It’s just a bill
Friday, Mar 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * As we discussed, freshman GOP Rep. Jed Davis had some harsh things to say about his Republican colleagues the other day. He doubled down in his latest constituent newsletter…
* On to the topic at hand. Let’s go back to Rep. Davis’ newsletter…
HB1591’s synopsis…
* The bill is sponsored by Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago). From her own constituent newsletter…
Mike Miletich also did a story. * It was indeed an odd roll call. Click here. The Republican “Yes” votes (7, including House Minority Leader McCombie) and non-voters (8) are highlighted for ease of use. …Adding… Illinois Freedom Caucus…
* Moving right along. C’mon, it’s just one bill among thousands. Also, Senator Turner lives in Springfield, not Decatur…
Pretty sure that divide can be bridged (including the suburbs). That’s one reason why I personally think we should try to do this. It would be a good exercise in reuniting after years of people running us down and trying to divide us, in some cases literally so. * The Illinois Opportunity Project has been ginning up electronic witness slips in opposition to this bill…
The “thousands more who sent emails,” is kind of a hoot, since many of those emails were received at the same exact time. Didn’t look at all like bots. Nope. The bill (HB2807) would allow a pilot project for the presidential primary. The political parties can opt out. It’s most definitely not soup yet, regardless of the attacks.
ABATE, the group which lobbies against motorcycle helmet mandates, supported the bill. I reached out and was told they got involved after two young motorcycle riders were killed by a rideshare driver while his app was on. Current law exempts rideshare companies from these sorts of suits. From the Illinois State Bar Association…
Lyft settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by one of their drivers before the Illinois Supreme Court could rule on the law. The appellate court had sided with rideshare companies after the legislature exempted them from suits. * Press release…
Ah, yes, there’s the new flag proposal again. Rep. Wilhour co-sponsored the resolution to kick Chicago out of Illinois. Dividers don’t want a symbolic exercise that could help heal some wounds.
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A look at day 2 of the ComEd 4 trial
Friday, Mar 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Both former Reps. Scott Drury and Carol Sente, who testified for the prosecution yesterday, voted for ComEd’s bill in December of 2018. That bill is the basis for this corruption trial. Madigan didn’t vote either way. But this transcript from September of 2018 sure looks like Madigan was involved with details and Mike McClain was doing his bidding…
This doesn’t prove bribery, of course, but it does show Madigan was involved. …Adding… From an insider…
* The federal government is trying to prove that McClain acted as Madigan’s agent on the ComEd bill, and they have recordings to back up their general argument about McClain’s duties. From Hannah Meisel’s story…
…Adding… The Lang thing does have that vibe…
* From the Tribune…
* Sun-Times…
* ABC7…
Full McClain quote…
* The government is also trying to show the jury the alleged seediness of Illinois politics under Madigan…
* Meanwhile, Madigan’s people monitored every channel, including comments on this website…
Nobody followed Drury because Drury was not in any way collegial. When you spend most of your time at your job lecturing colleagues and grandstanding instead of working with them, you just don’t get too far in life, no matter what profession you’re in. * More on Drury…
1) All chamber leaders in both parties have controlled the appointment of committee members and chairs/spokespersons for longer than I’ve been around, and still do to this day. And the majority chamber leaders still control the legislative flow and schedule. 2) After moving all bills out of Rules to standing committees for two years, the House has now reverted back to the old ways. More here. * Isabel’s coverage roundup… * Tribune: Despite nearly four decades at the helm of Illinois politics, ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s voice was rarely heard publicly, outside of an occasional news conference or speech on the House floor. But Madigan’s voice echoed through a Chicago federal courtroom on Thursday as prosecutors played a series of undercover recordings showing how the then-powerful speaker muscled out one of his longtime allies, Lou Lang, to stave off a potentially new sexual harassment scandal. * Crain’s: A series of bombshell recordings, many of which were excerpts of intercepted conversations not disclosed in previous court filings, showed Madigan greatly concerned with getting Lang out of his caucus in 2018 following sexual harassment allegations leveled against Lang earlier that year. * Hannah Meisel: Calls between Madigan and McClain mentioned they’d been informed of the harassment claims against Lang by the former top attorney in the speaker’s office at the time, Heather Wier Vaught. Wier Vaught on Thursday confirmed the existence of those 2018-era harassment claims surrounding Lang. “I don’t dispute that more than one person came forward with allegations against Lou,” she told Capitol News Illinois, noting those individuals whose claims never were made public had a right to privacy. * WGEM: During cross-examination, McClain attorney Pat Cotter said it was understandable that Madigan wouldn’t want “someone in leadership who was at that point facing a second sexual harassment claim.” But Lang declined to acknowledge he was facing harassment claims at the time, employing the line “just because someone says there was an allegation does not make it true.” He especially chafed at Cotter’s later use of the word “charges.” * ABC Chicago: today was about establishing former House Speaker Mike Madigan as the one person during his tenure who could make or break a piece of legislation, wrote the rules that ran the House and would substitute committee members if he knew a particular member was going to vote against his wishes. “I did not expect to lose my chairmanship because I was acting in the best interests of my district,” said Carol Sente, a former State Representative from Vernon Hills who believes she was punished for not supporting bills that were important to Madigan. * NBC Chicago: Scott Drury, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who came to Springfield in hopes of passing legislation to address what he saw as large number of wrongful convictions in his native Lake County, testified that the Illinois House was run by what many called the “Speaker’s Rules.” […] Both former House members described how Madigan would use the rules committee to either bless or kill litigation. * Sun-Times: Other revelations in the trial Thursday included details of the FBI’s approach to ComEd executive Fidel Marquez on Jan. 16, 2019. FBI special agent Ryan McDonald told jurors that he and another agent, dressed in suits, visited Marquez at a family member’s home around 6 a.m. that day. McDonald said they played tapes for Marquez. In one, the agent said Marquez had been caught discussing allies of Madigan who were being paid by ComEd through Doherty’s company. In another, Marquez was allegedly heard discussing efforts by Madigan to install former McPier boss Juan Ochoa on the ComEd board.
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