* 4:31 pm - The gaming bill just came up shirt short in the Senate, 28-28-1. It was put on postponed consideration. As the roll call was proceeding, its sponsor, Sen Terry Link, warned his colleagues loudly that it was either this or a tax hike.

* 5:48 pm - Conflict between Senate President John Cullerton and reform commission chairman Patrick Collins over whether Collins was advised to get his own sponsors for his legislation…

* 5:50 pm - The AP has a follow-up to my “Extra” from earlier this afternoon…

Gov. Pat Quinn says a campaign aide made an embarrassing mistake by calling Springfield interest groups to raise political money.

But the Democratic governor denies he had any intention of demanding contributions in exchange for special access to him.

Quinn said Friday that the aide was supposed to contact groups that had offered to raise money for him and make arrangements.

He says the aide went further and called groups that had never volunteered to help. When asked how much they should donate, the aide suggested $15,000.

*** UPDATE *** From Governor Quinn’s office…

On Friday, Governor Pat Quinn was questioned by reporters about a mistake made by one of his campaign aides in the course of making fundraising calls. In response, he acknowledged that a campaign worker had made a mistake, and affirmed that the mistake would not be repeated.

Governor Quinn said a campaign aide made calls to a number of political action committees of Illinois trade associations to ask if their members might be interested in holding a breakfast or luncheon fundraiser for the Governor. These events were being scheduled for June and July, after the end of the current legislative session.

Governor Quinn said the aide was supposed to contact political action committees that had previously offered to raise money for the campaign and make arrangements for future events. He said the aide went further without his knowledge and called groups that had not previously volunteered to help.

At no time did any campaign staff member suggest that access to the Governor would be limited to campaign donors, nor was any promise of special treatment made to campaign supporters. The Governor added that it was regrettable that campaign staff did not anticipate that some political action committees might misunderstand a straightforward inquiry about a future event.

Throughout his life in public office, Governor Quinn has earned a reputation for accessibility; his door is open to any association member, elected official, or private citizen who wishes to discuss any pressing issue that affects the people of Illinois.

The campaign staff member who made the mistaken calls in question has been reprimanded and will be reassigned to duties that do not involve further fundraising solicitations.

Additionally, Governor Quinn offered his personal apologies for the mistake made by his campaign staff.

He still doesn’t get it.

You don’t do fundraising calls to groups with bills before the legislature during the final weeks of session, even if they’ve offered to set up funders in the past. The staffer made the mistake of cold-calling associations, but it was the governor’s order to call groups that had expressed interest in contributing. That was the worst mistake because he’s the governor and should know better.

And, frankly, he shouldn’t be contacting any groups that have bills in the hopper until after he’s taken action on those bills.

The governor shouldn’t be throwing that staffer under the bus. He should take full responsibility for the full program.