Question of the day
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From WBEZ…
A controversial measure that would change how the U.S. Census counts Illinois prison inmates is advancing in Springfield.
The census counts Illinois’ prison inmates as residents of the town the prison is in, not the town they came from.
That population can affect a region’s eligibility for government money.
State House members narrowly approved a bill Wednesday saying the state will start keeping track of an inmates’ last known address for census purposes.The measure passed with the bare minimum of favorable votes, 60-55.
The bill’s passage upset Republican State Rep. Chad Hays from Danville, which has a prison that currently holds about 1,800 inmates, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
“I just lost 2,000 residents,” Hays said after the vote.
* The Question: Should prisoners be counted by the Census at their current prison address or at their last known home address? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
polls & surveys
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Separated at birth?
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Actor Billy Zane was at the Statehouse today. Reporter Hannah Douglas snapped a quick pic…
Wait.
Where have I seen that face? That head? He looks so… familiar.
Ah. That’s it. He looks like Rep. Ron Sandack!…
Discuss.
And go easy on Sandack. He’s a decent guy. We gave him a lot of grief this week, and I feel almost bad about it.
Nah.
What am I thinking?
Have fun.
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* Earlier this week, I told you that American Federation of Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten supported the pension reform agreement between the Senate Democrats and organized labor.
She was asked about that support on Twitter…
Um, actually, that’s not true. Retirees are most definitely impacted. They’d have to choose between continuing with subsidized government health insurance or taking a reduced COLA.
* Blogger Fred Klonsky jumped in…
* Weingarten was then forced to back down…
How the heck did she not know that retirees would be impacted before she trumpeted her own support?
*** UPDATE *** I had the following e-mail exchange with an AFT spokesperson today…
AFT: Rich- I wanted to make sure you saw that Randi sent Fred Klonsky a longer comment off twitter to clarify why she and IFT support the pension proposal. He made it a separate post.
http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/randi-weingarten-responds-to-my-blog-post-on-pensions/
Miller: Yes, I saw that. She doesn’t address the issue about how she got her facts wrong. Can you?
AFT: She quickly corrected her tweet. Then she sent Fred that longer message since she didn’t feel like twitter’s 140 characters was sufficient to detail her thoughts on the bill
Miller: But why was she wrong in the first place?
AFT: 140 characters is an art, not a science and didn’t effectively capture her thoughts—hence the longer blog comment.
I was told by somebody else that Weingarten has been in transit and tweeting on the go. She knew that retirees were in the bill, but that the inclusion wasn’t unreasonable.
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This just in… Raoul files concealed carry bill
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* 11:19 am - From the Senate Democrats…
The Senate’s Assignment Committee has just assigned Amendment 1 sponsored by Sen. Raoul to House Bill 183 to the Senate’s Executive Committee.
Earlier this session, Senate President John J. Cullerton designated Senate Judiciary Chairman Kwame Raoul to negotiate a legislative proposal for concealed carry.
Senate President Cullerton issued the following statement regarding House Bill 183:
“I want to commend Sen. Raoul for negotiating another tough issue on behalf of our caucus. The framework of this proposal acknowledges the diversity of our state, embraces local control, and provides for sensible safeguards.”
The Senate’s Executive Committee will take up that proposal today. Once amended, House Bill 183 does the following:
· Directs State Police to give concealed carry licenses to people who meet certain qualifications
· Allows local law enforcement to object to a local resident’s application
· Allows a gun owner to carry a concealed weapon in Chicago only with a special endorsement; while applicants are subject to the same qualifications, Chicago police can conduct their own investigation
· Prohibits loaded weapons in certain kinds of places, e.g. schools, hospitals and public transit
· Allows home rule municipalities to ban guns in other kinds of places by ordinance
· Requires applicants to pass a firearm training course
· Closes the private sale and transfer loophole by requiring a seller to verify that the buyer’s FOID Card is still valid
· Strengthens mental health reporting requirements
· Requires a gun owner to report a lost or stolen gun within three days of realizing it is missing
The amendment is here.
* A couple provisions of the “certain qualifications” for acquiring a state police-issued permit will look like a “may issue” to many folks…
(16) has a proper reason for carrying a firearm; and
(17) is a responsible person of good moral character and that the issuance of the license to the applicant is consistent with public safety.
That’s awfully broad language.
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Compare the pension plans
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Reboot Illinois has a pretty good side-by-side comparison of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform bill and Senate President John Cullerton’s bill. Click the pick for a much larger image…
Other than the silly boxing gloves, any thoughts?
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Adlai on Madigan and Daley
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The AP has a story up which breaks no new ground on the potential gubernatorial candidacies of Lisa Madigan and Bill Daley. Adlai’s quote at the end, however, is worth an excerpt…
While the all-in-the-family field of potential candidates may seem to some like yet another Illinois political oddity, it isn’t so striking to former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III, whose own Illinois family tree includes a vice president, secretary of state and a governor.
“My father used to say he was born with an incurable, hereditary case of politics,” Stevenson said. “You’re born into a life of service, and sometimes you’re just conditioned to carry on.”
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* The Senate passed this bill last week by a 52-1 vote…
Provides that if expenditures are incurred for hosting receptions, benefits, and other large gatherings held for purposes of goodwill or otherwise to influence executive, legislative, or administrative action and if the total number of State officials invited to such an event is equal to or greater than the number of State legislators in the smaller minority caucus of either the House of Representatives or the Senate, as defined in the rules of those chambers, then only the total amount of the expenditure, the date of the event, and the estimated number of officials in attendance shall be reported.
That language is specifically designed to help out the Senate Republican caucus. The existing statute allows the limited disclosure for events when there are “25 or more State officials invited.” Before last year’s elections, the Senate Republicans had 24 members, so lobbyists would invite another Republican official to make it 25.
But now the Senate Republicans have just 19 caucus members. That makes things a bit tougher, and any event with just the SGOPs requires full disclosure for each member. Something needed to be done, and it was. At least in the Senate.
* This was also part of the bill…
Requires each registered lobbyist to report any business or familial relationship that he or she has with an official.
* Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline) was the only “No” vote. Scott Reeder takes us down memory lane…
Well, at least the vote didn’t end in a fistfight.
But the Illinois Senate did give state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, a good punch in the snout when it voted 52-1 last week to require that all lawmakers disclose relatives who are lobbyists.
Two years ago, Jacobs and state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, got into an altercation after McCarter made an issue of Jacobs sponsoring a bill that Jacobs’ father, a lobbyist, was pushing.
During the scuffle, McCarter said he got punched.
Jacobs said he didn’t do it.
One thing is certain: it was an in-your-face confrontation seldom seen on the floor of the Illinois Senate.
The issue of lawmaker relatives lobbying re-emerged last Thursday when the Senate approved Senate Bill 1361. Jacobs was the only person in the chamber to vote against the measure that requires all lawmakers to disclose any relatives who are lobbyists.
“This is really just a baby step in the area of ethics, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said state Sen. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap.
McCarter added, “It’s essential that everyone in government be transparent – even Mike Jacobs.”
For his part, Jacobs says he is the most transparent person in the state Senate.
“This is just a case of politicians trying to make themselves look better than they really are,” he said. “I refused to play along. This is just a game of Gotcha!”
Jacobs is up for reelection next year. He should’ve voted for that bill.
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Springfield council talks about drop dead date
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomington and Normal haven’t yet started talking about what could happen if home rule units are given the power to add areas to the state’s concealed carry off-limits list, as has been proposed by Sen. Kwame Raoul…
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said it’s premature to comment on Raoul’s idea.
“As a city, as a community, we haven’t even begun to have this conversation yet,” he said. “We don’t know what the repercussions of this would be.”
Normal Mayor Chris Koos said he couldn’t comment without having discussed the issue with the City Council or seeing the context of it within the overarching legislation.
* But the Springfield city council discussed last night what might happen if the General Assembly fails to act by June 9th and the state’s public carry laws are struck down as unconstitutional. From an e-mail sent to me by Springfield Ald. Sam Cahnman…
I along with a number of other Alderman plan to introduce an ordinance to regulate concealed carry in the event the General Assembly fails to act by the June 9th deadline.
As you know, we are a home rule unit. The ordinance would probably honor concealed carry permits from other jurisdictions and allow other Illinois residents to carry if they have a FOID card. It will probably allow business to prohibit carry in their establishment if they got on a computer list and posted the appropriate sign.
It may exclude certain public buildings from the right to carry, like the courthouse and maybe the Capitol Building, or we may just leave it up to the governmental entity that occupies the building, State or County.
We discussed this at our meeting last night of the Committee of the Whole of the City Council.
* By the way, Sen. Raoul penned a Sun-Times op-ed about his bill…
I have spoken with both victims of gun violence and Second Amendment advocates, and this week I will introduce the Gun Safety and Responsibility Act. This bill satisfies the court order, while meeting the critical need for reasonable gun safety laws in the communities most affected by violence.
In Chicago, where we experience the bulk of gun violence, this law would put in place additional layers of security before a person could receive a concealed-carry permit. Not only would the Illinois State Police have to approve the application, but the Chicago Police superintendent also would have to sign off on it.
This system would pose no threat to law-abiding citizens. People with criminal records or a history of mental illness still would be barred from owning firearms. People with licenses would be prohibited from carrying guns in sensitive areas such as schools, child-care centers, hospitals, sports arenas and establishments that serve alcohol. Private businesses and property owners could prohibit people from carrying guns on their property. […]
But the recent showdown in Washington over universal background checks has exposed the intransigence of extremist opponents of common-sense legislation. They stand in the way of any firearm regulation, no matter how reasonable. They count on an energized minority to thwart the will of the rest of us, but it won’t happen here.
* Related…
* State police prepping for concealed carry law
* I-Team: Illinois police enter emergency contract to process gun card applications
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Today’s numbers - And a quote
Thursday, May 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From UCLA’s Williams Institute, which used US Census data in its estimates…
With the passage of marriage equality legislation in Minnesota, 18% of the entire U.S. population and 22% of same-sex couples now live in the 12 states, and the District of Columbia, where same-sex couples can legally marry. In 2009, only 3% of the U.S. population and 5% of same-sex couples lived in marriage equality states.
If Illinois extended marriage to same-sex couples, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Prop. 8 in California, more than 4 in 10 same-sex couples (or 41%) would live in the 14 states and the District of Columbia where they could legally marry. Thirty-four percent of the entire U.S. population would also live in marriage equality states.
* A handy graph…
* From Peter LaBarbera, head of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality…
Just like with abortion, we now see Catholic and Protestant politicians alike who defy the tenets of their own faith to pander to the well-funded Homosexual Lobby. Oh yes, when it’s campaign season, they’re “religious.” But down in Springfield, it’s another matter. Some day these phony-baloney politicians like Mike Madigan will learn the hard way that God is not mocked.
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