Question of the day
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ve known Patty Schuh for something like 28 years. She’s not like a lot of other spokespeople. She doesn’t get up in your grill if she disagrees with you. Instead, she uses reason, even sometimes kindness to make her points. I respect the way she does her job and I also happen to like her as a person.
Patty has worked in this business for something like 33 years and today is her birthday. So, if you see her, wish her well.
Here she is back in the day with her former boss Pate Philip…
I love that pic. But we’re not doing a caption contest. I wouldn’t subject her to that on her birthday.
* The Question: Who are some of your own favorite people in Illinois government? Explain.
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It’s just a bill
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Illinois consumers will only be able to use controversial, short-term health insurance plans for about six months at a time now that the state legislature has voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill that sets that limit.
Dozens of Illinois consumer advocacy groups had supported the original bill, which took aim at a recent Trump administration change to the rules surrounding short-term plans. Such plans are generally cheaper than traditional health insurance but cover fewer services.
The plans were meant to serve as a stopgap for consumers between health insurance plans. But new federal rules allow them to be used for a year and be renewed for as long as three years. The Trump administration has said the rule change was meant to help more people get affordable coverage.
Consumer advocates, however, sought to limit the use of those plans in Illinois to just six months at a time through the bill.
* Greg Hinz…
Rahm Emanuel soon will leave as Chicago’s mayor, but that isn’t stopping him from quietly pushing through legislation in Springfield to extend the life of four city tax-increment financing districts—including one in the Goose Island area that’s part of the huge proposed Lincoln Yards development.
Approved late yesterday in the Illinois House was a measure adding another 13 years each to the lives of the Bryn Mawr-Broadway, Goose Island, 95th/Western and 71st/Stony Island TIF districts. The Illinois Senate is expected to concur as soon as today, meaning that districts would continue to get to spend much of the growth in property taxes within their borders until 2032 to 2034, depending on the districts.
Each of the four TIFs has accomplished some of what was intended in the past two decades—TIF districts sunset after 23 years, unless their life is extended—but still have more things that the city wants to accomplish, said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, chief sponsor of the legislation. “They’ve completed phase one and two, but still have phases three and four,” Currie said.
The city Department of Planning and Development confirmed that the legislation was introduced at the city’s request and cited a few specifics for each location. But a spokesman yesterday afternoon was unable to say how much money will be involved over the next 13 years.
The bill is here.
* Press release…
More than half a century since the Civil Rights Act became law, workers in the United States continue to earn different wages based on their race.
Assistant Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) is fighting for legislation that would prohibit wage discrimination against African-Americans under the Equal Pay Act.
“Governor Rauner ignored the wage gap for African-Americans and decided he wanted to ‘All Lives Matter’ this proposal,” Lightford said. “Today, we made sure that wage equity continues to be a priority in Illinois.”
According to a 2017 Federal Reserve study, black men and women earn persistently lower wages compared to their white counterparts and this wage gap cannot be adequately explained by differences in education, age, job type or location.
That gap appears to be expanding rather than contracting. In 1979, the average lack man in the United States earned about 80 percent compared to the average white man, by 2016 that gap had grown to 70 percent. The same is true for black women, who in 1979 earned about 95 percent compared to white women, but by 2016 earned only 82 percent of wages paid to white women on average.
House Bill 4743 prohibits employers from paying wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the rate paid to an employee who is not African-American for the same or substantially similar work.
Governor Rauner’s veto was overridden in the Senate with a vote of 49-01.
The House had already overridden the veto so it’s now law. The lone Senate “No” vote was Sen. Kyle McCarter.
* Other stuff…
* Our View: Bet on it: Video gaming fuels increase in Illinois gaming revenue
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* Yesterday at the Illinois Policy Institute…
Andrew Hamilton has made millions through an obscure economic development tool that has flown under the radar of Illinois government watchdogs for years.
Recent actions by Gov. Bruce Rauner, the Illinois House of Representatives and Kane County officials suggested that cash flow could soon come to an end. But the Illinois Senate appears to be sitting on its hands – a concerning response to an official under fire for profiting from public influence.
The bill in question is SB2367 and it’s sponsored by Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake). Her original bill as sponsored was dependent upon the passage of two other bills, only one of which actually passed, so Bush apparently lost track of it when the House did a last-minute gut and replace on the final day of the spring session.
Sen. Bush was clearly surprised when I showed her the Illinois Policy Institute story yesterday and told me she had no idea that the bill had been amended in the House and said she would remove her name as its sponsor.
* From the governor’s office…
Dear Senator Cullerton,
It has come to our attention that the bipartisan reforms of the state’s regional economic development authorities contained within SB2367 as amended have not moved from the Senate Assignments committee since July.
As you know, the reforms of the Regional Economic Development authority were passed out of the Illinois House unanimously, with a vote of 108-0 on May 31st; the bill was then placed on the Senate calendar of concurrence on June 7th before being sent to the Senate Committee on Assignments on July 8th.
The reforms contained in this bill were highlighted in a letter our administration sent to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity highlighting the apparent conflicts of interest and lack of transparency contained within the RDA system. House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie praised the reforms by noting that: “The regional economic development authorities are not as transparent as they should be, are not as open to the public as they must be.” Adding, “the Governor’s reform proposals are excellent. The idea that there should be no conflict of interest, within these agencies that they should have to report their activities, that people know what kind of financing they’re arranging, I think that makes excellent sense.”
When simple commonsense reforms like these get buried in a Senate committee it gives the appearance of backroom deals cut by insiders in Springfield to stop reforms intended to serve the taxpayer instead of special interests. I believe the public is owed a prompt concurrence vote in the Senate, this week, on these good government reforms. A vote this week will show the public that the Illinois Senate is dedicated to protecting the taxpayer from conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and government waste
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
Governor, State of Illinois
…Adding… The more I think about this, the more it sticks in my craw. If the governor had a properly functioning legislative liaison staff, Sen. Bush would’ve been notified months ago about the amendment and maybe she could’ve either handed off the bill to another sponsor or moved it to the governor’s desk in the first week of the veto session. Instead the governor makes some charge about backroom deals at the end of the last week of veto session.
Typical.
…Adding More… As we’ve already discussed, the governor just met with Senate President Cullerton yesterday. Perhaps he could’ve brought it up then? Or did he only discover the problem when the Illinois Policy Institute wrote its story? And what does that say about him?
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* Sun-Times…
Lawyers for a political rival suing Mike Madigan for allegedly placing “sham” candidates on the ballot will be allowed to inspect the powerful speaker’s Southwest Side offices, a federal judge has ruled.
Attorneys for Jason Gonzales in October requested to “inspect, measure” and photograph the speaker and state Democratic Party chairman’s political offices — a demand Madigan’s lawyers called a violation of the First Amendment and “a political fishing expedition.”
But Gonzales’ legal team contends it’s all part of showing that Madigan’s line between politics and official government business is a “mirage.” […]
The goal is to inspect two of the speaker’s Southwest Side offices — the political offices of Friends of Michael J. Madigan and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization offices — to show their “layout,” attorneys said.
“Your honor, one of the things we’re trying to demonstrate is that the articulated differentiation between the political and state functions between the Speaker and his political operations is really a mirage,” Boulton told Kennelly in October.
His state district office is also in the building, which houses the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture and Ald. Marty Quinn’s city office.
I’ve driven by the place several times, but I’ve never been inside.
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* I mean, it’s not even up to the level of round-tabling…
*** UPDATE *** Ruh-roh…
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Ives’ new pension legal theory
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Scott Reeder…
A new legal theory is being pondered by outgoing state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, that she contends would get the state out from under the pension debt.
It goes like this:
The state entered into illegal contracts when it signed up employees for pensions over the last 40 years. While the state constitution says pensions of public employees cannot be diminished, the constitution also mandates that state legislators pass a budget that they believe to be balanced and the constitution also says Illinois cannot take on more debt unless three-fifths of lawmakers agree.
And yet, Ives contends lawmakers have been well aware that the budgets they have passed each year have not adequately covered anticipated pension obligations. Her contention is that this was a deliberate violation of the balanced budget clause of the state constitution and thus its “contract” with pensioners is void. She also says that promising payouts without funding them creates a debt obligation that should have received a super-majority vote of the legislature each year, but didn’t always.
Longtime statehouse observer Charles Wheeler III is quick to note that the state constitution doesn’t require a balanced budget only that lawmakers estimate it to be balanced. The late great state budget director Steve Schnorf, who served under Governors Jim Edgar and George Ryan used to call the practice: “playing make believe.”
I don’t see the Illinois Supreme Court having much of an appetite for taking up Ives’ legal argument. After all, the court unanimously ruled several years ago that the pension benefits cannot be reduced.
But if the case is somehow argued in the federal courts, this legal argument might prevail, especially with the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Discuss.
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* AFSCME Council 31…
Fighting state workers and our union every step of the way—and insisting on using a high-priced outside law firm to do so—Bruce Rauner has already run up a legal tab of more than $6 million.
Now on his way out the door, Rauner hasn’t changed his stripes. Refusing to accept yet another court ruling won by AFSCME—the appellate court decision stating that the Rauner-appointed state labor board erred in finding that the governor and the union had reached impasse in state contract negotiations—on Nov. 27 his administration asked for another 60 days in which to file an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
AFSCME now has an opportunity to respond, after which the justices will consider whether to allow the governor’s late appeal.
Rauner’s ongoing delay tactics and refusal to accept legal findings make clear that he’s never had any intention of bargaining in good faith with state workers.
What’s certain is that Rauner’s $6 million meter counting the public dollars he’s wasted on costly lawyers will keep ticking even higher.
* So, what’s with that $6 million legal tab? Rauner has used outside counsel to fight AFSCME and bargain with other unions instead of using the state’s lawyers. Council 31 has used the FOIA laws to track his spending, which it claims is $6 million and still climbing.
I asked for documentation and they sent me a spreadsheet. Click here.
There are three tabs on that spreadsheet. The union says each tab shows the invoices paid by the Rauner administration to the law firm Laner Muchin. The firm “exclusively represents management in employment-related litigation, labor relations,” etc.
At the bottom of each tab, you’ll see a total amount for the time period…
Jan. 2015-Nov. 2016: $2.82 million
Dec. 2016-Oct. 2017: $1.31 million
Oct. 2017-Sept. 2018: $1.86 million
Not all of these expenses are directly related to AFSCME. Some are about other unions. Anyway, have a look and tell us what pops out at you.
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* JB Pritzker talks about balancing the budget while providing more money for K-12 education…
“We already have a challenge. And I was well aware of it, and I’ve talked about revenue resources and the fact that we have to balance our budget in a real way, and not in ways that, in April you find out you’re short by several billion. So we’re trying to figure that out,” Pritzker said. “You can’t solve all these problems immediately. It’s not like electing a new governor, day one, everything is solved.” […]
Pritkzer on Tuesday talked about trying to “accelerate” [the education funding reform plan, which currently ramps up by $350 million a year over 10 years], saying “we are moving toward a quality education for every child no matter where they live.” […]
He also embraced a contentious plan (Senate Bill 2892) that would require public school teachers be paid a salary of at least $40,000; advocates say it will help address a shortage of teachers, but critics – including Rauner, who vetoed the legislation – believe the expense will put too much strain on districts that already face financial difficulties. […]
Pritzker on Tuesday embraced the plan, saying, “I think the bill that was put forward is the right bill,” and that should the General Assembly fail to override Rauner’s veto, “We’ll be revisiting it in the new administration.”
* Related…
* Pritzker Names Education Advisory Team: These teams serve a purely advisory, unpaid role, although history has shown many transition advisors go on to serve cabinet positions. When Bruce Rauner was elected governor, his six-person education transition team included Tony Smith (then a foundation director), Beth Purvis (then CEO of Chicago International Charter Schools), Al Bowman (then the president emeritus of Illinois State University), and Lazaro Lopez (then an associate superintendent at High School District 214). After Rauner was sworn in, Smith became state superintendent of schools; Purvis became Rauner’s Secretary of Education; Bowman became executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education; and Lopez became chair of the Illinois Community College Board. Purvis has since left the state to work for the Kern Family Foundation, a Wisconsin-based philanthropy that has supported Gov. Scott Walker and legislative candidates who back school vouchers.
* Manar named co-chair of Gov.-elect Pritzker’s transition team for education: This is the second of Pritzker’s transition committees to which Manar has been named, as he and Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe were named earlier this month to Pritzker’s budget committee.
* Former Ottawa, Streator administrator named to Pritzker transition team
* Several area leaders named to Pritzker’s transition teams
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“The Sucker State”
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From my tchotchke collection…
* Nobody really knows for sure how Illinois got that nickname way back in the 19th Century, but Jared Olar took a look at some of the theories. Here’s one…
For this particular question, the earliest explanation is that given by Illinois Gov. Thomas Ford in his 1854 “A History of Illinois.” Ford said the first settlers of southern Illinois came to be called “Suckers” as an analogy to the “suckers” (young sprouts and shoots) of the tobacco plant.
“These poor emigrants from the slave States were jeeringly and derisively called ‘suckers,’ because there were asserted to be a burthen upon the people of wealth; and when they removed to Illinois they were supposed to have stripped themselves off from the parent stem and gone away to perish like the ‘sucker’ of the tobacco plant. This name was given to the Illinoisans at the Galena mines by the Missourians.”
It is probably no accident that both Ford and Chapman mention the mines at Galena – it seems that is where the nickname “Sucker” was first given to Illinoisans. Ford’s explanation appears earlier than Chapman’s explanation, which makes Ford’s explanation more likely – but it cannot be held to be certainly true.
As it happens, it was also by analogy that plant sprouts first came to be called “suckers.” The Online Etymology Dictionary says “sucker” is a Middle English word from the late 1300s meaning a young child who has not yet been weaned. By the 1570s, the word had begun to be applied to plant shoots, since the shoots were like little “children” of the plant. Sucker fish aren’t mentioned in literature until 1753, and it wasn’t until 1836 that the American slang term “sucker,” meaning a fool, someone with childlike naïveté who is easily tricked, first appeared (and no, it was not in reference to Illinoisans).
Whether the nickname derives from reed straws, fish, tobacco sprouts, or fools, the Illinois General Assembly in 1955 voted to adopt “Land of Lincoln” as our state’s official nickname. Today “Prairie State” is still sometimes heard, but “Sucker State” is rare, heard very little outside the circles of Illinois historical study.
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* This controversy was tailor-made for an otherwise routine veto session day with a packed press box. Here’s the Tribune…
A Democratic state lawmaker said she wanted to pump a lethal “broth of Legionella” bacteria into the water system of a Republican colleague’s family, during heated remarks on the Illinois House floor over a bill aimed at helping families of more than a dozen residents at the Downstate Quincy veterans home who died of Legionnaires’.
The bill would raise limits on damages in some state Court of Claims cases from $100,000 to $2 million, which could affect the victims’ families, who allege the state was negligent in the deaths that resulted from outbreaks at the veterans home over the past three years. Gov. Bruce Rauner rewrote the proposal over the summer to reduce such caps on damage awards to $300,000, but lawmakers voted Tuesday to override him.
During the House floor debate over the proposal, Republican state Rep. Peter Breen of Lombard questioned some of the plan’s details, contending the state doesn’t know how much it will cost. Breen, the outgoing House GOP floor leader, noted that multiple tort claims could be paid out for the same incident.
“And, yes, we know the personal injury lawyers are going to make out like bandits, which they tend to do anytime they come to the General Assembly,” Breen said.
The “broth of Legionella” reference is explained here.
* Dave Dahl…
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego), referring to Breen, said, “I’d like to make him a broth of legionella and pump it into the water system of his loved one, so that they can be infected, they can be mistreated, they can sit and suffer by getting aspirin instead of being properly treated, and ultimately die.”
Breen’s mic was not on when he shouted something about “my f—in’ family.”
Kifowit later said her remarks were misinterpreted and that she was making a hypothetical statement: “Imagine if it were your family.”
* Sun-Times…
After Kifowit’s remarks, state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, quickly came to Breen’s defense saying the Oswego Democrat “essentially wished a death on a Republican floor speaker.”
“How dare you. How dare you concoct up some sort of story about brewing up some batch of Legionella and having him feed it to his family. How dare you take the discussion and the debate about a very serious bill that has a huge cost consequence on both sides, both for the victim and the state taxpayers. How dare you take an honest debate about an issue and then wish death on my colleague Peter Breen, his wife and his two adopted kids,” Ives said. […]
Kifowit, herself, sought to clarify her comments — saying she “quite clearly” wanted him to imagine “if it was your family, hypothetically speaking.”
“For the fact of it being misrepresented, I’m going to say that what was said earlier is a mischaracterization of what my words were,” Kifowit said on the House floor. “And for that, for it being misinterpreted, I will apologize. But I will not apologize for what happened to those families. And I will clearly say to all of us, imagine if it was your family.”
* The former Marine just about killed the override with her remarks…
Three Republican lawmakers who had voted in favor of the bill in May — including Breen — switched their votes from yes to no. Four other Republicans who voted yes were either absent for Tuesday’s vote or chose not to vote.
The motion received the bare minimum of 71 votes.
* With thanks to Dave Dahl, here’s the full audio of her remarks…
Rep. Kifowit told me last night that she was “trying to paint a picture” with her words and that she didn’t intend to wish actual harm on Rep. Breen’s family.
Leave the painting to painters.
There’s just no excuse for stuff like this. She should own up to her remarks and fully retract what she said, which is different than what she claims to have said or meant.
* Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider…
Today, Illinois Democrats sunk to a new low, when Democratic State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit wished death upon family members/loved ones of her Republican colleague, State Rep. Peter Breen. Kifowit should be ashamed of her remarks. Since Rep. Kifowit has refused to apologize to Rep. Breen, she should resign from office, as these remarks are unfit for someone serving public office.
Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker appointed Rep. Kifowit to his “Serving Illinois’ Heroes Committee” earlier this month. Does the Governor-elect condone Kifowit’s rhetoric? Will he keep her on his committee?
As leading Illinois Democrats, both Governor-elect Pritzker and Speaker Michael Madigan have a duty to speak out against Rep. Kifowit’s extreme rhetoric and tone down out-of-control public discourse. They should do so immediately.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Kifowit…
“I offer my sincere apology to Representative Peter Breen, his family, and all of my House colleagues for my poor choice of words during a serious discussion on our Veterans’ health and safety. I would never wish any harm or mortality on anyone’s family, including the Breen family. As a Marine Corps Veteran, I feel very passionate about what happened in our Quincy Veterans home, which resulted in 13 Veterans and 1 spouse’s deaths, in addition to over 70 individuals being ill. The truth is this did happen to our heroes, and my attempt to illustrate empathy for the families that were affected by the loss of their loved ones was not conveyed properly.
“Lost in my comments yesterday was our obligation to work together on behalf of our Veterans to ensure that the situation in Quincy never happens again. As legislators, we are fallible people, but we are tasked with the tremendous responsibility of caring for the Veteran men and women who have never let us down. We owe them so much more.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues to expand access to health care and mental health resources for our Veterans.”
…Adding… Sun-Times…
A Pritzker spokeswoman issued a statement Wednesday saying it was “clear that during the course of an emotional debate over the Legionnaires’ crisis in Quincy Representative Kifowit’s rhetoric went too far and she rightfully apologized.”
The statement continued that Pritzker wanted to “keep the focus on protecting” veterans, and that Pritzker “looks forward to working with” the Serving Illinois’ Heroes Committee “to ensure the administration is ready to serve Veterans on day one in office.”
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