DCCC dips toe into GOP primary waters
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* DCCC…
The DCCC today launched a new ad campaign in Illinois’ 6th District highlighting Jeanne Ives’ lockstep support for President Trump and his reckless agenda that would keep dangerous guns on our streets, eliminate a woman’s right to choose, and discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
As a firebrand conservative, Ives is out of touch with voters in the 6th District, refusing to support commonsense measures to keep dangerous guns out of the hands of criminals, opposing a woman’s right to choose, and discriminating against same-sex couples.
“Conservative politician Jeanne Ives supports President Trump 100% and is wildly to the right of the 6th District,” said DCCC spokesperson Mike Gwin. “From backing President Trump on opposing a woman’s right to choose, to rejecting commonsense gun safety laws, and discriminating against the LGBTQ community, we’re going to make sure voters in the 6th District know that Jeanne Ives is just too conservative for Illinois.”
The ad begins running today, targeting moderate and conservative voters in the 6th District, and will run on digital platforms including Facebook.
* Evelyn Sanguinetti press release…
Today, the Chicago Sun-Times published a story explaining how Nancy Pelosi, Sean Casten and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are spending money to help Evelyn Sanguinetti’s primary opponent so they don’t have to face the stronger Sanguinetti in the general election.
Word out of DC is Sanguinetti beats Casten in a head-to-head informed ballot by more than 5%. DCCC will do anything they can to avoid Evelyn - even buy ads to support her primary opponent. Jeanne Ives is the Democrats’ favorite Republican in this race because she is wholly unelectable in the general election, and would force other Republican candidates around the country to answer for the outlandish things she has said.
* Sun-Times…
Kathleen Murphy, an Ives spokesman, told the Sun-Times, that the DCCC is “sorely miscalculating what this race is going to be, then. Nothing we’ve seen indicates that Jeanne would be easier to beat than Evelyn Sanguinetti. That would be a serious miscalculation on their part.” […]
The DCCC ad is taking a cue from the Democratic Governors Association playbook. Before the March 2018 Illinois primary, the DGA ran an ad highlighting Ives’ conservative credentials in an attempt to defeat Rauner, who won with 51 percent of the vote.
* The ad links to a Sun-Times column about how Ives is unelectable…
* The kicker…
The DGA spent quite a bit of money to push Ives over Rauner during the 2018 Republican primary. We’re not seeing that level of commitment out of the DCCC yet, but one never knows, I suppose.
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Question of the day
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Today is National Dog Day, so here’s a pic of Oscar at the car wash. He loves that parrot…
* The Question: Your favorite dog story? Extra credit if you can somehow connect your story to Illinois politics.
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Fein out at Exelon
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Friday….
According to internal documents obtained by Crain’s, Chicago-based Exelon determined that David Fein, the company’s senior vice president in charge of state government relations and its most visible executive in Springfield, violated its code of conduct in his interactions with several women at the company.
* Steve Daniels in Crain’s with an update today…
David Fein, who led state government relations for Exelon, no longer is employed there. […]
“Over the weekend, Exelon and David Fein agreed that it is in our mutual best interest for David to leave the company,” Exelon said in a statement. It said it would have nothing to add “at this time.” […]
A spokesman had no immediate comment on whether Fein was granted a severance or who would now lead government relations in Illinois. Exelon is heading into a crucial fall veto session in Springfield in which it’s lobbying for the Clean Energy Jobs Act. The bill is aimed at promoting more renewable-energy development in the state, but also providing more revenue to three northern Illinois nuclear plants that Exelon has said are at risk of closure within the next few years.
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NBC 5 anchor sues Sterigenics
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Earlier this month…
Medical device sterilization company Sterigenics will need to defend itself in Cook County court against a host of lawsuits brought by trial lawyers on behalf of people living in communities surrounding Sterigenics’ Willowbrook facility, as the judge said the company’s compliance with federal clean air rules don’t protect it from the lawsuits accusing the company of releasing emissions the lawsuits say caused the plaintiffs’ cancer.
On Aug. 15, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, who serves as chief judge for the Northern District of Illinois, ordered a collection of lawsuits filed against Sterigenics back to Cook County Circuit Court, where they had originally been filed.
In her ruling, Pallmeyer rejected Sterigenics’ assertions the lawsuits amounted to an attempt by the plaintiffs to use litigation to sidestep federal environmental laws and regulations, and extract payment from a company that had not violated any federal or state emissions rules.
“… Plaintiffs’ claims can succeed without reference to any federal statute,” Pallmeyer wrote. “Even if, as Defendants (Sterigenics) believe, a jury finds that they complied with federal standards, the jury could nevertheless determine that state common law imposes a standard of care higher than that expressly required by federal law.”
* Last week…
Nearly three dozen people have sued the operator of a suburban Chicago medical equipment cleaning plant they claim emits fumes that have adversely affected their health, lawyers for the plaintiffs announced Tuesday.
The 32 lawsuits filed against Sterigenics LLC this week in Cook County seek damages from the company, which operates a plant in Willowbrook.
“Nobody should have to go through anything like this,” said Burr Ridge native Jeanne Hochhalter.
* Friday…
NBC 5 anchor Rob Stafford on Friday filed a lawsuit against Sterigenics claiming he was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder after being exposed to toxic levels of ethylene oxide emitted by the Willowbrook facility.
Stafford was diagnosed with amyloidosis in 2018, shortly after the United States Department of Health and Human Services released a report calling the emissions from the Sterigenics facility a public health hazard, the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Stafford lived in Hinsdale and was a regular member of a sports club in Burr Ridge during the time it was determined Sterigenics’ sterilization process resulted in ethylene oxide emission at the Willowbrook facility, causing exposure in portions of Burr Ridge and Hinsdale.
In the lawsuit, Stafford alleges negligence, willful and wanton conduct and ultra-hazardous activity, saying the defendants “had the ability to regulate the emissions of ethylene oxide” but instead failed to warn the public of the risk of their health. He is suing for damages in excess of $50,000.
* Feder…
In a statement Sterigenics said it “has consistently complied with applicable regulations” and intends to “vigorously defend against” the claims.
An NBC 5 spokesperson said the station does not comment about employees’ personal matters. “But I can confirm that Rob informed us about his intentions to file a lawsuit a couple of months ago,” the spokesperson added. “Since then, Rob has not been assigned to report on, or read, any stories involving Sterigenics. This practice will remain in place.”
…Adding… Andrea Thome calling out Leader Durkin. Hmm…
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* Finke…
So, working in the Madigan operation was not necessarily a pleasant experience. Being a female working in that environment was even worse.
Here’s what the report had to say about that.
“Several female workers said that, when they started, they were warned about particular people in the Capitol workplace to avoid, either because of their inappropriate comments, crude humor, or ‘creepy’ behavior. Some female workers said that, when they started working in the Speaker’s Office, they were warned by female coworkers to take steps to avoid sexual harassment, such as not drinking alcohol with representatives, not looking ‘too available,’ and wearing a fake wedding ring. Some female workers said that they also warn new female workers about some people to avoid or give general advice to avoid being put in uncomfortable positions, including not going to after-work events.”
So the unofficial employee handbook for this operation includes wearing a fake wedding ring to hopefully fend off the creeps, which apparently included some of the elected officials? Sheesh.
Discuss.
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* Joseph Hudak at Rolling Stone Magazine lobbed some softballs at Danny Shirley of Confederate Railroad…
This has been a strange summer for you and your band…
It is strange. Especially with us being together for so many years and having that name and it never being an issue. But the thing that makes this different, in Illinois, it was the government that shut us down. It wasn’t that there was a groundswell of people that were offended by Confederate Railroad. You had one political blogger bring it up: “Is it right to have a band named Confederate Railroad at the state fair in the land of Lincoln?” We’ve already played there twice over the years and everything went fine. Nowadays, it feels like they’re looking for something to go off about.
It was the government that hired the band in the first place, so, yeah, it was the government that shut it down. Duh.
None of this should’ve been a surprise. The governor won the Democratic primary with overwhelming black support, had an African-American running mate, helped build a Holocaust museum, regularly refers to the POTUS as a racist, etc. His opposition to giving a state contract to a band that uses Confederate battle flags in its official logo shouldn’t be a shock. And somebody else would’ve eventually “brought it up” if I hadn’t noticed. Hannah Meisel actually posted about it on Twitter an hour or so before I asked the governor’s office for comment.
The truth is the band was doomed to lose their Du Quoin State Fair slot from the moment the Department of Agriculture approved it. If Pritzker had done nothing (and there was no chance of that happening) he would’ve certainly caught heat from elements of his base.
* Also, this is probably one of the dumbest analogies ever…
Did you ever have any issues over your band’s name prior to this?
Every once in a while you’d get something. After that nut killed those people down in Charleston, when they started taking down monuments and all that, we lost some gigs there. That’s where it started.
There were photos of the shooter with the Confederate flag.
Of course there was probably 10,000 photos of him without the flag. If he were sitting there wearing Nike shoes, would we have to get rid of Nike? A lot of this is blown out of proportion.
Yeah, it was the shoes. Right…
“I have to do it,” the gunman was quoted as saying before he fired [at black people worshiping in their church]. “You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”
* Meanwhile, here’s some real Illinois heritage…
More here.
* Related…
* In Facebook Photo, Charleston Suspect Wears Flags Of Racist African States
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Fun with numbers
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Champaign News-Gazette editorial…
The governor speaks of large increases in state aid to schools, and he’s right. The state’s current spending plan increases K-12 funding by nearly $379 million. But that money isn’t necessarily going to pay for education costs, including increased salaries.
Adam Schuster, director of budget research at the Illinois Policy Institute, reports that a large share is going for teacher pensions, not salaries.
He reports that “in the coming school year, 36 percent of the money the state allocates to education will” be used for “required pension payments for retirees.”
The K-12 increase mentioned above is going to schools as a direct result of the education funding reform law passed in 2017. It mandates at least a $350 million increase per year. The state exceeded that a bit this fiscal year.
That’s not to say the state won’t be paying more for teacher pensions next year. It will. My beef is not with Schuster or the Illinois Policy Institute here, it’s with an editorial board that mistakes need-based education funding for pension spending.
School districts in the suburbs and Downstate are only on the hook for pension contributions if their employees have negotiated it through their collective bargaining processes. Otherwise, the state itself picks up almost all of the employers’ costs, including legacy costs.
Oh, and by the way, the new K-12 funding will give lots of poorer schools more money, and those tend to be the ones which are having the most trouble paying their teachers a decent wage. The editorial was about the new state mandate for a $40,000 minimum teacher salary over time.
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New laws
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WGN…
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation Friday, which prohibits smoking in vehicles with anyone under 18.
According to Bill HB2276, it will be illegal to inhale, exhale, burn or carry a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, weed, plant, regulated narcotic or other combustible substance in a motor vehicle containing a person under 18.
The bill also states prohibiting smoking regardless of whether the vehicle is in motion, at rest or has its windows down.
Anyone who violates the new law will receive a maximum fine of $100 for the first offense. The second offense is not to exceed $250.
* Daily Herald…
A change in state law signed Friday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker requiring that a parent or guardian be notified when law enforcement questions a student on school grounds was prompted by the death of a Naperville North High School student.
House Bill 2627 says that before detaining and questioning a student under 18 who is suspected of committing a criminal act, a police officer, school resource officer or school security personnel must notify parents and make “reasonable efforts” to ensure they are present. […]
The proposal sponsored by 84th District state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit was in response to the death in January 2017 of 16-year old Corey Walgren. Hours after being questioned by school and police officials, he walked to the top of a five-story parking deck and fell to his death.
The staff had warned him he may have to register as a sex offender because they suspected he made a video of himself having sex with a classmate without her knowledge.
* WAND TV…
A bill focused on providing relief for independent pharmacies was signed into law.
House Bill 465 was sponsored by State Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and signed by Governor JB Pritzker Friday.
Sen. Manar said pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who negotiate drug prices on behalf of insurers, are using their position to drive up prices and get rid of competition.
* Related…
* Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs 129 bills, vetoes three
* Illinois’ small businesses will soon have to abide by more stringent state human rights laws, a concern for some: Small businesses in Illinois will soon have to abide by Illinois’ human rights laws, which go beyond the existing federal regulations they were already required to follow. The bill, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Aug. 20, takes effect next July. It removed a provision that said businesses in Illinois with fewer than fifteen workers were exempt from the Illinois Human Rights Act.
* Illinois approves nonbinary state ID documents, but gender-neutral option might not be available for years
* Governor Pritzker Signs Bill Expanding Youth Hunting: Said Pritzker “Many young people, young hunters, learn better when they spend more than one season under a mentors guidance. So starting January 1, novice hunters will have the chance to spend more time honing their skills as we lift that cap. Today, youth hunting permits are only valid in their issuing county. So we are establishing a new youth deer hunting pilot program, so that novice hunters will have a chance to visit sites beyond their own backyard.”
* Private practice attorney helps write new sexual harassment act
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* Rebecca Anzel…
An abortion clinic in northern Indiana should be allowed to open, Illinois’ top lawyer argued in a court filing, because women crossing state lines to seek access to such care “can strain the health care systems in neighboring states.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul is the main author of a document submitted with 14 other states on behalf of Whole Woman’s Health Alliance. The organization sued Indiana officials in federal court after a license application to open a facility in South Bend, Indiana, offering medication-induced abortions was denied in part because the alliance did not include information about its affiliates in other states. […]
The attorney general added facilities might face increased “levels of demand that they cannot satisfy” if women seek abortion procedures in neighboring states like Illinois. […]
Raoul added Illinois residents attend institutions of higher education in the northern Indiana area, and “although these students may have temporarily left … to pursue their education,” Illinois and the other states that signed on to the court filing “retain an interest in ensuring that they are spared the ‘stress, anxiety, shame, and financial hardship’ associated with not having access to constitutionally protected medical care.”
The full brief is here.
* Raoul press release…
Raoul and the coalition point out that states have a strong interest in ensuring that abortion care, like all health care services, is provided safely. States’ interest in public health is best served when their licensing and regulatory processes are applied to protect the health and safety of patients, rather than to deny women access to safe abortion services. In the brief, Raoul and the attorneys general argue that preventing a clinic from operating in an underserved area may cause women to seek abortions from wholly unregulated sources or to undergo more risky procedures because they are forced to delay seeking care.
Furthermore, Raoul argues, when a state enforces its licensing regulations in a manner that deprives an underserved population of access to abortion care, it increases the public health risk for pregnant women. Currently, there are six abortion clinics in the state of Indiana, and half are located in Indianapolis. According to WWHA, because women in South Bend and the surrounding community do not have access to an abortion clinic, they are forced to travel significant distances to receive safe abortion care in their home state or in a neighboring state.
Raoul and the coalition also point out that when women are forced to travel to other states to access care due to their home state’s unlawful conduct, it may strain health care systems in those neighboring states. Evidence shows that women from Indiana regularly travel to Chicago to obtain abortions. In short, Raoul argues, the repercussions of Indiana’s actions are not limited to Indiana or the women who live there.
* Peter Breen, Vice President and Senior Counsel for the Thomas More Society…
Illinois is an aberration in the Midwest. Not content with setting itself up to be America’s ‘abortion destination,’ its attorney general has now led a group of east and west coast states in attacking our neighbors in Indiana for their attempt to safeguard their women and children.
The community of South Bend has the right to ensure that all businesses operate in a safe manner. Illinois and the coalition it has pulled together are interfering in Indiana’s attempts to regulate a segment of the medical industry that has been notoriously lax in oversight. This affront is akin to a group of health inspectors from around the country trying to block Chicago from closing a restaurant for code violations.
If Kwame Raoul and his cohorts have a real interest in protecting the health and safety of the residents of Indiana, as they argue, they might do better to stay in their own lane and set a good example by cleaning up their own states and focusing on true life-affirming health care.
*** UPDATE *** Ameri Klafeta, Director of the Women and Reproductive Rights Project, ACLU of Illinois …
The argument by professional anti-abortion forces ignores the reality that two federal courts – at the trial and appellate level – already agreed with the state attorneys general that Indiana was doing little more than creating hurdles to safe reproductive health care. Rather than recognize the weakness of their argument, these forces attack attorneys general from across the country (and particularly from Illinois) who seek to ensure access to health care for all persons – in every state. Cruelly denying this care in support of an ideological agenda does not advance care for residents in any state.
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CTU rejects latest CPS offer
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mayor Lightfoot started the bargaining with an offer to teachers of a 14 percent raise over five years, significantly higher than the final figure of 11.5 percent over eight years that Gov. Pritzker and AFSCME settled on earlier this year.
Now she’s up to 16 percent (or 24 percent, depending how you count) and it’s still not considered enough…
The Chicago Teachers Union has rejected an independent fact-finder’s report on its contract negotiations with the school district — a move that places the labor group one step closer to a possible strike.
The development comes as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools officials have floated an enhanced offer that would raise teacher pay by 16% percent over five years — an increase from the 14% offered earlier by the new mayor.
“Though the wage and benefits proposals are said to be generous, they come in the context of nearly a decade of austerity and cuts,” union President Jesse Sharkey said at a rain-soaked press conference early Monday morning outside of Suder Montessori School.
The union’s rejection of the fact finder report means the district could legally strike on or after Sept. 25.
* WBEZ education reporter…
Could be difficult to get a state bailout with numbers like that.
* More…
In addition, the city is resisting many of the other demands from the union.
One of the biggest areas of disagreement is whether the contract will require the school district to hire more social workers, nurses and counselors.
The union [says] it wants specific contract language guaranteeing these clinicians will be brought on and that staff-to-student ratios reduced. Lightfoot has said she wants to bring on these staff — she has promised to hire 250 more nurses, 200 more social workers and more special education case managers over the next five years — but her team has resisted putting this in the contract.
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* Sun-Times…
After more than two years, the game appears to be over for Jason Gonzales in his quest to have a jury deliberate Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s campaign tactics — and whether the powerful Democrat put “sham” candidates on the 2016 ballot.
The opinion granting summary judgment is here.
* Jason Gonzales statement…
Friday’s ruling was a disappointment. I consider myself a well-informed individual, but I don’t understand the judge’s reasoning here. Still, there appears to be wide-reaching constitutional issues at stake in this case. My legal team is trying to explain the ruling to me, but even they are having difficulty explaining to me how my actions in exposing the fraud caused it to not be fraud. We we currently weighing our options.
* Here’s why…
“… The Court is cognizant that there is evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that the defendants engaged in a deliberate effort to interfere with voters’ decision making,” Kennelly said in his opinion. “Such fraudulent interference in the form of sham candidates might, in an appropriate case, undermine the ability of the electorate to hold the offending candidate to account.
“But Gonzales has not pointed to evidence - or even alleged - that the defendants’ fraud prevented the voters from punishing Madigan at the ballot box.” […]
Kennelly noted Gonzales had used the sham candidates as “a central issue” against Madigan in public statements and in the press. The judge also noted the sham candidates had been called out in an editorial published in the Chicago Sun-Times.
“This publicity placed the alleged misconduct squarely within the political realm, enabling voters to rebuke Madigan by electing his challenger,” Kennelly said. “Instead, Madigan prevailed by a substantial margin.”
Citing the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the 2018 decision Jones v. Markiewicz-Qualkinbush, Kennelly said he believed a judge “may not appropriately second-guess the voters’ choice ‘without displacing the people’s right to govern their own affairs and making the judiciary just another political tool for one faction to wield against its rivals.’”
* Tribune…
Madigan attorney Adam Vaught said the ruling showed that Gonzales can’t “come into federal court and try and overturn the voters’ decision.”
“The judge found Gonzales ran on this issue, it was publicly broadcast, and the voters’ overwhelmingly rejected Gonzales and reelected the speaker,” Vaught added.
Tony Peraica, Gonzales’ attorney, vowed to appeal. He accused Madigan of engaging in electoral shenanigans. “With this decision, he will continue to do it with impunity. It’s a sad day for all citizens of Illinois,” said Peraica, a former Republican Cook County commissioner.
Gonzales had sought damages of up to $2 million.
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A story in search of a purpose
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Illinois’ illicit weed market is expected to remain lucrative for illegal pot growers and sellers even after the drug is fully legalized. That’s largely because state-licensed pot shops won’t be able to match the prices offered by the neighborhood weed man, whose business won’t be stifled by expensive licensing fees and high taxes.
Scroll down to the end of the same article…
Five years after Colorado legalized weed for adult use, 82% of total consumers are purchasing pot through the legal market, according to Kagia.
Maybe that should’ve been at the top of the story? Colorado has long been a leader in the illicit cannabis market. And yet, legalization has almost fully taken hold there.
* Now go to the Daily Herald…
Since Toronto’s Hunny Pot opened in April, pot consumers have beat a steady path to the door, company Communications Officer Cameron Brown said. The average purchase costs about $65 and the number of customers ranges from 1,500 to 2,000 a day.
With 56 strains of cannabis, the experience can be daunting for novices, so numerous “budtenders” or pot sommeliers hover around the shop to advise customers.
Shopper Rhys Paxton called his shopping “a good experience. … It’s a lot better than buying it in a dark alley.”
“Everyone has a different vision about what a marijuana dispensary is supposed to look like,” Brown said. “We take the stigma away.”
Your local weed dealer will never have 56 strains of cannabis for sale at the same time, along with a variety of edibles.
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Madigan is ultimately responsible
Monday, Aug 26, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
You don’t have to read past the first sentence of Tim Mapes’ statement last week to see one of the core problems with the way he ran the Illinois House Democratic operation. Mapes was responding to an investigative report commissioned by House Speaker Michael Madigan to get to the bottom of allegations of sexual harassment and bullying in his Statehouse operation.
”For over forty years,” Mapes wrote in his response, “I had the privilege of serving in the Illinois State Legislature.”
Um, no.
Mapes worked “for” the Legislature, he didn’t serve “in” it. But he always seemed to behave as if he was one of the most important people in all of the General Assembly.
Mapes managed to accumulate just about every power possible: Madigan’s chief of staff, executive director of Madigan’s Democratic Party of Illinois and House Clerk. That meant every single person in Speaker Madigan’s world - from legislators, to lobbyists, to campaign workers, to committee clerks to legislative secretaries - had to answer to him and only to him. He was the indispensable one, until Madigan told him to quit over sexual harassment allegations.
”(T)he recent criticisms made against me do not truly appreciate the size of the responsibility of my position,” Mapes also claimed in his statement. “The daily needs of my position required constant attention in order to ensure the successful operation of our government,” he wrote, passive-aggressively blaming Speaker Madigan for allowing him to attain so much power.
On that point, however, he wasn’t wrong. Mapes made all of Madigan’s trains run on time. Meticulous to a fault, he made Madigan’s life easier, even meeting with lobbyists on their legislation — at least some of whom once worked for Mapes on staff and were expected to raise money from clients and run important legislative campaigns.
Madigan allowed Mapes to take a firm helm of all the various parts of his machine. Mapes eventually became more important than the people who were actually elected to office, and not just in his own mind. This was all by design.
The investigative report claimed Mapes’ efficiency was a “product of the fear he engendered.” But he couldn’t have done any of that without Madigan’s assent.
Notably, nowhere in the report does anyone claim that Madigan was present during Mapes’ threats or outbursts. Indeed, most people I’ve talked to on this topic believe Madigan would’ve put a stop to Mapes’ behavior if he had seen what was really going on.
But that’s still on Madigan. Did he not want to know what was happening?
Let’s go back to the report: “Multiple workers described having been physically intimidated by perceived superiors. These situations varied from a perceived superior yelling in someone’s face to grabbing or pushing someone.”
Mapes himself is accused of various forms of abuse, from throwing a pencil at a worker who had forgotten to bring one to a meeting, to “regularly” threatening to fire people, to an allegation that he “angrily grabbed a staffer because he thought — mistakenly — that the staffer was in the wrong place.”
Mapes apparently kept his methods a secret from his boss. But the big boss is always ultimately responsible. And Madigan has been forced to clean up the mess he ultimately made for over a year now. He has a new chief of staff, a new state party executive director and a new House Clerk, and, most importantly, they’re all different people.
It’s a good start, but more needs to be done.
For decades, all four caucuses have offered the same basic career ladder to select employees: Work immensely hard during session, then bust your hump during campaigns, then eventually supervise campaigns, then become a lobbyist and oversee multiple campaigns every cycle. It’s basically the foundation of the contract lobbying system in Springfield.
The House report focuses solely on the House Democratic operation, but it notes a big potential problem with this system: “Workers said that the lines between the political and state sides can blur because their bosses are sometimes … lobbyists or other people who do not work for the Speaker’s Office.”
According to the report, “Some workers said that people who do not work for the Speaker’s Office will sometimes continue to direct them as if the Speaker’s Office workers were still subordinates.”
That’s a real problem if lobbyists with clients paying them to pass or kill legislation are ordering around state legislative staffers as if they are subordinates. It’s one thing to do that on a campaign. It’s quite another when those staffers are on government time.
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