Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 6:08 pm - It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but the Illinois Federation of Teachers’ executive board just voted to endorse Dan Hynes for governor.

That’s a significant boost to the campaign, especially ahead of the IL AFL-CIO’s endorsement session early next week.

The teachers union has been upset at Quinn for numerous issues, not least of which is the governor’s stated goal of messing with their pensions.

Three other unions also endorsed Hynes today: Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1546, and the International Brotherhood of the Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers Local 1. According to a Hynes campaign press release, that’s about 40,000 people.

* In other news…

The two most well-known Democratic contenders running for a North Shore congressional seat split sharply today on the war in Afghanistan and extending federal tax cuts.

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This just in… Doyle out, reformers’ remap plan unveiled

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 4:17 pm - Mark Doyle has withdrawn from the treasurer’s race. This isn’t much of a surprise to subscribers. As I told them earlier this week, Doyle, a Democratic campaign operative, had serious petition problems.

Doyle’s withdrawal leaves Robin Kelly and Justin Oberman in the Democratic primary.

UPDATE: Doyle’s withdrawal was posted on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website. It has since disappeared. I’ll get back to you.

UPDATE 2: The board’s “Latest withdrawn” page no longer displays Doyle’s withdrawal, but when you look at Doyle’s individual page (nothing directly linkable because the ISBoE’s website completely sucks) you see this…

UPDATE 3: I was able to reach Doyle, who confirmed that he had, indeed, withdrawn. “I have neither the resources nor the money” to keep up the fight, Doyle said.

[ *** End of Updates *** ]

Also, Sen. Don Harmon has withdrawn from the 7th Congressional District Democratic Committeeman’s race. The incumbent there is Congressman Danny Davis. Joseph Sneed and Thomas Simmons have also withdrawn, leaving Davis, Brian Henderson and Edward James as the remaining candidates to date.

* In other news, state Rep. Julie Hamos announced the endorsement of Teamsters Joint Council 25 in her 10th Congressional District race and the Illinois Painters District Council #30 and the Sprinkler Fitters Local 281 today endorsed Raja Krishnamoorthi for Comptroller.

Also…

A coalition of political reform groups today launched an uphill effort to change the way legislative districts are drawn in Illinois, suggesting that power be taken away from political bosses and giving it to an independent board.

Dubbed the “Illinois Fair Map Amendment,” the would-be reformers are attempting to change the Illinois Constitution to establish a 9-person board to draw districts. The idea is to make the process more transparent and to prevent political leaders from carving out portions of the state to sway partisan leanings of districts.

Under the proposal, the panel that draws the maps will be required to release the plans for public viewing before they are voted on by the legislature. If approved, the legislature would have to approve maps by a 2/3rds margin, but if they rejected them more than twice the board would have the power to chose one of the proposed maps to automatically become law.

Further, the proposal attempts to prevent gerrymandering by requiring districts to follow geographic and municipal boundaries as much as possible. Further, area voting history cannot be taken into consideration when creating boundaries.

Click here for the proposal’s language and click here for the fact sheet. [Fixed links.]

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Borrowing follow-up and various campaign news

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We spent a lot of time yesterday talking about Gov. Quinn’s false claim that Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias had signed off on a $500 million short-term borrowing plan and that Dan Hynes was the lone holdout. Giannoulias hadn’t signed off and Hynes said the governor’s office changed the plan several times and then set an arbitrary and almost immediate deadline for approval without providing any specifics.

Anyway, the governor’s office, which has not exactly been honest on this topic, responded to a few points in the coverage. One of those responses was to something I had written…

Back in October, Gov. Quinn was talking about borrowing $900 million short-term for healthcare and college scholarships. Behind the scenes, however, that number fluctuated wildly almost day to day and finally settled on $500 million.

The guv’s response…

Governor’s office has adjusted the dollar amount to accommodate the concerns of the Comptroller and Attorney General offices.

I asked the comptroller’s office for comment and here it is…

The Comptroller’s Office has consistently sought clarity from the Governor’s Office as to the details of their various borrowing proposals which they have been unable to provide. We don’t know what the Governor’s office is talking about and it seems increasingly apparent that they don’t either.

Oof.

The attorney general’s office said last night that they had simply asked the governor’s people to match their short-term borrowing request to statutory requirements.

So, once again, more distortions from the governor’s office.

The thing is, if Quinn had just waited until Giannoulias was really on board, he had a pretty good hit to use against the comptroller. But he didn’t wait, and he blew it. Badly. No excuse for that.

By the way, I just called the treasurer’s office and there’s nothing new to report from them.

* Meanwhile, some folks are complaining that the governor will deliver his State of the State address a few weeks before primary day…

His State of the State address could be a State of the Campaign address as well, some lawmakers say. Quinn delivers it Jan. 13 — less than three weeks before he tries to win the Feb. 2 Democratic primary election.

“It would appear to me that it’s nothing less than for the governor to take advantage of his office,” said Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.

Meh. He’s the governor. He’s entitled to give a SOTS address in January if he wants.

* Hynes is against slots at tracks and uses the issue to whack the guv. Hynes does favor adding more casinos, however…

Hynes didn’t specify a philosophical opposition to the [slots at tracks] idea, but said, “It’s just not part of my plan.”

That may sound like inconsistent policy, but it’s consistent politics. Hynes’ campaign to wrest the governor’s office from Gov. Pat Quinn, a fellow Democrat, is based largely on Hynes’ asseration that Quinn has had a shifting, seat-of-the-pants approach to governing. [Yesterday] morning, Hynes presented Quinn’s apparent openness to exploring the racetrack-slots idea as another example of that.

“One thing I don’t want to do is budget on the fly,” said Hynes. “ . . . This week it’s slots at the tracks. What’s it going to be next week?”

Good point, but we need to get something done somewhere. I don’t really blame Quinn for trying to find an opening.

* In other campaign news, I received a rather weird e-mail from the Dan Seals for Congress campaign this afternoon…

Dear Friend,

Our opponents continue to spread outright lies about our campaign. One opponent sent out a campaign e-mail on Tuesday attacking Dan and another candidate. This other candidate then sent out an e-mail today. We’ve now received multiple e-mails and phone calls from people who, based on her e-mail, think that Dan made these false claims..

It is simply not true.

As we mentioned before, our opponents are bound to do anything. It’s time to stop the “he said, she said” political pettiness. Enough is enough already.

Apparently, Elliot Richardson sent out an e-mail making claims about Julie Hamos and then Hamos shot back in an e-mail, but didn’t mention Richardson’s name and just blamed the hit on an “opponent.” Some people evidently assumed that Hamos was referring to Seals, and that’s why Seals “responded” today. But that Seals e-mail certainly doesn’t clear up the issue. If anything, it just muddies things even more.

* Related…

* Hinz: Dan Hynes finally gets it right — on job-creation plan: But the plan doesn’t just propose expenditures. Mr. Hynes would make the existing EDGE tax credit and enterprise-zone programs contingent not just on jobs but jobs that pay higher wages. And he’d require companies that get incentives to pay the state back if they fail to meet the objectives of the deal.

* Quinn and Hynes trade shots over budget plan: “The problem is that the proposal changed four times over three weeks,” Hynes said. “And then yesterday we were told: Just sign off and we’ll work out the details later.”

* Gov. Pat Quinn accuses comptroller of dragging feet on fixing state budget

* Quinn blasts Hynes over borrowing

* Hynes touts job creation plan

* Quinn comes to campus

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Protected: *** UPDATED x2 *** SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - This just in…

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Giannoulias up with new TV ad

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is going up on TV for the first time. Here’s the ad…

As I’ve told you, rival Democrat David Hoffman is already on the air [refresh your memory and watch it again by clicking here]. He’s reportedly spending in the neighborhood of $250K a week for two weeks with his ad, and the Giannoulias people say they’re essentially matching that number, but that their ads are also running Downstate. I should have the competitives soon, so I’ll let you know. The ad starts running tonight, but kicks in to higher gear tomorrow.

It’s noteworthy that this spot is about how he stepped in to stop a bank that was attempting to “liquidate” an Illinois business. That’s probably a subtle response to Hoffman’s ad, which CQ Politics pointed out includes these lines…

“Let’s take that fight to the U.S. Senate,” Hoffman says in the ad. “The bankers, the lobbyists and insiders have owned Washington for too long.”

The reference to bankers is an obvious jab at the Giannoulias, who used to manage his family’s Chicago bank.

Also, this ad is about jobs. Not enough candidates are talking about jobs right now.

…Adding… Script…

[Open to Hartmarx Plant]
Hartmarx Worker 1: I work here at Hartmarx

Hartmarx Worker 2: 32 years

Hartmarx Worker 3: 46 years

Hartmarx Worker 1: 43 years

HM Worker 3: Banks were looking to liquidate.

HM Worker 1: We were going to lose our jobs.

Alexi Giannoulias: I wasn’t sure if we could help the workers, but I knew we had to try.

HM Worker 1: One man, speaks from the heart.

HM Worker 2: Alexi really stood up with us.

[On Screen: Giannoulias to Wells Fargo: Back Off Hartmarx. Chicago Sun-Times, 5.7.09]
Alexi Giannoulias: We sent a message to this bank: If you want to do business in Illinois, you have to save these jobs.

HM Worker 3: There’s almost 600 jobs here that were saved.

Alexi Giannoulias [stand by your ad]: I’m Alexi Gianoulias and I approve this message.

HM Worker 3: We need more people like Alexi in politics; a person that cares

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Question of the day

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* If you’re an angry Republican and you live in the 10th Congressional District, you might love candidate Dick Green’s new TV ad…

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard people repeatedly yelling “Yeah!!!” at the end of a campaign ad before, but it may be right for these “town hall” times. More info…

The first Republican is on the air in the race for Rep. Mark Steven Kirk’s (R-Ill.) suburban Chicago seat. The ad buy is significant for businessman Dick Green (R), who is relatively unknown in the district with the GOP primary exactly two months away on Feb. 2.

Green, who pumped $230,000 of his own funds into his campaign last quarter, is up with a $100,000 cable buy over the next three weeks, according to his campaign. […]

There are several candidates running to for the GOP nomination, and the most competitive of the bunch are Green, fellow businessman Robert Dold and state Rep. Beth Coulson.

* The Question: Rate it?

…Adding… You should always watch an ad a couple of times before you rate it. Try watching it without the sound off first, since viewers get the vast majority of their information from the visuals, not the audio.

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Heaps of praise for LIS

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It’s not often that I praise a state entity, but one surely deserves it today.

As most of you know, we started posting a whole lot of videos on the blog during session days last spring. The videos, most of which contained timely and important news, were warmly received and got tons of views.

The problem was that people at the Statehouse - particularly those with mobile devices - couldn’t watch them if they were using the WiFi network run by the Legislative Information System.

I want to post even more videos next spring (I’m adding an additional intern for that purpose), so I called LIS a couple of weeks ago and asked them if they would please, pretty please reconsider their policy. I said I understood they were worried about bandwidth problems, but that YouTube, at least, was now much more bandwidth-friendly.

I’m happy to report that LIS did, indeed, change its policy and that videos are currently watchable on its WiFi network.

Hooray!!!

LIS will be monitoring the load on its system, but I’m hoping it won’t be too bad and we can keep the video access forever.

Now, if we could only convince the Illinois State Board of Elections to revamp its horrific website and drag itself into the 21st Century I’d be a truly happy man.

Anyway, I thought you should know.

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Cullerton: No slots and tracks, will push for higher cig taxes again

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Senate President Cullerton is turning at least an initial thumbs down on slots at tracks…

The president of the Illinois Senate cast doubts Wednesday on thousands of slot machines sprouting up at Arlington Park and other horse tracks.

“I don’t think there’s a need for that right now,” Chicago Democrat John Cullerton told reporters at a Capitol news conference.

His comments came a day after the state’s racetrack owners pushed the idea as an alternative to legalized video gambling in local restaurants and bars. A network of video gambling terminals is supposed to help pay off billions worth of construction projects lawmakers approved this year.

Cullerton also has made passing a cigarette tax hike one of his highest priorities for the spring session…

State Senate President John Cullerton says he’ll again push for a higher tax on cigarettes. A dollar increase passed the Senate earlier this year, but the proposal stalled in the House.

CULLERTON: Maybe I can go over and help lobby, if the Speaker will let me come over to the House, I can go walk, walk and talk to some of the members and see if I can convince some of them to vote for it. […]

He says fewer smokers would save Illinois more money, by reducing Medicaid costs attributed to smoking-related health problems. Cullerton says he expects there will be enough votes to get a cigarette tax increase passed.

I’m not so sure yet. There’s a lot of push-back in the House about this tax hike idea. But Bud Kelly, of the Illinois Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, is retiring at the end of this year and won’t be around to lobby against Cullerton’s plan…

Bud Kelley is 77 years old and has never smoked his first cigarette.

But that hasn’t stopped the affable Kelley, who will step down at the end of the year after 34 years as executive director of the Illinois Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, from working to allow others to have that choice.

“I know it bothers some people, and I’m not saying it’s good for your health,” Kelley said. “But it should be up to you and me as a businessman to have freedom of choice.”

“It’s a great industry,” he said. “Tobacco was our first currency. It’s been around a long time, and it’s going to be around. Prohibition isn’t going to work. We’ve tried that once.”

I’ve known Kelly since I started writing about Illinois politics almost 20 years ago (whew, I’m getting old). He’s a darned good lobbyist and tells it straight. He’ll be missed.

* Related…

* Illinois Senate to study discipline gap - Analysis indicates that suspensions of black students have jumped 75% in past decade; similar punishments for whites fell in same period: Senate President John Cullerton told his staff Tuesday to write a resolution creating the task force, spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said. It will look at suspension and expulsion numbers, the reasons behind them and how they affect students, Lightford said. Gov. Pat Quinn was noncommittal. A spokeswoman said he believes school should be “free from discrimination” and added that he looks forward to working with lawmakers on the issue.

* Meeks returns to familiar ground in school-funding fight

* Springfield Post Office to help publicize Christmas Seal program

* Get serious about fixing youth prison

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Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department

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Viewership of ad-supported cable continues to surge

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department

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New poll released in Senate Democratic primary

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’m not sure why anyone would release a poll that showed themselves at one percent, but whatever…

To: Jacob Meister Campaign Team
From: Dave Fako, Fako & Associates, Inc.
Re: Meister for Senate Benchmark Survey

The U.S. Senate Democratic Primary election is wide open, without a dominant frontrunner and Giannoulias in a weak position.

• Nearly half (49%) of Democratic primary voters are uncommitted in the election for U.S. Senator.

• Giannoulias holds a marginal lead in the primary with 33% of the vote. A significant majority (61%) of Alexi’s support is weak and vulnerable.

• Despite a late entry into the race, Meister starts in a similar position as Hoffman and Jackson. Meister holds 11% name recognition and earns 1% in the initial trial heat of the election, indicating significant growth potential.

• Hoffman’s name ID is very low (25% name recognition) and he gets 7% in the trial heat. Robinson-Jackson is recognized by 32% of the Illinois’ Democratic primary voters and starts with 10% of the vote in the primary election.

Fako is a good pollster, and he knows Illinois, so these results are trustworthy. It breaks down thusly…

Giannoulias 33%
Jackson 10%
Hoffman 7%
Meister 1%
Uncommitted 49%

Interesting…

• Giannoulias has a very weak job performance grade as State Treasurer. Only 36% of Democrats rate his performance positively while 30% rate it negatively. One-third of all Democratic primary voters cannot rate his performance as Treasurer.

The high negative kinda surprises me, but the “cannot rate” doesn’t. Statewide officials below secretary of state are usually unknown quantities to voters, especially during their first terms. Heck, Comptroller Hynes has struggled to bring up his name ID and he’s in his third term.

Meister also did an “informed” trial heat, meaning push questions. He doesn’t tell us what those push questions were, but this is how it ended up…

• In the informed test, Meister captures twice as many undecided voters as the other candidates. His message persuades nearly one-third (30%) of all uncommitted voters to
back him. Among initial undecided voters, Hoffman only gets 16%, Giannoulias takes
14% and Jackson only moves 9%. One-third of initial undecided voters remain
uncommitted in the informed trial heat.

That still leaves Giannoulias solidly on top.

MOE is +/- 4.03%, poll conducted November 17–19, 590 likely Democratic primary voters.

…Adding… Giannoulias’ campaign manager, Tom Bowen, has posted some of his campaign’s own poll numbers in comments. According to Bowen, Giannoulias’ job approval numbers are 60-17, far different than the Meister poll. The Giannoulias poll was taken Nov 12-16, of 600 likely voters, and had an MOE of +/- 3.9 percent.

* Related…

* Bernard Schoenburg: Senate candidates’ Afghan views are widely varied

* Democratic candidates for Senate split on Afghanistan

32 Comments

Morning Shorts

Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

* One foot out the door? Tribune chairman Zell turns over chief executive reins

* Sam Zell out as Tribune Co. CEO, remains as chairman

* Ill. broadcasters protest subpoena of students

* Daley off her feet for latest cancer therapy

* More treatment for Chicago’s first lady

* Maggie Daley Being Treated for Bone Cancer

* Average college grad in Illinois owes more than $20,000

Illinois college graduates who borrowed money to meet expenses are leaving school owing an average of $20,102 — up from $18,584 the previous year, according to a new study.

* City Hall approves Daley’s budget plan to drain reserves

Chicago’s 75-year, $1.15 billion parking meter windfall would be nearly drained in just one year to provide token property tax relief and stave off tax increases, thanks to a $6.1 billion 2010 budget approved Wednesday.[…]

Despite complaints that Chicago’s future was being mortgaged, the City Council voted 38-to-12 to approve Mayor Daley’s plan to drain reserves generated by asset sales to solve the city’s worst budget crisis in modern history.

* Chicago City Council approves Mayor Daley’s budget

The Chicago City Council voted 38-12 today to approve Mayor Richard Daley’s $6.1 billion budget proposal largely intact, but not before aldermen offered a smattering of complaints.[…]

Ald. Thomas Allen, 38th, announced he would vote against Daley’s budget for the first time in his aldermanic career. Allen said the spending plan would fail to uphold the council’s pledge to maintain at least $400 million in parking meter lease money in a long-term reserve fund to replace the parking meter proceeds the city lost.

* A Dozen Aldermen Opposed, But Daley Budget Passes

The Chicago City Council Wednesday signed off on Mayor Richard Daley’s budget for next year. That followed three hours of debate, and relatively tepid criticism from some of the twelve aldermen opposed to the plan.

* Chicago parks job cuts: District could trim up to 100 positions

Up to 100 jobs at the Chicago Park District could be eliminated from the payroll next year if unions do not accept furlough days, General Superintendent Timothy Mitchell said Wednesday at a district budget hearing.

* Chicago Public Schools Chief Wants to Give Fewer Teachers Tenure

* Dollars, diversity and schools

However, race, income, or any other measure of diversity is irrelevant as long as a college-prep course is the exception for a Chicago high school student. We have a system that, in effect, puts high-achieving seventh graders on track for college and assumes that everyone else will choose between joining the Latin Kings and working at a fast food restaurant. Would parents in Winnetka stand for this? Why do we?[…]

College isn’t for everyone, but the fact that the Chicago school district has two high schools that are harder to get into than Harvard indicates that something is seriously wrong.

* Second night of parking ban brings another 164 tows

* Davlin plan would raise property tax rates by 23%

For the owner of a home with an assessed value of $100,000, the increase would amount to about $61, assuming the value of the home stayed the same. It would generate about $5 million for the city’s coffers.

* Can Kane handle more DUI arrests?

While local law enforcement agencies are happy to receive grant money to pay for increased patrols this time of year, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office says a resulting increase in DUI cases could put a strain on the system.

* Tinley Park residents to see higher water bills

* Tinley Park OKs commuter parking fee hike

* Early Oak Lawn budget leaves cop spots empty, calls for new and increased taxes

* Despite economy, Orland Park to move ahead with some projects

* No prom kings, queens in Mokena

* MetroSouth: We need break on taxes

* Oswego not ready to gamble on video poker

* DuPage water board accidentally spends $19 million

* SD 144 teachers to strike today

* Roof repairs delayed again for Downers Grove schools

* New Burr Oak burials turning up old caskets

In all, there have been 30 burials since Oct. 1 — even though the cemetery didn’t reopen officially until November — but in two cases cemetery staff began digging only to find caskets in the ground, cemetery officials said Wednesday. And in one case a bone, believed to be human, was found in the ground.

* Mismarked burial sites still a problem at Burr Oak Cemetery

* More unidentified bodies surface at suburban Chicago cemetery

* State mans barricades in biggest fish kill ever

Scientists pouring 2,200 gallons of poison into canal to battle Asian carp

* State dumps poison into canal near Lockport in bid to stop Asian carp

* Fears mount over giant carp reaching Great Lakes

* Vaccine supplies are stabilizing

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