Progress Illinois

It seems like people are so worried about where Springfield lawmakers will find the $25 billion to fund the Illinois Capital Improvement plan, that no one is asking how that money will be spent.

Well, almost no one.

The Daily Herald editorial board today endorsed a proposal to ensure that needed infrastructure repairs and expansions are undertaken before pork is handed out to politically powerful districts. The proposal is one of the recommendations of the Metropolitan Planning Council, which says that more oversight is needed for the project, particularly in these lean economic times:

It may seem hard to believe, but Illinois does not have a process for rating all transportation projects to determine which make the best use of taxpayers' dollars. Such a process is sorely needed, if for no other reason than that the state does not have enough money to fund all of the projects on its wish list. According to a 2007 study by the American Economics Group, Illinois has almost $9 billion in surface transportation capital needs per year over the next five years; however, only $2 billion a year is spent for surface transportation projects.

The Herald points to the state's last major infrastructure improvement effort, the Illinois FIRST plan, as an example of what can happen without a system in place to judge construction projects on their own merits.  But in sounding such warnings, the Herald and Metropolitan Planning Council are not alone. As we reported in March, other community groups have also began calling for increased transparency as the capital plan moves forward.

In Adam's recent piece on the emergence of the Chicago City Council's so-called Independent Caucus, he quoted former alderman and political science professor Dick Simpson stressing the "question of how large and effective they are in pressing their programs."

Today, Simpson devoted his Sun-Times column to the Independent Caucus and the need for "aldermen to represent us in key concerns of our day-to-day life, our neighborhoods and our future":

The closest vote in the Council thus far has been on the increase in the property tax, which the Council approved in November by a narrow 29-21 vote. A number of Daley loyalists joined the independent aldermen in opposing the tax increase. [22nd Ward Alderman Ricardo] Munoz argued that higher taxes were due to a city administration "that got caught with its hand in the cookie jar." According to [49th Ward Alderman] Moore, "Nothing has made the public more cynical than the endless string of broken promises to end business as usual in city government." One of the clearest dividing lines in the new council is opposition to spiraling taxes to pay for patronage and corruption. [...]

Chicagoans may support Daley in elections and public opinion polls. They may believe they have "a city that works." But what about supporting aldermen who genuinely represent their communities? Aldermen provide a check and balance on an administration that has been shown in court to promote patronage and corruption.

It is fine to "make no little plans." It is good to become a global city and host to the Olympics. But we need vocal aldermen to represent us in key concerns of our day-to-day life, our neighborhoods and our future. I, for one, say three cheers for the Independent Caucus.

There were new developments today in two stories we've been following here at Progress Illinois.

Expansion of BP Refinery

A petition from two environmental groups -- the Calumet Project and the Global Community Monitor -- has been sent to the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication asking that judges halt the expansion of BP's oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The Times (of Munster, IN) reports that the petition highlights the potential impact of the increased pollution on the health of nearby low-income and minority neighborhoods:

The complaint alleges the Indiana Department of Environmental Management did not allow the public ample time to review the permit and states that the permit fails to protect nearby poor and minority residents. The petition claims the permit "illegally limited the public participation" by reducing the comment period by 12 days.

Because of a filing issue, the courts are yet to review the petition. However, if the environmentalists' request for a stay of construction is granted, BP will have to temporarily halt the $3.8 billion project. The company began expanding the plant on May 1, the same day the Indiana Department of Environmental Management approved the project. As we reported earlier, Hoosiers aren't the only ones with reservations about the refinery. Illinois lawmakers also requested public hearings about the expansion before it began.

Great Lakes Compact

Lawmakers in Michigan are hoping to vote on the ratification of the Great Lakes Compact sometime in the next couple of weeks, though there are still major negotiations taking place between Democrats and Republicans about the bill's language. The compact is an agreement between the eight Great Lakes states (as well as Ontario and Quebec) designed to keep the water of the great lakes from being siphoned out of the region. After an intense back-and-forth, the compact was ratified by Wisconsin in April. If it passes in Michigan, two states will remain that have not ratified the agreement -- Ohio and Pennsylvania.

What is it with the Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet and Barack Obama's comments about Israel?

Back in March, we noted her suggestion that Obama hadn't addressed Jeremiah Wright's controversial statements regarding Israel (when, in fact, he had). Now she's reprinting Republican press releases that blatantly misrepresent Obama's recent remarks on the Middle East.

As Rob at Illinois Reason astutely pointed out, in a Sun-Times blog post yesterday evening headlined "GOP hits Obama over Israel," Sweet copy-and-pasted a statement from House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) criticizing the Illinois Senator for comments made in a recent interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg. From the release:

“Israel is a critical American ally and a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, not a ‘constant sore’ as Barack Obama claims. Obama’s latest remark, and his commitment to ‘opening a dialogue’ with sponsors of terrorism, echoes past statements by Jimmy Carter who once called Israel an ‘apartheid state.’ It’s another sign that Obama is part of the broken Washington Americans are rejecting."

Sweet also included this statement from Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA):

“It is truly disappointing that Senator Obama called Israel a ‘constant wound,’ ‘constant sore,’ and that it ‘infect[s] all of our foreign policy.’ These sorts of words and characterizations are the words of a politician with a deep misunderstanding of the Middle East and an innate distrust of Israel."

But did Obama actually call Israel a "constant sore" or a "constant wound"? No, he didn't.

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Recent college graduates have been known to come down with the occasional case of Wanderlust. But according to a piece by NPR's Day to Day, many 20-somethings from the Upper Midwest are now packing up and moving out in search of jobs, a trend that states in the region are attempting to curb.

The exodus is logical. New global businesses need to tap an educated, energetic workforce, so they locate where they think they can find young graduates. Meanwhile, the grads themselves move where they think they can find new jobs, mainly in regions with vibrant economies. The circular pattern means that states whose economies have been slow to diversify -- such as Michigan, Iowa, and some of the plains states -- are left with a withering population base.

John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute told Day to Day that the Prairie State isn't immune to this empty nest phenomenon either. In the last decade, Illinois has suffered an outmigration of 700,000 residents.

According to Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson, who was interviewed on the program, "Every state in the Midwest has been doing everything they can think of to stimulate growth, to try to entice, bribe, or otherwise subsidize economic development."

One promising idea that that passed the Maine legislature last summer could really appeal to Midwesterners.

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While Hillary Clinton has been warning leaders in Tehran that the United States could "totally obliterate" Iran if Israel was subjected to a nuclear attack, activists in Chicago have been organizing to avoid a military conflict with Iraq's neighbor. This week, their efforts could pay off, as Ald. Joe Moore (49th Ward) has introduced a resolution in the Chicago City Council "urging the Illinois Congressional delegation to clearly express the will of the people of Chicago in opposing any U.S. attack on Iran."

A hearing on the resolution, with expert testimony from former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq Scott Ritter, Institute for Policy Studies fellow Farrah Hassen, and acclaimed author and reporter Stephen Kinzer, is slated for 11:30 AM today. The full council will vote on the resolution at its meeting tomorrow.

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By refusing to change zoning requirements or issue the necessary permits, local officials-- often on aesthetic grounds -- have long inhibited homeowners from outfitting their properties with energy-saving amenities like solar panels and wind turbines.

According to USA Today, states legislators eager to promote renewable energy are fed up:

Since 2005, eight states — including four last year — have enacted laws to abolish stringent rules imposed by some homeowners associations and local agencies on residents who want to power their homes with the sun or wind. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed such a bill two weeks ago. Final action is near in Virginia and Florida.

Homeowners in Illinois are among those still waiting for such legislation. Democrats in Springfield have introduced Senate Bill 526, which would "provide that no bylaw or action of a homeowners' association, property owners' association, or a condominium unit owners' association shall prohibit or be interpreted to prohibit a solar energy system or other energy device based on a renewable resource." But the bill was re-referred to the House Rules Committee in January after a slew of deadline extensions and doesn't seem to have much clout behind it.

On the national level, both the Senate and House introduced bills that would protect homeowners wanting to go solar last year, but neither garnered much attention.

Faithfully Liberal's Aaron Krager just posted a segment of his recent interview with Rep. Jan Schakowsky. You can watch it here. In this first video, Krager and Schakowsky discuss faith and religion in politics. Subsequent segments will feature a discussion of the Iraq war, poverty, and the 2008 election. So be sure to check his site for updates.

In his Tribune column today, Eric Zorn presses Gov. Blagojevich and Springfield lawmakers to reinstate funding for CeaseFire, a Chicago-based anti-violence program whose $6.2 million line-item was cut from the state budget last year:

Odd thing is, CeaseFire was partly Blago's baby: [founder and director Gary] Slutkin credits the governor with allocating the discretionary funds in 2004 that allowed the program to triple the number of communities it served that year.

He could have slapped his name on it, as he's wont to do. Instead he slapped it down, saying we just can't afford it.

And now, nine months later, he's proposing to spend nearly 25 times the amount he denied to CeaseFire on his own anti-violence initiative.

Blagojevich's proposal includes summer-job and after-school programs as well as neighborhood revitalization efforts. Spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said CeaseFire and other community programs will be able to apply for funding under the plan, which will require major new sources of revenue.

OK, but how many more people will be shot while they quarrel about this in Springfield?

For now, the senate needs to pass House Bill 4170, a proposal to double CeaseFire's former annual appropriation to $12.5 million.

For more on the debate over CeaseFire, see our recent posts on the topic.