* When somebody starts comparing you to Lincoln, you can either politely demur or just go with the flow. Frerichs went with the flow…
Although Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs is a Democrat, when he was visiting the La Salle County Farm Bureau office in Ottawa on Monday, it was readily apparent he bears some resemblance to Republican Abraham Lincoln.
His height and new beard would seem to be similarities — but only to a point, he says.
Frerichs is 6-foot 8-inches while Lincoln was 6-foot 4-inches. But, he says, Americans today are on average three to four inches taller than they were in Lincoln’s time.
“If Lincoln had been born today, he probably would have reached his full potential of 6-feet 8-inches,” Frerichs told The Times.
Also, Frerichs noted his full beard is different than Lincoln’s chin curtain style, where the mustache is shaved.
However, Frerichs agrees there are similarities in that both are tall and lanky and grew up in Central Illinois.
* And here he is…
Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs is talking at the La Salle County Farm Bureau about the Ag Invest Program. pic.twitter.com/zFOCjlXz7m
A state agency is seeking former state Rep. Frank Mautino’s “clarification” on the more than $250,000 he paid to a Spring Valley bank since 1999.
Mautino, who is now the state’s auditor general, listed Spring Valley City Bank as the recipient of $259,000 in campaign money, even though the purpose listed in documents for the spending was for everything from food to travel.
“They are clearly not expenditures to the bank,” said Tom Newman, director of campaign disclosure for the state Board of Elections. […]
“Maybe the committee didn’t know the correct way to do it, and they took their best stab at it,” Newman said. […]
“We’ll try a couple of times to get in touch with them and see where it goes from there,” Newman said.
So far only one House Democrat, Ken Dunkin of Chicago, has publicly crossed Madigan in favor of Rauner, but the Governor tells WLS several other Democrats would like to follow suit.
”We’re getting more and more members of the Democratic caucus in private who say they agree with me, that we need reforms and they’ll support it, but only one Democratic Rep. so far has publicly stated we need reforms as part of the budget. I’ve got to get more of them steppin’ up and speakin’ out. Hopefully that will happen.”
* The Politico story was a bit confusing and Public Policy Polling hasn’t yet released its numbers, but here’s the breakdown of its latest poll in the 8th Congressional District Democratic primary to replace Tammy Duckworth…
* State Sen. Michael Noland: 22 percent
* Raja Krishnamoorthi: 17 percent
* Villa Park Mayor Deb Bullwinke: 11 percent
* Undecided: 50 percent
Still a wide open race with a slight Noland edge. Raja needs to start spending more of that money.
I suppose he figures that people will rush to their phones and the Interwebtubes to pressure their legislators to stop being Madigan allies and start voting with the governor. Will it work? The first part, yes. The second… No.
Those two legislators (particularly Smiddy) haven’t spared any words for Rauner, so turnabout, etc.
* But Verschoore and Smiddy are total union guys and always have been, which is something that the governor can’t quite ever understand. They support unions. They don’t vote the way they do out of fear of unions or of Madigan. They do it because that’s who they are.
Smiddy, for one, was elected in a GOP district with only a few hundred bucks from Madigan. AFSCME bankrolled almost his entire campaign. He was an AFSCME member and was totally with them. They actually wanted somebody in that seat who would be independent of Madigan and more aligned with them. He’s not gonna suddenly “break with Madigan” and side with Rauner and against AFSCME. That’s missing the entire point.
Revenue isn’t the problem. An October report from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that Illinois’s tax collections have grown by almost 20% since 2008, largely thanks to a short-term income-tax hike of two percentage points that expired this year.
But what the state has taken in, it has spent with reckless abandon. The $8.5 billion in unpaid bills at the end of 2015 nicely matches the $8.5 billion in unpaid bills the state had at the end of 2011, when then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, instituted the tax increase. The theory was that this would rescue Illinois and give it time to renounce bad habits. That didn’t work.
Breathtaking.
1) Revenue is not a problem? The analysis used above is akin to saying to someone who was just laid off: “Your average income over the past few years shows you’re doing fine, so don’t bother finding a new job.”
2) Reckless abandon? First of all, the backlog number used for the very end of 2011 is incorrect. And the bill backlog at the very end of 2014, when Quinn lost the election and before the tax hike expired was $4.36 billion. It’s now way higher. Why?
Lack of revenues and no budget to control court-ordered spending!
Also, too, the state finally made its full legally mandated pension payments after the tax hike, which (for the kabillionth time) explains most state spending growth.
It’s like getting a new, better-paying job and using almost all the new cash to pay down second mortgages and credit card bills from your previously profligate ways. Your quality of life isn’t noticeably improving, but your long-term prospects are greatly enhanced.
* He’s said this before, of course, but you gotta wonder what his suburban and Downstate members are thinking, and what the governor will do to them this fall…
Cullerton: I don't think any schools should be funded until Chicago schools are funded fairly.
* Congresscritter Tammy Duckworth tried to blame Mark Kirk for radicalizing American Islamists yesterday, then kinda walked it back, then kinda didn’t…
“In the case of those two young people, the Iraq refugees in Texas, they were actually, radicalized here in the United States,” Duckworth said. “They came as teenagers and they were radicalized because they’d been on those talk hotlines with ISIS. Because they see people like Mark Kirk demonizing Muslim and Islam and wanting to shut down our borders. That’s how we turn people against us.”
Immediately though, one of the moderators asked, “You think they were radicalized by U.S. politicians?”
“No, I think they were radicalized by ISIS, who are attempting to get U.S. politicians and the United States to react in fear,” Duckworth responded.
When asked again about her saying politicians like Kirk were responsible for radicalization, she said, “Donald Trump is out there wanting to shut down all Muslims from entering the country. We cannot go back against our values.”
* Kirk was not amused…
unfortunate & wrong- @tammyforIL says common sense, bipartisan security measures to protect our homeland lead to radicalization. #unprepared
* Terrorists are “manipulating the refugee crisis” in Europe, for sure. Refugees are flooding over porous borders. To compare that situation to the refugees waiting years to get into the US because of our screening process is bogus.
But Duckworth got way ahead of herself when she said the US should accept 200,000 refugees. Screening that many folks at the current pace would take many, many years, if not decades. So, does she want to increase the pace? If so, how?
* Either way, if you’re gonna make a serious claim that your opponent is inspiring radicalism, then have the guts to stick with it or don’t level the allegation in the first place.
Sheesh. You’d think she’d never run for office before.
*** UPDATE *** From Duckworth’s office…
Hey Rich—good chatting a few minutes ago. As discussed, the letter that the Congresswoman signed onto—which is the basis for the 200,000 claim that has been floating around (that the Washington Post said was “wrong” and led to a correction from the Associated Press)—is available here.
It endorses a recommendation by Refugee Council USA (a coalition of 20 of the nation’s premiere refugee organizations) for the U.S. to accept 100,000 Syrian refugees, not 200,000 as some have claimed—and that was by the end of 2016, not per year.
With regards to the “does she want to increase the pace/if so, how” questions, that’s explained in the letter sent long before this became a political issue (emphasis added), though the letter is not her only action on this topic:
“There are those who will oppose taking in additional refugees. They will say it is a security risk, or will hurt our economy. This criticism ignores the fact that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program subjects applications to more thorough security vetting than any other traveler or immigrant to the United States. We recognize the importance of security checks and will continue to support your Administration’s strong background checks for all refugees… We pledge we will do everything we can to ensure that, if steps are taken to accommodate additional refugees, there will be adequate additional resources for U.S. resettlement agencies, and for security checks, in order to meet the increased demand.”
Additionally, I’d argue with the implications that the number is:
a) Unreasonably high. In recent American history, we’ve had refugee admission ceilings near 250,000 and over the last decade the ceiling has hovered near 100,000. This chart made from State Department data may be helpful for background on where the numbers have historically been set.
a. As Refugee Council USA notes:
i. “This would not be the first time that the United States proudly carries out our historic tradition of welcoming refugees in large numbers. After the end of the wars in Southeast Asia, the United States resettled 111,000 Vietnamese refugees in 1979 and then essentially doubled that number to 207,000 in 1980.”
b) Out of the political mainstream. Former Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait and Lebanon Ryan Crocker (who served under GOP and Democratic Presidents) recently said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed:
a. “That’s why the Obama administration should commit to resettling 100,000 Syrian refugees over the next year.”
i. In addition to Amb. Crocker, former Syrian Ambassador (who also served under President George W. Bush) Robert Ford, a group of diplomats from across the political spectrum and even Bush Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz signed onto a letter urging our country’s leaders to support:
1. “100,000 Syrian refugees on an extraordinary basis, over and above the current worldwide refugee ceiling of 70,000.”
Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks!
Ben Garmisa | Communications Director
Rep. Tammy Duckworth | Illinois’ 8th Congressional District
* From EIU’s president. Just so you’re clear, “A&P” employees are administrative and professional workers, not tenured faculty…
Dear Campus Community,
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through the cost reductions made necessary by the budgetary impasse in Springfield. I greatly appreciate the input and support I have received in this process from both within our campus community and beyond.
There is very little additional news from Springfield. A smattering of bills were filed last month providing various levels and scopes of funding for public higher education, including one that would provide funding but only for community colleges and MAP grants and another that would provide both full MAP funding as well as an appropriation for the universities but at a rate of only 80 percent of last year’s level. The recent flurry of bills being filed to support higher education appropriations is a positive sign that our lawmakers are realizing the urgency and critical nature of what we are facing.
There was an immense showing of support by our campus and regional community at the Fund EIU rally last Friday. We all love this institution first and foremost for the excellence it provides in educating our students. However, it is also an economic, intellectual and cultural engine for our entire region of Illinois. I remain steadfastly confident that our General Assembly and Governor realize the great importance of EIU and all public universities to the future of our great state.
I would like to re-emphasize that the entirety of our cost reduction activities that are being implemented this month and continuing in March (with layoffs and furloughs) is the direct result of not having an appropriation for EIU enacted by the state and not receiving funds for MAP grants that were committed to our students by the state (which we honored).
Owing to the budgetary situation and in respect to our many colleagues facing layoffs, I am postponing our annual Years of Service luncheon scheduled for this week until later in the year or, perhaps, not until next fall. We will look forward to celebrating when our appropriation is enacted and the recall of those laid off begins to take place. Employees may contact the Vice President for Business Affairs to receive their service pins.
I am disappointed that we will need to lay off 198 civil service employees. Layoff notices will be delivered on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 10 and 11). Our Human Resources Office will provide as much assistance as possible to those who will be laid off. We are saddened to be put in this position, and realize it will affect either directly or indirectly our entire campus community.
If an appropriation is enacted and funds begin to be received at the university by the layoff date of Saturday, March 12, many or all of the layoff notices could be rescinded.
In addition to layoffs, all A&P employees (beginning on March 1) will be required to take the equivalent of one day of furlough per week, each month, until further notification or up until June 30, 2016. For those employees who were already required to take a specific number of furlough days, these days will be added until an employee has reached a total of 24 furlough days at which time they have met the maximum furlough limit (EIU IGP #189). The specific days chosen to furlough for any month will be determined by the supervisor in consultation with the employee according to university operational needs and the interests of the employee.
There will be the following number of furlough days:
· March: 5 days
· April: 4 days
· May: 4 days
· June: 5 days
Days in the month chosen for furlough need not be structured as one per week. For example, it would be possible, pending supervisor approval, to use the five days of Spring Break to satisfy furlough for the month of March.
The administration continues to work on alternative strategies that may allow for reducing the number of layoffs. As these discussions continue, I will communicate with the campus. A reduction in A&P required furlough days is possible upon the enactment of an appropriation and timely receipt of funds from the state.
Let us stand together in optimism that an appropriation for EIU will be enacted quickly with funds distributed to our university in order that these difficult measures affecting our campus family can be avoided. I am thankful and proud to serve as your president and we will continue together in action for our students and our beloved university.
Sincerely,
David M. Glassman
President, Eastern Illinois University
* Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle visited both the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune editorial boards yesterday. You can read the stories here and here, but I think this Mihalopoulos Twitter feed is actually more enlightening…
So, I asked, why not follow Rauner’s lead and ask Madigan to move on Rauner’s Turnaround Illinois Agenda, something the governor says is needed for him to back a tax hike that likely is needed to pass a balanced state budget?
Because Rauner takes and doesn’t give, Preckwinkle replied in so many words.
Specifically, Rauner last year asked Preckwinkle to dispatch county CFO Ivan Samstein on a special duty, serving on a task force Rauner formed to draft a possible solution to state pension woes.
“I consented, without condition,” she says. “He wanted Ivan down there (in Springfield). He was, a day a week. For two months.”
Afterwords, Preckwinkle says, she asked Rauner for help getting her own pension bill through the General Assembly, where it had been blocked by labor unions who felt it was too tough.
“He told me he’d help me only if I helped him on his turnaround agenda,” Preckwinkle said. “It’s sort of his way or the highway.”
During the side-by-side interview with Stratton on Monday, Dunkin referred to Democratic lawmakers as “monkeys”— before quickly correcting himself and calling them “minions”— prompting a lengthy denouncement from Stratton.
“To compare himself in the Illinois House to this horrific institution of slavery is not only offensive, but I also find it to be pathetic,” Stratton said. “For him to use that type of language I see that as race-baiting.”
Dunkin didn’t back down, claiming Madigan has demanded the Black Caucus vote the party line, while the speaker ignores caucus members’ requests for help in their districts.
“The Mike Madigan slave mentality of his plantation politics is real,” Dunkin said. “That’s an afro-centric terminology in terms of plantation politics. If you want to go there [Madigan] has been there 45 years, 32 years been the speaker. Have you gone on the West Side of Chicago, in certain parts, certain parts of the South Side?” […]
“The best people to say whether he gets credit [for his dealmaking] are the people of the 5th District,” Stratton said. “His alliance with Gov. Bruce Rauner is not going to be something that is going to be good for them.”
* The Belleville News Democrat reports on a blockbuster prisoner lawsuit about alleged brutality by “an elite, mobile Illinois Department of Corrections tactical unit” known to inmates as “Orange Crush”…
Members of the tactical unit begin the tactic by running onto a prison tier when female guards are sometimes also present, “whooping,” banging on metal tables and shouting to prisoners: “Get butt-naked.”
The guards do this, according to the lawsuit, while dressed in orange fatigues, wearing helmets, carrying clubs and chanting “Punish the inmate. Punish the inmate.”
Hundreds of prisoners at a time were marched in this way in April of 2014 at four Southern Illinois prisons while being threatened by laughing guards who shouted they would be taken immediately to solitary confinement if they allowed any daylight between themselves and the man in front of them, the plaintiffs’ lawyers allege. Prisoners were eventually led to an exercise area and made to stand for hours with their faces pressed against a wall while their hands were cuffed behind them in a “stress” position. During this time, other members of the guard unit searched the prisoners’ cells for contraband.
“This is above and beyond what I’ve seen ever in the 35 years I’ve been doing this kind of work,” said civil rights attorney Alan Mills of the Chicago-based Uptown People’s Law Center, one of two law firms pressing the lawsuit. “This is part of some official policy. Higher-ups in IDOC will have to explain what in the world they were thinking when they gave these people this kind of direction and leeway.”
Mills said the practice continued on at least a few occasions after the lawsuit was filed in 2015.
Federal Judge Staci Yandle recently allowed the lawsuit to continue and ruled against two motions presented by the attorney general.
* In a follow-up editorial the paper called for an immediate investigation and a fix for this alleged craziness…
This practice being carried out in front of female corrections officers and accompanied by whoops and pounding metal tables is a scene out of a bad movie. There can be no purpose other than to sexually humiliate the inmates.
Remember the last group engaging in that behavior? They were U.S. soldiers holding inmates at Abu Ghraib in Iraq who outfitted the inmates with dog leashes, women’s underwear and shrouds as they were hooked to fake electrocution devices.
Our state owes compensation, safety and respect to its correctional officers. They in turn owe us professionalism in how they exert power and to curb their own sense of entitlement so it does not extend to fake workers’ comp claims that give them fancy bass boats or to sadistic shows that give them a sense of superiority.
They also owe their fellow correctional officers a safe work environment. Since when does punishing a group of inmates for the violence of a few do anything but build a large reserve of resentment?
(T)here are three things President Barack Obama won’t do during his swing through Springfield on Wednesday:
Play “back-seat driver” and offer detailed advice to try to solve the state’s budget stalemate. Sit down one-on-one with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for a beer. And try to negotiate a peace accord between Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Previewing the trip, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Obama will pick up the themes of his State of the Union speech in January and urge the country to move past partisan divisions. […]
As for the state’s budget impasse, his call for bipartisanship could help, but he won’t be putting forth detailed remedies, Earnest said. For one thing, Obama’s proposed federal budget comes up the day before his trip to Illinois. “We’ve got our hands full here,” the spokesman said.
“This is actually something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Earnest said in a conference call. “There has always sort of been the sense that going back to Springfield on the anniversary of his announcement speech would be fun to do. And it would serve as the background for a discussion about the kind of potential that the president sees in the country.”
“The president views this as an opportunity to not offer advice or be a back-seat driver for running the state government of Illinois but rather an opportunity to deliver a broader message about the value and potential benefit associated with trying to find common ground,” Earnest said.
* Sweet asked why this visit is a good idea, considering Springfield’s partisan gridlock…
“It’s a good idea because the president’s experience when he served in Springfield was different than the situation the president encountered in Washington. And the president does see this as a good backdrop to talk about the kinds of benefits that can be realized when our citizens and our elected representatives don’t allow themselves to be so easily divided.”
Rauner singled out his two big issues – term limits and redistricting — in focusing on what he wants Obama to talk about, suggesting incorrectly that Obama backs Rauner’s term-limit crusade.
Rauner is not going to get that one-on-one beer he sought with Obama. He will be greeting him on the tarmac of the airport in Springfield.
While Obama did discuss term limits when in Ethiopia last summer delivering a speech to the people of Africa, saying “old thinking can be a stubborn thing,” Earnest said Monday that Obama’s message there was not a general call for term limits. He said Obama was telling leaders not to overcome limits already imposed, “either by ignoring them or by coercing the government to change the rules just for them.”
Obama, Earnest said, sees his speech as an opportunity “to deliver a broader message about the value and potential benefits associated with trying to find common ground. … That doesn’t mean that anybody needs to capitulate on their most strongly held principles. That typically is not a recipe for success, either.”
FULL COURT PRESS. Today’s Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times readers are being hit with splashy full-paid ads courting public support for a resolution in the stalemate between CTU and CPS. Behind the ads: Illinoisans for Growth and Opportunity, a nonprofit organization that says it “is driven by a fundamental belief, grounded in progressive principles, that if government is to be an agent for change and equal opportunity, it must operate effectively and efficiently to maintain public trust and confidence.” In a statement to Illinois Playbook, the group blames the CTU bargaining committee for rejecting a contract offer that it says “met every major demand - guaranteed raises, job security, and pension payments - while avoiding cuts.”
– CLAYPOOL AGREES: In op-ed in the Sun-Times, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool hit the same points: Under the headline “A message to Chicago Teachers Union: Trust is a two-way street,” he writes: “I understand the frustration of teachers. They work hard and give their hearts and souls to their students and in return they expect a fair salary and a dignified retirement. I truly believe that our proposal met those goals.” http://bit.ly/1mmBSGO
– CTU DOES NOT: The union sent a letter to parents late last week, accusing the district of promoting “lies” regarding the district’s economic woes. From DNAinfo’s David Matthews, the letter “is authored by top CPS executives and says the rejected contract would have “raised teachers’ pay, prevented teacher layoffs for economic reasons, and provided for autonomy for teachers in their classrooms.’ ‘It was an agreement worked out with CTU leadership and that was good for teachers, good for parents and most importantly, good for students,’ the letter states.” http://dnain.fo/1L9HZVg
I don’t know what a “full-paid ad” is, but I will be billing them.
President Barack Obama’s speech in the Illinois House chamber at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday will not be open to the public, officials confirmed on Monday.
The only people allowed inside the chamber will be elected officials, people with credentials and invited guests, said Steve Brown, a spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. […]
White House officials said Monday that after the speech Obama “will visit with a crowd of supporters, stakeholders, and volunteers gathered to watch his remarks at a local viewing location. The president will thank this group for their support, from the beginning of his political career to today.” The officials did not specify the location of that viewing location.
* The “local viewing location” is the Hoogland, according to a friend of mine who offered me his ticket. I declined.
So far, anyway, it looks like local media will be confined to a Senate hearing room, so I doubt I’ll be going to that, either.
I just don’t see the point in going through all that hassle unless I can get onto the House floor, and I really doubt I can do that.
Your thoughts?
…Adding… A few “press pool” reporters will be allowed access to the House floor, but I have zero interest in that and likely no shot of getting in even if I wanted to assume that role, which I don’t.
Karen Lewis: Time to replace 26th District “Rauner” Democrat
CTU president to join congressman, local electeds, grassroots activists in call for ouster of 26th District incumbent in favor of challenger Jay Travis.
CHICAGO, February 8, 2016: With Illinois’ Republican governor ratcheting up his attacks on teachers, public workers, retirees and the state’s most vulnerable, a growing chorus of local voices are calling on voters to reject “Rauner” Democrats who represent Chicago neighborhoods in Springfield — including the 26th District incumbent.
CTU President Karen Lewis will join U.S. Congressman Danny Davis, 10th Ward Alderman Sue Garza, 42nd Ward Alderman Brenden Reilly, and parents, community organizers and local residents of the 26th District TODAY at 12:30 PM, Monday, February 8 at the 42nd Ward’s iconic Billy Goat Tavern, located on the lower level of Michigan and Hubbard at 430 N. Michigan, to lay out their reasons for opposing incumbent Christian Mitchell. The incumbent has been branded a “Rauner” Democrat for sharing elite donors and a political agenda with the Republican governor that they say hurts retirees, schoolchildren, parents, educators and working families.
The 26th District includes some of the city’s most affluent and most economically challenged neighborhoods — from the northern tip of South Chicago all the way north to Streeterville and the Gold Coast.
Travis’ endorsers’ include four aldermen whose wards are included in the district: 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, 5th Ward Alderwoman Leslie Hairston, 10th Ward Alderwoman Sue Garza and 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly. Along with Congressman Davis, Travis has also been endorsed by Citizen Action/Illinois; United Working Families; the Network for Public Education Action; ATU Local 308, the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents CTA rail workers; the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 80,000 teachers and paraprofessionals in the state; BATs — The Badass Teachers Association (BATs), a national education activist organization with over 50,000 members; PUA — People United for Action; and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Travis has worked as a community organizer and non-profit professional for over 20 years, most recently as national coordinator of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, a national community labor alliance that works for equitable public education. Before that, she worked as a program officer for the Wood Foundation, and before that for 12 years as the executive director of KOCO — the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. She currently work as a consultant for groups that include the Midwest Academy, with a focus on coaching and training organizers and grassroots activists.
She’s running against a two-term incumbent who’s taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from school privatization groups, anti-labor groups and hedge fund billionaires, supporting a series of anti-labor, pro-privatization bills Travis’ supporters say undermine workers’ rights, neighborhood public schools and the long-term economic health of working families.
Karen Lewis lives in Mitchell’s district. She’s been trying to install her own candidate there for years. Hey, that’s her right. But most of the rest of organized labor has clearly moved on. Lewis won’t, which may be why the aldercreatures have folded.
State Rep. Christian Mitchell announced this week that his bid for reelection has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association, a statewide teachers union, comprised of over 130,000 elementary and secondary education teachers, professors, educational support professionals and retired teachers from across Illinois.
“We are proud to endorse Christian Mitchell for reelection to the Illinois House of Representatives,” said Cinda Klickna, President of the Illinois Education Association. “Christian has stood up against Governor Rauner’s attempts to destroy unions and has fought to protect our ability to collectively bargain. He supports more funding for our schools. Christian is the right choice for our students and our teachers.”
“I’m grateful for their support, and I look forward to continuing our work together in Springfield, particularly our fight against Governor Rauner’s attacks on organized labor,” said Mitchell.
* Last week, the Rauner administration sent an e-mail to employees outlining its contract offers and AFSCME’s “bad faith” negotiations. Here’s AFSCME’s response…
Fact Check – Setting the Record Straight (AGAIN)
“Luxury” Health Plans?
Rauner Administration Claim: The average actuarial plan value (what federal regulations and insurance companies use to assess how rich a health plan is) for the State’s current plans is 92%… “Platinum” under the Affordable Care Act is defined as plans that are between 88 % and 92%. Platinum is the highest level under the Affordable Care Act-above Gold, Silver, and Bronze. And as mentioned, the State’s average plan value is 92%-the high end of Platinum…Moreover, to be clear: under the State’s proposal, employees will have the option to continue this rich coverage at higher premiums, should they so choose. Alternatively, employees would have the option to have less-rich coverage and maintain current premiums. Employees will not have to both pay higher premiums and receive less-rich coverage.
AFSCME Accurate: As AFSCME has consistently stated, the state’s current health plan is on par with the health benefits of other state workforces across the nation. The typical state government employee in this country is enrolled in a health plan with an actuarial value of 92%—the same plan value as Illinois currently has. Our health plan is simply not too rich as the Administration would like you to believe. (The “actuarial value” is based on plan design and reflects what employees pay in co-pays and deductibles, but does not take into account the amount employees pay in premium contributions.)
Terranova acknowledges that under the Administration’s proposal, in order to keep your current health care coverage you will have “higher” premiums. What he doesn’t say is that, in fact, your premiums will increase by 100%. Yes, as he points out, rather than paying those exceedingly high new premiums, you could choose to have less-generous coverage at your current premium level. But then your co-pays and deductibles would drastically increase, by an average of 250%.
Further, under the Administration’s proposal, employee premiums could increase by up to 10% more in both FY 18 and FY 19, no matter which option you choose. So even if you opted for what the Administration calls “less-rich coverage”, you would almost certainly pay both higher premium contributions and higher out-of-pocket costs over the term of the new contract than under the current plan.
Health Care Comparisons
Rauner Administration Claim: With retiree coverage included, Illinois pays nearly 3/4 of the total cost of coverage for its workers. In comparison, Indiana pays less than 45% of the total cost of coverage …. Even if we only look at coverage for active employees—where the State is proposing to pay 60% of costs—the State’s proposal is still better than many other States and on par with the private sector.
AFSCME Accurate: First, for retirees, the state contributes 5% of the premium cost for each full year of creditable service up to 100%. In FY 15, retirees and retiree dependents paid 12% of their total health care costs. Moreover, when John Terranova states that the proposal to pay 60% of health care costs is still “better than many other states”- he means better than just 4 states. The Administration’s proposal would move Illinois from average to bottom tier when it comes to the health benefits offered to employees.
Reduced Layoff Rights
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: The State’s proposal would wipe out all job security rights. Fact: The State’s offer does not eliminate these rights. Layoffs would still happen in reverse seniority order. Employees would still have the opportunity to “bump” less senior individuals in the same position and qualifications. Employees would also still have the opportunity to transfer to other vacancies for which they are qualified.
AFSCME Accurate: In fact, the Administration’s original proposal would have completely eliminated bumping rights. Since it modified that proposal, what the Union is saying—and what Terranova conveniently fails to mention –is completely accurate: That under Management’s current proposal, employees would lose several bumping options, particularly the ability to bump into a lower classification, even one previously held.
Maximum Out-of-Pocket Limits
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: If I have a major medical issue under the new insurance, there is no limit on what I could pay. I could go bankrupt! Fact: The Affordable Care Act has an annual out-of-pocket maximum of $6,850 for an individual. While that’s a lot of money, it prevents people from being financially ruined due to a medical issue. You can go here to fact-check this for yourself: http://obamacarefacts.com/health-insurance/out-of-pocket-maximum. The bottom line is no matter what coverage level employees select, there will be strict limits on how much each employee is going to be asked to pay in any given year.
AFSCME Accurate: This is a made-up myth. The Union isn’t saying there will be no limits—we’re saying that the limits will be unaffordable for many employees. Management never told the AFSCME Bargaining Committee what the new insurance plan would look like other than that it would be comparable to a ‘silver plan’ per the ACA. On the Illinois ACA exchange, the average ‘silver’ plan has out-of-pocket maximums of $6,400 for an individual and $12,800 for a family. Many employees facing serious medical problems could not afford that kind of expense in one year—and then the clock starts ticking all over again and they could have to pay those same amounts in the next year (and the year after, etc.) if their health problem persisted or new ones arose.
Merit Pay
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: Merit pay is just political pay. Fact: Politics has nothing to do with it. In fact, the State would prohibit any Governor’s staff and appointees from being eligible for performance bonuses.
AFSCME Accurate: This misstates the issue. The Union doesn’t say merit pay is fundamentally political pay because it will only go to the governor’s staff and appointees. Rather, “political pay” refers to the fact that the Rauner Administration alone would determine what constitutes “exceptional performance standards,” and which employees qualify. We all know the kind of cronyism, favoritism, and pure politics that will enter into those judgments.
Not “substantially similar”
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: The Governor is “now seeking to impose on state employees” his contract…. Fact: It is critical to mention that the last offer made by the State to AFSCME is substantially similar to the agreements signed by 17 other unions. These agreements were ratified in many cases by over 80% of state employees in those unions. This is not a radical or extreme contract as AFSCME has portrayed, but one that is fair, reasonable, and overwhelming accepted by several thousand State employees already.
AFSCME Accurate: Again, the contracts ratified by other unions were NOT “substantially similar.” They were far more generous than what is being offered to AFSCME and other unions still in negotiations with the Rauner Administration. AFSCME specifically asked across the bargaining table if the Administration would agree to the same employer health insurance contribution as that made to the Teamsters, and the answer from Management was absolutely not.
Labor Board
Rauner Administration Claim: By submitting this dispute to the Labor Board, the Governor did nothing more than invoke the very process to which both parties voluntarily agreed.
AFSCME Accurate: In reality, rather than merely “submitting” the matter to the Labor Board, the governor filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the Union on the grounds that AFSCME refuses to agree that negotiations are at impasse. In other words, he is objecting to the fact that the Union wants to continue negotiating to reach an agreement that is fair to all!
Refusal to Negotiate
Rauner Administration Claim: What the Governor is seeking, and AFSCME is refusing, is for AFSCME to submit the Governor’s actual proposal to employees for a vote. What better way is there to determine whether the proposal is deemed fair and reasonable by the very people whose work will be governed by that proposed contract?
AFSCME Truth: John Terranova attached Management’s proposal to the Union to his letter to employees and labeled it “for Tentative Agreement”. This is an attempt to mislead or confuse union members. AFSCME has NOT reached a Tentative Agreement with the Rauner Administration. In fact, the Administration is refusing to continue to negotiate to try to reach a Tentative Agreement. When one is reached, it will be presented to the full membership for a vote—as has been done in every set of contract negotiations over many decades. This is just a ploy by the governor to avoid returning to the bargaining table.
Teamster Comparison
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: The Teamsters’ agreements provide “far more generous health insurance terms.” Fact: Comparing Teamsters’ health insurance to AFSCME’s is like comparing apples and platypuses. AFSCME employees’ health insurance is provided by the State, where the State charges premiums. Teamsters’ health insurance is provided by Teamsters’ own health and welfare funds. The State contributes to those funds but does not get to decide the level of coverage or premiums.
AFSCME Accurate: The issue is how much the Employer contributes toward each employee’s health care coverage, not who administers or designs the plan. In the proposal the Administration is trying to impose on AFSCME members, it would contribute only $967 per employee per month—a steep cut from the $1224 per employee per month the State currently contributes. In the Teamsters agreement, the Administration has already agreed to contribute $1,600 per employee per month—a big increase over the current $1224 contribution. This is a gross inequity.
Building Trades Comparison
Rauner Administration Claim: AFSCME claims the distinguishing feature is that the trades’ agreements do not include a wage freeze. But what AFSCME fails to mention is the trades get compensated on a wholly different metric, known as the prevailing wage.
AFSCME Accurate: Far from failing to mention the “prevailing wage”, AFSCME has put out a number of fact sheets and bulletins explaining that the building trades agreements are based on the prevailing wage.
Prevailing Wage
Rauner Administration Claim: That wage is determined through a certification process administered by the Department of Labor and is not guaranteed to increase during the course of the contract. In fact, the prevailing wage could go down over the life of the contract.
AFSCME Accurate: In recent years, the prevailing wage has gone up and very rarely gone down. AFSCME members, on the other hand, would have no possibility whatsoever of getting any wage or step increases for all four years under the Administration’s proposal.
Other Unions Haven’t Settled
Rauner Administration Claim: AFSCME stands alone in demanding guaranteed wage increases and luxury health insurance coverage.
AFSCME Accurate: AFSCME does not ‘stand alone’. There are six other unions that have not reached settlements with the state—and all of them are seeking wage increases and rejecting the Administration’s demand for huge health care cost hikes. Together, these seven unions represent more than 10 times the number of state employees represented by the unions that have settled.
Wage Comparison
Rauner Administration Claim: State employees in Illinois make more than their counterparts in other Midwestern States. For example, Illinois state workers made, on average, over $20,000 more per year in 2014 than state workers in Indiana or Missouri. In absolute dollars, Illinois state worker pay was third-highest.
AFSCME Accurate: Illinois ranks 9th nationally, not 3rd, for state employee pay. Illinois is in the top tier because, generally speaking, it is a high-wage state. Overall, Illinois wages rank 10th in the nation—putting state employees right on a par with their fellow citizens.
Bad Note-Taking
Rauner Administration Claim: Fact: Here’s what AFSCME’s Executive Director Roberta Lynch said during bargaining: “People who came up with this [merit pay proposal] ought to go to f**king prison . . . fact that you want to give measly 25% to some who are doing the job already . . . 75% of people not doing their best - that’s a f**king lie. I think it’s an insult to every single person who works for the State of Illinois.” Here’s how AFSCME interprets the above quote: “it wasn’t fair to leave out 75% of employees from getting a bonus, given the difficult jobs that employees do-and that whoever came up with that idea should try going and actually working in a prison so they’d know how hard the job is.” We appreciate that AFSCME’s Executive Director regrets her choice of words when she reads those words on paper. Nonetheless, she does not get to rewrite the history of negotiations based on what she wishes she has said.
AFSCME Accurate: The “history of negotiations”? Only if we want to let the Rauner Administration write our history for us. In reality, that supposed ‘quote’ is nothing more than what someone on Management’s team wrote down. He or she may have deliberately misrepresented the facts or was just a very poor note-taker. The whole AFSCME Bargaining Committee heard Roberta’s argument and knows that what the Union reported is what she was saying. In any event, AFSCME has no interest in getting into a prolonged argument over this—though it’s not accurate, the purported ‘quote’ shows Roberta standing up for union members.
Fair Arbitration Bill
Rauner Administration Claim: SB1229 was AFSCME’s attempt to … saddle the State’s taxpayers with a multi-billion dollar cost of AFSCME’s unreasonable contract proposal that it knew, under the existing laws, it could never get the State to agree to at the bargaining table.
AFSCME Accurate: The Union’s contract proposal is not “unreasonable” and does not cost “multi-billion” more dollars. The health care coverage and pay increases—averaging little more than 2% per year—that the Union proposed are comparable to those negotiated in union contracts with other states, cities and counties all across this country. The most recent US DOL data shows that the average pay raise for all U.S. workers last year was 2.5%.
Moreover, AFSCME has indicated time and again that the proposal the Union has on the table is not our final proposal. In fact, the Union has already modified our wage proposal and had done so again just last month, right before Management broke off negotiations. It is the governor who is refusing to negotiate, thus making clear that the Union is correct to press for passage of legislation that would require arbitration. If the Rauner Administration truly believed it had a reasonable and fair contract proposal, it wouldn’t hesitate to submit it to an independent arbitrator for consideration.
Passing HB 580
Rauner Administration Claim: HB580—another version of the same failed bill, which would strip the Governor of his constitutional authority—is as unaffordable and damaging now as it was then.
AFSCME Accurate: Under current labor law arbitration procedures have been in place for decades for law enforcement and fire safety employees all across Illinois. Neither the governor nor any other employer has a “constitutional authority” to control negotiations. The same law already requires him to submit to arbitration for security employees. If he thinks arbitration is unconstitutional, why hasn’t he challenged that provision in court? Because it’s not, of course. What the governor doesn’t like about arbitration is it allows an impartial third party to decide on a reasonable settlement, instead of letting the governor do an end run around the collective bargaining process and impose his own terms.
Rauner Administration Claim: This is as clear a signal as any that AFSCME is not interested in negotiating… AFSCME is only interested in imposing its will through an unelected, unaccountable arbitrator. This is bad faith in spades, and why the matter is now before the Labor Board.
AFSCME Accurate: An Administration that walks away from the bargaining table and flatly refuses to return says the Union doesn’t want to negotiate? That doesn’t pass the laugh test. In fact, our Union has clearly and consistently stated our willingness to continue to negotiate, while the Rauner Administration is trying to persuade the Labor Board to allow it to force its extreme demands on employees—or force the disruption that a strike would cause. In the end, we’ve come full circle—nearly three years ago, as a candidate, the governor said he wanted a strike—and he’s still doing his very best to try to provoke one now.
The first meeting between Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders since mid-December is set to take place later this week.
Since meeting three times in December to discuss ways to end the budget stalemate, no formal discussions have taken place. Rauner said staff members have been in “almost daily communication,” and is promising to offer new proposals in this week’s negotiations.
“We’re going to offer more compromises and creative solutions and hopefully, we’ll come up with some bipartisan answers, so we can have true long-term balanced budgets where the interests of taxpayers are protected along with the interests of those inside the government. We’re working hard on it and I think we’ll get there,” Rauner said.
Rauner declined to offer specifics on what new compromises he’ll offer.
* There was a big rally at Eastern Illinois University the other day, but the area’s Republican legislators weren’t invited to speak…
Less than two hours before the event held in the face of coming layoffs and furlough forced by the state budget impasse, [Sen Dale Righter] said he was prevented from speaking at the event.
He issued the following statement in response to being barred from publicly speaking at the event on campus:
“I am deeply disappointed in the decision made by the organizer of this rally to not allow me to address the rally.”
Both Righter and [Rep. Reggie Phillips] said they appreciated the strong support shown for Eastern at the rally but would have liked to have been given the opportunity to speak there. […]
Organizer Kate Klipp told the JG-TC that the event was focused on the university’s students…. “It’s not designed to be a campaign stomping ground,” Klipp said.
Democratic Sen. Scott Bennett was invited to speak, even though he doesn’t represent the university. Klipp works for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 149, which could be the reason for the GOP omission.
The state senator’s office has reported that under Righter’s legislation, four year colleges/universities would be funded at 80 percent of 2015 funding levels, two-year community colleges would be funded at 90 percent, and MAP grants would be funded at 100 percent. […]
After the rally, state Rep. Reggie Phillips, R-Charleston, said he has spoken with Rauner multiple times about the need to allocate higher education funding and he has proposed legislation to accomplish this goal. He said Eastern has done everything it can to cut its budget while carrying out its education mission and should not be penalized by the state.
Phillips said he will not support legislation that reduces funding for Eastern and other schools by more than 10 percent, adding that he would prefer an even less of a reduction. Phillips said he also will not support higher education funding legislation that does not have existing funding sources available to pay for it.
Rural Toledo businessman Jonathan Kaye, who is running against Phillips for the Republican nomination in the 110th District, said after the rally that he would support higher education funding that is not tied to any unrelated issues in the budget negotiations.
* Pennsylvania also doesn’t have a budget yet. They have a Democratic governor with a Republican GA, the mirror opposite of Illinois…
Similarly, in Pennsylvania, court orders have kept some money flowing to social services and helped ease pressure. This is much different from budget stalemates past, said McLaughlin.
“It used to be, when you didn’t have a budget, nobody got paid, no checks went out. It was ugly, but also an enormous amount of pressure,” he said.
On Thursday, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said spending mandated by consent decrees and court orders on social services could cost Illinois up to $1.2 billion more than the previous year by July.
But, in both states, observers say the lawmakers will likely not do anything too controversial to resolve the crisis until after the primary elections. For Pennsylvania, that’s not until April 26. In Illinois, it’s March 15.
* Illinois GO has a new TV ad supporting Rep. Ken Dunkin. Rate it…
I’m expecting a response from SEIU pretty soon about this ad.
*** UPDATE *** As expected…
A leader from the union that represents state child care providers on Monday called on Illinoisans for Growth and Opportunity (Illinois GO), widely considered a Republican front group, to withdraw a television ad running on behalf of Bruce Rauner ally Rep. Ken Dunkin because of massive misrepresentations regarding damage the couple has caused to the Child Care Assistance Program—and ignoring the state’s own figures showing 48,000 fewer children in the program.
The ad from the deep-pocketed Republican group, which apparently began running this weekend, includes the outrageous claim by Dunkin that he “restored childcare funding” to 100,000 Illinois children. In fact, CCAP has NOT been restored and is reportedly down tens of thousands of children (citations below), the consequence of unilateral action by Bruce Rauner that was enabled by Ken Dunkin’s refusal to back legislation protecting eligibility.
Illinois GO is citing Ken Dunkin’s made-up numbers in an ad praising Ken Dunkin’s made-up numbers, and ignoring the fact that Rauner has said that he will make new cuts to the program thanks to the enabling Dunkin “deal.”
In a letter to Illinois GO (attached), Brynn Seibert, SEIU Healthcare Illinois vice president for child care, called on Illinois GO to tell the truth about child care in Illinois and withdraw the deceptive new ad:
“The cuts put in place by Bruce Rauner, and enabled by Ken Dunkin now and forever, have done permanent damage to a program that has served as a bipartisan model for helping working families enter the middle class. Not only is the 100,000 kids figure entirely made up out of whole cloth and without any basis in fact, it is a reminder of the cynicism of politicians like Ken Dunkin and Bruce Rauner, who are using vulnerable people as pawns in a political game that is harming the welfare of Illinois….
“On behalf of the tens of thousands of kids and working families who have been harmed by Ken Dunkin’s and Bruce Rauner’s cuts to child care in Illinois and who remain in their crosshairs, we ask that you cease and desist and withdraw this deceptive ad.”
On one side of the room, Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was telling reporters he believed his defense needs to be considered among the all-time greats after Sunday’s dominant performance against the Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
On the other, Danny Trevathan took things a little further. The Broncos linebacker believes the unit’s season-long dominance — which included suffocating performances against Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Cam Newton in the final three weeks — moves Denver into rarified air.
“You’re going to ask me? No. 1. No. 1 in my opinion, over ‘85 Bears,” he said. “If not No. 1, No. 2. I feel like we did a good job playing our games. It wasn’t ever pretty, but when you put it in our defense’s hand we always come up with that win.”
Not enough can be said about what Denver pulled off at Levi’s Stadium. Newton came into the game as the league’s MVP, playing the game at a uniquely dominant level. That the once-swaggering Newton left the building a hollowed-out shell speaks volumes.
Not to mention that Newton was so rattled he avoided contact at a crucial moment…
Congrats to Denver…great Defense and a great season.
But this is ABSURD!
Not even close.
‘85 #Bears:
46-10 in SB
Only five of the teams they faced scored more than 10 points all season
Hall of famers everywhere
* The Question: Which team had the better defense, the ‘85 Bears or this season’s Broncos? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
…Adding… I changed the headline to reflect a bit of a misreading by me here. They’re going to reopen the museum, but if the GA doesn’t agree with the amendatory veto, then it’ll take longer to get it reopened with the administrative rules process.
Hope that clears things up.
* The catch is that House Speaker Michael Madigan usually refuses to advance these sorts of dramatic gubernatorial rewrites. So, we’ll see what happens…
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Wayne A. Rosenthal announced today that an agreement has been reached to reopen the Illinois State Museum to the public. IDNR has worked closely with Governor Bruce Rauner’s office to develop a new, more sustainable model for operating the museum that will save about $1 million per year by closing two museum branches, consolidating human resources and accounting functions within IDNR, and by development of a new management and organizational structure. The museum will also seek to improve revenue by charging an admission fee, and increase fundraising efforts through an improved partnership with the Illinois State Museum Society.
The timeframe for reopening will depend upon the Illinois General Assembly taking up the amendatory veto (AV) of SB 317 and implementing the suggested changes. Governor Bruce Rauner’s AV asks that the authority to charge an admission fee be placed in statute so it can be implemented immediately upon the acceptance of the amendatory veto.
“If the General Assembly acts quickly on the Governor’s amendatory veto, we believe we could reopen the museum in a matter of weeks,” said IDNR Director Wayne Rosenthal. “Without the General Assembly’s support, it could take months to get the museum reopened.”
Michael Wiant will become interim director of the Illinois State Museum immediately. Rosenthal will ask the Illinois State Museum Board to begin the search for a new director. Rosenthal also will ask the Museum and Society boards to call emergency meetings so work to reopen the museum can begin immediately.
“With challenge comes great opportunity, and the museum staff is grateful for this tremendous opportunity to continue to share the art, history and culture of Illinois with its citizens,” said Dr. Michael Wiant, Interim Director of the Illinois State Museum.
“I applaud the Governor’s action as it creates a realistic path forward to reopening the Illinois State Museum,” said State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield). “Reopening the museum is vital to our community and the plan announced today will provide for the long-term viability and growth of the museum system. I look forward to working with the community, legislators, and the Governor as we again open the doors on a wonderful asset of our State.”
“I am encouraged that the Governor took careful steps in adjusting this legislation while maintaining the ultimate goal of allowing our State Museum to resume its important work. We all want to see those doors open to the public once again, and this compromise could make that happen,” said State Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (R-Springfield).
“The Illinois State Museum Society is looking forward to the challenge of becoming a stronger partner and playing a greater role in the success of the Illinois State Museum,” said Karen Westbrook of the Illinois State Museum Society.
Munger encouraged “all parties” to “get together in a room and start … talking about this and focus on solutions.” For her part, she said, one area she could see for compromise is lowering workers’ compensation rates to be more competitive.
“I cannot understand why union members would not love that,” she said, because it would free up money so more skilled workers could get jobs.
Former State Representative Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, has announced his endorsement of Bryce Benton, Republican candidate for State Senate in the 50th District.
“I had the honor of serving Sangamon County in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1995-2015,” said Poe. “I believe that we deserve a State Senator who calls Sangamon County home and will represent us with integrity. Sam McCann has put his interests above the interests of Central Illinois. I endorsed Sam McCann’s primary opponent in 2012, and I am happy to endorse his opponent this year. Sangamon County deserves better than Sam McCann.”
“I know Bryce Benton well, and he’s a strong public servant who will always put the interests of Central Illinois above his own,” said Poe. “The 50th Senate District is home to many current and retired state employees, and as a state employee himself, Bryce will be a strong voice for them in state government. Illinois will be well served with Bryce Benton in the Senate.”
“I’m incredibly humbled to receive the support of Representative Poe,” said Benton. “Raymond is a Sangamon County institution who has honorably served Illinois for decades, and he, more than anyone, knows what makes a good public servant - and what doesn’t. Raymond Poe has endorsed me because he knows that I have the integrity to serve the voters of Sangamon County and the 50th Senate District.”
Poe joined other prominent Sangamon County Republicans backing McCann’s GOP primary opponent in 2012 — GRAY NOLL, who is now Morgan County state’s attorney. This year, the Sangamon County GOP is backing McCann.
That fight was mainly about Sangamon County not having its own Senator. But that wasn’t a good enough argument for voters. Noll won the county, but got clobbered everywhere else.
Last fall, when Northrop Grumman beat out a joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin bid to engineer a bomber for the U.S. Air Force, it felt like a big loss for Chicago. With orders for other military aircraft winding down, the defense unit at Chicago-based Boeing desperately needed the $79.40 billion deal—so much so that executives formally protested the decision. A ruling due Feb. 16 from the Government Accountability Office will determine whether the Air Force has to rebid the contract.
But Boeing’s loss appears to be the region’s gain. While Boeing is the most prominent defense contractor based here, with about 560 employees downtown, Northrop operates the most significant military-focused factory in metro Chicago, with 2,100 people at a campus in Rolling Meadows. For those engineers, technicians and production workers, the bomber win likely adds a measure of job security at a time when military spending has fallen off because of automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.
The bomber business could trickle down, too, to smaller manufacturers nearby linked to Northrop’s facility. It’s the rare example of how the Chicago area, which isn’t known for defense manufacturing, could catch a tail wind from a big-ticket military procurement effort.
Would a Boeing win have helped the region? Probably not much, because the company doesn’t employ anyone other than HQ workers here.
* Crain’s recently published a story entitled “The incredible shrinking corporate headquarters.” It’s a good read…
Corporations moving their headquarters to Chicago arrive with only a handful of employees and a modest economic impact
Even Boeing, the largest company to come to Chicago from out of state, brought just 400 employees here in 2001, compared with the 1,000 it employed at its headquarters in Seattle. Fifteen years later, its Chicago headcount is up to roughly 560. […]
Boeing’s Seattle location was identified with its commercial airplane unit at a time when the company was still digesting its merger with St. Louis-based defense contractor McDonnell Douglas and it needed a “neutral location” for its headquarters.
Since that Boeing relocation, it’s becoming obvious that some (not all) of these big companies are trying to get away from their employees by moving to the Chicago region. And that means the region has little to no shot at any manufacturing or other expansion gains. The bomber contract is a good example of this. A win for Boeing doesn’t really do much for the region.
* The big brains need to start thinking about this. Snatching a corporate HQ is a great PR win, but if it puts the region out of the running for “real” jobs, is it worth anything at all?
Peabody Energy, one of the state’s largest coal mine operators, soon could be in bankruptcy, but regulators are allowing it to meet future cleanup obligations with a promise rather than a bond.
The state permits certain companies to “self-bond”—effectively to pledge, backed by audited financial statements, that the money will be there to clean up the mine sites after they’ve been tapped out. That practice is under fire from environmentalists now that plummeting commodity prices are putting intense financial pressure on the industry.
In Illinois, just one of the state’s top five operators, St. Louis-based Peabody, self-bonds. The projected cost of cleaning up three large Peabody mine sites in southern Illinois is $92 million, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. That’s 22 percent of the $412 million the state estimates is needed to reclaim all of Illinois’ mines.
The state risks having to shoulder at least some of that cost if Peabody files for bankruptcy protection, as five publicly traded U.S. coal companies have done in the past two years.
* The Sun-Times notes a change in FOIA tactics by the governor…
For the past year, Gov. Bruce Rauner has resisted efforts by news organizations to obtain copies of his daily schedule, blacking out big swaths of the documents, mounting a legal fight to keep them under wraps and — after those efforts failed — using abbreviations and code to hide the names of those the governor met with or called.
After losing the fight to black out portions of his schedule, Rauner and his staff began concealing his activities by just leaving information off his schedule to begin with.
On Oct. 7, for example, the governor’s schedule listed four afternoon meetings — with “MH,” “EB,” “JM,” “MW,” “JC” and “AP.” There’s no identification beyond initials. […]
Two weeks later, on Oct. 27, Rauner set aside 30 minutes for a call with “EM.” Ed Murphy is his director of research.
The rest of that day’s schedule was blank — not unusual for Rauner. The governor held no public events the next day either, when his schedule showed only that he would videotape a short message and make phone calls to “JS” and “SK.”
More than two years after federal researchers found high levels of lead in homes where water mains had been replaced or new meters installed, city officials still do little to caution Chicagoans about potential health risks posed by work that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is speeding up across the city.
In a peer-reviewed study, researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found alarming levels of the brain-damaging metal can flow out of household faucets for years after construction work disrupts service lines that connect buildings to the city’s water system. Nearly 80 percent of the properties in Chicago are hooked up to service lines made of lead.
The study also found the city’s testing protocols — based on federal rules — are likely to miss high concentrations of lead in drinking water. […]
Most older cities, including Chicago, add corrosion-fighting chemicals to the water supply that form a protective coating inside pipes. Officials in Flint stopped the treatment in an ill-advised attempt to cut costs. The EPA study and other research shows the anti-corrosion treatment also can be thwarted when street work, plumbing repairs or changes in water chemistry disrupts the coating, causing alarming levels of lead to leach from service lines.
“I am taking this opportunity to set the record straight,” Thomas Powers, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management, wrote in a October 2013 letter to aldermen in response to Del Toral’s EPA study. “Chicago water is absolutely safe to drink and meets or exceeds all standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois EPA.”
* We already know that Laquan McDonald was a ward of the state when he was shot by police. So, his family (immediate and extended) obviously failed him. And so did the government at all levels, according to the BGA…
* The city schools McDonald attended had some of the lowest academic ratings, and two were later closed because they were so bad.
* The psychiatric hospital he was sent to by child welfare officials was the subject of a scathing report detailing physical and sexual abuse there.
* The Chicago Public Schools system placed him in a small, private school for children with emotional disturbances, but the district failed to collect any performance measures on the facility and others like it for years.
* The last school McDonald attended is highly rated but child advocates believe it didn’t have the resources needed to help students with complex behavioral issues.
* The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which was responsible for McDonald’s well-being when he was a foster child, was “nonexistent” when it came to ensuring McDonald was adequately placed in schools.
Ben Wolf, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has pushed for greater accountability at DCFS, said too many foster children wind up in the worst schools and eventually drop out.
“In general, most schools don’t know what to do with foster children,” Wolf said.
One CPS social worker who reviewed McDonald’s school records said she was appalled at the lack of involvement by DCFS, saying, “It was nonexistent.”
As has been reported, McDonald was sexually and physically abused while in foster care — while living with people he was not related to — under the supervision of DCFS.
President Barack Obama returns to Springfield this month for a speech to the Illinois General Assembly about “what we can do, together, to build a better politics—one that reflects our better selves.”
Obama served in the Illinois Senate during a long overtime session in 2004, which only came to an end because he had been picked to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention and state party leaders didn’t want to embarrass him. Leadership also didn’t want to miss the partying and fundraising opportunities at the convention.
So if he was partly responsible for “solving” one impasse, could he break the current gridlock that has paralyzed Illinois since May?
* Apart from the obvious here, Springfield could really use those construction jobs…
Springfield’s two largest hospitals are owed a total of $76 million for the care of state workers, retirees and dependents — a record amount that continues to grow during the state budget impasse and threatens to stifle growth in the local medical industry.
Memorial Medical Center, which is owed $46.3 million from the State Employees’ Group Health Insurance Program, is delaying plans to construct an $80 million medical office building for exclusive rental to doctors at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine because of the impasse, the leader of Memorial’s parent organization said Friday. […]
Springfield Clinic doesn’t plan to ask patients to pay more up front, either, said Mark Kuhn, chief administrative officer, though the clinic is owned about $35 million — a record amount — from the state employee insurance plan.
Much of that money gets recirculated through the local economy, so this is just nuts. And every dollar a local bank has to lend the providers to keep them afloat is a dollar they can’t lend to grow the economy.
Then again, if they’re owed this much money and are still humming along, perhaps it’s time to renegotiate?
* Gov. Bruce Rauner has endorsed former Rep. Brad Halbrook in this race, so today’s endorsement sets up a proxy battle of sorts between the former governor and the current governor. Acklin has also been endorsed by the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Champaign County GOP is all in for him, making this three-way primary race one to watch…
Former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar has announced his endorsement of Jim Acklin for the Republican nomination for State Representative in the 102nd District.
“Illinois needs dedicated and experienced people to get this state moving again. Jim Acklin’s experience speaks for itself,” said Edgar. “If you look at his time as a teacher, coach, and school superintendent, Jim Acklin has the kind of experience and judgement we need at the State Capitol. That’s why I’m happy to support him for State Representative.”
The 102nd District includes portions of Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Macon, Moultrie, Shelby, and Vermilion Counties. Acklin has lived in Champaign County for over 35 years and was a longtime Superintendent at St. Joseph-Ogden High School and the Shiloh School District in Douglas and Edgar Counties. He grew up in Paris.
Acklin says Edgar was a “wonderful Governor and a man who is revered in east central Illinois” and thanked him for his support.
“Governor Edgar is a man who served Illinois with tremendous integrity is a model of what public service should look like,” said Acklin. “Governor Edgar served our area as Governor, Secretary of State, and as a State Representative. He has great respect and admiration for the people here, because he is one of us. To have the endorsement of a man whose legacy of saying “no” to spending we couldn’t afford, combined with an enduring reputation of being honest and forthright, is truly special. I’m honored to have his friendship and support.”
Acklin lives in Ogden with his wife, Cindy, and has three children. To learn more about Jim’s campaign, visit www.jimacklin.com or www.facebook.com/acklin102.
Lindall provided detailed notes one member provided the union of the call the member received on the survey. According to the member, the interviewer wanted to know if the worker had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Rauner, AFSCME and AFSCME executive director Roberta Lynch.
Other questions included whether the employee was a full union member or a fair-share member, if the worker would accept a pay freeze, would the worker participate in a work stoppage, how long the worker was willing to go without pay while participating in a work stoppage, how the worker felt about Rauner’s plan to award bonuses to employers and whether the worker was aware the state was in a financial crisis.
“In essence, state employees are being asked to do one of two untenable things,” Lindall said. “Either they make statements critical of their employer to an unknown person who knows their identity, or they agree with leading statements that are designed to say things that are critical of their own union.”
Lindall said union members reported that their caller IDs showed the calls coming from SSI, which stands for Survey Sampling International. A representative of SSI said the work was commissioned by Fabrizio, Lee and Associates of Alexandria, Va. A call to Fabrizio, Lee on Friday afternoon was not returned.
“Don’t Shoot” is an aggressive multi-strategy anti-gang and anti-gun violence program designed to save lives and reduce the number of people impacted by gun crimes. It is modeled after a concept found in the book, “Don’t Shoot. One Man, A Street Fellowship, and The End of Violence in Inner-City America,” by David M. Kennedy.
Led by Mayor Jim Ardis, the initiative creates partnerships among federal, state and local prosecutors; law enforcement; outreach specialists; community leaders; and media.
* Emphasis added because the mayor’s pet program apparently went awry…
A Peoria man sentenced in December to 15 years in prison for running an underage prostitution operation plied his illegal trade out of an apartment obtained with the help of the Peoria Police Department, according to documents procured under the Freedom of Information Act.
Peoria police arrested Matthew Petrakis, 44, on prostitution-related charges on May 21, 2015, and he has been incarcerated since then. He opted for a bench trial in the first week of November, and Judge Kevin Lyons found him guilty on one count of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. […]
Petrakis had been in close contact with the Peoria Police Department for months before his May 2015 arrest. At one point the department helped him obtain the apartment where up to six men a day paid to have sex with a 16-year-old girl, according to documents released by the department following a public records request by the Journal Star.
The department, under the umbrella of the Don’t Shoot anti-gun violence initiative, also arranged for Matthew Petrakis to meet U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and sought to have his unpaid fines for traffic tickets waived so he could obtain a valid driver’s license, according to a contact log with the department’s community services coordinator, Krista Coleman.
* Greg Hinz on whether Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda is worth the price being paid…
In recent days, he has gleefully tried to torpedo a big Chicago Public Schools bond issue, failing in his effort but driving up the already prohibitive cost to city taxpayers.
He has said little about a report from his handpicked state comptroller, Leslie Geissler Munger, that Illinois debt soon may blow by the level reached by Gov. Pat Quinn, the guy who took over from Rod Blagojevich amid the worst U.S. economic downturn since Herbert Hoover was president.
He mostly has just watched as thousands of Illinois college students consider dropping out because their financial aid is gone, some of them never to return. He also lost General Electric’s headquarters when the company chose Boston over Chicago.
I could go on. But here’s the cold, hard fact: This war Rauner is in with House Speaker Michael Madigan is of increasingly questionable value relative to the costs. Though our GOP governor is right that Illinois’ economy is too weak and public-sector unions too strong, is the payoff of his turnaround agenda worth it? […]
Rauner is right that CPS finances have been a mess for way too long. Piling on more debt is a bad idea. But his plan to fix CPS by forcing it into bankruptcy comes out of the same fairy-dust factory as the proposal by Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis to maintain the status quo by taxing commodities trades and rich people and emptying tax-increment-financing districts for the dough.
More real was Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan: to finally bargain hard with the CTU, cut some jobs, get more money from the state and buy more time via borrowing. But Rauner (who actually agrees that CPS needs more state money) turned thumbs down on a deal that would have forced every teacher to take what amounts to a 7 percent pay cut because the deal also would have left CTU alive and capped the number of charter schools.
Potter said while CPS offered teachers a 2.75 percent pay raise that would take effect in the second year of their four-year contract offer, those raises would have been negated by teachers’ increased pension and health insurance contributions. Factoring in those costs, Potter said teachers would actually lose 1.55 percent of their pay if they accepted the contract Monday.
Last week, a reporter said to Gov. Bruce Rauner that Secretary of State Jesse White had suggested that Rauner bring in former governors, including George Ryan, to help break the long governmental impasse which has prevented the state from having a budget for over seven months.
Rauner laughed and said, “Uh, wow.”
The governor clearly did not take the suggestion seriously.
“I’m not gonna talk about the failures of the past that created this mess,” Gov. Rauner said through chuckles.
“I focus on the future. I don’t live in the past. We’ve had failure in our elected government for decades. This mess didn’t happen over night. And what we’re not gonna do is reproduce the dynamic that created it.” The governor laughed throughout most of that last sentence.
Bringing in graybeards has been tried before without success. Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert and then-Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard to town to help him pass his massive construction proposal that Speaker Madigan refused to agree to. It didn’t work. The two men left town as soon as they realized how hardened Madigan’s position had become against Blagojevich.
While former governors have been through similar troubles, nothing really compares to today’s self-inflicted disaster. Madigan and Blagojevich played hardball, but the game is exponentially meaner now.
And, besides, what would the former governors say or do that could make a difference? They’d probably advise Rauner to cut a deal which doesn’t bash unions. But our governor seems wholly uninterested in doing such a thing.
The simple fact is that nothing – nothing – will change until Madigan and Rauner decide it will.
Madigan’s long history clearly shows he forces the other side to negotiate against itself until he believes they’re close enough to his position. Rauner has clearly not moved far enough away from anti-union proposals and things like term limits for Madigan’s taste.
And Rauner, for his part, seems fed up with the whole process and has taken to issuing repeated dire warnings of political consequences to Madigan’s Democratic members if they continue backing the Speaker.
But as we saw not long ago, when rank and file Senate Democrats rejected the pension reform compromise negotiated by Senate President John Cullerton (even though a majority of that caucus had voted for a very similar bill a couple of years earlier), most Democratic legislators are in no mood to work out a deal, either, and continue to insist that the governor come to the table and finally agree to a budget instead.
Late last Thursday, Chicago State University officially declared a “financial exigency,” which could lead to the reduction of tenured faculty and drastic reductions in programs in order to save the school from closure. The state’s only majority black university had already announced last month that it would run out of money to pay salaries in early March.
CSU gets more than a third of its funding from the state, more than all but one other 4-year public university in Illinois. But the governor has publicly complained that taxpayers have been throwing Chicago State’s money “down the toilet” and wants drastic reforms. For now, anyway, the Democrats are staying on the sidelines and loudly pointing fingers at Rauner.
The governor has been talking about his grand plan for years, long before he was elected.
He never made it a major campaign issue, but it’s clear from looking at his past statements that he believes Democrats will eventually side against the unions and with social service agencies (and places like the CSU campus and the Chicago Public Schools) if he can, in his own words, “drive a wedge” into the party. The object is to make the Democrats choose between money for their pet causes or union rights. He’s shut off the money, but he hasn’t yet driven that wedge.
That’s probably why Rauner looked like he was attempting to tank the Chicago Public School’s bond sale last week with loud demands that it should go bankrupt and be taken over by the state. Without that bond sale, the school system would’ve been in danger of shutting down.
The object here appears to be to create so much chaos that the Democrats finally start negotiating in order to save all the programs and institutions they’ve been building for decades.
So far, that isn’t happening, but the real chaos is yet to come. We’ve seen smaller social service agencies close, we’ve seen larger agencies shut down vital programs, but so far nothing huge has happened.
It’ll probably take the “death” of something very important and very large to test this theory.
* Related…
* Durbin to Rauner: “It’s time to govern”: “What is happening to this state, the state I love and am honored to represent is devastating, devastating,” said Durbin.
Monday, Feb 8, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Chicago’s public school system is facing financial meltdown. Chicago Public Schools is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, $10 billion in debt and a “junk” credit rating. Just last year, Chicago Public Schools spent 13 months of revenues in just 12 months. Despite this, the school system was able to reach an agreement with leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union on a contract that met every major union demand, including:
· Guaranteed pay raises for teachers – every year
· Guaranteed job security and no teacher layoffs
· A commitment to prevent cuts to classrooms
· Fully funding the employer portion of teachers’ pensions
In exchange, members were only asked to pay their full share of employee pensions.
The Chicago Teachers Union unanimously rejected the proposal.
Chicago families can’t afford more classroom cuts and another teachers’ strike that closes schools.
Our elected officials must take a stand: Do you support the Chicago Teachers Union’s action?
