* Rep. Greg Harris, the House Democratic budget point person, told reporters today his caucus would soon present its own budget plan. Leader Durkin said yesterday there would be no point in another leaders’ meeting unless the House Dems had their own budget plan.
“Once [the spending plan] is in place, the question is, can we work together to find the revenue to pay for that spending plan? And that’s where we come up against Gov. Rauner’s demands for an extreme right agenda. This is where, I said a few days ago, that the House Democrats will be fully engaged on every issue brought to us in the special session. Those issues will be property taxes, pensions, government consolidation, workers’ compensation. We’re fully engaged on those issues, we’ve designated members of our caucus to talk to Republicans about all of the issues.
Notice that the House Speaker didn’t mention term limits. That subject matter is also included in the governor’s special session proclamation.
“My prediction of two and a half years ago stands. If Gov. Rauner is reasonable on these issues, then we can finalize an overall agreement. The responsibility will lie upon the Republican leaders. Take the positions that will be negotiated between Democratic designees and the Republicans, take those positions to the governor and persuade the governor to be reasonable. It will be the responsibility of the Republican leaders, persuade the governor to be reasonable on these non-budget issues.
And then he talked about his own non-budget issues, like SB 1, the controversial Medicaid managed care contract and rate regulation on workers’ comp insurance companies.
* When asked about the 30-vote requirement for House Republicans, Madigan said, “That’s the responsibility of legislative leaders,” adding “Mr. Durkin’s predecessors were always able to do their job.”
Asked about a property tax freeze, Madigan said the House Revenue Committee will meet tomorrow morning and hinted that his property tax plan would be unveiled at that time. The hearing is scheduled to start at 8:30.
* With many thanks to Amanda Vinicky, here’s the raw audio…
Today, 726 days into Bruce Rauner’s manufactured crisis, the Pritzker campaign released new robo calls targeting state Senate districts across the state. The calls aim to expose what Bruce Rauner’s budget compromise actually is: a sham. It’s a plan written solely by Republicans behind closed doors and that’s not compromise. While lawmakers are in Springfield today, Bruce Rauner will be in Iowa, doing nothing to help end this crisis he created.
The robo calls are part of the multimedia Crisis Creatin’ Rauner campaign, holding Bruce Rauner accountable for this crisis of his own making and the families, schools, and social service agencies that continue to pay the price.
“Bruce Rauner kicked off special session with a sham unity address that called on legislators to support a partisan budget written behind closed doors,” said Pritzker campaign communications director Galia Slayen. “While Bruce Rauner travels to other states and pretends to want compromise, Illinois families, schools, and social service agencies are suffering under his failed leadership. 726 days and counting without a state budget, and Bruce Rauner and Republicans are leading Illinois off of a fiscal cliff – it’s time they’re held accountable for their political games and disingenuous efforts to end the budget crisis. Bruce Rauner needs to focus on doing his job for Illinois families.”
For the third year in a row, Bruce Rauner has failed to produce a fair budget for Illinois families.
It took Bruce Rauner and Republicans over 700 days to introduce a compromise budget, but it wasn’t a compromise at all.
It’s the same special interest agenda that Bruce Rauner has been trying to force on Illinois from the start. Their budget was crafted behind closed doors with Rauner pulling the strings.
That’s not a compromise. That’s a sham.
Our social service agencies are shutting down. Our schools might not be able to open in the fall. Our families are suffering. We don’t have time for Bruce Rauner’s political games.
Tell the governor to do his job and pass a balanced budget now.
* Bruce Rauner was interviewed earlier this month by Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution. A Statehouse reporter just tweeted about it so I took a look. The full video is here and the transcript is here.
Bruce Rauner: Well, there are many factors, but we were taken over in 1983 by some politicians who were really in public service for their own benefit, a lot of self-dealing, a lot of corruption. Government insiders, special interest groups that make their money from government became ascendant and really took power, and as a result, deficit spending, inside deals, corruption, cronyism, patronage. Four out of the prior nine governors to my administration, four of them went to prison. Many members of the General Assembly are engaged in very much self-dealing and selfish behavior, and the system has just broken down.
Gee. I wonder what happened in 1983? Who took over that year? Hmm. Could it be… I dunno… Madigan?!!!
Bruce Rauner: Well, we have the highest property taxes in America, right up there with New Jersey, and we have political leaders, the head of the legislature, the head of the Democratic party, also happens to have a property tax appeal law firm, where he’s become a millionaire by holding up business owners in Cook County for their property tax appeals. We have a very corrupt, self-interested regime running the system. What I said is let’s break that system up. Let’s freeze property taxes by law, and let’s empower local residents, local voters to decide themselves what their property tax levy should be by voter referendum. They want more taxes for their schools, they can vote to do it. They want their property tax levy to come down, they can vote to do that. Give power to the people, and take it away from the politicians.
He got rich by “holding up business owners”? Yikes.
Peter Robinson: We’ll get to what did happen. What did you think would happen? You say to a guy, “Here’s a club, and the moment I get elected I’m going to smack you right between the eyes.” What did you think the legislature would do?
Bruce Rauner: The good news is that many Democrats in the General Assembly know that what we’re advocating for is the right thing for the long term. The issue is getting them to vote the right away against the wishes of their leadership. The speaker is very powerful, been the speaker for 35 years.
Peter Robinson: Speaker Madigan.
Bruce Rauner: That’s correct. The issue is he’s very much focused on self-dealing and maintaining the status quo. We’ve got to convince his caucus members to vote the right way. We’re getting there, but it’s been too slow.
* Chris Kennedy’s pink feather boa is great and I don’t think our current governor could pull off that look. But, I’m sorry, the Cub float in the background just ruins the pic for me…
* And I’m not sure all the Democratic candidates can run like this…
…Adding… The Pritzker campaign just posted a new video…
MK and I had such a great time marching with everyone yesterday at Chicago Pride. We will never stop fighting for equality. #Pride2017pic.twitter.com/bMSUUDu578
After years of railing against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for making several “non-budget” items a prerequisite to a spending agreement, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan announced Sunday he’s come up with his own demands if there’s to be a deal.
Madigan says he expects three things from Rauner: signing the Democrats’ big education funding overhaul, letting Illinois regulate workers’ compensation insurance rates, and slowing down a big change in the Medicaid program, so it can go through the normal state procurement process.
“This is a governmental negotiation. This is a situation where nobody gets 100 percent,” Madigan said. “I asked the Republican leaders: Please go down to the governor and explain — in a governmental negotiation, nobody gets 100 percent. Please do that.” […]
“Remember, there’s been a lot of complaints about the governor ‘moving the goalposts’ — we just saw that today from the Democrats,” [House GOP Leader Jim Durkin] said. “But you know, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We’ll work it out.”
“I think the fact that they’re willing to negotiate, to me, is a little more movement than we’ve seen in the past,” he said.
Madigan said House Democrats are working on a bill to freeze property taxes, although he did not say for how long. Madigan said the length of a freeze is an “open question.” […]
Although Durkin said there were some positives from the meeting, he said there won’t be another one until the House Democrats produce their own balanced budget plan.
“The fact is, we’re not going to meet until we actually get a plan out of the House Democrats,” Durkin said. “We’ve got five days left.”
“That’s forthcoming very shortly,” said Madigan who added that he wants to meet with the leaders again on Tuesday.
“Only because the governor wants to impose that on people who depend upon public schools to education children, OK? It’s part of the extreme right agenda,” Madigan said of Rauner insistence on a property tax freeze.
Local property taxes are the primary funding source for schools.
“That is the furthest from the truth. And that’s really disappointing at this stage, after two and a half years that it has now become part of some right wing conspiracy. That doesn’t help,” House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said of Madigan’s comment. “Our property taxes are the worst … in the United States. Not a good statement to make.”
Will Madigan agree to Rauner’s term limits proposal? “I strongly believe in the wisdom of the people of Illinois and how they vote,” Madigan said before referring to his own reelection. “We had a term limits question on the Southwest Side of Chicago about a year and a half ago. There was a million dollars spent against me — and the people voted for me.”
