The Mike Bertelsen Project

Emil Jones, Illinois State Senate President, has announced his intentions to retire, probably at the end of 2008. This has come as a surprise to many since Barack Obama once served with Jones in the state senate. The Democrat National Convention is next week in Denver.

One source said that Jones is tired and is coming to an end in the legislature. Jones has served since 1973 and has been senate president since January 2003. The formal announcement is expected sometime today.

Here is a link to the source article.

Jones garnered criticism from the fact that he funneled no-bid state contracts to a tech firm headed by his stepson. Judicial Watch recently filed suit against Jones for ignoring Freedom of Information Act requests on legislative earmarked appropriations that weren't segregated in the state budget.

Governor Rod Blagojevich has called a special session of the legislature next week. One thing I thought of is the state legislature may find enough time to enjoy the Illinois State Fair and thus help sagging attendance. But back to business. They will go at the bequest of the governor to look at the scaled-down version (from 34 to 25 billion dollars) of the capital plan and public school funding.

First the public school funding issue was brought up by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, who demanded a special session. The ILBC wants to put school funding to the forefront because of the disparity of school district funding based on property taxes versus a tax dollar boost from income taxes. Recently Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago) called for parents to register their children for the upcoming school year at the New Trier Township school district, a wealthy suburban district. This is to be done to protest the funding disparities between intercity and suburban school districts.

Meeks and other African-American legislators have called for a property tax/income tax swap to equalize funding among school districts. Several have said that this plan would raise income taxes. This notion is nothing new. I can remember when Jim Edgar was in office as governor, he tried twice for at least some sort of reduction of the property tax for schools, but he could get no real, serious support and the initiatives failed. Once the plan was dead before any real talk on the issue could get going. Remember Edgar left office in January 1999. That's how long this has been. In Chicago, Meeks said he hoped to see a vote next week on a bill to allow students to go to whatever school district they wished. He also called for a vote on legislation to dismantle the state’s school funding system in 2010, forcing a rewrite of the funding system during the next gubernatorial election year.

I personally don't criticize the idea of this (I've shot the idea out in plenty of tax discussions for the last 12 years), but I have a difficulty accepting that this should be attempted in a special session without so much as a hearing on the issue. What do school administrators have to say? Or even county treasurers (of which I am one)? Since we collect and distribute school district property tax monies, I am a bit curious how an income tax system would operate. Plus how would this effect the property tax levy process? Would income taxes have to be increased? Get my concern? Logistics are a bit involved here!

Well if that's not enough, the capital plan revenue is still up in the air, since the major portion of the revenue is the sale or lease of the lottery. Meeks wanted the sale or lease of the lottery to go to education, but that plan failed. Meeks said he would not vote for the lottery sale or lease to fund construction. Will Senator Meeks appeal for a sale or lease of the lottery for his school tax swap plan? Tune in to find out. Will there be the votes in the House to use the lottery to fund the capital plan. A "test run" in the last special session said no (the vote was for the expansion of gambling licenses), but more House Republicans than who'd thought, voted for the expansion of gambling licenses as a source of revenue. Were they just practicing for what was yet to come? By the way, that initiative failed mainly due to a three-fifths vote needed.

If that's not enough, bring State Senate President Emil Jones into the mix. Jones faces the prospect of the legislative pay raises taking effect while the Senate is in session, opening him and other Democrats to criticism, or should I say more criticism? Jones & Co. have an "out" and that is to reject the raises in this special session. How bad does Mr. Jones and the Senate Democrats want that raise? We'll soon see.

Chicago Tribune Clout Street was a source article for this entry

Judicial Watch has filed lawsuits against Governor Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Senate and State Senate President Emil Jones. The lawsuits were filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield. The suits are part of an investigation by Judicial Watch which involve private deals between Governor Blagojevich and Democrat lawmakers. Judicial Watch is also reviewing public spending in general in Illinois.

Open record requests filed with the Governor's Office and the State Senate on February 20 and March 25, 2008 were ignored, prompting the lawsuits. The lawsuits were necessary, according to Judicial Watch, to force compliance with Illinois open records law.

Judicial Watch and Americans for Prosperity launched an investigation of public spending policies in the State of Illinois after multiple press reports documented "secret side deals" between Governor Blagojevich and Illinois lawmakers "for items ranging from police cars and tornado sirens to millions of dollars for after-school programs..." (The Chicago Tribune estimated these pork barrel projects cost Illinois taxpayers at least $70.8 million in 2006 alone.)

A detailed review of public spending practices in Illinois is being conducted by Judicial Watch and Americans for Prosperity, including member initiatives and/or earmarked appropriations, about which substantial questions have been raised," Judicial Watch wrote in its original open records request filed with the Illinois Senate.

I have said that if elected I would call for a major, independent accounting firm to conduct a thorough audit of Illinois government spending. This might well be happening now with the Judicial Watch investigation.

I've been in public service for just over 13 1/2 years as an elected public official. I am a state constitutional officer since the local government section of the state constitution states that a county shall have at least three officers: the county clerk, the county treasurer and the county sheriff. I come to the courthouse as a public servant to serve.

Do I make mistakes? Yes. Hopefully my mistakes aren't too big to handle and when I do make a mistake I first admit it to myself and then tell someone about it and then I go on to correct what I've done wrong. Simple enough. I've been fortunate enough that I haven't made too many of the same mistakes twice. Good for me and good for the people I serve. I don't get too many compliments, but I'm not in public service for those..I am in public service to help people and to fix their problems. Have I always been successful helping people? No, but that doesn't mean that I didn't try.

Why am I writing about this? Because I read something today that really bothered me. The entry in the Capital Fax Blog for today frankly made me ashamed that we have those in the roles of leadership in the legislative and executive branches of government that don't have the people at heart. After all they are in the role of public servants too. They were elected to help people, but with their current attitudes they give the impression that they only care about themselves and are using the people that need state funding to their own advantage.

Is this merely coincidence, or is this evidence that one-party rule is not working in Illinois? Why then did State Senate President Emil Jones demand a pay raise and Senator Mike Jacobs say that he deserves a pay raise and he is worth every penny? Are they truly getting the job done or is this an example of one-party rule?

On a personal note, I don't know if I deserve what I am paid. I like to think that I earn what I am paid, but I am not the judge of that, the taxpayers are. As a a taxpayer ask if the state legislature and the governor are earning what they make. Do they really deserve a raise in light of the problems they helped to create?

Mr. Blagojevich, Madigan and Jones need to admit to themselves that they made a mistake.
They then need to tell each other that they made a mistake, and when they are done they need to tell the citizens of Illinois they made a mistake. That would enable them to get back to work and balance a budget, or in other words, correct a mistake. I propose the legislature get back in session on August 5th to hammer out the budget problems and allow for enough revenue streams to balance the budget. I want them to show some leadership and get the job done. According to Rich Miller, Illinois used to be a rough and tumble get the job done state, but no longer. Is there enough leadership in the one-party rule Democrat Party to see this through? I doubt it.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers has sent a letter to State Senate President Emil Jones requesting that he bring the state senate back in session to override the vetoes made by the Governor.

Their letter spells out the cuts and one item in particular is the cut of matching funds to capture federal dollars for higher education.

The House goes back in session to hopefully finalize the FY2009 budget, but if the House puts back some of the cuts, State Senate President Emil Jones says he won't go along.

The cuts could hit the Robert Young Center, with about $500,000 at stake. According to a Quad City Times article, The Douglas Park Place women's recovery center is the most threatened.

The Governor vetoed just over $11 million dollars in specific social services programs.