28 Comments - Ok - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 8:38 am: No idea, but I am ready for some silky sonic sounds. - Give Me A Break - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 8:44 am: The important event tonight is Georgia/TCU. - Donnie Elgin - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 8:57 am: Senate Committee hearing witness slips on gun control Amendments HB 4664 and HB 5471 are 57 proponents and 6921 opponents. - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 9:05 am: ===witness slips=== It used to be, you’d have to swear that it was you filing those slips under penalty of perjury. That is no longer the case and witness slips are so unreliable that they just don’t matter much any longer. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 9:08 am: - Donnie Elgin - “My tweet has 6,000 likes” It’s not a measure of actuality, it’s a measure of the momentary engaged. Poling on gun control isn’t trending towards “less” - Rabid - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 9:15 am: Durkin wants his replacement selected not elected - Torco Sign - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 9:28 am: Bruno Mars would be fitting. Joe Biden had Fall Out Boy perform for him. There’s a very famous picture of Pete Wentz with a pre-fame Bruno Mars in the background looking on amazed. You could say JB Pritzker is the Bruno Mars to Joe Biden’s Fall Out Boy. - JS Mill - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 9:39 am: =57 proponents and 6921 opponents.= Even if those numbers mattered, CAVE people (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) are always going to be more vocal that proponents. You see, it is easier to tear things down than to build them up. - fs - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 9:45 am: I’ve had more than one somewhat reliable source tell me it is The Boss. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. - Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 10:02 am: After the raises were added to the BIMP bill Friday night, hopefully AFSCME and the other unions could request similar salary increases for state employees in their upcoming negotations. - Amalia - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 10:10 am: oh wow, if it’s Bruno Mars I’m sorry I decided not to go. - JS Mill - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 10:15 am: =hopefully AFSCME and the other unions could request similar salary increases for state employees in their upcoming negotations.= They can, that is why it is called a negotiation. It also means the state does not have to agree. Again, negotiation. - Lurker - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 10:45 am: Lovie fired for winning. - 10th Avenue - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 11:26 am: What about the Bruce rumor? - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 11:32 am: ===What about the Bruce rumor? === lol It’s not even a rumor. I know a few people who made it up to see if anyone would report it - Candy Dogood - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 11:55 am: Is Durkin planning on taking pay for the entire month of January as a legislator? I seem to recall there being a ruckus about that a couple of years ago. - Pundent - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:08 pm: I haven’t been a fan of Leader Durkin over these last few years’. I would have liked to see him take a more principled position with the Eastern Bloc given the consequences that it has meant for the GOP at the statewide level. But I will say that the comments from the so called “Freedom Caucus” are some of the most classless I’ve ever seen. And it only serves to remind us how truly lost the ILGOP is these days. - Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:08 pm: Surprised that none of the Springfield TV stations is carrying the Governor’s inauguration live. Not even either PBS (WSEC or WILL). At least none of the “.1″ main channels, haven’t checked any the subs. Apparently Fox 55 Springfield thinks today’s Jerry Springer installment, “Hexes and Exes” is more important than a historic moment in the Capitol City that happens every 4 years. - Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:10 pm: Bears have the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. In McCaskeyland that apparently means “Woo Hoo, we’re Super Bowl champs.” - Anon221 - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:10 pm: Witness slips can be misused… no doubt. However, that can happen in both directions with how the process of bills plays out. For HB4412, Senate Amendment 1, wasn’t debated until 12:12 am on January 6, 2023 (and then only for about 6 minutes). The hearing that amended bill was in started at 10:30 pm after a waiver of notification request from a member of the Senate. That gave the general public a very narrow window to submit a witness slip (until midnight)- regardless of what side you were on. The next day there was a Subject Matter hearing and more notice and time for the public to contribute their voices… if only by witness slips. And, for both those times, I did not see any abuse of the process by either proponents or opponents in registering their slips. Slip numbers are cited during hearings, and can have an affect on outcomes in some cases. If nothing else, make legislators aware that there are differences of support when they may have only heard from one side of a debate… or possibly nothing at all. - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:18 pm: ===Slip numbers are cited during hearings, and can have an affect on outcomes in some cases=== Not often in the past few years that I’ve seen. - Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:46 pm: Re: inauguration performers… I saw Blue Oyster Cult at the Armory on 1/10/77 the day that Jim Thompson took office. Not officially related to the inauguration, but I’ve always connected the two events. Really good show. Bob Seger opened. Good to see that Pritzker came up with some funds to rehab the old place. - Anon221 - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 12:47 pm: Rich Miller- =Not often in the past few years that I’ve seen.= Perhaps not, but legislators, including Cunningham in his floor speech last night, may use them to sway colleagues. Funny thing is, he failed to mention all the opponents who vastly outnumbered the proponents of HB4412 who had filed witness slips for the Subject Matter hearing. It took time to finally figure out where the counties code language had been placed (in a Telehealth bill from 2021 dealing with Athletic Trainers) AND where to file a witness slip for the Subject Matter hearing. It’s these kind of shenanigans that limit public participation in the legislative process. It may seem amusing to some, but it’s an erosion of the democratic processes that should make our form of government work for the people not the politicians or industry. - Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 1:39 pm: ===witness slips=== Like I said… - Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 2:01 pm: ==Re: inauguration performers… I saw Blue Oyster Cult at the Armory on 1/10/77 the day that Jim Thompson took office. == Willie Nelson wasn’t available that day? Wow. (Although at the time of JRT’s first inaugural he was just himself entering the country superstardom which happened to coincide with the Thompson administration). - Anon221 - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 2:02 pm: Rich Miller- My experience with witness slips hasn’t been that dark:) - Pundent - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 2:14 pm: =Witness slips can be misused… no doubt.= When they move poll numbers on an assault weapons ban, or translate to votes on election day, then I’d continue to treat them with the generous grain of salt they deserve. - Leslie K - Monday, Jan 9, 23 @ 11:11 pm: ===Even if those numbers mattered, CAVE people (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) are always going to be more vocal that proponents.=== I’m sorry if I’m late to the party on this term, but I’m totally going to use it going forward. So spot on. And kudos to the Bruno Mars camp. Was undoubtedly a great jam Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.