Tuesday, Dec 15, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit Unions find numerous ways to support their communities each holiday season. This year, Cornerstone Credit Union and Credit Union 1 are helping to ensure that everyone’s needs are met – from their own members and employees, to animals in need at local shelters.
Cornerstone Credit Union, with locations in Freeport, Sterling, and South Beloit identifies ways to best assist the communities they serve throughout the holidays. With donations they collect, the credit union puts together Thanksgiving food baskets for credit union members in need. Employees nominate members they feel would most benefit from receiving this gift.
Additionally, Cornerstone Credit Union displays a food bin where members and employees can donate to the Salvation Army to assist with their collection efforts during the holiday season. The credit union also coordinates donations to Toys for Tots, and their Helping Hands Committee provides a monetary donation to an employee who has recently experienced an unexpected life hardship.
In addition to serving their members and local families in need, credit unions also assist local animal shelters during the winter months. For example, Credit Union 1 in Springfield is currently holding a donation drive for Friends of Sangamon County Animal Control.
Credit union employees and their members are proud to be making a difference in their communities this holiday season!
* A new era of openness by Chicago government? Hardly. Just ask Phil Kadner…
Before Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times on a Chicago street leading to federal investigations, the firing of the police superintendent, murder charges being filed against a police officer and calls for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign, a squad car that had been tailing McDonald radioed for a Taser-equipped patrol car to respond to the scene.
I thought all patrolmen in Chicago were equipped with Tasers. In researching this column, I found a Chicago Tribune article from March 2010 that stated Chicago was purchasing 380 new Tasers to add to the 280 in use so there would be one for each of the department’s 281 beats. “The ’stun guns’ will go in every squad car to give front-line beat officers a more effective way to protect themselves and calm a disturbance,” the story said. […]
After several days of e-mail exchanges and multiple phone calls to the mayor’s office and Chicago Police News Affairs, I was finally informed that the percentage of sworn officers that are Taser-certified is 21.5 percent. […]
There are many critics of Taser use by law enforcement and the recently released video showing a suspect in a lock-up being repeatedly zapped with a Taser by Chicago police. The suspect who was dragged out of his cell eventually died following a reaction to an antipsychotic drug, although an autopsy showed he had 50 bruises and scrapes from the top of his head to his lower legs. That video has created another Chicago Police Department scandal.
So I’m not going to suggest that Tasers would solve every problem involving the abuse and misuse of force.
But Tasers do offer an alternative to the deadly use of force, meaning a police officer may not have to discharge his sidearm when confronting a suspect. Chicago police encounter people using illegal drugs, drunks and individuals who are mentally ill on a regular basis. They may not heed calls to stop, put their hands in the air and lay down on the ground. That’s apparently what happened with McDonald, who kept on walking with a folding knife at his side as he was surrounded by police, including some who had drawn their guns.
Great points about Tasers, and very worthy of discussion here. But why does it take so long to get basic information like that?
Forty-five years ago this month, Illinois voters ratified a new Constitution to replace the state’s century-old predecessor. The framers of the new document saw it as a step into the 20th century for the state from the horse-and-buggy era of the 1870 Constitution.
As Illinois staggers into an unprecedented sixth month without an enacted budget and faces massive bill backlogs and pension debt, now might be an appropriate time to ask how well the 1970 charter has withstood the test of time. Has its promises of streamlined government operations, clear delineations of responsibility and greater ethical behavior been achieved? In retrospect, what obvious mistakes did its authors make? What problems did they overlook or fail to foresee?
As one who covered the Sixth Constitutional Convention as his first major assignment for the Chicago Sun-Times, your columnist admits to a certain bias in favor of the delegates’ handiwork. But on balance, I’d submit the 1970 charter has served Illinoisans well in most regards.
Consider these 1970 updates to the 1870 Constitution.
A Chicago businessman convicted of pocketing nearly $3 million in state grant funds was sentenced to six years in prison Monday after a federal prosecutor declared that Illinois government corruption “seems to be the norm anymore, rather than the exception.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Mills imposed the sentence — short of the eight years the government requested — on Leon Dingle Jr. for his role in a six-year fraud involving Illinois Department of Public Health funds. He also was ordered to pay $2.9 million in restitution.
After a sentencing hearing lasting more than two hours, Mills ordered Dingle’s wife, Karin, to spend three years in prison for her role in the scheme. Leon Dingle, 78, was convicted last December of 17 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering. Karin Dingle, 76, was convicted on six counts. […]
Mills took into consideration 55 letters of support for Leon Dingle, including from U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, a Chicago Democrat and uncle of a co-defendant in the case, and Alphonso Jackson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush. The judge noted that Dingle became wealthy by investing in a cable television company and spent years in health care and doing charitable work.
“Dr. Dingle has done a lot of good in his life,” Mills said. “But this is a very serious offense involving a staggering amount of money that went on for several years. It’s not an aberration or something that occurred once or twice.”
The governor and four legislative leaders will meet again Thursday at the Thompson Center in Chicago as they continue talks during the budget impasse. Two weeks ago, they met at the Capitol in Springfield, making public speeches beforehand. Last week, they met in Chicago behind closed doors.
* From the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois…
Top Rauner Administration health officials said on Monday that the fiscal year 2017 state budget is taking shape and that they are seeking “partnerships” with community human services providers to help reshape Illinois’ health care landscape.
At the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association annual conference in Schaumburg on Monday Department of Human Services Secretary James Dimas, as part of a panel discussion, told a packed-room of non-profit behavioral healthcare providers that his department’s FY 2017 budget proposal gets delivered to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday.
In December, the state entered its six-month without a FY 2016 budget.
During his speech to the assembled local behavioral healthcare non-profit leaders, Dimas criticized the “across-the-board” budget cuts approach on human services in the FY 2016 fiscal plan and suggested that FY 2017 plan will include “hard choices” to establish priorities.
In his remarks to conference attendees Dimas also recognized that DHS’ elimination of grants totaling $27 million for psychiatric care in the current budget has caused hardship for both behavioral healthcare providers and communities but pledged a new funding model to deliver care, but declined to disclose any details.
“Psychiatric care is a core service to help individuals working to recover from mental illness, and it needs to be funded,” said CBHA CEO Marvin Lindsey, following the panel presentation. “From Cairo to Rockford, 86% of Illinois community behavioral health providers have cut psychiatric care for low-income individuals who need treatment.”
Lindsey, who assumed his post in July, noted that the frozen $27 million is part of $288 million in broader behavioral healthcare funding for both community mental health and substance abuse treatment funding that has been blocked.
“Financial starvation is no longer a viable option if the state intends to maintain its commitment to those vulnerable Illinois citizens who need mental health care and drug treatment,” Lindsey said. “The budget stalemate is engulfing more community behavioral health care agencies and is pushing them towards a financial sinkhole.”
Following on Dimas’ presentation, DHS’ new mental health division director Diana Knaebe told non-profit leaders that the Rauner Administration’s plan to reshape the delivery of human services required “partnerships” between the state and community mental health providers, citing the new state law, House Bill 1, to fight the state’s heroin epidemic, as one area of “partnership.”
Health and Family Services director Felicia Norwood hit a high-note by hailing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act for providing a stable stream of behavioral health care funding and extending health care to an additional 620,000 Illinois residents through increased Medicaid enrollment. Norwood acknowledged, however, that the state’s healthcare infrastructure is “fragile.”
“The ongoing budge dispute has financially starved local behavioral healthcare providers,” Lindsey said. “A prolonged delay will only aggravate the state’s fraying health care system and infrastructure.”
* When it comes to gaming the electoral system, nobody does it “better” than judges…
A hearing officer for the Illinois State Board of Elections on Monday laid out the procedure for how he will review challenges to the candidacies of three St. Clair County judges.
The three circuit judges — John Baricevic, Robert Haida and Robert LeChien — have filed paperwork to retire in December 2016, but also are seeking to run as candidates in the November 2016 regular election. Normally, circuit judges are up for a retention vote every six years, where they’re required to get “yes” votes from at least 60 percent of voters. By running as candidates in a regular election, the three would need to receive only a simple majority of votes over any challenger. […]
After Monday’s conference, Cook said the tactic being employed by the three judges should be prohibited, because it will lead to other judges doing the same.
“The whole retention process will be avoided,” Cook said.
* There was a clear crowd favorite for the 2015 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best State Agency Director…
For all of the reasons already posted and then some, I nominate Nadine O’Leary for the director award. She has kept the trains running and most of the staff from abandoning ship en masse despite the crazy that was the leadership at ALPLM and HPA. Thanks to her efforts the Library has even been able to expand its reach and offer new programs. Not bad, to say the least, when your bosses want you gone and never heard from again.
* This next one is probably gonna create a bit of a stir, particularly since he runs the shop, but the 2015 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Legislative Liaison goes to Richard Goldberg for nominations like this one…
People sometimes forget the old adage in our field that “business is business” - nobody epitomizes this more than Richard Goldberg which is why I nominate him for best liaison. He is smart, savvy, irreverent, indefatigable, versatile and immensely skilled. Just ask Democrats (or Republicans for that matter) who have encountered him in a committee meeting or in small group discussion or on the floor - like him or not he has the confidence of the staff and the Gov and serves a useful function - something his detractors often misunderstood from the beginning. Madigan has Lou Lang - the Governor has Richard Goldberg.
Business is business folks - or to quote the Godfather “it’s not personal Sonny it’s strictly business” or something like that.. Goldberg is a terrific person but he’s serious and effective in his work - that is why I nominate him for this award.
Congrats to our winners!
* Moving right along…
* Best Contract Lobbyist
* Best In-House Lobbyist
As always, explain your nominations or they won’t count. Thanks!
Meanwhile, back in Springfield: Democrats who largely set this disaster in motion with laws and policies that ruined CPS finances now hold the power to rescue the district. The cost? Reach a compromise with the state’s Republican governor. He seeks to reform governing and labor policies that have dunned taxpayers and strangled job growth in Illinois.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is ready to deal. He’s ready to help the schools. But there’s got to be some give and take, not take it or leave it, from Democratic leaders.
The strategy of House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton is to … hope that Rauner eventually caves to public pressure for a budget. But if those teachers get fired, or if the school system capsizes under debt, it won’t be a freshman governor who gets the blame. It will be Democrats, starting with those longtime leaders in Springfield and Mayor Rahm Emanuel in City Hall.
Teachers sent a loud and clear message Monday. Negotiations now should kick into higher gear. Claypool has cut central office jobs, and can — should — cut more. CPS should push to close struggling or half-empty schools. Teachers should pick up their share of pension contributions — the 7 percent that CPS can no longer afford. We understand that Springfield may contribute more to the system, but only in return for the kinds of reforms Rauner advocates.
Um, OK, when the stuff hits the fan is the governor really gonna say “I’d love to stop the city school shutdown, but I want remap reform first. And cuts to workers’ comp coverage. And a gutting of local collective bargaining rights.”
Yeah, that’ll work. You’re content with allowing the largest school system in the state to “capsize” over remap reform? Go with that.
Not saying that the governor will get all the blame here. There will definitely be an infinite amount of blame to go around. I’m just saying Rauner can’t avoid blame, except for on one floor of a certain ivory tower on Michigan Ave.
Also, notice how once again the Tribune doesn’t mention any specifics about the governor’s proposed reforms? That would destroy the narrative, of course.
* So, as a reminder, this is one of the governor’s demands which has actually been put into bill form…
Prohibited subjects of bargaining.
(a) A public employer and a labor organization may not bargain over, and no collective bargaining agreement entered into, renewed, or extended on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly may include, provisions related to the following prohibited subjects of collective bargaining:
(1) Employee pensions, including the impact or implementation of changes to employee pensions, including the Employee Consideration Pension Transition Program as set forth in Section 30 of the Personnel Code.
(2) Wages, including any form of compensation including salaries, overtime compensation, vacations, holidays, and any fringe benefits, including the impact or implementation of changes to the same; except nothing in this Section 7.6 will prohibit the employer from electing to bargain collectively over employer-provided health insurance.
(3) Hours of work, including work schedules, shift schedules, overtime hours, compensatory time, and lunch periods, including the impact or implementation of changes to the same.
(4) Matters of employee tenure, including the impact of employee tenure or time in service on the employer’s exercise of authority including, but not limited to, any consideration the employer must give to the tenure of employees adversely affected by the employer’s exercise of management’s right to conduct a layoff.
* None of the proponents on the village board spoke in favor, yet they passed it anyway. Telling…
Lincolnshire has become the first town in the Chicago area to establish itself as a right-to-work zone, a move critics have assailed as anti-union. […]
To create the zone, the village board approved an ordinance preventing local employers from requiring workers to pay union dues with payroll deductions. […]
Trustee Mara Grujanac cast the lone dissenting vote after saying the policy didn’t belong in Lincolnshire. None of the five trustees who voted for the plan commented. […]
“This isn’t about unions,” said [Ted Dabrowski, vice president and spokesman for the Illinois Policy Institute], whose group created a model ordinance Lincolnshire officials used to draft their own. “It’s about individual freedoms. It’s also about the right to not join a union.”
Lincolnshire is not by any means a union town. With the exception of some of those working in the village’s corporate center and hotels, most of its 25,000 workers don’t belong to a union.
“It gives workers the choice to decide whether a union serves their interests. If it does they’re free to support it. But if it doesn’t they don’t have to have money coming out of their paycheck,” said Jacob Huebert, Illinois Policy Insitute.
The Illinois Policy Institute says these so-called right-to-work laws promote job growth. Their model is the one Lincolnshire used to draft their ordinance. Twenty five states including Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan already have right-to-work laws on their books. […]
(T)here is a question of legality surrounding and it will likely be challenged in federal court. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is among those who say that local municipalities are not able to legally approve right-to-work laws.
*** UPDATE *** From Oswego Willy in comments…
Of all the towns, cities, counties to pass this, also so cowardly with not a soul speaking for it…
Gee, if I’m going to frame my opponent as a Bruce Rauner “Raunerite” and gin up Unions, including trade unions, wouldn’t a great way to do that is have your opponent’s hometown as the “test case” for RTW “zones”.
The next move by Mendoza?
That’s easy;
“Ask Lesile Munger about Right to Work passed in her hometown. Ask her if she approves?”
Geez Louise, the Labor Movement now has a question that has to be answered. Can’t skirt your hometown.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Munger campaign…
Comptroller Munger is focused on addressing the unprecedented challenges created by the ongoing budget impasse. She has not had the time to wade into Village Board matters in her hometown.
Still, it is fascinating that Clerk Mendoza would take up this argument. As a City of Chicago elected official, she might want to spend more time addressing the many challenges facing her hometown and constituents. To get the conversation started, we offer the questions below:
Does Chicago City Clerk Mendoza support Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget, which included more than $755 million in new fees and taxes on Chicago residents?
Does Chicago City Clerk Mendoza agree with the City Council and Mayor Emanuel passing the largest property tax increase in the city’s history?
Does Chicago City Clerk Mendoza side with the Chicago Teachers Union in its vote to strike?
Does Chicago City Clerk Mendoza support the Chicago Teachers Union in its effort to impose new taxes on banks and financial institutions to close a half-billion budget gap at Chicago Public Schools?
Should Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown step down given the ongoing FBI investigation into her dealings?
As Chicago City Clerk, Susana Mendoza is responsible for keeping City Council minutes and ensuring that city government is transparent in its dealings. Why didn’t she tell the public after the Council voted on a $5 million settlement with Laquan McDonald’s family?
Does Chicago City Clerk Mendoza believe Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez should resign?
Does Chicago City Clerk Mendoza support recently-introduced legislation that would allow Chicago to recall the Mayor?
Thank you for signing up to attend Christmas with Rich Miller this Wednesday, December 16. Like last year, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois will be on hand before and after the luncheon to collect wrapped toys for children. The toys should target ages 3-5. Individuals can also donate gift cards from places where children’s toys are sold.
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois early childhood programs have been in existence for more than 40 years, providing high quality, diverse and culturally sensitive services for children and families in some of Chicago’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. LSSI’s mission is to create a stimulating learning environment that promotes social competency and school readiness for preschool age children who are academically and economically at risk.
Please consider donating to them on Wednesday.
We look forward to seeing you soon.
Sincerely,
Tweed Thornton
Executive Director
City Club of Chicago
If you weren’t able to score tickets (they sold out pretty fast) or can’t (or won’t) otherwise attend, then please consider donating to LSSI. They do such great work. Click here to give. Thanks!
* I’m having some trouble with my e-mail delivery service today (Constant Contact). Luckily, the password is the same as last week. So, click here and read today’s edition online. Sorry about that. I’m working on it.
*** UPDATE *** It’s finally working. You should receive your e-mail soon. Sorry about that!
* Greg Hinz has a post about an upcoming fundraiser for US Sen. Mark Kirk…
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, will be in town for a luncheon at the Chicago Club for which tickets are going for $1,000 to $5,400 a head. Team Kirk is hoping to pull in around $200,000 at the event, almost enough to pay for a week of statewide TV ads.
The name sponsors include four prominent GOP fundraisers: Craig Duchossois, Barry MacLean, Miles White and Ron Gidwitz.
* A really nice man who helped me with some house-related stuff last week asked if I thought we’d have a state budget in January. He was laid off at IDNR and was told at the time that he could have his job back when a budget was passed. So, he was doing odd jobs in the interim to try and make some ends meet.
I didn’t want to lie, so I told him it was very possible that we’d never see a FY16 budget deal. He was pretty bummed out and I don’t blame him.
* Anyway, university chiefs are starting to fear the same result, or, more accurately, the lack thereof…
Even as members of Southern Illinois University’s Board of Trustees voted Thursday to approve a number of spending measures to keep the university moving forward, President Randy Dunn cautioned state funding is more tenuous than ever.
In fact, he said, chatter is growing louder in Springfield that public colleges and universities may never receive fiscal year 2016 funding. Lawmakers would choose instead to skip the appropriation.
“Obviously, that would be disastrous,” Dunn said, noting that SIU will “limp through” to the end of the fiscal year either way.
Beyond that, though, Dunn had more questions than answers about the impact of a full year without state funding.
“If we don’t see any appropriation for this year, where does the money then come from to … get all of these things paid back and get vendors caught up?” he wondered. “So that’s our big worry there.”
From the start, Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd says, there were red flags in the death investigation of Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Gliniewicz.
“What I noticed was two striking things,” Rudd tells CBS 2’s Brad Edwards in his first interview since last week’s bombshell about a bad cop who staged his own suicide to look like murder.
“There was absolutely no defensive wound whatsoever,” Rudd says of the officer’s body.
The other suspicious factor: “His uniform was in roll-call order, which is rare in a struggle. There was only a little mud on his knees.”
Lake County Coroner Tom Rudd is dropping his re-election bid after FOX 32 raised questions about the validity of his nominating petitions. […]
“If I made a mistake, I will state that,” Rudd said. “I’m a physician, a scientist. I don’t know the vagaries of election law. It was an honest mistake.”
Rudd was facing an election board hearing on Tuesday after two citizens challenged the validity of his petitions. Rudd tells FOX 32 he paid individuals from North Chicago to gather signatures on his petitions, then signed a sworn affidavit at the bottom of the sheets saying that he had gathered the signatures himself. Rudd said he did not know that is a violation of election law.
FOX 32 also learned that one of the signatures on Rudd’s petitions is from a man who died in 2005.
Sounds like he was a pretty decent coroner, but shoulda hired some electoral help.
When Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich called together religious leaders last week to pray for justice in Chicago, one of his priests made a conscious choice not to attend. Doing so, he believed, would betray the flock he serves and protects.
Chicago Police Chaplain Dan Brandt says the furor that has erupted over the video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald and the clergy-led protests calling for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel are “anything but Judeo-Christian in nature.” The skeptical eye that Chicago police now face is unwarranted and unjust, he says. […]
“You’re trained to shoot until the threat is gone,” Brandt, an archdiocesan priest, said in an interview. “I propose that Van Dyke was a hero. How many lives were saved by him stopping that armed offender from getting any farther, from doing more damage than he already had done?”
While Brandt concedes that he’s expressing “a pretty unpopular opinion,” he and other police chaplains insist that Chicagoans shouldn’t lose sight of what officers face every day. The clergy who counsel, comfort and console Chicago’s law enforcement want the public to pause a moment and consider those who keep their city safe.
Most of us have thought lately about how the police do their best to keep us safe. But absurd comments like this badly hurt law enforcement’s reputation. This insane, counter-productive solidarity with outlaw cops has to end.
In early November, 2014, Craig Futterman, a law professor at the University of Chicago, got a call from someone who worked in law enforcement in that city. The caller told Futterman about a squad-car dashboard-camera video from a few weeks earlier, which showed a police officer shooting to death a seventeen-year-old boy named Laquan McDonald. According to the source, the video was at striking odds with the version of the incident that the Chicago Police Department had presented. In that account, the officer, Jason Van Dyke, acted in self-defense: McDonald was out of control and menacing him with a knife, so he shot him once, in the chest. But the source, describing the video frame by frame, evoked what sounded to Futterman like “an execution.” […]
This is not the first time that Futterman has received an inside tip about police abuse. He believes that the whistle-blowers represent “the majority of Chicago cops,” who are doing their jobs “just as you would want them to.” Those officers “hate this stuff” as much as anyone, because “it creates hostility to the police, and steals the honor of those who are doing things right.” Yet even the best-intentioned officers have to cope with a code of silence—the mirror image of the criminals’ code against snitching.
In the McDonald case, the first officers on the scene, responding to a call about a young man acting erratically and breaking into trucks, were doing things right. McDonald apparently did have a knife, and, according to the autopsy, he had PCP in his system. Futterman said that those officers were careful. They “needed to arrest him, take him to the hospital,” and “they called for backup, for someone with a taser.” Then Van Dyke arrived and instantly fired sixteen shots. In reports to internal investigators, the other officers either corroborated his story or said that they hadn’t seen what happened. One said that she had been looking down and missed the whole thing.
The code of silence has protected some particularly reprehensible behavior in the C.P.D., much of it directed at the city’s black population. Perhaps the most egregious was that of Jon Burge, a commander who, in the nineteen-seventies and eighties, headed a group of officers that he called the Midnight Crew. To extract confessions, the crew tortured dozens of men, most of them African-American, using electric shock, suffocation, and Russian roulette. Last May, the city agreed to a reparations agreement that included $5.5 million for the victims and an obligation to teach the episode in the public-school curriculum. According to the Better Government Association, between 2010 and 2014 there were seventy fatal shootings by the Chicago police, a higher number than in any other large city. (Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Dallas had a higher number per capita.) Between 2004 and 2014, the city spent $521 million defending the department and settling lawsuits claiming excessive force.
* As I told you earlier today, the state GOP has a new hashtag about Speaker Madigan. It also has a new web video…
The Illinois Republican Party launched a new web ad entitled “#TaxHikeMike” to coincide with a social media campaign by the same name. The new video highlights Speaker Mike Madigan’s statement to the City Club of Chicago on Wednesday, indicating that a return to a 5 percent individual income tax rate (a 33% increase from the current rate) is a “good place to begin.”
“In a rare moment of honesty, Speaker Mike Madigan said publicly what he has been hiding for months: He is intent on raising taxes and will fight to block reforms to state government,” said Nick Klitzing, Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party. “Madigan believes ‘a good place to begin’ is increasing taxes by 33%, but taxpayers want to begin by reforming the broken state government that Madigan has controlled for 30+ years. Speaker Madigan doesn’t want to engage in good faith negotiations that could lead to compromise; he wants a massive tax increase without structural reforms. He is #TaxHikeMike.”
City Club of Chicago, 12/9/15
Moderator: How high do you think taxes need to go?… A one or two word answer could do.
Madigan: Alright, let me avoid creating a headline for tomorrow’s newspaper.
… and say a good place to begin … a good place to begin … would be the level we were at before the income tax expired.
33% Tax Increase
Madigan: Starting there, you could go in whatever direction you want to go.
Madigan: Starting there, you could go in whatever direction you want to go.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin last week said he, the other legislative leaders and the governor had a “healthy” discussion about pensions.
“No one wants to talk about it but we have to talk about it,” he said. “The unfunded liabilities in our system continue to grow. We can’t lose sight of it. And I think that we can get there at some point.” […]
When he left that meeting the House’s top Democrat - Speaker Michael Madigan - said Gov. Bruce Rauner has tied his pension ideas to collective bargaining — the very issue at the heart of Illinois’ budget stalemate.
“It gets terribly complicated. Bottom line for understanding is that when the governor talks about changes in the pension laws, he always talks about changes to collective bargaining. That’s important to understand,” Madigan said.
So, is this yet another poison pill?
I asked the governor’s office for comment and was referred back to a couple of posts on my own website.
“You can’t do consideration without changes in collective bargaining,” I was told.
[Senate President John Cullerton’s] idea is to present them with a stark choice as their contracts come due for renewal: Workers could agree to a scaling back of the COLA they’ve been promised in retirement or forgo any pay raises while they’re still working.
“The state constitution,” said Cullerton, “does not guarantee pay raises.”
Cullerton predicts most workers nearing retirement will opt to keep their 3 percent COLA. But enough younger and middle-age workers will choose continued pay raises that will achieve more substantial long-term savings. Current retiree benefits wouldn’t be touched, and since 2011, new “Tier 2″ hires already have had their promised benefits reduced.
The latest pension-cutting concept outlined by Senate President John Cullerton looks like extortion—both unconstitutional and blatantly unfair
* So, is Madigan the lone hold-out on pension reform?
Maybe not.
* The Cullerton folks say their guy’s proposal is not the same as the governor’s proposal.
There’s an understandable reluctance to talk about details of negotiations. However, Cullerton’s spokesperson told me the big difference between Cullerton’s proposal and Rauner’s is that while Cullerton does support some changes to collective bargaining, “we are not fundamentally undermining the right to collective bargaining.”
Few legislators would make the decision that Esther Golar made. She knew her life was on the line and she made the untenable commute via car to Springfield because she cared so deeply for the constituents of this state. I can think of no greater person to honor with a lifetime achievement award than someone who was willing to give their life to this job.
Agreed.
* The 2015 John Millner Lifetime Service Award for the Illinois Senate…
I have known of Sen. Dave Luechtefeld since the mid 60’s when he was coaching at a rival high school and got to know him much better when I moved back to the district he was appointed to represent. I recall the first time we had a chance to talk. It was probably very obvious to him that I did not accept some of his strongly held conservative principles yet before I left he made certain that I had his personal cell number and told me to use it any time. I have tried never to abuse that privilege, yet he always returns my calls, once even after 9 pm on a Sunday.
He was always accessible and willing to listen. He, on occasion vented some of his frustrations to me as I was doing with him. We could honestly disagree but we always shook hands and left as friends. He understood my concerns and my “hot button” issues, yet he was never disrespectful.
Sen Dave represented his constituents well. His demeanor, commitments and principles (even when we might disagree) will be missed in the next GA
* Today’s categories…
* Best State Agency Director
* Best Legislative Liaison
Don’t forget to explain your nominations please. Thanks!
* Cook County state’s attorney candidate Donna More made some news…
She contributed $250,000 to her campaign on Friday, according to filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections. That made her what is known as a “self-funding candidate” under the law — and eliminated the cap on donations to any candidates in that race.
Before Friday, her family — specifically, her husband and mother — had donated a total of $99,000 to the campaign. Once donations by a candidate or their family to a campaign reach $100,000, that candidate becomes “self-funding” under the law, which means donation limits are no longer in effect. Those limits would have been $5,400 for individuals, $10,800 for corporations or unions and $53,900 for political action committees.
More’s campaign on Friday called the contribution “no big deal.”
“She’s putting her own skin in the campaign because she clearly wants to show the importance of this race, how important this race is to her and to the voters and residents of this county,” her spokesman John E. Davis said.
It goes without saying, but anybody who says a $250,000 contribution is “no big deal” has a completely different sort of life than just about everyone else.
State records show Donna More gave $2,500 to the Rauner campaign in September 2014, a couple of months before the governor unseated Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn. Those records also indicate More has given a total of $15,800 to candidates since 2001, with the rest of the money going to Democrats.
Federal Election Commission records show that since 1997, More also has donated $6,000 to John Ensign, a former Republican senator from Nevada; $500 to former Illinois GOP U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald; and $250 to former Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia. […]
Chicago voting records, meanwhile, show that More voted in the in March 2014 Republican primary, when Rauner was on the ballot. Other than that year, she has voted consistently in Democratic primaries, records indicate.
Gee, I wonder who was on the Republican primary ballot last year?
A candidate in the hotly contested Democratic primary race for Cook County state’s attorney has added a former Chicago gang leader and ex-felon to her staff. But Chicago attorney Donna More calls Wallace “Gator” Bradley a “role model” deserving of second chances.
Bradley, a former member of the Gangster Disciples, was convicted of burglary and armed robbery in the 1970s. He served a year in prison and three years on work release. In 1990, he was pardoned by Gov. Jim Thompson for what Bradley describes as “the work I put back into the community.”
These days, Bradley’s is an “urban translator” and political consultant for More’s campaign. His main task, he tells me, is educating voters, particularly in black neighborhoods, to understand “that justice cannot be defined by race, religion or party.”
Recent campaign records show More’s campaign paid him $12,875 in less than two months.
He’s also worked for congressmen Danny Davis, Bobby Rush and Jesse Jackson Jr., among others. Democratic operatives say More has taken a controversial step by paying him directly out of her payroll.
* Related…
* Judge acquits Chicago police commander of abuse charge despite DNA evidence: The ruling marked another setback for State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who despite bringing first-degree-murder charges recently against Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke for shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times has been barraged with calls for her to resign over delaying the release of the dash-cam video of the fatal shooting until 13 months later. Prosecutors had no immediate comment on Cannon’s ruling, but an Alvarez’s spokeswoman said the office would be releasing a statement shortly.
* Maybe instead of worrying so much about a handful of vetted Syrian refugees, the governor ought to be making sure the coppers can get to where they’re going…
Even a program that has put on the road thousands of new state police vehicles financed by a dedicated drivers’ fee has been caught up in the Illinois state budget debacle.
A vehicle registration surcharge that has raised $58 million and transformed the Illinois State Police fleet from a junkyard of overtaxed hulks to a stable of safe and more efficient cruisers is stalled because of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s moratorium on vehicle purchases.
An Associated Press analysis of records obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act shows that the program has been successful in regularly removing from the highway pursuit vehicles that have surpassed their useful, cost-efficient and safe lifespans. A 2003 report maintained by the AP includes a squad car with 900,000 miles.
The Rauner administration is reluctant to talk about it. The state police finally responded to AP inquiries last week, saying the Republican governor’s executive order to reduce spending has stalled purchases; those being outfitted now were purchased under former Gov. Pat Quinn.
To be clear here, a dedicated revenue stream from a state fee pays for those new cars. The money does not come from GRF and cannot be used for anything else unless a new law is passed.
* From a CMS memo to state employees last Friday that was forwarded to me a kabillion times…
In recent weeks, there has been considerable misinformation directed to state employees about the future of our state employee group health insurance. I can assure you that employee premiums will remain at their current levels from now until June 30, 2016 (Fiscal Year 2016). Put simply, your existing plan, with the same carrier and the same costs, will remain in place throughout Fiscal Year 2016.
“It’s extremely misleading and disingenuous,” AFSCME deputy director Mike Newman said. “They had proposed until our last bargaining session to double employees costs in (the current) fiscal year. That proposal is now off the table because the state insisted on such outrageous demands for so long that it is now too late to be able to implement changes in this fiscal year.”
And according to Newman, the state is now demanding a doubling of employee costs starting July 1, 2016.
* Back to the memo…
You must be aware, however, that many of our current plans are considered Platinum Plus plans and are so expensive that they will likely be subject to federal penalties on luxury plans in future years. Premiums for these expensive Platinum Plus, Cadillac plans are likely to double after July 1, 2016. But here again, recent misinformation provided to some employees omitted a key fact. Starting July 1, 2016, under the completed contracts and in our current proposals, we will offer less expensive plans with the same carriers and the same services for substantially the same premium costs that we offer today. Said otherwise, you would have the option to pay the same premium you pay today even after July 1, 2016.
“They’re not less expensive plans,” Newman said. “What they’re saying is that if somebody wants to pay less in premiums, they can sign up for a plan that will have higher copays and deductibles and higher maximum out-of-pocket costs. Either way, the state’s proposal is for employee costs to double.”
* CMS…
Finally, despite the national trends that show massive increases in healthcare spending and costs in the next few years, we are implementing several cost-saving measures, including identifying and removing those individuals who are defrauding the system, that will allow us to contain costs going forward. Overall, we’re shifting towards a consumer-focused model and away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach, a strategy that mirrors what is happening in other states and is long overdue here in Illinois. Due to these cost-saving measures, the State has proposed a cap on any increases to employee premiums for 2018 and 2019. We would cap all annual increases in employee premiums for 2018 and 2019 at 10%, even if the State’s actual costs increase by an amount greater than 10%.
He cited a Chicago Sun-Times Watchdogs investigation published in November that found that although more than 50,000 people with mental illnesses have been barred from owning guns in Illinois in recent years, the law has done little to take guns out of their hands. […]
People with revoked FOID cards are required to report the disposition of their guns to the police. But law enforcement agencies typically don’t check whether they’re doing so, the Sun-Times found.
Under Harris’ bill, when anyone with a revoked gun cards fails to comply with the law, the local police would be required to go to court and seek a warrant to search the person’s home for the FOID card and any firearms.
* That same mandate would apply to people who are on the FBI’s Terrorist Watchlist…
Though more than 1 million people are on the terrorist watch list, Harris said a small fraction are U.S. citizens, and those on the list have the right to appeal. […]
State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, a gun-rights advocate who helped craft the current law, said he needs to study Harris’s proposal. But he argued that any new legislation should be worded so it doesn’t intrude on the rights of people complying with state gun regulations.
“I think Representative Harris may have great intentions on this, but I don’t want any law-abiding gun owners to get caught in trap,” Phelps said.
Keep in mind that this is an unfunded state mandate. Some mayors and sheriffs are gonna be upset. But it’s hard to vote against a bill like this.
The proposal is here. Several House Democrats have signed up as co-sponsors.
Nearly every one of the thousands of Chicago teachers who cast ballots last week to determine whether they could go on strike voted to do so.
The Chicago Teachers Union announced Monday that 96.5 percent of those casting ballots voted to back the strike. With nearly 92 percent of members voting, that means about 88 percent of all members support a strike, which could happen no sooner than late March, according to CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey.
“Rahm Emanuel really does not need a teachers strike,” Sharkey said. “And what we’re telling him is if he doesn’t listen to us, that’s what he’ll get.”
*** UPDATE *** Interesting…
So state's ed labor relations board set hearing on CTU's demand for fact finding for Jan. 21. Means strike can't happen til May at earliest.
* It’s been a very long time since legislators and statewide Democratic officials felt secure enough (or, more likely, not scared enough) to introduce or support legislation like this…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan says she supports a bill that would allow voters to recall Chicago’s mayor. But that doesn’t mean she believes Rahm Emanuel should leave office.
Madigan tells WBBM radio’s “At Issue” (http://cbsloc.al/1Ni3lCU ) she also thinks voters should have the power to recall all Illinois elected officials _ herself included.
And Dan Proft called on legislative Republicans today to sign on to the bill as well. Rep. Jeanne Ives is now a co-sponsor.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
The “Lisa Madigan for mayor” speculation had already begun in earnest before she did this interview. I have no knowledge about whether she’ll run, but I do know that lots of people have been asking me about it.
Emanuel has a long and difficult road ahead as he tries to rebuild public trust in the Chicago Police Department and himself, Madigan says.
She says Emanuel’s apology this week and heartfelt words are not enough.
“People are not going to believe that until they actually see real reform and real change taking place. Unfortunately, the type of change that’s needed isn’t going to come quickly or easily,” she says.
As for calls for the mayor to step down, she doesn’t believe that will happen.
Madigan agrees the video of the Laquan McDonald police shooting should not have been released when it would hamper an investigation, but that time should have been far less than 400 days.
“That would have given ample time for an investigation to take place and certainly ample time, which I think some of the concern is, for the officers to be interviewed and I am sure that happened well before the 400 day mark,” she said.
Oof.
There goes Anita, right under the bus.
* And this shows a better understanding of the situation than whatever I’ve seen expressed by any major white Chicago-area politician in recent days…
Madigan says things like this have led some—especially in communities of color—to see the police as an occupying force and not protectors:
“That belief, that feeling, undermines the majority of men and women in law enforcement who are doing a good job and have integrity and are courageous and putting their lives on the line every single day, but I think the situation we have now is simply untenable,” Madigan said.
[Friday] 21st Ward Alderman Howard Brookins Jr. released a robocall to warn of possible misconduct from Congressman Bobby Rush’s campaign. The call was sent to approximately 20,000 households in the 1st Congressional District at 4:00 PM central time. Rush’s petition signatures were challenged and his campaign needs to verify upwards of 570 signatures to make it on the ballot.
The transcript of the recording is as follows:
“This is Alderman Howard Brookins, Democrat for Congress with an important warning. You may be asked to sign a document for Congressman Bobby Rush who has failed to file enough valid signatures to make the ballot. Do not sign anything unless a notary is present and if you did not sign for him, do not sign anything at all.”
The Board of Elections recently changed its procedure when accepting affidavits from registered voters contesting that their signature is genuine. Rules of Procedure, Rule 9 states in the event the evidence consists of affidavits attesting to the genuineness of signatures, those affidavits must be notarized at the time they are signed. This is different than the procedure a few years ago, when the affidavits could contain a non-notarized verification.
A recording of the robocall can be found here and is attached to this document.
The Rush campaign calls the allegations “ridiculous.”
Campaign lawyer Brendan Shiller calls is publicity ploy and says Rush has more than double the number of names he needs.
Schiller says: “This is a cheap publicity ploy and a frivolous challenge. Our candidate has more than twice as many signatures as he needs and will remain on the ballot.”
There’s only one way to find out who’s telling the truth. Bring on the Illinois State Board of Elections.
* I don’t think that Speaker Madigan has ever had a primary opponent like Jason Gonzales. Have a look…
He’s probably a bit naive about vastly expanding voter turnout in the district, but other than that he’s pretty well-spoken
He’s also saying many of the right things to attract Raunerite support, including his comments at about the 9:30 mark about lowering Downstate project costs.
* The biggest question is whether he’ll have the money to compete. That seems likely to me, at least at this point. A candidate like him could attract some serious dough from wealthy Republican-leaning Chicago-area rich folks.
And over half of Gonzales’ first batch of reported contributions came from Steven and Diane Miller. Steven’s only other contribution was to Mayor Emanuel a few years back.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Oops. Miller has given lots more than I initially turned up. With thanks to a commenter, click here to see them, including $110K to the Independent Maps group (which is full of Rauner backers) and $10K to Rauner, among others.
One of the concepts used so effectively by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign last year was what are called “OODA Loops.” I’m going to oversimplify because of space, but the idea, developed by a military strategist and adopted by business leaders, is to essentially introduce rapid changes to a battle with the intent of disorienting an opponent and forcing over- and under-reactions. And then do it again and again to exhaust and eventually defeat the other side.
OODA Loops transcend traditional “rapid response.” They’re quick, forceful reactions specifically designed to force repeated mistakes by the other side. The Rauner campaign used those loops to literally run circles around Gov. Quinn last year.
They’ve also used the loops since the campaign ended. For instance, when Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) attempted to hold legislative hearings on how the administration was hiding gubernatorial payrollers, they didn’t bow down as others had in the past. Instead, they attacked Bradley with snark-filled invective and caught him off guard, forcing multiple and escalating angry responses that made him look a bit pompous and, according to the Rauner folks, out of touch.
And they did it again last week.
For months now, Gov. Rauner and his top people have been saying that Democratic leaders ought to offer up a specific tax increase plan. The Republicans have laid out what they want from the long governmental impasse (Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda, which includes major attacks on organized labor). So, the Rauner folks say, it’s time for the Democrats to do the same. What do they want?
Staying silent or being vague about specific numbers has allowed the Democrats to stake out some high ground and avoid attacks on their rank and file members. Obviously, more revenue is needed. But it becomes far more real to the public when there’s a number attached. Hence, the effort to force the Democrats to be specific.
Last week, House Speaker Michael Madigan took a question at a City Club of Chicago luncheon from Chris Robling, a staunch Rauner supporter. Robling’s written question was about how high Madigan thought taxes needed to go. Madigan took the bait.
Instead of his customary vagaries, Madigan said a “good place to begin” would be to return to the taxing levels from before the income tax hike partially sunsetted in January. “Starting there you can go in whatever direction you want to go,” he said.
Madigan was not asked to fully clarify his remarks at the ensuing press conference, and for good reason. Why let a clarification get in the way of a great headline? So, Speaker “I want a 33 percent tax hike” Madigan’s gaffe was quickly trumped by media outlets throughout the state, eventually forcing Madigan to issue a clarification at 6 o’clock that night (those Madigan folks never do anything quickly) about the “misleading headlines and mischaracterization of the Speaker’s comments.” The Speaker went on to say in the release that he has “no plans” to advance a specific tax hike plan anytime soon. The response was issued so late, however, that it didn’t make it into most of the coverage, even though everything is now online and can be easily updated.
It’s no secret that Madigan favors a tax increase. He’s said all year that the budget can only be balanced with a mix of tax hikes and cuts. But it’s clear from the 6 o’clock walk-back that Madigan got too far ahead of himself.
Robling’s question began the process. The Rauner folks began working their loops immediately after Madigan answered the question, pushing hard on the concept that Madigan had finally admitted to a tax hike starting point and eventually forcing Madigan into attacking the media and issuing that clarification. The clarification was then portrayed as confirmation of the Speaker’s true intent: He didn’t misspeak, he accidentally said too much. Mistakes make politicians look weak. Clarifying the mistake was a further mistake because it confirmed the weakness.
And then the next day the Illinois Republican Party launched attacks on some of Madigan’s members, asking rhetorically if those members would “stand with taxpayers, or will they stand with #TaxHikeMike?”
The Rauner folks “won” the day, and “Speaker Madigan’s 33 percent tax hike plan” will help them win more, which is what this is about. Win more days and you further exhaust the other side. More exhaustion leads to more mistakes. Enough mistakes and the opponent is so disadvantaged that it eventually has no choice but to surrender.
Surrender, of course, is not in Madigan’s vocabulary these days. But he needs to be much more aware of what’s being done to him.
