26 Aug 2019

Tim Mapes: The Indispensable Consigliere Whom Speaker Michael Madigan Wishes Would Take a Roman Bath

By Rich Miller

You don't have to read past the first sentence of Tim Mapes' statement last week to see one of the core problems with the way he ran the Illinois House Democratic operation. Mapes was responding to an investigative report commissioned by House Speaker Michael Madigan to get to the bottom of allegations of sexual harassment and bullying in his Statehouse operation.

19 Aug 2019

So Long, Michael Carrigan, It’s Been Good to Know You. Who’s Next?

By Rich Miller

The Illinois AFL-CIO hosted its annual State Fair reception last week. The highlight was probably a speech by Governor JB Pritzker, who thanked his audience of union leaders for their support in the 2018 campaign and for their help passing an enormous amount of legislation during his first session of the General Assembly.

But there was also some real news. The event was the last time Michael Carrigan attended as the organization's president.

05 Aug 2019

Godfathered: No Aide of Michael Madigan Need Ever Fear Sleeping with the Fishes

By Rich Miller

When Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan announced in February 2018 that he'd fired Kevin Quinn, the brother of Marty Quinn, Madigan's 13th-ward alderman and political general, he said he made the decision because of Quinn's "inappropriate conduct" with Alaina Hampton, a political consultant whom he called a "courageous woman." Hampton had come forward with allegations of sexual harassment by Quinn and retaliation by Madigan's organization.

29 Jul 2019

State Political Ecosystem a Lot More Symbiotic than Either Side Would Care to Admit

By Rich Miller

Most state legislators don't have to worry about next year's general election. The combination of gerrymandering and the simple fact that many of the state's regions are dominated by one party or the other pretty much guarantees that all but a handful of incumbents will sail through on the November ballot.

22 Jul 2019

Cancerous Gas-Issuing Plant in Willowbrook Makes State Power-Players Look like Chumps

By Rich Miller

"Sterigenics should be completely shut down until we determine it can operate safely," gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker tweeted last October.

15 Jul 2019

House GOP Leader Jim Durkin Tries to Keep the Party’s Eastern Bloc in Line as Rep Chris Miller Takes the Thrasher to His Own Caucus

By Rich Miller

For the second time this year, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin has stripped one of his Party members’ access to a House communications staffer.

08 Jul 2019

For the Sake of Getting Anything Done in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot Needs Friends and Allies Downstate

By Rich Miller

One of the points that Governor JB Pritzker has made since Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot began using the news media to ask for a multi-billion-dollar state-pension bailout is that other parts of Illinois are having the same problems as our largest city.

01 Jul 2019

Why Are State-Government Watchdogs Obsessed by a Governor’s Thrift?

By Rich Miller

Governor JB Pritzker signed the $45 billion infrastructure bill into law last week during a three-day fly-around to several Illinois cities.

24 Jun 2019

Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton a Spectral Presence in Springfield during Crucial Legislative Sessions

By Rich Miller

"We are so proud of what we've been able to accomplish this first legislative session of ours," Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton told a TV interviewer earlier this month. "We said that we wanted to think big for the people of Illinois. We said that we wanted to get Springfield back on the track of working families. And that's what we did."

17 Jun 2019

Is Illinois Turning a Corner on Higher Education?

By Rich Miller

Back when this state was fairly well-run – meaning, before Illinois voters elected three anti-Springfield "populist" governors in a row – the general rule of thumb was that for every two dollars appropriated to K-12 education, higher education received one dollar.

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