Emanuel’s Springfield Wish List

Winning approval for cameras to capture and fine drivers who break the speed limits on Chicago’s streets has zoomed to the top of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s agenda for the last week of the state legislature’s fall veto session.

Even after enjoying a string of successes in the spring legislative session, Emanuel’s lobbyists still have much that they want to achieve in Springfield by the end of the veto session on Thursday. In addition to the anti-speeding bill, the mayor continued pushing for measures to bring a casino to Chicago and avert the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s threatened move out of state.

“If he scores two or three of those, he will have had a good year,” said State Rep. Michael J. Zalewski (D-Chicago).

The rookie mayor surprised many lawmakers when, even before his inauguration in May, he aggressively pushed for a new law that will allow for a longer school day and other changes to public education in Illinois. His approach toward dealing with Springfield contrasted sharply with predecessor Richard M. Daley, who did not inject himself as eagerly into state government.

Zalewski said Emanuel aides have contacted state representatives recently as they seek to ensure support for the cameras. The Senate has approved the legislation, so the mayor’s focus moved to persuading House members.

“I wouldn’t say it has been quite as intensive as the lobbying on school reform, because that was the main issue of his mayoral campaign, but it’s pretty clear that it’s important to them to get the votes for increased speeding enforcement,” said Zalewski, whose father is the 23rd Ward alderman and was appointed chairman of the City Council’s Aviation Committee by Emanuel.

Emanuel held a news conference Monday with some state lawmakers to repeat his call for authorization for the anti-speeding cameras. At the event, the mayor said his push for the bill was primarily about safety, not raising revenues for the fiscally challenged city.

State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) said it remained to be seen whether the camera bill would garner enough support in the House. The response from his constituents has been mixed, Harris said, with some saying they did not want more speeding tickets issued and others echoing the mayor’s concern for the safety of children.

Emanuel also has pushed for a tax-break deal for CME Group Inc., parent company of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. CME Group and CBOE Holdings Inc. have threatened to leave Illinois in response to a major state income tax hike that Quinn championed. CME was a major campaign donor to Emanuel as well as to Gov. Pat Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).

According to a new analysis that House Democratic leaders gave lawmakers, the CME tax deal would reduce its income tax liability over the next two years by $85 million.

As part of that deal, Quinn also wants to expand the earned income tax credit, and a source close to Emanuel told the CNC on Monday that the mayor also supported that plan. It would cost the state $90 million next year and $180 million in 2013.

The total annual bill for all of the tax-relief measures included in the legislation would come to $506 million, according to the analysis for lawmakers.

Although each of the tax breaks could be seen as having merit, Harris said, other state spending would have to be cut for Illinois to afford them.

“It has got to come from somewhere,” he said. “Revenues are not increasing.”

Meanwhile, much to Emanuel’s chagrin, Quinn opposed the bill that would bring a casino – and a large financial windfall – to the city. The measure’s chief backer, state Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), said he did not think Emanuel’s other efforts had drained attention from his efforts on gambling expansion.

“He will be an important and significant element if I am able to pass another bill this week,” Lang said. “He has been working it and he continues to work it. I think speed cameras have become a priority, and the mayor is working hard on that, but he also is working exceptionally hard on gaming.”

Lawmakers were “likely” to introduce a new gambling bill this week, said Rikeesha Phelon, the spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago). In rejecting the gambling legislation approved in the spring session, Quinn said he would be fine with a Chicago casino but opposed slot machines at horse-racing tracks.

“The trailer bill will be different than the framework that the governor laid out,” Phelon said.

Also in limbo coming into the week were Emanuel-backed proposals that would affect the pensions of public employees.

A source close to the mayor said Monday that he would back a bill that would give him greater control over city employee pension funds as part of a broader effort to change the pension system.

Union leaders have mounted strong opposition to Senate Bill 512, which would require current state workers to pay more toward their retirements. The proposal was held over from the spring session because legislative leaders lacked the votes to pass it.

Organized labor also reacted furiously to the new proposal from House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego to give the mayor and the Cook County board president power to appoint the majority of employee pension board trustees.

At a news conference last month, Emanuel had acknowledged meeting with Cross about the legislation but declined to say whether he supported it.

On Monday, Cross spokeswoman Sara Wojcicki Jimenez said he was “still waiting on some feedback from Mayor Emanuel’s office” and did not know if Cross would attempt to promote the bill in the veto session.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle came out publicly in support of that legislation.

Hunter Clauss contributed reporting.