Rep. Steve Andersson, R-Geneva, said he wakes up every day wondering “who will die today?” because of lawmakers’ inaction on a full-year budget. But he stuck with his opposition to a stopgap, saying it only relieves the pressure on the legislature to find a real solution.
“Call me a hostage taker. Go ahead. It’s been done before. We need the pressure to get to a full budget, not a budget like this,” he said. […]
As much as they blame Rauner and his agency heads for failing to say where they would cut spending — and we get that — they prove him right about duct tape solutions. That’s what a stopgap is.
This state desperately needs a full-year budget. Rauner has said he will block the half measure the House passed, if it gets to his desk. Then what?
Why is it so hard to understand that what social service agencies and universities need is stability? They don’t need stopgap budgets. They don’t need a sip of relief. They need and deserve a long-term plan. All parties in Springfield are failing them on that.
Rep. Andersson is a co-sponsor of a bill to provide funding for state employee salaries in perpetuity and regardless of whether a budget is passed.
And one wonders if the Tribune will say the same about a stopgap if a full budget isn’t passed by June 30th and K-12 schools are in danger of not opening.
So, yes, stability is most desperately needed, as is a real budget. But higher ed and human services need this stopgap money in the interim. To deny them that “sip of relief” so they can remain alive to take a full drink after the big boys and girls finally finish fighting is simply not right.
Universities have laid off staff and shut down programs but those actions have had zero impact on the impasse. Social service providers have stopped providing service to a million people and it has had no impact. Two of the only things that almost undoubtedly will have an impact are a complete governmental shutdown and schools not opening on time.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski is headed for a primary challenge next year in the Southwest Side and southwest suburban 3rd Congressional District.
Marie Newman, a marketing consultant from La Grange, is looking to push a more progressive agenda. […]
Lipinski, who succeeded his father, Bill, holds a more social conservative ideology than most Chicago Democrats — specifically on issues involving abortion and women’s health care.
Newman was born in Beverly and raised in Palos Park. After years of working in advertising, she started her own consulting business.
* Press release…
In a message sent today to thousands of supporters across the 3rd Congressional District, Marie Newman announced that she is challenging Rep. Dan Lipinski in the Democratic Primary for Congress.
Newman, a small business owner, national anti-bullying and rights advocate, said she was inspired to run in the wake of the 2016 Presidential Election. After forming an exploratory committee and meeting with over 55 groups and community organizations, Newman declared today: “I’m in and I’m ready to go! And with your support, we will win this election!”
“On issue after issue that we care about, Dan Lipinski hasn’t been there for us,” Newman said. “He was the only Democrat from Illinois who voted against Obamacare. He takes three-quarters of his campaign money from Washington PACs and lobbyists, representing their interests instead of ours. As a result, he has done nothing to protect our healthcare rights and he ignores the small businesses that are the clear majority of businesses in our district.”
It’s going to be a tough fight to reclaim our seat in Congress from a family who’s held it for two generations,” Newman says. “But I’m confident that a campaign that puts our families first can overcome the insiders and special interests who are propping up the current Congressman.”
Newman was inspired to run after the 2016 Presidential election: “I woke up on November 9th knowing our world had turned upside-down. Many of the things we care about are no longer protected or respected. After participating in the Women’s March in Chicago, I knew I had to do more.”
Newman has advocated for national legislation on anti-bullying, gun safety, cancer research, and small business development, as well as being a job creator and multiple-time entrepreneur.
“This campaign will require the effort and energy of people and families from across our district who’ve been ignored for too long,” Newman said. “Together, we will work to protect and advance healthcare rights, Planned Parenthood, fair treatment of immigrants and their families, and to fight discrimination based on race, religion, gender or sexuality.”
She’s already started hiring staff. A former state House Democratic staffer who ran the primary campaign against Rep. Ken Dunkin will be involved, among others.
* The Sun-Times has a story on Rep. Scott Drury’s announcement that he’s exploring a run for governor…
Drury — who was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago before taking office in 2013 — said he plans to set up meetings and travel the state to talk to “real people” to determine if he’ll run.
“Let’s face it. Illinois is defined as having no budget, defined by bickering and is defined by violence. It is defined by public corruption. By any measure I have the experience, the skill and the background and the history of showing that I tackled these issues and have worked on these issues instead of just getting wrapped up in the partisanship which has left our state a disaster,” Drury said.
Drury said he hasn’t talked to his fellow Democrats about his decision: “I don’t believe that my candidacy is going to be the one that’s going to be propelled by establishment politicians.”
Across Illinois, social service agencies are closing. Jobs are fleeing the state. Public schools aren’t sure how they open their doors in the fall. Our state universities and colleges are being starved of resources. Nearly 47,000 poor families are no longer eligible for childcare.
This is all because Bruce Rauner has decided that destroying unions and gutting wages for working families is more important than passing a budget that lifts up all Illinois families.
In the midst of all the devastation, does Bruce Rauner feel for all the impacted people? No. Last week he said, he’s never been “so happy in his life.”
Bruce Rauner is happy because the chaos and destruction is by design. His design. A design to divide and rule.
This is personal to me.
My father was born in India under British rule. The British were few, but they were wealthy. The Indians were many but they were kept poor.
They were pit against one another based on what religion they practiced, where they lived, and what language they spoke. The British kept Indians jobless, uneducated, and without medical services.
This was the world my dad grew up in, and it’s the world being created by the broken policies of Donald Trump and Bruce Rauner.
It’s been 21 months and counting without a budget because Rauner wants there to be no budget. In his race to destroy the social safety net, he wants the chaos that comes from slashing school funding, closing health clinics, and encouraging companies to leave the state.
I am running for governor because I’m tired of Bruce Rauner and his billionaire friends being the happiest they’ve ever been as millions of families suffer from lack of jobs, health care, and educational opportunities.
I am running because I want to ensure my daughter doesn’t grow up in the kind of world that oppressed my dad.
That’s a pretty significant leap of logic and ridiculous. Even if you agree with what some of Pawar is saying about Rauner’s actions, to compare them to the bloody and repressive British rule of India is way over the top even for a fundraising plea.
* Gov. Rauner held a press availability today and was asked…
Why is it worth it to use state universities which are starving, and social service agencies which are already starved; why is it worth it to use them as leverage to get your agenda?
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner kicked off a campaign-style statewide tour Monday by indicating he’ll try to “leverage” the state’s money woes into securing a series of pro-business changes from a General Assembly controlled by Democrats likely to fiercely oppose them. […]
“Crisis creates opportunity. Crisis creates leverage to change … and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change,” said Rauner, borrowing from a political philosophy famously coined by his friend Rahm Emanuel that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
“We will crush our economy if we try to spend money on both high-cost, inefficient, bureaucratic, heavily unionized government and a social safety net to help the disadvantaged,” Rauner said.
“We can’t afford both,” he said, and “wealth creators,” like JIMMY JOHN LIAUTAUD, founder of Jimmy John’s sandwich shops and another panelist, would be forced to leave the state.
“I think we can drive a wedge issue in the Democratic Party on that topic and bring the folks who say, ‘You know what, for our tax dollars, I’d rather help the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the elderly, the children in poverty,’ ” Rauner said, instead of directing tax dollars to the Service Employees International Union or “AF-Scammy,” an apparent reference to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME for short.
What I’m advocating is we need to change our system, it’s broken, and we need balanced budgets. And the reason that this is so hard, one of the reasons it’s so hard is that we’ve never had balanced budgets. We either don’t pay our pensions, we don’t pay our bills or we borrow on the bond market. This has been going on for 30 years. We can’t keep doing this. We’re not the federal government, we can’t print money. We’re not the federal government, we can’t just borrow unlimited. We actually have to live within our means.
This is all I’ve said. And I’ve said either let me cut so we can balance the budget, and even with the cuts universities will get funded and social services would get much support. So, and I am very, very supportive of our social services safety net. It’s important, I support it in the state of Illinois. Many of the agencies that have been hurt by this budget impasse are the same services that my wife and I have been supporters of for decades. I’m a big advocate for these human services.
It’s a tragedy that the General Assembly under Madigan’s majority won’t change anything, and they just want to do more deficit spending. And let’s be clear that the stopgap proposal to have more deficit spending - not fix the problem, not get a balanced budget - all that’ll do is kick the can down the road, make the tax hike bigger, later, push more employers and more jobs out of the state and not solve any problems, but just make it worse.
My strict effort is to talk to the people of Illinois. That’s why I speak to with you about this most every day. That’s the reason I go on radio and TV to talk about it. That’s the reason I give six speeches pretty much seven days a week. That’s the reason I use social media to get the message out. That’s the reason that sometimes we do use paid media to get the message out. The people of Illinois need to know what’s on the line. Term limits, fair maps, property tax freeze, pension reform, education funding reform. These are all important things to help us get balanced budgets for the long term. Long term.
We could do a massive tax hike, which is what Madigan’s Democrats have indicated they would like, to balance a budget for one year, maybe 18 months, maybe two years. But it would quickly be out of balance. Whatever our taxpayers pay in in their hard-earned money would quickly be spent in more. This has been our pattern for 30, 40 years. We need structural change to grow the economy and structural change to bring down the cost of government. That way we can keep our budgets balanced without having to raise taxes more in the future.
* If you go to the 10:30 mark of this video (watch out for lots of expletives, however), you’ll see John Oliver talk about the Democrats’ abuse of the redistricting process. And he uses a very funny clip from 2001 featuring the late Senate Majority Leader Vince Demuzio…
I thought it was hilarious. Demuzio was dutifully telling reporters that the Democrats would “draw a very fair map,” but he couldn’t possibly say that with a straight face, so he didn’t. The smirk and eyeroll were both classic Vince.
The wife of deceased Illinois lawmaker Vince Demuzio said she “did not find the humor” in John Oliver’s comparison of Demuzio to a pool urinator on Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
“It’s one thing to talk about gerrymandering, but I did not find the humor in his portraying my husband, who is now deceased, in that manner,” Deanna Demuzio, the mayor of downstate Carlinville, told the Tribune. […]
Demuzio died of complications from colon cancer in 2004 at the age of 62. The former state Democratic Party chairman served in the Senate from 1975-2004.
Your thoughts?
* Related…
* Why you should stop blaming gerrymandering so much. Really: In fact, 83 percent of the districts that moved out of the “swing” category — again, R+5 to D+5 — did so without being redrawn. Only 14 districts moved from swing seats to solidly Republican — R+5 or greater — after redistricting, while 33 did so through the normal political evolution of the American voter.
Independent voices say Bruce Rauner’s urged lawmakers to fix the budget and is on record with a plan to make Illinois competitive again.
It’s why they call Rauner “the only grown-up in Springfield.”
The Rauner balanced budget plan caps spending, pays down debt, freezes property taxes, term limits politicians and grows jobs.
Independent outlets say Rauner issued “a call to action to change the status quo,” pushed for “economic growth to save the state.”
Together, we can Fix Illinois.
“The only grown-up in Springfield” line comes from a February 17th Crain’s Chicago Business editorial which praised Rauner for backing the Senate’s grand bargain during his budget address. That editorial board did not weigh in, however, after Rauner knocked the grand bargain off its tracks just a couple weeks later.
* The Belleville News-Democrat published a story the other day about a vendor at a state correctional facility in East St. Louis. The gist of the story is that the vendor provides substance abuse treatment programs for inmates and wasn’t paid for a year.
Governor Bruce Rauner’s office criticized the order of bills that are paid by the comptroller’s office.
“The order of which payments are made are a question of Comptroller (Susana) Mendoza’s priorities,” said Eleni Demertzis, a spokeswoman for Rauner’s office. “We continue to encourage her to avoid creating a crisis and further harm to service providers by releasing the funds necessary to pay those most in need.”
* I learned decades ago that when any governor’s office attempts to blame the comptroller for late payments to service providers that the first question to always ask is when the agency controlled by the governor actually submitted the voucher for payment. One of the oldest games under the dome is for a governor to sit on a voucher then blame the comptroller when the vendor complains.
* You’ll notice, for instance, on page 3 that the Rauner administration submitted a voucher on December 2nd of 2016 for about $54,000 in services rendered in January of 2016. In other words, they waited 11 months to submit the voucher for payment.
Turn to page 5 and you’ll see a voucher submitted on December 28th of last year for services rendered in December of 2015. In other words, it took the administration a full year to submit that voucher to the comptroller.
On page 6, you’ll see a voucher submitted on March 8th of this year for services rendered in August of last year - 9 months after the services were rendered.
And on page 7 there’s a voucher submitted on March 22nd of this year for services rendered in June of last year.
* All of the above vouchers were paid on March 24th. So, yes, the comptroller did indeed sit on some of them for a few months. Here is the comptroller’s original explanation to the paper…
He said there is a six-month to one-year wait on all bills around the state, citing that no balanced budget has been proposed by the governor’s office nor the general assembly, during the budget impasse that has lasted almost two years.
“Every bill in the state is being held up because we have no budget,” Pallasch said.
Pallasch said vouchers for payment of services from the Department of Corrections had not been turned into the comptroller’s office for several months after services were rendered.
* Lessons? The comptroller’s office needs to do a much better job of figuring out how they’re being played by the governor’s office and react accordingly. And reporters need to make sure they’re not being punked by an age-old game.
JUDICIAL INTERVENTION SOUGHT TO FORCE ILLINOIS TO PROVIDE CRITICAL RESOURSES FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
The State of Illinois is failing to fulfill its promise to people with disabilities to provide opportunities to live integrated in the community, according to a recent filing in federal court. The filing in Ligas v. Norwood asks a federal judge to compel the State to provide the resources necessary to comply with the Consent Decree in the case. The action on behalf of people with developmental disabilities specifically notes that low wages being paid by the State to disability service professionals prevent people with developmental disabilities from living meaningful lives in the community. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires the State to assure that people with disabilities can live in the most integrated setting possible. The filing makes clear that Illinois is failing this test.
Funding for people with developmental disabilities has been continued at past levels during the current budget impasse because of court orders. But that funding, as the filing shows, has been woefully inadequate to accomplish the mandates of the Consent Decree. As a result, an Independent Monitor in Ligas has found the State out of compliance with the Decree for the last two years. […]
The court filing details troubling reports from family members of people with disabilities and their service providers documenting the real human suffering and impact of the insufficient resources provided by the State.
Community reimbursement rates have been frozen for nearly a decade, while costs continue to escalate. The low rates have created crisis conditions in the staffing of these services. With insufficient staff, services to people with developmental disabilities are cut short. People—who are supposed to be integrated into the community—are instead finding themselves increasing isolated and segregated. The homes and facilities have been forced to decrease staff ratios, frequently to only one staff for 4-8 residents. This means that staff cannot regularly take the residents out of the house and they cannot work on building skills and independence. They are left with simply trying to maintain safety. Instead of living full integrated lives, many of these class members are suffering enormous hardships, including social isolation, a dearth of meaningful activities, a lack of skill development (and, for some skill regression), and, in many instances, anxiety and depression.
…Meredith Krantz of the state’s Department of Human Services said the state disagrees with the monitor’s findings, saying that Illinois has and “will continue to follow every court order” regarding the care of those with disabilities. Further, she said the state has “submitted all payments in question and look to the (state) comptroller’s office to ensure they’re processed.”
“The (Bruce) Rauner administration remains committed to moving individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness, or physical disabilities out of institutional care and into community settings while ensuring those individuals receive the best care possible,” she wrote.
If you’ve been watching television lately, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Gov. Bruce Rauner on screen with a roll of duct tape and a message of blame for Democrats.
That’s because more than $95,115 worth of TV ads have been purchased in the television market that includes Decatur, part of a statewide ad campaign that Rauner says is unconnected to his 2018 gubernatorial hopes. […]
The ads began airing March 28 and are slated to continue at least through next week on WAND in Decatur and WCIA in Champaign, according to Federal Communications Commission documents obtained by the Herald & Review.
Those documents describe the ads as “non-candidate advertising” focusing on the issue of “Illinois governmental and fiscal reform,” meaning the expenditures are not required to be reported to the state’s election board.
After an exhausting presidential election, many residents are apt to tune out political ads as soon as they appear, said Kent Redfield, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He said the TV spots likely won’t do much to improve Rauner’s polling numbers or shift the policy debate.
“The distinction between governing and campaigning seems to get blurrier and blurrier and this is another indication of that,” he said.
But, in addition to reiterating his message and appealing to his base of supporters, Redfield said the ads deliver an important message to Democrats considering their 2018 prospects.
“Part of it has nothing to do with the reaction of the average citizen,” Redfield said. “He’s doing it because he can do it and they’re trying to show that they’re in a position of strength vis-a-vis the Democrats.”
Earlier today I informed supporters that I am exploring a run for governor. A press release is attached and set forth below. Please let me know if you have any questions.
–Scott R. Drury
* The e-mail to his supporters…
Friends:
With your encouragement, I have decided to explore a run for governor. By all accounts, Illinois is headed downhill. Partisan bickering, public corruption and uncontrolled violence have come to define our once great State. The public feels helpless against a billionaire governor and Democratic machine that refuse to prioritize people’s needs over political gain. Governor Rauner’s approval rating is dreadful, and Mike Madigan’s is even worse. The public believes Republicans and Democrats share the blame for the State’s problems and knows that long-term solutions are needed.
Before running for public office, I was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago. In that position, I fought on the front lines of the battle to rid our State of public corruption and gun violence. Public service - not partisan politics - guided the mission.
Since taking office, my goal has been to usher in a new era of government in Illinois - one defined by credibility and responsibility. The public does not trust Illinois government. If Illinois is to change course and move forward, it first must establish a strong foundation of trust upon which it can build.
To that end, in January, I became the first Democrat in 30 years to refuse to support Mike Madigan in his quest to become Speaker of the Illinois House. The status quo has no place in the new era I envision. My vote represented the majority view of Democrats, Republicans and Independents, alike. While entrenched politicians did not like my actions, I sided with the public.
Further, back in 2015, I was the first Democrat to publicly set forth a viable solution to the budget standoff that is destroying our State - proposing that each party simultaneously submit a truly balanced budget, each of which would then be publicly debated and voted upon. The common-sense proposal received universal accolades. But those who see political value in keeping the impasse going have chosen to continue the destruction.
I recognize the enormity of trying to change the status quo in Illinois and the resistance the establishment will put forth to stop the effort. However, as Bob Dylan famously wrote, “the first one now will later be last, for the times they are a-changin’.” The purpose of this exploration is to determine whether Illinois is ready for such change.
* As we discussed earlier, Chris Kennedy warned on Friday that JB Pritzker could turn out to be another “tyrant” like Bruce Rauner. Here’s Mark Brown…
All other things being equal, I would just as soon the Democratic Party didn’t follow the Republicans down the path of choosing the ultra-rich to run the country.
Based on his body of work, though, Pritzker may very well prove to be the most qualified and accomplished Democrat in the race. […]
I missed connections afterward with Pritzker, but a campaign spokesman responded that Kennedy “is more focused on his talking points than dealing with reality. … It’s JB who’s been standing up to everything Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump are trying to tear down.”
I’ve seen no indication Pritzker would be a bully, although I do believe he wants to play a role in building a stronger state party apparatus like Rauner has done with the Republicans.
That’s something Democrats are going to need going forward no matter who is their nominee.
Pritzker and Rauner have two very different personalities. But that much wealth can intimidate a whole lot of Statehouse types, so it could be awful tempting to flout.
J.B.: “My parents, Donald and Sue, were progressives; believers in social justice. They were both Chicagoans. Although my father graduated cum laude with honors from Harvard, he felt he was low man on the totem pole in the family business. So he moved to California at the age of 26 and helped develop the motel business. That was the beginning of Hyatt.”
“My sister Penny, my brother Tony and I were raised in California. And when I was 7 years old and Hyatt had become the fastest-growing hotel chain in America, father died of a heart attack at age 39. My mother was left with three young kids and for ten years struggled mightily with alcoholism.
My mother, who I want to make clear is a hero to me, eventually died from it. And while she was going through that struggle — and while my brother and sister were off at school, my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Jay insisted I move to Chicago from California and live with them while my mother was trying to overcome her addiction.
“Aunt Cindy was an important part of my upbringing because she kind of rescued me from the situation.”
Having a strong personal story about overcoming adversity can be a big plus for candidates, but especially a wealthy candidate because it can show he or she is a lot like everyone else.
“It’s important to be able to talk to people and listen,” Pritzker told News 8 after the rally, adding, “Mostly our elected officials don’t listen. And it’s what I do well, and it’s what I’ll take to Springfield when I’m governor.”
We’ve still got a governor’s race to get through. Having accomplished nothing, Bruce Rauner isn’t in as bad of a position as he’d be if any of his initiatives had worked, though inactivity is not a success strategy.
This vulnerability has drawn former Merchandise Mart head Chris Kennedy and, on Thursday, J.B. Pritzker, into contention. “A race with three billionaires,” a city editor quipped ruefully, and I replied that Kennedy isn’t a billionaire. “He’s the poor man of the group.” (Nor is Rauner a billionaire — a common misconception —
except in his dreams). […]
Pritzker, well . . . how shall I say this? . . . presents an image that will not necessarily be embraced down in Wayne County. Donald Trump needed to sprinkle his strongest hallucinatory dust to convince people that turning his father’s millions into hundreds of millions makes him a business genius. Pritzker’s most savvy career move was being born, so he might have a tougher time of it.
But in seeking support from minimum-wage unionized workers, the Pritzker family’s control of Hyatt hotels could be an issue for J.B. Pritzker.
Hyatt housekeepers waged a four-year battle for a union contract. In one infamous incident, hotel managers even turned heat lamps on picketing workers during a heat wave.
Pritzker distanced himself from that history.
“I have never worked in the hotel business. I have always had my own company. It’s what I built from scratch,” he tells CBS 2 Political Reporter Derrick Blakley.
A day after J.B. Pritzker officially entered the race for governor, a Republican group allied with GOP incumbent Bruce Rauner let the Democrat have it over labor troubles at the Pritzker family’s Hyatt hotel chain.
In a statement with the modest headline “Billionaire Democrat J.B. Pritzker launches Illinois gov campaign on shameless hypocrisy,” the Republican Governors Association said that while the candidate favors a $15 minimum wage, Hyatt fought efforts by Unite Here union to organize and secure raises for Hyatt workers.
The group points to stories such as one on WBEZ a few years ago about how the firm turned winter heat lamps on in the middle of the summer to sweat out striking workers, so the issue is fair game.
But the group neglects to mention that the same WBEZ story reports on how a labor deal eventually was reached, and that Pritzker has had no role in Hyatt management. And it doesn’t at all touch on Rauner’s extremely hostile relations with labor over reduced union rights, collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and other matters.
*** UPDATE *** * From Jared Leopold, the communications director for the Democratic Governors Association…
“The DGA has never polled the Illinois Democratic primary or tested any of the candidates. The Chicago Sun-Times story is 100% false and the DGA has requested a correction.”
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* I don’t know yet if we’re going to make this a regular Monday thing or not, but since I already did a Kennedy weekend roundup, here’s an e-mail from the Ameya Pawar campaign with hyperlinks and some excerpts (I’ve added to what they sent me) for your convenience…
Rich -
Busy weekend for Ald. Pawar on the trail. Wanted to send a quick recap your way.
-Sam
* Laura Washington’s Sun-Times column on Ald. Pawar came out. Gubernatorial candidate targets ‘wealth worship’: “Wealth is fine,” he told me over a recent lunch downtown. “I just don’t believe we should worship it,” he added. “Being wealthy and being successful and being able to run government are not synonymous.” … “We have conflated racist rhetoric and bigotry and bombast and wealth, with authenticity,” he said. “That’s why we ended up with Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump.” … “What we should think about is, the last time we had authentic politicians, was with FDR.”
* New poll from DGA (via Sneed) has Ald. Pawar tied with Mr. Pritzker. Say what you will but as of March 6-9 he’s tied with one of the two “juggernauts” for second: Sneed is told a poll conducted in early March by the Democratic Governors Association — which has no horse in the Illinois gubernatorial race except its desire to beat Gov. Bruce Rauner — showed Kennedy with 40 percent of the vote. Pritzker won just 10 percent. But he only officially entered the race on Thursday — a month after the poll was conducted. Pollsters surveyed 600 likely voters through live telephone calls from March 6-9. Kennedy had already been in the race for nearly a month at that point. Pritzker was tied with Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th), who also got 10 percent. Madison County schools superintendent Bob Daiber had 5 percent. Not included in the survey was state Sen. Daniel Biss, who launched his campaign later in March. … After this item was published, the Democratic Governors Association contacted Sneed to say it had not conducted a poll, but Sneed stands by what she was told.
* 300 people attended the campaigns first volunteer training on Chicago’s Northwest side (in the 39th Ward. Photo of crowd here). We also had a few dozen volunteers stream in via computer from around the state. 85% of the attendees have never volunteered for a campaign before.
* Meet and greets in Lombard, Evanston, Edwardsville and East. St. Louis. Over 50 people at each stop. First announced candidate in East St. Louis. Invited to come back by the community for a big town-hall in May.
I’d been hoping that Kennedy would drop out before I felt obligated to say anything about him. But he seems to really be running, still, so this is as good a moment as any to explain that, when dealing with Kennedy, I am compromised. I won’t use the word “friend” — I wouldn’t ask him to help me move, or loan me $20 — but we’ve been friendly acquaintances for a decade. Both my boys volunteered a summer working for his Top Box Foods. My family has had dinner at his house, and gone sailing at Hyannis Port. So keep that in mind should the subject arise.
However, I do pride myself on a well-exercised professional ingratitude. When I wrote a book about my father, my dad didn’t talk to me for six months.
In my view either Kennedy or Pritzker will lose to Rauner. Kennedy because he can be awkward as heck and the romance of the Kennedy name (his father was Robert F. Kennedy) is cool ash at this point. Look what being a Clinton did for Hillary. My sincere personal advice, while he was contemplating the run, was that he absolutely shouldn’t. “Everything you consider an asset is really a liability,” I said.
Comparing a potential Pritzker takeover of the state’s Democratic leadership to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s tight-fisted control over Illinois Republicans, Kennedy told me Friday that Democrats should “make sure that no matter what, we don’t end up with a Democratic Party that’s silenced and intimidated and bullied.”
“Do I think that J.B. Pritzker is going to act like a tyrant like Bruce Rauner has? I don’t know that. But why take the risk?” Kennedy said. “He doesn’t need your money. He doesn’t need your advice. He doesn’t need your help. He doesn’t need to listen.”
It’s definitely a little rich (using the other meaning of the word) — and arguably hypocritical — for Kennedy to be the one throwing the money stone. […]
I asked Kennedy how much money he does have. Thus ensued an awkward silence.
The “tyrant” question is legit and, as I told subscribers last week, it’s something that Democratic legislators are also talking about.
“Chris Kennedy runs, hides and dodges from reporters, even going awkwardly silent when pressed,” said Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe. “If Kennedy melts down by talking to reporters, he’ll never be able to stand up to Mike Madigan.”
* Related…
* Tom Kacich: Chris Kennedy, the former University of Illinois board chairman and current Democratic candidate for governor, last week reported another $403,960 in campaign contributions. Of that sum, $99,400 came from donors with New York state addresses, $21,600 came from Connecticut addresses and $10,000 came from California addresses. Precisely zero dollars came to Kennedy from addresses in downstate Illinois.
* New wave of Kennedys cresting across the country: “They’re thunderstruck by what’s happened to them,” said Chris Kennedy, standing in the living room, addressing about 40 people. “They feel like the promise of this country, the notion that any of them can make it, can arrive here like the Kennedys did and rise from rags to riches, that that promise, which they refer to as the American dream, that that promise has not been kept. And they’re raging mad.”
I’ve heard a lot of talk from both Statehouse parties that neither side will ever agree to a “bad deal” to end the long government stalemate. An official in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration told me recently, “No deal is better than a bad deal.” And that sentiment is not confined to one party.
But everybody really needs to rethink what a “bad deal” is. State government is nearing collapse. Universities are on the brink of failure, our social services network is falling apart and our stack of unpaid bills has become Mount Everest.
The governor won’t make a deal unless he also gets some concessions like term limits, a property tax freeze and workers’ compensation insurance reform. He also wants steep budget cuts but hasn’t yet said what those should be.
Democrats say a property tax freeze would hurt local schools, they’re wary of taking away benefits from injured workers and after two years of budgetary carnage, they’re not thrilled with steep cuts.
So, both sides believe the other wants them to make a bad deal.
Again: Maybe they need to redefine what a bad deal is. To illustrate why they should just sit down and work it out, I offer a personal story.
I suppose it’s too much to expect that we get an honest debate about the need for more state revenues in the already active gubernatorial race. Candidates will be candidates and voters will be voters, after all.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign blasted out an e-mail last week telling supporters that newly announced billionaire Democratic candidate JB Pritzker wants to raise the state income tax to over 5 percent, which, the campaign claimed, would be “Higher than it was under Pat Quinn!”
Nevermind that Rauner himself privately supports raising state taxes to historically high levels. He’s OK with a 4.99 percent income tax rate and a 7 percent corporate tax rate. But he also backs a new tax on sugary beverages and a new sales tax on several services. If all that was implemented, the state government would be taxing residents billions of dollars more than it ever has before.
So, apparently, you can only be for the massive tax hikes that Rauner wants. Otherwise, you’ll be portrayed as being in House Speaker Michael Madigan’s hip pocket.
The Illinois Republican Party obtained audio of Pritzker speaking at a private Democratic event. In one snippet, Pritzker is heard saying: “Let’s remind everybody, the tax used to be 5 percent, and [Rauner] let it lapse down to three and three quarters percent. And that’s what started a lot of the problems that we’ve got in the state. So, if you just put it back that’s $5 billion dollars. That doesn’t get you everything you need, but it’s a good way toward, you know, toward getting real revenue in the state.”
The comment was eerily similar to one made by Speaker Madigan in late 2015. “A good place to begin,” Madigan said back then, “would be the level we were at before the income tax expired. Starting there, you can go in whatever direction you want to go.” Rauner immediately pounced on that comment to claim that Madigan wanted to raise the income tax above 5 percent, even though he never actually said that.
Pritzker’s private comments along with a claim that he’s in league with Madigan’s “plan” were sent to reporters hours before Pritzker’s official campaign kickoff.
“I think that we ought to start with the millionaires and billionaires and make sure that they’re paying taxes first,” Pritzker responded when asked, in apparent reference to a graduated income tax or a surcharge on the wealthy, “We’re not going to talk about raising taxes on middle class families until we take care of that problem,” the Sun-Times reported.
But taxation like that would require a constitutional amendment because the state’s Constitution mandates a flat income tax. And that means it would require a three-fifths majority in both legislative chambers, and the Republicans (along with some Democrats) have historically resisted a graduated tax. So, forget it.
After Pritzker’s press conference, the Republicans released yet another audio snippet of Pritzker admitting the hard truth about a graduated tax: “So let’s just talk about this flat income tax, because we’re not going to be able to turn it into a millionaire’s tax, a fair tax – it’s gonna take us three years.”
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The Republicans used that second snippet to claim that Pritzker wasn’t telling the truth to reporters earlier in the day. And their point has merit.
Rauner insists his plan is better because tax hikes are coupled with his reforms. But even his full package of reforms from back in 2015 would’ve only slightly moved the economic and budgetary needles, according to his very own analysis that he sent to legislators that year. His reform demands have since been significantly scaled back. And while some of his reforms are undoubtedly needed (particularly workers’ comp costs), much of the rest is little more than political window dressing (term limits) and have next to nothing to do with spurring growth.
We are in this hole because our leaders refused to be honest, starting with the 2011 “temporary” tax hike, right through the 2014 campaign, then allowing the tax hike to partially expire and then fighting over who would blink first on raising taxes and accepting “reforms.”
And the public prefers the lies. Polls show Illinoisans are convinced somebody else should solve the problem, either millionaires via taxation (which wouldn’t raise enough cash) or the faceless bureaucracy via cuts (except for just about every state program under the sun).
Again, I suppose it’s too much to ask that candidates and the governor are honest about this stuff. But that means this contest could not only turn out to be the most expensive in Illinois history, it could also be the most dishonest.
The Rauner Administration filed a brief in the Fifth Judicial District Appellate Court this afternoon addressing the duplicity of the Attorney General’s appeal in the state employee pay lawsuit. For over a year, AG Madigan benefitted from the very court order she is now attacking by paying her own staff over $23 million dollars in FY 2017 alone, bringing into question her motives.
In addition, the Rauner Administration’s brief highlights that the Attorney General does not know the consequences of what will happen if her attempt to stop state employee pay is successful, and is asking the court system to move forward in pulling the rug out from under tens of thousands of state employees. The Rauner Administration strongly opposes the Attorney General’s reckless attempts to precipitate a crisis.
General Counsel Dennis Murashko released the following statement about this filing:
“In the last year, Attorney General Madigan’s employees have been paid more than $23 million using the same court order she now is attacking. If the Attorney General were truly concerned about the General Assembly passing a balanced budget, she would not be using state employees as political pawns in her attempts to create a crisis and force a government shutdown.”
I don’t get it. She obeyed a court order to pay state employees and that’s somehow… what?
…Adding… If you take a look at the filing, you’ll notice a lot of stuff like this…
Her entire argument in this Court hinges on a Supreme Court decision she chose to ignore from March of last year until late January 2017, even though her office…
Um, the attorney general represents the people of Illinois. So, it’s the people’s filing, not “her” filing. There are, by my count 26 mentions of the word “she” and 57 mentions of the word “her.”
…Adding More… So, I just talked to someone in the administration who tried to answer my questions. The reasoning is this: The existing court order forces the comptroller to pay any employee salary vouchers that come to her office. It doesn’t force people like AG Madigan to actually submit the vouchers.
The attorney general’s office on Friday said the brief is a show of “snark” with “literally no law” behind it. The issue of whether or not to pay the office’s 750 employees has never been raised and there is no law in place to say Madigan shouldn’t pay her employees – many of whom are representing Rauner’s administration in cases, officials said.
“We have a legal and ethical obligation to follow the court’s order otherwise we would be in contempt of the court,” attorney general’s office spokeswoman Maura Possley said in a statement.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has been in office for about two years, but he suggested Thursday that the time has felt much longer given the protracted battle with Democrats that has left Illinois without a budget.
“I have been a politician for two years now, but it’s really dog years. It’s really 14 years,” Rauner told a community group in Decatur on Thursday. “This is a really hard thing.”
* The Question: How long does it feel to you? Explain.
MPC recently took a deep dive into the wonky world of administrative districts that oversee individual schools, and their findings—based on 2014 data, the most recent available—confirms our worst fears about the insidious impact of bureaucratic bloat:
* Illinois’ 850 school districts—only two states have more—collectively spend more than $1 billion a year, most in the country by far.
* That’s $518 per student—two-and-a-half times the national average of $210.
* By comparison, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin spend less than $400 per pupil, California and Florida less than $100. […]
The Illinois School Funding Reform Commission recently estimated the state would have to spend $3.5 billion over the next decade to achieve fair per-pupil funding for schools in every district.
Incredibly, Illinois could easily meet the commission’s goal without scrounging for another penny if district administrative spending was even close to the national average because that would free up at least $400 million a year for classrooms instead of offices. […]
* 220 of the state’s 850 districts, or 26 percent, have just one school, and those districts cost 67 percent more to operate than multiple-school districts.
* Also, districts comprised of only elementary or high schools spend about a third more on administration than unit districts that include both.
* The state’s largest unit district, Chicago, is barely afloat but full of bloat, according to the MPC study, spending $350 per student on general administration in 2014.
Illinois representatives approved a bill Thursday to prevent further privatization of health care jobs in state prisons.
The House voted 68-42 for the bill that was previously OK’d by the Senate. It will now be sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The legislation was sparked by a decision last month by the Department of Corrections to privatize the jobs of 124 union nurses working in state prisons. They are due to be laid off June 15. Corrections said the move will save the state $8 million a year. […]
This isn’t the first time the General Assembly has gotten involved in the prison nurse issue. The Legislature passed a similar bill last year that was vetoed by Rauner. The bill died when the House failed to override the veto.
The Senate immediately sent the bill to the governor yesterday. He has 60 days to act, which would be before the June 15th layoff date.
It’s possible that a compromise could be found. One of the GOP complaints during debate was that minimum nurse staffing levels were set without regard to prison population. If that population declines, the prisons might have too many nurses. So, something may happen after the break. But the governor could then simply sit on that bill for 60 days, which would be after the layoff deadline, meaning his office will have to be part of any discussions.
* I missed this Ameya Pawar video when it was released earlier this month, but have a look…
* Script…
I live for family. For my daughter, my wife.
My father grew up in India with no running water, doing homework by candlelight.
I grew up in Illinois.
We’re not wealthy or famous. My student loans and child care cost more than my mortgage.
But our family helps each other. We’re for each other.
Illinois is like a family when we’re at our best.
Some politicians try to divide us by where we live, where we’re from, and what we look like.
They leave us fighting for our fair share.
But we’re in this together.
When jobs leave a small town, that hurts Chicago.
When city schools are denied the funding to create tomorrow’s workforce, that hurts the suburbs.
When roads and bridges are crumbling, that hurts all of us.
We can’t disconnect, and we don’t want to.
We’re one state. One family. And we deserve a New Deal
My name is Ameya Pawar. I’m running for governor.
Maybe a little long for online, but still pretty good.
* Meanwhile, from the caption to a 2011 Youtube video…
Published on Jun 30, 2011
June 30 (Bloomberg) — Bruce Rauner, chairman and principal at GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, and J.B. Pritzker, founder of New World Ventures, talk about the outlook for venture capital investments and initial public offerings by Internet companies. They speak with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.”
As the House debate dragged into a second hour, some of the statements got pointed. Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, referred to Gov. Bruce Rauner as the “sugar daddy” of the Republican Party who is demanding lawmakers approve his campaign promises in exchange for a budget. Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highland, said none of the Republicans “has had the spine to stand up to your leader.”
Rep. Peter Breen, R-Lombard, countered that “Republicans want to turn Illinois around. Democrats want to burn Illinois down.”
As we’ve already discussed, Republicans have in the past voted for stopgap funding bills.
* With that in mind Rep. Drury’s comments are worth expanding on here. Drury was one of the lone voices against the stopgap budget bill last year. And so the only Democrat not to vote for Speaker Madigan’s reelection rose to hammer the Republicans for being too afraid to stand up to Gov. Bruce Rauner…
I try to be the one in the chamber that calls it like it is. And I have to say, listening to the debate from the Republican side today is just grotesque. It is just absolutely grotesque.
And let me tell you why. First of all, there is no Republican plan… So to say the Democrats have a plan to burn it down and you have a path to prosperity? Well, last year, there was one person in this chamber who was talking about pressure cookers and letting things boil over and I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t on that side of the aisle. It was me. And the votes were 115-1, 116-1. But your leader, who none of you are willing to stand up to, said, “Today, you should vote this way.” And now your leader has changed his position and he says “Hey, that pressure cooker thing sounds good, let’s try it.”
So, it’s wonderful that you want to come here and pretend that you have some plan, and pretend that you have a backbone. But there is no one on that side of the aisle, no one on that side of the aisle in the last two years who has shown the spine to stand up to your leader. Allright?
There is one person on this side who has. And I can commiserate with you, I can tell you what it’s like, if you want to know what’s going to happen. But in a lot of ways it’s like the shackles being off.
So I encourage at least one of you, instead of talking about all the nonsense that you’re talking about, to grow a spine, do what you think is the right thing. But to stop sitting here and pretend that you have some sort of plan and that the Democrats don’t. Do you what you think is right. Just do you what you think is right. And maybe it’ll come back and shine on you. But as long as you have these lame excuses, I just don’t know how you sleep at night. I really don’t.
That transcription was sent to me by somebody who was greatly impressed with Drury’s speech. And Rep. Drury did make some good points.
State legislators in Springfield are moving to address gun violence in Chicago. The Illinois Senate [yesterday] passed stricter gun laws long sought by the Chicago Police. The legislation is meant to get judges to impose longer sentences on repeat gun offenders.
An earlier version of the plan to raise minimum sentences for some repeat gun crime felons stalled last month despite the high-profile backing of Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson. It’s almost always difficult to pass gun legislation in Springfield, where widely varying regional attitudes toward firearms complicate the politics. The broad nature of this proposal also drew complaints from different directions, which maintained it was too soft on drug criminals or too hard on minorities.
Over the last several weeks, Democratic Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago worked to ease some of those concerns among opponents, including Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office. Key to that effort was stripping provisions that would have softened penalties on certain drug crimes. Police contended drug sales fuel gun crimes, and Republicans said decreasing prison time for convicted dealers would send the wrong message as a heroin epidemic grips the suburbs.
“The governor is pleased to have reached an agreement on this important legislation,” Rauner spokesman Lance Trover said. […]
The legislation would increase the sentencing guidelines for judges deciding punishment for some repeat gun felons. Instead of a range of three to 14 years, judges would hand out sentences in the range of seven to 14 years. If they wanted to depart from that guideline, they would have to explain why.
The provisions that were taken out of the bill include those that would have lowered sentencing for those charged with more serious drug offenses. The initial language would have lowered the minimums depending on the charge. Provisions that would have lowered the offense classifications for drug offenses were also removed, the governor’s office and one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Raoul, said.
“What we were trying to do was take more of a judicious approach on those cases, not to let drug dealers off the hook,” Raoul said, while noting the negotiations with the governor’s office were productive.
“In my conversations with the governor’s office, historically, they have been clear that they want to work progressively, incrementally, on the criminal justice reforms so they had to proceed cautiously to do so,” Raoul said. “My preference would be to attempt to take a more aggressive bite out of the prison population. … I understand and appreciate that we’re doing this work on criminal justice reform. It’s not easy politically.”
An example of the change included a sentencing guideline that would have provided a range of six to 30 years for someone charged with manufacturing and delivering heroin amounts from 15-100 grams. It would have kept the same guidelines for those charged with between 15 and 400 grams of heroin — allowing for more drugs under the same sentencing guideline range.
The state’s attorneys deserve a lot of credit here. They didn’t argue for removing the penalty reductions, the governor did. In the past, they were always a stubborn obstacle to criminal justice reforms, but they’ve worked hard for the past couple of years to find ways to compromise.
As Illinois nursing home owners come under heightened scrutiny for improper patient discharges and inadequate staffing care, nursing home workers will picket at 10 nursing homes in the Chicago area on Friday, including Alden Wentworth on the South Side and Legacy Chalet on the North to stand up for fair wages, quality jobs, and patient care.
Over 10,000 nursing home workers at 103 facilities have, as members of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, been fighting to negotiate a new contract for over a year to improve the quality of nursing home jobs and address concerns over low wages and patient care. Yet, despite receiving about $1 billion in revenue each year and an increasing number of residents, for-profit nursing home owners have refused to significantly raise staffing levels and have actively worked to keep wages low.
The owners want the right to pay workers less than the minimum wage – despite the demanding nature of their work, the level of skill and training required and the crucial role workers play in safeguarding the well-being of seniors and people with disabilities in their care.
* From the JB Pritzker campaign…
TODAY at 3:30 PM: JB Pritzker to Join SEIU Healthcare Illinois Picket
* From yesterday’s statement reacting to Pritzker’s campaign announcement by United Working Families, of which SEIU Healthcare Illinois is by far the largest member…
BREAKING: Battle of the Billionaires […]
A real estate mogul in the White House. An investment banker in Chicago’s City Hall. And now the billionaires are battling it out for the Illinois Governor’s mansion, while more and more working people are left behind.
It’s time to build something different: politics for the people, not the plutocrats.
* So, I asked SEIU Healthcare what the heck was going on. I mean, your coalition calls the guy a “plutocrat” on Thursday and you picket with him on Friday? The union’s response…
Today, we’re focused on nursing home workers and their fight for living wages and safe staffing for their residents—not on an election that is a year away. At least four candidates who have declared for governor are supporting these workers, along with many others—and we appreciate that support.
UWF is an independent political organization made up of individuals and organizations—HCII is one of those organizations. None that we are aware of have made any endorsements—but most are here in the picket line supporting nursing home workers fighting for living wages and safe staffing.
* According to the union, Ameya Pawar, Chris Kennedy and Kurt Summers are also joining the workers on the picket line today and Daniel Biss has expressed his support but is out of town.
Having just about all the candidates for governor joining together on a work action is a pretty major event.
* I’m still not convinced that there’s a real fire here, but the story completely plays right into the public’s notions about how state government has always worked. WCIA TV’s Mark Maxwell continues to pursue the story about the old Barney’s Furniture store lease…
Business owner and Republican Procurement Board Chairman Frank Vala knew when he allowed a $2.4 million lease agreement to be approved that it would benefit the daughter and son-in-law of his longtime friend [and neighbor] Bill Cellini.
“I’ve known Mr. Cellini all of my life,” Vala said. […]
State documents filed in February 2017 list Claudia as the sole President of New Frontier Developments, even though she has lived in Dubai for several years. It remains unclear whether she plays an active role in directing the business. William Jr. is no longer listed as an executive.
WCIA has learned Claudia Cellini’s husband, Raffi Vartanian, is separately listed as a one-third owner of Climate Controlled Holdings, LLC. The company just opened for business in February of 2016. In 14 months, the infant corporation has managed to purchase a 62,000 square foot warehouse and immediately lease it to the state of Illinois at a remarkable premium. State documents reveal the privately held company began with a mere $15,000 cash on hand.
Climate Controlled Holdings bought the old Barney’s Furniture Warehouse for $575,000 on January 3rd, 2017. State documents were already being prepared to obtain a government lease five months prior — in September of 2016 — before the warehouse sale was even completed. Less than one month later, the state of Illinois had entered into a binding agreement to pay a minimum of $2.42 million to the upstart company in exchange for a 5-year lease of the facility. […]
Asked how long he’s known Claudia Cellini, Vala answered, “Since she was a little kid.” Vala confirmed he also knows about Cellini’s husband, Raffi, and says he’s even met him in person.
There was no formal vote to approve or disapprove, but the procurement board could’ve voted if it wanted to. According to the story, the board has never stopped a request during Rauner’s term.
* To be super clear here, none of this is illegal on its face. Bill Cellini did his time and he’s no longer involved with the company and there’s zero hard evidence that his kid or his son-in-law did anything at all improper here. The lease was put out for bids and the state chose the lower bid. Yeah, the lease price is high, but lease prices are rising for the state because it isn’t paying its bills. It couldn’t buy the property because it has no appropriation authority to do so. Everything can be logically and reasonably explained.
But, man, this story has almost everything to make it appear to be a perfect “Illinois way” saga.
Thumbs down to 646 days without a state budget. Each week, it gets increasingly difficult to grasp the fact that our legislators and governor are allowing our state to disintegrate financially. We are seeing our education system fall apart — as evidenced by Southern Illinois University being forced to trim $30 million from its budget and school districts suing the state for aid payments. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency emanating from Springfield. Remember the days when legislators would lock themselves in chambers until they hammered out an agreement?
No, I don’t remember those days because they never happened because doing so would be a felony.
The Illinois House wants to tap incoming but unallocated revenue to relieve struggling universities and human services.
The House voted 64-45 Thursday to authorize spending $817 million that is sitting in special funds during a two-yearlong budget holdup.
The stopgap funding deal approved by the House includes about $26 million for the Southern Illinois University System, plus additional Monetary Award Program, or MAP, grant funds that would benefit the campuses. That amount represents about 13 percent of the state appropriations SIU received in fiscal year 2015, the last year a full year’s budget was approved by lawmakers in Springfield.
“It is very encouraging,” John Charles, SIU’s director of government and public affairs, said after the vote. “We’re appreciative for everything that we get.”
Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, echoed the belief of many Republicans that passing another stopgap budget will take pressure off of lawmakers to pass a full, permanent state budget. He likened the lack of a budget to pressure building up in a tea kettle.
“(This) gives crumbs to those institutions and organizations that rely on us,” Harris said. “These stopgaps are relief valves. They are relief valves for the steam that is building up.”
More on that topic…
Rep. @Andersson4Rep By voting for this, the pressure is off us to get to a full budget. A full budget, not a stop gap budget is what we need
Yep. On the one hand, the Republicans want to take the pressure off the negotiations by paying state workers through infinity, but on the other hand they argue that some of the most vulnerable Illinoisans should be refused help in order to spur a budget deal.
Money for the lifeline budget comes from two special state funds intended to help education and human services. The two funds get a small part of income tax receipts as they are received by the state and are constantly replenished. The funds will have more than $800 million in them by the end of the fiscal year in June that cannot be spent unless the General Assembly authorizes it.
The money is just sitting there gathering dust while universities crumble and the social service network frays. If the Senate was making real progress on a grand bargain, I could understand holding off. But it obviously isn’t.
Though Republicans have previously supported some stopgap spending plans, they said the difference this time is that they were not involved in negotiations. They questioned some of the spending, saying money was being set aside for things that were not urgent, including a program designed to produce teachers to work in distressed schools.
The House Republicans weren’t involved in negotiations by choice. Their leader was invited to participate and he didn’t respond.
Rep. Steven Andersson, R-Geneva, said the bill also provides money to some programs that are no longer in existence, as well as a teacher-training program that Republicans contend has little to show for the money invested in it. Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, said the plan includes $10 million for those programs.
No doubt that part of this vote yesterday was about politics. House members can go home today saying they voted to help people. The Senate won’t return for two weeks, however. And the governor is indicating he’ll veto the bill…
Rauner has said he would not support another stopgap plan unless it included a permanent property tax freeze, a key portion of his political agenda.
Democrats have opposed such a freeze, saying it would starve local school districts that rely on those dollars. But they did approve a measure Thursday to expand some property-tax exemption programs, a move that could provide them some political cover to fight back against GOP claims they aren’t trying to give homeowners some relief.
That’s the political “tell” right there.
Besides that, all these property tax exemptions do is transfer the burden to other taxpayers. The money has to be paid one way or another, but Illinois politicians just love to narrow the taxing base whenever and wherever they can. It’s a big reason we’re in this mess today. Retirement income, food and medicine, services etc., etc., etc. are all exempted from taxation and that means others have to pick up the slack.
Gov. Bruce Rauner opposes turning over the money, saying he prefers passing a full budget, tied to non-budget measures he favors. Rauner said the House bill would keep public universities and social services “on the verge of collapse.”
But ask anyone teetering on the verge of a cliff: It’s better to be there than going over altogether.
Even if the Senate finally agrees on a grand bargain that includes new revenue, it is less and less likely the bargain will cover what remains of the 2017 fiscal year, which ends June 30. In earlier discussions, any income tax increase was to have been retroactive to Jan. 1, which would have provided some revenue for the current fiscal year. But doing that in April — or later — would require withholding a bite out of workers’ paychecks that’s just too big.
Without a budget in place, pain stretches across the state. Seniors with disabilities are losing services. Cutbacks on mental health services, substance abuse treatment and after-school programs will drive violence higher. Once-proud university campuses are reeling.
The state has the money to help. The Legislature and governor should speed it along.
* If this guy committed wrongdoing in New Orleans, then it’s a real problem. But no such allegation is made in the story, so I’m not sure what the dealio is because plenty of other people were fine with bringing Synesi here…
When former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas was recruited to revive the schools in hurricane-battered New Orleans, he asked for help from back home, newly obtained records show.
In a series of letters to Louisiana officials who oversaw the New Orleans district, Vallas vouched for Synesi Associates, an education consulting firm that recently had been started in Chicago by a former high school teacher named Gary Solomon.
“This out-of-state provider has a record of demonstrated effectiveness,” Vallas wrote in 2007, citing the “unique experience” of the firm’s staff.
Synesi landed two no-bid contracts worth nearly $893,000 in New Orleans during Vallas’ time running the Recovery School District from 2007 to 2011, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
Now, nearly a decade later, Vallas appears set to be named to a top leadership post at financially troubled Chicago State University.
And Solomon is scheduled to report to federal prison July 11 to begin an 84-month sentence. Solomon was convicted of bribing Barbara Byrd-Bennett, one of Vallas’ successors heading CPS, who arranged for Synesi and another of his companies to land $23 million in business with the Chicago school system.
Former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas has resigned from the Chicago State University board of trustees to apply for a top leadership position in the university’s administration, the Tribune has learned.
Vallas’ resignation comes ahead of an emergency board meeting Friday where university trustees are expected to fill two top administrative posts with the hope that sweeping change will help turn around the troubled school. The board has said it plans to name a new interim president and interim chief administrative officer, a newly created position.
Chicago State University Friday named Paul Vallas as temporary chief administrative officer and voted for its longtime dean of the Arts and Sciences as interim president.
Except for Nikki Zollar, the board vice chair and head of the presidential search committee,, the entire board voted for Rachel Lindsey as interim president.
Zollar also abstained from the Vallas’ vote.
Vallas was Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top pick to run the financially troubled Chicago State University.
