* Alton Telegraph editorial…

It’s ironic that the call for fiscal sensibility comes as a proposal in the Senate that would blast many Illinoisans with a blood-boiling increase in gasoline taxes.

Senate Bill 3279 would increase the per-gallon taxes on gasoline by 30 cents — to 60 cents — making it the highest motor fuel tax in the nation. There is even discussion that it should go even higher, to 85 cents a gallon for gasoline and almost $1 a gallon for diesel fuel.

It doesn’t stop there, though. The same Senate proposal calls for a 50 percent hike in vehicle registration fees. That yearly cost is $101 now but would jump to about $150 — although some talk has floated the idea of making the fee $578.

That all sounds well-informed until you search for SB3279 and see it’s a shell bill which has nothing whatsoever to do with the gas tax.

However, if you go back a couple of years, you’ll find a Senate Bill 3279 in the previous General Assembly which did all that. The bill was filed on February 19, 2016, never got a committee hearing and died when the 99th GA adjourned sine die in January of 2017.

Oops.

* Sun-Times…

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday portrayed Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a gun dealer licensing bill as the height of hypocrisy, but Rauner stood his ground in demanding a more “comprehensive” solution.

As he urged the Illinois General Assembly to override the governor’s veto, Emanuel ridiculed Rauner for vetoing the bill licensing state gun dealers on grounds it’s burdensome, yet imposing new regulations on catfish sales in restaurants. […]

After weekend talks with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, Emanuel believes the chances for an override may well come down to the votes of three DuPage Republicans, all of who are being challenged by women.

The mayor is hoping to enlist support from Cardinal Blase Cupich, perhaps by persuading the cardinal to go out to DuPage and lobby those three lawmakers. Cupich has already made one trip to Springfield.

It’s down to three suburban Republican votes? The bill fell seven votes shy of a veto-proof majority in the House. It only received 30 votes in the Senate - six votes shy of passage. So they flipped ten members?

I’m a bit dubious, but I suppose we’ll see. The Senate is journalizing the veto today, so the 15-day clock is now ticking.