Capital Facts

Third term for Pritzker may be up to his wife

Published by admin on Sat, 09/07/2024 - 11:31am

“It seems crazy, but it’s true that when I serve out the end of this second term, I will be the longest-serving Democratic governor in the history of Illinois,” Gov. JB Pritzker said last month during the Democratic National Convention.
I looked it up and it’s true.
Pat Quinn served about six years as governor, replacing Rod Blagojevich, who also did six years before doing time in prison. Dan Walker served four years before he also went to prison. Otto Kerner left before the end of his second term to become a federal judge, then went to prison.

Gov. Pritzker has long talked about freedom

Published by admin on Mon, 09/02/2024 - 8:51am

Several stories and columns appeared in the national news media shortly before and during the recent Democratic National Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris’ emphasis on the concept of “freedom” in her speeches and messaging.
Convention delegates in Chicago hoisted signs with the word “Freedom” on them all week. Oprah Winfrey even talked about freedom in her speech to the DNC. Quite a few pundits seemed to be caught off guard by how popular the concept had suddenly become with Democrats.

We need to live more in the present

Published by admin on Sun, 08/25/2024 - 4:50pm

Since the 2022 election, far too many Illinoisans have been far too eager to pine for a repeat of the past.
It started with non-stop rumors about Gov. JB Pritzker running for president. Every word he spoke, every position he took, every out of state trip he made was examined for signs of what everybody thought they knew. And they played it up for all it was worth whenever they could.

Welch believes Illinios Democrats can build their majority

Published by admin on Sat, 08/17/2024 - 2:15pm

Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch has said he thinks he can flip somewhere between four and six Republican-held House districts to Democratic control, upping his super-majority to between 82 and 84 seats, from his current 78.
Which Republican districts are flippable? I talked with a high-level source close to Welch’s caucus who pointed to the following races.

Ill-informed posts backfires on state senator

Published by admin on Sun, 08/04/2024 - 3:51pm

A Facebook post last week by state Sen. Willie Preston (D-Chicago created a stir, caused one of his fellow Democratic Senators to bow out of a planned joint fundraiser and, ultimately, the entire fundraiser wascanceled.
It's all a good illustration of the ill-informed, rapid-fire insanity of our social media-fueled era.
Sen. Preston posted an incendiary story by a notorious British tabloid about Olympics boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria. “Boxer 'deemed male' leaves Italian female fighter in tears at Olympics,” was the Daily Mail headline.

Pritzker: proposed firearms removal law would be difficult to enforce

Published by admin on Fri, 07/26/2024 - 4:44pm

“I support Karina’s Law,” Gov. JB Pritzker emphatically told me.
It’s the strongest statement he’s made about the bill which stalled in the Senate last spring. The proposal would mandate that police remove firearms from a person who has been served with a domestic violence order of protection. But there still appear to be some Pritzker caveats.

Pritzker refutes $1.1 billion more for CPS

Published by admin on Sun, 07/21/2024 - 11:23am

An oft-repeated $1.1 billion demand from Chicago’s mayor would actually wind up costing state taxpayers $5.5 billion. And Gov. JB Pritzker is turning a big thumbs down.
Chicago Public Schools made the huge mistake of putting a ton of temporary federal pandemic aid into its permanent spending base for years and that money is just about gone. It also recently over-estimated some state tax revenues.

Chicago’s transit system is in tatters

Published by admin on Sat, 07/13/2024 - 1:56pm

A little-noticed bill passed both the Illinois House and Senate that will generate $300 to $400 million a year for local governments, including $95-127 million for the Regional Transportation Authority.
The bill (SB3362) will help capture sales tax revenue from more out of state retailers and in-state retailers who ship to Illinoisans in out of state locations.

Times have changed in the Illinois Senate

Published by admin on Sun, 06/30/2024 - 11:44am

During the last couple weeks of the spring state legislative session, Senate President Don Harmon got whacked twice by allies, including Gov. JB Pritzker, but still managed to keep his cool.
On May 14th, the pro-choice powerhouse group Personal PAC issued a blistering press release blasting the Senate super-majority for an “unacceptable decision” to strip abortion services from the governor’s birth equity bill, which banned co-pays and other added insurance costs for most prenatal and postnatal care.

Will outsiders do a better job as Illinois Republican leaders?

Published by admin on Sun, 06/23/2024 - 12:18pm

As you’ve probably heard by now, Illinois Republican Party Chair DonTracy announced his resignation last week, apparently effective the day after the Republican National Convention concludes on July 18.
The announcement came after far-right activists forced out the state party’s vice chair, Mark Shaw, and the resignation of the party’s finance chair, Vince Kolber. Both Shaw and Kolber had made unsuccessful bids for the Republican National Committeeman post days earlier, but were rejected by state convention attendees.