— Most talks are being held by special working groups, but the meeting times, locations and topics are secret. Lawmakers involved say Rauner’s staff has demanded they don’t reveal what was discussed.
— Rauner has so far refused to let anyone see copies of legislation outlining his desired reforms, though he has publicly assured reporters the legislation exists, and more information is coming soon. On top of that, his legal staff has rejected freedom of information requests seeking the information.
— Rauner’s staff has consistently taken more than one month to provide copies of his non-public schedule in response to requests from The Associated Press. Those documents, once provided, are redacted — making it impossible to see who’s attending “legislative briefings” and other meetings with the governor, and therefore who may be influencing his policy decisions… Responding to AP requests, Rauner’s office has so far provided only the governor’s schedules for January through March. AP is appealing to the attorney general’s public access counselor because the schedules that have been provided have redacted portions that appear to include the names of people with whom Rauner met or spoke.
“I don’t think I could be more transparent,” he said Thursday. “I’ve laid out everything we’re working on and why. I think we couldn’t be more crystal clear from our point of view. … I believe we’ll be able to come forward with a lot of detail in the not too distant future. “
* I posted on the ScribbleLive feed earlier this week that Madigan had started advancing this legislation. From a press release…
Encouraged by November’s referendum results showing widespread, statewide support, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan said the full House will vote next week on a constitutional amendment to increase state funding for elementary schools and high schools through an income tax surcharge on millionaires.
“I’ve believed for a long time that Illinois schools need and deserve greater resources to help give students the best education possible, and that more needs to be done,” Madigan said. “January’s income tax rollback is putting greater pressure on schools’ finances and the state’s ability to increase funding for schools. Once enacted, this measure would bring needed relief for students and schools.”
Madigan’s proposal provides for an additional 3 percent surcharge on incomes over $1 million. Based on a five-year average of taxable income over $1 million, Madigan’s measure would generate an estimated $1 billion in additional funding each year. The additional revenue would be earmarked exclusively for elementary schools and high schools throughout Illinois and would be distributed on a per-pupil basis.
Millionaires affected by the surcharge would pay the current individual income tax rate of 3.75 percent on income under $1 million and pay 6.75 percent on income over $1 million.
Illinois voters voiced broad support for Madigan’s measure, contained in House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 26, through a referendum in November’s general election. Statewide, nearly 64 percent of all those voting on the surcharge supported it. More than 40 counties supported the referendum with at least 60 percent of the vote, and 100 counties supported the measure with at least 50 percent of the vote.
In light of the budget challenges Illinois faces in the coming years, Madigan said the funding would help schools provide needed programs and avoid teacher layoffs while lessening the need for local property tax increases.
“This measure deserves legislators’ approval. The majority of Illinois voters made a clear statement in November that they support this idea, whether they live in Cook County, DuPage County, Jackson County or Montgomery County. Budget decisions have been very difficult in recent years, and they’re only going to get tougher with the rollback of the tax increase. While the surcharge proposal is not a complete solution to our education funding challenges, opposition to this legislation ensures property taxes at the local level will be increased.”
* Twenty years ago, the General Assembly (then in GOP hands) and Gov. Jim Edgar gave Mayor Daley a gift. Buried deep within a big school reform bill which gave Daley pretty much complete control of the school system was a nice little sweetener that keeps on “giving” to this very day. From a press release…
The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF), the Retired Teachers Association of Chicago (RTAC), the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association (CPAA), and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) announced their support for House Bill 3695, a measure which reinstates the pension tax levy diverted from CTPF in 1995. […]
The proposal reestablishes a specific tax levy for contributions to CTPF beginning in Fiscal Year 2016. In 1995, legislation diverted the CTPF tax levy into the CPS operating budget, giving CPS administrators control over pension contributions. CPS then deferred their contributions from 1996 to 2005. As a result, CTPF lost $2 billion in revenue. CPS again deferred contributions from 2010 to 2013 and cost the fund another $1.2 billion. In total, CTPF has foregone more than $3.2 billion in funding.
The bill restores the tax levy, equal to 0.26% of all taxable property within the Chicago Public Schools district, and would generate approximately $160 to $180 million in 2016. The bill does not increase taxes, but reduces the CPS levy from 3.07% to 2.81% to fund pensions. The 0.26% of tax levied each year will be deposited directly with CTPF.
And, yet, $3.2 billion in diversions later, nobody has ever bothered to repeal it. Indeed, it was apparently renewed four years after it first passed - under a Democratic House while Rep. Currie was Majority Leader.
* Earlier this week, I asked if you could help transport some rescued puppies from Missouri to points north. The response was strong. From Teri DeGrado in comments…
I am so excited! I just heard from Judy that she has many emails from folks offering to help. Thank you so much!! For the first time I can remember, we may actually have more drivers than we need.
But have no fear! There will be another transport in two weeks, so let Judy know if you want to be informed of future transports. We are almost always looking for drivers in northern Missouri/southern Illinois and southern Illinois over into Iowa.
If you couldn’t help this weekend, but would like to volunteer for a future caravan, contact Judy Kirkpatrick at: TomandJudy3015@att.net.
* More from Teri…
A little background, these transports run every two weeks (excluding Holiday weekends) to bring shelter dogs and puppies (with the occasional cat) up from high kill shelters in southern Missouri. These shelters still use gas chambers to euthanize dogs. Several rescuers work tirelessly to get those dogs up here where they are vetted and eventually find their forever homes.
…Adding… Oops. I didn’t notice that Michael had the scoop…
Sneed hears Urban League President and CEO Andrea Zopp, whose resume reads like a corporate bible, is all in.
• Translation: Top Sneed sources claim Zopp plans to run against Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and will make the announcement shortly.
On April 1, Sneed reported Zopp was mulling over such a run and encouraged to do so by former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, the brother and son of former Chicago mayors.
“She [Zopp] is now making phone calls, she is not waiting any longer,” a source said. “She feels the time is right now.”
Top Dem leaders, concerned about an absence of African-Americans on the Illinois Dem ticket — besides perennial candidate Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White — were urging Zopp, whose nickname is Andy, to run.
* Oh, and by the way, check out the NRSC’s bizarre new slogan about Duckworth…
Sen. Mark Kirk said Friday that he’d rather take on Urban League President and CEO Andrea Zopp in the general election than U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth.
“Zopp is an easier candidate for me to defeat … Because she’s not as well known,” Kirk said Friday, before participating in a lunchtime event with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs downtown.
“Tammy is a war hero. She has a great story to tell because she’s given a lot to this country . . . ” Kirk said. Duckworth lost both her legs when her helicopter was shot down over Iraq.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
“Tammy Duckworth is a partisan voice who sides with Washington insiders and powerbrokers, not the independent-minded people of Illinois. The inability to clear her path in the US Senate primary demonstrates a massive failure by her Washington friends. Mark Kirk is the person Illinois needs in the nation’s capital as he works across the aisle to get things done that benefit all of us,” said Nick Klitzing, Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party.
Friday, May 15, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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The Illinois Department of Transportation released its annual five-year report Thursday, saying the department continues to fall behind on maintaining the state’s roads.
IDOT issued the report as part of an announced $8.4 billion, six-year construction program. The report says funding will likely remain flat for any future projects without some kind of capital bill.
“While this latest multiyear program will have a positive impact on many of our communities, it also underscores the urgency to find a long-term, sustainable solution for our infrastructure needs,” acting Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn said in a prepared statement.
The report says 83 percent of the state’s highways and 93 percent of its bridges are in “acceptable condition” today. That number will drop to 62 percent for highways and 86 percent for bridges by 2021 at current funding levels. […]
The multiyear program IDOT announced includes $1.85 billion in projects for the fiscal year beginning in July.
In addition to a budget deficit of as much as $6 billion in the coming year, several factors crimp road spending. A $31 billion capital-construction plan which buoyed road work ended last year. The state’s road fund collects money from vehicle registrations — stagnant for the last decade at about $1.3 billion annually — and a motor fuel tax which, with falling gas prices, dropped about $100 million in the past two years from a 2004 high of just under $600 million.
What’s more, to erase a deficit in the current budget left when a temporary income-tax increase was allowed to roll back in January at incoming governor Rauner’s insistence, the [legislature] and Rauner agreed to take more than $350 million from accounts devoted to road-building [Emphasis added]
So, instead of $1.85 billion in spending next fiscal year, IDOT could’ve spent $2.2 billion - almost 20 percent more - if the Road Fund hadn’t been swept - not to mention the other $150 million swept from various state construction accounts.
A report from the state auditor’s office has found more than $321,000 was paid for services to dead people through a program in the Illinois Department of Aging. […]
The audit released Thursday from the Illinois Office of the Auditor General says the funds went for senior citizen services in the department’s Community Care Program last year. It also says another $38,000 was paid for services to incarcerated people.
OK, this is a serious story and somebody could be in big trouble, but check out this last line…
Auditors recommend stricter controls be placed on the program to prevent dead or imprisoned people from receiving services in the future.
Somehow, I’m thinking that the dead and the jailed didn’t actually receive any services.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desires to have right-to-work in Illinois went down in flames in the House on Thursday, gaining zero yes votes in a fiery debate Democrats aimed squarely at the governor.
The vote tally was 0 yes votes, 72 no votes and 37 voting present, offering a blistering rebuke to Rauner’s anti-union agenda.
Republicans were ordered to vote “Present.” So “zero yes votes” was completely expected. They were also ordered to stay away from the merits of the bill, which is why nobody rose to speak in favor.
Republicans, as they did in a vote on a portion of Rauner’s budget plan last week, once again objected to Democrats staging the symbolic vote, and with all but one member voted “present” on the bills. The “present” votes, in place of “no” votes — allowed Republicans to avoid taking a stand on the politically-sensitive issue.
“This isn’t about right to work,” Republican state Rep. Bill Mitchell, of Forsyth said. “It’s about dividing people and it’s not fair.”
Only GOP state Rep. Raymond Poe of Springfield, the state capital where many unionized government workers live, voted against the plan.
Poe did vote “No,” but a handful of Republicans took a walk yesterday and didn’t vote either way: Anthony, Cabello, Fortner, David Harris, McAuliffe, McSweeney and Bill Mitchell. Those were the cracks in the Rauner armor.
But some Republicans are gonna get some real grief from unions for their “Present” votes yesterday.
Republicans called the ordeal a political stunt. They said Democrats weren’t taking the idea seriously, noting that the language in the bill was not written or reviewed by the Rauner administration.
“People are watching us and they’re demanding results in Springfield that are going to put people back to work,” said House Republican leader Jim Durkin. “This governor was not elected with just Republican votes, he was elected with Democrat votes, independent votes, who told him to come to Springfield and fix the problems that we have.”
The governor has been traveling the state giving speeches almost every day for six months bashing unions, and yet his House leader calls yesterday’s vote a political stunt?
Please.
* Several Republicans also bashed the Democrats yesterday for being “divisive.”
Really?
For months, the governor has cynically attempted to turn the non-unionized have-little’s in this state against the unionized have-some’s while simultaneously catering to the grotesque self-interest of the have-it-all’s.
That’s not infinitely more divisive than a little floor debate?
Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove, generated a chorus of boos when he said Democrats were just staging the event to produce videos for their next campaigns.
“The idea you are standing up for the working man is an embarrassment,” Sandack said. “You’re for no one but yourselves.”
District E’s Dan Neal said he supported working on creating equitable pensions and improving workers’ compensation issues, among other things, but he didn’t support the entire resolution.
“(Rauner has) really put this forth to us as: Take it or leave it; it’s all or nothing,” Neal said. “I don’t think we’re subject to that kind of dictation. I think we should look at this as what should be supported.”
Clukey, however, questioned when Rauner demanded that the resolution considered without any revisions, pointing out that other local governments had. Neal said he talked with a governor’s office representative who said county members could add an addendum but not change the language.
Control freaks.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
Good morning, Rich!
Moultrie County and Arthur both passed the Turnaround Resolution.
* Buried at the very bottom of this Tribune story is something I told subscribers about on Tuesday…
Rauner is hoping to put forth a united front heading into the final, frenzied days of session. The governor, whose campaign fund held more than $20.5 million to help supportive Republicans and potentially punish obstinate legislators, made the unorthodox move of doling out $400,000 to GOP lawmakers this week, a Rauner aide said.
The donations to the Republican legislators, who are a minority to the overwhelming Democratic majority that controls the House and Senate, included $10,000 to Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont.
“We are encouraging the Republicans to stay strong together,” Rauner told reporters Thursday without mentioning his campaign donations to members of the Republican caucuses. “To have more influence in the process we need to stay unified, and that’s a message I’ve been saying that for the entire process and that’s important.”
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the massive donations seem “a bit contradictory” since Rauner railed during the campaign about what he considered to be corrupt fundraising practices and has sought to ban political donations from some interest groups.
“He is a special interest,” Brown said of the governor. “It confuses the average person who thinks he’s about changing the whole environment, when he’s engaged in the very same activity.”
If some big votes were coming up on any topic and any leader or interest group dumped $400,000 on every legislator of a single party, I highly doubt it would be at the bottom of a story.
New representative Carol Ammons (D-Champaign) insinuated the Republicans had been bought by donations from political action committees including one on behalf of the new governor.
“Whether we will be able to represent the rest of us that don’t make it into the one percent, don’t cash that check,” Ammons said.
* Rep. Lou Lang also whacked the Republicans for the governor’s contributions during yesterday’s “right to work” floor debate. Relevant comments start at the 2:50 mark…
Working to bring closed-door discussions on important issues into the open, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on Thursday announced the House will vote next week on proposals to change laws dealing with the civil justice system and assistance received by injured workers.
“Changes to the assistance received by those injured on the job and putting a constitutional limit on lawsuit judgments are at the top of the governor’s agenda, and they have a direct impact on the financial security of middle-class families and the victims of horrible tragedies due to the negligence of others,” Madigan said. “Changes to laws that impact so many Illinois families deserve serious and open discussions.”
Madigan said the House will vote on the issues on Thursday, May 21. Madigan’s announcement follows two full House hearings on the issues of assistance received by workers injured while on the job through no fault of their own and Illinois’ civil justice system and the protections it provides to victims and their families.
“We’ve had two thorough and informative hearings in the full House on both these issues, and legislators had a great opportunity to listen to the stories of real Illinois families, their experiences with Illinois’ workers’ compensation and civil justice systems compared to the systems in other states, and how their lives have been impacted,” Madigan said. “If the governor is serious about the changes he is proposing, the right thing to do now is for us to bring these issues into the open and have a constructive and open discussion, vote and see what steps need to be taken from there.”
Madigan pointed out the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment of May 31 is nearing. Madigan again encouraged the governor to file his legislation in anticipation of the votes next week.
Thursday, May 14, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In 2011 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 insurance premium reductions for employers in Illinois, even though workers’ compensation costs have undeniably come down.
The National Academy of Social Insurance reports workers’ compensation is the second most profitable line of insurance after auto insurance. Over 300 insurance companies compete for and write workers’ compensation insurance in Illinois, more than just about any other state in the country. If Illinois is so unprofitable, why are these insurance companies climbing over one another to sell insurance here? It may be because insurance companies in Illinois are essentially unregulated when it comes to setting insurance premiums.
Decreased benefits for injured workers, medical reimbursements plummeting, claims falling, and reduced costs have all resulted in big profits for the insurance industry. This is the real result of the 2011 workers’ compensation reform.
Any further changes in workers’ compensation laws should instead look to promote insurance premium transparency and oversight – not further sacrifices by the injured worker.
For more information on workers’ compensation, click here.
While government union executives like to complain about the state shorting past pension payments (in some instances to maintain or grow the workforce unions could skim dues off of), just 40% of the unfunded liability can be attributed to a lack of funding. More generous benefits, actuarial miscalculations and lackluster investment returns account for most of the problem.
It’s not like taxpayers have not already paid their fair share. According to an analysis… “While government worker contributions to Illinois’ five pension systems have increased by 75 percent since 1998, taxpayer contributions have increased by 427 percent over the same period. In 2012 alone, Illinois taxpayers contributed $3.5 billion more to the pension systems than state workers did.”
Yeah, well, when the state doesn’t make its payments and the employees do, the state’s payments are gonna rise a whole lot more than the workers’ payments when the state tries to catch up.
Anybody wanna guess which organization produced all three of the above paragraphs?
Thursday, May 14, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Over 60 organizations representing a broad coalition of business, labor, conservation and civic organizations from across Illinois and around the country signed an open letter to voice their support for the Illinois Low Carbon Portfolio Standard (LCPS) (HB 3293/SB 1585), currently being considered by the Illinois General Assembly.
Signatories include the Chicago Urban League, Exelon, GE Hitachi, IBEW Local 15, Illinois AFL-CIO, Illinois Clean Energy Coalition, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Pipe Trades Association, Sargent & Lundy and United Scrap. Their support comes on the heels of a rally in the state capitol last week that drew nearly 600 Illinoisans who delivered a petition with over 10,000 signatures urging state lawmakers to enact the legislation.
“Illinois’ nuclear facilities provide tremendous economic, reliability and environmental benefits to the state and the region,” said John Grimes, vice president of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. “The Low Carbon Portfolio Standard is the only legislation that properly values these plants. We urge the General Assembly to vote yes on this important bill.”
Illinois’ six nuclear energy facilities generate nearly half of the state’s electricity and 90 percent of Illinois’ low-carbon electricity. However, three of these plants have been losing significant amounts of money each year and may soon close without legislative action. If these plants close early, it will cost the state an estimated $1.8 billion per year in economic activity, 8,000 jobs and up to $500 million per year in higher electric costs statewide, according to a State of Illinois report.
* Gov. Bruce Rauner told Statehouse reporters today that he and the legislative leaders are “feverishly endeavoring” to come up with a viable pension reform solution. He also said they might pursue “several options simultaneously” and send them all to the courts. He laughed off a question about the Illinois Policy Institute’s idea to fire all state workers and put them in a new pension plan. Rauner said he will “negotiate in good faith” with the unions.
He also spoke a bit about “right to work,” blaming “special interest groups” for opposing his changes. He encouraged Republican lawmakers to “stay unified” with his program.
* “We have taken a number of things off the table,” Rauner said about his “Turnaround Agenda,” but wouldn’t say what those things were. He also dodged a question about a potential income tax hike.
And despite all the secret “working group” meetings, Rauner claimed he was being totally transparent, and essentially blamed the secrecy on the General Assembly, which is, sorry to say, a total crock.
Thursday, May 14, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Maybe Exelon should bail out CPS and the City of Chicago instead of demanding a $1.6 BILLION subsidy form struggling family, business and government ratepayers.
“A plan to financially reward Exelon Corp. for producing no-carbon energy and potentially save three Illinois nuclear plants from closure would cost ratepayers $1.6 billion over five years and strain budgets for financially strapped businesses and municipal governments, a study released Tuesday found.” - Associated Press, 4/21/15
We simply can’t afford to pad the pockets of Exelon shareholders while governments from Chicago to Cairo are in such dire straits. Businesses and governments can learn how much the bailout would cost them at www.noexelonbailout.com/calculator.
Just say no to the Exelon bailout. Vote no on SB1585/HB3293.
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.
BIG, SCARY NUMBERS: Chicago’s unfunded liability from four pension funds is $20 billion and growing, hitting every city resident with an obligation of about $7,400. Detroit’s, whose population of about 689,000 is roughly a quarter of Chicago’s, had a retirement funding gap of $3.5 billion, meaning each resident was liable for $5,100.
For one thing, Chicagoans can afford more than broke, under-educated Detroit residents…
Detroit: Median household income, 2009-2013 $26,325 Chicago: Median household income, 2009-2013 $47,270
Detroit: Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2009-2013 $50,400 Chicago: Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2009-2013 $233,200
Detroit: Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25+, 2009-2013 12.7% Chicago: Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25+, 2009-2013 34.2%
Detroit’s economy has been Iraq-style devastated for years.
Also, that unfunded liability is longterm debt unless all employees decide to retire tomorrow, which they won’t. The city absolutely must start paying down its debts, but it doesn’t have to do that all at once. It ain’t gonna be easy, there’s much pain ahead, but the screamers need to calm the heck down a bit.
HOSTILE COURT: When Detroit filed for Chapter 9 in July 2013, a federal bankruptcy judge exerted his considerable powers and decreed that everyone—taxpayers, employees, bondholders and creditors alike—would get a haircut to settle the crisis. When the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on May 8, it said the state couldn’t cut pension benefits as part of a solution to restructure the state retirement system.
False equivalency. A state court is not a federal bankruptcy court. And this situation clearly hasn’t had a chance to play itself out yet. I mean, it’s been less than a week since the Supremes ruled. If you want to jump out your window, be my guest. I think you’re a fool, but go right ahead.
POLITICAL PARALYSIS: Just as Detroit slid into bankruptcy after decades of economic and actuarial warnings, Chicago politicians have watched the train wreck rumble toward them for more than a decade. During that time, they skipped pension payments and paid scant attention to the financial damage being done. In 10 years starting in 2002, the city increased its bonded debt by 84 percent, according to the Civic Federation, which tracks city finances. That added more than $1,300 to the tab of every Chicago resident.
There’s no doubt that Chicago has been paralyzed with the tax fear and that Daley and Emanuel over-borrowed. There’s also no doubt that Detroit’s economic problems have been far, far worse than Chicago’s. They couldn’t even afford to buy firefighters any equipment. The place had been a bombed-out ruin forever before it declared bankruptcy.
NO BAILOUT: Detroit’s bankruptcy filing allowed it to restructure its debt, officially snuffing out $7 billion of it by cutting pensions and payments to creditors. In Illinois, the nation’s lowest-rated state, with unfunded pension obligations of $111 billion, Rauner had a blunt message last week in an unprecedented address to Chicago’s City Council: The city will get no state bailout.
It’s simply too early to tell if Gov. Rauner’s threat is real. We’ll probably know in a few weeks. There’s a whole lot of horse-trading ahead.
DENIAL: After years of denial, Detroit officials finally, if grudgingly, agreed to major surgery. At least for now, Chicago’s Emanuel is sticking to his view that the Illinois Supreme Court’s rejection of a state pension reform law doesn’t apply to the city. “That reform is not affected by today’s ruling, as we believe our plan fully complies with the State constitution because it fundamentally preserves and protects worker pensions,” he said in a statement on May 8.
Again, we need to let it play out a bit before rushing to screaming judgements.
* I want to make it crystal clear that I’m not attempting to downplay Chicago’s very real, very serious, even dire problems. The city is in a world of bigtime hurt. But it’s a Tier One city, not some backwater dumping ground. People have been saying Chicago would become another Detroit since at least the days when Harold Washington first ran for mayor. Know what happened? He raised taxes after years of avoidance by Richard J. Daley and his machine successors and the city eventually took off like a rocket. Emanuel tried to follow the Daley path after succeeding yet another Daley. It’s a failed strategy, and it has truly endangered the city’s fiscal and economic health. Taxes will have to rise so much that some people will leave. But it’s gonna take a whole lot more than that to make Chicago into Detroit.
Even before the triple-whammy to Chicago’s finances, Gov. Bruce Rauner was using the b-word, as in bankruptcy, particularly for CPS. That’s a status from which Detroit recently emerged.
Emanuel said Wednesday it would be “irresponsible and reckless to do that” as a first option. But, for the first time, he did not entirely rule out the possibility of bankruptcy. That would free the city and CPS to do things it would not otherwise be permitted to do while unions would lose their leverage.
“It exists. It can happen. [But] rushing there means you haven’t gone to your partners in labor and said, `Do you want to be part of the solution?’ ” Emanuel said.
Pressed on whether a post-election property tax increase was inevitable to solve the combined, $30 billion pension crisis at the city and the public schools, Emanuel insisted once again that raising property taxes was the “last option, not the first option.”
He maintained that the jackpot of revenue from a city-owned Chicago casino would be enough to save police and fire pension funds and that an end to the “double-taxation” of city residents for teacher pensions in Chicago and across the state would go a long way toward solving the $9.5 billion pension liability at CPS.
If the General Assembly and the governor can’t help sort this mess out, then it’s time to start worrying. Otherwise, we need some clear, calm heads around here for a change.
A lawsuit by unions and retirees challenging Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s changes to city pension funds ultimately will be decided by the Illinois Supreme Court when all is said and done, a Cook County judge said Wednesday.
To that end, Associate Judge Rita Novak set a July 9 hearing in the lawsuit centering on a state law the mayor pushed through to cut costs in an attempt to shore up the city laborers and municipal workers pension funds.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is sticking to his plan to reduce retirement benefits for government workers, even after a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling severely limited options for cutting state pension costs, administration officials said Wednesday.
That position was relayed as the Republican governor dispatched a lawyer and policy adviser to a House committee to discuss the approach on pensions months after Rauner floated it. While no legislation has been filed, the new governor has talked broadly about moving all current workers to a less generous benefit package beginning in July. Upon retirement, those workers would collect two pensions — one from the more generous plan in place now, and a second from the less generous benefits accrued after July. […]
“We continue to believe that the governor’s proposal … is constitutional under the current constitution even after the Supreme Court’s ruling that came out Friday,” [Rauner administration attorney Kim Fowler] said.
The Rauner team’s view is that the court was unclear about whether future benefits have the same protections as those benefits already earned. “We don’t think the court clearly answered what benefits are protected,” Fowler said.
C’mon. The Supremes were abundantly clear. Do we have to go over this yet again?…
Under article XIII, section 5, members of pension plans subject to its provisions have a legally enforceable right to receive the benefits they have been promised… The protections afforded to such benefits by article XIII, section 5 attach once an individual first embarks upon employment in a position covered by a public retirement system, not when the employee ultimately retires… Accordingly, once an individual begins work and becomes a member of a public retirement system, any subsequent changes to the Pension Code that would diminish the benefits conferred by membership in the retirement system cannot be applied to that individual.
Some Democrats on the committee said they disagreed. Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, said that once an employee joins a pension system, they are locked into its benefits.
“We can increase the benefits, but once we do that, we can’t take it away,” Drury said. “The court poked a lot of holes in what we did. I think (Rauner’s plan) needs to be set aside because it’s just not realistic anymore. The holding is not nearly as ambiguous as you are making it out to be.”
Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, expressed a similar view.
“There’s no reading of that decision that squares with your testimony here today,” he said. “Benefits are benefits under this law, and there’s nothing we can do to alter them. This false distinction between benefits earned and future benefits earned is not realistic.”
Republicans said they think the governor’s plan will work. Rep. Tom Morrison, R-Palatine, said he has had teachers in his district tell him they can accept Rauner’s plan because they know that pension costs are cutting into other state services, including education.
Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, said she liked Rauner’s proposal to amend the constitution to change the wording of the pension clause — although that couldn’t be voted on until November 2016 at the earliest — but that “I feel the ruling was very clear and I do feel that the items in this proposal are not constitutional and would fall to the same ends.”
“I do feel that a decision has been made and we’re going down the same path in a slightly different way,” she said.
“I think its absolutely fantastic,” state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, said of the proposal.
The partisan split suggested attempts to rein in state pension problems will remain a major headache as lawmakers work toward a scheduled May 31 adjournment date.
“I feel like its groundhog day,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook.
The committee seemed less chilly to the governor’s desire for a constitutional amendment ballot question in time for the 2016 general election.
Fowler said the proposed amendment language would make clear that benefits already accrued under the law in effect during a period of service must be protected. With that said, the amendment also would make clear the General Assembly and governor have the right to alter pension statutes through new legislation, she said.
A three-fifths vote of each chamber of the Legislature could place a constitutional amendment question on the 2016 general election ballot. To be enacted it would also need approval by three-fifths of voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election.
* Meanwhile, the News-Gazette editorialized about pension reform today, and added this little nugget…
[Senate President John] Cullerton’s planned legislation is not the only solution he’s put forward. Months ago, he suggested another approach.
It’s unclear if he was serious. But if he wasn’t then, he and others may be now because it could be the only way to hold the semblance of a line on pension costs.
Cullerton suggested the state refuse to agree to any future pay increases for state employees. If the state can’t take control of pension costs on the benefits end, perhaps it can through salary freezes.
Such a freeze would have to last several years to have a significant impact.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is touting his recovery from a debilitating stroke in the first television ads of his 2016 re-election bid.
The Illinois Republican launched the ads Thursday in Chicago and the Champaign area.
The early ad buy — which his campaign says cost more than $320,000 — is a sign of how competitive the race is expected to be.
* The press release…
“Courage”, the first television ad of the 2016 U.S. Senate election in Illinois chronicles Senator Mark Kirk’s unending determination to fight for Illinois families in the Senate. The over $320,000 advertisement flight starts airing today on broadcast and cable networks in the Chicago and Champaign media markets.
“Because we all have our own steps to climb, Kirk in spite of his stroke, is driven to fight for Illinois families in the Unites States Senate. Senator Kirk’s independent voice in the midst of partisan gridlock is a source of pride for Illinois. Senator Kirk has climbed the steps of the Capitol for fellow stroke survivors, veterans and everyone in Illinois working to overcome a challenge in their own life. He goes to work for them,” said Kevin Artl, campaign manager for Kirk for Senate.
· In 2010, Senator Kirk won President Obama’s Illinois Senate Seat defeating former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in one of the closest elections in the nation.
· Despite suffering a major stroke in 2012, Senator Kirk returned to work just a year later and capped off his inspiring recovery by climbing the U.S. Capitol steps surrounded by a collection of bipartisan Congressional leaders.
· In 2015, Senator Kirk, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, created the group ‘Kirk’s Battle Buddies’, to offer encouragement, support, and counseling to fellow stroke survivors and veterans. ‘Kirk’s Battle Buddies’ participated in stair climbs at the John Hancock Center and Presidential Towers with more climbs scheduled this year.
Described in press accounts and by political pundits as a “moderate” and “independent”, Senator Kirk’s record has matched the description as he has often voted against party lines to support measures important to Illinois voters, including his work to protect the Great Lakes from pollution and contaminants, his support for marriage equality as a means to end discrimination and his votes for rigid background checks for gun purchases to prevent gang members from gaining access to firearms.
During previous elections when Kirk ran in a presidential year, Kirk has outperformed the Republican presidential candidate by an average of 12 points, demonstrating strong crossover appeal to independent voters and reform-minded democrats.
The Illinois House is planning a vote on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal that would allow local governments to permit workers to opt out of unions.
Democratic Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s office says Thursday’s vote is planned even though the governor hasn’t filed a bill with the Legislature.
Rauner has spent recent months pitching city councils and business groups on the idea of local “empowerment zones.” The zones would allow voters to make union membership voluntary, rather than mandatory, at unionized workplaces in their communities.
“Our message has been to House members that this is a very serious vote, we want to see a solid “no” vote,” said Illinois AFL-CIO president Michael T. Carrigan who represents the We Are One coalition of public unions in Illinois. Last week, House Republicans voted “present” when Madigan surprised them by putting Rauner’s social service cuts language into a bill and calling it for a vote. On Thursday, he’s expected to do the same with right to work, which is designed to undercut unions’ power.
“We’re not looking for “present” votes. Present votes are not acceptable,” Carrigan told the Chicago Sun-Times. “If there are too many absences by House members, we will look at their absences with suspicious eyes. No. It’s time to find out where an elected legislator, an elected person is on this subject.”
Sources say the governor’s office has been working behind the scenes to influence the Republican House caucus.
In recent weeks, in what is viewed as an attempted show of force by the governor, Rauner has moved hundreds of thousands of dollars into various campaign committees. That is on top of the $20 million already in Rauner’s campaign committee and millions more in a Turnaround Committee that says part of its mission is to “oppose those who stand in the way” of Rauner’s “bold and needed reforms.”
Even Republican lawmakers privately say they hope that a public vote will allow legislators to move forward on issues such as the budget and how to fund pensions.
Subscribers were told about Carrigan’s demands two days ago, and learned much more about the governor’s campaign contributions that same day, plus a behind the scenes account of the governor’s lobbying this morning.
