* If you don’t know him, let me assure you that Kyle Hillman ain’t no Raunerite. Here he is on Facebook today…
This was a photo of an elementary school in my neighborhood. That is lead paint falling on kindergarten rooms. This school STILL has lead paint falling in hallways.
CPS knew about this. They knew the school fire doors worked improperly, that the fire alarm was broke in the main building. All of these were considered OK.
The school has been gutted by a funding formula CPS put in place. The school has no technology teachers, no librarians, after-school programs have been gutted and our social worker is hanging on by the grace of his nonprofit.
You know what they do get in Illinois Prisons? Library Services! Mental Health Services! Educational Services.
So yeah the Governor’s solution of REDUCING funds for CPS is madness, but what he said today wasn’t wrong. If Claypool doesn’t want his schools to be called worse than prisons… FIX THEM!
“Frankly, the Governor’s comments comparing Chicago schools to ‘crumbling prisons’ are disrespectful and beneath his office.” via Claypool.
You know what is really disrespectful and beneath (their) office? Allowing schools like this to happen, our Mayor owns this.
* Kyle’s photo…
…Adding… Kyle says this pic was taken in Gale Elementary in Rogers Park.
On a day that saw both Gov. Bruce Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel refer to Chicago’s public schools as “prisons” — Emanuel admittedly caught in a slip of the tongue — supporters of CPS took to social media to prove the politicians wrong.
#NotAPrison became a rallying cry on Twitter for parents, teachers and administrators. They posted examples of good things happening in the city’s schools — in spite of a funding crisis — from talent shows to campus cleanups, and even the occasional hug.
…Adding… As of 4:03 pm, the CMS site isn’t feeding audio. Not sure if we broke their site or it went down on its own. Once the problem is fixed I’ll download the file and put it on SoundCloud or something.
…Adding More… In the meantime, here’s the governor in Oregon today. I haven’t had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet…
* Cal Skinner listened to Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno’s Sunday radio interview…
On Sunday night, in an interview with WLS-Radio newsman Bill Cameron on “Connected to Chicago,” she said she thought it was “off the table.” Here’s the transcript:
“One thing that I think is off the table is taxing retirement income–even at a high limit, which personally I’m not sure I 100% agree with that, but I think it is off the table.”
Why?
“I think people are worried about pushing more seniors out of the state because people are so ready to leave it as it is.”
Radogno hasn’t been opposed to the tax in the past.
With Illinois going through a budget war unlike any in state history—and huge amounts of political cash sloshing around—you’d think people would be flocking to run for the General Assembly.
You’d be wrong.
The last real opportunity to run for state senator or representative closed on May 31, when the deadline passed for established political parties to fill vacancies on the November ballot by appointment. And not only are most seats uncontested, there actually will be fewer contested races this year than there were in 2014, according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, which is out today with an analysis of the final ballot standings. […]
Given that the state is about to enter its second year without a budget, the lack of competition “boggles the mind,” says Susan Garrett, a former Democratic senator from the North Shore who chairs the group. “Maybe on both sides there’s a reluctance to field anybody. Maybe it’s hard to get people to run, given how toxic Springfield is now.”
The latter theory makes some sense. It’s certainly consistent with what I’ve been hearing for months: Lawmakers on both sides are tired of being so much cannon fodder in the war between Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan, unable to exercise much judgment or choose their own priorities.
* ICPR press release…
Tuesday, May 31st was the deadline for party candidates to file for eligibility in the November General Election, and the results are in. Out of the 177 total positions in the General Assembly, 158 are up for election in November. There are 62 contested races. 57 of the candidates are female, and 67 are male.
This means that 41% of eligible races are competitive in the General Assembly this year. In 2014, there were 137 offices up for election, and 61 races were competitive, or a rate of 44%.
Of the 118 eligible Illinois House of Representative positions, 50 are competitive. 16 of those have an incumbent House Republican running, and 27 have an incumbent House Democrat running.
In the Illinois Senate, 12 of 40 eligible offices are competitive. 7 of those are incumbent Senate Democrats, and 4 are incumbent Senate Republicans.
8 open races are contested with newcomers from both parties, and 7 of those are for House seats. It appears as though the Senate Democratic majority will remain intact, as they currently hold a 19 member lead over Republicans. However, the Illinois House majority is 24 seats, and 27 of those are up for re-election this year. Depending on the outcome of the General Election, the House Democrats could lose their supermajority, impacting important budget and override votes.
Half of the contested races (31) are in the Chicago Suburbs. 14 are in Central Illinois, 1 is in the Northwest Suburbs, 6 are in Chicago, and 10 are in Southern Illinois.
Incumbent Representative Jack Franks’ election is included in the total count of 62 contested races, although he has declared that he will not seek re-election to the House. It is likely that the Democrats will appoint another candidate, although the District tends to lean Republican. The party has until August 31st to fill any candidate position that is vacated after the May 31st deadline.
111 candidates have active political committees. Candidates can file to start a new committee at any time, so we should expect to see them pop up throughout the campaign season. Currently, all committees in contested races have a total amount of $13.6 Million in funds available.
The difference now is that folks like Democratic Rep. John Bradley and Republican Rep. Dwight Kay look like they have truly competitive races. Kay nearly lost to an unknown, under-funded opponent four years ago. Bradley hasn’t had a real opponent in a very long time. Some other incumbents who might have faced only token opposition may also find themselves embroiled in real races. Stay tuned.
* But there was a serious failure by the GOP to recruit a candidate to run against Rep. Jerry Costello. Their last allegedly real race against the guy collapsed when their candidate turned out to be a complete dud.
And the Senate Democrats never did come up with a candidate to replace retiring Sen. John Sullivan. Republican Jil Tracy is unopposed. That seat is now officially gone. It was a “John Sullivan district” anyway, not a Democratic district. The SDems would’ve probably wasted a ton of cash defending that seat. So they may be better off.
“If I have one major disappointment in the last 18 months, it’s with the mayor. And that’s not — people say oh, it’s personal and you guys hate each other. We’re friends. We’re always going to be friends. You can separate friendship from what’s good public policy,” Rauner said. “The mayor has stayed behind the speaker and supported the speaker’s position when the mayor should be fighting.”
The governor then listed elements of his much-disputed legislative agenda, including pro-employer changes to the state’s worker compensation system, scaling back collective bargaining rights in local government contract negotiations and a state worker pension proposal.
“(Emanuel) is not fighting, advocating for it with the working groups. It’s my single major disappointment. And it’s not personal, and it’s not personal attacks. It’s just where we are. We’ve got to stand up.”
“Last week, I said his rhetoric of division and divisiveness, of targeting one community against another or one group of people against another, was Trump-like,” Emanuel said. “Now it sounds like he’s auditioning to be Donald Trump’s running mate. And I would just say to him that this is not about right-wing ideology, it’s about results.”
Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th), the mayor’s City Council floor leader, was loaded for bear when told that Rauner had characterized Emanuel as his “biggest disappointment.”
“His calculator is a little busted . . . If you haven’t had a budget in two years, that would be my biggest disappointment if my sole job as governor was to pass a budget and have the state of Illinois run appropriately,” O’Connor said.
“If the idea is it’s the mayor of Chicago [who is Rauner’s biggest disappointment], I’m not quite sure he understands his role in government.” […]
“Right now, the concern that he has is that, if he does compromise, he’s lost. That’s not how life works. If you compromise at your house, I don’t think you’ve lost. You and your spouse have worked something out. If it’s win at all costs, that’s not what government is all about. It might be what business can be about. It’s definitely not what government’s about,” the alderman said.
…Adding… Ald. Howard Brookins…
Words matter, and the offensive way that Governor Rauner speaks about Chicago families is just getting uglier and uglier.
First, he accused Chicago families of not contributing taxes and not being hardworking. Today, he’s taking his racist rhetoric even further – saying that Chicago’s schools are ‘crumbling prisons.’
Unlike our Governor, I visit Chicago schools all the time, and I can tell you that our students are hardworking, that they’re making tremendous academic gains and without the progress Chicago students are making, the state’s schools would be on the decline. If the Governor wanted to respect our students, teachers, and principals, he would start funding all our schools equitably instead of punishing poor students throughout the state of Illinois.
It’s time for Governor Rauner to apologize for his inflammatory rhetoric that insults our children and degrades their achievements.
*** UPDATE *** CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and Chief Education Officer Janice K. Jackson…
“Frankly, the Governor’s comments comparing Chicago schools to ‘crumbling prisons’ are disrespectful and beneath his office. In Chicago, our students’ remarkable achievements – in their graduation rate, in their ACT scores, in their college enrollment, in elementary reading and math – have come because of their hard work, and they deserve our support. Instead, their own governor is bad-mouthing them, de-funding them and demeaning everything that they have accomplished.
“We call on the Governor to apologize for his hurtful, divisive and inflammatory rhetoric – and just as importantly, to stop being an obstacle to badly needed education funding reform.”
State Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton) issued the following statement after political operatives tied to Gov. Bruce Rauner and Beiser’s opponent in the November election, Mike Babcock, launched misleading negative political attack ads criticizing Beiser’s recent effort to stand up for working families and support additional state resources for area schools.
“It’s really disheartening that Governor Rauner and his political allies are already trying to mislead voters about the toxic political environment they’ve created in Springfield. While I maintain my pledge to work with Democrats and Republicans to find a compromise to move Illinois forward, Governor Rauner, and his political recruit, Mike Babcock, are continuing their assault on working families, the frail elderly, breast cancer patients, sexual assault victims, disabled children and small businesses.
“To be clear, the education plan I supported brings millions of additional dollars to area schools so our students can have the education they deserve, while the Rauner-Babcock plan funnels our hard-earned tax dollars to the reckless politicians of Chicago and wealthy Chicago suburban school districts.
“Governor Rauner has held our state hostage for over a year in an attempt to pass his dangerous political agenda, which harms working families by attacking the good, well-paying jobs of our community. Now Rauner has recruited Mike Babcock to lead this assault right here in our area and stab his own neighbors in their backs.
“The Rauner-Babcock team’s misleading distortions of the truth at a time when they should share my focus on compromise and moving Illinois forward highlights their belief that politics come before the people of our area. I won’t be bullied into making shortsighted decisions that will hurt workers, move good jobs from our area and harm the elderly.
“I’ll continue to work with all parties to find a compromise and get our state moving in the right direction again, and I won’t let wealthy politicians and their political henchmen destroy our area and our jobs to help their big business allies.”
* Babcock response…
Days ago and with only minutes to read the bill, State Representative Dan Beiser voted for Speaker Mike Madigan’s 500-page, out-of-balance budget, not once but twice. Madigan’s budget, over $7 billion in the hole, is not only the largest spending plan in Illinois history, but is also the largest unbalanced budget in state history.
The Madigan-Beiser plan would increase Illinois’ debt by $7 billion and require a massive $1,000 tax hike on every working Illinois family to balance.
Additionally, the Madigan-Beiser budget included a $700 million bailout for Chicago Public Schools – our valuable tax dollars that will be dumped into a failed system run by Chicago machine politicians and bureaucrats.
“Dan Beiser is part of the problem in Springfield,” said Mike Babcock, candidate for State Representative in the 111th House District. “Year after year, politicians like Beiser go to Springfield and vote with Mike Madigan and his anti-taxpayer agenda. Then, when they return home to their districts, they pat themselves on the back and talk about all of the great things they’ve done.
“Any notion that I’m ‘assaulting’ cancer patients or the less fortunate in our community is insulting. Nearly 10 years ago, my mom lost her fight against cancer, and that’s why my family has donated our time and money to cancer organizations. Non-profit and service-based organizations are an invaluable part of our community and that is exactly why I’m running for office – we need citizen-leaders who put our communities first and serve the people, not themselves.
“Enough is enough. Dan Beiser won’t be putting our community to work with Mike Madigan’s status quo – IOUs, record tax hikes, and massive bailouts for the city of Chicago. It’s time the career politicians in Springfield live within their means, pass a balanced budget, and enact pro-growth reforms to get our economy moving forward again. Together, we can once again make Illinois a land of freedom and opportunity.”
* The Question: Which one has the better campaign message? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Sen. Daniel Biss writes about getting rid of Illinois’ flat income tax and replacing it with a graduated tax. The deadline to get the proposal on the November ballot has passed, so he suggests an alternate measure…
An even simpler approach would just be to increase the standard deduction. That has the effect of creating a progressive tax with just two brackets.
House Speaker Michael Madigan says he wants to raise more revenue — to help balance the budget — by taxing the rich.
“I have said for the last year and a half I’m prepared to negotiate with the governor to find the money to pay for those services. My first choice in finding money would be taxing the wealthy.”
Madigan says it’s possible even with Illinois’ flat-tax rule. He says it can be done through “exclusions and deductions.” For instance: raising the overall income tax rate but giving low-income workers a break.
As we’ve discussed before, MJM often drags this idea out during campaign season, then it disappears as soon as the votes are safely counted. And it’s pretty safe to push this idea because Bruce Rauner hates a progressive income tax almost as much (or even more) than he hates the CTU - and that’s saying something.
* With the ongoing hostilities over funding for Chicago Public Schools, I thought it might be a good time to re-watch an interview of private citizen Bruce Rauner not long after the last city teachers’ strike ended.
I think there’s little doubt that the successful CTU strike was a big factor behind Rauner’s decision to run for governor. And during that 2012 interview, Rauner explained some of his long-held philosophies. As he still does to this day, Rauner stressed that he is “pro-teacher,” and then candidly added…
What I’m strongly against is the teachers union. They are not about quality students and the taxpayers. They’re about their own political power. They are about bribing our politicians with their taxpayer-funded union dues to get themselves outrageously generous pensions, to protect incompetent teachers to keep their membership ranks swelled beyond reasonable levels.
And we’ve got to fight them hard.
He also said the education reform community and the CTU “share almost no common ground.”
* Rauner also rightly predicted that CPS would soon face an enormous financial crisis and offered up his own prescription…
I’ve been advocating for a long time to break the system up, blow up the bureaucracy, take it down to a competing network of a smaller number of schools, competing for resources and driving better outcomes, through charters, contracts, independent providers, rather than one monolithic monopoly.
* Managed care has been touted as a great way to control Medicaid costs. But the state budget mess and an unwieldy managed care system means things are heading for trouble…
It’s particularly tough these days to run a hospital in Illinois. Executives from hospital networks big and small say they are reeling from the state budget crisis, which is tying up crucial reimbursements.
At Downers Grove-based Advocate Health Care, the biggest hospital chain in Illinois, the stack of unpaid bills has climbed to $81 million. More than $20 million of that is due for taking care of state employees—the state isn’t paying the health care bills of its own employees or retirees, either.
Making matters worse, when the reimbursements do come, a big chunk doesn’t flow directly to hospitals. Instead, the payments filter through one of 13 managed care companies in the state. These insurers—strengthened by a 2011 law that aggressively pushed Illinois Medicaid recipients into plans—are owed at least $570 million, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which oversees Medicaid. When the managed care companies don’t get paid, hospitals don’t either. About 63 percent of the state’s 3.2 million Medicaid enrollees are now in managed care. (As for all the interest accumulating on some of those bills, both the state and managed care companies are on the hook for that.)
* And even when the managed care companies are paid, providers are apparently getting stiffed…
Michael Zenn, chief financial officer at University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, says his Near West Side flagship, one of the largest providers for low-income people in Illinois, has contracts with six of the 13 managed care companies and is waiting for $67 million in payments from them. That has created a hefty administrative burden because each has its own requirements, Zenn says. Patients might need referrals to see specialists. Others don’t understand if the state has switched them from one insurer to another and UI Health isn’t in their hospital network, yet they show up to see a doctor anyway.
There’s a “phenomenal” number of claims that companies are denying, Zenn says. To tackle the chaos, the system plans to hire 100 full-time employees by year-end, bringing to 480 the army of workers who handle such tasks as getting permission from the companies for patients to have certain procedures, like an MRI or outpatient surgery.
When the national liberal chattering class talks about state government, they mainly focus on the troubles in Kansas, a state which means almost nothing. They’ve mostly ignored the far more important Illinois because of the above dynamic. They’ve always hated Rahm, and Madigan is no knight in shining armor, either. So, Illinois gets pretty much no attention.
“If I had one major disappointment over the past 18 months, it’s the mayor.” Rauner said, though, that the issue is not “personal.”
Rauner had hoped Mayor Rahm Emanuel would be an ally in persuading House Speaker Mike Madigan to pass Rauner’s anti-union, pro-business reforms but Emanuel has not.
Rauner said Emanuel is unwilling to stand up to Madigan.
The governor added that he had spoken to many Democrats over the weekend to try to reach a bipartisan compromise over the budget.
The next election for governor of Illinois is not until November 2018, but already Chris Kennedy is making the rounds for a possible campaign, sources told NBC Chicago.
Kennedy, the eighth of 11 children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, has lived in the Chicago suburbs for nearly 30 years.
He had previously considered a run for the U.S. Senate in 2009, but opted out shortly after. Instead, Gov. Pat Quinn appointed Kennedy Chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. […]
“I have heard that Chris is more serious this time,” said Eric Adelstein, a Democratic strategist. “Look, I think we have a unique situation, and here’s why — I believe Rauner is a failed governor.” […]
If Chris Kennedy does run, it would be the 50th anniversary of his father’s 1968 campaign for president. “Chris is a guy who will not just run on that name, I think he’s going to run on accomplishments and a vision,” Adelstein said.
“Not just” run on the name? OK, but the name will play a huge role if he does jump in.
* But, man, the guy has been floating his name for so many offices for so many years it’s difficult to believe this one.
Kennedy is the chief funder of what was supposed to be a liberal alternative to the Illinois Policy Institute. But the group never had enough money to really get going. They’re reportedly planning a re-launch soon. We’ll see if they get it together this time. But if Kennedy cheaps out on a gubernatorial bid, things won’t end well. And he’s never had to take a real hit on a campaign trail, so we don’t know if he can handle it. Plus, he’s been in business a long time, and as we found out with the Rauner campaign, the oppo could be… well… interesting.
* On the plus side, Kennedy has plenty of charisma. You can’t buy a personality like that. His family name is so much larger than life that it’d be tough to credibly claim he’s a Madigan pawn. He could conceivably raise some big bucks. And he does seem interested in policy.
It’s just way too early to tell. Frankly, I still think that Pat Quinn is gonna be the nominee.
Kennedy, 52, whose name repeatedly has come up in past election cycles, seems more interested this time. I’ve confirmed that he’s met with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, among others.
None of those pols now appear prepared to back him, but it looks like none of them blew him off, either. For instance, Preckwinkle’s spokesman confirms the meeting and says, “It’s early in the process, but she certainly appreciates the contributions Mr. Kennedy has made in his role as chair of the county’s sustainability advisory council.”
Cullerton told me Kennedy “obviously would be a strong candidate,” but he needs to make a decision soon and “not keep others hanging.”
One obvious draw: In a contest in which Rauner could again open his wallet and effectively self-fund a re-election campaign, Kennedy, the scion of America’s best-known political clan, might do so, too.
On Saturday, News 3 found a financial disclosure statement from the GOP in Springfield showing that on May 4 Rauner donated the $5 million through his campaign committee. As we reported Friday night, the Illinois Republican Party then transferred $2 million on May 10 to the Illinois House Republican Organization, listed at the bottom of the TV ad as the group that paid for it.
They “found” it? Um, OK. But better late than never, I suppose.
Gov. Rauner and other top Republicans have been accusing Democratic lawmakers of “slow walking” budget negotiations so they wouldn’t have to take tough votes on tax increases, program cuts, and possibly planks in the governor’s “Turnaround Agenda” platform until after the November elections.
Now Democrats point to Rauner’s donation in early May as evidence that he was more interested in using a budget impasse against them than getting a deal. Whatever his motives, the top House Democratic budget negotiator says the attack ads are poisoning the relationship between both sides even more.
“And I don’t understand the finger pointing,” Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) told News 3 in an interview Friday. “And then you’ve got TV ads in the can. How is any of that (bargaining) in good faith?”
I think the early May transfer had more to do with managing nervous rank and file Republicans. Not mentioned in the story is how SEIU Healthcare has been whacking GOP legislators for months. That made them pretty nervous. So, with the end of session coming up, Team Rauner soothed some fears with money. Lots of money. It probably also didn’t hurt to remind the rank and file at a crucial point that the governor has cash to throw around as he pleases.
Rep. Bradley hasn’t been targeted in a very long time. He’d better get used to the attention.
* Also, too, it’s been pretty clear for quite a while that Speaker Madigan wasn’t all that interested in cutting a non-budget deal. So you can’t really blame Team Rauner for getting ready.
Near the top of any list of Illinois government’s many problems is that House Speaker Michael Madigan has made a decades-long game out of messing with the minds and the agendas of our governors.
If there’s one constant since 1983, it’s Speaker Madigan’s jiu-jitsu moves against whoever happens to be governor. Sometimes he was wholly justified (particularly in the waning months of Rod Blagojevich’s administration), but he often appears to do this simply because he can. Just ask Pat Quinn. That guy never did figure out why Madigan messed with him on a constant basis.
Understandably, all that can get on one’s nerves. Governors can start seeing nefarious plots where none actually exist—like when Gov. Bruce Rauner recently shut down a leaders meeting after Senate President John Cullerton spit-balled an idea about a stopgap budget to get the state past the election. Rauner thought at the time that it was somehow a plot by Madigan to scuttle the nonbudget negotiations, even though Madigan said during the meeting that he didn’t support his fellow Democrat’s idea.
I do give Rauner some credit, however. The guy has some jiu-jitsu moves of his own. The governor eventually flip-flopped and decided to demand passage of a stopgap appropriations bill at almost literally the spring session’s eleventh hour, completely reversing course from just a few days earlier when he rejected the same idea from Cullerton.
Madigan had told Rauner and the other leaders that he’d only support a stopgap proposal for this fiscal year, not next. So, Rauner can now once again blame Madigan, with justification this time, if a stopgap isn’t approved and the government completely falls apart.
But the governor’s default position that Madigan and the Democrats are to blame for almost everything wrong under the sun also recently got him in a bit of trouble. Rauner embarked on a mostly downstate PR tour designed to loudly blame the Democrats for their inability to yet again close a deal on the budget and his economic reforms.
During that tour, Rauner accused Democrats of shying away from “tough votes” on things like Exelon’s corporate bailout, according to the Quad City Times. Exelon had just announced that it was closing two downstate nuclear power plants because it couldn’t get its bailout legislation passed.
Passing Exelon’s bill wouldn’t have been a “tough” vote—it would’ve been a stupid vote.
The bill simply isn’t soup yet. Yes, negotiators got closer than they ever did in the spring session’s final days. But the interests that weren’t at the negotiating table have yet to have their say.
The only way a massive corporate subsidy for an otherwise fabulously profitable company can be passed is if all four legislative leaders and the governor are pulling in the same direction. And that can’t happen until all stakeholders have their say.
Without that progress, voting to hike electricity rates on just about everybody to save some jobs is both legislative and political stupidity. And to grant the company over $2 billion in subsidies that cannot be clawed back if the plants become profitable is, frankly, ridiculous.
Not to mention that one of those districts with a nuke plant targeted for closure is represented by Republican Rep. Bill Mitchell. I happen to admire the guy for his survival skills, but he has made a career out of railing against welfare and demanding that Chicago secede from the state. To bail out his district while the governor publicly fumes on an almost daily basis about not wanting to help Chicago’s fiscally bereft public school system is unrealistic in the extreme.
And despite saying that he has “focused” on this problem for “quite a while,” and was “in there fighting hard,” Rauner never once mentioned Exelon’s legislation at the leaders meetings. His staff also reportedly waved off an inquiry by House Democratic staff about where the governor stood. As the Quad City Times noted in an editorial, Rauner never made any sort of firm public commitment to the proposal except to have his staff say the matter was “under review.”
This Exelon finger-pointing put the governor’s gamesmanship on display. He’s never to blame. He’s just a helpless victim of the Democrats.
If the governor has any mandate at all from the voters it’s to “Shake up Springfield,” like he endlessly promised during the campaign. It was, by far, the defining issue for candidate Rauner. And nobody personifies Springfield in voters’ minds more than Speaker Madigan. To constantly portray himself as powerless to stop Madigan’s sorcery is essentially an admission of failure.
As a Republican legislator told me the other day, the chief cause of this long state government impasse is that we have a House speaker who also wants to be the governor and a governor who also wants to be the speaker.
This isn’t a new phenomenon.
As far back as the 1980s, House Speaker Michael Madigan tried to get legislators a role in state union contract negotiations. He didn’t trust Gov. Jim Thompson to negotiate affordable contracts, so he wanted a way to reject the deals or at least influence them.
Way back in 1991, rookie Republican Gov. Jim Edgar wouldn’t agree to renewing a tax hike and passing a state budget until Madigan agreed to a statewide cap on property tax increases. Governors have no formal authority to introduce and pass bills. That power belongs exclusively to the General Assembly. But within weeks Madigan and Edgar agreed on a collar county-only tax cap and they moved ahead.
The lengths to which each side has gone this time around most certainly are new, however.
* Part of a letter sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner by 14 Downstate and suburban school superintendents plus Forrest Claypool, the CEO of CPS…
The [state’s school funding] formula is broken. Yet despite collective agreement on this from across the state, including your own acknowledgement of that fact, you continue to push a proposal that puts more money into this worst-in-the-nation K-12 funding system in the same way.
We are profoundly disappointed in the decision to play politics with the state education budget and pit school districts against each other in an unnecessary competition for insufficient resources. We expect the Governor of the entire state to rise above political games to put all of our children’s futures before politics. However, instead of suggesting reforms that reflect the economic diversity of Illinois, your proposal continues to put a greater burden on the districts supporting our most vulnerable students. In the face of the many recent proposals to improve our state’s inequitable approach to education funding, you put forward one that maintains the failed status quo of Illinois’ outdated funding formula.
Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to hold a news conference Monday in Ottawa as part of his effort to persuade the General Assembly to enact a short-term funding package for schools, a local official says.
Mayor Robert Eschbach confirmed Saturday night that the governor’s office requested space for Rauner to hold the news conference at 1:45 p.m. Monday at Ottawa City Hall. Area school superintendents are expected to attend.
Eschbach said the governor’s office made the request about 3 p.m. Friday.
This would be Rauner’s first public visit to La Salle County since taking office in January 2015.
Gee whiz. He’s visiting a politically targeted House district. What a coinkydink.
Illinois Valley Building Trades and Construction Council asked its members to attend in the following post on Facebook Sunday: “The Governor will be in Ottawa Illinois to talk about school funding. Construction workers and all working people need to attend this rally. Don’t forget he wants Illinois to be a right to work state and lower the prevailing wage to non union standards. If you are lucky enough to be working, send your better half or your mother or father if they are busy send gramma. This goes for AFSCME workers, Teacher Unions, Industrial Unions. It’s time to stand up for yourself. I will be there, hope to see you.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** This pic from inside looks like it could possibly be a hostile crowd. A local radio station is promising live coverage of the governor’s press conference. Click here.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Word from the locals is the governor may be moving the event to another venue.
I’m told the protesters are now moving to the courthouse.
*** UPDATE 4 *** I’m told protesters completely surrounded the city hall before the venue was moved a block away to the court house.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Like I said, the protesters have moved to the courthouse…
*** UPDATE 6 *** Live radio coverage has begun. Click here.
*** UPDATE 7 *** Courthouse was reportedly closed to the public. No protesters allowed inside.
*** UPDATE 8 *** Rauner apologized for having to move venue, but said he wanted to have a “constructive” discussion. Says he’ll take questions from the audience.
*** UPDATE 9 *** The governor called out appointed Rep. Skoog for voting with Speaker Madigan. “We need the people of Illinois who don’t live in Chicago, who live in the rest of the state” to stand up to Madigan and the city.
*** UPDATE 10 *** He just said, with a straight face, that Attorney General Lisa Madigan was trying to stop “hard workin’ state employees” from getting paid in order to force a tax hike.
*** UPDATE 11 *** First audience question is hostile. Person supports graduated income tax. Asks governor to be a “strong advocate for collective bargaining.” Rauner says it’s “false, baloney spin” that he wants to strip collective bargaining rights. “I am not anti-union, I am not anti-collective bargaining.” Says Madigan has cut school funding for years. “I’ve made a ton of money and I’m proud of it,” the governor said. Said he’s given “tens of millions of dollars” to public schools.
*** UPDATE 12 *** The governor said Streator was getting a lot more money under his K-12 spending plan. Turns out, it’s just $6,119.
*** UPDATE 13 *** Rauner raged against the “Corruption and cronyism and self-dealing to benefit a machine.” He’s in high dudgeon.
*** UPDATE 14 *** Rauner: “There is no right to work anywhere in our agenda. Zero. Zero.”
*** UPDATE 15 *** “The Democrats are in the super majority, so I’m not going to push anything that won’t pass.”
*** UPDATE 16 *** Ouch…
#Rauner says "right to work" is nowhere on his agenda, interrupting a media member
* Another way [Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich] has been trying to hurt House Democratic chances this November is by claiming there’s a “secret” plan to raise income taxes after the election…
An after-Halloween trick could be up Mike Madigan’s sleeve. Governor Blagojevich is suggesting the speaker of the Illinois House is secretly pushing for an increase in the income tax, sales tax, or both after the November election.
There’s a gigantic difference now, however. Blagojevich didn’t spend millions of dollars attempting to burn that message in because he was preoccupied with his own reelection [duh - he wasn’t up that year] and nobody in the Democratic Party would give him that kind of money to do something like that.
Also, Madigan just wasn’t as well-known (or as widely disliked) back then as he is today.
Governor Bruce Rauner today announced appointments to the State Board of Health and Workforce Investment Board. In addition, Jennifer Hammer has been named Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, as Aaron Winters transitions out of the Administration. […]
Jennifer Walsh Hammer has been named Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. Hammer brings years of experience in Illinois policy and private practice to the position. She is currently Special Counsel to the Governor and the Healthcare and Human Services Policy Adviser.
Previously, Hammer was the Executive Director of the Healthcare Council and Legal Counsel for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Hammer is also an attorney and has spent a significant amount time in private practice at Giffin, Winning, Cohen & Bodewes.
In addition, Hammer is a former two-term elected Governor on the Illinois State Bar Association Board of Governors. She was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Board of Character and Fitness. She is also a past President of the Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association and the Junior League of Springfield. She is the Second Vice President of the Sangamon County Bar Association and a board member of the City of Springfield Community Relations Commission.
Hammer earned her bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and law degree from Southern Illinois University. She lives in Springfield.
* I truly love me some Aaron Winters and I’m really sorry to see him go. Aaron is one of those rare beings: a smart wonk with a pleasant personality. People always smile when he walks into a room, even when he’s bringing bad news.
Needless to say, his job hasn’t been easy. But as a good friend of mine said last year, “If anybody can get us a deal, Winters can.” Unfortunately, no deal was to be gotten. I don’t put that on him. At all.
I’m not sure what he’s doing next, but he’ll be good at it. Count on it.
Arrogant politicians are gambling that, come November, Illinois voters who usually vote for familiar names won’t rebel against incumbent legislators. But given how shabbily majority Democrats once again have treated the citizens who pay their salaries, we wonder if many of the incumbents risk being replaced.
Now the leaders are in scramble mode. They don’t want voters to focus on the odds that schools will or won’t open this fall. Rather than earn their salaries (and, yes, their eventual public pensions) by balancing a budget and pointing Illinois’ economy toward growth, incumbents are focused on the election. They want it over.
Don’t be surprised if they cut a half-year deal and boast for the cameras that they did something big. They’ll blame and spin and preen like peacemakers, then explain in great fogs of detail why this was the best they could do. Heroes, all.
A half-year budget is better than none, we suppose, but not by much. It creates no sense of stability for people who rely on state spending. It creates no incentive for tax-wary employers to locate or hire here. It creates nothing but more slack time for lawmakers to collect salaries, month after unproductive month — their many paid vacations included.
Hmm. No mention at all of who is pushing hardest for a temporary budget deal: Gov. Rauner.
* But, what if Speaker Madigan decides he isn’t for a temporary budget? Those two constituent newsletters put out by his members that we discussed earlier today could give us a clue about MJM’s intentions. For instance…
Not only are we working to stop devastating cuts to social and public services but the University of Illinois is also being targeted. The Governor’s budget proposal would provide the U of I just 30% of the funding it needs for the next 18 months to the institution that educates over half of all public higher education students in the state of Illinois.
Some of the governor’s people believe this 30 percent number refers to Rauner’s stopgap budget proposal. And, as subscribers know, Madigan has only said so far that he is willing to support a stopgap for this fiscal year, not the next one which starts July 1st.
*** UPDATE *** I kid you not, the Illinois Republican Party just e-mailed that Tribune editorial around to reporters and actually used the excerpt about the temporary budget that their own party leader is supporting. Check it out.
Through the entire 2016 cycle, the outside spending on [US Sen. Mark Kirk’s] behalf represents just a fraction of the total money spent on GOP incumbents, and significantly lags behind the amount spent to back his colleagues in tough races. And as groups strategize and lock in future spending, so far there appear to be no plans to put big money behind the Illinois lawmaker’s re-election campaign against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth.
For some of these Republican groups, it’s a simple calculation: Illinois is a deeply blue state in presidential election years, and with so many other competitive races in battleground states, investing there may not be the best use of resources.
“It is an enormously difficult state to be a Republican running statewide in a presidential year,” said one party operative who works for an outside group and who requested anonymity to discuss strategy. “I think you could bring Abraham Lincoln back from the dead to try for the Senate seat and he would have trouble in 2016, or he would be a decided underdog in 2016.”
RCP says $1.1 million has been spent so far, split about down the middle, compared to $13 million in Ohio and $8 million in Pennsylvania.
Kirk’s campaign pushed back on the narrative there has been a lack of investment in his re-election. Eleni Demertzis, a spokeswoman for Kirk, said in a statement to RCP that Duckworth will be badly damaged by a trial in August at which she faces accusations of misconduct from her time leading the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Demertzis said if anyone would be expected to spend outside money in the race, it would be Democrats backing Duckworth ahead of the trial, and she suggested the lack of GOP outside money is because Kirk faces a flawed Democratic opponent.
They sure are putting an awful lot of hope into the outcome of that Duckworth trial.
A new poll commissioned by Sen. Mark Kirk’s campaign shows that a majority of Illinoisans think Rep. Tammy Duckworth should have to testify in an August trial related to a workplace retaliation lawsuit stemming from her time as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to the GS Strategy Group poll of 600 likely Illinois voters, 63 percent of respondents said Duckworth should have to testify “because she was a state employee as the head of the VA, and Illinois voters deserve to know the truth behind her actions.” 17 percent of respondents said it’s Duckworth’s “right to not have to testify in this trial.” […]
“Rod Blagojevich refused to take the stand in court,” Artl added. “Will Rep. Duckworth follow her former boss’s legal strategy?”
Strapped for cash as a result of Illinois’ year-long budget logjam, Champaign County’s mental and behavioral health agency Community Elements is being forced to make deep cuts in two programs serving homeless men and troubled youths.
The agency will close its Roundhouse residential facility for youth on June 10 and will shut down the remainder of the level 1 program at its TIMES Center for homeless men in transition on June 30, according to CEO Sheila Ferguson. […]
To help save money, Community Elements already cut level 1 at the TIMES Center in January from 50 beds to 25 and reduced staffing by 12 jobs, six of them full-time.
• Illinois ranks 28th among the 50 states and District of Columbia in per-capita state and local spending, according to 2012 data, the most recent available, compiled by the Tax Policy Center.
• Illinois ranks 38th in state-only per-capita spending, according to Fiscal Year 2014 data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• Illinois ranks 28th in per-capita combined spending on education, health care, human services and public safety — the core services that make up 90 percent of state budgets — and 36th if you calculate that spending as a share of our gross domestic product, according to an analysis of fiscal year 2012 data by Chicago’s Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
• Illinois ranks 45th in overall state spending as a share of GDP according to a analysis of 2014 data by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• Illinois ranks 49th in Medicaid spending per enrollee in a 2011 Kaiser Family Foundation report.
• Illinois ranks 23rd in the state taxes collected as a percentage of personal income and 15th in state taxes collected per capita, according to 2014 data compiled by the Federation of Tax Administrators.
• Illinois has the second-lowest state income tax rate among the eight states that levy a flat tax, and top earners in 38 states pay more state income tax than top earners in Illinois, according to 2016 charts published by the Federation of Tax Administrators.
Now, there are some important things to remember here. One is that relatively low state spending on K-12 is a serious driver of local property tax hikes. Another is that total state and local taxation is about the highest in the country. And while we do spend much less on Medicaid per enrollee, that comes at the cost of providers refusing to take Medicaid patients.
But, hey, even the governor recognizes that we have a very real state revenue problem. He isn’t pushing deep spending cuts at the state level, despite what you may read elsewhere. He wants economic reforms tied mainly to big state tax hikes and a local property tax freeze.
After years of watching the failed policies of leading Democrats in this state, from disastrous financial mismanagement to inauthentic attempts at social justice policy, I stopped voting Democratic. I charged in the opposite direction. I have not looked back.
She most certainly did charge in the opposite direction. Props for full disclosure there.
* And she has a long list of indisputably valid, spot-on criticisms of her former party…
For those who still espouse the economic and social ideals of the left, consider the failure of Democratic leaders and lawmakers in Springfield to enact the change you believe in. The Democratic-supermajority General Assembly adjourned the spring legislative session once again without passing school funding reform. Without approving an elected school board for Chicago. Without advancing a graduated income tax. Without enforcing a higher minimum wage.
All true. She goes into more detail on each issue and she’s absolutely right. The party’s legislative leaders pay mere lip service to a whole host of progressive causes, but don’t actually get anything accomplished on them.
* While her criticisms are totally legit, the tell is in her closing argument…
If you tend to vote Democrat, do some soul-searching before November. Your party is failing you. It is failing all of us. Your leaders are playing you for fools.
Stop getting played.
There’s zero doubt that if you’re a progressive Democrat, you are getting played on lots of issues near and dear to your heart. But what are all those liberals supposed to do come November? Vote Republican? Hardly.
The answer instead is: “Stay home.” Pieces like these are designed to depress the other side’s base. Both sides regularly do it and we’ll see a whole lot more of it before election day, as we always do. The difference is this one is quite well-written.
* While the Radogno quote doesn’t really suggest compromise, I am told that a middle-ground figure could be reached on K-12 spending if people put their minds to it…
Rauner’s proposal included only $220 million more for schools statewide—a fraction of the $900 million figure that was in bills that separately passed the House and the Senate. Roughly half of that money would have gone to Chicago Public Schools, and CPS chief Forrest Claypool says he needs all of it to put toward an anticipated $1 billion deficit in the upcoming school year.
“We need this stability, and not this strategy of pitting region against region,” Claypool told me, referring to Rauner’s suggestion that Democrats just are trying to wire “a bailout” of CPS.
Insiders suggest to me that Rauner is prepared to raise his schools figure as part of a deal on an interim budget. “There’s a big difference” between what Democrats want and what Rauner currently is proposing, says Radogno, clearly suggesting that a bargain is doable.
The problem is all this GOP thundering about how they won’t back a CPS bailout. The governor is letting the Republicans (and himself) get way out over their skis on this issue.
The logical and humane choice here would be to split the difference, put an additional $500 million or so into K-12, including some help for Chicago, and call it a day.
Wartime footings are not conducive to logic and humanity, however.
The most pressing financial concern for CPS is a $676 million payment to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund due on June 30.
CPS has no choice but to make that payment in full, whether Springfield rides to the rescue or not. […]
But after making that payment in full, CPS will have just $24 million left in the bank. That’s enough to cover just 1.5 days of payroll.
Because property tax revenues won’t start rolling in until early to mid-August, that means CPS would essentially be forced to operate “bone-dry” through the month of July.
And that’s probably just the position where the governor wants CPS.
All this murmuring by Democrats about how Rauner will cave on his Turnaround Agenda once stuff starts shutting down ignores the fact that he has put constant fiscal pressure on CPS since he took office. A shutdown would play right into his hands.
But Madigan’s side points to Rauner’s ever-tanking poll ratings as proof they can use him against Republican candidates, and they’ll toss in Trump wherever the presidential candidate is unpopular.
And while voters always say they want a balanced budget, they almost always recoil when told what that would actually entail. Details of the $7.5 billion in cuts that “the Trump/Rauner Republicans demanded” via the governor’s expected veto will make for some grisly campaign advertisements. The Senate Democrats did pretty much just that to the Republicans during the last presidential campaign cycle and picked up seats despite raising the income tax by 67 percent—which is a big reason why the governor has now twice refused to submit a truly balanced budget. Once the Republicans vote against overriding Rauner’s budget veto for the second year in a row, they’ll be on the record for huge cuts.
* So, if you want a probable preview of the fall campaign (perhaps without all the Urbana-friendly talk about revenues other than those on the rich), check out Democratic state Rep. Carol Ammons’ e-mail to constituents…
Dear Friend,
I know that you are frustrated and disheartened that we have passed another deadline without a state budget. I am too.
It is outrageous that Illinois has gone almost a full year without a state budget. Never before in our state’s history have we gone this long without a budget. We must take action to restore stability for those who rely on the state to meet our basic obligations.
For nearly a year, the governor has held the state hostage refusing to sign or even negotiate a state budget unless he gets his way on a special interest agenda that benefits big corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
The governor has proposed closing the state’s $5 billion deficit exclusively through cuts to essential services for families, children, and the elderly. The governor’s budget would slash critical funding for basic services, including:
* life saving medical care for the elderly and persons with disabilities covered by Medicaid;
* critical health services for women, including life saving breast cancer screenings;
* services for developmentally disabled children;
* services for abused and neglected children;
* and mental health services for thousands of patients who otherwise turn to emergency rooms for care.
Nurses, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and patients strongly support our approach and oppose the governor’s extreme cuts-only budget which would hurt families, children, and the elderly while protecting the ultra rich.
Additionally, the governor’s budget would put public safety at risk as massive cuts to local government will force communities across the state to lay off police officers and firefighters, close stations, and cut back patrols.
Not only are we working to stop devastating cuts to social and public services but the University of Illinois is also being targeted. The Governor’s budget proposal would provide the U of I just 30% of the funding it needs for the next 18 months to the institution that educates over half of all public higher education students in the state of Illinois. The University contributes $14 billion to the state economy and employs 30,000 people statewide. The University needs stable and consistent funding and I will strongly defend against all attempts to erode the foundation of one of our most valuable state institutions.
I oppose the governor’s extreme, cuts-only approach.
I support balancing the budget while protecting essential services by balancing spending cuts with asking big corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. Specifically, closing corporate tax loopholes and increasing tax rates on households with income of over $1 million a year. In order to truly move Illinois to a better place financially, all revenue options have to be on the table. However, the Governor has refused to engage in that conversation until his turnaround agenda items are met. That is not the spirit of compromise that is needed to make progress on this impasse.
We understand the need to conclude our work as soon as possible, but I won’t turn my back on middle class families, I won’t be a partner in destroying the services they count on, and I won’t let our higher education system fail because of lack of funding. I’m prepared to be in the State Capitol for as long as necessary to finish our work and will continue to support measures that protect middle class families and the vulnerable.
