Speaker Madigan, at a rare Statehouse press conference, just said that there is not sufficient support for an income or sales tax hike in his caucus.
38 indicated some support for an income tax hike and 10 for sales tax hike.
More support for closing loopholes than gaming, but not 60 votes. 50 for loopholes and 41 for gaming.
Madigan just completed a survey of his members.
***Update x1 [by Paul]***
The Speaker’s press conference just concluded. Full audio will be linked here shortly.
Here are a few additional quotes and highlights:
-QUOTE: “We told our members to think overnight about where they want to go on the budget.”
-QUOTE: “There is strong hope in our group that we can get our work done by the end of May.”
-QUOTE: “If the governor decides to call special sessions I will be in attendance.”
-QUOTE: “I am one vote. I try to work with 65 other people. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don’t.”
-Madigan will try to meet with the Governor tomorrow. He requested a meeting today, but Blagojevich was not available.
- He has been meeting with Sen. Jones; the two have had fruitful conversations. QUOTE: “We are both experienced leaders and know that we have to move forward.”
-Education (elementary and secondary) had the most interest from his caucus. Capitol was second.
-Madigan and Minority Leader Tom Cross have had conversations regarding gaming expansion specifically for the purposes of a capitol bill. He would not discuss the specifics of the possible expansion.
-Only 1 of his caucus members mentioned the sale of the lottery
-The Speaker had no comment on the possibility of a no-growth budget
***Update x2 [by Paul]***
Full audio of the Speaker’s press conference can be found at the House Democrats website HERE
***Update x3 [by Paul]***
Rich just spoke with Senator Meeks (a longtime tax swap advocate) who said that he is not giving up on anything.
***Update x4 [by Paul]***
Rich also talked to Rep. David Miller, the House sponsor of the tax swap. Rep. Miller said, “I will never give up.”
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Question of the day
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Do you think the Democrats ought to get behind at least a modest income tax increase, even at the risk of a long overtime fight with Gov. Blagojevich? Explain.
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Not enough
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
A new $500 million rate relief package propoed by Ameren and ComEd may look good on its face, but if you take a glance at the fine print, it’s not so earth-shattering.
Earlier in the 2007 spring legislative session, Ameren and ComEd put a combined $150 million rate-relief plan on the table.
Clayborne said the new proposal is “a little more front-loaded to deal with summer rates.” It also is contingent on the legislature not passing measures that would freeze electric rates or impose a tax on Exelon and other power generators, he said.
The Associated Press has a far better story that breaks it down…
Ameren customers would receive $130 million in aid this year and the remainder in 2008 and 2009, while ComEd customers would see $150 million this year, $130 million next year and $20 million in 2009.
The Tribune offers even more perspective…
By comparison, the utilities will generate about $2.5 billion per year in new revenues through the higher rates imposed after a decade-long rate freeze ended at the start of the year, lawmakers said.
The progress here is that utilities are starting to talk about offering rate relief past this year. But I seriously doubt it’s enough, as this quote clearly shows…
“Sure, it’s progress,” Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, said of the utility companies’ new proposal. “They’re upping their ante. But the question was asked to me: Is it enough? And my answer to that is: No, it’s not enough.”
Thoughts?
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Knock it off, please
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
This rent-a-minister thing is getting way, way out of hand. CORE, the ComEd front group, has had ministers advocating on the utility’s behalf for months, bringing them to Springfield for marches and rallies. The governor, who knows a good game when he sees it, has attempted to rally ministers to his health care cause. [Added: As a commenter notes below, Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan also has a bunch of ministers fronting for his 7 percent assessment cap proposal.]
And now the two sides in the ongoing dispute over how AT&T should get into the cable marketplace have trotted out their men and women of the cloth. Yesterday was just plain goofy…
The Rev. James Demus, at a rally to support cable TV legislation, tried to light his cable bill on fire.
But on a windy Tuesday morning at the downtown Thompson Center, he couldn’t get it to light. Eventually he held his bill below the podium until he could get a tiny flame going, and then held it up for the cameras. The wind promptly blew it out.
But Demus, co-director of the Ministerial Alliance Against the Digital Divide, still had plenty to say as he, several other black ministers and a dozen supporters called for passage of a cable deregulation bill that would give AT&T easier entry into the cable market.
“The Lord has given hope to Illinois consumers,” Demus said. “It is House Bill 1500.” […]
A different group of black ministers, working with a group called Keep TV Local, tried to rally opposition to the bill several weeks ago, saying the new bill allows new providers such as AT&T to ignore poorer communities.
[Emphasis added.]
Unreal. I doubt this works very well with legislators and just makes the ministers look like shills.
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More trouble for the guv
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As if the federal subpoena wasn’t bad enough, the governor dug his hole even deeper yesterday during an interview with the Associated Press.
The Democratic governor said work on a new state budget is stuck in “a waiting game” until Speaker Michael Madigan, a fellow Democrat, spells out what he and his members could support.
“Speaker Madigan’s been talking for days, running around putting together a counterproposal to what we’ve had on the table since March 7. I’m eager to see what his budget proposal is,” Blagojevich said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“I would only suggest to him that he get moving,” Blagojevich added. “The clock is ticking.”
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the speaker is working with other legislative leaders to craft a budget and will continue doing so. He said Blagojevich appears to be trying to take attention off his own plan by making Madigan the bad guy.
* This link has more quotes from the AP interview, where he takes yet another shot at legislators…
“It’s natural that a lot of the men and women who work down here in Springfield are going to feel a lot of pressure from all these different lobbyists who are hired by the big corporate interests. They see them every day here. … It’s hard for members of the Legislature to think about the big-picture issues when every single day they’re getting bombarded by these lobbyists.”
* The Tribune claims it rejected a sitdown with the governor because of onerous ground rules…
On Tuesday, Blagojevich offered a rare opportunity for news media interviews. The administration refused an interview request from a Tribune reporter who rejected the condition that the questions remain solely about the governor’s budget proposal.
* Meanwhile, it just gets worse for the guv. A radio ad by the state coppers which mentions Blagojevich’s name appears to be in blatant violation of a state law that the governor himself pushed through the General Assembly…
“Thanks to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Illinois State Police Internet crime unit, e-criminals will no longer be able to victimize Illinois citizens,” the ad’s narrator says.
Under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, approved by lawmakers in 2003, broadcast ads and public service announcements on behalf of any state-administered program cannot contain the name, image or voice of a statewide elected official or state legislator.
The ad was sponsored and paid for by the state police, an agency spokesman said.
* The Glengariff Group has a new poll on the governor’s job approval rating. It’s not great news…
Six months after a big re-election victory, Gov. Blagojevich is barely hanging on to a majority of voters at 50.6% who say they approve of the job he is doing. 42.1% of voters disapprove of his performance — and it is the ferocity of that disapproval that is surprising with more people ’strongly disapproving’ of his performance than those that ’strongly approve’.
22.8% Strongly Approve
27.8% Somewhat Approve1
14.8% Somewhat Disapprove
27.3% Strongly Disapprove […]
Blagojevich’s 50% approval is being driven by an 81% job approval among African American voters — higher than he ever polled among that constituency during the month of October 2006. And the City of Chicago gives him a 75% job approval rating — again, driven by African American voters.
Crosstabs can be found at this link.
* And this brief note near the bottom of a story on gas prices illustrates how tough it will be to pass any revenue enhancer this spring…
Lawmakers appear more focused on higher power bills rather than gas prices. But attempts to raise taxes on Illinoisans could be dampened because they’re already feeling the hurt of higher energy prices.
“Until people can fill their cars to get to work and heat their homes, they’re not concerned about healthcare or anything else,” Mautino said.
* More tax and spend updates from Paul…
* Bethany Carson: Something’s brewing
* Carol Marin: Gov must deal on healthcare, school funding
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Morning Shorts
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* As Illinois drug policy changes, incarceration soars
* Trib’s troubles: 54 newsroom staffers want to take buyout
* Spontaneous Solutions: Spring gas panic hits late this year
* Questions dog Birkett on lawyer’s fate
* Life in limbo: Fate of Illinois death penalty
With the first commission disbanded, the legislature authorized creation of the Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee, a group that will evaluate the success of implementing the proposed improvements. A final report is due to the General Assembly by late 2008.
* AGs office admits possible conflict
* Illinois lawmakers oppose Real ID
* Senate approves bill to protect pets in domestic abuse cases
* Illinois bill calls for web data of sex offenders
* Editorial: Buckle up, be caring is the message
Now, the seat belt use compliance rate is very good in Illinois. Eighty percent of drivers in the state are regularly buckling up — a far cry from the 16 percent in 1985 who were using seat belts.
* Editorial: The un-marriage bill
* Bills on autism, Peoria airport pass in House
* Cars would need to give bikers 3 foot buffer
* State aide to vets quits in disgrace
* Michelle Obama leaves TreeHouse Board
* RTA fare card among victims of budget ax
* RTA warns of more cuts…again
* RTA to defer $7.5 million in spending
* Tribune Editorial: The CTA’s self-help strategy
* CPS changes school closings
* Stroger gives campaign worker $85,000 job
* Ald. Colon must pay for park district inaugural party
* Ald. Austin gets Budget committee chair post once held by husband
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Guv’s campaign fund subpoenaed
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
This has been the rumor for days, but the Tribune was apparently able to confirm it.
Some notes of caution, however. Subpoenas can sometimes be routine matters. Also, an investigation is not a conviction.
Obviously, the timing of this revelation can’t be good for the governor, considering that we have eight days left in the scheduled session. The governor will likely just press ahead as he always has, claim he did nothing wrong, say he has helped uncover wrongdoing, etc., etc., etc. Still, he’s been undercut at a very crucial moment.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records from Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund as part of a sweeping corruption investigation into whether top aides and advisers exchanged state business and jobs for political support, the Tribune has learned.
The recent move is the first public indication that political financial records belonging to the governor are being sought. Sources describe the subpoena as the latest step in an ongoing investigation that has focused on major players in the record-breaking fundraising effort that propelled Blagojevich to consecutive terms. […]
The governor’s office had no comment when asked about the subpoena late last week, referring questions to the campaign. A spokesman for Blagojevich’s campaign did not return repeated phone calls Tuesday seeking comment on the subpoena but in previous days said, “We do not comment on these matters.”
Details about what records were being sought were not immediately known. But three law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said the subpoena for documents was issued in recent days and is a noteworthy signal that the federal probe is active and ongoing.
Comment ground rules: No names allowed. Don’t pass along rumors of what you think you know about this. If you have a news tip, contact myself or some other reporter. You’ll face permanent banishment if you violate these ground rules.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The Daily Herald has a piece today about tax breaks…
For the 2005 budget year - the most recent available, which covered the last half of 2004 and the first half of 2005 - myriad tax breaks enacted over the years reduced the state’s cash flow nearly $6.6 billion.
But some of those breaks go to individual taxpayers, not big corporations…
For instance, the single largest tax break is the nearly $1.3 billion the state doesn’t get from the collective grocery and medical shopping tab of Illinois residents [on the sales tax]. […]
Similarly, the state income tax is not applied to retirement income - whether from an IRA, pension or Social Security. If it were, there’d be nearly $828 million more for the state to spend each year.
Question: Would you support ending either of these two exemptions? Why or why not?
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Gas prices hit home
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The Tribune story on record high gas prices contains the usual estimate that driving will increase anyway…
Despite high prices, observers say Americans will drive more on vacation this year than last, meaning demand for gasoline will stay strong. According to estimates by the AAA, 38 million people will hit the road this weekend, up about 1.7 percent from last year.
But this part is just as important…
The auto club said people on vacation typically compensate for higher gas prices by eating out less often and practicing other economies. They don’t stop traveling.
And this is somewhat misleading because it ignores a critical sector of the populace…
Lynne Kiesling, a senior lecturer at Northwestern University’s department of economics, said that although gasoline is as expensive as any time in history, the burden for many families is less.
“Household incomes are higher” than in the past, Kiesling said. She said the share of income spent on gasoline is lower now than a generation ago.
And while quite comprehensive, the article somehow misses this tidbit…
…the U.S. Department of Transportation says drivers actually logged fewer miles than usual over the last three months.
* The Glengariff Group just finished a statewide poll on gasoline prices…
52% of Illinois resident said they had to postpone spending on other purchases they wanted to make, while 46% said they did not. More than half of Illinois residents have changed their spending patterns based on this latest surge in gas prices.
But most importantly, take a look at this…
Hardest hit appear to be minority communities with 76% of Hispanic residents altering their spending habits and 61% of African American resident altering their spending habits.
Has the price at the pump impacted your wallet yet?
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* This is always the best route to take when faced with bad press. Not…
What’s the biggest challenge facing Cook County right now? The $500 million budget deficit? Layoffs and cutbacks? Management of the county juvenile detention center?
Nope. Board President Todd Stroger said Monday it is the media.
“The biggest challenge probably has been working through the bad press,” Stroger said in discussing his first months in office. He spoke and took questions during the Cook County League of Women Voters’ annual meeting. […]
“The commissioners — they’d work much better with me if they couldn’t read,” Stroger said. “Because then we’d sit down and talk about the issues. — But since there’s so much where the press says, ‘Well, Stroger should’ve done this, he should’ve done that, Stroger did that, Stroger’s got an elevator.’
“So now (commissioners) are afraid to make a move because they’ll be looked at as working with the bad guy.”
* And while Mayor Daley and his wife sat for some TV interviews yesterday, print and radio reporters were snubbed…
But amid a day carefully designed to showcase the mayor’s success, there was no time scheduled for the newspaper reporters and radio journalists who are stationed in the City Hall press room and cover him on a daily basis.
Daley also did not hold a question-and-answer session open to all reporters, as he does about three times a week.
* Meanwhile, it looks like Ald. Sandi Jackson was a big hit yesterday with reporters. This CBS2 story is just one example…
The south lakefront’s Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) is the most closely watched of the nine freshmen aldermen. Her husband, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., has already served notice that he may run for mayor in 2011. He had to skip Monday’s parties and fly to Capitol Hill immediately after his wife was sworn in.
* Sun-Times…
Monday was inauguration day at City Hall, but it might as well have been called “Tre’s Day.”
That’s how much 3-year-old Jesse Jackson III — known to his parents as “Tre” (pronouned Tray) — appeared to enjoy the ceremony that saw his mom, Sandi Jackson, sworn in as 7th Ward alderman.
* Tribune…
Later in the day, Sandi Jackson held another, “community swearing-in” at the Rainbow Beach fieldhouse. Greg Mathis, star of the nationally syndicated TV show “Judge Mathis,” presided at that event in the new alderman’s South Side ward.
* Brown…
Even the star of the freshman class, Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th), was trying to blend in as best she could with her husband, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., sitting behind her during the inauguration ceremony and conducting his own interviews.
“I’m going to roll up my sleeves and do all the hard work,” she promised.
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