October 31, 2008
Key House and Senate Races Boast Big Bucks
With the 2008 election mere days away, campaign spending has not only reached new highs at the national level, but also in Illinois. State Republicans are battling to restore crucial seats in the House and Senate while state Democrats fight to keep ties to a devastatingly unpopular governor from toppling their stronghold in both chambers. According to information compiled by the Chamber, there are currently nine key House and Senate races that have pushed total campaign revenues raised since July 1st over the half a million dollar mark, with three of those races quickly approaching one million dollars and one downstate Senate race surpassing that amount by nearly $200,000.
The Chamber’s analysis of revenues raised in key House and Senate campaigns looks at the amount raised by each candidate from July 1st through October 30th, including total in-kind contributions during that same time period. Large in-kind contributions, such as those reported by Representative Mulligan in the 65th House District or by both candidates for the open 96th House District, are mostly generated by the four political caucus committees.
According to the Chamber’s analysis, the top five House and Senate races in terms of revenues raised (total includes in-kind contributions) are:
TOTAL: $1,197,224
TOTAL: $927,270
TOTAL: $804,774
TOTAL: $743,102
TOTAL: $620,858
Next week’s Government Affairs Report will include an update analysis of campaign spending in these races, as well as an election wrap-up.
Governor to Take On the Economy, Autism During First Week of Veto?
Governor Blagojevich’s ongoing battle with the House may be set to resume the first week of veto session with sources suggesting that the governor may call a special session during that time to take up a costly autism health insurance coverage mandate. The House had already canceled the first week of veto session claiming to have already addressed the issues they needed to address over the course of several special sessions sprinkled throughout the summer.
The governor has already attempted to force through the autism coverage mandate by amendatorily vetoing the provisions onto HB 4255, which originally required public health plans to provide coverage for medically necessary preventative physical therapy for enrollees diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. SB 1900 originally provided for the costly autism coverage mandate provisions, but that legislation eventually became entangled in the House vs. Senate “rules amendment” battle. Legislators never took up the amendatory veto motion to HB 4255 and consequently, the entire bill was declared dead. The Chamber opposed both SB 1900 and the amendatory veto to HB 4255.
Sources have also indicated that the governor may be planning an economic development summit during the first week of veto session to discuss the state of the economy and how to protect Illinois jobs. The governor’s office has apparently reached out to several Chamber members to float that possibility and tentatively invite them to the table. The governor’s office, however, has not released any formal statement or further details regarding this summit.