* Oops, I forgot to post a question so today’s will be a quickie: Your one word (and one word only or it’ll be deleted) comment about the Republican National Convention so far?
* Speaking to AFSCME’s convention in Las Vegas today, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took a whack at Gov. Bruce Rauner…
“In Illinois, Bruce Rauner has been holding the budget hostage for months, endangering public colleges and universities, hurting families and demanding outrageous concessions from public sector unions.”
As a reporter on Twitter noted, she pronounced his name “Rawner.”
A group waging an aggressive legal battle to keep a redistricting question off November’s Illinois ballot hasn’t reported a single donation or expense since it became a political committee last summer, adding to the mystery of who is funding the effort and paying its legal bills.
The People’s Map, comprised of business and community leaders who say they represent the interests of minority voters, filed a lawsuit in May against a proposed voter referendum that seeks an independent commission to take over drawing Illinois’ political lines instead of the party in power. Arguing on their behalf was a top Chicago elections lawyer who has long represented the leader of the Democratic Party of Illinois, House Speaker Michael Madigan.
But every line of quarterly disclosures The People’s Map filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections shows a zero. The People’s Map also doesn’t disclose any pro bono work or $12,000 in union donations that appear in state filings by the unions from July to October of last year. The groups says they never cashed the checks.
The lack of disclosures, or any monetary details, raises questions about how the group is functioning and who is covering legal fees. The scrutiny comes as a judge is expected to decide this week whether the remap question is constitutional for the ballot. […]
People’s Map chairman John Hooker declined an interview through a spokesman and said questions about legal fees should posed to Michael Kasper, the lead attorney of five listed in the lawsuit. Kasper, who’s also represented Senate President John Cullerton and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, has repeatedly declined comment. He didn’t respond to questions Tuesday.
Kasper, of course, also represents Speaker Madigan, who has unconvincingly denied involvement in the effort.
* Meanwhile…
Judge expected to rule tomorrow on whether Independent Map group can go forward with ballot initiative #ChicagoTonight
*** UPDATE 1 *** A top official with the Illinois AFL-CIO, which gave $2,000 to the People’s Map group last year, told me that the group “never cashed the check.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** I’m told that Kasper hasn’t yet submitted his expense report, but will eventually be reimbursed. Kasper tends not to submit those bills until after the case is over.
In case you missed it, I wanted to share with you my letter to the editor that ran in last weekend’s edition of The State Journal-Register. The letter is copied below. In it, I correct AFSCME’s erroneous statement that employees who refuse to join the union at the picket line and remain at work become “at will,” a term reserved for a limited group of state employees who can be terminated without just cause. AFSCME’s claim is wrong. AFSCME employees continue to receive the same job protections even if they remain on the job and refuse to join the union on the picket line.
Yours,
JT
John Terranova
Deputy Director
Office of Labor Relations
Department of Central Management Services
The following is a Letter to the Editor published in the State Journal-Register on Sunday:
Letter: AFSCME misleading on employees’ strike status
This paper recently reported on the possibility that AFSCME Council 31 employees could go out on strike, perhaps as early as Sept. 1.
As Deputy Director for Labor Relations at the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, one of my goals is to avoid a strike. I therefore feel compelled to correct one item of factually false information the union has provided.
AFSCME incorrectly claims that an employee who fails to join the strikers at the picket line and remains on the job becomes an “at will” employee and thus can be fired without just cause. Not so.
AFSCME members are not “at will.” The state’s last, best and final offer in contract negotiations includes the provision that employees can be discharged or disciplined only for just cause. If the Labor Board determines that the parties are at impasse and the state has implemented its last, best and final offer, AFSCME members and fair share employees alike who remain on the job would continue to receive these protections.
Employees do not lose these protections simply because they fail to join the picket line. Indeed, employees would be protected not only by the state’s last, best and final offer, but also by the state’s Personnel Code and accompanying rules, which extend the same workplace protections, as a matter of state law, to AFSCME employees.
While we hope employees reject AFSCME’s irresponsible strike talk, we firmly believe that a decision to strike or to continue working belongs to each employee and will respect each employee’s decision. AFSCME should do the same. That starts with providing accurate information on this critical issue.
“In terms of the convention, as I’ve been clear, I was never intending to go. Illinois has lots of problems, we’re not fixing them fast enough and I’m full-time focused on getting Illinois strong and I’m focused in Springfield and traveling the state so that’s how I spend my time.”
So far Republican Senate candidates Seth Lewis, Paul Schimpf and Dale Fowler are getting paid staff from both the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee (RSSCC) and the House Republican Organization (HRO). Now the House Republican Organization is running an ad against Democratic incumbent Senator Gary Forby, which would presumably be an in-kind contribution to the Fowler campaign, it even lists HRO in the paid-for-by at the end of the ad.
Someone mentioned to me that the reason you rarely come across a situation where a candidate for the General Assembly is being financially supported by the caucus committee of both chambers is that it’s not allowed. I looked it up and this appears to be the case.
Here is the section on campaign contributions, the relevant section is highlighted:
5/9-8.5 Limitations on campaign contributions
(b) During an election cycle, a candidate political committee may not accept contributions with an aggregate value over the following: (i) $5,000 from any individual, (ii) $10,000 from any corporation, labor organization, or association, or (iii) $50,000 from a candidate political committee or political action committee. A candidate political committee may accept contributions in any amount from a political party committee except during an election cycle in which the candidate seeks nomination at a primary election. During an election cycle in which the candidate seeks nomination at a primary election, a candidate political committee may not accept contributions from political party committees with an aggregate value over the following: (i) $200,000 for a candidate political committee established to support a candidate seeking nomination to statewide office, (ii) $125,000 for a candidate political committee established to support a candidate seeking nomination to the Senate, the Supreme Court or Appellate Court in the First Judicial district, or an office elected by all voters in a county with 1,000,000 or more residents, (iii) $75,000 for a candidate political committee established to support a candidate seeking nomination to the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court or Appellate Court for a judicial district other than the First Judicial District, an office elected by all voters of a county of fewer than 1,000,000 residents, and municipal and county offices in Cook County other than those elected by all voters of Cook County, and (iv) $50,000 for a candidate political committee established to support the nomination of a candidate to any other office. A candidate political committee established to elect a candidate to the General Assembly may accept contributions from only one legislative caucus committee. A candidate political committee may not accept contributions from a ballot initiative committee or from an independent expenditure committee.
And here is the section on committee definitions, the relevant section is highlighted:
5/9-1.8. Political committees
(c) “Political party committee” means the State central committee of a political party, a county central committee of a political party, a legislative caucus committee, or a committee formed by a ward or township committeeman of a political party. For purposes of this Article, a “legislative caucus committee” means a committee established for the purpose of electing candidates to the General Assembly by the person elected President of the Senate, Minority Leader of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, or a committee established by 5 or more members of the same caucus of the Senate or 10 or more members of the same caucus of the House of Representatives.
I’ve asked Mike Schrimpf for comment and I’ll let you know if he responds.
* Republican Congressman Bob Dold’s new TV ad opens with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton attacking (although not naming) Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns. Check it out…
The 10th CD leans Democratic in presidential races, but that’s surely an interesting twist.
* From a Dold campaign press release…
After first coming under fire for campaigning to voters as a successful “business consultant”, only to later disclose he had no actual clients or revenue, serious questions about Schneider’s honesty and financial background have been growing.
And Schneider’s refusal to release his household tax returns has now put him at odds with demands from his own party’s presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, who labeled the disclosure of a candidates household tax returns from their time in public life as the basic standard of transparency.
Unlike Bob Dold, who has released his household tax returns dating back to 2009 (the year before he first ran for Congress), Schneider has consistently refused calls from the public, the press and even his own party to meet this basic standard of transparency by releasing all of his household tax returns dating back to 2011. Instead, Schneider has effectively said that his tax returns are none of the public’s business—citing “privacy” concerns and offering only vague financial disclosure documents required by federal election law.
Discuss.
…Adding… The dispute here is over “household tax returns.” Schneider has released his individual returns, but hasn’t released his returns which he filed jointly with his wife.
Two male juveniles were shot while driving a stolen car on the Dan Ryan Expressway near West 63rd Street on Chicago’s South Side overnight, Illinois State Police said.
State police said at least four male juveniles were in the black Chevy when it left a gas station at 63rd and South Wentworth Avenue and headed north on the Dan Ryan. Around 11:55 p.m. Monday, investigators said someone inside another black vehicle fired several shots at the Chevy.
The driver exited the expressway and came to a stop at West 59th Street. It was riddled by bullets on the driver and passenger sides. […]
There have been more than 20 expressway shootings in the Chicago area this year.
More and better police and more laws cannot totally solve this problem.
Tuesday, Jul 19, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Some additional editorial support for the Independent Map Amendment from news outlets across Illinois:
“The Independent Map Amendment would change a system that welcomes partisan power brokers to draw legislative district boundaries that enhance their strength into a system requiring boundaries that ensure citizens have choices to select leaders who truly represent their interests and values.”
-The Daily Herald; May 9, 2016
“There’s a remedy to this gerrymandering, called the Independent Maps Amendment. A bipartisan group of Illinoisans is trying to get this constitutional amendment on the November ballot. If voters approve it, political gerrymandering would be replaced by a nonpartisan independent commission that would draw legislative districts starting after the 2020 census.”
-Rockford Register Star; July 12, 2016
“Good government reform groups seeking to change Illinois’ badly broken and undemocratic mapmaking process deserve to celebrate an epic achievement—regardless of what happens next.”
-The Dispatch and Rock Island Argus; June 15, 2016
“Redistricting abuse by parties in power limits competition and accountability for state representatives and senators, who come to care more about pleasing political bosses in Springfield than the folks back home.”
-Sauk Valley Media; June 8, 2016
Sherrie Crabb went without pay for a third of the last fiscal year, laid off members of her staff, cut benefits for those who remained, and finally, closed the only homeless youth shelter in southern Illinois, all because the state legislature and governor couldn’t agree on a budget. […]
Family Counseling Center has closed six different office and residential locations, laid off 36 staff members, and cut holiday and personal time off as well as retirement funding, in addition to draining the agency’s reserve funds and shutting down a homeless youth shelter that had been up and running for a little more than a year. She says the organization is now operating “month to month.” […]
“You have thousands of people who have not been able to access services, you have programs that have shut down and a workforce that will never come back into this field,” says Marvin Lindsey, executive director of the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois. […]
According to CBHA’s survey results, 76 percent of the organization’s member agencies have wait lists ranging between two and four months for people in need of a psychiatrist, and 24 percent have wait times from four months to more than six months. […]
Greg Sullivan, director of the Illinois Sheriffs Association, a nonprofit agency that facilitates communication and training between and for state sheriffs departments, says state law enforcement agencies saw an uptick in the number of mentally ill individuals ending up in jail following the closure of psychiatric institutions. That’s “a direct result of the budget impasse,” he says.
“There is nobody to service these people and they end up in county jails,” says Sullivan. “They’re really not criminals. They have a severe mental health problem, and they don’t belong in jail.”
Rauner has said he wants to reduce the state’s prison population by 25 percent over the next decade, but Sullivan says that that’s an impossible goal if Illinois doesn’t adequately fund its behavioral health agencies. […]
Nearly one-quarter of Illinois hospital emergency department visits in the past year were related to behavioral health needs, including both mental health and substance abuse issues, either as the primary or secondary diagnosis, says Danny Chun, a spokesperson for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.
After 15 months of investigation, the federal grand jury investigating former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock has been dismissed without indicting the Peoria Republican.
But that doesn’t mean Schock is free and clear of possible federal charges. There currently is a grand jury sitting in Springfield and that body could take up the case. […]
“Our position has been and remains that while administrative errors may have been made during Mr. Schock’s time in Congress, no aspect of this matter involves anything criminal,” said George Terwilliger, Schock’s lead attorney.
The Schock grand jury was impaneled in early 2015 for a one-year term, which was extended, as is allowed, for six months in December. That term ended on June 30 and sources have told the Journal Star that no indictment was handed down against Schock from that panel. […]
However, there has been a second grand jury sitting in Springfield since the beginning of this year and it is possible that grand jury could take up the investigation. It’s possible witnesses heard last year could be recalled or that prosecutors could merely rely on transcripts for the information.
I think that Springfield grand jury has always been the one to keep an eye on. The Springfield federal prosecutor’s office has sparred with Schock about turning over documents. And it has an experienced anti-corruption task force.
A private fundraising campaign is approximately $4.5 million toward the estimated $15 million cost of restoring the historic Illinois Executive Mansion in Springfield, according to figures released Monday by the campaign.
The goal is to complete the work in time for the 200th anniversary of Illinois statehood in 2018.
The 2018 Illinois Bicentennial Commission was created in May 2014 by then-Gov. Pat Quinn and left in the hands of his successor, Bruce Rauner. Its official task: “The Bicentennial Commission will plan and coordinate events, activities, publications, digital media, and other developments and encourage citizen participation at all levels in every community in the state.”
That hasn’t happened. The commission’s Facebook page has made all of three posts in two years. In fact, it seems the commission hasn’t even met. […]
“Right now, there’s nothing going on,” [William Furry, executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society] says. “There should be press releases going out every week. There’s no coordination to put it all together.
“There’s a lot that could be done that wouldn’t cost a lot of money.”
Apparently, all the effort and money is going into the mansion.
Vinci Hamp Architects president Philip Hamp said opening up the north side of the mansion grounds — including a public entrance from Jackson Street — will improve the visibility of the historic structure, as well as access. The existing entrances on Fourth and Fifth streets will be used for vehicle traffic, though a drop-off zone on the north side of the mansion will be eliminated.
The changes also will bring the home into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Hamp.
“There will be a gate at the bottom of the hill. People will circulate up both walks to the level of the mansion,” said Hamp. “The big sweep of the yard to Jackson Street will be available for events.
One of the worst things about the mansion is that its lone elevator is broken, making the house inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. The renovation will change that, replacing the elevator and installing gradually sloping — and therefore accessible — pathways that lead to the house from a new entrance to the north.
Expect more smart upgrades inside. The ground-floor orientation center will seat about 20. New carpeting and paint will harmonize with the mansion’s Regency-style furniture, upgrading the high ceilings of the first-floor parlors where work by the state’s fine and decorative artists will be displayed. Second-floor bedrooms will get period-style decoration that conveys key events in state history such as the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
In the governor’s private quarters, a new kitchen and family room suite will dramatically expand the tiny kitchenette. Right now, “There’s a microwave and a sink that’s this big,” [Mrs.] Rauner said, cupping her hands close together.
The upcoming work will build on earlier improvements such as a $500,000 roof that was installed last year after revelations of decrepit conditions at the mansion. These conditions include plaster falling from ceilings, black mold that took root in the basement and rainwater that seeped into the Lincoln bedroom.
The deal that the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner reached in June gave the SIU system $106.2 million on top of the $57.5 million it received in an April emergency funding bill for higher education. But that represents just 82 percent of what the university received from the state for the 2014-15 school year, and it’s supposed to cover 18 months’ worth of expenses, from July 1, 2015, through Dec. 31 of this year.
Speaking after the meeting, Dunn said the university system has decided to apply all the state money it has received thus far to expenses from the 2015-16 school year and to continue urging lawmakers to provide adequate funding for the full 2016-17 school year.
“We thought, ‘Let’s get the bills paid that are out there,’” he said. “And that gives us a very strong argument to say, ‘Now fund us for ’17. You didn’t even get us totally caught up for (fiscal year) ’16.’”
