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* Recruit a candidate to run against a popular sitting congressman and stuff like this can happen…
* From one of Dan Proft’s papers…
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is publicly preaching party unity on the campaign trail.
But behind the scenes, Rauner is quietly leading an effort to purge conservatives from the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which governs the party.
At issue: the re-election of current Illinois GOP Chairman Timothy O. Schneider of Bartlett, a close ally of Rauner and a sharp critic of State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) in the recent gubernatorial primary.
“He’s in trouble,” a source close to the situation told Prairie State Wire.
Lake County GOP Chairman Mark Shaw is mounting a strong challenge to Schneider, sources say.
Republican precinct committeemen gather at their county conventions this Wed. to nominate and elect eighteen State Central Committee members, or one from each Illinois congressional district.
State Central Committee members will meet in May to select the state party chairman.
* Meanwhile, Gov. Rauner called Rep. Ives a “fringe” candidate last December and then continued to dismiss her for months on end. The Republican Governors Association’s communications director predicted the day before the March 20th primary that Rauner would “win easily.” In the days leading up to the primary, Rauner himself compared his race to the one Gov. Jim Edgar faced before winning a second term - but Edgar won that GOP primary by 50 points.
So, he deserves most of what he’s getting these days…
Rauner won election over hapless Pat Quinn by less than 5 percentage points. He’ll need every vote he can touch to have a chance against Pritzker.
“There have been some tough conversations in private between the governor and legislators and activists,” said a Rauner campaign official. “And maybe they don’t agree with the governor on this issue or that issue, but at the end of the day people will recognize the stakes of this election are very high. We’re trying to build bridges.”
Bridges are nice. But right now, Illinois Republicans need to deal with that wall, particularly its base.
The problem for Rauner is the primary is over and he needs to be pivoting toward the center. Appeasing “fringe” (his word) elements of his “base” is counter-productive. And trying to use the “Because… Madigan!” argument doesn’t work so well at the moment because he used it so blatantly (and falsely) against Ives.
Any ideas?
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You cannot ignore fiscal realities
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune editorial…
If you ask Illinois public university leaders why so many top high schoolers bolt for out-of-state colleges, you’ll hear a chorus of excuses … er, reasons. Many boil down to: We want more money. Few of those leaders acknowledge reality: Illinois’ public colleges are selling a product that progressively fewer students want to buy.
* But…
Between 2000 and 2015, Illinois cut nearly $1.4 billion from General Fund appropriations to Higher Education—even before the ongoing budget crisis, which has cost Illinois colleges and universities over a billion addition dollars.
That CTBA analysis was published in January of 2017, months before the budget and tax hike overrides.
It’s not that the rest of the Trib’s editorial has bad ideas. Some are good. But sweeping aside the harsh reality of all too real funding cuts and not even mentioning the devastation done to higher ed budgets by the impasse is just willfull ignorance, particularly since that editorial board repeatedly cheered on the impasse. In other words, they pushed hard to squeeze the higher ed beast and now mock the battered shell for pleading poverty.
* Check out the U of I’s funding, for instance...
Notice anything?
* In other higher education news…
After Thursday’s vote against a plan to shift more money from SIUC to SIUE, a state lawmaker with ties to Edwardsville wants to split the two campuses.
State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville) has suggested the idea several times over the past couple decades, but he still feels the effort could win approval, especially in light of this week’s events.
Hoffman said he feels like SIUE doesn’t benefit much from being in the SIU system. He also feels like the two universities have different missions, and having different governing boards for each one will allow both to thrive. […]
“I would provide money to adequately fund the university systems, which would, I believe, not end up with SIU Carbondale losing money but both the universities would actually see an increase in the money,” Hoffman said.
* More…
Hoffman introduced similar bills to split the SIU system in 2003 and 2013, and Rep. Thomas Holbrook, D-Belleville, pushed such legislation in 2005.
Hoffman said he filed the bill this week because he believes SIUC and SIUE have two different missions.
“It seems that if you were simply to have separate boards that could focus on the needs and the strengths of each individual campus, it would make more sense and they would both flourish,” Hoffman said.
* Related…
* Why Would the Government Stop States From Helping Student Borrowers?
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AFSCME press release…
Responding to a wave of assaults on state employees including child protection workers, mental health caregivers, juvenile justice specialists and correctional officers, the largest state workers’ union—the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFSCME—is backing new legislation to require state government to track and report employee injuries and related lost work days.
Recent high‐profile incidents—including the murder of a DCFS investigator and the stabbing of a supervisor, staff badly beaten at Chester Mental Health Center, and violence in prisons and juvenile justice facilities—have turned the spotlight on worker safety in four state agencies: Children & Family Services, Corrections, Human Services and Juvenile Justice.
Sponsored by Senator Mike Hastings, Senate Bill 3075 would provide data to help the General Assembly and other policymakers discern the scope of the problem and develop ways to reduce violence. Companion legislation (House Bill 4895) has been introduced by Rep. Mike Halpin.
State workers who have been injured on the job will testify along with AFSCME officials when the Hastings bill is heard in committee tomorrow (Tuesday, April 17).
* Speaking of that murdered DCFS investigator…
A state bill aimed at delivering a harsher punishment for battering a Department of Children and Family Services or Adult Protective Services worker isn’t likely to be heard by legislators this year.
House Bill 4586 was introduced in February by state Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, in response to an attack on veteran DCFS worker Pamela Knight, 59, of Dixon in September.
The bill ups the battery charge to felony aggravated battery, punishable by four to 15 years in prison if the batterer, using anything other than a firearm, knowingly attacks a DCFS worker who’s performing his or her official duties, batters a worker to prevent the performance of those duties, or batters a worker in retaliation for performing those duties, causing great bodily harm or disfigurement. […]
This week, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Criminal Committee before being funneled to the Sentencing, Penalties and Criminal Procedure Subcommittee, where McCombie said it unfairly will be buried without consideration for the rest of the year.
As subscribers know, the Dems killed the bill last Friday because it enhanced penalties, and they’re quietly killing lots of those bills this year.
* Local editorial…
We believe McCombie’s bill is a common-sense response to the horrible attack on Pam Knight.
That’s not how the Democratic majority on the Judicial-Criminal Committee saw it.
Politics most certainly played a hand in the bill’s defeat. Had the victim lived in a Democratic district close to or in the city of Chicago, the drumbeat for lawmakers to act would have been resounding.
But because the brutal beating occurred in far-off Northwestern Illinois, the Democratic majority found it easier to look the other way.
* Other bills…
* Committee advances bill allowing pharmacists to dispense birth control pills without a prescription
* Illinois lawmakers to vote on local net neutrality
* Bill aiming to shift state jobs back to Springfield clears House panel
* More Sports Betting Laws In 2018? Some Legislative Calendars Are Getting Short As Bills Are Left Hanging
* Walker’s Bluff Resort Project Hits A Snag
* Second Amendment supporters gather at Capitol to speak out against gun control
* GOP Senators “spit on Phyllis Schlafly’s memory” by voting for the ERA, family leader says
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* Mark Maxwell…
Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration is pushing back forcefully against what it considers misconceptions and misunderstandings around a fatal 2015 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a veterans home in Quincy. […]
A 35-page report crafted by Rauner’s staff sets out to “correct those inaccuracies” with a detailed timeline of events explaining specific steps they took to remedy what the report calls a tragic, unprecedented outbreak. WCIA obtained a copy of the report that was sent to each of the four top legislative leaders last week.
In it, the administration details a specific timeline of events which seeks to exonerate the agency heads who have come under fire at committee hearings. The report claims the Illinois Department of Public Health responded with specific instructions within 27 minutes after learning of a second confirmed case. The report also claims the staff at the veterans home began implementing IDPH’s instructions, including informing families, within 15 hours of learning of a second case of Legionnaires.
The report also seeks to correct a series of accusations made in a House Resolution, including one claim which said the administration had not made this outbreak a top priority, and it says former governors and the General Assembly share in the blame for ignoring requests for maintenance upgrades and allowing the facility to fall into disrepair.
During a Capitol Connection interview, Rauner’s new project manager at the veterans home Mike Hoffman set out to correct what he called a “false narrative.” Hoffman said this new report will show the Rauner administration took swift action during a chaotic situation. He says the administration has documentation to verify each claim made in the report.
The report is here.
* Pritzker campaign…
Bruce Rauner’s administration is continuing to defend his fatal mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans’ Home while stonewalling legislators investigating the Legionnaires’ crisis.
In a 35-page report made public yesterday, the Rauner administration sought to correct “misconceptions around perceived notification delays,” but failed to address the “mind-boggling…inexcusable” six days it waited to publicize the Legionnaires’ outbreak. The administration tried and failed to downplay the delay, noting one IDPH official described the situation as a “possible outbreak” even though they later noted it as “the beginning of an epidemic.”
“While Bruce Rauner refuses to release the emails documenting his fatal mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans’ Home, his administration is on defense,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This failed governor pays lip service to transparency while covering up evidence of administration-wide failures to get Veterans the care they deserve.”
…Adding… DGA…
Over the weekend, Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration released a new report which “push[es] back forcefully” against “misconceptions” about their response to Legionnaires’ outbreaks at the state-run Quincy Veterans’ Home. The report falls right in line with Rauner’s attitude that they “would not do anything different” in the aftermath of 13 deaths and years of continued outbreaks.
Rauner’s week-long stay following the release of a WBEZ investigative report was spun as “gain[ing] a more thorough understanding” about the home and his administration quietly appointed an official to oversee the response three years after the first outbreak. His team has attacked reporters’ integrity, accused workers at the home of lying, hampered a legislative inquiry, and over-redacted emails to lawmakers. Even now, his administration began blaming prior administrations for the conditions at Quincy.
“Bruce Rauner is simply unable to admit failure or take responsibility for any mismanagement under his utter lack of leadership,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “13 people died due to three years of Legionnaires’ outbreaks at a state-run facility and Bruce Rauner is still more concerned with spinning the news than finding solutions.”
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* From a 2016 Tribune profile of its new owner Michael Ferro…
“Instead of playing golf and doing stuff, this is my project — journalism,” he said. “We all want to do something great in life. Just because you made money, is that what your kids are going to remember you for? Journalism is important to save right now.”
* Robert Feder asks “How’d that work out?”…
On Friday Ferro announced he was selling his entire stake in tronc — more than nine million shares — for $208.6 million. Three weeks earlier he stepped down as chairman just ahead of a report that accused him of sexual misconduct with two women. His three-year, $5 million-per-year management consulting agreement with tronc will remain in effect, according to the Tribune. In the end, Ferro made a fortune stripping company assets (including the Los Angeles Times, which he sold for $500 million) and eliminating more than a thousand newspaper jobs. With employees rising up to demand union rights in L.A. and Chicago, and no discernible plan for the future, the company appears to be in disarray.
Far from saving journalism, Ferro had left a long list of newspapers much worse off than when he’d bought them. Former Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski tweeted: “What a scandalous reign atop an historic newspaper company.”
$5 million a year could pay a whole lot of reporters’ salaries.
“At $23 per share, his payout represents a premium of 34 percent over the current stock price,” Feder wrote last week. He paid $44 million up front.
* Tribune…
The buyer, a distant relation to the McCormick family that controlled the Chicago Tribune throughout much of its history, approached Ferro within the past couple of weeks with the offer, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Sargent McCormick is listed in the SEC filing as the manager of McCormick Media, whose address is affiliated with Harvester Trust, a privately held trust formed in 1900 “to continue the legacy of the McCormick Family, building upon the pivotal role played by International Harvester in the industrial revolution and development of the United States and the world in the 1800s,” according to its LinkedIn page.
Leander McCormick and his brother, Cyrus, co-founded the company that would become International Harvester. A third brother, William, was the grandfather of Robert McCormick, the famous publisher of the Chicago Tribune.
McCormick Media’s planned level of involvement remains unclear. Efforts to reach McCormick were not successful Friday.
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How did Ives spend her money?
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hmm…
* I took a quick look at her expenditures and found a few interesting items. For instance, that book her campaign published and mailed to voters about Gov. Rauner cost her $385,680 via Jameson Books Inc., which is based in Ottawa.
Ives spent $2,748,284.85 on advertising, including $64,660 to run spots on the Illinois News Network, which used to be run by the Illinois Policy Institute. She reported spending $257K on media production and just $3,759.65 on polls.
Her spokesperson Kathleen Murphy was paid a mere $1,000, which is really odd. Pundit and PR person Dennis Byrne was paid $20,000 for contractual services.
Locality Labs, which is owned by Dan Proft ally Brian Timpone, was paid $37,908 for a website, newspaper advertising and contractual work. Timpone’s Newsinator LLC was paid $750.
Trump Tower got $1,294 for lodging and an event, while Uline Ship was paid $352.68.
And, finally, a company called Union Signs and Printing received $4,200 for yard signs out of a total of $35K spent on the signs.
A look at her in-kind contributions show Proft’s Illinois Opportunity Project paid for a plane ride the day before the election.
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Frerichs wants Zuckerberg out at Facebook
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* USA Today…
Mark Zuckerberg’s tight grip on Facebook is under growing scrutiny as investors call for the giant social network to name an independent chairman. […]
“In essence Mr. Zuckerberg is not accountable to anyone. Not the board, nor the shareholders,” Michael W. Frerichs, the state treasurer of Illinois, who oversees investments including college savings for citizens of the state, told the Financial Times. “Right now, Mr. Zuckerberg is his own boss and it’s clearly not working.”
Frerichs is supporting a proposal from New York City comptroller Scott Stringer, who oversees his city’s pension funds which have a $1 billion stake in Facebook. Stringer has called on the Silicon Valley company to name an independent chairman and three new independent directors with “specific expertise in data and ethics.”
“They have not comported themselves in a way that I think makes people feel good about Facebook and secure about their own data,” Stringer said on CNBC. “And that’s going to hurt the brand.”
* Meanwhile, if you’ve been wondering about what’s behind at least part of the biometric bill that proponents say will give the state law a much-needed update and opponents say will “gut” the law, look no further than this lawsuit…
U.S. District Judge James Donato’s decision to let the class-action case proceed means that Facebook is still potentially on the hook for fines under a unique Illinois law of $1,000 to $5,000 each time a person’s image is used without permission. A court victory for consumers could lead to new restrictions on Facebook’s use of biometrics in the U.S., similar to those in Europe and Canada.
“When an online service simply disregards the Illinois procedures, as Facebook is alleged to have done, the right of the individual to maintain her biometric privacy vanishes into thin air,” Donato wrote in [February’s] ruling. “The precise harm the Illinois legislature sought to prevent is then realized.” […]
The Illinois residents who sued under the Biometric Information Privacy Act said the 2008 state law gives them a “property interest” in the algorithms that constitute their digital identities — in other words, gives them grounds to accuse Facebook of real harm.
Facebook, which got the case moved to San Francisco from Illinois, argued the users hadn’t suffered a concrete injury such as physical harm, loss of money or property; or a denial of their right to free speech or religion.
Donato concluded that the alleged violation of the user-consent requirement in the Illinois law goes to “the very privacy rights the Illinois legislature sought to protect.”
Needless to say, $5,000 per violation could add up to a truly gargantuan payout by Facebook.
* Related…
* Illinois Biometric Privacy Law—and Effort to Carve Out Exceptions—Gets Moment in Spotlight at Facebook Hearing
* Illinois’ Cook County Sues Facebook and Cambridge Analytica for Alleged Fraud
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What’s Sam McCann up to?
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last week…
* Illinois Review today…
McCann to announce independent bid Monday
GOP State Senator Sam McCann has threatened an independent bid for governor in the past, and the rumor is two-term Jacksonville lawmaker will be making an announcement Monday on a similar theme.
But this time McCann may be seeking a bid for his own Senate seat in 2018, but instead of a member of the GOP caucus, he would be seeking it as an independent. The Republican announced earlier this year he would not be seeking re-election in 2018.
* I got this text message from a top trade union official last night…
On Thursday, Senator Sam McCann will make his formal announcement regarding his gubernatorial bid as the Conservative Party candidate for Governor.
* From the State Board of Elections’ 2018 candidates guide…
NEW PARTY CANDIDATES
Minimum of 1% of the number of voters who voted in the next preceding statewide General Election or 25,000 qualified voters of the state, whichever is less. Whether the petition must include all offices at state level has never been decided. The State Board of Elections will not decide the question outside the context of an electoral board hearing. […]
Nomination papers for new political parties must be filed with the State Board of Elections for federal, state, judicial, and multi-county offices, and with the county clerk for county offices, during the filing period June 18 – 25, 2018.
According to the guide, McCann and his running mate will need to collect 25,000 valid signatures if he decides to run statewide. If he runs for reelection as a new party candidate, he’ll need 5,517 valid signatures.
* Related…
* Bernard Schoenburg: Rauner denies threatening McCann; McCann sticks to story
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* McLatchy has a story about candidates combating “fake news” with a particular focus on the Pritzker campaign…
So the Pritzker campaign hired Democratic data science group Civis Analytics to conduct an in-depth online survey studying voters who had been exposed to fake news. What it found unsettled the campaign: Even attempts to correct the information didn’t fully undo the damage. Worse yet, the damage was even greater for female candidates.
[Campaign manager Anne Caprara] wouldn’t share details from the survey, or even describe what it found when testing the effectiveness of various responses to fake news. But after reviewing the survey results, the Pritzker campaign launched an aggressive response operation that, in their view, at least minimized the damage.
“What it told me as a campaign manager is you can’t ignore anything,” Caprara said of the survey. “You can’t assume that something is absurd or ridiculous … you have to treat all pieces of information that are coming across your candidates as something important and something critical you have to take a look at.” […]
Most digital strategists argue that a campaign’s best defense is to simply have a large online presence, one that regularly and aggressively communicates with its supporters and potential supporters online.
That was the Pritzker campaign’s approach. It asked its own supporters to flag material they found questionable on Facebook, Twitter, or elsewhere. When the campaign saw something it needed to push back on, it had the capability to do so with an online ad quickly, said Caprara, who said she was meeting with Pritzker campaign digital director Megan Clasen until the last day of the March primary.
“The unique part of digital spending is you can adjust those targets quickly, and really hone in on whatever group you think needs certain pieces of information your candidate,” Caprara said.
Caprara declined to specify all the ways in which the campaign combated fake news, or whether they think the efforts were completely successful. But she did say that Pritzker won his competitive Democratic primary by nearly 20 points.
Thoughts?
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Manar furious over grant delay
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Late Friday afternoon press release…
State Senator Andy Manar is calling on Gov. Bruce Rauner to release the $3 million in state money he promised to Decatur’s Crossing Healthcare during a splashy news conference in February.
More than two months after the governor’s announcement, the Rauner administration has only approved $750,000 for the clinic.
That’s unacceptable, said Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat whose district includes Crossing Healthcare and much of Decatur.
“Let’s revisit the governor’s track record with money for this clinic. He froze its funding immediately upon taking office in 2015. He blocked negotiations on the Senate’s ‘grand bargain’ budget last year and repeatedly vetoed budgets that would have provided the money the center was owed and desperately needed,” Manar said.
“I have contacted the comptroller, and her office is prepared to release the full $3 million but can’t do that until Rauner submits the paperwork to do so. I would hate to think the governor could be so cruel as to dangle money in front of a clinic just so he could get in front of a TV camera.”
Rauner previously froze a promised $3 million construction grant to the clinic for its Community Health Improvement Center.
Crossing Healthcare is a federally qualified clinic that served more than 19,000 patients in Decatur in 2016. Among its many services is treatment for opioid addiction.
“Gov. Rauner is going around claiming his administration is doing everything in its power to address the opioid problem. It’s baloney,” Manar said. “And, clearly, he’s not keeping his promises to Decatur.”
* Herald & Review…
Abdon Pallasch, a spokesman for Comptroller Susana Mendoza, said the comptroller’s office is now processing the $750,000, after receiving the sign-off for that amount from the governor’s office Friday.
“We’d be happy to release (the full amount) as soon as we get it,” Pallasch said.
A spokeswoman for the governor, Rachel Bold, says Rauner signed off on the full $3 million on Feb. 8, six days after he toured Crossing Healthcare’s facility.
“Then it goes to the (Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity) to give the grant, and they’ve given them a quarter of the grant, and we’ve asked them to expedite the rest,” Bold said. “We expect that to happen very soon.”
Bold said she did not know why the grant was being made in installments or the reasoning behind the timing of its release.
Some background is here.
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Anchors aweigh, my boys
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a subscriber who is also a Democrat…
Not sure an anchor with “MJM” on it is the best visual for the HDems this year.
I mean seriously, who let this out of the shop? Madigan as an anchor around the neck of his vulnerable members? Is that what they were going for? Lol.
An alarming lack of self-awareness if you ask me.
* The invite…
* Meanwhile, do you remember this from the other day?…
I asked Madigan’s spokesman if Rep. Scott Drury received one. “Don’t think his address is on that list,” Brown replied.
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“He just wanted to be out of the pain”
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Peoria Journal-Star…
First responders were called to the home of Anthony Phillips, 46, and his fiancée, Rena Corp. He told them he had ingested K-2/spice around 11 p.m. on April 7 and woke up around 4 a.m. on April 8 with severe stomach pain. He told the medics he had been vomiting blood. Corp had been suffering symptoms as well. Both were transported to UnityPoint Health-Pekin. The hospital quickly transferred them to UnityPoint Health-Methodist in Peoria because they needed more advanced treatment.
Phillips died.
From the end of the story…
The family knows, said [said Becky Phillips, Anthony’s sister-in-law], that some people will say he shouldn’t have been using the K-2, that it wasn’t all Smith’s fault. She said there were other people at the hospital who were also reacting to K-2.
″(Anthony) probably wasn’t all innocent,” she said. “But he took it for his pain.
“He had severe arthritis. His leg was the size of a kids leg. He couldn’t walk a block without the pain hitting him so hard. He just wanted to be out of the pain, and he couldn’t get the proper medical.”
You know what wouldn’t have killed Anthony Phillips? Marijuana.
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Past is likely prologue with state budget
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
I’ve read, watched and heard a whole lot of commentary about the upcoming state budget negotiations during the past few weeks and it pretty much all ignores recent history and focuses instead on one-sided claims of pending controversy.
For instance, this is from an April 7 State Journal-Register editorial: “Some Republicans have voiced in recent weeks the thought that Democrats, who control the House and Senate, might not want to have a state budget again, in hopes it will impede GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner’s re-election chances in November.”
But that prediction — along with other predictions some Republican legislators are making about stuff like the possibility the Democrats will try to jam through a half-year budget — ignores one of the most significant legislative events of the past several years: The 2017 bipartisan overrides of Gov. Rauner’s vetoes of the income tax hike and the budget bills.
That was not some isolated moment in history. Another bipartisan budget-related veto override could very well happen again this year. It would also be easier this time around because there’s no immediate need for another hugely controversial tax hike. All they gotta do this spring is pass a budget with existing revenues.
“The retiring Republicans have great leverage and will use it,” predicted a House Republican who voted to override the governor last year and is now serving out the remainder of his final term.
He’s right. We probably can’t count on all 10 of the HGOP members who voted to override Rauner’s vetoes last year. Some are retiring and may want jobs. Some are running for reelection and may want Rauner’s campaign money. The House Democrats have 67 members, a veto override requires 71, so if half of those ten Republicans vote as a bloc, they can drive the discussion throughout the rest of the spring session.
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s rank and file members absolutely do not want another budget crisis, so they will be pushing him to find a way to compromise, either with the governor and the Republican leaders or with that rump group of 2017 tax hike Republicans.
It’s also highly doubtful that Democratic gubernatorial nominee J.B. Pritzker wants a half-year budget. Who wants to take office and then immediately face a daunting fiscal crisis? Madigan, after all, messes with every governor, Republican and Democrat, over the budget. It’s a situation to avoid at all costs. Besides, those rebel Republicans undoubtedly wouldn’t go along with such a scheme anyway. If you have the votes, then do the responsible thing (like they did last year) and pass a full-year budget.
Not to mention that a lot of other Republicans who voted with the governor last year would much rather have a deal than yet another fight that they likely cannot win.
From the beginning of Rauner’s term, Speaker Madigan did not want to make a move on a tax hike without the governor’s cooperation and/or without Republican votes to override him. He simply didn’t want the entire blame and after losing seats in the 2016 election Madigan didn’t have enough votes to override a veto on his own anyway.
The same will undoubtedly hold true this year. Why make any unilateral, partisan budgetary moves when Madigan can once again claim to be cooperating in a bipartisan manner? It’s not as if he cares about state budgets beyond whatever political advantages he can squeeze out of them. And another successful bipartisan defeat of Rauner would definitely be a “win.” In fact, that’s likely Madigan’s best-case scenario.
So, despite what you may have been reading or seeing or hearing during the spring break, the real heat is on Gov. Rauner and his two legislative leaders. The governor has a horrible job approval rating, just barely won his Republican primary and is now facing a billionaire Democrat in what sure looks like a national wave year for the Democratic Party.
Rauner really needs a win. He and his leaders will have to either negotiate in good faith, or they can just punt it to the other side, and the governor can veto the budget yet again and spin the results as best they can.
The budget is the final major test of Gov. Rauner’s first term. Whatever happens will set the tone for the rest of the year’s campaign. He can yet again claim impotence (“I’m not in charge”) by ceding control to the other side or he can finally become truly engaged in the task at hand.
…Adding… Finke’s thoughts on the governor’s three budget demands (full year, no new taxes, balanced) are pretty good…
That’s not exactly a lofty list. For one, even though some Republicans keep pushing the idea the Democrats will pass only a half-year budget, there appears to be no desire by them to do that. The Democrats fully expect J.B. PRITZKER to get elected governor this year and they don’t want him to start his term facing a budget crisis.
For two, lawmakers approved a 32 percent increase in the state income tax last year. Rauner has and will use it as a focus for attacking Democrats this year. Most lawmakers are up for election this year. Does anyone seriously think anyone is going to vote for another tax hike this year? So the governor has already achieved this goal.
Finally, we have the question of the whole mess being balanced. As anyone knows, balanced is in the eye of the beholder. Majority party lawmakers will tell you they pass balanced budgets all of the time. Rauner, on the other hand, insists each of his budget proposals was balanced when he proposed them. Few outside of government believe either of them.
So everyone can just agree whatever passes is balanced and voila, goals achieved.
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Blagojevich loses again
Monday, Apr 16, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
The Supreme Court has for the second time rejected an appeal by imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his convictions on corruption charges.
The justices did not comment Monday in letting stand the convictions and 14-year prison term that Blagojevich is serving. He’s scheduled to be released in 2024.
Blagojevich’s lawyers had wanted the high court to take up his case to make clear what constitutes illegal political fundraising. They argued that politicians are vulnerable to prosecution because the line between what’s allowed and what’s illegal is blurry.
His convictions included trying to extort a children’s hospital for contributions and seeking to trade an appointment to the Senate seat Barack Obama vacated when he was elected president for campaign cash.
* Sun-Times…
His attorney, Leonard Goodman, presented the Supreme Court this time with two questions: Whether prosecutors in a case like Blagojevich’s must prove a public official made an “explicit promise or undertaking” in exchange for a campaign contribution, and whether more consideration should have been given to sentences handed down in similar cases. […]
“Our petition lays out a compelling case that the Supreme Court needs to settle the confusion among federal courts about the dividing line between campaign fundraising, something all elected officials are required to do (unless they are billionaires) and the federal crimes of extortion and bribery,” Goodman said last year.
The attorney also complained that Blagojevich’s sentence “was more than twice as long as that given any other official convicted of corruption.”
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* I tried, I really did (OK, not that hard), but I just don’t get Snapchat…
As disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich, federal inmate 40892-424, has his request for retrial considered by the Supreme Court today, the Rauner campaign launched a Snapchat filter to commemorate the occasion.
The filter allows users to take a selfie posing as Blagojevich and features his confidante JB Pritzker, the man caught on FBI wiretaps discussing potential appointments and donations surrouding the vacant Illinois U.S. Senate seat in 2008.
Pritzker has remained silent on the potential for his wiretap partner to receive another day in court.
* Here it is…
* Meanwhile, The Hill ran an interesting op-ed about the case…
So how did we get to this point? It’s because federal courts around the country are interpreting two Supreme Court decisions differently. In some areas, courts hearing corruption cases treat a campaign contribution like a gift to a lawmaker of a winter trip to a Florida beach. That’s both absurd and dangerous to free speech.
In the first of these two cases, the Supreme Court said that to find guilt for extorting a campaign contribution, the law requires “an explicit promise or undertaking by the official to perform or not to perform an official act.” But a year later another Supreme Court ruling in another corruption case created confusion.
Some courts read the second decision as watering down the “explicit promise” requirement. These courts, including the one that hosted the Blagojevich trial, allow conviction under a looser standard. A jury can convict if it infers an implied promise from the candidate’s awareness that the donor expects something in return for a campaign contribution.
*** UPDATE *** Interesting development…
* Related…
* SCOTUS reviewing Blagojevich’s appeal today: In their court filing last fall, Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers argued blurry lines between lawful and unlawful fundraising leave politicians vulnerable. A letter signed by nineteen Illinois lawmakers asks justices to review Blagojevich’s case– calling it an issue of national importance.
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Question of the day
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hillary Clinton won US Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s district by 45 points. Tammy Duckworth won it by 30. Susana Mendoza won it by 18. Schakowsky won by 33.
But, today, Schakowsky’s Republican opponent John Elleson booked $10,885.60 of cable TV ads that are scheduled to run from April 16 through September 2nd. I kid you not. Click here to see the buy yourself.
* From early March…
Elleson — who’s running in the Republican primary to challenge U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky in November’s general election — was ordered by a judge to complete 150 hours of community service and to return $49,000 in benefit payments he’d improperly collected after pleading “no contest” to a first degree theft charge in Hawaii in 2003, court records show. […]
Elleson sold Bethel half of his church, but after his plan to build a wall dividing the worship area into two was rejected by the village, he “repeatedly interrupted” Sunday services at Bethel by cutting off the electricity to the public address system, removing microphones from the podium during services, and by playing loud music and projection screen TVs during services, according to the lawsuit.
A Cook County jury sided with Bethel, ordering Elleson’s church to pay Bethel $257,600, plus costs. […]
Elleson wrote that he was “not aware of” a 1998 criminal damage conviction he holds in Cook County, according to court records, which indicate he plead guilty to the misdemeanor.
There’s so much more. Go read it.
* The Question: Your suggested campaign slogans for what appears to be the first Illinois candidate to buy general election cable TV ads?
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* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s former news service…
The state constitution requires lawmakers to pass a budget that only spends what’s estimated to come in for the year. While the Senate has passed a revenue estimate in recent years, the House hasn’t. The number is typically a combination of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and input from the General Assembly.
The Illinois Policy Institute put out a study that showed five of the past ten years COGFA and GOMB’s revenue estimates were off by millions. In fiscal years 2013 and 2014, GOMB under former Gov. Pat Quinn was off by $2.1 billion and $1 billion respectively.
* The Illinois Policy Institute and its legislative allies have been loudly harping on this revenue estimate issue for a few years. My ears perked up when Gov. Rauner said this week that an official revenue estimate was one of his chief demands heading into budget talks. Could Rauner and the Institute be doing a bit of reconciling? Stay tuned.
Anyway, this is from that aforementioned study…
Based on the standard for revenue projections used by the National Association of State Budget Officers – estimates within 0.5 percent of actual revenues are considered “on target” – COGFA revenue estimates have been accurate in only four of the last 10 years. GOMB estimates have been on target in only two of the last 10 years.
They include this chart…
Pew took a look at this topic a few years ago and found that states are not nearly as accurate as the Institute suggests. 0.5 percent may be considered “on target,” but it’s not what real world prognosticators always get.
* I asked Clayton Klenke, who runs COGFA, for a response…
The table showing actual revenues and the comparisons to revenue estimates serves as a starting point for the analysis, but it is also important to take into consideration the various factors that were occurring which were leading to increased volatility during this time period.
For FY12, this was the first full year of the implementation of the temporary tax increase. Significant changes to tax structures can lead to increased volatility between estimates and actual receipts. Actual income tax receipts performed better than anticipated in FY12 by $349 million.
Again in FY13, actual income tax receipts performed better than estimated. This variance was largely related to the “April Surprise” in which receipts in April 2013 spiked as taxpayers sought to minimize the impact of recently enacted changes in Federal tax policies. The total difference between the FY13 estimate and actual receipts of $348 million is essentially a difference of 1%.
In FY15, there was increased volatility associated with the partial sunset of the temporary tax increase. Once again, actual receipts from income taxes exceeded estimates, with total variance of about 1.3%.
In each of the examples above, actual receipts exceeded estimates, and the variance was about 1%.
For FY16, at first look there appears to be a large variance, with estimates exceeding actual receipts by $1.3 billion. Remember, this was during a time frame when there was not a comprehensive enacted budget. Further examination of this variance shows that of the $1.3 billion in variance, over $1 billion was associated with Federal Sources. Federal Sources are going to be dependent on the enacted budget, bill payment prioritization, and cash flow at the Comptroller’s office. Aside from the Federal Sources, the revenue estimate for FY16 was within about $300 million of actual receipts, less than 1% variance.
Again in FY17, the vast majority of the $804 million in variance in the table is associated with the $517 million variance in Federal Sources. Controlling for the Federal Source number would leave a variance of $287 million - less than 1%.
Emphasis added.
…Adding… From Adam Schuster, director of budget and tax research at the Illinois Policy Institute…
“We wanted to clarify something about the IPI report you posted on your blog today. The takeaway from that report is not that COGFA does a bad job of estimating revenue (”Both COGFA and GOMB are likely doing their best …”). The point is that revenue estimating is a bad way to do budgeting. As we pointed out in the report, only four states were on target for their revenue estimates in 2017, according to the Spring Fiscal Survey of States put out by the National Association of State Budget Officers.
“Our proposal is to enact a spending cap constitutional amendment that would instead give lawmakers a definite amount of money to spend each year. It has bipartisan support in the General Assembly: SJRCA 21, HJRCA 38.”
Except, COGFA does a pretty good job at estimating, as the post shows.
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It’s just a bill
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Some days, I have to really try to keep in mind that these are just bills not laws. Here’s Rep. CD Davidsmeyer’s HB4230…
Provides that various information after an individual’s arrest must be made available to the news media for inspection and copying as soon as practicable after the individual’s arraignment (rather than in no event shall the time period exceed 72 hours from the arrest).
So… the police don’t have to disclose they’ve got you until after you’re arraigned? Yeah. I can see no problems with that one. None at all…
Davidsmeyer wants to change that to “as soon as practicable” after arraignment, the court proceeding in which a person accused of a crime enters a formal plea. That usually occurs weeks — and, in extreme cases, months — after an arrest.
He told us the legislation was inspired by the arrest of a college-aged woman after a domestic dispute. She ultimately wasn’t charged, but news of the arrest was published, causing her to face ridicule on Facebook. […]
The ACLU’s Ed Yohnka said the proposal flies against the principle that people shouldn’t be held in secret. […]
[Don Craven, a media law attorney representing the Illinois Broadcasters Association] told us the current 72-hour rule was established about 15 years ago through a compromise between media outlets and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.
* Rep. Jeanne Ives press release…
This morning, Springfield whistleblower Denise Rotheimer testified on HB 4840 before the House Executive Committee. HB 4840 is a bill filed by State Representative Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) that would give Illinois residents who file an Inspector General complaint in state government the right to notification, information, and participation during the investigative process.
Republicans David Reis, John Caveletto and Dan Brady joined Democrats Barbara Flynn Currie, Robert Rita, Marcus Evans, Gregory Harris, Arthur Turner and Chris Welch in voting against the bill. The committee cited a task force that was “working on the issue.” This is an often-used excuse to delay real action in Springfield.
“This is shameful,” said Ives. “Denise is the whistleblower who pushed for her complaint to be heard and only because she kept asking about it was it revealed that the Legislative Inspector General position was vacant for three years. But for her diligence, we still would not know 27 complaints sat for up to three years unheard.
“She was also the first person to go through the complaint process once an LIG was appointed. She had no rights in the process which is why she helped write HB4840.
“Unbelievably, the Sexual Harassment Task Force has refused to have her testify.
“Complainants need rights now. Not after a task force of elected officials water down the issue.”
In October, nearly three hundred women signed an open #MeToo letter about the culture of sexual harassment in Springfield.
“Misogyny is alive and well in this industry,” read the letter in reference to Illinois politics.
And it remains alive and well because of neglect by the leaders of both political parties in Springfield – and aided by obliviousness of Governor Rauner, whose OEIG slipped in opposition to the legislation.
Faux outrage and kabuki theater in response to serious accusations is all part of the bipartisan protection racket that furthers Illinois’ corrupt political culture.
“If Illinoisans don’t wake up, we will continue to have a system where those in power abuse, instead of a system that checks the abuses of those in power,” Ives concluded.
* Press release…
Individuals who threaten gun violence against schools on social media would be required to reimburse police departments for added security and emergency response costs under legislation sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham, a Democrat representing Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs.
The legislation, Senate Bill 563, is aimed at reducing the trend of copycat threats in the wake of school shootings by updating the disorderly conduct statute, which is the state law most often used to prosecute individuals who make threats against schools. Under current law, those convicted of making threats are required to reimburse public safety agencies for response-related costs, but only if they make the threat via a 9-1-1 phone call or if they specifically threaten to use a bomb.
“Most threats of violence against schools are no longer made through a phone call and increasingly, the threats make no mention of a bomb,” Cunningham said. “According to law enforcement agencies in my district, threats against schools are more commonly made via social media posts. The law needs to be updated to address this change.”
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* Illinois Review…
Six major prolife leaders signed a statement Friday morning declaring they would withhold endorsements of Republican Senate members that voted for the ERA this week in Springfield. The lack of enthusiasm among conservatives could be even more devastating for Illinois Republicans down ballot that are already preparing for a low turnout in the fall.
The state’s prolife leadership points to eight Republicans - despite self-declarations that they’re ‘prolife’ - that the groups will not encourage voters to support in the November election: Senator Pamela Althoff (R), Senator Michael Connelly (R), Senator Karen McConnaughay (R), Senator Jason A. Barickman (R), Senator John F. Curran (R), Senator Chris Nybo (R), Senator Sue Rezin (R), and Senator Tom Rooney (R).
* From the statement…
A vote for the ERA is a vote for overturning abortion restrictions and enshrining abortion rights in the US Constitution. A vote for the ERA is a vote against the unborn child. State court judges have held that their state ERAs mandate “HB40” style taxpayer funding of elective abortions. The ERA further threatens parental notification and consent laws throughout the country, along with every reasonable regulation on abortion.
The fight now goes to the House. The Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC, Illinois Citizens for Life PAC, Illinois Family Action PAC, and Lake County Life PAC will not endorse or support any legislator that casts a vote for such a sweeping pro-abortion piece of legislation as the ERA. […]
While we are disappointed with all 43 Senators who voted for abortion, we are gravely disturbed by those who solicited pro-life support and presented themselves as pro-life but voted for the ERA. Their vote was a vote in opposition to life and will not be ignored by the undersigned.
That statement could very well cause problems for the House’s passage efforts.
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More pension hand-wringing
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A BGA employee has a new op-ed entitled “The $130 billion question Rauner and Pritzker won’t answer”…
Lost in the standard-issue political histrionics of the Illinois governor’s race is serious talk of how to resolve a $130 billion public pension shortfall that has a stranglehold over much of what can be accomplished by any state leader.
Rivals Bruce Rauner and J.B. Pritzker agree on little, yet they so far have found common purpose in tiptoeing around the pension minefield that likely will dictate the success or failure of whichever of them is sworn in next year.
* And then he goes on to explain that one fix (changing the constitution) probably probably won’t work…
So if the Constitution is an obstacle to change, why not just change the Constitution? That, in essence, is the argument underpinning a recent recommendation from the Civic Federation, a budget watchdog, for an Illinois Constitutional amendment aimed at modifying the pension clause to allow “reasonable, moderate changes” to retiree benefits. […]
“You can’t retroactively change substantive rights,” said Ann Lousin, a professor of constitutional law at John Marshall Law School who was a research assistant at the 1970 constitutional convention.
And another may be unwise…
Indeed, the Chicago-based Government Finance Officers Association argues against state and local governments issuing bonds to cover pension obligations.
And another is risky…
“Borrowing is a real desperation move,” said William Glasgall, who directs state and local initiatives for the Volcker Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit that advocates for policies that rebuild public trust in government. “A $100 billion sale is beyond absurd. I don’t think there are enough investors to buy something that size, especially given Illinois’ crappy bond rating.”
* Not mentioned is Pritzker’s idea…
To manage future budgets and meet our pension obligations, we should determine a level dollar annual payment beginning now and into future years and re-amortize the pension payment schedule so we pay into the system at a rate that pays all pensioners what is due.
So, in other words, adjust the ramp. But that is more costly in the long term.
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Behind Sandoval’s press pop
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One thing Sen. Sandoval does exceedingly well is get himself in the news. AP…
The Illinois Senate is urging Gov. Bruce Rauner to reject a presidential call to send National Guard troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexican border.
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 33-22 Thursday to adopt a resolution urging the GOP governor not to comply if President Donald Trump makes a request.
Chicago Democratic Sen. Martin Sandoval sponsored the resolution a day after Rauner said he’d deploy troops if the Republican president asks. Sandoval says National Guard troops are needed at home and criticized similar moves by former GOP President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama. […]
Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have pledged state troops and Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown acquiesced on Wednesday.
* Gov. Brown acquiesced? LA Times…
Gov. Jerry Brown agreed Wednesday to take money but not marching orders from President Trump in deploying 400 National Guard troops to various locations around the state, insisting any service members near the border would not enforce federal immigration law.
“Your funding for new staffing will allow the Guard to do what it does best: support operations targeting transnational criminal gangs, human traffickers and illegal firearm and drug smugglers along the border, the coast and throughout the state,” Brown wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis.
Brown was the last of the nation’s border governors to respond to Trump’s request for a beefed-up presence. In his letter, he said that he wanted to be “crystal clear” in what he was agreeing to provide.
“This will not be a mission to build a new wall,” Brown wrote. “It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws.”
* The “people escaping violence and seeking a better life” appear to be these asylum seekers…
Organizers with the “refugee caravan” say they are less than a week away from reaching the U.S.-Mexico border—but only the “most vulnerable” members of the group are left.
The caravan started on March 25, with more than 1,200 migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America (about 80% of caravan participants are from Honduras). The caravan made national headlines when President Donald Trump learned the migrants planned on seeking refuge in the United States. “It had better be stopped before it gets there,” Trump tweeted.
Trump then announced he planned to send 2,000 to 4,000 National Guard troops to guard the border.
By now, only an estimated 250-300 migrants are expected to reach the U.S.-Mexico border near Tijuana next week, according to Rodrigo Abeja, a coordinator from Pueblo Sin Fronteras, a transnational organization that organized the caravan.
The remaining group is made up of mostly unaccompanied minors, women migrating on their own, and family units—“the most vulnerable individuals,” as Abeja described them.
The migrants who are seeking asylum when they reach the border have all been vetted by a team of more than 20 attorneys, Abeja told Splinter.
Fox News has run several breathless stories about the caravan.
* Sun-Times…
Sandoval said the resolution’s intent was to urge Rauner to put the safety of the state “ahead of his political ambitions and the political ambitions of the Trump administration,” by not deploying the state’s National Guard to the border.
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, called the resolution “premature,” considering Trump has not yet asked Rauner to deploy the Illinois National Guard. New Mexico, Texas and Arizona have pledged troops, and California this week said it would, as well.
But Rauner on Wednesday told reporters in Springfield he will honor the request should it be made.
* Related…
* Migrant caravans, Trump’s latest immigration obsession, explained
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Good job, coppers!
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Half of the state’s recent spike in serious synthetic cannabis illnesses (and three deaths) have been in the Peoria-Pekin area, so this is good news…
A Pekin man has been charged with a drug induced homicide for selling synthetic cannabis to a man who ingested it and died.
Lonnie K. Smith will appear at the Tazewell County Justice Center at 1 p.m.today on the charge, a Class X felony, along with a charges of aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
According to the probable cause statement provided by Tazewell County States Attorney’s office, Smith knowingly delivered FUB-AMB, a controlled substance, to Anthony Phillips who ingested around 11 p.m. April 7. He died at UnityPoint Health - Methodist April 9.
Smith is also being charged with aggravated battery for delivering the substance to Rena Corp, who lived with Phillips, because she also got sick after ingesting it.
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Madigan sets state party chairman vote
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* DPI late yesterday afternoon…
Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman Michael J. Madigan announced today that the party would be holding an organizational meeting for the State Central Committee on Monday, April 23 in Springfield.
“Voters in the March primary elected new members of the State Central Committee, and now it is our job to choose party officials and begin planning to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in November,” Chairman Madigan said.
The meeting will take place on Monday, April 23 at 1 p.m. in the Gallery Room on the first floor of the State House Inn, located at 101 East Adams Street in Springfield. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
The Democratic State Central Committee is composed of 36 members, one man and one woman elected from each congressional district. Each member will have a weighted vote that is equal to the number of Democratic ballots cast in their congressional district in the March 20, 2018 primary election.
* Sun-Times…
Despite months of criticism over his handling of sexual harassment allegations in his political organization, powerful Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan appears poised to hold onto his seat as chairman of the state Democratic Party.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said he “doesn’t do predictions,” but noted he wasn’t aware of any opponents throwing their names in the ring as the 36 state central committeemen and committeewomen prepare to vote for the party chair on April 23. […]
The only one breaking ranks with Madigan is newly elected progressive committeeman Peter Janko, who said Democrats in his McHenry-area district were “almost universal” in their desire to oust Madigan. […]
Madigan has led the party since 1998, and if elected to a sixth term on April 23, he would become the longest-tenured Democratic party chairman in state history.
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GOP unity watch
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* You’ll recall this quote from Gov. Bruce Rauner about Rep. Jeanne Ives yesterday…
“We spoke last night. I saw her at (Obed & Isaac’s Microbrewery),” Rauner told me. “I went over to shake hands, and we promised to get together soon.”
* Greg Hinz contacted Ives directly…
I finally got Ives on the phone and she flatly denies any deal or understanding with Rauner to talk peace.
Both happened to be at the same restaurant for separate events, and when Rauner came in, he started working the tables, including hers. “He said hello, and moved on….We agreed on nothing,” with no discussion of a meeting.
So, was the governor lying? “If he said there was an agreement to meet, yes.”
Ouch.
* DGA…
“Bruce Rauner’s desperation is reaching new, pathetic lows as he tries to win back Jeanne Ives’ voters by lying to them,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Maybe Rauner knows his failed leadership has turned off the Republicans, Democrats, and Independents he needs to save his sinking reelection campaign.”
* Meanwhile, Rep. Allen Skillicorn, an Ives supporter, has some unsolicited advice for the governor…
A Gubernatorial Opportunity to Act for Unity
In agreement with what the Chicago Tribune characterized as a largely symbolic gesture, the Illinois Senate approved the Equal Rights Amendment 36 years after the deadline, 46 years after being passed by the U.S. Senate for ratification and 95 years after it was first proposed. Yes, you read that right, it appears that Illinois isn’t the only place where playing by the rules is optional. We have now stepped through the looking glass where unpopular Constitutional amendments are perpetually pushed until they are passed.
My colleague in the Senate made the statement “You are looking at a group of women who really, we have our differences on many issues, but we respect each other and together we are very committed to the idea of advancing and promoting legislation and policy that is good for women,” With all due respect, while the ERA was proposed in 1923 by the National Woman’s party with the initial focus on advancing women’s rights, are we really going to say that women’s rights haven’t advanced in the United States for 95 years?
Even a New York Times Op-Ed penned in 2016 by Mary Anne Case, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School, stated, “Indeed, the current constitutional law of sex discrimination is almost exactly what E.R.A. supporters in the 1970s hoped for from the E.R.A….. For ordinary citizens to treat men and women more equally in venues from the voting booth to the family dinner table does not at this point require a change in law, but in mindset.”
Opponents point out that the major goal for continuing to push the ERA is to end the Hyde Amendment and force unlimited taxpayer funding of abortion at all levels of government. The NRLC in a 2017 memo to the Illinois General Assembly stated that they, “…strongly urge legislators to oppose this resolution for two reasons: (1) The language of the proposed 1972 ERA, which cannot now be revised, is virtually identical to language that the major pro-abortion groups have used in other states (including New Mexico) for highly successful legal attacks on laws protecting unborn children and limiting tax funding of abortion. (2) The Illinois resolution is part of an effort to evade the federal constitutional amendment process spelled out in the U.S. Constitution itself.”
Governor Rauner has been touring the state attempting to bring together the fractured pieces of the Republican Party. His critics, of which I am one, along with many of the Republicans he met with, have emphasized that the time for talk is well over. Only policy deeds could possibly unite us, and there are few opportunities for those remaining this session. So, I have a suggestion for the Governor: take the initiative to encourage legislators in the House to oppose the ERA resolution.
Like bell bottoms, this idea should have stayed in the 70’s.
* Gov. Rauner was asked yesterday about the Equal Rights Amendment that passed the Senate. “I support equal rights for everyone,” he said. Asked to be more specific about the legislative proposal, he said…
That won’t ever come to my desk so that’s not the nature of the process. But I support equality for everyone. And what I’m very supportive of is the Illinois Constitution already is very strong and very protective of equal rights for women and for everyone. I think we’ve got a great Constitution in that regard.
You can see those protections by clicking here.
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* Korecki…
Data kept by Advertising Analytics show the single ad that Team Rauner put the most money behind aired just four days before the March 20 primary. It was a response to an ad the Democratic Governors Association released that called Rauner challenger, state Rep. Jeanne Ives, too conservative for Illinois, a spot aimed to strategically push Republican primary voters toward Ives.
In a sign of the potential impact of the DGA ad, Rauner’s campaign spent more than $1.7 million to air this response 1,162 times over four days. It’s the highest dollar amount the governor’s reelection campaign spent on any single ad throughout the campaign. Of that, more than $1.2 million was dedicated to a single market: Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, that central Illinois swath Rauner desperately needed to keep from defecting to Ives. “Conservative voter alert,” the ad begins in all red. “The same Washington liberals that support J.B. Pritzker are now helping Jeanne Ives with last-second ads. Why? Because Jeanne Ives has already surrendered to Mike Madigan. Liberals are highjacking the Republican primary in Illinois.” In the end, Ives lost to Rauner by fewer than 3 percentage points.
* We talked about this ad…
* Illinois Review is not pleased. Check out: “Rauner and Democrats’ campaigns tricked Central Illinois GOPers in final days of primary.”
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Rauner signs 5G wireless bill
Friday, Apr 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release from late yesterday afternoon…
Today Governor Bruce Rauner signed Senate Bill 1451 to standardize and streamline regulation of small wireless cell facilities, paving the way for 5G wireless and other technology in Illinois.
“This legislation sends a strong, competitive message that Illinois is open for business. We want to make Illinois a leader in wireless technology. We are working to grow jobs and our economy and set our community up for future success,” Rauner said.
Small cells are lower-profile wireless signal alternatives to traditional cell towers that can be attached to existing structures. Their deployment will help lay the foundation required to support the technologies of the future, such as the next generation wireless systems known as 5G.
Besides faster internet and devices, Accenture has forecast that 5G and smart cities investments will create nearly 100,000 jobs and bring in nearly $9 billion in investment to Illinois over the next seven years.
“We are building a future where our economy booms, job creation soars and our Midwest neighbors watch in amazement as Illinois takes the lead in innovation, job growth and economic opportunity,” Rauner said.
“As technology continues to advance and smartphone data use continues to increase, it’s important that we have the infrastructure in place to support those advancements,” said Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), who sponsored the legislation. “This measure will help ensure a smooth transition to 5G and allow Illinois to stay at the forefront of new wireless technology.”
“The Small Cell Wireless Bill ensures that consumers in Illinois stay on the forefront of wireless technology,” said Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard). “Illinoisans will now have greater access to 5G technology, allowing for more data to be transferred faster than ever before.”
“As demand grows, small cells can help bring Illinois consumers a faster and more efficient wireless internet experience. This legislation is a balanced approach to making progress for technology advancements in our state,” said Rep. Kelly Burke (D-Oak Lawn).
“I’m glad that we were able to work in a collaborative and bipartisan way to meet the growing public demand for improved technology that will assist consumers and business development, while making us competitive with neighboring states,” said Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy).
Wireless demand is expected to increase five times by 2022.
“This legislation will benefit businesses, employers and job seekers throughout our state, while providing valuable services for our citizens. Wireless technology is essential for small and start-up businesses that are the core of our economy. We are happy the Governor and the General Assembly made this step forward for our community,” said President & CEO of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce Larry D. Ivory.
Small cell technology will help provide Illinoisans with faster download speeds, improved call quality and support Telemedicine, connected cars, distance learning, smart homes, smart farms and Smart Cities, creating a more connected network across the state.
“Innovative and life changing technologies coming from shop floors across Illinois play a central role in creating manufacturing jobs and maintaining our competitive advantage in the global marketplace,” said Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Manufacturers Association Mark Denzler. “We applaud Governor Bruce Rauner and lawmakers who recognize that manufacturing is very technology-infused and technology-driven today. This new law will keep Illinois on the leading edge and provide opportunities for manufacturers to compete in the current period of innovation known as Industry 4.0.”
The bill will also help improve wireless service in areas where large cell towers are not the best solution.
“This is about communities across Illinois – ensuring they have access to cutting edge technology and equal opportunity to compete for jobs in tomorrow’s economy,” said Illinois Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Todd Maisch.
The bill still ensures local governments retain their role and authority in the permitting process of telecommunications equipment by allowing them to exercise their zoning, land use, planning, and permitting authorities within their territorial boundaries, including with respect to wireless support structures and utility poles.
“Illinois retailers need next generation telecommunications infrastructure to provide the customized offerings and services our customers expect. The same infrastructure other states and much of the world already enjoys,” said President & CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association Rob Karr. “This legislation makes that possible and propels Illinois into the 21st Century. We applaud Governor Rauner and the members of the General Assembly for making this possible.”
Texas, Florida, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont have already passed similar technology legislation.
The Illinois bill will compensate local governments at a higher rate than any other state’s small cell law.
* AP…
But local municipalities across the state oppose the proposal. They say it is a handout to big businesses and will lead to higher taxes for residents.
The legislation affects all areas of the state except the city of Chicago. Ohio and Texas have also passed similar measures.
* WMAY…
The legislation boosts “small cell technology” that will expand 5G service to many more locations around the state.
But it caps the rates that local governments can charge companies who want to install those towers… and Springfield officials say that’s an unfair limit on the city’s publicly-owned utility.
* Springfield’s Mayor Jim Langfelder…
First - the bill usurps municipal authority of public infrastructure for private profits. Currently wireless companies have agreements with local governments for small cell installations or they can pay for their own cell tower infrastructure. This bill is just an end around to create greater profits for the wireless companies on the backs of municipalities and taxpayers.
Second - the bill is another hit to municipalities’ budgets. This year the State implemented a sales tax administration fee and reduced the city’s portion of the state income tax. Those changes for the City of Springfield are projected to reduce revenues by over $2 million. This bill eliminates the City’s ability to properly recover ongoing costs associated with installing and maintaining public infrastructure.
Third - the bill preempts home-rule. By eliminating the rights of home-rule, you are essentially opening “Pandora’s Box” which would allow other industries to do the same. The bill should honor the exemption of home-rule municipalities.
Finally - the City of Springfield is unique in that we have our own municipally owned utility (CWLP) from which we generate and distribute electricity and water. During the extremely difficult two-year state budget impasse, we kept the lights and water on while outstanding bills peaked at approximately $15 million.
They should probably tweak this law for Springfield and a few other towns, but overall I think this is a good piece of legislation.
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* Background…
NATIONAL BLAME SOMEONE ELSE DAY
National Blame Someone Else Day is always celebrated on the first Friday the 13th of the year.
The way to celebrate is self-explanatory in the name, and not much more needs to be said. If you do not want to blame someone, put the blame on something (remember, it is all in fun!)
HOW TO OBSERVE
Use #BlameSomeoneElseDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
National Blame Someone Else Day was invented by Anne Moeller of Clio, Michigan in 1982. One day, her alarm clock failed to go off, hence creating a domino effect of bad luck events throughout the day. The day happened to be Friday the 13th.
* Press release…
Today is Bruce Rauner’s favorite holiday: National Blame Someone Else Day. To celebrate the joyous occasion, we compiled the greatest hits of Rauner blaming everyone but himself for his failures as governor:
* First up, the most ridiculous and poignant example. The chief executive of the state said: “I am not in charge. I’m trying to get to be in charge” of the same state he was elected to run.
* After an editorial board grilled Rauner for having accomplished next to nothing during his first term, Rauner blamed lawmakers and more for coming up short.
* When asked if he’d take responsibility for his fatal mismanagement of the Quincy Veterans’ Home, Rauner said “it’s so false” that he’d be responsible and then went on downplay the 13 deaths by saying “these things happen.”
* Following their boss’ lead, Rauner’s agency heads said they’re not in charge either and told lawmakers to ask a local health department and the governor’s legal team to answer for emails within their department.
“Every day is national blame someone else day for Bruce Rauner, a failed leader not in charge of the state,” said Pritzker campaign spokesman Jason Rubin. “No matter the crisis he causes, the agency he mismanages, and the damage he does, it’s clear Rauner will never take responsibility for his abundant failures as governor.”
Who do you blame today?
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