Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This bill aimed at reducing the number of votes it takes to override Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s vetoes is an almost perfect illustration of the Statehouse’s broken sausage-making process…

A plan pending in the Illinois House would reduce the number of commissioners needed for an override from an almost impossible four-fifths to just three-fifths. […]

State Rep. Paul Froehlich, a Schaumburg Democrat, is the House sponsor. The idea was first filed in the Senate by state Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat. The Senate approved it in April.

The proposal would not affect Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s veto of the county board’s rollback of a controversial sales tax. As written, the law wouldn’t take effect until 2011.

Kotowski said Tuesday he wants to change the plan to have an immediate effective date. Doing so would give commissioners a chance to bring forth another repeal and, if Stroger again vetoes it, have an easier time casting that veto aside.

Take a look at the bill’s history for some chuckles. As originally introduced, the bill would’ve had an immediate effective date. Sen. Kotowski amended the bill to take out that immediate date on March 11th. Now, he wants to put it back in. Oops.

Rep. Froehlich picked up the bill after it passed the Senate. The measure was sent to the Mike Madigan-controlled Executive Committee, where it never received a vote (Surprise!). The passage deadline has expired, so it’s now sitting in the purgatory of Madigan’s House Rules Committee. The above story was generated after Sen. Kotowski and Rep. Froehlich held a Statehouse press conference, but there’s no word yet on whether Speaker Madigan will let the bill out of Rules.

So, the press conference was apparently a gratuitous pop. And the bill’s fate to date is exactly why people believe the leaders have way too much power over the process.

* Stroger, by the way, can’t really be described as a politically cooked goose. The meat has been fried off his body and now we’re getting to the marrow…

As he takes political heat for blocking a push to lower county sales taxes, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is in hot water for a more personal tax issue: He owes Uncle Sam nearly $12,000 for unpaid income taxes, recently filed records show.

Lots of people have had tax liens placed on them, but lots of people aren’t running for reelection after raising taxes on one of the largest counties in the nation.

* Related…

* Cook County Board president defends tax increase

* Defending veto, Stroger blasts repeal as ploy

* Todd Stroger is Confused About Taxes

* Polls will be place for tax statement

* Provident Employees Carefully Watching Sales Tax Outcome

11 Comments

- Hank - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 12:05 pm:
Stroger is now eligilble to become part of the Obama cabinet!
Take him please

- wordslinger - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 12:28 pm:
That’s awfully quick work by the IRS regarding Stroger.

Assuming he filed by April 15, 2008 for tax year 2007, the IRS audited his return, had some correspondence back and forth and then filed the lien in less than a year.

I had a friendly little disagreement with the IRS a few fears back, and it took a couple of years to settle, without a lien and without my using a lawyer. The back and forth of just a few letters took about a year.

Still, another pebble on the pile for Todd.

- Wumpus - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 12:33 pm:
Wow, if I were Froehlich, I would stay away from tax issues for now.

- Amy - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 12:39 pm:
Provident should be closed. It should never have been taken over. the Cook County healthcare system is a total mess and lots could be carved out. the scare tactics from Todd on healthcare are over the top.

- Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 12:43 pm:
I lean toward agreeing with word about the speed of the lein….

Isn’t it amazing how fast bureaucracies can move when someone of influence drops a dime on someone.

- Bob - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 3:02 pm:
So they are ready to throw Todd under the bus, so much for loyality. Todd may not be perfect but putting in some Daley hacks like Paul Vallas or Forrest Claypool will not help matters. Why doesnt Bill Beavers go off on the Daley Clan, the corruption on the 5th floor is so much greater than the corruption on the County side.

- Wumpus - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 4:10 pm:
Bob, are you implying that beavers is not corrupt? Or does not benefit from the mess that is Cook COunty? He did get himself a nice cushy gig as a result of his role in the Prince Todd fiasco.

- 2ConfusedCrew - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 4:13 pm:
Could someone ask Kowtowski and Froelich how to pay for the hospital and prison????

- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 4:30 pm:
Todd Stroger is Confused About Taxes allright, it appears he views payment of income tax as optional.

- Independent - Wednesday, May 13, 09 @ 5:52 pm:
Bob, Beavers had plenty of chances to oppose Daley during his tenure in the Council but he consistently fell in line. For him to call out the city on corruption now would reflect poorly on himself.

I do agree that the corruption of City Hall dwarfs that of Cook County but you wouldn’t know it from the editorial pages. They have opened up on Stroger with both barrels while continuing to handle Daley with care.

- Anonymous - Thursday, May 14, 09 @ 9:57 am:
Reducing the power of any single individual, especially the executive, would enhance democracy and shift power closer to the people, returning power to legislators.

Unfortunately, our Legislature is dominated by just two leaders, so until they’re elected by statewide vote and thus accountable to the people, we still have excessive autocratic monopolization of power, which inevitably leads to abuses and corruption.

Is it any suprise we’re the most corrupt state in the nation? Even Louisiana has recently reformed.

Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.