52 Comments - A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:20 am: IMO, your assessment of him is correct. - Honeybear - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:20 am: As I try to figure out how to cover my financial obligations from July 15- August 15, I actually do appreciate the gesture. I hope all Legislators will follow his example. - WhoKnew - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:20 am: More Legislators like him, please! - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:20 am: Will you please be our governor? We need someone with an independent mind, and a beating human heart. - JS Mill - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:20 am: Nice to hear that there is at least one adult in Springfield. Not sure how the property tax freeze impact the state budget. I know what it does to schools and local government. That does not strike me as a budgetary move, but one that is purely political. If the state funded our district at the statutory level, our local tax rate and taxes would go down. - facts are stubborn things - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:20 am: more of this please. - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:21 am: Good moves all around. Interesting comments. I appreciate that Harris may be among the more rational. Still, I just can’t get the image of his weird speech on gay marriage when he started invoking Fiddler on the Roof. We had no idea where he was going with that, but on this, his meaning seems quite clear. Good for him. - Tournaround Agenda - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:23 am: I’m with JSMill on the property tax freeze. If Rauner’s serious about doing it without hurting the education system, GSA reform should be on the table. - Stressed for 31 years now - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:25 am: We need more Representatives like Mr Harris that are this honorable. He obviously is not in politics to line his own pocket like So many are now a days. - facts are stubborn things - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:26 am: the non budget items that the rep. believes are budgetary in nature have largely been given a voice in the legislature. Workers comp passed, property tax did not pass and with little to no support of republicans. Even the “turn around agenda” items that do have a budget impact are not directly effecting the 2016 fiscal year budget. Turn around agenda is a year after year thing not a hear I am and do these things or I will not agree to any revenue. - Horse w/ No Name - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:30 am: Several years working on the other side of the asile from the guy showed me David Harris is a class act. Durkin should utilize him more often as a surrogate voice of reason. - Team Sleep - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:31 am: Simply awesome. I think we on this site often lose the insight into symbolism. It may seem small, but Rep. David Harris’s gesture means a lot to people who will be impacted by the looming problems facing state employees and vendors. - walker - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:32 am: Rep. Harris was Bremer’s right hand man in Iraq while trying to set up a working government between Sunni and Shia factions. These fights are child’s play to him. (Still preferred his predecessor, LOL. ) - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:34 am: Rep. Harris is “Example A” why I wish and wish for autonomous GOP GA Caucuses. These are the missing voices. These are the type of members it’s easy for me to root for. Rep. Harris is a Rep, that I know I’d enjoy the business of doing the business. Well done. OW - illinifan - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:35 am: Awesome rep…I nominate him for Governor and Speaker. - Defeated - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:38 am: It would behoove Poe and McCann to follow Harris’ example. It would be one way for them to illustrate to the many state employees in their districts that they empathize with their plight. - Name Withheld - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:39 am: It’s people like him that give me a reason why I support the Republican party. It’s others that give me so many more reasons why I shouldn’t. - Juvenal - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:42 am: I can see Rep. Harris point and applaud him for being reasonable; here is my take: You can try to frame them as budget issues, but they are not, unless you honestly believe that undermining workers’ rights will lead to greater job creation and revenue in Illinois, which most people don’t. The primary goal seems to be to increase corporate profits or undermine unions, not balance the budget. If Republicans want to truly engage in an open discussion about how to grow our economy, hurray, but if they are going to go down that road they need to be prepared to invest more money in things like child care, education, and workforce development. If Republicans are looking for ways to boost job creations within the framework of the budget, there are lots of ways to do it that would make folks happy, including tinkering with the corporate tax code, redistribution the sales tax burden, and more. Rauner doesn’t HAVE to go after workers, he chooses to, and that is the reason for the impasse. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:51 am: I wonder how many of the voting public know about PA 98-682? - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:52 am: Rep D Harris– I have stated many times that I believe it is inappropriate for legislators to be paid on time if other State employees are not paid on time. Rep Harris implies that legislators are State employees. This blog has taken issue with that viewpoint in the past because legislators are elected. I wonder if other legislators and constitutional officers believe they are state employees. - scott aster - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:54 am: Davi is a good rep….knew him back in the 80’s but having the COMP have to mess around with paper checks again after everybody was on direct dep is just a waste of resources. - Amalia - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:54 am: meh. have found his personal demeanor to be puffed up. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:55 am: Bremer’s post-Iraq plan was as disastrous as W’s pre-Iraq plan. I suppose Rep. Harris was not in a position to persuade the powers that were that a better plan was needed. - Liberty - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:56 am: Juvenal hits the nail on the head. - JS Mill - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:08 pm: = Rauner doesn’t HAVE to go after workers, he chooses to, and that is the reason for the impasse.= Excellent point. - Fred - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:08 pm: I like Harris, too and find him the be one of the GA’s most sensible members. But before we give him the Profiles in Courage Award, has he actually taken a vote contrary to Rauner’s wishes? And while he’s to be commended for not taking a check, what sort of outside income does he bring in? Easy to leave that pay check in a drawer when you’re collecting a pension or have another source of income. not all his colleagues are so lucky. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:09 pm: ===has he actually taken a vote contrary to Rauner’s wishes?=== Yes. More than anyone else in that caucus except maybe Poe. - Bill White - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:10 pm: If “collective bargaining, workers compensation reform, prevailing wage reform and a proposed two-year property tax freeze” are all given up or down votes in the General Assembly shouldn’t that be enough to satisfy Representative Harris? And everyone else? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:13 pm: === ===has he actually taken a vote contrary to Rauner’s wishes?=== Yes. More than anyone else in that caucus except maybe Poe.=== That’s the whole point about the independence. It’s now the Mushrooms versus the Owls… - Irony ...... - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:19 pm: It seems somewhat ironic that a body that is so protective of its consitutional prerogative in establishing annual appropriations for all of state gov’t, would willingly abborgate this sole right away from future General Assemblies making appropriations by allowing continuing appropriations for its very own compensation and for operations of its staff. I guess technically the legislature can undo or repeal this continuing appropriate clause, but we all know its highly unlikely. Props to Rep. Harris for doing the right thing. - Been There - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:30 pm: ===And while he’s to be commended for not taking a check, what sort of outside income does he bring in? === Hope he belongs to the credit union - Challengerrt - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:33 pm: I think it should be a conflict of interest when the legislators pass a bill that benefits them only and directly. There should be something in the laws that prohibits them from passing bills like that. All legislators should do the same that Rep. Harris is doing, and that is the right thing to do. - SICK OF IT - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:36 pm: Well done Rep. Harris! - Chicago 20 - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:44 pm: =Those items include collective bargaining, workers compensation reform, prevailing wage reform and a proposed two-year property tax freeze.= Pure nonsense. Collective bargaining is a constitutional right, challenging these rights in the courts will not affect the 2016 budget, with the exception of additional legal expenses. Workers comp has already been reformed, claims have dropped dramatically, yet premiums have not. Prevailing wage reform. ALEC has been pushing repeals of prevailing wage laws across the country. After the legislation passed several universities have studied the aftermath. The studies consistently show no savings on bids or contracts after prevailing wage laws were repealed. None of these items or any of the other turnaround agenda items will save any taxpayers any money, ever. Rauner is just wasting time to save money on his personal taxes. - Arizona Bob - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:57 pm: @JS Mill =If the state funded our district at the statutory level, our local tax rate and taxes would go down.= There’s nothing in the statutes that would require this, JS, and I think we both know that few districts would voluntarily leave taxpayer money on the table unless embarrassed into doing it or forced to do so by law. Here’s a couple of examples on which on base this. North Palos District 117 passed a referendum several years ago for 75 cent increase in their tax rate. Of course they claimed they “needed” the money in their operating fund, and couldn’t accept a penny less. They generated a $10 million excess balance from this (in addition to the usual 6 mos reserves) yet every year they increase the tax levy to the highest amount allowed by law. I challenged the board about this, and their reasoning was that they didn’t know what was coming in the future, so they needed to grab as much as they could. I understand that Naperville 203 found itself in a similar situation after a referendum, and tried everything they could to hide the massive surpluses from the tax referendum receipts. IIRC, eventually the people of the district caught on and demanded they stop raising taxes under PTELL limits to limit this gouging. For years Orland HS district 230 was running multi-million dollar surpluses while having enrollment drop from 8861 in 2008 to 7841 in 2014. I spoke to the board about using these surpluses to greatly reduce student fees, which were over $250 per student at the time. They used that same argument about continuing hurting families through excessive fees because, “they didn’t know what was going to happen in the future to school funding”. Pretty convenient. They can now continue to afford to pay teachers $120K after 20 years experience (age 43) while 30 hrs past a masters, pay 85% of employee health care premiums, have an overstaffed administration with one administrator for every 160 students, and afford to pay those administrators 15% above state average. Oh, and ACT scores are dropping and are barely above state average despite far fewer LI kids. Bottom line here is that school bureaucracies will always grab as much as they can by law unless that law limits their power to do so. Your district (wherever that is) may be an exception, but it certainly would be a very small minority. Making schools EARN increased property tax revenues through voter approval is the only way to keep them accountable, and that will be the case regardless of how much the state pays and how much above “adequately funded” the district is. - Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 1:02 pm: Good for Rep. Harris for having an independent mind. Now let’s see if Harris would vote to override Rauner’s likely veto of the union anti-strike bill (assuming he could be inclined to vote that way). I coincidentally read (in an article that I posted today in the “Ounce” thread) that ending collective bargaining in Wisconsin for everything except for pay up to the CPI did nothing or little to help that state’s finances. Why? Because union leaders agreed to make concessions on pension contributions and healthcare that could have gone a long way toward helping Wisconsin’s finances, without ending bargaining. Of course Walker shows no independence because he is in the service of special interests like the Koch brothers and billionaire Diane Hendricks. Connecticut and Rhode Island reportedly helped their budgets with tough bargaining and without union strippin’. - walker - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:11 pm: David Harris is to be commended for generally sorting out the reality from the mythical thinking. But let’s amplify and be more specific: Some of Rauner’s Turnaround agenda items would have little if any fiscal impact ever. Others might well have fiscal impact over the years, but not in the 2016 budget starting today. Those few that could actually impact this budget would be relatively limited in amount, and would likely be tied up in litigation before any saves could be booked. So it generally remains what Rauner has described: budget agreement now provided we get “structural reforms” for the long term. - nona - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:30 pm: Rep. Harris has improved with age. His first go-round in the House was less impressive, before he lost a primary in ‘92 to Carolyn Krause, who was pretty well respected as well. - Anonin' - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:34 pm: Once upon a time Harris was pretty sharp…the star is dimming. Perhaps Capt Fax or someone else can put the link of Harris or any other GOPies urging TeamBungle to AV the legislative spending plan. I am sure it is out there somewhere…twitter, mumbo jumbo land, somewhere. Just link it up for us. In the meantime please spare everyone the pompous whining - Tournaround Agenda - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:40 pm: To the update: Ok then, Rep. McSweeney. Then where’s the demand for Gov. Rauner to take the axe to the budget and balance it solely through cuts? Tell me what you’d specifically like to see cut to avoid any tax hike. - Old Sarge - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:46 pm: Thank you Rep. Harris. I can only wish that the rest of the Republican Party would show the courage that you have shown. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:03 pm: ===”We should do our job and quickly adopt a permanent budget without any tax increases.”=== Sure thing Rep. McSweeney. Could you just specify where you’d like the $4 billion in cuts to happen? Pension payment? Employee health care? Medicaid? What else? Somebody better wake him up, because not only is a tax increase coming, McSweeney is going to have to vote for it. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:19 pm: ===Somebody better wake him up, because not only is a tax increase coming, McSweeney is going to have to vote for it.=== When McSweeney is “green” on the revenue increase demanded by Rauner, (and the $20 million) and McSweeney realizes he has no choice, then it will sink in; Rauner owns the GOP GA. Madigan will insist on all 47 be “green”, it’s malpractice not to, and the Speaker, and the Rauner Ads now, demand it. No GOP GA member will be spared, none. The perfect “no tax records, they’re over. You’re Rauner’s now. It breaks my heart, but it’s still true. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:22 pm: Also, Harris and McSweeney sound truly concerned about some state employees not being paid. Yet Governor Rauner said he’d do everything he can to keep the paychecks coming. Why the two orders? Why would Harris and McSweeney need to issue press releases with their instructions to the Comptroller if the Governor, who is always successful, says he wants all employees paid 100% of what they’re owed? I think the answer is because both Harris and McSweeney know full well that despite his comments to the contrary, the Governor is lying when he says he wants all employees to continue to be paid. The fact is, Rauner’s been playing for this shutdown since the inauguration and he’s about to get it, good and hard. Rauner ordered the code red. - Qui Tam - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:22 pm: Does anyone know if these guys voted for the clearly illegal legislation “reform” to cheat these same workers out of earned pension benefits? - dupage dan - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:24 pm: Walkin’ the walk. Simple yet powerful gesture. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:26 pm: - 47th Ward -, lol. They have two books by their bedsides, the phony Rauner budget and the St. Bruce Ad Libs. That’s the only authority they know. - low level - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:34 pm: Talk about gimmicks. Non attendance at legislative hearings and votes were good because they were “gimmicks” but I suppose this is “serious policy” or some such? - zonz - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 4:13 pm: Juvenal, My understanding is that our nonpartisan COGFA cgfa.ilga.gov/ is NOT a state version of the nonpartisan CBO (Congressional Budget Office) that serves the US Congress with objective budget impact scoring of legislative proposals. [Sidenote: I do understand that the recent GOP dominance of House/Senate has meant a switch to phony “dynamic scoring” by CBO.] If Illinois DID HAVE a state version of CBO, each Rauner requested legislative proposal could be “scored” for its + or - short/long term impact on the state budget. Rauner would be embarrassed by the scores his non-budget proposals would receive. ___________________________________ - CrazyHorse - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 4:30 pm: “but he disagreed with criticism from Democrats of Rauner’s inclusion of other reform items that could have budget implications.” Apples to Oranges. The bottom line is they are not budgetary items. Saying these items have budget implications is like agreeing with the wife to not allow your daughter to date because someone might ask her to the prom and that might cost us money. Put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. - Ghostbusters - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:52 pm: @ Fred - yes, Rep. Harris has multiple government pensions from his military career. To wit, Gov. George Ryan appointed him Illinois Adjutant General (head of the IL Natl Guard) and Blagojevich kept him in that post in te years following his primary loss to Carolyn Krause. As for independence or lack thereof, Rep. Harris sponsored bills to repeal prevailing wage, etc. back during his previous tenure in Springfield. It’s easy to agree with things you’ve tried before. That said, Harris is no fan of the empty suit known as Rauner. It really ticked him off that Rauner kept calling *all* the legislators in Springfield corrupt (during the primary). - Forgottonia Republic - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 9:34 am: I’m opposed to any effort to reduce or withhold legislators’ salaries, voluntary or involuntary, under any circumstances, because it creates an additional barrier to non-wealthy people holding elected office. I’d like to have more legislators who can’t afford to turn down their paycheck — they’re the ones who would understand and fight for my interests. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.