* The Tribune reported today that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel already has plans for the money generated by a proposed Chicago casino…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday offered some specifics for fixing schools, roads and public transit with money from a proposed Chicago casino, stepping up his pressure on Gov. Pat Quinn to approve a wide-ranging plan that would expand gambling statewide.
In an interview with the Tribune at his City Hall office, Emanuel said he would invest revenue from a city-owned casino to build or renovate up to 25 schools; double arterial street repaving to 80 miles a year over three years; replace 20 miles of “L” track each year to eliminate slow zones, rebuild 10 miles of elevated track structure each year and renovate 45 rail stations over five years; replace 40 miles of leaky city water mains; and overhaul five viaducts that are rusting away.
Quinn made it clear he doesn’t appreciate Emanuel’s repeated suggestions that he sign legislation to legalize a massive expansion of gambling statewide in addition to allowing Chicago to own a casino. […]
“What I have to do is carefully analyze this particular piece of legislation that has not arrived on my desk, so the notion that we’re spending the money before the law is passed is putting the cart before the horse,” Quinn said at an unrelated news conference. “I would urge the mayor to talk to our gaming board chairman, Judge Aaron Jaffe, because there are serious shortcomings in this law when it comes to honesty and integrity.” […]
“I don’t think any person with common sense, looking at the legislation today, would say that it has sufficient protections for the public.” Quinn said. “It’s great for gamblers and gaming interests, but it’s not, in my opinion, strong enough when it comes to protecting the public, and the people of Illinois come first.
“No mayor, no politician, no gambling race track owner or gambling casino owner is going to put themselves before the people of Illinois as long as I’m governor.”
Perhaps Quinn should consult with the Chicago News Cooperative, which reported not long ago that many of the Gaming Board’s objections to the bill were bogus…
The gaming board’s Jaffe and other critics have warned that the board does not have enough staff to properly vet the thousands of new casino employees the bill will create openings for. Last month alone the board reviewed more than 600 applicants for positions at casinos and racetracks.
Bilek, of the Crime Commission, said he was “suspicious and concerned” lawmakers purposely designed an expansion bill so enormous, the gaming board couldn’t possibly keep up.
Though the bill’s supporters dispute that claim, they do agree the board will need to hire more staff, and the legislature — according to Lang and Cullerton — is not opposed to helping facilitate that.
However, the gaming board’s staffing levels would be addressed in its appropriations bill, not in the gambling expansion bill, which requires a separate act of the legislature. Lang said he would “be happy to” introduce a bill supplementing the board’s budget if asked. Typically, state agency directors testify before House and Senate appropriations committees to request more money during the spring session. The gaming board did not testify in Springfield then because the gaming bill had not yet passed and the agency does not take positions on pending legislation, Illinois Gaming Board spokesman Gene O’Shea said in May.
The Senate Democrats sent along this analysis of the Gaming Board’s funding levels. Bottom line: Authorized headcount is more than double what it was two years ago and spending is up about 60 percent and they’ve been given everything they’ve asked for in the last two budget cycles, despite cuts to just about everybody else…
Since the beginning of the 2010 budget year, authorized state spending at the Gaming Board has increased nearly 60 percent and they’ve been authorized to more than double agency headcount - FY10 headcount of 84, in FY11 an estimated headcount of 201 and in FY12 the projected headcount is 220.
FY 10 (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010)
Gaming Board budget: $100.9 million
*Upon approval of video gaming an additional $27.4 million was budgeted for the Gaming Board for implementation.
Total FY 10 state funding: $128.3 million
*FY 11 (July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011)
Gaming Board budget request: $137.3 million Gaming Board budget
authorized: $137.3 million
*FY 11 and FY 12 appropriations included a separate line item for Implementation and Administration of Video Gaming. The separate line item amount was $14 million for FY11 and $17.5 million for FY12.
*** UPDATE 1 *** About a hundred proponents of the gaming bill, including “Members of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association (IHHA). Hospitality workers, 4-H members and families, various other agriculture groups,” will rally tomorrow at the Illinois State Fair’s grandstand and then march to the Governor’s Day festivities to express their support for the legislation. From a press release…
Hardworking horsemen and women have sent thousands of letters to Governor Pat Quinn this summer urging him to sign Senate Bill 744. If this bill does not pass, horseracing will continue to slide behind other racing states in the country and 30,000 agribusiness jobs will be jeopardized.
Other agriculture groups like county fairs, 4-H, soil and water conservation, hay and grain farmers also support SB744 because of the money it will provide for Illinois’ agriculture.
* Also, listen to the governor’s complete comments about the gaming bill…
“I will not allow Chicago’s future to be held hostage by Washington’s inaction. And I will not allow Chicago’s future to be held hostage because the state obviously has other financial issues and their resources have been drying up over the years,” the mayor said.
“Here’s a fresh set of resources, 7,000 to 10,000 people directly to work at the casino and another 15,000 to 20,000 people going to work in the construction industry rebuilding Chicago so it stays a world-class, economically-competitive city. I can’t think of another thing to do … if we want to be in control of our own destiny.’’
He added, “To compete against Shanghai, to compete against Paris, to compete against Hong Kong, to compete against L.A., Chicago has to rebuild its infrastructure and put its people to work.”
* A few years ago, AFSCME showed up to the Governor’s Day event and some members jeered Gov. Rod Blagojevich after he taunted them over their health insurance benefits. This time, things will be more tame. The union and its allies won’t actually be on the fairgrounds this time around, but will set up pickets carry signs and hand out fliers at every entrance to protest Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to do away with contractually obligated union pay raises.
[Headline and lede changed because “picket” is a term of art. This isn’t a picket. It’s a protest.]
From a press release….
Calling attention to Governor Pat Quinn’s refusal to honor legally binding labor contracts, the We Are One Illinois coalition of the Illinois AFL-CIO and its affiliate unions representing public employees will hold activities to coincide with Wednesday’s Governor’s Day events at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.
“We are disappointed and frustrated by Governor Quinn’s failure to keep his word to the men and women who do the real work of state government,” Illinois AFL-CIO president Michael T. Carrigan said. “They are police and caregivers, prison staff and emergency workers and thousands of other state employees who serve their fellow citizens every day. They deserve to know that the governor respects them and will honor his commitments. What’s at stake is the collective bargaining process for all working people in Illinois.”
* An AFSCME official told me a few minutes ago that his union has printed up 500 picket signs and he didn’t think there would be enough to go around. The schedule…
STATE FAIR (midday)
WHAT: Hundreds of state employees carry signs, hand out informational flyers, balloons and fans urging Gov. Quinn to keep his word and respect collective bargaining rights
WHO: Members of Police Benevolent & Protective Association, Laborers, Illinois Federation of Public Employees/Illinois Federation of Teachers, AFSCME Council 31 and more
WHERE: Outside public gates to Illinois State Fairgrounds
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 17
* In other State Fair-related news, Democrats usually gather in Springfield the night before their Fair day for fundraisers and receptions. This year, however, there’s only one (maybe two) events that aren’t closed to the public. The county chairmen are hosting a funder at Brown’s this evening. Another event at the Governor’s Mansion is closed to the public.
I assume, however, that lots of folks will be out and about at the usual session hangouts. I’ll probably meander around until I find some people. Where will you be?
The Chicago Teachers Union blasted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to reward high-performing principals with merit pay, saying it could bring about the same kind of cheating that took place in Atlanta schools after principals were tempted with more money for higher test scores.
“The research is conclusive—merit pay does not work and can have troubling side effects—cheating, narrowing of curriculum and competition between teachers where collaboration is needed,” CTU President Karen GJ Lewis said. “Think Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles: student standardized test scores were never intended to be nor should they be used for any personnel decision.
“Independent studies, including in Chicago, show that teaching to the test does not improve student achievement. An investigation in Atlanta concluded that pressure to meet testing targets led to widespread cheating in 44 schools. Similar investigations are underway across the country. Chicago and our students deserve better.”
In the Atlanta case, $17 million in bonuses were paid out over a 10-year period. One principal received $580,000. But to achieve the high test scores — and the bonuses — schools held “social gatherings in which answers were erased and corrected,“ according to The New York Times. “At Toomer, in the residential Kirkwood neighborhood east of downtown, the report claimed that some teachers either told students the answers or suggested them with voice inflection during testing.”
* Related…
* Today’s fair harness racing card features 15 races
* Press release: Recognition Wall To Be Erected On Illinois State Fairgrounds - Monument will pay tribute to those who have made the fair a premiere event, its patrons, vendors and exhibitors
* The Sun-Times had a great roundup of those still awaiting trial and sentencing in the federal investigation of Rod Blagojevich’s administration. Here are just a few, so go read the whole thing…
Stuart P. Levine, 65
Indicted: May 9, 2005
Pleaded guilty: Oct. 27, 2006
Levine — a top Republican fund-raiser turned Blagojevich campaign contributor — admitted using his appointment to two Illinois state boards to mastermind multimillion-dollar extortion schemes designed to enrich himself, Blagojevich adviser Tony Rezko and others. Levine, a former Highland Park resident now living in Skokie, used another board post — with the former Chicago Medical School, a private institution — to skim millions from construction deals the school gave to Jacob Kiferbaum.
Status: Awaiting sentencing.
P. Nicholas Hurtgen, 48
Indicted: May 9, 2005
Pleaded guilty: Feb. 25, 2009
Withdrawal of guilty plea: July 7, 2010
A onetime investment banker with Bear Stearns, Hurtgen, a Glencoe resident, had pleaded guilty to helping Levine defraud Illinois taxpayers by passing word to executives from Edward Hospital in Naperville that approval of a proposed Edward medical center would be blocked by Levine — then a member of the state’s hospital-construction board — unless the hospital hired Kiferbaum to build the project, which Bear Stearns hoped to finance.
Status: Withdrew his guilty plea after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowed the scope of the federal honest-services fraud law. Prosecutors later dropped six of the seven charges Hurtgen faced, and a judge is hearing arguments about whether to drop the lone remaining charge.
Jacob Kiferbaum, 59
Indicted: May 9, 2005
Pleaded guilty: June 20, 2005
Kiferbaum, a onetime construction magnate also from Glencoe, admitted participating in Levine’s hospital-related schemes.
Status: Awaiting sentencing.
* Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal believes that Sen. Mark Kirk’s efforts to restore “honest services fraud” to the criminal code is a big mistake…
Ronald Reagan once joked that one way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it. If only the latest ideas moving through Congress in the name of fighting public corruption were jokes.
Since the Supreme Court limited the definition of “honest services” fraud in last year’s landmark Skilling v. U.S., the Obama Administration has been looking for a way to restore essentially unlimited prosecutorial discretion to bring white-collar cases. Last fall Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer told a Senate committee that Congress should act to “remedy” the Court’s decision. Three bills moving through the House and Senate would try to do so, expanding the reach of prosecutors to go after unpopular politicians or businesses whom they can’t pin with a real crime.
In Skilling, the Supreme Court ruled that the honest services statute was “unconstitutionally vague” and restricted its application to clear cases of bribery or kickbacks. The new legal template of Senate bills sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, the liberal Democrat, and Illinois Republican Mark Kirk would end run that change, transforming many state or local ethics violations into federal felonies any time there is an allegation of undisclosed “self-dealing.” A related House bill would expand the reach of mail- and wire-fraud statutes and loosen the requirements for proving federal bribery.
* Is this yet another example of a legislative scholarship awarded to somebody who didn’t live in a member’s district? Maybe…
State Rep. Dan Burke represents a Southwest Side district where three out of four residents don’t speak English and less than one in 10 has a bachelor’s degree.
So when it was time to hand out a free college education to someone under the century-old legislative scholarship program, whom did Burke pick?
Not someone who grew up in the working-class district straddling the Stevenson Expressway near Midway Airport. Instead, the 10-term lawmaker chose a young, Downstate woman he described as a member of his state government “family.”
A joint investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and Better Government Association has raised unanswered questions about how Sarah Rae Dowis got nearly $70,000 in tuition set aside by Burke under a program beset for decades by cronyism, insider dealings and sleight of hand. Gov. Pat Quinn wants the General Assembly to abolish the program this fall.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday he is “working towards” settling outstanding police torture allegations against convicted former Area 2 Cmdr. Jon Burge because it’s “time we end” one of the ugliest chapters in the history of the Chicago Police Department.
“We have a future to build — not a past to settle. That’s what I look at,” the mayor said in an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
“How old is this now — 30 years old? … It is time we end it.”
Emanuel talked about the possibility of compensating Michael Tillman and other victims of police torture, even as he defended his decision to provide a legal defense for former Mayor Richard M. Daley for his role in the case.
It’s time to stop fighting these suits. There’s no doubt that torture was committed. Settle the claims with merit and move on.
* From a press release…
Governor Quinn has signed House Bill 83 (Yarbrough-Gabel, Collins-Steans), legislation that limits the use of incarceration, requiring juvenile court judges to first ensure that there is no less restrictive alternative available and to make every reasonable effort to keep youth at home.
“Incarceration in a state juvenile prison is expensive, $86,000 per bed in FY10, and has terrible outcomes with over half the youth returning to juvenile prison within three years,” said Elizabeth Clarke, President of the Juvenile Justice Initiative, one of the main proponents of the legislation. “Research demonstrates that community alternatives are cheaper and have far better outcomes with youth more likely to return to school and move on with their lives. This change will remind juvenile courts to conduct a thorough review of all less restrictive alternatives prior to sentencing a youth to the Department of Juvenile Justice.”
The sponsors of the bill concur that communities are safer when youth in conflict with the law are treated within their own community. “Not only is incarceration expensive – it doesn’t work,” said Sen. Annazette Collins, D-Chicago. “Community programs that follow nationally recognized best practices and focus on improving family and educational functioning have far better success at turning youth away from delinquency and keeping them involved in productive activities. Thus, we hope this change will remind juvenile courts to review all available options and exhaust every possible alternative prior to giving up on the youth.”
* Related…
* Firm tied to $16 million fraud gave to Cicero president’s campaign
* Interview: Garry McCarthy on the future of the Chicago Police Department
Anyone 60 years or older walked through the gates of the Illinois State Fair for free Monday as part of senior day, but freebies like this one are costing taxpayers millions of dollars every year as the fair continues to lose money.
The latest figures available show that the 10-day event in Springfield lost $2.8 million in 2009, and an even larger $3.7 million in 2008, or about 47 percent and 40 percent, respectively, according to Illinois auditor general reports. […]
“We’ve had vendors indicating that they’ve had three times the business in one day this year than they did (all 10 days) last year. So (when) those revenues increase and improve, it closes the gap between how much it costs and the actual return on that investment,” [Tom Jennings with the Department of Ag] said.
[Amy Bliefnick, manager of the state fair] said she had heard similar good news.
“We sold the most concert tickets we’ve ever sold. We sold 15,300 (Sunday night). Not only did those people buy tickets to the concert, they paid admission. They paid parking; they bought a few beverages and maybe a corn dog or two. Add all of that together and it helps,” Bliefnick said.
* The Question: Should the Illinois State Fair eliminate “freebie” admittance days like Monday’s Senior Day? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
* The League of Women Voters of Illinois has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state and congressional remaps based on 1st Amendment partisanship rights, which would be a pretty unique interpretation if adopted by the courts. From a press release…
“In a series of recent decisions the United States Supreme Court has upheld the First Amendment rights of corporations and wealthy candidates. Today we are asking a federal court in Chicago to uphold the First Amendment rights of the voters of Illinois. The longstanding Illinois practice of assigning voters to districts based on their political views and voting histories violates the First Amendment rights of our members and others throughout Illinois,” said LWVIL President Jan Dorner.
Governor Pat Quinn, in signing the Congressional and General Assembly maps, pronounced them “competitive” and “fair.” The League of Women Voters of Illinois believes that the people of Illinois will achieve more genuinely competitive elections and have a more genuinely competitive political system if the Governor and General Assembly stay out of the business of picking and choosing the views they want voters to express, hear and receive in the districts where they live and vote.
The gerrymandering that both political parties have engaged in for decades has resulted in districts so tilted to one political party or the other and so rigged to guarantee the reelections of favored incumbents that voters in Illinois seldom have real choices in our elections. Our suit seeks to order the Governor and General Assembly to establish a new process for developing new legislative and Congressional districts through the selection of an impartial decision-maker or body that will ensure the least possible infringement on the First Amendment rights of the people of Illinois based on their political views, opinions, or beliefs.
In violation of the First Amendment, the defendant Governor and General Assembly have placed Illinois residents into new state legislative and Congressional districts based at least in part on the partisan viewpoints and opinions such residents are likely to express or that they are likely to hear and receive. The redistricting principles set out in House Resolution 385 and Senate Resolution 249 state that each new district “was drawn taking into account the partisan composition of the District and of the Plan itself.” The General Assembly and Governor have unlawfully selected residents to speak, debate, assemble and vote in these districts based upon their political viewpoints and opinions, without safeguards against the misuse of such criteria to regulate or abridge First Amendment rights for partisan ends. […]
In the current redistricting process, no lottery took place since the Democratic Party controls both chambers of the General Assembly and the Governor is a Democrat.
Consequently, the General Assembly conducted redistricting without the limited and often ineffective safeguards of the Illinois Constitution to ensure that there is a bipartisan agreement on a map that does not favor one political group over another. […]
In creating the new districts in the Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011, the General Assembly used the same redistricting principles as it used for the creation of the state legislative districts – including “partisan composition.”
36. While Democratic leaders contend that the maps are competitive, Republican leaders have denied that the maps created under House Resolution 385 and Senate Resolution 249 are “competitive” or constitute anything but traditional partisan gerrymandering.
Tom Geoghegan, attorney for the league, said this is the first time to his knowledge that a remap has been challenged strictly on First Amendment reasons. But the action is consistent with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions banning limits on donations by corporations and wealthy candidates as an affront to First Amendment guarantees, he said.
“Our suit seeks to order the governor and General Assembly to establish a new process,” League President Jan Dorner said, one that “will ensure the least possible infringement on the First Amendment rights.”
It’s an interesting argument. But gerrymandering — the process in which those drawing the map tilt it to their political advantage — is as old as America. We’ll see if the courts want to make some new law.
* I’m almost an absolutist when it comes to the 1st Amendment, so I have mixed feelings about the new law that prohibits protests within 300 feet of military funerals. But I have no mixed emotions at all about the idiotic morons at the Westboro Baptist “Church”…
Members of an anti-gay fundamentalist group known for their protests of military funerals will have to stay a bit farther away from such services under a measure Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Sunday as the Illinois State Fair observed its Veterans Day.
In contrast with the shouting members of the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church who often engage in outside funerals, Quinn quietly signed off on the “Let Them Rest In Peace Act,” which pushes protestors back another 100 feet to 300 feet - the equivalent of a football field’s length - at military funerals. Protests remain banned 30 minutes before and after funeral services.
A Westboro member labeled the new law as unconstitutional and said the church would continue its protests as it fights the laws in court.
“They can make (the ban distance) 100 miles, and it changes exactly nothing,” said Margie Phelps, a lawyer and the daughter of Westboro pastor Fred Phelps. “You all are delusional if you think you’re going to win this one.”
For those who aren’t familiar with the church, whose double-digit membership consists mostly of the children and other relations of patriarch Fred Phelps, they believe end times are nigh owing to our un-Christian ways. To ensure their own salvation, members go to soldiers’ funerals and other charged occasions like the first day of same-sex marriage in New York and scream and sing slurs while trampling the flag and rotating an array of aggressively obnoxious signs in the hopes of drawing media attention — which they inevitably do.
As church members see it, the point of yelling at the damned (pretty much everyone but them) isn’t to save us, but only to ensure we sinners have been warned so that our damnation won’t be on their hands. It’s nutty and not very consequential, though of course the groups the church targets sometimes have a tough time seeing it that way.
Talking to Margie Phelps, one of Fred’s daughters and the most vocal by far of the New York contingent, she boasted about how the media spreads her message despite her open contempt for it. Reading the Voice, she said, “I just skim through with my finger looking for our words. I don’t care how you encase them.”
Church members, she continued, had mastery of “the press, and Twitter, and social media. We’re skilled social marketers,” she said, crediting God with that development. Throughout the conversation, she lapsed into media jargon, like “close the loop,” alternating those thoughts with an almost random stream of vitriol.
* Speaking of free speech, WBBM TV truly ought to be ashamed of itself…
WBBM aired a story June 30 about a shooting in which two teenagers were wounded. It included video of the 4-year-old saying he wanted his own gun. The station edited out the rest of the boy’s statement that he wanted the gun because he wants to be a police officer.
Through communications director Shawnelle Richie, WBBM management admitted that employees made a mistake airing the video and compounded the error by editing the clip to take the boy’s comments out of context.
This was aired during the height of the alleged “wilding” wave, which resulted in a media frenzy. That CBS2 would actually lie about a story in order to perpetuate the craziness is beyond irresponsible. People ought to be fired for this, and those people should never be allowed to work in journalism ever again.
It’s no secret why members of Congress would shy away from holding open town hall meetings – it’s no fun getting yelled at by angry constituents or having an uncomfortable question become an unfortunate YouTube moment. By outsourcing the events to third parties that charge an entry fee to raise money, members of Congress can eliminate most of the riffraff while still – in some cases – allowing in reporters and TV cameras for a positive local news story.
* Google is buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. But what about those supposedly guaranteed Illinois jobs? The Daily Herald takes a look…
Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler said he talked with representatives of both companies early this morning and was reassured operations here are expected to continue without major changes once deal closes later this year or early next year.
“Instead of losing Motorola, we’re gaining Google,” Weppler said.
However, Google’s announcement that it will acquire Motorola Mobility still left some state officials wondering about the deal that was signed in May to keep the Motorola spinoff’s headquarters in Libertyville in exchange for more than $110 million of tax incentives. As part of that deal, Motorola Mobility agreed to keep 2,500 workers at the headquarters, but Gov. Pat Quinn said the company made “an oral commitment” to keep 3,000 jobs. Motorola Mobility currently employs 3,290. […]
State Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican whose district includes the Libertyville offices, said if Motorola leaves, the tax breaks would be void. And if Google sticks around and honors the terms of the agreement, they’d get the tax breaks promised to Motorola Mobility.
Also, Sullivan said, the state has yet to spend any money in the deal, so Google wouldn’t be grabbing state money and running.
Gov. Pat Quinn said Monday morning that, after speaking to Google, he is confident the company will increase Motorola Mobility’s presence here. The state will look at the provisions of incentives package but the money is tied to jobs staying the in the state. Quinn said Motorola Mobility makes the hardware Google wants.
Motorola Mobility was separated from the rest of Motorola in January. The company has remade itself as a maker of smartphones based on Google’s Android software, but has struggled against Apple Inc. and Asian smartphone makers.
“Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies,” said Google CEO Larry Page in a statement. “Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers.”
* Speaking of technology and communications, check this out…
Pundits are panning leaders of San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system for turning off underground cellular service on Thursday from 4-7pm in an attempt to prevent protest organizers from communicating and organizing via mobile devices.
Although critics contend that the move evokes thoughts of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, when government-mandated cellular disruptions were used to try and prevent Egyptian protesters from organizing in a similar fashion this past January, BART officials maintain that the shutdown was intended to keep its service running and subway riders safe. The protest was planned in response to a recent shooting by a BART officer.
“A civil disturbance during commute times at busy downtown San Francisco stations could lead to platform overcrowding and unsafe conditions for BART customers, employees and demonstrators,” says a statement on BART’s official site.
According to officials, BART’s method for blocking cell phone signals didn’t involve any kind of signal jamming–which could run afoul of the Communications Act of 1934, a measure that expressly forbids “maliciously interfering with the radio communications of any station licensed or authorized under the Act.”
An initial statement by BART made it seem as if the organization had contacted cellular service providers and asked them to flip their respective switches, but further interviews with BART officials indicated that the organization itself has the power to, and did, turn off the wireless signals it provides for transit riders. The official decision to cut service was a two-pronged effort by BART police and Sherwood Wakeman, BART’s interim general manager.
Officials with the Illinois Department of Central Management Services said they have eliminated 1,111 desktop printers, 194 fax machines, 264 copy machines and 276 scanners, for an annual savings of $1.4 million.
The state also has renegotiated its electronic equipment recycling contract to save an estimated $2.2 million on the more than 61,000 electronic devices it generates each year.
The state also has terminated 117 office leases, which represents a 25 percent drop since the governor took office in 2008.
Central Management Services spokeswoman Alka Nayyar estimated it amounts to the elimination of about 1.5 million square feet of leased space.
Although final tallies aren’t in, Central Management Services reported in July that the office space reductions have saved about $1.5 million.
The elimination of 1.5 million square feet of office space saved just $1.5 million? Weird.
The District of Columbia is not thrilled that its residents are traveling to Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to gamble in casinos. Starved for cash, like states across the country, the district wants some of the millions in revenue that gambling generates each year.
So district officials want residents to gamble closer to home — inside their homes, actually. Or in cafes, restaurants and bars. By year’s end the district hopes to introduce an Internet gambling hub that would allow Washington residents to play blackjack, poker and other casino-style games.
“They can do it from Starbucks, a restaurant, bar or hotel, or from a private residence,” said Buddy Roogow, executive director of the D.C. Lottery, who expects the new games to eventually raise $9 million a year. “That’s real money in D.C.”
* Related…
* Patents Are Driving Google’s Purchase Of Motorola Mobility–But Will The Deal Hurt Competition?
* Defunding of state water, geology agencies worries county
* Microsoft’s “decision engine” more likely to lead users to a Web page than searches through rival Google, study finds.
* Kraft, Sara Lee take dog fight over ads to court: The long-running legal battle pits two Chicago companies against each other. Sara Lee Corp. makes Ball Park franks, while Kraft Foods Inc. makes Oscar Mayer. The case could clarify how far companies nationwide can go when boasting that their product is better than a competitor.
* Why you should care about the way garbage is picked up: In every other major city in the United States, garbage routes are drawn to cut financial and environmental costs—and collection costs much less. Many cities use software to design the most time- and cost-effective routes, taking into consideration factors as specific as the extra time needed to make left turns, navigate busy intersections, or get past schools when they’re letting out for the day. Over the course of a year, minutes here and there can add up to millions of dollars in wasted labor and fuel costs.
* The Chicago Tribune has made some demands of Gov. Pat Quinn on the gaming bill…
Tell the sponsors you’ll veto any effort to make the Illinois Gaming Board more responsive to politicians. The stench of Illinois pols trying to influence gambling decisions — legislators and two governors interfering in where to locate a casino, and now a new bill that would short-circuit state efforts to keep the mob at bay — gives you plenty of reason to tell lawmakers that you won’t change how Illinois regulates gambling.
Note that, despite the history of meddling by George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, legislators want the Gaming Board administrator to be named not by the independent board, but by the governor, with Senate confirmation. The sponsors have smooth explanations for every regulatory change they propose.
Baloney. This is about clout: They’re fed up with those pesky state regulators and all their rules. Governor, tell the Legislature you’re sticking with the regulatory scheme that for two decades has protected the integrity of Illinois gambling.
The governor, with Senate confirmation, appoints members of the Gaming Board, which then in turn appoint the administrator.
* The Question: Should the Gaming Board’s top administrator be appointed by the governor with Senate confirmation, or should s/he be appointed by Gaming Board members, as is currently the case? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
“Americans are self-segregating,” said Bill Bishop, author of “The Big Sort,” a 2008 book that examined, in the words of its subtitle, “why the clustering of like-minded America is tearing us apart.”
Mr. Bishop said Americans now choose “in their neighborhoods and their churches, to be around others who live like they do and think like they do — and, every four years, vote like they do.” He tested his thesis with an examination of the shifting geography of presidential politics, beginning in 1976, when Jimmy Carter won the presidency by the slimmest of margins, with 50.1 percent of the vote.
That year, 26.8 percent of Americans lived in “landslide counties,” which voted either Democratic or Republican by 20 percentage points or more. By 2000, when Al Gore and George W. Bush split the popular vote, 45.3 percent of Americans lived in landslide counties. In 2008, the figure was 47.6 percent.
Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University, reported the same phenomenon at the state level in his book “The Disappearing Center.” In the 1960s and 1970s, he said, big states like New York, California, Illinois and Texas were evenly split in presidential elections, making them battlegrounds. “Now,” Mr. Abramowitz said, “a lot of the big states are lopsided.”
Political clustering is reflected in religious participation and even shopping choices. David Wasserman, of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, recently calculated that 89 percent of the Whole Foods stores in the United States were in counties carried by Barack Obama in 2008, while 62 percent of Cracker Barrel restaurants were in counties carried by John McCain.
Much of this is due to people moving. But some, at least here in Illinois, is also due to changing attitudes. For various reasons, people have hardened their partisan positions here, particularly since the 2000 election of George W. Bush and George Ryan’s troubles afterward. That softened considerably last year during the governor’s race and the biggest GOP landslide since 1946, but not quite enough to unseat the Democratic governor. A decade ago, the Republicans were considered the governing party in this state. No longer.
…Adding… From a commenter…
It is a lot likelier that the parties are sorting their respective appeals by geography than people are basing living decisions on partisan preference.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will take sides in a Democratic House primary and endorse Tammy Duckworth over rival Raja Krishnamoorthi on Monday during a press conference in Elk Grove Village, several sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The Durbin endorsement was expected and is not surprising, as the contest in the newly remapped northwest suburban eighth congressional district heats up. Durbin’s move comes as Krishnamoorthi, a business executive and former deputy treasurer, and Duckworth head into what may be the marquee Illinois Democratic matchup in the March primary.
Durbin is a longtime political patron of Duckworth, a former assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs who ran the Illinois state veterans department.
Krishnamoorthi’s response…
“I respect Senator Durbin, but the economic suffering millions of Americans face today means this election will be decided by the candidate who best demonstrates a depth of experience, passion, and ideas for creating jobs and helping the middle class. I respectfully submit that candidate will be me.”
* And the Daily Herald has a piece about Congressman Joe Walsh’s reelection that relies heavily on commentary from Kent Redfield…
In the best of circumstances, Redfield said, having a candidate with a messy financial past run on a platform of fiscal conservatism, “is a huge problem. If you want to you can really make it a metaphor for larger issues,” he said.
In order to be a viable candidate, Walsh must, Redfield said, resolve the child support issue.
“What you really need at this point is if you’ve got the ex-wife on the same stage saying everything is fine, or we worked it out and divorce is hard but he really cares for his kids, etc.,” he said.
How effective he is in getting the issue behind him and rebuilding his image is going to have a “huge impact on whether he’s going to be able to compete,” Redfield said.
There is, however, another dynamic not explored here. Many die-hard Republican adherents have adopted a “victimization” mentality. Media hits are successfully brushed aside as the “lamestream media” working on behalf of liberal Democrats. That attitude, if successfully mined, is Walsh’s clearest path to victory. The line will be that he stuck up for his principles and was then kneecapped by the liberals.
* Boland enters crowded contest for Illinois’ 17th Congressional district
* Council’s Lack of Debate Surprises Chinese Interns: This summer, a group of college students from China interned at the office of the city clerk, Susana Mendoza, and found City Hall, well, a lot different from what they were used to at home. But their comparisons may not be what some Americans would expect. “I’m surprised to see there is no debate in the Council meeting,” said Yana Huang. “There is some debate, even confrontation, in the council meetings in Hong Kong, but everything goes peaceful here.”
* Subscribers know a bit more about this, but suffice it to say that things are moving forward…
Illinois House leaders say they still are working on legislation that would ease the state’s crushing pension burden, although they are closed-mouthed about what those changes will be and when the General Assembly will be asked to consider them. […]
Madigan and Cross co-sponsored Senate Bill 512 in the House, which gives state employees three options for their pensions: Keep the same level of benefits but pay more. Accept the reduced benefits approved last year for new employees. Choose a defined-contribution plan commonly known as a 401(k). […]
[Tyrone Fahner, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago] has been meeting with organizations and lawmakers to explain SB512, which is “kind of at the bottom line of what would be fiscally feasible” for fixing the state’s pension debt.
“The Civic Committee and I are still trying to push 512,” he said Friday. “Putting it bluntly, they are the legislators. They tell me what’s going on, I give them suggestions. (Cross and Madigan) have both been terrific in working it hard. I can’t be sure it will pass in the veto session, but we’re going to bring it in the veto session. Speaker Madigan has told me that we were.”
As we are all too painfully aware, the past several days have been beyond crazy.
Congress and the president took the nation to the brink of default. Standard & Poor’s lowered the federal government’s credit rating by a notch. The markets devolved into a swooning bipolar frenzy. And the political rancor emanating from Washington, D.C., showed no signs of abating.
I focus on state politics, however, so I’ve been trying to keep a close eye on how all this insanity would impact Illinois. S&P lowered the federal credit rating, but bond interest rates actually dropped in response. That wouldn’t be the case for a state like Illinois, which is far more sensitive to ratings changes than the feds apparently are. If Illinois is downgraded yet again, then the interest rates the state pays would undoubtedly rise, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars that they don’t have.
Last Monday night, S&P issued a report that said state bond ratings weren’t necessarily tied to the U.S. debt rating. “This means a downgrade is unlikely,” was how a spokesperson for the state’s budget office responded.
Ironically enough, one of the very few “advantages” that Illinois has right now in comparison to D.C. is the absence of a government bitterly divided along partisan lines. There’s one party rule here, which means things can get done.
If you read S&P’s full statement from last Friday and the firm’s statements since then, you’ll see that the bone-crushingly partisan federal gridlock during the debt ceiling debacle was as important to the agency’s federal downgrade (or even more so, depending on your perspective) as the nation’s mid and long-term debt problems.
Unlike D.C., Illinois showed it could act by raising its income tax rates earlier this year, which has mitigated some of its near-term problems. That action (and other things like pension reform last year and some budget cuts this year) did prove that the state, unlike the federal government, can move itself when necessary.
But while our state government is more “stable” than the federal government in that one, single, very narrow partisan aspect, it is still severely hobbled by an undeniably huge debt load, particularly when $80 billion of future pension obligations are included in the mix.
And if federal payments suddenly stop during a congressional budget-related shutdown, for instance, or are reduced via a federal budget deal which drastically or even significantly cuts aid to states, then Illinois would have almost zero room to maneuver. The same is true if the economy tanks again.
That was essentially the message another ratings agency delivered to Illinois last Thursday night.
Moody’s whacked Illinois for its billions of dollars in past-due bills and its failure to control pension and retiree healthcare costs, which it claimed are on an “unsustainable ascent.”
The ratings agency also worried that the state will allow its income tax increase to expire on schedule in 2013 without first shoring up the underlying budget problems.
The ratings agency may have been so pessimistic about Illinois’ future because it wasn’t exactly impressed with this year’s budgetary effort. “The state may be able to use increased tax revenue to chip away at its large balance of past-due budgetary payment obligations, but it has not adopted a comprehensive plan to do so,” Moody’s rightly claimed.
The revenue from January’s income tax hike is about equal to the state’s annual pension payments, which the state earlier couldn’t afford to pay without borrowing. If the problems with pensions and the rest of the budget aren’t addressed, then there’s no way the state can get rid of the “temporary” income tax hike without causing yet another serious crisis.
Earlier this year, Gov. Pat Quinn promised the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc. that the tax hike would expire on schedule in 2013. The company is the state’s largest private employer, and it was getting really nervous about the Illinois’ negative business climate.
But last week, Quinn toned down his prediction. “We’ll have to take it year by year,” Quinn told reporters. “Hopefully, we’ll have a much stronger economy than we have four years from today.”
Hope is not a plan, of course, and bond ratings agencies very often have more influence over state governments than any big business. Quinn has even admitted that the tax hike was all but forced on the state in the face of a major credit downgrade.
Somehow, some way, this state has to finally get its act together.
State Sen. Chris Lauzen announced Saturday that he will be leaving the Senate at the end of his term, and will run for Kane County Board Chairman in the 2012 general election.
Lauzen is the second politician to declare his candidacy for the position. On Tuesday, Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns became the first to announce his run for board chairman.
Current County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay has announced she will run for the state Senate in the 33rd District.
More than 800 people turned up at Lauzen’s annual Porky’s Picnic barbecue fund-raiser on Saturday evening to hear the anticipated announcement. Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, represents the 25th Senate District, but supporters from across the state were on hand to offer their good wishes.
* Local Republican Party leaders chose a replacement for former Rep. Ron Stephens today. O’Fallon attorney Paul Evans…
The party chairmen met Saturday at Hidden Lake Winery in Aviston and interviewed applicants for the position. Twelve people applied, and seven were interviewed. Madison County GOP chairwoman Deb Detmers said Evans was the unanimous choice of the chairmen.
“Paul gave a great presentation…a great deal of passion,” Detmers said.
She said he spoke of how doctors suggested aborting his daughter, who was born with spina bifida and is now attending Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
“That’s what really made him the person he is today,” Detmers said. She described him as “absolutely a strong conservative — fiscally and socially.”
Evans said his daughter will be a sophomore but now, after many surgeries, is fully independent, despite doctors’ early predictions that she’d never smile, swallow or speak on her own. He said one of the reasons he wants to be a legislator is because he’s familiar with government bureacracies that parents of special-needs children have to deal with.
Evans lives in the “overlap” area that straddles Stephens’ current district and a new, vacant district.
