CHICAGO (AP) -- Jury selection is getting under way at the trial of a millionaire Chicago real estate developer accused of bribing an alderman to push through a zoning change.

Developer Calvin Boender (BOON'-der) is charged with showering $40,000 worth of home improvements on former Alderman Isaac Carothers in return for the rezoning of the Galewood Yards neighborhood.

He also is charged with providing Carothers with free meals and sports tickets and funneling illegal campaign contributions to a Carothers relative.

Carothers has pleaded guilty and is expected to be a government witness.

Federal Judge Robert Dow says jury selection may take all day Tuesday. But he says lawyers could get to opening statements if jury selection moves fast enough.

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CHICAGO (AP) -- Another former candidate for Illinois lieutenant governor has submitted an application to be the new Democratic nominee for the post.

State Rep. Arthur Turner says he submitted his application Monday. He's been in the state legislature for more than 30 years.

Former candidate Thomas Castillo has also applied.

Turner came in second to Scott Lee Cohen in the February primary. Cohen left the race after beating five other Democrats.

The Democratic Party is accepting applications from people who want to replace Cohen on the ballot. More than 200 applications have been submitted.

Applicants include former comptroller candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi (RAH'-jah krish-nah-MOOR'-thee) and Sheila Simon, daughter of late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon.

State regulators should not only reject Ameren Illinois' plans for a $130 million increase in electricity and gas rates, it should force the utility to give back $6 million to ratepayers, representatives of the Citizens Utility Board and AARP Illinois said during a news conference Monday.

"We want to stop Ameren from getting another rate hike," said state Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, D-East St. Louis.

Ameren Illinois -- which handles the distribution of power and gas for most people living in the metro-east area -- does not deserve a rate increase because it saw its profits more than double from last year -- from $51 million to $127 million, said Bryan McDaniel, a CUB spokesman.

"So this is not a company that is hurting," McDaniel said. "It's greed. I mean, everyone wants to live better today than they did yesterday."

"The shareholders' profit margin is increasing," Jackson added. "Based upon that, there is an increase?"

Leigh Morris, an Ameren Illinois spokesman, defended the proposed $130 million rate increase as an attempt to recover the actual costs of operations and providing reliable service.

Morris noted that Ameren Illinois -- which is legally separate from its corporate parent, St. Louis-based AmerenUE -- has tried to avoid the rate increase through a series of austerity measures, including an employee salary freeze, layoffs, deferred heavy equipment purchases and other cost cuts adding up to $55 million.

The rate increase is "to provide the revenue needed to build, maintain, improve and operate the electrical system that we have," Morris said.

The Illinois Commerce Commission is set to make its decision on Ameren's rate request in April. Ameren's rate hike proposal would affect more than 1.1 million ratepayers in central and Southern Illinois, and would include customers of AmerenCIPS-Metro East, Ameren IP and Ameren CILCO.

Ameren last fall had originally sought a $226 million increase, but reduced that to $130 million. An administrative law judge on Feb. 25 recommended that Ameren receive an overall increase of $56 million.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin met Monday with leaders of Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties to hear their pleas for a proposed five-year delay in new federal flood hazard maps for the metro-east.

If the delay is not granted, flood insurance rates for 150,000 residents and businesses in the Mississippi River flood plain could soar by January.

Durbin met with Alan Dunstan, Mark Kern and Dale Wittenauer, the chairmen, respectively, of the Madison, St. Clair and Monroe County Boards. He heard concerns from the three about the push to fix the river levees in the region in time to stave off those insurance rate increases.

Durbin is set to meet today at his Senate office in Washington, D.C., with the top administrators of the Federal Emergency Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Christina Mulka, a Durbin spokeswoman.

"He's going to take (their) concerns to FEMA and the Army Corps," she said.

Durbin, D-Springfield, the Senate assistant majority leader, has so far declined to endorse a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, that would mandate at least a five-year delay in regions of the country where an active effort is under way to rebuild local levees.

In a letter published Jan. 6 in the News-Democrat, Durbin explained his reluctance to sponsor Costello's measure in the Senate by stating that while he supports it, it "may need to be improved in order to fully protect metro-east residents and businesses."

The FEMA maps are still set to take effect as soon as January -- despite the agency's disclosure in a letter to Durbin last month that the agency has no evidence to support public statements that local levees are functionally worthless and in danger of failing.

This disclosure represents a contradiction of FEMA statements going back more than two years, during which time the agency indicated it possessed information provided by the Army Corps that the metro-east levees did not meet federal standards.

FEMA has now dropped that contention, stating instead that it lacks information on the levees because local flood districts refused to provide it.

"Well, as far as I can tell, FEMA never asked for anything," said Les Sterman, the chief engineer for the Southwestern Illinois Flood Protection District Council. "So our goal is to roll back the clock to restart that process."

Meanwhile, the local flood protection district is weighing legal options for delaying the flood maps by at least five years, while finding the money needed to upgrade 64 miles of flood-protection levees to meet federal standards, according to Sterman.

If the FEMA maps take effect as planned, "It's going to have an enormous impact ... an enormous chilling effect on economic growth," Sterman told a gathering of civic leaders Monday morning at a meeting sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Southwestern Madison County.

The three counties hope to fund their part of the levee repair project with the combined $10 million a year in new revenue they are bringing in through a special sales tax that took effect in January 2009.

The Army Corps of Engineers, however, has estimated the project cost will surpass $450 million -- with almost the entire cost borne to be by metro-east taxpayers. The three counties expect to bear no more than $180 million worth of the cost, while the federal government now says it has no money for the project until 2024.

BLOOMINGTON -- State Sen. Bill Brady talked politics all day on Monday. During a fly-around tour of eight Illinois cities, the newly anointed Republican gubernatorial candidate from Bloomington talked shop with media outlets in Chicago and visited Rockford, Cahokia, Quincy, Moline, Marion, Peoria and Champaign.

So by the time the day ended with a rally at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington, he said he just wanted to talk about friends and family.

"What a way to end a great day," Brady told an audience of about 400 people in a packed ballroom. "I'm here with family, friends and supporters, and you don't know what that means. It's been an exciting day, but our purpose was to fly around the state to say thank you to those who helped us."

Flanked onstage by members of his immediate and extended family, Brady told the crowd that he and his wife, Nancy, have been married for 27 years.

It was as newlyweds that they decided to raise a family and go into a business in Bloomington. He said realizing that dream would be harder now, but he hopes to change that as governor.

"In our state, we have a record deficit and lots of problems," he said. "But, I believe Illinois is the richest in terms of assets and opportunities. We are located in the center of the economic universe, and we have 13 million people here who are energized and educated.

"We can pull out of this mess, but it's going to take sending the right people to Springfield."

Brady personally thanked members of his family, including his mother, brothers, nieces and nephews. He also thanked his business associates and the volunteers who have helped his campaign such as Emily Brown, a University of Illinois student who attended Brady's stop in her hometown of Champaign and then drove to Bloomington to see the finale.

"Today is such a great day because for the past month we have been sitting on pins and needles waiting to make sure that he was going to be the candidate," Brown said. "Tonight, it was a well-deserved celebration for Bill and his supporters."

She was referring to Brady's 193-vote margin of victory in the Feb. 2 primary over state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, which was certified Friday by state election officials.

For Logan County Economic Development Partnership Director Joel Smiley, it was also a business trip. Smiley took the opportunity to meet with Brady and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Jason Plummer, a construction business executive from Edwardsville.

"It's really great to have this downstate connection," Smiley said. "We're doing great things in Logan County, and it helps to have someone who knows something about our area."

Brady remained at the hotel well after his speech, greeting supporters and thanking them for their support.

"It's so good to finish this day in Bloomington," Brady said. "There was no other choice in our minds. This is where it starts and where it ends."

SPRINGFIELD -- Even before Gov. Pat Quinn formally unveils his spending plan Wednesday, local government officials have been gearing up for a fight.

Over the weekend, Quinn's budget chief, David Vaught, said the governor will outline a controversial plan to cut the amount of income tax revenue the state shares with municipalities in his budget plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The state would use the estimated $300 million to help close a gaping budget hole. But, cash-strapped cities and towns say they need that money too.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said the town could lose up to $400,000 at a time when officials already have cut workers, halted new programs and increased the local sales tax to cope with current budget shortfalls.

Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder suggested his community would face additional belt-tightening.

"Any loss of additional revenue would require further cuts," Snyder said.

While some mayors wouldn't speculate on how exactly they would deal with cuts in state aid, Pana Mayor Steven Sipes said his town may need to look into some kind of tax or fee increase to plug such a shortfall.

Because Pana's property taxes are capped, city officials would have to consider water rate hikes or utility tax increases if more revenue is needed, he said. Layoffs are an absolute last resort because the town of 6,000 only has 45 employees.

"It's going to be devastating," Sipes said.

Vandalia Mayor Ricky Gottman would not say whether layoffs or tax increases would be necessary if the state cuts funding for municipalities, but both are last resorts.

"We cut the budget pretty deep this year," Gottman said.

School districts also are in Quinn's fiscal crosshairs. Vaught told the Associated Press that 17,000 school employees could be laid off under the governor's budget proposal.

Ray Bergles, superintendent of the Silvis school district near the Quad Cities, said the state is already inconsistent in paying bills.

"We're not getting money now anyway," said Bergles.

Even without action by Quinn, Silvis is cutting 10 teachers and six other workers in the coming school year. The district also is cutting back on buying new school supplies and may have to increase class sizes.

The district, however, will not likely increase property taxes, Bergles said.

At the Du Quoin school district in southern Illinois, Superintendent Gary Kelly said the cuts being proposed by Quinn could result in layoffs because reducing spending in other areas likely won't be enough to cover the gap.

"It's the worst financial time for K-12 education we've had in a very long time," Kelly said.

State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, says he expects local governments to lay off workers and cut programs before raising taxes.

"Property taxes probably aren't going to be increased in my district," Forby said.

The governor's budget speech is set for noon Wednesday.

SPRINGFIELD -- Tucked away in a corner of the Capitol is a warren of offices that used to be home base for Pat Quinn.

For six years, Quinn camped out in that second floor space on the south wing of the Illinois Statehouse, serving as lieutenant governor under Rod Blagojevich - a position that carries few duties other than having to be ready to step up if the chief executive is unable to finish his or her term.

After Blagojevich's 2009 ouster, it didn't take long for Quinn move into the much larger digs down the hall, leaving the lieutenant governor's office to stand virtually empty.

On a recent tour of the space, visitors were greeted by the sound of the Capitol heating system, which still pours warm air into the offices.

Desks had been hastily cleared in the aftermath of the exodus. One room contains a jumble of furniture. Computer monitors remain, but important paperwork and any personnel effects left by Quinn's staffers is nowhere to be seen.

In all, there are six offices jammed into the small space, including a large, high-ceilinged affair that serves as the main meeting room for the lieutenant governor's team.

The desk in that room was once former Gov. Richard Olgilvie's. The desk was brought into the office in 1991 when newly elected Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra walked into the space to find that his predecessor, George Ryan, had cleaned almost everything out.

To accommodate other aides, there are five offices crammed into the area. There also is a tiny bathroom, a couple of utility closets and a kitchen. In all, the budget allows for about 30 people to work for the lieutenant governor. Some work out of other offices in the Capitol complex.

Even the refrigerator serves as an example of the second-tier status of the office. It is dormitory-sized, large enough for a few lunches for those who might brown bag it.

Also in the kitchen are two vacuum cleaners, although the mismatched carpeting in the offices could easily be tackled by just one.

Whoever wins the post in November will have a chance - and, likely, the time -- to decorate the office as they see fit. In the past century, just four lieutenant governors have gone on to become the state's chief executive

SPRINGFIELD -- Created in an effort to keep the cost of electricity as low as possible, the Illinois Power Agency has only one employee and no one to handle its finances, a recent audit found.

Mark Pruitt was tapped to run the agency almost two years ago, and he's remained its only employee ever since.

In a new report, Auditor General William Holland found that Pruitt, a utility expert, had trouble with the accounting paperwork because the agency doesn't have an accountant.

The Illinois Power Agency acts as a broker to ensure Ameren and ComEd buy the cheapest electricity available. That way, consumers pay less.

Last year, the agency brokered a deal that resulted in the utilities buying cheaper power. Pruitt used consultants to help, and has a relatively tiny budget for a state agency at just more than $1 million.

Pruitt said he's happy with the result of the power purchase last year, and expects to hire help soon to deal with the agency's other issues. He noted the state's budget crisis has slowed down the hiring.

"We'll deal with this while the rest of the world's not on fire," Pruitt said.

Pruitt said Gov. Pat Quinn has authorized him to bring some people on.

"There's not a manual for setting up a new agency," Pruitt said.

The audit also criticizes the agency for not having what it considers to be a fully functioning office.

"Without having access to basic office equipment, the Agency is unable to maintain adequate records, such as copies of contracts and vouchers submitted to various agencies," the audit reads. "Additionally, the Agency cannot operate in an efficient manner."

Pruitt works in Chicago's James R. Thompson Center and said he has shared technology resources with other agencies.

"I'm just cheap," he said. "I'm willing to share my pads of paper."

Pruitt's agency was created in 2007 after a months-long controversy over a spike in some Ameren and ComEd power bills. Some of the money from a $1 billion settlement with Ameren, Exelon and others, pays for the Illinois Power Agency's operation.

David Kolata, director of the utility-watchdog Citizen's Utility Board, said he thinks Pruitt's doing a good job helping keep costs down. The fact that Pruitt remains alone in the agency is just a matter of bad timing, he said.

"The creation of the IPA coincided with the fiscal crisis of the state," Kolata said.

The state's Auditor General office does regularly scheduled audits of all state agencies. The full report can be found at http://www.auditor.illinois.gov/

SPRINGFIELD -- The number of people hoping to replace Scott Lee Cohen as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor swelled to more than 200 Monday.

Democrats began soliciting applications when Cohen left the race after allegations surfaced that he abused his ex-wife and held a knife to an ex-girlfriend's throat.

Just as Cohen was a political newcomer, most of the applicants have little political experience.

Mary Stonor Saunders of Chicago, for example, notes that she runs a company that sells high-end granola.

Carol Qualkinbush of Evanston is a partner in a company that sells products aimed at controlling foot odor.

"I am definitely not a politician but will hopefully bring an integrity that career politicians cannot often afford," Qualkinbush notes in her application.

While there are smattering of candidates with previous campaign experience, some of the applicants are better known for what their parents did.

The son of Joseph Hartzler, the federal prosecutor who oversaw the conviction of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, also has tossed his name in the ring.

Alex Harms Hartzler, 25, is a Springfield-area native who now lives in Chicago.

Why would he be a good pick?

"I did not vote for Rod Blagojevich in 2006," he notes in his application.

Others with family ties include Sheila Simon, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, who jumped into the race last week.

Several of those who ran for lieutenant governor have not yet turned in applications to be chosen to run alongside Pat Quinn in the November general election. Included in that list are state Reps. Mike Boland of East Moline and Art Turner of Chicago.

For now, there is no deadline for people to submit their names. There also has been no date set by the party to hold a meeting to consider which candidates they like or dislike.

Party spokesman Steve Brown said the cattle call could go on for "some period of time."

Some early entrants have already pulled out of consideration. Among those who have formally withdrawn their names was Bob Arya, a former television reporter who was an adviser to ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

CHICAGO -- Bruce J. Graham, the pioneering architect who designed Chicago's two most iconic skyscrapers, including the formerly named Sears Tower, has died at age 84, a public relations firm hired by his family said Monday.

Graham died Saturday morning in his sleep at his Hobe Sound, Fla., home of complications associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a statement from firm SCC Grossman.

A leader in the modern era of architecture, Graham designed the 110-story Sears Tower, renamed the Willis Tower last year. The skyscraper opened in 1974 and was the world's tallest until 1996 when the Petronas Twin Towers opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The 1,451-foot Chicago tower remains the tallest building in the U.S.

Graham also designed the 100-story John Hancock Center, a black, X-marked structure on Chicago's Michigan Avenue that was completed in 1970.

"He was one of the giants of his era and so inventive,'' said Donna Robertson, dean at the Illinois Institute of Technology's College of Architecture. "He raised generations of architects ... who were highly talented and went on to perpetuate his creativity.''

Both skyscrapers continue to be staples of tourism in the city, with the Willis Tower a designated highlight of architecture river cruises that sail down the Chicago River, according to the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

Graham, a native of Bogota, Colombia, was a senior architect at Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill from 1951 to 1989. He became known for his bold style, particularly that based on steel-framed construction.

"He was a driven man, and he had a vision of what he wanted to do, but he also was a great collaborator, and he loved to work with young architects,'' Richard F. Tomlinson II, a partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill, said in a telephone call Monday night from Hong Kong. "He was a mentor of mine from the time I joined the firm in 1972 until he retired in 1986.''

Aside from the two famous skyscrapers, Graham helped design the Inland Steel Building, which has been heralded by other legendary architects, including Graham's close friend Frank Gehry. The 1950s skyscraper in downtown Chicago features translucent green glass.

"He explored things and experimented with things that you wouldn't expect to have happened in the corporate world of architecture,'' said Gehry, who described Graham as "gruff and cantankerous,'' but also generous.

Tomlinson said Graham always maintained close dialogues with clients and contractors.

"He also believed in cities, and felt that his best structures were those that contributed to building cities,'' Tomlinson said. "He was very proud of the collaborative work he did on London's Canary Wharf, which has now become one of the world's financial centers.''

Graham moved to Florida after retiring, but taught a course at IIT in Chicago in the mid-1990s.

A private funeral will be held in Florida, followed by a memorial service in Chicago. Dates had not been set, according to SCC Grossman.

Graham's wife, Jane Graham, died in 2004. He is survived by three children and six grandchildren.

Associated Press Writer F.N. D'Alessio contributed to this report

Illinois officials are urging consumers to stop leaky faucets during "Fix a Leak Week" next week.

The Illinois Commerce Commission says minor water leaks waste more than one trillion gallons in U.S. homes annually.

Commissioner Erin O'Connell-Diaz says each home can contributed 10,000 gallons of wasted water a year -- enough to fill a backyard swimming pool.

The initiative is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It aims to save consumers money and save water for future generations.

The ICC and the EPA's "WaterSense" program offer tips on finding household leaks, including checking faucet washers and gaskets for wear and replacing worn out toilet flappers.

____

On the Net: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/fixaleak

Information about Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal is coming soon.

The Democratic governor's staff is expected to provide details on the plan Tuesday night in advance of Quinn's official budget speech Wednesday.

The administration has already talked about some of the spending cuts and borrowing that Quinn believes will be needed to balance the budget. But it hasn't been so open about the tax increase that Quinn wants.

Last year, Quinn proposed raising the basic tax level by 50 percent. That failed in the Legislature and lawmakers show little interest in discussing the idea again during an election year.

But the state's budget deficit continues to climb. Experts predict it will top $13 billion in the coming fiscal year.

The Illinois Supreme Court is convening a special session not in the name of any legal cases or constitutional debates _ but in the name of art.

The distinguished body says it'll unveil a painting Tuesday afternoon that was used as the rendering for century-old murals on the walls and ceilings of the Supreme Court courtroom.

The artwork was donated by the family of the artist, Albert Krehbiel. The family also paid for all costs of restoring the painting.

Krehbiel was at the start of his career as a teacher with the Chicago Art Institute in 1907 when he was chosen as the artist for the murals. The state chose his rendering _ depicting three women representing Precedent, Justice and Record _ from 22 submissions

A federal judge on Monday said the evidence suggests millionaire Chicago real estate developer Calvin Boender produced a fake invoice in an attempt to refute charges that he bribed an alderman to push through a big-money zoning change.

U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. said evidence gathered in the case "supports the government's contention that the invoice was fake and that Boender knew it to be fake" when he gave it to his attorney to show to the prosecutors to prove that he didn't pay a bribe.

The record suggests that "Boender knew that the invoice was a fabrication" and that the developer used his lawyers as "front men," Dow said in a 14-page opinion that sent Boender's attorney scrambling to a federal appeals court.

Boender, 55, is charged with showering former Chicago Alderman Isaac Carothers with $40,000 worth of home improvements _ painting, doors, windows and air conditioning _ in exchange for the rezoning of Chicago's Galewood Yards neighborhood where he owns property.

He also is charged with providing Carothers, who has pleaded guilty and is expected to be a government witness, with free meals and sports tickets and funneling illegal campaign contributions to a Carothers relative. And Boender is charged with obstruction of justice involving the allegedly bogus invoice showing that Carothers was billed for the goods and services.

The trial was due to get under way with jury selection Monday. But it was delayed one day while defense attorney Robert Sanger went to the federal appeals court and urged it to bar prosecutors from calling Boender's former lawyer, Daniel Reidy, to the stand as a government witness to testify about the invoice.

Sanger maintained that whatever passed between Boender and Reidy was confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege and should not be presented to the jury.

Dow had already ruled that Reidy could be called under the so-called crime-fraud exception to the rule that attorney-client privilege bars divulging what clients tell their lawyers.

The so-called crime-fraud exception comes into play when the court determines the client may have used the lawyer "in order to further a crime or fraud," Dow said in his opinion.

Sanger said he planned to go to the U.S. Supreme Court with a last-ditch effort.

But Dow said the chances that the U.S. Supreme Court might delay the trial while it considered Boender's request "are remote enough that it makes sense to carry on tomorrow."

Dow said the record indicates that Reidy's conduct in the case was professional. In fact, he said that Reidy repeatedly warned Boender that if the invoice were fake and the government found out, Boender most likely would be charged with obstruction of justice

Republican Bill Brady insisted Monday that focusing his campaign for governor on cutting taxes and spending will allow him to connect with voters who otherwise disagree with many of his conservative views.

As he began a statewide tour to celebrate his party's nomination, Brady said he can find common ground with swing voters despite his firm opposition to abortion and his support for reducing anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians.

"You'd be surprised (by) the number of people who come up to me and say 'Hey listen, you're pro-life, I'm pro-choice, but I'm going to support you because, A) you don't scare me and B) I know we need someone who can take a business approach to rebuilding Illinois,'" Brady told The Associated Press in a telephone interview before an eight-city flyaround.

Brady's trip celebrates his finally being declared the GOP nominee by the State Board of Elections last week, more than a month after the Feb. 2 primary. The Republican ticket had been in limbo because of a close race between Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, and state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale. Brady won the race by 193 votes out of more than 767,000 cast. He'll face Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in November.

A central theme of Brady's campaign is his insistence that Illinois can fix its overwhelming budget problems without an income tax increase. Quinn has sought a tax increase; he'll lay out his budget proposal for lawmakers Wednesday in Springfield.

Activists say Brady is deluding himself if he thinks voters who disagree with him on social issues will support him because of his economic plans.

"He is so far to the right on issues of reproductive choice that I do not believe that there is any way that he will gain the support of pro-choice women," said Beth Kanter, senior vice president of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

Brady opposes abortion even in cases of pregnancy stemming from rape or incest.

He also opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions for gays and lesbians, as well as laws protecting them from housing discrimination.

"He fundamentally does not believe that gay and lesbian Illinoisans should be treated fairly and equitably under the law and I don't see how almost anybody can put that aside no matter what his policies are in other areas," said Rick Garcia, political director for Equality Illinois.

Quinn is a liberal on social issues and supports abortion rights and same-sex civil unions. He already has sought to portray Brady as out of step with Illinois voters and highlighted the "Grand Canyon" of differences between him and his opponent.

"Senator Brady would rather spend time pushing his moral agenda instead of promoting economic activity and creating new jobs," Quinn spokeswoman Mica Matsoff said in a statement.

Brady embraces his conservative label _ "I am what I am," he says _ and contends what will matter most to voters is that he is a fiscal conservative opposed to raising the income tax.

"Let's find common ground, let's listen and learn from each other and make this state a better place," Brady said.

Brady said he would follow his beliefs when deciding whether to sign or veto bills sent to him by the Legislature. But the state's economic problems mean he won't have the "luxury" of concentrating on his conservative social views if he becomes governor, he said.

Former Republican Gov. Jim Thompson said Brady shouldn't retreat from his personal beliefs on social issues _ doing so, he said, would open up Brady to accusations of flip-flopping _ but advised him to focus on other things.

"You can only talk about so many things in the campaign," Thompson said, "and if I were him I would talk about economic issues."

A former president of a Chicago-area union local has been charged with violating federal labor law by demanding and accepting concrete livestock feeders for his Maryland buffalo farm from a company that employed union workers.

On Monday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office announced Bill Dugan was charged with a misdemeanor for the violation that allegedly occurred in 2005, while Dugan was president of the 23,000-member Operating Engineers Local 150.

An attorney for the 76-year-old Dugan _ who retired in 2008 _ says Dugan has agreed to enter a plea. But Joseph Duffy wouldn't elaborate.

Dugan is accused of demanding and accepting the feeders valued at more than $900 from a company whose workers were represented by the union local. Prosecutors haven't named the company.

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's weighing of arguments to overturn the city's handgun ban, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is calling anew for laws aimed at restricting gun sales.

Daley on Monday proposed legislation for the Illinois General Assembly requiring semi-automatic pistols manufactured or delivered for sale in the state to be capable of "micro-stamping." The technology helps law enforcement link spent ammunition with the gun used to fire it.

The mayor also wants to make it a Class 1 felony to "knowingly sell or transfer a gun to a known gang member."

Daley rejected assertions the Supreme Court's widely anticipated ruling makes this year's proposed gun legislation dead-on-arrival in Springfield.

Illinois State Rifle Association executive director Richard Pearson says Daley's proposals wouldn't reduce crime, but would make it more costly for law-abiding citizens to obtain firearms.

Let's hope the Census Bureau can count people better than it can count money.

Having the Census Bureau waste millions of dollars on temporary employees who were paid for work they didn't do and for travel expenses that were over-billed -- not to mention the $2.5 million on Super Bowl ads that were neither funny nor informative -- doesn't inspire confidence.

The wasteful spending was noted in an audit obtained by The Associated Press.

With one million temporary workers attempting to count about 300 million people, there are bound to be some problems. But that doesn't give the bureau a license to squander millions of tax dollars every 10 years.

Among examples of waste cited in the audit were more than 10,000 people who were paid $300 to undergo training, then quit or were released without ever working a day and another 5,000 who only worked a day or less after being paid $300 for training.

The Census Bureau needs to buckle down and perform this important task without acting like money is no object.

The 10-question census forms should be arriving in your mailbox by mid-March.

Federal law requires you to respond. The information is used for a variety of purposes - from targeting programs to help the elderly and poor to drawing political boundary lines in accordance with the Voting Rights Act.

You can do your part to hold down census costs by filling out the form and returning it promptly in the postage paid envelope provided.

The Census Bureau says for every percentage point improvement in the mail response rates, the bureau saves about $85 million by not having to send people out door-to-door.

The Census Bureau would like the forms back by April. Think of April Fools Day, if that helps you remember.

MARION - After waiting more than a month to be named his party's nominee for governor, state Sen. Bill Brady wasted little time thanking those who voted him to a primary victory.

Brady, R-Bloomington, made a brief stop Monday at Williamson County Regional Airport in Marion, kicking off his general election campaign. Brady was flanked by his wife, Nancy, and the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, Jason Plummer. A large, loud, standing-room-only crowd greeted Brady at the airport terminal.

After a close, contentious campaign, Brady - and voters throughout the state - had to wait more than a month after the Feb. 2 primary to see who would be the GOP's gubernatorial candidate. On Friday, the Illinois State Board of Elections certified Brady as the Republican nominee by 193 votes over state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale.

"All 193 of them are here," shouted one man in the audience Monday.

Responded Brady: "And we love every one of you."

Brady wasn't always in a loving mood, however. In particular, he criticized Gov. Pat Quinn for the state's budget deficit and for Quinn's proposal to raise the income tax on certain individuals and families.

Quinn will make a budget proposal Wednesday.

"I'm not sure that he's dealing with this correctly, but we'll analyze it on Wednesday," Brady said Monday after his speech. "I only hope that he drops his plea for a tax increase. The last thing we can afford in Illinois is to increase taxes on families and businesses in these economic times."

Brady has proposed a 10 percent across-the-board cut in state spending to pay for his proposed tax cuts.

"I have to cut state spending by 10 percent if I'm going to pay for my tax breaks, if I'm going to reconcile the budget in a balanced way, and pay back the backlog of unpaid bills that Gov. Quinn and Gov. Blagojevich have accumulated," he said."

Brady spoke for just more than eight minutes during his visit, which was part of a one-day, eight-city statewide tour that began in Chicago and ended in Bloomington.

Brady made several stops in Southern Illinois throughout his primary campaign. He billed himself as the downstate candidate, and most of his primary election success came from counties in the central and southern portions of the state. Each of Brady's six challengers in the primary came from Chicago or its suburbs.

During his speech, Brady mentioned the recent changes to political landscapes in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey. In each of those states, Republicans have won elections for offices traditionally held by Democrats.

"Now," he said, "it's time to see some changes in Illinois."

Apparently, subscribing to the theory that the early bird gets the worm, Illinois college students are applying for 2010-2011 financial aid at a fast and furious pace.

Statewide, more than 180,000 students have already filed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, forms, up some 21 percent from the same time last year, Illinois Student Assistance Commission spokesman Paul Palian said.

The form determines a student's eligibility for financial aid. Schools use the applications to award federal, state, institutional need-based financial assistance and some scholarships.

The statewide trend is holding true locally as well.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale has received 9,276 applications to date, compared to 5,900 at this time last year.

"I am surprised - not by the number because I expect more people will apply this year, but that there are so many in this early," SIUC Director of Financial Aid Linda Joy Clemons said.

Rend Lake College financial aid applications have increased by a whopping 113 percent, according to Doug Carlson, RLC director of financial aid. Last year at this time, the college had received 359 applications, while this year's number is already at 766.

Shawnee Community College has seen an 18 percent increase, or at least 200 more of the forms filed this year over last, Shawnee Director of Financial Aid Tammy Capps said.

Numbers weren't available for John A. Logan College, but Kristin Shelby, coordinator for student financial assistance, said the school has seen continuous growth in the number of FAFSAs filed over the past three school years, as evidenced by the awarding of the federal Pell Grant. For instance, she said, about 300 more grants were awarded this spring over the fall semester.

"That is a strong indicator that more people are applying for financial assistance," she said.

The record pace of filing can be attributed to several factors, including an economy in the tank.

"Obviously the economy is not doing well so the demand for financial aid is up," Palian said.

And in an area that has some of the highest unemployment rates in the state, the need is also increased.

"Unemployment is up in this state as is every state," Clemons said. "When unemployment is higher the financial needs are greater."

Community colleges are seeing an influx of students affected by unemployment, Shelby said.

"The declining economy and unemployment in Southern Illinois have caused a lot of people to go back to school for retraining," she said.

Carlson said some of the increase can be attributed to a student population that is paying increased attention to state finances.

For instance, many students are concerned that the state will run out of money for the Monetary Award Program grants, which had an early cutoff date for assistance in the 2009-2010 school year.

"I have to also believe the MAP grant early cutoff (for) this current year, May 15, woke everybody up on the need to apply early," Carlson said. "RLC will have 200 fewer MAP recipients this year over last year and it is all due to the extremely early cutoff date."

Both JALC and Shawnee have implemented outreach programs to help fill out the complicated forms, a program that Capps believe may be responsible for at least some of the increase at SCC.

"We have been into every high school in the district. People bring in their information and fill out the FAFSA. We put it online and tell them right then what their award will be," Capps said. "That has seemed to help us tremendously."

Clemons encouraged students to file their FAFSAs as soon as possible.

"The earlier the better," she said. "The forms require tax information from 2009, but even if you haven't filed yet, you can estimate and then correct the FAFSA after you have filed. If you haven't already done so, get the form is as soon as you can."

METROPOLIS - The city of Metropolis could be in legal trouble based on the way it awards an upcoming waste collection franchise, according to a national organization.

The National Solid Wastes Management Association, a nonprofit trade association representing the private sector solid waste industry, informed city officials in a letter last month that the considered awarding of a nonresidential waste collection franchise to Bulldog Systems Inc. of Harrisburg, as well as a proposed flow control law, would violate Illinois Municipal Code and a commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution.

The letter, written by NSWMA General Counsel David Biderman, reminded the city of Illinois code provisions requiring a public hearing to be held regarding such franchise awards. The code also states local governments are prohibited from requiring non-residential customers from using a franchise hauler until 15 months after a law approving the award of such a franchise is adopted.

"To the extent the City of Metropolis intends to consider such a waste collection franchise, NSWMA urges it to comply with these state law provisions, and NSWMA reserves the right to take appropriate legal action in the event they are violated," Biderman said.

The letter continued, saying a proposed flow control law, which would require all waste generated in the city to be disposed at the government-owned transfer station, privately operated by Bulldog, was unconstitutional in that such flow laws are only legal when enacted for stations operated by state-created public benefit corporations.

Biderman said it was "highly likely" a federal court would rule the proposed flow control law discriminated against other interstate commerce and cited several previous cases supporting the claim.

Biderman's letter, dated Feb. 19, advised the city council consider the NSWMA's position while addressing the franchise and the flow control law.

Metropolis Mayor Billy McDaniel said Monday, however, that no decision on the contract has been made and no discussion on the topic was scheduled for the meeting Monday evening. Instead, he said, the city will have a committee meeting to discuss the matter sometime before the current waste collection contract ends next month.

"Our contract goes out with the current carrier in April," McDaniel said. "We're going to have a committee meeting in the next couple of weeks pertaining to how we want to handle it and go from there."

McDaniel said the city will be considering new contracts for residential waste collection, currently contracted to Bulldog, and for non-residential waste collection, which is not currently contracted.

Metropolis relies on its own full-time legal counsel, he said, and the city's ordinance committee would be meeting with the counsel soon to decide the city's plans concerning waste management contracts and related law adoptions.

"We're going to discuss the contracts and we're going to make the best decision we can for the good of the people of Metropolis," he said.

Springfield - State Sen. John O. Jones and state Reps. David Reis and John Cavaletto, all southern Illinois Republicans, blamed the Democratic Party and Gov. Pat Quinn for the state's budget woes during a conference call late Friday morning.

The call came in advance of the governor's budget address, planned for Wednesday.

Jones spoke at length about the problems in schools and universities, with a lack of state funding forcing layoffs of teachers. But he pointed to the Illinois Department of Transportation's plans to hire as many as 180 new workers before July 1. The reason for the push to hire these employees, Jones said, is because they have to have six months on the job before the next governor is elected to keep their job should Quinn not be reelected this November.

Jones said one employee, a political appointee, was hired just this week at the Effingham IDOT yard to basically wander the yard and shop and to keep an eye on the operation with no real job function - simply a political appointed job with a fat paycheck.

Jones said both parties have been guilty of practices such as these, and it has to stop.

He also pointed to Travis Loyd, a Democratic candidate for state representative in the 107th District in 2008 who has been rewarded with a state job by Quinn. Now, Jones said, Quinn is appointing Loyd to the position of assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, resulting in a pay raise of more than $35,000 per year for Loyd.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is calling on the state health department to cancel its contract with VIP Security & Detective Services, citing a Chicago Sun-Times report that raised questions about the firm's nursing home safety deal.

Reached Monday, VIP's top employee defended his company's work helping the state assess the danger posed by ex-cons who live in Illinois nursing homes. Meanwhile, a health department spokeswoman said the agency is exploring whether State Police could take over the Matteson firm's role and save taxpayers money.

"The state should eliminate VIP as a middleman and rely on the State Police to gather all the criminal history information," she said. "This will expedite this process, provide greater protection for nursing home residents and save scarce state money."

VIP was one of two firms awarded no-bid emergency contracts in August 2006 to help health officials screen nursing-home residents.

Its president, Bennie Bryant III, reported the firm had been in business for two years with $50,000 in annual sales. But state records show VIP had been incorporated only three months before Bryant signed its contract, and that VIP didn't get its security- and detective-agency licenses until Sept. 8, 2006 -- the same day the health department signed the deal.

Asked to explain that, Bryant said his sister -- Roxanne B. Jackson, a high-ranking state health official in 2003 and 2004 -- incorporated a firm called "VIP Security" in October 2002 and that he did business under that name.

Records show VIP Security did exist, but they also show that the firm never held a state license to operate as a security or detective agency. Also, VIP Security wasn't in business two years; it was dissolved after 17 months after failing to pay required fees.

Pressed further, Bryant said, "I really have a problem talking to you. It's like you're on a witch hunt, but you're witch-hunting the wrong people." His company, he added, is doing "an excellent job" given time constraints it is forced to work under.

Underscoring arguments for strong participation in this year's census, a new report details the billions of dollars that Illinois and the Chicago region have received in federal funds tied to the previous count.

Researchers with the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, found that Illinois received $19.1 billion in 2008 in federal funds tied to census counts, about a third of all the federal assistance it received. Of that amount, the Chicago area received at least $12.6 billion, the study found.

The report, to be released Tuesday, found that the census is especially important for states, which receive federal funding most notably for Medicaid reimbursements and highway construction. The data comes from the most detailed analysis of census-related funding at the local and state levels.

"When you add (up) that money over a decade, it's a lot of money," said Andrew Reamer, author of the report and a fellow with the think tank's Metropolitan Policy Program.

Most households will be receiving their census forms next week.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and community leaders have tried to boost participation in the census by warning undercounted communities that they stand to lose money if they don't participate. Researchers say it is especially important to count poorer residents because their numbers are the most likely to trigger a higher distribution of federal money.

The total for the Chicago area included funding for programs ranging from low-income housing to literacy initiatives in public libraries.

oavila@tribune.com

Copyright ?? 2010, Chicago Tribune

Back in November, we added a dark new dimension -- a number somewhere "north of $7,000" -- to the discussion of how badly your state lawmakers have buried this state's pension system in debt. That 7 grand is the amount of unfunded pension liabilities that may confront you and every one of Illinois' 12.9 million citizens by the end of June.

If you add up all the overpromising and overborrowing and failures to fully fund state pensions, you get a total approaching $95 billion. Dividing that amount by the state's population puts your personal state pension debt ... north of $7,000. Every person in your family, the baby included? Another $7,000 apiece. Your every neighbor? Every co-worker? You could have everyone send $7,000 now, in care of a state legislator who represents you. He or she can collect the rest when the final number gets calculated in June.

Be sure you keep that north-of-$7,000 in mind Wednesday if Gov. Pat Quinn proposes anything short of major pension reforms. Team Quinn has signaled that he'll try more of the Illinois trickery that keeps driving your personal pension debt further to the north.

But that's just your state pension indebtedness. You didn't think you were finished, did you? What about all the local and regional governmental bodies that promise pensions?

On Monday the Civic Federation of Chicago delivered the miserable news you might have expected: Given the unfunded obligations totaling $18.5 billion at 10 big Chicago-area pension funds, every Chicagoan is on the hook for another $5,821 in unfunded promises to public-sector workers. Ten years ago, that number was $1,189 -- barely one-fifth of what it is today.

Here's an especially maddening way to look at this gross overcommitment of taxpayer dollars: During the decade that ended in fiscal 2008, the Civic Federation says, pension pledges at these 10 governmental bodies grew by 68.9 percent. In the same years, the funding of all those pension promises grew by only 26.4 percent.

Now you know why each Chicagoan's pension debt shot to $5,821 so fast.

Note, though, that you don't have to live in the city to get dinged by some of the liabilities in the Civic Federation report. Four of the 10 funds do cover City of Chicago workers (police, fire, laborers and others). The Chicago Park District, Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago Public Schools are also on the list. But so are Cook County, the Cook County Forest Preserve District and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. So if you're a Cook suburbanite, you could have those final three to worry about, plus whatever obligations face your municipal government. Some suburban officials rightly complain that the legislature sweetens pensions and the locals have to pick up the cost.

You can find the full report at CivicFed.org. Live in a collar county? We hope you and your local governments are in better shape.

Monday's report offers only the latest examples of how government officials have mortgaged the future of Illinois by awarding pension sweeteners that taxpayers simply cannot afford.

The report offers numerous proposed solutions -- all of them smart, all of them likely to be opposed by public employee unions and many legislators. In December, the Tribune's John Keilman reported on a particularly insidious variant: public safety pension payouts that state lawmakers impose on municipalities. Did you know that Illinois police and firefighters can receive a full pension -- 75 percent of pay -- as early as age 50? And "pay" is determined by their final day of service, not an average of their last few years' salaries?

Yes, lots of Illinois public employees have received lots of pension sweeteners. The question now is whether state lawmakers and local officials will take some sugar off the table.

Copyright ?? 2010, Chicago Tribune

Nearly a month ago, when the Democrats were holding their rhetorical fire as they waited to see which Republican gubernatorial candidate would win after all the primary votes were counted, I posted a blog entry with the wry headline, ???You read it here first: `Bill Brady, too extreme for Illinois'"

It was a prediction, not a scoop.

And sure enough, on Friday, almost immediately after the Illinois State Board of Elections certified Brady's 193-vote victory over his state Senate colleague Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, Gov. Pat Quinn charged that Brady's "voting record has shown that he has been very extreme when it comes to taking on issues protecting everyday people."

Later, Quinn's campaign released a statement saying Brady "may represent the extreme fringe of the right wing, but he certainly does not represent the people of Illinois."

Brady, of Bloomington, has the track record of a classic, conservative culture warrior. He opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest, a position favored by only 18 percent of Illinois voters in a poll taken last year by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.

Earlier this year, Brady proposed changing the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages and prohibit civil unions. That same poll found only 31 percent of Illinois voters support denying some form of legal recognition to gay couples.

Brady has backed prayer and the teaching of creationism in public schools, requiring abortion providers to offer ultrasound images to women seeking abortions, allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions that violate their personal beliefs and allowing religious institutions to discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.

And he has opposed increases in the minimum wage, gender-pay equity legislation, the Family and Medical Leave Act, requirements that health insurers cover contraceptives and other reproductive-care services and embryonic stem-cell research.

Quinn may be as liberal on some issues as Brady is conservative, but we've known Quinn for decades as a state treasurer, lieutenant governor and gadfly reform advocate.

His brand is secure. He's an economic populist without a particularly strong ideological streak. And even those who think he's been an inept governor don't consider him a liberal bomb thrower with a radical social agenda.

Brady is still largely unknown. So Quinn has leaped at the chance to tell voters about him. Monday his campaign released a long list of Brady's votes and statements supporting the "extreme" charge, and announced a news conference for Tuesday in which representatives from such groups as the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood will gather to blast Brady for his -- you guessed it -- "extreme record on issues."

It's always good politics to try to define your opponent before he can define himself. And it's particularly good politics for Quinn to do so here, given how grim the state's economic performance has been since he took office a little more than a year ago.

Brady has repeatedly insisted that the real issues in this race are Illinois' unprecedented budget crisis and joblessness: "We don't have the luxury of focusing on social issues in this election," he told a TV interviewer Monday morning.

Doesn't he wish.

The Republican Party has been deft, over the years, in using social issues as a wedge to pry low- and middle-income working voters away from the Democratic Party, even though the Democrats far better represent their pocketbook interests. The thesis of Thomas Frank's 2004 book "What's the Matter with Kansas?" is that conservatives exploited middle-Americans' perception of liberal elitism and their aversion to non-traditional values in order to distract them from economic issues.

Now it's payback time. To distract us from economic issues, Quinn will try to exploit blue-state Illinois residents' perception of extremism and their aversion to those who want to impose ultraconservative values on us.

If someone out there ends up asking the plaintive question, "What's the Matter with Schaumburg?" remember you read it here first.

Flanked by several parents who had lost children to gun violence, Mayor Richard Daley on Monday called for new laws to restrict gun sales and stiffen penalties for criminals who use them.

Although Daley announces new gun-control initiatives every year, this year's announcement took on added significance because the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to overturn the city's handgun ban.

"The aggressiveness of the gun advocates is just one reason it's more important than ever that we work for common-sense gun laws focused on stopping the flow of illegal guns into our communities and keeping the guns out of the hands of the criminals," Daley said, standing next to tables loaded with weapons confiscated by Chicago police.

But Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, which is a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, said his group opposes the measures. They would not reduce crime but would make it more burdensome and costly for law-abiding citizens to obtain firearms, he said.

"It provides a smokescreen for the mayor and many of the aldermen, so they don't have to deal with the real problems in Chicago," said Pearson, whose group is backing legislation in Springfield that would let people carry guns in public.

Daley backed changes to state law that would require background checks for those buying a gun in a private sale, ban assault weapons, require that gun dealers be licensed and limit the number of handgun purchases to one per person per month. Those were all ideas that failed in previous legislative sessions.

This time, the mayor also is asking the General Assembly to make it a Class 1 felony to knowingly sell a gun to a known gang member, stiffen penalties for unlawfully using a weapon and require "micro-stamping" of guns that make it easier to match weapons used in crimes.

Copyright ?? 2010, Chicago Tribune

SPRINGFIELD - Even before Gov. Pat Quinn formally unveils his spending plan Wednesday, local government officials are gearing up for a fight.

Over the weekend, Quinn's budget chief, David Vaught, said the governor will outline a controversial plan to cut the amount of income tax revenue the state shares with municipalities in his budget plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The state would use the estimated $300 million to help close a gaping budget hole. But, cash-strapped cities and towns say they need that money, too.

Pana, for example, may need to look into some kind of tax or fee increase to plug such a shortfall, Mayor Steven Sipes said Monday.

Because Pana's property taxes are capped, city officials would have to consider water rate hikes or a utility tax increases if more revenue is needed, he said. Layoffs are an absolute last resort because the town of 6,000 only has 45 employees.

"It's going to be devastating," Sipes said.

Other mayors wouldn't speculate on how exactly they would deal with cuts in state aid if the legislature goes along with Quinn's idea.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said the town could lose up to $400,000 at a time when officials already have cut workers, halted new programs and increased the local sales tax to cope with current budget shortfalls.

Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder suggested his community would face additional belt-tightening.

"Any loss of additional revenue would require further cuts," Snyder said.

Vandalia Mayor Ricky Gottman would not say whether layoffs or tax increases would be necessary if the state chipped in less to municipalities, but both are last resorts.

"We cut the budget pretty deep this year," Gottman said.

School districts also are in Quinn's fiscal cross-hairs. Vaught told the Associated Press that 17,000 school employees could be laid off under the governor's budget proposal.

Ray Bergles, superintendent of the Silvis School District near the Quad-Cities, said the state is already inconsistent in paying bills.

"We're not getting money now anyway," Bergles said.

Even without action by Quinn, Silvis is cutting 10 teachers and six other workers in the coming school year. The district also is cutting back on buying new school supplies and may have to increase class sizes.

The district, however, will not likely increase property taxes, Bergles said.

At the Du Quoin School District in Southern Illinois, Superintendent Gary Kelly said the cuts being proposed by Quinn could result in layoffs because reducing spending in other areas likely won't be enough to cover the gap.

"It's the worst financial time for K-12 education we've had in a very long time," Kelly said.

State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, says he expects local governments to lay off workers and cut programs before raising taxes.

"Property taxes probably aren't going to be increased in my district," Forby said.

The governor's budget speech is set for noon Wednesday.

DECATUR - Protestors fighting a proposed rate hike for the Ameren Corp. utilities in Illinois are piling on the pressure and are now looking for a knockout.

The forces of opposition gathered in Decatur on Monday to urge the public to step into the ring and drive home the message that the utilities - AmerenIP, AmerenCIPS and AmerenCILCO - don't need the $130 million increase they want in gas and electric delivery rates. Such an increase might add between $50 and $70 a year to the typical family's utility bill.

Leading the fight to have state utility regulators deny the rate increase are the Citizens Utility Board public watchdog group, the office of Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the AARP and state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion.

The utilities say they have a strong case for raising rates and insist they must make a fair profit to keep their businesses viable and recoup investments in quality and reliability. But their push for more money, coming on the heels of a previous rate increase that saw their profits more than double, has already taken several hits.

The utilities had originally asked for some $226 million but had scaled their request back to $130 million as opposition grew. Then an administrative law judge reviewing the rate requests for the Illinois Commerce Commission, the state utility regulators, recommended that be cut back to $56 million. And the ICC's own staff, crunching the numbers earlier, had recommended the utilities only get $46 million.

Flider, speaking at the Decatur-Macon County Senior Center on Monday and flanked by representatives of the utility board and AARP, said he would not only like the entire rate increase to be rejected, but to also see rates rolled back. He said the ICC has two new commissioners, including a new chairman, and there was the sense that the fight was going the customer's way.

The commission is due to rule on the increase in April.

"I think that, this time, this commission is very mindful of consumers," he added. Flider urged families to get involved and bombard the commission with complaints about what the rate hikes would mean for them. "This is not the time for Ameren to increase rates," he said. "There could not be a worse time to be increasing these rates."

The Ameren utilities proposed hikes would add up to a profit of more than 10 percent which Nancy Funk, a volunteer lobbyist with the AARP who lives in Decatur, claimed was unjustifiable. Speaking to a senior center audience of more than 60, Funk asked how much of a raise they had received in their latest Social Security checks.

"The fact of the matter is you did not get an increase in your Social Security because it was said the cost of living had not gone up," she said. "So how about this number for Ameren's increase in rates: Zero."

David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, told the crowd that public pressure would be heard and would make a difference. "I think we've proven that while Ameren may have the electricity, people ultimately have the power," he said.

The utility board has set up a Web site, www.StopAmeren.com, which offers ways to contact the ICC, an online petition and other information, call 1-800-669-5556. The ICC can also be contacted directly at 1-800-524-0795.

SPRINGFIELD - Created in an effort to keep the cost of electricity as low as possible, the Illinois Power Agency has only one employee and no one to handle its finances, a recent audit found.

Mark Pruitt was tapped to run the agency almost two years ago, and he's remained its only employee ever since.

In a new report, Auditor General William Holland found that Pruitt, a utility expert, had trouble with the accounting paperwork because the agency doesn't have an accountant.

The Illinois Power Agency acts as a broker to ensure Ameren and ComEd buy the cheapest electricity available. That way, consumers pay less.

Last year, the agency brokered a deal that resulted in the utilities buying cheaper power. Pruitt used consultants to help, and has a relatively tiny budget for a state agency at just more than $1 million.

Pruitt said he's happy with the result of the power purchase last year, and expects to hire help soon to deal with the agency's other issues. He noted the state's budget crisis has slowed down the hiring.

"We'll deal with this while the rest of the world's not on fire," Pruitt said.

Pruitt said Gov. Pat Quinn has authorized him to bring some people on.

"There's not a manual for setting up a new agency," Pruitt said.

The audit also criticizes the agency for not having what it considers to be a fully functioning office.

"Without having access to basic office equipment, the Agency is unable to maintain adequate records, such as copies of contracts and vouchers submitted to various agencies," the audit reads. "Additionally, the Agency cannot operate in an efficient manner."

Pruitt works in Chicago's James R. Thompson Center and said he has shared technology resources with other agencies.

"I'm just cheap," he said. "I'm willing to share my pads of paper."

Pruitt's agency was created in 2007 after a months-long controversy over a spike in some Ameren and ComEd power bills. Some of the money from a $1 billion settlement with Ameren, Exelon and others, pays for the Illinois Power Agency's operation.

David Kolata, director of the utility-watchdog Citizen's Utility Board, said he thinks Pruitt's doing a good job helping keep costs down. The fact that Pruitt remains alone in the agency is just a matter of bad timing, he said.

"The creation of the Illinois Power Agency coincided with the fiscal crisis of the state," Kolata said.

The state's Auditor General office does regularly scheduled audits of all state agencies. The full report can be found at www.auditor.illinois.gov/.

MOLINE - Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady focused on the economy and reform Monday, saying job creation is the campaign's top priority.

Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, was confirmed as the party's nominee last Friday, and he flew around the state Monday with his wife and his running mate, Jason Plummer, firing up supporters and lambasting Gov. Pat Quinn.

Brady told backers at the Quad-City International Airport that his candidacy would create a better climate for business and reform state government.

"This is our opportunity to rid ourselves of a government that is rooted in machine-style politics," he said.

Brady got much of his support from downstate areas, and he said the party also needs to reach out beyond the Republican base to appeal to independents and even Democrats.

He faces challenges in the general election, however, particularly in Chicago, because of his more conservative stand on social issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

He opposes both, and the only exclusion on abortion he would allow is to save the life of the mother, not in the event of rape or incest.

On Monday, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action joined other groups at a news conference in Chicago, highlighting his positions.

Brady told reporters he wouldn't back away from his beliefs, but he added, "the number one issue for our campaign and, I think the number one issue in the minds of the voters, is who's going to provide the leadership to make sure I have a job ... and my neighbor gets one tomorrow."

Brady sought to put the spotlight on the Quinn administration, which he said is presiding over massive deficits.

Brady has proposed cutting state spending by 10 percent, including $700 million in education. He also promised he wouldn't raise taxes.

Quinn, he added, "wants to dig deeper into your pocket."

Quinn, who has proposed raising the income tax rate from 3 percent to 4.5 percent, also is set to recommend $2 billion in budget cuts this year.

Mica Matsoff, a spokesperson for Quinn, responded that Brady's proposed 10 percent cut, without details, isn't serious.

"He has not shown any real grip on public finance or presented any realistic budget or jobs plan," she said.

Some local officials have warned they may have to raise property taxes to compensate for cuts.

Brady said he would discourage that but "local folks will make those decisions."

SPRINGFIELD - The number of people hoping to replace Scott Lee Cohen as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor swelled to more than 200 Monday.

Democrats began soliciting applications when Cohen left the race after allegations surfaced that he abused his ex-wife and held a knife to an ex-girlfriend's throat.

Just as Cohen was a political newcomer, most of the applicants have little political experience.

Mary Stonor Saunders of Chicago, for example, notes that she runs a company that sells high-end granola.

Carol Qualkinbush of Evanston is a partner in a company that sells products aimed at controlling foot odor.

"I am definitely not a politician but will hopefully bring an integrity that career politicians cannot often afford," Qualkinbush notes in her application.

While there are smattering of candidates with previous campaign experience, some of the applicants are better known for what their parents did.

The son of Joseph Hartzler, the federal prosecutor who oversaw the conviction of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, also has tossed his name in the ring.

Alex Harms Hartzler, 25, is a Springfield-area native who now lives in Chicago.

Why would he be a good pick?

"I did not vote for Rod Blagojevich in 2006," he notes in his application.

Others with family ties include Sheila Simon, the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, who jumped into the race last week.

Several of those who ran for lieutenant governor have not yet turned in applications to be chosen to run alongside Pat Quinn in the November general election. Included in that list are state Reps. Mike Boland of East Moline and Art Turner of Chicago.

For now, there is no deadline for people to submit their names. There also has been no date set by the party to hold a meeting to consider which candidates they like or dislike.

Party spokesman Steve Brown said the cattle call could go on for "some period of time."

Competitive legislative races are good for voters. Elected officials should be happy to have their record examined every few years and should welcome the chance to discuss how they've represented their constituents. It's also instructive to hear what challengers have to say about what they would do differently and why.

For those reasons, it's fine that Mount Zion businessman Mark Scranton has dropped out of the race to oppose Bob Flider in the 101st Legislative District in November. Scranton said business commitments have made it impossible for him to run. Replacing Scranton on the ballot will be local farmer and Decatur City Council member Adam Brown.

It's also understandable that Brown apparently is an ambitious politician, and he sees an opportunity to move up from the city council to the State Capitol.

But Brown seems to be forgetting that he also has a commitment to the city of Decatur and its voters.

Last year, Brown was elected to the council. Brown finished third in the race, outdistancing the closest competitor, incumbent Dan Caulkins, by fewer than 300 votes for the final spot. To many observers, Brown was a surprise winner. His hard work at walking neighborhoods and meeting people most often were the reasons given for his success.

Obviously, if Brown were elected, he would have to resign his seat on the city council. He should consider, however, resigning his seat now, so he could devote as much time as necessary to his legislative campaign.

One has to wonder how much time Brown will be able to devote to representing the city during the busy campaign season. Although council members are paid part-time wages, the job requires a significant number of hours to do well.

In addition, Brown's candidacy could well turn the Decatur council chambers into a political playing field. Even if Brown avoids grandstanding in order to garner favor with voters, his every decision will be viewed through a partisan prism. Voters rightfully will wonder if Brown is voting what he believes to be in the best interest of city, or if he's voting with an eye on a seat in the General Assembly.

City council members are elected as nonpartisan. Brown is hardly the only council member to wear his party loyalty on his sleeve, but his candidacy does bring politics into the council chambers.

Finally, Decatur voters are right to be disappointed that Brown has decided to move on after less than a year on the job. Taking advantage of opportunities is understandable, but Brown also could have declined, stating he owed Decatur voters the completion of at least one term.

The Flider-Brown matchup should be interesting to watch, and let's hope it spawns a good debate on the issues facing our state.

But Brown could avoid bringing those issues into city government by resigning his council seat.

"Your Honor, the commercial repeatedly asserted that there were two mints in one - a breath mint and a candy mint -- but fluoroscopic analysis reveals there is, in fact, only one mint. Imagine my clients' disillusionment and distress when they realized that they had been fraudulently deprived of a second mint!" -- a theoretical argument.

Yes, the famous mint in question is a single mint with a dual purpose, but no one has ever sued the manufacturer for blatant misrepresentation, or even for reckless hyperbole. Not yet, anyway.

Perhaps Ronald Williams and Jennifer Clayton might strike another blow for truth, justice, and the American way after they finish exposing the wimpy Blimpie.

Represented by two crusading attorneys from LakinChapman in Wood River, the Madison County residents have filed a putative class action suit charging that Blimpie's select subs do not contain the double portions of meat the company's advertising promises. They say the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages but one could buy a truckload of gigantic subs with a few thousand dollars.

Blimpie regulars, Williams and Clayton have ordered and consumed the "Super Stacked" turkey and bacon sandwich numerous times, according to the suit. Only recently, however, did they detect an apparent deficiency in the advertised meat allotment. Instead of complaining to management, they proceeded directly to court.

In their suit, the sandwich sleuths acknowledge that Blimpie's does not have a regular turkey and bacon sandwich, making it impossible to authenticate the doubling of meat. Nevertheless, they contend the sandwich in question has less than double the meat of other turkey sandwiches on the Blimpie's menu. They also point out that the amount of protein in all "Super Stacked" sandwiches is not double that of the regular versions.

A company spokeswoman insists the "Super Stacked" subs do have twice the meat, but not twice the protein because bread and other ingredients that contain protein are not doubled.

Does any of this sound like the type of legal struggle one would expect to find in a courthouse of justice paid for by your tax dollars?

Surely there ought to be an appropriate penalty for those filing a lawsuit as frivolous as this one appears to be. For Williams and Clayton and their two champions of the rule of law, it should be "Super Stacked."

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- More information about Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal is coming soon.

The Democratic governor's staff is expected to provide details on the plan Tuesday night in advance of Quinn's official budget speech Wednesday.

The administration has already talked about some of the spending cuts and borrowing that Quinn believes will be needed to balance the budget. But it hasn't been so open about the tax increase that Quinn wants.

Last year, Quinn proposed raising the basic tax level by 50 percent. That failed in the Legislature and lawmakers show little interest in discussing the idea again during an election year.

But the state's budget deficit continues to climb. Experts predict it will top $13 billion in the coming fiscal year.

CHICAGO (AP) -- There are resources available to help Illinois senior citizens avoid getting ripped off during these tough economic times.

They can get help from the Illinois attorney general's office. Lisa Madigan's office has a guide seniors can use if they're facing credit problems and it can help them avoid scams like fraudulent mortgage rescue schemes.

The state agency also has launched a training program to help seniors recognize and avoid scams.

Madigan's office says seniors trained through the program can then help others in their community avoid getting ripped off.

Highlighting the resources available for seniors is part of National Consumer Protection Week.

Tomorrow, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will unveil his plan to rein in state spending through his budget proposal. While an income tax is believed to be part of the plan, the amount remains unknown before Quinn's announcement. However, plenty of other cuts have been shared with The Associated Press. Among them:

A roughly $1.4 billion decrease in general education spending that could result in layoff of as many as 17,000 teachers;

A $150 million reduction in human services funding; and,

A $32 million cut in funding of the Illinois State Police, meaning fewer troopers patrolling state roadways.

The cuts are part of roughly $2 billion in spending cuts to be proposed by Quinn, according to an aide who shared budget details with The Associated Press.

Regardless of how this pans out, the state will be changing in the very near future in terms of quality of life. We understand tough cuts are needed, but schools in Illinois are at a disadvantage already when trying to maintain federal standards amid less current state support. The challenge of schools will only get more difficult and it is time for the federal government to adjust the bar to those schools throughout the nation who are handicapped by decreasing funding.

It's official at last. The Republican nominee for governor in Illinois is state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, who edged out colleague Kirk Dillard by just 193 votes from some 767,000 cast. Congratulations to Brady, and let the race against Democrat Pat Quinn begin.

Unfortunately for Brady, he hasn't come out of the gate strongly, committing multiple faux pas since he emerged as the likely nominee on Feb. 2, not least of which was his error-filled attack on Quinn regarding the latter's otherwise poorly conceived prisoner early release program.

During his Journal Star endorsement interview back in January, a confident Brady predicted suburbanites would warm to him once they discovered he was "not ... a scary conservative." We've known an amiable Brady for most of the last two decades and don't find him frightening, but he'll forgive Chicago-area GOP voters for thinking their reluctance towards him in the primary was well-founded when they hear him endorse imprisonment without prosecution for an alleged crime: "Maybe the governor wants to wait until someone's convicted. I don't." What, he'd unravel more than two centuries of American jurisprudence? He doesn't believe in due process? What's up with that?

Brady is new to this level of scrutiny, of course, and maybe he just misspoke. Nonetheless, we have some unsolicited advice of the kind state GOP Chairman Pat Brady offered recently: "The issues that people care about (are) jobs and fiscal issues," he said. "There is no real right or left in those, just right or wrong." It's a variation on Bill Clinton's "it's the economy, stupid." Bill Brady has some work to do on that score.

One of the major reasons we did not endorse Brady in the Republican primary was because we didn't believe he had a credible budget plan. Fundamentally, if you don't want to raise more revenue through higher taxes - a defensible stance, especially in a recession - how do you then cut $13 billion, the reported size of the state's looming deficit, out of a $26 billion core operations budget? And how do you achieve that without making matters worse? The scarcity of private sector jobs in Illinois is a problem, but will making thousands of teachers and social service providers unemployed improve that situation?

Brady has said he'd actually lower taxes, while compensating with 10 percent across-the-board cuts. By our calculations, that would whittle less than $3 billion from discretionary spending. He'd find $1.5 billion in savings by introducing real managed care to Medicaid programs. He'd close the State Board of Education, which amounts to $26 million, a tiny fraction of overall school spending. He'd eliminate overtime for state workers. He'd find the elusive "waste, fraud and abuse" budget line item and erase it. And he'd borrow more, obviously at higher interest rates because of the drop in state government's credit rating.

Our math says that leaves Brady well short of $13 billion, a figure he disputed a couple of months ago. The last time we heard a gubernatorial candidate say the deficit wasn't as severe as advertised, it was Roland Burris, who sought the Democratic nomination in 1994, 1998 and 2002. We didn't buy it then, and we're having a hard time with it, in a far-worse situation, now. Meanwhile, if a couple of months ago Brady told us he could balance the budget - for real, without substantial borrowing - in three years, he's said since that he can accomplish that in one. We might add that arguably, Brady would have to go deeper than $13 billion in cuts, as he also wants to set aside state money for local property tax relief and job stimulus proposals.

If Brady is using a different calculator than we are, he needs to do a better job of explaining its findings to Illinois voters than he did to us back in January.

Beyond that, Brady made much of his being the "real Republican" in the GOP primary, touting his conservative bona fides on social issues. He's opposed to abortion, even for victims of rape and incest. He supports concealed carry. He'd let school boards decide whether creationism should be taught in public classrooms. He has advocated limitations on gay rights regarding marriage, housing, employment. He dislikes government mandates, even fighting rules regarding insurance coverage for mammograms.

To be sure, Illinoisans who share those views probably put Brady over the top in the primary, but do they represent a majority of voters in otherwise blue state Illinois? In response to criticism, Brady now says "we don't have the luxury of focusing on social issues in this election." Yet he's the one who brought them up in the first place.

In fact Brady has done a fair amount of backpedaling already, distancing himself from bills he's sponsored - including one Quinn highlighted permitting the mass euthanization of "companion animals" - while acknowledging that what he says and does matter more now. "I have taken on a different role from where I was," he has said. "The Democrats have politicized and will politicize almost everything."

As will Republicans.

Look, voters have a real choice between policy polar opposites here. A lot can happen between now and November. Conventional wisdom has this being a tough year for Democrats, who have established new lows for ethics and competence in Springfield. We didn't endorse Quinn in the Democratic primary, either. This newspaper has not championed a Democrat for governor since 1994.

With all due regard for his downstate roots, we think Bill Brady needs to do a better job in the coming months.

DELAVAN -- Like other school districts across the state, Delavan District 703 finds itself taking unprecedented measures to combat budget shortfalls.

In the near term, that means dipping into reserves and cutting some programs and staff for the next school year. But Superintendent Mary Parker, like her other counterparts throughout Illinois, fears the future may be worse.

"I see it's going to be detrimental in the effect it has on students," she said. "Students are going to be the ones who bear the brunt of it."

The state already is behind in payments to District 703 by $212,802 for the current school year, though the district has built up enough reserves over the last decade - $1 million - to cover that deficit.

Next year, however, Parker calls it a conservative estimate to predict a $450,000 funding loss from government sources. The district already has planned cuts to match that amount.

"We will not have art," Parker said. "Art will be cut completely."

Some staff members, too, will be cut. The district plans to let go five nontenured staff members and two noncertified staff members next school year.

Those individuals already have been notified of the layoffs, which will be officially considered for approval by the District 703 School Board on March 15.

Administrators in the district also have taken a pay freeze for the next school year to help cut losses.

"We thought we needed to step up and lead by example," Parker said.

Parker is encouraging people to contact state lawmakers in support of House Bill 4711, which generally would exempt school districts from following mandates that are imposed without an appropriation to fund the expenses related to the requirements.

Without that type of legislation or an unexpected increase in funding, Parker said the district could use its entire amount of reserves relatively quickly.

"Since I've been here, we've never had to go into deficit spending," Parker said. "That would eat up our reserves pretty fast."

PEORIA -- State Rep. Jehan Gordan joined with the Citizens Utility Board and AARP on Monday to urge Ameren Corp. customers to take action against a proposed $130 million rate hike by the company.

Gordon, AARP volunteer Mary Patton and CUB spokesman Jim Chilsen announced the "Roll Back the Rate Hike" campaign at the Friendship House in Peoria, a campaign to propel Ameren customers into voicing their opinions over the rate hike, which comes after the company more than doubled its profits last year.

In June 2009, Ameren filed a proposed rate increase of $226 million to be used to improve infrastructure required to deliver electricity and natural gas to customers. Since then, the company has reduced the proposed hike to $130 million, which would mean a roughly $50 to $70 increase a year on customer's bills who are serviced by AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP. The increase would take effect in May.

The proposal will come before the Illinois Commerce Commission in late April. In February, an ICC judge recommended the company get no more than a $56 million rate hike, while the CUB and the Attorney General's office say customers deserve a $6 million rate cut.

Chilsen said the rate hike is unwarranted, since the company received a $162 million rate hike for the same delivery infrastructure improvements in 2008.

PEORIA -- With an economy struggling to rebound, U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock said Monday he is supporting policies that promote growth, including research and development tax credits.

"As I travel around the 20 counties I represent, whether I'm in Peoria or down in Beardstown or one of the small communities in between, the economic issues are really what are on the hearts and minds of people," said Schock, R-Peoria. "When I talk to small business owners and entrepreneurs and ask what it will take to help them out, many of them want certainty."

Last year, Schock noted six of every 10 jobs were created by small business owners. "It's the small business owner that ultimately will lead us to recovery."

About 200 business leaders and owners, laborers and labor leaders, elected officials and candidates for office in Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties attended the 24th annual Heart of Illinois Legislative Reception at the Hotel Pere Marquette. Hosted by the area chambers of commerce, the event that included light appetizers is designed to help bridge the communication gap between local business leaders and state officials.

State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, said Wednesday's budget address is weighing heavily on the minds of elected officials and those in government-funded agencies.

"People are wondering if the state budget is as bad as the indications are and I said 'yes.' This is going to be the ugliest year we've ever had in terms of the state budget. The pain is going to be severe. There's just no way of sugarcoating this thing," Koehler said.

The state is facing a $13 billion to $14 billion deficit. Gov. Pat Quinn will outline the state budget Wednesday, detailing estimated revenues for the upcoming year and how he plans to deal with the major problems facing the state.

"If we don't raise revenues in addition to making cuts, we're not going to see our way out of this," Koehler said. "We're seeing our way on the upside of the recession now. What lags behind that is jobs . . . what lags behind that is revenues to public sector units . . . we're still a year away in terms of replenishing what we lost in terms of all levels of government."

Federally, Schock reiterated the need for a highway reauthorization bill, estimated at $450 billion. "It will put people to work, give some stability to construction and help every congressional district in our country."

The topic at last year's reception was the need for a state capital bill, which ultimately was approved after 10 years without one. This year, Dan Silverthorn, executive director of the West Central Illinois Labor Council, stressed continued funding for the capital bill, which in turn creates jobs.

"I truly believe in economic development. That's the only thing that creates the jobs that are needed for the people I represent. This is critical to us," Silverthorn said.

East Peoria Administrator Tom Brimberry said he attended the event without an agenda or pressing issue. "We're expecting a stable, no-growth revenue budget," Brimberry said.

Other elected officials present Monday were: state Sens. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, and Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, and state Reps. David Leitch, R-Peoria, Jehan Gordon, D-Peoria, Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, and Keith Sommer, R-Morton.

Also on Monday, the Peoria County Republican Central Committee hosted several hundred people at its annual Lincoln Day dinner at the Pere Marquette. Schock was the keynote speaker for that event, which also featured several GOP statewide office contenders including Bill Brady for governor, Jason Plummer for lieutenant governor and Rutherford for treasurer.

PEORIA -- Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady made an impromptu appearance Monday night at the Lincoln Day Dinner at the Hotel Pere Marquette.

After addressing a partisan crowd of about 340 that gathered in the ballroom, the state senator from Bloomington adjourned to a nearby meeting room for a news conference where something was different about the appearance of Brady's introducer.

"That's not news, c'mon," clean-shaven Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said after the seventh of Brady's eight scheduled campaign stops Monday.

Ardis, who began growing a beard a couple of months ago, elected to cut it off Monday.

"It feels good," Ardis said with a smile. "Other than having to shave again."

Brady survived a close electoral shave in the Republican primary Feb. 2. He officially was declared the winner Friday by the Illinois State Board of Elections, beating state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale by just 193 votes.

"We're so pleased you could fit us in," Brady told the Lincoln Day Dinner audience, where he was joined on the podium by his wife, Nancy, and Republican lieutenant governor nominee Jason Plummer of Edwardsville.

"Because of many of you in here, I won by a whopping 193 votes," Brady said.

Brady and his traveling party originally were scheduled to appear Monday at the Byerly Aviation terminal, but decided the Peoria County Republican event would serve their purpose better.

"It is incumbent upon us to make this state a better place, and I believe the November election of 2010 is our opportunity," said Brady, whose Democratic opponent is Gov. Pat Quinn, a Chicagoan.

"But it's not going to be easy," Brady continued. "A lot of pundits don't believe Republicans can win statewide offices in Illinois. But you and I know we can.

"Just like the states of Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey were challenged, Illinois can rise above it. We can reach out to independents and Democrats, through the Republican Party, and build the strongest groundswell of support with principles, values and economic development."

Brady made similar claims at the news conference before lightening up for a moment.

"Our statewide ticket is not only broad-based in terms of geography, but also in terms of ancestry and background, unlike the Democrats' ticket," Brady said.

"I am a little bit envious of my lieutenant governor," Brady went on. "Today, he's the only one on the ticket that doesn't have competition."

The punch line was directed at Scott Lee Cohen, the Chicago pawnbroker who withdrew from the lieutenant governor race five days after winning the Democratic nomination.

SPRINGFIELD -- More information about Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal is coming soon.

The Democratic governor's staff is expected to provide details on the plan Tuesday night in advance of Quinn's official budget speech Wednesday.

The administration has already talked about some of the spending cuts and borrowing that Quinn believes will be needed to balance the budget. But it hasn't been so open about the tax increase that Quinn wants.

Last year, Quinn proposed raising the basic tax level by 50 percent. That failed in the Legislature and lawmakers show little interest in discussing the idea again during an election year.

But the state's budget deficit continues to climb. Experts predict it will top $13 billion in the coming fiscal year.

PEORIA -- State Rep. Jehan Gordon joined with the Citizens Utility Board and AARP Monday to urge Ameren Illinois Utilities customers to take action to try to stop a proposed $130 million rate hike by the company.

Gordon, D-Peoria, AARP volunteer Mary Patton and CUB spokesman Jim Chilsen announced the "Roll Back the Rate Hike" campaign at Friendship House. The campaign aims to propel Ameren customers into voicing their opinions over the rate hike, which comes after Ameren Corp. more than doubled its profits last year. It includes a CUB-sponsored Web site, www.stopameren.com.

In June, Ameren filed a proposed rate increase of $226 million to be used to improve infrastructure required to deliver electricity and natural gas to customers. Since then, the company has reduced the proposed hike to $130 million, which would mean a roughly $50 to $70 increase a year on customers' bills, Chilsen said. The increase would take effect in May.

The proposal will come before the Illinois Commerce Commission in late April. In February, an ICC judge recommended the company get no more than a $56 million rate hike, while CUB and the Attorney General's office say customers deserve a $6 million rate cut.

Chilsen said the rate hike is unwarranted, because the company received a $162 million rate hike for the same delivery infrastructure improvements in 2008, an increase CUB still is appealing.

Ameren Illinois spokesman Leigh Morris said the increase is necessary to maintain and improve current electric and natural gas delivery systems. The $56 million increase recommended by an ICC judge is "far below the amount necessary" for the task.

Morris said Ameren Illinois reduced its request from $226 million to $130 million through "aggressive steps," including freezing management salaries and cutting the company's budget by about $55 million. Still, the company is "optimistic" it will receive the rate hike it needs, he said.

"Costs continue to go up," Morris said. "We're not exempt from the same lines of economics."

Gordon said the timing of the rate hike makes it a "crushing blow," because the 92nd District is hovering at about an 11 percent unemployment rate.

"Nobody is doubling profits these days," she said. "Ask yourself . . . is this fair?"

But Ameren Corp. doubled its profits, not Ameren Illinois, which Morris said isn't a fair comparison.

"Each company (within Ameren Corp.) has to stand alone," he said.

Morris also said the company showed customers how their bills would be affected by the original increase of $226 million on their August 2009 bills.

Customers saw their Ameren bills dropped last summer because of falling energy prices. The company delivers commodities to customers without any markup on energy prices, but does charge delivery costs.

Ameren customers' bills are about two-thirds energy costs and about one-third delivery costs.

Ameren Illinois Utilities, consisting of AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP, serves about 1.2 million electric and 840,000 natural gas customers in most of southern and central Illinois.

DELAVAN -- Like other school districts across the state, Delavan District 703 finds itself taking unprecedented measures to combat budget shortfalls.

In the near term, that means dipping into reserves and cutting some programs and staff for the next school year. But Superintendent Mary Parker, like her other counterparts throughout Illinois, fears the future may be worse.

"I see it's going to be detrimental in the effect it has on students," she said. "Students are going to be the ones who bear the brunt of it."

The state already is behind in payments to District 703 by $212,802 for the current school year, though the district has built up enough reserves over the last decade - $1 million - to cover that deficit.

Next year, however, Parker calls it a conservative estimate to predict a $450,000 funding loss from government sources. The district already has planned cuts to match that amount.

"We will not have art," Parker said. "Art will be cut completely."

Some staff members, too, will be cut. The district plans to let go five nontenured staff members and two noncertified staff members next school year.

Those individuals already have been notified of the layoffs, which will be officially considered for approval by the District 703 School Board on March 15.

Administrators in the district also have taken a pay freeze for the next school year to help cut losses.

"We thought we needed to step up and lead by example," Parker said.

Parker is encouraging people to contact state lawmakers in support of House Bill 4711, which generally would exempt school districts from following mandates that are imposed without an appropriation to fund the expenses related to the requirements.

Without that type of legislation or an unexpected increase in funding, Parker said the district could use its entire amount of reserves relatively quickly.

"Since I've been here, we've never had to go into deficit spending," Parker said. "That would eat up our reserves pretty fast."

STERLING - Local schools may benefit if Illinois is selected from among 16 finalists to receive $500 million in federal education money intended to improve failing schools, teacher evaluations and student assessments.

The money would be awarded as part of Race to the Top, a U.S. Department of Education initiative to provide $4.35 billion to improve learning skills for public school students and prepare them for the workplace.

Other state finalists include Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. States will find out in April whether they will receive money. Forty states and the District of Columbia applied.

"These states are an example for the country of what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a news release last week.

Locally, Sterling schools could receive valuable funding from the grant, to be used toward helping improve students' math, social and emotional skills.

"It will help us with our Response to Intervention initiatives, at this time, an unfunded mandate," Sterling Superintendent Tad Everett said. "We were one of the schools that signed the memorandum of understanding for Race to the Top."

Of Illinois' 870 school districts, 359 applied to receive funding, including Sterling, Dixon, Amboy, Morrison, West Carroll and Riverdale Elementary School in Rock Falls. School districts can opt out if they feel they cannot abide by the strings attached to the money.

Rock Falls High School Superintendent Jane Eichman said her district did not sign the memorandum. When it was presented to the district, she said, there was a "sense of vagueness of requirements involved."

She said the district is waiting to see what would be awarded to local schools if Illinois is selected among finalists.

"No matter how much funding the state of Illinois might receive, 50 percent would go to Chicago schools, in Cook County," Eichman said. "That cuts it down to half. We have heard perhaps a large portion would go to the 5 percent of lowest-functioning schools in the state."

The attendance rate at Rock Falls High School for 2009 is 92 percent, with a dropout rate of 1.2 percent. Eichman said the district continues to focus on those areas. The high school has a graduation rate of 91 percent, well above the state average of 78 percent.

There is a right way to foster opportunity and advancement in Illinois' public schools.

And then, there is the state Legislature's way.

The right way would be to determine which improvements in curriculum, buildings, policies and procedures are beneficial. When laws are passed to mandate improvements, the money to implement those changes also would be provided to each school district.

But the Legislature's way is pass the laws mandating changes without providing any money to pay for them.

That's wrong - even more so in an economic and governmental recession.

A bill introduced in the Legislature, to make some state mandates no longer mandatory, would be welcomed with open arms in hundreds of school districts across the state.

House Bill 4711 would allow local school boards to modify or discontinue a state mandate that the state has not paid for. It would let local school officials choose which programs are most essential to their particular districts, and which can be dropped during this statewide financial crisis.

The bill is co-sponsored by state Rep. Jerry Mitchell, R-Sterling, who has long been a foe of unfunded mandates foisted on school districts by lawmakers.

Not all unfunded mandates can be waived, which is a good thing. Among items exempted from House Bill 4711 are special education, transportation, lunch programs, driver education, regulations required by the health/life safety code, curriculums associated with the Illinois Learning Standards and State Assessments, teacher certification requirements, programs impacted by federal funding, laws related to teacher tenure or evaluation, dismissal or reduction in force of the teaching staff, bilingual education, and any item that is contained in a locally bargained contract.

After all that, is it possible there still are mandates left that school officials could choose to eliminate?

Yes. And that illustrates the significance of the unfunded mandate problem through the sheer volume of responsibilities placed on school districts.

There are only two ways to get rid of unfunded mandates. One is to fund them, and the state clearly does not have the money for that. The other is to eliminate them as a mandates.

The vast majority of mandates not exempted by the bill are well-intended and purposeful, just not high priorities for districts struggling to keep their doors open and teachers paid. Lower emission standards for school buses, for example, is a worthy goal, but now is not the time to force an added expense on any school district.

That's why House Bill 4711 is important. It gives school officials a break to help them ride out the crisis. They don't get to ignore mandates, because they would have to publicly vote on suspending any state mandate and keep a list of those they choose to set aside for lack of funding.

But clearly, the bill would be a good start toward providing relief for overburdened school districts.

Lawmakers should use their influence to request, encourage, persuade, cajole or harangue all they want. But they should not require, unless they are willing to put their money where their mandate is.

Embrace this philosophy, and all of a sudden, the Legislature's way and the right way become one and the same.

CAHOKIA -- Bill Brady, the Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate, took a victory lap around the state on Monday, thanking voters for the nomination and saying he would focus on job creation.

Brady appeared before a small crowd of supporters at the Downtown St. Louis Airport, in Cahokia. It was one of eight airplane stops across the state that began and ended in Bloomington, Brady's hometown.

Brady, 48, a state senator, was quick to cast himself as an outsider and said he would end "Chicago machine government."

"The insider games and closed-door deals are going to end when I'm governor," Brady said. "My administration will provide a clean break from the policies and the politics of the Blagojevich-Quinn administrations that have led to debt, deficit and disgrace."

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was thrown out of office a year ago and awaits trial on federal charges of influence peddling; his lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, succeeded him and won the Democratic Party nomination on Feb. 2.

Brady won the GOP nomination in a razor-thin finish.

He gave a nod Monday to recent Republican statewide victories in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey and suggested Illinois might be next.

Brady also said he would lift the state's freeze on executions and would refrain from cutting funding to help ensure fair trials.

While on the topic of law and order, Brady criticized Quinn for allowing 1,700 prisoners to be freed from state prison early; some were sent back for new offenses.

"I will do everything I can to keep Illinois safe," Brady pledged.

While the average American is experiencing hard times because of what the politicians created, the politicians are living like royalty. Others, like your own Chris Britt, make fun of those who are fighting against those who caused their pain.

Mr. Britt, there is a reason for the Tea Party movement, conservative talk radio and conservative television shows. You have the right to demean them and you often do. Remember, just because they may not have a degree like you, they have the right to expect honest representation.

Many think that government has become the problem. Others think that government is the solution for everything. The two sides are at war and they are Republicans and Democrats. The politicians on both sides want only to "use" the American people to get re-elected. This is not serving the people; it's disgusting and it results in turmoil.

When the politicians corrupt the ballot box, and they have, then the people have no place other than the streets to express their disgust.

Bob Ruble
Springfield

GOV. PAT QUINN is set to give his budget speech to a joint session of the General Assembly on Wednesday. If there is to be any hope of starting to extract Illinois from its financial troubles, Quinn's address needs to be focused and solution-oriented. Here are some things we hope for on Wednesday:

An actual speech. He should ignore those who object to President Barack Obama's use of TelePrompTers and plug one in. It was amateur hour when Quinn delivered his state-of-the-state speech, a stream-of-consciousness stemwinder based off of notes jotted down on a yellow legal pad. Everyone knows Quinn fancies himself a man of the people. But he's also chief executive of the fifth-largest state in the union. He has a responsibility to present a coherent set of well-thought out, specific ideas.

Full payment of $4.2 billion in pension obligations for fiscal year 2011. The state again borrowed money to make its pension payment last year. Now it owes the principal and more interest. If the state is ever going to stop sinking into fiscal quicksand, such shortcuts have to stop. Quinn should reject any suggestions from legislative leaders that the payment be skipped again.

Don't recycle last year's tax increase plan. It's time to try something new. Quinn's plan to raise taxes last year fell flat with lawmakers. It didn't raise enough revenue, and it didn't do anything to solve many of the state's festering problems, mainly education funding. Comptroller Dan Hynes proposed a truly progressive income tax during the Democratic primary that would require a constitutional amendment. Quinn should steal that idea, use it as a starting point and demand that legislators put it on the ballot for voters to consider next year. The governor is fond of saying that "taxes should be based on the ability to pay. It's a principle as old as the Bible." It also goes along with his philosophy of allowing voters to decide things themselves at the ballot box. This amendment fits him like an old shoe.

Throw the Republicans a bone. The minority party is guilty of being demagogic on the issue of tax increases. Telling voters that the budget can be balanced without more revenue is a huge whopper. Quinn might be able to help himself among Republicans who are in touch with financial reality by embracing some of their good ideas. One of them was to create a commission of business leaders to study the budget and come up with money-saving ideas. Quinn created the commission but then never appointed anyone. He should do so immediately.

Don't do this: As with most state budgets, some details already have leaked out. Quinn is proposing that proceeds that local governments share with the state from the state income tax be slashed. That's an idea pushed by Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady. It's a very bad one. It doesn't solve the problem -- it merely shifts the pain.

Today, 10 percent of state income tax revenue goes to municipalities. Quinn's budget would cut it to 7 percent. Cities already are in pain from their own lack of revenue. A 30 percent reduction in state income tax revenue would blow a nearly $3 million hole in Springfield's budget, meaning a lot more layoffs, including police and firefighters.

Copyright 2010 The State Journal-Register. Some rights reserved

More information about Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal is coming soon.

The Democratic governor's staff is expected to provide details on the plan Tuesday night in advance of Quinn's official budget speech Wednesday.

The administration has already talked about some of the spending cuts and borrowing that Quinn believes will be needed to balance the budget. But it hasn't been so open about the tax increase that Quinn wants.

Last year, Quinn proposed raising the basic tax level by 50 percent. That failed in the Legislature and lawmakers show little interest in discussing the idea again during an election year.

But the state's budget deficit continues to climb. Experts predict it will top $13 billion in the coming fiscal year.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

CHICAGO -- Republican Bill Brady insisted Monday that focusing his campaign for governor on cutting taxes and spending will allow him to connect with voters who otherwise disagree with many of his conservative views.

As he began a statewide tour to celebrate his party's nomination, Brady said he can find common ground with swing voters despite his firm opposition to abortion and his support for reducing anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians.

"You'd be surprised (by) the number of people who come up to me and say 'Hey listen, you're pro-life, I'm pro-choice, but I'm going to support you because A) you don't scare me and B) I know we need someone who can take a business approach to rebuilding Illinois,'" Brady said in a telephone interview before an eight-city flyaround.

Brady's trip celebrates his finally being declared the GOP nominee by the State Board of Elections last week, more than a month after the Feb. 2 primary. The Republican ticket had been in limbo because of a close race between Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, and state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale. Brady won the race by 193 votes out of more than 767,000 cast. He'll face Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in November.

A central theme of Brady's campaign is his insistence that Illinois can fix its overwhelming budget problems without an income tax increase. Quinn has sought a tax increase; he'll lay out his budget proposal for lawmakers Wednesday in Springfield.

Activists say Brady is deluding himself if he thinks voters who disagree with him on social issues will support him because of his economic plans.

"He is so far to the right on issues of reproductive choice that I do not believe that there is any way that he will gain the support of pro-choice women," said Beth Kanter, senior vice president of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

Brady opposes abortion even in cases of pregnancy stemming from rape or incest.

He also opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions for gays and lesbians, as well as laws protecting them from housing discrimination.

"He fundamentally does not believe that gay and lesbian Illinoisans should be treated fairly and equitably under the law, and I don't see how almost anybody can put that aside no matter what his policies are in other areas," said Rick Garcia, political director for Equality Illinois.

Quinn is a liberal on social issues and supports abortion rights and same-sex civil unions. He already has sought to portray Brady as out of step with Illinois voters and highlighted the "Grand Canyon" of differences between him and his opponent.

"Senator Brady would rather spend time pushing his moral agenda instead of promoting economic activity and creating new jobs," Quinn spokeswoman Mica Matsoff said in a statement.

Brady embraces his conservative label -- "I am what I am," he says -- and contends what will matter most to voters is that he is a fiscal conservative opposed to raising the income tax.

"Let's find common ground, let's listen and learn from each other and make this state a better place," Brady said.

Brady said he would follow his beliefs when deciding whether to sign or veto bills sent to him by the legislature. But the state's economic problems mean he won't have the "luxury" of concentrating on his conservative social views if he becomes governor, he said.

Former Republican Gov. Jim Thompson said Brady shouldn't retreat from his personal beliefs on social issues -- doing so, he said, would open up Brady to accusations of flip-flopping -- but advised him to focus on other things.

"You can only talk about so many things in the campaign," Thompson said, "and if I were him I would talk about economic issues."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

PEORIA -- State Rep. Jehan Gordon joined with the Citizens Utility Board and AARP Monday to urge Ameren Illinois Utilities customers to try to stop a proposed $130 million rate hike by the company.

Gordon, D-Peoria, AARP volunteer Mary Patton and CUB spokesman Jim Chilsen announced the "Roll Back the Rate Hike" campaign in Peoria. The campaign aims to propel Ameren customers into voicing their objections to the rate hike, which comes after Ameren Corp. more than doubled its profits last year. It includes a CUB-sponsored Web site, www.stopameren.com.

In June, Ameren filed a proposed rate increase of $226 million to be used to improve infrastructure required to deliver electricity and natural gas to customers. Since then, the company has reduced the proposed hike to $130 million.

For people who use Ameren for both electricity and gas, the proposal would mean roughly a $50 to $70 annual increase a year in customers' bills, Chilsen said. The increase would take effect in May.

Ameren provides both electricity and gas to much of central Illinois, although most residents of the city of Springfield are gas customers only. Springfield's City Water, Light and Power provides electricity in Springfield.

The Ameren proposal will come before the Illinois Commerce Commission in late April. In February, an ICC judge recommended the company get no more than a $56 million rate hike. CUB and the Illinois Attorney General's office say customers deserve a $6 million rate cut.

Chilsen said the company received a $162 million rate hike for the same delivery infrastructure improvements in 2008, an increase CUB still is appealing.

Ameren Illinois spokesman Leigh Morris said the increase is necessary to maintain and improve electric and natural gas delivery systems.

The $56 million ICC judge's recommendation is "far below the amount necessary" for the task, Morris said.

Morris said Ameren Illinois reduced its request from $226 million to $130 million through steps that included freezing management salaries and cutting the company's budget by about $55 million. Still, the company is optimistic it will receive the rate hike it needs, he said.

"Costs continue to go up," Morris said. "We're not exempt from the same lines of economics."

While Ameren Corp. doubled its profits last year, that isn't true of Ameren Illinois, Morris said.

"Each company (within Ameren Corp.) has to stand alone," he said.

Ameren Illinois Utilities, consisting of AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP, serves about 1.2 million electric and 840,000 natural gas customers in most of southern and central Illinois.

Lauren Rees can be reached at (309) 686-3251 or lrees@pjstar.com.

The Illinois Department on Aging plans to move from two state-owned locations in Springfield where it pays no rent into a private office building where it will lease space for more than $530,000 a year.

The department said the move was in the works before the state's most recent financial problems hit, and that it will enable all of the agency's employees to be in one location.

However, Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, chairman of the House Government Administration Committee, called the move "absolutely ridiculous."

"At a time we have a $15 billion deficit, this makes no economic sense," Franks said. "I can't even begin to express my displeasure enough to stop this bone-headed move. The timing is bad. Even if a move was really necessary right now, I'd still hold off."

Beginning July 1, Aging will lease space in the Jefferson Terrace office building in the 300 block of West Jefferson Street. Information posted on the state's procurement Web site says the state will lease 49,214 square feet of space for five years at a total cost of $3.3 million. That comes to about $662,000 a year, or $13.45 a square foot.

But the Department of Central Management Services, which is in charge of state government leasing, said the state will not be paying that much for the space. CMS spokeswoman Alka Nayyar said the state will be getting a break on that listed price and will pay $10.81 a square foot the first year. That comes to just over $532,000.

Robbins owns new site

A copy of the lease has not yet been filed with the comptroller's office, and CMS was unable to provide a copy immediately.

The Jefferson Terrace building is owned by Springfield developer Charles Robbins.

"CMS obtained a competitive gross rent rate at the building known as Jefferson Terrace," Nayyar said in an e-mailed response to questions. "The building is in the Capitol Complex area and provides close proximity to downtown, with ample parking at no additional cost to the state for public and employee use."

CMS looked for state-owned space that could be used by Aging, but couldn't find any that met the agency's needs, Nayyar said.

Employees moving to the Jefferson Terrace building are now in two locations: the Department of Revenue building across the street from Jefferson Terrace and the Herndon Building at 421 E. Capitol Ave. The state bought the Herndon building in the 1980s.

About 140 employees in total are moving to Jefferson Terrace, according to Department on Aging spokeswoman Kimberly Parker. That includes 38 permanent full-time equivalents who work in the Revenue building answering public questions about the state's circuit breaker benefit. Revenue spokeswoman Sue Hofer described it as kiosk in Revenue's lobby that is manned by three to five people at a time.

Efficiency, safety cited

"The agency's programs have grown, so the goal is to consolidate (Aging) operations and program staff into a more appropriate office facility," Parker said in an e-mail. "This move has been in the making for years, for the director feels having Springfield staff under one roof is vital to running an efficient operation; but more importantly, there were safety concerns with the current space so a move was necessary."

Parker said the Herndon Building's basement flooded in May 2006, raising concerns about the building's safety. Nayyar also noted that there were "questions about air quality and the potential presence of mold, as well citations by the Department of Labor on these health-related issues."

But Secretary of State Jesse White's office, which is responsible for maintaining the Herndon Building, disputes some of those assertions. White spokesman Henry Haupt said the 2006 flood resulted when a nearby city public works project punctured a water line, causing water to cascade into the basement. It is not an ongoing problem

After that incident, air quality in the building was monitored on several occasions to ensure there was no mold or other contamination. No violations of air-quality standards were ever uncovered, Haupt said.

He said there were three citations issued by the Department of Labor regarding the Herndon building, and all involved record-keeping issues, such as failing to properly post inspection reports.

Jefferson Terrace has had other state tenants.

Currently, 28 employees of White's Department of Securities are housed there. About 85 employees of Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias were in the building until last summer, when the treasurer's office lease expired. Giannoulias moved them to space in the 400 block of West Monroe Street to save about $165,000 a year. The treasurer's office was paying $16.64 a square foot at the Jefferson Terrace building.

Doug Finke can be reached at 788-1527.

Buildings at a glance

*Jefferson Terrace, 300 block of West Jefferson Street

Owner: Charles Robbins

Rent cost: $532,000 annually (first year) beginning July 1

*Department of Revenue Building, 100 to 300 blocks of West Jefferson Street

Owner: State of Illinois

Rent cost: Free.

*Herndon Building, 421 E. Capitol Ave.

Owner: State of Illinois

Rent cost: Free

Why I Changed My Mind About School Reform
Federal testing has narrowed education and charter schools have failed to live up to their promise

By DIANE RAVITCH

I have been a historian of American education since 1975, when I received my doctorate from Columbia. I have written histories, and I've also written extensively about the need to improve students' knowledge of history, literature, geography, science, civics and foreign languages. So in 1991, when Lamar Alexander and David Kearns invited me to become assistant secretary of education in the administration of George H.W. Bush, I jumped at the chance with the hope that I might promote voluntary state and national standards in these subjects.

By the time I left government service in January 1993, I was an advocate not only for standards but for school choice. I had come to believe that standards and choice could co-exist as they do in the private sector. With my friends Chester Finn Jr. and Joseph Viteritti, I wrote and edited books and articles making the case for charter schools and accountability.

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I became a founding board member of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and a founding member of the Koret Task Force at the Hoover Institution, both of which are fervent proponents of choice and accountability. The Koret group includes some of the nation's best-known conservative scholars of choice, including John Chubb, Terry Moe, Caroline Hoxby and Paul Peterson.

As No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) accountability regime took over the nation's schools under President George W. Bush and more and more charter schools were launched, I supported these initiatives. But over time, I became disillusioned with the strategies that once seemed so promising. I no longer believe that either approach will produce the quantum improvement in American education that we all hope for.

NCLB received overwhelming bipartisan support when it was signed into law by President Bush in 2002. The law requires that schools test all students every year in grades three through eight, and report their scores separately by race, ethnicity, low-income status, disability status and limited-English proficiency. NCLB mandated that 100% of students would reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014, as measured by tests given in each state.

Although this target was generally recognized as utopian, schools faced draconian penalties--eventually including closure or privatization--if every group in the school did not make adequate yearly progress. By 2008, 35% of the nation's public schools were labeled "failing schools," and that number seems sure to grow each year as the deadline nears.

Since the law permitted every state to define "proficiency" as it chose, many states announced impressive gains. But the states' claims of startling improvement were contradicted by the federally sponsored National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Eighth grade students improved not at all on the federal test of reading even though they had been tested annually by their states in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile the states responded to NCLB by dumbing down their standards so that they could claim to be making progress. Some states declared that between 80%-90% of their students were proficient, but on the federal test only a third or less were. Because the law demanded progress only in reading and math, schools were incentivized to show gains only on those subjects. Hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in test-preparation materials. Meanwhile, there was no incentive to teach the arts, science, history, literature, geography, civics, foreign languages or physical education.

In short, accountability turned into a nightmare for American schools, producing graduates who were drilled regularly on the basic skills but were often ignorant about almost everything else. Colleges continued to complain about the poor preparation of entering students, who not only had meager knowledge of the world but still required remediation in basic skills. This was not my vision of good education.

When charter schools started in the early 1990s, their supporters promised that they would unleash a new era of innovation and effectiveness. Now there are some 5,000 charter schools, which serve about 3% of the nation's students, and the Obama administration is pushing for many more.

But the promise has not been fulfilled. Most studies of charter schools acknowledge that they vary widely in quality. The only major national evaluation of charter schools was carried out by Stanford economist Margaret Raymond and funded by pro-charter foundations. Her group found that compared to regular public schools, 17% of charters got higher test scores, 46% had gains that were no different than their public counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse.

Charter evaluations frequently note that as compared to neighboring public schools, charters enroll smaller proportions of students whose English is limited and students with disabilities. The students who are hardest to educate are left to regular public schools, which makes comparisons between the two sectors unfair. The higher graduation rate posted by charters often reflects the fact that they are able to "counsel out" the lowest performing students; many charters have very high attrition rates (in some, 50%-60% of those who start fall away). Those who survive do well, but this is not a model for public education, which must educate all children.

NAEP compared charter schools and regular public schools in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. Sometimes one sector or the other had a small advantage. But on the whole, there is very little performance difference between them.

Given the weight of studies, evaluations and federal test data, I concluded that deregulation and privately managed charter schools were not the answer to the deep-seated problems of American education. If anything, they represent tinkering around the edges of the system. They affect the lives of tiny numbers of students but do nothing to improve the system that enrolls the other 97%.

The current emphasis on accountability has created a punitive atmosphere in the schools. The Obama administration seems to think that schools will improve if we fire teachers and close schools. They do not recognize that schools are often the anchor of their communities, representing values, traditions and ideals that have persevered across decades. They also fail to recognize that the best predictor of low academic performance is poverty--not bad teachers.

What we need is not a marketplace, but a coherent curriculum that prepares all students. And our government should commit to providing a good school in every neighborhood in the nation, just as we strive to provide a good fire company in every community.

On our present course, we are disrupting communities, dumbing down our schools, giving students false reports of their progress, and creating a private sector that will undermine public education without improving it. Most significantly, we are not producing a generation of students who are more knowledgable, and better prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship. That is why I changed my mind about the current direction of school reform.

Ms. Ravitch is author of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education," published last week by Basic Books.

School Board looks at $4 million in cuts Reduced state funding anticipated

March 9, 2010

By JUDY MASTERSON jmasterson@stmedianetwork.com
ROUND LAKE -- The Round Lake Community School Board is expected to vote next week on a proposed $4 million in budget cuts for next school year.

The cuts are a hedge against two likelihoods: that the state will fall short of its funding commitments and, in an unprecedented move, that it will reduce the amount of general aid by at least $600 per-student.

"Of four quarterly payments the district gets for things like transportation, special and bilingual education, at least two of them will be delayed and one will just never come," predicted district CEO Ben Martindale.

If adopted by the board on March 18, the proposal will jettison about 30 jobs. Layoffs will include 18 non-certified staff -- teacher aides, clerks, secretaries -- 10 certified staff, including music teachers and librarians, and at least two administrators.

A yearlong salary freeze for administrators is also being proposed as is $1 million less for supplies and materials and $200,000 less for new textbooks. Other cost-cutting measures include "bringing kids back from SEDOL and private placements," a clamp-down on outside attorney fees and transferring lawn maintenance to in-house.

"We're not doing anything other districts aren't doing," Martindale said. "If you don't go into next year anticipating a shortfall of revenue from the state, you're not doing due diligence. We just can't afford not to make reductions now."

If, by some miracle, the state comes up with the money, Martindale said the district can "add things back."

"But you can't reduce positions over the summer or in the fall," he said. "By statute, you have to do it now."

The current average class size of 29 won't increase under the proposal. Retiring teachers will be replaced by new teachers who earn much less. Martindale said the district worked with the teacher's union in crafting the cuts.

"They've been very, very supportive and collaborative with this effort," Martindale said.

Kim Kearby, president of the Education Association of Round Lake, did not return calls seeking comment.

The district is already operating on less. It enacted $1.4 million in cuts that went into effect last fall. That round of belt-tightening included snips to administration, operations and maintenance and teacher and support positions.

Low-income districts like Round Lake, which receives 50 percent of its revenue from general state aid or entitlement grant reimbursement, are being hit hard by the state's economic woes. Martindale notes with some irony that Illinois is now in a similar predicament -- borrowing itself into a hole in an attempt to cover for lost revenue -- that landed Round Lake schools under state financial oversight in 2002.

"The (Illinois) Constitution specifies that the state will provide support to education," Martindale said. "When the state doesn't have the resources, it's kind of scary." Round Lake Area