AFL-CIO endorses GOP Sen. Sam McCann
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Union members and leaders from up and down the state met on Wednesday to vote on Illinois AFL-CIO endorsements for the 2016 Primary Election.
Nearly 150 delegates representing regional organizations, fire fighters, teachers, construction workers and medical professionals, among many other workers gathered to make candidate recommendations to the state federation leadership.
“One year to the day after Bruce Rauner was sworn in as Governor, we began the work of defeating Rauner’s allies in the General Assembly. Labor is united and ready to mobilize,” said Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan. “We endorsed against a Democrat that stood with Rauner and his anti-worker agenda and we supported one of the only Republicans to stand up to the Governor. It’s not about political parties, it’s about who is willing to invest in middle class working families. The delegates understood the clear choices in front of them.”
In December, the Illinois AFL-CIO endorsed Juliana Stratton in the 5th State House District against incumbent Democrat Ken Dunkin, who has sided with Rauner on multiple issues and prevented veto overrides by not voting on key measures. On Wednesday, the state federation endorsed Sen. Sam McCann in the 50th District Senate GOP Primary. After publicly sparring with Rauner on labor issues, McCann now faces Republican opposition from a Rauner-backed opponent.
“We expect Rauner to continue poisoning progress with his obsession on passing his so-called Turnaround Agenda,” Carrigan added. “He will give money to candidates. We will knock on doors and talk to our co-workers and neighbors. Rauner has a fat checkbook to buy TV ads, but workers and their unions have thousands of volunteers that will visit neighbors and call friends and co-workers to discuss why his plans only benefit those in the boardroom, not families around the kitchen table.”
The Illinois AFL-CIO, which represents unions with 1.5 million registered voters, endorsed statewide candidates Tammy Duckworth for U.S. Senate and Susana Mendoza for Comptroller in September.
The full list is here.
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Remap reform group piggybacks on Obama speech
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The non-partisan coalition for Illinois legislative maps to be drawn by an independent commission applauded President Obama’s support of redistricting reform across the nation, and urged the President to support the reform efforts in his home state.
“The President’s words in the State of the Union Address – ‘We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around.’ – hold true for redistricting of the Illinois General Assembly where he once served,” said Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps.
“The Independent Map Amendment will end the practice that now allows politicians to pick their voters, and not the other way around,” FitzSimons said. “We are heartened by President Obama’s commitment to travel the country to advocate redistricting reform, and we urge him to bring that campaign to Illinois where reform is so badly needed.”
In his speech, President Obama also stressed that changes in the political process “will only happen when the American people demand it.” The full text of the State of the Union Address is available on the White House website here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/01/12/remarks-president-barack-obama-–-prepared-delivery-state-union-address
“Voters in Illinois are demanding change in the way the Illinois General Assembly is elected,” said Dave Mellet, Campaign Manager of Independent Maps. “Our coalition is diverse and includes many who have supported his past campaigns, as well as some opponents. We don’t agree on all policy issues, but we stand together for reform of the system, for elections to be fair, for votes to count and for voices to be heard.”
* From the address…
But that means if we want a better politics — and I’m addressing the American people now — if we want a better politics, it’s not enough just to change a congressman or change a senator or even change a President. We have to change the system to reflect our better selves. I think we’ve got to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around. (Applause.) Let a bipartisan group do it. (Applause.)
He was talking about congressional reapportionment, but I don’t blame them for using it to their own advantage.
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* He’s back…
From: Richard Goldberg, Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs
To: Members of the General Assembly
Date: January 13, 2016
Re: Illinois Public Universities Need Reform Badly
Over the last 14 years, Illinois public universities raised tuition rates by more than 200%, generating $1.5 billion in new revenue for their Income Funds. Unfortunately, the General Assembly has no control over each university’s Income Fund, no control over the spending that occurs within these funds, nor does it have the information needed to determine how fiscally responsible Illinois universities are with Income Fund revenue.
We encourage members of both sides of the aisle to ask Illinois public universities what reforms they are willing to adopt to cut waste, root out cronyism, improve outcomes and achieve savings of taxpayers money (e.g. cutting waste, procurement reform, pension reform, workers’ compensation reform).
• Administrative Staff: According to the Senate Democratic Caucus’ “Investigative Report” on Executive Compensation at Illinois Higher Education Institutions: From 2004 to 2010, administrative staff at Illinois’ public universities increased 31.1%, while part-time and full- time students increased a mere 2.3%. In FY11, the average student-to-administrator ratio for the nine universities was approximately 45 students for every one administrator. More than 1,500 university employees make more than the statutory salary set for the Governor.
• Executive Compensation: According to the same report, university executive compensation includes a base salary, pension and health insurance, and in many cases, it includes some or all of the following: car and driver services, memberships to multiple country clubs and social organizations, performance bonuses, annuities, and retirement enhancements.
• Golden Parachutes: Even when university leaders are forced to resign for misconduct, they are often treated to lavish golden parachutes. Illinois State gave fired President Timothy Flanagan $480,418 in severance after just 7 months on the job. The University of Illinois
attempted to pay fired Chancellor Phyllis Wise $400,000 in severance until public outcry led to a reversal.
• Private Jets: According to The Southern, over the past two years, Southern Illinois University administrators spent more than $180,000 on in-house chartered airplane flights. Just last year, SIU spent $1,745.60 to fly legislators to a hearing opposing the Governor’s proposed budget savings.
• Board Meetings: Between 2008 and 2014, spending on university Board meetings increased by nearly 70%. In 2014, the University of Illinois’ Board met 8 times for a total cost of $166,100.
• Tuition and Fee Waivers: Despite increases in tuition costs, public universities increased the amount of money spent on discretionary tuition and fee waivers. In FY14, for example, Graduate tuition and fee waivers for all public universities totaled $341.1 million – close to the amount of savings proposed in the Governor’s FY16 budget.
• Employee Pensions and Health Care: In FY15, taxpayers paid $1.5 billion to support the State University Retirement System (SURS) on behalf of higher education employees. In the past decade, the annual payment the state makes to SURS has increased by $1.3 billion or 466.8%. Meanwhile, the state picks up the tab for 85% of the public universities and community colleges’ contributions to Group Health Insurance (GHI). In FY14, that cost totaled $685 million; in FY15, that cost is expected to rise to $700 million or more.
• Using State Funds To Lobby The State: Six Illinois public universities employ a combined eight lobbying firms to lobby state government. In the past, Eastern Illinois University paid Senator Dick Durbin’s wife $627,000 over a period of 13 years to lobby on the University’s behalf.
As you can see, there is a need for a healthy and high-minded debate on how the university system spends the money the state provides and, more importantly, how it spends the money Illinois families are paying in tuition.
As you know, appropriating hundreds of millions of dollars in General Revenue Funds for MAP or general higher education without finding offsets – whether in the form of spending reductions or cost-saving reforms – could trigger a cash flow crisis in Illinois.
Our office stands ready to work with any member of the General Assembly who wants to find a sensible and responsible way to fund MAP and higher education without triggering a cash flow crisis by tying such funding to spending reductions in other areas of GRF or one of many cost-saving reforms.
We discussed that Senate Democratic investigative report, which was a doozy.
The SIU airplane stuff is mostly (but not all) about getting flight time for aviation students. And, of course, the Prince of Snarkness couldn’t help himself from taking a shot at Durbin for his recent comments about the governor.
* The rest of this is pretty much on-point, however, and it’s good to see they’re willing to work on finding a way to fund MAP Grants.
A few Senate Democrats held a press conference today to discuss the importance of those grants, so maybe people can start moving forward.
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Poll has Shimkus leading McCarter 65-13
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Public Opinion Strategies polled likely GOP voters in Congressman John Shimkus’ district. Shimkus is up against state Sen. Kyle McCarter. If the poll is accurate, McCarter has a very long way to go to even be competitive. From the pollster…
Key Findings
1. Kyle McCarter has wasted three months of the campaign. Neither his name ID nor his
favorables have moved.
Back in October, McCarter had 36% name ID, with a 15% favorable/3% unfavorable image with GOP primary voters. Now, in January, he has 34% name ID, with a 13% fav/4% unfav – which is a statistically insignificant movement.
2. Meanwhile, the work that Congressman John Shimkus and his team have done has paid off.
In October, the Congressman had a solid 56% favorable/13% unfavorable image. Now, it has improved to an even better 63% fav/9% unfav image. (His name ID is 90% or better in both polls).
3. This is a district that likes its Republican leaders – Governor Bruce Rauner has a strong image here.
Bruce Rauner has 97% name ID, with a strong 67% favorable/14% unfavorable image. The Governor’s support for Shimkus is a political plus for both.
4. Shimkus remains well ahead on the ballot test.
In October, Shimkus led McCarter 63%-15% on the ballot. There has not been any statistically significant movement since then, as the Shimkus lead is currently 65%-13%. That’s three months lost for McCarter.
Shimkus leads 64%-26% in the 22% of the district that is also the 54th Senate District – which McCarter currently represents. If McCarter is not competitive in his own geographic base, it is going to be difficult for him to make gains in the 78% of the district that is new to him.
Shimkus leads 59%-29% among the 34% of voters who have heard of both candidates, so this is not simply a matter of McCarter raising his name ID to make big gains.
Shimkus leads 69%-12% among Trump voters and 64%-16% among Cruz voters. Those two candidates earn a combined 54% of the presidential vote. So even the voters for the two strongest outsider candidates in the presidential primary are strongly supportive of the Congressman.
The Bottom Line
John Shimkus is well-positioned to win renomination in the 15th Congressional District primary. He is well-liked by all parts of the Republican electorate. Meanwhile, Kyle McCarter has squandered three months of opportunity to make gains. The election will tighten as undecided voters typically opt for a challenger, but Shimkus is well above 50% on the ballot and even leads in McCarter’s geographic base.
Methodology
Public Opinion Strategies completed a survey of likely primary voters in the 15th Congressional District of Illinois. The survey was conducted January 7-10, 2016 among four hundred likely voters in the district, including 80 cell phone respondents. The survey has a margin of error of +4.9% in 95 out of 100 cases.
McCarter is getting thumped in his own Senate district? Whew.
Also, those are pretty rock solid numbers for the governor among Republicans, but that’s to be expected.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Freeport Journal-Standard…
Pete Kendrick only buys a state lottery ticket if he gets the right change when buying gas.
But the record-breaking $1.5 billion Powerball prize convinced the Freeport resident to purchase a Powerball ticket today.
“Everyone’s buying one and talking about it,” he said, pushing some groceries and carrying his ticket while leaving the Cub Foods grocery store. “You’re crazy for getting one because the odds are worse than anything in the world.”
Yep, the odds are horrible. From Rep. Ron Sandack’s Facebook page…
The $1B plus Powerball prize is all the rage now. The odds of winning are 1 in 175M, roughly. So, I started looking at “equalizing” odds. 1) “Thus, if you drive to the store to buy your Powerball ticket, your chance of being killed (or killing someone else) is about 10 times greater than the chance that you will win the Powerball Jackpot.” 2) “Alternately, if you “played” Russian Roulette 100 times per day every day for 79 years with Powerball Jackpot odds, you would have better than a 99% chance of surviving.”
And even after reading that, I still bought ten tickets Monday night.
* The Question: Have you purchased a Powerball ticket? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey software
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Duckworth outraises Kirk, but there’s a catch
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Hill…
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) outraised Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R) by almost $600,000 in the fourth quarter of 2015, as the two gear up for what could be one of the tightest elections of 2016.
Duckworth brought in $1.6 million in the quarter, which bumps up her cash on hand to $3.65 million.
Kirk raised $1 million in the quarter, ending 2015 with $3.8 million on hand. […]
Duckworth ended the third quarter with about $2.85 million in her bank account, compared to Kirk’s $3.63 million. She all but closed that gap to end the year, suggesting a more effective quarter of fundraising by the challenger. […]
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) both raised more than $2 million over the same span ahead of similarly difficult reelection bids.
Pretty impressive numbers for Duckworth, but she will likely have to spend a bunch of that haul on her primary race against Andrea Zopp and state Sen. Napoleon Harris.
Kirk, on the other hand, has only token GOP opposition. Even so, his 4th quarter numbers are not particularly heartening.
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Because… Rauner!
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* IO…
In what may be the unveiling of a new Democratic line of attack against Governor Bruce Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda as the 2016 elections loom, State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) in a radio interview 10-days ago attacked Rauner’s property tax freeze push for, “ironically,” igniting the “biggest tax increase anywhere.”
In a January 2 interview on Peoria’s WMBD-1470, Koehler told talk-show Paul Gordon, “I just want to point this out, a real irony. The governor wanting to freeze property taxes all across the state… His desire to do that and his trying to push that through the legislation has now caused the biggest tax increase anywhere that I’ve ever seen in property taxes,” Koehler said. “Every community, every school district, they’re now going to go out passing property taxes because they want to hedge against what [inaudible].”
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown, who also appeared on the program, backed Koehler’s assertion.
“They don’t want to get caught short. And so the exact opposite has happened there,” Brown said. “And the fact that a prolonged debate over the budget has probably just brought more of that on. It is an interesting phenomenon.”
I don’t disagree. We’ve already discussed this topic.
However, Sen. Koehler voted for the Senate Democrats’ property tax freeze bill which passed that chamber in August. And Brown’s boss held somewhere around a kabillion property tax freeze floor votes last year.
It ain’t just the governor. Everybody’s getting into the act.
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Did the mayor just pull a string?
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz reports that the City of Chicago is now asking $190 million from the tollway for 190 acres at O’Hare’s western edge to finish construction of the Elgin-O’Hare Tollway…
In what Chicago officials say is just good bargaining but suburban leaders suspect is designed to send a bigger political message, a dispute has broken out over plans to finally bring western road access to O’Hare International Airport. […]
That asking price has tollway and other officials steaming—and suggesting that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to send a message to Gov. Bruce Rauner, who controls the tollway and has balked at giving Emanuel help for Chicago Public Schools and other needs in Springfield as part of a wider budget war.
No one much wants to say anything in public. Sources close to both the mayor and the governor say the jostling is occurring at the staff level so far. But the battle is raging as both sides sit down today for a formal bargaining session.
Suburban leaders, especially in DuPage County, have long pushed for western access, which they believe would spark development of new hotels, convention centers and other projects like those that have risen in Rosemont, adjoining the only road entrance to O’Hare, from the east. […]
Talks regarding the land transfer had been amicable until recently, when the city dropped the $190 million “poison pill,” says a top official who asked not to be named. That “disturbing” action “raises questions” about whether O’Hare politics suddenly has been pulled into Springfield fighting over the state budget, that source added.
The city says it relied on an appraisal, but won’t release the appraisal.
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Our sorry state
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Les Winkeler reports on a deal between the Amateur Trapshooting Association and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to keep The Grand American shooting tournament from leaving Sparta’s World Shooting and Recreational Complex this August…
Gov. Rauner threatened to close the WSRC, ostensibly as a stick to spur the General Assembly into action, if a budget agreement wasn’t reached by September. And, so one of the world’s largest and most modern shooting facilities has been sitting idle since September.
Compounding the lunacy, Illinois Department of Natural Resources employees are still reporting to work on a daily basis. The state just isn’t allowing anyone to use the facility – sending the state even deeper into debt.
About mid-October the ATA, the body that produces the Grand American, started getting nervous, as well it should. The event attracts thousands of shooters from around the globe. The ATA had to know if Illinois would come to its collective senses, allowing the Grand American to remain in Sparta. […]
The details of the agreement won’t be announced until tomorrow. But, apparently if the state is still without a budget by April 15, the ATA will be given permission to operate the complex through the summer.
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* We’ve all seen the trash talking by Gov. Rauner about how he will refuse to help Chicago’s schools without first getting help from Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the Turnaround Agenda.
But the mayor isn’t planning to help his own schools financially, either…
The city obviously has its own fiscal nightmares to deal with, but even that probably doesn’t help the mayor’s case much.
*** UPDATE *** Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno responds…
“It is so disappointing to read yet another declaration of Mayor Emanuel and the city of Chicago’s refusal to help the Chicago Public School system and the children it serves. How out of touch is the city to be asking for state help for CPS when the city continually refuses to address the crisis itself?”
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* WUIS…
Rauner says after a year and 67 bargaining sessions, he’s seen no progress with AFSCME.
“Our team just asked ‘em: So do you think we’re at impasse. I’m not sure, I think the union said they don’t believe we are,” Rauner said. “So our team is just trying to assess, where do we go from here? We’re spinning our wheels right now and making no progress.”
AFSMCE spokesman Anders Lindall has a different take on how things went down. He says AFSCME leaders were stunned by the impasse offer, because the union made a big new offer of its own, to accept Rauner’s wage terms for one year, and to pay more (though not as much as Rauner wants) for their health insurance.
“It is too reminiscent of the lack of a process that’s left us without a budget. It’s Rauner’s way or no way,” Lindall said.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response…
Rich, here are the “big” changes they claim to have made on Friday. They are not seeking a pay freeze at all. They changed their first year pay increase from a 1.5% general increase to a $1000 automatic stipend for all employees that would be pensionable – so that makes it a salary increase since once it is awarded it can never be reduced. Second, they changed their second year increase from 2.5% to 2.25%. They are still seeking automatic step increases all four years of the contract and they are still seeking additional increases of 3% in Year 3 and 3% in Year 4. So in the course of a full year of negotiations here are their changes:
1) Automatic four year step increases – NO CHANGE
2) Year 1: 2% increase – Automatic $1000 pensionable “stipend”
3) Year 2: 3% — 2.25%.
4) Year 3: 3% — NO CHANGE
5) Year 4: 3% — NO CHANGE
6) They have indicated they will NEVER agree to performance bonuses under any circumstance.
As for health insurance, they renewed their proposal they have made from the beginning to seek a more expensive health plan adding new health and dental benefits to their already expensive platinum plus plan. For 12 months, they have proposed no increases in premiums. Friday for the first time, they proposed to increase premiums on this new, MORE EXPENSIVE plan by between $5 to $11 a month (depending on your salary band it was proposed: $5, $6, $6, $7, $8, and $11 for each current band) in Year 2 only and then no further increases in Years 3 and 4.
There is nothing “big” about these plans and the fact that it has taken us 12 months to get here is why it is entirely reasonable to ask whether future negotiating sessions would be worthwhile. Keep in mind 17 other unions agreed to across the board pay freezes for 4 full years, new less expensive health plans, and performance pay in a matter of weeks of negotiations.
Thanks,
ck
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* Uh-oh…
A budget impasse between the General Assembly and Illinois’ Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, could force the state’s only university that serves predominately Black students to either shutter its doors or cut staff and academic programming by mid-semester.
That’s when CSU reserve funds will run out. The university has been operating off reserves that now have dwindled down to $9 million—enough to operate the 7,000 student body university for two more months. It costs about $5 million a month to operate the university that began in 1867 as teacher training school. […]
Ms. Griffin, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, noted that all public institutions are facing funding shortages, but CSU is hit harder because of its student population. Most students attending CSU are parents, many of whom work while others are working on their master’s degrees, she said.
“It is affecting us the most because we have the most non-traditional Black students,” Ms. Griffin said. “The government knows who relies on what and how much they rely on. So by not funding us, I believe that they know it is going to be detrimental for us.”
“If no state action is taken before March 1 to give CSU the state funds it needs to operate, than we expect a massive disruption of operations to take place,” said Tom Wogan, CSU’s public relations director. “It’s hard to say exactly what that will entail as we are in uncharted waters. There has never been a 7 month delay in state funding before.”
Griffin’s point is well-taken. This isn’t a traditional university, but it is too often compared to traditional schools by outlets like the Tribune.
* Also, Rep. André Thapedi has introduced legislation to send the school some money…
Appropriates $25,000,000 from the General Revenue Fund to the Board of Higher Education for the purpose of making grants to those public community college districts and public universities that have a minority student enrollment of at least 75% of the total student enrollment.
So far, though, he only has one co-sponsor, Rep. Thaddeus Jones.
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It Pays to be a Credit Union Member
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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For the second consecutive year, CEFCU, with 20 locations throughout central Illinois, has distributed an extraordinary $40 million dividend. The amount each member received was determined by dividends earned and interest paid during the first 11 months of the year, and deposited into member accounts in early December.
Likewise, Scott Credit Union, based in Edwardsville and serving 15 metro east locations, declared a bonus dividend and loan interest rate in November, giving $1.3 million back to its members. SCU gave active members an additional 3% annual percentage yield bonus dividend on their deposits, and a rebate of 3% of the interest they paid this year on any loan or credit card to thank members for their loyalty.
Share in the success by joining a credit union today! Visit ASmarterChoice.org to locate a credit union in your area.
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Brown looks back, and forward
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown…
Bruce Rauner has been Illinois’ governor for one year now, and I would defy you to name one thing off the top of your head that he has accomplished during that time.
There actually are a few things, I would hasten to add, but I’ll bet most of you couldn’t name them because Rauner has made his hallmark what he hasn’t been able to accomplish — which is most everything he named as a priority. […]
As his chief accomplishment, Rauner is citing record state funding for schools. True, except that the Democratic Legislature sent him the education funding bill over his objections after he required Republican lawmakers to vote against it.
There’s also the little problem that there has been no appropriation approved for Illinois’ higher education, which has meant the state’s public colleges and universities are withering on the vine although their leaders are too chicken to speak up.
And then there’s the small matter of Chicago Public Schools, on the verge of financial collapse in 2016 without state involvement in solving its pension funding problems. That’s not Rauner’s fault, but his efforts to use the crisis as the key to his bargaining strategy hardly make him the best friend of schoolchildren.
The governor still has time, three long years at least, to pull off the Rauner Miracle, and I’m not counting him out.
If he’s going to ask for a second term, though, he might want to have a better list of accomplishments on hand by this time next year, which could start with a more realistic set of goals.
Several Republicans are still steamed at Rauner for pushing them to vote against that education appropriations bill and then signing it into law.
And some university types did bemoan their plight on Chicago Tonight last night.
* Rauner, by the way, reiterated his position against helping the city’s public schools again this week…
“I don’t know whether [the CTU will] strike. . . . I’ve proposed reforms on local control that could help fix and bring those problems to resolution without a strike. … I’ve proposed all kinds of assistance for Chicago Public Schools. So far the mayor has rejected our assistance. It’s amazing to me: the mayor has just basically publicly said ‘Hurry up and put a massive tax hike on the people of Illinois and send me some of the cash as a bailout.’ It’s stunningly unrealistic and irresponsible. It’s ludicrous.”
* And…
“I’m not going to discuss the terrible tragedies with the shootings in Chicago. I will talk about Chicago Public Schools, and the financial condition of Chicago. Chicago has basically the lowest credit ratings of any big city, other than Detroit; massive debt, deficits,” the governor said. […]
“Brutally high taxes, and a massive property tax [hike] coming now, without any real reforms connected to it; and without reforms, the massive property tax hike that’s hitting Chicagoans, and Chicago homeowners and businesses is only the first step of many large tax hikes that are coming in the future years, because so far Mayor Emanuel has refused to do any true real structural reform,” he said.
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The consequences of bad management
Wednesday, Jan 13, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Illinois child welfare officials forfeited tens of millions of federal dollars in recent years by failing to process basic paperwork, state authorities told the Tribune this week.
After a monthslong bureaucratic effort fixed the lapses, $21.5 million in new federal dollars flowed to the Department of Children & Family Services for the current fiscal year, and $16.5 million is expected in the fiscal year that starts in July, acting Director George Sheldon said.
“My estimate is that just in the last two years we probably have lost out on about $40 million,” Sheldon said. “With the fiscal crisis that Illinois is in, I think it’s inexcusable.”
The problem came down to paperwork and is largely a consequence of having eight DCFS leaders in five years, Sheldon said. […]
The long fight to claim federal dollars for 18- to 21-year-olds has had unexpected benefits, Sheldon said. Last year, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office proposed eliminating extended foster care services for those older wards as part of sweeping budget cuts, but Sheldon said the additional money has made him optimistic that those services won’t be halted.
Good work.
* Meanwhile, from a press release…
The Illinois Department of Children & Family Services is joining forces with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in a landmark mission to locate and save runaway state wards, who are particularly vulnerable to crime and trafficking.
As part of a two-year pilot project, the Sheriff’s Office and DCFS will combine resources to broaden the impact of an existing specialized Sheriff’s unit dedicated to recovering missing or runaway wards. Since its formation in October 2012, this Sheriff’s unit has made more than 520 juvenile rescues.
Pending County Board approval, the cross-agency unit will be comprised of seven sworn Sheriff’s officers with specialized training in juvenile justice as well as three DCFS child welfare specialists. The collaborative team, commanded by the Sheriff’s office, will be officially rebranded as the Child Rescue Unit (CRU). DCFS will fund four of the Sheriff’ Office positions within the Child Rescue Unit at a cost of about $400,000 a year.
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* Gov. Rauner continues to talk about getting out of judicial consent decrees…
“There’s more of a mindset of ‘boy, we’ve gotta do something different.’ That’s one of the, I guess, small side benefits is people are willing to be more creative and aggressive and rethinking how government works.”
Meanwhile the state is spending more than it’s bringing in because of court orders and consent decrees, something Rauner wants to reverse.
“Other governors have ignored that and that’s cost more spending and bad policy. I want to work out a plan where every court order gets dealt with and goes away, consent decrees go away, so the government is actually being run proactively to benefit the taxpayers and the citizens who are receiving services”
OK, that’s a laudable goal. The state had to enter into those consent decrees because it was violating laws, so it’s easier said than done. Even so, it’s a laudable goal.
* But what Rauner hasn’t mentioned so far is that his administration entered into yet another consent decree just last month…
“The place is a cacophonous madhouse,” said Alan S. Mills, executive director of the Uptown People’s Law Center, who has visited the facility [Built in 1925 and known as the “roundhouse,” the circular jail at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet].
Mills and others, including the Illinois Department of Corrections, hope that a settlement reached last month in a class-action lawsuit will provide relief from this place to some of the prison system’s most vulnerable — its more than 11,000 mentally ill inmates.
The settlement in a case filed in 2007 brings some widespread changes to the state’s mental health care system for inmates, which experts said desperately lags behind national standards. The settlement will lead to Illinois’ first psychiatric hospital for prisoners and will allow the hiring of more than 300 mental health professionals.
In a change germane to those living at the roundhouse, the settlement will replace a policy that often puts the mentally ill in segregation, meaning they are left in their cells for nearly 24 hours a day and often constantly monitored to prevent suicide attempts. While this may prevent suicide, Mills said it often causes the mentally ill to “decompensate.”
* And the ACLU of Illinois has offered its thoughts on the matter…
Yesterday, in a series of interviews marking his first year in office, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said that a “big part” of his administration’s plan going forward would be to seek release from court oversight in various federal consent decrees to which the State of Illinois has agreed.
The American Civil Liberties Union currently represents clients in five ( 5 ) such consent decrees, addressing care for children under the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, youth detained by the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice as well as people with intellectual, physical and psychiatric disabilities who have been needlessly warehoused in large institutions and want to live in community-based settings.
Because of this experience and involvement, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois issued the following statement about the Governor’s comments. The following can be attributed to Edwin C. Yohnka, Director of Communications and Public Policy at the ACLU of Illinois:
Governor Rauner should know that adherence to terms of a consent decrees is not a political option to be debated in the media. These agreements exist because the State violated the law — often over decades — in ways that impose significant harms to our clients and others in Illinois. If he possesses a magic wand to fix the challenges faced by children in the child welfare system, youth being incarcerated or people with disabilities after years of neglect by the State, we hope the Governor uses the magic soon. The reality is that the way to make getting out of consent decrees a “big part” of his agenda is to bring the State’s dysfunctional systems in compliance with the law by improving the way the State provides services and supports to people who depend on its help.
We look forward to engaging in that work, rather than debating ideological rhetoric.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
The DOC matter was not a consent decree, but simply a settlement agreement. We worked hard to demonstrate to the court that a consent decree was not necessary and the Court agreed. This, in fact, proves the opposite point. This is the first victory of the Governor’s in his efforts to reduce the # of consent decrees the state is tangled in.
Also, the Governor’s point, of course, was not that we are going to get out of the consent decrees by not complying, but rather come up with compliance plans to comply with the decree so we can ask the Court to allow us to exit. We actually agree with the ACLU.
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* Amanda Vinicky…
Gov. Bruce Rauner says passage of his pro-business Turnaround Agenda would help curb violence in Chicago. […]
“There is tragic violence in Chicago,” Rauner said Tuesday during a private interview with Illinois Public Radio. “I’m not going to comment about the mayor’s failures today about these shooting incidents. My personal view is the violence stems primarily from lack of opportunity — the lack of a future that these young people see for themselves, and then they turn to gangs and then they turn to violence.
“And that means schools, that means jobs and that means supporting families,” he added. “We have a tragic loss of two-parent families in so many communities. That’s the core problem.”
No question that economic development would help. But claiming his Turnaround Agenda is the answer is a bit much.
* Meanwhile…
“Sometimes I’m too blunt, too direct, I’d say. I call it like I see it and sometimes that can alienate somebody or a group. Sometimes I’m impatient. Sometimes I’ve just got to be more patient. I’m not that way by nature. I am persistent and that ain’t gonna change but sometimes I’m impatient. I’ve got to learn a little bit more patience.”
Meanwhile the governor says he’s going to stay the course to bring economic and political reforms.
“Every year we’ll introduce reforms. Every year we will never give up on anything we’ve recommended. We may have to delay. Delay is not giving up. Delay is just tactics. We’ve got to keep our eye on the fact that we’re not gonna win every battle. We have to win the long-term struggle to improve the state.”
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