* 11:57 am - Sen. James Meeks said this morning that he intends to vote “No” on the civil unions bill when it comes up for a vote today.
This isn’t much of a surprise since Meeks’ record hasn’t exactly been pro-gay. But there had been some speculation that he might change his mind now that he’s running for mayor of Chicago. But Meeks said if he voted for the bill he’d be deemed a flip-flopper who was pandering for votes ahead of the mayoral election and he planned to stick to his principles.
Of course, the other side is it could be darned tough getting elected in Chicago with that “No” vote on his record.
* You can use this post to discuss the Senate’s civil unions debate, which ought to be soon. Watch or listen here.
• UPDATE: GOP Sen Dan Rutherford just announced that he would vote for the bill. Rutherford was just elected state treasurer.
• UPDATE: The bill passed 32-24 with Sen Ira Silverstein voting Present.
• UPDATE: Sen. Rutherford was the only Republican to vote for the bill.
A notary public says her signature was forged on 400-plus nominating petition sheets filed by Chicago mayoral hopefuls Rob Halpin and James Meeks — a development that raises new questions for the supposedly rival candidates.
A signature and notary seal for Maricela Rodriguez appear on more than 25 percent of Halpin’s 1,185 petitions, including 266 circulated by a homeless sex offender, Arthur J. Hardy Jr.
Hardy also circulated 316 petitions for Meeks. Rodriguez isn’t listed as notarizing any of those sheets, but she does appear as the notary for 97 of the 4,691 petitions Meeks submitted to Chicago elections officials.
Despite that, Rodriguez, a district manager for a currency-exchange company, says she didn’t notarize any petitions for Halpin or Meeks.
So, to sum up, the implied allegation here is that Meeks and Halpin hired a homeless sex offender to gather petitions, who then allegedly forged a notary’s seal on the petitions he gathered for Halpin, but not for Meeks. However, somebody else allegedly forged that same notary’s seal on some other Meeks petitions.
Mr. Meeks says he believes the gatherer, Arthur Hardy Jr., effectively worked as a subcontractor for someone else whom his campaign had hired at the end of his petition drive to collect signatures on his nominating petitions.
Mr. Meeks says he does not know the name of that person but adds, “There was no coordination at all with Halpin. I don’t know him. I never met him.”
This may be the fault of the person who was hired by the campaign who also hired Hardy. It would be helpful if we knew who that was.
* As I’ve said before, Rahm Emanuel may or may not have a solid residency case, but this might all come down to the judge he draws…
‘Rahm Emanuel may be the 800-pound gorilla in the mayor’s race,” said a savvy politico who phoned the other day, “but remember that Ed Burke is the 800-pound gorilla when it comes who gets to be a judge in this town. Keep your eye on the Daley Center.” […]
What my politico caller was asking was whether a judge blessed by Burke would be brave enough to rule strictly on the merits of the case, wherever that ruling might go.
Everybody knows Burke cannot stand Rahm Emanuel and is instead backing former schools and City Colleges chairman Gery Chico.
But another politico I called, one equally well steeped in Chicago politics, laughed at the notion that a ruling on Rahm Emanuel’s residency might depend on whether a judge felt beholden.
“Once a judge gets to the bench,” he told me somewhat ruefully, “they forget everybody.” It wasn’t a compliment.
Despite the politics involved in picking our judges, there are some excellent people on the bench in Cook County.
Then again, there are some utterly incompetent ones as well.
* Related…
* Sandi Jackson runs for re-election as alderman, not city clerk
* Those who worry about lame ducks getting too far out of control should look at the medical marijuana bill, which came up way short yesterday afternoon in the House. The bill needed 60 votes, but when all was said and done it got 53…
After nearly two hours of sometimes passionate debate, the measure fell just a handful of votes short of the 60 needed to advance to the Senate, which must approve changes made in the House before it can go to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
Under the legislation, certain patients could obtain medical-grade marijuana from state-regulated dealers for use in their homes.
Patients would have to receive permission from a physician to apply for a license. The Illinois Department of Public Health would then authorize the person to obtain three marijuana plants per month.
All of you know where I stand on this issue. I’m not sure this is the greatest bill in the world, however. Three plants per month seems a bit much. Not that I would know anything about that, of course.
* And then there was the death penalty abolition bill, which wasn’t called for a floor vote yesterday for lack of support…
A House committee [yesterday] morning voted to abolish the state’s death penalty, after a contentious debate, with critics alleging the bill was being rushed through the Legislature for political reasons.
The measure could come to a House floor vote as early as [yesterday] afternoon. “I’m still counting votes. [Monday] night we had 58,'’ said the sponsor, state Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Broadview. It needs 60 for House passage, and then would move to the Senate.
The House is losing some members today, so it’s fate, as they say, remains uncertain.
* Some other big stuff did pass, however. The Tenaska folks won the House round, but they have a tough fight ahead in the Senate…
The $3.5-billion “clean coal” power plant that has been the subject of a fierce lobbying war in Springfield between labor and business interests was approved on a second vote late Tuesday in the Illinois state House of Representatives.
The bill, which would require Illinois ratepayers and business users of electricity to purchase the Downstate Taylorville power plant’s output for 30 years, initially was narrowly defeated Tuesday and then was held, allowing Speaker Michael Madigan to call it for another vote later.
The Tenaska bill passed 63-50 on the second vote, after having lost by two votes the first time around.
Some lawmakers said on the floor that the second vote for the clean coal plant Downstate was a trade for the vote earlier in the day in favor of a $3-billion synthetic gas plant on Chicago’s South Side.
Subscribers know the rest of that interesting little story.
* And some sweeping changes were approved for police and firefighter pension funds in the House yesterday without much debate…
— Changes the standard retirement age for police and firefighters from age 50 to age 55. Police and firefighters could retire early starting at age 50, but would lose 6 percent for each year before 55.
– Reduces benefits to a surviving spouse from 100 percent to 67 percent of the deceased police officer’s or firefighter’s pension.
– Cost of living increases — the lesser of 3 percent or one-half of the urban consumer price index — would not kick in until a public safety employee or surviving spouse reach age 60.
– Starting in 2015, pension funds could petition the state comptroller to subtract funds from tax money owed to the cities by the state if a city does not make complete payments to the system.
* The bill received a whopping 95 votes, even though it was hotly opposed by Mayor Daley, who sent his chief legislative liaison to town yesterday…
The bill established a steep yearly payment schedule for Chicago to restore the city’s underfunded police and fire retirement funds to financial health, but Daley warned the extra $548 million the city will have to pump into city police and fire pension funds by 2015 could leave homeowners stuck with higher property taxes.
“You cannot place the financial problems on the back of every homeowner in Chicago. Besides that, every business in Chicago. That will make our city basically a city that will have a financial disaster,” Daley said.
* Roundup…
* Bill to abolish death penalty passes House committee
* Police, fire pension reforms pass Illinois House - Benefits for future hires would be reduced
* I covered the years-long debate here over whether to include sexual orientation in the state’s human rights code. There were plenty of predictions of doom and gloom back then if the bill passed. It did pass, and I cannot remember a single instance where this law has created undue controversy or hardship. People generally expect the worst when big changes happen, but that rarely ever turns out to be the case.
So, let’s all try to keep a cool head as the civil unions bill moves through the Senate today. I banned one of the bill’s opponents yesterday for some very weird, over the top comments. Some of the proponents got a bit too hot-headed as well, but I was too busy covering the event to monitor comments as closely as I should have. Let’s try not to let that happen again today, please. We can have a vigorous debate without resorting to needless insults, or breathless remarks or drive-by bumper-sticker slogans. Thanks.
Robert F. Gilligan, the Catholic Conference’s executive director, said he is disappointed that civil unions passed, but now is focused on lobbying senators to vote it down Wednesday. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, is an avid supporter of the bill, and supporters have considered the House a tougher obstacle
Gilligan said he was particularly dismayed that the bill passed during a lame-duck session. The measure got a boost from as many as a dozen lawmakers who will not return because they are retiring or were defeated in the Nov. 2 election.
First, every lame duck member who voted for civil unions was either elected two years ago or (in one case) constitutionally appointed to the seat. Those legislators all serve until January under our Constitution. This is a legitimate vote.
Second, the Catholic Conference of Illinois is actively supporting SB 3539 during the veto session. That bill would abolish the death penalty. If it’s OK for lame ducks to abolish the death penalty, why isn’t it acceptable for those same legislators to establish civil unions?
During the House floor debate on civil unions, Harris told his colleagues that Illinois senior citizens as a whole would possibly benefit more than same sex couples from legalizing civil unions because under civil unions they could have the best of both worlds — maintain their federal Social Security benefits and still gain the right to jointly occupy nursing homes as well as determine their partner’s medical care.
Indeed, Rep. Harris’ comments may be a worse slam to the sanctity of marriage than allowing the state recognition of same sex couples. With the passage of civil unions for same sex and opposite sex couples, Harris’ comments suggested those widowed senior citizens that choose to traditionally marry a subsequent life partner of the opposite sex with the blessing of their church will foolishly give up federal and state financial resources.
Churches don’t issue marriage licenses, government does. So, why couldn’t two seniors decide to join in civil union and then ask their church to sanctify it with a wedding ceremony? The church wouldn’t have to do it, of course, but they could.
* It might be better if Gov. Pat Quinn would leave his religion out of this debate…
Cardinal Francis George and other Catholic leaders have fought civil unions, but Quinn, who is Catholic, said he has no reservations about supporting the measure.
“My religious faith animates me to support this bill. I think that people of good faith, maybe, can disagree and have different points of view,” Quinn said.
I completely concur that people of faith can disagree on this, but I’m not a Roman Catholic. If I was a Catholic, like Quinn, I’m not sure I could say that.
* Now, on to some videos. First up, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris…
GOVERNOR QUINN ANNOUNCES ILLINOIS INAUGURAL COMMITTEE 2011 AND SCHEDULE OF INAUGURAL EVENTS
CHICAGO - Today, Governor Pat Quinn announced the creation of the Illinois Inaugural Committee 2011. The Committee is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization responsible for the planning of the 2011 Inaugural events, with the newly-elected constitutional officers serving as honorary co-chairs. The Inauguration is dedicated to the people of Illinois – showcasing their strength, spirit and character. All funds for the Inaugural events will be raised from private donors and any remaining funds will be contributed to the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.
“The 2011 Inauguration marks the start of a new era in Illinois Government,” said Governor-Elect Pat Quinn. “This committee will work closely with all the Constitutional Officers to present Inaugural events that will bring Illinoisans together in a bipartisan way that will move our State forward.”
The Inauguration will be held in Springfield on Monday, Jan. 10. All events will be held in Springfield; schedule as follows:
Sunday, Jan. 9
* Gold Star Families Reception (military families only): 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the Executive Mansion. The Governor and his family will welcome Gold Star family members for a reception honoring their loved ones.
Monday, Jan. 10
* Inter-Faith Service: 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. (doors will open at 8:15 a.m.) at the First Presbyterian Church (321 South 7th Street). The Governor and his family will join the Constitutional Officers and their families for an interfaith service.
* Inaugural Ceremony: 11 a.m. -1 p.m. (doors will open at 8:00 a.m.) at the Prairie Convention Center. The Governor and the Constitutional Officers will take the Oath of Office and deliver their inaugural addresses.
* Executive Mansion Open House: 2:30p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Executive Mansion. Governor Pat Quinn will be joined by Lieutenant Governor-Elect Sheila Simon in greeting the public at the Executive Mansion.
* Inaugural Ball: 8 p.m. – Midnight at the Prairie Convention Center. The Governor and Constitutional Officers will take part in the traditional Inaugural Ball.
More information on the Illinois Inauguration 2011 can be found at http://www.IIC2011.com.
So far, the event’s website lists just two corporate sponsors, the Merchandise Mart and Chicago-Copywriter.com.
* The Question: Who else should sponsor the governor’s inauguration?
Tuesday, Nov 30, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Chicago Tribune: Taylorville’s Not Ready
November 29, 2010
Dirty and dangerous, coal has a hard time making friends. The proposal for a Taylorville Energy Center in central Illinois isn’t helping.
You might think the Taylorville plan would be winning popularity contests all around the state: This wouldn’t be a typical coal plant, of the sort that provides roughly half of America’s electricity today. This would be a “clean” operation, using cutting-edge technology to reduce hazardous emissions, while taking advantage of the state’s abundant coal supplies. We have supported the idea of “clean coal,” with the caveat that it has to provide power at a reasonable cost to ratepayers. That is, there has to be the prospect that it can genuinely compete in the marketplace.
Taylorville has not met that test. The General Assembly should not give its approval to the $3.52 billion project.
As currently envisioned, Taylorville amounts to an extremely expensive and speculative bet on a long-term payoff that may never materialize. The one guarantee: It will hike the cost of electricity in Illinois for a long time.
A proposal going to the legislature would cap the rate increases paid by residential customers at 2 percent. But that would leave business and government to pay the rest of the increased costs, without the protection of a rate cap. Click here to continue reading.
Tuesday, Nov 30, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
On November 28, the State Journal Register editorialized in support of Tenaska’s Taylorville Energy Center, Illinois should take clean-coal lead. Below are key excerpts:
“As the Tenaska foes’ hyperbole has escalated in recent months, however, so has our skepticism of the critics and the STOP Coalition’s underlying purpose. At the heart of the opposition is Exelon Corp., the Chicago-based power-generating and distribution conglomerate. As old coal plants shut down and power gets more scarce, Exelon — operator of nuclear plants — stands to benefit.”
“Passage of the bill by the General Assembly would allow construction on the plant to begin. Its failure, we believe, would strike a fatal blow not just for the Taylorville plant, but for any potential future development of clean-coal technology in this state. If Tenaska’s effort fails, we can’t imagine any clean-coal company attempting to do business in Illinois.”
“As lawmakers debate this bill, we urge them to keep that in mind.”
“They also must remember that every figure quoted by opponents of Tenaska is a worst-of-the-worst-case scenario…It also assumes power won’t get more expensive as new environmental laws force old coal plants to shut down…”
The Taylorville Project last week agreed to absorb two-thirds of the cost of capital cost overruns and two-thirds of the cost of carbon sequestration cost overruns — meaning these costs, if incurred, can’t be passed along to customers.
“We hope lawmakers see through the hyperbolic spin against this project and vote to bring jobs to central Illinois and put Illinois among the leaders in clean-coal technology.”
In all, candidates and political committees spent an estimated $3 billion airing television, radio and Internet commercials in local, state and federal races, up from $2.7 billion in 2008 and $2.4 billion in 2006, according to Campaign Media Analysis Group, a division of Kantar Media that tracks political advertising.
About two-thirds of the money — an estimated $2 billion — was used to purchase airtime from local television stations.
* The Question: Should FCC regulated television and radio stations be obligated to give much larger discounts to political candidates, or even offer free air time? Explain.
The last prisoner executed by the state of Illinois was Andrew Kokoraleis, who died by lethal injection at the Tamms Correctional Center in March 1999. The next year, then-Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions, concerned that a deeply flawed system had sent innocent people to death row. Three years later he commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates and pardoned four others.
A lot of Illinoisans apparently believe that was the end of it. Only 39 percent of voters responding to a recent poll answered (correctly) that Illinois still has the death penalty. The others said it does not (33 percent) or that they didn’t know (28 percent).
No, the death penalty hasn’t been abolished in Illinois. It hasn’t been fixed either.
Those poll results show to me that people don’t really care all that much. Whether they will care if the bill passes is the big question, however.
A bill that would shield voters’ political party preferences from the public record has been killed in the Illinois House.
Gov. Pat Quinn had rewritten House Bill 4842 so voters would not have to publicly declare their parties when voting in a primary election. The bill originally instructed the State Board of Elections to publish a voters guide on the Internet during primary elections.
However, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said the amendatory veto was unconstitutional.
“He created a wholly different bill,” Currie said. “That was not what was contemplated by the people who drafted and the people who supported the 1970 Constitution.”
Lots of people support the governor’s idea, but not so much in the General Assembly. Plus, legislators don’t take too kindly to a governor attempting to legislate with an amendatory veto.
* A case in point is the seniors ride free bill. That one was such a political hot potato that the General Assembly decided to go along with Rod Blagojevich’s AV. But opponents have persisted and another vote to get rid of it appears likely…
On Monday, a House committee approved legislation that would scale back the free-rides program by setting income limits for seniors to qualify.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch or a free ride,” Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said.
Gov. Pat Quinn has previously said he would veto legislation limiting free rides, but Currie said she is confident the proposal will have enough support for lawmakers to override a veto.
When the Majority Leader is on board, that usually means the Speaker is on board, and that usually means that the bill will pass.
State Rep. Fred Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, was among lawmakers hesitating to take the perk away. He said it might be difficult for seniors to adjust to the change.
* Keep in mind, however, that a federal law requires seniors to get a 50 percent mass transit discount, so they still won’t pay the full freight…
On Monday, a House committee approved limiting free bus and train rides to seniors who make less than $27,600 a year. More affluent seniors would pay the federally mandated half price for rides.
…Adding… From the RTA…
Saw your blog post on the RTA’s senior ride free bill today. Thanks. Just a small note: the bill doesn’t eliminate seniors riding free. It means test it so that seniors who are in the Circuit Breaker Program ride free and all others half off. It works the same way our current People with Disabilities Ride Free Program works which was created by the General Assembly a few months after the Seniors program was created.
Sun-Times reporters Tim Novak and Abdon M. Pallasch report that a single individual, Arthur J. Hardy Jr., is listed as the circulator who gathered some 7,000 signatures on nominating petitions for two mayoral candidates — 3,160 for the Rev. James Meeks and 3,990 for Rob Halpin, the real estate developer renting Rahm Emanuel’s house.
That’s a lot of signatures for any one individual to gather in a short time, which is all Halpin had after launching his last-minute mayoral bid, egged on by those seeking to accentuate the issue of whether Emanuel meets the city’s residency requirement for citywide candidates.
I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, but if you couple Mr. Hardy’s prolific output with the fact he lists his address as an Uptown homeless shelter, there’s a reasonable basis for asking some questions, such as whether he really collected all those signatures or whether somebody got carried away signing his name.
At the going rate of $1 per signature — which is what professional petition circulators typically are paid — that would also mean somebody owes Hardy a nice chunk of change. One of the other interesting questions would be who it is that hired him — and whether it’s the same person for both candidates.
I checked with Sen. Meeks today about this and he flatly denied any connection. “I don’t need to roll like that,” he said. Meeks said he has had zero contact with Halpin, never met him and totally denied any involvement by his campaign. Meeks said his campaign decided during the last week of filing to hire people to help pad his signature totals and that Hardy was apparently hired during that time period. But, he said, there was no connection between Hardy’s work for Meeks and Hardy’s work for Halpin.
A check of campaign expenditure reports shows that Arthur Hardy has apparently never received any money from any campaign in the past. This could just be a homeless guy trying to get himself out of poverty. If so, good for him. But pure coincidences are few and far between in Chicago (and Illinois, for that matter), so Meeks will probably have to deal with this for a while even if he is innocent.
Requesting anonymity, a source in Springfield tells ChicagoPride.com that State Sen. and Rev. James Meeks, who represents the 15th District on Chicago’s south side, has allegedly been working behind the scenes with other African-American ministers to derail passage in the House as an effort to keep the legislation from making it to the Senate, thus relieving the prominent minister from declaring his vote, for or against, on record.
“Rev. Meeks has been playing fast and loose with the LGBT community,” said the source.
Meeks also flatly denied this report, adding: “I have not spoken with a single person in Springfield about the civil unions bill.”
*** UPDATE *** Both of Sen. Meeks’ House members, Reps. David Miller and Will Davis, said this morning that Meeks has never spoken to them about the civil unions bill.
* The Catholic Conference of Illinois is apparently so concerned that the civil unions bill could pass the House today that it has issued a statement offering to compromise…
The statement reiterated that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”
“Accordingly, we stand ready to work with the legislature and other agencies of state government to prevent unjust discrimination and to provide benefits to people judged by the civic authority as deserving — as long as such provision does not include the attempted redefinition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman for the sake of family,” the statement said.
*** UPDATE 1 - 9:26 am *** “That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” said Rep. Greg Harris, the sponsor of the civil unions bill, about a proposed compromise. Harris said he is “always interested in talking to everyone,” but said the Catholic Conference has not approached him yet about any possible compromise and that he hadn’t heard anything about it until he saw it on CapitolFax.com this morning. Harris promised to get back to us if he is contacted today.
House Republicans Mathias, Mulligan and Myers and Democrat Dugan are out today. The civil union proponents need the votes of Mulligan and Dugan — we may see the vote on SB 1716 delayed. May force the delay all the hot social issues today.
Proponents weren’t expecting votes from Mathias and Myers. Mulligan is on her way down. Rep. Dugan, however, is not. Rep. Harris said he would continue to push forward with a vote today. He said he’d like to have a bigger cushion, but it is what it is.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* But things are proceeding apace and proponents appear to be getting closer…
Supporters of civil unions for same-sex couples say they’re close to having the 60 votes needed to pass the measure in the Illinois House.
It would still need state senate approval and Governor Pat Quinn’s signature, who says the measure could help the state’s economy.
Activists plan to take several dozen clergy members of various faiths to the Illinois Capitol Tuesday, when lawmakers could vote on the civil unions plan.
“We know your mothers and your teachers taught you to respect the choices people make and the primacy of their choices,” Catholic nun Donna Quinn, of Palos Heights, said in a statement.
* Opponents are obviously worried about the House’s 18 lame ducks…
David E. Smith, executive director the Illinois Family Institute, said he has heard anecdotally about some lawmakers from conservative areas who aren’t returning to office after January and appear poised to support Harris’ bill.
Chicago Cardinal Francis George also weighed in on the lame ducks…
[Cardinal George] criticized the fact that such an important measure was being considered by a lame-duck General Assembly. “More should be done to engage the people in public debate” on it, he said.
* The opposition is seriously cranking up the heat, and pointing to a pension note request that’s sparking some controversy. From Illinois Review…
While gay rights activists insist the number of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons are now at the levels of 10 percent of the American population, when asked how much legalizing same sex civil unions could cost Illinois taxpayers, the state’s budget office minimalized the projected number of LGBTs to be only one percent of the state’s population.
Using the fraction of a fraction as the projected number of LGBT state employees whose same sex partners may eventually benefit from the state workers’ pension plans, the budget office gave this report in answer to a pension note query filed by State Rep. David Reis (R-Willow Hill):
SB 245 from the 96th General Assembly allowed members of TRS and the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund to designate a domestic partner as a surviving spouse for purposes of survivor and death benefits (SB 245 has not advanced out of committee). Based on that legislation, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s actuary estimated that if 1% of active TRS members designate a domestic partner as a beneficiary for survivor benefits, the impact to the system would be as follows; (1) Increase in total actuarial liability = $15,750,000; (2) Increase in total annual costs = $1,838,000; (3) Increase in total annual costs as a payment of payroll = $0.02%.
The pension note focused on survivor benefits, but health care costs were not included in the estimation. The budget office said they can’t estimate the cost to Central Management Services:
“It’s not legitimate for the government to recognize the relationship of homosexual partners or polygamous partners or incestuous partners,” [David E. Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute] said.
Except, if civil unions is this difficult to pass, I seriously doubt that incest and polygamy would ever be legalized.
