Rauner admin turns thumbs down on Wise deal
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A letter from the governor’s office urging the three U of I trustees who will vote on Chancellor Wise’s golden parachute to reject it…
* AP…
McMillan did not return a call. Fellow committee member James Montgomery said the letter could be seen as political interference and a threat since the university relies on state funds.
Yes, I suppose it could. It might also be seen as common sense.
* This was a recently negotiated agreement, not a contractual item…
U. of I. spokesman Thomas Hardy said Monday that the $400,000 lump-sum payment reflects “a negotiated agreement” between attorneys for the chancellor and the university, and reflects her completion of nearly four years in the job.
* More…
Former U. of I. board Chairman Christopher Kennedy, who approved Wise’s initial employment agreement, has said that Wise should not get the bonus payment.
“I wouldn’t give someone $400,000 to leave peaceably if they (did what she did). My belief is that those emails will reveal behavior that should be investigated,” Kennedy told the Tribune. “This is actionable information. You can fire someone for cause for this. When have we started giving money to people who (do this)?”
U. of I. on Friday released about 1,100 pages of emails that show Wise and other campus administrators used their personal email accounts in an attempt to circumvent state public records law, a violation of university policy.
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Congratulations Exelon!
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exelon made $638 million in profits in the 2nd quarter of 2015.
That’s an increase of 22.2% from 2014 - adding up to more than $1.3 BILLION in profit for Exelon so far this year. But Exelon says Illinois legislators should help the company make more. Exelon wants to increase costs on struggling families, businesses and government at a time when human services are being slashed and the state is facing a $6 billion budget deficit.
Yet Exelon is demanding a $1.6 BILLION bailout from struggling family, business and government ratepayers including more than $20 million from Chicago and CPS. Maybe Exelon should be bailing out the State of Illinois and City of Chicago instead of the other way around!
Just Say NO to the Exelon Bailout
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Milk trains ain’t fast
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m all for high-speed rail. It can spur quite a bit of
development…
According to Zhang Gui, a professor at the Hebei University of Technology, Chinese planners used to follow a rule of thumb they learned from the West: All parts of an urban area should be within 60 miles of each other, or the average amount of highway that can be covered in an hour of driving. Beyond that, people cannot effectively commute.
High-speed rail, Professor Zhang said, has changed that equation. Chinese trains now easily hit 150 to 185 miles an hour, allowing the urban area to expand. A new line between Beijing and Tianjin cut travel times from three hours to 37 minutes. That train has become so crowded that a second track is being laid.
Now, high-speed rail is moving toward smaller cities. One line is opening this year between Beijing and Tangshan. Another is linking Beijing with Zhangjiakou, turning the mountain city into a recreational center for the new urban area, as well as a candidate to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
* So, who knows, maybe Dwight will become an exurban paradise some day…
A high-speed rail linking Chicago and St. Louis is taking a big step today. The Daily Journal reports that a groundbreaking event will take place this afternoon in Dwight, Illinois, marking the construction of the first station that will service the rail line, which promises to exceed speeds of 120mph.
But, really, why is Amtrak still stopping in Dwight? It has a station mainly because it once had a state prison, which is now closed.
If we want to increase speed and efficiency, shouldn’t we be getting rid of the tiny town stops along the way and confine the stops outside Chicago to Joliet, Bloomington/Normal, Springfield and St. Louis?
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Well, at least we now know what the new COO does…
Good afternoon Directors,
I hope you all are looking forward to the state fair as much as I am. We do not have a state fair of this scale and magnitude in Hawai’i so I am very excited to experience the Illinois State Fair.
I apologize for the lateness of this letter, but I understand that it is a tradition to extend an invitation to the agencies, through the directors, for state staff to join the Governor in the Twilight Parade. Governor Rauner would be honored with their presence on the evening of August 13th. For logistical purposes I ask that you send a final list of staff in your agency who would like to walk with the Governor in the Twilight Parade to Wally Swenson by close of business Tuesday, August 11th. We welcome any and all employees to join, but unfortunately won’t be able to accommodate any participants who are not on the list.
We ask that you and your staff meet at the intersection of 9th and North Grand no later than 5:30pm on Thursday, August 13th. Please check in with a member of the Governor’s Office staff (wearing a blue shirt with the state seal on it). You will then be checked off the list of attendees and escorted to the parade staging area. The parade will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m., so anyone not checked in at that time will not be allowed to accompany the Governor’s team, so please check in as early as possible.
Thank you all very much. I look forward to seeing you at the parade!
Aloha,
Linda Lingle
Chief Operating Officer
Office of the Governor
* The Question: Other possible duties for COO Lingle?
Snark is heavily encouraged, of course.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** JCAR splits on party lines
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* JCAR, keep in mind, is a bipartisan commission, so it’s split evenly between the two sides.
Press release…
On Party Line Vote, State Panel Fails to Suspend Governor Rauner’s Irresponsible Child Care Cuts
Voices for Illinois Children is deeply disappointed by the decision not to suspend the Governor’s cuts to child care reached today by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR).
Voices continues to assert that on July 1, 2015, Governor Rauner improperly used emergency rulemaking to change the Child Care Assistance Program, or CCAP. The purpose of CCAP is to ensure that low-income, working families have access so safe, quality early learning environments for their children.
“Lawmakers who did not vote to suspend the Governor’s cuts to child care are on the wrong side of this fight for the future of low- and middle-income families,” said Emily Miller, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Voices for Illinois Children. “Ensuring that parents can go to work and have a safe, enriching place to leave their children is not a partisan issue, and it’s unfortunate that some members of the committee chose politics over children and families.”
With the Governor’s cuts, 90 percent of new applicants who would have qualified are no longer eligible and will be denied child care services through CCAP. Only families that fall within one of four priority populations may now receive child care assistance:
• families receiving TANF cash assistance
• children with special needs
• families earning below 50 percent of the federal poverty level (annual income of less than $10,045 for a family of three)
• teen parents
Advocates will continue to ask lawmakers to examine the impact of the Governor’s cuts to child care. Members of JCAR have another opportunity to vote to suspend the Governor’s cuts to child care at their next hearing.
“Lawmakers on this panel will have another chance to make things right for children and families, and we hope they’ll take it,” said Miller.
*** UPDATE *** Another press release…
As the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules failed to find the three-fifths majority necessary to block Governor Rauner’s devastating blow to the Child Care Assistance Program, Senate Democrats called for immediate action on legislation revoking his hastily implemented rules, which have already left 2,000 needy families without affordable child care.
“It’s my hope that we will be able to send a strong message to those people who are doing exactly what we told them to do, which is get up every day and go to work or go to school, and that as a policy, we don’t turn children away,” said Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights) while presenting Senate Bill 570 for a vote last week. Hutchinson is the lead sponsor of the legislation.
Rauner used a secretive emergency rulemaking process to circumvent both the General Assembly and public comment. His new eligibility requirements for child care assistance leave out an estimated 90 percent of new applicants who would have qualified for help before July 1 and will again if the Senate Democrats’ plan prevails. Under the Rauner rules, even most working parents making minimum wage are not eligible for assistance with child care. The average cost of care for an infant in Illinois is more than $12,000 per year.
The emergency rules took effect on July 1 and, without legislative action, will remain in effect for 150 days. JCAR, a legislative oversight committee that reviews executive branch rules, had an opportunity this morning to block Rauner’s move to decimate the child care program, but supporters fell short of the three-fifths majority they needed, as Republicans on the committee sided with the governor over working families. The Senate approved the measure restoring the existing eligibility standards last Wednesday; next, the House must vote on it before it goes to the governor.
“Emergency rules are getting put in place that undo the very fabric of things that help make Illinois a competitive and compassionate place,” Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago 7th) said in support of SB 570. “If we undo this child care program, we’re not only making it difficult for families to work, we’re undermining our whole effort to do preschool for all. It’s hugely problematic that by an emergency rule we’re undermining so much of what’s important.”
“What’s happened now is that the governor has made a policy decision to throw a huge number of families off of child care and is trying to advance it via an emergency rule,” Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) said. Biss is the proposal’s chief co-sponsor. “That’s a bizarre decision for him to make… It is our prerogative to restore to the legislature the authority to guide policy on this question.”
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Don’t make the exception the rule
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
The top federal official for worker safety says an Illinois businessman’s “outrageous behavior” of bringing in Mexican workers to remove asbestos without safety gear warrants fines of nearly $1.8 million.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied the fines Monday. Investigators found Joseph Kehrer, Kehrer Brothers Construction and a Kehrer-affiliated company, D7 Roofing, exposed workers to asbestos in violation of federal health standards.
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels says the workers spoke no English and were threatened with firing if they spoke to investigators.
* More…
Many of the workers came to the U.S. to work for Kehrer under the provisions of the H-2B visa program that allows companies to hire foreign workers temporarily.
Ugh.
They are far from alone in abusing that federal visa program. I mean, do we really have such a severe construction worker shortage in this country that we have to import them?
* More…
In its citations, OSHA alleges that Kehrer and Kehrer Brothers Construction failed to:
Provide basic personal protective equipment such as hard hats, eyewear and protective clothing.
Create a decontamination area for employees to remove work clothing before leaving the worksite.
Use appropriate work methods to minimize asbestos exposure, such as removing tiles intact and using wet methods to keep asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.
* That company is no stranger to controversy…
Kehrer Brothers Roofing of Albers, Ill, lacked workers’ compensation coverage for its 12 crew members and was fined $3,600, Pechie said.
All of the Kehrer workers and 16 of the 20 Pinnacle workers were Mexican citizens with valid permanent residency cards to work in the United States, Pechie said.
It’s “aggressive” companies like this one which stand to benefit the most if we get rid of prevailing wage here.
Just sayin…
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HEAL the Budget
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois is in crisis. Our budget woes are exacerbated by rising rates of costly chronic diseases. Through a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Act would generate an estimated $600 million annually to invest in community health programs supporting healthier nutrition and exercise, and to restore cuts and fund prevention in Medicaid.
A recent opinion poll found that this modest tax enjoyed broad support in every part of the state provided the funding is dedicated to health. This reflects growing awareness of the proven dangers of sugary drinks, the largest source of added sugar in the American diet.
In June, a New York Times article featured preliminary results from a comprehensive study that found that a tax on sugary beverages is one of the most effective approaches to lowering body mass index in children for the least cost and greatest return on investment. Also, The Washington Post reported on a study that showed sugary drinks are linked to 25,000 American deaths annually, and more than 180,000 globally.
Legislators can support a healthy and prosperous state by including the substance of the HEAL Act in the FY2016 budget. It’s a win-win for Illinois.
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Man, do we ever suck
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release, with emphasis added…
While the heroin-use crisis in Illinois and the nation continues to grow, the state is falling alarmingly far behind the rest of the country in providing treatment for users who need help in overcoming addiction, a new study by Roosevelt University shows.
A review of treatment capacity finds Illinois, in just five years, fell from 28th in the nation to 3rd worst in the nation, ahead of only Texas and Tennessee, in terms of providing publicly-funded treatment for addiction.
The study also found that in Illinois 25 percent of state funded treatment admissions were for heroin while nationally that figure was only 16 percent. Chicago and the collar counties fared even worse – 35 percent of those entering treatment reported heroin use as their reason for going. Metro East Illinois heroin admissions quadrupled during the same period and Decatur had a six fold increase. […]
The team found evidence that more youth and women in Illinois are using heroin, while those arrested in Cook County are more likely to test positive for opiates, including heroin, and more likely to self-report to authorities their use of heroin, than in any other place in the country. […]
While the study showed the proportion of treatment admissions into state-funded programs for heroin increased dramatically, particularly in the Chicago metropolitan region, Illinois’ capacity to provide such treatment was found to be in free fall, according to data for 2007-12.
In fact, Illinois ranked first in the U.S. for its 52 percent decline in treatment capacity, according to the report. The state also was found to be the least equipped in the Midwest to provide treatment for growing numbers of heroin users in need of help and it also was at the bottom of the nation in terms of having the treatment resources available to aid in their recovery.
From 2007-12, state general revenue funding dropped by nearly 30 percent, and Medicaid funding dropped by 4 percent, leaving state-funded addiction treatment in jeopardy, according to the study. What’s more, the situation is likely to continue under the state’s proposed FY 2016 budget, which includes a 61 percent cut to state-funded addiction treatment.
* Tribune…
Illinois’ heroin crisis has drawn increasing attention from government officials in recent years, and lawmakers have proposed numerous measures aimed at attacking the problem. One of the most expansive bills, the Heroin Crisis Act, was approved by both chambers in May but has yet to be signed by the governor.
Kane-Willis said that bill would be especially helpful because it would allow the state’s Medicaid program to pay for methadone, a medication used to ward off heroin cravings. The bill comes with a $15 million price tag, though, and the Illinois Department of Human Services has said it is unaffordable.
The governor needs to sign that bill.
The full research report is here.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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The loan process is simple and funds are available quickly. Loan representatives are available six days a week, including Saturdays and most nights until 6:00 p.m. via any one of the credit union’s 11 branches throughout Chicagoland as well as online 24/7.
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Rauner accuses Madigan of adding “poison pill”
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP this morning…
The Illinois House returns Tuesday for what has become a weekly visit to the state Capitol during a summer-long budget standoff.
Democrats who control the chamber plan a committee vote on a plan adopted last week by the Senate to disburse $5 billion in federal funds despite having no budget.
An afternoon joint hearing is planned for two House appropriations committees - those governing general services and human services.
The wire service obviously didn’t read a House amendment added yesterday.
* As subscribers already know, the governor’s office ain’t happy. From a press release…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and the legislators he controls are considering an amendment to SB 2042 – the bill appropriating money for the pass through of federal dollars, which as a clean bill would have no impact on the state’s budget deficit – that would increase General Revenue spending by nearly $600 million.
“Governor Rauner has supported and continues to support a clean federal pass through appropriations bill,” Rauner Spokesman Lance Trover said. “Unfortunately, Speaker Madigan continues to play games with taxpayer money and is trying to force through higher state spending with no budget.”
Tim Nuding, Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, issued the attached memo to the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff outlining that the line of spending included by Speaker Madigan is identical to the spending in the unconstitutional, unbalanced budget that the Democrat majority passed earlier this summer.
The Nuding memo is here.
* Speaker Madigan’s shop sent this out earlier today…
Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on Tuesday announced the House’s plan to make sure that programs serving children with disabilities and life-saving cancer screenings are included in a plan to spend federal dollars while lawmakers continue to push for a balanced approach to the state budget.
“Spending authority for 11 federally funded programs will be added Tuesday to legislation giving state agencies the ability to spend federal dollars on several vital programs during the current budget impasse,” Madigan said.
Madigan’s amendment to the $4.8 billion measure approved by the Senate last Tuesday adds funding for disaster relief, breast and cervical cancer screenings, funding for assistance to children with disabilities, and Meals on Wheels for homebound elderly residents, among other items. The amendment adds $1.56 billion in spending authority to the spending plan under Senate Bill 2042.
“After examining the legislation passed by the Senate, which Governor Rauner expressed his support for, we were contacted about additional programs of vital importance to the health and well-being of families across Illinois where the state and federal governments both provide funding. We believe funding for these programs, which can be delivered despite the lack of a state budget in place, is needed before the measure is sent to the governor,” Madigan explained.
The current version of the federal funds spending plan passed with bipartisan support in the Senate, and Gov. Rauner announced his support for the plan. Madigan expressed optimism the bill would have not only wide bipartisan support when the House passes the bill Wednesday, but support from Rauner, as well.
Emphasis added to show some of the GRF-funded items in the amendment.
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Today’s number: $19
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
In a budget briefing [yesterday], new [Chicago] schools CEO Forrest Claypool made it clear that if the state does not help with the district’s fast-rising pension costs—by picking up part of the tab itself, forcing teachers to pay more or giving the district more time to pay off unfunded pension costs from previous years—the impact will be severe.
Without $480 million in relief in its proposed $5.7 billion budget, the district will have to either engage in “more unsustainable borrowing” or impose “serious classroom cuts,” he said.
Claypool did not detail what those cuts would be, but said the day of reckoning will occur “at the beginning of the 2016 calendar year.”
* But…
Property taxes will rise to the state-mandated cap, generating $19 million and costing the owner of a $250,000 home an additional $19 a year.
From what I’ve been told by House and Senate Democrats, the city itself can levy for the capped CPS. The schools don’t need special legislation.
Obviously, $19 a year ain’t much of anything. They need to put some significant local skin in the game before they ask the state for anything.
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Today’s assignment
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Rauner was asked yesterday about administration officials using personal e-mail to discuss governmental business…
“We have a very firm policy. We say: no personal email if you’re serving in the administration,” Rauner said. “Don’t use personal email for any government business whatsoever.”
There’s been a recent uproar over that very issue involving the outgoing U of I chancellor.
* It turns out, though, there was a reason behind that question…
Yet Rauner’s hand-picked, $250,000-a-year education secretary Beth Purvis has used private email to communicate with outside consultants about education policy in Illinois — and the governor’s administration for months refused to make the exchanges public.
In fact, the governor’s office initially denied a May Freedom of Information request by the Chicago Sun-Times. When the paper appealed, Rauner’s office then advocated extensively in a seven-page argument to the Illinois Attorney General’s office against the release of such emails. Attorneys further argued that employees’ private emails are not subject to freedom of information laws.
Oops.
* Not long after the Sun-Times asked the governor about the issue, top staff intervened with legal staff and had the documents released. You can click here to see them.
The first e-mail on the list is Purvis requesting that somebody use her government account. Another is a congratulatory e-mail and a third is about hiring a young prospect.
But there’s also a confidential document…
In December meetings on plans for education, Purvis relied on the assistance of private consultants from Bain & Co. and the Civic Consulting Alliance, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The discussions were to remain strictly confidential and any inquiries about the meetings were to be directed to the governor’s press office. That team helped formulate education goals, which have largely remained private under the new governor.
* So, your assignment: Have a look at that document and tell us if you find anything interesting.
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Public enemies and hypocrisies
Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* All politicians love to highlight their enemies…
“The power of the teachers union has been overwhelming. Chicago has given and given and given. It’s created a financial crisis that the Chicago schools face now,” Rauner told reporters outside his 16th floor office in the Thompson Center hours after CPS officials released a new spending plan that counts on $480 million in pension help from Rauner and the General Assembly that so far hasn’t gone anywhere.
“We believe the right answer is to empower: The people of Chicago, the voters of Chicago, the mayor of Chicago, the school board of the Chicago Public Schools should be enabled to decide what gets collectively bargained and what doesn’t so they don’t end up with the teachers union having dictatorial powers, in effect and causing the financial duress that Chicago public schools are facing right now.”
Rauner restated his belief that changes in collective bargaining should be statewide, and not just for Chicago, if there’s an attempt to alleviate CPS’ cash crunch for the coming school year.
* And they all have their own hypocrisies…
At the same time, Rauner said he opposed proposals to create an elected school board in Chicago, something the CTU backs, citing Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s efforts to challenge the union. Chicago is the only school system in the state with an appointed board of education and Rauner said he believed voters in other school districts should have the option of choosing an appointed school board.
Yep, he’s for voter empowerment except for when he’s not.
The same goes for currently elected judges, whom he wants to appoint.
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