Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

’til time shall be no more

Comments Off

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Department of Employment Security has been trying very hard to put the best spin on Illinois’ economic picture for months. Let’s start with IDES’ press release announcing the September, 2012 jobs report, which was not great compared to the national numbers, but still good for Illinois…

Illinois Adds 13,800 Jobs and Rate Falls to 8.8 Percent
Rate Drops for 10th time in 13 Months

CHICAGO – Illinois added +13,800 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell for the 10th time in the past 13 months to reach 8.8 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The data is seasonally adjusted.

“Today’s news is encouraging because it reinforces the trend of continued job growth,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “What we don’t know is how federal decisions regarding the fiscal cliff will impact Illinois’ economy.”

* The unemployment rate stopped falling in October of last year, but IDES trumpeted the new jobs added…

Illinois Adds 4,800 Jobs and Rate Holds at 8.8 Percent

CHICAGO – Illinois added +4,800 jobs in October and the unemployment rate held at 8.8 percent for the second consecutive month, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The data is seasonally adjusted. One year ago, the October unemployment rate was 10 percent.

“Job growth and an unemployment rate significantly lower than one year ago shows steady economic progress,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “Our eyes now turn toward Congress. Decisions must be made regarding the fiscal cliff so that Illinois’ economy can continue to recover.”

* November’s unemployment rate clicked back down again…

Illinois Adds 16,400 Jobs and Rate Falls to 8.7 Percent
November Monthly Job Gain Largest of the Year

CHICAGO – Illinois added +16,400 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 8.7 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The data is seasonally adjusted. One year ago, the November unemployment rate was 9.8 percent.

“November’s job growth is encouraging because it reinforces the trend of positive economic momentum,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said “The most immediate threat to that momentum is the fiscal cliff. If Congress does not work together to craft a solution, our economic progress will slow and we will risk another recession.”

* December’s unemployment rate held steady, despite a payroll decrease of 7,600. But it was a good month, according to IDES…

December Unemployment Unchanged at 8.7 Percent
Private Sector Job Growth Up 167,000 During the Recovery

CHICAGO – The December 2012 unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.7 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The data is seasonally adjusted. One year ago, the December rate was 9.7 percent. Total payrolls decreased -7,600 in December 2012, nearly one-third of which were temporary layoffs with return-to-work dates in January, 2013.

“Illinois’ long-term trend is that of moderate growth punctuated by monthly up-and-down movement in the unemployment rate and the number of people working,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “This positive trend still is threatened by Congress and its continuing deliberations on the debt ceiling and the fiscal cliff.”

* The unemployment rate rose in January, but that was good news because more people were returning to their job searches, IDES told us…

January Unemployment Rate at 9.0 Percent
Private Sector Growth Up 222,100 During Recovery

CHICAGO – More people resuming their job search and entering the workforce pushed the January 2013 unemployment rate to 9.0 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The data is seasonally adjusted. One year ago, the rate was 9.1 percent. Employers added 7,100 jobs in January 2013.

“An economic recovery naturally includes monthly up-and-down movement in the unemployment rate as individuals suspend and renew their job search,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “As cuts from sequestration are implemented during the next few months, we will have a better idea on how federal fiscal policy will impact Illinois.”

* The unemployment rate zoomed up to 9.5 percent in February, but that was no big deal either because the state’s employers added thousands of jobs…

Illinois Adds 12,400 Jobs in February
Job Growth Encourages More People to Look for Work

CHICAGO – Illinois added 12,400 jobs in February, continuing a three-year pattern of job growth that has intensified in the past seven months. Job growth has encouraged more people to look for work, especially those who gave up during the recession. Their re-entry into the labor force pushed the February unemployment rate to 9.5 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Data is seasonally adjusted.

“This is the counter-intuitive part of an economic recovery. If job creation is picking up, how can unemployment be picking up as well?” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “Job growth gives workers who previously gave up their job search hope that they, too, will be hired. As such, they re-energize their work search, jump back into the labor force and push up the unemployment rate.”

* March had more bad news, wiping out all of February’s job gains plus most of January’s. And the unemployment rate held steady. No matter, we’re better off than we were last year…

March Unemployment Rate Holds at 9.5 Percent
Job Growth Up Over Year Yet Down Over Month

CHICAGO – The March unemployment rate was 9.5 percent, unchanged from February, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). As expected, Illinois recorded -17,800 fewer jobs compared to February even as it added +36,600 over March 2012. The data is seasonally adjusted.

“Illinois employers were expected to report fewer positions in March. Economic uncertainty nationally and abroad dampened our country’s job growth. When that happens, Illinois’ share tends to be a negative number,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “Monthly snapshots capture a moment in time. When those moments are evaluated together, we see progress away from a global recession and through a stubborn economic growth cycle marked by volatile swings in monthly data here and across our country.”

Discuss.

22 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Concealed carry “big board” photo; Fundraiser list; Statehouse roundup

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

Question of the day

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NBC5 has an Illinois flooding live blog. Go check it out.

A photo posted on that blog is called “Can’t beat it, join it in Oswego”…

Could this be a photo of the mysterious commenter Oswego Willy? Inquiring minds want to know!

* The Question: Caption?

89 Comments

Not enough

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* If passed, this would be a long overdue change, but it doesn’t get to the root of the problem…

Incumbents are one step closer to losing the power to kick opponents off suburban ballots after a proposal cleared an initial hurdle in the Illinois Senate.

The measure would abolish the controversial, 120-year-old system of local election panels that critics say allows a suburb’s incumbent politicians to unfairly settle an election by clearing the ballot of rivals on technicalities.

After years of inaction in the General Assembly, a state Senate committee voted 11-2 Wednesday to move the measure to the floor.

The vote came a month after a Tribune investigation found the system riddled with conflicts of interest and questionable rulings that led to fewer choices for tens of thousands of suburban voters.

The Tribune found that at least 200 municipal candidates faced ballot-access objections this year, most of them alleging paperwork errors in candidate petition filings. With the panels, local incumbents get to rule on whether those infractions warrant kicking candidates off the ballot for thousands of municipal, township, school board and community college offices.

Of the 76 candidates removed from the ballot this year by panels, the Tribune found that most fell at the hands of panels stacked with members who had a political stake in the decisions.

What’s really needed, however, is some clear and precise legislative clarifications about what, exactly should disqualify ballot petitions. Too much interpretation is left to local boards and the courts, and we wind up with wildly conflicting rules.

* For example, in some areas, using paperclips to fasten petitions sheets together will disqualify petitions. In other areas, paperclips are fine.

This stuff happens all the time and it’s just plain goofy. All it’s doing is making money for lawyers.

Legislators love the ambiguities for obvious reasons - they generally have the money to keep themselves out of trouble and on the ballot. Their opponents often don’t.

Handing this responsibility over to county panels won’t be nearly enough. We need better regulations.

* And it’s not just petitions. In some counties, if you withdraw from a campaign after the ballot printing deadline, votes for you won’t be counted. In other counties, those votes are counted.

Legislators and/or the State Board of Elections need to step up here.

23 Comments

Big NRA defeat in IL House

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune…

The Illinois House defeated a concealed weapons proposal favored by gun rights advocates Thursday night, a rejection that could spur negotiations toward finding common ground with lawmakers who want more restrictions.

The legislation represented a signature showdown in the critical gun debate that is in the spotlight this spring because a federal appeals court has set an early June deadline for Illinois to put in place a law allowing concealed weapons to be carried in public.

The proposal debated Thursday would have allowed guns on mass transit buses and trains but not in taverns, schools, casinos, stadiums, child care facilities, universities and government buildings, including courthouses, police stations and the Capitol.

Rep. Brandon Phelps, the legislature’s leading concealed carry advocate, challenged his colleagues to vote for what he viewed as reasonable parameters on where people could carry guns in public, who is allowed to carry, who decides whether a person is eligible and how much training should be required.

* This was a major defeat for the NRA…

Thursday’s outcome represented a setback for gun-rights advocates because the vote total in support actually was less than during two previous tries. In May 2011, an earlier version also needing 71 votes to pass the House failed by a 65-32 vote. And in February, during a test vote, another version drew a 67-48 roll call.

The vote follows Wednesday’s defeat of a concealed-carry bill drafted by gun-control advocates and sponsored by Cassidy that would have made it far more difficult for gun owners to get concealed-carry permits . Patterned after a restrictive New York concealed-carry law upheld this week by the U.S. Supreme Court, Cassidy’s legislation failed by a 31-76 vote in the House, with six voting present. [Emphasis added.]

* So, it’s either back to the bargaining table or the NRA will decide to wait things out and let the appellate court knock down Illinois’ UUW laws come June 9th. The NRA’s Todd Vandermyde spoke to reporters last night. Here’s the transcript via the Sun-Times’ Zach Buchheit…

Q: What’s the next step?
A: “I don’t know. Right now, we’re going to have to step back and see what the roll call looked like. We had more people telling us that they were inclined to vote for this version with some changes that there were. Obviously, we made movements, and I don’t know what else to say.”

Q: What else can you give?
A: “We’re going to stick to ’shall issue.’ We’re going to stick to the preemption clause. Chicago’s not going to get their own permitting system. You know, I don’t know. I guess there are enough people that think they’re not going to vote for anything and that the best thing to do is to go over the cliff.”

“A lot of us were drug kicking and screaming to some of the changes, but the object was to pass a bill. And it was to pass a good bill. And so we made an end run at it, but it seems no matter how far we negotiate and we move, it never seems to be enough for certain people. So I’m not sure if there’s much left for us to talk about. We’ve proved that we can kill a bad bill, and if the Senate offers up bad language, we’ll do the same thing we did here in the House. We’ll kill it because I don’t think it does Rep. Phelps or any other hardcore supporter to go back home saying that they got a quarter of a loaf instead of a whole loaf.”

Q: What happens on June 9?
A: “If nothing happens, the likelihood is that we’re going to have a court injunction. And if you’ve got a valid FOID card, you’re going to be able to carry a firearm in this state. The court won’t write a carry law. They have a very specific purpose, and that is to find the UUW statute in the state of Illinois unconstitutional and issue an injunction against the state’s enforcement of that law. That’s the court’s role in this. Then you might see some municipalities try to do their own thing but they are likely to face the same hurdles that the state has.”

* Most legislators love nothing more than kicking the can down the road. I’m not sure that many of the anti-gun types have yet fully come to the realization what could happen on June 9th…

Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood) took that point a step farther, predicting the bill would worsen violent crime in the city and across the state.

“I just think this is going way too far, way too far. And I hate to say it, but I think this will actually get worse in our state before it gets better,” he said.

Nowhere has it been shown that violent crime increases after concealed carry laws are passed. I wish opponents would start arguing facts instead of emotion here. The liberals are guilty of doing precisely what they constantly accuse conservatives of doing on things like climate change.

* And I also wish the proponents would stop with the ridiculously over the top rhetoric…

“Chicago’s not an island. It’s only an island because it’s been a terrible, crime-ridden, gang-banging city for so long,” said state Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill.

* Meanwhile…

The House rejected a measure that would have required the state’s pension systems to refrain from investing in gun-manufacturing companies. The bill failed 46-69.

That’s pretty much where the gun votes are right now. Both sides have enough votes to block what the other side wants. So, either we’ll get a negotiated solution, or it’ll stalemate. It’s likely that the Democratic leaders will try to ram something through that neither side will love. We’ll see.

100 Comments

Raoul wants ISPs to help police crack down on “flash mobs”

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a press release…

State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-13th) has introduced legislation cracking down on violent “flash mobs” and requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to cooperate with law enforcement to help track down instigators. In recent incidents in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and in the Loop, large groups of young people shoplifted from retailers and assaulted and robbed passersby. Social networking websites such as Twitter allowed them to coordinate their efforts.

“The ability to coordinate a mob action online gives criminals two key advantages: surprise and large numbers,” Raoul said. “State law can support police efforts by helping them use one of the criminals’ tools — social media — against them.”

Senate Bill 1005 would require ISPs to provide identifying information, including the location from which a tweet or other message was sent, to law enforcement once they show probable cause to believe a mob action has been or is being facilitated via the Internet. ISPs could be fined for failure to comply.

Raoul’s measure also would allow a judge to impose an extended sentence for offenses related to criminal mob activity if the perpetrator used electronic communications to organize the mob.

“Criminal flash mobs discourage tourism and create an environment of fear and uncertainty for businesses,” said Marc Gordon, president of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association. “Our hotel members and their guests will sleep easier knowing these criminal acts can be detected and deterred in the planning stage.”

The full text of Raoul’s proposal is here.

Thoughts on this bill?

24 Comments

Today’s letter

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) is a gun control proponent and sponsored Wednesday’s restrictive concealed carry amendment that received just 31 votes. I was chatting with Cassidy yesterday because Capitol Fax was mentioned during debate Wednesday and we talked about the mail she’s been getting about the issue.

As you might imagine, some of them have been pretty darned harsh. I asked her to send me a sample. Here’s one. Click the pics for larger images…

So, the moron claims Adolph Hitler is a “mentor” of a Jewish state legislator. Idiot.

You pro-gun people need to get your compatriots in check. End of story.

79 Comments

*** LIVE *** SESSION COVERAGE

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Senate adjourned for the weekend yesterday so members could go home and deal with flooding issues. Blackberry users click here…

3 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

Boston updates

Friday, Apr 19, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A bizarre night in the Boston area as one of the bombing suspects is shot dead in a firefight with police. The other suspect is reportedly still at large. Progress Illinois was live-blogging the craziness last night. Go check it out if you’re not up to speed. NBC also has a good roundup.

Blackberry users click here…

21 Comments

« NEWER POSTS