Statewide Update—Jan. 20, 2011

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Illinois service providers say state bond sale needed, “Leaders of Illinois social services agencies urged lawmakers on Wednesday to let the state sell billions of dollars in bonds to help catch up on a backlog of unpaid bills.”

• Chicago Tribune—Cook County ethics official quits after news report reveals political ties to assessor, “An appointed Cook County ethics official resigned in the wake of a news report revealing his political ties to Assessor Joseph Berrios, who is under an ethics spotlight for hiring his son and sister, officials confirmed Wednesday.”

• Trib Local—Would-be OTB in Hoffman Estates gets another extension, “Construction of the Saddle Room restaurant and off-track betting parlor in the Hoffman Estates entertainment district should start in February or March and be open about six months later, said the developer’s president, Parker Grabowski.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—County OKs pay hikes for hospital bosses, “Cook County commissioners on Wednesday reluctantly signed off on controversial pay raises given to a half-dozen top administrators in the county’s health and hospital system serving the poor and uninsured.”

• Trib Local—District 97 [Oak Park] changes course, seeks permanent tax hike, “Just two hours before the state deadline, the Oak Park Elementary District 97 board drastically changed its referendum, both in size and in structure.”

• Southtown Star—Big shake up of administrators at Oak Lawn SD 229, “Seven of Oak Lawn High School District 229’s administrators, including Principal Patrick Keeley, will not have their contracts renewed for the 2011-2012 school year, the school board decided Wednesday night.”

• Chicago Tribune—Editorial: The Monique Davis file, “…the standoff between the Far South Side Democrat and her landlords at CPS shows how even minor disputes can grow into hefty bills that might land in the laps of taxpayers.”

• Daily Herald—McHenry County pays another bill, “McHenry County Board members say they are increasingly concerned and disheartened over the rising costs associated with the investigation of State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi, particularly the appointment of a special prosecutor.”

• Southtown Star—Village reaches pact with public works employees, “Under a four-year contract approved by the Tinley Park Village Board on Tuesday, public works employees will get a 1 percent pay raise in the next fiscal year.”

• Daily Herald—COD candidate booted off ballot by technicality, “Impellizzeri, of Elmhurst, submitted his papers to board secretary Kay Neely one by one, when election law requires that pages be bound and submitted together, according to COD board attorney Ken Florey.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 19, 2011

• Chicago Sun-Times—Preckwinkle warns: Cut Cook County budget—or I will, “Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a warning Tuesday to Sheriff Tom Dart and State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez — and anyone else balking at the looming budget cuts: help her swing the budget ax, or she’ll propose the cuts herself.”

• Daily Herald—RTA awaits word on end of free rides for seniors, “The Regional Transportation Authority has had no word on whether Gov. Pat Quinn will sign a bill to limit free rides for senior citizens, but nevertheless is trying to calculate the revenue boost the agency would get if it does become law.”

• State Journal-Register—Private managers to take over Illinois Lottery in July, state says,  “The state has rejected two protests over the awarding of a private management contract for the Illinois Lottery, opening the way for the new manager to take control of the lottery this summer.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—Nuckolls getting paid for being in county board while in jail, “Nuckolls has not attended a county board meeting since his September arrest and has been stripped of his committee assignments. He continues to receive his board salary of $4,460 a year.”

• Daily Herald—Des Plaines may update water meters, resulting in rate hike, “Des Plaines residents may see a rise in water rates starting next year if officials decide to eventually replace the city’s roughly 13,000 analog water meters with a new digital automated meter reading system.”

• Southtown Star—Kaupas names cousin deputy police chief, “Kaupas, who is the second cousin of Sheriff Paul Kaupas, was hired as the spokesman in December at a salary of $75,000. He said he will perform the duties of both positions, replacing two people who retired, at a net savings to the sheriff’s department.”

• Daily Herald—Pension reform tops Naperville’s state agenda, “For the second consecutive year, pension reform tops the list of fights the city wants its legislative leaders to tackle.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 18, 2011

• Southtown Star (AP)—Tax credit is incentive to hire temporary workers, “Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation providing a $2,500 tax credit to employers hiring trainees from the Put Illinois to Work temporary jobs program.”

• State Journal-Register—Thousands hired in Illinois ahead of new pension system, “Thanks to the eight-month span between Gov. Pat Quinn’s approval of a pension reform bill last spring and its implementation Jan. 1, any public worker hired in Illinois as late as Dec. 31 was enrolled in a far more lucrative pension plan than those hired after that date.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—Black wards adding more voters, while Hispanic wards lag behind, “In just 10 weeks since the November midterm elections, every ward in the city showed a jump in the number of registered voters, indicating a high level of interest in the upcoming mayoral contest.”

• WBEZ—Cook County commissioner wants family hiring ban, “The county government has long had a reputation for nepotism. Recently  Assessor Joe Berrios hired two relatives soon after he took over the office.”

• (Gatehouse News Service) Peoria Journal Star—State Comptroller informed that 38 appointees not confirmed, “The Senate of the 96th General Assembly did not confirm any of the listed persons… With their nominations no longer valid, I am unaware of any legal authority permitting the formal nominees to continue to draw a salary or receive expense reimbursements.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Durbin changes stance on death penalty, “U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking member of the U.S. Senate, said Monday he has come to believe that states should not impose the death penalty.”

• Chicago Tribune—State Sen. Lou Viverito of Burbank resigns, “Sen. Lou Viverito’s resignation was effective Saturday, though the 78-year-old from Burbank remains the Stickney Township supervisor, a job he has held for about 35 years.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—Quinn, former state rep. say job not traded for tax-hike vote, “During her final days in office, former state Rep. Careen Gordon scored a lucrative state job after casting an important vote that helped pass Gov. Quinn’s controversial 67 percent income tax increase.”

• Daily Herald—LeBlanc off ballot in Campton Hills but still in race, “Kristin LeBlanc plans to run as a write-in candidate for Campton Hills village president after the village clerk declined to put her on the April ballot because her nominating petitions were incomplete.”

• Center Square Journal—Ald. Schulter drops reelection bid; aims for County Board of Review, “Schulter has served as alderman since 1975. Rumors of his retirement have swirled since November, when a political ally of Schulter filed to run for alderman.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 14, 2011

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Quinn signs tax increase, Dems point to spending caps, “Illinois taxpayers will have to fork over a lot more money now that Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a major tax increase, but Democratic leaders want them to take comfort in knowing that new spending limits will ensure their dollars are handled carefully.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—Opinion: How tax increases will affect state, “Elections have consequences. You Illinois taxpayers who are outraged over the reduced paychecks you’ll soon see should remember that more than half of you voted for Gov. Quinn, and he campaigned to raise your taxes.”

• Southtown Star—Lawmakers plan to revive gambling legislation in 2011, “Southland lawmakers vowed Thursday to revive a plan that would drastically expand gambling in Illinois, just days after outgoing lawmakers allowed the proposal to stall during the closing hours of the previous General Assembly.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Opinion: Luciano: Taxman, peek at pensions, “Rather than just jamming people with a brutal income tax, our lawmakers could’ve taken a hard look at one of the state’s most glaring trouble spots: Pensions.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—New state lawmakers propose pay cut for assembly, “Five new Republican lawmakers introduced legislation on their first day to cut Illinois General Assembly members’ pay by 10 percent.”

• Daily Herald—Aurora laborers union agrees to 7 furlough days, “Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1514 reached an agreement this week with Aurora to take the equivalent of seven unpaid furlough days in 2011 to save the city money.”

• Chicago Tribune—Plan would fire corrupt city workers when convicted of corruption; Alderman seeks to change policy of waiting until sentencing, “Ald. Joe Moreno, 1st, said taxpayers shouldn’t be required to continue covering the cost of the workers’ salaries while they appeal their convictions or await sentencing.”

• Daily Herald—District 300 may need $19 million loan, “Late payments from the state and looming expenses will likely force Community Unit District 300 to take out a $19 million loan in the next few months to cover general operating costs, including payroll.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 10, 2011

• Rockford Register Star—Area legislators to continue public appearances despite Arizona shooting, “Six people were killed and 14 wounded when a gunman opened fire Saturday morning outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson as Giffords met with constituents.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—State tax-hike plan fails to win over Dems, “…House members also moved to scale back the Blagojevich-era program that lets all senior citizens ride for free on public trains and buses.”

• State Journal-Register—No vote yet on taxes; bill would limit workers’ bargaining rights, “Taking aim at the increasing number of state workers joining unions, an Illinois House committee approved legislation Sunday designed to strip collective bargaining rights from certain workers and stop others from getting them.”

• The Southern—State budget crisis fueled Medicaid reform efforts, “A long-awaited state Medicaid reform proposal, approved Friday in the Illinois Legislature with a House vote of 111-4, was likely fueled by the state’s financial crisis, said a local state lawmaker.”

• Southtown Star—Rich Miller: Illinois Democrats get chance to draw own district maps, “The new maps probably are the least interesting aspect of politics to voters, but incumbents and wannabes watch this as close as they can for obvious reasons. So, you should, too.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—The Watchdogs: Convicted but still on city payroll, “Nine former city employees were paid a total of $383,205 after they pleaded guilty or were found guilty in corruption cases, records show.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Word on the Street: Very little opposition to new TIF proposal, “A public hearing on the East Village Growth Cell is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 6, 2011

• Chicago Sun-Times—Better Government Association sues Chicago Police Department, “The BGA, a not-for-profit corporation, claims the Chicago police refuses to release documents about the protection and transportation of Burke (14th) as requested in an Aug. 24, 2010, Freedom of Information Act request, according to the complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court.”

• State Journal-Register—2 percentage point income tax hike on table for state leaders, “Legislative leaders and Gov. Pat Quinn will meet today to discuss boosting Illinois’ income tax rate from the current 3 percent to 5 percent as part of a package that also could include pension borrowing, a moratorium on new state programs, no new spending and property tax relief.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—Illinois Senate approves Medicaid reform, “With the clock ticking on the lame-duck legislative session, the Illinois Senate unanimously approved a plan Wednesday to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program.”

• State Journal-Register—Tenaska bill falls short in Senate, “A bill authorizing construction of a $3.5 billion clean coal technology plant in Taylorville failed in a vote in the Illinois Senate Wednesday.”

• Belleville News Democrat—Insurance fraud investigators begin probe into workers’ comp claims at Menard, “State insurance fraud investigators have opened an official probe of the Menard Correctional Center, where hundreds of guards and others have filed for or received taxpayer-funded settlements for “repetitive trauma” they say was mainly caused by operating heavy cell locking mechanisms.”

• Southtown Star—U.S. House welcomes five from Illinois, “The Illinois congressional delegation has the biggest freshman class in more than a decade — five new House members and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk were sworn in to full terms on Wednesday, all Republicans.”

• Daily Herald, Editorial—Kane County ethics laws, for the most part, require a do-over, “An opinion on the county’s ethics law from former State’s Attorney John Barsanti before he left office to become a circuit judge Dec. 1 deems several sections of the law unclear, not applicable and unenforceable.”

• Southtown Star, Editorial—Unfair election process taints suburban hearings, “Whenever suburban elections approach, dozens of poor slobs find themselves caught up in a process designed to stop outsiders from threatening the people in power.”

• Chicago Tribune, Editorial: Reform—or eyewash? “Springfield is buzzing with reform talk in the final frantic days of this brief, few-days conclusion to a 2010 legislative session.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 4, 2011

• Chicago Sun Times—CPS funds were spent on bug sweeps, booze, “The Chicago Public Schools’ inspector general is questioning more than $800,000 in spending under two former school board presidents — from $3,000 to check the board’s offices for “eavesdropping devices” to $12,624 for holiday parties at a president’s home.”

• State Journal-Register—Proposal would tie state spending to Illinois personal income, “The amendment’s sponsor, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said it is only natural to tie any spending increases to personal income increases because much of the state’s revenue – income and sales taxes – is tied to how much its citizens earn.”

• The Southern—Gambling expansion on hold, “A vote on the expansion, which would add five new casinos and legalize slot machines at horse racing tracks, had been scheduled for a House committee Monday, but state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said more closed-door talks are needed.”

• State Journal-Register—New push starts for cigarette tax increase, “Anti-smoking groups renewed their push for a $1-a-pack increase in the state’s cigarette tax on Monday, pointing to research showing that the state would see $377 million in new revenue the first year of the tax increase.”

• Daily Herald—Lake County forest board eyeing land buy, “It would grow the preserve to about 315 acres.”

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Senate committee begins education reform hearings, “An Illinois Senate committee is hearing differing opinions on how to reform public education… A similar House committee has already conducted several hearings.”

• Southtown Star—Rich Central dean draws suspension, “The Rich Central High School dean who sparked controversy when she held a party where a photo of a former principal was burned in effigy was suspended and given a warning letter by Rich Township High School District 227 officials…”

Statewide Update—Jan. 3, 2011

• State Journal-Register—Tax hike among issues looming for General Assembly: “A tax increase, Medicaid reforms, education reforms and workers’ compensation reforms.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Fired IDOT workers get day in court: “16 ex-employees allege their dismissals were politically motivated.”

• Southtown Star—Dump cleanup more than $1 million: “Illinois taxpayers shelled out more than $1 million in 2010 to rid the state of a huge illegal dump that state environmentalists say was the largest in Illinois history.”

• Chicago Sun-Times, Editorial—Reform bill doesn’t fix pension disaster: “On Thursday, Gov. Quinn signed a bill that would reduce benefits for new hires while putting new requirements on local governments to put in enough money to ensure the pension funds will be healthy. The legislation covers Chicago’s police and fire funds as well as those in Downstate communities — all those outside Chicago — that are governed by different rules.”

Statewide Update—Dec. 22, 2010

• Chicago Sun-Times—Cook County watchdogs warn: Don’t hire relatives: “Weeks after Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios drew criticism for putting his son and sister on the payroll, a report was sent out by two county watchdogs reminding of ethics rules against hiring kin.”

• (AP) Southtown Star—Judge upholds Ryan conviction: “The appeals court could grant Ryan bail as he awaits their decision, but Thompson noted every decision has gone against Ryan so far.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Census numbers show more poverty, less income: “Our kids are poorer. And all this is despite the fact more of us are getting a college education.”
  

• (AP) Bloomington Pantagraph—Census: Illinois loses 1 congressional seat: “While no one knows yet what the state’s congressional districts will look like, Illinois will definitely lose one U.S. House seat before the 2012 election.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—Budget for new political map: $3.4 million: “From special ‘war rooms’ to sophisticated mapmaking software, costs for the once-per-decade exercise will be split among the state’s four legislative leaders.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Son joins father on East Peoria ballot: “‘Yes, my dad is the mayor and I think he’s done a good job, but I am my own person,’ Mingus said.”

• Southtown Star—Tax levy inches up in District 230: “An average owner of a single-family residence living within Consolidated High School District 230 can expect to pay about $12 more in property taxes next year.”

Statewide Update—Dec. 16, 2010

• Southtown Star—Meeks hopes vouchers plan can fix ‘broken’ schools: “… unlike Meeks’ last voucher bill that foundered in the Legislature, the state senator’s new education plan would not limit vouchers to students in the lowest-scoring or most overcrowded schools. Instead, it would be open to both low- and middle-income parents citywide — an idea that could win him new voters.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—Mayoral candidates grade schools very low: “Four top mayor candidates agreed Wednesday that Chicago Public Schools were broken. Asked to grade the system, two candidates gave it a ‘D.’ Two gave it a ‘C-minus.’”

• Daily Herald—No strikes? Tougher tenure? Lawmakers contemplating school reform: “Beginning Thursday, hearings are being held on reforming some of the most controversial aspects of public schooling in Illinois.  Eliminating teachers’ right to strike is on the list. So is instituting tougher tenure requirements. And looking at performance evaluations alongside seniority when pink slips are being handed out come spring.”

• Trib Local, Downers Grove—Downers Grove OKs 4.5% tax levy increase: “The Downers Grove village council gave final approval to what will likely be a $36 average hike in yearly property bills during Tuesday’s council meeting, unanimously passing this year’s tax levy.”

• State Journal-Register—Public policy meeting slated for Friday: “Financial problems facing the state and potential solutions will be the topic of a public policy briefing, sponsored by the Citizens Club of Springfield, at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St.”
  

• Daily Herald—Cary District 26 to reject bid for Maplewood site: “For a district hoping to slim down by $4 million over the next three years, $1.8 million to $3 million could sure help. That’s how much Cary Elementary District 26 is hoping to get from selling the Maplewood.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—State eager to help keep local auto plant going: “State officials aren’t saying exactly what they would do to help keep a Japanese carmaker in Central Illinois, but Gov. Pat Quinn hasn’t been shy about doling out big-ticket incentives for other struggling automobile manufacturers.”

• State Journal Register—Council could name new mayor Tuesday: “Two current aldermen – Ward 1’s Frank Edwards and Ward 3’s Frank Kunz – both said Wednesday they are willing to serve out the remainder of Mayor Tim Davlin’s term.”