* As most of you know by now, Rep. Rich Myers passed away last night. Here are the arrangements…
The Myers family will receive friends at a visitation for State Representative Rich Myers from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, December 4 at the Scotland Trinity Presbyterian Church, 14950 North 900th Road in Macomb.
A Memorial Service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the University Union Grand Ballroom on the Campus of Western Illinois University.
Burial will follow at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Colchester. Mt. Auburn Cemetery is located in the north side of Colchester on the west side of the road to Argyle Lake.
Memorials can be made to Scotland Trinity Presbyterian Church, the McDonough District Hospital, and the Representative Rich Myers Agricultural Scholarship at Western Illinois University.
Those wishing to send flowers should have them delivered to the Scotland Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Rep. Myers’ obituary is here. Gov. Pat Quinn’s comments are here.
* The House wasn’t in session today, but Sen. John Sullivan delivered a heartfelt eulogy for Rep. Myers on the Senate floor…
* Like the headline says, Thursday was an emotional, sad day in the Senate. Sen. Mike Jacobs also rose to memorialize the late Joel Brunsvold…
* Sens. Willie Delgado and Mattie Hunter spoke about Rep. Myers, former Rep. Brunsvold and their own recent losses and gave thanks to their colleagues for their support during difficult times…
Gary Dahl abruptly resigned his seat in the Illinois Senate on Thursday.
The Granville Republican, who turns 70 on Sunday, leaves a two-year unexpired term that will be filled by appointment.
“I’m at a stage of my life where I’m thinking it’s time to spend more time with family and my business (Double D Express),” Dahl said. “After six years of serving in the state Senate (I was hoping) things would change down there but nothing has. I just feel it’s time to move on.”
Dahl said he’d contemplated resignation for some time but limited the discussion to family and staff. None of his peers were apprised of the decision prior to Thursday’s announcement. The decision, he said, was reinforced recently with the news that several lawmakers had passed away.
* Whether or not you agree with the civil unions bill that passed this week, you have to agree that Illinois will finally be known for something other than Rod Blagojevich - at least for a while. For that, I’m grateful.
But we still have this little $13 billion budget deficit problem to work out.
* I’m no fan of the idea that the General Assembly should focus solely on the budget and not bother with anything else at all until that problem is solved. Coming up with solutions will take time and there is plenty of other work to do. So, while I don’t necessarily agree with the sentiment behind Sen. John O. Jones’ remarks during the civil unions debate yesterday, he made a good point about how the governor was contacting members on behalf of civil unions, but hadn’t called anybody about the budget or the economy. Watch…
* During yesterday’s post-civil unions passage press conference, I asked Gov. Pat Quinn when he was going to start working on passing his income tax hike. Watch…
Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled with his answers, either, but one can only ask so many questions during a brief avail.
* You may or may not be a proponent of gaming expansion, but the governor didn’t seem to be all that interested in the proposal passed by the Senate yesterday…
A planned $3.5 billion clean-coal technology plant for Taylorville hit another snag Wednesday that will delay a vote on the plant until January.
A Senate committee was scheduled Wednesday to hold a hearing on a bill authorizing the plant that was approved in the House a day earlier. However, just as the hearing was about to begin, an announcement was made that the committee would not hold the hearing on the bill after all.
“I was told we didn’t have enough votes to get (the bill) out of committee,” said Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville. “I was told it would be best to hold it.”
The two advertisers on this blog have vastly different opinions about what that bill would do. But we’re talking a bunch of jobs and investment, so perhaps the governor could inject himself and help find an acceptable compromise.
* As you all know by now, a Statehouse legend is retiring later this month. Yesterday, the Illinois House paid tribute to Rep. Bill Black (R-Danville)…
House members gave Black, one of the senior members of the chamber, an extraordinarily warm and lengthy tribute. More than 30 of his colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, spoke and offered praise and thanks to the lawmaker known for his sometimes-bombastic, sometimes-eloquent speeches and for his playfulness.
“I hope you know how much I love this place, how much I love the process,” Black said in a 23-minute-long response to all the accolades from his colleagues . “Look around here. Look where you work. There are few people who ever get this privilege. This ain’t exactly a 6-foot by 6-foot cubicle. This is a phenomenally beautiful, historic building that has been well-maintained. And you should always consider it an honor and a privilege to sit in this chamber.” […]
Rep. Suzana Mendoza, D-Chicago, said she once heard a tape of Black tearing into another House member during floor debate.
“It was just horrifying. I couldn’t even make out the words because it was all screaming and yelling,” she said. “I thought, oh my God, people actually comport themselves in this chamber that way. I’m so scared of who that guy is.
“And then I met you. And how can you be so scared of Bill Black? I mean, you’re so awesomely cute.”
* The Question: What’s your favorite memory of Bill Black?
Also, I know I don’t have to say this, but let’s all be kind, please.
Springfield Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki on Wednesday challenged Gov. Pat Quinn’s support for legalization of civil unions. Quinn said Tuesday that his faith – Quinn was raised a Catholic — had inspired him to support civil unions.
“He did not say what religious faith that would be, but it certainly is not the Catholic faith,” Paprocki said in a statement. “If the governor wishes to pursue a secular agenda for political purposes, that is his prerogative for which he is accountable to the voters. But if he wishes to speak as a Catholic, then he is accountable to Catholic authority, and the Catholic Church does not support civil unions or other measures that are contrary to the natural moral law.”
Asked about the bishop’s statement, Quinn said, “I follow my conscience. My conscience is not kicking me in the shins today.”
David E. Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, said he’s talking to lawyers and “exploring options” to see if a lawsuit is possible. None is planned immediately, he said. “There’s no recourse that we can see,” Smith said.
* The one Senate Republican “Yes” vote was Sen. Dan Rutherford. Here’s his quietly eloquent floor speech…
* 10:43 am - A revised “fumigation” plan just passed the Senate unanimously.
HB 5057 would require the governor to submit names to the Senate for hundreds of agency directors, executive directors, their top aides and board and commission members whose terms have expired. If the governor doesn’t submit replacements, or doesn’t resubmit current occupants for confirmation, they’ll be automatically terminated.
* From Senate President Cullerton’s office…
The Illinois Senate today passed legislation that would push Governor Pat Quinn to start his first full term with a clean slate of new appointees. HB 5057 would cut off nearly 700 holdovers and vacancies 30 days after the law takes effect and require new nominations be forwarded to the Senate for public confirmation hearings.
“This bill isn’t about penalizing any individual public servant, it’s about preserving the checks and balances mandated by our state constitution,” said President Cullerton. “The beginning of a new General Assembly and Governor Quinn’s first full term can be a fresh start. It’s the right time to restore institutional practices that have fallen apart in Illinois over the last 10 years.”
The Senate confirmation process is one of the rare opportunities for the Senate and the public to review the work performance of top officials. However, hundreds of government appointees have continued in their state posts even though their terms long ago expired. A list supplied by President Cullerton’s office includes names of top officials from the Blagojevich and Ryan administrations that have remained in their positions for years without confirmation hearings.
Following the Senate President’s introduction of this bill, Governor Quinn reiterated his call for his cabinet members to resign as part of a reorganization of the administration. Nothing in the legislation prohibits those officials from being re-appointed for the jobs they’ve held. However, they would not be able to continue in their positions after 30 days if a new nomination is not sent to the Senate.
* Illinois paid a pretty high price for its tobacco bond sale yesterday…
Illinois drew robust investor interest for a $1.51 billion tobacco bond, but at a price: it offered a yield above 6% for its longest maturing debt, more than a full percentage point over other recent muni offerings.
The state agency selling the bond increased the size by about $50 million and shaved the yield 0.15 percentage point from its original starting point Tuesday, as the deal’s hefty return and conservative structure offset worries about Illinois’ finances and falling cigarette sales. Citigroup was the senior manager on the sale; Barclays Capital was the co-manager.
Most of that $1.3 billion the state will get up front will be used to pay off overdue state bills, which means we’re exchanging soft debt for hard, Wall Street debt. That’s risky business, but the state is so freaking broke it basically has no choice. We’re borrowing long-term for current operations. Scary stuff.
Some of the money, $47 million, will go to continue subsidizing the 26,000 jobs created by the formerly federally financed Put Illinois to Work Program. The federal subsidy expired during the campaign and the governor unilaterally extended the program with state money, but didn’t have a specific revenue source. So, now the state will be spending borrowed money to pay for this program.
The governor really needs to find a “real” revenue stream if he wants to keep this program alive. Ralph Martire makes a good point…
But not everyone thinks the sale of the bonds was a wise decision. Ralph Martire is executive director at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
He said if the state is going to sell the bond, they should use the money to pay down the deficit.
“I think a pretty solid argument could be made that every penny of that $1.2 billion ought to be used to expend towards reducing the state’s current deficit,” he said.
“And frankly to spend that over $6 billion in past due bills we owe to providers that have to make their payroll and/or fire people and they’ve already delivered services. So there’s jobs on the line there, too.”
It shouldn’t have to be “either, or,” but there ought to be revenues out of existing funds to pay for this program.
* The price the state paid for the bonds wasn’t all the state’s fault, however…
Tobacco bonds are under particular scrutiny because Standard & Poor’s downgraded about $22 billion of them to junk status this month, citing a decline in cigarette sales, among other reasons. In August, a prominent analyst, Dick Larkin of Herbert J. Sims & Co., warned of possible tobacco-bond defaults by 2030, saying that assumptions about future tobacco sales were overly optimistic.
The state agency selling the bonds—Railsplitter Tobacco Settlement Authority—addressed such concerns with conservative revenue assumptions. Bondholders will still get paid even if cigarette consumption falls as much as 10% each year, compared with an average annual decline closer to 3% in the past decade, Mr. Sinsheimer said.
The state is pledging roughly twice the amount of cash flow needed to pay off the bonds over the next 17 years, which means cigarette consumption can decline 10% a year before cash flow gets close to the amount needed for debt service. While smoking declined 9.3% last year, the average decline has been 4% a year since 1998, according to Mr. Larkin.
If smoking declines by 4% a year over the next 17 years, the state will receive a total of about $4.9 billion in tobacco settlement payments and need about $2.2 billion for debt service, according to the prospectus for the bonds. The state will keep whatever amount is left each year after making payments on the bonds. […]
Essentially, the deal gives the state about $1.3 billion upfront after expenses and reserves, while shifting the risk that smoking will decline from the state to bondholders, with a very healthy cushion to minimize that risk.
“If smoking declines greater than 10%, then Illinois made a very smart move,” Mr. Larkin said. “It’s possible, but unlikely. I’m a smoker myself and I know how hard it is to quit.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno…
– Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) is asking Gov. Pat Quinn to provide lawmakers with more information on the recent extension of his taxpayer-subsidized “Put Illinois to Work” program. Radogno is questioning the $47 million extension at a time when Illinois owes approximately $9 billion in overdue bills and faces a massive deficit, some estimate at roughly $15 billion.
“I don’t doubt the program’s intentions, but when the state is facing a $15 billion deficit and owes billions more in bonding and pension debt, we have an obligation to ask, ‘Is this program the most effective way to create the good-paying, permanent jobs that Illinois needs,” Radogno said.
“Not only is it a waste of taxpayer dollars to expand the program piece-by-piece without any plan or requirement that participants will ultimately see permanent employment, it’s cruel to the men and women who believe they’re working towards a long-term position.”
Radogno found it particularly troublesome that Quinn intends to use funds drawn from a recent tobacco settlement to cover the cost of the expansion. She noted that the Governor’s plan to use the recent bond sale proceeds to extend the program maybe be a violation of both the letter and intent of the law enacted authorizing the securitization of tobacco settlement funds to reduce the state’s bill backlog. Radogno also noted that the six-week extension will cost taxpayers for the next 18 years, at a ratio of more than 145 days of debt for every one day of the program.
In a letter sent to Thursday to Gov. Quinn, Radogno asked for information on the following:
• Of the 26,000 program participants, how many have transitioned to permanent, non-taxpayer-subsidized jobs with their “Put Illinois to Work” employers;
• How many participating employers have committed to offer permanent employment to these workers when the program concludes;
• What, if any, system of means testing has been implement to assure participating employers do not have the ability to pay employees’ wages, and are not using the program to increase profits, inflate stock values, reduce costs or delay hiring permanent workers; and
• What legal authority does the Governor have to use these bond proceeds to expand a new program, contrary to the purpose of the borrowing stated in the authorizing legislation.
“The answers to these questions are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, but I also consider Governor Quinn’s response to be an indicator of his ability to address the overarching fiscal challenges facing Illinois,” Radogno said.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Budget director Dave Vaught talks about the tobacco bond sale…
* Related…
* Tax-Exempt Securities Extend Rally as Investors Seek Safety:
* No surprise. The Cubs’ Wrigley Field proposal is dead, at least for now…
The Cubs’ plan to use 35 years’ worth of amusement-tax growth to finance a $200 million renovation of Wrigley Field — and back-stop the bonds with a 2 percent hotel tax — is dead, sources said Wednesday.
The setback for a plan the Cubs had hoped to ram through the state Legislature’s fall veto session has sent team officials back to the drawing board to search for alternatives that might include creating a tax-increment-financing (TIF) district around Wrigley.
Another possibility is to broaden the boundaries of a 1 percent tax on downtown restaurant meals used to finance McCormick Place. That tax currently extends as far north as Diversey. […]
John Patterson, a spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), added, ‘’Bond counsel has had technical issues with the financing of the backup plan. … If that issue can be resolved in the coming weeks, it could be called in January. If not, it will be revisited as we head into the new session.'’ […]
Another source said legislative leaders have told the Cubs to ‘’come back with a plan with a different backup that does not include the hotel tax. … It may involve a combination of things,'’ including a historic preservation tax credit.
* Things just haven’t been going well for the Ricketts family these days. Operating Engineers Local 150 set up a picket line recently to bring attention to the team’s use of non-union labor…
* Remember this comment by Sen. Rickey Hendon during the campaign?…
“I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon said before introducing Gov. Quinn. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be three dollars an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever, except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”
* Well, during the debate on the civil unions bill yesterday, Hendon claimed that he had attempted to apologize to Sen. Brady and was rebuffed. Watch…
“He just said I want to apologize, and I said, ‘Rickey, you know, you can’t apologize for that,’ ” Brady said. “That’s not something you apologize your way out of.”
Classless or justified?
* Sen. Hendon’s full floor speech on the civil unions bill is getting mad hits on YouTube. Watch…
We’ll have more videos a bit later.
* Brady, by the way, has not shied away from criticizing Gov. Pat Quinn. From Medill Reports…
Quinn “talks about cutting spending, but we have yet to see him do it,” Brady said in an interview in his Bloomington office. “His tax increases, I think, are going to further erode the economic job environment. He’s got some policies that aren’t going to help Illinois’s economy.”
Brady, who was sharply critical of Quinn’s leadership abilities during the campaign, said he doubts that Quinn has the muscle or moxie to manage tense relations with Senate President John Cullerton (D) and House Speaker Michael Madigan (D).
“The infighting has put our state in a bad position the past couple years,” Brady said. “Governor Quinn has yet proven to have the skill to… lead. So it will be interesting to see.” […]
Three weeks after the election, Brady and Quinn met for lunch at Manny’s Deli in the South Loop.
Among the topics, Brady said, was “the backlog of unpaid bills. The governor’s got to lead on fiscal discipline. He can’t let legislature do it and talk about making Illinois’ business climate conducive for job growth.”
Brady also said he would run for reelection in two years, then consider another bid for governor. He also admitted that Scott Lee Cohen may have cost him the election by taking protest votes away from him.
* Related…
* Hendon pledges to tone down after hypertension diagnosis
* 11:57 am - Sen. James Meeks said this morning that he intends to vote “No” on the civil unions bill when it comes up for a vote today.
This isn’t much of a surprise since Meeks’ record hasn’t exactly been pro-gay. But there had been some speculation that he might change his mind now that he’s running for mayor of Chicago. But Meeks said if he voted for the bill he’d be deemed a flip-flopper who was pandering for votes ahead of the mayoral election and he planned to stick to his principles.
Of course, the other side is it could be darned tough getting elected in Chicago with that “No” vote on his record.
* You can use this post to discuss the Senate’s civil unions debate, which ought to be soon. Watch or listen here.
• UPDATE: GOP Sen Dan Rutherford just announced that he would vote for the bill. Rutherford was just elected state treasurer.
• UPDATE: The bill passed 32-24 with Sen Ira Silverstein voting Present.
• UPDATE: Sen. Rutherford was the only Republican to vote for the bill.
A notary public says her signature was forged on 400-plus nominating petition sheets filed by Chicago mayoral hopefuls Rob Halpin and James Meeks — a development that raises new questions for the supposedly rival candidates.
A signature and notary seal for Maricela Rodriguez appear on more than 25 percent of Halpin’s 1,185 petitions, including 266 circulated by a homeless sex offender, Arthur J. Hardy Jr.
Hardy also circulated 316 petitions for Meeks. Rodriguez isn’t listed as notarizing any of those sheets, but she does appear as the notary for 97 of the 4,691 petitions Meeks submitted to Chicago elections officials.
Despite that, Rodriguez, a district manager for a currency-exchange company, says she didn’t notarize any petitions for Halpin or Meeks.
So, to sum up, the implied allegation here is that Meeks and Halpin hired a homeless sex offender to gather petitions, who then allegedly forged a notary’s seal on the petitions he gathered for Halpin, but not for Meeks. However, somebody else allegedly forged that same notary’s seal on some other Meeks petitions.
Mr. Meeks says he believes the gatherer, Arthur Hardy Jr., effectively worked as a subcontractor for someone else whom his campaign had hired at the end of his petition drive to collect signatures on his nominating petitions.
Mr. Meeks says he does not know the name of that person but adds, “There was no coordination at all with Halpin. I don’t know him. I never met him.”
This may be the fault of the person who was hired by the campaign who also hired Hardy. It would be helpful if we knew who that was.
* As I’ve said before, Rahm Emanuel may or may not have a solid residency case, but this might all come down to the judge he draws…
‘Rahm Emanuel may be the 800-pound gorilla in the mayor’s race,” said a savvy politico who phoned the other day, “but remember that Ed Burke is the 800-pound gorilla when it comes who gets to be a judge in this town. Keep your eye on the Daley Center.” […]
What my politico caller was asking was whether a judge blessed by Burke would be brave enough to rule strictly on the merits of the case, wherever that ruling might go.
Everybody knows Burke cannot stand Rahm Emanuel and is instead backing former schools and City Colleges chairman Gery Chico.
But another politico I called, one equally well steeped in Chicago politics, laughed at the notion that a ruling on Rahm Emanuel’s residency might depend on whether a judge felt beholden.
“Once a judge gets to the bench,” he told me somewhat ruefully, “they forget everybody.” It wasn’t a compliment.
Despite the politics involved in picking our judges, there are some excellent people on the bench in Cook County.
Then again, there are some utterly incompetent ones as well.
* Related…
* Sandi Jackson runs for re-election as alderman, not city clerk
* Those who worry about lame ducks getting too far out of control should look at the medical marijuana bill, which came up way short yesterday afternoon in the House. The bill needed 60 votes, but when all was said and done it got 53…
After nearly two hours of sometimes passionate debate, the measure fell just a handful of votes short of the 60 needed to advance to the Senate, which must approve changes made in the House before it can go to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
Under the legislation, certain patients could obtain medical-grade marijuana from state-regulated dealers for use in their homes.
Patients would have to receive permission from a physician to apply for a license. The Illinois Department of Public Health would then authorize the person to obtain three marijuana plants per month.
All of you know where I stand on this issue. I’m not sure this is the greatest bill in the world, however. Three plants per month seems a bit much. Not that I would know anything about that, of course.
* And then there was the death penalty abolition bill, which wasn’t called for a floor vote yesterday for lack of support…
A House committee [yesterday] morning voted to abolish the state’s death penalty, after a contentious debate, with critics alleging the bill was being rushed through the Legislature for political reasons.
The measure could come to a House floor vote as early as [yesterday] afternoon. “I’m still counting votes. [Monday] night we had 58,'’ said the sponsor, state Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Broadview. It needs 60 for House passage, and then would move to the Senate.
The House is losing some members today, so it’s fate, as they say, remains uncertain.
* Some other big stuff did pass, however. The Tenaska folks won the House round, but they have a tough fight ahead in the Senate…
The $3.5-billion “clean coal” power plant that has been the subject of a fierce lobbying war in Springfield between labor and business interests was approved on a second vote late Tuesday in the Illinois state House of Representatives.
The bill, which would require Illinois ratepayers and business users of electricity to purchase the Downstate Taylorville power plant’s output for 30 years, initially was narrowly defeated Tuesday and then was held, allowing Speaker Michael Madigan to call it for another vote later.
The Tenaska bill passed 63-50 on the second vote, after having lost by two votes the first time around.
Some lawmakers said on the floor that the second vote for the clean coal plant Downstate was a trade for the vote earlier in the day in favor of a $3-billion synthetic gas plant on Chicago’s South Side.
Subscribers know the rest of that interesting little story.
* And some sweeping changes were approved for police and firefighter pension funds in the House yesterday without much debate…
— Changes the standard retirement age for police and firefighters from age 50 to age 55. Police and firefighters could retire early starting at age 50, but would lose 6 percent for each year before 55.
– Reduces benefits to a surviving spouse from 100 percent to 67 percent of the deceased police officer’s or firefighter’s pension.
– Cost of living increases — the lesser of 3 percent or one-half of the urban consumer price index — would not kick in until a public safety employee or surviving spouse reach age 60.
– Starting in 2015, pension funds could petition the state comptroller to subtract funds from tax money owed to the cities by the state if a city does not make complete payments to the system.
* The bill received a whopping 95 votes, even though it was hotly opposed by Mayor Daley, who sent his chief legislative liaison to town yesterday…
The bill established a steep yearly payment schedule for Chicago to restore the city’s underfunded police and fire retirement funds to financial health, but Daley warned the extra $548 million the city will have to pump into city police and fire pension funds by 2015 could leave homeowners stuck with higher property taxes.
“You cannot place the financial problems on the back of every homeowner in Chicago. Besides that, every business in Chicago. That will make our city basically a city that will have a financial disaster,” Daley said.
* Roundup…
* Bill to abolish death penalty passes House committee
* Police, fire pension reforms pass Illinois House - Benefits for future hires would be reduced
* I covered the years-long debate here over whether to include sexual orientation in the state’s human rights code. There were plenty of predictions of doom and gloom back then if the bill passed. It did pass, and I cannot remember a single instance where this law has created undue controversy or hardship. People generally expect the worst when big changes happen, but that rarely ever turns out to be the case.
So, let’s all try to keep a cool head as the civil unions bill moves through the Senate today. I banned one of the bill’s opponents yesterday for some very weird, over the top comments. Some of the proponents got a bit too hot-headed as well, but I was too busy covering the event to monitor comments as closely as I should have. Let’s try not to let that happen again today, please. We can have a vigorous debate without resorting to needless insults, or breathless remarks or drive-by bumper-sticker slogans. Thanks.
Robert F. Gilligan, the Catholic Conference’s executive director, said he is disappointed that civil unions passed, but now is focused on lobbying senators to vote it down Wednesday. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, is an avid supporter of the bill, and supporters have considered the House a tougher obstacle
Gilligan said he was particularly dismayed that the bill passed during a lame-duck session. The measure got a boost from as many as a dozen lawmakers who will not return because they are retiring or were defeated in the Nov. 2 election.
First, every lame duck member who voted for civil unions was either elected two years ago or (in one case) constitutionally appointed to the seat. Those legislators all serve until January under our Constitution. This is a legitimate vote.
Second, the Catholic Conference of Illinois is actively supporting SB 3539 during the veto session. That bill would abolish the death penalty. If it’s OK for lame ducks to abolish the death penalty, why isn’t it acceptable for those same legislators to establish civil unions?
During the House floor debate on civil unions, Harris told his colleagues that Illinois senior citizens as a whole would possibly benefit more than same sex couples from legalizing civil unions because under civil unions they could have the best of both worlds — maintain their federal Social Security benefits and still gain the right to jointly occupy nursing homes as well as determine their partner’s medical care.
Indeed, Rep. Harris’ comments may be a worse slam to the sanctity of marriage than allowing the state recognition of same sex couples. With the passage of civil unions for same sex and opposite sex couples, Harris’ comments suggested those widowed senior citizens that choose to traditionally marry a subsequent life partner of the opposite sex with the blessing of their church will foolishly give up federal and state financial resources.
Churches don’t issue marriage licenses, government does. So, why couldn’t two seniors decide to join in civil union and then ask their church to sanctify it with a wedding ceremony? The church wouldn’t have to do it, of course, but they could.
* It might be better if Gov. Pat Quinn would leave his religion out of this debate…
Cardinal Francis George and other Catholic leaders have fought civil unions, but Quinn, who is Catholic, said he has no reservations about supporting the measure.
“My religious faith animates me to support this bill. I think that people of good faith, maybe, can disagree and have different points of view,” Quinn said.
I completely concur that people of faith can disagree on this, but I’m not a Roman Catholic. If I was a Catholic, like Quinn, I’m not sure I could say that.
* Now, on to some videos. First up, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris…
GOVERNOR QUINN ANNOUNCES ILLINOIS INAUGURAL COMMITTEE 2011 AND SCHEDULE OF INAUGURAL EVENTS
CHICAGO - Today, Governor Pat Quinn announced the creation of the Illinois Inaugural Committee 2011. The Committee is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization responsible for the planning of the 2011 Inaugural events, with the newly-elected constitutional officers serving as honorary co-chairs. The Inauguration is dedicated to the people of Illinois – showcasing their strength, spirit and character. All funds for the Inaugural events will be raised from private donors and any remaining funds will be contributed to the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund.
“The 2011 Inauguration marks the start of a new era in Illinois Government,” said Governor-Elect Pat Quinn. “This committee will work closely with all the Constitutional Officers to present Inaugural events that will bring Illinoisans together in a bipartisan way that will move our State forward.”
The Inauguration will be held in Springfield on Monday, Jan. 10. All events will be held in Springfield; schedule as follows:
Sunday, Jan. 9
* Gold Star Families Reception (military families only): 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the Executive Mansion. The Governor and his family will welcome Gold Star family members for a reception honoring their loved ones.
Monday, Jan. 10
* Inter-Faith Service: 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. (doors will open at 8:15 a.m.) at the First Presbyterian Church (321 South 7th Street). The Governor and his family will join the Constitutional Officers and their families for an interfaith service.
* Inaugural Ceremony: 11 a.m. -1 p.m. (doors will open at 8:00 a.m.) at the Prairie Convention Center. The Governor and the Constitutional Officers will take the Oath of Office and deliver their inaugural addresses.
* Executive Mansion Open House: 2:30p.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Executive Mansion. Governor Pat Quinn will be joined by Lieutenant Governor-Elect Sheila Simon in greeting the public at the Executive Mansion.
* Inaugural Ball: 8 p.m. – Midnight at the Prairie Convention Center. The Governor and Constitutional Officers will take part in the traditional Inaugural Ball.
More information on the Illinois Inauguration 2011 can be found at http://www.IIC2011.com.
So far, the event’s website lists just two corporate sponsors, the Merchandise Mart and Chicago-Copywriter.com.
* The Question: Who else should sponsor the governor’s inauguration?
Tuesday, Nov 30, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Chicago Tribune: Taylorville’s Not Ready
November 29, 2010
Dirty and dangerous, coal has a hard time making friends. The proposal for a Taylorville Energy Center in central Illinois isn’t helping.
You might think the Taylorville plan would be winning popularity contests all around the state: This wouldn’t be a typical coal plant, of the sort that provides roughly half of America’s electricity today. This would be a “clean” operation, using cutting-edge technology to reduce hazardous emissions, while taking advantage of the state’s abundant coal supplies. We have supported the idea of “clean coal,” with the caveat that it has to provide power at a reasonable cost to ratepayers. That is, there has to be the prospect that it can genuinely compete in the marketplace.
Taylorville has not met that test. The General Assembly should not give its approval to the $3.52 billion project.
As currently envisioned, Taylorville amounts to an extremely expensive and speculative bet on a long-term payoff that may never materialize. The one guarantee: It will hike the cost of electricity in Illinois for a long time.
A proposal going to the legislature would cap the rate increases paid by residential customers at 2 percent. But that would leave business and government to pay the rest of the increased costs, without the protection of a rate cap. Click here to continue reading.
Tuesday, Nov 30, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
On November 28, the State Journal Register editorialized in support of Tenaska’s Taylorville Energy Center, Illinois should take clean-coal lead. Below are key excerpts:
“As the Tenaska foes’ hyperbole has escalated in recent months, however, so has our skepticism of the critics and the STOP Coalition’s underlying purpose. At the heart of the opposition is Exelon Corp., the Chicago-based power-generating and distribution conglomerate. As old coal plants shut down and power gets more scarce, Exelon — operator of nuclear plants — stands to benefit.”
“Passage of the bill by the General Assembly would allow construction on the plant to begin. Its failure, we believe, would strike a fatal blow not just for the Taylorville plant, but for any potential future development of clean-coal technology in this state. If Tenaska’s effort fails, we can’t imagine any clean-coal company attempting to do business in Illinois.”
“As lawmakers debate this bill, we urge them to keep that in mind.”
“They also must remember that every figure quoted by opponents of Tenaska is a worst-of-the-worst-case scenario…It also assumes power won’t get more expensive as new environmental laws force old coal plants to shut down…”
The Taylorville Project last week agreed to absorb two-thirds of the cost of capital cost overruns and two-thirds of the cost of carbon sequestration cost overruns — meaning these costs, if incurred, can’t be passed along to customers.
“We hope lawmakers see through the hyperbolic spin against this project and vote to bring jobs to central Illinois and put Illinois among the leaders in clean-coal technology.”
In all, candidates and political committees spent an estimated $3 billion airing television, radio and Internet commercials in local, state and federal races, up from $2.7 billion in 2008 and $2.4 billion in 2006, according to Campaign Media Analysis Group, a division of Kantar Media that tracks political advertising.
About two-thirds of the money — an estimated $2 billion — was used to purchase airtime from local television stations.
* The Question: Should FCC regulated television and radio stations be obligated to give much larger discounts to political candidates, or even offer free air time? Explain.
The last prisoner executed by the state of Illinois was Andrew Kokoraleis, who died by lethal injection at the Tamms Correctional Center in March 1999. The next year, then-Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions, concerned that a deeply flawed system had sent innocent people to death row. Three years later he commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates and pardoned four others.
A lot of Illinoisans apparently believe that was the end of it. Only 39 percent of voters responding to a recent poll answered (correctly) that Illinois still has the death penalty. The others said it does not (33 percent) or that they didn’t know (28 percent).
No, the death penalty hasn’t been abolished in Illinois. It hasn’t been fixed either.
Those poll results show to me that people don’t really care all that much. Whether they will care if the bill passes is the big question, however.
A bill that would shield voters’ political party preferences from the public record has been killed in the Illinois House.
Gov. Pat Quinn had rewritten House Bill 4842 so voters would not have to publicly declare their parties when voting in a primary election. The bill originally instructed the State Board of Elections to publish a voters guide on the Internet during primary elections.
However, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said the amendatory veto was unconstitutional.
“He created a wholly different bill,” Currie said. “That was not what was contemplated by the people who drafted and the people who supported the 1970 Constitution.”
Lots of people support the governor’s idea, but not so much in the General Assembly. Plus, legislators don’t take too kindly to a governor attempting to legislate with an amendatory veto.
* A case in point is the seniors ride free bill. That one was such a political hot potato that the General Assembly decided to go along with Rod Blagojevich’s AV. But opponents have persisted and another vote to get rid of it appears likely…
On Monday, a House committee approved legislation that would scale back the free-rides program by setting income limits for seniors to qualify.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch or a free ride,” Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said.
Gov. Pat Quinn has previously said he would veto legislation limiting free rides, but Currie said she is confident the proposal will have enough support for lawmakers to override a veto.
When the Majority Leader is on board, that usually means the Speaker is on board, and that usually means that the bill will pass.
State Rep. Fred Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, was among lawmakers hesitating to take the perk away. He said it might be difficult for seniors to adjust to the change.
* Keep in mind, however, that a federal law requires seniors to get a 50 percent mass transit discount, so they still won’t pay the full freight…
On Monday, a House committee approved limiting free bus and train rides to seniors who make less than $27,600 a year. More affluent seniors would pay the federally mandated half price for rides.
…Adding… From the RTA…
Saw your blog post on the RTA’s senior ride free bill today. Thanks. Just a small note: the bill doesn’t eliminate seniors riding free. It means test it so that seniors who are in the Circuit Breaker Program ride free and all others half off. It works the same way our current People with Disabilities Ride Free Program works which was created by the General Assembly a few months after the Seniors program was created.
Sun-Times reporters Tim Novak and Abdon M. Pallasch report that a single individual, Arthur J. Hardy Jr., is listed as the circulator who gathered some 7,000 signatures on nominating petitions for two mayoral candidates — 3,160 for the Rev. James Meeks and 3,990 for Rob Halpin, the real estate developer renting Rahm Emanuel’s house.
That’s a lot of signatures for any one individual to gather in a short time, which is all Halpin had after launching his last-minute mayoral bid, egged on by those seeking to accentuate the issue of whether Emanuel meets the city’s residency requirement for citywide candidates.
I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, but if you couple Mr. Hardy’s prolific output with the fact he lists his address as an Uptown homeless shelter, there’s a reasonable basis for asking some questions, such as whether he really collected all those signatures or whether somebody got carried away signing his name.
At the going rate of $1 per signature — which is what professional petition circulators typically are paid — that would also mean somebody owes Hardy a nice chunk of change. One of the other interesting questions would be who it is that hired him — and whether it’s the same person for both candidates.
I checked with Sen. Meeks today about this and he flatly denied any connection. “I don’t need to roll like that,” he said. Meeks said he has had zero contact with Halpin, never met him and totally denied any involvement by his campaign. Meeks said his campaign decided during the last week of filing to hire people to help pad his signature totals and that Hardy was apparently hired during that time period. But, he said, there was no connection between Hardy’s work for Meeks and Hardy’s work for Halpin.
A check of campaign expenditure reports shows that Arthur Hardy has apparently never received any money from any campaign in the past. This could just be a homeless guy trying to get himself out of poverty. If so, good for him. But pure coincidences are few and far between in Chicago (and Illinois, for that matter), so Meeks will probably have to deal with this for a while even if he is innocent.
Requesting anonymity, a source in Springfield tells ChicagoPride.com that State Sen. and Rev. James Meeks, who represents the 15th District on Chicago’s south side, has allegedly been working behind the scenes with other African-American ministers to derail passage in the House as an effort to keep the legislation from making it to the Senate, thus relieving the prominent minister from declaring his vote, for or against, on record.
“Rev. Meeks has been playing fast and loose with the LGBT community,” said the source.
Meeks also flatly denied this report, adding: “I have not spoken with a single person in Springfield about the civil unions bill.”
*** UPDATE *** Both of Sen. Meeks’ House members, Reps. David Miller and Will Davis, said this morning that Meeks has never spoken to them about the civil unions bill.
* The Catholic Conference of Illinois is apparently so concerned that the civil unions bill could pass the House today that it has issued a statement offering to compromise…
The statement reiterated that the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”
“Accordingly, we stand ready to work with the legislature and other agencies of state government to prevent unjust discrimination and to provide benefits to people judged by the civic authority as deserving — as long as such provision does not include the attempted redefinition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman for the sake of family,” the statement said.
*** UPDATE 1 - 9:26 am *** “That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” said Rep. Greg Harris, the sponsor of the civil unions bill, about a proposed compromise. Harris said he is “always interested in talking to everyone,” but said the Catholic Conference has not approached him yet about any possible compromise and that he hadn’t heard anything about it until he saw it on CapitolFax.com this morning. Harris promised to get back to us if he is contacted today.
House Republicans Mathias, Mulligan and Myers and Democrat Dugan are out today. The civil union proponents need the votes of Mulligan and Dugan — we may see the vote on SB 1716 delayed. May force the delay all the hot social issues today.
Proponents weren’t expecting votes from Mathias and Myers. Mulligan is on her way down. Rep. Dugan, however, is not. Rep. Harris said he would continue to push forward with a vote today. He said he’d like to have a bigger cushion, but it is what it is.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* But things are proceeding apace and proponents appear to be getting closer…
Supporters of civil unions for same-sex couples say they’re close to having the 60 votes needed to pass the measure in the Illinois House.
It would still need state senate approval and Governor Pat Quinn’s signature, who says the measure could help the state’s economy.
Activists plan to take several dozen clergy members of various faiths to the Illinois Capitol Tuesday, when lawmakers could vote on the civil unions plan.
“We know your mothers and your teachers taught you to respect the choices people make and the primacy of their choices,” Catholic nun Donna Quinn, of Palos Heights, said in a statement.
* Opponents are obviously worried about the House’s 18 lame ducks…
David E. Smith, executive director the Illinois Family Institute, said he has heard anecdotally about some lawmakers from conservative areas who aren’t returning to office after January and appear poised to support Harris’ bill.
Chicago Cardinal Francis George also weighed in on the lame ducks…
[Cardinal George] criticized the fact that such an important measure was being considered by a lame-duck General Assembly. “More should be done to engage the people in public debate” on it, he said.
* The opposition is seriously cranking up the heat, and pointing to a pension note request that’s sparking some controversy. From Illinois Review…
While gay rights activists insist the number of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons are now at the levels of 10 percent of the American population, when asked how much legalizing same sex civil unions could cost Illinois taxpayers, the state’s budget office minimalized the projected number of LGBTs to be only one percent of the state’s population.
Using the fraction of a fraction as the projected number of LGBT state employees whose same sex partners may eventually benefit from the state workers’ pension plans, the budget office gave this report in answer to a pension note query filed by State Rep. David Reis (R-Willow Hill):
SB 245 from the 96th General Assembly allowed members of TRS and the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund to designate a domestic partner as a surviving spouse for purposes of survivor and death benefits (SB 245 has not advanced out of committee). Based on that legislation, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s actuary estimated that if 1% of active TRS members designate a domestic partner as a beneficiary for survivor benefits, the impact to the system would be as follows; (1) Increase in total actuarial liability = $15,750,000; (2) Increase in total annual costs = $1,838,000; (3) Increase in total annual costs as a payment of payroll = $0.02%.
The pension note focused on survivor benefits, but health care costs were not included in the estimation. The budget office said they can’t estimate the cost to Central Management Services:
“It’s not legitimate for the government to recognize the relationship of homosexual partners or polygamous partners or incestuous partners,” [David E. Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute] said.
Except, if civil unions is this difficult to pass, I seriously doubt that incest and polygamy would ever be legalized.
