Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.
Democratic candidate for governor Dawn Clark Netsch insists that a state agency-pick one-has not done well during Republican Gov. Jim Edgar’s tenure. She says she can straighten it out.
Edgar counters that the agency has done just fine. In fact, he says, it’s in better shape now than when he took over nearly four years ago.
The punch line? There is none. Just another day on the campaign trail.
Wednesday, Netsch’s agency du jour was the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. She said the department had not properly enforced a 1992 law allowing it to refuse professional licenses to “deadbeat parents” who’ve fallen behind on child-support payments.
Netsch said such lapses were why Illinois ranked 49th nationally in child-support collections. To rectify this, she proposed enforcing the law, reporting delinquent parents to credit agencies and creating an inspector general of child support to collect $890 million in overdue support.
“The idea that people bring children into this world and then not take care of them is unacceptable,” Netsch said. “We are going to go after them.”
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Edgar, as usual, had different statistics and a different take. He said the state had made significant progress on the child support front. Illinois ranks 14th, not 49th, in child support, he said. The state collected a record $223 million last year, he added, and doesn’t need an inspector general.
Then, he launched his own volley.
Edgar said Netsch may have to raise taxes even beyond the $2.5 billion state income-tax increase she has proposed for schools. Edgar said Netsch has promised nearly $1 billion in new programs, with no way to pay for them.
Netsch-you guessed it-rebutted the numbers and said Edgar was playing games with her figures.
Secretary of state: Democrat Patrick Quinn said his opponent in the secretary of state’s race, Republican incumbent George Ryan, has used campaign money for personal uses. Ryan has paid for his membership at a Kankakee country club and taken various cash advances for personal travel with campaign funds, Quinn alleged.
Quinn, the current state treasurer, called on Ryan to release his personal income-tax returns to show whether he paid income taxes on the cash advances.
The Ryan camp didn’t argue with Quinn’s contentions. Ryan aides said it’s perfectly legal. Indeed, the State Board of Elections says it’s OK to use campaign contributions for personal uses, as long as the candidate declares them as personal income and pays state and federal income taxes on them.
During his years in public office, Ryan has abided by the law, spokesman John Torre said. But Ryan has declined to make public his income-tax returns, saying he and his family deserve the same privacy afforded to other Illinoisans.
Attorney general: DuPage County State’s Atty. Jim Ryan’s perennial back problems have resurfaced during his campaign. Ryan, the GOP nominee, missed a pair of events Tuesday so he could rest his painful back.
In the money: Statewide political candidates began filing statements this week showing contributions of $500 or more. The largest reported Wednesday came from the Washington-based Democratic Governors Association, which donated $12,500 to Netsch. Netsch also received $6,000 from the Sheet Metal Workers International Union No. 73 and $1,000 from the Chicago Teachers Union.
Loleta Didrickson, the Republican running for state comptroller, received $5,000 from the Empress riverboat casino in Joliet.