Capital Facts

AFL-CIO has much to boast about during Carrigan’s exit

Published by admin on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 8:04am

The Illinois AFL-CIO hosted its annual State Fair reception last week. The highlight was probably a speech by Gov. JB Pritzker, who thanked his audience of union leaders for their support in the 2018 campaign and for their help passing an enormous amount of legislation during his first session of the General Assembly.
But there was also some real news. The event was the last time Michael Carrigan attended as the organization's president.

Here’s what happens when you’re disloyal to Mike Madigan

Published by admin on Fri, 08/02/2019 - 4:36pm

When House Speaker Michael Madigan announced in February of 2018 that he'd fired Kevin Quinn, the brother of Madigan's alderman and political general, he said he made the decision because of Quinn's "inappropriate conduct" with Alaina Hampton, whom he called a "courageous woman." Hampton had come forward with allegations of sexual harassment by Quinn and retaliation by Madigan's organization.
But Madigan also said at the time that Quinn had failed to "exercise the political judgment I expect of those affiliated with my political organizations and the Office of the Speaker."

Illinois lawmakers worry more about surviving the primaries

Published by admin on Mon, 07/29/2019 - 3:39pm

Most state legislators don't have to worry about next year's general election. The combination of gerrymandering and the simple fact that many of the state's regions are dominated by one party or the other pretty much guarantees that all but a handful of incumbents will sail through on the November ballot.
But first they have to survive the primary season. A Chicago Democrat has to worry about March 17, 2020 infinitely more than November 3rd. The same goes for most Downstate Republicans.

Will there be a special session for Sterigenics?

Published by admin on Mon, 07/22/2019 - 12:46pm

“Sterigenics should be completely shut down until we determine it can operate safely,” gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker tweeted last October.

Illinois lawmaker going after fellow Republicans

Published by admin on Mon, 07/15/2019 - 1:21pm

For the second time this year, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin has stripped one of his member's access to a House communications staffer.
Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) is the most recent to lose his state-funded communications staff member. Earlier this year, Rep. Dave McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) lost his comms staffer for criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Steve Reick for allegedly making "racist" comments and calling on House GOP Leader Jim Durkin to resign for being a "fake Republican" and "corrupt insider."

Pension squeeze is real for all Illinois towns

Published by admin on Wed, 07/10/2019 - 8:00am

One of the points that Gov. JB Pritzker has made since Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot began using the news media to ask for a multi-billion dollar state pension bailout is that other parts of Illinois are having the same problems as our largest city.
Rockford is one of them, as the governor noted last week. Its first responder pension funds are in horrible shape for pretty much the same reason as so many others are: The state didn't require local governments to fully fund those particular pension funds, so a large number of locals just didn't do it.

J.B.’s private money for a private plane, so what

Published by admin on Mon, 07/01/2019 - 6:29pm

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the $45 billion infrastructure bill into law last week during a three-day fly-around to several Illinois cities.
It's a good bet that the billionaire Pritzker paid for the plane that took him and whatever staff he brought to the various venues, since he's regularly done that since taking office in January. The state hasn't had an appropriation to pay to operate its fleet of aircraft since Gov. Bruce Rauner halted their use during a long period of political gridlock.

Lt. Gov Stratton’s absence noted in Springfield

Published by admin on Mon, 06/24/2019 - 11:37am

"We are so proud of what we've been able to accomplish this first legislative session of ours," Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton told a TV interviewer earlier this month. "We said that we wanted to think big for the people of Illinois, we said that we wanted to get Springfield back on the track of working families and that's what we did."

More funding for colleges a step in right direction

Published by admin on Wed, 06/19/2019 - 8:00am

Back when this state was fairly well-run - meaning, before Illinois voters elected three anti-Springfield "populist" governors in a row - the general rule of thumb was that for every two dollars appropriated to K-12 education, higher education received one dollar.
The split wasn't based on any sort of scientific study, as far as I know. It was just the tradition, but the tradition seemed to work pretty well. Even in lean years, everybody got something, and our state's higher education institutions appeared to thrive.

Rookie governor off to a record start

Published by admin on Mon, 06/10/2019 - 3:15pm

If you talk to the Statehouse old-timers, they'll tell you they haven't seen such a productive spring legislative session since Gov. Jim Thompson's days.
I think it's probably safe to say that Gov. JB Pritzker cleared even that high historical bar this year, mainly because he had friendly Democratic super-majorities in both chambers. The Republican Thompson had to deal with a Democratic-controlled legislature for almost all of his 14 years.