* From Illinois Statehouse News…

Chairing a committee in the Illinois Legislature can be a boon or bust to lawmakers’ campaign war chests, depending on the committee and the chamber.

In the Illinois House, those heading the appropriation, judiciary or revenue committees usually are leading their colleagues in the campaign contributions arms race.

Leaders of the fundraising pack in the Illinois Senate are chairing the judiciary, executive appointments and revenue committees.

The appropriations, judiciary and revenue committees are, what Kent Redfield calls, “power committees.”

They determine “who gets taxed and who doesn’t get taxed, who gets funded and who doesn’t get funded,” said Redfield, author of “Money Counts: How Dollars Dominate Illinois Politics and What We Can Do About It.”

The numbers support Redfield’s assertion:

* Each chairman of the five House appropriations committees brought in $29,757.83 more than the average representative for every two-year election cycle since 2005-06, according to the campaign contribution database maintained by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a government watchdog. That’s a fundraising advantage of 25 percent.

* Each chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee since 2005-06 brought in an average of $147,161.36 more than the average senator for every two-year election cycle since 2005-06. That’s a fundraising advantage of 15 percent.

One of those approp chairmen is Rep. Fred Crespo, who has been heavily targeted for defeat in recent years. He’s probably moving the needle for everyone.

* Keep that in mind when reading this…

“It’s about access to power, getting meetings set up, getting a heads up on legislation, getting phone calls returned, all the things interest groups want,” Redfield said.

Former state Rep. Michael Smith, D-Canton, chaired the House Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations Committee in 2005-06, during which he raised $826,603, or $643,577.09 more than the average House member.

Smith attributed his impressive fundraising more to a competitive race rather than his chairmanship.

“My fundraising was a little bit different in that time period. It was a very expensive and costly campaign,” Smith said.

Oh, c’mon. Smith was in a hotly contested Tier One race in 2006 against Daryl Dagit. Dagit raised half a million dollars in the last six months of 2006.

Comparing Smith to legislators who never face Tier One challengers is more than just apples to oranges. It’s apples to horseshoes - the throwing kind, not the eating kind.

* And check this out…

The top donors are interest groups that give to committee chairmen who may have power over legislation the groups are interested in.

The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, a lobbying group, was one of the top donors to state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, chairwoman of the House Judiciary Civil Law Committee.

Notice how the article doesn’t say how much Nekritz raised from the trial lawyers. I always look up the numbers when I see stuff like that.

Starting way back in 1996, Rep. Nekritz has received 19 contributions from ITLA totaling just $39,710.98 (There’s another $2K contribution from “ITLA” that doesn’t show up on that link.)

That’s $2,481.93 per year, on average. Hardly a king’s ransom. And she hasn’t chaired the committee all along, either.

Very little to see here. Move along.