As we’ve discussed before, the competition for scarce state dollars is particularly fierce this year in Springfield as various groups elbow each other for money while large surpluses and revenue increases start to dry up. A poll taken by respected national Democratic pollster Normington Petts in late February of 700 registered Illinois voters purports to show which of those ideas has strong support and which do not.

“Mayors slam Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate grocery tax” was the Daily Herald’s headline above a story last week about several mayors of upper-income suburban communities complaining about a proposed tax cut. I don’t know if the mayors quite understand this, but headlines like that are basically an in-kind campaign contribution to the governor and the Democratic super-majority.

Two press conferences held after Governor JB Pritzker’s budget address last week didn’t receive much news-media attention. As the saying goes, coverage follows conflict, and the two pressers were far more subtle and polite in their criticisms of the governor’s plan than those held by Republicans, so they were mostly overlooked. But clear undercurrents were visible during both events, one held by the Legislative Black Caucus and the other by the Legislative Latino Caucus. And unlike the Republicans, those two caucuses actually have considerable sway over the state’s lawmaking process.

Way back in 1990, I was making $17,000 a year working for an online Statehouse news and information company. I was too broke for a vacation, so I helped pay for a modest trip by covering a strike at the Delta Pride catfish-processing company in Indianola, Mississippi, for a few publications. Almost all of the striking workers were Black women, and their highly-unusual walk-out had caused a national stir. I was fascinated by what was happening and wanted to see the action up close.