No ruling in legislative pay case
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No details yet, but the Cook County judge who’s presiding over the legislative pay case deferred a ruling in the matter until next week. The hearing began at 2 o’clock this afternoon.
As you surely know, former Comptroller Leslie Munger put legislator paychecks into the same waiting line as social service vendors, delaying those paychecks by as long as six months. That practice has continued under current Comptroller Susana Mendoza. A lawsuit was brought shortly after the election to end the practice.
The preliminary reports I’m hearing are that the judge was actually leaning against the legislators who brought the suit.
Briefs are due next Wednesday and there will be a hearing next Thursday the 22nd Friday the 23rd.
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It’s just a bill
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* But it may be a good idea…
The Illinois House approved legislation State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) is sponsoring to eliminate the requirement for the Secretary of State to do a statewide mailing with information about proposed changes to the Illinois Constitution.
House Bill 348 directs the Secretary of State to publish a proposed Constitutional Amendment, the explanation of the amendment, the arguments for and against the amendment, and the form in which the amendment will appear on the ballot on a website controlled by the Secretary of State when the amendment is published in newspapers. The bill eliminates the requirement to mail the information to people. Newspaper notices about the constitutional amendment would still be required.
“Eliminating the requirement to mail voters about proposed changes to the Constitution would save taxpayers about $1.3 million each time the Legislature approves a Constitutional Amendment to appear on the ballot,” McSweeney said. “I believe advertising a proposed Constitutional Amendment in newspapers and putting information on a central website is sufficient to get information to the public about the proposed changes. There is no need to add more cost to this process by sending information in the mail.” […]
House Bill 348 passed the House on a vote of 108-0 and now moves to the Illinois Senate. State Senator Tom Cullerton is lead sponsor of the legislation in the Senate.
* Perhaps a wee bit of self-interest contained in this newspaper editorial…
llinois state Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, decided to celebrate Sunshine Week, when open government and open records are celebrated, by co-sponsoring a bill that would allow local school boards to be less open.
House Bill 3660 would allow school districts to avoid printing a summary of their statement of affairs in local newspapers. Schools would still need to publish a notice saying the full statement was online, but none of the details that would tell taxpayers if something were amiss and worth further investigation.
The first problem is that not everyone has internet access or the ability or time to navigate to the information.
Second, public bodies are notoriously bad at following dictates to put public information online.
The Citizen’s Advocacy Center surveyed 750 public body websites in Illinois to see how many were complying with state law to post meeting notices, agendas and minutes. Only 73 percent were posting meeting notices, 57 percent posted proposed agendas and only 48 percent posted minutes after the meetings.
* Related…
* Mitchell: Bill aims to address mental health crises and guns
* Manar advances measure to address shortage of nurses in Illinois
* Close call prompts Stadelman to introduce emergency prescription refill legislation
* Plan would make changing birth certificates easier for transgender people
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Question of the day
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Blair Kamin…
Now that Illinois’ new license plates have started appearing on cars and other vehicles, I’d like to revise an opinion from last fall, when I wrote that the plates’ design was busy and banal.
That was too kind.
In real life, with a long line of letters and numbers obscuring Abraham Lincoln’s face and all the other stuff that got thrown into this “everything but the kitchen sink” design, the new plates are hopelessly cluttered, not always easy to read, and a major lost chance to project a better image for a state that’s synonymous with political dysfunction.
You may ask: “Why is the architecture critic devoting a second column to the design of a piece of metal that measures 6 inches by 12 inches?”
Here’s why: Beyond its obvious role of identifying a vehicle and helping cops catch bad guys, a license plate should express a state’s identity and encourage outsiders to visit the state or do business there. Think of it as a mini-billboard funded by your tax dollars.
* The plate…
* The Question: Do you agree or disagree with Kamin? Explain.
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* From a new Public Opinion Strategies poll…
(W)ould you say that things in Illinois are going in the right direction, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?
12% RIGHT DIRECTION
82% WRONG TRACK
4% NO OPINION (DO NOT READ)
2% REFUSED (DO NOT READ)
As I’ve said before, I’d really like to know who those 12 percent are.
* Anyway, the American Beverage Association sent me this poll because they wanted to share the results of this question…
As you may know there is a proposal in the Illinois State Legislature to put a one cent per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages including all full-calorie soft drinks and any juice drinks, sports drinks, teas, or flavored waters containing added sugar. For example, under this proposal a ninety nine cent, two-liter bottle of sugar-sweetened drink will be taxed an additional sixty eight cents. This new tax is estimated to raise between $390 to $560 million dollars a year. The revenues would be put into the general fund to help close the five point three billion dollar budget deficit.
Do you favor or oppose this proposed one cent per ounce tax on sweetened beverages? (IF FAVOR/OPPOSE, ASK:) And would you say you STRONGLY (favor/oppose) or just SOMEWHAT (favor/oppose) the tax?
That’s quite different from another poll result I shared with you the other day. In that poll, taken for the American Heart Association, the tax was supported 56-41.
* Check out this question…
Every time government faces a problem the first reaction is to take our money with new taxes. And, when the state runs low on money, the tax will go up and up. The Illinois legislature needs to trim their budget fat and leave our grocery budgets alone.
83 percent found that argument convincing, with 62 percent saying it was very convincing.
* After a bunch of those negative statements, they asked the question about the pop tax again and 73 percent would up opposed while just 26 percent were in favor.
* Methodology…
Public Opinion Strategies conducted a statewide telephone survey of registered voters in Illinois on behalf of the American Beverage Association. The survey was completed March 10-13, 2017, among 600 registered voters, including 240 cell phone respondents. The margin of error for a survey of N=600 is ±4.0% in 95 out of 100 cases.
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CPS testifies against elected school board
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A House committee approved a bill yesterday to elect members of the Chicago Public Schools board over CPS opposition…
“An elected school board would have no more authority than our existing board to raise additional revenue for Chicago Public Schools — and revenue is at the root of our problem,” Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson testified.
She told legislators that CPS students are on an upward academic swing, despite the district’s gaping $129 million budget hole, and don’t need any more instability she believes such a large elected body would impose.
Former school board vice president Jesse Ruiz, who recently protested the Board of Ed himself, joined her, calling the bill “a grave mistake.”
He said the bill would create the largest school board of any major urban district and would diffuse the accountability among 21 politicians instead of resting with just one: The mayor of Chicago.
* More…
“I’m not here to make a generalization about elected versus appointed school boards and its impact in any school district,” Jackson told a House panel. “But I am here to say that for Chicago Public Schools, we have been governed in a particular way — and that is being threatened. And I believe that there will be an impact on academic outcomes because of the lack of stability.
“Nobody knows that having an elected school board is going to lead to higher outcomes for our students. So in a district like Chicago, with a large population of minority students and low-income students, why would we threaten that when we’re on the right trajectory?” she said.
I dunno. These arguments seem pretty darned weak to me. Your own thoughts?
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CMS talks strike preparedness
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Finke…
A top official of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration said Wednesday he couldn’t predict how many replacement workers the state may need in the event of a strike by AFSCME members.
Michael Hoffman, acting director of the Department of Central Management Services, also told the Senate Appropriations Committee that his agency is continuing to work on a new version of the state hiring process that would be used for people who want to be replacement workers. […]
“The website does not replace the normal application process,” Hoffman said. “What it does is provide us with a pool of interested people who would be interested in serving in a temporary capacity in a worst-case scenario if we had a strike or work stoppage.”
Hoffman said the site has attracted more than 2,000 applicants so far. […]
Hoffman said the state would not be solely reliant on website applicants to fill state jobs in the event of a strike. He said the state already has contracts with temporary employment agencies to provide workers when needed.
I’m kinda wondering what the screening process is on that strikebreaker employment website.
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ILGOP throws kitchen sink at Ammons
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the ILGOP…
“America is still reeling from a disastrous, eight-year liberal agenda. Illinois can’t afford a Bernie-inspired radical liberal like Carol Ammons.” - Illinois Republican Party spokesman Aaron DeGroot
This past February, The News-Gazette reported State Representative Carol Ammons is considering a run for Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. Even as Democrats across America rejected Bernie Sanders’ radical agenda during the 2016 Presidential Primary, Ammons doubled down, took Bernie’s campaign cash, and pushed liberal policies that would make even Bernie blush.
Carol Ammons and Bernie Sanders are a liberal match made in a workers’ paradise:
BUDGET-BUSTERS
Carol Ammons and her spending habits have pushed Illinois to the brink. Ammons voted for Mike Madigan’s wildly out-of-balance budget, the largest spending plan in state history. The Madigan-Ammons budget was $7 billion out-of-balance - large enough to force a massive $1,000 tax hike on every Illinois family.
Bernie Sanders loves spending money, especially when it’s other people’s money. In Washington, Sanders pushed free college, free healthcare, free everything. Sanders’ policies are so expensive that some estimates say his proposals would add $21 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
TAX-LOVERS
Carol Ammons hasn’t seen a tax she doesn’t like. In Springfield, Ammons supported extending the 67% Quinn-Madigan tax hike on every Illinois family without offering any reforms. Even worse, Ammons has advocated tax hikes on Illinois businesses and job-creators, putting our state’s economy at risk.
Bernie Sanders is Washington’s biggest tax fan. During his failed bid for president, Bernie proposed $15.3 trillion in tax hikes, “hitting virtually everyone, including the politically all-important middle class.” Even Hillary Clinton’s tax plan wasn’t that extreme.
SOCIALIST-SYMPATHIZERS
Carol Ammons makes no bones about it - she gets her inspiration from left-wing, Communist radicals. In 2014, Ammons said her “all-time hero” was a two-time failed candidate for Vice President on the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) ticket. Her hero even traveled to failed nations like the Soviet Union and East Germany, praising Vladimir Lenin and supporting his violent massacre of political dissidents.
Bernie Sanders will say it himself - he’s a proud socialist. Sanders has spoken highly of deceased-Communist leader Fidel Castro, praising his authoritarian Cuban government. Bernie Sanders even honeymooned in the Soviet Union and addressed foreign governments sympathetic to Communism.
Whew. That’s a lot of muck to throw to protect Rodney Davis’ behind.
By the way, the “hero” referred to above is Angela Davis.
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* A friend of mine asked me yesterday if I’d read a late February Tribune story about a South Side housing project called Parkway Gardens. I did see it, but I didn’t read it very carefully because the piece was kind of all over the place.
I read it again this morning and looked for the hot buttons my friend mentioned last night. This story has everything. So I’m going to make it easier for you to read.
* According to the report, in a little over five years, there have been 41 shootings at Parkway Gardens, including the recent murder of 11-year-old Takiya Holmes and last August’s killing of a cousin of Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade, who was shot while pushing a baby stroller containing her newborn child. Former First Lady Michelle Obama lived in Parkway Gardens as a child.
The article claims residents also complain about problems with roaches and mice, and the project’s latest HUD inspection score put it “just above what was historically the threshold for passing.” But the real problem is the violence.
* The place was developed and managed by a company owned by Stephen Ross, the wealthy owner of the Miami Dolphins. Ross gave Mayor Emanuel’s campaign fund $25,000 in 2015. The Trib reports that the company has a $20 billion real estate portfolio and has a new luxury rental building on Lake Shore Drive and is developing the site of the failed “Spire” tower.
* According to the article, the rent collected on a fully leased complex, which includes 35 buildings and 694-units, is $10.5 million a year…
A three-bedroom apartment at Parkway, for example, can bring in up to $1,375 per month, and a two-bedroom can command $1,167, according to Related. That’s up to 14 percent higher than HUD estimates is “fair market rent” in the surrounding Woodlawn community, records show.
* The company acquired the complex for $40 million and ended up spending a total of $100 million after the rehab, according to the article. But the company didn’t do it alone. Taxpayers helped - a lot.
According to the Trib, the company received $59 million in bonds issued by the Illinois Housing Development Authority. It also got $30 million in federal low-income housing tax credits for 10 years, and another $9.6 million in tax credits after the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It also received a $10.4 million federal developer’s fee, for a grand total that appears to be just shy of its $100 million outlay, not including rent…
“These are pretty safe bets,” [Alan Cravitz, a vice president at Draper and Krame] said. “You’ve got a long-term contract with the government and rents are higher than market rates.”
* Mary Mitchell and Mark Brown both wrote about Parkway Gardens in February columns…
* Mitchell: Time for Parkway Gardens’ owners to step up: Between 2011 and 2014, there were so many shootings in this area that a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of police data found it was the most dangerous block in Chicago in terms of shootings in a three-year period.
* Mitchell: Parkway Gardens ground zero for Chicago’s violence: For many working-class families, Parkway Gardens was seen as an alternative to the Chicago Housing Authority’s Robert Taylor Homes and Stateway Gardens. It is now a textbook example of what happens when hope moves out and despair moves in.
* Brown: ‘Small’ Parkway Gardens kids program must get a bit bigger
* The media attention seemed to work, according to the Tribune article…
On Friday, after meeting with an official from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Related announced a series of security improvements, including limiting and redesigning entry points to the complex, better lighting, more fencing and cameras and beefed-up security staffing. The measures were the culmination of months of planning, the company said.
OK, fine. Let’s hope something happens. But where’s the outrage from the alderman and state and federal legislators who supposedly represent that complex? It’s just bizarre that nobody has spoken up more about this.
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Bill pulled after high costs questioned
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the synopsis of HB 695…
Provides that within one-year after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the Legislative Information System shall create a Spanish-language version of its website to provide legislative information. Specifies the legislative information to be placed on the Spanish-language website, and allows for the placement of additional unspecified information.
* The bill came up for a floor vote yesterday…
“There is a segment, especially in my district, that are Spanish speaking and that follow the General Assembly and as a state representative, I want to commit to continue to have this bill and make sure we provide the best possible constituent services,” [sponsoring Rep. Silvana Tabares, D-Chicago] said.
Tabares estimated the cost of the translation, if initial software could not do it alone, at between $60,000 and $100,000 to pay for another website or software company. But she added that if a third party was needed to add Spanish to the site, it would have an estimated cost of between $800,000 to $1.5 million.
That estimate prompted House Republicans to offer up free options, such as Google Translate. It also had [Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego] holding up his own tablet to Democrats to show that he translated the website for free using Google.
“Why are we against a great free bipartisan solution?” State Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, said before the bill was pulled. “We should have a Kumbaya and have a beer afterwards. Let’s pull this bill out of the record, let’s amend it. Let’s do something that’s free and help people who speak every language.”
The bill is now on Postponed Consideration.
The problem with any translating software (free or paid) is whether it can pick up nuances. Statutes are usually written in precise ways. Things can literally be lost or misconstrued in translation.
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* Tribune…
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration tried another approach in the battle over Chicago Public Schools finances, urging lawmakers to back an effort from two Senate Republicans to both overhaul state pensions and send CPS $215 million that officials say is needed to avert an early end to the school year. […]
Rauner took to Facebook on Tuesday to say he would sign a bill that combines an effort to curb public sector pension benefits — legislation that recently fell four votes short of winning Senate approval — and a one-year CPS funding measure the governor vetoed in December.
Rauner later acknowledged he was “a little emotional” when he announced the veto not long after Democratic Senate President John Cullerton publicly suggested there had never been a deal linking the $215 million in CPS pension aid to broader statewide pension reforms.
CPS moved to cut costs after the veto by furloughing employees, freezing school budgets and saying it could be forced to cut summer school and shorten the school year by about three weeks — for a savings of about $96 million — if the state or the courts don’t intervene.
* Mayor Emanuel gently responded yesterday and offered up his own demands…
“I will compliment the governor. This is an acknowledgment that, in fact, there’s pension inequity in the system,” the mayor said. “But, if I’m not mistaken, it’s only one year of pension funding while the pension reform is permanent. That doesn’t sound to me like a full agreement.”
Emanuel urged Rauner to take the first step toward a larger agreement by signing a bill he has threatened to veto, saving two of four city employee pension funds.
“The Laborers and Municipal Fund pension reform is on his desk. And the first step on the road to ensuring and securing our pensions and our fiscal stability would be to sign that bill,” Emanuel said.
Rauner spokesperson Eleni Demertzis countered that the state “already provides a special block grant for CPS as a substitute for the state not picking up its normal cost of pensions.”
“The bipartisan agreement reached last summer was to give Chicago one year support for its pensions of $215 million on top of its special block grant,” she wrote in an email.
* Senate President John Cullerton’s spokesman agrees.
The proposals that Senators Tracy and Connelly mentioned in their press conference were filed [yesterday]. A quick read reveals that while the pension changes would be permanent, the associated funding for CPS is for FY 17 only.
“That legislation forces permanent pension changes for thousands of teachers, university employees and state workers, and the tradeoff is one-time funding assistance for Chicago schools.
“That’s a bad deal.”
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** 1 ILGOP press release…
“Illinois Democrats have said no to real reforms with a truly balanced budget. First, they refused to consider a long-term property tax freeze and reduced spending. Now they’re rejecting a plan to help Chicago Public Schools while providing statewide pension reform. They’re even blocking Governor Rauner from cutting on his own to balance the budget. While Governor Rauner does his job, they’re back to being the party of no.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
*** UPDATE *** 2 Press release…
Governor Rauner released a video message Thursday encouraging the General Assembly to take swift action on legislation that would enact statewide pension reform while delivering Chicago Public Schools the $215 million it has requested from the state.
The Governor has pledged to sign the legislation when it reaches his desk. The video can be viewed on his Facebook page.
“The people of Illinois want to see their leaders get good things done in Springfield and right now, we have the opportunity to make that happen. Comprehensive pension reform for the entire state would save taxpayers billions, and allow us to meet a request for assistance from the city of Chicago,” Rauner said. “Illinois has been asking for a compromise, and this is a compromise we can all get behind. Let’s get it done.”
Senators Michael Connelly and Jil Tracy this week introduced legislation taking the pension bill (SB 16) from the “Grand Bargain” and combining it with a bill delivering $215 million to CPS for its teacher pensions. The package would be expected to win bipartisan support given that the pension proposal came within four votes of passage and the CPS funding passed both chambers of the General Assembly last summer.
Last June, Governor Rauner and the four legislative leaders agreed the state would pay for one year of CPS’ teacher pensions as long as lawmakers provided the necessary funding by passing statewide pension reform. The agreement was broken when the Illinois Senate did not follow-through with the pension reform component and sent only the CPS bill to the Governor’s desk.
Recently, the Rauner Administration offered two paths to help CPS fill its multi-million dollar budget hole: the legislative proposal or through city TIF funds.
“We urge the General Assembly to move forward quickly with the deal on pensions that helps our state save billions of dollars,” Rauner said. “By honoring the agreement we worked out last summer, Democrats could jumpstart momentum to break the budget impasse in Springfield.”
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Caption contest!
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The man on our left is James Coyne with the Plumbers Union…
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* Press release…
As Illinois’ finances deteriorate and gridlock prevails in Springfield, dark money groups spend millions of dollars to influence elections and public policy without disclosing the sources of their funding.
That frequently leaves taxpayers and elected officials in the dark about a group’s true motivations for supporting or opposing legislation or policies.
Senate Bill 2089, sponsored by Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), would require greater transparency of politically active dark money groups by requiring them to register as political committees and disclose their donors.
“Accountability for political donations is vitally important in our system of government and elections,” Harmon said. “For too long, dark money groups have been able to hide behind the cloak of their nonprofit status and conceal the true intent of their work, which is to raise unlimited amounts of money and peddle political influence, unbeknownst to the average voter and taxpayer.
Harmon noted that the groups in question are not the charities and civic organizations for whom tax-exempt status was intended.
“These are political groups organized specifically to take advantage of nonprofit protections and hide their political activity,” he said.
Harmon added that as Illinois continues to see unprecedented spending by candidates and outside groups seeking to influence elections, it’s important for voters that the General Assembly closes loopholes that allow runaway spending by dark money groups.
“I think nearly all of us can all agree that a flood of secret political donations by billionaires and corporations is not good for our state,” Harmon said.
Senate Bill 2089 advanced out of the Senate’s Executive Committee in an 11-3 vote Wednesday.
Numerous good-government organizations indicated support for the measure, including the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the Better Government Association, Illinois PIRG, and the 2,700 members of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.
Only two organizations indicated they are opposed to the measure, although they did not send representatives to Wednesday’s hearing to explain why: the Illinois Policy Institute and Americans For Prosperity. Both are dark money groups that would be required to disclose their contributions and expenditures when they bill becomes law.
The bill is here.
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*** LIVE *** Session coverage
Thursday, Mar 16, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Today’s post is sponsored by the American Heart Association of Illinois. Follow everything in real time right here with ScribbleLive…
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