Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2008

When the Illinois Gaming Board first proposed checking IDs of patrons to keep problem gamblers out of casinos, the Illinois casino industry objected with high-minded concerns that police might start looking for more than just problem gamblers.

Anti-gambling advocates guffawed at the objection, calling the possibility far-fetched.

Turns out, the gambling industry was right.

The Illinois State Police and gambling board acknowledged this week that in addition to checking gamblers for being on the casino self-exclusion list, they also are “randomly” checking patrons for outstanding criminal warrants and for being unregistered sex offenders.

And they’ve been quietly doing it for some time — unbeknown even to the Illinois Gaming Board chairman himself.

The police won’t say how “random” their search is, but every time you walk into a casino you’re exposing yourself to police scrutiny - without any legal basis.

Nobody wants to be put into the position of defending unregistered sex offenders, but imagine if you forgot to pay a speeding ticket and all of a sudden you find yourself being escorted out of the casino.

This has to stop. If the General Assembly wants to give the police the authority to do this, fine. But until then, citizens shouldn’t be subjected to police background checks just because they want to pump a few bucks into a slot machine.

50 Comments

TV coverage roundup (what there was of it)

Thursday, Jan 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This story about yesterday’s special session was a bit misleading…

The state’s capitol was so empty it seemed you could drive a CTA bus through the halls, and not endanger anybody. The legislative chambers were also mostly empty.

A sparsely-attended Senate meeting adjourned after two minutes. Attendance in the House was slightly better, but the session ended there after 13 minutes.

Actually, 14 or 15 Senators showed up (depending on the count), while 70 House members answered the roll call.

* And this piece puts all the onus on the General Assembly, while the governor gets the spin…

CTA, Pace and Metra commuters could all be seeing service cuts and fare increases if the lawmakers do not come up with a solution by January 20. […]

It’s not only a new year, but it’s a new day. And there’s no time to delay in saving the CTA,” said Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

* What’s the connection? They’re both TV stories. As somebody pointed out in comments, the TV reporters tended to give the governor more of a benefit of the doubt than the newspaper reporters did. And, frankly, when it comes to impact on the citizenry, TV swamps newsprint.

What just about everyone missed is that only eight Senate Democrats came to town yesterday. That’s eight out of 37 in a chamber controlled by the governor’s biggest ally.

Most lawmakers skipped the session.

To be more accurate, most Senators skipped the session. A clear majority of House members showed.

* Meanwhile, I couldn’t find any Chicago TV stories about the governor’s pretty disastrous press conference yesterday. Fox Chicago put a Sun-Times piece on its website, but that was it…

Gov. Blagojevich Wednesday afternoon bluntly dismissed federal investigations that have sparked indictments against two of his top political fund-raisers. The governor called the investigation, “tangential, collateral” matters detracting from important issues like mass-transit funding.

As that commenter on yesterday’s item noted, blog writers and blog readers need to pay a whole lot more attention to what actually gets on TV, where the vast majority of people receive their news. We’re all tuned in, but it’s important to know how our info differs from just about everyone else’s.

* More special session stuff, compiled by Paul…

* No skyway funds to bail out CTA says Daley

* It is mostly no shows at transit special session

* Few show up for special session

* Editorial: No apparent resolution to end impasse

* Mass transit funding still on hold

* Gov wants gasoline tax funds to help Chicago transit systems

* Bethany Jaeger: Old problems carry over into new year

* Gov scoffs at probes, media: ‘They like to sell newspapers’

* Chicago Public Radio: Blagojevich denies connection to federal investigation

* Blagojevich denies role in kickback scheme

* Governor dismisses talk about corruption probe

* Governor issues flat denial

24 Comments

We need a better explanation of Wrigley sale

Thursday, Jan 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I think it’s time somebody finally figures out just what the heck has really been proposed for the Wrigley Field deal. This is one of the stories we’ve been fed…

The Cubs would sell the park to the [state] agency for the nominal sum of $1, and the new owners would sign on to rent the park from the state for at least 30 years. In exchange the Sports Facilities Authority would issue bonds to cover reconstruction costs.

* But this nugget is from today’s Sun-Times. It’s buried in an article about how Mayor Daley has changed his tune and is now keeping an open mind about a potential state buyout of the park…

Since then, sources said the mayor and his staff have been fully briefed on a deal that would guarantee [Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell] a huge up-front payment for Wrigley — tens of millions higher than he might otherwise receive selling the stadium privately — by having the ISFA use its power to issue tax-exempt, longer-term bonds at a reduced interest rate.

The bonds would be retired by 30 years of stadium rent from a new owner who would sign an “ironclad commitment” to remain at Wrigley during that time.

A dollar would not qualify as a “huge up-front payment.”

* The Tribune had this brief explanation in a story last month…

Selling Wrigley to [the state] could be more profitable for the future employee owners of Tribune Co. because of the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds used to finance the purchase.

For a dollar?

* And then there’s the benefits of a state sale for the new Cubs owners…

In addition, if the state owns Wrigley Field, the new owners won’t have to pay property taxes on it. In 2007 the Tribune Company paid $1,151,487 in property taxes on Wrigley. This year the bill will go up to around $1.43 million. At the rate property taxes are soaring, the new owners are looking to save more than $50 million in property taxes over the course of the 30-year lease.

* And could a TIF district be involved? This is also from the Sun-Times…

[Jim Thompson] acknowledged that “there would have to be neighborhood improvements along with restoration of the stadium.”

But he said, “For the moment, I’m not looking at taxes. I’m looking at non-tax revenue” like the tax increment financing scheme now being used to bankroll a new $1 billion Yankee Stadium on a park across the street from the House that Ruth Built.

TIF Districts are tax revenues by another name, Thompson.

27 Comments

Morning shorts

Thursday, Jan 3, 2008 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* O’Hare again nation’s second busiest airport; more here

* Phil Kadner: What people will NOT say in 2008

* Steve Chapman: Think positive about negative campaigning

The spot thus passes the only two tests voters should apply to any campaign attack: Is it true, and is it important? Accusing Romney of having devil’s horns would be unacceptable because, though significant, it’s not true. Accusing him of owning too many sweaters, though true, would be over the line because it doesn’t matter…

Thomas Jefferson once said that he would prefer newspapers without a government to a government without newspapers. Given a choice between politics with no negative campaigning and politics with only negative campaigning, I suspect he would prefer the latter.

* State in rush for primary

* Lawsuit in 14th District: Reasonable deadlines sought for canvassing, absentee voting; more here

Election authorities throughout the 14th Congressional District plan to file suit seeking exemptions from state standards so they can hold a special election on March 8.

Because there are only 31 days between the special primary election on Feb. 5 and the March 8 special congressional election, the local election authorities cannot meet standard election law requirements on such things as canvassing the primary vote and certifying the results, getting absentee voting started and other procedures.

* Bernie Schoenburg: Illinois new primary date puts state in spotlight for Giuliani camp

“Illinois is extraordinarily important this year, much more so than in many years in the past,” said MIKE DuHAIME, Giuliani’s national campaign manager, in a telephone interview from New York City this week.

“A lot of campaigns, I don’t think, have recognized just what a big prize Illinois is and how important it is now that it’s moved up so early.”

* Candidate rejects campaign cash criticism in 8th CD

Morris, 49, said Greenberg is “a hypocrite” for keeping Kjellander’s cash while recently demanding the 8th Congressional District’s Democratic incumbent, Melissa Bean of Barrington, return a campaign donation from the liberal MoveOn.org.

Greenberg, 36, said Kjellander hasn’t done anything wrong so there is no reason to return the $1,000 to him. In federal disclosure documents filed in September, Greenberg contends the donation came as part of a legal political funding system that should be improved.

* Foreign policy center stage in 18th-CD debate; more here

* Chicago Argus: It feels good for state primary to be relevant again

* RubberStampRoskam Blog: Roskam gets perfect report card from big business

* Voter registration deadline looms for IL residents

* Laws on wine shipping leave bad taste in N.J., elsewhere

But laws in some states still prohibit wineries from shipping directly to consumers, two years after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling led many to believe that all states would allow vineyards to ship wine directly to consumers across the country….

“There are ways around it,” he said. “If you have relatives who live in Illinois, you can say, “Hey, hold on to it until I see you next year.’ ”

Unlike New Jersey, Illinois allows direct shipping from wineries to consumers.

A 2003 federal lawsuit working its way through the court system in New Jersey also says consumers cannot get the wine they want because of shipping laws.

* Bars finding ways to aid those affected by the ban

* Editorial: School bus law may be common sense, but it is necessary

Known as the “school bus inspection” law, the act mandates that school bus drivers do a post-trip inspection of their vehicle to ensure no child has been left behind. It specifically calls for the driver to “walk to the rear of the bus and check in and under each seat for sleeping children.”

* Program yields college saving from shopping; more here

The new Bright Start Futuretrust MasterCard contributes a 1 percent cash rebate on the amount of every purchase to each card member’s Bright Start College Savings Program account, according to a release from state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ office.

“This is like a frequent-flyer program geared toward families saving for college,” Giannoulias said. “Families can use the cash rewards they earn from the program as another source of college money without changing their spending habits.”

* You don’t have to be a saint to get a street sign

In many cities, a petition is all it takes for an honorary street sign. You don’t have to be a saint…

In Chicago, nearly a third of the 1,225 honorary street names are for religious figures and institutions. Four are for patriarchs, five for rabbis and nearly 300 for pastors, reverends, evangelists, bishops, fathers and monsignors.