* For decades, reformers have been calling for the abolishment of secret, end-of-session budget negotiations between the legislative leaders and the governor. But now, when a process is finally in place to perhaps accomplish that long-sought goal, the Senate Republicans are balking…

Rather than negotiate a budget behind closed doors, Cullerton said the entire Senate will spend the first week of May hammering out a way to distribute the funds to various agencies and programs.

“We’re going to handle things a little differently than we have in the past,” Cullerton said. “We’re going to have a much more open, transparent process.”

Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, balked at the new budgeting process, saying it could result in a piecemeal spending plan.

“We need to have a sit-down. And it would be very nice if the governor sat down in the process,” Radogno said.

* Backroom deals mean we don’t know where the caucus leaders truly stand. They can say one thing behind closed doors and another in public. It’s much easier to play games when the talks are secret.

But I do understand why the Republicans would be pushing for bipartisan negotiations. They may have a better shot at getting some of their proposals put into the final budget if they can hold up a backroom deal on something else which requires a three-fifths vote, like some borrowing, for instance.

And I can also understand why they don’t want up or down votes on their cuts and on Democratic cuts. If they vote for their much larger cuts (like a proposed $750 million cut to education or a big cut to local governments) they’ll be hammered in campaign mailers. The same basic principle applies if they vote against the Democratic cuts…

Republican lawmakers have often accused Democrats of spending too freely. They have called for deep cuts to education, health care and more.

Cullerton challenged GOP senators to put those proposals into legislative form so they can be debated, implying Republicans may be afraid to go on the record voting for some of their ideas.

“It would be amazing for them not to actually introduce their proposals,” Cullerton said, while disclosing nothing about where he thinks spending should be cut.

Radogno accused Democrats of wanting to arrange “a series of partisan roll calls and then turn around and use them in campaign brochures.”

While I can see where the Republicans are coming from, I’m not sure that the general public would agree with continuing these secret budget deals. The SGOPs are lucky that their stance has been mostly overlooked by the media or buried way down in the stories.

* Meanwhile, for whatever reason, the Tribune decided to focus its story on the RTA’s opposition to a tax bill, but didn’t mention that Cook County, Chicago and lots of others are also opposed…

The Regional Transportation Authority will kick off a campaign this week aimed at defeating legislation in the General Assembly that opponents say could potentially cost Chicago-area transit agencies hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue.

The measure would allow companies to get around paying some sales taxes in Chicago and the six-county region by effectively migrating the tax to counties where the sales tax rate is lower or no local sales tax is imposed. A Chicago-based company could do this by setting up an office elsewhere and designating it as the point of sale, for example.

The proposed change would not affect direct consumer “cash-to-hand'’ sales, such as buying gasoline at a local station, officials said. But it could apply to a furniture showroom or a catering service where an order is placed.

If the bill passes, the RTA system, which includes the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace, could lose up to $605 million in sales tax revenue annually, a study commissioned by the RTA estimated. Sales tax collections on behalf of the RTA totaled $1.2 billion last year.

Here’s how this works: A large, Chicago-area gasoline retailer contracts for its weekly gas/diesel purchase. It faxes the contract to a one-person “sales office” located in a Downstate county with no local sales taxes. The contract is stamped as “received” and then faxed back up to the Chicago-area office. All local sales taxes - gasoline, transit, retail sales - are then completely avoided. The little Downstate county/town gets a cut of the action. Proponents are hoping to codify a recent Downstate judge’s ruling in favor of that practice. Opponents are not pleased.

The bill passed the Senate last week.

*And Friday’s Statehouse tea party protest generated little Illinois media coverage. Light attendance is probably why…

“I’m here today because I think the government is getting outrageous and way too powerful,” said Kevin Sampson, 52, from Springfield. […]

The secretary of state’s office estimated that 300-400 tea partiers were in attendance.

Check out photos and a video of the protest.

* Related…

* House votes to limit late-career pension boosts - Bill aims to stop salary spikes from pushing up pensions

* Some suburban Republicans vote against state budget plan

* Illinois senators: Cuts are a must to balance budget

* Still no agreement on how to pay off state’s back debts

* As higher tax revenues roll in, backlog still unresolved

* Troubled College Illinois program prompts legislative investigation

* CS-T Editorial: Don’t send university tuition money to Springfield

* Senate gives SW suburbs OK to take over water company: Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) — who represents parts of Lemont, Homer Glen and Woodridge — acknowledged that her stance against the bill could constitute “political suicide” but described Wilhelmi’s bill as an overreach. “I’m not at all sure this will bring water costs down at the end of the day,” Radogno said. “The cost of water is an easily politicized issue, and we don’t do anyone any favors by jumping on that bandwagon and making it any more political.” “This is not the place to try to resolve something like this, and the precedent it sets up — the casual use of eminent domain because we want to use it as a hammer — is just wrong,” she said.

* Local online retailers say ‘Amazon tax’ shouldn’t have much impact

* City refills parking meter reserve fund: Thanks to more money coming in than anticipated, the city will put $50 million back into an account created when Mayor Richard Daley leased Chicago’s parking meters. Even with that bit of good financial news, the city expects to have only about $125 million left in that reserve fund at the end of this year, less than three years after it signed the 75-year lease that came with a one-time payment of $1.15 billion.

* Preckwinkle talks tough on Oak Forest Hospital proposal

* Ex-alderman Shirley Coleman in, out, back in with county