* One of the comments I heard the most from working-class people in the San Francisco area during my vacation was how they couldn’t afford to live in the region without rent-controlled leases. Their comments were all unprompted, by the way. With that in mind…
Rent control initiatives in Springfield were stranded when the 2018 regular legislative session ended on May 31, but landlords and property managers in Illinois anticipate a more aggressive push when the General Assembly convenes in January 2019.
“Housing Action Illinois and the other groups pushing for this will continue to work hard all summer and into the fall in preparation for next year,” Paul Arena, legislative director for the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association, told Prairie State Wire.
Three of the four bills left hanging would have repealed the Rent Control Preemption Act of 1997, which prohibits municipalities in Illinois from enacting rent control ordinances. A fourth bill would have established rent control boards on the county level.
State Rep. William Guzzardi (D-Chicago), introduced the repeal act in the House (HB 2430), arguing that rapid gentrification of some Chicago neighborhoods has made them unaffordable for many long-time residents. A majority of voters in some Chicago wards likewise favor repealing the ban, according to the results of a non-binding question that appeared on the March 20 primary ballot in those wards. And Democratic gubernatorial nominee J.B. Pritzker, who leads incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner in the polls, has said he supports repealing the ban.
* The Question: Should the state’s anti-rent control law be abolished? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* The decision by the principal and the local state’ attorney to charge this kid with a felony is simply egregious…
Paul Boron is 13 years old. He’s facing a felony eavesdropping charge that could change the course of the rest of his life.
Boron’s story stands as another chapter of controversy surrounding an eavesdropping law ripe for abuse, and state lawmakers should take action to fix it.
On Feb. 16, 2018, Boron was called to the principal’s office at Manteno Middle School after failing to attend a number of detentions. Before meeting Principal David Conrad and Assistant Principal Nathan Short, he began recording audio on his cellphone.
Boron said he argued with Conrad and Short for approximately 10 minutes in the reception area of the school secretary’s office, with the door open to the hallway. When Boron told Conrad and Short he was recording, Conrad told Boron he was committing a felony and promptly ended the conversation, Boron says.
Two months later, in April, Boron was charged with one count of eavesdropping – a class 4 felony in Illinois.
Specifically, the new law made it a felony to surreptitiously record any “private conversation,” defined as “oral communication between [two] or more persons” where at least one person has a “reasonable expectation” of privacy.
But when does someone have a “reasonable” expectation of privacy? And is it fair to expect Illinoisans to know where to draw that line in their everyday lives? […]
Given the tenacity with which Illinois prosecutors have enforced the state’s eavesdropping law, reform from the Statehouse may be Boron’s best hope.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, along with 10 other attorneys general, today announced she will file a lawsuit challenging the federal administration’s policy of forced family separation on the U.S. southern border. The lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
“The new federal executive order does not bring back together the thousands of families that were torn apart by the federal government’s policy, and it does not prevent families from being separated in the future,” Madigan said. “I will join with my colleagues across the country to bring action against the federal government for this inhumane and unAmerican policy.”
The lawsuit will allege that the administration’s family separation policy violates the fundamental due process rights of parents to be with their children, as well as other constitutional and statutory claims. The states will ask the court to order the federal administration to immediately comply with the law beginning with correcting the egregious flaws in his executive order and creating a process to reunify the thousands of families torn apart by his cruel and unconstitutional policy.
Following a close review of the President’s executive order, Madigan and the coalition of state attorneys general see two main problems. First, the order does nothing to reunify families already torn apart by the federal administration’s policy. Second, the order is riddled with so many caveats that it is rendered meaningless. Specifically, the order requires appropriations, although the total amount is unknown, and the timeline for when or if such an appropriation would happen. It also relies on a federal judge approving a plan to indefinitely detain children, which is an unlikely scenario, and, in any event, would also raise serious legal issues.
On April 6, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new so-called “zero tolerance” policy on the U.S. southern border. The federal administration has been clear that the purpose of the forced separation policy is not to protect children, but rather to deter potential immigrants from coming to the U.S. In practice, this meant that instead of making case-specific evaluations of individual cases, respecting due process rights and family integrity, the federal administration began prosecuting all possible immigration crimes, accusing and detaining all adults, even those with a legitimate asylum claim. The intended and acknowledged effect of this policy has been the separation of parents and children at the border.
Notably, there is no such “zero tolerance” policy at the northern border, and recent reporting indicates that the Border Patrol only tracks “family unit apprehensions” for immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
The effects of this policy have been stark. In March and April of 2018, the number of families from Latin America apprehended at the southern border increased dramatically, from 5,475 in February to 8,873 in March (a 62 percent increase) and 9,653 in April (a 76 percent increase from February). That’s nearly nine times as many compared to March 2017, and more than nine times as many compared to April 2017. Children have been brought to Illinois who were separated from their families under the current policy.
Joining Madigan in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.
A Chicago nonprofit said Friday it is housing 66 migrant children who have been separated from their parents under the “zero tolerance” policy in the last six weeks.
Evelyn Diaz, president of Heartland Alliance, welcomed Sen. Dick Durbin for a visit to one of the organization’s nine shelters that is accommodating the children — two-thirds of whom are younger than 13. Heartland provides housing and legal assistance to immigrants.
After the tour, Diaz and Durbin condemned the practice of separating children from their parents at the United States’ southern border.
“These children are scared when they arrive at our doors,” Diaz said at a news conference in Edgewater. “And I can tell you my staff —who are clinicians, teachers and family reunification specialists — are doing everything in their power to make a horrible situation less scary, to provide comfort and support to the children, and to reunite them with their families as quickly as possible.”
* I told subscribers about this before I left for vacation. Rep. Steve Andersson (R-Geneva) voted for the budget and tax hike and the veto overrides last year. He decided to retire from the House, but his district’s Senate seat became available when GOP Sen. Karen McConnaughay decided not to run again. McConnaughay’s retirement could very well put this district into play, particularly if the county party chairs appoint someone far to the right. The Kane County party chairman has the weighted vote to make the appointment on his own. Subscribers know more. From a press release…
Since announcing my intention to forego running for re-election after solving the 2015-2017 budget crisis, I have been overwhelmed by bipartisan support and the call for me to run again in another capacity.
After much consideration about how I can best serve the people in the great State of Illinois, I have put my name into consideration with the Kane County Republican organization for retiring Senator Karen McConnaughay’s position on the ballot for the 33rd Senate seat, because I believe that my voice represents a view that is being increasingly silenced in the Republican Party.
It was my intention not to overly publicize my application, because the appointment is decided on by two Republican party county chairs (McHenry and Kane) and not by a public participation process. Then, on Wednesday of this week, Steve Schmidt a longtime Republican Strategist (serving President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and many others) announced via twitter that he was joining an increasingly long list of former Republicans and was leaving the Republican Party. Schmidt called out our party as “corrupt, indecent and immoral.” After reading that, I realized I could not stand and be silent.
I believe that departures, like Mr. Schmidt, George Will, and many others signal a fatal flaw that will lead to the destruction of the Republican Party. While some may think that the Republican Party is strong (controlling 67 of 99 state legislative chambers, 33 of 50 governorships, Congress and the Whitehouse), we have abandoned the majority and the middle of the political spectrum, in favor of focusing only on the angry shouts of the far-right base. This needs to stop. Now.
Our party can only survive with a return to the aspirational goals that until recently defined the Republican Party. We have always believed in fiscal conservatism and a more moderate social position that is reflective of the views of most Americans. This is a return to our Republican roots. We are a party of the big tent that welcomes instead of excludes, and reflects the values of giants like Lincoln, Reagan and Rockefeller. We must stop being the party of “no” and offer real solutions that reflect our Republican values to the complex problems we face.
This means rebuilding a party that reflects the social values of the 21st century, such as all people have rights - women, LGTBQ, the mentally ill, the poor, and the immigrant. Our party needs to recognize and embrace the fact of global climate change, science, and evolution. We need to embrace the views of the religious (in all varieties) but also recognize the non-religious. We must be engaged with the rest of our world as a partner and not as isolationists who think only we have the correct answer. We must encourage and support innovation and growth in business. We must control spending and find ways to improve how we spend our tax dollars. However, we also must acknowledge that government has and does bring value to our world. It’s not about big government or small government, it’s about right sized government. Government needs to exist to do the things that individuals and small groups can’t.
One of the things government can do well is addressing and rebalancing historical social wrongs. Schools need to educate against bias (explicit and implicit) and educate our children on all of our various community histories such as those of minorities and LGBTQ. As President Jefferson famously (and somewhat ironically given his status as slaveholder) said, we dream to build an “aristocracy of achievement by a democracy of opportunity.” This sentiment applies today to all of us. Without social change, there is no democracy of opportunity. We need to work to build that opportunity. You can’t pull yourself up by your own bootstraps when you don’t have boots. Poverty and crime filled communities simply do not have the same opportunities to achieve that wealthy communities do. Effective government programs can make that happen and are a necessary party to real change.
I am seeking this appointment to help turn my party away from becoming the “corrupt, indecent and immoral” party that Mr. Schmidt claims we have become. That is not who we are, but if we keep mindlessly following demagogues who live the Machiavellian motto of “the ends justify the means” without adhering to real principles, that is who we will be. In the end, I cannot sit silently by and allow that to happen.
I am proud to be a moderate Republican. I offer my services to the people of the 33rd Senate District of Illinois. Thank you.
* Her top deputies are further to the left than she is, so times will get interesting…
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says she has submitted her retirement papers, effective today.
"I want my members to know first that I’m not abandoning them, I just will be an emerita," she said. "I will be around to help do things, I’m not disappearing anywhere."
* Meanwhile, this didn’t get covered much, but it’s CTU’s only response to the Tribune’s investigation of sexual predators in the Chicago Public Schools, many of whom were CTU members…
The following statement can be attributed to Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey.
“We support common sense changes to CPS’s policies, just as we support our members’ rights to due process. Student safety and due process are mutually affirming – because workers with due process rights and protections on the job are better empowered to advocate for and protect our students.”
“Our union has been advised of CPS’ plans to re-run background checks of our members, as part of their effort to respond to their appalling failures to protect students from child abuse. CPS has reported that about 30% of our members – those who were not fingerprinted by Accurate Biometrics – will need to be re-fingerprinted as part of this policy. CPS has assured us that this new round of background checks is designed explicitly to identify issues related to child safety concerns, and we will be on the alert for any effort to target members outside of the scope of this review.”
No word yet about how vigorously the union fought to keep some of those employees on the job.
* Gov. Rauner was asked on KMOX earlier this month about what he’s done so far as governor. Here’s an excerpt…
Number two, we’re transforming Medicaid in Illinois. Medicaid has been broken and corrupt. It has been ripping off taxpayers and not providing high quality health services. We’ve reduced enrollment dramatically and we’ve increased the efficiency in Medicaid and saved many hundreds of millions of dollars transforming Medicaid. That’s historic.
* Some additional background is here. From the Alliance for Community Services…
280,000 Medical cards being sent out, due to glitches, backlog
The Rauner administration is mass mailing as many as 280,000 notices of temporary medical cards to persons whose applications are stuck in a backlog due to computer glitches and understaffing. The notices are called HFS2350 “Notice of Possible Entitlement to Temporary Medical Assistance.”
The federal government fines states for taking more than 45 days to process Medicaid and SNAP applications.
Some Human Services caseworkers report they are currently processing Medicaid applications filed in January of 2018. Caseworkers report that they were told as many as 280,000 cases are overdue.
The Alliance for Community Services considers these temporary medical cards to be a helpful step for those languishing in the IES-caused backlog, but also a tacit admission that the expensive new IES computer system is failing.
The Rauner administration needs to admit there are continuing glitches and fix them. In addition, the attempt to get a computer program, IES, to make policy and eligibility decisions, rather than trained caseworkers, is misguided.
*** UPDATE 1 *** I should’ve checked the governor’s claims before posting. My bad. According to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, there were 3,247,722 full and partial enrollees during Fiscal Year 2015, when Rauner took office. At the end of FY2017, there were 3,159,553. That’s a 2.7 percent decrease. Hardly dramatic and maybe even temporary if they were wrongly kicked off.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Heating up…
If by "dramatic" you mean audit findings that you can't account for $7 billion, or an enrollment backlog of 280,000 people caused by the failure of your $300 million new IT system, or losing 14,000 nursing home resident claims? Yep that's "Historic" failure #twill#ilgovhttps://t.co/PxmzaKG5aU
A decision last week by the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB) could open up a $400 million hole in Illinois’ fiscal 2019 budget, highlighting the implementation risks in a budget reliant on one-time items and policy measures with uncertain fiscal benefits, according to Fitch Ratings. While the state avoided immediate political stalemate, the on-time budget fails to make material progress in addressing the state’s sizable accounts payable backlog. Given the potential that budget performance will fall short of expectations, Fitch anticipates the governor and legislature may need to revisit the 2019 plan as soon as this fall.
For the first time in four years, Illinois enacted an on-time budget for the coming fiscal year when the governor signed the $38.5 billion (general funds) budget and accompanying legislation into law on June 4th. Despite the implementation risks, enacting an on-time budget with bipartisan support allowed the state to enter the new year with a clear fiscal plan, and provided clarity for the state’s key fiscal partners, including municipal governments, school districts, and public higher education institutions.
Illinois’ ‘BBB’ Issuer Default Rating (IDR) reflects many years of weak operating performance and fiscal decision making. The state continues to benefit from a solid economic base and still substantial independent legal ability to control its budget. The Negative Outlook reflects Fitch’s assessment that fiscal pressures may accelerate in the near term. The state avoided a budget impasse, but the enacted budget entails significant implementation risk. Fitch’s rating on the state will be lowered if the state returns to a pattern of deferring payments for near-term budget balancing and materially increases the accounts payable balance; while stabilization of the rating is contingent on the state’s ability to maintain budgetary balance over multiple years, indicating more sustainable fiscal management. Upward rating momentum is unlikely until the state more comprehensively addresses its accumulated liabilities.
STEP PAY DECISION ADDS TO BUDGETARY UNCERTAINTY
The state could face an unbudgeted spending increase of roughly 1% in fiscal 2019 due to the recent litigation and ILRB’s resulting actions. In 2015, the governor halted step pay increases under an expired labor contract. The AFSCME union challenged the suspension on the grounds that state law required current work conditions to continue in the event of contract expiration. Illinois’ Supreme Court ruled in March 2018 in favour of AFSCME. Last week, the ILRB rejected the governor’s request to send the issue to an administrative law judge for a hearing. Fitch anticipates a final remedy to be determined as soon as early this fall by the ILRB. Based on the Supreme Court ruling, it will likely require the state to provide for unpaid step-pay increases going back to 2015. Based on estimates provided by the administration to the ILRB, the state could face an additional $412 million in expenses in fiscal 2019 if AFSCME’s recommended ‘make-whole’ remedy is implemented immediately.
ONE-TIME MEASURES AND UNADDRESSED ISSUES
The fiscal 2019 budget relies on $800 million in interfund borrowings, which under current law must eventually be repaid. This is more than, and in addition to, the approximately $400 million in interfund borrowings included in the budget for the current fiscal year (ending June 30) that are still outstanding.
Illinois also did not make material progress in addressing its sizable accounts payable backlog with the enacted fiscal 2019 budget. As of April 30, the state comptroller reported a general funds bill backlog of $7.2 billion, or nearly 20% of the fiscal 2019 enacted general funds budget. With only a very narrow budgeted $14 million general funds surplus for fiscal 2019, Fitch anticipates no material progress in reducing the backlog, absent robust and unanticipated revenue growth. The recent favourable decision in Wayfair v. South Dakota provides some potential upside for state revenues in Illinois and elsewhere. But the state reports that its enacted budget already assumes benefits from a favorable Wayfair decision.
The bills backlog and interfund borrowings could total between $8 billion to $9 billion by the end of fiscal 2019. These liabilities are in addition to the state’s approximately $200 billion long-term liability burden for debt and unfunded pension obligations as estimated by Fitch (roughly 30% of state personal income).
BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS CREATE RISK
Fitch remains concerned that several elements of the enacted fiscal 2019 budget may be delayed beyond the fiscal year or could fall short of estimates. For the second year in a row, the budget assumes approximately $300 million in one-time revenues from the sale of the Thompson Center office building in downtown Chicago - the governor also included the sale as part of his fiscal 2017 executive budget. The facility sits atop several lines of the Chicago Transit Authority’s subway system and a final sale requires close negotiation and coordination with the city of Chicago. The administration notes that the timing of a sale is also somewhat contingent on legislative approval of a change in the state’s procedures around surplus property sales; absent that approval the sale process would likely extend beyond the fiscal year.
Uncertain pension savings are also a key component of the enacted budget, accounting for approximately $400 million in expenditure reductions or 1% of the enacted general funds budget. The budget includes three pension proposals; two to buy out some portion of current members’ future benefits at a reduced long-term cost, and one to shift a limited amount of costs to school districts and public universities. The buyout proposals account for the bulk of the savings.
The two buyout proposals will require significant administrative work by the pension systems. Based on initial reports from the state and the systems, the buyouts may not be fully implemented for several months and potentially well into the new fiscal year which could limit the savings the state is able to accrue. The savings estimates also rely on assumptions of the portion of eligible members that will opt into the buyouts which adds to the unpredictability of actual savings. While the state intends to use general obligation bonds to fund the buyouts, Fitch does not consider that a material concern as the new debt will essentially replace reduced net pension liabilities.
The third pension change will require employers in the state university retirement system and teachers retirement system (public universities and school districts, respectively) to assume a portion of the pension contribution for retiring employees if they grant salary increases in excess of 3% during the period used to determine the employee’s final average salary in pension benefit calculations. This anti-spiking measure is expected to generate a modest $20 million in savings in fiscal 2019.
IMPROVEMENTS IN STATE AID
State aid for school districts will increase roughly 5% year-over-year, with a $350 million increase tied to the state’s evidence-based funding formula that was first implemented last year. K-12 spending overall is up nearly 6% with a sizable $300 million increase in state pension payments to the Teachers Retirement System. For municipal governments, the enacted budget rolls back a portion of cuts to various shared tax revenues that were first implemented in fiscal 2018. The budget reduces the state’s withholding of the local share of income and sales tax revenues to 5% from 10%, providing an additional $66 million and $31 million respectively for municipalities. The state also reduced its administrative fee for collections to 1.5% from 2% on various local taxes, providing an additional $15 million for local governments.
Higher education appropriations increase as well, by 2%, or roughly $60 million in fiscal 2019. The pension cost shift noted above will somewhat reduce the benefits of these aid increases for school districts and public universities. The estimated $20 million in savings are well short of the nearly $600 million in pension cost shifts that were proposed in the governor’s executive budget.
* Background is here. Joey McLaughlin of WTAX talked with Gov. Bruce Rauner today…
Governor Rauner fires back at black lawmakers. “The black legislators really have not been serving their community very well, they’ve been too loyal to Mike Madigan,” Rauner tells radio show. https://t.co/FVAenvY2fs
McLaughlin: You recently did an interview on WVON in Chicago and you said no one’s done more for the black community than you have. Some members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus have taken issue. What are your thoughts there?
Rauner: [Laughs] Not surprised they’re sensitive because the black legislators really have not been serving their community very well. They’ve been too loyal to Mike Madigan and his machine. The reality that the black community has been suffering in Illinois under the policies of Madigan’s majority for decades. High unemployment, high taxes, lack of economic opportunity and lack of educational opportunity. And in my administration, I’ve tried to blow up that system and transform it. We’ve created more academic educational equality and excellence than any other governor and we’ve achieved it with our new education funding formula. More equity, more money from low income schools and poor school districts to increase their school quality. Historic change there and record funding for K-12 schools. We’ve also transformed the criminal justice system that too often has been biased against African-Americans. We’ve increased criminal justice and brought fairness back into the system. Historic change, Illinois is a national leader thanks to our administration. And then on economic opportunity, we’ve done more to grow the economy by cuttin’ red tape, cutting regulations, reducing LLC fees, and making sure that state contracting has a level playing field and African-American businesses have a real shot to get state contracts. We haven’t just talked about it, we’ve done it. So, I’m very proud of what our administration has accomplished.
…Adding… So, why is the governor so intent on bashing black lawmakers this week? Well, he doesn’t have very thick skin, and he may truly believe he’s done some good things for black people (and he has). But he also has a real problem with his Republican base since barely winning the primary. And one sure-fire way of uniting the hardcore GOP base is to bash minorities. Just sayin…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Media advisory…
Juliana Stratton Responds to Rauner’s Racist Comments
Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton and members of the Black Caucus to hold press conference in response to Bruce Rauner’s racist comments today, where he stated that he’s “not surprised they’re sensitive because the black legislators really have not been serving their community very well.”
Let’s not be overly harsh. Mayhaps Governor Kipling is just reminding us to “take up the white man’s burden” - we dare not stoop to less. Clearly the failed governor rated worst in the US knows better than black lawmakers what’s best for black folks. #twill#checktherecordhttps://t.co/a2QaDtq7dA
Tune in as we respond to Bruce Rauner’s comments today that he’s “not surprised they’re sensitive because the black legislators really have not been serving their community very well.”
* Juliana Stratton: Black community wants more than just proclamations from leaders: Together, we’re putting forward real plans to reverse the divestment in our communities. J.B. and I will increase funding for our schools, especially the ones our governor once called “prisons.” We’ll support our small businesses by making sure entrepreneurs of color have equal opportunity to compete. And we will be steadfast advocates for a criminal justice system that recognizes the potential of every person in all of our communities. The Rauner playbook pits one community against another. It qualifies lip service as leadership. It accepts the status quo as good enough. So while I’m outraged that Bruce Rauner thinks he’s doing enough for the black community, I’m sadly not surprised. Three years of inaction suggests he is unable or unwilling to recognize reality.
* I really hate to lose this guy. But he was retiring anyway and he apparently got a new job, so good for him…
State Representative Chad Hays (R-Catlin) announced today that he will be stepping down from his seat in the Illinois House of Representatives early so he can take a job in the private sector.
Hays, who has served in the General Assembly since December of 2010 and as Assistant Minority Leader since 2013, said he will leave his post in late August or early September, to become the Executive Director of Crosspoint Human Services in Danville. “While my service in the Illinois General Assembly has been the honor of a lifetime and a tremendous privilege, I have decided the timing is right to return to the private sector where my background and expertise in healthcare administration can be put to good use,” said Hays. “I look forward to this next chapter, but will always look back fondly on my time as the legislative voice of the 104th District.”
Prior to taking his seat in in the Illinois House, Hays served as the Vice President of Provena United Samaritan Medical Center in Danville, as the administrator for the Family Medical Center in Paris, and as the Director of Planning & Development at the Danville Polyclinic. Hays also served as the Mayor of his hometown of Catlin for two terms and as a member of the Board of Directors for many community based organizations including Danville Area Economic Development Corporation (Vermilion Advantage), Danville Rotary Club, and the Vermilion Area Community Health Center.
During his tenure in the General Assembly, Hays has been a leader in supporting job creation and economic growth, not just in Central Illinois, but across the state. As Assistant Minority Leader under House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), Hays has also had a key role in helping to set the Republican agenda for each session year. Since 2015, Hays has also served on the powerful House Executive Committee, which considers the State’s most important and often contentious bills. Hays is known for his unrelenting advocacy on behalf of the East Central Illinois region and his no-nonsense approach to problem solving.
While Hays has passed dozens of bills during his time in the General Assembly, he points to landmark insurance network adequacy legislation from last year as one of his greatest achievements as a lawmaker. Hays was the leading Republican sponsor of Public Act 100-0502, which offers significant protections and remedies for Illinoisans who rely on increasingly-narrow preferred provider networks for their health insurance.
Hays said the details for his transition back to the private sector are being finalized, and he anticipates leaving the General Assembly in early September.
Gov. Bruce Rauner said Thursday it is time to invest more in maintaining and creating “world-class facilities” at the state’s universities.
His comments came at Illinois State University, where he met with school President Larry Dietz and other top administrators and toured three buildings scheduled to be torn down or extensively renovated as part of a fine arts complex included in the recently passed state budget.
Speaking to a group of faculty and students in the ISU Center for the Performing Arts, Rauner said, “I want significant new investment” in higher education facilities and “updating our technologies.”
I’ve pledged, and I’m gonna work my tail off, sometime within the next six to nine months, I’m giving myself nine months, I want a massive new capital bill, new capital program for the state of Illinois. And I want significant new investments all in our education, higher education institutions. And I want world-class facilities, world-class support for our programs and capital bills will be very heavily focused. We’re gonna do a lot of transportation, roads, bridges, locks, dams, canals, railroads. But it’s gonna be very focused on higher education, world-class facilities, updating our technology so we can have the best education for our young people anywhere in America, anywhere in the world here in our institutions of higher education led by ISU. Go Redbirds!
Dude just finally learned how to crawl by signing his first budget after three and a half years and now he thinks he can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Also… Canals? Wut?
* And he’s gonna pay for these new canals how, exactly? He’s been promising a massive capital plan since the 2014 campaign and never said how he’d pay for it. Reporters don’t even ask him about it any longer.
A massive capital plan costs money. Lots of money. And Illinois’ government doesn’t have that kind of money on hand, so it’ll have to be new money. Until the governor finally identifies a revenue source, you can completely dismiss this grandiose verbosity.
Also, the inclusion of obsolete 19th Century transportation technology in the governor’s list may be an accidental “tell” that there was no real thought put into this concept. He looks to me like he’s just pulling stuff out of thin (and very old) air and flinging it at the locals for applause lines and fluffy headlines.
Also too, nine months from yesterday is March 21, 2019. Just to be on the safe side, he might wanna give himself less than nine months to pass a capital bill. Maybe focus on the fall veto session, which begins November 13th.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed House Bill 1910 on Thursday, permitting the town of Normal to extend its uptown tax increment financing district for 12 more years.
A TIF district allows officials to divert increases in property tax revenue generated by improvements within the district from taxing bodies to a fund for development incentives and infrastructure improvements. The uptown TIF was set to expire in 2026 and couldn’t be extended without legislative approval.
“You have a great tax increment financing district here,” Rauner said. “We don’t want it to expire.”
* Last August, the governor amendatorially vetoed the education funding reform bill (SB1) to, among other things, take out this provision…
Eliminates the PTELL and TIF equalized assessed value subsidies that allow districts to continue under-reporting property wealth.
And Rauner justified calling TIF districts “slush funds” this way…
Rauner spokeswoman Laurel Patrick pretty much said the governor has made up his mind.
“While TIFs stimulate economic growth in some areas, they do so by depriving economic growth in other areas. They also put government in the position of choosing winners and losers,” she said in an email.
Many, many thanks to Barton Lorimor and Hannah Meisel for filling in while I was away. You can use this post to express your appreciation, too, if you’d like.
For years, Illinois lawmakers have tried to pass legislation that would allow farmers to grow industrial hemp as an alternative crop, but those efforts failed to earn enough support in the legislature. But this push might finally be bringing the issue near a finish line. This spring, legislation passed through both chambers with overwhelming support and will soon head to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk. However, the measure still has critics. The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police opposes legislation.
“We’re opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana,” said Executive Director Ed Wojcicki. “We just see this bill as creeping into that issue so we’ve decided we’re taking a firm position against any bills that would move the needle toward the legalization of marijuana.”
Is the drug-related property seizure business really that lucrative for cop shops?
OK, maybe I’m being too cynical. But I was just in the San Francisco area and I didn’t notice it was collapsing from the perils of legalized pot. Just the opposite.
Indeed, during a fact-finding visit to a local dispensary, I asked the “bud-tender” what the consequences were for smoking the vile weed in public. The bud-tender noted that even though he is an African-American, he is never hassled by the cops for puffing the green stuff.
The Pritzker campaign… released a new TV ad today called “Thank You,” highlighting the residents of neighboring states thanking Rauner for igniting their job markets by driving Illinois into the ground. Under Rauner’s failed leadership, Illinois has higher unemployment.
“Under Bruce Rauner, Illinois has higher unemployment than nearby states, and residents of neighboring states are benefiting from this governor’s failed leadership,” said JB Pritzker. “Enough with the bad mouthing — it’s time Illinois had a governor that creates jobs right here in our state, and works tirelessly to help businesses thrive. When I’m governor, I’ll put our economy back on track and put Springfield back on the side of working families.”
* The ad is an obvious play on Rauner’s “Thanks Mike” TV ad which featured Republican governors thanking Speaker Madigan for sending jobs to their states. That ad is no longer around because Missouri’s governor resigned under pressure after a sex scandal. Anyway, rate it…
* Transcript…
We want to say thank you. Thank you Bruce Rauner. Thanks governor. For helping create jobs here, in Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana. Because when Bruce Rauner calls Illinois a horrible place to do business, guess where the jobs go… to us… and what governor talks trash about his own state…We all have lower unemployment than Illinois. Thanks to Bruce Rauner. Hoosiers love you Bruce! Big fans here in Missouri! Cheeseheads too. Thanks Bruce Rauner. Thanks governor. Thanks gov.
*** UPDATE *** Rauner campaign…
Pritzker won’t admit the damage that’s been done to Illinois by decades of corrupt politicians because he’s used his wealth and influence to benefit from a broken political system. Governor Rauner is working every day to clean up state government and build a better future for the hardworking people of this state.
