The PI Week In Review

PI Original Angela Caputo Friday February 26th, 2010, 5:43pm

A recap of the week that was in Illinois politics: February 22, 2010 - February ]26, 2010

In Springfield ...

All eyes turned toward the state budget this week as Gov. Pat Quinn rolled out a preliminary spending plan for fiscal year 2011. The numbers are just plain ugly. Even after trimming another $2 billion from the general fund -- mostly in education and human services -- Illinois would still be billions in the hole.

Having balanced the budget on the backs of human services for the past decade now, the Center on Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) noted this week that they're at a breaking point. Some new CTBA research shows that nonprofit agencies covered a $4.4 billion shortfall over the past seven years. Cutting more could eviscerate many providers. "It's time we face the facts," said CTBA's Ralph Martire.

The Tribune's Bob Secter faced those facts when he wrote a piece on the deficit this week, remarking that the state just has no wiggle room to make deep spending cuts. So did the business-friendly Civic Federation, which called for a tax hike in its honest (but flawed) budget analysis released on Monday. And on WTTWs Chicago Tonight, director Lawrence Msall said a failure to increase revenue means "we run the risk of our state's entire financial system collapsing."

Lawmakers may be feeling the pressure. During a budget hearing this week, many wondered how they will break the news to their local school districts that a 10 percent cut in General State Aid (GSA) may be on the way. Among them was State Rep. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), who called the general state aid formula "sacrosanct." If Rose considers himself the protector of school funding, we suggested he take a closer look at his endorsement of Bill Brady for governor. After all, Brady (Gov. Quinn's most likely gubernatorial challenger) is standing by his proposal to institute a 10 percent across-the-board cut in the budget, which includes education spending.

Quinn on the other hand, is continuing to trumpet the urgency for tax reform. Unfortunately, House Speaker Mike Madigan has made no indication that he will call for a tax increase without GOP support. Instead, Democratic leaders have subscribed to the politically-convenient "cut first" motto. We're still wondering exactly how that works.

Madigan appears to have more obstructionist tricks up his sleeve, as well. The Speaker may be attempting to load the fall ballot up with constitutional amendment proposals, which could bump a progressive income tax proposal off the ticket.

Despite all the politicking, some lawmakers are staying focused on the policy front. Among them is State Rep. LaShawn Ford, who is pushing the Prisoner Census Adjustment Act in an effort to ensure that inmates' hometowns, not Illinois' prison towns, can claim them in the upcoming Census. Also, State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora) (along with some of her clout-heavy colleagues) are pushing back against a questionable proposal to force more Medicaid enrollees into a managed care program. While they're at it, we expressed hope that lawmakers reinstate critical insurance reforms that were collateral damage in the medical malpractice fight.

In Washington ...

Leading up to the bipartisan health care summit in D.C. on Thursday, Research 2000 released a poll that suggested more than 68 percent of Illinois voters support a public insurance option. While Illinois' own Sen. Dick Durbin has yet to join the public push to include a public option as part of the final reform bill, he didn't disappoint progressives at the summit. Archpundit, for one, credited Illinois' senior senator with delivering the most powerful comments of the day.

Also at the table was Illinois' U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, who was sent to deliver the GOP's free-market message. That wasn't all that surprising, considering Roskam's willingness to tow the party line on health care -- even when it requires some fearmongering. But it looks like the biggest threat to reform could actually be pro-life Democrats -- including Illinois' own Dan Lipinski and Jery Costello -- who've threatened to torpedo health care reform over abortion language.

Activists who've been keeping the pressure on Congress and the White House to fix another set of broken national policies -- immigration laws -- plan to send 10,000 Illinoisans to D.C. for a national march in favor of comprehensive reform. "It's showdown time," Centro Sin Fronteras' Emma Lozano said this week. "We are united as never before. We will mobilize as never before."

In Chicago and Cook Co. ...

We had a nice little scoop this week highlighting what we've decided to call Chicago's incumbent protection plan. We stumbled across a measure floated by Chicago Democrat State Rep. Joe Lyons that would make it harder for challengers to get in on next year's aldermanic elections. While we were grateful that the Trib piled on as well, we pointed out that the paper missed the most egregious part of the bill: a pesky one signature rule.

Out in the southwest suburbs, Homer Glen continues to have sellers' remorse after handing off its water and sewer system to a private company. The town is now trying to "take over the business" of controlling the systems, Mayor Jim Daley told the SouthtownStar. We wonder if it's only a matter of time before Chicago follows suit.

Up north in Evanston, Northwestern University students are pressing college officials to adopt a "Just Employment Policy" that would lift wages for service employees who work on campus. We took some video of their first major rally.

On the campaign trail ...

Finally, we got the last laugh this week when we highlighted some videos of the bumbling GOP gubernatorial ticket. Just weeks after the primary, Sen. Brady and his potential runningmate Jason Plummer aren't making much sense about the state's budget problems. Check out our footage and you'll see.

Things aren't looking so bad for Gov. Quinn, though. According to a new poll conducted by Research 2000 for Daily Kos, Quinn holds a double-digit lead in the race. The poll looked good for Alexi Giannoulias' Senate campaign as well; the treasurer is holding a seven-point advantage (43-36 percent) over Rep. Mark Kirk.

The man seeking to replace Kirk in the 10th Congressional District, Republican nominee Robert Dold, made a curious comment this week, suggesting that Tea Party supporters have a "great voice." We pressed him to explain what he thinks about their ideas. We're still waiting for a response...

Also in a tough race in Lake County, the notoriously anti-immigrant Sheriff Mark Curran came out in support of immigration reform this week. Did Curran finally get the message that local immigrants vote? It appears so. Unfortunately for him, they might not be so quick to forgive and forget.

Did we miss something? Let us and your fellow readers know in the comments section below.