* I asked a friend of mine this week if he ever went to the Soul Train TV studio back when the show was broadcast every day from Chicago. “Of course,” he said. The show was absolutely the place to be on the South Side, so he was a regular.
Soul Train eventually switched to a weekly format and host Don Cornelius then moved it to Los Angeles. But Big Don is coming back to the city on Labor Day for an anniversary concert…
Pay homage to 40 years of Soul Train – the Chicago-based, longest-running, nationally syndicated television show – with a spectacular Labor Day concert at Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The evening’s honored guest is none other than Don Cornelius, Soul Train’s founder and host. Legendary R&B and soul artists, including Jerry “The Iceman” Butler, The Impressions, the Chi-Lites, the Emotions and Gene Chandler, take the stage with an orchestra of veteran musical collaborators led by the acclaimed conductor/arranger Tom Tom Washington.
* Everybody was doing the “Soul Train Line” back in the 70s…
* She hasn’t made up her mind yet, but, oh, man, if this primary happens it is gonna be brutal…
Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson said Friday she has filed a statement of candidacy with the the Federal Election Commission in the 2nd congressional district of Illinois, a seat held by fellow Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr.
Halvorson, unseated in the 11th congressional district last year by Republican Adam Kinzinger, emphasized she has not yet decided to run.
“I’ve been asked to run by constituents who feel they are not represented,” said Halvorson, who lives in Crete, which would become part of Jackson’s congressional district under a new remap. “I’ve told them I would consider it and I have to keep my options open if I’m going to do that and that means filing my paperwork.”
However, Halvorson sounded very much like a candidate when she said, “He (Jackson) lives in D.C.. He doesn’t come home on weekends. His kids go to school in D.C. […]
“I just want to emphasize I haven’t made a decison yet,” she said. “This is a tough one. The new (2nd) district includes a lot of the areas I represent, so I am very familiar with it.”
She’s already bringing up the guy’s kids? Yikes.
* These two have been fighting for years, mainly over the third airport. Here’s a story from the first time she ran for Congress in 2008…
Jackson is concerned that if Halvorson were elected to Congress, his airport plan—which he has worked on or advocated for more than a decade as an economic boon for residents in his district to the north—would be dead.
“That is our specific fear, that if she’s put in charge, our developers will leave,” said Rick Bryant, a spokesman for Jackson, who declined to speak to a reporter directly.
“They should be fearing me becoming a congresswoman,” Halvorson said in response. “I represent the people who live in the 11th Congressional District. . . . He’s just nervous that I’m going to become a congresswoman because then his control is over.”
Jackson got a little payback earlier this year when he adamantly opposed Halvorson’s attempt to get herself appointed to be the state’s Transportation Secretary…
“Any consideration of her for that post would be an outrageous slap in the face to voters in the south suburbs who overwhelmingly supported Gov. Quinn for re-election because of his promise to build a third airport,” said Jackson […]
Jackson added that Halvorson would doom other regional projects, including the proposed Metra Southeast Service, CTA Red Line extension and the Metra extension to the airport,
“She has no record of success for promoting any transportation project in her district or in the State of Illinois,” Jackson concluded.
* The redrawn 2nd District is less than 54 percent African-American, but that percentage will be far higher in a Democratic primary. Jackson has loads of baggage that she can use against him, which is a big reason why this contest would be so intense, but the demographics are not her friend here.
Still, one can hope, right?
* Other stuff…
* Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh to Skip Obama Speech to Congress
* Rep. Walsh draws crowd: President Barack Obama got both a snub and a sorry Thursday from Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh… “I sincerely apologize for what I said last night. That’s not what I meant to say, but that’s what I said,” Walsh, R-McHenry, said, citing the Northwest Herald story in which the remark appeared.
* Area Dems To Collect Congressional Signatures - Reps. Peter Roskam and Judy Biggert will wait to see how a lawsuit challenging new district maps will play out in the courts.
* ‘I am disgusted with Congress’s failure’: Former state Rep. Jay Hoffman will run for seat in 13th District
From silk plants to pant suits, costume jewelry to collectible clowns, the very things often identified with former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese are up for sale.
The ex-convict says she will wheel and deal at a garage sale at a friend’s house in west suburban Forest View the next three days as she sells off decades of stuff she had in her home or her Cicero office. Included are make-up mirrors, a singing bass plaque and more costume earrings than Imelda Marcos had shoes–at just $1.50 a pair.
* The Question: What else might you expect to find at Betty’s garage sale?
* Last year, the National Right to Work Foundation backed a federal lawsuit against the state over the unionization of personal care assistants. Assistants in the state’s rehab program voted to unionize in 2003 after a gubernatorial executive order mandating an election. Personal care assistants in the state’s disabilities program rejected union membership in 2009 after another executive order.
The disabilities assistant union election became a cause célèbre on the Right. Michelle Malkin was particularly involved.
* The lawsuit claimed the First Amendment rights of rehab assistants were violated because they were being forced to pay union dues. The disabilities assistants said their 1st Amendment rights were harmed by the possibility that the union might win a future representation election.
The plaintiffs lost the first round and they appealed. Yesterday, the appellate court ruled against them as well…
[B]ecause of the significant control the state exercises over all aspects of the personal assistants’ jobs, we conclude that personal assistants are employees of the State and reject the plaintiffs’ arguments that the State’s interests in collective bargaining do not apply to the unique circumstances of personal assistants. As such, the fair share fees in this case withstand First Amendment scrutiny—at least against a facial challenge to the imposition of the fees itself. […]
The [disability assistant] plaintiffs feel burdened fighting to prevent what they view as an unconstitutional collective bargaining agreement. But many individuals and organizations spend considerable resources fighting to prevent Congress or the state legislatures from adopting legislation that might violate the Constitution. The courts cannot judge a hypothetical future violation in this case any more than they can judge the validity of a not-yet-enacted law, no matter how likely its passage. To do so would be to render an advisory opinion, which is precisely what the doctrine of ripeness helps to prevent.
* In other labor news, the Congress Plaza Hotel strike hit its 3,000th day this week…
The union still hopes to reach an agreement with the hotel and has proposed wages just below industry standards. Congress Hotel’s lawyer and negotiator, Peter Andjelkovich referred all questions to the legal proceedings against the union and said negotiations do not take place in the press.
Holding the picket line for more than eight years, many of the union members actively campaigned companies and expos to choose other venues. The union boasts of costing the hotel at least $700,000 over the last few years. The figure could actually be closer to $1 million, but the hotel refuses to acknowledge it. At least a dozen companies or events changed locations because of the strike. As a result, the hotel has filed suit alleging secondary activities, an illegal maneuver, by the union.
Everyone involved is declining to comment, but sources who would know say that Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign is wooing a top Illinois Republican to support him for president: state House GOP Leader Tom Cross.
Mr. Cross, like much of the state’s Republican establishment, so far is neutral in the presidential derby. The candidate who had built significant support here, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, dropped out a couple of weeks ago.
But Mr. Perry has caught a bit of a tail wind in the last month, and insiders say fascination with him is growing.
Mr. Cross, who backed Rudy Giuliani four years ago, is said to be interested in an alliance, which could be politically beneficial to both men. But no deal yet has been struck, though Mr. Perry quietly slipped into town a few days ago to meet with potential funders and backers.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard went as far to say he was leaning heavily toward Perry, but he stopped there.
* However, Karl Rove, who is said to despise Perry, just picked up a bigtime backer from Illinois…
The Karl Rove-affiliated Super PAC American Crossroads raised $2.7 million between July 1 and August 24, according to a new report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Notably, Kenneth Griffin, the founder and CEO of the massive hedge fund Citadel, donated $300,000 to the group. In 2008, Griffin backed Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency, raising between $50,000 and $100,000 as a donation ‘bundler’ and contributing the maximum $4,600 to the then-Illinois senator’s presidential bid.
Griffin and his wife were hugely important Tom Cross contributors last year.
Perry leads by nine among men but trails by five among women. Among voters under 30, the president leads while Perry has the edge among those over 30. The president leads Perry by 16 percentage points among union members while Perry leads among those who do not belong to a union.
Of all the Republican candidates, I’m most intrigued by Perry, as I know many Americans are. We’d all love for somebody to bring this country out of its economic funk, and many of us want to know if there’s anything in the Texas example that could help the rest of us and whether he’s the guy to do it.
Economic issues may very well trump social issues in the next election, and President Barack Obama certainly hasn’t been any profile in courage on gay marriage either with his own ever-evolving views.
But I’ve never been convinced any president of the United States can do a whole lot to turn around the economy, while I’m absolutely certain the right president can move this country forward on social issues and the wrong one can set it back for decades. I don’t intend to go back quietly.
* Speaking of the economy, Illinois was just ranked sixth in the nation for gaining businesses…
To determine which states truly seem to be luring businesses, I used data provided by economic consulting firm EMSI of Moscow, Idaho, showing business establishments per capita. Since the data control for population, the method allows for comparisons between populous states like California and Texas and less populated ones like Rhode Island and Nevada. I was interested in each state’s performance over the last few years, to account for the recent recession, so I measured the change in business establishments per capita from the beginning of 2008 through the end of 2010. I also included each state’s unemployment rate in my data set, to help identify outliers.
The gain wasn’t much, from 0.97 businesses per person in 2008 to 1.01 businesses per person in 2010, but, hey, we can take everything we can get.
That same person also looked at Texas job creation since 2008. Some highlights…
Federal government jobs. Texas: Up 7 percent. U.S.: Up 4.3 percent.
State government jobs. Texas: Up 8.4 percent. U.S.: Down 0.1 percent.
Local government jobs. Texas: Up 6.1 percent. U.S.: Down 1.7 percent.
Private-sector jobs. Texas: Down 0.5 percent. U.S.: Down 6.6 percent.
Healthcare jobs. Texas: up 12.6 percent. U.S.: Up 6.2 percent.
Retail jobs. Texas: Up 1.9 percent. U.S.: Down 7.2 percent.
Manufacturing jobs. Texas: Down 11.6 percent. U.S.: Down 15.8 percent.
* As always, before you comment on a national issue like this, take a very deep breath. No bumper sticker slogans, no goofy DC talking points. Take the high road, or you’ll be shown the door. Forever.
* Apparently, Gov. Pat Quinn is dithering on purpose when it comes to state boards…
Nearly a quarter of the state’s more than 300 boards and commissions have been inactive in recent years, according to an audit released Thursday, and the Quinn administration said it is looking at how to eliminate ones that are no longer needed.
The inactive boards listed ranged from the Governor’s Council on Health and Physical Fitness to the Steel Development Board to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Task Group, according to Auditor General William Holland’s examination. The findings were part of an overall audit that also found many of the boards and commissions violate open meetings laws and fail to do basics like keep attendance at meetings.
Quinn’s office is in favor of looking for ways to cut down the number of boards and commissions but still keep in place the essential ones, ranging from the Illinois Commerce Commission to the Illinois Liquor Control Board, said Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson. The governor is seeking help from the legislature to move forward, Anderson said.
Quinn also has sought to merge to labor relations boards, one dealing with educational matters and another dealing with business and labor issues, Anderson said. Part of the reason some of the boards were inactive was because they’ve completed their duties, Holland said.
* But Will County Executive Larry Walsh blasted his fellow Democrat for dithering on a solution to the regional superintendents’ fiasco…
Walsh wrote, “… many of us are astonished that a resolution to this issue has not been reached given the important role these superintendents play in the Illinois public education system.”
Walsh pointed out that the State should not abdicate its responsibility to pay the superintendents when it is the state which mandates the positions exist to handle specific functions within the education system. Nor should the governor have eliminated the salaries with no prior conversations with local officials.
“School districts and local governments, of which the State of Illinois owes millions of dollars in aid to, also should not be expected to pick up the tab to pay superintendents for work mandated by the State of Illinois. If there was a feeling within your administration that local assistance was needed for Regional Offices of Education in these difficult times there should have been an upfront discussion, not a last-minute line-item veto of superintendent salaries.” […]
“We, however, cannot ask them or expect them to continue this work when the same level of responsibility, sense of community and principle is not being bestowed upon them for the work that they do. The severity of this situation calls for nothing short of an immediate resolution,” he wrote.
Nearly half of the inaugural money raised came from money managers. Emanuel has longstanding ties to that industry, where he built his personal wealth as an investment banker prior to his 2002 run for Congress.
“I think what you will find is that the ratios of contributions pretty much match his campaign funds,” said Tom Bowen, the spokesman for the Emanuel campaign who put together the list.
Money managers also accounted for nearly $5 million of Emanuel’s nearly $15 million mayoral campaign fund.
* And the Sun-Times wants the prosecutorial dithering to end in the Drew Peterson case…
We believe it’s time to free Peterson from the Will County Jail, where he has been held without trial for two years and three months, and put him under less restrictive house arrest. To keep him in jail while prosecutors plod through yet another round of pretrial motions is to deny him his constitutional right to be free, in the words of the Eighth Amendment, of “cruel and unusual punishments.”
This is a sacred phrase in American jurisprudence, first to be found in the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
Peterson’s lawyers, in a motion filed with the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday, argue that their client should be freed altogether while awaiting trial, and we’re sympathetic to that view. Much of the evidence presented at a hearing 14 months ago that resulted in Peterson’s continued jailing was of the hearsay variety — what one person allegedly said to another person — and, as we have argued before, we doubt the constitutionality of such evidence.
Every month, Thomas Villanova gets a $9,000 reminder of how lucrative it can be to serve as a union leader in Chicago.
The sum is part of a city pension that comes on top of the $198,000 annual salary he is paid to represent the interests of thousands of city workers.
Villanova last worked for the city in 1989 as an electrical mechanic with the Department of Streets and Sanitation, making about $40,000 a year. Yet in 2008 he was allowed to retire at age 56 with a $108,000 city pension. That’s because, under a little-known state law, his pension was based not on his city paycheck but on his much higher union salary.
This kind of deal is available only to union officials who meet certain requirements, but a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has uncovered documents that show Villanova violated state law when he applied for the pension and cast doubt on whether he truly qualifies for all that money.
Oops.
And it gets “better”…
Villanova gets another $12,000 a year from the State University Retirement System of Illinois, based on his work for the community college. Although he held that job for only three years, state law allows him to receive reciprocal pension benefits from SURS when he retired from the city.
That pension is also based on his union salary, not the $41,000 he made working for the community college.
Thomas Villanova isn’t the only official from Local 134 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who participated in a city pension and a union pension at the same time, in violation of state law.
Three other local leaders who did so stand to collect more than $6 million from the municipal pension fund in their lifetimes, according to an analysis by the Tribune and WGN-TV.
Like Villanova, all three retired from the city before the age of 60. Like Villanova, each signed an application saying he wasn’t participating in his union’s pension fund, and Local 134 officials wrote letters for all of them saying they weren’t getting any union pension benefits.
* The Democratic congressional delegation is being asked to pony up to defend their new map…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office doesn’t feel it has the lawyers or skills it needs to defend the state’s new Democrat-drawn congressional map on its own, so three outside lawyers have been hired and the Democratic congressional delegation can raise $500,000 to pay their bill.
None of the members of Congress are named defendants in the lawsuits filed by Republican members of Congress and the League of Women voters. Those lawsuits name the State Board of Elections, challenging the maps drawn by House Speaker Mike Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and other Democrats. Those maps eviscerated Republican congressional districts while protecting Democratic districts.
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Belleville) explained to the rest of the Democratic congressional delegation: if they want to keep the map most favorable to them, they should each pony up a check for $10,000 and then start raising more money.
“[Lisa Madigan] is prepared to carry out her responsibilities but she’s just letting us know that: ‘If you want the most expert testimony that you can find, that’s going to require expert witnesses we don’t have,’” said Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago). “The budget that the state passed for her did not include money for the expert witnesses.”
…Adding… Lisa Madigan’s office hotly disputed the claim that her office doesn’t have “the lawyers or skills.” They have plenty of both, I was told this afternoon. The delegation was apparently told, however, that the State Board of Elections doesn’t have the funds to pay for expert testimony and that these sorts of cases pretty much require that. Hence, the cash for experts and additional lawyers.
* The Dems are gonna need all the money they can get. The three-judge panel that will hear the case has a Republican majority…
One development worrisome to the Democrats is that the Republican-appointed chief judge of the federal appellate court has appointed two Republican-appointed Indiana judges to round out the three-judge panel that will make substantive decisions in the case along with the Democratic-appointed judge who was assigned to the case, Joan Lefkow.
* Meawhile, the Illinois House GOP’s Kevin Artl recently shared a bit of redistricting history…
Illinois’ winner-take-all legislative redistricting process is “fundamentally flawed” and should be replaced with a less politically driven system like in Iowa and California, an Illinois House Republican political strategist said Wednesday.
Illinois law puts redistricting in the hands of a special commission if lawmakers can’t agree on a map to send the governor. But the last time the General Assembly was actually able to redistrict itself — without a commission or courts involved — was in 1955, according to Kevin Artl, political director for the House Republicans.
This year, four of the five board members are Republicans: Gov. John Kasich, Secretary of State Jon Husted, Auditor Dave Yost, and Senate President Tom Niehaus (R., New Richmond). House Minority Leader Armond Budish (D., Beachwood) is the only Democrat.
Among the Republicans, only Mr. Husted has expressed interest in making the process less partisan. Mr. Budish proposed several rule changes designed to expand public participation and make the process more transparent and less partisan. Republicans rejected them.
But a group of good government types sponsored a contest to draw new maps that would “enhance partisan competition, split as few counties and communities as possible, and reflect the true political makeup of the state. ” The winner? An Illinois Republican…
The top-scoring map was drawn by Mike Fortner, a Republican state representative — from Illinois. His plan increases the number of competitive districts in the 99-member Ohio House from 30 to 35 and in the 33-member Senate from nine to 14.
* Related…
* ICPR: Redistricting Illinois in 2011: Politics as Usual Under a Facade of Transparency
A 33-year-old requirement that almost everything sold in [Michigan] be adorned with an individual price tag ends today, the result of legislation passed early this year at the urging of Gov. Rick Snyder.
Snyder and other advocates for repeal said Michigan’s item-pricing law, the strictest in the nation, was a relic of an era that was slowing innovation and adding more than $2 billion a year in costs to consumers. Defenders of the old law said repeal would sow frustration and anger among shoppers, result in layoffs for store clerks, and doubted that consumer savings would follow.
Tom Scott, vice president of the Michigan Retailers Association, said Wednesday he doesn’t expect much drama when the stores open today.
I couldn’t find an Illinois statute mandating price tags, so I called the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and spoke with its top dog, Dave Vite. Vite said Illinois has no mandatory price tag law on the books. So, all the tags you see are put there voluntarily.
* I’ve been a bit puzzled about this new “purple paint” law. Thankfully, GateHouse explains…
Purple paint violators will be prosecuted.
Legislation signed by Gov. Pat Quinn this week allows landowners to substitute purple paint on trees and poles for the traditional “no trespassing” signs. The purple option is effective immediately, state officials said.
“The forestry industry brought it to my attention,” said state Sen. John Sulllivan, D-Rushville, a chief sponsor of the legislation.
Sullivan said he got the idea for purple paint from Missouri, where the alternative to trespassing signs already is available. […]
According to research at the Missouri Agricultural Law Center, Arkansas started the purple-paint trend in 1989 in response to requests from agricultural, lumber and outdoor sporting groups for an alternative to metal signs that can be removed, vandalized or wear out.
“A ‘No trespassing’ sign may be shot up or taken down and a fence may be cut, but a post or tree marked with purple paint is not as easily removed, therefore causing your property to be legally posted more effectively and for a longer period of time before the markings need to be replaced,” said [Lieutenant Game Warden Lewis Rather].
He added that the use of purple paint appears to be a successful measure in notifying potential trespassers.
“Complaints received are down as far as trespassing on property marked with purple paint.”
Almost no one wants the state running Illinois’ new health-care exchanges.
Health-care advocates, unions, doctors’ groups and business people testified in unison this week before the Legislature’s rule-making body, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability that the state should have a limited role in running the health-care exchanges, but they were divided on their reasons.
Each state must create an exchange where people can shop for and purchase competitive health insurance plans, as required under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But each state can create its own exchange.
At its most basic, an exchange would be a marketplace, a one-stop shop. Some states are looking at online exchanges or physical exchanges or both, but no single model has emerged.
Jim Duffett, executive director of Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care, which advocates for health care for everyone, said exchanges should be outside direct government control and, more importantly, governmental influence.
“Political winds change,” said Duffett. “We need to keep this marketplace stable, no matter if it is a Democrat or Republican in the (governor’s) mansion.”
Wayne Sabaj was cooking a pork shoulder on his grill Monday when he decided to pick some broccoli from his garden in the far northwestern suburbs. There, next to the red bell peppers and beneath the pole beans, the unemployed carpenter found more than just vegetables — a bag of money containing thousands of dollars.
McHenry County sheriff’s police came out and found another bag. Together, the bags contained $150,000, officials said.
“I’m unemployed and have no money. I lost my house a few years ago when I ran out of work,” Sabaj said.
At first, “I was worried about who would come back for it and figured I couldn’t keep it. . . . Now I’m hoping no one claims it and I get it back.”
* The Question: What do you think Gov. Pat Quinn and each of the four legislative leaders would do if they found a bag of money in their back yards?
The following is a statement from Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, on the free public transit rides for seniors program that ends at midnight.
STATEMENT FROM ROD BLAGOJEVICH:
“I’m really sad to see free public transportation being taking way from our seniors. I ruffled a lot of feathers to make this happen but I know it was the right thing to do. I wish I was in a position to do something about it.”
Please Note: Rod Blagojevich is NOT doing any interviews at this time.
“I wish I was in a position to do something about it.”
Yeah. OK. Perhaps you should’ve thought about that before deciding to become a criminal.
Sheesh.
* This might’ve been a cute idea a month or two ago, but not so much now…
Prompted by several bill signings and announcements made by Governor Pat Quinn on Fridays so that they can be buried in the news cycle, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady has announced a contest to predict the next bill signed or other controversial action taken by Quinn on a Friday.
“While most of us are getting ready to spend time with our families for the weekend, Governor Quinn has been quietly signing legislation or making other announcements on Fridays that will affect most Illinoisans.” said Brady. “The problem is that these actions get little or no press coverage, and that’s no accident on the Governor’s part.”
Actions taken by Quinn on Fridays include signing Democrat drawn redistricting maps and legislation watering down the state’s Freedom of Information Act as well as revealing his support for an 87% tollway tax increase.
“The Governor is happy to have popular bill signing announcements in front of the TV cameras during the rest of the week,” said Brady. “But on Fridays, he likes to take action on more controversial items hoping no one will notice. This weekend – Labor Day Weekend – could be especially brutal so we wanted to put some sunshine on this practice.”
Trouble is, there’s only one bill currently on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk: The ComEd bill, which Quinn has repeatedly said that he’ll veto. Quinn has either signed or vetoed everything the General Assembly sent him. Of course, they haven’t yet sent him the gaming bill.
Quinn may have some bad news to drop this Friday afternoon/evening, but signing a lousy bill just ain’t on the agenda.
Maybe the IL GOP can try this contest again next year.
Anyway, if you’d like to enter the contest, click here…
The first contestant to successfully predict a controversial Quinn Friday bill signing or action will receive a $25 gift card to T. G. I. Friday’s Restaurant. The gift card will be paid for personally by Chairman Pat Brady. Because they may have advanced warning of Quinn’s activities, state employees and members of the news media (and their families) are not eligible to play.
Bummer. No gift card for moi.
* The mayor’s public schedule is almost always packed, so this is a rarity…
THE PUBLIC SCHEDULE FOR MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
There are no public events scheduled at this time.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is billed as the guest of honor Thursday night at a popular Chinatown restaurant for a political fundraiser where “gold sponsors” who throw down $2,000 will be able to greet him at a private reception.
But the event isn’t a fundraiser for Emanuel or even any of the 50 aldermen in the City Council. It’s for Laura Liu, a Cook County circuit judge running for election next year.
Emanuel also has offered his support to Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis, who faces a potential Democratic primary fight in 2012. That backing also comes with the pledge of fundraising help from the new mayor, who has become one of the hottest tickets on the Democratic campaign circuit.
Liu is Mike Kasper’s wife. Subscribers already know about the Theis endorsement.
* Emanuel is also hosting a dinner tonight at Millennium Park for state legislators. All legislators have been invited. I gotta wonder if the governor will be slowly circling the park tonight trying to see who shows up to cavort with the enemy.
* Yesterday during a press conference, Gov. Pat Quinn expressed strong concerns about the proponents’ plan to “fix” the gaming bill via a trailer, or cleanup bill…
“They talk about something called a trailer bill; I don’t know what that is,” Quinn said. “I think that if you have a bill that isn’t a good bill, then you should roll up your sleeves and correct that bill rather than tell the governor to sign something that isn’t top notch. Who would ever do that? I think that’s a bad way to go. … Do it right the first time, that’s my philosophy.”
Quinn also said, “The notion that we work it out later, that’s not in my book.”
* The governor was obviously being disingenuous here. He is no stranger to trailer bills, having signed several into law. Earlier this month, for instance, he signed HB 3376, wich was the trailer bill to the Police and Fire Pension bill, SB 3538. Quinn signed the initial legislation last December. The trailer fixed technical errors, but there was no expression of outrage when he signed the cleanup legislation.
Quinn has often touted the big education reform bill, SB 7. But that bill was fixed by a trailer as well, HB 1197. Again, no complaints out of the governor.
Then there was SB 1641, which was a trailer to HB 6094, which was passed in the 96th General Assembly, which was a trailer to correct confusion between HB 2455 and SB 1866, which also passed in the 96th.
It goes on and on and on. There was even a trailer to fix the capital bill to tighten up the video gaming regulations. That video gaming law was a quite large legal expansion of gambling (even though the illegal activities already exist all over the state).
…Adding… From commenter “siriusly”…
Even more ironic in that audio clip he was asked about the FOIA bill he just signed - it was essentially a clean up bill too . . .
Finally, a new owner opened the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines in July, yet the portion slated for horse racing remains in the state’s Gaming Fund. Brad Hahn, a spokesman with the state’s comptroller’s office, said that’s because the law states the money “shall be paid” rather than “transferred.”
And without an appropriation from the General Assembly, the Gaming Board can’t send the money.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* I asked the governor’s office about Quinn’s comments and was sent this…
What the Gov responded on the “trailer” method [yesterday] was in reference to a question on the gambling bill. Basically, he was saying that he is not aware of what is in said gaming trailer bill, what it contains, what it looks like, what it proposes to change, etc.
Well, of course he wouldn’t know. Nobody knows because the trailer doesn’t yet exist. The sponsoring legislators are waiting on Gov. Quinn to finally engage and list his “must haves.” Until Quinn does that, no bill can be constructed. The trailer is all about satisfying Quinn, but Quinn won’t say what, exactly, would satisfy him. If he’d lay out his specific demands, he’d know pretty quickly what was going to be in the trailer bill.
The governor did lay out some demands for the ComEd bill, which the company hasn’t fully agreed to. So, why isn’t he doing the same with the gaming bill? The administration response was “We will.”
“When?” is the next big question here.
And then there’s the indisputable fact that if Quinn had been more engaged during the spring session there would be no need for a trailer bill at all. He made himself irrelevant all last spring, and now he wants back into the game, but he won’t actually get into the game.
* If you listen to the audio, you’ll hear Quinn expressing concerns that the mob might get involved in Chicago’s new casino. When asked to explain, Quinn couldn’t provide any specifics in the legislation.
* The governor was also pressed by reporters to say whether he planned to sign the gaming bill, veto it or issue an amendatory veto. Quinn said that he never talks about his actions before bills actually reach his desk.
That’s just ridiculous. Quinn’s been saying since June 1st that he plans to veto the ComEd bill.
* Meanwhile, black and Latino aldermen demanded yesterday that Quinn sign the gaming bill…
The City Council’s Black and Hispanic Caucuses on Wednesday joined the bitter battle between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn aimed at pressuring the governor to sign a bill that would pave the way for a land-based Chicago casino and slot machines at O’Hare and Midway Airports.
It’s one thing for the governor to ignore a political plea from the newly-elected mayor of Chicago. It’s quite another to turn a deaf ear to elected representatives of black and Hispanic voters who helped put Quinn in office, the aldermen said.
“Our caucus came out and supported Quinn when it was a close call. He needs to understand that and see that our communities are suffering,” said Ald. Howard Brookins (21st), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus.
“Some of the prosperity seen downtown [was] not seen in our communities. There’s simply not enough money in the meager [aldermanic] menu program to fix everything that needs to be done in our communities. This is a way that we can help our constituents without raising taxes.”
What happens if Quinn refuses to sign the bill?
“There’s always a political consequence to anything you do or you don’t do. Those people who are out of work will look unfavorably on that,” Brookins warned.
* Also yesterday, organized labor and the Chicagoland Chamber urged Quinn not to veto the ComEd bill. From a press release…
Business and labor leaders today called on Governor Pat Quinn to sign legislation authorizing investment in upgrading and modernizing the state’s electric grid, saying it would spark economic growth, create new jobs and make Illinois a hub in the nation’s emerging “new energy economy.”
Senate Bill 1652, the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, was approved by the General Assembly in late May and sent to the Governor on Monday. It would authorize ComEd and Ameren to spend more than $3 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade the state’s electric grid and install new “smart grid” digital technology.
With this new technology, including smart meters installed in homes, consumers will be able to save money on electric bills with new pricing options, more information about their usage and new energy efficiency programs. The legislation contains strict regulatory provisions protecting business and residential customers during the 10-year period of investment through oversight by the Illinois Commerce Commission. […]
“As Labor Day approaches, we urge the Governor to remember the thousands of Illinoisans who are out of work – more than 627,000 to be exact, according to the July report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security,” said Dean Apple, president and business manager of IBEW Local 15 in Downers Grove.
“The best way I can think of to remember our out-of-work brothers and sisters is to approve this major job-creating legislation and get to work on strengthening and modernizing our electric grid,” Apple said.
“SB1652 is a critical jobs initiative that will spur major economic development for our state,” said Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “A 10-year program to invest billions of dollars in our infrastructure and in a modern grid will provide thousands of jobs not just over the short-term, but over the long haul. This bill represents a major step forward in the new economy of the 21st century.”
Former State Representative Jay Hoffman will file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission this week to form a committee to explore a bid for Congress in Illinois’ new 13th congressional district.
“While Illinois families are hurting, those in Congress have failed miserably to create jobs, get our economy going, or seriously reduce the deficit,” said Hoffman. “Like most Americans, I am disgusted with Congress’s failure to get things done. Central and Southwestern Illinois need a voice in Washington that will work in a bi-partisan fashion to find common-sense solutions to put people back to work.”
Hoffman has authored a book “Hope from the Heartland: Jobs, Clean Air, Energy Security,” that outlines how the Midwest can lead the nation in research and the production of alternative energy by utilizing the Midwestern state’s natural resources to create jobs in the declining manufacturing sector.
Hoffman said he will immediately begin travelling the district talking about jobs and the economy directly with the district’s voters and expects to make an announcement of candidacy by the end of September. This weekend Hoffman will appear at several events honoring working families as part of Labor Day festivities. On Sunday Hoffman will appear at the Laborers Labor Day picnic in Decatur. On Monday Hoffman will participate in the Decatur Labor Day parade and will appear at Labor Day picnics in Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana.
Filing paperwork with the FEC is the first step towards running for Congress. Creating a committee will allow Hoffman to raise and spend money on behalf of his candidacy.
Hoffman lost his state House seat last year in a close and bitter election and then voted for the income tax hike two months later, so that won’t help him much. He is, however, a very energetic campaigner. He does have baggage. He was, after all, Rod Blagojevich’s House floor leader. But unlike many around the former governor, Hoffman was not tainted all that much by Blagojevich’s criminal trial. No shoes dropped.
Your thoughts?
[Fixed headline because I was distracted and wrote something inaccurate.]
Thursday, Sep 1, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
System Investments Mean Better Reliability for Customers; Performance Standards Provide Accountability
If enacted into law, the Illinois Electric Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (SB 1652), which passed the Illinois House and Senate in May, would put in place more stringent performance standards for Illinois electric utilities.
Utilities would be held accountable for their performance on a range of issues that matter most to customers. And if the utilities don’t meet these standards, it gets taken out of their bottom line.
Among the performance standards in SB 1652, utilities must…
• Improve outage duration by 15 percent over a 10-year period
• Improve outage frequency by 20 percent
• Improve estimated bills by 90 percent
Utilities could stand to lose tens of millions of dollars each year if they fail to deliver benefits from investment in grid modernization. There is no symmetrical upside – utilities are penalized for failure to perform but they don’t receive bonuses for achieving goals.
For more information on the other benefits of grid modernization, visit www.smartenergyil.com.
* I’ve been working on a longer post, then looked up and noticed how late it’s getting. Sorry about that. Republican firebrand Congressman Joe Walsh was on “Chicago Tonight” last night and he did pretty well considering that the show is not exactly the best venue for a guy like him. Have a look…
* Walsh did let loose at an event later in the evening, however…
Congressman Joe Walsh, once again, didn’t mince words about his thoughts about the Democratic Party and President Barack Obama.
“How idiotic is this president?” Walsh said to the GOP crowd Wednesday night in Nunda Township. “I don’t want to be disrespectful, but he’s going to bring forth a jobs plan next week. Think about that for a minute. He’s been in office for three years. He’s destroyed job creation systematically for three years.”
* Mayor Rahm Emanuel was also on “Chicago Tonight” this week for an extended interview. A story of mine is mentioned about 26 or so minutes into the show…
