* A gigantic downfall…
Rishi Shah, a 31-year-old college dropout, who co-founded a healthcare media company, became the richest Indian in America with a personal worth of $3.6 billion, for all of a few weeks. His fortune evaporated almost overnight amidst allegations that his company had fudged data and misled advertisers.
Shah’s Chicago-based Outcome Health delivers pharmaceutical advertising to patients on tablets and screens placed in physician’s offices. He became the 206th richest American in the Forbes 400 list after his company raised $500 million based on a valuation of $5 billion in May from Goldman Sachs, Google’s parent Alphabet and the Pritzker Group Venture Capital. […]
The Wall Street Journal alleged that the company exaggerated the number of screens installed in physician offices, inflated data on ad performance and manipulated third-party analyses showing the effectiveness of its ads.
Shah and Outcome Health are now being sued by investors, most of its premium advertisers have fled, the company has laid off a third of its workforce and abandoned its lease of a premium downtown Chicago building for its new headquarters.
* And the alleged scam apparently took the local venture capital world by surprise…
When asked about what surprised them this year, VCs pointed to Outcome Health’s difficulties. After raising more than $500 million in May, the company now faces allegations reported in a Wall Street Journal story this fall that they misled advertisers by manipulating data and inflating the performance of ads. As a result, some of Outcome’s investors are now suing the company for fraud, and in November, the company cut its staff by more than a third.
* And now…
The state has suspended a tax credit agreement with Outcome Health — worth an estimated $6.1 million over a decade — in the wake of allegations that the tech company misled investors and advertisers.
The agreement was part of the EDGE program, short for Economic Development for a Growing Economy, which provides tax breaks for companies that promise to create jobs in Illinois. Outcome Health entered into its EDGE agreement in November 2016, when it was still known as ContextMedia, with a requirement to add at least 175 new full-time jobs in 2017 and 2018. […]
In November, big-name investors sued the company, CEO Rishi Shah and President Shradha Agarwal, alleging fraud as the company secured $487.5 million in funding and rose to a valuation of about $5.5 billion.
The investors — including units of Goldman Sachs and Google and a fund co-founded by Illinois gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker — have filed court documents indicating they have received subpoenas from the Justice Department.
“Anytime that a company gets into legal trouble, almost always when the Department of Justice opens an investigation, we just suspend them for safety precautions, simply protecting taxpayer money,” said Jacquelyn Reineke, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Outcome Health has not collected any of its credits yet, Reineke said.
What a complete mess.
…Adding… From a flack…
Hi, Rich.
I’m reaching out to request an important correction to your post “Illinois pulls EDGE credit for spiraling company after investors (including Pritzker) are subpoenaed.” My firm works with Outcome Health and there are a couple of issues I’m hoping we can clear up. Please let me know ASAP when these issues can be fixed.
This section is incorrect: “Most of its premium advertisers have fled”
Most of the company’s advertisers (including the largest) remain active. In addition, the provider network has been fully retained. Outcome Health is still the largest content network with over 95% of all content partners. Please delete this from the article.
Please also include Outcome Health’s statement, attributed to an Outcome Health spokesperson, that was included in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Business Journal articles on the subject of the EDGE Tax Credit story:
“Outcome Health remains committed to improving healthcare outcomes for patients, creating technologies, and driving innovation in Chicago. The company is well-positioned for success with its customers, is signing-up new customers, and is committed to the ongoing expansion of its network of more than 145,000 devices at medical offices around the country.”
Thank you,
Jake Klein
Media Strategist
Goldin Solutions
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Sun-Times editorial entitled “8 New Year’s wishes for Chicago and Illinois”…
2. More money for schools
For decades Illinois used a lousy formula to fund public schools, leaving districts with a lot of poor and special-needs kids with a lot less money to educate students than districts in wealthier areas. Finally, in 2017, the Legislature adopted a formula that one day could bridge the gap. But until Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Legislature come up with billions of more dollars for schools — at least $3.5 billion — the poorest children in our state will continue to be held back. Stop letting down kids, lawmakers.
3. Invest in Illinois universities
Illinois is no longer the fifth most populous state. It fell to sixth, and Pennsylvania moved up to fifth, after our state lost 33,703 more people in 2017. To stop some of the bleeding, Illinois should recommit to building up its universities, which fell into rapid decline during the budget crisis for which Gov. Rauner was largely responsible. Making our universities more economically stable will help to stem the exodus of young people leaving Illinois for schools in other states.
4. Raise the minimum wage
Chicago and some suburbs in Cook County are on their way to raising the hourly minimum wage to $13. The rest of the state lags far behind at $8.25, though that’s higher than the national hourly minimum wage of $7.25 that was set in 2009. The costs of health care, groceries and transportation keep going up, but most people in Illinois aren’t seeing their wages rise. An election year, when politicians really want to score points with working people, is the right time for Democrats and Rauner to compromise on a minimum-wage increase.
5. Fix broken property tax system
Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios must fix the secretive, complicated property tax assessment system that benefits the politically connected at the expense of other property owners. Wealthy commercial property owners and lawyers who specialize in appealing property taxes, including some who donate campaign money to Berrios and his allies, want the status quo. This system is downright awful for regular folks who own homes.
6. Repair roads and bridges
Across Illinois, bridges are decaying. Roads need work. A capital bill to improve infrastructure would put people to work and make the state more appealing to businesses. We heard rumblings about a capital bill in the fall. We’re all for it, but hold the pork please. No one needs fancy chandeliers, like the four purchased for nearly $81,000 each in an improvement project at the Capitol in 2013.
* The Question: Your own New Year’s wishes for Illinois?
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Our sorry state
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Americans are moving westward, flocking to the Mountain and Pacific West, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to lose residents. In 2017, more residents moved out of Illinois than any other state with 63 percent of moves being outbound. Vermont had the highest percentage of inbound migration in 2017 with nearly 68 percent of moves to and from the state being inbound. Those are the results of the United Van Lines’ 41st Annual National Movers Study, which tracks customers’ state-to-state migration patterns over the past year.
* Top inbound moving states…
1. Vermont
2. Oregon
3. Idaho
4. Nevada
5. South Dakota
6. Washington
7. South Carolina
8. North Carolina
9. Colorado
10. Alabama
New to the 2017 top inbound list are Colorado at No. 9 and Alabama at No. 10 with 56 and 55 percent inbound moves, respectively.
* Top outbound…
1. Illinois
2. New Jersey
3. New York
4. Connecticut
5. Kansas
6. Massachusetts
7. Ohio
8. Kentucky
9. Utah
10. Wisconsin
Illinois (63 percent) moved up one spot on the outbound list to No. 1, ranking in the top five for the past nine years. New Jersey previously held the top spot for 5 consecutive years. New additions to the 2017 top outbound list include Massachusetts (56 percent) and Wisconsin (55 percent).
* Tribune editorial…
People follow jobs. But billions in debts scare present and prospective residents who know that eventually, they’ll be stuck with the bill — if they’re here.
This population plummet can be halted and reversed. A collapse into used-to-be-great status isn’t preordained. Illinois leaders should be signaling to Amazon and other employers (and employees) that they’re finally ready to address Illinois’ soaring taxes, runaway public pensions, overreaching regulations, high workers’ compensation costs — this state’s increasingly toxic climate for employers.
If Illinois leaders keep pretending all’s well enough on their watch, you’ll keep hearing that the Land of Lincoln is losing population. And you’ll see more forlorn parents watching their children leave.
The new year brings a chance for voters to factor this accelerating decline into their choices come Election Day. The people of Illinois should elect leaders who’ll recognize the crisis, restore the state’s squandered reputation for opportunity, and halt this exodus. The alternative: Return to office pols who’ll rule as they have for decades — while more For Sale signs sprout on lawns and more young people depart for college, many never to return.
* On the other hand…
New figures released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security indicate the total number of private-sector, unemployment-insurance-covered jobs in the city grew 168,000, or 16.6 percent, in the seven years ended in March. The expansion was concentrated in the Loop and the Near North, West and South Side areas adjoining it, where the total number of jobs leapt nearly a quarter. But the action also is showing signs of spreading into outlying neighborhoods.
In comparison, private-sector employment rose 13.5 percent in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area as a whole in that period—and just 11.2 percent if you don’t count Chicago. That’s just two-thirds of the city-only expansion rate.
Municipal officials and independent experts are hailing the city turnaround, which after seven years of steady growth appears unprecedented in the post-World War II period, and which continued unabated in the past year.
One other notable tidbit: In 2017, for the first time ever, a majority of jobs in Chicago as a whole were located in the central area of the city.
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* The Fox News story mentioned below is here. From a press release…
Fox News Channel’s Special Report with Bret Baier recently covered multiple fatalities resulting from Legionnaires’ disease of a veterans’ home in Quincy, Illinois. State Representative Jeanne Ives, an Army veteran and Republican Candidate for Governor, issued the following statement:
“As a veteran, and the daughter and granddaughter of soldiers, I find the conditions in the Illinois Veterans Home, as well as the delayed response from the Rauner Administration, to be a disgrace,” said State Representative Jeanne Ives, a Republican Candidate for Governor.
“Governor Rauner’s failure to take charge in the wake of a three year outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a state-run veterans’ home became a national story last week. State services have declined to a such degree under his leadership that the maintenance of clean facilities to prevent outbreaks of bacterial maladies, like Legionnaires, has become grossly inadequate. As noted in the Fox News report, Governor Rauner promised in July 2016, ‘We’re really on top of the situation.’ But 5 more people in the home got sick that year.
“Managing state agencies is one of the critical jobs of the Executive Office. Bruce Rauner promised to turn Illinois around. But on his watch, state services have deteriorated. If he can’t manage a 200-acre veterans home with 250 residents, how can he manage the state? And 13 veterans, or spouses of veterans, are now dead because of it.”
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* AP…
Gov. Bruce Rauner has again vetoed plans to prevent changes his administration want to make to in-home services aimed at keeping elderly Illinois residents out of nursing homes.
The Republican issued a veto message on Friday, saying the bill would reduce the ability “to assess and serve Illinois’ elderly and persons with disabilities.”
However, advocates of the proposal say changing in-home services could result in more expensive nursing home care. The plan would’ve put eligibility standards Rauner wants changed into law.
The bill received 36 Senate votes (enough for an override if everyone shows up), but just 68 House votes (three shy of an override).
* Veto message…
December 29, 2017
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
100th General Assembly:
Today I veto House Bill 1424 from the 100th General Assembly, which would reduce the ability of the State to assess and serve Illinois’ elderly and persons with disabilities. This bill is similar to several pieces of legislation that have been discussed and debated over the last few years. This debate comes at a critical time, as Illinois’ aging population, ages 60 and over, is expected to increase by 57% from 2000 - 2030.
This bill prohibits the Department on Aging from implementing a new program, the Community Reinvestment Program (CRP), which aims to provide the non-Medicaid population of the Community Care Program (CCP) with federally mandated person-centered planning and community-based options. By limiting current services in statute, this bill prevents individual care coordinators from working with their clients on a case-by-case basis to meet the needs necessary for them to remain in their homes. Instead, they will receive only the services which have been available since the program’s inception, well over 30 years ago. While our current service delivery model is crucial to maintaining seniors in their homes and communities, this bill prohibits the department from implementing a more flexible array of service options.
The Department on Aging’s Community Care Program Services Task Force is currently working with advocates, providers, and legislators on a bipartisan plan to develop proactive solutions to serve this rapidly growing vulnerable population. They are tasked with reviewing current CCP services, and recommending solutions to reduce costs while simultaneously retaining our high quality of care. If HB 1424 were to become law, the work of this task force could be negatively impacted.
The bill also sets subjective restrictions on the implementation of the new Universal Assessment Tool (UAT) that is set to replace the outdated Determination of Need (DON) eligibility tool. Created to be objective and truly evaluate the needs of an elderly resident, this bill restricts the Department’s ability to implement the Universal Assessment Tool by guaranteeing eligibility for community-based services for current CCP participants regardless of whether they qualify for services under the UAT. This will limit our ability to receive federal matching funds and potentially put our federal waiver at risk.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 1424, entitled AN ACT concerning public aid”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
* From SEIU Healthcare Illinois Home Care Division and the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans…
With today’s veto of House Bill 1424, Gov. Rauner has once again demonstrated his complete lack of empathy, compassion and concern for some of the most vulnerable in our communities. His veto of the bill continues the path of destruction to human services for children, seniors and people with disabilities launched when he first took office.
HB 1424 protected the 80,000 seniors in the Community Care Program from massive cuts, reductions in care, and a full-scale dismantling of the program by the governor. Instead of a successful program that has existed for years, the governor has proposed herding this group of seniors into an unproven and untested patchwork system that included subjecting seniors to Uber vouchers, food coupons and maid services.
Even more revealing of the governor’s contempt is his choice to veto the bill during the holiday season when citizens are celebrating and counting their blessing over the year. We, along with our allies who fight to protect seniors and the legislators who passed HB 1424, hoped that Rauner would see the light after the outcry from seniors over the proposed changes to the Community Care Program.
Unfortunately, Rauner is hellbent on moving an agenda that has done nothing but proven his failure as a leader.
* Pritzker campaign…
This past Friday, Bruce Rauner quietly vetoed a bill that protected 80,000 Illinoisans receiving in-home care through the Community Care Program.
Rauner’s veto of HB 1424 follows multiple attempts by the failed governor to dismantle the Community Care Program. This latest effort was carried out on the Friday between Christmas and New Year’s, as Rauner once again tried to hide his failure to protect Illinois seniors.
“While seniors were enjoying the holidays with family, Bruce Rauner tried to dismantle their ability to live with dignity and receive care in their homes,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Rauner closed out the year doing what he does best: undercutting the tools Illinoisans need to build better lives and avoiding transparency at all costs.”
…Adding… Sen. Daniel Biss…
“Gov. Rauner’s platform relies on attacking Middle Class and working families and his latest attempts to dismantle the Community Care Program remind us that even seniors aren’t immune from his right-wing ideological agenda. Unlike Gov. Rauner, I believe every Illinoisan deserves to age with dignity and security. That’s why I organized my Senate colleagues against Gov. Rauner’s proposed budget cuts and reductions in care and why I’m urging him to change course and sign HB 1424 today.”
…Adding… Chris Kennedy…
It’s no surprise that Governor Rauner vetoed HB 1424. He failed to appoint AARP or SEIU Healthcare members to the Community Care Program Services Task Force in an effort to silence advocates for our senior community so he could get away with starving the programs our seniors rely on to stay in their homes and access health care. Well, we cannot be silenced. We need our Democratic-controlled legislature to mobilize and lead an override of this veto. We cannot let Rauner continue to destroy government services and programs that ensure our most basic needs.
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* The Chicago Crusader…
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy held a rally at historic Quinn Chapel AME Church at 24th and Wabash along with supporters congressmen Danny Davis (D-Chicago) and Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) on Sunday, December 17. Kennedy, son of former Senator Robert Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, labels himself as the outsider of the governor’s race, pointing to Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan’s endorsement of his opponent, J.B Pritzker.
“He’s spent $42 million, he’s the establishment candidate,” Kennedy said. “And the speaker [Madigan] was able to use his role to compel unions to endorse Pritzker. He’s donated to Scott Walker in Wisconsin, this is a man who’s clearly been anti-union his entire life.”
He donated to Scott Walker? Really? That would be a bombshell if true.
* It’s not…
It turns out that JB’s Republican cousin Jennifer Pritzker (formerly James) is the Scott Walker contributor. Click here and here.
* But, either way, are we really supposed to think that Speaker Madigan is so powerful that he could force the IFT, Local 150, the AFL-CIO, etc. to endorse a “clearly” anti-union Democrat who backed Scott Walker?
That’s quite a stretch, even for Chris.
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Open thread
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I have a quick errand to run. As always, keep it Illinois-centric and be nice to each other. Thanks.
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Berrios claim rated “Mostly False”
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politifact Illinois looks at a claim being made by Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios’ campaign…
In a recent cable TV ad, Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios accused his Democratic primary opponent, Fritz Kaegi, of profiting from the private prison industry during his tenure as an investment analyst at Columbia Wanger Asset Management.
“Kaegi personally managed a fund that invested nearly $30 million in private prisons,” the ad stated. “Prisons where women refused food to protest abusive guards, immigrant children as young as 5 were held and detainees died suspiciously. But Kaegi only saw profits.” Berrios also aired a similarly worded radio ad. […]
Kaegi spent 13 years as an investment manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, where he oversaw the Columbia Acorn Fund with two other analysts. He gave up management duties of the fund and left Columbia Wanger on March 13 to begin his campaign. […]
Columbia Acorn Fund, of which Fritz Kaegi was one of three managers, reported $29.1 million in stock of the private prison operator CoreCivic on its March 31, 2017, quarterly report.
But Kaegi’s active management of the fund ended March 13, as documented in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Kaegi said the CoreCivic investment came after he was gone, and points to two years of quarterly reports and a Feb. 28 holdings summary to back his point.
We were unable to confirm from Kaegi’s co-managers, but a scenario in which Kaegi during his final two weeks as a fund manager decides to invest in a controversial private prison stock as a last act before challenging an opponent in a Democratic primary in Cook County borders on absurd.
Berrios’ statement contains an element of truth — the quarterly report on March 31 shows a $29.1 million investment in CoreCivic. But it ignores the critical fact that Kaegi didn’t manage the fund as of March 14 and that as recently Feb. 28 CoreCivic was not part of the portfolio. We rate it Mostly False.
…Adding… ILGOP…
2018 brings a new year, and J.B. Pritzker is hoping that taxpayers will forget about his corrupt ally, Cook County Assessor and Democratic party boss Joe Berrios.
For years, Berrios has faced accusations of nepotism, patronage, and corruption in his assessor’s office, costing homeowners dearly, particularly those in low-income minority communities.
Just last year, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois released a multi-part report shedding light on the corrupt practices of Berrios and how he has rigged the Cook County property tax system to benefit his political cronies at everyone else’s expense. And weeks ago, Berrios faced renewed questions of patronage in his office.
But J.B. Pritzker doesn’t want to talk about his ally Joe Berrios because Pritzker is an integral part of Berrios’ and Madigan’s corrupt property tax racket.
When will Pritzker break his silence on Berrios?
* Related…
* Tribune Editorial: Berrios and ‘The Silence of the Dems’
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Judge shoots down HB40 legal challenge
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Public Radio…
A new law allowing public funding of abortion in Illinois will take effect as scheduled on January 1. That’s after a judge on Thursday ruled against anti-abortion groups who’d sued to block it.
The law would, for the first time in Illinois, allow tax money to be spent on abortions for state employees and women in the Medicaid program.
The groups suing over the law were not making a moral argument. Rather they say it shouldn’t take effect in part because General Assembly’s budget process violated the Illinois Constitution.
They said because the legislation was signed after the budget was passed, there’s no legal authority to use state money for abortions. They also argue that because a senator used a parliamentary hold to block the bill until after the legislature’s constitutional adjournment date on May 31, it cannot take effect until next summer.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Pro-life groups wanted to block the Jan. 1 implementation of taxpayer-funded abortions for those on Medicaid or state employee health insurance. But Sangamon County Associate Judge Jennifer Ascher sided with the Illinois Attorney General’s office to dismiss the case Thursday in Springfield.
Ascher ruled the budget issue “is a political question for which I lack jurisdiction,” and said if she granted an emergency injunction it “would result in a violation of the separation of powers. … Legislative disputes must be resolved in the legislative arena. It is inherently a political question and I cannot mandate the process on the estimate of revenues or the appropriation of those revenues.”
She also dismissed the argument that plaintiffs, represented by pro-life groups and some Republican state lawmakers, made that the legislative process was abused by Democrats holding the bill from the governor for four months. […]
The Thomas More Society and other opponents of taxpayer-funded abortions filed two claims in their lawsuit. First, the plaintiffs said the state does not having the funds to pay for what they estimate is $15 million to $30 million of additional costs annually. They said the legislature never passed an official revenue estimate.
“The constitution does not say what form this revenue estimate must take,” Harpreet K. Khera, deputy chief of special litigation at the Illinois Attorney General’s office, countered in court Thursday. “The constitution does not say that this estimate needs to be formally adopted by resolution or adopted in any other way.” […]
The state constitution mandates that, “Proposed expenditures shall not exceed funds estimated to be available for the fiscal year as shown in the budget.”
* Tribune…
“After today’s argument, I’m more confident than ever in the truth and the correctness of our position,” Breen said. “I heard nothing today … that caused me to think that somehow, the General Assembly has done its job any more than it had a few days ago.”
John Wolfsmith, an assistant attorney general representing the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and other defendants, claimed Breen’s clients are simply trying to buy time by delaying the law’s implementation to June 1.
The law, signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in September, expands Medicaid and state group health insurance plans to cover abortions .
Breen contends that taxpayers will be billed for 30,000 elective abortions annually in Illinois. They will cost $1.8 million, according to the state health care agency.
* Personal PAC…
Peter Breen is an anti-choice leader in the Illinois House whose entire legal career is devoted to denying Illinois women access to reproductive health care, including birth control and abortion care. The sole purpose of this lawsuit is to keep outdated and harmful laws in place that put the health and lives of women at risk. HB 40 corrected these dangerous laws and protects women who are victims of rape and incest and whose health and lives are at risk if they do get pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term. But none of this matters to anti-choice leaders like Peter Breen. All they want to do is deny the 90% + of Illinois women who use birth control and the 35%+ Illinois women who will have an abortion, access to this vital medical care.
73% of ALL Illinois voters in an April 2017 PPP poll (58% of Republicans, 85% of Democrats, 70% Independents) agreed with the statement: “abortion should remain legal in Illinois as a private decision between a woman and her doctor, not politicians.” In that same poll, 64% of all voters, including 47% of Republicans, agreed with the statement: “Governor Rauner should act to protect the reproductive health care of all women in Illinois.”
Peter Breen’s lawsuit seeking to prevent enforcement of HB 40 is nothing more than playing to most radical fringe right-wing of Illinois voters. HB 40 should remain the law of the land in our great state.
* Thomas More Society…
The Thomas More Society is beginning the process of appealing today’s court decision allowing Illinois officials to implement a law that will put state taxpayers on the hook for paying for tens of thousands of abortions in the New Year. Associate Judge Jennifer M. Ascher of Sangamon County’s Seventh Judicial Circuit Court denied the request for an emergency injunction and temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the controversial HB 40 in the lawsuit, Springfield Right to Life et al v. Felicia Norwood et al.
The taxpayer lawsuit, filed at the end of November in the Sangamon County Circuit Court and heard in court today, is brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Illinois taxpayers, represented by county and statewide pro-life organizations, the Springfield Catholic Diocese, and a group of Illinois legislators from across the state.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and will seek an immediate appeal,” stated Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “The Illinois Constitution was clearly violated here.”
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Where are they now?
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico…
Here is an overview of fundraising in the governor’s race as 2018 kicks off. Keep in mind the numbers reflect substantial self-donations from Republican incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner and total self-funding from Democrat J.B. Pritzker. Democrat Chris Kennedy has donated $500,000 to his own account.
Fundraising totals, via Illinois Campaign for Political Reform […]
JB Pritzker: Cash on hand: $21.1 million Total Raised $42.2 million
Daniel Biss: Cash on hand: $2.9 million Total Raised $3.7 million
Chris Kennedy: Cash on hand: $1.8 million Total Raised $3.3 million
Robert A Daiber: Cash on hand: $33,021.91 Total Raised $108,877
Tio Hardiman: Cash on hand: $3,892.93 Total Raised $5,445
ICPR came up with its “cash on hand” numbers by adding filed fourth quarter A-1s to the campaigns’ third quarter bank balances.
But we can’t depend on those numbers for two reasons. First, we don’t know how many contributions haven’t been reported yet. Candidates don’t have to report their contributions until after they deposit the checks. Second, we don’t know how much the candidates spent during the fourth quarter.
So, while Sen. Biss reported raising about $263K in the fourth quarter, he spent $509K in the third quarter. Will he wind up with $2.9 million in the bank? Too early to tell, but that’s just about where he wants to be. Another million or so in the bank and he could do a decent four-week TV buy.
Kennedy has so far reported raising $488K in the fourth quarter. But he spent about $665K in the third quarter. Kennedy has held checks back until the last minute in previous quarters and may write himself another late check like he did in the third quarter, so we’ll see where he really is in a couple of weeks.
* Meanwhile…
…Adding… I forgot about this one…
Last week, Democratic candidate for attorney general state Rep. Scott Drury reported giving his campaign $170,000, a move that eliminates contribution limits for all candidates. Another candidate, Aaron Goldstein, put in $135,000 of his own money.
*** UPDATE *** ICPR…
Rich,
Thanks for your email today. It got us thinking about Cash on Hand numbers on our site. In order to avoid confusion and clarify this information, we are adding the following notice to every committee page:
*This figure represents a committee’s total available funds to spend this quarter. While committees are able to spend money continuously, they are only required to report spending figures once every three months. As soon as spending figures are available, they are reflected in the “Cash on Hand” amount for each candidate.
I also saw one of your commenters bring up the fact that the State Board of Elections does not retract A1s that are mistakenly filed by committees until quarterly reports come out. This is true, meaning that these A1s can remain in the dataset for some time.
I wanted to let you know that starting January 1st, we have actually implemented a manual review process that will catch these mistaken A1s for major races, when they constitute a significant amount. While it would be cost prohibitive for us to manually remove every mistakenly filed A1, we will be working to make sure major mistakes are removed on contested races for 2018.
As always, we appreciate when users and members of the media bring issues like this to our attention. Thanks again - just wanted to let you know that you sparked a good conversation for us!
Best,
Sarah Brune
Executive Director
Illinois Campaign for Political Reform
I’m glad they changed that because what they were claiming was “cash on hand” was not, in fact, cash on hand.
* Related…
* 2018 brings governor’s race, other big contests in Illinois
* Editorial: How to make regular folks’ $50 donations count in elections
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Another HGOP budget revolt?
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. Chad Hays (R-Catlin) was one of the leaders of the House GOP revolt last summer…
The more interesting question, though, is whether legislators will rebel against Rauner and Madigan again this year and push for a budget resolution, rather than letting a stalemate persist.
“That’ll be a very interesting dynamic,” said Hays. “All of the ingredients for a budget impasse will be there, but I am one who suspects that the budget situation, if all else fails, will be not dissimilar to last spring where the rank and file provided the pressure necessary to get a budget done. That may be the pathway. We’ll have to see.”
* From the same interview…
In Springfield, Hays said he’d be surprised if any major legislation gets passed in an election year like this one.
“The Democrats had supermajorities and still didn’t pass a minimum wage increase before, which really is indicative that the Speaker (Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan) isn’t interested in passing those things. He’s really more interested in keeping them alive as political issues,” said Hays, who will retire from the Legislature after this year.
He’s right about Madigan’s motives. But one sure-fire way to keep the minimum wage alive as a political issue is to pass it in an election year and make the governor veto it. So, I think Chad may turn out to be half right on this particular point.
* WIU President: Western’s Situation Getting Better: “Add that to the growing call for higher education reform in the state and the uncertainty of whether a state budget will actually be passed, and I believe we could be in for a very bumpy ride in Springfield,” [Jeanette Malafa, WIU’s Assistant to the President for Governmental Relations] said.
* State Rep. Mike Unes bucks governor and wins, for now
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Embattled Silverstein has petition problems
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NBC 5…
State Sen. Ira Silverstein was notified Friday by election officials that he does not have the required signatures for his name to appear on the March primary ballot.
He is 45 signatures short of the required 1,000 needed. This setback is quite unusual for a veteran lawmaker.
It’s the latest trouble for Silverstein who was accused this past October of sexual harassment by a woman lobbying for a crime bill. […]
While Silverstein delivered 1,999 signatures, his petitions were challenged and a report issued Friday noted he was left with 955 signatures.
One way to remain on the ballot is Silverstein would need to verify 45 signatures, by reaching back to those who signed his petitions, getting affidavits from them stating they did in fact sign his petition and have them notarized.
* Meanwhile…
This is former Rep. Ken Dunkin’s old seat. He’s running against three Democratic opponents.
* Related…
* From Oregon to Maine, Statehouses Are Having Their Own #MeToo Reckonings
* Petition signature investigation leads to 16th CD GOP candidate withdrawing
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* Chris Kennedy interviewed by the Peoria Journal Star…
Q: Particularly in the last couple of months, you’ve emphasized while campaigning that you’re definitely not the choice of the Democratic establishment in Illinois. Some people might hear the Kennedy name and think “underdog?” Why is that a valid notion?
A: I think the most shocking thing for people to hear is a Kennedy being critical of the Democratic Party. The truth is, when President Kennedy ran for president, his greatest opposition wasn’t Richard Nixon in the general election, it was the Democratic Party in the primaries that said, “We don’t want you to be our standardbearer because you’re Catholic and you’ll lose in the general. We don’t want you to be our leader because you’re too young and you’ll lose in the general. We don’t want you to be our leader because you’re not one of us and we don’t want somebody who we can’t control.” He overcame all that.
My father, Bobby Kennedy, runs for Senate in 1964 from the state of New York and they say you’re not from here, even though his parents raised him there. They call him a carpetbagger and they say we don’t need you here. He overcomes the Democrats in the primary and wins the general election. He runs in 1968 against the head of the Democratic Party, the president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, because too many people of color or who were poor disproportionately were fighting in the Vietnam War. Teddy, my uncle, runs against Jimmy Carter in 1980, the sitting president, because Carter oversaw a federal reserve that jacked interest rates to 19, 20 percent and drove tens of millions of people out of jobs, and Teddy said that’s not the Democratic Party we want.
And I have to say the same in Illinois. This is not the Democratic Party that represents Kennedy values. These are people who are making money off the system as property tax appeals lawyers that’s destroying our ability to educate the next generation of kids in our state. You want economic development? Jobs go to where the highly educated high school and college kids are. You can’t produce highly educated high school kids when you rely on property taxes. Everybody knows that, yet we cling to that system because our leadership is property tax appeals lawyers, and they’re destroying our state.
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* BND…
A St. Clair County circuit judge’s ruling in a lawsuit could determine the financial health of Democratic-leaning labor unions that represent government workers.
Judge Chris Kolker issued the ruling Wednesday, vacating Gov. Bruce Rauner’s executive order to halt collection of union fees for nonunion members who work in state jobs but benefit from collective bargaining.
Kolker found that Rauner’s executive order violated state law, collective bargaining agreements and the Illinois Constitution. Kolker ruled that the governor was trying “to rewrite 26 collective bargaining agreements. This is expressly prohibited by state law.” […]
But the whole thing may be moot, pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in another case.
That second case involves Mark Janus, a state employee who says Illinois law violates his free speech rights by requiring him to pay fees subsidizing a union he doesn’t support, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. About half the states have similar laws covering so-called “fair share” fees that cover bargaining costs for nonmembers. […]
Patty Schuh, a Rauner spokeswoman, said the governor had issued the executive order in the St. Clair County case “to protect the First Amendment rights of government workers and initiated what became the Janus vs. AFSCME case. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Janus case because of the First Amendment rights at stake. We look forward to the Supreme Court’s decision.”
Schuh added, “The governor supports the freedom for all government workers to choose what political speech to support and whether or not to take money out of their paychecks to pay dues to a union.”
The ruling is here.
*** UPDATE *** AFSCME…
Public service workers know that Bruce Rauner is fiercely hostile to working people, wants to take away their freedom to join together in strong unions, and is determined to drive down their wages. That was the motivation for his illegal executive order and for the suit he initiated that’s now before the US Supreme Court.
Members of AFSCME and all public service unions are organizing to make sure their co-workers and their communities understand Rauner’s scheme to rig the system, silence working people and take more power and control for himself.
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Gearing up for a battle or a deal
Tuesday, Jan 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
The last time Rep. Dan Burke, D-Chicago, had a serious primary opponent, in 2010, the longtime Southwest Side legislator won by just 579 votes over activist Rudy Lozano.
And it could’ve been a closer race had two Latino “candidates” not been put on the ballot to siphon away almost 400 votes from the progressive activist Lozano.
At the moment, the age-old Chicago machine practice of running fake primary candidates designed to draw votes away from opponents is on hold while a federal judge takes a look at a lawsuit filed by Speaker Michael Madigan’s vanquished 2016 primary opponent. Madigan is alleged to have put two do-nothing candidates with Latino surnames on the ballot to draw votes away from Jason Gonzales.
That never used to be considered a crime. Unfair and maybe unethical, but not illegal. Whatever it is, it’s now under judicial scrutiny.
This time around, Rep. Burke is going one-on-one with Aaron Ortiz, a teacher and head soccer coach at Back of the Yards High School.
What makes this race one to watch is that Ortiz has been endorsed by Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a 2015 Chicago mayoral candidate and Bernie Sanders’ top guy in the city in 2016 who is now running for Congress with the support of the retiring incumbent, Congressman Luis Gutierrez.
Rep. Burke is a member of Speaker Madigan’s leadership team and his brother Ed is a powerful Chicago alderman. Those guys take care of their own. If Rep. Burke is willing to wage an all-out street fight, then that’s what will happen.
So, two rival Chicago political factions – the regulars and the progressives — are gearing up for battle on several fronts while some are attempting to cut a deal that clears a path for people on both sides.
Commissioner Garcia and his allies are supporting Alma Anaya for Garcia’s county board seat. Anaya has run Garcia’s district office. Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) is supporting his daughter, Angeles Sandoval, for that same county board spot. Sen. Sandoval, who has one of the strongest remaining political organizations in the city, and Sen. Tony Muñoz (D-Chicago) have each contributed $55,000 to Angeles Sandoval’s campaign.
Sen. Muñoz is a top contender for Illinois Senate president whenever incumbent John Cullerton decides to retire. Ms. Sandoval should therefore have little trouble raising money from special interests.
Sens. Sandoval and Muñoz and Rep. Burke and their allies want Chuy Garcia to pull his support from Ortiz and Anaya, clearing the path for Rep. Burke and Ms. Sandoval.
In exchange, the “regular Democrats” will stay out of the Garcia’s “progressive” campaign for Congress. If not, they may back someone like Sol Flores, the only woman in the race to replace Congressman Gutierrez. Flores was just endorsed by EMILY’s List.
So, that may be why a Public Policy Polling survey was released last week showing Garcia getting 53 percent in the Democratic primary. Everybody else was in single digits, including Flores, who was at 3 percent. Garcia could wind up cruising to victory, so why not stick to his guns on the other campaigns?
Well, few people like to work more than they absolutely have to, and nothing is ever a 100 percent bet in politics. So, we’ll see where this one goes. A lot of maneuvering appears to be ahead.
A couple of small pieces already have fallen into place.
Lourdez Laura Ramos, who was backed by Gutierrez, withdrew from the 3rd Illinois House District Democratic primary against Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago). Rep. Arroyo had been supporting Richard Gonzales in the 4th Congressional District primary against Gutierrez, but Arroyo will now reportedly withdraw his backing and word is Gonzales may get out of the race. Gutierrez and Arroyo have been waging a bitter battle over the future status of Puerto Rico.
Alex Acevedo, the son of former Rep. Eddie Acevedo, recently dropped out of the Cook County commissioner race to replace Garcia and endorsed Angie Sandoval. Acevedo and Sen. Sandoval are longtime allies.
However, state Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago) told me last week she is backing Alma Anaya for county board, which puts her at odds with her state Senator, Tony Muñoz. But, she said, she is not supporting the Chuy Garcia-backed candidate against Rep. Burke, Aaron Ortiz.
Rep. Mah has her own primary opponent, Francisco Rodriguez, who is apparently backed by former Rep. Acevedo, who is now running for county sheriff. So, there may be another knot to untangle before this is all done.
Got all that? Just your usual Chicago intrigue.
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