Breaking boat news
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
From the Associated Press:
Another gambling proposal has surfaced in Springfield.
This version is similar to one that Governor Rod Blagojevich introduced last month but it also includes a subsidy for Illinois horse racing.
The governor’s office says he’s interested in the idea.
It comes from Democratic Representative Robert Molaro (moh-LAR’-oh).
He wants to let existing riverboat casinos expand to serve three-thousand people at a time. They are now limited to 12-hundred.
Casinos would have to pay 20-thousand dollars for each new gambling position, but the current 70-percent tax rate would drop to 50-percent.
Three-percent of casinos’ gross revenues would be set aside to help Illinois racetracks.
The plan does not include any new casinos.
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Breaking news
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
From a press release:
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which specializes in constitutional law, today filed a lawsuit in state court in Illinois on behalf of two pharmacists challenging Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s emergency amendment to the state code requiring pharmacists to dispense medication even if filling the prescriptions violate their conscience and religious beliefs. The ACLJ lawsuit charges that the Governor’s order is unenforceable and urges the court to declare it null and void because it violates state law including the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.
“This directive is not only legally flawed but it puts pharmacists in the untenable position of having to choose between adhering to their religious beliefs and violating a law that could cost them their jobs,” said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing the two pharmacists. “There are protections in place to prevent employees from being punished because of their religious beliefs. The Governor’s directive is out of step with state law and we are urging the court to issue an injunction that would block the enforcement of this directive and ultimately declare the Governor’s action null and void.”
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Some members of the “Comment Posse” (trademark pending) have asked that I post a dangerous question so they can satisfy their bloodlust and commence mass deletions. They really want to kill something. Bad.
However, I’m not ready to tempt the fates just yet. I’m liking this new civility and don’t want to provide any temptation to the handful of morons and hooligans who were populating the comment section before the crackdown.
I’ve told the posse to go with their gut feelings here and delete comments they feel are offensive. Everyone has their own views of what is and isn’t offensive, but I’m curious what you think should be the limit.
So, the question today is, how far should the Comment Posse go?
Posse members are, of course, encouraged to post as well.
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The goofiness continues.
A new push by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to tighten regulation of landfills has stoked a feud with his father-in-law, Ald. Richard Mell, and prompted some of the governor’s fellow Democrats in Springfield to question whether he is trying to divert attention from more pressing state problems.
“The governor’s office had to be aware that this legislation would resurrect the previous family battles,” said Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago). “That simply leaves the question why they want to revisit those issues at a time when southern Illinois is clamoring for medical malpractice reform, northern Illinois is clamoring for regional transportation funding and all of Illinois is looking for education funding reform.” […]
“The feud never ended. It’s just like a divorce–both of them are so emotional,” said one Democrat who has close ties to Blagojevich and Mell and asked that his name not be used. “They could have softened the language [about fathers-in-law] in the bill. Why do we need this in there?” […]
Charles Wheeler, an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield and a longtime state government observer, said he doubted that Blagojevich’s attention on the landfill bill would provide him with a break from more substantive problems facing the state.
“To the extent that people are paying attention to the problems, the problems are so systemic and endemic that you maybe gain the equivalent of 10 minutes of relief, but the headache comes back,” Wheeler said.
This is a private feud. It should stay that way. I’m really disgusted by the whole thing.
By the way, do you want to lay odds on who leaked this story to the press?
A top aide to powerful Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) said Tuesday investigators probing the city’s scandal-ridden Hired Truck Program questioned him recently.
Chuck Lomanto, Mell’s chief of staff, said a subpoena from a grand jury prompted him to meet with investigators and discuss his former job as a general foreman of truck drivers in the city Streets and Sanitation Department.
Lomanto said the investigators told him that he is not a target of their probe.
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DJWinfo has the scoop
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
If you’re interested in mass transit funding and where it is in the General Assembly right now, check out Weinberger’s report today.
Tomorrow (today) at 10 am the Mass Transit Committee is having a subject matter only hearing on the 1983 funding formula for how the saes tax is allocated to RTA, Pace, Metra and the CTA. It is possible and not unlikely that Chairwoman Julie Hamos will begin the ’solution’ phase of the proceedings by releasing what she thinks a 2005 funding formula ought to look like.
Glad to see he’s doing more in Springfield than hanging out with gorgeous women. I kid you not, the man is a magnet.
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Good one
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
I always read Mark Brown’s Sun-Times columns, but today’s is definitely worth a plug.
Several bills are on this day’s agenda for the Environment and Energy Committee agenda. The hearing room is packed.
The room itself has been lovingly restored, its ceiling an intricate vision of pastels, but you only notice when your mind wanders — from watching all that legislating.
Legislating can be a tedious process, even for legislators.
Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) is playing with his microphone. The microphones are adjustable.
Trotter makes his microphone stand up straight. He makes it bounce. He makes it twirl around. How does he do that?
Just another mystery of the legislative process.
It’s a fresh perspective on the Statehouse and a very good read. Make sure you check it out today.
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Pal o’ mine
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Sean Hemmerle is a photographer friend of mine from when I was in Baghdad. We had a great time together drinking beer on the roof of our hotel at night, listening to the gunfire and talking about our very weird days. We got to know each other pretty well during that relatively short period of time.
Sean is working on a photo book about political walls. He’s traveled to Berlin, Israel, Mexico… just everywhere.
In the meantime, he has a gallery opening this Saturday, and while I doubt that many of you are planning to be in New York before May 8th, if you do go tell him I said hey.
Lots more info here.
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Here it is again
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Chicago Public Schools are in a cash crunch. Hundreds of teaching jobs could be cut, meaning class sizes would rise. Some special programs are also in jeopardy. Public school officials put next year’s budget deficit at $175 million. Consequently, some Chicago Public Schools teachers are cutting class Wednesday and heading for Springfield to ask legislators for more money. […]
Illinois ranks 49th out of 50 states when it comes to funding education. Teachers are organizing a huge lobbying campaign to convince state lawmakers that more money is needed now. If not, Chicago Public Schools says huge cuts at all schools are necessary.
Go here for an explanation of the title of this post. (Emphasis mine.)
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Laski
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
This is pretty old news, but the Tribune finally got around to it, so here it is:
James Laski, Chicago’s city clerk for the last decade, said Monday he is “leaning very strongly” toward running for state treasurer if Judy Baar Topinka decides to vacate the office to run for governor.
“Everything is based on what [Topinka] does,” Laski said. “She is the incumbent and I personally like the woman.” Although Topinka is a Republican and he is a Democrat, “I have a good relationship with her and I think she does a good job,” Laski said. […]
Laski recently terminated his Laski for City Clerk political fund, transferring the money it contained to a new James J. Laski Jr. Campaign Committee. He has about $400,000 on hand.
Laski, 51, acknowledged that he is not well known Downstate.
“That’s the point of getting into it early,” he said.
What do you think of his chances?
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Just for fun
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Here’s Dick Mell’s full statement about the governor’s plan to forbid his relatives from owning landfills (via the Sun-Times):
Once again, Gov. Blagojevich is using the power of his office to have state legislators introduce a bill aimed at the mistaken notion that I have a financial interest in a business owned and operated by a relative of my wife, Margaret.
According to sources in Springfield, a bill on a specific industry will be sent to the state Legislature which, if enacted, will unfairly target owners of the landfill industry. I have been told that the Illinois EPA scoffed when they saw the first draft, saying it was too riddled with problems to even be considered.
Although I am not a lawyer like the governor, it seems to me such laws are unconstitutional or border on such. Perhaps this maneuver is meant to deflect attention away from the real issues concerning citizens of the State of Illinois: overcrowded classrooms and inadequate resources that threaten to doom another generation of our young people.
The crisis at the Chicago Transit Authority demands action, yet the governor is noncommittal about assistance from the state. The alternatives are grim. Drastic service cuts or massive fare increases face a ridership dependent on buses and trains to get to school, shopping areas and, most importantly, work.
Somehow, the governor does not see the urgency in these matters, yet is so consumed with a single issue that he is laser-focused on our own family tragedy instead of serving the interests of the 12 million others he is supposed to represent. If this were a melodrama, the situation would be comical. But there is no laughter.
I truly sought to have this matter melt from public view. However, the governor’s pollsters have obviously convinced him that there is still mileage in this diatribe. Many years ago, I accepted the fact that all publicity — good or bad — went with the territory of being an elected public official. But I never imagined this.
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Interesting
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Are the VOIP people getting a bad rap?
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is proposing legislation to get Internet-based phone providers to give customers the same kind of access to 911 operators as those who use regular telephone lines. […]
In the back of everyone’s mind is the incident this past February 3 rd in Houston, where 17-year-old Joyce John called 911 using Internet phone provider Vonage to report that her parents had been shot by home intruders. She got a recording telling her that access to 911 service was unavailable. Help took more than 10 minutes to arrive. Both parents survived.
It was later established that the Johns had multiple opportunities and reminders from Vonage to activate Vonage’s 9-1-1 service but had not done so. In a blatantly emotional vote-troll, the Texas attorney general sued Vonage after the incident, probably since you don’t win many votes suing registered voters who haven’t followed Vonage’s directions on how to activate their 9-1-1.
The FCC warns on its Web site that it “may be difficult” for Internet phone customers to “seamlessly connect” with 911 dispatch centers. According to Blagojevich’s office, that’s because traditional phone companies have not given Internet phone providers access to more than 3,200 emergency call centers nationwide.
Blagojevich spokesman Gerardo Cardenas said the governor said the companies need to figure out how to solve that problem. “We’re not getting into that debate,” he said. “What matters here is when you need police or an ambulance, it has to get there immediately.”
CNet’s report says in a sign that regulators take the problem seriously, the Federal Communications Commission has quietly met with the Bell operating companies to learn why they’ve yet to grant Net phone providers unfettered access to their 911 telephone infrastructure, and by doing so let them offer a competitive 911 service. […]
Sources told CNet that U.S. lawmakers are now being asked to draft rules requiring the Bells open their 911 infrastructure to Net phone providers.
One Man takes a different angle on the same subject. Both are worth reading. (Emphasis added above.)
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Ray LaWolf
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Destined to be an Internet favorite.
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Breaking news
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
A proposal to increase high school graduation requirements was passed by an Illinois Senate committee today.
The bill would require students to take additional math, science, English and writing courses before graduating.
Senator Miguel del Valle (me-GELL’ del VAH’-yay) says many schools meet the standards already, but it is still important to strengthen them.
The bill is part of the education plan Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY’-uh-vich) announced last month. Blagojevich wants to raise standards and pay for it by letting riverboat casinos expand.
The measure approved by the Education Committee does not say how the state would pay for the new standards. It now goes to the Senate floor.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Considering what happened in the ‘04 Senate primary, does Comptroller Dan Hynes get a serious general election opponent next year? If not, why not, and if so, who do you think that might be?
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Sitting pretty
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Yet another battle heats up, and this one puts the governor right where he wants to be.
Both sides are preparing for what may turn into a legal battle over Gov. Blagojevich’s order that pharmacists dispense contraceptives, even those that some pharmacists say kill embryos.
The Illinois Pharmacists Association asked Blagojevich to rescind his order. State Rep. Ron Stephens, a Downstate pharmacist, said, “I will not abide by it.” The conservative Family PAC is urging pharmacists to ignore the order. And Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki implored Blagojevich from the pulpit to rescind the order.
The governor is standing firm.
On Monday, he warned Family PAC Director Paul Caprio the state would impose “significant penalties” on any pharmacy that ignores the order.
He’ll play this one to the hilt. He’s inflamed, if not actually started, his own little culture war right here in Illinois. And, on this one, the public is most likely solidly behind the Democrat.
I gotta admit that I’m gaining more respect for his abilities every day. I don’t agree with the way he’s always looking to push a moral hot button (as he defines it), but that certainly makes him a different sort of Democrat.
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Can’t we all just get along?
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Oh, wow, the governor really stuck it to the old man this time.
The bad blood is reaching a rolling boil again between Ald. Richard Mell and his son-in-law, the governor.
After staying quiet for two months about his strained ties to Gov. Blagojevich, Mell is furious at the governor’s new legislative assault on the landfill industry — a maneuver the 33rd Ward alderman said is “laser-focused on our own family tragedy.”
Legislation filed in the Senate Monday by Blagojevich’s forces includes a provision that would bar — among others — relatives of the governor, including his father-in-law, from having any financial stake in landfills or receiving any “personal financial benefit” from waste-disposal operators.
I particularly enjoyed this line:
“This has nothing to do with the alderman,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. “He’s said that he has no involvement or no interest in any landfills, so he won’t even be impacted.”
She got him there.
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Department of redundancy department
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Here is the text of the bill to exempt religious institutions from a law that they are already exempted from.
And, as promised in today’s Capitol Fax, Here is the article from the Alliance Defense Fund’s website that knocks down the argument that churches were ever covered by the employment provisions of the gay rights law.
Churches are still exempt from the Illinois Human Rights Act even after Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law a Senate bill Friday that added “sexual orientation†as a protected class, according to attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund.
“Contrary to comments made by the bill’s sponsor, no changes were made to the law that would make it applicable to churches,†explained ADF attorney Joel Oster, referring to comments recently made by Illinois Sen. Carol Ronen. According to numerous media reports, Ronen addressed the subject of the law’s applicability to the Catholic Church by saying, “If that is their goal, to discriminate against gay people, this law wouldn’t allow them to do thatâ€
Oster disputes Ronen’s claim. “Despite the ‘wishes’ of the bill’s sponsor, the bill is inapplicable to churches in the employment context,†he stated Monday after analyzing the issue. […]
ADF is America’s largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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MIA
Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Whatever happened to these guys?
I thought it was an entertaining blog.
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