* 12:40 pm - Now, this is pretty darned desperate…
Governor Rod Blagojevich says he fears next week’s vote could be a “Republican trap” to entangle presidential candidate Barack Obama in the gridlock over Illinois’ ethics legislation.
The Democratic governor says he worries Republican John McCain’s campaign will accuse Obama of helping his old friends in Illinois if state senators override Blagojevich’s veto on ethics legislation. […]
If lawmakers go along with the ethics reform measures he wants, Blagojevich says Obama can brag about how he helped change the system in Illinois.
McCain can say whatever he wants, of course, but Obama would have a far tougher time explaining things if he was siding with the most investigated governor in Illinois history and against every reformer in the General Assembly and every good government group that deals directly with Illinois politics, not to mention every Statehouse journalist and every columnist and editorial page editor in the entire state.
* 2:54 pm - Senate President Emil Jones has just informed his members that the Senate will convene a regular session on Monday at noon. He’s also told his members to be prepared to stay until Tuesday.
* OK, after some confusion yesterday, there will be both a “special” session on Monday and a “regular” session. The regular session means that bills beyond the override of governor Blagojevich’s amendatory veto of the ethics bill can be considered. And that means that other veto override motions will likely have to be dealt with and that there will be huge pressure to stop the pending closures of state parks and historic sites. This might take a couple of days…
Cindy Davidsmeyer said that other issues may be on the table as well. “When you convene a regular session day, a variety of issues can be dealt with,” she said.
The distinction between regular and special sessions could be important.
Lawmakers can take up only what the governor puts on their agenda in a special session, which this time will be ethics reform. By calling a regular session, the Senate can — and will face pressure to — consider other important issues: dealing with the governor’s vetoes on several bills, reversing deep budget cuts and approving a lease of the state lottery to fund public works projects.
* I’m not sure whether the first part of this sentence is completely true…
In a separate move that left many lawmakers shaking their heads, Blagojevich also issued a call Thursday for a special session to start at 1 p.m. Monday.
They are certainly shaking their heads, but it’s doubtful that this was, indeed, a “separate move” by a governor acting alone…
Blagojevich spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said the governor and Jones had spoken and that the governor was the only one with authority to call both chambers back on the ethics issue.
Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero suggested the pay-to-play prohibition is yesterday’s news and challenged lawmakers to do more.
“This whole pay-to-play thing, it’s all ready been done. What we’re hoping is the General Assembly does more than just agree with the governor,” he said.
And if they don’t, he warned they might grow accustomed to seeing the Capitol in the coming weeks.
“The governor’s willing to call special sessions as long as it takes,” Guerrero said.
The ethics bill override would restore a simple ban on most state contractors giving money to the governor’s campaign fund. The governor claims his latest executive order will cover that problem, but the EO is so broad that it’s almost undoubtedly illegal.
But, the governor threatened special sessions earlier this summer on education and never followed through, so Guerrero’s threat may be empty.
* The governor has his own ethics bill, which is a compilation of his original amendatory veto language, but good government groups oppose it…
“There is a great deal of consensus that it is an overbroad piece of legislation.” [ said Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.]
And ethics proponents in the General Assembly say the language is nowhere near complete…
“It’s not ready for prime time,” said state Sen. Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat and sponsor of the initial ethics deal. Harmon said he’ll persist with an override of the governor’s changes.
The governor’s people have said the same thing in recent days.
* The decision to call the GA back to town will impact several campaigns, including Halvorson’s..
Locally, Jones’ refusal to go back into session also became an issue in the 11th District Congressional race of Democrat Debbie Halvorson, the Senate Majority Leader who has been taking flack from her Republican opponent Marty Ozinga for an apparent lack of leadership.
“I am extremely pleased the Senate will return to special session to override the governor’s veto of the ban on pay-to-play in Illinois,” Halvorson said in a statement. “I’m glad Sen. Jones finally decided to respect the wishes of the members of his caucus and the people of Illinois.
* Keep in mind that these are “likely” voters, and we don’t know whether American Research Group’s screen will be successful, but here’s the latest Illinois poll…
Margin of error: ± 4 percentage points, 95% of the time
Question wording and responses:
If the general election were being held today between John McCain for president and Sarah Palin for vice president, the Republicans, and Barack Obama for president and Joe Biden for vice president, the Democrats, for whom would you vote - McCain and Palin, Obama and Biden (names rotated), or someone else?
A new poll of voters in the eight states home to Big Ten universities shows Barack Obama and John McCain in an extraordinarily tight race for the presidency.
The first Big Ten Battleground Poll shows the candidates are in a statistical tie in seven of the states _ Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Obama leads comfortably in his home state of Illinois.
The survey was based on interviews with 600 randomly selected registered voters in each of the states. It is co-directed by University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientists Charles Franklin and Ken Goldstein with help from colleagues from participating universities.
Senate is coming back for ethics vote. More in a few minutes.
* 2:04 pm - Statement of Senate President Emil Jones…
“I plan to call the Senate back into session to deal with the issue of ethics - only at the request of my friend Barack Obama. I still stand by our interpretation of the 15-day rule.”
No session date has yet been set, but the Senate has until Thursday to vote on the amendatory veto override and stay within the 15 day time limit that began when the House overrode the governor’s AV.
* 2:08 pm - I asked specifically if the somewhat vague statement means that the ethics bill veto override will be called for a vote and was told by Senate President Jones’ spokesperson that Jones has committed to the bill’s sponsor to allow an override vote to take place.
Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer said other issues also are expected to be addressed next week but would not elaborate.
When they come back, they’ll also have to deal with the over veto overrides approved by the House. Plus, since they’ll be in session, they’ll have to deal with the governor’s vetoes of Senate bills - and that includes another ethics bill.
Also, there is huge pressure on the Senate to approve funding to keep state parks and historic sites open, and to restore money to slashed programs like alcohol and substance abuse services.
The governor announced today he’ll bring both the House and Senate into special session starting at 1 p.m. Monday.
Blagojevich’s statement announcing the session indicated he wants lawmakers to consider legislation that would “improve transparency in Springfield,” such as passing the major ethics rewrite he proposed last month.
“We have an opportunity to enact real ethics reform in Illinois that will cover all elected officials and help end the conflicts of interests that are inherent in Springfield politics,” Blagojevich said in a statement.
* 2:53 pm - Here’s the governor’s press release…
Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich will be
calling a special session on Monday, Sept. 22, in an
effort to bring real ethics reform to Illinois. The
governor will be asking the General Assembly to
consider legislation that would improve transparency
in Springfield.
“I am calling the House and the Senate back in to
address the issue of true ethics reform in the State
of Illinois,” Gov. Blagojevich said. “We have an
opportunity to enact real ethics reform in Illinois
that will cover all elected officials and help end
the conflicts of interests that are inherent in
Springfield politics.
I am asking the General Assembly to follow my lead
and ban the practice of “pay to play” politics and
then go a step further and bring about more reform by
banning the tradition of double dipping, revamping
the dishonest way pay raises are given out and by
shining a light on legislators who use their
influence to lobby before other boards and
commissions,” said Governor Blagojevich.
The Special Session will convene Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.
* 3:10 pm - As of right now, the secretary of state has not received any official notice of a special session from Gov. Blagojevich.
[Jones spokesperson Cindy Davidsmeyer] said she did not know if Jones was aware of Blagojevich’s special session plans before they were announced. Quinn said Jones now doesn’t have to call the Senate back himself, but she didn’t know if the governor and Jones had talked plans before announcing them.
The Senate had not set a date and time to return next week because schedules with legislators were still being worked out. Davidsmeyer said it’s possible the Senate could take up ethics and other issues – including reversing budget cuts made by the governor – on Monday, “but that’s a lot to do in one day,” she said.
* The Tribune caught up with Senate President Emil Jones last night and asked him about the phone call he received yesterday from Barack Obama urging him to reconvene the Senate and take up the ethics legislation…
Whether that phone call will have any impact on Jones remained unclear.
Stepping outside a Senate Democratic fundraiser at a Chicago hotel Wednesday evening to smoke, Jones was asked whether Obama’s input would sway him.
“Come on, please, please, please, please, I’m here doing other stuff now. I’m not talking to [anyone] in the press,” Jones replied.
Illinois lawmakers passed legislation to ban contributors who have or seek contracts worth at least $50,000 from giving to statewide officials who dole out the business.
He told me a bit more than that, but you’ll have to subscribe to see it. Suffice to say, we still don’t know what Jones will do.
* Eric Zorn blogged today about the ethics bill, the amendatory veto, the House’s override and the Senate’s refusal (so far) to return to session within 15 calendar days of the House’s action…
Here’s a chance for Blagojevich to force the legislative process to work as it’s supposed to; to get beyond the petty sniping, strike a blow for representative democracy and call the Senate into special session before the deadlin
He asked the governor’s spokesman, Lucio Guerrero, whether Blagojevich would do so…
“I think it’s still a bit premature on that,” [Guerrero] wrote back. “We have been working with some legislators on ethics packages and will see how those negotiations go before deciding.”
Zorn wasn’t impressed.
After a bit, Guerrero wrote back to Zorn, and he updated the post…
What you fail to tell your readers is that the Governor has already banned anyone from doing business with the state to contribute to him - and to any other elected official. He did it through Executive Order. I am not sure why you would leave that out. The Executive Order is law starting Jan 1 and eliminated “pay to play” politics from everyone - from the Governor to the General Assembly.
Zorn fired back, saying, in part…
critics contend the order doesn’t have the weight of law because the governor can rescind it at any time. One can agree — as I do — with some of the proposals in the amendatory veto while still disagreeing strongly with the way he is using the amendatory veto to advance them
It’s more than that. I’ve been talking with some legal experts this week, including at the attorney general’s office, who say that the governor’s EO is clearly unconstitutional. The Constitution’s only reference of executive orders has to do with agency reorganization, but using an EO to ban contractors at state agencies from making lawful contributions to political candidates doesn’t seem to fit with that language.
* Related…
* NEW: Boisterous crowd decries social-services cuts in Urbana
Officials are confident the state’s 10th casino license - which has been tied up in litigation for the last decade - finally will be given out this year.
Sixty applications for the lucrative and final gambling license have been sent out so far, said officials from a firm in charge of evaluating suitors before the Illinois Gaming Board makes the final call.
“There’s been a high degree of interest, which is good,” said David Luwisch, a director at Credit Suisse, said Wednesday.
Applications are due Oct. 14, and the next day Credit Suisse will announce the entities that bid, how many millions they are prepared to ante up, and proposed project locations before whittling the list down to three finalists.
“Responsible governments don’t borrow money to pay the bills especially after raising taxes to record levels.” Claypool said. “What Todd Stroger is saying is he’s borrowing money to pay the bills even though he just raised your [sales] taxes by $420 million. He’s showing extraordinary financial mismanagement and arrogance.”
Durbin and his Republican challenger, Dr. STEVE SAUERBERG of Willowbrook, have agreed to participate in a televised forum and a radio debate.
Both candidates will appear on “Chicago Tonight” on WTTW-TV, the PBS station in Chicago at 7 p.m. Oct. 6. The forum will be hosted by program part-time host and contributor CAROL MARIN, said MARY FIELD, executive producer.
“She was still driving her car at age 90,” her son said in a telephone interview. “She enjoyed shopping, going to casinos, living life very large. She was enjoying her retirement.”
Barack Obama needs to phone home. Illinois voters could use Obama’s considerable influence in swaying his so-called political godfather, Senate President Emil Jones, to call a vote on a sorely needed state political ethics bill.
The Democratic presidential nominee is no casual observer. As state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-24th) reminds us, Obama has his fingerprints all over ethics reform in Illinois, having been a leader in pushing for reform when he was a state senator.
Frankly, we can’t see a downside for Obama here. With one phone call — “Hey, Emil, let’s talk . . .” — he would remind voters nationwide of his reform credentials, and that call just might help — Jones might get off the dime. […]
I’m not a believer in ethics legislation. No matter how many laws you pass, crooks are always going to be crooks.
An honest person doesn’t need to look at a law to do the right thing.
So I’ve found it difficult to work up much enthusiasm for a proposed state law that would prohibit companies that do at least $50,000 in business with the state from making campaign contributions to elected officials. ]…]
You can’t make [Senate President Emil Jones] do the right thing by saying it’s wrong for politicians to take money from contractors doing business with the state.
That’s why Jones was elected Senate president by his fellow Democrats.
They knew what he stood for when they made him their leader.
Maybe they should think hard on that when picking his replacement.
You can’t make people act ethically by passing a law.
* I’ve said before and I’ll repeat it again that I strongly believe Gov. Blagojevich is right that the CTA’s claims about the cause of its current budget deficit are bogus. But, this is just too funny to pass up…
Mayor Richard Daley said Monday that Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s claim the mayor and the CTA are misleading the public about transit funding problems is “cuckoo.”
Daley quickly followed up his one-word response by saying he was “not getting into an argument” with Blagojevich.
“He’s arguing with everybody in America,” Daley said of the governor.
Well, not quite everybody, even though it seems like it sometimes.
Have at it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Sun-Times has the crowd react…
The crowd of educators Daley was addressing broke into loud laughter.
*** UPDATE 2 *** A group of legislators and most statewides (sans Jesse White, who was preoccupied, and Gov. Blagojevich) held a press conference today about the perennially stalled ethics bill…
At a Chicago press conference, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan called on Senate President Emil Jones Jr. to reverse course and call the Senate back into session within the next few days, rather than waiting until after the November elections, as Mr. Jones has said he’s inclined to do. […]
Waiting quite likely will invite a lawsuit over whether the legislation has been unduly delayed, Ms. Madigan said, and the courts could reject any bill as improperly approved.
“There is a risk of that,” said Ms. Madigan, flanked by a bipartisan gathering of Democratic and Republican political leaders. The only way to avoid that risk is for the Senate to meet soon, she added. “The (proposed) law is in jeopardy and we know why.”
Also, reporters wanted to know if the press conference attendees thought Barack Obama might be of help. The Republicans were eager to reply…
[Sen. Kirk Dillard] suggested that what would really move Mr. Jones to fast action would be a call from his favorite protégé: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Mr. Obama’s campaign had no response.
Yep.
But he won’t. Still, it’s a good idea.
If John McCain would just insert one sentence into a speech about this topic, it would be front-page headlines all over Illinois.
“Look, I have a great deal of respect for Mayor Daley, I don’t think I’m cuckoo, but I will tell you what drives me crazy and what drives me crazy is the CTA blaming years of mismanagement on senior citizens taking the bus for free,” Blagojevich told reporters after meeting with state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) to discuss school funding.
“I just think again blaming the seniors and blaming a good thing like that for the mismanagement of the CTA to lay a foundation for a fare increase is unfortunate,” Blagojevich said. “And I don’t consider myself cuckoo but that kind of stuff drives me crazy.
* Mark Kirk’s campaign is floating some new poll results. Keep in mind that this has a margin of error of +/- 5.6 percent. From the executive summary…
In a September 10-11 poll by McLaughlin & Associates, Rep. Kirk maintains a 22-point lead (51/29) in a rematch against Dan Seals. In IL-10, Senator Obama’s favorability rating has dropped from 67/26 in June to 59/32 in September. Kirk continues to be more popular than Obama with a fav/unfav rating of 63/20 while Dan Seals struggles at 40/22. A number of key Democratic-leaning groups endorsed Kirk including Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association, the National Wildlife Federation and the Human Rights Campaign. […]
Additionally, with the conviction of Tony Rezko and a possible indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich looming, Seals must fight a strong local anti-Democratic headwind with Blagojevich’s fav/unfav sinking to a record low of 13/68.
If you’re above 50, you’re in decent shape. 51 isn’t completely safe, however. Negative attacks are flying (see below).
Also, I’m not convinced yet that Rod Blagojevich brings down Democrats all that much because RRB is not seen as a “normal” Democrat. He fights with his party so much and is so, well, bizarre at times that other Dems may not pay the price, along the lines of how Republicans didn’t really suffer from Alan Keyes’ presence in 2004. I could be wrong, but that’s my take so far. Argue this in comments and I’ll make sure to listen.
Since our last poll three months ago, Dan Seals gained no ground on popular incumbent Mark Kirk in the general election for US Congress in Illinois’ 10th Congressional District, still trailing by a daunting 22 points. Kirk’s favorability rating (63%) is still very strong. Independent and Ticket Splitters who vote for the person not the party are in control of the race. The majority of voters in the district are very thoughtful and independent and demonstrate that by supporting both Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Mark Kirk.
Congressional Ballot: If the election for US Congress were held today and the candidates were Mark Kirk, the Republican candidate, and Dan Seals, the Democrat candidate, for whom would you vote?
This Illinois 10th Congressional District survey was conducted among 300 likely general election voters between September 10 and 11, 2008. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers. Interview selection was random within predetermined election units. These units were structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in a statewide general election. This survey of 300 likely voters has an accuracy of +/- 5.6% at a 95% confidence interval.
* Meanwhile, as mentioned above, the DCCC has released an ad blasting “rubber stamp Congressman” Mark Kirk…
