May 8th, 2008 12:13pm
Andrea Zimmermann
Rep. Chuck Jefferson on Wednesday pitched Rockford’s truancy plan to a panel of lawmakers, but he appeared to miss the mark when describing Rockford’s existing anti-truancy program.
Mayor Larry Morrissey’s plan would allow the city to fine the parents of children under the age of 13 — to encourage those parents, in the city’s view, to get their children in school. Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, asked Jefferson what responsibility the Rockford School District to ensure the students are in school.
“Well, I guess that’s one of the problems,” Jefferson said. “We don’t have truancy officers in place; so this is a mechanism to deal with that problem. The truancy officers are no longer available.”
In fact, the School District does have seven truancy officers who deal with elementary and middle school students, said Ed Hayden at the Rockford School District. At the end of Feb. 28, the district hired three truancy officers to work in the high school as well, he said.
Hayden said these truancy officers go by another title — home-school counselors. Until the Feb. 28 meeting, the high school did not have people who dealt solely with truancy, but the seven other workers have been in place for some time, he said.
But Hayden also said dealing with truants is “definitely a part of their job description.” In fact, he said the home-school counselors’ job descriptions recently changed from dealing with chronic truants who have 18 or more unexcused absences to handling truants who have at least four unexcused absences.
Moreover, the School District’s truancy officers have been at the heart of the community’s discussion about its rampant truancy problem in recent months. Morrissey is frustrated with what he views as a lack of information about truants flowing from the School District to his administration. The School District says it does pass the names of repeat truants to the city, but only after its truancy officers first have an opportunity to deal with these students.
Morrissey’s plan also is designed to facilitate the flow of more information from the School District to his administration.
The bill passed committee with an 8-1 vote, and is pending on the House floor. It is not clear when this bill will come up for a vote.
May 7th, 2008 10:54pm
Andrea Zimmermann
Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson on Wednesday said this year’s legislative session is likely to stretch well into the summer.
“I don’t see us getting more done in the next four weeks than we’ve done in the last five months,” Watson said during the Illinois Business Day luncheon in Springfield. “I don’t see a lot of meetings I don’t see a budget or much discussion there. It’s poison in the air, and that’s not conducive to getting things done. So I would expect to see us back here again in the summer.” (more…)
May 7th, 2008 11:58am
Aaron Chambers
What is it with some men in politics and their fixation on testes?
First it was Gov. Rod Blagojevich saying he had the “testicular virility”to fend off the influence of his father-in-law, a ward boss from Chicago’s North Side who was Blagojevich’s political mentor.
“This is the kind of thing that I think separates the men from the boys in leadership. Do you have the testicular virility to make a decision like that, knowing what’s coming your way?” Blagojevich said. “I say I do.”
This is the same man who in 2004 accused Attorney General Lisa Madigan of doing her father’s bidding when she effectively quashed his plan to mortgage Chicago’s Thompson Center for $200 million. Her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, is Blagojevich’s political nemesis.
“It’s her father. You know, I can’t fault her,” Blagojevich told reporters in Chicago. “I don’t want to get involved in a family deal here but, you know, it’s her father. I’ve got two daughters. I hope they back me on stuff that I do.”
Blagojevich got back on the side of working women in 2006, when he dismissed a reporter’s questions about his wife’s questionable real estate deals as “Neanderthal and sexist.”
Now back to testes. Last week, it was labor leader Paul Gibson projecting big, powerful testes onto none other than Hillary Clinton:
“If you’re thinking the next President of the United States should address and amend and convince people that here are the flaws with that law, and here’s what we’re supposed to do and it shouldn’t cause harm to either border,” said Gibson. “Well, you know what, then I truly believe that that is going to take an individual that has testicular fortitude, that’s exactly right, that’s what we got to have.”
I am a man. But I cannot imagine seriously and publicly equating mental and intellectual prowess and stamina with the presence of testicles. I’d go with a metaphor just a touch more sophisticated than Fonzie, Andrew Dice Clay and Chris Farley. (more…)
May 7th, 2008 08:02am
Andrea Zimmermann
As of this writing, the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Rockford was $3.70 a gallon. In St. Louis, it was $3.60.
You might wonder why I bring up St. Louis’ gas prices, aside from the 10-cent difference. That’s because I grew up just across the river from Missouri’s largest city, and I lived close enough to hop on the Clark Bridge to drive a couple hundred feet to a gas station that made its profits almost solely off Illinois drivers like myself.
State gas taxes are the primary reason for such price jumps across state lines, according to a piece in Tuesday’s New York Times. And although oil hit $123 a barrel Tuesday, that number is not the only factor for the prices we see reflected on gas stations’ signs. Federal and state taxes play a part as well. Check out this great graphic from the Times’ story to see a state-by-state comparison.
We’ve heard a lot about how two presidential candidates want to temporarily slash the federal tax, and in Illinois, state Republicans are calling for the state to reduce its portion of the gas tax for the summer months. (more…)
May 7th, 2008 02:30am
Aaron Chambers
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s determination to unilaterally expand state-subsidized health care, despite the fact that lawmakers repeatedly rejected his plan and refused to provide funding for it, has prompted quite the debacle.
His administration claims it can’t easily differentiate between costs associated with his unilateral expansion of FamilyCare — a move recently blocked by Cook County Judge James Epstein — and those costs associated with the state’s previously existing, core health care programs including Medicaid.
And because the administration cannot distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate payments, state Comptroller Dan Hynes is withholding payments for legitimate health care expenses as well as payments associated with the governor’s blocked expansion, according to Larry Blust, an attorney for the administration.
Hynes did “not receive from (the administration) any information from which (he) could independently determine which invoice vouchers relate to services provided under the old eligibility guidelines and which vouchers relate to services provided under the new guidelines at issue in this case,” Hynes’ attorneys said recently in a court brief.
Hynes therefore “would be unable to determine on a day-to-day basis whether (his office) was or was not complying with any (temporary restraining order) or preliminary injunction that might be entered by this court,” they said.
If Hynes withheld health care payments across the board for fear of violating the judge’s order by inadvertently making payments associated with the governor’s now-blocked health care expansion, then doctors and health care providers who provided services under the state’s legitimate health care program are not getting paid.
According to Blust, Hynes withheld at least $72 million in payments. Hynes spokeswoman Carol Knowles declined to answer questions concerning the comptroller’s policy on these payments, instead referring me to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers the state’s health care programs. (more…)
May 6th, 2008 02:30am
Aaron Chambers
Continuing to raise his profile while traveling Illinois, state Comptroller Dan Hynes on Monday slammed Gov. Rod Blagojevich for reportedly threatening to cut higher education funding.
Blagojevich has said the state has a $750 million deficit in the budget ending June 30, and his aides have said a number of programs — including perhaps higher education — may not get all the funding that lawmakers appropriated for them this year.
In a news release following a visit to Western Illinois University, Hynes said the governor ought to honor the state’s commitment.
“The Governor says we can’t afford to give colleges and universities the state assistance they promised this year,” Hynes said following a round table discussion with administrators from Western Illinois University. “I say we can’t afford not to. I say investing in our colleges and universities is one of the best investments this state can make to help ensure a thriving economy and a solid future for the next generation. The Governor needs to keep his word and give the universities the funding they were promised.” (more…)
May 5th, 2008 12:40pm
Aaron Chambers
Try as he might to unilaterally expand the availability of state-subsidized health care, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is pushing his program forward with one step forward, two steps back.
Blagojevich kicked off spring session last year by calling on lawmakers to approve his version of universal health care backed by the largest tax hike in Illinois history — a tax on the gross receipts of Illinois businesses. But the House shot down his gross receipts tax, and the governor failed to shepherd his health care plan through either chamber of the Legislature — even the Senate, where his ally Emil Jones Jr. is president.
Onward to August, when Blagojevich used his veto power to slash more than $460 million in grants and other spending — pork, he called it — from the budget that lawmakers belatedly approved. He focused his cuts on grants secured by political adversaries, sparing those earmarked by political allies.
The governor insisted at the time that he would use the money to support his health care plan. Never mind that lawmakers, whom under the state Constitution have the exclusive power to “make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State,” had not appropriated the spending for his health care plan; the governor insisted he could unilaterally redirect the spending for his health care plan anyway.
“In short, I’m cutting pork and special interest spending, and in its place, I’m using the legal authority that I have to expand health care,” the governor said.
In November, the governor’s administration filed an “emergency” rule to vastly expand the state’s FamilyCare program, pushing Illinois toward his goal of universal health care. It said the “lack of access to insurance has reached a crisis level requiring immediate action.”
Fast forward to this spring, when the governor’s aides applauded him for saving the budget from an even larger budget hole. When the governor’s office announced that the budget has a $750 million deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30, they said the hole would be far larger if the governor hadn’t taken fiscally prudent action last August and vetoed more than $460 million in spending. (more…)
May 1st, 2008 11:10am
Andrea Zimmermann
Recall is poised to be the big news of the day here in Springfield today.
After stalling for days, the Senate on Tuesday acted on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow voters to recall unsatisfactory politicians. The background is here.
Of course, they opted against taking the House’s version of recall, and crafted their own.
Today, the Senate is expected to vote on the measure. If approved, it would then go to the House, which will likely have to stay in all weekend to make the mandated Sunday deadline for the proposed constitutional amendment to be on the November ballots. For recall to become a provision in the Illinois constitution, the measure must have get a three-fifths vote from the people.
Not all of the legislators (or reporters, mind you) were happy to hear they would have to work through the weekend. Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, asked Madigan why recall was suddenly of such great importance in the House. He said topics such as school funding reform should outrank recall.
Madigan had this to say in response:
“This has become such a priority because of Governor Blagojevich.”
Read into that what you will. Everyone knows that Madigan controls the chamber’s business, yet he rejected the final recall bill when the House voted a few weeks back.
Stay tuned. We will update you as things develop.
May 1st, 2008 08:22am
Aaron Chambers
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes is a low-key guy in a low-profile position. In his third term as the state’s chief fiscal officer, he has become a reliable counterpoint to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s fiscal madness. Where Blagojevich and his aides throw dollar signs up on a wall to see what sticks, Hynes sorts through those numbers in an orderly fashion. He speaks rationally about what’s really happening with state finances.
Where Blagojevich lacks credibility on budget matters, Hynes has it.
But where Blagojevich has political gusto, Hynes lacks it. Back when Blagojevich showed his face in public on a regular basis, he could ignite a crowd with his energy, crazy stories and antics. Though Hynes is down to earth and engaging one on one, he can get stiff as plywood in front of a crowd. Like it or not, political persona matters for somebody hoping to advance himself politically. Credibility on budget matters alone likely won’t do it.
So it’s worth noting that Hynes in recent months has worked hard to heighten his name recognition while recasting himself as a leader in touch with populist concerns. Hynes has not formally indicated his interest in another office, perhaps governor or U.S. Senate, but he certainly appears to be positioning himself for one. (more…)
April 30th, 2008 08:57am
Aaron Chambers
When the chief judge of Lake County was stopped recently for DUI, he reportedly refused to take a breath test.
Lake County Chief Judge David Hall refused to take Breathalyzer and field sobriety tests Saturday morning when he was pulled over for allegedly weaving across the center lane, according to Lake County court documents.
It’s no wonder. Judges know the law.
Last spring, in an examination of cases in which Illinois judges are stopped for DUI, the Register Star found that judges generally do not blow. (more…)
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