Statehouse INSIDER

BY DAVE BAKKE

The biggest Illinois political story of the week was nearly buried under wall-to-wall coverage of the war in Iraq.
The same day the war began, a federal jury found SCOTT FAWELL guilty of all the corruption charges filed against him. It didn't take long for people to start thinking great thoughts about what this will mean for the state. A defense attorney said the verdict means the days of blurring the line between political and government activities could be over. Others said the conviction might spur new ethics reforms in Illinois.

Would that it were so.

Big predictions of change also were made after the feds got convictions in the Management Services of Illinois scandal. Defense attorney PATRICK TUITE said: "It's going to shut (Springfield) down. The lobbyists are going to be running scared."

Federal prosecutor RICHARD COX said, "We hope it turns business on its head. The verdicts represent the public's unwillingness to tolerate influence-peddling and government-for-sale tactics."

For the record, those statements were made in 1997 - just as Fawell was cooking up his plan to get GEORGE RYAN elected governor. That plan included having the state pay for campaign workers and stealing state equipment for the campaign. Such much for convictions bringing reform.

Run Fawell's name through spell check on some word processing programs (it doesn't work on Microsoft Word), and the options you're given include "farewell," "fallen" and "flawed." Eerie, isn't it?

Ryan was spotted Friday in the state comptroller's office on Adams Street in Springfield. It's the place where state checks are printed and distributed. Turns out Ryan was arranging direct deposit of his state pension check. Shucks, we thought maybe he was there to complain about not getting money he is due - like about a zillion other Illinoisans.

This had to be the worst nightmare for state prison workers. The infamous DONNIE SNYDER is back as director of the Department of Corrections.
Most people thought Snyder was gone after Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH was elected. Well, he was finished as director, but he stayed in the agency as a budget guy. Then Blagojevich's nominee for Correction's director, ERNESTO VELASCO, withdrew his name after reports surfaced of mass beatings at the Cook County jail while he was director there. Voila, Blagojevich appoints Snyder as acting director. How convenient that Snyder was still available.

Prison workers are livid. If Snyder isn't the most detested director in Illinois history, he is close, because he laid off guards, closed prisons and tried to privatize some prison jobs. Just when prison workers thought they were finally rid of the guy, he's baaaaack.

AFSCME, the union that represents prison guards and other state employees, is angry. It endorsed Blagojevich and gave him a ton of money. It has yet to see any return on its investment -and now it once again has to deal with Snyder.

Blagojevich insists Snyder's reappointment is only temporary. If he wants to keep peace with AFSCME, he'd better be telling the truth.

Blagojevich constantly sings the praises of small businesses and how much he wants to help them. His lieutenant governor, PAT QUINN, recently criticized state incentives given to large companies.
So it surprised some people when Blagojevich showed up in Bloomington to take credit for the $22 million in tax incentives given to that cottage industry known as Mitsubishi Motors. Mitsubishi is expanding and will create 300 new jobs. That means the state will spend a little more than $73,000 for each new job.

It pays to be flexible.

The House last week approved Blagojevich's plan for issuing bonds to support state pensions - something he said is crucial to balancing the budget. The governor was so excited he decided to hold a news conference outside his office on the Capitol's second floor.
The backdrop for the conference was the glass doors that lead to the office reception area. Before the news conference started, a loyal staffer came out and spritzed glass cleaner on the doors so they would look just right for the TV cameras. You didn't see that attention to PR detail with Ryan, or JIM EDGAR or JIM THOMPSON.

These guys may or may not balance the budget, but they'll look good trying.

Doug Finke can be reached at 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.