* From a memo…
October 22, 2013
Timothy D. Mapes
Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives
420 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Re: House Bill 214 (Madigan/Cullerton)
Dear Mr. Mapes:
On September 26, 2013, a Cook County Circuit judge held that the Governor’s line item veto of House Bill 214 violated Article VI, Section 11 of the Illinois Constitution and therefore, was void ab initio. This means that the line item veto has no legal effect and it is to be treated as void from the outset. The Governor has appealed the decision and the Supreme Court has agreed to review the issue. However, the order entered on September 26th remains in effect. Therefore, there is no viable veto of House Bill 214 that the House can consider.
With kindest personal regards, I remain
Sincerely yours,
MICHAEL J. MADIGAN
Speaker of the House
As of 12:30, the bill’s status page hadn’t yet been updated.
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* A few years ago, Bruce Rauner’s running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti slipped and fell at the College Avenue Train Station in Wheaton.
According to Jon Zahm, Sanguinetti then sued Wheaton (her home town), DuPage County, METRA, the Union Pacific Railroad, the Illinois Prairie Path Corporation, and the DuPage County Dept. of Transportation.
* According to a copy of Sanguinetti’s suit that Zahm forwarded me, Sanguinetti demanded at least $50,000 each from Wheaton and Metra and unspecified damages from the others.
Zahm is a major Rauner hater, but he’s had some interesting posts on his Rauner-hating blog, including some deets on the Sanguinetti lawsuit…
These are mostly taxpayer funded entities. When they are sued, the cost of government services rise to pay off the settlements and costs of litigation, and to cover the costs of increased insurance premiums. So what did these entities do to Evelyn to receive the wrath of her six count lawsuit?
Let me use exact words from her suit filed on her behalf by Chicago lawyer Ronald Stearney, Jr.:
“Allowed and permitted said sidewalk where pedestrians walked and frequently and necessarily used to enter and exit the College Avenue Train Station to remain, when said Defendant knew or should have known that said sidewalk caused an unnatural accumulation of water, snow, ice or other dangerous substances, which in turn posed a dangerous condition, especially to the Plaintiff Evelyn R. Sanguinetti.”
The suit goes on to say, 8 other ways, very similar things about the sidewalk on the way to that train station. Got to love legalese.
Unbelievable. You fall on a sidewalk while walking to the train and blame the government and penalize the taxpayers where you live and work.
And ask for at least a hundred large.
Zahm says he believes the suit was settled.
*** UPDATE *** From the Rauner campaign…
Evelyn was not after a “big payday.” The case was settled and Evelyn gave the net proceeds to Operation Support Our Troops. She was subsequently elected to an at-large position on Wheaton City Council.
She sued two entities for at least 50 large each. In my book, that’s a big payday. And whatever she did with the proceeds makes no difference. If she didn’t need the money, why get all those lawyers involved?
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Today’s tweet
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From our live feed…
*** UPDATE *** From McKinney’s story…
Advocates for the Senate Bill 10 plan to attend a 5:15 p.m. Tuesday Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception as part of what organizers describe as a “loud Catholic Presence for marriage equality” that will wrap up a daylong rally in support of the stalled legislation. […]
“It is blasphemy to show disrespect or irreverence to God or to something holy,” Paprocki said in a statement released late Tuesday morning. “Since Jesus clearly taught that marriage as created by God is a sacred institution between a man and a woman (see Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-9), praying for same-sex marriage should be seen as blasphemous and as such will not be permitted in the cathedral.
People wearing a rainbow sash or who otherwise identify themselves as affiliated with the Rainbow Sash Movement will not be admitted into the cathedral and anyone who gets up to pray for same-sex marriage in the cathedral will be asked to leave,” Paprocki said.
“Of course, our cathedral and parish churches are always open to everyone who wishes to repent their sins and ask for God’s forgiveness,” he said.
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* If GOP Reps. Ed Sullivan and Ron Sandack end up in hot primaries next spring, their new House Republican Leader will have their back. The two men are the only publicly known Republican supporters of gay marriage. Illinois Issues…
[House GOP Leader Jim Durkin] said he plans to back incumbents in primaries next year, regardless of how they vote on the [gay marriage] issue.
“I’m supporting every one of my colleagues who’s here, no matter how they vote on this issue, or any other issue. We are a caucus that is diverse, and we’re not going to agree on every issue. But my pledge to every one of them when I was elected two months ago was that I want each and every one of them to be returning with me when we get sworn in. … I will support every one of my incumbents who have a primary challenge, no matter what [side of an] issue they take or whatever vote may prompt a primary.”
That could get expensive, particularly considering all the money Durkin will have to spend next fall to take back some seats his caucus lost to the Democrats last year.
Your thoughts?
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hmm. Things are a little slow around here today. So how’s about a caption contest to get the juices flowing? Here’s Rahm Emanuel and Pat Quinn sharing a stage the other day…
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Bringing it on himself
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s goes super-hyper-breathless on John Cullerton…
It’s official: Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is the Alfred E. Neuman of Illinois politics.
As all but the most dedicated news-avoiders know by now, Illinois has a problem on its hands. It’s a big, big problem. Whopping. Ballooning. Staggering. Mushrooming. You could use any of those adjectives and then some, and they’d all be pretty accurate. That’s because Illinois has racked up more than $100 billion in unfunded pension obligations to its public employees. It’s a debt burden that’s threatening to sink the state’s finances. And no one in Illinois government seems ready to do a thing about it.
Now to limited thinkers like you and me, a state that’s more or less in bankruptcy is a state that’s facing something like a crisis. But then, we don’t think like Mr. Cullerton. What fortitude it must take to look upon tempests and never be shaken, to be presented with a mile-long IOU and simply shrug. That’s what happened this past weekend, when the North Side Democrat told a WGN-AM/720 radio interviewer that Illinois’ massive pension debt — the worst in the nation, mind you — is not a “crisis.”
Never mind the fact that the partial expiration of the state income tax increase in a little over a year will cost state coffers hundreds of billions of dollars by 2045 - the year arbitrarily designated by Jim Edgar back in the ’90s to fully fund the state’s pension systems. That tax hike budget hit is not a “crisis,” you see. It’s only a “crisis” if the powers that be decree it is so.
* But, I do admit that it’s Cullerton’s own fault that he’s being ridiculed for his “crisis” comment, as the Tribune rightly notes…
Barely a year ago, on Sept. 13, 2012, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton met with the Tribune editorial board. He was positively loquacious in explaining why public pension reform was his No. 1 priority for the 2013 legislative session:
“It may not be the No. 1 priority of the public because they don’t understand the significance of how this crisis affects the operation of state government,” Cullerton said. “But those of us who know the state budget know this is essential because you wouldn’t have enough money to pay for health care or education.”
And that wasn’t the only time Cullerton referred to the pension “crisis”…
Oops.
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Apparently, it didn’t work as advertised
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Workers’ comp reforms two years ago have succeeded in driving down some costs, but overall costs have barely moved. Oy…
Medical payments for workers’ compensation claims dropped only 4.6 percent in Illinois last year even though the General Assembly reduced the maximum fees for workers’ compensation-related office visits, surgery and other treatments by 30 percent in 2011 (see the PDF). That’s according to a study of 16 states by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, an insurance industry-funded think tank in Cambridge, Mass. The states were selected to represent the high, middle and low end of the cost spectrum.
Medical fees actually fell 24 percent last year, according to the study, as some providers already were charging less than the maximum amount allowed by law. But those savings largely were offset by greater use of medical services and increased spending on litigation over medical claims, second opinions by company doctors and other measures to control medical costs.
As a result, total payments per claim were down just 1 percent.
* And this is just depressing…
While the study addressed only costs per claim, Illinois is well below average in the number of claims per 1,000 workers, in part because of high unemployment in construction and manufacturing, which tend to have more injuries.
Sheesh.
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Kerner and Carlos
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I can’t help but think about our late friend Carlos Hernandez Gomez when reading this story today…
A daylong look at the life and legacy of a former Illinois governor who led a ground-breaking national study on urban violence, reformed the state’s mental health system and became a federal appeals court judge before doing prison time for corruption, is coming to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
The Governor’s Conference on Otto Kerner begins at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 2 and will include a critical look at what happened to Kerner. Among panelists is Anton Kerner, son of the late governor, who questions the fairness of Kerner’s prosecution; and Bill Barnhart and Gene Schlickman, authors of a 1999 book “Kerner: The Conflict of Intangible Rights.”
In it, they argue that Kerner could be seen as a victim of unfortunate timing — given that his 1971 indictment linked to ownership of racetrack stock came in the wake of the 1970 death of former Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell, who was found to have hoarded more than $800,000 in cash, some in a shoe box, in the old St. Nicholas Hotel in Springfield.
“We think it’s going to be a fascinating look at one of our former governors,” said Mark DePue, director of oral history at the presidential library. “It’s something of a tragedy that he’s only remembered today because he was … convicted for some things that happened during his administration.”
Carlos was fascinated with Kerner’s legacy. He believed the former governor may have been railroaded by an over zealous federal prosecutor (Jim Thompson) who went on to use that successful prosecution to elect himself governor.
Carlos wanted to write a book about Kerner, but then he got sick and passed away. Carlos was very tough on politicians, but he wasn’t a cynical hater. He always tried to get every side of a story, so I think his Kerner book would’ve been fascinating. We’ll never know.
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Rate the ad
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gay marriage advocates began running this ad on black radio stations over the weekend. Rate it…
Script…
Woman #1: You know what? It’s not fair that same gender-loving couples can get married in some states, but not in Illinois.
Woman #2: Not in Illinois? That’s not fair.
Woman #1: Nope. And that means same gender-loving couples don’t get treated equally when it comes to family leave in an emergency or Medicare. Listen to what President Obama had to say about it:
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.
Woman #2: So our President’s out there for marriage equality?
Woman #1: And Michelle, too. Here’s what she said:
In a country where we teach our children that everyone is equal under the law, discriminating against same-sex couples just isn’t right. So it’s as simple as that.
VO: Join President and Mrs. Obama and folks across our community who believe in fairness. Tellyour legislators to pass the religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.
Paid for by Illinois Unites for Marriage.
* As subscribers already know, a new head count by the Windy City Times shows pro gay marriage forces within striking distance of passing a bill. Check it out.
* Related…
* Daily Herald Editorial: It’s time for a vote on marriage equality in Illinois: Promises were made then that a vote would happen during the fall veto session. And no matter which way it goes, it’s time for legislators to go on the record despite concerns about the political calendar. Legislators on both sides of the issue are concerned about potential opponents filing against them in the primary based on this vote. Much has changed, however, in the last few months.
* Buses depart this morning for March on Springfield for Marriage Equality
* Illinois gay marriage rally draws protesters to Springfield
* Poll: By 2-to-1 Illinois Catholic Voters Back Same Sex Marriage
* Thousands expected to rally for Illinois same-sex marriage
* All eyes on Harris as veto session approaches
* Latino community leaders lend support to marriage equality
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Credit Union (noun) – an essential financial cooperative
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Cooperatives can be formed to support producers such as farmers, purchasers such as independent business owners, and consumers such as electric coops and credit unions. Their primary purpose is to meet members’ needs through affordable goods and services of high quality. Cooperatives such as credit unions may look like other businesses in their operations and, like other businesses, can range in size. However, the cooperative structure is distinctively different regardless of size. As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, credit unions serve individuals with a common goal or interest. They are owned and democratically controlled by the people who use their services. Their board of directors consists of unpaid volunteers, elected by and from the membership. Members are owners who pool funds to help other members. After expenses and reserve requirements are met, net revenue is returned to members via lower loan and higher savings rates, lower costs and fees for services. It is the structure of credit unions, not their size or range of services that is the reason for their tax exempt status - and the reason why almost three million Illinois residents are among 95 million Americans who count on their local credit union everyday to reach their financial goals.
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Today’s quotables
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Former Mayor Daley is having “memory” problems, at least while he was deposed during a lawsuit over a politically and Daley family-connected restaurant contract in Millennium Park…
Novack: Do you recall asking them to move the bar from the front of the restaurant to the back of the restaurant because you thought that would be more family-friendly?
Daley: I don’t recall.
Novack: Do you recall that you actually attended the announcement of the opening of the restaurant?
Daley: I don’t recall if I did or not.
Novack: OK. I’ll show you . . . a picture of a bunch of people standing in front of some buildings. Do you recognize yourself in that picture?
Daley: It’s kind of blurry. I guess it’s me, if it is.
Novack: And you are there, aren’t you, for the opening of the ice rink . . . and the restaurant being open for the first time?
Daley: I don’t know what it was for, but — I don’t recall.
Novack: In other words, is it your testimony that the first time you knew that they [Horan and O’Malley] were associated with the restaurant was that day?
Daley: I don’t know what I knew.
A quick visit to a doctor might be in order. Or not.
* Bill Cameron reports on a speech given by Sen. Bill Brady…
“Don’t underestimate Pat Quinn. He may be a buffoon when it comes to leading and on policies, but he is brilliant when it comes to manipulating the populist card in a Democratic state,” Brady said.
Brady was in Oak Brook with Republican candidates for the Chamber of Commerce when he made the comments about Quinn.
Ouch.
* And speaking of Oak Brook, Treasurer Dan Rutherford was all upset this morning about the price of his conference hotel room…
OK, fine, dude, you worry about and even pick up pennies. But how many fundraising calls could you have made while you composed six outraged tweets today and monitored online feedback?
Sheesh.
* Let’s end on an up note. After a months-long refurbishing project, commuters are gushing about the Red Line, and for good reason…
The red line hasn’t moved this fast on the south side since 1969 when it first opened.
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Question of the day
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Aside from pension reform and gay marriage, there are some other issues coming up in the veto session and Jamey Dunn provides a quick rundown…
* Gambling expansion It seems unlikely that lawmakers will vote on a gaming bill during the veto session, but there is a House hearing on the topic scheduled for Wednesday. Quinn has not said that he would give a gaming bill the same treatment as an ADM tax break if it landed on his desk before pension reform. However, he has warned lawmakers in the past not get distracted by the “shiny object” of a gambling expansion when he feels they should be working to get pension changes passed. He has vetoed two gambling bills in the past and said last year that he could only approve one if it had strict regulations and the money went to education.
* Budgetary issues Several House budget committees are holding hearings on potential supplemental appropriations. It is the time of year when agencies tend to come to lawmakers looking to patch budget holes. Union leaders may also be seeking an appropriation for workers’ back pay from raises there were promised but did not receive. Quinn’s budget staff has said that workers should get the money under a new deal the state made with the unions. However, House Speaker Michael Madigan seems less than warm to the idea. Since there are no bills drafted and in committee, it seems more likely that such budget issues might be tackled in January. Quinn may also be reluctant to sign more spending unless pension changes pass. There is a bill for employee back pay, Senate Bill 2603. It had not been posted to an appropriations hearing as of Monday. Union officials are working to lobby lawmakers. “A circuit court judge has already ruled that the money must be paid. Now Gov. Quinn has agreed, too. But it is up to the state legislature to appropriate the funds that are needed,” says a call to action to its members from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31.
* Paint disposal One hearing that may lead to legislation down the road is scheduled for November 4. Lawmakers are looking to create a program to ensure that paint is properly disposed of in the state. Holmes, who sponsors the Paint Stewardship Act, said the committee is seeking input and hopes to get an end product that sellers and industry can agree to. Under such a plan, a small fee would be added to the cost of paint, and the money would be used to set up the program. Holmes cautions that the idea is still in a very early stage and could see major changes as the process continues. “What we want to do is have everyone on board with it,” she said.
* Retiree health care The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is scheduled to hold a hearing on state retiree health benefits on Wednesday morning.
* Other veto session preview stories…
* Quick facts about veto session agenda
* Lawmakers could face lively veto session — or not - Brauer expects ‘deadly dull’ two weeks
* 3 more knotty issues - Lawmakers also facing gun law, tax breaks, gambling
* Several gun rights bills could be considered during veto session
* Illinois Law Would Heavily Restrict Possession of Firearms Outside Home
* Timing hurdle to gay marriage vote - Sponsor still looking for support, but casting ‘yes’ vote now could bring lawmakers primary challenges
* Pro-Gay Marriage Rally Tuesday
* Black Pastors kick off pro-traditional marriage initiatives for veto session
* 2014 deadline among hurdles in lawmaker session
* Pension deal remains elusive - Politics still has upper hand as conference committee works out plan
* Casino vote unlikely in veto session
* Illinois racing faces its own fiscal cliff
* The Question: Why veto session proposal interests you most and why?
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Decision doesn’t decide much in the long term
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It may be only a temporary reprieve…
By avoiding the fundamental constitutional question, last week’s Illinois Supreme Court 6-1 ruling against the state’s “Amazon tax” has left the controversial issue of Internet sales taxes up to Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court to sort things out once and for all.
In other words: Don’t expect those Internet marketers that fled the state when the law was enacted two years ago to be flocking back anytime soon.
The state’s highest court found Illinois’ Internet sales tax void and unenforceable because it conflicts with a federal law that temporarily blocked new state or federal taxes aimed at online retailers or Internet providers, the first court in the country to take that stance. But others say a conflict with federal law merely makes the state tax unenforceable.
For unstated reasons, the court did not address a lower court ruling that found the state tax in violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
* Courts usually try to keep their opinions narrow, so that may be why the Supremes acted the way they did. But the that federal law sunsets in a year. So, we end up right back where we started…
All of the justices sided with Burke except Justice Lloyd Karmeier, who wrote the dissenting opinions.
The court avoided the larger constitutional question of whether the tax is allowable under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Karmeier argued that this was a mistake because he said that the issues will likely end up in court again.
“A new commerce clause challenge is certain to follow. A year from now we could therefore find ourselves in precisely the same position we are in today, facing the same commerce clause challenge brought by and against the very same litigants. The delay will have accomplished nothing. The issue has been fully briefed and argued and is ripe for a decision now. We should make one,” he wrote
So, if Congress fails to act, there would be no controlling federal statute to prohibit the state law, so it could take effect again.
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Behind the semantics
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Senate President John Cullerton will undoubtedly set tongues wagging with his declaration yesterday that the pension funding issue is not really a “crisis”…
“People really misunderstand the nature of this whole problem. Quite frankly, I don’t think you can use the word ‘crisis’ to describe it at the state level,” Cullerton said in an interview on WGN-AM radio.
“It’s something we have to deal with, but it’s not something that we’re on the verge of bankruptcy on,” Cullerton said.[…]
Cullerton said that under a 1996 law aimed at gradually boosting the amount of money put into the state’s pension funds to eventually get them funded at 90 percent of their liability, payments to the retirement systems are already near their highest level and require only small annual future increases to stay on track. As a percentage of state general revenues, pension payments would continue to be about one-fifth of the state’s general revenues through 2044, his office said. As a percentage of state general revenues, pension payments would continue to be about one-fifth of the state’s general revenues through 2044, his office said. […]
“These pension (proposals) we’ve talked about will save annually anywhere from $750 million to $1.5 billion. So you’re still going to have real huge cuts that we’ll have to make if we don’t raise that income tax higher than what they’re scheduled to go down to,” he said.
* Cullerton’s mistake was attempting to argue semantics. He’s a lawyer, so that’s what they do. And since words matter to those most committed to this issue, the outrage will be utterly predictable. Reboot Illinois is already astonished that Cullerton would say such a thing…
For years, I have accepted as fact that Illinois’ ever-increasing pension costs (now consuming more than 20 percent of state revenue) constitute a crisis for state finances.
In general, I’d say a state that is $5.4 billion behind in paying its bills (as of this morning) and is devoting more than 20 percent of its budget to public employee pensions and has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation is in a state of financial crisis. I’d reinforce this point by noting that this is a state that in 2011 raised its income tax rate from 3 to 5 percent to pay down that bill backlog only to see virtually all the new money go toward required pension payments.
OK, once again, with feeling, legislators did not raise the tax rate solely to pay down the bill backlog. A small part of the tax hike was earmarked to pay interest and principal on borrowing that was supposed to be used to pay down the backlog, but that bond was never issued.
And as Cullerton rightly points out, we’re currently pretty much at the top of the pension payment ramp. So the “ever-increasing” rhetoric is just that.
* Either way, though, challenging a totally accepted media narrative ain’t ever easy and will usually fail without a lot of paid advertising behind it. Cullerton loves to do this sort of thing, but he would’ve been better off without trying to define some terms and focusing instead on the reality.
I mean, seriously, when is the last time you read a news story or an editorial that points out state pension payments are finally leveling off? So I’m betting that Cullerton’s needless semantics argument will be what everybody covers.
* But the reality is this: No pension reform currently under serious current consideration would save more than about $1.5-$1.8 billion a year for all but the last few years of the 30-year plan (it may be a little higher than Cullerton’s estimate). Not one. And while $1.5-$1.8 billion is most definitely a lot of money to take out of the state’s spending base, it doesn’t come close to the $5.4 billion budget hit from the partial expiration of the temporary income tax hike. And, of course, that assumes any new pension proposal will be declared constitutional - which is a big “if.”
So, even the harshest pension reform plan would only lower state payments by a four or five percentage points in relation to state revenues. The problem is apparently “solved” when 15-16 percent of annual General Revenues are going to pensions until 2044, but remains a crisis when the share is 20 percent?
On the other hand, allowing the state income tax hike to expire would impose a permanent 15 percent or higher hit on General Funds revenues in 2016, the first full year of the expiration. And yet the enormous “squeeze” felt by state programs from that event is barely mentioned at all by those pushing the hardest for pension reform.
Make no mistake, major pension reform would help the state absorb the hit from the loss of the tax hike revenues. But it’s still gonna be a huge freaking hit and will produce a far more intense budget “crisis” than the one produced by pension funding.
* The full Cullerton interview is here…
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Common sense rule portrayed as somehow racist
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A recent hyperventilating race-baiting column in The Guardian about Erika Harold’s primary challenge of freshman Republican Rodney Davis has set off something of a political firestorm in Illinois…
When it’s convenient to their diversity “story-telling”, the Republican National Committee loves black Republicans. After Mitt Romney got whacked in the 2012 presidential election because he ignored minority voters, the RNC pledge it would engage with minority voters and support more candidates of color.
To keep up appearances, the RNC hired a handful of blacks this year and featured the black Republican house speaker from Oklahoma, TW Shannon, as a speaker in its Rising Stars Program at the RNC’s summer meeting in Boston. But when it’s time to support actual black candidates in primaries against white candidates, the RNC treats black Republicans like the plague. […]
The former Miss America 2003 and Harvard Law School graduate, Harold had the audacity to challenge white, male, first-term Representative Rodney Davis in a GOP primary for Illinois’ 13th congressional seat – and is witnessing the party machine’s discrimination up-close and personal.
The Illinois Republican party refused to give Harold access to the GOP data center. Formerly called the “voter vault”, the data center is where the RNC stores voting information for all voters in the country, which it makes available to the 50 state parties for free. Candidates are given access to the database to target donors and voters.
In response to Harold’s request, the state central committee, which governs the Illinois GOP, issued a new policy at its 5 October meeting. The new policy stated that challengers to any Republican incumbent would not be given access to the voter database. However, the policy did permit county chairs to give access to county voter data at their own discretion.
How convenient for the white incumbent, Davis.
* Oh, please. This is not new. Yeah, it was recently formalized as policy by the Republican State Central Committee, but it’s a long-standing practice and it makes a lot of sense. The Champaign News-Gazette’s Tom Kacich explains it well. Emphasis added…
He said the vote formalized what had been a “longstanding policy. No challenger has ever had access,” said [15th Congressional District’s GOP committeeman].
Part of the reason, he said, is that some of the data was generated by the Davis campaign.
The information not only includes primary and general election voting records, but data on issues important to individual voters.
“Let’s say that you contact a voter and that voter is really concerned about gun control. You put a code next to that voter’s name about gun control and when you talk about gun control you target that voter,” Clarke explained.
Davis’ campaign would have input some of that information last year, said Clarke, who was among the candidates in the spring of 2012, along with Davis and Harold, for the nomination to become the Republican candidate for Congress in the 13th District. The county chairmen eventually chose Davis.
“We can’t give Davis’ opponent the information that he collected,” Clark said. “That’s why if it’s an open seat, they will give all Republicans access to the information. But if it’s a challenger running against an incumbent, they will not get access.
“If we did it the other way and gave Erika Harold access, she would be the first person to ever get access to somebody else’s data. And what would happen is that nobody would use the voter vault anymore.“
Clarke is right on all points.
* Unfortunately, members of the News-Gazette’s editorial board appear not to read their own paper...
It’s not personal, it’s business. The GOP already has an incumbent U.S. House member from the 13th District, U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, and it’s not happy she’s rocking the boat by challenging him in the March 2014 primary election. They fear it might cost the party a congressional seat.
Party leaders most recently made their unhappiness known when the GOP’s state central committee voted unanimously to deny her access to the GOP’s “voter vault” database. That’s the inside information the party gathers on voters in the district and their political preferences.
They denied Harold the information because she’s running against Davis and told her she would have to seek the information she’s requesting from individual county party chairmen. One chairman, John Parrot of McLean County, requested his county’s voter information that is stored at party headquarters so he could pass it on to Harold. As of late last week, he said he has yet to receive a response.
Well, maybe Harold can’t get the information from individual county chairmen even though the state central committee representatives said she can. It wouldn’t be the first time people in politics haven’t told the truth.
Democracy is a beautiful concept, but politics can be an ugly business. Davis already has all the advantages — incumbency, a ton of campaign cash and the backing of most of the party people who matter. Party leaders didn’t send for Harold, and for now that’s why she’s not welcome.
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Yet another “defining” issue?
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a recent interview of Bruce Rauner…
I got so frustrated with the pace of school reform that I formed a PAC four years ago, and got a piece of legislation drafted, that took away tenure for ineffective teachers, took away the teachers’ ability to strike in Illinois because its a nuclear bomb on our taxpayers, and it’s a public safety issue for kids, and put in a rigorous school accountability system.
Got the bill drafted, it was pending in the legislature, Madigan, Daley - it was bi-partisan support, and we lost most of the bill. And you know who fought us the hardest in the legislature in the end when it got killed? Republicans in the legislature who take teacher union money.
This is the challenge we’ve got, but you know what? I’ve never taken a nickel from a government union boss, I can stand up to them. I don’t need their …I’m financially independent … I will take on the teacher’s union, AFSCME and SEIU. They’ve got a stranglehold on the state.
* Illinois Review followed up by checking some GOP campaign finance disclosures…
State Rep. Sandy Pihos received a $25,000 check from the IEA in September, just before she introduced legislation to reduce state educational grants going to Chicago schools. With a growing controversy over how Illinois education funds are distributed, the IEA, which represents the vast majority of Illinois’ teachers outside of Chicago, has millions at stake. Pihos is influential as the Republican spokesperson on the House Elementary & Secondary Education, as well as serving on the House Approp-Elementary & Secondary Education committees. […]
State Sen. David Luechtefeld, a former teacher, principal and high school basketball coach, is the Minority Spokesman on the Senate Education Committee. The IEA has given him over $115,000 in campaign donations over the years.
Other GOP lawmakers who have received at least $5,000 of support from the IEA include State Reps. Keith Sommer, Chad Hays, David Reis, Mike Bost, John Cavaletto, David Leitch, Adam Brown, Dan Brady, and Dennis Reboletti; and State Senators Dale Righter, Sam McCann, Chapin Rose, and DuPage County’s Kirk Dillard.
Dillard, who received $250,000 from teachers unions in his 2010 gubernatorial bid, is the only current Republican lawmaker to receive support from the radically left-wing Chicago Teachers Union.
* The IR’s conclusion…
The amount of money and diversity of recipients speaks to the depth and breadth of political influence the teachers unions have in the state. No matter who the governor is in 2015, one of their most formidable opponents will be the many teachers unions. Time will tell if a gubernatorial David will ever be able to fell this union goliath.
Time will also tell if Rauner can make support from public employee unions an effectively divisive issue in a GOP primary. Polling indicates that the idea has traction.
But does the Republican Party really need yet another issue that supposedly defines who is and who is not a “real” party member? And can anybody say with a straight face that Keith Sommer, Adam Brown, Dale Righter and Sam McCann (among all those others) aren’t “true” Republicans?
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Hugh Hill
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I grew up watching Hugh Hill on Channel 7. I had the opportunity to meet him when I first started out in the early 1990s. He did not disappoint. He asked pointed questions and often seemed to know more about what was going on behind the scenes than many of the reporters who worked the Statehouse full time, even with his occasional pre-broadcast naps in the pressroom kitchen.
Robert Feder has a great obit…
They don’t make reporters like Hugh Hill anymore.
A giant of Chicago journalism for 43 years, he practically invented the role of political reporter on local television news and played it longer and with more gusto than anyone.
Hill, who died Friday at 89, interviewed every U.S. president from Truman to Clinton and covered every Chicago mayor from Daley to Daley. His in-your-face style of interrogation and remarkable institutional memory made him a legend.
* Feder also ran some excerpts from a 1988 interview…
On the key to his success: “I get by because I know what I’m talking about. It’s been my life. I love the business of television news. I think knowledge is power in journalism as well as any other line. If you know more than the next guy, you’re better off, and you’re worth a lot more to the station or to the newspaper you’re working for, And I have more knowledge about the field of politics than anybody in journalism in Chicago. I have an uncanny memory and can remember a lot of things. And I do a hell of a lot of research and a lot of reading. I mean, I work hard.” […]
On working in a young person’s business: ”If there were something I could do that’s as much fun as broadcasting, then I’d go and retire to it. But there is no such thing. This is more fun than I could ever possibly hope for. Sure, it’s a job and you make good money. But I do it because I love it and I wouldn’t ever want to do anything else. It’s very, very tiring and exhausting physically. But mentally, it’s great. It’s an exercise in real journalism. It’s the essence of broadcast journalism.”
In most cities, TV news has always been little more than fluff. Chicago is different, particularly when I was growing up. My parents were always bemused at my fascination with Chicago TV news when I was still in grade school, but I think I recognized then how solid those broadcasts were. Fahey Flynn and Joel Daley were outstanding anchors, and I watched them whenever I could.
But Hugh Hill and Dick Kay (over at Channel 5) made an indelible mark on my young self. I once told that to Dick, but I was always a little intimidated by Hill, so I never got around to telling him what he meant to me growing up. I’m sorry for that now, but it just goes to show you what kind of man he was. People trembled in his wake.
He stomped on the terra.
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The haves and have-nots
Monday, Oct 21, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Let’s take a quick look at the campaign finance disclosure reports filed last week by some statewide candidates, shall we?
Bill Brady — It goes without saying that the $66,104 Brady reported raising during the third quarter was beyond pathetic. But here’s how bad the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s performance really was — even Sheila Simon outraised him.
Simon, a notoriously poor fundraiser, pulled in more than $106,000 during the quarter. And if it wasn’t for the $200K in leftover funds from his 2010 governor’s race, Brady would’ve reported having just $73,000 at the end of the quarter. He also spent a bit more than he took in, which isn’t very difficult considering his paltry take.
Kirk Dillard — The burn rate in Dillard’s gubernatorial campaign fund is pretty significant. Dillard raised $263,000, but he spent $290,000 and ended the quarter with a mere $205,000 in the bank, the lowest of any other gubernatorial candidate.
That’s a big overhead nut to make with such a small cushion and poor fundraising.
Bruce Rauner — The multimillionaire Republican candidate for governor spent more than $27,000 just on payroll taxes during the third quarter, which gives you an idea of the sort of organization he has built. By comparison, Gov. Pat Quinn spent $19,000 on payroll taxes during the quarter, Dan Rutherford reported spending $11,000, Brady $1,609, and Dillard reported none.
Rauner also reported spending $800,000 on advertising, including direct mail, which is slightly less than he spent in the previous quarter. None of his opponents spent more than a few dollars on ads, and those were mainly small newspaper or online placements. Since he launched his campaign, Rauner has spent $274,000 on consultants, with $103,000 spent just last quarter. Rauner raised about $1.1 million for his campaign fund, spent the same and ended with $594,000 on hand.
Rauner’s political action committee, which is seeking a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year to impose legislative term limits, has paid $114,000 to a California firm called Arno Petition Consultants.
A California petition company called Arno Political Consultants has stirred quite a bit of controversy in the past with its petition-gathering practices, so we should keep an eye on that. Rauner’s term limits PAC also has spent $38,000 in legal fees and is renting space from a group called “Catholic Vote.”
The term limits PAC raised $606,000 during the quarter, spent $152,000 and had $459,000 in the bank.
Dan Rutherford — The Republican state treasurer reported raising $66,000 in small “unitemized” contributions for his governor’s race, more than any gubernatorial candidate in either party.
Unlike Dillard and Brady, Rutherford has built a solid statewide network to raise money from, so Rauner’s support by all the big-money types hasn’t really hurt Rutherford. He raised $337,000 during the quarter, spent $147,000 and had $1.2 million in the bank at the end of the quarter.
Pat Quinn — The governor is sitting on the largest war chest of any gubernatorial candidate at just under $3 million. His disclosure report also revealed that Quinn has put Joe Slade White back on the payroll.
White designed Quinn’s inexpensive-looking but effective 2010 general election ad campaign. White was paid $10K on Sept. 10, a week before Bill Daley dropped out of the Democratic race, so Quinn obviously was gearing up to run some ads against Daley. Quinn spent a total of $51,000 on consulting services and $34,000 on salaries during the quarter.
Tom Cross — The GOP state treasurer candidate opened up a new campaign account in September that pulled in $176,000 and reported no expenditures. Cross’ state representative fund reported $155,000 in receipts, $195,000 in expenditures and $150,000 in the bank.
Mike Frerichs — The Democratic state treasurer candidate raised $208,000 and had an impressive $769,000 cash on hand, more than three of the five gubernatorial candidates. The guy is a fundraising machine.
Judy Baar Topinka — The incumbent comptroller raised $105,000 during the quarter, about the same as her Democratic rival Simon. However, Topinka is sitting on $876,000, while Simon has $295,000 in the bank.
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