All hat, no oranges
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Another day, another job poacher…
Gov. Rick Scott sent letters to Illinois business owners this week, telling them to book a “one-way” ticket to Florida and set up shop in the Sunshine State.
In the letter, Scott touts Florida’s economic recovery, low taxes and shrinking state debt. He continues his “It’s working” theme by painting Florida as a state that has undergone an “incredible economic turnaround” under his watch. In contrast, Scott writes, Illinois is raising taxes and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
“While Florida’s economic formula is working, we know Illinois’ formula of more taxing and more spending ISN’T WORKING,” Scott writes.
The letter, sent to 100 Illinois CEOs, is here.
* But…
Florida’s economic development organization planned to create a similar ad campaign [as New York’s], touting the state as “The Perfect Climate for Business.” Some saw the brand logo—which features an orange business tie—as sexist, and lawmakers have opted not to fund the advertising effort.
The Legislature is also cutting Scott’s “economic incentives” budget, reducing the amount of money the governor can use to draw businesses to Florida with tax breaks and grants.
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All hail the conquering reformer!
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I thought this was a rather odd story when I first saw a Bruce Rauner opposition research report a few weeks ago…
Last week, the Daily Herald ran an interesting piece about how Mr. Rauner improperly had claimed homestead exemptions on three separate residences. The law says you’re supposed to get the tax break on only one residence, but Mr. Rauner for several years declared it on a Winnetka home, and on a Chicago penthouse and a condo located in the same building. […]
“Englander said Thursday that the Winnetka address is currently Rauner’s primary residence,” the Herald reported.
However, since October 2008, Mr. Rauner’s legal voting residence has been at 340 E. Randolph St. in Chicago. And, according to Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen, the law is clear: ‘You should register at your primary residence.” The courts have upheld that standard many times, he said.
So, where does Mr. Rauner live? In Chicago, where he votes, or in Winnetka, where he gets the tax break and where his wife, Diana Rauner, is registered to vote?
Mr. Rauner’s new spokesman, Mike Schrimpf, tries to blow off the whole matter as just a little unmeaningful detail.
“The Rauners have long owned a home in Winnetka, raised their children there and continue to cherish their ties to the community,” he said in a statement, “but Bruce also has worked in Chicago for years, spent a great deal of time there and been deeply involved in improving the city. Consequently, Bruce registered to vote there after purchasing an apartment in the city while Diana continues to vote in Winnetka.”
* The oppo was partially about his wife, so I took a pass. Maybe I shouldn’t have, because Greg Hinz kept digging and discovered something far more interesting…
I’ve heard of people doing almost anything to get their kid into Walter Payton College Prep High School. Whatever might work, I’m sure someone would try. […]
According to multiple sources at Chicago Public Schools, Mr. Rauner in 2008 picked up the phone and called Mr. Duncan on behalf of his daughter, who was trying to get into Payton. […]
As it turns out, in establishing residence in the city, Mr. Rauner also established the right of his daughter to attend a Chicago public school. But not just any school. She could have gone to New Trier, since mom still lived in Winnetka and New Trier is pretty highly rated itself. But Payton is rated better. […]
Moreover, another source with direct knowledge confirms that Ms. Rauner was not admitted to Payton via the normal best-score route, but by way of a supplemental, alternate procedure.
So, Rauner buys a condo in the city and establishes residency by registering to vote, falsely claims homestead exemptions on that condo and other homes, claims to the media that he bought the condo because he was “deeply involved in improving the city,” but conveniently fails to mention that he used the residence to help clout his kid into Payton.
* Look, I have no real problems with a parent doing all he legally can to get his kid into the best public school in the Chicago area. You gotta do what you gotta do.
What bugs me is that Rauner always talks about himself like he’s some outsider, just one of us, a regular guy in an inexpensive suit who really, truly believes that Illinois must be reformed. From Rauner’s Twitter feed…
Yep. He’s a reformer alright. Gonna clean up this state. As long as it’s everybody else who gets reformed.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Report: Internet gaming out
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Daily Racing Form reports that Arlington International has come to an agreement with the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association on a new contract. The most interesting aspect of the report…
Also helping move negotiations forward, multiple sources reported, was an agreement by Illinois state lawmakers to drop a controversial provision from a gaming-expansion bill expected to pass out of a Senate committee and go before the full Senate for a vote in coming weeks. To vocal protests from the ITHA and other Illinois horsemen’s groups, the gaming bill was amended this spring to permit tracks to operate online casinos without using profits to fund purses. The online gaming provision, sources say, is expected to be dropped entirely from the bill.
The tracks hate sharing money with horsemen, or with anybody else, for that matter. Dealing with those guys has always been the hardest part of any gaming expansion proposal.
So when the I-Gaming stuff was added to the latest bill, you just knew it would cause an explosion, even though the boat owners really, REALLY wanted in on the game. Plus, the governor opposes the entire provision, so it’s probably best that it be dumped.
*** UPDATE *** The Senate President’s office says he intends to file the I-Gaming legislation on a separate bill.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Tribune editorial…
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, freshman Republican from Wheaton, introduced two bills to infuse more sunlight into the negotiation process. One bill would require that the two sides negotiate in public. The other bill would require an Internet posting of the contract once the two sides strike an agreement.
We support those efforts. Unfortunately, her bills have little chance of getting to the House floor. One died in committee and the other got sent to House Rules, the graveyard for unpopular legislation. The unions have zealously defended the status quo. No public involvement until the ink is dry … and the lawyers work out the quirks, and they will take their sweet time, thank you very much.
* The Question: Should state union contracts be negotiated in public? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
panel management
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Something’s missing here
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
As a recent town hall meeting in his district quickly grew heated, state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) said for the first time in his political career he wished he had brought something with him — security.
Franks was talking pension reform, but one man opposed to same-sex marriage became particularly agitated.
“It was heated. For the first time, I felt, I really should have had security here,” Franks told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He got physically close, I probably asked him eight times to stop and felt he was being rude. We were in a public place. It was a little bizarre.”
Franks isn’t saying which way he’s going to vote on the issue, insisting he hasn’t decided and sees pension reform as his top issue.
In the last several weeks, behind-the-scenes pressure as well as public rancor over a same sex marriage bill still pending in the Illinois House has intensified. Picketers are coming out in force. Legislators have spoken to Cardinal Francis George personally on the phone.
One potential death threat — later deemed unfounded — was under investigation by the Illinois State Police and Mundelein police against Republican Ed Sullivan, a state representative who publicly disclosed his support for the bill.
I’m not sure why, but there was no mention of the criminal charges filed against a gay marriage proponent who allegedly threatened Rep. Jeanne Ives over this issue. That’s the real deal, not some perceived stuff. That’s not to discount what Reps. Franks and Sullivan went through by any means. But it just doesn’t rise to the level of what Ives had to deal with.
The reality is we’ve seen at least isolated craziness on both sides of this debate.
*** UPDATE *** Greg Hinz reports that he’s hearing the bill has between 55 and 57 of the 60 House votes it needs to pass…
Key lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, speaking on background, say they expect the bill to pass in the next month, sending it to the desk of Gov. Pat Quinn, who has promised to sign it. At least a few Republicans are aboard, with House GOP Leader Tom Cross publicly neutral but privately said to be helpful.
One swing representative, who asked not to be named, said he’ll vote yes, but won’t publicly declare himself until the end. “I may lose my seat,” that official told me. “I don’t care. I want to be on the right side of history.”
That’s similar to statements being made by Chicago Democrat Ken Dunkin, the head of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, who earlier this week announced his support for the bill, explaining, “I have always believed that discrimination is wrong, no matter whom it targets.”
Indeed, African-American lawmakers likely are the most key group on this issue right now, caught between traditional civil rights concerns and religious conservatives. The announcement from Mr. Dunkin, who represents the old Cabrini-Green area on the Near North Side, may move some others.
But probably the biggest thing working for the bill right now: the Madigans. That would be Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and House Speaker Michael Madigan, her father.
Perhaps with an eye on a race for governor, Ms. Madigan has begun picking up the phone in recent days to personally urge wavering lawmakers to vote for the bill, which already has passed the Senate. More significantly, Mr. Madigan, who a few weeks ago suggested the bill was a dozen votes short, recently has begun to get more active behind the scenes, I’m told.
I kinda doubt that Dunkin will move other black votes his way. But the AG might. And if the Speaker is moving, then that’s a very positive sign for the legislation.
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Sen. Trotter pleads to misdemeanor
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Nobody was hurt, nobody was ever in any danger, so felony charges were absurd. The Cook County courts have enough real criminals to deal with, so this was the right decision by the state’s attorney…
State Sen. Donne Trotter was sentenced to one year of court supervision Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless conduct for trying to bring a gun onto an airplane at O’Hare Airport. […]
As part of the plea deal, Trotter has to perform 60 hours of community service. He also plans on talking about gun safety while serving his sentence, Trotter’s attorney, Thomas Durkin, said.
Durkin said the state’s attorney’s disposition to reduce the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor was “fair and appropriate.”
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Suntans and speed limits
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This bill passed with just nine “No” votes…
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont shepherded to passage a bill that would ban people younger than 18 from using tanning beds in commercial tanning salons. A similar bill has passed the House, and Radogno predicted the legislation will make it to the governor. The bill would not affect tanning beds in private residences.
* And there was no debate…
Sponsoring Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said she wasn’t necessarily surprised that senators didn’t debate the bill before voting on it.
“There really has been very little opposition,” she said. […]
“Skin cancer is a huge issue,” Radogno said. “The incidence of skin cancer when you first have used ultraviolet tanning before age 18 rises dramatically. This should be a no-brainer. It is a Class One carcinogen, and protecting kids from that makes perfect sense.”
Radogno also noted that more and more municipalities are enacting local ordinances to ban minors from tanning salons. Springfield passed a ban in September despite concerns raised by some that minors could simply go to tanning salons outside the city limits.
* More…
Current law requires teenagers to receive parental consent to use a tanning booth.
State Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican, said he voted for the ban because parental consent was not being properly enforced.
“We have had de facto license for 14 to 17 year olds to go in there without parental consent the way it’s been applied,” Murphy said. “Let’s make a clean break. It’s not being monitored the way it is, and I think parents would like a little bit of help making sure their kids stay safe with this.”
Among the dissenters was state Sen. Tom Cullerton, a Villa Park Democrat, who said he supported the current system of allowing teenagers to tan provided they had parental consent.
* Meanwhile…
Illinois motorists would be able to legally drive 70 mph on interstate highways and tollways under legislation the Senate passed Tuesday.
The measure would allow Cook County, the suburban collar counties and two counties near St. Louis to opt out in areas where local officials did not think the higher speed would be appropriate. The current top speed on Illinois interstates is 65 mph.
Sponsoring Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, said the change would bring Illinois in line with the more than 30 states that allow drivers to go 70 or 75 mph. Oberweis said the higher speed would allow commerce to move faster, but the freshman lawmaker took some friendly razzing from colleagues who suggested he had self-interest in mind.
* Roundup…
* Illinois nets almost $6 billion more in taxes in 2012: But state Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat, said the temporary income tax rate hike along with some policy shifts have made the state more fiscally responsible. He cited new spending rules, performance-based funding and other reforms as ways the state has worked to eliminate its deficit.
* Editorial: With reform essential, state lawmakers must stop wasting time
* In case you weren’t already going 70 mph: Illinois senate approves speed limit increase
* Senate sponsor seeks gun bill compromise
* Vite: Illinois doesn’t need barriers to biosimilar drugs
* Rosenthal: Perry tries to rustle Illinois business
* More money from clout-heavy Hispanic group UNO went to insider
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Adlai: Junk state personnel laws
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Adlai Stevenson III has penned an op-ed about reforming Illinois. Most of the usual stuff was in there, revamping the remap process, cutting the number of local governments, consolidating school districts, shortening the campaign season, etc. But this one was a surprise…
The Illinois personnel code might be re-examined. It goes against the grain of conventional wisdom, but when I was state treasurer, I could hire and fire at will. It was a good old fashioned patronage office - and I was able to quadruple the return on the investment of state funds while cutting the budget every year.
That was also before state collective bargaining laws. Back then, you could join a union, but there was no contract.
Thoughts?
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* From WILY radio…
As members of the State Senate Executive Appointments Committee prepare to decide whether to support Gov. Pat Quinn’s reappointment of Department of Corrections Director S.A. “Tony” Godinez, this picture was sent to our news department.
The picture shows an IDOC inmate transport bus parked Friday afternoon, outside Club Coyote, a “gentlemen’s club” on U.S. Highway 51 in De Soto that features exotic dancers and serves alcohol.
* I also received this photo from several people. There has obviously been a concerted effort by opponents of Director Godinez to get this photo out, including by former Illinois prison warden Andrew Ott, a sworn Godinez enemy.
Here’s the photo, which I’ve cropped down to an easier-to-view size. The full photo is here…
* The Department of Corrections says they investigated the photo, including viewing video from the club’s surveillance camera. The agency determined that the bus driver used the parking lot to turn around after missing a turn. IDOC says the the incident occurred at 8:30 in the morning. I called the club at 10:40 this morning and got an answering machine.
So, once again, it looks like there’s no there there and that Godinez’s opponents are going way over the top in their attempt to discredit him.
*** UPDATE *** AP…
An Illinois prison-monitoring group says Menard Correctional Center inmates reported concern about “aggressive cellmates” during a visit shortly before a string of three inmate murders since January.
The John Howard Association visited the prison in far southern Illinois in December. Its report, released late Tuesday, said several older inmates were worried about cellmates. And the independent watchdog said housing inmates with long sentences with those facing shorter stretches “can be problematic.”
The study is here. It also noted this…
Staffing at Menard has been inadequate for many years. Influx of staff from other southern facilities closures should somewhat improve conditions.
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Todays maps and charts
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a COGFA report on the Illinois economy. Click the pics for a larger view. Unemployment by counties…
* Unemployment is up…
* Illinois exports have slowed, at least partly due to the growing European recession…
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HGOPs take old bills on new road show
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* House Republicans went to Normal yesterday to unveil a welfare reform plan…
Illinois Republicans are proposing a welfare reform package that they say could save the state millions of dollars. […]
“There are folks that definitely do need help, whether that’s in welfare or Medicaid,” said [House GOP Leader Tom Cross]. “We want to be there to make sure we have a system that is viable and can sustain itself but that is not abused.”
Another portion of the plan, under House Bill 2784, would prevent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits (TANF) from being used for alcohol, lottery tickets and firearms.
“It’s even been reported that these benefits are being used for tattoos and body piercings,” Roth said. “We’re all about helping people that need help but we want to see these dollars put to good use.”
The final portion of the package would prevent criminals already in jail from receiving public aid.
* They also traveled to Decatur, where they admitted that the plan has no chance of passage…
The fate of the plan is bleak, though, with all four bills currently assigned to the House Rules Committee, where many bills are sent to die.
Additionally, no Democrats currently sponsor the legislation, which does not bode well for passage in the Democrat-controlled House or Senate.
Cross, who has not yet spoken to House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, about the proposal, said he talked to some Democrats about supporting the plan and sees no reason why the plan cannot be passed in a bipartisan fashion.
“These ideas should be bipartisan, and they should be receiving support from our friends on the other side of the aisle,” he said.
The bills are in Rules because the 3rd Reading deadline was last Friday. One of their bills, HB2784, lost in subcommittee on a partisan roll call. Another, HB3174, was voted down 7-5 in the Human Services Committee back in March. HB2490 and HB 133 were never moved for a vote in committee.
Ergo, out of town press conferences where local reporters probably wouldn’t know how to check bill status updates.
* From the House GOP press release…
* House Bill 2784 guarantees that cash assistance benefits are used for the basic needs for which they are intended. TANF benefits are intended to provide financial assistance to help pay for basic needs such as food, shelter, utilities, and other necessary expenses, however under current law a person is free to spend this cash however they feel. The legislation would prevent TANF benefits from being used to purchase alcohol, lottery tickets, firearms, and other specified goods and services.
* House Bill 3174 and House Bill 2490 would prevent criminals from receiving aid. These bills would suspend public aid and benefits to inmates at State correctional facilities and recipients with outstanding warrants.
* House Bill 133 ensures that a person using a LINK card is the authorized user. The proposal would require all LINK cards to display a photo of the cardholder to ensure that the person presenting it at the checkout counter is the same person who is entitled to use it. The names of all secondary users will also be placed on the card. Secondary users will be required to show a valid photo id before they can use the card.
* From HB 2784’s synopsis…
Amends the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Article of the Illinois Public Aid Code. Provides that no person shall knowingly use or accept cash assistance benefits provided under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program for the purchase or sale of certain services or products, including alcoholic beverages, lottery tickets, firearms or firearms ammunition, admission to any performance, gambling games, and rental goods.
I’m not sure how they’re supposed to track that. Seems like a press release bill to me. Also, cash assistance was a national GOP idea. The prison idea seems like a good one. But we’ve already extensively discussed the problems with the LINK ID proposals.
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This just in…
Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ugh…
Five people are dead and one injured in a shooting in the Village of Manchester, Illinois, according to Mayor Ronald Drake.
WLDS told NewsChannel 5 a suspect is in custody.
The Scott County Sheriff’s Department said a child was taken to a Springfield, Illinois hospital.
The pastor of Manchester Baptist Church told NewsChannel 5 that the murders happened inside a public housing complex on East Street Wednesday morning.
Multiple schools are on lockdown. The Jacksonville School District 117 secretary to Superintendent Steve Ptacek said the school is closed in response to a recent shootout with a suspect on Woodson Winchester Road. North Greene Unit School District #3 is closed and WLDS Radio reports Winchester schools are closed.
Manchester is about 85 miles north of St. Louis.
* More…
Mayor Drake said the attack took place in a home on 4th Street. Drake says the suspect fled and was caught near Winchester about 12 miles from Manchester.
The mayor said he has no idea what led to it.
“Not that I know of. This is a nice little town and I have no problems with anybody. What took place, I cannot tell you,” he said.
Illinois State Police are not yet releasing the names and ages of those involved. Drake said the survivor is in stable condition.
* More…
Keep your political thoughts out of comments, please.
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Who cares what she thinks?
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the weirdest things about Chicagoans is how sensitive they often are to outside criticism. I remember years ago when some tiny publication once dissed the city and the Chicago Sun-Times put it on the front page. As if the criticism was somehow legit or meaningful or even accurate.
So, I don’t really care if a native New Yorker who now teaches theater at DePaul, who also bizarrely predicted shortly before Rahm Emanuel’s election that Chicago would never, ever elect a Jewish mayor and who wrote a book called “Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show” penned some moronic book review that blasted Chicago without actually seeming to have any real understanding of the city in which she currently resides.
Let. It. Go.
The hyperbolic responses say more about Chicago than Rachel Shteir’s remarkably illiterate “book review” ever could.
Sheesh.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We talked a little about this yesterday…
People who want to carry a concealed weapon in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County would get an extra layer of scrutiny under legislation being drafted in the Illinois Senate, according to authors of the proposal.
The legislation is aimed at balancing the desire of many gun owners to have a statewide concealed carry permit and avoid running into a patchwork of local laws that could be confusing for law enforcement and gun owners. […]
Seeking middle ground, Raoul said the legislation he is crafting with Republican Sen. Tim Bivins, a former sheriff from Dixon, would require a person seeking a statewide concealed carry permit to check boxes on the application if he wants to carry in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook.
Checking the boxes for the city and Cook would trigger a review by the Illinois State Police as well as law enforcement in Chicago and Cook, Raoul said.
If applicants opted to leave unchecked the boxes for the city and Cook, they could get a permit that would be good for the rest of Illinois if the state police approved, Raoul said.
The NRA opposes the plan and has vowed to kill it.
* The Question: Do you support this concealed carry compromise? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey solutions
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Meh
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I, for one, am happy that the governor is flying all over the state, despite his chopper mishap. It’s a good thing. Blagojevich could hardly be bothered to visit any disaster site outside the Chicago media market. So I’m not sure Gov. Quinn deserves this treatment…
As floodwaters swelled last week, Gov. Pat Quinn hopped onto a state plane and headed for some of Illinois’ hardest-hit areas.
Five days later, the Democratic governor hasn’t stopped, continuing to visit flood-stricken towns, his office making sure TV stations can easily find the footage.
It’s not unusual to see politicians filling sandbags, consoling homeowners and declaring disaster zones. But couple the flood trips with Quinn’s recent uptick of appearances to herald the start of the summer construction season, and the governor might be mistaken for using the powers of his office to unofficially launch his 2014 re-election campaign.
Indeed, the politics of a natural disaster set up an almost no-lose situation for Quinn. With widespread public dissatisfaction over his job performance, the potential of a primary challenge next year and questions about his ability to govern in Springfield, the governor has used the flood as a chance to get outside the Capitol echo chamber in an attempt to show concern and confidence.
“In general, governors love this sort of crisis thing. Politically, it’s almost always a positive for them,” said Christopher Mooney, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “When you have these crises, it shows people the activity going on in government that they don’t normally see. And when the governor’s there, it shows the state is paying attention. To the people who are in crisis, that means a lot.”
Your thoughts?
* Roundup…
* Rep. Paul Ryan warns governors on Obama health care plan: Ryan initially said that federal authorization to allow states to file for bankruptcy was something “that should be revisited.” “(But) it’s my understanding that might disrupt (bond) markets and make your cost of capital higher in the state and we don’t want to do that to you.”
* Ill. bill backlog could grow if Medicaid expands
* How suburban state Senate Democrats could sway pension argument
* Gutierrez, Ryan show bipartisan support for immigration reform: Republicans–who put part of the blame for many defeats last November on their poor showings among Latino voters– now include big-time supporters of immigration reform. “Sometimes it does take elections for people to wake up. Actually, frankly it concerns me about those that don’t wake up after an election,” Rep. Tom Cross, House Minority Leader, said.
* Throw the bums out? Illinois online calculator allows for virtual armchair budget making
* Illinois seniors get bigger break on property tax
* Sangamon Sheriff won’t run for sixth term in 2014, endorses Campbell
* Press Release: Illinois Trial Lawyers Group Renames Headquarters after Corboy & Demetrio Co-Founder
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You still gotta work it
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the SJ-R…
Starting Wednesday, SJ-R.com will begin using a new set of social and interactive features underneath online articles. Our goal is to enhance the experience on SJ-R.com by giving readers new ways to interact with each other, share opinions and engage with the news.
At the same time, we’re attempting to make commenting less anonymous, which we hope will make readers think twice about posting inflammatory, hateful or objectionable content, thereby increasing the level of civility on the website.
* The Daily Herald switched to a Facebook commenting system not long ago. I took a look at a random DH story today about pension reform and saw this comment…
Um, OK.
* From Reuters…
Rudeness and throwing insults are cutting online friendships short with a survey on Wednesday showing people are getting ruder on social media and two in five users have ended contact after a virtual altercation.
As social media usage surges, the survey found so has incivility with 78 percent of 2,698 people reporting an increase in rudeness online with people having no qualms about being less polite virtually than in person.
One in five people have reduced their face-to-face contact with someone they know in real life after an online run-in.
Joseph Grenny, co-chairman of corporate training firm VitalSmarts that conducted the survey, said online rows now often spill into real life with 19 percent of people blocking, unsubscribing or “unfriending” someone over a virtual argument.
* And this is from a comment posted on the above SJ-R announcement…
Rude comments aside, why would someone risk their job by criticizing the wrong person or story ? This town is too small and way to political to NOT allow anonymous accounts.
That’s exactly why we have anonymous comments here. People are given the freedom to express their thoughts on issues without fear of retaliation, as long as they remain civil. Policing comments requires significant work on my part, but the effort has paid off.
Overall, history shows that the SJ-R comment section may improve. The Daily Herald’s comments are now more readable than they used to be. But switching to Facebook won’t get rid of the trolls. If you want a quality comments section, you gotta work at it.
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DON’T TAX SATELLITE TV!
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The satellite television industry serves a crucial role in connecting Illinois to the rest of the world with content that informs, entertains and educates – in many instances it’s the exclusive broadcast service provider available to Illinois homes. In addition, the satellite TV industry is an important economic driver creating hundreds of jobs in our state.
Facts About Satellite TV in Illinois:
• Serves 1.3 million households in Illinois (almost a third of homes that subscribe choose satellite)
• Employs over 790 people, plus more than 1,000 technicians at 481 local retailers
• Rural Illinois depends on satellite TV since cable does not often provide service to their area
• Satellite TV offers a wider range of foreign language programming in comparison to cable
Lawmakers continue to be prodded by the cable TV industry to place a NEW 5% monthly tax on satellite TV service. Previous versions of this discriminatory tax proposal have been defeated in Springfield—and similar bills are regularly defeated in other states including three times in neighboring Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. This revenue generator needs to be clearly labeled what it is: An unfair tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV.
TELL YOUR LAWMAKERS, “DON’T TAX SATELLITE TV!”
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Our forefathers
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Damien Ober writes about a new book on Abe Lincoln’s congressional term…
When Lincoln presents a bill which would have ended slavery in the District of Columbia, the inclusion of a fugitive slave clause makes the bill the “kind of balanced legislation needed to pass a badly divided house.”… His support for presidential candidate Zachary Taylor—a slave-owner and hero of the war he had fought so hard to stop—“was simple for Lincoln;” Taylor was the only Whig who could win and any Whig was better than any Democrat—on slavery and the other issues important to Lincoln.
* Jared Hitchings writes about Stephen Douglas, whose 200th birthday is today…
Not only was Douglas not bitter about losing the presidency to Lincoln, he in fact toured the country stumping for the Union cause at the outbreak of the Civil War. It was during this tour that he contracted Typhoid fever and died on June 3, 1861.
Discuss.
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Our top-down focus
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I have several friends who live (or lived) in Austin, Texas. One of them told me on my last visit why he moved to Austin from San Antonio, just down the road.
In San Antonio, he said, the local government was always in your business. Unlike in Austin, everything was top-down. The town was just too involved with the art and music scene, to the point of dominance. Street festivals, he said, were organized from the top, which tended to prevent new ideas from emerging and kept old ideas in place long after their prime.
* Illinois, and particularly Chicago, have the very same problem. We’re just way too top-down oriented here.
For a good example of how top-down we are, just look at the Chicago firestorm over food trucks. From January…
Six months after the city passed an ordinance placing new regulations on the industry granting truck owners the ability to prepare food inside their vehicles, only one of Chicago’s 126 mobile food dispensers have received a license to cook on board. In other major cities, food trucks have been cooking fresh food onboard for years, according to local officials.
Austin, population 820,000, has over 1,000 food trucks. The market is probably over-saturated, but that’s capitalism, man. Survival of the fittest.
* What does Mayor Emauel do to promote local music? He wants to develop special “entertainment districts.” There’s nothing at all organic about that…
“If I were an artist, I would want to move anywhere else than Chicago,” [Paul Natkin, a longtime concert photographer and executive director of the Chicago Music Commission] said, explaining that he knew struggling artists who were fined for not having a business license under former Mayor Richard M. Daley. That sort of bureaucracy, he added, hurts the music industry as well.
“Chicago’s kind of known worldwide as one of the hardest places to get a license to open a business,” Natkin said. “It’s a daunting task to open a venue or open up a record store — or any kind of business in Chicago.”
* In Springfield, where I now live, the mayor has opposed allowing downtown music festivals to stay open past 9:30 pm - on the weekends, for Pete’s sake.
* And it’s not just art and music. As Natkin noted above, it’s difficult to start almost any business in Illinois, and it’s very expensive to keep one going. Workers’ comp costs are killing some of our employers, for example, but nothing is being done to deal with it. Yes, Mayor Emanuel has loosened countless goofy Chicago regulations. He’s to be commended for that. More, please.
Our entrepreneurship rates are the 47th worst in the nation..
This is a huge problem and it absolutely has to be addressed. For the most part, we need to just get the heck out of the way.
* That being said, Gov. Rick Perry can bite me. His high-profile visit this week is basically just a publicity stunt, planned to coincide with a speech to a bioscience convention. Biotech is one of this state’s major bright spots. From a Gov. Pat Quinn press release…
“The Economic Engine of Biotechnology in Illinois” shows the Midwest Super Cluster, which includes Illinois and the surrounding eight-state region, surpasses California and the East Coast in biotechnology-related employment, number of establishments and research and development expenditures. Its four key findings are:
* Within the Midwest Super Cluster there are more than 16,800 biotechnology establishments employing more than 377,900 people. By comparison, California has 7,500 biotechnology establishments that employ 230,000 people, and the East Coast cluster employs 253,000 among its approximately 7,100 biotechnology establishments.
* The overall economic output of Illinois’ biotechnology industry is more than $98.6 billion with 81,000 direct jobs and more than 3,500 biotechnology companies in the state. In fact, Illinois residents employed by biotechnology companies earn up to 91 percent more than the average Illinois resident. The biotechnology industry in Illinois has demonstrated the strongest revenue growth in recent years among all of the states analyzed in this [Ernst & Young LLP] study, an average annual growth of 13.3 percent.
* During the past decade, the top seven universities in Illinois have steadily increased their research and development expenditures, creating new opportunities for biotech startups. Expenditures have nearly doubled since 2001, growing from $727 million to more than $1.3 billion.
* The ability to secure early-stage funding is spurring innovation and growth among startup biotechnology companies in Illinois. Venture capital funding in Illinois has seen a 209 percent increase between 2009 and 2012.
Nurture, offer funding options if needed, deploy the universities where necessary and then get out of the way of the people who know what they’re doing. We don’t need to deregulate to the point where our fertilizer plants are exploding. But we need to let the people of this tremendous state put their fantastic minds to work on what they do best and stop being an impediment.
* Related…
* Rahm Emanuel Welcomes Rick Perry To Chicago: I Hope ‘He Remembers All 3 Of His Reasons For Coming’
* Texas governor trying to lure Illinos business
* Perry: It’s not poaching jobs, it’s just competition
* Tribune Editorial: The Illinois jobs crisis - A recovering nation leaves a Midwest laggard behind. No wonder Perry’s poaching.
* Roger Keats: Texas offers best opportunity for long term businesses
* The True State of the Texas Economy
* Rutherford: Businesses should stay in Illinois, create healthier biz environment
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A rational, calm response
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an Alton Telegraph story entitled “Getting rid of dangerous meds”…
Madison County officials are urging people to bring any unused prescription drugs to a site near the County Administration Building from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, as part of the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons reminded people that many serious illegal drug habits start with young people taking unused prescription medications as a cheap high.
Many deceased heroin addicts started out taking prescription painkillers, Coroner Steve Nonn said. […]
Last September, six sites in Madison County collected 1,310 pounds of prescription medications. Nationwide, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took in 244 tons at 5,263 take-back sites that were located in all 50 states and U.S. territories.
That’s a really good idea. More like this, please. But allow me a brief aside.
* During the Illinois House’s years-long debate over medical marijuana, we heard lots of people complaining about driving under the influence. That’s actually addressed in the new legislation, but there are no specific state laws governing, for example, driving after taking Oxycontin, which is as potent as heroin.
There’s been plenty of discussion about how the FDA hasn’t approved marijuana for medicinal use, but that’s mainly just a matter of cowardly domestic politics and the failed and mindless (and self-perpetuating) war on illegal drugs. The feds have approved infinitely stronger, and far more debilitating “dangerous” meds that can hook people for life and totally fry their brains.
The “take-back” program is just common sense government. It’s a rational, calm, responsible approach to a real problem. That’s all most of us are arguing for here with medical marijuana.
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Should school zone limits be expanded?
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Current Illinois law requires drivers to slow down to 20 mph in school zones between 7 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. The House passed a bill last week would require drivers to slow down whenever a child was within 50 feet of the roadway in a school zone…
Sponsoring Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, said the law doesn’t do enough to protect children crossing streets after regular school hours. A Tribune analysis found that time frame is when children in Chicago are most often struck by vehicles near schools. It’s a pattern repeated across the state, according to the Active Transportation Alliance.
“This is about children’s safety,” Nekritz said. “And in this instance, we’re not just reacting to an incident of a hunch that this might protect children more. We actually have data to show that the most number of accidents occur outside of school hours and outside of the hours by which current state law requires drivers to slow down.” […]
Opponents questioned how the measure would be enforced and contended it was a money grab targeting drivers in Chicago, where schools more frequently dot neighborhoods than in suburban or downstate towns. […]
In Chicago from 2007 through 2011, the largest number of cases in which school-age pedestrians were struck by vehicles occurred in the hours starting at 3 p.m., when 460 crashes occurred; 4 p.m., with 384 crashes; 5 p.m., 408 crashes; 6 p.m., 399 crashes; and 7 p.m., 285 crashes, according to a Tribune analysis of data from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Chicago Police Department.
Discuss.
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Now what?
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* House Speaker Michael Madigan’s “weekly orders of business” on pension reform and concealed carry are now history. Some say the process ate up a ton of valuable time, others say it gave legislators an outlet to debate various ideas and see where everyone was. The AP has more on the debate…
[Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesman] and other Democrats believe lawmakers may have gotten as far as they were going to get on a guns compromise, part of the reason the process has ended. “I’m not sure you get to consensus on the issue of gun safety,” Brown said.
But Cross asserted that lawmakers have nothing conclusive to show on pensions either. Republicans say that several measures approved by the House fall short of the Senate’s desire to deal with a comprehensive plan to solve the nation’s worst pension crisis.
“No comprehensive legislation has yet come from the speaker’s weekly orders of business, so it would be premature to deem this practice a success,” Cross said in a statement. “We believe there are better ways to come to consensus on these major issues we are facing, like negotiating bills that we believe can pass the House.”
While it’s true no comprehensive legislation has resulted, the biggest victory thus far in the pension debate _ House approval of a plan co-authored by Cross to reduce and delay cost-of-living increases in state employees’ retirement pay _ came out of a “weekly order” vote. Cross himself heralded the passage as “the meat and potatoes of pension reform.”
* So, now what? Well, the concealed carry debate is moving to the Senate and both chambers remain deadlocked on pension reform. Not to mention that fracking, a satellite TV tax, AT&T’s big rewrite push and oh so many other issues (mainly the budget) have barely begun to surface, let alone move.
It’s April 23rd. The House isn’t even in session this week. When that chamber returns, members will have 25 session days to deal with all of those issues and lots more.
* What we’ve seen many times before is that big stuff will pop up at the last minute and get jammed through. But I’m not sure that it’ll happen that way this time for various reasons, including all the new freshmen who seem to be a bit more independent minded than their peers.
And Brown’s comments about not finding consensus on concealed carry may be telling. Could they be waiting until after the June 9th federal court deadline to act?
Unless something changes very soon, I’m starting to think that this session may very well end up in overtime.
Your thoughts?
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