* I’m not yet sure what’s going to happen next week as far as the blog goes. I will probably post on Monday and Tuesday. We’ll see.
Politics is one of the only businesses where you can work harder than you’ve ever worked and totally dedicate yourself to the task at hand every single day and still come up short. This song is for the folks who busted their humps and didn’t win last week…
The past is gone
It went by, like dusk to dawn
Isn’t that the way
Everybody’s got the dues in life to pay
I know nobody knows
Where it comes and where it goes
I know it’s everybody’s sin
You got to lose to know how to win
Friday, Nov 16, 2018 - Posted by Advertising Department
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We tried to fill as many of the races as we could. In many counties, where there were all Republicans on the county board, now they’ve got a couple of Democrats because we ran people.
I asked the Pritzker campaign for a list of those types of winners. They didn’t have one, but said they were working on building one.
* So, I turned to the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association, which handled the Blue Wave effort for Pritzker in Downstate counties. I was told it would take at least another week before they could pull together a full list…
There are obviously places where our successes mirror the successes of higher-level Democrats. In the west suburban regions, of course, we had strong victories.
In other areas, Champaign and Lake Counties for example, the results included significant takeovers of offices by the Democrats.
Obviously though, there are wide regions where Democrats continued to struggle, as they have for many election cycles.
The Pritzker campaign effort was instrumental in helping to boost a County Democratic Party presence all over the state - especially in areas where visibility and activity has needed support. Through the Pritzker campaign and allies, such as organized labor, many downstate county parties were able to push against Republicans. For example, the Pritzker support ensured that many counties had the first legitimate and organized GOTV effort in decades. It was critical.
So, 2018 was largely a benchmark and a testing ground for the IDCCA and our partners. You already understand all the dynamics the further south you get - a very unpopular GOP Governor, a President with a solid, vocal following, and all the other factors combined.
We’re still trying determine all the lessons we should learn. What we’re excited about is knowing that Governor-elect Pritzker and his team also want to learn from the campaign so he can govern to improve life for every Illinoisan, regardless of where they live.
* OK, but what about Pritzker’s contention to the NYT that the Democrats were able to pick up a seat or two on some previously all-GOP county boards?
I mean, that’s all close to what he said, but it’s not what he said. And “many” counties? Hmm.
If they ever do manage to find a way to show Pritzker wasn’t just pulling stuff out of thin air, I’ll let you know.
* Related…
* Bernie: Zahorik seeks to continue building blue wave: The new president of the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association, hopes to extend her party’s gains, evidenced in the Nov. 6 election, to more parts of the state
A proposed bill that could give McHenry County residents the power to abolish townships with a majority vote at the polls cleared another hurdle this week in Springfield to make it to the Senate floor.
After a second reading Tuesday, House Bill 4637 passed the Senate Executive Committee, 11-6. Now in the hands of sponsor state Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, the bill has advanced to the floor.
House co-sponsor state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, said Link could call the bill on the floor for a vote as early as the week after Thanksgiving.
“I feel very good about where things stand,” McSweeney said. “And I think we’re going to pass it.”
The controversial effort to make it easier for private companies to take over public water systems, which Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law about three months ago, was thrown into doubt on Thursday.
It came down to a missed deadline.
In August, Rauner signed an amendment extending a 2013 law that allows private companies such as Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois to buy water utilities and spread the costs across their existing ratepayers. The amendment to the Illinois Water Systems Viability Act removed a limit on the size of water systems that private companies can buy and extended the act for another 10 years.
But the original act’s expiration date was June 1 of this year, two months before Rauner signed the amendment. That missed deadline led supporters back to the floor of the statehouse on Thursday to change the date of the law’s expiration to Aug. 9.
When several legislators critical of the law and the amendments spoke against both, the bill was pulled.
Counties would have more flexibility with sales tax dollars meant for public safety under a bill that has been sent to the Illinois House.
In counties were voters had previously approved tax hikes to fund public safety, the bill would give local officials the ability to use that revenue for other purposes, including to address mental health and substance abuse issues.
An Illinois teen won’t face felony eavesdropping charges for recording a talk with a school principal after prosecutors decided to drop the matter Thursday after the case got national attention.
Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe dismissed the charges against 14-year-old Paul Boron. When Boron was 13, he was called into Manteno Middle School Principal David Conrad’s office. Boron told Conrad that he had been recording with his phone. The principal told Boron that he was committing a felony and ended the meeting. Two months later, Boron was charged with eavesdropping, which is a Class 4 felony in Illinois. […]
Illinois is what’s known as a two-party consent state, meaning that recording someone without permission in even a semi-private area is a Class 4 felony. The key term in the law is a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” Recording a phone call, for instance, would likely be a felony. […]
“The school district made the right decision by dismissing its charges against Paul. Paul spent a summer no 13 year old should have had to endure, with a felony hanging over his head simply because he recorded a conversation with his principals,” said Austin Berg, director of content strategy for the institute. “Supporters from around the nation rallied around Paul to share their concerns over how extreme the charge was. We’re grateful to those who jumped in to support Paul’s great legal defense and helped him get this happy ending.”
After hearing of the charges, advocates for the state’s existing consent rules said officials should not have weaponized the law in this case.
“To criminalize this young man and make a felon out of him is something we can unequivocally say is the wrong thing to do,” ACLU of Illinois attorney Ben Ruddell said.
Kankakee County’ State’s Attorney Jim Rowe said the law in its current state needs to be modified.
“I hope Springfield addresses this statute, as well as passing an updated cyberbullying statute,” he said. “Law enforcement needs clarity as they are tasked with making decisions on the front lines; it is easy to second guess prosecutors and police, but all state laws come from Springfield and they need to clean this one up.”
True, but in the meantime, state’s attorneys (and school districts) can try to use a little common sense. That obviously didn’t happen in this case until much damage was already done.
Mayoral candidate Bill Daley wants to create a Cabinet-level crime-fighting post and invest $50 million per year to staff a new City Hall department dedicated to reducing violence, he said Thursday. […]
A new deputy mayor for violence prevention who reports to the mayor is needed in order to put Chicago’s crime epidemic on the front burner, Daley said. “I want a deputy mayor every day in my face talking about what’s getting done to address this,” he said.
Create a redundant bureaucracy and fill it with bureaucrats. Brilliant!
* Instead of dumping money into a press-pop, maybe he should use it for this sort of stuff…
• [Daley] will work with local funders to raise additional money each year to scale promising diversion programs like Chicago CRED and Heartland Alliance’s READI program that put at-risk youth on a path to legitimate work through training and intensive counseling.
• Get ahead of the consent decree by requiring 40 hours of annual training for all police officers starting in 2019 in areas such as the use of force, de-escalation tactics, implicit bias, and understanding reasonable suspicion. […]
• Allocate additional funds to fully staff gang units with talented officers skilled in gathering intelligence. […]
• De-politicize and make transparent the promotion process within the Police Department, providing regular opportunities for good officers to build new skills and move into leadership positions.
But the only mental health approach is for police, not the community at large.
* This isn’t really “new” news because he said it during the campaign on several occasions…
Billionaire Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker — who pumped a record $171.5 million of his personal fortune into his winning campaign for Illinois governor — will forgo his state salary, his staff said.
Considering state government’s annual spending is nearly $38.5 billion, the $177,412 annual salary Illinois pays its governor is a drop in the bucket. But the Hyatt hotel heir takes office next year facing steep financial challenges — the state’s sitting on at least $7.5 billion in unpaid bills — and refusing a salary sends a message to lawmakers and voters as he starts addressing them. […]
To forgo their salary, governors just fill out paperwork through the state comptroller’s office, which is in charge of the state’s checkbook.
“That’s the way it works with Gov. Rauner, he just doesn’t get a check,” said Jamey Dunn, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office.
* The Question: What other symbolic gestures should the incoming governor make? And since it’s Friday, I’ve decided that snark should be strongly encouraged.
Friday, Nov 16, 2018 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Members of the Senate did the right thing by voting to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of SB2641.
Under this bill, car rental platforms would no longer be allowed to skirt safety regulations designed to keep unsafe vehicles off the road. Legislators on both sides of the aisle should be applauded for being proactive in preventing tragedy.
They also deserve praise for recognizing the unfair nature of letting car rental platforms operate tax free, even though the vehicles they profit from contribute to both airport and neighborhood parking congestion as well as roadway wear and tear. This bill will help ensure public roads, bridges and airports are maintained safely, while guaranteeing fair competition and protections for all consumers.
Friday, Nov 16, 2018 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois consumers can choose from several different natural gas plans from more than 30 competitors. When shopping for the best plan, it’s important to understand the plan options. Below are 5 of the most common types.
1. Fixed Price: Most popular option. Locks in unchanging price per unit for contract duration, usually from 3 months to 2 years.
2. Capped Price: Similar to a fixed price but allows for a price reduction if the market price of natural gas drops.
3. Monthly Variable Price: The price per unit changes each month based on the market price and the supplier’s plan details.
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Once you know the basic types of plans, you look at other variables such as contract length. More than 36,000 Illinois residents have found their natural gas solution from Direct Energy, a natural gas and electric retail energy company.
* We talked a bit yesterday about Governor-elect Pritzker’s new health-related transition committee. Stephanie Goldberg at Crain’s interviewed one of the co-chairs, Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago). Steans chairs the Senate Appropriations 1 Committee and has been very active on this issue…
Another focus area for the committee is the social service sector, particularly mental health and substance use treatment, which Steans says has been “decimated” over the last several years.
“We have been underinvesting in those (areas) and really need to determine how we can get people access to those services when they need them,” she said.
That’s very true. But it’s going to cost real money to heal these programs after years of neglect and deliberate undermining. It’s all part of the “hollowing out” of government that goes back to the Rod Blagojevich days. RRB always wanted to create new programs, but he wouldn’t ever propose a realistic revenue source. So, what was in place was often disregarded and allowed to whither and/or die on the vine. And then Rauner came along and all heck broke loose.
Governors generally win plaudits for coming up with new ideas. For once, I’d like to see a governor sort out what works and what doesn’t and fully fund what works and de-fund or fix what doesn’t.
Rauner’s HealthChoice Illinois, the state’s overhauled Medicaid managed care program, is another initiative the industry is watching closely. The program, in which private insurers administer Medicaid benefits, has received mixed reviews since it launched in January, with detractors citing proposed rate cuts to medical suppliers and insurers not providing adequate access for members in certain areas.
“There are ways to improve (the program) without undermining the care coordination work that’s been done,” Steans said. It’s about “moving away from trying to control costs to saying, we need to get people the right care at the right time in the right setting. That way, you can provide much more preventive (services) and make sure you’re holding accountable the (Medicaid managed care organizations) and the providers for quality outcomes . . . which, long-term, does reduce costs.”
Sen. Steans is right that preventive care does save money in the long-term. But it costs more in the short-term.
* Back in 1998, Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) ran for comptroller. He won the primary, but lost the general to Dan Hynes. His Republican primary opponent ran a radio ad claiming Lauzen wasn’t a certified CPA, and after the election was over he attempted to have his named changed to “Christopher J. Lauzen, CPA.” He didn’t succeed.
Lauzen chose to run for reelection in 2002 rather than run for comptroller again. He ran for Congress and lost and then ran successfully for Kane County Board Chairman, where he is today.
* But should Comptroller Susana Mendoza win her Chicago mayor’s race, Gov. Pritzker would appoint her replacement and a special election would be held in 2020. So, Lauzen has apparently decided to plan ahead. He filed this paperwork earlier in the week…
* It’s not “illegal” to delete somebody’s Facebook comment, particularly the two highlighted here. What a weird thing to say…
Commenters on state Rep.-elect Anne Stava-Murray‘s Facebook page have for weeks been disparaging House Speaker Mike Madigan. That’s no surprise given Democrat Stava-Murray campaigned saying she wouldn’t vote to re-elect Madigan as speaker. But some of the social-media rhetoric has gone over the top, including inciting violence. Of Madigan, one commenter wrote, “Can’t we just drag him out into the street and beat him within an inch of his life…” Another said “Throw the b*st*rd out through a window about six floors up maybe he will get the hint it’s time to go.”
Stava-Murray told POLITICO she doesn’t delete comments because “it’s illegal to do so” if they’re from constituents. She didn’t push back to condemn the comments either because she said she didn’t see them. Stava-Murray, who is manager of the Facebook page, said she only looks at the comments at the top of the feed when she logs on. It wasn’t until after talking to POLITICO that she responded to the “beat him” comment, writing, “Let’s try to keep it peaceful. Not trying to invite violence here, just phone calls to reps.”
That may be enough to calm concerns by anyone who saw the posts that Stava-Murray takes her social-media messaging seriously.
The newly elected Rep has been calling lawmakers and encouraging them to vote against Madigan as speaker. Stava-Murray says it’s what her constituents want. She sending a message that a change in leadership is necessary given complaints last year about sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.
