* I haven’t been giving this story nearly the play it deserves. That ends today. Here’s some background…
Chicago and more than 20 other school districts around Illinois have been denied $150 million in construction money. Gov. Rod Blagojevich said the districts were ineligible because their paperwork had not been filed on time, according to irate lawmakers and school officials.
* The schools have been promised this money for years, but Blagojevich has never followed through.
The project funding was included in the supplemental appropriations bill. which passed both chambers in late May, and was sent to the governor by the Senate in mid June. The governor signed the bill last week. He waited because it also included a legislative cost of living pay raise, and he was playing games with the bill.
* But there’s a problem…
But the governor’s office said the schools cannot get the money because they should have completed agreements with the Capital Development Board, a state agency overseen by Blagojevich that supervises construction projects, before the end of the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The schools couldn’t do that because CDB was apparently not taking applications since the bill wasn’t signed into law, and even though the governor had the bill in his possession two weeks before the end of the fiscal year, he waited until long afterwards to sign it. A Catch 22 situation, to be sure.
The Democratic governor isn’t always a stickler for procedure.
He has twice spent money on stem cell research without legislative approval. Last year, he started sending emergency repair money to Carterville High School even though it isn’t on the priority list. Last week, he announced he would expand health programs that lawmakers had refused to fund.
Blagojevich says the answer is for legislators to approve a new construction bill.
So, in other words, unless the General Assembly approves the allegedly “pork hating” governor’s heavily porked-up, multi-billion dollar capital bill, the schools in question will continue to be denied the funds they’ve been promised for years.
Just ducky.
* He also is doing a bit of disengenuous attacking…
Blagojevich’s office circulated vote tallies Tuesday to show the lawmakers calling for the schools’ money voted against the plan to grant it.
Except, remember, Chicago is in line for a big chunk of that money. And most Chicago legislators voted for the supplemental approp.
* Meanwhile, the Comptroller can’t send out new state aid checks to schools because the governor hasn’t yet signed the state budget. Schools were promised no-interest loans to help make it through any budgetary glitches, but there’s bad news…
The Illinois State Board of Education developed a plan with the Illinois Finance Authority to provide districts an advance on general state aid at no interest. However, that program was suspended before any money was funneled out because Gov. Blagojevich announced his veto would not affect general state aid, said spokesman Matt Vanover.
More likely, the administration realized that the program was ill-devised and possibly illegal. Once again, the press release was put before the work-horse.
* Somewhat related: Budget woes could impact toddlers in early intervention - Contracting therapists not getting paid
Scully told the council he had done his job in trying to obtain resources from Springfield, and said that although he does not know how Blagojevich will decide what to trim from the budget, “he has pretty much specifically said the House Democrats are gonna get their projects cut.”
[Chicago Heights Mayor Anthony DeLuca] expressed his bewilderment that Blagojevich, a Democrat, would look to cut funding from the communities of his fellow party members.
“It seems these days, the governor’s doing a lot of things that are shocking, so I guess it’s not surprising,” DeLuca said.
* Alderman Stone challenged for Democratic post [This story was broken a week ago by Dog Fight in the 50th Blog. The Tribune offers no hat tip, of course.]
Mayor Daley on Tuesday flatly denied he’s trying to undermine his corruption-fighting inspector general by creating an Office of Compliance to police city hiring.
“They investigate wrongdoing. This is compliance. It’s day and night. You have to comply first. First you have to get everybody educated about it. You have to work with people. You have to make sure there’s checks and balances in the compliance,” Daley said.
City attorneys filed a hiring plan in federal court sharply limiting the inspector general’s role because they were unable to reach an agreement with federal hiring monitor Noelle Brennan about who should pick up where Brennan leaves off, the mayor said.
* Illinoize: Med-mal reform nears two years…and working
One bill the governor signed Tuesday raises the age at which teen drivers can use cell phones behind the wheel to 19 years old from 18. Other measures require driver’s education to include instruction about distracted driving and call for revoking a young driver’s license if he or she uses a car in a gang crime.
On Monday, Blagojevich signed sweeping teen driving laws that, among other measures, triple the length of time a teen driver must hold a learner’s permit, toughen passenger limits and extend night-driving restrictions for teen drivers.
* Carol Marin made a good point in her column today…
Irony should be a four-letter word when applied to political corruption in Illinois.
After all, not only are the attorneys of Winston & Strawn still defending Ryan, they’re also representing the current governor, Rod Blagojevich, whose campaign fund has paid out more than $1.1 million in legal fees to the firm since a federal investigation of contracts and hiring got under way in 2005. […]
In the 2-1 decision, the majority makes it very clear that the pay-to-play culture of Illinois government that permeated the Ryan regime, with the contracts it handed out, the favors it granted and the perks Ryan received, taken all together sealed his fate. These are the very same allegations the feds are looking at with regard to the Blagojevich administration and its hiring, its contracts and its favored friends.
Don’t turn the lights out yet in that exquisite Winston & Strawn conference room. It may be needed again in the not-too-distant future.
* Speaking of Thompson, here’s more of what he told reporters…
“This case — in terms of the management of the jury and the substitution of jurors after eight days of deliberation — is unprecedented,” Thompson said. “No court anywhere has ever deprived a defendant of his life and liberty under these circumstances.”
* And the Sun-Times also found a professor to back up the stinging dissent filed yesterday in the case…
Northwestern University law Professor Al Alschuler said Kanne was right. “At the end of his opinion Kanne said, ‘I have no doubt that had this case been a six-day trial, rather than a six-month trial, a mistrial would have been swiftly declared,’” Alschuler said. “I think it’s a shame that judges allow these long kitchen-sink trials and then find themselves in a position where it’s almost unthinkable to incur the costs of starting over.”
* Rev. Scott Willis had another take, as you might imagine…
“I’m not looking for an apology (from Ryan) — I’m looking for an admission he has done wrong,” Willis said. “We had a great loss, but (he should apologize) to all the people in the state who put their trust in him.”
* How long will Ryan remain free on bond? Yesterday’s online Tribune story gives us a clue…
This afternoon, however, the court stayed that order, finding that Ryan could remain free while a second appeal plays out. Under this afternoon’s ruling, Ryan will remain free until the full 7th Circuit—a group of 11 judges—refuses to hear his case or until the full court hears his case and makes a ruling.
A decision on whether the full court would hear Ryan’s case could take about six to eight weeks, and a ruling on the case could take until December or January, according to Joel Bertocchi, an attorney who specializes in appellate law.
* 10:41 am - Well, this is a little bizarre. The state’s chief financial operating officer, John Filan, went on vacation yesterday while the governor’s budget office was still trying to craft the line item and reduction vetoes of the operating budget bill. No word yet on when those vetoes might be filed, but I’ve asked.
In a crushing legal blow to former Gov. George Ryan, a federal appellate court this morning affirmed his sweeping fraud and corruption convictions, ruling that Ryan received a fair trial last year despite a series of juror controversies.
The decision by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for Ryan to begin serving a 6.5-year prison term that he received last year after a historic six-month trial. But his lawyers could try to forestall that with a further appeal.
In a 2-1 decision, the three-judge appellate panel found that U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer acted within her authority when she replaced two jurors during deliberations after the Tribune revealed they had failed to disclose information about their criminal backgrounds.
“We conclude that the district court handled most problems that arose in an acceptable manner, and that whatever error remained was harmless,” Judge Diane Wood wrote for the panel. “We therefore affirm the convictions.”
The fact that the trial may not have been picture-perfect is, in itself, nothing unusual. The Supreme Court has observed more than once that “taking into account the reality of the human fallibility of the participants, there
can be no such thing as an error-free, perfect trial…
[…]
throughout their briefs, the defendants note that the district court judge described some of her rulings as “difficult” or “close calls.” The impression they give is that this is some kind of signal that the court knew it was wrong. We draw no such inference. A district court’s acknowledgment of the difficulty of an issue, if anything, is a sign that the court has given it full consideration.
[…]
The high-profile nature of these proceedings gave rise to some unusual problems with the jury, but we are satisfied that the court handled them acceptably. For all of the reasons discussed above, the district court properly denied the defendants’ new trial motion. We AFFIRM the judgments of the district court convicting both Warner and Ryan.
* KANNE, Circuit Judge, dissenting…
My colleagues in the majority concede that the trial of this case may not have been “picture-perfect,” – a whopping understatement by any measure. The majority then observes that the lack of a picture-perfect trial “is, in itself, nothing unusual.” I agree that from my experience this is a realistic
proposition. There is rarely perfection in any human endeavor – and in particular jury trials. What we expect from our judicial system is not an error free trial, but a trial process that is properly handled to achieve a fair and just
result. That fair and just result was not achieved in this case.
[…]
To describe the circumstances surrounding the jury management and jury deliberations summarized above as “nothing unusual” is to simply turn a blind eye to the realities of what occurred – in order to save the efforts
expended during a six month trial.
[…]
Can this court, as a matter of common sense, accept the district court’s factual determination that at least some jurors did not harbor fears of prosecution when they rendered their verdicts? Can the majority say that these jurors retained their capacity to render fair and impartial verdicts that can strip the defendants of their liberty and result in the defendants receiving significant prison sentences after the jurors themselves were the subject of an investigation?
[…]
In the final analysis, this case was inexorably driven to a
defective conclusion by the natural human desire to bring an end to the massive expenditure of time and resources occasioned by this trial – to the detriment of the defendants. Given the breadth and depth of both structural and nonstructural errors, I have no doubt that if this case had been a six-day trial, rather than a six-month trial, a mistrial would have been swiftly declared. It should have been here.
Based on either the structural errors or nonstructural errors described above concerning jury misconduct, the convictions in this case should be vacated and the case remanded for a new trial. Because the majority reaches a contrary result, I respectfully DISSENT.
* 11:46 am - DuPage County may actually see a contested race for Democratic Party chairman.
* 12:46 pm - I’ve been curious when Ryan will have to report to prison. CBS2 fills us in…
The opinion came down after the court had granted Ryan an appeal bond, something that politicians convicted of wrongdoing almost never get in Illinois.
In granting the bond, the appeals court had said that once it reached its decision Ryan would have to immediately go to prison to serve his time.
* 3:28 pm - From the US Attorney’s office…
Statement of Gary S. Shapiro, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, regarding today’s decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, affirming the convictions of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan and Lawrence Warner, United States v. Warner and Ryan, Nos. 06-3517 & 06-3528:
“We note the Court’s conclusion that “the evidence supporting the jury’s verdict was overwhelming.” Ryan and Warner were convicted of crimes in awarding state leases and contracts that were steered illegally in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits for Warner and Ryan, including financial support for Ryan’s successful 1998 gubernatorial campaign.
Regarding jury deliberations, the majority concluded that Judge Pallmeyer “took every possible step to ensure that the jury was and remained impartial,” and that while the proceedings gave rise to some unusual problems, it remained so. We are now asking the Court to enforce the order agreed to by the parties last December requiring the defendants to surrender within 72 hours.”
Former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson said his law firm was filing Tuesday afternoon for a rarely granted “en banc” hearing that would have the entire U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals hear Ryan’s appeal. Tuesday’s opinion was issued by a three-judge panel split 2-1.
If rebuffed, Thompson said, the firm would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Gov. Ryan obviously is disappointed in this result but he has faith in the judicial system, as he has told you, and he has faith in his lawyers,” Thompson said during a news conference at the big Chicago law firm Winston & Strawn, which represented Ryan free of charge. Ryan did not attend
* 5:39 pm - From the US Court of Appeals…
Upon consideration of DEFENDANTS’ EMERGENCY MOTION TO CONTINUE BAIL PENDING APPEAL AND TO STAY SURRENDER DATE, filed on August 21, 2007, by counsel for the appellants,
IT IS ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED only to the extent that appellants’ grant of bail is extended until this court issues its mandate.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this matter is REMANDED for the limited purpose of permitting the district court to determine the conditions of release.
First, the setup, from today’s Rockford Register-Star editorial page…
Illinois should become one of the 24 states that prohibit teachers from going on strike.
Only 10 states allow teachers the same right to strike as private-sector workers. Illinois already has laws to prohibit strikes by workers essential to public safety and security, including police and firefighters. […]
Everyone loses when teachers strike. Teachers and administrators lose some of the trust and confidence the community places in them to handle the business of education fairly and in the best interest of the students.
School districts exist for only one purpose: to educate children. Educators should be able to fulfill that mission without fixating on salaries and benefits. It happens in other industries; why can’t it happen in schools?
Now, the question: Should public school teachers be allowed to strike? Why or why not? Explain fully.
Also, please do your very best to confine your responses to the question at hand. Thanks.
Rumble is Gov. Blagojevich plans to jettison/veto the latest budget bill today.
* We’ll just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, stories like this continue to pile up…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to chop $500 million out of the state budget could affect emergency equipment for police and fire departments, services for the disabled and even efforts to clean up drinking water. […]
But most of the more than $150 million in “member initiatives” would address fundamental needs.
A central Illinois organization that serves people with cerebral palsy is in line for $50,000 to buy equipment that lifts people out of their wheelchairs. Right now, United Cerebral Palsy Land of Lincoln offers day services for 62 people but has only one lift.
“When we found out it might be vetoed, we were dismayed. I was just in shock,” said the group’s president, Brenda Yarnell. “This is not fluff. We would welcome the opportunity to show anyone the work we’re doing and see how difficult it is.”
* And the waiting game is causing some hardship out there…
Karla Miller, the widow of an Illinois State Police trooper who died while on duty, was surprised to learn Monday that her next survivor-benefits check won’t arrive until state government gets a new budget.
She got another surprise when she tried to alert Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s legislative office to her situation. Miller said the man she spoke to eventually hung up on her. She didn’t get his full name.
“He was very flippant and just said, you know, we’re all worried about the budget and we’ll get it fixed and that kind of thing,” she said. “He started to get a little testy with me, and I started to get a little testy back, and then he hung up on me.” […]
Upon hearing about Miller’s experience, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff shifted the blame to Comptroller Dan Hynes. She said his office received the paperwork needed to process survivor benefits a couple of weeks ago.
In case you’re wondering, Ms. Miller and I aren’t related.
My syndicated newspaper column this week is about something that most outsiders won’t really care about, but which is still sending shockwaves through the Statehouse…
In state legislative politics, your word is supposed to be your bond, but that doesn’t always happen. Illinois legislators will often tell one person one thing and tell another something completely different. Rank and file legislators aren’t completely trustworthy.
Legislative leaders, on the other hand, are supposed to be different, particularly when it comes to promises they make to each other. The Senate President, House Speaker and the two minority leaders share an historic bond that is never breached.
By tradition, when the four leaders come to an agreement the pact is considered almost holy writ. They are all obligated to do everything they possibly can to implement their agreement. That trust is absolutely crucial to getting anything done at the Statehouse. When leaders make a bargain, it’s almost always about large, important and politically delicate matters. And nobody can remember a time when those vows have ever been broken.
Until last week, that is.
Go read the whole thing before commenting, please. And keep in mind that even with a 750-word column, there’s not always enough room to fully explain things. That happened this week with my piece as well.
It’s my opinion that the Senate Republicans did not break their agreement with Senate President Jones. They were asking for some additional time because their demands for memoranda of understanding on the capital bill arrived very late. Jones wasn’t willing to give them additional time, probably because he realized that he didn’t have the votes in his own caucus to pass the Chicago casino bill, which was supposed to fund the capital projects, so the SGOPS were a convenient scapegoat.
Also, I forgot to post this yesterday until very late in the day, so I figured I’d wait until this morning.
* I’m not sure whether he has a chance or not, but Jerry Weller may have a new Democratic opponent…
Jerry Weber, the president of Kankakee Community College since 2001, may soon exchange a career in education for one in politics.
Weber announced Friday that he is launching a “serious exploration'’ of running for the 11th District U.S. Congressional seat currently held by Republican Jerry Weller. Weber, a 56-year-old Bourbonnais resident, would run as a Democrat in 2008. […]
Weber believes one advantage he may hold is name recognition in two regions of the district. Before he came to KCC, he served as a vice president at Heartland Community College in Bloomington.
The 11th District covers the bulk of Will County. It also includes Kankakee and Grundy counties and extends west to Bureau County, with a long narrow territory south to the Bloomington area.
Only two years ago in these pages, we warned against the dangers of a “Transit Armageddon,” our metaphor for an impending meltdown of the nearly bankrupt CTA threatening Draconian service cuts and fare increases.
Following normal practice, the Illinois General Assembly at that time band-aided the problem by shifting responsibility for paratransit to Pace and picking up an insufficient share of the costs, only postponing the day of reckoning. Now northeastern Illinois once again faces a looming transit crisis. And frankly, we are beginning to run out of metaphors: Is this an oncoming “train wreck”? Is transit about to “go over the edge of the cliff”?
* Editorial: Crucial funding for interchange awaits Gov’s approval
* 2:24 pm - Once again, we’re waiting to see what the governor will do with the operating budget. Hang loose.
* 2:32 pm - The governor has signed several bills into law already today. Go check them out here.
The governor has relentlessly complained about corporate loopholes, but he did sign one loophole into law today. Senate Bill 455 has this synopsis…
Amends the Use Tax Act. Provides a tax exemption for the use of aircraft that: (i) leave this State after the purchase of the aircraft; (ii) are temporarily located in this State for the purpose of a prepurchase evaluation; or (iii) are temporarily located in this State for the purpose of a post-sale customization. Amends the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act. Provides a tax exemption for the sale of aircraft that leave this State after the purchase of the aircraft. Provides that the Acts’ sunset provisions do not apply to these exemptions. Effective immediately.
* 3:22 pm - This week’s WDWS podcast features retiring state Rep. Bill Black. Go listen. Hat tip: IP.
It only took one day, but all four Dems who had been running to succeed Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D) quit the race after the incumbent reversed course and announce his intent to seek re-election next year.
*** 4:47 pm *** OK, so now I’m hearing it will likely be tomorrow at the earliest before they do anything with the budget bill. Apparently, there’s still a lot of work to do. While the lid is not securely on tight, I’m giving up for the day. I’ll check back occasionally, but you’re released.
Blagojevich signed several other bills into law on Friday. They include:
- Legislation to classify Salvia divinorum, a plant that allegedly has hallucinogenic properties, as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, the same category as heroin.
House Bill 457 outlaws possession or sale of any form of the plant, which is now sold over the counter in various forms. It takes effect Jan. 1.
Street names for Salvia divinorum are Diviner’s Sage, Ska Maria Pastora or Sally D. The plant has been banned in various forms in at least five other states.
You can read a bit more about the plant here, or just page through articles here.
Now, the question: Was this too harsh or the right thing to do? Explain fully.
…Adding… The focus on the governor in some of the comments is severely misplaced. Yes, he signed it, but the bill passed both chambers with unanimous support.
* Aaron Chambers had this observation about the governor’s pledge to veto $500 million in “pork” from the operating budget and try to implement almost $500 million in new health care programs…
Blagojevich reasserted his relevance in a big way. But when retribution comes, we may know the true meaning of “big.”
Yep.
* The Post-Dispatch looks at how the governor’s health care plan might fare in the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules…
Rep. David Miller, D-Dolton, a [JCAR] member, was hesitant to judge a plan he hadn’t seen but said it would likely face a tough audience at its committee hearing. He said that even if the three Senate Democrats supported it, the House Democrats would not be easy to convince.
“I know I’ve got some serious questions about it,” Miller said. “I would think a majority of members, facing these hurdles, would be opposed to it.”
Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, another committee member, said the committee was “intended to help implement legislation and legislative policy, not to subvert it or act as a shadow legislature.”
Not mentioned, unfortunately, is that Fritchey is one of Blagojevich’s harshest critics and an avowed enemy. Miller was the sponsor of HB 750 - the income tax hike for schools and property tax relief - which the governor fought so hard against this spring. Miller and Fritchey are also legislative allies on most issues.
* The Tribune went back to the 2006 campaign archives to check on the governor’s latest flip-flop…
With the issue in limbo before voters went to the polls, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said the governor would block any post-election efforts by lawmakers to give themselves a raise. She said he would use his line-item veto power to scuttle any such funding. […]
When asked why he retreated from his campaign opposition to pay raises, he provided a different take on the matter.
“I don’t know that I ever got asked that in the campaign,” he said.
The governor’s latest comment came as no surprise to Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), who voted against the raises.
“He does this all the time,” Franks said. “He’ll say anything and do the exact opposite. For him to do a complete flip-flop, I would say, it’s the only consistent thing he does.”
I propose a solution. Bring in Mayor Daley and Rep. J. Dennis Hastert for a bipartisan mediation of this mess.
Daley has been harping all summer that all lawmakers need to do is negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. Hastert, the former speaker of the U.S. House, announced that he’s retiring soon, so he clearly has some free time available. His experience as a wrestling coach can only help.
Send the two of them to Springfield to force Blagojevich and the leaders of the General Assembly to understand that only the strong survive.
Maybe then we’ll have peace in the valley.
Except, like any sane person, they wouldn’t go near the Statehouse with a two hundred-mile pole. Would you?
* More budget stuff, compiled by Paul…
* Rochester Supt. denounces denial of school funds as political charade
* Plan may revive funds for hospital; hospital assessment program chart
* Far be it from me to offer lobbying or PR advice. I don’t get paid to do such a thing. But even I can tell that this might be slightly counterproductive…
Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano told board members Friday that he’s become increasingly frustrated with the tenor of the discussion in Springfield about transit needs.
“I guess I’m sick and tired of also people thinking that, in plain, blunt language, our riders are lily-white and making $250 thousand a year. That’s B.S.,” he said. “We are carrying more and more a diversified ridership base.”
Pagano said Metra’s ridership is 58 percent women and includes “plenty” of $20,000-a-year secretaries.
Even more frustrating, he said, is that some of the same lawmakers who refuse to back new transit funding ask Metra to provide additional service.
“I guess I’m getting a little tired of ‘Your guys can afford (higher fares),’” he said.
You have secretaries who ride the train? Oooooo. Good for you.
* Director Pagano also had some harsh words for all the attention lavished upon the CTA’s impending meltdown…
On the CTA, he snapped, “I’m getting really tired of the CTA and their service cuts. This isn’t a one-agency issue.”
All snark aside, I can understand Metra’s frustration. Really, I can. But Pagano seems clueless about the political reality in Springfield. Just about every Chicago legislator is in favor of pumping more money into mass transit. The publicity about the CTA’s woes are helping Metra get some attention.
Whining about the lack of publicity or the inattention by Springfield is not Metra’s answer. Their problem is that too many Republicans, particularly in the House, bought into an “easy fix” for transit that was based on gaming expansion. That package is now on life support. It’s up to Metra, PACE and the RTA to convince those recalcitrant suburban legislators - most of them Republicans - to get back on board the negotiated agreement for a sales tax hike which fell apart when the easy gaming money was dangled in front of them.
Anyway, that’s my two cents. More stories, compiled by Paul…
Lane, the school district’s attorney, said Americans also complained when the first telephone poles were driven into the ground at the beginning of the 20th Century.
* Video: City Desk with Andy McKenna…part 1…part 2
* TY Fahner: Chicago lawyer enjoyed roles in government
* Clarence Page: Many of us tune out opposing viewpoints
Almost 20 years ago, sociologist David Knoke at the University of Minnesota found that you can predict someone’s politics with great certainty if his or her closest two or three friends all lean in one political direction.
“The more homogeneous that someone’s personal networks are,” Knoke told me in a recent interview, “the more likely they share the partisanship of other people.”
While there was a growth of 1,600 jobs in manufacturing from June to July, employment in that sector is down 2,200 from July 2006. Manufacturing employment is down more than 200,000 jobs since the turn of the century, said Manufacturers Association spokesman Jim Nelson. He said the association doesn’t see the June-to-July numbers as the start of a trend, at least not yet.
City managers from Joliet to Frankfort are tightening their budgets to account for revenue losses — ranging from $600,000 to $2 million — because of an expected drop in residential building permits this year to the lowest level since 1991. The cities’ fees for park districts and water and sewer usage also have seen anemic growth.
…I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,
Poisoned in the bushes, blown out on the trail,
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.
“Come in,” she said,
“I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
* 3:35 pm - Yes, I’m still here and still waiting on any action regarding the budget bill. Rumors have been circulating all day that we may not see anything until Monday. But one never knows for sure.
* 4:54 pm - I was just told by the guv’s office, “There is no further news.” So it appears that the lid is on for the rest of today.
* In case you’re wondering, we’ll be keeping an eye on this bill all day today. That’s the budget bill, which Gov. Blagojevich claims he’ll partially veto to take out “pork” and other stuff.
Just days after Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved 9.6 percent pay hikes for himself and Illinois lawmakers, he is poised again to sign off on yet another salary bump.
The latest one would push his salary up by $20,000 at a time when he and lawmakers have been unable to complete their business on time.
The budget sent to Blagojevich last week by the General Assembly would add another 3.5 percent to their pay checks, meaning that the governor and lawmakers would see their salaries jump a total of more than 13 percent in the course of just a few days.
* Expect the guv to sign that provision into law. This is what he said about the other pay raise bill…
“That seems to be among legislators the single biggest priority for them and I felt if that is so important to them then and that’s what really motivates their priorities, then maybe if I respect their priority then they will respect the priority I have, which is giving health care to families,” Blagojevich said.
The governor’s press office suggested to Lee Newspapers that the pay hike in the budget bill would likely be treated the same way.
* Meanwhile, the governor signed the corporate loophole closure bill late yesterday…
A key component of the new state budget was put into place Thursday with the elimination of $250 million worth of business tax breaks.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed Senate Bill 1544, which ends a handful of tax breaks now enjoyed by businesses and creates an amnesty program for some businesses that have unpaid taxes.
Blagojevich called the tax breaks “corporate loopholes” that placed an unfair burden on individual taxpayers.
Not mentioned in the story is that part of the budget deal, which now seems defunct, was to get rid of two of those loophole closures - one on car rental companies and another on banks.
* The guv also vetoed a bill that reinstated the tax credit for start-up costs for providing employee child care…
“This bill creates a corporate tax loophole in a tight fiscal year,” Blagojevich said in a statement.
The legislation passed both chambers with unanimous votes.
* Like I told you yesterday, there wasn’t much news generated at Republican Day, but reporters did their best to write something relevant. Abdon Pallasch (the Sun-Times’ new political writer) had the best lede by far…
Forced to cling together under “one big tent” by a thunderstorm at the state fair Thursday, Illinois Republicans said state Democrats’ disunity would clear the GOP’s way back to relevance in the next election.
“I have no doubt none of us will be booed today the way the Democrats boo their own leadership,” U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood said.
“This big tent is what carries us to election victories,” U.S. Rep. John Shimkus said, referring to the philosophy that the party should welcome supporters of different views and backgrounds.
But officials acknowledged the party has its own troubles, too.
Many people are unhappy with President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war. Closer to home, some key Republicans are retiring from Congress and the General Assembly, meaning the party must fight to keep those seats before trying to pick up new ones.
“It creates a challenge,” said Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego. “To be blunt about it, we’ve got to first hold before we can start playing offense, and that becomes a money issue.”
The day was devoted to Republicans, but the state’s Democratic leaders got plenty of bashing. Democrats had their state fair day on Wednesday. It was marred by infighting and at one event, Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes offered an apology. That wasn’t lost on Republicans.
“Like Dan Hynes, I want to apologize for the Democratic Party,” House Republican Tom Cross of Oswego said.
Still going: Few lawmakers attended either the Republican or Democratic rallies, largely because after more than two months in overtime budget session, they wanted to get out of Springfield.
“I never imagined I’d be coming straight over from session to the state fair,” said state Sen. Christine Radogno, a Lemont Republican. “We need some partisan balance in Illinois politics. If there’s any doubt about that, just look at what went on last session.”
* The Tribune compared yesterday’s GOP presidential straw poll to Iowa…
Although more than 14,000 votes were cast in the Iowa straw poll, only 922 ballots were cast at the Illinois event, which was held in rainy weather as part of Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair.
Illinois isn’t Iowa, where the first in the nation real voting takes place next January, so the closest thing to a candidate at the fair Thursday was Chicagoan John Cox, who says he is running but can’t even get on the straw poll ballot because this campaign is not being taken any more seriously than his recent races for US Senate, Congress, or the Cook County recorder of deeds.
* Funniest story of the day from a GOP poll-watcher at the Fair: “A woman came up to vote in the straw poll and asked me what name was on her shirt.” The name? Mitt Romney. Lots and lots of ringers for that guy yesterday.
* The more important vote may have been the one by the Republican County Chairmen’s Association earlier in the day…
Members of the Illinois Republican County Chairmen’s Association, meeting at the Crowne Plaza, had a secret-ballot poll of their own. Thompson got the most support with 22 votes, followed by 13 for Giuliani, nine for Romney, two for Huckabee, one for Hunter and one for McCain.
Other campaigns chose not to do that. State. Rep. Tom Cross, the Illinois House Republican leader from Oswego, is the chairman of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign. He recently told reporters he did not plan to bus in supporters or otherwise try to manipulate the outcome. On Thursday, Cross downplayed the event’s significance in the 2008 presidential race.
“I think this straw poll, and I applaud Andy for doing it, but I think without the candidates here, it doesn’t have the same meaning or the same significance like you saw in Iowa. But it’s a starting point,” he said.
Just before state GOP chairman Andy McKenna announced the results from the podium at the Director’s Lawn at the fair, sign-carrying supporters of Paul, who has developed an Internet-driven following, traded chants with the gathered supporters of the ultimate winner.
And shortly after Thursday’s program, Republican Day at the state fair, some state troopers calmed participants in a disagreement spurred by Paul supporters waving their signs behind the heads of Craig Romney and Illinois Romney chairman Dan Rutherford, a state senator from Chenoa, during TV interviews being done away from the stage.
Paul’s libertarian stylings and campaign of strict interpretation of the Constitution has earned him an unorthodox band of sign-carrying supporters. They frequently interrupted TV reports of the event and at one point, Romney’s Illinois chairman, state Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-Chenoa), ripped a sign out of one Paul supporter’s hands and threw it on the ground.
* Hot dog and beans? Not exactly a State Fair tradition. Then again, Mitt Romney’s son Craig, who was in Springfield yesterday, is from Beantown…
He also grabbed a hot dog and beans and washed it down with lemonade.
Dennis Hastert says he won’t seek another term in Congress.
During an interview this morning on WLS Radio’s “The Don and Roma Morning Show,” the Illinois Republican confirmed that he plans to announce his retirement at a news conference later today.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert might not serve out the rest of his term, setting up the possibility of a special election to find a replacement.
Hastert, who will formally announce today that he won’t seek re-election, repeatedly refused to discount an early retirement in a Thursday interview with the Daily Herald.
* Meanwhile, I’m not so sure that I’m buying into the spin on this one…
Darin LaHood, the 39-year-old son of U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, said Thursday he’s formed an exploratory committee to run for the congressional seat being given up by his father. […]
Rep. LaHood has said he counseled his son, who has three boys ranging in age from 5 years to 9 months, against a run for Congress.
From what I’m hearing, Congressman LaHood is backing the kid all the way right now and the word’s going out that Darin will be the guy.
* And, finally, here’s a bit more on Gutierrez’ announcement yesterday that he’s changed his mind and will seek another term.
This is a 2008 Congressional campaign open thread.
