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Cullerton talks taxes, says he has pension bond votes - Madigan talks constitutional amendment

Tuesday, Jan 4, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Senate President John Cullerton talked to reporters after a meeting today between himself, Gov. Pat Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan. He didn’t say much, but did say they’re looking at various versions of an income tax hike…

Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, emerged from the meeting with Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and said discussions are centering on a variation of a tax hike bill previously approved by the Senate, but stalled in the House. That bill raised the income tax by 66 percent.

“They are talking about trying to get the votes to pass an income tax, a variation of that out of the House,” Cullerton said. “Whatever it takes to pass an income tax (increase) is what they are talking about now.” […]

“It would be helpful to get some support from the other party,” Cullerton said. “We have a huge deficit we are trying to overcome. We are going to try to work on this today. If we have to come back and meet later, we will have to do that as well.” […]

Cullerton said he thinks the public understands the need for a tax hike.

“We have to pay our bills. We have to make sure out bond rating is improved and people see that going forward we can pay our bills,” Cullerton said. “If people look at it from that perspective, I think it is something they would accept.”

Cullerton said the governor has been meeting with Republicans about the tax hike ideas. He also said that the Senate would address school reform sometime in the new spring session if it can’t be done this week.

* Cullerton also confirmed a report in this morning’s Capitol Fax that he believes he now has enough votes to pass the $3.7 billion pension bond plan. The Senate fell one vote short during the spring session after the bill passed the House, and Cullerton said he has lined up enough Republican support to approve the legislation. The state doesn’t have the cash to make the pension payments, so the pension funds have been paying benefits out of assets for months.

* Cullerton video…

* Meanwhile, House Speaker Madigan talked to reporters today after he testified in favor of yet another constitutional amendment which would require a three-fifths vote to increase state and local pension benefits. Check back in a few for video of that discussion.

…Adding… From an AARP press release urging rejection of Madigan’s TABOR legislation…

As a matter of policy, AARP opposes fixed, arbitrary, rigid caps on revenues and spending. Such constraints lead to vital services being shut down or severely diminished, and prevent states from responding to changing economic conditions – from recession and plant closings, to emergencies in public health, natural disasters, or terrorism.

HJRCA61 would impose such rigid and arbitrary caps on spending, making it impossible to meet new social and economic goals mandated by the courts or the federal government; it would tie the hands of elected officials – who have been chosen to make decisions about taxes and spending; and it would cut out citizens from fiscal policymaking – putting vital matters on auto pilot.

AARP has strongly and successfully opposed similar measures in states across the nation, from Oregon, to Maine, Washington, and most recently Florida where our members were instrumental in defeating a constitutional amendment. Even after a measure similar to HJRCA61 was passed in Colorado, the citizens of that state repealed it once they saw the devastating effect it had on the critical services they rely on, and on their very own livelihoods.

Recent studies have shown that HJRCA61 would lock Illinois’ current human services underfunding into the constitution, worsening an already critical situation for thousands of providers and millions of Illinoisans who need those services.

* Related…

* Rep. Hays enjoying brief stint in Black’s old office

* Blunts and other smokes in the legislature

* Illinois Republicans plan Reagan-themed fundraiser

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Things that make you go “Hmm…”

Monday, Jan 3, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* OK, this is quite odd…

Seven of the state’s 32 workers’ comp arbitrators have filed claims themselves. Having more than 20 percent of workers with the same job file claims should be a cause for alarm. But in state government, workers’ comp gets treated as an entitlement.

“They are entitled to file claims. They are entitled to go through the process,” said Mitch Weisz, chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Commission.

“We’re not second-class citizens. We can file,” said Ruth White, an arbitrator who got $19,084 after she fell and fractured her leg.

Who knew that being an arbitrator was such a dangerous job?

* Wow…

Thanks to the eight-month span between Gov. Pat Quinn’s approval of a pension reform bill last spring and its implementation, any public worker hired in Illinois as late as Friday has been enrolled in a far more lucrative pension plan than those hired on or after Saturday.

A Rockford Register Star analysis of pension data has identified nearly 19,000 public workers at all levels of Illinois government hired in that span, from bus drivers to university presidents. More than 300 now work for Rock River Valley public bodies.

The phrase “all levels of Illinois government” is somewhat misleading, since the vast majority of those new hires are at the local level. Still, if that number is accurate, that’s a whole lot of hiring. I do wonder how many of those hirees might be in temporary jobs, but still.

* Yet another group attempts to de-legitimize the lame duck session…

A spokesman for the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Association says many state’s attorneys are upset at how the [death penalty abolition] bill has been introduced in a lame-duck session. The ISAA is planning a press conference Tuesday in Springfield and will let family members of murder victims express their opinions about keeping the death penalty.

The session is in the state Consitution. And, the last time I checked, members are elected for full two- or four-year terms. Having a time period when members aren’t completely obsessed about the next election is not necessarily a bad thing. But, hey, they’re darned if they do what they really think is right, and darned if they don’t.

* Gery Chico has released his fundraising totals…

Chicago mayoral candidate Gery Chico announced today that he’s raised more than $2.5 million for his campaign.

Chico’s campaign released his fundraising total weeks before he’s required to do so in a move to portray himself as a top challenger to former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who leads in early polling.

A campaign aide said that on top of the money he’s already raised, Chico has lined up 47 more fundraising events for this month. But the campaign isn’t saying how much Chico has left to start the year.

But check out this tidbit from Greg Hinz…

Contender Rahm Emanuel is believed to have pulled in far more, perhaps $10 million, but isn’t releasing any numbers yet.

* Also from Greg…

Using census estimates through 2009, ProximityOne, a Washington-based analysis firm, has put together some figures that suggest the city of Chicago will be particularly short of people come reapportionment time — even more so than Downstate.

For instance, each of the state’s 18 new congressional districts will have to have a bit more than 710,000 residents. But according to the firm’s analysis, seven current districts miss that total by at least 50,000.

The population laggards are concentrated in Chicago, with Congressman Luis Gutierrez, D-4th, now representing just 607,000 residents; Bobby Rush, D-1st, 616,000 residents, and Jesse Jackson Jr., D-2nd, 618,000. Narrowly following them are Downstater Bobby Schilling, R-17th, at 621,000, and Chicago’s Danny Davis D-7th, 631,000.

Districts with an overabundance of residents are concentrated in the Chicago suburbs, with Randy Hultgren, R-14th, representing an estimated 831,000; Adam Kinzinger, R-10th, 776,000; Judy Biggert, R-13th, 769,000, and Joe Walsh, R-8th, 734,000.

If accurate, those numbers suggest that projected growth in Hispanic residents over the past 10 years has been more scattered than in the past — potentially making it difficult to draw a second majority Hispanic district, as some Latino leaders want.

They’ll move those Chicago Democratic districts further out into the suburbs.

* This will just spark more curiosity…

Consensus black mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun said Monday she will not release her income tax returns until after the election, passing on the chance to exploit a potential weakness of two of her major rivals.

“I don’t want to,” she said.

Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico and Miguel del Valle have already released their tax returns to give Chicago voters a greater understanding of how they made their money. […]

With that, Braun ended the news conference called to repeat her promise to take Chicago parking meters back from private investors.

As she was walking out the door of her campaign headquarters, Braun was asked why she would refuse if she has nothing to hide.

“Oh, get out of here,” she said.

Oof.

My first reaction to this story was, “Oh, Carol…” which got me to thinking about Chuck Berry falling ill in Chicago on New Year’s Eve, which eventually led me to this video…

You can’t dance, I know you wish you could

* Other stuff…

* Joe Berrios Cool On Ald. Schulter’s Bid For Board Of Review Seat

* Decatur voters to face blank ballot

* Tea Party advocates head to capitol

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Reader comments closed until the new year

Thursday, Dec 23, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I will probably post a few stories before returning full-scale on January 3rd, but comments will be closed. The automated news feeds will continue operating, of course, so check back if you want to keep up on the latest doings.

* I did this last year, so I thought we’d start a new tradition. Those of us who grew up watching Chicago TV will remember this one…

Though old Santa really has no need for Joe
But takes him ’cause he loves him so

* And a couple more from the vaults…

* Suzy Snowflake

* Frosty the Snowman

Have a great holiday break and we’ll talk again soon.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Chico makes millions lobbying city hall - No danger for Burnett? - Berrios rapped again

Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We have a new tagline for mayoral candidate Gery Chicago: Millionaire city hall lobbyist…

A City Hall insider for decades, Chicago mayoral candidate Gery Chico has made millions of dollars in the last few years from his law firm that lobbies for clients seeking city business, according to three years of tax returns he released Tuesday.

Chico’s 2009 federal income tax return shows he and his wife, a school consultant, made $2.6 million. The couple paid about $830,000 in federal taxes on their income. They paid more than $900,000 in federal taxes the year before, when they declared $2.9 million in earnings, according to the records. […]

Chico’s law firm, Chico & Nunes, is a registered City Hall lobbyist for more than 40 companies — including large corporations such as Cisco Systems, Exelon Generation and Clear Channel — according to city records.

Chico said that if he is elected mayor, he would sever ties with the law firm but would not ask the firm to give up its business lobbying at City Hall.

I know lots of lobbyists. Almost all are more honest and scrupulous than many people I know outside of politics. The problem is, the common folk don’t think so. To them, lobbyists carry bags of cash around to hand out to crooked politicians. If Chico does start to surge, Rahm Emanuel can use that tagline against him. And it’ll probably be effective. That last statement about refusing to ask his firm to stop lobbying the city just makes it worse.

*** UPDATE *** From the Chico campaign…

- Gery isn’t a lobbyist and hasn’t had that registration since he was appointed to the Park District in 2007.

- Gery’s law firm isn’t primarily a lobbying firm - most revenues come from litigation, federal regulatory law, real estate transactions, construction safety and employment.

- if Gery is elected, he would sever all ties with the firm. As mayor, he would go further and restrict his old firm from being eligible from bidding on any city contracts. (just fyi, as part of his ethics plan, Gery would also abolish no-bid contracts and put everything out to competitive bid, which could save the city millions…)

- A little context here in terms of transparency. The Trib asked for his tax returns about 3 weeks ago, and we provided this openly and transparently as soon as Gery’s accountant prepared it for us. I believe Gery is the only serious competitor who has been working in the private sector, and we released three years of his tax returns…. and others like Rahm Emanuel, Carol Mosely Braun & James Meeks have yet to release their tax returns.

* This could be a case of the headline and the lede not matching the actual substance. “Burnett might lose spot on ballot“…

The chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus is in danger of being knocked off the ballot because of outstanding fines stemming from code violations at a pair of Chicago properties he allegedly owns.

But scroll down…

Other sources said Kasper is arguing that at least one of the outstanding fines stem from an eight-year-old citation issued to the “correct address, but the wrong” real estate identification or PIN number.

“His name got dragged into it,” a source said of Burnett. “The citation was for work done without a permit. The property [Burnett] owns is vacant.”

Before filing for re-election, Burnett asked the city to run a “debt check” on him. It came back “clean,” said a source close to the alderman.

* We haven’t heard the last of this one, methinks…

Weeks after Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios drew criticism for putting his son and sister on the payroll, a report was sent out by two county watchdogs reminding of ethics rules against hiring kin.

The two-page “advisory,” co-authored by county Inspector General Patrick Blanchard and ethics board chief MaryNic Foster, doesn’t go after Berrios specifically, but tongues are wagging about the timing of its release and the clear reminder of the ethics ordinance, which prohibits county elected officials and other employees from hiring or immediately supervising a relative. […]

Asked whether Berrios might rethink the hires considering he may have violated county ethics law, [spokeswoman Kelley Quinn] said: “Absolutely not. I think because we do have them here, this transition has gone smoothly.”

* Related…

* Springfield’s Education Reforms And The Chicago Mayoral Race

* Coming To Their Consensus - Blacks labored in vain to unite behind a single mayoral candidate. Meanwhile, all but one of the top white contenders have bowed out.

* Inspector General urges City Hall adopt no-gift policy: “This is an area that is fraught with the possibility of bribery at worst and the appearance of impropriety at best…A history of unchecked gift-giving…creates a perception of partiality,” Ferguson wrote.

* Preckwinkle names new aides on county contracts: The county’s new purchasing agent is Maria de Lourdes Coss, a Chicago city official who most recently worked as a purchasing director at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The new contract compliance director is E. LaVerne Hall, most recently at the Chicago Public Schools business diversity office.

* VIDEO: Susana Mendoza - Public Affairs

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