* Sen. Tom Cullerton asked the Legislative Research Unit for some county-by-county data on how much money counties are getting back from the state compared to what residents put in.
Dark red means the counties’ get back 80 cents on the dollar or less from the state. Counties shaded dark black are more break even. The blue counties are doing well and the green counties do the best, getting back at least $2 for every $1 they send to the state.
The data is from 2013 (the latest they have) and the LRU warns that it isn’t exactly precise because, for instance, not all revenue and disbursements can be totally verified. So, it’s more of a rough guide. Click the pic for a larger image…
Not a whole lot of surprises for those of us who follow this stuff. Some Downstate Chicago-haters, however, might be enlightened.
A reporter followed up, asking if the governor considered the [Charlottesville] incident to be an act of terrorism.
“It is outrageous, and we’ve got to fight against it,” Rauner said at first. After more back-and-forth, the reporter noted that Rauner had not answered the question.
“You define terrorism,” Rauner shot back. “What I’ll say is, that is horrible, horrible behavior, completely beyond the pale. We in America have to fight against it in every way.” […]
Rauner went on to quibble with the notion of assigning a definition.
“That’s all a question of definition. What doesn’t matter is definitions,” Rauner said. “We know what hate is. We know what violence is. We know what racism is. And we should fight against it.”
“Is it an act of terrorism?” an NBC reporter asked Rauner at a bill signing on Monday morning.
“It is outrageous and we’ve got to fight it,” he said.
“It is not an act of terrorism?”
“I did not say that, Mary Ann, come on.”
“Well, is it an act of terrorism, yes or no?”
“You define terrorism,” the governor replied. Two hours later, he had changed his stance.
“Outrageous,” of course, is the exact same word he used to describe the offer of Senate President John Cullerton to meet with him to discuss SB1. Not cool.
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday joined a wave of mostly Republican governors in announcing that Illinois would temporarily stop accepting Syrian refugees following the Paris terrorist attacks, sparking sharp criticism from advocates who said the move amounted to fear-mongering and raising questions about whether states can refuse to take those fleeing the war-torn country.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said Wednesday that an attack by terrorists in the state is “just a matter of time.”
Rauner made his remarks a few hours after the rampage outside Parliament in London, which killed four and injured nearly two dozen. British authorities believe that attack was an act of terrorism.
The Illinois Senate on Sunday adopted a resolution urging law enforcement officials to recognize white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations. […]
“It is vital that we stand in total opposition to the hatred, bigotry and violence displayed by the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville this past weekend,” said sponsoring Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park. “They are the heirs to the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. We fought two bloody wars in opposition to their ideologies. We must continue to fight those same twisted ideologies today.”
At an event on Monday morning, Rauner declined to say the death of a woman, killed when a car slammed into a crowd of protesters on Saturday, was terrorism.
About three hours later, speaking with reporters, he said he had since consulted with Illinois law enforcement to get a clear legal definition on the issue.
“We can say definitively that an act of violence against someone because of their religious views, political views, ethnic background, that’s an act of domestic terrorism,” Rauner said.
When pressed on why it took him three hours to revise his comments, Rauner bristled.
“I made it crystal clear how I feel about the acts in Charlottesville,” he told reporters, his voice rising. “I have said it from the [first] moment.
Gov. Bruce Rauner today signed House Bill 2663, bipartisan legislation which protects preschool-aged children enrolled in early childhood programs and schools that receive state funding from being expelled.
The bill also requires the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Education and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), to develop rules to prevent licensed day care and similar institutions from expelling young children for exhibiting challenging behavior. This bill will help ensure all children in Illinois have the opportunity and tools to thrive from an early age.
Research suggests expulsion and suspension have negative educational, health and developmental outcomes for children. Recent studies show that early care institutions are expelling children at alarming rates, particularly among boys and African-American children. A study completed in 2005 indicated that in Illinois, pre-kindergarteners were expelled at three times the rate of their older peers.
“Our children are precious, and we must do everything we can to give them the tools they need to grow and succeed,” Gov. Rauner said. “It’s our duty to make sure all children, especially the most vulnerable, receive a quality education starting at a young age. I’m proud to sign this bill, which will provide teachers the tools they need to address challenging behavior so expulsion isn’t necessary.”
HB 2663 is an initiative of early childhood advocacy organizations, including the Ounce of Prevention Fund. First Lady Diana Rauner, president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, advocated for the passage of HB 2663.
“HB 2663 and the programs it would support can serve as a model for nationwide reform of expulsion criteria in early childhood settings,” said First Lady Diana Rauner. “We must do everything we can to ensure our nation’s most at-risk children have access to quality education in the early years, allowing them to have the best chance at success in life.”
Specifically, this bill requires early childhood programs refrain from expulsion and instead document steps taken to ensure children exhibiting challenging behaviors can participate safely in these programs. If attempts to address challenging behavior prove unfruitful, early childhood programs may transition a child to another program with parent permission.
Early childhood programs may temporarily remove a child for safety concerns, but the program must then attempt to address the challenging behavior through intervention and community resources, instead of resorting to expulsion. These programs also may rely on ISBE, DCFS and the Department of Human Services to recommend training, technical support and professional development resources to ensure teachers and staff have the tools to address challenging behavior with understanding.
Bill No.: HB 2663, An Act Concerning Children
Action: Signed
Effective: Aug. 14, 2018
Sen. Kimberly Lightford, who slammed the Republicans during SB1 floor debate yesterday for not negotiating in good faith, was also present.
* And then he signed this bill before having to explain that he needed to check with the police on a definition of terrorism before he could actually come out and call the Charlottesville incident a terrorist act and dodging questions about President Trump…
Illinois will now have a useful tool to start consolidating 6,963 units of governments, thanks to Villa Park Democrat, Tom Cullerton.
Cullerton’s bipartisan government consolidation measure, Senate Bill 3 that will empower government entities throughout the state to consolidate units of local government, was signed into law today.
“We ran a tight ship for taxpayers when I was Villa Park Village President. I’m taking the lessons I learned to the state level,” Cullerton said. “The goal here is to reduce property taxes, save vital taxpayer dollars and make sure government is working for the people. Senate Bill 3 does just that.”
Senate Bill 3 will go into effect January 1, 2018.
Cullerton passed Senate Bill 494 in 2013, which created the DuPage County government consolidation model used in Senate Bill 3. He was later able to expand this model to McHenry and Lake counties, and Senate Bill 3 will expand the same powers to counties throughout Illinois.
County Board Chairman Dan Cronin and Cullerton worked together to create an innovative bipartisan government consolidation model that can be easily adapted to work throughout the state. Counties and government entities based on their needs can consolidate redundant and obsolete forms of government.
“This legislation allows local communities and their elected officials to make decisions about the size, scope and cost of their own local government,” Cronin said. “Most importantly, it will change the culture and foster innovation.”
DuPage County’s successful government consolidation model is expected to save taxpayers more than $100 million over the next 20 years.
“It’s our duty to work together to explore every way we can save taxpayer dollars,” Cullerton said. “I’m proud of the work Chairman Cronin and I did to expand DuPage County’s government consolidation model throughout the state.”
The savings allow for lower property tax rates and provide residents with necessary services
“Cutting bloated bureaucracy and redundant forms of government means lower property tax bills for Illinois residents,” Cullerton said. “This new law gives Illinois taxpayers a voice in eliminating redundant and ineffective units of government.”
Cullerton says the next step in consolidating government waste is to eliminate the office of the lieutenant governor. This move would save the state $1.6 million annually which Cullerton believes would help pay for social services such as the DuPage County Meals on Wheels program and other similar programs throughout the state.
Since Cullerton has been in office, he has supported eliminating the position under both a republican and democratic governor. He believes the money would be better spent and services can be better executed without duplicate forms of government.
“We are in the middle of tough times,” Cullerton said. “It is hypocritical to continue to ask local governments to cut and eliminate units of government when the state government isn’t willing to do the same.”
Under the current administration, Illinois taxpayers are paying for two deputy governors and a lieutenant governor.
Despite the fact Cullerton’s plan, was endorsed by editorial boards throughout the state, he was unable to receive bipartisan support on his measure. Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 29 did not receive a single republican vote.
Cullerton is the Senate sponsor of HJRCA6 and plans to advance the legislation once Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) passes the measure in the House.
Political consultant Betsy Ankney will head Rauner’s team, sources said Saturday, though the Republican governor has yet to formally announce his re-election campaign.
Ankney most recently managed U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s 2016 campaign in Wisconsin, pulling off an upset victory in the critical swing state.
In multiple interviews, Ankney has credited Johnson’s success in part to the data operation inherited from Scott Walker’s 2014 campaign, which helped position the campaign to better understand the electorate, despite lagging poll numbers throughout the race.
In many ways, Rauner’s upcoming re-election bid mirrors Johnson’s – a wealthy businessman-turned-politician running as a vulnerable first-term Republican incumbent in a typically blue state, painting himself as an outsider and looking to capitalize on voters’ frustrations with dysfunction in the Capitol. […]
Another potentially stark contrast between Rauner and Johnson’s bids for re-election lies in the question that keeps political strategists awake at night: What will the 2018 electorate look like?
Out of state folks can have a rough time in Illinois. And Gov. Rauner’s skills seem to be atrophying before our very eyes.
Gov. Bruce Rauner released the following statement regarding education funding reform negotiations:
“Today, we are calling on the four legislative leaders to meet as quickly as possible on school funding reform.
“We are hopeful that Speaker Madigan and President Cullerton share our sense of urgency to reach resolution. Families and educators across the state are heading back to school. We owe it to them to adopt a funding formula that is fair and equitable to all, and we owe them the assurance that their schools will open and stay open for the remainder of the school year.
“This weekend the Illinois State Board of Education released data showing my amendatory veto sends the most amount of resources to the neediest school districts in Illinois. These numbers clearly show how badly change is needed to ensure fairness and equity in how we fund our children’s schools.
“We sincerely appreciate the work done by the bipartisan bicameral negotiators, but believe the process can only reach conclusion with the involvement of the four legislative leaders. An agreement is within reach but time is of the essence to secure historic education funding reform.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…
On the heels of the Illinois Senate’s historic, bipartisan vote to overhaul the worst public school funding system in the nation, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton welcomed news that Gov. Bruce Rauner is calling for meetings with legislative leaders.
“I’ve said all along that the only way to solve our problems is to work together in a bipartisan manner. I look forward to meeting with the governor and the other legislative leaders,” said Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.
Notice that he included the governor in that acceptance. The governor didn’t include himself in the offer.
*** UPDATE 2 *** No surprise here…
Senate Republican Leader-Designee Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin today released the following statement:
“We support the governor’s call for the four legislative leaders to meet and remain committed to reaching a speedy, bipartisan resolution to fundamentally reform how we fund our public education system.”
Still waiting on MJM and I have an errand to run soon.
*** UPDATE 3 *** I called Steve Brown, who said: “Somebody needs to brief the governor that those meetings are already going on and will continue.”
I told subscribers this morning that the leaders had met Saturday into the evening and then again on Sunday.
Brown, by the way, also claimed that Rauner “put a brick” on the talks between the designated education negotiators earlier today.
Residents in central and southern Illinois will pay nearly 30 percent more than projected on utility bills if Ameren is allowed to lower its energy savings target, environmental and consumer advocates said Wednesday.
The electric and gas utility provider recently filed an energy-efficiency plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission that fails to meet annual savings targets required under Illinois’ new clean energy law. If the company’s plan is approved, downstate residents will miss out on utility savings while Ameren takes in $36 million in incentives outlined in the new law, advocates said Wednesday as regulators prepare to rule on the company’s plan.
“It is just cynical for Ameren to argue that they’re fighting for this plan because it helps low-income customers,” said the Rev. Cindy Shepherd, central Illinois outreach director for Faith in Place, which works with religious groups across Illinois on environmental issues. “That is just not true. Ameren is fighting for this plan to line the pockets of their Missouri-based corporate parent.”
Hailed as one of the most significant pieces of state energy legislation passed in the U.S. in decades, Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act ties energy efficiency standards to performance-based incentives that financially reward utility companies for exceeding targets and imposes penalties if they fall short. The law is projected to add $700 million to the state’s economy annually between now and 2030, according to estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Ameren Illinois serves 1.2 million electric and 816,000 natural gas customers in central and southern Illinois. (Ameren Illinois)Ameren Illinois serves 1.2 million electric and 816,000 natural gas customers in central and southern Illinois. (Ameren Illinois) Ameren Illinois said the law would allow the company to introduce efficiency programs and incentives that would reduce residential customers’ future bills by an average of $1.69 per month over 10 years, according to a June press release from the company. In the release, Chairman and President Richard J. Mark said customers in central and southern Illinois “are reaping the benefits of Illinois’ progressive energy policies,” and that the company was “giving more low-income families the opportunity to take advantage of energy-saving programs.”
“It’s fundamentally unfair that customers in one part of the state won’t save as much money as Chicago customers simply because Ameren refuses to abide by standards set forth in the new energy law,” [David Kolata, director of the Citizens Utility Board] said. “Ameren proposes to spend 44 percent more than ComEd for each kilowatt-hour of energy saved. That is unacceptable, and it clearly shows the company is denying its customers the full benefits of the Future Energy Jobs Act.”
[Josh Mogerman of the Natural Resources Defense Council] said the Future Energy Jobs Act will also bolster the Illinois economy, assuming power companies operate within the parameters of the new law.
The law calls on Ameren to reduce energy demand by 16 percent by 2030. Ameren’s energy efficiency plan filed with the ICC would fall short of the law’s targets by 27 percent, the coalition said.
Ameren denied the assertion it was trying to lower its target goal and said the filing was only for four years. The utility added it plans to spend $112 million, the maximum allowed under the law, during the next four years to help reduce energy usage.
“We’re focusing on assisting moderate-to-low income customers who pay for energy efficiency programs every month and deserve the opportunity to receive the benefits,” said Richard Mark, the chairman and president of Ameren Illinois.
Is one of the best new energy laws in the nation really about to unravel this quickly? […]
Ameren says it would prefer spending money on helping low-income communities. But aid to low-income communities already is an important feature of the Future Energy Jobs Act.
Ameren also claims it still intends to eventually meet the law’s full energy-efficiency target. But that’s not an excuse for trying to wiggle out of the requirements in the new law right out of the box. If the other entities that were partners in the negotiations over the Future Energy Jobs Act start trying to cut better deals for themselves, the expected benefits to consumers and the environment will be in peril.
Fresh off of awarding what’s believed to be the largest contract in state history—and as the fate of his plan for overhauling education funding hangs in the balance, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday will take questions on “Chicago Tonight.”
Rauner’s sit-down with WTTW will come after the Illinois Senate on Sunday is scheduled to vote on his amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1—a plan that rewrites how Illinois decides how to divvy up state funding for schools. […]
When asked about the governor’s race Thursday on WVON radio, Rauner said “The folks who are thinking about running, they’re all part of the problem. They’ve all been part of the problem.”
What would you like to ask the governor? Put your thoughts in the comments section below.
They don’t have many comment so far, so…
* The Question: What would you like to ask the governor? And no snark, please.
* I’m told the IEA is running this radio spot this week on stations in Chicago and other markets…
* Script…
In August, there’s always excitement as children get ready to return to school. But this year excitement has been replaced by anxiety.
Anxiety because Gov. Rauner vetoed the school funding bill. Because of Gov. Rauner, schools throughout Illinois will be forced to open with fewer teachers and with more students crowded into classrooms.
Here are the facts. Illinois schools rank among the ten best in the nation, but were dead last in state funding. Teachers have said for years that we need to reform the way we fund our public schools. Lawmakers finally passed a bipartisan plan to do that.
It’s called SB1. Gov. Rauner’s team said he supports 90 percent of SB1. But then he vetoed it.
Schools need the funding SB1 provides. Gov. Rauner was elected to help kids, not act like one.
Please call Springfield and urge your state Rep. to override Gov. Rauner’s veto of SB1. Brought to you by the Illinois Education Association. The voice of Illinois teachers.
“The root of all evil in this state is how we underfund our schools,” Kennedy said. “We have terrible educational outcomes.”
He said that “every state with good outcomes” pays for education at the state level, while property taxes pay most educational costs in Illinois.
He said the system is “damning the next generation of Illinoisans, where we have massive disinvestment in education, where we’re creating an education underclass. …”
“The reason we preserve that broken system that relies on property taxes is because our elected officials are allowed to be property-tax appeals lawyers,” he said — naming the outside business of, among perhaps a few others, House Speaker MICHAEL MADIGAN, D-Chicago, who also chairs the Democratic Party of Illinois.
“That shouldn’t be allowed,” Kennedy said. “We don’t let our congressmen do that. … We shouldn’t allow our state reps and our state senators (to) do it. Until we get the dirty money out of politics, we’ll never get the dirty politicians out of government, and we’ll preserve a system that’s damning the next generation of kids in Illinois. … If you’re an elected official, you shouldn’t be allowed to have an outside job that’s adverse to the interest of the body you were elected to serve. … You shouldn’t be a property-tax appeals lawyer, ’cause you’re destroying the next generation of kids in Illinois. We can’t let that happen.”
* Meanwhile a Boston Herald columnist who appears to have no love for the Kennedy family included Chris in his latest missive…
But my favorite Kennedy story of the summer involves Chris Kennedy, the 53-year-old son of (the real) Bobby Kennedy. He’s running for governor of Illinois, but his lead in the Democrat field seems to be evaporating because he is a mere millionaire running against a guy named JB Pritzker, who is a … billionaire.
So now Chris is reduced to sounding like Eddie McCormack complaining about Uncle Ted in 1962 — whining that Pritzker (Forbes net worth: $3.4 billion) is totally unqualified and trying to buy the election.
History, as they say, repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
Pritzker is from the Hyatt hotel fortune. His sister Penny was commerce secretary under Obama, and he was supposedly in line for a Cabinet position himself under President Hillary. But then Trump happened and, well, what did one of Ted’s sisters say about how Edward Moore Kennedy came to run for the Senate with absolutely no experience.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said a driver’s ramming a car into a crowd of demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, which killed a young woman and sent 19 other people to hospitals, “does meet the definition of domestic terrorism” under U.S. law.
President Trump’s national security adviser said Sunday that the violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend “meets the definition of terrorism.”
H.R. McMaster told ABC’s “This Week” that “anytime that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism.”
Is the governor really that afraid of his far-right flank?
*** UPDATE 1 *** Pritzker campaign…
“White supremacists are terrorizing communities and Bruce Rauner is mincing words and tiptoeing around our bigoted president,” said JB Pritzker. “The injured and dead who protested this weekend deserve better than this flagrant cowardice from Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump. If we are going to address what happened in Charlottesville then we should have the courage to call it exactly what it is: terrorism.”
…Adding… Rep. Dave McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills)…
I strongly condemn the Neo-Nazis, KKK members, white supremacists and other racists who were in Charlottesville this past weekend. These cowards are not welcome in Illinois. The act of violence in Charlottesville was definitely domestic terrorism.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Chris Kennedy…
Following in the footsteps of President Donald Trump, Governor Bruce Rauner failed to call what happened in Charlottesville terrorism. It was. Not calling it so speaks volumes about where he stands. Our country and our state are in the hands of two men who embolden the hate coming from white supremacists.
Sen. Daniel Biss…
“My grandmother was a holocaust survivor. I grew up with the weight of that legacy, and with an understanding of how evil can take root in our communities when we aren’t vigilant. The terrorism in Charlottesville follows a tradition of white supremacy, tracing back to the Nazi ideology that tore my family apart just two generations ago.
“Most importantly, I learned that all of us have an obligation to name this evil clearly and to fight it, and that those who do not give aid and comfort to our enemy.
“This morning we learned Bruce Rauner refuses to call the attacks in Charlottesville what they truly are—terrorism carried out by white supremacists. Like Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner is an incompetent billionaire unwilling to name and confront hatred because his re-election strategy relies on appealing to right wing radicals. All Illinoisans should remember this moment, when Rauner refused to stand up to white supremacists because of politics.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** From Gov. Rauner…
“The deadly violence in Charlottesville this weekend is abhorrent and absolutely an act of domestic terrorism. Racism, hatred and violence have no place in our society. The individuals responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
CMS still hasn’t released the audio of the morning presser.
*** UPDATE 6 *** DGA…
“Citizens look to their governors for strength and understanding in trying times, and they need to know their governor will clearly denounce hateful and racist actions and not shy away from calling terrorism what it is. Today, Bruce Rauner failed as governor.”
“This morning, Governor Bruce Rauner refused to call the actions of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville terrorism. Rauner clarified his remarks hours later only after being shamed into it. This is an unacceptable failure to lead by Governor Bruce Rauner. Like many members of his party, Rauner should have forcefully denounced this horrific violence as terrorism from the start. Instead he stuck to political talking points.”
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation that will remove the statutes of limitation for sexual abuse crimes.
Rauner signed the measure Friday.
Sponsor state Sen. Michael Hastings of Frankfort says the legislation puts in place “best practices for dealing with sexual assault cases statewide and puts a system in place that will encourage survivors to come forward and receive justice when they are ready.”
Statutes of limitation restrict the time when authorities can charge someone after a crime occurs.
* It’s kinda weird that Rauner wouldn’t try to do a press pop on this. After all, the chief proponent was Scott Cross, the brother of the former Illinois House Republican Leader who was raped as a boy by former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert. This story has national importance, but he didn’t even mention it during his Fox News Channel interview and there was nothing out of the governor’s office except this mention in a long list of bill actions taken Friday…
Bill No.: SB 0189
An Act Concerning Criminal Law
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
* And lest you think that the governor didn’t want to step on his SB1 message, he sent out this press release during yesterday’s floor debate…
Gov. Bruce Rauner today announced that the Hand of Fate Brewing Company of Petersburg Illinois won the Illinois Bicentennial Craft Beer Competition at the Illinois State Fair.
Hand of Fate will create the recipe and brew the Official Illinois Bicentennial Craft Beer, which will be available across the state during the Bicentennial Celebration in 2018.
* So, what could it be? Sen. Hastings, who is mentioned above, is one the public faces of the anti-Rauner “Do Your Job, Inc.” but he was just a co-sponsor, and not even a hyphenated co-sponsor.
It’s no secret that the governor has no love for Attorney General Lisa Madigan (and that feeling most definitely goes both ways), and AG Madigan has been leading this statute change from the beginning, so perhaps that is a more accurate answer? From her press release…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced Illinois has now eliminated the statutes of limitations for felony criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse crimes against children. Senate Bill 189, initiated by Madigan, was passed by the General Assembly unanimously and signed into law by the governor Friday.
Sponsored by Sen. Scott Bennett and Rep. Michelle Mussman, the legislation eliminates Illinois’ criminal statutes of limitations for all felony child sexual abuse and child sexual assault crimes that can allow predators to go unpunished. The law, effective immediately, applies to future felony child sex crime cases as well as current criminal cases in which the previous statute of limitations has not expired.
“Sex crimes against children are a horribly tragic violation of trust that can take a lifetime to recover from,” Madigan said. “This new law will ensure that survivors are provided with the time they need to heal and seek justice.”
Prior the new law, Illinois’ statutes required that the most egregious sexual offenses against children must be reported and prosecuted within 20 years of the survivor turning 18 years old. Two exceptions existed for cases in which the crimes were committed on or after Jan. 1, 2014 and either corroborating physical evidence exists or a mandated reporter failed to report the abuse. The then-law restricting a survivor’s ability to come forward prevented former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert from being prosecuted for allegations of abuse against minors while he was an Illinois high school coach decades ago. Scott Cross, a survivor of Hastert’s abuse, joined Attorney General Madigan in advocating for today’s change in the law, recounting his experience before lawmakers and urging them to pass Senate Bill 189.
“Dennis Hastert used his authority and position as a role model to violate the trust of the youth in his care - in the most unimaginable way possible. And despite the lives ruined and decades of pain and suffering the survivors continue to deal with, he will never be held accountable,” Scott Cross said. “I am thankful that Illinois law will now allow survivors of these horrific crimes to come forward in their own time, and get justice – no matter how overdue.”
As more child survivors of abuse and sexual assault have come forward to describe the difficult process that they have endured in reporting, states across the country have eliminated statutes of limitations for these crimes. Nationwide, 36 other states and the federal government have removed criminal statutes of limitations for some or all sexual offenses against children.
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is now being published by the Bloomington Pantagraph…
Chicago has vast property wealth and the largest population by far in Illinois. But it also has a large amount of that property wealth locked up in tax increment financing districts.
According to figures released last week by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Chicago has over half of the $12.4 billion in statewide equalized assessed valuation locked up in TIF districts. About 8.6 percent of the city’s total equalized assessed valuation is in a TIF district, well above the statewide average of 3.95 percent, but only the seventh-highest percentage in the state (29 percent of Clinton County’s EAV is in TIF districts, making it the leader going away).
And partly because Chicago is by far the largest city covered under state tax cap laws, the city’s public schools were able to claim $125 million in state adjustment benefits in Fiscal Year 2016 for districts with property tax caps, according to numbers crunched by the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois. But the way the laws are written, that $125 million was most of the $141 million claimed by all school districts in Illinois. The total amount was expected to drop by more than half during Fiscal Year 2017.
When valuations go up, so does the subsidy. In 2010, CPS’ subsidy was almost $444 million to account for “lost” revenue due to the tax caps. Elgin’s school district was second that year, at $18.3 million, but it wasn’t even in the top 15 last year.
The governor’s amendatory veto of SB1, the school funding reform bill, would slash state funding to school districts that are within TIF districts and covered under property tax caps. That seems counter-intuitive for this governor, who has railed against high local property taxes since first announcing for office. While he denied it last week, it’s clear he wants to force local school districts to raise their property taxes to avoid state funding cuts.
Why would he do that? Chicago Public Schools funding, obviously. The governor has often put CPS in the middle of his Statehouse wars. One of the events that motivated him to run for higher office was the successful Chicago Teachers Union strike, which angered him to no end. And he’s clearly looking for leverage in the wake of the budget and tax hike veto overrides.
That’s not to say the Democrats aren’t playing the same sort of game. They added even more money to SB1 for CPS when the bill finally reached the House and then jammed it through on a mostly partisan roll call.
The Illinois State Board of Education said it had finished its numbers crunching of Rauner’s amendatory veto last week, but then found some data mistakes, so as of this writing we don’t know what the numbers are, but you can bet that CPS will take a big hit.
The bigger question is how many suburban and downstate districts will be slammed by this amendatory veto. Ford County, which is within Sen. Jason Barickman’s district, has the second highest percentage of assessed valuation in a TIF district in the state, over 10 percent of its EAV. Barickman, R-Bloomington, is the lead Senate Republican negotiator on education funding reform. Politically, this could be quite problematic.
These sorts of negotiations take years to complete. First, you have to convince people to open a nasty can of worms — which isn’t easy because so many folks have vested interests in the status quo and have cut little deals over the years to sweeten their own pots. Then you have to convince everybody to create a whole new can of worms. And then you have to actually do it. It isn’t easy.
Education funding reform has taken at least four years to get this far. Barickman has suggested that perhaps TIF districts created in the future could trigger a change to state aid. But even that could be a heavy lift at this late stage, with schools about to open.
Fiddling now with TIF and property tax caps could require a rewrite of the whole bill to achieve the bipartisan goals that were laid down at the outset of this monstrous task.
A last-minute amendatory veto isn’t the right way to go. If the governor wanted this stuff, he had over two years to bring it to the bargaining table. And the same goes for the House’s last-minute add-ons from the end of May.
What they should probably do is back up and run a bill that’s as close to the Senate-approved version as possible.
The column was written on Friday, well over a day before the ISBE numbers came out.
During a news conference before the vote, Rauner said he’s open to a negotiated settlement.
“If (lawmakers) won’t accept the changes, then let’s get a compromise quickly,” Rauner said. “I’m open to compromise on any issue.”
Some Senate Republicans also said a negotiated settlement could be reached, but said Democrats have to go further in reaching a compromise. However, Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, one of the negotiators on a possible school funding compromise, said it is Republicans who were preventing a compromise.
“Every meeting we’ve had, you’ve brought a new initiative to the table,” Lightford said. “You keep asking for things and not wanting to negotiate on anything else.”
* So, where is Beth Purvis these days? She led the school funding reform negotiations one behalf of Gov. Rauner for more than two years, but hasn’t been heard from since he issued his amendatory veto, which undid much of her work. Hmm. Maybe I just answered my own question…
Before the vote, Rauner also said he hoped lawmakers could achieve compromise. In a 30-minute press conference, he repeated his claim that Senate Bill 1 is a “Chicago bailout” cooked up by Democrats to favor Chicago Public Schools at the expense of downstate districts.
One theme he never mentioned was the work of his own bipartisan, bicameral school funding reform commission, which met for close to 100 hours over a period of six months in an effort to find agreement on school funding. That commission, led by Rauner’s education czar, Beth Purvis, didn’t envision some of the more radical changes the governor made to SB1, such as calculating the value of property controlled by TIF districts or PTELL caps as though the TIF or PTELL designation didn’t exist. More than 500 school districts would see their property resources rise in value, thus diminishing their share of state aid, if Rauner’s amendatory veto survives.
“I am here to find solutions, compromises that work that are fair and balanced,” Rauner said. “Everything could be on the table but we don’t have the luxury of waiting.”
“I still, again, think that is within reach. I think there’s a clear path on how to do that, as long as folks stay disciplined and they keep their eye on the ball, I think that can get done,” [Sen. Andy Manar] said. “If it cannot get done, the House should override the veto, just like the Senate did today.”
But State Senator Kimberly Lightford, a Democrat from Maywood, says negotiations have been derailed by Republicans bringing in new requests that aren’t mentioned in Senate Bill 1 (the school funding plan) or Rauner’s veto — requests like tax credit scholarships for private schools, mandate relief, and “management rights,” which Manar rephrased as “the diminishment of collective bargaining rights for teachers.” Lightford said Republicans presented those demands and didn’t take questions about them.
“If you guys really want to get something done, we could! We could,” Lightford said. “You give, we give. You take, we take. You give again, we give again. That’s how it goes in negotiations.”
The House now has 15 days to try to overturn the governor’s veto. The House is scheduled to be in session Wednesday and will hold a hearing on education funding. It’s unclear if they will take up the veto then, or wait to let more pressure build. Neither lawmakers nor the governor has shown much of an appetite the previous two years to play political chicken over school funding for too long, given the potential for a huge backlash from parents.
An override will take 71 votes, but there are just 67 House Democrats, meaning some Republicans would have to buck their governor. If the override fails, or is not called for a vote in the House, lawmakers would be left to negotiate a new plan as schools wait for funding.
The Illinois House has 15 days to act on an override, but the Senate on Sunday also passed a backup bill should the House fail. That, however, would restart the clock on solving the school funding mess.
That “backup bill” was explained to subscribers this morning. It’s identical to the bill Rauner vetoed.
* From a memo sent to House Republicans this morning…
August 14, 2017
Dear House Republican Member:
I’m pleased to announce that Eleni Demertzis will be joining House Republican staff as my new spokesperson effective Wednesday, August 16. She will be based out of our offices in Chicago.
Some of you may remember Eleni from when she was on House Republican communications staff in 2011 and 2012, but she most recently worked as a Press Secretary for Governor Rauner. Prior to her work in the administration, Eleni served as a Press Secretary for then-U.S. Senator Mark Kirk and as Communications Manager in the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Eleni’s professionalism and experience working with media from all corners of the state will be an asset to me and to the communications efforts for our entire caucus. I’m excited to have her on board.
Please join me in welcoming Eleni back to House Republican staff.
Sincerely,
Jim Durkin
House Republican Leader
That’s an interesting hire. Demertzis was a fierce Rauner defender who left on her own accord during the infamous staff purge.
