High heels at the Statehouse can be hazardous, not to mention what walking in those heels on marble floors all day can do to your back, ankles, legs, whatever.
But it’s not just high heels. A buddy of mine was telling me yesterday how the marble just kills his feet. He’s tried all sorts of different shoes and nothing works.
* The Question: Your own advice for surviving the more mundane aspects of Statehouse life?
One of the three Illinois nuclear plants that Exelon is threatening to close because they’re losing money will receive a windfall worth tens of millions beginning in June, courtesy of ratepayers downstate.
Energy prices are set to spike starting this summer for many Illinoisans outside of Commonwealth Edison’s territory in northern Illinois. The cost that consumers pay to generators to ensure that power plants are available to deliver electricity on the highest-demand days of the year will increase nearly ninefold in the year beginning June 1.
Those “capacity” charges—set according to an auction run by the independent grid operator that manages wholesale markets in downstate Illinois and all or parts of 14 other states—are embedded in the overall energy prices customers pay and are in addition to the cost of the juice itself. […]
The main beneficiaries include Chicago-based Exelon, which operates six nuclear plants in Illinois, including the Clinton plant downstate that will get the cash infusion. Also benefiting is Houston-based Dynegy, the second largest power generator in Illinois after Exelon and operator of a fleet of coal-fired plants downstate.
Another generator, Exelon Corp., acknowledged that its 1,100 MW Clinton nuclear plant cleared the auction at $150, which analysts estimated could yield $40 million to $50 million in additional revenue for the 2015-2016 year.
Chicago-based Exelon has said for more than a year that three of its nuclear plants, including Clinton and two plants in PJM, are losing money because of competitive pressures from natural gas-fired generation and wind. The company is pushing legislation in Springfield that would create a low-carbon resource standard in Illinois that it says would level the playing field for its nuclear fleet and other non-carbon fuels like wind and solar energy (EnergyWire, Feb. 25).
In a research note, analysts at UBS Securities say the auction results “certainly help Clinton but could reduce the urgency for legislative reform in Illinois.”
An Exelon spokesman wouldn’t disclose how much additional revenue it might realize from the MISO auction, but said only that it wouldn’t be enough to materially improve the plant’s financial profile.
It wouldn’t be enough? Really? Exelon’s bill as currently written would net its nuclear fleet $300 million a year. The Citizens Utility Board estimates the Exelon bill - as written - would net the Clinton nuke plant somewhere between $27 million and $30 million a year. That’s significantly less than the plant made this week with that surprise auction result. And there’s no way that Exelon can pass its bill as written because it essentially locks out alternative energy suppliers. Add those suppliers to the mix and Clinton would receive a whole lot less money via passable state legislation.
Plus, by participating in that auction, didn’t Exelon just commit to providing power from that Clinton plant for the next year? Why yes, it did, according to the Citizens Utility Board. And yet it’s gotta have its bill passed right now?
The capacity auction is administered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which runs the grid in parts of 15 states in the central United States. The auction determines what energy providers pay to power plant owners over the coming year to make sure they’re available to deliver power when demand is highest. Results were announced this week.
The huge jump came while prices for capacity in many other MISO states fell. In Missouri, for instance, prices fell from $16.75 to $3.48 a megawatt day. In fact, $3.48 was the highest capacity price in all the other states within MISO’s footprint, making Illinois’ $150 per megawatt day a glaring outlier.
That’s more than an outlier, it’s insane. I mean, for crying out loud Illinois is a net electricity exporter. What the heck was going on there?
It’s hard to know how many Ameren Illinois customers buy power under agreements that expose them to swings in the electricity market. About 500,000 customers buy power through Homefield Energy, the retail unit of Dynegy Inc. Dynegy operates nine downstate Illinois coal plants, including those formerly owned by Ameren. It committed 1,864 megawatts in the auction.
Spokesman Micah Hirschfield said all Dynegy’s Homefield retail customers are on fixed contracts.
However, some cities have contracts that expire soon.
Ameren Illinois, in a statement, said it was “extremely concerned and upset” about the capacity auction results and that it would work “to resolve this inequity to our customers.”
CUB created three cost-benefit models for the Illinois Clean Jobs bill, based on electricity rates, past performance of efficiency programs and prudent assumptions about yearly increases in energy usage, key market costs and inflation. The consumer watchdog’s analysis compared those models with a “business as usual” scenario—if efficiency standards stayed at current levels. Estimated customer savings through the legislation ranged from about $1.1 billion to $2.2 billion. The “base case” model, based on mid-range assumptions, projected the following statewide benefits by 2030, if the bill were fully implemented:
* Total cumulative residential savings: $1.61 billion
* Average electric-bill reduction: 7.86 percent annually
* Average residential savings: $98.38 a year
The Illinois Clean Jobs bill stands out as the most consumer-friendly among the major energy proposals in the General Assembly’s spring session. Most notably, Exelon Corp., ComEd’s parent company, is pushing for special legislation that could cost ComEd and Ameren customers an estimated $300 million a year—to boost revenue at its fleet of nuclear power plants.
* After that crazy MISO auction, which appears to have provided far more to Clinton than Exelon was asking from the state, and after CUB’s endorsement of the Harmon bill, maybe legislators ought to just hold off a bit and wait for the upcoming PJM auctions (the other grid in Illinois) for the rest of Exelon’s nuclear fleet before rushing in with yet another corporate bailout that raises rates for consumers.
Those nuclear plants are supremely important to the state’s economy. But is the federal government just gonna allow all that electricity to be taken off the grid right away? It seems doubtful, particularly after this week’s MISO auction. There’s time to think and do it right.
And in the meantime, the attorney general needs to follow up on her pledge she made elsewhere this week to look into what just happened with that bizarre MISO auction.
Data WBEZ obtained from the the state show startling increases in Chicago. From 2009 to 2013, 37 percent more patients were discharged from emergency rooms for psychiatric treatment. The biggest jump came in 2012, the same year the city closed half of its mental health clinics. […]
[Sheri Richardt, the manager of Crisis and Behavioral Health at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center] saw the same patients rotate in again and again. So she pulled one patient’s files and found that woman had visited the Illinois Masonic Emergency Room 750 times over the course of about 10 years.
Richardt said the patient was picked up by an ambulance or police officer almost daily. Sometimes the emergency department would discharge her, only to have her appear back a few hours later.
“The cost of that for us was two and a half million dollars. Medicaid dollars,” said Richardt. “And that’s only at our hospital. This an individual who went between multiple hospitals and so we don’t have the true cost.”
And it’s not just emergency rooms. Perhaps the largest mental illness residential center in the state is Cook County Jail.
Friday, Apr 17, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, credit unions exist to help people, not make a profit. With a goal to serve all members well - including those of modest means - every member counts. The movement’s “People Helping People” philosophy causes credit unions and their employees to volunteer in community charitable activities and worthwhile causes.
For example, Rock Valley Credit Union in Rockford rises to the occasion when it becomes aware of new needs in the community and will also involve their members in area outreach. The credit union’s devotion and extraordinary effort to the community in the past year has included donating backpacks to the HOPE Domestic Violence Shelter, hosting food drives to support a local food pantry that lost nearly its entire supply of food for the previous holiday season, and creating the “Gifts of Love” project to fulfill gift requests for the Walter Lawson Children’s Home, a local residence for severely handicapped children.
Rock Valley chooses to give back to the community because that is what credit unions are all about. And their members love that they are part of something different. People before profits – the one principle that remains constant for credit unions – and highly valued by their members throughout Illinois.
This year’s first big confrontation between the GOP establishment and the party’s restless grassroots will be held this summer in an Illinois special-election primary. The smart money is betting on the establishment’s choice, but dissatisfaction with attempts to force-feed that choice on voters, together with the performance of the new GOP Congress in fighting President Obama, could give an insurgent a real shot. […]
LaHood is about as establishment a choice as one could imagine. He is the son of Representative Ray LaHood, the very moderate Republican who represented about half of the current district in Congress until 2009. He then left office to become President Obama’s Transportation Secretary, where he promoted pork-barrel spending and dubious high-speed-rail projects. His son’s supporters say his politics are distinct from those of his father, but clearly the LaHood name will be a mixed blessing in a primary. On the one hand, it brings strong name identification for Darin LaHood. But on the other, it leaves many of the district’s conservatives looking for a fresh, non–status quo alternative.
Mike Flynn plans to be that alternative. A 47-year-old political activist, he played a major role in exposing the scandals that brought down the leftist group ACORN and went on to edit the Big Government website founded by the late Andrew Breitbart. The site has been a go-to source of stories exposing the politically correct obsessions of liberals and the non-confrontational habits of Republican leaders.
C’mon, man.
* Except for the stuff about wanting to kick out the US House Speaker, Darin LaHood is every bit as “tea party” as Flynn. I did a quick Google search of “Darin LaHood” and “tea party” and here are just a few of the results…
* Peoria Patriots: Darin was great! He talked to us like he is one of us. He was eager to answer any and all of our questions. Illinois could sure use more like him. I hope he will be able to bring change to this corrupt state, but he will need our help in educating the voters to the issues so they can vote wisely and elect more like Darin.
* Area tea party calls out detractors: “Friends, I think it is time for us to return to being a godly nation. We should not be ashamed of ‘One Nation Under God,’” [Rick Welty, president of Galesburg District 205 Board of Education] said. “This nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principals and we have been pushed away from those and I think it is time we return to them.” Welty introduced State Sen. Darin LaHood. “Our state is in a real mess. We just put the largest tax increase in our history,” LaHood said. “We have $8 billion in debt. Companies like Caterpillar are thinking about leaving the state, and four of last eight governors are convicted felons. That’s our state. It is not heading in the right direction.
* Tea Party members rally in Galesburg: Ill. State Senator Darin LaHood, one of the event speakers, proposed some ways to fix the government, with encouraging cheers from the audience.
* And, maybe I’m wrong, but I think it’ll be tough finding anything in Sen. LaHood’s voting record to make him out to be a hated moderate. The only thing they really have is LaHood’s dad. They have to turn the younger LaHood into a “legacy” candidate and an “insider”…
“People don’t think politics should be a family business, handing over seats like an inheritance,” [Flynn] told me. “Darin LaHood lost a state’s attorney race, was appointed to a safe state senate seat, and has been just waiting to run for Congress. Conservatives can do better and send someone who has already proven they want to challenge Washington’s ways.”
First, Flynn has to get on the ballot. Then, he has to raise a bunch of cash. The jury is still out on both counts.
Speaker Madigan Forms Panel to Review Governor’s Budget Decisions
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – To help legislators craft the state’s next budget that begins July 1, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on Friday announced the creation of a special House budget oversight panel to closely examine recent budget decisions made by Gov. Bruce Rauner.
“Governor Rauner has talked about cutting non-essential state spending for a number of months. In light of recent budget actions, and as we prepare to craft the next state budget, it’s important to have an in-depth discussion about what the governor believes is non-essential,” Madigan said. “While I believe that a budget solution should include a balance of spending cuts and additional revenue, as a state it’s also our duty to protect our most vulnerable citizens, including children with autism, persons with developmental disabilities and lower-income women in need of breast cancer screenings.”
Madigan said the budget review panel will be led by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, and Assistant Majority Leader John Bradley, D-Marion, and include the chairmen of the five House appropriations committees. Madigan has invited House Republicans to name members to the panel.
“The Legislature has a monumental task ahead in crafting a responsible and realistic budget, and it’s imperative we have a clear understanding of the governor’s methods and his math,” Currie said. “For instance, in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year, the governor is claiming more than $2 billion in pension savings from a bill that has not even been debated, let alone passed into law, and $700 million in health care savings that has been neither debated nor approved. We can’t draft a budget with magic money that does not exist.”
“As we work through the budget plan for the next fiscal year, House Democrats are committed to protecting middle-class families and our most vulnerable citizens, protecting funding for schools, and creating jobs and rebuilding our roads, bridges and mass transit through a new infrastructure program,” Madigan said. “The budget we support will reflect those values and I’m optimistic the governor will show us how his plan accomplishes that.”
During remarks at the House’s inauguration in January, Madigan cited the state’s finances as the most important issue facing Illinois. Madigan said addressing the deficit and passing a spending plan will require bipartisan cooperation with Rauner and legislative Republicans – cooperation Madigan hopes will begin in earnest with the budget review committee.
“As I have pledged since he was elected, I plan to work with Governor Rauner professionally and cooperatively,” Madigan said. “That’s why I worked with the governor to address the current fiscal year’s budget. Now that decisions continue being made that impact a number of residents and families throughout the state, it’s important that the governor fully disclose how he reached those decisions.”
The budget review panel will hold its first meeting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 21 in Room 114 of the Capitol.
That mention of autism is no accident. Madigan thought he had a deal.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
“One month ago, child care in Illinois had run out of money, court reporters were being sent home and prison guards were on the verge of missing payroll. Thanks to bipartisan legislation approved by the General Assembly in conjunction with continued fiscal management steps taken by the administration, millions of people around Illinois continue to be served by core state services. Governor Rauner remains committed to fixing Illinois’ fiscal crisis through the Turnaround Agenda and restructuring state government. He looks forward to working with the legislature to find a bipartisan solution that puts Illinois on the road to becoming the most competitive state in the country.”
Layoffs have begun for the Springfield branch of The Autism Program after Gov. Bruce Rauner cut its funding.
The governor announced the freeze of $26 million in state grants in a letter to social service agencies April 3. The move is part of an attempt to plug a $1.6 billion budget hole for the current fiscal year.
Russell Bonanno, the state director of the TAP Network, said Thursday that five professionals have already been let go by the program. Another two are facing cuts in both hours and salary, he said.
The Springfield branch has already eliminated nonclinical services, such as training and consultation for parents. The organization also is reviewing clinical services to decide if any need to be ended.
Bonanno said without money right now, it’s unlikely TAP will be able to reinstate its services in the near future.
Imagine your everyday with no limits. Daring to face each challenge with excitement and vigor. Refusing to be your own stumbling block. Never ending your day with “done.” Always pushing the finish line forward.
What then would our world be like? Sounds like it would be a super human kind of world wouldn’t it?
I think about this often. Not only for the challenges I’ve chosen to face in my life. But more so when I consider the challenges my son and others with disabilities have to face every day to achieve the same level of “normal” we take for granted. It’s easy to overlook the strength of will and effort he and others have had to exert. Especially when their efforts have been successful.
Most know this..but for those who don’t, my son has autism. It’s mild. He is high functioning. And his diagnoses has evolved over the years. But he has been in therapies since he was three. His vocabulary was significantly limited. He didn’t “mimic.” He didn’t make eye contact. He had melt downs. He couldn’t tolerate loud noises, tastes, textures, even a hug at times. But he could create intricate patterns, recognize shapes, line up objects etc.
We started out with at home speech therapy, occupational therapy and a family/social therapists to help me and him interact in a way that wouldn’t result in a melt down. He stayed with various therapists as he progressed and his needs changed. He was in small-early childhood classes with other kids with disabilities. He rode “the short bus” to school. I cringe when I hear the use of that term in a derogatory way. I loved that short bus. It meant my son was going to see people who could help him in ways I could not. It meant I could hope for a better future for him.
After a while he was able to be integrated with other kids without disabilities. He has had an IEP, Individual Educational Plan, all through the school years. I’ve had to fight almost every year to keep it and to enforce it. Budget cuts are always threatening the programs that help. He is a number. A figure in a budget. And his disabilities are not as understood as others that are more physically apparent. And also because these therapies and interventions have worked! He IS a success story! Most people who have met him can’t perceive anything different about him than any other kid. He has an IQ in the “very superior” range. But he has had to work very hard to reach his potential and to get to this point in his social skills where he can be accepted by peers and even society as “normal.” It does not come naturally to him.
So everyday he faces challenges. He had to be taught that words are not always literal. He had to be taught socially acceptable behavior. He had to be taught to interpret facial and body language. He had to be taught that people lie. All these things and more he has had to learn through repetition and therapies. And he continues to draw upon those therapies to be able to function in a world that is foreign for him.
As he gets older there are new challenges he must face. We all do. But it’s different for him and others with these disabilities. They aren’t cured. It’s still there. They have just learned to cope. They’ve learned to act against what their natural inclination is.
Literally, they are facing each day tearing down their limits. Daring to face each challenge. Refusing to be their own stumbling block. Never ending their day with “done” because their disability will never go away. Their finish line will always be pushed forward. Kind of like a super human don’t you think?
I’m lucky. My son is 16 and is already a super human He has been through all those programs that made it possible for him to overcome. And his disability is relatively mild in comparison to what others have to work through. Yet right now the programs that have made all this possible are being cut.
It’s not just a number. It’s not just a figure. It’s hope. The programs that are being cut are what make it possible for these kids to thrive. These kids are already facing huge challenges. They are already working each day to overcome obstacles that most of us never have to face. And the programs that help them do this, that give them the tools they need to function in our world, are being taken away.
We hear about the cuts to programs but we don’t really understand what it means. For people with disabilities, and specifically autism, it means imagining everyday always pushing the finish line forward but with even more stumbling blocks in the way, more challenges to hinder, limits without hope to overcome and a future that won’t be realized.
Another big union turnout (350-500 people) and another local government postpones consideration of Rauner’s turnaround agenda, this time in Livingston Co. Rauner got 66% of the vote in Livingston in November.
A pic…
* From the governor’s office…
Hi, Rich –
I have attached the Westville resolution as promised.
And you can add Winthrop Harbor and Fayette County to the list of communities that have passed the resolution.
Thanks,
ck
Westville passed an unedited Rauner resolution.
Winthrop Harbor, pop. 6,742.
Fayette County, pop. 22,140.
*** UPDATE *** No “Hi Rich” this afternoon?…
Village of Thomson passed the resolution. It’s attached.
Edsal Manufacturing, a Chicago-based firm that makes a wide-range of shelving products, is opening a facility in Gary where it will hire 300 people.
Edsal decided to open a new operation in the Indiana town because it is close to the company’s operations in Chicago, according to CEO Bruce Saltzberg.
He also cited the Hoosier state’s right-to-work law, which makes it more difficult for unions to organize and keep members, as well as a state minimum wage that stands at $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum.
Amends the Flag Display Act. Requires the Governor to issue an official notice to fly the United States national flag, the State flag of Illinois, and the appropriate military flag upon the death of a resident of this State killed during on duty training for active military duty.
I think the pumpkin bill is the most publicity he’s ever received.
* I gave a speech in Peoria last August. Jessica Newbold with Giordano Consulting Services spoke before me, and then-Congressman Aaron Schock spoke after me. I stuck around to listen to Schock’s speech and then chatted with him later. I was, as usual, impressed with his knowledge on a wide range of issues and with his political insights.
Anyway, with some trepidation because, man, I’ve lost a bunch of weight since this pic was taken, here you go…
Thursday, Apr 16, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
EXELON ENERGY NEWS
Highlights
1. Exelon Just Received Up To $58 Million in 2015 For Clinton Nuclear Plant
2. Clinton To Stay Open Through At Least May 2016
3. Byron and Quad Cities To Stay Open Through May 2017
MISO Grid Auction Results: Up To $58 million for Clinton
A Good Day for Clinton:†On April 14th, the MISO Grid announced that auction prices in Illinois skyrocketed. The result? Clinton will earn as much as $58 million from ratepayers in ìcapacity revenueî starting June 1, 2015. The previous year, Clinton earned up to $6 million ñ an increase of $52 million.
Clinton Stays Open Another Year:†Because Clinton cleared the auction, Exelon is obligated to keep Clinton open through at least May 31, 2016.
PJM Grid Auction Delayed: Hundreds of Millions Still Expected
Auction Process Delayed to Summer:†The PJM Grid auction results were expected to be announced May 22. Due to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission administrative process, the auction has been delayed by a few weeks. Auction results are expected in late July or early August.
Expected Results Unchanged:†Fortunately for Exelon, market analysts expect the results for Exelon to remain essentially the same. Exelon is expected to receive hundreds of millions in additional ratepayer dollars each year starting in 2016.
Byron and Quad Cities Stay Open Until At Least May 2017:†Because Exelon previously successfully bid these plants into the PJM Grid auction, Exelon is obligated to keep them open through at least May 31, 2017.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
Thursday, Apr 16, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In 2011, at the strong request of business and insurance companies the Workers’ Compensation “Reform” package was signed into law, aimed at lowering costs for employers in Illinois. These changes have had a negative effect on workers in Illinois and their ability to receive fair and reasonable compensation when they are injured on the job and have not resulted in savings for employers in Illinois.
According to a study done by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Illinois had a 24 percent reduction in workers’ compensation rates between 2012 and 2014 – the steepest drop in the nation. This reduction should have resulted in a $1 billion savings in insurance premiums for Illinois employers. Tellingly, insurance companies have refused to reduce their premiums in response to their own industry’s recommendations.
Cries from business interests for more so-called “reforms” will likely take away more rights from injured workers and increase the insurance industry’s profits. Any further changes in laws should instead look to promote insurance premium transparency and oversight – not further sacrifices by the injured worker.
For more information about workers’ compensation in Illinois, click here.
This is a situation where a rising tide will float all boats. Illinois needs to repair some holes in its boat without trying to rip holes in Indiana’s economy.
There are many examples of cross-state collaboration in fields like higher education and the environment. Let’s add economic development to that list.
Let’s also tone down the rhetoric, including the “Illinoyed” campaign in Indiana and Rauner’s “rip the economic guts out of Indiana” speech, and find ways to work together.
We’re neighbors, after all, and should act more neighborly.
* The Question: Is it time for a truce with Indiana? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
The campaign racked up $313,920 in legal fees during the first quarter, money still owed to the Jones Day law firm in Washington. […]
During the first quarter, his campaign incurred bills for “fundraising lodging,” including $4,000 paid to the White Elephant hotel in Nantucket, Mass., $2,137 to the Langham hotel in Chicago and $716 to the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pa.
The report says the campaign paid $3,114 for Tiffany bowls for the donors, but even more, $3,408, to Garrett Popcorn in Chicago for volunteer gifts.
Other spending included $2,698 to photographer Jonathon Link, who traveled widely with Schock, and $3,705 in salary to staffer Shea Ledford, who reportedly accompanied Schock on a trip to London during the Royal Ascot in 2011.
Another of the congressman’s accounts, the Schock Victory Committee, listed hotel stays at the New York Palace and Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles, and more than $12,000 in additional American Express expenses. He also transferred more than $81,000 to his own Pac, the Generation-Y fund. The reports for that committee have not yet been filed.
In the first quarter, Schock raised nearly $130,000. Chicago billionaire Sam Zell gave Schock $2,500 on Feb. 12. Both William Stone and Albert Lord donated to Schock. Stone owns a Maryland golf course that Schock held a fundraiser on in the fall of 2014. Lord founded that private course. Schock never reported the cost of that fundraiser on campaign filings.
* Other stuff…
* Election expert: Lawsuit against Aaron Schock could face obstacles
[Gov. Bruce Rauner] told a group of Downstate school superintendents that “I personally am concerned when I see the numbers, that Chicago can’t, Chicago Public Schools can’t meet their obligations. Even raising taxes they can’t meet their obligations.”
“The taxpayers of Illinois are not going to bail out the city of Chicago, that ain’t happenin’,” Rauner said, returning to a note he has hit in recent months. “But there are things we can do to help them restructure and get their government and their schools turned around, and I’d like to help them.”
* One of those options Rauner wants to give CPS is the ability to declare bankruptcy…
“The idea that you would go to bankruptcy and yet you would leave in place a tax code that has dual taxation on Chicago citizens is wrong,” [Mayor Rahm Emanuel] said when asked about Rauner’s talk about CPS going bankrupt. “Nothing is worse economics and a worse strategy than leaving in place dual taxation on Chicago residents that are the only residents in the state that have to pay twice, and only get the benefit of one teacher.”
Thursday, Apr 16, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, ads on Capitol Fax have distorted the facts about the Illinois Low Carbon Portfolio Standard (SB 1585). Let’s set the record straight.
Myth:“Exelon is profitable, so they don’t need more money to keep these plants open.”
Fact: Much like a retail business with multiple stores, every location has to make money on its own. No retail chain could survive for long using profitable stores to keep unprofitable ones open. Exelon would not operate Plant A at a loss simply because Plant B is earning a profit.
The fact is, three of Illinois’ six nuclear plants are at risk of closing, and the consequences of these closures are catastrophic:
• $1.8 billion every year in lost economic activity
• Nearly 8,000 jobs
• Up to $500 million annually in higher energy costs statewide, according to a PJM analysis
• $1.1 billion per year due to increases in carbon and other pollutants
• Hundreds of millions of dollars to construct new transmission lines
Only one legislative solution, the Illinois Low Carbon Portfolio Standard (LCPS), properly values all low-carbon sources of energy, including the state’s nuclear facilities.
According to a State of Illinois report, the cost to Illinois of allowing nuclear plants to prematurely retire are as much as 12 times greater than the maximum cost of the Illinois LCPS.
MEMBERS OF THE ILLINOIS SENATE ENERGY AND PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMITTEE:
VOTE YES ON THE LOW CARBON PORTFOLIO STANDARD (SB 1585)
Gov. Bruce Rauner has suggested creating so-called “right-to-work zones” across Illinois, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel and several aldermen have said that won’t happen in Chicago on their watch.
“I want to be very clear. As long as I’m mayor, Chicago will not be a right-to-work city,” Emanuel said Wednesday, after introducing a City Council resolution calling for public hearings to declare opposition to the governor’s plan, which would allow municipalities to limit the power of labor unions by giving the workers the option of not joining unions or paying dues even in jobs that have been unionized. The zones also would limit prevailing wage and worker’s compensation laws.
“This has been an issue the governor has been advocating. I firmly disagree with it on a series of fronts, economically and otherwise,” Emanuel said. “I do not believe that, as it relates to right to work it would be pulling — our goal is to build up the middle class, not to pull a rug from underneath them.”
The mayor said right-to-work zones could potentially dismantle labor unions that have protected workers’ rights, and helped support middle class families.
And Emanuel scoffed at the suggestion that if he agreed to work zones, the governor might restore proposed cuts to funding for the Chicago Transit Authority. “That the only way to continue to invest in the CTA, which has been an incredible economic and job creator in the city of Chicago, is if I accept lower wages for everybody else? That’s a Faustian bargain, and I would never accept that,” he said.
* On a related front, I e-mailed the Chicagoland Chamber yesterday…
Quick question: Does the Chicagoland Chamber support the governor’s local right to work zone idea?
Its response…
“The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce continues to hear from our diverse membership and the broader business community about Governor Rauner’s right-to-work zone proposals. Our focus remains on making Illinois more competitive by working with the Governor and state legislators on putting our fiscal house in order.
“We are focused on workers’ compensation reform, pension reform, and strong structural fiscal reforms related to the budget as the most immediate and long term way to improve Illinois’ financial situation and provide certainty to businesses that wish to invest and expand in Illinois.”
Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez, speaking at a City Club of Chicago luncheon Wednesday, said Gov. Rauner’s desire to create “right-to-work” zones, where certain local wage and workplace rules would be suspended, would mean lower wages and a less-safe workplace.
“Right to work means you lose your voice in the workplace and as a result you create an easily exploitable work force,” Ramirez said, citing a study that showed right-to-work states made 6 percent less in wages on average, with minorities making even less.
“Not only are you making less money in a right-to-work state, you are more likely to suffer an injury or fatality in your place of work,” Ramirez said. “Rauner is saying he’s empowering workers through these zones. Well what is he really empowering? Lower wages? A less safe workplace? You see much can be done to truly empower workers. Getting rid of protections unions provide does not need to be the bedrock of this type of empowerment.”
Ramirez told the luncheon crowd, which included Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, that Rauner is not only attacking workers, but “taking direct aim at the marginalized and most vulnerable segments of our society,” by cutting funding to vital social services.
* But it’s probably only a matter of time before Adams County (pop. 40,798) passes the resolution…
A crowd of union members opposed to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” were given a brief reprieve Wednesday night as the Adams County Board tabled a resolution supporting the plan.
County Board Chairman Les Post asked the board to table the resolution to avoid potential legal conflicts involving the Open Meetings Act.
“We had communication with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office today that there may be an issue with our time frame with our public speakers to sign up for meetings, and we didn’t have time to clear it up (Wednesday),” Post said. “Rather than do something possibly illegal, we felt best to table it until we had a chance to look at it.” […]
Post said the board will take action next month.
“Obviously, there are some things that people may not like, but the situation Illinois is in, we may have to do some things we don’t like,” he said.
Although state finances are stretched thin, the Illinois House approved a plan Wednesday to pay out more than $60 million owed to thousands of unionized state workers. […]
The dispute over the money dates to 2011, when former Gov. Pat Quinn reneged on wage increases for state workers approved under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
At the time, Quinn said state lawmakers failed to provide the money for the raises, while House Speaker Michael Madigan said the governor should find money in the existing budget to pay the wage hikes.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union won a court order saying the money needs to be paid.
The vote was 88-23-2. All “No” votes were Republicans. Rep. Mike Smiddy (an AFSCME member) and freshman GOP Rep. Terri Bryant both voted “Present.” There’s no guarantee that Gov. Rauner will actually dole out the money if the bill also passes the Senate.
Chicago Public Schools would get $33.3 million to soften the blow of recent state budget cuts under a plan approved Wednesday by the State Board of Education.
The money is part of a $97 million pot set aside to help struggling schools after lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner agreed to cut education and other state services by 2.25 percent as the state faces a $1.6 billion funding shortfall in the current spending year.
For CPS, officials said that means what was to be a cut of $35 million will instead amount to a reduction of $1.7 million. The district is one of 32 that education officials identified as having less than 30 days cash on hand, though nearly 600 of the state’s 800 school districts will receive some money to offset the cuts.
However, officials acknowledged the cuts are still painful because they come late in the school year and districts had little time to plan for them. Robert Wolfe, the board’s chief financial officer, said it could take as long as three months for districts to receive the payments.
Lawyers representing state retirees in a case involving their health insurance premiums will receive a little more than $1.5 million in fees and costs for their work.
The amount, determined by Sangamon County Associate Judge Steven Nardulli, is less than half of the $3.1 million in compensation (including a multiplier) the lawyers sought during a court hearing two weeks ago.
Money to pay the fees will come out of the roughly $63 million in health insurance premiums collected from retirees. The money was deducted from their pension checks.
In his ruling, Nardulli said the attorney fees amount to about 2.37 percent of the premium money paid. In other words, when refunds are made, for every $100 in premium refunds due to an employee, $2.37 will be deducted to pay legal fees.
Federal authorities are investigating Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and a $20.5 million contract the district awarded on a no-bid basis to a training academy that formerly employed her, sources said.
The CPS inspector general’s office began an investigation into the contract with north suburban-based SUPES Academy and Byrd-Bennett’s relationship to the company in 2013, a source said. The U.S. attorney’s office then started its own probe, and a grand jury has been reviewing evidence for at least a year, the source said.
CPS officials have discussed the possibility of appointing an interim CEO depending on the outcome of the investigation, a source said. Byrd-Bennett, who was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in October 2012, attended a regularly scheduled meeting at CPS headquarters Wednesday and remains in her post.
The CPS inspector general has been investigating Byrd-Bennett and the controversial SUPES contract since 2013. Inspector General Nick Schuler declined to comment Wednesday on whether the investigation is ongoing or on the inquiries from the federal government. […]
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel was asked by reporters at City Hall about whether he had confidence in Byrd-Bennett, he said he “couldn’t answer that question,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
In the district’s largest no-bid contract in recent memory, SUPES received the contract from CPS to provide ongoing training on Saturdays for principals and network chiefs through 2016 at a cost of $20.5 million. According to the contract, the company was supposed to use experts who’d specialize the training according to the type of school the principal led — including schools set to receive children affected by the massive 2013 school closings.
It didn’t take long for the no-bid deal — approved unanimously in June 2013 by the mayor’s school board — to ignite criticism, especially as the district stared down a $1 billion budget deficit that year.
By October, principals were complaining about the quality of professional development they were receiving from SUPES, according to a newsletter produced by the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association.
The Principals Association “is sorry to report our members, in large numbers, are expressing dissatisfaction with the caliber of the `SUPES’ Academy,” the Association’s October 2013 newsletter said.
In a sign of intensifying scrutiny of the College of DuPage, federal prosecutors have opened a wide-ranging criminal investigation at the embattled community college, issuing two subpoenas this week that seek documents tied to spending and other matters, according to records obtained late Wednesday.
The subpoenas, which were served to college administrators Monday, cover three main areas: administrator expenses, contracts with the college’s fundraising foundation and credits awarded to police recruits at a law enforcement academy on the Glen Ellyn campus. […]
The federal subpoenas request many of the records sought by DuPage prosecutors. Federal investigators have asked for employment records, expense reports and conflict-of-interest statements for Breuder, all senior managers and trustees.
The federal investigation also seeks records relating to the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy. The Tribune recently reported that the college increased the number of credits given to recruits in the training program without increasing the amount of instruction — a change that boosted enrollment figures and led one top official at the police academy to question “the integrity of this process” before he resigned late last year. The revelation upset the school’s faculty union, which said the change should not have been made without consulting the campus’s curriculum committee.
* Considering the news about federal probes into both the Chicago Public Schools and College of DuPage (which we’ll discuss in a few minutes), this request by a birthday buddy last night seems appropriate…
I cringe when I hear the use of that term in a derogatory way. I loved that short bus. It meant my son was going to see people who could help him in ways I could not. It meant I could hope for a better future for him. 
Kind of like a super human don’t you think? 
