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Former President Barack Obama received a warm reception from his former colleagues in the state legislature when he delivered a speech on the floor of the Illinois House last year, but he didn't get the same support there Tuesday when lawmakers declined to designate his birthday as a state holiday.

Under a new proposal, state facilities and schools would close each year on Aug. 4, Obama's birthday. But opponents said while it might be good to recognize the former president and ex-state lawmaker, people shouldn't get the day off work. The House measure received 54 votes, six votes short of what it needed to be approved and sent to Obama's old stomping grounds in the Illinois Senate.

Sponsoring Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, used a parliamentary move that will keep the measure alive for another try should she gather enough support. A dozen members of the House didn't vote.

"President Barack Obama, he did great work for the state of Illinois and our country, and I believe we need to do our part in preserving that history," Harper said.

Republicans raised a variety of concerns, from the economic impact of closing state buildings on holidays to the "inconsistent way" presidents from Illinois are recognized. They noted that Tampico-born Republican Ronald Reagan does not have an Illinois holiday in his honor.

Still, they tried to rise above partisan differences, with several GOP members saying they could support the measure if it was changed from a state holiday to a more informal day of recognition, in which schools and state buildings would stay open. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's budget office estimates state holidays cost $3.2 million in personnel expenses, with another $16 million in lost productivity.

"The concept you are working on here, giving President Obama a day, I think is deserved. I think it's appropriate, but I have a couple of questions about how we are doing it," said Rep. Steve Andersson, R-Geneva.

Andersson said the state could not afford the budget hit given its current financial crisis, and he said he didn't believe an official holiday was needed to recognize Obama's impact on Illinois. Andersson contended that most state holidays have lost their true meaning, instead becoming a day more celebrated for picnics and barbecues.

Harper said she disagreed, saying "if nothing more, the stores have good sales on President's Day and Washington Day." She also said it is important to formally recognize the nation's first African-American president.

She cited his history as a community organizer in Chicago, saying his holiday could be used to organize various volunteer and community improvement events.

"Personally, to me, he helped me to get motivated, get up in my community and organize my community to be the change that we want to see, and we are seeing right now on the ground," Harper said.

Other state proposals to honor Obama include labeling the stretch of Interstate 55 from the Tri-State Tollway to East St. Louis the "Barack Obama Presidential Expressway." A separate measure would dub the Tri-State the "President Barack Obama Tollway."

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @moniquegarcia

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Obama's home state of Illinois rejects a holiday in his honor ...

Lines of communication between President Trump and former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaDem rep: Nunes betrayed Intelligence panels independence Why Trump should support CBC priority Trump defends several unsubstantiated claims in interview MORE have gone dark.

The two men havent spoken since Inauguration Day, sources tell The Hill, a drastic turn since their string of phone calls and pleasantries during the presidential transition.

Trump and Obama with their vastly different styles and personalities were never likely to be friends. But the former president, perhaps hoping to preserve some influence with his surprise successor, vowed to have a cordial relationship with the 45th president when he left office.

Since then, Trump has sought to repeal his predecessors signature healthcare legislation while overhauling his regulatory agenda. Hes ordered a travel ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries a proposal Obama opposes.

And earlier this month, he accused Obama of tapping his phones last year.

That allegation by Trump, declared false by FBI Director James Comey on Monday, left Obama annoyed. Its ridiculous, he told people close to him. He wanted to correct the record, triggering a rare statement from his spokesman, Kevin Lewis.

He wasnt thrilled, said one official close to Obama.

When it impacts the integrity of the White House and the office of the president, thats concerning to him, a second source close to Obama said.

The wiretapping allegation took another turn on Wednesday, when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) made waves by telling the media and Trump that U.S. intelligence agencies incidentally collected information on Trumps transition team and disseminated it widely.

Nuness briefing resulted in Trump telling reporters that he felt somewhat vindicated, a statement that is sure to prolong a story that began on March 4 and that might get under Obamas skin.

While Obama and Trump havent talked since Inauguration Day, they did try to get in touch early in Trumps presidency.

First, Trump called his predecessor in late January, but Obama was on a cross-country flight at the time, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sources tell The Hill that Obama tried to return the call with an assistant, who sought to connect the two men.

A Trump aide at the White House told the Obama assistant that Trump had simply called to thank his predecessor for the kind note he left him in the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

Can you relay that message to President Obama? the presidents aide said.

The message was passed along, and the two leaders never attempted to reconnect, sources said.

Jen Psaki, a longtime Obama aide who served as his communications director in his final months in office, said Wednesday in an interview that the understanding of the Trump-Obama relationship was always over-cranked.

Obama conducted a smooth transition, and thats what his focus was on. But that doesnt mean they were going to become golf buddies, Psaki said.

The Hill talked to half a dozen former aides and others in Obamas orbit to ask about the former presidents relationship with his successor.

Those close to Obama say he is doing what hes always said he would do after his presidency: returning to life as a private citizen.

While they say Obama may make public statements from time to time, he wants to give room for other Democrats to find their way.

At the end of the day, hes a former president hes not the face of resistance, said one source close to Obama.

Its time for new voices in the party, Psaki said.

Obama, who recently signed a lucrative book deal with Penguin Random House, has spent much of his time focused on his foundation in Chicago. He has also been enjoying some down time: He and former first lady Michelle ObamaMichelle ObamaObama and Trump havent talked since inauguration For Democrats, no clear leader Obama reportedly spending a month in French Polynesia MORE recently toured the National Gallery in Washington and had lunch in New York with U2 lead singer Bono. He was spotted taking in the Broadway show The Price with his elder daughter, Malia.

This month, the former president has also retreated to French Polynesia, where he will stay for a few weeks, according to numerous reports.

Then-candidate Obama harshly criticized former President George W. Bush and his administration during the 2008 presidential race, but Bush did not return the fire after he left Washington.

Bushs example appeared to leave a mark on Obama, who frequently cited the Bush teams help in the 2009 transition as an example he wanted his staff to follow in 2017.

In the case of Trump and Obama, it is the current president who is firing at the former commander in chief, who has been relatively silent in response.

Trump initially had nice things to say about Obama.

After the two met in November just two days after Trumps victory over Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonObama and Trump havent talked since inauguration Perez, Ellison start multistate turnaround tour for Dems Watergate reporter on Russia: 'Ive been saying for a while theres a coverup going on' MORE, Trump described it on Twitter as a really good meeting, saying the two had great chemistry.

But Trump has since reversed course.

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism! Trump wrote on Twitter earlier this month.

A few days later, he took to Twitter again to blast Obamas policies on Guantanamo Bay, writing, 122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision, he wrote.

More recently, Trump has taken to ripping Obamas healthcare legislation as the GOP Congress moves to repeal and replace it.

Only a few dozen people have ever held the U.S. presidency, making Obama and Trump members of one of the nations most elite clubs.

Thats made Trumps accusations about Obama tapping his phones all the more remarkable.

Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said tension between presidents is normal when real policies are on the table.

But he added of Trump and Obama, This is clearly worse than what we usually see.

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Obama and Trump haven't talked since inauguration - The Hill

In Feb. 2012, Joey Hudy and former president Obama created a stir when they shot a marshmallow across the State Dining Room at the White House Science Fair. (Youtube/The Obama White House)

When Joey Hudy went to the White House in 2012, the 8th grade science whiz captivated President Obama and the world with his large, orange marshmallow cannon.

He and Obama primed the homemade contraption and then blasted its sugary ammo across the room, much to the dismay of the Secret Service.

Ohhh, Obama yelled, before retrieving the marshmallow and Hudys business card, just in case.

It made for a memorial moment, an Obama administrationfavorite, and put Hudy, then 14, into the national spotlight. He became a jet-setting inventor of 3-D body scanners and solar-powered computers, a promoter of STEM programs at Maker Faire and the youngest ever corporate intern at Intel.

In 2015, he returned to the White House as Michelle Obamas State of the Union guest to promote his personal motto: Dont be bored. Make something.

Brilliant.org once named him one of the 10 Smartest Kids in the World.

But recently,Hudys mind betrayed him.

He had graduated from Arizona State University and moved to Hong Kong, his parents told TV station Fox 10, when he began experiencing paranoia and psychosis. He believed the Chinese government was following him and that his apartment was bugged.

It was something I never dreamed of hearing, Hudys mother, Julie Hudy, told Fox 10.

In January, the 2o-year-old was admitted to a psychiatric hospital overseas and diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a disease of the mind that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. Symptoms usually manifest anywhere from age 16 to 30, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and can cause those affected to hear and see things that arent real.

Doctors still arent sure what causes schizophrenia, so treatment focuses on eliminating symptoms with antipsychotic medications and psychosocial therapy.

But treating schizophrenia, or any mental illness, can be financially crippling. To help offset the expenses, Hudys older sister, Elizabeth Hudy, created a GoFundMe account on her parents behalf.

Anyone who knows my mother and father knows that they are some of the most generous and caring people you will ever meet, Elizabeth Hudy wrote on the fundraising site. They fill the lives of others with so much love and support and they deserve the same, especially in such a difficult time.

While their son got help at an Ohio treatment center in February, Julie and Victor Hudy lived in a nearby hotel, Elizabeth Hudy wrote. His condition deteriorated and last week, Joey Hudys doctors recommended he be transferred to a long term care facility in Tennessee.

You may not be aware of the significant cost of mental health care in the United States for such a diagnosis, and neither was I, she wrote.

Ten days at the Ohio facility cost $19,500.

A month in Tennessee will cost more than $25,000.

Joey will likely have to stay for a minimum of three months, Elizabeth wrote. After this time we still dont know how long it will take for the medications to be effective or what will be the next steps.

As of Thursday morning, the family had raised $18,400 of its $50,000 goal and the GoFundMe had been widely circulated on social media among those in the Maker Faire community of tech and science enthusiasts and former Obama White House staffers. Among those who had donated was Paulette Aniskoff, a deputy assistant to the president and director of the Office of Public Engagement in the Obama White House.

The family said that any excess funds will go toward helping other families burdened by the cost of mental health care.

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The science whiz who dazzled Obama has schizophrenia. His family faces crushing expenses. - Washington Post

The eight years during which Barack Obama served as president were a boom time for the gun industry. Obamas consistent and futile efforts to introduce new regulations restricting gun sales were whipped into rhetoric about imminent crackdowns on gun ownership rhetoric that predated Obamas election, much less his policy efforts.

Theres been some indication that gun sales have receded in the wake of Donald Trumps election. The go-to metric for gun sales a figure that isnt directly compiled by the government is the number of federal background checks completed during a month. The biggest month for such checks tends to be December, as people buy firearms as Christmas gifts. In December 2015, the FBI conducted 3.3 million background checks. In December 2016, after Trumps win? 2.8 million.

Over the first two months of the year, the number of checks completed totaled 4.3 million. In January and February 2016, the total was 5.2 million. Thats a 2017 decline of 17 percent but it was also the third-highest January-February total on record. (The FBI started conducting background checks in 1998.)

(The second-highest January-February period came in 2013, in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre and Obamas most robust push for new regulations.)

Put another way, the total number of checks in the first two months of this year was larger than the total in 2014 and 2015 and at least 50 percent greater than every year before 2012.

Background checks are an imprecise measure, though, including things such as background checks for those seeking a concealed-carry permit. In Kentucky, for example, those with such permits undergo monthly background checks, driving up the national number.

A more precise estimate comes from excise tax data collected by the government and analyzed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Each time a gun or ammunition is sold, the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax (FAET) is applied, allowing the NSSF to then estimate sales figures for handguns, long guns and ammunition.

Even before Obama took office, sales figures were increasing, as the background check data make clear. But the increase from 2012 on was sustained. In 2011, Americans spent about $4.3 billion on firearms and ammunition, according to FAET data. In 2012, when gun sales spiked after Sandy Hook, the total topped $6 billion. In 2013, the total was more than $8 billion.

The end result is that total sales of guns and ammunition during Obamas eight years in office were over $45.7 billion dollars and thats without data for the fourth quarter of 2016. Thats $29.1 billion on firearms $14.7 billion of which was long guns and $16.6 billion on ammunition. When fourth-quarter numbers come in, those figures will climb.

Converted into 2016 dollars, its clear how much more was spent on firearms and ammunition under Obama than his predecessors.

During the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Americans spent an estimated $21.1 billion and $22.9 billion in 2016 dollars on guns and ammunition, respectively. Under Obama, Americans spent more than that total combined.

Its too early for us to figure out the extent to which having Trump in office will affect that number. (The National Rifle Associations Wayne LaPierre hasnt exactlysoftened his tone, post-inauguration.) Trump would be hard-pressed to be the same boon to the gun industry that Obama was no doubt to his chagrin.

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Americans spent an estimated $17 billion on ammunition while Obama was president - Washington Post

The entertainment industry gives the go-ahead to a lot of frustrating projects, but rarely has my head descended to my desk as rapidly as when I learned that in addition to the two Barack Obama biopics that were released before he left office, were now going to get a workplace comedy set in the Obama White House. Its not merely that the rush to make Obama, or even Obama-adjacent, projects reinforces the perception that the entertainment industry is in thrall to the 44th president. Instead, its that so far, stories about Obama or his administration have lacked the requisite distance to be anywhere close to decentas movies.

The chaos and unhappiness of the Trump administration to date may make it irresistible for Hollywood to cash in with Obama projects. But for the sake of the industrys remaining intellectual credibility, and for the quality of the storytelling involved, Hollywood should impose a voluntary Barack Obama moratorium until 2027, if not longer.

The two loosely biographical projects about Obama that have already been released both list under a sense of their own historical importance.

Southside With You, Richard Tannes dreadful 2016 attempt to turn Obamas (Parker Sawyers) first date with Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) into a romantic comedy, had problems beyond politics. Sawyers and Sumpter had no chemistry, and in the movie, Obamas persistence especially in pressuring Robinson to reveal to the partners at her law firm that they are dating came across as creepy rather than charming.

But the movie was particularly burdened by its need to show Robinson falling not just for Obama, but also for his vocation. The scenes of him speaking at a predominantly African American church, where the women in the congregation go on at great length about what a catch he is, were just exhausting.Any movie with a character named Barack Obama is going to make the audience compare that fictional person to the actualpresident. Southside With You needed to wrap up Obamas entire life in a tidy package, presenting his ascent and marriage as part of a neat, predetermined trajectory, rather than giving him space to breathe as either a character or a historical figure.

Vikram Gandhis Barry, which arrived on Netflix last year, is a better, looser movie. Gandhi cares less about making sure thatDevon Terrell, who plays Obama as a 1981 transfer student to Columbia, does a note-perfect impersonation of Obama, and more about showing him wandering around New York, buying books from street stands, arguing with Black Hebrew Israelites and laughing at Ed Koch.

The dramatic arc of Barry is its title characters exploration of his identity, with his relationship with fellow Columbia undergrad Charlotte (Anya Taylor-Joy)and the silence of his father, who dies in the movies third act, as the primary drivers of that quest. If this were a story about an otherwise anonymous college student, Barry might float along just fine, though even by that measure, the scene of Barry and Charlottes breakup at her sisters wedding, scored to I Shall Be Released, would be a travesty. But its not and hes not, so every debate he has in class about moral authority and governance, every argument he has with Charlotte about the fried chicken at Sylvias, and every time his mother (Ashley Judd) refers to her feminism lands like a heavy punctuation mark.

A movie about the fight to improve the New York subway system, or the movement to get universities to divest from South Africa both causes that engaged Obama during his college years with Obama as the main character might have found a way out from under the inevitable weight of who Obama became. But neither of those movies would have gotten greenlighted quite so quickly, nor snapped up so aggressively.

Maybe this new project, From the Corner of the Oval, based on a forthcoming memoir byBeck Dorey-Stein, who worked as a stenographer in the Obama White House, will shift the framework enough to avoid the trap that Southside With You and Barry fell into. The main character apparently stumbles into an elite world and finds herself navigating a series of misadventures in life and love, rather than the president himself. But treating the Obama administration as an opportunity for self-actualization is just another step in the forging of a nouveau-Camelot myth for another generationdefined in part by a youthful president. If Hollywood is going to participate in that process, it should at least take the time and distance to make sure the mythmaking is also good moviemaking.

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Hollywood needs a 10-year moratorium on stories about Barack Obama - Washington Post