Question of the day
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* When I decided to do the Illinois vs. Missouri softball game tomorrow, I figured I might as well take Friday off, too. And then I thought, hey, maybe I should go somewhere cool and take off a few more days. And so the decision was made. After close of business today, I’ll be gone until at least next Thursday morning, but maybe not until the following Monday, depending how crazy it gets in my absence.
Hannah Meisel and Barton Lorimor will be handling blog duties while I’m away. Be nice to them, please.
* The Question: Your summer vacation plans?
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It’s just a bill
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. McSweeney is the chief sponsor, but his co-sponsors are Reps. Mary Flowers, Grant Wehrli and Jonathan Carroll. That’s not a combination you will see very often, if ever…
State Representative David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) today filed legislation to protect students from predatory educators and ensure accusations against educators are managed properly with the best interests of students in mind. House Bill 5914 makes numerous changes in state law to address the flaws and gaps in legislation and policy that led to Chicago Public School’s gross mishandling of sexual abuse and assault cases that occurred at schools within the district.
“The mistakes made by the schools in Chicago are reprehensible; nothing like this should ever be allowed to happen again,” Rep. McSweeney said. “These cases were handled atrociously by CPS and they were allowed to get away with it because of shortcomings in state law. The Chicago Tribune’s investigation unveiled that while this is a significant issue in Chicago, this is also a statewide problem.”
A Chicago Tribune investigation identified 72 school employees as alleged perpetrators in the last decade in schools all across Chicago. They found that CPS conducted shoddy background checks, which led to the hiring of educators with red flags in their records, several of whom went on to commit abuses at CPS schools. Among those that left CPS after being investigated, several were rehired elsewhere.
HB 5914 mandates that the Illinois State Board of Education must be aware of, and monitor, the process with regard to each individual background check conducted by school districts. It also amends the Freedom of Information Act to allow school districts to disclose the disciplinary records of school district personnel relating to sexual abuse. It further allows a school district to divulge internal investigative findings and discipline to another school district. Any arresting agency is required to share its reports pertaining to the arrest of a licensed educator with the superintendent of any school district that employs the educator.
In addition, the Tribune’s investigation found significant failures in the way individual schools and the overall district handled cases of sexual abuse. CPS admitted that they do not have a standard protocol for investigating reports of sexual misconduct. HB 5914 will require school boards to report all credible cases of sexual assault or abuse by a licensed educator to the State Board of Education, to establish a hearing procedure for student victims, and to ensure that a licensed educator under investigation by the State Superintendent of Education is reassigned to non-classroom duty.
Modeled off a Florida law, the bill would also make it a criminal offense for an authority figure to engage in sexual conduct or sexual relations with a student, regardless of age.
“This isn’t just on CPS, these failures exist in state government as well and need to be fixed as soon as possible,” Rep. McSweeney continued. “This comprehensive legislation is a solid start and a good base that we can amend as further policy recommendations are given or more legislative gaps come to light.”
The bill was drafted by Rep. McSweeney and State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park). State Representative Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) is the chief co-sponsor in the Illinois House.
* Other bills…
* Industry-supported bill would impose “absurd” regulations on peer-to-peer car rentals: In addition to the content of the bill, [Michelle Fang, general counsel for Turo] took issue with the way the legislation was written and voted upon in Springfield, calling it “really dirty cronyism politics.” … State Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, who was chief co-sponsor of the bill in the Illinois House, said there was nothing unusual about the way the legislation came together.
* Democrats fling stinky stuff after patronage, deficits are cut: The state legislature passed Senate Bill 2368 on May 30. It requires the mayor of Democrat-stronghold Granite City to be on the board, tipping the balance of power back to Democrats. It requires the executive director to live in the district. Stephen Adler is an engineer and was a Republican on the Madison County Board before he was appointed executive director of the sanitary district. He lives in Godfrey, outside the district boundaries. Adler’s the one who got rid of the extra 24 employees and immediately stopped the deficits. He’s the one who found money to fix one broken pump and replace the other. He’s the one building reserves to fix the crumbling sewers in Washington Park and create drainage for major commercial development along the Interstate 255 corridor.
* New drone law would let police monitor large public events: Drone usage would be limited to public safety purposes, such as evaluating crowd size or movement, assessing safety vulnerabilities or weaknesses, determining appropriate staffing or identifying possible criminal activity, according to the bill.
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* Press release…
Following last week’s signing of House Bill 138, female senators are calling on the four caucus leaders to fully support and commit to seeking additional ethics reforms. They sent a letter to the legislative leaders underscoring that HB 138 was only the beginning of what needs to be done to ensure there is a truly independent, transparent process for individuals to come forward with complaints of inappropriate behavior.
“The passing of House Bill 138 represents another vital step in ensuring we have a process that is effective and free from partisan influence to investigate the serious nature of sexual harassment in the Capitol,” said Sen. Bush (D-Grayslake), sponsor of House Bill 138. “We do know, however, that we won’t change a culture that accepts sexual harassment and discrimination overnight. Together, rank-and-file members and caucus leaders can continue pushing ahead to eradicate sexual harassment in Springfield.”
In total, 14 senators signed onto the letter saying they are hopeful HB 138 will give more people the confidence to come forward. However, they made it very clear that more work is needed to ensure that powerful individuals, or anyone working in the Capitol building, can no longer get away with abuse and threats.
“It took a great deal of advocacy and determination to push this much-needed measure through the General Assembly this session, and in doing so, we made an important first step in beginning to address allegations of sexual harassment in the context of the Legislative Ethics Commission,” said Sen. Tracy, chief co-sponsor of HB 138. “This legislation also addresses some shortcomings we found in the procedures and make-up of the Commission itself. This is the beginning. In the coming hearings of the Senate Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Awareness and Prevention Task Force, we plan to delve deeper to improve the processes and managing of sexual harassment complaints at the state level.”
The lawmakers note that there are several changes they would like to see moving forward. Their recommended changes include:
• Adding legislative staff to those employees covered by the Human Rights Act;
• Ensuring a closer examination of the makeup and structure of the commission.
“I remain committed to working with my colleagues to ensure that those who have been sexually harassed, retaliated against or abused have greater confidence in the investigative process,” said Sen. McConnaughay, member of the Legislative Ethics Commission. “The culture must end, and those who take part in this behavior must be held accountable. Together, we women are standing strong, and we request the full support of our caucus leaders in our efforts.”
“We are calling on the four caucus leaders to be leaders of change,” said Sen. Steans (D-Chicago). “For too long, these issues have been ignored. All people should feel comfortable working in the Capitol.”
I’m a little surprised they didn’t address Jessica Basham’s changes in the House, particularly the one about hiring a human resources director and an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action officer. All four leaders ought to get together on that one.
The full letter is here.
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I actually think they’re serious
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here. This e-mail was sent out by the St. Louis Cardinals organization to the announcers (myself included) for the Illinois vs. Missouri general assembly softball game tomorrow at Busch Stadium…
Gentlemen - I’m looking forward to seeing you on Thursday! I trust you will have fun while providing colorful, but clean, coverage of our leaders taking part in America’s pastime.
Remember you will be in baseball heaven…the house that Musial, Red and other great men who have the birds on the bat in the heart built. Know that our standards for civility and sportsmanship are high….perhaps even higher than some of the most hallowed halls of our esteemed democracy.
As you prepare for your game coverage, think of a simpler time when hashtags were pound signs or playing fields for tic tac toe…and the strike zone kept hitters honest.
Kinda loving themselves a bit.
Just in case, I think I’ll stop at the bank to pick up some bail money.
* By the way, you can score tickets for tomorrow afternoon’s game by clicking here. They’re just twenty bucks including free concessions at the bar. Game hashtags will be #MajorLegBaseball and #STLChamberChamps. I do not yet know if there will be a video feed.
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People are grumpy, and rightly so
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This morning…
And then it goes on for several more tweets.
* The actual quotes…
As someone with his own distinct political views, but who represents a diverse state, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has no tolerance for those who would carve it up for political gain.
“There are two things that just anger me so much,” Durbin said in a recent interview at his downtown Chicago office. “The first is someone who is an elected official in this state who uses their position to divide us rather than unite us.
“And the second,” he added, “is I’m sick and tired of our newspapers — and you can think of the one I’m talking about — as well as politicians who talk about what a miserable state this is and how terrible the city is and why somebody might’ve moved away. Shame on them. This is the No. 1 destination for graduates of Big Ten universities in the United States of America. And the Big Ten sweeps right across not just the Midwest, but the Northeast as well. They’re headed to Chicago. If this was some godforsaken city, why are they coming?
“They’re coming because this is a great city with great opportunities,” Durbin said. “And we do have problems that we need to solve. But for people who are down on the city and down on the state and want to find somebody who left in a grouchy mood, well, they’ll always have a story to tell, but from where I’m standing that isn’t what the city represents or the state represents.”
In some ways, he granted, it’s only natural. Chicago is a behemoth that lords over the state, and some areas of Illinois are vastly different and glad to be that way. “It’s been there throughout the history of this state, and it’s not uncommon,” Durbin said. “You have parts of California that want to split off into a separate state. You have a fight between New York City and the rest of the state. It’s kind of a natural tension that may have been created for any number of reasons,” from significant economic and cultural differences to divided allegiances over sports teams.
“But shame on the politicians who try to exploit it,” Durbin said. “That to me is over the line. Our job is to try to find commonality and unity and opportunities for us to work together.
I highlighted the text so I could say that I agree with Durbin on that particular point and to show how badly his words were twisted. If you approach a column or a story or an editorial with a bias, you can always find someone to confirm your bias. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, by the way. We all have biases, but some folks can’t get over them even when there’s significant evidence that their “facts” may be wrong.
On the other hand, people are grumpy (and worse) for completely valid reasons in this here state and I do not blame them one bit. “America is already great,” wasn’t exactly a smart line in parts of the 2016 Rust Belt and “Illinois is great because of Chicago’s Big 10 graduates” is gonna fall on a whole lot of deaf ears now.
But, whatever, Durbin was just being a booster for his home state while taking a little bank-shot at an editorial board which resides in the clouds and exists to teach the rest of us dummies about how the world works.
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* Media advisory sent last night…
Attorneys for Alaina Hampton will appear in federal court on her behalf regarding a suit filed against the Democratic Party of Illinois, Friends of Michael J. Madigan, the 13th Ward Democratic Organization and Democratic Majority, the political action committees associated with Madigan’s organization. Hampton brings the suit after filing a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in February 2018. Ms. Hampton will not be present for this court appearance. Attorneys for Hampton will be available for comment.
* Kevin Quinn, the brother of Ald. Marty Quinn who was accused of sexual harassment by Alaina Hampton which ultimately led to Hampton’s lawsuit and EEOC complaint, has circulated a document to reporters entitled “The Truth.” It’s his side of the story, but leads with this…
Acknowledgement of Responsibility & Perspective
It was never my intent to make Ms. Alaina Hampton feel uncomfortable. I take responsibility for sending the text messages she has publicly released between us and apologize for my attempts to get to know her outside of necessary interactions. In February 2017 when my supervisor approached me about my text messages with Alaina Hampton, I was reprimanded and all communications with her immediately stopped. Then during an investigation that was prompted from a letter Alaina sent to Speaker Madigan in November 2017 about the text communications, I was further reprimanded by Counsel Heather Wier Vaught in December 2017. On both occasions when I was reprimanded, I was informed that Alaina Hampton did not want me fired. I believe my February 2018 departure from working on Speaker Madigan’s political and state staff was in large a result of a pleading to a January 2018 misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, which was directly related to my bitter divorce involving a custody battle of two children.
He also claims the media has “strong unconscious personal biases against Speaker Madigan,” and says he’s only trying to counter the “misinformation that has been reported.”
* There’s some hearsay and other unverified claims within his narrative, but here is an excerpt…
• I was never Alaina Hampton’s supervisor and never had any control over her assignments.
See Appendix A that contains several text communications between Alaina Hampton and I that clearly show that Alderman Marty Quinn was her supervisor
• The 2018 campaign manager for the 5th district state representative (“RD5”) race was already determined prior to Alaina Hampton approaching Heather Wier Vaught. Alaina Hampton’s allegations that she was retaliated against because she did not obtain a job working on the RD5 race for the 2018 election cycle fails to recognize that the position of campaign manager was filled prior to her conversation.
• Alaina Hampton has quit political campaign roles and government jobs on multiple occasions. Additionally, Alaina has exaggerated the roles she served in for the political committees of Speaker Madigan.
See Appendix B for a timeline of relevant events to the Hampton Investigation. The timeline includes occasions when Aliana Hampton quit various positions as well as how her roles changed over time.
• Alaina Hampton fails to recognize a fundamental principle in politics; she was not welcomed back into any of the Speaker’s political organizations after she took a salaried position on the Marie Newman for Congress campaign against 13 Ward Democratic Organization ally, Congressman Dan Lipinski.
• In February 2016, Alaina Hampton told Alderman Marty Quinn that she did not want to communicate with me any further and immediately my communication with her stopped. There has been no contact with her since.
• Alderman Quinn’s handling of Alaina Hampton’s complaint was swift and is in alignment with the degree of confidentially she sought, the seriousness of the offense and the outcome desired by the complaintant.
• There was never any sort of cover up with respect to the investigation. Alaina Hampton had no knowledge of the misdemeanor disorderly conduct pleading that was associated with my nasty divorce and was part of the broader examination of my employment record conducted by Counsel Heather Wier Vaught.
* There’s also this…
I’ve asked Hampton’s spokesperson for a response.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Hampton’s attorney Shelly Kulwin…
“We have just received this document. We intend to review it with our client. We can say that it reads like a legal brief written by attorneys to make the litigation defendants’ case. We anticipate that the full ‘truth’ will come out once, in addition to Ms. Hampton’s texts, we are able to review the defendants’ internal communications on this issue as well other relevant discovery we obtain during the case.”
Everyone’s got a right to an opinion, but this doesn’t look like a plot by Madigan’s attorneys plot to me. It’s just too reckless. They usually don’t do reckless. Kevin really messed them up here.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Uh-oh…
However, Hampton’s attorney disclosed that there are discussions of a settlement.
“There is a lot at stake here. There is perhaps a lot more at stake than meets the eye in normal litigation,” said Shelly Kulwin, Hampton’s attorney. “But I’m all for resolving this case and I think my client is, as well. The goal here is not to go on a crusade for the next two years in litigation. The goal here is to get her specific injury addressed and re-dressed.”
Now, re-read Kulwin’s statement from the first update. If they blame Madigan’s lawyers for Quinn’s statement, any deal could easily be in jeopardy - if there really is a possibility of that happening. I’m not sure there have been actual settlement talks.
By the way, Kevin Quinn also e-mailed a fuzzy, low-resolution headshot that WBEZ used in its story. Amateur hour.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Rep. Kelly Cassidy…
Gimme a break. This is the oldest trick in the book. Just another offensive tactic from the old playbook that aims to discredit and undermine women who come forward. Women considering speaking out should not let Mr. Quinn’s despicable behavior deter them.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Expected…
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* AFSCME Council 31…
In a June 12 hearing in Springfield on the matter of step increases that Governor Rauner has illegally withheld from state employees since 2015, the state panel of the Illinois Labor Relations Board rejected the Rauner administration’s delay tactics, found that employees must be made whole, and sent the matter to a board compliance officer to determine a remedy.
The case—which began as a ULP charge filed by AFSCME against the Rauner Administration—returned to the Labor Board on remand from the Appellate Court, which ruled that Rauner violated the law in denying employees their step progression through the pay plan. The court directed the labor board to fashion a remedy.
The Rauner administration had asked the board to send the matter to an administrative law judge for another hearing. AFSCME made a strong and convincing argument that another ALJ hearing would be duplicative and would only delay making state workers whole for the steps they are owed.
The labor board sided with the union, rejecting Rauner’s delay tactic. At its next scheduled meeting in July, the board will formally refer the matter to a compliance officer, at which time AFSCME will immediately petition for a make-whole remedy. The compliance officer will then have 75 days to respond to the union’s petition.
* Illinois News Network…
As early as this fall, Gov. Bruce Rauner and Illinois’ lawmakers could see a $412 million hole added to a budget that many say was unbalanced to begin with.
The Illinois Labor Relations Board Tuesday evening denied Rauner’s request to send a ruling on $412 million in step increases that an Illinois court says is owed to 14,000 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 to an administrative law judge for another hearing.
Rauner froze automatic compounding pay hikes when he took office in 2015, saying lawmakers never appropriated the money. After AFSCME challenged Rauner’s freeze, Illinois courts said those step increases were owed.
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.
* Meanwhile, Brian Mackey is tweeting about a court hearing on whether AFSCME and the Rauner administration are actually at impasse. You can follow along with our live coverage post.
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* Their polling methodology is much too opaque for my tastes and the extended time period of their polls (this one is January through May) means many of their numbers are way old, but Morning Consult just published its most recent state-by-state poll and it has President Donald Trump’s job approval rating in Illinois at 37 percent, while his disapproval is 59 percent. They’re claiming a 1 percent margin of error. Click here.
Those job approval ratings do track closely with a recent poll I’ve seen on his favorable/unfavorable ratings. Subscribers know more.
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Rodney Davis still haunted by shooting
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The New York Times ran a good piece the other day about the shooting spree during a practice of the Republican congressional baseball team last year. An excerpt…
For Representative Rodney Davis of Illinois, who was batting when the shooting started, the sounds live with him in ways he sometimes cannot understand. There is an image frozen in his mind: of a woman walking her dogs, caught in the middle of the gunfire, her eyes fixed on him in an expression he interprets as a plea for help.
At some point after the shooting, he woke up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely.
“I thought to myself, is that the way sleep’s going to be all the time?” Mr. Davis said.
Alternate worst-case scenarios still run through his head.
“What if the shooter stood on the first-base side? What if he hadn’t hit the fence with the first shot? Those are thoughts that go through my mind all the time,” he said, adding: “I don’t think they’ll ever leave me. I don’t think they’ll ever leave any of us.”
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Rauner touts anti-corruption stance
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Bruce Rauner’s op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times…
To unleash our full potential, Illinois needs to end corruption in state government.
For decades, career politicians and political insiders have abused their positions of power to line their own pockets and rig the political system in their favor. The result has been a state government that works for career politicians and their cronies to the detriment of the people.
*Cough!*Ken Dunkin!*Cough!*
* To be fair, he did do some positive things…
In my first term, our team delivered meaningful, measurable reforms that have ended some of the corrupt state government practices holding Illinois back. We strengthened ethical requirements on all executive branch employees to change the culture within state government.
By requiring enhanced annual economic interest disclosures, we promoted transparency and accountability for employees of the executive branch. We closed the revolving door between public service and lobbying by banning anyone from lobbying the administration for one year after leaving the executive branch and stopped lobbyists and government contractors from unethically influencing state regulators by closing loopholes in bans on gifts and lobbyist-funded travel.
* And, of course…
Disturbingly, those who control the General Assembly have made no effort to stop elected officials from engaging in harmful conflicts of interest. House Speaker Mike Madigan himself makes millions enriching himself by running a property tax appeals firm in Chicago while simultaneously hiking taxes on hardworking Illinois families and businesses while in Springfield. And allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation call into question how his organization conducts business.
Taxes, corruption, Madigan, Pritzker, Blagojevich right through November. Get used to it.
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Mayor Emanuel rejects the “Madigan question”
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bill Cameron…
When asked about Speaker Mike Madigan and the Springfield sexual harassment scandal, Mayor Emanuel went-off on a reporter Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.
The question was whether the mayor’s concerned women voters won’t vote for Democrats because of the way Speaker Madigan has handled the #MeToo scandal in state politics. Rahm interrupted the reporter mid question.
“Guys! The news industry, the entertainment industry’s been affected! Politics been affected,” said Emanuel, “Every areas been affected because people are approaching questions they haven’t dealt with before and should have a long time ago. And if what you do in the discussion of it is say it’s about that person, then you’re putting up a wall and a blind and not dealing with it!”
* John Byrne…
“Can I say, I a hundred percent reject the question, and I think that’s really a bad way to look at it,” Emanuel said when asked whether women voters in Illinois might be less inclined to vote for Democrats because of the harsh light cast on Madigan’s organizations.
“You’re not going to find a solution to a problem if you try to personalize it around one person,” the mayor continued.
He then compared the brewing situation in Springfield to the sexual harassment scandals that have engulfed media personalities, making an apparent reference to the revelations about CBS News anchor Charlie Rose that cost him his job with the network.
“And all due respect, I’m taking a question from a CBS reporter, you had a national reporter that had problems,” Emanuel said. “Do I say I don’t want CBS because you had a national problem? I think it’s really, and all due respect, really an antiquated, out of date way of thinking about it.”
* Fran Spielman…
“If individuals want to make a decision about how they’re gonna vote because of one person, they’ll make that. But if you try to solve the problems — not the politics, but actually deal with the whole issue of sexual politics in the office, in the workplace or in any other situation, it is not to think about it as one person any more than you think about it as one industry.” […]
“The news industry has been affected. The entertainment industry has been affected. Politics has been affected. Every area has been affected because people are now … dealing with questions they haven’t dealt [with] before and should have — a long time ago. If what you do … is say that it’s about that person, then you’re putting up a wall … and not dealing with it,” the mayor said.
“To say … what are the political implications for women voters in the future — if they make that decision, okay. They have a right to. … But the real honest way to deal with the problem is not to think about the politics but to think about the solution and know that a lot of things that used to be a given no longer work. We’re in the middle of a major change — appropriately, long overdue — in every sector.”
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