* They’ve already laid off 56 employees this year…
An Illinois child social service agency is laying off 16 staffers that work with at-risk youth and expectant mothers because of the nearly yearlong budget stalemate between Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Children’s Home and Aid spokesman Jassen Strokosch says the state owes the agency about $1.8 million for services since July 1, the beginning of the current fiscal year. The layoffs happened Wednesday and Thursday and will impact services in East St. Louis and central Illinois.
The staffers worked to provide alternatives to incarceration to teenagers and helped find housing for homeless youth. They also provided counseling to expectant mothers during in-home visits.
Homeless youth, pregnant women, teens in trouble. In East St. Louis, no less.
* The Senate will return to Springfield for the first time this month. They’ll convene the 29th at noon.
No official word out of the House yet, but next Wednesday is the last Wednesday of the fiscal year and Speaker Madigan pledged to hold sessions every Wednesday, so it’s expected that he’ll bring his chamber back.
*** UPDATE 1 *** House members say they’ve just received notice to return Wednesday by 11 o’clock in the morning.
The budget working group says they’re very close to the end of their work.
There’s one more meeting scheduled Thursday and lawmakers are hoping it’s the last.
Working group members say they’re almost ready to hand over their work on a stopgap budget to the leaders.
They say the plan would get the state through the end of the year, but there are just a few more issues the four tops and Governor will have to hammer out.
And…
Senate will be back in session on Wed. "The Senate Pres. remains hopefully optimistic that a bipartisan agreement is close at hand" #twill
Should electric utilities be allowed to “add a demand charge to household electric bills, which would require people to pay a new fee if they use too many electric appliances at the same time in any half hour period of the month.”
Total Opposed: 81%
Total in Favor: 15%
Illinois still has no budget, the state’s finances and services are in shambles, the social safety net is being decimated but Exelon STILL wants the Legislature to pass a huge rate increase to bail out nukes and pad Exelon’s profits.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visitwww.noexelonbailout.com.
* This has been going on for years, and it’s unconscionable…
Illinois’ history is crumbling away.
Mansions, museums, and monuments that showcase Illinois’ past, and honor famous luminaries, ranging from President Abraham Lincoln to famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, have been battered by years of fiscal decline and subsequent state-imposed austerity measures, according to a BGA Rescuing Illinois investigation.
The 56 sites operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) require nearly $146 million of dollars in deferred maintenance through 2020. Many of the buildings’ plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems have outlived their useful lives, according to interviews with IHPA officials and documents obtained by the BGA under the Freedom of Information Act.
In recent years, staffing has been reduced two-thirds to 48 full-time employees, according to data from the IHPA division running the 56 historic sites, and most of the venues are now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, according to their web sites. […]
The agency has an annual maintenance budget of $75,000, which covers only the most routine repairs.
Governor Bruce Rauner visited with employees at the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) offices in Chicago today and discussed transformations the department is making to streamline the way it assists customers. These transformations help reduce poverty levels and transition individuals and families out of our social service systems.
Odd word choice there.
But do you know what might help those “customers” even more? Signing the stopgap human services bill that’s been sitting on his desk for weeks. That way, groups and businesses who work with those “customers” can finally get paid.
Unionized home care workers tried to confront Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday, outside a state agency they claim he is hurting.
Dozens of demonstrators booed as the governor made an unpublicized visit to the Department of Human Services office in the West Loop. The protesters were members of Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois, which represents 52,000 workers who have gone without a contract since last July. […]
The union said Rauner’s budget plan would cut $200 million from the state’s community care program, which helps seniors and the disabled get services at home, so they don’t have to go into nursing homes.
It’s obviously not a joking matter to the folks who were injured or suffered property damage, so I’ll just apologize right now in case Scott’s tweet upsets anybody.
But dark humor is all we’ve got left in this state.
[Headline was changed after a couple of funny comments were posted.]
Approaching the November elections, Republican Paul Schimpf aims to bring “common-sense” legislating, conservative values and integrity to the state Senate in District 58, which covers Monroe, St. Clair, Randolph, Perry, Jackson, Union and Jefferson counties. […]
Former Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon (2011-2015) is the current Democrat opponent in the Senate race, but Schimpf is confident that he is the right candidate to address the issues Illinois and his district are facing. […]
What makes Schimpf the best candidate for the district?
“Leadership abilities versus political lineage,” he said.
Schimpf explained that Simon comes from a tradition of politicians who do very little to serve the state; instead, they are more likely to serve themselves. He also argued that he can be a leader for everyone, not just for one party.
By far, the best thing Sheila Simon has going for her is her revered father’s name. She’s a proud liberal Democrat in a district which leans Republican (half of it is represented by a socially conservative, pro-life, pro-gun Democrat with a famous last name) and she hasn’t won an election on her own since her days as a Carbondale alderman.
So, that was just a goofy mistake - or perhaps an ill-conceived homage to the Karl Rove strategy of attacking an opponent’s strength.
A spokesman for Schimpf said the comments in question had nothing to do with the late former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, and were instead a criticism of her connections to former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, under whom she served as lieutenant governor.
“We’re not going to disparage the memory of the late U.S. Sen. Simon,” said Schimpf spokesman Ron Deedrick. “He obviously was a statesman who served the nation and the state honorably.” […]
Simon said she sees no other way to interpret Shimpf’s comment about her lineage other than to consider it an insult to her parents. She noted that the most common definition of the term “lineage” describes the lineal descent from one’s ancestors, i.e. family.
Deedrick said he refuses to engage in a battle of semantics over use of the phrase “political lineage,” and called it “absurd” for Simon to continue to insist the comment was an intended as an insult to the late Paul Simon. Deedrick did not dispute that the accuracy of the quotes, but also said the campaign had no control over the ultimate outcome of the article.
…Adding… Wordslinger in comments…
Of course. Who didn’t make the Pat Quinn connection with “political lineage?”
LOL, that’s some lousy spin.
If you want to knock Simon for Pat Quinn, you say “Pat Quinn.”
If you want to knock Simon for leaning on the old man, you say “political lineage.”
Believe it or not, using your phone isn’t the most dangerous activity to do while driving. Chatting with your passengers is.
It sounds weird, but according to federal data, more than half of distracted driving accidents were caused by conversations with passengers. Sometimes, it seems, we all just get way too lost in dialogue.
The next most likely distraction is your phone: texting, dialing numbers, Googling things, looking at your directions, changing a song, taking a selfie. All that only accounts for 12 percent of distracted driving accidents.
Focusing on other in-car objects — putting on chapstick, swatting a fly, wiping a smudge off your window — make up 11 percent of those accidents.
Actions of passengers other than talking — like stupid in-car dance moves or kids fighting in the back seat — cause another 7 percent, and everything else (eating, adjusting the radio, moving your seat, anything else) cause the remaining 23 percent.
* The federal study is here. The feds are not as definitive about it as the above story claims, however…
About 57 percent of these drivers were conversing with a passenger in the pre-crash phase. However, it may not reflect the cause of the distraction. In fact, it is difficult to determine how much conversation can contribute to driver inattention.
It goes without saying that the government outlawing conversation between a driver and a passenger would be a wee bit unpopular. Not sure what to do about that, even if the stats are true, except via a public information campaign.
Illinois cities, hospitals, public schools and nonprofit agencies should sue Gov. Bruce Rauner and state lawmakers if they can’t adopt a balanced budget by July 1, said [Rockford] Mayor Larry Morrissey.
Suing Illinois’ executive and legislative branches for failing to pass and sign a balanced budget may seem like a crazy idea. But crazy is the new normal in Illinois, where lawmakers’ inability, or perhaps unwillingness, to adopt a budget for nearly a year is claiming new victims with each passing week. […]
“If there isn’t a budget passed by end of June, I don’t want to see the state go through the same dynamics of last year when everybody and their brother was bringing lawsuits forward to force the state to pay for this or pay for that,” Morrissey said. “My preference would be one lawsuit that’s brought by everybody that asks a judge to hold lawmakers and the governor accountable for their constitutional duty to pass a balanced budget.
“The state constitution says the legislative branch needs to adopt a balanced budget,” he said. “They need to do their job. I think there’s a great constitutional case that could be brought to settle this matter.”
Does the Constitution really require the legislative branch to pass a budget every year?
(a) The Governor shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly, at a time prescribed by law, a State budget for the ensuing fiscal year. The budget shall set forth the estimated balance of funds available for appropriation at the beginning of the fiscal year, the estimated receipts, and a plan for expenditures and obligations during the fiscal year of every department, authority, public corporation and quasi-public corporation of the State, every State college and university, and every other public agency created by the State, but not of units of local government or school districts. The budget shall also set forth the indebtedness and contingent liabilities of the State and such other information as may be required by law. Proposed expenditures shall not exceed funds estimated to be available for the fiscal year as shown in the budget.
(b) The General Assembly by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.
It does say the GA shall make appropriations, but, I dunno. Apparently, the framers couldn’t imagine a controversy like this ever coming up. I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t pass a budget every year?
SECTION 1. STATE REVENUE POWER
The General Assembly has the exclusive power to raise revenue by law except as limited or otherwise provided in this Constitution. The power of taxation shall not be surrendered, suspended, or contracted away.
I don’t see how a state judge could put in place a balanced budget with higher taxes.
For over a year, the government of Illinois has failed to pass a budget. However, there is a solution, and it does not lie in Springfield.
Its called the Second Enforcement Act of 1871 and it gives the federal government the right and responsibility to dismantle any state or local government that is failing to protect the constitutional rights of its citizens.
This law states “That in all cases where insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combinations, or conspiracies in any State shall so obstruct or hinder the execution of the laws thereof, and of the United States, as to deprive any portion or class of the people of such State of any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection, named in the constitution … it shall be lawful for the President, and it shall be his duty to take such measures… as he may deem necessary for the suppressions of such insurrection, domestic violence, or combinations. …”
* But, according to Wikipedia, that federal law has been amended and replaced with this language…
Every person who under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, Suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable.
State-level gun legislation in response to the Orlando attacks has emerged in Illinois, led by a Chicago Democrat and more than one suburban Republican.
The new proposal in Springfield would let the Illinois State Police notify the FBI if someone on a terrorist watch list applies to get a Firearm Owners Identification card needed in the state to own a gun. It would add people involved in terrorist threats to the list of those who can have such a card denied or revoked. […]
The lead Republican on the plan is state Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican and key negotiator of the Illinois law that allows people to carry concealed weapons in public. The Illinois State Rifle Association’s leader says he’s OK with the plan if it doesn’t change.
“It helps, but it’s not overly intrusive into gun owners’ rights,” ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson said.
Statement from House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) in response to the introduction of bi-partisan legislation to keep those on the terror watch list from possessing firearms
“I applaud the efforts of both Representative Ed Sullivan (R- Mundelein) and Representative Greg Harris (D-Chicago) for their work in presenting this commonsense and responsible legislation,” said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs).
“While the federal government plays a larger role in this complicated issue, I believe we have a responsibility to do our part,” Durkin added. “I am proud to lend my support to House Bill 6588.”
Numbers provided to the Sun-Times show the state owes more than $32.3 million to providers for all 43 of the state’s prisons, centers and work camp centers for water and sewer services, gas and electricity. […]
That backlog doesn’t include food vendors, some of which are mom and pop vendors struggling to produce food for the prisons. Those vendors haven’t been paid in months. […]
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin has been sounding the alarm about the prison backlog for months. He said he’s concerned vendors will drop their services.
“Those that are supplying food at some point, if they’re not going to get paid, and they continue to supply the state a product but aren’t getting paid for it, it is a concern. It is a legitimate concern,” Durkin said, adding no stopgap budget by July could cause some dangerous conditions in the state’s prisons.
• 54% of survey respondents anticipate they will have to cease serving clients in six months if the impasse continues
• Almost two-thirds of survey respondents reported making program and/or operational cuts, up from 48% in January 2016
• Of those agencies, 91% have cut the number of clients they serve, leaving nearly 1 million clients in Illinois without critical support, most significantly in the areas of mental health, substance abuse services and childhood education
• More than 50% of safety net and mental health providers indicated they could not meet the needs of their clients for the past year due to the impasse
• 45% of respondents have been forced to lay off staff, up from 24% in January 2016
• 59% of respondents have utilized their cash reserves
• 33% of respondents have utilized lines of credit
• Respondents have taken on a combined $38 million in debt
• 36% of agencies anticipate they will have to close their doors in six months if the impasse continues
Those who saw the Democratic party mobile sign parked a mere 100 feet outside the office of state senate candidate Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) at the edge of the Rural King lot in Waterloo last week can attest that the race is indeed getting hot.
Chad Goldschmidt, the husband of Monroe County Coroner candidate Cassy Diehl Goldschmidt (D-Waterloo), owns the truck that has the mobile sign attached. The sign in Waterloo remained in the parking lot for a few days until Schimpf’s office contacted the property owner to confirm whether the truck could remain there.
Thursday, the landlord for Schimpf’s campaign office visited the site and concluded the truck was on her property, at which point she asked Chad to move the truck elsewhere. He complied, moving the sign to the vacant Michael’s on Market lot just up the street.
Since the sign is a mobile advertisement, there is no ordinance that would allow Waterloo city officials to request he move the truck from Michael’s or any other location in the city
* And then there’s this column entitled “Get a load of this phone call I got about Gov. Bruce Rauner the other night.” Rep. Marty Moylan, who has been a Tier One target forever, is doing robocalls ridiculing the governor for claiming his administration is “doing heroic things” during the budget impasse…
So, I shouldn’t have been too surprised to hear that call the last night. But I don’t even live in one of those two dozen or so targeted districts where millions will be spent by Rauner and his Republicans and Madigan, Cullerton and their Democrats waging war and trying to win seats.
And for what? The legislative districts were drawn by Democrats and already have produced supermajorities. Madigan could win a few more that might make it easier for him to override Rauner’s vetoes, or Rauner might win a few back, but not enough to shift the legislative tide toward his party.
So why is Moylan paying for calls to criticize the governor in June? He isn’t considered to be vulnerable. And maybe that’s just it. He isn’t considered vulnerable and he has money to spend. He did vote for Madigan’s budget that was $7 billion out of balance. The budget that even a majority of Senate Democrats couldn’t bring themselves to support. Moylan’s been a loyal Madigan member and a long-time union worker. Illinois Sunshine shows me he’s got more than $577,000 available and his top donors are Madigan and his Democratic Party of Illinois and a variety of unions.
So Madigan’s up to the same tricks as Rauner. He and the unions are roughing up Rauner even in areas that aren’t all that critical to them. Already. In June.
* Um, who says he won’t eventually be targeted? Everybody expects the playing field to expand beyond where Team Rauner is now.
And did anybody happen to notice this last night?…
I'll put this up again in the morning but Richard Uihlein just gave $1.5 million to Liberty Principles. https://t.co/W3dqAzQsQa
Plus, Americans for Prosperity has been whacking Moylan over the property tax issue and, perhaps more importantly, UNITE HERE has blasted him in a TV ad with stuff that could easily be used against him this fall.
* I get the frustration with starting campaigns in June. It’s just crazy. But it’s happening all over the place right now. So, we better get used to it.
Former Governor Pat Quinn: “The first job as a governor is to get a budget passed”
* If you listen to the audio below (15:40 mark, in case you don’t want to listen to it all), you’ll hear Quinn deny that any of his budgets were out of balance…
“That isn’t true at all. Our revenue equaled our expenditure. That’s called arithmetic.”
Umm, no.
Quinn’s final budget as governor was a complete, utter failure. The General Assembly passed a fantasy budget that didn’t make any allowances for the loss of revenues from the scheduled partial rollback of the income tax hike. So, the incoming governor had to patch that huge hole.
The Kirk For Senate campaign launched a new television ad, titled “Even More,” that highlights Senator Mark Kirk’s courageous and independent record in Congress. The ad, airing on Chicago broadcast and cable networks, details Kirk’s independent and bipartisan record, including his demand for a vote on Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland along with Kirk’s refusal to support Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“As the partisanship and gridlock in Washington intensifies, Senator Kirk remains an independent-minded, reform-driven solution seeker,” said Kevin Artl, Kirk For Senate campaign manager. “Senator Kirk continues to put partisanship aside to to find common sense solutions for the people of Illinois.”
* As I told you yesterday, this is about a $250K buy, and it’s only running on Chicago TV, prompting one Democrat with the Duckworth campaign to crack wise earlier today…
Thinking we won’t respond to Kirk’s ad, we’ll just run the same ad in Downstate markets….
Long before his stroke, Mark Kirk was independent, ranked as one of the most bipartisan Senators.
After facing death, Kirk returned even more committed to serve Illinois.
Mark was the first Republican to support a vote on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
He’s a leader on protecting a woman’s right to choose.
And Mark Kirk bucked his party to say Donald Trump is not fit to be commander in chief.
Mark Kirk, courageous and independent.
I’m Mark Kirk, and I approve this message.
…Adding… So, they did decide to respond…
In response to Republican Mark Kirk’s new campaign spot, released today and running only in Chicago according to reports, Duckworth deputy campaign manager Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“Republican Senator Mark Kirk has lied for years about his military record, falsely claiming to have served in combat and claiming an award he never earned, and now he’s not being straight with Illinois voters by portraying himself as a liberal Democrat in Chicago while apparently hoping no one else across the state notices. You can always count on two things from Kirk: dishonesty and crude political calculation, and this ad has an abundance of both.” — Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
But in a new twist on [a scheduled August workplace retaliation trial in Downstate Union County involving two workers at the Anna Veterans Home], the court docket shows that a pretrial settlement conference has been scheduled for Friday. Duckworth is being represented by the Illinois attorney general’s office.
Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl jumped on the idea of a settlement, suggesting that Duckworth “does not want the truth to come out.”
“After weeks of dodging questions about whether or not she will testify at her own trial, Duckworth is now answering that question by engaging in behind-the-scenes settlement talks in order to avoid a trial and having to take the stand,” Artl said.
“What makes this situation even more egregious is that Illinois taxpayers will ultimately have to pay the bill for Duckworth’s improper actions,” he said.
…Adding… So, Duckworth’s campaign responded to the TV ad, but not about the trial?
[Bumped up for visibility since this story has mostly been ignored by the media except for a brief story this morning by the AP.]
* Press release…
A new survey conducted by United Way of Illinois (UWI), the statewide association of 52 local United Ways and the largest non-governmental funder of health and human services in the state, shows Illinois’ year-long budget impasse continues to starve the nonprofit sector and cause harm to vulnerable citizens across the state.
In the fourth United Way of Illinois survey, more than half of safety net and mental health providers responded that they have been unable to meet the needs of clients for the past year. Survey respondents also indicated that the disruption in services will have long-term effects on the people they serve as extended waiting lists, the elimination of programs and triaging of clients mean more people are moving into crisis situations. The mentally ill who are not getting psychiatric services go to emergency rooms or jails and some of the young people who aren’t in out-of-school time and job training programs become involved in the criminal justice system.
As of June 2016:
• 54% of survey respondents anticipate they will have to cease serving clients in six months if the impasse continues
• Almost two-thirds of survey respondents reported making program and/or operational cuts, up from 48% in January 2016
• Of those agencies, 91% have cut the number of clients they serve, leaving nearly 1 million clients in Illinois without critical support, most significantly in the areas of mental health, substance abuse services and childhood education
• More than 50% of safety net and mental health providers indicated they could not meet the needs of their clients for the past year due to the impasse
“We honestly wished we would have different news” said Kristi Long, United Way of Illinois Board Chair. “The survey results show accelerating damage since January—more program cuts, more clients left unserved, more debt. The mentally ill, disabled seniors and young children in need of educational opportunities—these people can’t wait for the next election.”
Organizations have been unable to come close to filling the gap left by the state through additional fundraising efforts and have been forced to take extreme measures in order to continue serving clients. Agencies reported cutting back or eliminating vital programs, draining cash reserves and credit lines, laying off staff and considering the possibility of shutting their doors entirely. In order to continue to serve clients:
• 45% of respondents have been forced to lay off staff, up from 24% in January 2016
• 59% of respondents have utilized their cash reserves
• 33% of respondents have utilized lines of credit
• Respondents have taken on a combined $38 million in debt
• 36% of agencies anticipate they will have to close their doors in six months if the impasse continues
This is the fourth survey conducted by United Way of Illinois on the state budget stalemate. The survey was conducted June 1-June 8, 2016, and responses were received from 429 human services agencies that receive state funding. Responses were received from every county in Illinois. Survey respondents represented a range of service categories including youth development, early childhood education, mental health, emergency housing, senior services and employment training and varied in budget size from less than $500,000 to more than $15 million.
When politicians manipulate district maps, they skew results in their favor, no matter the consequences to fair representation.
* But if you click here, you’ll see Scott Kennedy’s 2014 gubernatorial election results by Illinois House district. Those districts were drawn, of course, by Speaker Madigan.
As you’ll recall, Bruce Rauner won 50.8 percent of the popular vote in 2014. Yet, by my count, Rauner won 69 of 118 House districts that same year, or 58.5 percent.
So, the Republican candidate for governor won 22 more House seats than the Republicans currently hold.
That’s why Gov. Rauner thinks he has a real shot at picking up some House seats this year. His operation is focusing like a laser on the districts he won.
* Now, it’s not as simple as this, of course. Once somebody is elected, it’s difficult to pry them loose. The House Democrats picked up seats after the 2011 remap, but besides drawing a map that certainly favored their candidates, the wins were also due to 2012 being a hugely favorable (to them) presidential election year.
By the time the national GOP wave swept through two years later, it ran smack dab into Democratic incumbents who’d been working their new districts hard for two years. And not all of those newbies had credible (or any) challengers.
But it didn’t work out that way for Congressional Democrats, who lost some seats here in 2014.
This year, the trend will likely be the Democrats’ friend yet again. If Rauner doesn’t net some gains, he’ll likely blame the map, but that won’t be totally true.
* If you go back to 1991, the last time the Republicans drew the map, Madigan’s Democrats held on to control in 1992, when Bill Clinton and Carol Moseley Braun swept the state. The Democrats lost the majority two years later in a big national GOP landslide, but gained it back in 1996, when Clinton ran again, and managed to hold onto their majority until they drew the map in 2001.
Yet, during that same time period, the Senate Republicans held the majority throughout, even with the heavy African-American migration into the south suburbs which helped upend the House GOP’s hold. Senators, however, don’t run every two years, so some lucked out and missed unfavorable wave elections.
Lots of things play into why stuff happens in politics, which is why I love it so much. It’s not a black and white, either-or game, except on election day itself, when it’s winner take all.
* And, again, let me say I think that a non-partisan map would be a good thing here. But so would California’s open primary system, where the top two vote-getters battle it out in November even if they’re from the same party. I’d love to see that brought to Illinois.
There are lots of things we can do to reform the process. But a single reform probably won’t solve all our problems. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, because they’re living in an overly simplistic cartoon world. I prefer the real world.
* Kyle Hillman was at the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services’ “transformation stakeholder presentation” today. A major topic, of course, was the lack of a state budget…
A speaker just said that her wait list for children mental health services has ballooned to over 900. / Illinois failed these kids.
* Meanwhile, Madigan’s members are back in their districts attempting to explain to constituents why their leader broke his promise. That cannot be an easy task in this environment.
State Rep. Jack D. Franks, D-Marengo, is calling on the Illinois Lottery to suspend online ticket sales since its statutory authority to do so expired in March, and is urging Lottery officials not to make prepayments to be able to take part in multistate lottery games – like they did last June – because of the state’s ongoing budget impasse.
“I find it troubling that the Illinois Lottery continues to sell tickets online while they no longer have the authority to do so,” Franks said. “That’s why the Lottery must suspend these sales immediately unless the state legislature grants them to the ability to continue selling online permanently.”
Franks is concerned that Illinois residents are still able to buy lottery tickets online, despite the expiration of a pilot program in March that allowed the Illinois Lottery to sell these tickets legally. In addition, in light of a recent report by the Auditor General showing that the Illinois Lottery improperly prepaid $20 million in June of 2015 to take part in future multistate lottery games, like the Powerball and Mega Millions, Franks is calling on the Lottery to not make any future prepayments due to the lack of a state budget.
Franks is calling on the Attorney General or the Governor’s Office of the Executive Inspector General to investigate the Illinois Lottery in response to the audit’s findings and the issue of online lottery sales.
“Without a state budget the Illinois Lottery does not have the legal authority to make these prepayments for next fiscal year,” Franks added. “Like any government agency, the Lottery has an obligation to follow the law, be transparent and protect taxpayer dollars, and I want to sure that they are taking these responsibilities seriously.”
* The governor’s office responds…
Hi, Rich:
Representative Franks has gotten both the facts and the law wrong. The Lottery has the legal authority to continue its online subscription program and monetary transfers to the multi-state clearinghouse that administers the Powerball and Mega Millions Lottery games. Neither is affected by the General Assembly’s ongoing refusal to do its job. We encourage Representative Franks to return to work and pass the stopgap budget rather than sending inaccurate, misguided, politically motivated press releases.
* He’s also right that the online pilot project expired months ago. The Lottery, however, contends its new rules, which changed the definition of “subscription,” allow the program to continue. And the GOPs point out that the program is bringing in $30 million for the school fund.
But Franks brings up a possible problem with those new rules. What if two people win a multi-state lottery game - one from out of state and an online buyer from Illinois? The out of stater might be able to claim that s/he should take the whole jackpot because there is no statutory authority for the Illinoisan’s winning ticket. And if that person wins the case, could state fraud be alleged by the Illinois “loser”?
* The House Democrats, by the way, are holding off making the pilot project permanent because, some of them claim, they’re worried that the Lottery wants to essentially allow online “drawings” every couple of minutes or so - kinda like having a casino on your mobile phone or personal computer.
Democrats should just announce that they have heard from a lot of constituents that are opposed to raising taxes since returning from Springfield…
…and demand the governor introduce a budget that includes no new revenue or borrowing that can be voted on by July 1.
Not a stop gap budget, or a partial budget, but a balanced, 12-month budget like he was supposed to submit 4 months ago.
That will stop the games.
Their targets and others could very well do that. It wouldn’t be a bad idea.
* But they could also run tons of advertising claiming that the numerous Republicans who sent this anti-tax hike mailer want to slash [insert much-beloved, poll-tested government spending programs] to death. Considering history, that’s highly likely…
* The Democrats believe that Sen. Mark Kirk’s new TV spot is designed to distance himself from Donald Trump. Kirk’s campaign won’t confirm. We’ll see tomorrow. From an internal Democratic e-mail…
Competitive update -Kirk buy in Chicago
June 23-30, 2016
Chicago
Broadcast $230,860 500 GRPs
Cable $28,000
Totals $258,860
Awful early for this sort of thing, particularly since he doesn’t exactly have a boatload of cash. But this is not your usual year.
“I had a conversation with one of the members in the workers compensation committee meeting,” said Bennett, “and the adjective used was insatiable. We’ll come and say that we’ll work with you and do this and this and this. And then when we have a deal all of a sudden the sand shifts and it’s a totally different deal at the end. Now they want more.
“The governor has made a lot of money by being a good negotiator and he’s used the word leverage over and over and over. I’m not putting words in his mouth. He said it. The budget is good leverage to get the things he wants.”
Bennett said Rauner “knows we’re sitting in here talking about cuts. That bothers us a lot, which puts him in a pretty strong negotiating position. I made the analogy of the way you negotiate to buy a car. And imagine the last thing as you’re handing over the keys, he says, ‘You’re going to throw your spouse’s car in too, right?’”
The Democrats are also doing this in the workers’ comp talks.
A state senator from suburban Chicago plans to move forward with a bill that would ban the trapping of bobcats and the sale of their pelts ahead of the state’s first legal hunting season for the once-threatened species in more than 40 years.
Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said he was holding his bill because he’d reached an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that would have reduced the number of permits available for hunting and trapping the small wild cats and further restricted where they could be hunted. But he said the department’s director, Wayne Rosenthal, walked away from the agreement toward the end of the General Assembly’s spring session “for reasons unknown to me” […]
“[We’re] proposing a very small number of permits, relatively speaking, according to the department,” he said. “And with trapping, there’s really no way to gauge how many animals you might take. If you set a half a dozen traps and you have a permit for only one bobcat, what happens if you take two?”
To be clear, Harmon specifically wanted to limit the trophy pelt business angle before new rules were promulgated ahead of hunting season. They worked on the bill for months.
The department says Harmon shouldn’t be surprised that it’s moving forward with the rules as proposed because the senator didn’t uphold his part of the agreement. He had agreed to advance a bill that would do away with registration requirements for small boats, which would save money, according to the department.
IDNR also wanted Sen. Harmon to get that proposal through the House, but wouldn’t hold off on its new rules.
* Gubernatorial recall is a stupid, spitting-into-the-wind, utter waste of time idea. It’s practically impossible to accomplish with the constitutional amendment voters approved. I’ve even banned the word in comments (and it’s still banned, so don’t try to “debate” it today, either) because it’s usually only mentioned by ignorant, hyperpartisan, hyperbolic goofballs (and that goes for Quinn’s administration, too).
* Remember yesterday when I suggested that prison-town mayors might want to consider banding together to keep the Rauner administration from singling them out? Somebody may be reading…
A City Council in the tiny western Illinois community of Mount Sterling may have voted to keep the water on at the local state prison despite Illinois’ budget impasse, but the payment battle may not be over.
Vada Yingling, city administrator in the community of about 2,000 people, said in an interview with WFMB-1450 AM in Springfield that officials may discuss organizing with other towns also faced with nonpayment of bills from the state. […]
“I think that, you know, as a city, our biggest fear is that our governor would make an example out of the first city who would make a stand,” Yingling said, noting about 100 people packed into the council chambers, many associated with jobs at the prison.
“We had gotten some phone calls from the governor’s office — not from he, himself, but from (the) governor’s office — saying that, you know, ‘Well, it’s a possibility if we have to move those inmates out because of the water being shut off, they may not be moved back and those jobs could be compromised. Do you understand that?’” she told the radio station. […]
Yingling said Mount Sterling buys water from a local water district, and almost half the water the community purchases is for the prison. On the day of the vote, she said, the town shut off seven homes for nonpayment and “their bill is nowhere near the prison’s and the prison is still getting water, so that’s hard to justify.” […]
“I would like to see if it’s somehow possible for all of us (owed money) to come together as a unified front and stay together … that we could somehow join forces and make a mightier stand together rather than individually,” she said. “Maybe the governor can’t say ‘no’ if we stand unified.”
Good luck with that.
* And speaking of mayors, this is from the governor’s office…
As the House of Representatives cancel another planned day of continuous session, more than 40 mayors penned an op-ed urging lawmakers to pass the GOP Leaders stopgap budget proposal and education budget.
This is an excerpt of the op-ed that was published this morning in the State Journal-Register:
As the Illinois General Assembly departed Springfield on May 31 without passing a budget, we now face a very uncertain future that affects not only our government, but more importantly, our citizens. As this budget stalemate continues, we need a plan to ensure funding for schools and local government until a comprehensive budget resolution can be reached.
[…] as of today, schools around the state have received no appropriation for state funding for this upcoming school year. Without this appropriation, schools are left in the precarious position of trying to figure out how to fill the hole the state budget dollars has left. […]
Thankfully, a bill introduced in Springfield by State Rep. Jim Durkin and State Sen. Christine Radogno will fund early childhood, elementary and secondary education for the upcoming school year and ensure our schools open on time this fall. Unlike previously floated education plans, this proposal is fully funded and would not require any additional revenues or add to the state’s ever-increasing bill backlog. Additionally, the bill contains a hold-harmless provision which ensures that any school which would have lost dollars under the current funding formula will at least receive the same amount as they did last year. […]
Another bill introduced by leaders Durkin and Radogno serves as a bridge to keep government functioning and protects public health, welfare and safety. As mayors, it is critically important that we have much-needed funding to address our local infrastructure needs. This fully funded stopgap budget funds the state’s full road construction program in Fiscal Year 2017, including bridge repair and local government road allocations, which are funded predominantly out of motor fuel tax funds and vehicle registration fees. […]
This common-sense plan serves as a bridge that allows schools to open, protects public safety and avoids a government shutdown. This plan is fiscally prudent and fully-funded, contrary to the numerous unfunded, out-of- balance spending plans we’ve seen come out of the legislature this session.
* From SW Illinois News, which is one of those Dan Proft newspapers…
Approaching the November elections, Republican Paul Schimpf aims to bring “common-sense” legislating, conservative values and integrity to the state Senate in District 58, which covers Monroe, St. Clair, Randolph, Perry, Jackson, Union and Jefferson counties. […]
Former Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon (2011-2015) is the current Democrat opponent in the Senate race, but Schimpf is confident that he is the right candidate to address the issues Illinois and his district are facing. […]
What makes Schimpf the best candidate for the district?
“Leadership abilities versus political lineage,” he said.
Schimpf explained that Simon comes from a tradition of politicians who do very little to serve the state; instead, they are more likely to serve themselves. He also argued that he can be a leader for everyone, not just for one party.
* Simon responds…
“I’ve expected a good debate in this campaign, but I sure didn’t expect to have to defend my father’s reputation,” said state senate candidate Sheila Simon.
Simon’s opponent, Paul Schimpf, recently referred to Simon’s lineage claiming, “Simon comes from a tradition of politicians who do very little to serve the state; instead, they are more likely to serve themselves.”
“People all over southern Illinois have fond memories of my dad. Most often, folks say they appreciated dad’s honesty,” Simon said.
“The Paul Simon I knew and respected was a Lutheran minister’s kid who drove an old Chevrolet and knew a lot more about where to find a cold Pepsi than a vintage wine, “said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Paul Simon’s successor in the Senate. “He even bargained his SIU salary down when he started the Simon Institute. Sheila’s opponent will have his hands full trying to smear the reputation of one of the most honest and caring politicians in our state’s history. ”
“I respect my dad’s record of public service,” Simon said. “He did it in uniform overseas, as a newspaper editor, and in Springfield and Washington. That’s a tradition I’m proud to be a part of.”
After promising that the House would be in continuous session and meet each Wednesday, Mike Madigan announced yesterday that session would be canceled for the third week in a row.
Mike Madigan is hiding behind the working groups. He is using them as a stall tactic in order to create a crisis so that he can ram through a massive tax hike with no reforms.
Meanwhile, statehouse Republicans and the Governor have two ready-to-go bills that would ensure that schools open on time in the fall, critical government services function and prisons continue to operate.
Madigan and House Democrats might have the luxury of taking a vacation from reality, but parents and public safety officials do not.
The calls will target Reps. Beiser, Bradley, Cloonen, Mussman, Phelps, Skoog, Smiddy and Yingling.
As subscribers know, those “ready-to-go bills” aren’t actually ready because college-town legislators (including Republicans) wanted more higher ed spending.
There’s nothing State Rep Sam Yingling likes more than a little fun in the sun this summer at taxpayer’s expense.
Instead of doing their job, House Speaker Mike Madigan and State Rep Sam Yingling are playing hooky again by cancelling session.
Yingling is too busy worrying about his tan to be concerned with putting public safety, vital services and schools first.
With their shades on and umbrella drink in hand, Madigan and State Rep Yingling continue to hold the budget hostage while trying to force through a massive tax hike with no reforms.
You can help end State Rep Sam Yingling’s summer vacation early by visiting www.rebuildillinois.com to sign the petition telling Yingling to get off the beach and get back to work. Put public safety, our schools and the needs of our district ahead of Chicago political boss Mike Madigan’s taxpayer funded getaway.
Paid for by The Illinois Republican Party. xxx-xxx-xxxx
According to Trump’s latest report to the Federal Election Commission, his campaign had $1.289 million on hand on May 31. At the same time, Democrat Hillary Clinton had $42.461 million in her presidential campaign fund.
But Trump doesn’t trail just Clinton in campaign funding. Here are some other political candidates with more money in their funds than Trump had on May 31:
Local School Council members from more than a quarter of Chicago Public Schools are urging city leaders to come up with local solutions to the district’s budget crisis.
As CPS has stared down a $1 billion budget shortfall, city officials led by CPS chief Forrest Claypool have pushed for increased funding from the state to fill a chunk of the yawning budget gap. But lobbying and demonstrations downstate won’t be enough to prevent cuts at city schools, according to restive LSC members from across the city. More than 500 LSC members from 141 CPS schools signed onto a petition demanding action that doesn’t require approval from Springfield including shortening the school day and year; draining funds from TIF districts; and canceling plans to build a new high school to be named for Barack Obama. […]
The statement did not mention local revenue sources or cuts suggested by the LSC group.
They’re right that the city needs to stop waiting on an ultimate solution from the state.
But cutting the length of school days and shortening the school year just don’t make sense when CPS is making significant progress with its graduation rate. CPS used to have one of the shortest school days and school years of any district in the country (and even much of the developed world).
It’s beyond me why school council members would suggest such a thing, other than they’re shilling for the CTU.
* Brownie responds to Gov. Rauner’s off-handed remark the other day that he’ll run for reelection…
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Rauner’s quiet announcement made it look like the decision was unplanned.
“He blurted it out. It was hardly a well-prepared statement,” Brown said.
When asked which Democratic might face off against Rauner come 2018, Brown said he’s not entirely convinced the current governor would automatically get the GOP nomination.
“After trashing (Donald) Trump, Rauner’s going to have to go up against other Republican candidates in a primary,” Brown said. “And there’s no surety he’ll be the candidate.”
I’d put the likelihood of Rauner losing a 2018 Republican primary at less than one percent, because the likelihood that he’ll even draw a viable GOP opponent is probably almost as low.
I mean, which prominent Trump supporter would make the governor pay for his anti-Trump words come 2018? Heck, is there even a single prominent Trump supporter in this state who could mount a realistic bid? I can’t think of one.
Beyond that, who wants to go up against tens of millions of dollars and a hugely negative oppo machine? Sure, Jim Edgar is making the occasional speech and giving the occasional interview, but that’s a far cry from a full-blown, all-out, big-dollar primary challenge to his party’s sitting governor (which would undoubtedly feature a re-opening of some old wounds, including MSI). Plus, he’s already passed on how many statewide comeback bids?
Until I see a real name, I’ll just repeat the old phrase: You can’t beat somebody with nobody.
* This bill, introduced today, has bipartisan co-sponsorship, including some NRA supporters and a bunch of liberal Chicagoans. Emphasis added…
Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Provides the annual training of police chiefs must include at least one course on the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, and firearms investigations. Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. In the definition of “clear and present danger” that the person demonstrates threatening physical or verbal behavior, such as violent, suicidal, or assaultive threats, actions, or other behavior, adds that it includes any act that is intended to cause or create a risk and does cause or create a risk of death or great bodily harm to one or more persons. Permits the Department of State Police to notify the FBI if a person on the Terrorist Watchlist submits an application for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID card). Requires the Department of State Police to, within 3 business days, provide notice and reason for the disqualification of a person from a firearm purchase or FOID card revocation to all law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction to assist with the seizure of the person’s FOID card. Adds as grounds to deny an application for or to revoke or seize the person’s FOID card that the person is charged with making a terrorist threat or soliciting or providing material support for terrorism under State law or a similar offense of another state or under federal law. Provides if the Department of State Police has not received the FOID card or Firearms Disposition Record from the person, the Department shall send notice of noncompliance to the sheriff and law enforcement agency where the person resides.
It’s obviously not a panacea, but it’s a whole lot more than DC has been able to do so far.
That’s how IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn describes the current state of affairs. IDOT will send notices out to contractors tomorrow. No more destructive work will be allowed starting tomorrow, Wednesday, June 22. If there is no budget authority by June 30 there will be a “complete shutdown.” All engineering will stop. State let local projects will stop. Locally let projects will have to decide if they will continue — their MFT dollars will go through July. There will also be a shutdown of rail, transit, and airport projects. All shutdowns will commence on Thursday, June 30 if the stopgap budget is not passed.
IDOT will award contracts from the June 10 letting if there is a budget. At this point, IDOT does not intend to rebid if there is no budget. IDOT will not advertise the July letting until July 1. If there is no budget, IDOT plans to consult with industry as to whether or not they should even go through with that letting. Lapse spending (from the end of the fiscal year) will be paid.
The Tollway program will be impacted on IDOT jobs such as 290/390 interchange, Cumberland Flyover, and on the Kennedy add-lanes.
An IRTBA official says this information was gleaned from a meeting with IDOT today. He said he was “told I could release immediately…no embargo. Notices going out tomorrow to contractors.”
I’ve asked the Rauner administration for comment.
…Adding… From IDOT…
“We have started to inform our industry partners that all of our projects in both construction and engineering phases will be shutting down starting June 30 due to the majority party in the legislature’s failure to pass a balanced budget. The conversation about how individual projects will wind down is continuing.
“The stopgap proposal is a fiscally responsible solution proposed by the Republican leaders that can be voted on today. There will be no interruption in our projects and programs if the General Assembly returns to Springfield and passes HB 6585/SB 3435.”
…Adding More… Text from a pal who represents the industry…
Blankenhorn is making calls telling people about shut down all projects, 25k jobs gone. He called me & I could tell he was running through his list
* If you go to about the 7:20 mark in this audio, you’ll hear a Springfield reporter (Bruce Rushton) ask Gov. Rauner today why we haven’t seen, “a solid budget proposal out of you for a year and a half.”
The reporter made the mistake of throwing in some stuff about the Turnaround Agenda, so Rauner said he disagreed with much of what the reporter said and focused solely on the “non-budget” angle.
* At the 8:45 mark, the reporter cuts Rauner off and rightly points out: “We’ve heard that before. It’s your issue now. Why have you not produced a budget that is balanced that includes realistic proposals for revenues and cuts? Why not?”
Rauner said he’d like to answer the question “if you would not interrupt.” And then he went right back to his standard lines about how “every reform we’re advocating has bipartisan support. We can’t just raise taxes and think we will solve the problem.”
* And on and on the governor went until the 11:45 mark when the reporter spoke up yet again, saying “We’ve heard this same campaign speech for a year and a half. Why have you not put forth a balanced budget?”
Rauner interrupted the reporter before he could even get his question out. “So… So… OK. Somebody else. Yes.”
And that was the end of that.
* The answer is actually pretty simple. State law prohibits governors from proposing a budget with revenues not yet in statute, so he put forth two budgets with billions of dollars in holes because he doesn’t want to wear the jacket for massive spending cuts. He also didn’t want to follow Pat Quinn’s example by proposing two budgets at the same time, a “non-recommended” budget with huge cuts and a “recommended” budget with new revenues.
It’s a politically understandable predicament. But, of course, he doesn’t want to admit to a lack of courage. And he’s apparently prepared to filibuster to the end of time to avoid answering the question.
…Adding… From a reporter pal…
The guv was redirected from Rushton by Lance, whose voice is not on the audio. Lance called, “Move on! Move on!”
The guv next called on WAND’s Ed Cross, whose question was something like, “Isn’t the Chamber of Commerce a special interest?”
The governor, holding his first public office after years as a private equity investor, said voters are fickle when it comes to the government they want versus the government for which they want to pay.
“Voters want conflicting things. They want a lot of government spending, but they don’t want higher taxes,” he said. “So what do unprincipled politicians do? Give ‘em what they want, stay in office long enough and bail when the crisis hits. Well, that’s what’s happened.”
Hard to disagree with most of that. It’s exactly what has happened at the federal and state levels for decades. Except, in Illinois, some folks don’t ever leave office.
[State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington] added, though, social service agencies waiting for a year on state money might not get all they are owed, even if lawmakers approve a spending plan for the new budget year in July.
“I believe there will be direction to do some backfilling, but I don’t know that there’s going to be money to refill your contracts to the level you would like to have them,” Brady said.
The Chief Operating Officer of Chestnut Health Systems Alan Sender responded by saying its a failure of lawmakers and Governor Rauner.
“You can’t treat businesses like that,” Sender said.
* A new Anzalone Liszt Grove Research poll taken June 9-14 of 601 likely voters found that 60 percent rated Gov. Rauner’s job performance as negative, with “Not so good” at 21 percent and “Poor” at 39 percent. Just 33 percent said he was either doing a “Good” (26 percent) or “Excellent” (7 percent) job.
…Adding… It should be noted that this is not a “traditional” way of asking about approval ratings. But there are different ways of asking the question.
50 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Gov. Rauner, including 35 percent who had a very unfavorable opinion. Just 35 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Rauner, with a mere 11 percent saying they had a very favorable opinion of him.
By contrast, President Obama’s fave/unfave numbers were 63/34.
* The poll also had some bad news for ComEd and Exelon’s energy proposal and for legislators who vote for it as-is. The wording of the polls seems more professional than the one released earlier this month by Exelon, but they are quite negative. Still, as an issue test, they’re interesting. But the sample size for the competitive legislative district over-sample is probably too small to rely on here.
* After all the push questions, they found that 81 percent oppose the Exelon bill’s “demand charge.” No surprise, considering the loaded questions, but that’s actually the same result as before the final question was asked. But check this out…
Which of the following reasons do you think a legislator in Springfield is most likely to support this law?
They think it will benefit average utility customers 13%
They think it will be good for the environment 8%
Total Positive Reason 21%
They think it will be good for big corporations 21%
They took campaign cash from a big utility company 41%
Total Negative Reason 63%
[vol] Don’t know/Refused 17%
Which of the following reasons do you think Bruce Rauner is most likely to support this law?
He thinks it will benefit average utility customers 14%
He thinks it will be good for the environment 6%
Total Positive Reason 19%
He thinks it will be good for big corporations 31%
He took campaign cash from big utility companies 28%
Total Negative Reason 59%
It may take a crisis of epic proportions to resolve the state’s budget impasse, members of a panel discussing the effects of the year-long stalemate said Monday. […]
The situation led Richard Winkel, director of the Office of Public Leadership at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, to say it may take a high-profile emergency to finally bring attention to the damage being done by the state not having a permanent spending plan in place. That sort of emergency could occur if a budget for K-12 education isn’t approved and schools can’t open this fall, he said. It could be the closure of Chicago State University, or Western Illinois University or Eastern Illinois University announcing they can’t continue operating for another semester.
Or it could be a court ruling that state workers can’t be paid without a budget.
“When that happens, collapse,” Winkel said. “I think people will notice that. It’s going to have to take, unfortunately, a crisis to get us out of this situation.”
* The Question: What specific crisis or crises do you think will have to happen to finally force an end to the impasse? As always, explain your answer.
The State of Illinois has told the Federal Railroad Administration that it is moving forward with the Chicago to Quad-Cities passenger rail project, an official said Tuesday.
The decision may well keep in place $177 million in federal funding that was awarded in 2010 for the connection, but that will be up to the Federal Railroad Administration, which had said the grant would expire June 30. Local officials have been lobbying Gov. Bruce Rauner to ask for an extension.
“The Illinois Department of Transportation has informed the Federal Railroad Administration that it will be proceeding with the proposal to reintroduce passenger rail service between Chicago and Moline. As we move forward, we remain strongly committed to looking out for the best interest of all Illinois taxpayers,” Guy Tridgell, a spokesman for the Illinois DOT wrote in an email Tuesday morning.
The state’s initial match for the grant amounts to $45 million, and in the midst of the budget impasse, the governor’s office only has recently said that the project is under review.
The primary provider of outpatient mental health services in DeWitt County will begin shutting down July 1, a casualty of the state budget impasse, the agency executive director said Monday.
The board of the DeWitt County Human Resource Center (HRC) voted to cease providing services after June 30, Executive Director Lynn Scoville said.
But HRC is working with other Central Illinois health providers to determine whether they can assume responsibility for HRC programs.
“Our goal right now is to make sure our clients are taken care of,” Scoville said. Then she paused to cry. “And to make sure they are taken care of in our community. That’s our goal.” […]
HRC serves about 500 people in DeWitt County. Services include outpatient mental health therapy and counseling, case management to assist clients to live independently, 24/7 crisis intervention for people experiencing a psychiatric emergency, psychiatric services, mental health and substance abuse early intervention and developmental training/day programming for people with developmental disabilities.
Yeah, because what we need right now are a bunch of people who can’t get crisis psychiatric services.
The governor said he remains focused on getting the Democratic leaders back to Springfield to vote on two bills - one for education funding, and another for essential services. It’s the only way, he says, to avoid near-term chaos.
“Speaker Madigan and the supermajority, I believe they wanted to create a crisis. I believe that they’d like to force a tax hike without any reforms,” Rauner said.
“The supermajority is trying to create a crisis, and my sense is, they would like to force a bailout of Chicago Public Schools,” [Gov. Rauner] said. “The other issue is, Speaker Madigan would like to put pressure to force a tax hike at some point without doing any reforms. And creating a crisis now, where government services melt down, where people are yelling and upset, can create the leverage and the push that he has on that side.”
Rauner believes a majority of rank-and-file Democrats agree with what is left of his so-called turnaround agenda. The changes he seeks are not radical. They are not union-busting. They are not out of line with what other states are doing. Democrats support him, privately. But they don’t have the guts to call out their leadership and get behind the Republican governor whom Madigan loves to describe as “extreme.”
Let’s be clear: One side is being extreme. It’s the side that is in power. It’s the side that could call its members back to Springfield to fix this. It’s the side that could cut a deal and send it to the governor’s desk within days. It’s the side that claims to represent the interests of the middle class but is doing so, apparently, from political fundraisers at local country clubs with a shrimp skewer in one hand and a cocktail in the other.
If you don’t like Rauner and you blame him for the state’s mess, well, we’ve got some bad news for you. He’s not going anywhere. He’s in this to fix Illinois.
“It could certainly happen,” Rauner said of Democrats gaining seats this fall. “The speaker’s senior staff told me they think that this could be a Democratic tidal wave year in Illinois and that they’ll pick up three or four seats” from House Republicans.
“The speaker will move from the most powerful politician in this state to the dictator of the state,” the governor said of such a result, adding later, “I feel very bad for the people of Illinois.”
If Madigan picks up seats, Rauner said, “Then they’ll be in a position where there probably ain’t going to be much in the way of reforms and … they’ll be able to jam through whatever it is their particular goal is.”
* So, to sum up…
1) The Democratic supermajority is currently all-powerful and is attempting to create a crisis to bail out Chicago schools and force through a tax hike;
2) According to the governor, a majority of Democrats actually support the governor’s Turnaround Agenda;
3) If the House Democrats pick up seats, well, then they’ll finally “be able to jam through whatever it is their particular goal is.”
…Adding… One more, thanks to a commenter…
1) Madigan is all powerful;
2) Madigan’s members “don’t have the guts” to call him out;
* Centerstone describes itself as “one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit providers of community-based behavioral health care, offering a full range of mental health services, substance abuse treatment and intellectual and developmental disabilities services in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.”
From Centerstone CEO John Markley…
For the last 11 months, Centerstone has, in good faith, offered services we were contracted to provide by the state of Illinois, but because our state officials have not passed a budget, we have not been paid for these services. Today, our state owes Centerstone more than $6 million.
We, along with other organizations, have warned public officials for months that we could not sustain the losses the state of Illinois was imposing on us, but our concerns have been ignored.
With no end to this state contract crisis in sight, the viability of our entire organization is being threatened. So, after careful review of the situation, we are enacting difficult measures to protect Centerstone, our 600 employees across the state and the 16,000 people of all ages who depend on us.
In the coming fiscal year, we will eliminate several state contracts because of the risk involved. These contracts represent vital services in our communities, but we cannot sustain them in such uncertain times. This means, as of June 30, 2016, the following services will close:
· Comprehensive Community Based Youth services (CCBYS) in Franklin, Jackson, Perry and Williamson Counties;
· Crisis Stabilization services at the Centerstone Crisis Center in Williamson County, a service which has saved our state more than $4 million in healthcare costs;
· DMH Juvenile Justice services in Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson and Williamson Counties;
· Homeless Youth services in Franklin, Jackson, Perry and Williamson Counties;
· Psychiatric Medication funds used in Calhoun, Franklin, Jackson, Jersey, Madison, and Williamson Counties;
· Supported Residential services (one group home) in Alton; and
· Teen Pregnancy Prevention services in Franklin County.
Additionally, Halfway House beds in Marion will be reduced.
A total of 700 clients and 39 staff members will be affected by these changes. The loss of our colleagues and services is painful, but our state has offered us little choice.
It is our sincere hope that our Governor and legislature finally do the right thing and act in the best interests of all of their constituents by ending this state budget crisis.
Water will remain on at the Western Illinois Correctional Center after the Mount Sterling City Council voted 6-0 Monday against disconnecting service.
The council meeting was packed with prison supporters who told the council that if water was turned off, it could devastate the local economy because the state could decide to shut down the facility. More than 400 people work for the prison.
The state was about eight months behind in payments.
The city said it is owed $369,350 from the state, though a $55,000 payment for November 2015 arrived Monday.
As I told you yesterday, this was not at all unexpected. No way did they want to be responsible for losing all those jobs.
Another facility that has failed to pay its bills to the city is the Illinois Department of Corrections Pittsfield Work Camp, which owes the city more than $100,000 for nearly a year of utility services. Hayden said the prison utilities would not be shut off because of the hardship it would create.
In Jacksonville, which is home to a minimum-security prison and two state schools, the state owes the city about $350,000 in water bills since August, according to Mayor Andy Ezard.
Of that amount, the state owes a little less than $300,000 for water for the Jacksonville Correctional Center and about $30,000 apiece in water bills for Illinois School for the Deaf and Illinois School for the Visually Impaired.
“At this point, we are not concerned about payment from the state because all of these facilities have been major employers in the city for many years, and we have enough money allocated for our current projects that it’s not an issue,” Ezard said. “We have a good rapport and working relationship with our state facilities, and we certainly understand that it’s not the fault of the state facilities that the bills aren’t getting paid.”
If the Illinois Municipal League helped organize mayors with major state facilities, that could put some pressure on everyone to come to the table. But since the IML was so involved with the governor’s failed local government “right to work” resolutions, I wouldn’t bet on that.
Either they get organized on their own, or they’re gonna continue to be picked off one by one. Expect the latter. Nobody wants to rock the boat.
* More from that fascinating and very insightful Tribune interview of Gov. Bruce Rauner…
But Rauner saved his sharpest school-related criticism for Emanuel, a one-time vacation friend and business associate, for having “caved” to the CTU during the last strike and saying the mayor would do so if the union walked out again.
“It takes someone with a unique background to stand up to the threat of a strike, and win. And win. You’ve got to have the children and the students be able to go somewhere safe and a learning environment, and he’s not willing to do that,” Rauner said.
“So the teachers union gets to dictate terms. This is going on all over Illinois and around America. And if you can’t take a strike and come out the other side and win, the union is the dictator. They dictate the terms,” he said.
He’s only talking here about teachers unions, but one can’t help wonder if he feels the same about AFSCME.
*** UPDATE *** I forgot about this. Rauner also had a message for AFSCME…
The re-election pledge came as Rauner accused the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, the state’s largest employees’ union, of trying to wait out his term before working toward a new contract.
“The union wants nothing. They just want to delay. They want to delay (contract talks) for another two-and-a-half years and hope that I’m gone, but I’m going to run again, so, you know,” said Rauner, who is seeking a state labor board ruling stating that contract talks are at an impasse.
“The bipartisan working groups of legislators will meet three times this week, continuing their efforts to achieve a compromise on the state budget. Governor Rauner has been supportive of these groups’ efforts, and I agree with his recent comments that until there is a compromise budget, lawmakers should not be brought back to Springfield.”
“The working groups’ efforts should be allowed to move forward, continue their progress toward compromise, and work to end the budget impasse as soon as possible. ”
“It’s become painfully obvious that Mike Madigan’s declaration that the House will remain ‘in continuous session’ and meet each Wednesday was a lie. Madigan is hiding behind the working groups because he is afraid that rank-and-file Democrats actually want to compromise and work with their Republican colleagues. If Madigan were interested in getting a deal done before the election, he would call legislators back to session immediately. Instead, he has decided that holding school children, government operations and prisons hostage is okay if it means he can force a massive tax increase and a bailout of CPS with no reform. Madigan has driven Illinois into the ground for three decades – it appears he is content to do that for yet another year.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
After learning the House canceled Wednesday’s session, Rauner said lawmakers are shirking their duties.
“They’ll come back if we demand, if we the people of Illinois, demand they come back,” Rauner told an audience in Bloomington Tuesday. “They should be doing their jobs. They should be there today, tomorrow, Thursday working this out.”
Rauner has said the House should be in session more than once a week in June. He has also threatened to call special sessions to force lawmakers to return but has not said anything about that option recently.
Rauner repeated his contention that Democrats don’t want to pass a budget before July 1, which is the start of the new fiscal year. He also said Madigan wants to keep schools in limbo with no budget.
* Gov. Rauner was asked yesterday where he stood on the “non-budget” talks. Kim Geiger at the Tribune fills us in…
Changes to the rules on civil lawsuits, commonly referred to as “tort reform” is “off the table, for now,” Rauner said.
“The biggies,” Rauner said, are changes to workers’ compensation, the property tax freeze with collective bargaining provisions and legislation to alleviate the pension problem. Asked if that would be enough for him to strike a deal with Democrats, Rauner said: “Yeah, sure.”
That Rauner has set his sights on those items is no secret. There are working groups of lawmakers debating those topics now, and he’s focused much of his public comments on the three items in recent weeks. Still, it was the first time we’ve heard Rauner say specifically what would satisfy his general call for “reforms” alongside a budget deal that includes spending cuts and tax hikes.
Rauner’s answer might provide more clarity to casual observers of the budget impasse, but it’s unlikely to motivate Democratic lawmakers, who say they’ve lost trust in the governor because of his shifting rhetoric over the past year. Also, many Democrats are opposed to the workers’ compensation and collective bargaining proposals, which they contend would hurt the middle class.
Subscribers know more about the workers’ comp talks.
* Senate President John Cullerton probably thought that blaming Gov. Rauner for the lack of school funding at a school council meeting in his district would be a crowd-pleasing no-brainer. But, as Stefano Esposito of the Sun-Times reports, the parents at one of the city’s best schools weren’t buying it…
“I believe in my heart that nothing is being done on our behalf,” said Coonley parent Tracy Stein. “And that is so insulting and disingenuous to the people in this room and this community.” […]
“It just feels like there is a lot of finger-pointing at Gov. Rauner, who is a very easy target to point fingers at — his ideas are radical, as far as I’m concerned,” said parent Julie Greenberg. “But you guys have been there when this problem was coming.” […]
When asked what they could do to help Cullerton push his agenda, the Senate leader suggested they publicly sing the praises of Chicago schools. […]
“You’re telling us there is nothing you can do for us except encourage us to cheerlead our schools,” [Coonley school council member Jeff Jenkins] said. “With all due respect, that stinks. We deserve better.”
The crowd of about 60 people clapped loudly.
Oof.
* The Democrats can point to Rauner’s unpopularity and Donald Trump’s coming Illinois political disaster all they want. But it doesn’t change the fact that there’s very real anger out there in VoterLand at everybody in power right now. And the Democrats have a whole lot more incumbents than do the Republicans.
So, keep whistling past the graveyard to your heart’s content. But this may not turn out to be the year you think it’ll be.
As I’ve said before, a budget agreement would get the Democrats out of the way of the Trump/Rauner political trainwreck. But they don’t want to listen, so they could very well be part of that wreck.
* Gov. Rauner sat down for a few interviews yesterday. The Tribune editorial board appears to have had the most detailed of any I’ve seen, but it’s so long and detailed that we’ll have to take it in chunks. Let’s start here…
Rauner, who described himself as a free-market conservative, went so far as to say that Illinois is being damaged by a “collectivist economy,” employing a term generally used to suggest communist or socialist influence.
“We’ve become a collectivist economy in Illinois. It’s crushing us. And no problem is going to get fixed unless we bring more economic freedom into the state. And I believe that very passionately,” the governor said.
“That’s going to kill us in the long run. I’ve got to change that. And the other issues, we can debate, but that one I have to stay very strong on,” he said.
“Economic freedom” is his favorite slogan, by the way. It explains most of what he is as a person and politician.
