- Limit loophole looms large? A front page story in The New York Times on Saturday covered a loophole that’s allowing 2012 Presidential hopefuls to skirt federal campaign finance limits as they build pre-campaign war chests. Donations to federal PACs are limited to $5,000, but many state-based entities have no limits, and unlike their federal cousins, they can also take money from corporations and unions. So a few of the early bird candidates are building up giant organizing funds state-by-state. Illinois lawmakers ought to think about closing the loophole if they support the federal limits that are being circumvented.
- Whither the death penalty in Illinois? Jim Warren, who writes a column for our partners at the Chicago News Coop, takes a close look at the final report released this past week by the Illinois Capital Reform Study Committee, which was created in 2003 to study death penalty issues in the wake of former Gov. George Ryan’s moratorium on capital punishment. As Warren points out, the report is filled with troubling statistics about the staggering cost of prosecuting and defending death penalty cases and settling lawsuits resulting from wrongful convictions. The report is must-reading for anyone who is interested in the future of the death penalty in Illinois.
- Transit watchdog compromise? The Trib reports that State Sen. Susan Garrett, who’s been working with groups like the BGA to push for an independent inspector general to keep an eye on scandal-plagued, post-Pagano Metra, has agreed to a compromise suggested by Senate President John Cullerton. Instead of a prolonged fight with Metra and its parent, the RTA, over selection process, powers and jurisdiction, Cullerton wants to expand the scope of the state’s executive IG’s to include all of the transit agencies—Metra, Pace, RTA and CTA.
- “Another leak in the city’s water system.” That’s the headline on the latest Sun-Times Watchdog story on Chicago’s problem-plagued water system. This one details a double-standard in billing procedures for car washes—the ones that have water meters installed are billed for usage, while others without meters pay a flat rate based on their square footage. That, as you might expect, leads to wild variations in water bills for comparable car washes. The city is threatening to turn off the water to businesses that don’t comply with a demand to install meters immediately.
- The folly of one man is the fortune of another. According to Bloomberg, Chicago’s bum parking meter deal has other cities brainstorming on how to make their own deals safer and more lucrative. A key, sought-after component is an exit clause that allows the city to end the lease—which Chicago, of course, doesn’t have.
What I’m Watching—Nov. 15, 2010
