The woman who accused a high-ranking political aide to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of sexual harassment said Wednesday that she is being targeted in retaliation for speaking out.
Hampton told NBC 5 she was forced to send a cease and desist letter to Jack Hynes, an associate of Madigan’s who lives in the powerful Democrat’s 13th Ward and has ties to his political organization - including the supervisor she said harassed her.
The 28-year-old political consultant, who worked for Madigan’s organization intermittently beginning in 2012, said her attorney sent the letter after learning that Hynes was reaching out to men who know her “in an effort to get ‘dirt’ on her and determine whether she has had inappropriate relationships with those men,” the letter reads. […]
Hynes refuted Hampton’s claims in a statement, saying, “It’s unfortunate that a casual conversation among two friends has been escalated to the level of involving lawyers.”
“In an effort to advance an economic and political agenda, I have been thrust into the spotlight, despite the fact that I didn’t act on behalf of anyone, consult anyone or discuss this with anyone (other than the person I was talking to), especially Speaker Madigan or his staff,” he continued. “Any words spoken by me were innocuous and unrelated to the pending legal matter. To the extent my words offended Ms. Hampton, Speaker Madigan or anyone else for that matter, I apologize, that wasn’t my intent.”
* React from a Madigan member…
To be clear - he doesn’t deny asking about her personal life…he just describes it as “a casual conversation between…
The lawyer for political consultant Alaina Hampton sent a “cease and desist” letter to Jack Hynes on Thursday, accusing her former boss at the nonprofit Chicago Heights Economic Development Corporation of trying to smear Hampton — and claiming that Madigan’s team put Hynes up to it.
“It has been brought to our attention that you, on behalf of the 13th Ward Democratic Organization and Michael J. Madigan, have been conducting an investigation to build a case to disparage Ms. Hampton’s professional and personal reputation,” wrote the lawyers with Kulwin, Masciopinto & Kulwin. “In so doing, you have contacted several of Ms. Hampton’s male colleagues, friends and acquaintances, in an effort to get ‘dirt’ on her and determine whether she has had inappropriate relationships with those men.”
The political operative booted from his job with House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Democratic organization over inappropriate texting to a female campaign worker was arrested Thursday on a charge of violating a protective order because of texts and calls to another person, suburban police said.
Kevin Quinn, 41, allegedly made calls and sent text messages on Feb. 10 in violation of the protective order, two days before Madigan announced Quinn had been ousted from the organization. Quinn is the brother of Marty Quinn, the alderman in Chicago’s 13th Ward, where Madigan has ruled for decades.
The issue erupted Monday when Madigan issued a statement announcing he had cut Quinn loose from the speaker’s government and political operations.
Quinn was arrested at his home on the city’s Southwest Side around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Evergreen Park police said. He had pleaded guilty in January to disorderly conduct.
* I know it’s super late in the day for a question, but I got busy with a bunch of stuff and forgot. I was just gonna skip it and then somebody sent me a link to this tweet. Your own caption for this pic?…
The Nursing Assistant to Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Bridge Program at Methodist College in Peoria is just what the doctor ordered. 100% pass rate on the state certification exam last year, this program gives apprentices the experience they need to change lives. pic.twitter.com/pAXp2yPdvS
In a blockbuster report with huge political implications, an outside consultant concluded that Cook County’s residential property tax system is stacked against the little guy, with assessments far more variable and “much more regressive” than they should be, especially in the city of Chicago.
The problem starts with proposed assessments issued by Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios, and actually gets worse as some homeowners, generally those well-off enough to hire a lawyer, appeal to the Board of Review. And in the end, the owners of relatively low-priced homes, many of them African-American and Latino, end up paying more than they should, with a relative break given to owners of more expensive properties, many of them owned by whites. […]
If the report is accurate, it’s striking how far the system is from performing as it should. For instance, by the coefficient of dispersion (COD) measure used by assessors, most homes should be valued within 5 percent to 15 percent of their true market value. In the county as a whole, that standard barely has been met, the report found. But in Chicago, the average COD was 25—almost five times the low end of the recommended variability range. […]
In the South township of the city, the average COD found was 21. In Hyde Park Township, it was 30; in Lake Township on the West Side, 44; and in south suburban Calumet, almost 50. The population in all of those is predominantly black.
In comparison, the CODs in the north lakefront’s North and Lake View Township were 13 and 11, respectively. And in suburban Elk Grove, Palatine and Orland, the CODs all were 8 or less.
* From Clem Balanoff, chairman of Our Revolution Illinois/Chicago…
“The Civic Consulting Alliance today released a scathing report confirming that Assessor Joe Berrios runs a regressive residential assessment process. The report, which Joe Berrios has been relying on to save his failed tenure as Assessor, reinforces what many have been saying for months: Berrios runs a corrupt, pay-to-play office that overtaxes working and middle-class families in order to reward his campaign donors.
It has been 254 days since the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica exposed Joe Berrios’s corrupt assessment process. Since then, another cycle of assessments has passed, forcing many residents to pay more than their fair share in property taxes, including costs passed on to renters, while billionaires like Donald Trump get millions in tax breaks.
Joe Berrios faces $41,000 in fines from the Board of Ethics for accepting illegal contributions from property tax lawyers doing business with his office. His actions have also led to a major lawsuit against Cook County by community organizations seeking to correct the unjust system.”
Democrat Andrea Raila’s bid to run for Cook County assessor suffered a serious blow Thursday, when county election officials kicked her off the March 20 primary ballot.
Raila, though, said she will appeal in court. If a judicial ruling doesn’t reverse Cook County Electoral Board’s decision, the Democratic primary will feature a one-on-one matchup between two-term incumbent Joe Berrios and asset manager Fritz Kaegi.
The Electoral Board signed off on a recommendation made last week by hearing officer Christopher Agrella, who found a “pattern of fraud” within the Raila campaign’s collection of petition signatures to run for office. That alleged fraud wiped out thousands of signatures, putting her below the threshold needed to get on the ballot.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Following is a statement from Fritz Kaegi, the progressive Democrat running against incumbent Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios in the March 2018 primary election, in response to the newly released Civic Consulting Alliance (CCA) property tax assessment report commissioned by the Cook County Board.
“Today’s CCA report is the latest in a mountain of expert analysis that over the years all point to one indisputable conclusion: Assessor Berrios has failed the taxpayers of Cook County.
“Berrios campaigned on a promise to fix property tax regressivity in 2010–but during his tenure as Assessor, he has focused on filling his own campaign coffers and serving the interests of clouted property tax attorneys and wealthy property owners.
“Under Joe Berrios, wide swaths of the South Side, West Side and Southland have suffered greatly under a property tax assessment system that leads to tremendous inequity. It’s time to give Cook County taxpayers the property tax assessment system that they deserve and expect.
“As Assessor, I will bring integrity, fairness and transparency to the Assessor’s office and end the nepotism, corruption and pay-to-play politics that have come to define Berrios’s tenure.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Chris Kennedy…
Today’s report proves that Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios knowingly gutted the economic future of so many homeowners, particularly in African-American and Latino communities, while our schools are underfunded, so that his wealthy and well-connected friends could save money. He’s been unapologetic and shameless throughout this investigation.
His tenure as assessor is a complete complete disgrace, and it’s exactly what’s wrong with the political establishment in Illinois. I called on Joe Berrios to resign months ago and today I renew that call. JB Pritzker took 48 hours to criticize the way Speaker Madigan handled a sexual harassment complaint and has been silent for months on Joe Berrios’ corrupt property tax system. With the evidence outlined in today’s study, he has no choice but to denounce Berrios and join my call for him to resign.
JB has spent $50 million in this campaign upping his profile but that money hasn’t bought any courage to stand up to the political insiders who are hurting the people of Illinois.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Andrea Raila…
In a much anticipated decision, the Cook County election board upheld the decision to remove Andrea Raila’s name from the March 20 primary ballot after thousands of military ballots with Andrea Raila for Cook County Assessor have already been mailed.
By refusing to drop his challenge, Frederick “Fritz” Kaegi continues his efforts to keep a qualified woman off the ballot because of technicalities, which have allowed other candidates on the ballot, but are called a pattern of fraud in Raila’s case.
“The inconsistencies of this board’s decisions is an embarrassment to the democratic process. 14,500 voters—supporters who signed Raila’s petitions lost today. Today was an example of the typical good ole boys sticking together,” said Raila.
Raila said, “The decision amplifies the disenfranchisement of women and minorities who are working so hard to gain access to the democratic process. It is unAmerican.”
In the year of the Woman, we are witnessing a man running for office under the banner of a Progressive, but using old school democratic tactics to knock the first Democratic woman to run for this office in 85 years off the ballot.
“My election attorney was not even allowed to present witnesses and affidavits that show Frederick “Fritz” Kaegi’s name on petitions that were circulated before the legal date allowed.” Raila added.
In the bowels of the board of elections, some twenty plus women clutching the special Newsweek edition SHE PERSISTED, gasped when the ruling announced and shouted. ‘SHAME ON YOU!” We will prevail!
*** UPDATE 5 *** Biss…
Today, Daniel Biss released the following statement in response to the release of an independent study reviewing Cook County’s property tax assessment process.
“Middle-class families like mine don’t need a study or high-priced consultant to tell us property taxes are stacked against us, and neither do wealthy homeowners like JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy who have, for years, exploited the system for six figures in tax breaks. We all understand that the system is rigged, but that’s where the similarities end: I have a personal stake in fixing the system while my opponents benefit from its continuation. That’s why I’ve worked with ordinary homeowners, advocacy groups, and my colleagues in the legislature to find ways to root our corruption and hold wealthy homeowners accountable for paying their fair share. I was proud to introduce the HOME Act in June to bring transparency and fairness to our property tax system and will continue fighting for progressive reforms when I’m governor.”
Craig Wall: The Reader cover. Is this helpful in the conversation, does this hurt in the conversation?
Ald. Sawyer: It’s hurtful. I just happened to see the cover right before I started my speech, and that’s the equivalent of putting gasoline on a fire. Someone’s doing that intentionally to stir up race when we should be talking about disinvestment on the South and West Side. We should be talking about… employment opportunity. We should be talking about educational opportunities. Instead, we’re talking about something that happened nine years ago. I get it. It was wrong. The man apologized. Let’s move forward and talk about what’s important for Illinois, what’s important for the City of Chicago and not continue to race bait. That’s all the Reader did and I think they should apologize for doing that. That cover was offensive. That cover was offensive to whoever looks at it, you know whether… It’s offensive to JB I would imagine. I think that they’re race baiting. I think better of them than that.
“There was a time in America when certain things were socially acceptable without any thought to how dehumanizing they were to someone else. The image of the lawn jockey symbolizes the wink-and-a-nudge ignorance that puts racism into context historically and in this contemporary situation. As a Democrat, Pritzker indeed needs the black vote, and he puts all his weight on it in a most disrespectful manner.”
Not sure I get what he’s saying there.
* The magazine also published a column by Neil Steinberg about Pritzker…
To make it worse, Pritzker responded by apologizing to everyone in sight. Which, to be honest, doesn’t make him seem very gubernatorial. He might have said instead, “Why should an American citizen not accused of any crime, like me, be confronted with his mildly judgmental small talk a decade later?”
Yeah, smugness always works. Right.
* The Reader’s new editor interviewed Pritzker and asked him: “What are you doing to change? Will you seek counseling?”
* The mag also published another piece by Adeshina Emmanuel. The first one, entitled “Pritzker the sneak disser might as well have said the N-word,” is here. And this is the part of the new one…
That’s why I called out the African-American elected officials who accepted Pritzker’s apology and still back him in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. To me, a black millennial, their seeming willingness to consider the way Pritzker spoke about race issues as displaying an acceptable level of racism is part of the problem too.
They stood behind Pritzker and offered forgiveness that suggests to a lot of people-white people, that is-that they too should get a pass for sneaky racism so long as they don’t speak in vicious racial slurs. There are a lot of people-African-Americans and people of color across this city-who don’t forgive him. Some fear electing Pritzker is trading one racially insensitive billionaire governor for another. If you haven’t heard from those people, it’s because their opinions don’t matter much to the Democratic machine or the mainstream media.
That said, Pritzker’s political apologists deserve a chance to explain why they think African-Americans should see Pritzker as a friend to their communities. […]
The black politicians supporting Pritzker that did talk to me all shared a common message: We should judge Pritzker’s history and entire person, not words from a decade-old private conversation. They touted him as the Democrats’ best chance to beat Governor Bruce Rauner. They said that Pritzker wouldn’t abandon them once the polls close, and would stay engaged through his tenure with economic development, income inequality, crime, and other issues plaguing many African-American neighborhoods. […]
But Pritzker being sensitive to what words he says doesn’t mean we know what he really thinks about African-Americans. Then again, the same goes for any politician. However, the difference is most politicians don’t have wiretaps released with their problematic language just weeks before a closely contested primary as they make a hard push to court black voters.
Discuss.
…Adding… Statement from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, 6th Ward Alderman and Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus Chairman Roderick Sawyer and Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers…
“The Chicago Reader says its cover art featuring the image of a lawn jockey is a ‘wink and a nudge’ that provides historical context for racism. A ‘wink’ infers subtlety. This cartoon is not subtle and cannot do the work of contextualizing racism because it is in itself racist. At a time when we are having a debate as a state and as a nation about who we are and how insidious racism infects our politics, this image does not advance the thoughtful debate we need and is therefore disappointing.”
Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker was not exactly excited to pick up this week’s Reader and see himself in exaggerated caricature form sitting on top of a lawn jockey. Nope. He characterized the cover illustration by artist Greg Houston as “not the right approach.”
“Well, I guess I knew they intended to be provocative at the Reader, but I think this is not the right approach,” he said while addressing a seniors’ luncheon hosted by Captain’s Hard Time Dining & Josephine’s Cooking soul food restaurant on 79th Street. […]
Reader executive editor Mark Konkol responded in a statement: “Today’s Reader included a variety of opinions about J.B. Pritzker’s wiretapped interaction with former governor Rod Blagojevich, including the candidate’s own statements in his defense. Alderman Sawyer is entitled to his opinion. We stand by our decision to engage readers on important issues of the day by producing journalism and social commentary that gets people talking.”
* From that kinda new, or at least revised Watchdog.org company…
State Rep. Carol Ammons says it’s time for the Democratic state central committee to weigh in on the future of Speaker Michael Madigan in the wake of sexual harassment allegations within the party and his own political organization.
Ammons, D-Urbana, said Wednesday she didn’t know all the details of Alaina Hampton’s accusations regarding Madigan’s handling of harassment allegations within the Democratic Party of Illinois. However, Ammons said there needs to be complete transparency and a thorough investigation.
“I suggest that [the Democratic state central committee] follow a procedure, they get the precinct committeeman together, get your state central committee together and have a conversation about this issue,” Ammons said. […]
Comptroller Susana Mendoza wouldn’t go as far as Ammons, but said the state central committee should review policies to handle harassment complaints.
“Yeah, the state central committee should look into that,” Mendoza said, “but so should every single elected officer, whether they’re a statewide constitutional [officer], or just someone at home running for state [representative] to make sure there’s a policy in place for any of your employees, male or female, to be able to seek a thoughtful ear and know that there’s going to be a path to a resolution, one way or the other. I think that’s the biggest issue that’s failing right now.”
* There are no anti-harassment or anti-discrimination laws on the books for state and local campaigns here, so, yeah, it’s the Wild West…
"I don't have any protection as a political campaign worker. I don't work for the government, I only work on political campaigns." -@alainaxhampton
THIS is a huge part of the problem for so many of us. #timesupIL
The hardest part for me is that this behavior surprised me. When I was beginning in politics, no one ever pulled me aside and said, “this might happen to you.”
Now, when I speak to women, I say, “I hope this doesn’t happen to you, but I have never experienced sexism or racism as explicitly as I did on the campaign trail.”
* One idea I’ve heard is to draft some model language on harassment and discrimination prohibitions and procedures and allow campaign committees to opt in via the State Board of Elections. Perhaps the campaigns can even be given a menu of choices.
Another idea I’ve heard is to just give campaign committees the option of saying they’ve adopted their own policies and perhaps they can even share those policies via an official Board of Elections filing.
I dunno. Maybe they can just pass a law regulating campaigns and then essentially dare someone to challenge it in court.
* On Tuesday IDPH reported “two laboratory-confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease among Illinois Veterans’ Home residents” in Quincy. Here’s the latest…
The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are reporting a third laboratory-confirmed case of Legionnaires’ disease at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy (IVHQ). The positive test result was reported late yesterday. The resident is in stable condition.
IDVA is boosting disinfection levels in its water to further reduce any potential exposure to residents or staff. IDVA is also implementing modified water restrictions across the IVHQ campus, including:
• Installing Laminar flow devices on all sinks. This filter reduces the aeration of the water as it flows from the faucet.
• Limiting bathing to showers only, which are protected with legionella blocking Pall filters.
• Instituting temperature checks every two hours while residents are awake, and full vitals every four hours.
Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have returned to the home in Quincy, at the request of IDPH on Tuesday, February 13th, to review testing protocols for individuals with respiratory illness.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) is outraged at third confirmed case of Legionnaires’ disease at the Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy today.
“Three cases this week alone and still no real solutions from the governor. Obviously his leadership throughout this entire process — from the initial 2015 outbreak to where we stand now — has been an abysmal failure. The time to act is now. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers are willing to take action the moment the governor decides he cares.”
* I love these dueling press releases because they give me an easy way of doing a roundup while still showing you the political spin and back and forth. From the Rauner campaign…
What They’re Saying: The Rauner Tax Cut
Yesterday, Governor Bruce Rauner introduced a balanced budget that includes pension reform and a path to a $1 billion tax cut for Illinois families. The plan will change the status quo in Illinois’ finances, and would lay the groundwork to roll back Mike Madigan’s 32% tax hike passed over the governor’s veto last summer.
Check out some of the coverage below:
Chicago Sun-Times
To help roll back an income tax hike legislators approved in their budget plan this year, over his override, Rauner said “true pension reform” is needed.
“For middle class earners and young mobile workers, the pension crisis is not about the politics that are played in Springfield. It’s about how much money we are taking out of their pockets. The people of Illinois are taxed out. A $1 billion income tax cut should be our No. 1 objective at the end of this session,” Rauner said to some applause.
Associated Press
Gov. Bruce Rauner says a $1 billion tax cut should be the top priority for this year’s legislative session. The Republican said Wednesday it could be achieved by changing the way pensions are doled out to state employees.
Rauner’s fourth budget address included his promised plan for a phased-in cut in last year’s income-tax increase. Lawmakers increased the rate from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent to help pay down the state’s massive deficit. Rauner vetoed it but it was enacted anyway.
Rauner says enacting pension changes would mean “a nearly $1 billion tax cut” that would allow him to “start rolling back” the rate hike.
Rockford Register Star
In a roughly 30-minute speech, Rauner said the number one goal for lawmakers this spring session is to begin to roll back the income tax increase enacted last summer.
“A billion dollar income tax cut should be our number one objective by the end of the session,” Rauner said.
WQAD
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner calls for an end to state’s income tax hike during annual budget address.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner says the state’s Income tax hike has got to go.
The Daily Northwestern
Two weeks after his state of the state address in the same chambers, Gov. Bruce Rauner delivered an Illinois budget address outlining a proposal emphasizing tax reduction, pension and health care reform and reinvestment in specific areas of need.
In the address, Rauner called for a nearly $1 billion dollar tax cut for Illinois residents. Rauner said they are “taxed out” and that higher tax rates cannot fix a structural need to slow state spending.
“Our guiding principle is this: Only spend money we have, and don’t increase the tax burden on the people of Illinois,” Rauner said.
* DGA…
Short on Accomplishments, Rauner Continues Dishonest Campaign
Chicago Tribune: “Rauner Budget Proposal at Odds with Re-Election Rhetoric.”
How desperate is Governor Bruce Rauner to have a real accomplishment to run on? Well first, he touted a bill that he vetoed and ran attack ads against. Now, he’s out with a misleading new ad that avoids discussing how Rauner’s fiscal mismanagement left lasting damage on the state.
“If Bruce Rauner had something to show for his three years in office, he would not have to mislead the public like his ads do,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner is desperate to avoid talking about his real record – skyrocketing debt, a plummeting job creation rate, and an acceleration of people out of the state. Illinois is worse under Rauner’s failed leadership, and he will try every trick in the book to distract voters from the truth.”
Rauner’s ad conveniently leaves out the fact he’s spending the money he says he vetoed and that the budget is being weighed down by the effects of the two-year budget impasse Rauner forced the state to endure. The press has roundly critiqued Rauner’s budget as a smoke-and-mirrors plan:
NPR Illinois Headline: “On Income Tax, Rauner’s Budget Plan Doesn’t Match Campaign Rhetoric.”
Chicago Tribune: “Candidate Rauner says he wants a freeze on local property taxes, touts changes to increase funding for poorer schools as a key accomplishment and derides the income tax hike lawmakers put in place last year over his veto. But Gov. Rauner, facing pressure to balance the state’s books and live up to his promise to bring savvy financial management to state government, offered a spending plan that undermines much of that platform.”
WNIJ/WNIU Public Radio: “Rauner would plow the savings from that pension-cost reduction into a tax-rate cut of a quarter of one percentage point; but the plan — and tax cut — could be delayed for years while they’re challenged in court.”
Doug Finke, Gatehouse Media: “In a roughly 30 minute speech, Rauner also dangled the possibility of a cut in the state’s personal income tax by linking the reduction to lawmakers passing a long-sought change to public employee pensions. However, the tax cut wouldn’t take effect until the reform plan gets through a court challenge, which could take years.”
The [governor’s budget] plan relies in part on roughly $1.5 billion in savings from shifting pension costs away from the state and onto school districts, slashing health insurance benefits for retirees, and reducing rates for doctors, hospitals and pharmacies that participate in the state’s Medicaid health care program for the poor. It also calls for raiding $600 million from specialized funds that would not be repaid. […]
“He’s asking us to pass laws that his own Republicans will not vote for,” Cullerton said during an appearance on “Illinois Lawmakers.” “He wants to take money away from the state employees, take money away from pensions, take money away from health care. He wants to cut funding for education? We’re not gonna vote for that.” […]
“Every budget requires legislation,” said a top budget official during a background briefing with reporters. “There’s a misapprehension that passing legislation somehow constitutes an unbalanced budget. That’s absolutely, completely false.” […]
CPS would be asked to pay $228 million for teacher pensions after the state just last year had agreed to pick it up as part of an overhaul of the school funding formula. Suburban and downstate districts would take on about $262 million a year for the next four years.
A similar plan was floated several years ago by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, the governor’s chief political nemesis, but was pulled amid pushback from Republicans who argued the change could drive up property taxes or result in program cuts as schools take on the added cost.
The Tribune’s budget story was very good, but I have one quibble. CPS’ cost-shift would be completed in just one year, but the governor has proposed a four-year shift of 25 percent per year for suburban and Downstate schools. From Rauner’s address…
We will ask school districts to begin sharing the cost of their own pensions. We’ll phase in the shift over four years— in 25 percent increments per year
So, suburban and Downstate school districts would be shifted $262 million in pension costs in the first year. By the second year, the total local cost would escalate to $524 million. In the third year, $786 million. The last quarter of the state’s cost shift would up the total annual local pension costs to $1.048 billion (based on this year’s dollars).
We will… give schools and local governments the tools they need to more than offset the costs. The tools include increased education funding, the power to dissolve or consolidate units of local government, and more flexibility in contracting, bidding and sharing services.
More flexibility in contracting. Ah, the good ol’ Turnaround Agenda, aka Magic Beans. “My plan will not raise property taxes because I’m definitely gonna pass something into law that the Democrats will never give me!”
Rauner’s budget would increase K-12 education by $420 million, including $350 million that was required to continue fully implementing the funding reform plan. But Manar said the money doesn’t make up for the increased expenses of the pension shift and would make funding inequity among schools even worse.
So, he increases state funding by $420 million, but decreases state spending elsewhere by sending local schools a new $490 million tab in just the first year.
* And this isn’t just about K-12. From his speech…
We will ask universities to pay their pension costs also phased in over four years and to pick up their health care costs
The pension shift would cost $101 million and it’ll be $105 million for healthcare in the first year, for a total of $206 million. It’s offset by a $205.7 million GRF approp, but, again, that cost shift is just for the first year. By the second year, the shift would total $412 million, then $618 million in the third year and $824 million by the fourth year.
Whew.
* Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady has in the past called a cost-shift a “deal killer” because it would jack up property taxes and tuition. But now that the governor has proposed one, Brady is on board.
…Adding… From Brady’s office…
It’s worth noting. Not all cost shifts are the same. Leader Brady didn’t believe the Speaker’s cost-shift proposal was sound policy because unlike the Governor’s proposal, it included legacy costs.
Back in 2014, then-Republican state Rep. Darlene Senger became a co-sponsor of HR1267…
States the opinion of the Illinois House of Representatives that the proposed educational pension cost shift from the State of Illinois to local school districts, community colleges, and institutions of higher education is financially wrong.
Senger is now running for comptroller on Rauner’s ticket. Hmm.
That resolution was sponsored by Rep. Dave McSweeney. He has filed another anti-shift resolution during this General Assembly and it picked up 14 new bipartisan co-sponsors yesterday, to bring his total to about three dozen.
Today, the Pritzker campaign is launching a new series, highlighting where Dan Biss’ campaign rhetoric is at odds with his record. Dan Biss says he’s a proven progressive, but he voted for unconstitutional cuts to pensions and healthcare. Let’s check the record.
In 2013, Biss wrote the unconstitutional bill that cut pension benefits for 467,000 downstate teachers, university workers, and state employees. This followed a 2012 vote where Biss tried to slash healthcare benefits from nearly 80,000 state retirees and retired suburban and downstate teachers. Both of those efforts were opposed by the Illinois AFL-CIO and ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court.
“Dan Biss led the charge on unconstitutional efforts to undermine pensions for public servants, only to get smacked down by the Supreme Court,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “From cutting pensions for almost half a million Illinoisans to slashing healthcare for 80,000, the Biss record looks a lot closer to Rauner’s latest budget address than that of a true progressive.”
I’m guessing the “series” is a bunch of press releases, but the campaign does have a new “Biss Please” Twitter account.
* And while Biss does have a problem with his voting record in the past, he does have stuff like this in his present…
People’s Action is proud to join our member organization Reclaim Chicago in endorsing Sen. Daniel Biss (D) for governor of Illinois. As a middle-class candidate and father of two children in public schools, Biss has championed progressive issues his entire career and is the only candidate for governor who has real government experience, passing nearly 90 bills during his time in the state legislature.
Biss has pledged to support the People’s Action Protest to Power Platform and promote a bold racial and economic justice agenda. Biss will lead Illinois’s working families into a future with prosperity for all – not just the wealthy few.
By the way, I’m also kind of a fan of Biss’ new “JB Spends” website. You enter any dollar amount you want and it tells you how fast Pritzker’s campaign could spend it. It also gives you some examples. For instance…
JB Pritzker’s campaign spends the average cost of buying a gas station in Cook County in 5 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes, and 51 seconds. source
A true test of someone’s character is what they say when they don’t think anyone’s listening.
On FBI wiretaps, JB Pritzker said what he really thinks of black folks.
Pritzker used insults and code language to put down our entire community.
We shouldn’t be surprised by Pritzker insulting ourcommunity, Pritzker called Barack Obama a mediocre President
Danny Davis, Bobby Rush, myself and many more Black leaders are supporting Chris Kennedy for Governor.
Chris’ father Robert Kennedy and his uncle President Kennedy fought and struggled and sacrificed alongside Dr. King in the civil rights movement.
Chris has devoted his life fighting for those who are left behind.
That’s the Kennedy way.
It’s time to unite, fight and get it right.
Support Kennedy for Governor.
* Meanwhile…
Chris Kennedy’s Campaign for Governor is sending the following letter today to Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Treasurer Michael Frerichs, State Senator Andy Manar and county chairs who endorsed JB Pritzker:
Dear Friend of JB,
As candidates for governor, my opponents and I all need to be vetted by the press and by the voters. No one should be exempt from that, but unfortunately, JB Pritzker has decided he will not attend the only televised debate taking place outside of the Chicago market.
I am sure that you will agree with me that Pritzker is denying Illinois voters the chance to hear where he stands on the issues facing residents throughout our state.
You have spent years as a champion for communities throughout Illinois, reminding the Democratic party that we should not ignore the voters outside of Chicago. Since you have endorsed JB Pritzker, I am calling on you to encourage your candidate to respect the voters of Central, Southern, Western, Northern and Eastern Illinois and join the debate in the Springfield-Champaign-Decatur market on WCIA-TV on March 5th.
Unfortunately, WCIA may now cancel the debate because Pritzker declined to participate.
We, as Democrats, believe that there should be a free exchange of ideas, that talking about issues isn’t a bad thing. That’s why debates are so important; they allow us to work through important issues and give voters the opportunity to decide.
All voters in our state deserve the same opportunity as those in Chicago. The Governor of Illinois is not responsible to only Chicago but to the whole state. If the debate is cancelled, it sends a message that the only voters who matter are those in Cook County.
In order to win back the governorship, Democrats need the support of not only voters in Chicago but across the state. It would be a colossal mistake to cancel the debate.
Do not let JB Pritzker deprive Illinois voters from hearing from all of us. Please join me in calling for the WCIA debate to continue as scheduled.
Sincerely,
Christopher G. Kennedy
Candidate for Governor
…Adding… Ouch…
Hey @KennedyforIL - I got your letter. It reminded me of the downstate forum I held in Peoria last summer- the one your campaign said you’d attend before ghosting on us. Downstate knows @JBPritzker because he’s been here repeatedly & has a plan to grow our economy. #twill#ilgov
After JB Pritzker announced that he was unwilling to participate in the only televised debate outside of Chicago, the corporate owner of media host WCIA Channel 3 in Springfield said they were considering canceling the event. In response, the Biss campaign launched a petition to Save Our Downstate Debate, inviting people across the state to add their name to a petition urging WCIA to carry on with the program, so voters can hear from the candidates who aren’t afraid to be heard.
The response to the petition was overwhelming, with 2,400 signatures collected in the last week.
“Clearly, JB Pritzker is worried,” said Biss communications director Tom Elliott. “And Illinois voters clearly want to see this debate continue with or without him. Daniel Biss agreed to participate in this debate early on, and he’s eager to share his vision for our state and how middle-class progressive values drive our campaign. On the first day of expanded early voting across the state, it seems JB is afraid to answer the tough questions being raised about his campaign, which raises serious doubt about whether he’s actually prepared to face Bruce Rauner in the fall.”
State Sen. Chuck Weaver, R-Peoria, agrees with the governor.
“We need the pension reform and (Gov. Rauner) talks about $900 million in savings from implementing the pension model,” Sen. Weaver said. “I have almost unanimous agreement that will solve our pension crisis.”
* This press release was sent yesterday, but I didn’t see it until early this morning…
“It’s become apparent that Mike Madigan used his power to cover up sexual harassment in his political organization, and only went public when he knew Alaina Hampton was on the verge of speaking out. Today, J.B. Pritzker was asked repeatedly whether Mike Madigan bears responsibility for these actions, and Pritzker refused to answer the question every single time.
“What’s even more striking is that just yesterday Pritzker released a statement saying we need to focus on Alaina’s story, but when pressed by reporters for a reaction to Mike Madigan’s involvement in Alaina’s story, Pritzker dodged the question. Pritzker said we shouldn’t focus on Madigan’s involvement, but we should rather focus on sexual harassment generally because he knows he can’t speak out against Madigan - the man behind his campaign for governor.
“J.B. Pritzker’s repeated silence on Mike Madigan shines a light on Pritzker’s character and reveals a man who believes behind-the-scenes support from a corrupt politician is more important than speaking out for a woman who faced harassment. Just like his conduct on the Rod Blagojevich calls, Pritzker chooses the insiders over everyone else.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
Today, J.B. Pritzker held a press conference in Springfield and faced a volley of questions about the recent sexual harassment case in Mike Madigan’s political operation. Not once did Pritzker criticize Madigan or his handling of the case. Instead, he chose to dodge and deflect because his campaign is dependent on Mike Madigan’s support. From the press conference:
Question: “You said that you want to believe [Alaina Hampton’s] claim. One of the claims she made was the Speaker’s announcement to fire Quinn was preemptive right out in front of the story. He’s the Chairman of the Democratic Party [of Illinois], and we are five weeks from a primary that you’re running in. At what point does his involvement in the party become a political liability?”
Pritzker: “We’ve got to find out exactly what the facts are… Each piece of information that leaks out is yet another, you know, piece of information. Focusing this on one thing isn’t good enough. This is a pervasive problem throughout private and public sectors and that means to me making sure all the facts are brought to the fore.”
Question: “If you called on Mike Madigan publicly to clean up what happened here, wouldn’t that put pressure and send a signal to women that they were safe working on his campaigns?”
Pritzker: “Again, I would say focusing on one person when this is a pervasive problem, what I would tell you is we need to make sure that all the facts come out…”
Just yesterday, Pritzker released a statement saying in part that “today should be about Alaina and Alaina’s story,” but when pressed by reporters today to respond to what Mike Madigan’s involvement in Alaina’s story was, Pritzker balked, said we shouldn’t focus on Madigan, but rather we should focus on the issue of sexual harassment generally. Yet again, Pritzker refuses to criticize Mike Madigan because he knows he can’t speak out against the man behind his campaign.
Watch Pritzker absolve Madigan of responsibility HERE.
To be fair, Pritzker did eventually kinda answer the questions. The Tribune has the full exchange here. But the back and forth is much longer than even the ILGOP press release indicates.
The Trib’s story is entitled “Pritzker on Madigan’s handling of sexual harassment complaint: ‘It shouldn’t take that long’” but maybe it should’ve been “It shouldn’t take that long for Pritzker to answer a simple question.” The Sun-Times headline was better: “Pritzker takes a while to say Madigan took too long to fire aide.”
J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday tiptoed around criticizing Mike Madigan over the state Democratic Party chairman’s handling of a sexual harassment complaint.
But under repeated questions from reporters, the billionaire entrepreneur did question why it took three months for a Madigan political aide — and brother of an alderman — to be fired.
“It shouldn’t take that long,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker is in a precarious spot. His Democratic campaign for governor is backed by heavy-hitting state Democrats and unions, many allied with the powerful House speaker. But Pritzker has been careful not to signal public support for Madigan — which many Democratic and Republican opponents would pounce on — given Madigan’s growing unpopularity with some voters.
Today, the Rauner Campaign launched a new statewide television ad promoting Governor Bruce Rauner’s $1 billion tax cut proposed in yesterday’s budget address. In his speech, Governor Rauner outlined a plan to enact pension reform using the ‘consideration model’ to save taxpayers nearly $1 billion.
Governor Rauner’s pension reform proposal coupled with the $1 billion tax cut is the first step needed to reverse the 32 percent income tax hike forced through the legislature last year by Speaker Madigan over Governor Rauner’s veto.
The Rauner Tax Cut will help grow jobs in Illinois and put more money in the pockets of hardworking families.
It’s time to end Mike Madigan’s tax hikes. It’s time to enact the Rauner Tax Cut.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday proposed a reelection-year budget that takes aim at two of his favorite targets — Chicago Public Schools and unionized state workers — while attempting to put Democrats in a political trick bag.
The $37.6 billion spending plan seeks to cut $228 million in pension help CPS won in last year’s budget battle and also to cut state health care insurance by $470 million. […]
But Rauner’s fourth budget proposal also is at odds with his campaign rhetoric. The governor has been campaigning for years on the idea of cutting property taxes, but his budget would result in school districts raising property taxes to pay for the teacher pension costs he wants to offload on them.
The governor also has slammed Democrats and Republicans who voted to hike income taxes last year, but his budget plan relies on spending nearly all the money the tax increase brings in.
While Rauner lays out a “path” to eventually lowering the income tax rate by a quarter of a percentage point, the cost savings needed to put money back in Illinois paychecks relies on cutting teacher and state worker pensions in a way that could be tied up in the courts for years or deemed unconstitutional and tossed out entirely.
The cost-shift is being slammed by Democrats and Republicans alike. I doubt it’s going anywhere, but it’s an easy way of finding a half billion dollars to make the budget look more balanced. This excerpt from a Chris Kennedy press release pretty well sums up most of the opposition…
He says he wants to cut taxes, but the truth is, he wants to further burden local property taxpayers.
Under his new plan, local governments would be required to take on the responsibility of paying the costs of teacher pensions. That will increase taxes on local property taxpayers who are already overburdened. This is fundamentally what’s wrong with our broken system.
We are over-reliant on property taxes to fund our public schools, and now Governor Rauner is putting more burden on local property taxpayers with no reforms to our broken system. Governor Rauner and political insiders in Springfield have bred cynicism across our state.
* Cullerton explained later that the governor’s proposal is out of balance by $1.5 billion because most of the statutory changes Rauner will need cannot pass…
Earlier Wednesday, Rauner met with the four legislative leaders for the first time in more than a year to review his budget proposal. Cullerton left the meeting saying he believes the budget is $1.5 billion out of balance. Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady of Bloomington said he thinks the plan is balanced even though some of the measures Rauner is calling for will prove controversial.
The budget, he said, “is running a huge deficit that proves the point.”
“Unfortunately I was right in that veto,” the governor said.
Instead, he said his budget approach this year is “decidedly different.”
“We see the budget as an opportunity to set priorities without spending beyond our means,” Rauner said. “It is a framework designed to spark a constructive dialogue on the steps we need to take to resolve the state’s financial issues.”
Yes, this fiscal year’s budget is out of balance, but it’s not as nearly in the red as the two years when the state didn’t have a budget.
* Sen. Heather Steans chairs the Senate Appropriations 1 Committee and wasn’t horrified by what she saw today…
“This is the closest the Rauner administration has ever come to a real, balanced budget, which I appreciate. That said, I have some serious concerns about his cuts to human services, Medicaid and retired pensioners to whom we have a contractual obligation. I look forward to working across the aisle to tackle Illinois’ fiscal challenges.”
Here are some of the human services cuts she’s talking about…
* The Administration proposes a 5-8% funding reduction to the following programs:
o The Autism Program
o Infant Mortality
o Addiction Prevention
o Supportive Housing Services
o Arc of Illinois
o Best Buddies
o Children’s Place
o Chicago Area Project
o Immigrant Integration Services
o Epilepsy Services
o West Side Health Authority Crisis Intervention
My own impression is that it’s not as goofy as some of his previous budget proposals. It’s not horrible. But some big assumptions will have to change before this can be brought into balance.
* As we know, it was already tough out there for House Democratic candidates before this week’s debacle. Here is David Giuliani’s column from five days ago. I’m betting it isn’t gonna get any easier…
In the 2016 campaign, I asked then-Rep. Andy Skoog, D-La Salle, about whether he supported Madigan as speaker. He answered that no one had approached him “about supporting them for speaker of the House, especially as that won’t be considered until after the next election.”
Reality check: No one ever challenges Madigan for speaker. […]
“That’s looking a long way ahead. I have to get through the primary,” [Democratic state representative candidate Lance Yednock] told me in November. “I will support whoever supports the middle class.” […]
I recently asked the Madigan question of [Democratic state representative candidate Jill Bernal], to which she responded, “I don’t know him. I have never met him.”
I don’t know and have never met Barack Obama or Donald Trump, but I have my opinions about them. […]
Would [Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake] support Madigan for speaker?
“I’m glad to evaluate whoever throws their name into the ring,” Yingling said.
Drury said it is tarnishing the state of Illinois and if Madigan is not going to step down on his own, “I am going to give everybody a path to make it happen,” noting the House does not need 60 Democrats to stand up against Madigan.
“We just need to have eight Democrats brave enough to say we will not vote for any more legislation he puts up there until he steps down because he will then have 59 votes,” Drury said.
He personally called out Reps. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), Ann Williams (D-Chicago), Katie Stuart (D-Collinsville), Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake), Deb Conroy (D-Villa Park), Sue Scherer (D-Decatur), Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island) and Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook).
“You campaign every two years and say you are going to stand up and you are going to show your community you are not with the speaker and everything he wants,” Drury said, adding Madigan is the face of sexual harassment in the state. “Stand with me or stand together and disregard me all together, but stand together and make sure we take power back in this House.”
Hampton also said one other thing: She’s personally aware of other Madigan staffers with harassment complaints.
The existence of other harassment complaints isn’t the problem if they were dealt with fairly and honestly. The problem will be if any other people like Hampton come forward with credible stories of how their complaints were ignored.
Rather than facing down another Republican governor or a Democratic insurgent, [Speaker Madigan] now finds himself in danger of swimming against a political movement more powerful than himself.
If more women in Madigan’s wide domain come forward with claims of mishandled sexual harassment claims — and Hampton asserted she knows of female workers in Springfield with similar stories of complaints swept under the rug— then this has a chance of snowballing. […]
If it stays confined to this one case, then Madigan may be able to ride it out, which obviously will be his instinct — the same instinct that has made him the nation’s longest-serving legislative leader.
But it will be hard to overcome the impression created here that while Madigan’s political organization has created opportunities for women in politics it was ultimately more committed to protecting the old boys’ network at its core.
* Was the Speaker listening? Woman questions why Madigan took months to fire aide: “The speaker has had the letter for three months. It doesn’t take three months to read those text messages and know that that behavior was inappropriate. It would take all of 20 minutes to know that that was sexual harassment,” Hampton said.
* Editorial: Too little, too late: This, of course, is not the first time Speaker Madigan has been accused of insincerity in his public postures. It’s happened many times before, and he survived them all without breaking a sweat. He’ll undoubtedly do so again this time because of his power and influence. Nonetheless, Hampton’s assertion that Madigan would have taken no action if the matter was not on the verge of becoming public rings true.
* Editorial: Mike Madigan flunks the #MeToo test: Alaina Hampton isn’t alone. She’s one of countless professional women to experience mistreatment. After being harassed out of her job, Hampton summoned the courage to report it to the boss — who in this case was one of the most powerful political figures in Illinois, a man who fast-tracked legislation supposedly meant to shut down a culture of creepiness in Illinois government. Madigan made a commitment to end harassment and protect women. His resolve was tested almost immediately. He failed.
* Speaker Madigan Rejects Calls For Resignation Over Handling Of Sexual Harassment Claims Of Aide: State Rep. Scott Drury, who’s running for attorney general, is a longtime critic of the speaker. He’s among those calling on Madigan to step down. However, Madigan says this is just another case of Drury doing the bidding of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. “For Drury to say that I should step aside, that’s the same thing as Rauner saying I should step aside, which I don’t plan to do.” he said.
* Is Ald. Quinn still in with Madigan?: Around City Hall, Marty Quinn is a mild-mannered Clark Kent of an alderman who seldom speaks unless he’s railing about stinky sound-reducing windows in his ward near Midway Airport, Airbnb or the dangers of registered sex offenders in public libraries. In the Southwest Ward office he shares with Madigan, Quinn is better known as a workaholic political superman. That’s why superman will likely be allowed to keep his cape—as well as his day job.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget on Wednesday will propose having Chicago Public Schools, downstate and suburban school districts and state universities pay more of their teachers’ pension costs, in an attempt to save state government millions of dollars a year. […]
In all, Rauner will propose spending about $37.6 billion of the roughly $38 billion the state is estimated to bring in from taxes and fees, leaving a surplus of $351 million. Roughly $1.3 billion in proposed savings will come from shifting pension costs onto schools, as well as a proposal to slash health insurance benefits for retired teachers and state employees. The plans were outlined in budget documents Rauner’s office provided to legislative staff on Tuesday night, which were obtained by the Tribune. […]
Even so, Rauner will lay out some lofty goals. That includes $7.8 billion in new spending on a statewide construction program. Of that, $50 million would be used to upgrade facilities at the veterans home in downstate Quincy, where 13 residents died in an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that began in 2015. It’s unclear from the brief budget documents how the construction program would be paid for.
Though he vetoed the tax hike that went into effect last summer and has been a vocal critic of it on the campaign trail, Rauner’s budget relies on the money the increase takes in. The governor does, however, offer “a path” to dropping the 4.95 percent income tax rate. That proposal relies on putting in place a new pension plan first floated by Senate President John Cullerton. It suggests state worker and teacher retirement benefits can be scaled back, but only if they agree to the changes and are given something in return.
Rauner estimates that plan could lead to $900 million in savings and would allow for a 0.25 percentage point cut in the income tax rate.
* Rauner Budget Counts On Tax Hike: Rauner wants more money to go to education and less to be spent on things like prisons and the judiciary. And according to a preview document obtained by public radio, the governor will not call for an immediate rollback of the tax increase. The day before, Democratic Senate President John Cullerton predicted that would be difficult: “If he wants to cut the income tax by 1 percentage point, that equates to $3.7 billion in lost revenue.”
* Cullerton dubious about Gov. Rauner’s budget promises: “My advice to him is why don’t you do the best budget you’ve ever done — a balanced one. And then run on that,” Cullerton said. “Be honest with people and maybe you won’t be so unpopular.”
With Bruce Rauner set to give his budget address today, the JB Pritzker campaign released a new digital ad, “Unbalanced,” highlighting Rauner’s consistent failure to introduce a balanced budget.
Year after year, Rauner has brazenly lied about introducing a balanced budget, earning the failed governor a “pants on fire” rating from PolitiFact. The new ad highlights Rauner failing to meet his constitutional duty, repeatedly lying about it, and the devastating impact on Illinois’ finances.
“Rauner has not only failed to introduce a balanced budget, he lied about his failures while Illinois families paid the price,” said Pritzker communications director Galia Slayen. “For three long years, Bruce Rauner has disregarded his constitutional obligation and today, Illinoisans across the state should breathe a sigh of relief as Rauner concludes his final budget address.”
