* 5:16 pm - The Associated Press broke a story this afternoon that might cause some trembling over at Tribune Tower. A consultant hired by the Tribune Co. to work on the Cubs deal exchanged several interesting e-mails with former Rod Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris…
A sports consultant helping Tribune Co. with a potential Wrigley Field sale wrote an e-mail to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s top aide that said the results of the presidential election had put “the opportunities we discussed” in front of Blagojevich, The Associated Press has learned. […]
“Now that the election has gone as we expected, the opportunities we discussed, and Rod and I talked even more about, are in front of you guys,” Ganis wrote in one of two dozen e-mail exchanges between Ganis and Harris obtained by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act.
* And then there’s this…
Ganis told the AP in January that his contact with Blagojevich’s office was limited to discussions about the Cubs.
That’s not what Ganis said this week. Instead, he told the AP that the above-mentioned e-mail was about some hare-brained scheme to get Barack Obama and his staff to mediate the Statehouse civil war and move Blagojevich’s agenda forward. Yeah, that would’ve happened.
* The AP buries this tidbit way down at the very bottom of the story…
Several e-mails mention the Illinois Finance Authority, which prosecutors claim Blagojevich and Harris wanted to use to provide financial assistance of $100 million or more to Tribune to get a tax break on its Wrigley sale.
This would be the real meat, but it’s barely mentioned.
* The AP has only posted two of the “several” e-mails which directly discuss the IFA (shameless plea to AP: Post them all), so we don’t know what all of those communications were about. But here’s what they’ve put online so far…
Sept. 11, from Ganis… “Internally we want to do IFA. Sale or no sale of team in whole or in part depends on numbers we receive in a few weeks. You know where I expect it to go and that hasn’t changed.” […]
Sept. 4, from Ganis: “Hi John. Let’s connect with each other today if you have the time to make sure all are moving on IFA initiative properly. Also discuss counsels if that makes sense.
OK, so that tells us the Tribune Co. was fairly deep into a committment to do the IFA deal on Wrigley Field. That’s further than maybe we had previously thought. But Ganis was also doing some other stuff with the Blagojevich administration…
Sept. 11, from Ganis: “Just in case you guys get the capital bill done and if there is Olympics money, wanted to remind you if the opportunity is there to get a permanent Board seat on the 2016 committee under your control please do it. It’s one appointment where I can help a lot and also watch out for things and be Rod’s (hopefully credible) voice. […]
Sept. 5, from Ganis: “Just saw in the paper that Spielberg’s movie on Lincoln is going to start shooting. Remember, my cousin Sid Ganis is very close with Spielberg. If you or Rod need/want anything and want a direct pipeline to Spielberg just let me know.” [..]
Sept. 4, from Ganis… “Would also like to discuss the wind power opportunity as well. I have a structure to suggest that could be implemented well, quickly and in a meaningful populist manner. All for the betterment of the state. (Sorry for the sales pitch language, I am just excited by the opportunities to do something good and create a new business).”
A real shaker, that guy. Looks like he was working every possible angle. And, to emphasize the point…
Ganis told the AP in January that his contact with Blagojevich’s office was limited to discussions about the Cubs.
Not quite, unless those deals and perks are somehow all connected to the Wrigley thing. Next move: Tribune.
* Here’s some background from the criminal complaint. This intercepted conversation was held a few weeks after that Nov. 6th “opportunities we discussed” e-mail was sent…
On Nov. 30, Blagojevich spoke with the president of a Chicago-area sports consulting firm, who indicated that he was working with the Cubs on matters involving Wrigley Field. Blagojevich and Sports Consultant discussed the importance of getting the IFA transaction approved at the agency’s December or January meeting because Blagojevich was contemplating leaving office in early January and his IFA appointees would still be in place to approve the deal, the charges allege.
The Tribune Co. has been subpoenaed by the feds, but the company has (ironically) refused to disclose a copy of that document. Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell has admitted to being contacted by the FBI, but won’t specify what the G wanted. A top Tribune editor has denied ever feeling any heat to change the paper’s editorial stance on the governor. But Rod Blagojevich pretty much admitted on Rachel Maddow’s program that he at least made the suggestion…
That [Tribune IFA deal] was something, the sort of thing that they would say is an impeachable thing ‘cause I’m using the executive office, they think, without the legislative approval. The Tribune editorial board was advocating that I be impeached for those sorts of things.
And so again, without going into detail, they’re getting the benefit of these things to try to help the Cubs. We just would prefer that they don’t, look, that—that the things that they’re advocating that I be impeached it’d be nice if they they laid off on an issue like that.
* The governor talked about his capital plan again today, but without offering many specifics. His $25 billion figure is on par with the Senate Democratic proposal, which they’re looking to fund with a 16 cents per gallon motor fuel tax hike to bring in about a billion dollars in new annual revenue. Quinn isn’t keen on the gas tax, however…
“We hope to have a $25 billion… Illinois economic recovery investment program that invests in rail as well as highway and bridges and water and everything else,” Quinn said. “I think it’s imperative… but we have to get it passed. I’d like to see it passed by April 3, and we’re going to work very hard in that direction.”
April 3rd is beyond optimistic. The General Assembly is scheduled to take a two-week break immediately after that. If it was Rod Blagojevich, you’d expect the governor to call a series of special sessions when legislators left town for vacation rather than pass a capital plan. But Gov. Quinn appears to be avoiding that kind of confrontation so far. Still, if the GA ignores him, there’s a good chance he’ll look weak and ineffective. That’s a big reason why setting such an early passage date is so dangerous and unwise.
More..
Quinn would not say how he plans to pay for such a massive spending program as the state faces a deficit of $9 billion or more. He once again said he’s “not a big fan” of increasing gas taxes, as some lawmakers have proposed. And he again used the kind of code language that has many speculating an income tax increase could be on the table.
“I think if you’re going to use any revenues to try to invest in our future in Illinois, in job creation, in making sure we get our economy moving, you should rely on taxes that are based on ability to pay,” Quinn said. “That’s my philosophy, you’ll hear about it next week. We’re going to have, I think, a very robust program in Illinois of job creation, investing in things that matter today, but also matter for our kids and grandkids.”
Donne Trotter is the Senate Democrats’ budget expert. He says talks are underway about how the [income] tax hike would work, although one version would have top earners paying about 60% more. Those who make less would get tax credits to lessen the blow.
TROTTER: It is not like a regressive sales tax. People aren’t shopping anyway so we aren’t getting those. So i believe this is fairest way to do it .
Trotter says other tax and fee hikes are also on the table, as well as some spending cuts.
Trotter points out he has never had a meeting with the Governor’s staff and is unsure if Pat Quinn is on board with this specific plan. But he says an income tax increase is getting more attention this year than it has since it was last raised in the early 1990’s. [emphasis added]
I know the governor is still working on his budget plan, but as a courtesy at least, they ought to meet with the budgeteers. Then again, the House Democrats lost their budgeteer when Gary Hannig was made Secretary of Transportation.
Illinois leaders want stimulus money to develop high-speed train travel between Chicago and St. Louis.
Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin say the priority is to upgrade Amtrak’s existing service between the cities so trains can travel at up to 110 miles per hour. That could cut travel times to under 4 hours from the current 5.
Quinn and Durbin met with other officials Monday at Chicago’s Union Station to discuss an Illinois request for some of the $8 billion set aside for high-speed rail in the federal stimulus bill.
* The setup, from an e-mail I received last night…
Hi,
I am an MBA student at [redacted] and I am wondering if you could help me track down any articles that might have given some hints of Gov. Blagojevich’s narcissistic tendencies as an executive before any of the formal mess began in Decemeber. I am leading a class discussion on narcissism and leadership on Wednesday and would like to see if anything on Blago could be brought to to the discussion.
* The Question: A little help for this person, please? Keep in mind that this student is looking for pre-arrest examples only.
* Carol Marin asks: Will Todd Stroger be hung out to dry in 2010? The answer is probably yes…
For the first time in memory, voters in Cook County are paying real attention to county government, what it costs, how well it runs, and what crucial services it provides, from medical care to running the courts.
The Regular Democratic Party formerly known as the Machine, meanwhile, is also paying careful attention to newly awakened voters like Feinberg.
In 2006, another reform commissioner, Forrest Claypool, came within reach of unseating then-incumbent John Stroger, Todd’s father. Claypool proved there was an embryonic but growing appetite for change in Cook County. Quigley’s victory last week proved even in a special, off-year, very low turnout primary, voters could make themselves heard.
The stage is being set for the 2010 race. Claypool will likely be back for a rematch.
Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, a loyalist of John Stroger, supported his son in 2006. No longer. She’s now running against him.
The head of the Regular Democratic Party of Cook County, Joe Berrios, is nothing if not candid. “If the election were held today,” he said, “it would be a tossup.”
The coming County Board race, with all the patronage jobs the president controls, is far, far more important to the party than any congressional seat. “I have committeemen who say Todd can’t win,” Berrios told me, adding, “I’ve told Todd he’s gotta reach out, he hasn’t reached out enough to them.”
* The Tribune editorial board continues to try and move that process along…
[Resigning county hiring monitor] Julia Nowicki writes with evident frustration to County Board members that “it is the job of the County to eradicate illegal patronage practices.”
Yet for two years the administration of County Board President Todd Stroger has failed to give her job descriptions for 500 so-called Shakman-exempt employees. These are political hires, many of them beneficiaries of Stroger’s friends-and-family employment plan. Some do little work—an injustice Nowicki’s inspection of job descriptions could have exposed. She can only note as she exits that she “expected this work to be completed two years ago. The delay in this regard is unfathomable.”
Feigenholtz is reportedly seeking to be appointed to Quigley’s soon to be vacant county board seat. Quigley told WLS yesterday that he wants the appointment process to be as open as possible…
What I told the committeemen was that the process is almost as important as the outcome. It has to be and it has to be perceived to be a very open process where they don’t meet behind closed doors and pick one of their pals. It has to be a process where anyone who’s interested can present their credentials in a public forum and then publicly this is discussed, debated and the committeemen make their choice.
* The Chicago Civic Federation says it could support a tax hike, but only if some budget reforms are enacted first. From the Sun-Times…
[Civic Federation President Laurence Msall] said the federation would support a modest income tax increase if the General Assembly and the governor’s office showed strong commitment to reform, retirement and health care costs, the pension system and cutting spending. That’s a big “if,” though, he said.
The Federation’s demands are in a new report…
The 36-page report details ways to better fund Medicaid and the plummeting pension system and emphasizes that the state cannot increase spending or create new programs.
Msall said the state would have to cut a significant amount of its more than 55,000-employee work force, tighten employee benefits and eliminate nonessential programs to combat the red ink.
* Here are a couple of items that I’ve been hearing a lot about lately…
Raise the Retirement Age for New Hires. Members of the state’s retirement systems are currently eligible for full retirement benefits when they reach age 60, unlike the federal Social Security system, which makes 67 the minimum age of retirement with full benefits. Therefore, the Civic Federation believes that the age at which employees become eligible for full benefits should be increased to age 67 for employees with between 8 and 30 years of service, age 65 for employees with between 30 and 35 years of service, and age 62 for employees with 35 or more years of service.
Fix Automatic Increases for New Hires at the Lesser of 2% or the Rate of Inflation. For new hires only, automatic increases should be limited to the lesser of the rate of inflation or 2% and should apply only to the first $12,000 in annual pension payments for retirees covered by Social Security and $24,000 for retirees not covered by Social Security.
Msall told the Sun-Times that he isn’t hearing ideas like this, but he isn’t listening. For instance…
[Senate President John Cullerton is] also looking at putting less money into state government pension funds. He says the state can cut what it sends to the pension funds if lawmakers cut pension benefits for future state government workers.
* I personally think this item in the Civic Federation’s report is a good idea, but I’m not sure if it’ll fly…
Require a 1% Increase in Employee Contributions. The Civic Federation believes that all public employees covered by the state’s five retirement systems should contribute an additional 1% of their salaries to the cost of their pensions.
* Perhaps less likely may be health insurance reforms for state workers…
Eliminate the Costly Indemnity Plan and place enrollees in HMO or OAP plans that cost significantly less. This measure could save the State between $176.6 and $253.4 million per year (estimated savings in 2007).
Eliminate Free Health Care for Retirees for a savings of between $20.7 and $146.0 million per year in premium costs (estimated savings in 2007).
Increase Employee Premium Contributions, which are lower than employee contribution levels required by other state and local governments, as well as private sector organizations. Bringing employee premium contributions in line with national averages could yield as much as $67.3 million in savings annually (estimated savings in 2007).
The Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) Should Accelerate Efforts to Move Medicaid Recipients from Non-Matchable Long-Term Care Settings. Illinois spends a large amount, perhaps as much as $700 million, on long-term care services for people with mental illness that is not matched by Medicaid because it violates federal standards. Moving these clients to settings eligible for Medicaid match—and in compliance with court orders—has the potential to create savings over a relatively short period of time and the opportunity to improve the quality of life for Illinoisans receiving such services.
* Meanwhile, on the capital side, check out this tidbit in a Daily Herald article…
About 65 percent of the gasoline sold in Illinois is purchased in the Chicago metropolitan region, according to the Illinois Petroleum Institute.
Yet, less than half of the road spending is traditionally focused in that area.
* And, as I told subscribers today, a new poll is being released about potential tax hikes…
Illinois voters largely oppose raising taxes to balance the state’s budget or improve roads and say they will vote out lawmakers who support tax hikes, a newly released poll finds.
One quarter of those polled said they would support raising the state’s 3 percent income tax to help close an estimated $9 billion budget hole. Another 13 percent favor applying the sales tax to services, such as haircuts or auto repair, that are not taxed now.
But the majority - 55 percent - were opposed to any increase in those taxes to balance the state’s budget. Income and sales taxes account for more than 60 percent of state revenue.
Illinoisans also oppose a gas tax increase to pay for road improvements. Only 27 percent favored a gas tax hike, while 63 percent oppose the measure. One downstate lawmaker is pushing an 8- to 16-cent increase in the gas tax to pay for infrastructure improvements.
* Fox Chicago Sunday: Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has only been in office for a month, yet he already has his hands full with a massive budget deficit and a legislature that’s highly politicized. This week on Fox Chicago Sunday, we ask Quinn who’s going to pay to get the state out of the red. We also talk to downstate republican Bill Brady, who plans to run for Quinn’s job next year. He says you just can’t tax your way out of a budget hole.
* I always try to remind people at this time of the year that they should ignore most of the articles written about Statehouse legislation. It’s the season of hope, much like baseball’s spring training. Thousands of bills are introduced, but only a few will make the final cut. Unlike baseball, though, it’s possible to discern where many of those bills are going, namely: Nowhere.
A measure to repeal the two-year-old ban on horse slaughtering for human consumption in Illinois is gaining some momentum in the state legislature.
The House Agriculture and Conservation Committee voted 11-2 Tuesday for House Bill 583, pushed by Republican Rep. Jim Sacia of Pecatonica, to lift the ban. The measure now moves to the full House.
If the bill had passed a liberal committee, it would be “gaining some momentum” in the General Assembly. But the conservative, pro-farmer, pro horse slaughter ag committee? That’s totally expected.
* Here are a few more excitable stories that probably won’t mean anything in the long run because introduced bills or bills that have passed a sympathetic committee just aren’t a signal for much of anything without closer scrutiny and context…
* The Tribune provides some much-needed MSM analysis today…
In a single week, the Democrats who control the Capitol promoted the prospects of bills to abolish the death penalty, allow civil unions for gay couples and legalize marijuana as a pain reliever.
Before your blood gets boiling about sweeping changes coming to Illinois—or you get your hopes up, depending on your politics—know this: It’s all part of an oft-maddening rite of spring in Springfield.
Scrambling to appease their hard-core backers, Illinois lawmakers roll out thousands of bills that face long odds of becoming law but most assuredly will win partisan points back home or with certain ideological voters.
Flashy issues that stir a political party’s base inevitably attract headlines, such this year’s heavily Republican-backed call for a special election to replace Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), who was appointed by Rod Blagojevich, then governor. Yet they often become one-year wonders, left on the scrap heap after one failed vote.
That’s exactly right. All stories about bills in committee should include this sort of context. They don’t, so readers are left to fend for themselves.
* It just never ends. The Sun-Times reports today that Ald. Dick Mell was paid $100,000 to work for Democrat Blair Hull’s ill-fated 2004 US Senate primary campaign. This is news partly because Mell was paid through Fred Lebed’s consulting group. Lebed, of course, is US Sen. Roland Burris’ longtime advisor, who recently severed his ties to Burris…
There appears to be nothing illegal about that [Mell] arrangement. But — apparently in the wake of Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest — federal authorities have asked questions about it, according to John Ruff, a Lebed and Burris associate who recently broke ties with both men because of the furor over Burris’ Senate appointment by Blagojevich.
Ruff said that, in conversations with Lebed in late January, Lebed told him he’d been asked to provide documents to a federal grand jury to explain payments his company made to Mell.
The feds sure are spreading the net wide, aren’t they? Perhaps this is why…
…Lebed or Hull might have had dealings with Blagojevich in October 2008. The ex-governor’s daily log for Oct. 17 includes an entry: “Blair Hull in Chicago October 28-31. Requesting follow-up mtg. Contact: . . . Fred Lebed.”
Mell got $100K for his Hull work, according to the story, and that was just about all of the money that Lebed’s consulting firm received from the Hull campaign…
Federal election records show [Lebed’s] Prairie Group was paid $120,000 by Hull’s campaign and that Lebed got another $13,102 on top of that.
Weird, that.
* Meanwhile, the Politico offers up one reason why Bill Daley is considering a US Senate bid…
More important, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is already connecting Giannoulias to Blagojevich, alleging that his family’s bank made numerous loans to indicted Blagojevich fundraiser Tony Rezko and to individuals connected to organized crime. The NRSC also alleges that Rezko urged Blagojevich to appoint Giannoulias’ brother to the Illinois Finance Authority Board.
Those vulnerabilities have emboldened Daley to take a serious look at running. Supporters of Daley, who currently serves as Midwest director for JPMorgan Chase, say he would offer a clean break from the era of Blagojevich and Burris.
On the other hand…
Daley’s detractors argue that his family connections to the Chicago political machine — his father was the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley — would put him at a disadvantage when Illinois voters are looking for distance from the machine mentality that has long defined the state’s politics.
They point to Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley’s primary victory in last Tuesday’s special election to succeed Rahm Emanuel. Quigley, an outspoken critic of patronage and waste in county government, won the special election touting a message of reform.
“The machine’s old, and the machine’s rusty. Maybe because he’s a Daley, he does this differently. It’s a different world now,” said one Illinois-based Democratic operative.
Not to mention that Daley’s bank got $25 billion in TARP funds, a program which is hugely unpopular with the public and doesn’t appear to have worked as advertised by the Bush administration.
The CTA took a big bet on fuel prices this year, and so far is losing big.
The transit agency, facing a budget shortfall of $242 million, is paying $3.80 on average per gallon for diesel fuel — 66 percent higher than the market rate of about $2.29.
The entire $102.8 million fuel budget in terms of gallons is hedged — meaning the CTA locked in prices ahead of time. The agency’s fuel budget this year is nearly $13 million higher than it was for 2008, though the CTA is now driving more fuel-efficient hybrid buses.
Advocates say the ridership figures show growing support for public transportation. They hope to use that support to push for federal funding beyond the $8.4 billion in stimulus money set for transit. More investment in transit not only helps the economy, advocates say, but also helps the environment and fosters energy independence.
There are three different project lists that the Chicago area needs to send to the Feds in order to get stimulus money allocated for transportation projects; state project list, municipality list and a transit list. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning or CMAP recently finalized the first of three, the state shovel-ready project list. That includes things like road maintenance and rail repair projects that are ready to get started.
About 7,000 potholes remain unfilled on city streets, officials said Saturday. Things will only get more hazardous, as March and April are the peak months for potholes because of the rapid shifts in temperatures, officials said.
City crews are working seven days a week. Since December, the city has filled more than 200,000 potholes — at a rate of 3,000 to 4,000 every weekday.
Proposals for two new Springfield nursing homes that would give Sangamon County more beds for low-income residents — as well as more private rooms and housing options for senior citizens — will be considered Tuesday and Wednesday by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
Peoria mayoral candidate General Parker said last week he is holding out for a little divine intervention in his quest to be eligible to hold elected office in Illinois.
That and a little help from Gov. Pat Quinn.
Unfortunately for Parker, political observers think it couldn’t be a worse time for a convicted felon seeking public office to cling to hope for a pardon from a governor who’s made a career of political crusades in cleaning up corrupt government.
Rito Martinez was an award-winning teacher who won a plum of a job as a principal in what was then the most expensive Chicago Public Schools building ever constructed.
But for the last 2½ years, as principal of Social Justice High, Martinez has been living a lie.
Though he claimed to CPS officials that he was living in Chicago, Martinez was actually residing in Oak Park, in violation of the system’s city residency policy.
On Thursday, Martinez, 40, fessed up to stunned students and teachers and revealed that he has handed in his resignation
“City employees should live in the city,” [Mayor Daley] said in 2003. “If I’m mayor, should I live in Waukegan? If it’s good enough to work and earn your salary, it’s good enough to live. I’ve always felt that way. I believe in that.”
This is how city Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle put it Thursday: “Requiring [workers] to be city residents gives them a greater commitment to what’s happening in the city of Chicago, a greater understanding of the needs and concerns of the city residents they would be serving as city employees.”
* The Question: Should all municipal residency requirements be abolished? Explain fully, please.
* A civil unions bill made it out of a House committee yesterday. Bills pass committees all the time and then go nowhere on the floor (or die quietly in the other chamber), so the hype surrounding the bill is because of its uniqueness, not necessarily the likelihood of its ultimate passage into law…
The bill, proposed by Democratic Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago, would create civil unions for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, giving them the same state and local rights as married couples. According to Harris, however, the bill could not address the more than 1,000 rights and responsibilities that the federal government grants to married couples.
Churches in opposition to same-sex civil unions could not be forced to perform any kind of civil union ceremony.
Opponents to the bill call it a backhanded attempt to legalize same-sex marriages in Illinois. Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, said the legislation “is all about same sex-marriage” because it would redefine the term “spouse” by including anyone in a civil union.
Gilligan also expressed a concern that faith-based organizations that oppose homosexuality would be forced to acknowledge civil unions when making hiring decisions and giving benefits.
Creates the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act. Defines “civil union” as a legal relationship between 2 persons, of either the same or opposite sex, established in accordance with the Act. Provides that a party to a civil union shall be entitled to the same legal obligations, responsibilities, protections, and benefits afforded or recognized by the law of Illinois to spouses. Prohibits certain civil unions. Provides that the Director of Public Health shall prescribe forms for an application, license, and certificate for a civil union. Contains provisions regarding: application for a civil union license; certification of a civil union; and duties of the county clerk and Department of Public Health. Provides for dissolution and declaration of invalidity of a civil union. Provides that a marriage between persons of the same sex, a civil union, or a substantially similar legal relationship other than common law marriage, legally entered into in another jurisdiction, shall be recognized in Illinois as a civil union. Contains provisions regarding construction, application, religious freedom, severability, and other matters.
Important point…
Section 15. Religious freedom. Nothing in this Act shall interfere with or regulate the religious practice of any religious body.
Rep. Deb Mell, who is gay, said 648 state laws — on topics from inheritance to health care — help married couples. “I find it very strange that I can be elected to the General Assembly and vote on rules and laws, but these don’t apply to me and my family,” said Mell, D-Chicago. “We’re not protected.”
* The Mormon Church has caught a lot of heat for intervening heavily in California’s Proposition 8 fight, so an intercepted e-mail sent to members of one Illinois Mormon “ward” stirred up some dust. This letter from Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese was published in the Windy City Times…
Those same anti-gay, Mormon forces that brought you the passage of Prop. 8 in California, Prop 102 in Arizona and the defeat of Utah’s pro-equality legislation have now set their sights on Illinois. We just learned today that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sent a private e-mail to its Illinois members urging them to contact state legislators and voice opposition to pending civil-unions legislation.
This message has been authorized for sending by Bishop Church. […]
As has already been seen in Massachusetts, this will empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise. It will also create grounds for rewriting all social mores; the current push in Massachusetts is to recognize and legalize all transgender rights (An individual in Massachusetts can now change their drivers license to the gender they believe themselves to be, regardless of actual gender, which means that confused men and women are now legally entering one another’s bathrooms and locker rooms. What kind of a safety issue is this for our children?). Furthermore, while the bill legalizes civil unions, it will be used in the courts to show discrimination and will ultimately lead to court mandated same-sex marriages.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Wednesday that an e-mail authorized by the bishop of an Illinois congregation did not reflect the church’s position on a bill before the Illinois Legislature and is not part of a larger campaign.
But Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the national church, said the e-mail was not part of a church wide opposition campaign. The church’s engagement with political causes is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. It is unclear if the Illinois legislation would violate church doctrine as interpreted by Latter-day Saints.
“As is widely known, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of traditional marriage,” she said in a statement. “The Church has not taken a position on any legislation currently being considered by the Illinois State Legislature … An e-mail was sent from a local Illinois Church leader to his congregation – one of 129 congregations in the state — who was free to express his own views.”
* The Democrats are clearly hoping the heat dies down on the Roland Burris appointment…
Hopes for a U.S. Senate special election grew dimmer Thursday as Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-backed proposal to create an election for Roland Burris’ seat and future vacancies.
A Senate subcommittee on ethics voted 3-2 along party lines against Senate Bill 285. The measure calls for a special election within about six months after becoming law, opening Burris’ seat and possible future openings for election.
Republicans say the state should have a special election because of the clouded Burris appointment by now ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Democrats cited soaring costs in blocking the measure.
Both sides accused the other of playing political games.
While many legislators and state elected officials have called for a special election, this is the first plan to get any kind of vote at the Capitol. Last week Attorney General Lisa Madigan said lawmakers could legally replace Burris by ordering a special election.
But the estimated cost of a special election factored strongly in Chicago Democratic state Sen. Ira Silverstein’s decision to vote against the plan, Silverstein said. The three Democrats on the subcommittee voted to stop the plan while the two Republicans voted for it.
Republicans and Democrats went back and forth over the possible costs of a special election.
Murphy said a special election would cost $62 million and proposed using $15.4 million in unspent Senate funds to pay a quarter of the cost. Hendon countered with an estimate that the real cost of the special election would be between $71 million and $101 million. Murphy replied that cost shouldn’t be an overriding factor. […]
House Republicans have also introduced several special election plans but Democratic leader Barbara Flynn Currie, of Chicago, has stopped them from being assigned to a committee, much to the chagrin of Republicans who fume daily about it.
* But a choice could be forced on them if this lawsuit prevails…
Quinn is the defendant and Madigan is his lawyer in a suit brought by attorneys Tom Geoghegan, Marty Oberman and others based on the 17th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It seeks to force the governor to call a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and now held by Roland Burris in what the plaintiffs view as a temporary appointment. […]
The suit says an election is mandated by the amendment, which states: “When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.”
Ratified in 1913, the amendment ordered popular elections of U.S. senators, in order to end the corrupted process of state legislatures appointing them.
In sum, it says elections are absolutely required—as they are for congressional seats. It makes a gubernatorial appointment temporary, aimed only at filling the gap between the date of the vacancy and completion of a special election, rather than for years until the next general election.
A Downstate prosecutor investigating whether Sen. Roland Burris perjured himself before a House impeachment panel has asked federal authorities for any recordings involving Burris for use in the probe, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times. […]
The Republican prosecutor, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Schmidt, has zeroed in on conversations between Burris and the governor’s brother Robert Blagojevich, who chaired the ex-governor’s campaign fund.
Those particular conversations have been a significant issue for Burris since the Sun-Times first reported last month that Burris failed to disclose, both under oath and in public statements, that Robert Blagojevich hit him up for money on the ex-governor’s behalf.
On the same December day then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich named Roland Burris to fill President Obama’s U.S. Senate vacancy, Burris’ right-hand political man, Fred Lebed, phoned an associate and told him, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.”
That’s the recollection of the associate, a health-care and political consultant named John Ruff, who went on to become one of Burris’ co-plaintiffs on a January lawsuit that sought to help Burris claim his Senate seat. […]
Lebed has a phone record of his own, which he said demonstrates Ruff is “a very scary guy.” Lebed saved a profanity-laced voicemail from Ruff from Feb. 17 — the same day Sangamon County’s top prosecutor announced the perjury probe of Burris and the Senate launched its Burris ethics inquiry. […]
“He is lying through his teeth,” said Lebed, who has no formal role with Burris’ Senate office. “He’s playing you guys.”
Former Commerce Secretary William Daley is leaning toward running for the Senate seat President Obama once held, sources close to Daley tell The Hill. They characterize the decision as all but finalized. […]
Daley has already held discussions about the race with two top political professionals in advance of making a bid official. They include Larry Grisolano, who played a central role in 2008 as Obama’s director of paid media and opinion research during the campaign. In January, Grisolano signed up with AKPD Message and Media, the firm founded by Obama senior adviser David Axelrod and home of Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
Veteran pollster John Anzalone, who has seen his profile rise in recent years after handling surveys for Democratic candidates around the country as well as for Obama’s campaign, will also join the Daley team, if and when a run becomes official.
Among those considering a Senate campaign in 2010 are former Commerce Secretary William Daley, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and the Chicago Urban League’s Cheryl Jackson, a one-time press secretary to Blagojevich.
* Related…
* Senate Democrats deal likely fatal blow to special election to replace Sen. Roland Burris
A federal prosecutor drew a direct connection between illicit political hiring and Mayor Daley in a City Hall corruption trial Thursday, asking a key witness whether city hirees were also the mayor’s most loyal and hardest-working political supporters.
Former Streets and Sanitation Department personnel director Jack Drumgould agreed that they were, testifying in the trial of former Commissioner Al Sanchez.
Illinois had the nation’s highest jump in the number of people filing new unemployment claims last week, up by 3,791 claims, or almost 14 percent.
The increase ran counter to the national trend for the week, in which the U.S. as a whole saw 5 percent fewer people laid off and seeking unemployment benefits.
* More details on CTA stimulus request: Lots of maintenance, renewal programs
Seven local employees, including WLUP-FM 97.9 midday host Erin Carman and sportscaster Bruce Wolf, were shown the door in parent Emmis Communications’ companywide 7.5-percent workforce reduction.
Everyone is trying to make do with less, and Indianapolis-based Emmis expects its remaining staff to join it in doing so. All those not under contract, including folks at Chicago’s WLUP-FM and WKQX-FM 101.1, will have their pay cut by 5 percent beginning Monday.
Illinois is getting some much needed cash from the stimulus package.
U.S. Transportation Secretary and Peoria native Ray LaHood announced Thursday Illinois will get just under 500 million dollars in public transportation funding.
The money comes from the $8.4 billion available throughout the country for mass transit.
An Illinois child mental health crises hot line received nearly 2,000 more calls this February than a year ago after three recent suicides of children under age 12 and a public warning issued to parents by three state agencies after the deaths, officials said.
Calls to the Crisis And Referral Entry Services hot line increased to 14,071 this year from 12,419 last February, said Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. From 2000 to 2007, the number of suicides of children between the ages of 10 and 17 has ranged from 15 to 36 each year, state figures show.
Nose-diving revenues have forced Chicago’s 2009 budget at least $10 million deeper into the hole — to a gap of well over $60.5 million — turning up the heat for more layoffs and union concessions.
It’s virtually certain that a Hannig will continue to represent the 98th House District in the Illinois General Assembly.
Illinois Secretary of Transportation Gary Hannig of Litchfield started his new job this week after being in the House since 1979. Democratic county chairmen in Montgomery and Christian counties both say they favor Hannig’s wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” Hannig, for the job.
* The Question: Should the General Assembly pass a bill to forbid relatives of the former incumbent from being appointed to any vacant legislative seat? Explain fully, and try to keep in mind that some capable people have been appointed that way.
Also, I’m not asking whether a special election should be held. I’m only asking about this limitation.
And don’t attack Mrs. Hannig, please. This isn’t about her, per se. It’s about the issue. Thanks.
Representative Lou Lang says his bill would help people deal with cancer, AIDS and other diseases. The Skokie Democrat says patients would be allowed to own up to seven marijuana plants each.
LANG: The idea here is to let people let people have what they need to relieve their pain and the severe nausea from chemotherapy, but we don’t want people to have the ability to do the wrong thing with these marijuana plants.
Creates the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act. Provides that when a person has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition, the person and the person’s primary caregiver may be issued a registry identification card by the Department of Public Health that permits the person or the person’s primary caregiver to legally possess no more than 7 dried cannabis plants and 2 ounces of dried usable cannabis. Amends the Cannabis Control Act to make conforming changes. Provides that the provisions of the Act are severable. Provides that the Act is repealed 3 years after its effective date. Repeals the research provisions of the Cannabis Control Act. Effective immediately.
But Rep. Patricia Bellock, R-Hinsdale, said the bill raises serious questions. Will it be misused by people who don’t really have a medical need for marijuana? Would it open the door to outright legalization of pot use in Illinois?
“It is the No. 1 drug that introduces young people to other drugs,” said Bellock, who voted against the measure in the Human Services Committee.
I thought the number one “gateway drug” was alcohol.
David Jocson, statewide drug enforcement coordinator with the Illinois State Police, opposed the bill because he said marijuana is not an FDA-approved medication and because allowing people using cannabis for medicinal purposes would make it easier for others to obtain.
“This is a very controlled bill. It doesn’t allow anyone to have more than seven plants,” Lang said. “Second, we have to be able to trust the medical community.” He said there is little outcry when doctors prescribe massive amounts of morphine, Vicodin or codeine to alleviate pain.
“It’s only when you start talking about cannabis that people start talking about that, because they’re looking for an excuse to be against the bill,” he said.
Thirteen states already have medical marijuana laws that preclude a criminal conviction for use, according to the Marijuana Policy Project… Technically, Illinois authorized medical marijuana in 1978. But implementation was left to the Public Health Department and it never took action, so the law has been in limbo.
Similar legislation was approved by a state Senate committee last year, but the sponsor never found enough support to call it for a vote. That sponsor, John Cullerton, is now Senate president, so the latest proposal should have an influential supporter if it ever reaches the Senate.
A Springfield man’s “medical marijuana club” was raided Wednesday night, less than 14 hours after he announced the club to the news media.
Springfield police raided a home in the 1100 block of North Third Street about 7 p.m. Wednesday and arrested Scott Carriere, 40, according to Deputy Chief Clay Dowis.
Carriere will be charged in connection with growing several marijuana plants inside the house, Dowis said, although police did not indicate how much was recovered.
Carriere’s e-mail to the news media…
“I have opened a medical marijuana club in Springfield. I just wanted you to know. It is currently being run out of my residence. The address is (he gave an address in the 1100 block of North Third Street). I am accepting customers and suppliers. Thank you.
“P.S. I have filed the paperwork at the courthouse under my name and address, the name of the business is Medical Marijuana Compassionate caregivers Club.”
Chicago and Cook County election officials will ask the state Legislature to allow them to conduct future special elections by mail to save money and increase voter participation.
Even if only 10 percent to 18 percent of the voters are going to turn out for an election, officials have to have enough ballots and staff for a 100 percent turnout.
That means the City of Chicago spent $1.75 million on Tuesday’s special election, or about $33 per vote. Cook County Clerk David Orr spent about $165,000 on Tuesday’s election, or about $30 per vote, he said.
Under the proposal, already used in the states of Washington and Oregon, secured drop-off boxes are set up in each neighborhood if voters do not want to send in ballots by mail. The board would also have the option of keeping early voting centers open.
Such a system is feasible, but implementing it would be up to the Illinois General Assembly, rather than the state board, said Ken Menzel, an elections specialist with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
State Rep. Elaine, Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, chairman of the Illinois House Elections Committee, said she could not comment on the proposal before seeing it, but felt the committee would be willing to consider it.
“Anything that can save money and increase voter turnout is worth looking at,” Nekritz said.
* The Tribune has proclaimed next year the “Revolution of 2010” in the wake of Mike Quigley’s primary victory this week…
What if Tuesday’s treacherous rebellion spreads?
Quigley won Tuesday’s primary with not a lot of money, no help from ward bosses and no endorsements from the public employee unions that have a chokehold on so many of Chicago’s Democratic politicians.
This was, though, the first chance voters have had to express themselves since Rod Blagojevich imploded and a bevy of his fellow Democrats—Sen. Dick Durbin, Gov. Pat Quinn, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton—ran off a cliff together. Maybe it will occur to this crowd that, by blatantly reneging on their earlier support for a special election to fill Obama’s Senate seat, they tried to push around Illinois voters once too often. […]
The comedy du jour was hearing machine pols try to explain away Quigley’s win by noting that voter turnout in the special primary was light. Wait a minute: Those are the same pols who usually crow that light turnout helps their candidates—and disadvantages reformers such as Quigley who don’t have big ward organizations or labor armies.
Look, it was undeniably an impressive win and there’s a good argument to be made that voters rejected the Democratic organization, since about two-thirds of them cast their lot with candidates who weren’t directly affiliated with the Machine. But, let’s not get completely carried away with ourselves yet. This may very well spread, and it will definitely have an impact on short-term politics, but Quigley did score just 22 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
Also, if you’re gonna trumpet a coming revolution, perhaps you should first check state laws…
Committeemen Tom Tunney (44th), Tom Sharpe (46th) and Michele Smith (43rd), the three of you control the lion’s share of the weighted vote of committeemen. Together, you can install a reformer here. Patrick O’Connor (40th) and Ira Silverstein (50th), Democratic voters furious at party bosses will be watching how you and the other committeemen fill Quigley’s seat.
[Oops. I stand corrected. The Trib is right. Sorry about that. And sorry about not getting to this sooner. Was away from the computer.]
I’m hearing that Randy Barnette, the 39th Ward Democratic committeeman who supported Pat O’Connor in the congressional race, is expressing early interest in the seat.
Meet Cook County Commissioner “Tweetie.” That’s the handle outspoken Republican Tony Peraica uses in posting his live play-by-play of County Board meetings on Twitter, the online micro-blog that’s all the rage.
Last month, Peraica started posting short messages — called “tweets” — during board meetings about everything from contract votes and political bickering to his opinions and wisecracks in 140 characters or less. […]
During Wednesday’s County Board meeting, Peraica posted 15 tweets, including updates on major votes, mild self-promotion and a jab at Commissioner Mike Quigley, who won the 5th Congressional District Democratic primary the night before. […]
County Board President Todd Stroger said Peraica should probably pay closer attention to what’s going on during meetings rather than “twittering his thumbs.”
“I think it’s strange,” Stroger said. “It doesn’t sound kosher. He probably shouldn’t be typing while we’re doing business. Maybe that’s why he can’t remember how he voted on things two weeks ago.”
A federal judge found Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis in contempt of court Wednesday and set a Monday deadline for him to release the names of officers who have at least five citizen complaints filed against them since 2000.
Weis says handing over the thousands of names would “compromise officers’ performance, threaten safety, reduce morale and improperly impugn many officers’ otherwise well-deserved good reputations.”
“The hiring and promotion process at City Hall was rigged — it was corrupt,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Grimes said in the government’s opening statement.
Al Sanchez, the city’s former Streets and Sanitation commissioner, lobbied top aides to Mayor Richard Daley to ensure that members of Sanchez’s political organization moved to the front of the line for city jobs, a former department official testified Wednesday.
Jack Drumgould, personnel director under Sanchez, testified at the first day of Sanchez’s fraud trial that Sanchez gave him names of Hispanic Democratic Organization members whom he wanted hired. Drumgould said he in turn took the names to the mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Other political groups and labor unions were clamoring for their share of the jobs pie, he said.
Qualifications and performance in interviews “were totally non-relevant,” Drumgould told jurors.
Former Cook County Judge George J.W. Smith pleaded guilty and went to prison in 2002 while keeping his mouth shut about allegations he’d paid a certain unnamed political figure $30,000 to buy his seat on the bench.
Now the 63-year-old Smith wants his law license reinstated, and in the process, he’s disclosed an interesting piece of information you can read here first:
Around the time the judge went to prison, his wife Jolanta went on the payroll of Fast Eddie Vrdolyak, the man long suspected of being on the other end of that $30,000.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago paid more than $15.8 million in legal settlements related to sexual abuse last year, amounting to $80.2 million in claims for the decade, according to the annual report.
The suburban bus side of Pace will be able to weather the storm this year, but a gap of about $24 million is projected for paratransit, a transport service for disabled people who cannot use fixed routes to reach their destinations mandated as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Pace Director Frank Mitchell, who represents Will County, said shortfalls in paratransit should not negatively affect bus operations in the suburbs. He noted that the majority of paratransit riders are from Chicago.
With inflation near zero, state formula leaves districts scrambling to trim budgets
In 2008, the annual bump in the rate was an unprecedented 0.1 percent. That means most taxpayers can expect only slight increases in their 2009 tax bills, which are paid in 2010.
But it also means that many school districts and other government agencies will see only tiny increases in the property-tax revenues they will collect next year. And that has sent shock waves around the state, as school districts scramble to adjust their budgets and plan for cuts as early as next school year.
With tax referendum measures unlikely to succeed in the current recession, suburban districts are moving to eliminate everything from staff to band programs and sports teams as they try to cover teacher salaries and other costs that are going up by far greater than 0.1 percent.
The University of Illinois at Chicago says it’s closing a medical clinic geared for low-income women in a mostly Mexican neighborhood. But a community group is fighting to keep the facility open.
Five suburban assessor’s offices will close and the workers will be sent downtown because of budget cuts, Cook County Assessor James Houlihan said Wednesday.
Last month, the County Board approved a $2.9 billion compromise spending plan that imposed a 4 percent cut on most offices, including the assessor’s.
The city hopes it could make money from the wind farm by selling the energy produced to ComEd, hopefully generating $3 million to $4 million, Sabo said.
Up to 10,000 Peoria County residents may have benefited from a state energy assistance program when its fiscal year ends this summer.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program provides residents with a one-time grant to help pay utility costs.
Administered by the Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity, the aid program is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy and the state of Illinois.
We should rethink that strategy, a group of local experts and residents told Daily Herald reporter Anna Marie Kukec this week. Instead, they advise us to spend wisely and spend locally.
Although the mayor of Pontiac didn’t get the meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn he was seeking, he learned a decision will be made soon on the future of Pontiac Correctional Center.
Mayor Scott McCoy was in Springfield on Wednesday seeking a meeting with Quinn in order to tell him Pontiac is being devastated by the threat of losing the prison and its 500-plus jobs.
Illinois officials have purchased 32 acres in northwest Lake County that they say contain one the state’s natural wonders: a bog.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says it bought the land for nearly $1.1 million. The Illinois Conservation Foundation provided a private donation of $125,000 toward the cost.
BUT FOR SOME 49,000 buyers of pre-need contracts through a trust fund administered by the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, the purchase of pre-paid funeral services has brought nothing but headaches and angst. In what is described in a lawsuit as a massive Ponzi scheme, the IFDA is alleged to have made more than $190 million in questionable investments, putting many funeral homes at huge financial risk and leaving thousands of individuals wondering whether their investments will cover funeral expenses for themselves and their loved ones.
What does it take to get an informational sign posted on the Illinois tollway? The agency listed guidelines on its Web site Wednesday that define criteria for communities or businesses
Mark Metzger may no longer be president of the Indian Prairie Unit District 204 school board, but he will keep the top spot at the Illinois Association of School Boards.
Then IDOT chief of transit and metro program planning Jim Stack, who had calls in to Springfield, came back with different marching orders: There is up to a year to set up stimulus projects. And IDOT will put up the money at first, as it does for other local road and highway projects included in an IDOT bid letting.
“You have a year,” Stack said. “It’s in the law.”
That is still less time than it seems. To safely meet the deadline, Therkildsen told the group, it should have projects to IDOT by the end of October for the Jan. 15 letting. If the committee wants to be more conservative, projects need to be ready and in IDOT’s hands in early September for the November letting.
A list released by the Illinois Department of Transportation this week shows the state is asking the federal government to fund more than $100 million worth of road work in the Southland under the recently passed $787 billion stimulus bill.
Some of the biggest area projects on the list are resurfacing 159th Street between Interstate 355 and LaGrange Road, reconstructing 159th Street from Interstate 294 to Halsted Street, repairing a series of overpasses on Interstate 57 between 103rd Street and 167th Street and resurfacing Interstate 94 from Martin Luther King Drive to 159th Street.
Stocks are set to resume their plunge Thursday, as China deflated investors’ hope that the country will boost spending and worries re-emerged about General Motors Corp. Ahead of the market’s opening, Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 110, or 1.61 percent, to 6,720.
Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures lost 10.70, or 1.51 percent, to 697.80, and Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 8.50, or 0.77 percent, to 1,092.50.
“The president is mentor to me, a close friend who inspired me to run for office,” he said. “We haven’t had a conversation about what he’s going to do, but I do think it’s important for Illinois to have a senator who brings integrity back to the process, who has a relationship with the administration, who understands the whole state and who will effectively lead so we can talk about issues like the economy, getting people back to work.”
He also is on friendly terms with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., with whom he traveled recently to Cyprus to meet with diplomats in an attempt to cool the tension between Turks and Greeks that he said “is about two press releases away from a war between Greece and Turkey.”
Abusive interest rates of as much as 650 percent charged for “payday loans” would be outlawed by a just-introduced bill capping annual interest rates for consumer credit at 36 percent.
Sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), the Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act (S. 500), would impose a federal usury cap of 36 percent Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on all consumer credit transactions. Several states have already enacted similar and even more restrictive interest caps. Durbin’s bill would not affect state laws that impose interest rate caps lower than 36 percent. A 36 percent interest cap law is already in place for U.S. military personnel and their families.
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin, D-Ill., says it’s clear that the FDA simply can’t keep up with the challenge. The challenge is the fact that FDA is charged with protecting nearly 80% of our food supply. Senator Judd Gregg, R-N.H., says there is momentum for this and that there is no significant opposition to this bill.
