* 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