Buried deep within Governor Rod Blagojevich's annual budget address last week was a nasty argument with the most influential bunch of do-gooders in Illinois - the social-service providers. These are the groups, many of them religious (such as the Catholic Conference, Lutheran Social Services, and the Jewish Federation), that take care of the state's most vulnerable citizens.

You really have to hand it to Governor Rod Blagojevich. By simply proposing to transfer the powers of the Illinois State Board of Education to his own office, Blagojevich did several huge favors for the teachers unions, forestalled any budget-busting funding increases for education this year, and all but killed the income-for-property-tax-swap idea for the rest of his first term - while politically positioning himself as a feisty fiscal conservative, a gutsy hands-on reformer, and a concerned pro-education leader.

Illinois Senator John Sullivan (D-Rushville) was the biggest surprise winner of the 2002 election. Political observers are still scratching their heads at how the Democrat defeated popular Republican Senator Laura Kent Donahue in a Republican-leaning district.

So far, the ugliest state-legislative primary race is in suburban McHenry County. Two Republicans are battling to challenge state Representative Jack Franks (D-Crystal Lake) in the general election. Perry Moy (R-Woodstock) is the anointed candidate, a popular restaurant owner and county-board member who has widespread support among the local GOP organization.