THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Remembering Laurence Msall...Group run by Harmon lawyer blew off campaign finance laws...Casten's goofy ideas
February 6, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
If you don’t follow us on Twitter (you probably should), you missed that we had the appointments to two open House seats as soon as their were made:
And, in case you missed my Shaw Newspapers column Friday, we talked about the unanswered questions about Gov. Pritzker’s unpromising proposal for free college, free preschool, and free childcare.
The House and Senate return tomorrow. The Governor holds a news conference on the far south side announcing a “new industrial megasite development grant opportunity” at 9:30.
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YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Laurence Msall, municipal finance expert and keen observer of fiscal shortfalls, dies at 61 (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Laurence Msall, the Civic Federation president and fiscal watchdog who was quoted early and often when government bodies issued a budget plan or pension forecast of questionable construction, died today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to Sarah Wetmore, vice president and research director at the Chicago-based organization. He was 61 and had undergone surgery to replace a heart valve.
News of his unexpected death numbed business and civic leaders he dealt with during a career that straddled public and private sectors.
"Laurence Msall was a unique and important figure in Chicago's civic discourse," said former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, now U.S. ambassador to Japan. "His passion for the future of our city was clear to anyone who knew him. He will certainly be missed."
"It's a huge loss for the city," said Carole Brown, Chicago's chief financial officer under Emanuel. "There are not many people who had his level of respect. And he loved, loved the city."
Msall was notably au courant on the state's long-running pension crisis and City Hall's version of it, too. He castigated "the structural oddity of Illinois government" and its 9,000 separate units that underlay many fiscal problems and called to account the inequities of the Illinois property tax system.
Over more than 20 years, Msall, who was born in Evergreen Park and lived most of his life in Oak Park, raised the profile of the 129-year-old Civic Federation, moving easily in a pinstripe suit among pols, policy wonks and journalists. His career began as a legislative liaison in state government and included service as a top aide to Gov. George Ryan. Also layered in was experience as a vice president at the city's even-older business-civic organization, the Commercial Club of Chicago and its Civic Committee.
Msall could be withering, writing in Crain's last April: "Two weeks ago, in a scene reminiscent of a Faber College all-nighter, the Illinois General Assembly successfully ignored the benefits of sleep, general transparency and thoughtful deliberation to complete passage of Illinois’ $47 billion spending plan for 2023."
But along with his expertise, Msall had enough of the diplomat about him that many targets took his criticism in stride, often citing conversations with him as evidence they'd done their homework.
"He was above mere partisan politics while sufficiently seasoned in the ways of Springfield to understand how narrow was the band of policies which could secure support on both sides of the aisle," said Joseph Starshak, a former treasurer of the Civic Federation.
Laurence was an early supporter of this newsletter and often had thoughts and suggestions for me and things I should look into. He also introduced me to a lot of folks I didn’t already know. He was kind and honest and, in today’s wild and mean partisan game, had respect on both sides of the aisle.
We had coffee a few weeks before our son was born and he told me parenthood would be “the greatest joy you’ll ever know.” Boy, was he right.
We’re praying for his friends and family. Also, our email Saturday night said Msall was 60. He was 61.
Related: Civic Federation chief Laurence Msall dies at 61 (Chicago Tribune)
Laurence Msall, president of Civic Federation of Chicago, dies at 61 (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: This budget watchdog's passing is a loss for everyone who cares about good government (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Dems blew off the rules in high-profile Supreme Court races (Chicago Tribune)
A political committee, funded in part by Senate President Don Harmon’s campaign that helped expand the Democratic majority on the Illinois Supreme Court, failed to file timely campaign reports as required by state law and didn’t disclose the bulk of its $7.3 million in spending until after the election.
The committee — All for Justice — spent heavily on television ads in support of winning Democratic Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien. The commercials painted Republican opponents as virulent anti-abortion candidates, politically potent attacks given the U.S. Supreme Court decision that sent the issue of abortion rights to the states only months earlier.
The failure of All for Justice to follow the disclosure guidelines mandated by state election law obscured its pro-Democratic spending in the critical months preceding the November races in which the partisan balance of the Illinois Supreme Court was up for grabs.
“It’s amazing,” said Kent Redfield, an Illinois campaign finance expert and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “It denied the public, the news media and the people who participated in the campaigns full knowledge of what’s going on.”
By not following the disclosure rules, the spending by All for Justice — which represented a quarter of the more than $23 million spent overall on the two Supreme Court races and nearly 40% of the money behind the Democratic candidates — went undisclosed until months after the election.
All for Justice was formed in August 2022 as an independent expenditure political action committee, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates but cannot coordinate its spending with the contenders it backs.
Because it began spending money on Sept. 29, within 60 days of the Nov. 8 election, All for Justice was required to file detailed public reports within two days for each expenditure of $1,000 or more that it made on behalf of Rochford and O’Brien or against Republican opponents Mark Curran and Michael Burke. Instead, they filed nothing.
The stringent public filing rule is an essential requirement of the state campaign finance law that is designed to give voters, watchdogs and opponents a full understanding of how and where independent expenditure groups are spending their money.
“This is the heart of campaign disclosure,” said Redfield, who helped shape the law now in place. “We try to make it transparent so that people, when people are voting, they know who’s supporting a candidate, and they can take that into account.”
On documents filed with the State Board of Elections, Luke Casson is listed as chair and treasurer of All for Justice. Casson is a founding partner of the Andreou & Casson law firm. In addition, on his LinkedIn profile, Casson lists himself as “counsel for the office of the president of the Illinois Senate,” who is Harmon. He also lists himself as political director of the Democratic Party of Oak Park, which is Harmon’s political base as Oak Park Township Democratic committeeperson on the state Democratic Party Central Committee.
Neither Casson nor any other representatives of All for Justice immediately responded to requests for comment.
Harmon has played a leading role in the passage of laws aimed at prohibiting major state contractors from making political donations and establishing campaign contribution limits.
We’ll have more on some of Harmon and Casson’s shady dealings in the coming days.
Sean Casten floats some big ideas for Congress, Supreme Court (Crain’s Chicago Business)
As the new Congress is getting in gear on the business of legislating, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, this week unveiled a rather ambitious package of measures to "reform democracy" by expanding the House and Senate and changing the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
"None of us in this room are perfect." Casten said on the House floor late Tuesday. "Our founders weren't perfect, but we are perfectible, and we have a job that affords us the opportunity and the responsibility to make our government a little bit better, a little bit more responsive, a little bit more democratic, to move the baton forward."
One measure would expand the 100-member Senate by adding 12 at-large senators elected by a nationwide system of ranked voting. Because the U.S. Constitution requires that each state be represented by two senators, half of the body is elected by 17% of the nation's population, Casten said.
If by “rather ambitious” you mean “blatantly crackpot unconstitutional idea that isn’t going anywhere,” then yeah.
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Plaintiffs in Macon County lawsuit ask judge to halt semiautomatic weapons ban statewide (Decatur Herald & Review)
How much did your representative get from special interests before the last election? (Daily Herald)
From repealing the weapons ban to no smoking here are five new bills lawmakers introduced (State Journal-Register)
Ammons launches new attack on White Dems (Champaign News-Gazette)
Illinois weed sales picked up in January (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Illinois’ biometric privacy law strengthened by latest high court ruling (Capitol News Illinois)
Lemont mayor Egofske chosen to replace Durkin in state House (Daily Herald)
Livingston County board member chosen as Illinois state rep for 106th District (Shaw Media)
Editorial: For mayor, the Tribune Editorial Board endorses Paul Vallas (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Mayoral Power Rankings 2023: February 2023 Update (Chicago Magazine)
Editorial: State should move quickly to create a park along unused Route 53 right of way in Lake County (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Spend surplus revenue wisely, it may not be sustainable (Shaw Media)
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