* Former state Sen. Chris Lauzen has created a Kane County Board Executive Committee, which is comprised of 14 of the board’s 24 members. Lauzen, who was elected chairman last year, has decreed that the other ten can’t speak at meetings unless they sign up in advance like the rest of the public and limit themselves to an on-topic three minutes of commentary.
Needless to say, that new policy isn’t going over well with the “out of the loop ten,” including board member Mark Davoust…
“It seems ridiculous to me that I have to come in here as a member of the public to speak,” Davoust said. “I was elected by the public to speak.”
He pointed out that all county board members are allowed to speak at lower-level committee meetings and the full board meeting. However, the Executive Committee is often the first time board members hear all the background on a pending vote.
That’s a big problem, said county board member Jesse Vazquez, because a majority of the county board, 14 members, sit on the Executive Committee. That makes the full county board meeting mostly a rubber stamp for the Executive Committee, Vazquez said.
“This is, as Shakespeare would say, much ado about nothing. For these guys who are complaining, you should ask what you’re producing of value in your service that matters to your constituents. We have bigger issues. Quit your bellyaching.”
*** UPDATE *** Robin Kelly’s campaign says this is a cable buy. Here’s the Comcast report…
Robin Kelly for Congress
Democratic Candidate for US Congress in D2 Special Election
Agency: Adelstein Liston, Chicago
$26,795 Total Buy for Comcast Spotlight
2/8 – 2/17/13
Networks bought: BET, CNN, DISC, ESPN, MNBC, TBS, TLC, TNT, USA
Dayparts: 4-7P, 7P-midnight
Syscodes / Zones / $ by zone
1734 / South Suburban / $7,400
1796 / Chicago Central / $6,175
1798 / Chicago South / $5,605
1820 / Orland Park / $7,615
Total Buy: $26,795
Not much.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Robin Kelly has a new TV ad. I’ll tell you if I find out how much is behind this ad and where it’s playing. Rate it…
* Script…
Robin Kelly:
It’s heartbreaking.
There are kids dying everyday.
Every one of us has been touched in some way.
We all need to say enough is enough.
Announcer:
Robin Kelly has spent her career fighting to get deadly weapons off our streets.
In the legislature she worked with Barack Obama to crack down on illegal gun sales.
In Congress Kelly will keep taking on the NRA.
Fighting to ban assault weapons and outlaw high capacity ammunition clips.
Robin Kelly:
If we succeed in saving even one life, then it’s worth it.
* The Super PAC Progressive Kick claims this ad will be “disseminated via cable TV and web ads in the district as well as emailed to 90,000 Democratic primary voters.” The ad begins with a visually striking special effect. Rate it…
The group raised over $800K last year, and had only about $87K on hand at the end of December. They could’ve raised more since then, though.
Wrigley Field is turning 100, and the Chicago Cubs want fans to help commemorate the milestone.
The home of the Cubs will reach the century mark next year. On Wednesday, the Cubs announced the “Wrigley Field Turns 100 Logo Contest.”
Fans are invited to enter a design to be used as the official logo during a yearlong celebration in 2014. A Cubs spokeswoman says the winning logo may be featured at the ballpark, on merchandise and possibly on the team’s uniforms.
* The Question: Wrigley Field 100th anniversary logo suggestions?
Best response wins a $20 gift card at Springfield’s Grab-a-Java. Our last winner was VanillaMan, who has returned to fine form.
* Daily Kos’ founder is really out to get 2nd Congressional District candidate Sen. Toi Hutchinson. Markos Moulitsas has endorsed Robin Kelly and he’s been posting at least daily rants on the pro-gun positions of both Hutchinson and Debbie Halvorson. Kos’ latest is a now-deleted 2011 Facebook post…
The Illinois State Rifle Association is the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, and she had no problem attending their fundraisers, scooping up their cash, and enabling their agenda in Springfield.
Yet now she wants to run from that record and claim that she’s pulled a Mitt Romney—180-degree overnight conversion when politically expedient. She claims Sandy Hook made her change her mind, but 500 gun-related deaths in Chicago last year didn’t?
Dart says he’s been impressed with Beale as the two have worked on a number of issues, both while Dart was a state lawmaker and as sheriff. Dart and Beale scheduled a news conference Thursday.
“There’s no way that I believe this poll is accurate,” said Beale campaign spokeswoman Delmarie Cobb.
The poll… puts Kelly in the lead of top candidates in raw numbers and a statistical tie with Debbie Halvorson when the margin of error is taken into account. Previously, Halvorson had led in every poll.
Cobb’s argument is voter turnout will be greatest in the city and Beale is the only city candidate in a field of 16 Democrats. The 2nd congressional district stretches into Will and Kankakee counties.
“Forty percent of the vote comes from the city. Sixty percent of the vote comes from the South Suburbs. You’ve got, Toi, Robin, Debbie and everybody else running for the 60 percent. Anthony has … - 98 percent of the 9th ward is in the 2nd congressional district.”
I dunno. Chicago has a lot of the district’s population, but most people expect city turnout to be abysmal.
Also, release your own poll if you don’t like Kelly’s. Give us some data.
Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on Thursday announced the House Judiciary Committee will convene public hearings later this month on the issue of expanding gun safety laws and reviewing the recent federal court ruling concerning the unlawful use of weapons.
“In light of events in recent months in Illinois and in other parts of the country, it’s appropriate and necessary that we give a full vetting to proposed state legislation on this matter,” Madigan said. “These hearings will provide an opportunity for gun safety advocates, gun rights supporters and members of the law enforcement community to offer their views and argue their cases to legislators and the people of Illinois.”
Last December, a federal appeals court struck down Illinois’ law on the unlawful use of weapons, requiring the state to adopt a law allowing residents to carry firearms in some form. Just three days later, a gunman carrying a semi-automatic rifle and two pistols murdered 20 schoolchildren and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The court ruling and the incident at Sandy Hook highlight the need to review Illinois law with an eye toward either making gun ownership and possession less cumbersome on law-abiding citizens or toughening firearm restrictions to better limit gun violence.
The first House Judiciary Committee hearing will be held Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. in Room 114 of the State Capitol in Springfield. A second hearing will take place Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. in the sixth floor committee room of the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago. Advocates concerned with all aspects of the firearms issue will be invited to testify.
Available seating for the hearings will be limited, and those who wish to attend will be required to show official state identification and pass through strict security
Rep. Elaine Nekritz chairs the Judiciary Committee. It has a diverse membership, with some pretty strong progun guys like Rep. John Bradley and some gun control folks like vice-chair Rep. Ann Williams.
* Across the rotunda, Sen. Kwame Raoul will lead the majority party’s effort to find a compromise. From a press release…
State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-13th) filed legislation yesterday that will become a negotiated concealed carry proposal. Senate President John Cullerton designated Raoul to bring together all voices in the gun debate to develop a legislative response to Judge Richard Posner’s December ruling, which set a 180-day deadline for action. Language drafted in the course of negotiations will be added to Senate Bill 1337.
“The negotiations I lead will respect firearm owners’ constitutional protections as interpreted by the Supreme Court and lower courts, and it will acknowledge the fact that there are many law-abiding Illinois gun owners who legitimately wish to use guns for sport and self-protection,” Raoul said. “At the same time, we will also acknowledge the alarming prevalence of gun violence and the need to keep guns out of the hands of those most likely to use them for harm.”
Illinois is the last remaining state in the nation not to provide for some form of concealed carry. On Dec. 11, Judge Posner, writing for the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, declared unconstitutional the state’s restrictions on carrying a firearm in public. It gave the Illinois General Assembly until June 9, 2013, to change the law.
“While I respect and appreciate the attorney general’s request for review by a full panel of the appeals court, the legislature can’t ignore its responsibility,” Raoul said. “The 49 states that allow concealed carry do not have identical policies, and we need to find an approach that’s right for Illinois. But let me be clear – we must comply with the court’s mandate, and we will.”
* If you haven’t watched the new PBS documentary on Henry Ford, you should. When Ford raised wages to $5 a day, doubling the going rate, he was attacked by his fellow industrialists and called an anarchist and a class traitor and confidently predicted Ford’s bankruptcy.
But one of Ford’s big problems at his factories was high employee turnover. People just didn’t like working at such repetitive tasks. Pretty much anybody could do those tasks, by design, but people just didn’t like doing them. Raising wages meant he attracted the best of the best and retained them for much longer.
* That documentary came to mind while I was reading an interesting story in today’s Tribune about Gov. Quinn’s State of the State proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour over a period of four years…
Chris Ondrula, chief executive of Downers Grove-based Heartland Food, which has more than 3,500 minimum wage employees at 178 Burger King restaurants in Illinois, said a wage hike would be ill-timed because he’s already dealing with higher prices for commodities and bracing for higher costs as the federal health care overhaul takes effect.
“The ripple effects are exponential,” Ondrula said. A restaurant that is marginally profitable, he said, might become unprofitable and be forced to close.
[…]
Ondrula’s views on job losses that could stem from a higher minimum wage were once widely shared by economists. But a now-famous case study published in 1994 by labor economists David Card and Alan Krueger began to change conventional wisdom. They compared employment trends in fast-food restaurants in New Jersey, which had just hiked its minimum wage, with trends in neighboring Pennsylvania, and found little impact on low-wage workers.
Berkeley’s Reich, along with two economists from the universities of Massachusetts Amherst and North Carolina, expanded on the research by examining restaurant employment in neighboring counties in different states with different minimum wage levels. They studied 16 years’ worth of data and found no negative effects on low-wage employment.
Instead, they found that higher wages reduced employee turnover, which saves business money.
Other academic research has found that minimum wage hikes increase consumer spending. A study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that immediately following a wage increase, incomes in households with minimum wage earners rose on average by about $1,000 a year and spending by roughly $2,800 a year. Much of new spending was on automobiles.
Although the state already has one of the highest rates in the nation, Quinn argued another boost would help increase the quality of life for residents.
“Nobody in Illinois should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty,” Quinn said during his speech. “That’s a principle as old as the Bible.”
Quinn is seeking to revive a proposal that was floated last year but didn’t make it out of committee. Still, lawmakers said that such a proposal would need cooperation from the business community to get any traction.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce came out against the measure, saying Quinn should focus on the state’s massive financial problems. Illinois has the worst pension problem of any state in the country and billions in unpaid bills.
“Another minimum wage hike will only hurt those who are looking for a job and those who employ them in this challenging economy,” David Vite, the president of the merchants association, said in a statement. “It’s rather disappointing that Governor Quinn is supporting another job-killing proposal instead of focusing on solving our budget crisis and our bankrupt pension system.” […]
The chamber characterized the increase as “an untimely, ill-advised and outrageous proposal.”
Kim Clarke Maisch, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said it is ironic that Quinn is telling small business owners how to run their businesses when the state budget is a mess.
Lightford also seeks the elimination of the “tip credit,” which currently allows employers to pay as low as $4.95 per hour to employees who work for tips. This essentially amounts to the customer subsidizing a worker’s legally guaranteed wages.
This makes it even more difficult for a tipped worker to earn a living wage, because without precise documentation of tip income — the burden for which falls on the employee — a worker will have a difficult time obtaining a car loan or a mortgage if their employer only has to pay them $4.95 per hour.
Congressional investigators have recommended a full House Ethics Committee probe of Rep. Aaron Schock for allegedly soliciting contributions of more than $5,000 for a political action committee to help an Illinois colleague engaged in a bitter primary battle last year, records released today showed.
Reps. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Ethics chairman and ranking member, announced Thursday that they will continue to probe the allegations against Schock under their own authority but will not create a special investigative panel.
The decision by Conaway and Sanchez makes it unlikely that Schock will ever be sanctioned by the Ethics Committee.
Even without a sanction, this revelation is gonna make for some devastating TV ads if Schock decides to run for governor. Just devastating.
Schock has been under investigation for urging House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor to shift $25,000 from his leadership PAC to the Campaign for Primary Accountability to assist Rep. Adam Kinzinger in his March 2012 GOP primary victory over Rep. Donald Manzullo in the state’s new 16th District.
But investigators said that between March 14 and March 17 — three days before the primary contest, the Campaign for Primary Accountability received at least $115,000 in contributions “as a result of the efforts of Representative Schock and his campaign committee.”
In addition to Cantor’s leadership PAC, the 18th District GOP central committee donated $25,000. Other donors investigators cited were David Herro, a wealthy money manager from Chicago who gave $35,000, and Anne Dias Griffin, who gave $30,000. Dias Griffin is a Chicago hedge fund manager and founder of Reboot Illinois, a GOP-oriented social media operation.
Reboot Illinois has a story on its front page about possible jail time for former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., but nothing about the Schock story.
A spokesman for the Peoria Republican dismissed the announcement as “just one more step in the long process of adjudicating ethics complaints that can be submitted by anyone for any reason.”
“The complaint in this case is entirely without merit,” said Steve Dutton, Schock’s communications director. “We remain firmly convinced that Congressman Schock will be exonerated when the Ethics Committee examines the complaint and in due course resolves this matter. We fully cooperated with the OCE review, and we will continue to cooperate as the Ethics Committee now conducts its own review.”
Freshman U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, did not cooperate with the Office of Congressional Ethics in its initial probe of alleged campaign finance violations by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria.
“The OCE infers that the information Mr. Davis refused to provide, taken together with the factual findings in this referral, supports the conclusion that there is substantial reason to believe that the alleged violation occurred,” the OCE said in a report made public Wednesday.
The report recommends that Davis and three other non-cooperating witnesses be subpoenaed. […]
Davis said the report does not suggest any improprieties on his part.
Wait. He mummed up and refused to talk to investigators? That requires some explaining from the freshman. And that sure looks like it was improper.
The investigatory panel said Davis, who was formerly a staffer for Republican U.S. Rep. John Shimkus of Collinsville until his election in November to Congress, was a “non-cooperating” witness. Davis, investigators said, helped steer money to the Campaign for Primary Accountability.
Also listed as “non-cooperating witnesses” by investigators were Michael Bigger, chairman of the 18th District Central GOP committee, and Rob Collins, a former chief of staff to Cantor, the report said.
Sneed has learned a plea deal is now on the table between former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and federal authorities probing allegations of campaign fund misuse.
Sneed is told the plea deal includes Jackson serving time in federal prison.
“Significant jail time is now definitely a part of the deal,” said a top Sneed source close to the probe.
“But I think [Jackson’s wife] Sandi, feels like she was thrown under the bus by her husband, ” now that a separate probe has begun on her, a second source added.
Sandi Jackson claims she was stunned by campaign finance abuse disclosures against her husband, who has been treated for mental disorders and allegedly spent $40,000 on a Rolex watch purchased with campaign funds.
For 38 minutes, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn spoke enthusiastically, even lovingly of “our Illinois” without answering any questions about how the state will deal with its $130 billion pension debt, $9 billion in unpaid bills, or hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts that are certain to come this spring.
Quinn hammered home the theme of “This is our Illinois” throughout his State of the State speech Wednesday.
Many lawmakers, state officials and policy makers were unimpressed.
Lawmakers from both parties said Wednesday they were disappointed that Gov. Pat Quinn didn’t go further in his State of the State speech to outline how he will accomplish the elusive goal of pension reform. […]
“What he said on pension reform is no different than what he has said a thousand times,” said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, the third ranking Democrat in the House. “We need to do pension reform, but just saying it doesn’t get it done.”
Illinois has an unfunded pension liability approaching $100 billion. Its bond rating is ever-sinking, and it has billions in unpaid bills. But you’d hardly know we live in “Deadbeat Illinois” from listening to Gov. Pat Quinn’s State of The State speech.
Quinn made only scattered references to the state’s most pressing problem — a stifling public-employee pension deficit, but the squeeze it puts on other government spending was an undercurrent throughout the governor’s fifth State of the State address.
“I am disappointed because I don’t feel like what he talked about is going to change the direction of Illinois,” said Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy for the Illinois Policy Institute. “He didn’t talk about what really mattered, which is in-depth pension reform, and how to increase prosperity in Illinois to make us a more competitive state.”
* I disagree that he didn’t “answer any questions” about the pension debt. Quinn came out forcefully for SB1, Senate President John Cullerton’s hybrid pension reform bill. You may not like it, others may not like it, either. But that’s definitely one solution. And, unlike his past vague pronouncements, this is an actual bill with real live language that can be debated, amended and reconstructed as necessary. That’s a specific, which has been lacking in the past.
And his support of SB1 was different than what he’s said “a thousand times” before. Plus, this is a speech, not action. So, yeah, saying it doesn’t get it done, but was he supposed to call for a vote right then and there while he was at the podium?
And as far as the budget goes, the budget address is in March.
Quinn spent most of his last State of the State address talking about pensions. It didn’t move the ball forward. Everybody knows that pension reform is a huge issue. He proposed a workable, specific legislative solution yesterday.
* State of the Union and State of the State addresses usually include references to what has been done. Mark Brown compiled a list…
Although often derided for his ability to get things done in Springfield, the fact is that a lot of important and difficult legislation has been approved by the General Assembly and signed into law under Quinn, much of it with mixed popularity. […]
◆ Created and funded a long-sought public works program, Illinois Jobs Now, for rebuilding the state’s infrastructure.
◆ Overhauled the state’s Medicaid program to keep it from going broke.
◆ Changed the workers compensation program to save businesses millions of dollars in insurance premiums.
◆ Legalized civil unions for gays and lesbians.
◆ Established temporary driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.
◆ Approved a bipartisan education-reform package with benchmarks for teacher evaluations.
◆ Ethics reforms including establishing voter recall for Illinois governors, limits on campaign contributions and elimination of the scandal-plagued legislative scholarship program.
◆ Reduced pension benefits for new state employees.
◆ Closed 54 state facilities to save money over opposition from unions and local politicians of both parties.
I’m not saying Quinn was the moving force behind each of these measures, but all of it would have been hard to do without him.
* These sorts of addresses also usually provide an outline for where the president or governor wants to go. And Quinn did that as well with a whole lot of proposals that we’ll get to today.
But, as far as I’m concerned, he said what he had to say on pensions. Now comes the hard part.
The following are key findings from a survey of 400 likely voters in the February 26th special primary election. Interviews were conducted on February 4-5 and respondents were reached on both landlines and cell phones. Results for the survey carry a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.
• Kelly moves into first place. After sitting behind both Halvorson and Hutchinson in an early January survey, Kelly now leads the pack at 26 percent of likely voters.
o Kelly has wide base of support. Kelly’s lead is broad as she expands her support in every corner of the district. She now leads among African American voters across the district and throughout Cook County—both in the city and the suburbs.
o Kelly’s leadership on gun control resonating. Among those voters who volunteer that they have heard Kelly’s message on preventing gun violence and taking on the NRA, she wins a whopping 65 percent of the vote.
* On guns…
• The NRA remains toxic in IL-2. Just 16 percent of likely voters have a favorable impression of the NRA here, with 60 percent holding a negative impression. No voting bloc—racial, regional, or ideological has a favorable impression of the group. Even self described conservatives have a negative view by a 2:1 margin.
More troubling for Hutchinson and Halvorson is that a solid majority (56 percent) of voters say they would be “not at all likely” to support a candidate who they agreed with on a majority of issues, but who earned an A from the NRA. Another 15 percent said they would only be “a little likely” to support such a candidate.
• Hutchinson’s true record on guns not out yet. This week’s Chicago Tribune story detailing Senator Hutchinson’s responses on her NRA questionnaire that earned her an A rating has not yet penetrated the public’s perception. More than one in five (21 percent) of voters who say they would not support an A-rated candidate are currently voting for Hutchinson—support that is likely to disappear as the campaign continues.
• Halvorson’s standing upside down. Halvorson’s vote share declined from 25 to 22 percent over the last month. While not a precipitous fall, Halvorson’s personal standing has taken a serious hit in recent weeks. In January, 2nd District primary voters viewed Halvorson favorably by a 34 – 18 percent margin. Halvorson’s negative standing has more than doubled in that time (29 percent favorable – 37 percent unfavorable). Her decline among African Americans is particularly steep.
* Keep a close eye on our live session blog for full coverage of Gov. Pat Quinn’s State of the State address today at noon and its aftermath. Let’s look at some previews…
Sneed has learned that Gov. Pat Quinn plans to propose an increase in the state minimum wage in Wednesday’s State of the State address, which would raise it to at least $10 an hour over the next four years.
Gov. Pat Quinn will announce today in his State of the State speech that the Urbana-Champaign-based school, in partnership with its National Center for Supercomputing Applications and private companies, will be forming an Illinois Manufacturing Lab likely to be located in the central area of Chicago.
The facility will be a somewhat smaller, more applications-based version of the UI Labs tech-research center that was announced in January by U of I President Robert Easter and others. The prime goal will be to make the state’s manufacturers more competitive, something that has become increasingly challenging as overseas firms take control of many of the world’s factories.
Military veterans who have special skills could get a leg up when it comes to landing a job under an initiative expected to be formally unveiled by Gov. Pat Quinn Wednesday.
The Lee Enterprises Springfield Bureau has learned the governor will issue an executive order requiring state agencies to consider skills learned by veterans when they apply for licenses for various jobs.
The move, for example, could streamline the process for a former U.S. Army medic who wants to be licensed as a nurse by eliminating the need for training in areas where the veteran already has experience.
* The Question: What one word would you use to describe the current State of the State?
Illinois state government has budget problems. Governor Quinn and other politicians say these problems are caused by public employee pay and pensions that should be cut. Public employees say they are middle-class workers like teachers, police, and caregivers, and the budget problems are caused mostly because rich people and big corporations don’t pay their fair share. Which do you agree with more?
The budget problems are caused more by public employee pay and pensions… 34%
They are caused more by rich people and big corporations not paying their share… 50%
Not sure… 16%
You may know that the pension funds for retired public employees like teachers, police, caregivers, and nurses are $97 billion short of the amount they owe to current and future retirees. What do you think is more responsible for the pension debt: public employees with overly generous benefits or politicians who skipped pension payments?
Overly generous public employee benefits are more responsible for the pension debt… 27%
Politicians skipping pension payments are… 64%
Not sure… 9%
There are different ideas about how to solve the pension problem. Governor Quinn and many other politicians support cutting pension benefits earned by retired public employees. Do you support or oppose cutting public employee pensions?
Support…. 31%
Oppose… 58%
Not sure… 11%
…The most significant change proposed by Governor Quinn and other politicians would reduce the pension cost of living adjustment, or COLA, that protects retired public employees from inflation, similar to the COLA earned by Social Security recipients. Politicians say the provision is not affordable. Retirees say they need it to keep up with rising costs. Do you think the cost of living adjustment should be cut or preserved?
The question loads up the description of the parties involved with heavily biased terms. The public generally has a positive view of teachers, police and caregivers. Not so much school administrators, state bureaucrats and DMV workers (although I’ve received very good service at the DMV the few times I’ve renewed my Illinois license). Why not just ask about “public employees,” a neutral term?
And “rich” people, “politicians” and “big corporations” aren’t exactly popular these days. It’s as biased (and inaccurate based on recent job creation numbers) as the right calling them “job creators.” So it’s no surprise that people sided with the teachers, caregivers and cops.
* But it’s not as simple as that. First, that’s the language the unions are using in their public arguments against the changes. So, the poll is basically just testing their arguments.
Second, the numbers are pretty close to this October, 2012 Tribune poll…
The poll found that 51 percent blamed the state’s politicians alone for Illinois’ pension problems while only 2 percent said it was just the fault of public workers. Another 32 percent said they believed it was a combination of state workers and politicians who created the problem. […]
Voters across the state were even more divided on another plan pushed by Democratic leaders that would alter benefits for current retirees and existing state workers.
Under that plan, workers and retirees could choose to forgo an annual compounded 3 percent cost-of-living increase to their pension in exchange for being able to have access to the state’s health insurance program. Workers and pensioners who choose to keep the cost-of-living increase would have to find their own health insurance. […]
The poll found that 32 percent of the state’s voters favored the plan, while 35 percent opposed it — within the survey’s 3.7 percentage-point margin of error. Another 33 percent of voters didn’t know enough about the proposal to take a side.
And asked whether workers should be forced to choose between paying 3 percent more or losing their state-provided retirement health care, Illinois residents are split 42 percent against and 40 percent in favor.
So, the percentage who believe the politicians messed things up is very similar. The percentage in favor of the pension reform COLA plan is similar. The percentage against is higher in the labor poll, but that’s to be expected with such wording.
So, yeah, some biased wording, but it definitely served its purpose.
* Meanwhile, the NFIB released the results of what it calls a “member ballot”…
Illinois members of the National Federation of Independent Business overwhelmingly oppose any legislation that would increase the state’s minimum wage.
That’s according to the results of the 2013 NFIB/Illinois Member Ballot, released today. Unlike other business groups, NFIB doesn’t have a board of directors that dictates its public-policy positions. NFIB’s positions are based solely on input from its members; the Member Ballot is the most important part of that process.
“When we asked our members whether the General Assembly should raise the minimum wage, the answer was ‘absolutely not,’” said Kim Clarke Maisch, state director of NFIB/Illinois, the state’s leading small-business association, with over 11,000 dues-paying members representing a broad cross section of the state’s economy.
According to the 2013 Member Ballot:
88.4 percent of members oppose a wage increase, compared with 5.5 percent who favor an increase and 6 percent who were undecided or didn’t answer.
81.7 percent said they oppose tying the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index to allow for automatic annual increases, compared with 9.5 percent who support the idea and 8.8 percent who were undecided or didn’t answer.
* Voting against a supplemental appropriations bill because it uses money saved from closing a state facility in your region in order to fund DCFS operations is understandable. But, what’s done is done…
The Democratic-sponsored measure, endorsed on a mostly party line 63-52 vote, would allow the state to hire workers to check on abused children, boost spending on road and bridge construction projects and finance employee health insurance programs for the remainder of the current fiscal year. […]
State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said Quinn’s money-saving move to close the Tamms Correctional Center, for example, has triggered violence elsewhere in the state’s overcrowded prison system.
“I’m telling you, what we’re using is blood money,” Bost said.
We have confirmed that earlier today multiple inmates with possible gang connections assaulted two staff members and the chaplain at Menard Correctional Center in Chester. One of the guards has been taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
According to Illinois Department of Corrections Spokeswoman Stacey Solano, the assault took place in the chapel of the facility, with one guard the target of the assault while the chaplain and the other guard injured while coming to his aid.
Early reports indicate 13 members of the Latin Disciples attacked the guards while in the chapel. The facility is reportedly now on a level one lockdown, which is the highest level of security. […]
The 13 inmates allegedly involved in the assaults of the guards have reportedly been transferred to the facility’s segregation unit, the location of an inmate death last week that union officials are calling murder.
This is the second staff assault at Menard in less than a month, and the fourth reported staff assault in that same time period for the entire system.
I hope this doesn’t mean that IDOC is losing control of the prisons. It’s tough to gauge from media coverage, because the Tamms closure has resulted in a whole lot more stories and media interest. I’d like to see some overall numbers here. But that Latino gang attack is mighty worrisome on its own.
On Tuesday, Illinois House members approved spending over $2 billion on road building and transferred money from the department of corrections to child welfare and mental health services.
The “supplemental appropriation” was pushed through by majority Democrats and Republicans said the bill was included “millions in unnecessary and irresponsible spending”.
GOP leader Tom Cross argued against the bill.
“When you come before this chamber and say ‘We want to appropriate all this money’, and not focus on a single reform, yes, it’s cause for pause. Yes, we have concerns, and yes, we are not going to support it,” said Cross.
As I explained to subscribers, it’s not really $2 billion. And it’s not new money. From the bill’s Balanced Budget Impact Note…
HB 190 (H-AM 4) provides supplemental appropriations for a net increase of approximately $603,266,600 in general revenue fund appropriations, approximately $1,516,909,900 in other State fund appropriations, and approximately $48,757,100 in federal fund appropriations. The bill provides for no new revenue sources, nor does the bill requires any additional State spending. This Bill does not directly have any significant fiscal impact. The supplemental appropriation to the Department of Central Management Services for group insurance was expected to be included in the fiscal year 2013. Therefore the fiscal impact to the General Revenue Fund is negligible. Supplemental appropriations provided from other State and federal funds are provided on the basis of the availability of moneys in those funds.
* There are projects in the bill, but it’s mostly this stuff…
The legislation would put $675 million to work on road construction this spring after an unanticipated infusion of federal money and freed-up state funds. It moves $25 million saved from closing prisons to child-welfare services and authorizes a half-year’s payment for state employee health insurance.
The measure includes more than $600 million that will cover the health insurance costs of state workers during the second half of this fiscal year. The General Assembly approved that money last spring but only appropriated enough money for pay the costs for the first six months of the year.
Lawmakers hoped by now there would be new state-employee contracts that would incorporate provisions such as higher health-insurance premiums they agreed to last year, but contract talks still haven’t yielded a new pact.
Facing resistance from Republicans, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie urged legislators to “do the right thing” and approve the bill that could save as many as 1,900 jobs at the Department of Children and Family Services. The agency has shuffled staff and eliminated middle-management positions; officials will use the $25 million to put 138 more child-abuse investigators on the street.
But GOP legislators cried foul, saying Democrats invariably “demonize” them for opposing such measures.
“I’m tired of the other side telling me I don’t care about anything,” said Rep. Dennis Reboletti, a Republican from Elmhurst. “Don’t tell me I don’t care about people with mental health issues.”
Reboletti challenged Currie to present a “clean bill” without what he said are new expenditures, and he would cooperate.
* It takes five signatures among the 19 state central committeemen to call for a special Illinois Republican Party meeting. Jim Oberweis couldn’t even get that…
Despite reserving a hotel conference room on his own dime, a Saturday meeting to oust Illinois GOP party chair Pat Brady for statements supporting gay marriage won’t be happening as a suburban state senator has hoped. At least not yet.
And, now that he is spending a bulk of his time down in session in Springfield, dairy magnate Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove is hoping some others, including Congressman Randy Hultgren’s former chief of staff will step forward to organize a meeting “as soon as possible.”
In an admonishing Feb. 3 email to fellow state central committeemen obtained by the Daily Herald, Oberweis noted that “I was hoping someone would take a leadership role when the need became apparent but no one stepped up to the plate.” Instead, Oberweis himself attempted to organize a meeting, reserving a conference room at an Aurora Hampton Inn at his own expense, for what he described as “less than a couple hundred” dollars.
But, without the required five signatures of committeemen, hopes for a meeting were dashed.
“It’s now too late to call a meeting for Feb. 9. I’m hoping someone else will pick up the gauntlet,” Oberweis said Tuesday.
It looks like that conservative revolt against Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady has fizzled.
Yep.
* The gay marriage proposal passed the Senate Executive Committee again yesterday. But the Right isn’t giving up yet. From Illinois Review…
Alliance Defending Freedom’s legal counsel Joe LaRue, who testified in the committee hearing on SB 10, said,
The bill to redefine marriage provides inadequate safeguards for religious liberty. It leaves churches and religious organizations at the whim and mercy of the courts, who will have to interpret the marriage redefinition law and how it interacts with Illinois’ public accommodation and employment non-discrimination laws.
Simply put, this bill does not protect churches and religious organizations from having to rent their facilities to same-sex couples for wedding ceremonies, even when doing so violates the church’s religious beliefs. Nor does the bill protect churches and religious organizations from being forced to hire employees from same-sex marriages. The bill also provides no protection for individuals, like wedding photographers, who object to same-sex marriages but may be asked because of their business to participate in same-sex ceremonies.
This law does not protect religious freedom as it claims. Rather, it promotes religious intolerance, bigotry and discrimination.
Danielle Cook of Farmer City, who already has a civil union with her partner, Suzie Hutton, told state senators Tuesday that she wants a full-fledged marriage because “marriage is the standard in our society.”
The Senate Executive Committee, in a 9-5 party-line vote, approved a bill (SB 10) allowing gay marriage in Illinois. It now moves to the full Senate, where passage is considered likely. But it may find a tougher time in the House.
“In numerous settings and in ways big and small, we learned that a civil union is not the same as being married,” Cook said. “It’s not really recognized or understood as marriage is. After getting a civil union, for example, we decided to add Suzie to the health care plan at my work. Everyone and my employer knew that Suzie and I had been together for years. Everyone knew that we were getting a civil union. When I contacted the human-resources department, I was told that we would have to produce the civil-union certificate before Suzie could be added to my plan. That department does not ask anyone for a marriage license, but they asked us for a civil-union certificate.”
Further, she noted that forms at doctor’s offices have boxes for “single,” “married” and “divorced,” but not for civil unions.
“The message was sent in other, more personal ways as well. It even came in how individuals responded to learning that we had gotten a civil union,” she said.
But the Rev. Keith Williams of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Church of Country Club Hills said he was in “vehement opposition” because same-sex marriage goes against basic tenets of the Bible.
“This bill puts the state very much in the church’s business, and I think we find ourselves deteriorating to a level of immorality that will lead this nation to a high level of judgment,” Williams testified.
Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, maintained churches will be “dragged into a court” until judges have “delineated every line possible” on religious freedom and public accommodation. Proponents said current laws on human rights and religious freedom would prevent a major flurry of lawsuits from being filed.
The same Senate panel approved similar legislation during the lame-duck legislative session in early January. But that plan stalled when backers acknowledged absences of three key votes kept them below the minimum 30-vote threshold needed to pass the Senate.
A central question before the committee then was how institutions receiving public funding would be required to receive same-sex marriage ceremonies. But that language has been dropped from the bill this time, Steans said.
“We didn’t do anything with public funding in this bill,” she said. “There have been concerns about that in the original language. That language is all removed. We’re not touching that.”
Tuesday’s debate focused on whether churches are defined as public accommodations under the state’s Human Rights Act, which says the availability of public accommodations shall not be determined on the basis of sexual orientation.
Though the word “church” does not appear under that section of the law, one definition of a “public accommodation” comes close, describing “an auditorium, convention center, lecture hall or other place of public gathering.”
Some of the bill’s opponents say a lack of clarity in this area could cause trouble in the courts. Joseph La Rue, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, testified before the committee that the bill doesn’t clearly exempt churches from renting out their facilities such as in other states like New York.
* The governor’s State of the State address is at noon today. Check out the House’s live feed here [fixed link] or the CMS feed here.
You can watch me do the pregame show on your local Public Television station. Our friends at BlueRoomStream.com will have live Internet coverage of the post-speech reactions by the legislative leaders, which you can watch here. You’ll also find archived video at that link if you can’t watch it live.
Radio stations WUIS at 91.9 FM and WMAY at 970 AM both plan to carry live coverage of the speech. Public television stations WILL and WSEC also will cover the speech live.
WICS-TV will offer a podcast of the speech at WICS.com.
* OK, now on to our ScribbleLive coverage. Blackberry users click here…
* Gov. Pat Quinn will introduce his concealed carry proposal today, which is combined with lots of gun control stuff. The NRA described the proposal to me yesterday as “Only on the sidewalk” - meaning that concealed carry permit holders wouldn’t be able to carry their loaded weapons just about anywhere except the sidewalk. That appears to be an overstatement, but not by a whole lot.
In a broad-brush manner, Quinn and his administration are expected to offer a framework of what he wants included in court-required concealed-carry legislation, including making applicants undergo fingerprinting and banning concealed guns in malls, schools, polling places, hospitals, bars, libraries, sports stadiums and government buildings, according to one source familiar with the governor’s plan.
Quinn also will renew his push for bans on the sale and possession of military-style, semi-automatic guns and the ammunition that feeds them, according to a source familiar with the governor’s gun platform.
He will call for a ban on gun purchases over the Internet without background checks and a new requirement on gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons within 24 hours, the source told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The governor also is expected to push circuit clerks across the state to more thoroughly report to the state when someone is adjudicated as mentally ill. That information is used by the Illinois State Police in screening gun-permit applicants.
I’m told there is a FOID processing backlog right now of about 75,000 applications. They’re gonna need a bunch of money to cover all this concealed carry stuff.
Also, and I really hate to bring this up, but Quinn opposed fingerprinting applicants for the undocumented resident driver’s license permit program.
Needless to say, the NRA is gonna fight this proposal tooth and nail.
