* Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno started her media availability earlier than she announced, so here is the last minute or so of her response.
More in a bit.
* Sen Bill Brady offered his reaction to reporters. Take a look…
The budget also includes more than $2 billion in proposed cuts, including a deep reduction in education funding. In his budget address, Governor Quinn called on the General Assembly to rescue education from devastating cuts by passing a one-percent income tax surcharge for education. The surcharge for education would restore the education budget to its current level.
“If we enact this emergency rescue plan promptly, we can keep thousands of committed teachers from getting layoff notices,” Governor Quinn said.
* I’m told that the one point tax surcharge would bring in somewhere between $2.8 and $3 billion. Wish I knew that when I was on live TV and was asked the question cold.
Speaker madigan just said the people don’t want to hear about tax increases.
*** UPDATE *** I just got off the phone with Fox Chicago. They accidentally misreported the numbers this morning. The actual numbers are…
Giannoulias 44
Kirk 41
Undecided 10
Other 5
The poll was taken March 8th (the same day as the Quinn/Brady poll) and the margin of error is +/-4.5.
[ *** End of update and text corrected below to reflect update *** ]
* A new Rasmussen poll has Alexi Giannoulias leading Mark Kirk 42-41 44-41.
Rasmussen hasn’t posted the numbers as of 10 o’clock this morning, but I’ll check back later. [UPDATE: Check back after four o’clock for the full poll results.]
So, what the heck is going on? Yesterday’s poll, presumably of the same set of voters, had the governor’s race a lopsided 47-37 Bill Brady lead over Gov. Quinn.
I originally thought that the Quinn/Brady poll was an outlier, but Rasmussen’s US Senate numbers are in line with recent polling…
Again, if Rasmussen polled the same people for US Senate that they polled in the governor’s race, then this is a screwy year, baby. Screwy.
* Anyway, back to the Senate poll. Here are Rasmussen’s numbers for the current poll with their February, December and October results in parentheses…
Giannoulias 44 (40, 42, 41)
Kirk 41 (46, 39, 41)
That’s a huge apparent swing for Giannoulias/Kirk in the past month - a month when the Democrat has been hammered incessantly over his family bank’s troubles. Today was no exception. Tribune…
It’s usually understood that a Democratic president supports his party’s candidates for office, especially when the nominee in question is running for the U.S. Senate seat the president himself once held.
But today Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign went out of its way to announce that he does, in fact, have the backing of the White House.
Giannoulias campaign sent out a news release highlighting remarks by President Barack Obama’s press secretary about the president’s support for Giannoulias, who not only is the Democratic nominee running for Obama’s old Senate seat but also is known for being a longtime personal friend of the president’s.
Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the party’s nominee for the state’s open Senate seat, visited the White House Tuesday and picked up a somewhat tepid endorsement from press secretary Robert Gibbs.
While Democrats may scoff at any notion of a latter-day Reagan revolution coming to the blue state of Illinois, they are hardly cheered by the challenges facing state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in his U.S. Senate battle vs. Kirk.
Giannoulias has tried to get out in front of the seemingly imminent failure of his family’s Broadway Bank, but there’s no way to put that story behind him as long as the FDIC could move in at any time and take it over.
Giannoulias met with David Axelrod at the White House on Tuesday. At the same time, Republicans were sending out dispatches with a reminder of President Obama’s recent denunciation of “fat cats who are getting rewarded for their failure . . . bankers don’t need another vote in the U.S. Senate.”
Chicago’s reluctance to allow video gambling in the city will deprive the state of almost $178 million annually, according to a new analysis by the Legislature’s budget-forecasting arm.
That shortfall could blow a nearly $2 billion hole in Gov. Quinn’s $31 billion construction program, which was partly reliant on proceeds from video gambling in bars and restaurants across the state.
“This puts a monkey wrench in a couple billion dollars worth of projects we can’t move forward on and do jobs,” said Rep. Raymond Poe (R-Springfield), who requested the estimates from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
The panel projected that up to $475 million worth of wagering would occur on video gambling machines in Chicago if the city were to authorize them.
The commission said the state stands to lose between $95.6 million and $177.7 million by Chicago’s absence from the video gambling bandwagon.
As we’ve discussed before, Chicago has to approve video gambling before it can commence inside city limits and Daley has grumbled about not wanting to do it yet. He and the city council are up for election next year, and they’ve all got enough problems without adding this to the mix.
* Slots at racetracks is being pushed as a way to supplement (or even replace) video gaming revenues. It’s getting some bipartisan support, but Speaker Madigan’s spokesman sounded non-committal…
Steve Brown, spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, said approving slots for racetracks isn’t an immediate priority, but there is some interest brewing among members given the state’s $13 billion budget hole and underfunded capital construction program.
“I don’t know I would say there’s serious interest on the part of leadership,” Brown said.
Burns said the idea of installing slots at racetracks has been floated for years, to no avail. He’s hoping he’ll get more traction as the session continues.
“It’s always hard to read the tea leaves this early in the process,” Burns said.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat, introduced similar legislation in the Senate.
If Brown had been jumping up and down for joy, the Statehouse would’ve exploded with interest, so I get what he tried to do there.
[Illinois State Superintendent of Schools Christopher Koch] once again told lawmakers that schools across Illinois will be looking at $500 less per-student next year in general state aid. Koch reiterated that the 13,000 layoffs he talked about last week is the best-case scenario. He said if lawmakers ordered cuts for the last three months of this school year, or Gov. Pat Quinn followed through with a billion-and-a half dollars in cuts to education, the number of layoffs could triple.
But the newest warning from Illinois’ school chief is that he cannot tell local schools when, or if, they’ll get money for the mandated categorical of special ed and transportation, or for early childhood education programs.
“I’d not be comfortable saying [the governor’s proposed budget is] dead on arrival. But if I was simply assessing how I thought it would fare in the Senate, we’d have to assume we’d have to get Republicans on board to the idea of borrowing . . . and I do not see that happening,” said Rikeesha Phelon, a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago).
Borrowing beyond a fiscal year requires a three-fifths majority, and that means Republican involvement. It’ll be tough, for sure.
Even if lawmakers go along with Quinn’s cuts, the state still would be $11 billion short next year, Quinn budget officials said.
That’s where the options of a tax increase or borrowing come in.
Quinn aides said the administration will propose borrowing $4.7 billion and carrying over $6.3 billion of the state’s debt.
“Carrying over” means “not paying bills anywhere near on time.” That’s the biggest component of the Quinn plan, but it got the least media attention today.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) issued a joint statement urging ruling Democrats to cut spending and rein in Medicaid expenses and state pension costs before asking taxpayers “to invest more of their hard-earned money into a state government that has not and is not serving them well.”
There aren’t nearly enough Medicaid and pension cuts in this proposed budget to satisfy the GOP. Then again, I kinda doubt that satisfying them is possible at this stage of the game. Going in relatively low leaves room for negotiations.
Stermer also said there was “an agreement in the works” within the legislature that would institute a two-tier pension plan with lesser benefits for future state workers. Such a plan, he said, would provide up to $300 million in savings in the budget proposal. While pushed by prominent politicians in both parties, a two-tier system has been fought by state labor unions.
* As I told subscribers this morning, Murphy proposed borrowing as a solution when he was a gubernatorial candidate, so this is more than a bit disingenuous…
“They want to borrow their way past the election so they can pass the tax increase without risk of retribution from the voters, and that’s what this is set up to do,” said Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine).
* If you watched the briefing videos, you know that the governor’s people had to be pushed and prodded over and over to come clean on just what some of this stuff meant. One of the big questions was about the missing tax hike component…
“The General Assembly has not acted on a tax increase and has given symbols that they don’t want to act on a tax increase,” said Jerry Stermer, Quinn’s chief staff. […]
As to whether Quinn would propose a specific revenue increase in his budget address, or divulge what he plans to do with the money that would come from one, no one in the room would answer that question.
“Quinn’s not included a tax increase in this budget, and that’s a conversation that has to happen,” Stermer said. When pressed on the issue, Stermer said, “The governor will talk about that tomorrow — noon sharp.”
“I don’t think he intends to cut a billion dollars out of education… He’s doing it to get the education community upset and to call lawmakers and say, ‘Vote for a tax increase so we don’t have this cut.’”
There have to be cuts, but education’s share is disproportionate to its budget size. The Sun-Times also rails against the education cuts today…
But we think his education cuts are too severe. We prefer a plan by the conservative-leaning Civic Federation to exempt from cuts Medicaid and a significant portion of the state public school budget, known as general state aid. The Civic Federation recommends across-the-board 7 percent cuts to bring Illinois back to 2007 spending levels, given how revenues have been whacked by the recession. Quinn also will propose a two-tier pension system today, with less generous benefits for new hires. This is both the right thing to do and a good way to bring around recalcitrant Republicans who refuse to support an income tax increase without pension reforms and budget cuts.
As I said earlier, I’m not sure those pension reforms are quite enough yet. The Republicans don’t really want to get in front of this issue because they also fear upsetting the unions. They’ve been content to hang back and demand the Democrats take the lead, which is what the minority party does. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what the actual agreement looks like, if they ever get one.
“Anything meaningful is gonna be very politically unpopular. You’re gonna be cutting programs, eventually you got to look at a tax increase, I just don’t think that’s gonna happen during an election year. What worries me is I’m not sure that’s gonna happen after the election. I’ve become very pessimistic.”
Edgar says his biggest hope is that politicians don’t make the state’s budget mess worse during the upcoming legislative session.
* Former Illinois governor Jim Edgar had some not-so-kind words for his party’s Republican nominee on Chicago Public Radio yesterday. Edgar called Brady’s ten percent across-the-board budget cut plan “naïve“…
“I don’t agree with across the board. I think that’s a naïve approach,” Edgar said. “There are some more essential [programs] than others. It’s a difference of life and death… we don’t want to make a cut that will result in somebody dying. There are some programs in state government that [can mean] the difference between life and death. Those programs you can’t cut.”
And he’s not planning to campaign for Brady, either…
“I was hoping that Kirk [Dillard] would be the [Republican] nominee,” Edgar said. “He was my chief of staff and I think he had a good understanding of what it took to get the problems…I’m at the University of Illinois and I think I’ll take a professorial role in this campaign and just sit on the sidelines.”
* As I already told you, several pro-choice groups held a presser yesterday to blast Brady…
Beth Kanter with Illinois Planned Parenthood’s politcal action committee and several other activist groups gathered in Chicago to declare Brady “anti-woman,” vowing to support Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
“Over 17 years in Springfield, Bill Brady has amassed quite a scary record,” Kanter said. “And in his run for governor, Bill Brady is not backing down in his extreme positions against women.”
Kanter was joined onstage by representatives from the National Organization of Women, Personal PAC, Citizen Action, and a supporter of stem-cell research. She said she and other activists scrutinized Brady’s Senate record and campaign questionnaires in formulating their opinion of him as a gubernatorial candidate.
Kanter cited Brady’s opposition to abortion rights, noting his response to an Illinois Federation for Right to Life questionnaire.
“Sen. Brady has said he would sign a law banning abortion except to save the life of a woman,” she said. “That means if a woman is raped or the victim of incest, she would not be allowed to get an abortion.”
Cosgrove and the other speakers admitted they would probably be launching the same campaign if any of the other five Republicans had won the nomination for governor.
All the GOP candidates were anti-abortion except for DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom, who dropped out a week before Election Day. The other six agreed with 26 out of 26 positions supported by the Illinois Federation for Right to Life on the group’s questionnaire, except for Andy McKenna, who agreed with 25 out of 26.
But Cosgrove said surveys of Republican primary election voters showed 70 percent of them supported a right to abortion in cases of rape and incest, unlike the candidates.
* Representatives from Gov. Quinn’s Office of Management and Budget presented a budget plan Tuesday night in the Illinois State Museum Auditorium. They opened with a PowerPoint before taking questions from reporters. Videos from the briefing are below in chronological order.
*** UPDATE *** I’m at the budget briefing. The materials include broad outlines of some of the cuts. Human services will take a $276 million hit, including adult home care, child care and community mental health.
Health takes a $325 mil reduction with cuts to prescription drug assistance [benefits cut in half] and retiree group health.
Education, including universities, is in for a $1.3 billlion cut.
464 reduced head count at state police and 30 at Corrections.
Increased head count at Ag (6.5) DCFS (208) DCEO (33) DHFS (23) Rev (75) IDOT (262) Vets (87).
• They built into the budget the 62% Medicaid match even though that extra cash expires Dec. 31. They claim strong signals that the increased match will be extended.
• There will be no briefing on any tax hike. Gov Quinn will save that for himself.
• after proposed cuts they “still have an eleven billion dollar problem.”
• The “Voucher payment notes” are various borrowing plans, the budget director says. That could include another pension note plan. Since increased pension payments appear to be $4.16 billion and the voucher payment notes are listed at $4.67 billion, that looks likely to my eyes, but we’ll have to wait and see.
• Much confusion now over what this briefing is. This is the budget, Jerry Stermer says, but this doesn’t include a tax hike, and the guv will lay out new state revenues tomorrow. So, go figure.
• It’s taken a bi to get this out of them, but it looks like they’ll borrow about 4.7 cut a couple bil and roll over about 5.7 bil to fiscal year 12. In other words they have a 4.7 bil operating deficit built in to next FY plus 6 billlion from this fiscal year.
[End of live-blogging portion.]
* I was able to obtain a little bit of the governor’s proposed budget. His total operating expenditures will rise from $29.145 billion this fiscal year to $32.117 billion next FY - mainly, it appears, because of an increase in pension payments.
Quinn’s also using $4.672 billion of something called “Voucher payment notes” to balance the budget. The explanation at the bottom of the page is “A series of notes to pay specific vouchers during the fiscal year.” Not sure yet what that means. We’ll hopefully have more after the budget briefing later this afternoon.
…Adding… The top sheet referenced above can be viewed by clicking here.
* Here are some of the state agency numbers from the governor’s soon to be proposed FY 2011 budget. The first number is the current fiscal year’s estimated expenditure and the second is the proposed funding level for next fiscal year. All numbers are in thousands…
AGENCY ($ thousands) … FY10 EST. EXPEND. … FY11 REC. APPROP
General Assembly … 50,099 … 43,155
Legislative Agencies … 103,601 … 83,348
Judicial Agencies … 400,764 … 376,608
Office of the Governor … 93,896 … 4,705 [GOMB Typo. Waiting on actual number.]
Office of the Lieutenant Governor … 94 … 0
Office of the Attorney General … 76,852 … 69,556
Office of the Secretary of State … 394,391 … 355,967
Office of the State Comptroller … 108,968 … 87,325
Office of the State Treasurer … 1,743,160 … 1,732,926
Elected Officials and Elections … 2,435,411 … 2,286,215
Department of Aging … 732,919 … 703,147
Department of Agriculture … 101,262 … 97,560
Department of Central Management Services … 846,129 … 1,064,405
Department of Children and Family Services … 1,394,312 … 1,439,450
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity … 1,053,678 … 2,389,531
Department of Natural Resources … 214,092 … 278,731
Department of Corrections … 1,202,307 … 1,305,163
Department of Employment Security … 306,510 … 350,649
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation … 78,014 … 84,185
Department of Human Services … 6,199,214 … 6,346,019
Department of Healthcare and Family Services … 14,630,665 … 15,920,104
Department of State Police … 357,519 … 359,019
Illinois Arts Council … 9,215 … 9,577
Governor’s Office of Management and Budget … 321,930 … 338,319
Office of Executive Inspector General … 6,859 … 6,931
Illinois Gaming Board … 117,127 … 137,359
GOVERNOR’S AGENCIES TOTAL … 36,013,295 … 39,719,582
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION … 10,314,159 … 9,861,256
TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM … 951,540 … 157,594
HIGHER EDUCATION TOTAL … 2,796,227 … 2,591,954
The new survey finds Brady leading by 17 points among women but just three points among men.
We’ve known for a while that Quinn had trouble with women, but I cannot possibly see how the Democrat is trailing among women to a Republican by 17 points, while losing by just 3 among men.
The crosstabs (subscribers only) show Brady ahead of Quinn 50-33 among women and 45-42 among men. The crosstabs also show Quinn leading Brady among Democrats 63-21, while Brady leads Quinn among Republicans 82-10.
The only other poll we have is the Research 2000 for Daily Kos which had Quinn up 47-32 - an almost reverse image of this one. So, go figure.
Even Rasmussen has a bit of trouble with these results…
Brady’s numbers likely reflect at least a modest bounce from the news of his victory. Given Illinois’ strong Democratic leanings, the race is sure to tighten in the days ahead.
* Meanwhile, Rasmussen has support divided over whether the LG’s office should be eliminated…
Should Illinois eliminate the position of lieutenant governor?
41% Yes
40% No
19% Not sure
The governor hopes the measure will generate as many as 20,000 jobs.
According to a source in Mr. Quinn’s office, the program will be open to companies with 50 or fewer total employees as of June 30.
For each new, full-time Illinois job created and maintained for at least one year, employers would get a $2,500 credit.
This is pretty close to a campaign proposal by Sen. Bill Brady…
I will help create and retain jobs in Illinois through employer incentives. I am proposing a $2,100 tax credit to businesses for every new job they create. The average job brings in $4,200 in revenue to the state. I believe it’s a good investment for the state, attracting new jobs to get Illinois’ unemployed back to work.
The difference, apparently, is that Quinn’s program only applies to small businesses, not big ones. That tack has obvious political advantages.
* Sheila Simon’s on the LG short list, according to Sneed…
Word late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon’s daughter, Sheila, submitted her application for the job is worth noting: Sneed has learned she was on Gov. Quinn’s list of five nominees for the job weeks ago.
Pssst! Sneed is told Quinn treasures a bow tie that once belonged to Sen. Simon, one of his heroes — given to him by Sheila Simon after her father died.
Sneed’s bet: The Dem party will select state Rep. Art Turner, for lieutenant governor.
The buckshot: Watch for a rumpus and a ruckus from angry African-American congressmen if Turner, who placed second in the primary, doesn’t get the ballot spot.
We’ll see soon enough.
* More on the hopeful LG horde, which now tops 200…
Mary Stonor Saunders of Chicago, for example, notes that she runs a company that sells high-end granola.
Carol Qualkinbush of Evanston is a partner in a company that sells products aimed at controlling foot odor.
“I am definitely not a politician but will hopefully bring an integrity that career politicians cannot often afford,” Qualkinbush notes in her application. […]
The son of Joseph Hartzler, the federal prosecutor who oversaw the conviction of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, also has tossed his name in the ring.
* Erickson looks at what these people are vying for…
On a recent tour of the space, visitors were greeted by the sound of the Capitol heating system, which still pours warm air into the offices.
Desks had been hastily cleared in the aftermath of the exodus. One room contains a jumble of furniture. Computer monitors remain, but important paperwork and any personnel effects left by Quinn’s staffers is nowhere to be seen.
In all, there are six offices jammed into the small space, including a large, high-ceilinged affair that serves as the main meeting room for the lieutenant governor’s team.
The desk in that room was once former Gov. Richard Olgilvie’s. The desk was brought into the office in 1991 when newly elected Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra walked into the space to find that his predecessor, George Ryan, had cleaned almost everything out.
To accommodate other aides, there are five offices crammed into the area. There also is a tiny bathroom, a couple of utility closets and a kitchen. In all, the budget allows for about 30 people to work for the lieutenant governor. Some work out of other offices in the Capitol complex.
* Meanwhile, in other campaign news, Ben Smith at Politico reports that Giannoulias is meeting with Axe today…
Embattled Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias — an old Obama ally, but not his preferred candidate — will be by the White House for Greek Independence Day tomorrow, and the local press has been asking the campaign what kind of welcome he’ll receive.
I’m told he’s likely to stop in and chat with political aides like Axelrod and Patrick Gaspard, part of a running effort to convince national Democrats not to write the race off.
The hits are obviously working if the national press is starting to think that Giannoulias’ troubles give him little chance of beating Mark Kirk.
A group of centrist Republicans found themselves target of robocalls on Tuesday, courtesy of a liberal action group, pressuring them on healthcare reform.
Americans United for Change launched a series of robocalls targeting 10 potentially vulnerable House GOP lawmakers, as well as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
The calls take aim at the House lawmakers for “being an important member of Congress, but when it comes to his health care he should be no better than the rest of us,” and, in the case of McCain, makes an issue of his own personal wealth.
* Preckwinkle commits to debates, reforms: The Chicago Democratic Hyde Park alderman said she would debate Republican Roger Keats and Tom Tresser of the Green Party in front of the City Club some time before the November election. She also promised a full rollback of the 1 percentage point increase in the county sales tax imposed in 2008 and scheduled to be cut in half in July.
The Illinois Department on Aging plans to move from two state-owned locations in Springfield where it pays no rent into a private office building where it will lease space for more than $530,000 a year.
The department said the move was in the works before the state’s financial problems hit and that it will enable all department employees to be in one location.
OK, hold it right there. “Before the state’s financial problems hit”? When was that? August of 2001?
Let’s continue…
Beginning July 1, Aging will lease space in the Jefferson Terrace office building in the 300 block of West Jefferson Street in Springfield. Information posted on the state’s procurement Web site said the state will lease 49,214 square feet of space for five years at a total cost of $3.3 million. That comes to about $662,000 a year, or $13.45 a square foot.
$13 billion budget deficit? Difficult, if not impossible to conjure by your average voter. But this goofy plan? Real easy to digest. Well, not so easy to digest, but you get the picture.
Isn’t there a lot of open space in IDOT’s building out by I-55? And is it really so all-important that the department be put in one building while the state is literally scrounging around for every dime to pay vendors, universities and schools?
Stupid. Just stupid. They richly deserve whatever ridicule is coming their way.
Created in an effort to keep the cost of electricity as low as possible, the Illinois Power Agency has only one employee and no one to handle its finances, a recent audit found.
Mark Pruitt was tapped to run the agency almost two years ago, and he’s remained its only employee ever since.
Here’s why…
Pruitt’s agency was created in 2007 after a months-long controversy over a spike in some Ameren and ComEd power bills. Some of the money from a $1 billion settlement with Ameren, Exelon and others, pays for the Illinois Power Agency’s operation.
David Kolata, director of the utility-watchdog Citizen’s Utility Board, said he thinks Pruitt’s doing a good job helping keep costs down. The fact that Pruitt remains alone in the agency is just a matter of bad timing, he said.
“The creation of the IPA coincided with the fiscal crisis of the state,” Kolata said.
* In other budget news, mayors are gearing up to fight the governor’s budget idea to slash local government revenue sharing by $300 million…
Normal Mayor Chris Koos said the town could lose up to $400,000 at a time when officials already have cut workers, halted new programs and increased the local sales tax to cope with current budget shortfalls.
Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder suggested his community would face additional belt-tightening.
“Any loss of additional revenue would require further cuts,” Snyder said.
While some mayors wouldn’t speculate on how exactly they would deal with cuts in state aid, Pana Mayor Steven Sipes said his town may need to look into some kind of tax or fee increase to plug such a shortfall.
And the State Journal-Register has a pretty decent editorial today which tries to give the governor some advice…
It was amateur hour when Quinn delivered his state-of-the-state speech, a stream-of-consciousness stemwinder based off of notes jotted down on a yellow legal pad. Everyone knows Quinn fancies himself a man of the people. But he’s also chief executive of the fifth-largest state in the union. He has a responsibility to present a coherent set of well-thought out, specific ideas.
* Related…
* Quinn has five in mind to take driver’s seat at tollway
* Daley’s gun control legislation proposes ‘micro-stamping‘ pistols, harsher penalties
* Daley calls for new state laws on guns: This time, the mayor also is asking the General Assembly to make it a Class 1 felony to knowingly sell a gun to a known gang member, stiffen penalties for unlawfully using a weapon and require “micro-stamping” of guns that make it easier to match weapons used in crimes.
* Bill Brady said this during his campaign kickoff fly-around yesterday…
“Our statewide ticket is not only broad-based in terms of geography, but also in terms of ancestry and background, unlike the Democrats’ ticket,” Brady said.
Ancestry?
There are two Irish-Americans (Pat Quinn and Lisa Madigan, by adoption) and three African-Americans (Jesse White, David Miller and Robin Kelly) on the Democratic ticket.
If nothing else, Brady’s comment should make it pretty clear why the Democrats are thinking about somebody other than a black person and an Irish-American for lt. governor, despite some of the uproar that the thought process has generated.
But Brady ought to be very, very careful about bringing race into this campaign. We’ve got enough problems without that. The Peoria paper passed it off as a joke. They’re doofuses. Other reporters aren’t.
* Speaking of silly statements, Brady also talked yesterday about what he would cut…
If elected he would look to reduce state spending by $3.5 billion, and call for across –the-board cuts to reduce deficit spending by 10 percent.
$3.5 billion in spending cuts? Plus a $1 billion tax cut? And the budget is magically balanced? Waiter, I want what he’s having.
“I have to cut state spending by 10 percent if I’m going to pay for my tax breaks, if I’m going to reconcile the budget in a balanced way, and pay back the backlog of unpaid bills that Gov. Quinn and Gov. Blagojevich have accumulated,” he said.”
A ten percent cut of just the operating budget wouldn’t even be $3 billion. I really would like to see his numbers on one sheet of paper.
* Meanwhile, Zorn was given an opposition research document by the Quinn campaign yesterday of some of Brady’s more socially conservative votes and statements. Read the whole thing. I’ve already written about most of these bills, but Zorn also had some quotes…
Brady said the minimum wage should be controlled by “market-forces” and opposed increases in the minimum wage. “I think supply and demand in the marketplace determines the rate of minimum wage. I don’t think governmental intrusion is as effective,” said Brady. [Pantagraph, 1/23/03]
Regarding pay equity for men and women, Brady said the marketplace should set pay standards. Responding to a question about pay equity between men and women, Brady said the marketplace should dictate pay rates. On a question about affirmative-action programs for college students, Brady said he “opposes setting quotas.” [State Journal-Register, 5/8/06]
A few more…
Co-sponsored SB 908 – Insurance Without Mandated Coverage (2003)… Voted NO on HB 211(2003) – Contraceptive Coverage in Private Health Insurance… Co-sponsored SB 2343 (2006)– Pharmacy/Pharmacist Refusal… Voted NO on SB 4 (2007) – Stem Cell Initiative… Voted NO on SB 144 Senate Concurrence with House Amendment #3 (2007)– Prevention coverage in the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (CHIP)… In a questionnaire submitted to the Illinois Federation for Right to Life, Senator Brady indicated that he would sign a law banning abortions except to save the life of the woman (2010)
Expect to hear more about Brady’s voting record later today. From a press release…
WOMEN LEADERS, ADVOCACY GROUPS TO DENOUNCE GOP GOVERNOR CANDIDATE BILL BRADY’S POSITIONS ON WOMEN’S ISSUES
In an 11 a.m. news conference on Tuesday, March 9, the Chicago Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Chicago NOW) will gather with several advocacy groups, including Citizens Action, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action and Personal PAC, along with a number of women business and political leaders, to discuss GOP Governor Candidate Bill Brady’s extreme record on issues including the Family Medical Leave Act, healthcare funding and choice issues, along with the dire consequences they entail for Illinois women and families. The choice that Illinoisans make for governor in the upcoming election will have a profound impact on the direction of our state for the next four years. But for the women of Illinois, the outcome carries particular importance.
“The Democrats are going to try to distract us, which they typically do,” Brady said. “They’re all about politics but we’re going be about policy. We’re going to be about job policy and ending the culture of corruption.”
“You’d be surprised (by) the number of people who come up to me and say ‘Hey listen, you’re pro-life, I’m pro-choice, but I’m going to support you because, A) you don’t scare me and B) I know we need someone who can take a business approach to rebuilding Illinois,”‘ Brady told The Associated Press in a telephone interview before an eight-city fly around.
“A lot of pundits don’t believe Republicans can win statewide offices in Illinois. But you and I know we can.
“Just like the states of Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey were challenged, Illinois can rise above it. We can reach out to independents and Democrats, through the Republican Party, and build the strongest groundswell of support with principles, values and economic development.”
Brady also said he would lift the state’s freeze on executions and would refrain from cutting funding to help ensure fair trials.
While on the topic of law and order, Brady criticized Quinn for allowing 1,700 prisoners to be freed from state prison early; some were sent back for new offenses.
“I will do everything I can to keep Illinois safe,” Brady pledged.
llinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is calling on the state health department to cancel its contract with VIP Security & Detective Services, citing a Chicago Sun-Times report that raised questions about the firm’s nursing home safety deal….Madigan described a State Police takeover as ideal.
Mr. Warren said in an interview that his resignation was effective today and that Alison Draper, who last month became Creative Loafing’s chief sales executive based in Chicago, will now be interim publisher at the Reader. While he acknowledged “differences” with Ms. Petty, he said there was nothing unusual about the transition.
* Survey finds more Peoria employers plan to add jobs
The survey showed that 21 percent of the employers interviewed expect to add to their payroll during the second quarter, April through June, while only 6 percent said they will likely reduce employment. Another 70 percent expect to maintain current levels, and 3 percent are uncertain.
The next employment outlook of 15 percent for the quarter is well above the 5 percent outlook from a year earlier, when 19 percent of the employers interviewed said they would add staff and 14 percent said they would cut staff, with 63 percent maintaining then-current levels and the rest uncertain.
* Dick Simpson back in saddle as protests grow over state budget cuts
“It seems like old times,” quipped Dick Simpson, who, as 44th Ward alderman from 1971-79, once railed against misdeeds by Mayor Richard J. Daley. He’s now chairman of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Gov. Pat Quinn’s threatened 15% cut in spending on higher education in fiscal 2011 literally will leave students unable to get the classes they need, Mr. Simpson charged, with 150 students to lose slots in poly sci classes alone due to professor layoffs and cutbacks.
* Architect who designed Willis Tower, John Hancock dies
The 53-year-old Congress bridge over the south branch of the Chicago River is about to get a well-needed face lift. Beginning April 1, dot will close the eastbound side for repairs and shift traffic to the westbound side….
At the same time IDOT begins the Congress bridge project, CDOT will begin the three-year reconstruction of upper and lower Wacker from Randolph to Congress.
This year, crews will be doing utility work on Lower Wacker, which will be open for local traffic only. The ramps to and from Lower Wacker and the Eisenhower will close April 1st for the duration of the project. This could create more congestion on Upper Wacker.
* Fines, Safety at Odds Where Chicago Has Red Light Camera Intersections
A study conducted by Texas A & M University found that adding one second of yellow decreases crashes 35 to 40 percent and violations by 60 percent. But Brian Steele, Chicago Department of Transportation director of communications, said he envisions more crashes if the city were to add an extra second of yellow at its intersections.
The collaboration could bring university doctors to Cook County’s Provident Hospital in Chicago where they would work alongside county providers.
* Grandson of Ex-Cook Co. Commissioner Fatally Shot
Bowen, who was in the Navy but was recently unemployed, is the grandson of Charles Bowen, who served a four-year term on the county board in the early 1980s. Charles Bowen, 76, later spent more than 15 years as Mayor Daley’s chief liaison to black ministers before retiring.
Every one of the 107 students in Urban Prep’s first senior class has been accepted to a four-year college.
That’s a remarkable achievement, especially considering that the overall college acceptance rate for Chicago public school graduates is 52.5 percent. And that number doesn’t include the many students who start high school but don’t finish it.
Mayor Daley accused Gov. Quinn today of a political double-cross regarding the governor’s proposal to cut $300 million from the share of state income=tax revenues earmarked for local government.
Daley said that, just weeks before the Feb. 2 primary, Quinn went before the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and pledged that the cities’ share would remain at 10 percent. […]
“Right before the election, he came before the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and he told the mayors it would not be cut,” Daley said. “This is a serious financial crisis, but it didn’t start after the primary. This is way before the primary. Then, coming before the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and saying, ‘I am with you. I support you.’ Nothing has has changed from prior to the primary to after the primary.”
Oak Park Village President David Pope, who was at the gun news conference at Chicago Police Headquarters, said he also recalled Quinn saying he wouldn’t cut income tax revenues distributed to cities and villages.
“The state needs to take a very serious look at the expense side of its ledger,” Pope said, adding that his village has laid off 15 percent of its workers in the past two years.
“This is basically a tax shift, and what it will do is force the localities to increase taxes, because we’ve already taken the fat out of the cost of delivering services at the local level,” Pope said.
* This has to be one of the stranger press releases I’ve ever received from the US Attorney’s office. Apparently, they busted Bill Dugan on a misdemeanor charge for soliciting a $900 animal feeder for his Maryland buffalo farm from an employer. Dugan, you probably know, was president of Local 150 of the Operating Engineers for many years.
Dugan’s farm was raided a couple of years ago by the feds, who carted off a bunch of documents. He retired soon after. Here’s the announcement, made by three bigtime crime fighters, the US Attorney, the top dog in Chicago’s FBI and the “Special Agent-in-Charge of the US Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago.” OK, two bigtime crime fighters and one other guy…
The retired leader of a regional labor union local was charged today with violating federal labor law by allegedly demanding and accepting livestock feeders from a company that employed the union local’s workers for his buffalo farm in Maryland. The defendant, William E. Dugan, was charged in a single-count criminal information filed in U.S. District Court, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago; and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Dugan, 76, of Hancock, Md., and formerly of Mt. Prospect, was president and business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, headquartered in Countryside. The 23,000-member local represents workers in construction and a variety of other industries in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.
Dugan will be ordered to appear for arraignment on the misdemeanor charge, which is violation of the U.S. Labor-Management Relations Act, at a later date in U.S. District Court.
According to the charges, in April 2005, Dugan demanded and accepted concrete buffalo feeders valued at more than $900 from Company A, whose workers were represented by Local 150.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick King. Other Labor Department branches that participated in the investigation are the Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Office of Labor Management Standards.
The labor law violation carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. If convicted, the Court would determine a reasonable sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
Dugan was a wealthy man, so it was stupid and arrogant to be doing something like “buffaloing” an employer into buying some cheap concrete feeders. But that this long federal investigation has resulted in such a minor charge makes one wonder why they bothered.
In a statement, Joseph Duffy, the attorney for William Dugan, the retired president and business manager of Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, said Mr. Dugan has “acknowledged receiving a thing of value from a contractor worth less than $1,000, specifically concrete piping,” and will plead to misdemeanor charges in the matter as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. […]
Sources close to the matter said further charges are likely in the case. But the one charge alone of violating federal labor law carries a potential penalty of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
So, he agrees to take the misdemeanor but more charges may be likely?
* Ameren’s request for a $130 million Illinois rate increase has drawn all sorts of criticism, especially after the company posted its 2009 profits. Despite the recession, Ameren finished the year with profits of $612 million - just $3 million shy of 2008…
The $612 million profit for 2009 compared to $615 million in 2008.
[Ameren’s Illinois earnings] from these utilities jumped 150 percent during the past year, from $51 million in 2008 to $127 million in 2009. That primarily is due to a rate increase that took effect in October 2008, along with lower operations and maintenance expenses. […]
The question for the [Illinois Commerce Commission] is how much profit in Illinois is too much? [Emphasis added]
An ICC administrative law judge has answered that question. He’s calling on Ameren to scale back the utility’s $130 million request to $56 million…
The 317-page proposal… suggests Ameren actually lower natural gas delivery rates for two of its three utilities. Electricity delivery rates would go up for all three.
Now, the Illinois Commerce Commission will review Administrative Law Judge John D. Albers’ report and make a final decision by the end of April. Only then would any rate changes kick in.
Even with Albers’ proposed reduction, Ameren still likely stands to increase its profits. AARP responds…
The Administrative Law Judge’s finding that Ameren should lower its rate hike request to $56 million is further proof that Ameren’s $130 million rate request was excessive. But Ameren’s request for a rate increase, even at $56 million, is still wrong.
State Rep. John Bradley, a Marion Democrat, quickly came out against Ameren’s rate increase request…
“Communities throughout Southern Illinois are facing the highest unemployment rates in recent history,” the Marion Democrat said. “Those workers who have managed to keep their jobs are facing cutbacks to their hours and benefits. For Ameren to ask these people to fund an increase so that their executives can see another year of growing profits is frankly appalling.”
Bradley was very vocal against Ameren’s request in 2008. He even took tour buses of people in and around his district to Springfield to attend commerce commission hearings.
* Meanwhile, the recent revelation that ComEd intends to ask the state for another rate increase has consumer advocates screaming at utility companies. Exactly how much ComEd will ask for is still unknown, but that hasn’t stopped the Citizens Utility Board and other consumer advocates from screaming at the state’s largest electricity provider.
“It’s terrible timing with the economy the way it is,” said Jim Chilsen, spokesman for CUB, a consumer advocacy group founded by the Illinois General Assembly in 1983.
Illinois consumers will also see electrical bills rise this spring as a result of a 2009 law designed to help people struggling financially to make utility payments.
Payments for lower-income families are based on a sliding scale that’s related to their income, one of several provisions in the 2009 law.
CUB is using an ongoing review of the last ComEd rate increase as a reason to hold off this request…
“The ink on the last rate hike isn’t even dry,” Chilsen said, adding, “and now we get disturbing news that ComEd’s filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission to ask for more.” ComEd said it understands the impact a potential rate increase may have on customers. “That’s why last year, instead of filing for a rate increase, we tightened our belts and reduced our budgets by approximately $200 million,” ComEd said in a prepared statement.
* Related…
* Shenanigans On The Senate Environment Committee?
*** UPDATE *** Bill Brady is doing an eight-city fly-around today and trying to focus on the budget and the economy…
Republican nominee for Illinois governor Bill Brady says he will try to appeal to voters on fiscal issues when they don’t share his conservative viewpoint on social issues.
Brady says he’s heard from people who disagree with his opposition to abortion who say they’ll support him because he has a state budget plan.
OK, well, let’s see that plan in all its glory.
After the beating he took in the Statehouse press room last week, Brady is avoiding Springfield on today’s fly-around.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Bill Brady stuck closely to the script during a recent appearance on ABC7’s morning show. He kept his focus on the budget deficit and the economy, even when the hosts tried to bait him on Pat Quinn’s claim that he’s an extremist right-winger.
“We don’t have the luxury of focusing on social issues in this election,” Brady said.
The full ABC7 interview is here, but I’ve clipped the most pertinent section for you. Watch it…
For the Republicans and their nominee, this ought to be a golden moment. The next governor’s challenges could not be more obvious or pronounced: Illinois is an ethical cesspool and flat broke. Voters don’t need to be reminded which party has been running things. All they want is a candidate to offer them a way out.
So where’s Brady? Off in the weeds — introducing legislation to ban civil unions and to allow mass euthanization of dogs; spouting off about teaching creationism in schools; shooting himself in the foot at a news conference meant to show that he’s tough on felons. His public statements about how to balance the state budget, meanwhile, make it clear he has no real plan to do that.
This is the guy who’s supposed to save Illinois? […]
Mr. Brady, you are at grave risk of making Quinn look like the more competent candidate in this race.
If you want to be governor, you’ll have to show that you know what’s wrong with Illinois, and that you know how to fix it.
“Everybody is focused on fiscal and economically responsible issues. Those are the issues that people care about, jobs and fiscal issues, so there is no real right or left in those, just right or wrong,” said Pat Brady, Illinois Republican chairman.
Yes, the economy and the budget are Number One, but he won’t be able to completely avoid answering social questions forever.
“Each party has now nominated the candidate the other party most wanted to run against,” said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Of the major candidates, that’s certainly right. This campaign is gonna be a race to the bottom. It’ll be a question of who is the scariest and most inept. There’s a hint of that in the Tribune story…
Brady also has opposed some government transparency efforts, including requiring campaign contributors to list their occupations, and he said adopting detailed federal-style statements of economic interest for public officials would be “a little bit of an overreaction.”
His business interests will be examined with a fine-tooth comb. Bet on it.
* Related…
* GOP candidate says he will focus on job creation
* Numbers tell the story in Brady’s primary victory: Three other races in February’s primary saw the nominee win by a slimmer vote margin than in the GOP [gubernatorial] race. But less than 450 total votes were cast in each of those races.
The Quinn administration plans a massive review of more than 250 government contracts made under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to see if they need to be reduced or rebid.
The plan, which Gov. Quinn will announce Wednesday in his budget address, is to examine all contracts of more than $1 million each issued before January 2009.
This includes a variety of goods and services purchased by the state, from health care for state employees to food for prisoners, according to David Vaught, budget director for the governor’s Office of Management and Budget.
This should’ve been done right after Quinn took office last year. Better late than never, I suppose.
* Quinn will need to do a lot more than that to justify some of his proposed budget cuts, including a $32 million reduction to the Illinois State Police. Plus…
Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to fill the biggest deficit in Illinois history includes cuts so severe that 17,000 teachers could lose their jobs, thousands of poor families would get less help with child care and fewer state troopers would patrol the roads, a top Quinn aide said Saturday. […]
General education spending would fall by about $1.4 billion, he said, an 11 percent decrease. The “foundation level” of state support for each child would fall from $6,119 now to about $5,600 next year. […]
Quinn also will propose $150 million in cuts to human services, Vaught said. That means, among other things, less money for local organizations that provide child-care services for the working poor.
Vaught estimated 6,000 children would be affected by the reduced hours and tighter eligibility standards likely to result from the cutbacks. Many of their parents would suffer an economic blow, he said.
“If you take away their child care, you’re also taking away their job because they can’t work,” Vaught said.
Vaught claims that state employee headcount fell by 1,000 last year alone, which is something the governor is sure to highlight in his budget address on Wednesday. Quinn will also outline cuts in aid to local governments…
David Vaught, Quinn’s budget director, said [Friday] that municipalities across Illinois must “share the pain” by giving up a portion of income tax revenues the state typically shares. Instead of getting 10 percent, which amounts to about $1 billion a year, municipalities would receive 7 percent under Quinn’s plan. That’s about a $300 million cut.
Vaught also said the Quinn administration does not plan to make the full $4.1 billion employee pension payment this year because the governor is confident proposed reforms will pass the General Assembly that will ultimately save the state money. Instead, the state will pay $3.8 billion, $300 million less than required.
According to the AP, Quinn will propose borrowing billions to pay off overdue bills. The cuts and borrowing will still leave a $5 billion hole to fill with a tax hike.
* Keep in mind that it’ll be tough for Sen. Bill Brady to respond to the magnitude of these cuts because he has already proposed a ten percent across the board reduction to everything - including federal funds. That 10 percent cut has already been criticized by his GOP running mate, and now at least one House Republican candidate backed by GOP leadership has come out in opposition…
[101st Illinois House District candidate Adam Brown] said he disagrees with the spending plan proposed by state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, the presumptive Republican candidate for governor. Brady proposes a 10 percent across-the-board cut to all state agencies.
“I don’t think 10 percent across the board is going to be effective,” Brown said. “I think we’ve got to look through the budget line item by line item and determine where our priorities are.”
* Related…
* State Senator Jones Advice to Schools: Plan to Cut Teachers
* Local counties feel state budget’s crunch: The state owes Union County about $300,000 and another $70,000 of back pay for money the county has paid the state attorney’s office….Franklin County is owed nearly $640,000 with the salary reimbursement at the center totaling almost $500,000.
* Illinois budget woes leaves circuit clerks with zero stipend
* Possible tax hike doesn’t worry product expo vendors
* My syndicated newspaper column this week is about a possible new funding source for capital projects: Slots at tracks…
The Statehouse is buzzing yet again with talk of a new gaming plan. This time, the players say, they have their acts together. Really.
I’m always pretty skeptical of these big legislative pushes. Expanding gaming is one of the most difficult things to do. A big reason is that there’s so much money involved with gaming that people get too greedy. Eventually, the bill suffocates under its own weight. Too many goodies are added to the Christmas tree.
The only time this ever works is when all the legislative leaders and the governor are pulling together. That’s how gaming was expanded under Gov. George Ryan, and that’s how video poker was legalized last year under Gov. Pat Quinn. Everybody at the top, Democrat and Republican, worked together to get it done.
In video poker’s case, it was the Republicans who broached the idea. The Democratic majority was looking around for ways to fund a massive public works proposal, and when the Republicans agreed to keep the fee hikes to a minimum by using video poker, the deal was set.
The latest action started when state Rep. Will Burns (D-Chicago) introduced a bill to put slot machines at horse racing tracks.
The idea would be to use the money for capital projects. The law legalizing video poker in taverns, truck stops and fraternal organizations has come under increasingly heated attack by editorial boards while several local governments are opting out of the law.
The state’s checkbook is empty, so using the state’s account to borrow money is difficult, to say the least. The Illinois Gaming Board is taking its sweet time in preparing rules and regulations for the placement of the slots. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley also indicated recently he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of legalizing the machines for his city.
Even if video poker works out OK, there’s always a hunger in Springfield for more capital projects. This state’s infrastructure is so out of whack that we probably could spend $100 billion and not get everything working right.
Anyway, the latest gaming push really kicked into gear when House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) suggested that language from a bill he introduced awhile back be used instead of Burns’. Madigan’s bill would raise more money than Burns’ bill would, so Madigan’s interest got everyone pretty excited, and negotiations began in earnest.
The biggest initial hurdle when dealing with the racetracks is getting the track owners together. They don’t like each other much and usually will bicker among themselves ad infinitum. Then, negotiators have to convince the people who own and train the horses to climb on board, and that’s never easy, either.
From what I can tell, negotiations apparently have gone far better this time around, and the owners and the horsemen reportedly are getting close to an agreement. The sputtering economy and the fact that Illinois is losing quality horses to other states that pay out higher purses apparently is playing a major role in spurring the negotiators on.
Of course, the state’s riverboat casinos then could want their own piece of the pie. That could wind up making the bill too heavy. Whether anything will ever come of this is anybody’s guess at the moment, as usual.
The Senate Democrats don’t seem too excited yet because they’ve seen Madigan kill off gaming bills countless times. Madigan did reportedly have a meeting with proponents a few weeks ago in Chicago, and the House Republicans are participating in the talks. Because Madigan often cuts out the Republicans, that’s a very positive sign.
One difference this time around could be the bill’s sponsor. Burns dealt with numerous complicated negotiations back when he was a high-level member of the Senate Democratic staff, including a massive gaming bill. His fresh approach certainly is drawing a lot of Statehouse respect.
Also, Quinn said in December that the state ought to take a look at slots at tracks. That’s heartening to proponents.
The new proposal would inject about $300 million almost immediately into the capital projects program. And that’s driving a whole lot of interest.
But then there’s the final hurdle: public opinion during an election year. Will that much gaming expansion in such a short period of time be rejected by the public - particularly when the rest of the state’s budget is such a disaster?
The family of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias stands to collect more than $10 million in federal tax refunds even if its Broadway Bank fails, which Mr. Giannoulias said this week is likely.
A $75-million loss at the struggling lender last year generated tax benefits potentially worth between $12 million and $15 million to Mr. Giannoulias, his two brothers and his mother. As the sole owners of a subchapter S corporation that controls $1.2-billion-asset Broadway, they pay the taxes on the bank’s income and reap tax deductions on its losses. […]
Asked whether he would advise his family to put the tax refunds back into the bank to help recapitalize it, Mr. Giannoulias said, “We’ll do everything we can to keep the bank going. . . .You’ll have to ask management of the bank what the best course of action is.”
The campaign says the family is filing for a return of taxes overpaid last year on capital gains in anticipation of profits that didn’t materialize. The campaign claims that the idea all along has been to use the cash to recapitalize the bank, not to enrich themselves. From a campaign website…
Like the millions of Americans who overpay their income taxes each year, the family is owed tax refunds. They are actively pursuing a refund of this money as a way to help save the bank. They would not profit in any way if the bank fails. Alexi has said repeatedly that he will do whatever he can to help save the bank, which includes using any tax refund he might receive on his 3.6% share to recapitalize the bank. If the bank does indeed fail, the Giannoulias family, who are sole shareholders, will bear the full brunt of the loss.
* Meanwhile, the Daily Herald editorial page asks some pertinent questions about how Republican congressional nominee Joe Walsh can afford to rent this $860,000 Winnetka house on what Walsh claims is an annual income of just $40,000…
The editorial also looks at some claims Walsh has made about the foreclosure on his Evanston condo and his subsequent eviction…
If Congressional candidate Joe Walsh was so hard up for money that he couldn’t fulfill his obligation on a $300,000 mortgage, why was he able to afford to rent an $860,000 colonial in Winnetka with an in-ground pool?
If he needed more room for his large family, why didn’t he look to rent a house of the same size but for half the price in, say, Wauconda or Lake Zurich? Is it possible he could have managed his mortgage payments if he had done that?
Walsh said that people have to understand the circumstances that led to the foreclosure on his Evanston condominium. He was only making $40,000, he said, and he couldn’t afford to keep paying for two homes.
Take a look at the picture above. Does that look like the house you would rent if your family was making $40,000 a year? Especially if you also owed money on another residence?
And the Northwest Herald notes another item in its latest story…
Walsh’s problems [include] a lawsuit filed by his former campaign manager for about $20,000 in unpaid services
Morton Grove-based Patrickson-Hirsch Associates filed a lawsuit today with the Circuit Court of Cook County alleging Walsh did not pay the company $20,000 for the campaign management services provided by Keith Liscio, a principal with the company who also has had a 15-year business relationship with Walsh.
According to the lawsuit, Patrickson-Hirsch provided campaign management services that required $5,000 payments bimonthly, beginning Sept. 1. The lawsuit claims that each of the first three such bills were paid past their due dates. The lawsuit then states that Walsh failed to pay any of the subsequent four installments, beginning with the Oct. 15 bill. On Dec. 4, the lawsuit states, Patrickson-Hirsh terminated its management of Walsh’s campaign, still owed $20,000.
Jim Thacker, a spokesperson for the Walsh campaign, said because of this pending litigation, Walsh will not comment on the issue. Thacker added that he has been working on campaigns for over 20 years and has “never seen anything like” having a lawsuit filed against a candidate so close to a primary election.
Two unions representing bedside nurses are fighting a territorial battle after the recent formation of National Nurses United, a “super union” of 150,000 RNs from nurse groups across the country.
At $28.64 an hour, the top wage rate for Chicago Transit Authority bus drivers ranks third-highest among U.S. transit agencies, according to an analysis conducted for the Tribune.
* CTA gets $1.5M federal grant for electrified vehicle stalls
* Chicago taxpayers on hook for 444 percent more in government pensions than decade ago, report says
The watchdog Civic Federation said today that the funding deficit for the 10 largest Chicago-area public pension funds soared from $3.4 billion in 1998 to $18.5 billion in 2008, the last year for which figures are available.
Daley’s administration was not aware of the allegations, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, until Wednesday, when they were brought to the attention of Chief of Staff Raymond Orozco, Heard said.
Chicago-area police departments and prosecutor’s offices often follow different policies for when and how fast those kits are submitted to the Illinois State Police crime lab for testing. They may not send the kit at all, depending on whether the prosecutor charges a suspect. Or if the victim recants or decides not to press charges, or the accused says sex was consensual.
As the Roseland resident and 12 others tied their knots, Chicago’s only public all-male, all-African-American high school fulfilled its mission: 100 percent of its first senior class had been accepted to four-year colleges.
Mayor Richard Daley and city schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at the all-school assembly Friday morning with congratulations, and school leaders announced that as a reward, prom would be free.
* Towns urge residents to help capture new funds by filling out census
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses census data to select low- and moderate-income areas in towns eligible for Community Development Block Grants. Palatine received $408,622 from CDBGs in 2008, with revenues going to adult education and job training, programs for the homeless, and water main improvements.
Kane County Board members would be forbidden from being employed by the county for one year after leaving office or serving on paid commissions while in office, under a proposed ethics ordinance.
The measure also would place limits on campaign contributions of $1,000 per year from contractors, unions, lobbyists, vendors or their affiliated political action committees that have sought contracts with the county.
* Zorn: Name-change idea doesn’t play in, oh, you know where
There are at least two reasons why Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis has rejected the idea of changing the name of his downstate town to Google in order to win the affections of the Mountain View, Calif., computing company.
* Champaign council discusses costs of development
The study found that only high-priced, single-family detached homes in the $400,000 to $600,000 range and downtown apartments generated income surpluses, primarily due to their higher taxable values. Other types of residential property are net losers, when the cost of infrastructure for those developments is considered.
* State probes Belleville’s wheel tax meeting; did it violate open meetings law?
* O’Fallon eyes more cutbacks; business still slow in city
