* SEIU Healthcare has a new ad attacking the Governor…
A new 30-second ad featuring the opposition of First Lady Diana Rauner and former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar to the dangerous cuts and political posturing of Bruce Rauner will debut today statewide, targeting a dozen legislators who previously have supported Illinois’ successful child care and home care programs.
A narrator in the ad notes the consequences of Bruce Rauner’s budget and contract proposals, as well as administrative rules changes, that would force seniors and people with disabilities into nursing homes and 100,000 kids off the state’s Child Care Assistance Program.
“If you think this is wrong, you’re not alone,” the narrator says, jumping to news footage highlighting the Diana Rauner and Jim Edgar aversion to the Bruce Rauner agenda.
Watch the new ad, titled “Growing Chorus,” here.
James Muhammad, Communications Director for SEIU Healthcare Illinois and a vice president of the organization, had this to say about the new ad:
“From a governor who campaigned for him to his own wife, a child advocacy leader who knows the stakes to this vulnerable population, the chorus of voices who are asking Bruce Rauner to back off from his radical agenda is growing louder by the day. We hope these new ads give legislators who have supported Illinois’ successful child care and home care programs in the past the courage to stand up to Bruce Rauner and say ‘enough is enough.’ ”
HB 4272, if passed, would force the state to fulfill its moral and constitutional commitment to properly funding public education by providing a continuing resolution for General State Aid and directing 55 percent of all new state revenues toward education. The bill would also implement a responsible pension cost shift carefully structured to invest all savings directly into General State Aid. This measure would result in an immediate infusion of $200 million for the Chicago Public Schools.
We’re told that State Rep. Christian Mitchell, a Democrat from Chicago, is going to introduce a bill that proposes a “cost shift,” meaning all downstate and suburban school districts would pay their own teacher pension costs – as opposed to having the state pay those costs, as it does now.
Chicago Public Schools said it will quit paying the bulk of pension contributions for more than 2,000 nonunion workers, a move that lays groundwork for the district to request similar concessions from the Chicago Teachers Union and other employees with labor contracts.
At the end of the month, affected employees will start to pick up an additional 2 percent of their pension costs, saving the district about $3 million, officials said. The next year, those employees will pay an additional 2 percent and, the following year, another 3 percent.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the plan “a path” he hopes teachers will agree to follow.
“It is a pay cut. Seven percent is huge,” Lewis said.
On the Claypool plan to reduce the contribution gradually, the union wrote Wednesday: “Whether this reduction is done at once or in phases, it still amounts to the same thing - a pay decrease at a time when workloads have increased by more than 20 percent.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel - who appointed Claypool last month - says the CPS pension pickup is outdated.
“What worked 30 years ago, 40 years ago is different, we’re in a different position,” Emanuel said.
CPS reportedly has asked state lawmakers to pass a bill to remove the issue from CTU negotiations, in effect ordering Chicago teachers to pay all of their pension costs.
Powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan said in theory, he opposes such interference.
“Repealing or resetting collective bargaining reduces wages and the standard of living of middle class families,” Madigan said.
…Adding…
I missed this before posting, but Lewis has changed her rhetoric a bit. Via Chicago Tonight…
I understand the notion of phasing it in. If we want to be more like the private sector, then we need to be treated more like the private sector, compensation-wise.
It’s the members’ call, and that’s something we haven’t had a conversation about yet. We haven’t talked about that because it was never brought to us that way. But we do not want, clearly, a 7 percent [pay cut]. One of the other ways to deal with that is they always bring in new people. How do you do that with new people? How do you do that with people who are five years from retirement? What do you do with people who are 10 years away?
Robert Bloch, the general counsel of the teachers union, says CPS hasn’t discussed unilaterally phasing out the pension pickup and disputes the view that the expired contract would allow it.
In the past, CPS continued to pay the pension pickup after a contract had expired, undercutting CPS’ interpretation, said Bloch, who is also a partner in Chicago-based law firm Dowd Bloch Bennett & Cervone. In particular, CPS under the Emanuel administration made the payments during the tumultuous negotiations in 2012.
The language, which has not changed substantively in more than 30 years, has not been interpreted by a court or arbiter, he said, making past practice crucial.
“They can’t just take that away,” added Jackson Potter, staff coordinator at the teachers union. “It would be a potentially unfair labor practice.”
Governor Bruce Rauner signed SB 1304 today to create the Police and Community Improvement Act.
“Today we are taking steps to strengthen the relationship between our law enforcement officers and the public they protect with the Police and Community Improvement Act,” Governor Rauner said. “As a society, we must ensure the safety of both the public and law enforcement. SB 1304 establishes new and important guidelines and training for police departments and their officers, while protecting the public by prohibiting officers from using excessive force. I thank the legislators who sponsored this bill. It will have a lasting and positive impact on the people of Illinois.”
Additional Background: Illinois is the first state in the country to pass comprehensive legislation that include procedures for police departments that utilize body cameras; establish reporting requirements for officers who make stops or arrests; crisis intervention and racial sensitivity training; and prohibits excessive force like choke holds.
A detailed description courtesy of Sen. Raoul’s office…
Senate Bill 1304 implements numerous recommendations of the federal task force by
· - Requiring independent investigations of all officer-involved deaths
· - Improving mandatory officer training in areas such as the proper use of force, cultural competency, recognizing implicit bias, interacting with persons with disabilities and assisting victims of sexual assault
· - Creating a statewide database of officers who have been dismissed due to misconduct or resigned during misconduct investigations
· - Improving data collection and reporting of officer-involved and arrest-related deaths and other serious incidents
· - Establishing a Commission on Police Professionalism to make further recommendations on the training and licensing of law enforcement officers
The legislation also prohibits the use of choke holds by police and expands the Traffic Stop Statistical Study, which provides insights into racial disparities in vehicular stops and searches, to include pedestrians whom officers “stop and frisk” or temporarily detain for questioning. Finally, it codifies rules concerning the appointment of special prosecutors.
The new law does not require law enforcement agencies to deploy officer-worn body cameras, but if they choose to do so, they must adhere to the following standards:
· - The cameras must be turned on at all times when an officer is responding to a call for service or engaged in law enforcement activities.
· - The cameras can be turned off at the request of a crime victim or witness, or when an officer is talking with a confidential informant.
· - Recordings are exempt from FOIA with some exceptions:
· Recordings can be “flagged” if they have evidentiary value in relation to a use of force incident, the discharge of a weapon or a death.
· “Flagged” recordings may be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act; however, in certain sensitive situations, such as a recording of a sexual assault, victim consent is required prior to disclosure.
· - Recordings must be retained for 90 days or, if “flagged,” for two years or until final disposition of the case in which the recording is being used as evidence.
“Police unions in this state stepped up to the plate and really led in a lot of the discussions involving the elements that were involved in this bill,” said Sean Smoot, Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective Association legal counsel and who also served on the White House task force on community policing. “I think that says a lot about our state and about our police officers and the people they put into position of leadership.”
“I truly regret comments made by House Republicans where they characterize as ‘poison pills’ efforts to help women with breast cancer and children with disabilities. These are not instances where these people requested this disease or this disability. These are people that are struggling through life - women with breast cancer; children with disabilities - and House Democrats today tried to include appropriation items in the appropriation bill which would address these problems.”
“The Rauner Republicans in the House objected to appropriating state money for LIHEAP, breast and cervical cancer screenings, early interventions, Meals on Wheels and child care, but they did not object to spending state money on McCormick place.”
“You can find a lot of Republicans here in the Capitol building who will whisper to you that, `We know that we need new revenue,’ but they whisper it and look around to make sure Rauner’s not watching. I’m open and public about it.”
* I asked the Governor’s Office if the Governor, as Leader Durkin indicated on the House floor during debate, supported Amendment Three. This was their response…
The Governor supports a clean bill that allows the state to pass through federal funds without adding to the state’s budget deficit. He is pleased to see the House pass legislation that does exactly that. This bill allows the state to provide services to some of our most vulnerable citizens while we continuing working on passing much needed structural reforms and a balanced budget
The House-endorsed measure adds about $435 million in additional federal funds for terrorism preparedness and for spending by the Illinois State Board of Education for things such as preschool expansion and student assessments.
It also provides $166.5 million to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority from special state funds for debt service on expansion bonds. McPier, as it’s known, missed a $20.8 million monthly payment on bonds sold to bankroll a convention center expansion.
On a 12-0 vote, a House appropriations panel endorsed legislation that would prevent the Republican chief executive from altering a scoring system used to determine whether elderly and disabled residents qualify for certain state programs.
Republicans on the panel voted “present” on the proposal.
In February, Rauner proposed changing the scoring system to make it tougher for certain seniors to receive home health care services, such as homemaker assistance. While the governor was seeking to save money with the maneuver, opponents argued his plan would result in an estimated 24,000 senior citizens losing in-home care services.
Another 15,000 people with disabilities would lose their state assistance, Democrats said.
* There are some who appear to be unpersuaded by Sen. Kirk’s explanation as to why a former caregiver also received a paycheck from his re-election campaign, and instead believe the Senator may have violated federal campaign finance law.
In case you missed it yesterday, the Chicago Tribune wrote about the Senator’s live-in caregiver being paid by Kirk on a personal basis but also by Kirk for Senate. Campaign officials said in response the caregiver assisted Kirk in the mornings and evenings, which is why he was paid personally by the Senator. Then during the day the same guy did data entry and event staffing for the campaign - services he was paid for by Kirk for Senate.
“If the expense existed irrespective of whether Sen. Kirk was a candidate or officeholder, then he cannot pay for it with campaign funds,” Ryan said. “It seems to me that Sen. Kirk had these home care expenses irrespective of his candidacy.”
Kirk’s campaign said the senator personally paid Fombe-Abiko for caregiver services — a total of $29,177 over a 16-month period beginning in September 2013. Those duties varied depending on Kirk’s schedule, but typically involved a few hours in the morning and evening.
They say Fombe-Abiko was paid separately by the campaign for entry-level work such as data entry, driving Kirk to political events and stuffing envelopes.
Anyone who has faced the hardships of taking on a caregiver to assist a disabled or elderly family member could sympathize with Sen. Mark Kirk for dipping into his campaign funds to pay for a full-time helper after his stroke.
…
Although I consider this an improper use of campaign money for personal expenses, I’ve seen worse and can certainly appreciate Kirk could be feeling a financial squeeze, even with his $174,000 annual salary.
In the wake of a massive stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., needed a caregiver to help him. Kirk paid him through a combination of personal and campaign funds.
The arrangement shows how Kirk was able to leverage his control of his “Kirk for Senate” campaign fund to employ the caregiver.
Most stroke victims do not have the luxury of providing a second job for a caregiver not paid through personal funds. In Kirk’s case, according to a letter from the Senate Ethics Committee, most of the duties of that second, campaign-paid job could be performed at Kirk’s home.
Yes, the guy received paychecks from Kirk personally and the campaign. The Senator isn’t denying that. What they are denying is that the campaign paycheck was for caregiving services.
You might be able to argue that from an optics perspective Kirk and the campaign made a bad move by hiring the guy’s caregiver to work on the campaign, too. It’s fine to be skeptical of the campaign’s explanation, but I haven’t seen anything emerge that would justify dismissing their explanation of the arrangement.
Remember, the Senate Ethics Commission took a look at this arrangement back in 2013 and they found no laws were broken. At that time, Kirk also sought the legal counsel of a former FEC chairman and chief counsel to the Ethics Committee. Here are their thoughts…
From Rob Walker: There is ample precedent for allocating mixed purpose costs between a federal campaign and a federal candidate/officeholder. The Senate Committee on Ethics approved the dual employment arrangement for Senator Kirk and the Kirk campaign as fully permissible under the Senate Code of Conduct.
From Michael Toner: From an FEC perspective, the bottom line is that a campaign cannot pay for any expenses that constitute a prohibited personal use – that is, a use that would exist irrespective of an individual’s campaign for election to federal office or the individual’s duties as a federal officeholder. By separating an employee’s responsibilities into two separate positions, and having Senator Kirk and Kirk for Senate separately an employee for the work that he performs for each position, he has simplified the allocation process and eliminated personal use concerns.
I really don’t care if Kirk paid his caregiver out of his campaign funds, although that could be a violation of some law that prohibits paying someone to do campaign work who is actually doing something else, like helping you on and off the toilet.
If you ask me, that would be a pretty essential service for a candidate recovering from a medical illness, but Kirk’s not making any such claim and, in fact, contends the caregiver’s time was carefully monitored so he was paid out of the campaign funds only when he was working on campaign things, not when he was cooking the senator his meals, or helping him get dressed.
As I pointed out some years ago, as Kirk was recovering from his stroke, I was rooting for him. I happen to believe that anyone, senator or fast-food worker, ought to get the best treatment possible to allow him to recover from such a horrific medical event and then enough time off (with pay) to recover before returning to his job.
* By the way, there could be something to be said of the fact that none of the Democrats vying to take on Kirk have issued their own statement. Make your own deductions, if any, but to me their silence is near-deafening.
As federal spending watchdogs keep an eye out for $100 hammers, Illinois is getting away with $669,608 doors.
That’s right: The broke-as-a-joke Land of Lincoln, with its abysmally funded pension system and toilet-level credit rating, is dropping major coin to renovate the Capitol building in Springfield.
Yes, those copper doors. Remember all of the jokes, editorials, column inches, and moments of precious air time that were devoted to this story? Perhaps not quite as much as has been said about how much better Indiana is than Illinois. Surely such a blessed land would never…
A proposal scheduled to go before Indiana lawmakers later this week would spend nearly $875,000 on new doors for the Indiana Statehouse.
Gov. Mike Pence’s Indiana Department of Administration wants the money because officials say they’re worried about security issues regarding six doors that let government employees enter and exit the statehouse.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted the request of Governor Rauner for disaster designation in 87 Illinois counties and 14 contiguous counties that suffered losses due to rain and flooding this year.
“Illinois has suffered a lot of storm and rain damage throughout this Spring and Summer,” Rauner said. “I am pleased our request for federal assistance was granted and encourage farmers throughout these counties to contact their local Farm Service Agency for questions.”
The governor issued an official letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack on July 23, 2015. The 19 members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation also signed a letter to President Obama to endorse the governor’s request for this designation. Counties eligible for assistance were determined through the Loss Assessment Reports reviewed by the USDA.
“I am grateful to all the members of our Illinois Congressional delegation for their strong and united support for securing this assistance for farmers throughout the state,” Rauner added.
Farmers who believe they may be eligible for assistance should contact their county Farm Service Agency office. Loan applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and applicant’s repayment ability. Farmers who have questions should contact the state FSA office at (217) 241-6600.
“We’ll be making an announcement soon,” spokesman Andrew Edmier said.
Khouri is serving a second term on the county board and is owner of Green T Services.
Federal Election Commission records show she raised more than $100,000 toward a congressional campaign in the second quarter of the year. That follows a $200,000 loan she made to the campaign in the spring and another $15,250 loan in June.
* An expanding Illinois-based manufacturer is heading to East Chicago. From Crains…
In East Chicago, he said, Hoist will save $1 million annually on workers compensation-related costs, a significant sum for the firm. Workers compensation lawyers in Cook County right now are bringing three to four illegitimate claims against the firm a month, costing it money, according to Flaska.
Indiana also offers lower taxes for the company and less-expensive housing for his employees, he said. Hoist employs welders, assemblers, material handlers and other production workers. Hoist’s lifts are used by big manufacturers, like automakers.
Incentives played a critical role in the company’s decision to leave Illinois. Hoist will be able to lay claim on a big package of tax credits as it ramps up operations in East Chicago. By 2022, the company plans to employ around 500 people there.
More than two weeks after Mitsubishi announced it was pulling up stakes on its taxpayer-subsidized auto plant in Normal, officials still aren’t saying whether the company will have to repay any of the financial incentives it received from the state.
Rather than focus on the estimated $9 million that has been paid out to the company as part of a decade-long economic development agreement inked in 2011, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity says it is trying to ensure some other manufacturer fills the space left behind.
“DCEO’s primary focus is working with all parties to find a buyer for the plant and preserve the workforce,” agency spokeswoman Lyndsey Walters said in an email.
Mitsubishi received an EDGE grant not too long ago. Go read the whole thing before commenting.
* More posts to come this afternoon, so make sure you check back.
* Governor’s office responds to budget plea from Williamson County commissioners: The state also cannot reimburse salaries for some county officeholders, including state’s attorneys, public defenders and the supervisor of assessments, spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said. “The state does not have the appropriation authority to distribute local municipalities their shares from video gambling and the motor vehicle fuel tax, as well as reimburse for some county salaries paid for by the state, because Speaker Madigan and the legislators he controls failed to pass a balanced budget,” Kelly said
* Officials report sharp increase in medical marijuana cards for Illinoisans: About 3,500 people have applied for the cards, a 40-percent increase over the number four months ago, according to recently posted numbers by the Illinois Department of Public Health. What’s more, the department has issued 2,800 approval letters, a 75-percent increase over numbers reported as of March. Ten applications have been approved for patients under 18 years of age, according to the department.
* Kraft Heinz to cut 700 jobs in Northfield: “This new structure eliminates duplication to enable faster decision-making, increased accountability and accelerated growth,” Mullen said. He said the savings will free up money to be invested back into the company’s products. Affected employees, who worked in jobs such as sales, marketing and finance, will be given severance benefits of at least six months, Mullen said.
* Property assessments out this week for areas affected by O’Hare jet noise: The good news for Jefferson Township homeowners is that the Cook County assessor’s office will take the unusual step of “revisiting” affected areas in that township next year, after more market data and the results of a comprehensive review of jet noise implications are available, officials said. Normally, reassessments are done every three years.
* Stateville inmate diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease: Legionnaires’ is caused by a bacteria commonly found in warm water, like in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, fountains and large plumbing systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People contract the illness by breathing in a mist or airborne water droplets carrying the bacteria, according to the CDC. It is not spread from person to person. People who come down with the disease can have a cough, shortness of breath, fever, achiness and headaches, according to the CDC.
* State appeals court throws out murder conviction in Burge-related case: In an opinion issued just two weeks after holding oral arguments, the three-judge panel concluded that it was “impossible to conceive” how prosecutors would be able to use Shawn Whirl’s confession at a new trial.
