* 10:00 am - The House is in the process of adjourning. The Senate is coming in at 10 o’clock, so it seems obvious that the House is trying to get out of town before the Senate takes up the property tax assessment cap. Leaving would put more pressure on the Senate to override the governor’s amendatory veto instead of passing an alternative proposal. If the Senate passed that other bill, the House wouldn’t be around to take it up.
Trouble is, the House Republicans are now throwing a fit on the floor about the adjournment and the lack of accomplishments. Listen to the House here and listen to the Senate here.
* 10:02 am - House members were just told that they will have a week’s notice before the chamber reconvenes. No firm date was given.
* 10:05 am - I think I was insulted by a member on the House floor a few minutes ago. LOL. Rep. Mulligan, if you can show me that your HGOP colleagues will vote for the mass transit bailout bill later this month without passing a capital bill, I’ll certainly retract my comments from earlier this morning. If not, well… bite me. 
* 10:06 am - The House has adjourned, and the Senate is not in yet.
* 11:03 am - The Senate has just placed the property tax assessment cap override motion on its calendar.
* 11:19 am - Sen. Terry Link is now bringing the assessment cap override motion up for a vote. Link said he wasn’t happy about it.
*** 11:35 am *** The Tribune has posted an interview with Speaker Madigan from this morning…
“The House has done its business. The House came here for a veto session. We considered all of the governor’s actions on bills and we completed house consideration of the governor’s action on bills. That was the purpose of this session. The purpose of this session was a veto session. We finished that. We have taken action on the 7 percent bill, on the real estate taxes. We are prepared to take action on the RTA as soon as we are advised by Mr. Cross and Gov. Blagojevich that they are prepared to put votes on the Hamos bill. Concerning capital, I met with Mr. Cross this week and shared with him my ideas on gaming. I am a reluctant participant on gaming legislation, but I am there and I am talking to Cross. And by the way, the unrest that you heard came from the Republican side, where they are grappling with why they are not supporting the RTA bill. That’s the problem. There are people in the Republican caucus who want to vote for the RTA bill. And then there are other people in the Republican caucus saying, well it should be linked to capital. Which means gaming. I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree that the ability of people to get to work in northeastern Illinois should be linked to gaming casinos. I’m not on that program. I think the Hamos bill ought to pass as is. And would have passed absent Tom Cross and Rod Blagojevich. They both took votes off the bill. They ought to put votes on the bill, pass the bill, put those mass transit carriers in northeastern Illinois in a stable financial position so they can provide service, say, in (Des Plaines Republican Rep.) Rosemary Mulligan’s district. That’s where I’m at.”
* On the gnashing of teeth on the BIMP bill…
“The (budget implementation) bill is part of a budget agreement where there’s been an abrogation of the budget agreement by Sen. Jones. Everyone wants to lose sight of that. There was a budget agreement. Sen. Jones unilaterally abrogated the agreement. The (budget implementation) bill is part of the agreement that was abrogated. So there really is no agreement.”
Translation: No budget overrides, no BIMP.
* On when they’ll come back into session…
“As soon as we’re advised by Rep. Cross and Gov. Blagojevich that they prepared to support the Hamos bill, we’ll be here. And we’ll give 7 days notice to those who want it.”
* 11:38 am - Sen. Link, closing remarks on the assessment cap override motion: “This is not the best bill we could pass out of this chamber. We could do a lot better, and we have passed a lot better bill out of here. But it’s not the 12th hour, it’s past the 12th hour and the people need relief.”
…More… “There’s other issues out there that are important to my area, to other areas of this state, but we’re not addressing them… We could [help all of Illinois] by putting all these issues to rest… We can put all these issues to rest if we put as much concern and as much pressure as we did on this issue.”
*** The assessment cap override on HB 664 passed 55-1. ***
*** 11:58 am *** The Senate Democrats backed off their desire yesterday to amend SEIU’s bill to raise wages and provide health insurance to home care workers after lots of pressure from the union. The bill just passed the Senate 56-1 and now goes to the governor’s desk. Sen. Hendon said the governor supports the bill. Background here.
*** 12:22 pm *** Retiring Congressman Ray LaHood has ridiculed the Democrat who wants to take his seat, former NBA and Bradley University basketball coach Dick Versace…
Versace, who is seeking LaHood’s central Illinois congressional seat, kicked off his campaign with a press conference on Monday in Springfield, Ill.
“He’s out of his gourd,” LaHood said […]
Versace has vowed to embark on a “listening tour,” touring the district’s 20 counties in a 28-foot motor home called the “Common Sense Express.”
That plan gave LaHood even more ammunition as he wondered aloud to reporters why Versace would not answer questions. He suggested that the Common Sense Express would get only “five miles to the gallon.” […]
“Versace in Congress?” LaHood intoned. “That’s like me coaching Bradley [University] basketball.”
Um, didn’t LaHood want to be Bradley’s president just a few weeks ago?
* 12:36 pm - It sounds like the Senate may be preparing to do some more budget override motions. Senate GOP Leader Frank Watson has two new override motions in the hopper.
*** 12:46 pm *** The lawsuit filed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Thomas has been settled for $3 million, but the fighting ain’t over.
*** 2:06 pm *** The Senate has adjourned the veto session. The chamber passed voted on but did not pass a bill to restore some of the governor’s budget vetoes. [Post corrected. Thanks to commenters. I wasn’t paying attention because I’m working on something else at the moment.]
*** 4:12 pm *** Gov. Blagojevich press release on the override of his amendatory veto of the assessment cap bill…
“There is good news and bad news. The good news is that the legislature extended the property tax cap that Cook County homeowners have enjoyed since 2004.
“The bad news, and what they won’t tell you, is at a time when the city of Chicago is considering the largest property tax increase in history, the legislators voted to begin phasing out property tax relief in the second year and completely take it away in the third year. That’s going backward, not forward. Homeowners deserve real meaningful property tax caps that will last for more than just one year.
“I am going to continue to work with Senate President Emil Jones and Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan to increase property tax relief for homeowners and make it permanent. Unfortunately, the Illinois House, led by Speaker Madigan, passed a plan that would take that relief away from homeowners by protecting the big downtown commercial real estate developers.
“Considering how long it took to provide just one more year of property tax relief, Assessor Houlihan and I think it’s critical that the legislature address the long-term need for property tax relief now, before taxpayers face even higher bills. I am asking the General Assembly, on their own schedule, to reconvene before the end of the year to restore the property tax caps they just voted to take away. If they fail to do that, then it is my intention to call them into special session sometime by mid December to get it done.”
Mid December? Well, so much for my Christmas travel plans.
…Adding… Notice how he refers to the assessment bill as a “property tax cap.” Does he even know what he’s talking about here? I kinda doubt it.
- Reddbyrd - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:26 am:
Whoa!
Who is biting who
Missed the rant Rich
Who as complaining? Rx Ron or one of the other sock puppets auditioning to replace Black?
- Diamond Dog - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:28 am:
Watch out Rich, there’s still some spark in the ol’ gal. She might take you up on it.
- Anonymous - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:32 am:
Mulligan has got to go. Follow Krause’s lead! Please!
- wndycty - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:37 am:
LOL Rich you might need to discipline yourself and take a time out.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:41 am:
They’re not gonna put votes on that bill and she knows it. To call my piece “baloney” was erroneous.
But, hey, she’s got a right to say what she wants, as do I.
- Number 8 - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:42 am:
Rich, I’m truly jealous of your position in life when you can tell a member of the ILGA to bite you. If she does, please be sure to post it on your youtube page.
- Angry Chicagoan - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 10:45 am:
So when do they pass a transit bill?
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 11:02 am:
The Dems seen to be creating lots of potential ad material for anyone who might want to promote a constitutional convention, which, I understand, will be on the fall ballot. Is this by design?
- Moderate REpub - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 11:14 am:
10:05 am - I think I was insulted by a member on the House floor a few minutes ago. LOL. Rep. Mulligan, if you can show me that your HGOP colleagues will vote for the mass transit bailout bill later this month without passing a capital bill, I’ll certainly retract my comments from earlier this morning. If not, well… bite me.
HILARIOUS!
- Squideshi - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 11:17 am:
We wouldn’t be having this problem if the General Assembly was a unicameral legislature.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 11:21 am:
===We wouldn’t be having this problem if the General Assembly was a unicameral legislature.===
Not. If the person who presided over that unicameral legislature was opposed to the govenor then it might even be worse.
- 42ndward - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 11:39 am:
Bite me?? Come on Rich, that is really crossing the line. Try to set some example for your readers. She is a State Rep, a mother and a grandmother. Good God Rich.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 11:50 am:
42ndward, come on. It was a joke. Besides, she was clearly not telling the truth and called me out on the House floor.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:02 pm:
Hmmm…looks like MM has once again deftly moved from side to side, working with the R’s when it is beneficial, and hanging them out to dry when it is beneficial, and taking on very little “lead” (as in bullets) in the process. He is still the master of the chess game.
- Ghost - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:04 pm:
So if the house gop vote for a bailout without passing a capital bill Rich will give Mulligan a do-over.
- MOON - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:06 pm:
Once again the Speaker has shown he is miles ahead of Blago, Jones, etc.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:06 pm:
===So if the house gop vote for a bailout without passing a capital bill Rich will give Mulligan a do-over.===
Which is what I promised, but nice phraseology.
- Squideshi - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:09 pm:
Rich Miller wrote, “Not. If the person who presided over that unicameral legislature was opposed to the govenor then it might even be worse.”
I was referring specifically to the House adjourning before the Senate took up the property tax assessment cap bill, in an effort to put pressure on the Senate. That kind of thing simply couldn’t happen with a unicameral legislature.
Also, a presiding officer can only manipulate process so far as the rules allow. In ordinary societies, using Robert’s Rules of Order, any member of an assembly is able to appeal from any ruling of the Chair; and that puts the question of either sustaining or overruling the ruling to a majority vote of the entire membership. The presiding officer isn’t permitted to become a dictator. Why isn’t there a similar protection in the House or Senate rules in the General Assembly?
- Angry Chicagoan - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:09 pm:
How’s this idea?
Abolish the office of governor.
The Speaker of the House becomes Premier or First Minister or whatever they want to call it.
The Senate keeps its amendatory power.
Everyone is up for election every two years, with a September primary and a July filing deadline.
Term limit on Senate President. Possibly also on the House Speaker/Premier/First Minister.
(Late enough primary and filing deadline so that they still get work done even on a two year schedule, and in return we get the opportunity to toss them out when they don’t do their job.)
- Ken in Aurora - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:16 pm:
Careful, Rich. She might pull a Kotowski on you ans send out the State Police!
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:16 pm:
===using Robert’s Rules of Order, any member of an assembly is able to appeal from any ruling of the Chair; and that puts the question of either sustaining or overruling the ruling to a majority vote of the entire membership.===
That provision is in both House and Senate rules.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:17 pm:
Ken, if I said I was gonna bite her, then she’d have a case. LOL.
- Jaded - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:25 pm:
Rich, I’ve wanted to say that to Mulligan since the day I meant her. You are the man!
- Jaded - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:25 pm:
Of course I meant “met” her.
- Tom - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:41 pm:
I wonder if LaHood will share what actually qualifies someone to be a representative? It’s too bad for Dixie that he couldn’t just give his coaching job at Bradley to his former assistant like Michael did for LaHood or better yet, just bequeath it to his son as LaHood is now trying to do.
- Squideshi - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:43 pm:
Rich Miller wrote, “That provision is in both House and Senate rules.”
Shame on me for not going to look before posting; but now that I have looked, I see that it requires three-fifths in order to overrule the Senate President (Senate Rule 7-7) and 71 members are needed in order to overrule the Speaker of the House. (House Rule 57) That is less of a protection that the majority requirement provided by the common law of general parliamentary procedure.
I also note that both the House and Senate have adopted Robert’s Rules of Order by reference; however, they peg it to the 10th Edition, rather than adopting the most current version, as recommended by the Robert’s Rules Association. I think that is a VERY wise idea, as any organization simply adopting the “most current” version leaves itself open to the Association some day adopting a version which contains provision effectively giving control over such organizations to outside parties. (I don’t know that’s likely; but at least, in theory, it’s possible and should be avoided.)
- Captain America - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 12:49 pm:
I really enjoyed the way that Mike Madigan threw the gauntlet down on tHe Hamos bill. What else could Madigan do? The Hamos bill is the only viable mass transit funding plan on the table.
Blago,Jones, and any future aspirations for constitutuional office that Tom Cross might have are TOAST if the Hamos plan does not pass before November 4 or shortly thereafter. I can’t understand why Tom Cross doesn’t perceive that his future political career is seriuosly jeopardized by his failure to support the Hamos bill. His name will be mud when it appears on a Statewide ballot if anything like “doomsday” takes place.
- jerry 101 - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 1:10 pm:
Awww, is Ray LaHood jealous that his would-be successor actually had a job at Bradley, in fact the highest profile job at Bradley, while BU spurned old RayRay?
- Squideshi - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 1:14 pm:
Rich Miller wrote, “The lawsuit filed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Thomas has been settled for $3 million, but the fighting ain’t over.”
Disgusting. I agree that a fair trial was not possible within the state courts, as it is the Supreme Court that promulgates the rules, and licenses and disciplines the attorneys that would be arguing the case against one of its own.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 1:36 pm:
Regarding the Justice Thomas case: Bill Page’s comment in the Reader that “Bob Thomas is who I said he was” made me bust a gut. The immediate thing that came to my mind was ex-Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green’s press conference meltdown last year when he proclaimed that “the Bears are who we thought they were…and we let them off the hook” after losing a close game that the Cardinals were well ahead at one point. Thomas’ ex-Bear connection makes it all the more ironic.
That being said, if the case was mediated in Federal court, it should take the “Illinois factor” out of the equation as much as possible. Other than going to the UN or the World Court, that is.
- Squideshi - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 1:44 pm:
Six Degrees of Separation wrote, “That being said, if the case was mediated in Federal court, it should take the ‘Illinois factor’ out of the equation as much as possible. Other than going to the UN or the World Court, that is.”
Yeah, who needs a binding and enforceable system of international law in which disputes can be peacefully resolved when you can just have anarchy between nations and throw bombs at one another.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 1:58 pm:
Squid: “…when you can just have anarchy … and throw bombs at one another.”
Kinda like IL?
- beavis - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:03 pm:
Forby’s supplemental approp bill failed. The SGOPers wanted a full over-ride on the budget vetoes. Emil went off and told Watson that he should have spoken up sooner. Didn’t make any sense to me.
- Marvelous Wonderful - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:13 pm:
Rich - That bill did not pass.
- Marvelous Wonderful - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:17 pm:
Correction - the last appropriations bill did not pass.
- Bill - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:23 pm:
Is it ok for us to say “bite me” on the blog now?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:24 pm:
Thanks. Corrected. I wrote that update too fast and was only half paying attention because I’m working on my syndicated column. Thanks again for pointing it out.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:25 pm:
Bill, I’ve been saying it for years in comments, so I guess when you’re attacked you can use that phrase. lol
- Not amused - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:26 pm:
Page got what was coming to him. It’s not Thomas’ fault libel suits are heard in state courts. The wacky attempt to get the case into federal court was clearly far-fetched, as was the SLAAP suit angle. And what did they accomplish? A settlement that cost the paper and Page nearly as much as the reduced judgment and a weasely watered-down apology instead of a straight-up mea culpa. Bravo!
- Jake From Elwood - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:26 pm:
Mr. Page had better tread carefully. His scathing diatribe could put him back in the same boiling pot he was just removed from.
This is a textbook example of where a surly “no comment” is a better course of action.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 2:55 pm:
No transit bill or capital program, but Milt Sees did get confirmed today as the new Secretary of Transportation.
- Just wondering - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 4:02 pm:
What is Senator Jacobs voting record since he was threatened by Governor Blagojevich?
Did he go over to the darkside?
- Reddbyrd - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 4:21 pm:
When Rich said “bite me” it seemed he might be solicting something from someone or someones
Yikes. Time for Friday Comments Closed
- True Comparison - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 4:25 pm:
Someone, please, stop the insanity.
- ANON4:28 - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 4:31 pm:
And Rich said the guy was not insane — can there be any doubt?
Capt.’s Log from the SS Dumber Than You Think
First the bill deals with assessment not tax caps. It is a 3 year program — just like the first 3 year program.
If you had expressed any interest in property tax relief in that period January to May something might have happened sooner.
If the new assessor works hard and spends less time “defending” the FOI filly assessments will be under control.
- Gene Parmesan - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 4:40 pm:
Rod’s getting greedy with the 7% legislation. The more this legislation gets debated, the greater the chances of the media and the voters realizing what this bill really does, and how it has no impact on the tax and spend policies that have raised tax bills in the first place. Some of the local media might actually do some research and find out this bill isn’t just a property tax coupon.
- Rob_N - Friday, Oct 12, 07 @ 4:45 pm:
Mulligan feeling a little pressured? Yeep.