Auto Industry is Part of the Solution
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
The following is a paid advertisement
Last December, the federal government passed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The centerpiece of this historic legislation was an unprecedented forty percent increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade association of ten car and light truck manufacturers, was instrumental in passing this groundbreaking energy bill.
The legislation is a comprehensive and aggressive federal response to the climate change issue. Lawmakers and the environmental community alike have hailed the legislation as “landmark” as it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new automobiles 30 percent by 2020 and save 18 billion gallons of gasoline per year.
Rather than follow the federal standard some in IL are seeking to adopt California’s standards and create a confusing and inefficient program at the state level. That is why the Alliance, as well as many partners in the agriculture, manufacturing, and labor communities, oppose House Bill 3424. CA LEV not only binds Illinois to excessive state-wide fuel economy standards, but it contradicts the state’s commitment to E85 fuel and technology and relinquishes Illinois’ air quality authority to California.
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Bill Anderson, Richard Piccioli
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Statehouse lobbyist Bill Anderson passed away Saturday. Bill had one of the strongest wills to live that I’ve ever seen. His doctors told him he was a goner long ago, but he survived and continued living a full life right up to the end.
A friend passed this along about the services. I’ll update when I get more info…
The service will be at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 815 S. 2nd St, Springfield at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The family is asking contributions go to the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at the SIU School of Medicine.
Simmons Cooper Cancer Institute
Chemo Infusion Area
SIU Foundation
PO Box 19666
Springfield, IL 62794-9666
Here’s his lobbyist registration photo, which isn’t very good but it’s the only one I have…
* Also, if you’re looking for service information for Richard Piccioli, click here.
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Question of the day
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* In your snarkiest opinion, what is the Allmighty trying to tell Illinois with these events?
The U.S. Geological Survey says it’s recorded the strongest aftershock so far from Friday’s Illinois-centered earthquake. […]
Today’s aftershock was at least the 15th since Friday’s quake.
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* The SJ-R does a pretty nice job of summing up Rep. Mary Flowers’ bill to establish a single-payer healthcare system in Illinois over ten years…
Adoption of a Canadian-style “single-payer” health-insurance system in Illinois is viewed as a long shot by key legislators, but the Health Care Availability and Access Committee voted 8-4 to send House Bill 311 on to the full House. The bill also would need Senate approval and the governor’s signature to become law.
The sponsor, Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, told the panel on Tuesday that the bill would “put the control of the health-care system back in the hands of the health-care deliverers rather than health-insurance companies.”
Democrats on the panel supported the bill, but Republicans said the plan is too radical, lacks specifics and would give more authority to a state government that already has mishandled the Medicaid program.
* The huge tax hike required to implement the program probably dooms the proposal. Buried way at the bottom, though, is this little nugget which, if it stays in the bill, pretty much guarantees a rough road in the House…
Investor ownership of hospitals, nursing homes and other “health delivery facilities” would be illegal. Those facilities could be converted to non-profit status, and investor owners would be “compensated for the loss of their facilities.
* Read the bill. Discuss.
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* My syndicated newspaper column isn’t posted yet over at the SouthtownStar, probably because I was sick on Friday and didn’t get it finished until early Saturday morning. Oops.
But, since I also just happen to have a copy we can look at it anyway…
A poll taken earlier this year for the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs and released last week shows overwhelming public support for legislative term limits and recall of elected state officials.
The poll of about 1,000 Illinois residents taken in January found that 70 percent support both term limits and recall. The numbers are close to a Glengariff Group poll taken late last year which showed 65 percent favored recall. Glengariff did not ask about term limits.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s astounding unpopularity was measured by a different poll released this month. According to the highly respected Ipsos firm, the governor has a 13 percent job approval rating, with 54 percent disapproving and 33 percent reporting mixed feelings.
* There was another aspect to that Institute poll…
Every twenty years, Illinoisans vote on whether to call a constitutional convention and add, subtract or rewrite our state’s founding document. Another vote is scheduled for this November and the Institute’s poll found just 18 percent of respondents were opposed (8 percent strongly opposed) to the coming convention proposal, while 39 percent supported it. The rest were undecided.
The last time voters had a chance to decide whether to hold a constitutional convention, in 1988, both political parties, plus just about all business groups and labor unions teamed up to defeat it. Only 19 percent voted in favor of a “con-con,” while 58 percent opposed it and about 23 percent skipped over the question.
According to the latest poll, the weakest support for a con-con came from Republican voters and independents. About 30 percent of self-identified Republicans, “strong” Republicans and independents favored the idea, while over 40 percent of all Democrats backed the plan. Republican attitudes may change because some prominent GOP figures are said to be preparing to come out in strong support of the convention vote.
There are a whole lot of undecideds in this issue. According to the poll, 43 percent of all respondents said they didn’t know how they’d vote on the con-con. A convention has to be approved by either three-fifths of those voting on the question or a simple majority of all who cast ballots in the election, so both sides have their work cut out for them.
* Con-Con arguments, both pro and, um, con, were tested…
Some arguments against holding the convention tested pretty well with the poll’s respondents, with 60 percent or more saying the “anti” arguments that special interests and incumbent politicians would control the con-con are good reasons to vote against calling a convention.
Some arguments in favor of the con-con seemed to work well with the respondents as well. Arguments that scored in the mid to high 50s included, “State government is not working well at present, and only fundamental constitutional change can fix it,” and “There are a few major reforms that would improve government in the state but that cannot be passed except by having a convention,” and “Conventions are the only way to give ordinary people a say in how Illinois state government is run.”
* And the big finish…
Besides your vote for president, the con-con could be the most important issue you face this November. Take a good, long look, and try not to be swayed by fear. We’ll talk more about this as November approaches.
* More on the poll here and here.
* Related stories…
* Edgar says problems in state government close to insurmountable
* Student tries his hand at politics
* Con-Con debate heats up
* City Desk: Push to Recall Gov
* Change to popular vote in right way
* Recalling Pat Quinn’s rise in politics
* Will Governor Be Indicted Eventually?
* Illinois isn’t alone: House Won’t Vote On Ethics Bill Senate Passed
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Another false red herring
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not long ago, some IL politicians were saying, “If we don’t pass a capital bill right now, all the federal money will go away.” That breathless warning was bunk, but the propaganda keeps on coming.
* For instance, the governor had this to say last week…
“If (the General Assembly) can get a capital bill done sooner rather than later, then the shovels will be in the ground before the Fourth of July,” Blagojevich told the Lee Springfield Bureau. “But it’s up to the legislature to do this and do it quickly.”
* Not.
Blagojevich’s own transportation department says some new construction could get under way in the latter part of the summer construction season, but that would require on-going planning and preparations from this point forward.
“It is possible that some projects could be started in late summer or fall, but it depends on issues like how much engineering has previously been done on specific projects and how much right of way needs to be acquired,” Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Claffey said. “A more significant number would begin in 2009 and I believe the funding would be spent over three to four years.”
* And that “pass it now or the money will go away” line? Well, it’s still out there…
Recently, several of us Illinois mayors were in Sen. Dick Durbin’s office, and he shared with us that there is federal money in Washington — up to $10 billion — to be used as matching funds if Illinois passes a capital bill. However, there’s a time limit to how long those funds will be available, so that’s why we need to get moving on this.
Durbin told the mayors that whopper despite informing the Pantagraph earlier this month that the claim was false…
But that federal money and those matching grants will not disappear or be doled out to other states unless Congress takes drastic measures to do so. Illinois’ congressional delegation says that will not happen.
“That money will be available, it will just be worth less,” Durbin said, adding that last year, hundreds of millions of dollars were left behind when Illinois was unable to move on a construction plan.
* There’s no doubt that Illinois is in great need of a capital bill. Not only is our infrastructure crumbling, but the jobs would be a welcomed cushion against continued economic decline.
But do the proponents have to rely on so many untruths to get it passed?
* Side note to whomever is publishing the pro capital bill Illinois Works Coalition website: Reprinting newspaper stories in their entirety is a violation of federal copyright laws.
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Morning shorts
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning
* Nicor wants $140-mil. rate hike
* Chicago Tonight: Children’s Museum
* The Corruption State
Tuesday’s ruling has to worry corrupt Illinois pols and their pals. No more hiding now in make-believe defenses, no more hoping the courts—judges are political creatures, right?—will leave definitions vague.
* Public Affairs with State Rep. John Fritchey
* Bill proposed to extend honorary degree eligibility
State Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, said he introduced Senate Bill 2682 – which would allow school boards to award high school diplomas to honorably discharged Vietnam veterans – after hearing about Raymond Collins’ struggle to get his.
* 2 yrs. later, is Illinois still ’state of shame’?
* Health care job eludes Iraq vet
Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Veterans’ Affairs Department for the last 1? years, said she hears similar stories “over and over again.” The nation is becoming “overwhelmed,” she said, by the length of the war and the number of veterans who have come home needing jobs.
* Gavel-to-Gavel: This morning, Rezko a ‘free’ man
* Rezko freed on $8 million bond, home monitoring
* State helps fill local food pantries’ shelves
* Want Obama’s Senate seat? Join the crowd
* Suburbs try to angle ComEd transmission line
* A training exercise or free pool boys?
* Brenda Sexton, public libraries team up on book-film series
* Tollway tale gets more tangled
* Fix the toll collection system — now
* Strong aftershock reported in Illinois
* Inspections follow shaky morning
* Bridges Inspected For Possible Damage
* Autism Center waiting for money
* Single-Sex Ed Takes Hold in South Carolina
* SJ-R: Misguided bid to ‘protect’ marriage
* Energy speaker: Don’t underestimate the power of coal
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Note to subscribers
Monday, Apr 21, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
I was ill Friday afternoon, so I wasn’t able to work. Therefore, there is no Capitol Fax today.
The General Assembly is not in session, so Capitol Fax will be published Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this week.
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