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Union files suit, plus lots of odds and ends

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Illinois

* The Carpenters Union has filed suit against the new law intended to reform McCormick Place’s operations. Click here to read the suit, which was filed late yesterday. The union wants the law declared unconstitutional for several reasons, including…

In Count III, Plaintiff claims the MPEA Act, as amended, violates the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 because it substantially impairs an existing contract between the Plaintiff and the Defendant MPEA which is known as the Labor Agreement for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority

* Illegal? Schmillegal! Full speed ahead….

Indian Prairie school board President Curt Bradshaw appears to be pushing forward with his plan to withhold monthly payroll tax payments to the state department of revenue - even though district officials already have paid their attorneys $1,520 to tell them it’s illegal.

Support from some of his fellow Unit District 204 board members also appears to have fallen by the wayside.

* One of the more interesting stories I’ve seen to date on the Blagojevich trial is from Illinois Statehouse News…

[Robert Hirschhorn, a jury selection specialist] said the defense should be eyeing a very particular type of juror.

“The defense is going to want what I call a ’shades of grey’ juror,” he said. “If you see the world in terms of right and wrong, good and bad, black and white, I think that’s pro-prosecution.”

So what is a “shades of grey” juror?

Hirschhorn said the defense should look for a blue-collar juror, preferably a food server who does not report his or her tips. He believes Blagojevich’s best bet will also be somebody familiar with the world of politics, someone who can empathize with what it takes to accomplish things in Chicago.

“The inference is that he was trying to sell this vacant Senate seat,” he said. “What the defense is going to try to do is say…he was being a politician, not a crook.”

Makes sense.

* And your miserable budget and related roundup…

* Could state budget woes boost crime?

* Postpone new rules for preschool

* Quit grounding questions about state’s aircraft

* ‘No easy answers’: Faced with the dire uncertainty of absent or delayed state funding, libraries statewide are preparing for big changes in how they serve the public.

* Reform for state’s legislative scholarship program is out, for now“This particular bill is dead, but the issue isn’t dead,” Cullerton spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said Wednesday. The issue may re-emerge in separate legislation during the fall veto session, but Cullerton “doesn’t see a need to get rid of the program,” she said.

* Here’s another one: Today’s General Assembly scholarship outrage: Former state Rep. Robert Molaro granted tuition waivers totaling $94,000 to a longtime political pal’s four children, who met the residency requirement only if you squint at their paperwork really, really hard.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 1:02 pm

Comments

What position did Mr. Bradshaw hold in Blago’s administration?
And, does the email violate the Open Meetings Act?

Comment by Vote Quimby! Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 1:17 pm
Were Molaro’s baronial tuition waivers (not scholarships; that word means something different) granted to members of THE Bruno family, origins in Chinatown and Bridgeport?

You have to learn to walk before you run, so maybe we should make the tuition waivers a litmus test for GA members. Don’t even use the words “reform,” “ethics” or “fiscal responsibility” if you participate in that scam.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 1:37 pm
Hackles up on tuition waivers Word?

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 1:40 pm
Ghost, it’s just an ugly example of political entitlement.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 1:44 pm
I’ve been trying to understand the section naming Jim Reilly as the Trustee. It simply states that “James Reilly shall serve as the Trustee…”

A quick White Pages search turns up 59 James Reillys in Illinois alone. With no further identification in the bill, how do we know which one it is? Why doesn’t the lawsuit challenge it over this point on vagueness grounds?

Comment by Don't Worry, Be Happy Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 1:47 pm
How about eliminate new rules for preschool. Parents, do your jobs!

Comment by Wumpus Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 2:22 pm
Shades of gray- like a server that does not report tips??? This man has grossly underestimated servers. Most can read people well and with one look at Blago’s ferret looking eyes, would be afraid he would dine and dash. If this jury guy is working for the defense, its a plus for the Feds.

Comment by really? Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 2:24 pm
“he was being a politician, not a crook.”

There may be a lot of potential jurors that are in this school of ethical thought that greases to road to cheating. In their view, Rod just happened to be in a position to get his rear end and elbows into a bigger barrel and reach the summit. No slippery slope, just the rules of the road. “Where’s mine” on meth and steroids.

Comment by Vole Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 2:33 pm
==even though district officials already have paid their attorneys $1,520 to tell them it’s illegal ==

I wonder if they also told them that Bradshaw can be held personally liable for the unpaid withholding, plus penalties and interest? 35 ILCS 735/3-7. That might make him think again.

Comment by Justme Thursday, Jun 3, 10 @ 5:21 pm
I wonder if they also told them that Bradshaw can be held personally liable for the unpaid withholding, plus penalties and interest? 35 ILCS 735/3-7. That might make him think again.

Betcha they end up paying before it comes to that, or even to a trial due to the costs.

That said, I fully support his effort. The state doesn’t want to fix its fiscal situation and is avoiding making required payments to local governments in order to make sure that it can pay outside private vendors (not that the state should stiff them, either).

And it makes sense from a practical standpoint- the State owes money to the School Board, so the school board keeps the money it would pay to the State. Not much different from when someone’s wages are garnished by the government for an outstanding debt.

And, in the greater scheme of things, I think that the State should look at this as a way to save some money. Let the government units retain their payroll taxes in lieu of remittances from the state, then fill out a quarterly or biannual return to reconcile the amounts owed from the State to the local gov and the amounts owed from the local gov to the state, with the state/local getting a payment for the difference. Instead of monthly remittances back and forth with the extra costs of processing those payments.

Comment by jerry 101 Friday, Jun 4, 10 @ 8:37 am