The mother of all reforms, and we're going for it; Dept. of Revenue seeks taxmaking power; campaign 2014 update; Your Reboot Illinois Daily Tip-Off

THE BIG ONE Should voters choose politicians or politicians choose voters? In  Illinois, it’s usually the latter, and look where it’s gotten us. It's where corruption starts. That's because our state lawmakers represent districts carefully drawn by politicians to keep them safe. We call it the Incumbent Protection Program, and we think it's got to go. We're joining with CHANGE Illinois! to change the state constitution and create a fair, non-political system for drawing state legislative districts. There's no bigger reform than this one, and you can bet that party leaders will fight this effort at every turn. We'll be at Bradley University with CHANGE Illinois! in two weeks to talk about it. We explain here.

TAX END-AROUND You'll pay sales tax on deliveries under a plan being pushed by the Illinois Department of Revenue. More disturbing is that IDOR is trying to impose this new tax without a vote from the General Assembly. Those are two big problems, writes Todd Maisch of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

CAMPAIGN 2014 You into "gossip, rumor and innuendo" -- and Illinois state politics? Those are the self-proclaimed calling cards of a running roster of the cast of characters in the nascent 2014 Illinois campaign season. It's called Trial Balloons and it's run by (and largely for) political insiders. But it's a fun addition to the scene and we check in on it on our Campaign 2014 scorecard today.

ROAD TO RUIN A report by Illinois Auditor General William Holland finds that less than half the money in the Illinois road fund over the last decade was actually used for road work. The rest went to salaries, insurance benefits and workers' compensation payments. Find out where your money went here.

DAILY TIP-OFF Did you know that some police and firefighter contracts allow police and firefighters to show up for work with alcohol in their systems? It's true, and The State Journal-Register in Springfield doesn't like it. "Rest assured: drunken cops and firefighters aren’t showing up to work in droves across the state. But it does happen. They owe it to the public to be sober and of sound mind while on duty," says the SJ-R's editorial.

The State Journal-Register also provides some analysis of the auditor general's report mentioned above, It quotes Sen. Bill Brady ( who also is a probable candidate for governor): “It’s really sorry to see that half the money that’s supposed to be going to rebuild roads, which creates jobs and provides for public safety, is being swept away to other areas."

A fascinating twist in the Illinois gambling expansion debate: Crain's Chicago Business political columnist Greg Hinz reports that the gambling expansion bill passed by the Illinois Senate makes "lakeboat" casinos legal in Illinois. So Chicago could potentially put its casino on Lake Michigan. The mayor's office says that's not the plan -- Chicago wants its casino on solid ground -- but it makes us wonder what else might be tucked into the 500-plus-page gambling bill.

Find links to those Illinois news stories and others in the Daily Tip-Off section of our website.