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Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 3:40 pm - The four legislative leaders met twice today, the second time for about an hour. No huge progress reported, but, as before, there is a budget framework, if not an actual budget deal. Lots of conflicting rumors, but the Senate President has told members to expect to vote on a budget soon. What that will entail is not entirely clear.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Madigan has asked staff to make sure that members have made hotel reservations for the weekend. The State Fair tends to fill up every nook and cranny available.

It’s so much fun here, campers, I can’t even begin to explain.

Not.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Raw audio from the post-game show; Dunn’s seat (Use all caps in password)

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Rate Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s prospects for the 2010 election. Do you think she runs for governor or reelection? Could she defeat Gov. Blagojevich in a primary? Explain.

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The bright, shiny ball

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* That bright, shiny ball of gaming expansion has once again driven the state’s leaders to distraction…

negotiations among members of the House and Senate zeroed in again on gambling as a way to funnel more money to state programs.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate signaled that they may be ready to support a plan to add a casino to Chicago, with revenues from the land-based facility going toward schools and a statewide construction program.

“We can support a boat in Chicago,” said Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, echoing comments by House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.

Both GOP leaders cautioned that not all their members see gambling expansion as a cure-all for the state, which has been operating without a budget since July 31 because of wide disagreement among lawmakers and Blagojevich.

* More…

Nearly $1 billion for state spending could come from a city casino and more gambling opportunities at existing casinos, lawmakers say.

As envisioned, that would finance upward of $8 billion in construction statewide while helping increase education spending by $900 million and potentially bailing out the region’s transit agencies to prevent service cuts and fare hikes.

* More…

The revised plan would generate enough money to finance $8 billion to $10 billion in construction. Cross said House Republicans want some of that money for the financially troubled Chicago-area mass transit system. He said that is preferable to the alternative plan that calls for imposing a regional sales tax.

Jones also wants some of the gambling money used to increase education spending. Gaming expansion would allow for a $900 million increase for education. Without the gaming bill, the state could only afford about $600 million more.

Jones’ office said that with a $900 million increase, per-pupil spending could rise from $5,334 to $5,888. That’s still short of the recommended level of $6,405.

* But there’s a catch…

Gov. Blagojevich, Senate Democrats, and Republicans in both chambers have shown support for tying a capital program to a city casino, isolating House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) as the lone potential obstacle to the first major state building program in eight years.

A top Madigan aide expressed skepticism the House could pass such a deal, noting the chamber voted in October 2005 to shut down the state’s riverboat casinos, and that big gambling legislation typically collapses of its own weight.

While some of the 67 House Democrats might back a city casino for a state bricks-and-mortar program, “clearly not very many would, not a majority,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.

Madigan’s reticence to publicly back such a plan has heightened speculation the speaker doesn’t want to hand Blagojevich a political win of any sort, nor give the administration unbridled freedom to spend billions of dollars on construction when lawmakers from both parties mistrust him.

* The governor and the Republicans think they’ve caught Madigan in a trick box. We’ll see what his next move might be. We don’t know yet how many votes that Cross actually has for a casino proposal, for instance. There’s also some curiosity about the governor’s health insurance plan…

Blagojevich remains a wild card. The governor dropped his opposition to gambling expansion in May, but only to try to save his massive health coverage proposal. It’s unclear what the governor would do if his plan were left out, and at this point it appears to be.

* And there’s some speculation that Madigan may run his own budget this week without the gaming provision or a capital plan…

House Speaker Michael Madigan told Democratic representatives late Monday to expect a budget vote as early as Wednesday. Sources tell CBS 2 that Madigan’s budget proposal does not include the cash that the Chicago Transit Authority said it needs to avert nearly 1,100 layoffs and huge service cuts.

It reportedly does have about $570 million in new money for public schools, far short of what the governor wants, and ignores completely his demand for a big new health insurance program.

The money reportedly earmarked for schools, Madigan’s allies note, is more new money than in any recent year.

* More budget and end of session stories, compiled by Paul…

* Governor takes abuse while jogging

* IL budget impasse could delay payments to schools

* Blagojevich backs recalls for Governors

* Sparks fly on utility deal

* Chicago Public Radio: The governor gets a grilling

* Legislators talk of county tax cap, state session may be winding down

* Courts wont close during budget woes

* Lawmakers complain about ’sitting around’ during special sessions

* LeRoy: No budget, but work not optional

* Eric Zorn: Questions answered on ’special sessions’

* Editorial: Theme for the fair is ‘ironic’

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The Pakistani problem

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Today’s Sun-Times editorial pretty much sums it up…

Gov. Blagojevich’s ill-fated effort to import more flu vaccine during the winter of 2004-05 has turned into a textbook example of how not to govern by bravado and bluster. Virtually nothing about the proposal turned out right — unless you count the initial burst of good publicity for the governor at the time. And now we learn that even the one legitimate bright spot has a sour ending.

The idea sprang from a flu-shot shortage in the fall of 2004. The governor’s office looked abroad to find more vaccine, eventually agreeing to buy some from a British wholesaler for $2.6 million. As a state audit later determined, Illinois pushed ahead before it had the federal approval that would have made the purchase legal. Blagojevich’s office never documented why it ordered a quarter of a million doses.

The administration placed the order in October 2004 but didn’t sign a contract until three months later, after it was billed by the wholesaler. And at that point, state officials apparently knew the shots no longer were needed, because there was enough domestic supply to cover the elderly and others in the high-risk population. […]

Meanwhile, the vaccines sat in storage until the next year. Unable to sell the disputed doses on the open market, Illinois and Eccose donated them to Pakistan, which was struggling with the aftermath of a major earthquake. It was a nice gesture, a way to eke out some good in an otherwise botched operation.

Except, it turns out, not a single dose made it to an earthquake victim. As the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday, Pakistani health authorities didn’t know the doses had expired when they accepted the donation. While Ecosse said the doses still were potent, officials were put off and decided to destroy them instead of using them, the paper said.

So on top of all the other problems with the flu-shot effort, Franks said, now we’ve insulted a key ally and damaged our reputation abroad.

* Pakistan probably overreacted, and the government’s claim that it didn’t know the vaccine was expired might not hold up. Here’s a story from a Pakistani newspaper from early January of 2006, just five days after the governor announced the vaccine was delivered…

Flu vaccine declared un-useable (because its expiry date elapsed in August 2005) by US authorities has been sent for use in the earthquake-affected areas of Kashmir at the request of the Pakistani government.

Earlier, when the expired vaccine was offered to South Africa, its government refused to permit its import because it considered the vaccine unsafe for humans.

A quarter-million doses of the flu vaccine that expired in August last year were bought overseas by the state of Illinois, but couldn’t be imported because of the adverse finding by a federal agency. The vaccine has since been donated for earthquake victims in Pakistan, according to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Still, once again we have a lot of flashy headlines and no real results, with the taxpayers getting stuck with the bill. That’s par for the course in Rod Blagojevich’s Illinois.

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Chapa LaVia won’t run for Congress

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This wasn’t unexpected. It would have been a tough race, even if she made it through the primary against at least one well-funded opponent and somebody who ran last time.

From the Tribune…

State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, an Aurora Democrat, announced Monday that she will seek another term in the state legislature — a decision that rules her out as a potential challenger for U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert’s 14th District congressional seat.

Although Hastert (R-Ill.) got about 60 percent of the vote in defending his seat last year in an election that gave Democrats control of Congress and ended his run as House speaker, Democrats believe they have a solid chance to win there in 2008. That’s due in part to changing demographics in the district — which begins on the western tip of DuPage County and stretches almost to Iowa.

Hastert is expected to announce whether he will run again in the next two to three weeks, spokeswoman Lulu Blacksmith said Monday.

* Beacon News…

“It was a long decision, I can tell you that,” said Ron Cook, a Chapa LaVia campaign staffer. “She is flattered and honored by the people willing to step forward and support her for this position.”

In the end, Cook said, Chapa LaVia felt she could do more good by remaining in Aurora as a state representative. He said it was not a matter of being qualified for the position, and her committee found support for her run at the office.

“She’s very dedicated to (the 83rd) District,” Cook said. “Her value is where she’s at, with her role now in the state, and she can’t improve on that by going to Congress.”

* Daily Herald…

Former Fermilab physicist Bill Foster, St. Charles attorney Jotham Stein and Hastert’s 2006 opponent, John Laesch, are the remaining Democrats seeking the position.

On the GOP side, state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora, Sugar Grove businessman Jim Oberweis and Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns have expressed interest.

* Meanwhile, columnist Terry Bibo claims to be puzzled about Congressman Ray LaHood’s retirement…

‘Now’s a good time for me.”

That was Ray LaHood’s summary of his reasons for pulling the plug on Washington, D.C., when he spoke to the Journal Star editorial board shortly after announcing his decision. […]

“I can’t think of a thing in the world that I really want to do,” he said. “I can’t think of a bill I want to introduce.”

Really? Nothing about health care or insurance? Nothing about Iraq? Nothing about the problems in subprime mortgages or rising gas prices or how we’re going to pay for all this stuff eventually?

Since he’ll be in office for another year and a half, that’s puzzling, if not alarming. But a lot of things Ray has said and done in the last few years have been puzzling. The running-for-governor thing. The president-of-Bradley-University thing. It does seem like his resume has been out there, doesn’t it?

This is a 2008 Illinois Congressional campaign open thread.

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

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Morning Shorts

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Overtime session allows wind farm legislation; more here

* State senate advances bill on wine sales

* Rezko’s $50 million Iraq deal

* EPA: Area power plants breaking pollution rules

* Daley bolsters Olympic dream

Ed Hogan, an attorney representing the coalition of trade unions, confirmed that “there will be something announced” Tuesday. The deal is contingent on completing “local negotiations…with certain trades,” he said.
The 10-year contract would expire on June 30, 2017—one year after Daley hopes to play host to the Summer Olympic Games. The deal would guarantee labor peace to an International Olympic Committee scheduled to choose a host city in 2009.

* City near deal with 34 unions

* Chicago schools budget 3% hike for teachers; more here

* CTA vote on contingency plan implementation

* O’Hare worst–again; more here

* States adopt marriage ed courses

Texas is the latest state to push marriage education, appropriating $7.5 million this year for programs aimed at reducing divorce rates and, in turn, promoting family stability and economic wellbeing. Couples who attend the Lone Star State’s optional marriage courses will be able to save the $60 they would otherwise pay for a marriage license starting September 1, 2008.

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