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. 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.”