GENERAL ASSEMBLY
General Assembly concludes 2018 veto session. The November 2018 veto session came to an end on Thursday, November 29 with final actions on many bills vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner. Some of the vetoes were overridden; however, many of these veto actions were allowed to stand after sponsors could not gather the three-fifths majorities of both houses required for an override. This was the final week available for a House or Senate bill sponsor to submit a motion to override a veto and have the motion called on the floor of the General Assembly, so the remaining vetoed bills are now all dead for the year.

Rep. Steven Andersson
During his two terms serving the 65th District, Rep. Steve Andersson was a strong supporter of local government—advocating for local control and better government practices. A lifelong resident of Geneva, Illinois, Steve has been an advocate of historic preservation efforts in his hometown community and across Illinois, which resulted in a new Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit to improve Illinois communities while retaining the culture and history of the state.

Blues Brothers

When Elwood Blues needed to throw the police off his trail he provided a false address on his drivers’ license renewal. As a result, when State Police showed up to arrest him for one or two (or a few dozen) moving violations, they wound up at 1060 W. Addison in Chicago. That is, he sent them to Wrigley Field.

That scene in the legendary 1980 comedy The Blues Brothers didn’t just happen at the intersection of Clark and Addison. It also occurred at the intersection of the top movie in Illinois history and the state’s top building, as voted on by participants in the Illinois Bicentennial’s Top 200 of Illinois contest.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Jim Durkin re-elected as House Republican Leader. The 57-year-old Durkin has led the House Republican Caucus since 2013. Leader Durkin was re-elected unanimously by his House Republican colleagues in a meeting held in Springfield on Tuesday, November 13. The choice will be finalized when the 101stGeneral Assembly officially convenes in January 2019.

The 1919 Chicago White Sox team photo

Ninety-nine years ago Illinois sports fans watched what appeared to be an epic upset: the Chicago White Sox, heavily favored to win the World Series, had dropped the series to the Cincinnati Reds. How such an outstanding team could have fumbled away what looked like a sure-thing championship defied comprehension.

Except for one possible explanation which was too terrible to believe.

This week Illinoisans chose statewide officials, members of Congress and the members of the 101st General Assembly. Here are a few facts which reflect Tuesday’s place in Illinois history.

Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker will be the 43rd chief executive of the state of Illinois. He will be the 21st Democrat to become Governor in Illinois’ history, and the first since Governor Pat Quinn was picked in 2010. Pritzker’s victory marks the first time that a challenger has defeated an incumbent in two consecutive general elections since 1968-1972 when Richard Ogilvie defeated incumbent Samuel Shapiro, only to fall four years later to Dan Walker (Walker would lose four years after that, but in a primary).

BUDGET
State revenue up in October. The monthly report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (CGFA) monitors State cash flow and economic trends. The CGFA numbers depict continued healthy revenue numbers in October 2018. Personal income tax receipts during the month were up by $145 million from October 2017, an increase of 9.9%. Sales tax receipts increased by $71 million during the same time-span, a year-over-year increase of 10.7%. The State’s sales tax numbers reflect receipts from an increasing proportion of retail sales made online to Illinois addresses. Enforcement of Illinois sales taxes on online sales is now permissible under nationwide sales tax law. The sales tax law change was approved by the Supreme Court earlier this year in its “South Dakota v. Wayfair” sales tax decision. The positive numbers in Illinois’ two largest general revenue cash flow streams signaled a continued atmosphere of prosperity and low unemployment in many regions of the state. 

Election Day crowd at Springfield Marine Bank in 1966.
Photo from the Illinois Digital Archives.

Next Tuesday is Election Day. It will be the 52nd time that Illinois voters have gone to the polls to choose a governor. While we won’t relive the many colorful stories of 200 years of Illinois politicians, here are some facts about elections in our state from 200 years of Illinois history.

Two hundred years ago in October 1818, Illinois held its first statewide election. It was to put in place a government for when statehood became official a few weeks later. Shadrach Bond was chosen as the first Governor and Pierre Menard as the first Lieutenant Governor. While that first election was held in the fall, an early 20th-century Illinois Blue Book reports that for a time in the 1800s, gubernatorial elections were held as early as the first Monday in August.