One of our own needs a little help
Thursday, Jan 17, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Wirepoints…
So much for “embracing hard choices,” as Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised he’d do in his inaugural speech.
His first act as governor granted pay raises to thousands of state AFSCME workers, which will cost the state as much as $200 million a year. And when Pritzker relents on the back-pay Rauner blocked, that will create another $400 to $500 million in costs.
It was an easy choice for Pritzker to reward the government unions who backed him during his campaign – all at the expense of taxpayers.
Yeah, he didn’t do it because of two appellate court rulings or an ILRB order. Or because he campaigned on his support for collective bargaining rights. He did it because unions endorsed his campaign, which he self-funded.
Also, the union claims the annual costs are essentially covered because longer-term unionized employees who retire or leave their jobs are paid more than the people hired to replace them - and this state hasn’t done a lot of hiring over the years except to fill vacancies.
It would’ve helped, however, if Pritzker had tried to explain the costs this week. That’s part of the job. Do better.
* The decisions by Rauner to stop the increases and by Pritzker to get out of the way have human consequences. From “HangingOn” (who’s been commenting here since 2015) this past Tuesday after Pritzker announced he was lifting Rauner’s illegal blockade of the step increases…
I am about in tears. Would be nice to know when the step raises will happen, but knowing they will is a relief. As it is I have been worrying that next week I can either pay for my child’s 8th grade graduation gown or her school lunches but not both. And being she’s special needs the graduation is a big deal to us. Maybe with the raise coming the school will wait for the lunch money.
Several readers reached out to me asking if they could help.
* She turns out to be a Downstate office associate earning a modest salary. Her name is on the GoFundMe page that I encouraged her to create…
I am a State Employee and the mother of an incredible teenager with Special Needs. For the last 3 years I have not gotten my contracted raises due to actions by the previous governor. The new governor is supposedly going to follow the courts decision and pay the raises, but I don’t know how long that will take. I am owed around $7200 in back pay, am behind on my daughter’s lunch account, and I can’t afford the tassel and shirt she wants for her 8th grade graduation.
Luckily the school found a gown that fits her from last year so she will at least have that, but she has had so much trouble getting this far in school. She survived brain cancer (ependymoma) at age 3 but was left with issues due to the surgeries and radiation to remove it. Thanks to her Special Needs teachers she has made a lot of progress, but after another student tried to stab her with a pencil last year she refused to go to school, and the school and I had to teach her school was a safe place so she would attend again. She fights anxiety every day but has been going and getting A’s. It’s a miracle that they say she will graduate 8th grade this year after all that.
Since I am behind on her lunch account she can’t have breakfast at school and she gets nauseous if she eats before the car ride so she has been missing out in the mornings, plus she can’t participate in some activities at school until it is paid up. Also, since I’m not the best cook in the world (I can make scrambled eggs and SOS pretty well, but most else is iffy lol) the hot lunches at school give her some variety and fill her up better than a sandwich from home.
It would be amazing if I could at least reach the low goal I have set and get her caught up and get her the graduation items she wants. It would make our lives a lot brighter and easier to have 1 less thing to worry about. Any extra will go toward future school things and catching up in general. And maybe a sketch pad. She is phenomenal at art! 
Her goal is only $100. I will match that $100 when the goal is met. Click here.
- Here’s to you - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:45 am:
You are a class act Rich. That’s all
- Midstate Indy - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:47 am:
This was solid, Miller.
- Centennial - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:48 am:
You’re a good man, Rich. We need more empathy in the world.
- Leslie K - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:54 am:
Nicely done, Rich.
- Anon - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:54 am:
Done
- Perrid - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:56 am:
Well that was quick. Good on you Rich and Co.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:56 am:
There, right there. This is a wonderful mother. Serving our state faithfully, dutifully caught in something that was not her fault.
Caught in Rauners malice towards organized Labor.
All these actions by Rauner
had consequences like these.
There is a ways to go
to help folks like her
and stateworkers in general out.
JB still needs to have his legal folks inform the Illinois Supreme Court that they are dropping the appeal to the 4th District Appellate court decision that AFSCME and the State of Illinois
are not at impasse.
This would formally end the legal nightmare
of invalidating our current contract
and clear the way
for new contract negotiations.
It would also
eliminate one of the final excuses
to not paying our sister
for the work she did
So that she can pay for lunches.
I will give to my AFSCME sister.
I hate that she had to make this choice
But her story is not an isolated one.
(The choices we had to make when Rauner wasn’t paying our medical providers.)
Pritzker, Madigan, Cullerton
have a choice
do we
Pay our bills, or not
Honor our contracts, or not
Obey the law and the judgment of the Courts
or not?
To choose, or not
is to engage in
and fully endorse
the Malum in se
“Evil Itself”
that Bruce Rauner visited upon Illinois
and made my AFSCME sister
choose between
her childs self esteem
or lunch money
We can’t keep starting go fund me pages
to cover the sins of
Bruce Rauners and Donald Trumps
I should not have to do that
I shouldn’t have to worry about
the folks in Greenville in Bond Co.
or my Coast Guard friends
or my sister AFSCME
STOP
- King Louis XVI - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:57 am:
Thank you for sharing, Rich.
- illini - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:58 am:
Rich, that very low goal has been greatly surpassed when I checked the page. And I have shared this on a Facebook page I administer.
Good work. You have done this before and many of us followed through.
- Ole' Nelson - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:58 am:
That didn’t take long at all. It is sometimes easy to forget how tight money can be raising kids.
- Norseman - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 9:59 am:
I don’t care what they say about you Rich. You actually do have a heart.
- Fixer - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:01 am:
HangingOn, hope this helps you and your daughter out. And Rich, thank you.
- rocky - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:02 am:
I’am Honored to know you Rich as Here’s to you already said a class act!
- OneMan - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:02 am:
Done,
Just glad you didn’t do a silent auction
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:03 am:
Well we kinda crushed that. Good work, people.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:06 am:
Done.
- LakeCo - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:12 am:
Done. And HangingOn, please use part of the money to splurge on a fun treat for your daughter.
- illini - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:17 am:
And done.
- Lt Guv - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:21 am:
We must all promise never to tell anyone Miller has a soul. Great response by the Fax community. Keep it up.
- union proud - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:29 am:
Done.
Also forwarded this post to my staff rep. Sometimes Council passes the hat or that local might want to organize something.
- Gruntled University Employee - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:33 am:
Thank you Rich. @HangingOn, your daughter sounds like an incredible young lady, please keep us up to date on how she’s doing. I know how much Rich and the other contributors dislike “off topic” posts to this blog but I don’t think they’ll mind an occasional update from you about her.
- Annonin' - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:36 am:
Looks like you are doing pretty well Mr. Capt Fax, but there can never be enough. Keep going
- SSL - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:38 am:
Leveraging the blog to do great work. Well done Rich.
- HangingOn - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:39 am:
OMG. I just spent the first 10 minutes of my break crying. You people have to be the best in the world. So hard not to use exclamation points lol. My daughter is probably going to cause me to go deaf when I get home and show her this. Maybe I will just text her when she gets home and save my hearing. This will help so much. May take a little and get my bathroom sink draining again lol. Thank you all so much, and especially you Rich for suggesting this. And LakeCo, she has been tired of my attempts at cooking on a budget for a while. I will get her the La Gondola spaghetti she has been begging for. I told her she could have it if I got my steps
- Littleoneeva - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:39 am:
Done. Hang in there, Heather
- JoanP - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:39 am:
Thanks, Rich. I thought yesterday when I saw you asking her to email you that something might be in the works.
When I went to the page to make my donation, and saw how far over the goal she was, I teared up, because it says so much about how your commenters care about each other.
- Trapped in the 'burbs - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:40 am:
Outstanding. Kudos to you Rich and the community you created here on Capitol Fax. This is the best of Illinois.
- PublicServant - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:49 am:
Done. Congratz to your daughter, Heather. She’s lucky to have a daughter like you.
- PublicServant - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:51 am:
Meant Mom. But happy to help.
- Still broke after all these years - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:51 am:
Merit comp hasn’t had a raise since early Blagojevich years. Anything in the works for those who aren’t in the union?
- Anon - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:52 am:
Concerned the child’s school is withholding breakfast because of funds owed. PA 100-1092 (effective 8/26/18) prohibits this type of activity.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=100-1092
- ste_wit a v_en - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:52 am:
Donated and shared.
- Mortyy - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:54 am:
a worthy cause
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 10:59 am:
I hope I can lock in this moment.
I really feel that remembering
When we discovered a problem
and threw our best selves at it.
How it worked out for the better.
We’ve got so much ahead of us.
I just have to feel that if I keep
this moment in mind.
It might help me push and just
give a little bit more.
I’m thankful for this community.
- Obamas Puppy - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:00 am:
Wirepoints the tool of those who want to attack people who made the choice to devote their life to public service. You know driving a 2002 Toyota Corolla shopping at Dollar General and getting school clothes from TJ Maxx is not exactly the glamourous lifestyle that these working class haters at Wirepoints makes it out to be.
- Harvest76 - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:00 am:
These stories need to be heard. We arent all getting rich here as state employees. I work 2 jobs while my wife is in Nursing school. It’s tough to go 4 years without a promised raise when the costs keep rising everywhere around us. The thought of cutting back to maybe 60 hours a week is a welcome relief.
- Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:01 am:
HangingOn:
Keep up the good work. Your devotion to your daughter is inspiring. When all is said and done, our children need us for the big stuff and the little stuff. Sometimes we forget to provide for both. You clearly haven’t.
Is that an example of her artwork on the GoFundMe site? Amazing.
- dbk - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:02 am:
Everything everybody else said above.
No mother should have to face choices like these.
As noted above @10:52, the practice of withholding a child’s breakfast because her mom is $100 in arrears is worrying. This issue is now beginning to be addressed by states, who have arrived at various solutions - the ideal being, everybody gets their meals and the state or district (depending on the arrangement) uses set-aside funds to make up the difference.
Should we contact our reps about the possibility of introducing a bill to address this?
- Flapdoodle - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:27 am:
Well done, everyone — and especially Rich
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:28 am:
===and especially Rich ===
Meh. Thank Mark Glennon.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:33 am:
Done…I got in kind of late, and there’s nearly $4 thousand already donated.
Well done, Rich…Well done everyone!
- Seats - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:40 am:
Done, I understand what you are going through have multiple kids and have also been froze on an early step for multiple years. I have been dependant on the fact it is a two income household, the state put a lot of people like yourself in tough situations that they shouldn’t have been.
Keep on hanging on
- West Side the Best Side - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:51 am:
Asking for a friend, how can you be “Anonymous” on GoFundMe and still enter info so your credit card payment goes through? Never saw so much Cap Fax related Anonymous entries. Good on all.
- Blue Dog Dem - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 11:55 am:
$3400 plus.thoughts,prayers and open wallets.
- Jose Abreu's next homer - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:00 pm:
Easiest thing I did today
- JS Mill - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:07 pm:
Rich, her story is compelling and I feel for her. She needs to know that the school cannot deny her daughter lunch due to owing money on her account. School must provide lunch (a regular lunch not something different for students that are behind) for any student that requests one. Breakfast too if they have the program. This is a new law that went into effect this school year.
- Spiritualized - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:11 pm:
Rich - didn’t Sen. Stadelman sponsor a bill that became law last session that specifically prohibits school districts from withholding breakfast and lunch because of owed payments?
- thunderspirit - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:12 pm:
Done. Only wish I could give more right now.
- Fifth Floor - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:24 pm:
Done. Next step is someone needs to send a demand letter over to that school to tell them to comply with the law re lunch withholding.
- HangingOn - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:29 pm:
Thank you all again so much. I’m still kind of in shock here.
@Lefty yeah, that is one of her original characters (or as she tells me, OCs) that she made on my phone. She also can do freehand on paper. I can barely make stick figures lol
I knew they had to give her lunch, and they have been. Didn’t know it applied to breakfast. Had a call from someone at the State Treasurer’s Office who said he is going to tell his friend who deals with different schools because many schools don’t understand that law yet.
- West Sider - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:34 pm:
I kicked a few bucks, and was grateful for the opportunity- thanks Rich. We’re in this together.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 12:58 pm:
“how can you be ‘Anonymous’ on GoFundMe and still enter info so your credit card payment goes through?”
You enter your payment info first and then the next page allows you to make the contribution anonymous to everyone but the campaign’s organizer.
(I figure if *this* campaign burns me, then I’ll just give up on humanity and move back into the woods.)
– MrJM
- GV - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 1:04 pm:
Things are rather bleak here in DC right now, and this is the uplifting story I need in my day.
HanginOn, I hope you spring for the Family Feast. That bucket of spaghetti and garlic bread are no joke!
- anon - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 1:09 pm:
Law stipulates ‘meals’ must be provided, not just lunch. So breakfast must be provided if the school provides breakfast to students.
- Ray Batman - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 1:18 pm:
Thank you for sharing this need with us!
- Iamthepita - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 1:35 pm:
I was a DHS-DRS(DORS) employee who decided to leave the public sector entirely soon after it took me 2 1/2 years to get my back pay for a wrongful discharge (after being reinstated) and the employer decided to stop paying my medical insurance soon after I got my back pay, which I’m still on the hook for (destroying my credit) and the employer refuse to answer any of my communication concerning this matter because I’m no longer with the agency. It doesn’t help that I never received any interest on the back wages paid after going through court of claims (the claim took about 11 months to get paid). At the end of it all, it’s not about the money, it’s how they treat people who need the money without any dignity. Yet, those employees are expected to treat DHS clients with dignity.
At the end, I’m glad I’m not paying the most expensive expense of losing my mind by staying with DHS after all these years I’ve invested my energy in (hoping to help the public in the very best I can)
- West Side the Best Side - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 1:53 pm:
MrJM - Thanks. I’m sure my technology challenged friend will appreciate it.
- NoName - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 2:13 pm:
Rep. Wallace passed a bill to prevent this “lunch shaming”.
- Rutro - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 3:25 pm:
God bless you HanginOn.
- dr. reason a, goodwin - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 3:53 pm:
Nicely done
- Back to the Future - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 3:56 pm:
Thanks for the information and the opportunity to help this family.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 4:14 pm:
Great job getting the word out Rich…thanks so much!
- Leslie K - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 4:17 pm:
==Had a call from someone at the State Treasurer’s Office who said he is going to tell his friend who deals with different schools because many schools don’t understand that law yet.==
HangingOn, you and Rich and the posters here (and of course the person who contacted you) will have helped children throughout the State who are being denied meals. Well done, all. And wishing your daughter a well-earned fabulous graduation [exclamation mark]
- The Captain - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 4:27 pm:
Just went over $5K. Well done.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 4:38 pm:
Thank you all so much. Here at the state our clerical staff are the bedrock of our work; and their salaries are very modest.
This is some of the real pain caused by the freeze of some of the newest and least-paid workers in state government.
The statement released by the governors office brought hope and real joy around here. Things are actually getting better.
Talk about #illinoisproud.
- Ole' Nelson - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 4:47 pm:
Meh. Thank Mark Glennon.
Maybe I was wrong about him all this time…
- Jocko - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 5:02 pm:
Easiest (and likely best) thing I did today.
- Mama - Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 5:30 pm:
Rich, you have a heart of gold. Thank you.