Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was asked following his address Wednesday at the City Club of Chicago about the state income tax rate. Given misleading headlines and mischaracterization of the Speaker’s comments, the following clarifies his long-held position:
As I have stated for several months, and as I stated in my address to the City Club today, when it comes to solving the state’s budget deficit, I believe we need to take a balanced approach that includes a combination of new revenue and reductions in state spending. A cuts-only budget, as the governor proposed earlier this year, would severely cut medical care services for the elderly, the disabled and struggling families, would hurt middle-class families and would do more harm than good. That’s why we need a balanced approach.
We have no plans to advance legislation to change the income tax rate, and I am committed to working with the governor to develop a budget that provides for a balanced approach to solving our budget deficit.
“The breakdown in the system was real, and it was the direct result of decades of racism and neglect of communities of color,” said Ald. Roderick T. Sawyer (6), Black Caucus chair. “These are just the first steps, but we will remain committed to delivering full justice and making our Chicago the best that it can be for all of its citizens.”
Sawyer also noted that members of the Black Caucus have worked with the City’s Corporation Counsel to amend the way police misconduct settlements are handled.
“We are instituting protocol wherein the full City Council will receive a full briefing on these matters that will include all of the evidence, full discussion of the underlying case and a recommendation from Corporation Counsel,” said Sawyer. “To ensure we receive the full story, the plaintiff’s counsel will be on hand as well. Finally the video, if one exists, will be made available to the full Council at the briefing.”
* Their seven ideas…
1) CPD must stop shooting people in the back.
2) CPD employees who file false reports must be prosecuted. So far, the Cook County State’s Attorney has not pressed charges against the officers who filed false reports in the Laquan McDonald case. It has been more than 400 days, and still, no charges. This is unacceptable.
3) City Council and the Emanuel Administration must engage directly with the FOP to reform the disciplinary sections of the contract which at times have hindered proper action against officers who use excessive force or engage in other inappropriate behavior.
4) A special prosecutor is needed to pursue justice in all police involved shooting cases.
5) City Hall must support full integration with federal agencies to bring the resources necessary to tackle the systemic economic issues that have caused the conditions in our community.
6) The Blue Ribbon Task Force must be broadened to include community members, representation from the City Council, clinicians and members of the Defense Bar.
7) Due to the fractured nature of the relationship between the African American community and the CPD, we need full and serious consideration of an African American police superintendent to replace Supt. Garry McCarthy.
* Keep in mind that the two sponsors of HB 4356, Reps. LaShawn Ford and Mary Flowers, are Chicagoans who currently have Democratic primary opposition…
Establishes a procedure for an election to recall the Mayor of Chicago. Effective immediately.
Oof.
That’ll get some TV play (by design).
* As we discussed earlier today, Chicagoans are mad as heck right now. Tax hikes, crime spikes, police shooting videos, coverups, lies, you name it, they are mad about it.
And several state legislators are now at the mercy of those very same angry city voters.
So, under the bus goes Rahm, although not literally because I doubt this thing ever sees the light of day. It’ll be interesting to watch whether any more jump on as co-sponsors, however. The days of cowering before the mighty mayor appear to be over for now. He’s got no campaign money in the bank, no troops, and the voters hate him.
Nothing personal. Just business.
…Adding… I’m not even sure this bill would be legal since Emanuel was elected under the current rules (which do not provide for recall). Perhaps our legal type commenters can clue us in.
* At today’s City Club luncheon, House Speaker Michael Madigan was asked, “How high do you think taxes need to go?”
Here’s Madigan’s response, which is at about the 1:08:37 mark on the video…
“OK, let me avoid creating a headline for tomorrow’s newspaper. [Laughter]
“I’d say that a good place to begin - good place to begin - would be the level we were at before the income tax [increase] expired. Starting there you can go in whatever direction you want to go.” [More laughter]
House Speaker Michael Madigan says the state’s income tax should be restored to the 5 percent level it was at until January.
The Chicago Democrat told a City Club of Chicago crowd that the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit demands a tax hike.
A four-year, temporary increase from 3 percent to 5 percent expired last winter with the blessing of incoming Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. It dropped to 3.75 percent.
Madigan says the 5 percent level would be a “good place to begin.”
Sheesh.
*** UPDATE 1 *** More headlines…
* Tribune: Madigan: Raise income tax rate back to 5 percent, for starters
* Reuters: Illinois House speaker eyes return of 5 pct income tax rate
* WCIA tweet: BREAKING: IL Speaker Michael Madigan said he would support raising the state income tax back to 5 percent
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
In response to Speaker Madigan’s call for a 33% income tax increase “as a good place to begin,” Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno:
“It’s a busy time of year for most families, but taxpayers need to pay close attention. The powerful Democrat leadership is proposing a whopping 33% income tax increase – with no reforms to change the way we do business in Illinois. It’s outrageous and shows what we Republican legislators and Governor Rauner are up against in the state budget negotiations.
The citizens of Illinois want structural reforms that will lead to a more competitive Illinois economy and middle class economic growth, while protecting the taxpayers.”
* But that’s about to change. Remember the story from Monday about a group calling itself The Humanity Fund which sent a letter to Secretary of State Jesse White asking that its gay pride Festivus Pole be, um, “erected” in the rotunda?…
The 2015 Gay Pride Festivus Pole is approximately 6’6” tall, painted with purple-glitter, covered in the rainbow colors of diversity, and topped with an 8” disco ball.
And while Quinn was governor, the state entered into a contract with SEIU to contribute money for each hour worked by home care workers represented by the union toward health insurance.
The state is paying $1.11 an hour.
But here is the rub: Fewer than one-fifth of the home care workers actually accepted the insurance offered by the health care fund administered by SEIU.
So instead of the state just contributing toward the 5,000 employees accepting the insurance, taxpayers are paying for those employees and an extra 20,000 workers who said they didn’t want it.
Wouldn’t it be better if workers declining the insurance got a pay raise instead?
Why would Quinn negotiate a contract like that?
At least on the surface, it would appear the contract has the state paying 80 percent more than it should.
Messages were left with SEIU and Quinn, but neither responded.
There is no ‘surcharge,’ on everyone and certainly nobody is being compelled to pay for benefits that are not provided (which IPI is dishonestly trying to suggest).
The state’s preferred method of accounting is to work that amount into the hourly rate as opposed to paying a lump sum per individual, hence why, by their accounting, it looks like everyone is being charged for health insurance. Again, the rate is based on the cost of up to the capped level of 5,250 workers taking advantage of the SEIU health insurance.
The union, by the way, claims it has no record of being contacted about this story.
* Full statement from James Muhammad, SEIU Healthcare Illinois vice president…
“In its latest attack against our workers, the Illinois Policy Institute, the political right hand of Bruce Rauner’s pocketbook which dutifully serves as his policy mouthpiece, is making totally inaccurate assertions about health insurance benefits for home healthcare providers.
“The IPI is making the outrageous claim that the state is contributing funds towards unwanted and unclaimed benefits. This is simply inaccurate. The state ONLY contributes funding sufficient to provide health insurance for a portion of the workforce that works full-time, or close to full-time, and has set a maximum number of workers that it will fund to cap spending. And what the state DOES contribute to our health fund is efficient and cost-effective by any measure. What a coincidence that IPI has decided to attack benefits that Rauner wants to deny at the bargaining table, and for which a St. Clair County judge recently ordered him to restore funding. (The Rauner attack group also incorrectly asserted that the administrator of the fund isn’t a full-time worker.)
“We have countless and moving stories of low-wage workers, for whom the health fund has been a life-saver. But we don’t think this, or facts, matter to the IPI, which is pursuing a coordinated political agenda with Rauner and his billionaire friends to harm workers, strip them of their voice and ensure that employers can lower wages, benefits and protections throughout Illinois.”
Top Illinois Republicans Tuesday denounced presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s recent call to block all Muslims from entering the U.S. […]
“Banning any race or religion, as Donald Trump has suggested, is anathema to American values and should be rejected,” [Sen. Mark Kirk] said in a statement. “Instead, the American people need both parties to develop a clear and concise strategy to destroy the Islamic state and prove that our security transcends political rhetoric.”
* The folks at EMILY’s List are apparently too busy reading DC-based publications to notice some mere local reporting. Here’s their press release from late this morning…
EMILY’s List Exposes Trump-Kirk Agenda
Today EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, denounced Illinois Senator Mark Kirk for aligning himself with the extreme and dangerous policies espoused by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Earlier this year, EMILY’s List put Senator Kirk “On Notice” for his radical anti-woman and anti-family agenda, making his seat a top target for Democratic takeover in 2016.
On the heels of Donald Trump’s outrageous and unconstitutional proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, the Washington Post reported that Kirk “simply denied that Trump’s antics would have any impact on his contest.” Trump holds a commanding lead in all national polls of the Republican presidential primary.
“Senator Kirk has a long record of supporting dangerous and discriminatory policies that are in lockstep with Donald Trump’s offensive and incendiary rhetoric,” said EMILY’s List Communications Director Marcy Stech. “The people of Illinois don’t want an extreme Trump-Kirk agenda that demonizes entire segments of our population and puts American women and families in danger.
“As headlines predicting Trump-related losses down ticket start to pile up, maybe Senator Kirk should do some soul-searching about why he’s so tied to someone so toxic.”
They take an off-hand, brief comment about Trump’s impact on his own race and inflate that into a grand, unholy alliance with Donald Trump?
Sheesh.
EMILY’s List needs to apologize for this one.
Also, what “radical anti-woman agenda”? He’s one of the only pro-choice Republicans in that entire town.
Kirk agrees with other Republicans that what Trump has been saying on immigration since he began his presidential campaign, like claiming many undocumented immigrants coming from Mexico are “killers” and “rapists”, are reflecting poorly on the rest of the party.
“I would say that Trump is probably hurting the Republican Party with his over-the-top comments on the spirit and character of Mexicans, which is not correct,” Kirk said. “I went to school in Mexico. It’s not a country of rapists and criminals.”
And his “radical anti-woman agenda” apparently includes voting against a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.
Rep. Kelly Cassidy will hold a news conference Thursday to announce that she will introduce new legislation for 2016 that would replace criminal penalties with a civil fine for possession of a personal amount of marijuana in Illinois.
The news conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT in the Blue Room of the James R. Thompson Center. Rep. Cassidy will be joined by Rev. Alexander Sharp of Clergy for a New Drug Policy and other members of the Illinois faith community who believe the state’s current criminal penalties for marijuana possession are causing harm to their communities.
The new proposal will include provisions Gov. Bruce Rauner and a majority of the members of the General Assembly agreed to earlier this year. It will largely mirror legislation previously introduced by Rep. Cassidy that was approved in the Senate (37-19) on May 21 and in the House (62-53) on April 23, as well the amendments proposed by the governor when he vetoed the bill and returned it to the legislature on August 14.
OK, fine, but I’m still peeved that Rep. Cassidy didn’t simply accept the governor’s amendatory veto that even Illinois NORML said would be fine with them.
Hopefully, the new bill goes enough beyond Rauner’s amendatory veto to make it worth the wait.
But, really, decriminalization means people would still be buying an untaxed, illegal product from unlicensed, unlawful dealers. Cut out the criminal element and legalize it, fer cryin’ out loud. Plus, the state is a bit short these days and could use the bucks.
* Nominations for the 2015 Golden Horeshoe Award for Best Illinois State Representative - Republican were neck and neck. Rep. David Harris just barely pulled it out…
There is no one member more deserving of praise than David Harris. He is a voice of sound reason that both sides should spend more time listening to.
Rep. Dave McSweeney is awarded a very close runner-up for strong nominations like this one…
I think that everyone in Springfield was afraid of what he might be when he first got to Springfield. And, yes, he has definitely still ruffled feathers, especially in his own caucus. But he has really established himself as an independent thinker, who, while very conservative, is also interested in getting things done and doing what he thinks is right. In a year that has seen so little independence on either side of the aisle, McSweeney has actually stood out.
* The 2015 Golden Horeshoe Award for Best Illinois State Representative - Democrat…
It may be moot given that he was just sworn-in as Auditor General, but my vote for best House Dem goes to Frank Mautino. Never mugging for the cameras, always willing to spare some time for you, always willing to give it to you straight. What more can you ask for?
Also, an intellectual and political grasp of the budget not seen in most mortals, let alone mere legislators. This guy ate, drank and slept with budget books. He’s forgotten more about budgets than most people will ever learn. He’s going to be missed by a lot of people who’ve too often taken him for granted. They don’t make them like Mautino anymore.
No, they don’t.
Congratulations!
* On to today’s categories…
* Best Illinois State Senator - Republican
* Best Illinois State Senator - Democrat
As always, make sure to explain your nominations or your vote won’t count. Thanks!
* House Speaker Michael Madigan will be speaking to the City Club today at 12:30. He hasn’t done this gig in years, but I kinda doubt he’ll break any new ground. The post-speech questions could be interesting, however. Watch it live right here…
I’ll have a ScribbleLive feed when the time comes.
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Rauner described Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. as “an extreme action.”
“What he’s proposing is just fundamentally counter to American values,” Rauner said Tuesday in response to reporters’ questions. “I strongly, strongly disagree with candidate Trump.”
I think most agree that Trump’s proposal to halt almost all Muslim travel to the USA runs counter to American values.
But the governor wants a temporary ban on resettling vetted refugees here. The Donald wants a temporary ban on travel to this country by mostly unvetted tourists, etc.
“What we are trying to do is communicate with President Obama’s administration. What we’ve asked is that we share information with the federal and state government.” […]
“We have a duty to work together to try to block terrorists while allowing honest folks, immigrants and tourists to come to the United States,” Rauner said. “Right now the information-sharing is inadequate. The officials in Paris have acknowledged that their coordination and communication efforts among the different levels were not adequate.”
Wait.
The governor hasn’t called for blocking mostly unvetted Syrian tourists from coming to Illinois. He hasn’t talked about home-grown terrorists, either. He’s solely focused instead on vetted war refugees…
Critics say governors don’t have the legal authority to block refugees, and it’s discrimination to block out any one group.
But this time, Rauner didn’t just single out Syrians.
“I have asked the Obama administration to take a pause - it’s not a long-term action but a pause - in our acceptance, our welcoming, of refugees from Syria and Iraq,” Rauner said.
In written statements outlining his refugee policy, Rauner didn’t include Iraqis.
Apparently, Rauner didn’t read an open letter written by former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, former CIA Director General David Petraeus, former National Security Directors Brent Scowcroft and Gen. Michael Hayden, among others…
Given the stringent measures in place, we are especially concerned by proposals that would derail or further delay the resettlement of Iraqis who risked their lives to work with the U.S. military and other U.S. organizations. These refugees were given priority access to U.S. resettlement under the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act. The United States has a moral obligation to protect them.
* Gov. Rauner forgot to mention Libya, by the way. I guess his crack anti-terrorism unit didn’t brief him on the loyal Iraqi workers or that God-forsaken country…
“We have an anti-terrorism group in our state government. They are not being informed by the federal government on what’s going on, who’s coming, what the backgrounds are,” Rauner said. “We can treat it all with highly classified folks, and what I’m advocating is just an increased level of communication so we can battle against terrorists together.”
I asked the governor’s office this morning how many people are in the state’s “anti-terrorism group.” I’ll let you know if they respond.
…Adding… Soccermom in comments…
I spent some time this year trying to help an Iraqi refugee who had fled an abusive husband (leaving her young son behind) to start a new life in America. She came here just about penniless, with two suitcases. And she proceeded to become a horrible burden on Illinois taxpayers (If you call working two jobs, graduating Harold Washington College as valedictorian and getting a scholarship to complete her degree at an Ivy League school being a horrible burden.)
What a jerk.
*** UPDATE *** So, do we ban Illinois National Guard members from coming to Illinois?…
An Illinois man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to plotting with his cousin, a National Guard member, to attack an Illinois military installation as part of a conspiracy to support Islamic State, a U.S. prosecutor’s spokesman said.
Jonas Edmonds was charged with his cousin, Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, of planning to carry out an armed attack on the military facility where Hasan Edmonds had been training in Joliet, 34 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.
Today, area native, Harvard graduate, and innovation consultant, Jason Gonzales, announced his candidacy for the democratic nomination for state representative of Illinois’ 22nd district.
“I’m running to make the needs of the 22nd district first priority. Our community is suffering from a major lack of economic development, quality middle class jobs, and too many families are now having to pay property taxes that they just cannot afford,” Gonzales said. “From my early experience in the service industry as an SEIU member, as a former small business owner, and currently as an innovation consultant; I’m ready to bring new ideas and leadership to solve Illinois’ and the 22nd district’s toughest problems.”
Jason Gonzales, 41, spent his early years on the Southwest Side of Chicago, the son of a Mexican-American union electrician father and a dental hygienist mother. He describes himself as a “troubled teenager” who attended an alternative high school. Despite these challenges, he changed his life and graduated with honors from Duke University, where he was a student-athlete.
Jason began as a union worker with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) before starting and owning a catering and food service business for 13 years. His ambitions drove him to earn a Master’s in Business Administration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was a top student and served as an advisor and confidant to L. Rafael Reif, MIT’s 17th President. After MIT, Gonzales earned a Master’s in Public Administration from the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where David Gergen, the CNN Senior Political Analyst and advisor to five US presidents mentored him.
He moved back to Chicago, where he founded an international nonprofit training entrepreneurs and bringing clean water to the developing world. He has worked in business and real estate, managing multi-million dollar development bids and contracts. Gonzales is currently an innovation consultant, who has worked with companies in both public and private sectors.
Jason received awards from the City of Los Angeles for innovative community development in Chicago, the Durham Companions for his work with at-risk youth and has been nominated to the World Economic Forum and Council on Foreign Relations for innovation and global leadership. He serves as a trustee for both the Garfield Ridge Civic League and MIT Sloan Club of Chicago. He is also a member of the City Club of Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and Spertus Institute of Leadership.
“I love this state and my community; I refuse to believe that we cannot bring impactful and positive change to Illinois,” Gonzales said. After 45 years of Speaker Madigan, it’s time for a change.”
I’m assuming his bio will be fact-checked.
Speaking of checked, Gonzales’ petitions weren’t challenged. However, both of the two suspected “put-up” (by Madigan) primary candidates were hit by challenges.
Gonzales, 41, says Madigan allies observing candidate filings at the Illinois State Board of Elections just before the close of business on Nov. 30 acted swiftly when he filed his nominating petitions challenging Madigan for the Democratic nominations in the 22nd Illinois House District. Within minutes of Gonzales’ filing, nominating petitions for two other candidates were filed. […]
“I specifically timed it so I had a shot at just me and Speaker Madigan on the ballot. Evidently I didn’t time it late enough. I didn’t want to time it too close because I was afraid there might be a line or something could have gone wrong where I couldn’t have filed. So I was waiting for the last minute and honestly they were not expecting me. I watched the whole thing go down,” says Gonzales. “I filed and … one of Mr. Madigan’s lobbyists or assistants… saw me because they thought I wasn’t running. There were rumors that I had dropped out of the race and I guess they had sort of staked their belief on that. When he saw me, he jumped up, grabbed a file box, went out into the hallway and I watched him pull two candidates’ petitions out of the box. Another assistant prepared them and as soon as I filed, they walked in with other people and filed those candidates right behind me.”
The MJM peeps likely didn’t stake their belief on anything since they apparently had petitions ready to go.
“Many of the signatures it’s our belief that they are bogus or they’re not valid in one way, shape or form. So the community members have filed objections to these two candidates which are very clearly Madigan plants. ” Gonzales said. “I don’t know anything about them. They appear just to be people from the neighborhood. I will find out more. I’ll be stopping by their homes at some point to introduce myself.”
His campaign committee as of Dec. 8 had filed no financial information, though Gonzales said he would be logging about $20,000 in donations in a few days.
* Michael Sneed says CPS CEO Forrest Claypool is looking at cutting administrative positions by a third…
Insiders tell Sneed to look out for the massive cuts as a down payment on bridging this year’s $500 million budget gap — and an effort to avert the worst impacts on classrooms.
Sneed is told about 450 CPS administrative jobs could be chopped to the tune of $50 million. The CPS Central Office, which has 1,400 administrative positions, has a $150 million budget. […]
Backshot: Claypool has been hustling to persuade Springfield to step up and do its part with a new campaign called “20 for 20” — arguing that CPS students are 20 percent of the state’s enrollment, but only get 15 percent of the funding.
Claypool and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have asked the state for a $480 million bailout, which includes $200 million for the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund.
* Senate President John Cullerton is also on the “20 for 20″ bandwagon. From his Tribune op-ed…
We estimate that Chicago schoolchildren, among the state’s most disadvantaged, will receive $4,037 per student in fiscal year 2016 while all other districts will receive, on average, $5,461 per student. That’s less than $3 in state funding to Chicago schools for every $4 suburban and downstate schools receive, on average. […]
The state’s unequal provision of classroom funding is even more abhorrent because 86 percent of Chicago public schoolchildren are low-income. Studies have shown it takes more money, not less, to educate children living in poverty. […]
Schools with high levels of children in poverty should get more than average funding if we are to demand the same results as in other schools. But if Chicago schools simply received average funding — 20 percent of funding for the 20 percent of state enrollment the city represents — Chicago Public Schools would receive upward of $500 million more, enough to avoid classroom cuts this year while the district fights its way out of an unprecedented $1.1 billion budget hole.
State funding is based partly on the local property tax base, and Chicago’s is growing. While Cullerton’s point about low-income families is spot-on, if we want to start basing state school funding on population, a whole lot of wealthy suburban districts will make out like bandits.
Cullerton also mentions the $3.8 billion given by the state to suburban and Downstate schools for their pension fund. Chicago receives very little for its own fund. On that topic, he makes a good point.
Radogno and Durkin also said lawmakers agreed [during yesterday’s leaders’ meeting] to shelve talk of changing the formula Illinois uses to fund public education, saying they will take it up after a budget deal is reached. Lawmakers have long agreed that the system should be more equitable, but not on how to fix it.
Emanuel’s remarks come amid poll results released Tuesday that show 51 percent of Chicagoans surveyed believe he should resign over his handling of the Laquan McDonald case. Perhaps more difficult in the long run for the mayor, though, is that his job approval rating has dropped to 18 percent from 35 percent a year ago.
Ouch.
The robopoll, which is here, was conducted Saturday by Ogden & Fry. The same outfit did a poll for the same publication back in September which found his approval rating at 25 percent.
No doubt that Emanuel’s poll numbers are horrible, but his approval rating isn’t that much lower post-LaQuan McDonald than it was before the horrible snuff video was released. Why? Tax hikes, teachers’ union troubles, junk bond rating, etc., etc., etc. Chicagoans are a mighty grumpy bunch.
64 percent, by the way, say they don’t believe the mayor when he says he never watched the McDonald video.
Remember that “credibility gap” phrase from the old days?
* Even so, I’ve said before that I don’t see Emanuel ever stepping down. One poll certainly ain’t gonna push him out the door. Besides, what aldercreature are they gonna replace him with? Not happening.
It’s also been fairly clear since the election that Emanuel isn’t going to run for another term (a big tipoff is that he’s barely raised any money since the campaign ended). So, while the poll may drive the media narrative for a bit (at least until we get another poll), it likely won’t matter in the end.
* But when half the populace thinks their mayor ought to resign… Whew.
The council is definitely gonna run for cover. And that’ll make it far more difficult to do the things necessary to turn that city around. He can’t go big if aldermen are constantly watching their backs because of him.
* Subscribers were tipped that these petitions were probably bad enough to get him kicked. So he apparently dropped out instead. Tribune…
Flynn Rush, the son of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, withdrew as a candidate Tuesday in challenging state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie for the March 15 Democratic nomination on Chicago’s South Side.
Currie, who has served in the legislature since 1979, is the House majority leader, the top deputy role for veteran Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Flynn Rush’s bid to get on the ballot already had faced a candidacy petition challenge. The State Board of Elections said Flynn Rush withdrew his candidacy on Tuesday afternoon.
The candidacy petitions of Bobby Rush also are facing an intensive challenge from Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, one of three Democrats challenging the veteran congressman.
