|
|
| | |
| |
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Illinois income growth worst in nation, yet lawmakers want higher taxes
Budget--State (8)
,
Governor (44)
,
Taxes, income (86)
Greenwood, LaToya--State House, 114
,
Hoffman, Jay--State House, 113
The playbook is being followed, pretty much like Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner predicted. The Illinois House wouldn’t even bring a budget bill to a vote before they adjourned May 31. Rauner said House Democrats would spend the summer holding press conferences and “sham” hearings with those hurt by the budget. Democratic state Reps. Jay Hoffman and LaToya Greenwood fo...
< read more >
| |
| |
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Illinois lawmakers pass legislation requiring financial impact statements on executive orders, ignore cost of bills they pass
Budget--State (8)
Guzzardi, Will--State House, 39
,
Scherer, Sue--State House, 96
On May 19 the Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 2379, which requires every executive order to have an attached fiscal impact statement detailing how much the executive order will cost. State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, is the main sponsor of the legislation. “This legislation helps hold state government accountable by ensuring that lawmakers and the public know how...
< read more >
| |
| |
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Gauen: Illinois pols win, local services lose, under tax freeze plan
Education Funding (36a)
,
Governor (44)
,
Legislature (56)
,
Taxes, property (87)
Gov. Bruce Rauner and a significant number of legislators seem to be worried that Illinois’ local governments will spend too much money. Let me repeat: State politicians who have run up almost $15 billion in unpaid bills — and delivered credit ratings worst among all the states — are besmirching the management of schools and cities that, thank heaven, they do not ...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Republican from Belleville announces run for Illinois House
Candidates--Legislative (11)
Hoffman, Jay--State House, 113
,
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
BELLEVILLE Standing near his longtime girlfriend, Stacy Danes, and in front an American Flag, an Illinois flag and signs that read “Fire Madigan!” “Term Limts!” “Lower Taxes” and “More Jobs,” the current chairman of the St. Clair County Republican Committee launched his campaign for the General Assembly. Douglas Jameson, 53...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Can Democrats knock enough rust off machine to get two to Congress?
Candidates--Federal (13)
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sees reason to hope they can unseat U.S. Rep. Mike Bost and U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in 2018. Maybe, but neither Republican should be quivering or updating their resumes just yet. The Democrats seem to have allowed cobwebs and rust to infiltrate the machine that Alan Dixon, Mel Price and Jerry Costello built, with the wacky controls vee...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Lawmakers, residents to call for end to Illinois budget impasse
Budget--State (8)
Greenwood, LaToya--State House, 114
,
Hoffman, Jay--State House, 113
BELLEVILLE Local residents who have lost access to state services during the state’s budget impasse were scheduled to speak Wednesday along with state Reps. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, and LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, to urge an end to the budget crisis, according to a news release. The group is set to discuss the “difficult decisions that will be needed t...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Don’t let them get away with it
Budget--State (8)
McCarter, Kyle--State Senate, 54
,
McConchie, Dan--State Senate 26
,
Skillicorn, Allen--State House, 66
The Democrat-controlled General Assembly left Springfield last week without passing a budget for the third consecutive year. Rather than pass real reforms that protect homeowners and stabilize government services, Democrats attempted to hike taxes. When that approach failed, they did nothing, ignoring the need to pass a budget and instead blaming Governor Rauner. The Illinois Poli...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Illinois continues to devalue its higher education system
Budget--State (8)
,
Education--Higher (37)
,
Governor (44)
Illinois is on a historic quest for a better economy, for a better tomorrow. Both political parties are adamant that our state must do more to create jobs, keep Illinoisans from fleeing the state and give our children hope that our best days are yet to come. And yet every day, the longer the state’s budget impasse continues, the more one catalyst to that growth we all wish fo...
< read more >
| |
| |
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Illinois lawmakers’ well-earned vacation after tough session in Springfield
Budget--State (8)
,
Comptroller (21)
,
Governor (44)
,
Minimum Wage (10)
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
BudgetWatch? Not so much. Illinois House and Senate members left Springfield for the third time without a state budget ...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Illinois Legislature, governor set national futility record
Budget--State (8)
,
Governor (44)
Cullerton, John--State Senate, 6
,
Radogno, Christine--State Senate, 41
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. The Illinois General Assembly that launched the careers of such political giants as Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas and Barack Obama and the governor's office once occupied by Adlai Stevenson II have set a record in futility in failing to agree on an annual spending plan for more than two years, the longest fiscal drought of any state since at least the Great ...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Three metro-east reps vote against minimum wage increase
Minimum Wage (10)
Beiser, Dan--State House, 111
,
Cavaletto, John--State House, 107
,
Costello II, Jerry--State House, 116
,
Greenwood, LaToya--State House, 114
,
Hoffman, Jay--State House, 113
,
Meier, Charlie--State House, 108
,
Stuart, Katie--State House, 112
The Illinois House has approved a proposal that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years. House lawmakers voted 61 to 53 Tuesday on SB 81. State Reps. Dan Beiser, D-Alton; Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea; Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville; and Latoya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, all voted in favor of the bill. State Reps. John Cavaletto, R-Salem; Charlie Meier, R...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Three public jobs no problem for local Wonder Woman, or are they?
Greenwood, LaToya--State House, 114
Is Illinois House Rep. East St. Louis City Councilwoman School District 189 Director of Human Resources LaToya Greenwood stretched too th...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Illinois income tax hike to 5% opens door for a progressive tax hike
Budget--State (8)
,
Taxes, income (86)
Illinois Senate Democrats recently passed an income tax hike that would raise the individual rate to nearly 5 percent. This tax hike would hit Illinoisans’ wallets and further weaken the state’s economy. But the negative effect of the tax hike wouldn’t end there. Such a tax hike would also open the door to a progressive tax hike pitch from any candidate for govern...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Ill. Gov. Rauner faces uncertain future in next election
Candidates--Statewide (12)
,
Governor (44)
,
Political Parties (Incld Tea Party) (39a)
Two years into Illinois’ budget wars, Jeff Gripp has some advice for Gov. Bruce Rauner: Don’t back down. A retired truck driver who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in Rock Island, Gripp thinks Illinois’ first-term governor is engaged in a worthy fight for control. “If he can get power away from Chicago, then it’s better for t...
< read more >
| |
| |
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Illinois Judges: Racketeering Lawsuits Against Asbestos Lawyers Belong Elsewhere
Asbestos (48)
,
Courts (27)
,
Legal System (27)
,
Tort Reform (27)
Last week, two Illinois federal judges dismissed lawsuits filed by John Crane Inc., an Illinois-based industrial manufacturer, against two out-of-state asbestos law firms, concluding both firms’ ties to the state were “insufficient.” Judges Amy St. Eve and John J. Tharp Jr., both of whom sit on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern...
< read more >
| |
| |
Monday, May 29, 2017
Illinois weighs controversial proposals to loosen oversight of levees
Floods (42)
,
Natural resources (23)
,
Rivers (23)
Recent floods and a government report that many Mississippi River levees exceed their authorized height have drawn increased attention to the structures and their effect on the region’s more frequent and more severe flooding. But despite the increased scrutiny, Illinois is weighing amendments that critics say would effectively strip the state of its ability to police the heig...
< read more >
| |
| |
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Illinois Senate Democrats twerk taxpayers with latest budget attempt
Budget--State (8)
,
Governor (44)
,
Political Parties (Incld Tea Party) (39a)
Cullerton, John--State Senate, 6
,
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
Shall we dance? Shall we balance a budget? Shall we again tax those who are taxed more than any others are taxed? ...
< read more >
| |
| |
Friday, May 26, 2017
As Illinois lawmakers seek more gambling income, one city resists — a little
Budget--State (8)
,
Chicago (16)
,
Gambling, Gaming
Illinois lawmakers are again looking to gambling to save their ability to keep spending. A big Chicago casino, slots at Fairmount Park: more never seems to be enough atop the lottery, horse racing, riverboat casinos and video gaming inside every fraternal hall and corner tavern throughout the state. A retired University of Illinois...
< read more >
| |
| |
Friday, May 26, 2017
Candidate Bost wanted town halls. Congressman Bost says times have changed.
Candidates--Federal (13)
In 2014, when U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, was a state representative running for Congress, he held a town hall meeting about veterans affairs issues. In his news release announcing the event, he criticized then-U.S. Rep. Bill Enyart, a Democrat, for not holding in-person town halls, and opting for telephone town halls to communicate with constituents. “Cong...
< read more >
| |
| |
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Illinois governor’s race could be most expensive in U.S. history
Candidates--Statewide (12)
,
Governor (44)
As candidates already have raised more than $81 million for their campaigns, the race for Illinois governor has seen enough money to exceed the average cost of a gubernatorial election, according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. The amount of money could make the race the most expensive gubernatorial election in U.S. history, the political watchdog group said.
< read more >
| |
| |
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Rodney Davis statement on CBO’s analysis of GOP health care law
Candidates--Federal (13)
,
Obamacare, Affordable Care Act
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, issued a statement on Wednesday about the American Health Care Act, the Republican health plan that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office stated Wednesday would cause 23 million Americans to lose health insurance over 10 years: “Twenty-nine million people currently do not have insurance coverage under Obamacare even though they are...
< read more >
| |
| |
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Illinois' public pensions in some ways mirror Madoff's Ponzi scheme
Pensions (70)
To the Editor: HBO debuted its original movie on Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff over the weekend. Based on Henriques' book "The Wizard of Lies," the film (and book) tells the chilling tale of Madoff's fraudulent investment scheme in which more than 2,200 people lost almost $20 billion in retirement savings. That is a lot of victims losing a lot of money. But it's...
< read more >
| |
| |
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
State Sen. Paul Schimpf releases statement on budget passed by Senate
Budget--State (8)
Schimpf, Paul--State Senate, 58
Illinois state Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, released a statement on a state budget that was passed by the Illinois Senate on Tuesday: “The Senate majority advanced an unbalanced budget based on the largest tax increase in Illinois history. That same proposal is also balanced on the backs of our public service workers, by short-changing this year’s pension payment.
< read more >
| |
| |
Monday, May 22, 2017
Pulling no punches: Illinois awaits budget
Budget--State (8)
Cullerton, John--State Senate, 6
,
Durkin, Jim--State House, 82
,
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
,
Rose, Chapin--State House, 110
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • For the third year in a row, the three men at the center of Illinois politics are circling inside the Capitol, and nobody is pulling punches. In one corner is Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, and in the other are Democratic leaders Michael Madigan and John Cullerton. The goal: pass a budget before the end of the legislative session on May 31. The p...
< read more >
| |
| |
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Election math in Illinois statehouse equals multiple casualties
Budgets--Local
,
Election Issues (not candidates) (39)
,
Governor (44)
Currie, Barbara Flynn--State House, 25
,
Hoffman, Jay--State House, 113
,
Madigan, Michael--State House, 22
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and House Majority Leader Barbara Fynn Currie, D-Chicago, have made their calc...
< read more >
| |
|