* House Republican Leader Tom Cross just talked to the media after this morning’s leaders meeting with the governor. Cross described the talks as quite positive. There is no agreement yet on whether to do a five-month plan or a full-year plan, but Cross said there needs to be “stability” for now. He also said the governor views any overrides of his appropriations vetoes as a “hostile act,” but added that route might be the way to go. “We’re working on the mechanics.” Watch it all…
The leaders will meet with Gov. Pat Quinn again at 4 o’clock this afternoon after they talk with their members. Senate Dems and SGOPs are caucusing at the moment. One topic will be the added borrowing for the pension systems. That’s up to $3.5 billion from $2.2 billion.
We’ll post more videos, if any, on this post from those caucus meetings.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) said there is support to borrow billions short-term to make state worker pension payments this year. The money would help fund social services, which had been put on the chopping block during the budget impasse.
“At the end of the day, it will not be as severely as it was portrayed by the governor six weeks ago,” Cross said of the cuts.
Cross said a tax increase “is off the table” and added that the governor wants to review the budget after five months, but there would not be any legal authority for him to do so. […]
“The main thing we’re trying to do is avoid chaos, and that’s everyone’s goal. We all agree with that, and we’re working towards that end,” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont).
*** 2:23 pm *** From Rep. John Fritchey’s Twitter page…
So session lasted approximately 90 seconds. Now we’re off to caucus. Is it any wonder why people are frustrated?
1 minute ago
*** 3:30 pm *** [posted by Mike Murray] Sen. Garrett comments on today’s Senate Democratic caucus. Senate Dems are committed to avoiding a shutdown of state operation and will appropriate funds to that end. Also discussed was a possible $3.6 billion pension note bill…
* I read some very positive reviews online about Jawbone’s Bluetooth headset with “Noise Assassin” technology. The concept seemed sound, so I bought it Friday.
The device does, indeed, appear to filter out a lot of background noise - which is important to me since I have a convertible and can barely hear a thing on my mobile phone whilst driving and neither can the people with whom I’m speaking.
But there are huge problems with this device. First, it appears to have a major design flaw. While you’re trying to put the thing into your ear, the “hangup” button is easily activated. Oops. I missed several calls over the weekend because of that flaw.
Also, for whatever reason the Bluetooth connection kept dropping between my iPhone and the Jawbone, necessitating constant “searches” to reconnect. Seriously aggravating, especially while driving.
Today, the “answer” button stuck. It’s busted. After just four days.
I’m returning this thing for a refund.
* Do you have any “bleeding edge” tech horror stories that you’d like to share?
A South Texas newspaper says it will begin charging for access to its Web site this week, warning that the days of giving content away for free are over.
The Valley Morning Star announced in its online edition Monday that Web site access would remain free for subscribers who receive the print edition seven days a week. But weekend subscribers and non-subscribers will have to pay a 75-cent daily subscription fee for the Web site. Monthly rates will also be available.
* The Question: Which Illinois newspaper(s) would you pay to read online? And how much would you be willing to pay a year for access? Please answer both questions and explain fully, of course.
* This was not a good TV appearance for Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias at all. And it was even a downstate market, where the questions are often “lighter.” Watch it [or click here since the video isn’t working]…
Crain’s Chicago Business [yesterday] reported the bank run by Giannoulias’ family is suing four companies for loan defaults.
But it gets trickier for Alexi Giannoulias politically because he was the bank’s chief loan officer at the time of the loans….and two of the companies’ owners were convicted felons.
We asked Giannoulias about the loans Monday on Live at Five.
“It’s become challenging for a lot of borrowers, a lot of bankers, a lot of financial institutions,” said Giannoulias. But when asked if he should have lent money to convicted felons, he said: “They were credit–worthy decisions, and again, it’s easy to look back and say if we would have known real estate values would plummet 40%…it’s easy to have 20–20 hindsight and make those decisions.”
Oof.
Giannoulias also announced a long list of endorsements yesterday. Scan them here.
* Congressman Mark Kirk’s goofiness from the past week will likely blow over if he keeps silliness like that to a minimum in the future. But his flip-flopping over whether to run or not has some real damage to his image with the media. From Roll Call…
“I know the National Republican Senatorial Committee is very frustrated with Mark Kirk because he was being indecisive,” said a Republican source familiar with the situation. […]
“The other story coming out of this is the mismanagement of Mark’s rollout,” [a separate Republican operative from Illinois] said. “The NRSC is in a bind because this was a recruitment victory for them. They were saying all along that Mark Kirk was who they wanted.” […]
One county chairman from a rural part of the state requested a conference call with all of the state’s GOP county chairmen and the Congressman on Thursday. According to sources familiar with the conference call, numerous county chairmen throughout the state said they did not want to see Kirk run because of his vote for cap-and-trade legislation.
“I was not on the call, but my understanding was that it not go well,” an Illinois Republican said.
But Mr. Kirk is coming across as one big indecisive baby, who won’t run unless Lisa Madigan doesn’t, and maybe won’t run if Andy McKenna does. It’s all pretty inside stuff. But Mr. Kirk is going to have to show a more solid face — and quickly — if he’s to have any chance in what after all is a very blue state.
…Adding… And what the heck was this? Local blogger Eva Sorock attended a Mark Kirk town hall meeting over the weekend and posted this golden nugget…
During the health care discussion, Kirk did insert the news flash that American obesity is the result of our gluttonous English and German heritage.
What?
* In a nice bit of research, PI also dug up an old quote from Sen. Kirk Dillard, a GOP candidate for governor who currently opposes an income tax hike…
The Illinois tax system isn’t fair. Illinois is among only eight states with a flat income-tax rate. Illinois residents are paying the lowest income tax but the highest property taxes in the Midwest. State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale), Edgar’s former chief of staff, has said that he could support an increase in the income tax for education if it’s linked to property- tax relief.
Expect to see that one used in a GOP campaign ad in the coming months. The quote, by the way, was from March 21, 1994. Kinda ancient history, but quotes never die in campaigns.
* If you watched the “Chicago Tonight” clip below, you know that Comptroller Dan Hynes is unveiling a new legislative package today dealing with cemetery regulation…
Hynes’ legislative package, which he will unveil today, would significantly strengthen state oversight of cemeteries throughout Illinois beyond the current requirement that cemeteries only submit financial documents to the state comptroller’s office.
Hynes intends to call on lawmakers to give the state authority to oversee the maintenance and operations of cemeteries. That new power would rest with a state agency outside of his office, Hynes said.
Hynes hasn’t come close to putting this Burr Oak issue to rest yet, and the scandal will likely be in the news for a long time to come. The crass political questions now are: 1) Does it derail his gubernatorial bid? and/or 2) Can he fend off attacks on his record if he does run?
* Via Illinois Review, a new campaign video from GOP treasurer candidate Sen. Dan Rutherford…
…Adding… The governor’s campaign video team was at yesterday’s capital bill signing ceremony. Here’s a clip of Mayor Daley praising Gov. Quinn…
[Reposted, bumped up and opened to non-subscribers because I originally published this late yesterday and it might’ve been overlooked, and AFSCME has just issued a press release about the lawsuit.]
* As I told you last week, AFSCME was preparing to file suit in St. Clair County to force the government to keep paying state employees in the event there is no appropriations authorty. The union filed the suit this afternoon. Read it by clicking here.
* There’s also a bit of a conflict between the comptroller’s office and the governor’s administration. Comptroller Hynes wants the administration to certify individuals who qualify under a federal law for basic minimum wage in case there is no other avenue to pay them. Read the comptroller’s letter by clicking here.
The reason the administration has balked is the legal consequence of making a mistake. From AFSCME…
…we communicated in the strongest terms possible in a letter to CMS today that certifying such payrolls on the basis of job titles only is not supported by law, and pointing out that anyone so certifying a false payroll is personally liable – upon penalty of discharge from office for an elected official and termination of employment for an employee.
Yikes.
* And here’s Tuesday morning’s press release…
AFSCME sues to ensure state employees are paid on time, in full
Union goes to court as state budget crisis jeopardizes paydays
The largest union of state employees has filed suit to compel the state of Illinois and comptroller Dan Hynes to pay union members and all state workers on time and in full even if no state operating budget is approved for the new fiscal year that began July 1.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31, which represents some 40,000 frontline state workers, filed the suit late Monday in St. Clair County circuit court.
“It’s unfortunate that elected officials have yet to agree on a responsible state budget. Even so, AFSCME members and all state employees continue to provide the vital services that Illinois residents rely on,” the union’s executive director Henry Bayer said. “No matter what happens at the Capitol, the state of Illinois is obligated under the law to pay its employees for their work, in full and on time. Our union will use every tool available to make sure that it does.”
AFSCME filed a similar suit during the state budget crisis of August 2007, obtaining a court order that compelled then-Governor Blagojevich and Comptroller Hynes to meet the state’s scheduled payroll in full.
* Sen. Sullivan outlines the options legislators face this week…
[Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville)] said lawmakers could approve a temporary budget to keep the state operating until November, when Quinn said he wants to take another stab at raising taxes. Or, Sullivan said, lawmakers could draft a new budget plan that carries the state through 12 months.
The General Assembly could do nothing, he said, and allow government operations to grind to a halt, or it could vote to override Quinn’s veto of the budget that lawmakers approved previously.
“I don’t know if the votes are there to do that,” Sullivan said. “I’m convinced we’d have to have significant Republican support to do that.”
Everybody is all over the place. Things could wrap up this week, or not. We’ll all know soon, but this idea of a November solution isn’t going over well with many…
Lawmakers are signaling to the governor there might not be enough support to get a tax increase passed until January, when it will once again only take a simple majority in each chamber for approval.
The governor’s proposal to delay a solution until November is being derided as a way to allow legislators to wait and see who will be running against them, but that may not be the full story…
“A cynic would say that’s what it’s all about, and I’m sure that doesn’t hurt,” said Christopher Mooney, a professor of political studies at the University of Illinois’ Springfield campus. “But in some respects I think it’s a reflection of the natural human propensity to put off hard decisions until the last minute.”
“Everybody is on board, I think, with the idea of appropriating money to keep the operation of state government going,” Cullerton said. “That part, how we get there, is what we’re going to be (discussing) in the next couple of days.”
And after the governor signed the capital bill, Senate GOP Leader Radogno was almost effusive…
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno now says it was a “pleasure” to work with Quinn, and didn’t seem fazed that he changed his position on the plan so many times.
She only says “I’m happy where we’ve landed.”
But the leaders’ meeting with the governor was canceled yesterday…
A planned meeting between Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders aimed at compromising on a stop-gap state budget was abruptly cancelled this evening. The move could portend more trouble coming up with a spending plan for the fiscal year that began almost two weeks ago.
Quinn aides blamed logistics, including late arrivals to the Capitol by some of the governor’s staff who were in Chicago earlier in the day for Quinn’s signing of a huge public works construction program.
I’m not sure what it portends as of yet. The leaders are meeting with the governor at 10 o’clock this morning. Mike’s in town, so we’ll have video.
Now, in light of Radogno and other Republicans’ excitement about the capital bill being signed, let’s review the Republican position on the budget and an income tax increase - one that would pay for social services, which are experiencing a ton of pain; state workers, who are going to lose their jobs; and other state services
* No tax increases until there is reform!
* No tax increases until wasteful spending is cut!
But there’s an exception to this position. A big fat one. So big, in fact, that you could drive several trucks packed to the brim with bacon through it. That exception is the capital bill, whose signing is depicted in the photo above. The reasoning goes a little something like this:
Tax increases are OK if they fund construction projects in my district. They’re especially OK if they fund pork projects, many of which will go to private organizations in legislative districts. These are the kind of ribbon-cutting extravaganzas that can get me re-elected. So yes, I voted to increase taxes on liquor and beer and to up the fees on driver’s licenses and car registrations, not to mention legalizing the crack cocaine of gambling - video poker machines, thousands of which will be coming to a bar near you.
Nevermind there were few reforms in the capital bill. The only one was that, for a change, they actually listed the projects that were going to be funded instead of appropriating the cash in a lump sum. But you still didn’t know who requested them and why unless you started calling around.
* Chicago water: In public reports, city silent over sex hormones and painkillers found in treated drinking water
Annual water quality reports mailed to Chicagoans this month didn’t say a word about sex hormones, painkillers or anti-cholesterol drugs, even though city officials found traces of pharmaceuticals and other unregulated substances in treated Lake Michigan water during the past year.
Like other cities, Chicago must notify the public if its drinking water contains certain regulated contaminants, including lead, pesticides and harmful bacteria.
But pharmaceutical chemicals, which have been detected in drinking water across the country, are not on that list. So Mayor Richard Daley is technically correct in stating that the “pure, fresh drinking water” pumped to 7 million people in Chicago and the suburbs “meets or exceeds all regulatory standards.”
About 1,500 Chicago city jobs are on the line if a few unions don’t agree to some cost-cutting measures by midnight.
A vast majority of the unions representing many Chicago workers are on board with the budget-saving measures. They include taking several unpaid furlough days to avoid layoffs.
One of three hold-out unions on Monday agreed to Mayor Daley’s demand for cost-cutting concessions, averting the need for 300 layoffs that could have dramatically impacted the quality of garbage collection in Chicago.
The decision by Laborers Union Local 1001 to sign on to the two-year agreement — with just two days to go until a July 15 deadline for layoffs to begin — leaves Teamsters Union 726 and AFSCME Council 31 as the only unions that have yet to sign on to the deal.
First, AFSCME never offered to accept any layoffs now in exchange for a guarantee of no layoffs in the future. In fact our union offered to make economic sacrifices that would impact all union members in exchange for the Daley administration rescinding all layoffs. The administration has so far flatly rejected that offer.
Second, Byrne wrongly reported that union leaders — without any membership input — had made the decision to refuse the administration’s demands. In reality, the entire AFSCME membership voted on the Daley administration’s push for a 10 percent pay cut for all our members. By a 4-1 margin, they said they simply could not accept a cut of that magnitude.
The Clerk’s office says their hands are tied because they can only distribute money according to a formula set out in state law. Suffredin says the clerk never alerted him to such problems and he’s promising to get the money back for the drug, mental health, and youth court services.
Families are holding back on buying school merchandise, with back-to-school spending forecast to drop 7.7 percent from a year ago, to an average bill of $548.72 according to research to be released today. Total spending on back-to-school is expected to be $17.42 billion.
College kids are the exception to the spending rollback. They and their families will increase their spending by 3 percent, to an average of $618.12, the survey says.
Not all major E85 states compile detailed sales numbers, or they compile them differently and on different schedules. But in Illinois, sales of all high-percentage biofuel blends, which are mostly E85 sales, plummeted 89 percent from 1.55 million gallons in May 2008 to 177,000 gallons last December before rising to 239,000 in March, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The sharp but temporary drop in gasoline prices late last year was the major reason for the drop in E85 sales because it reduced E85’s price advantage. A gallon of ethanol contains less energy than a gallon of gasoline, so a flex-fuel vehicle burning E85 generally gets mileage about 15 percent to 20 percent lower than it would from gas.
Tribune Co. plans to take the Cubs to bankruptcy to complete its sale to the billionaire Ricketts family, according to a high-level team source. The Cubs were excluded when Tribune, groaning under $13 billion in debt, filed for bankruptcy last December. Taking the Cubs to bankruptcy has been part of the sale plan from the start, according to the source.
In the Cubs’ case, a Chapter 11 filing says nothing about the team’s solvency or its ability to pay player contracts. But it could prevent Tribune creditors from chasing a new Cubs owner for partial satisfaction on Tribune debts.
