Budget Shenanigans

By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 13, 2007 1:00PM

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 to be a player in the budget process, potentially embarrassing state Dems and setting the table for further unification of the Republican Party in Illinois around the issue of fiscal responsibility.

One of the pieces of this budget that hasn't gotten a lot of press is the casino that most likely will be coming to Chicago. While Daley has supported the notion, it's probably not going to be the cash cow that the city had hoped for. The revenue split for Chicago doesn't look too good, with money potentially going to education, schools, construction and other projects, and the city will see less than $30 million a year, in spite of being the host city.

While Blago is rattling his saber over a veto, our friend over at Capitol Fax, Rich Miller, has speculated that the only way a veto could stick is if the Governor cuts a deal with Senate President Emil Jones. Madigan has said that he will be back in Springfield to fix the CTA after a few days off (which Jule Hamos has predicted can be resolved before the whole fucking sky falls down as the CTA has it will do in September).

Image via Missouri University Extension