* Rep. John Fritchey held a blogger conference call yesterday. Some of them gave him a bit of a rough time, particularly on the claim that he’s a “lobbyist.” (Fritchey is a zoning lawyer, so he has to register as a lobbyist.) Allies of Rep. Sara Feigenholtz are working hard to make this an issue. From Jesse Greenberg’s live-blog of the conference call..
Q: How can you reconcile being a candidate working for people and as a lobbyist for Bank of America, Cash America.
A: Cash America looking to locate a pawn shop, not a pay day loan shop. Those communities needed that development.
Q: Ongoing conversation online making distinction of being a lobbyist for City of Chicago and a legislator…
A: Lobbyists have to disclose clients and how much got paid. Sponsored legislation that would make process more transparent. That’s a good thing.
* Bored Now also filed a report. BN believed all along the Fritchey would run and that his decision to enter came so late was somehow strategic…
Finally, after I pushed back a little (looking for an admission that it was a strategic political decision), Fritchey responded bluntly. “Look,” he said, “who was it going to hurt but me? I knew I was behind 100,000 dollars or 300,000 dollars.” He made it clear that he wanted, maybe even needed, the time to think through this decision (even though some of us — including me — believed it was a foregone conclusion), to consult with his family and get comfortable with the reality of running for Congress.
Actually, most people figured that Fritchey wouldn’t pull the trigger… again.
There’s a whole lot more at both the above links and I highly encourage you to go read all of their respective reports.
* Democrat Tom Geoghegan was endorsed by Teamsters Local 743, which I believe is his first local union endorsement. The union “represents Chicago-are health care, technical, office, and warehouse workers,” according to the press release. More…
As a labor lawyer, Tom has fought for nurses, teachers, machinists, and other union members, as well as workers who lack the protection of a union. He has also represented Teamsters for a Democratic Union and other union rank-and-file groups seeking to root out corruption and strengthen union democracy. His efforts have helped secure health care, pensions, and lost wages for thousands of working Americans.
* Geoghegan was also interviewed the other day by Mark Bazer…
* Another slam on Rep. Feigenholtz that you probably won’t see in the MSM…
A day after state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz skipped another legislative session in Springfield in order to campaign for higher office, Mike Quigley’s campaign is calling today on Feigenholtz to return to the pay raise that she voted to give herself in 2007.
Feigenholtz’s absence from the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday marked the second time in less than a week that she decided to seek campaign support and campaign dollars instead of carrying out her duty to the people who elected her.
* Received from the Feigenholtz campaign at about 2:30 this afternoon…
Dear Friend,
You did it again - we asked and you responded.
In the little more than 24 hours since we reached out to you to raise $5,000 in the closing hours of our financial reporting period, you have given more than $3,000!
As we stand, we are $1,710 short of our $5,000 goal.
Can you help close the gap in the final 10 hours of our reporting period with a contribution of $170, $127 or $85 right now?
The election is 20 days away and our financial reporting deadline is in just 10 hours! This election has been a sprint and the final days will be a blur. Your continued support drives our momentum and allows Sara to stay one step ahead of her opponents.
This is about all I ever get from that campaign… Solicitations for money. Just about everything I get from Quigley these days is a slam on Feigenholtz.
* Fritchey takes a shot at the Sun-Times during an interview with the Sun-Times…
“I take a mortgage out at Belmont Bank. My brother-in-law is the president of the bank. I took a mortgage out at a publicly advertised rate. Nobody alleged that I got a rate that wasn’t available to the general public,” Fritchey said. He gets static because his father-in-law, criminal defense attorney Sam Banks, defended accused mobsters.
“I think it’s offensive,” Fritchey said of the smears.
The Belmont Bank stuff was first reported by the CS-T.
* Ald. Pat O’Connor will actually show up at a candidates forum next week.
* When reading this press release, keep in mind that Wheelan’s last TV ad had almost no ratings points behind it, so don’t get your hopes up for this one…
Congressional candidate and economics expert Charlie Wheelan, whose “Underwater” TV ad caught the nation’s eye last month, launches his second commercial today; this time, like the nation’s financial future, he’s upside down.
Wheelan, pictured in a suit and tie, dangles by his heels as he personifies how many people’s efforts to pay their mortgage, afford health care and college tuition costs have gone “bottom-up”.
* 2:44 pm - It looks like the Illinois budget won’t get the big help it needed from the federal stimulus plan. From the NY Times…
Despite intense lobbying by governors, the final deal slashed $35 billion from a proposed state fiscal stabilization fund, eliminated $16 billion in aid for school construction and sharply curtailed health care subsidies for the unemployed.
The original stimulus bill included $25 billion to help states with their deficits, which was somewhat similar to the old revenue sharing program that Ronald Reagan eliminated. That program was eliminated in the Senate compromise. I doubt it was put back in, but I’ve asked Sen. Dick Durbin’s office for a list of what is included. I’m still awaiting the reply.
That “revenue sharing” program, by the way, was worth about a billion dollars to Illinois.
* 3:41 pm - The AP had a story earlier that claims some of the school construction money was put back in, between $6 and 9 billion. But that was as of much earlier in the day. Not sure what the final deal is yet, but the NY Times story above is probably a pretty good source appears to be in error [That’s what I get for trusting them]. Still waiting on Durbin’s office, but I’m not holding my breath.
*** 4:01 PM *** OK, now there are reports that the House Democrats are grumbling and that the deal is not a deal just yet. From the NYT…
There were hard feelings by some House members that an agreement on the economic stimulus had been announced before they had seen the details.
At least some of the differences, aides said, appeared to be over construction spending measures. Aides said the situation would be resolved.
Some money was apparently restored for school construction, but it’s unclear how much right now.
* Is anyone except for the most extreme Obama bashers even remotely surprised by this?
Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Chicago who brought criminal fraud charges against Rod Blagojevich, will be staying in his job in the Obama administration, even though he was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush.
U.S. attorneys are political appointees. The normal practice, when there’s a change of political parties in the White House, is for the incoming administration to replace all 93 U.S. attorneys with appointees from the new president’s party. For now, the Obama administration has asked the current Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys to remain in their posts while it considers how many to retain.
But Fitzgerald will not be asked to move on. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has recommended that Eric Holder, the new attorney general, keep Fitzgerald. That suggestion was “positively received,” according to officials at the Justice Department and Sen. Durbin’s office.
The tinfoil hat types who insisted that Obama would can Fitzgerald failed to make any sort of credible case. Axing Fitz would’ve created a gigantic media firestorm, whether it was the president’s perogative or not. Also, keeping Fitzgerald in place makes extra sure that most everybody in Chicago will try to behave themselves. Blagojevich apparently couldn’t contain himself, but that’s because he is totally goofy.
[Bumped up and updated with a partial transcript and more.]
* The former governor had some pretty nasty words for the General Assembly this morning. You can find the audio files by clicking here.
…Adding… Um, wow. Check out the second part. He made some pretty ugly allegations about members, essentially calling them drunken spouse-cheaters.
He also called out Senate President John Cullerton, his own state Senator, whom Blagojevich claimed “drives around” in a Jaguar and works at a law firm that gets state business, and more than implied that Cullerton “pretended to be on the side of the people.”
In his first public comments about former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest two months ago, labor leader Tom Balanoff said he could be “a strong witness” for federal prosecutors who have charged the governor with trying to sell President Barack Obama’s old spot in the U.S. Senate.
Balanoff, the Illinois State Council president for the Service Employees International Union, was involved in secretly recorded conversations with Blagojevich regarding the Obama vacancy.
“We have fully cooperated with the U.S. attorney’s office. I believe I would be a strong witness for the U.S. attorney,” Balanoff said after a news conference Tuesday where his union endorsed state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) to replace Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in Congress. […]
“I am not a target. I am not a subject. I’m not worried one bit,” he said
[A] bunch of these lawmakers go down to Springfield, nobody even knows who they are, they’re away from their families, it’s a whole different world down there, a bunch of them are cheating on their spouses, a lot of them drink in excess, very few of them know what’s going on. […]
Another legislative leader came to us because one of his members was sleeping with his secretary. And then the wife found out and she wanted that secretary fired. But this guy was in love with his secretary, so he goes to the legislative leader, they come to us, they want us to hire this woman so that we can keep that guy happy and, you know, then hope that they might work with us on some issues.
More…
My state senator here, who is the senate president, John Cullerton, drives around the neighborhood in a Jaguar. He works in a politically-connected law firm that does business, that gets businesses, you know, from state government. They do real estate property tax work They represent big commercial properties downtown. And they get a piece of the savings. Madigan makes millions of dollars doing that that as well. Cullerton and Madigan have been part of an effort to prevent property tax relief for homeowners.
Because they way the property tax system works, is, it’s a zero sum game. If you ease the burden on commercial properties, then you increase the burden on homeowners.
And there was an effort by [James] Houlihan, the [Cook] county assessor, to change the formula and protect homeowners.
The legislative leaders who make money representing these properties downtown simply prevent homeowners from getting relief by not calling the bills. And so, you know, these are the sorts of things that they can get away with. They’re probably legal, but they’re grossly unethical.
And, again, it’s the average guy in the neighborhood who’s getting screwed as they drive around, you know, working neighborhoods in Jaguars pretending to be on the side of the people.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The AP is moving this mostly irrelevant story right now…
Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he and his wife are out of work but don’t plan to file for unemployment.
Blagojevich was removed from office Jan. 29 after an impeachment trial by Illinois lawmakers that was triggered by his arrest on federal corruption charges. And Illinois’ former first lady, Patti Blagojevich, was fired Jan. 20 from her $100,000-a-year job as chief fundraiser for a Chicago homeless agency.
Perhaps it’s time someone told the former governor that governors and other elected officials are not eligible for unemployment based on their public office salaries. Think about it for a moment. If they were, every politician voted out of office would be able to claim unemployment. […]
As for Patti, her eligibility depends on exactly why she got canned. You don’t get unemployment if you’re fired for doing something wrong. We’d also need to know more about the exact nature of her former job as not everyone automatically qualifies for unemployment benefits.
Out of all the things they chose to write about, it was the unemployment check? I don’t get it.
*** UPDATE *** We’re finally getting some hard numbers from DC. The US Senate cut $2.4 billion out of the House-passed stimulus plan that was earmarked for Illinois…
For Illinois, the Senate bill provides $1.3 billion for education instead of $1.7 billion in the House version, said Marcia Howard, executive editor at Federal Funds Information for States, a state-funded budget think tank in Washington.
In addition, the Senate eliminated House-passed spending programs that would have generated another $1.8 billion for Illinois, including $657 million for K-12 school construction, $150 million for higher education construction and $1.1 billion in general aid to state and local governments.
The Senate bill also dropped $4.2 billion in the House version for neighborhood stabilization and $1 billion for community development block grants, which would have provided a total of about $233 million for Illinois, according to the Center for American Progress.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* A one percent cut to agency operating budgets ain’t a whole lot, but it’s a symbolic start…
In his first major attempt to grapple with a deteriorating budget, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday announced a series of cost-saving measures aimed at easing the state’s financial woes.
Key among them is a spending cut of one percent, which comes after his predecessor, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, had already slashed spending by three percent. Spending on schools and universities is exempt from the cuts.
“When you have a big deficit we all have to tighten our belt and that’s the purpose of today’s directive to all the agencies,” Quinn said. “Nobody likes to have to cut back but sometimes that’s what’s necessary.”
* Quinn said the cuts would save “hundreds of millions of dollars” but that’s not even close, according to the Associated Press…
He exempted education spending from the cuts, which come on top of 3 percent cuts that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered earlier in the year. […]
But setting aside education and federal funds over which the state has little control, a 1 percent cut would amount to roughly $165 million.
But lean state agencies could challenge the state’s ability to compete for federal transportation funds, according to the Associated Press. It reported [yesterday] afternoon that the Federal Highway Administration sent a letter to Quinn to warn that the Illinois Department of Transportation may be too understaffed to carry out major road construction projects.
an administration source confirmed one option under consideration is borrowing from various state funds to help secure federal aid to hospitals.
The money would be returned to the special funds, and the plan would bring in about a billion dollars in federal money.
* Economic recessions have a trickle-down effect on governments. If the feds don’t step in to help states, then municipal governments, schools and the rest feel the pinch…
Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer said the city was starting to feel the pinch of falling car sales revenue. Cahokia Mayor Frank Bergman said he worries his village won’t be able to fund pensions if revenue drops.
Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan said he expects to lay off county employees this year to cope. Mark Kern, chairman of the St. Clair County Board, said state appropriations for court probation services are dipping dangerously low.
All of them feared the state would cut or withhold payments, to redistribute money to other needs.
* Today’s Tribune poll story is misleading. There’s no other way to put it. For instance…
Only 34 percent of Illinois voters had a favorable impression of Burris, compared with 18 percent who viewed him unfavorably. A total of 43 percent of voters said they had no opinion of the new senator.
Actually, that’s about a two-to-one favorable rating, which isn’t bad at all. And it’s much better than the last statewide poll by a different outfit which showed that Burris had both a 35 percent favorable and unfavorable rating.
The poll found that Chicago residents had the highest favorable impression of Burris at 51 percent while fewer than half of Democrats statewide—46 percent—shared that view.
Notice that the Tribune doesn’t tell you what his unfavorables are with those two demographics. Since they haven’t put the poll online, we’re supposed to just trust them. Don’t.
[O]nly 43 percent of Democratic voters in Illinois said he should make a bid in 2010. Voters who called themselves political independents, a key voting bloc, were split 36 percent to 33 percent on whether he should or shouldn’t run.
Again, they tell you that independents are split about whether he should run again, but don’t tell you what the “shouldn’t run” numbers are for Democrats.
And check this out…
Nearly half of the voters—48 percent—said they would like to see Quinn on next year’s ballot for governor, compared with 15 percent who said they would not like to see him run. More than one-third of the voters—37 percent—said they didn’t know if he should seek election to the post. […]
A Quinn bid for election as governor in 2010 was welcomed by nearly two-thirds of voters in the collar counties—significantly greater than by voters in Chicago and Cook County, where he has previously held city and county government posts.
That second graf is actually pretty astounding. Far more collar county voters want him to run than Chicago and Cook voters? That at least shows you the Republican attacks on Quinn haven’t worked so far and might even backfire. But the last graf was buried at the very end of the story.
…Adding… The Progress Illinois hed is: “Tribune Poll Finds Only 6% View Quinn Unfavorably.” The Tribune buried that result and instead puzzled over why 40 percent of Illinoisans don’t have an opinion about a lieutenant governor.
* Related…
* Carol Marin: It’s official. William M. Daley is no longer a candidate for governor in 2010.
Now that a new governor is in office, some advocates for the developmentally disabled hope that the closure of the William A. Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park, a Chicago suburb, will happen as soon as possible.
Representatives from several advocacy and disability groups delivered a petition today to Gov. Pat Quinn containing 1,500 signatures and a report detailing recent incidents of abuse and death at Howe. Advocates urged his support and immediate action to close the facility.
The city of Chicago has announced an additional $9 million in cuts to try and balance its budget this year.
Chicago’s finance chief Paul Volpe says the newest cuts are not personnel related. He says the city can save about $9 million by reducing some purchases and renegotiating contracts. But he says the city is more than $50 million in the hole so far this year.
When aldermen recently spared the city’s Jumping Jack program from budget cuts, they declared a great victory for children who love bouncing on the inflatable playgrounds at thousands of fair-weather events across Chicago’s neighborhoods each year.
The last-minute maneuver by a City Council afraid of a voter backlash also represented a big win for the politically connected company the city hired to run the pro- gram.
Cook County commissioners reached a tentative agreement on this year’s $3 billion budget that requires no new taxes or borrowing, commissioners said.
The savings come mainly from a 4 percent across-the-board cut in non-health-related spending and a 2 percent cut in health-related departments, said commissioners Forrest Claypool and Michael Quigley.
Board President Todd Stroger wanted to borrow money to cover a shortfall his administration most recently projected at $84 million. But opposition commissioners said that between last year’s county sales tax increase and expected money from the federal stimulus package, no borrowing was needed.
Three northwest suburban townships are asking residents whether they want to secede from Cook County. The referendum questions in Palatine, Barrington and Hanover Townships on the April 7 ballot won’t be binding. And even if they were, a majority of votes from all of Cook County would be needed to allow the renegade townships to form their own county or join another.
* The 5th Congressional District primary election is three weeks from today, yet the paucity of media coverage is quite puzzling to me. I mean, we’re talking about a major open seat battle featuring all sorts of colorful characters and lots of Democratic and union and other infighting, yet there’s almost nothing for the average voter to read.
The Tribune did an online piece about Rep. Sara Feigenholtz missing the ethics committee vote last week, but I don’t think the story ever actually made it into the paper. The story I highlighted yesterday about Rep. John Fritchey slamming Rep. Feigenoltz was buried deep in the Sun-Times. The CS-T had a nice little feature on Mike Quigley this week, but there wasn’t much news in it. Fox Chicago ran a couple of stories a while back on Feigenholtz’s poll causing controversy. But there hasn’t been much else.
The best coverage by far has been online. Prairie State Blue has done a quite respectable job of putting things together, including an interesting piece by Bored Now today. Progress Illinois has a good roundup today and they’ve done some reportage as well. Gapers Block has a fun piece today about the candidates using Twitter.
Take all of those blogs, add it to this one and a relative tiny number of 5th District voters are getting any sort of information on a regular basis about this campaign.
It would be nice to see the Chicago media, which supposedly loves to cover politics, finally get engaged here. The clock is ticking.
* On to the news. As expected, SEIU endorsed Rep. Feigenholtz today. From a press release…
“Sara Feigenholtz will help President Barack Obama get this nation’s economy going again and that means creating jobs,” said SEIU Illinois Council President Thomas Balanoff. “Her get-things-done reputation means working families will have the right person, at the right time, fighting for their needs in Washington. She knows this recovery must begin in our neighborhoods,” he added.
* There was a bit of a dustup in comments yesterday between an SEIU official and others over just how many union members each side has in the district. The Illinois AFL-CIO has endorsed Rep. Fritchey.
The State Fed won’t release individual union membership totals by district, but they claim there are about 38,000 union members in the 5th CD, and about 24,000 of those are registered to vote. Both those numbers are probably understated because the AFL-CIO apparently has lower totals for SEIU than the union itself claims. Jerry Morrison of SEIU wrote on the blog yesterday that his union has 8,000 members in the district. He didn’t say how many of them were registered voters, however..
So, figure maybe about 40,000 or so union members overall, with SEIU having 8,000 of them. I sent Morrison an e-mail a bit ago asking for his registered voters total. I’ll pass his answer along if I hear back from him. Also, there are about 6,000 teachers union members in that district and almost all are registered voters.
I hope this clears up at least some of the confusion.
…Adding… Morrison just called and said he has 8,000 registered voters in the district.
* Meanwhile, another day, another whack on Feigenholtz. From a press release…
Mike Quigley’s campaign is calling today on state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz to return money that she collected at a downtown fundraiser last week— an event which she attended instead of voting on a bill to reform state government in the wake of the Blagojevich scandal.
Feigenholtz was the only member of the Illinois House to skip the vote last Thursday on SJR 1, a bill to create a new panel of lawmakers who will work with Gov. Pat Quinn “to restore integrity to State government.” Every other member of the state House voted on the bill.
Instead of carrying out her legislative duties in Springfield, the Chicago Tribune reported that Feigenholtz chose to attend a campaign fundraiser that same afternoon. (An invitation to the event shows that it was held at the offices of a downtown firm that lobbies the State of Illinois on behalf of its clients).
Today, the Quigley campaign urged Feigenholtz to give the money back. […]
Bowen added that, in addition to answering whether she will return the money raised at last Thursday’s fundraiser, Feigenholtz should also explain her decision to contribute $5,000 to Rod Blagojevich in June 2006, a contribution nearly a year after Blagojevich’s campaign, key fundraisers and administration had been identified in the media as targets of federal investigations.
Considering the lack of coverage, I’m not sure anyone else will ever see that creative slam.
* Other stuff…
* Fritchey Woos Bloggers in Illinois 5th CD Special Election
* Race to fill congressional seat draws wide attention
* As you know by now, billions of federal construction dollars have been sitting idly in DC while Illinois politicians decide how to come up with the state matching money to capture those buckaroos.
There is no existing state money available for this. It will have to come from some new revenue source, whether that be motor fuel taxes, driver fees, income taxes, sales taxes, some other taxes or things like leasing assets or gaming expansion.
And, don’t forget that the feds will likely do another transportation bill in a year or so, and Illinois will have to come up with even more money.
* The Question: How would you come up with approximately $2 billion to capture the existing federal money, plus find even more money in a year or so?
And, please, don’t say “cut the budget.” The budget will have to be cut in order to help put it into balance. There’s just no way to cut the budget for that purpose and also come up with money for a capital program.
* Sometimes, a bit of pointed meannes works. Kurt Erickson’s column from the other day…
Sure, it’s been less than three weeks since Roland Burris was sworn in as Illinois’ new senator, but shouldn’t he – or at least someone in his office – respond to questions about how he’s going about his new job?
It took an impolite e-mail to Jason Erkes, a Chicago-based political strategist who apparently works for Burris, to get a response.
I asked Erkes if Burris was a chicken, afraid to answer questions from Illinois-based reporters. Was he taking a page from the now-impeached governor who appointed him to the office amidst a great deal of controversy?
Amazingly, after weeks of silence from the Burris camp, it took less than five minutes for Erkes to respond.
Erkes was clearly concerned about how Burris’ image would be portrayed in the media. He explained that the rookie senator has been too busy to do interviews. He’s been going to senator school. He’s been doing ethics training, which, after the way he was appointed, is probably not a bad thing.
In short, Burris has been just too busy learning how to be a senator to explain himself.
Illinois’ new U.S. senator is planning to visit a troubled downstate veterans’ hospital in the coming weeks.
A top aide to Roland Burris said Monday that the senator hopes to tour the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Marion during an upcoming break in congressional action.
No date for the visit was available Monday, but Burris’ acting chief of staff, Darrel Thompson, said the tour will be part of the Democrat’s role as a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. […]
Thompson said Burris isn’t going to Marion for publicity purposes. Rather, he said, “We’re going there to learn.”
At least Erickson got through to the chief of staff. Burris’ first Illinois press conference ought to be a hoot.
In fairness to Burris, however, I should note that Sen. Dick Durbin the other day offered up some pretty good reasons for the seeming confusion at Burris’ office, including the lack of staff, no posted e-mail address, nobody answering phones for a time, etc.
Senators usually pick staffers from people who worked on their campaigns, Durbin said, pointing out that Burris had no campaign. Senators also have three months between the election and their swearing in to make sure everything is in order. Burris had pretty much no time.
As far as the phone problem was concerned, Durbin said that the complaints arose during a period when conservative talk radio hosts were ginning people up to call their Senators against the stimulus bill. Burris, like almost everybody else, was swamped.
What a difference an impeachment makes: Where once you could have thrown a bowling ball through a crowd and not hurt anyone at Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn’s fund-raisers, it would now knock a lot of people over. Hundreds stood in line to have their pix taken at Gov. Quinn’s fund-raiser Monday night at Fulton’s on the River, according to a Sneed source. “He never knew he had so many new friends,” the source added.
* From a reader…
-Hundreds lined up at Fulton’s on the River last night. It was jam packed. Plenty of drinks, not much food.
-Handful of politicos present including David Orr, Ald. Joe Moore, Art Berman, Billy Marovitz and a few others…
-Dennis Gannon and other big union types were all there.
-Every social service special interest was there.
-Many of the ciy’s big name lawyers were there, including Joe Powers.
-This was the biggest who’s who ever at any Quinn fundraiser.
On Thursday, Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Gov. Pat Quinn will host an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Executive Mansion in Springfield.
“The Executive Mansion belongs to the people of Illinois,” Quinn said. “There is no better day to open up this beautiful house to the people than the day marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of our state’s greatest resident, Abraham Lincoln.”
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has picked former assistant U.S. attorney Theodore Chung to be his new general counsel. Quinn says Chung’s commitment to reforming Illinois’ government made him the right choice for the job.
Chung says he doesn’t have any previous ties to the new governor. Chung says that’ll be an asset to the administration.
CHUNG: I don’t have a lot invested emotionally in this man [Quinn]. A lot in the office, it’s true of it. But, I don’t feel like there’s going to be kind of an inner conflict within myself, in terms of giving him the best possible legal advice, exercising the best possible judgement.
* But, now, let’s get to the meat of things. This profile of Quinn’s new chief of staff Jerry Stermer was penned by Bethany Jaeger…
Jerry Stermer of Elmhurst said [yesterday] that he accepted the chief of staff position because the administration would put “children first.” That’s rounding out Quinn’s agenda that, so far, has prioritized a capital construction program, a plan to chip away at the state’s $4 billion in unpaid bills, a yet-to-be announced education plan and an ethics reform package.
Stermer is the founder and 22-year president of Voices for Illinois Children, a privately funded group based in Chicago that advocates for health care and education. The group worked with former Gov. Jim Edgar in a failed attempt to change the state’s tax structure to fund public education, relying more on state income taxes and less on property taxes. The measure has been proposed numerous times in various forms since then, but Senate President John Cullerton, who now controls the flow of legislation in his chamber, is a proponent.
Stermer and Quinn acknowledged during a Chicago news conference this morning that taxes are on the table as part of a “rescue plan” for the state budget, but they also used the words “fairness strategy” to indicate tax breaks or deductions for low-income families. “We do want to have in Illinois a tax code that is fair to parents raising kids,” Quinn said. “I think I saw once that our state gives more tax breaks to those raising thoroughbred horses than it gives to parents raising children. We’re going to change that.”
Those three grafs give you a pretty darned good idea of where Quinn is going. Tax reform and tax hikes to fund education and social programs.
* Related…
* Scott Reeder: Illinois’ identity and the Land of Lincoln
After one top Blagojevich lawyer quit, there’s just one attorney officially representing him now — his longtime friend Sheldon Sorosky.
Sorosky was never going to be the lead lawyer. He’s more of an advisor.
* More…
With a massive indictment due in April, he’s looking for more. So Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, met with Chicago lawyers over the weekend about adding to their legal team. One possibility for team leader is defense lawyer Tom Breen, lawyers involved in the case say. He has vast experience in federal court and at the criminal courts at 26th and California. […]
Sam Adam Sr. and Sam Adam Jr. handled some of Blagojevich’s impeachment issues. But the father-son team hadn’t committed to the federal case as of Monday, said attorney Michael Ettinger. He represents Robert Blagojevich, the ex-governor’s brother, who oversaw the governor’s campaign fund. He has not been charged. “No decision’s been made yet,” Ettinger said.
* This is tellling…
Breen declined to comment Monday, but was said to be interested in taking the case if the Adamses drop out.
The Adamses were the ones who encouraged Blagojevich to boycott the Senate impeachment trial and go on national TV instead. They also boxed out Ed Genson, who is one of the most sought-after criminal defense attorneys in Chicago. The moves were viewed with horror by other members of the defense bar, so getting them out of the way will probably be a must-do no matter who Blagojevich brings in.
The problem worsened right after Genson announced that he would withdraw. Adam was approached by a television crew and asked why Genson had dropped out.
Adam pointed to his head and said: “Cuckoo.'’
Adam said afterward he was only joking and imitating Mayor Richard M. Daley, who had said earlier that Blagojevich was “cuckoo.'’ But Genson wasn’t laughing.
“We want Sam in the case,'’ Ettinger said. “He is involved. But we don’t know at this point the extent of his commitment.'’
* Comparing the Illinois House Republican Leader to the Vichy leader who surrendered France to the Nazis is a bit much, especially considering the lack of evidence for the charge. This press release was handed out at the Statehouse press room yesterday…
The Illinois Alliance for Growth announced today that it was awarding a Philippe Pétain Award for Collaboration to House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego).
The award comes for comments signaling the surrender of the loyal opposition in the General Assembly just as a $9 billion “corruption and mis-rule” bill is being presented to the tax paying public.
Leader Cross’ comments came in an Associated Press story in today’s Bloomington Pantagraph. In the story, Cross signaled surrender to Democrats intent on hiking taxes to pay for their six years of mis-rule and corruption. Many of these policies have contributed to the state’s struggling economy and have left the state largely bankrupt.
Cross’ remarks also opened a rift in the Illinois Republican Party by distancing Republican lawmakers from the anti-tax pro-economic growth positions of rank and file Republicans as well as the state party.
According to the story Cross said, “I don’t think Republicans should be going into this legislative session with their Republican hats on,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, who hosted Quinn at one of his usually private caucus meetings.”
The story went on to report that “Republican lawmakers” were on board with the surrender:
“Republican lawmakers say now is not the time to assign blame as the state wallows in billions of dollars of debt. Instead, they should [be] cooperative with Democrats.”
“With respect to Republicans and Leader Cross now is the time hold people accountable and not let them off the hook,” said Illinois Alliance for Growth President Greg Blankenship. “With higher taxes being openly discussed in Springfield, it is time for the opposition to promote its alternatives not collaborate. The Marshal Pétain Award for Collaboration is a fitting metaphor for these positions.”
So, on the basis of a single quote and the political analysis of a reporter, Cross is called a surrender monkey.
* Cross gave this response to my intern Mike Murray…
“I have never heard of the ‘Illinois Alliance for Growth’, but I do not agree with their view that I have signaled surrender to the Democrats’ intent on hiking taxes to pay for their six years of corruption and financial mismanagement.
“The Democrats, led by Gov Blagojevich, got us into the financial crisis that was highlighted by Comptroller Hynes last week. Facing a $9 billion dollar budget deficit, I have committed to working with Governor Quinn in order to create a solution that will clean up the mess left by the Democrats and put Illinois back on the right track.
“However, this absolutely does not mean that I have committed, caved, or surrendered to the Democrats and their desire for a tax increase. I am currently working with various think tanks, such as the Illinois Policy Institute, to create my own legislation which would require 3/5 of the House to approve any tax increases.”
* Look, the partisan rhetoric emanating from the state GOP and others these days serves a useful purpose. Voters ought to be reminded that the Democrats have been running every branch of state government for the past six years, and not so well, as is plainly seen.
But legislators have an obligation to their districts and to the state at large. Pure partisanship and rejection of all ideas from the other side based on rigid ideology is not exactly good legislating.
You’d think the Right would want Republican legislators at the bargaining table to prevent an all-Democratic “solution” to the very real problems Illinois faces.
* My weekly syndicated column looks at the budget problem…
The chickens are coming home to roost.
In fact, more chickens are on their way than we’ve ever seen before.
And they’re mad.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich spent years ignoring and exacerbating the state’s structural budget deficit. What that means is he did a lot of one-time budget fixes with one-time revenue sources to stem the tide of red ink, while at the same time expanding state spending exponentially.
You can get away with that as long as other revenues are growing enough to help patch the rest of the budget holes, but state revenues have tanked along with the national economy, and we’re in big trouble. Hence, that ginormous flock of angry chickens heading our way.
Comptroller Dan Hynes predicted last week that next fiscal year’s budget deficit could be as high as $9 billion. Considering that the budget is about $60 billion, and the money the state actually controls in the budget is about half that amount, we’re looking at a problem unseen since the Great Depression. The fiscal year, by the way, begins July 1.
Hynes’ estimate is based on a $4.3 billion deficit in the current fiscal year and a relatively flat growth in state revenues in the coming fiscal year.
Flat revenue growth may be overly optimistic. The legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting & Accountability’s latest report, headlined, “The patient has taken a turn for the worse,” suggests expected state revenues could be $1.6 billion lower in the current fiscal year than they were last fiscal year. And things aren’t exactly looking up for next year, either.
Hynes’ deficit projection also relies on no spending growth for the rest of state government. Every dollar of growth adds to the deficit. But expecting flat growth is probably not realistic, as recessions traditionally provoke and even require more government spending, not less.
There are two areas of hope.
First, the federal stimulus plan could bring $3 billion into state coffers next fiscal year, lowering Hynes’ projected deficit to $6 billion. But as I write this, the stimulus package has hit rough waters in the U.S. Senate. While a deal still looks likely, nobody really knows yet what the states will get out of the final package.
Hynes also reported that if state revenues for July and August match last year’s take from the same period, then the current year’s deficit would be lowered to around $2 billion. Still, Hynes reported last week, “Without a major infusion of cash from borrowing or another source, the state will be virtually insolvent.”
There are some very difficult choices ahead.
One option, albeit distasteful, would be to leave the Medicaid payment cycle where it is, which would be hotly opposed by nonprofit service providers of all stripes. They’re already struggling mightily to make ends meet, and some are actually going out of business while they wait for state checks that never seem to come. The deficit could be lopped further, perhaps about $1 billion, if the political heat could be sustained, which it probably can’t.
The state’s mandated pension payment will rise by $1.2 billion next fiscal year, which may get a closer look by legislators. Five hundred million dollars of that payment will be required to make up for investment shortfalls by the pension funds, according to Hynes. The rest is a mandated increase in order to eventually reach “full funding” of the systems.
So, if the General Assembly decides to shaft Medicaid providers and short the pension funds, and if revenues bounce back in late summer and the stimulus passes Congress intact and legislators completely rein in spending for next fiscal year, the budget deficit could be pared to a bit over $2 billion.
It might be possible to bond future proceeds from the recent sale of the 10th state casino license, which would lower the deficit a bit more. Huge state employee layoffs, giant cuts to schools and universities, significantly reduced services for the poor and everyone else would be required to balance the rest of the budget without a tax increase, if the General Assembly could somehow defy logic and muster up the insane courage required to do all that.
That’s a whole lot of “ifs.”
Cue the chickens.
* Related…
* Fox Chicago Sunday : Dan Hynes, Illinois comptroller talks about the report he issued this week, indicating Illinois is facing a $900 billion budget deficit.
Health clinics with a large percentage of minority patients tend to be more chaotic, have less equipment and more stressed-out doctors. That’s according to new research from the medical school at Loyola University.
* Latino clergy standing up to Daley - They want Hispanics to get bigger slice of City Hall pie
Strangely enough, De Jesus says he has no complaint with the mayor himself, whom he calls his “good friend.”
“My quarrel is with the people under him,” said De Jesus, who says the mayor phoned him in advance about the news conference and agreed to meet with the clergy group at a date to be determined. No food, of course.
De Jesus said he’s not sure these unnamed underlings are carrying out the mayor’s wishes.
“I can’t believe every demotion comes before the mayor,” he said.
A proposal to cut $84.4 million from Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s 2009 budget proposal failed to win approval Monday, leaving commissioners at loggerheads just 19 days before the Feb. 28 deadline to approve the spending plan.
The proposed cuts, backed by Republicans and Finance Committee Chairman John Daley (D-Chicago), would have gone a long way toward balancing the proposed $3 billion budget, which is out of whack because most commissioners don’t support Stroger’s plan to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for operating expenses.
Daley, typically a Stroger supporter, said he will abstain from voting on the borrowing plan because of business and family conflicts involving companies involved in Stroger’s proposed bond deal. When it was suggested Monday that the companies could be changed, Daley announced he would vote no in that case.
After years of relative calm, a decades-old debate is about to erupt again in Lake County over whether Illinois Highway 53 should be extended roughly 15 miles through the heart of the county.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office said Monday it is investigating whether the state was overbilled for defense costs in the Jason Smith death penalty trial in St. Clair County.
