* I know it’s late in the day on Friday, but I was finally able to track down the audio from last night’s post debate press conference. I wasn’t able to attend, so many, many thanks to Tanya Koonce, the WCBU news director, for passing these along.
* Sen. Kirk Dillard went after Bruce Rauner hard and the assembled reporters all ignored it when it came time to write their stories.
Dillard said that Rauner’s venture capital world was “You do it my way, or we’ll steamroll you.” Dillard then brought up the recent stories about nursing home deaths tied to Rauner’s company. “There is a cost to ‘My way or the highway,’ people have died.” Dillard claimed that “Bruce Rauner is just used to buying things… and he’s not going to be able to buy his 10th mansion in Illinois.”
“Read what the judge wrote in the nursing home case, ‘A callous disregard for human life,’” Dillard said.
Dillard mentioned the Michigan case, he hammered home the Stu Levine stuff. But almost none of this was covered by the reporters who were there last night. [Changed that sentence a bit so I could note that Gatehouse updated its story with the “my way or the highway” snippet.]
* Dan Rutherford said he didn’t need to participate in the “clarification rounds” because he’d already answered the questions. He also pledged to remain totally positive in his TV ads and said he wouldn’t tack one way or another before the primary. He is what he says he is right now, he said, pointing to his “honesty” about his position on new revenue, which is that he won’t commit until he sees what the situation is after the election…
* When it was his turn, Bruce Rauner said: “Here’s the situation, the special interest groups that make their money from government control Springfield… That’s the fact, it’s a tragedy.”
“The government union bosses, the trial lawyers, these corrupt groups, they can’t do anything to me. I’m impenetrable to them,” Rauner said.
He said his opponents are “part of the problem,” for voting “with Democrats” to raise taxes and fees, for big spending increases, for more debt, for bad pension deals, for pay raises for themselves.
“I’m gonna be dragged through the mud, my family’s gonna be dragged through the mud, my businesses are gonna be dragged through the mud.”
Rauner said the reason he was being attacked was because “my message is a threatening one” to the powers that be in Illinois. He said there was “no foundation” to the attacks so far. “There’s no there there.”
Though Quinn didn’t spill the beans in an interview Thursday he did say “it’s important that we have a continued building in our state.”
Adding that Illinois should support the “fundamentals” like building and repairing roads, fixing bridges also making sure schools are in good condition.
Political observers say its also a good bet that Quinn will continue his push to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, which he recently said should be passed and put into place by the end of this year.
* The Question: Besides a new capital plan and the minimum wage, what do you think the governor will talk about?
* Not that it really matters, but David Earl Williams III and Susanne Atanus are the Republican candidates vying to get clobbered by Congresscritter Jan Schakowsky this fall.
Each of them have their, shall we say, idiosyncrasies. Daily Herald…
“I am a conservative Republican and I believe in God first,” Atanus said. She said she believes God controls the weather and has put tornadoes and diseases such as autism and dementia on earth in response to gay rights and legalized abortions.
“God is angry. We are provoking him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions,” she said. “Same-sex activity is going to increase AIDS. If it’s in our military it will weaken our military. We need to respect God.”
Republican leaders came out strong against Atanus Thursday morning. Illinois Republican Chairman Jack Dorgan called on the candidate to end her congressional campaign, saying in a statement: “The offensive statements by Susanne Atanus have no place in the modern political debate, and she has no place on the ballot as a Republican. Her candidacy is neither supported nor endorsed by the leaders of our party, and she should withdraw from the race immediately.”
Adam Robinson, chairman of the Chicago Republican Party, emphasized in another statement that Atanus “is not in any way affiliated with any of our efforts in the Chicago GOP, nor have we ever supported, endorsed, or assisted her in any way at any time.”
Atanus, who lives in Niles, continued to stand by her comments.
“I am a Christian. I care a lot about the world and I care a lot about my obedience to serve God the right way,” she said. “I can’t turn my eye and look the other way when I know that abortions, gay rights and civil unions are making God very angry.”
A judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a domestic violence civil protection order against a Republican candidate seeking to represent Evanston in Congress.
Judge Jennifer M. Anderson ruled after a hearing last month that David Earl Williams III stalked his former girlfriend, a DC-area activist on libertarian and conservative causes.
The judge ordered Williams to have no contact with the woman and further ordered him to take a court-supervised anger-management class, undergo a mental health assessment and submit to treatment if the assessment deemed it necessary.
She also ordered him to not contact the ex-girlfriend by email, text messaging or social media.
Williams flatly denies the allegation and says he’s appealing. His campaign called the allegation “frivolous.”
Williams, who says he works in logistics, refused to disclose where he works because he has not yet informed his employer that he is running for Congress, he said.
The Illinois State Board of Education today called on lawmakers and the Governor to invest in students and the state’s economic future by changing their budgeting focus to increase the state’s share of funding for education. In order for Illinois to remain competitive nationally and internationally, Board members contend the state needs to move toward making K-12 education account for one-third of the state budget. As part of their request, the Board is asking that lawmakers honor the General State Aid (GSA) Foundation Level commitment of $6,119 per student. School districts have not received the full share of GSA promised to them under state law for the past three years.
Historically, Illinois’ State General Funds budget has dedicated approximately 27 percent to K-12 education. However, in order to increase economic vitality for the future, the Board is calling for a shift to 33 percent of the total state budget. The increase being sought on behalf of Illinois students is $1.08 billion dollars. When adjusting the FY09 K-12 education budget for inflation, the Board’s request amounts to a 1.5 percent decrease from the adjusted FY09 levels. Based on FY14 funding levels, the Board’s request would account for about 31 percent of the State General Funds budget.
“There is no doubt this is a lot of money, and some may scoff at our request, but we cannot shortchange our students, because we’re only hurting our state’s future,” said State Board of Education Chairman Gery J. Chico.
The bulk of the $1 billion increase, $879 million, is tied to the board’s push to fully fund the base level of funding for the state’s two million public school students.
Other proposed increases outlined in the plan include:
• $27.1 million for districts to administer a new test test called Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, which is similar to the ACT.
• $25 million for early childhood education programs designed to boost the number of students served in preschool programs by more than 5,500.
• $2 million to provide assistance to low-income students taking Advance Placement exams.
* But that’s not all the board wants. Back to the press release…
In addition to the General Funds request, the Board’s recommendation includes a $450 million capital request to support districts as they improve their technology infrastructure. This funding will be targeted toward improving the connectivity of buildings to broadband internet service as well as improving the network capabilities with the classroom. This request does not include funding for individual devices.
* According to a newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics table, union membership rose by 50,000 people in Illinois between 2012 and 2013. During 2012, union membership stood at 801,000. By 2013 it was 851,000.
As a percentage of total employed, union membership grew from 14.6 percent in 2012 to 15.8 percent in 2013.
By comparison, Indiana’s 2013 union membership percentage was 9.3, Michigan’s was 16.3, Ohio’s was 12.6 and Wisconsin’s was 12.3.
In 2013, the union membership rate–the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions–was 11.3 percent, the same as in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.5 million, was little different from 2012. In 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent, and there were 17.7 million union workers. […]
In 2013, 7.2 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.3 million workers in the private sector. The union membership rate for public-sector workers (35.3 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.7 percent). Within the public sector, the union membership rate was highest for local government (40.8 percent), which includes employees in heavily unionized occupations, such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters. In the private sector, industries with high unionization rates included utilities (25.6 percent), transportation and warehousing (19.6 percent), telecommunications (14.4 percent), and construction (14.1 percent). Low unionization rates occurred in agriculture and related industries (1.0 percent), finance (1.0 percent), and in food services and drinking places (1.3 percent). (See table 3.)
Among occupational groups, the highest unionization rates in 2013 were in education, training, and library occupations and protective service occupations (35.3 percent each). Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations (2.1 percent) and sales and related occupations (2.9 percent) had the lowest unionization rates. […]
Among major race and ethnicity groups, black workers had a higher union membership rate in 2013 (13.6 percent) than workers who were white (11.0 percent), Asian (9.4 percent), or Hispanic (9.4 percent).
By age, the union membership rate was highest among workers ages 45 to 64–14.0 percent for those ages 45 to 54 and 14.3 percent for those ages 55 to 64. […]
In 2013, among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $950, while those who were not union members had median weekly earnings of $750. […]
Over half of the 14.5 million union members in the U.S. lived in just seven states (California, 2.4 million; New York, 2.0 million; Illinois, 0.9 million; Pennsylvania, 0.7 million; and Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, 0.6 million each), though these states accounted for only about one-third of wage and salary employment nationally. [Emphasis added.]
* Politico looks back at an attempt during the Great Depression to rank the nation’s states from best to worst…
In 1931, H.L. Mencken and his fellow editor at the American Mercury, Charles Angoff, wondered the same thing. In a three-part series the magazine called “The Worst American State,” the pair compiled dozens of rankings of population data, largely from the 1930 census, determined to anoint the best and worst of the 48 states (and the District of Columbia), according to various measures of wealth, culture, health and public safety. In the end, Mencken and Angoff declared Connecticut and Massachusetts “the most fortunate American States,” and they deemed Mississippi “without a serious rival to the lamentable preëminence of the Worst American State”
At the time, Illinois ranked 9th on Mencken’s list.
* Politico has compiled its own ranking, “from reputable sources like the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI, and on important factors such as high school graduation rates, per capita income, life expectancy and crime rate.”
The “master list,” which is an overall average, has Illinois 30th in the nation.
* WSIL TV asked the four GOP candidates where they stook on reopening the shuttered Tamms supermax prison…
One of the republican candidates for governor is pledging to reopen Tamms Prison. Kirk Dillard’s running mate was in Murphysboro Thursday to talk about that idea. We were there to ask a few more questions of Lieutenant Governor candidate Jil Tracy. She had plenty to say, not only on the state facility closures, but also on minimum wage and repealing the state’s gas tax.
“We are committed to opening, reopening the Tamms Correctional Facility,” [Tracy said.] […]
“I’m absolutely going to look at ways to open them. Now, it’s got to be done within a process and a place and a way that’s going to be appropriate. But that is mission that I have,” Rutherford explains by phone. […]
Rauner’s spokesperson Mike Schrimpf eventually got back to us after our deadline. He says Rauner would create a strategic assessment to see how best to use the shuttered Tamms prison and the other closed facilities. […]
Brady did not get back to us.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** From Brady’s campaign…
Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, today reaffirmed his commitment to reopen Tamms Correctional Center to ease overcrowding in the state’s prison system and to provide needed job opportunity in Southern Illinois.
“Illinois has about 49,000 inmates housed in facilities designed to hold 32,000 inmates, so this is not the time to be closing facilities as the Quinn Administration has done in recent months,” Brady said. “Those closings have further crowded our prisons, and as Governor I will reopen Tamms to lessen the potential for danger to our correctional officers, ease overcrowding, and return job opportunities to Southern Illinois.”
Brady previously had said as early as last August in DuQuoin that he would reopen the shuttered correctional facility at Tamms. Earlier this month, he made the same commitment when he visited Alexander County and met with residents and former employees.
An Illinois pollution panel has denied emergency regulations to control piles of petroleum coke.
The Pollution Control Board made the decision on Thursday regarding statewide regulations proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn. The board’s decision means the rules will go through the longer, regular rule-making process. […]
Quinn wants to require storage terminals to immediately install dust-suppression systems and prevent storm water runoff. He also wants companies to fully enclose the piles within two years.
Industry officials say the rules would hurt Illinois businesses, and there’s no need for emergency action.
Illinois business leaders say Quinn’s regulations would be unreasonably expensive and don’t need to be rushed into place. They point to last year’s deal on fracking, in which people on both sides of the issue took the time to sit down and hammer out a compromise.
The petcoke rules, for example, could affect other industries, such as trucking, rail, barges, refineries and power generation in unexpected ways, they said.
“We believe the IEPA can’t know how this will affect business,” said Tom Wolf, executive director of the Illinois Chamber Energy Council. “Without an emergency, why are we going through a process that lasts seven days? There’s no science behind it. Petcoke and coal can be stored safely. If groups and individuals want to bring forward ideas on how it can be done better, that is what legislation and rule-making are for. That’s what democracy is about. It’s not about seven days.”
* Gov. Pat Quinn has been getting a free ride lately because the Republican candidates are beating each other up. So, what stories about Quinn would you like to see here?
At City Hall, a stink is being raised over medical marijuana regulation.
Some of the aldermen don’t like where the state is forcing the city to allow medical marijuana dispensaries and growing areas.
It’s basically in manufacturing districts and Alderman Carrie Austin is crying foul. “Very resourceful individuals in the City of Chicago might open up a bakery with some brownies! So, that bothers me!”
A group of drivers filed a lawsuit against Cardinal Logistics Management Corp. alleging that Cardinal misclassified drivers as independent contractors.
The drivers allege that they were employees, as opposed to independent contractors, and the misclassification allowed Cardinal to be relieved of the obligation to reimburse the drivers for any and all employment claims. The drivers also contend that Cardinal avoided giving them required meal and rest breaks, avoided keeping itemized wage statements and paying for workers’ compensation insurance.
The parties have reached a settlement which would require Cardinal to pay $3.75 million to create a settlement fund.
Cardinal Logistics Management Corp. was owned at the time by… you guessed it, GTCR Golder, Rauner...
“We are extremely pleased with Cardinal’s performance in growing the business profitably and we think the market for outsourced, specialized, high-intensity local fleet operations will continue to enjoy significant growth.
“Cardinal’s innovative capabilities and national infrastructure are ideally suited to create value for its clients in that arena,” said Dave Donnini, member of Cardinal’s Board of Directors and Principal of GTCR Golder Rauner LLC.
[Plaintiffs attorney] Jennifer Whipple characterizes the case as “one of the most blatant cases of deliberate misclassification” she’s ever seen. […]
The lawsuit claims that Cardinal directs and controls the work its delivery drivers perform, but has established an elaborate system and a series of documents to disguise the employer-employee relationship. For example, Cardinal requires the drivers to agree to provide their own equipment to perform deliveries, but also requires them to lease the trucks from the company and cover all costs, such as fuel and maintenance, the suit says. It also charges that as a condition of employment, the drivers are required to establish their own corporations or limited liability companies, which “serve no purpose other that to perpetuate and shield Cardinal’s scheme.”
The complaint stems from the specific case of Gerald Smith of Reno, Nev., represented by Whipple, who worked as a delivery driver for Cardinal, driving a Home Depot-labeled truck and wearing a uniform with both Home Depot and Cardinal logos from May 2004 to November 2006.
Smith worked eight to 10 hours a day, six days a week, receiving a weekly paycheck from Cardinal after the company deducted a substantial proportion of his earnings for expenses, calculated entirely by Cardinal, the suit said. All of his work was done at the company’s direction.
“This company ignores its legal responsibilities to its workers and is maximizing profits at the expense of its workers,” Whipple said. “It is illegal and grossly unfair, and we look forward to getting some justice for these drivers.”
After a 15-year holding period, GTCR has sold Cardinal Logistics Management Inc ., a third-party transportation logistics provider with $325 million in revenue, to Centrebridge Partners, according to Jerry Bowman , president of Cardinal Logistics.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed..
Hat tip: William Kelly, who is a vehement Rauner hater. Still, those links don’t lie.
* By the way, GTCR bought Cardinal in 1997 and both were promptly sued by JB Hunt, which alleged Cardinal was trying to steal its employees and clients and attempting “blackmail.”
The embarrassing move had to be made because Frerichs claimed in the original video that he had “led by example” by “ending free lifetime healthcare for legislators.”
* I asked Sen. Frerichs about his vote yesterday, and he got back to me today saying there’d obviously been a mistake.
He said he supported getting rid of free health insurance for elected officials, but the final bill, he said, “included everyone,” including university employees, so he couldn’t support it.
“My media team and I were talking about various reforms I had supported,” Frerichs said, “I think what happened is we saw the bill and saw the first version, which I had voted for.”
* Making matters far worse, the legislation which Frerichs voted against was co-sponsored by none other than Tom Cross, Frerichs’ likely GOP rival. So, expect a Tom Cross press release in 3… 2… 1…
But, really, the goofiest thing about this mistake is that Frerichs has been running for treasurer for a year now. He’s had all this time to prepare the “perfect” official rollout and he blew it. That’s a seriously amateur mistake for a guy who claims to be running a top-notch campaign. There’s just no excuse for this stuff.
*** UPDATE *** Cross’ tracker was tossed out of Frerichs’ Chicago announcement event yesterday, but not before this video was taken of Frerichs taking credit for eliminating free lifetime health insurance for legislators…
Apparently, Frerichs dropped that particular line when he reached Peoria, which would be after I’d sent him an e-mail asking about the vote.
“There are many priorities out there, that is one of his,” Frerichs said.
Is it one of yours?
“In the treasurer’s office? No, the treasurer’s office is not in charge of pension reform. I think the things we need to focus on are making investments in our communities here in Illinois…” […]
Asked about Bruce Rauner’s criticism of Rutherford for not stepping up and taking a more central role in helping solve pension crisis, Frerichs said:
“The treasurer should be offering advice. We’ve seen the state going in the wrong direction”
Um, OK.
* Related…
* Ill. treasurer candidate hits incumbent on travel: Rutherford’s campaign spokesman Brian Sterling dismissed the criticism Wednesday, saying the treasurer is “very careful about mixing state and political business together.”
* Mike Frerichs kicks off Treasurer Campaign in Rock Island
* Lots and lots of new bills are being introduced, so, as always, keep in mind that a bill introduction doesn’t mean that it’ll pass. For instance…
An Illinois driver who smokes while kids are in the car could get slapped with a fine under a proposal pending in the Illinois Senate.
The measure would make it a crime to smoke in a vehicle where a minor is present, punishable by a fine of up to $100.
Police wouldn’t be allowed to stop drivers for this offense alone, but they could ticket a driver for it if the driver is caught committing some other punishable offense.
While opponents whistled the sound of falling bombs, proponents argued passionately for anti-smoking legislation aimed at protecting the health of young children.
House Bill 1769 went down in flames Thursday, garnering just 18 “yes” votes while the 91 opponents cheered.
The bill would have prohibited smoking in a vehicle with children ages 8 and under.
Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, sponsor of the bill, said he chose that age because children are in car seats until then. He thought it would simplify things for police officers.
Maybe this thing could move over time, or maybe it’ll just die like it always has. But a bill is just an idea at this point of the game.
“Every school district and every college that gives a pay raise from this day forward needs to also pay the pension cost of that pay raise,” [Sen. Bill Brady] told the Daily Herald editorial board Wednesday.
The idea is a cousin of the controversial proposal to have school districts pay for all of teachers’ future retirement costs, which Brady opposes. Opponents say the so-called cost-shift could hamper local schools’ budgets and force cuts elsewhere.
Brady says school boards shouldn’t be allowed to raise salaries and foist the cost onto the state.
“We have no control over those pay raises.”
Unlike Speaker Madigan’s “cost shift” proposal, Brady’s would only deal with pay raise costs going forward, not full salaries, past and present, and pension debt.
It’s not a bad idea. One of the reasons Illinois got itself in over its head on pensions is that the state made itself responsible for funding teacher and university pension systems. The costs just grew too high, and the state has no control over those costs, other than paying its bills on time (which would’ve kept those costs from rising, but hurt other budget items, like schools themselves).
* Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp responded to the new state rules forcing medical marijuana patients would have to surrender their FOID cards and concealed carry permits by saying carrying a concealed firearm after smoking medical marijuana is OK by him. He just doesn’t want people driving high…
“I just don’t think anyone should have their second amendment rights taken away from them because they’re on a prescription for a pain killer,” said Kettelkamp.
Kettelkamp is more worried about the people with driver’s licenses and medical marijuana cards, because he doesn’t feel there is an accurate way of testing drivers to see if they’re under the influence of marijuana.
“I don’t have many murders in Christian County,” said Kettelkamp. “But I have people killed in accidents, and that’s what really concerns me about somebody driving under the influence of marijuana. We’re not going to be able to detect that. There’s no way we can do a field sobriety test on an individual that’s under the influence of marijuana.”
* WICS TV also asked the Illinois State Police for an explanation of the FOID/carry ban for med-mar patients…
According to a statement from the agency, “possession of both a registry identification card and a FOID card is contrary to federal law.”
It should be noted that possessing marijuana, even while following all the rules of the new Illinois program, is also not allowed under federal law.
OK, I get that. You can’t do it under federal law. However, federal law also has some big penalties for growing, selling and smoking marijuana, whether medicinal or not, and Illinois has moved beyond that silliness.
* A federal suit over this issue was filed in 2011 after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) issued a memo to all federal firearms dealers warning of severe consequences…
The memo says that “there are no exceptions in federal law for marijuana purportedly used for medicinal purposes, even if such use is sanctioned by State law…any person who uses…regardless of whether his or her state has passed legislation authorizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user…and is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms of ammunition…..if you are aware that the potential transferee is in possession of a card authorizing the possession and use of marijuana under State law, then you…may not transfer firearms or ammunition to the person.” And indeed, Hauseur did not.
Wilson thinks that this BATFE policy violates her Second Amendment rights. With the help of Nevada lawyer Chaz Rainey of Rainey Devine, she filed suit in October in federal district court in Nevada against Department of Justice chief Eric Holder, the BATFE, and its acting director and assistant director.
As the suit says, “Ms. Wilson has never been charged with or convicted of any drug-related offense, or any criminal offense….Indeed, no evidence exists that Ms. Wilson has ever been ‘an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana….’ Ms. Wilson maintains that she is not an unlawful user of or addiction to marijuana….Nonetheless, Ms. Wilson was denied her Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms based solely on her possession of a valid State of Nevada medical marijuana registry card.” The suit argues the BATFE policy also violated her Fifth Amendment right to due process since it presumes she is a prohibited drug user arbitrarily.
* I asked all four Republican candidates and the governor’s campaign for comment on yesterday’s story by Doug Ibendahl about Bruce Rauner’s company’s involvement in some allegedly spectacular nursing home scandals. Dan Rutherford’s campaign politely declined comment “at this time.” Only Sen. Kirk Dillard’s campaign decided to weigh in. I didn’t hear back from anyone else, including Rauner’s campaign.
From a statement released by Glenn Hodas, who is Sen. Dillard’s campaign manager…
Yesterday’s stunning revelation about Bruce Rauner’s links to nursing home deaths and abuse, if true, is extremely disturbing. It shows how an obsession with profits can obliterate compassion and ethics.
At a bare minimum, the voters deserve a full explanation. Rightfully so, people all over the state this morning are asking, “Where is Mr. Rauner’s moral compass…does he even have one?”
And yet again, the steady drumbeat of controversies shadowing Rauner continues. One more story like this, and voters should ask Rauner to withdraw for the good of Illinois.
As we’ve said before, the problem with Bruce Rauner is not that he made a lot of money. Buts it’s how he made the money, and what he’s done with the money.
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