Gov. Quinn and Mayor Daley

Gov. Pat Quinn brings out Mayor Richard Daley to rebut governor foe's criticism on tourism spending

Chicago Tribune

It may have taken him a week, but Gov. Pat Quinn brought out a high-profile political figure today to rebut his Democratic primary challenger's criticism about state spending on tourism during a budget crisis.Mayor Richard Daley stood with Quinn to talk up tourism's importance to Chicago after Comptroller Dan Hynes last week said that he was suspending payments on more than $40 million in state and lottery tourism advertising contracts.Speaking at an event at Navy Pier, Quinn called Hynes' decision "very, very short-sighted."
"As long as I'm governor, we're going to make sure that everybody in the world knows about Illinois and Chicago," Quinn said.Daley also came to Quinn's defense, saying tourism is a competitive business and the state must do all it can to actively woo visitors.
"You have to compete for these conventions," Daley said. "We're competing against Atlanta, we're competing against Las Vegas and Orlando, so you have to put packages together to get the conventions here. At the same time, you have to publicize. You have to do marketing, worldwide and throughout the United States. You can't just sit back and say 'OK, they're going to come to the city of Chicago.' It just doesn't work that way, and I think Gov. Quinn has realized that."
A spokeswoman for Hynes said the comptroller's unwillingness to pay the tourism contracts represents a "difference in priorities" from those of Quinn."Last week, Comptroller Hynes said the Governor had a decision to make," spokeswoman Carol Knowles said in a statement. "Does he want to spend $53 million on consultant and marketing contracts, or does he want to spend it on education and health care? The choice was his. If the governor believes that tourism contracts are a priority, then he should resubmit them and they will be paid."

Full Article... http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/09/gov-pat-quinn-brings-out-mayor-richard-daley-to-rebut-governor-foes-criticism-on-tourism-spending.html?obref=obinsite

Quinn to release 1,000 inmates from prison in cost-cutting move

Chicago Tribune

Gov. Pat Quinn is planning to release 1,000 inmates from prisons across Illinois the next several months in an effort to save money.An Illinois Department of Corrections prisons spokeswoman said only “low-level, non-violent” offenders who are in the last year of their sentence will qualify for early release and will be fitted with electronic monitoring devices.Officials with the corrections agency and the Quinn administration declined to provide specifics after announcing the plan late this afternoon. Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said the bulk of those to be released and placed on supervised parole will be drug and property crime offenders.
The move is estimated to save the agency about $5 million a year, Smith said, though Quinn is giving corrections an extra $2 million to monitor those who are released.The release of prisoners is another symptom of the state’s dire fiscal situation, and is coupled with Quinn’s plan to layoff approximately 1,000 prison workers. The department will layoff 419 workers effective at month’s end.Meanwhile, Quinn gave the department an extra $2 million to help divert offenders from state prisons. That money will go toward drug treatment and other community-based alternatives in an effort to reduce the number of people who receive short prison sentences. Prison officials say 47 percent of offenders released from custody each year serve six months or less behind bars.Another $2 million will be used to monitor the 1,000 inmates facing release, including assigning each a parole officer and providing drug treatment and other rehabilitative programs.

Full Article.... http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/09/quinn-to-release-1000-inmates-from-prison-in-costcutting-move.html#more

CROWDED FIELD

Announced or possible candidates for Illinois lieutenant governor:

Democrats

• Mike Boland, state representative, Moline.

• Thomas Castillo, electrician, Elmhurst.

• Scott Lee Cohen, businessman, Northbrook.

• Goran Davidovac, Chicago.

• Rickey Hendon, state senator, Chicago.

• Sandi Jackson, alderman, Chicago.

• Kevin Joyce, state representative, Worth.

• Terry Link state senator, Lake Bluff.

• Arthur Turner, state representative, Chicago.