Changing where the money is from

Cross posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

On Thursday we noted that House Republican Leader Tom Cross had moved money from his personal campaign fund and the House Republican Organization to Citizens to Change Illinois, a committee that has reported receipts from no other donors this year. Today we can update the destination of those funds. Of the $486K that went into Citizens to Change Illinois, here's who benefited:

Hamilton Chang (R-17): $47K
Billie Roth (R-44): $47K
David Harris (R- 75): $47K
Dan Sugrue (R-59): $17K
Maripat Oliver (R-85): $8K
Sue Rezin (R-75): $8K
Nick Been (R-79): $8K
Ruth Munson (R-43): $6K
Jeffrey Junkas (R-37): $4K

That still leaves almost $300K unaccounted for, FWIW.

Citizens to Change Illinois will likely need to change it's name to include Cross as an official sponsor, but that won't happen until after this election cycle. It's possible the group could drop the sponsoring entity tag before the next elections, if it raises enough money from other donors in the interim.

Citizens to Change Illinois is not affiliated with the reform organization CHANGE Illinois, of which ICPR is a member.

To comment, please visit ICPR's blog.

Read more...

Term Lmiits for Legislative Leaders

by Cal Skinner

I'm pretty amazed that the issue I stressed when I ran for governor against Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan in 2002 is getting attention during this year when the media is pushing reform:

Term Limits
for Leaders

When my Libertarian Party running mate Jim Tobin and I kicked off our campaign in his National Taxpayers United of Illinois office in the South Loop, the sign we held up is the one you see below.


The sign went everywhere in the campaign and might have gotten some real play had Blagojevich and Ryan not conspired to skip the Illinois League of Women Voters gubernatorial debate after I managed to reach the 5% threshold in the Daily Southtown's 1,000 person survey. (That was the largest in the entire campaign, by the way.)

It seemed perfectly obvious to me that legislative leaders should not be leaders for life.

Except for two years after Republican Lee Daniels managed to elect a Republican majority in 1994—the year that the GOP's Contract with America clicked on the national level—Mike Madigan has been speaker since George Ryan held the office in the early 1980's.

Pate Philip stopped all sorts of bad legislation in his leadership of the state senate during the 1990's, but it still seems to me that there ought to be turnover.

While the old guy/gal may pick the new guy/gal, at least the newbies would have different friends.

When Daniels got deposed during a staff-campaign-work-on-state-time scandal initiated by Rich Means--part of which took place in McHenry County--successor Tom Cross won votes by promising not to try to follow Daniels' example of being Republican leader as long as he could.

Cross promised term limits.

In 2008, that 2002 promise went bye-bye.

And, of course, nothing will happen on the issue because Madigan is not willing to see an end to his regime...even if it were ten years from now.

The Daily Herald has polled suburban legislators on how they stand on various reform proposals and how the term limits for leaders issue shakes out can be seen below.

First House members:

• Susanne Bassi – Favors
• Mark Beaubien (Republican representing eastern part of McHenry County) – Favors
• Bob Biggins – Favors
• Linda Chapa-LaVia – Favors
• Franco Coladipietro – Favors
• Sandy Cole – Favors
• Michael Connelly – Favors
• Tom Cross – Opposed (Big surprise there.)
• Keith Farnham – Opposes
• Mike Fortner – Favors
• Jack Franks – (Democrat representing northern & western McHenry County) Favors
• Paul Froehlich – Opposes
• Kay Hatcher – Favors
• Emily Klunk-McAsey – Did not respond to Daily Herald
• Sidney Mathias – Favors
• Rosemary Mulligan – Favors
• Elaine Nekritz – Favors
• JoAnn Osmond – Favors
• Sandra Pihos – Favors

• Randy Ramey – Opposes (Step-father is Pate Philip.)
• Dennis Reboletti – Favors
• Kathleen Ryg – Favors
• Skip Saviano – Favors
• Tim Schmitz – Favors
• Darlene Senger – Favors
• Ed Sullivan – Favors
• Mike Tryon – (Representing southeastern McHenry County) Opposes
• Mark Walker – Opposes
• Eddie Washington – Favors

= = = = =
The top sign is the one used in the 2002 campaign. The bottom one was the first version. I concluded that 8 years as leader was better than 6, hence the change in toll free phone numbers.

Posted first at McHenry County Blog.

Read more...

Lincoln Bicentennial Special License Plates

Earlier this week, I wrote that House Minority Leader Tom Cross had indicated police groups have expressed concerns with special license plates and that there had been a general "move away" from the issuance of new special plates in Springfield. I also mentioned that Representative Cross, and several other legislators, subsequently voted for special "In God We Trust" plates.

Yesterday, the House adopted an amendment to another "In God We Trust" special plates bill, transforming it into a "Lincoln Bicentennial" special plates bill. The new special plates would cost an additional $25 initially and upon renewal. Upon issuance, $10 would go into a new Lincoln Legacy Scholarship Fund; and $15 would go into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund to help defray the administrative processing costs. With each renewal, $23 would go into the Lincoln Legacy Scholarship Fund; and $2 into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund.

Subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, and approval by the Secretary, all money in the Lincoln Legacy Scholarship Fund would be paid as grants to the Illinois Community College System Foundation, to be used to fund the Lincoln Legacy Scholarship program, founded by the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The Illinois Community College System Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; and the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission was created by Governor Rod Blagojevich, by executive order, back on February 14th of 2006. The Illinois commission is separate and distinct from the federal Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission on which several Illinois representatives also serve.

The bill has been scheduled for a third reading and short debate; and if it passes, it will then go to the Senate for approval. I have three questions for readers to answer in their comments:

1. Considering the concerns allegedly expressed by police groups regarding special license plates, should the General Assembly be authorizing the creation of new special plates?

2. What do you think about the practice of creating a separate "special fund" within the State treasury for each of these special plates, as has been the common practice?

3. Do you think that this proposal would be a good use of the funds? (i.e. Would the funds be going to the right organizations and be earmarked for the best possible use?)

Read more...

Special License Plates

Yesterday's question of the day on the Capitol Fax Blog mentioned the passage of a bill, out of Senate committee, to authorize the issuance of NASCAR special license plates and Rich Miller asked what other special license plates people would like to see in Illinois.

A few months ago, I presented a draft bill to Republican House Minority Leader Tom Cross, my representative, that would have authorized the creation of special license plates for each legally established political party. The design would have been mutually agreed upon between the Chairman of each State Central Committee and the Illinois Secretary of State; and the proceeds would have been used (1) to pay for the cost of issuing the plates, and (2) as a distribution to the local County Central Committee of each party in which the plates were registered.

My thinking on this was that the act would not only give Illinois citizens an opportunity to promote their chosen political party but also potentially help reduce each party's reliance on private campaign contributions.

To his credit, as is usually the case, Representative Cross was kind and professional enough to personally call me in order to discuss the proposal. He explained to me that, while he thought the proposal was an interesting idea, various police groups have expressed concerns with special plates and that there had been a general move away from the issuance of new special plates.

Based on this feedback, I rethought my position on this issue. If the promulgation of special license plates presents a law enforcement problem, then I'm against them. After all, the primary purpose of vehicular license plates is law enforcement--not aesthetic vanity or fundraising.

Shortly thereafter, to my dismay, I was surprised to learn that Representative Cross then voted for a bill to authorize the issuance of "In God We Trust" special license plates.

Without even getting into the issues of separation of church and state raised by this overtly religious phrase (which became the "national motto" only in 1956) it seems to me that there is a serious disconnect here. If special license plates do indeed present a law enforcement problem, our elected representatives should listen to the concerns of enforcement officials, rather than simply ignoring them for political or religious reasons.

Of course, another possibility is that special plates do not actually present a law enforcement problem; and Representative Cross simply didn't like the idea of special plates for established political parties. If that was the case, I would have preferred that he told me that.

Do special license plates really present a law enforcement problem?

Also, in your opinion, was Representative Cross being genuine/honest when he told me that police groups have expressed concerns with special license plates and that there had been a "move away" from them? (Did he later change his mind, or was there something particularly important about these special plates that overrode the law enforcement issue?)

Read more...

Grand Old Partisan: Setting the Obama Record Straight

Earlier this week, Grand Old Partisan issued what I'm sure is to be a continued party of the Clinton-McCain attacks on Barack Obama: "Where's the beef?"

GOP charged that Obama was all talk, no action on education, health care, transportation and government reform.

Before I respond, let me offer a counter challenge to GOP: What have Hillary Clinton and John McCain ACCOMPLISHED to improve education, health care, transportation and government ethics?

OBAMA ON EDUCATION:

- SB 19 (LAW) enacted school reforms backed by Mayor Daley

- SB 533 (law) expanded teacher training;

- SB 903 (LAW) expanded early childhood education;

- SB 1369 (LAW) created Illinois' first statewide capital needs assessment for schools;

ON HEALTH CARE:

- HB 2268 (LAW) Created the Health Care Justice Act, creating a bipartisan committee of experts to develop a universal health care plan for Illinois;

- SB 59 (LAW) created safety report cards for hospitals;

- SB 130 (LAW) Extended the children's health insurance program;

- SB 263 (LAW) HIV counselling and testing for pregnant women;

- SB 989 (LAW) expand health coverage for the developmentally disabled;

- SB 1417 (LAW) require insurance companies to cover colorectal cancer;

- SB 1418 (LAW) banned the sale of diet pill ephedra, linked to deaths in IL;

- HB 6 (LAW) expanded disaster preparedness programs to include hospitals and first responders;

ON TRANSPORTATION

- SB 1408 (LAW) Bipartisan measure to expand tranportation programs in Illinois;

- SB 46 (LAW) Extended tax credits for bio-fuels;

ON GOVERNMENT REFORM:

- SB 15 (LAW) Required videotaping of homocide interrogations;

- SB 30 (LAW) Cracked down on racial profiling by police;

- SB 1586 (LAW) Strengthened IL Open Meetings Act;

- SB 702 (LAW) Banned solicitation of state employees for campaign contributions, created the IL Inspector General's Office, and made other sweeping changes;

- SB 706 (LAW) Creates an Inspector General's office for the IL SOS to investigate corruption;

GOP uses the same-old attacks that have always been used against advocates of campaign finance reform. George Ryan used them very effectively against Glenn Poshard.

The argument goes something like this: Barack Obama says that Hillary Clinton has raised more money from lobbyists and PACs than any candidate, Democrat or Republican. But Barack Obama used to take money from lobbyists and PACs, so if Hillary Clinton is doing something wrong now, Barack Obama must have been doing something wrong then.

Well, as a State Senator, Obama did raise $93,000 in contributions of more than $1,000. The largest was $10,000 from Gold Coast philanthropist Abby O'Neil.

But he raised $379,000 from donors giving $150 to $1,000 (77%).

Given Illinois "Wild West" campaign finance laws, that's not too shabby.

Compare that to Illinois House GOP Leader Tom Cross:

Contributions of more than $1,000: $5.5 million (66%)

Contributions of $150 to $1,000: $2.2 million (33%)

Or Tom Cross' #2 man, Brent Hassert:

More than $1000: $806,000 (45%)

$150 to $1,000: $1 million (55%)

Read more...

The Missing Senate Bill 307 CTA/RTA Subsidy Roll Call

In the

"Isn’t that special?”

category is the Legislative Information System's failure to post the roll call on the CTA/RTA bailout bill last night.

Even this morning when I called to ask why, it wasn’t up.

There was an asterisk next to the notation, but there was no note below. (Click below to enlarge the image.)

The person I talked to said that there had been a motion to reconsider by State Rep. Gary Hannig.

“So what?” I thought.

A vote was taken and it wasn’t put on postponed consideration.

Well, as I write this, it’s 11 o’clock in the morning and the roll call has magically appeared.

I believe it is worth noting that newspapers and radio stations without someone on the scene would not be able to report this morning how local legislators voted.

All three of McHenry County’s delegation—Jack Franks, Mike Tryon and Mark Beaubien vote against the measure.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross, whose idea was the guts of the bill voted “Present.”

Maybe he was thinking how people in Kendall County would react to his proposal to force each man, woman and child to subsidize the Chicago Transit Authority and Regional Transportation Authority $30 this year.

First posted on McHenry County Blog, where you can also find the roll call.

Read more...

$30 to CTA/RTA for Every Man, Woman and Child in Illinois

So, what’s the potential downside for voting for the Mike Madigan-Tom Cross CTA-RTA bailout deal?

$385,000,000 coming right off the top of the Illinois General Revenue Fund.

No replacement money identified.

More pressure to pass an income tax hike or a massive expansion of gambling.

Hey, we could follow South Dakota’s example and have little casinos where mom could gamble while the kids eat at McDonald’s almost within sight right through the archway.


But, let’s look at how a political opponent might characterize the proposal.

Say you are from Downstate, also known as anything outside of the six-county Chicago metropolitan area served by the Regional Transportation Authority.

$385 million divided by the state’s population of 12,831,970 (Commerce Department figure) is what?

$30.

So, an opponent could send a mailing to a Downstate legislator’s district saying anyone who voted for this deal voted to force a family of four to send $120 to Chicago.

Or robo calls could be made. Even cheaper.

I mentioned in an earlier post how Zeke Giorgi’s polling results went down because of RTA. Wasn’t it Jeff Mays that rode to office in Quincy when his opponent was charged with having been “taken for a ride by the CTA?”

Multiply $30 times a Downstate county’s population.

Here’s one.

Effingham County had 34,429 people as of mid-2006.

$30 times 34,429 means residents are being force to pay over $1 million to subsidize the Chicago Transit Authority.

Every year.

At least that is what an opponent could credibly assert.

Boy, could a “Yes” vote on this bill create some good campaigns.

And, probably some upsets.

If not this election cycle, then in some future year.

= = = = =

Enlarge the photo by clicking on it and you will be able to read the name of the casino.

Posted first on McHenry County Blog.

Read more...

Gov. Tom Cross

If people can run for president two years ahead of time, why not for Illinois governor three years before the election?

Look at this tid-bit in Sneed’s Friday Sun-Time column, obviously placed by a source friendly to Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross.

You can regale others with his liberal voting record in the comment section.

My soul is so aflutter I can’t.

Of course there is more on McHenry County Blog this weekend.

Read more...