* 1:05 pm - Is the governor’s “plan,” so breathlessly hyped by the TeeVee, a dud?
Chicago Transit Authority chairwoman Carole Brown says the agency still anticipates implementing service cuts and fare increases beginning Sunday.
Brown, along with Regional Transportation Authority chairman Jim Reilly, had been meeting with representatives from Governor Rod Blagojevich’s office to try to find away to delay the plan.
But after the meeting, Brown said the CTA still doesn’t have sufficient funding to avoid suspending 39 bus routes and raising fares by up to $1.
CTA officials plan a media availability shortly. I’ll try to post some details, but I have a family obligation so it would be nice if some commenters could help me monitor things. Thanks.
* 2:26 pm - From WBBM Radio…
A source tells WBBM the governor is proposing is to give the CTA its full-year state subsidy of $24 million right now, instead of spreading it out over time. That would presumably allow the legislature time to come up with permanent funding
Immediately following the CTA board meeting Wednesday, Brown and CTA President Ron Huberman joined a conference call with the RTA’s legal team to discuss the proposal.
Brown said the deal proposed by Gov. Blagojevich would provide the CTA with enough money to operate for a few more weeks and would allow for lawmakers in Springfield to craft a transit funding deal.
Brown says CTA officials will meet with RTA leadership and that the legal review is necessary because the agency isn’t sure it can use the proposed money. Brown says her office plans on responding quickly to Blagojevich’s offer. […]
The CTA has already spent $3 million re-programming their equipment for the “doomsday” scenario.
[Hat tip to “GA Watcher” in comments.]
* 2:30 pm - From the governor’s office…
– Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today will announce an immediate financial assistance package that will help the CTA and RTA avoid service cuts, fare hikes and employee lay-offs.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
WHAT: Governor Blagojevich will announce CTA financial assistance package.
CITY: Chicago, Illinois
WHERE: Governor’s Office James R. Thompson Center
TIME: 3:00 PM
* 2:32 pm - Tribune…
“We are not sure it is something we can use,” Brown told the board. “We will have a response in short order.”
* 3:11 pm - They’re taking the cash. The Tribune has the details…
The CTA’s top officials this afternoon accepted a short-term funding bailout proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to avert fare increases and service cuts set to take effect Sunday and Monday, but the agency’s doomsday scenario will still take place in November unless new funds are obtained.
CTA Board Chairman Carole Brown announced the decision after meeting in Blagojevich’s Chicago office to discuss funding proposals. Before taking effect, the move needs to be green-lighted by the RTA in a meeting scheduled for Friday.
Brown said the plan will “give the legislature more time to craft a long-term funding solution for the region.”
* 3:27 pm - The governor just told reporters that he’s still working on a long-term solution for the CTA and the RTA.
There is a question about whether he can legally advance the CTA’s fare subsidy money, but when have those things ever stopped him?
* 3:32 pm - From the governor’s letter to the CTA and the RTA…
Though the General Assembly has not yet approved a state mass transit funding package, we’re working with lawmakers and believe such a resolution is not far off. In order to avoid the fare increases, lay-offs and service cuts your agencies vowed to implement by the end of this week, and to provide lawmakers more time to reach consensus on a long-term funding solution, I am offering to accelerate State funding to provide an immediate $37 million to the RTA this month, which will provide $24 million more for the CTA immediately.
In the budget passed by the General Assembly last month, $31 million of the $37 million RTA Fare Subsidy paid by the Illinois Department of Transportation is designated for the CTA; but only $7 million of the CTA’s portion is scheduled to be paid by December 31, 2007. By advancing the full fiscal year subsidy, the CTA will immediately receive the $7 million it is counting on for this calendar year, and an additional $24 million in funds to continue meeting the needs of commuters while the General Assembly finalizes and passes a longer-term funding plan.
The full letter is here.
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But who’s being muffled?
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
A couple of very good friends were out West recently and snapped this photo…
Caption contest?
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
First, as usual, we have our setup…
In sending a firm message Tuesday about their commitment to leadership during one of their worst seasons, the White Sox extended manager Ozzie Guillen’s contract through 2012.
“The passion that he has still is the same passion he had when I first sat down with him at the restaurant out in Naperville to interview him [in the fall of 2003],” general manager Ken Williams said. “We argued for a little while before getting to the nuts and bolts of things. The passion is still there to bring a championship to Chicago.”
Williams downplayed the timing of the announcement, which came with the Sox (61-83) in last place in the American League Central, less than two years after winning the franchise’s first World Series in 88 years. Guillen was working under a contract that had him signed at least through 2008.
Question: Good move or bad? Explain.
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The never-ending mess
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Assistant Transportation Secretary David Phelps held a press conference yesterday in southern Illinois a day in advance of Rep. John Bradley’s hearing on the governor’s budget vetoes. Phelps was asked about the political nature of the guv’s vetoes and had this response…
“Any representative who accuses someone of being political (referencing the governor’s budget cuts) is being political himself,” Phelps said.
I wonder if David managed to keep a straight face during that.
* The reporter got in a pretty good zing on Phelps as well…
While the oft-repeated mantra at the press conference was that working together can help solve differences of opinion, the opposite appeared to be in effect. How else would one explain the fact that Bradley was not invited to a press conference held in his own district by members of his own party?
Valid point.
* Meanwhile, we covered the governor’s latest lawsuit yesterday, but some of you may have missed it. Here are a few stories…
* Tribune…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday filed a second lawsuit in his continuing battle with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, this time in an attempt to force action on his recent budget vetoes.
Blagojevich sued House Clerk Mark Mahoney in Sangamon County Circuit Court for failing to record the $460 million in cuts he made.
Blagojevich alleges in the suit that the state constitution requires the changes be entered “immediately.” After going on the books, House lawmakers then would have 15 days to accept or reject the governor’s cuts. By failing to record the vetoes when legislators met last week, House leaders delayed action, and ultimately implementation, of the budget, the governor contends.
* Post-Dispatch…
But House leaders did not enter the objections when the House met for a one-day session last week. Instead, they delayed action until after a set of 19 public hearings are held around the state on the budget cuts. The first set of those hearings are scheduled for today.
Blagojevich wants the court to require the House to enter his objections into its journal, speeding up any possible veto fight.
* GateHouse…
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the 15-day limit does not apply to spending bills.
“They ought to read the constitution,” Brown said. “I don’t know that anyone thinks the 15 days applies to appropriations.”
I dunno about that. Here’s the passage, with emphasis added…
The Governor may reduce or veto any item of appropriations in a bill presented to him. Portions of a bill not reduced or vetoed shall become law. An item vetoed shall be returned to the house in which it originated and may become law in the same manner as a vetoed bill. An item reduced in amount shall be returned to the house in which it originated and may be restored to its original amount in the same manner as a vetoed bill except that the required record vote shall be a majority of the members elected to each house.
* And if you missed it yesterday, here are the documents…
* Complaint
* Memorandum in support of plaintiff’s complaint for mandamus
* Summons
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* The governor, under fire for helping tube the CTA/RTA bailout bill in the House, is trying to make himself look like the savior, and the TV news is helping him out…
It is only six days until the CTA is expected to enact its doomsday plan with fare hikes of up to $1 and the elimination of 39 bus routes, but that all could change with a plan Gov. Rod Blagojevich says is in the works. […]
Some CTA riders a few days ago were blaming the governor for not coming up with a plan to help prevent the transit authority’s doomsday scenario. But now that it appears he may have done so, commuters are expressing relief.
“Great; that’s fantastic,” one woman said.
“Terrific, terrific,” said CTA rider Jennifer Samuels. “Something had to be done.” […]
A source in the governor’s office says that “something” will be coming in the next few days, and that Blagojevich will “offer financial assistance to stave off the CTA’s so-called doomsday scenario,” which is slated to take effect on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
* More TV…
Governor Rod Blagojevich may soon have a plan to avert the CTA’s looming fare hikes and service cuts.
Sources say the governor is expected to announce a short-term bailout for the transit agency possibly today or tomorrow. The move will buy the CTA some time while state lawmakers work out a permanent solution.
The last-minute action is welcome news to riders who have been preparing for the worst.
* And what might that help be?
It is not clear where the governor would get the money to help the CTA or whether he would ante up the full $20 million that CTA President Ron Huberman says that they need to continue operating.
* More TV…
CTA President Ron Huberman said that CTA officials plan a Wednesday morning meeting with representatives from Blagojevich’s office to discuss the funding situation.
* The Sun-Times apparently wasn’t leaked anything, so it wisely buried the “rescue” way down…
…there were reports late Tuesday that Gov. Blagojevich may come up with enough cash to stave off cuts and buy lawmakers more time. […]
The governor’s office did not release details of any temporary reprieve Blagojevich might grant. It has also been mum on permanent solutions, though it has made it known he favors ending a series of corporate tax breaks to support mass transit.
* Meanwhile, Eric Zorn was given a list of corporate loopholes the governor favors instead of a tax hike on “people.” Several of these loophole closures have already been defeated in the General Assembly, however, and the total amount raised comes up about $100 million short of the negotiated proposal that’s before the legislature right now. Also, Zorn was not given a breakdown of how much each loophole would actually raise.
* OneMan responds, as does Dan Johnson-Weinberger.
* Adding to the CTA’s woes, the feds came out with a report yesterday that blasted the agency’s safety procedures…
Federal safety investigators blamed last year’s CTA Blue Line derailment on poor track conditions that grew out of faulty inspections, falsified reports and systemic failures in the transit agency’s management of track maintenance and inspection.
Obvious track defects that should have been included in CTA inspection reports weren’t. And other reports were falsified to show that repairs had been made when they hadn’t been, according to a scathing report issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
One NTSB member compared the checks and balances in the CTA’s track maintenance and oversight to “swiss cheese”: full of holes.
Oy.
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Reform and Renewal - Coke is not “it”
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* For once, it doesn’t look like this move was blatatantly politically motivated…
The state’s recent decision to award an exclusive vending contract to Pepsi has left a bad taste with rival Coca-Cola officials, who have challenged the pending deal.
The Illinois Department of Revenue announced in late July it intends to strike a 10-year arrangement with PepsiAmericas Inc. of Schaumburg to stock soft drinks in nearly 2,400 vending machines at most state-owned properties. The deal would net for state government coffers and four participating universities between $14.4 million and $64.2 million over a decade, depending on sales, the agency has estimated.
The other soda giant that sought the contract, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago, is formally protesting Pepsi’s selection. Kevin Morris, the company’s vice president of public affairs and communications, sent an Aug. 3 letter to state officials alleging the state did not provide “critical information” to Coke earlier this year as it sought to make an offer.
There was this at the bottom of the piece…
PepsiAmericas is represented by lobbyist William Filan, a cousin of top Blagojevich aide John Filan.
But that’s a big reach. Bill Filan is Speaker Madigan’s former Issues Staff director. And the two Filan’s aren’t exactly close. If anything, he’d be at a disadvantage here.
Not mentioned in the story (this stuff never is) is that Coke’s lobbyists include Chicago Ald. Mike Zalewski, who is Bill Lipinski’s guy. Lipinski is tied closely with Blagojevich. Another Coke lobster, Elgie Sims, is strongly allied with Senate President Emil Jones, and is Jones’ former appropriations director.
Also not mentioned is that Coke has given more than twice as much to the governor’s campaign fund than Pepsi, $14,304.50 vs. $6,212.68.
So, this seems to be general incompetence rather than nefarious.
I don’t know whether to cheer or boo.
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Morning Shorts
Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* Disabled protest again, Gov OKs some demands
* Second blockade protest shuts down Thompson Center
* Illinoize: During the 2002 campaign, candidate Rod Blagojevich made all sorts of promises to state employees to re-open state facilities that Governor George Ryan closed
* Peraica staffer charged with making tough calls to Gorman - Fred Ichniowski, a campaign staffer for Tony Peraica, is charged with making harassing phone calls to Commissioner Liz Gorman
* Sneed tidbit on Commissioner Claypool
Cook County President Todd Stroger’s people continue to snicker at Commissioner Forrest Claypool’s two faces.
To wit: On one side, Claypool is quick to point out that the public will not accept higher taxes until the county has reformed itself, and there is no waste or fat.
The flipside: Claypool has the second-highest-paid assistant among all the commissioners: $90,000 plus per annum.
* IRS: Stroger campaign didn’t pay taxes
* Olympic Village could shift west to cut costs and aid neighborhood
Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky acknowledged that “there could be changes to the village” as Olympic planners seek to “make it better and the best long-term legacy for the city.” But he said, “No final decisions have been made.”
At a City Hall news conference last week, U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive Jim Scherr also opened the door to changes in what he called Chicago’s “very, very developed” Olympic bid.
* Chicago teachers approve contract: allow panel to ‘mull’ longer school day; more here and here
* Mayor pedals hybrid fleet, bike program; more here
* Optimistic outlook for I-294/57 plan, but work remains
* ISU student to challenge Rep. Weller on Green Party ticket; more here
* WurfWhile: Another candidate enters 14th Congressional Dem primary
* U.S. prosecutors argue Ryan trial errors were minor
Now that the prosecution brief has been filed, the full court could vote in the next few weeks on whether to grant Ryan a full, or en banc, hearing.
If a majority of the judges vote to hear the case, they would likely take several months to read briefs, hold an oral argument and render a decision.
If the full court declines to review the case, Ryan would have to report to prison within four business days after the appellate court issues its order.
* New laws in Illinois target rapists, underage drinkers
* Chicago Public Radio: James Brown Law
* Blagojevich signs bill to honor fallen soldiers
* Illinois moves to regulate ultimate fighting
* UFC gets state approval for 2008
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