Progress Illinois

In late August, State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) introduced a trifecta of bills (HB 6902, 6903, and 6904) that, if signed into law, would revolutionize how the City of Chicago's controversial tax increment financing (TIF) program operates. Fritchey, however, is running for Comm. Forrest Claypool's seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and is slated to leave the General Assembly. Will his bills die?

Not necessarily. Earlier this week, State Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) told Progress Illinois that she is "very interested" in carrying the torch on some version of Fritchey's package. The precise wording of the legislation could change, but Steans said she would look at pushing a Auditor General investigation; examining the definition of blight in the current state TIF law; increasing transparency in "porting" TIF dollars; and excluding certain taxing bodies from the program going forward. "With the mayoral election coming up, the timing is good," Steans said.

What's less clear is how, legislatively, this may play out. It's unlikely the bills will get a hearing during the fall veto session, according to Steans. And state representatives may want to sponsors the bills, as well. "What I don't know is if someone is going to pick this up on the House side," Steans said. State. Rep Greg Harris (D-Chicago) did tell PI he's talked with Fritchey about the bills and Fritchey himself said he's canvassing his colleagues for support. A call to State. Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), a leader in the Democratic caucus, wasn't immediately returned.

In other TIF news, State Rep. David Miller (D-Lynwood), who is the Democratic nominee for State Comptroller, has proposed an online database to help the public understand how each of Illinois' 1,000 TIF districts are operating if he's elected in November. “There are millions of dollars at stake," he said in a press release, "and taxpayers deserve to know whether or not these TIFs are benefiting their community."

With virtually every news outlet in the state reporting that House Republicans are pushing a new campaign finance bill, it's worth taking a step back and examining just how badly the Democratic leadership handled ethics reform last year. First, they passed a bill that was so poorly designed Gov. Pat Quinn was pressured to veto it weeks after calling it "historic." The revamped version addressed many of the pitfalls identified by the reform community, but still preserved -- at the behest of Speaker Michael Madigan -- the ability of the "Four Tops" and the political parties to dole out unlimited funds during the general election. Not surprisingly, the media and the GOP vocally criticized the Democratic bill.  In the following months, Republicans have been able to cast themselves as the reform party and yesterday's headlines only help to solidify that image (even though a Democrat, State Sen. Heather Steans, is the lead sponsor of the new campaign finance bill in the Senate). In short, while Dems took some action last year, the GOP is now trying to run away with the issue.