* Subscribers already know my take on this, but when Speaker Michael Madigan added several days to the January session, eyebrows went up all over the Statehouse…
Why be in session in January when the veto session is just ahead?
There are a couple of reasons. One, all of the lame ducks in the legislature will still be in office in early January. Those lawmakers can pretty much do what they want, since they won’t be facing the voters again.
The other is changing vote requirements. If you want to pass a bill with an immediate effective date during the veto session, it takes a supermajority. In the House, that means 71 votes to pass a bill rather than the usual 60. After Jan. 1, though, the vote requirements go back to normal.
So if you’ve got a bill that you want to become law right away — say, a tax increase, just for instance — it will be a lot easier to pass after Jan. 1 than during the veto session.
That’s not to say such a bill is looming. Madigan still wants Republicans to put votes on a tax hike, and there’s no indication they are willing to do that, now or in January. But if you’re a lame-duck Republican who believes a tax increase is needed, you could vote for one in January and make a quick exit.
Based on a tip, FOX Chicago News asked the Illinois Department of Transportation how longtime mob bookmaker and loan shark Ralph “Curly” Peluso was hired in as supervisor two years ago.
That’s right; you’re paying the $76,000 a year salary of a former associate of the deadly Frank Calabrese Senior street crew.
During that trial Peluso was named in more than two dozen pieces of evidence and was scheduled to be a government witness against Calabrese until he got cold feet. In one tape played for the jury, Calabrese Junior secretly recorded Peluso talking about his long involvement with Calabrese Senior.
Curly was placed on administrative leave in August and “discharged for cause on September 15th.” Odd.
* Abolish the death penalty and save $20 million up front? Interesting…
Death penalty opponents said they will try to get lawmakers to abolish the death penalty during the veto session. Jeremy Schroeder of the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said $20 million a year could be redirected to other uses if the death penalty and Capital Litigation Trust Fund were abolished. He said public support to abolish the penalty is building as voters hear of death row inmates being exonerated.
A published report says a write-in candidate for President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat is being investigated for allegedly forging signatures in his attempt to get on the ballot as an independent.
Illinois State Police spokesman Scott Compton says authorities are investigating Shon-tiyon “Santiago” Horton of Alton.
The (Alton) Telegraph reports Horton was more than 600 signatures short to get on the ballot.
Horton hasn’t been charged.
He denies forging signatures. He says he signed petitions on behalf of those who were unable to write their names.
The patriarch of the Ricketts family, Joe Ricketts, is so against government borrowing and spending that he has created a website called EndingSpending.com and produced this video…
The money quote…
“I think it’s a crime for our elected officials to borrow money today, to spend money today and push the repayment of that loan out into the future on people who are not even born yet.”
Um. Hmm. Isn’t that pretty much exactly what the Cubs want to do now? And since Mr. Ricketts believes this sort of a thing is a “crime,” should his son, the Cub chairman, be arrested?
Heh.
* Mr. Ricketts’ website defines earmarks this way…
What’s an earmark? In general, it is a provision inserted in the text of a Congressional bill or report that allocates money or a tax benefit for a specific project, program, or organization, circumventing a merit-based or competitive allocation process.
And the “merit-based or competitive allocation process” for the $300 million Cub bonds are… what, exactly? I suppose since Mr. Ricketts is talking about federal earmarks his family can ignore the obvious ideological conflict with state and local action.
* In the above video, Ricketts also describes those who support earmarks as “hooligans.” If there is any justice in this world, that term should be thrown right back at his own family.
* I truly had an open mind about this Ricketts proposal last week. But if the Ricketts family patriarch is against it, then why should anyone be stupid enough to vote for it?
“That would deny the next mayor — if I sign the agreement and say, ‘Go ahead’ — of the revenue they need to balance the budget,” Daley said. “And government needs money in order to balance budgets.
“We have to really talk about how you finance this without jeopardizing — whether it’s $5 million, $7 million or $8 million of — future growth….It’s a good concept. They’re well-intentioned….but that would really burden the next mayor. You wouldn’t want to do that.”
And so does Gov. Quinn…
“We have top priorities in Illinois right now that must be dealt with,” Quinn said, adding that the Ricketts family’s proposal “would not be a top priority for me.” […]
The governor added: “These are private owners of a baseball team. They spent almost $1 billion buying it. They knew what they were buying. To be coming to the people of Illinois for assistance now after an election isn’t a top priority… If they wanted this to happen, they should have talked about it before the election — not after.”
* The Rockford Register Star refuses to look a gift horse in the mouth…
The city of Rockford needs every economic development tool it can get. Although a riverboat casino might not be the ideal opportunity, it could be a key piece in a downtown redevelopment plan that could include a hotel, restaurants and shopping.
A Rockford casino would keep money here. Busloads of local people head to Elgin and Aurora to have fun with their money. Why not make Rockford the place to have fun and give another entertainment option to residents and visitors who might want to exit Interstate 90 and detour into Rockford for a quick game?
It’s time for Rockford to put a few items in the “yes” pile. We need to say “yes” to something that would help lower our unemployment rate and might be the impetus for more investment in the city.
The community is infamous for its ability to say “no.” This is an opportunity that should be seized.
The issue: A plan to drastically expand gambling in Illinois could lead to a new casino in the south suburbs.
We say: The sudden choice of Ford Heights reeks of secret back-room deals. The process is an outrage, and the public should demand accounting. […]
This is just some back-alley craps game - sleazy, secret, with dirty motives and quite possibly thugs waiting in the wings.
It’s the kind of back-room deal that’s dragged this state into the gutter, holds us down, picks our pockets, and kicks us in the temple.
* One of the paper’s columnists compares the proposed casino to a gentleman’s club…
The casino, if approved by state lawmakers, would be just like Ford Heights’ Atlantis Gentlemen’s Club, a beacon of jobs and economic development that opened three years ago - and has yet to attract the hotels, restaurants and spinoff businesses promised.
* The Question: Do you favor adding new casinos in Illinois? Explain.
Monday, Nov 15, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Part 1, Electric Rates.
Myth: Taylorville will put an “enormous economic burden” on consumers
Fact: The Clean Coal Portfolio Standard caps residential rate increases at 2.015%, or $1.67/month, according to the ICC.
Myth: Taylorville means rate increases now, when we can least afford it
Fact: Between now and 2015, the project will invest billions in Illinois, employ nearly 2,500 construction workers and purchase supplies from all corners of the state. The cost to ratepayers between now and 2015? ZERO. NOTHING. ZILCH.
Myth: Taylorville will dramatically increase electric rates for large business customers
Fact: Big business customers currently pay 40.5% less for electricity than residential and small business consumers. Even under their worst case scenario, large customers would still pay 37.1% less.
Myth: Illinois has plenty of electricity. No new plants are needed.
Fact: As Crain’s and others have reported, environmental regulations are expected to force 25-40% of Illinois coal plants to shut down by 2020. Since Illinois still relies on coal for half of our electricity, less supply and more demand means higher electric rates if cleaner supplies of reliable electricity, like Taylorville, are not built. And who benefits from that?
Monday, Nov 15, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
1. An enormous burden on the Illinois economy and consumers
In the best case scenario, Tenaska’s proposal would force all Illinois consumers to pay at least $286 million more for electricity annually than they would otherwise. (That’s $8.6 Billion over 30 years!) And who pays for overruns? Consumers.
2. A “jobs program” that actually kills jobs
The Tenaska plant would cost ten times as many jobs as it creates! Raising the cost of doing business to this degree will cost between 15,000 to 35,000 jobs, according to independent economic analysts.
3. It’s anything but “green”
Even if everything goes right, the plant has the same emissions profile as a natural gas-fired power plant, which is a lot cheaper. More likely, the plant will either be MUCH more expensive or MUCH more polluting.
4. Huge environmental concerns
Underground sequestration is untried and untested, and could be very dangerous to any community living on top of all that CO2.
5. Shatter Illinois’ competitive electric market
Forcing Illinois’ 41 certified retail electric suppliers to buy the plant’s power – no matter the price - is anti-competitive and turns the whole principle of competitive markets on its head.
* It’s tough to argue with this Sun-Times editorial board logic…
The Chicago Cubs’ new owners, like the previous owners, are making a move to hit up Chicago taxpayers to the tune of $200 million to pay for renovations at Wrigley Field.
The money ultimately would come from 35 years of future growth in an amusement tax that the city levies on tickets and concessions at Wrigley.
That’s money that otherwise would go straight into the city’s tapped-out general fund — money the city desperately needs for essential services such as paved streets and police and fire protection.
It’s money that would have to be made up somehow.
If this deal goes through, future Chicago mayors could be forced to raise taxes and fees elsewhere or cut basic city services even more deeply.
And for what?
To fix up a privately owned baseball park for one of the most profitable sports teams in the country.
Talk about a corked bat.
Tom Ricketts and his brothers and sister are grown-ups. They knew exactly what they were doing last year when they bought the Cubs and Wrigley Field from the Tribune Company for $845 million.
* But, forget the city’s editorial pages. A couple of far more powerful enemies have popped up: The Bears and the White Sox…
Bonds for the Cell will be paid off in 2021. Soldier Field bonds will be retired in 2031. If amusement tax growth is not great enough by then to retire the Wrigley bonds, the Cubs intend to borrow from the hotel tax and pay it back by extending the life of the bonds.
That could force the city and state to forfeit amusement tax growth for even longer than 35 years.
But here’s the catch: If the Cubs move to the head of the line, the Bears and Sox could be deprived of the money they may need to complete stadium renovations.
“They’re assuming we won’t need any major work at Soldier Field and U.S. Cellular Field. These are assets of the state and city that need to be upgraded,” said a source familiar with the deal.
“Twenty years from now, the Bears may say, ‘For us to stay, we need this and this.’ … The Cubs are saying, ‘When the bonds run out, it’ll go to us. The hell with you.’”
* The team’s new owner is attempting to calm the waters, but he’s only somewhat addressing the points mentioned by the CS-T…
Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts tried Friday to calm the uproar. In several radio interviews, he said Cubs fans are on the hook, not the at-large taxpayer on the South Side, in Peoria or in Carbondale.
“The dollars are only coming from people who buy Cubs tickets, and only the increase over what they pay today,” Ricketts said on WGN-AM 720. […]
Ricketts argued that the city and county can’t count on incremental revenue from the Wrigley amusement tax if the Cubs don’t refurbish the 96-year-old ballpark. The growth in the amusement tax will primarily come from increasing ticket prices. Ricketts said it’s easier to justify higher tickets prices over time in a renovated stadium.
“The increases (in the amusement tax) won’t exist unless we fix up the park,” Ricketts told WGN.
The trouble is, the new owner wants to tap all the money from the amusement tax increase. If they could split it with the city and county, they might have a better case. Or, they could raise the tax and only tap that cash.
Brian Battle, a director at Chicago-based investment adviser Performance Trust Capital Partners, suggested this tack: “If you are a Sox fan, they are not asking you to pay for anything.”
Yes, they are. The Ricketts want all that new tax revenue, which would otherwise go to municipal coffers.
“I can’t rule it in or out. It is a good proposal, but like anything else, we have to see what effect this has on the revenue. And that’s very important, especially when you’re looking at nickels and dimes. That’s what we’re looking at. People are taking furlough days off, cutting pay and all that. So, you know, it’s difficult,” the mayor said.
Daley said there are other ways to renovate Wrigley Field besides the bond proposal.
* It might be nice if the team waited until after the mayoral election to do this. At the very least, the top candidates should weigh in one way or the other. Two already have…
“While many Chicagoans feel affection for Wrigley Field and the Cubs, I have reservations about asking taxpayers to provide funding to a private company at a time when basic city services like our education and public safety systems are being impacted by the state of the city’s finances,” said Rahm Emanuel.
Gery Chico also said, “I don’t think that’s the proper way to fund any renovation of Wrigley Field. Those monies go for essential municipal services — whether it’s police, fire or Streets and Sanitation.”
Daley said it’s important to preserve Wrigley but isn’t sure it’s appropriate to saddle his successor with decades of payments using revenue that would otherwise go into city coffers.
I mean, didn’t we just come through the biggest financial meltdown since the Great Depression by buying crap that people such as the Rickettses told us was hot stuff?
Clever folks in the financial-services field, such as the Rickettses, know how the game is rigged. Always against the little people.
Remember a year ago when Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said he and his commission-rich underlings were doing ‘’God’s work'’?
If the bond scheme these Cubs owners are trying to foist on us — with the help of government reps such as Illinois state Senate President John Cullerton — does pass, it’s the devil’s work.
The Rickettses have revealed themselves. They might love the Cubs, but they love other people’s money more.
One of the very top officials in Bill Brady’s campaign told me a few days after the election that he believes Brady lost to Gov. Pat Quinn for one reason: The pro-choice group Personal PAC.
Brady’s election-day model, the top campaign official said, had him taking 43 percent of the suburban Cook County vote. Instead, Brady took only 40 percent. That extra 3 points definitely would have won race for the abortion opponent Brady.
“The North Shore went to hell,” this uppermost Brady operative added, blaming Personal PAC’s mail, TV ads and robocalls for the loss.
A look at Cook County results showed that Brady vastly underperformed the numbers of Republican Mark Kirk, an abortion rights supporter, in several northern Cook townships. Kirk is a north suburban resident, so he was expected to somewhat outperform Brady. Yet Kirk won New Trier Township by 4,535 votes, while the anti-abortion Brady won it by just 537. The pro-choice Kirk won Northfield by almost 7,000 votes to Brady’s 1,325-vote margin.
And it wasn’t just the North Shore. Kirk more than doubled Brady’s winning margins in Schaumburg, Wheeling, Maine and Lyons townships. The same basic pattern played out in all the suburban collar counties as well.
Personal PAC CEO Terry Cosgrove told me he focused his group’s mail and robocalls almost solely on suburban women who voted in the last two general elections, but who didn’t vote in any primaries. That way, Cosgrove said, he could aim his message at what he believed were “very middle of the road, average suburban women.” He also included in his list 170,000 pro-choice Republican women whom his group had identified in suburban state legislative races over the years.
“I knew if we could get enough of those suburban women, that’s where victory was,” Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove said his media buyer’s research showed he could find those same “average” women voters via the early morning news and daily TV talk shows. “We were on every single network TV station in the–morning through 4 o’clock,” he said. Cosgrove said Personal PAC spent $100,000 on TV the day before the election alone, figuring that he could catch busy, preoccupied women who were just about to make up their minds.
Cosgrove also determined early on that independent millionaire Scott Lee Cohen would help Quinn. “I didn’t care if they went for him because it wasn’t a vote for Brady,” he said.
“This race was a referendum on Pat Quinn,” Cosgrove continued, saying that he viewed it the same as a multi-candidate primary. Relative unknowns often split the “anti” vote in those primaries. Cosgrove figured Scott Lee Cohen would do the same. He was right.
Were there other important factors in this race? Absolutely. Organized labor and the Democratic ground game helped push Chicago’s turnout well above 2006 levels. The Brady Campaign - the gun control group, not the candidate - most certainly helped pit many of those aforementioned suburban voters against Bill Brady.
But it’s no secret that Personal PAC is infinitely more sophisticated with its messaging than its counterparts on both the left and the right. The best example of this is one of the group’s mass mailers featuring a photo of a middle-aged couple on the front. “My husband might not have made it,” the mailer began. “Prostate screening saved his life. Who would vote against that?” Brady voted against a bill mandating prostate cancer screening.
The idea behind the mailer, Cosgrove said, was to get women to talk to their husbands about Bill Brady. About one man in six are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and that rate is far higher among older men. The mailer was designed to play on an almost universal fear.
The group also is much more willing than typical candidates to use harshly blunt messages in its advertising. Cosgrove, for instance, said that men are more amenable to his abortion messaging when they’re reminded of their daughters. So, his TV ad featured a young woman who talked about how she was raped at age 18, saying she wouldn’t know what she would have done had she become pregnant. The rest of the ad featured photos of very young women along with the message that Brady was against abortion in cases of rape and incest. The idea was to drive the message home that this was about daughters. It worked.
Titled “Tough,” the 30-second spot will begin airing Monday as part of a large, nearly $750,000 ad buy of broadcast Chicago TV stations.
Showing images of Emanuel talking and greeting people around the city as part of his five-week ramp-up to the mayoral run he formally announced Saturday, Emanuel narrates, saying Chicago is “at a crossroads” and needs a mayor to make difficult but necessary decisions.
* Axelrod on whether Obama will campaign for Rahm Emanuel for mayor: “Well, the president has made clear what his view of Rahm is. He said he was an excellent chief-of-staff, thought he would be an excellent mayor. Whether he involves himself actively in this campaign is a matter that we haven’t yet decided. But I think his view of Rahm is very clear.”
* Springfield guitar legend Raoul Brotherman passed away peacefully November 12th after a brief illness and a hellraising life.
Some friends and I were with Raoul when he died Friday night. He opened his eyes while I was telling a story about him playing an obscure Neil Young song, smiled and then left. No fear, no sadness. He was serene. Raoul died like the Bar Buddah lived - at peace and surrounded by friends.
Raoul had his pain and his demons like everybody else, but he was a joyous man without a single mean bone in his big body or an enemy in the world. Everybody who knew him loved him.
This town just won’t ever be the same without Raoul. His friends will miss him intensely, but there will be an emptiness in the music scene here that can never be filled. All the people who’ve ever heard him play understand what I mean.
I hope to write more about Raoul’s life later. Right now, I’m just too emotionally drained to say much more. Some folks are working on a compilation CD and digging up some videos. Believe it or not, there’s really nothing out there right now except for his backup playing on other artists’ recordings.
The Round Mound of Sound wrote several songs, but this was always one of my favorite covers…
And the wind is blowin’ cold tonight
So goodnight, Louise, goodnight.
Goodbye, Raoul.
You can leave comments here if the spirit moves you.
* OK, make sure you’re not eating when you read my Sun-Times column this morning. Please, put down that bagel. Set aside your croissant. You’ll thank me later. Ready? Begin…
I was thinking the other day about what sort of governor Pat Quinn ought to be now that the election is over, and for some odd reason I flashed back to an old buddy I haven’t seen in a decade.
Years ago, I had a little cabin in the Missouri woods. My neighbors would get together on weekend evenings around a campfire, drink beer and tell stories.
One of my neighbors was a factory worker who had been laid off from Boeing and eventually ended up working at a different factory for half the pay. He wasn’t ever bitter, though, and he’d do anything for anybody.
My friend also had a fascinating ability to mimic a hoot owl. He’d hoot for a few minutes and pretty soon all the trees surrounding the campfire would be filled with owls, hooting back at him, their eyes glowing from the reflection of the blaze.
It always gave me a spooky rush, and I begged him more times than I can remember to do it again. He never once failed.
One evening, my buddy showed up at the fire pit with a big bandage on his left cheek. I asked him what happened.
He said he had been out hunting with his dogs in a field not far from where we were sitting. He was slowly making his way through a stand of tall grass when suddenly a copperhead snake jumped up and bit him hard on his cheek.
Talk about a spooky rush. I didn’t know copperheads could even leap, and because we weren’t far from where my pal was attacked, I nervously scanned my surroundings before asking what he did next.
“You mean after I screamed?” he said with a laugh.
Yeah. After you screamed.
Well, he said, the snake wouldn’t let go of his cheek, even though he tried and tried to pry its head loose from his face. Nobody could help him because he was alone except for his dogs. So, he said, he grabbed that snake with one hand, pulled out his hunting knife with the other and cut the copperhead’s body off from its head.
Then he walked back to his car, with the copperhead’s fangs still embedded in his cheek, and drove himself to the nearest emergency room.
I almost fainted just listening to his tale. I bet I’ve probably lost a few readers by now as well. You don’t expect to see a crazy scary snake story when you pick up the Chicago Sun-Times.
But if I could force Quinn to model himself on anyone, it would be my long-ago friend.
Figuratively, of course. Quinn doesn’t have to learn to hoot like an owl, but the governor does need to do a far better job of attracting state legislators to his side whenever he speaks.
Quinn’s post-election boasts about his supposed “mandate” for a tax increase did nothing but shoo away the General Assembly’s hoot owls. It seems like he loses support every time he opens his mouth. The object is to pass your bills, not kill them.
And some of those Springfield bosses make angry, leaping copperheads look downright tame.
Quinn has a galling habit of flip-flopping whenever they bite him, which is the Statehouse equivalent of lying down to die.
Nobody ever helps him out when this happens because he annoyingly refuses to lay any groundwork and do any real planning before he acts.
So, he’s left alone to deal with his wounds, and it ain’t pretty.
Please, governor. Learn.
* In other news, the gaming expansion bill has hit a new roadblock. Black Caucus members won’t support it…
It’s never easy to expand gaming here, and that’s just one reason why. By the time you please everybody who can kill your bill, it’s too heavy to move. Or, in the local parlance, the Christmas Tree collapses under its own weight.
State revenue from gambling in the past fiscal year was the lowest in 10 years, the result of both the poor economy and Illinois’ indoor smoking ban, a new report said. […]
“However, the numbers continue to suggest that the biggest contributor to the drop in Illinois casino revenues is the indoor smoking ban,” the report concluded.
Since the ban took effect in January 2008, adjusted gross receipts at Illinois casinos dropped 28 percent. The report said both admissions and receipts took hits after the ban went into effect.
“Illinois riverboat totals are significantly worse than the riverboat totals of states surrounding Illinois,” the COGFA report says. “Therefore … it appears that the indoor smoking ban has continued to have a major negative impact on the riverboat industry.”
* Roundup…
* Disclosure Fight Looms in Springfield: Open-records advocates are preparing for a fight in Springfield next week over the lingering effort to make performance evaluations of public employees exempt from the state’s freedom-of-information law. State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia, Democrat of Aurora, is leading the effort to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of a bill that would have exempted the evaluations. Mr. Quinn sent the legislation back to the House in July, narrowing the exempt list to law-enforcement personnel.
* Did aliens take over the Chicago Tribune editorial board? The reason I ask is the paper ran two editorials today about state politics that were actually well-written and on an even keel. They didn’t once go all nutso on us.
There are two significant distinctions between what happened in Iowa and what [state Rep. Greg Harris] seeks in Illinois.
First, this would not be a case of the courts creating a right that’s not supported by the public. Harris’ legislation would be an expression of the public through their representatives in the Illinois House and Senate. […]
We do not think lawmakers in most parts of this state would face a backlash for a vote in favor of civil unions. The public largely is supportive. This doesn’t engender as strong an emotional response as gay marriage. A vote for civil unions in Illinois would be a remarkable step, a fair step.
Legislative action is “an expression of the public through their representatives in the Illinois House and Senate”? Well, yeah, but I haven’t seen the Tribune say that in I don’t know how long. Usually, legislators are corrupt, arrogant and completely unrepresentative of the public interest.
Whether you agree with civil unions or not, this editorial was, indeed, “a remarkable step, a fair step” by the paper.
* Hey, I’m not complaining. I’m just shocked, that’s all. Pleasantly shocked, but shocked nonetheless. Check out the end of today’s other editorial opposing the current policy of allowing seniors to ride free on mass transit…
We hope legislative leaders deliver to Quinn a more sensible means for handling senior riders. If Quinn issues a veto, we hope legislators override him and bring this notion of free rides to an end.
Not “We demand,” or “We insist,” or “We’re gonna stomp Madigan and Cullerton into oblivion if they dare disobey us,” but “We hope.”
We hope?
Seriously, was there a coup over there or something? Whatever happened, I’m all for it. Reason, moderation, logic, intelligence, facts. The high road rather than the high hat.
I could get used to this.
* And I’m so ecstatic that I’m not even going to think about cynically suggesting that the Tribune Company’s 5 percent interest in the Chicago Cubs has anything to do with this new editorial board attitude. Nope. Not in the least. Not gonna go there. Nobody ever influences that editorial board.
Heck, this new Ricketts Field bond plan which will be sponsored by Senate President John Cullerton isn’t even a horrible deal for the state. See? I hate all things Cub, but this $300 million borrowing proposal to renovate the park has no direct state cash involved. The city and county might say different, but that’s their problem…
In 2009, the Cubs paid $16.1 million in amusement taxes to the city of Chicago and Cook County through a 12 percent levy on each ticket. The team proposes that the city and county would be guaranteed this amount for the duration of the bonds. But the incremental growth in amusement taxes beyond $16.1 million, either through increased ticket sales or increased ticket prices at Wrigley, would pay the bonds over time, Ricketts said.
The Cubs owner, though, is seeking a safety net in case the amusement tax does not cover the bond payments. Ricketts would like the bonds to be backed by revenue streams that are assigned to the facilities authority, including a 2 percent hotel tax.
The financing plan requires the approval of the Illinois General Assembly. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, will sponsor the legislation and plans to move it forward in the veto session that begins next week, said his spokesman, John Patterson.
“The state has no credit risk here,” Ricketts said. “No one is losing anything. It’s not a new tax, and it’s not increasing taxes. It will allow us to keep some of the growth in a tax.”
I’d prefer they just bulldoze that decrepit stadium into the lake, which would be a whole lot cheaper, but I guess they could at least fix it up a bit.
“The Civic Federation would urge caution before embracing any plans for $300 million in borrowing by a state agency if it does not relate to the overall financial stability of the state,” said President Laurence Msall. “The state of Illinois faces an enormous financial crisis and will be needing all of its borrowing power just to pay its bills and to continue to operate.”
Meh. Since when has the Tribune ever listened to Msall.
* Yesterday, I praised Gov. Pat Quinn for his cheesehead beatdown over federal high speed rail money, and for his laudatory push for wind power jobs.
But how about we take care of our existing businesses as well? For instance…
The Rialto Square Theatre was promised $2.2 million in the state capital bill passed 16 months ago. The Rialto still doesn’t have the money and won’t get it any sooner than spring or summer.
Getting it then may not be a sure bet either.
“We do live in the state of Illinois,” said Rialto Executive Director Randy Green, alluding to the state’s financial troubles when asked how sure he is that the money is coming.
The amount of overdue payments the state owes to providers of substance abuse prevention and treatment programs increased by $12 million in the span of a month.
According to the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association (IADDA), the state owed $34 million at the beginning of October, and it now owes $46 million — in some cases, on bills that are seven months overdue.
Sarah Howe, spokesperson for the IADDA, said providers throughout the state are in danger of soon being unable to pay employees. “The next payroll out, the one after that, they are potentially going to have to miss it.”
Howe said that many providers have stopped offering essential services, such as detox programs, sending individuals seeking help to local emergency rooms. She said specialized substance abuse treatment providers are more equipped to handle such procedures, and sending those in need to hospitals costs taxpayers more and clogs up emergency medical treatment facilities. “I cannot think of a provider that hasn’t had to do something as far as curtailing services,” Howe said.
* And while Quinn one-upped those crazy badgers to the North, we’re losing out - again - to the Hoosiers…
A new study found Illinois is not keeping up with some neighboring states on job creation in the solar power industry. […]
According to the report, as of August 2010, more than 93,000 people nationwide work in solar power, and half of companies in that field expect to hire new employees in the next year. Those jobs include manufacturing, installation and sales. There are solar companies in every state, but the industry is mainly concentrated in the western and northeastern parts of the country. California leads the nation with 30 percent of all solar related businesses and more than 36,000 solar jobs.
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio all made it into the report’s top 20 states for solar job creation, but Illinois did not.
According to the research, Illinois has about 530 solar-related jobs with a projected growth to nearly 700 jobs by 2011. That compares with Indiana — ranked 10th in the country for solar employment and growth — with more than 1,600 jobs and projected growth to more than 1,800 by 2011.
Sen. Mike Jacobs, chair of the Senate energy committee, said alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar, may not yet be consistent enough to rely upon, and lawmakers should be judicious when considering tax breaks or subsidies. He is concerned about asking consumers, especially in a down economy, to pay more for power. Jacobs, an East Moline Democrat, said it is a constant balancing act to keep old power sources thriving while still encouraging development of renewable energy.
“Everybody is really interested in jobs. … I just don’t think weakening incumbent utilities who provide us cheaper power is a good trade-off for us,” Jacobs said.
A war of words is heating up between Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn over job creation.
The Republican Walker said Thursday he plans to persuade Illinois companies to come to Wisconsin. He says he’ll emphasize that Quinn has proposed massive tax increases. […]
She says even with Quinn’s proposal of a 1 percent tax for education, Illinois’ individual income tax rate would be 4 percent. Wisconsin’s ranges from 4.6 percent to 7.75 percent.
Gov.-elect Scott Walker says he wants to set up a fund to help startup companies in Wisconsin.
Walker offered no details Thursday, but he told the Early Stage Symposium at Monona Terrace the fund would represent a public-private partnership.
“We’re going to focus in on small businesses,” he said, opening the second day of the two-day gathering of young technology company leaders and investors.
Walker reiterated his campaign pledge to declare an “economic emergency” and hold a special legislative session on jobs with a package including personal income tax cuts for employers with 50 or fewer workers; streamlined regulations; and an end to the state tax on health savings accounts.
Walker handed Quinn a big public relations success, but Quinn might still learn from the guy.
* I’ve changed my mind and I’m not moving to Chicago for the mayoral election. I made my decision last Wednesday evening when I finally realized I just couldn’t take another campaign right now. And I’m feeling much better about it as I scan this week’s mayoral campaign stories.
A fourth possible candidate, Rob Halpin, said he’s been contacted by politicians- presumably Emanuel’s opponents- to make a run. He’s been living in Emanuel’s house since the former White House chief of staff left for Washington, D.C.
Halpin, 50, is a industrial real estate developer. The married father of three said he knows as much as any other candidate about what the city of Chicago needs. […]
“What I’m hearing is it may cost me some money to get some signatures and get some assistance in the other areas,” said Halpin. “I’d have to consider that when we get to that, which will be soon.” […]
“Anybody that knows me will tell you this is not a stunt, and I wouldn’t be involved with anything like that,” said Halpin.
Yeah. OK.
* Carol Moseley-Braun’s plan to fix the city’s budget and put more police officers on the street to combat gang violence made me cringe…
I propose bringing all of us together to work on these issues
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel — better known in some political quarters as “Rahmbo” — found himself the target of an incoming egg during a stop Wednesday in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, NBC Chicago reports. The egg missed Emanuel, who is expected to make an official announcement soon that he’s running for mayor — and the egg thrower remained unidentified, the TV station reported.
Actually, if you watch the video, Emanuel stayed almost completely focused on what he was doing while the egg flew by. That may be the best indication yet that he’s mayoral material.
OK, see what I mean? I’m actually suggesting that that an egg-throwing incident brings out the best in a candidate. I just can’t do it any more.
* And Emanuel’s response to the parking meter deal was a big bumbler…
“I do have a problem because the money was not used for its original intended purpose, which was to invest in key infrastructure, investments in making the city a more productive city economically so you can grow jobs,” he said.
Despite Emanuel’s comments, none of the proceeds from the $1.15 billion parking meter lease were designated for infrastructure improvements.
Lance Cpl. James Stack was in the thick of combat in Afghanistan during his first overseas deployment with his U.S. Marine unit, but he never expressed any fears to his family.
Instead, the 20-year-old former Arlington Heights resident wrote about his determination to excel at the tough job he was doing.
The body of Staff Sergeant Jordan Emrick arrived at the MidAmerica airport near St. Louis Thursday afternoon. A Marine honor guard escorted his casket on its return to Illinois.
The 26-year-old was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan last Friday while serving his third deployment. Emrick joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Nashville High School in 2002.
The two met Tuesday for the first time, after what Preckwinkle described as months of “zero” cooperation, but it was of little help. Preckwinkle would only say it was “unfortunate” the session was “very short,” but influential Commissioner John Daley, D-Chicago, was less subtle.
“It lasted eight to 10 minutes — it was not good,” said Daley, who said he had discussed the meeting with Preckwinkle.
So Daley and all his colleagues plan to put Stroger and his top executives under the spotlight at Tuesday’s board meeting, where they will be asked to detail their transition efforts.
