* From John Tillman at the Illinois Policy Institute…
In the past several days, the Illinois Policy Institute has been accused of introducing elements of incivility, aggression, and discord into Illinois’ public discourse. The accusers are uniformly tax-hiking lawmakers and their enablers in media.
Their accusations are false.
We are on record urging the members of our community to act with decency, civility, and candor — and we have an unblemished record of doing the same ourselves. This is not pro forma: it is central to our identity and mission.
In the aftermath of a destructive 32-percent income-tax hike, in a state budget that achieves nothing beyond worsening the already-staggering burden on Illinois families and taxpayers, the Springfield elites are desperate to talk about absolutely anything else. They know they are the epicenter and cause of a series of cascading failures that have engulfed our once-great and once-prosperous state.
The real threat is not to lawmakers who enact policies that drive out our jobs, impoverish our communities, and diminish our dreams. The real threat is to average Illinoisans who suffer the consequences of those lawmakers’ serial failures to responsibly govern. Illinoisans have a lot to be upset and even angered about. Yet even now, with one of America’s great states brought to the brink of insolvency and ruin, the overwhelming majority of Illinoisans are still showing more respect for their lawmakers than their lawmakers have shown them.
Click here for a reminder about their decency and civility.
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Stuff I just can’t quite believe
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Tio Hardiman’s LinkedIn page…
Message to the People,
Do not believe the recent poll that Chris Kennedy paid for to make his numbers look bigger than everybody else. Pritzker and Kennedy are not the only candidates in the race for Governor on the Democratic side. Tio Hardiman is currently polling at 18 percent and the numbers will continue to grow.
I’m not sure how he paid for that alleged poll because his campaign committee has been shut down since 2014.
* Moving right along…
Uh-huh. Sure.
* But I can buy into this one…
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Top Teamsters official indicted
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Click here to read the indictment. Here’s the US Attorney’s office press release
A high-ranking official in a Chicago-area labor union threatened a local business with economic loss if it didn’t pay him quarterly cash payments of $25,000, according to a federal indictment returned today.
JOHN T. COLI SR. used the threat of economic harm to extort quarterly payments of $25,000 from a local company, according to the indictment. The attempted extortion occurred from approximately October 2016 to April 2017, while Coli served as President of Teamsters Joint Council 25, a labor organization that represents more than 100,000 workers in the Chicago area and northwest Indiana. The organization has approximately 26 local union affiliates, including Teamsters Local Union 727, where Coli also served as Secretary-Treasurer during the time period referenced in the indictment.
The indictment was returned today in U.S. District Court in Chicago. It charges Coli, 57, of Chicago, with one count of attempted extortion and five counts of demanding and accepting a prohibited payment as a union official. The indictment seeks forfeiture from Coli of at least $100,000.
Arraignment in federal court in Chicago will be held at a future time to be set by the Court.
The indictment was announced by Joel R. Levin, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General in Chicago.
According to the charges, Coli accepted a $25,000 cash payment on July 7, 2016; two cash payments totaling $25,000 on Oct. 4, 2016, and Nov. 29, 2016; and $25,000 cash payments on Dec. 22, 2016, and April 4, 2017. The indictment does not identify the individual who made the payments nor the company Coli allegedly extorted.
Coli previously served as International Vice President of the Central Region of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the indictment states.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Attempted extortion is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Each count of demanding and accepting a prohibited payment is punishable by up to five years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amarjeet S. Bhachu and Abigail Peluso.
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* But Moody’s is still out there…
They’re right, of course, about the prolonged “fiscal hangover” and the “disconcerting lack of consensus.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Greg Hinz…
Despite the budget, “The state almost certainly (will) suffer an extended hangover” from two-year impasse that preceded it. “Revenue spent on servicing and retiring the roughly $15 billion in unpaid bills is unavailable for contribution to the state’s severely underfunded pension systems or to fund state services. It also crowds out fiscal capacity the state might otherwise use to accommodate a reduction in tax rates.”
“Nevertheless,” it concludes, “despite being fractured and delayed, passage of the budget represents an affirmation of lawmakers’ collective willingness to prioritize the state’s fundamental claims-paying ability at an investment-grade level.”
S&P’s action won immediate praise from Senate President John Cullerton. Said his spokesman, “The entire point of this balanced budget was to end the chaos and move the state toward the stability it desperately needs. Those efforts appear to have been recognized and appreciated, but obviously more work is needed to get Illinois back to greatness.”
No word yet from Rauner, who in recent days has lost or pushed out almost all of his media team, or House Speaker Michael Madigan.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Speaker Michael J. Madigan issued the following statement Wednesday after Standard & Poor’s reacted positively to passage of a bipartisan balanced budget:
“S&P’s action today is a strong signal that the balanced budget enacted by Republicans and Democrats is an important step in the right direction. At the end of June, I wrote to the rating agencies and asked that they temporarily withhold judgment and give legislators more time to enact a budget, and I’m grateful for the legislators on both sides of the aisle who used this time to work together and make the difficult decisions needed to start getting Illinois back on track.
“There is more work to be done, and it’s clear from S&P’s statement that rating agencies, like all Illinois residents, are hoping Governor Rauner will work in good faith with legislators to address these challenges rather than rejecting compromise by turning further to the extreme right.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Comptroller Susana Mendoza…
We can all be thankful that S & P recognized the brave votes by legislators of both parties to put our state back on the right path to fiscal responsibility. The markets can be confident the state will meet its obligations on debt service and pensions. Much more work is needed to fix the state’s finances — and Democratic and Republican legislators proved last week they can work together — with or without the governor — to get necessary reforms done.
Nothing yet from the governor’s office, which has been silent pretty much all week.
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* The Illinois Policy Institute’s Austin Berg writing in the Decatur Herald & Review…
The 2011 tax hikes passed on a straight party-line vote, with Democrat majorities in both chambers and a Democrat in the governor’s seat.
This time, 15 House Republicans rolled over for Madigan, allowing him to protect vulnerable Democrats. A lone Republican cast a “yes” vote on Madigan’s tax hike in the Senate, Dale Righter of Mattoon. Righter’s was the deciding vote that sent the tax hike to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk. He was also the deciding vote to override the governor’s veto.
Analysis of the House’s last-minute amendment to the budget revealed Righter was showered with $4.8 million in earmarks for his district.
Madigan wins again.
* From Dan Proft’s East Central Reporter newspaper…
State Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) made a trade.
He’d cast the decisive vote and give the Chicago Democrats what they wanted– large individual and business income tax hikes and a $700 million bailout for Chicago’s bankrupt public schools– if they would just agree to send a few more state dollars to his district.
And so it was.
Page 508 of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s 638-page budget lays out the $4,757,100 that Eastern Illinois University (EIU) in Charleston will receive “for remodeling of the HVAC in the Life Science Building and Coleman Hall.”
EIU will also get $59,282 “for upgrading the electrical distribution system” and and $10,790 “for renovating and expanding the (EIU) Fine Arts Center.”
All told, Righter received a little less than $5 million for EIU. And his vote will result in $5 billion more in tax dollars sent to Springfield from voters in his district and across the rest of Illinois.
* From the university’s website…
This project was originally appropriated in FY 2010 but is not yet funded. This request is to recognize the inflation needs for the project from the original request date.
The HVAC systems in the Life Science building (1963), the Life Science Annex building (1964), the Coleman Hall East building (1965) and the Coleman Hall West building (1968) are original equipment and are failing to provide adequate levels of comfort in seasonal service. Air handling units that fail to deliver acceptable indoor air quality compromise the normal delivery of education to our students. In addition, poor temperature control and air delivery are energy inefficient. Also, the building heating and chilled water distribution systems have experienced numerous leaks due to internal and external corrosion and thinning of pipe wall thickness. The deterioration has made the piping systems virtually impossible to repair due to insufficient pipe material remaining to thread. During the past several leak events, faculty offices had to be evacuated and important academic work interrupted. In the event of longer - term system outages, research occurring in the Life Sciences complex could be compromised. The building infrastructure requires an entire mechanical upgrade. [Emphasis added.]
Those HVAC systems are almost as old as I am.
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The budgetary fine print
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This story is making the rounds on social media, but it’s not accurate…
When state lawmakers approved the Illinois budget last week that included a provision to raise the state income tax rate to one of the highest rates in the history of Illinois, state lawmakers, under the direction of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D), snuck in another tax increase, that will hit you every time you fill up your car or truck.
Yes, a gas tax increase of 5 cents a gallon. Rockford Senator Dave Syverson, took to social media on Monday night to remind his constituents that “back door gas tax increase” was approved. So how does this work, according to Syverson, the back door gas tax is:
a tax at the wholesale level, which raises the retail price. This move will add approximately 5 cents a gallon. ($95 million total)
Yet another reason why this budget plan was wrong.
So, if you fill up a 20 gallon tank when you go to fill up, it will add a $1.00 on to the average fill up. If you fill your car. If you fill up once a week, this new back door tax will add about $52 to you gasoline bill, every year. Truck divers and transportation companies will notice it even more as their gas consumption levels are much higher. Those costs, of course will be passed on to the cost of good the consumer will pay.
* This new law is actually about ethanol blends, not “pure” gasoline.
Current state law taxes “gasohol” (10 percent ethanol blends) on only 80 percent of the sales price. Biodiesel and E85 (85 percent ethanol) are exempt from all sales taxes.
All three sales tax incentives were scheduled to expire on December 31, 2018. If no legislative action was taken by then, all three fuels would be taxed at 100 percent of sale price.
The new law accelerates the sunset of the gasohol tax break to July 1 of this year. So, from here on out, 10 percent gasohol blends are taxed at 100 percent of purchase price.
So, if you don’t use gasohol (E10), you won’t see any price increase.
According to the Department of Revenue, 4.6 billion gallons of gasoline were sold in Illinois last year, compared to 5.1 billion gallons of gasohol and 517 million gallons of E85. Thanks to an eagle-eyed commenter, I now realize I misread that particular chart. That’s the fuel blending amounts. Thanks!
* The new law also extends the total sales tax exemption on biodiesel and E85 through the end of 2023. The ag community understandably likes the idea of extending these exemptions…
“One of those being that the biodiesel sales tax incentive was extended until 2023,” said Mark Gebhards, Illinois Farm Bureau’s executive director of governmental affairs and commodities. “The E-85 sales tax incentive was extended as well until 2023.”
The revenue bill also included a sunset provision on the E-10 sales tax incentive.
“So that was the trade-off of giving up something that at least from the renewable fuel industry, they feel that E-10 is well on its way and didn’t need the incentive that was needed for E-85 and biodiesel,” Gebhards said.
* Meanwhile…
The city of Chicago may be able to end junk status on much of its debt—potentially saving $100 million or more in interest charges each year—thanks to a clause that was quietly tucked into the state’s new budget.
The provision will allow home-rule entities such as Chicago to separate out money they get from the state from other receipts and use that dedicated revenue to pay for new debt, or to pay for retiring old debt.
The city now gets well over $1 billion from the state each year, including $630 million in sales taxes collected by the Illinois Department of Revenue on the city’s behalf, the $368 million city share of local income tax receipts, and $71 million in motor fuel taxes.
City officials hope the provision will allow them to save as much as 3 full percentage points—300 basis points—compared to what junk-level city general-obligation debt now costs. With more than $8 billion in outstanding general-obligation debt, the city would save $30 million a year on each $1 billion that could be refinanced, assuming it indeed can sell such “statutory lien” debt at the lower rates. […]
The Illinois Municipal League was aware of the provision and “didn’t have any issue with it,” according to Brad Cole, the league’s executive director. The provision mostly will affect Chicago, though some other large cities around the state could take advantage of the clause, he added.
* And…
Built into legislation that passed last week is a $293 million increase in the bonding capacity for the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority. The agency maxed out its borrowing limit two years ago.
Despite a gargantuan long-term debt burden that totaled $3.7 billion as of June 2016, McPier officials plan to take advantage of the new line of credit immediately to change the way they pay for the 1,205-room Marriott Marquis hotel going up on the Near South Side convention campus.
The agency plans to sell the bonds “as soon as possible” and will use $250 million of the proceeds to repay its construction loan for the Marriott, said McPier Chief Financial Officer Larita Clark.
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Family PAC urges “sellout” phone calls
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Family PAC describes itself as the “leading pro-family, anti-tax political action committee in Illinois.” From a member action alert…
Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna, a Chicago Alderman of old, once said: “Chicago ain’t ready for reform.” Last week, aided and abetted by 10 “sellout” Republican House members, Illinois Democrats proved that “Illinois ain’t ready for reform”…despite the near bankruptcy status of state government.
Governor Rauner for 2 ½ years has demanded fundamental reforms in the way Illinois does business…runaway pension costs…an end to collection of public employee union dues by the state…ridiculous workmen’s compensation laws created to benefit trial lawyers, etc., etc., etc., etc.
Rauner was doggedly consistent. He would consider a modest tax increase in return for these and other badly needed reforms so that Illinois finally could be moving in the right direction and stop the mass exodus of taxpayers and businesses from our state.
As a result of the perfidy of 10 House Republicans who caved in to the “fake” budget and 32% tax increase dictated by Mike Madigan…the Governor’s veto of the tax increase was overridden by a single vote.
Here are the Republicans who must take personal responsibility for the “Illinois Train Wreck:” […]
Family-Pac worked to sustain the Governor’s veto. Last Wednesday, we made 25,000 calls to voters in these districts demanding support for the Rauner veto. Our Family-Pac lobbyist, Rev. Bob Vanden Bosch, encouraged pro-family legislators to support sustaining the Rauner veto. The “sellout” Republicans ignored us and their own constituents.
But don’t give up all hope for Illinois at least not yet. Here’s why: 1) We now have a great opportunity to replace each and every one of these “sellouts” with real pro-family conservatives next March (if not sooner). 2) In 2018, as the Madigan “fake” budget falls apart, Madigan will need to again seek help from Republicans as Illinois falls further into financial crisis.
Please call each of the “sellout” Republicans who made the “Illinois Train Wreck” possible. Say one word, “sellout,” and hang up the phone.
When the times get tough, the tough get going…so let’s get going. Grassroots power can still save Illinois.
Blessings,
Paul Caprio, Director of Family-Pac
Gee, that’ll be such fun for the secretaries who answer the phones.
Also, notice how Paul says Rauner would accept a “modest” tax increase, but then describes that exact same income tax hike as a “32% tax increase dictated by Mike Madigan.”
Not only that, but the bipartisan plan that passed didn’t include other revenue streams that the governor wanted, like a new tax on services and a tax on cable TV and streaming and a sugary beverage tax.
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* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Three-quarters of Illinois’ state lawmakers will be accepting their per diem for last month’s 10-day special session, which will cost taxpayers at least $145,000.
According to a response to an Illinois News Network Freedom of Information Act request, of the 177 state lawmakers, only 46 denied the .39 cent-per-mile travel reimbursement and a $111 a day per diem for the special session that started June 20 and ended June 30. Although lawmakers were in Springfield for a few days in early July, they were not eligible for the per diem because that was not special session called by the governor.
Because the per diem and travel reimbursement vouchers have not been sent from the House and Senate to the comptroller’s office, the comptroller’s doesn’t have an exact total of what ultimately will be paid out to lawmakers from the 10-day special session.
But, excluding the 39 cent per mile travel reimbursement – which only covers one round trip per week – all state lawmakers who will accept the $111 per day per diem will cost taxpayers at least $145,410 for last month’s special session.
* Those who declined…
In the Senate (6 Democrats, 10 Republicans): Neil Anderson, R-Rock Island; Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington; Daniel Biss, D-Evanston; Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg; David Koehler, D-Peoria; Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill; Iris Martinez, D-Chicago; Sam McCann, R-Plainview; Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines; Christine Radogno, R-Lemont (retired); Sue Rezin, R-Morris; Tom Rooney, R-Rolling Meadows; Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo; Heather Steans, D-Chicago; Jil Tracy, R-Quincy; and Chuck Weaver, R-Peoria.
In the House (2 Democrats, 28 Republicans): Patricia Bellock, R-Hinsdale; Avery Bourne, R-Raymond; Daniel Brady, R-Bloomington; Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro; Tim Butler, R-Springfield; John Cabello, R-Machesney Park; Jerry Costello, D-Smithton; C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville; Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs; Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago; Randy Frese, R-Paloma; Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville; Sheri Jesiel, R-Winthrop Harbor; Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove; Jerry Long, R-Streator; Michael McAuliffe, R-Norwood Park; Tony McCombie, R-Savanna; David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills; Charlie Meier, R-Okawville; Thomas Morrison, R-Palatine; Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg; Lindsay Parkhurst, R-Kankakee; Reginald Phillips, R-Charleston; Nick Sauer, R-Lake Barrington; Dave Severin, R-Benton; Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee; Keith Sommer, R-Morton; Ryan Spain, R-Peoria; Daniel Swanson, R-Woodhull; and David Allen Welter, R-Morris.
*** UPDATE *** Senate President Cullerton also rejected his per diem.
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* Chicago Public Radio…
A union-backed bid to buy the Chicago Sun-Times is moving forward, according to sources involved in the deal.
Wrapports, which owns the newspaper, had given the union-backed group a Monday deadline to put “north of $11 million” in an escrow account, according to Bill Brandt, a restructuring expert and one of the private investors on board with the bid.
“The money is there,” Brandt said late Monday. “I believe there will be a transfer of ownership.”
That money is not the sale price of the paper, Brandt said.
“The real issue was what does it take to make sure that you can operate the paper and pay off its obligations in the future,” he said.
The sale price has been reported as being a dollar.
* Sun-Times…
The potential ownership group includes several local labor unions, including the CFL, and about eight individual investors, including corporate restructuring expert Bill Brandt.
“I think it’s a worthwhile challenge,” Brandt said. “It’s a money-losing venture, but this is one of those things where you take a gulp and you do it for the good of the city. Chicago needs two newspapers.”
Eisendrath and Brandt declined to identify the other investors, but Brandt said the group included several people “well-known in the political scene.” […]
On Tuesday, Sun-Times publisher and editor-in-chief Jim Kirk sent an email to his staff that reminded them, “…This is not the last step in the process. The parties continue to negotiate to see if a deal can be completed. In addition, the offer from Tronc still remains active.”
*** UPDATE *** Done deal?…
An investment group led by former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath along with a coalition of labor unions is poised to acquire the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Reader, Eisendrath and others familiar with the transaction said on Wednesday.
The deal was expected to be completed by Thursday morning, with a press conference to take place at some point that day.
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“Outside the simulator”
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WGN…
There’s a sense among some Rauner loyalists that the governor, discouraged by defeat in the Illinois legislature, is now being influenced to go to the right rather than the middle. “It was one thing when nobody cared what they have to say it will be interesting to see how they perform outside the simulator,” an insider said.
That is a very good point. Rauner’s new hires are mostly from outside government. They’ve spent their careers criticizing government, particularly Illinois’ government, from the relative safety of a “think tank.” And now the government’s success (and failure) is all on them.
And I’ll bet you a dollar that Rauner is surprised to hear this new and growing media hot take that he’s behaving like someone who just suffered a traumatic defeat. Just days ago, the view was Rauner “won” the budget fight because he was handed new revenues to run his government as well as the popular political issue of opposing a tax increase.
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*** UPDATED x2 - Not - Or not *** Clark out
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Another head rolls…
Before joining the Rauner administration in 2015, Clark was Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider’s chief of staff. Schneider is the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party and a fierce Rauner loyalist, so this is a most interesting development and we’ll see how it plays out.
…Adding… From a buddy on the Clark ouster…
The guy who carried Bruce’s water getting local governments to endorse the turnaround agenda.
*** UPDATE 1 *** As you can see, Mary Ann has deleted the tweet. I’m told that her report may have been premature. Stay tuned…
*** UPDATE 2 *** She retracted…
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Meanwhile…
Lance Trover, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s deputy chief of staff, left that post last week because “it was the right time for me,” he said.
Trover, 37, is a Vienna native now of Chicago and was paid $150,000.
“I had given notice several weeks ago,” Trover said Tuesday, but he agreed to stay on as the General Assembly met in special session.
Lance wasn’t fired. His departure was an open secret last week, but he asked people to keep it quiet.
…Adding… From Trover…
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* I cannot ever remember a time when this much focus has been placed on a governor’s staff changes. But it’s most certainly news and therefore political fodder. From the Pritzker campaign…
The Rauner administration is going through a tumultuous transformation following a resounding defeat of the failed governor’s agenda. Rauner ousted top advisers who have been loyal for years and replaced them with a group of fresh faces with radical conservative views.
Let’s meet the new and radical hires making their way to the top of the Rauner administration:
* Kristina Rasmussen was named Chief of Staff. She comes to the Rauner administration following eight years at the Illinois Policy Institute, most recently as the president and CEO. The right-wing think tank is known for proposing radical cuts to state services and programs in their fantasy budgets.
* Michael Lucci is in as Rauner’s new Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. He also comes directly from the Illinois Policy Institute, previously the Vice President of Policy. In that role, he wrote 147 propaganda posts decrying fair policies like a progressive income tax while pushing top items on the Koch brothers’ agenda like right-to-work.
* Laurel Patrick will serve as the administration’s Director of Communications. She left her short post at the D.C. version of the Illinois Policy Institute — the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity — and previously worked for union-busting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
“Bruce Rauner is cleaning house and welcoming a who’s who of radical right-wing extremists into the governor’s office,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This is the Donald Trump playbook of playing to the worst extremes of your base when you have nothing left to lose. It will have deep and damaging repercussions for the people of this state.”
* DGA…
The Democratic Governors Association releases the following statement, attributable to Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro, regarding the news that Governor Rauner spent most of Tuesday firing old staff and hiring right-wing Illinois Policy Institute staffers into his administration:
“Bruce Rauner’s operation is in chaos. Fresh off a stunning bipartisan rebuke of his uncompromising policies, Rauner has turned inward, firing seemingly everyone to be replaced by right-wing ideological staffers. These moves should be concerning for Illinois families. Rauner has surrounded himself with the same uncompromising group of people who would rather see the state fall off a fiscal cliff than pass a bipartisan budget. Two and a half years in and Rauner has doubled-down on the same failed leadership style that earned him the nicknames ‘Governor Junk’ and ‘Most Vulnerable Incumbent.’”
*** UPDATE *** From Ameya Pawar…
“Gov. Bruce Rauner is clearly losing his grip on the system he has propped up to benefit the billionaire class and corporate special interests after he lost the Illinois budget battle last week. Now, he’s trying to compensate for that loss by replacing his staff with even more conservative political ideologues who only seek to destroy our public institutions and preserve the system that only benefits the wealthy.
“When Bruce Rauner promised to shake-up Springfield, we didn’t expect just how far he would go to put his extreme agenda over the health and welfare of our state. Gov. Rauner clearly has no interest in governing. Instead he is doubling down on a failed agenda and waging war against working families, collective bargaining, livable wages and social services in Illinois. Any facade of executive leadership, collaboration and compromise has been thrown out the door.”
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