* 6:03 pm - AFSCME local leaders met with the governor’s top staff today. The union just released this statement…
Leaders of the state’s largest union of public service workers, AFSCME Council 31, including more than 75 leaders from every AFSCME local union representing Illinois state employees, met today in Springfield with representatives of Governor Pat Quinn and his Department of Central Management Services (CMS).
AFSCME executive director Henry Bayer issued the following statement:
“The Quinn Administration proposed employee concessions that would cut every state worker’s pay by 11 to 15 percent over the next year and a half, and still result in 1,000 layoffs. We simply don’t believe our members can afford that, and we don’t think it’s fair to expect them to bear such an unfair burden.
“AFSCME is strongly opposed to any layoffs. We made clear that the governor should rescind the layoffs he has already scheduled, and instead work to raise adequate revenue to support the vital services AFSCME members provide. If Pat Quinn chooses to lay off thousands of frontline state workers, he will decimate those services, including child protection, safe prisons, aid to the needy, care for the disabled, environmental protection and much more.
“The ranks of state workers have already been slashed. Illinois has the nation’s fewest state employees per resident. As a result, AFSCME members are already working an extraordinary amount of overtime, much of it forced. In June alone, employees in the Department of Human Services worked more than 100,000 hours of overtime, and in the Department of Corrections they worked more than 145,000 hours of overtime. Laying off staff in those circumstances would worsen the overtime crisis and cost the state more money.
“Today AFSCME proposed ways the state could save money without harming vital services and the employees who provide them. We know there are state contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for services that are not essential and could be canceled or modified. We believe the state’s group health insurance program could be administered more efficiently. And there are still many unnecessary top-level managers left over from the previous administration.
“The only real solution to the state budget crisis is to raise new revenues. AFSCME will continue its efforts to build legislative support to that end, and to prevent the layoff of any state employee.”
*** UPDATE *** Here come the layoffs. From Gov. Quinn’s office…
Governor Pat Quinn’s senior staff met today with AFSCME leadership to discuss potential changes to the State of Illinois’ AFSCME contract in response to the current national economic crisis and the resulting declining state revenues.
Unfortunately, AFSCME was not open to these proposals which would have saved thousands of state jobs and, instead, they made the choice to go forward with layoffs. We are hopeful that other unions will not choose this path.
The union did recommend some additional cost-saving measures, which we appreciate and will consider. By being unwilling to re-open the contract, we are now forced to proceed with the layoffs.
The cost-reduction plan is a critical component of the larger budget solution and calls for shared sacrifice among state agencies and their employees.
While we are disappointed with today’s outcome, we will continue to work to rescue our state from this fiscal emergency.
* Earlier today, Dan Hynes demanded either an explanation or an apology from Gov. Pat Quinn after Quinn charged that Hynes opposed an advisory referendum on a graduated income tax a few years ago. Hynes denied he opposed the referendum.
“[Quinn’s] bizarre claim that Dan has changed positions on a progressive income tax is patently false,” a campaign spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Well, after I asked for more than 24 hours, the Quinn campaign finally sent what it says is proof that Hynes has flip-flopped from opposing a graduated tax to now supporting one. This is from an October, 2003 story in the Kane County Chronicle…
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes opposes a proposed state constitutional amendment that would double the state income tax paid by the rich.
While touting his US Senate bid on Wednesday, Hynes touched on the proposal that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn endorsed earlier this week, but kept a visit to Kane County focused on grabbing Illinois’ share of federal dollars to boost the state’s ailing economy.
“I wouldn’t advocate a tax increase at the state level,” Hynes said.
Oof.
Still, that one sentence quote is the only direct quote the paper ran on the topic, and it’s the only story forwarded by the Quinn campaign, so it’s not 100 percent definitive, but it ain’t good for Hynes, either.
“In 2004, [Dan Hynes] opposed a graduated income tax,” Quinn said. “Maybe he’s flipped and he’s flopped over to our side, and I’m glad he has. In 2004, he wasn’t there to help us.”
I called and called and received no official response. I was told on background that Quinn was likely referring to a private request he made to Hynes during either the 2004 non-binding referendum on the graduated income tax or the subsequent push to pass a constitutional amendment based on the successful results of that referendum.
Hynes, however, denied yesterday that he ever opposed the referendum and said Quinn had never asked him to help pass the constitutional amendment through the GA.
Today, Hynes is demanding either a clarification or an apology. From a press release…
The Dan Hynes for Governor campaign is calling on Pat Quinn to clarify or apologize for his false assertion yesterday that Hynes had previously opposed the issue of a progressive income tax. Tellingly, Governor Quinn has failed to provide proof for his claim, and his office referred only to a “private conversation” in a report published this morning. The Hynes campaign categorically denies any such conversation took place.
Hynes campaign spokesman Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“On the topic of flip-flops, Pat Quinn typically knows of what he speaks. But his bizarre claim that Dan has changed positions on a progressive income tax is patently false. It is no surprise that the Governor would rather not defend his own plan to raise taxes by 50 percent across the board on all Illinois families.
Yesterday, Dan Hynes put forward a bold plan to address our state’s fiscal crisis by modernizing the tax structure and making it more fair. Pat Quinn talked about flip-flops and fishing trips. The people of Illinois are looking for a leader with a clear vision of the future, not a hazy focus on the past. Dan Hynes is going to continue to talk about his plans to move Illinois forward.
Governor Quinn owes the people of Illinois an explanation.”
* Meanwhile, the Illinois Republican Party has posted a new video, which is essentially Hynes being asked on WLS AM’s Don & Roma Show this morning to respond to an IL GOP talking point. Watch it…
* Speaking of Don & Roma, Gawker has uncovered some e-mails sent by media types begging for an interview with Rod Blagojevich soon after his arrest. Don & Roma’s producer told Blagojevich’s press secretary “I have an an incredible offer for you!” so please call. Read it here. Read the rest of the suck-up e-mails by clicking here.
Former ABC7 political reporter Andy Shaw was no suck-up. Check out his e-mail. Heh. Way to go, Andy. [I don’t think I sent an e-mail that day because I was able to get the press secretary on the phone very early that morning.]
* And David Ormsby compares Alexa web rankings of various gubernatorial campaign sites…
Illinois 2010 Governor Candidate July 2009 Web Traffic Rank:
* Brady, Bill 5,387,593
* Dillard, Kirk 7,209,347
* Hynes, Dan 9,777,962
* Murphy, Matt 10,221637
* Proft, Dan 3,815,627
* Quinn, Pat 4,626,269
These aren’t hits, by the way. These are rankings based on the entire Intertubes.
Proft has the “highest” rank of the bunch, with Quinn in second place. But they’re way behind this blog, which, according to Ormsby, Alexa has ranked at 206,748. I’m not a fan of Alexa, but whatever. It’s a fun little comparison.
* A recent national poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports found that 51 percent of American adults believe alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana.
A mere 19 percent said pot is more dangerous than booze…
Younger adults are more likely than their elders to view alcohol as the more dangerous of the two.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of women say alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, compared to 48% of men.
In the crosstabs, it looks like even a plurality of senior citizens think alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, 35 percent vs. 22 percent, with 33 percent saying they’re both equally dangerous. The poll found that about a quarter of all respondents thought that both were equally dangerous, with 2 percent saying neither were dangerous.
57 percent of Democrats said booze was more dangerous, while 45 percent of Republicans agreed. Just 14 percent of Dems said pot was more dangerous while 25 percent of Republicans concurred with that statement.
In fact, not a single identified demographic group believed that pot was more dangerous than booze. Not one.
1,000 adults surveyed August 26-27, 2009 with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
* Gov. Pat Quinn was on WSOY’s Byers & Co. program earlier this week. The host, Brian Byers, asked the governor about Monday’s Question of the Day, wherein we discussed who would play Quinn in a movie about his life.
The governor apparently saw the post because he mentioned one of your suggestions. Take a look to see which actor Gov. Quinn jokingly suggested play him in a movie…
* The Quinn campaign is continuing to bash Dan Hynes’ tax and budget proposals…
[John Kupper] of the Quinn campaign dismissed Hynes’ ideas as playing politics. “In a very real sense, this is a proposal that was put together for the benefit of a political campaign and not a serious effort to address the state’s fiscal problems,” he said. “It’s a lot of rehashed proposals that came right out of the political playbook 101. The question is better addressed to Dan Hynes as to how he is going to enact these things, since he’s pretty much been on the sidelines as these budget issues have been debated.”
Political? Yes, of course. Serious? Well, it’s at least as serious as Quinn’s budget plans, which pretty much all failed.
* Hynes has a calculator on his campaign website to compare what your taxes would be with his income tax proposal, which, he claims “puts the Middle Class first, with Gov. Quinn’s proposal.
*Taxes may vary based on an individual’s ability to qualify for certain exemptions and credits.
Household income –
under $200,000 would stay at the 3 percent income tax rate.
between $200,000 and $300,000 would be taxed at 3.5 percent
between $300,000 and $500,000 would be taxed at 5.5 percent
between $500,000 and $1 million would be taxed at 7 percent
over $1 million would be taxed at 7.5 percent
* There’s been a lot of discussion about how “boring” Hynes is and how that may be an advantage in a year when voters could be tired of flashy, dishonest, incompetent leaders. Kristen McQueary notes that this is not a new schtick for the Hynes family…
Perhaps Hynes can mimic a television commercial his father used during his 1987 run for Chicago mayor. In it, Tom Hynes talked about his reputation as boring. The camera panned to his family where Dan Hynes, then a University of Notre Dame student, pretended to be sleeping.
* Meanwhile, Gov. Quinn is “acting gubernatorial” by cutting a very big ribbon today. From the governor’s public schedule…
Governor Pat Quinn will join local, state and federal officials to break ground on a transportation hub in Joliet.
WHO: Governor Quinn. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete), Joseph Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D-Joliet), Larry Walsh, Will County Executive, Jim Young, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Union Pacific Corporation. Michael Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, CenterPoint Properties
That capital bill is a political goldmine. But it has its downsides. From a Pantagraph editorial…
Hey, we just found an easy place to cut $40 million from the state’s capital budget.
It’s the $40 million allocated to build a branch of Chicago State University on the west side of Chicago — money that was not even requested by the university. That “surprise” doesn’t give us a lot of confidence in the rest of the budget.
* The other day, Mark Brown defended Republican US Senate candidate Congressman Mark Kirk against attacks on his immigration stance. Today, Brown gives an approving nod to Democratic US Senate hopeful Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ proposal to require states to recognize gay marriages performed in other states…
Under Giannoulias’ view, a same-sex couple from Illinois who get married in Iowa, where gay marriage became legal earlier this year, would have the same rights here as a married heterosexual couple.
Giannoulias said that would give them inheritance rights, hospital visitation rights, equal pension and health care benefits and all other legal protections granted married couples.
“I don’t think we’re asking for special rights,” Giannoulias said. “They’re equal rights.”
Informed of Giannoulias’ comments, a spokesman for Kirk offered a succinct response: “Congressman Kirk opposes gay marriage, supports the Defense of Marriage Act, and agrees with President Clinton’s policy of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Brown calls the idea politically risky, and he’s most likely right about that. Your thoughts?
Tipsville: Sneed is told that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has definitely, positively decided not to enter the fray for President Obama’s old seat in the U.S. Senate.
•It’s for the usual reasons: the need to raise boatloads of campaign cash, raising five kids — and not wanting to give up a secure job.
* Speaking of Kirk, I haven’t had much on the blog about Dick Green, a wealthy Republican who is gearing up to run in Kirk’s Congressional District. That’s a mistake. We should probably keep a close eye on him. Here’s an excerpt about Green filed a while back by ABC7’s Charles Thomas…
“We’re going to raise the money necessary to compete and we’re going to do everything necessary to win this race.” ]…]
Mr. Green, a multi-millionaire financial consultant, would not answer when asked if he planned on using his own money. He would only say that he’ll have enough to run the race until the finish.
* Related…
* Halvorson to host 2nd telephone town hall on health care
Illinois will get more than $200 million in U.S. Labor Department funds to modernize its unemployment insurance program.
The money is coming from the federal stimulus program.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security can use these funds to pay unemployment benefits, or if appropriated by the Legislature, for administering its unemployment insurance program or providing employment services, according to the office of Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill.
Stroger has previously said he might support a .25 percent rollback of the 1 percent increase that took effect just over a year ago, hiking the county sales tax to 1.75 percent. That would at least save Cook County consumers an estimated $100 million a year, if not the $200 million that would have resulted from a half-percent cut. But fresh from his victory Tuesday, when Chicago Commissioner Deborah Sims switched sides at the last moment to sustain Stroger’s veto of a July vote to cut the sales tax a half penny on the dollar, he backtracked on even that.
“Things have changed,” Stroger said. “It’s not the same. I’d have to go to the finance team, and we’ll look at the numbers, and we’ll see if we can handle that. But we do know that we have some costs that weren’t there last year when I proposed the budget, and one of them is $113 million for the pension fund.”
Deborah Sims can vote with impunity — or so she believes — because of several factors. First of all, she doesn’t really represent the South Suburbs, she represents her Chicago Wards — and, specifically, her loyalists are very proud of her residence in the 34th Ward. If Sims can get the votes out of the Chicago Wards and Thornton township, then she wins. Her work — her neglect of the Southland — is evidence that she understands this political calculation.
Hence her continued loyalty to Todd Stroger. Thus her neglect of the Southland.[…]
In the end, Deborah Sims has to do two contradictory things: have a strong presence in the South Suburbs (especially in Thornton township) and hope that voters don’t realize who she is. Todd Stroger won’t be successful down here — John Stroger wouldn’t have done that well if Forrest Claypool’s campaign had tried to compete in the South Suburbs.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Wednesday, they contend that Dart has violated their right to due process by refusing to enforce court-ordered eviction notices on tenants.
“I’ve had one tenant who hasn’t paid his rent for 10 months,” Slinkman said. “Tenants all over Cook County are gaming the system because they know there’s a court order that prevents evicting them when the temperature is below 15 degrees or when there’s excessive snow on the ground or during the holidays.
The agencies are seeking $200 million in federal stimulus funding to get express buses running between job-scarce areas in the south suburbs and employment opportunities in the west and northwest.
If funding is approved, the so-called high-occupancy-toll or HOT lanes could be opened on the Tri-State by early 2012, officials said Wednesday.
Across Will County, there are hundreds of middle-class addicts — what authorities say constitutes a deadly heroin epidemic. A record 19 overdose deaths have occurred so far this year. That’s three more than were recorded in all of 2008, and nearly four times as many as in 2000.
The problem is fueled by cheap prices, easy availability and relaxed social attitudes toward a drug once considered beyond the pale.
The death toll has risen every year since 2005, according to Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil’s office, with the overdoses occurring in places including Mokena, Crest Hill, New Lenox and Homer Glen — suburbs better known for family-friendly, cookie-cutter subdivisions than widespread hard-drug use.
