* 5:26 pm - And here we go…
State Sen. Suzi Schmidt will stay in office and seek re-election, she announced today, despite a recent controversy over her 911 call to request special treatment in a marital dispute.
“I believe I can and will continue to serve the citizens of Lake County with the same dedication and energy I’ve had for the past 25 years, and the issues in my personal life will not prohibit me from doing the job they elected me to do,” she said. “I am continuing to circulate petitions to run for re-election in 2012, and I hope I continue to earn the support of the citizens of the 31st District.”
Schmidt, a Republican from Lake Villa, again apologized for her “wrong” behavior,” and said she has begun counseling “to help in resolving the issues in my personal life.”
On Sept. 26, Schmidt called Lake County Sheriff’s police, identified herself as the former county board chairman, and asked them to “ignore” her husband if he called during a marital dispute, adding that he might be afraid of her because of her “connections.”
*** UPDATE *** From Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno…
“After a period of reflection, Sen. Schmidt has announced her decision to continue to serve the constituents of the 31st District. Most importantly, she has clearly accepted responsibility for her inappropriate behavior in dealing with a very difficult personal situation. She has acknowledged that her actions were wrong and has asked for the forgiveness of her constituents. She assures me she is taking the appropriate measures to continue to address these issues while maintaining her focus on the needs of the district.”
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* 4:01 pm - The jury is empaneled and opening statements are about to begin. BlackBerry users click here, but everybody else can kick back and watch the live feed…
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Pension proposals on the move
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Crain’s…
Abbott Laboratories chief Miles White had a pointed message for the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Illinois House when he met with them recently: “We have options.”
The statement, confirmed by reliable sources, was an unmistakable reference to the fact that the huge biotech firm owns a ton of property in southern Wisconsin, property that it could use to expand, rather than adding to its Illinois workforce.
Mr. White’s message was the latest sign that business is getting serious about its drive to get the Illinois General Assembly to reform the state’s crumbling employee pension plans, preferably in the fall veto session. And, in fact, the biz guys may be as close to winning as they’ve ever been. […]
They’re prepared to spend $1 million on media ads and have stepped up direct contacts with state workers and teachers covered by the Illinois pension funds, going around union leaders.
* React from the Illinois Federation of Teachers…
The millionaires group has received a million dollars worth of free media over the past couple of years each time they say they’re going to spend $1 million on media ads. It’s the equivalent of rock star millionaires getting all that free swag.
The IFT is right. The biz guys have threatened to run that million dollar ad buy in the past, and it never materialized.
* Abbott Labs has also contributed $75,000 to legislators since the middle of September.
And I’m hearing there’s some polling being done on the issue.
* From a press release…
In a speech at the City Club of Chicago this afternoon, Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross announced that he filed a bill today that will help give more accountability to taxpayers by reconstituting the City of Chicago and Cook County pension boards. The bill, which will be sponsored by Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) in the Senate, will also require pension boards statewide to refer any suspected fraud to the local authorities.
“Recent media reports have unveiled abuses in the Chicago Pension Funds that were not reported to the proper authorities for punishment or investigation. We believe these matters should have and still should be reported to law enforcement. We mandate that in our bill,” said Cross. “We also believe the pension boards in the City of Chicago and Cook County need a fresh start—that’s why we are seeking reconstitution.”
The bill is here.
As you already know, Leader Cross has sponsored another bill which prevents union leaders from drawing pensions years after they were on the city payroll. The pensions weren’t based on their city salaries, but on their union wages.
But while Cross’ bill applies to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund, which is not directly funded by the state, it doesn’t include a provision for the Teachers Retirement System, which covers Downstate and suburban teachers and has a union leader provisions as the city pension laws…
[”Teacher” is defined as] Any officer or employee of a statewide teacher organization or officer of a national teacher organization who is certified under the law governing certification of teachers, provided: (i) the individual had previously established creditable service under this Article, (ii) the individual files with the system an irrevocable election to become a member, and (iii) the individual does not receive credit for such service under any other Article of this Code;
Asked why Cross left out the TRS, a spokesperson replied…
We were just dealing with the City of Chicago which was the reported problem.
I’m sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the Illinois Education Association has backed so many Republican legislative candidates over the years.
* Ummm…
Following his recent failed bid for governor, Republican Adam Andrzejewski is making pension reform his next mission.
Andrzejewski says he doesn’t have any specific proposals, but he stresses that the pension system is bloated because not enough state workers are paying into the system and union leaders are raking in big bucks at the expense of rank and file state workers.
Not enough state workers are paying into the system? Unless they’re on contract, they’re all paying in, aren’t they?
…Adding… Andrzejewski just called to say he was misquoted. What he said was that a majority of teachers aren’t paying enough into the pension fund. That’s still not accurate, of course, since those teachers negotiated with their districts to pick up their share of the pension payments. If you made those teachers pay their share again, they’d just negotiate to retrieve their foregone wage hikes.
* Related…
* Pension issues likely to resurface in veto session: NIU’s State Pension and Budget Update website once again will provide up-to-the minute information on these topics as they develop.
* Civic Committee calls on General Assembly to address pension crisis
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SB 1652: The Value Proposition
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Grid modernization will provide more value to consumers than it costs. Here are the facts.
• Grid modernization will require about a $3 per month increase on the average customer’s bill.
• But that cost will be more than offset by benefits in real and quantifiable ways.
Three ways consumers will save:
1. Utilities will become more efficient through modernization. The savings are passed on to consumers. This alone will offset the entire $3 rate increase.
2. Outages have costs. Consumers will reap tangible savings with fewer outages. This equates to about $1 per month, per customer, in value.
3. When consumers have smart meters they can better manage their usage and reduce their energy budget.
Specific reliability enhancements are in the law with financial penalties for utilities that fail to deliver.
• Outage frequency will be cut by 20% over 10 years, resulting in 700,000 fewer outages per year.
• Outage duration will be cut by 15% over 10 years through Smart Grid technologies that allow faster response to outages.
For more information on all the benefits of grid modernization through SB 1652, visit www.SmartEnergyIL.com.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Debbie Halvorson will announce tomorrow that she’s challenging Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. in the Democratic primary. From a press release…
“Our families are facing serious challenges, and they need a serious Member of Congress who can get things done. Our neighbors don’t need rhetoric, they need results, and I’ve delivered actual results for nearly twenty years. I’m running to bring real representation, real leadership, and real results back to our district.”
* The Question: Does Halvorson have a chance?
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* Mike Boland didn’t just lose his “top staffer,” the kid was basically Boland’s only staffer…
Mike Boland’s top staffer has resigned from his congressional campaign citing “strategic differences.”
Auston McLain, Mr. Boland’s campaign manager, who left the campaign Monday, said Tuesday, “Mike and I continue to be great friends. He did not wish to see me go, and there is not an ounce of harsh feelings on either side.”
Mr. Boland, a former state representative, is one of six Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for U.S. Congress in the 17th Congressional District in the 2012 elections. The others are Greg Aguilar, Cheri Bustos, Eric Reyes, state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, and Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp. […]
Mr. Boland confirmed Tuesday that Mr. McLain’s resignation was “friendly” and “amicable.”
Boland has good name recognition in the district, but he’ll need more than that. This latest move means we can cue the increased speculation that Boland ends up running for state Senate against fellow Democrat and longtime enemy Mike Jacobs.
* Boland had to deal with a bit of a controversy earlier this week…
A Quad City candidate for Congress says he did nothing wrong when he solicited campaign donations via e-mail from teachers at Blackhawk College last month, even though he is on the Board of Trustees at the school.
In a memo obtained by News 8, a union representative for faculty named Joan Eastlund wrote to members about the e-mail blast, saying ‘’as a trustee, Mike Boland will be in the position to vote directly on the retention, tenure and promotion of faculty members. This presents a clear conflct of interest.'’
The union asks that Boland recuse himself from voting on all personnel hiring, promotions, and firings. […]
Boland says five thousand e-mails were sent in the blast for contributions, those received at Blackhawk College just a small portion of the group.
‘’It’s copied after Obama, what he did in 2008. Getting those massive small donations'’, Boland said. ‘’It’s obviously political'’.
* In other news, former Democratic state Rep. Jay Hoffman released poll results of 400 likely voters taken August 10-15 which he says show he has a good shot against Republican incumbent Tim Johnson. From a press release…
The generic ballot question showed this district to be a tossup with 43% favoring a Democratic candidate and 43% favoring a Republican.
The initial trial heat, prior to providing respondents with any information about either candidate, showed Johnson leading Hoffman 44% to 33%, which can be attributed to his higher name recognition. However as respondents learned more about each candidate Hoffman gained considerably and moved ahead of Johnson. […]
Respondents were read a bio of each candidate’s accomplishments followed by a series of likely criticisms and when the respondents were then asked their preference between Jay Hoffman and Tim Johnson the respondents preferred Hoffman 43% to 42%. Respondents were specifically told about Hoffman’s former ties to Rod Blagojevich as well as his vote for a temporary income tax increase. For Congressman Johnson the respondents were told about his support for President Bush’s budgets and fiscal policies as well as his votes in favor of corporate and business interests.
The Hoffman campaign refused to release the exact wording of the negative pushes. That’s usually the case. But just keep in mind that polls can be gamed that way.
* React…
A spokesman for Johnson discounted the poll’s findings.
“I think you have to take into account who did the polling and what they were asking,” Johnson spokesman Phil Bloomer said. “Tim voted against Bush’s budgets for several years. This is not something new for him to vote against these budgets just since President Obama has been in office.”
Asked if Johnson’s campaign has done any polling, Bloomer said, “Not that I’m aware of.”
* Johnson’s new district includes several college campuses, including UIUC, ISU and UIS. So this can’t hurt…
About two years after he first called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, now appears to be gaining the support of his constituents. […]
Johnson said he doesn’t believe his constituents “are one iota safer because we’re losing thousands of American men and women, and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Libya and Iraq.”
“I have consistently voted in appropriation after appropriation and bill after bill to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya,” he said. It was at that point and during other statements about defense spending that Johnson received his only sustained applause during the meeting.
* Johnson might have some problems with these ideas, however…
Johnson also suggested gradually raising the retirement age to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and said he was willing to look at revenue measures, not just budget cuts, to reduce the federal deficit.
* Other stuff…
* Kinzinger campaign kickoff Saturday in Ottawa: “The exact district won’t be known until we hear the court ruling (on the new state redistricting map). If the Democrats’ map upholds, he’ll run in the 16th. If it’s the Republican map, it’ll be the 11th,” said Kinzinger’s Press Secretary Brook Hougeson.
* Quigley, Gutierrez, Schakowsky to hold hearing on DOMA
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*** UPDATE *** From the Sun-Times…
Sears executives have visited potential new headquarters sites in Austin, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, but say they remain open to negotiating with Illinois officials to keep the retailer’s headquarters in Hoffman Estates.
The Sears leaders visited potential sites, toured offices and met with municipal, business, state and economic development officials in Austin and in Columbus, sources said Wednesday.
Sears officials expect to make a decision by the end of the year.
* If the union’s contract is ratified, Illinois will get some good job news…
The UAW and Ford reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that will mean 2,000 new jobs in the Chicago area, including 1,100 new jobs and a new shift at the company’s Chicago assembly plant next year if workers approve the deal, the union and Illinois politicians said Tuesday.
Ford now employs roughly 2,700 workers in Chicago at the Torrence Avenue plant, which produces the Lincoln MKS, Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer on two shifts. It also employs 900 workers at its Chicago Heights stamping plant.
Ford plans to add 1,100 workers at the Chicago assembly plant next year and an additional 900 workers at the stamping plant and assembly plant within the next four years.
Both Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel said (separately) yesterday that they’d been working with Ford to help facilitate the new jobs.
*** UPDATE *** The Sun-Times reports that Mayor Emanuel’s agreement to cut the head tax in half was behind Ford’s decision to expand employment…
The $4-a-month employee head tax despised by Chicago businesses would be cut in half, depriving the city of $23 million in annual revenue, under a surprise ordinance proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday.
Emanuel campaigned on a promised to phase out the head tax over four years by lopping off $1 from it each year.
But he opted to do it twice as fast — and eliminate the tax entirely by July 2014 — because the deal that nailed down as many as 2,000 new jobs at a Far South Side Ford plant was contingent on the phase out.
“This was a significant piece of helping us secure the 1,200 jobs at the Ford plant and what they’re gonna add also to the stamping plant across the street. It’s another 700” jobs, the mayor said.
* But, CME Group’s Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy continues to grumble loudly about Illinois…
International expansion aside, CME’s Duffy again raised the possibility that the CME could relocate its headquarters to another state to escape Illinois’ “outrageous” and “inappropriate” taxes.
Illinois raised taxes earlier this year, and several other states are wooing CME with proposals that Duffy called “viable.”
Duffy said he is working with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, state legislators and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to find a solution that would keep CME in the city, but said he has a “fiduciary duty” to do what is best for shareholders.
*** UPDATE *** Interesting…
A deal to keep CME Group Inc. from bolting the state could be reached as early as the start of the legislature’s veto session this month, Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday.
An agreement aimed at reducing the corporate income tax liability for the company, which is the parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, would require approval of the General Assembly, Quinn said.
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* So, of course, what we need to do right away is close a prison and lay off guards…
Too many inmates and too few guards have led to dangerous conditions at the state’s second oldest prison, according to a report issued Tuesday.
The report by the John Howard Association said the Menard Correctional Center in Chester has had an “alarming” number of staff and inmate assaults this year, primarily because the prison has the worst inmate-to-staff ratio of all of Illinois’ maximum-security facilities.
The Chicago-based prison watchdog group said there have been 14 staff assaults since Jan. 1, including one in the prison library that sent a correctional officer to a St. Louis hospital with facial fractures.
“Inadequate security not only jeopardizes the physical safety of inmates and staff, but it also undermines rehabilitation efforts and creates a psychologically damaging environment for everyone who lives and works behind the prison wall,” the report noted.
Great. Wonderful.
* More from the report…
* Over the last year and a half, Menard was on full or partial lockdown roughly half of the time.
* The average inmate at Menard spends roughly 21 to 22 hours a day locked in cells idle, with little or no activity or opportunity for normal social and human interaction.
* A few of the John Howard Association’s recommendations…
(1) The Illinois Governor and General Assembly must reduce the prison population through sentencing reform, enacting a safe replacement for Meritorious Good Time, and providing Menard and other DOC facilities with the funding and staffing needed to meet the population’s basic physical and mental health needs. If such actions are not taken, it is all but inevitable that this issue will end up being litigated in the courts.
(2) The practice of using prolonged segregation to discipline mentally ill inmates should be abandoned at Menard and all DOC facilities. […]
(3) Further inquiry should be undertaken by Menard’s administration and the DOC to determine whether excessive use of force and abuse of inmates may be a systemic problem at Menard, given the unusually high number of reports JHA received from inmates of abuse by correctional staff.
* Meanwhile…
Officials in Lincoln expect a full house at a public hearing Oct. 26 on Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to close Logan Correctional Center.
The hearing will begin at 5 p.m. in the chapel at Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln.
“We really need to pack the place and show our support for the prison,” Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder said. […]
To oppose the closure, a coalition of Logan County business, labor and economic development groups has formed, the Lincoln City Council has sent a letter to Quinn, and more than 1,800 people have signed petitions in Lincoln.
That isn’t very many signatures, considering the economic impact of closing that facility. Lincoln has a history of dealing with state closures, so you’d think they’d be more organized.
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Poll: Quinn’s numbers still in the tank
Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Just a few days before Gov. Pat Quinn won his election last year, Public Policy Polling found his job approval rating was 32 percent and his disapproval was 54 percent. In March, after the income tax hike passed, We Ask America pegged Quinn’s approval rating at 30.6 percent and his disapproval at 60.7 percent.
We Ask America has a new poll out and Quinn’s rating is pretty much the same…
A FOX Chicago News/We Ask America survey found only 29.6 percent of registered voters approved Quinn’s job performance; 60 percent disapproved.
Even the governor’s own party appears to be deserting him. Among self-described Democrats: 46%percent approved, 42 percent disapproved. […]
Fewer than half of voters in the Governor’s home town of Chicago are happy: 49 percent approve, 39 percent disapprove. In suburban Cook County, 32 percent approve, 57 percent disapprove. In the suburban collar counties surrounding Chicago, 27 percent approve, 61 percent disapprove. Among registered voters Downstate, a mere 19 percent approve, 70 percent disapprove.
African-American registered voters are Quinn’s strongest supporters, with 52 percent approving while 40 percent disapprove. Among Hispanic voters, 30 percent approve, 54 percemt disapprove. Among white voters, 25 percent approve, 63 percent disapprove.
There is little difference between male and female voters. Among women, 31 percent approve, 55 percent disapprove. Among men, 29 percent approve, 65 percent disapprove.
Man, those Downstate and collar numbers are just downright horrible. And his suburban Cook and Chicago numbers are far worse than the president’s. But it has always been thus with Pat Quinn. He managed to win last year by turning his opponent into a bigger ogre than he was. Overwhelming disapproval doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the General Assembly, however. Going up against him is no great risk. Then again, their overall approval rating is probably lower than his.
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