Legislation commonly referred to as the “ComEd bill” that would help roll out a sophisticated smart grid program but alter the way electricity rates are decided is on its way to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
The controversial legislation, backed by Chicago-based Commonwealth Edison Co., has been staunchly opposed by consumer advocates and others who call it is a “Trojan horse” meant to pad the utility’s bottom line by removing regulatory obstacles in place for 100 years.
Quinn has repeatedly vowed to veto the legislation, and a maneuver by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) stalled the bill’s delivery to Quinn. Friday, Cullerton withdrew the motion in place since June, so the General Assembly has 30 days to send the bill to Quinn, who would then have 60 days to sign or veto it.
ComEd and its lobbyists have been using the time to meet one-on-one with legislators to try to win enough votes to override a veto.
The utility has been pushing hard for veto override votes. AARP is a staunch opponent. From a press release…
As Senate Bill 1652 has finally been released by the Illinois Senate, AARP urges Governor Pat Quinn, on behalf of our 1.7 million Illinois members, to come through on his promises and veto this awful legislation that would allow utility companies like ComEd and Ameren to hit the wallets of millions of consumers with higher rates while guaranteeing their own profits.
SB1652 narrowly passed both chambers in Springfield during the Spring session as ComEd and Ameren heavily lobbied legislators to approve a bill that would allow them to impose nearly automatic electric rate hikes, while securing company profits and diminishing needed regulatory oversight.
Yet SB1652 did not garner a veto proof majority, and Governor Quinn has promised to veto the bill joining with Attorney General Lisa Madigan, AARP, the Citizens Utility Board and many other consumer advocates and watchdogs in their stern opposition to the legislation.
SB1652 is bad news for consumers as it writes utility company profits into state law guaranteeing ComEd and Ameren a return on equity of over 10% or even higher. Additionally, SB1652 creates a formula rate and shortens the rate review process effectively tying the hands of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Through this bill, ComEd and Ameren are taking the voice of the consumer out of the ratemaking process and paving the way for even higher profit margins.
Now that the bill is finally on its way to the Governor’s desk, we urge him to step up to the plate again for millions of consumers as he had done so often in the past, and use his veto powers to kill this legislation as he has promised numerous times.”
Illinois residents who repeatedly make open-records requests to their towns, school districts and counties could face new restrictions that would keep them from getting information quickly under legislation Gov. Pat Quinn signed Friday.
His decision unleashed sharp criticism from government watchdog groups that accused Quinn of eroding the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and retreating from earlier statements in support of open government.
For the first time, local governments could characterize anyone who files more than seven FOIA requests in a week or more than 15 in a month as a “recurrent requester,” giving the public bodies unlimited time to provide documents. Media, academics and researchers are exempt from the new standard.
Current law gives those governments five business days to answer a records request, with the option of an additional five-day extension.
“It is disappointing that Gov. Quinn, who once cultivated an image of himself as an advocate of open government, has approved a bill that takes Illinois’ FOIA law backward,” said Whitney Woodward, a policy associate with the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, which opposed the bill.
Gov. Pat Quinn is calling for a two-minute timeout before a motorcycle driver or bicyclist can proceed through a stoplight that appears stuck on red.
The Democratic governor used his veto power on Friday to rewrite legislation that would have allowed a motorcyclist idling at a seemingly interminable red light to proceed after a “reasonable period of time.”
Quinn maintains that a specific time period is needed or riders would come up with different standards of what’s reasonable. As written, the measure is “too subjective and will result in confusion amongst law enforcement, the judiciary and motorcycle operations,” the governor explained.
A two-minute wait won’t confuse law enforcement? Who’s gonna run the timer?
In 2007, the state spent $13.2 million to buy the former Franklin Life Insurance building in Springfield to serve as a new headquarters for the Illinois State Police, as well as a workplace for employees of other state agencies.
Four years later, State Police still are the only tenants. That’s led some officials to question whether space in the massive building is being used properly and whether the state is wasting money by continuing to lease offices when it could move people into a state-owned building.
“It is being totally underutilized,” said Ed Bedore, a member of the state’s Procurement Policy Board, which oversees state leasing. “It will cost some money to do some rehabbing, absolutely. But that will certainly be made up in a matter of months when you consolidate some other leases.”
“There’s some available space there,” agreed David Vaught, Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget director and chairman of the procurement panel. “If we have that available space and we have an appropriate agency that does not impair the security needs of the State Police, it’s an opportunity to save some money.”
Local mental health officials are hoping that new legislation signed by Gov. Pat Quinn will be a true victory for the community – though some have their doubts.
Quinn signed House Bill 1530 at the Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health in Hoffman Estates last week. The bill prevents insurers from including additional barriers within a policy – such as financial requirements, treatment limitations, lifetime limits or annual limits – to treatments for mental, emotional, nervous and substance abuse disorders if no such stipulations exist for other health conditions, according a release from the governor’s office.
Sandy Lewis, executive director of the McHenry County Mental Health Board, said this is an important step for mental health care.
“For too long, individuals and families have not had the opportunity to get the help that they needed when they’re insured by group health insurance because mental health and substance abuse weren’t covered the same way.”
If Governor Pat Quinn ever wonders why the public, the press and the legislature find his approach to governing to be incoherent and frustrating, and at times cynical, he needs only to consider his recent whiplash-inducing turn on behavioral health care policy.
Last week Quinn held a bill-signing ceremony at the Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health in Arlington Heights, and he issued a press release that stressed the importance to “improve behavioral health care throughout Illinois.” […]
[However] The governor proposed a Fiscal Year 2012 budget, which began on July 1, 2011, that sought to cut $33 million from mental health care, depriving care to approximately 20,000 individuals, principally the working poor. He also sought to cut all state funding, $63 million, for substance prevention and treatment, a move that would have eliminated care to 55,000 people out of the 69,000 currently served.
Additionally, Quinn had sought in March to drastically cut funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment in the last quarter of the 2011, throwing behavior healthcare providers into chaos. They turned away new patients and cut services to others.
By now, most people know Quinn has a tendency to ramble in his public comments. Well, the ramblin’ man was in full voice at a bill signing last week.
Quinn started the ceremony by making some unprepared remarks that lasted about five minutes. During that time, Quinn said he once lived in a mobile home in Madison County, that state and local governments work together, Illinois believes in transportation, the state has the fewest traffic fatalities since 1921, it’s a tough economy, we’re Americans, his favorite words are “made in America,” 9/11, the state fair, Gold Star families, he’s been to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Old State Capitol, Abraham Lincoln and proclaiming America as the first democracy on planet Earth.
Quinn then signed the bill. It allows overweight trucks to drive short distances on some state roads.
*** UPDATE *** It gets better. With thanks to a commenter, here’s the video in all its rambled, messy glory…
Pay special attention to the beginning of the video when Gov. Quinn announces that his “very good friend” Rep. Dan Beiser couldn’t be at the event. Beiser is standing less than two feet from Quinn at the time.
Hilarious.
I just called Beiser and he said he was trying to think of what he was going to say when it was his turn and didn’t hear Quinn announce that he wasn’t there. He had a good laugh about it, however.
…Adding… A persistent commenter prompted me to give it a re-watch, and Quinn could very well be speaking of Sen. Bill Haine, who was, indeed, absent.
* Candy Golde is playing tonight at the Castle Theater in Bloomington. If you can get there, then you should definitely check them out. The players are Nick Tremulis, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, John Stirratt of Wilco, and Rick Rizzo of Eleventh Dream Day. That’s some serious rock and roll experience, baby. A review…
Unlike many of the other All-Star bands, which try to incorporate the sounds of their past work into something new, Candy Golde is eclectic and experimental. Carlos, the drummer for classic rock gods Cheap Trick for almost four decades, has adapted his style, playing more like a garage band bammer on the band’s LP, unleashing heavy percussion work that hasn’t been heard from him in decades.
“I had so much fun putting this together,” said Carlos. “It’s different not being on the road and being able to experiment. I loved making this LP.”
Tremulis, known more for his song-writing and love of experimentation with rock and soul blends, was able to play the part of hard rock singer and do more than hold his own. Stirratt, a member of an alternative powerhouse the likes of Wilco speeds up his bass playing in Candy Golde and does more than support the percussion. Rizzo, while also in a solid alternative band before CG, known for his excellent guitar work, song-writing ability and vocal stylings, plays some of the hardest tunes in his career with this quartet.
The end result is something unlike anything you’ve heard before from a band created from bits and pieces of other successful groups.
* My old friend Tom Irwin is opening for Candy Golde tonight with his band The Hayburners. Find more info here. This is gonna be one great show, campers…
* If it hasn’t been obvious to you that Treasurer Dan Rutherford is openly plotting a move up the political ladder in 2014 (likely to the governor’s office), even after reading his endless stream of Tweets about all the towns he’s visited since the start of the year, then this story might help…
State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, a globetrotting businessman during his tenure as a vice president with ServiceMaster, said he’s paying for his own flight to Beijing.
“My 25 years of experience in the private sector working on international business makes me especially optimistic about the benefits of this trip. I will be given several opportunities to represent Illinois to Chinese businesses with the hope of our state’s economy becoming the beneficiary,” Rutherford said in a prepared statement.
The 13-day trip comes as Gov. Pat Quinn prepares to make a similar visit to the Far East with an eye on selling more Illinois products in China and Japan.
Quinn, who will be gone for 12 days beginning in mid-September, will make stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in China and Tokyo, Japan.
Apparently, this is something of a “me too” trip since Quinn is heading to China next month. According to the AP, the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs is paying for Rutherford’s expenses, excluding his flight.
* In other quasi-campaign stuff, Fox News picked up a story that has received pretty much zero coverage in Illinois, and for good reason…
Maybe the Fox folks don’t know that this guy is not even close to being a journalist. Or maybe they do and decided to ding Dick Durbin anyway. Either way, kudos to Jim Anderson of the Illinois Radio Network for not giving in to this “activist” during a media availability.
*** UPDATE 2 *** I just talked to Paul Green, who runs these City Club things. The press conferences have not ever been part of the official City Club lunchtime events. They’re mainly informal gatherings at the Maggiano’s bar.
No longer. From now on, the pressers will be held as part of the City Club festivities and, henceforth, the club will require that reporters show credentials. Security will also be present.
The public Q&A, however, will pretty much proceed as it always has.
[ *** End Of Update 2 *** ]
* Meanwhile, Finke says the State Fair political days should be held every other year…
If the state’s two major political parties decided to drop their special days at the Illinois State Fair in non-election years, would anyone care? Would anyone notice?
It’s been a tradition since forever that Democrats and Republicans each gather for one day at the fair. When an election is coming up, those rallies can be mildly entertaining. Candidates for offices will show up to get some face time with the crowd and media. You can generally count on one or more speakers to deliver a stemwinder to rev everyone up to get out the vote. There’s a general sense of enthusiasm around the place.
Compare that to Governor’s Day and Republican Day this year. It was like everyone was just going through the motions. We’ve always gathered at the fair one day a year, and the fair is on, so let’s get it over with. […]
It’s just that last week’s political days were sort of blah. If they were only held every other year, maybe they would seem a little more special.
Yes, this year’s events were boring and mostly news-free (although I found plenty to write about by ignoring the speeches and working the crowds and the receptions). But, as I’ve said before, that’s because we have no statewide election next year (the first time this has happened since 1999). Some of the bigger crowd turnouts I’ve seen have been in the off-years before a gubernatorial or US Senate election, when tons of primary candidates descend on the fairgrounds. So, switching to a biennial event doesn’t really make any sense.
Asked if he’s thinking about running for governor that year, Dillard gave a quick “yes.”
“I’m going to take a swing down to Williamson County, and I’ll be at the DuQuoin State Fair,” Dillard said. He said even if he doesn’t run statewide, he’ll continue to travel because “I love this state.”
Dillard finished just 193 votes behind state Sen. BILL BRADY, R-Bloomington, in last year’s gubernatorial primary, when more than 750,000 votes were cast. Seven candidates were on that ballot, and Dillard said party and business community leaders should try to avoid such a wide open and expensive contest. […]
“What bothers me most is wasting millions and millions of dollars that Mr. McKenna and others made us waste that Bill Brady could have used to win the governorship,” Dillard said.
* This is just one problem that former state Rep. Mike Boland will have to deal with in the congressional primary…
For example, while serving as a state representative, Mike Boland gave scholarships to the daughter of his largest individual campaign contributor.
She gave $15,891 to Boland’s campaign in 2005 and 2006, and her daughter received a free ride to Western Illinois University. After two years, she transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her scholarship from Boland followed.
Boland, who left the Legislature earlier this year, now is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 17th Congressional District.
* McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi says he’s running for a third term. You will recall that two corruption cases brought against Bianchi were both tossed out of court by a judge this year…
During trials in March and earlier this month, the special prosecutors offered so little evidence that Winnebago County Judge Joseph McGraw–appointed to hear the politically charged cases–acquitted Bianchi before he even presented a defense.
But Bianchi said his decision to seek a third term wasn’t prompted by a desire to repair his image following his legal struggles.
“The satisfaction is already there. I’ve been vindicated,” Bianchi said. “I don’t need another four years for that.”
Instead, Bianchi said if he’s re-elected he wants to continue with programs he instituted during his tenure, including stepped up efforts to collect unpaid fines and court costs, as well as a diversion program that allows first-time offenders to clear their records through public service work and education.
Republican Tom Pliura, a doctor and lawyer from LeRoy, is running against state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, for the GOP nomination in the 51st Senate District, which stretches from McLean County to the Indiana border.
Pliura, who has not previously held elective office, showed his inexperience as a campaigner during a stop at the state fair Thursday. He was wearing a Cubs hat, thus alienating all of the Cardinals and White Sox fans in the district.
