Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2011

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois attorneys general have long been consumer advocates, stretching back to at least Neil Hartigan. Lisa Madigan has cranked it up even further…

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is joining the chorus of voices opposed to House Bill 14. The bill proposes upgrading state utilities to create a so-called “smart grid.”

Power companies claim modernizing will protect against outages and save consumers money down the line. For now it would mean higher ComEd bills. But Madigan argues there’s already a fair system in place that ComEd should use to make necessary improvements.

She says ComEd “actually wants a guaranteed profit where they don’t have to go through a system to get it. They want to go directly into your wallet. They don’t want to have to prove what they did was reasonable or fair. They just want your money.”

Madigan says as the bill is written, utility companies could increase rates before getting the state’s approval and there’s no cap on how high rates could rise.

The AG’s office also does senior services (begun by Hartigan), crime victim assistance, open government, and lately she’s been taking on a major role of combatting sex offenders.

* The Question: What do you think should be the central role(s) of the Illinois attorney general’s office? Explain.

35 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: A little remap news

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

A note to blog readers about the news feeds

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Feed Informer is currently down, so the automated news feeds aren’t working. I’ve contacted them and they say they’re working on it, but aren’t sure when the service will be back up. Sorry about this.

…And, we’re back in business.

Comments Off

*** UPDATED x1 *** This just in… Senate redistricting proposal released

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 8:56 am - Click here for access to the new maps. More in a bit.

* You’re going to need Google Earth to access the detailed version. Click here to get it.

* The Google Earth file is here. You can also download pdf files…

* City of Chicago districts

* Cook and collar county districts

* Statewide districts

* The big rumor yesterday was that Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno was put into the same Senate district as Republican Sen. Ron Sandack. That does, indeed, appear to be the case. They appear to both be mapped into the 41st Senate District.

* Republican Sens. Tim Bivins and Christine Johnson also appear to be in the same district, the 45th.

* The Democrats wanted to create a map that ran from the predominantly black East Side of Springfield to Decatur. They did. The 50th and the 48th.

* Rockford Republican Dave Syverson was stripped of much of his turf and put into the 35th Senate District. His Democratic opponent from last year, Marla Wilson, has lots of Rockford territory and is in a different district, the 34th.

* As expected, Speaker Madigan is in the same Senate district as Sen. Martin Sandoval, the 11th.

* Freshman Sen. Sam McCann (R-Carllinville) has been moved into the 48th District, which stretches from the East Side of Springfield to Decatur. Not looking good for him.

* Republican Sens. Kyle McCarter and Dave Luechtefeld are in the same district, the 54th.

* Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields) has one of the odder shaped districts, which is in blue…

Her southern boundary is the Kankakee County line.

* Sun-Times…

Cullerton’s office announced hearings on the map at noon Saturday at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago and at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Capitol in Springfield.

Phelon could not immediately say whether there was an increase or decrease in majority-minority districts to reflect large population gains among Latinos nor indicate whether any of the 24 Republican senators had been drawn into the same districts. […]

There was no immediate announcement on when House Democrats would make their district boundaries known. A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) could not be reached early Thursday.

* Sen. Larry Bomke’s (R-Springfield) district, the 50th, heads straight west through Jacksonville all the way to the Mississippi River and then way, way down south to Grafton. Lots of very new turf for him.

* Check out Sen. Donne Trotter’s (D-Chicago) new district. The turf (the long yellow one on the right side) runs from 73rd St. all the way down to Momence, which is east of Kankakee…

* Mike Fourcher…

The new map would move Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton (D-6) district further south and east, while bringing current State Senator Heather Steans’ (D-7) district further west to the river. [A Google Earth file of the new districts can be found here.]

Pres. Cullerton lives in Ravenswood Manor. Sen. Steans lives in Andersonville’s Lakewood Balmoral neighborhood. Both districts have been drawn so they are not overlapping any other sitting state senators’ homes.

* SJ-R…

Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, will face thousands of new voters and Sen. Sam McCann, R-Carlinville, will be in hostile political territory if they run for re-election from their current residences next year under a proposed legislative map released by Senate Democrats on Thursday. […]

Bomke’s house is in the proposed 50th Senate District, which stretches from Springfield’s west and southwest sides to seven southwest Illinois counties all the way to the Mississippi River. Bomke’s current district is centered in Springfield and Sangamon County and encompasses parts of Logan and Menard counties.

The home of McCann, who is in his first Senate term, is in the proposed 44th Senate District, which includes downtown Springfield, Springfield’s east side, Decatur, Christian County, Montgomery County, much of Macoupin County. The district stretches south and includes a chunk of northeast Madison County in the Metro East.

Overall, Sangamon County will have three senators if the map becomes law. The north end of Springfield is in the 44th Senate District, where veteran state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, lives.

* Chicago News Cooperative…

On the state map, the Chicago area resembles bicycle spokes with districts snaking from the city’s Democratic boundaries into the suburbs. Due to population losses in Chicago, most districts shifted south and west, or north and northwest. Some districts were nearly eliminated.

State Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-Orland Park) loses much of his southwest suburban base under the new map. So does Democrat Lisa Dugan (D-Bradley) who is pushed into Central Illinois.

Other districts, however, strengthen or maintain re-election prospects for incumbents. Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s district stays mostly intact under the new map with Midway Airport as an anchor. His Southwest Side neighbor, state Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago), loses suburban precincts in Berwyn but picks up more swaths of the city.

“It’s significantly different, but the demographics are not changing,”Burke said.

* Daily Herald…

“I think that DuPage County will continue to have excellent representation and we continue to be a force and Senator (Don) Harmon from Oak Park has always had a little bit of DuPage,” said Hinsdale Republican Sen. Kirk Dillard. “It looks like that may continue in the far northeast part of the county.”

* Quad City Times…

The proposed new district keeps Rock Island County intact. But it carves off the southern part of the district, in Mercer County, trading it for more of Whiteside County to the east.

The new lines also pare a part of Carroll County from the district.

In an interview today, Jacobs said the maps aren’t final.

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” he said. “This is the first blush.”

* Greg Hinz…

Because the African-American population of Chicago has dropped so much — down 200,000 in the past decade –there will be only four districts that are at least 50% black, down from five now, according to Mr. Cullerton’s office. But the Hispanic population has grown, so the number of majority-Latino districts would rise from seven to eight.

The most striking thing about the map is how city-anchored districts have been stretched miles out into the suburbs, sort of like fingers pointing out from a hand.

As a result, districts occupied by Chicago incumbents including John Mulroe (10th), Kimberly Lightford (4th) and Emil Jones III (14th) — plus Bridgeview’s Steven Landek (11th) — would be much longer than they were, in some cases stretching almost to the Cook County line.

Landek’s district currently goes right up to the county line.

*** UPDATE *** The above info about minority Senate districts is being disputed by the SDems. There are actually 8 Senate districts now with majority black population. There will be 7 districts with majority black voting age population (which is what counts in these things) and 1 district with just under 50 percent VAP.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* Aurora Beacon-News…

Illinois Democrats released their proposed State Senate districts today, the first look at how Illinois’ legislative boundaries might be re-shaped. The map would appear to create and new district in the Aurora area.

The surge in population in State Sens. A.J. Wilhemli, Chris Lauzen and Linda Holmes was expected to add one new district with about 200,000 residents.

Rough views of the map appear to show Wilhelmi in the 43rd District and Lauzen barely in the 25th District. Linda Holmes, an Aurora Democrat, will be in either the 42nd or 49th District. Depending on where the line is drawn in relation to her house, the remaining district will be a new, open seat. […]

Lauzen said he was not worried about the new lines. He believes the map released Thursday morning is a diversion.

“They’ll rush out this weekend, have some meetings and then they’ll bring out the real map,” he said.

121 Comments

Caption contest!

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Self explanatory…

Winner gets a free ticket to a White Sox game this summer during the Sox Caucus event.

…Adding… Please, keep it clean, people.

* Yesterday’s winner was Oswego Willy…

“I’ll show YOU frugal, Judy Baar Topinka!”

Congrats, man. You finally won one.

* By the way, LG Simon was interviewed yesterday about her bike…

105 Comments

Here we go again

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rep. Lou Lang will introduce a bill as early as today to expand gaming here…

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, says he hopes to file a blll as soon as Thursday that would authorize a city casino and other major gambling expansion.

“There will be a gaming bill. I will be introducing it,” Mr. Lang said. “I’m still making some tweaks. I hope to have those done and a bill introduced in a day or two.”

Mr. Lang said his proposal “will resemble” a bill that passed the Senate last year but which he failed to call for final action in the House.

That measure called for slot machines at horse-racing tracks, more gambling positions at existing casinos, and five new casinos, one of them in the city.

And so it begins… Again. What is this, Lou’s 90th gaming bill? I kid. It’s only been 85. However, he might actually have a shot this year…

Facing a budget deficit in the range of $500-700 million, [Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel] said the gaming revenue could certainly be helpful, if it’s done right.

“I have spoken to the leaders of both chambers, both parties, and the governor about the essentialness for a Chicago-owned casino here, as a way of both economic activity and revenue source,” Emanuel said.

The new mayor declined to offer a prediction on whether it can happen during the final weeks of this legislative session, noting that casino legislation in the past has fallen apart.

“One issue can be alive a minute, something else can happen,” Emanuel said of the legislative process. “So if I say something today - even now - by the time I get upstairs, it can be a different note.”

Goodness knows, the state could use the cash (the money will be used for the capital bill, but that cash would mean less GRF will have to be tapped).

* But there will be no magic beans moment for the state budget this year via the Thomson prison sale…

Gov. Pat Quinn and President Barack Obama’s administration might have struck a deal on a price for the empty Thomson prison, but Illinois shouldn’t expect a check anytime soon.

The agreed upon price of $165 million for the Thomson Correctional Center in the northern corner of the state is less than its appraised value of $220 million, state lawmakers confirmed Wednesday.

However, Rich Carter, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-16th District, said the Illinois congressman has not heard anything about a sale.

“The federal government doesn’t have any money,” Carter said. “There may be an agreement, but there cannot be a sale without any money to buy the prison.”

State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said Illinois needs the money sooner, rather than later.

“Maybe we won’t have to cut some kid’s program, because right now we are in the process of cutting $2.4 billion out of our budget,” Jacobs said. “… And maybe this will save a few programs that we won’t have to cut out.” […]

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is working with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reprogram federal funding to turn Thomson into a federal maximum security prison.

“He hopes this can be done as soon as possible so that the purchase can move forward and bring with it the jobs and economic development so important to the region’s future,” Durbin’s spokeswoman Christina Mulka said in an email.

Just what we need, more great news. Sheesh.

28 Comments

Map day in the Senate

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* While we await the Senate Democrats’ unveiling of their new map proposal this morning, let’s take a look at Rick Pearson’s quite good backgrounder on the redistricting process…

On Wednesday, Madigan held back-to-back meetings with his Latino and African-American members to go over details of the new map. He said some “slight” changes were being made.

Both parties set up public map rooms for interest groups to offer suggested district boundaries. But the real decisions are still being done in that locked office suite in Springfield.

Rank-and-file Democrats have been summoned to the map room, dominated by a large flat-screen TV monitor hooked up to a computer, to discuss the outlines of their districts, according to sources who are familiar with the room but not authorized to speak publicly about it. No papers are allowed to be taken out. No one can bring in a flash drive to hook up to the computer for fear of a virus or the removal of sensitive information.

The computer is loaded with census data files — information about race, ethnicity, voting age — for each of the state’s more than 11,000 voting precincts and thousands more smaller census tabulation blocks. And Democrats also are using separate detailed information about partisan turnout in each precinct, purchased with some of the $1.5 million allotted to Democrats for redistricting.

“You can manipulate the lines and at the bottom of the screen, you can automatically see how many Democrats or Republicans are in a potential district,” said one Democrat who has seen part of the remap process.

Go read the whole thing. Barring any glitches, we should have some hard data at around 9 o’clock.

14 Comments

The backpedaling begins

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Keep in mind that Gov. Pat Quinn proposed reducing funding for local governments last year by $300 million, then floated an idea to the Tribune this year about “delaying” the rest of this year’s local government payments so the state could pay other bills instead. The Senate Republicans have proposed a $300 million cut, and House Speaker Michael Madigan has said he would stand with the governor.

However, absolutely nothing is in writing at the moment. Nobody, not Quinn, the Republicans or Madigan have actually proposed any cuts via legislation. Politically, though, you cannot blame the mayors for mobilizing as much as they have. Blood - their blood - was clearly in the water…

Palos Hills Mayor Gerald Bennett said local governments are generating revenue, but they are not getting their fair share back from the state.

“We provide the income tax through our residents working; they get 90 percent, (and) we get 10 percent,” Bennett said. “We provide the motor fuel tax that helps the state build the roads, and we only get a portion of that.”

Welvaert agreed.

“It’s time for Springfield to wake up and understand that the locally generated revenues are just that – local revenues,” he said. “They do not belong to the state and the state of Illinois representatives and senators to do with as they please.”

* But things are starting to look up…

Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for Quinn’s budget office, said the governor hasn’t proposed taking away that local money. He has only raised the possibility of delaying some of the money. And neither the House nor the Senate budget plan would touch the local money at all.

More backpedaling…

“Our proposal was just to, possibly as an alternative to budget crisis, to delay (the payments) a little bit,” said Kraft.

Even more…

Kraft said the governor’s idea [reported by the Tribune] was a first draft.

“It was a delay, not an elimination,” Kraft said. “Right now, they’re (cities) paid through January. . . . How would this help get other people paid?

“It’s not something that’s on the forefront.” [Emphasis added.]

Mayors have very serious political influence in the Cook County suburbs, where lots of battles will be fought during next year’s remap election. Actually, nobody wants a hostile mayor when they’re running in districts with lots of new voters. So, it may turn out to be just too politically difficult to cut them more than a little, if at all. You gotta hand it to them. They’ve played their hand quite well.

* Related…

* VIDEO: Quincy mayor on local budgets

* Editorial: ‘We’re too deep in debt’

* Groups call for closing of Choate, other state facilities

* State rep urges shifting oversight of state prepaid tuition plan to Comptroller Topinka: Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said Wednesday that he wants immediate changes in College Illinois following revelations this week in Crain’s that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which runs the program, is investing money from the plan’s $1.1 billion in assets to funds run by friends and past associates of ISAC Executive Director Andrew Davis. The report also disclosed that ISAC wasn’t vetting the suitability of those investments using outside firms — a customary practice of public pension funds.

* Dan Proft, Anders Lindall Debate Illinois State Worker Pension Reform

* Springfield school budget cuts likely, officials say

18 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Thursday, May 19, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

« NEWER POSTS