A major increase in the price to register as a state lobbyist has been halted by a federal judge who deemed the $1,000 annual fee too high.
U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall issued a preliminary injunction late Friday that puts on hold the 2009 law that nearly tripled registration fees for most lobbyists.
More than 3,900 lobbyists and lobbying groups have been registered in recent years, but none was required to register or pay fees this year while the state awaited action in the lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which brought the case, argued that the state law violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech because it requires an unreasonable fee to lobby before the Illinois General Assembly.
This law would cost a small not-for-profit whose executive director doubles as a part-time lobbyist $2,000 a year - half for the exec director’s fee and the other for the association’s fee. Ridiculous.
* Dear Aaron Schock and John Shimkus,
I don’t think anybody is asking you to give back project money that you voted against…
Two congressmen representing the Springfield area Friday defended earmarks they requested for local projects, even though they voted against the measure that paid for them.
Republican U.S. Reps. Aaron Schock and John Shimkus were at Lincoln Land Community College to tout a $350,000 grant for a green technologies education program. Both voted against the budget bill that funded the project after pushing for its inclusion as an earmark.
Some are just asking you to be honest about how y’all rail against spending while you’re in DC while using that spending to glorify yourselves back home.
* Dear Illinois Responsible Budget Coalition,
Your group’s abbreviation - ILResponsibleBudget - is a bit, um, off. And your Internet promo video? Ummm…
* Dear IllinoisIsBroke.com,
The form e-mail that you want citizens to send to their legislators is intellectually dishonest and, frankly, an insult…
If you would like my support (and the support of my considerable circle of family, friends and acquaintances) this election year, then take a public stand for fiscal responsibility. Publicly promise to balance the state budget by cutting expenses until they are in line with revenues. Reform our unaffordable pension and retiree health care programs. Please assure me you will be part of the solution and not a continuation of the problem.
How about giving people the real scoop on what cutting expenses by $13 billion a year - close to 40 percent of state spending - would do to the budget?
* Dear SouthtownStar editorial board,
The problem with the current redistricting process isn’t that strongly Democratic areas have lots of Democratic legislators and strongly Republican areas are represented by Republicans…
While population shifts during the past 15 years created a more stable Democratic base in the south suburbs, Democratic control of the remapping process in 2001 formally extinguished any chance of bipartisan south suburban representation.
We’re not picking on the Democrats. Republicans control other parts of the state, and residents there are not well-served, either. The point is, competition infuses accountability into government.
A non-partisan map would still undoubtedly produce lots of all-Republican and all-Democratic districts. That’s just how people cluster themselves. I seriously doubt, for instance, that you could get more than the one Republican House district they have today in Chicago. Heck, you might not even get that if the districts aren’t allowed to cross-over into the suburbs - as the redistricting plan you’re supporting would require.
The way you get some minority party representation in those areas is to go back to the pre-Cutback Amendment days.
* Your turn…
…Adding… Dear Chicago Tribune editorial board,
Calling (again) for the downsizing of the capital bill is crazy on a number of fronts, including the shape of the job market these days. Then there’s this…
Engineers are recommending Illinois invest at least $27 billion into fixing its deteriorating infrastructure — about double the state’s $13 billion budget deficit.
The American Society of Civil Engineers performed a study on Illinois’ infrastructure and gave the state a D+ overall.
The study looked at Illinois’ aviation services, bridges, dams, drinking water, water ways, rail services, roads, transit and wastewater infrastructure. Each category was rated and the average grade was found. […]
Drinking water received a D+, and the engineers group recommended a $13.5 billion investment in the next two decades is to get the state’s drinking water up to par. As for wastewater, the group recommended $13.4 billion go into new infrastructure over the next 20 years in Illinois. […]
“Much more is needed than what that capital bill is funding,” King said. “Our capital bill in Illinois is going to hit some of our infrastructure, but a substantially larger investment ultimately is going to be necessary.”
