Madigan’s a brilliant political strategist and an iron-fisted leader, but it’s hard to admire any of that considering the state of the state. We think — we hope — he’s finally ready to put that muscle behind some painful but necessary fixes.
Democrats often put up phantom opponents to dilute any anti-Madigan vote. This time he has a real opponent: 25-year-old Michele Piszczor, who speaks bluntly about corruption in Illinois.
We’re tempted … she has a lot of gumption … but we don’t think she’s ready yet for the job. So we offer no endorsement.
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* Rep. Greg Harris posted a list of just about every possible Medicaid cut on his Facebook page the other day. What I’ve done here is taken the most expensive “optional” Medicaid program and am asking which of these you would eliminate.
Remember, Medicaid must be trimmed by $2.7 billion. Optional services total about $2 billion. The items below total about $1.8 billion. Keep in mind these are services offered to real live human beings that we’re talking about here. Also, after you make your cuts (as many as you want), explain your reasoning in comments. The option to send nursing home residents to supported living facilities is a savings, not a cut, obviously. But keep that in mind when voting on the supported living facilities line. Thanks.
* We talked the other day about a bill to require physicians to offer ultrasound tests to women who are seeking abortions.
Well, the legislation has attracted some hostile, mocking amendments. For instance, Amendment 1, which has since been tabled, would’ve changed the title from the “Ultrasound Opportunity Act” to the “Ultrasound and Erectile Dysfunction Information Opportunity Act“…
Consent to a prescription for medications for erectile dysfunction is voluntary and informed if and only if prior to prescribing medications for erectile dysfunction the physician who is to prescribe medications for erectile dysfunction has, in person, orally and in writing informed the man of all of the following:
(1) The particular medical risks, if any, associated with the condition of erectile dysfunction.
(2) The medical risks associated with the particular medication that would be prescribed, including, but not limited to, the medical risks of heart problems, stroke, hearing loss, vision loss, and priapism.
(3) That erectile dysfunction medication may be dangerous if the man has:
(A) heart problems, including heart pain (angina), heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), or a recent heart attack;
(B) high or low blood pressure (hypertension or hypotension) that isn’t controlled;
(C) a history of stroke;
(D) eye problems such as retinitis pigmentosa or blood relatives with certain eye problems; or
(E) sickle cell anemia, leukemia, or a health problem that can cause priaprism.
(4) The details of the medical or surgical method that would be used to treat priapism, stroke, cardiac arrest, vision loss, and hearing loss, including the offer to view a medically accurate video depicting treatment of priapism.
* Amendment 3, introduced by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, substitues “person” for the original language’s “woman” and “medical procedure” for “abortion” and considerably broadens the scope…
Section 15. Offer of ultrasound required.
(a) At any facility where medical procedures are performed, the physician who is to perform the medical procedure, the referring physician, or another qualified person working in conjunction with either physician shall offer any person seeking medical care, including, but not limited to, cardiac, renal, liver, gallbladder, vascular, abdominal, obstetric, gynecological, muscle, ligament, tendon, eye, testicle, salivary gland, lymph node, breast, liver, kidney, and joint diagnosis or treatment, an opportunity to receive and view an ultrasound by someone qualified to perform ultrasounds at the facility, or at a facility listed in a listing of local ultrasound providers provided by the facility, at least one hour prior to the person having any part of a medical procedure performed, and prior to the administration of any anesthesia or medication in preparation for the medical procedure.
A group or individual policy of accident and health insurance or managed care plan amended, delivered, issued, or renewed after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly that does not provide coverage for contraception may not provide coverage for erectile dysfunction medication.
This isn’t the first time that an ultrasound bill has picked up hostile amendments, but I’m pretty sure there are more of them this year.
* Senate panel advances proposed strip club tax: A proposal to start charging an entrance tax on Illinois strip clubs limped out of a Senate committee Tuesday. Although the measure is now positioned for a vote in the full Senate, senators raised concerns that it unfairly relies on downstate strip club patrons to generate revenue for rape crisis centers in Chicago.
* Vote delayed on RN staffing levels for nursing homes
* Yellow lights a second longer?: State Sen. Dan Duffy’s longtime crusade against red light cameras took a baby step forward this evening when a Senate committee advanced his plan to extend the duration of a yellow light by one second at any intersection with a red-light camera. What’s an extra second get you? Duffy said studies from other states show that a longer yellow light means fewer accidents at an intersection. And it might mean fewer tickets for drivers, giving them a little extra time to get through an intersection. Even though the Senate committee voted to send it to the full Senate, Duffy’s plan has to change before it moves forward. Because of various concerns from lawmakers on the panel, they asked the Lake Barrington Republican to agree not to proceed further until he hears out their ideas and considers changes.
* House committee OKs fees for state parks: House Bill 5789, sponsored by Rep. JoAnn Osmond, R-Antioch, leaves it up to DNR to decide what the fees should be. The department supported the legislation, noting that it faces a 13.5 percent budget cut under Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget.
* Kadner: Riley opposes shifting pension costs to schools
* Mitchell would reduce taxes for ‘S’ corporations
* Lawmakers across US file “Caylee’s Law” legislation: In Illinois, Senator Ira Silverstein filed Senate Bill 2537 in November; it was assigned to the Criminal Law Committee in January. Silverstein’s legislation creates three Class 3 felony offenses in cases where a parent or guardian fails to notify law enforcement of a child’s disappearance in a timely manner, learns of but does not report a minor child’s death or refuses to provide medical information or disturbs evidence related to the death, or provides false or misleading information to authorities during an investigation of a missing child.
* As subscribers were told several weeks ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to use his handgun registration bill in the negotiations over concealed carry legislation. A bill passed a House committee recently which imposed a $20 per handgun registration fee (the originally proposed $65 fee was lowered by an amendment). But it doesn’t sound like southern Illinois Democrats are in any mood to negotiate. From a Senate Democratic press release…
“I’m spitting mad,” [Sen. Gary Forby] said. “These Chicago politicians are trying to take our guns out of our hands. They’re trying to take money from Southern Illinois to pay for their own programs. It is our Constitutional right to own guns. The mayor of Chicago and his cronies may not respect the Constitution of the United States, but we do.”
“Registering guns and charging excessive fees is just another step toward taking all of our guns away,” [Rep. John Bradley] said. “Taking guns away from law-abiding Southern Illinois hunters isn’t going to solve Chicago’s violence problems. They’re not the ones murdering people on the mayor’s streets.”
“I can’t believe these Chicago politicians think we’re just going to roll over and let them push their ridiculous laws on Southern Illinois,” [Rep. Brandon Phelps] said. “It’s time for them to face the facts and realize that guns don’t kill people. People kill people, and criminals are not the ones who are going to register their weapons. Only law-abiding citizens like the people in Southern Illinois will end up paying these Chicago gun taxes.”
All three Southern Illinois Democrats are strong advocates of allowing Illinoisans to carry concealed weapons.
“I think the time has come for conceal carry in Illinois,” Bradley added.
“Maybe the Chicago mayor thinks his bills are a starting point for negotiations,” Forby said. “They’re not. We’re not negotiating. We’re killing these bills.”
“I don’t know what these Chicago politicians are thinking,” Phelps said. “The governor wants to close prisons and cut parole officers, and the mayor wants to take our guns. Do they think that will make anyone safer?” [Emphasis added.]
* On the complete opposite side of the issue is Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat…
Originally from Florida, Cassidy said she grew up in a setting where guns were a way of life, and she empathizes with hunters and others who shoot for sport.
“But I’ve spent 15 years in the criminal justice system seeing what guns are doing to my community,” Cassidy said. “I absolutely see no legitimate purpose for handguns. I just don’t.”
It’s rhetoric like that which is driving Downstate Democrats up a wall. As I’ve told you before, Cassidy is in a hot primary fight, but she also needs to remember that life will go on after this primary and she’ll have to work with those Downstaters if she wins. They’re not gonna be too eager to do that.
In May — the most recent time the Illinois House voted on concealed carry — 30 of the 32 lawmakers who voted against concealed carry were from Cook County.
“Concealed carry is a geographic issue in Illinois,” [Rep Kelly Burke, D-Chicago] said. “And since the geography is not going to change, we need to work on our differences and not just jam legislation through the House.”
Former state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, said concealed carry is one of a handful of issues that splits the General Assembly by location, not by political party.
“You get a downstate-suburban versus Chicago regionalism,” Black said. “And it’s only getting worse.”
State Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Galesburg, said concealed-carry supporters need to focus on the big picture this year, and not push for legislation that cannot pass the House or the Illinois Senate.
“This is just from a guy who has been around the track a few times. The objective here is to move toward concealed carry, and I support that, “Moffitt said. “Keep in mind, the goal is to pass permit to carry.”
The Rifle Association refused to allow any sort of compromise last year which would’ve allow Chicago to opt out of concealed carry. Until that happens, the proposal may not go anywhere, although Rep. Phelps says he’s very close…
It will take 71 votes — not a simple majority of 60 — for the House to approve concealed carry. Lawmakers decided long ago that a statewide concealed-carry law would pre-empt local laws. […]
Phelps said he has 70 votes. Last May, 65 state representatives voted for concealed carry. A vote on HB5745 is not scheduled in the House and, Phelps said, he may change the legislation before the final deadline in late May.
Actually, Phelps said he was at “almost 70″ votes. Here’s some video of Rep. Phelps’ comments…
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* Mick Dumke at the Chicago Reader takes a look today at Illinois’ innumerable prison problems, including these…
(T)he state’s prison population has been inching upward for years. In fact, while diversion programs and drug law reforms have helped shrink the inmate totals in most large states, Illinois has been a national leader in prison population growth, including the biggest increase anywhere in 2010, according to a recent federal report.
Although corrections officials previously predicted a drop in the inmate population, it’s grown from 44,669 in 2005 to 47,504 in 2010 to 48,380 last week. That’s an increase of about 8 percent in seven years. Over the same period, the state corrections budget has grown about 20 percent, to $1.2 billion.
We’re not just talking about violent criminals, either. Since 2005, the portion of prisoners in for nonviolent offenses has remained constant—about 49 percent. That means more people have been incarcerated for offenses like DUIs, thefts, and residential burglaries.
On the upside, fewer prisoners are in on drug charges. On the downside, drug offenses still account for 20 percent of the inmates in Illinois prisons. Nearly 800 of these prisoners are there for marijuana-related offenses.
One reason the state saw the prison population skyrocket so much in 2010 was because of the badly botched early release “push” program that set free violent offenders. The “push” program was abolished, but so was the rest of the early release program and Corrections employees claimed during the year that parole officers were scrambling to put people back into prison so that the governor didn’t have a campaign problem if one of those guys killed somebody.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief of staff Jack Lavin claimed the other day that the prison census was declining. But he was using very short-term numbers to justify this claim. Overall, the population has obviously grown a lot. Maybe we should start talking about at least freeing those marijuana convicts.
* Progress Illinois takes a look at the governor’s proposal to close Tamms…
Edgar’s Task Force, for instance, made clear that prisoners were only supposed to be housed in Tamms temporarily: “The Super‐Max…is a management tool for addressing specific security problems… To serve its purpose, inmates must move in and out based on some objective classification and standards.”
The primary purpose mentioned above was to rehabilitate those causing trouble in other prisons. Thus, the Task Force’s report argued, prisoners must be allowed to earn their way out of Tamms based on good behavior: “Inmates would be required to earn their way to progressively less restrictive levels [of confinement], and eventually back into the general prison population… Reviews of inmate behavior would be made every 30 days.” […]
As advocacy group Tamms Year Ten has pointed out, these regulations were either never put in place or never followed. (The group’s flier on the subject, from which the above quotes were culled, is available here.)
Prisoners have been housed at the Tamms facility indefinitely — they have been moved “in” but not “out.” A third of the current inmates have been incarcerated at the supermax prison since 1998, according to Tamms Year Ten. Some of these prisoners have long since reached the highest good behavior “level” described by the Task Force; and yet they have not been returned to the general prison population. Instead, they remain imprisoned in exactly the sort of “long-term isolation” the Task Force warned against.
* Related…
* Some see Pat Quinn’s budget as attack on downstate Illinois: Quinn budget spokeswoman Kelly Kraft argued last week that the 14 proposed major facility closings are evenly divided by region, with seven in the upper half of the state, including places such as Rockford, Joliet and Aurora. However, Illinois is a state where “downstate” is commonly defined as anything outside Chicago — and just two of the 14 facilities are in the city. By that measure, some argue, Quinn’s proposed cuts show a clear geographic pattern. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he is Cook County-centered,” said Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, who is fighting the proposed closing of the Jacksonville Developmental Center and other facilities in his area. “(Cook County) is his power base, that’s where his voting base is, that’s where his loyalties are.”
* AFSCME launches “No Quinn Cuts” Campaign to protect public services and jobs
* Hundreds rally to stop closure of Dwight Correctional Center
* The House convenes at 12:30 this afternoon and the Senate convenes at 11:45 this morning. BlackBerry users click here. Everybody else can just sit back and watch today’s events unfold…
So real it’s unreal. Like, where are the overturned cars and alcohol-poisoned bodies stacking up at the morgue?
Exactly.
* This is a 2012 Major League Baseball open thread. Spring training has begun and I’m starting to get that anticipatory feeling. I’m not sure why because the White Sox have been disappointing me all winter. But, hey, it’s baseball. I love baseball and it’s the preferred sport of this website. So, talk away.
