62 Comments - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 5:41 pm: This should be fun. - jw - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 5:51 pm: where do all the ole hippies meet up on the 18th to showem how its done - illinoised - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 5:52 pm: WIU will soon be laying off 14% of its Civil Service workforce. - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 5:52 pm: State-centric and kind, eh? The state’s central government is kind of FUBAR this year. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 5:58 pm: ===WIU will soon be laying off 14% of its Civil Service workforce.=== “Vote Accordingly” - Don’t forget. - Liandro - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:06 pm: So I can’t rant about Trump? - Independent - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:12 pm: We are in Year 8 of an economic expansion, tepid and uneven though it is. Given this expansion’s duration it is possible it is nearing its peak or has already passed it. Yet another sobering thought when pondering future state and muni budgets. - burbanite - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:15 pm: I would like to state that I am in a state, over the state of this State! Thank you - RNUG - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:19 pm: Spent most the day playing with cars instead of commenting. Since we have to stick to state subjects, I’ll just go back to playing with cars. - Gern Blanston - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:22 pm: At this point, I’d like Trump to pick Rauner as his running mate and win just to get him out of IL. /s - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:23 pm: AA is accepting proposals for prime lakefront locations for the “Arthur Andersen Museum of Narrative Art.” The collection includes priceless paintings including “Dogs Playing Poker,” “Velvet Jesus,” and “Swimsuit Farrah.” Noteworthy collectibles include a large collection of campaign materials from the Party formerly known as Republican and dozens of Matchbox cars. Donations and responses may be sent to the Museum Curator. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:24 pm: ===At this point, I’d like Trump to pick Rauner as his running mate and win just to get him out of IL. === No snark to your snark… Slip and Sue is still probably worse, for other reasons… - AC - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:39 pm: ==where do all the ole hippies meet up on the 18th to showem how its done== 11AM, Old State Capitol, organized by a coalition as diverse as the folks impacted by the lack of a budget. - AC - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:43 pm: ==“Vote Accordingly” - Don’t forget.== The classics never get old, seriously, no snark! - Wading in... - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:52 pm: What are the chances Rauner runs again? Can you imagine? - Honeybear - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:55 pm: Honeybear will be on hand to push the old hippies around in their chairs. I’ll even wipe your chin after your applesauce. Lol. I call them LDH, latter day hippies - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:56 pm: Rauner will run, Rauner will probably win. Sorry. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:02 pm: == Donations and responses may be sent to the Museum Curator. == I’ll consider donating my sign warning against bribing employees that is signed Paul Powell, Secretary of State though I was considering bribing someone with it. - Stones - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:09 pm: I’m really enjoying Jason Benetti. Hopefully Hawk Harrelson retires sooner than later. - GA Watcher - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:13 pm: Was in on a discussion around the rail today where someone said some internal polling done by the GOP shows that their GA candidates are in trouble looking ahead to November. The person who reported this isn’t the most reliable. However, she said she’s heard the poll shows the Dems increasing their majorities in both chambers. Anyone else hearing anything? - PublicServant - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:19 pm: Rauner will win? Explain please, Willy. - Wensicia - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:30 pm: Rauner will not win. By the next election, the decimation of services and higher education offered by this state will be such that very few will support and vote for his message again. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:32 pm: Incumbent governors with unlimited money, even with ridiculous negatives are tough to beat. See: Blagojevich, Rod. Rauner will be tough to beat with $60 million and no primary challenge. - Independent - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:39 pm: I think ‘18 is the year Madigan steps down and Lisa runs for Governor. He’ll be 76 then and he’s gotta retire some time, right? If not they risk another Dem beating Rauner and Lisa being blocked for at least eight more years. And no, I don’t think Madigan’s every move is part of a conspiracy designed to put Lisa in the mansion. But he is wise enough to know ‘18 is the best shot she may get. - AC - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:40 pm: ==Rauner will be tough to beat with $60 million and no primary challenge.== A wise man who (sadly) stopped goading union folks into action once suggested that people “Vote Accordingly”. - Barton Lorimor - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:51 pm: Capitol Fax after dark. Ooooooooooh yeeeaahhhh! - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:54 pm: - AC - Two years is a LONG time… If you’re asking me now, knowing what I know now, Rauner will be tough to beat, not unbeatable… I’m a Union Ally, they just don’t see it that way, lol - BBG Watch - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:06 pm: Has anyone seen the Benefits Choice open enrollment for next year? On Page 5 there is a special notice regarding 2017 plan your rates. I would love to know exactly what it means. It is still showing current contribution rates for medical. But the special notice states: “The premium levels listed in this benefits flyer are for fiscal year 2016. Personnel should be aware that these premiums may be subject to increase pending the outcome of an ongoing legal dispute between the state and AFSCME and that this premium increase maybe applied retroactively to July 1, 2016. In other words once a legal dispute is resolved a higher premium likely will apply not only going forward but also for the period from July 1, 2016 to the date of the increase for bargaining unit employees your union has the full details regarding the states proposal unless another manner of retroactive payment of the premium is owed is negotiated with your union the increased premium difference owed for the period from July 1, 2016 through the date of the increase will be deducted on a prorated basis out of the paychecks remaining of the school year this music there will be two deductions for health Insurance from an employee’s paycheck once the increase has been set one deduction at the new rate and the second deduction to make up what is owed for the prior period I.e. the difference between the prior rate and the new rate. By electing coverage under this group plan an employee is consenting to all such payroll deductions. Employees for represented by unions that have already ratified their agreements will not have any premium increases applied retroactively. Those employees were presented by unions that have not yet read a fight agreements to come to the union representatives to determine whether such increases may be applied retroactively. - Barton Lorimor - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:10 pm: = So I can’t rant about Trump? = I wrote a Haiku about today’s announcements… No one else is left; Trump will be the nominee; NANCY, SAVE US ALL! - AC - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:19 pm: ==Those employees were presented by unions that have not yet read a fight agreements to come to the union representatives to determine whether such increases may be applied retroactively.== Sounds punitive, and intended to punish those unions who hadn’t settled. You know, the unions who couldn’t reach a deal because they hadn’t been offered the same health insurance and limited changes to their contract language as the unions that were able to reach an agreement. - Dan Johnson - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:20 pm: Well, as long as we’re just riffing, here’s one idea that AFSCME and the Administration might be able to agree on: try to lower our self-insured health care costs by keeping state employees healthier — by setting up a free clinic with primary care providers. This is what Montana does. http://healthcenter.mt.gov/ And it saves a ton of money because employees have no co-pay to see a doctor, so they actually go and some of them get on an exercise or nutrition program so they don’t have a $300,000 heart attack later. This is my favorite reform. - Mouthy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:23 pm: - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 6:56 pm: I disagree. I don’t think he has any intention of running again. - BBG Watch - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:26 pm: I’m worried about the cost and my automatic consent to payroll deductions - especially when I don’t know what the new rate will be. - AC - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:27 pm: ==I don’t think he has any intention of running again.== I’m not sure he has any intention of being Governor, for this term or the next one. - PENSIONS ARE OFF LIMITS - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:31 pm: If our Demander-In-Chief keeps tweeting pictures of himself at my favorite local dining establishments I won’t have anywhere left to dine out. His tweets blacklist that establishment in my book. Already sold my Harley and Carhart. I bet he never makes me throw a neck tie away. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:32 pm: == On Page 5 there is a special notice regarding 2017 plan your rates. == The way I read it, Rauner is still counting on the health insurance savings proposed in his FY17 budget. Unions who don’t have a current contract re health insurance and non-union employees are going to be on the hook for whatever gets rammed down their throat. Unlike past practice, there will not be another benefits choice period after the union contract is settled. What you choose now with an unknown price is what you will be stuck with. Until.the contract is agreed to or imposed, the amount deducted from your paycheck will be based on FY16 rates regardless of the actual cost. But you will owe any extra cost retroactive to July 1 and you are pre-authorizing the increased deductions. Talk about buying a pig in a poke! - RNUG - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:40 pm: == If our Demander-In-Chief keeps tweeting pictures of himself at my favorite local dining establishments I won’t have anywhere left to dine out. == I’m not letting him run me out of places I’ve been going for 40+ years. Think the only time I actively avoided him was the campaign stop at Charlie Parkers pre-election because I knew it would be a zoo … but I generally avoid it at noon anyway and go either earlier or later. So far I’ve managed to miss him. - BBG Watch - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:46 pm: RNUG - that’s what I was afraid of. I’m non-Union and I feel like this is open season on my paycheck and there’s not a darn thing I can do about it. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 8:54 pm: - BBG Watch - I may be retired but I’m in the same boat; one of us is still under 65 so I don’t know what dependent coverage will eventually cost. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:01 pm: Rich should have made this an overnight QTOD: Now that the graduated tax CA is dead, will there be any kind of revenue increase approved for FY17? Right now, I’m guessing no … or at least not until after the general election. - Almost the Weekend - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:12 pm: Heard the Latino Caucus give Leslie Munger a shoutout. Trouble on the home front for Mendoza? Or rank and file dems upset with Madigan this session? - AC - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:16 pm: ==I’m non-Union and I feel like this is open season on my paycheck and there’s not a darn thing I can do about it.== If I were trying to convince union members that they didn’t need a union, I’d have started by treating merit comp employees better. - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:16 pm: RNUG, I have one of those Powell signs in my collection, too. Found a couple of them along the way when the State closed a number of facilities in the Thompson era. I gave one to the Governor and he put it up in his Chicago office. - peon - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:23 pm: We have elected Governors who go to jail, Speakers who think they are Governors, and now a Governor who does not think he is a Governor. If we re-elect Rauner for another term, we need to face the fact that - as an electorate - we need professional help. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:27 pm: ===I disagree. I don’t think he has any intention of running again.=== You don’t spend $20+ million of your own dough to be chased away. Rauner runs again. Munger will find her Sweet Spot. The Mendoza Crew is nothing to “fear” so far, not impressed. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:28 pm: ===Speakers who think they are Governors,=== You might be a bit clueless as to what Madigan did during Blago and Quinn… He had no choice but to try to run the state, LOL - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:48 pm: The budget “great conpromise” will be one interesting roll out. Plus, how that roll call will be structured, no targets in any of the 4 caucuses, I have to imagine… - Chimmy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 9:51 pm: Cubs win 116 games this year. - Henry Francis - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 10:01 pm: Can Rauner expect any Union folks to vote for him in the next election? And if he can’t - then can he win? The ilbedc.org website has been updated (for the first time I think since it was launched in February). Apparently it now has a board of directors. Their bios read like they were written by my 11 year old. Apparently they don’t have funds for a proofreader. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 10:05 pm: ===Can Rauner expect any Union folks to vote for him in the next election?=== It may be less than 2 in 5… you never know… ===And if he can’t - then can he win?=== Yes. Yes, Rauner can win without Labor, but the road is tougher. - Stuff Happens - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 10:26 pm: This week we took in two foster children, aged two, for an emergency placement until a more permanent solution can be found for them. They have daycare services, and we’re supposed to bring them to daycare every weekday. Except we didn’t have car seats for them. The Illinois Child Passenger Protection Act requires that these children have a forward-facing seat with a harness. The agency used to loan seats out, but now they don’t have any to provide because too many have broken or disappeared, and they don’t have the funds to replace them. So the onus was on us to go buy two new car seats for children that we’re going to take care of for only a few days. Fortunately for these kids, we were willing to do it. I’d like to know how many foster parents aren’t in a position to go drop $140 on a pair of car seats (we really can’t afford it either, but…) I guess I’m saying it’s pretty stupid that an agency can’t spend $500 for a bunch of car seats to loan out when kids are temporarily placed. Instead the foster parents have to bear that burden, and many can’t. Are kids not getting placed over something as stupid and simple as this? From what I’ve heard, the answer is yes. And then these kids end up in a shelter instead. These are the little things with big consequences that our state budget crisis caused. - peon - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 10:32 pm: =You might be a bit clueless as to what Madigan did during Blago and Quinn…= =He had no choice but to try to run the state, LOL= I disagree. There is (small-d) democratic dysfunction in the current roles and a constant struggle over agency. Sometimes needed (during Blago) but often not always wise (during Quinn). - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 10:36 pm: - peon - I can see that, because it was out of the dysfunction, not by choice. Finding a governor that desired to fulfill the role these past 13 years (give or take a Session or 3) has been… difficult. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 11:19 pm: - Stuff Happens - Thanks for sharing. Wow. - Jorge - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 11:34 pm: Stuff Happens, thanks for sharing. Sad days indeed. As BVR says “we can’t afford to be compassionate without being competitive.” - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 11:38 pm: –No one else is left; Trump will be the nominee; NANCY, SAVE US ALL!– Not bad, Barton. –Lincoln is watching, Illinois, where do you stand? Raise hell in Cleveland– - Mouthy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 6:04 am: “== On Page 5 there is a special notice regarding 2017 plan your rates. ==” And it’s retroactive to July 1. Always gotta read the small print.. - Ghost - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:06 am: OW Rauner wont have the minority vote that carried hom to victory last time. I think Durbin can take him…… - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:30 am: - Ghost -, With respect, Durbin isn’t going to run for Governor. That’s been squashed for some time. I can think of 2 that possibly could give Rauner a run, but we’ll see if they emerge - Gruntled University Employee - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:31 am: The only way Trump wins Illinois is if he makes Rauner his running mate. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 7:34 am: ===The only way Trump wins Illinois is if he makes Rauner his running mate.=== Rauner is upside-down here in Illinois. Trump needs someone who can help win states for him, not be hoping Rauner can “right his own ship” in hopes of winning Illinois. Commerce Secretary for Rauner, Ambassadorship… Rauner is of THAT tier, nothing more. - train111 - Thursday, May 5, 16 @ 8:11 am: Trump will be the third GOP presidential candidate in a row to lose DuPage County Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.