[This post has been bumped up to Wednesday for visibility. It was originally posted on Tuesday afternoon.]
* I just got word that my pal Dan Bluthardt passed away today. Blu was a regular in a certain Statehouse office suite that some of us used to hang out in, so I got to know him pretty well over the years. He was at one time a honcho at the Department of Professional Regulation, but was a contract lobster for the past few years. Most of all, though, he was a heckuva good guy. In all the years I knew him, I don’t think I ever saw him once in a bad mood.
* House GOP Leader Tom Cross has taken major heat from big business ever since he couldn’t convince a majority of his caucus to vote for the House’s pension reform bill. So, deflection is a must, and concocting a conspiracy theory would fit the bill…
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports Cross was brief and direct Wednesday when a reporter asked him if he believes Madigan and Cullerton have been working together to keep pension reform from happening.
“Yes,” Cross said.
Seriously?
“Yes.”
Asked if it might have something to do with Madigan’s daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, considering a bid for the governor’s office, Cross again simply answered “yes.”
Pushed for an explanation, Cross said “The two most powerful guys in the state of Illinois can get anything done. They passed a tax increase in the middle of the night; highest tax increase in the history of the state. Two guys that passed a pension holiday in the mid-2000s without blinking an eye can’t get this done? Seriously.”
Look, both chambers have passed bills. Madigan, Cross, Leader Radogno, big business and the Tribune all say they want the House bill to become law. And they all publicly have agreed that they don’t want anything to do with Cullerton’s bill. So, if Madigan is involved in a conspiracy, then so are the Republicans and big business and the Tribune.
Cullerton won’t pass the House bill, not because of a grand conspiracy to pass nothing, but because he has 40 mostly liberal members who don’t want anything to do with the House’s bill and because he has staked his entire reputation on a constitutional interpretation that rules out Madigan’s bill.
All this stuff is pretty obvious to people who are close to the issue and who don’t wear tinfoil hats or aren’t pushing some partisan political angle.
* House Speaker Michael Madigan gutted Senate President John Cullerton’s pension reform bill today and replaced the language with an amendment which appears to contain Madigan’s own original bill. That bill, of course, died in the Senate last month.
From Rep. Elaine Nekritz’s spokesperson…
A House Personnel and Pensions Committee hearing has been scheduled for next Tuesday, June 18, at 4:30 pm in Room 114 of the Capitol. On the agenda is House Amendment 1 to SB 2404, sponsored by Speaker Madigan.
I am told it is the same language that the House had already passed in Senate Bill 1. An immediate effective date might not be included, which would mean the bill could pass with a simple majority and become law next June.
Rep. Nekritz tells me the intent is for the bill to move out of the committee that day.
* Man, that’s a real slap in Cullerton’s face. I’m told Madigan did call Cullerton, but I doubt he’s all that happy.
The official statement from Cullerton’s spokesperson…
Senators were given the chance to vote on the House pension bill. Members of the House should have that opportunity to vote on the plan that passed the Senate with overwhelming support. That’s how this should work.
President Cullerton still intends to advance the compromise bill requested by Governor Quinn.
* Rep. Greg Harris was interviewed by the Windy City Times this week about the failure of the gay marriage bill. He offered up these thoughts about what should be next…
We need to understand how our opponents are attacking us, we have to address those attacks, and we have to shore up our friends who want to be with us
Those are reasonable and smart goals from somebody who understands what it takes to pass a bill.
* Andy Thayer, co-founder of Gay Liberation Network, has a different idea for how to approach legislators…
“It’s not a question of persuading them to do the right thing, it’s a question of forcing them to do the right thing. If you have thousands of people in the streets, that becomes an irresistible force.”
Sorry, but street protests are gonna have minimal impact on African-American and Latino legislators, moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats - the very people the proponents need to pass this thing.
I get the good cop, bad cop schtick, but I don’t think the bad cop part is gonna work, and it may just backfire.
On that Friday night when you stood up to announce the bill would not be called, there was a moment when people in the gallery started shouting at you to call the bill… The coalition leaders were sending text messages to people in the gallery, asking them to yell at you to call the bill.
Finger-pointing over a failed push to pass equal marriage in Illinois this spring has been abundant since May’s end, and LGBT activists are now eying the House’s top Democrat.
Activists will protest outside Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s district office Saturday, June 15, citing what they say was a failure to prioritize equal marriage this year.
The decision to target Madigan was made at a community meeting held in Uptown June 11. More than 50 people attending the gathering, held at the Peoples Church of Chicago. No elected officials attended. […]
Among the most critical of Madigan was Gay Liberation Network co-founder Andy Thayer, who stated that the speaker needed “to whip his own damn caucus into line.”
State Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican, says he expects that his support for same-sex marriage this year means he’ll face his first primary race in 2014 since he first ran in 2002.
He was not shy about how he thinks that’ll go.
“You’d better be prepared for a battle,” Sullivan said.
He’s unsure who his opponent will be, and I’ve reached out to a couple possibilities to try to find out. Sullivan’s support of same-sex marriage puts him at odds with most of his party and has drawn some high-profile criticism. He hasn’t relented, though.
“If our party ever wants to get out of the 1950s, we need a bigger tent,” Sullivan said.
Republican Bob Schillerstrom on Wednesday announced that he has formed a Committee of 50 Party and business leaders from throughout the state to explore his candidacy for State Treasurer.
Schillerstrom said he can best contribute to the state through the fiscal office, using his executive experience to maximize investments and keep spending flat. As County Board Chairman, Schillerstrom consistently delivered balanced budgets and cut property taxes while maintaining a AAA bond rating.
More information on the campaign is available at bob4illinois.com. Schillerstrom announced the following leaders have agreed to serve on his Exploratory Committee:
• Dennis Hastert; Former United States Speaker of the House
• Jim Ryan; Former Attorney General of Illinois
• Louie Rathje; Former Illinois Supreme Court Justice
• Ron Gidwitz; President of GCG Partners
• Ty Fahner; President of the Civic Committee and former Illinois Attorney General
• Greg Baise; President of Illinois Manufacturing Association
• David Vite; President of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association
• Skip Saviano; Former State Representative, Mayor of Elmwood Park and Illinois GOP State Central Committee Member
• Michael Connelly; State Senator for the 21st District and Lisle Township GOP Chairman
• Pam Althoff; State Senator for the 32nd District
• John Milner; Former State Senator
• Darlene Senger; State Representative for the 41st District
• Kay Hatcher; State Representative for the 50th District
• Ron Sandack; State Representative for the 88th District
• Mike Tryon; State Representative for the 66th District and McHenry County GOP Chairman
• Bob Pritchard; State Representative for the 70th District
• Lee Daniels; Former Illinois Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Randy Ramey; Former State Representative and Wayne Township GOP Chairman
• Peter Silvestri; Cook County Commissioner: 9th District
• Chris Lauzen; Kane County Board Chairman and former State Senator
• John Hoscheit; Kane County Forest Preserve President
• Scott Christansen; Winnebago County Board Chairman
• Dave Stohlman; Lake County Board Member and Former Lake County Board Chairman
• Jim Moustis; Will County Board Chairman
• Steve Balich; Will County Board Member: District 7 and Tea Party Leader
• Mike Fricilone Will County Board Member: District 7
• Suzanne Hart; Will County Board Member: District 11
• Ethan Hastert; Elburn Village Trustee
• Angel Garcia; Chicago Young Republican Chairman and Illinois GOP State Central Committee Member
• Bobbie Peterson; Illinois GOP State Central Committee Member
• Bob Winchester; Illinois GOP State Central Committee Member
• Myron Neff; Southern Illinois Republican Leader
• Pat Fee; 2nd Vice President of Illinois Republican Federation of Women
• Chris Robling; Principal at Jayne Thompson & Associates LTD.
• Bob Vickery; LaSalle County Businessman and former University of Illinois Trustee
• Mark Aguilera; Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Illinois National Committeemen
• Lee Ann Goodson; Will County Board Member: District: District 5
• Jeff Wehrli; Kendall County Forest Preserve President and County Board Member District 2
• Ken Toftoy; Kendall County Coroner and former County GOP Chairman
• Jim Zay; DuPage County Board Member: District 6
• Tonia Khouri; DuPage County Board Member: District 5
• Michael Walters; Madison County Board Member: District 7
• Mike Burke; Livingston County Coroner
• George Pradel; Mayor of Naperville
• Al Adomite; Mayor of Troy
• Frank Soto; Mayor of Bensenville
• Eric Johnson; DeKalb Township Supervisor
• Rachael Osyrra; Naperville Township Supervisor and Naperville Township GOP Chair
• John Dabrowski; Bloomingdale Township GOP Chairman
• Ryan Stookey; Stookey Township Trustee
This isn’t just an exploratory committee. He’s in. Bet on it. And, for now at least, he looks like the favorite to win the GOP primary.
Election Day is still more than a year away, but Illinois Republican Bruce Rauner is already deploying a popular campaign weapon: the barn jacket.
Rauner released two television ads on Tuesday in his bid to become the next governor in the Prairie State. In “Back to Work,” the wealthy venture capitalist dons a barn jacket and declares, “I’m a citizen, not a politician.”
But Rauner is just the latest politician to deploy the barn jacket as a campaign fashion accessory in an effort to appeal to the common folk. As candidates budget their multimillion-dollar campaigns, $95 on a Men’s Sandstone Chore Coat by Carhartt may be the best investment they will ever make.
Former Sen. Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., may have the most famous use of the jacket during his 2010 special-election victory to take over the late-Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat. Brown’s adviser even suggested that the jacket hang in the Smithsonian next to the Spirit of St. Louis.
* Madigan still mulling challenge to Quinn: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told the Tribune he’ll seek a third term instead of running for attorney general. Dart had been talked about as a Democratic candidate if incumbent Lisa Madigan ran for governor. “I have multiple things on my plate right now I want to complete,” said Dart, who also passed on a run for mayor in 2011. “I’m more driven by getting things done. I’ll leave here when I’ve completed what I’m working on.”
* Mark Brown: Bill Daley a familiar face in one Illinois county — only 101 to go: Peickert said “it’s really hard to say whether the Daley name is a positive or a negative” in DuPage, home to state’s the largest Democratic vote outside Cook County. But Peickert put in a plug for Gov. Pat Quinn, who he said is “very well liked” in DuPage.
* Chuck Sweeny: Can Bill Daley fix what ails Springfield?: I know this about Daley — he is a good salesman who comes to a meeting prepared. I interviewed him at the White House in 1993 when he was Clinton’s NAFTA czar, working in the halls of Congress to pass the free trade pact among the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Former U.S. Rep. Johnson open to endorse in Davis-Harold primary: “Several of the candidates who are running for governor asked me to consider being their lieutenant governor,” she said. “Some people wanted me to run for attorney general. Some other people wanted me to run for United States Senate. I’m somebody who decides to run for an office because I believe in it and I believe in the district.”
If I read the statute correctly, Labor Day weekend may be a practical deadline to select a Lt Gov running mate and that is less than 90 days away…
10 ILCS 5/7-10
In the case of the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, a joint petition including one candidate for each of those offices must be filed.
10 ILCS 5/7-12
Sec. 7-12. All petitions for nomination shall be filed by mail or in person as follows:
(1) Where the nomination is to be made for a State, congressional, or judicial office, or for any office a nomination for which is made for a territorial division or district which comprises more than one county or is partly in one county and partly in another county or counties, then, except as otherwise provided in this Section, such petition for nomination shall be filed in the principal office of the State Board of Elections not more than 113 and not less than 106 days prior to the date of the primary
The primary is March 18, 2104. If I count correctly, 113 days before March 18, 2014 is November 26, 2013.
Petitions and signatures can be circulated starting 90 days before the first day for filing and that appears to be August 28, 2014.
Petitions MUST include the names of both the candidate for Governor and Lt Governor and I don’t think a petition sheet with Lt. Gov listed as “TBA” will be accepted as valid. Therefore, a Lt Gov choice must be finalized before nominating petitions can be circulated.
In other words, not only will we be seeing a whole lot of gubernatorial candidate announcements in the coming days and weeks, but, for the first time, those roll-outs will be followed soon after by running mate announcements.
And there’s plenty of suspicion that good buddies Madigan and Cullerton aren’t really at impasse, they’re just gaming everybody; failure, for some reason, suits them.
Yeah, they’ve deliberately tied up their most important employees and wasted thousands of staff hours for three solid years on a mere ploy.
Madigan convinced 20 of his own members to switch positions on pension reform and vote against the unions because he’s involved in this pointless game, see, and putting their careers at risk pales in comparison to the secret hustle he and his buddy Cullerton are conducting.
Madigan publicly insulted Cullerton last month, but that was just all part of the ruse, mind you. And Cullerton didn’t care at all when Madigan said his secret bestest buddy didn’t show leadership abilities because he’s in on the scam!
Mrs. Perkins and the 119 other female voters in Champaign owed their vote that day to the suffragists who campaigned for voting equality, and to 83 Illinois House members who voted 100 years ago this week — on June 11, 1913 — to give women a limited right to vote.
According to the bill that passed, they could vote for presidential electors but not in preferential presidential primaries. They could vote for University of Illinois trustees, but not for a county superintendent of schools. They could vote for county surveyor and collector, but not county judge or sheriff. They could vote for mayor or alderman, but not for state senator, state representative or congressman. […]
It would be another seven years before women in Illinois had the full right to vote. Congress passed the 19th Amendment on June 4, 1919, and Illinois was among the first states to ratify it (six days later). The 19th Amendment took effect in August 1920.
It’s also worth noting that total female turnout for the bond referendum which Ms. Perkins voted on was just 12 percent of the total, 120 out of 985. Nowadays, women vote in higher numbers than men, and have for decades.
* May is usually the busiest month on the blog because it’s the end of session. I checked the stats this morning and it turns out that this past May was by far the best ever.
“Unique visitors” shot up by 51 percent over the previous May. Those visitor numbers were also nearly double those for May, 2010.
Page views last month were 1.1 million higher than they were in May, 2012. And they were almost triple the page views of May, 2010.
Every other category obliterated prior May records.
* I’m not sure many people realize this, but after a very steep payment ramp the past several years, the state’s pension payment increases will slow down considerably starting in Fiscal Year 15, which begins a little over a year from now. From the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability…
The FY 14 certified contribution appropriation for the five retirement systems is a combined $6.8 billion. This is an increase of $965 million, or 16.4% compared to the current fiscal year. Under current law, estimated payments in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 are $7.0 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively. The FY 15 estimated payment is an increase of $200 million, or 3% over FY 14. The increase in FY 16 is an additional $204.7 million (3%).
Those are relatively manageable increases, as long as the income tax hike doesn’t start to go away.
* But don’t get your hopes up too high. From a different COGFA report, here’s the expected state pension funding payout chart for the next 30 years. Click the pic for a larger image…
