*** UPDATED x1 *** Purvis out
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This was not unexpected. After great effort, she helped shepherd through the education funding reform bill, so her work is mostly done. Not to mention that the governor’s office is not a pleasant place to work…
Secretary of Education Dr. Beth Purvis will be leaving the Office of the Governor on Friday, Sept. 15. Dr. Purvis will be joining a national nonprofit organization where she will oversee educational philanthropy.
“Beth has been a tireless advocate for Illinois children and families,” Gov. Rauner said. “We are deeply grateful for her efforts.”
Dr. Purvis co-chaired the governor’s education transition subcommittee, where she first announced the state’s goal of ensuring Illinois children, regardless of zip code, have access to high-quality programs from cradle-to-career.
During the past two-and-a-half years, Dr. Purvis worked with leadership of the 17 state agencies that oversee educational programing, chaired the P20 Council, co-chaired the Early Learning Council and chaired the Illinois School Funding Commission in order to deliver on the governor’s promise of a “children first” administration.
“It has been a privilege for me to work with Governor Rauner and his team,” Dr. Purvis said. “I am proud of what we have accomplished and know that his administration will continue to ensure that Illinois children have access to high quality programs that will prepare them to be engaged community members with meaningful and rewarding careers.”
Emily Bastedo, who has served on the governor’s legal team and as the First Lady’s chief of staff, recently was promoted to senior adviser to the governor and will assume oversight of the governor’s education policy team. An attorney, Bastedo has been a member of the governor’s senior team for the past two years and has worked closely with Dr. Purvis in preparation for this transition.
Bastedo is good people and served on the Elmhurst school board for four years.
*** UPDATE *** From the two GOP leaders…
The following is a statement from Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) on Illinois Secretary of Education Dr. Beth Purvis’ announcement that she will be leaving on Sept 15.
“Beth Purvis has been an education pioneer whose leadership and commitment to our students have helped put Illinois at the forefront of school funding. I wish her great success in the next chapter of a career that will leave a positive impact in Illinois for generations to come.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement on the departure of Illinois Secretary of Education Dr. Beth Purvis:
“Dr. Purvis played a critical role in fixing our state’s broken school funding formula. She worked collaboratively to reform several education initiatives and increase state funding for PK-12 to record levels. She will be greatly missed by all and I wish her nothing but the best in her next endeavor.”
* And this is from Gov. Rauner’s former chief of staff Richard Goldberg…
The students, parents and teachers of Illinois owe Dr. Purvis a great deal for her outstanding leadership in bringing historic bipartisan education reforms to fruition. It never would’ve happened without her dedication and commitment to the children of Illinois.
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Our sorry state
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Click on the pic for a larger image…
Aside from SIUE and the U of I system and, to a lesser extent, ISU, not a whole lot of great news there.
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Misadventures in campaigning
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kennedy campaign fundraising pitch…
Rich,
This past week, my dad was on WCPT 820 Progressive Talk Radio’s The Ben Joravsky Show. He told Ben that in order to fix gun violence, address poverty, and figure out school funding, Illinois deserves a governor who cares.
As governor, my dad will fix our broken government so that it does what government should do — which is to work for people, not against them.
Thank you,
Clare Kennedy
* The accompanying photo…
He’s definitely not the most photogenic Kennedy.
* Meanwhile, Daniel Biss has shut down access to his Dank Meme Stash…
* Biss’ Dank Meme Stash began as a group that encourged Biss supporters to share “dank” memes about their guy. However, once Biss dropped Carlos Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket, the meme stash turned on him…
* And people are sharing the fact that they can’t access the page. Here’s one of several…
…Adding…
* Looks like somebody is making lots and lots of campaign robocalls…
Whew.
* Press release…
Gubernatorial Candidate Tio Hardiman Keynote Speaker for 9/11 Ceremony in Campaign, IL
Dear Members of the Media,
Gubernatorial Candidate Tio Hardiman has been invited by the American Legion Post 559 Commander to be the keynote speaker for the 9/11 Ceremony on Monday, September 11, 2017 at 3:00 p.m at the American Legion, 704 N. Hickory St., in Campaign, IL .
One typo is a simple mistake. Two? Not so much. I do, however, think I’d like to live in a town called Campaign.
* And the “candidate” who no longer is?…
6,000 allegedly fake followers out out 10,200 is quite something, but I’m still kinda surprised that he has 4,200 “real” followers.
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Sweet: “I don’t think you tread there”
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet appeared on Bill Cameron’s “Connected to Chicago” show and kinda got into it with the Tribune’s Ray Long over his paper’s story about JB Pritzker’s $100,000 campaign contribution to Rod Blagojevich three days before Blagojevich announced a $1 million state grant to the Holocaust Museum. The grant was actually dated October 1, weeks before the contribution, and the money wasn’t released until January. An excerpt…
LYNN SWEET: With all due respect, I thought the Tribune story just wasn’t up to the regular, usual Tribune standards of deep context and reporting. The United States Holocaust Museum and the Holocaust Museum in Skokie are very important standalone projects that have been funded by a variety of people in Illinois and the national community. JB Pritzker has been a big donor to the Holocaust Museum and it’s not just this one donation, Ray. He has a track record of many donations.
RAY LONG: Well sure, he does. I don’t disagree with that…
LYNN SWEET: Hold on, hold with me… It is correct to say that JB Pritzker is a major Democratic donor to Blagojevich and a list of Democrats throughout the country. To make the connection that it was a quid pro quo or to give the appearance of that without the larger context, that when you’re talking about the issues of the Holocaust…
You’re talking about something singular in American history, excuse me, singular in world history. You’re taking about a subject that is standalone in importance, the gravity that has been much bigger than anything we have been talking about today. So, I don’t think you tread there.
When you talk about donations to build a museum and make it look like it’s just like any old cronyism deal because the forces that led to the building of that museum in Skokie were big and important and did depend on the philanthropy of a lot of people who are the big givers in the community, and it’s a relatively small community.
And it also, the story also didn’t address that there could’ve been many political motives on Blagojevich’s part to want to do that grant to curry favor with a lot of other big donors besides JB Pritzker who were involved in the project. So I think that story didn’t show the bigger picture, the bigger environment, of big donors, big giving, Blagojevich, the singular importance of the Holocaust Museum, and why Blagojevich on his own might have had motives to want to seem like he was moving the money, $1 million, to…
RAY LONG: Sure but the timing is really… a few days in between…
LYNN SWEET: Oh the timing is so… okay, it’s not conclusive, Ray.
* And then it devolved from there…
LYNN SWEET: Even if you look at it in more political terms, okay, Blagojevich had every reason if he wanted to curry favors in the Democratic vote-rich northern suburbs. We’re talking… I mean let’s not mince words. You’re talking about Jewish Illinois voters who Blagojevich may have wanted to have courted with the donation. That story doesn’t take into account that there were politics independent of JB for giving that grant. Just as if you look at many grants that have been given by political figures to ethnic groups, religious groups or racial… institutions aligned with racial groups or nonprofits. Without putting this into context, just telling a larger story, is unfortunate because you cannot and should not make an inference. You should make a story based on a little more solid information and a lot more context…
RAY LONG: Let’s, let’s, let’s wait. A little more solid information? C’mon.
LYNN SWEET: No, Ray, I’m sorry, this…
RAY LONG: Ok, fine. You’re sorry. I agree.
LYNN SWEET: …this is a unique, this is a unique institution within…
RAY LONG: I don’t disagree that the Holocaust is an important thing. I don’t disagree that JB Pritzker has made many, many efforts to improve the Holocaust. I do think that a guy giving…
LYNN SWEET: No. The Holocaust Museum. Be careful here.
RAY LONG: …the Holocaust Museum, I agree. I don’t disagree with any of that stuff.
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Question of the day
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Gov. Bruce Rauner stressed the need to further strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship at today’s launch of the 49th Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference. The conference, which continues through Tuesday, unites business, education and government leaders in an effort to further trade and investment opportunities between the Midwest states and Japan.
“Japanese companies have been instrumental in creating jobs and driving economic development through the entire state of Illinois,” the governor said. “From Chicago to Shelbyville and Lawrenceville, from Marion to Mattoon, Japanese companies have made a tremendous impact on the economic growth of these towns. I am deeply grateful for the jobs and opportunities provided to the people of Illinois.”
The day began with a private breakfast with U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty. Shortly following, the governor met Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe before the MWJA Conference opening ceremony. This is the second time the governor has attended the conference.
Japan continues to be a high priority for federal direct investment. The governor and members of Illinois’ delegation spent part of the afternoon meeting with the clothing, manufacturer and retail company, Uniqlo. Uniqlo’s Chicago store is one of 630 Japanese businesses throughout Illinois.
“It is not that often that we gather together, but when we do, like for this conference, we unite with an unprecedented strength on economic growth,” Gov. Rauner said while addressing governors in attendance. “We need to send the message that our growth is interdependent.”
The governor said that while Midwest cooperation is necessary for expansion, Illinois is working to maintain its lead by continually working in close contact with Japan regarding foreign investment opportunities. The Illinois foreign trade office in Japan is a testament to Illinois’ commitment to the marketplace, as it’s one of the oldest state trade and investment offices in Japan, dating back 32 years.
So he spent part of his day with a… clothing retailer?
OK, maybe I’m just missing the great importance of this trip so far. Hopefully he’ll be meeting with the folks at Toyota about snagging their new manufacturing plant.
* Anyway, from the attachments…
* The Question: Caption?
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Stand by for NEWS!
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From JournalismJobs.com…
Wanted: Several free market minded reporters to tackle insider politics from the state capitol in Springfield, IL.
We are seeking one reporter for a salary-based position, based in Springfield, IL, as well as a network of freelancers. Applicants should strive to undertake independent, compelling coverage of state politics that breaks from the mainstream, group think mentality that often afflicts the established press corps.
Reporters should specialize in grooming sources to break news from within the ranks of state government as well as possess in-depth knowledge of the financial problems facing the state. Topics of interest include the pension, debt and budget crises facing the state as well as the power wielded by House Speaker Mike Madigan, the longest tenured Speaker of the House in the history of the United States, and the effects his legacy will have on Illinois regarding the state’s financial instability for years to come.
Reporters must be autonomous, hard-working, aggressive, contrarian-minded and willing to go the extra mile to break open story lines from behind the scenes in the state legislature. The ideal candidate will craft multiple, exclusive, investigative pieces on a daily basis meant to give readers a view into “How Illinois became America’s most messed-up state.”
Thoughts?
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Saputo’s owner eyes House seat
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bernie…
MIKE COFFEY JR., who ran for Springfield mayor in 2011, has joined the field of people wanting to be the Sangamon County Republican Party’s choice for the Illinois House in the 99th District.
“I think I can make a difference,” Coffey, 47, told me. “People are hurting in the 99th District, and … I’ve got the personality to go over and fight for the taxpayers. … We’re looking at one of the poorest economies in Sangamon County in my lifetime, quite possibly in my parents’ lifetime. I think the last budget crisis was detrimental. … This is the first time, I think, that you’ve really had a major downswing in the last few years.”
The 99th House seat is now held by Rep. SARA WOJCICKI JIMENEZ, R-Leland Grove, who announced recently she will not run for a new two-year term in 2018. The 99th is within Sangamon County, and ROSEMARIE LONG, who chairs the county GOP, said the party would review applications before deciding who to back.
Coffey, who helps run his family’s businesses, Saputo’s restaurant in downtown Springfield and Papa Frank’s on the west side, didn’t say if he would have voted — as Jimenez did — for a budget this summer that ended a two-year impasse and also raised the individual income-tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent. Jimenez was among Republicans who joined Democrats in voting for the budget bills, and later to override Gov. BRUCE RAUNER’s vetoes of the plan.
“I think Sara’s a very nice person,” Coffey said, but “without having all the information, I can’t determine if she made the right or wrong decision. I think she believes she made the right decision for the 99th District, and that’s all you can do. … These decisions are very difficult.” […]
And he said Illinois is now “at the maximum tax level,” and going forward, he would not be for raising taxes. He said the state does need to seek additional revenue, perhaps via casinos in Chicago and elsewhere.
Ah, yes, the ol’ magic revenues line.
Anyway, since he’s a Republican, I kinda doubt we’ll see an ILGOP press release denouncing him as “Mike Madigan’s favorite restaurant owner,” even though it could actually be true. But if he does win the seat, imagine how weird it’ll be when Speaker Madigan shows up for dinner.
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* Tribune…
More than two months after lawmakers put an end to the state’s historic budget impasse by voting to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a new spending plan, his administration has started to move forward with key provisions of the proposal he continues to criticize.
On Friday, the governor’s office said it would begin to sign contracts with nonprofit groups who are waiting on more than $70 million that was set aside in the budget to pay for autism, epilepsy and immigration programs, among others. The full amount won’t be paid, his office said, but the money is likely to be welcome for agencies that went without regular funding during the budget stalemate. […]
(A) spokesman for Rauner said some of those programs would see their budgets reduced from the levels set by the legislature. Spokesman Jason Schaumburg said autism, epilepsy and immigration services would get 5 percent less than what lawmakers budgeted, while a program that pays for the burial of low-income people would be cut by about a third.
Among the groups waiting on funding is The Autism Program of Illinois, which has twice laid off its staff and shut down in the last few years. The most recent closure took place at the end of June, and the organization hasn’t reopened since. It was set to receive $4 million under the budget, according to Russ Bonanno, former director of the program. Despite Rauner’s move Friday, the state’s budget war has already done damage and left Bonanno skeptical the state will come through.
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* Tribune editorial board…
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, is also — suddenly — one of the most important figures in Chicago. His Thursday announcement that Seattle-based Amazon is searching for a North American location in which to establish a second headquarters puts this city in the running for an extraordinary prize.
The powerhouse digital retailer plans to invest $5 billion to create a massive office complex that in time could employ 50,000 people. These would be great-paying tech, white-collar and other positions in such vast numbers they could transform the economy and identity of whichever city Amazon chooses. As one commentator noted, the nearest comparison might be the competition to choose an Olympic host city — except Amazon’s jobs won’t disappear after three weeks.
Amazon could pick Dallas, Boston, Toronto or elsewhere, including Chicago. We’ve got lots of reasons why Amazon should pick Chicago. But we also know why Bezos might steer clear of Illinois: Springfield dysfunction, with its decades of fiscal mismanagement and the vast public debts that now fall on employers and all other taxpayers.
Can Illinois improve its reputation in time to snag all those jobs? House Speaker Mike Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton, we’ve suggested that you step down from leadership and, like former Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, make way for fresh leadership. Gentlemen, your combined 86 years in the legislature have left Chicago and Illinois weakened for this competition. Show Amazon and others in the most convincing way possible that this state’s future holds more promise.
* Meanwhile, Neil Steinberg penned a tongue in cheek letter to Amazon’s top guy…
The New York Times immediately worked up a shaggy dog analysis of all the metropolitan areas in the country, dismissing Chicago based on the grim finances of the state. Which are real enough, but also rather like skipping Paris on your spring vacation because of France’s high unemployment rate.
The Times cooked their figures and came up with . . . Denver.
Have you been to Denver? It’s Cleveland, with mountains.
Finding a city based on a list of criteria evokes the classic blind men and the elephant tale, where one guy feels the trunk and declares it like a rope, another finds its side as very wall-like, another a tree. Nothing like the magnificent beast itself. Which is what Chicago is — a magnificent beast. There is more to life than tax rates and profit margins. A guy who paid $250 million for a newspaper in 2013 — the going rate today is $1 — must know that.
Sure, you can take the train to the airport from downtown Chicago for $2.25. But that isn’t the main allure. The main allure is you’re here, and your people are living their lives here. We’re a place that instills significance to whoever arrives and grabs for it. Chicago brought the world the blues, and helped birth jazz. Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama all showed up nobodies and thrived here. What did Denver give the world besides a crunchy omelet?
* And John Pletz at Crain’s believes this is Chicago’s to lose…
But that’s the catch: Amazon says it’s looking for a metro area that can support up to 50,000 jobs, most of them tech-oriented. That eliminates all but a handful of cities. Although the San Francisco area has the largest concentration of tech workers, at more than 300,000, it’s too close to Seattle to give the company the benefits of geographic diversity. Besides, the labor market there is even more expensive and more cutthroat than the one in its hometown.
Outside San Francisco, only Washington, New York, Toronto, Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago have bigger pools of tech talent than Seattle, according to research by real estate firm CBRE. Only four metro areas produce more than 10,000 tech graduates a year: New York, Washington, L.A. and Chicago.
Given that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has become very familiar with the nation’s capital since he bought the Washington Post, I wouldn’t count out Washington. It has the biggest collection of talent outside the Bay Area and is a primary connection point for internet traffic.
Yet Chicago remains a strong candidate. It has as many tech workers as Seattle, although that’s lost on most outsiders because Chicago’s economy is dispersed across so many industries. One potential drawback, however, is a relatively small pool of software talent, which is Amazon’s primary focus. Chicago has about 44,000 software developers and programmers, about equal to Boston, Atlanta and Toronto. New York has 143,000, while Washington is about equal to Seattle’s software base of 72,000. The Bay Area has about 143,000.
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* Press release from yesterday…
Governor Bruce Rauner arrived in Tokyo where he will start the first international trade mission of his administration. Shortly after his arrival, the governor attended the welcome reception at the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference.
“We are excited to welcome the governor to the MWJA Conference,” said MWJA Executive Director Marie Gaudette. “It’s a great honor that Japan is the destination for his first overseas trade mission and our Midwest U.S.-Japan forum provides a critical foundation for engaging with senior executives of the Japanese business community.”
Following the reception, the governor met with Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman and CEO of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to discuss further trade and investment opportunities. JETRO is a government-related organization which connects overseas companies with Japan in hopes of making Japan the most business-friendly country in the world.
The governor is leading the foreign trade mission with an Illinois delegation of industry and business development leaders from all across Illinois from Sept. 9 -17. The delegation will meet with business, government and education leaders in Japan and China.
“Foreign direct investment and growing exports in Illinois are vital to the prosperity of our businesses, citizens and overall health of our economy,” the governor said. “There is considerable competition among U.S. states to attract foreign investment and trade and Illinois must aggressively market itself.”
Illlinois is home to 630 Japanese companies employing more than 49,000 Illinois residents.
“Illinois is the largest exporting state in the Midwest and the 5th largest exporting state in the U.S.,” Gov. Rauner said. “Illinois depends on world markets and last year our exports totaled more than $60 billion, which supported thousands of businesses and tens of thousands of workers.”
More info on the Midwestern conference is here.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Rauner said he’s making his first international trip now because Illinois can’t afford to wait anymore.
“Frankly, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to travel around the world when we haven’t been able to get a balanced budget and reforms so that we can keep the budget balanced,” he said. “Now we have a budget, it’s not balanced, we didn’t get reforms, but I can’t afford to wait any longer. We have got to bring businesses here.”
* Other attendees…
Mark Peterson, President & CEO, Intersect Illinois; Erik Brejla, Assistant Deputy Director, Regional Economic Development, Illinois Department of Commerce;
Kelly Nicholl, Chief Marketing Officer, Intersect Illinois; Jason Anderson, Economic Development Director, City of Rochelle; Paul J. Borek, Executive Director, DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation; Inga Carus, CEO & President, Carus Corporation; Jonathon Hallberg, Executive Director, Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation; Sheila Owens, Vice President of Economic Development & Business Development, ComEd; Edward Seidel, Vice President of Economic Development and Innovation, University of Illinois System.
Carus Corporation is headquartered in Peru. Add in Rochelle and DeKalb and there are bunch of folks from that general area on the trip. Not sure what that means yet.
Either way, the governor is gone for the rest of the week so things should calm down a bit here.
* By the way, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is also in Tokyo…
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is also attending the conference.
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* Sun-Times…
Will voters remember the many flubs of the summer of 2017? Or will they focus on the fact that [Gov. Bruce Rauner] has railed against a popular state target, Mike Madigan, the longest-serving state House speaker in U.S. history?
“It’s unlikely that we’ve seen the end of the turmoil. It does appear now that the daily bloodletting has subsided, and I think he was able to do that by firing the majority of the [Illinois Policy Institute] staff and moving their political people out,” said a source with close knowledge of the administration. […]
“The real question is what is the public not seeing behind the scenes? How much turmoil still exists there?” the source said, adding that internal tension can become a big factor when the governor has to deal with important issues, like whether he’ll sign HB40, a measure removing a “trigger provision” that would make abortions illegal in Illinois should Roe v. Wade be overturned.
While sources say some of the new staffers urged the governor to veto the Illinois Trust Act, the governor didn’t abide. “What that means is that he understands that the advice and counsel and strategy that the team he fired had offered always served him best, and he has retreated to the very same advice and counsel of those that he fired,” the source said. […]
“He now has a period of stability ahead of him. He can use it to propose cuts that are much easier to justify in the next budget. He’s in a position to propose tax relief,” the source said. “That is achievable. And he can still rail against an unpopular speaker and blame Madigan and the legislators for overriding his veto and for continuing to perpetuate the problem.”
Your thoughts?
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* Sun-Times…
Michael Bloomberg’s presence — and money — will not be leaving Cook County any time soon.
The billionaire former mayor of New York City has already spent $5 million on ads supporting the Cook County sweetened beverage tax — and he’s prepared to spend “whatever it takes” to support those who voted for it, according to Howard Wolfson, a Democratic political strategist and top Bloomberg adviser.
Though the primary election for seats on the Cook County Board of Commissioners is not until March, Bloomberg and his money are here for the duration, Wolfson said.
“He is in this fight to ensure not a single person who voted for this tax is defeated. Period,” Wolfson told the Chicago Sun-Times.
It’s gonna take a lot of cash to overcome a tax that has an 87 percent disapproval rating.
* The We Ask America poll numbers for individual county commissioners are bad, but not as bad as the overall tax…
For Commissioner Luis Arroyo Jr., D-Chicago, of 684 questioned, 53 percent said they were less likely to re-elect him, the poll found. For Commissioner John Daley, of 700 questioned, nearly 67 percent said they wouldn’t vote to re-elect. For Commissioner Stanley Moore, nearly 65 percent, of 712 questioned said they would not support his re-election. And for Commissioner Deborah Sims, of 718 questioned, 54.5 percent said they were less likely to re-elect.
One new commissioner has been appointed since the November vote. Commissioner Dennis Deer replaced Robert Steele, who died in June. The poll asked whether voters would support Deer should he choose to support the tax, if the board chooses to take up the matter once again. Of 780 questioned, 58 percent said they wouldn’t vote to re-elect Deer if he chose to support the tax.
* Meanwhile…
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was back out defending her controversial beverage tax Friday for the second time in as many days, saying she’s not surprised opponents have formed a political action committee to try to defeat it.
A multimillion-dollar ad war already has been going on for weeks. Preckwinkle said the recent formation of Citizens for a More Affordable Cook County to back County Board candidates who oppose the tax was to be expected given the deep-pocketed beverage industry’s fight to overturn it.
“What’s happened in American politics is that it used to be individual contributions and corporate contributions, and now a lot of the action is in political action committees,” she said. “So it doesn’t surprise me. You know, Big Soda has been spending a fortune to attack our sweetened beverage tax, not only last fall around budget time, but starting in the spring as we were moving toward implementation.”
“These folks have a very problematic product and they know it, and they’re spending a lot of money to promote consumption. I think it’s disgraceful,” Preckwinkle added.
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Despite the process, they passed a decent law
Monday, Sep 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Lost in much of the hoopla over the process of passing school funding reform through the Illinois General Assembly is the fact that this is a pretty darned good and far-reaching bill.
While this legislation is far from perfect and doesn’t provide an immediate fix, it finally puts the state on a path to equitable school funding based on the concept of actual local need. It’s a complicated process and may have to be adjusted and it will require lots more money from the state, but it sure beats the heck out of dumping money year after year into a dysfunctional formula that benefited the rich and trapped the poor.
And in times of state fiscal strife, the new formula protects state funding for the neediest districts at the expense of wealthier districts. It’s tough to argue with that concept.
The local mandate relief is minor, but still somewhat significant. Most local school district mandate waivers are approved by the General Assembly, but that often takes time. This legislation would give the four legislative leaders extraordinary power to expedite those waivers. If at least three of the four leaders aren’t thrilled with a request, it will go through the usual legislative process. Otherwise, the waivers will be automatically granted.
Physical education requirements would be rolled back from five days per week to three, and more students who play sports can be exempted from PE. Drivers’ education can be outsourced to private companies, which is the norm in many other states.
One of the realities exposed by this debate is the number of school districts that have built up gigantic cash reserves. The new law will allow local voters to reduce their districts’ educational property tax levy by up to 10 percent, but only if the levy isn’t lowered below what’s considered to be 110 percent of “adequacy.” The political bar is also pretty high. Ten percent of all registered voters in a school district would have to sign a petition to get the measure on the ballot.
The new income tax credit for donations to private school scholarship programs is expected to be a boon for some schools. But it could also eventually turn out to be a bane. Whenever you take government money, you have to follow the government’s rules. If this tax credit program is renewed in five years when it’s due to sunset, you can probably bet that eligibility requirements will be tightened to protect kids who aren’t being properly served by the private and parochial school systems right now.
Also, when ultraconservative legislators like Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) and far-left groups like the Chicago Teachers Union are vocally opposing a bill, you know you may be on the right track.
Rep. Ives has been allied with the far-right Illinois Policy Institute against the education funding reform bill from the start. Opponents of the evidenced-based model have privately railed against it as “redistributionist.” And they’re right because it is specifically designed to do just that while holding all schools harmless unless the state can’t meet its funding goals.
Despite the new law’s income tax credit for private school tuition programs, the Institute and its allies were the biggest losers. The Policy Institute’s takeover of the governor’s office resulted in a massively unpopular amendatory veto that Gov. Rauner had to eventually abandon or risk being overridden again.
Like the Institute, the Chicago Teachers Union has been harping about the evils of Tax Increment Financing Districts for years. But all those TIF opponents got in the end was a legislative study commission. Maybe something will come of it, but those commissions tend to produce studies that wind up collecting dust on somebody’s forgotten book shelf. Only this time, it’ll probably be online dust, if that’s possible.
The CTU may have tipped its hand about its true intentions during its briefing of House Democrats a day before that chamber voted, by the way.
While public schools have been hurt by all the new charter schools, CTU President Karen Lewis told legislators that Catholic schools have been “decimated” by the charters. The city’s Catholic school system once rivaled the size of the public system, Lewis explained, but they’ve been forced to close a ton of schools and this scholarship program would help revive its moribund system.
So, by attempting to kill the education funding reform bill, which pumped hundreds of millions of new dollars into the Chicago Public Schools, the city’s only teachers union might have hoped to finally kill off its main private, nonunion competitor.
All’s well that ends well.
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[Bumped up from Friday to Monday and comments opened.]
* A friend of mine is participating in one of those “ecumenical” petition drives in the suburbs where volunteers circulate for any candidate who submits petitions. He sent me this tonight…
I have received no press release from the Drury campaign announcing his running mate and nothing is posted on his Twitter page. I’ve sent the campaign an e-mail asking for more info and will let you know what they say.
* According to Alex Hirsch’s LinkedIn page, he was Rep. Drury’s 2016 campaign manager. Hirsch was paid $10,000 by Drury’s campaign last year. He also ran a consulting company “with a focus on the cannabis industry” and was an Eagle Scout.
I’ll open comments on Monday.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Drury campaign…
Rich:
We intended to make the announcement last week, but felt it was inappropriate to get in the way of the self-destruction of other campaigns. We, instead, focused on getting petition signatures - one of the only gubernatorial campaigns organized enough to do so. We will provide more in the coming days.
–Jesse Brooks
*** UPDATE 2 *** Official announcement…
IN SELECTING RUNNING-MATE, DRURY ESCHEWS INSIDERS
HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS – Scott Drury, Democratic candidate for governor, has named Alex Hirsch as his pick for lieutenant governor. An Illinois native, millennial and supporter of Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary, Hirsch has been a long-time, trusted advisor to Drury, both formally and informally. Hirsch shares Drury’s vision of an Illinois that puts the public’s interest ahead of self-interest and whose government is defined by trust, not corruption. Hirsch knows that unless the Democratic Party in Illinois stops taking advantage of its base and using its most loyal supporters as pawns for political gain, it is in serious jeopardy of losing younger voters and moving towards extinction. Hirsch is committed to reducing Illinois’ debt; balancing its budget without the major increase being proposed by the other Democratic candidates; and ensuring that Illinois’ public schools are properly funded, its public universities are more affordable and its natural resources are protected.
According to Drury’s campaign, it was important to find a trustworthy running-mate with political courage – someone not scared to do what’s right and who is not tied to the Democratic Machine.
“Alex is a welcome addition to our campaign,” said Drury. “Beyond his thoughtfulness and intelligence, Alex is an independent thinker with common sense, traits sorely missing in Illinois politics. Moreover, Alex is prepared to wage the epic battle needed to return Illinois government to its rightful owners – the people of our great state.”
“I am excited to join the only campaign with a proven commitment to ending the failed status quo in Illinois,” said Hirsch. “For too long, our state has been associated with doom and gloom. We are going to rebuild Illinois into a state people are proud of and people can trust.”
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