Politics – Rich Miller

Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, spent more than a year holding hearings and overseeing negotiations which eventually produced SB 1829, a massive omnibus bill on sexual harassment. The proposal would do everything from limiting non-disclosure agreements that could prohibit disclosure of sexual harassment, to preventing unions from representing both an accuser and an alleged harasser in […]

 Freshman Rep. Terra Costa Howard, (D-Glen Ellyn), was reportedly none too pleased when Think Big Illinois began running TV ads in her district. Think Big Illinois is the dark money group created to support Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax proposal. It started running ads in late March in four individual House districts a couple […]

Almost exactly one year ago, I attended a hearing of the House Judiciary criminal law committee and watched as the Democratic majority killed one Republican-sponsored penalty enhancement bill after another. One would’ve made recruiting street gang members a Class 4 felony instead of the current Class 3. A bill to prevent child sex offenders from […]

 Should proponents of legalizing cannabis in Illinois be worried about Rep. Marty Moylan’s (D-Des Plaines) House resolution? The resolution, HR157, urges legislators “to slow the process of legalizing recreational marijuana in Illinois.” Moylan’s resolution now has 60 sponsors and co-sponsors, which is a majority of the House’s 118 members. In theory, anyway, it has enough […]

A bunch of weak political arguments have been used so far against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed constitutional amendment for a graduated income tax. But there is a clear path to killing it. My favorite argument was the complaint that the governor is trying to impose a “millionaire’s tax.” That’s precisely the sort of “Won’t everyone […]

 Democrats often propose ideas that take forever to explain and are difficult for the masses to understand. That wasn’t the case last week. “Under my fair tax plan,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted, “97 percent of taxpayers get tax relief and the wealthy will pay their fair share.” It’s gonna be really tough to top a […]

A lobbyist who works for a business-related organization asked me a question the other day that I’ve been hearing a lot lately: “Who’s going to be the stopper now?” He meant, who in the legislative process can be counted on these days to help derail bills which are deemed hostile to business interests? Before this […]

Give Gov. J.B. Pritzker some credit; the man can give a good speech. Last week’s budget address was well-written and respectful of its audience and effectively used Illinois history to make its points. Unlike some previous occupants of that office, Pritzker didn’t try to make himself look better at the General Assembly’s expense. He didn’t […]

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration has confirmed that its new public pension plan will slash $800 million from the state’s scheduled pension payment next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That reduction is a direct result of Pritzker’s proposal unveiled last week by Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes, which would extend the state’s pension payment “ramp” by […]

 Two “dark money” groups are stepping up to separately promote and attack the new governor’s agenda. Think Big Illinois, a brand new 501(c)(4) organization which doesn’t have to disclose its donors, will be supporting Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose 2018 campaign slogans included “Think big.”  The organization will be headed by Quentin Fulks, who served as […]

We’ve known for weeks now that the FBI recorded Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s mobile phone conversations over a period of eight months, listening in on 9,475 calls. And then we discovered that the feds had wired up Chicago Ald. Danny Solis during his own conversations with Burke. Ald. Burke has a rather, um, “earthy” way […]

We all know that former Gov. Bruce Rauner was outspent by our new Gov. J.B. Pritzker during the 2018 campaign.  But the actual numbers are pretty darned eye-opening. During the final three months of last year, Pritzker reported spending $37.2 million.  Rauner, on the other hand, spent just $7.1 million – less than a fifth […]