* This story is missing a major component…

Elected officials are on track to get a 3 percent raise next year, and lawmakers passed on an opportunity Wednesday to vote on skipping pay raises.

State Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, used a parliamentary maneuver to have the matter considered. Black said lawmakers should not be getting any raises on the heels of a probable income tax increase and at a time when the statewide unemployment rate is nearing 10 percent. […]

While Republicans in the House tried to get Black’s measure out of committee, all but three Democrats voted to keep it there. Unless the matter is revisited, the pay raise will take effect.

In reality, the bill was only just introduced Wednesday - weeks after the deadline to pass House bills over to the Senate. It was a purely political move. Had the HGOPs introduced the legislation earlier, it might’ve had a better chance. It was nothing more than a stunt, which is why you didn’t see much reporting on it.

* This is an understatement…

Senate President John Cullerton said Thursday that Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal, which includes a tax increase, program cuts and budget maneuvers, does not have enough support in the Senate.

Patterson has more Cullerton quotes…

“I think [legislators] would have to focus on what the alternatives would be. I think if they really see what wouldn’t get funded … it would help of course if the public knew what the state government does. We have a problem in Chicago particularly where the media doesn’t cover state government like the downstate media does. And as a result, not only are the constituents not as informed, but the legislators aren’t as informed. And so when I go to the editorial boards, I’ve been to Champaign, Carbondale, Peoria … the editorial boards are very well informed about the state government and so are the constituents and the legislators.

“But in the Chicago media market, which is 80 percent of the state, people don’t know who we are or what we do. They just say, ‘cut the waste and reform the ethics.’ That’s fine but there’s $22 billion that we spend on school districts and nursing homes and hospitals and dentists. And they don’t want us to cut that.

“They want us to cut apparently the $6 billion that would be for the operation of state government. We could save $1.5 billion by not funding the prison system. That’d be one way of doing it. But we’d have to let all the prisoners out. And so that’s probably not a good idea. That’s the thing. We have to go through and educate people on what the state government really does.”

* There’s also growing worry at the Statehouse that Speaker Madigan doesn’t really care about passing a capital construction bill, as the AP hints…

House Speaker Michael Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said he doesn’t know what kind of support Quinn has for an income tax increase in the House, but said it is going to take a lot of cooperation to iron out a budget that will help the deficit.

A construction bill could take a back seat to the state’s annual budget, which Quinn says needs an income tax increase to bail it out of a deepening financial hole.

* Related and semi-related…

* Lack of support for state tax hike

* Lawmaker: Construction projects should assist top unemployment areas

* Construction group: Pass state spending bill

* Illinois prisons seek medical cost savings

* A better way to watch our tax money

* Illinois Reform Commission aims to fix ‘corrupt’ system

* Chicago revitalization plan: Despite uncertainties, $15.5 billion proposal for downtown is moving forward

* Mayor Daley says aldermen irresponsible for suggesting tax cut as city revenues drop

* Daley Against Aldermen’s Stimulus Plan

* Mayor Daley: Ald. Howard Brookin’s quest for a Chatham Super Wal-Mart doesn’t stand a chance

* Daley: Wal-Mart has no chance in Chicago

* Alderman Supports Some Layoffs for City Workers

* The sheep are steamed

* Duncan’s successor at CPS faces on the job lessons

* End overcrowding in Latino schools