Results tagged “mikemadigan”

After a summer filled with debate amongst the Cook County Commissioners in regards to the sales tax rollback, Board President Todd Stroger's veto, and the commissioners inability to garner enough votes to override said veto, the state legislature has gotten involved. Yesterday, both the House (by a 66-49 vote) and the Senate (by a 49-1 vote) passed a bill that sets the new requirement for a veto override at three-fifths of the commissioners (11) rather than the current requirement of fourth-fifths (14). Now all that's left is for Gov. Quinn to sign it. The bill was specifically aimed at Stroger and the tax rollback. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge), said, "This is a great win for taxpayers in Cook County." Stroger spokeswoman Chris Geovanis said, "We're disappointed that the legislature chose not to use logic and decided to change the rules in the middle of the game." Stroger has previously said he would fight any such legislation in court if it was passed.

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's law firm has been helping state contractors save on state property taxes, when they have property development business before the state. According to the Sun-Times:

With a state budget still not in place and lawmakers trying to figure out how to plug a budget hole that ranges somewhere between $9 billion and $11.6 billion, Governor Quinn has decided to go straight to legislators instead of the usual dealings with party leaders. Among those who Quinn has met with is Sen. James Meeks, who supports Quinn's proposed income tax hike. Quinn told reporters, "I have a number of other legislators -- Democrat and Republican, House and Senate -- I will be meeting with over the next few days. We believe in consensus-building.''

Following up on our earlier post about the budget crisis facing the state, Gov. Pat Quinn today announced he was vetoing part of the budget that had be presented him by the state assembly. The part Quinn vetoed dealt with social services, calling the fight to hold out for more funding via his budget and tax increases was a "fight worth fighting for." Per the Tribune:

That's right, Illinois, it's an exciting day as the new Fiscal Year has begun and- what? There's no budget but rather a huge budget hole? Between $7 billion and $9 billion? Shit. Didn't we just boot a corrupt as all Hell governor so that the state government could right this sinking ship? Well...crap.

When we mentioned the Trib's investigation into a "clout list" for admissions to the University of Illinois, several readers expressed what's best described as a lack of shock. Pulling strings to gain admittance to a college is certainly nothing new, but if Governor Quinn has his way, it'll soon be a thing of the past. Yesterday, Quinn announced a new seven-member "clout commission" to investigate the shenanigans going on at the University of Illinois which will be led by retired federal Judge Abner Mikva. The panel will be able to investigate the list and must issue a report to the governor within 60 days. Per the Tribune:

Something's up over at City Hall where, according to Crain's Greg Hinz, the GOP's national party has filed a request for communications with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and her father, State Speaker of the House Mike Madigan (pictured right).

The Sun-Times dug up an obscure piece of testimony from Al Sanchez's corruption trial earlier this year. Referring to Jack Drumgould's statement that the Bureau of Electricity, part of the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation, was known as "Madigan Electric" because of many city workers connections to the state's House Speaker, the paper takes a closer look at campaign contributions to Mike Madigan from bureau employees. "In all, 16 employees of the bureau have contributed a total of $45,200 since 1997 to the speaker's 13th Ward Democratic Organization and to Citizens for Lisa Madigan, according to campaign records," the Sun-Times reports.

Stepping in to do what Governor Pat Quinn has been unwilling or unable to, House Speaker Mike Madigan introduced legislation Thursday that would, in one fell swoop, terminate all political appointments who were nominated by the Governor between January 11, 1999 and January 29, 2009. To wit, the Officials and Employees Termination Act of 2009, HB4450,

Provides that the terms of office or employment of all designated officials and employees are terminated, by operation of law, effective on the effective date of the Act. The designated officials and employees are (i) the heads, assistant heads, and deputy heads of executive State agencies who were nominated by the Governor between January 11, 1999 and January 29, 2009 for a position that requires the advice and consent of the Senate, (ii) members of executive boards or commissions who were nominated by the Governor between those dates for a position that requires the advice and consent of the Senate, (iii) employees of executive State agencies or executive boards or commissions, whose employment in a Rutan exempt position began between those dates, (iv) employees of executive State agencies or executive boards or commissions, appointed to a term appointment between those dates, and (v) any other official or employee who was nominated by the Governor between those dates for a position that requires the advice and consent of the Senate.

A deal to bring a few more casinos to the areas and slot machines to horse tracks was squashed earlier this week by State House Speaker Mike Madigan. CBS 2 reports Madigan said via a statement, "I learned from the process of killing the Blagojevich gambling proposals that gambling is not a wholesome activity, and we're not going to deal with that this year." Meanwhile, Ashok Selvam has a closer look at Off Track Betting sites in the burbs and their impact over at the Daily Herald.

In the state where we tax the shit out of everything, there's a new gas tax proposal just waiting to raise our ire. State Senate President John Cullerton and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan are co-sponsoring a bill that would raise the tax on a gallon of gas to 27 cents a gallon; motorists currently pay 19 cents a gallon. The reason? To help fund "Grow Illinois", which would pay for debt services and capital improvements the wake of the state's budget shortfall. Another co-sponsor, State Rep. Luis Arroyo, (D-Chicago) said, "No tax for the taxpayers of Illinois is easy. We need infrastructure and we need jobs. Everybody's crying for jobs. There's a lot of people getting laid off. We have to do a capital bill." That raises taxes on people who can't afford to travel to their jobs as it is?

Shortly after meeting with President Barack Obama and the other big wigs in D.C. today, Governor Pat Quinn announced that he will focus on passing the much needed, (and much delayed) capital spending bill. Setting April 3 as the date, Quinn told the press that "it will give us a target to shoot at and keep an urgent approach," and mentioned that while he planned to present the date to the legislature Wednesday, he had already discussed it privately with some members of the General Assembly. "We will (pass a capital bill)," said Quinn, adding that he will present the bill, along with the rest of his budget, to the public and the legislature on March 18.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has called Illinois lawmakers back to Springfield with the apparent hopes that a vote on Gov. Blagojevich's impeachment will happen soon. The committee formed to decide whether or not impeachment should be recommended reconvenes on Tuesday and Madigan is asking legislators to be back by Wednesday for a special session that could continue through January 13. Madigan's implication is that a House vote on whether or not to impeach Blago could come as early as the end of next week. Somehow we think this is incredibly optimistic, but what do we know? We are but simple cavemen, unfrozen in your modern time...

Okay, we know that the wheel of justice turns slowly, but when Mike Madigan says that he'll be working every single day except for holidays on the impeachment proceedings of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, we really expected more than 60 minutes of real reportable work. The Old Grey Lady is reporting that Federal prosecutors and Blago's defense people sat down for just an hour of hearings before adjourning til' tomorrow morning.

It's been a week since Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption and fraud charges. We aren't surprised so much with the what as with the why. Still, it's a week later and, besides becoming the laughing-stock of the country, not all that much has changed. Gov. Blagojevich is still in charge, he's still signing bills, and - yes - he even still has the power to appoint a senator to replace President-Elect Barack Obama.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan announced today he is formally beginning proceedings towards the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The first step will be to appoint a committee that will review the evidence and recommend whether or not Blagojevich should be impeached. Madigan said, "We plan to proceed without delay," and promises the committee will work tirelessly except for taking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. So it's going to take weeks to decide whether or not to recommend impeachment? Here we'll help you out: YES. There, let's move on to the next stage.

North Side State Senator Jon Cullerton (6th District) was selected to replace Emil Jones as President of the State Senate Wednesday night by fellow Democrats. The vote came on the second ballot as Cullerton defeated Belleville Sen. James Clayborne for the spot. The selection of Cullerton signals a shift in Springfield: Jones was an ally of Gov. Rod Blagojevich but Cullerton got his start as a deputy to House Speaker and Blago foe Mike Madigan. Senate Democrats will submit the Cullerton pick to the full Senate in January. Political alliances are fun!

A Springfield Jaycees' Haunted House was forced to paint over a mural which included a depiction of Mike Madigan and Gov. Blagojevich strangling each other and GOP VP Candidate Sarah Palin shooting Bullwinkle J. Moose (who was holding a "Joe Biden" sign). This after Illinois Department of Agriculture officials saw the mural which spokesman Jeff Squibb said, "wasn't appropriate for a family event." More legitimate, though, are worries that the mural could be seen as "electioneering on state-owned property." The haunted house is located in a space below the Illinois State Fairgrounds Grandstand. Gary Kessler, who designed the room the mural was in, was nonplussed by the reasoning. "It shows a complete and total lack of any sense of humor. Not family friendly? As opposed to cannibalism, chain saws, axes and body parts?" It just goes to show that even at Halloween, politics is the scariest horror of all. ZING!

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones circulated a memo Thursday saying that the Senate won't reconvene until November 12. That means that the fate of the state ethics bill may be in jeopardy. The ethics bill, subject of an amendatory veto by Blagojevich and overridden by the House just the day before, could die if the Senate doesn't take action within 15 days. But Jones spokesperson Cindy Davidsmeyer told CBS2 that the Senate has 15 days from when it holds its next meeting to take action.

House Speaker Mike Madigan presented a bill yesterday that would allow Illinois to be the first state in the nation to lease its lottery, in exchange for billions of dollars for a statewide capital construction program. The governor has said that leasing the lottery could raise as much as $10 billion. Without an actual offer on the table, though, that number is hard to verify.

Wow, and I thought everyone saying "can't we all just get along?" on this week was moving. FotS and WBEZ correspondent Justin Kaufmann sends along this video from the Illinois delegation's breakfast in Denver this morning. Hugs for everyone!

House Speaker Mike Madigan, speaking to the press at the Illinois State Fair, said yesterday that he may actually consider leasing the state lottery to pay for a capital construction plan. "Over the last few days in the House of Representatives, we've had two very productive meetings concerning a potential lease of the state lottery, where the proceeds of that lease would be used for a capital construction program," Madigan said.

When reporters around the state bust the Governor's balls, it's just another day at the office. But when a 16-year-old high school student gets all up in G-Rod's business, it's news. Aaron Mulvey of downstate Rochester confronted the Gov at the state fair yesterday, video camera in hand, to ask for the millions of dollars the state promised Rochester High 6 years ago—and then promptly sat on.

"I regret that you bought into the bullshit of the Blagojevich people." — Mike Madigan, in a memo to the president of the Teamsters Joint Council 25

Governor Rod Blagojevich is using a new report that a quarter of bridges nationwide need expensive structural work to make the case for a capital construction budget in Illinois. “It is the first duty of government to provide for the public safety of its citizens,” said Blagojevich. “We’re going to make sure that the bridges they ride on, the bridges they drive on, the roads they travel on, will be safe.” He says he'd like to meet with legislators this week to hammer out a deal on the spending bill, and he wants House Speaker Mike Madigan to be present. "We'd like him to participate, and we sure would like to have him there. And I'd be happy to cut his apples for him and get him a cup of coffee," Blago told Chicago Public Radio. He then blamed Madigan for budget cuts and accused him of scheming to raise taxes.

The Illinois state legislature is sort of a mess this. The House is in session, trying to fix the state budget, but the Senate isn't scheduled to return until after the November election.

On Thursday, members of the Illinois House failed to pay for the cuts in social services the governor made earlier this week. The governor called legislators into a special session this week, asking the House to close a $2 billion budget hole. He did it himself earlier this week by slashing $1.4 billion in programs and services out of the budget. "I'm not going to get in the position of defending the governor, but I don't think he had any choice He had to cut if you're going to have a balanced budget," said House Minority Leader Tom Cross. Blagojevich blames House Speaker Mike Madigan for the deficit, saying “I did their job for them. I balanced the budget.” Madigan doesn't see it that way, however. "I don't attend meetings with Gov. Blagojevich because I've come to the view that my presence in a meeting with Gov. Blagojevich is not productive for the meeting," Madigan said. "When the speaker says he won't sit down at the table, the real losers are the people of Illinois. That's 600,000 jobs that are lost because one person decides he doesn't want to negotiate," said Blagojevich spokesperson Lucio Guerrero.

The governor vetoed $1.4 billion from the state budget on Wednesday, as lawmakers returned to Springfield at his request to tackle the budget shortfall. The cuts include $210 million for social services, $100 million for education and $600 million for health care, and the rest is expected to come from state reserves and belt-tightening measures. Money for health care, education, social service programs and public transportation has been cut, meaning that case loads will increase, waits for health care payments will get longer, and public services, like education and public transit, will be impacted.

State Rep Jack Franks fired a new salvo in the battle to take Blago out of office late Wednesday night. Noting that Blagojevich has the power to balance the budget without ordering the General Assembly back to session next week, he charged that the governor is exhibiting a lack of leadership. "He won't compromise. He threatens layoffs and cuts to social programs," Franks said. "It's just a game to him. ... He won't make hard choices." Franks is pushing for the House to form a special committee to determine if there is enough evidence to impeach the governor.

If Illinois's legislators can't reach an agreement over a capital spending bill by October, "Gov. Schwarzenegger in California, Gov. Rendell in Pennsylvania, Gov. Crist in Florida, Gov. Paterson in New York, all are ready to" try and take the $9 billion in federal matching funds set aside for Illinois, said 10th District Congressman Mark Kirk. That money has been waiting in the federal budget since 2005. To get it, leaders in Springfield must first figure out how to fund roads, schools and other projects.