Lawmakers return to the Illinois Capitol today for the fall veto session. The session, slated to last three days this week and three next, will focus on money for cash strapped college students and stronger ethics laws.
An ethics measure approved by the Cook County Board yesterday will require county contractors and lobbyists to disclose the names of relatives who are elected municipal, county or state officials according to Clout Street.
There was a bit of controversy earlier this week when a proposed "retirement" party for allegedly outgoing Ald. William J.P. Banks (36th) raised eyebrows regarding the ethical nature of the $200 per ticket price-tag and the alleged "gift" Banks was to receive. But now that party has been canceled. The Trib, who originally broke the news of the party, is on the case:
While he's yet to officially announce his retirement, it seems Ald. William J.P. Banks (36th) is preparing to step down and his apparent successor is throwing him a party but it costs $200-a-ticket. According to the Tribune:
It's not illegal, but the fact Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s campaign has paid his aldermanic wife Sandi (7th) over half-a-million dollars since 2001 certainly does raise eyebrows. The campaign has paid her $247,500 since 2001 including $95,000 since she became an alderman in 2007. On top of that, there's also $298,927 of cash and contributions to Sandi's campaign. Still, while it seems to push the boundaries of ethical behavior, there's nothing illegal about it. A spokesman for Jesse Jackson told Bloomberg via email, “Congressman Jackson and Alderman Jackson are each other’s biggest supporters...[they] do their best to follow all federal, state and local rules, laws and ethic codes." Bloomberg has the full story. [via NBC 5]
Among the mayor's more quixotic statements, his declaration yesterday that he is "leading the way" on ethics reform is at the top. At a press conference where he outlined his wishlist from state lawmakers (including more education funding, better gun control laws and property tax reform), he left out ethics reform. When asked why, he announced that Chicago is "more transparent than any other government." Said the mayor: "We've done everything here. We're leading the way with our inspector general, office of compliance, all the things we've done." Adding that "we're doing a tremendous job here, we lead by example," he noted that he hasn't finished reading Governor Pat Quinn's reform commission's recommendations. "I haven't completed reading it yet," he said.
Over the weekend, the White House posted on its blog about a special ethics waiver that was granted so as to allow senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett to serve as the White House's lead in supporting the Chicago 2016 bid. Per the White House:
Photo by Detroit Chris
Feel like expressing your political choice on the campus of the University of Illinois? Well, if you're an employee of the university, you can't. According to Inside Higher Ed:
The university system’s ethics office sent a notice to all employees, including faculty members, telling them that they could not wear political buttons on campus or feature bumper stickers on cars parked in campus lots unless the messages on those buttons and stickers were strictly nonpartisan. In addition, professors were told that they could not attend political rallies on campuses if those rallies express support for a candidate or political party.Professors at the University are circulating a draft of a response to the memo, including the following statement.
Although these rules are not at present being enforced, the AAUP [American Association of University Professors] deplores their chilling effect on speech, their interference with the educational process, and their implicit castigation of normal practice during political campaigns.A spokesman for the university said he was unaware of a particular incident that inspired the decision.
Rod Blagojevich lashed out at his critics over the weekend, boldly announcing that he's "followed every rule that exists," that Obama will regret meddling in the state's ethics legislation and espousing his theories on how Tony Rezko wound up in the mess he's in now.
In swift order Wednesday afternoon, the Illinois House shot down Governor Rod Blagojevich's amendatory veto to a major ethics bill. House Bill 824 bans campaign contributions from people and businesses that have at least $50K worth of contracts with the state. The bill applies to all state officials, although it is aimed largely at Blagojevich, who raises large sums of money from state contractors.
While the City Council was following up on the General Assembly's plan to "save" the CTA last week, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett was advocating for minority businesses.
When last we checked in on Amy Jacobson, things weren't going too well. She went from working the point on the biggest missing person story of the year (before Drew Peterson's skeeviness made Craig Stebic look like a paragon of virtue by comparison) to out of a job, all because of an "what the hell were you thinking?" decision to slip on a two-piece bathing suit, take the kids in tow to Stebic's house and work the case while unknowingly being filmed by CBS 2 cameras.
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