Readers, I have been frustrated by the Illinois end-of-session legislative frenzy since it became clear that this frenzy was indeed underway. In the first paragraph of a recent Forbes article, I wrote:
Illinois readers will already be aware of the flurry of activity due to a May 31 deadline for the regular legislative session in Illinois: legalizing pot, passing a budget, and funding a massive infrastructure construction plan with tax boosts and a near-doubling of gambling positions in the state, along with some 300 other bills that sailed under the radar in the last days of the session. And — sadly, but not surprisingly — the details of these bills were largely hammered out in backroom deals, without any transparency. It’s a discouraging story, and readers elsewhere can choose whether to take this as a cautionary tale or revel in schadenfreude.
Now, part of my initial frustration was due to the funding side of things: the fact that there was no reporting, that I could tell, on how revenues from pot and gambling increases were being calculated, and there appears to be a dearth of analysis on the impact of pot and gambling on those Illinoisans who are already living paycheck-to-paycheck, other than a repeated assertion that people are already going to Indiana to gamble so we might as well keep the revenue in-state.
But it was proving difficult to comment on the state’s actual spending plans for the $45 billion in “capital” spending. Is it legitimate infrastructure spending, with allocations made by experts to get the most bang for the buck in terms of long-term benefit to the state commensurate with the long-term borrowing to fund it? Or is it pork?
Turns out, it’s pork.
Here are some excerpts from the Chicago Tribune‘s reporting:
How much each rank-and-file lawmaker gets to claim for his or her district is a bit of a moving target, but several Senate Democrats said they were allotted about $6 million each for what’s euphemistically called “member initiatives.” Several House Democrats said they received about $3 million each from a program their party’s rookie governor had pushed for months. . . .
Speaker Madigan played a big role in carving up the pork-barrel spending. Included in the bill is $50 million for grants to be doled out by the Illinois Arts Council, which is chaired by Shirley Madigan, the speaker’s wife.
Steve Brown, a spokesman for the speaker, said many lawmakers have long shown support for the art group’s initiatives.
Madigan’s 13th Ward in Chicago also will benefit. There’s $9 million for upgrades to Hancock College Preparatory High School, where city Public Building Commission records show a replacement school with a capacity of 1,080 students is moving forward just south of Midway Airport. Brown noted there’s a “lot of overcrowding” in area...