Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today a bill to abolish the widely
derided legislative scholarship program for which Illinois General
Assembly members give college tuition waivers to people in their
district. Quinn’s signing ceremony coincides with the ChicagoSun-Times’revealing that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald started a criminal
probe into State Sen. Annazette Collin’s (D-Chicago) use of the
scholarships.
Quinn, who entered the governor’s mansion in 2009 as
a reputed government reformer, noted in a statement that that
“abolishing the century-old political scholarship program” was an
“ethics reform goal since taking office.” Read more »
The Illinois Senate voted today to ban the maligned legislative scholarship program, for which state lawmakers award scholarships to students in their district that attend an Illinois public university.
The bill passed 43-5, with five Senators voting ‘present’. The bill should just as easily clear the House and swiftly be signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn.
One consequence of low turnout is that it makes close races that much more difficult to predict.
Conventional
wisdom holds that repressed turnout favors incumbents. Yet the truth is
that even the most veteran pols get nervous when numbers are especially
low. With so few people voting, a candidate going into the day holding a
significant lead in polling can still end up losing by a few votes. It
all depends on which people show up. Read more »
This year’s race for state senate in the 5th District has received
much more attention than is usually given to a legislative seat on
Chicago’s near West Side – due in no small part to the contentious tone
the campaigns have taken in recent weeks, which included a
much-publicized war of words between the incumbent and the Illinois
Secretary of State.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today a bill to abolish the widely
derided legislative scholarship program for which Illinois General
Assembly members give college tuition waivers to people in their
district. Quinn’s signing ceremony coincides with the Chicago Sun-Times’
The Illinois Senate voted today to ban the maligned legislative scholarship program, for which state lawmakers award scholarships to students in their district that attend an Illinois public university. 
One consequence of low turnout is that it makes close races that much more difficult to predict. 
