Ads Target House Democrats for Their Loyalty to Mike Madigan and Their Votes for the Most Unbalanced Budget in IL History
Over the past few weeks, House Democrats made the decision to put their loyalty to Mike Madigan above the interests of the people of Illinois. Instead of working to balance the budget and reform state government, House Democrats rammed through the most unbalanced budget in Illinois history, a budget that had a $7.5 billion deficit and would require a $1,000 tax increase on Illinois families to balance.
The Southern Illinoisan’s Editorial Board put it best this morning when they called Representatives Brandon Phelps and John Bradley, “soldiers in service to Speaker Michael Madigan.”
The Southern writes, “Mike Madigan preserved the status quo again this year, and Brandon Phelps and John Bradley were again more than willing to assist.”
Today, the House Republican Organization launched TV ads in multiple media markets across the state, targeting vulnerable Democratic legislators who walked the plank and voted for Madigan’s reckless “budget.”
The ads call out Reps. John Bradley, Brandon Phelps, Andy Skoog, Dan Beiser, and Kate Cloonen for their unflinching loyalty to Mike Madigan.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday lashed out at Gov. Bruce Rauner, comparing the Republican governor’s call for Downstate Democrats to stand up against the Chicago machine to Donald Trump’s “playbook of demonizing one group of people for his political advantage.”
Rauner responded to the attack during an afternoon appearance in Itasca, comparing Emanuel to Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, who is known for her sharp retorts.
“I don’t know where all these goofy personal attacks come from,” Rauner said. “That’s not helpful. I’m starting to think Rahm is taking his speaking lessons from Karen or something. This is not helpful. We’ve got to focus on the facts and what’s constructive.” [Emphasis added.]
Well, yeah. So if focusing on what’s helpful and constructive is so important, then what has the governor been doing for the last three days? That Emanuel comment didn’t emerge from a vacuum.
* A massive corporate bailout funded by increased electricity rates for a hugely profitable company is absolutely needed to protect a handful of Downstate jobs. But don’t even mention giving Chicago’s schools a penny more than they received this fiscal year, because that would be horrible…
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is “extremely upset” to hear Exelon’s decision to close its nuclear plants in the Quad-Cities and Clinton, Ill., he said during a visit Thursday to the East Moline Correctional Center.
The state’s Republican leader said he has been talking with Exelon officials for weeks and planned to continue conversations later in the day.
“I’m trying to work with Exelon to keep these plants open,” he said, pinning blame on Illinois Democrats’ unwillingness to act on “tough votes,” including a bill aimed at helping Exelon’s money-losing nuclear plants, until after the general election in November. “We need to protect those jobs.”
Rauner pushed Illinois lawmakers to find a compromise, stressing that he does not want the state to lose Exelon, a “good company” with “good-paying jobs.”
We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars a year for 1500 jobs - and if those plants become profitable again the state wouldn’t be able to claw back the subsidies.
* Those are good jobs. Don’t get me wrong. And the jobs and taxes are hugely important to those two small towns.
But thousands of employees of human service providers throughout the state have been laid off and he won’t sign a fully-funded stopgap approp bill that’s been on his desk for weeks.
* And while we’re at it, after excoriating the House Democrats for passing a 500-page budget bill with only hours of debate, he had his GOP leaders introduce two appropriations bills on the last day of session that totaled 1,054 pages and demanded immediate floor votes.
Dude… Please.
Sorry, but every time this governor goes on one of his Rolling Thunder “I’m Not To Blame!” Pander-Bear tours he makes me cranky.
Governor Bruce Rauner told WAND News Wednesday that he believed in early May that a compromise on a new budget was nearly at hand.
That potential deal, or grand compromise, never materialized. Rauner blames it on Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.
“I knew we were getting close because Speaker Madigan started to insert himself. Because he was concerned we were actually going to get a grand compromise and he doesn’t want that,” Rauner told WAND’s Doug Wolfe. “Members of the Republican caucus and the working groups came back and said wow, you could see the chain got pulled in on the Democrats and they’ve reversed, or taken things off the table, or changed their position and gone backwards.”
They did indeed seem to pull back during the last few days.
[Democratic state Sen. Dave Koehler], too, disagreed with the governor’s characterization of action in the working groups.
“I think we’ve made some real progress,” he said. “It doesn’t look like it, because always on the last day of session things get real crazy.”
But, he said, any agreement on a short-term deal should come out of those groups.
“That’s really what needs to happen. … The reality is that the only way we’re going to make progress is we have to do something in a bipartisan way,” he said.
However, he said that he’s comfortable working on a temporary budget with the likelihood of voting on reforms in Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” later in the year or after the new year dawns as part of a final deal — though he still wants negotiation on the terms of those items.
“No one involved in the process can just say ‘No, we’re not doing it,’” Koehler said. “You have to at least talk about something. Now, everybody gets real nervous out there, saying, ‘What are you doing?’ Well, allow them to have their conversation and to find out where you can have some meeting of the minds.”
Yes, the city needs to put some skin in the game. And, yes, the state has a very real responsibility for its largest school system. But the CTU has to do its part as well. And that pension pickup is a huge cost-driver for CPS. Huge.
*** UPDATE *** Greg Hinz…
Claypool, in a quick interview, reacted very negatively to the comments.
“I’m shocked that the CTU is surrendering to Rauner and letting him off the hook for the state’s responsibility to fund education,” Claypool said.
Thank you so much for Tuesday’s article calling violence “a huge public health crisis”—we at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago couldn’t agree more. And we echo your call for “an urgently coordinated response to this disaster.” That’s why we created Strengthening Chicago’s Youth (SCY) four years ago. Like you and your readers, we recognize that it is not just the Illinois Department of Public Health, local law enforcement or any one entity that can solve this complicated problem. This is why SCY supports and helps coordinate efforts among so many government and non-government organizations that are doing this work. This is a true public health approach.
We all have to do our part to prevent violence. SCY encourages everyone to take action to prevent violence through our Focus on Five, which calls for:
· Sustained investment in children and youth. Policymakers must make a commitment to fund programs and implement laws that will enable our young people to reach their full potential. Without strong, consistent support of programs that work, is it any wonder when our children fall farther behind?
· Equitable access to high quality mental health services. We know that violence often stems from generation after generation of being raised in traumatized families and communities. Groups like the Illinois ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Response Collaborative and Lurie Children’s Center for Childhood Resilience are working to address the root causes of trauma in children and support those who have experienced adversity, ultimately helping to break the intergenerational cycle of violence. As many of these partners say, “Hurt people hurt people.” We need to ensure that resources are dedicated to allow every Illinois resident to get the mental health care they need.
· Common sense approaches to gun violence prevention. Research shows that there are gun violence prevention policies that can save lives, including anti-trafficking laws and enforcement measures and evidence-based approaches to keep guns from dangerous people. Let’s bring these policies—like Gun Dealer Licensing—to Illinois to help curb the scourge of illegal guns endangering our children.
· Juvenile justice system that reflects what we know about adolescent development. Adolescents’ brains are not fully developed, and policies should view a child’s involvement with the justice system as an opportunity for intervention to prevent further delinquent behavior. We commend the state for many important reforms that have been adopted over the last several years and hope for continuing improvements—such as adoption of robust wraparound approaches that meet all needs of at-risk youth.
· Sustained investment in strong communities. We know that the toll of violence falls disproportionately on low-income, minority communities and that community and economic development policies can help to rectify this situation. Whether it’s through investing in proven community-based programs like CeaseFire Illinois, improving relationships between police and residents or bringing jobs to the neighborhoods most affected by violence, Illinois is only as strong as the neighborhoods we live in.
SCY would be happy to work with any of your readers to figure out how they can do their part to strengthen and support our youth, families and communities.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Levin, MPH
Director, Strengthening Chicago’s Youth
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool, who banked the financial future of the troubled district on a now-failed legislative session, said Wednesday that “the fight’s not over” as he implored parents statewide to lobby the governor.
“We still need them to stay involved because we have another obstacle to overcome, and that’s Gov. Rauner. They should remind the governor of his pre-gubernatorial history as someone who supported education funding, equality and reform. And I’d like to see that governor come back,” Claypool said by telephone. “The strategy of trying to divide the state around the issue of education just isn’t going to work.”
* Which resulted in this memo…
June 2, 2016
Mr. Forrest Claypool, Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools
42 W. Madison St.
Chicago, IL 60602
Dear Mr. Claypool:
I know you share my concern that without a balanced state budget, many schools may have difficulty opening in the fall. As I’m sure you are aware, the General Assembly adjourned Tuesday without passing a balanced budget for fiscal year 2017.
Earlier this week, the Governor and Republican leaders introduced an education funding bill that increases total PK-12 education funding by more than $240 million and ensures no school district loses money. In this time of great uncertainty, will you support a fiscal year 2017 education funding bill that keeps CPS funded at the exact same level as fiscal year 2016, including keeping funding for the city’s block grant and after-school programming in place?
If your answer is yes, then you support the plan introduced by Governor Rauner and the Republican Leaders this week – and I would ask you to advocate for its immediate passage so that all schools in Illinois can open in the fall. If your answer is no, then you need to be honest and tell the people of Illinois that you are holding up school funding for the entire state so that Chicago will receive hundreds of millions more than it did last year – despite declining enrollment in Chicago Public Schools and a state in deep fiscal crisis.
Thank you for your prompt reply.
Sincerely,
Beth Purvis
Secretary of Education
I’ve asked CPS for a response.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Here’s the response, which is more of an insult than anything else…
June 2, 2016
Dear Secretary Purvis,
As the highest paid official in Gov. Rauner’s administration, I’m sure you are aware that Illinois is near dead last in education funding.
I’m also sure you are aware that the current education funding formula punishes students living in poverty. This double whammy is a brick on the back of Illinois’ middle class and working families.
We understand the governor wants to turnaround Illinois. We urge him to start with education. Bring Illinois out from the bottom of the barrel and stop the insanity of an education funding system that punishes the poor.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Claypool was hired at a $250,000 annual salary plus benefits, which would be more than Purvis. So one insult deserves another. From Gov. Rauner’s deputy chief of staff Richard Goldberg…
Forrest Claypool doesn’t like it when women make as much money as he does. What a wonderful role model for Chicago students.
Schools in Illinois, on average, could stay open for five months without state funding, a recent survey by the Illinois Association of School Administrators found.
The possibility of schools shuttering continued to linger after state lawmakers on Tuesday evening, in the final hours of the spring legislative session, failed to reach a deal on a K-12 education-spending bill. […]
Even though they could open, [Mike Chamness, IASA’s director of communications] emphasized the consequences would still be devastating.
“If you spend all your reserves to stay open for five months, those reserves would not be replenished and at that point in time you would have no safety net whatsoever,” he said.
Yep. That very same thing has already happened to social service providers and higher education institutions.
*** UPDATE *** From the IASA…
Rich,
I wanted to clarify that the survey we did at IASA was an informal survey in our magazine. While the 5 month average might or might not be truly be representative of the statewide situation, I wanted to make it clear that we have districts from one end of the spectrum of not being able to open to the other end of districts that can survive the whole year but then might have no safety net remaining. Obviously, the districts most dependent on state aid are impacted the most. The closer we get to August, the more troublesome the scenarios become, financially and logistically, for schools. We realize that the ongoing budget impasse has had real consequences and suffering for innocent people. We would hope that common sense will prevail and the 2.1 million children who attend public schools in Illinois would not be used as political bargaining chips by either side.
Thanks.
Michael Chamness
IASA Director of Communications
Turns out, this was just an online survey. Not exactly scientific.
Thursday marks [ousted Chicago legislative inspector general Faisal Khan’s] first official day as CEO of the nonprofit Project Six — named after The Secret Six group of Chicago businessmen who helped bring down Al Capone.
Khan won’t say who’s paying the bills at Project Six — which employs Khan, three full-time investigators and a communications director out of offices in the historic Monadnock Building — but he insists the organization has no political or ideological bent. Its only aim is to take on corruption, ethical lapses and misguided policy, wherever it occurs in city, county or state government, he said.
Nate Hamilton, the group’s spokesman, said the money folks are being kept secret so politicians don’t go after them.
“We protect the privacy of our donors to prevent anyone from being targeted, harassed or retaliated against by the system that we will be fighting to reform,” said Hamilton, a former spokesman for the Illinois Policy Institute, a “free market” think tank that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has donated more than $500,000 to over the years.
Project Six describes itself as an “independent, non-profit organization dedicated to investigating, exposing and ending government corruption in Chicago and across Illinois.”
It was initiated by and is affiliated with the libertarian-leaning think tank Illinois Policy Institute, an organization that has received more than $500,000 from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Project Six has a separate board of directors and will not disclose its list of funders.
The group’s spokesperson, Nathaniel Hamilton, a former Policy Institute spokesperson, denied any connection between Project Six and his old organization. This is despite the fact that the offices for Project Six were initially housed within the Policy Institute and job candidates were interviewed by members of the Policy Institute. An explicit connection between the two organizations could raise questions about whether or not investigations are politically motivated.
“We are a completely independent organization,” Hamilton said repeatedly on the phone.
Emphasis added.
For a self-described reform group to be telling what looks like a major whopper right off the bat doesn’t exactly inspire a whole lot of confidence.
Faisal Khan, Chicago’s $250-an-hour legislative inspector general, says he faces financial calamity.
He can’t afford to pay his taxes. He’s forced to maintain two homes because his pregnant wife lives out of state and can’t fly. And on top of that, he has massive travel expenses from shuttling back and forth weekly, Khan, a part-time contract employee, said in a Feb. 3 court filing.
So who’s to blame? According to Khan, the city, which he says owes him $75,325 in back pay. […]
But while Khan pleads poverty, records show he collected $228,707 in city payments in 2014 — well exceeding his former $202,000 a year salary cap.
The records also indicate that since 2012, more than 60 percent of his office budget has gone straight into his pocket. That leaves him with limited resources to conduct investigations and pay his employees.
A suburban Democrat has asked Illinois’ top auditor to take a leave of absence following his acknowledgment that federal investigators have questioned him about campaign expenses.
With a letter sent Wednesday, state Sen. Laura Murphy of Des Plaines becomes the highest-profile Democratic official to take Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino to task for campaign expenses that have drawn increased scrutiny in recent months.
Among the expenses is more than $200,000 in about a dozen years at a single service station in his former legislative district.
“I believe a leave of absence would be in the best interest of state government and the taxpayers of Illinois,” Murphy writes in a letter. “Once the probe is complete and only after the cloud over your office has lifted would it be appropriate for you to return to work as auditor general.”
So, since she’s doing this, might we expect more Dems to jump on the “good government is good politics” bandwagon as it relates to Mautino?
And, what’s your opinion about a leave of absence?
We are 11 months – eleven months – into this fiscal year and Illinois is no closer to having a FY16 budget than it was on July 1, 2015. Furthermore, we are one month from the deadline for an FY17 budget that is nowhere in sight either.
The latest round of negotiations between the Governor and legislators culminated Tuesday night in yet another failure. No budget—stopgap or full-year—was passed.
Instead of setting aside differences and agendas to pass a budget that adequately funds the services and programs that children and working families depend on, everyone involved has left these critical services in a continued state of uncertainty and unpredictably. Again.
The failure to reach an agreement on a responsible budget that includes sustainable revenue means that child care centers serving the children of tens of thousands of low-income, working parents will once again stop receiving funding. Home visiting programs reaching thousands of expectant parents, infants and toddlers will remain unfunded for a second year, with many programs unable to continue operating.
The lack of any appropriation for children birth to age 5 in our state’s Preschool for All program and K-12 system means schools will not have any funding for the fall unless something changes. The foundation of higher education will continue to crumble, leaving thousands of university and community college students without MAP grants and impacting the early childhood education future workforce. Teen REACH, homeless prevention, and domestic violence services will all go without funding again. The list goes on.
Prolonging the fiscal impasse will only deepen and extend the pain to children, families and communities - and the domino effect on the state’s economy will be felt for years to come. We have seen vulnerable children and families bear the brunt of our state’s budget problems before, but never at a time when the service-delivery infrastructure is already incredibly fragile and on the very edge of collapse. Many social services providers in Illinois have not been paid since July 1, but have continued to provide services in good faith. There is a bill before Governor Rauner that would provide emergency stopgap funds to help keep these providers afloat while we await a complete budget, and we urge him to sign SB2038 immediately.
We elect our leaders to represent the interests and needs of all residents of Illinois. We do not elect them to wait for the next primary…the next election…the next school year…
By failing to pass a budget for FY16 and FY17, our elected leaders have shown a lack of political courage while children and families pay the price. Legislators have indicated that they will work through June to find a compromise. We call on the governor and General Assembly, regardless of political affiliation, to live up to their commitment and responsibilities and immediately pass a budget that adequately reflects and fully funds our state’s needs and long-held priorities.
Looks like Exelon’s Quad Cities nuclear plant is a goner come September.
Chris Crane, CEO of the Chicago-based utility giant, which also is the largest nuclear plant operator in the country, made clear on a conference call with analysts today that he doesn’t see a way to keep money-losing Quad Cities open in the absence of a state law to charge ratepayers throughout Illinois more to bolster revenues at Exelon’s nukes. Exelon says that three of its six Illinois plants are losing money as wholesale power prices remain historically low due in large part to the low cost of natural gas.
Exelon has established September as the time it must decide the future of Quad Cities, and an anticipated revenue windfall for Exelon’s nukes courtesy of a regional power-plant auction set for next month almost certainly won’t be enough, Crane said.
September came and went and all the nuke plants stayed open.
Exelon said Thursday it will move ahead with plans to shutter the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants, blaming the lack of progress on Illinois energy legislation.
The company, the parent of Chicago-area utilities provider ComEd, said the Clinton Power Station will close June 1, 2017, and the Quad Cities Generating Station in Cordova will close June 1, 2018. Both plants, the company said, have lost a combined $800 million in the past seven years, despite being “two of the best-performing plants,” the company said in a statement.
The move comes after the Illinois General Assembly adjourned earlier this week without acting on the legislation known as the Next Generation Energy Plan, which Exelon said would have helped save the nuclear plants.
* As Steve Daniels notes, there was some significant progress with Exelon’s legislation in late May, but more work has to be done…
Complicating matters is that the disagreements between Exelon and the greens aren’t the only conflicts holding back legislation. The coal industry, and power generators who rely on coal, also want ratepayer-financed help, which has run into opposition from downstate electric utility Ameren.
And much of the solar industry continues to oppose other electricity rate-design portions of Exelon’s bill that they contend would kill the residential rooftop solar business in Illinois before it even really gets started.
But with the dramatic concessions to the wind industry, Exelon has made clear its willingness to wheel and deal in order to save its nukes. May 31 has come and gone, but wide-ranging and far-reaching energy legislation in Illinois remains very much in play.
Thursday, Jun 2, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Paying it forward and giving back, and expecting nothing but happiness - that is the ultimate gift. Rock Valley Credit Union went above and beyond just providing “normal financial service” to a member on Saturday, May 28th when they surprised Denise Krienke, a long-time member who is going through cancer treatment with a visit from Guardians of the Ribbon PINK HEALS Winnebago County.
Financial Service Provider Andy Poffinbarger had been helping Denise with options for helping her pay medical bills, have money to live on, avoid overdrawing her checking account and to stay afloat. During his interactions with Denise, he learned of her journey and the struggles she was facing and wanted to help. Knowing of the partnership Rock Valley has with PINK HEALS, the credit union reached out to the local non-profit organization and explained Denise’s story.
PINK HEALS didn’t hesitate. Andy worked with Denise’s family to have her at the credit union following the annual Memorial Day Parade, and as soon as the sirens sounded, the procession of fire trucks, motorcycles, Pink Heals’ signature Pink police car and fire truck appeared, tears rolled down Denise’s face. She was shocked that a credit union would care enough to do something for her. Over 50 volunteers from Pink Heals, 15 Rock Valley Credit Union employees and many family and friends stood in line to give Denise a hug of support and encouragement. She was presented with gift cards to gas stations and a grocery store to help relieve some of the burden.
Taking time to get to know our members, their personal stories, and helping as best as we can - that is the credit union difference. Rock Valley Credit Union made an impact in Denise’s life beyond helping her financially. Credit unions are proud to fulfill our mission of giving back to our members and the communities we serve.
Today Alderman Howard B. Brookins Jr., Chairman of the Committee on Education and Child Development of the Chicago City Council, blasted Governor Bruce Rauner for racially tinged attacks on Chicago’s public schools.
It was reported in the media that Rauner said the following, “‘The Senate and the House were competing with each other – who can spend more to bail out Chicago with your tax dollars from southern Illinois and central Illinois and Moline and Rockford and Danville, the communities of this state who are hardworking families who pay the taxes,’ [emphasis added] Rauner said. ‘The taxes should go into our communities, not into the Chicago political machine. That’s where Speaker Madigan and his allies want the money to go.’”
Brookins responded:
“I’m appalled that Governor Rauner would say that Chicago families are not hardworking and don’t contribute to the tax base of Illinois. In fact, we pay a larger percentage of our incomes in taxes than the Governor or his billionaire friends, who he continues to protect from paying their fair share while ordinary people suffer,” said Brookins.
“Perhaps Governor Rauner believes there’s something about the 84% of Chicago Public School students who are African American and Hispanic that makes them undeserving of the full funding provided to other communities in Illinois,” Brookins continued. “Or, perhaps he is trying to stoke racial resentment with these divisive and misleading attacks.
“There is no so-called ‘bailout’ of the school system being proposed. Chicago taxpayers provide 20 percent of the income tax money that funds public education in our state, our children make up 20% of the state’s enrollment, yet our students receive only 15 percent of the state’s spending on education.
“These inflammatory comments are designed to conceal the budget mess Rauner purposefully created in an attempt to break institutions like organized labor and social service providers that are a lifeblood to middle class families in Illinois.
“In our state’s nearly 200-year history, Illinois has never experienced such a tumultuous period where it couldn’t even pass a budget. That is Governor Rauner’s failure, and one he has repeatedly tried to cover up with ridiculous attempts at misleading the public. The hardworking, taxpayers of Chicago will not stand for his reckless rhetoric any longer,” Brookins concluded.
“Yesterday people across the state were looking for solutions,” Emanuel’s statement reads. “Instead of uniting the governor was dividing. Instead of leading he was playing politics, pitting parents and students in one part of the state against parents and students in another. Right now schools across Illinois need a leader, and instead Bruce Rauner is following the Donald Trump playbook of demonizing one group of people for his political advantage.”
* As did the mayor’s CPS honcho…
Very disappointed that Gov. Rauner is pitting IL regions against each other. He was elected to lead all IL + we all need #fairschoolfunding
* Vienna, by the way, has a population of just 1,434 people…
“The Senate and the House were competing with each other over who can spend more to bail out Chicago with your taxes,” Rauner said during an appearance in Vienna. “The money shouldn’t go there, it should go here.”
The two chambers were, indeed, competing with each other the other night. No argument there. But Chicagoans, unlike the residents of Vienna and everywhere else in this state, directly make the vast majority of their own school pension payments.
In a campaign-style speech, Rauner took aim at House Speaker Michael Madigan; Senate President John Cullerton; and state Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, who is assistant majority leader of the Senate. […]
A handout sheet passed along by Rauner’s office said Sullivan has gotten $1.75 million during his political career from Madigan, Cullerton and the “Chicago machine,” but it failed to specify whether they were campaign funds. The handout also was written in a way that made a leadership stipend — which Sullivan and all leaders in both parties receive — look like it came from Madigan and Cullerton.
“We need you to call Sen. Sullivan and have him stand up” to the Chicago political machine, Rauner said.
When reminded that Sullivan did not vote for a Senate education bill that would have boosted funding for Chicago Public Schools by nearly $1 billion, Rauner said that more was needed. He suggested that Sullivan demand a vote on an education bill and a social services stopgap bill crafted by the governor’s office.
I asked the reporter about his “Rauner said that more was needed” line because I didn’t quite get it. “Rauner wanted more from Sullivan, as in his support for the governor’s two budget plans,” was his explanation.
* So, are they really saying that the Chicago schools will receive no more money? Because, frankly, I don’t see how the heck they intend to get anything at all done if that is the case…
Republican Senator Jason Barickman of Bloomington is on the tour with Rauner. He says House Speaker Michael Madigan’s budget plan would “bail out” the city of Chicago and its school district.
“Us downstaters need to stick together… so that we don’t enable Mike Madigan to bail out Chicago.”
The post-May 31 magic numbers are now 71 and 36. Those can’t be reached if CPS isn’t part of the mix. Period.
* And yet as far as I know he did zippo during the session to pass a bill…
Gov. Rauner calls upcoming closing of @ExelonNuclear plants in Cordova and Clinton a "travesty." Hear more from @GovRauner on @wqad at 11
