Robin Ventura has managed the White Sox to five straight seasons without the playoffs, but the team reportedly will retain him beyond this season if he wants to return.
Ventura’s contract expires after this season, and many viewed him on the hot seat, as he has compiled a 373-432 record since being hired before the 2012 season. That includes a 76-81 record with five games to play this season.
But according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Sox front office refuses to blame Ventura for the club’s issues and will give him a new contract should he want to come back. […]
Over Ventura’s five seasons as manager so far, the Sox have suffered a late collapse to miss the playoffs in 2012 and lost 99 games in 2013, the fourth-most in franchise history. Unless they win the final five games of the season, they will finish under .500 for the fourth straight season. They have also failed to make the playoffs for the eighth straight year in 2016.
* The Question: Is it time for Ventura to go? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* COGFA projected that the stopgap budget would create a $7.8 billion deficit. The governor’s budget office disagrees and has issued its own projection…
Ahead of the [$1.7 billion GO bond] sale, the Republican governor’s office said the stopgap budget is on track to leave Illinois $5.4 billion in the red when the fiscal year ends on June 30 if nothing changes. A bipartisan legislative commission in July projected a $7.8 billion deficit.
Illinois’ pile of unpaid bills continues to grow, hitting nearly $8.3 billion on Tuesday.
The governor’s office said discussions are ongoing with legislative budget working groups over selling about $5 billion of shorter-term debt to pay down the bill pile.
Quinn tried to do similar borrowing to pay off bills (part of the tax hike was actually dedicated to that purpose), but he failed when Republicans wouldn’t cooperate and they couldn’t get all Democrats on board.
*** UPDATE 1 *** COGFA’s director says he stands by the original projection. He also said he does not know how GOMB came up with its projection. I’ve asked the budget office for a brief written explanation.
*** UPDATE 2 *** I just got a quick briefing from GOMB and they made a pretty good case. Several hundred million in special funds spending wasn’t properly accounted for by COGFA, lapse spending wasn’t included, savings from refinancing bonds wasn’t included, and there are big problems with the way COGFA calculated Medicaid spending, including not factoring in projected savings and not fully counting federal reimbursements. They should’ve done this months ago, but they have a bond deal coming up, so better late than never, I suppose.
For the 10 years through 2014, Chicago contributed less than $470 million per year to [its four pension plans, not including the school district’s]. These contributions were insufficient even to maintain the funded ratio, which went from a poor 61% at the end of 2005 to a dangerously low 31% at the end of 2015.
By 2019, the city’s annual pension contribution is expected to be $1.3 billion – an increase of $827 million, or 176%, above the 2014 contribution. Over the three years thereafter, the annual contributions are expected to jump another $741 million, to $2.0 billion in 2022. All of Chicago’s recent and proposed tax increases combined will be insufficient to fund these increases. We estimate the shortfall will be $647 million in 2022 alone.
After 2022, we project contributions will increase every year through 2055. Over that period, the annual contribution will increase by another $1.9 billion, to $4.0 billion in 2055 – 8½ times what the city was paying in 2014.
Do these steep increases provide steady progress toward proper funding? No. In fact, the plans’ funded ratio will actually drop over the next several years – from 31% in 2015 to 26% in 2021 – and their unfunded liabilities will increase until 2033. It will take until 2030 for the funded ratio to return to 31%; until 2050 for the funded ratio to be restored to where it was in 2005 (61%); and until 2057 for the ratio to reach 90%. […]
In our view, Chicago must, at a bare minimum, contribute enough every year, including 2016, to ensure that the plans’ funded ratio not drop below, and that their unfunded liabilities not exceed, 2015 levels. We estimate this would add $1.1 billion to the 2016 contribution. If the city cannot muster the resources and political courage to take this first step now, surely the city will lack the resources and discipline needed to dig out of a far bigger hole down the road. [Emphasis added.]
* We talked yesterday about how House Democratic legislators and candidates are attempting to fend off questions about Speaker Madigan. Today’s Sun-Times has a story about Rep. Michael McAuliffe (R-Chicago) denying that he’s close to Gov. Bruce Rauner…
The bulk of McAuliffe’s campaign fund comes from Rauner. The GOP legislator said he knew he’d need big checks to fund the hefty pricetag of television campaign ads, which began airing in August. A second TV ad, which sought to link Marwig to Madigan by insinuating they were part of an “inside game” of lowering property taxes, began airing in September.
But McAuliffe insists he hasn’t spoken to Rauner about his campaign and that the contributions don’t tie him to the governor. A mailer sent out by SEIU featured an image of McAuliffe and Rauner and questioned whether they share the same priorities.
“I don’t feel like I have any ties to the governor except we’re both in the Republican Party. My district comes first. There are a number of bills that I’ve supported and he’s been against, where I’ve been the sole Republican. Or maybe had some other colleagues join me. So I think I just do what I feel is right for my voters,” McAuliffe said. […]
There’s no way to talk about the hotly contested race in the 20th District without talking about just how expensive it’s gotten. More than 80 percent of McAuliffe’s campaign fund has come from contributions from Rauner. The governor’s donations now total $1.2 million. That money is being channeled through the House Republican Organization.
In total, McAuliffe has more than $1.5 million in his campaign fund with just weeks to go before the election.
* The Sun-Times has a new twist in the now infamous employment case brought against Tammy Duckworth by Christina Butler and Denise Goins…
Even greater problems were alleged in the civil-service case involving former Anna home administrator Patricia Simms (who also is a defendant in Butler and Goins’ ongoing lawsuit).
Although Duckworth signed employee reviews for Simms judging her work as “acceptable,” Simms was fired after Duckworth’s departure for a federal post in 2009.
In Simms’ civil-service case challenging her firing in 2010, officials said Simms was canned for failing to “properly maintain the list of veterans who are seeking admission to the veterans’ home in Anna.”
The attorney general’s office described several cases in which veterans sought to move into the Anna home but never appeared on any waiting list or were erroneously kept waiting too long. The problems prevented them from being admitted before they died.
Simms eventually resigned, promising to never again seek work with the department.
The alleged wait-list problems occurred while Duckworth headed the department.
Several dead people. Yeah, I expect that’ll be in a TV ad pretty soon.
The two women expected more money from the settlement
*** UPDATE *** Looks like they had an ad in the can while they waited for the story to be published. That’s standard procedure. This just went up today…
During his City Club of Chicago remarks, [Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider] defended Rauner and his pro-business, anti-union policy agenda.
“He can move anywhere in the country or the world for that matter, and he’s chosen to put his foot down and lay his roots right here and try to build a better Illinois,” Schneider said.
“I hear often enough that our governor is destroying our state — he’s eliminating our social service safety net. And it drives me crazy. You’re gonna blame a guy that’s been in office for not even two years for the dire condition of the state for the last three decades? That’s not a Bruce Rauner’s making, it’s Bruce Rauner that’s trying to fix it.”
“In Illinois there’s been a long-time history of what I would call social service, social justice, a bigger role for government in a safety net than in many other states. … What’s interesting, I think there’s a wedge issue here. … We cannot afford — we will crush our economy if we try to spend money on both high-cost, inefficient, bureaucratic, heavily unionized government and a social safety net to help the disadvantaged, the weak and the poor, which many of us would like to be able to do. We can’t afford both. … We have to make a choice. I think we can drive a wedge issue in the Democratic Party on that topic and bring the folks who say, ‘You know what? For our tax dollars, I’d rather help the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the elderly, the children in poverty. I’d rather have my tax dollars going to that than the SEIU or Af-scammy (AFSCME), who are out there for their own interests.’”
Since early September, Chicago elections officials received an average of 150 new or updated online voter registrations daily, Allen said. The number skyrocketed to more than 1,600 Friday, he said. Over the weekend, about 5,000 people registered online to vote in Chicago.
Statewide data showed more than 30,000 online registrations Friday, up from 2,800 the previous day. The momentum continued throughout the weekend, with 9,000 registrations Saturday and 5,000 on Sunday.
A Facebook post popped up in news feeds Friday, encouraging people to register and taking them to vote.USA.gov, where they can enter their state and get directed to their state voter registration page. […]
“This latest Facebook post, it wasn’t just that people saw a reminder to register, but I suspect a lot of people posted it and re-posted it. That kind of social pressure can be effective,” said [Zachary Cook, a political science professor at DePaul University], who clicked on it to change his voter registration address.
* Gov. Jim Edgar and Chris Kennedy spoke at an event in Springfield yesterday. Edgar said this is the first year he won’t be voting for the GOP presidential nominee, but wouldn’t say who he’s casting his ballot for.
“I am not sure all that money that’s being poured in to defeat some of these Democrats Downstate will be successful,” Edgar told a crowd gathered Tuesday in Springfield for a fundraising lunch to benefit the Better Government Association, noting many Downstate lawmakers are well known for building relationships with their constituents. […]
Edgar noted Rauner’s strategy to link Democratic lawmakers to the powerful Madigan, but said years of trying to target the speaker have proved unsuccessful and are unlikely to sway voters who believe that ultimately how well state government functions falls to the governor.
“We’ve made Madigan an issue for years. I mean, when I was running for governor re-election, I had quadruple bypass surgery. I credited one of the bypasses to Mike Madigan. Most voters, they aren’t voting on him. The governor is a much more visible thing,” Edgar said.
“I will say, I think the Madigan name has been tarnished the last two years,” Edgar said. “But I don’t think that’s going to affect legislative races as much as the governor.”
The Republicans have been trying to pick off suburban Democrats for years. They never made a real push against some Downstaters (particularly in the House) because they couldn’t find decent (or any) candidates. Many (not all) of these Downstate districts lean Republican even during presidential years. So, I think he could be wrong there. But nobody knows for sure. Most of these folks remain popular locally.
And, regarding Madigan, a little anti-MJM website, smallish press pops and t-shirts four years ago is literally nothing compared to the millions the governor’s operation is spending to tie Democrats to the hugely unpopular House Speaker. I don’t know if it’ll work as planned, but they have a much better shot this year than at any time in the past because it’s far more coordinated (including with dark money groups) and way more well-funded.
Kennedy was president of Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. from 2000 to 2011, and part of his role there was to manage the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, which he said dealt with more than 5,000 tenants and exhibitors annually. Among his current ventures, he chairs Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises, Inc., which is the investment firm of the Kennedy family. In that role, he is responsible for development of the Kennedy family’s real estate holdings in Chicago known as Wolf Point.
Dealing with companies involved at the Merchandise Mart, he said, “Not one of them ever asked me about redistricting reform or term limits or tort reform or workers’ comp,” which are among things Rauner has wanted to get as part of his turnaround agenda.
But in dealing with the “billion-dollar” Wolf Point development, he said, investors from all over the world are asking, “Why should we invest in the only state that doesn’t have a budget? It’s rattling people. It’s taking a state budget problem … and turning into a statewide economic crisis, and it’s scaring people away. It’s creating uncertainty, and that’s bad for the economy.”
Public service workers in Illinois state government are featured in a new statewide TV and digital spot that calls out Governor Bruce Rauner for refusing to negotiate with the largest union of state employees, AFSCME Council 31.
The Rauner administration broke off negotiations in January and has refused to meet with the union ever since. Recently a hearing officer of the Illinois Labor Relations Board rejected Rauner’s contention that the parties are at impasse on wages, health care and other key issues, and said the administration should be required to resume negotiations with AFSCME.
Called “Negotiate”, the spot features three Illinois public service workers describing in their own words their important work, how Rauner walked away, and their determination not to let the governor take away their voice on the job.
“Public service workers in state government protect kids, care for veterans, keep us safe and more,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “State workers have always been willing to do their part. We’re prepared to compromise. But we can only do that if Governor Rauner puts the public good ahead of his personal demands and returns to bargaining ready to negotiate.”
In a recent statewide poll that showed strong public approval for Illinois state employees and their union coupled with a sharp decline in Bruce Rauner’s public support, likely voters sided with public service workers in their dispute with Rauner by a margin of nearly 2 to 1.
* The Illinois Policy Institute is apparently miffed with the media’s coverage of its “documentary” on Speaker Madigan. Click here, and here.
I offered to buy the original of the cartoon about me, but I was rebuffed. Too bad, even though the image looks a lot more like Rick Pearson than me (just kidding, Pearson). [Adding: I’m now told that they’re working on an arrangement, which is fine by me as long as the price is reasonable because I have a spot for it in my office.]
Edwin Bender, executive director of the Montana-based National Institute on Money in State Politics, said this is the first he’s heard of a social welfare group producing this type of documentary at the state level.
But Bender said it’s a natural extension of other activities these groups have engaged in across the country, including campaign-style tactics such as opening field offices, knocking on doors, sending out mailers and making phone calls.
“Any (social welfare group) that says it’s nonpartisan … that’s the letter of the law, but their activities belie that, whether it’s conservative or liberal,” Bender said. “(These groups) are designed to be involved in elections.”
The organizations typically argue that they’re advocating on issues, not doing election work, he said.
“That’s a thinly veiled excuse for being involved in electioneering,” Bender said. “They’re conforming to the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law has long ago vanished.”
* The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear independent congressional candidate David Gill’s case that he was illegally knocked off the ballot for coming up short on petition signatures. Gill won his case at the district level, then lost at the appellate level. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied the request for appeal. The Peoria Journal Star is hopping mad…
For us, it was the principle of the thing in a state where Gill is quite right that the political system is “rigged” — against third parties, in favor of incumbents, etc. To suggest, as the state did in federal court, that Illinois law on this subject is “reasonable and non-discriminatory” is nonsense. It’s clearly discriminatory against independents. It’s only reasonable if you’re among the favored in an Illinois that has made a mockery of every aspect of a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
What we have instead in the state we have the gall to call the “Land of Lincoln” is a government for them and against us, that has few peers for incompetence and corruption, that goes out of its way to deny its residents the choices they want (see the Independent Maps effort).
George Washington may have been on to something in warning us to the dangers of a two-party system — “itself a frightful despotism.” Not in our experience have Illinois and U.S. voters been so fed up as they are now with such “deplorable” — to borrow a popular term — choices at the ballot box. Come the revolution, don’t say it came without warning.
Keep in mind when commenting that these were federal judicial rulings about a state law. Also keep in mind that independent candidates aren’t subject to primary opposition, which is one reason why they have to obtain so many signatures. You can make the case that it’s a bad law and does discriminate, but it’s apparently not unconstitutional.
Chicago State University enrolled just 86 freshmen this fall, an alarming drop as the embattled public institution faces an uncertain future.
Overall, the university now has fewer than half the number of total students it did six years ago. There are 3,578 students taking classes at the Far South Side campus this fall, down from 7,362 students in 2010, according to university figures released Tuesday. The numbers include 2,352 undergraduates and 1,226 graduate students.
While enrollment has been declining for years, the past year has been particularly troubling. Overall enrollment is down 25 percent, and undergraduate enrollment is down 32 percent in one year, the largest decline of any public university in the state. The 86 freshmen includes both full-time and part-time students — smaller than a kindergarten cohort at many Chicago Public Schools.
Judging by your social media feeds, it seems nearly everyone was tuned in to the first presidential debate between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump.
But don’t ask Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner what he thought of the faceoff — he wouldn’t even tell reporters if he planned to watch the debate.
“I am not commenting on politics,” Rauner said when asked if he’d be in front of the television Monday night.
It’s the same response Rauner has given time and time again when asked about his support for the controversial Trump. In fact, he repeated a version of that phrase four times when pressed on the issue at an unrelated event Monday.
“I’m not commenting on politics,” Rauner said. “I said I’m not commenting on politics. I hope you can believe that. I’m not doing it.” […]
Asked why he won’t show some leadership as the leader of the Illinois Republican Party and take a stand on the presidential race, the GOP governor said “As I’ve said, I’m not commenting on politics today.”
* The Question: Do you think the governor can keep this up through election day? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Enrollment at Chicago Public Schools has dropped by 3.5 percent since last September, according to a preliminary count that shows a loss of about 13,000 students.
The loss is more than twice as large as district officials projected in July.
Some 8,181 of those students left CPS-run schools, which now count 294,967 students in grades K-12, according to numbers tallied from the 10th day of school.
Privately-managed charter schools have so far lost 6,600 students compared to last September, totaling 54,889 students — a loss of about 10 percent. Three charter schools left the district but remained open, though, accounting for about 1,000 of charters’ decline.
Some 195 schools have exceeded expected projections district officials released in July, but 306 fell short.
Pre-kindergarten numbers and enrollment in alternative schools haven’t yet been tallied. CPS will take its official count of students on the 20th day of school, which this year falls on Oct. 3. That count determines a school’s final budget, and whether it will add teachers or lay them off. And last year, CPS picked up about 2,200 kids between the two counts.
Chicago Public Schools’ financial reputation took another hit from a major Wall Street credit ratings agency on Monday.
Moody’s Investors Service dropped the district’s bond rating further into junk status, lowering its view of the school system’s debt one notch to a B3 rating.
Moody’s cited a variety of factors for the downgrade. Among them: the district’s reliance on short-term borrowing, a “deepening structural deficit” and a budget “built on unrealistic expectations” of help from a state government with money woes of its own.
Word of the downgrade came on a day when the district announced budgets at about 300 schools would lose a total of $45 million because of enrollment declines, and the Chicago Teachers Union said its members authorized a strike if contract talks break down.
* Speaker Madigan’s approval rating is about the same as Rod Blagojevich’s was near the end of his rule. So, dealing with questions about Madigan can be tricky for House Democrats.
Here’s an exchange between Democratic state Rep. Sam Yingling and his Republican opponent Rod Drobinski at the Daily Herald…
Drobinski criticized Yingling’s support of veteran House Speaker Michael Madigan.
“His second vote every session, after he votes for Mike Madigan to be speaker of the House, is for the rules that give Mike Madigan the power to cause any bill to die in committee,” Drobinski said.
Yingling said he’s thought about his votes for Madigan as speaker and would consider another Democratic choice.
However, he added, he wouldn’t vote for a Republican if no Democrat challenged Madigan to lead the House.
Crespo responded that he’s been anything but a Madigan puppet during his decade in the state legislature. He counts among his supporters the Republican mayors of Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Hanover Park.
“I’m proud to say that I have a lot of Republican friends and have gotten support from Republican elected officials,” he said. “Unlike Chicago, in the suburbs your success is going to be closely connected to your ability to work with the other side.”
But Baumer said there is a need for new ideas and leadership in the House, and only a push for term limits on the position of speaker may bring that about. She said it’s unfair that one person from one part of Chicago has controlled the direction of so many state issues for so long. […]
Crespo declined to say whether he would back Madigan for another term as speaker, but said he supported fellow Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks’ proposal to create term limits for the position.
His most important criteria for House leader is who is best able to bring together a diverse and potentially divided Democratic caucus, he said.
“At the end of the day, I’m taking direction from the people of the 44th District, not the speaker,” Crespo added.
Q: Would state Rep. Andy Skoog, D-La Salle, and his GOP rival, Jerry Long, of Streator, vote to retain Michael Madigan as House speaker?
A: Long, along with virtually every Republican, has vowed to vote against Madigan.
In an Oct. 13, 2015, interview — two days after Skoog’s candidacy for state representative became publicly known — The Times asked him whether he would vote for Madigan as speaker. Skoog, who had yet to be appointed as longtime Rep. Frank Mautino’s replacement, didn’t answer the question directly. Rather, he said he would stand up to Madigan, Gov. Bruce Rauner or any other politician in defending the interests of the 76th House District. His response was published in the Wednesday, Oct. 14, print edition. Skoog has not answered such questions since.
* And Rep. John Bradley turned the Madigan question into a Rauner question…
Severin’s primary attack in this campaign has been that Bradley’s loyalties are to Madigan and Chicago Democrats and not Southern Illinois.
To that, Bradley said, “I would point out that folks that aren’t in leadership in both parties are receiving the same criticisms and I think there’s a tendency in politics, particularly in this very, very ugly campaign season for those kinds of assertions, whether they be true or not, to be made.” Bradley said he has never taken a vote “to the determinant of our area.”
In this election cycle, Bradley said he has been “the victim of a lot of questionable advertising against me.” As for the attack ads he’s running against his opponent, Bradley said those ads are fair. It’s only the ones being run against him that he finds unfair.
Bradley refused to answer specific policy questions related to the attack ads he’s running against Severin. He would only repeat in regards to specific policy questions related to the ads that he thinks they are fair. For example, the ad that states “Dave Severin’s biggest supporter wants to let 25 percent of the state’s prisoners loose into our communities” is a reference to Rauner’s bipartisan efforts to reduce the prison population. But Bradley refused to answer a question about whether he could support any type of prison reforms being proposed by the commission that Rauner created. […]
Bradley also said he worked with Rauner in his first months in office to solve the shortfall in the fiscal year 2015 budget when the temporary income tax increase partially reset to a lower level. But Bradley said that bipartisan spirit eroded shortly after that because Rauner took cuts too far and began picking winners and losers. Bradley said some of the losers were John A. Logan College, SIU and the Hardin County Work Camp. “So the wheels just kind of fell off after that,” he said of Democratic leaders’ ability to work with Rauner to solve the budget.
Voters will decide if the state should put constraints on money raised through license plate fees and motor fuel taxes … by forbidding that money to be used on other needs.
Governor Bruce Rauner won’t say whether it’s a good idea or not.
“I, definitely have always had a view on it … I’m just not going to comment on it.
A well-funded campaign backed by (both) business and labor (groups) is calling on voters to choose “yes.” They say too much money intended for roads has been swept for other uses … and this will keep roads and bridges safe. Critics say it’s writing a gravy train for contractors and labor unions into the constitution. They also say it will leave lawmakers hamstrung to make budgeting decisions.
“There’s a lot of pluses and minuses to it,” Rauner said when asked about the transportation question Monday. “There’s a lot of things I’m focused on, but that’s not one.”
We have a situation where we have our inner cities, African-American, Hispanics, are living in hell because it’s so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot. In Chicago, they’ve had thousands of shootings, thousands, since January first. Thousands of shootings. And I’m saying where is this? Is this war-torn country? What are we doing? And we had to stop the violence. We have to bring back law in order.
In a place like Chicago, where thousands of people have been killed, thousands over the last number of years, in fact almost four thousand having killed since Barack Obama became president. Over four, almost four thousand people in Chicago have been killed. We have to bring back law and order. Now, whether or not in a place like Chicago, you do stop and frisk which worked very well Mayor Giuliani is here worked very well in New York. […]
No, the argument is that we had to take the guns away from these people that have them and that are bad people that shouldn’t have them. These are felons and these are people that are bad people that shouldn’t be…when you have three thousand shootings in Chicago from January 1st, when you have four thousand people killed in Chicago by guns from the beginning of the presidency of Barack Obama, his hometown, you have to have stop and frisk.
You need more police. You need a better community, you know relation, you don’t have a good community relations in Chicago. It’s terrible. I have property there. It’s terrible what’s going on in Chicago. But when you look — and Chicago’s not the only one. You go to Ferguson, you go to so many different places. You need better relationships, I agree with Secretary Clinton on this, you need better relationships between communities in the police because in some cases it’s not good but you look at Dallas where the relationships were really studied the relationships were really a beautiful thing. And then five police officers were killed. One night very violently. So there’s some bad things going on, some really bad things.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
While some blame the lack of state funding for various services and programs as a reason why there’s violence in the streets of Chicago, Gov. Bruce Rauner said a lack of opportunity is a bigger culprit.
Rauner said no community is immune from violence and dismissed assertions that dried-up state funds is the root of the problem.
“The No. 1 problem we have for the long term, whether it comes to violence or poverty or low incomes or anything else, is lack of economic opportunity, and that comes from lack of being competitive in Illinois.”
Rauner has been pushing for reforms that he said will make Illinois more competitive.
“We have not been doing this for decades, and it’s the No. 1 reason we have these problems,” Rauner said.
“Violence caused by gangs and drug battles, directly related to lack of opportunity. Directly related to lack of opportunity.”
And then he pointed yet again to Indiana as a model for economic growth, correctly noting that tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs have been added in that state, while Illinois lags infinitely behind.
* But how is Indiana doing on violence and quality of life issues? After all, if it’s such an employment mecca, shouldn’t we also see a far better way of life over there?
Not sure if you saw the governor’s comments today regarding violence and the budget impasse (see here at 3:25). The governor says the “number one problem” causing violence or poverty is “lack of economic opportunity.” The governor then points to Indiana as a model for Illinois, a state that has “created economic opportunity” to address the problems of crime and poverty.
Though the governor may be enamored with our eastern neighbor, there are a few things he failed to mention about Indiana:
* The poverty rate is decreasing faster in Illinois than Indiana — -0.7% vs. -0.8% (data from the Census Bureau)
* Illegal drug dependence or abuse is higher in Indiana than Illinois — 3.0% vs. 2.3% (data from SAMHSA)
* The percentage of people without health insurance is higher in Indiana than Illinois — 11.2% vs. 8.1% (data from the Census Bureau)
* Median income is almost 20% higher in Illinois than Indiana — $57,166 versus $48,737 (data from the Census Bureau)
Though Illinois certainly faces challenges - challenges exacerbated by Rauner’s failed governorship - following the Indiana model would throw Illinois into a race to the bottom. Instead, the governor should drop his extreme agenda, pass a fully funded budget, and work collaboratively to get Illinois back on track.
Indiana has a lower average cost of living than Illinois, so higher median incomes don’t buy as much here as they do there. And the reductions in respective poverty levels are well within the margin of error.
* As we’ve already discussed, the Illinois Policy Institute’s legal arm filed a lawsuit to block implementation of the state’s election day registration law because it allegedly applied unevenly and unfairly to different parts of the state. Large counties were required to have same day registration at the precinct level, while smaller counties only had to provide a single central registration/voting location.
US District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan sided with the plaintiffs today and issued a preliminary injunction. Unless this is successfully appealed, precinct registration on election day in the state’s ten largest counties will be prohibited.
Joint Statement of
ACLU of Illinois and the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
RE: Decision in challenge to Illinois’ Election Day Registration System
September 27, 2016
Earlier today, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan granted a motion to block Election Day voter registration at polling places in Illinois for the November general election. The decision comes in the case of Harlan v. Schotz, in which plaintiffs claimed that election day registration (EDR) as authorized in Illinois is unconstitutional because while it is mandated in all 102 of the state’s counties, only larger population counties are required to have EDR available at each polling place. All counties are required to have EDR available at their central election headquarters, often the county seat. The court’s order today undermines the wide availability of Election Day registration at polling places.
A group of voting rights advocates, including the ACLU of Illinois, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Better Government Association, League of Women Voters of Illinois, and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, filed an amicus brief in August urging Judge Der-Yeghiayan to reject the effort to eliminate EDR so close to the November general election. EDR has been in place in Illinois since the 2014 general election. In the March 2016 primaries, more than 100,000 eligible persons registered and voted using EDR, including Democratic and Republican voters.
The following can be attributed to Edwin C. Yohnka, Director of Communications and Public Policy, ACLU of Illinois:
“We are concerned about the impact of this decision, changing the rules of voting so close to this hotly-contested election. We must continue to use every available method to ensure that every eligible voter in our state can access the ballot – not create obstacles to the franchise. We encourage the State of Illinois and the Cook County Clerk – parties in this matter – to explore all legal options to protect voters’ rights. Thousands of people who are depending on EDR could lose the ability to vote if this ruling stands for the November general election.”
The following can be attributed to Ami Gandhi, Director of Voting Rights and Civic Empowerment:
“We are extremely disappointed in this decision, on National Voter Registration Day, to restrict ballot access across the state. We want to be clear: scaling back Election Day Registration threatens to silence thousands of eligible voters in Illinois. We urge the Illinois State Board of Elections and the Cook County Clerk’s office, who are parties in the action, as well as all election authorities across the state to pursue all options to promote voter access and minimize confusion for voters this close to Election Day.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Common Cause Illinois and other members of the Just Democracy Illinois coalition are disappointed by the federal judge’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction that would suspend Election Day Registration in polling places for the November Presidential election.
“To suspend Election Day Registration and suppress the vote less than two weeks before the voter registration deadline will hurt communities across Illinois who were counting on being able to register and vote on November 8,” said Trevor Gervais, Lead Organizer for Common Cause Illinois. “The court’s decision to side with a conservative group with ties to ALEC and the Koch brothers, combined with Governor Rauner’s recent veto of Automatic Voter Registration, signals a step backwards for voting rights in Illinois and continues a nationwide trend of coordinated and well-funded voter suppression efforts.”
The challenge to Election Day Registration is a troubling tactic to limit voter turnout during such a crucial election year. This decision further threatens communities with a history of experiencing voter suppression, at a time when voter interest is anticipated to be extremely high.
“Election Day Registration breaks down barriers to the ballot and ensures that the right to vote is accessible to all citizens,” said Andy Kang, legal director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago. “We will fight this ruling on the appeal and also continue our efforts to override the veto of Automatic Voter Registration. Ensuring that these two measures are law will help restore Illinois as a national leader in ballot access.”
More than 110,000 people registered to vote on Election Day last March.
It is fully anticipated that the Illinois Attorney General’s Office will be appealing the decision to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The next court date is set for October 27th, with the appeal to be heard as soon as possible. Common Cause Illinois and other voting rights advocates are confident that there will be a favorable ruling in the appeals process.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the League of Women Voters…
Today’s decision in Harlan v Schotz (in which plaintiffs claimed that election day registration (EDR) as authorized in Illinois is unconstitutional because while it is required in all 102 of the state’s counties, only counties with populations greater than 100,00 0 must have EDR at each polling place. All counties are required to have EDR available at their central election headquarters), by the United States District Court is a disappointing one – not so much based on the merits of the plaintiff’s underlying argument that smaller counties are at a disadvantage when it comes to EDR but the fact that the decision comes so close to the 2016 election. One voter registration deadline is less than two weeks from today.
With the election in full swing, it’s easy to forget the details regarding the devastating impact the budget impasse continues to have. The Responsible Budget Coalition’s #OneinaMillion campaign is tapping its members (whose numbers now top 300) to share stories about how the lack of a fully funded year-long budget is impacting our state.
Today Voices weighs in by asking and answering the question, “What is going on with the Illinois budget?”
The “stopgap” measure from this summer actually cut programs for children and families by about a third from previous spending levels. It also adds to our back bills, and Illinois will owe over $10 billion by January 1. Worse, the measure doesn’t fund programs for the full fiscal year. On January 1, 2017, Human Services and Higher Education will be back to square one with no budget and no money available to keep programs running. There won’t even be enough money to pay for the full year PK-12 appropriation in the stopgap measure.
Lawmakers and the governor have two choices when they return to Springfield after the election: They can either keep spending money we don’t have, adding to the backlog of unpaid bills, or they can choose to develop a responsible plan to raise revenue for a balanced budget.
Streator resident David Cooke finally secured legal representation to pursue his election board complaint against former state Rep. Frank Mautino.
In another development, Mautino, D-Spring Valley, on Monday appealed the state Board of Elections’ decision last week to deny his request to delay the issue while a related federal investigation continues.
The Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, a conservative nonprofit group, revealed Monday it had agreed to represent Cooke, a former Streator High School board member.
In February, Cooke filed a complaint with the Board of Elections questioning Mautino’s spending of campaign money for more than a decade. Mautino resigned to become the state’s auditor general Jan. 1. […]
The Liberty Justice Center has filed subpoenas for information from the service station, bank and Mautino himself, Huebert said. […]
The Liberty Justice Center is linked to the Illinois Policy Institute, with which it shares a downtown Chicago office.
They don’t just share an office, the Illinois Policy Institute founded the group.
