Author: Newsdesk

Posted by John Byrne at 11:33 a.m.

Two Wrigley Field concerts set for September got the go-ahead today from the Chicago City Council.

The Cubs have not announced who will play at the ballpark Friday, Sept. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 18. The Dave Matthews Band, Paul McCartney and Phish are potential performers, sources have said.

Aldermen adopted the ordinance without discussion today. Last week, Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, asked the council’s License Committee to approve the measure, which allows the team two additional night events beyond the 30 night baseball games allotted each year.

"We have met with and have letters of support from various residential groups and also chambers of commerce," Tunney said at the time.



The License Committee deferred action last week on a plan for a July 7 Wrigley Field concert after prospective performers Elton John and Billy Joel announced they would not be touring this summer.

 

Michael Lufrano, vice president of community affairs for the Cubs, said the team still hopes to find a group to play at the stadium in July.

Posted by Ray Long, Monique Garcia, Bob Secter and Rick Pearson at 12:23 p.m.; last updated at 6:20 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn today called for a 33 percent increase in the state income tax rate to raise money for education and ease deep cuts he’s proposed in his new budget plan.

In his short budget speech to the House and Senate, Quinn argued that an income tax "surcharge" would be enough to restore Illinois’ education budget to current levels and allow the state to get caught up on some of the millions owed to public schools, community colleges and four-year universities.

Quinn wants to increase the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 4 percent — a 33 percent increase — with the corporate tax rate rising from 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent. The tax hike would bring in $2.8 billion a year.

"I believe this 1 percent for education makes sense, and I think the people of Illinois will understand. We must invest in the future, even in these tough economic times," Quinn said. This is urgent. We don’t have six months. We don’t have six weeks. I challenge the General Assembly to take immediate action to enact the 1 percent for education initiative."

Last year, Quinn unsuccessfully tried to raise the personal income
tax rate from 3 percent to 4.5 percent and provide some tax relief.

The political dynamics for a tax increase have
grown only worse as the election-seeking Democratic governor confronts
campaigning legislators who fear a voter backlash in the Nov. 2 general
election.

Senate President John Cullerton said today that he supports the Quinn tax increase but wants the House to "lead the way."

Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, noted the Senate passed an income tax increase last year and said that the Senate would be able to pass the new Quinn plan.



"This was the governor’s idea…and I support it," Cullerton said.

House Speaker Michael Madigan said Quinn did an "excellent job" laying out the dimensions of the state’s budget woes, but did not directly say whether he backed the governor’s tax increase. Madigan said he did not know basic details of Quinn’s proposal, such as whether the governor planned to have the tax increase expire.



Madigan said Quinn should be applauded for having the "courage" to propose a tax hike at a time when it might be necessary yet still politically unpopular.



"The people of America don’t want a tax increase," Madigan said on public television’s "Illinois Lawmakers." "They’re hurting…You should admire the governor for having the courage to stand up in these times and say we need to maintain the fiscal integrity of the state."



Though the Democrats control the House, Senate and governor’s mansion, Madigan tried to assign some blame to GOP lawmakers as "non-participating dropouts in the budget process.



"I sincerely hope that every member is prepared to cooperate and do the heavy lifting," Madigan said, referring to upcoming budget negotiations. "I have my doubts."

Quinn’s Republican governor opponent, state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, called the budget proposal "a catastrophe."



"I have never seen a fiscal plan that is such a disaster," said Brady, stressing that he thought more borrowing and tax hikes would only worsen the state’s already bleak economic climate.



"It’s not going to work to bring business investment back to this state and jobs when you send a message that we’re not going to solve our fiscal crisis, we’re going to try to borrow our way out of it with record borrowing….A family, a business, a government can not borrow unless it’s got a plan to pay it back…We can not increase taxes in this state. All we’re going to do is push more jobs out of the state."



The governor’s caustic budget plan, first unveiled by top aides Tuesday, also relies on borrowing billions of dollars to stay afloat and pushing even more debt down
the road. The administration’s hope is to persuade leery lawmakers to instead raise taxes in
an election year.

Quinn aides warned the plan would cost some 13,000 teachers and staff
their jobs, cut off poor seniors from help in paying for costly
prescriptions and shut down some health care programs for the indigent.
But even after about $2 billion in cuts, the state would still be $11
billion in the hole.

Quinn took a shot at a plan offered by his Republican rival for governor, state Sen. Bill Brady, who has proposed 10 percent across the board cuts. Without naming Brady, Quinn said his GOP opponent was offering a plan both “heartless and naïve” that would take a “chainsaw” approach to funding for schools and social services.



Quinn’s plan to downsize his income-tax hike request and focus it on education funding represents a small-step, targeted approach to the state’s massive deficit. Such a plan could motivate the state’s powerful teachers’ unions and other education advocates during the current legislative session, pitting supporting schools against legislative fears of enacting an election-year tax increase.



At the same time, the education tax increase alone would do little toward resolving the state’s $13 billion budget deficit, leaving open the potential for further tax increase discussions between Quinn and legislative leaders following the Nov. 2 general election.

Quinn’s gambit, to propose cuts in education and social services,
represents the latest step in the increasing divergence between the
state’s very real deteriorating fiscal situation and the rhetoric of
politicians who believe the public doesn’t want or trust Springfield to
get any more money from their wallets.

Similar cries about slashing services last year ended up being papered
over by increased borrowing. Many lawmakers privately expect that fears
among rank-and-file lawmakers about a voter revolt will lead to a
repeat of last spring’s session.





By proposing cuts of $1.3 billion in education, all but $94 million
coming from grade and high schools, as well as taking about $300
million away from cities and villages, Quinn may be trying to set the
stage for public anger over the potential of increased local property
taxes — more hated than the state income tax — to take up the slack.





At the same time, with politicians traditionally proclaiming that
education is their top priority, the likelihood of teachers being
pink-slipped in the midst of campaign season would seem doubtful.
Likewise, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has already turned thumbs-down on
Quinn’s idea to share less state tax revenue with cities.





Though powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago
could control enough votes for a tax increase, he has insisted
Republicans also must vote to share the pain over decades of mismanaged
budgets and underfunded state pensions. Republicans, however, have
little political incentive to back a tax increase and have contended
the excesses were due to six years of budget gimmickry by disgraced
former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and compounded by the Democrats’ one-party
rule of Springfield.





Overall, Quinn’s budget proposal forecasts a $4.7 billion operating
deficit for the budget year that begins July 1, on top of $6 billion of
debt from the current budget. Quinn would borrow to cover the operating
shortfall, which would need to be repaid later on top of the $6 billion
in lingering debt.





At the same time, the state will face the loss of more than $1 billion
in federal money that has been used to prevent cuts in education
funding this year. Quinn’s proposal counts on the federal government
continuing to pay a higher reimbursement rate for health care for the
poor. If that ends as scheduled next December, it would blow a more
than $500 million hole in the budget.





In addition to the proposed education cuts, Quinn would cut half of the
$140 million used to help poor seniors make up for the federal
"doughnut hole" in their Medicare prescription coverage.





Stermer also said there was "an agreement in the works" within the
legislature that would institute a two-tier pension plan with lesser
benefits for future state workers. Such a plan, he said, would provide
up to $300 million in savings in the budget proposal. While pushed by
prominent politicians in both parties, a two-tier system has been
fought by state labor unions.





Though it is likely that lawmakers would significantly revise Quinn’s
proposal, regardless of prospects for a tax increase until after the
fall election, the governor’s administration nodded to public sentiment
to cut government before raising taxes.





At the same time, Quinn appeared to adopt proposals offered by two
rivals for his job in the Feb. 2 primary. Echoing a call by Democratic
Comptroller Dan Hynes, Quinn would review, renegotiate or dump many
costly contracts that were signed under Blagojevich. He also proposed a
tax cut for small businesses that create jobs, while his general
election rival, Republican state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington,
proposed a broader tax credit.

Posted by John Chase at 5:58 p.m.



It’s usually understood that a Democratic president supports his party’s candidates for office, especially when the nominee in question is running for the U.S. Senate seat the president himself once held.



But today Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign went out of its way to announce that he does, in fact, have the backing of the White House.



Giannoulias campaign sent out a news release highlighting remarks by President Barack Obama’s press secretary about the president’s support for Giannoulias, who not only is the Democratic nominee running for Obama’s old Senate seat but also is known for being a longtime personal friend of the president’s.
“Alexi Giannoulias is the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate and has the support and the backing of the White House,” Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said during a daily White House briefing.

In recent weeks, Giannoulias has had to answer questions about the implosion of Broadway Bank, which his family owns and where he served as a top executive before becoming Illinois treasurer.

During his visit to the White House, Giannoulias met with top Obama aide David Axelrod, who also has known Giannoulias for years.



Before Obama became president, he and Giannoulias regularly played basketball together and Obama endorsed Giannoulias’ bid for treasurer in 2006. Giannoulias is facing U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk.



Illinois Republicans took Gibbs’ same remarks and tried to spin them in the opposite direction, shooting off a news release proclaiming Gibbs “downplays” Giannoulias’ visit.



In addition to meeting with Axelrod, Giannoulias was scheduled to attend a reception tonight with Obama in the East Room honoring Greek Independence Day.



At that event, Obama acknowledged Giannoulias’ presence by asking him to stand up.



"We have some outstanding members of Congress who are here, and we’ve got at least one potential member of Congress — Alexi, stand up — from the state of Illinois," Obama said, according to a transcript. "We’ve got in fact, in addition to Alexi, we’ve got a lot of Greek American friends here who’ve been great friends and supporters of mine, including folks here from Chicago.  I think we’ve got just about all of Greektown here."

Posted by Ray Long and Bob Secter at 5:22 p.m.; last updated at 6:32 p.m.

Gov. Pat Quinn‘s top aides said today that he will propose a budget balanced with spending cuts and borrowing because lawmakers have refused to raise taxes.

But the administration left open the door for Quinn to unveil an alternative proposal that would help close the budget gap by raising taxes.

For weeks, the governor has said Illinois residents should
prepare for a tax increase of some sort in this year’s budget proposal. But at a briefing for reporters late this afternoon, the Quinn administration continued to be mum on the details,
less than 24 hours before the governor formally unveils his budget
proposal to lawmakers and the public.

Jerry Stermer, the governor’s chief of staff, said reluctant lawmakers have not wanted to discuss a tax increase.



“We’ve not had a signal from the General Assembly that they’re willing to come to the table,” Stermer said.



Lawmakers likewise have not been willing to change state law to reduce required spending in some areas of the budget, Stermer added.



“The governor will propose a budget that doesn’t have new revenue,” Stermer said.

Everything the governor proposes is in essence an opening bid in a political process where the stakes have been raised by the state’s record $13 billion budget hole and the looming election that will decide who sits in the governor’s office and which party controls the legislature.

Stermer said the budget plan is based on five "pillars" of recovery: creating jobs, cutting costs, strategic borrowing, continued federal assistance and an increase in state revenues. You can read Stermer’s presentation by clicking here.

The governor would cut $1.3 billion from education spending and $70 million from a program that helps poor seniors buy medicine.

Even if lawmakers go along with Quinn’s cuts, the state still would be $11 billion short next year, Quinn budget officials said.

That’s where the options of a tax increase or borrowing come in.

Quinn aides said the administration will propose borrowing $4.7 billion and carrying over $6.3 billion of the state’s debt.

A year ago, Quinn proposed a 50 percent increase in the income tax rate coupled with expanded tax relief for some middle-income earners.

Quinn later supported other tax hike ideas, including a 67 percent tax increase that passed the Illinois Senate but stalled in the House.

Quinn’s team started dribbling out proposed budget cuts last month, including less money for education next year.

Today, Chris Koch, the state education superintendent, told a House panel he expects 13,000 school-related layoffs by next year.

Quinn’s also budget contains a proposal for a $2,500 tax credit to small
businesses for each full time job created the next year. The credit
would apply to businesses with 50 or few employees. The administration
estimates the state would give the credit on 20,000 new small business
jobs.

UPDATE 2:32 p.m. by Hal Dardic: State rifle association opposed to Daley ideas; originally posted by Hal Dardick at 1:15 p.m.

Flanked by several parents who had lost children to gun violence, Mayor Richard Daley today called for a host of new laws aimed at restricting gun sales and stiffening penalties for criminals who use them.

“I’m here to speak on behalf of families who lost loved ones,” Daley said, standing before a long series of tables topped with illegal weapons confiscated by Chicago police. “This is about common-sense gun laws — that we should be protected from all of these guns. . . . One murder is one too many.”

Although Daley announces new gun-control initiatives every year, this year’s announcement took on added significance because the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to overturn the city’s handgun ban.

The Supreme Court in 2008 overturned a similar ban in Washington, D.C., and that led to “a dozen major lawsuits across the United States challenging common-sense gun laws,” including the Chicago handgun case, Daley said.

“We remain hopeful that when the court reaches its final decision in June, they will agree with us and with many others who share a belief in the right of municipalities and states to enact strict-but-balanced gun laws to keep their citizens safe,” he said.

“The aggressiveness of the gun advocates is just one reason it’s more important than ever that we work for common-sense gun laws focused on stopping the flow of illegal guns into our communities and keeping the guns out of the hands of the criminals,” Daley said.

But Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association that is a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, said his group opposes the measures. They would not reduce crime but would make it more burdensome and costly for law-abiding citizens to obtain firearms, he said.

“It provides a smokescreen for the mayor and many of the aldermen, so they don’t have to deal with the real problems in Chicago,” Pearson said. “They are always blaming the guns and the gun owner.”

Daley backed changes to state law that would require background checks for those buying a gun in a private sale, ban assault weapons, require that gun dealers be licensed and limit the number of handgun purchases to one per person, per month.

Those were all ideas that failed to make it through previous legislative sessions. This time, the mayor also is asking the General Assembly to make it a Class 1 felony to knowingly sell a gun to a known gang member, stiffen penalties for unlawfully using a weapon and require high-tech “micro-stamping” of guns that would allow police to determine if a particular gun fired the spent ammunition found at a crime scene.

At the federal level, Daley backed reinstating an assault-weapon ban that expired in 2004, closing a loophole that has allowed criminals to buy weapons at gun shows and repealing gun manufacturers’ immunity to some lawsuits.

“I know that many people may not appreciate these proposals, especially the gang bangers and the drug dealers and the thugs who basically terrorize our communities,” Daley said. “Taken together, I believe these initiatives will reduce gun violence, not only in Chicago, in the metropolitan area in Illinois, but in the country."

Annette Nance-Holt — whose 16-year-old son, Blair Holt, was shot and killed on a bus in 2007 — asked why lawmakers don’t do more to address gun violence.

“In a day when we are more concerned with obesity and smoking and second- hand smoke . . . why are we not more concerned with our children being murdered by handguns and assault weapons,” she said. “Why are we not outraged?”

“This is not a black issue, it’s not a Hispanic issue,” she added. “It’s an American issue. These guns are out of control, and our love of guns is out of control. Are they insane, or are we insane?”

Posted by Hal Dardick at 1: 04 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley today said Gov. Pat Quinn is going back on a promise not to cut the share of income taxes distributed to cities and villages that the governor made to municipal leaders before last month’s primary.

“This is a serious financial crisis, but it didn’t just start after the primary,” Daley said. “He did come before the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and say, ‘I am with you, I support you.’ Nothing has changed from prior to the primary to after the primary.”

Daley, speaking at an event to announce proposals to address gun violence, was referring to a comment made over the weekend by David Vaught, Quinn’s budget director.

Vaught said municipalities across Illinois must “share the pain” by giving up part of the income-tax revenue collected by the state. Instead of getting 10 percent, the municipalities would receive 7 percent – a statewide cut of about $300 million.

“You need to take a look and say OK, does everybody have skin in the game here?” Vaught said. “It just doesn’t make sense that the municipalities would get a pass.”

But Daley said the burden belongs on the state, which he said has failed to make the kind of spending cuts made during the recession by municipalities. “You have to do things to put state government on a diet,” said Daley, the Democratic mayor of the state’s largest city, whose support Quinn wants in his November election against Republican Bill Brady.

Oak Park Village President David Pope, who was at the gun news conference at Chicago Police Headquarters, said he also recalled Quinn saying he wouldn’t cut income tax revenues distributed to cities and villages.

“The state needs to take a very serious look at the expense side of its ledger,” Pope said, adding that his village has laid off 15 percent of its workers in the past two years.

“This is basically a tax shift, and what it will do is force the localities to increase taxes, because we’ve already taken the fat out of the cost of delivering services at the local level,” Pope said.

Posted by Bob Secter at 12:01 a.m.

If the state’s chronic employee pension problems aren’t bad enough, a new report says that every Chicago resident is on the hook for 444 percent more in unfunded retirement pledges to public workers than a decade ago.

The watchdog Civic Federation said today that the funding deficit for the 10 largest Chicago-area public pension funds soared from $3.4 billion in 1998 to $18.5 billion in 2008, the last year for which figures are available.

The shortfall doesn’t mean that public worker retirees are in danger of getting shorted on pensions. On the contrary, promised benefits are guaranteed by the Illinois Constitution, so if the retirement pool runs dry someday, payment for vital services in the city, Cook County and other local bodies might have to take a back seat to bankrolling retirees.

“The status quo of benefit enhancements and insufficient pension contributions must not continue,” said Msall. “The only responsible option for our local governments is to work with the General Assembly to take action immediately to implement reforms.”

The funding problem is deepening even as state finances are tanking, in great measure due to huge debts owed to pension funds operated by the state for downstate and suburban teachers, government workers, judges and lawmakers. The bottom line is that it will be almost impossible in the current financial climate for lawmakers to ride to the rescue of local governments struggling to meet fiscally sound commitments to pension funding.

For decades, both local and state pension funds have failed to set aside enough money to cover long term obligations.

The local pension fund in the worst shape is the one covering Chicago firemen, which in 2008 possessed only 27 percent of the assets it needed to cover long term promises to retirees, the federation found. The common benchmark for deeming a pension fund financially sound is when it has enough assets on hand to cover 90 percent of projected long term retirement benefits it must pay out.

The retirement fund for Chicago policemen had just under 35 percent of the assets it needed to cover long term liabilities, the federation said. Slightly ahead was the Chicago municipal worker’s fund, with less than 45 percent of the assets it needed. The Cook County workers retirement fund had nearly 55 percent of what it needed, and the Chicago teachers pension fund had assets equal to 75 percent of what it needed.

Meanwhile, the retirement pot for CTA workers was funded in 2008 at 66 percent of what it needed, the federation found. But that was a marked improvement for a fund that only a few years before appeared headed for insolvency because of years of underfunding as well as investment losses. Reforms imposed by the legislature two years ago requiring CTA employees to carry a bigger share of the load for funding retirement and health care benefits helped the pension fund rebound.

 

Posted by Monique Garcia at 5:00 p.m.

As Gov. Pat Quinn prepares to deliver his annual budget address on Wednesday, his office is warning that cities and towns will get less money from the state while some taxpayers will be asked to give more.

David Vaught, Quinn’s budget director, said today that municipalities across Illinois must “share the pain” by giving up a portion of income tax revenues the state typically shares. Instead of getting 10 percent, which amounts to about $1 billion a year, municipalities would receive 7 percent under Quinn’s plan. That’s about a $300 million cut.

“You need to take a look and say OK, does everybody have skin in the game here?” Vaught said. “It just doesn’t make sense that the municipalities would get a pass.”

Quinn’s plan is likely to be a non-starter with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and many of his suburban counterparts because a cut in state funding would blow holes in local budgets.

Vaught also said taxpayers should "expect" Quinn to propose a tax increase again in his Wednesday speech, but he declined to offer specifics.

“He’s been very consistent about saying this is one of the things we
have to do,” Vaught said. “What we see in the budget proposal this year
is that it represents the reality and consequences of not doing it last
year, because the hole is deeper and the problem is getting worse.”

Lawmakers in both parties are tepid at best when
it comes to an income tax increase, especially in an election year.

Quinn has used the last several weeks to try to outline just how severe state’s money woes are, posting preliminary budget numbers online nearly two weeks ago that include $2 billion in cuts, though Republicans say that doesn’t go far enough when the state is facing a nearly $13 billion deficit.

The Illinois State Police is facing a $26 million cut, which would mean a reduction in patrols, Vaught said today.

“If you want to blame us for the cuts, fine, but blame doesn’t get you anywhere,” Vaught said. “Our job is to try to get this budget in balance, so we’re going to have to do it. What gets you somewhere is talking about the solution, so that’s what we say to the legislators, can we talk about a solution to this problem?”

Vaught also said the Quinn administration does not plan to make the
full $4.1 billion employee pension payment this year because the governor is
confident proposed reforms will pass the General Assembly that will
ultimately save the state money. Instead, the state will pay $3.8
billion, $300 million less than required.

From Sunday’s print edition:

Bill Brady finds himself standing in a harsher light

Downstate conservative coming to grips with new role as GOP’s nominee for governor

By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter

In the month since Republicans voted on a nominee for governor, veteran
state Sen. Bill Brady said he’s come to realize his role in the GOP has
been elevated far beyond serving as just another state lawmaker
representing a central Illinois district.





Election officials declared Brady the official Republican nominee for
governor Friday by a 193-vote margin over Senate colleague Kirk
Dillard. But Brady’s political moves in the last week portrayed a man
who’s still coming to grips with his role as the Republican
standard-bearer in a fight to end Democratic dominance of state
government.

Brady has proposed banning same-sex marriages and civil unions and
loosening restrictions on discrimination based on gender or sexual
identity — issues that play well with his conservative base but don’t
sell well in Illinois’ moderate middle. The Bloomington lawmaker also
tried to help a local veterinarian by sponsoring a bill allowing mass
euthanasia of dogs and cats, which typically involves gassing the
animals.





Sensing he may have created a flashpoint for a November campaign barely
off the ground, Brady removed his name from the proposals and handed
them to a colleague.





"I have taken on a different role from where I was, and I want to do
what I can to eliminate the Democrats’ ability to distract voters from
the real issues facing Illinois," Brady explained.





But that awareness alone didn’t insulate Brady from the harsh glow of
the statewide limelight when he tried to attack Democratic Gov. Pat
Quinn’s ill-fated and unannounced program to release prison inmates
early. Brady contended a man released early from prison had been
accused of murder, but didn’t check available records or contact local
prosecutors. Records showed the man was not part of the failed Quinn
program and had been released under the provisions of current law.





"This gentleman committed murder in Sangamon County," Brady stated.
Asked by reporters how he could say the man was a murderer when he had
not been tried or convicted, Brady said, "Maybe the governor wants to
wait until someone’s convicted. I don’t."





Such missteps come at a critical time for a candidate who has spent
nearly 17 years in the state legislature but needs to quickly introduce
himself to voters in the populous Chicago metropolitan area before
Quinn does it for him. In many ways, the stage is set for a contest
between two major party contenders who could not be farther apart
ideologically or geographically.





Brady, a real estate developer with several other financial interests,
represents the keep-government-out-of-my-business conservatism that
emanates from his legislative district. He is a staunch fiscal and
social conservative who is as opposed to tax increases as he is
abortion rights.





Quinn, the longtime Chicago populist who was elevated to the governor’s
office more than a year ago after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich,
has long attached himself to liberal causes, including universal health
care. But Quinn has struggled to accomplish his public policy goals,
manage an overwhelming state budget deficit and persuade lawmakers to
support his proposals for tax increases.





"Each party has now nominated the candidate the other party most wanted
to run against," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public
Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.





Brady has survived a close primary before, winning the GOP nomination
for the Illinois House by 8 votes in 1992. He lost a bid for the
Republican nomination for Congress in 2000 and was appointed to the
state Senate in 2002 where he has served ever since.





During his congressional run, Brady acknowledged he had a long-term
goal of becoming Illinois governor. He was the third-place finisher in
the 2006 GOP governor primary. He secured February’s race by winning
the less-populous counties in a free-for-all that featured six other
candidates, all from the Chicago area.





He backs limits on damages awarded in civil lawsuits, supports tuition
tax credits for parents of private school students and has proposed
cuts in taxes and other tax credits to help spur job growth.





Brady also has opposed some government transparency efforts, including
requiring campaign contributors to list their occupations, and he said
adopting detailed federal-style statements of economic interest for
public officials would be "a little bit of an overreaction."





After a primary election contest in which Democrats and Republicans
focused largely on the state’s miserable financial shape and huge
budget hole, it may be the candidates’ positions on social policies
that will decide the votes of independent and middle-of-the-road voters
— including suburban women —who are the key to winning.





Brady, 48, is married with three children. His social conservatism is
rooted in his Roman Catholic faith and upbringing. He supports a ban on
abortion, including in cases of rape and incest, with an exception only
when the mother’s life is at stake.





In keeping with the wishes of the insurance industry — his hometown’s
largest private employer is State Farm Insurance Cos. — Brady has
fought against government mandates for broader insurance coverage,
including mammograms for women and longer hospital stays for postpartum
mothers.





Brady has supported bringing religion into public classrooms "through
the principles of the Founding Fathers’ design" and also believes local
school boards should be able to order the teaching of creationism.





By contrast, Quinn’s positions on social issues fall to the left. He
backs public funding of abortions, supports Chicago’s ban on handgun
possession and favors civil unions for same-sex couples, saying that
full marriage equality probably wouldn’t get through the legislature.





Quinn disputes Brady’s contention that his conservative positions are "mainstream."





"In the past, his voting record has shown that he has been very extreme
when it comes to taking on issues protecting everyday people," Quinn
said.





If general election contests represent a time for candidates to move to
the center to secure the votes of independents, Brady may have a
farther drive.





"At a time when Illinois could really use an uplifting campaign that
talks about issues and solutions and options and new directions, we’re
going to get a debate over killing puppies," Yepsen said.





Brady said he believes differences with voters over his stance on
social issues could be countered by a campaign "primarily focused on
the economic issue" of Quinn’s governance and push for higher taxes.





"That’s the most important question on people’s minds: Who’s got the
leadership and competence to govern this state?" Brady said. "I don’t
think there’s any question given Quinn’s extreme position on a 50
percent tax increase as opposed to someone who wants to reduce the tax
burden."





But while Quinn survived an intense one-on-one primary fight, Brady’s strategy has yet to be tested.





"Quinn has taken every hit anybody can throw and survived, while Brady has yet to take a real punch," Yepsen said.

Posted by John Byrne at 2:39 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley said today that an outside investigator will be brought in to look at sexual harassment allegations against Fire Commissioner John Brooks instead of the city’s Office of Compliance.

That decision comes amid reports that the beleaguered compliance office failed to investigate the fire department office worker’s claims. The agency is headed by Anthony Boswell, who is on the outs at City Hall and serving a 30-day suspension following allegations he did not properly handle a different sexual harassment claim. Boswell, in turn, has sued the city.

"We’re looking at (allegations that the Office of Compliance did not address the claims)," said Daley at the opening of a new senior citizen apartment complex in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. "But then, we’re going to have somebody else be able to lead the investigation."

No decision has been made on who will do so, he said.

Daley also said his wife, Maggie, is doing well following Friday morning surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to strengthen her right leg, which had been weakened following removal of a cancerous tumor and subsequent treatment.

 

"She’s a fighter, and a leader in causes for really helping people out in regards to health care," Daley said.

 

Maggie will stay at Northwestern until she can get around on the leg, the mayor said. In the meantime, he said, he and the couple’s children and other family members will stay by her bedside.

 

Her physician, Dr. Steven Rosen, said today that she is progressing well after the surgery, and that it might be two to three days before she leaves the hospital. "That would depend on when she’s feeling strong enough," Rosen said.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 10:33 a.m.; updated at 3:02 p.m.

Chicago’s top Fire Department official will take vacation time until the conclusion of an investigation into sexual harassment allegations that were made against him, the mayor’s office said today.

The announcement by Fire Commissioner John Brooks is expected to come in the form of a written statement, said Jacquelyn Heard, press secretary to Mayor Richard Daley. She did not know how long it would take to complete the probe, to be done by the beleaguered Office of Compliance.

Fire spokesman Lawrence Langford issued a statement this afternoon on Brooks’ behalf.

“Chicago Fire Commissioner John Brooks has decided to step aside pending the outcome of a City Hall investigation into an allegation of improper conduct against him by another fire dept employee. Commissioner Brooks said he fully understands the seriousness of the allegation and the need to immediately address it. He said he is concerned that remaining on the job while the investigation is underway could lead to the appearance of undue influence or interference on his part, and he does not want that. He plans to cooperate fully with the investigation but will take leave pending the outcome of the probe," the statement read.

A payroll auditor in the department accused Brooks of threatening to lay her off when she rebuffed sexual advances, Heard confirmed.

Daley’s administration was not aware of the allegations, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, until Wednesday, when they were brought to the attention of Chief of Staff Raymond Orozco, Heard said.

 The head of the Office of Compliance, Anthony Boswell, has sued the city alleging he was wrongly suspended by the Daley administration.

Posted by Rick Pearson, Ray Long and Monique Garcia; last updated at 4:05 p.m.

Republican governor candidate Sen. Kirk Dillard concedes the race to Sen. Bill Brady today. (Abel Uribe/ Chicago Tribune)

State Sen. Bill Brady accepted the Republican governor nomination today, a little more than a month after a close contest that he won by 193 votes.

"For me this campaign is about two things: jobs, job, jobs and reform, reform, reform," said Brady, surrounded by his wife, Nancy, and three children.

The conservative downstate senator from Bloomington will take on liberal Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn this fall in a contest expected to provide a clear contrast for voters.

Brady today accused Quinn of wanting to raise taxes to maintain the "status quo."

"Gov. Quinn is dead wrong on this issue," Brady said.

At a separate appearance on the South Side, Quinn focused on Brady’s conservative views.

"We have clear philosophical differences. In the past, his voting record has shown that he has been very extreme when it comes to taking on issues protecting everyday people. I think the people of Illinois, as the campaign goes forward, will see there’s a clear difference between my view of helping everyday people and his view of helping big corporations," Quinn said.

Brady’s speech in downtown Chicago came after state Sen. Kirk Dillard conceded defeat this afternoon and the Illinois State Board of Elections this morning certified the results of the closely contested Feb. 2 primary election.

"It was a hard fought race, it was very, very close… But now it’s
clear that my colleague and friend Bill Brady has won the Republican
nomination for governor," said Dillard, a veteran Hinsdale lawmaker.

Brady said he strategically went after downstate voters during the primary campaign and didn’t have the money to air TV ads in the Chicago area, but he said as the GOP governor nominee he will have the money to do so.



As for his conservative record on social issues, Brady said "I am what I am," adding that the race will focus on the economy.

Brady’s slim victory amounted to a miniscule .025 percent of the 767,485 ballots cast in the heavily contested race for the nomination. Officially, Brady got 20.26 percent of the GOP primary vote, compared to Dillard’s 20.24 percent.

"Close huh?" Dillard said today. " A little less than two votes per county."

Dillard gave a special thanks to former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar for his endorsement. The senator also thanked his wife, Stephanie, who had tears streaming down her face.

Dillard has said that if the state board figures did not put him within 100 votes of Brady, he would not seek a recount. He still has the option for a discovery recount that would resample the ballot counts from a small portion of election precincts. But he also has said he wants to avoid a recount—a full statewide recount could cost him more than $1 million.On the Democratic side, Quinn was the winner for the governor’s nomination over Comptroller Dan Hynes by 8,372 votes out of 915,726 ballots cast. Officially, Quinn got 50.46 percent of the vote to Hynes’ 49.54 percent.

Posted by Rick Pearson at 9:57 a.m.

Today’s the day that the State Board of Elections certifies the results of the Feb. 2 primary, including the contested race for the Republican nomination for governor, amid expectations that state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale will concede to his colleague, state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington.

Dillard, who trails Brady by about 200 votes, has said that if the state board figures do not put him within 100 votes of Brady, he would not seek a recount. He still has the option for a discovery recount that would resample the ballot counts from a small portion of election precincts. But he also has said he wants to avoid a recount—and a full statewide recounting could cost him more than $1 million.

Dillard has scheduled a public announcement of his intentions early this afternoon in Chicago, followed by a Brady announcement set in the city an hour later.

Anticipating he will become the undisputed winner, Brady also is planning to spend the rush hour at the Ogilvie Transportation Center to thank Metra commuters for their support. Thanking rush-hour commuters is a traditional election victory move for a candidate—though in this case more than four-weeks later.

On Thursday, Brady took a shot at his Democratic rival, Gov. Pat Quinn, over the controversial issue of releasing inmates early from prison. But he couldn’t back up his attempt to blame a Sangamon County killing on the defunct prison program. 

Posted by Hal Dardick at 9:48 a.m.; last updated at 4:13 p.m.

Mayor Richard Daley’s wife, Maggie, underwent surgery today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to strengthen a leg damaged by cancer and the resulting treatment, the mayor’s office said.

"It’s a procedure that will reinforce the bone so there is less likelihood of fracture,” said Jacquelyn Heard, the mayor’s press secretary.

The mayor and his daughters were visiting with Maggie Daley this afternoon at the hospital, where she was expected to stay “at least a couple days” for follow-up treatment to the surgery, Heard said.

The mayor declined to take questions at a lunch hour event to discuss federal money for a South Side rail crossing bottleneck where construction will begin this year to build a flyover bridge to separate freight and passenger traffic.

Maggie Daley, 66, was in surgery for nearly two hours until 11:30 a.m., Heard said. The surgery went as planned, she added.

She has been battling metastatic breast cancer since 2002. The mayor in December announced his wife would be using a wheelchair to get around while she was undergoing radiation treatment for a cancerous bone tumor on her right leg. She later was getting around on crutches, and it’s hoped that the surgery will help the city’s first lady make further progress, Heard said.

The surgery is being done by Orthopedic oncologist Dr. Alan Yasko, she said, adding that she did not know how long it would take. “The surgery is not done yet,” she said. “She’s in the midst of it as we speak.”

Posted by Hal Dardick at 4:25 p.m.



Mayor Richard Daley today tapped a longtime Chicago firefighter with a military background to become the city’s top disaster management official.



If approved by the City Council, Jose Santiago will become executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. He will replace Raymond Orozco, who recently took over as Daley’s chief of staff.

“In case of a major emergency, the OEMC will lead the charge,” Daley said. “If there is a terrorism attack in the city of Chicago, you need one person in charge. . . . There has to be one voice and one command center.”



When Police Supt. Jodi Weis was hired in early 2008 at a salary of about $310,000, Daley said he would serve as both police chief and the top disaster official. But six months into Weis’ initially controversial tenure, Daley made it clear the head of Emergency Management would be the top authority at disaster scenes.



Santiago, 54, is an assistant deputy fire commissioner. Before joining the Fire Department in 1979, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He continued in the reserves for decades, serving in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm.

“These life lessons that I’ve learned throughout my career I believe will help me succeed at the OEMC,” Santiago said.

He would make nearly $168,000 in his new job, about $6,000 more than his current salary.

Posted by Rick Pearson and Ray Long at 3:25 p.m.; updated at 4:13 p.m.



The day before he’s expected to accept the Republican governor nomination, state Sen. Bill Brady today tried to take a swing at Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and hit nothing but air.



At a Capitol news conference, Brady suggested that a man accused of a Springfield murder was part of Quinn’s now-infamous secret early inmate release program that almost doomed the governor’s primary nomination in February.



But Brady didn’t check available public records, including a list of inmates who had been granted sped-up “good time” off their prison sentences, or speak to Sangamon County prosecutors about the circumstances surrounding Jonathan Phillips’ release.

Phillips, sentenced to six years in August 2007 for aggravated vehicle hijacking with a weapon, served about 27 months in prison. He received routine day-for-day good time credits awarded to inmates. He also received 60 days of meritorious good time credit, but that was before Quinn became governor, prison officials said. He was on parole when he was arrested following the December murder. He was charged with murder last month.



Brady contended the Quinn administration had placed “at risk the people of Illinois and their public safety” under the now-ended inmate early program known as “meritorious good time-push.” Brady also sponsored a bill requiring the online posting of names, photos and other information about an estimated 1,700 inmates released early under the program.



But Brady did not know about an online list of those inmates already made available by the Quinn administration and later said that his legislation was needed to tell if Phillips had gotten out of prison early under the program.



Informed by reporters that a list already existed, Brady responded: “There is?”



Brady’s news conference, in which he was joined by the GOP leaders of the legislature, came a day before tomorrow’s certification of the results of the Feb. 2 Republican governor primary by the State Board of Elections. Brady held a lead of about 200 votes over fellow state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale.



Barring any dramatic change, Dillard is expected to announce tomorrow that he will not seek a recount in the contest—for which he would have to pay more than $1 million. Dillard has previously said he would not move forward to challenge the results unless the differential between Brady and himself was less than 100 votes.



But Brady’s news conference today was the latest in a string of controversies for the presumptive leader of the Republican effort in November. Following the primary, Brady, a staunch social and fiscal conservative, introduced legislative proposals to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions, loosen the law that prohibits sexual orientation discrimination in hiring and to allow the mass euthanasia of companion animals.



Brady has since taken his name off of those proposals and transferred them to a colleague.

Posted by John Chase at 1:50 p.m.

The head of the state agency that regulates banks said today he will recuse himself from matters involving the struggling family bank of U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias because he once worked as a campaign aide to Giannoulias.

Brent E. Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, worked for one month as a policy adviser on Giannoulias’ campaign for state treasurer in 2006, said department spokeswoman Susan Hofer. The department is working with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in deciding whether Giannoulias’ struggling family bank should be taken over by federal banking authorities.

While Adams doesn’t believe his stint with Giannoulias’ campaign causes a conflict of interest he will not be involved in any decisions regarding the bank, Hofer said. Adams received $500 from Giannoulias’ campaign fund for his work.

“Out of an abundance of caution, Secretary Adams will recuse himself from any decision making relating to this bank,” Hofer said.

In January, Broadway Bank agreed to tougher government oversight as part of a consent order that requires it to raise $85 million by the end of April or face being taken over. The consent order was made with the FDIC and the state’s Division of Banking, which is overseen by Adams’ department. The state would issue an order if the bank is to be taken over but the decision is made in conjunction with the FDIC, Hofer said.

“All regulatory actions with banks in trouble are done in partnership between the division of banking and the FDIC, which is exactly what happened when DoB and the FDIC took the appropriate remedial action against Broadway Bank and which is what will happen, if necessary, moving forward,” Hofer said.

A Giannoulias spokeswoman said the state treasurer was never asked to help Adams get his state job and never advocated on Adams’ behalf.

Adams was first hired by the state in July 2006 as an attorney for the division of financial institutions, which oversees credit unions and currency exchanges but not banks.

Posted by Hal Dardick at 1:50 p.m.



Cook County Board President Todd Stroger announced today that he has hired the communications director of his failed re-election campaign to serve as his new deputy chief of staff.



Carla Oglesby replaces Pamela Munizzi, who recently retired. Oglesby, who was a managing partner of CGC Communications, will be paid $116,000 a year in her new post.

“I was deeply impressed by Ms. Oglesby’s work on the political side in the run-up to the” Feb. 2 Democratic primary, Stroger said in a statement.



Stroger finished last in a four-way field. Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, 4th, won the Democratic nomination and faces Republican Roger Keats and Green Party candidate Tom Tresser on the November ballot.



Whomever wins the general election is likely to put their own trusted aides in the county’s top administrative posts, so Oglesby’s tenure at the county could be short lived.

Posted by John Byrne at 1:42 p.m.



Mayor Richard Daley today said aldermen are free to broker whatever deal they want to create an office with the power to police the City Council, but they shouldn’t tamper with the current inspector general that the mayor himself nominates.

 

Aldermen are meeting privately today for briefings on Daley’s proposal to extend Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s power by allowing him to investigate the City Council.
Many aldermen have balked at that, arguing the inspector general owes his post to Daley’s nomination and can’t be counted on to serve as a truly independent voice. Some aldermen have suggested appointing a "board of directors" to make the nominations for the corruption-fighting post.

 

That’s OK with Daley, but he said the board-appointed inspector general would have to exist alongside the one he nominates.

 

"We have an inspector general over the executive branch of government," Daley said at an event welcoming Walgreens drug store’s e-commerce department into the Louis Sullivan-designed Sullivan Center downtown. "The Congress, and the state legislature has their own inspector general over the legislative body of government. So if (aldermen) want to, that’s up to them. Because the state has done that, the federal government has done that, rightfully so."

 

Daley said an inspector general dedicated to keeping an eye on the City Council would not be costly.

 

"There’s only 50 people, 50 elected officials, and maybe 150 to 200 employees," Daley said. "There’s not a large segment of the employment."

 

The mayor insisted the Office of Compliance – the city ethics department where executive director Anthony Boswell has been suspended after Ferguson reported he mishandled a sexual harassment complaint by a student intern – has separate responsibilities from the inspector general. Compliance could not be folded into an expanded inspector general’s office, Daley said.

 

"There’s a difference between inspector general and compliance. It’s day and night," he said.

 

Addressing other issues, Daley said local Teamster truck drivers should be happy they have work, responding to the union’s recent vote to give its leadership authority to call a strike. Teamsters work at Chicago’s airport and clear city streets after snowfalls.

 

Teamsters are mad at Daley for reducing O’Hare and Midway Airport snow removal drivers from a guaranteed, eight-hour work day to just two hours on days without snow.

 

"You can’t sit there and not do work and be paid for eight hours," Daley said.

 

The mayor said he doubts the Teamsters will actually strike.

 

"I don’t know how they can strike," he said. "My argument is, if there’s no work to be done and they get two hours pay, I think they should be very thankful to the taxpayers they’re getting two hours pay."

 

"There would be 50,000 people applying for these jobs" if the city sought to replace striking Teamsters, Daley said.

 

Daley also said the financial problems facing Broadway Bank, which is owned by the family of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, should not scuttle Giannoulias’ campaign, Daley said.

 

"It’s happened to every bank, almost, in Illinois, large and small," he said. "Unfortunately, smaller banks are closing."

 

"(Broadway) is not the exception," he said, but added Giannoulias needs to explain the situation to the public between now and election day.

 

Daley once again refused to name the roughly 90 people who submitted applications to the city to serve as alderman in the 1st Ward or 29th Ward.

 

Many are currently working in the private sector, and their employers would find out they were looking for new jobs if their names were publicized, Daley argued.

 

"It could be someone from your company who might want to become aldermen, but they don’t want to tell their boss. How’s that?" he said.

 

Daley has until March 16 to name a replacement for Manuel Flores, who resigned from the 1st Ward to head up the Illinois Commerce Commission.

 

The mayor must replace Isaac Carothers — the 29th Ward aldermen who pleaded guilty to federal charges in a zoning-bribery case – by April 2.

Posted by Michelle Manchir at 3:48 p.m.



SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers would be banned from offering scholarships for public universities under a measure the House approved today to address concerns about the often-abused awards that have been distributed to relatives, political donors and the children of political allies.



But an end to the long-standing controversial practice is far from guaranteed — a Senate version aims to reform how the scholarships are handed out but would not ban them altogether.

The House voted 80-36 today in favor of a ban on legislative scholarships.



Sponsoring Rep. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights, said legislators’ privileges should not include handing out tuition waivers.



"My goal here is to set up a system whereby needy students in the state get access to education by applying to universities and applying to financial aid and other grants. I believe this is the best way to do it," Walker said.



Still, both Democrat and Republican opponents came down hard on the measure. Many, like Rep. Edward Acevedo, D-Chicago, said the scholarships provide the only path for the poorest students in their districts to get a college degree.



"We have parents probably working two or three jobs just to put food on the table for their families and we’re not going to give them that opportunity to continue their education?" said Acevedo, who represents a Southwest Side district.



Other opponents accused Walker of merely appeasing critics of the scholarships. A Tribune analysis last fall found that some legislators gave free rides to the children of campaign donors, party loyalists and state employees.



Republican Rep. Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines voted against the ban, saying the waivers evenly distribute scholarship money for students across the state.



"You could address the abuses by legislation as opposed to letting the newspaper take cheap shots at us over things that perhaps do really help a great number of people," Mulligan said.



The Senate last week approved separate legislation to prohibit a legislator from giving a scholarship to someone whose family could be linked to a campaign contribution within the previous five years. The House has not yet voted on that proposal.