Derrick Smith gets the seat vacated by new Sen. Annazette Collins, who was appointed to replace Rickey Hendon earlier this month. Hendon abruptly resigned.
Smith is director of accounting revenue under Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who led the panel of ward committeeman who made the selection.
More to come when I can get it.
4:35 p.m. - Smith was one of four candidates for the 1st District seat on the Cook County Board. Here’s a questionnaire he did for one of the Sun Times papers.
Perhaps one of the more interesting House races last year was for the 101st District (Bob Flider versus Adam Brown). It was also one of the best covered races, as Rich pointed out. Two months after Inauguration Day the Herald & Review is still covering that contest…
In all, Illinois Democrats and Republicans poured $15.4 million into the candidates running for the Illinois House and Illinois Senate. $1.2 million of it went to former state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, and the man who defeated him, state Rep. Adam Brown, R-Decatur, then a Decatur City Councilman.
David Morrison, deputy director of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said party leaders’ fervor was likely spurred by the upcoming redistricting process, which will use U.S. Census data to redraw the boundaries of legislative districts. The law grants the majority party greater control over that process.
“This year we saw more big money races and more money from leaders,” Morrison said. “There was far more at stake in this election than usual. Whoever controls the process for the next map can give themselves a huge advantage for ten years.” […]
Of Flider’s $890,000 campaign money, 64 percent came from Democratic groups and leaders, according to the reports.
Flider did not return phone calls seeking comment.
ICPR lists Brown as receiving $675,000 from Republican organizations and Flider receiving $571,000, but the reality is both campaigns also got money from the war chests of other candidates: Brown got $35,000 in sizeable donations from state Reps. Bill Mitchell, Ron Stephens, Roger Eddy, and Jim Watson, among others.
Flider, as you may know, was recently hired by a nonprofit overseeing the state’s broadband Internet service. Subscribers know a bit more.
Freshman lawmakers inherited a multi-billion dollar budget deficit. And as they reached the spring legislative session’s mid-way point, they gave their views on their short tenure in the General Assembly.
Freshman State Rep. Adam Brown, R-Decatur, said his priority is getting the budget aligned.
“I believe the light at the end of the tunnel is that we’ve got some fresh faces,” Brown said. “We’ve got us 20-plus new members with fresh ideas and new perspectives, and I think that blends well with the experience that we’ve had in the statehouse before. So I think headway is being made, but progress is going to be made very slow as well.”
(Jeremy L.) Halbreich, 59, is a former general manager of the Dallas Morning News who has been vice chairman and chief executive officer of Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC. He will retain the CEO title at the company, which owns six other dailies in the Chicago area, the thrice-weekly Naperville Sun and the Pioneer Press chain of weeklies.
Here’s a more full biography, courtesy of the University of Texas. The position, as I’m sure you are all aware, became vacant after previous chairman James Tyree died of complications from stomach cancer.
Last week the AP credited Tyree with bringing the newspaper chain out of bankruptcy. Halbreich was the CEO at the same time. Here’s a snippet from Phil Rosenthal’s interview with him last year on the financial problems…
“The financial situation was a whole lot more dire than people recognized,” he said. “Obviously, through a bankruptcy process, if we felt there needed to be changes in certain areas … you’ve just been handed an engraved invitation.
“What pleasantly surprised me was the strength of the management team in terms of their flexibility and open-mindedness to change,” he said. “There were ideas that were percolating, and they simply were not in an environment where they could act.”
Halbreich describes the Sun-Times Media ownership group, which includes Chicago Blackhawks owner and liquor distributor Rocky Wirtz, as “entrepreneurial” and “closer to the business” than previous directors.
The move will let Sun-Times Media report larger audited circulation figures than it otherwise could for any of the papers individually.
“Reporting a combined circulation number will finally allow us to show the total depth and breadth of our reach in the Chicago area,” said Rick Surkamer, president and chief operating officer of Sun-Times Media.
It might also mean the papers’ advertising rates go up. Crain’s has more…
The change was prompted by a change by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which tracks newspaper circulations across the country, that allows papers under the same ownership and in the same geographic area to report their circulations as a group, as well as individually.
The Sun-Times will now report its circulations as a group to boost its visibility with national advertisers, Mr. Halbreich said.
“It lets us add together all the newspapers’ circulations and moves us up in the listing of national newspapers, which should translate into, we believe, more advertising sales,” he said.
The consolidation would have given the group a circulation of 424,184 for Sundays through the six months ended last September and a weekday circulation of about 439,855, he said.
* Former city official Anthony Boswell loses bid for jobless benefits: The Illinois Bureau of Employment Security has upheld the city’s claim that Anthony Boswell is not entitled to weekly benefits of $534 for 26 weeks because he resigned his $161,856-a-year job as director of the city’s Office of Compliance, Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said Wednesday.
* A stork note: Mayor Daley’s former education chief Ron Huberman and Darren DeJong became the parents of daughter Abigail DeJong Huberman Monday. It is the second child for both dads: son Aiden was born in 2009.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s latest pitch for the state to borrow money to pay its old bills – including for state employee group health insurance — isn’t gaining support among a key group, the General Assembly’s Republicans. […]
Senate Republican spokeswoman Patty Schuh said the state still hasn’t adopted an overall financial plan that includes significant budget cuts. Senate Republicans last week outlined $6.7 billion in possible cuts and savings, proposals Quinn dismissed as “goofy.” […]
House Republican spokeswoman Sara Wojcicki said only that the House would consider the idea.
The federal stimulus law, passed during the height of the recession in 2009, provided states with about $80 billion in 2009 and 2010 by increasing the federal government’s Medicaid match rate to nursing homes and hospitals, with the caveat that those providers be paid within 30 days. Illinois is being matched at 59 percent until March 31. Afterward, the rate will drop to 57 percent, and ultimately end at its regular match rate of 50 percent on July 1.
House budget expert Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said the new emphasis on borrowing for health care is stimulated by the looming deadline to maximize payments. He estimates that the state will earn about $170 million to $175 million net from federally matched funds if payments are made before June 30.
It would appear as if the Senate Republicans are standing their ground and pointing everyone towards the budget cuts they outlined, which were endorsed by another editorial board today…
The governor dismissed them, calling them “apostles of Draconian cuts,” adding, “I’m not listening to them.” This after Quinn challenged Republicans last month to craft their own budget plan if they rejected his.
Republicans are absolutely right to lay out major budget cuts. Despite major personal and corporate income tax increases in January, significant and painful budget cuts still are needed in Illinois.
Still, by making $5 billion out of a possible $6.7 billion in cuts over the next fiscal year, by 2015 Illinois could be in a position to get rid of its entire tax increase, [State Sen. Matt] Murphy says.
“If we don’t take the medicine on the front end, we continue to languish where we’ve been. … We’re saying spending cuts have to be part of this solution.”
The plan was praised by former State Budget Director Steve Schnorf, but met with some initial skepticism from leading Democrats.
“Their efforts must go beyond more than news releases and photo ops. Releasing a list of possible cuts shouldn’t be the end of their participation in the budget process,” Senate President John Cullerton quipped in a statement late last week. But Cullerton’s office said the Chicago Democrat is reviewing the GOP budget proposal.
Subscribers will recall Schnorf’s thoughts of this year’s budget.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune editorial board wants to see Sen. Dick Durbin’s proposal for an expanded online sales tax to go through Congress…
Look-alike federal legislation went nowhere in 2010, and similar efforts fizzled in the years before that. If Durbin’s bill likewise flops, states will be on their own. That will complicate efforts to spread the sales tax burden more widely and fairly.
* Insurance director: Health law helping consumers: “There is some disruption and definitely some discomfort among insurers, but consumers are definitely better protected than they were a year ago,” McRaith said in a phone call with reporters to mark the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. President Barack Obama signed the law March 23, 2010.
The estimated Chicago Public School deficit for next school year is $720 million, Mazany said. That’s up $20 million from just before his predecessor walked out the door in late November.
Mazany called for “shared sacrifice,’’ including from teachers. Their pay raises will cost $80 million but, Mazany said, any successor to him appointed after Rahm Emanuel is seated as mayor May 16 will have to decide whether to try to re-negotiate the teachers’ contract to trim that tab.
If approved, about 4,800 students would be affected by the moves, with around 700 of those changing school buildings in the fall, Mazany said. Up to 100 teaching positions could be eliminated, and eight principal positions would be lost in the short term, he said.
Despite one-time costs associated with the mergers, Mazany said, the district will see savings in the long run. He did not provide specific figures on the controversial measure, however, focusing instead on the district’s currently bleak financial situation. […]
Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, lambasted the board for not making the announcement earlier and not going to greater lengths to include the union in their decisions.
“What about a fair warning to our teachers and paraprofessionals, engineers (and) cafeteria workers who may lose their jobs?” Lewis said. “The board has a moral obligation to … stop these consolidations and closings. It’s a matter of trust, and trust is the true deficit that we face.
Some of the schools targeted for closure were already on the last to be phased out. WBEZ has the full list.
Meanwhile, the U of I has become the first public university of the year to jack its tuition…
Freshman starting in the fall at the Urbana-Champaign campus will pay $11,104 in tuition, though that figure can increase based on a particular major.
At the University of Illinois at Chicago, tuition will cost $9,764 annually. At the school’s Springfield campus, a general undergraduate credit hour will increase from $270.25 for freshmen in 2010 to $289 for freshman in 2011. Housing and mandatory fees approximately double the total costs for students.
Perpetua attorney Brian Shaw said his company hasn’t wanted to sell the cemetery since January, determining that it wouldn’t be possible to sell any more graves in the crime scene area along 123rd Street. And since a condition of selling the cemetery to Cemecare LLC hinged on adding graves in that space, Perpetua instead suggested creating a Burr Oak Cemetery Trust to care for the historic black cemetery.
“We really don’t know what his motivations are,” Shaw said of Sheriff Tom Dart. “This cemetery still fulfills the need for the black community.”
The cemetery isn’t on the block, but an offer has been made. Perpetua says it’s going to reorganize the cemetery’s administration. The Southtown Star’s editorial board came out in favor of the idea today…
Perpetua’s new reorganization plan calls for the cemetery to be put into an operating trust, supervised by a trustee. The cemetery would continue to take care of owners of burial plots, as well as family members who would like to be buried near their loved ones at Burr Oak. Once the plan is approved by a judge, which could happen next week, $7.65 million in insurance money would be set aside to maintain Burr Oak and to pay out claims to families who have sued Perpetua.
But under the plan, no new burials would take place in that section of the cemetery where additional remains were found.
“I am for a federal prison in Thomson, Illinois,” Kirk later told a crowd at a town hall meeting in Freeport. “Because we think that the president will give us that assurance soon, we are confident that the sale will go through.”
According to The (Freeport) Journal-Standard, Kirk said that if the government purchased Thomson, it would be the largest federal prison in the nation and would employ over 1,000 people, having a local economic impact of $150 million a year.
Republicans were very against this idea when it first came out, but it was introduced before last year’s primary. Though Kirk has been consistent in his opposition to the Gitmo detainee transfers, some of his colleagues criticized the idea of selling a state owned prison to the feds when overcrowding is a problem for IDOC.
* And if Greg Hinz is right, there’s another issue thought to be gone coming back…
But, after a year and a half of disappointment, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts says he’s going to to keep pitching his proposal to rebuild that aging jewel known as Wrigley Field with a combination of private and public funds. […]
Instead, his chosen tactic is more, mostly quiet talks with public officials — particularly, I suspect, with Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, who unlike Richard M. Daley seems open to some public help for the team.
Sources confirm that the new mayor and the team owner had a 10-minute sitdown a few weeks ago in which Mr. Ricketts made a presentation and Mr. Emanuel listened.
No deal was reached or commitment made. All Mr. Ricketts will say — after considerable pushing on my part — is, “He understands.”
A mayoral move would indeed be decisive, given that the team already has major league support from Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and others in Springfield. But that’s still a big if.
It might be a harder sell given the Cubs’ value has risen by 6 percent since the Rocketts bought the team.
As you know by now, the master of the house has ventured away for a long weekend, which is now taking place in Las Vegas apparently. That means you guys are stuck with me for a few days. But before those begin, here are a couple things you need to know.
If you need to contact us for any reason you are better off getting in touch with me. I don’t have access to the AOL account, so here are a couple different ways to reach me:
Subscribers: The password will remain the same until at least Tuesday.
I’ll only say this once: I know how to use the infamous CapFax banishment hammer of death. Don’t forget to breathe this week because I tend to get upset and banishment happy when the rules are broken while I am in class
* I’m outta here for a few days, and, apparently, just in the nick of time. But my former intern Barton Lorimor will be handling blog duties starting tomorrow. He may do some work today. Go easy on him and stay reasonable in comments, please.
My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said that for as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to go to spring training. Since the GA is not in session this week, we’re doing it. My wife is not a baseball fan, but she does love her some Ozzie, so I promised that in exchange for tolerating six baseball games in five days I’d somehow find a way for us to meet the guy. The stalking begins tonight.
Catholic school officials in Quincy are urging parents to support legislation that would restore funding for the Illinois Textbook Loan Program.
The $42 million program was cut from the state budget the past two years, forcing schools to find alternative funds to buy updated books that could be loaned to students. The program also has been used to buy learning materials and instructional computer software.
“The Illinois Textbook Loan Program is very important to help us in acquiring new textbooks for our students,” said Janet Bick, principal of St. Peter Elementary School in Quincy, which serves about 360 students in grades K-8.
“When that was cut from the state budget, that hurt our budgets tremendously in the Catholic schools as well as it did, I’m sure, the public schools.”
The money does not all go to private and parochial schools. It’s spread around among all schools that ask for it.
* The Question: Should private and parochial schools be eliminated from the textbook loan program? Explain.
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Myth: HB14 allows Illinois utilities to automatically raise rates every year.
Fact: That is not the case. Under HB14, utilities are required to submit to more frequent oversight (annual) and still are subject to stakeholder challenge and ICC prudence reviews over 8 ½ months.
Myth: HB14 eliminates much of the oversight currently provided by the ICC.
Fact: HB14 actually strengthens oversight because it makes the regulatory process a more frequent annual process that is transparent, allows discovery, holds utilities accountable for every dollar they invest and jobs they create. The ICC retains responsibility for reviewing utilities’ costs and setting rates.
Myth: HB14 provides utilities with higher-than-needed profits.
Fact: Under the Public Utilities Act, utilities are allowed to earn a reasonable rate of return. This is done through determining a return on the equity invested (ROE) for the utility. This rate has varied from rate case to rate case. This proposal only changes the way the ROE is set and is consistent with past ICC approved ROEs. Utilities still must establish that they managed work prudently at reasonable cost and stakeholder challenge and ICC prudence reviews remain.
* He didn’t completely back off his $8.7 billion borrowing plan to pay off old bills, but Gov. Pat Quinn is now emphasizing a different proposal…
Quinn said he is now focused on an “emergency” borrowing of “about $2 billion” to pay off health care debts.
The idea is to pay those who provide health care for the poor before July 1, when the reimbursement rate from the federal government drops and Illinois would lose out on millions of dollars. The short-term loan would be repaid using money from the recent income tax increase.
“We’re talking about roughly $175 million that we would leave on the table,” Quinn said.
State law requires that three-fifths of lawmakers vote in favor of borrowing proposals, which means that some Republican support is a must.
Quinn said he has approached Republican leaders with the idea, but said so far he has been “disappointed in them,” saying they are too busy playing political games.
The Medicaid borrowing idea isn’t exactly new, but you’d have to be a subscriber to know that.
* Despite his statements yesterday, Quinn clearly still supports the larger borrowing plan. Watch…
The Teachers’ Retirement System, the largest and costliest of Illinois’ pension programs, is now almost $40 billion short of what’s needed to cover future benefits — the deepest financial hole in 20 years of state records.
As it stands now, Illinois teachers get higher benefits, on average, than government retirees in most pension plans around the country, according to an analysis by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. Illinois’ average teacher pension for retirees covered by TRS — about $41,000 — ranks seventh highest of the 101 major pension plans tracked by the association. Illinois pensions are not taxed by the state. […]
At the same time, TRS educators contribute 9.4 percent of pay for their pensions, which Illinois Education Association president Ken Swanson pointed out is high compared with contributions required around the country.
“We understand that, in these times, IEA members generally have good jobs with good benefits. We believe preserving these benefits is essential to attracting and retaining a high-quality workforce in every public school,” Swanson said in a statement provided to the Tribune.
TRS is now 48.4 percent funded, compared to 67.1 percent for the Chicago teachers pension fund. The difference? TRS relies almost solely on the state and teachers for its money, while Chicago’s system receives relatively few state dollars. Senate President John Cullerton wants Downstate and suburban districts to start kicking in a lot more cash, like Chicago’s district does, and his spokesman John Patterson makes a good point…
“Suburban and downstate districts effectively set pensions by their salary decisions, but the state isn’t part of those decisions,” Patterson said, even though the subsequent pension costs are pushed off to state taxpayers.
* Related…
* VIDEO: Gov. Quinn on tuition increase and revenue projections
* Chicago-St. Louis fast-train project moves along: The governor milked the ‘fast train’ project for good news again Tuesday afternoon, announcing phase two of the $1 billion dollar effort to lessen the time it takes to travel by train between Chicago and St. Louis. And the supporters of the project, originally part of the Obama administration’s stimulus program, say it will create over 6,000 new jobs in Illinois.
* Illinois governor backs unions at UAW convention
* State legislators urge Quinn to look at Rockford to ease O’Hare congestion
