* 3:47 pm: The governor filed another special session proclamation today requiring the General Assembly to take up his line item and reduction vetoes, but he hasn’t yet unveiled any vetoes.
Here’s the proclamation. Page 1 and page 2 [fixed link].
* 4:16 pm - The Senate has received the vetoes for its bills, but the Senate appropriations bills were relatively small. Nothing is posted online as of right now.
The House approp bill was the big one, but as of this moment the House has not yet received the governor’s veto message.
* 4:26 pm - I’m not sure exactly what this means for our near future, but here’s a statement from the Senate Democratic spokesperson: Unless the House passes the revenue bills it will be difficult to override the vetoes.
Governor Rod Blagojevich has cut $211 million from the state budget by vetoing items that he says will impact programs he supports. […]
The bills Blagojevich vetoed were Senate bills. It’s unclear what the Democratic governor plans to do with a House appropriations bill.
Blagojevich spokespeople could not immediately discuss the cuts.
* 4:53 pm - A representative of the City of Chicago is testifying to the House COTW right now about the mayor’s opposition to the gaming bill. The city did not testify against the bill when it zoomed out of the Senate.
* Apparently the air conditioning in the Executive Mansion has broken down as legislators return to Springfield for special session.
Talk about bad timing. Some forecasts have the temperature here in the mid 80’s this week. This is ironic:
What’s worse, the budget problems might prohibit the state from immediately fixing the breakdown at the governor’s official residence.
Blagojevich stopped work on all new state construction projects earlier this month because his staff said language in budget legislation sent to him prohibited it.
Capital Development Board spokesman David Blanchette said that the legislation only pertains to certain streams of money and it’s possible the air conditioner at the mansion could be fixed using a different funding source:
“It depends on whether it needs replacement or repair and what potential funding sources there might be,” Blanchette said.
* Some events scheduled at the mansion for this week have already been canceled, and it is unclear if the Governor is going to stay there overnight.
When legislators were in Springfield for last summer’s overtime the Governor started staying overnight in the mansion after an onslaught of negative press for flying daily roundtrips between Chicago and Springfield.
Just the first weird thing to happen today as things heat up in Springfield…
* 3:38 pm - [Rich Miller] A new air conditioner is said to be on order on an emergency basis.
* There has been a lot of moaning over the Cook County Sales Tax increase, but aside from a Palatine secession, there haven’t been many policies discussed to do much about it.
Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn and Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool are calling for a state law that would give voters the right to challenge new taxes through ballot initiatives.
[…]
Claypool and Quinn are also calling for a constitutional amendment that would let voters challenge new state taxes. They do says legislators ought to cut government spending before asking tax payers for more money.
* In a new effort to break the impasse over the capital bill, Former Speaker Dennis Hastert and SIU President Glenn Poshard sent a memo to legislators reassuring them that their are plenty of oversight provisions to watch over the Governor.
Oversight provisions outlined in the memo include a “lockbox” that ensures earmarked funds will be applied to the program, a formula for distributing spending equitably across the state and a limit on initial bonding authority of $2.5 billion. The four legislative caucuses—Republican and Democratic groups in the House and Senate—and the executive branch would be assured equal funding for discretionary projects, the memo added.
However, there was one new provision that stuck out…
“Finally, it cannot be ignored that if the General Assembly believes the capital program has not been implemented as expected or executed in good faith, then it is within the General Assembly’s power to refuse to re-appropriate authority for spending in future fiscal years.”
* Speaker Madigan continues to get heat for his opposition to the bill, but as stated previously on this blog, he still has Mayor Daley in his corner:
“The speaker agrees with the need to try to put a claim on that federal money as quickly as possible. He’s said that for more than a year now,” said Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat. “The problem is, with the gambling bill, they’ve sent one the city of Chicago opposes.”
As long as he has that ace up his sleeve, it is sure to be an uphill battle for the Governor.
* John Patterson also raises an interesting point that has been left out of recent stories:
Hastert also previously criticized Blagojevich’s priorities regarding the federal highway dollars, suggesting that money is already available.
Asked about that Tuesday, Hastert said it never came up in recent meetings with legislative leaders and the Blagojevich administration and everyone “acquiesced” to moving forward with a gambling-backed construction plan.
* Hastert and Poshard can continue to send memos to legislators and hold press conferences on the capital plan, but it is doubtful that it will change much. At the end of the day, it always comes back to that little trust thing…
Blagojevich set up the stalemate by engendering great mistrust, repeatedly going around the legislative process and constantly introducing big, headline-grabbing ideas that amounted to little.
Munoz, the father of Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), admitted to U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that he knew photos taken at his shop were used for bogus driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and resident alien cards.
Recently, the governor was asked about Obama’s seat and he mentioned several members of Congress. He also mentioned Tammy Duckworth, the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs who in 2006 lost a bid for Congress.
“I’m just throwing names out,” Blagojevich said. He refused to say if he’d consider appointing himself.
Republican Martin Ozinga III said Tuesday he has raised about $800,000 since jumping into the 11th Congressional District race in April.
That early fundraising is helping him close the money gap with more established Democratic foe state Sen. Debbie Halvorson (D- Crete), who has been running since October. She has raised $1.27 million, including $400,000 from April through June, campaign spokesman Brian Doory said.
Halvorson still is expected to have more money on hand when both campaigns file required paperwork with the Federal Election Commission by Tuesday. Her campaign estimated it had $900,000 left as of June 30, while Ozinga’s campaign put its total at around $650,000.
Ozinga has proved to be a more nimble candidate than expected. He joined the race as something of an accidental candidate after the initial GOP nominee, Tim Baldermann, abruptly dropped out of the race in February. Ozinga emerged as the consensus choice to replace Baldermann on the ballot only after several other local elected officials declined to run, a delay that appeared to give Democrats the upper hand as the GOP scrambled to find a replacement.
Once he officially became the nominee, Ozinga relentlessly attacked Halvorson over her ties to Blagojevich and immediately proved his fundraising chops. Though he has the ability to self-fund, he raised $800,000 from individual donors over the past three months and is poised to outraise Halvorson in the most recent fundraising quarter — no small feat because Halvorson, who reported more than $678,000 cash on hand at the end of March, has been one of the top Democratic fundraisers.
By all measures, the race should be competitive. The exurban Chicago district, with its sizable blue-collar constituency, agricultural base and culturally conservative leanings, has been favorable to Republican candidates — it voted for Judy Baar Topinka, the hapless GOP gubernatorial nominee, in 2006 and gave President Bush 53 percent of the vote in 2004.
Halvorson’s biggest challenge is to persuade voters that she matches the culturally conservative sentiment in the district. Her endorsement by EMILY’s List, which supports abortion rights, could hamper her efforts on that front.
But she also has received perfect ratings from the local branch of the National Rifle Association, an important asset in the exurban and small-town 11th District.
* And the charges and counter-charges were flying yesterday…
The push to develop a Veterans’ Administration hospital in Joliet may be years away, but the movement received a huge boost Wednesday when a leading lawmaker joined the campaign.
U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, entered the effort during a press conference in Joliet’s American Legion Harwood Post 5 [with Halvorson] where he vowed to push Congress to see the facility created at what will be the former Silver Cross Hospital in either late 2011 or early 2012. […]
“This is the same Debbie Halvorson who took to the Senate floor months ago to claim that veteran home funding wasn’t a top priority. … Debbie Halvorson should apologize to veterans for pretending to be their advocate after years of shortchanging them,” Ozinga’s campaign said.
Halvorson said she was offended that this push for veterans’ care is called a political stunt. “This is about veterans, about my stepson. This is not about the campaign.”
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** From a press release…
11th Congressional District candidate Marty Ozinga released the first television spot of the campaign on Wednesday.
The ad will begin running this week on cable stations throughout Will, Kankakee, Grundy and LaSalle counties, which together comprise about 85% of the 11th District vote.
What do Barack Obama, the legislative morass in Springfield, and a constitutional convention have in common? A lot, according to United Power for Action and Justice, a Chicago-based social action network of 300 religious, labor and civic organizations.
United Power’s Gregory Pierce fired off a letter to Sen. Obama Tuesday. The first paragraph says it all:
“Our nonpartisan organization . . . was surprised to learn that David Axelrod’s public relations firm has negotiated a contract of at least $2 million to lead a campaign against the state’s best chance for change in 20 years — the upcoming referendum on whether or not the citizens of Illinois should call a constitutional convention to deal with the mess in Springfield. While your campaign manager is heading a presidential effort whose slogan is “Change you can believe in,” his firm is running a local campaign whose slogan should read, “Change we must fear and undermine.”
Marin continues…
Whether you’re for it or agin’ it, the reality is that for the moment, a Con Con is a long shot because opponents have more money and clout.
But the one thing that gives United Power and other proponents a fighting chance is the spectacle we will witness today and tomorrow in the state capital. There, the pretense of lawmakers in a public discussion about Blagojevich’s budget and revenue proposals will be followed by members of the governor’s own party led by House Speaker Michael Madigan trouncing them. […]
Meanwhile, citizens, fed up with being bystanders in this car wreck of a government, are stuck with skyrocketing gas prices, a faltering economy and a growing fear for their and their children’s futures.
* 1:15 pm - Nobody is completely sure whether this is true or not, so the lead-in is more than a little misleading…
On the eve of the General Assemby’s special session in Springfield, two prominent Illinoisans who helped draft a 31 billion dollar capital spending plan are pleading for its passage.
WBBM’s Regine Schlesinger reports that otherwise, Illinois stands to lose 9-billion dollars in federal money.
The story (which gets the size of the capital bill wrong) appears to be based solely on a press release sent out by the governor’s office late this morning…
…[Hastert and Poshard] stressed that further delays in passage of a comprehensive capital bill could jeopardize nearly $9 billion in federal funds dedicated to infrastructure projects in the state.
Over the past two weeks, several members of Congress have warned about the accelerated depletion of the federal Highway Trust Fund, which contains matching funds for statewide infrastructure enhancements. Due to the recent decrease in federal gas tax revenues, current projections estimate that the fund will empty in 2009 with a $1-3 billion deficit.
At an April 2 Surface Transportation Hearing, Congressman John Olver, Chairman of the House Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee said, “…the most immediate challenge the Congress will face is the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The Highway Trust fund will go broke in fiscal year 2009 and the future viability of federal transportation financing is in doubt.”
The question I’ve been asking without receiving a satisfactory response lately is if the money isn’t going to be in the Highway Trust Fund anyway, how does Illinois get its share even if the General Assembly approves a funding bill tomorrow?
* 3:14 pm - From a press release…
11th Congressional District candidate Marty Ozinga announced Wednesday that his campaign had raised over $800,000 in the 2nd Quarter of 2008, his first fundraising quarter as a candidate.
As a demonstration of his commitment to the campaign, Ozinga donated $70,000 to his own cause in early April, pushing his total receipts for the quarter over $870,000. […]
Ozinga was overwhelmed by the strong showing of grassroots support. He received about 1,000 contributions, and nearly 60% of them were for $250 or less.
Well under 10% of Ozinga’s total came from PACs. By contrast, nearly half of his opponent’s total through March 2008 has come from PACs.
Ozinga is running against Democratic state Sen. Debbie Halvorson. The Dems had already penciled this one in as a win, but she looks to be in for a big rumble.
* The setup, from a column by Suburban Life Publications news editor Jerry Moore…
State Rep. Bob Biggins, R-41st District, of Elmhurst is the latest elected official caught in a legal quandary. He was charged May 28 with driving under the influence, improper lane use and not having proof of insurance.
After his arrest, Biggins released a statement: “I made a serious lapse in judgment and sincerely apologize to my family and those I represent who may be disappointed today. I take full responsibility for my actions and will face any and all legal consequences.” […]
This creates a conflict of interest for lawmakers in Biggins’ position. In their official capacity, they help maintain social order by enacting laws to keep people safe. But as the focus of criminal charges, they undermine people’s trust in government. How can we have faith in the legislative system when those we put in charge of it can’t seem to follow their rules?
If Biggins was driving while drunk, he should resign his seat in the Illinois House of Representatives.
* The question: Do you agree with Moore’s logic that legislators who drive while intoxicated should resign their House or Senate seats? Explain, and try to stay on topic, please. This isn’t necessarily about Biggins’ particular situation or about any other legislator on your hate list. Thanks.
* Lots of people have called for HDO founder Victor Reyes’ head, but that may not happen. To his credit, Mark Brown - who used his column for years to excoriate Reyes and the HDO - takes a look at the future…
The highest-ranking HDO leader indicted was former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, who ran a political street army of perhaps 100 patronage workers for HDO. […]
Defense lawyer Tom Breen, who represents both [Victor Reyes] and Sanchez but represented Reyes first, says he would not have taken Sanchez as a client if he “thought there was any chance of any charges being brought against Victor Reyes.”
Others came to a similar conclusion when federal prosecutors raised no objection to Breen taking Sanchez’s case. Often under those circumstances, they will complain about a conflict of interest.
That’s a very good point. The feds never batted an eye about Breen’s representation. Onward…
Reyes left city employment in 2002, and it’s possible the statute of limitations has run out on any potential case against him, although Breen won’t make that assertion.
It’s not only possible that the statutes of limitation have expired, it’s probable.
Some of us assumed Reyes did everything Sorich did and more, but obviously, the U.S. attorney’s office felt the evidence against him was weaker.
The difference between Reyes and Sorich is that Sorich altered records, falsified documents, etc. The patronage hiring was the same sort of thing, but the office under Reyes was far more careful about how they went about it.
Convincing the courts to make violations of the Shakman Decree a criminal offense was a whole lot simpler and cut and dried with Sorich because Sorich’s office got so sloppy. Now that the appellate court has upheld Sorich’s conviction, further prosecutions will be much easier. But, as Brown noted above, the statute of limitations has likely expired on Reyes.
I know that this post will make some heads explode, particularly among those who repeatedly blame “The evil Combine” for putting the “ill” in Illinois, but it may be time to face reality.
* The reason for this funding holdup isn’t too difficult to figure out…
Two years after getting a campaign-year promise of cash from Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Carterville schools have finally received the money.
Blagojevich promised $1.9 million in state money to help repair Carterville High School in Southern Illinois.
But until recently, the district had received less than half of that amount, leaving officials to borrow money to fix the school.
Superintendent Tim Bleyer said he was “pretty worried” at times the district wouldn’t ever get the money. But it finally arrived last week.
“It is a relief,” Bleyer said.
When dealing with Blagojevich, one should always look first at the most crass political explanation possible. Carterville is represented in the House by Democratic Rep. John Bradley. a longtime Blagojevich nemesis.
That may not be the complete explanation, but it’s close enough. And it’s yet another reason why so many legislators refuse to trust the governor with the $34 billion capital plan. They know they’ll be jumping through endless politial hoops to get their project funding released, no matter how solemn or public the promises were.
It is interesting that they’re releasing the project money now, however. Bradley is under intense local fire for opposing the capital bill. This takes some heat off of him. The explanation for the reversal may have far more to do with Sen. Gary Forby’s reelection this fall than the Bradley grudge.
* And this piece shows how things are going in the House these days…
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine officials had hoped to open the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute this summer.
But the Springfield facility — where a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony will take place Thursday — looks as if it won’t begin serving patients until late fall or early next year because the $895,000 needed to heat, cool, light and maintain the institute in its first year was cut from the state budget proposed for fiscal 2009.
The money, along with funding for initiatives at three other universities, was slashed by the Democratic-controlled House in May, apparently because they were sponsored by Republicans, said David Gross, SIU’s executive director for governmental and public affairs.
Last year, Speaker Madigan and Tom Cross were allies in the budget negotiations. Not so this year. Cross has broken with Madigan and his members voted against every version of the state budget that the House passed. So, the Repubs got cut. It’s mean and nasty all around, campers.
* The common practice in American journalism is to report the highest number available. If death estimates at a natural disaster are 15-40, the headline is sure to read: “As many as 40 feared dead.”
The problem with this practice, however, is that after a while journalistic shorthand often kicks in and the biggest number becomes the only one used. This phenomenon partly explains why we only ever see the highest estimate of the Fiscal Year 2009 budget deficit.
Anyway, this AP story follows the pattern. Can you spot it?
In a state where the government plans to spend $59 billion this year, it’s not a lot of money. But taxpayers can expect to cough up at least $80,000 for this week’s special legislative session.
Lawmakers will return to Springfield Wednesday and Thursday at the beck of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who says they sent him a fiscal blueprint in which expenditures exceed revenues by $2 billion.
Like anyone on business, Illinois’ 118 representatives and 59 senators are entitled to reimbursement for their expenses.
It’s $129 per day for lodging and meals, for a total of $45,400.
And for hopping in the car and crossing the flat prairie to the capital, each gets 50.5 cents per mile. They’ll drive 60,260 miles and get $30,400 in taxpayer reimbursements, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
The AP’s estimate assumes that all legislators will show up for the special session. Not gonna happen. Last year, several newspapers published daily cost estimates of the interminable overtime session which were based on perfect attendance. The number was far too high because attendance was never close to perfection.
* Now, on to the session itself. Finke has a pretty good roundup of opinion on why this week’s special session should be short…
THE COMING ELECTION: “The fact that there’s an election (Nov. 4) I think guarantees that they are going to do something and get out of town,” said Kent Redfield, a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “The perception is that the mess of state government is the Democrats’ fault. It’s harder to make the case that more Democrats are better if there is a story day after day that there is no budget.” The issue cuts the same for Senate Democrats as House Democrats, Redfield said, giving Blagojevich no way to play one chamber against the other. […]
PAY RAISES: The House rejected 11 percent pay raises recommended by the Compensation Review Board, but the Senate hasn’t acted yet. Under the complicated rules of legislative pay raises, if the Senate meets in session four more days without rejecting the raises, they go into effect automatically. Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, is believed to want the raise but not have it take effect until after the November election. […]
WEAKENED GOVERNOR/IMPEACHMENT: After Blagojevich called this week’s special session. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, renewed his call for the House to investigate whether Blagojevich should be impeached. That call will grow louder if lawmakers are stuck in Springfield for another extended summer stay.
Redfield said the conviction of Blagojevich friend and fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko and ongoing federal investigations into the administration leaves Blagojevich politically weaker than he was a year ago.
For the Governor, it’s a no win situation. If he signs the budget as passed, the state will have major money problems in coming months. Make the cuts, and he’s the bad guy once again. But the Governor sees another way out. He wants the House to pass plans that would bring in revenue from leasing the state’s lottery and shifting other money from dedicated accounts. But few expect the House will go along.
I doubt anybody thinks that the House will “go along,” even in the hermetically sealed governor’s bunker. If they do think that, then they’re more delusional than I imagined.
Stock in one-time Wall Street darling GateHouse Media Inc. fell to an all-time low following a 14.1% price tumble Monday.
There were no announcements, regulatory filings, or analyst notes that might explain the drop of 35 cents to GateHouse’s (NYSE: GHS) close of $2.12. Coming into Monday’s session, the once high-flying stock had a 52-week trading range of $2.32 to $19.10. […]
Lee Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LEE) closed at $3.15, off 11 cents, or 3.37. Its previous trading range had been $3.19 to $21.48.
* Gatehouse owns the State Journal-Register, the Rockford Register Star, the Peoria Journal Star and a whole bunch of other Illinois papers. Lee owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bloomington Pantagraph, the Southern Illinoisan and the Decatur Herald & Review, among others.
Advertising is tanking, partly due to the economy and the changing tastes of consumers as everything moves online and the slow-to-respond newspaper industry attempts to stay relevant. The skyrocketing cost of newsprint also has to be having an impact…
The price of paper stock, a daily publisher’s second-biggest expense after labor, has climbed 26 percent to a 12-year high of $700 a metric ton since October, pushed upwards by supplier consolidation rather than demand.
* After a meteoric rise and almost unprecedented expansion Gatehouse is slashing and burning almost everywhere, it seems. For instance, the mega chain has cut back some of its papers from six days a week to five and it’s done employee buyouts at the SJ-R and other papers. The company has a crushing longterm debt of more than $1.2 billion, yet it continues to pay out a generous dividend to stockholders - which may be the only attractive aspect of the stock…
GateHouse Media, Inc. (NYSE: GHS) announced [June 18, 2007] that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.40 per share for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. The dividend is payable on July 16, 2007 to holders of record of GateHouse’s common stock on June 29, 2007. The newly announced dividend reflects an increase of 25% over the dividend at the time of the Company’s IPO and an increase of 8% over the prior quarter’s dividend.
In its most recent quarter, GateHouse lost $27 million, double its loss of the same quarter a year earlier. GateHouse, which mainly has papers in small (often monopoly) markets, was not expected to be hit as hard as companies owning big metro dailies. But it piled up too much debt making too many acquisitions.
In a similar fix is Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, which was supposed to feast on its collection of smaller papers with little competition. (One exception is San Diego’s North County Times, a Lee paper with lots of competition.) But Lee piled up a lot of debt to buy a big paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, along with too many smaller ones. In its most recent quarter, Lee lost $713 million. In the quarter a year earlier, it had made $11.2 million. A year ago, the stock was above $20; now it’s around $4. The dividend yield is above 17 percent. Obviously, that won’t remain. “Lee Enterprises’ financial health is poor,” says analyst Tom Corbett of Morningstar, a stock-rating firm. “Lee has assumed a substantial debt load from its earlier acquisitions, and the company is closing in on the upper limits of its debt covenants.” (That is a polite way of saying that it could default on its debt.)
I don’t know what the answer is, but it’s not what they’re doing now.
For Illinois, the 21st place finish is the same the state received in the institute’s 2004 study. “We’re flatlining,” said Tom Churchwell, managing director of ARCH Development Partners, a venture capital firm in Chicago.
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), facing a highly-competitive re-election campaign, appears poised to again be one of the top Congressional fundraisers after announcing he raised $900,000 in the most recent fundraising quarter.
Kirk now has $2.85 million cash-on-hand – all of it which will be necessary to advertise in the expensive Chicago media market.
Academy Award winners Joeland Ethan Coen are the subject of a new book to be published by Zondervan and written by award-winning Chicago Sun-Times columnist Cathleen Falsani.
Under the ordinance, the city’s chief procurement officer will be able to designate outside agencies, including the state and federal governments, as well as private groups, as a “certifying agency.” The city’s chief procurement officer would still be responsible for decisions that are made to certify, recertify or decertify.
Count Katie Kauffman and Nick Territo among those happy about a 25-cent an hour increase in the state’s minimum wage.
Count Doug Knight and Rob Flesher among those not so happy.
The four are at opposite ends of the minimum wage debate. Kauffman and Territo work at minimum-wage jobs and can use the extra money. Knight and Flesher own businesses that must accommodate the higher wage into their budgets.
“This governor is costing people a lot of money,” said Knight, owner of Knight’s Action Park in Springfield. “We’re $1.90 ahead of (the federal) minimum wage. That’s a pretty good chunk of money.”
The state’s minimum wage was boosted 25 cents per hour on July 1st, to $7.75 per hour.
* Question: Is unilaterally increasing the state’s minimum wage a good thing or a bad thing? Explain.
* Greg Hinz calls GOP US Senate hopeful Steve Sauerberg the Invisible Man…
But none of it does any good unless someone is listening. And so far, the only one Mr. Sauerberg is giving a run for his money is the invisible man.
Mr. Sauerberg’s name appeared in major Illinois newspapers — all of them, collectively, from Carbondale to Chicago — a grand total of seven times in the months of May and June. One of the seven was in a letter to the editor.
If you have a Crain’s subscription, make sure to read the whole thing. If you don’t, sign up. Sauerberg has more problems than just a spokesman who is based in DC and spends more of his time on other projects than this election, but it’s still a fun read.
“I wouldn’t rule it out. I think we ought to look at it honestly and decide whether there’s anything that needs to be done in our constitution that really addresses some of the problems we’re facing today and really, what breaks some of the gridlock we’ve seen in our state capital.”
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s brother, Bill, also has popped up on the scene, but we’re guessing that’s more about the mayor toying with Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
That’s certainly a byproduct, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking to Bill Daley lately, and I think his reasons for floating his name right now are much more than just helping his brother tweak the governor.
[Bill] Daley has been laying the groundwork for a 2010 bid, even asking some people to stay neutral until he decides if he wants to jump in. Daley’s main consultant is Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, who also advises Mayor Daley.
I still doubt that Daley will pull the trigger, but he’s definitely doing his due diligence.
* Meanwhile, Jesse White confirms for the umpteenth time that he plans to run for reelection in 2010…
If Jesse White has his way, he will serve a record fourth term as Illinois secretary of state and celebrate his 80th birthday in office.
White, 74, told The Associated Press that he has no other interest politically than to continue in his present job, seek re-election in 2010 and complete 16 years as secretary of state.
I think the Southern Illinoisan reported this first about four years ago, but whatever.
* White also repeated his insistence that he’s not interested in being appointed to the US Senate if Barack Obama wins the presidency…
“I think my name would be at the top of the heap, but I don’t have an interest,” he said.
* Last week, you will recall, the governor held a press conference at a Chicago gas station to highlight his administration’s efforts at making sure that gas pumps are accurate.
The presser was a fiasco, as reporters ignored the gas pump story and instead focused on corruption allegations…
“You guys should get a life and focus on some other issues,” said Blagojevich, who grew increasingly irritated as reporters pelted him with questions after an unrelated news conference at a Chicago gas station.
To be fair, the state essentially oversees Chicago’s inspections, in the same way that the federal government oversees the state’s inspections of, say, meat processors.
But you’d think the governor would at least have done his little press conference at a gas station that is subjected to direct state oversight.
Then again, he rarely leaves the city, and he seems to know little about the actual operation of state government, so it’s probably not a huge surprise.
* John Patterson points out another little tidbit…
In the summer of 2001, Rod Blagojevich appeared at an Amoco station at Clark and LaSalle to launch his campaign for governor by complaining about gas selling for $1.99 and charge that the Republicans who’d run the state hadn’t done enough. He said a Blagojevich administration would do better.
Unfortunately for Blagojevich, Patterson has one of the best memories at the Statehouse.
*** UPDATE *** During last week’s press conference, Gov. Blagojevich was asked why he insisted on putting his name on everything, from tollway signs to leaflets touting AllKids, when he criticized George Ryan for doing the same sort of thing.
Blagojevich flatly denied that he had ever criticized Ryan for this and berated the reporter for even bringing it up. But back in 2003 Blagojevich caught some heat for handing out bumper stickers at the State Fair that featured the fair’s “United We Stand” theme as well as Blagojevich’s name. The bumper stickers were being paid for by the state, but the campaign eventually picked up the tab…
“The bottom line is this,” a top aide said initially, “the bumper stickers will be paid for out of the governor’s campaign fund. This is different from any other governor. This is departing from what other governors have done in the past. It’s not business as usual.”
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is about the upcoming special session…
Last month, Gov. Rod Blagojevich proclaimed the Illinois House absolutely, positively, without a doubt had to pass the Senate-approved pension obligation bond deal, a special funds sweep and the entire capital construction package or he’d have to slash the state budget right down to the bone. Much suffering would result, the governor warned, unless the House complied with every one of his directives.
Last week, while announcing yet another summertime special legislative session, Blagojevich quietly deleted the formerly all-important pension bond plan from his list of demands. The bond scheme would close a $400 million hole in what is supposed to be a horribly unbalanced budget. The governor also took several items off the budget-slashing table, including rape crisis centers and Amtrak.
In other words, Blagojevich simply reinforced the widespread Statehouse notion that he’s been bluffing all along about the budget’s dire straits.
For weeks now, journalists have reported with a straight face the governor’s claim that the state is facing an unmanageable $2 billion deficit. Editorial writers have expressed outrage at how the General Assembly apparently violated the state’s constitution by sending the governor an egregiously out-of-whack spending plan.
But last week, reporters only barely mentioned the governor dumped a $400 million revenue stream from his list of demands. Apparently, that $2 billion hole isn’t all that big or all that unmanageable.
* This omission is a real mystery to me. We’ve seen stories about restored funding for rape crisis centers and Amtrak, but almost nothing about how the governor blew a $400 million hole in the budget last week - a budget that he previously proclaimed was unacceptably out of balance.
Back to the column…
Why else would the governor abandon it so quickly?
The governor’s people say that after staff talked to a couple of dozen House members, they discovered there weren’t enough votes to pass the pension bond proposal during this week’s special session. But that still doesn’t explain the governor’s flip-flop. Why not propose another revenue source?
In reality, there aren’t enough votes to pass anything. After May 31, it takes a three-fifths majority to pass any legislation that has an immediate effective date. All those bills the governor wants approved have immediate effective dates. A new revenue source would also likely require an immediate effective date. Therefore, very little, if anything, can pass.
So why even bother calling legislators to Springfield for another special session if nothing can pass?
Blame.
The idea is to bring everybody back to town so the governor can once again pin the blame on his old enemy, House Speaker Michael Madigan, for all the trouble in the world.
He’s been laying it on thick lately, too. For instance, the governor now is claiming Madigan has a “secret plan” to increase taxes after the election. Madigan, the governor says, deliberately passed an unbalanced budget to increase the pressure for a post-election tax hike.
The governor’s bold accusations miss two points - both of which are often overlooked by most of the media.
1) The House passed three different versions of the state budget. The Senate approved just one of them, the so-called “Christmas Tree” budget that loaded up on all sorts of goodies. The other two House-approved budgets, which are far more balanced, were never called for a vote in the Senate.
At least two editorial boards failed to mention this fact over the weekend.
2) Senate President Emil Jones, like Madigan, is on record as supporting an income tax increase. A member of Jones’ own leadership team, Sen. John Cullerton, has said he plans to call an income tax increase bill for a vote after the November election.
Jones is Blagojevich’s last powerful ally, so you won’t hear the governor say an unkind word about the Senate president. If he loses Jones’ support, he loses his war with Madigan, and the war with Madigan is more important to the governor than anything else.
Finke had another interesting take on this relationship yesterday.
What the geniuses responsible for the governor’s miserable approval rating may not have reckoned, however, is the special session also could highlight Blagojevich’s political impotence.
This is the same governor, mind you, who tossed together a half-baked budget proposal at the last minute that was full of ideas that already had failed, then completely disengaged from the entire budget negotiating process until three weeks after the General Assembly adjourned.
And now, because of his lack of interest in governance, multiple federal investigations, rising calls for his impeachment and his lack of truthfulness on the budget deficit, he’s in a position of trying to force his will on a bunch of people who don’t care what he does.
“At this time, particularly with the amount of flood water that we have out in the region, we are seeing a significant increase in the number of floodwater mosquitoes within the area,” said George Balis, an entomologist with Roselle-based Clarke Mosquito Control. The company is contracted to operate Elgin’s and other suburban towns’ mosquito control programs.
Day after day, Cook County Board members who voted to raise the sales tax awaken to more headaches that will keep their dereliction of duty right where it belongs: in the forefront of furious voters’ minds.
Last week Fitch Ratings, an influential national firm, changed its outlook for some $3 billion in Cook County debt from “stable” to “negative.” That could portend a downgrading of the county’s bond rating, which would raise taxpayers’ cost to service that debt. Here’s a key Fitch sentence: “With the highest sales tax rate in the nation, the county faces political and economic pressure to provide tax relief for county residents.”
Sneed hears Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, who proposed and rammed through a Cook County sales tax hike — and his buddy, commissioner Bill Beavers — just deferred acceptance of a $75,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation, which was earmarked for affordable housing promotion!
The Hispanic Democratic Organization filed papers this week shutting down its official campaign committee (which may not mean it doesn’t exist anymore in another form).
A few hours earlier, 12th Ward alderman George Cardenas, one of the last people elected with the help of the infamous group, filed paperwork showing a precipitous drop in fund-raising—from tens of thousands of dollars last year down to zilch so far in 2008.
* I hope everybody has a safe, fun and happy Independence Day weekend. We’re shutting down until Monday, but Illinoize will still be up and running, and so will the recently revamped InsiderzExchange. Go buy an ad.
* If you want to see some fireworks, click here. Heh.
* And now your patriotic moment of Zen…
As I was walkin’ I saw a sign there
And that sign said No Trespassin’
But on the other side it didn’t say nothin’
Now that side was made for you and me
* As noted below, the governor claimed today that he wasn’t under federal investigation and engaged in a contentious back and forth with reporters. Chicago Public Radio has the audio. You must listen to this. Here’s the station’s intro to the raw audio…
Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s press conference on gas pump inspections disintegrated into a contentious confrontation with reporters asking about the on-going federal investigation of state government. The governor denied being a target.
* The fun stuff begins at about the 16 minute mark. The first question out of the box was about how Speaker Madigan’s spokesman suggested the governor was a sociopath.
* It really gets fun at the 21 minute mark. “Your questions are ridiculous!” he said. He called the Tribune “dishonest.”
He was asked if he was a target at least a couple dozen times. “I’m probably a target of Mike Madigan’s desire to keep us from passing a jobs bill and having a budget that’s balanced that helps people. If I’m a target, that’s it.”
“I’m not going to reward dishonest reporters who ask dishonest questions.”
* The same governor who vetoed all CeaseFire funding out of the state budget last year said this to reporters today: “I’m a strong supporter of CeaseFire and I believe in CeaseFire.” Oy.
* The governor claimed that two House members with city jobs told him they were worried they would lose their jobs if they voted for the capital budget.
* Phil Rogers asked: Why is it dishonest to ask you if you have been told you are a target of this investigation?
Gov. Blagojevich: “The answer is I am not, and it’s a ridiculous question and you know it’s a ridiculous question because if you carefully look at the things that have happened and you’re not just interested in sensationalizing something so you can do your big news story you wouldn’t even bother asking a question like that.”
Carlos Hernandez Gomez pointed out right afterwards: “But governor, a subject is different, a subject is anybody that is not a target.”
* Afterwards, I’m told, the governor took a TV reporter aside and berated him for not reporting on the corruption allegations about Mayor Daley and Speaker Madigan. That’ll go over well.
The governor also reportedly poked the reporter’s chest quite often during the exchange. Dignified.
* Quote of the week:“Let me tell you something, I know the truth of things and I have nothing to fear but the truth, OK?” - Rod Blagojevich at the 22:09 mark. [Thanks to a commenter.]
* Chicago Public Radio now has a story up. Go check it out. ABC7 will have raw video on its site after 5 o’clock today. Watch for Ben Bradley’s story on that site as well. He was the one confronted and poked in the chest by Blagojevich after the press bang.
* Carlos Hernandez Gomez has a blog entry on the subject entitled “I’m not a crook.”
* 12:13 pm - The House has scheduled a Committee of the Whole for next Wednesday. In other words, another “fair trial before the hanging”…
The Illinois House will schedule a Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, July 9 in order to have a full discussion on all elements of the FY09 budget. The budget is the subject of the two day special session. set to begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The committee will start about 1:30 p. m. The panels could run into Thursday.
A series of panels will be convened to review each issue.
The panels will be:
Capital Appropriations I – Proponents
Capital Appropriations II - Opponents
Gaming I – Proponents
Gaming II – Opponents
Lease of the Lottery I – Proponents
Lease of the Lottery II – Opponents
Pension Obligation Bonds I – Proponents
Pension Obligation Bonds II – Opponents
Fund Sweeps I – Proponents
Fund Sweeps II - Opponents
The list of bills to be reviewed can be found at this link.
* 12:46 pm - Gov. Blagojevich was on the Don & Roma show again this morning. Listen at this link. Kevin worked up a partial transcript…
Don: Governor there was the recent shakedown conviction of Tony Rezko, a friend of yours, and I know that we couldn’t discuss all of those things while the trial was under way. Now what I would like to get from you is some kind of assurance, not only to me, but to the voters of Illinois, that you’re not going to get indicted before the next election.
Governor: Well, I always try to do things the right way, and when you’re the Governor of Illinois or the Mayor of Chicago, there are going to be people who either work for you or people who are supporters of yours that may not always do things the right way.
And when it comes to Tony for example, who has been very helpful to me, he is a friend. He has been helpful to Barack Obama, he has been helpful to Lisa Madigan, he has been helpful to Mike Madigan, he’s been helpful to Pat Quinn.
You know we all assume that, you know, what his activities are when it comes to his own business and personal relationships are honest and legitimate.
In this particular case it was found that he did some things wrong, in his personal activities. Anything related to any fundraising with regard to me were not guilties. And he did send a letter to the judge where he was very specific and clear, and said that he was never involved in any wrong doing with me or with Barack Obama. And I don’t know what more I can say other than I do things right, and I’m very sad for him personally, and that I pray for him and his family and his children. But sometimes people do things that aren’t right, and they have to meet their responsibilities.
But speaking for me, knowing what I do, I do things right and honest. So I just get up every day and keep trying to do the best I can for people, and let the pundits and all theseothers keep trying to spin things and twist things much bigger than they really are.
Notice he didn’t answer the indictment question. More…
Don: Well I want to thank you Governor. Mike Madigan hasn’t had the guts to come on the show and explain what he’s about. We really appreciate you joining us.
Governor: Well let me just say this, if you ever get him on the show, make him pledge to you that he is not going to raise your income taxes after the election or after January 1st.
*** 12:56 pm *** You can bet these people are gonna run some scaaaarrryyyy and memorable TV ads designed to stampede the herd…
A pair of media consultants that helped the Chicago Children’s Museum win City Council permission to move to Grant Park is being hired by a business group to lead its public efforts against a proposed state constitutional convention.
ASK Public Strategies, a firm headed by Obama campaign senior consultant David Axelrod, and the Chicago office of Hill & Knowlton will head a projected $2-million to $3-million media and advertising campaign planned by the Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution.
“We haven’t signed the contract, but they’re going to be the choice,” said Gregory W. Baise, a principal in the alliance and the head of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Assn.
Axelrod, apparently, only believes in “Change” when it comes to the Obama slogan. When it comes to Illinois, the motto is: “There will be no change.”
The biz groups don’t raise a huge amount of money in Illinois, so some might be coming from out of state. Not sure if the union dough is included in this total.
* Every now and then, our lovable but supremely pro-Blagojevich commenter known as “Bill” overdoses on the Kool-Aid and goes off message. Like today, for instance…
OK, Rod, its not funny anymore so just knock it off.
Sabotaging House candidates in YOUR OWN PARTY is going too far. Do whatever you want with the budget and talk bad about Madigan all you want but keep your nose out of the House elections, not that you could make any difference anyway.
I called Bill last night and teased him that he should come up with a new screen name for those moments when he leaves the reservation. I suggested, perhaps, a Prince-like “The commenter formerly known as ‘Bill’” name. My intern, Kevin, thought we could even give him a Princeian symbol. Perhaps a backwards “B”?
* The question: What screen name should Bill use on days when he’s fed up with our governor? Any ideas for a symbol? Explain. Have fun. And try to be nice to the guy.
* Kristen McQueary talked to former Gov. Jim Edgar about what would happen if AG Lisa Madigan was elected governor and Mike Madigan stayed on as House Speaker…
“There certainly are no legal problems. From a governor’s point of view, it would be nice to have the speaker always on your side,” former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar said Wednesday from his home in Colorado. “It could be a huge advantage. If they disagreed with each other, they could work it out privately, and it might work well. You wouldn’t have a standoff between the speaker and the governor”. […]
Unless the speaker got favorable treatment - such as a state building erected in his district and named for him - the two roles don’t create an inherent conflict, Edgar said. And how would the Madigans’ relationship differ from the pact between Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones, whose pet projects have gotten every green light?
That was a question Edgar asked. I didn’t have an answer.
The public may or may not go for it. We had pretty much the same debate in 2002 and none of those horror stories ever materialized. Still, the governor is a much higher office than attorney general, so one family controlling the executive and half the legislative branch will certainly cause consternation.
Even so, if I was speaker and my kid wanted to be governor, I’d never step aside unless I knew for sure that it would cause her to lose the election. Why leave her to the wolves?
At a time when Blagojevich is beset by almost-daily revelations of mendacity, incompetence, and corruption, Bill Daley is the perfect anti-Blagojevich: He doesn’t need the job, as he is making millions in the private sector; he’ll work with his brother, Chicago Mayor Rich Daley, to make sure that city problems get solved; he won’t pick fights with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan; and he won’t govern by “triangulation,” like Blagojevich, grandstanding and finding a Clintonesque “third way,” so as to differentiate himself from Madigan.
He’s positioning himself as a talented manager with no higher ambitions. It’s not a bad argument.
Once the most powerful and feared patronage army in Mayor Richard Daley’s political organization, the scandal-plagued Hispanic Democratic Organization is now officially extinct.
The group, known in political circles as HDO, filed paperwork Tuesday closing its campaign committee, state records show.
* If you want to know how the rest of the year is going to go, just check out this Gov. Blagojevich quote that John Patterson pulled from yesterday’s press conference…
“I think there’s great cause to be concerned. If Speaker Madigan and the House leadership pick up a veto-proof majority … then they’ll be in a position to easily override a veto.”
As Patterson notes, “That sounds an awful lot like the Democratic governor is urging voters to shun Democrats this fall so his intraparty rival – Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan — doesn’t get any stronger.”
The House GOP has positioned itself much closer to Blagojevich lately, and the governor has returned the favor by bashing Madigan at every opportunity. Yesterday was the first time, however, that Blagojevich openly fretted that House Republican Leader Tom Cross might wind up in a veto-proof minority.
* The Bond Buyer was one of the only “mainstream” media sources which caught this huge budget story, albeit buried down in the piece…
Yesterday, the governor backed off his push for the pension bond issue and did not provide another idea for how to replace the $400 million it would have saved in the fiscal 2009 budget.
Why did he do that? One reason is that the House Republicans don’t want to vote for it.
An after-Halloween trick could be up Mike Madigan’s sleeve. Governor Blagojevich is suggesting the speaker of the Illinois House is secretly pushing for an increase in the income tax, sales tax, or both after the November election.
The problem with this logic, of course, is that Senate President Emil Jones has said openly this year that he, too, supports an income tax hike and a post-election vote on that topic is already planned for the Senate. But this is about Madigan, not the issue. It’s never about the issue.
* Next week’s special session isn’t about the budget. It’s about blaming Madigan…
“The Senate took the hard votes in order to fund the budget,” said Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, in a statement. “The House should follow through and pass these measures. This can all be handled in a day.”
That’s true. The Senate did take some tough votes. But the Senate also refused to pass two other House-approved alternative budgets that didn’t have such gaping holes. And they won’t next week, either. Why? Because this isn’t about the budget. It’s about Madigan. It’s a concept that the State Journal-Register completely fails to grasp in today’s editorial.
On Wednesday, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown responded to the governor’s call for a special session by suggesting reporters look up the definition of “sociopath.”
Blagojevich spokeswoman Katie Ridgway offered a quick response.
“He’s not a sociopath,” she said of her boss.
Nixon said he wasn’t a crook. Blagojevich says he’s not a sociopath. Wonderful.
But the Blagojevich administration responded with a 2003 memo that Franks sent to a personnel official listing a dozen people he’d like to see get state jobs or be appointed to state boards and commissions.
The list includes family and key players within the McHenry County Democratic Party.
“This memo shows, two months into the administration, he (Franks) was playing the politics of insider baseball - the hypocrisy to go out and talk about impeachment,” said Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.
* The governor’s office was requesting hiring lists from Democrats back then. Franks sent in his list. Pretty simple. And how did it go for him?
Franks said three of the 12 were appointed to posts or got a job, including his father, who was named to an unpaid post on the Illinois Courts Commission. Franks’ father is the former president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Rep. Franks said he’s “eminently qualified.”
* Guerrero was right on top of that Jack Franks investigation. Too bad the administration has such trouble managing non-payback items such as following the law….
The Illinois Department of Corrections missed a deadline Wednesday to outline its plan to close Pontiac Correctional Center.
The agency, which has threatened to close the maximum-security facility and move 1,600 inmates to a new, unused prison in Thomson, asked a legislative panel for a two-week extension to compile the report.
It wasn’t clear Wednesday whether lawmakers would go along with the delay, which the department blamed on the state’s lingering budget impasse.
Let’s see, they have enough staff to pull Franks’ files, but not enough to outline a plan to close a prison that was announced months ago? Priorities, people. Priorities.
The Blagojevich administration, not known for straight answers, is at it again.
It seemed like a simple question — if the Illinois Department of Transportation’s division of traffic safety moves to Harrisburg as proposed, how many division employees will still be based in Springfield?
But a couple of people who speak for the state gave what seemed to be less-than-complete answers Wednesday.
Bernie asked whether management would be transferred with the staff. We were told weeks ago that management would stay in Springfield, but now nobody’s all that sure.
* Union League Club of Chicago/ University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs to Sponsor Debate on “Whether an Illinois Constitutional Convention Should Be Called?”
But Hardiman says state budget cuts have hurt CeaseFire’s ability to do its work. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services says the state is putting $150 million into anti-violence programs. She says the state wants to spread that money out to give other anti-violence groups a chance.
Twice, Rezko violated the home-confinement terms of his bail, formerly sealed court files show, by making “social calls” — including last September to the home of former top Cook County official Orlando Jones after Jones committed suicide.
