What Is He Thinking?

Gov. Pat Quinn deserves praise for quite a few things he's done, or at least tried to do, since taking over for the reviled Rod Blagojevich. The word "courage" gets used too often in describing actions elected officials take, but I definitely think it took some guts for Quinn to seek an income tax hike to help balance the budget. That kind of proposal will never go over well with taxpayers, especially in a recession, but at least he offered some specific numbers to back up his budget plan. Whether or not raising taxes is a good idea is not my area of expertise, so I have no idea if higher taxes would help or not. But offering specifics on his plan is better than some critics who say more spending needs to be cut, but then only give some general ideas about where to cut, without offering real numbers to show how it would work.

But Quinn has still made some puzzling decisions in his tenure. Backing off the recommendations of the Illinois Reform Commission, for instance. Or appointing a 29-year-old man with no background in law enforcement to run the Illinois State Police. (Yes, Jonathan Monken is a decorated war veteran and a genuine hero, but I think he's in way over his head at ISP.) But this week we saw a particularly odd decision by Quinn. If you remember, last month when House Speaker Mike Madigan was pushing his so-called "fumigation bill" to get rid of hundreds of state officials appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and former Gov. George Ryan, one of the biggest names he went after was John Filan.

Filan is a former Blagojevich budget director who wrote many of Blagojevich's controversial budget plans, such as the proposal to create the maligned Gross Receipts Tax that lawmakers killed unanimously. Filan is also a longtime friend of Gov. Quinn, so while lawmakers can't stand Filan, it was somewhat understandable that Quinn kept Filan on board to run the Illinois Finance Authority and help craft his budget. Quinn didn't exactly have a lot of time to line up a cabinet and Filan was already there. But it quickly became clear lawmakers -- Madigan in particular -- wanted Filan gone. When the fumigation bill specificially targeted Filan, rather than let his friend get fired by law, Quinn struck a deal with Madigan. The speaker took Filan's name out of the fumigation bill and Quinn agreed that Filan would resign effective July 1.

We found out yesterday that Filan will be staying on the state payroll for up to four months after July 1. Sure, he's technically resigning as director of the Finance Authority. And it was the IFA that requested he stay on up to four more months to help with the transition to a new director. And yes, they wanted his help implementing a $3 billion program for renewable energy grants, which he played a key role in creating. However, it should be no surprise to Quinn that lawmakers are angry that Filan is staying on the state payroll beyond July 1. Quinn's office can use lawyer talk all they want to say he's keeping his word that Filan would resign as director of IFA. Lawmakers might even concede that Quinn has the right to hire and fire who he wants for that position. But it still appears on the surface that Quinn is going back on his word by keeping Filan around longer than he said he would.

Congress Cracking Down On Tobacco Industry

The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that allows the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry. The FDA would be allowed to set the levels of nicotine and other ingredients in tobacco products. Manufacturers would be required to list the ingredients of their products on packaging. The FDA would also be allowed to require stronger safety warnings and regulate advertising of tobacco products. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has been pushing for regulation of the tobacco industry for years. He spoke to reporters in Springfield earlier this week about the legislation. He supported efforts to pass similar legislation in the late 1990s, but that effort died when supporters couldn't block a filibuster in the Senate. That wasn't a problem this time around. The House is expected to give final legislative approval today and Durbin says President Obama will sign the bill.