Statewide Update—Jan. 26, 2011

• Peoria Journal Star—Agency Director: I was told to get rid of Republicans; Court testimony comes in lawsuit filed by 16 former IDOT workers, “The former director of the state Historic Preservation Agency testified Tuesday that representatives of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich told him in 2003 to “get rid of Republicans” in his agency.”

• Daily Herald—DuPage hires remap consultant, spikes confidentiality clause, “Schirott, Luetkehans and Garner, P.C. will be paid up to $125,000 to serve as a consultant to the county board committee charged with configuring the future legislative map.  However, the firm won’t need to comply with a confidentiality clause that had DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin raising concerns about lack of transparency.”

• Southtown Star—Quinn signs Medicaid reform into law, “Gov. Pat Quinn signed major reforms to Medicaid into Illinois law Tuesday, calling it a “landmark achievement” as he was flanked by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers who said the changes aim to reduce costs, pay bills sooner and target fraud.”

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Illinois Supreme Court will hear Rahm Emanuel appeal, “About the only thing abundantly clear after a chaotic and unprecedented day at the Chicago Board of Elections: Voters only get to vote once, even if their ballots are wrong.”

• The Southern—Overdue bills still an issue for Illinois, “The state’s stack of unpaid bills will soon double despite an income tax increase, according to state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.”

• Trib Local (Arlington Heights)—Taxpayers organize to influence politics, “Fed up with rising tax bills, residents have organized a watchdog group to  try and influence local politics and keep taxes down.”

• (AP) Peoria Journal Star—SEC reviewing Illinois pension predictions, “The Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the Illinois pension systems and state officials’ statements about how much future savings the state will get from reforms enacted last spring, Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration said Tuesday.”

• Rockford Register Star—Sheffields savings ideas: Close 8 Rockford schools, reduce staff, “Eight schools will close, gifted and several other programs will relocate to other schools, and kindergarten will shrink to a half-day program if the Rockford School Board adopts cost-cutting recommendations from Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield.”

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.”