 1:15 today to take up the governor’s retooled health insurance bill.
The Senate Dems will hold a caucus later today on the health insurance bill, followed by session. If they have the votes, we could see some action today. I’ll bet that will be a pretty rough caucus meeting.
* 11:50 am -LOL. No wonder the governor’s campaign spokesman didn’t return a message I left about this item…
Only days after Antoin “Tony” Rezko was indicted on federal corruption charges last fall, Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign moved quickly to try to limit the fallout and gave to charity political donations directly linked to one of the governor’s former top advisers and fundraisers.
But one charity eventually turned down the tainted money and sent the Blagojevich campaign a check back in March for $44,846.03, according to state-mandated campaign disclosure reports the governor recently filed.
Officials for the Texas-based Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, now known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, said they returned the money because they do not accept political funds. […]
Despite the Komen foundation’s explanation, state campaign disclosure records for the past seven years show the foundation and its Illinois affiliates previously accepted $2,110 in politician’s cash, ranging from an ad in a program book to fundraising tickets to outright donations.
* 11:56 am - The IL GOP has a new blog. What do you think?
* 12:25 pm - The governor has already said (to me, at least) that he will back a cigarette tax increase. The Tribune just got his spokesman on record as well…
“Yes. We support it,” said Rebecca Rausch, Blagojevich’s spokeswoman. “We’d like to see the money raised from the cigarette tax go to something like education or perhaps even health care.”
* 12:31 pm - The indispensible Billy Dennis, aka Peoria Pundit, is having serious computer problems and could use some help. If you have a few extra bucks, drop it in his tip jar. Thanks.
* 1:26 pm - There will be no leaders meeting today. They haven’t had one of those in awhile.
* 1:39 pm - Not exactly a huge surprise…
Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado Announces his Candidacy for Congress
“During my twelve years as a Cook County Commissioner of the 8th District (which includes nearly half of the 4th Congressional District), I have championed legislation that brought homeowners tax relief, won workers a living wage, and passed numerous initiatives, including a mail order prescription drug program, that have opened the public health system for uninsured and underinsured families and seniors. I have successfully secured passage of several measures supporting immigration reform, and, recently, I claimed victory in declaring Cook County a “Fair and Equal County for Immigrants.”
*** 2:06 pm *** The Senate Revenue Committee just approved the cigarette tax hike6-3 on a straight party line vote. One Republican (Sen. Murphy) was absent.
The governor’s revamped health insurance plan is up next in the Public Health Committee, which is meeting in the same room.
* 2:35 pm - The Illinois Republicans have posted the video from last night’s “Chicago Tonight” episode featuring House Republican Leader Tom Cross and Senate GOP Leader Frank Watson…
* 3:00 pm - Paul had this scoop the other day and I didn’t have room for it. Sorry, buddy…
With the formal announcement last week by Chicago attorney Jim Capparelli that he was throwing his hat into the ring, it appears Cong. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) will have two opponents in the Democratic primary race set for Feb. 5, 2008.
About 250 people turned out to hear Capparelli make his official declaration of candidacy at a party held last Thursday evening at the Argo-Summit American Legion Post, 6050 S. Harlem Ave.
Western Springs resident Mark Pera, a Cook County assistant state’s attorney, had already declared his candidacy in the district, which takes in many of Chicago’s southwest suburbs, including Burbank, Bridgeview and Oak Lawn, in addition to several neighborhoods on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
Republicans on the committee opposed the bill. They were skeptical about the revenue estimates, especially since studies show higher cigarette taxes prompt people to quit smoking.
Bill Fleischli of the Illinois Association of Convenience Stores said higher cigarette taxes in Illinois will cause more people to stock up in neighboring states.
*** 3:42 pm *** The Senate Public Health Committee is still taking testimony on the governor’s revamped health insurance proposal, but some Senators had to leave so they took a roll call. It passed, along party lines, 7-4.
* 3:48 pm There’s a bit of a tussle at the committee hearing now because the vote was taken before opponents had a chance to testify. Not that it would’ve mattered.
Yesterday, I asked what you thought was the most corrupt organization or entity in the state.
Today, I’d like to know what you think is the least corrupt (or even most honest, if you’d go that far) entity in Illinois. Like yesterday, it doesn’t have to be a political or governmental entity.
“I don’t think we’re anywhere closer than we were a week or two or three or four months ago. We’re in suspended animation. We’re going nowhere fast,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.
‘’I think the problems that exist with the budget still exist,'’ said state Rep. Gary Hannig, a Litchfield Democrat who serves as point man on budget issues for House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes says the state could keep operating for at least another week after the state’s spending authority expires on August 1.
But, Hynes insists he needs a budget outline by August 8 in order to send out the first round of school aid payments. After that, the comptroller said he needs money to pay state workers by August 9.
“We are in suspended animation,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego. “The only way we’re going to get something done is to find ourselves in a crisis situation. There’s no pressure to get anything done.”
Legislators are human beings, and humans don’t usually take big actions unless some sort of deadline is hanging over their heads.
“We’re going to break a record in terms of having the longest overtime session here in Illinois and I take pride in that because I’m not interested in settling for any old budget that doesn’t do anything for people,” Blagojevich said Tuesday. “Whether we finish tomorrow, next week or next month or however long, at the end of the day it’s what we do for people that matters.””
The governor had scorn for general assembly Democrats who have speculated that Blagojevich might eventually go along with the income tax increase being pushed by House Speaker Michael Madigan.
“I’ll veto anything that they pass along those lines, and if they were to somehow override a veto, I’d keep them in special session to undo that,” Blagojevich said.
No Democrats are saying that the governor would go along with an income tax hike. I don’t know where that question came from. And the governor has no power to compel members to attend a special session. All it takes is two people in each chamber to convene the specials and adjourn them sine die.
* I thought I had a scoop this morning about the cigarette tax proposal, but the Tribune also got the story…
- The state’s cigarette tax would increase by 75 cents under a measure Senate Democrats are pushing as Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the General Assembly struggle to find a way out of the overtime standoff that enters a record 55th day on Wednesday.
The proposed cigarette-tax hike represented the latest move in an elusive search for new revenue that could grease a budget deal, but it would not be enough on its own to satisfy some demands for spending.
A 75-cent-a-pack increase on cigarettes would place Illinois among the highest in the nation for state tobacco taxes. The move comes on the heels of the success of the anti-smoking advocates who this week saw their longtime push to have a smoking ban in Illinois signed into law.
Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), sponsor of the measure going before the Senate Revenue Committee on Wednesday, said the tax would produce about $304 million a year but provide benefits far beyond dollars.
The Senate Democrats as a caucus are not “pushing” the tax hike yet, as subscribers know. But we could see a vote on this bill in today’s Senate Revenue Committee.
* Speaker Madigan said last weekend on WBBM Radio’s “At Issue” program that he could support a cigarette tax hike to fund healthcare expansions, so the idea is definitely alive and well.
* More from the Trib story…
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) said a cigarette tax increase would find a receptive audience in the House because some lawmakers already are talking about raising cigarette or liquor taxes as a source for more money.
That liquor tax idea has been floating around for several days. When the Legislture is looking for more money in an overtime session, nobody is safe from higher taxation.
* The reaction to the electric rate deal is pretty interesting. The deal provides substantial relief this year to people, but only as a percentage of their bills. Some see the lowball dollar figures bandied about by Republicans and others and believe they’re getting the shaft…
“I think there’s some concerns about it,” House GOP Leader Tom Cross of Oswego said Tuesday. “In some areas, we’re talking about (relief worth) $7 a month. I think people are expecting these great big relief packages, and I don’t think they’re going to happen.”
“It sounds like a lot of money,” he added. “But when you break it down, it’s not that much money.”
* All the hype in the media about the rate hikes helped fuel expectations of big dollar rebates. But, in reality, ComEd’s increases weren’t all that spectacular…
But typical ComEd customers saw their power bills increase roughly $15 a month, company officials said. The latest deal would provide $7 monthly credits and customers would get a lump-sum credit of nearly $50 on their September bills to cover January through July.
* It all depends how you look at it. A 50 percent or more reduction in the increase sounds like a lot of cash, and it’s complicated for the mathematically challenged who think this means a 50 percent reduction in their actual rates. This goes to show that people don’t really know how much they’re paying every month…
The result, Ameren Illinois President Scott Cisel said Tuesday, will be electric bills this year that for most customers are higher than last year’s by 10 percent to 30 percent — but are below the 40 percent or 50 percent hike or more that was common in recent months.
* The push for a rate freeze, particularly Downstate, probably raised expectations way too high. And since coverage always follows conflict, the greatest nay-sayers are the ones who will get the most press…
State Rep. Bill Black (R-Danville) mocked the relief package, which was crafted by Democrats.
“This isn’t any rate reduction. This isn’t any solid money in their pocket,” Black said.
* And here’s something else that the press isn’t covering. Since the new bill does away with the disastrous and stupid reverse power auction crafted by the goofs at the ICC, consumers will be spared from yet another huge rate hike next year, when the second reverse auction was scheduled to take place.
* All that being said, there are still legit concerns about this proposal, the biggest being that eventually the rates start going back up again and the relief lasts just four years. After that, everybody will be paying what they were paying up until now, unless this Illinois Power Authority can negotiate better rates. I think it might be able to do that, considering how skewed the reverse auction turned out to be. For proof of how bad the auction was, consider that the utilities and Exelon are giving back a billion dollars to the consumers. They had to be pretty flush with cash to afford something like that. Everybody on that Commerce Commisson who voted for the auction should resign in disgrace.
— The average Ameren customer, who has seen an annual increase of $250 total on electric bills in 2007, will get refunds this year totaling $130.
— A typical Ameren electric-heat customer, who has seen an annual increase of $750 on electric bills in 2007, will get refunds this year totaling $400.
— About three-fourths of the dollar amount of those refunds will come in lump sums by September, to retroactively offset the increases on 2007 monthly bills so far. Ameren will cut checks to customers who are caught up on their bills, and will credit the accounts of those who are 60 days or more late on their bills.
— Remaining rebates for this year — as well as in 2008 and 2009 — will be applied as credits on monthly bills. The future credits will be smaller, with a net result of bills rising by less than 10 percent each year, as the full rate hikes are phased back in.
— The agreement also will set up a new state power agency to oversee the process of how wholesale electricity is bought and priced, a central issue of the controversy this year.
* And finally, much is being made of Exelon’s role in funding the reductions in the rate increases…
Chicago-based utility giant Exelon will pay the overwhelming share of a more than $1 billion rebate plan designed to ensure every household’s power bill goes down this year.
Exelon is the parent company of ComEd but also generates electricity that’s used elsewhere. Under the terms of the deal, Exelon will pony up $747 million and ComEd will contribute $53 million. Downstate energy companies cover the rest.
Exelon Corporation’s second quarter 2007 consolidated earnings prepared in accordance with GAAP were $702 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, compared with earnings of $644 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2006.
There’s absolutely no mystery why our greatest complaints are in the arena of government-delivered services and the fewest in market-delivered services. In the market, there are the ruthless forces of profit, loss and bankruptcy that make producers accountable to us. In the arena of government-delivered services, there’s no such accountability. For example, government schools can go for decades delivering low-quality services, and what’s the result? The people who manage it earn higher pay. It’s nearly impossible to fire the incompetents. And taxpayers, who support the service, are given higher tax bills.
Diverting troubled teens away from correctional facilities and into programs that address their underlying problems is a compassionate idea — and also a smart one. The average annual cost to house a juvenile offender in an Illinois correctional facility in fiscal year 2005 was $70,827. Even worse, almost half of the teens discharged from a juvenile prison in 2002 returned within three years.
Chet Gardner, who is leading the online initiative, said Tuesday that he expects U. of I. will need to invest about $13 million into the project before it becomes profitable in 2010.
The virtual campus has had a rocky start, with board action delayed for months and faculty opposition to the initial concept of it operating as a for-profit business. It will instead operate as any other academic unit.
