THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Pritzker signs budget, reduces legislative pay raise...Link, Rita testify in latest political corruption trial...More on Bears fiasco
June 8, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
As we mentioned earlier in the week, we’ll be out of the office for the rest of the week and next week. Newsletters will resume on Monday, June 19.
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YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs $50.4 billion state budget but vetoes legislators’ pay hike that exceeded state limit (Chicago Tribune)
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed a $50.4 billion state budget that boosts funding for education from preschool through college, but was also forced to use his veto pen to dial back pay raises for lawmakers and other state officials so that the hikes comply with state law.
Pritzker’s last-minute tweak provides for 5% raises, the maximum allowed, instead of the 5.5% increase that was included in the budget passed last month by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Lawmakers will now be making $89,250 in the budget year that begins July 1, instead of $89,675. The change reduces the overall budget by less than $200,000.
Though Pritzker said lawmakers made an “inadvertent” error in approving salary hikes beyond what the law allows, the need for a fix reflects the sometimes chaotic nature of the budget process in Springfield, which ended with a post-midnight House vote on May 24.
The hectic atmosphere was amplified this year by disputes among Democrats over spending priorities that continued even after Pritzker joined Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside to announce they’d reached accord on the budget.
The change on salaries made by Pritzker, which takes effect unless lawmakers vote to override them, marks the second time in three years the governor has had to make technical fixes to the budget sent to him by lawmakers.
Nevertheless, the governor and Democratic legislative leaders were unified Wednesday in presenting the spending plan as another step toward long-term fiscal stability for the state under Pritzker.
“Thanks to our firmer fiscal foundation, we have been able to put billions of dollars back in the pockets of Illinois taxpayers while investing in our future,” Pritzker said at a signing ceremony in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side.
Republicans continued their criticisms of the spending plan Wednesday, with House GOP leader Tony McCombie of Savanna saying in a statement that it “puts the state’s fiscal outcome at risk and all but guarantees future tax hikes.”
McCombie, who during the House debate on the budget said she believed the pay raises approved by lawmakers would have violated the state constitution, called Pritzker’s last-second reduction “paltry.”
“While this change may make it constitutional, it does not make it right,” she said. “House Republicans will continue to hold the majority party accountable to not only our constitutional rights but also to Illinois taxpayers.”
Related: Pritzker signs $50.4 billion budget that boosts early education funding — and stops state officials’ raises from breaking the law (Chicago Sun-Times)
Pritzker signs budget, but small tweak highlights broad veto powers (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Pritzker signs $50.4 billion budget, championing investments in education (State Journal-Register)
Pritzker puts final stamp on $50.4 billion state spending plan (Capitol News Illinois)
Pritzker touts commitment to education during Freeport visit (Freeport Journal-Standard)
Opinion: Legislative pay hikes once posed problem, but no more (Champaign News-Gazette)
Former state Sen. Terry Link testifies about his cooperation with FBI — which he once denied (Chicago Sun-Times)
Terry Link once publicly denied playing a central role in the federal bribery scandal that ended the career — and freedom — of fellow lawmaker Luis Arroyo.
Hours after the feds announced bribery charges in October 2019 against then-state Rep. Arroyo, the Chicago Sun-Times confirmed that Link, a state senator, had worn a wire on Arroyo while seeking a bribe.
Link told reporters it wasn’t true. But more than three years later, Link found himself sitting on the witness stand Wednesday in a courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, testifying against the man who allegedly bribed the two lawmakers, businessman James T. Weiss.
Link, 76, wore a gray suit and a yellow tie as he took his turn as star witness in the 23rd-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger. And he explained to jurors how he got there — by filing false tax returns. He pleaded guilty to the crime in 2020, admitting that he filed false returns for the years 2012 to 2016 and dodged $82,000 in taxes.
The first day of testimony in Weiss’ trial also featured appearances by state Rep. Robert “Bob” Rita and former state Sen. Antonio “Tony” Munoz. For Rita, it was his second time testifying in federal court in less than three months about bribery schemes at the Illinois Capitol.
But only Link had to explain his own crimes to the jury. The former senator told the panel that he’d withdrawn money from his campaign account and, he said, “I used some for gambling.”
“The other part was, I was helping a friend who was in dire need,” Link said. He said it was someone who “I knew most of my life and he was a businessman.”
Link has yet to be sentenced for his tax crimes, but he’s hoping his cooperation with the FBI will help him catch a break when that day comes.
Those recordings are now key evidence in the case against Weiss, a son-in-law of former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios. They were also used to prosecute Arroyo, who pleaded guilty in November 2021 and is now serving a nearly five-year prison sentence for his role in the scheme.
Federal prosecutors say Weiss paid $32,500 in bribes to Arroyo to promote legislation that would explicitly legalize unregulated gambling devices known as sweepstakes machines. Rita testified Wednesday that Arroyo, who had never before mentioned sweepstakes machines, suddenly began pestering him about it constantly in the fall of 2018.
“He continually pressed the issue to the point where I didn’t even want to talk to him anymore,” Rita testified.
Rita, by the way, is chairman of the powerful House Executive Committee.
Related: Ex-state Sen. Terry Link testifies about his turn as a government mole in federal bribery trial of Berrios son-in-law (Chicago Tribune)
'Due diligence': Naperville mayor defends meeting with Bears about stadium possibilities (Daily Herald)
Saying the city would apply "a robust public input and review process" to any proposal, Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli defended his meeting last week with Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren to discuss the possibility that the team would build a new NFL stadium in Naperville rather than Arlington Heights.
At Tuesday's city council meeting, Wehrli spoke publicly for the first time about Friday's sit-down with the new Bears president. Wehrli said representatives from the Naperville Development Partnership, city staff members and a city council representative also participated.
Responding to criticism from segments of the community and at least one city council member about his pursuit of a meeting through a letter to Warren, Wehrli stressed "these conversations are just that. They're conversations."
"No development proposal was submitted to the city," Wehrli said. "No incentives were discussed, requested or offered by either party in these meetings. No decisions have been made by anyone at city hall. We will follow our established procedures if an idea evolves into an official development proposal."
The meeting between Wehrli and Warren happened despite the Bears' purchase of the 326 acres at Arlington Park on the western edge of Arlington Heights for $197.2 million. The deal to buy the shuttered racetrack closed in February.
On Friday, the Bears released a statement saying the Arlington Heights project is "at risk" and that the team is now looking at stadium opportunities other than Arlington Park. Part of the reason, the statement read, is continuing disagreements over potential property tax assessments.
Someone asked me this week how I felt about this whole fiasco, I told them it feels more and more likely the Bears are still playing at Soldier Field by the time this is all over.
Related: Johnson holds getting-to-know-you video call with Bears as prelude to stadium talks (Chicago Sun-Times)
Johnson, Bears begin talks over team's future home (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Bears, doing business in a new way, aren’t afraid to play hardball (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: As suburbs scrap over Bears, state should back away (Shaw Media)
Opinion: To the victor in the Bears’ stadium race go the spoiled (Chicago Sun-Times)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM THE WEEK SO FAR
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Pritzker set to consider signing more than 500 bills in the next three months (Capitol News Illinois)
Giannoulias suing Coinbase for violating state securities law (Crain’s Chicago Business)
New law limits venue for constitutional lawsuits to Sangamon, Cook counties (Capitol News Illinois)
President Biden to visit Chicago for June 28 fundraiser hosted by Illinois governor (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Pritzker should sign bill to reform property tax scavenger sales (Chicago Sun-Times)
Congress tries to save AM radio as automakers threaten to pull the plug. Chicago listeners may have a lot riding on the outcome. (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Keep AM radio in cars, for safety’s sake (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: It’s a myth that burning fossil fuels is a reliable way to generate power (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Our kids need leaders to take action against guns, not books (Chicago Sun-Times)
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