13 May 2018

Can a Workable Budget Also Be a “Good” Budget?

By Rich Miller

“Nothing’s more important for a governor than having a good budget because that allows you to manage the state to do your job.”

Let that recent quote from former Governor Jim Edgar, as reported by the State Journal-Register, sink in for a bit.

06 May 2018

Higher Education Requires Building, Not Blowing Up

By Rich Miller

Eastern Illinois University’s legislative liaison Katie Anselment had some strong words for legislators during an Illinois Senate Higher Education Committee hearing last week.

29 Apr 2018

Early May Be Too Early for General-Election Ads

By Rich Miller

Four years ago, I mistakenly believed candidate Bruce Rauner would take a page from Governor Rod Blagojevich’s 2014 reelection playbook and immediately bury Governor Pat Quinn under a mountain of negative advertising. Instead, Rauner waited until July 11 to air his first general-election TV ad.

So what’s it gonna be this year?

22 Apr 2018

Weirdness in the Gubernatorial Race Just Beginning

By Rich Miller

Several months ago, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff Tim Mapes made copies of candidate nominating petitions for what appeared to be every single candidate in the state, regardless of party or office sought. Madigan’s spokesperson was mum when asked why.

It turns out that a database was constructed of the names of all the petition circulators who worked during the primary.

15 Apr 2018

The Final Major Test of Rauner's First Term

By Rich Miller

I’ve read, watched, and heard a whole lot of commentary about the upcoming state-budget negotiations during the past few weeks and it pretty much all ignores recent history and focuses instead on one-sided claims of pending controversy.

08 Apr 2018

Rauner's Failures Can Be Pritzker's Winning Strategy

By Rich Miller

JB Pritzker appears to have chosen a solid message for the fall campaign. The overall theme at the successful Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s press conference the day after he won the primary race was “Bruce Rauner is a failed governor.” The message is also the primary subject of his online advertising push against Rauner.

25 Mar 2018

Illinois' Democratic Primary Sees Many Wins for Team Madigan

By Rich Miller

The oddest political couple in all of Illinois did pretty well in last Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

18 Mar 2018

Rauner's Gun-Bill Veto Was Timed Accidentally, but Perfectly

By Rich Miller

Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of a gun-dealer licensing bill last week took a lot of folks by surprise. It probably shouldn’t have.

11 Mar 2018

Mapping the Issues on District Remapping

By Rich Miller

House Speaker Michael Madigan cares most about three House votes: The votes every two years for both the next Speaker and the House rules; and the vote every 10 years on the new state legislative district maps.

04 Mar 2018

The Attacks, and the Attacked, in Illinois' Gubernatorial Race

By Rich Miller

Sources in both parties said last week that their tracking polls were showing a dip in support for Senator Daniel Biss and a trending increase for Chris Kennedy in the Democratic primary race for governor.

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