As state standardized testing continues in its second week, about 20 parents picketed outside the North Side office of the Illinois Senate president, demanding that he unblock a bill that lets parents opt their children out of such tests.
“This is the bill that allows parents to have a voice in whether or not their kids take standardized tests,” said Vanessa Caleb Herman, a parent with children at Waters and Coonley elementary schools. “Against the odds it passed the House last year and now it’s ready to shrivel and die on the desk of the Senate president, which is ridiculous. Just put it in committee and put it out for discussion and see what the people want.” […]
Cullerton spokesman John Patterson said the bill remains “in the review process.” […]
What needs reviewing, Patterson continued, is the concern that federal funding could be jeopardized if 95 percent of eligible students statewide don’t participate in the test.
Both of these issues are opposed by Mayor Emanuel. Cullerton is one of the last and by far the strongest real allies he has. I don’t see him moving any time soon, despite this widespread impression of hizzoner…
"I don't believe Mayor Emanuel is either admired or feared now" — @fspielman going hard out of the gate at #talkcityclub
* I have to go get a haircut. My hair got way out of control on break and I cannot postpone this one more day. I’m as shaggy as I’ve been in a long time. So, blogging’s gonna be light this afternoon.
In the meantime, I received a belated birthday present today from a great friend…
* Oscar loved it! He was sniffing it and staring at it, but I didn’t get a picture of that, so here he is next to the painting…
In case you’re wondering, you can find the artist by clicking here.
Country legend Merle Haggard has died, Bakersfield, California TV station ABC 23 reports. He was 79 years old. Today was his birthday. Earlier this year he was hospitalized due to pneumonia.
Haggard was born in 1937 near Bakersfield, California. His father died when he was young. Throughout his youth, he spent time in juvenile detention centers, and throughout the 1950s, he spent a significant amount of time in jail. His first single, “Sing a Sad Song,” was released in 1963. By 1967, he was a huge country star with 37 songs charting in the Top 10 that year. His 1969 single “Okie From Muskogee” went No. 1 and stirred controversy for its anti-hippie sentiments.
Since the 1960s, Haggard has been a fixture in country music, recording and performing consistently over the years. Along with his band the Strangers, he’s considered one of the most instrumental artists in establishing the Bakersfield sound. His last album was 2015’s Django and Jimmie—a collaboration with his longtime friend Willie Nelson.
* I saw Merle perform at the Du Quoin State Fair a while back and even got to meet him for a brief moment before he took the stage. He didn’t put on any “golden oldies” show that night. He had new stuff, his voice was strong and his band played brilliantly. And despite his now infamous line in “Okie from Muskogee,” I think I may have detected a whiff of green smoke when his tour bus door opened. “Well,” a friend observed, “He’s not in Muskogee, so I guess it’s still true.”
* Dwight Yoakum once said “The only thing that vies with Haggard’s poetic genius is the gift he has as a singer who delivers those songs with one of the most pure and profoundly powerful voices in music.”
Born in a boxcar, saw Johnny Cash perform while doing hard time at San Quentin Prison (for sticking up a roadhouse), pardoned by President Reagan, always on the side of the working man, he slayed that modified Telecaster Thinline right up to the end.
Former statewide GOP candidate for comptroller William J. Kelly has issued the following statement addressing the rumor that he is entering 2018 race for Illinois Governor against Bruce Rauner:
“There’s a rumor going around that I’m already an announced candidate for governor against Bruce Rauner in 2018. It’s true that I was planning to hold a news conference to discuss the disaster Rauner has been on jobs, education, and this state’s dire fiscal situation. However, I have since been urged by some of my key supporters to postpone this press conference to a later date.”
The main reason the Illinois budget impasse has endured into its 10th month is an appellate court decision from last July that said all state employees could be paid even without a budget authorizing their paychecks.
At the time, Comptroller Leslie Munger said failure to continue paying the 63,000 employees would put the state out of compliance with federal labor law and would incur steep penalties. (The state could have stayed in compliance by paying the federal minimum wage only to employees deemed essential, but Munger’s office argued that state government’s data systems are so old and inefficient that payroll could not be broken down as required.)
Attorney Genera Lisa Madigan had argued that the state constitution states clearly that state government can’t spend without authorization from the General Assembly. A Cook County judge sided with Madigan, but a St. Clair County judge a few days later ruled that failure to pay the employees would violate the state’s protection of contracts.
Thus, the dreaded “government shutdown” in Illinois never really happened. With employees still on the job at drivers license facilities, state universities, state parks and other state government offices, the vast majority of government appeared to function just fine. With that source of public pressure removed, Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan could pursue their protracted standoff without large-scale repercussions. Only recently has unrest over lack of state funding at public universities begun to generate widespread concern over the budget deadlock.
But that could change in a hurry after a March 24 Illinois Supreme Court decision that appears to reject the reasoning of the St. Clair County courts.
In the lawsuit, AFSCME Council 31 sued the state for payment of contractually promised pay raises from 2011 that had never been delivered because the state said it didn’t have the money. This led to a series of court actions (detailed on pages 3-6 of the decision) that ended up before the Illinois Supreme Court.
But the Supreme Court sided with the state, saying essentially that without a budget appropriation from the General Assembly, the state was not required to pay. The court cited “a well-defined and dominant public policy under which multiyear collective bargaining agreements are subject to the appropriation power of the State, a power which may only be exercised by the General Assembly.”
In other words, the contractual protection cited in the St. Clair County case does not supersede the “dominant public policy” by which the General Assembly authorizes spending tax dollars.
Armed with this ruling from the state’s highest court, Lisa Madigan would appear to have a strong foundation to revive her lawsuit from last summer. That could lead to a halt to state employee paychecks, which would lead to immediate and intense public outcry as the “mainstream” portions of state government abruptly closed.
That would lead, almost certainly, to a swift resolution of the budget impasse that is now into its 10th month.
“Currently we’re reviewing the court’s decision,” said Madigan spokeswoman Annie Thompson.
They’re doing more than just reviewing it. Just sayin…
* My contention here is that if/when the courts accede to the Supreme Court’s clear opinion, workers will have to be sent home because they can’t legally be paid and the state still hasn’t bothered to figure out how to comply with the federal minimum wage requirements for some employees. Some will be exempt, like at DCFS, which is under a federal consent decree. I figure the federal courts would also step in to keep prisons open.
But everything else would have to close. And then… maybe… we’ll see an end to this mess.
Maybe. The governor has already said he will demand a continuing appropriation for state worker wages, which would be a crazy precedent, and could also open the door for a Democratic “poison pill” on the AFSCME “no strike” bill.
Either way, don’t expect immediate results because this is the court system we’re talking about. Various things have to happen first (subscribers know more). But this could be the end of the impasse as we know it or the worst calamity we’ve ever seen if nobody budges and the whole thing crashes down.
* The Med Society is having a good session, as usual…
Illinois lawmakers showed little support for a plan that would allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptive patch and oral contraception to thousands of women although the proposal might be revived later.
Schaumberg Democratic Rep. Michelle Mussman wants to expand who can prescribe contraception beyond doctors to pharmacists saying the plan would give low-income women who can’t afford to go to a doctor greater access to contraception. Similar legislation has been approved in California and Oregon.
The House Health Care Licenses Committee overwhelmingly opposed Mussman’s plan on Tuesday after hearing testimony from a pharmacist, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Medical Society. […]
There are about 130,000 unintended pregnancies a year statewide according to Nirav Shah, director of the state’s Public Health agency and supporter of Mussman’s plan. Shah said by allowing pharmacists to prescribe contraception, the state could decrease the number of unintended pregnancies by nearly 25 percent. He said lawmakers shouldn’t withhold access to contraception to force women to see a doctor. […]
However Jacksonville Republican Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer said the plan could decrease the likelihood a woman would regularly see her physician if she could simply go to a pharmacist instead.
Um, yeah, CD, isn’t that the whole point?
* Other bills…
* Illinois legislators consider bills on policing social media: Lawmakers are considering a series of new bills aimed at giving police more power to investigate online crimes and also to tap into technology to hold people accountable for posting video of crimes. One measure would ban juveniles charged with a crime from having access to their social media accounts. In addition, those individuals would be required to turn over access to their accounts to police.
* Biss’ prisoner lawsuit legislation passes in the Senate: Senate Bill 2465, sponsored by Senator Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) would prohibit the Illinois Department of Corrections from suing current and former inmates to recoup the cost of their room and board while in prison. The legislation passed by a vote of 32-19 in the Senate. It now goes to the Illinois House for consideration.
* Elmhurst mother honors daughter with support of Sen. Nybo’s epinephrine bill: Senate Bill 2878 would allow state police and other law enforcement agencies to conduct training programs for officers on how to recognize and respond to anaphylaxis, including administration of an epinephrine auto-injector. The State Police or a local governmental agency could authorize officers to carry and administer epinephrine auto-injectors once they have completed the required training.
* Senate committee OKs increase to 21 for buying cigarettes: In addition to possession charges being removed from the bill, the charge for an underage purchaser using a fake ID to buy tobacco products would be reduced from a class A misdemeanor to class B, carrying a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.
I am the executive director of the Wells Center, a substance abuse treatment facility in Jacksonville. Due to decreasing state funds and the budget impasse, I was forced to close our detoxification program which annually treats over 350 individuals from Morgan, Scott, Greene, Calhoun and Jersey counties.
Governor Rauner continues to insist that substance abuse treatment facilities like the Wells Center be denied state funding unless his non-budget agenda gets passed as well. The Governor incorrectly asserts the pain caused by the lack of a budget is short-term. In reality, our social service infrastructure is facing total destruction.
A young man denied treatment and who is sent to jail suffers a long-term cost, as do taxpayers. A young woman denied treatment and who dies from a heroin overdose pays a permanent price. The pain caused to her family and friends lasts a lifetime.
Last year when Ryan M. came to our facility in withdrawal from heroin, we were able to admit him to our detoxification program. When he completed this, he went straight into our in-patient program. After 19 days of in-patient treatment, Ryan was able to go back home and continue treatment on an out-patient basis. Because of his severe addiction to heroin, Ryan was involved in out-patient for six months, initially coming in three times a week, but towards the end of his treatment coming in only once every two weeks. Ryan completed treatment successfully and today is working, paying taxes, and is drug free. The total cost of his treatment was $7,200. According to the Office of Drug Control National Policy, every dollar spent on substance abuse saves $4 in health care costs and $7 in criminal justice costs. That means that Ryan’s treatment at the Wells Center saved taxpayers almost $80,000. The personal costs of not being treated to Ryan and his family are immeasurable.
* From RNUG’s comment today on what the Democrats should do with the budget this year…
The way you get around that is pass a complete budget, put the school funding in a separate bill, and send all the bills EXCEPT the [K-12] school funding one to Rauner. Once he signs all the other budget bills or let’s them become law without his signature, THEN you send the school funding bill to him.
That is the one major point of leverage the GA has. Çullerton just demonstrated how it works with his now lifted hold on the Chicago Police Pension fund bill; think that was SB777.
* But his idea inspired a strong warning from Anon221…
The one thing, though, that Rauner will seize on if the K-12 funding is held up until he addresses the rest of the budget (in your scenario), is that now he has the power to point at the Dems for the reason why the schools can’t open in the fall because now THEY aren’t submitting a plan. I have a feeling he’d love that scenario, and would just sit back and grin all the way to November.
* The Question: RNUG or Anon221? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
The recently released internal poll memo from GS Strategy Group (GSSG) on behalf of Mark Kirk for Illinois finds that Tammy Duckworth leads Mark Kirk 42.7% to 39.6%. There are several items of note when analyzing these data.
1. An incumbent U.S. Senator is not only below 40% but is trailing his challenger in his own poll. No matter what else we attempt to understand from these data, it is clear that Kirk is extremely vulnerable and he knows it.
Two other publicly released polls found similar results, although these are quite dated. An Ogden and Fry poll in June 2015 found Duckworth leading Kirk 44%-27%. A PPP poll the following month saw Duckworth ahead of Kirk 42%-36%. Even if we take all of these polls at face value, Duckworth is still besting Kirk.
2. The GSSG poll indicates that Duckworth gets just 71% of Democrats while Kirk gets 72% of Republicans and that Duckworth leads by a small margin among Independents. If we allocate the undecideds along partisan lines, then Duckworth’s lead will increase because there are more Democrats in Illinois than Republicans.
3. If we assume that both the overall vote as well as the share that both candidates get among the partisan groups is correct, the party composition of the electorate must be 18.8% Democrat, 66.8% Independent and 14.4% Republican (no need to bore you with the math). That is far out of line with previous presidential years. In the last three presidential years, exit polls show the party split in Illinois to be:
Even when Kirk narrowly won in 2010, the exit polls showed party at 44% Democrat, 24% Independent and 31% Republican. The only conceivable way to concoct a partisan structure like in the GSSG poll is to only consider the strong partisans of either party to be affiliated with that party. That does not adhere to any standard polling reporting procedure.
4. The Chicago Sun Times reported that the GSSG poll showed Kirk leading among Hispanic voters 44% to 39% and trailing among Black voters, 12% to 70%. Both would represent enormous and unlikely increases from his 2010 results. Exit polls from 2010 (a race that Kirk won) show him losing Hispanic voters 27%-63% and losing Black voters 3%-94%.
It is difficult to believe that Mark Kirk has increased his support among these constituencies by such a large margin and still trails overall. The only way that works mathematically is if the race is extremely close among White voters, a constituency Kirk dominated in 2010, 64%-31%. If Duckworth is even remotely competitive among White voters, then Kirk is far more vulnerable than it seems.
5. Other key measures of Kirk’s political strength are glaringly absent. There is no mention of his job approval or favorable rating. Perhaps that is because after more than a decade as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and another five years as a U.S. Senator, Mark Kirk has failed to create a statewide profile for himself – he is invisible to many voters.
Kirk has been noticeably absent from Illinois recently. He failed to campaign during his primary and refused to debate a completely unfunded opponent who then earned a full 29% against him.
6. Other measures of the political environment are also absent. What is the presidential match up? That is one way to measure the potential validity of these results and it is not present. Perhaps these data are absent because Kirk and his team know that they will be dragged down by the presence of any Republican nominee, especially Donald Trump—a candidate that Kirk says “if he was the nominee, I certainly would” support him.
7. Polls results should never have decimal places. A decimal implies a level of precision that a sample of 600 likely voters with a stated margin of error of ±4% cannot achieve.
The GSSG poll memo is a clear sign that Kirk is in trouble, and that his only hope is to scare voters. His internal numbers show him to be weak. Moreover, Team Kirk seems unaware of details of his weakness with Independents and White voters.
The remainder of the memo is dedicated to laying out a serious of one-sided so-called issue positons from both candidates that he wins decisively. These are not an attempt to understand public opinion, but rather an attempt to signal to third party operators that they should raise the specter of an imminent terror threat from cloaked Syrian refugees. Once venerated Republican Mark Kirk is relying on fear tactics and a rescue from the Koch Brothers’ millions to win in November—an even more sure sign that we are well positioned to defeat him in November.
One day after the race was called a statistical tie, the Duckworth team was forced to roll out an endorsement from the President–three weeks after the primary election and after he has endorsed multiple other Democrat Senate candidates and even an Illinois State House candidate. As the polling demonstrated and then was further verified by the Duckworth campaign’s hyperbolic reaction, Duckworth’s record at the Department of Veterans Affairs–both in DC and Illinois– is a critical liability as it demonstrates a record of failure and mismanagement that hurt veterans, cost taxpayers and continues to be litigated to this day.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Duckworth campaign…
“I want to make sure I have this straight: the campaign of an incumbent Senator that just had to resort to putting out its own internal poll - one that showed it losing, no less - is calling another campaign desperate? We’re proud to have the support of President Obama and Vice President Biden. Having popular national leaders who aren’t retrograde embarrassments in your corner must be an alien concept to Republicans like Mark Kirk, but that hasn’t stopped him from pledging that he ‘certainly would’ support Donald Trump, and we wish him the best of luck with that.’ - Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
* Believe it or not, I’ve been taking yoga classes for the past four or five months. I love it and can’t say enough good things about it. So, obviously I have a bias in favor of this bill…
The Illinois Board of Higher Education has discretion in determining what types of programs and courses it considers to be occupational or vocational in nature. For example, IBHE regulates training for nurse aids, dental assistants, accountants and HVAC technicians, all of which clearly are vocations.
However, teaching yoga typically is a personal pursuit, not a profession or a career path, Harmon said, noting that the state does not regulate certain ballet, karate or pilates instruction.
Yet several yoga teacher training schools in Illinois recently were notified by IBHE that they are subject to state regulation for training programs and that they must obtain IBHE approval to operate in the state. […]
“Over-regulation of yoga training disproportionately would impact small, women-owned businesses and advantage large chain fitness clubs,” Harmon said. “That’s not good for business in Illinois.”
So, Sen. Harmon has introduced SB2743, which would keep the IBHE’s regulatory paws off yoga classes. As Harmon is quoted as saying in the story “Yoga has been practiced successfully for thousands of years without government regulation. I see no reason to intrude now.”
* All the chatter about the Senate Democrats holding up a school funding bill until the funding formula is reformed is starting to cause some serious anxiety at the local levels…
Altamont Unit 10 Schools Superintendent Jeff Fritchtnitch says local school districts are tired of “enabling” a dysfunctional state government, and adds that a lack of state funding could make it necessary to keep his schools closed this fall.
Fritchtnitch, during a conversation at Friday’s Chamber Employee Appreciation Luncheon and by phone Tuesday, indicated that he and many other superintendents have had to eat into their reserves to make up for the shortfall in state dollars. A lack of state aid if a new spending plan isn’t enacted for the start of the new state fiscal year July 1 could help districts like Altamont to remain closed. He asked, “Why would we begin school and hold classes for a month or two and then be forced to close if state funding isn’t forthcoming?”
The problem isn’t new; in recent years, the State has set foundation levels for funding for school districts, but have then pro-rated what they actually allocate for things like transportation. It has left local school officials guessing, wishing and hoping for what funding they will receive and then trying to prepare their own budgets accordingly, and using their own reserves to cover the shortfall from the State.
This past year saw a lack of agreement on a state budget, which was supposed to take effect last July 1. Some are now operating under the assumption that there won’t be a budget for the current fiscal year.
The one thing that was agreed on for the current fiscal year was Grades K-12 funding. Now, the rancor in Springfield has grown to the point that a K-12 funding package for the coming year isn’t a certainty. The lack of funding now seen at colleges and universities could be seen in K-12 schools without state funding for the coming fiscal year. That has Fritchtnitch and other superintendents wondering about whether to open schools this fall.
