* The biggest problem in negotiations between Gov. Quinn and the two Democratic legislative leaders over the past two months has been the governor’s adamant refusal to back off his income tax hike. With session drawing to a close, Quinn is now starting to budge, which isn’t at all surprising considering the reality that his tax hike plan has no chance at all…
Gov. Pat Quinn is signaling that he could support higher cigarette taxes to help prevent deep cuts in education spending.
Quinn said Tuesday that a budget built around cigarette taxes and borrowed money to avoid $1.3 billion in education cuts is “getting in the right direction.”
He’s gonna need more than that cig tax hike and borrowing to close the hole, however. Quinn has already rejected a tax amnesty program, but that could wind up back on the table, as well as temporarily eliminating some business tax breaks and stuff like this.
Can you predict any more Quinn flip-flops for the rest of the week?
* Speaking of flip-flops, Mark Kirk’s new TV ad (displayed below) touts his fights against BP’s pollution of Lake Michigan. The ad is timely because of BP’s current disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Kirk’s attitude toward oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico is a different story.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, he joined his party’s “Drill Baby Drill” wing by endorsing oil exploration in the Gulf, arguing that if we didn’t do it, the Cubans would.
“It makes no sense to allow the Chinese to drill on the Cuban side of the line in Florida without us tapping into the very same oilfields,” Kirk said on WLS’ Don Wade and Roma Morning Show. “We’ve got the Venezuelans, the Dutch and the Chinese all drilling in the gulf under leases from Cuba. It makes perfect sense for the United States to make sure our team gets that same oil before Castro does.”
We’re getting that oil all right. It’s about to wash up in New Orleans. As long as the slick doesn’t spread to North Avenue Beach, Kirk probably won’t have any complaints.
Two new rules will be imposed under the policy change. Logs will be kept to record how the vehicles are used, and the vehicles can no longer be stored at private residences, according to Cullerton’s office.
* Scott Lee Cohen’s gubernatorial campaign is barely a day old and he’s already getting goofy.
Asked today on WIND AM’s Big John Howell and Amy Jacobson Show, Cohen was asked what he’d do about the deficit if he was governor. Cohen tried to make a joke, but it fell flat…
“Shoot all the elected politicians?”
Cohen apologized for making the statement several minutes later during the final segment of the show. He then said he would “cut waste and corruption,” to balance the budget, citing high state employee wages.
In the interview, Cohen claims that the “Democratic Party crucified me,” but refused to detail any alleged threats. Believe it or not, he also said he ran a poll that showed he was “electable,” and predicted: “The females will forgive me.”
Cohen claimed that the prostitute he allegedly knifed had fabricated the police report. And what if she talks during the campaign? “If she comes out, that’s on her,” he said.
He said that people have applied to be his running mate, but he wouldn’t disclose any names.
But it seemed like not all those supporters wearing Cohen shirts and waving Cohen signs were there out of pure democratic fervor. Two of them, who were understandably shy about sharing this information, told me they were promised $10 to show up. They say they were recruited at “the pawn shop.” They also told me they hadn’t yet been paid.
After the rally, a group of about a half-dozen Cohen rally attendees walked, mostly together, down to the 400 block of South Clark Street. At least one walked into Royal Pawn Shop, and at least a few others walked into a “MEN ONLY” hotel in the same building as the pawn shop.
And who owns Royal Pawn Shop? Royal Redemption Services, according to the Illinois Department of Finance and Professional Regulation, a company owned by Randy Cohen, according to the Illinois Secretary of State. Randy is identified in multiple news clips as one of Scott Lee Cohen’s brothers.
The Cohen campaign denied paying anybody. Of course, the candidate denies knifing any hookers, so there ya go, as Sneed would say.
Also, I’ll most certainly regret this, but I posted several photos yesterday of the SLC kickoff. Here’s a close-up of one of those photos showing Cohen on the right and a certain columnist on the left…
* The Broadway Bank was owned by the family of Alexi Giannoulias. Now that the bank has failed, Should the Democrats replace Giannoulias as the Democratic nominee for United States Senate?
22% Yes
54% No
24% Not sure
* Regardless of whether you think the Democratic party should replace Giannoulias as the nominee, how likely is it that they will replace Giannoulias?
6% Very likely
24% Somewhat likely
42% Not very likely
13% Not at all likely
15% Not sure
* The Question: If the Democratic and Republican primaries were held today instead of in February, do you think the same people would’ve been nominated for governor, US Senate, lt. governor, etc., or would we be seeing a very different ticket on both sides? How so? Explain.
* As I’ve told subscribers and blog readers several times, this goofy STAR bonds bill could be a disaster for the state’s budget in the very near future, but it just won’t die…
The idea of a big, new entertainment and retail project financed by STAR Bonds remains alive, but it could end up in Marion instead of Glen Carbon.
Developer Bruce Holland said Monday the plan is afoot to build the center near Interstate 57 in Marion, which is near Carbondale.
The STAR Bonds bill that would have supported the project in Glen Carbon appeared to have died in the General Assembly, and developers appeared to throw in the towel last week when they announced their disappointment.
However, Holland and Marion area officials held a news conference Saturday and announced the project now is planned for that part of the state.
The STAR bonds concept is simple. Developers use anticipated and actual state sales tax revenue generated by a commercial project to finance that project. It sounds pretty good on its face. Hundreds of millions, even billions, in development for places that need the jobs and the businesses. But the consequences ain’t so good. First, studies have shown that these huge subsidized projects would just cannibalize businesses and customers from surrounding areas. It was no accident that every local mayor surrounding Glen Carbon hotly opposed this project.
Second, and more importantly for our purposes, the state will never be able to stop this idea from spreading. Do you think Chicago, or Rosemont, or wherever will avoid lobbying to get their own STAR bonds districts? Chicago, for instance, could phase out its TIF districts, put that local property tax money back in their budgets and then replace them with STAR bond districts, which takes tax money out of the state’s budget. Won’t happen, you say? Bull. Chicago has the clout and the incentive to do just that. And if they get it, others will, too.
Considering the horrific shape that the state budget is in, this is a complete fiscal disaster in the making.
* Predictably, Marion’s area media was simply delighted at the possible benefits. WSIL TV gushed…
Southern Illinois will soon be a destination for millions. That is the vision of developers who have their sights set on property in Marion…
Planners are moving fast, and hope legislators can keep up… Developer Bruce Holland is the man with the vision. He says he tried to develop a similar venue in East Saint Louis, but recently pulled out because of what he called in-fighting among local leaders.
Glen Carbon isn’t East St. Louis, so that’s an odd way of putting it. I’m sure there was nothing intentional by using East St. Louis’ name, though. Noooo. Here’s the Marion newspaper’s giddiness…
Southern Illinois leaders on Saturday unveiled a development that could bring an estimated $395.7 million to the region. The “destination development,” spearheaded by Bruce Holland of Holland Construction Services in Swansea, will mix niche retail shopping with a hotel and indoor waterpark on Marion’s north side.
“This is something needed so badly in southern Illinois,” Marion mayor Robert Butler said. “We need jobs and the influx of capital.”
Holland’s vision—along the lines of Branson, Mo. — includes 5,600 permanent jobs and 6,000 trade jobs that could’ve landed in East St. Louis, where he tried to develop a site.
In-fighting and arguments that killed a Metro East development proposal won’t be repeated now that Southern Illinois has a shot at it, Marion Mayor Bob Butler said Monday.
The plan, which could turn an empty, 400-acre plot on Marion’s north side into a $378.6 million destination development is on the fast track in Springfield, where legislation to create a special tax district is being pushed for passage before the close of the spring session Friday. If green-lighted, the development could spur thousands of construction and permanent jobs for the region, officials said.
* And what about that alleged Metro East “in-fighting” claimed by the developer and Marion’s mayor? The Belleville News-Democrat blasts away…
Developer Chad Holland wrote that his group met with several mayors “who told us there is nothing more we can do to secure their support for the project.” That makes it sound as if the mayors didn’t want more development and jobs for the region, which isn’t accurate.
The mayors didn’t want the state to give away hundreds of millions of dollars to developers — and have their retail businesses put at a competitive disadvantage as a result.
Holland’s group couldn’t secure support for the project they wanted. If they had compromised, excluded retail and asked for less from the state, it might have been different.
* Thankfully, the Southern Illinoisan has a Statehouse bureau, and those guys wrote a decent story about the STAR bond pitfalls and about how local legislators appear divided, with the Democrats generally in favor and the Republicans opposed…
“You’ll have one community benefiting tremendously at the expense of the surrounding communities,” predicted state Rep. Michael Bost, R-Murphysboro, whose district is near the site of the proposed development. “I’m for jobs … but not for legislating an advantage for one area over another.” […]
“I’ve told the (local) leaders, ‘You have to look at the pros and the cons of this thing,’ ” said Forby, adding that he believes the job-creation potential outweighs other concerns. “We could maybe get a music venue in here, like Branson (Mo.) … Anything can happen.”
But some neighboring Southern Illinois lawmakers are expressing the same concerns that some Metro East lawmakers voiced about the Glen Carbon plan: that it would pull business and jobs from nearby areas and diminish local tax revenue.
“I definitely have that concern,” said state Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville. Like Bost, he said he is reserving judgment until he sees the written legislation but that he’s especially concerned “that it’s happening so fast.”
According to the developer, Congressman Jerry Costello’s son is now out of the investment group. That’s one positive.
* Meanwhile, in other state budget news, the Herald & Review is fed up and they’re not gonna take it anymore…
Here’s an idea: The Illinois General Assembly should stop receiving pay until they adopt a solution to the state’s budget problem and the ever-growing backlog of bills.
It’s easy to imagine right now several legislators reading this, smiling to themselves and muttering, “What a ridiculous idea.”
Although it will never happen, we’re not joking. It’s past time for the folks who created the problem to start paying the price.
I’m pretty sure that would be unconstitutional, but, in reality, legislators haven’t received their per diem checks in months. Last I checked each member was owed something like $7,000. So, they are paying a price, albeit not a huge one.
* West Virginia To Likely Approve Verizon/Frontier Deal This Week: Last week Illinois regulators (with a little personal last-minute help from Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and some Verizon talking points) approved Verizon’s $8.5 billion plan to offload millions of phone and DSL customers to Frontier Communications. The deal was approved despite protests from a state Judge and her 47-page report — highlighting very clearly how only really Verizon benefits from the deal, given it infuses Frontier with so much debt next-gen upgrades or expansion will likely take a back seat for some time. With Illinois out of the way, Frontier and Verizon lobbyists only have West Virginia and the FCC to worry about. In West Virginia, unions have put up a tough fight — but now appear relegated to using delay tactics
* Gov. Pat Quinn went on the attack yesterday after Scott Lee Cohen’s announcement that he plans to run for governor as an independent. The governor also tossed in a shot at Bill Brady while he was at it…
“I really have no interest in talking to Mr. Cohen. I bumped into him at the ballpark opening day and I said hello to him and he said he had a surprise for me. Well, y’know. I’ve been competitive all my life. And I can handle any competition. And I think whether it’s Senator Brady with his extreme record opposing things that help working women to Mr. Cohen to his record both in his private and public life, I think I’m a much superior candidate to both of them.”
* Bill Brady’s response to the Cohen announcement…
Scott Lee Cohen’s announcement today comes after Forrest Claypool last month declared he would run as an independent against Joe Berrios for Cook County Assessor.
Whether he manages to get on the ballot or not, Scott Lee Cohen is certainly in a position to speak about the backroom deals he’s seen during this unusual saga. Regardless of who ends up being a candidate for governor in November, Bill Brady will continue to call for a clean break from the old politics in Illinois.
Even assuming that he gets on the ballot, I am not overly concerned by Mr. Cohen’s presence in the race. He seems to be positioning himself as some sort of centrist. But being in the “center” between two candidates who each support devastating cuts to education and essential social services, who won’t fix our broken tax system, and who have no original ideas for creating real job opportunities for Illinoisans, is nothing to brag about.
* Zorn bemoans the hoops Cohen will have to jump through…
Not only is the man clearly in the grips of a grandiose delusion — given his heavy baggage and light political resume — he’s also headed straight into the buzz saw of Illinois’ daunting petition process to get on the ballot, a process that routinely turns well-organized men and women into political wood chips.
In seven weeks, Cohen must gather 25,000 nominating signatures from registered voters. It’s one of the top 10 steepest requirements in the nation for independents who want to run for governor, according to data compiled by Richard Winger of San Francisco, publisher of Ballot Access News. […]
In Florida, for example, if you’ve been following the wild politics down there, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist will simply pay a $10,440 filing fee to run as an independent in November against presumptive Republican primary winner Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek.
The signatures aren’t my biggest beef. It’s the complicated election laws that have to be followed which often boggle my mind. For instance, here’s a legal hurdle that Joe Berrios will allegedly try to force independent Forrest Claypool to clear...
Berrios and his legal team are ready to argue that no [petition] signature can be admitted from anyone who so much as voted in February’s primary. Simply by going to the polls and requesting a party’s primary ballot—no matter whether Democratic, Republican, or Green—a voter aligned himself with that party, they say, and thereby disqualified himself from signing Claypool’s independent petition.
If Berrios wins on this point, there’s practically no way Claypool will be able to present 25,000 good signatures. Yes, the election turnout was low in February’s primaries—only 761,626, roughly a quarter of the registered electorate. But it’s the politically active quarter that Claypool’s signatures are most likely to come from.
Right now, we have two directly opposite state appellate court cases on this general topic and we really need the Illinois Supreme Court to step in and resolve it now because the GA doesn’t appear willing to do so.
* Cohen, meanwhile, says he hasn’t decided whether to use professional petition gatherers…
Cohen says he hasn’t decided whether to hire people to help him gather the signatures.
COHEN: We have not gotten that far yet. We need a running mate.
Anyone interested in being his running mate, Cohen says, should call him or send him a resume.
Relying on volunteers will be deathly. The League of Women Voters tried the same thing (until they offered a $10,000 bounty to the Young Chicago Republicans at the end) and failed miserably to get their constitutional amendment on the ballot. The same fate awaits Cohen if he uses volunteers.
*** UPDATE *** Mark Kirk’s now up with a response ad, called “Distract.” Rate it…
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* The Alexi Giannoulias campaign has a new TV ad up which has been running since Friday. It’s called “Struggle.” Supposedly, this one is much more of a significant buy than the last one, but I’m checking the numbers. Rate it…
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the chair of the Senate Democratic political operation hit Chicago on Sunday to map fund-raising strategy with top donors to assist the Alexi Giannoulias Illinois Senate campaign.
Menendez, who oversees the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, huddled with about 30 contributors–who can tap their personal networks for more donors–at a session held at the Saddle and Cycle Club on 900 W. Foster Ave., a few blocks west of Lake Michigan on the North Side.
I was told the take away from the meeting was this: there was a “positive and engaged conversation about the state of the race and the DSCC support for it.”
* Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) asks NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde what gun control bills he could possibly support…
* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno answers a question about whether she could use the negotiations on McPier to extract an agreement on the budget…
* And the House held a service for fallen members of the armed forces from Illinois yesterday. Watch…
Ochoa briefed his staff about his future Monday, sources said. A Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority spokeswoman said that as of 6 p.m. Monday, Ochoa had not resigned. John Gates Jr., chairman of the interim board of McPier, declined to comment.
Sneed hears rumbles RTA Chairman Jim Reilly, who is now advising the state’s legislative committee how to resolve the McCormick Place mess, is this/close to becoming the new McCormick Place czar/trustee — a title he held years ago.
The Regional Transportation Authority won legislative approval Monday to boost its borrowing capabilities by $300 million to cover a massive IOU from the state to Chicago-area mass-transit agencies….The RTA now has the capability to borrow $100 million to fund operating expenses, but that total will increase to $400 million if Gov. Quinn approves the legislation.
The plan narrowly passed the Senate 31-11, with three voting present and 14 members - including GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady - not voting at all. Thirty votes were needed to pass the Senate.
The Illinois Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposed law that would strip the commission of its sales tax ability effective June 1, 2016. A quarter-percent sales tax imposed by the commission generates approximately $30 million annually.
If Gov. Pat Quinn signs the plan into law, the commission members would have to resign and new members would be appointed. The DuPage County Board chairman appoints seven, and local mayors appoint the other six.
It doesn’t look much different than any other pickup truck, but one Chevy is running around McCormick Place this week on fuel made from algae. And that algae could mean great jobs for Illinois.
A DuPage County judge set a July 30th execution date Monday for a long-imprisoned killer who fatally shot a young Aurora father during a robbery that netted just $6.
Edward Tenney joins 15 other condemned men awaiting death by lethal injection on Illinois’ death row despite an unofficial moratorium….Gov. Pat Quinn has declined to lift the moratorium, as had Rod Blagojevich before him. Quinn’s Republican opponent, Sen. Bill Brady, said he supports the death penalty and will lift the moratorium if elected.
Under scrutiny: the four-unit building at 1834 N. Kedzie in Humboldt Park, where Gutierrez’s daughter Omaira Figueroa bought a new, two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo in June 2008 for $155,000, selling it a little over a year later for $239,900 — $84,900, or 55 percent, more than she’d paid.
Street vendors who hawk peanuts and souvenirs outside Wrigley Field are as much a part of the ballpark’s charm as the rooftops across the street.
Not for long, if local Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) has his way. Stymied last summer in his efforts to ban peddlers from a two-block area around Wrigley, Tunney has revised the ordinance and is gearing up to try again.
* Officials may use nets to try to catch Asian carp in North Shore Channel
Cook County Regional Schools Supt. Charles Flowers could lose the credentials he needs to keep his job at a meeting in Springfield on Friday of the Illinois State Teacher Certification Board.
Flowers pleaded innocent to charges of theft and official misconduct in March, denying allegations he skimmed nearly $400,000 in taxpayer money over a two-year period. A Cook County grand jury indicted him on 16 felony charges.
The city’s current two-year contract with Ameren Energy Marketing has come at a price of $1,078,942 a year, a difference of $338,005. The difference will total $1,014,015 during the life of the contract.
