August 6th, 2008
As you probably know already, the powers that be in Springfield are more interested in battling egos than in reaching a compromise over a new statewide capital construction plan.
What isn’t clear is whether the state’s failure to adopt a new capital plan might compromise its ability to attract millions in federal matching dollars earmarked for Illinois building projects in the last federal highway bill. In other words, will Illinois forfeit federal dollars because it doesn’t have its own money to spend first?
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin helped answer that question in a recent WTTW interview with Carol Marin.
“Next year we start negotiating the next federal highway bill,” Durbin said. “What do you think I’m going to say walking into those meetings, that Illinois needs more money? They’re going to say, ‘You didn’t use the money we gave you last time.’”
August 6th, 2008
In today’s Register Star, we told you about how law enforcement organizations and victims’ advocates are paying more attention to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board after some lawmakers in May tried to oust one of the board’s more conservative members.
In June, the coalition sent a letter scolding lawmakers for playing politics with the board. That letter is here.
“Convicted murderers and cop-killers, the unbelievably damaged families left behind, public safety, and the integrity of the criminal justice system are not political footballs to be played with in this manner,” they wrote.
One lawmaker, Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, took the time to offer a detailed response. He makes a number of valid points, but his letter also reeks of brazen, election-year partisanship. His letter is here.
Effectively, Righter tells the victims’ advocates they ought to back Republicans to reverse what he labels as the Democrats’ push toward an “anti-law enforcement agenda.” As he put it, “There is no doubt that if (Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago) and his leadership team felt their power could be threatened by the continued pursuit of an anti-law enforcement agenda with regards to the PRB, this agenda would come to an abrupt halt.”
In other words, Righter appeared to say, they should elect more Republicans. For as long as Democrats control the Senate and for as long as Jones wishes to continue serving in that role, Jones will be Senate president. His power isn’t “threatened” unless Republicans manage to win a majority — or, at the least, a few more seats than they have.
Democrats control the Senate, just as they control the House and the governor’s office. They rule the roost, and Republicans have little power to stop them.
But Righter’s flat refusal to accept any responsibility for the perceived ”anti-law enforcement agenda” — even as he admonishes the victims’ advocates to more directly name Senate leaders in their own letter, and as he implicitly encourages them to back Republicans – is nonetheless striking.Â
Go read the whole thing for yourself. It’s a gem.
Terry Rudeen, whose husband was killed by a bank robber while working as a Winnebago County sheriff’s deputy in 1974, gracefully responded to Righter with an e-mail. A copy is available here.
