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Pritzker on Thursday appointed former Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno to a newly formed ethics commission.
The governor on Wednesday named his four appointees to the commission, including former state Rep. Steven Andersson. Andersson was one of a dozen Republicans who joined Democrats to vote for a budget and income tax hike in July 2017 over the objections of former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Andersson, however, was a lobbyist until June 28. The resolution bars anyone who registered or worked as a lobbyist in the previous five years.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Christine Radogno, the Democrats’ favorite, go-to Republican. She’ll stand up to them, right? Jim Edgar must not have been available.