* Sen. Bill Brady had a press conference today to unveil a new website, StopThePatQuinnTax.com. He also took questions from reporters. My intern Dan Weber asked him about the criticisms lobbed at him by former GOP Gov. Jim Edgar…
* And while we’re posting videos, here’s an unedited video of my intern Barton Lorimor trying to ask Gov. Quinn a couple of questions outside an event last night. Barton didn’t have much luck at first, but he got it done..
…Adding… Brady was also asked what he was doing to reach out to minority communities…
Jeralyn Camp waited until the last minute to file her taxes, but she thought it would be no problem because she would just use TurboTax software and submit it online to the state of Illinois.
Until she actually tried to do it.
“I went to the website to apply for a pin to submit my taxes and the site was down,” Camp said. “Then I called the numbers they gave me and they were all busy.”
Camp said she called three different 800 numbers 10 times apiece and got a busy signal each and every time.
The Department of Revenue’s pin application website is down all day today because of a traffic overload, so you have to call an 800 number to get a pin, but that 800 number is perpetually busy because of a traffic overload. The Department’s response…
“What can I say: It’s April 15th,” said IDOR spokeswoman Sue Hofer. “This is why we encourage everyone in the state to file early.”
Sheesh.
* Despite all the jobs created or saved by the capital construction program, Illinois government is still one of the bigger drags on the state’s economy. More evidence…
Officials at one Illinois hospital say they are going to stop delivering babies because the state isn’t paying its bills.
Kewanee Hospital in Henry County says it will close its birthing center this summer.
The hospital claims it has lost $2 million over the past three years because the state isn’t covering its share of the cost.
They say 73 percent of the babies born there were covered by Medicaid or other public aid.
That means, of course, that lots of poor women will have to go elsewhere to have their babies. Wonderful, eh? Also, there’s just one other hospital in Henry County. [Via]
* There is a huge amount of rhetoric on both sides of the redistricting reform battle. From yesterday’s Senate debate…
Republicans like Senator Kirk Dillard say they oppose Raoul’s plan because, as in the current process, lawmakers get first crack at drawing the map.
DILLARD: Your plan is the politician’s choice.
Dillard supports an alternate plan that would give initial mapmaking power to a commission appointed by the four legislative leaders. But Democrat Raoul dismissed that proposal, which he says would consolidate power instead of keeping it in the hands of lawmakers elected by the voters.
RAOUL: The people get to choose who would draw the map under this scenario, not the legislative leaders.
Sen. Raoul is right that giving the leaders even more authority is probably not the way to go. But it would be an equally divided commission, plus a chairman elected by the commission. Instead of just two leaders from the same party drawing the map, it would be all four plus an independent chairperson.
But there are legions of problems with the GOP/reformer’s proposal. New maps would have to be approved by two-thirds majorities. The only way that will happen is if the maps actually protect huge numbers of incumbents. It’s also doubtful that the bipartisan commission could even elect a chairman. Failing all that, the process moves to the Supreme Court, which would be given unprecedented legislative powers to draw the new maps.
The Republicans have the luxury of an alliance with the reformers. They don’t have to actually pass anything because they know they can jam the Democrats no matter what. So, they can pretty much say whatever they want, and the more incendiary, the better.
The editorial pages are heavily invested in the “Fair Map” proposal and some blasted away at the Senate Democrats for approving the Raoul measure, called “Citizens First.” The Champaign News-Gazette was particularly harsh…
Citizens First ought to be titled Citizens Last because its real intent is to keep the current majority party in power for another 10 years no matter what the voters want. The proposed amendment is the functional equivalent of lipstick on a pig. It’s a ruse, a ploy, a con designed to placate legitimate public anger over the state of the state of Illinois.
Nothing will change if the politicians who created the state’s current dysfunctional politics are charged with coming up with solutions. But that, of course, is the idea.
The Daily Herald called out suburban Democratic Senators by name today, claiming they had “failed their constituents” by voting for the amendment…
Taking the map-drawing power away from those who seek to serve is a crucial and necessary step toward fixing the problems that have fostered corruption, centralized power and almost guaranteed incumbents’ re-election regardless of performance.
The edit boards always forget about the Republican map that was drawn in 1991. The House Democrats managed to hold their majority for eight out of ten years under that GOP map. The Senate Democrats came this/close to picking up the majority in 1996. And there was huge turnover in the House in both 1994 and 1996. Yes, the new map is strongly Democratic, but this state has moved solidly into the “D” camp since it was drawn in 2001. The fact that House Speaker Madigan is so frightened of passing a tax hike this year ought to be some indication that he’s worried he could lose his gavel again.
* John Bambenek points out another problem with the Senate-approved proposal via press release…
Surely, someone could file suit to challenge redistricting like this you say? “Citizens First” however, limits who can file suit to challenge redistricting. In fact, only one person would be allowed under the state constitution to sue if the maps broke state law… the Attorney General. Do any of you think Lisa Madigan will sue dear old dad over redistricting? Me either. Illinois would be the ONLY state in the entire country that only allows the Attorney General to sue to protect the rights of citizens under redistricting. Here is the text from Citizens First that accomplishes this:
“(h) The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the People of the State by the Attorney General.”
For all the bluster during [yesterday’s] floor debate, the amendment has an uncertain future as it moves to the House. Constitutional amendments must pass each chamber by a 3/5 majority, a margin Democrats don’t control in the House.
* Quinn signs pension reform into law: Quinn said he doesn’t know what his action will cost him in terms of union support in this fall’s election, but said “the public will be appreciative of someone, a governor who never flinched from doing something really meaningful.”
Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig said highway and bridge projects valued at $5 billion will be launched in the state this year.
Speaking Tuesday at the annual meeting of Corridor 67 Inc., Hannig said a capital construction program approved last year will keep contractors and Illinois Department of Transportation crews busy for several years.
An adjustment made during last fall’s veto session will allow IDOT to get started on work, even though some parts of the capital program’s revenue package have been delayed by court challenges or administrative hurdles.
“The Legislature voted to let us use road fund dollars for bonds” and requires that the road fund be repaid, Hannig said.
The article is a bit misleading. That $5 billion includes projects which were started last year and will be continued this year, plus projects that start this year and won’t be finished this year. But next year there will be more contracts let.
The governor and Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig held a Statehouse press conference to announce the program today. Among other things, Quinn was asked how the local opt-out of video gaming would hurt the construction rollout. Here’s the Q&A…
Governor Pat Quinn was joined by Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) officials today to unveil a $12.84 billion Multi-Year Highway Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2011-2016. The proposed program aims to preserve and maintain the state’s highway system of roads and bridges, upgrade facilities for congestion mitigation and safety improvements and expand the system to help spur economic development in Illinois. The entire Multi-Year Plan (MYP) is expected to create an estimated 167,000 direct jobs over the next six years. […]
The $12.84 billion highway improvement program for FY 2011-2016 MYP is based upon conservative estimates of federal, state and local funding, with $7.292 billion in federal funds, $4.888 billion in state funds including $142 million in bonds from the Governor Quinn’s Illinois Jump Start Capital Plan, $2.49 billion for the Illinois Jobs Now! bond program and $660 million in local funds.
The six-year highway improvement program includes $10.103 billion for improvements to the state highway system with $2.737 billion available for local roads.
An initiative pushed by southern Illinois law enforcement that targets people who inhale chemicals to get high gained overwhelming support from a Senate panel Wednesday.
Members of the Criminal Law Committee voted 8-0 to endorse a measure that takes aim at “huffing” — a practice in which fumes from paint and other chemicals are inhaled. Under the legislation, a second huffing offense would be increased to a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to one year in prison.
It is being pushed by law enforcement in Williamson County who complain they see the same abusers over and over again.
Is this stuff harmful and dangerous? Heck, yes. But if the only tool you ever use is a hammer, every problem will look like a nail. There’s gotta be a better way.
* The Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation banning so-called “e-cigarettes.” The devices are plastic tubes that look like cigarettes, often emit a visible vapor that looks a bit like smoke, and deliver nicotine to the user. The problem is that most of those e-cigs are made in China, so the ingredients are often unknown to users. But a House committee decided yesterday it needed more time to study the issue…
Former smokers who use the products and retailers who supply them objected to an outright ban, suggesting that lawmakers should look at regulation of e-cigarettes first. Several former smokers said they tried every FDA-approved smoking cessation tool but still couldn’t quit the habit until finding the e-cigarettes.
State Rep. Constance Howard, D-Chicago, said she also was a former smoker and understood how difficult quitting could be.
“I just wish there was something like these around before my mother died,” she said, to applause from the assembled e-cigarette proponents.
Sponsoring state Rep. Marlow Colvin, D-Chicago, said the FDA hasn’t approved the products yet and have found examples of carcinogens and other chemicals in the cartridges. He and lobbyist Kathy Drea with the American Lung Association said the state should prevent people from buying the e-cigarettes until the FDA has ruled on their safety.
* As we’ve discussed before, the state constitution imposes a limit on the number of constitutional amendments that can be voted on during election years. Republicans have been saying for weeks that the Democrats are attempting to pack the ballot to make sure there is no room for the GOP-backed redistricting reform proposal. The House Republicans helped kill a proposal by House Speaker Michael Madigan a few weeks ago to mandate minimum requirements for judges using that argument, and they did it again yesterday to a different measure on victims’ rights…
House lawmakers Wednesday short-circuited another proposed constitutional amendment, this one on crime victims’ rights, because of concerns about filling up the ballot.
House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 19 received only 65 of the needed 71 ‘yes’ votes for approval, but its sponsor used a parliamentary move to bring it up for a later vote.
This amendment would strengthen the rights provided to crime victims, especially in criminal cases on appeal. Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said the intent of the measure should make it overwhelmingly popular with lawmakers.
“Public policy demands that we do the right thing on this amendment,” Lang said.
Republicans brought up the ballot-packing allegations, but Lang angrily pointed out that he’s been working on this issue for a long time…
“You think that two years ago I decided to spend two years of my life working on this amendment just so you could vote no on it because you think there’s some conspiracy is really kind of insulting.”
* Related…
* State Capitol Q&A: Crime victims’ rights subject of amendment proposal
* Legal reformers want to derail lawsuit lending bill
* One of the more interesting revelations in yesterday’s prosecution proffer on Rod and Rob Blagojevich was how cash was funneled to the First Lady…
Starting in the Fall of 2003, top Blagojevich fundraiser Tony Rezko cooked up several ways to make it look like he was putting Patti to work as a real estate broker, money she didn’t earn.
In August 2003, Rezko’s company paid Patti $14,369, made to look like a commission on the sale of property Rezko owned.
From October 2003 to May 2004, Rezko paid Patti a whopping $96,000, or $12,000 a month as a retainer for her services. Then, in January 2004, Rezko made a separate $40,000 payment to Patti Blagojevich, supposedly for sale of a West Loop property.
Not long after depositing that $40,000 check, Patti Blagojevich allegedly wrote a check for more than $38,000 to pay for renovations to the Blagojevich home.
In all, she got $150,369 from Rezko, but what did she do to earn that money? Prosecutors contend she did practically nothing.
The Sun-Times disclosed the remodeling work in 2007, pointing out that a Rezko company, Chicago Construction Services, oversaw it. “The renovations . . . were paid for by the Blagojeviches through their personal checking account,” Rod Blagojevich’s then-spokesman told the Sun-Times in 2008.
Do you remember how former Gov. Rod Blagojevich reacted when the news media first started questioning his wife Patti’s business dealings, in particular how she had collected real estate broker commissions from the sale of properties involving his political pals?
I sure do.
“Sexist,” complained the governor. “Neanderthal,” he roared.
How dare anyone suggest that Patti Blagojevich’s financial success was anything other than the result of her own accomplishments as an independent businesswoman.
The situation was so stinky that, according to the proffer, “Mr. Blagojevich was concerned that there might be the perception that his wife was a ghost payroller if she did not go into Rezko’s office.”
So, Patti Blagojevich was told to show up. “The problem with that approach however,” the proffer says. “was that Blagojevich’s wife was taking care of their infant daughter.”
* Keep in mind when reading the stuff about Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. that this is Blagojevich talking. He’s a professional liar, so take it with a grain of salt. Still, it ain’t good for the congressman…
Thwarted in efforts to trade the Senate appointment for an Obama cabinet post, ambassadorship or a million-dollar job, Blagojevich turned his attention back to the ambitions of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the proffer says.
One recorded conversation has the former governor describing Jackson as the only one left who “wants it badly and desperately and he’s the only one who’s willing to, like, offer stuff.”
It was one of a series of Dec. 4, 2008, calls in which Blagojevich described his disdain for Jackson, but his appreciation of the $1.5 million Jackson supporters had promised in campaign cash in exchange for appointing Jackson.
* To advisers about snagging a presidential Cabinet post: “So [Valerie Jarrett’s] holding Health and Human Services, and I’m holding a U.S. Senate seat. OK? She’s holding hers with two hands, just kind’a clinging to, you know, little pieces of it. Me, I’ve got the whole thing wrapped around my arms, mine, OK? . . . I’m willing to trade the thing I got tightly held to her for something she doesn’t hold quite as tightly.”
As an aside, let me mention that from my reading of the government filing, I don’t believe prosecutors envision a speaking role for Rezko at Blago’s trial.
Although Rezko is known to have been cooperating with authorities since going to prison, all the government’s assertions about matters related to him appear to be based on testimony that would be provided by other witnesses. This may be due to the fact Rezko has offered numerous and conflicting accounts about his dealings with Blagojevich and complained that he was being unfairly pressured by prosecutors, all of which would make him a lousy prosecution witness.
Prosecutors appear to be planning to rely instead on a former chief financial officer of Rezko’s company to supply key details about his arrangements with Patti Blagojevich.
* Cellini…
Bill Cellini’s connections to fundraisers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich at one point left the politically powerful Springfield developer a “nervous wreck,” a new court document says. […]
The charges relate to an alleged attempt by Blagojevich fundraisers Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Christopher Kelly, along with Stuart Levine, then a member of the Teachers’ Retirement System board, to get a $1.5 million donation to Blagojevich’s campaign or a $2 million finder’s fee from a principal in a firm that wanted to manage TRS funds.
Cellini spoke to the would-be money manager, Thomas Rosenberg, but to no avail, the document says.
In a May 8, 2004, call to Levine that was recorded by investigators, Cellini allegedly said Rosenberg was angry about what he saw as a shakedown.
“Cellini told Levine about how Rezko and Kelly had been ‘essentially hammerin’ people’ to make political contributions in order to win State of Illinois contracts, how Cellini was a ‘nervous wreck’ about it, and how Cellini and Levine needed to talk with Rezko and Kelly about Rosenberg’s threats,” the document says.
In the end, the investment firm got its allocation without having to pay the finders fees or campaign contributions.
The last time Illinois saw a year-over-year decrease in foreclosures was in November 2008.
“But that was followed by substantial year-over-year increases in subsequent months,” said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for the Irvine, Calif.-based research firm.
Either way, Illinois was No. 9 during the quarter and No. 10 during March nationwide in terms of the number of foreclosures.
The employee callbacks, which are based on seniority in specific job categories, are needed to maintain the reduced service levels imposed in February, Rodriguez said, and they do not mark an end to the agency’s budget crisis.
Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, however, said he had heard from many massage therapists opposed to the ordinance.
“This is a legitimate business, and they have a right to operate a legitimate business without going through undo hurdles,” Moore said, saying the proposed ordinance was too broad. “I think it’s like swatting a mosquito with a fly sledgehammer….There are enough regulations on business in this city.”
Ald. Mary Ann Smith, 48th, said she supported delaying a final vote on the ordinance because it would create a burden for the physical therapy businesses that are proliferating in her North Side ward.
Aldermen didn’t ask Chico any questions, not even about his lobbying business.
* Ald. Beale — who irritated cops — to head City Council’s Police Committee
Although he has cozied up to Daley recently in his push to develop Pullman Park, Beale was elected to the City Council in 1999 with the staunch support of State Sen. James Meeks and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-Il.), longtime Daley critics.
And Beale has turned himself into a political punching bag with a series of proposals viewed as anti-police.
* Daley picks Beale to lead City Council police and fire panel
* Aldermen sign off on Daley’s choice for park board president
Liquor sales would be cut off at 10 p.m. at 23 of the 25 locations, one hour earlier than is currently allowed.
But the booze could flow for an extra hour — until midnight — at Northerly Island, apparently to accommodate the popular outdoor concert venue there. Liquor sales already continue until midnight at Millennium Park.
Daley also wants to allow liquor sales at the South Shore Golf Course, the Ohio Street Beach in Olive Park, Calumet Beach House in Calumet Park, Diversey Driving Range and Miniature Golf Course, DuSable Harbor Building, the South Shore Cultural Center, the 31st Street Boathouse in Burnham Park and the 87th Street Harbor.
