* Several House members then rose to congratulate her. All but one was a Democrat. The lone Republican well-wisher was Rep. Mark Beaubien…
* Rod Blagojevich was on the Fox News channel last night. Watch if you dare…
And if you really have a strong stomach, Fox has posted the unedited interview. Part 1 and Part 2.
* The Illinois Family Institue has posted a video about the “addiction” problems associated with medical marijuana…
* Rep. Sara Feigenholtz and Sen. AJ Wilhelmi talk about their adoption rights bill…
* Once again, the Illinois Channel covered the annual House vs. Senate softball game. I’ve clipped the intro and posted it on YouTube. The clip features your faithful servant…
You can watch the full, higher definition video by clicking here.
* Related…
* If art bill signed, no state funds would finance Blago portrait
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
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Gov. Pat Quinn said today he isn’t inclined to go along with a tax amnesty program to raise money for the cash-strapped state. […]
“We’ll look at anyone’s proposal, but I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Quinn said. “We already had one in 2003. You can’t have amnesties all of the time. After a while, people start to think just wait for the next amnesty.” […]
Quinn ducked a question about calling lawmakers into special session if they leave town without approving the income tax surcharge he wants for education. The legislature has set a May 7 adjournment date, but Quinn talked about continuing budget negotiations through the entire month.
He has a valid argument, but as I told subscribers last week, the Democratic leaders wanted to use that amnesty cash to help shield education from Quinn’s proposed cuts. And Quinn’s comments on negotiating the budget through the month of May looks ominous to Statehouse types who would rather not deal with this crud any more.
“The thing that we would like to see, if at all possible, is getting more money for education from Washington,” the governor said today after speaking to a group of park district executives in Springfield.
Illinois got about $1 billion last year from the federal government for schools but Quinn said “we have to be realistic” and not expect that much again.
* 1:04 pm - The governor also said he supports legislation that passed both chambers to tie gubernatorial candidates to lt. governor candidates in the primary.
* Woods Bowman has forgotten more about state budgets than most of us will ever know. Today he explains why a ten percent “across the board” state budget cut is actually much deeper than it appears…
Nearly a quarter of the state budget goes to Medicaid. The good news is that the federal government reimburses nearly half of this amount. That is also the bad news, because $2 of cuts are necessary to achieve $1 in savings, and federal law imposes lower limits on types of services and scope of coverage a state must provide to receive any federal reimbursement. Simply put, that means sick people receive fewer services and they remain sick and get sicker instead of better.
Another quarter of state spending goes to school districts and local governments. Cutting state spending in this area only pushes the problem onto the property tax - the dominant tax source at local levels. Cutting appropriations to state universities and scholarship aid, which are 4 percent of the budget, would force increases in tuition and parental contributions.
Ten percent of state spending goes for debt service and pensions that, as legal obligations, cannot be cut - period. Finally, nearly 8 percent of spending is for transportation, which is financed by taxes on gasoline, license fees and the like.
These objects of spending account for more than two out of every three dollars flowing through the budget. Thus a 10 percent budget cut translates into a 30 percent cut, more-or-less, in the remainder of the budget. This is why it would be unwise to try to cut our way out of the problem.
The most visible proponent of the ten percent across the board cut is, of course, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady.
* Speaking of Brady, his running mate has a new Internet video of college students talking about why they support Jason Plummer. Watch…
* Back to the session, there isn’t much faith out there that the General Assembly can adjourn by May 7th. Instead, as I’ve already told you, there’s an idea floating around to finish up the substantive issues by the 7th, then come back and do the budget…
“Do I believe that the General Assembly will recess May 7, or whatever that date is? Yes I believe they will,” [Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-Chenoa)] said. “Do I believe the budget will be put together properly? No I do not.”
But Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite freshmen for her reasonable outspokenness, is not enamored with the idea…
Hutchinson said this is just the latest excuse for lawmakers to push the state’s serious budget problems further down the road.
“The state of affairs in the state of Illinois, and the number of people that they affect should be priority No. 1…I’d like to keep working, but that’s not my call.”
* If you watched the video in a post below, you know that Speaker Madigan is still hopeful they can adjourn by the 7th, but doesn’t want to make any “mistakes” in any rush to get out of town…
* Related…
* Tribune: More kids, more choices: This is all far from a done deal. Opponents may have been caught by surprise by the strong approval in the Senate. We expect a tight vote in the House. And, unfortunately, an amended bill will have to go back to the Senate for another vote. That opens the door for more politicking. It makes this program vulnerable to getting lost in the rush to finish the legislative session.
* DH: Now is time for resolve, reason: But the solutions will not be found in demonizing the beneficiaries of a flawed system nor in lashing out defensively at the system’s critics. Solutions will come from doing what hasn’t been done - establishing firm standards on what constitutes a fair pension and how it will be paid for.
* Despite reforms, professor says Illinois pensions are still in crisis
During an interview Tuesday on WLS Radio in Chicago, Scott Lee Cohen said he’s weighing his options [about running for governor as an independent] and will make his decision sometime this week.
* The Question: Assuming he does gather 25,000 valid signatures (a big “if”), who should be his running mate? Explain.
Keep it clean, people. Let’s also confine these choices to Illinoisans who are still alive. But snark is heavily encouraged.
Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, even said that if the Democratic plan winds up being added to the Illinois Constitution, Republicans might refuse to take part in the new system for drawing political boundaries.
“Be forewarned, be forewarned. That’s all I’m saying,” Durkin said. “If it comes to a constitutional crisis, so be it.”
So, if 60 percent of voters who vote on the question or a majority of voters who vote in the election approve the proposal, the Republicans wouldn’t go along? Really? Doubtful. Then again, it’s also doubtful that the Democratic proposal will make it to the ballot since the House Democrats don’t have the required three-fifths majority.
The debate turned heated on how the Fair Map Amendment would protect voting rights for minorities. [The League of Women Voters’ Chris Butler] said he took “strong offense” to the committee “parading as great defenders of minority rights.”
Raoul countered, saying African-Americans did not support the Fair Map Amendment during earlier redistricting hearings.
“Don’t bring tokens out here to defend something like that,” he said. “It’s insulting to my community as an African-American.”
* House GOP Leader Tom Cross, however, said he’d be open to changing his proposal, which is backed by the League of Women Voters and others, to provide more protections for minorities…
That sorta undercuts the argument by the League that their proposal isn’t strong enough on minority representation. And some wondered why the proposal wasn’t changed after Senate GOP Leader Radogno said she was open to changing it…
After the Republican plan was shot down in a Senate committee, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, the sponsor of the amendment, said she would be willing to add more protection for minority populations. That was a major area of criticism from Democrats, and some supporters of “Fair Map” say it could be stronger on this point.
Radogno added that she thought concerns over diversity representation were not the real reason for Democratic opposition. She said Democrats’ true worry was the legislature losing its map-drawing power.
Yet the Republicans did not call what they perceived as the Democrats’ bluff today. The amendment they presented was identical to the one that stalled in the Senate, and many Democrats said their desires to protect minority voters played into their “no” votes.
“The question is, why do you not enhance the ability for communities of interest and minorities … to have their seat at the table,” said Rep. Lou Lang, a Democrat from Skokie.
* The House Republicans are planning to make a stink on the floor today after their redistricting proposal didn’t get out of committee. Speaker Madigan told my intern Barton Lorimor yesterday that he plans to call the Democratic proposal today…
Democrats have accused the League of cooperating with Republicans in exchange for financial support. Both Republican leaders – Rep. Tom Cross of Oswego and state Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont – have made contributions from their campaign funds. The League’s executive director, Jan Czarnik, defended the organization’s decision to work with the GOP on the proposal.
“In my judgment, and I’ve been around here a long time as a public interest advocate, if the political situation were reversed the Democrats would be supporting our effort and the Republicans would be opposing our effort because this isn’t about ideology,” Czarnik said. “It’s about the power to draw the maps.”
No question that a lot of this is about politics, but the League undoubtedly blew it by not getting its ducks in a row on the minority represenation questions.
Curt Conrad, executive director of the Illinois GOP, said the party has raised more money in the first four months of 2010 than was raised in all of 2009 — when it collected more than $500,000.
“We’ve put in a little bit more of an aggressive approach to fundraising to support our candidates from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket and we’re going to do what we can to make sure we get some wins this election,” he said.
Party officials have claimed to reporters that they’ve raised more cash in the first four months of this year than they did in all of last year at least three times in less than a week.
Their statements may be true, if you only confine yourself to the party’s Illinois campaign finance reports, which shows they raised about $533,000 in the first and second halves of the year for their state account.
But state parties usually immediately transfer most of their money into their federal campaign accounts. And, indeed, the IL GOP did send almost all of their ‘09 cash to their federal account numerous times during the first and second halves of last year.
However, the state GOP also raises money specifically for their federal account. The state party’s year-end FEC report shows they pulled in a little over $1.5 million in 2009.
Their latest federal account filing for this year (April 20th, 2010) shows they’ve raised $305,000.
In an apples to apples comparison, the Illinois Republican Party is actually way behind last year’s fundraising pace, at least in their reporting. Their April, 2009 filing shows they raised about $676,000. So, they have reported raising less than half the cash this year than what they reported raising at this point last year.
Unless they’ve got a ton of cash in their state account which they haven’t yet transferred over, “half” is not “more.”
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk won’t attend next month’s Illinois Republican Party fundraiser featuring Sarah Palin, campaign aides said Tuesday.
Instead, his aides said, the five-term North Shore congressman will be in Washington for House votes on May 12 when the former vice presidential candidate is scheduled to be in Rosemont raising money.
Kirk sought — but did not get — supportive words from Palin last fall during the Senate primary campaign. Palin was coming to Chicago to tape an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and Kirk sent a memo asking Palin to “say something quick and decisive” in support of his campaign.
Neither Senate President John Cullerton nor House Speaker Michael Madigan are attending today’s presidential visit to Quincy for the exact, same reason. They have work to do. So, while this could make for an easy jab at Kirk, he needs to be in DC if he does have votes scheduled and not hanging around with Palin.
The White House is not trying to push [Democratic US Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias] out of the race at the moment. They want to wait and see how the bank closure plays out. They assume that if Giannoulias drops steadily in the polls, he will get the hint, being ambitious but not to the point of blind arrogance.
Then the state’s 19 central committee chairs would decide the nominee. That’s where another Madigan — Michael Madigan, Lisa Madigan’s father — comes into play. He’s the party chair. And his principal concern is to hold on to his statehouse majority. He’s not the type of pol who’d be receptive to pressure from the White House.
There is one other matter. President Obama does not feel responsible for having created the morass from which the Illinois party must escape. So he does not particularly enjoy being told that he has to be the one with the rope doing the pulling. That said, if Giannoulias keeps his standing in the polls to within a few points of Mark Kirk, there’s a good chance that Obama will campaign for his old friend.
That’s all true. And with none of the crazy, breathless goofiness that we’re getting in most other reportage on this campaign.
State Rep. Deb Mell said she wants nothing more than to marry her partner of nearly six years in her home state of Illinois.
Mell — who six years ago turned to her father, Ald. Richard Mell, 33rd, to help her put a public face on families where a member is gay — plans to announce her engagement to Christin Baker on the House floor Wednesday.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and I want to get married in Illinois,” Mell, D-Chicago, said Tuesday during an interview on WTTW’s ” Chicago Tonight” news program. “I mean, we could go to Iowa, and Iowa’s great … I went to school in Iowa. But you know what? It’s not the state where I represent, and it’s not the state where I grew up in.”
Mell, 41, said she hopes her announcement will spark public discussion about gay marriage in Illinois. Mell is Patti Blagojevich’s sister.
“I have to go to Iowa,” Mell said Tuesday, “a great state, but not where I grew up, not where my friends and family are.”
What will she tell her colleagues?
“That you can’t legislate who you love and can’t punish people for it,” she said. “That we are a regular couple, pay taxes, own a home, have a great belief in God.”
Baker, national director of arts and humanities for YMCA USA, will also be on the House floor Wednesday. It will be her 35th birthday.
And, Mell said, “She will be wearing my Mom’s ring.”
Margaret Mell died in 2006, but not before telling her daughter “how much she liked Christin.”
I wouldn’t read the comments if I were you. Man, newspapers really need to get a handle on their idiotic commenters.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Tuesday named an independent consultant to review the agency’s program for providing services to needy families who are not in the child welfare system, according to DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe.
Sources who should know say that former Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Tim Martin is being pushed to become the new executive director of the Regional Transportation Authority.
The push is coming from Mayor Richard M. Daley, for whom Mr. Martin worked in the Chicago Department of Education and at Chicago Public Schools before becoming Rod Blagojevich’s transportation director.
It by no means is certain that Republicans on the RTA board are willing to sign onto this one. But we’ll see.
* Home sales have soared with federal incentive, but what happens after Friday?
Prices in the Chicago area fell 3 percent in February from a year earlier, but that was a major improvement from February 2009, when the annual decline was 17.6 percent.
That followed the Illinois Association of Realtors report that Chicago area home sales surged 37 percent the first three months of this year compared to a year ago.
* Homicide rate jumps in Chicago, Daley pushes for more gun control
Last month, Daley pressed the state legislature to pass a package that, among other things, would strengthen penalties for unlawful gun sales and ownership and require semiautomatic weapons to be stamped with more sophisticated tracking technology. The package is still pending.
Daley is also asking Congress to reinstate the federal ban on assault weapons, which expired in 2004.
The raid on Presidential Pavilion, 8001 S. Western Ave., was the latest in a series of unannounced visits as Madigan and her staff conduct broad safety checks at facilities that house high numbers of felons.
Madigan arrived at the block-square building shortly before 10 a.m. with almost 30 police and state officials. She went from room to room talking to residents and staff about conditions.
Cronin and Ramey both said Tuesday afternoon that a backlash from suburban mayors, however, prompted a proposed comprise. Ramey now is rallying support for an amendment that would allow mayors and township presidents to retain appointment power for six of the board’s 13 members.
For Extension, the fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2011, is going to be full of transition year: Multicounty units become effective July 1, 2011. Mailand believes core programs, like locally run 4-H and the master gardeners, won’t expand and will stay local.
* It’s gone. There was a math error that I corrected, but then I discovered, with the help of a commenter, a far bigger error. So, the whole thing is gone.
This is what I get when I know in my gut that something doesn’t look quite right and I post it anyway. Live and learn. Regret the errors. Etc. And thanks much to the commenters.
Here’s the rest of the post with the beginning taken out and slightly edited so it makes sense…
* Mayor Daley said yesterday that more money to hire more cops would be nice to fight crime, but he has no extra money lying around and wants tougher gun laws…
“This is all about guns — and that’s why the crusade is on. We hope to get their cooperation in Springfield.”
The cops have a lot of tools to arrest people already. More gun laws might help, but the ones on the books haven’t stopped a whole lot of criminals from breaking the law so far. What’s needed, besides for the communities in question to get their acts together, is more cops on those streets - far more than Daley’s police superintendent wants - and a much more sophisticated use of city resources.
* As for the National Guard idea, there is some misunderstanding of what the Guard does and who they are. The Guard has an MP unit based in Springfield. I embedded with the unit when I was in Iraq. Many of those soldiers are also police officers back home. They are impressively well-trained and they certainly know what they’re doing. This is not the Vietnam War-era Guard of untrained draft-avoiders we’re talking about. These folks are top notch. I watched them in some pretty intense situations and they performed wonderfully. They could definitely handle a Chicago patrol duty.
* Related…
* Surrender policy: Call Meeks : Meeks then contacts police and arranges a meeting place where the suspect can be handed over. He said police have told him that suspects should no longer fear police brutality, thanks to surveillance cameras in interrogation rooms. Meeks said fears remain. But he said suspects have other options.
* ‘Chicago has come a long way’: “Right now, what is lacking in the city is that people involved in violence prevention need to collaborate better.”
* Democratic state treasurer nominee Robin Kelly is Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ chief of staff. They are obviously not coordinating their campaign efforts.
For the past several days, Giannoulias’ US Senate campaign has been slamming his Republican opponent Mark Kirk for not giving back all the campaign money Kirk accepted from Goldman Sachs employees. Giannoulias has also called on Kirk to give back money contributed by other corporations accused or convicted of fraud.
Ms. Kelly apparently didn’t get those memos. Her campaign put out a press release this afternoon entitled, in part: “Rutherford should follow Congressman Kirk’s example.” In the release, Kelly notes that Republican treasurer nominee state Sen. Dan Rutherford has accepted $75K in campaign contributions from a Goldman Sachs executive…
“I’m calling on my opponent to donate this dirty money to charity and vow not to accept it in the future.”
Giannoulias’ governmental chief of staff then heaped praise on Congressman Kirk…
Kelly is asking that Rutherford follow the lead of fellow Congressman Mark Kirk, U.S. Senate candidate and standard-bearer of the Illinois Republican Party, who just last week announced that he would return the money he received from Goldman employees.
Specifically, Kirk said he would give back his Senate campaign contributions, stating: “I want to set an example of ethics for others to follow.”
Will Rutherford, who sits on the Illinois Senate’s Financial Institutions Committee, follow Kirk’s lead and avoid a conflict of interest? Will Rutherford do what is ethically right by donating the dirty money or will he side with a Wall Street titan accused of corrupt activity and against Illinois families?
“After all the pay-to-play abuses by Illinois politicians in recent years, we cannot risk electing a Treasurer who will be beholden to firms that accepted federal bailouts and fought against financial reform and hardworking Americans,” Kelly said.
Under the bus goes Alexi.
Also, notice that Kelly’s campaign refers to Kirk as a “fellow Congressman” of Rutherford’s. Rutherford is in the Illinois Senate. Kirk is in the US House. Kelly served in the Illinois House, so she surely knows the difference, or maybe not.
* In other campaign news, 8th Congressional District Republican nominee Joe Walsh is in more trouble. First, it came out that Walsh didn’t bother to mention that his apartment had been foreclosed upon during the primary. Now it emerges that Walsh loaned his campaign $28,500 six months after the foreclosure. The candidate responded…
Walsh characterized it as a “terribly risky” loan.
“That’s literally every cent we had, combined with a little extra I brought in that month to try and win the primary,” he said. “Some people might say that’s reckless, but so what?”
Walsh says it was too late to save his condo when he loaned the money to his campaign.
Walsh also failed to file his personal financial disclosure form. Asked if he was trying to hide something, Walsh replied…
Oh God no. Oh God no. Not at all.”
Fox Chicago also reports that two local members in the Schaumburg Township GOP want Walsh to resign from the ticket. The two supported other candidates in the primary, however…
“You have a small group of people with ulterior motives spreading misinformation and attempting to enlist whoever will listen to help them blow marginal issues totally out of proportion,” said Walsh Communications Director Whitney Schlosser.
Schlosser tells FOX Chicago the campaign plans to file Walsh’s personal financial disclosure by the end of the week, along with the required $200 late fee.
“Don’t over-interpret anything. Don’t everybody get excited. At some point, when we come back, which is always our goal, which is why we rented the house. … You guys are way too excited. You guys gotta start drinking decaf.”
* As we’ve seen many, many times before, people don’t want their taxes raised and instead want “waste and inefficiency” cut by government to solve the state’s deficit problems, but they don’t want any big programs cut. Here are the latest results from the Paul Simon Institute’s poll of southern Illinoisans…
The state of Illinois has a budget deficit of over 13 billion dollars. I’m going to read
three statements that people have made about how to fix the deficit, and ask you
which one comes closest to your views…
…taking in more revenue, such as a tax increase 9.7%
…cutting waste and inefficiency in government 60.1%
…a combination of budget cuts and revenue increases 24.4%
…haven’t thought much about it 2.5%
…other/don’t know 3.2%
But when asked about cutting where the real money is, people are opposed…
Do you favor or oppose cuts in state spending on kindergarten through high school education?
Favor 11.7%
Oppose 87.3%
Other/Don’t know 1.0%
Do you favor or oppose cuts in state spending on state universities?
Favor 24.9%
Oppose 67.1%
Other/Don’t know 8.0%
Do you favor or oppose cuts in state spending on community colleges?
Favor 18.5%
Oppose 76.3%
Other/Don’t know 5.2%
Do you favor or oppose cuts in state spending on public safety, such as state police and prison operations?
Favor 18.0%
Oppose 78.6%
Other/Don’t know 3.5%
Do you favor or oppose cuts in state spending on natural resources, such as state parks or environmental regulation?
Favor 35.2%
Oppose 57.9%
Other/Don’t know 7.0%
Do you favor or oppose raising the state income tax rate from 3 percent to 4 percent?
Favor 38.9%
Oppose 58.1%
Other/Don’t know 3.0%
Do you favor or oppose raising the state sales tax rate?
Favor 33.2%
Oppose 64.1%
Other/Don’t know 2.7%
Do you favor or oppose expanding the sales tax to cover services like dry cleaning or
haircuts, which are not currently taxed?
Favor 36.2%
Oppose 60.1%
Other/Don’t know 3.7%
Do you favor or oppose a proposal expanding legalized gambling in the state?
Favor 40.1%
Oppose 54.9%
Other/Don’t know 5.0%
The Southern Illinoisan’s lede about the poll was priceless…
There were no questions on the latest Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll about using gold at the end of a rainbow to fix the state budget, but it may be the only option not panned by Southern Illinoisans.
Heh.
* As we’ve already discussed, the Civic Federation has pulled its support for a 2-point tax hike because the governor isn’t cutting enough and is piling up too much debt. Notice how Lawrence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, gets around a tough question asked by my buddy Ben Yount…
Msall said Quinn is only going to hurt local schools and local governments if he indeed cuts $1.3 billion from education and shrinks the local share of tax money. “We’d far rather have the governor identify non-priority spending,” Msall said. “What are the things that are a priority to the state of Illinois? Can everything in a combined $53 billion budget be a priority? If that’s the case, then it’s unlikely we’re going to identify the level of cuts that need to happen.”
The Civic Federation has put the price tag for those “needed cuts” at $2.5 billion. Msall said that would require lawmakers to craft a budget that spends at 2007 levels. But he acknowledges that is easier said than done. “Fiscally they are just numbers on a page,” Msall said. “The real problem is politically. The political will to tell people ‘No,’ to tell people ‘We can’t afford something’.” Msall said that’s a question he can’t answer, but he did say Illinois can’t wait much longer for lawmakers to answer it. He said the state’s finances are in such bad shape that the “day of reckoning is already here.”
He won’t answer it for good reason. Almost nobody wants to touch this issue. The public is not alone by any means.
* Bill Brady responded to the Civic Federation announcement via press release…
“The Civic Federation’s report should act as a wake up call for Governor Pat Quinn to finally drop his 33 percent income tax increase plan and instead make meaningful cuts to government overspending.”
Except, the Civic Federation actually supports a much larger tax hike than Quinn does. They just can’t support this budget proposal by Quinn. They’ve never once said “solve the whole problem with cuts and tax cuts,” as Brady does.
* But if you think Brady’s statement was delusional, just check out the governor’s Office of Management and Budget statement which they just released…
The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget is pleased that members of the Civic Federation recognize that we are moving forward on changes that will secure our state’s finances, but what is not emphasized in their analysis, is how budget cuts, borrowing and the surcharge for education are all necessary this legislative session to move Illinois toward budget and fiscal stability.
Budget cuts in discretionary spending made by the Quinn administration both last year and this year
must continue and new revenues are needed to restore fiscal balance. One without the other cannot do the job. Both are necessary to secure our state’s bond ratings and the ability to engage in the short-term
and intermediate term borrowing needed to pay our bills on time.
Our budget plan makes the tough decisions necessary to address the state’s challenges and provides
solutions to pay our bills, protect jobs, and save taxpayers money.
Where, oh were, to begin? I don’t read the Civic Club report as recognizing “that we are moving forward on changes that will secure our state’s finances” at all. They look at the proposed budget as a cop-out.
The Civic Federation also points out that Quinn wants to use a tax increase to negate his education cut. Instead, they say, they oppose Quinn’s proposal “to raise taxes primarily to avert spending cuts rather than to pay down the deficit or reduce the State’s other growing liabilities.” That’s kinda circular logic. The state cut education last year and filled the hole with federal money which is now gone. So, it is now in deficit.
* : Even for Illinois, this is a crazy way to spend taxpayer dollars: Not surprisingly, Glen Carbon officials and construction trade unions love the idea. Mayors of most other Metro East municipalities don’t. They worry that the development will cannibalize their jobs, businesses and tax bases. State Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, and state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, who represent the project site, also oppose the legislation. They’re skeptical of the developers’ claims that the project will create 11,760 “direct and indirect jobs” at completion. They also worry that for a state with a $13 billion deficit, betting hundreds of millions of future tax dollars on a “single, speculative real estate project” is “simply too risky.”
* Film, TV flourishing: But pilot episodes for five television series have been or will be shot in Chicago in early 2010. “I can’t think of a time when we’ve had as many television pilots shooting simultaneously,” Moskal said.
* City’s stage scene is in a bind : The State of Illinois can’t pay its bills, and that includes grant money the Illinois Arts Council has promised to various not-for-profit theater companies in Chicago, putting many of them in a financial squeeze.
What would the current state gas tax of 19 cents per gallon be if it had been indexed to inflation since it was last raised in 1990?
The answer…
Your per-gallon gas tax would be 32 cents, instead of 19 cents, if indexed to inflation since 1990.
* The Question: Keeping in mind that the gas tax (Road Fund money) is not a price percentage-based tax like the sales tax on gasoline (which goes to General Revenue), but a per-gallon tax, do you think that the state’s gas tax should be automatically indexed to inflation?
* Famed political prognosticator Charlie Cook just upgraded Mark Kirk’s chances of winning the US Senate seat. Cook had the US Senate race as a “toss-up” but he moved it a notch to “lean Republican” in the wake of Broadway Bank’s demise…
Broadway’s failure will have an enormous impact on Giannoulias’ campaign, and it is entirely possible that the fallout could force him from the race. As such, the race is moving from the Toss Up to the Lean Republican column.
“Some Democratic strategists believe that Giannoulias can weather this crisis and remain a competitive general election candidate,” [Cook] wrote. “We are not so sure.”
At issue is whether Giannoulias’ decision to take the failure of Broadway Bank head on — with an ad seeking to explain what happened and why — is the right one. […]
Cook writes that Democrats are likely to give Giannoulias’ strategy a chance to work but that if his fundraising or polling numbers (or both) erode that the search for a replacement candidate is likely to start in earnest.
Frankly, I’ve personally had this race in the “lean Republican” column since Lisa Madigan bowed out and Kirk jumped in. As I’ve written before, Kirk is a nearly perfect Republican statewide candidate. Historically, the GOP must win suburban Republican wome to defeat the Democrats statewide. Kirk’s pro-choice, anti-gun positions are right in line with theirs. And we’ve known about Giannoulias’ bank troubles for over four years, when Speaker Madigan started using them against Giannoulias in the 2006 Democratic primary.
Also, the ad buy mentioned by Cook is, apparently, mostly for show. According to three different buyers, Giannoulias spent just $2,500 on Springfield cable and $20,000 on ABC7 in Chicago, during the early morning news, noon news and the 1 am news.
It’s worth noting that Republicans have been close to silent about Giannoulias since the bank’s failure, an approach similar to the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s non aggression policy toward embattled Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) last year. Like Dodd, Republicans seem to believe that keeping Giannoulias in the race represents their best chance at winning the seat being vacated by appointed Sen. Roland Burris (D) this fall.
Um, well, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. This Kirk campaign press release just found its way into my in-box…
The Alexi Giannoulias Spin Cycle
From loans to criminals to the collapse of his bank, Alexi has a history of spinning inconvenient truths
Alexi Giannoulias is employing a serious spin cycle as he attempts to elicit sympathy for his reckless decisions that brought down his family bank and cost the FDIC $394 million. As it has often been the case throughout his career, Mr. Giannoulias resorts to pointing fingers when he finds himself in an inconvenient situation.
And this story sure looks like Kirk-generated OR to me…
Two political contributors to Alexi Giannoulias, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Illinois, appear in the government’s evidentiary documents against former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed earlier this month.
* Whatever the case, Giannoulias ain’t getting out of this race, the political hooplah surrounding Wednesday’s presidential visit to Quincy notwithstanding. All the huffing and puffing turns out to have been much ado about not a whole lot. Not to single him out or anything, but Eric Zorn was among many who read the tea leaves and proclaimed that Obama’s failure to invite Giannoulias to stand by his side was yet another sign that the White House wanted him gone…
How much more clear does President Obama have to make it that he’d be thrilled if Giannoulias did a Jack Ryan and withdrew in order to give the party a mulligan in this key race?
Well, the latest news is that Giannoulias has been invited to attend tomorrow’s festivities at the same time that every other state officeholder was invited. It’s not a campaign event, so the White House sent invites Monday to all statewide officials and people like Senate President John Cullerton, who isn’t going because it’s a session day. The only real “scandal” here is that the White House waited until two days before the event to send out invitations to his home-state VIPs.
What Obama says about his fellow Democrat during his remarks [in Quincy] could signal the level of support the White House is planning to provide Giannoulias’ campaign.
Sheesh. Again, this is a government trip, paid for by the taxpayers. If Obama does say something about the election, he’ll be violating the law.
As I’ve written before, people were telling Giannoulias to get off the ticket four years ago when he ran for treasurer against Speaker Madigan’s choice. He kept moving ahead. After he won that primary, pundits made a huge deal out of the fact that Madigan didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with Giannoulias, and suggestions were made that he’d be better off exiting. He kept moving forward. Last year, all were in a tizzy when the White House brought in a large handful of possible US Senate candidates, including Lisa Madigan, for public wooings. Giannoulias stuck with the plan. Since he won the primary, it’s been an almost non-stop cry for Giannoulias to go.
But he ain’t going anywhere, despite the rumor first spread by Rod Blagojevich that Giannoulias would be moved aside and somebody like Rahm Emanuel would replace him. Pure, utter fantasy. The trouble is, some people want it to be true so much that they can see “evidence” everywhere.
Again, I’m not trying to pick on Zorn, because this “I want it to be true so it will be true because I will help make it so” bias is so prevalent.
Y’all can keep shouting if you want, but I cannot foresee a probable circumstance where he steps aside.
Politico’s Ben Smith writes of Friday’s failure of Giannoulias’ family bank that it’s “hard to remember a worse thing happening to a Senate candidate during a campaign”
Really? I like Ben a lot, but he must not know Illinois too well. Let’s see, Blair Hull, Jack Ryan and Alan Keyes - and that was just in 2004.
About the worst thing I know that happened to an Illinois US Senate candidate was when Frank L. Smith ran in 1926. The Senate held special hearings during the summer after word got out that Smith’s campaign was being financed in whole by what is now ComEd and other utilities. Smith was chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission at the time. Oops. Now that’s bad. Smith won anyway, but the Senate refused to seat him when Gov. Len Small tried to appoint him that December (the incumbent died after the election). The Senate refused to seat him again when Smith showed up to claim his seat in March of 1927. He resigned a year later and Gov. Small was so upset that he refused to appoint a replacement, leaving Illinois with only one US Senator until after the next election.
* The Tribune editorial board once again goes after Giannoulias today…
Alexi Giannoulias has a big problem. Last week, federal regulators closed his family’s money-losing Broadway Bank, where he acquired the financial expertise he touted in running for state treasurer in 2006. So where does he place the blame? On Mark Kirk, his opponent in the race for the U.S. Senate.
Kirk, you see, is a Republican, and it was under a Republican president, George W. Bush, that the economy went bad, making many of Broadway’s loans worthless. In a new ad, the Giannoulias campaign faults Kirk for supporting Bush policies that “got us into this mess.”
Giannoulias’ claim smacks of desperation. Anyone truly looking for culprits would start with the people who ran Broadway. Most banks have been able to weather the recession. This one failed mostly because of its own mistakes.
Did Broadway make mistakes? Heck yes they did. Did those mistakes become fatal when the national economy tanked? Heck yes they did. But where have I heard this before? Oh, yeah. Now I remember. The exact same thing happened to Tribune Co. They way overleveraged, then the economy tanked, newstand sales dropped like a rock and advertising revenues dried up and then they found themselves in bankruptcy court. Oops.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, and Giannoulias has already taken the blame for his share at the bank. Giannoulias doesn’t take any blame at all in his new ad, however, and that’s the real issue here. On that point, I wholly agree with the Tribune.
* Kristen McQueary really nailed it this week with this observation…
For weeks, political observers have questioned whether Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady is ready for prime time.
But the real question is whether voters are ready for him.
Good point.
Kristen goes on to give us some color behind the Bill Brady tax returns controversy…
A circle of Chicago-based reporters grilled Brady at an Illinois Republican Party fundraiser Thursday evening at the Drake Hotel about his inadequate attempt at transparency.
“Quinn e-mailed us his full tax returns,” one reporter asked.
“Why not give all of us copies?” asked another
“You are all available to go to Springfield. Three hours is plenty of time,” Brady responded, sweat building on his upper lip.
The back-and-forth continued for another 12 minutes.
Forcing Chicago reporters to travel to Springfield is probably akin to demanding that Pinckneyville residents pick up their tax refund checks in the Loop. It ain’t a popular move.
* Gov. Pat Quinn is doing his best to keep the Brady tax issue alive. Quinn took two whacks at Sen. Bill Brady yesterday. First, he criticized Brady for only allowing reporters to “glimpse” the returns on Friday afternoon. Second, he blasted Brady for not paying income taxes on his “very handsome” state Senate salary. It’s worth a watch it…
* Meanwhile, Quinn took some heat from Latino leaders last night. Quinn didn’t attend the event, sending his COO Jack Lavin and his Hispanic point person Billy Ocasio in his stead. Congressman Luis Gutierrez wasn’t exactly impressed…
“I appreciate that the Governor has sent Mr. Jack Lavin and Mr. Billy Ocasio to be with our group tonight,” he said, “perhaps the Governor can come to our next event instead of a fundraiser with the Speaker of the House.”
Oof.
Problem is, Quinn wasn’t at Speaker Madigan’s event.
Gutierrez continued…
He went on to say that one of the major positions in Illinois is CEO of Navy Pier/McCormick Place. That position belongs to Juan Ochoa. Mr. Ochoa was appointed by former governor Rod Blagojevich in January of 2007. Gutierrez commended Jack Lavin for recognizing Ochoa’s achievement of lowering the operational costs at the Pier and calling it a model of what the state as a whole needs to do. “Yet I have never heard the Governor stand up to defend Juan Ochoa these days when it comes to McCormick place,” said Gutierrez.
“Dime, quien te defiende?” (Tell me who’s defending you), he shouted to the crowd.
Quinn’s not defending Ochoa for good reason. McCormick Place is teetering on the brink of collapse. Not to mention that Speaker Madigan despises the guy.
* On the other side of the political spectrum, Sarah Palin is returing to Illinois for a state party fundraiser…
The Illinois Republican Party says the former vice presidential nominee will headline a party fundraiser May 12 in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont.
Despite recent criticism of Bill Brady’s budget plans, former Gov. Jim Edgar says he will vote for the Republican nominee for governor come November. […]
Edgar said he’ll be voting Republican, arguing that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has not made the most of opportunities to get spending under control.
“The incumbency has not been as good to him as I thought it might be,” Edgar, a former two-term governor.
Edgar, however, said he likely wouldn’t hit the campaign trail to help shore up support for Brady. He said he would rather sit this election out and spend more time in his role as an academic at the University of Illinois.
I had a two-hour lunch with Edgar and Samuel Gove yesterday while I was in Urbana to speak to the U of I’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. It was absolutely fascinating. Too bad I can’t write about it, but we talked mostly about Illinois history.
* Illinois Review covered an Illinois Republican Party event last Thursday, but managed to bury the big news…
IL GOP’s Executive Curt Conrad said IL GOP Chairman Pat Brady and the new Finance Committee has raised more funds in the first four months of 2010 than was raised in 2009 altogether.
And because of the heightened interest in the possibility of winning the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races, Illinois has been promised at least $5 million in RNC funds to get out the RNC message and get voters to the polls on Election Day. The state’s RNC Victory program will be headed by Rodney Davis, who’s been key to Congressman John Shimkus’ (R-19) campaigns over the years.
At least $5 million? That’s a lot of scratch, man. The national GOP is in love with the idea of taking the US Senate seat away from the Democrats…
RNC Chairman Michael Steele spoke with the coalition representatives for ninety minutes, emphasizing the importance of grassroots building and message presentation. “A candy hasn’t been invented yet that would be as sweet as winning Barack Obama’s Senate seat back,” he said. Steele promised RNC resources during the upcoming election.
With SEIU, AFSCME and the teachers unions all upset with the Democrats, thus possibly depriving them of bigtime buckaroos, and the absolute governmental meltdown by the Democratic majority, the Republicans would be smart to target money into this state. Whether they’ll actually have it is anybody’s guess. They’re not doing too well these days.
Rich Williamson, an attorney who lost the 1992 U.S. Senate contest to Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, was selected by the GOP state central committee from a field of candidates during a meeting at a Chicago hotel.
Williamson succeeds Pat Brady, who vacated the position when he became chairman of the Illinois Republican Party last year.
Two state representatives called on Gov. Pat Quinn Sunday to deploy the Illinois National Guard to safeguard Chicago’s streets.
Chicago Democrats John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford said they want Quinn, Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis to allow guardsmen to patrol streets and help quell violence. Weis said he did not support the idea because the military and police operate under different rules.
“Is this a drastic call to action? Of course it is,” Fritchey said. “Is it warranted when we are losing residents to gun violence at such an alarming rate? Without question. We are not talking about rolling tanks down the street or having armed guards on each corner.”
What he envisions, Fritchey said, is a “heightened presence on the streets,” particularly on the roughly 9 percent of city blocks where most of the city’s violent crimes occur.
If this sounds familiar, it is. Rod Blagojevich had the very same idea a couple of years back.
Referring to the Kent State shootings in 1970, when National Guardsmen fatally shot four student protesters at a campus demonstration, [Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis] said that “when you mix military functions with law enforcement functions, there is sometimes a disconnect.”
Noting that the military does not operate under the same constitutional constraints as the police, he questioned how Chicago residents would react to soldiers raiding homes without warrants, and said that in his 25 years of law enforcement experience, he had never seen an example of military personnel working under local civilian command.
“The National Guard is very useful if we had a big earthquake or huge flood or a catastrophe like that, where we simply had to control folks,” he said, “But the problems we’re facing are illegal weapons, narcotics and gangs. And while I will always look out for as much help as we can, I don’t think the National Guard is the solution.”
* The Question: Putting aside the fact that Blagojevich came up with idea first, what do you think of it?
* Let’s take a look at six different views on the Bill Brady “didn’t pay any income tax” issue. First up, the candidate himself via press release…
“My family has been blessed, and while the down years have been hard to swallow personally, what has really pained us is the difficulty these times brought to our extended family — the men and women who we were lucky enough to have with our firm,” Brady said. “With private sector businesses like ours, there are good years and bad years. We’re optimistic and know it will work out in the end, but for many workers, it all means a lot of struggle. We’ve had to make the tough decisions and are coming through all right. We need to do the same thing for state government.” […]
In making the returns available, Brady said he supports the public’s right to have confidence that elected officials have no potential conflicts of interest.
“I don’t want anything to distract from my commitment to bring a clean break to Illinois, which we need so badly,” he said. “The people who were part of our company suffered the effects of a state with a job-killing environment. As governor, I’ll work to end the corruption and old politics that hurts so many people.”
But, as a matter of practical politics, Mr. Brady still is going to have to explain how he really can make $75,000 a year as a state senator and still pay nothing, or almost nothing, in federal income taxes in three of the past four years.
[Brady’s tax attorney] said the typical Illinoisan “can relate” to Brady’s financial woes. We’ll see.
This is the weaselly way of “releasing” tax returns that seems to be in the Illinois GOP playbook for 2010. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee for Senate against Giannoulias, used pretty much the same method to “release” his tax returns, one big difference being that Kirk’s returns are a lot less complicated than those of Brady, who has many business interests.
While I can appreciate that the two men probably don’t want copies of their returns floating around on the Internet for the rest of their lives, this also has the effect of not giving anyone in the public a real opportunity to scrutinize what’s in those returns. […]
While this may be just how it works when you own your own business, I don’t think I’ll be alone in believing there’s something unfair about a rich guy who also draws a nice government salary but doesn’t pay any income taxes. And something phony about a guy in those circumstances who complains about taxes being too high.
In a press release, Brady voiced his regrets at how the real estate downturn had forced his company to lay off many of its employees, which he also cited as evidence of why he’d make a good governor. It would be interesting to know how many of those employees got by with paying no taxes. It would be interesting to know what trims the Brady family budget took in those years.
* Now, let’s turn to somebody I don’t quote very often here. Doug Ibendahl…
It’s going to be hard for a guy like Brady who has obviously been wealthy enough to afford the luxury of running for governor for basically the last six years straight, to explain why he couldn’t at least kick something into the kitty from the generous state salary he receives. For a fraction of the price the Brady family likely spent on tax lawyers and accountants, Bill could have at least demonstrated he had some skin in the game on the state’s budget crisis.
Tax accountants can be expensive, but probably not that expensive. Still, I see the point. Not to mention the $30K Brady loaned his campaign in 2008 and the $101K he loaned his campaign in 2009, but let’s get back to Ibendahl’s argument…
Again, I know it’s surely all legal. But paying zip in 2008 while you’re on the state payroll and running for governor simply looks bad. It looks even worse when you’ve tried to play the hero to the tea partiers – but now the tea partiers find out you eagerly embraced the hated Obama stimulus plan to greatly reduce your tax burden. […]
Bill Brady should have told Republicans the facts during the primary race. He should have disclosed his returns in December or January (at a minimum, 2008 and prior would have been available). By waiting until now, Brady has given the Democrats effective ammo.
Would it have made a difference in the February primary? I think it would have – certainly 200 votes worth at least – and I think it’s pretty clear that’s why Brady didn’t want to release his returns. I think the excuse about not wanting to reveal proprietary business secrets to his competitors was bogus.
Ibendahl is right that such a disclosure might’ve thrown the close-as-could-be primary to somebody else. Whether Quinn and the Democrats can make this an effective argument is yet to be seen. So far, the coverage has been pretty even-handed.
* As a reminder, here is a statement the Quinn campaign released on Friday…
Today, after significant pressure, Senator Brady agreed to share several years of his past tax returns with the press. But there were conditions: instead of making copies available to the taxpayers of the state, select members of the media were invited to “view” his returns only for a limited period of time. This sounds more like a glimpse of Haley’s Comet or of a solar eclipse than the full disclosure the public deserves.
The original Tea Party’s rallying cry was “no taxation without representation.” Apparently, Senator Brady misinterpreted this line as “no taxation for elected representatives.” Since the public was not afforded the opportunity to view his returns, it’s likely we won’t know how he managed to pay no income taxes on over $100,000 of income in more than one tax year.
Given his track record—of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy but voting against a minimum wage, and of avoiding taxes on the salaries of his campaign officials—it’s not surprising that Bill Brady believes a different standard should apply to him.
If Senator Brady is this secretive and controlling about basic information like his tax returns, just imagine how he would govern. After two recent scandal-plagued administrations, Illinois residents deserve better.
What’s Quinn trying to say? That Brady believes he didn’t have to pay taxes because he is an elected representative? Or that because Brady is an elected representative he should pay taxes that the law doesn’t require?
Should Brady not take advantage of a tax break that is provided under the Stimulus Package? Should he ignore his deductible business loses when calculating his taxes? Really, is he supposed to pay taxes on money that he doesn’t make? Should he not accept his refund? Is he supposed to pay more than he owes, and if he doesn’t is that a legitimate issue for Gov. Pat Quinn to use against Brady?
Brady’s reluctance to disclose his income taxes is a legitimate issue. That he allowed reporters only a peak at his returns is, at best, odd. It makes him look like he is trying to hide something, which he probably is because he’s in business and his competitors might find disclosure of some information useful.
But not paying taxes that he doesn’t owe is not a legitimate issue. If you don’t like tax breaks then you ought to work to change the tax code. If you can understand it.
I think everybody makes some valid points. But I’m not sure yet how this is going to play out. So far, as I noted above, the media has been pretty even-handed. But taxes are a huge issue in these-here parts, so I’m sure we’ll see a revisit soon. Your thoughts?
[Bumped up from Saturday, comments opened and updated with related stories.]
* The Chicago Young Republicans are attempting to gather 10,000 signatures this month to help put the so-called Fair Map redistricting amendment on the ballot in November. The Fair Map campaign is being coordinated by the League of Women voters and they’ve apparently offered the CYRs a sweet cash reward if they succeed…
The Illinois Fair Map project has challenged the CYRs to collect 10,000 signatures in the month of April. In turn they’ll donate $10,000 to the Chicago Young Republicans.
The League has been criticized lately for its alliance with the GOP, but that apparently hasn’t slowed them down any. The CYRs say they plan to circulate petitions at Sunday’s White Sox game. The League needs to gather almost 300,000 valid signatures by May 3rd to qualify their redistricting proposal for the ballot and they’ve admitted that they’re way short.
In a 58-0 vote that took just 94 seconds, Senate President John Cullerton and his colleagues passed a measure that would protect a long-standing bank practice of charging businesses an extra five days in interest each year.
Cullerton, who gave permission for a top lieutenant to introduce the bill, is a Chicago partner in a large law firm with banking clients that would benefit from the proposal. In fact, his firm had just weeks before finalized a class-action settlement on the issue for a bank that agreed to pay more than $4 million to its borrowers.
Much later in the story, we learn that the “permission” came when Sen. Don Harmon “had a brief discussion with Cullerton about the issue when [Harmon] asked permission to use another bill as a vehicle to get around filing deadlines.” The Bankers Association lobbyist said he drafted the legislation and “I never talked to John Cullerton or anyone at his firm.” The bill also was a benefit to all banks, not just the one represented by Cullerton’s firm. But here’s the peg this story is hung upon…
In the wake of the indictments of two successive governors, the Illinois legislature last year moved to tighten some ethics rules but left alone weak provisions that govern disclosure of their incomes, investments and clients. Lawmakers also moved to retool the public records law but exempted themselves from most of its provisions.
There should definitely be more disclosure. No doubt.
* Related…
* Cross wants vote on plan he financed: House Republican leader Tom Cross has sent a letter to the governor asking him to order a special session on legislative redistricting…. Cross’s campaign fund gave $5,000 to the group pushing the “fair map.” … Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno also donated $5,000 from her campaign fund… Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens campaign fund is the only other disclosed donor so far. His campaign account provided $3,000.
* Area Leagues of Women Voters set to merge: Cite declining membership and economic benefits
In the 60-second spot, Giannoulias talks directly to voters about the bank where he was a loan officer before being elected in 2006.
“I was very proud to be a part of it, and when I left, over four years ago, it was in good shape. But no one could have foreseen these problems,” Giannoulias says as the ad flashes a headline highlighting the nation’s economic troubles. […]
In the ad, Giannoulias doesn’t miss the chance to take a swipe at Kirk, a five-term congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs, for the nation’s economic troubles.
“Washington politician Mark Kirk doesn’t get it,” the announcer says.
* Giannoulias accuses Kirk of favoring Wall Street
* Alexi Answers Tough Questions After Bank Collapse
* Daley confident Giannoulias will overcome bad bank news: “So all these small banks are going under. Yes, they are. They’re going under all over the country,” said Daley. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Giannoulias’ bank or anyone else, they’re all going under. There’s going to be more.”… Asked if he has spoken to Giannoulias since the bank closed, Daley said, “Why should I? It’s not my problem. I enjoy my life. It’s my birthday today — give me a break!”
* NYT: F.D.I.C.’s Seizure of Senate Candidate’s Family Bank Further Complicates an Illinois Race
* My syndicated newspaper column this week is about the end of session…
The Illinois General Assembly usually tries to adjourn by the end of May. That hasn’t worked out too well the past few years as partisan bickering, the state’s huge budget problems and the bloody war between former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan forced months-long overtime sessions.
The last time the Legislature truly got out early was in 1999, when then-Senate President Pate Philip demanded they adjourn by April 15th. After legislators left town, I didn’t know what to do with myself. There were no statewide elections at all the following year, which meant that absolutely nothing was going on in the political world. So, I went to Kosovo to cover the war and then took my daughter on a tour of Europe and went with my dad to Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It was quite an adventure. Later that year, I went to Cuba during then-Gov. George Ryan’s official visit. I have fond memories of that year. I actually had a life back then.
This year, though, the calendar says the General Assembly plans to adjourn by May 7th. I haven’t really experienced a May without grueling work hours since those halcyon days of 1999, so that pleases me. But I’m not holding my breath because of all the carnage I’ve seen the past few years. I just can’t bring myself to believe.
The early adjournment idea isn’t going down well with everyone, however. The plan at the moment is to pass a budget that’s billions of dollars out of balance and inform Gov. Pat Quinn that he is now in charge of figuring out how to pay the bills. Newspaper editorial boards are already warning legislators not to sneak out of town before truly “solving” the problems or they will pay heavy consequences.
One of the demands issued last week by some of the thousands of protesters who descended on Springfield to press for higher state taxes and lower budget cuts was that lawmakers stay in town, finish the job and abandon their early adjournment dreams.
“(I)f you try to leave town without doing your job, we are going to chase you. And when you come back home, we will be there,” warned Henry Bayer, the Illinois director of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.
So far, though, legislative leaders are still hoping to at least partially meet that May 7th adjournment target. The idea at the moment is to try to finish work on all “substantive” legislation by the 7th, and then return for the last week or so in May to put the final touches on the budget and deal with anything else that comes up in the interim.
But several high-level Democratic legislators are quite nervous about this plan. The perception of a “vacationing” General Assembly while the state sinks ever deeper into a financial and economic morass frightens them to no end. They’ll be sitting ducks, the members worry. Better to finish the whole thing by the 7th or, even better, just work through the whole month, even if there is little or nothing to do.
A big factor playing into the timing of the General Assembly’s summer adjournment will be whether the Republicans, particularly the House Republicans, support more borrowing. The governor wants to borrow billions of dollars to meet the state’s pension payments. But that borrowing has to be approved by a three-fifths vote in the General Assembly, and they can’t do that in the House without the Republican minority. If the House Republicans don’t get on board, the budget will take far longer to craft and will be very “ugly,” one top Democrat said last week. If they do get on board, it’s possible that the Legislature could wrap up everything by May 7th.
That doesn’t appear to be in the cards, however. The Republicans have no incentive to allow Democrats to conclude business early. The longer they’re in town, the longer the Republicans will have easy access to the media to make their case that the Democrats are incapable of governing.
I learned long ago that when it comes to the Illinois Statehouse, don’t ever get your hopes up about adjournment schedules and always bet on nothing ever getting done. That way, you’re never disappointed. Well, you’re still disappointed, but it’s a little easier to digest.
More recently, school districts that operate under property tax caps (metro-Chicago counties and some downstate counties) were given grants to make up for growth in local property wealth that could not be taxed fully because of the caps.
Guess which school district participates in the general state aid formula, has a very high percentage of poverty students and has had rapid appreciation of property values.
Chicago.
As a result of these relatively new elements in the formula, almost all of the $1.3 billion in new funding for state aid in the past five years has gone to poverty grants and state-funded property tax grants, largely for Chicago schools.
Yikes.
* Related…
* Quinn’s bad Monday: As Monday dawns, Quinn is an increasingly lonely proponent of a tax hike. The Civic Federation comes out Monday with a 95-page rejection of the governor’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts in 10 weeks. The support for a tax hike? Gone. Laurence Msall, the federation’s president, sounds exasperated with Quinn and Democratic legislative leaders. “They haven’t lived up to our expectations,” he says. “They haven’t cut spending. We see no evidence that they’ve tried.”
* Civic Federation zaps Quinn’s state budget: “Borrowing five to six billion dollars for operating expenses neither balances the budget nor helps ensure next year’s budget crisis will be any better,” federation President Laurence Msall said. What Illinois needs is a budget “that does not make the situation worse,” he added.
* Daley suggests people should decide fate of video gambling in Chicago: “It’s not me, it will be the people who decide this,” Daley told reporters. “If you put it on the ballot, you’ll find out what the people want.” “You do your surveys and find out,” Daley added when asked if he thinks Chicagoans would support the measure. “One thing they don’t want, they don’t want their taxes increased, you know that.”
* Lawmakers, chamber receptive to slots at track: When told of the possible deal that would put video slot and poker machines at Arlington Park and other tracks, state Rep. Suzie Bassi said she supported the idea because the slots would be put in areas already under the microscope of gambling regulators. Bassi, a Palatine Republican, said that made it much easier to support than video gambling at bars.
* VIDEO: Henry Bayer’s speech to last week’s protest
* Quinn’s Language on Tax Increase Getting Stronger: “This is a heroic battle, an epic battle for education in Illinois… I’m going to fight until the last dog dies, until we get proper funding for education in the Land of Lincoln… Your oath is to the people, not to politics as usual, not to an election year. You’ve got to do hard things.”
* Illinois Gov. Quinn urges veterans to take advantage of state, federal services
* VIDEO: Andy McKenna talks Illinois school voucher legislation
* It’s easy to miss when there isn’t a target: Of course, if Quinn has been vague about where he will cut, the Republicans have been equally vague about how big the cuts should be. Although Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, put out a figure of $2 billion to $3 billion the other day, Republicans mostly don’t talk specific numbers. As long as there is no target, you can always charge that Quinn failed to hit it.
* Pension crisis took decades to create, one day to ‘fix’: Quinn’s budget director said there’s no interest in skipping payments or extending the 50-year plan to lower this year’s payment. Quinn has sought an income-tax increase to help cover education funding, which could free up state funds for use elsewhere. But its prospects for approval this session are dim.
* U46 could get millions from state: Elgin School District U46 is nearer to receiving tens of millions more in state financial aid, as state lawmakers take a step to closing a loophole in the district’s funding process.
* Belvidere School District 100 Plans for Future School Years: The state may cut $1.3 billion from Illinois schools and many Stateline districts are trying to prepare now for that blow. In Belvidere, school leaders have a lot of options on the table and it could include closing a school.
* Over coffee, Halloran talks finances: Thursday, during the first of two Coffee With the Superintendent informal public events, Halloran explained the district’s current financial picture to the five visitors who attended.
* Crunching Costs Continues: Elk Grove Township Supervisor Nanci Vanderweel is crunching numbers this week trying to close a $37,000 budget gap in next year’s township budget.
* Oddly enough, Republican US Senate candidate Mark Kirk refused to talk to a reporter in southern Illinois last night about the Giannoulias bank closure, even though it was one of the bigger news days of the entire campaign…
Kirk has made the bank troubles a central issue in the campaign, but Friday evening his aid refused News 3’s request for three minutes of the congressman’s time to discuss Broadway Bank and the Wall Street reform bill which is expected to go up for debate in Washington Monday.
* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno was a guest this week on Fox Chicago Sunday. She talked about the budget, Bill Brady’s taxes and cars assigned to legislative leaders. Have a look…
