Stimulus, schmimulus
Monday, Feb 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is somewhat misleading…
Illinois could stand to gain a big piece of the stimulus pie - if Congress passes the approximately $800 billion spending package.
Illinois US Senator Dick Durbin says some money for school construction projects and discretionary spending has been cut back, but there are still plenty of dollars that could go to his home state.
DURBIN: If the state faces a $9 billion deficit as Comptroller (Dan) Hynes has indicated, I’m hoping that the stimulus package will infuse some $3 billion into the state, at a time to give the legislature and governor some relief, and I hope that over the next year or two, they can use that relief to put our state back on sound footing.
Durbin says Illinois stands to get around $2.5 billion for Medicaid with another $1 billion tagged for education programs.
First, the federal money will be doled out over two years.
Second, as I told subscribers this morning, the really big hit to the Illinois budget will come from a reported Senate elimination of a $25 billion US House-approved program that would’ve given states significant flexibility to deal directly with their own budget deficits, which are pretty darned high right now…
Illinois is hardly alone in its budget shortfall. Nationally, states are expecting an average shortfall equal to 17 percent of their operating budgets, but in Illinois it is 28 percent, said Elizabeth McNichol, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C.
Get that? 28 percent of our operating budget. Yeehaw.
The education money mentioned by Durbin is essentially a pass-through that goes straight to school districts. It’ll help take pressure off state budgeteers, but it won’t directly patch holes.
* Here’s another explanation of what the Senate “moderate” deal cut out of the original House plan…
The original House-Senate “State Fiscal Stabilization Fund” was set at $79 billion over two years. After a small rakeoff for territories and administration, it was divided roughly into $39 billion to the states (with a pass-through to school districts for unused funds) to restore prior state education cuts; a $15 billion “state incentives grant” program keyed to progress towards state education goals (presumably those set by No Child Left Behind); and then a $25 billion fund that could literally go to any state function, including education. This last flexible fund is basically general revenue sharing, though unlike the old Nixon-era program, it all goes to the states.
The amendment killed the flexible fund entirely; cut the “state incentive grant” fund in half (to $7.5 billion); and then left the remaining $31 billion in the fund distributed to offset state education cuts. So in the state fiscal stabilization section alone, the $40 billion cut everybody’s talking about involves $25 billion in flexible money and $15 billion in education funding.
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This just in…
Monday, Feb 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* 11:49 am - From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn announced two major appointments to the governor’s staff by naming Jerome Stermer as Chief of Staff and Theodore T. Chung as General Counsel. Stermer was President of Voices for Illinois Children and Chung was a partner in the Chicago office of Perkins Coie LLP.
“I am very pleased these two experienced and honorable professionals are joining my Administration,” said Governor Quinn. “I look forward to working with them in behalf of the people of Illinois.”
Jerome Stermer, 65, is a highly-regarded manager and community leader. As president of Voices for Illinois Children since 1987, Stermer built that organization into a leading child advocacy group that promotes public investment in children’s education, health care and early development. Stermer also has an extensive background in state government including positions as assistant to the director at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and executive director of the Legislative Advisory Committee on Public Aid.
Theodore Chung, 42, is a partner in Perkins Coie’s litigation practice. Prior to joining Perkins in 2007, Chung was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago and a First Assistant Corporation Counsel to the City of Chicago. He also served has General Counsel to the recently-formed Illinois Reform Commission.
Governor Quinn added that other key personnel decisions will be announced within the near future.
…Adding… Both of these appointments give us quite a bit of insight into how Quinn intends to govern. Appointing a person who ran a social services advocacy group as chief of staff during an extreme budget crisis tells us a lot, as does appointing a former Assistant US Attorney as chief counsel.
In other words, he appears to be moving to the left budget-wise. Here’s part of Stermer’s farewell letter to Voices for Illinois Children…
As you well know, this is a critical time in our state’s history. We’re facing a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, and the needs of children and families are becoming more pressing even as I write to you. Our new governor is confronted with many challenges, only one of them being to restore the public’s faith in our state government. Your dedication and commitment to children and families is needed now more than ever as we seek to engage all citizens in our efforts. As we’ve done together through the years, we must continue to push for progress in early learning and childcare, public education, healthcare, and all the issues so important to Illinois families.
…And Quinn’s appointment of Chung may signal that he’s more concerned with ethics issues than running day to day operations.
We’ll see.
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5th District roundup
Monday, Feb 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is one of the biggest problems for Rep. Feigenholtz and Commissioner Mike Quigley in the 5th CD special election race… …
Feigenholtz sported a well-known cadre of supporters, including endorsements from Equality Illinois Political Director Rick Garcia and Art Johnston, a popular co-founder of the gay rights group. Feigenholtz is going head-to-head for the GLBT vote with Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley.
One key endorsement is off the table. Ald. Tom “Sticky Buns” Tunney (44th) is taking a pass. Chicago’s first and only openly gay alderman and Ann Sather’s proprietor is a longtime friend and ally of both, so he is not endorsing, though he will do fund-raising for both.
They’re going to split that 44th Ward and gay-friendly vote. They both need to get outside their base, and they are trying. Whether they succeed will determine if they have a chance in the March primary. Quigley has the name, Feigenholtz has the money. Rep. John Fritchey has the troop advantage.
North Side and openly gay state Rep. Greg Harris is backing a strange bedfellow: 40th Ward Ald. Patrick O’Connor, Mayor Daley’s unofficial City Council floor leader and longtime Northwest Side pol. O’Connor launched his Council career in the 1980s as a member of the infamous “Vrdolyak 29,” the white ethnic bloc that stymied the city’s first black mayor at every turn.
That probably won’t dilute the Feigenholtz/Quigley base all that much, but it won’t help, either.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune will not give Rep. Fritchey a break. He gets the Illinois AFL-CIO endorsement while Feigenholtz is scoring the SEIU nod, so the Tribune hed reads thusly: “Unions divided in race to replace Emanuel.” There’s no analysis at all about how many union members are in the district (the unions backing Fritchey have far more in-district members than SEIU, for instance), or the relative strength that each union has (SEIU has a ton of bodies it can deploy at will, many of them experienced with precinct work, but the Chicago teachers and AFSCME are no slouches, either).
However, the real point is this: If a candidate is having trouble with the biggest newsaper in town, one should always keep an eye on that candidate because the trouble often spreads to other media outlets.
Feigenholtz, by the way, will be endorsed by UNITE/HERE this week. The union hasn’t been a gigantic player in ward politics, but it is with SEIU in the Change to Win splinter group and so will play a role in the campaign.
…CLARIFICATION… Local 1 of UNITE/HERE, which is the hotel/restaurant arm, endorsed Rep. Fritchey. As noted in Morning Shorts today, UNITE/HERE is pretty divided these days.
Fritchey won the endorsement of IVI/IPO over the weekend. That’s usually a great addition to a campaign mailer, but not so much as far as troops are concerned.
From PSB…
John has recently been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, IFT, AFSCME, the Jewish Political Alliance of Illinois, the American Muslim Task Force and the Illinois Committee for Honest Government, to name a few.”
Also, Tom Geoghegan is being endorsed by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committe. That will be good for a check and a press pop, but maybe not much else. We’ll see.
* Also via PSB, is a Sun-Times story that we missed several days ago…
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz is positioning herself as a progressive Democrat in the race to succeed Rahm Emanuel in Congress representing the North Side of Chicago and some of the west suburbs.
But one of her opponents is making sure voters know Feigenholtz’s name appears on two “clout lists” — lists of people who allegedly secured jobs for friends from then-Secretary of State George Ryan in the 1990s and from then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration.
State Rep. John Fritchey, a rival in the 5th Congressional District race, has been highlighting that connection in calls to voters.
Feigenholtz noted that Fritchey doesn’t mention that many elected officials in Illinois — including Emanuel, who is now President Obama’s White House chief of staff — also found their names on the list for acts as small as writing a letter of recommendation for people who got state jobs. That’s what Feigenholtz said landed her on both clout lists.
Add that to her missing the House ethics vote last week, toss in some expected controversy over her past campaign contributions and the nasty poll which stirred up a bit of ire and you can see a pattern develop, as least as far as campaigns are concerned. Nobody would ever actually come out and say that Feigenholtz is corrupt. They’ll just imply it.
Feigenholtz, however, can retaliate with misleading stuff like this, so it may all end up as a wash.
* Related…
* 5th CD Contact Database v 2.1
* IL-5: Endorsements And Non-Endorsements
* Fritchey Endorsed by IVI-IPO
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Question of the day
Monday, Feb 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Has your impression of the national media been permanently altered since Rod Blagojevich’s arrest? Explain.
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* Legislators of all stripes are so thrilled to finally have a governor who isn’t a schizoid criminal that even the Republicans are gushing about Gov. Quinn…
Two local state lawmakers say they’re already seeing progress with Illinois’ new governor, Pat Quinn. At a Republican breakfast [last week] in Washington [IL], State Senator Dan Rutherford and Representative Keith Sommer say the state is facing some serious problems.
Senator Dan Rutherford says Governor Pat Quinn is already making progress that’s benefiting central Illinois. […]
Senator Rutherford also gives Quinn an A+ for digging out what some called a problem for the Department of Natural Resources.
Both Republicans say the newly seated Democratic governor is helping steer the state the right way.
Sommer said, “It’s a whole different atmosphere, now people connect with the governor.”
* But it’s a different story with Republicans who never had to deal with Rod Blagojevich on a daily basis…
New Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn may not get much of a honeymoon. Republican Party officials peppered Quinn with criticisms the moment he was sworn in, and they promise to keep up the pressure as the 2010 election approaches.
The state’s top Republican, Andy McKenna, demanded immediately after Quinn took the oath of office that the new governor apologize for his relationship with scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich. McKenna’s office also published a booklet detailing alleged hypocrisy in the Democratic party.
Quinn’s critics insist Blagojevich’s departure won’t change the direction of Illinois politics unless they pressure his replacement.
“Just because we put a new horse in the race doesn’t mean, to me, that we’ve got a new jockey,” said Richard Stubblefield, Jefferson County Republican Chairman.
That’s actually not a bad strategy. Let the GOP legislators praise Quinn (they will anyway because, as I noted at the top, everybody at the Statehouse is just pleased as punch right now that Blagojevich is gone) and have the other Repubs whack him.
* Quinn will announce his new chief of staff today at 11, and it can’t come soon enough. Things have fallen through the cracks for a very long time…
Illinois hospitals and state government are poised to collect about $1 billion a year through a complicated maneuver involving the federal government, but the money hasn’t begun flowing because of the ex-governor’s legal troubles and the state’s cash crunch. […]
The first step in the assessment program, however, requires the state to come up with some cash - about $1 billion as of Friday. That hasn’t happened. […]
Annie Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said payments to the hospitals should start by March 14. The law that authorizes the assessment plan gives the state 100 days to begin making payments, once the federal government approves the plan. The 100-day mark is March 14.
“The department is currently working with the governor’s budget office to identify resources available to begin making those payments,” Thompson said.
Quinn spent much of last week on a media market tour of Illinois. But now it’s time to get to work. Here’s another reason he needs to stay on top of things…
When the tollway board picked a new chief Friday to run the multibillion-dollar highway system that rings the suburbs, Gov. Pat Quinn knew nothing about it.
He read about it in the paper - and said he was “disturbed.”
“We are not going to take it quietly,” Quinn told the Daily Herald Sunday. “You can tell them, ‘I’m on my way.’”
Quinn should’ve had a chief of staff in place right away, or at least nearly right away. It’s the most important job in the administration and it can’t go unfilled for long.
* Related…
* Quinn says death penalty moratorium stays
* Gov. Quinn would continue moratorium on executions
* Quinn to host open house for bicentennial
* Schoenburg: Walker hired Quinn, Burris in ’ 70s
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Hit from all sides
Monday, Feb 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Sun-Times looks at one aspect of the federal Blagojevich investigation…
As part of their “pay-to-play” probe of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, federal investigators are examining state bid proposals and other records from 18 heavyweight engineering and construction companies that made hefty political contributions and got big contracts from the state and from City Hall, records show.
In all, the companies have made more than $3.6 million in campaign contributions since the mid-1990s, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows.
More than a third of that — about $1.3 million — went to Blagojevich, whose administration gave 11 of the companies $656 million in contracts since 2004.
Mayor Daley took $64,800 from the companies before he put a self-imposed ban on accepting campaign cash from city contractors in the wake of the Hired Truck scandal. Since 2004, 11 of the companies have gotten $183 million in city deals.
Notice the gigantic difference in money contributed to the two men. One of the companies was represented by John Wyma, the former Blagojevich insider who’s looking for an immunity deal. Another was represented by Lon Monk, Blagojevich’s former chief of staff. Both of those guys were bigtime Blagojevich fundraisers. The Blagojevich campaign guys were all about the money, and it shows in that above discrepancy.
* And Carol Marin speculates about the recent Chris Kelly federal indictment for bigtime alleged wrongdoing on an O’Hare Airport contract…
O’Hare has been a golden goose of possibilities for well-connected businesses and politicians. In the last year, Mayor Daley’s own Inspector General David Hoffman has, according to published reports, been probing contracts and political connections out at O’Hare.
And now we learn the feds have in their clutches former Daley aide and Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris, who — guess what? — did two tours of duty for the mayor out at O’Hare. Harris was arrested on Dec. 9. The Kelly indictment spans airport work from 1998-2006.
Where was John Harris during some of those years? In 1999, the mayor named him first deputy commissioner of aviation overseeing the “future of O’Hare,” the project manager for “design, financing and construction.”
A cooperating witness, imagine what Harris has been able to share with the government.
Imagine what Kelly could tell them, assuming he doesn’t stay on that hot tin roof much longer.
Yep.
* Related…
* Blago blitz ‘like watching a train wreck’
* Experts say Blago book deal unlikely
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* This WaPo story comes out of Washington, DC, so it was most likely planted by somebody who is trying to recruit Lisa Madigan to run for US Senate…
The removal of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his subsequent replacement by now-Gov. Pat Quinn is still sorting itself out, but a real possibility exists that Quinn will face a serious primary challenge in 2010.
State Attorney General Lisa Madigan is clearly interested in being governor but, of late, there have been some reports that she may see a Senate race as the better (and easier) next step for her. Quinn has a chance to cast himself as the anti-Blagojevich to a public more than ready to move on. If he does, it’s possible he dodges a serious primary. If he stumbles, the sharks will be circling.
So far, Lisa Madigan seems pretty intent on running for governor. But like I said at the top, there is a DC recruitment drive.
Later in the piece, we get the state’s US Senate race…
[Appointed US Sen. Roland Burris] continues to play coy about whether he will run for a full term in 2010 but even if he does he seems likely to face a primary challenge from at least one major Democratic candidate with state Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias most regularly mentioned. If Burris decides against a run, this could be a knock-down drag out fight with Madigan, if she wants to be in the Senate, the immediate favorite in an open seat scenario.
Again, don’t believe that Madigan stuff just yet and consider the source. She didn’t enjoy the legislative process all that much in the Illinois Senate, so the US Senate has never been a major goal.
Giannoulias was in DC again last week to meet with potential campaign staff, fundraisers, etc. He also met with US Sen. Dick Durbin, who said yesterday that Giannoulias would be a “formidable” candidate if he runs. Giannoulias is clearly gearing up for a Senate bid.
* AG Madigan even tweaked Gov. Quinn a bit the other day…
Rod Blagojevich’s removal from the governor’s office signals a new direction for how open records issues are handled in state government.
But will it be more cooperation or antagonism? Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants new Gov. Pat Quinn to set a tone of openness right away.
Madigan sent Quinn a letter on his first day in office, urging him to issue an executive order making open records access a priority. He should appoint special staffers to oversee records’ requests and review scores of denials by the Blagojevich administration to see if violations occurred, Madigan said.
* And pretty much anybody who is anybody in statewide Democratic politics was in DuPage County last night for a President’s Day dinner…
But Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan tried to sound a hopeful note Sunday night, saying that while the ouster of the two-term Democratic governor involved “some of the most stressful, difficult times” in her career, she and other Democrats need to look forward.
“Look at the history of the good elected officials from the state of Illinois,” she said, citing Abraham Lincoln, Paul Simon and President Barack Obama. “There is no need to be ashamed.”
Yes, there is a need to be ashamed, but I can see part of her point.
* Meanwhile, ProPublica and the Tribune take a closer look at the guy who loaned and contributed $1.57 million to Roland Burris’s 2002 gubernatorial bid. Burris still owes Joseph Stroud $1.2 million from that race…
Shortly after the 2002 campaign ended, Burris phoned prosecutors and local police about criminal charges Stroud wanted filed against a former employee who had sued him, claiming wrongful termination, records show.
The businessman made it clear he had called on Burris, then a private citizen, because of Burris’ political résumé. “There is an appropriate person to go to who was formerly a state attorney general here in Illinois, I believe, to properly secure prosecution of a crime,” he testified in the ex-employee’s lawsuit.
Burris testified that Stroud’s contributions bought him no special access and he denied an allegation in the suit that Stroud had offered Burris $20,000 if the former employee were charged with eavesdropping because of tape recordings she made.
The owner of a local television station, WJYS-Ch. 62, Stroud denied making the offer. Burris, he testified, “received compensation enough. This was after I believe that I contributed a million-plus to his campaign.”
No charges were ever filed and Stroud also testified that he contributed so much money to Burris because it was in the best interests of the African-American community.
* And speaking of debt, this seems excessive…
Before he was even sworn in, newly minted Senator Roland Burris had already filed paperwork allowing him to start fund-raising for the 2010 election. But he says that’s doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to run for the office when his term expires.
BURRIS: No that means I am in debt. I have legal bills, to the tune of $400,000
Burris said he had to pay for his staff out of his pocket while battling to be seated in the Senate, after his controversial appointment by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich.
BURRIS: I have to try to recoup those funds, because I am not a wealthy person.
Burris’ own law firm represented him during the appointment ordeal and they still hit him for 400 large?
* Burris really ought to answer questions about this…
Faced with pressure from state regulators and a multimillion-dollar deficit in a funeral trust fund, the Illinois Funeral Directors Association two years ago turned to Roland Burris for help.
Burris, appointed last month to the U.S. Senate from Illinois, met at least once in 2007 with state officials who had determined the IFDA’s pre-need funeral trust fund, set up to provide funerals for nearly 50,000 people in Illinois, had a $39 million shortfall as of the end of 2005.
Reached mid-afternoon Friday, Darrel Thompson, Burris’ chief of staff, said the senator was too busy with official duties to answer questions.
Just how effective Burris was as an IFDA lobbyist isn’t clear.
* Related…
* Burris too busy learning about new job to discuss new job
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Morning Shorts
Monday, Feb 9, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray
* Oil spill at CAT facility hits Des Plaines river
A holding tank broke open Sunday spilling about 65,000 gallons of oil sludge at a Caterpillar facility in Joliet.
The spill contaminated a three mile area around the Des Plaines River, but officials said it will not have any effect on human health.
The US Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and Joliet officials placed a floating wall to keep the oil from spreading, and they are working to get it cleaned up.
* 65,000 gallons of oil sludge spills at Caterpillar facility near Joliet
* State firms to cut nearly 4,000 jobs: report
* Hundreds May Lose Jobs at U of C Hospitals
* Aurora revenue from casino hits 5-year low
* Economic problems put pressure on suburban mayoral candidates
* Chicago Tribune to cut jobs, freeze pay
* CN ready to move freights but needs limit numbers
* Daley: Economy Won’t Affect Olympic Bid
* Chicago stimulus package
Back when Wal-Mart first proposed opening stores in Chicago in 2004, the nation’s unemployment rate was 5.6 percent and the City Council thought it could afford the luxury of turning the company away. Big labor was at war with Wal-Mart because the company doesn’t have union workers. So Chicago politicians said Wal-Mart jobs weren’t good enough for Chicagoans. One store was allowed to open, but the company’s bid for more was spurned.
Now unemployment is at 7.6 percent, the economy is in desperate shape, companies are shedding workers. Nearly 600,000 Americans lost their jobs last month.
And here comes word that Wal-Mart still wants to put Chicagoans to work. The company is renewing its Chicago push. John Bisio, Wal-Mart’s Illinois director of public affairs and governmental relations, told us Friday that it is looking at “roughly a dozen potential locations” in the city.
* The President’s Mayor
* Tribune poll: Support for Chicago Olympics tempered by opposition to using taxes for Games
* Caterpillar chairman named to Obama’s economic advisory team
* Two Unions in Marriage Now Face Divorce Talks
With great fanfare in 2004, Unite — formerly called the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees — merged with Here, the larger Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. But now Mr. Raynor and many of his supporters think the merger should be undone.
“This union has irreconcilable differences,” Mr. Raynor said. “The union should have a divorce.”
* Illinois will appeal ruling that allows Ryan to keep part of his pension
* AG pushes for open records reform
* You need to fight for public information
* When vacancies occur, voters should be allowed to pick
* Primary should be moved
* PJStar View: Next election shouldn’t always be around the corner
After all, nominating petitions will be starting to circulate as the summer draws to a close. Already prospective candidates for statewide office are publicly mulling over which office they intend to seek in the February primary - in 2010, not the one coming up in a couple weeks.
Welcome to the perpetual campaign.
Unless, of course, Gov. Pat Quinn or one of several legislators with competing proposals gets his way and rallies enough support to push back the Illinois primary to sometime when the temperatures are above freezing. Quinn is keen on September. Several others appear to favor August. Peoria Sen. Dale Risinger has a measure that would land the primary on the first Tuesday in June.
* Call one, call them all
* Twitter Congress: IL Legislators
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