* From a press release…
Key conservatives and pro-family leaders from across Illinois met at the Conservative Summit Conference in suburban Burr Ridge on Saturday.
After hearing speeches and questioning GOP gubernatorial candidates Senator Bill Brady (R -Bloomington) and Senator Kirk Dillard (R -Hinsdale), the group of approximately 40 key leaders of pro-family, taxpayer, and Tea Party groups gave a significant boost to the candidacy of Kirk Dillard by giving him a rating of “strongly preferred”.
Dillard received an overwhelming vote of confidence from the conservative leaders 32-0 with 3 abstentions in the final vote. Many of the participants had supported Senator Brady in the 2012 Primary but switched to Dillard this time.
Previous Summit Conferences have launched the campaigns of U.S. Senate candidate Al Salvi (1995) and Senator Peter Fitzgerald in 1997.
Although both State Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Chicago businessman Bruce Rauner were invited to address the group, they did not attend.
* Pull quotes…
“Illinois now requires the leadership of an authentic conservative who respects, and commands the respect of, a diverse array of constituencies across our state; whose commitment to putting the state’s fiscal house in order is firm; whose competence in government management has been tested and proven; and whose opposition to corruption is unquestioned. Kirk Dillard is such a leader, and Illinoisans should unite to make him the next Governor of our state.” - Joseph A. Morris, Past President, United Republican Fund of Illinois; National Director, American Conservative Union; Convener of the Chicago Conservative Conference.
“I was impressed with Kirk’s ability to articulate conservative principles in a substantive way, and not seem like he’s giving a speech.” - Sheila R. Devall, Co-Chair, Patriotic Voices of Illinois; Peoria-Tazewell Tea Party Alliance.
“In prior elections, I have supported both Senator Dillard and Senator Brady. However, only one showed the passion and focus to win the General Election and lead Illinois out of the wilderness. Senator Kirk Dillard will make a great Governor.” - Jim Nalepa, Hinsdale business executive; Chairman, Phoenix Pac; Former GOP Candidate for Congress, 3rd District).
“Senator Kirk Dillard recognizes the importance of Illinois’ most valuable resource — families — and he understands that our state’s well-being is closely tied to the strength of this resource. I am confident that, if elected as governor, Dillard will work to strengthen and uphold family, marriage, life and liberty.” - David E. Smith, Executive Director of Illinois Family Action.
“It’s in the best interest of pro-life, pro-family organizations to support one candidate and thereby unite our movement for victory. The Summit has decided that Kirk Dillard is that person.” - Mary Anne Hackett, President, Catholic Citizens of Illinois.
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Question of the day
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the AP…
Illinois will lower the required age that students must attend school under legislation signed Sunday by Gov. Pat Quinn.
The law, which takes effect in the 2014-2015 school year, lowers the compulsory age from 7 to 6, a move state officials said puts Illinois in line with about half of U.S. states.
“It’s all about getting an early start on education,” Quinn said at an elementary school on the city’s West Side. He spoke a day before hundreds of thousands of Chicago Public Schools students are expected to start the first day of classes. […]
Opponents, including, Republicans, had questioned the cost of the change. State officials have estimated that lowering the age would cost roughly $28 million.
* The home schooler lobby opposed the bill and encouraged calls to legislators last spring…
When you call your representative, your message can be as simple as: “Please vote ‘no’ on HB 2762. It would lower the age of compulsory school attendance from 7 to 6 and make some young adults attend school even after high school graduation. Parents, not the government, know when it’s best for their young child to start formal education. Illinois is in financial trouble. It’s the wrong time to expand an expensive program.”
* The Question: Do you agree with this new law? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey tool
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Fair stuff
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I was standing there when Rep. Rich Brauer ponied up and jokingly encouraged him to sponsor another keg, but was shocked when I heard the price. Finke…
Belated credit is due to Brauer for helping to bail out Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair.
Both Republicans and Democrats have some similarities in their annual political gatherings at the fair. Namely, they have food, soft drinks and beer available for the party faithful. And the one thing you don’t want to do is run out of food, soft drinks or beer. Particularly the latter.
“They said we’re shutting down. We’re out,” Brauer said. “There were quite a few people left there. I said put me down for one.”
That’s one as in one keg of beer. Brauer said he offered to buy the keg of beer to keep the festivities going. Or in Republican Day political parlance, Brauer said he offered to sponsor a keg. The price tag was $240.
Both Brauer and I flinched a little when the price was announced. We were told that the State Fair gets a big cut of every keg sold. Ouch.
* Meanwhile, the Du Quoin State Fair opened last week. Gov. Pat Quinn was there for a bipartisan ribbon cutting…
Caption?
Quinn also publicly hugged Glenn Poshard during his visit, which was odd considering that the two men have been at each others’ throats over the SIU board of trustees for a year or so. Bygones be bygones and Quinn has a tough primary ahead, I suppose.
* Related…
* DCFS to honor the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children at Du Quoin State Fair
* Du Quoin State Fair sets opening day attendance record
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Quinn reacts to pension ideas
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Quinn was cautiously optimistic about the pension reform committee’s work product so far...
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn called the outline of a pension overhaul proposal floated by a bipartisan panel “positive” and “progress,” but he shied away Sunday from saying whether he’d fully back it.
The so-called conference committee — a 10-member panel formed in June to come up with a solution to Illinois’ nearly $100 billion crisis — is considering a framework that would, among other things, end automatic 3 percent cost-of-living increases for retirees. Increases would instead be linked to the rate of inflation.
“It appears … that some progress is being made,” Quinn told reporters after an unrelated Chicago event. “We still have to get to the finish line but I think the concepts … are very positive indeed.” […]
He said although some of the concepts in the plan are familiar and his own budget office is heavily involved in the committee’s research, he wants to see final details of a plan before he weighs in.
* Background on the framework, from Friday’s post…
A bipartisan panel tasked with solving Illinois’ multibillion-dollar pension crisis is considering a framework that would save the state about $145 billion over 30 years, largely by ending automatic 3 percent cost-of-living increases for retirees. […]
It calls for setting retirees’ annual cost-of-living increases at half the rate of inflation, though it would set both floors and caps — which were not included in the outline — for what the rate would be. That formula would likely equate to smaller adjustments than the current 3 percent increases, compounded annually.
Employees would contribute 1 percent less to their own retirement, according to the document. But their annual pension benefit would be based on their salary over their career, rather than on the higher amount they’re making right before they retire.
It would reduce the state’s nearly $100 billion unfunded pension liability by about $18.1 billion and fully fund the retirement systems within 30 years.
Keep in mind here that there’s no deal yet.
* Also keep in mind that when Gov. Quinn talked to reporters over the weekend, he wouldn’t commit to actually putting votes on the bill, which is a demand of House Speaker Michael Madigan. Listen…
From the audio…
“Well, uh, it has to get to my desk. They still have to vote on it, the Legislature. I sure hope that they can expedite that. If the members of the House, the Senate pass the bill, put it on my desk, that does the job, erases the pension liability, moves us forward, then I’ll be able to sign the bill into law.”
* And, of course the Tribune editorial board didn’t care for the ideas…
Led by state Sen. Kwame Raoul, the pension committee has been hyperfocused on meeting the constitutional wording that pensions cannot be diminished or impaired. But without more ambitious reform that would save the pension system more money, the benefits may not be there for retirees at all — or taxpayers may have to pay more.
The committee’s draft plan assumes: 1) The state can and will continue to afford to make huge payments annually into the pension system. 2) The legislature will honor that “savings” commitment long after paying off old debt and not spend the money elsewhere. 3) All pension investments will meet an annual return of 8 percent … for three decades.
Taxpayers would be on the hook if any of those assumptions fail.
The pension committee continues to work out the details of the proposal, which its members hope to unveil the week of Sept. 9. So far, their proposal does not include giving workers the option of a 401(k)-style plan. That idea should be resurrected.
Committee: You’ve come this far. Keep going. You can do better than this. Give taxpayers and public sector workers a more ambitious plan that will stabilize the system. No wings, no prayers — just basic math.
The Tribune led the charge against Senate President Cullerton’s A-B plan, which could’ve solved this problem months ago. If they actively try to kill the pension reform compromise which eventually emerges from the conference committee, then they should be looked at as part of the problem here. You just can’t pass everything. There comes a time for compromise.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Here come the lite guvs
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Twitters…
* The AP ran a story over the weekend about lite guv announcement timelines…
“My No. 1 priority was would this individual both in reality and perception-wise (among voters) be able to succeed me,” said state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, a Chenoa Republican who said he’s already picked someone and will make the name public in the next few weeks.
Brady said he expects to announce his running mate around Labor Day, and an adviser to state Sen. Kirk Dillard said the Hinsdale Republican plans to make his choice public around then, too.
Mike Schrimpf, a spokesman for Bruce Rauner, said the Republican businessman’s campaign likely won’t have an announcement until later in the year. He said Rauner mainly is looking for someone who shares his willingness to “take on the special interests in Springfield.”
Quinn, who became the first Illinois lieutenant governor in more than three decades to ascend to the state’s top spot when now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was booted out of office, is looking for a replacement for Simon, who’s running for comp-troller. He said he’s looking for “a people person” who can relate to ordinary citizens, adding that he’s heard from a lot of potential running mates and plans to sit down and talk with them.
Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley, who’s challenging Quinn in the Democratic primary, would like a running mate with private sector management experience who’s also worked with elected officials, spokesman Pete Giangreco said.
Failed 2010 attorney general candidate Steve Kim is apparently on the radar screen for Rutherford in addition to retiring state Rep. Kay Hatcher. We’ll see.
* Jim Nowlan’s take…
Gov. Pat Quinn is unpopular downstate, but more than 60 percent of the Democratic primary vote is cast in Cook County alone, so he may want a black or Hispanic from Cook. His present lite guv is Sheila Simon of Carbondale, daughter of the late U.S. senator, who is running for comptroller.
Quinn will have a tough time finding a running mate, as he is so unpopular with legislators, whose salaries he vetoed, among other slams against lawmakers.
Chicagoan Bill Daley, of the Democratic Daley clan, will want either an attractive black such as state senators Toi Hutchinson or Kimberly Lightford, who do not face re-election in 2014, or a downstater, where his name is not playing well.
On the Republican side, Bill Brady of Bloomington is probably vetting suburban women, a region and gender where Brady fared badly in his narrow loss to Quinn in 2010.
(By the way, gender was not even a consideration back in 1972 when I was a candidate; times change quickly.)
State treasurer Dan Rutherford of Pontiac will also probably want a suburban woman, though I have no idea who that might be.
State senator Kirk Dillard of suburban DuPage County is probably looking for a downstate woman. Karen Hasara comes to mind; a former state senator, mayor of Springfield and member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, Karen would be an attractive match.
Wild-card megabucks financier Bruce Rauner is thought of as a Chicagoan, where his business is located, but he grew up in the suburbs. Several downstate senators with free rides such as former prosecutor Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, might make attractive complements.
Any ideas?
*** UPDATE *** Chuck Sweeny thinks retiring Rep. Jim Sacia may run for lt. governor...
“I’m very seriously contemplating a run for another office,” he said. It won’t be a legislative office, because “I’m not going to run against (state Sen.) Tim Bivins (R-45),” he said.
Through a process of elimination we narrowed things down to a statewide office, and that’s as far as he would go at revealing future plans. Whatever it is, Sacia gave indications that he’s preparing for an all-out, full-time campaign.
“To me, running for office is like being in office. It’s a full-time job. Had I stayed in the House, I would have not been devoting full time to my legislative responsibilities. Not only that, but you lose some effectiveness as a lame duck.” […]
Treasurer Dan Rutherford, a Republican, is running for governor; at least two Republicans, Michael Scott Carter and Bob Schillerstrom want that job. That might be a possibility for Sacia.
And then there’s lieutenant governor, the office I think he’ll seek. The office will be open because Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, a Democrat, is running for comptroller.
Um, the office will be open because it’s an election year. Other than that, he may be right.
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Words of wisdom
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I couldn’t agree more with Chris Mooney…
[Gov. Pat Quinn’s] political obituary was half written twice in 2010 before he narrowly won difficult primary and general elections.
“You would think that an incumbent with his low approval level would be toast,” said Chris Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “But every election is not about ideals, it’s about choices.”
Too many pundits characterize elections as “referenda” on incumbents or the party in power. They’re not. Elections, in the end, are almost all about how the choices are defined between the candidates on the ballot. Pat Quinn’s job approval rating was just 24 percent in a late September, 2010 Public Policy Polling survey and 28 percent in an early September, 2010 Tribune poll. He still won, mainly by defining his opponent as potentially even worse than he was.
Never forget that.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Puppy tourism
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* After his bath yesterday, Oscar the Puppy toured the Statehouse grounds…
* With Abe…
* One last look…
Oscar is not allowed inside the Statehouse, so that’s about as close as he’ll get to where I work during session unless somebody changes the rules.
*** UPDATE *** Oops. I meant to add some related links to this post and completely forgot. Here they are…
* $50 million Capitol west wing renovation almost done
* Photos: Statehouse renovation project
* What Happens To ‘Puppy Lemon Law’ Dogs?
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This ain’t another Gidwitz
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has focused like a laser on his absolute disgust with public employee unions like AFSCME, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. The wealthy former business executive claims the unions are the root of most of Illinois’ problems and has decried the “corrupting” influence of their campaign cash on both political parties.
Illinois Republicans appear to overwhelmingly agree with Rauner.
“Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for a Republican candidate for governor who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from public employee unions? ” 1,614 likely Republican primary voters were asked August 21st in a Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll.
An overwhelming 80 percent said they’d be less likely to back such a candidate, while a mere 8 percent said they’d be more likely to do so.
The Rauner campaign claims that rival candidate state Sen. Kirk Dillard has received over $400,000 from public employee unions during his long career. Dillard has defended his friendship with the unions by saying they should be worked with, but has also pointed to his support for union-opposed pension reform bills. Even so, that labor cash appears to be a no-go for Dillard.
Rauner’s other two opponents, Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Sen. Bill Brady, have also received significant contributions from public employee unions, and Rauner’s campaign has made it clear those ties will be used against them as well.
Rauner has also formed a new, well-funded political action committee to push for term limits. When asked if they’d be more or less likely to support a GOP gubernatorial candidate “who supports a constitutional amendment limiting the number of terms state legislators may serve,” 76 percent of Republicans said they’d be more likely, while a mere 13 percent said they’d be less likely and 12 percent said it made no difference.
Sen. Brady says he supports legislative term limits, but he was first elected to the General Assembly 21 years ago. Treasurer Rutherford and Sen. Dillard are both on record opposing term limits.
Both Brady and Dillard voted for a bill which allowed illegal immigrants to apply for state drivers licenses. A whopping 83 percent of likely Republican primary voters said that this vote would make them less likely to support those candidates.
It’s unlikely that Rauner would make a campaign issue out of those immigration votes, since he’d have a tough time winning the fall election if he “goes there.” The Latino vote, as I’ve pointed out time and time again, has gained incredible strength in this state. But Rauner has already benefited from third party TV ad spending, which helped drive Congressman Aaron Schock out of the race, and some of his supporters, including ultra-conservative millionaire Jack Roeser, are probably in a position to “help” make this an issue if necessary.
Roeser, by the way, wasn’t happy that Rauner admitted to being pro-choice earlier this year. But the activist has stuck with Rauner, likely because of his outright hostility toward the teachers’ unions. Roeser has long despised those unions.
A July 16th We Ask America poll found that Republican primary voters aren’t all that uniform on the issue anyway. Just 45 percent said they’d be less likely to vote for a pro-choice gubernatorial candidate. But 32 percent said they’d be more likely to vote for such a candidate and 23 percent said the issue made no difference, meaning that Rauner’s position doesn’t really hurt him with over half the primary electorate.
Since a recent poll found that 83 percent of GOP primary voters would be less likely to vote for Rauner because of his close ties to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Dillard and Brady have amped up their criticism of that relationship
But, so far, neither Dillard nor Brady have shown they can raise the kind of money needed to run an effective negative paid media campaign.
And while those other candidates struggle to raise the money necessary to get on the air, Rauner can run all the ads he needs to tout the issues that put him on the same side of the vast majority of Republican primary voters, and connect his opponents to the opposition.
Rauner seems to have a very deliberate, poll-tested victory strategy. He’s no lock, but he has a workable plan.
Discuss.
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Raoul by the numbers
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The problem with most pundits when it comes to estimating Sen. Kwame Raoul’s chances in a Democratic primary is that they speak from the gut instead of using any actual polling numbers or recent history. Ergo, my Sun-Times column…
A debate of sorts is raging about whether state Sen. Kwame Raoul would be a “spoiler” for Bill Daley if Raoul ran for governor.
The assumption is that Raoul, who is black, can’t win, but that he would take away so many African-American votes from Gov. Pat Quinn that Quinn would lose to Daley, who supposedly does so poorly with black voters that a Raoul candidacy wouldn’t hurt him.
I’ve commissioned some polling that should be helpful here.
A Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll of 1,394 likely Democratic primary voters on July 19 found that Quinn was leading Daley 38-33. In that poll, the governor was getting less than half — 47 percent — of the black vote, while Daley was getting 26 percent, which isn’t bad when you figure that another quarter of the black vote was still up for grabs.
I commissioned yet another poll of 1,528 likely Democratic primary voters on Aug. 6 and added Sen. Raoul’s name into the mix. In that Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll, Raoul was identified as a state senator and “an African-American attorney from Chicago.” Daley was identified as a former White House chief of staff and Quinn was identified as the governor.
The results showed Quinn led Daley by four points, 27-23, with Raoul getting 13. The Quinn-vs.-Daley spread barely changed from the July poll, belying the notion, at least so far, that Raoul is an automatic spoiler for Daley. Quinn’s lead over Daley dropped a lot among black Democrats with Raoul in the race, but Quinn went from trailing Daley among whites by two points in July to leading Daley by five when Raoul was put into the mix.
And Raoul’s score of 13 percent right off the bat is pretty darned good, especially considering that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has spent $2 million on TV and radio ads and is polling at about the same level as Raoul is now.
Why is that? Well, one reason is that history shows black voters tend to support legitimate black candidates, so Raoul doesn’t need to spend huge money to get himself into contention as long as he’s running a solid campaign.
Another big reason can be found in another poll I commissioned on Aug. 12, which found that 48 percent of 1,538 likely Democratic primary voters were dissatisfied with their choice between Quinn and Daley and 9 percent were unsure. So a clear 57 percent majority were either unhappy or ambivalent about the two announced candidates.
Among black Democrats, just 31 percent were satisfied and a huge 57 percent were dissatisfied with their two choices.
It’s pretty obvious that lots of Democrats want somebody else to run, and black Democrats are particularly eager to see another candidate get into the race. If Raoul can satisfy that very clear Democratic hunger for “somebody else,” then he has a real shot at winning.
With the help of most of his Democratic state Senate colleagues throughout the state and Senate President John Cullerton’s fund-raising and campaign infrastructure assistance, I think the numbers we have so far show that Raoul could overcome a somewhat late start and very well win this thing.
And what if Raoul loses and Daley wins? Nobody can totally rule that out. But a June 13 Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll of 1,322 likely Democratic primary voters found that just 28 percent of African-Americans approved of Pat Quinn’s job performance, while 40 percent disapproved. Blacks gave Quinn the lowest approval rating and the highest disapproval rating of any race or ethnicity. So, African-American Democrats obviously don’t care much for the governor’s tenure anyway.
Thoughts?
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Rutherford pledges not to go negative
Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
He won’t go negative, says Mr. Rutherford, perhaps hoping that one of the other candidates, state Sens. Kirk Dillard and Bill Brady, will do the job for him, or perhaps knowing that attacking Mr. Rauner would invite massive retaliation from a man who plays hardball.
Rather, he says, it will be by playing his own game: working the precincts and county board chairs, carefully spending his $1 million war chest and emphasizing his success as one of only two Republicans to win statewide office since 2002. (The other is Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.)
“The Republican Party base is looking for someone they have a relationship with,” he says. “I’m the guy who’s won. I got more votes than Pat Quinn did last time.”
Good idea or not?
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AP picks up pension story
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No hat tip from the AP, but they were able to get the same pension reform outline that I obtained earlier today for subscribers.
This is not a done deal, by any means. There is no consensus as of yet on the pension reform conference committee. It’s a list of items that conference committee members have agreed to forward to the actuaries.
I’m also assuming that the Chicago Tribune will hate it. Why? Because despite lowering retirement income, the plan reduces employee contributions by a percentage point. The Tribune and Ty Fahner have been screaming for higher worker contributions for a long time now. So, why lower them? The concept of “consideration” is one reason. Give them something in return for taking other things away. Also, you gotta throw the unions some sort of bone if you’re gonna actually pass a bill.
Anyway, the AP’s take…
A bipartisan panel tasked with solving Illinois’ multibillion-dollar pension crisis is considering a framework that would save the state about $145 billion over 30 years, largely by ending automatic 3 percent cost-of-living increases for retirees. […]
It calls for setting retirees’ annual cost-of-living increases at half the rate of inflation, though it would set both floors and caps — which were not included in the outline — for what the rate would be. That formula would likely equate to smaller adjustments than the current 3 percent increases, compounded annually.
Employees would contribute 1 percent less to their own retirement, according to the document. But their annual pension benefit would be based on their salary over their career, rather than on the higher amount they’re making right before they retire.
It would reduce the state’s nearly $100 billion unfunded pension liability by about $18.1 billion and fully fund the retirement systems within 30 years.
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Your Friday bill-signing dump
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the governor’s office…
Governor Quinn Takes Bill Action
***Friday, August 23, 2013***
CHICAGO – Governor Pat Quinn today took action on the following bills:
Bill No.: SB 1194
An Act Concerning: Insurance
Allows the certification of navigators, in-person counselors, and certified application counselors to enroll individuals in the Health Insurance Exchange.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1197
An Act Concerning: Regulation
Ensures that prospective residents of nursing homes are properly informed about asset and income disclosure requirements.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1430
An Action Concerning: Local Government
Authorizes a county board to borrow money from a bank or other financial institution for corporate purposes provided that the money is repaid within two years.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1458
An Act Concerning: Utilities
Provides an expedited process to resolve pipeline safety concerns at the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1568
An Act Concerning: Employees
Allows the Department of Labor to establish an administrative procedure to adjudicate claims of any amount.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 1598
An Act Concerning: State Government
Changes the requirements for data collection upon arrest or booking.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2015
Bill No.: SB 1609
An Act Concerning: Criminal Law
Adds threatening a human service provider to the charge of threatening a human service provider; makes such a threat a Class 3 felony for a first offense and a Class 1 felony for second and subsequent offenses.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 1640
An Act Concerning: State Government
Creates the Multiple Sclerosis Task Force in the Illinois Department of Public Health to identify and address the unmet needs of persons with multiple sclerosis.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1655
An Act Concerning: Regulation
Clarifies procedures for an individual holding an active license as a managing broker license to be issued a broker’s license in exchange and revises manner in which a brokerage agreement can be terminated.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1686
An Act Concerning: Civil Law
Clarifies that the unfitness of a parent can be alleged after a nine-month period of failure to make reasonable efforts to correct conditions that were the basis of the removal of a child from the home.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 1791
An Act Concerning: Education
Makes Illinois Student Assistance Commission the administrator of the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program and consolidates it with the Future Teacher Corps Program.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1801
An Act Concerning: Revenue
Clarifies the aircraft refurbishment exemption from the state sales tax.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1830
An Act Concerning: Government
Clarifies the duties of the Illinois Labor Relations Board.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 1844
An Act Concerning: Courts
Allows minors to be placed in adult detention facilities if they are 18 years-old or older and the court takes into consideration their delinquent or criminal history.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1862
An Act Concerning: Criminal Law
Provides funding for Metropolitan Enforcement Groups in accordance with the Intergovernmental Drug Laws Enforcement Act.
Action: Signed
Effective: July 1, 2013
Bill No.: SB 1872
An Act Concerning: Criminal Law
Eliminates felony enhancements for the offense of prostitution.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 1940
An Action Concerning: Transportation
Requires proof of insurance in order to receive vehicle registration.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 2101
An Act Concerning: Regulation
Requires mobile home park licensee or owner who has actual knowledge that one of the homes has been used for the manufacture of methamphetamine to disclose that information to potential buyer of mobile home.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 2184
An Act Concerning: Safety
Allows the Illinois Department of Labor to respond more quickly to public safety hazards associated with fair or carnival amusement rides and brings state oversight procedures in line with national standards for amusement ride safety programs.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill No.: SB 2226
An Act Concerning: Safety
Limits disposal of asphalt shingles in landfills in order to boost recycling.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
Bill No.: SB 2255
An Act Concerning: Regulation
Allows the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to locally certify coal mine electricians.
Action: Signed
Effective: Jan. 1, 2014
See anything you want to discuss in more detail on Monday?
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Question of the day
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* George Ryan was in Springfield the other day and stayed at Tony Leone’s place near the Statehouse…
Ryan lost weight and dealt with infected teeth in prison. His dental problems were initially compounded by financial troubles, Leone said.
“When I first saw him I was kind of set back,” Leone said of Ryan’s appearance. “But he had to wait for his Social Security check (to have his teeth fixed).”
Stripped of his pension, Leone said Ryan is “trying to think what he’s going to be doing in the future. He’s got to make some money.”
He said Ryan is working on a memoir that they have discussed during recent visits.
“We have talked when I went up there two times about our recollections of incidents with people. Some are really funny,” Leone said.
* Ryan was released from home confinement in early July. His Springfield activities also included a bit of tourism…
The 79-year-old Republican made a stop at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, where his name remains on the cornerstone despite his conviction on corruption charges and subsequent time in federal prison. […]
Ryan, who is credited with providing the political muscle to get the Lincoln museum and library built, was accompanied on his visit by his children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
In addition to viewing the exhibits, the entourage stopped at the cornerstone to pose for pictures, Leone said.
“George was really feeling good when he went back home,” Leone said.
* The Question: What one word best describes your feelings about former Gov. George Ryan these days? Keep it to one word, please. Thanks.
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Today’s quote
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bill Daley…
In the Quad Cites for the first time since announcing his candidacy, Daley, the former Commerce Secretary and Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, said, in this race, at least, he’s an outsider.
“I’ve been around politics and government, but not for the past 12 years, like Governor Quinn has been” he told News 8
I’m still not convinced that this “Daley the outsider” schtick is gonna work. He’s a Daley, for crying out loud. Everybody with even half a brain knows that name and what it means. So, how do you convince voters that a prominent member of the Daley family is an outsider?
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About that new Rauner PAC
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* An expenditure made by a ballot initiative committee “in concert with” a candidate’s committee is considered a contribution by state law, and candidate committees are barred from accepting contributions from ballot initiative committees, so that’s a real legal problem for Bruce Rauner’s new term limits PAC…
How does Bruce Rauner the candidate for governor manage not to coordinate with Bruce Rauner the SuperPac chair?
“If he can find a way to not coordinate with himself, that’s a neat trick,” says David Morrison, Deputy Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. Morrison said unlike campaign committees supporting individual candidates, there are no contribution limits on ballot initiative committees because they are typically isolated from candidates.
Except in this case, Bruce Rauner is a candidate in a heated, four-way gubernatorial election. Yet he also filed organization papers as chair of the Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, a SuperPAC. The committee’s aim, according to Rauner’s campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf, is to put a question on the November 2014 ballot that would place term limits on Illinois politicians. The details will be announced in upcoming weeks but in an interview on Thursday, Schrimpf described it as a good government initiative. […]
There is plenty of potential for problems with this set up, says Morrison, who added that he was still studying the issue. Rauner, who is in a four-way primary battle for the GOP gubernatorial nod, has had no problem raising money and tapping friends to donate to him. But there’s a limit on how much Rauner — as well as those friends — can pony up. Rauner has poured $249,000 of his own fortune into his race. That’s just shy of the $250,000 threshold that would take off the limit cap — for both Rauner and his opponents.
So working through a separate committee would potentially reap financial benefits for Rauner.
Morrison noted that Rauner could tap the SuperPAC funds for TV commercials in which he could appear (within a certain time period before the primary and general election). Rauner could not ask for a vote for governor if the SuperPAC were footing the bill. But that wouldn’t stop him from winning name recognition. The SuperPAC money could be used for polling data, voting data and other resources needed for a ballot initiative that a candidate’s campaign committee would also take interest.
Contributions aren’t capped to ballot initiative committees, which is quite convenient for Rauner, who is just about at the cap for candidate committees.
* I talked with ICPR’s Morrison this afternoon and he pointed to a similar thing that occurred in California during the Gray Davis recall push. The elections board out there ruled that the recall was a ballot initiative, so contributions to it weren’t capped. So, Arnold Schwarzenegger set up a ballot initiative committee, raised gobs of money and appeared in tons of TV ads announcing that he was voting “Yes” on the recall.
Discuss.
…Adding… The Sun-Times story identifies this Rauner fund as a “Super PAC.” It ain’t. Different sort of PAC, different rules.
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Renters now protected from foreclosures
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This seems like a common sense bill…
A new law in Illinois that will take effect at the end of the year is aimed at protecting renters if their landlord’s property goes into foreclosure.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law that says that those who buy multifamily properties out of foreclosure should either honor existing tenant leases or give the renters 90 days to move.
State officials say that about 40 percent of families affected by foreclosure are renters.
* From a press release…
Currently, tenants living in foreclosed properties are protected under federal law, but those protections are set to sunset in 2014.
Under the new state law, an owner who acquires a property in a foreclosure proceeding can evict a tenant only at the end of the lease or, if there is no lease, with 90 days’ notice.
If the new owner intends to use the property as his or her primary residence, he or she may terminate the lease but must still give 90 days’ notice. A bank foreclosing on a rental property also must inform tenants of where they should pay their rent.
The bill is here.
Of course, pulling the state and the nation out of the housing foreclosure crisis would probably do a lot more good. But this never-ending economic slump is beyond stubborn.
…Adding… A similar bill was introduced way back in 2007.
* There was a spot of good news accompanying the state’s lousy July unemployment rate report, however…
The number of jobs across the Chicago area grew by 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, but the unemployment rate still increased.
Highlighting volatility in employment figures, the region encompassing Chicago, Joliet and Naperville saw one of the state’s largest increases in job growth and in the rate of unemployment, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The unemployment rate measures those who are actively searching for work, so if someone gives up their search, they are no longer counted. Conversely, if a region sees job growth but the unemployment rate rises, it indicates that more people are starting to look for jobs.
But…
Across the state, the unemployment rate fell last month in seven of 12 metro areas, but the number of jobs declined in eight out of 12.
So, while the Metro East area saw its unemployment rate drop by a full percentage point, to 8.6 percent, the number of jobs have actually declined by 2,300 from a year ago.
Springfield’s rate fell by a tenth of a point, but Springfield now has 200 fewer gross, non-farm jobs than it did a year ago. Ugh.
And while that 1.9 percentage point increase in the number of jobs in the Chicago region is good news, it’s still not nearly enough over a year’s time. We need growth, man.
The full report is here.
* Meanwhile…
The issue of raising Illinois’ minimum wage generated quite a bit of controversy early in the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly.
One bill in particular, which proposed raising Illinois’ minimum wage from $8.25 an hour to $10 over three years, generated lots of opposition from the business community, which said raising the minimum wage would result only in employers cutting existing minimum wage jobs.
But it never got a vote in the House or Senate, where it remains in the Assignments Committee. By session’s end, pension reform, concealed carry and same-sex marriage had pushed minimum wage off the stage.
If you listened to Gov. Pat Quinn’s speech to Democratic county chairmen last week, though, you heard the minimum wage stepping back into the spotlight as one of the main planks of Quinn’s reelection campaign platform.
“It’s a principle as old as the Bible. If you work 40 hours a week, you should not live in poverty,” Quinn told the crowd in Springfield. “That’s why we’re going to raise the Illinois minimum wage as well.”
I really doubt that bill will be approved by the House if it does clear the Senate. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association, among others, is dead-set against it, and they have a very friendly ear in Speaker Madigan.
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Beer can spoiler
Friday, Aug 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Maybe it’s because I’m still not feeling well, but I’ve read this three times and I’m still not sure I get the logic behind today’s Kass piece about how state Sen. Kwame Raoul is a spoiler…
Kwame Raoul hates it when you call him a “spoiler,” so I what am I supposed to call him?
The Kwame-Nader?
Kwame-Nader is an homage to Ralph Nader, who took enough votes from weird Al Gore to make George W. Bush the president.
Raoul is Haitian-American, popular among Hyde Park liberals and flirting with challenging incumbent Quinn in the Democratic primary. Quinn is already facing a challenge from mayoral brother and former Obama White House chief of staff William Daley.
So if the Kwame-Nader gets in, will he take black votes from Quinn? Does this help Daley?
“The notion that somebody has characterized me as a spoiler, given my record of achievement, not only advancing policy that impacts the black community, but all communities, is insulting at best,” he told WLS-Ch. 7.
That’s so precious, Sen. Kwame-Nader. You don’t like being insulted? Who are you, the public relations guy for the Chicago Fire?
If you were serious about running for governor of a state in financial ruin, you would have been doing something about it long ago.
If Kwame-Nader was serious, he’d have been out there for months like others, staking out positions, declaring where he stands.
Instead, he’s been running that legislative pension committee, the one that costs Illinois taxpayers $5 million for every day it doesn’t solve the problem. Instead, it keeps meeting and meeting and meeting. And meeting.
Oh, Kwame-Nader. If you don’t like the name, please give me a call (finally) and we’ll think of something else.
Perhaps you can help me understand the logic here.
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* Sorry. Wasn’t feeling well this morning at all. Somewhat better now.
Since Oswego Willy was one of those who sent me an e-mail wondering if I was still alive, how about a caption contest to welcome his favorite legislative leader into the state treasurer’s race?…
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