Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2007

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 3:58 pm - Yikes. It looks like Assessor Houlihan’s good buddy at PTAB is trying to stir the pot…

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has been asked to rule on whether House Speaker Michael Madigan, her father, has a legal conflict of interest in dealing with a key property-tax cap bill that’s now pending before the General Assembly.

In an official — and politically explosive — letter, the Illinois Property Tax Appeals Board requested that Ms. Madigan issue a formal opinion on whether her father’s second job as a property-tax appeals lawyer disqualifies him from taking a leadership role in a huge ongoing debate over whether to extend or cut an existing 7% annual limit on tax hikes on residential property in Cook County.

Ms. Madigan so far has not responded to the July 3 letter, which comes as the Illinois Senate is preparing to vote on a proposal by Mr. Madigan to effectively phase out the 7% cap for hundreds for thousands of Cook County residents.

A spokesman for Mr. Madigan said his legal clients actually oppose the proposed bill.

* 4:02 pm - No leaders meeting today. I just hope those Chicago-area ministers who were promised an invite by the guv’s chief of staff didn’t bother sticking around.

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Caption Contest!

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Health insurance bill; McPier; CTA; Fritchey; Chapa LaVia (Use all caps in password)

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

What, in your opinion, is the most corrupt institution in Illinois? It doesn’t have to be a political or governmental entity, either. Explain, but try to leave personal names out of it, please. Thanks.

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Tax and spend

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Last week, the Illinois Press Association sent out an urgent alert to its newspaper publisher members warning them that the governor was pushing a $42 million “newsprint tax” as one of his ideas for closing corporate loopholes. Newsprint is not currently taxed, and neither is ink or advertising. The IPA also included Sen. Bill Brady’s press release about the loophole ideas.

“The Governor seems to be addicted to the idea of these stealth tax increases on Illinois citizens – first a multi-billion dollar gross receipts tax that was soundly rejected by Republicans and Democrats, and now nearly another billion dollars in corporate tax increases that will harm every area of Illinois,” Brady wrote.

Yesterday, the Pantagraph penned a scathing editorial about the loophole ideas…

Illinois’ business climate already has a bad reputation. Gov. Rod Blagojevich isn’t helping matters with his hit list of “loopholes” he wants to close.

Don’t be fooled by any claims that he is going after “big business.” The impact of the governor’s proposal — if approved in its entirety — would go far beyond what most would consider “big business.”

The impact will be felt by costs being passed along to consumers.

The impact will be felt by small businesses for the work they do collecting taxes for the state.

The impact will be felt by businesses postponing or canceling purchases in Illinois.

The impact will be felt by jobs being eliminated or expansion being scaled back.

The impact would also be felt by newspapers, but that was never mentioned, of course. Instead, a whole host of other industries were discussed.

* Meanwhile, Sneed walks back her story from last week…

As per Sneed’s tip last week, will House Speaker Michael Madigan proceed today to pull off the legislative coup of the decade?

Budget analysts are poised to see whether Madigan has a deal to pass a budget acceptable to the House and Senate, and has mustered enough votes to pass a veto-proof package.

It ain’t gonna happen today. There may be some progress, but don’t expect a sudden coup.

* And Bethany Carson has a ministerial roundup…

“We’ve had the governor to our churches on several occasions, singing, what’s his favorite song, ‘Precious Lord, take my hand,’” Rev. Roosevelt Watkins of Bethlehem Star Church in Chicago said. “I think that if there’s no budget, absolutely, he’ll get a different reception. Not only him, but we’ll have Emil Jones, who we have a lot of lines with. All of them, they all will get a different reception.”

* More end of session stuff from Paul…

* AFSCME: Another 1-month budget measure needed

* Chicago Public Radio: state budget still deadlocked

* Editorial: Health care downsized

* Opinion: It’s health insurance premium day

* Ministers march on Capitol to call for more school funds

* Ministers seek more money for education

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Hot rhetoric, but the bill will probably pass anyway

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 49 aldermen signed a letter criticizing House Speaker Michael Madigan’s property tax assessment cap legislation. And Mayor Daley, who until now has said he supported Madigan’s plan, was giving off conflicting signals yesterday afternoon.

The Tribune…

Mayor Richard Daley has signed on to the House version because he wants to ensure “we can provide our residents with good relief as opposed to nothing,” spokeswoman Jodi Kawada said.

The Sun-Times…

Deputy mayoral press secretary Jodi Kawada said Daley signed on to Madigan’s plan only after Houlihan’s version was overwhelmingly defeated.

But…

Now that the General Assembly is in overtime, a super-majority vote is an even longer-shot, [Kowada] said.

“The reality of this legislative session is that we are at risk of ending up with no relief for homeowners,” she said.

* 49 aldermen don’t sign something unless the mayor is quietly encouraging it. But despite the hot rhetoric…

Chicago homeowners could see their property tax bills rise by 40 percent over the next three years if the Illinois General Assembly follows House Speaker Michael Madigan’s lead and phases out a 7 percent cap on annual assessment increases, a dozen aldermen warned Monday.

“They’re really going to get clobbered in years two and three. . . . People are going to be forced out of our neighborhoods — and God knows where they’re going to end up,” said Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th).

…It’s likely to pass and be signed into law…

A key Senate sponsor said Monday that lawmakers would compromise in favor of a bill pushed by House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago, even as a group of Chicago aldermen complained it was not good enough. […]

Gov. Rod Blagojevich shares the aldermen’s concerns and hopes lawmakers will amend the bill, but it’s unlikely he would veto the House version if that’s what lands on his desk, spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said.

Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan), the chief sponsor of the Senate version, said he expects the Senate will approve the exemption provisions passed by the House. But he said the bill will include a requirement for a review next year to possibly increase the exemption for 2008 and 2009.

* And Assessor Houlihan, who’s been leading the fight against Madigan’s bill, took a whack at Madigan and his alderman yesterday, the only one who didn’t sign the letter…

Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan called out Ald. Frank Olivo (13th) in a news release Monday. Houlihan said Olivo is only supporting the pending property tax relief bill because of his close ties to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, who is pushing the bill.

“We’re just pointing out that 49 out of 50 aldermen sign it and the one alderman that doesn’t is Madigan’s,” said Houlihan spokesman Lucio Guerrero. “And (Madigan) has been consistently against long-term relief for homeowners.”

Thoughts?

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Rate relief deal praised, panned, analyzed *** Updated x1 ***

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE - 2:28 pm *** Rep. Art Turner just announced that the House will vote on the electric rate bill on Thursday. The bill isn’t even drafted yet. Committee hearing tomorrow.

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* Phil Kadner takes a close look at the electric rate deal and likes most of what he sees. Here’s one example…

The attorney general insisted on the creation of a new government body, the Illinois Power Agency, which will negotiate the price of electricity in the future with generating companies.

This agency also will have the authority to create state-owned power plants in the future. The reverse auction, which occurred last year and created the huge spike in electric rates, is dead. Instead, the Illinois Power Agency would have the ability to solicit sealed bids for power and then negotiate for an even lower price than the lowest bid if it chooses, according to Lisa Madigan’s office.

“What this means is that ComEd would no longer be accepting bids from its parent company, Exelon, to purchase power, which I think is a very good idea,” Scully said.

Will the Illinois Power Agency have greater credibility than the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates the electric utility industry? The attorney general’s office claims that conflict-of-interest measures and other oversights built into the legislation will make it less likely that the power authority would be compromised. In addition, its scope will be limited to soliciting bids for electricity and operating power plants.

* The Daily Herald has some legislative reaction, pro and con…

For many lawmakers, however, this proposal was the first sign of progress in months for what has been a contentious issue.

“I’m extremely pleased that we were able to provide assistance and actually a long-term plan for purchasing electricity, hopefully at a lower, more reasonable rate. I think this is good news for every customer in Illinois,” said state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat.

But many lawmakers remain wary of any power deal until its on their desks ready for a vote.

State Sen. John Millner, a Carol Stream Republican, questioned if ComEd wasn’t paying too much toward a pool of money that’s ultimately go to downstate Ameren customers.

Actually, that money is coming from Exelon, and Chicago-area legislators now have something they can hold over their Downstate colleagues (think mass transit).

* More from the Daily Herald…

However, if this deal holds, it could clear the way for resolution of numerous other issues, most notably the state budget, which remains stalled. A temporary budget approved last month to keep the state open expires at the end of this month. If there’s not another short-term budget, or a full year budget by then, it would threaten state support of local schools in addition to shuttering state offices and parks.

Downstate lawmakers previously held up other budget plans, saying they’d block any such spending until action was taken on electric rates. One of the leading downstate Democrats on the issue said Monday that he’d not relent until the House and Senate had approved a power bill relief plan.

* Consumers remain skeptical…

Like other consumers interviewed by the Sun-Times, Chicago retiree Sheldon Landy was skeptical the deal provided enough relief.

The former railroad executive, who is 76, also said he was soured by Jones’ insistence that consumers should not be granted a rate freeze because of its ramifications on ComEd’s bottom line.

“His constituents probably can ill afford any kind of increase, and yet his main concern throughout all of this was ComEd going bankrupt. That was pure nonsense,” Landy said. “If Commonwealth Edison and their counterpart Downstate were willing to give up $1 billion, that’s just a start.”

* But there was a different mood in New York…

Shares of ComEd’s parent company, Exelon Corp., rose by almost 2 percent Monday, closing at $80.37.

* The bill hasn’t been filed yet, but when it does, it will probably be attached to this piece of legislation.

* More rate stories, compiled by Paul…

* Rate relief deal could help end budget impasse

* Rate relief package outlined, Madigan & Jones predict passage

* Utility rate relief: refunds, rate cuts, reform

* Democrat’s power bill could roll back 45% of rate increase

* Leaders pull off $1 billion rate deal

* Rate relief a reasonable outcome

Thoughts?

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s issue of Capitol Fax (Use all caps in password)

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Morning Shorts

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Lawmakers continue to push smoking exemptions for casinos

* Governor signs smoking ban bill

* No public puffing? Now it’s personal

* Smoking ban going statewide

* Illinois bans smoking in public

* State posts no smoking sign

* Richard Roeper: Shocking that smoking ban is still needed

* Editorial: Statewide smoking ban will save lives

* Report says disparity persists in Illinois traffic stops

* Tribune Editorial: No more driving drunk

This spring, the legislature approved a bill to require interlock devices for all DUI offenders. The bill, which awaits Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s signature, would issue all convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders, restricted licenses to drive only vehicles equipped with the devices. If offenders refused to install interlock devices, their licenses would be suspended and all driving privileges would be revoked.

* Sun-Times Editorial: Chicago State University president should resign

* State may limit teachers’ ability to strike

Strikes are illegal in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Miami. Just 15 states allow strikes, and when they do, they often require a cooling off, “fact-finding” process first. This requires an independent party to evaluate the issues and recommend a contract settlement. After that, teachers can strike.

This is what business leaders want for Illinois. The influential Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, with the backing of Chicago school officials, floated the idea in May. Legislators are now mulling it over.

* Gaming board OKs plan to move Rock Island casino inland

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