* Garritt Cullerton’s DUI while driving a state car assigned to his Senate President father without permission has sparked questions about just how many state vehicles are controlled by legislative leaders. The Tribune comes up with the answers…
The assignment of state vehicles to the four partisan leaders of the state Senate and House was part of a little-known provision of a law passed in 1984 that eliminated controversial legislative commissions that had become bloated by the salaries of lackeys and relatives. One panel that was eliminated had a dozen vehicles, and the four legislative leaders divvied them up. The legislature has bought new vehicles since that time through its operations account.
Cullerton’s office said the Senate currently owns six vehicles, three used by Democrats and three by Republicans. The fleet includes three late-model Ford Escape hybrids, two Tauruses and a 2005 Dodge Caravan.
The House clerk’s office under veteran Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago said the House has eight vehicles. A spokeswoman for House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego said Cross primarily uses a 2007 GMC Yukon, but Republicans also use a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer and a 2005 Chrysler 300 C. The five other House vehicles include 2007 Ford and Chrysler vans, a 2004 Chrysler Concorde, a 2006 Chrysler 300 and the newest vehicle, a 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid. […]
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont uses one of the SUVs to drive while in Springfield, spokeswoman Patty Schuh said. She said another car is kept at the Chicago office for the use of staff and other lawmakers, and the van is used by staff for deliveries to district offices.
The governor’s office is assigned state vehicles and the executive branch is co-equal to the legislative branch, so while I can surely see the reasoning behind any outrage, it’s best to keep this in perspective.
Still, I’ve been around 20 years and I don’t remember any previous stories about those cars.
Leadership spending is super-secretive, so it’s high time that they open their books and let everybody see just what the heck is going on over there.
As far as the younger Cullerton’s traffic stop record goes, well, that’s not good, either. But, as with yesterday, I would rather avoid this particular topic. They tend to get way too overheated. Also, in case there’s any question about what happened to that car in question, ABC7 has the answer…
Cullerton’s spokeswoman says the Ford Escape was impounded by the Chicago Police Department Sunday and that President Cullerton himself paid the fee to get the vehicle released from the auto pound.
*** UPDATE *** Gov. Quinn has called for a review of leadership use of cars…
“This is an alarm bell that we need to pay attention to,” Quinn said. “Especially in these times of austerity, we need to look at where all state vehicles are, how they are used, where they’re assigned, and I intend to pursue that.” […]
Quinn said it is “absolutely wrong” for state-owned vehicles to ever be used by family members or anyone not working for the state, but he stopped short of saying top lawmakers should be stripped of the perk saying he planned to meet with legislative leaders and discuss the issue this afternoon.
The governor did suggest the legislative branch could face budget cuts that would force the General Assembly to reconsider some purchases.
“It bears inspection, and this is a good time to do the inspecting,” Quinn said. “We have a tough budget, we have to tighten the budget. Any information that we have that indicates that a vehicle is not necessary, then we will act appropriately.”
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:03 am:
I know for a fact that Blagojevich had a bus. It kept backing over people.
- Justice - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:06 am:
And the perks just keep adding up. Next thing you know they’ll be flying around the state on State planes…..oh wait….they do. These folks have “fat catted” us enough.
No doubt this is only the tip of the iceberg. Can’t wait to see what else we are paying for; haircuts, laundry and dry cleaning, catered meals?
- Brennan - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:06 am:
Can somebody ask Bernie Stone if he can give John Cullerton a lift to work every day in Stone’s taxpayer funded Lexus?
Garritt may need a ride to work as well in the foreseeable future.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:07 am:
Can leadership keep their spending secret? I imagine they can make it tough, but eventually the comptroller has to get some paperwork to cut a check that’s public record, right?
- Bubs - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:12 am:
The issue is the car itself, and the person driving, not what the driver did with it.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:18 am:
Gee. I can’t imagine a better vehicle for our state incumbants - the Escape.
Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to take a state car on a first date…?
“Is that your Taurus wagon?”
“Uh-no. I have a motorcycle.”
“Do you wear a helmet when you ride your bike?”
“Uh-yeah, why?”
“Can I wear it when we’re in this Taurus wagon, so no one recognizes me?”
“What’s that smell? Kinda like bacon.”
“OK - this is state car.”
“Oh, so I smell legislators?”
“Yeah. See that apple? Don’t touch it.”
“So, how about me seeing you again?”
“Hmmmm. I’m kinda busy, so check my FaceBook page.”
“It’s the car, isn’t it?”
“Yeah”
“When can I have my helmet back?”
“Later. I think I have helmet hair. Gotta go.”
I should have taken the Concorde!
- shore - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:19 am:
Personally I am rooting for the kid to rebound. These cars however are another matter. The tribune story was partly garbage, attacking legislators for getting taxpayer funded stationary, are they supposed to use western union or buy it at walgreens?
The cars are another symbol of arrogance and irresponsibility and there’s no way that any tax payer dollars spent at the state level should be “super secretive”. That’s winnetka’s money, not michael madigan’s.
- Small Town Liberal - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:20 am:
Seems to me like some simple damage control would be for the Democrats to sponsor legislation ending this provision and getting rid of the cars. Or I suppose the opposite that it would be a score for the Republicans to sponsor the legislation.
- Nick Adams - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:22 am:
Don’t all elected Statewide Officials get suv’s as perks of the office? How many of statewides and 4 Tops get state police protection for no real reason? Burris used to use his “protectors” to help put out his campaign signs! Are these perks necessary?
- Abe Froman - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:34 am:
So Cullerton just gets a pass by yelling, “look, it’s Elvis?”
His kid with a horrible history of poor judgement behind the wheel makes off with Daddy’s state car and Cullerton shifts the issue to state cars in general? How about some accountability here?
The kid’s got issues. Fine. Everyone hopes he gets his act together. Not bashing him. Cullerton has to wear the jacket for this one. I seem to remember that if any state employee got a DUI in a state vehicle they were automatically fired. Wouldn’t a state employee be in a world of hurt if they let anyone with a known record of alcohol-related traffic offenses borrow their state ride?
Cullerton has shown miserable judgement and shouldn’t be let off the hook by pointing fingers at everyone else.
- Loop Lady - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:35 am:
Our agency has cut our fleet in HALF since 2003…this was partly due to belt tightening by Blago, and then sustainability efforts pushed by Quinn cut our VMT in half last year from the previous FY…IL has one of the the most hybrid /flex fuel fleets in the country…the legislative leaders should take the train to work @ JRTC and Amtrak to Springfield and walk /take a cab after they get there… Springpatch aint that spreadout…Cullerton is a millionaire, the citizens don’t need to underwrite the use of a state vehicle for him…let the leaders/legislature use their own vehicles
and get reimbursed for milage, and let them pay for their plane rides as well…convenience has a price…nothings free, somebody has to foot the bill…
- Responsa - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:36 am:
Hey! If we taxpayers start demanding the removal of cars and other costly perks, and a reduction in pensions from our elected officials how will we ever get people to run for office? I mean having to deal with all those icky problems and budgets, and angry constituents, and cranky newspaper reporters– all that kind of stuff– really isn’t much fun. LOL
- shore - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:43 am:
The kid is not the issue. The issue is this secret stash of funds that are not publicly disclosed and are privately wasted by the larry moe and curleys that run the ship down there.
- The Doc - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:47 am:
==Cullerton has shown miserable judgement and shouldn’t be let off the hook by pointing fingers at everyone else==
Relax, Abe. Garritt is 26 years old. Let’s not go overboard heaping blame on his father for a grown man’s indiscretions.
The availability of taxpayer-funded vehicles is a separate item, part and parcel of the much more important issue of legislative leader spending priorities.
- Cal Skinner - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:52 am:
The commission from which the cars came was the Legislative Investigating Commission, which I write about on McHenry County Blog.
Got the cars and got rid of those potentially pesky investigators at the same time.
- Abe Froman - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:54 am:
Doc, I would respectfully suggest that if you or I had a grown kid living at home with this kid’s record and they took our car out and (God-forbid) something more tragic than a DUI happened, we would be paying the rest of our lives for it.
Just like the perk of the cars to begin with, the normal rules don’t apply to the political aristocracy. I don’t care if the kid went to the 7-Eleven for milk, it is a violation of state rules to allow anyone not assigned to the vehicle to be hehind the wheel, drunk or not.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:55 am:
Abe, this was an unauthorized use of the car. Get it through your head and move along.
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:15 pm:
As mentioned by one commenter, legislators (and staff) get reimbursed for mileage when they drive their own vehicles to and from Springfield and when they drive around on state business. It is probably less expensive for the state to buy the car and pay for the gas.
I’d rather save money than take away the cars out of spite or for the sake of “appearances.”
- Little Egypt - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:24 pm:
In the interest of saving State money, I suggest we take Blago’s bus out of mothballs for all of the legislative leaders to use (GOP and Dem) to ride to and from Springfield. Now that’s what I call a party (pun intended).
- Responsa - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:24 pm:
What is hard about publicly discussing this complex situation is trying to separate the bad judgment/problems of the Culleron offspring (about which some discretion is definitely in order) while still not glossing over the fact that impaired/drunk drivers kill and maim innocent people on our highways and streets. Thank goodness apparently nothing tragic did happen that night, but our state’s liability and potential payout to victims had there *been* a tragedy involving an official Senate car is very troubling. Whether the family member’s use of the taxpayer funded car was authorized or not seems almost immaterial, does it not?
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:24 pm:
Pot’s right.
The current federal reimbursement rate is 50 cents per mile, I believe.
Two trips to Springfield is a car payment.
- ABCBoy - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:33 pm:
===
Abe, this was an unauthorized use of the car. Get it through your head and move along.
===
Of course it was “unauthorized.” The state didn’t approve of it. The question is what did Senator Cullerton know and when did he know it. According to the Tribune article today, the kid has been pulled over other times with state plates. There’s no way Cullerton did’t know his kid was a partier and a reckless driver. There seems to be a pattern here and not just a one time thing where the 26 year old borrowed the car on a lark. It’s entirely likely that the kid had implied consent to borrow the cars, but now that it’s creating bad press, Senator Cullerton is disavowing it.
Even if Cullerton had no knowledge, he still should be responsible for state property when it’s in his posession. If somebody in the private sector had a company car and their kid, adult kid, friend–anybody–got a DUI with it–even if the person took the car for a joyride without asking–that individual would be severely reprimanded, if not fired.
- Logical Thinker - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:35 pm:
“Abe, this was an unauthorized use of the car. Get it through your head and move along.”
Rich, you are correct. Initially this was about the “unauthorized” (although I find that hard to believe) use of a state car. With the CBS2 report, this is now about how/why there have been numerous “lucky” breaks (i.e. dismissals) in the kids criminal past.
It’s stories like these that make people question and mistrust government and the people in it. Furthermore, if you’ve ever lost anyone to drunk driving, you know the pain it causes to family and friends of the victims. Because the crime happened in a state vehicle makes it even more heinous.
A question for you, Rich: would this have been any more or less of a story if someone had been hurt?
- ABCBoy - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:37 pm:
===
Pot’s right.
The current federal reimbursement rate is 50 cents per mile, I believe.
Two trips to Springfield is a car payment.
===
I agree. I’m not totally outraged by the staff vehicles. It may make better financial sense anyway. This is particularly true if the legislature needs a few ’specialty’ vehicles such as cargo vans, SUVs, etc. to transport larger volume items. There should be strict rules in terms of narrow scope of usage, of course. But having a few vehicles in-and-of-themselves isn’t totally crazy.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:40 pm:
===Two trips to Springfield is a car payment.===
A pretty good car payment, too.
- Brother Darryl - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:40 pm:
This is not an issue worth blogging about. The boy and his father both screwed up on this one. Find another issue to focus on….
- zatoichi - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:56 pm:
And how many people on this list have a work car through their employer, get regular mileage checks, or have access to the vehicles the company owns? The Trib never, ever provides transportation or provide/pay for employee parking in Chicago? Next expose please.
Cullerton’s kid? He is an adult and its a family issue.
- shore - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 12:57 pm:
In New York they had a similar situation where the republicans lost control of the state senate for the first time in 40 years and the democrats discovered they had a secret tv station among other things, for a media always looking for new areas of government waste and new crusades it looks like an inviting target. the headlines write themselves.
http://www.advomatic.com/blogs/fred-gooltz/new-york-state-senate-advomatic-and-politics-egovernment
“or decades the GOP wasted taxpayer money on secret projects, blatant graft, and partisan incumbent protection efforts. This led to Albany’s infamous worst-in-nation dysfunction.”
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 1:36 pm:
I dub the Senate Prez’s car the Ford “Tax”scape!
Rich, I understand you want to stay away from the sensitive and personal matters. However, I am glad you opened up this can of worms. I don’t have a problem with the Senate and House offices being assigned a car or two. But a fleet of vehicles used to wheel around leaders who have large campaign chests and can easily purhcase a car using campaign funds?! That is not acceptable. There are better ways to utilize taxpayer dollars. Legislative leaders and state agency directors (and deputy directors) don’t need free wheels. Again, if they want to use campaign dollars to pay for sweet SUVs, I am fine with that. A perk of the job should not be an office car to use at one’s convenience. It should be the satisfaction of being an elected official and, in the case of a legislative leader, one who controls a caucus and campaign funds.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 1:39 pm:
===Legislative leaders and state agency directors (and deputy directors) ===
You’re comparing apples to oranges. Try apples to apples. Leaders and, say, the governor.
- ABCBoy - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 1:44 pm:
===
The boy and his father both screwed up on this one. Find another issue to focus on….
===
Yes, Senator Cullerton did screw up. The question is, should there be political or professional repercussions? If somebody in the private sector had done the same thing with a company car, would that company just kind of shrug it’s shoulders and say “oh well”?
- Cindy Lou - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 1:45 pm:
The vehicles themselves are not that big a big, the taking the vehicle home, again not that out of line, it’s the perhaps lack of total record keeping that might need adjusted.
Kinda with a trucker, these vehicles should have a log book and every mile/usage accounted for.
Being accountable for what one uses but not actually own should be a fairly easy thing to keep track of. I will assume such a fix to possible abuse is in place, and if not that guidelines/records will be in place in quick order for all state owned vehicles going forward.
Problem solved. Time to move along. If the state takes away room for speculation on vehicle usage, we’ll have nothing to gossip about.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 1:45 pm:
===If somebody in the private sector had done the same thing===
Well, if it was a Fortune 50 CEO, he might have to deduct a few dollars from his year-end multi-million-dollar bonus. lol
- Been There - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 1:58 pm:
===Pot’s right.
The current federal reimbursement rate is 50 cents per mile, I believe.
Two trips to Springfield is a car payment.===
I agree Pot’s is correct but I am still amazed that the state doesn’t force more of the legislative liaisons to take the train. It’s only $39. You could do almost an entire session for a couple of car payments.
I probably should post this anonymously so my liaison friends don’t get mad at me. Or worse, try to bum a ride off of me and my company reimbursed trip.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 2:01 pm:
== If somebody in the private sector had done the same thing with a company car, would that company just kind of shrug it’s shoulders and say “oh well”?==
In my long working experience, it depends on the employer. I can remember a number of bosses over the years who let an employee slide for similar or equivalent transgressions.
In the for-profit private sector, it depends if the boss likes you and thinks your positives outweigh your negatives — as in, are you bringing in money.
- Loop Lady - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 2:20 pm:
I agree with Cindy Lou…BTW, the reimbursement rate is 0.55/mi…to Springfield and back nets driver $220…add this to a per diem of $139/day, and that’s outrageous on top of their salary…take Amtrak and walk it or cab it whence in Springfield…besides, a lobbyist could give a legislator a lift to the next fundraiser/restaurant…talk about a captive audience…
- hummm - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 2:40 pm:
Keep in mind that when a leader or staffer uses a State vehicle, the state doesn’t pay the per mile cost. In the end, it saves the State money for each caucus to use a State vehicle instead of paying them mileage. In fact, some government jobs require that you use a State car rather than a personal car because it is cheaper to force you to drive the State car than pay mileage.
- think about it - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 2:47 pm:
=== If somebody in the private sector had done the same thing with a company car, would that company just kind of shrug it’s shoulders and say “oh well”? ===
It definitely wouldn’t be front page news.
- Abe Froman - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:06 pm:
Rich,
Thanks for the smack down. But I don’t think you are seeing my point. Whether or not the kid was authorized–anyone who has a state car is responsible for its use. If I had a state car and my roomate decided to borrow it, I’d be in deep you-know-what if he got the car impounded for a DUI.
What I’m trying to say, and what you seem to not want to hear because you (rightly) try to play fair when it comes to family and personal matters, is that a mid-level agency mope in this same situation would be in a world of hurt. Cullerton will get a pass.
And why the heck should Radogno, Madigan and Cross be punished? There is no information whatsoever about unauthorized use of their vehicles. Certainly none has been impounded by the CPD.
Why does Cullerton get to hide behind his troubled kid and spread the blame to the other leaders?
- Cousin Ralph - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:40 pm:
Right now there is a hearing going on in St. Clair County were the victems of an accident with a grossly reckless state police officer are asking that the Illinois taxpayers compensate the family to the tune of $24 Million bucks. I think we are all lucky that this young man was not involved in a serious accident.
Should they be forced to open the books? Absolutely. If it is true that this young man had run-ins with the law previously when driving the state vehicle, I doubt the “unauthorized use” argument would hold up in court. An accident with victems would have subjected the taxpayers of Illinois to pay for the damages. But to your point Rich, it is unfortunate that we have to have incidents like this before any meaningful examination of the political perks is conducted.
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:48 pm:
Rich, for what top agency staff earn, it’s not too far off-base.
- Brennan - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:43 pm:
=Keep in mind that when a leader or staffer uses a State vehicle, the state doesn’t pay the per mile cost.=
So the state pays for the vehicle, but not for the gas, nor the insurance?
- Brennan - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:44 pm:
Hopefully Amtrak can invite their spokesmodel Joe Biden to come give a speech to Illinois lawmakers.
- No To New Taxes - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:57 pm:
Who are the House eight cars assigned to?
- Daxx - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 5:35 pm:
I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg. I want full discloure on where our tax money goes for every elected office.
- Yawwwnnn - Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 11:01 pm:
Why just yesterday it was threatened that commenting on this was a ban to even read this blog again.
The issue is not if some politicians kid is DUI but rather why are vehicles that are owned by the state being used for personal purposes. It reminds me of a situation where members of the Metro East Levee Board’s families were using new SUVs while the workers were driving old pickup trucks.
It would be nice if there was a bit of investigative reporting these days but, in Illinois land apparently that doesn’t matter.
Hand out a few entitlements and all is well there
- Squideshi - Wednesday, Apr 21, 10 @ 1:09 am:
Maybe if the legislative leaders had to arrange for their own transportation they would see the value of better transportation diversity, including high speed rail. Incidentally, this is why the high speed rail corridor was originally considered between Chicago and Sprinfield (so legislators could use it.)
Can’t we FOIA records from legislative committees?
- Squideshi - Wednesday, Apr 21, 10 @ 1:11 am:
==Kinda with a trucker, these vehicles should have a log book and every mile/usage accounted for.==
I missed this comment before. Wholeheartedly agree. Perhaps even automatic GPS logging.