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. 13, 2011

• Southtown Star—Will lawmakers pay for tax hike? No way. “Voting in favor of the state’s largest income tax increase won’t make outgoing state Rep. Mike Carberry popular on his Oak Lawn block. But the vote was needed, he and other Southland Democrats said Wednesday, to avoid state insolvency.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—Central Illinois debates income tax increases, “It was a debate taking place across Central Illinois on Wednesday after the General Assembly worked into the early morning to send Gov. Pat Quinn a controversial tax increase bill.”

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Cook County medical examiner double-bunked bodies, “The head of the Cook County medical examiner’s office says it was forced to store bodies two to a cooler tray for a short time.”

• State Journal-Register—Quinn: Will ‘follow my conscience’ on death penalty abolition, “Gov. Pat Quinn won’t say whether he will sign legislation abolishing the death penalty, but even if he does, it won’t empty death row, as then-Gov. George Ryan did before he left office in 2003.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Trial starts in IDOT suit; former state workers say they were laid off because of politics, “The trial got under way Wednesday in the federal lawsuit filed by 16 former state workers who claim they were sacked seven years ago because they were Republicans.”

• Daily Herald—West Chicago, Warrenville chambers merge, “The two chambers merged, effective Jan. 1, into the Western DuPage Chamber of Commerce. The new chamber will serve more than 400 members in the two communities.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 12, 2011

• State Journal-Register—Senate approves end to death penalty; bill headed to Quinn, “Ten years after Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois and nearly eight years after then-state Sen. Barack Obama sponsored reforms to the system, a bill abolishing capital punishment is headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.”

• Southtown Star—Senate President: More work ahead, “Senate President John Cullerton says fixing the state’s finances will require hard work even after lawmakers passed a massive tax increase.”

• Daily Herald—Lombard ballot to include term limits question, “A ‘yes’ vote will signal voters want the village board to consider a binding referendum to place limits on the number of consecutive terms officials can serve.”

• Rockford Register Star—Rockford School District presents $51 million cuts plan to public, “The committee came up with proposals to cut $51 million — or 12.6 percent — from the district’s $404 million budget to use for fiscal 2012, which begins July 1. The committee presented its recommendations Tuesday at the School Board meeting.”

• State Journal-Register—Tenaska fails again, project’s future in jeopardy, “The Illinois Senate early today again rejected a bill authorizing a clean-coal technology plant in Taylorville, possibly ending chances of the plant ever being built.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—Normal mayor suggests form-based code optional, “Mayor Chris Koos is suggesting making the controversial form-based code an option — not a requirement — for developers of properties along the Main Street Corridor in Normal.”

• Daily Herald—Mundelien to merge engineering, public works departments, “In a cost-cutting move, Mundelein officials are merging the town’s engineering and public works departments.”

Statewide Update—Jan. 11, 2011

• State Journal-Register—Quinn sworn in as governor amid budget crisis, “In a 30-minute inaugural speech, Quinn said he would fix the state’s broken finances, improve education and revive the state’s economy during his term.”

• Chicago Tribune—Lawmakers vote to roll back free transit rides for seniors, “A household of two senior citizens with an income of less than $34,000 a year still would be eligible for free rides, said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.”

• State Journal-Register—House OKs bill to limit unionization of some state workers, “The Illinois House pushed through a bill on Monday that would limit certain state workers’ rights to join a collective bargaining unit.”

• Peoria Journal Star—Opinion: Taxing businesses out of Illinois, “In a time when we need to encourage investment and attract jobs to Illinois, current tax proposals threaten to do just the opposite.”

• Daily Herald—District 300 looks to trim budget by $8.3 million, “With the state lagging millions of dollars behind in payments, and contract negotiations under way with the teachers union and other employment groups, Community Unit District 300 school administrators presented a plan to ensure the ‘economic survivability of the school district.’”

• Champaign News-Gazette—Vermillion agency to cut some services to seniors, “The changes are roughly the same as last year at this time and for the same reason: The state owes the agency $436,144, which dates back to July.”

• Daily Herald/BGA—Oak Brook mayor, wife collect $142k from 4 pensions, “Oak Brook Village President John Craig portrays himself as a fiscal conservative who favors privatizing more of the fire department and laying off firefighters to scale back costs for salaries and for pensions ”we just can’t afford.”

• Southtown Star—Some Oak Lawn officials question referendum drive, “A group of Oak Lawn officials is working to remove from the April ballot a binding referendum that asks voters if the village should change its form of government.”

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. 7, 2011

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Public using stronger open government laws, “Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Thursday that the state’s 2009 overhaul of its Freedom of Information and Open Meetings laws brought long-overdue transparency to Illinois government.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—On 2^nd try, state House votes to abolish death penalty, “Illinois has not enforced the death penalty since then-Gov. George Ryan imposed a moratorium in 2000 after more than a dozen men on death row were exonerated. Just before leaving office in 2003, Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 inmates to life in prison and pardoned four others.”

• Daily Herald—Kane finance committee to explore ethics of seeking financial advice, “The Kane County Board may have a new panel of financial experts chiming in with advice in 2011 as it tries to avoid another year of deficit spending.”

• State Journal-Register—Dems push income, cig tax increases, property tax break, “The plan calls for borrowing $8.75 billion to pay off old bills. And to prevent the state from sinking into a financial abyss again, lawmakers will be asked to approve bills limiting spending increases and imposing a prohibition on new programs for the next three years.”

• Southtown Star—Daley rips admission fee for Taste of Chicago, “During that the Taste of Chicago will ‘always be free,’ Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday he would oppose a lone bidder’s proposal to charge a $20 admission fee to the lakefront festival.”

• Daily Herald—DuPage seniors can defer property taxes, “A DuPage County program allows qualified seniors, 65 and older, to defer their property taxes until they sell their home.”

• State Journal-Register, Editorial—Clout carries the day vs. Tenaska, “As things stand now, it appears that the Tenaska clean coal power plant proposed for Taylorville is dead.”

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. 29, 2010

• Investment News—The state most likely to default? Not California, say swaps: “Insuring Illinois against default now costs more than that for California, the lowest-rated U.S. state according to Standard & Poor’s.”

• Chicago Tribune—Chicago street parking set to rise again: “According to published reports,  Chicago will continue to have the highest downtown parking rates in the country, topping New York’s $3.75 an hour and Los Angeles’ $4.”

• (AP) State Journal Register—Quinn looks at bonds to cover budget deficit: “Several lawmakers said Tuesday that Gov. Pat Quinn has been discussing plans to borrow billions of dollars to help soak up the state’s pool of red ink, which could be a hard sell when legislators reconvene next month.”

• Southtown Star—Illinois gets $14.9 million for insuring more children: “Illinois is among 15 states sharing in $206 million in federal money for making significant progress in enrolling uninsured children in Medicaid.”

• Peoria Journal Star—East Bluff TIF district advances: “Panel suggests city move ahead on first residential tax-increment financing district.”

• Rockford Register Star—Winnebago County state’s attorney looks into offering jail alternative: “The so-called deferred prosecution would give first-time, nonviolent offenders a chance to pay a fine, perform community service and/or complete treatment programs in lieu of going to jail and being charged with a crime.”

• (AP) Bloomington Pantagraph—Rep. Davis to Bill Clinton: Stay out of Chicago politics: “Congressman Danny Davis has a message for former President Bill Clinton: Don’t take sides in the Chicago mayor’s race — or else.”

• Belleville News Democrat—Editorial: End attitude of entitlement: “It’s time to stop treating workers’ comp like an entitlement and raise the requirements to limit who qualifies for it.”

• Daily Herald—Froehlich challenges petitions of three Schaumburg library candidates: “Retiring Democratic state Rep. Paul Froehlich is challenging the candidacy papers of three Schaumburg Township District Library hopefuls.”