* 12:12 pm - Word’s been going around since at least yesterday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is planning a pre-convention visit to Springfield, and it looks like it’ll be this Saturday at the Old State Capitol at one o’clock. A big speech is reportedly in the works. The Old State Capitol is where Obama officially kicked off his presidential campaign in 2007.
There’s no official confirmation yet from the Obama campaign, and things like this have a way of changing at the last minute, so keep all that in mind.
Still, at least one of Obama’s top guys is in Springfield and a big planning meeting with the locals just concluded. As one local source just told me, “The only way this changes is if Barack’s pilot makes a wrong turn.”
* 12:34 pm - It appears that Lynn Sweet posted this a few moments before I did, because I was allowing the Obama campaign time to respond to a story I had already pretty much nailed down…
The Obama team, in the run-up to the Democratic convention, will showcase the new Obama ticket Saturday in Springfield at the Old State Capitol, where presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) officially kicked off his campaign in February, 2007.
State of Illinois authorities have beens asked permission by Obama folks to reserve the historic spot at noon. This does not mean that this is the time and place where Obama announces his running mate; that could happen any time from Wednesday morning on. Obama’s time frame is shrinking, so the announcement is coming soon. The new vice presidential contender will jump on the road with Obama to showcase the new partnership. Springfield is a leg on the Obama roots tour.
* 12:39 pm - From the SJ-R, which appears to be down at the moment…
“There will be an event in Springfield on Saturday,” said Justin DeJong, spokesman for the Obama campaign in Illinois.
* 12:43 pm - We’re expecting an official announcement at about 1:30 pm today.
Barack Obama may be returning home to Illinois on Saturday to announce his choice of a vice-presidential running mate.
That, at least was the hot rumor among political insiders Tuesday, as talk spread of an apparent Obama rally set for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Old State Capitol in Springfield — the same place where he announced his candidacy for president a year-and-a-half ago.
There was no immediate response from the Obama campaign. But one source close to Mr. Obama confirmed that such a possibility is under review, with a second Springfield source saying top Obama backers are being notified of a Springfield event.
Meanwhile, political Web site Capitol Fax reported that a planning meeting for an Obama Springfield event was held Tuesday morning. […]
Another source close to Mr. Obama said the Springfield rally could be one of a series of stops with the new running mate, though not necessarily the stop at which the announcement is first made.
* 12:50 pm - Mark Ambinder thinks that a Friday night announcement with a big Saturday splash in Springfield is possible…
So — the e-mail goes out Friday night, and the nominee and the candidate appear together for the first time in Springfield.
College presidents from about 100 of the nation’s best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus. […]
“This is a law that is routinely evaded,” said John McCardell, ex-president of Middlebury College in Vermont, who started the organization. “It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory.” […]
Mothers Against Drunk Driving says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. It accuses the presidents of misrepresenting science and, in the words of MADD CEO Chuck Hurley, “waving the white flag.”
Both sides agree alcohol abuse by college students is a huge problem. Research has found that more than 40 percent of college students reported at least one symptom of alcohol abuse or dependence. One study estimated more than 500,000 full-time students at four-year colleges suffer injuries each year related in some way to drinking, a
* The question: Should Illinois lower the drinking age to 18? Explain.
* The election of Senate President Emil Jones’ replacement will mean more than just a new Democratic leader, it will mean a change to the entire Statehouse atmosphere…
The future of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s relationship with the General Assembly, and with the Senate in particular, will hinge on who replaces Jones as leader of the Senate Democrats, lawmakers said. […]
Jones’ retirement “might be a greater detriment to the governor than anyone else,” said Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield. But he warned that if Jones’ successor is a Blagojevich loyalist, “we’re looking at continued gridlock, I believe.”
Blagojevich has depended on Jones to block legislation he opposed and pass bills intended to embarrass or pressure his nemesis, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). At times, Jones had to press Senate Democrats to go along with the governor.
Most recently, Jones pushed through the Senate several Blagojevich budget measures, including a multibillion-dollar capital construction plan that the House refused to approve.
Blagojevich won’t be able to count on that kind of coziness with the new president.
Senate Republicans are hoping the new leader, whoever it is, opens the door to improved communication. “We’ve always been willing to walk through the door, but the Senate president and the governor have walked in lockstep together,” says Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson. “And that has, unfortunately, not meant good things for Illinois.” […]
Even the House could feel a fresh, new-start feeling when the new legislative session starts in January, says Rep. Gary Hannig, a Litchfield Democrat and deputy majority leader. “There will be, sort of a, ‘It’s a new day. Let’s start over. Let’s be positive about it.”
The next person to hold that job need not test the limits of that power by waging a pointless war with Madigan that would probably extend the Democrats’ record of failure.
The next Senate president, if he or she and Madigan work together, also could render the unpopular Gov. Rod Blagojevich mostly irrelevant. In his nearly six years in office, the governor has shown little inclination to work with legislators or govern responsibly. Jones has enabled such bad behavior.
With their complete control of state government, Democrats should have made progress on a whole host of issues from education funding to much-needed state construction money. Jones’ retirement is their second chance.
* Getting his son appointed to the November ballot will, at least in the short term, do even further damage to Senate President Emil Jones’ public perception and to his legacy…
Following the lead of political families like the Strogers and Lipinskis, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones is anointing one of his children to take over for him when he retires in January.
Jones, 72, began the process of handing off his Senate seat to Emil Jones III by filing paperwork Monday with the State Board of Elections to drop himself from the Nov. 4 ballot. Next, Democratic Party leaders in Jones’ South Side and south suburban Senate district will choose a replacement. […]
Despite not having a college degree, [Emil Jones III] was hired in April 2007 as an administrator for Gov. Blagojevich’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity — a job that pays $59,436 annually.
* As I told you yesterday, Jones can legally withdraw about $577K from his campaign fund, and then there’s the pension bump…
As one of the longest-serving members of the General Assembly, Jones also is positioned for a healthy pension. If he does not take any other state positions and retires at the end of his term in January, he would begin drawing a state pension of $81,016 annually. A year later, he would see that total increase by 48 percent because he would be grandfathered in under an otherwise defunct retirement formula that rewarded service beyond 20 years.
The boost for Jones, who has served in the General Assembly 35 years, would take his pension all the way up to $119,903 a year. That’s nearly 26 percent more than the $95,313 he is now being paid to wield the Senate gavel. It’s also more than double the median amount that two households in his Senate district earn combined, according to 2000 Census data.
In describing Jones’ tenure as Senate president, one Springfield reporter wrote that he “long championed more money for school and education funding reform and made them his top priorities.”
I can’t agree with that.
I would have to say that Jones talked about those things and how important they were for most of his 25 years in the Senate. […]
Jones has made his preference clear. He wants his son to take his Senate seat.
That’s the Chicago way.
So at least one Chicago child can thank Jones for helping him.
As for the rest of the kids in Illinois, they simply chose the wrong parents.
Thanks for the public education, Senator Jones.
* Yesterday’s press release announcing Jones’ retirement highlighted what he considered to be his biggest accomplishments…
Under President Jones’ leadership in Fiscal Year 2008 education received the largest one-year increase in per student funding in the history of the state — $400 per student — $600 million overall in education funding. From 2003 to present, a $196 million increase was provided to early childhood education funding.
President Jones also shepherded the passage of one of the most comprehensive reform measures of the criminal justice system in the history of the State through the Illinois Senate. Among the many substantive changes to the criminal justice system spearheaded by Senator Jones was legislation to videotape interrogations in capital cases. This single piece of legislation put Illinois at the forefront of the nation as the first state to require that interrogations in capital cases be videotaped.
All good, but Jones never accomplished his oft stated goal of a serious restructuring of education funding. If that doesn’t happen by January, he may be soon forgotten.
At least five senators said Monday they were already lobbying their fellow Democrats for the job and outlined their credentials. All said they would work to repair the feud between House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has drawn strength from Jones’ unwavering support.
Sen. James Clayborne (D-Belleville) said he wants to build a working relationship with the governor and Madigan. […]
Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said he has picked up support from some of his colleagues throughout the state as he began reaching out. “It looks very good,” Cullerton said. But he added it is going to take a while for any of the candidates to get to the 30 votes needed to become president. […]
Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) called Jones a “unifier” in the Senate Democratic caucus but said he is seeking support from his fellow Democrats, saying he has backing from lawmakers in the suburbs, Chicago and Downstate. […]
Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston) said he is reaching out to colleagues seeking support for the presidency. […]
“I can work with Speaker Madigan,” said [Sen. Rickey Hendon], a Jones loyalist. He added the Senate needs to “find a way to work with the speaker without throwing the governor under the bus.”
It’s way early, and all of these candidates have their own drawbacks. Plus, there are plenty of others out there working the phones and attempting to position themselves.
“I’m sure Speaker Madigan has an interest in who the next senate president is going to be as well, which can only make for big fireworks coming out of Springfield,” said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL).
State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said he’s already received calls from several contenders seeking his support. Two potential candidates already plan to go to a fundraiser for Jacobs this week.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” Jacobs said.
[Sen. Ira Silverstein] agreed that various lawmakers’ were already jockeying behind the scenes for support, but that no clear consensus had yet formed.
“I think things are going to get kind of intense,” Silverstein said.
Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park isn’t in Jones’ leadership team, but he has led some high-profile pieces of legislation, including ethics reforms and pension obligation bonds.
There will also be a bunch of stalking horses. This thing is gonna get complicated, campers.
* The fallout from the Rockford Register-Star’s closure of its Statehouse bureau and the firing of Statehouse bureau chief Aaron Chambers continues, particularly in the wake of this supremely ignorant remark from the paper’s executive editor yesterday…
“We kept the [Statehouse] bureau open through some previous tough times,” said Linda Grist Cunningham, executive editor. “Frankly, I made a choice between the bureau in Springfield and local news in the Rock River Valley. It’s a loss, but losing another local reporter would have been worse.”
* Not only was Cunningham’s statement insensitive and ethically challenged (she is credited with writing the article and then quoted herself in the third person and failed to mention any names of the doomed), but also demonstrated a spectacular lack of insight into what a “hyper local” newspaper really means. Kiyoshi Martinez, who worked for and with Chambers at the paper, sets her straight…
Even before hyperlocal newspaper chain GateHouse bought the Register Star from Gannett, the articles coming out of the [Statehouse] bureau were hyperlocal. I know from experience that any story I did had to have a Rockford focus to make it relevant to the local readership, otherwise the editors wouldn’t consider it.
This was more than just quoting the local legislators. This meant cold-calling through a phone book to find some “real person” to quote in the story about how an issue affected them. When most bureau reporters could have tied off the story, extra time was spent localizing, even arranging for photographs to be taken so local art went with the piece and gave the story a better presentation.
At times, this was maddening to do, but if you’re looking for an example of how to make statewide, government and political issues local, I can’t think of a better example.
And this brings me to my disagreement with the executive editor’s statement. If you goal is to only cover Rockford in a geographic sense by having reporters only physically in your town, then you’re failing at hyperlocal. There are things happening across the state that will resonate in Rockford, especially when it comes to legislative action at the Capitol.
Simply dismissing the Springfield bureau’s work as not “local” either means you weren’t paying attention to the actual content of the articles and packages produced or you failed to communicate properly what you wanted from the bureau.
This isn’t the kind of coverage you can replace with one-size-fits-all articles from the Associated Press. I know for a fact during my internship of several stories, big and small, that would have gone unnoticed if the bureau didn’t constantly have a presence at the Capitol. State government is a complex and nuanced beast that’s difficult enough to sort out when you’re at the heart of it, let alone hours and miles away. […]
Hyperlocal doesn’t mean physically constraining yourself to the city limits. It means presenting information in a context that’s relevant to your audience. There is a vast array of issues facing Illinois that the government is directly involved in that residents in Rockford will probably want to know (or, at least, should know about). It’s simple to see that a news organization and its readership would benefit from is someone who has the experience and institutional knowledge of working a beat for several years on the scene.
I excerpted too much, but the post was so good that I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any of his major points.
* And Rep. John Fritchey opines today at Illinoize…
In most every other state that I have occasion to visit, newspaper coverage of state government surpasses that in Illinois. Let me be clear, by ’surpasses’, I don’t mean in terms of quality. We have, and have had, very good reporters covering what goes on in state government. Rather, I mean that other states tend to have broader and deeper coverage of what transpires in their statehouses. The reason is straightforward enough - more reporters = more coverage.
What does this have to do with good government? It all has to do with the ’sunshine is the best disinfectant’ theory. The more information that the general public has access to about what transpires in government, the less likely it is that egregious actions will take place. (Not impossible mind you, but less likely)
One example that comes to mind is Cook County government. When I was growing up, (heck, until not that long ago), most people had no idea who their county commissioners were, let along what they did. But as the media started spending more time covering county government, and the impact that it had on peoples’ daily lives and pocketbooks, people started paying more attention to what was going on in county government - and who was responsible for it. The result is that elected officials, now cognizant that their votes would be subject to public scrutiny, have had to be more mindful of how they were voting. The change won’t come overnight, the recent Cook County sales tax hike makes that clear. But without a window for the public to look through, the change likely wouldn’t come at all.
I know we had a discussion of this just last night, but Kiyoshi’s piece opens up an entirely new avenue, as does Fritchey’s.
Last night’s back and forth centered quite a bit on Chambers and the others who have been “right sized” this year.
“We believe we have the legal precedence to be successful,” said state Sen. Larry Bomke R-Springfield. “We’ve known all along (the move) will not save money. It will cost the state of Illinois. It is not economic development. It is just plain nonsense.”
Former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson will visit Rockford on Wednesday to headline a fundraising event for Winnebago County state’s attorney candidate Chuck Prorok.
* The Rockford Register Star laid off 13 employees and closed its Statehouse office today, dumping bureau chief Aaron Chambers, who is generally considered one of the best reporters under the dome. Check out this story on the paper’s website…
The newspaper also closed its Springfield bureau today, a step that had been considered five years ago and again 18 months ago.
“We kept the bureau open through some previous tough times,” said Linda Grist Cunningham, executive editor. “Frankly, I made a choice between the bureau in Springfield and local news in the Rock River Valley. It’s a loss, but losing another local reporter would have been worse.”
Chambers worked like the devil to give his paper local angles on every possible story. It’s just a sad state of affairs, and even sadder that he would be spoken of in that way.
* The Champaign News-Gazette closed its bureau earlier this year, putting Kate Clements Cohorst out of a job. The Tribune eliminated one of its Statehouse positions on Friday, laying off the incredibly hard-working Jeff Meitrodt, who was recruited from New Orleans not long ago. And, as of yet, the AP has not filled the vacancy created when Ryan Keith was hired by the State Journal-Register.
So, that’s two bureaus and four reporting slots gone from the Statehouse this year alone, and it’s only August.
*** 11:58 am *** That other post was getting too long, so let’s start anew, shall we?
* According to officials at the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Senate President Emil Jones had $577,605.04 in his personal campaign account as of June 30th, 1998. That’s the cutoff date for being allowed to legally withdraw funds from an account. Money accumulated above and beyond that 6/30/98 date cannot be used for personal stuff.
No word yet about whether he intends to withdraw that $577K (minus the loan repayment) instead of spending it on candidates, but some Tier One targets (Linda Holmes and Gary Forby) may be a bit nervous right now. The Republicans may also be breathing just a wee bit easier, depending on what Jones says today.
By the way, we may not get a press conference. Last night we were told the announcement would take place at two o’clock today, but it might be done via a simple press release. We dont’ know anything because Jones’ spokesperson and his staff aren’t returning phone calls and e-mails.
My former intern, Paul Richardson, is hanging around downtown waiting for word. We’ll have full coverage if there’s a press conference.
[Sen. Deanna Demuzio (D-Carlinville)] said Senate Democrats from downstate have already been on the phone with each other, forming a plan to have influence in the selection of a replacement for Jones.
‘’We anticipate playing a major role in that,'’ she said. ‘’We’ll be sticking together.'’
They’re sticking together now, but we’ll see how long that lasts. Sen. Clayborne is a Downstater, remember, and a member of the Black Caucus. There’s gonna be a big effort to slice and dice all of the sub-caucuses up, and it won’t be easy to have complete solidarity for any delegation.
Senate President Jones’ main campaign account is Citizens for Emil Jones. Formed in 1974, it has State ID 188; one of the lowest of the currently active PAC numbers. The committee reported $577,605.04 in cash on hand as of June 30, 1998. That report listed no investments, but it did claim outstanding loans of $3,300, which may be in addition to the cash balance. State law bars candidates from using campaign funds for personal use, but grandfathers funds raised prior to June 30, 1998. So, that’s the amount that President Jones could take from his campaign fund for personal use (provided that he pays income taxes on it).
It’s worth noting that Sen. Jones is not required to take any money from the PAC for personal use; it’s strictly up to him. Nor does he have to take any action any time soon; he has until the committee dissolves, whenever that may be.
*** UPDATE 3 - 1:09 pm *** Sen. Rickey Hendon is having a press conference right about now. Paul is in a cab on his way. Hopefully we’ll have some audio or notes.
*** UPDATE 4 - 1:31 pm *** It sounds like we’re just going to get a written statement from Jones sometime after 2 o’clock.
Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. is confirming that he will step down when his current term expires in November.
In an interview over his cell phone, Mr. Jones said he’s wanted to retire for a long time but had been restrained by friends and allies. […]
“I’ve never run away from a fight,” Mr. Jones said, adding that he wanted to retire three years ago but “friends and family” convinced him to reconsider.
And here’s the son stuff…
Mr. Jones confirmed that he’d like his son to succeed him in Springfield. “That would be nice,” he said. But he declined to elaborate, saying only that, “more than likely,” he would resign his [ballot] position and be replaced on the November ballot by his son. [All emphasis added]
*** UPDATE 6 - 1:40 pm *** Press release from Sen. Jeff Schoenberg…
The unanticipated news that Senate President Emil Jones will announce his retirement later today provides an opportunity for Illinois Senate Democrats to have a fresh start in setting the state’s agenda. Senate Democrats need leadership that is more open and transparent and which works toward consensus in solving the state’s most pressing problems.
I hope to be a major part of the that effort. Thanks to your support and encouragement, I will continue to fight for those priorities and the values we share.
*** UPDATE 7 - 2:32 pm *** Sen. Hendon’s press conference sounded like a pretty staid affair. Hendon lavished praise on Senate President Jones and said he was qualified to succeed Jones because of his position as chairman of the Rules Committee, his being “faithful” to Jones for all these years and his work on behalf of the mass transit bailout, among other stuff.
Hendon said he could work with all of the “eight or nine” other candidates for the Senate presidency, including Sen. John Cullerton, whom Hendon denied was too close to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Hendon said he would continue to “loyally” serve Jones until he’s gone and then see what might happen.
*** UPDATE 8 - 3:05 pm *** Senate President Jones has issued his statement.
There’s not much to it, but here’s the complete text…
PRESIDENT JONES WILL NOT SEEK ANOTHER SENATE TERM
SPRINGFIELD, IL - Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. said today that he will retire at the end of his current term in the Illinois Senate. President Jones is the longest serving Democratic Caucus leader since the 1970 Illinois Constitution. He has served as Senate President since 2003.
“I want to thank the many people throughout the years who have honored me by sending me to Springfield to represent them, as well as the members of the Democratic Caucus who have elected me their leader for the past 15 years. This has been a great privilege to work on behalf of the people of Illinois for over 35 years,” President Jones said.
“I want to thank my leadership team and my colleagues in the Senate who worked with me side-by-side to accomplish many things for the people of Illinois,” President Jones said. “My staff has also provided incredible support and an extraordinary effort on behalf of all of the members.”
President Jones was first elected to the Illinois House in 1972 and to the Illinois Senate in 1983. He was elected Senate Minority Leader in 1993 when Democrats had 27 members. In 2007 as Senate President he led Senate Democrats to capture 37 seats – an unprecedented gain of five seats for a veto proof majority in a non-redistricting year. The 95th General Assembly marks the first time in 70 years, and the first time since the implementation of the 1970 State Constitution, that Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in the Illinois Senate.
Under President Jones’ leadership in Fiscal Year 2008 education received the largest one-year increase in per student funding in the history of the state — $400 per student — $600 million overall in education funding. From 2003 to present, a $196 million increase was provided to early childhood education funding.
President Jones also shepherded the passage of one of the most comprehensive reform measures of the criminal justice system in the history of the State through the Illinois Senate. Among the many substantive changes to the criminal justice system spearheaded by Senator Jones was legislation to videotape interrogations in capital cases. This single piece of legislation put Illinois at the forefront of the nation as the first state to require that interrogations in capital cases be videotaped.
Additional significant legislation that President Jones sponsored or guided through the General Assembly during his 35 year legislative career includes legislation to require state law enforcement officials to collect data on racial profiling; a bill to require equal pay for equal work; a prescription drug discount program for senior and disabled citizens; two increases in the minimum wage; legislation that directed millions of state dollars for disadvantaged public school students to classroom needs, rather than administrative needs; legislation to double the personal exemption on the state income tax in 1998 to benefit working families who had not received an increase since 1969; and an effort to secure an individual’s right to choose a clinical social worker over a psychiatrist.
*** UPDATE 9 - 3:42 pm *** Statement from Gov. Rod Blagojevich…
“Over the last five and a half years as governor, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Senate President Emil Jones.
The accomplishments I am most proud of – making Illinois the first state in the nation to provide access to health care to all children, access to pre-school for all three and four-year-olds, and investing a record amount of money in education without raising taxes on people – would not have happened without the leadership and support of Emil Jones.
Emil Jones used his position as Senate President to give those without a voice better health care, better funded schools and increases in the minimum wage.
Emil Jones is a man with a big heart and a man of action. He is a true champion of the people. He didn’t just do the talk, he did the walk. All of us in Illinois owe him a great debt of gratitude.”
*** UPDATE 10 - 5:02 pm *** Statement from Justin DeJong, Illinois Director of Communications, Obama for America…
“Senator Jones has been a passionate advocate who has fought for working families and the underprivileged for more than three decades, and Senator Obama is confident he will continue to serve the people of Illinois in retirement.”
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*** UPDATE 1 - 12:09 am *** I warned subscribers a couple of weeks ago that this was a distinct possibility, and I spent most of Sunday evening working the phones after I heard Jones had been making calls. I was just about finished writing the Capitol Fax when I noticed that the Trib had it posted…
Powerful Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. is expected to announce Monday that he soon will retire, sources close to him said Sunday night, which will leave Gov. Rod Blagojevich without one of his closest allies. […]
His decision, not officially confirmed, likely opens a free-for-all to succeed him. Possible candidates to succeed Jones, a Chicago Democrat, as president include Sens. James Clayborne of Belleville, Jeff Schoenberg of Evanston; John Cullerton, Rickey Hendon and Donne Trotter of Chicago; and Terry Link of Waukegan, who doubles as Lake County Democratic chairman.
Jones’ name is on the Nov. 4 ballot with no opposition. He could remain on the ballot and throw the choice of his successor in the Senate district to local party leaders. […]
The loss of Jones at the helm will be a setback for Blagojevich, who counted on his ally to deliver support in the Senate for numerous controversial proposals. Jones’ support gave the Democratic governor a counterweight to House Speaker Michael Madigan, with whom Blagojevich has feuded.
There are others on the possible list, of course, but those are most of the bigger names.
Senate President Emil Jones is expected to announce his retirement plans today, stripping Gov. Blagojevich of his most vocal and reliable ally as the governor contemplates a third term. […]
A spokesman for Blagojevich said he did not know anything about Jones’ intentions.
I talked to a Blagojevich insider last night who was taken completely by surprise. Interesting, eh?
* Also…
One source indicated that Jones is likely to serve through the end of this year’s session, scheduled to end in November. Other close allies insist Jones, 72, remains healthy.
Both of those statements are true, as far as I can tell.
One top Blagojevich counselor acknowledged that “issues during the spring”—a euphemism for Rezko’s corruption trial—”necessitated him not always being out there” in the public eye.
“At the end of the day, he’s going to take heat no matter what,” said the Blagojevich adviser, who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak about strategy. “There was a consensus that it was time for him to get out there.” […]
Like the Golden Gloves boxer he once was, Blagojevich had to climb back into the ring and flail sometimes wildly to put the focus back on his agenda.
“I think the governor, with all the problems going on out there, maybe is happiest when he’s in the ring throwing those punches,” said state Rep. Robert Molaro (D-Chicago). “I think he sat back and tried other ways, he’s getting other advice, and then he says, ‘I’m only happy when I’m fighting.’ ” […]
“If the speaker thinks this kid is going away, that he’s maybe losing the fight, then the speaker is sadly mistaken,” Molaro said. “I think Rod Blagojevich is going to fight to the bitter end.”
Molaro has a point, but Emil Jones’ retirement is gonna have a huge impact on this comeback.
For instance, instead of putting together a capital plan now, Madigan might want to wait until Jones is gone.
*** UPDATE 3 - 9:14 am *** This was filed last night, at about the same time as the Tribune’s piece, but I didn’t see it…
“Emil called me tonight and said that he has been thinking about it for two years and has decided to retire. He said he will announce it at a news conference Monday,” Sen. Jacobs said. […]
Sen. Jones called each member of the Senate Democratic caucus to inform them of his impending announcement, Mike Jacobs said. He added Sen. Jones told him he plans to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January.
The AP is only quoting the Tribune and Sun-Times at the moment. Maybe they could get off their behinds and call Jacobs and some other members, and mention the Small Newspaper story while they’re at it.
*** UPDATE 4 - 9:56 am *** The AP finally got ahold of somebody…
Senator Rickey Hendon tells The Associated Press that Jones has told him he’ll step down after November’s legislative veto session.
Hendon says Jones isn’t retiring because of health problems. He says Jones has spent more than 30 years in the Illinois Legislature, is about to turn 73 and is ready to move on.
Hendon is 1 of Jones’ top deputies. The Chicago Democrat says he’s interested replacing Jones as Senate president.
There is also talk about the timing of Jones’ announcement. It comes just eleven days before state election officials finalize the ballot for the fall election. That leaves the potential for party leaders to swap Jones off the ballot and replace him with a hand-picked candidate. That has fueled talk that Jones may make a move to have his son succeed him in office—a maneuver that has been a favorite of Illinois politicians. […]
Jones’ announcement will come as his political mentee Illinois Senator Barack Obama prepares to accept the Democratic presidential nomination next week. Jones and Obama grew extremely close during Obama’s time in the state senate. Any distasteful Chicago-style political dealings connected with Jones’ retirement could become a problem for Obama who has long sought to keep his distance from the city’s reputation for political corruption and slight-of-hand.
I wrote about Jones wanting to install his son, Emil III, a couple of weeks ago. The Obama thing is important as well. This helps create a tiny bit of distance, particularly if something breaks between now and election day.
Jones has been the governor’s biggest supporter [on the capital bill]. He’s expected to stick around through the end of this session — in January. But make no mistake, word of his retirement makes him a political lameduck and the power struggles to replace him have already begun.
The next Senate president is likely to want to put his (or her) stamp of approval on project spending rather than rubberstamp Jones’ vision.
And that’s why the construction spending spree is a little bit deader today than it was yesterday.
Last Friday, we learned that State Sen. and Democratic congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson’s stepson, Jay Bush, was seriously injured while serving in Afghanistan. According to an account in the State-Journal Register today, Bush “had been riding in a truck that came under fire at night … Ordered to evacuate, Bush jumped out of the side of the truck. He did not realize the vehicle was parked on a bridge, so he fell 25 feet, landing on rocks.” The Register also reported that Halvorson and her husband were visiting Bush at Walter Reed Hospital in D.C., where he was flown over the weekend. Before heading East, Halvorson said that Bush had “broke his back, and they think his neck.”
If you’re the GOP candidate in the 11th District race, common sense should instruct you to lay off your opponent until she’s gotten through this ordeal.
Well, think again. At least if you’re Marty Ozinga.
That’s right. While Halvorson is in Washington dealing with a family emergency, the Ozinga campaign has apparently put out a robocall attacking her. We have it on good authority from a contact in the field that the call hit district residents’ phones earlier today.
Pretty despicable when you think about it. Especially from a guy who claims he “not a politician.” To the contrary, it looks like politics are foremost in his mind.
But we already had an inkling that Ozinga lacks a certain … decency.
* The Ozinga robocall was a disproportionate response, but it was a response. The DCCC spent over $40K on recent mailers, at least one of them whacking Ozinga for supporting more tax breaks for Big Oil. Here’s the Ozinga campaign’s e-mail sent out in response…
The DCCC made a scurrilous charge that Marty “supports more tax breaks for Big Oil.” As proof, they cite Ozinga’s support of tax credits to encourage refinery expansion and construction – a long-overdue development that would increase supply and lower gas prices.
The rub for the DCCC is: Halvorson also supports “increasing oil refinery capacity,” in addition to supporting “tax incentives for companies who devote resources to the research and development of renewable sources of energy” – incentives for which Big Oil companies would qualify[1]. So Halvorson also supports “more tax breaks for Big Oil.”
The DCCC mailer also claimed that Majority Leader Halvorson “led the fight” for electric rate relief, when it was Senate President Jones who fought that relief for months.
I talked with some Republicans the other day who said Ozinga couldn’t just let the attacks stand (there was also another somewhat negative mailer from Halvorson in the boxes at the time), so they responded.
It may backfire, however, because the response could be seen as disproportionate, particularly when her military stepson is in the hospital.
*** UPDATE *** I’m told that the Ozinga campaign sent a letter to the Halvorson campaign last week offering a mutual truce on negative attacks. No reply.
The DCCC and Halvorson have sent out 4 mailers with some negativity in them in the past few days, plus a Halvorson robocall responding to Ozinga’s robocall, plus a WHOI TV interview on Friday during which Halvorson is quoted as saying this about Ozinga’s lack of political experience…
Halvorson says her experience makes her the better candidate.
“Theres so many things we need to talk about, what we are there for, and you know, if you are a patient, who would you want to do your surgery? Someone whose done it before or someone whose not?” said Halvorson
That’s not exactly hugely negative. Again, Ozinga has been mostly responding, so some of the criticism is unfair. But this is a very difficult high-wire act and Ozinga needs to be extremely careful or this meme could move into the MSM.
* I mentioned the other day that Rep. Aaron Schock’s speech was a bit flat. He tried his best to throw some red meat at the crowd, but the GOP congressional candidate showed once again that he’s not always the most prepared candidate…
“The last time we had this level of socialism being proposed and inexperience at the helm was Jimmy Carter,” said Schock (who was born four months after Democrat Carter left office in 1981).
I later asked Schock what he meant by the “level of socialism” Obama represents.
“Well, he’s promoting what I would term a government takeover of the health system,” Schock said. “He has said he wants to mandate free college tuition for every student in America.
“Unlike TED KENNEDY (he meant JACK KENNEDY, of course) who said, don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country … he (Obama) says, we’re the wealthiest country in the world; you should get this, you should get that. You’re entitled to this, you’re entitled to that. To me, that’s a move toward socialism.”
Schock was not specific, at that point, on Obama’s programs.
“I’m familiar with what his work was here at the state Capitol, and to me, the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior,” Schock said. “And he has supported what I would consider to be socialistic moves on health care as a state senator.”
The Senate’s main focus will be to take up two bills that Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to expand through his amendatory veto power, said Senate President Emil Jones’ spokeswoman, Cindy Davidsmeyer.
As the governor has rewritten the measures, one would allow parents to keep children on their health insurance plans until age 26, and the other would offer a new property tax break to disabled veterans.
$1.2 billion. That’s the size of the scaled-back capital program the Illinois House of Representatives voted for on Wednesday. It’s substantially less than the $25 billion program the governor wants, but Blagojevich called the House action a good start.
Illinois’ unemployment rate has jumped to 7.3 percent — the highest level in 15 years — with job losses hitting the construction industry hard, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said. One year ago, the rate was 5.1 percent.
The latest unemployment rate for July, which translates to 491,300 unemployed people, mirrors the economic downturn nationwide, said IDES director James Sledge. […]
The national unemployment rate for July hit a five-year high of 5.7 percent, the federal government reported earlier.
Both Sledge and his boss, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, singled out the loss of 12,000 construction jobs since the start of the year to argue for a multibillion-dollar statewide construction program that’s become bogged down in Springfield.
One bill would eliminate property taxes for 16,000 Illinois veterans. Blagojevich’s proposal would be available for veterans with a disability of 50 percent or more, such as the loss of limbs.
Cindy Davidsmeyer, spokeswoman for Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago), said she did not think the break to veterans would have “any trouble at all.”
The biggest hit would be to local governments, which collect $35 million to $40 million for the veterans in this category. Other property owners would pick up the slack.
I’ll have more on the other bill in tomorrow’s Capitol Fax. I meant to have some info on it today, but was sidetracked with the Jones retirement thing.
Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, thinks that approval of the amendatory vetoes would set up a legal challenge intended to resolve the thorny question of just how far Blagojevich or any governor can go in rewriting legislation.
“My opinion is he’s out of line,” Risinger said. “I think the authority that was given to him was to rewrite bills if there’s any tweaking that needs to be done. He’s just writing legislation, not rewriting legislation.”
Thoughts?
* Somewhat related…
* State legislators might inch closer to acceptable capital plan
* With no capital plan, it’s a long road ahead for transportation plans - Projects only get more expensive as political feud goes on.
Last week’s umpteenth special legislative session had a lot more to do with giving the Senate an opportunity to kill off the legislative pay raises than coming up with education funding reform ideas or passing a capital construction plan.
The official reason the General Assembly was brought back to town last Tuesday was to deal with education funding reform, but that was a farce on its face. Gov. Rod Blagojevich offered up no plans of his own. Blagojevich said he called the special session at the behest of the Legislative Black Caucus, but didn’t bother to reach out to African-Americans at all. The governor, who said this month that he sometimes considers himself to be the state’s first African-American governor, instead spent the day at the Illinois State Fair’s “Auction of Champions.”
That failure to communicate and to show his face brought harsh words from Rev. Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago), an education funding reform advocate who is sounding more like a possible gubernatorial candidate with each passing day.
“When the governor calls a special session, the governor is supposed to have an agenda,” Meeks told reporters yesterday. The Senator also quipped that the governor had put “cows before kids,” with his decision to attend the animal auction. Blagojevich pledged to put $2 billion into education funding during his 2006 reelection campaign, which prompted Meeks to drop out of the race. It’s now payback time.
But early last week, there was little talk about education and much talk about the pay raise. It’s actually been that way throughout the summer. Editorials have lambasted Senate President Emil Jones for refusing to call a vote to reject the raises during the spring session and for his… um… unfortunate choice of words regarding the issue. Jones had joked with reporters that he needed a pay raise and food stamps in the final days of the spring session, and those remarks have been repeated ad nauseum for months.
The governor’s special session call was immediately seized upon by most of the state’s news media as a prime opportunity to reject the raises, especially since many believed that the raises would kick in last week. Illinois law requires both chambers to reject the raises within 30 session days or they automatically take effect. It’s been assumed for weeks that Jones has wanted to quietly allow the raises to take effect after the November elections, but it has become clear that there would be nothing “quiet” about this tactic.
Instead, the pay raise issue managed to break through all the clutter and resonate clearly with voters. One suburban Democratic Senator claimed he was receiving ten calls an hour early last week from his constituents about the raises. The raises had essentially become the chief symbol in the voters’ minds for all the intractable Statehouse problems.
Usually, the public tends not to notice much of what goes on in Springfield, but the governor’s horrible poll numbers and various state crises have made voters sit up and take notice. Last year’s skyrocketing electric rates exploded Downstate voter anger, and the mass transit meltdown caught Chicago-area voters’ attention, and not in a good way. The intransigence on the capital construction plan has prompted much voter disgust. But this pay raise thing was working against the legislative Democrats throughout the state in a way that those other hot-button issues didn’t even approach.
Democratic polling was apparently showing that the raises were causing significant problems for some Senate incumbents. The Democrats in both chambers believed earlier this year that they could do just about anything they wanted and not be harmed at the polls because of Barack Obama’s presence on the ballot. But that isn’t turning out to be the case, mainly because the pay raise issue has become such a potent and devastatingly simple rallying cry for critics of the current system.
Freshman Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) was said to be particularly vulnerable on this issue. Senate President Jones had hoped to easily hold all his Democratic seats this year and even add to his super majority, but the pay raises were apparently mucking up the works.
Clearly, something had to be done, and no matter how much Jones and some of his members wanted those raises, they weren’t going to be able to grab that cash.
* Related…
* Chambers: Public finally has say over wishes against pay raises
* Kristen McQueary interviews Rev. Sen. James Meeks. He does a pretty good job…
Q: But parents should be more responsible for their kids’ education.
A: That misses the point. Even if parents in New Trier had to operate on Chicago Public Schools’ budget, they would lose $31 million. They could not provide the same education today with a $31 million hole in the budget. Multiply that by 25 years and you get all the social ills we have. They couldn’t do it, even with two parents.
Q:Throwing money at the schools is not going to solve the problem.
A: I beg to differ. Ask Linda Yonke (New Trier’s superintendent) if she didn’t have that extra $7,000 per pupil, could she do the job she is doing today? She will tell you that money matters. Don’t let anybody tell you money does not matter. They have training coaches for kids taking the ACT test and ACT prep courses and 17 students in a class. When Thornton or Fenger high school students take the ACTs, that’s the first time students sat down with it. Money matters because they have a coach and aquatics and microbiology.
Also, the school that feeds into New Trier spends $21,000 per student. Those kids come prepared. They don’t need remedial courses. They are all (Advanced Placement) when they come there.
Q: There are districts, particularly downstate, that are able to do more with less, that spend less than Chicago Public Schools, and get better results.
A: No downstate school has New Trier’s statistics of 88 percent of teachers with master’s degrees and 95 percent college graduation rate. No downstate school has that. It’s a totally different environment downstate. Everybody knows everybody.
Q: But back to the parents, do you admit they play a more important role than the school?
A: I am not going to let this discussion go in the way people are trying to take it. They’re trying to take this into family responsibility. We have two-parent families in our congregation, a mother and a father, who insist their kids do their homework; who take their children to school; who know who is on the local school council. But if the school doesn’t have the resources to do the job, it makes no difference the commitment level of the parent. […]
Q: Are you going to run for governor?
A: I doubt it. There are other more qualified people to become the Democratic nominee.
Brian Williamsen, spokesman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, issued a written statement saying, “In fairness to the employees, we are not discussing the agreement until they have been provided an opportunity to review it.”
n what was dubbed Operation Rebate & Switch, officers set up the fictional Tax Recovery Experts Inc. store front office on South Archer Avenue and lured the fugitives to the site with letters promising to help them get their first rebate or supplemental check. Those who got the letters were instructed to call the Southwest Side office to set up an appointment.
While sometimes tedious and time-consuming, legislative oversight provides the opportunity for decisions to be properly vetted and examined publicly. In an era where executives like Blagojevich and Bush act as though their elections allow them to do as they please, additional legislative scrutiny is nearly always a good thing.
* Yet another weird week in a seemingly never-ending streak of weirdness and hilarity. I’m done. Going back to the State Fair for some non-work activities. Hope you have a relaxing weekend and I’ll see some of you Tuesday.
* Head on over to Illinoize for more fun, and don’t forget to check out InsiderzExchange. It’s busting loose.
* The Senate will reportedly be back for session on Tuesday, August 19th at two o’clock. The Senate will take up the two amendatory vetoes that the House accepted this week and the “mini capital bill” that the House passed.
The state and the American Federation of State, County and Muncipal Employees have reached tentative agreement on a new contract, union officials said Friday.
AFSCME Deputy Director Roberta Lynch declined to discuss details of the contract.
“We feel it is a fair settlement,” Lynch said. “We feel it is fair to our members and the taxpayers of Illinois.” […]
Lynch said the union hopes to begin the ratification process next week, with meetings held across the state to explain the contract terms to members. She said the ratification process will probably take a week.
* Meanwhile, Carlos Hernandez Gomez takes a look at the governor’s astonishing comment that there are times when “I consider myself the first African-American governor of Illinois”…
Illinois has already had a black governor, albeit for only a few hours.
It was trailblazing African-American pol Cecil Partee, the first black president of the Illinois Senate.
And it was because of something that the late Illinois Senator Paul Simon, who was then Illinois’ lieutenant governor did.
Simon describes the little-known history in his autobiography P.S., read on:
“As president pro tem he [Partee] followed me in the succession line for the governorship, if anything happened to the governor and me. Because of the constitutional provisions that succession followed even for temporary vacancies, one day when I knew Governor Ogilvie would be out of the state I made it a point to go over to St. Louis so that Illinois had an African American governor for the first time, even if only for one day. And I’m pleased Cecil Partee had that honor.”
The governor may be the Rain Man of presidential factoids, but he may need to bone up on his Illinois trivia.
Just so there’s no confusion, that happened under the old constitution. A governor can leave the state now without passing along power.
Our ‘’Ridiculous Quote of the Week'’ award goes to Andy McKenna, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.
Here’s what he said Thursday about the importance of GOP unity at a time when Illinois Democrats are feuding and fighting.
‘’We’re a party that stands together and stands with Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was famous for his `House Divided’ speech. If he were here today, he would have to tell the story of a house divided that’s even more outrageous than the one that lived in his time,'’ McKenna said.
Whaaat? Lincoln’s speech was about the nation being torn asunder by slavery.
The infighting among Democrats who control state government is a trifle in comparison.
Wednesday was the 30th session day since the panel issued its report. But Jones said that special session days held during the summer don’t count. Only regular session days count, he insisted.
“To say, ‘The Clock is running. If you don’t act this week, the pay raises will go into effect.’ Biggest lie ever told,” Jones said.
Really? The biggest lie ever told? In the history of the world?
Forbes is reporting that there will be 15,000 journalists at each of the two upcoming political conventions.
Unbelievable.
At a time when news budgets are being slashed because of declining revenue, how can a news organization possibly justify sending a raft of people to the conventions?
I won’t be going to either convention. I have no desire to cover this circus on the road. I get enough of it here.
If Illinois Republicans looked more unified than Democrats Thursday, perhaps it was because there were fewer of them.
Where 1,500 Democrats packed into a standing-room only banquet hall at Springfield’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, a mere 150 Republicans stood for a gathering in a lobby at the same hotel on Day 2 of the parties’ politicking at the Illinois State Fair.
Where the Democrats had well over 1,000 cheering and sometimes booing members at their State Fair rally Wednesday, Republicans drew a more sedate and mannerly crowd of 350.
350 is a generous estimate…
Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans didn’t bus anybody in, and it showed. They must’ve relied on word of mouth.
“I don’t know how you go down further,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, who’s considering a 2010 run for governor or attorney general, offices he’s failed to win before.
November may be instructive.
* Despite the attendance and the lack of overall enthusiasm, GOP leaders did their best to put a positive spin on things…
Republicans are clearly the state’s minority party. Democrats hold every statewide elected office, as well as control of the Illinois Senate and House.
But state Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, noted that after the 1994 election, Republicans dominated state government in the same way that Democrats do now.
“That pendulum eventually swung,” Rutherford said. “I think that the public has now heard the gong of the bell of the swing too far and (is) ready for a correction to come.”
The IL GOP has certainly suffered because of George Ryan, but its biggest problem in the past few years has been President Bush. After he finally leaves, they may have a shot at something.
Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson of Greenville suggested the GOP would link local Democratic candidates to problems at the top of the party, namely the low approval ratings of Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
He said top Democratic lawmakers should share the low ratings.
“They need to be held accountable and responsible, and so should their members,” Watson said. “And that’s what we’re going to take to them in this November in this election.”
* Remember, though, that whatever Watson and House GOP Leader Tom Cross say about Blagojevich, they’re still wholeheartedly endorsing his capital plan. Sen. Bill Brady offered up some gentle criticism…
Even as Republicans sought to rally around a unity theme with an “action agenda” of principles, some GOP legislators who have spent years castigating Blagojevich for a lack of trust eagerly jumped aboard the Democratic governor’s statewide construction program this spring. Some even went as far as embracing the long-taboo Republican issue of expanded gambling in hopes of bringing some projects back to their districts.
Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, among several potential 2010 candidates for governor to attend the fair, chided some of his GOP legislative colleagues for backing a Blagojevich-driven construction plan.
“Some of the Republicans have been put into a position to where they feel they’ve got nothing else to do but trust,” said Brady, who has opposed the governor’s construction plans. “Do I applaud our leadership for trying to do something to work across the aisle? Yeah. It’s just not something I would have negotiated or I would have supported.”
* Col. Jack Jackson (retired), a John McCain surrogate, was the keynote speaker…
Jackson said Illinois sent two of the greatest U.S. presidents to Washington, D.C.: Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
“I want to tell you something, though. Don’t send me a third,” he said, referring to Barack Obama of Illinois.
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Obama would be a great president, so don’t send him? Or, don’t give the country a third Illinois president? Actually, if Obama is elected he would be the fourth. Jackson forgot about US Grant.
* You can listen to audio clips at this link. I thought congressional hopeful Aaron Schock’s speech was surprisingly flat, given that he reportedly still has hopes of being tapped to speak at the GOP national convention.
* Mayor Daley is back in Chicago, so he was asked about Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plan to call him up and get him to intervene in the Statehouse imbroglio over the capital bill…
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley isn’t sure what he can do to end a feud between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan over a stalled statewide capital construction program.
“Patch what up? This been going on for how long?” Daley told reporters Thursday.
“You can’t break trust, once you break trust then you have a difficult time, it doesn’t have nothing to do with Mayor Daley, this has to do with government, first and foremost. Once you break trust, it is hard to build the trust back up.”
Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said the governor wants the mayor to get involved because Chicago stands to gain from a capital program if they can push it through the General Assembly.
Daley said the Democrats who run the state should be able to come up with a capital program that makes it clear to all lawmakers what public works projects would get done in their districts.
* Meanwhile, the governor compared showing pigs to dealing with the Legislature…
The Democratic governor, his wife, Patti, and 5-year-old daughter, Annie, climbed into a ring at the Illinois State Fair’s Swine Pavilion and took a pig for a quick spin before the show judges.
Blagojevich said there are a “lot of similarities” between working on the state budget and leading a pig around a pen.
“You know, you’ve got to take a knife to pork,” said Blagojevich, who campaigned against lawmakers pet projects but has doled them out as part of budget talks.
The Blagojeviches gently guided the big pig around a ring by lightly tapping it with a stick, but the governor insisted he didn’t need one.
“Are you kidding me? I’m used to working with people like this,” Blagojevich said.
* While Senate President Jones mulls his options on bringing the General Assembly back to town, the governor lashed out at anyone who would vote for his two amendatory vetoes in order to set up a lawsuit…
The Illinois Senate may soon return to Springfield to address health care for young adults and the elimination of property taxes for severely disabled veterans.
Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) is reviewing his options at this point, said Cindy Davidsmeyer, his spokeswoman. […]
At the state fair Thursday, Blagojevich said “it’s hard to believe” that lawmakers would vote for legislation “to set up a lawsuit to take health care away from young adults.”
The Democratic governor said that would be “an act of gross dishonesty and a fraud” and considers the lawmakers’ actions sincere.
* You gotta wonder whether the delegation will be surrounded by armed guards…
Illinois delegates will have the best seats when the Democrats meet later this month at the Pepsi Center in Denver to make Barack Obama the party nominee. It’s traditional for home state delegates to get prime position on the floor.
* Related…
* FBI didn’t need billboard to see this insider cabal
Giannoulias already has plans to lay off six employees, but has to take further measures that include a salary freeze, a hiring freeze and short unpaid furloughs, a spokeswoman said.
The second annual “celebrity” harness horse race featuring the four legislative spokespersons and myself will be held today at the Illinois State Fair.
We’ve been told that the contest will start after the 2nd race, which puts it at about 3:30 pm.
I came in second to the governor’s office last year, and we all had a major blast.
There is no “legal” betting on this race since it’s just an exhibition, but you might wanna check around the stands anyway.
* The setup: Secretaries who work for House members have been sent to the House floor today to clean out their bosses’ desks because of a “big mouse infestation.”
The infestation was apparently caused by legislators leaving food (mostly candy) in their desks. A Republican House member announced the problem last night during session, and there are no reported mouse problems on the Democratic side of the aisle as of yet.
This is not a good thing, considering the millions of dollars spent on a truly stunning remodeling of the House chambers.
Traps will apparently be set after the desks are cleaned out.
Not even a former United Nations ambassador could quell feuding among Illinois Democrats Wednesday.
With former diplomat and current New Mexico governor Bill Richardson on hand for a day of Democratic rallies, the sniping that’s marked Democrats tenure at the helm of state government continued.
* The “first African-American governor of Illinois” continued the schtick…
“Like the civil rights activists who’ve given Barack Obama a chance to run for president, they didn’t take no for an answer. We shouldn’t take no for an answer when we push to create jobs and give every family in Illinois a chance to be able to have a job and live the American dream,” the governor said.
* The governor did his best to avoid direct confrontation with Speaker Madigan. The two men started out on a positive note…
‘’Let’s come together, put aside our differences,'’ Blagojevich said. […]
‘’Our goal is to bring Democrats together. That’s always my goal. Division just helps the opposition,'’ said Speaker Madigan.
House Speaker Michael Madigan says he’s taking a new look at the governor’s idea of privatizing the Illinois lottery to pay for a statewide construction program.
* The Republicans didn’t see things in such a “positive” light…
But as Madigan spoke optimistically, state Republican leaders held a rival news conference to blast the Democrats for calling special sessions then taking no action. They even drew up a “Help Wanted” sign with a picture of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, inviting him to take over here because there is an executive mansion in Springfield “available for immediate occupancy … hasn’t been used in six years.”
Blagojevich has suggested bringing lawmakers back to work throughout September to get education funding and the capital program resolved. But Madigan stressed his chamber won’t be rushed in its work.
“Speaking for the members of the House, we’re not prepared to have things dictated to us, and everybody in the building ought to understand that,” Madigan said.
Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair, featuring an afternoon rally of the Democratic faithful, indeed had Gov. Rod Blagojevich in attendance.
Missing, though, was the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who has had sharp differences with the governor for the past two years.
Also absent were Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Comptroller Dan Hynes. Quinn was attending the funeral of an Illinois soldier killed in the Middle East. Lisa Madigan said she had to tend to work at her office. Hynes said he simply didn’t want to go.
“I really don’t want to participate in some sort of campaign demonizing Democrats,” Hynes said. “It’s lost its traditional role of being an event where Democrats come together and unify and speak of our common values and goals. Now it has become the governor’s latest tactical maneuver.”
Hundreds of state government workers showed up at Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair on Wednesday to protest the Blagojevich administration’s demand that they pay a lot more for their health insurance.
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees clustered around entrances to the fairgrounds passing out leaflets detailing their objections to paying higher health insurance costs. […]
“They’re lucky to have a job, and they have health care,” Blagojevich said of the state workers. “They’re going to keep their jobs and keep their health care. Now, start helping us create jobs for other people and provide health care to other people.”
After his speech, Blagojevich said AFSCME’s complaints about health-care coverage “is a negotiating ploy. There’s no question they will keep their health care.”
It’s not about losing health care, it’s about paying a whole lot more for the health insurance they have.
* If you were following the blog last night, you saw that the House voted to accept both of the governor’s recent amendatory vetoes…
The Illinois House on Wednesday approved new versions of legislation that Gov. Rod Blagojevich had rewritten to cut taxes for disabled veterans and lower insurance costs for college students. […]
Asked if approving the governor’s changes was meant as an olive branch, Madigan said, “You could take it that way, if you wish.”
House leaders originally indicated the governor was going too far in revising legislation, but they reversed course Wednesday. The House supported both amendatory vetoes, with leaders indicating it was possibly time for courts to weigh in on just how much authority the governor has to change legislation.
“It’s time to get more clarity from the court,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.
Republicans criticized approval of the vetoes as setting the wrong precedent.
* The Senate now has fifteen calendar days to accept the AV. If not, then the entire bill dies…
Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, said before senators left town Wednesday night that he wasn’t sure they would come back to take up those vetoes. Blagojevich said he planned to talk to Jones today about bringing the Senate back soon.
* Madigan had been expected to kill off the AV’s as he has done in the recent and the distant past. Bethany Jaeger takes us back to a 1999 article…
[Gov. George Ryan’s] amendatory veto of the generic drug bill, along with others he has issued, will set in motion a process that House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has followed for a decade because he believes governors sometimes abuse their authority in changing legislation. “What he’s concerned about is a preemptive strikes by the governor’s office on the work of the legislature,” said Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown.
* Three things essentially happened last night. 1) Madigan tossed the AV hot potato into Jones’ court and avoided being tagged yet again as an obstructionist; 2) Jones may now be forced to call his members back to town - not a popular idea - or risk knocking out the first legs of the governor’s much-vaunted “Rewrite to Do Right” campaign, which would be a big embarrassment; 3) A lawsuit over the guv’s AV powers is pretty much certain, which is probably a good plan since the governor is expected to roll out 50 of these AVs in the coming days. Let’s get some clarity.
“I think that the lack of clarity from the court decisions may mean that it’s time for a second crack for the judicial branch. Maybe we ought to invite the question before the courts whether this particularly amendatory veto, for example, does go beyond the scope of that authority provided in the Constitution. For that reason, I would suggest that an aye vote may help us answer this question that has been so contentious between the two branches ever since 1971.”
llinois home sales dropped 25 percent in the second quarter, a real estate trade group reported Wednesday, and the median statewide price of a single-family home or condominium fell 6.8 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Chicago has a $425 million budget gap that will require a “paradigm shift” in services the city provides, the way they are delivered and the number of employees and agencies responsible, top mayoral aides told organized labor on Wednesday.
In a closed-door meeting with 40 union leaders, Mayor Daley’s chief-of-staff Lori Healey, Chief Financial Officer Paul Volpe and Intergovernmental Affairs Director John Dunn promised that redundant layers of middle management would share the burden of employee layoffs.
“They are asking our people for concessions, yet giving their bosses a raise,” said Chicago Federation of Labor leader Dennis Gannon. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It’s just not rational.”
“Mr. Governor,” said Mulvey, pointing his camera at Blagojevich and getting his question in despite the competition from older reporters, “I’m a junior at Rochester High School and I’m still wondering — three years ago, you came to our school and told us we were going to get our money. I was just wondering where it is. We’re still on the top of that list.”
Mulvey was referring to the March 2006 visit Blagojevich made to Rochester High. At that time, Blagojevich traveled to the school as part of his public relations attempt to get the General Assembly to approve a $3.2 billion construction plan — which seemed like a lot at the time. He entered the school gymnasium through a column of cheerleaders and urged students to contact their legislators, particularly GOP lawmakers. Senate Republican Leader FRANK WATSON hadn’t had any contact from the governor in more than a month, a spokeswoman said at the time.
And — surprise, surprise — the program did not pass.
“Um, yes, yeah, look, I want to work with you,” Blagojevich said Wednesday after Mulvey’s question. “We got to call those legislators and free up that money. I’m dying to do it.”
