* The House approved an amended version of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s anti-carjacking bill today…
The bill now goes back to the Senate for concurrence.
* Mayor Emanuel’s response…
“We commend Representative Jaime Andrade and the Illinois House of Representatives for hearing the voices of victims and taking steps to create a culture of accountability for those involved in carjacking. Chicago needs our legislative and judicial partners to step up to the plate and hold offenders accountable, and we strongly urge the Illinois Senate to pass this bill without delay.”
…Adding… Tribune…
Also Monday, the House approved a revised proposal backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to crack down on people who commit carjackings.
The legislation is aimed at closing what the mayor’s office considers a loophole in existing law. Now, a person in possession of a vehicle has to know it has “been stolen or converted” in order to be charged with a felony. That’s often difficult to prove because people often claim they don’t know vehicles are stolen. As a result, many face a misdemeanor charge of trespassing.
The measure would allow officials to consider “surrounding facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the vehicle or essential part is stolen or converted” when pursing charges. The idea is to have more accountability for those responsible for carjackings.
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* AP…
A dormant gambling-expansion plan came to life just long enough to stall in a House committee.
The Executive Committee’s 5-4 vote Monday on Rep. Robert Rita’s plan was one vote shy of the six needed to move it to a floor vote.
The Blue Island Democrat’s long-discussed plan won Senate OK 15 months ago as part of a “grand bargain” to break what was then a 20-month stalemate over the budget. It would authorize six new casinos, including Chicago, and allow slot machines at horse racing tracks.
Rita added several provisions to the measure. They include also allowing table games at race tracks and creating sweepstakes games.
* SJ-R…
What was heard at the committee was a lot of testimony from opponents who said the expansion contained in the latest proposal will further cannibalize gaming in Illinois which will ultimately hurt revenue. Jay Keller, a representative of Penn National Gaming, which operates casinos in Illinois, said the bill will authorize 22,000 new gaming positions which, added to what Illinois already has, would give the state the equivalent of 52 casinos.
“This bill is a massive expansion and would put Illinois at a level that people would consider (acceptable),” he said.
Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, said the state’s 10 existing casinos lost 28 percent of their customer base after the state legalized video gaming terminals.
“These gamers didn’t disappear. They went to the 6,500 neighborhood locations with slots,” Swoik said.
The video poker types opposed the new expansions. The Fairmount Park folks opposed the bill because they couldn’t install slot machines at their track without first coming to an agreement with the nearby Casino Queen in East St. Louis, which essentially gives the Casino Queen folks the upper hand. Lots of folks also grumbled loudly about a surprise provision to legalize “sweepstakes” games.
The only people who seemed happy were track owners outside of the Fairmount folks.
*** UPDATE *** Getting the bill out of committee does not yet equal having the votes to pass it on the floor. Just sayin…
Efforts to drastically expand gaming in Illinois — and create a Chicago casino — will get another chance on Tuesday after falling short of advancing in an Illinois House committee on Memorial Day.
With adjournment of the Illinois General Assembly just days away, the House Executive Committee voted 5-4, one vote shy of advancing the revived measure that has been in the works since last year.
But State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, will call the gaming measure for a vote in committee once again on Tuesday morning. The quick turnaround may mean he garnered enough support to pass it.
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Blagojevich again attempts to rewrite history
Monday, May 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rod Blagojevich writing in the Wall St. Journal…
The rule of law is under assault in America. It is being perverted and abused by the people sworn to enforce and uphold it. Some in the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are abusing their power to criminalize the routine practices of politics and government.
I learned the hard way what happens when an investigation comes up empty after the government has invested time, resources and manpower. When they can’t prove a crime, they create one. Did you know that an elected official asking for a campaign contribution is the same as a dirty cop asking a motorist for a cash bribe to tear up a speeding ticket? I never did. Yet that’s what a federal prosecutor told the jury during my second trial on bribery and extortion charges in 2011.
Fundraising is a routine and necessary part of America’s political system. You can’t compete in politics, and you can’t govern from a position of strength, if you are perceived as weak. Building and maintaining a healthy war chest helps lead to success. For most people in the political arena, the fundraising part of the job is no fun. I liken it to exercise. It hurts but it makes you healthy and strong.
The problem, of course, was that Blagojevich’s fundraising practices were too often “unhealthy.”
* From Blagojevich’s 2010 trial…
At several points, [John Wyma] said, Blagojevich appeared to link spending on certain state projects to campaign cash from donors likely to benefit from the state help.
“If they don’t perform, (expletive) ‘em,” Blagojevich allegedly told Wyma at one point.
At a meeting Oct. 8, Wyma said Children’s Memorial Hospital came up. The governor, Wyma said, mentioned how he had recently been called by former Cubs manager and ex-hospital board member Dusty Baker about raising Medicaid reimbursement rates to pediatric specialists at the hospital by at least $8 million.
The hospital had been seeking the boost for years. Wyma said Blagojevich told him he was going to give the go-ahead — but with a caveat. The governor wanted Children’s CEO Patrick Magoon to kick in a $50,000 donation to his campaign, Wyma said.
* Also from the 2010 trial…
In a phone conversation in mid-October with Children’s CEO Patrick Magoon, the Governor said he would approve a $10 million increase in the Medicaid payments and that Magoon should keep this quiet until the end of the year when it would take effect.
Five days after that call, prosecutors say Magoon received a call from the governor’s brother Robert asking Magoon “to raise $25,000 for the governor.”
An uncomfortable Magoon didn’t respond and wouldn’t take later calls from the governor’s brother.
On November 12, in a meeting at Blagojevich campaign headquarters, the governor’s long time friend Lon Monk says the governor “got upset” that no fund raiser had been set up, and he said words to the effect, “screw them.”
Then Rod Blagojevich made a call to his deputy Governor Rob Greenlee - call 572 - secretly recorded by the FBI in which the governor asks if they could pull back the Medicaid increase for Children’s Memorial if we needed to - budgetary concerns, right? Greenlee put the brakes on the plan, and Children’s never got the money.
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Memorial Day open thread
Monday, May 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I doubt I’ll be posting much more until later in the afternoon, when the House and Senate convene. Using my ScribbleLive account, I’m estimating traffic at about a third of normal, so I’m doubting we’ll see many comments, either.
So, the few of you who are here right now can talk amongst yourselves if you want. As always, keep it Illinois-centric and be nice to each other.
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Congratulations, Jacob!
Monday, May 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jacob Schulz started commenting on this blog as “JakeCP” way back in 2006 when he was just 14 years old. Despite his age, he mostly managed to hold his own in what can often be a rough and tumble environment. The African-American kid was somewhat unusual because he was a strong supporter of Republican Judy Baar Topinka in her campaign against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Well, Jacob is all grown up now and recently reached an important life milestone…
I DID IT!! I graduated with a Master's of Public Administration!
Posted by Jacob Schulz on Monday, May 14, 2018
Jacob has also been heavily involved in Chicago’s blues scene both as a performer and a promoter.
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* From last December…
The Illinois Department of Corrections has taken considerable steps to enhance the delivery of care for offenders who are on the mental health caseload. The Department remains focused on fully complying with the terms of the Rasho v Baldwin settlement agreement… The Department remains committed to ensuring that mentally ill men and women receive the treatment that is essential to their wellbeing, rehabilitation and reentry into society.
* Today…
U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Mihm issued an opinion Friday in the class action case Rasho v. Baldwin ordering the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide mental health treatment to prisoners who are on “crisis watches” and in segregation, as well as to provide medication management, mental health evaluations and necessary mental health staff throughout the system.
The judge ruled that IDOC’s failure to provide mental health care constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, as well as violates the settlement agreement that the department entered.
In a 42-page decision, Mihm found that IDOC’s deliberate indifference to mentally ill prisoners is causing “irreparable harm” that requires the court to issue injunctive relief. The court decision states that the constraints faced by IDOC “are dwarfed by the immense harm to the inmates.”
“These are mentally ill individuals, who themselves are left, in a very real way, at the mercy of the IDOC to provide them with the constitutionally minimal level of health care. And this is simply not being done, and based on the record presented, will not be done unless there is a preliminary injunction issued by this Court.”
This order comes almost two years to the day after a settlement agreement was reached by IDOC and lawyers representing the more-than 12,000 prisoners with mental illness in Illinois. The original class action challenge to the treatment of prisoners with mental illness was filed in 2007.
* The order is here…
The testimony during the hearing shows deficiencies in medical treatment in segregation have created an extremely dangerous situation. The length of time, sometimes staggering, that inmates are put in segregation, without properly addressing their mental health medical needs, furthers the mental decomposition of the inmate.
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* Sound budgetary advice from Moody’s…
“The question is what progress will the state make, if any, in breaking out of those long-running challenges?” Moody’s Investors Service analyst Ted Hampton said in a phone interview. He added that the outcome of the budget process will be more significant than when the process ends.
In other words, don’t pop the champagne if the GA wraps up by May 31st. Moody’s and other raters will likely care more about what’s actually in the budget. And Illinois is just two clicks above junk bond status, so it won’t take much.
* And speaking of which…
Gov. Bruce Rauner froze automatic compounding pay hikes for around 14,000 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 in 2015, saying lawmakers never appropriated the money. Now, a court order is due later this year that could make all that due at once.
Records obtained by the Illinois News Network via a Freedom of Information Act request show Rauner’s office estimates it will cost $412 million for just the four years of higher pay if the state is forced to pay all of the past years’ frozen step increases in the fiscal 2019 budget.
In 2015, the cost of the raises was $38.7 million, but that balloons to more than $170 million by the coming fiscal year. […]
The state’s fiscal 2018 budget is on the hook for the cost of about 1,400 applications from Medicaid for seniors in nursing homes that never got processed. That’s $311 million for nursing homes, [Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago] said. This bill, Harris said, combined with a supplemental spending request for the Department of Corrections totals up to $1.8 billion lawmakers still need to fund.
* And then there’s this…
Using recently revised criteria, Fitch on Friday downgraded by five notches the rating on $2.5 billion of Build Illinois sales tax revenue bonds to A-minus. The firm cited too big a spread between the debt’s previous AA-plus rating and the state’s GO rating of BBB with a negative outlook.
That downgrade was clearly a warning shot.
* More sound advice from Doug Finke…
The recurrent theme of this year’s budget negotiations is optimism, as in optimistic that there will be a successful outcome.
It’s worth remembering, though, that a hiccup before a budget is passed used to be a regular occurrence before the chaos of the past couple of years. It was something of a routine at the Capitol that a budget would be negotiated and then presented in private briefings to the individual caucuses. Almost inevitably, the deal would blow up somewhere that appeared to jeopardize the budget. Some further tinkering would be done, the revised agreement would be sold to lawmakers and a budget approved.
So even if something crops up this week, it’s not necessary reason to panic.
* So, does this WGN Radio headline indicate a problem ahead or just a minor speed bump?…
Deputy Majority Leader of the IL House Lou Lang: “I don’t expect the Governor to sign the budget”
Probably the latter.
* What about this from a Tribune story entitled “A focal point in governor’s race, Quincy veterans home now part of budget talks”?…
“In his budget address that he came out with … (he) said, ‘I’m going to fix everything for $50 million,’ ” said state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. “We’re going to get it fixed and done. Now, all of a sudden, ‘I’m going to need $245 million?’ ”
Tom Cullerton said the state would actually need to come up with $85 million because federal funding through the Department of Veterans Affairs would pay another $160 million. But lawmakers must still authorize the entire amount.
Democrats want assurances of the federal funding and that provides another way for them to go after Rauner, who avoids speaking about the White House and President Donald Trump.
“We need a letter from the president that says, ‘After speaking with your governor I am going to expedite that $160 million that you need because it’s important that our veterans stop dying and that it’s important that our veterans and their families stop getting sick,’ ” Tom Cullerton said. “If the governor can’t make that phone call, then I don’t know what else to say.”
Likely more show biz.
* Related…
* As budget deadline looms, business community worries federal tax benefits could be targeted by state lawmakers: One budget leader, state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said budget details are coming together. “We’ve been meeting very regularly and we continue to really narrow the gap,” Steans said Friday. “It’s very close now. I think there’s a real path to having an agreed budget and it’s feeling that way.”
* Final countdown: Area lawmakers hopeful for budget in last days of session: State Sen. Andy Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill and one of the budget negotiators in the Senate, is cautious to go into much detail about the state of negotiations, but did say the talks have been more bipartisan than in recent years. “I want to say, I have found that this year that my Republican colleagues in the legislature and the Democrats have come together in a good faith effort to do what we can to forge compromise,” Manar said. “There are many, many … outstanding issues that we have to deal with, but I’m confident the process we have put in place is going to continue. And my hope is we can present a budget that is representative of compromise.”
* Local Legislators Remain Optimistic State Budget Will Pass Before Deadline Next Week: Republican Sen. Sue Rezin of Morris, whose district also covers parts of the WSPY listening area, is also hopeful about a full budget being passed.
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Pritzker “thinks big” with Blue Wave effort
Monday, May 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If you checked in with my Twitter feed over the weekend, you know that $1 million transfer to the Rock Island County Democratic Party and the $50K contribution to Sen. Kwame Raoul’s campaign happened Friday evening. Here’s my weekly syndicated newspaper column, which was distributed Friday afternoon…
For weeks now, some Democrats have been wondering if their party intends to run a “coordinated campaign” this year and have asked what it might look like. A coordinated campaign means all the party’s candidates are working together under one umbrella group.
The party’s standard-bearer J.B. Pritzker has kicked off “Blue Wave Illinois” and will soon make a $5 million contribution. Democratic sources say much more cash is expected to follow.
The new group won’t be a separate, stand-alone entity, but will instead be an internal branch of Pritzker’s campaign apparatus.
The House and Senate Democrats will each receive a million dollars. Sen. Kwame Raoul’s attorney general campaign will get about $50,000 (around the maximum he can legally receive) and the other statewide nominees will eventually receive money as well.
To stay within campaign finance contribution limit laws, a million bucks will be transferred to the Rock Island County Democratic Party, which is run by Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association Chairman Doug House. Chairman House appears to be playing a key role in this new “Blue Wave” organization. House personally endorsed Pritzker ahead of his statewide group’s endorsement session.
Pritzker refused to take any campaign contributions during the primary except from himself, but that will also change. Pritzker’s campaign committee will raise the money to fund its “Blue Wave” operation from small individual donors and large contributions from others, including his wealthy friends and family. I’m hearing $30 million may be the target number.
Pritzker will retain responsibility for funding his own race, I’m told. His initial $5 million contribution can be seen as seed money to get the group going (and the million each to House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton could help soothe any possible paranoia on their part). And since contributions to Pritzker’s big-spending campaign will have no legal caps on them, Pritzker will be able to vacuum up every possible dime that contributors can afford to give. He has told others that he doesn’t want to compete with other Illinois candidates’ fund-raising, so he will travel to other states to raise cash.
Any Statehouse-connected dollars will bring the sort of criticism that the self-funder was able to avoid until now, so we’ll see how this works out. And, of course, giving money to Madigan’s operation has already prompted Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign to claim that the two men are in cahoots.
But this move also means Democrats will have a centralized funding source with no direct ties to Speaker Madigan. The benefit can work both ways. Some liberal big-money folks just don’t like Madigan, and even more candidates are skittish (to say the least) about taking money from the House Speaker. It also seems clear that Pritzker wants his own, independent organization outside of Madigan’s Democratic Party of Illinois – which has been accused in the past of redirecting coordinated campaign money toward Madigan’s favored House candidates.
The Pritzker cash will be used to fund campaigns “up and down the ticket,” from statewide campaigns, to legislative races to county races. The money will also be used for training in messaging and the use of digital technology. The Pritzker campaign wants to concentrate on the most winnable races, but they also say they don’t want to leave any stone unturned.
Local political organizations, including township and ward organizations in Chicago and county party organizations throughout the state, will also likely receive contributions in the future. Chairman House will apparently play the lead role in working with those organizations in an effort to build up a party that is sorely lacking at the local level outside Cook County.
Pritzker won kudos during the primary for opening 18 campaign offices and hiring about 100 field staffers, although there was some internal party criticism for the way at least some of those offices were run. It reminded some influential folks of the DCCC – helicoptered-in staffers who didn’t know the lay of the land.
Whatever the case, the Pritzker campaign plans to continue building out those local field offices and will use them to help Pritzker and other regional and statewide candidates.
A true coordinated campaign also involves congressional candidates. At this point, I’m told, Pritzker’s “Blue Wave” group figures its field work will benefit all candidates at all levels.
One of Pritzker’s slogans has been “think big,” and this definitely has the potential to be the biggest effort of its kind that this state has ever seen.
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