Results tagged “senatepresidentemiljones”

The transit crisis has been averted--and let's raise our lunchtime glasses to toast that miracle, shall we? --but it brought out some of the weirdest and worst in our local politicians. These are some of our favorite lines from the entire, oh, what should we call it, bill-capade?

Illinois state legislators are at it again today, after yesterday's close-but-no-cigar attempts to resolve the transit funding crisis. The House passed a sales-tax increase plan yesterday, but it fell one vote sort in the Senate; those so-and-sos are going to give it another go today because three of them abstained (courteously?) yesterday.

yesterday that if the General Assembly sent him a transit bill that included a sales tax increase, he wouldn't veto it. Blagojevich has vowed since the beginning of the budget debacle to veto any sale tax increase to fund mass transit.

Maybe it's just that we're ready for the weekend (and ready for this site to say "yes"), but it seems like this whole day is just a jerk. Time: Move faster! Weather: Be a little nicer! World: Be more fair! Especially Illinois.

Mike Madigan made it seem like he was ready to deal this week, with a letter to state legislators saying that he'd endorse a bill to expand gaming in the state in order to fund roads and schools. In announcing his "compromise", he said he is "willing to embrace compromise and offer a sincere, serious proposal that will receive my full support and backing." That expansion may not happen, though, as some lawmakers have enough...

We're trying not to jinx it, but it looks like legislators might be solving the transit crisis, like, tomorrow. Mike Madigan agreed today to push for a Blago-backed plan that would use the State's share of the sales tax on gasoline in Cook and the five collar counties for the RTA. Even Daley's on board. Are we seeing a unicorn? Last week, Blagojevich endorsed Minority Leader Tom Cross's plan that would send around $385...

We've all been talking about the CTA, their budget crisis, and what exactly will (or will not) happen if they CTA doesn't get some help from their governmental parents in the Illinois legislature. While the CTA isn't ruled by the IL government, we think this is a little like the college kid who keeps drinking hard, wasting her money, and wondering why she keeps getting into situations that don't have great consequences — thereby necessitating...

Just as a cloud of gloom began to set in over the carless masses of Chicago, a ray of hope came as the State Senate has been called into session on Monday. While a spokesman for Senate President Emil Jones would only say that the session would include discussion of the "transit issue," Sen. John Cullerton, (D-Chicago) told Crain's that he thinks they are going to take up the same bill that Julie Hamos was...

Well, he did it. Blagojevich finally pulled the trigger. 23 days after it was passed by the legislature, Rod Blagojevich approved much of Illinois' new budget. In a news release he said that he has removed $463 million in spending on "special pet projects and other spending that we simply can't afford." The cuts now go back to the General Assembly for consideration, where a fight is expected with Speaker of the House Mike Madigan....

Boy, you know it must be bad when Mayor Daley is calling you out on your legislative tactics. In remarks to the press yesterday, Daley called Blagojevich's plans to cut $500 million from the recently passed budget and impose a universal health care plan of his choosing legally questionable and "dangerous." "In short, I'm cutting pork and special-interest spending and, in its place, I'm using the legal authority that I have to expand health care...

Well, they did it. Our elected officials in Springfield passed a budget (finally) this weekend. It's not a done deal, yet, as Blagojevich hasn't signed the bill yet, and has made some public indications that he's going to veto the bill. After the colossal failure of Blagojevich to get a budget with anything that he wanted, Mike Madigan stepped in a put the deal together, effectively castrating Blago while usurping the state GOP's attempts...

What happens when an already unpopular governor tries to raise taxes to pay for a universal healthcare plan that wasn't at the forefront of most voters minds? Rod Blagojevich found out after his sloppily composed and poorly executed budget collapsed under a vote of 107 - 0 in the legislature. As the budget deadline loomed, he found himself trying to play footsie with Senate President Emil Jones, getting down with expanded gambling in the state,...

You've seen them before. You can't help but notice them as you crawl out to the suburbs for whatever reason, a constant reminder that you still haven't sucked it up and bought an I-Pass. And for those of you who did make the investment, those bright blue signs winking out "Open Road Tolling - Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor" seem to say, "This is for you, buddy. Wasn't it worth it to play into my hands...

"After today, I'm going to have to go home and take a shower," said Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria. This in response to Illinois Senate President Emil Jones orchestrated move to keep the Senate from adding ComEd to legislation that would have rolled back electric rates that went up in January. The Senate voted 33-24 to add ComEd to the bill, which currently includes Ameren Corp. from Southern Illinois. Once the vote was completed another Senator...

The big news yesterday was Rod Blagojevich's tax proposals. Coming as part of his combined State of the State and budget address to the General Assembly yesterday, Blago is proposing the largest tax hike in state history. Along with raising taxes (which he said he wouldn't do during his re-election campaign), he is also planning to increase spending by 9.5%, to a record $60.1 billion; $7 billion of that would come from the new gross...

A few news items about ComEd and its parent company Exelon managed to poke their heads through the noise of Super Bowl Hype Week I. No, they're not freezing rates again (not until something else freezes over), but here's what everyone's favorite utility behemoth was up to this week: Exelon reported about half a billion in profits for the last quarter, netting $592 million. That's a huge improvement over last year, when they reported a...

Governor Rod Blagojevich has tried to characterize his first administration with three pledges: No new taxes, more money for schools, and no more "business as usual." The Mell-Blago family feud has made his third pledge hard to believe, but last night's budget deal with Democratic Senate President Emil Jones and Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan will deliver the first two pledges -- as well as avoid the CTA's Five Faces of Death, and probably close the spring legislative session by the end of the month. All significant accomplishments, considering how much wrangling Springfield has endured this year.

Earlier this week, Chicagoist reported Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich "roaring" with a new proposed campaign finance and ethics reform. Guess we got a bit ahead of ourselves -- since the proposal has turned out to be little more than a whimper. Ignore for a moment the expected Republican invective against the proposal, but Blago's own State Representative, John Fritchey (D-Chicago), responded to the proposal by, "pick[ing] up Blagojevich's press release, crumpled it and handed it...

It's been a tough couple of weeks for Governor Rod Blagojevich. There was the Hospital Board thing, where some of his donors were indicted, the dust-up with the Auditor General saying his administration couldn't document all the cost savings they claimed, and then the continuing investigation of fundraiser and Panda Express magnate, Tony Rezko. And yet, this afternoon he came roaring back with his long-promised campaign finance and ethics reform proposal, which according to a...

Illinois state politics is a continuing marvel. Three powerful positions, three Democrats, no agreement, and the budget annually amplifies those differences. The Three Tops, (in order of appearance, above) House Speaker Mike Madigan, Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Senate President Emil Jones. Last year Madigan staked out the no taxes territory and hammered the governor with calls for paring down state spending. Meanwhile, Jones repeatedly called for increased education spending and the need for education...

An article in the Sun-Times today reported that CTA President Frank Kruesi and Senate President Emil Jones have reached an agreement to delay major cuts in CTA service. The CTA has its "doomsday" meeting tomorrow and is set to vote on the cuts. If the cuts pass, CTA would eliminate 30 bus routes, lay off 1,250 workers and stop overnight L service. Kruesi and CTA board president Carole Brown have said they would delay the...

If you like gambling, and you live in Chicago or the south suburbs, get pumped, because odds are some action is coming your way. Or at least, that's what it looks like.

Amidst all the hoopla leading to U.S. Senator-elect Barack Obama's coronation -- er swearing-in -- some other interesting Chicago political doings happened this past weekend: Obama's successor for the State Senate was selected and sworn in on Saturday. Chicago City Colleges senior attorney, Kwame Raoul, 40, was selected to fill out the remaining two-year term of the South Chicago lakefront 12th State Senate District. Because the seat was held by a Democrat, Obama's replacement was...

With the Illinois General Assembly's veto session beginning Monday, quite a bit of important legislation could be passed. Leaders of the State Senate and House met with Gov. Blago Thursday to discuss the agenda. Legislators will discuss increasing the number of armed security guards at the capitol (in light of the September shooting of security guard William Wozniak), the CTA bail-out, more casinos in Illinois (as one possible source for the CTA bail-out) and one...

This fall the IL Senate is installing a $220,000 video system so that we can all watch the IL state Senate session via the internet. Sounds exciting. The IL House added a similar system 4 years ago already, but we wonder how many people actually tune in. But maybe it's just us. Maybe the general public is interested in this. A spokeswoman for the Senate President Emil Jones said that the public reacted strongly to...