Supt. Johnson gets his day in Springfield
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
A plan to impose stiffer sentences for felons convicted of gun crimes narrowly cleared an early hurdle Thursday after Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson asked state lawmakers for help in cracking down on repeat offenders.
Johnson appeared before an Illinois Senate committee to back the proposal, which would increase the sentencing guidelines for judges deciding punishment for repeat gun felons. Instead of a range of three to 14 years, judges would hand out sentences of seven to 14 years. A judge could depart from that guideline under certain circumstances.
Johnson has for months has been calling for lawmakers to take action as the Chicago Police Department continues to face a surge of street violence.
“This is about creating a culture of accountability,” he said.
* Sun-Times…
“They make the decision to pull the trigger because they don’t fear our judicial system,” Johnson said. “If they fear the judicial system, then it is a deterrent.”
He said passage of the bill would show repeat gun offenders “we’re serious about holding them accountable.”
Johnson, however, noted he’s “uneasy” with some provisions of the bill, including reducing the sentencing for those charged with possession of 100 grams or more of cocaine, heroin or fentanyl.
“To be clear, the drug trade is what drives the gang violence in Chicago and lessening the consequence for high level narcotic dealing and possession makes me very uncomfortable,” Johnson said.
Republicans voted against the bill because of the sentencing reduction aspects.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* How do you think the Senate’s grand bargain can be revived? Or can it be revived? Explain.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Up your game, Chris
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m old enough to remember the days when saying “B.S.” to a group of pastors in a church was considered disrespectful and very bad form…
Businessman and Democratic candidate for governor Chris Kennedy called Illinois’ current chief executive’s pro-business agenda “B.S,” while speaking to a group of South Side pastors Thursday.
“What we need is certainty. What we need is predictability,” Kennedy said, speaking at Bethlehem Star Church on South Cottage Grove. “What we need is a budget. Gov. Rauner, do your job. Get us a state budget.”
Kennedy formerly managed the Merchandise Mart, and he said he dealt with 5,000 companies during his 25 years there.
“Not one in 25 years ever said to me that they were worried about coming to Illinois because of the way we draw our state rep. districts,” Kennedy said. “None of them said they were worried about tort reform or workers’ comp or term limits. That agenda is B.S. when it comes to attracting companies to our state.”
As I’ve said many times before, Democrats should be pushing for remap reform. Right now, they’re counting on Gov. Rauner to lose in 2018. And if he wins and vetoes their map, they’re counting on winning the hat draw, which is a 50-50 proposition. Get the General Assembly out of drawing the maps or Rauner may draw the next one.
And no companies at the Mart were concerned with being sued? Or worried about the state’s high costs when their workers were injured? C’mon. I find that a little difficult to believe. And, even if it’s true, then maybe he should go talk to some Downstate manufacturers before the last one leaves Illinois. COGFA’s executive director Dan Long told me yesterday he believes one reason the state’s revenues are tanking so hard is due to the heavy loss of manufacturing jobs. The Merchandise Mart is important to Illinois, but it doesn’t reflect reality everywhere else.
*** UPDATE *** From the ILGOP…
“Chris Kennedy keeps repeating Mike Madigan’s talking points because he wants to be the Speaker’s chosen candidate. Only a Madigan machine politician would call term limits, fair maps and job-creating economic reforms ‘B.S.’”
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Unclear on the concept
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Governor, you’re no longer just a candidate. You can actually do something about administrative regulations now…
So, if it’s time to do something, then let’s see the plan.
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It just gets worse by the day
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Vinicky on the grand bargain…
Cullerton’s spokesman says, “We are in a holding pattern until we get an indication from Republicans that there is Republican support for proposals they helped put together.”
The governor says he wants evidence of deeper spending cuts before he’ll sign off on the “grand bargain” and its income tax increase, but Democrats say Rauner’s own budget proposal is seriously out of balance – even more than originally thought, given new estimates from the state’s nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, which show next year’s revenues coming $329 million weaker than Rauner’s estimates of $32.7 billion.
Rauner’s proposed budget had a $4.6 billion dollar deficit, so the new revenue estimates mean that hole is now about $4.9 billion.
* From the Senate Democrats…
A state financial report released this week by the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) projects that state FY18 revenues are $329 million less than Governor Rauner’s estimates of $32.7 billion. The drop means that Rauner’s budget blueprint is unbalanced by nearly $5 billion.
The Senate’s budget and revenue committee heads say the new estimates aren’t impossible to overcome, so long as the governor ends his behind-the-scenes antics that have derailed the Senate’s bipartisan compromises.
Senator Toi Hutchinson (Chair of Senate Revenue Committee)
“We know today that the governor’s budget is wildly out of balance - by $5 billion. That’s an alarming figure. What is abundantly clear is that not telling the truth about Illinois’ revenue crisis is disingenuous at best. The simple fact is part of the solution requires straightforward honesty with the public about the need for revenue.”
Senator Heather Steans (Chair of the Senate Appropriations I Committee)
“There remains a determination to strike a compromise to provide what Illinois needs more than anything else right now: stability. Fiscal stability, stability for countless service providers and stability for our business community. Taking another few hundred million dollars out of the formula is a hurdle, but I’m confident we can complete the task to address Bruce Rauner’s $5 billion out-of-balance budget design. To make that task easier, it’s helpful if the governor ends his ideological meddling.”
Senator Andy Manar (Chair of the Senate Appropriations II Committee)
“The drop in revenue makes Bruce Rauner’s phony budget $5 billion out of whack and counting. Every day Bruce Rauner interferes, it adds $11 million dollars onto the growing pile of debt and makes his budget even more out of balance. The Senate remains committed to doing the job to fix the chaos the governor’s created.”
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Et tu, Tillman?
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Umm…
* But the Tribune editorial board has a different take…
We applaud Chance for his activism. The more pressure to help Chicago kids, to improve results at CPS, to close the gap in funding statewide between wealthy and poor school districts, the better.
But that inequity — built into a school funding model that relies on property taxes — has been worsening for 20 years, not just the two since Rauner’s inauguration. Illinois legislators have had the power to change the formula in the dozen years after 2002 when Democrats won the governorship plus majorities in the House and Senate.
Instead, Democrats let the gap in funding widen. They’ve had task forces and news conferences and recommendations and hearings and white papers. But no results. The last school funding proposal to gain some steam got out of the Senate but never even got a hearing in the Democratic-controlled House.
That history never seems to make its way into news conferences when schools CEO Forrest Claypool blames Rauner for a “racist” school funding formula.
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* Speaker Madigan press release…
Following Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal to make the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum into a freestanding institution in his proposed state budget, Speaker Michael J. Madigan is introducing legislation to improve the administration of the library, advancing an effort prioritized by both Rauner and House Democrats.
“The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is a monument to one of Illinois’ greatest sons, and a symbol of our state’s place in American history, but the structure of its administration does not provide the museum with the clear leadership or flexibility the museum needs to fill its role as a world-class institution,” Madigan said. “This legislation puts the museum under the direct leadership of a board whose only responsibility is to the museum and this crucial piece of our history.”
Currently, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is under the direction of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. While the library is widely recognized as one of the preeminent presidential museums in the country, it has been hampered by bureaucracy and mismanagement. Three different boards currently play a role in overseeing the museum. Madigan’s House Bill 136 separates the museum from the Historic Preservation Agency, placing it under the direction of an independent board appointed by the governor.
Streamlining the administration of the museum has been a priority for both Rauner and House Democrats. Rauner’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget proposal called for the museum to be separated from the Historic Preservation Agency. Rauner also told legislators in 2015: “To ensure the museum and library to be the world-class institutions they deserve to be, our administration is working in partnership with Speaker Madigan on a reorganization plan.”
As I write this, an amendment has not yet been filed to the vehicle bill.
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* From the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability…
Every year, the Tax Foundation publishes its “business tax climate” report, which scores states based on their tax policies. The report always gets a lot of press; in Illinois, which ranked 23rd with a score of 5.21 in the 2017 report, the press is usually accompanied by quotes from politicians and business leaders about how the state needs to improve its tax climate to be competitive with other states like Indiana or Wisconsin.
But should we listen?
Of course, even the Tax Foundation would probably agree that having a good “business tax climate” isn’t a goal in itself. Instead, a good climate is supposed to improve the state’s economy, and lead to more growth, more income, and more jobs.
You might think, then, that states with better “business tax climates” do better on those outcomes — the things we really care about.
Except they don’t.
What CTBA found (click here for charts) is that the Tax Foundation’s business climate scores “have only very marginal relationships to GDP per capita; growth in GDP per capita; median household income; growth in median household income; and growth in jobs.”
* And then there’s this…
Of course, there’s another policy indicator that does track with a better economy. It’s per student spending on education.
But it will be hard to keep up spending on students if Illinois doesn’t have revenue because we cut taxes to have a better “tax climate” according to the Tax Foundation.
* The last chart…
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The big squeeze on higher education
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* News-Gazette…
Leaders of Illinois’ public colleges and universities said Tuesday that their institutions can’t withstand further budget cuts and painted a picture of a system already badly damaged.
One president said the state’s higher-education system is approaching the equivalent of “junk-bond status.”
In a two-hour session, the university officials said they had eliminated thousands of positions, instituted furlough days, cut programs and now were assessing whether to undertake extraordinary measures, including eliminating instructional days and perhaps an entire college. […]
Southern Illinois President Randy Dunn said the university is reviewing whether to eliminate academic departments and possibly an entire college.
“If we have to go there, it will be significant and send a tectonic shock through southern Illinois,” he said. “… If you get away from the fiscal analysis, we have a public university system here in Illinois that in the higher education marketplace is just about to go to junk bond status.”
* Daily Egyptian…
SIU President Randy Dunn on Wednesday said SIU cannot operate for another 20 months without state support “short of hollowing out” its core programs. […]
If Illinois does not pass a budget for another 20 months, Dunn said SIU would be forced to gouge the core of its campus programs, services, facilities and regional support projects through another round of budget cuts. He said “the lion’s share” of those reductions would be felt by the Carbondale campus and would go into effect before July 1.
This would come after a “pounding our regular operations have taken,” Dunn wrote in the column.
* Moody’s…
Moody’s has issued a short report (attached) noting the 21-month long budget impasse in the State of Illinois (rated Baa2/negative outlook) is continuing to have negative credit implications for the state’s public universities and community colleges through interrupted state funding for operations. The ongoing budget deadlock is increasingly forcing the state’s public universities to take considerable steps to continue operations and stem the tide of eroding unrestricted liquidity. The state’s community colleges have experienced similar, though less severe, operational and credit pressure.
In the past week, both Northeastern Illinois University (Ba2/negative) and Governors State University (Ba1/negative) announced significant steps to combat the continued absence of state funding for operations. Northeastern Illinois University announced it will eliminate 300 student employee positions and roughly 1,100 university employees will take an unpaid week off during the university’s spring break. The university has also continued hiring and spending freezes from the prior fiscal year. Governors State University announced steps that include the elimination of 22 academic programs and a 15% tuition increase for all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs to take effect during the next academic year. In the last two years, the university has eliminated a total of 35 programs and it has cut 62 staff positions in 2016. Material programming reductions and staffing cuts, while necessary to keep the state’s public universities operational in the short-term, will further impair the universities’ abilities to sustain their strategic competitiveness and attract students for the upcoming fall 2017 class.
We believe the state’s public universities will likely take additional steps to mitigate budgetary and liquidity stress while continuing operations. While universities can pull a number of operational levers including academic program elimination, mandatory employee furloughs and reductions in force, these actions will further weaken the universities’ strategic positions. Illinois’ public universities are already coping with continued pressures on enrollment, operations and liquidity. Moreover the budget impasse has also left Illinois universities and colleges with far less MAP (Monetary Award Program) grants than anticipated for the state’s low income students.
The budget impasse has also taken a lesser toll on Illinois community colleges because property taxes are typically the largest revenue source for these schools, followed by tuition and state appropriations. Community college reserves have declined, but remain healthy for the community colleges that we rate. Illinois community colleges can also issue both short-term cash flow notes and long-term working cash bonds to boost liquidity. Despite advantages, many community colleges have made substantial cuts to expenditures or increased tuition to offset reduced state aid distributions that could hurt enrollment and long-term competitiveness. Community colleges also rely on the state for pension contributions, which is a longer term risk for the sector.
Finally, Illinois universities and community colleges remain exposed to demographic challenges that will suppress long-term demand for higher education in the state. Illinois will fare worse than its regional and national peers with decreasing numbers of high school students over the next 15 years, with high school graduates expected to be 14% lower in 2031-32 than 2016-17, compared to 3% lower nationally and 7% lower regionally. Illinois is already a net exporter of high school graduates with net out migration of nearly 17,000 students in fall 2014, the second highest of any state in the country. These demographic challenges add further pressure to the state’s universities, limiting their ability to grow student related revenues to mitigate the impact of state-level issues.
* Related…
* Bernard Schoenburg: Rauner talks up higher ed, but has cut funding
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Rauner appeals Mendoza court win
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Sun-Times has some news about Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s court win earlier this week on whether she had discretion over which accounts to use to pay some state workers …
The governor said he didn’t agree with the ruling but would “honor” it. But later Wednesday afternoon, his administration appealed the court order. Mendoza’s office, however, says the state’s Department of Central Management Services re-submitted vouchers for 578 employees affected by the dispute, and they’d get paychecks on Friday. The comptroller’s office says the vouchers were submitted during a “brief window” between the governor saying he’d abide by the ruling and the appeal.
“We submitted the payroll per her request but are appealing because we are going to continue fighting Comptroller Mendoza’s push to cripple state government operations — part of the coordinated effort to shut down state government,” Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said in a statement.
The governor said Mendoza is working to “deplete those funds” to create a crisis by forcing a shutdown to get a “stopgap budget” or to get a tax hike without structural changes.
* Meanwhile, Kristen McQueary has a beef with Mendoza’s claim to be an independent voice…
It takes a certain level of audacity to kick political opponents in the teeth the night they lose an election.
But that’s what Democratic Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza did on Nov. 8, 2016, and her aggressive, in-your-face approach hasn’t calmed in the months since. She ran promising to be an independent comptroller. But in less than four months, she has become in Springfield the most intensely partisan critic of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. She demands no such accountability of her fellow Democrats who have held majorities in the General Assembly for 15 years.
Mendoza beat Republican Leslie Munger, who was appointed to complete the term of the late Judy Baar Topinka. Traditionally a low-profile office, the comptroller is the state’s bookkeeper. The Illinois Constitution assigns the comptroller two primary duties: take in the bills and pay them.
Mendoza is no circumspect bookkeeper.
Since election night, she has blamed Rauner for all of state government’s dysfunction.
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More horrific pension news
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Standard & Poor’s surveyed pension obligations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, San Antonio, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Dallas, Houston, Columbus, Indianapolis and Austin.
Chicago performed the worst across the board — registering the highest annual debt, pension post-employment benefits costs as a percentage of governmental expenditures and the highest debt and pension liability per capita.
The burden in Chicago is $12,427-per-person, double New York city’s $6,115-per-person.
Chicago also had the lowest weighted pension fund ratio, the worst pension contribution vs. required level and the lowest funded return for a single fund.
That dubious distinction went to the Chicago Police Annuity and Benefit Fund, which had assets to cover just 25 percent of its liabilities in fiscal 2015, down from 26 percent the year before.
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Rauner announces new hate crimes initiatives
Thursday, Mar 9, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune last night…
In response to recent local acts of anti-Semitism and reports of increased hate crimes nationwide, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday will announce a multipronged effort to boost the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes through stronger laws and better education.
Rauner will detail his four-point plan at a downtown dinner benefiting the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, according to his office. He tapped the state director of public safety and the secretary of education to help carry out the proposal.
* Press release last night…
Governor Bruce Rauner announced today at the Illinois Holocaust Museum Humanitarian Awards dinner a number of steps the administration is taking to combat hate crimes and growing anti-Semitism in Illinois.
“We cannot stay silent on hate. We cannot stay silent when families in our community are in danger. The promise of ‘Never Again’ requires us to take action,” Governor Rauner said. “Illinois is a leader in standing up to hate crimes and anti-Semitism, but we can and must do more.
In a memo to Illinois Director of Public Safety Rodger Heaton and Secretary of Education Beth Purvis, the Governor outlined a number of objectives to protect minority communities from hate and violence. Those objectives are:
· Strengthening Illinois’ Hate Crime Law
The Illinois Holocaust and Genocide has proposed legislation to increase penalties for acts of vandalism against houses of worship and religious centers. The administration is working with the bill’s sponsors on HB 2390, and the governor will sign the agreed bill when it reaches his desk.
· Improve Law Enforcement Training and Response on Hate Crimes
In conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, the Illinois State Police (ISP) and the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, the administration will develop a statewide standardized training plan for state troopers and local police departments. Illinois will also strengthen its partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation to protect religious minority institutions across the state.
· Expand Anti-Hate Education in Schools
Illinois was the first state in the country to require students learn about the Holocaust as part of their curriculum. The administration will work with Illinois State Board of Education to create a dedicated portal to anti-hate education in support the state’s requirement to educate our students about the Holocaust.
· Strengthen Illinois’ Landmark anti-BDS Law
Illinois was also the first state in the country to pass legislation to fight the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement by restricting state pension funds from investing in countries that boycott Israel. Other states followed Illinois’ lead, but went a step farther in prohibiting state contracts with companies that boycott Israel. The administration will work with the General Assembly to strengthen Illinois’ landmark by prohibiting state contracts for companies that boycott Israel.
“In a time of rising hate crimes and anti-Semitism, we need to remember that America is the flagbearer for freedom of religion,” Governor Rauner added. “We should do everything we can to prosecute those who look to incite hate and violence against others because of their religion.”
* Another press release last night…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today sent a letter to Governor Rauner calling on him to restore the state’s Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes to combat a troubling increase in hate crimes.
In her letter, Madigan urged the governor to immediately appoint a diverse group of individuals to fill the 20 vacant positions on the Commission due to the pressing need to have a fully functioning commission to combat increasing reports of hate crimes, that include recent bomb threats, against people in Illinois.
“Appointing members to this commission is a critical responsibility that the governor has ignored for too long,” Madigan said. “We must bring Illinois’ vibrant and diverse community of leaders and advocates together to help combat growing hate and discrimination in our communities.”
Madigan sent her letter after convening a recent summit with Illinois civil rights leaders for communities of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQ individuals, Muslims, Jews and Christians on hate crimes. Leaders at the summit detailed increasing experiences of hate and discrimination and voiced their need to have an active and engaged Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes fulfill its mandate to coordinate statewide efforts to combat these unlawful acts.
Data from the Chicago Police Department shows that hate crimes reached a five-year high in 2016 and are outpacing that level in 2017, according to reports. In addition, the Southern Law Poverty Center reported over nearly 1,100 hate incidents nationally in the month after last fall’s election. Just this week, a new wave of bomb threats was made against Jewish Community Centers in Illinois and across the county.
…Adding… The hate crimes commission has been plagued for years with division. Remember this from 2006?…
Five Jewish members of Illinois’ hate-crimes commission have resigned in protest over another commissioner who is an official with the Nation of Islam. Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, rails against Jewish and gay people this week in front of commissioners. Chicago Public Radio’s Catrin Einhorn reports.
And from a pal…
I’m trying to find Lisa Madigan’s letters to Pat Quinn asking him to fill the hate crimes commission for the six years it sat empty under him.
Can’t seem to locate them. Curious.
* Related…
* Sneed: Rauner opens up on religion in launching hate-crimes plan
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*** LIVE *** Session coverage
Thursday, Mar 9, 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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