* Last week, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s spokesman told the Associated Press that none of the three African-American congressmen from Illinois would help fund the legal defense of the new district map…
Jackson spokesman Frank Watkins said Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress were asked to donate $10,000 each to help fight the Republican legal challenge. Jackson, Davis and Rush won’t be contributing to the legal defense, he said
Democratic Congressman Danny Davis on Friday backed away from statements made by colleague Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. that he wouldn’t help defend the state’s new congressional map being challenged in court by Republicans.
Davis said he had yet to decide whether he would kick in $10,000, as Illinois’ Democratic members of Congress were asked to do, to help pay to fight the legal challenge of a map that Jackson has suggested may put politics ahead of minority rights.
“I have not reached the point of saying at this juncture that I will not participate in the defense of the map,” Davis told The Associated Press. “I’m actually in the process of deciding whether or not I’m going to participate.” He said he would decide soon.
I checked with Congressman Bobby Rush’s press aide Renee Ferguson and was told this afternoon that no final decision had been made by her boss, either.
In other words, Jackson appears to have gotten ahead of the game here.
*** UPDATE *** It appears that Congressman Gutierrez is not all that happy with Jackson, either…
Other Illinois Democrats — especially Gutierrez — are furious that he’s bringing up these concerns months after the mapmaking process. Jackson’s concerns also play into a Republican lawsuit to overturn the map.
Tension between the two Illinois Members spilled onto the House floor last week when Gutierrez angrily confronted Jackson Thursday during votes. On Friday, one Member described a palpable hostility between Jackson and Gutierrez on the floor. At one moment, Gutierrez walked toward Jackson, who immediately stood up and walked the other way.
Gutierrez didn’t want to comment on the situation with Jackson, declining to make eye contact during most of a brief interview.
“I don’t want to just shoot off at the mouth as some Congressmen do,” Gutierrez said. “I want to carefully consider, otherwise those who speak without carefully considering what they have to say, come off as buffoons, and I certainly don’t want that.”
Wow.
It’s no wonder that the other two members are backing off.
Republican leaders have challenged the new legislative map in a federal lawsuit, alleging it discriminates against minorities. They also said it discriminates against Republicans by putting the party’s incumbents together.
[State Rep. Randy Ramey, chair of the DuPage County GOP] said he does not expect the courts to make things easier for DuPage Republicans, because he doubts the suit will succeed.
“The legislative lawsuit, and you have to look at the past history, has never moved forward,” Ramey said.
Ramey adds that if that suit - now in federal court - is bumped to state court, it would face a system dominated by Democrats.
“If it goes through the Democratic courts and gets to the Democratic Supreme Court in Illinois, I don’t see how they change it,” he said.
A source who was there this morning says that Patrick Daley Thompson, the former mayor’s nephew, showed up at a Democratic Party pre-slating meeting this morning and announced that he’s running for a seat on the Water Reclamation District of Metropolitan Chicago.
At least one seat will be vacant next year because incumbent board member and President Terry O’Brien is retiring from that job, multiple party sources told me. (Mr. O’Brien in 2010 ran for president of the Cook County Board, losing to Toni Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary.)
Mr. Thompson is related to Mr. Daley through the former mayor’s sister. He gained fame a few years ago when he bought the Bridgeport bungalow in which Mr. Daley and his brothers were raised by the late Mayor Richard J. Daley and his wife, Eleanor “Sis” Daley.
Mr. Daley’s spokeswoman said she believes he is unaware of his nephew’s ambitions but would check to see if he wants to comment.
* More stuff…
* Judge denies Catholic Charities’ request for reconsideration: The state Department of Children and Family Services can begin canceling its adoption and foster care contracts with Catholic Charities, Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Schmidt ruled this afternoon. Schmidt denied Catholic Charities’ emergency request to stay his earlier ruling that the group had no right to such state contracts. Schmidt also denied Catholic Charities’ motion to reconsider that ruling. Catholic Charities will now ask the Illinois 4th District Appellate court to stay Schmidt’s ruling while it appeals it to that court, according to attorneys for Catholic Charities agencies associated with the Springfield, Peoria, Belleville and Joliet dioceses.
* Ramey pleads guilty in DUI case: DuPage County Republican chairman and state Rep. Randy Ramey pleaded guilty Monday to driving under the influence and was fined $1,750 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. The six-year state representative, elected to take the helm of the county party in late July, also was placed on one year of supervision and ordered to attend counseling and participate on a victim impact panel.
Two Republican statewide officeholders who have criticized government spending and want to consolidate it have handed out pay raises to dozens of employees during a fiscal crisis. […]
The salary increases were discovered in an analysis of payroll records by the Better Government Association, a Chicago-based nonprofit group which showed the findings to The Associated Press.
BGA Executive Director Andy Shaw pointed out that Rutherford and Topinka were elected as fiscal conservatives. “These are tough economic times, so they should realize that this is not the time to hand out pay raises to political appointees who already enjoy generous salaries and benefits,” Shaw said.
Rutherford spokeswoman Melissa Hahn took exception to the BGA’s assertion that the treasurer was rewarding appointees who might be political allies. She said 18 of 19 raises went to staffers whose tenure predated Rutherford, a former state senator, “so raises are clearly not targeting employees who the treasurer brought in when he took office.”
* Again, neither office received a budget increase this fiscal year. And according to the comptroller’s office, back when Loleta Didrickson was comptroller the office employed 450 people. It now employs 230, which is ten percent less than its currently authorized headcount.
As reported by the AP, all of the raises Comptroller Topinka gave were to non-union employees. Her union workers are in line for 4.5 percent contractual pay raises this year, so she thought it only fair to give her non-union workers a 3 percent raise. That seems like decent management. For a striking contrast, check the mood of non-union employees under Gov. Pat Quinn, who haven’t seen a raise in years. A small handful of Topinka’s employees did receive more than the 3 percent hikes.
The nine states with net tax cuts greater than 1 percent are California, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and West Virginia. The nine states with net increases of more than 1 percent are Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon and Vermont.
Indiana? Huh. I thought it was a tax haven or something.
* And check out what Connecticut did…
…extended the temporary corporate income tax surcharge for two years and doubled the rate from 10 percent to 20 percent.
…limited the transfer of film production credits
…expanded its sales tax base to a number of services including pet grooming, spa services, cosmetic surgery, motor vehicle towing, yoga classes and non-prescription medicine, among others.
…expects to generate nearly $400 million by imposing a new tax on hospital net revenue and a new resident day user fee for certain intermediate care facilities. Lawmakers also increased the cap on nursing home resident user fees.
…increased the excise tax on cigarettes by $0.40 per pack and nearly doubled the tax on other tobacco products from 27.5 percent to 50 percent.
…raised the alcoholic beverage excise tax by 20 percent to generate $10 million.
…increased the base diesel tax for a projected $8.5 million.
…established a new tax on the generation of electricity for an additional $71 million.
* Kane fears cost of new sex offender regulations: The bill would require a heightened compliance from the county system, but without funding to do the required work. It will create a drastic increase in man-hours and personnel to reach compliance, officials said, so the committee decided not to support the bill in its current form.
* Are townships still necessary?: “Township governments can serve a really vital purpose,” [Emily Miller, policy and government affairs coordinator for the Better Government Association] said. “I think there is a difference between the way townships work to serve the community in rural areas versus urban areas. A lot of the township governments, for example, in Cook County, don’t actually serve that much of a role that isn’t already being covered by some other layer of government.
* Daniels willing to bet on land-based casinos: Gov. Mitch Daniels likely would be on board should state lawmakers authorize land-based gaming in response to expected increased casino competition from Illinois. “I’m open-minded about that,” Daniels said in an interview last week with The Times. “I always thought the whole boat requirement was a little odd.”
* As a young kid, I was often sent to West Kankakee Liquors on Station Street for grownup supplies (times were different back then). The fastest way to the liquor store was through my grandma’s back yard, down the alley and in the back door, where I’d pass through a storage room. Old men would sit on cardboard cases of beer in that back room, drink, smoke and tell stories.
I loved walking through that room.
I don’t think I ever stopped to talk to anyone, and I don’t ever remember seeing Mayor Tommy Ryan there, but I wouldn’t have known who he was anyway. I was just a kid, and by then my parents no longer lived in Kankakee, so I didn’t much care who the mayor was.
But that distinct aroma of beer, cardboard boxes and cigarette smoke will be with me for the rest of my life. The same goes for my dad, who was regularly dispatched to that very same store when he was a kid.
My paternal grandfather, Laverne Miller, was a Kankakee Democrat and a devout Teamster. He was related to the liquor store’s owner, and was an occasional running buddy of Mayor Ryan’s, even though Ryan was a Republican.
I talked to Mayor Ryan about that back room years ago when his younger brother George was still governor. He remembered it well. The room had apparently become an icon in his mind for the way things used to be and should have been. Ryan shared some memories of my grandfather that I won’t go into here, but suffice it to say they liked to bust each others’ chops on occasion.
…Adding… From a commenter…
West K3 Liquor next door to Ryan’s Drug Store run by Mayor Tom and Co. Bd member, Chairman, State Rep/Speaker of the House, Sec. of State, Governor George Ryan. Suspect the liquor store and the barbershop on the other side of the drug store had favored nation status.
No tables, no bar, no stools, no bartender, no TV, no cocktails, (No Women) and, of course, No On Premise License.
Pay for your ”Little Joe” on the honor system and sit on the empty boxes of returnable bottles. Keep up with neighborhood news about Roper, A. O. Smith, General Foods, the Railroads, sports and K3 politics.
Thomas J. Ryan, the 20-year mayor of Kankakee and longtime head of the Kankakee County Republican Central Committee, died late Saturday at Provena St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee.
Ryan, 83, the older brother of former Gov. George Ryan, was known as an outstanding youth baseball player, Kankakee High School graduate, Navy veteran and a partner in the family’s pharmacy business.
Elected mayor in his first attempt at politics in 1965, Ryan joked that he was the seventh man the Republicans approached to take on incumbent Ray Nourie, a Democrat. He promised to reduce racial tensions in the city, and is credited with breaking the color barrier in city administration.
“He was ‘Mr. Republican’,” said city 7th Ward Alderman Steven Hunter. “He ruled the city with a firm hand, and he appointed Ray Benn, the first African-American to serve on the Police and Fire Commission.
As with any politician, particularly those from Kankakee, Mayor Ryan had his faults. That town was just flat-out crooked. But, today, I can only think of that back room on Station St. and about how almost everybody associated with it has either passed on or moved on.
* The Question: Do you have any old-time political stories you’d like to share?
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s sentencing next month on his sweeping corruption charges has been postponed, according to a court order Monday.
No new date has been set.
The Oct. 6 date has always been tentative, and the postponement is not surprising largely because of Blagojevich’s co-defendant, William Cellini, is scheduled to go on trial next Monday in the same courtroom.
* The Sun-Times offered up an explanation for the delay on Friday…
Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer, Sheldon Sorosky, said [Friday] afternoon that he’s “quite certain” the ex-governor’s sentencing will be delayed.
“Our sentencing date is going to be continued,” Sorosky said, when told of the news that U.S. District Judge James Zagel kept Cellini’s Oct. 3 trial date intact and asked that prosecutors have witnesses ready for Oct. 5. Blagojevich’s sentencing right now is scheduled for Oct. 6. “It’s not going to happen, I’m telling you. It would taint the Cellini jury. I’m quite certain it will be continued.”
Cellini was a onetime co-defendant of Blagojevich. In court today, Cellini lawyer Dan Webb raised questions about publicity from Blagojevich in general affecting his client and asked that potential jurors be questioned individually.
* In related news, the Tribune’s Bill Cellini profile included this bit at the end…
Others who consider Cellini a friend expressed surprise that someone with that much political acumen would ever step over that line.
Former Gov. Jim Edgar, who has known Cellini for 30 years, called him a “very smart guy” who worked hard to lobby on behalf of clients.
“He never asked me to do anything that was illegal,” the former governor said. “When I told him no, he understood and didn’t put any pressure on. I would be surprised if Bill Cellini would do something that was dishonest, and I’d be surprised because he’s pretty smart at knowing the law.”
* The Trib also has a roundup of Cellini’s history…
Cellini and the roads
Cellini’s tenure as the state’s transportation czar led to his longtime leadership of the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association, a potent source of campaign donations that last spring drew a variety of state officials to its conference in Springfield. Cellini was there, shaking hands and giving his typical greeting: “Hello, Big Guy.”
Cellini and real estate deals
In 1975, Cellini co-founded a real estate development firm that landed government leases and eventually expanded to Chicago with partnerships that included friends of prominent Democrats such as Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Cellini and the teacher pensions
By 1989, Cellini co-founded Commonwealth Realty Advisors, a firm that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in state teacher pension funds. The trial centers on Cellini’s alleged attempted extortion of the operator of another investment fund who had not made a contribution to Blagojevich’s campaign.
Cellini and the boats
But it was 1990 that brought one of Cellini’s highest-profile successes. Cellini helped pull together the bipartisan group of investors that got one of the state’s first riverboat casino licenses under a law signed by Gov. Jim Thompson.
A notice posted on the U.S. District Court’s website by Judge James Zagel says “post-trial motions are denied” and offers no explanation. It adds that a written ruling will be issued later.
Defense attorneys filed several motions, including one asking for a new trial. That 158-page motion lambasted the government and the presiding judge for an alleged lack of evenhandedness at trial
Former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers will ask a federal judge to sentence the former governor to no prison time, the ex-governor’s attorney, Shelly Sorosky said today.
Sorosky called Blagojevich a “fit candidate” for probation when his sentencing does happen. Today, U.S. District Judge James Zagel announced the Oct. 6th sentencing date would be delayed. Sorosky predicts it will happen in early November.
“He’s a fit candidate for probation. The taxpayers never lost a dime. Blagojevich never received a dime,” Sorosky said of his client who was convicted on 17 of 20 counts of corruption in June. Blagojevich was convicted of trying to extract a job or campaign contribution in exchange for appointing a replacement to President Obama’s vacant Senate seat.
“And all the talk involving campaign contributions involved regular campaign donors who were just discussing with Blagojevich how much to give or who were big campaign contributors in the past,” Sorosky argued.
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “Legislators don’t lose elections over what happens at the Statehouse, they lose because they don’t take care of business back home.”
There’s a lot of truth to that. Visible, accessible legislators with topnotch constituent services usually don’t lose elections. If you look at the roster of losing Democrats in 2010, you’ll see a bunch of incumbents who became invisible in their districts, or let things slide. That’s not a 100 percent hard and fast rule, of course. Nothing approaches universality in the political business. Some districts change, some people are elected as onetime flukes. But constituent services are all-important. Period. End of story.
In most parts of the state, however, taking care of the home front means making sure that local political and business powers are constantly stroked. And this is where members have often gone too far, particularly with the legislative scholarship program. The number of city, downstate and suburban party chairmen, precinct captains, fundraisers and other honchos who have “absolutely brilliant children totally deserving of these scholarships” has been a constant refrain. It is probably the most abused program in all of state government.
That’s not to say the scholarship program has done no good. Plenty of kids have gone to college, or medical school, or law school who never would’ve otherwise managed to do so without a legislative scholarship. Legislators often get into this business to help people, and many are deservedly proud of the real, honest good they’ve done with this program.
But recent revelations have convinced all but the most hardcore legislative adherents that this program is so rife with abuse that it must die.
How, for instance, can anyone defend Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Cicero) handing out scholarships to five unrelated students whose “official” address all happened to be the home of Sandoval’s fundraiser and an Ed Burke precinct captain?
Former Rep. Bob Molaro (D-Chicago) also has been questioned about scholarships awarded to all four children of a campaign worker who doesn’t live in the district.
The Illinois State Board of Education forwarded the Sandoval case to the FBI, as well as one involving Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago), who gave a scholarship to the daughter of a legislative aide who didn’t’ appear to live in his district. The feds were already investigating the Molaro scholarship when the Board of Education referrals arrived.
ChicagoTalks.org took a look at legislative scholarships last summer and found that about a third of sitting state legislators had awarded scholarships to kids outside their districts. Some of those scholarships can easily be explained away because parents moved, or kids just went to school in the legislative district, or other honest mistakes were made. Some of the questioned scholarships also appear to have been totally legal. The Board of Elections’ online legislator locating system apparently isn’t 100 percent accurate.
Whatever the case, it’s against the law to award one of these scholarships to a student who doesn’t live in a legislator’s district, and it has been for a very long time. If the feds really wanted to, they could conceivably indict a large number of legislators for mail fraud. A very big chunk of the General Assembly might be wiped out on this residency issue (including, possibly, even some leaders). And it goes without saying that it’s totally indefensible to hand out scholarships to the progeny of party functionaries, brilliant or (far more likely) not.
If the General Assembly cannot find a way to once and for all reform this program, then legislators must end it. And, frankly, I’m not sure how the scholarship program can be reformed, since way too many legislators have resisted, circumvented or blatantly ignored past reforms.
If they want a district-based program for truly needy and deserving students, then they should set one up with real oversight and regulations. Otherwise, this must end, or the feds will do the job on their own and a whole lot of legislators might wind up in prison.
The Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation released its analysis of the enacted FY2012 State budget today. The report found that the spending plan will increase Illinois’ total general operating deficit to $5.0 billion by June 2012. The shortfall would be even larger if the State had not significantly underfunded Medicaid costs and business tax refunds.
The $5.0 billion projected year-end General Funds deficit includes an accumulated deficit from prior years of $4.6 billion and a FY2012 operating gap between revenues and expenditures of $454 million. However, FY2012 Medicaid costs are underfunded by as much as $1.7 billion. A loophole in the State’s budgetary law allows lawmakers to pay FY2012 Medicaid expenses in FY2013, effectively pushing current year expenditures off into the next fiscal year. The FY2012 budget also does not set aside enough income tax revenue to pay down a backlog of refunds the State owes to businesses, thus boosting the amount of revenue Illinois can spend on its operations.
The State is expected to end FY2012 with $5.5 billion in unpaid bills to vendors and local governments. An additional multi-billion payment backlog exists that is related to business tax refunds, employee and retiree health care and Medicaid. “While the budget process was somewhat improved this year, the Civic Federation cannot say the State of Illinois is better off,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation. “By the end of FY2012, the State will have a payment backlog that could require over eight billion dollars in State money to pay off. The State’s finances have not been fixed.”
* It has taken Illinois over a decade to dig itself into this massive budget hole. So, of course, “The State’s finances have not been fixed.” This is a multi-year process to dig ourselves out with a combination of revenue increases and spending cuts. Fiscal year 2012 was just the first step.
* This graphic from the Civic Committee’s own report shows how tough the task is…
The state’s operating deficit is way down, and the state’s end of year balance was cut substantially. But because the state borrowed $5.4 billion last fiscal year (pensions, interfund and tobacco), our bottom line isn’t immediately better. Even so, we’re in far better shape because we didn’t use our “credit card” to pay operating expenses this fiscal year. All told, the state borrowed a whopping $12.1 billion to pay operating expenses between FY09 and FY11.
So, what the state did this year is a start, and not a horrible one, despite the gloom and doom from the headline writers. We’ve had a much better start than New Jersey, for instance, which is relying solely on cuts and apparently still has a $10.5 billion operating deficit. That’s double our operating deficit, both as a hard dollar figure and as a percentage of total budget.
* We’re not out of the woods yet, of course. Pension payments and related debt service jumped $562 million this fiscal year, and those payments will rise another $1.5 billion by Fiscal Year 2015 - the same year the income tax hike is scheduled to expire. The General Assembly took the easy way out and simply delayed Medicaid payments rather than cut provider rates (the payment delay was supported by hospitals and others who wanted to forestall any rate cuts). The governor and many legislators haven’t yet appeared to recognize the full extent of the problem (see below). And while the state has pared down the amount of income tax refunds owed to corporations by about $51 million this year, that backlog is still around $600 million.
* Related…
* New IDOT positions duplicate current state jobs: In the midst of the worst budget crisis in Illinois history, the state’s transportation agency has created a new layer of high-paying administrative jobs with duties that are already performed by current workers, according to records obtained by the Post-Dispatch. The 16 new positions offer top salaries of more than $100,000. They were posted in August, less than a month after the current workers officially joined a union over the objections of the agency.
* AG Madigan: Tax fraud among gas station operators is ‘pervasive’: More than one-fourth of Illinois gas station operators have underreported the amount of fuel they sell to the public, allowing them to pocket millions of dollars in sales tax owed to the state. Within the last 18 months, grand juries have indicted 14 Illinois gas station operators on charges of illegally withholding a portion of the sales taxes their customers paid at the pump.
* Rural enrollment decline leveling off: The unsettling trend of declining enrollment in many rural school districts seems to have stabilized this fall in several Central Illinois districts — a development educators hope continues for several reasons, not the least of which is money. More students generally mean more general state aid that is paid per student, and is based on a district’s average daily attendance.
* Support for M’Boro Youth Camp mounting: “Murphysboro Mayor Ron Williams, State Representative Mike Bost, State Representative Brandon Phelps, and State Senator Dave Luechtefeld have all come out in support of keeping this facility open, and these jobs in Murphysboro,” he said.
* Closing JDC would cost Morgan County $47 million, report finds
* The Chicago Tribune editorial board calls for a “Truth Commission” in the wake of the Tribune’s recent disclosures about how some Chicago labor leaders are able to collect city pensions based on their union salaries…
At every turn, we the people are learning about insider deals and, yes, corruption. We realize that suggesting formation of an investigative panel risks a customary Illinois fate: Public officials here love to bury their problems in committees. But a group headed by, say, a former federal judge or prosecutor could unearth the many special deals that suffuse Illinois pension laws. A model here might be the so-called CLEAR Commission, which has been streamlining and updating the state’s criminal code. Its distinguished members have done good work while largely avoiding politics.
A Truth Commission, then, could cast light on these rampant abuses by pols and union leaders of rank-and-file workers and Illinois taxpayers. Then the rest of us taxpayers can apply whatever heat is necessary to enact significant reforms.
That’s not a bad idea. The General Assembly should go through pensions laws to weed out these egregious deals.
* And perhaps the Tribune or the proposed commission should start with a Sun-Times article published almost exactly two years ago which dug even deeper into Illinois’ past. The Sun-Times disclosed much of what the Tribune has been trumpeting for the past week as a major scoop. But it didn’t focus exclusively on union leaders, as the Tribune has. The Sun-Times actually went back to the beginning of the problem in 1957…
A Chicago Sun-Times examination of the state’s 17 largest government retirement plans found more than five dozen retired government workers whose pensions are based not on their public salaries but, instead, on what they were paid by labor unions, lobbying groups and other non-governmental organizations.
The practice goes back to at least 1957, when Illinois legislators passed a law allowing employees of the Illinois Municipal League — a non-governmental agency that lobbies Illinois lawmakers on behalf of suburbs and cities — to be part of the state’s generous pension plan. Other laws expanded the practice. […]
* Kenneth Alderson gets a state pension of $175,479 based on his pay as executive director of the Illinois Municipal League. Alderson, a onetime state employee, spent 36 years with the lobby group. Before he retired in January 2008, the league gave Alderson several raises that helped him get one of the biggest pensions from the Illinois Municipal Retirement League, the state pension plan for local governments.
Alderson contributed $148,678 toward his state pension — he has already recovered all of the money he invested — while the Illinois Municipal League contributed $1.7 million toward his pension, according to Louis Kosiba, the retirement plan’s executive director. While Alderson gets to benefit from being in a government pension plan, his pension won’t cost taxpayers any money, Kosiba said.
Alderson’s retirement plan appears to be far different than the one given to the labor leaders in that it’s actually funded. But that 1957 law opened the door to pensions for people who don’t actually work for government. It’s important to see how this began.
Indeed, the Sun-Times did a whole series of stories, including editorials, on this topic two years ago, including a bunch of stories on these labor pensions. And now the Tribune is claiming the story as its own. Typical.
In Springfield, House Republican Leader Tom Cross plans to push for a repeal of the 1991 law that allowed this particular abuse. Cross also says he will explore strengthening enforcement of provisions against fraudulently claiming eligibility for public pensions.
If Leader Cross is serious about real pension reform, he’ll combine that bill with his pension reform proposal…
Msall is calling on lawmakers to rein in pension costs by limiting benefits for current employees. It’s an effort led by House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego that has been met with skepticism from some leading Democrats, including Quinn. […]
“We cannot afford not to do pension reform,” Cross spokeswoman Sara Wojcicki Jimenez said.
Cross’ plan would ensure that employees keep the benefits they’ve earned to date, but give them three choices: stay in the current system and pay more, move to a lower-benefit tier that went into effect this year for new hires or enter into a 401(k)-style system.
Attach the labor union reform to a big pension overhaul, and a whole lot of his recalcitrant Republican members will be put seriously on the spot. If they vote against the bill, they can be whacked for supporting this pension abuse.
* The Statehouse press room is no more. The room is being eliminated to make way for a new stairwell so the capitol building can be brought up to modern fire codes. For the next year or so, the media will be stationed at the Stratton Building. Supposedly, we’ll be back at the Statehouse when the construction ends, but some have their doubts.
I never really got too attached to the press room because I work out of my house when the Legislature isn’t in session. And when the GA is in session, I’m usually out and about around the capitol complex. But, I will miss that ratty, old place. I had a pretty sweet office, too. It used to belong to United Press International, back when they were a big deal in Illinois. The UPI staff dwindled down to one, so I moved in with Greg Tejeda. UPI eventually closed up shop and the Daily Herald moved out of its tiny closet-sized space and in with me. I’ll share space with a Downstate TV station and BlueRoomStream.com at the new digs across the way.
Anyway, Chris Wills at the AP has posted a few pics of the press room’s finale. Check ‘em out.
* I’ve been listening to a lot of Joe Walsh tunes in my spare time this week, forobviousreasons. And I don’t think there’s a greater beginning to any rock song than this one…
* Springfield state Senate Democratic candidate Bill Clutter has already come up with three different ideas for a constitutional amendment. He eventually discovered that all three wouldn’t pass muster, so he dumped them. Here is part of Clutter’s fourth draft…
One Senator and two Representatives shall be elected from each Legislative District for a term of two years. […]
Each political party shall nominate in a primary election no more than 2 legislative candidates selected by electors of the same political party. Cumulative voting will determine the election of Senator as the person who receives the most votes in the General Election, with the 2 Representatives being determined by the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. General electors may vote for no more than three candidates.
That’s quite the Rube Goldberg contraption, Billy. How are you gonna explain that process to people? And how does it make things better? His explanation…
This petition restores the system of cumulative voting that made Illinois government unique; […]
Cumulative voting existed in Illinois since 1870, but was repealed with the 1980 cutback amendment which reduced the number of legislators by a third. The Chicago Tribune in 1995 ran an editorial calling for the return of cumulative voting stating, “Many partisans and political independents have looked back wistfully at the era of cumulative voting. They acknowledge that it has produced some of the best and the brightest in Illinois politics”.
Sorry, but this concept is far different from the way things were done before. I’d like to go back to cumulative voting as well. But this is just too far out for me.
* The I-Team ran a report last night about out-of-state materials being used in the work on the Illinois Statehouse…
But the I-Team has found that some of the sole-source suppliers working on the Illinois Capitol are not even from Illinois.
Yes, because failing to use the lowest bidder wouldn’t prompt just the exact opposite story. I can see the headline now: “Bids denied, Statehouse costs higher than they should be.”
Look, I’d like all the contractors, workers and materials on this project to be from Illinois. Same goes for our road and bridge projects. But there are laws against that sort of thing, and for good reason.
* Anybody can sue anybody for anything in this world, but thankfully justice is usually served…
A lawsuit against the blog news source Illinois Review was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly for a blog post that the Illinois Review wrote over two years ago. Illinois Review is represented by the Thomas More Society in Chicago.
The Illinois Review’s blog post included documents showing that former Illinois State Rep. Paul Froehlich sought campaign contributions from individuals who won property tax relief with his assistance. After that story ran, the Cook County Board of Review reversed the tax breaks, and Satkar sued Illinois Review for defamation.
In the decision, Judge Kennelly said that Satkar “failed to show that the [Illinois Citizen Participation Act] is unconstitutional or inapplicable to Satkar’s claims against the Illinois Review …. Satkar brought these claims in response to these defendants’ acts in furtherance of their right of free speech ….”
We are pleased that the Court recognized that Illinois Review, by bringing to light a story of great public interest, did nothing wrong and that this lawsuit was meritless and frivolous,” said Peter Breen, Executive Director & Legal Counsel of the Thomas More Society, who is representing the Illinois Review.
Democrats in the 10th congressional district are dubious of a recent award given to U.S. Rep. Bob Dold (R-10) by environmentalists. Earlier this week, Dold was named as one of “America’s Great Outdoors Congressional Champions” by a coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society.
“I am honored to receive this award,” said Dold. “As a Scout master, protecting the environment has always been a priority of mine. Our national treasures, like the Great Lakes, are threatened by pollution and lack of conservation efforts. It is important for Congress to be stewards of the environment and protect our resources for generations to come.”
But some of Dold constituents don’t find him to be that green. The Wheeling Township Democratic Organization finds Dold’s record in Washington to be “far less than stellar when it comes to protecting Americans and our environment from pollution and toxic waste,” according to a press release.
…Adding… Yes, Congressman Walsh, we’re protecting President Obama because he’s black. Right. Go with that…
“This guy pushed every one of the media’s buttons,” Walsh said. “He was liberal, he was different, he was new, he was black. Oh my God, it was the potpourri of everything. They are so vested in our first black president not being a failure that it’s going to be amazing to watch the lengths they go to protect him. [The media], I believe, will spout this racist line if some of their colleagues up here aren’t doing it aggressively enough. There is going to be a real desperation.”
*** UPDATE *** This has to rank right up there with among the very worst of very bad ideas…
A Cook County Forest Preserve “resident watchman” whose duties include stopping people from growing or smoking pot in the woods has been arrested — accused of growing pot in the woods.
The carefully cultivated cannabis was found growing near the forest preserve-owned house where Cynthia Wojtanowski, 45, lives at Tampier South Woods forest preserve at 135th and Wolf Road in southwest suburban Orland Park.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Other stuff that happened today…
* Blagojevich lawyer “quite certain” ex-gov’s sentencing will be delayed: Zagel did not rule on the government’s request to bar the defense from poking into the racy past of top witness Stuart Levine. Webb said he needed time to respond to a couple of petitions put forth by the government.
* Bachmann cancels Illinois rally: Indications are that one part of the Bachmann campaign was unaware that the other part had schueduled the candidate to be in Illinois on Monday.
If Gov. Pat Quinn signs the gambling expansion bill — a big “if” given the myriad of objections expressed by the governor to date — the Illinois State Fairgrounds would join at least two other state fairgrounds nationwide in having slot machines.
The fairgrounds in New Mexico and Delaware have full-fledged casinos at the racetracks on their facilities. The casinos provide revenue streams that help those state fairs to be mostly self-sustaining, instead of depending upon millions of taxpayer dollars, as the Illinois State Fair does.
Quinn has said that he worries the 366-acre state fairgrounds in Springfield will become less family friendly if gambling on slot machines is permitted for most of the year, as Senate Bill 744 would allow. […]
But William DiMondi, general manager for the Delaware State Fair, said the casino there has not been a detriment to family fun in Delaware.
“We heard the same arguments that it would be the ruination of the fair, on the basis of mom and apple pie, but in all candidness, the fact that we had gaming (horseracing) — and in our case have had gaming since the late ’30s — kind of diffused a little bit of the entry of expanded gaming,” DiMondi said. […]
“We barely had barns that were held together by paint, let alone nails and decent wood,” DiMondi said. “We’ve spent in excess of $100 million on our grounds. The fair and its fairgoers, and in particular our livestock exhibitors, have been huge beneficiaries. … It has enabled us to replace all of our barns with state-of-the-art, multi-use facilities. The money is reinvested right back here in the community.”
Half the revenues from state fair slots would go to the fairgrounds’ infrastructure improvement fund. The other half would go to county fairs, Future Farmers of America and 4-H programs.
* The Question: Do you support slot machines at the Illinois State Fairgrounds? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
* Catholic Charities’ lawsuit against the state over the cancellation of its contracts is about more than whether the group should be able to provide foster and adoption care services solely to married couples, it’s also at least somewhat about money…
Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfield will lose half of its revenue if the state cancels its foster care and adoption contracts with the agency.
That’s just one of the consequences outlined by executive director Steven Roach in court documents filed by Catholic Charities agencies associated with the Springfield, Peoria, Belleville and Joliet dioceses. […]
In the documents, Roach said he asked his staff to prepare an accounting of the financial impact to the agencies if the contracts are terminated. They determined it would eliminate about $5 million of Catholic Charities’ projected $10 million in revenue for the 2012 budget year.
“Financially, for Catholic Charities in Springfield, it would be devastating,” Roach said in an interview Monday. “We believe Catholic Charities would be able to survive it, but our presence would be greatly diminished in a number of communities.”
There’s no doubt that Catholic Charities has done plenty of profoundly good works in this state for a century. The group pushed the state into starting foster and adoption services decades ago.
So, it’s heartbreaking that such a great organization can’t seem to reconcile itself with state law, and vice versa. I generally prefer compromise on stuff like this, but that would mean both sides will need to give in more. The state is under no obligation to follow any religion’s canons. It has laws, and its vendors have to follow them. Catholic Charities is a vendor. If it wants its state contracts, it needs to either change state law (which it failed to do this year) or find a way to give in a bit. If it did, the state might start moving as well. This very thing just happened with the hospitals…
Gov. Pat Quinn extended an olive branch to nonprofit hospitals Thursday, saying the state would temporarily hold off on further decisions about their exemptions from property taxes. […]
“It’s a temporary detente,” said Brie Callahan, a spokeswoman for the governor. “If the talks aren’t going anywhere … then the Department of Revenue will have to do what is required by law and the Constitution.”
Of course, religious principles are in a totally different world than politics. The Pope said as much today when he said religions can’t “think through or negotiate” faith. But if you get into politics (as a vendor), you have to realize that you’re in a different game as well.
* It probably also doesn’t help Catholic Charities’ cause when its lawyer gleefully participates in a weird newspaper column about a completely meaningless Muslim-American advisory commission…
And like the Quinn administration, maybe we shouldn’t be concerned that anyone on the advisory council will encourage consideration of Shariah while recommending strategies to better integrate Muslims in Illinois socially, educationally, culturally and economically.
Another question: Why, besides one advisory group addressing Holocaust issues, is the Muslim-American Advisory Council the only religion-affiliated advisory committee listed among Quinn’s appointed boards? There’s no evangelical, Hindu, Protestant or Catholic advisory group that we could find.
At least one Catholic would like to know the answer to that question. After all, Catholic Charities has been cut off from serving foster and adoptive families because its religious doctrine conflicts with the state.
“Your guess is as good as mine on that one,” Catholic Charities’ attorney Peter Breen said. “Let us know if you find out why Catholics aren’t as welcomed.”.
I never thought I’d see the day when Catholics would claim to be not “welcomed” in Illinois because they don’t have their own little toothless advisory commission.
Passage and enactment of the state’s new civil unions law has prompted Illinois’ bishops to create a Defense of Marriage department within the Catholic Conference of Illinois.
CCI’s Director of Government Relations Zach Wichmann said the new department reflects the bishops’ intention to keep the Church in the public square and in line with the Catholic faith’s mission. The Defense of Marriage department will advocate marriage as the proper home for human sexuality, as it serves as an expression of love and cooperation in God’s creative design.
Wichmann acknowledged the new department will be fighting an uphill battle against current societal trends.
“The teachings of the Church are not overwhelmingly popular everywhere, nor are they always easily explained,” Wichmann said. “But our message will be proclaimed for the sake of stronger families, secure children and an enriched spiritual life.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Catholic Charities…
Emergency Court Hearing for Illinois Catholic Charities Foster Care Battle , Monday, September 26 at 12:30 pm
Due to the newly-expressed intent of the Department for Children and Family Services to press forward with transitioning the cases of the children under Catholic Charities care prior to the October 5 court hearing on reconsideration, Judge John Schmidt has allowed plaintiffs an emergency hearing before him this Monday, September 26, at 12:30 p.m. in Illinois’ Sangamon County Court in Springfield.
Catholic Charities will ask Judge Schmidt to reinstate his preliminary injunction until he has time to rule on a motion to reconsider his August 18 order and, if necessary, for an appeal of his order to the Illinois Appellate Court. That order denied the Charities’ request to prevent the Department of Children and Family Services from barring Catholic Charities from foster care and adoption contracts because of the Catholic Church’s religious beliefs against same-sex and opposite-sex civil unions.
The Thomas More Society, which represents the Catholic Charities of the Springfield, Peoria, Joliet, and Belleville dioceses, is seeking the stay to stop the effect of the August 18 ruling, so as to allow the Charities to maintain their services during the pendency of any appeals.
* David Axelrod held a fundraiser yesterday for 8th Congressional District Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth and had this to say about her primary opponent Raja Krishnamoorthi…
“I like Raja a lot — he’s a friend of mine,” Axelrod said. “I have told him I don’t think it’s the right decision for him. I think he’s made a mistake by getting into this race but sometimes you have to make your mistakes and learn from your mistakes. Unfortunately it’s going to be an expensive lesson … I think a lot of resources are going to be squandered unnecessarily.”
* The Krishnamoorthi campaign’s response…
Raja was the first candidate in this race, raised over $400,000 last quarter, and worked hard to get the backing of numerous local leaders. Despite recent efforts from the Duckworth campaign, our local backing has not eroded, and our list of supporters has grown. Supporters like Toni Preckwinkle and Danny Davis have seen the dynamics of this race and they doubled-down on their support by fundraising for Raja.
It is a mistake for party elders in DC to try to impose their will upon the voters of the 8th district. This race will be decided by the voters of the 8th district who want real solutions and ideas for job creation and middle-class prosperity. Raja got in this race to give the voters of his district that option, and that fact has not changed. Raja is the only candidate in this race with real economic experience and thorough ideas on how to produce jobs for the middle class and restore prosperity to American economy.
The Raja folks do have a point. Raja was in the race months before Duckworth, so how was jumping in first a “mistake”? And, as far as resources go, they’re getting a whole lot of contributions from South Asian folks who aren’t normally on everybody’s fundraising list. Krishnamoorthi is definitely the underdog here, but it’s a free country. And I’m not sure the high-end Duckworth backers are gonna look all that great if they fail to force Raja out of the race. I’m told they’re calling Krishnamoorthi’s list and attempting to convince contributors to bolt. We’ll see how far they get. So far, however, it ain’t working.
All the speakers speculated that Walsh abandoned the district rather than face Duckworth.
“Joe is so tired of his own act that when he heard Tammy was going to run in the 8th, as you saw just yesterday — obviously I worked up this speech a week ago — Joe cut out on us,” Brandt said. “Joe, where did you go? Joe went someplace else because he knows he can’t beat Tammy.”
Axelrod echoed that.
“Joe Walsh has spent the last year and a half essentially auditioning for right-wing talk radio instead of meeting his responsibilities for the people … of his district,” Axelrod said. “I think part of the reason he left is he recognized who Tammy Duckworth is. She is an authentic American hero.”
But the truth is more of Walsh’s current district — including his McHenry home — was thrown into the new 14th rather than into the new 8th, which is designed for a Democrat to win, so Walsh may well have opted for the 14th whether or not Duckworth ran.
Walsh wasn’t ever gonna run in the 8th. The 14th is far more Republican and way more to his liking. Running in the 8th meant he’d have to either move to the center or perish. Running in the 14th means he can stay right where he is, geographically and politically.
* Krishnamoorthi’s spokesman, by the way, is Mike Murray. Many of you will remember Mike as a former Capitol Fax intern. I’ve found it a bit difficult, but still interesting dealing with Mike in his new job. Mike understands I won’t show any favoritism here, but I thought you should know about this going forward.
My first intern, Paul Richardson, just graduated from law school and founded LawBlogWriters.com. It’s a pretty cool business idea. My second intern, Kevin Fanning, is in law school and works for Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski. Barton Lorimor, who was my intern last year, is now at the comptroller’s office.
…Adding… I lost track recently of my other intern from last year, Dan Weber. I sent him an e-mail earlier today and he just replied. Dan is teaching English in Mexico. He said he’s having a lot of fun.
* Meanwhile, Duckworth is training for a marathon. Check out the video…
* Zhejiang, State of Illinois sign agreement to form school partnerships
* Chinese ambassador’s top priority: U.S. jobs: We know U.S. exports to China, in the decade 2000-2010, soared 468 percent to $91.9 billion, according to the U.S.-China Business Council. China is the third largest market for American goods and services, well behind Canada ($248.2 billion) and Mexico ($163.3 billion). But considering that the other two are contiguous to the U.S. and share a trade agreement, it’s not surprising that they would be the two largest trade partners. But, their growth rates were in the low double digits for the same decade.
* Xiamen C&D to buy 250,000 tons of Illinois corn products for $US70m
* My Sun-Times column is not intended to be a “be-all, end-all” analysis of what’s gone wrong so far, but rather a look at one particular angle. Try to keep that in mind when reading…
It’s generally considered a rule of thumb that politicians with mainly legislative backgrounds do not make particularly effective chief executives. The two worlds, and their required mind-sets, are vastly different.
And, for the most part, our state’s better governors and our country’s most effective presidents for the past 100 years or so have had executive experience before moving to the top of the ladder. I spend a lot of time thinking and writing about legislatures, and I’ve been thinking lately that many of President Barack Obama’s bungles can be traced right to this issue.
Obama never really ran anything before being elected. But, more importantly, he also learned over the years to think like a legislator. Judging from afar, I don’t believe he has truly changed his mind-set.
Obama scored his biggest win in the Illinois Senate by working with Republicans to pass an ethics reform bill. It wasn’t easy. Republican Senate President Pate Philip was no reformer and was also exceedingly hostile to the minority party and minorities in general. But Obama helped fashion a compromise that could pass muster with the Republicans. It wasn’t a great bill, but it was something, and something was judged as far better than nothing. Since then, two governors have been convicted of corruption, but Obama got his bill passed, so, whatever.
When he arrived in the U.S. Senate, Obama found himself again in the minority party. One of the first things he did was attach himself to Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican. He reveled in working with the other side.
Obama firmly believed his success at working with Republicans would help him be a better president. Heck, I thought the same thing during his campaign. So far, we’ve both been wrong.
After he was elected president, Obama was no longer a member of a large, mostly collegial group. Many of the same people who once gladly worked with him immediately vowed to block his every move.
Instead of realizing that the game had completely changed, Obama continued to approach Congress as if he were still a member of their club.
We all know what has happened since then. One grand plan after another was either watered down into ineffectiveness or, in the case of health-care reform, absolute confusion, or just defeated outright.
The idea always seemed to be to pass a big, sweeping, bipartisan bill, not to truly solve the problem at hand. This is a peculiarly legislative approach to life and it’s why we need a strong, involved executive to make sure things actually get done right.
Legislators regularly score points with the folks back home by talking about all the bills they’ve voted for or against, regardless of whether their vote really mattered. Sprinkle a local project here and a local project there and they’re deemed successful.
Presidents are judged on an entirely different level. Not only do they have to pass big legislation, but that big legislation has to work in the real world.
So, Obama can talk about his stimulus bill until he’s blue in the face, but the hard truth is it didn’t perform as advertised.
He can pat himself on the back for health-care reform, but nobody understands it and it’s not running yet.
And he can blame the Republicans for bringing us to the brink of default, but the president will always wear the jacket. He cannot hide within that faceless group of congressmen. He belongs to a club of one.
Legislators pass bills in order to check them off their lists. Executives have to make sure those bills actually perform as promised. Obama has never really done that, and he’s paying the price now.
I’d add to this only that one of his appealing qualities to voters — a high-mindedness rooted in an academic’s belief that if people of good will with opposing viewpoints reason together they can move beyond partisanship to find common ground and effective compromise — seems to have been one of his biggest weaknesses.
Many voters respond to such a message and claim this is the kind of leadership they’d like to see in Washington — it was Obama’s trump card over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary contest, where she was seen as a divisive relic of the past. But in the end what they really want — and, arguably, what they need given the unbridgeable ideological differences — is a fighter.
Obama has now more than taken the measure of his Republican foes and is at last striking a much more pugnacious tone. We know you can take the President out of the legislature. Now we’ll see if you can take the legislature out of the President.
Agreed.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Meanwhile, the media went a bit nuts this week when it was disclosed that Rahm Emanuel would be speaking at a bit Iowa Democratic dinner on behalf of the president. It was openly discussed whether he was positioning himself for a presidential bid himself. Nope…
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he is not interested in running for president.
Emanuel’s decision to give a speech Nov. 19 at the biggest Democratic fundraiser before the Iowa Caucuses is fueling speculation he may be laying the groundwork for a run for the presidency in 2016.
Emanuel tried to put that speculation to rest yesterday with a little prompting, saying “no, never. Not interested.”
“I’ve done two trips already at the request of the . . . president’s re-election campaign. They’ve asked me to be a surrogate. I’ll do it. [But] I’m not interested [in running for president]. I love this job. I love the people of the city of Chicago. I love working on behalf of the taxpayers. Not interested.”
Not even in 2016?
“[Not] even if you did that dance step you just did,” the mayor told an overzealous TV reporter. “I’m NOT” interested.
