Leaders from SEIU Healthcare Illinois’ child care and home healthcare bargaining committees will hold an emergency press conference at 12 p.m. Wednesday at their headquarters to provide updates on contract talks for some 52,000 Illinois caregivers who have worked without a full collective bargaining agreement since June 30, 2015, and will provide shocking new figures to describe the extent of damage caused to programs by Gov. Bruce Rauner.
They will be joined by Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Skokie) and Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), sponsors of the “Invest in Illinois” legislative package that passed overwhelmingly in the General Assembly in the recent session and which was intended to help ameliorate the Rauner attacks on care.
At the press conference it will be revealed that, according to the state’s own figures, the Child Care Assistance Program has 55,000 FEWER children participating than a year ago, countering Rauner claims that his attacks would not permanently damage the program. (see attachment).
WHAT: Emergency Press Conference to Discuss Collapse of Caregiving in Illinois, Update on Contract Talks for 52,000 Home and Child Caregivers.
WHEN: 12 p.m., NOON, Wednesday, June 15.
WHERE: SEIU Healthcare Illinois Headquarters, 2229 S. Halsted Ave, Chicago.
WHO: Sen. Daniel Biss, Rep. Sonya Harper, SEIU Healthcare Illinois leaders.
This morning several Directors of Illinois area agencies on aging informed the Illinois Department on Aging that they have developed plans to close down their region’s community senior services network this summer. This information was provided during a phone call where the Department explained that federal funding would stop after reimbursements covering the month of June. Unless there is a court order or an enacted state appropriation, no federal funds will be processed for July, August or September. Not all area agencies on aging are in the same situation this summer (AgeOptions would not have federal funding for community based organizations, but will continue state funds for home delivered meals, about half of the meals, if the Court Order continues into July, August and September). It is clear that many of Illinois’ 230 community senior service agencies will desist operations without federal support.
The biggest problem is that the federal dollars are in jeopardy that come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Community Living under the U.S. Older Americans Act. The federal appropriation is on a fiscal year that begins October 1, 2015, and concludes September 30, 2016. Under Illinois law, that funding will end on June 30. The Department stated that June reimbursement will come through in early July and then no additional funding is anticipated following that date unless there is a Court order or a state appropriation.
Federal Older Americans Act resources require state match. That match is combined with federal funds to process payments under the Beeks Consent Decree for meals. Home Delivered Meal funding alone is problematic since it may not be used for administrative purposes. Area agencies administer the court ordered dollars with their federal dollars and state match under Planning and Service Area Grants to Area Agencies on Aging. Not a penny of Planning and Service Area Grants has been provided this year.
Without the federal and state funding, there will not be a viable Aging Network. Federal law requires that the Illinois Department on Aging send the federal and state matching resources to the 13 designated area agencies on aging for distribution to community service provider agencies. It may not be proper under federal guidelines for the Department on Aging to send the court-ordered Home Delivered Meal funding directly to community agencies. Those agencies have contracts with area agencies on aging, and no contract with the Department. This is a legal, moral, practical, administrative and human mess! When will reason prevail and Illinois act responsibly to pass an agreed budget with adequate resources to meet its legal obligations under the Illinois Constitution?
If no federal dollars are released and no state administrative support to area agencies on aging is provided, the high stakes game of chicken being played out by elected leaders will result in the loss of independence, health and lives of older persons. It is time for politics to be put aside and for leadership and governance to prevail.
Jonathan Lavin
Chief Executive Officer
AgeOptions
* Lavin referred me today to Barb Eskildsen, Director of the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging. Eskildsen told me that her agency will “probably be closing either the end of August or the first or second week in September. After that, we will have no money to pay our staff.”
A few local services may be able to stay open, she said, because locals are “fundraising frantically” with donors.
During yesterday’s meeting, the area agencies were told that the governor’s office believes they will be getting state money through consent decrees. But Eskildsen said the only consent decrees are for home delivered meals. Medicaid services are also part of that mix, however.
“This whole thing is just one hot mess,” Eskildsen said.
I asked the Department on Aging for a response at about 1:30. They confirmed the meeting and promised to get back to me. I assume a response is forthcoming and will post it here when it arrives.
…Adding… And here’s the IDOA response…
The Illinois Department on Aging (IDoA) understands the strain that’s been placed on our Aging Network due to the failure of the Majority Party to pass a balanced budget – a strain that will increase if the appropriation authority to pass through their federal funding ends.
The GOP Leaders have introduced SB3435/HB6585, which is a bridge that will pay for social services through the end of December and give the Agency appropriation authority to pass through federal funds. IDoA urges the Majority Party to work with the Governor to pass SB3435/HB6585 to protect our seniors and allow our provider network to continue caring for our most vulnerable.
The Republican National Committee doesn’t consider Illinois a competitive swing state, despite a Republican governor and a Republican U.S Senator, because the RNC’s National Training Day doesn’t include the Land of Lincoln.
The RNC is investing in fourteen states Saturday at 150 locations to activate over 5000 volunteers for training and voter contact. The effort is in coordination with the Trump Campaign, State Parties, and House and Senate campaigns across the country as part of the RNC’s commitment to elect Republicans up and down the ballot. […]
The Trump campaign has been promoting a 15-state strategy, which, CNN says, includes Illinois - despite the last time a Republican presidential won in Illinois was 1988. Trump said in a speech on May 26, “I put so many states in play: Michigan being one. Illinois.”
But the RNC isn’t as hopeful as Trump is. That doesn’t bode well for the struggling campaign to re-elect Republican U.S Senator Mark Kirk just under Trump on the November ballot. […]
The RNC has had the permanent ground operation in place for over 1000 days, and currently has over 750 staff, including over 450 paid staffers in the field, months ahead of Election Day. But not in Illinois.
Illinois Republican Party Releases Robocalls
Calls highlight Democrats’ tax hike agenda, refusal to hold session
Yesterday Mike Madigan announced that he would cancel Wednesday’s planned House session for the second week in a row. Today, the Illinois Republican Party released robocalls in competitive House and Senate districts to highlight Madigan’s refusal to hold session and his plan to hold the state hostage in order to force a massive tax hike with no reforms on Illinois families.
* Sample robocall script…
This is a critical alert. House Speaker Michael Madigan again canceled votes in the legislature, putting public safety, vital services and our schools at risk.
And State Senator Gary Forby & State Representative John Bradley won’t go back to Springfield and stand up to House Speaker Mike Madigan to pass a balanced budget.
Together, Mike Madigan, Gary Forby & John Bradley are holding the state budget hostage to force a massive tax hike with no reforms and increase our state debt by billions.
Visit www.RebuildIllinois.com to sign the petition telling Gary Forby & John Bradley to put public safety, our schools and the needs of our district ahead of Chicago political boss Mike Madigan.
Gary Forby & John Bradley have been siding with Mike Madigan long enough.
“The State of Illinois has been around for nearly 200 years… For 200 years we’ve done annual budgets. It has happened. It can happen. The only reason it’s not happening is because some people don’t want it to happen.”
The state of Illinois earned $7.8 million less in investment income the first quarter of 2016 as a result of the budget impasse, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today. That translates into projected missed earnings of $31.2 million for 2016.
Threats of unplanned fund sweeps and the need to pay court-ordered bills required the treasurer’s office to make short-term investments that prioritized cash availability rather than longer-term, higher-yielding investment opportunities.
“A budget is a spending plan. Without a spending plan, it is very difficult to know what money is needed for basic government operations and what money for normal investments,” Frerichs said. “The law requires us to have money available to pay bills. The inability to adequately plan investments rips money out of the pockets of every person in our state, especially hurting those on the margins such as the poor, senior citizens, and children.”
Metropolitan Family Services of Chicago is among the service providers that essentially has lent the state of Illinois money because the state has not paid its bills.
“By the end of FY16, Metropolitan will be owed $2.6 million from the state of Illinois for contracted services that have not been paid. In order to keep core services open, we have been forced to tap our own credit and serve as involuntary lenders to Illinois. All year long, low-income families and not-for-profit providers have suffered, footing the bill for problems they did not create. The lack of a state budget is a structural failure that is damaging our economy, hurting thousands of people, and causing irreparable harm to communities served by organizations such as Metropolitan Family Services,” said Taneka Jennings of Metropolitan Family Services.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is trying to weave a wider web of blame for the state budget mess, extending his criticism of House Speaker Michael Madigan and other Democratic lawmakers to Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the speaker’s daughter.
But Lisa Madigan dismisses the Republican’s claims that she too is trying to “create a crisis” that would force a tax increase.
Rauner noted last week that Madigan, a Democrat, is pushing the courts to declare that state workers should not continue to get paid without a budget appropriation, something that has eluded Springfield for more than a year.
Madigan, who is serving her fourth term as attorney general, declined to comment directly on Rauner’s remarks. And it’s unclear if she will continue to pursue the worker pay issue, saying in a statement that “the best way to ensure state employees are paid for the rest of this fiscal year and all of the next fiscal year is for the governor to work with the legislature to pass an appropriation to cover state employee pay.”
From what I’m hearing, I believe the Rauner folks are hoping to find a strong challenger to AG Madigan in 2018. They really do not respect/like her, the governor included. And they firmly believe she’s doing her father’s bidding.
* Demonstrators raised quite a ruckus outside while Gov. Rauner spoke to a South Side church over the weekend. Afterward, Rauner met with a small handful of the protesters…
Activist Lamon Reccord, 17, who moments earlier lead anti-Rauner chants and blasted a siren from a megaphone, was part of the group who met privately with Rauner and his wife.
The meeting lasted about 10 minutes. Rauner spoke briefly about the sitdown outside the church.
“What we’ve agreed we’re going to do is every week or so we’re going to meet with members of the community and leaders in the community and talk about the issues,” Rauner said. […]
“I brought to the governor’s attention the pain that this budget impasse is having on the black community,” [activist Eric Russell] said.
“And I told him how it appears he is balancing his budget on the backs of the poor and he basically said ‘I just got here and I’m trying to fix this mess.’ And we took exception to that because there is no level of compassion in regards to him balancing the budget,” Russell said.
The administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to speed up resolution of its case on whether an impasse exists in labor talks between the state and its largest employee union by bypassing a recommendation in the case by an administrative law judge.
The administration says a quicker resolution of the case will help the state save $35 million to $40 million a month in higher health insurance costs for workers. […]
“The governor has filed a request that we believe is totally without precedent,” AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said Monday. “We’ve never seen anything like this before, to cut the administrative law judge out of the process and proceed to the full board. It’s just more evidence of the endless lengths this governor will go to impose his demands and not negotiate a fair agreement.” […]
AFSCME will have a chance to respond to the state in writing, but hasn’t done so yet. After that, it will be up to the five-member board to decide what to do with the request, said Melissa Mlynski, executive director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board. She declined further comment because the matter is pending.
* The administration’s full response…
The use of an administrative law judge, who does not make a final ruling, but merely issues a non-binding recommendation to the Labor Board, is optional under state labor laws.
Those labor laws, which AFSCME helped write, expressly contemplate an expedited proceeding where the Labor Board issues a final ruling without a recommendation by the administrative law judge.
We are asking for the Labor Board to consider those faster procedures in this case, because we continue to pay for AFSCME’s platinum plus health care plans. Each month these added health care benefits cost taxpayers an extra $35 to $40 million. With the nation’s largest bill backlog, budget deficit, and pension liability, Illinois can no longer afford to pay for one of the country’s richest benefits packages.
The budget impasse, the unfunded pension liability, the inability to properly and effectively fund education are a result of the current map-drawing process.
Yes! Remap reform will solve all of our problems! Illinois isn’t at all divided politically. People in southeastern Illinois, Iroquois County, etc. will magically become Democrats and Chicagoans and south suburbanites will magically become Republicans!
* Look, I support redistricting reform. But one reform ain’t a magic cure-all. Heck, the Republicans drew the legislative map in 1991 and Speaker Madigan maintained a Democratic majority for eight out of the GOP map’s ten years.
* Back on June 3rd, the Illinois Republican Party highlighted this Chicago Tribune editorial…
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.
“After proclaiming that the House would be in continuous session and meet on Wednesdays, Mike Madigan has canceled session for the second week in a row. Without a stopgap budget, prisons will not have the necessary funds to operate and schools may not open in the fall. Madigan is again using the working groups as an excuse to stall progress - two stopgap bills backed by the Governor and statehouse Republicans are written and ready to vote on.
Mike Madigan has abandoned the needs of the people of Illinois in his desperate attempt to force a tax hike and prevent reform. Today, news organizations are reporting a ‘mega lobbying effort from Chicago’ to pass Madigan’s 7 billion out-of-balance budget in the Senate. Senate Democrats now face a crucial test – will they put a halt to this madness, or will they cave to political boss Mike Madigan?” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
So, they were against a stopgap before they were for it?
* But the governor is sitting on a stopgap approp bill himself. And Voices for Illinois Children wants him to sign it…
A month ago, the Illinois House and Senate passed Senate Bill 2038 to provide over $700 million in emergency cash to help service providers keep their doors open after 12 months of no payments from the state. Not a single legislator voted “no;” 167 voted “yes.”
Yet, nearly four weeks after receiving this bill, Governor Rauner has not signed it. His inaction is denying service providers an essential financial lifeline.
As the huge bipartisan support in the General Assembly shows, signing SB 2038 is simply the right thing to do. This is because the money authorized to save service providers is currently just sitting idle in special state funds.
For example, over $400 million sits in the Commitment to Human Services Fund. This money is meant to support human services. SB 2038 simply authorizes the state to spend dedicated human services money on human services.
To be clear, SB 2038 is not a solution to the state’s financial crisis. It is only a temporary, emergency lifeline to providers. Lawmakers and Governor Rauner must finally enact a budget supported by billions of dollars in new revenue to fund essential services and investments for a more prosperous and compassionate state.
* I really needed a good laugh today, so this new poll did the trick…
A new poll released by a group of Illinois mayors and local officials shows 66 percent of Illinois voters support the Next Generation Energy Plan, while only 17 percent oppose the legislative proposal, an overwhelming 49-point margin of support. As respondents heard more specific details of the plan, it drove overall support for the plan even higher – to 77 percent.
“Illinois voters understand the economic, environmental and reliability benefits and the need for this comprehensive energy legislation, which is why there’s such overwhelming support,” said Clinton Mayor Roger Cyrulik. “Illinois cannot afford to wait any longer – our livelihoods are on the line.”
In the very near future, the State Legislature may consider a bill called the “Next Generation Energy Plan” that would drive Illinois’ clean energy future by incentivizing companies to keep and develop clean energy resources, especially solar, save and protect jobs, strengthen the state’s infrastructure and secure the future of Illinois’ nuclear power plants. Do you favor or oppose this plan? (PROBE: Strongly/Somewhat)
Well, yeah. When you put it like that of course people supported it, although only 35 percent said they strongly favored it.
A legit poll would’ve also provided the downsides to the proposal. This poll didn’t do that.
Fabrizio, Lee & Associates conducted the statewide survey of 600 registered Illinois voters on May 9-10, 2016 on behalf of Exelon. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent
If you look at the poll results, two of the least persuasive entities on this topic are Exelon and ComEd. So, expect lots of front groups to start appearing.
Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn kicked off a signature drive Sunday to impose a two-term limit on Chicago’s mayor and create a citywide elected consumer advocate position.
The binding referendums could be on ballots as early as November or in the 2018 cycle, meaning there’s potential to make Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel ineligible to seek a third term in 2019.
Quinn insisted his effort wasn’t aimed at any individual, and getting nearly 53,000 valid signatures before an Aug. 8 deadline for November’s ballot would be challenging. He explained how he got his start in petition drives — including laying the groundwork for the Citizens Utility Board — and wanted to give residents a way to bypass the mayor and City Council.
“Part of my mission in life is not to sit on the sidelines, but to try and organize movements and give people a greater say in their government,” he said. “It’s a way to let fresh air in and let the people into City Hall.”
Quinn wouldn’t say what groups he’s coordinating with. If the measure doesn’t come before voters in November, it could be on the ballots during the 2018 gubernatorial election.
He refused to answer if he’d seek public office again. Quinn has recently been making the rounds at political events, fueling talk that he’s wants to throw his hat in the ring again.
“I’ve run for office before,” Quinn said. “We’ll see about the future.”
1. Chicago is the only city among the nation’s 10 biggest cities without a term limit on its mayor.
2. Incumbent Chicago mayors routinely outspend their challengers by millions of dollars reaped from lobbyists, corporations and billionaires.
3. The best way to achieve true campaign finance reform and end secrecy in City Hall is through mayoral term limits. And the only way to achieve term limits is through a petition drive and binding referendum, a power authorized by the 1970 Illinois Constitution.
“Look, I got, I’m focused right now, Pat Quinn can do what he wants,” Emanuel said before speaking at the Clemente High School graduation ceremony. “I know what I’m focused on. I’m here to make sure that Springfield takes note, as they did on the weekend Sullivan (High School) graduation I spoke at, I’m here speaking at Clemente, of the gains our kids are making on education, that it is not the time to pull the rug from underneath our kids.”
* And columnist Jim Dey had nothing but praise for Quinn…
Quinn’s proposal cuts at the heart of the ambitions of would-be mayors in that notoriously corrupt city. When they get elected, almost all of them want to stay forever. They either leave feet first (Mayors Richard Daley I and Harold Washington) or are thrown out by voters (Mayors Michael Bilandic and Jane Byrne).
In recent history, Mayor Daley II stepped down on his own and only then after city government and the school systems were on the brink of financial collapse.
Now Mayor Rahm Emanuel, politically weakened because of his mishandling of a fatal police shooting, holds the office. Unpopular, abrasive and the ultimate political insider, Emanuel offers the perfect step ladder for Quinn to climb back into prominence.
* A must-read story about how a lobbyist and a Latino House member killed off a modest disclosure bill that had passed the Senate…
The code word for black workers caught Rosa Ceja by surprise.
She was working for a temp agency in spring 2014, supervising workers at a big brick packaging plant northwest of Chicago. Crews of minimum-wage temp workers in hairnets boxed consumer products such as adult diapers and energy drinks in shifts around the clock.
She knew the company wanted only men for some jobs and only women for others. And she knew those codes: “heavies” for men, “lights” for women.
But when Ceja asked the recruiting office to send more heavies, she was told there were only “guapos” available. She was confused. “Guapo” means “good-looking” in Spanish. “I’m like, ‘Who cares if he’s cute?’ ” Ceja remembers saying.
Guapo, her fellow recruiters told her, meant a black worker. Black people didn’t want to work hard or get their hands dirty, they explained, so they were called the pretty ones. Latinos, the “feos” or ugly ones, were what the company wanted.
Ceja said she checked with a packing company supervisor to make sure.
“She said, ‘If you ever bring me a black guy, they’re automatically walking out,’ ” Ceja said.
The Democrats got a bit of good news and some serious bad news in a recent Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll. And that bad news is particularly negative for anyone who can be credibly connected to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
The poll of 1,231 registered Illinois voters found presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leading presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump by 12 points, 47-35. Another 7 percent said they were voting for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson and 12 percent were undecided. The poll was taken June 5 and 6, had a margin of error of +/-3 percent, and 39 percent of the responses came from mobile phone users.
John Kerry won this state by 12 points in 2004, the last time an Illinois resident wasn’t on the presidential ticket. So, Clinton’s numbers are already aligning with Kerry’s. And the poll was taken before Illinois’ U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and other Republicans withdrew their support from Trump.
Clinton is leading 67-17 in Chicago and 47-35 in suburban Cook County. Trump, however, is ahead 42-38 in the suburban collar counties and leads by 10 points, 45-35, among Downstate voters - the location of some potentially very hot state legislative battles, so it’s not all good news for the Dems. Then again, Democratic presidential candidates haven’t fared well in some Downstate regions in a long time, but Democratic legislators have mostly managed to hold onto their seats.
When looking at gender, location and voting history, the Libertarian candidate Johnson does his best with folks who have voted in the last three Republican primaries, scoring 11 percent - not good news for Trump at all.
But as Gov. Bruce Rauner’s people have been warning for months, the Democratic House Speaker is getting the blame for the yearlong governmental impasse by a huge margin.
“The Illinois General Assembly has once again adjourned its spring session without a budget agreement - an ongoing situation that some feel is caused by a clash between Governor Bruce Rauner and Speaker Mike Madigan,” poll respondents were told. They were then asked to assign blame between the two men.
The poll found that voters blame Madigan by a decisive 21-point margin, 55-34, with just 9 percent saying “both” and a mere 2 percent saying they were still undecided.
The polling company conducted a similar survey late last month for another client. Based on that earlier polling, the firm’s principal Gregg Durham said there “seems to be a widening gap putting the Speaker in the lead in the budget blame game.” Durham noted that while Rauner enjoys “relative solidarity among Republican voters, Speaker Madigan’s numbers are comparatively soft among Democrats.” For example, 28 percent of people who have taken Democratic ballots two out of the last three cycles say Madigan is chiefly to blame. Independents blamed Madigan 49-39.
Durham also said there were significantly more people who said they were undecided in the earlier poll. So, positions appear to be hardening.
Chicago is the only region that blames Gov. Rauner over Speaker Madigan for the impasse, 52-35. But there is only one contested race in the city, and Chicago GOP Rep. Michael McAuliffe’s district includes suburban Cook territory as well, where Madigan is blamed 54-36. And there are lots of expectedly competitive legislative races coming up in suburban Cook. About 7 percent blame both in Cook County and 3 percent are undecided.
Downstate voters predictably blame Madigan over Rauner 59-29, with 11 percent blaming both and an almost microscopic 1 percent saying they’re undecided. Just about everybody has an opinion on this one, and that opinion is not good for the Democrats.
Madigan does worst among collar county voters, where 64 percent blame the Speaker and just 27 percent blame Rauner, with 2 percent undecided and 8 percent blaming both men.
Just 29 percent of men blame Rauner, but a very strong 62 percent blame Madigan. Another 7 percent say both are to blame and 1 percent are undecided.
Fifty percent of female votes point their finger at Madigan as opposed to 38 percent who blame Rauner. 10 percent of women blame both and 3 percent are undecided.
The results reportedly confirm similar polling taken by the House Democrats and they definitely confirm polls taken by the Republicans. So, why continue down this path? The answer from multiple sources is that Madigan is convinced it’s up to him to stop Rauner in his tracks, even if that means taking some losses.
Subscribers have crosstabs and more info.
* Also, you may have seen some media coverage of a recent Illinois Observer poll on this topic. However, the publication did not disclose what company conducted the poll, which is highly unusual to say the least. It’s also a purely automated poll, so it likely doesn’t include mobile phone users. I’m not saying that my poll is 100 percent accurate. No poll is. And nobody should rely on any one poll or any one pollster. But that lack of disclosure troubles me.
