Senate President Emil Jones has circulated a memo today to his members saying the Senate will not reconvene until Nov. 12. The move means state park closures, social service cuts and potential state layoffs will not be staved off in the short term.
It also means that the ethics bill is dead because the Senate would have to act on the House’s override within 15 calendar days.
This ain’t over yet. Expect much gnashing of teeth.
The Illinois Constitution requires the Senate to act on the ethics bill sent over by the House yesterday within a 15-day time limit or it dies. But Davidsmeyer said Senate Democratic researchers don’t believe that time limit kicks in until the Senate reads the measure into its records, and that hasn’t happened yet.
The two other issues - restoring budget cuts and approving a lottery lease - do not have a constitutional deadline attached to them.
However, dozen of state workers face the loss of their jobs if the budget cuts aren’t reversed before November 12th, and state parks and historic sites are supposed to close before then.
Jones is arguing that the 15-day constitutional rule has been misinterpreted in the past, so they don’t have to show up.
Just one more reason for a con-con, if you ask me.
More tomorrow.
* 5:23 pm - From a press release…
This Saturday, Sept. 13, frontline employees of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and their supporters will rally to stop the closure of 14 state historic sites and the layoff of 34 historic preservation workers as a result of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent budget cuts.
The demonstration will coincide with the Illinois State Historical Society’s annual awards reception at the governor’s mansion—located just blocks away from the landmark Dana-Thomas House, one of the historic sites marked for closure by Blagojevich.
But several lawmakers from both parties said Jones is wrong to wait because doing so will jeopardize the legislation. They cited a provision in the state constitution that a 15-day clock starts ticking once one chamber votes on a governor’s proposed changes and delivers the legislation to the second chamber. Without action after 15 days, the legislation would die.
The House delivered the ethics legislation Thursday to the secretary of the Senate, but Jones said the 15-day clock does not start until the Senate returns and reads the bill into the official record.
Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), part of Madigan’s leadership team, questioned Jones’ decision. If his interpretation is incorrect, then his action by inaction will have killed the ethics reform,” Lang said.
The matter could be challenged in court, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers said.
* Rod Blagojevich just can’t help himself when it comes to Barack Obama. During the Rezko trial, Blagojevich often pointed out to reporters that Rezko also had connections to Obama.
“I would hope the Democrats wouldn’t say that about a governor,” Blagojevich, a former state legislator and congressman, told O’Dell of criticism that the first-term [Gov. Sarah Palin] lacks experience.
“The reality is, governors every day have to make decisions for better or for worse. That’s part of the job. It’s an executive position. And it’s a position that is like what you’re going to do when you’re president. Legislators, they do different things. They debate and they pass their bills back and forth,” he said.
The time [Gov. Palin has] spent away from the capital and her state-funded travel have come under question.
That’s not unlike Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Palin has been criticized for accepting daily expense reimbursements while living at her Wasilla home. Some lawmakers have said she isn’t in the Capitol enough. And her family often travels at state expense.
Democrat Blagojevich spends little time in Springfield and last year sometimes flew daily round trips between the Capitol and his Chicago home. His state-funded travel has been questioned and tax experts even believe he could owe taxes on some because it’s a personal fringe benefit.
Metal bats would be banned from all youth baseball leagues in Chicago under an ordinance that Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) is set to introduce at today’s City Council meeting.
Advocates of the ban argue that metal bats are more dangerous than wood bats.
“The statistics show that a ball that comes off of a wooden bat goes at about 93 miles an hour, probably at most, but a metal bat anywhere from 100 to 125 miles an hour,” Fioretti said. “Our pastime is built upon the wooden bat. It’s not upon the metal bat.”
The ban would apply to all baseball games involving children under 18 years old and over 8.
Similar legislation introduced in the Illinois General Assembly last year by state Rep. Robert Molaro (D-Chicago)) has not been approved. The state proposal would make it illegal for any coach, parent or teacher to allow aluminum bats in baseball or softball games involving players under 13 years old. Violators would face fines of between $250 and $500.
David Williams, a coach and former president of Hamlin Park Baseball on the North Side, said new standards put into place in 2003 that limit the maximum velocity at which a ball can come off a metal bat — called the Ball Exit Speed Ratio — should ease parents’ fears.
“I think [the proposal] is a knee- jerk reaction,'’ said Williams, whose 10-year-old son Logan used an aluminum bat while practicing at the BASH Sports Academy on Wednesday.
* The question: Should metal bats be banned by the state? Explain.
An independent Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group named U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) to its fourth annual list of the “20 most corrupt members of Congress” on Wednesday, singling out for scrutiny his local chief of staff, Oak Lawn Trustee Jerry Hurckes.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington claims Hurckes may have violated the prohibition against congressional staffers serving as lobbyists. It also argues his acceptance of contributions to his trustee campaign from interests with business before a committee on which Lipinski serves may violate House ethics rules. And the group also questions the $60,000 in consulting fees he received from Bridgeview Bank.
“Mr. Hurckes clearly used his position in the House to provide special treatment to his constituents and encouraged the notion that his constituents would receive preferential treatment from Rep. Lipinski’s congressional office,” CREW stated in a news release.
Hurckes said neither he nor Lipinski, of Western Springs, has done anything wrong and that CREW’s claims amount to “a rehash of old news.”
Lipinski dismissed the charges against Hurckes and pointed out that while it’s his name on the list, CREW said little about the congressman himself.
It’s true that not much was said about Lipinski, but he is, obviously, the responsible party.
Given that Mr. Hurckes is the most highly paid staff member in Rep. Lipinski’s office, that his position is a full-time job and is generally considered a “senior staff” position, the fact that Mr. Hurckes’ salary is just under the figure that would make him “senior staff” suggests that Rep. Lipinski is paying Mr. Hurckes a salary under this limit precisely so that he can earn a substantial outside income. As a result, the House Ethics committee ought to investigate whether Rep. Lipinski and Mr. Hurckes are attempting to end-run the outside income restrictions.
* And here’s another one..
Finally, by accepting money for his local electoral campaign from companies with interests before Rep. Lipinski, Mr. Hurckes is using his position as a congressional staff member to accept benefits under circumstances which might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the performance of official duties in violation of House rules.
* Sometimes, I think that Gov. Blagojevich acts just like a spoiled child. His temper tantrum yesterday only reinforced that notion…
It was a very angry Governor Blagojevich going off on mostly the CTA Wednesday. He says the CTA should stop lying to the people and stop breaking promises made in order to get a sales tax increase. Wednesday’s heated words came one day after Mayor Daley pointed fingers at Blagojevich for offering free rides to senior citizens.
“Go back to the CTA and tell them to stop lying to the people. They already broke their promise because they laid off some workers. And now they’re talking about a fare increase, which is yet another broken promise,” Blagojevich said.
A heated Governor Blagojevich accused the CTA of lies, lies and more lies after CTA president Ron Huberman announced a $40 million budget shortfall Monday.
Blagojevich said he plans to “make some changes” to his appointments on the CTA board in an effort to provide more oversight and block a possible fare increase. The transit agency has blamed Blagojevich for some of its budget woes, and warned this week that fare increases may be necessary to cover increasing fuel costs and to pay for a program he pushed that gives free rides to thousands of senior citizens.
The governor said the CTA was exaggerating the impact of the free ride program and accused the agency of lying to lawmakers when pursuing a sales-tax increase to prevent a “doomsday” scenario earlier this year.
“They ought to stop blaming senior citizens, and they ought to stop being dishonest to the public,” Blagojevich said at a news conference on the city’s Southwest Side. “They said if the General Assembly gave them that sales-tax increase that they would not increase fares, that they wouldn’t lay people off and that they wouldn’t cut service, but already we know that they’ve broken that promise.”
As I wrote yesterday, the governor is mostly right on the actual issue. But, as usual, he feels the need to demonize anyone who would dare disagree with him or call him out. This is not the behavior of a reasonable human being.
Maybe it’s because he was handed everything early in his political career. He was made a state legislator and he was made a congressman. He never had to do any real legislative work in either venue because he had such a safe seat and because he didn’t have the temperament.
In a move aimed at insulating themselves from pre-election charges of being a do-nothing legislature, members of the Illinois House Wednesday took steps toward putting a statewide construction program on the books
* Rather than focus all that much on the details of the Lottery lease, the big debate yesterday was over why the House Democrats had provided a revenue stream for the capital projects package, but no actual capital projects…
But the House bill under consideration did not specify which capital projects the lottery lease money would fund.
“When are you going to pass the jobs bill? When are you going to invest in building schools and hospitals and fixing our roads and our bridges and investing in the public transportation needs of our state?” said Governor Blagojevich.
But Flynn-Currie says the House bill could not be specific about spending because no state has ever leased its lottery.
“We don’t know at this moment whether the idea of leasing the lottery will hold water. We probably won’t know for six or eight months whether we have a done deal,” said Flynn-Currie.
That’s true, but the story behind the story which you probably won’t see in the newspapers is that the House Democrats don’t want to give the House Republicans any juicy projects before the November elections. They also would rather deal with a new Senate President, rather than sit down with Emil Jones before he retires.
But the House didn’t pass a spending plan for construction projects. Many House members complained they were only doing half the job.
“The audacity of anyone calling this a capital bill is insulting,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.
Cross urged leaders to sit down and work out a spending plan by October or this would be the “biggest political hoax we’ve seen so far this year.” He then voted for the lease idea. [emphasis added]
That tidbit about somebody railing against a bill and then voting for it is often left out of these types of stories, so kudos to Finke.
“At least it’s a starting point,” said state Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, a regular critic of the lottery lease who voted for the lease to move the construction program forward. “We just need a capital bill and it looks like it’s the only way we’re going to get one.”
“Madigan wants it,” is a good enough reason for most House Dems.
State legislators Wednesday agreed to tap into $221 million in special funds to save the jobs of state workers facing layoffs and to keep open state parks slated for closure.
The move by House members brings cuts Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced last month one step closer to be being undone. Funding would be restored for Department of Children and Family Services workers, alcohol and substance abuse counselors and for state historic sites and parks.
* I’m kind of surprised that this didn’t get more play today…
A separate measure approved by the House, although by fewer members, would ensure that Medicaid providers would receive more timely reimbursements from the state, but the $371 million to do so would not be covered by the fund sweeps. Hannig said the House wants to work with the governor to find another funding source for the Medicaid payments. Most of the state dollars would capture federal matching funds.
The Senate is not slated to return back to Springfield until November, though some lawmakers, like state Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, think the cash-strapped agencies will pressure for a special Senate session before then.
Even if the Senate OKs the plan, it still needs the governor’s approval.
“We have several concerns with the proposed legislation,” said gubernatorial spokeswoman Kelley Quinn, who said the funds might not have enough money to support the sweeps.
The Illinois House on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to rewrite ethics legislation aimed at preventing him from giving state contracts to campaign donors.
The high-profile smackdown in Springfield came hours after the embattled governor argued in Chicago that lawmakers should embrace amendments he inserted into the bill to improve and toughen it.
House lawmakers instead voted 110-3 to override Blagojevich’s proposed changes, accusing him of trying to kill the ban on pay-to-pay politics rather than enhance it.
The bill’s fate is still uncertain. If the state Senate does not also reject the governor’s changes, the legislation dies.
If the measure isn’t voted on in the Senate within 15 days, the entire bill and the changes die. Senate Democrats have said until they see what the House does, they don’t have plans to return to work until November.
[Rep. John Fritchey] said Senate leaders have repeatedly promised to call an override for a vote in that chamber and hopes they live up to that commitment.
* The ethics bill wasn’t the only veto override yesterday. If and/or when the Senate returns, they’ll have to deal with bill like these…
HB 1432: Insurance coverage of sexual assault services
Originally passed 94-20-0 in the House and 56-0 in the Senate
The House overrode the changes, 77-36, on September 10, 2008 Original intent: It would require insurance companies to pay for treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in addition to other mental health services they already cover. Governor’s changes: The governor would add treatment and services for sexual abuse victims, as well as for their parents, children, spouses, siblings, domestic or same-sex partners if they die or commit suicide from the abuse.
HB 953:
Insurance coverage of autism services
Originally passed the House 100-7-0 and the Senate 48-4-3
The House overrode the changes, 84-29, September 10, 2008 Original intent: It would expand mandatory insurance coverage of mental health services to also cover marriage counseling or therapy. Governor’s changes: It would require insurance companies to reimburse families for diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders for children younger than 21. The benefit would max out at $36,000 a year but would be annually adjusted for inflation. Families still would have to pay a co-payment and deductible as usual for their policies, but they could not be dropped from their policies simply because their children were diagnosed with a form of autism.
* The Sun-Times uncovers a nifty little trick at the Chicago Children’s “Museum.” Visitors pay $19 to $23 to park, the museum takes a headcount as everyone walks in, and…
Then, at the end of the year, the museum uses its total annual attendance to help it get a six-figure “parking rebate” from its government landlord, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.
Last year, McPier gave the museum $550,000 — money awarded based on the idea that visitors deserve a break on the high cost of parking, records show.
But the museum didn’t use that money to rebate anybody’s parking. Instead, it gave about half the money back to its landlord to cover its share of maintenance costs for common areas of Navy Pier. The museum pocketed the rest for its operating budget.
“Only about 54 or 55 percent of our visitors arrive by car,” Natalie Kreiger, the museum’s spokeswoman, reasons. “With the parking money going into our operating budget, all of our visitors benefit from that money.” [,,,]
Well, the museum had 445,765 visitors last year. The museum estimates that about 245,000 of them arrived by car. Figure, conservatively, that all 245,000 traveled two to a car — a parent and child. That would mean the museum could have provided $4-per-car rebates to all museum visitors who parked in Navy Pier’s garage — and still have had money left over.
Sweet deal, eh?
* More…
A year-by-year look at the “parking rebate” McPier pays to the Chicago Children’s Museum:
2001-02 $270,267
2002-03 $340,043
2003-04 $408,347
2004-05 $489,331
2005-06 $569,887
2006-07 $550,000*
Total $2,627,875
*First year of a $550,000 cap on the parking rebate.
Source: Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
Rep. Bill Black (R-Danville) announced on the House floor yesterday that he was inspired by the Blagojevich-Madigan hugfest and offered to hug Madigan himself. They embraced in the hallway…
“All those times we come here, you take it for granted,” Watson said in an interview on the floor Wednesday. “But this time it was like, it’s good to be home. It’s good to walk up, and hopefully you don’t lose that enthusiasm.”
Students will be measured every five weeks in math, English, social sciences, science and physical education. An A nets $50, a B equals $35 and a C still brings in $20. Students will get half the money upfront, with the remainder paid upon graduation. A straight-A student could earn up to $4,000 by the end of his or her sophomore year.
Saturday, Gov. Blagojevich announced a partnership between the state and eight Illinois-based credit unions that invested $100 million in securities to finance low-interest, federally backed loans.
Because the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, not the lenders, will determine who gets the loans, community college students’ requests are considered with the same weight as students from 4-year institutions, spokesman Claude Walker said.
Mochal said Presto-X used grain treated with Avitrol, a chemical that causes birds to emit cries and visual signals that frighten away others in a flock. He said ConAgra officials did not know Avitrol would be used or that it is controversial. Avitrol is banned in some jurisdictions, including New York City.
After four years of heading the 16th Circuit, Chief Judge Donald C. Hudson is bound for the Illinois Appellate Court.
Hudson will replace 2nd District Appellate Court Justice R. Peter Grometer, who will retire from the bench in early January. The court is located in Elgin.
* Dem Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran Endorses GOP State’s Attorney Mike Waller, Takes Heat From Terry Link
