* 3:41 pm - The House just voted on the CTA/RTA bailout bill. It failed to reach the three-fifths level and was placed on the order of Postponed Consideration.
* 3:55 pm - As I told subscribers this morning, the House Speaker’s plan to not read the governor’s budgetary line-item and reduction vetoes into the journal today has become an issue. Rep. Jay Hoffman, the guv’s floor leader, just asked whether the vetoes would be read into the daily journal. Hoffman was told that they would be getting back to him “in a timely manner.” Here’s the relevant Constitutional language…
The house to which a bill is returned shall immediately enter the Governor’s objections upon its journal.If within 15 calendar days after such entry that house by a record vote of three-fifths of the members elected passes the bill, it shall be delivered immediately to the second house.
In other words, the House, which is the originating chamber for the budget, is supposed to read the vetoes in immediately, which then starts the 15-day clock.
* 4:20 pm - From Rep. Fritchey’s blog…
The real surprise wasn’t the number of Republican votes for the [mass transit bailou] bill, however, it was the number of Democrats who did not support this issue that is critical to so many of us and our constituents. Some of the ‘no’ votes were disappointing but not shocking (Chapa LaVia, Franks), but others were very curious indeed.
A handful of Democratic legislators allied with the Governor did not support the bill, and while I don’t want to get into a he said/she said exercise, it is my understanding that the Governor (either directly or through his office) was involved in pulling votes off of the bill.
My understanding is that the Governor may announce a ‘plan’ as early as tomorrow to address both the mass transit issue as well as the larger issue of a capital bill. For those keeping count, this plan would be in line behind the one to ‘rock the system’ on campaign finance and ethics; the one to improve health care for Illinoisans, and countless others.
In other words, a big splashy press conference to introduce a plan that will have little chance of actual passage.
* 4:33 pm - From the AP…
The vote on the funding plan was 61-48. It needed 71 votes to pass.
* 5:08 pm - Statement by Gov. Rod Blagojevich…
“I believe a tax on working families for transportation is a backdoor fare hike, and I believe the legislature was correct in rejecting that approach. For months I have urged the leadership in the House to consider alternatives, but unfortunately no progress has been made. Now, after the legislature’s rejection of Speaker Madigan’s tax increase, we are in early September without a resolution and the clock still ticking. This has never been a question of whether we should fund mass transit – that is essential. It is a question of how. I will continue to push to close corporate loopholes and to find other sources of revenue to help fund the CTA and RTA without raising taxes on people.”
* 5:10 pm - Press release from the Transportation for Illinois Coalition…
Statement attributable to Doug Whitley, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and a co-chair of TFIC:
“Today’s action in the Illinois House of Representatives underscores the importance of transportation funding for the people of the State of Illinois. Unfortunately, the failure to win approval of the transit funding and reforms in this measure brings us closer to the realization that there is a public transportation crisis that must be resolved. There is now even greater urgency that Illinois’ elected officials find appropriate solutions for the state’s critical transit and capital transportation needs. We urge them to continue working in good faith to come to a resolution that will provide for transportation needs and avoid serious consequences for our citizens and our state.”
Statement attributable to Michael T. Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO and co-chair of TFIC:
“Today’s House action should be viewed as a stepping stone toward ultimately passing legislation to provide critical transportation funding our state desperately needs. Clearly, there is much work to be done. But with each step in this process, the public and elected officials learn more about the need for transportation funding in Illinois and the dire consequences of inaction. We urge lawmakers to continue to work toward a transportation funding plan that will address the state’s critical transportation needs and can be enacted into law.”
* 5:14 pm - Audio from Speaker Madigan’s post-vote press conference is below. Madigan promised to continue looking for votes for the bill, saying some members were absent today. “I see the real possibility that we can get to 71 votes.”
More…
“We’ll talk to all interested parties on the issue. We’ll talk to Rep. Cross… to find converts for this bill… There were certain Downstate Democrats who in my judgement were voting no because the governor’s office was telling them to vote no. If you’re looking for areas to find additional votes, I would suggest you look at the House Republicans and those who are interested in working with the office of Gov. Blagojevich…
“This is a good, solid bill. This is a bill that ought to have the support of a governor of Illinois who lives in the City of Chicago and within blocks of the most popular rapid transit lines in the city, that being the Brown Line. This should have the support of the [House Republicans] because there is capital in the bill… There ought to be enthusiastic support for this bill.”
[audio:MJM-MassTransit-090407-1.mp3]
More…
“I think there’s going to be be great hardship throughout Northeastern Illinois. There’ll be great hardship in Chicago. Don’t stop there. Think in terms of all of the senior citizens in the suburban areas. Think in terms of those who use the paratransit offered by Pace in Chicago and throughout all the suburban areas. All of those people are going to be impacted.”
And still more…
“I think with the passage of time there will be 71 votes for this bill and when there are we’ll call the House into session.”
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
We have a lot of ponderous, weighty items on the blog today, so let’s look at something not so earth-shattering. Here’s the setup…
This year, lawmakers voted for more than a dozen bills to create new [license] plates for various groups — sheet metal workers, autism advocates and Iraq war veterans, for example. State Sen. John Jones, R-Mount Vernon, sponsored a new plate this year for veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. […]
A typical license plate costs $78, and a specialty one could tack on about $40. Often, about $25 of that would go to a special fund. […]
There are 60 in production now, according to Secretary of State Jesse White’s office.
Now, 800 people have to ask for a plate before it can be produced, but White’s office wants to soon raise that threshold to 1,500, according to spokesman Henry Haupt.
I have the America Remembers plate on one car, but the other has a generic plate.
Do you have a specialty plate? Should we get rid of them? Or should we have special charity stickers that we could attach to regular plates, as Sen. Dan Rutherford has proposed? Explain.
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Torn on transit
Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I tend to lean strongly in favor of increasing public funding for mass transit. I have lots of reasons for this, but it probably goes back to when I lived in Europe for over two years, where the transit is superb. At one point, my family lived in a small town out in the middle of nowhere West Germany. But there was a bus stop right at the end of our driveway. I could take that bus into a bigger town, transfer to a train and go all the way across the country to Munich, where I’d take the subway and transfer to a bus which took me right to my college dorm. Waits were minimal, delays were rare, and rates were cheap. It was almost as fast as driving. Today, with Germany’s severe Autobahn traffic problems, that same trip probably is faster than driving.
But stuff like this makes it very difficult to stick out my neck for increased mass transit funding…
The massive subway station under construction at Block 37 is running as much as $150 million over budget, a shortfall that has prompted city officials to move to privatize the project.
Sources close to the matter say the city has begun discussions with Macquarie — the Australian investment bank that two years ago paid the city $1.82 billion to lease the Chicago Skyway — about buying or leasing the Chicago Transit Authority station underneath the high-profile retail and office complex now being built.
Insiders say it’s clear that completing the station, which would connect the Red Line and Blue Line subway tunnels and potentially anchor airport-express train service, will cost $100 million to $150 million more than the $213.3 million originally budgeted.
It’s not that I oppose the privatization scheme. It’s the $150 million cost overrun that makes me hot under the collar. Unforgivable.
* And then there’s this…
The region’s transit officials have spent nearly $3 million on lobbying, reports and media blitzes to convince lawmakers a sales tax hike is needed to keep the buses and trains running.
The $400 million-plus in new extra taxes could prevent major fare hikes and service cuts at the CTA, Pace and Metra.
Still, after months of ads, community hearings and rallies, there is little agreement among top lawmakers on the proposal. State House members are expected to vote on the measure today.
But as wheelchair-bound para-transit riders crowd sweaty hearings about fare hikes and commuters stress over having fewer options, not many may realize the amount of money that goes into such a campaign.
It’s almost enough to make me wish that they don’t get the money they need. Almost.
Here’s why…
As many as 100,000 commuters may lose their rides if the CTA implements huge cutbacks it’s now planning for Sept. 16, not to mention cutbacks in the suburban Pace bus system. […]
But there will be 300 fewer buses on the street and 39 fewer routes come rush hour Monday morning Sept. 17, say CTA officials, if the General Assembly fails to act by then to provide new revenues for the system.
There are more cuts coming as well. Riders shouldn’t be held completely hostage by inept leadership.
* But the governor is doing his best to scuttle the plan, without coming up with a real alternative…
A spokeswoman for the governor phoned transportation reporters late last week dismissing the claim by Hamos and the RTA that the transit funding package is limited to a regional tax increase in the six counties of northeastern Illinois.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said “it’s a little-known fact in the legislation” that taxpayers statewide would be on the hook for increased funding to the CTA, Metra and Pace because of the required 25 percent state match on sales taxes in the RTA transit funding formula.
The RTA proposal would increase revenue that the state provides by $150 million, said Joe Costello, RTA’s chief financial officer. It is presumed the additional money would come from the state’s general revenue fund, he said. The RTA system received $186 million in state-matching public transportation funds in 2006.
Downstate communities would also receive about $27 million in new transportation funding under the plan.
The House is expected to vote on the bailout package this afternoon. If it goes down, Blagojevich should definitely get part of the blame, but so should the House Republicans who signed onto the proposal then backed out in favor of a magic casino that never materialized. And the blame should also be shared by the inept people who run our transit systems.
What a mess.
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Tribune ignores two-thirds of the case
Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Sorry, but this is a two-thirds bogus lede under an equally bogus headline: Experts: House lawsuit is valid…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s lawsuit to force a House speaker from his own party to hold legislative special sessions may be unprecedented, controversial and somewhat embarrassing for the state’s Democrats. But it’s not legally frivolous, experts say.
Yes, I understand the point about making sure the governor’s power to declare the date and time of a special session is upheld, but that’s only a third of the case.
The rest of the lawsuit (read it here), which is barely mentioned at all in the Tribune story and not touched on in Eric Zorn’s column from several days ago, asks the courts to order House Speaker Michael Madigan to “convene a quorum” at the governor’s beck and call and forbid Madigan from granting members excused absences at will.
Presumably, if the courts upheld the governor’s request and Madigan didn’t follow the orders, the Speaker could be assessed some penalties, including even be declared in contempt of court.
I agree with the governor’s contention that he has the right to set the time and date of special sessions.
I absolutely do not agree that the governor and the courts have the authority to compel attendance by House and Senate members. Nor do I agree that the governor or the courts have any business delving into internal House and Senate rules over whether someone’s absence is “excused” or not. There’s nothing in the Constitution, state statutes, House and Senate rules or Illinois judicial precedence that gives the governor or the courts this power over legislative leaders. Notice that no references were cited in the suit on those points.
And that’s why two-thirds of this lawsuit is, indeed, frivolous, despite what the Tribune tells us this morning.
The other third, though, is different. As Zorn noted…
When you parse and pick apart the hazy language contained in the constitution and the law, he looks to be well within his rights in brazenly abusing the spirit and intent of the power to call special sessions.
And as the Tribune pointed out today…
“The governor has a quite plausible argument,” said Mark Rosen, law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law. “It’s not a slam dunk. [But] he does have constitutional authority to convene a special session.”
Still, the case is a tough one to predict, legal and political experts said, partly because there are problems with granting total victory to either side.
If Blagojevich wins, does that mean he can force the General Assembly into special sessions every day? If House Speaker Michael Madigan prevails, can he ignore the special sessions at will?
Actually, there is at least one other alternative. The judge could rule that the Constitution and state law give the governor the right to set the time and date of the special sessions but refuse to inject itself into whether it should penalize someone for violating it. That power should be left to the House or the Senate, respectively.
One more thing, which Finke points out…
The lawsuit also says it isn’t enough that Madigan convene the House at the time and date set by the governor, he’s got to ensure that more than half the representatives show up. The lawsuit lists several days when fewer than half showed up, meaning the House was unable to conduct business.
Of course, the lawsuit blamed Madigan.
Let’s look at one of those days. On July 28, a Saturday, only 56 of 118 House members were present. Bad Mikey gave excused absences to the rest of them, thereby eradicating the governor’s powers.
Want to know how many senators showed up that day? Only 15 out of 59. As a percentage of the chamber, the Senate had worse attendance than the House. Is Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, named as a defendant in the lawsuit because he didn’t force a majority of his members to attend that day? Nope, because Jones is Blagojevich’s pal.
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Veto fallout is everywhere
Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This was buried in a GateHouse story about the possibility of overriding the governor’s vetoes in the Senate, but I thought it was the most important part…
[Democratic state Sen. Terry] Link said [Senate President Emil] Jones might be using the cuts as leverage to get agreement on a mass transit assistance package and a long-stalled construction bond program.
“I am not in disagreement with what the president is trying to do,” Link said. […]
Link said a lot can still change if lawmakers can reach agreement on other issues, like mass transit assistance and a capital bill.
“Nobody is getting heartbroken because they don’t feel this is the final, final cut,” Link said.
How real is this possiblity of cutting a deal on the veto overrides? You should probably subscribe to find the answer.
* Meanwhile, the vetoes weren’t confined to the budget…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich in recent months has been vetoing legislation at a rate not seen in the past 15 years, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of legislative data. As of Friday afternoon, he had rejected or altered more than one of every 10 pieces of legislation he has acted upon this year — despite the fact that the Legislature sending him those bills is completely controlled by his own party.
The paper doesn’t go into any detail on the vetoes, but you can find them at these links…
* Total vetoes
* Amendatory vetoes
* Item/Reduction vetoes
* And the fallout from the budget vetoes continues. The cuts to public broadcasting, for example, were deeper than anyone expected…
Included among the $463 million in cuts Blagojevich announced last Thursday were $100,000 for grants to public television and radio stations for operating costs and $1.36 million for administrative expenses.
The reductions mean public broadcasting will receive as much as 30 percent less this year from state government than last year, said Chet Tomczyk, president and CEO of WTVP-TV in Peoria, and a board member of the national Association of Public Television Stations and the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council.
* And, as far as I can tell, nobody else has picked up on these two cuts…
Two hundred fifty thousand dollars for a capital punishment reform study committee was zeroed out, as well as a $240,000 grant to the Downstate Innocence Project, which works to release wrongly convicted prisoners.
* And this one has been ignored as well…
[A] $500,000 for a program to track birth defects, backed strongly by some House Dems, also was removed
* And then there was this…
Roughly $3 million in funds for museums, park districts and zoos was erased from the state budget when the governor used his veto powers to cut $463 million in spending.
* But he left the pay raises intact, of course…
Left untouched by the governor’s action were pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves, the governor and a number of high-ranking bureaucrats. Blagojevich stands to see a $20,000 raise during a year in which he has struggled to win support for his initiatives.
“A budget should reflect the priorities of the people who elected us to make their lives better. That’s why I’m removing almost $500 million in special pet projects and other spending that we simply can’t afford,” Blagojevich said in a prepared statement.
* Those priorities that we can afford apparently included this…
After slashing funding for the developmentally disabled and elderly veterans, Gov. Blagojevich’s administration is moving ahead with plans to repaint and refurbish a state plane the governor has used dozens of times.
The Illinois Department of Transportation has extended a deal put in place earlier this year with an Arkansas firm, Central Flying Service, to perform a $133,900 makeover of the plane.
Perfect.
* Some of the legislative reactions have been quite harsh, as you might imagine…
Rep. George Scully, D-Flossmoor, called the vetoes an “insult” and “a blatant act of retaliation.”
“The cuts were done with complete disregard for the merit of the projects (and) based purely on who was the sponsor,” said Scully, who had more than $1 million of projects in his districts vetoed. […]
Rep. David Miller, D-Dolton, in an Aug. 29 press release called the veto “rank budget thuggery.”
* More budget and veto-related stories, compiled by Paul…
* After a busy 2007, Chicago moviemaking looks thin next year
* House Dem projects got axed, GOP’s were spared
* Editorial: If not term limits, then we need political power limits
* Chambers: Why nothing gets done
when these 3 Dems get going
* Winners and losers in state budget battle
* Little gained in overtime session
* Editorial: Funding reform could have helped schools
* House Dems projects were axed, GOP’s were spared
* South Suburbs come up short in battle over ‘pork’
* Blagojevich cuts create financial difficulties for South Suburban College
* Lost funds hurt, but doesn’t cripple Central School
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Morning shorts
Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* IllinoisSierraClub: Clean energy bill now
* Blagojevich’s panel eyes CA car emissions rules
* Green Party’s convention coming to Chicago
* Kadner: Another Lipinski challenger
Mark Pera, the school board president for Lyons Township High School and resident of Western Springs, has filed his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run in the 2008 Democratic primary against U.S Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd).
Palos Hills Mayor Jerry Bennett also has filed a declaration of candidacy with the FEC.
Because it always benefits an incumbent to face two or more challengers (they split the vote of dissatisfied constituents), it won’t be long before people begin to speculate if one of the candidates is a stalking horse for Lipinski.
* Grawley won’t run for congressional seat
* Intensive ‘Camp Obama’ churns out activists
* Bills could redefine community colleges
* ASPCA commends Illinois Lawmakers for animal protection laws
* At 2-year anniversary, Illinois malpractice law nears court’s final challenge
There’s no question that the landscape today has changed. The tally of medical malpractice lawsuits around the state has declined. The political rhetoric has subsided. Doctors are not fleeing the area. Some hospitals report finding new physicians is easier. More insurers are doing business in the state.
Perhaps most importantly, malpractice insurance premiums have stabilized or even fallen for many doctors, anywhere from 5 to more than 30 percent.
* A new push to regulate power
* Will rate hikes leave ComEd asking ‘who turned out the lights?’
* Parents who allow drinking face tougher penalties
* Governor signs ‘Jeff’s Law’
* New law helps to convict drivers in fatal crashes
* Governor signs law aimed at gun sale
* Feeling the effects of non-smoking
* State of the union remains strong in Southern IL
* Editorial: Going green can save the public’s ‘green’ as well
* Sun-Times Editorial: Get bad teachers out of school
* New incentives for teachers
* IDOT won’t release specifics on bridges
* Illinois bridges are in good shape
* Updated lawyer ethics rules in the works
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