Gov. JB Pritzker last week squarely placed the responsibility for passing a Chicago Bears stadium bill on the team itself and had some unsolicited lobbying advice for the Bears as he attempted to brush off his own session attendance issues. The governor continued to downplay his own role in passing a stadium or stadium-related bill, […]
general assembly
Posted inRich Miller
Leaks lead to lecture
House Democratic legislators received a stern lecture during the second week of veto session about leaks from their private party caucus meetings. During the first week of veto session in October, I posted a photo on my blog of a caucus PowerPoint presentation showing the range of revenue ideas under consideration in the House to […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislators looking to move up
Illinois State Sen. Daniel Biss appears to be the first Democrat to actively float his name for the 2016 special election for state comptroller. The Evanston Democrat is known as a policy wonk around the Statehouse, but he’s also a prodigious fundraiser, ending the fourth quarter reporting period with $721,000 in the bank. The special […]
Posted inOpinion
The check’s in the mail, veto out of mind – not!
House Speaker Michael Madigan has always strongly guarded the powers of the General Assembly as a coequal branch of government, so it was a little surprising when he appeared to support Gov. Pat Quinn’s line-item veto of legislative salaries back in mid July. The governor vetoed the salaries in retaliation for the GA’s failure to […]
Posted inOpinion
Daley takes his gloves off
I think a lot of people believed that if Bill Daley ran for governor his campaign would be as bland and vanilla as his public persona has been over the decades. Instead, he’s turned into the fieriest candidate in the race so far. Daley is even “out-angering” wealthy Republican financier Bruce Rauner, who has tried […]
Posted inOpinion
Gay marriage bill failure and the Black Caucus
There’s more than enough blame to go around regarding the failure of the gay marriage bill during the final days of the General Assembly’s spring session, which ended May 31. Gov. Pat Quinn knew that African-American House members were reluctant to support the bill, mainly because of pressure from their churches. So, why did he […]
Posted inOpinion
Full-court press off, Jaffe fumbles
I’ve always believed that just because somebody claims to be a reformer, it doesn’t mean the person has the right solutions. Many years ago, an activist named Pat Quinn came up with an idea to change the Illinois Constitution. He used the petition process to get rid of a third of Illinois House members in […]
Posted inOpinion
Cost of inaction on concealed carry law
Illinois House Democrats were told during a private caucus meeting in Springfield last week that, despite what Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez says, inaction on concealed carry would have very serious consequences. As you most assuredly already know, a federal appellate court has given the General Assembly until June 8 to pass a new […]
Posted inOpinion
Illinois: the nearly ungovernable state
Gov. Pat Quinn used the phrase “our Illinois” almost 30 times last week in one form or another during his annual State of the State address. “In our Illinois, everyone should have access to decent healthcare,” Quinn said. “In our Illinois, working people find good jobs not just for today but for tomorrow.” “In our […]
Posted inNews
No raises for unions under House resolution
Kevin Holmes of Springfield devotes his life to caring for a young man with severe disabilities. For that full-time work – seven hours a day, seven days a week – Holmes makes just more than $11,000 per year, which puts him and his wife below the federal poverty level while she goes back to school. […]
Posted inOpinion
The new 96th
Five candidates are running, but only one will win the race to represent parts of Springfield and Decatur in the new 96th Representative District. The first leg of the race is the March 20 primary election that will eliminate all but two candidates. To this point the Republican candidates are running a clean campaign, while […]
Posted inNews
Ferreting out fraud
It’s a crucial time for Illinois in terms of the state budget, but investigators say the state is at a turning point in another respect: fighting Medicaid fraud. Gov. Pat Quinn announced a state budget last month that requires $2.7 billion in cuts to Medicaid. While lawmakers look at restricting eligibility and treatments to shave […]
