Question of the day
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* State Sen. Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey) kicked off his US Senate campaign today…
But in responding to reporters’ questions about international events, Harris at times appeared ill-prepared.
While his campaign issued a handout in which Harris voiced support for “shifting the focus of our foreign aid from the Middle East back to the Americas,” the candidate did not directly respond to a question about how that position would affect U.S. aid to Israel.
“Right now, we’re still developing all of our policies in regards to foreign policy. But I think what’s important is to realize we have a lot of work to do at home, and the intent is to make sure that first we take care of home and our neighboring countries,” he said.
When asked about Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Monday call to temporarily stop accepting Syrian refugees in Illinois, Harris said, “I haven’t heard about Gov. Rauner’s comments on that” and said the governor should “get a balanced budget.”
* The Questions: Other topics that Sen. Harris might want to avoid?
Snark is heavily encouraged.
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* Rep. Ken Dunkin on last week’s Child Care Assistance Program deal he says he helped cut with Gov. Bruce Rauner…
“Child care was at the center of the table right now, close to a billion dollars in funding. To have that program up and running, up at least at 85 percent, and until we receive a budget, a full budget, it will be back to the full restoration of 185 percent above the poverty level. That’s a success.”
To explain, the governor slashed the program’s maximum eligibility from 185 percent of the federal poverty level to 50 percent. Democratic legislators negotiated a deal to raise that requirement to 162 percent of FPL, and then, according to Rep. Dunkin and others, it would return to 185 percent when a budget deal was finally completed.
* Well, JCAR met today to vote on the new rule and Democratic members attempted to get the Department of Human Services on record as saying the bar would be raised to 185 percent of FPL once a budget agreement is reached. It didn’t go as expected…
* I just talked to Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who actually did negotiate the CCAP compromise.
“That is not what I agreed to,” she said about today’s DHS claims.
It was her understanding, Hutchinson said, that the rate “would go back to 185″ once there is a budget. “It didn’t have anything to do with a bipartisan commission determining the rate,” she said.
“At this point I am waiting for the governor’s office to clarify,” she said.
Hutchinson had agreed to hold the bill to codify the 185 percent level, but that bill died in the House (when Dunkin didn’t vote either way), so she no longer has any leverage. “We don’t have anything other than the governor’s word,” she said.
*** UPDATE 1 *** After some initial confusion, Team Rauner has responded on the record…
The deal stands. 185% when there’s a budget with recommendations for further policy changes coming from the bipartisan commission.
I asked if what Bassi said was in error…
I think the statement I just sent speaks for itself
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sen. Hutchinson called the Rauner folks just before they issued the statement to me. She said it was important that the administration went on the record today with the clarification, adding “This is an exercise in trust, and that’s the only thing that’s going to get us out of this.”
Yep.
*** UPDATE 3 *** A text from Rep. André Thapedi, a member of JCAR who pressed DHS about the 185 percent issue…
Rich, I saw the statement on the blog. I have taken enough depositions and tried enough cases to know that proffered statement is not an unequivocal answer to my straightforward question. There is no unequivocal commitment to 185% of the FLP when the budget is done. That leads me to believe we won’t be seeing the 185% anytime soon, if ever. I hope the governor’s people will clarify this as I have people in my district scared to death and looking for answers and certainty.
André
*** UPDATE 4 *** Emily Miller at Voices for Illinois Children…
After initial confusion, Voices for Illinois Children was relieved to read the governor’s office clarification that the agreement made to fully restore child care stands. Upon passage of an FY16 budget, child care assistance will be fully restored to all families up to 185% of the federal poverty level.
While it was unfortunate that the Department of Human Services’ representative wasn’t clear on the Governor’s position at the JCAR hearing on child care today, it’s fair to say that everyone involved is very busy and invested in this process, and in this instance, perhaps lines of communication got crossed.
The next step is to work together, try to trust one another, and hold each other accountable so that lawmakers and the governor can pass a fully funded, year-long budget invests in children, families and communities. At that point, child care eligibility will be restored to 185% of the federal poverty level, which is a good thing for working families.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Press release…
Following is the statement of SEIU Healthcare Illinois Child Care Vice President Brynn Seibert regarding confusing testimony today by Bruce Rauner administration officials that appeared to renege on a deal to restore the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) eligibility requirements.
“Today’s JCAR hearing confirmed our worst fears about the hastily-conjured “deal” Bruce Rauner hatched last week—that his face-saving political gesture provides no ironclad assurances that child care in Illinois will be restored to full health when a budget deal is struck and after suffering needless and devastating cuts.
“Today, not only was the Rauner administration unable to identify supposed savings, or quantify the very real human costs of his cruel actions, or even answer a simple “yes-or-no” question about repairing CCAP, but there remains no way whatsoever to ensure the central part of the Rauner “deal,” announced by his close friend and key ally Ken Dunkin, that the program will return to an eligibility threshold of 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
“Nobody should be prepared to take Rauner at his word, given that he’s left child care in Illinois in tatters. Administratively, in the courtroom and at the bargaining table, Rauner has brought ruin and instability to the Child Care Assistance Program. Today’s administrative hearing provided another shameful heaping of the same.”
*** UPDATE 6 *** Rep. Ken Dunkin via text message…
However folks are trying to twist some statements from a DHS lawyer at JCAR is not my concern. The Governor just reassured me, again his commitment stands on child care. We go back to 185 at budget and take recommendations for policy changes from commission.
…Adding… Another text from Rep. Dunkin…
162 is what Toi & Jehan agreed on. I will make sure we are at 185 when we get a Budget.
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* Tony Arnold…
The son of longtime U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago), Flynn Rush is considering getting into the family business. In what would be his first campaign for public office, Rush’s son is considering taking on one of the most established Democrats in Springfield.
Flynn Rush recently filed paperwork with the State Board of Elections to run in the Democratic primary against State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, who has represented Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood since 1979. She’s the person House Speaker Michael Madigan often relies on for important legislation.
Flynn Rush didn’t return WBEZ’s calls for comment. But his uncle, Marlon Rush, did. Marlon said his nephew is still thinking about challenging Currie, and hasn’t made a final decision. He said the younger Rush thinks not all people of the district have been represented during Flynn Currie’s tenure in Springfield.
“He has a second nature to be concerned for all people,” Marlon said of his nephew. He went on to say that Flynn Rush has worked on previous campaigns of his father, working in polling places and talking with community groups.
Leader Currie’s district was 50 percent black, 22 percent white and 22 percent Latino in the 2010 census.
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Missing the point
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Well, yeah…
“States lack legal authority to refuse to accept refugees (or any other immigrants) that are admitted by the federal [government],” [Adam Cox, a New York University Law School professor who is an expert in immigration and constitutional law] wrote in an email.
* And, of course…
“There are no barriers, no requirements in the Refugee Act of 1980 that indicate a governor has to give permission to resettle in a state,” [Anna Crosslin, the president of International Institut] said. “That’s all a federal process.”
That’s pretty obvious. We can’t just shut our state borders.
* But the states do have some leverage…
That’s not to say that states can’t make it difficult for Syrian refugees to settle once they are admitted to the United States. Once refugees are on their way to the United States, the State Department works with nine nongovernmental agencies that contract with the federal government on resettlement. Together they decide where to place refugees around the country, based on factors like the availability of jobs and housing and whether there is a local community from their home country that may be helpful, explained Kathleen Newland, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.
“States do have a role in the refugee resettlement process post admission, and it would certainly be possible for them to obstruct the resettlement process,” she said.
States could instruct their employees not to cooperate with the resettlement program, or they could freeze state-level refugee benefits or federal refugee benefits distributed by the states.
Yep.
* Meanwhile…
All of the attackers from Friday’s massacre in Paris so far have been identified as European Union nationals, according to a top EU official. The announcement further casts doubt on the validity of a Syrian passport found near the bodies of a slain attacker.
“Let me underline, the profile of the terrorists so far identified tells us this is an internal threat,” Federica Mogherini, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, said after a meeting with EU foreign ministers. “It is all EU citizens so far. This can change with the hours, but so far it is quite clear it is an issue of internal domestic security.”
The majority of attackers were identified as French or Belgian nationals. An Egyptian passport was also found, but the Egyptian Ambassador to France said it belonged to a critically wounded victim and not a perpetrator. The Syrian passport caused a ruckus, with some politicians in Europe and the U.S. calling for a halt to Syrian refugee resettlement. An increasing number of state governors are trying to defund the settlement program. American officials told CBS News that the passport might be fake, while British-daily the Independent reported that a man was arrested in Serbia while carrying a Syrian passport with matching details to the one found in Paris.
* Related…
* ADDED: The Economist: After refugees are referred by an American embassy or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, they are screened by Department of State Resettlement Service Centers all over the world. They undergo multiple investigations of their biographies; biometric checks of their fingerprints and photographs; in-depth interviews by highly trained Department of Homeland Security officers; medical screenings as well as investigations by the National Counterterrorism Center and by intelligence agencies. The entire process can take longer than three years. If a potential terrorist is determined to enter America to do harm, there are easier and faster ways to get there than by going through the complex refugee resettlement process.
* ADDED: Sen. Dick Durbin: “I want to add my voice to others here today in sharing my deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of that great nation,” said Durbin. “Some have reacted to the tragedy in France by calling for us to suspend refugees coming to this country. Many of these people have not reflected on the refugee situation in our country. Each year, the United States accepts about 70,000 refugees from around the world. These refugees are each carefully investigated, reviewed, and vetted. That process takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months before a refugee from any part of the world is allowed to enter the United States. We do everything humanly possible and take extraordinary efforts to make certain that dangerous people do not arrive on our shores. That vetting process must continue, and when it comes to suspicious circumstances, must be doubled in its intensity to make certain that our nation is safe. But those who are focusing on that as the answer to what happened in Paris are very shortsighted.”
* ADDED: McCarthy at counterterrorism workshop: Tactics must change: “I think the nature of hostage situations has also changed, because [the Paris gunmen] took hostages, but what were they doing? They were killing them. So we can’t use those tactics that we’ve used in the past where we surround, contain, talk, try and negotiate. We’re going to be in a combat situation if these things happen and we have to adjust our strategies in that way.”
* Chicago mayor says his Paris trip for climate meeting is still on despite ‘vile attack’
* Gutierrez rips Rauner move to ban Syrian refugees
* Alderman Rips Rauner in Letter to Obama
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* Either the Democrats get in front of this issue, or they’re gonna get run over by it…
More than 400,000 Illinoisans have signed petitions to put the Independent Map Amendment on the November 2016 ballot.
These petition signers want to give voters a choice between an independent commission drawing state legislative maps in a fair and transparent manner and the current system where politicians draw the maps to maximize partisan advantage and protect incumbents.
The non-partisan Independent Maps coalition announced Tuesday that it has collected 402,109 signatures and is now more than two-thirds of the way to its goal of collecting 600,000 signatures.
“Just like in Ohio where on November 3rd a redistricting reform initiative passed 71-29 percent, Illinoisans are clamoring for change in the way state legislative maps are drawn,” said Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps. “After seeing 60 percent of state legislative races go uncontested in November 2014 because of slanted maps drawn to discourage competition and protect incumbents, voters want to fix a rigged system.” […]
“We reached the 400,000 mark about five months earlier than the 2014 campaign, and we will continue collecting signatures until it is time to deliver our petitions to the State Board of Elections next May,” he said. “To put an amendment before voters, the Illinois Constitution requires a minimum of 290,216 valid signatures, and our goal is to collect more than twice that number as insurance against petition challenges by the entrenched interests who oppose reform.”
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Today’s number: $835,000
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Keep this in mind when you’re thinking that the Democrats are preparing to cave on union issues…
House Speaker Michael Madigan on Monday reported another $321,000 in campaign contributions to his personal campaign fund and the Democratic Party of Illinois fund. An operating engineers political fund contributed nearly $106,000 of that total, and three personal injury law firms contributed nearly $65,000. Unions and the trial lawyers are siding with the Democrats, as Republican Gov. Rauner wants to scale back collective bargaining rights and approve changes to the civil lawsuit system.
The operating engineers fund has doled out nearly $835,000 since Jan. 1, most of it to Democratic lawmakers. One of the law firms, Power Rogers & Smith, has given nearly $95,000 in the same period. Corboy & Demetrio has given around $90,000. Keefe & Keefe has given more than $115,000.
…Adding… A commenter makes a valid point…
This is about more than money. Members of organized labor live in these districts, attend our functions, know the issues in a very personal and technical manner, and have the same philosophy on the issues as Dem lawmakers.
They are not only members of the same team, but have been for decades.
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* Unintended consequences of the governor’s Turnaround Agenda? Maybe. Here’s Parkland Community College President Tom Ramage…
Ramage said he hopes Parkland’s board of trustees opts next month to raise the college’s property tax rate to the maximum to capture as much money as possible before statewide tax caps go into effect.
He said the board can raise two small funds — tort and immunity, and protection, health and safety — to get more property tax money.
Ramage estimated that the tax increase to the typical homeowner in the Parkland district would be about $15 next year.
“If we’re looking at a tax cap going in to next year, it seems to me that we would want to maximize to the extent possible the amount of revenue we bring in now while we have a chance. That needs to be passed by the trustees. They need to agree or to not agree to that,” Ramage told a meeting of the college’s faculty and staff Monday morning.
“If they do agree, it’s up us to tell our neighbors and our friends and our parents and our kids and whoever, why their tax bill for Parkland College went up 15 bucks. Because it will never go up again, is the answer to that story, if tax caps happen.”
He called it “a one-time opportunity to cushion the effect of tax caps.”
Ramage said Parkland has benefited from natural growth in the assessed valuation of the property within its 10 counties.
“If this law is passed this year, the effect on Parkland would be that the amount of money in actual dollars that Parkland takes in this year in property taxes would be frozen, perhaps indefinitely,” he said. “The legislation says two years but it is a very, very difficult thing to get property tax caps removed once they’re in place. You might imagine why. It sounds like a good thing to the general citizenry.”
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A moderate mushroom revolt
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A week ago yesterday, I told subscribers about how some House Republicans were pushing Gov. Bruce Rauner to come up with some compromises on child care, elder care and municipal government funding, among other things. That push got lost in the shuffle when Democratic state Rep. Ken Dunkin sided with the governor on crucial floor votes. Reboot picks up the trail…
Gov. Bruce Rauner finally might be heeding messages from more experienced Republican legislators. And those lawmakers are listening to their constituents. […]
Dunkin might take the credit, but House Republicans were telling Rauner and his aides that he had choked off too much state aid for child care by shrinking the eligibility requirement too dramatically. Some of them were going to have trouble staying with the governor if the House Democrats called a bill to try to take power away from governors to rewrite such eligibility rules.
Rauner got the message. He’d lost that battle already, or was about to, so he compromised and declared victory early Monday morning by agreeing to ease up on the requirements. When Democrats pushed ahead with an attempt to take away the power anyway, Republicans saw the danger in that and stayed with Rauner, who got Dunkin to go along, blocking the move. […]
State Rep. David Harris, a conservative Arlington Heights Republican who previously served 10 years in the 1980s and 1990s and has four years in the House now, said, “There were a number of us who were concerned about child care. There also was the sensitivity of the issue.” […]
State Rep. David McSweeney, a wealthy conservative from Barrington who isn’t as reliant on Rauner’s financial aid, agreed: “I applaud him for doing it, but let’s move on” to the budget and pensions. […]
Harris said seven or eight Republicans told the governor’s office they could no longer hold back from voting for a bill sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Marty Moylan of Des Plaines to release funds to pay municipalities the motor fuel tax receipts that are not part of the annual budgeting process, but instead are held in a special fund, as well as gambling proceeds and the 911 fees held in special funds.
Moderate, practical House Republican members are crucial to solving this mess. They’ve been forced to take innumerable bad votes by the House Speaker and their governor all year, and many have had more than enough, thank you very much.
More like this, please.
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