Three years ago, Gov. Bruce Rauner slashed state funding for mental health services, autism programs, epilepsy assistance and children’s health care in a move that became known as the Good Friday Massacre.
It wasn’t an isolated incident.
In 2016, 2017 and now with the proposed 2019 state budget, Gov. Rauner continued to eliminate state support for mental health programs. His cuts denied mental health services to nearly 47,000 people in need and cost almost 1,000 mental health workers their jobs.
So, it was with a sense of, let’s call it irony, that I recently received a letter from Gov. Rauner expressing concern for access to mental health services in Illinois. He claims to want to explore and better understand the complex intersection of mental health and gun violence.
The governor’s letter is here. It’s quite a hoot, coming from a guy who has repeatedly attacked the Democratic Party’s leadership.
Gov. Rauner wants me to appoint people to a “group” that will be sensitive to the needs of the mental health community as part of an effort to study what he could do to address these concerns.
We already have such a group. It’s called the Illinois General Assembly. And last year it grew frustrated that the governor continues slashing mental health programs. We enacted a 2018 budget to support mental health over the governor’s objections and veto.
As lawmakers, we can only authorize spending, we can’t make the governor actually spend the money to support mental health. To date, the governor refuses to fund $26 million worth of mental health programs despite having the full authority to do so.
I don’t think we need more working groups, government commissions or task forces. What we need is leadership and action.
Not to mention that the governor has at his disposal a Department of Mental Health, a Department of Public Health, his own State Police, an Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, etc.
Before assembling another batch of bureaucrats to ponder possibilities, the governor should take action on what’s right in front of him.
First, he should release the mental health grants approved by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Next, he should sign House Bill 1468 that’s been on his desk for weeks. It creates a 72-hour cooling off period after purchasing an assault weapon. That’s already the law for buying handguns. It received overwhelming support from all corners of the state. Then, he should join the efforts under way to enact a comprehensive set of laws addressing mental health and gun violence. These proposals have already been studied and assembled. With the governor’s help, we could quickly make them the law of the land.
For example, if a family member recognizes that another family member could be prone to violence and has access to guns, we ought to have a process through which they can go to a judge to have those guns temporarily removed. House Bill 772 does that.
There’s also overwhelming support for banning so-called bump stocks that serve no purpose other than to increase how fast a shooter can pump bullets into a target. And we should empower local communities to enact their own gun laws that meet their residents’ concerns. Those provisions are in House Bill 1467.
We should improve mental health screenings for those applying for gun-owner licenses. That is in House Bill 1664. And teenagers shouldn’t be buying assault weapons. House Bill 1465 closes that loophole.
All of these proposals are advancing in the General Assembly. We could get the job done a lot faster with Gov. Rauner’s help.
Similarly, the governor should reconsider his opposition to Senate Bill 1657, a state licensing system for weapons dealers. More than a year’s worth of work went into creating that bipartisan, comprehensive and practical system. With the governor’s support, we could quickly cut through the bickering, get it approved and up and running.
* Maybe the governor should also make sure the state cops are enforcing the law…
In general, a FOID card can be denied to or revoked from anyone who has been charged with a felony, convicted of domestic violence, is addicted to narcotics, has been a patient in a mental health facility within the past five years, is intellectually or developmentally disabled or is the subject of a court restraining order. FOID cards may also be revoked if the owner is deemed a clear and present danger to him or herself or others. […]
In Illinois, more than 2.1 million people have FOID cards, a number that has grown by almost 1 million since 2010, according to state police. Last year, about 11,000 people had their cards revoked, but only about 4,000 of them submitted the required reports stating what they did with their guns, state police said.
Illinois’s finances are so troubled that investors can make nearly as much money betting on the worst-rated U.S. state as they can on the American Dream mall project, perhaps the most despised structure in New Jersey.
An unfinished, multicolored hulk in the Meadowlands beside the Turnpike, former Governor Chris Christie called it “the ugliest damn building in New Jersey, and maybe America.” Yet bondholders are asking to get paid nearly as much to own Illinois’s debt as they are demanding in return for holding the long-delayed mall’s unrated revenue bonds — a consequence of the state’s perennial budget distress that’s left it teetering near junk grade.
The yield on Illinois general-obligation bonds that mature in 2028 averaged 4.5 percent in March, compared to an average of 4.99 percent on unrated bonds due in 2050 sold for the American Dream mall project, the shopping and entertainment center that’s years behind schedule, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Despite the close yields, the state’s debt is still the better bet, according to AllianceBernstein LP, which oversees about $41 billion of municipal fixed income securities. No state has defaulted since the Great Depression, after all, while the shopping mall industry is being challenged by the growth of Internet retailing.
A finance company is suing the Illinois Department of Corrections in federal court because the department missed an annual payment last fall on four prisoner transport buses.
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance Inc. filed the lawsuit this week, saying Corrections has neither made the payment that was due on the buses last year nor turned the buses over to the company as it has demanded.
At the same time, a voucher authorizing the payment for the buses is sitting in Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office waiting to be paid. Corrections submitted the payment voucher to Mendoza’s office in January, months after the payment was due. Mendoza’s office, which was unaware a lawsuit had been filed, said Corrections has not said the payment is a priority that should move the bill ahead of older bills waiting to be paid.
The lawsuit involves four prisoner transport buses part of a lease-purchase agreement by Corrections. The buses are manufactured by Motor Coach Industries. The company’s website shows the type of bus leased by Corrections is more than 40 feet long and weighs 23 tons. Depending on how the bus is equipped, it can cost from $530,000 to $561,000, the website states. […]
The lawsuit said Corrections defaulted as of Nov. 26, 2017, when it failed to make the $580,000 payment that was due. The lawsuit also said notice was sent to the state on Jan. 16 that Corrections was in default on the bus lease. It said either the lease payment and “associated late fees” be paid or the buses returned to the leasing company.
Planning for the state fair is in full swing, but Illinois has yet to pay all the costs for last year’s fair.
The state still owes the city of Springfield around $109,000 for the fire protection it provided to the fairgrounds in the fiscal year that ended last summer. The same amount for the current fiscal year is due by June.
Springfield budget director Bill McCarty says the fire department will continue to provide protection regardless, but late payments do present challenges. […]
Illinois also operates the state fair in Du Quoin. That town’s finance director, Andrew Croessman, says Illinois owes $20,000 for fire coverage there. The Department of Agriculture has sent a check to Du Quoin, according to a spokeswoman.
According to a first-of-its-kind survey released Tuesday by researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, 36 percent of students on U.S. college campuses do not get enough to eat, and a similar number lack a secure place to live. The report, which is the first to include students from two-year, four-year, private and public universities, including GWU, found that nearly 1 in 10 community college students have gone a whole day without eating in the past month. That number was 6 percent among university students.
Researchers blame ballooning college costs, inadequate aid packages and growing enrollment among low-income students - as well as some colleges’ unwillingness to admit they have a hunger problem. College hunger is not a new issue, researchers caution. But it appears to be growing worse, and not merely because college is getting more expensive.
In the spirit of Western Illinois University’s core value of social responsibility, a group of volunteers have spent several months developing the WIU Food Pantry. The pantry will provide free, nonperishable food items to the WIU community beginning Thursday, March 29. […]
Food is available to all individuals with a valid WIU identification card, regardless of income. There is also currently a student-run food pantry on WIU’s Quad Cities campus in Building C.
The idea for the pantry was born after Mandi McRaven, who works in the University Union, approached Dietetics Assistant Professor Emily Shupe about the need for a food pantry on campus. Through McRaven’s position at the University, she mentors students and said she learned many, particularly those who live off campus, were having difficulty affording food.
“I started to realize there was a need on our Macomb campus,” said McRaven. “University Housing and Dining Services does an awesome job of providing resources for students on campus, but some of our students don’t live on campus and have meal plans. I learned through some research that many campuses are opening food banks, and I thought ‘Why not us?’”
A group of students studying diet and nutrition sent out a campus survey last year to gauge interest in a food bank. They found that nearly half of students who responded had reported going hungry in the past month.
The survey results inspired students in the School of Agriculture to hold a food drive. They collected more than 1,100 pounds of non-perishable food for the pantry project.
Gov. Bruce Rauner last week signed an executive order changing the name of the Illinois Executive Mansion to the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, effective July 1. […]
“In preparation for the reopening of the people’s house following a privately funded restoration, we thought it was only fitting to officially title it what everyone already calls it, The Governor’s Mansion,” said Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold.
The change brings Illinois in line with most other states who call their executive residence a “governor’s mansion.” Until now, Illinois was joined by only New York, North Carolina and Virginia in using “executive” in the title. […]
Lori Montana, who has been a mansion association member for 20 years, said she has always called it the “Governor’s Mansion” and that the bicentennial was a perfect time to make the change.
* Meanwhile…
As part of an ongoing effort to streamline government and avoid wasteful spending, Governor Bruce Rauner today issued an executive order abolishing 19 boards and commissions that have been inactive for five years or more.
The move eliminates some entities that were created for a special but temporary purpose which has been fulfilled. Others are being abolished because they are redundant with other units of state government.
Over the years, either by statute or executive order, the state of Illinois has created more than 600 authorities, boards, commissions, councils, task forces, and other similar entities. The action taken by the Governor today is the first step in a plan to eliminate more than 100 such entities in the months ahead.
The order does not invalidate any action undertaken or ratified by the eliminated boards and commissions. In addition, though unlikely, any unexpected balances of appropriations, funds, grants, donations or other moneys available to the units will be transferred to the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) or an appropriate Department and expended for similar purposes.
* The “buzz” on this was mainly generated by Democratic candidates seeking to obfuscate their past Madigan ties. The #MeToo controversies intensified it, but two things Madigan does better than most are count heads and manipulate that count in his favor…
All indications are that, when leaders of the Illinois Democratic Party meet soon, they’ll once again elect Madigan to be their state chairman, a position he holds in addition to serving as speaker of the state House.
A meeting date has not yet been set, but Madigan spokesman Steve Brown confirms one will be held shortly after results from the March 21 primary are certified, and that Madigan indeed will be a candidate for a new term. “He thinks he’s created good leadership for the party,” said Brown. “Why leave?”
There have been more rumors than usual this year about an oust-Madigan movement, buzz that seemed to gain currency when two of the three major Democratic candidates for governor, Daniel Biss and Chris Kennedy, called on Madigan to relinquish his chairmanship.
But both lost in the primary to J.B. Pritzker, who’s carefully declined to criticize Madigan or call for a leadership change. And the two names that were being mentioned as possible replacements—U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and state Comptroller Susana Mendoza—are not interested, say sources close to them.
No way would Mendoza directly challenge Madigan (also, as rightly noted in comments, she’s not even a member of the state central committee) and Kelly just got elected to a central committee seat and isn’t well known outside her district.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign team has blanketed the airwaves with ads since announcing his re-election bid in October. But on the government operations side, Rauner’s team is looking to reach Illinois residents in a different way: through their email inbox.
Rauner’s office on Friday announced the launch of a new email newsletter billed as a way for state residents to stay up to date on Illinois news, issues and events.
We’re building a better Illinois for our businesses and families,” the signup pitch writes. “Stay up to date on our progress.”
Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said the newsletter “is part of our plan to more actively engage with constituents through digital media.”
* The Question: Your suggested topics for Gov. Rauner’s new government newsletter?
Pritzker continuing his #RaunerFailedMe series at the Harold Washington Library with three teachers who say cuts have severely damaged their schools. pic.twitter.com/2tQBrNrhCh
* Earlier today from Will Allison at Gov. Rauner’s campaign…
Hi, everyone.
Today, JB Pritzker is holding a press conference in a weak attempt to criticize Governor Rauner’s strong record on education. Please see the quote below from me as a spokesman for the Governor’s campaign:
“Governor Rauner was proud to sign historic education reform into law that increased K-12 funding by $1.2 billion, achieved parity for charter schools, and created the state’s first ever tuition tax credit scholarship program to give low-income families educational choice.” -William Allison, Rauner campaign communications director
Additionally, JB Pritzker has proposed new spending plans but without any specifics. And he has repeatedly called for a new graduated income tax, again without any details on rates or thresholds.
When is JB Pritzker going to be honest with Illinoisans about how much he wants to raise their taxes?
I agree that Pritzker has to stop being so vague about his tax rates. The graduated tax is the absolute centerpoint of his entire campaign. So far, though, we don’t know anything about what it would look like.
*** UPDATE *** Rauner campaign…
During a press conference today, JB Pritzker was asked four (4!) times about specific rates or income brackets for his fabled progressive income tax. As he has done over and over again, Pritzker failed to provide any specifics on his “detailed plans.”
An Illinois man has brought a class action lawsuit against Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign committee, alleging the committee violated federal telephone consumer protection law by making “pernicious” and unsolicited robocalls to state residents’ cellular phones, urging them to vote for Rauner.
Peter Garvey filed suit March 23 in Cook County Circuit Court against Citizens for Rauner Inc., alleging the organization breached the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. […]
The TCPA law prohibits unsolicited, automated and prerecorded phone calls. However, Garvey alleges that is exactly what Rauner’s campaign has been doing since last year, in a “misguided effort to solicit support” for Rauner’s candidacy. Garvey said he received such calls on his wireless phone. […]
Garvey said he believes there are “hundreds or likely thousands” of people who were recipients of such calls, and Rauner’s committee should pay each person a minimum of $1,500 per call.
I haven’t received any robocalls on my mobile phone. Did you get any?
A video featuring anchors at numerous Sinclair-owned stations reading promo copy has gone viral. In the copy, which apparently went to all 192 Sinclair stations, the anchors say they and their stations are concerned about “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.” The INBA is also troubled by this trend.
Of course, many believe Sinclair is a major offender when it comes to one-sided news stories. Criticism of their must-runs and conservative commentary has been swirling for months.
Sinclair has now responded to the outcry. SVP Scott Livingston sent a message to newsrooms Monday, firing back at the criticisms. We share Sinclair’s expressed concern about demonstrably fake stories such as “Pope Endorses Trump,” and “Pizzagate.”
The Illinois News Broadcasters Association has long stood for the best parts of journalism. For fair, unbiased reporting. For using multiple sources. For emphasizing localism. Our Code of Ethics says we will “check the accuracy of the facts and report them objectively and impartially” and also that we will “vigorously defend guarantees in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
We have many current and former INBA members at Sinclair stations. They are not bad journalists. They are not bad people. But what they are being made to do is not good. Journalists should not be required to broadcast information with a specific agenda. Our democracy relies on an informed citizenry. If we are not given the freedoms to inform our citizenry with unbiased information, we have failed to do our jobs.
Amid growing criticism of cable news coverage, local TV news remains one of the most trusted sources, and local news is where INBA members are working every day, every night, and every weekend. But the trust is getting thinner, and what Sinclair is doing is threatening to destroy what’s left of it.
Local teevee news gets worse every year, particularly outside Chicago. There are the occasional bright spots, but too much of it is absolute dreck and always has been. Maybe this Sinclair controversy will wake people up, but I kinda doubt it. Too many stations are owned by highly leveraged corporations that are in the money-making business, not the news business.
* Sinclair deal to sell WGN to chairman’s business partner gives broadcaster control: Sinclair Broadcast Group is selling WGN-TV to a Maryland auto dealer but would remain in control of the station in what critics say is a bid to skirt ownership limits and win federal regulatory approval for its proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.
Mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy said he favors locating a casino at O’Hare International Airport in order to help fix Chicago’s financial problems.
McCarthy, who was fired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as police superintendent in late 2015, said during an interview that aired this weekend on WBBM-AM’s “At Issue” program that an airport casino would be a big money-earner for the city while cutting down on many of the societal problems that can accompany legalized gambling. […]
Paul Vallas, meanwhile, took a step toward a mayoral run Monday by filing paperwork with the State Board of Elections to set up a campaign fund. Attorney Burt Odelson previewed the move last week, saying Vallas’ campaign was “full-speed ahead.
* McCarthy’s campaign has even granted an “exclusive” interview of the candidate’s spouse…
Chicago attorney Kristin Barnette says she never went looking for politics. But even after she married Garry McCarthy in 2014 — then superintendent of the Chicago Police Department and now a candidate for mayor — she wasn’t quite keen on the idea of her husband seeking elected office.
“I think for a while I tried to ignore it,” Barnette told NBC 5, “but then when it was clear that things were building up and there was a path to success, it was time to make sure that I supported Garry in this.”
One week after his first-ever campaign for political office ended in defeat, Ra Joy — the man gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy chose as his running mate — is now weighing a run for Chicago mayor. […]
Sources said community activist Amara Enyia, who ran for mayor in 2015 and has been a policy advisor to Joy, is also considering throwing her hat in the ring once again. Enyia did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Former Chicago Public Schools principal Troy LaRaviere, who endorsed Kennedy in the Democratic primary, already announced his campaign for mayor, while another Kennedy supporter, attorney Lori Lightfoot has been quietly speaking with her advisors about a potential run. Lightfoot, who serves as the Chicago Police Board president and has led reform efforts within CPD, would not definitively say on WTTW earlier this week if she might enter the contest.
The unusual write-in battle for a seat on an obscure water treatment board has become even more strange and convoluted — after Gov. Bruce Rauner quietly made an appointment that could force the whole low-profile election into court.
Just days after last week’s primary, Rauner appointed Republican David Walsh to fill the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District seat that became vacant after the death of Commissioner Tim Bradford.
That comes after Republicans opted not to field any candidates for the seat in the write-in election sanctioned by Cook County officials as part of last week’s primary.
Republicans and Democrats now disagree on whether Walsh will serve beyond the November election, which is expected to feature a Democrat and possibly a Green Party candidate vying for the seat.
Walsh took his oath of office last Friday — three days after the primary — to replace Bradford, who died Dec. 1.
Cook County decided to fill the vacancy with an election. Rauner waited until after the primary to appoint Walsh to fill the vacancy for the remaining two years. And now the whole thing goes to court. What a mess.
Why did Rauner wait so long? Well, the governor was involved in a primary of his own, and that sort of appointment might not have been seen in the best light.
Commissioner David J. Walsh was appointed September 28, 2015 and reappointed December 12, 2016 by Governor Bruce Rauner to fill a vacancy as a Commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
As Gov. Bruce Rauner heads to an event at a casino in East Peoria Wednesday, the Illinois Gaming Board’s top administrator, Mark Ostrowski, was fired.
Why he was let go is not clear. Sources tell NBC 5 he was forced to resign. […]
That’s not the only shakeup — also out Tuesday is the executive director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission Donovan Borvan. He was forced to resign and walked out of the office. Last week, the Liquor Control Commission’s chief lawyer Sean O’Leary was also let go and walked to the door.
“We appreciate everything that both Donovan Borvan and Sean O’Leary have done in serving the Commission for the past few years,” Connie Beard, the director of revenue and the Liquor Control Commission Board chair tells NBC 5. “It is unfortunate that both personnel actions occurred so closely together, but we wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
* Ostrowski has been at the gaming board forever, so I’m not sure what the dealio is there, but Don Tracy was appointed by Rauner to chair the gaming board after Tracy went all-out for Rauner in 2014. Tracy is also working closely with Rauner on this stalled Springfield project which includes a fight with organized labor…
As a $15 million renovation of the Illinois governor’s mansion nears completion, a fight over a piece of land across the street has taken Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s long battle with organized labor to his front lawn.
At issue is nearly 2.5 acres owned by the city of Springfield that lies just north of the mansion’s gated grounds. The block has sat vacant for more than a year after the city demolished a YWCA building there. Since then, a nonprofit group backed by Rauner was picked to turn the lot into a park, featuring mounded hills, a sidewalk cafe and pools of water that could feature light shows in the summer and ice skating in the winter.
“They are renovating the mansion and this would provide a Washington Mall-type vista in front of it,” said Don Tracy, an attorney long involved in Republican politics who Rauner recruited to lead the effort. “We hope it would be a destination park to sort of help rejuvenate downtown Springfield, which needs lots more people.” […]
Labor groups want a project labor agreement, which would ensure workers hired to build the park would come from local unions and be paid a “prevailing wage” — the salary level set for public works projects by the Illinois Department of Labor. It’s based on average pay in a county and designed to prevent nonunion employers from placing low bids by paying employees below union rates. […]
“We didn’t ask for a fight with labor, it’ll mainly be a union contract,” Tracy said. “But the project labor agreement basically is less competitive and cedes a lot of control to the union. It’s not about using union labor, it’s about union control.”
I’m old enough to remember the days when newspaper editorial boards demanded that the gaming board chairman act independently of the governor.
After cutting the city’s budget and raising taxes, [Springfield Ald. Ralph Hanauer] said he could not justify having the city fork over revenue for the park’s utilities. He said Tracy estimated the bill could be $20,000 a month.
“In these financial conditions, we can’t afford to buy a dump truck,” Hanauer said.
The budget director has already predicted a $4 million deficit, he said. One term of the lease would be that the land would continue to be property tax-free.
* Miles Kampf-Lassin at In These Times writes about Sen. Daniel Biss’ problems with labor…
But it wasn’t just the sheer number of ads that aided the Pritzker campaign; it was also their content. As Biss’ support began to climb in February and he overtook Kennedy for second place, the Pritzker campaign’s mailers and TV ads began focusing squarely on Biss and his record of writing and championing legislation that would have slashed the pensions of state workers.
The attacks could easily be seen as cynical, since, in 2011, Pritzker himself donated $20,000 to a PAC that supported candidates willing to cut pensions and attack unions. Yet the attacks did focus on a legitimate flaw in Biss’ record, which appeared to undercut his progressive bona fides. In 2013, Biss was the co-author of S.B. 35, a bill that would have cut pension benefits for 467,000 Illinois workers, including retirees. The bill passed the legislature and was only prevented from going into effect because the Illinois Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for the state to take away money promised to workers. At the time, the bill was referred to by its opponents in the labor movement as “pension theft.” […]
Biss’ record on pensions may have been part of the reason the Illinois AFL-CIO and building trades were comfortable coming out early for Pritzker, and why many other unions dragged their feet on endorsements. And it allowed Pritzker to attack Biss from his left on the issue of workers’ rights. […]
In Illinois, labor endorsements and support are invaluable to candidates hoping to win the backing of rank-and-file union members. Union membership in the state sits at 15 percent, compared to just 10.7 percent nationally, and 827,000 Illinois workers are represented by unions. A disproportionate percentage of these workers are African American, a demographic where Biss’ support lagged throughout the primary.
Something not mentioned is that Sen. Biss has the lowest lifetime Illinois AFL-CIO rating of any sitting Senate Democrat. Not a good thing when running for governor. I mean, when was the last time somebody won the Democratic nomination for governor here without significant labor support? Biss had that national nurses union group, but it doesn’t have much presence in this state and the Illinois Nurses Association endorsed Pritzker.
* Meanwhile, I’m hearing Ramirez is in line for a sweet private sector gig…
Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez, the city’s most powerful labor leader, said Monday he will step down when his term expires in June and support secretary-treasurer Robert Reiter as his replacement.
Last year, Ramirez led a labor-dominated investment group that purchased the Chicago Sun-Times.
He said Monday he has no specific job lined up and no plans to leave Chicago. He hopes to stay on as the newspaper’s board chairman “as long as they will have me.”
Ramirez said his reasons for calling it quits after 12 years at the helm of the CFL are “multiple and personal and not stuff I’ll get into at this point.”
Ramirez is the CFL’s first Latino president. Reiter comes from Operating Engineers Local 150. Secretary-treasurers usually move to the top spot when the president leaves. Knowing those guys like I do, I’m betting the rails are greased.
The Rauner administration delivered a preliminary cost estimate to members of a special task force on Friday revealing the prolonged effort to repair the aging Quincy Veterans Home could reach a price tag of $265 million. […]
The new report, officially titled the Illinois Veterans’ Homes Capital Needs Assessment, strongly recommends construction on a new residential home on the Quincy campus, complete with a new water distribution plumbing loop ($220M-$250M), a newly installed water plumbing loop to completely replace outdated pipes ($13.4M), development of an alternative water source ($4.6M-$5.5M), and the purchase and renovation of an off-site facility ($5M-$6M).
The estimated time frame to complete construction on a new facility is four to five years. […]
More than 350 veterans or their spouses still live at the facility. Most of them live in buildings that were constructed at least half a century ago. Two independent living structures on campus are 109 years old.
Needless to say, that’s an astonishing amount of money. We could buy each of those folks a $750,000 condo for that price.
It’s also well more than twice the cost of the still unfinished state veterans home in Chicago. As you may remember, Gov. Rauner slashed $4 million from that Chicago veterans facility in 2016, calling it “wasteful spending.” But now he wants to spend $265+ million on a new Quincy facility?
The Illinois’ Supreme Court recently decided it would not take up Rauner’s appeal of a lower court ruling that the state has to pay thousands of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 their automatic raises, called step increases. Rauner and lawmakers now have to figure out how to pay for those pay hikes that have been accumulating since summer 2015.
Rauner’s office won’t give any figures about how much the judgment will cost the state, but analyses of public payrolls estimate the cost to be $400 million over four years.
“About 40 percent of AFSCME employees are step eligible,” said Ted Dabrowski, president of financial watchdog Wirepoints. “When you include the cost of a higher salary and add the Social Security cost and other costs over four years, you’re talking about a $400 million increase in the cost of AFSCME employees over that time period.”
So, a purported average annual cost of $100 million could lead to a tax hike?
We’re analyzing the data to determine what’s owed to employees whose progression through the pay plan Governor Rauner has illegally denied. Looked at in totality, step increases have only a small net cost to the state, because the progression of the newest, usually lowest-paid employees through the pay steps is largely funded by what the state saves annually through attrition as older, typically higher-paid employees leave the workforce.
Question: What is the association between US state implementation of medical cannabis laws and opioid prescribing under Medicare Part D?
Findings: This longitudinal analysis of Medicare Part D found that prescriptions filled for all opioids decreased by 2.11 million daily doses per year from an average of 23.08 million daily doses per year when a state instituted any medical cannabis law. Prescriptions for all opioids decreased by 3.742 million daily doses per year when medical cannabis dispensaries opened. […]
Conclusions and Relevance: Medical cannabis laws are associated with significant reductions in opioid prescribing in the Medicare Part D population. This finding was particularly strong in states that permit dispensaries, and for reductions in hydrocodone and morphine prescriptions.
As Illinois officials search for new ways to combat an opioid epidemic that continues to claim a growing number of lives, state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, is pushing new legislation that would expand the state’s medical cannabis program to give people who have been prescribed opioids a different option for treating their pain. […]
Harmon’s bill, called the “Alternatives to Opioids Act,” would expand Illinois’ medical cannabis pilot program to give people who have been prescribed opioids the opportunity to obtain a medical cannabis card that would remain valid for 12 months.
Last month, the measure passed the Senate Executive Committee 16-1, and “the odds of it passing out of the [full] Senate are excellent,” said Harmon, who is confident the bill can also get through the Illinois House.
Harmon hopes the bill can “limit the problem” of opioid abuse in the state. However, he admits the Legislature hasn’t been proactive enough in reacting to the rising tide of the “calamitous” opioid problem.
The main bank serving Illinois medical marijuana companies is pulling out of the industry, leaving operators with few options other than dealing in cash.
Bank of Springfield sent a letter to its cannabis clients late last month informing them that their accounts will be closed May 21. The decision is tied to the reversal of an Obama-era policy that discouraged prosecution of those operating under state marijuana laws.
The move is a setback for the industry, which remains a pilot program more than two years after medical cannabis became legal in Illinois. Strict regulations and other obstacles have added challenges to running cannabis companies and kept patient numbers too low for some operators to recoup their investments.
Taking away the bank accounts medical marijuana companies use to pay their employees, vendors and the government is another hurdle. It also eliminates some of the legitimacy and traceability of transactions that banking added to the industry, which had $8.5 million in retail sales statewide in February, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. […]
There are other financial institutions around the state that work with the cannabis industry, but not many. Companies that relied solely on Bank of Springfield or are unable to find another bank might have to start operating exclusively in cash.
In January, JB Pritzker participated in the Chicago Sun-Times Democratic Gubernatorial Forum where his property tax scandals were a hot topic. Pritzker tried to cover up his own corruption by saying he “discovered the flaws” in the system. But how did he find those flaws? By having the toilets ripped out of his mansion and then using his insider connections to save $230,000 on his property tax bill.
JB Pritzker talks a big game when it comes to taxes. But he’s revealed himself as someone who has benefitted from corruption at the expense of hardworking families.
State Sen. Kwame Raoul, the Democratic nominee for Illinois attorney general, joined his party’s “chorus of opposition” Thursday to the Trump Administration’s plans to include a question about citizenship in the 2020 census.
Raoul said the move is illegal and would undermine efforts to get an accurate census count because the citizenship question will discourage some immigrants from participating.
By jumping on the issue early, Raoul is seeking in part to draw policy differences between himself and Republican nominee Erika Harold, but also to connect her more closely to Trump. Harold’s campaign declined to respond to questions Thursday about her position on the census dispute.
In a state where Donald Trump is regarded as largely unpopular, any opportunity for Illinois Democrats to legitimately make him the issue in the 2018 mid-term election is seen as a plus, and the president continues to oblige.
Republican attorney general nominee Erika Harold said Monday she opposes including a citizenship question on the 2020 census, splitting with both the Trump administration and Gov. Bruce Rauner.
In a delayed response to her Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kwame Raoul, who staked out a similar position last week, Harold argued it is too late to add the citizenship question because it was not tested in advance through the Census Bureau’s planning process.
“The Census Bureau therefore cannot meet the Constitutional burden of ensuring an accurate count of everyone in the United States — which is the census’s fundamental Constitutional purpose,” Harold said.
“While politicians on both sides of the aisle are attempting to convert this census debate into a political debate about immigration policy, the real legal issue is Congress’s Constitutional obligation to obtain an accurate count of everyone in the United States—regardless of citizenship status,” she added.
In a follow-up phone interview, Harold said that had the bureau gone out and tested the impact of the question, as it does with other queries, rather than unveiling it at the last moment, she might hold a different view. But that is not the case, she said.
“I think there are legitimate questions about an undercount to the overall population” created by such a question, Harold told me. “At this point, I wouldn’t have (added) a question.”
She said, “Upholding constitutional principals is one of the most important rules” for an attorney general.
State senators on Tuesday are scheduled to talk about whether Illinois should allow sports gambling if the federal law banning it is ever lifted.
The proposal comes from Democratic state Sen. Napoleon Harris, a former NFL linebacker from Harvey. It would allow Illinois casinos to take wagers on amateur, professional and college sports and manage an internet platform for taking bets, provided the online service is limited to state residents. […]
Tom Swoik, a lobbyist with the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, said the organization supports allowing sports betting to make up for business lost to video gambling in bars and restaurants. But he said the tax rates in the existing state proposal are too high.
“If the taxes and these fees that are paid to operate sports books are so high, then the payouts can’t be as high as sometimes what’s being paid out in illegal betting,” Swoik said. “People are still going to continue to do the illegal betting because they can get a higher payout.”
So… we as a state are gonna help the state’s handful of casinos? How about allowing local taverns and restaurants to install sports betting kiosks?
