* Wednesday’s statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office…
“Tonight the state legislature has taken an important step forward for Chicago and for Illinois. I want to thank Senate President Cullerton and the members of the State Senate for joining the State House in passing Senate Bill 2042. This bill ensures that the operations at Navy Pier and McCormick Place, which are two engines of our economy, are funded. It also ensures that we leave no federal dollars on the table which can support our residents.”
* On Thursday, the governor signed the federal funds bill into law…
Governor Bruce Rauner signed SB 2042 today, which appropriates money for the pass through of federal dollars without adding to the state’s budget deficit. The clean bill allows the state to provide some services to the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Governor Rauner supported and signed this clean pass through bill because it will help those in need without adding to the state’s budget deficit,” Director of Communications Lance Trover said. “While the Governor continues to work on passing a balanced budget with structural reforms to maximize how much we can invest in our schools and important social services, some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens will be able receive additional support.”
* Speaker Madigan’s response…
Madigan: Governor Failed Women, Children and Elderly While Helping Chicago’s McCormick Place
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - House Speaker Michael J. Madigan issued the following statement Thursday after the governor signed legislation authorizing the use of state funds for McCormick Place while opposing funding for women, children and the elderly:
“Governor Rauner’s piecemeal approach to federally funded programs creates more hardship and confusing disruptions. A few weeks ago, he vetoed all federally funded program spending. Now he cherry picks and says ‘no’ to state funding for critically needed services like breast and cervical cancer screenings, assistance for children with development disabilities and meals for the elderly. He also reversed course with the decision to support spending state money to pay Chicago’s McCormick Place bankers.
“The governor’s office called the inclusion of funding for these programs a ‘poison pill,’ and more than one House Republican made similar comments on the House floor, even going so far as to say these programs were ‘extra nonsense’ that ‘got in the way’ while they insisted on spending additional state money to ensure McCormick Place’s bankers get paid. I take great exception to those disparaging comments, as do the women, children and elderly who would have benefitted from the state dollars House Democrats supported.”
He has a point, but that federal funding/McPier bill really needed to pass.
* OK, now let’s move on to some context from Yvette Shields…
The legislation permits MPEA to draw from the account that holds pledged tax revenues to cover monthly payments to the bond trustee and also to make its December debt service payment. The agency requires an appropriation to do both and without a state budget in place it could not make the $20.8 monthly payment due to the trustee July 20.
The failed transfer triggered a technical default and prompted Standard & Poor’s to strip the agency’s $3 billion of debt of its AAA rating and Fitch Ratings to lower its AA-minus rating. […]
“Met Pier has been held hostage by the Illinois legislature, which should have unconditionally appropriated money to cover debt service,” [Cumberland Advisors] wrote in a recent commentary authored by Michael Coomes and John Mousseau.
“The political paralysis in Illinois does not make Met Pier a bad credit,” they wrote. “It is a good credit held hostage by the vagaries of the municipal market’s retail buyer base and headline risk. At Cumberland, we have sold our uninsured Met Pier debt because of these heightened political risks. We believe that Met Pier bonds will not be prudent investments until Illinois’ political issues are resolved.”
* But my beef is, what exactly happened here?
It’ll now cost more money to finance McPier bonds because somebody in the Rauner administration didn’t anticipate a very real debt service issue, or didn’t communicate that upcoming problem to the governor’s office or the General Assembly leadership, or they did and the warnings were ignored.
And are there any other preventable time bombs out there that we should know about?
The House’s State Government Administration Committee and/or the Senate’s State Government & Veterans Affairs Committee ought to get to the bottom of these questions. Pronto.
- @MisterJayEm - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:21 am:
“It’ll now cost more money to finance McPier bonds because somebody in the Rauner administration didn’t anticipate a very real debt service issue, or didn’t communicate that upcoming problem to the governor’s office or the General Assembly leadership, or they did and the warnings were ignored.”
At some point, the Rauner administration needs to stop campaigning and start administering.
– MrJM
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:22 am:
===…because somebody in the Rauner administration didn’t anticipate a very real debt service issue, or didn’t communicate that upcoming problem to the governor’s office or the General Assembly leadership, or they did and the warnings were ignored.===
I’m sure Goldberg and that Cracker-Jack Legislative Shop have a truly delicious and irrelevantly snarky letter to answer what happened…
- Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:25 am:
Hey, you overpay for the superstar talent. Now if they could only find some.
- Arsenal - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:29 am:
It’s a pretty clear pattern- McPier, the FOIA screw-up at DOC, the yes-no-yes on the $26 million cuts, even letting the courts essentially write a budget. If it’s not about breaking the unions or embarrassing Madigan, the Rauner Administration doesn’t care.
Honestly, that’s kind of comforting.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:31 am:
Sour grapes indeed. The questions should begin with the Met Pier agency. Why didn’t they sound the alarm? Or if they did, who ignored it?
- OneMan - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:33 am:
Louis, Louis, Louis…
Come on man, don’t you know everything is Rauner’s fault here.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:38 am:
I’ve yet to remember a gubernatorial administration with such a lack of taking responsibility for anything.
At Republican Day, Governor Rauner told everyone no one messes with my home.
Welp, come up with a budget, Governor, get it passed, sign it.
Is Rauner inept in the functions of his own office and in the inter-workings of co-equal branches?
What HAS Rauner accomplished?
- 47th Ward - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:48 am:
===The questions should begin with the Met Pier agency. Why didn’t they sound the alarm? Or if they did, who ignored it?===
Agreed, good questions. However, I think you’re not going to like the answers to those questions Louis. Your BFF dropped the ball and now we have to pay more to borrow.
Heck of a job, Raunie.
- Xavier Woods - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 9:58 am:
The notion that the federal funds bill the Governor signed is a “clean” bill is very misleading. Lost in the entire debate is the fact that for a lot of those federal funds, the state has to match a portion with state dollars to ensure we are in compliance with the feds. You can’t have one without the other and if the state doesn’t appropriate state funds, we risk having to pay this money back or losing these federal funds in the future.
- Crispy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:02 am:
Even though it’s true this funding had to be passed, MJM’s right–the priorities of this administration are disgusting.
Also, no matter which underling is assigned blame for the McPier mess-up, it still happened on the governor’s watch. As OW might say: “Governors OWN.”
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:02 am:
@OneMan, sorry, lost my head for a moment!
@47th Ward, if you have the answers to those questions, tell us now and spare the state the expense of an investigation. Why add to the deficit? -:)
- Wordslinger - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:03 am:
The superstars might want to read those approp. bills next time before they make grandiose political statements with blanket vetoes. The Constitution empowered the governor with a range of veto powers for a reason.
I’ve never seen a drop from AAA to BBB- for an Illinois muni.
What’s galling is that those are the most secure revenue bonds issued in the state, with exponential coverage: Chicago hotel/motel, taxi, restaurant and rental car taxes. And if those fall short, first crack at the state sales tax.
IDOR had collected more than enough from the special taxes to make the transfer; by law, those funds cant be used for anything else.
All it would have taken to keep the AAA rating was a little light housekeeping. Even Blago managed not to screw that up.
- Phenomynous - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:05 am:
“Because…Rauner” should be snarky titles to posts as well.
- Arizona Bob - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:13 am:
Madigan set this all up. He’s extremely plugged in to McPier to take care of his cronies and patronage. What he did was and abdication of responsible government for no better reason than to embarrass a political opponent. This is all on him….
- Not it - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:15 am:
I would blame the McPier governed affairs team first. If they did their job and communicated the need then see who dropped the ball.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:18 am:
- Arizona Bob -,
So… Madigan is responsible for the incompetence of the Governor’s Legislative Shop and LLs to McPier?
You can do better than that…
- Wordslinger - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:21 am:
AB, you’re on it, blowing the lid off the grand conspiracy.
Madigan used Jedi Mind tricks to prevent the superstars from reading approp. bills and handling a routine housekeeping matter that no other governor in 16 years had screwed up.
But you sure it was just Madigan? Don’t you think that teachers unions, SNAP recipients and undocumented workers from south of the you-know-where were in on it too?
- 47th Ward - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:24 am:
Bob’s been out in the sun too long.
- Norseman - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:25 am:
Louis, I don’t think it would take long to discover whether McPier sent warnings to Rauner. My money is on that they did. Maybe someone should foia them and find out.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:25 am:
What we need is a real governor.
We haven’t had one since 1998, have we?
- Not it - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:36 am:
There is a similar problem with the RTA.
- walker - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 10:43 am:
AB: Now you really made me laugh out loud!
The Madigan conspiracy no one else would ever even imagine. You’re a trip sometimes.
- Mama - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:15 am:
I think Rauner & team wants the city of Chicago to go bankrupt. That could be a money maker for Rauner.
- Mama - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:23 am:
+“While the Governor continues to work on passing a balanced budget with structural reforms”
Rauner is working on passing a balanced budget? News to me. Does the gov not know the piecemeal budget is already unbalanced? Will someone please show him Cullerton’s budget graphs?
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 11:38 am:
Cullerton extended an olive branch. Rauner took it. Madigan nearly destroyed it selfishly.
- RNUG - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 1:29 pm:
== What HAS Rauner accomplished? ==
Reuniting the unions with the Democrats …
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 1:54 pm:
=== === What HAS Rauner accomplished? ==
Reuniting the unions with the Democrats …===
I agree, but the Democrats’ Day at the Fair was… Well, it happened.
- RNUG - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:09 pm:
== but the Democrats’ Day at the Fair was… Well, it happened. ==
Sigh … I know … I was on the grounds Thursday.
- Anon. - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:13 pm:
4th Ward @ 9:48 ==Heck of a job, Raunie.==
Hey, shouldn’t such nasty insults be banned? /snark
- Lincoln Lad - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:14 pm:
Didn’t MJM cause the head of McPier to be chosen by the board instead of being appointed by the Gov? Didn’t the board choose a Daley insider, with MJM’s blessing? Isn’t that really what’s happened here?
- Anon - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:24 pm:
===It’ll now cost more money to finance McPier bonds because somebody in the Rauner administration didn’t anticipate a very real debt service issue, or didn’t communicate that upcoming problem to the governor’s office or the General Assembly leadership, or they did and the warnings were ignored.===
What if it was intentional? Future investors will now receive higher returns on their relatively safe investment.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Aug 21, 15 @ 3:29 pm:
So, - Lincoln Lad -
“Because… Madigan”?
LOL