16 Dec 2019

When Rich Anti-Tax Donors Flee for Mars, Republican Candidates are Left to Flail Alone on Earth

By Rich Miller

Republican Lawrence Oliver of Dorsey has filed to run against Representative Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) in the March primary. Oliver has not yet reported raising any money, but his main issue appears to be Representative Bourne's vote for the 19-cents-per-gallon gas tax-hike to fund infrastructure projects during the past spring legislative session.

09 Dec 2019

Mike Madigan and Chuy Garcia Play Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison Amid Intra-Party Power-Plays

By Rich Miller

The oddest political couple in the state's Democratic Party is teaming up again.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is backing yet another young protégé of progressive US Representative Chuy Garcia (D-Chicago) for the Illinois House at a time when other people appear to be distancing themselves from or even challenging the powerful House Speaker.

01 Dec 2019

Goodbye to Chief of Staff Tim Mapes’ Pantomimes of Power

By Rich Miller

Another relic of Tim Mapes' days as House Speaker Michael Madigan's chief of staff has passed into history.

25 Nov 2019

Blind Copy: The Magic Spreadsheet That Doesn’t Raise Contributions for Speaker Michael Madigan’s Party — and Doesn’t Exist

By Rich Miller

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Mike McClain, the most prominent insider connected to House Speaker Michael Madigan, sent a blind-copied e-mail to what he called the "Most Trusted of the Trusted" asking for help raising money in the closing weeks of the 2018 campaign.

18 Nov 2019

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton’s Looming Retirement Creates a Vacuum into Which State Senators are Diving

By Rich Miller

Much will change at the Statehouse when Senate President John Cullerton retires in January, a year before his term expires.

Unlike his House counterpart, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Cullerton always wanted to find ways to get things done — and he got a lot done.

11 Nov 2019

Lobby-Hobbyists: State Assemblymen Take Donor-Groups to Shakedown Street

By Rich Miller

Bribery is a Class 2 felony in Illinois. It's also a federal offense, punishable by up to ten years in prison. Neither of those laws stopped former State Representative Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) from allegedly attempting to bribe a state Senator, who turned out to be an FBI mole.

04 Nov 2019

If the Herd Gets Spooked by a Rat in Its Midst, What Does That Say About the Herd?

By Rich Miller

The first day of the 2019 veto session on Monday, October 28, was unlike any other that most people have ever seen.

28 Oct 2019

In His Bid to Be Like Caesar’s Wife, Governor JB Pritzker Might Want to Check Where He’s Standing as He Opens Trap-Doors on Dodgy Party Ops

By Rich Miller

Governor JB Pritzker has lately won plaudits from some conservative opinion-makers for making the right moves on corruption. But I am going to register an objection in a bit.

21 Oct 2019

ComEd Cancer at the Statehouse: When Will the Feds Call Quarantine?

By Rich Miller

The political muscle of ComEd/Exelon aced its last major test in 2016, when the energy companies finally passed what one Illinois House member referred to at the time as a "multi-billion-dollar corporate-bailout" by electricity rate-payers to keep two of its nuclear power-plants open.

14 Oct 2019

When State Pensions are a Gamble, First-Responders Have Second Thoughts about Putting It All on the Line

By Rich Miller

One of the provisions of the sweeping state pension-reform law passed in 2010 has always stuck in the craw of first-responders.

Police and (especially) firefighter unions fought the local government lobby for decades to increase survivor benefits, and then they watched many of those hard-fought wins get wiped away when the General Assembly decided it had to lower pension benefits for new hires to avoid a fiscal catastrophe.

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