* Y’all have just been tremendous this week. I always say I have the best commenters in the business and you proved it once again. Whether it was helping dissect the new maps or finding the file buried in the House Democrats’ redistricting website, I have just been amazed at how smart and sophisticated you are. Thanks for all the help and the hard work. But it sure was fun, wasn’t it?
I really couldn’t have done it without you this week. And I will need your help at least one more time very soon. I’ll be reopening comments if the new congressional map is released this weekend. Hopefully, I can borrow your brains once again.
This is more than just a political website. You proved once again that we’re a real community. Thanks so much for everything.
* Regular commenter “Corvax” posted this video earlier today. It’s Dolly Varden doing a live version of “The Wheels Have Left the Road,” which seems appropriate for those folks who got the short end of the stick during Redistricting Week. Have a listen…
I’ve seen you wake up screaming
I’ve seen you shaken up for days
* Google Earth (Right-click and save to your computer)
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Democratic congressional delegation will reportedly be in Springfield Saturday morning at 11 o’clock to take a look at their maps in the Stratton Bldg.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Statement from House Republican Leader Tom Cross…
“It is disingenuous for the House Democrats to release this map late in the afternoon on a Friday with very limited access to demographic data and an analysis that explains why they drew the boundaries where they did. How can the residents of our state have time to access the information (online or by written request), digest it and be prepared to testify at a hearing in Chicago on Sunday afternoon? A hearing in Chicago and one in Springfield is not enough; we are calling for more statewide hearings in the next few weeks before a vote is taken.”
The next few weeks? That ain’t gonna happen, but nice try.
Illinois House Democrats posted a map of newly drawn legislative districts Friday but refused to offer any demographic information showing how minority-population shifts influenced their mapmaking.
The 118 House districts that comprised the map were shaped using 2010 U.S. Census data that showed marked declines in African-American populations and a significant uptick in Latino populations.
An aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) would offer no insight into how the map was drawn or into the demographic make-up of each district, insisting only that the once-a-decade exercise in legislative mapmaking adhered to the Constitution and federal law.
“It follows the law. That’s what I know. That’s the way it’s always been done,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
* Gov. Pat Quinn was adamant during a Chicago press conference today that if the state is going to expand gaming, then he wants to keep it as narrow as possible. He strongly indicated that Chicago could get a new casino, but here’s what he said when he was asked what he’d say to the mayor of Danville, who also wants a new casino…
“I would tell him not to hold his breath.”
Downstate casinos are seen by some as a way to find votes for a Chicago casino. Sometimes, casino bills are too big to pass, but sometimes they can be too small. Time will tell.
* The governor has said time and time again that he opposes any education spending cuts in the budget. Asked whether he would veto a budget which cut education spending, Quinn wouldn’t go that far…
“No. What I’ve seen so far needs improvement.”
* The governor also indicated that he would sign a bill which passed today that protected the identities of FOID card holders. Gov. Quinn danced around questions about whether the newly proposed Senate district map was fair, but he did heap praise on the “openness” of the mapmaking process, pointing to the numerous committee hearings held and the upcoming hearings.
* Gov. Quinn tried to get out in front of a story yesterday by announcing a big shakeup at ISAC…
Gov. Pat Quinn [yesterday] shuffled the deck at the agency that oversees the state’s prepaid college tuition program by appointing two board members and dumping a longtime friend.
Out as chairman of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission is Don McNeil, a longtime friend and campaign contributor who roomed with Quinn back when they went to Georgetown University.
May 19, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today named Kym Hubbard and Miguel Del Valle to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Del Valle will serve as a member of the commission, and Hubbard will serve as its chair. Today’s actions come as the Governor works to bring a fresh approach to the board charged with increasing the affordability and accessibility of college in Illinois – one of Governor Quinn’s top priorities.
“Kym Hubbard and Miguel Del Valle both bring a fresh approach and a lifetime of public and private sector experience to this important board,” said Governor Quinn. “Access to higher education is a top priority of my administration, and I am confident that these appointments will help continue my mission of ensuring that college is affordable and accessible for Illinois’ students. I thank Don McNeil for his service and commitment to the people of Illinois.”
The move to replace Mr. McNeil comes after a series of stories in Crain’s Chicago Business detailing financial woes at the prepaid tuition plan, which has the biggest funding shortfall of any such plan in the nation. Crain’s also reported that ISAC Executive Director Andrew Davis shifted nearly half the plan’s $1.1-billion investment portfolio into hedge funds, private equity and other “alternative” holdings considered riskier than garden-variety stocks and bonds. Mr. McNeil staunchly defended Mr. Davis’ strategy and supported a 10% raise for the executive director that was approved by the ISAC board earlier this year.
Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) wants to move College Illinois from ISAC, saying he and other legislators “lost confidence” in the way ISAC handled the fund, which is currently under investigation by the state auditor.
College Illinois bills itself as offering Illinois parents a way to lock in today’s tuition prices for tomorrow’s college students, but the $1.25 billion fund is at least 31 percent underfunded. It’s unclear if the state will be able to pay tuition and fees for the 55,000 prepaid tuition contracts currently held by Illinois families.
Durkin said that “desperate calls from parents and grandparents” to state legislators about the fate of these contracts motivated him to try to move the agency to the comptroller’s office.
“I think it’s going to be tough but I want the issue out there,” he said of the likelihood the Illinois General Assembly will approve the move before breaking for the summer. “I want changes.”
But not everyone believes a management change will be the panacea to the plan’s problems.
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FastWeb.com and FinAid.org, a scholarship matching service and free encyclopedic guide to student aid, said he wouldn’t feel more confident in one department over the other.
“You still have this government or quasi-government entity managing it. What’s key is how it’s managed, not who is managing it,” Kantrowitz said.
* 10:20 am - Well, the Google Maps program was up when I did this post, but it’s down now. And I couldn’t figure out how to get the data before they took it down. Check back.
* 10:27 am - OK, it disappeared again. It appears that we’re playing a little game of cat and mouse. I’ll just back off for a bit. Please post anything you see in comments. Go here for the announcement. Clear your cache every so often, however.
* 10:55 am - A reader was able to download the HDems’ Google Earth file before it disappeared. I’ve now posted it. Click here for the file. One big caution: We’re not 100 percent sure yet whether this is the map they’ll formally release. Speaker Madigan’s spokesman denied knowing anything about the map release time.
* According to this map (thanks to a commenter), it appears that GOP Reps. Ron Stephens and John Cavaletto are in the same district.
* From a commenter…
Here’s a strange workaround, but a way to view that Google Earth file without a download.
2) In the “Search Maps” box paste this crazy URL: “http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=211224011660062925886.0004a3b72e644ab4953c3&start=1&num=20000&ll=41.389173,-89.165039&spn=2.299578,4.224243&z=8&output=kml” and hit Search Maps
* According to the map I have, GOP Reps. Dan Brady and Keith Sommer are both in the same district.
* Again, according to the map I have, GOP Reps. Bill Mitchell and Chapin Rose are paired in the same district.
* Another non-Google Earth workaround from a commenter…
Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross says hard feelings over Democrat-led redistricting are complicating the last few weeks of the legislative session. […]
Cross says lawmakers still have big ticket items to deal with in Springfield _ from the budget to pension reforms and workers compensation changes.
He says he’d hoped lawmakers would have dealt with those big issues before the chaos of the redistricting maps began.
It’s most certainly a gigantic distraction.
* 12:01 pm - Via a commenter and double-checked with the Google Earth map I have, GOP Reps. Randy Ramey and Franco Coladipietro have been put into the same House district.
* 12:04 pm - Again, via a commenter and double-checked, the map I have puts GOP Rep. Tim Schmitz and Mike Fortner together.
* Two good points from a friend…
These guys are going to be OK. They just have to move.
Madigan and Cullerton will do much to revitalize the housing market.
* Posted in comments by Yellow Dog Democrat…
The 112th District got a nice haircut that will benefit Jay Hoffman, if he decides to run again.
Dunlap Lake, Holiday Shores, and Prairietown have been shaved off. Those were republican-leaning precincts in Kay’s base.
If Jay was only thinking about running before, he’s in now.
* 12:30 pm - I’m told (can’t say by whom) that this map we have is “99.9 percent accurate.” The district pairings we have so far are right. The only differences between this map and the “real” map are extremely minor and don’t impact things like which member is in what district. But, keep in mind, this is not a legal copy.
* 12:38 pm - Drew Veeneman at PrecinctMaps.com told us in comments that he’s created some pdf files with county and township outlines…
* For the Chicago Tribune editorial board, the world is always about to end…
[Redistricting is] a prime opportunity for political gamesmanship, and the Dems did not pass it up. If their map is approved — and there’s scant chance it won’t be — several Republicans will find themselves in diabolically reconfigured districts.
Look, this is a politically harsh map. No doubt about it. And the Democrats went overboard when they put Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno into a district with another Republican. But does that make the Democrats diabolical? For some reason, that word makes me think of this…
To accommodate Latino growth, the map would create an additional Senate district with a majority of voting-age Hispanics. The four current districts have voting-age Hispanic populations of 53 to 68 percent. The five new districts have voting-age Hispanic populations of 50.3 to almost 65 percent.
“Legal precedent shows 65 percent majority is the precedent we use in terms of ensuring a Latino community can elect a candidate of its choice,” said Isabel Anadon, of the Latino Policy Forum. She said the proposal fell far short of what a Latino coalition was seeking.
Currently, there are eight Senate districts with populations of voting-age African-Americans ranging from 56 to 67 percent. But to deal with Chicago’s population loss, the proposed map creates seven Senate districts with voting-age black populations ranging from 50.5 percent to 60 percent. In an eighth district, voting-age blacks represent 48.6 percent of the population.
You can see a comparison of how the districts changed over the past ten years by clicking here.
Republicans scoffed. They noted half a dozen or more GOP lawmakers would be placed in the same districts under the Democratic proposal, forcing them to run against one another, move or step aside.
“This proves that the way we draw maps is corrupt, political and kind of despicable, really,” said Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, whose home would not be included in the new Democratic version of his district.
Just an FYI here, legislators can run in any district that includes even a little section of the district they currently represent. They do have to move, however. Most GOP districts weren’t redrawn with big partisan changes, just residency issues…
Political analyst John Jackson said it could be worse for the GOP.
The 54th District includes counties that typically vote Republican.
The 58th, which was changed only to carve Luechtefeld out and brings Jones in, has elected a republican for the past 20 years, Jackson pointed out.
In the proposed districts “[Luechtefeld and Jones] can win and essentially are the incumbents… they’re just not the districts they’ve been representing,” he said
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, dismissed GOP objections to the lines.
“I think they should introduce amendments if they want to change it,” Cullerton said.
It’s not at all clear yet whether the Republicans will follow through with changes. Nobody would clearly - or even obliquely - answer my questions about that topic yesterday.
Luechtefeld said Thursday he thinks his district was shifted in order to have a House district where Jerry Costello II, son of U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, can run for office.
“I think Jerry Costello Jr. would like to have his dad’s job someday, and feels like he has to get into government,” Luechtefeld said.
The congressman’s spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. Jerry Costello II did not immediately return a message left with his spokeswoman.
Luechtefeld said it’s his understanding that Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, will retire, and Jerry Costello Jr. will be appointed to the 116th House District seat or will run for the seat.
“I think this is a shocker map,” state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, said.
Bomke, who was one of the few downstate Republicans who said they liked their new district, said he expected another, less dramatic map, to come out soon.
One reason for a “shocker map” could be to get some GOP votes on tough issues. It’s a lot easier for a Republican to make an uncomfortable vote and keep his or her old district than to make the easy vote and have to start again somewhere else, Mooney said.
* Roundup…
* Suburban senators get a look at new political map plan
* Senate redistricting map cuts Springfield into thirds
* Empty state Senate seats: 51st Senate District: As you can see, there are two incumbent House members (Republicans Bill Mitchell and Chapin Rose) who live in this district, but no incumbent senators. Most of this Senate territory belonged to either Republican Sen. Dale Righter of Matoon or GOP Sen. Kyle McCarter, who lives in the Metro East but whose current district stretches up to Decatur. There are also chunks of Champaign and Vermillion counties that used to belong to Sen. Mike Frerichs, a Champaign Democrat.
* Want to run for Illinois Senate? Here’s where you should go.
A legislative oversight panel does not have the authority to block individual health insurance contracts for state employees, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office determined.
The decision appears to make it more difficult for lawmakers who want to reverse state government’s controversial decision to drop two popular health maintenance organizations offered to state employees and replace them with new health plans.
The General Assembly’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability sought the opinion because it was unclear if the commission could simply vote to reject the new health contracts negotiated by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Madigan said COGFA can review the health plans, but state law “does not authorize the commission to approve or disapprove individual health benefit provider or administrator contracts.”
An opinion issued by Attorney General Lisa Madigan notes [COGFA] cannot nix individual contracts, but it could attempt to block the implementation by looking at the state’s overall system of insuring workers.
This situation has been very poorly handled. Five weeks after the announcement, more information should be available. While it’s unrealistic for state employees to believe their health benefits and costs should remain the same when no one else’s are, they need and deserve the chance to make an informed decision - with full details on how much they’re being asked to pony up, plan options, physician choices, etc., as well as more time to make a call that may impact them and their families in critical ways. With the added context of what’s occurring in Springfield between possible pension changes and budget cuts that may impact their very job security, many can be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed. A delay in implementation here is warranted until the state can get its act together.
Ultimately, what’s the harm in delaying a few months - temporarily extending the existing contract, perhaps - in order to hash this out and publicly justify the monetary and service benefits, if in fact they do exist, to taxpayers as well as employees? Take the time, think this through, demonstrate that this is the right move, restore some confidence in the state’s competence.
Health Alliance covers nearly 100,000 state workers and retirees, who would have to change providers under the proposal. Last month, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services announced it was dropping Health Alliance from the state’s list of health care providers, with an estimated savings of $1 billion over the next 10 years.
“The administration’s numbers are a bunch of bunk, quite frankly,” said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.
State Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, said the governor’s decision would cost the state more instead of saving money.
* The scheduled end of session is just days away, the remap process is cranking up to full blast, the budget isn’t finished yet and a whole host of knotty issues resist untying. People are understandably tense, including me. For whatever reason, this song appeared to help…
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale.
* I think maybe our brains need a little break before crunch time crushes us all. So, please post YouTube links in comments to songs which you think might help brighten the mood a bit. It won’t change anything, but we still might feel a little better about our situation. Thanks.
Also, try to keep the songs clean, please. We don’t want to get anybody in trouble at work. Thanks.
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.
* 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.
* 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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
* 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.
* 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.”
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.
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.
* 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
