Winners & losers in budget battle

SPRINGFIELD -- Politics aside, here are examples of other interests and issues that were made winners or losers by lawmakers and Gov. Rod Blagojevich over the past eight months of state government action, or lack thereof.

Winners

Lawmakers, state bureaucrats: Garner raises of more than 10 percent retroactive to the first of the year. Soon they'll get a big check for the first half of 2007 and bigger paychecks and pensions from here on out.

West Chicagoans: No longer taxed by DuPage Water Commission for Lake Michigan water they don't use. The city will be refunded $1 million.

Bicyclists: Must be given 3 feet of safe passage by any vehicle overtaking them on roadways.

Car dealers: They get to charge more for documentation fees, all but ensuring your next purchase will cost a little bit more.

Parents of teenagers: Soon they'll be able to check their child's driving record online for free.

TV watchers: New state law intended to make it easier for companies to begin competing for your cable viewing habits.

Obama campaign: The Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Democratic governor decided to move the Illinois primary election up six weeks specifically to try to help former colleague Barack Obama's bid for the White House. The downside is negative ads may be filling your TV screen from the holiday season through the Super Bowl.

Springfield: Nearly three months of overtime sessions kept lawmakers and lobbyists in the capital city hotels, restaurants and bars spending their -- and your -- money. Lawmakers get $125 a day to cover meals and hotels, plus lobbyists can -- and frequently do -- pick up meals. "I want to thank you," Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin recently told a gathering of Democratic leaders. "I love the extended stay."

Seersucker suits: The prolonged summer session saw lawmakers experimenting with fashion as the heat and humidity rose. And thus was born the seersucker caucus -- a group of lawmakers and staff who began wearing white suits.

Medical patients: State's public health department ordered to come up with ways to protect people in nursing homes, hospitals and mental health centers against infections, specifically from so-called super bugs.

Losers

Sex offenders: Already barred from going anywhere near schools, lawmakers forgot to account for Election Day, when people -- including civic-minded sex offenders -- often go to schools to vote. After a Daily Herald report, lawmakers closed that loophole. Now sex offenders must vote absentee, early or in a designated polling place that's not a school.

Smokers: The days of smoking in bars and restaurants are about to come to a close. Beginning Jan. 1, Illinois is smoke-free in all public places, including riverboat casinos. Still a chance the state's cigarette tax could be increased.

DuPage County: Wanted ability to have a local cigarette tax to shore up county budget. Didn't get it.

Local governments, school districts: May have to offer staff benefits to any outsourced jobs, effectively ending the benefits of outsourcing. Of note, the state is not required to do the same.

Teen drivers: Myriad new laws will force them to spend more time driving with their parents, less time cruising with friends and push their curfew an hour earlier to 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on weekends. But it could have been worse. Some lawmakers wanted new teen drivers to put special stickers in their car windows.

ComEd: Got caught up in the public relations battle between lawmakers and a downstate utility giant over skyrocketing rates following poor service, only to end up having ComEd's corporate parent pay the overwhelming share of $1 billion worth of rebates statewide.

Indian Prairie Unit District 204: Wanted lawmakers to speed up a disputed land deal for a new high school. Didn't happen.

Winfield Elementary District 34: Five years after being told it was eligible for $2.3 million in state construction help, lawmakers and bureaucrats keep finding new ways to tease this and nearly two dozen other school districts with the long-promised checks only to pull the financial rug out from underneath them.