* If you have the time and inclination, here’s the video of last night’s panel discussion “The Two States of Illinois” featuring myself, Jim Edgar and Randy Blankenhorn. The moderator was Chris Mooney. Have a look…
* ABC7’s I-Team has a perhaps unintentionally hilarious story about tracking down House Speaker Michael Madigan. I heard late yesterday morning that the Speaker was back in his ward office, and apparently Chuck Goudie did as well. So Goudie and the I-Team got all sleuthed up and headed to the Southwest Side. Check out the video...
American flags, bright flowers and perfectly manicured greenery surround the Madigan home here on the Southwest Side.
This afternoon, speaker Madigan and his wife drove up in separate cars- the speaker surfacing for the first time since last weekend when the general assembly recessed for summer vacation without solving the state’s financial crisis.
When he pulled up in front of his house to pick up his wife, ABC7’s Chuck Goudie wanted to ask Mr. Madigan about the Illinois pension debacle and other unfinished legislative business. Mr. Madigan declined and left briskly, even leaving his wife behind in the garage.
Madigan apparently not interested in addressing the state’s credit rating that at that very moment was being lowered by Moody’s. […]
Speaker Madigan retreated a few blocks to his precinct office. When we arrived here, staffers refused to answer the door, even though they could be seen scurrying behind glass and heard on the phone asking for direction.
During the two hours we were in the hallway, constituents showed looking for help and they got the same treatment. No one let them in. A pregnant woman and her son rang the bell for a half hour and the youngster banged on the glass. But they were all ignored by Mr. Madigan and his staff who were inside.
One staffer left with his head covered, another was deployed to the parking lot and could be heard signaling that “the coast is clear.”
Speaker of the House Michael Madigan came down the rear stairs to a waiting car that kicked up a little gravel and he left.
* The optics of Madigan’s “disappearance” have been absolutely horrible. It’s hurt his pension reform push and is spilling over into the governor’s race. Of course, no matter what he does, this is all supposedly designed to help his daughter. But if it is, he’s not helping her, he’s hurting her. Another ABC7 report…
“He’s calling the special session because he’s trying to look dynamic, trying to take control of the situation, but Mike Madigan really has all the power in the Illinois General Assembly. And he’s choosing for some reason not to use it right now,” said Laura Washington, ABC7 political analyst.
Leading some political observers to question whether the 2014 gubernatorial race is behind the pension impasse.
Tonight, while speaking at a gathering of lawyers, the speaker’s daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who’s mulling a run for governor, denied her father is trying to weaken Gov. Quinn to benefit her.
“There’s absolutely no credence to that. Everybody recognizes that the number one priority - not just this year but, truth be told, for the past several years - has been to resolve the pension crisis,” said Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General.
“She’s got a really big father problem. Now and later, she’s going to continue to have to deal with her father and the shadow of her father in everything she does going forward,” said Washington.
* The station also sat down for a friendly chat with the governor…
In an exclusive interview, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said he realized a special session would be necessary to address the $100 billion pension debt crisis last week.
Gov. Quinn called the special session on Thursday after Moody’s downgraded Illinois bonds. Lawmakers should report to work on June 19.
“There’s only one way to comprehensive public pension reform and that’s for the General Assembly to convene in Springfield, our state capitol, they’re going to be there on the 19th of this month and we’ve got to get this job done. The legislature has to do its job which is to put the bill on my desk so I can sign it into law,” Gov. Quinn said.
The governor wants the legislative leaders from both parties to work with him until the 19th to build consensus on pension reform. He says he talked to Republican leaders and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton, but has yet to speak with House Speaker Michael Madigan, who has not returned the governor’s phone calls.
“I left a message with his staff, top assistant. I left a message on his wife’s cellphone. I’m hoping to be talking very soon to Mike Madigan,” Gov. Quinn said.
Perhaps sensing an opportunity, former Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley today sounded increasingly like a candidate for Governor, blaming the pension mess on the man he might want to replace.
“Legislators don’t forge the compromise. The governor has to forge the compromise,” said Daley.
