Health & Fitness
Adlai Stevenson III on the state of his state; RFK son Chris strong at helm of U of I board; Stantis on Rahm
Reboot and the Daily Herald team up for pension discussion tonight, Quinn to announce biotech expansion, Illinois tax collection jumps in 2012, and more.
ADLAI RETURNS Adlai Stevenson III knows the political risks of taking on government bloat in Illinois. "I tried it as a candidate for governor and paid the price," he writes in a Reboot Illinois op-ed today. The two-term U.S. Senator and two-time candidate for governor (in 1982 and 1986), now 82, isn't pleased with the state of his state, and offers some suggestions here.
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WE DON'T WANT NO INFLUENCE Cartoonist Scott Stantis imagines the reaction of developers to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's statement that their political donations don't influence him.
Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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KENNEDY IN SPOTLIGHT For years it's been believed that Chris Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, would embark on a political career in his adopted home state. But since 2009, he's been a steady hand at the helm of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, guiding U of I through some particularly rough waters. It all started with a comment Kennedy made in 2008. The Better Government Association makes Kennedy the focus of its first "Better Government Spotlight." It's a great read that, we suspect, will only fuel the rumors of Kennedy's potential Illinois political career. It's here.
Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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WATCH OUR PENSION FORUM TONIGHT Tonight we're co-hosting a pension reform town hall meeting with the Daily Herald at Harper College in Palatine. Panelists are State Reps. Elaine Nekritz and Tom Morrison -- sponsors of very different pension reform bills -- and Illinois Education Association President Cinda Klickna, head of the state's largest teachers union. The event is sold out, but we'll have a live video stream at 7 p.m. on our website. Here are more details.
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DAILY TIP-OFF Gov. Pat Quinn this morning is scheduled to announce the creation of a biotechnology hub to help foster that industry, in which Illinois is a leader. It comes amid a major biotech convention in Chicago and is a strong retort to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has tried for the past week to sell Illinois businesses on the more friendly tax, legal and regulatory environments of his state. As the Illinois Observer puts it: "It will essentially amount to: 'Stick it, Rick.'"
The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal comments on efforts by Perry and other governors to lure businesses out of Illinois. "Illinois' high taxes and budget woes, exacerbated by its unresolved state pension fiasco and the lack of political will in Springfield to address it, make this state inviting to appeals such as these," writes Rosenthal.
Illinois' financial woes continue despite what the Daily Herald reports is a record tax and fee intake in 2012. "Illinois collected nearly $6 billion more in taxes and fees in 2012 than in the year before.That's the greatest increase of any state in the nation," reports the DH, citing figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Springfield's State Journal-Register, meanwhile, cites a Moody's report prepared for the Illinois General Assembly and new unemployment figures in urging fast action on pension and budget reforms."Moody’s concluded the unemployment problem is due in part to 'poor state finances.' This has to stop," writes the SJ-R in an editorial. Illinois' unemployment rate has been stuck at 9.5 percent for two months while the national figure has declined to 7.6 percent.
But enough of bad news. We end today's Tip-Off with some good news from former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The Chicago Tribune reports Daley has given $500,000 remaining in his political campaign fund to various charities. "Daley could have put the money in his pocket and paid taxes on it. State law bans that practice, but Daley is part of an increasingly smaller group of veteran politicians allowed to take what was in their campaign funds as of the end of June 1998," writes Trib reporter Hal Dardick. Nice.
There are links to these and more Illinois news stories in the Daily Tip-Off section of our website.
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