* You get the feeling we’re heading for something big? The full letter from AFSCME to the governor’s office can be read by clicking here…
That’s a pretty darned big difference of opinion about what was said last Friday.
* By the way, the governor’s chief legal counsel Jason Barclay had this to say to Jim Dey earlier in the week…
As negotiations continue, AFSCME’s previous contract remains in place, meaning benefits they might lose under a new deal remain as well.
Barclay said that gives AFSCME a “perverse incentive to drag out the negotiations as long as possible.”
*** UPDATE *** Governor’s office…
Hi, Rich:
Passing along the following.
“This letter is filled with more falsehoods and misleading statements from AFSCME, the most glaring of which is that we have been expressing our frustration and concern to them for many months about their refusal to seriously bargain on the Governor’s core proposals. This is exactly why we asked last Friday whether future negotiating sessions would be worthwhile.”
Thanks,
ck
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Charles Thomas’ interview of Gov. Bruce Rauner…
Again, he blamed the budget impasse on Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan, renewing his most inflammatory charge that Madigan, an attorney in private practice, is personally profiting from Illinois’ dysfunction.
“He doesn’t want to change anything because he loves the status quo because he’s making a lot of money from high real estate taxes in Chicago,” Rauner claimed.
When it was pointed out that Rauner seemed on the verge of calling Madigan corrupt, he responded, “The political class in Illinois has been running the government for their own benefit for decades.”
And the governor admonished Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, with whom he shared an expensive bottle of wine a few years ago after the two millionaires worked together on a merger deal. Rauner said Emanuel is a lot more conservative than the mayor puts on in public.
“(I want the mayor to) say publicly what he’ll say privately. He’s not fighting for his city,” Rauner said. “Its outrageous that the Mayor’s trying to blame me and others for his failure.
“But you guys are supposed to be pals, friends. Are you not friends anymore?” we asked.
“Anybody who helps me improve the quality of life and future for Illinois residents is my friend. Anybody who blocks it is not my friend,” Rauner saud,
* Hizzoner’s response as reported by the Tribune…
The mayor was asked Wednesday to respond to the “litany” of criticisms Gov. Bruce Rauner has leveled at him in recent days as the two continue their public tango over education spending in Chicago Public Schools and the governor’s call for the mayor to help him pass his agenda in Springfield.
Emanuel noted Rauner has been making the rounds in recent days to talk to reporters about his first year in the governor’s mansion, and suggested he was attacking others because he can’t follow the usual playbook of touting his own victories.
“First of all, this is the governor’s one-year anniversary in office as the governor,” he said. “There’s a great phrase by a former chief executive in public life, Harry S Truman: The buck stops here. And on the one-year anniversary, a lot of people note what they’ve gotten done. I think it’s a reflection on the governor that he is taking his one-year anniversary and talking about everyone else except for the one person that’s accountable — where the buck stops for the state of Illinois — and that’s him. And so my recommendation is rather than pointing fingers at everyone else and talking about their work, he should take the time to talk about his work and the accomplishments, or the lack thereof, that would reflect the one year of his tenure.”
* The Question: How do we get out of this mess?
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No dupes? Oops!
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s been rumored for weeks that Trump was gonna do this (I wrote about it last month sometime), but then he blew it…
Donald Trump’s campaign tried to get his rival Republicans kicked off the ballot in Illinois – but the attempt failed when his state chair failed to bring duplicate copies of the required forms.
The Guardian has learned that on Wednesday, the last day for candidates to object to signatures submitted by rival campaigns to get on the ballot, chair Kent Gray showed up at the Illinois board of elections a few minutes before it closed. Illinois has some of the toughest ballot access laws in the country, and qualifying for the ballot requires gathering a different number of signatures in each of the state’s 18 congressional districts. Candidates often stumble trying to fulfill the state’s requirements; conservative challenger Rick Santorum faced major obstacles in 2012. […]
State politicians have long had a “gentleman’s agreement” that candidates would not attempt to contest each other’s signatures and throw each other off the ballot. But challenging petition signatures as a form of political chicanery in the Land of Lincoln has a long history. Barack Obama first won election to the state senate in 1996 by successfully challenging the signatures of his incumbent opponent and getting her removed from the ballot.
It had been widely reported that the campaign of Governor John Kasich of Ohio, a vocal Trump critic, had problems gathering signatures in Illinois, and representatives of Kasich, along with the campaigns of Florida senator Marco Rubio and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, were monitoring for any objections from rival camps. It seemed that they had dodged a bullet until Gray walked in attempting to object to a number of candidates on the grounds that some of their signatures were invalid, although exactly who he focused on is unclear.
But Illinois law requires that someone objecting to a candidate’s nominating papers bring both the original and two duplicates. Gray only brought the original. His arrival in the board of elections office with just minutes left set off a scramble among those campaigns who had representatives there to monitor proceedings. Several had brought objections of their own to file defensively, only if someone objected to their presence on the ballot.
Apparently, money can’t buy everything.
Even so, for all the big talk from the Kasich supporters here about how Trump probably wouldn’t even make it to the ballot, they narrowly missed a stinging embarrassment.
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Doom and gloomers proved wrong… Again
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Remember these predictions from just last week about Illinois’ bond sale?…
“They’re definitely going to have to pay a higher yield,” said Dan Solender, head of municipals at Lord Abbett & Co. in Jersey City, New Jersey, which manages $17 billion of the debt, including Illinois bonds. “They’re going to be penalized compared to other bonds of similar ratings.” […]
Illinois is going to have to price the deal “pretty attractively” in order to get a good reception from investors, said Dan Heckman, a senior fixed-income strategist in Kansas City at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $130 billion.
* The sale was today. Did the bond vigilantes win the day? Nope…
Hi, Rich –
Wanted to pass along this info on today’s bond sale.
The winning bidder of today’s $480 million General Obligation bond sale was Bank of America Merrill Lynch at a rate of 3.99%. This is a better rate than the last four tax-exempt GO bond sales. The previous rate of the last GO competitive bond sale in April 2014 was 4.08%.
The state received nine bids in today’s competitive bid. The bonds were issued to continue Illinois’ road construction programs, which are essential to maintain public infrastructure, improve public safety and create construction jobs.
Thanks,
ck
* One significant caveat…
The 161-basis-point spread over MMD’s scale is down from Illinois’ 170-basis-point spread in the secondary muni market heading into the bond sale. But the spread is wider than the 111 basis point spread for 25-year bonds in Illinois’ last sale in 2014.
So, the spread is definitely wider, but we saw plenty of bids and a rate that isn’t crazy high, considering.
Rauner and his team speak their language, so that probably helped. Not to mention that bond payments are made first. We’ll have to go a very long time without a budget before those payments are endangered.
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* From Emily Miller at Voices for Illinois Children…
Hi Rich.
I noticed that you posted about the Governor’s projection that his policy agenda would bring an increase in revenue of about $510 million to the state. Given that we are billions in the hole as the result of the loss of revenue from tax cuts and the ever growing backlog of bills, I wonder why his policy agenda gets so much air time when it’s clear that the revenue generated doesn’t come close to what this state needs to even keep the lights on.
That aside, what’s really clear right now, and perhaps what everyone needs to be reminded of, is who is not “winning” right now under anyone’s definition. Here is a small sampling of the ongoing impact of the budget impasse:
* The central office of The Autism Project, which is the largest network of autism service programs, closed on September 30th, leaving virtually no services for children on the autism spectrum who are non-verbal in Illinois.
* 5,458 people, including children, who receive emergency and transitional housing have had their services reduced or eliminated. An additional 2,729 clients will have their services reduced or eliminated if the budget impasse continues through the first quarter of 2016. It’s winter, so while there’s never an ideal time to lose housing and become homeless, winter is probably the worst.
* The Sudden Infant Death Program no longer provides free training for parents, health providers and law enforcement. They receive 4 or 5 requests for safe cribs weekly, but they haven’t had money for safe cribs since September. Meanwhile, the program director has reported that death reports of infants who died in unsafe sleeping environments continue to come in.
* Redeploy Illinois, a DHS program that saves the state millions by diverting youth from incarceration in the Department of Juvenile Justice, is shut down in 23 counties. 6 additional counties are considering closing their operations. Last year, 316 youth were successfully diverted from the DJJ system, so elimination of the program entirely would lead to a roughly 45.6% increase in the DJJ population.
* Even the bills to provide funding patches don’t actually relieve the problem. While domestic violence money got passed in SB2049 and payment for services to date were received, agencies are holding off on rehiring laid off staff because they are not certain about the sustainability of future funding.
We have to start acknowledging that every day that goes by without a budget makes getting to a fully-funded budget even harder. Bills continue to pile up and infrastructure continues to crumble. Voices for Illinois Children certainly hopes leaders can start talking solutions sooner than the Governor has suggested.
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Today’s number: 1.4 percent
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As you already know, Gov. Bruce Rauner promised that he would send over documentation on how the state would benefit from his Turnaround Agenda.
The documentation is here and here. It was originally sent to legislators last September.
* Some of it is quite exaggerated. For instance…
[Reforming the prevailing wage] lowers the costs paid by taxpayers for construction projects by implementing true competitive bidding. In many cases, prevailing wage increases labor costs by more than 20 percent. From 2002-2011 state and local governments overspent by $1.6 billion on education construction projects alone due to our prevailing wage laws. Altogether, local units of government could save $1.1 billion per year with prevailing wage reforms. That is money that could go directly into classrooms and our communities, but instead we spend it overpaying for projects.
Labor’s cost is usually somewhere around 20 percent, so that’s a fantasy unless we can eliminate workers entirely. Plus, I’ve already looked at this…
A June, 2014 study conducted by the Anderson Economic Group for the far-right Illinois Policy Institute, the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Chamber and the Illinois Black Chamber found that eliminating the prevailing wage would’ve saved local school districts $126.4 million in 2011 (that’s in 2013 dollars, by the way). […]
So, even if every single local school district throughout Illinois immediately stopped paying prevailing wage rates on construction projects (not gonna happen) and even if eliminating the prevailing wage does indeed save as much as the Anderson study projected (doubtful), school districts could’ve saved a grand total of 0.74 percent of their property tax budgets, which is not much more than a rounding error. Now figure, in reality, savings of at most half that amount and we’re looking at about a third of a percentage point. That’s not even a rounding error.
Not to mention that the total percentage saved from allowing local governments to opt-in to eliminate the prevailing wage in their actual operating budgets is quite a bit smaller because to get an accurate count you’d have to add in revenues from local sales taxes, state and federal money, etc. Charitably, are we talking maybe a quarter of a percentage point saved here? If that?
* Keep in mind that Chicago’s janitorial and cafeteria contracts have become a nightmare…
Every year state government adds mandates onto our school districts and local governments. Additionally, under Governor Blagojevich, the state severely restricted the ability of school districts to contract with outside vendors for things like busing, janitorial and cafeteria services.
Chicago Public Schools is already relieved of many of these mandates and restrictions, but we impose them on every other district, despite the fact that schools districts have requested relief from these requirements for years. Just last month, the Large Unit District Association (LUDA), which represents the 55 largest school districts in the state and educates more than half of the state’s school children, wrote to our administration to again request relief from these mandates. A copy of LUDA’s letter is enclosed. Let’s give our schools the help they are asking for – it doesn’t cost us anything and can save them more than $200 million.
* And what would these reforms do for the state’s economy?…
Economic Growth
• Personal Income Tax Savings by Ending Out- Migration: $140 million
• Revenue Growth by Making Illinois “Average” in Unemployment: $150 Million
• Revenue Growth if Average Gross State Product: $220 Million
All this pain inflicted to maybe produce an additional $510 million in revenues?
For crying out loud, that’s a 1.4 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2015.
Good grief.
…Adding… As a pal just pointed out, the additional projected revenue probably won’t even cover the interest on the state’s backlogged bills from this impasse.
…Adding More… From a Republican friend…
Plus you need to factor in the cost of their tax increase into their economic growth calculation. The point is that they can’t argue that these anti-labor changes will magically produce $510 million of economic growth/revenue and then discount the negative effect of a tax increase on economic growth.
True.
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* The full report is here…
CHANGE ILLINOIS RESEARCH EXPLAINS HOW PARTISAN VOTING MAPS LED TO DECLINE IN VOTER CHOICES IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS
CHICAGO – Partisan redistricting of Illinois state legislative district maps has created continuing partisan bias in election outcomes while making it far less likely that voters will have a choice between candidates of both major parties in the general election, and voters in primary elections have even fewer choices, according to a new research report published by CHANGE Illinois.
“By any measure, the level of competition and competitiveness in legislative elections under the last four partisan maps is extremely low and getting worse,” according to Partisan Advantage and Competitiveness in Illinois Redistricting. “These findings call into question the effectiveness of legislative elections in providing a meaningful incentive for citizen engagement. They also undermine the conventional wisdom that the members of the Illinois General Assembly are elected by the consent of Illinois residents.”
CHANGE Illinois published the new research, which was conducted by political reform veteran Cynthia Canary and Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of Political Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield. It examines questions about whether the partisan advantage gained through a new legislative map has lasting effects beyond the first post-redistricting election and whether the lack of contested and competitive elections under such partisan legislative maps extends to primary elections as well as general elections. The new report updates and expands the Canary-Redfield 2014 report, Backroom Battles & Partisan Gridlock: Redistricting in Illinois.
The report’s findings include:
* In 2012, Democratic candidates in the House won 52 percent of the total vote and 60 percent of the seats, and Democratic candidates in the Senate won 54 percent of the vote and 68 percent of the seats. In 2014 in a midterm election favoring Republicans, the partisan bias in the 2011 maps still delivered for Democratic candidates. While the margin in total votes cast for Democrats running in legislative elections shrank to a near-tie statewide, Democrats still won 71 House seats, a 60 percent majority. The Democrats also won 11 of the 19 Senate seats that were up in 2014 while receiving less than a majority of the total votes cast in those 19 districts.
* The percentage of General Assembly elections featuring at least two candidates has decreased significantly over time. In the first election under a new map in 1982 and 1992, a strong majority of the elections were contested. By 2012, 60 percent of House elections and 51 percent of Senate elections were uncontested. In 2014, 58 percent of House elections were uncontested. Due to staggered terms, there was an election in only one-third of the Senate districts, and 12 of the 19 (63 percent) were uncontested.
* The degree of competition in Illinois legislative elections is low and declining. When a winning candidate’s vote total is 55 percent or less, the district is considered “competitive.” On average over the past four decades, 88 percent of voters (104 of 118 House races, 52 of 59 Senate races) had no choice at all on the ballot or a choice between a sure winner and a sure loser.
* There has been a dramatic increase in the number of legislators elected without even a token opponent in both the primary and the general election.
* In 1982, 20 of the 177 legislators elected faced no opponent in either the primary or the general. In 2012, 69 legislators had no opponent in both the primary and the general election – essentially given a free pass.
* The number of “free pass” legislators elected increased in 2014 even though only one-third of the Senate was up for election. In 2014, 58 (49 percent) of those elected to the House did not have an opponent in the primary or the general election, as did 12 of 19 (63 percent) of those elected to the Senate.
* Voters in primary elections have even fewer choices for participation, engagement, and communication than voters in general elections. In the 2014 primary election, 89 percent of House and 95 percent of the Senate legislative primaries were uncontested.
* The level of primary activity in districts dominated by one party is very low and has decreased significantly under the last two partisan maps. Under the 2001 and 2011 maps, the average number of same-party competitive primaries in districts dominated by one party was 11 percent in the House and 4 percent in the Senate. This clearly indicates that voters in districts dominated by one political party in the general election were rarely presented with meaningful choices in the primaries.
“Illinois’ partisan redistricting process undermines our democracy and discourages civic participation,” said Ra Joy, Executive Director of CHANGE Illinois. “We need to put people before partisanship and have fair maps drawn by an impartial commission listening to voters and acting in the open. That’s why CHANGE Illinois supports the Independent Map Amendment
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Decent points…
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Find another way
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I saw yet another TV ad last night for “Start-Up New York” on my local station. So, I surfed over to the website…
What is START-UP NY?
START-UP NY offers new and expanding businesses the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible university or college campuses in New York State.
Partnering with these schools gives businesses direct access to advanced research laboratories, development resources and experts in key industries.
Who is START-UP NY for?
To participate in START-UP NY, your company must meet the following requirements:
* Be a new business in New York State, or an existing New York business relocating to or expanding within the state
* Partner with a New York State college or university
* Create new jobs and contribute to the economic development of the local community
* New York isn’t a “right to work” state, yet this program appears to be having some success after a very slow roll-out and expensive national ad campaign…
157 business have already joined START-UP NY and committed to create 4,278 new jobs and invest over $225 million across New York [over five years]. That’s a great start.
We don’t have to copy it. We don’t have to spend as much as NY on advertising. And, like with NY, it will take time to accomplish whatever we set out to do.
* All I’m saying here is that perhaps we can look at doing other things besides lowering the pay, benefits and job protections of working people to get something moving in Illinois.
…Adding… Molly Parker has an interesting piece in The Southern about federally mandated workforce development changes in Illinois…
They are drafting policies to refocus economic development strategies that leverage viable business clusters already blooming in a particular area. In the five-county region covered by the Southern Illinois Workforce Development Board – Jackson, Williamson, Perry, Jefferson and Franklin – those clusters have been determined as, in this order, health care, transportation, distribution and logistics and manufacturing.
They also are attempting to close skill gaps identified in the regional workforce by beefing up access to technical education programs for high school students, and offering access to technology training for older adults.
They are reshaping programs that train people new to the workforce, or who are being retrained for a second career after a layoff or other life event, and they are crafting new programs for incumbent workers to keep their skills updated as companies adapt to new technologies or ways of doing business.
With regards to adult education, bridge programs are being implemented to transition someone from a high school equivalency degree to a post-secondary education to a job. There’s a greater emphasis being placed on vocational rehabilitation to help people overcome barriers to achieving employment, as well as targeted programs to help youth enter the job market, particularly those who drop out of school and lack employable skills.
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Simple answers to simple questions
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Tribune’s interview of Gov. Bruce Rauner…
“I am the head of the Republican Party, so I’ll be involved in advocating for candidates,” said Rauner, who insisted his primary focus will remain on government, a stance he accused the speaker of not sharing.
“(Madigan) has always been focused on the next election. It’s not policy, it’s the next election. But he’s taken it to another level right now,” Rauner said. “And I don’t know all the reasons why. I don’t know. But he’s very focused on positioning and posturing.”
For the answer, scan through IllinoisGO’s (for the primary) and the governor’s (for the general) multi-million dollar contribution disclosure reports. There’s also the little matter of the possibility that the Speaker could be slammed with millions of dollars in spending by or on behalf of his pro-business Democratic primary opponent.
Other than that, I, too, am befuddled.
/snark
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Foxx is slated by county Dems
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No surprise…
* Self-serving grandstanding, but also no surprise, considering she knew she wasn’t going to be slated and, like State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, will attempt to somehow use the party slating against Foxx in a partisan primary (all the while being accused of supporting Bruce Rauner - not an easy feat)…
Unlike More, Alvarez was a no-show.
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* DNA Info…
Police officers are making drastically fewer investigative stops and confiscating fewer guns as murders and shootings have increased so far this year, DNAinfo Chicago has learned.
So far this year, the number of so-called investigative stop reports — formerly known as “contact cards” — has decreased by about 80 percent compared to the same time period last year, police sources told DNAinfo.com.
There also been a 37-percent decline in gun arrests and a 35-percent decrease in gun confiscations compared to last year, according to police data.
Meanwhile, there have been 72 more shootings (a 218 percent increase) and 10 more murders (a 125 percent spike) than the same time period in 2015, according to police data. […]
“I’ll leave that up to by the common sense of the citizens as to why things are not as productive … investigative stop wise,” Fraternal Order of Police president Dean Angelo said.
“I’ve been out to roll calls and so have our board of directors … and what we’re hearing is that officers think that the FOP is the only group of people who have their back. … I’ve never seen things like this in my 35 years. … I’ve never seen morale this bad in my career.”
They’re playing right into Rauner’s hands.
If the cops aren’t doing their jobs, and the union is making cynical excuses for them, well, then perhaps the state has to go after the union.
I’m not saying that, I’m just sayin’.
* CBS 2…
The superintendent acknowledged there has been a recent decrease in gun seizures, but said he doesn’t believe the increased scrutiny on the department has affected morale.
“We have to be concerned, always, about morale; but right now I’m not overly concerned, no,” he said.
Escalante said there has been some confusion over new procedures, and that might be slowing things down for officers.
Officer Enrique Delgado-Hernandez – in front of the boss – said heightened scrutiny, new training in the use of force, and extra paperwork amid the fallout from the McDonald scandal have not led to a slowdown of policing.
Then what is it?
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Gross, Phelon leaving SDem staff
Thursday, Jan 14, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this earlier in the week. Here’s Bernie…
DAVE GROSS of Jacksonville, chief of staff to Senate President JOHN CULLERTON, D-Chicago, is leaving that post to go into political consulting and lobbying.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Gross told me. “It’s going to be challenging, and I’m excited about it. The president’s been great about this, and I’m looking forward to trying my hand at it.” […]
Also leaving the Senate Democratic staff is RIKEESHA PHELON, 38, who has been press secretary to Cullerton since 2009. She is forming her own company, Phelon Public Strategies.
Phelon, who will not be a lobbyist, said she can help her clients with a mix of knowledge of “what’s going on under the dome,” combined with “Chicago media reach.”
Those are two top-notch people. Phelon is a particular favorite on the blog, winning a Golden Horseshoe Award last month.
* Tribune…
Cullerton, in turn, took to the microphone to note the departure of his spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon, who is leaving state government to start a consulting firm.
“She’s the one who says the things I need to say, but says them better than I do,” said Cullerton, who is known for his sarcastic sense of humor that can sometimes get him in trouble.
Yep.
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* Tribune…
Chicago was a finalist to score General Electric’s corporate headquarters — and 800 jobs — but the state’s pension crisis and the condition of Chicago’s public schools helped remove it from the running, sources close to the selection process told the Tribune on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, GE announced it would move its headquarters from its longtime home in Fairfield, Conn., to Boston.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel “did a good job” and “worked hard at presenting the case for Chicago” and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner “did a fantastic job,” one source said.
Many factors went into the decision, including a strong presence and thousands of employees GE already has in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, the source said.
* I’m sure this little factoid (unmentioned by the Trib) from the Boston Globe had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it…
The decision by GE to move its headquarters — and deliver about 800 jobs — from suburban Connecticut to the Seaport District follows a feverish campaign by Massachusetts officials, who beat out New York, Providence, and several other cities.
City and state officials are offering what could be one of the richest incentive deals in the state’s history — together valued at as much as $145 million — to lure the company here.
A generous offer like that from Illinois and Chicago would’ve been sharply attacked in this current political climate, to say the least.
* Also…
But GE officials pointed to Greater Boston’s concentration of elite universities and nimble tech firms as the main draw.
“We want to be at the center of an ecosystem that shares our aspirations,” chief executive Jeffrey R. Immelt said in a statement.
GE’s new TV ad campaign is really an employment recruitment tool aimed at tech grads. And, unlike us, Massachusetts and Boston aren’t starving their universities and taxing the cloud, not to mention making a general mess out of everything with a protracted political war.
So, perhaps if this state’s leaders weren’t fighting so much, some of those pension and school issues could’ve been addressed and perhaps GE would’ve been more amenable to moving here. Notice, the GE sources didn’t mention the prevailing wage and “right to work.” A stable political climate may have also made a big economic development package possible.
* Even so, there’s also the regional issue mentioned above. GE already has lots of employees fairly near Boston, and when GE Healthcare announced its headquarters move to Chicago this week, the company’s existing regional presence ranked high…
GE Healthcare announced Monday it will move its global headquarters from the United Kingdom to Chicago.
The company said the move would be effective early this year and is designed to move the top leadership for its health care business “closer to operations in Chicago and Milwaukee, while remaining near an international transportation hub.”
GE Healthcare, which employs about 6,000 people in Wisconsin and 51,000 worldwide, had total revenue of $18.3 billion in 2014.
* Look, I don’t doubt that pensions and schools were in the mix. But I also don’t doubt that a less dysfunctional political system could’ve made those issues far less important. Could we have still scored the GE headquarters? I don’t know. Regionalism concerns were definitely working heavily against us.
Whatever the case, this ought to be a wakeup call. The state needs to get moving again.
End. The. War.
*** UPDATE *** Greg Hinz…
Emanuel and Rauner personally met with GE brass, both here and on the East Coast. The state offered $50 million in Edge tax credits. While there were doubts at the beginning that GE would really consider moving its HQ to the Windy City despite having numerous business lines in this area, “they were totally blown away” after a meeting here in September, one insider says.
But during that meeting, Rauner said some things about soon ending the state’s budget wars. Accounts differ, but some say he effectively promised action within a few months.
He obviously hasn’t delivered. Shortly thereafter, the McDonald shooting flap erupted, and Emanuel “lost all of his clout in Springfield, at least for now,” says one insider with firsthand knowledge of the situation.
Did that make a difference in GE’s decision?
Chicago was in it until late fall, says one source familiar with the search process. “It was the entire budget picture between Chicago and the state,” the source says. “CPS was a big concern of theirs.”
“It absolutely was not the city’s situation,” counters another. “The business atmosphere of the city was a huge plus.”
Says a third insider, “Any shot that Chicago did have disappeared when Rauner couldn’t deliver on his promise.”
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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.]
Did you know that credit union membership could result in an unexpected bonus? That’s right, bonus dividends are just one of the exceptional benefits that set credit unions apart. As member-owned financial cooperatives, credit unions are able to share exceptional profits with their members. Recently, two Illinois credit unions did just that.
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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