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Election 2010
Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
1:46pm
Fri Oct 22, 2010
1 comment

The Troubled Future Of The Cigarette Tax

Illinois needs to pay its bills desperately. Of the revenue proposals that were seriously debated in Springfield last session, a bill (SB 44) that would have raised the state's cigarette tax by $1 per pack was the most politically popular. According to a poll commissioned by the Illinois Coalition Against Tobacco, 74 percent of Illinoisans support the idea. The State Senate already passed it. Gov. Pat Quinn supported it. It would raise roughly $300 million annually while improving public health. And the House was just "a handful of votes" short of approving it, as well.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on June 1 that the measure "could still be revisited this summer or in the regular fall session." If GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady is elected on November 2 and the Assembly waits to revive the legislation until the spring, supporters are going to need a veto-proof majority. We know Brady has taken the "no tax hike" pledge. This spring, he voted against (PDF) SB 44. And according to his latest campaign finance disclosure form, Altria Group donated $25,000 to his campaign. Whose Altria group, you ask? The parent company of Philip Morris USA.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
12:22pm
Fri Oct 22, 2010

Toni, Tony, Tobolski

Sixteenth District Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-Riverside) maintains a high-profile presence on the Cook County Board. Peraica isn't shy about making his perspectives known during county board meetings, often intense affairs during outgoing county board President Todd Stroger's regime; he's consistently blasted the sales tax increase Stroger pushed through. The Brookfield-Riverside Landmark described him as "always-feisty" in a recent story about a debate between Peraica and Jeff Tobolski, the Democratic mayor of McCook who's challenging Peraica for the 16th District seat this fall.

Could Tobolski knock Peraica off the board? County Democrats are hoping so. Tobolski says he's got the support from 19 of 24 mayors in the 16th District, the Landmark reports. Yesterday, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward), the party's nominee for county board president, and several other pols criticized Peraica's style yesterday, calling him an "obstructionist" and even a "hater and problem creator." Watch:

Preckwinkle told reporters her campaign will make a financial contribution to Tobolski and fold backing for his bid into a broader get out the vote effort.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
2:36pm
Thu Oct 21, 2010
2 comments

Will Brady Protect Our Open Spaces?

Yesterday, we raised a red flag about GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady's prior opposition to a renewable energy standard, a decision that should frighten those who care about the environment in Illinois. Brady's pledge to cut at least 10 percent from the state budget could also require deep reductions for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which maintains Illinois' state parks and open spaces. (An estimated 44 million people visit Illinois parks each year.)

In a statement this morning, the Sierra Club's Jack Darin warns that similar cuts proposed by Rod Blagojevich two years ago would have forced state park closures and layoffs for scientists who protect the state's water supply and wildlife. Local economies who generate revenue through tourism and outdoor recreation would have been decked, too. More from the release:

"Pat Quinn has been working to rebuild the Department of Natural Resources after a decade of cuts by Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan,”  said Darin. “We can’t afford to go back to the days of Blagojevich, which is exactly what Bill Brady would do for the IDNR.”

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
11:44am
Thu Oct 21, 2010

Defender Backs Quinn, Brady And Cohen Are "Wholly Unqualified"

The Chicago Defender, a historic voice in the city's black community, is endorsing Pat Quinn for governor. The newspaper's editorial board lauded what they said was Quinn's "close relationship" with African-Americans: "He has made a point of stepping up and considering African Americans for positions and he alone has promulgated a plan – even if it means a higher income tax – to help get Illinois out of debt and bring jobs back to the state."

The Defender offered some harsh words for the others seeking the top job in Springfield. State Sen. Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, "has persistently ignored the Black community – staying away from the debates at Black venues and offering no evidence that he even knows the Black community exists."

Interestingly, the endorsement spends more words warning readers against voting for independent candidate Scott Lee Cohen than it does criticizing Brady. Cohen, the former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, is trying to make inroads with black voters in Chicagoland. Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin recently watched as Cohen, "in the mode of a Bible-thumping revivalist, declared that minorities are not getting their fair share of state contracts" at a South Suburban luncheon attended by some 30 black pastors. But the Defender writes, "A vote for Cohen sends the message that the Black electorate is easily duped."

In other gubernatorial endorsement news, the Rockford Register-Star's editorial board recently backed Brady in "a contentious compromise." "This is not," the paper wrote of Brady, "a ringing endorsement."