Maybe it really was a “great turnout” if not many were actually invited, but that picture surely doesn’t show it.
Also, it’s not technically Rauner’s grand bargain, even though he’s taking credit for it. The package is still stuck in the Senate. And Sen. Biss voted for some of those bills.
Illinois’ budget impasse is forcing a Little Village YMCA, named after Governor Bruce Rauner, to shut down one of its longest-running youth programs. […]
Now that those funds have run out due to the budget battle in Springfield, administrators have made the tough decisions to discontinue one of the center’s longest running programs called Teen Reach. […]
Governor Rauner issued this statement about the ongoing budget battle:
The failure of Speaker Madigan and the legislators he controls to pass a balanced budget is impacting programs across the state like Teen Reach and underscores the need for reforms to transform state government that will free up resources to help the most vulnerable.
The Rauner Family Y has been trying to place Teen Reach kids in other programs. Many have been given summer jobs and internships.
But the administration is hoping for a last minute save before next Friday.
OK, so back then it was Madigan’s fault that Teen Reach was out of money and the governor was diligently working to resolve the problem.
State Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) noted that three weeks prior, the governor referred to the quote “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.” Yet, Aquino pointed out, programs such as Teen Reach, crisis prevention, and jobs for youth are absent [from the governor’s proposed budget]. [Scott Harry, the director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget] says the savings will be $60 million.
“How many lives will that cost the city of Chicago or the state of Illinois?” Aquino asked.
* For all the talk about how badly unbalanced the governor’s budget plan is, there has been very little reporting on what’s actually in and isn’t in the appropriations lines. Here’s WTAX…
“The governor’s budget does not include funding,” said State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) during a hearing the day after the speech, “for The Autism Program, homeless prevention, addiction prevention, ARC of Illinois, emergency food program – are those all zeroed out?”
“Those are not included in the governor’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2018,”
responded Scott Harry, the director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.
State Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) noted that three weeks prior, the governor referred to the quote “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.” Yet, Aquino pointed out, programs such as Teen Reach, crisis prevention, and jobs for youth are absent. Harry says the savings will be $60 million.
“How many lives will that cost the city of Chicago or the state of Illinois?”
Aquino asked.
“I don’t know,” responded Harry.
* The Illinois House Democrats claim they’re “outraged” by the governor’s proposed cuts, but they haven’t yet proposed a fully funded budget…
House Dems are outraged by the Rauner Administration’s plan to cut senior services. RT if you OPPOSE cuts to elder care! #twillpic.twitter.com/ptLLUUJ78G
The budget process does not have to be an “either/or” proposition. It does not have to be either A) we pass a budget with no reforms or B) we pass a budget with reforms. While, I certainly support initiatives such as property tax relief and term limits and other reforms, this budget impasse is doing serious damage to our state.
It is beyond time to find some common ground. A compromise approach might be to address the budget stalemate by only enacting reforms that directly impact the State Budget — only reforms that have an immediate monetary effect. For instance, procurement reform could save the taxpayers $500 million annually. Ideas such as exempting Universities from some education-related purchases and establishing a pool of approved vendors for certain purchases are just some of the ways the State can save money on purchases. This is a common-sense, money-saving reform that Democrats and Republicans can support.
Other reforms such as workers’ compensation reform, relief from state mandates and other reforms could also save millions of dollars. Refusing to act on these common-sense reforms and continuing the budget impasse, only means our budget deficit is only getting bigger and bigger each day. […]
No matter what, a basic reform would be to have a real budget process in which state agencies come to legislative Appropriations Committee meetings with specific information on how they could operate with 2 percent, 5 percent or 10 percent budget cuts. Instead, agency representatives come to these meetings and talk about all of the good work they do but provide no information on how they could operate with budget cuts.
Without a real dialogue about possible cuts it is impossible to prioritize our spending. This is why we need a more meaningful budget process. Of course, our agencies and programs provide great services, but we need to find out areas where we can afford to make budget cuts. Instead of “a one size fits all” cutting across the board, we need to establish budget priorities and make targeted spending cuts and focus on maintaining highly effective/low cost programs, and reducing ineffective/high cost programs. These discussions will be hard, but this is the only way we can have an informed understanding of how cuts are going to impact various state agencies.
“It seems to me what you’ve got today are two guys very set in their ways and have programs that they just won’t give up on. Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to destroy the unions, and it’s Madigan’s lifeblood. Madigan has to save the unions; otherwise, he doesn’t survive. And it’s just as simple as that.
“So I don’t know how they ever come to an agreement until you sit down and figure it out, be flexible and understand what the needs of everybody are that you are working with.”
Yep, and they won’t sit down together until they’re both ready.
“First off, the biggest problem we got with the budget right now is the interest they are paying on the debt. If I were the governor, I think I would call in the pension board and I’d say we are never going to be able to pay the full debt back, so let’s eliminate half the debt right now and write it off.
“If that’s not constitutional, it might be worth changing the constitution. That would dramatically reduce the amount of interest that they’re paying. The bond ratings would go up and the interest would go down.”
* I asked RNUG for his take…
I think George has been indulging in some medical herbs.
Seriously, not enough details.
Is he talking about actually negating the State’s obligation to pay the pensions when due? That would be unconstitutional. And if they changed the Constitution, that would only apply to new hires. And there’s still Federal and State Contract Law. Until law is changed specifically to say that pensions are not a contract, the State would still be on the hook. (Boy, wouldn’t the 1.4% love that nationally!)
Is he, in effect, suggesting the State keep the pension funds somewhere around the current 40% or so instead of trying to acheive full funding of 80% - 100%? That is the State’s choice now but the Federal reporting requirements would still apply, so they would be reported as under funded.
Or is he, in effect, suggesting the payments be calculated bat a lower interest rate and a lesser amount than than the full debt? And if the fund come up short, the State would have to switch to paying pensions on an “as you go” basis from GRF?
From legal (not financial) standpoint, as long as the State agrees they must pay the pensions when due, the State can finance or not finance the pension funds any way they want to. The only real constraints are from the bond rating agencies and the Feds … and other than the reporting requirements, I don’t see the Feds interfering, so it’s just the bankers keeping the State in check.
“Second: The other thing involves the vendors, who are owed billions. I would call those service vendors in — not those who have products — and tell them we are going to pay you 60 cents on the dollar, there is no way we can get out of this mess and you gotta help us. They’d have to take their lumps, but still be back to do business with the state.”
I think that is the biggest fear by vendors today. Only it might not be as much as 60 percent.
* Now that Gov. Rauner has coopted the phrase “grand bargain” for his own campaign needs what catchy new name would you give the attempt at forging a compromise in the Illinois Senate?
When I took the job as Deputy Governor, I didn’t realize what type of person I was about to work for. By now, everyone knows the tragic tale of Rod Blagojevich, but at the time, he seemed like a dynamic, forceful change agent.
But Rod’s allergy to doing real work, understanding policy, negotiating budgets, reviewing legislation, focusing on operations and everything else that goes into responsible governing soon became clear, so I also know what it’s like to work for an irresponsible, even unbalanced leader. […]
Rod and I fought all of the time. He always had a conspiracy theory or a grudge or some plan that was invariably a bad idea. It’s no fun to have your boss scream at you 24/7. But, it’s also how you stop stupid things from happening and how you stay out of jail. If you’re not willing to fight - and to be fired for it - don’t take the job. […]
Rod, both logically and illogically, saw his job as running for office, not holding office (he would constantly say, “I did my job,” meaning he won the election). In some ways, his refusal to focus on actual governing was maddening, but in some ways, it was incredibly liberating. We were free to come up with all kinds of new ideas and policies. Some worked (like tearing down the tollbooths throughout the Illinois Tollway system and creating open road tolling), some didn’t (like importing cheaper prescription drugs from Europe and Canada), but we used the freedom to try all kinds of new things and that made the job interesting and worthwhile.
In retrospect, hiring Tusk was one of the better things that Blagojevich did. Things went totally off the rails when he left after the 2006 election.
Hot off its 2016 record breaking Grandstand lineup, the Illinois State Fair is excited to announce five of the eleven headlining acts for the 2017 fair.
Chase Rice will be the headlining act on the Grandstand stage on Friday, August 11th. Chase Rice is a singer/songwriter who has toured the world with the likes of Kenny Chesney and Dierks Bentley. While he may be best known for his hit songs “Ready Set Roll,” and “Everybody We Know Does,” Chase Rice is also a talented songwriter. Rice co-wrote the song “Cruise” which was recorded by Florida Georgia Line and was dubbed the best-selling country digital song of all time in the United States in January 2014.
On Wednesday, August 16th the legendary group Alabama will perform on the Grandstand stage. The band broke a record that may never be duplicated by any musical genre by releasing 21 straight number one singles. The trio has 43 number one singles to their credit, nearly 200 industry awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. The band, while still cranking out hits, has inspired many of today’s brightest stars, including Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Ed Sheeran and Jon Bon Jovi. Fairgoers of all ages will enjoy singing along with Alabama classics such as “Song of the South,” “I’m In a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why),” and “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band).”
Opening for Alabama on Wednesday, August 16 will be Neal McCoy. The veteran county music performer has 15 studio albums, 34 singles, and multiple humanitarian awards to his credit. McCoy has been on 15 USO Tours around the world and to this day states this act as one of his crowning achivements. He is best known for songs like, “No Doubt About It,” “Wink,” and “Billy’s Got His Beer Goggles On.”
Also scheduled to perform at the 2017 Illinois State Fair is singer/songwriter/dancer Jason Derulo. The 27-year-old has already sold over 50 million singles worldwide and has worked alongside a variety of artists ranging from Demi Lovato to Snoop Dogg. Jason Derulo is best known for his songs “Talk Dirty,” “Whatcha Say,” and “Want to Want Me.” In addition, Derulo was honored in 2011 as BMI’s Songwriter of the Year. He has penned hits for artists such as Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Sean Kingston and others. Derulo will perform in Springfield on Thursday, August 17th.
Building on the successes from last year, the Illinois State Fair is bringing another heavy metal band to the Grandstand. On Saturday, August 19th fairgoers will have the opportunity to see Five Finger Death Punch perform on the Illinois State Fair’s biggest stage. The band recently wrapped up an Arena Tour where fans raved about the band’s over-the-top production value and crowd pleasing sets featuring songs like, “I Apologize,” and “Wrong Side of Heaven.” The band is also a supporter of the Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation often raising funds to help survivors and departments of officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
Closing out the 2017 Illinois State Fair on Sunday, August 20th will be Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, John Mellencamp. The iconic classic rocker has been cranking out hits and performing in front of live audiences for the last 40-years. While most known for songs like “Paper in Fire,” “Small Town,” and “Pink Houses,” Mellencamp was among the founding members of Farm Aid. The annual event, co-launched by Willie Nelson and Neil Young, helps make people aware of the issues facing farmers and how those issues impact the entire nation.
I saw Mellencamp twenty years ago. He was already on the senior circuit by then. Jason Derulo is a bit too poppy for my taste, but, he’ll probably sell mad amounts of tickets (his “Talk Dirty” video has almost 373 million YouTube views), as will some of the others.
But it looks like I’ll be experiencing most of my live State Fair music at the beer tents. Again.
Speaking of earnest attempts at real solutions, the idea of a “grand bargain” bipartisan state budget deal in the Illinois Senate is still alive.
You may think it odd that the Senate is on break until Feb. 28, given that it’s only been in session for 13 days so far this year and the state’s crisis almost couldn’t be more urgent. And especially given that the fantasy budget Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner introduced Wednesday literally has a $4.6 billion revenue line in it labeled simply “Working together on ‘grand bargain.’”
But it’s probably a good idea for the rank-and-file senators to be at home in their districts hearing from their constituents while the leadership tries to agree on the sticky details of roughly a dozen bills, all of which must pass for the package to be sent to the House. The alternative would be for them to hang out in Springfield, where nearly every lobbyist and interest group representative is opposing one element or another of the deal.
Keep in mind, all the real progress on the Senate’s grand bargain has been made while the General Assembly was not in session.
Also, rank and file Senate Democrats were pretty darned furious at the governor for creating an ad last week that takes credit for the grand bargain when the attempts to reach said grand bargain were made necessary by the governor’s inability to do a deal himself. Keeping them out of town gives them a cooling off period.
* More on that ad and the Dems’ reaction in the Tribune…
Perhaps most importantly, if the Senate talks fall apart in the coming months, Rauner can nimbly pivot yet again and blame Democrats who control the legislature for not reaching a compromise with him.
In the spirit of the well-funded, Washington-style, nonstop campaigning that has quickly become the norm in Illinois, Rauner’s campaign posted a video after the speech touting that “Bruce Rauner’s plan to balance the budget reforms Illinois, builds a new economy, freezes property taxes, caps spending, pays down the debt and term limits politicians’ power.”
Democrats, however, called out Rauner as a political poser. Democratic Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park, who’s on the chamber’s leadership team, said the governor’s decision to weigh in on the Senate discussions on a compromise was “just an attempt to disrupt it.” […]
“I saw him trying to appear to be publicly intervening in what is already a successful negotiation in order to take some credit for it. I don’t think that’s going to hold water in the end,” he said. “He’s clearly not been involved thus far, and the more he tries to get involved, the worse it is for the eventual compromise.”
Last year, in an editorial that came about as close as Crain’s could come to retracting its endorsement of the governor, we urged him to redefine victory by crafting a balanced budget and raising enough sustainable revenue to pay for it. He hasn’t quite done that, but it’s finally clear that he’s at least trying. Rauner isn’t blameless for this mess, nor are we naive enough to think that he won’t find reasons to derail whatever deal might eventually emerge. But for now, as Democrats continue to stonewall, the governor looks like the statesman we have urged him to be all along.
But instead of looking for the good news, Democrats underlined and boldfaced the negative, calling Rauner a heartless, billionaire-protecting hostage-taker.
Maybe none of this will make a difference. Democrats, at least in the Senate, still seem inclined to move forward with their ambitious grand budget deal of tax hikes, spending cuts, expanded gambling, school funding reform and more. Democrats are unwilling to act without a few Republican votes, and there are signs that Rauner’s speech may have been enough to give GOP backbenchers the political cover they need.
But no one has voted in the Senate yet. And there’s still Madigan’s House, a much tougher nut to crack in the best of circumstances, much less ones in which everyone is burrowed in their partisan bunkers. That’s what’s worrying me. In many of the recent comments, I hear a full recapitulation of the widely held view that, like an attack by Star Trek’s Borg, resistance is futile, so give up any hopes of compromise and prep for the 2018 elections.
I hope not. Illinois and, more important, its people are taking huge hits every day we go without a budget. If Democrats follow Rauner down the rat hole when he’s trying to get out, things never will improve.
A Jewish community center in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood was evacuated Monday after a bomb threat. The FBI is investigating.
The Hyde Park JCC at 5200-block of South Hyde Park Boulevard received a phone call Monday morning indicating a bomb threat. Following protocol, the center was evacuated and Chicago police arrived to investigate. Police gave the all-clear shortly before noon.
According to The JCC Association of North America, 11 Jewish community centers received called-in bomb threats Monday, all of which were eventually determined to be hoaxes. […]
A total of 54 Jewish Community Centers in the U.S. have received threats, sometimes multiple threats, since the beginning of January. The JCC in northwest suburban Lake Zurich was targeted last month.
The calls may be a novel form of intimidation, but the context around them is not. American Jews are victims of more reported hate crimes than any other group in the United States, and have been subject to the majority of religiously motivated offenses every year since 1995, when the FBI first started reporting these statistics. The phone calls may not result in violence, but they contribute to an atmosphere of anti-Semitism already well-established in the United States. […]
The calls seem to be connected: They are coordinated in timing and message, and often contain generic promises of violence. In one recording, posted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the caller threatens, “In a short time, a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered. Their heads are going to … blown off from the shrapnel.”
As many as 200 headstones at a Jewish cemetery were toppled over the weekend here in a case that is making national headlines.
Anita Feigenbaum, executive director of the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, said officials will be cataloging the damage Tuesday and notifying relatives whose families are affected. A monument company will decide which headstones need to be replaced and which need to be reset, she said.
As bad as 2017 has been for anti-Semitic incidents, 2016 wasn’t great, either. Nor was 2015, when the Anti-Defamation League reported 90 anti-Semitic incidents on campuses, twice as many as the year before — a slow drip that has continued into this school year. […]
Recently, the Pew Research Center released a survey designed to gauge Americans’ “feeling thermometer” toward various religions. Pew asked more than 4,000 adults to say which religious groups they felt “warm” toward. The poll showed that Jews elicit the “warmest” feelings of any religious group. The finding was fairly consistent across all groups — Catholics like Jews; mainline Protestants like Jews; atheists like Jews; and members of all age groups within those religions like Jews (although among those touchy-feely millennials, Buddhists garnered warmer feelings than Jews did).
Poll results that ask about warm feelings are, in their way, as inadequate a gauge of a people’s safety as a few dozen empty bomb threats in a country of more than 300 million people. And Jews’ sense of well-being ultimately doesn’t come down to cold numbers, anyway. In Europe, what’s chilling about the position of Jews is not so much the recent murders of Jews and attacks on synagogues and Jewish businesses but the widespread public indifference. Here in the United States, anti-Semitism is very much with us, and always has been: According to FBI statistics for 2014, of religiously motivated hate crimes, Jews were targeted 57 percent of the time. Muslims were the victims 16 percent of the time, followed by Catholics, Protestants and atheists/agnostics.
That Pew survey is here. We shouldn’t let these lunatics divide us.
Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole and other mayors are scheduled to unveil their legislative agenda on Tuesday in Springfield.
The “Moving Cities Forward” package includes the state automatically paying out motor fuel tax, 911, use tax and gaming revenues —an outgrowth of the state’s historic budget impasse.
In addition, the group also is seeking changes in workers’ compensation and prevailing wage laws, an expansion of home rule eligibility for smaller municipalities and a consolidation of municipal public safety pension funds.
* Some interesting developments here, particularly the industrial hemp bill…
A group of bi-partisan state legislators have come together to announce a slate of bills that seeks to remove barriers to local food production in Illinois. The bill package, unveiled at a press conference hosted by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance this past week, also shows support of small businesses and Illinois farmers.
State Representative Peter Breen (R-Lombard) participated in the press conference and discussed his HB 2466, which would broaden Illinoisans’ access to raw milk. “Consumers are demanding more food choices today,” said Breen. “They are looking for organic and locally-grown options, and a growing number of people are looking for unpasteurized milk. My House Bill 2466 will remove costly and unnecessary restrictions, to allow for the expansion of the safe production and distribution of raw milk beyond dairy farms and to local farmers’ markets across the state.” State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) has filed an identical bill in the Senate.
SB1469/HB2820, sponsored by Koehler and State Representative Steven Andersson (R-Geneva), would add additional allowable foods for production by Cottage Food Operations (homemade foods) and streamline certain farmers market food sanitation rules across counties. An additional bill, sponsored by State Representative Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), would expand the cottage food market even more. Guzzardi’s HB3063 would allow food producers to sell any harvested or homemade food to an informed end consumer for personal home use, without inspection or certification (excluding non-poultry meats). State Representative Carol Ammons (D–Champaign) is also advancing HB 2592, which would create a statewide permitting system for farmers’ markets.
State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights) has introduced the Industrial Hemp bill (SB1294) which would create an opportunity for Illinois farmers to apply for permits from the Illinois Department of Agriculture in order to grow industrial hemp, reviving a once thriving market for Illinois farmers and processors. Neighboring Kentucky has a similar law in place and has already enrolled over 135 farmers, 4,500+ acres, and 40 processors in hemp projects.
Raw milk is treated like a biohazard right now. Growing up in Iroquois County, I had a school friend who lived on a dairy farm. It’s the only time I ever drank raw milk. I remember it tasting better than any milk I’d ever had, but I was a kid.
…Adding… From Brittan Bolin…
Hi Rich:
I represent the Illinois Public Health Association and wanted to comment on your raw milk post. The IPHA (as well as the CDC) opposes relaxing restrictions on the sale of raw milk because the safety of raw milk and its products cannot be ensured. Pasteurization eliminates pathogens that can be contained in milk, including salmonella, listeria and E coli, to name a few. While you may hear many people say they have consumed raw milk without any problems, the fact is that drinking unpasteurized milk can make you very ill. This is particularly true for the elderly, children, or people with compromised immunity. This is why pasteurization became the norm, because it can prevent serious illnesses, miscarriage and even death. Your “biohazard” comment could be inferred as the public health organizations are overreacting. This is not the case, IPHA is simply continuing to take a scientifically-based position that consumption of raw milk is not safe, and therefore not recommended.
Safe sex could get about 5-cents-a-pop cheaper, if state Sen. Toi Hutchinson gets her way.
The south suburban Democrat wants to slash the tax on condoms to 1 percent from 6.25 percent as a way to “nudge” frisky Illinoisans toward safer choices.
“Healthy sexuality is not a luxury,” Hutchinson told Chicago Inc. She said she hopes a bill she is sponsoring in the Senate will spur conversations about safe sex, reduce “unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases,” and “save people who make smart choices money.”
Under existing law, condoms are taxed by the state at the same rate as luxury goods. Hutchinson’s bill would have them taxed at the same rate as necessities like prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
Except, isn’t the Senate also debating whether to tax food and medicine? So, classifying these items as medicine wouldn’t do much good if they pass that tax base expansion proposal.
* Other bills…
* Lawmaker wants increase in interstate speed limits again: Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, is chief sponsor of Senate Bill 2036 that seeks to increase the speed limit from 70 to 75 mph on most interstates outside of Chicago. Oberweis said that making the interstates 5 mph faster would help with the flow of traffic and improve public safety. He argues that 75 mph is the safest speed because 85 percent of traffic travels at that pace anyway.
* Editorial: Bring back legislative scholarships? You’re kidding
The state budget impasse didn’t stop newly elected Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza from purchasing a $32,000 used SUV as part of her department’s fleet — paid in full by public dollars to a central Illinois dealership.
Mendoza campaigned on a pledge to prioritize state payments, but her office said the money for the SUV came from an office fund with no connection to the state’s massive bill backlog.
Mendoza’s office on Friday said the vehicle was purchased in January to replace an inoperable car — one of her offices’ nine cars — that was rejected as a trade-in and will be junked. And they noted various offices of state government have purchased more than $11 million in vehicles — excluding leases — over the last two years.
The purchase comes as she is under Republican scrutiny after defeating Leslie Munger, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s appointed pick for comptroller. Munger was recently appointed deputy governor.
With Mendoza’s name in the mix as a future Democratic candidate for higher office, every purchase, every trip, every speech is being watched with great interest.
This weekend, the Chicago-Sun Times broke the news that new Comptroller Susana Mendoza bought herself a $32,000 SUV just weeks into the job. Comptroller Mendoza not only prioritized her personal comfort by purchasing the SUV, she managed to find a way to fully pay off the vehicle while social service providers continue to wait months to get paid.
Even worse, the Comptroller’s office already had nine state vehicles. Apparently the vehicle fleet that was good enough for Comptroller Munger is not good enough for Comptroller Mendoza.
All this comes after Mendoza pledged “shared sacrifice” with social service providers, who Mendoza promised to put at the front of the line to receive state checks.
Instead, Mendoza put herself first, spending $32,000 in taxpayer money on an SUV.
Watch the ILGOP’s new video comparing the Mendoza scandal to the Giannoulias scandal here.
Munger left behind one completely junked car and another that bordered on junk. Looks almost like a setup to me. Even so, Mendoza walked right into it. But she did get rid of two cars and only replaced them with one.
* The official Mendoza response to the ILGOP press release…
We’re not surprised The Governor would try to change the subject from his failure for the third year in a row, to fulfill his constitutional duty to propose a balanced budget.
Through the state party he funds, he pushes the hypocritical fantasy that The Comptroller’s small fleet of cars she has downsized from 9 to 8 in the past two months is a story, but not his much larger fleet of cars for him and his security detail – that costs taxpayers much more. The story is presented in a vacuum as though only one state office has state cars.
Every state vehicle is paid for with taxpayer funds, including the bigger fleet in which the Governor’s security detail drives him – and all the state agencies controlled by the Governor. The various offices of state government have purchased more than $11 million in vehicles, not counting leases, for use from The Governor on down during the last two years. Previous administrations in the Comptroller’s office replaced a used car with a new car roughly every two years. The Comptroller’s Administrative Fund paid for the car, not the General Revenue Fund which goes to education, social services, etc.
The Governor’s party’s phony outrage at one purchase of a used car instead of the state’s $11 billion dollar backlog of bills he refuses to address is a transparent attempt to silence the state office-holder who has been most vocal in holding the Governor accountable for his failure to do his job. Comptroller Mendoza has travelled from Chicago to Springfield to Carbondale to Peoria – across the state – to hear state resident’s complaints about not getting health services, not being able to pay their bills, etc., because of the state’s failure to pass a budget.
The Comptroller has not exercised her right to take a security detail and she has no access to a private plane to get around Illinois.
Upon taking office, Comptroller Mendoza inventoried the office’s nine cars, most of which are used to collect & distribute checks, W2s and other employee forms this office handles for all state offices. One was inoperable.
The vehicle assigned the Comptroller was a 2005 rear-wheel-drive Chrysler 300 luxury sedan with 104,000 miles in need of many expensive repairs before it would be safe to drive.
While driving her own car to Springfield at no expense to taxpayers for her first several weeks in office, the Comptroller instructed staff to find a used American-made car big enough to hold staff on the weekly trips to Springfield and around the state to replace the two unsafe cars. A used Ford Explorer with 16,436 miles was located in El Paso, Illinois, and purchased for $32,279 – about $15,000 less than equivalent new models are selling for. This pool car – not owned by the Comptroller but by the state, available for various comptroller staff – will serve the office for years to come. It was built at the Ford Assembly plant here in Illinois.
The Chrysler 300 was traded in for $1,500. The inoperable 2005 Chrysler Town & Country van was refused as a trade-in and will be junked.
Among the remaining 8 cars is a 1998 Ford Cargo van that only goes back and forth between the Capitol and the Comptroller’s office at 325 Adams St. in Springfield and carries a bold warning on the dashboard NOT to take it on the expressway.
Where is the state GOP’s outrage about The Governor failing for the third year in a row to fulfill his constitutional duty to propose a balanced budget? His responsibility for the state’s backlog of bills doubling to $12 billion on his watch? His responsibility for the six downgrades from the bond rating agencies for his failure to propose a balanced budget? His responsibility for the $700 million in late payment interest penalties the state owes?
They can try to silence Comptroller Mendoza with false controversies. But she will nevertheless persist.
“Together,” Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said to the Illinois General Assembly during his Feb. 15 budget address, “let’s look at each regulation we have, at every law we pass, and ask ourselves a simple question: How does this impact job creators?”
Rep. Will Guzzardi, a liberal Chicago Democrat, angrily responded via Twitter: “People w/disabilities? Children being murdered in streets? Immigrants living in fear? No no, with every vote, consider the CEO.”
It was, Guzzardi tells me, “the moment when Rauner lays bare what he really believes.” It was the governor’s much-vaunted Turnaround Agenda “stripped down to its core essence.”
The economic philosophies of Rauner and Guzzardi are a million miles apart, but that doesn’t mean that Guzzardi doesn’t see a path toward ending this two-year gridlock. “I really do think that there’s a way to get out of this that people from different sides of the spectrum could actually agree to,” he says. “But that requires compromise from both parties. And it also requires an understanding that everybody needs a win.”
Bingo.
Rauner has operated since day one with the firm belief that if he gets the pro-business reforms and other stuff he wants, then the Democrats will win when he signs some tax hikes into law and their pet programs are funded.
The harsh reality is, however, that the tax hikes and spending cuts required to put the budget into balance will be “painful, ugly and messy,” Guzzardi says. And it only gets worse if, on top of all that, Rauner also demands “all these other things we are going to hate,” like reducing benefits for working people.
Ever since the election, when House Democrats lost four downstate seats and picked up none in the suburbs where Hillary Clinton swamped Donald Trump, Guzzardi and some of his colleagues have been calling on their party leaders to work with them to develop priorities that could help unite the public behind Democrats.
House Speaker Michael Madigan responded with a list of pretty tired, old demands, like renewing a major corporate tax incentive that’s been on the books for years. And he’s again backing a millionaire’s tax that can’t be implemented until after voters have their say on it in 2018. The state simply can’t wait two more years for new revenues without dramatic and horribly painful cuts.
But now that the governor has encouraged the talks in the Senate aimed at forging a bipartisan “grand bargain,” Guzzardi thinks Democrats should start being “clear about what our priorities are and make some demands.”
Tonight, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos announced that she will continue serving in the House of Representatives and run for reelection in 2018. Bustos, who publicly explored the possibility of running for Governor, was recently elected to Democratic House Leadership as the co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. In this new role, as the only Midwesterner in Democratic House Leadership, Bustos has been tasked with strengthening the connection between Democrats and working families across our heartland.
Because of this new responsibility, and in light of how high the stakes really are for our country after a month of Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Bustos determined that she needs to devote her entire focus to her work in Congress.
Congresswoman Bustos issued the following statement:
“I have always said that I want to be in the best position to help as many Illinoisans as I can. Over the last few months, I’ve given a lot of thought to whether I can make the biggest difference in Washington or in Springfield. Right now, too many hardworking families are suffering because of failure and dysfunction in both of those places.
“As I was considering the best way for me to serve, I was given a new opportunity to join Democratic House Leadership as the only Midwesterner sitting around the table. And with that comes the responsibility to serve as a voice for hardworking families from the heartland who feel like they’ve been left behind.
“Now that we’ve seen just how reckless, dangerous and divisive President Trump really is, the stakes couldn’t be higher for our nation. With my new leadership responsibilities, I have determined the best way for me to continue getting real results for working families across the heartland is by serving in Congress.
“I know the stakes are just as high for Illinois, so I will continue doing my part to hold Governor Rauner accountable for his failed downturn agenda that’s hurt our seniors, children and even victims of domestic violence. While the field of Democratic candidates is still forming, I look forward to actively campaigning for, and electing, a strong Democratic Governor who will stand up for all Illinoisans - from Chicago, to Rockford, Moline and Peoria. We have a lot of work ahead of us in the fight for more good paying jobs, better wages and an economy that works for all Americans. I believe I can do the most good for our state and our country by standing up for the values that unite us as Midwesterners.”
It could be a very expensive Democratic primary. Bustos did not answer directly how funding played a role in her decision but she noted “money and politics is something that we really need to address as a nation.”
“I’m a proponent of campaign finance reform in Illinois and federally,” she said.
Bustos said the average contribution in her recent congressional race was $27. She did not rule out eventually endorsing a candidate for the March 2018 primary.
Before Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget address last week, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno made a rare visit to the Senate Democratic caucus meeting.
Radogno assured the Democrats that she and her GOP caucus were working in good faith to achieve a bipartisan “grand bargain” in the chamber. Senate Democrats have been grumbling for weeks that the Republicans were playing Lucy with Charlie Brown’s football. Every time they think they’re getting close, they’re told the Republicans aren’t ready to vote. It was a much-needed speech.
And then Gov. Rauner gave his budget address.
The governor’s office had once again not followed protocol by providing its budget details to legislative staff the evening before, so legislators had no way of knowing during his speech that his budget included a projected $32.7 billion in revenues and $37.3 billion in spending. They also had no way of knowing that some of those projected revenues and perhaps hundreds of millions or even billions in projected savings weren’t actually real, adding to the plan’s self-admitted $4.6 billion hole.
But, whatever. It’s not like nobody expected this to happen. Rauner did the same thing last year when he proposed closing a $3.5 billion hole with magical words about “cooperation,” and two years ago when he promised illusory savings from pension reforms and cutting unspecified waste. It’s frustrating and it may not even be constitutional, but it is what it is.
Last week’s speech wasn’t really about the upcoming budget, however. Everybody was there to hear what he had to say about the Senate. As you already know, the two Senate leaders began talking after Gov. Rauner announced in December that he would no longer host leaders meetings because he said the Democrats were refusing to negotiate in good faith.
Rauner has been saying for a while now that he didn’t want to weigh in on the Senate’s plan for fear of messing up their progress. But then Senate President John Cullerton said it might be helpful if Rauner publicly supported the plan.
Fittingly, as soon as Rauner began discussing his preferred parameters, his teleprompter broke. Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whom the governor has been attacking for attempting to help her father create a crisis with a government shutdown, gamely offered the governor her paper copy. The print was too small, however, and he couldn’t read it. Rauner then quoted Speaker Madigan’s joke that the Russians must’ve caused the malfunction. For a couple of minutes, the obvious tension and hostility in the House chamber eased. Democrats had been derisively laughing at the governor, but were now laughing with him. That didn’t last.
Once the teleprompter issue was finally fixed, the governor laid out his demands. If the Senate was planning to pass a permanent tax hike, then, to win his support, it must also pass a permanent property tax freeze. The House had already passed such a freeze, mainly because it’s hugely popular and members figured the Senate wouldn’t ever touch it because of the damage it would do to schools and local governments. Rauner risked knocking the Senate’s progress off its tracks with that one. Some Democrats later alleged it was a deliberate poison pill. More evidence, they said, of Lucy yanking that football away from Charlie Brown.
Rauner did leave the door open just a tiny bit by saying that when the tax increase starts producing revenue surpluses, he wanted the tax hikes “stepped down” to dedicate the money to taxpayers.
So, could he be open to a temporary tax hike in exchange for a temporary property tax freeze? Republicans are saying that a couple of Senate Democrats have talked about possibly doing a “5 and 5″ plan, which would both raise taxes and cap property taxes for five years.
Rauner also demanded that the Senate abandon its plan to tax sales of food and medicine. He privately wants that replaced with a tax on sugary drinks, but the Senate leaders say they cannot round up enough votes to pass it.
The Democrats went back to derisively laughing at Rauner when he claimed “Term limits get job creators excited.” And while his demand that the Senate’s workers’ compensation reform match the Massachusetts model got little attention, Massachusetts is a “causation” state, which the Democrats have always said they will never agree to. That could be a big problem.
It’s too early to tell whether Rauner did irrevocable harm last week. The fact that the Republican leaders in the House and Senate didn’t rush to openly embrace his specific demands is a sign that people still want progress, however. Stay tuned.
