The consequences of deliberate inaction
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Sen. Melinda Bush…
Since it was founded in 1980, A Safe Place has grown into a $2.2 million agency with seven offices across Lake County. Services include emergency shelter, a 24-hour crisis line, legal advocacy, permanent housing, case management, individual and group therapy, mentoring programs, supervised family visitation and custody exchanges, and more.
“Until recently, A Safe Place served 16,000 individuals each year, but because domestic violence organizations were left out of the stopgap budget, last year we were only able to help 13,000 people,” said Pat Davenport, Executive Director of A Safe Place.
A Safe Place gets half of its funding from fundraising and the other half comes from the state. But because of the budget impasse, A Safe Place’s emergency shelter is operating at 75 percent capacity. For victims of domestic violence, being able to flee to a shelter could be the difference between life and death.
“In roughly 80 percent of domestic violence related murders, the victim had already left the abuser or was in the process of leaving,” Davenport said. “Due to the lack of state funding, our domestic violence shelter has been forced to turn away over 500 individuals who were fleeing for their lives, leaving them with limited options: return to the abuser or risk homelessness.”
A Safe Place depends on state funding to cover all payroll costs. As a result, they have been unable to fill open positions and have had to scale back their services.
“If we continue scaling back our services, it won’t just impact the thousands of domestic violence victims who rely on us, but it will also have a ripple effect across the community as other organizations would have to pick up where we left off,” Davenport said.
But, hey, term limits will solve their problems, right?
Ugh.
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Squeezing the higher ed beast
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the AFT…
Northeastern Illinois University has shut down for spring break. The school says the closing, for the week of March 20, is a necessary move to ensure there will be enough money to stay open the rest of the year. […]
NEIU has finally reached a breaking point. The campus is shuttered for the week: computer labs, the writing center, the library—all closed. Only police and building engineers are on call. More than 1,000 employees will be furloughed, forced to take a week without pay. Worse, about 300 students who rely on their campus jobs will be out of work too. […]
Universities across the state have already laid off hundreds of employees. They’ve also furloughed staff before; last year at NEIU, it was one unpaid day a week for six weeks. At Chicago State University, 900 faculty, staff and administrators got layoff notices last year and more than one-third of the employees are currently laid off, including instructors, tenured and tenure-track faculty, and student-support professionals. Enrollment there has dropped by half, as the school’s status has become increasingly unstable.
Eastern Illinois University has laid off 177 support staff and instructors and is now moving to eliminate academic programs. Governors State University has cut 22 programs and hiked tuition by 15 percent, with additional program eliminations expected. Western Illinois University has laid off more than 100 instructors, including tenure-track faculty, and an additional 100-plus noninstructional employees, and has forced pay deferrals and furloughs. The schools have all deferred maintenance, cut travel budgets and begun to spend their reserves. And students all over the state are worried about their Monetary Award Program, or MAP, grants—need-based state aid grants that have not been funded for the current academic year. Without the grants, designed for the lowest-income and most disadvantaged students, many will be unable to enroll.
* Perhaps the governor should consider all the small businesses operating in college towns…
* Not to mention that several of those SBDCs have closed during the impasse. From last September…
Springfield’s fiscal mess continues to rack up victims: small-business development centers on college campuses around the state, which are shutting their doors or retrenching because of funding shortfalls.
About a quarter have closed, the latest at Governors State University in south suburban University Park, which is going the way of abandoned locations at Joliet Junior College, Illinois State University in Normal and Waubonsee Community College in Aurora.
For three decades, the centers have been a free resource for fledgling entrepreneurs starting companies or trying to keep them going. Juicy Luzy Sangria owner Luz Cavazos is opening a 1,500-square-foot plant in Oak Lawn with $20,000 from small-business lender Accion and said it wouldn’t have happened had Governors State’s SBDC not helped draft a business plan.
Once numbering 36 statewide, the centers typically serve a few hundred clients each and cost in the neighborhood of $200,000 annually to operate. They’re jointly funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and matching state funds; some directors said schools chip in an amount equal to three-quarters of the state match through employee salaries and in-kind contributions.
But the state budget standoff during fiscal 2016 upended the equation. Colleges and universities had to front money to keep the centers open, and several gave up. The stopgap budget approved in late June to keep state government afloat through the end of the year did not include current-year earmarks for SBDCs.
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More like this, please
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If this works as advertised, then what’s the problem?…
Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to replace guards in watchtowers with closed-circuit cameras at nearly two dozen lower-security Illinois prisons, an effort to cut expenses for a cash-strapped state that has gone two years without a budget.
The administration is projecting $4 million in annual savings through reduced overtime-pay and “more efficient management strategies,” Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis told The Associated Press.
No security guards will be laid off, Corrections department spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said.
Such a proposal has encountered mixed results in other states. Michigan and Pennsylvania prison officials said they abandoned round-the-clock tower staffing in the past decade without layoffs. But Wisconsin eliminated 60 positions in 2015 when overnight staffing was limited to one tower at some prisons.
The Republican governor’s office didn’t provide specifics on the change, which would affect the state’s 23 minimum- and medium-security facilities. The four maximum-security prisons would retain full tower staffing.
The union is opposed for safety reasons, but if it’s been done elsewhere without problems, then I don’t know why IDOC shouldn’t try it here.
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* Yesterday, Gov. Rauner was asked this question by Bernie Schoenburg…
Governor, there’s supposed to be a vote in Washington this week by the House on the health care plan that Paul Ryan has crafted with some changes. It clearly would have—I think it block grants Medicaid—at least some state fiscal issues because of it. Are you recommending one way or another for how our delegation should vote on that plan?
* Rauner’s response…
I’m very troubled, very worried about the changes coming in Medicaid for the nation. I’m very concerned about the changes to the Affordable Care Act. Now, let me say, the Affordable Care Act is broken and needs to change. Needs big changes. It’s not working. So I applaud them for trying to take on changes. When you look at what’s happened in our exchanges. I mean, insurance companies are dropping off, we don’t have competition. And look at the insurance rates on the exchanges, I mean good grief. I mean they’ve gone through the roof. It’s not working.
What we’re doing, I’m talking to members of our congressional delegation. I’m talking to members of the Trump administration. I’m talking to other governors. I’m trying to take a united stand with other governors. It’s hard, because some states expanded their Medicaid population, others didn’t. It’s a very disparate group. Trying to develop consensus is hard.
My sense is whatever gets voted on will probably change quite a bit in the Senate. And this is the process, I don’t think it’s going to get done quickly, this is my expectation. But we’re talking to people, I’m pretty much talking to people every day about this. What I won’t do - I know you’d like me to, but I won’t - I won’t negotiate in the press about what we’re advocating. I’m saying move slowly, move thoughtfully, we need to transition this in a careful way. We’ve got to minimize the hurt to peoples’ lives while we change the system.
As long as he’s doing what he says he’s doing, then that response is not bad at all for a Republican governor. Plus, he’s right. At the moment, anyway, it’s just a bill. Why start burning DC bridges when he’s already lit most of Illinois’ on fire? Again, if he’s actually working behind the scenes to make sure we don’t get the short end of the stick, then I’m cool with that. We’ll see how the delegation votes, particularly those members who are closest to Rauner’s inner circle (Rodney Davis, for one).
Frankly, I wish he’d incorporate the notions of not negotiating via press conference and not constantly hectoring other political actors about how to do their jobs in his governing style here. Might improve things a bit.
* But other GOP governors have said far more…
Four sitting Republican governors have come out against the GOP health care bill.
In a joint letter sent Thursday to the leaders of the House and Senate, the governors of Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and Arkansas argued that the “current version” of the American Health Care Act in the House hurts states.
“It provides almost no new flexibility for states, does not ensure the resources necessary to make sure no one is left out, and shifts significant new costs to the state,” the letter says.
* So, the Democratic Governors Association today added Rauner to its “Chicken Caucus” roster…
Today, the DGA named Governor Bruce Rauner to the inaugural class of the “Chicken Caucus,” 15 gubernatorial candidates who refuse to take a position on the U.S. House health care bill.
The 15 inaugural members include three sitting governors and 12 candidates, from a total of 10 different states up for election in 2017-18.
Democratic and at least 15 Republican governors around the country have raised concerns about the impact of the House health care bill on states. Four Republican governors wrote a joint letter to Congressional leaders last week saying the bill “shifts significant new costs to states.”
While other Republican governors have spoken up for their states, these members of the “Chicken Caucus” have refused to take a stand or even give voters a clear yes-or-no answer on the bill.
…Adding… US Rep. Randy Hultgren is not loving the bill…
In a letter to Ryan, Hultgren says that, even after some changes, the American Health Care Act “would adversely and unfairly affect the state of Illinois” and jeopardize coverage for many of the 40,000 poor children in his district alone.
“From where I sit, the (proposal) as written would stop funding health care for thousands of children, only to obtain miniscule cost savings, and trigger loss of coverage for kids who lack the resources and experience to get it elsewhere,” Hultgren writes in a letter released by his office.
That’s true because the plan would lock Illinois into a funding scheme that gives it less federal money for Medicaid than other states get—and then cut those levels, Hultgren continues.
“Illinois would be stuck permanently in last place . . . (and) its enrollees would be treated as if their health needs are less important just because of where they live.”
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Question of the day
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Sears, once the monolith of American retail, says that there is “substantial doubt” that it will be able to keep its doors open. […]
Sears has been a member of the retail dead pool for years, but until this week the company had not openly acknowledged its tenuous existence, said Ken Perkins, who heads the research firm Retail Metrics LLC.
Sears has long maintained that by balancing the sale of key assets while at the same time enticing customers with loyalty programs, it would eventually turn the corner.
Yet industry analysts have placed the staggering sums of money that Sears is losing beside the limited number of assets it has left to sell, and concluded that the storied retailer may have reached the point of no return.
The company has lost $10.4 billion since 2011, the last year that it made a profit. Excluding charges that can be listed as one-time events, the loss is $4.57 billion, Perkins says, but how the losses are stacked no longer seem to matter.
Needless to say, if Sears goes under, it’ll be a huge loss to Illinois.
* The Question: Your best (or worst) Sears memories?
*** UPDATE *** From Sears…
Following the release of our annual 10-K filing on Tuesday, there have been various media reports quoting a portion of the report that outlines potential risks associated with the company’s financial position, but those reports do not include the full disclosure which highlights the actions we are taking to mitigate those risks.
It is very important to reiterate that Sears Holdings remains focused on executing our transformation plan and will continue to take actions to help ensure our competitiveness and ability to continue to meet our financial obligations. However, we recognize there has been some negative commentary related to our recent disclosures.
To clarify, the comments from our Annual Report quoted by the media are in line with regulatory standards that require management to assess and disclose potential risks the company could face within one year from the reported financial statements. As 2016 proved to be another challenging year for most “bricks and mortar” retailers, our disclosures reflected these developments. While historical performance drives the disclosure, our financial plans and forecast do not reflect the continuation of that performance.
It is also critical to understand that our independent auditors have provided Sears Holdings with an “unqualified audit opinion.” This indicates the Company remains a “going concern,” which means we are a viable business that can meet its financial and other obligations for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, we have always followed SEC guidelines by providing a complete and comprehensive set of disclosures, just as many other publicly traded companies do.
Again, as we have previously communicated, we are firmly focused on improving the operational performance and financial flexibility of Sears Holdings. This is evident in the decisive actions we have taken in recent months, which include:
earlier this year, we increased our liquidity by up to $1.0 billion through our Secured Loan Facility and a standby letter of credit facility;
we also announced an amendment to our existing asset-based credit facility in February 2017, which provided an additional $250 million of financial flexibility;
additionally, last month, the Company initiated a restructuring program targeted to deliver at least $1.0 billion in annualized cost savings;
earlier this month, we closed the previously announced Craftsman transaction for a net present value of over $900 million in cash; and
in late January, we monetized five Sears full-line stores and two Sears Auto Centers for $72.5 million, and we recently received an additional $105 million in gross proceeds from the sale of three Sears full-line stores, one owned and two leased.
In line with these initiatives, despite the risks outlined we remain confident in our financial position and remain focused on executing our transformation plan.
Jason Hollar is Sears Holdings’ chief financial officer.
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Today’s quotable
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A bit of hyperbole from the Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall at a Senate committee hearing today, but he’s probably not too far off the mark…
* More from today’s hearing, which also included testimony from Thom Walstrum, a business economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago…
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Unintended consequences for state bonds?
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Remember last week when Cook County Judge Rodolfo Garcia stopped just short of ruling that the continuing appropriation for legislative salaries could be ignored by the Illinois comptroller? Garcia is expected to issue a final ruling later this week.
Well, here’s a warning shot from a subscriber who is also a financial analyst back East…
Hey Rich, just to point out for possible unintended consequences – I think any judges scrutinizing too closely the continuing appropriation language could be a big problem for the bond market. The current ratings of both IL GO and Sales Tax are, I’d say, highly reliant at this point on the existence of the continuing appropriation. S&P, itself, has stated this directly about the [General Obligation Bond Retirement and Interest fund] (after calling your state ‘service-level insolvent’).
Our state’s bond payment guarantees are viewed as some of the strongest in the nation, so allowing a comptroller to delay paying continuing appropriations might possibly rattle the markets a bit.
* There are other statutes on the books, however. From a recent Bond Buyer report…
A core strength of the state GO – highlighted in state investor presentations and recognized by market participants as one of the strongest among states – is the irrevocable and continuing appropriation for debt service payment.
Statutes direct the state treasurer and comptroller to make all necessary transfers monthly from any and all revenues and funds of the state to cover 1/12 of principal and 1/6 of interest for payments due in the next 12 months. They flow into the General Obligation Bond Retirement and Interest fund known as GOBRI.
“These features remain integral to the state’s investment grade ratings,” a recent S&P report said.
Analysts worry that such a prioritization over other state stakeholders starved for their aid or vendor payments is not “sustainable.”
“Sometimes those protections can fall away,” Petek said, citing challenges posed to debt structures in Detroit, Puerto Rico, and Stockton. Calif. At the end of the day, he said, flow of funds and security features don’t make up “for what is fundamental insolvency.”
Illinois is nearing a point of “service level insolvency,” and “it’s problematic,” he said.
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Another way our schools are inequitably funded
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dusty Rhodes interviews Jessica Handy about state funding of suburban and Downstate teacher pensions…
Rhodes: Okay, so let’s look at figures for some of the districts. Take Danville. How much do we pay per student in pension costs for Danville?
Handy: Danville gets about $500 per student.
Rhodes: Where does that put them on the spectrum of how much we pay for pension costs in different districts?
Handy: That’s actually about average. You’ll see that Rondout, which — it’s one of the richest districts in the whole state, and the state is giving them an in-kind benefit of $1,700 per pupil. So Danville gets about $500 per pupil; Rondout gets about $1,700 per pupil.
Rhodes: What about a really poor district, like East Aurora?
Handy: East Aurora gets about $280 per pupil.
Rhodes: You know, anyone who listens to our station has heard many times that the State of Illinois has a very inequitable funding system, because it’s based on property taxes. We talk about the amount of “general state aid” that goes to each district. In that conversation, are we talking about these pensions? Or is that a separate conversation?
Handy: It’s an entirely separate conversation. Lots of the analyses that have been done by national think tanks — people who have said Oh, Illinois, you have one of the most inequitable school funding formulas — most of those studies don’t even count the funding that’s going into teacher pensions. So we are even more inequitable than the studies that say we’re the most inequitable.
The bottom line is if your school district can afford to pay teachers more money, then your state pension subsidy is automatically higher.
…Adding… Hmm…
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Cyber war heats up between Rauner and Mendoza
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NBC 5…
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has unveiled a broad-based cybersecurity plan. The Republican announced the framework Tuesday. He says cybersecurity is one of the most pressing issues facing the nation and Illinois.
The plan outlines goals to protect state information systems. But it covers only executive branch agencies directly. It wouldn’t have prevented incidents like the cyberattack on Illinois voter data last fall.
Administration officials say they don’t know the final cost of the plan, but that it will come from existing Department of Innovation and Technology resources. The administration has proposed $900 million for all information technology services in the state’s next budget.
But officials say an additional $250 million was needed to connect agency systems, much of which has already been appropriated. Rauner says a cost-cutting pension overhaul could be one source of funding.
The full press release is here.
An earlier news report tagged the total new money at over a billion dollars and I used that number in this morning’s fax. Sorry about that.
* From the comptroller’s office…
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has proven he is willing to close Illinois’ social service agencies and put pinstripe patronage, consultants and computer contracts ahead of the poor, sick and people with disabilities:
· The Governor has budgeted $1.3 billion in appropriations and capital funds for his Department of Innovation and Technology (DOIT), more than is budgeted for the Department of Public Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Agriculture combined. With 1,482 employees, DOIT has a bigger staff than Eastern Illinois University.
· The Governor took $112 million from the Health Care Provider Relief Fund, which uses federal Medicaid reimbursements for – as its name suggests – Illinois’ beleaguered health care providers. At his direction, that money went to consultants and contracts for computer software, instead of doctors and hospitals, who are waiting six months to a year to get paid.
· To fund his struggling $250 million Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) initiative, his handpicked Comptroller transferred $71 million from the state’s General Revenue Fund in the final days in office to funds used in part to pay for ERP.
· Citing a lack of accountability and transparency, the Comptroller has frozen $27 million in funding for the ERP pending a program review. His administration refuses to answer questions about the ERP, release program timelines or provide an accounting of work performed by the consultants for the millions of dollars they have received. The administration has not provided answers to basic program questions sent by the Office of the Comptroller in a March 10 letter.
The Comptroller’s Office supports modernizing the state’s technology and keeping Illinois’ computers secure, but not at the expense of oversight. Especially at this time of financial crisis, when social services are being decimated, the Governor does not get a blank check to spend whatever he wants on pinstripe patronage without accountability. Accountability is crucial given the glitches and cost overruns reported with ERP programs around the country (see below.)
The $27 million in ERP program funding that was placed on cash management represents just two percent of DOIT’s FY2018 proposed budget – it should not inhibit DOIT’s ability to purse its core mission.
The biggest threat to Illinois is the lack of a balanced budget – not cybersecurity and not the system of checks and balances that require accountability among the branches of government – and The Governor is the only one who can solve that problem. If The Governor believes these ERP expenditures are so critical, he can immediately submit and pass a budget that fully funds them.
* But not all Democrats are upset…
This strategy received bipartisan support from members of the General Assembly. “This is not someone’s pet project. This is critical to the infrastructure of Illinois, to the safety of our citizens and residents. As we have seen other state few people have taken over the grid system, shut down the grid system. That could effect our hospitals, our emergency centers.” said Rep. Jaime Andrade, (D)-Chicago.
* Mark Maxwell at WCIA TV has filed another good story, which has some responses to Comptroller Mendoza’s claims…
(E)ach year that passes without the completion of the governor’s Enterprise Resource Program, [Gov. Rauner] claims Illinois is losing out on roughly one billion dollars.
Hardik Bhatt, Secretary of the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), gave a more conservative estimate, figuring the technology upgrade would save the state between $130 million and $300 million annually. He says those are hard numbers based on actual savings, not potential losses suffered in hypothetical cyber attacks, although those additional losses could also be incurred. […]
Staffers at Illinois’ Department of Information Technology tell WCIA the state and its residents remain at risk with each day that passes without a more secure system in place. Sources close to the ERP developments would not describe specific threats, claiming the public acknowledgement could potentially alert hackers to their internal progress, but did insist critical government infrastructure remains at serious risk in its current state. […]
Mendoza claims she “hasn’t heard back” from Governor Rauner’s office in response to a letter she sent demanding details about the progress, cost, and date of completion of the ERP. But Bhatt flat out denies that accusation, saying he “reached out a few times,” and once even talked at length with Mendoza’s senior strategist and former campaign manager Lauren Peters about the specific upgrades addressed in the ERP. Bhatt describes their conversation as “engaged” and “thorough.”
The other tiff revolves around whether or not Mendoza has legal authority to halt payments to the ERP. Earlier this month, a Circuit Court judge ruled the Office of the Comptroller does have autonomy and discretion to determine which account can be used to issue payments to state vendors, including third party consulting tech firms. Governor Rauner’s office has filed an appeal to that ruling, arguing these funds were already appropriated in the General Assembly which grant the DoIT legal grounds to spend state funds. The department claims those vouchers have already been issued, and because they’re backed by a specific appropriation, the comptroller has an obligation to pay them.
* Maxwell also pointed to a couple of the stories included in Mendoza’s press release about the IT contractors…
* $46m jobless benefits system has over 100 defects
* Deloitte again in cross fire, this time in R.I.
* California sues SAP over failed payroll software project - The project dates back to 2005 and has cost taxpayers more than $250 million so far
* California settles lawsuit over failed state payroll system
* Marin County and Deloitte settle ERP lawsuit under gag order
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It’s just a bill
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* But it should be a law…
State lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday that would end marijuana prohibition in Illinois and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed for adult use.
The Senate bill, SB 316, is sponsored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Heather Steans (D-Chicago), while the House version, HB 2353, was presented by Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago). Each would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess, grow, and purchase limited amounts of marijuana. The state would license and regulate businesses to cultivate, process, test, and sell marijuana to adults, and it would create and enforce strict health and safety regulations, such as testing and labeling requirements and restrictions on marketing.
“Marijuana prohibition is a quagmire that creates far more problems than it prevents,” Cassidy said. “Several states have adopted sensible alternatives to prohibition, and it is time for Illinois to develop its own exit strategy. Regulating marijuana and removing the criminal element from marijuana production and sales will make our communities safer.”
The bills propose taxing marijuana at a rate of $50 per ounce at the wholesale level, and retail sales would be subject to the state’s standard 6.25% sales tax. Based on current usage rates and the market price of marijuana being sold for adults’ use in Colorado, the Marijuana Policy Project estimates regulated marijuana sales could generate between $349 million and $699 million per year in new revenue for Illinois.
“Right now, all the money being spent on marijuana is going into the pockets of criminals and cartels,” Steans said. “In a regulated system, the money would go into the cash registers of licensed, taxpaying businesses. It would generate hundreds of millions of dollars per year in new revenue for our state. Prohibition is a financial hole in the ground, and we should stop throwing taxpayer dollars into it.”
Eight states have enacted laws regulating and taxing marijuana for adult use. A February Quinnipiac University poll found 59% of U.S. voters think marijuana should be made legal. Polls conducted by the Pew Research Center and Gallup last October found support at 57% and 60%, respectively.
“People are fed up with laws that punish adults for using a substance that is far less harmful than alcohol,” said Chris Lindsey, senior legislative counsel for the Marijuana Policy Project. “The time is right for the Illinois General Assembly to re-examine marijuana prohibition and consider the potential benefits of a thoughtfully crafted regulatory system. The sky has not fallen in the eight states that have made marijuana legal for adults. It’s time for Illinois to move past prohibition and stop missing out on the jobs and revenue other states are already getting.” [Emphasis added.]
* Press release…
To ensure that employees can observe their religious traditions without fear, State Sen. Jacqueline Collins has put forth a proposal prohibiting employers from discriminatory actions toward workers who wear religiously observant clothing or hair styles.
“In a letter to a synagogue, President George Washington once wrote of the new government he had fought to form that it ‘gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,’” said Collins, D-Chicago. “This legislation is intended to show clearly that Illinois is a state that will protect its citizens. As our Jewish community faces an unprecedented wave of threats and our Muslim community is openly antagonized by the White House, protecting the right to worship is more important now than ever.”
The legislation would specifically disallow employers from taking disciplinary measures against employees for wearing their hair or clothing in ways that are in keeping with a religiously observant lifestyle.
Senate Bill 1697 passed out of the Senate Labor Committee this week and is scheduled to be considered by the full Senate.
* Press release…
Middle-class families would be able to keep more of their hard-earned money under legislation sponsored by state Rep. Chris Welch, D-Hillside, doubling the value of the Earned Income Tax Credit. The Welch-backed bill is a key element of an economic reform agenda introduced by House Democrats.
“It’s time that we put Illinois’s middle-class first and do what is best for them and their families,” said Welch. “The policies that the governor continues to promote are not creating jobs, are not growing the economy and are not uplifting the middle class. They are being squeezed out of existence, and it is time we refocus on them versus padding the profits of big businesses through this chaos the governor has created.”
Welch is sponsoring House Bill 2475, which would double the value of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit over the course of five years, raising the value of the credit by 2 percent every year. Each 2 percent increase would put an estimated $44 million back in working families’ pockets. Additionally, the U.S. Conference of Mayors indicates that every $1 returned to taxpayers through the Earned Income Tax Credit generates between $1.50 and $2 in economic activity, helping local businesses grow.
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Biss begins campaign
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I see Sen. Biss is already stepping far outside his comfort zone…
State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) took a step in his gubernatorial campaign toward building “a movement of people” Tuesday morning, holding a meet and greet with commuters at Evanston’s Main Street Metra station.
OK, that was snark, and a bit unfair. The Evanston resident was also in Normal this week…
State Sen. Daniel Biss visited Normal, announcing Monday he’s running for Illinois governor in 2018, joining a growing field of Democrats hoping to unseat Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
He visited the Normal Public Library, as a guest of the Illinois State University College Democrats.
“There is this sentiment downstate that Illinois is run by Chicago politics,” said Austin Cullinan, a spokesman for the ISU College Democrats. “The fact that he is willing to come here for his first campaign stop speaks volumes about what he is trying to accomplish.” […]
“What I like about Dan is that he is a strong, progressive Democrat and at the same time, he is very rationale,” Cullinan said. “He doesn’t dive into the mud-slinging. He understands that both Democrats and Republicans have built this mess in Springfield and we need someone who can rise above the partisan muck-raking to come up with viable solutions.”
No mention of that event on the group’s Twitter page, however.
* And he’s coming to Springfield today…
Meet and Greet at the Feed Store
What: Meet and greet
Where: The Feed Store
516 E Adams St
Springfield, IL 62701
When: 12:30pm
Town Hall with Young Democrats
What: Meeting with U of I Springfield College Democrats
Where: Sangamon Auditorium Building (PAC C/D)
2200 Ernest Hemingway Dr
Springfield, IL 62703
When: 7:00PM
Again, way, way outside his comfort zone. /s
* Whoa. What the heck is this?…
As of Monday morning, there’s a Jew in the 2018 race to be governor of Illinois.
But not the one most people were expecting.
Instead of entrepreneur and billionaire philanthropist J.B. Pritzker, the Jew on the ballot is Democrat Daniel Biss, a state senator from north suburban Evanston, who announced his candidacy in a 25-minute-long Facebook Live video in which he promised to be a voice for the state’s progressives and non-millionaires.
The first time I read that lede, I really thought I’d stumbled upon one of those nasty “alt-right” sites and was ready to blast away. Turns out, it’s actually a pro-Jewish news site, which is a relief, I suppose. I’d rather not be stunned like that, though.
* Anyway, let’s move on…
The field of Democrats hoping to unseat Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner next year is growing.
Democrat State Senator Daniel Biss joins Bob Daiber, Chris Kennedy and others on the already crowded ticket. Rauner isn’t a fan.
“Anybody who’s been part of the system or will be loyal to the party that is controlled by one person is going to be part of the problem,” he says.
And that’ll be his basic message for the next 20 months or so.
* Related…
* Kapos: Ameya Pawar’s campaign strategy 2.0
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* From a press release last week…
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today called on U.S. Representative John Shimkus (R-IL) to honor the decades-long tradition of bipartisanship in the selection of U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Marshals, and Federal District Court Judges in Illinois. Rep. Shimkus has delayed reestablishing this bipartisan process in order to consult with the Trump Administration—a process that is more urgently needed since last Friday when Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired all sitting U.S. Attorneys, including the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Zach Fardon. By longstanding Senate practice, both U.S. senators in a state must give their consent, on a form called a blue slip, before federal nominees in that state will be considered by the Judiciary Committee.
“It has now been nearly two months since President Trump’s inauguration and over one month since Attorney General Sessions was sworn in on February 9. We are prepared to continue our discussions with the goal of reestablishing a bipartisan process to identify and recommend candidates for whom we would be willing to sign affirmative blue slips,” the senators wrote. “We also note that you invited a representative of Governor Rauner to participate in our January 17 conversation. The Governor of Illinois has no authority when it comes to choosing federal prosecutors and judges. In fact, recent history suggests we should make every effort to avoid even an appearance of impropriety when it comes to the selection of federal prosecutors.”
* Rauner isn’t the only one attempting to influence the appointment. The mayor has also chimed in…
However, it turns out Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also spoken to the congressman about a replacement for Fardon, who stepped down last week amid a Trump administration purge of top prosecutors nationwide. Other politicians are likely to reach out to Shimkus, as well. And none of them are immune from federal prosecution.
So at the end of the day, Shimkus spokesman Jordan Haverly said any recommendation to President Donald Trump will be made by his boss, alone.
“It’s not going to be the governor,” Haverly said. “It’s not going to be the mayor. It’s not going to be anyone else. It’s going to be the congressman.” […]
But later, the congressman issued a separate statement praising the governor’s counsel.
“The governor has been an agent of change in Springfield, ushering in unprecedented ethics reform to state government,” Shimkus said in a statement. “I value his input, and I will continue to solicit advice from him and other state leaders as I work to make the best recommendations I can to President Trump.”
If you want the new US Attorney to focus mostly on corruption, then it’s probably best to bring in an outsider and ignore the insiders like Peter Fitzgerald did with Patrick Fitzgerald. If you want the new person to primarily be a crime-fighter, then it’s probably OK that the governor and the mayor have their say.
Your thoughts on this?
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A Proven Budget Solution
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
If we’re going to solve the budget crisis in Illinois, let’s look for answers that do more than just collect taxes. Convincing solutions can be found across the country and abroad.
In fact, there’s mounting evidence proving that taxing sugary drinks is an effective, healthy option:
1. Economists assert that a decrease in sugary drink consumption results in no harm to the economy.
2. Berkeley, CA raised $1.5M in revenue from a similar drink tax, some of which is being used to promote nutrition and physical activity in schools.
3. Mexico has experienced a drop in morbidity and mortality from diabetes and heart disease, which are linked to their sugary drink tax.
The American Heart Association supports a tax on sugary drinks, the one budget solution proven to cut sugar consumption and bring revenue to the state.
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124 prison nursing jobs to be privatized
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This will supposedly save $8 million…
Unionized nurses at a dozen Illinois prisons are being laid off and their jobs privatized, the Illinois Nurses Association said Tuesday.
The union released a copy of a letter from the Department of Corrections that 124 nurses represented by the association will be laid off effective June 15.
The layoffs will occur at a dozen Illinois prisons, including four at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, eight at the Jacksonville Correctional Center and eight at the Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro.
The letter says the layoffs are the result of a “material change in duties and organization due to subcontracting of services …” […]
The letter sent by Corrections to the union says it notified the INA in June 2016 that it might privatize the jobs. The letter also says the union was told in January that the state was going ahead with the privatization and offered to meet with the union about it. The letter says the union declined to meet.
The IDOC letter is here.
* AP…
Alice Johnson, the association’s executive director, noted the notice came just days after the union filed an unfair labor practices complaint with state regulators, claiming the first-term Republican governor has reneged on his obligation to negotiate contract terms in good faith. She said members overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement last spring and Rauner is retaliating.
“It’s an attempt to bully and intimidate the nurses, and it’s not going to work,” Johnson told the AP.
She said the move is particularly troublesome because of a nationwide shortage of nurses that forces Illinois prison nurses to sometimes work 80-hour weeks while vacant positions go unfilled. […]
“Wexford is prepared to hire most of the nurses who will be impacted by the layoff,” [Nicole Wilson, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections] said. “The department will work with those who wish to remain employed with the state and will … identify nursing vacancies within other state agencies.”
* Wexford was given a contract by the Quinn administration back in 2011 to administer health care services in state prisons. A 2015 Tribune report wasn’t exactly glowing…
The 55-year-old inmate with a family history of lung cancer was coughing up blood the day he arrived at the medium security Illinois River prison in November 2012.
A nurse sent him away with a container to spit in and told him to report back if it worsened. In a series of visits to the Peoria-area prison’s medical facility, doctors and nurses continued to miss the inmate’s classic signs of lung cancer.
By the time the inmate was finally diagnosed correctly and offered treatment in June 2013, it was too late. He died nine days later.
The details of the inmate’s potentially preventable death was just one example in a scathing 405-page expert report filed in federal court late Tuesday that alleged sweeping problems in medical care at the state’s prisons ranging from unqualified and incompetent physicians and nurses to woeful record-keeping and poor sanitation. […]
The experts found “significant lapses in care” in 60 percent of the cases they reviewed in which prisoners died of natural causes from January 2013 through May 2014.
…Adding… Press release…
Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan statement following Gov. Rauner firing 124 correctional center nurses
“This action is unconscionable. First, the Rauner Administration makes it nearly impossible for these nurses to do their jobs by not filling vacancies and forcing 80-hour work weeks, then he lays them off to shift taxpayer dollars to yet another for-profit consultant.
“The list of Rauner carnage is growing every day and the citizens of Illinois are the victims. His priorities are wrong-headed and families are getting hurt.
“These nurses should be supported and celebrated for their extraordinary service under trying circumstances. For that they get a pink slip and a private company gets a bonus. Welcome to Rauner’s Illinois.”
…Adding More… Sen. Daniel Biss…
The Rauner administration is trying to privatize nursing in Illinois’ prison system, Senator Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) said Wednesday.
Biss’ comments were prompted by word that the Rauner administration is outsourcing the jobs of 124 prison nurses employed by the Illinois Department of Corrections to a private company. The unionized nurses are represented by the Illinois Nurses Association, and their layoffs are effective June 15, according to a March 18 letter from the administration to the association announcing the changes.
“This appears to be nothing more than a back-door attempt to get around Illinois’ ban on privatizing prisons,” Biss said. “Gov. Rauner is offering up another failed policy that looks like it came straight out of the Trump White House.”
Illinois banned private prisons in 1990. The General Assembly declared that “the management and operation of a correctional facility or institution involves functions that are inherently governmental.” However, the privatization ban does not apply to ancillary services, such as medical care.
“Just last week, Gov. Rauner tried to insist he had the best interests of state workers at heart. This week he’s laying off 124 nurses employed by the state,” Biss said. “The only interests I think Gov. Rauner has at heart are those of his business friends who can make money off state government.”
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Support House Bill 40
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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* Tribune…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday expanded the list of Democrats he says are working against him, adding Mayor Rahm Emanuel to the group he contends is trying to create havoc in Illinois. […]
Rauner brought Emanuel into the fray Tuesday, saying the mayor was causing a “crisis” at Chicago Public Schools by demanding the state pick up $215 million in teacher pension costs or the school year could be cut short.
“It seems to be part of a plan orchestrated by Attorney General Madigan, Comptroller Mendoza, Mayor Emanuel, working with the speaker — attack, criticize, create crisis. We see it everywhere,” Rauner said. […]
“They’re defending a broken system. They don’t want to change the system. They want to force a big tax hike on the people of Illinois with no changes. That’s not fair. It’s not right. We’ve got to change our system,” Rauner said.
* From the mayor’s spokesman…
* McGrath’s full response was even harsher…
“Governor Rauner keeps accusing others of trying to ‘create a crisis,’ when it’s painfully clear to everyone else that the entire state of Illinois is already dealing with the crisis of going two-plus years without a budget. Across Illinois, social services have been slashed, universities are making devastating cuts, and college students are fleeing the state in droves. The fact that Governor Rauner can’t see the crisis he’s created is just further proof that he’s lost touch with reality.”
Ouch.
As the years drag on and the governor’s poll numbers drop, people are seemingly less afraid of firing back. I cannot imagine what life will be like in late 2018 if this keeps up.
…Adding… From a senior Rauner administration official…
Just another reminder that every time you hear machine Democrats say “Do Your Job,” they mean just raise taxes and bailout Chicago.
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Our sorry state
Wednesday, Mar 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* 17 acts of violence at funerals in the past year has prompted this proposed legislation…
June Williams, director of a Gresham neighborhood funeral home, worries about getting shot at work.
In the last two years, Golden Gate Funeral Home has seen several acts of violence, including an instance where a staff driver was shot.
Williams said she’s had to turn over to the police funeral home guest books signed by gang members who were attending funerals of their rivals. […]
“Regardless of what caused the death of a loved one, I have mothers and grandmothers that are standing with me. … We deserve to be safe at a funeral,” said Bishop Larry Trotter, senior pastor of the Sweet Holy Spirit Church, 8621 S. Chicago Ave., in the South Chicago neighborhood, where a Tuesday press conference was held calling for legislation to keep violence out of funerals.
Chicago funeral home directors and activists at the conference said they are working with Sen. Napoleon Harris, D-Harvey, on writing a bill that proposes tougher consequences for offenders who commit crimes involving a weapon at funerals. The bill will mirror the stiffer penalties for certain gun crimes near schools and along designated Safe Passage routes, Trotter said.
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