GOP fat cats swing sweet deal with state

SPRINGFIELD -- Investors in a luxury hotel developed by Republican power broker William Cellini have benefitted from more than $1.8 billion in state deals despite failing to pay off a taxpayer-backed construction loan for the hotel.

Of 85 original investors in the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center in Springfield, the Chicago Sun-Times found seven who either own or help lead firms with state contracts.

To top it all off, in a town with more than 30 hotels, the state has done substantial business directly with the President Abraham Lincoln, spending more than $975,000 since 2001 to book rooms for traveling state workers and to host conferences or training seminars, records show.

Since loan repayments are required only when the hotel makes money, under a controversial 1991 pact with the state, Cellini and his fellow investors have made just two quarterly loan payments since 2001 totaling $143,000. The loan for $15.5 million in 1982 has nearly doubled in size as interest grows at a whopping rate of $70,000 a month.

Investor: Four partners in the Chicago law firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw. The firm's state business: $1.2 million.

So while the state tries to collect the $27.5 million still owed on the hotel, it finds itself providing lucrative government business to the same investors in hock to the state.

It's good to be wealthy and connected. With your politician pals, you can use the state treasury like your private piggy bank... with "piggy" being the operative word.

Here's some of the figures involved and their business ties from the Sun-Times piece:

THE BIGGEST STATE DEALS TO HOTEL INVESTORS

Investor: William Cellini. Companies linked to him: Commonwealth Realty Advisors, Pacific Management, Public Asset Services Corp. The firms' state business: $1.3 billion.

Investor: Michael Cullinan. Companies linked to him: R.A. Cullinan & Son, Rowe Construction Co., United Contractors Midwest. The firms' state business: $494.9 million.

Investor: Four partners in the Chicago law firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw. The firm's state business: $1.2 million.

Note: Cellini's total includes all state pension investments with Commonwealth, which he founded and is now controlled by his children. In other cases, the value attached to firms' state business was a cumulative total dating back to 2001.