THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Madigan trial...Brandon Johnson's no good, very bad budget...Campaign cash
October 31, 2024
Happy Halloween, Illinois.
We may be leading to a trick for Illinois Republicans and a treat for Illinois Democrats next week, but we’ll find out.
I’m taping “State Week” on Illinois Public Radio tomorrow morning and then planning to get out on the campaign trail for the final few days of the campaign. I’ll be sending missives to subscribers all through the weekend.
You should join us.
If you haven’t checked out our new The Ground Game Podcast, I hope you’ll take a few minutes out of your day. We talked to Maricopa County, AZ Recorder Stephen Richer this week and, by golly, he’s awesome. Click here.
Governor Pritzker cuts the ribbon at a stormwater project in south suburban Robbins at 11.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Defense in Madigan corruption trial scores a small victory as judge strikes some testimony from key witness (Chicago Sun-Times)
The federal judge presiding over the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan agreed to toss a small — but potentially key — piece of testimony Wednesday that put Madigan’s co-defendant in the room with him during discussion of a 2016 ComEd bill.
It’s a limited victory for Michael McClain, the longtime ComEd lobbyist who was also known as Madigan’s messenger around the Illinois State Capitol. But it likely did little damage to the case brought by prosecutors, who seemed to then fend off another attack by defense attorneys later in the morning.
It all played out during a short trial day that featured multiple legal arguments — and only three hours of testimony for the jurors.
The evidence tossed by the judge was delivered by former longtime Madigan aide Will Cousineau, who returned to the witness stand Wednesday. He discussed his role in efforts to pass the Future Energy Jobs Act late in 2016.
Cousineau told jurors Wednesday that, at one point, he didn’t believe there were enough votes to pass the bill in the Illinois House of Representatives. He said he gave the news to Madigan by phone, and Madigan told him to “go out and work the bill.”
Cousineau also testified that he believed McClain was with Madigan at the time.
“I don’t recall specifically how I knew that,” Cousineau said.
The bill ultimately passed. But McClain attorney Patrick Cotter seized on Cousineau’s lack of recall, arguing in court that U.S. District Judge John Blakey should toss the testimony. Blakey wound up having Cousineau clarify his answers without jurors present.
“I’m just giving you my best recollection,” Cousineau said. “I don’t recall exactly how it went — if Mr. McClain said something, if the speaker said Mike was there. I don’t have a recollection. My best recollection is just that Mr. McClain was with the speaker.”
When jurors returned to the courtroom, Blakey read the controversial testimony back to the jury. Then he told them, “You’re supposed to totally disregard, and that is my instruction.”
Cousineau’s testimony then continued, with Cousineau telling jurors McClain thanked him for helping pass FEJA.
Related: Former Madigan lieutenant gives jurors in corruption case insider look at speaker’s power (Chicago Tribune)
Ex-ComEd exec testifies Madigan's support was crucial to key bills it sought — but at a price (Chicago Sun-Times)
ComEd execs joked Madigan co-defendant was ‘double agent,’ utility’s former top lawyer testifies (Capitol News Illinois)
Mayor Brandon Johnson seeks $300M property tax hike in 2025 budget (Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday proposed Chicago’s largest property tax hike in almost a decade as part of his $17.3 billion budget plan for next year.
The $300 million increase that would hit Chicago homeowners, landlords and other property owners is a major flip-flop from Johnson’s campaign vow not to employ the widely unpopular, and often politically toxic, revenue-raising tactic. It is also one his team justified as necessary in order to balance a projected $982.4 million shortfall in 2025, along with sweeping tax increment financing funds and eliminating hundreds of vacant positions across city government. More than half of those will come from the Police Department.
In his budget address to the City Council, Johnson said the tax hike was the only path forward after previous administrations “governed with this veneer of fiscal responsibility, when in fact they weren’t.”
“This budget currently includes a property tax increase of $300 million to fund and keep our commitment to fund not just our pension contributions, but to fund the future of our city,” Johnson said to a packed room of aldermen, union officials, community organizers and concerned citizens. “This is tough. It is. It is something that I grappled with for weeks and weeks. We didn’t make this decision lightly.”
Johnson made the case that the primary alternative — layoffs — would be devastating to the city’s workforce, an argument that will likely please his labor base but could bristle property owners who see it as inflating their tax bills to prop up government workers.
Related: Mayor Brandon Johnson unveils $17.3 billion city budget, proposes steep property tax increase (Chicago Sun-Times)
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s property tax hike gets opposition, caution from aldermen (Chicago Tribune)
Johnson's $17.3 billion budget faces pushback in City Council, with a close ally in the opposition (Crain’s Chicago Business)
By the numbers: Unions lead the way on funding state elections in Illinois (Capitol News Illinois)
This year in Illinois, there are no statewide elections. There are no fights over a Supreme Court seat. There are no constitutional amendments. At the Statehouse, more than half of general election races are uncontested.
And yet, political campaigns in Illinois raised about $600 million in itemized individual contributions, according to a Capitol News Illinois analysis of state campaign finance data. Accounting for loans, transfers between political committees and other contributions, more than $1 billion changed hands among Illinois’ political organizations between Nov. 9, 2022, and Oct. 15, 2024 – the final required disclosure deadline before the election.
In total, campaigns have spent at least $633 million in this election cycle, according to state board data. About two-thirds of that, or $418 million, was spent on direct campaign expenses like advertising, events and paying campaign staff, with the rest going to loans and to other campaigns.
State campaign committees for 2024 candidates – the organizations that pay for General Assembly and judicial campaigns – took in about $223.7 million between the previous election and Oct. 15 in the form of direct donations, transfers between committees and in-kind donations. The rest went to political parties and local campaigns.
Democratic candidates this cycle took in about $4.90 for every $1 that Republicans received in direct support, in-kind donations and transfers. About one-third of that support to candidates of both parties came from organized labor groups and unions.
Republicans share many of the same donors but receive less support from unions and have fewer large donors overall.
This campaign cycle represents a departure from what had become the norm in many Illinois elections over the past decade. A few wealthy donors have long dominated campaign finance, but this cycle, fewer billionaires are making major donations.
The independently wealthy former Gov. Bruce Rauner made waves in 2014 when he put millions of his own dollars into his run against Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn.
Rauner lost his reelection bid in 2018 to current Gov. JB Pritzker. Between the two of them, they raised more than $250 million that cycle, making the race one of the most expensive state elections in U.S. history.
Billionaires Ken Griffin and Dick and Elizabeth Uihlein supported Rauner in both of his campaigns and continued to put hundreds of millions of dollars into elections after Pritzker took office.
But the Uihlein family has only given about $1.3 million to state candidates this cycle. Griffin moved to Florida and has mostly stayed out of Illinois politics.
And Pritzker – still the largest individual contributor in state campaigns – has given about $25 million this cycle. That’s just under one-sixth of what he spent when he ran for governor in 2022 and just under one-third of what he spent in 2020 when he backed an ultimately doomed campaign to remove the flat income tax provision from the state constitution.
TOP STORIES SO FAR THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
State legislators announce plans to introduce campaign finance reform legislation (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois launches system to submit confidential reports as hate crime numbers surge (Chicago Sun-Times)
Pritzker questions vetting, aldermen ask for resignation of newly appointed school board president (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois reading scores top pre-pandemic levels, but results lag in math and for high schoolers (Chicago Sun-Times)
In Illinois, a support network helps undocumented students find paths to college (WBEZ)
Area political volunteers hope to make a difference in swing states (Chicago Tribune)
Wide funding gap between Ramirez, Booras in 3rd District race (Daily Herald)
US House Rep. Brad Schneider faces GOP challenger in bid for 6th term: ‘There is so much at stake’ (Lake County News-Sun)
Illinois’ 17th Congressional seat gets competitive in matchup between incumbent Eric Sorensen and Joe McGraw (WBEZ)
Fiscal issues foremost for Villa, Brown in 25th District senate contest (Daily Herald)
Ugaste faces rematch from Democrat Robertson in 65th House District (Daily Herald)
Kristen Chiaro challenges incumbent Mike Coffey (Illinois Times)
Illinois Democrats already hold a supermajority of state House seats. They want more. (WBEZ)
Opinion: Other cities have figured out post-pandemic public transit. Why can't Chicago? (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: After a slow start, sports gambling in Illinois has taken off (Champaign News-Gazette)
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