Anne Dias Griffin, a rare woman at the helm of a hedge fund as well as wife of billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, is starting a for-profit digital media company called Reboot Illinois.
The website will promote “political, educational and fiscal reform in Illinois and the Midwest,” according to an online job posting.
Political reform? Really? This is the same person who, partnering with her husband, sidestepped campaign contribution caps by contributing big bucks to small Downstate county party committees, which then turned around and contributed the majority of that cash to the state Republican Party. I wrote this back in January…
Back when the reformers demanded that state campaign contributions be capped, they said it would limit the dollars flowing into Illinois political funds.
But contributions have only barely decreased from four years ago, according to a search of the Illinois Board of Elections’ database. That may have as much to do with the economy these days compared with what it was in 2007, when Illinois’ unemployment rate was half what it is now. […]
Individuals now are capped at $5,000 when donating directly to a candidate, but they can give up to $10,000 to PACs and political parties and PACs can contribute $50,000 to candidates. You probably can see where this is going.
The Griffins made $305,000 in contributions between Dec. 29 and Jan. 6, with the vast majority confined to the last three days of 2011. A bunch of that cash went to small, downstate Republican Party county committees.
For instance, the Griffins each contributed the maximum $10,000 to the Stark County Republican Central Committee on Dec. 29. The tiny county party reported raising just $5,700 in cash over the past three years until the Griffins came along.
Republican parties in Christian, Jefferson, Douglas, Logan and Richland counties all were showered with similar Griffin beneficence. Such political party committees can contribute unlimited amounts to candidates in a primary election.
And then when the next campaign finance reports were filed, we found out that much of that money went right back to the state GOP. From Bernie…
While the Griffins combined to donate more than $200,000 to more than 10 GOP organizations, including GOP committees in Logan, Douglas, Fayette, Madison and Richland counties, those groups then — coincidentally? — combined to donate more than $120,000 to the Illinois Republican Party in the first three months of this year.
Griffin and her husband, founder and chief executive of Citadel LLC, are among the largest donors to the Illinois Republican Party and have been active in organizations trying to reduce the influence of teachers unions.
The Griffins also have given approximately $1.5 million over time to David and Charles Koch’s conservative causes, which operate under the umbrella Americans for Prosperity.
A family spokeswoman who declined to be named said Ken Griffin was not involved in the media venture and that it would be nonpartisan. A launch date has not been set.
The spokeswoman declined to be named? Huh? What’s with the secrecy? Even the new site’s Tweets are “protected”…
Only confirmed followers have access to @rebootillinois’s Tweets and complete profile. Click the “Follow” button to send a follow request.
And this will be a “nonpartisan” operation? OK. We’ll see. The Griffins were the top contributors to the Illinois House Republicans during the last cycle. I just can’t wait to watch this little venture sprout forth.
Reboot Illinois is a non-partisan, reform-based digital and social media company serving as the voice of reform in Illinois. We aim to educate and engage citizens and to encourage measurable actions on the critical issues facing our state. We aim to inform citizens with our educated political analysis, data, and local perspective to inspire action through digital/social media channels, at live events, and to facilitate citizens to participate fully in the the democratic process.
That’s awfully wordy.
* The Question: Can you please streamline Reboot Illinois’ mission statement? Snark is heavily encouraged, of course.
There was no action during the regular legislative session on pension reform and we consider this negative from a credit standpoint. Given that the pension reform legislation did not pass during this session, it will now be a much more significant challenge to implement, in Standard & Poor’s opinion, requiring a three-fifths majority if addressed in a special session in 2012.
We have kept our outlook on the state of Illinois (’A+’ general obligation debt) negative since January of 2011. Despite significant revenue enhancement and ongoing revenue recovery, structural budget balance has been elusive and liquidity remains strained due to the state’s growing accumulated deficit (accounts payable and general fund liabilities). We expect to resolve the outlook on Illinois this year based on our review of the fiscal 2013 enacted budget and the state’s progress, if any, on addressing its significant pension
liabilities and associated cost pressures.
“It is clear from this (S&P writeup) as well as past ratings agencies’ comments that pension reform must happen immediately,” Mr. Quinn’s office said in a statement. “(The governor) cannot act alone and continues to work with legislators to make certain we address this challenge.”
* Quinn met with the other leaders today and is now back to insisting that some pension cost-shifting to local school districts be enacted. Quinn dropped the idea last week when the Republicans wouldn’t agree to it, but then the resulting pension reform bill died because Speaker Madigan was opposed.
Quinn also dismissed Senate President John Cullerton’s proposal to just do the state and General Assembly retirement systems right now and put everything else off for a while. “I think it’s very important to understand that this issue can’t be delayed, it can’t be a partial solution,” Quinn said.
Quinn said today that the leaders will meet again sometime around the “19th, 20th or 21st of this month” to look at data for the various ideas which were offered up at the meeting. He didn’t specify what those ideas were.
*** UPDATE *** Via the AP, it appears the leaders are divided into two camps…
Senate President John Cullerton, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno and House Minority Leader Tom Cross want to pass measures where there’s already broad agreement and keep negotiating the others.
But Gov. Pat Quinn says he wants a complete overhaul, and House Speaker Mike Madigan says any pension reform should address the schools issue.
* The House’s Special Investigating Committee has voted unanimously to recommend that indicted Rep. Derrick Smith be referred to another House committee for punishment. The committee’s report is here. Live broadcast of the press conference is here.
*** UPDATE *** If you missed the live feed, here’s the raw audio…
The committee’s task was only to determine whether Smith should be punished. Another committee will choose whether to reprimand, censure or expel Smith — or to take no action.
The seven-page report said the alleged misconduct legislators should examine is that Smith “abused the power of his office by participating in a scheme to obtain a personal benefit in exchange for his official acts.”
Smith, 48, allegedly took the bribe for backing a $50,000 state grant application on behalf of a day care center that turned out to be fictitious. Authorities say it was an FBI sting with an undercover informant wearing a recorder. […]
In making its finding, the special committee had a much lower standard of fault-finding than Smith would face in federal court.
“Accepting a cash bribe in exchange for an official act, or even plotting or attempting to do so, constitutes a breach of Rep. Smith’s obligation as a public official to faithfully discharge his duties in the best interests of the people of the state of Illinois and warrants disciplinary action by the House of Representatives,” the report states. […]
Smith faces the potential of censure, reprimand or expulsion under the House procedures, which started with the investigative panel that convened Thursday and could eventually bring his case before the full House.
* Reps. Lou Lang and Jim Durkin have been appointed House managers. Twelve “jurors” from the House - six from both parties - will listen to the case presented by the managers. The committee must convene no later than 30 days from today.
* The Chicago Tribune published yet another series of stories about House Speaker Michael Madigan’s power. But like past investigation, some of this series is a bit of a stretch.
Chicago’s largest operator of assisted living homes for the poor was looking to grow its business when it decided to add a new member to its legal team: the law firm of House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Within months of that decision, the most powerful lawmaker in Illinois and the chamber he controls voted in 2005 to create a state program that would send tens of millions of dollars to his new client. […]
There are other tax lawyers to see in Chicago. But nothing gets done in Springfield without Madigan, who wields unilateral control over the movement of every bill in the House.
That was true in 2005, when a coalition came to the state Legislature seeking to turn a pilot project on assisted living homes for the poor into what is now the permanent Supportive Living Program.
A founding member of that coalition was Pathway Senior Living LLC, Chicago’s largest developer of such homes.
The idea was to save money by moving the most able-bodied nursing home patients into these less expensive facilities where they could get the help they need at 60 percent of the Medicaid cost to taxpayers. It was supported by advocates for the poor and politicians from both parties.
Pathway and other companies wanted to expand, but investment money and state incentives were hard to come by because of the tenuous nature of the pilot program.
At about the same time, Pathway, which has long used another law firm for all its property tax business, hired Madigan’s firm for a single Chicago property. Public records show Madigan’s firm filed its first paperwork on behalf of the company on April 12, 2005.
On May 20, Madigan and the House voted 113-0 to create the permanent program.
* OK, to the bill in question. The legislation was introduced in the Senate on February 24, 2005 by Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago). Raoul is not exactly known as a tool of the Madigan machine. The bill passed the Senate on April 8th, four days before that paperwork was filed. Then the House voted unanimously in favor of it.
Too often in journalism, particularly at the Tribune, correlation is causation. But that bill was a measure supported by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration, and RRB was never an MJM fan.
Pharmacies face cuts in drug reimbursements under the legislation, but lawmakers largely went with the industry’s own suggestions for trimming rather than harsher proposals.
Supportive living homes and nursing homes face rate cuts, but they are lower than first proposed. The supportive living industry got some protection against potentially damaging changes in eligibility rules. And nursing homes won concessions on new rules to increase staffing.
As subscribers already know, pharmacies negotiated their own cuts months ago, but then got whacked again by the new bill. They are hardly winners here.
And pretty much every provider ended up with cuts that were lower than first proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn. Physicians have no cuts at all, and that’s mainly because the House Republicans (who get tons of campaign cash from the docs) stood up for them. Hospitals avoided huge cuts. And the AP claimed nursing homes were a big session loser.
* Now, on to the banks. Madigan’s property tax law firm represents Bank of America, which would’ve taken a very big hit if this bill had passed…
In addition to stopping that legislation, the other priority for the banking industry this legislative session was to pass a measure that would allow them to much more quickly foreclose on and dump abandoned properties from their books. In an effort to win over critics, the banks offered to pay more to help cities around the state maintain abandoned homes.
The bank-backed bill passed the Senate after weeks of closed-door meetings but stalled in the House Rules Committee. Lawmakers and advocates who opposed it credited Madigan, saying he didn’t think it raised enough money from big banks for the foreclosure funds.
Then, on the final day of the session, Yarbrough countered with her own version of the fast-track bill. It would raise twice the money — an estimated $50 million — to help municipalities and fund foreclosure counseling services. But it would only impose higher fees on the very largest banks, which have at least $10 billion in assets.
Smaller community banks and credit unions would be spared, and their lobbying association joined housing advocates in supporting it. The Illinois Bankers Association, which was representing the interests of bigger banks, opposed it.
Yarbrough said Madigan, who voted for the bill, provided counsel and was involved in the process nearly the entire time. “He held my hand all the way,” she said.
She said she wasn’t aware it helped some Madigan banking clients and said Madigan didn’t come up with the idea to exclude community banks from the bill. She said those ideas came from housing advocates who were assisting her with the bill and added that Madigan was an advocate for her concerns this session.
But Madigan also represents small, community banks, so he’s made to wear the jacket, even though the bill passed the House and stalled in the Senate. I was at that House committee hearing (I needed to talk to a committee member about another issue, so I was staking him out and watched the hearing), and a BoA lobbyist testified against it. That’s a very big MJM client, so I’m not sure what the problem is here.
Banks, like hospitals, are in every legislative district and are usually run by some of the most important people in those districts. Beating them ain’t easy, to say the least.
* The overall point of the series is that Madigan is a walking conflict of interest. He’s all-powerful and has grown personally wealthy by using that power to his own advantage. No argument there.
No state benefit is ever offered to gain a client and any potential client who seeks a state benefit is not accepted.
If a client of the law office requests my intercession with a state agency, I refuse; and
If a client of the law office expresses an interest in legislation such as to create a conflict of interest, I recuse myself from consideration of the bill.
In real-world politics, you never specifically ask for a quid pro quo. Ever. That’s what got Blagojevich in trouble. You just assume that you’re buying good will and let it go at that. Madigan would toss an idiot out his window if he offered to sign up with the law firm in exchange for a Springfield benefit.
Bank of America is, according to the Tribune, a Madigan client. BoA lobbyist Pat Holden testified against the foreclosure bill, so shouldn’t that have created a conflict of interest?
“Power and secrecy are a potentially lethal, or at least an unhealthy, combination. Too much secrecy is absolutely wrong whether or not it’s combined with as much power as one individual has.
“I think there could be a much clearer definition of what constitutes a conflict of interest. That could be more precisely defined.
“Everything ought to be out on the table. Does that stop it from happening? No. But I think at least it provides the basic information that it seems to me citizens have a right to have in evaluating their elected representatives.”
More openness would obviously be better.
* Now, on to campaigns. I told subscribers months before the primary that Madigan’s organization would be backing Aurora Ald. Stephanie Kifowit over two other primary opponents. The Tribune finally reported on it this week like it was some great revelation…
And because Madigan controls both a state staff and a campaign war chest, he has a ready reserve of public employees he shifts off the payroll at will to add muscle to the most powerful election force in the state.
Decremer and other Democratic staffers are deployed to answer phone calls, schedule campaign events and scour petitions of competing Democrats to get them kicked off the ballot.
Republicans also have pulled dozens of staffers off the state payroll in election years, but after nearly 30 years as speaker, Madigan is the master at using the levers of government to his political advantage.
So, everybody does it and Madigan is the best and that makes it particularly bad. OK. But the Tribune does point out the consequences of using state staffers for campaigns…
During the March primary season, records show, nearly two dozen state staffers went off the state payroll, being paid instead by Madigan’s political funds to work for more than 30 candidates. In many of the less competitive races, the staffers worked for less than a day, simply checking to see if a Madigan-backed candidate had any opponents. In nearly half of the races, which were more competitive, the staffers worked for weeks at a time. […]
Soon after the primary campaign was done, Decremer and other Madigan staffers were back at work in Springfield.
Decremer is a fixture at major committee meetings and can often be seen in the House chamber conferring with top Madigan lieutenants. He also moves easily through the aisles and to the desks of rank-and-file lawmakers, chatting some up and checking over the shoulders of others.
In Illinois, it’s all one thing. And it’s not just Madigan or Madigan’s staff, either. It’s everybody. He just does it better, and has done it better for longer than anyone else.
* The Daily Herald looks at what the compounding of annual pension cost of living increases has done to the system…
Retired Illinois teachers received a collective $900 million bump above their original pension benefits last year.
These “cost-of-living adjustments” amounted to 21.3 percent of the $4.2 billion total retirement benefits paid to 101,288 former educators from around the state, officials from the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System reported. That’s up from 18 percent of the total teacher pension payout just five years ago. […]
Simply compounding a 3 percent increase to the current average teacher pension of $46,452 over a 25-year period produces an additional $114,238 over that span, compared to the same 3 percent increase if it had not been compounded. In year 25, the teacher’s compounded pension would be $94,427. Not compounded, the pension would amount to $79,897.
* But not everybody is convinced that getting rid of compounding COLAs is the right answer…
West Chicago Republican state Rep. Mike Fortner said he’d prefer to see an increase to employee contributions rather than risk a protracted legal battle over changing employee retirement benefits. He said increasing teacher retirement contributions by 1 percent would essentially pay for the compounded pension bump perk.
“They can keep the compounded plan as long as they’re paying for it,” Fortner said.
If Fortner is right, why wasn’t that route taken instead? The teachers’ unions reportedly offered to kick in two more percentage points into the system. We need more data. Fast.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Rep. Lisa Dugan just called to say that she asked that very question and was told in no uncertain terms that the additional kick-in by employees wouldn’t produce nearly enough cash to solve the compounding problem.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From AFSCME…
This chart shows how the 3% compounded COLA is critical to protecting retirees from inflation. Imagining someone who retired with a $15,000 pension in 1987, the chart shows the amount of their pension in each of the 25 subsequent years under two scenarios: Red is what the retiree has earned under current law, with a 3% annual compounded COLA; green is what they would have earned if the Tier 2 COLA provision had been in place (half of CPI capped at 3%, simple). The purple line shows the amount the retiree would have needed in each year for the pension to keep pace with the actual rate of inflation.
Under current law, the 1987 retiree is today an aggregate $12,000 behind, or 2% less than, the amount required to keep pace with CPI for the period. The benefit has exceeded the real value of the base plus inflation in just 3 of the 25 years. Had the Tier 2 COLA been in effect, the retiree would have lost $111,000 or 20% of the value of the base plus inflation.
* Maybe the CTU thought that scheduling a strike authorization vote the day after the Wisconsin recall election would give the union a big morale boost…
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis Wednesday joined thousands of teachers across the city — and even some from hospital beds — in voting on whether to authorize a strike of the nation’s third-largest school district.
Although she cautioned a gaggle of watching media at King College Prep that “do you all know the meaning of a secret ballot?” observers could clearly see her determined vote of “yes” on the question of whether to “authorize a strike on such a date as may be determined by the House of Delegates.’’
Lewis later predicted the union would make a new 75 percent approval threshold needed from all members — not just those who vote.
She said a strong voice was needed now from members “to make some movement at the table,’’ where the union has been sitting since November.
* But Gov. Scott Walker survived yesterday’s recall effort. This Forbes piece is a representative sample of the conservative react…
Public sector unions have reached their high water mark. Let the cleanup begin as the red ink recedes.
Despite a last-minute smear campaign accusing Scott Walker of fathering an illegitimate love child, the governor’s recall election victory sends a clear message that should resonate around the nation: The fiscal cancer devouring state budgets has a cure, and he has found it. The costly defeat for the entrenched union interests that tried to oust Walker in retribution for challenging their power was marked by President Obama’s refusal to lend his weight to the campaign for fear of being stained by defeat. We’ll see how well this strategy of opportunistic detachment serves in the fall as Obama reaches out to unions for support.
As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker emerges victorious from a union-backed recall campaign, it is time to step back and look at the larger picture. It is one in which unions, especially those that supposedly represent government employees, are coming under increased scrutiny and their powers are being pared back throughout the five Great Lakes states.
Gov. Walker attracted the anger of those unions when he sharply limited their bargaining authority and gave individual employees the right to decide for themselves whether or not to join or support a union.
“Turnout was extremely high during this election, and this only shows one thing: voters are fed up with big spending Democrats running their state governments. Walker’s reforms are exactly what Illinois needs right now. Illinois could use more fiscally courageous leaders like Scott Walker and less like Pat Quinn, Mike Madigan and John Cullerton who think the solution to every problem is a tax increase.”
* Indeed, the exit polling showed that 52 percent favored the state’s new limits on collective bargaining and that Walker had a job approval rating of 54 percent.
Some 60 percent of Wisconsin voters said a recall was only appropriate when a public official was accused of some kind of official misconduct. Walker’s recall was triggered when he led the drive to grind down the collective bargaining rights of state government employees — a major policy difference, not a personal failing.
That resistance to the use of the recall tool suggests why some voters in Wisconsin were comfortable in casting a ballot for a Republican with roots in the Tea Party movement and turning around and saying in November they could vote for Democrat Obama.
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton will push for quick action on changing pension rules for state employees and lawmakers even if top state officials continue to disagree on similar changes for teachers and university workers.
In an interview Tuesday with The State Journal-Register, Cullerton argued that taking steps to reduce costs of the State Employee and General Assembly retirement systems will signal bond rating agencies that Illinois is willing to tackle its pension funding problems.
“If we pass a bill in a bipartisan fashion that deals with 25 percent of (the pension shortfall) as soon as possible, it would go a long way towards showing the rating agencies that we are getting serious about this,” Cullerton said.
That process would be made easier because, in the closing hours of the spring session Thursday, the Senate passed House Bill 1447, which would cut the state’s expense for state employee and legislator pensions. The House did not take up the bill, but could if a special session is called.
* Cullerton got almost no publicity (and even less credit) for passing a pension reform bill last week. So, the media interviews serve to highlight his chamber’s achievement. The reaction from other leaders was not overwhelmingly positive ahead of today’s planned meeting in Chicago…
Steve Brown, spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, said the value of Cullerton’s proposal will depend on reaction from the governor and from the rating agencies that are threatening to downgrade the state’s credit yet again if Illinois doesn’t fix its pension problems.
A better way to deal with the situation, Brown said, would be making it clear that state government can no longer pay the retirement costs of local employees.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, will not comment on the proposal before discussing it with Cullerton, a spokeswoman said.
A wave of retirements at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources could result in no full-time employees at some parks.
DNR confirmed Tuesday that 80 of the department’s 1,100 employees have filed notices of their intention to retire.
“There are some sites that if they were down to one or two people, if they decide to file for retirement, … then there would be nobody there,” DNR spokesman Chris McCloud said.
However, McCloud said the department is still deciding what it will do in the event of those retirements.
* The Pantagraph had one of the best analyses of the Rep. Mike Bost tirade this week.
Unlike most news outlets, the editorial page reported that Bost voted for the very House rules that he complained had been “forced down our throats.” The paper also admitted the obvious that House Speaker Michael Madigan has too much control over the chamber and criticized Republicans for their stance against the cost-shifting plan that would gradually put more responsibility for pension costs in the hands of local school boards. Here’s the end…
The ultimate solution is for Republicans to win more elections and become more of a force in the General Assembly. Until that happens, outbursts may garner some attention, but won’t have any real effect.
The ultimate cure for the woes of being in the minority is more members. Also, if the Republicans had nominated a more electable candidate in 2010 (and they didn’t need much in a year like that), then they would’ve had a legit shot at drawing the new district map.
* Also missed in the coverage is that Rep. Bost is a Republican floor leader. It’s his job to create trouble during debate. If you watch the video closely, you won’t see Republicans around him jumping up and down with anger like Bost was. They sit quietly during the show. And that’s what it was. A show. But what a show it was. When pressed, Bost refused to back down…
A day after the episode, state Rep. Edward Acevedo, D-Chicago, called for decorum to be restored to the House.
“Folks. Enough is enough,” Acevedo said.
Bost would not apologize. “My job is to represent my people. The people I represent in the 115th District have been slapped enough. I do not apologize for saying or raising my voice.”
Slapped? Really?
Meh.
* Like the late Rep. Zeke Giorgi always used to say when things got out of hand in the House: “It’s the greatest show in Illinois.” Sneed…
A GOP source tells Sneed the Bost rant was rehearsed and based on the antics of another retired Southern Illinoisan: former Senate GOP Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville), who tossed a red faced diatribe a few years ago. Both men are pals and once threw hundreds of unstapled pages of bills up in the air while screaming at the opposing party. Rumor has it Bost even weighed the bill in his office and practiced punching it!”
* And it still is a show. David Letterman showcased the outburst this week…
* Bost has appeared on several national news programs since his tirade. And there have been more than a few tribute videos made. Here’s my favorite. “Mike Bost is Furious for SPARTA!!!…
* At least ten people are interested in replacing Democrat Brad Harriman on the 12th Congressional District ballot. Whomever is chosen will face Republican Jason Plummer in the fall.
With the Democratic Party in the process of selecting a candidate to replace Brad Harriman in the 12th Congressional District race, State Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, said he is considering a run at the seat.
Bradley said he has been approached by several people about the possibility of running, but declined to comment on who approached him.
“I am considering it, and I ultimately want to do what’s in the best interest of my children and the people of Southern Illinois and the Metro East,” Bradley said.
St. Clair and Madison counties have the weighted vote here, but Bradley could be a strong candidate. He has his downsides, including that income tax hike vote.
Locally the names heard the most are Bradley and Illinois State Senator Gary Forby (D-Benton). Others include former U.S. Congressman David Phelps, of Eldorado and Lt. Governor Sheila Simon. None of these potential candidates have yet indicated an interest
Forby? The House and Senate Democrats have spent millions keeping him in office over the years. I doubt the DCCC will want that burden. Phelps definitely expressed a strong interest when I talked to him. Simon did not when I talked to her last week. Bernie has more on Simon…
Could there be a rematch between Lt. Gov. SHEILA SIMON and businessman JASON PLUMMER?
Plummer, of Fairview Heights, the 2010 GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, is now the Republican candidate for the U.S. House in the new 12th Congressional District.
The winner of the Democratic primary in that district, BRAD HARRIMAN of O’Fallon is dropping out of the race because of a worsening neurological condition that he says requires surgery.
Names being bandied about as a possible replacement for Harriman on the ballot include Simon, whose late father, PAUL SIMON, was lieutenant governor, a member of the U.S. House and, later, the U.S. Senate.
Simon told me she knows people have been talking about the idea. But she also said the talk seems to her “way more inflated than it deserves.”
“Just looking at it from the really personal point of view, it’s challenging to be working on a statewide basis,” she added. “It means a lot of time away from my husband. … Thinking about being even farther away doesn’t appeal too much.”
She went even further when she talked to me, saying she was approached about running for the seat last year and turned it down and hadn’t really changed her mind yet.
Belleville attorney William Enyart, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, confirmed Friday he was approached by 12th District Democrats to run for Congress in November in place of Brad Harriman.
Enyart said he is considering whether to run for the office, but, as of now, is undecided.
“I have had some people approach me and I think that is a great compliment,” Enyart said. “I plan to sit down with my wife and family to discuss it.”
Enyart is married to retired St. Clair County Circuit Judge Annette Eckert. He said he was called about 5 p.m. Wednesday about the position, a day after Harriman announced he would drop out of the race for health reasons. He wouldn’t reveal who spoke with him.
So far, a number of other names have surfaced as potential Democratic candidates. However, three prominent Democrats, St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern, state Rep. Jerry Costello II and former state Rep. Jay Hoffman, all have said they are not interested in the job.
* Charlie Cook has this district as a toss-up. Cook has also moved the 17th District from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss up.” From a press release…
Following a recent Public Opinion Strategies poll that showed U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) with a 16 point lead over his opponent, Alderwoman Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline), the Cook Political Report, a prominent political analysis website, has changed its rating for the Illinois 17th District from “Lean Democratic” to “Toss Up.”
Jon Schweppe, communications director for Bobby Schilling for Congress, said that financial support from extreme special interest groups like EMILY’s List won’t be enough to deliver the race to Bustos.
* Apparently, they’ll pay anybody to write any goofy thing over at the Wall Street Journal. Here’s an opinion piece by William McGurn published today…
Unlike Illinois, Ohio has a Republican governor, John Kasich, and a reformist Republican legislature. Unlike Illinois, Ohio’s governor ruled out tax hikes as a way to address his state’s budget hole ($8 billion). And unlike Illinois, whose Medicaid cuts mostly do nothing to slow the growth of spending, Ohio’s Medicaid program expects to see its annual rate of increase cut in half.
How did Buckeye Republicans do it? It turns out that when you can’t rely on dubious revenue projections, you get more serious about spending. When Mr. Kasich’s people looked at Medicaid, they found that 4% of Ohio’s Medicaid cases accounted for 51% of the spending. That allowed them to address costs while improving care—e.g., coordinating care for the most expensive, chronic cases instead of just having them show up in emergency rooms.
In sharp contrast, the cigarette tax in Illinois raises many more questions than it answers. Take the projected $350 million in revenue, which is designed to help close a $2.7 billion Medicaid gap.
OK, so Illinois slashed programs, whacked reimbursement rates to providers, cut the state’s Medicaid “credit card” to prevent it from using next year’s revenues to pay for this year’s spending and moved people into less expensive care and yet the WSJ says the cuts “mostly do nothing to slow the growth of spending”? Ridiculous. Here are a couple of “losers” identified by the AP…
LOSERS
• Patients: The vast majority of the spending reductions will mean leaner services for the state’s 2.7 million Medicaid patients.
The cuts end prescription drug coverage for nearly 200,000 senior citizens and halt health coverage entirely for 35,000 adults. Illinois would join other states that already cut back on Medicaid extras like regular dental care for adults. The state would no longer cover most visits to chiropractors and only people with diabetes could see podiatrists.
Eyeglasses would be limited to one pair every two years. Prior state approval would be required for wheelchair repairs, heart bypass surgery and obesity surgery. Patients would be limited to four prescription drugs per month without prior approval. […]
• Nursing homes: Illinois is trying to discourage expensive nursing home care for people who could stay in their own homes with help. That’s reflected in the Medicaid rate cuts. Nursing homes with healthier residents will take a 10 percent cut in payments. Those with sicker residents will face cuts of 1 percent. Institutions for Mental Disease, a type of nursing home with mostly mentally ill residents, will see cuts of 2.7 percent.
The lesson in all this is that reforming government takes courage and deliberation. By leaving pension reform to the last week of the legislative session, lawmakers betrayed that it wasn’t a priority. They tried to cobble together a bill at the last minute, but things done in haste are rarely successful.
The pension study group, staff and leaders worked on this issue for months. And everything big in Illinois is put off until the last week.
* We’re coming to this a bit late in the game, but, whatever, let’s get to it now…
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a motion to intervene in support of 25 same-sex couples who have sued for the right to marry in Illinois.
The attorney general will intervene in two separate lawsuits filed by Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, aimed at winning marriage equality in the state.
The suits were filed May 30 against Cook County Clerk David Orr in his official capacity ( Orr personally supports marriage equality and the lawsuits ) . Plaintiff couples have alleged that civil unions, which began a year ago, have failed to provide same-sex couples with the same rights gained through marriage.
In the motion, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County Chancery Division, the attorney general asks “to present the Court with arguments that explain why the challenged statutory provisions do not satisfy the guarantee of equality under the Illinois Constitution.”
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday by the gay rights group Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, are against the clerk of Cook County and claim that his refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates those couples’ rights to due process and equal protection under the state’s constitution.
Cook County Clerk David Orr has stated he applauds the lawsuits and is in favor of same-sex marriage. Officials from the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, which will represent Orr, did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, which opposes gay marriage, said after the lawsuits were filed that he expects the state’s attorney’s office to defend the state law that bars same-sex couples from marriage.
So because the Illinois Attorney General is not defending the state’s marriage law definition, private non-profit groups are stepping forward to fill the void of legal representation. Illinois law defines marriage to be between one woman and one man, and civil unions were allowed in 2011.
“Regarding the Illinois Marriage Law that the ACLU/Lambda Legal is attempting to get declared unconstitutional, you may be pleased to know that I signed a Contract of Legal Representation with ADF this afternoon so that IFI can intervene to defend the law,” Smith announced Monday afternoon.
* There wasn’t a whole lot of news today and I have a handyman at the house doing a few much-needed tasks, so I need to be away from my office for a while this morning. Sorry about that, but it is what it is. I can’t get this stuff done during session.
Legislative leaders are planning to meet with Gov. Pat Quinn in Chicago this week after a failed attempt to rein in the cost of the state’s public pension systems.
Quinn said earlier this year pension reform must happen this spring, and said he would call lawmakers back to Springfield if they failed to pass substantive changes.
Late Thursday, Quinn issued a news release saying he would call a meeting with the four legislative leaders to salvage a plan scuttled in the last days of the spring session.
Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton, said the following leaders will probably meet Wednesday in Chicago: Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago; House Republican Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego; Cullerton, D-Chicago; and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont.
Quinn’s office, which is coordinating the meeting, didn’t respond to questions to confirm its date.
Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Radogno, said it’s extremely unlikely the Legislature would return to Springfield before the leaders and Quinn had a chance to sit down and hash something out.
“I think he’d want a leaders’ meeting first, unless he wants to continue to be like Rod,” Schuh said, referring to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who had a protracted battle with the Legislature that involved many summer session days.
I’m told that members of the pension reform task force and staff will also be at tomorrow’s meeting in Chicago.
* The Question: Your prediction for tomorrow’s pension reform pow-wow? Snark is definitely encouraged. Enjoy.
