* 11:30 am - I was told yesterday - and then promptly forgot - that the Senate would take up a “trailer bill” for the mass transit bailout today. What I got yesterday is that there would be no attempt to reduce or expand the governor’s amendatory veto to give all seniors free rides on public transit systems statewide.

The Senate is in session now. You can listen or watch here.

***UPDATE *** My bad. The bill, SB 1920, passed out of committee this morning. Here’s the synopsis…

Provides that the County Boards of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties must report annually to the General Assembly and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability certain information regarding moneys received from a retailers’ occupation tax and a service occupation tax imposed by the Regional Transportation Authority.

*** 11:46 am *** Chicago Reporter has a very interesting take on the Cook County State’s Attorney race. First, some bullet points from the press release announcing the story…

* [Anita] Alvarez was the top vote getter in 23 of Cook County’s 80 wards and townships, slightly more than Chicago 38th Ward Alderman Tom Allen and 21st Ward Alderman Howard B. Brookins Jr., who each captured 21 county wards and townships.

* In addition to winning the city’s 11 majority-Latino wards and the heavily Latino townships of Berwyn and Cicero, Alvarez also won two majority-white wards and six majority-white townships, including Schaumburg and Barrington, where Latinos make up less than 10 percent of the population.

* Even where she didn’t finish first, Alvarez finished strong in most places. She received at least 20 percent of the vote in 62 of the county’s 80 wards and townships. By contrast, Allen, Alvarez’s closest competitor, received more than 20 percent of the vote in 51 wards and townships.

* The publication also looked at the African-American vote and came up with this…

[Congressman] Jackson’s backing of third-place finisher, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who is white, and the presence of defense lawyer Tommy H. Brewer, an African American, may have diverted votes that might have otherwise gone to Brookins, the leading African American candidate in the race. […]

Suffredin and Brewer received a combined total of more than 62,000 votes in Chicago’s 20 black wards and an additional 33,145 in the six suburban townships with a significant black presence. Brookins received a total of 171,263 votes, or about 71,500 less than Alvarez.

Brookins’ campaign had no traction outside of black wards and townships with a large black presence; he received 90 percent of his votes from those areas. But he garnered less than 5 percent of the votes in more than half of the 80 wards and townships in the county.

Suffredin also captured the 2nd and 27th wards, two predominantly black wards.

Go read the whole thing.

* 12:30 pm - The House is in session. Listen or watch here.

*** 12:45 pm *** No resolution yet on moment of silence law…

An Illinois House committee deadlocked today on whether to remove the word “prayer” from the title of a law requiring schools to observe a moment of silence each morning.

The law’s formal name is “The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act,” but supporters say that name has triggered a lawsuit. They say the moment of silence is about a brief period of peace and quiet — not prayer.

The proposal to rename the law failed on a 10 to 10 tie in a House education committee.

Other legislators want the law changed more dramatically, so that schools could choose whether or not to observe a moment of silence.

*** 1:19 pm *** Chicago schools chief says his system needs $180 million from the state…

Chicago Public Schools officials said Thursday they need an additional $180 million in state aid to balance the fiscal 2009 budget. But they stopped short of threatening to shut schools, lay off teachers or take other severe steps if the money doesn’t arrive.

In a news conference that provided the first peek at finances for fiscal 2009, which starts in September, schools CEO Arne Duncan said the system faces a hole of $340 million in its $5-billion budget — mostly due to rising costs, but also because of a few new spending initiatives. […]

Chicago schools got an additional $130 million in state aid last year. The city system generally gets about 20% of the state’s school dollar, so boosting Chicago aid by $180 million would imply a $900-million increase statewide, an unlikely figure without some major new state revenue source.

*** 1:35 pm *** What about talking truthfully to legislators, voters, contributors, etc.? [/snark]

Illinois Director of Public Health Dr. Damon Arnold read a proclamation on behalf of Gov. Blagojevich. He implored parents to “talk truthfully” to their children. “Make sure they know that in every sexual encounter there’s a possibility that you can die. When you decide to have unprotected sex, you are putting a loaded gun to your head,” he said.

*** 2:23 pm *** Subscribers read about this in detail this morning, and now the AP has a brief online…

House Speaker Michael Madigan is stepping up his fight with Governor Rod Blagojevich by trying to strip some of the governor’s executive power.

Legislators bickered at length on the House floor today over a new requirement for legislation pushed by Madigan.

He is requiring most bills to include language that bars the governor or his agencies from using administrative rules to implement state programs and services.

Instead, House Democrats want those kinds of instructions to be included in bills lawmakers vote on.

*** 2:36 pm *** Chris Lauzen will apparently not be extending an olive branch to Jim Oberweis, unless it’s to thrash him. Ouch.