In our Illinois, we embrace the voices…and the votes…of all people. Our democracy is strongest when more voters raise their voices at the ballot box.
That’s why Illinois should join 15 other states in making voter registration available online. We must move our election process into the 21st century.
Notice he didn’t say “register to vote online.” Texas, for instance, allows you to fill out a form online, print it and then mail it in. That seems to be the norm.
I can’t believe we don’t have that simple option here.
And while we’re at it, let’s pass a long overdue law to allow voters to participate in primary elections without having to publicly declare their party affiliation.
* The Question: Should voters be able to participate in primaries without having to declare their party affiliation? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Under the terms of the deal Jackson signed, he pleads guilty and his fate – as to jail time – would be in the hands of a federal judge, not yet assigned.
He would repay the government hundreds of thousands of dollars – for items like the $40,000 Rolex watch, travel expenses for a woman he described as a “social acquaintance” and furniture purchased for his home.
Converting campaign contributions for personal use is strictly prohibited by federal law. It opens Jackson up to “not more than 5 years” in prison.
(T)hose with knowledge of the investigation believe the loose ends now deal with Jackson’s wife, former Alderman Sandi Jackson, and whether or not she is ultimately charged.
* Latino power brokers have transformed the United Neighborhood Organization into a political force to be reckoned with. The group has obtained millions for its charter schools and even got around procurement law by avoiding blind bidding. As a result, insider deals have apparently proliferated…
A $98 million state grant — approved by the Illinois Legislature in 2009 and believed to be the nation’s largest government investment in charter schools to date — funded the construction of Soccer Academy Elementary and other new schools built by UNO.
More than one-fifth of the taxpayer money spent on the Soccer Academy Elementary project went to four contractors owned by family members of UNO’s political allies and a top executive of the group, records show:
◆ A company owned by a brother of Miguel d’Escoto , UNO’s senior vice president of operations, was paid more than $600,000 as the “owner’s representative” for the project.
◆ Another d’Escoto brother landed a $4.4 million contract that included installing the school’s windows and distinctive metal exterior panels.
◆ State grant money that was used to guard the construction site went to a security firm run by two brothers of state Rep. Edward Acevedo, a Chicago Democrat who voted to approve the UNO grant.
◆ Two deals for plumbing work went to the sister of Victor Reyes , a lobbyist who helped UNO obtain the grant money to build the school. UNO also hired the janitorial service it operates, paying it more than $31,000 to clean up the Soccer Academy site before classes began. […]
◆ D’Escoto Inc., owned by Federico “Fred” d’Escoto, whose brother Miguel d’Escoto holds the second-ranking post with UNO and was the city of Chicago’s transportation commissioner under former Mayor Richard M. Daley. D’Escoto Inc. has been paid more than $1.5 million so far, mainly for overseeing construction management on all of UNO’s state-funded projects. Miguel d’Escoto’s son, Miguel T. d’Escoto, works for d’Escoto Inc.
UNO hired d’Escoto Inc. without seeking other bids, Rangel says, because the firm provided the sort of services that government agencies often contract for based on merit rather than price alone. “I trust that they are looking out for our interests,” he says. “I’ve known the d’Escotos for decades. Fred’s reputation is impeccable.”
◆ Reflection Window Co., owned by Rodrigo d’Escoto — another brother of Miguel d’Escoto. It stands to make nearly $10 million for work on all of the UNO schools built with the grant money. Reflection was paid about $6.7 million for work on the Soccer Academy Elementary and Galewood schools, and it has a contract for about $3.1 million for work on the high school that’s under construction.
◆ Aguila Security, which was run by Manuel Acevedo and Joe Acevedo — brothers of state lawmaker and longtime UNO ally Edward Acevedo — during the time the company provided “site security” for UNO on the Soccer Academy Elementary project.
◆ Toltec Plumbing, owned by Virginia Reyes, whose brother Victor Reyes was a top mayoral aide during the Daley administration and also headed the now-defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization. Victor Reyes was UNO’s lobbyist when it landed the 2009 grant, and his law firm is doing zoning work for UNO that will be paid for out of the state grant money, according to Rangel.
◆ Windy City Electric, which has ties to Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and was banned from working on City Hall contracts after city officials determined that brothers Anthony and John McMahon operated the company in their wives’ names to obtain millions of dollars from city contracts set aside for businesses owned and operated by women. Windy City was paid $1.67 million for work on the Soccer Academy Elementary’s construction.
Anthony McMahon is a top precinct captain for Burke, a longtime UNO backer whose Southwest Side ward is home to five of the charter network’s schools. Burke’s daughter-in-law has worked for UNO since 2009.
In 2010, Rangel endorsed Burke’s brother, state Rep. Daniel Burke (D-Chicago), when he narrowly won a Democratic primary fight against a Hispanic challenger.
◆ The law firm of Chico & Nunes, headed by attorney Gery Chico, who has done zoning work for UNO and been paid with money from the state grant.
◆ UNO JaMS, a not-for-profit “social enterprise” initiative of UNO that provides janitorial services at its charter schools.
UNO’s grant agreement requires it to “immediately notify the department in writing of any actual or potential conflicts of interest, as well as any actions that create or which appear to create a conflict of interest,” spokeswoman Sandra M. Jones says. The state “has no record of receiving such notifications. We are currently reviewing the matter. We take our oversight of taxpayer-funded programs very seriously. If it is found that a grantee has used funds incorrectly, we will take steps to address it.”
He also reported that UNO contractors donated at least $51,000 to [Silvana Tabares] in her successful state representative campaign, and UNO employees even gathered most of the signatures on her nominating petitions.
What’s wrong with any of that?
Well, most fundamentally, I don’t think the purpose of creating charter schools was to establish new political fiefdoms with their own bases of patronage — whether of the classic or pinstripe variety.
I’m not knocking the UNO schools. They operate in difficult neighborhoods and have a reputation for delivering a better education than many of the other charters.
But we need to extract the charter operators from this type of political activity before it becomes the norm.
As it stands now, I don’t think any other charter operators are nearly as far along in their political entanglements as UNO.
The fact that Emanuel is a huge proponent of charter schools and that UNO CEO Juan Rangel is the mayor’s former campaign co-chairman and a mayoral appointee to the Emanuel-chaired Public Building Commission adds to the political embarrassment.
“I know what the United Neighborhood Organization does — both as a neighborhood group and as an education group. And I know they’re gonna have to hold themselves accountable because I believe in being held accountable to the public,” the mayor said. “They’re getting public resources. The people [who] are the proper people will look into it and be held accountable so dollars aren’t misspent.”
Pressed on whether UNO still enjoys his confidence, Emanuel said, “On their educational mission, yes, and that they do it in the right way.”
* Also, as I’ve told you before, House Speaker Michael Madigan was pushing hard for even more money for UNO last month. Greg Hinz had some details about how hard Madigan was working…
But, in checking around, I hear that the guy who really pushed the proposed $35 million grant was House Speaker Michael Madigan, whose district has turned overwhelmingly Latino in recent years and who probably could use one of those new UNO schools in his district. Mr. Madigan — his spokesman did not return calls — was so hot for the grant that he actually tried to add it to some other bills, multiple reliable Springfield sources say.
Mr. Rangel confirms that the money “quite possibly” would have gone for work in Mr. Madigan’s district, where schools are “severely overcrowded.” And guess where that new soccer high school is? At the north end of Mr. Madigan’s legislative district, 5050 S. St. Louis Ave.
That cash was omitted from the supplemental approp bill which passed this week. There’s just too much heat on UNO right now.
* When you’ve got the lowest approval rating of any governor in the country and two prominent members of your own party are openly contemplating a primary challenge and people are lining up around the block in the other party to challenge you in a general election, you can expect stories drenched in hostility like this one from the AP…
The idea seems simple enough: Ban Illinois lawmakers from voting or taking action on anything that might benefit them personally, all in the name of honest government.
But the ethics proposal Gov. Pat Quinn outlined in his State of the State speech has sparked questions about whom it targets and whether it’s necessary as the state deals with mountainous financial problems. Some Republicans and political experts also have alleged political motives, suggesting the Chicago Democrat was simply floating the proposal to lay the groundwork for what could become a pet issue in his 2014 re-election bid. […]
Some lawmakers said they were confused by the timing: Illinois traditionally enacts reforms in the wake of scandal, and they expected more details on finances when Quinn has made overhauling pensions his top issue for more than a year. Illinois has a nearly $100 billion pension problem, the worst of any U.S. state.
What a bogus excuse. Financial details will come in the March budget address. This was a State of the State address. The fact that so many people who cover the Statehouse and work there can’t seem to differentiate between the two boggles my mind. This happened last year as well. Enough, already.
* Also, timing? Yeah, there’s an election coming up, but Quinn has been pushing this issue for years and years. From the transcript of his SoS address…
But our constant mission to restore integrity to Illinois government cannot end here. We have more work to do.
In 1976, I led a petition drive to ban conflict of interest voting in the General Assembly. 635,158 voters signed this petition – the greatest number of signatures ever gathered on a single petition in Illinois history.
Silence about conflict of interest voting wasn’t our Illinois then, and it’s not our Illinois now. We can do better.
Conflicts of interest are regulated all over: from the Illinois Supreme Court, to right here in the Executive Branch.
And more than 30 states have banned conflict of interest voting.
Illinois should too.
With this reform, we can keep moving towards a state government that always puts the people first, and a government that tackles the tough issues, no matter how hard.
Some lawmakers pointed out Quinn’s plan might duplicate legislation already being considered.
Democratic state Sen. Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge sponsored a bill calling for more lawmaker disclosure of economic interests. While legislators have done so for decades, the forms they use are outdated, Kotowski argues. He has proposed requiring more information — relationships with lobbyists, for example — and allowing them to be viewed online.
Yes, Kotowski has a decent bill. The governor gets to propose his own stuff, however.
* You have to go way down into the story to find the meat of the problem…
Illinois statute says when taking an official action, like a vote, a lawmaker should “consider the possibility” of eliminating the interest or abstaining from the official action. Unlike federal lawmakers who face strike provisions and can be investigated by bipartisan ethics committee of their peers, the state law guidelines contain no provision for enforcement or penalties.
The legislature’s inspector general, Thomas Homer, calls Illinois’ laws “somewhat farcical.”
He pushed reforms in a 2011 report he issued detailing problems, including relationships with lobbyists. A former lawmaker himself, Homer said his office received two dozen complaints last year, and about half were related to potential conflicts of interest. However, Homer said his hands are tied when it comes to acting on the complaints. Any investigations must be approved by a commission, and he doesn’t have power to punish or take action.
The difference is that congressmen are full-timers who have outside income bans. Illinois is by design a citizens legislature, despite its relative high pay.
Quinn’s plan is aimed at limiting votes cast by lawmakers who haven’t been accused of any impropriety — including lawyers, real estate agents and entrepreneurs with business interests in the state.
I seriously doubt that you’ll convince all the lawyers in the General Assembly to list their law firm clients. I’m not even sure that they can. But that’s ultimately where the, um, conflict will be.
* I’m one of the governor’s most intense critics. But I’m sick of the annual whining about how the State of the State address isn’t the budget address.
* Unlike in Springfield these days, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is trying to negotiate pension changes with labor leaders…
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle got down to brass tacks with labor leaders Thursday, setting a 30-day deadline for unions and county officials to help her craft legislation aimed at cleaning up the pension mess.
Preckwinkle and Chicago Federation of Labor President Jorge Ramirez, were among roughly 20 union and county leaders in the meeting, and both stressed no “ultimatum” was given.
“This is a mutual problem — there’s no need for tough talk,” Preckwinkle told the Sun-Times. “We’re trying to work together to solve this.”
“I emphasized this has to be shared sacrifice,” Preckwinkle said. “I told them we can’t wait any longer.”
Preckwinkle declined to discuss specifics, but she outlined broad concepts. Both workers and county government would have to pay more money into the pension fund. Annual cost-of-living adjustments would be pegged to inflation. Older retirement ages would be phased in.
And health care coverage would be guaranteed for the first time, but limits would be placed on the annual cost increases paid for by the county. The county also would continue to provide traditional pensions rather than switch to 401(k)-type plans.
Just a decade ago, the county pension fund was sound, with 90 percent of the cash on hand needed to cover payments it was obligated to make. Now it has only 58 percent of what’s needed, leaving a shortfall of $5.8 billion.
They tried talking things through in Springfield, to no avail. Maybe this will work in Cook. The Chicago Federation of Labor seems interested in a compromise, so we’ll see.
I spent Thursday afternoon looking at some numbers and discovered some good news that you probably don’t know.
For the first seven months of the fiscal year (through the end of January), Illinois tax revenues grew by about a billion dollars. That’s almost a 7 percent growth rate, according to a nonpartisan legislative commission.
But man, is there ever a lot of bad news.
You knew there’d be bad news. This is Illinois, after all.
All of that extra money is barely enough to cover the state’s increased pension payment this year. That pension payment is going up another billion dollars next year, too.
Not to mention that state employee health insurance reimbursements are running anywhere from a year to 500 days late. Yes, you read that right. Five hundred days late.
The state is releasing $600 million or so that had been set aside for health insurance costs, but that cash won’t even cover costs for the rest the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, let alone touch the bill backlog.
Meanwhile, unemployment remains stubbornly high. Illinois didn’t even recover all the jobs lost during the 2001 recession before the last one began.
I was listening to Gov. Pat Quinn’s State of the State address this past Wednesday with the hope that he had come up with some ideas to drag Illinois out of its morass.
No such luck.
Then again, there are no magic wands here. There’s no fairy dust we can sprinkle on ourselves to solve our problems. Illinois is a state, so it can’t print its own money.
The governor is insisting on pension reform, but even that will not immediately relieve the massive budget pressures, because any new law will certainly be challenged as unconstitutional and therefore put on hold. It could be years before the courts figure things out. And that assumes the General Assembly can even get something done on this front.
The only thing that will save us is economic growth. Lots of it.
Government has a role here, both in spending and in policies.
Gov. Quinn touted a few hundred million dollars for infrastructure in his State of the State speech, but we could use a truly massive public works project that updates our antiquated water and sewer systems, fixes our roads and bridges, modernizes public transit and tears down old schools and builds new ones. The cold reality, though, is that Illinois just doesn’t have the money to pay for all that stuff, and a tax hike to fund the projects will slow growth in other sectors.
Another funding source has to be found. Maybe the federal government can finally get off its duff and start updating our nation’s infrastructure and schools. The federal stimulus bill four years ago barely touched infrastructure.
Illinois reformed its workers’ compensation laws a couple of years back, but it fell far short of what’s needed. Attorney General Lisa Madigan demanded more reforms several months ago, pointing to a case where a worker flung himself at a vending machine because his treat was stuck. The employee hurt himself. A state appellate court awarded him workers’ compensation benefits. In Illinois, “causation” isn’t part of the equation. You get hurt, you get paid. That’s insane.
Workers’ comp insurance costs are a huge problem for some Illinois businesses, but the doctors and lawyers love the revenues, and they have powerful Springfield lobbies, so nothing substantial gets done. Quinn didn’t even mention the topic this week.
We need bold plans on a decidedly un-bold budget. We need some creativity and some real urgency. Unfortunately, I don’t see either trait in this governor.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s super political action committee has spent at least $660,000 for 12 days of TV ads blasting Democratic congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson’s past support from the National Rifle Association, records filed by local affiliates of the four major networks showed Thursday.
When its current ad buy ends Sunday, the Independence USA super PAC will have aired 574 half-minute broadcast TV commercials to influence the outcome of the 2nd Congressional District special election, records show.
Halvorson, a former one-term congresswoman from Crete, has accused Bloomberg of trying to buy an Illinois congressional seat. She has maintained her opposition to bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, in line with the NRA. The former lawmaker has, however, backed comprehensive background checks, a federal gun registry and increased penalties for criminal gun use and possession
It was a lively exchange between ten democrats on the stage at the campus in the south suburbs. They discussed everything from whether we should keep American troops in Afghanistan even after the president says combat operations will seize, to whether we should balance the budget with spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both.
Given the national discussion on gun control and recent hearings locally, it was no surprise that some of the sharpest exchanges during the debate were on the topic. FOX 32’s Mike Flannery, who moderated the debate, asked for a show of hands on who supported the president’s proposal for a ban on assault weapons and on high capacity ammunition magazines. Only one candidate disagreed with that proposal: Debbie Halvorson– the former congresswoman who has the backing of the National Rifle Association.
“I refuse to support any other wide-ranging law that is going to harm a law-abiding citizen until we do something that is going to go after the criminal,” Halvorson said.
All of the candidates agreed on issuing universal background checks before a gun could be purchased.
“Even though it’s probably going to happen in the state of Illinois, I’m also against concealed carry,” Robin Kelly said. “When do we say enough is enough with all the killings in Chicago and all the mass murders around the country?”
On other issues, Hutchinson said she’d like to see a repeal of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, with extra money put into programs benefiting education and infrastructure, while Williams said he’d like to see a federal lottery to raise money for education programs.
Kelly said she’d like to see cuts in military spending.
“We don’t fight wars like that anymore,” she said of fleets of battleships.
Chicago 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale said he’d like to see cuts in agriculture subsidies that he says pay farmers not to grow crops.
One area where there was general agreement was on immigration reform. All said they support a version of reform that gives many of the roughly 11.1 million people living illegally in the United States a chance to gain U.S. citizenship.
* Former state Sen. Chris Lauzen has created a Kane County Board Executive Committee, which is comprised of 14 of the board’s 24 members. Lauzen, who was elected chairman last year, has decreed that the other ten can’t speak at meetings unless they sign up in advance like the rest of the public and limit themselves to an on-topic three minutes of commentary.
Needless to say, that new policy isn’t going over well with the “out of the loop ten,” including board member Mark Davoust…
“It seems ridiculous to me that I have to come in here as a member of the public to speak,” Davoust said. “I was elected by the public to speak.”
He pointed out that all county board members are allowed to speak at lower-level committee meetings and the full board meeting. However, the Executive Committee is often the first time board members hear all the background on a pending vote.
That’s a big problem, said county board member Jesse Vazquez, because a majority of the county board, 14 members, sit on the Executive Committee. That makes the full county board meeting mostly a rubber stamp for the Executive Committee, Vazquez said.
“This is, as Shakespeare would say, much ado about nothing. For these guys who are complaining, you should ask what you’re producing of value in your service that matters to your constituents. We have bigger issues. Quit your bellyaching.”
*** UPDATE *** Robin Kelly’s campaign says this is a cable buy. Here’s the Comcast report…
Robin Kelly for Congress
Democratic Candidate for US Congress in D2 Special Election
Agency: Adelstein Liston, Chicago
$26,795 Total Buy for Comcast Spotlight
2/8 – 2/17/13
Networks bought: BET, CNN, DISC, ESPN, MNBC, TBS, TLC, TNT, USA
Dayparts: 4-7P, 7P-midnight
Syscodes / Zones / $ by zone
1734 / South Suburban / $7,400
1796 / Chicago Central / $6,175
1798 / Chicago South / $5,605
1820 / Orland Park / $7,615
Total Buy: $26,795
Not much.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Robin Kelly has a new TV ad. I’ll tell you if I find out how much is behind this ad and where it’s playing. Rate it…
* Script…
Robin Kelly:
It’s heartbreaking.
There are kids dying everyday.
Every one of us has been touched in some way.
We all need to say enough is enough.
Announcer:
Robin Kelly has spent her career fighting to get deadly weapons off our streets.
In the legislature she worked with Barack Obama to crack down on illegal gun sales.
In Congress Kelly will keep taking on the NRA.
Fighting to ban assault weapons and outlaw high capacity ammunition clips.
Robin Kelly:
If we succeed in saving even one life, then it’s worth it.
* The Super PAC Progressive Kick claims this ad will be “disseminated via cable TV and web ads in the district as well as emailed to 90,000 Democratic primary voters.” The ad begins with a visually striking special effect. Rate it…
The group raised over $800K last year, and had only about $87K on hand at the end of December. They could’ve raised more since then, though.
Wrigley Field is turning 100, and the Chicago Cubs want fans to help commemorate the milestone.
The home of the Cubs will reach the century mark next year. On Wednesday, the Cubs announced the “Wrigley Field Turns 100 Logo Contest.”
Fans are invited to enter a design to be used as the official logo during a yearlong celebration in 2014. A Cubs spokeswoman says the winning logo may be featured at the ballpark, on merchandise and possibly on the team’s uniforms.
* The Question: Wrigley Field 100th anniversary logo suggestions?
Best response wins a $20 gift card at Springfield’s Grab-a-Java. Our last winner was VanillaMan, who has returned to fine form.
* Daily Kos’ founder is really out to get 2nd Congressional District candidate Sen. Toi Hutchinson. Markos Moulitsas has endorsed Robin Kelly and he’s been posting at least daily rants on the pro-gun positions of both Hutchinson and Debbie Halvorson. Kos’ latest is a now-deleted 2011 Facebook post…
The Illinois State Rifle Association is the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, and she had no problem attending their fundraisers, scooping up their cash, and enabling their agenda in Springfield.
Yet now she wants to run from that record and claim that she’s pulled a Mitt Romney—180-degree overnight conversion when politically expedient. She claims Sandy Hook made her change her mind, but 500 gun-related deaths in Chicago last year didn’t?
Dart says he’s been impressed with Beale as the two have worked on a number of issues, both while Dart was a state lawmaker and as sheriff. Dart and Beale scheduled a news conference Thursday.
“There’s no way that I believe this poll is accurate,” said Beale campaign spokeswoman Delmarie Cobb.
The poll… puts Kelly in the lead of top candidates in raw numbers and a statistical tie with Debbie Halvorson when the margin of error is taken into account. Previously, Halvorson had led in every poll.
Cobb’s argument is voter turnout will be greatest in the city and Beale is the only city candidate in a field of 16 Democrats. The 2nd congressional district stretches into Will and Kankakee counties.
“Forty percent of the vote comes from the city. Sixty percent of the vote comes from the South Suburbs. You’ve got, Toi, Robin, Debbie and everybody else running for the 60 percent. Anthony has … - 98 percent of the 9th ward is in the 2nd congressional district.”
I dunno. Chicago has a lot of the district’s population, but most people expect city turnout to be abysmal.
Also, release your own poll if you don’t like Kelly’s. Give us some data.
Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on Thursday announced the House Judiciary Committee will convene public hearings later this month on the issue of expanding gun safety laws and reviewing the recent federal court ruling concerning the unlawful use of weapons.
“In light of events in recent months in Illinois and in other parts of the country, it’s appropriate and necessary that we give a full vetting to proposed state legislation on this matter,” Madigan said. “These hearings will provide an opportunity for gun safety advocates, gun rights supporters and members of the law enforcement community to offer their views and argue their cases to legislators and the people of Illinois.”
Last December, a federal appeals court struck down Illinois’ law on the unlawful use of weapons, requiring the state to adopt a law allowing residents to carry firearms in some form. Just three days later, a gunman carrying a semi-automatic rifle and two pistols murdered 20 schoolchildren and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The court ruling and the incident at Sandy Hook highlight the need to review Illinois law with an eye toward either making gun ownership and possession less cumbersome on law-abiding citizens or toughening firearm restrictions to better limit gun violence.
The first House Judiciary Committee hearing will be held Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. in Room 114 of the State Capitol in Springfield. A second hearing will take place Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. in the sixth floor committee room of the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago. Advocates concerned with all aspects of the firearms issue will be invited to testify.
Available seating for the hearings will be limited, and those who wish to attend will be required to show official state identification and pass through strict security
Rep. Elaine Nekritz chairs the Judiciary Committee. It has a diverse membership, with some pretty strong progun guys like Rep. John Bradley and some gun control folks like vice-chair Rep. Ann Williams.
* Across the rotunda, Sen. Kwame Raoul will lead the majority party’s effort to find a compromise. From a press release…
State Senator Kwame Raoul (D-13th) filed legislation yesterday that will become a negotiated concealed carry proposal. Senate President John Cullerton designated Raoul to bring together all voices in the gun debate to develop a legislative response to Judge Richard Posner’s December ruling, which set a 180-day deadline for action. Language drafted in the course of negotiations will be added to Senate Bill 1337.
“The negotiations I lead will respect firearm owners’ constitutional protections as interpreted by the Supreme Court and lower courts, and it will acknowledge the fact that there are many law-abiding Illinois gun owners who legitimately wish to use guns for sport and self-protection,” Raoul said. “At the same time, we will also acknowledge the alarming prevalence of gun violence and the need to keep guns out of the hands of those most likely to use them for harm.”
Illinois is the last remaining state in the nation not to provide for some form of concealed carry. On Dec. 11, Judge Posner, writing for the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, declared unconstitutional the state’s restrictions on carrying a firearm in public. It gave the Illinois General Assembly until June 9, 2013, to change the law.
“While I respect and appreciate the attorney general’s request for review by a full panel of the appeals court, the legislature can’t ignore its responsibility,” Raoul said. “The 49 states that allow concealed carry do not have identical policies, and we need to find an approach that’s right for Illinois. But let me be clear – we must comply with the court’s mandate, and we will.”
* If you haven’t watched the new PBS documentary on Henry Ford, you should. When Ford raised wages to $5 a day, doubling the going rate, he was attacked by his fellow industrialists and called an anarchist and a class traitor and confidently predicted Ford’s bankruptcy.
But one of Ford’s big problems at his factories was high employee turnover. People just didn’t like working at such repetitive tasks. Pretty much anybody could do those tasks, by design, but people just didn’t like doing them. Raising wages meant he attracted the best of the best and retained them for much longer.
* That documentary came to mind while I was reading an interesting story in today’s Tribune about Gov. Quinn’s State of the State proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour over a period of four years…
Chris Ondrula, chief executive of Downers Grove-based Heartland Food, which has more than 3,500 minimum wage employees at 178 Burger King restaurants in Illinois, said a wage hike would be ill-timed because he’s already dealing with higher prices for commodities and bracing for higher costs as the federal health care overhaul takes effect.
“The ripple effects are exponential,” Ondrula said. A restaurant that is marginally profitable, he said, might become unprofitable and be forced to close.
[…]
Ondrula’s views on job losses that could stem from a higher minimum wage were once widely shared by economists. But a now-famous case study published in 1994 by labor economists David Card and Alan Krueger began to change conventional wisdom. They compared employment trends in fast-food restaurants in New Jersey, which had just hiked its minimum wage, with trends in neighboring Pennsylvania, and found little impact on low-wage workers.
Berkeley’s Reich, along with two economists from the universities of Massachusetts Amherst and North Carolina, expanded on the research by examining restaurant employment in neighboring counties in different states with different minimum wage levels. They studied 16 years’ worth of data and found no negative effects on low-wage employment.
Instead, they found that higher wages reduced employee turnover, which saves business money.
Other academic research has found that minimum wage hikes increase consumer spending. A study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported that immediately following a wage increase, incomes in households with minimum wage earners rose on average by about $1,000 a year and spending by roughly $2,800 a year. Much of new spending was on automobiles.
Although the state already has one of the highest rates in the nation, Quinn argued another boost would help increase the quality of life for residents.
“Nobody in Illinois should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty,” Quinn said during his speech. “That’s a principle as old as the Bible.”
Quinn is seeking to revive a proposal that was floated last year but didn’t make it out of committee. Still, lawmakers said that such a proposal would need cooperation from the business community to get any traction.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce came out against the measure, saying Quinn should focus on the state’s massive financial problems. Illinois has the worst pension problem of any state in the country and billions in unpaid bills.
“Another minimum wage hike will only hurt those who are looking for a job and those who employ them in this challenging economy,” David Vite, the president of the merchants association, said in a statement. “It’s rather disappointing that Governor Quinn is supporting another job-killing proposal instead of focusing on solving our budget crisis and our bankrupt pension system.” […]
The chamber characterized the increase as “an untimely, ill-advised and outrageous proposal.”
Kim Clarke Maisch, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said it is ironic that Quinn is telling small business owners how to run their businesses when the state budget is a mess.
Lightford also seeks the elimination of the “tip credit,” which currently allows employers to pay as low as $4.95 per hour to employees who work for tips. This essentially amounts to the customer subsidizing a worker’s legally guaranteed wages.
This makes it even more difficult for a tipped worker to earn a living wage, because without precise documentation of tip income — the burden for which falls on the employee — a worker will have a difficult time obtaining a car loan or a mortgage if their employer only has to pay them $4.95 per hour.
Congressional investigators have recommended a full House Ethics Committee probe of Rep. Aaron Schock for allegedly soliciting contributions of more than $5,000 for a political action committee to help an Illinois colleague engaged in a bitter primary battle last year, records released today showed.
Reps. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Ethics chairman and ranking member, announced Thursday that they will continue to probe the allegations against Schock under their own authority but will not create a special investigative panel.
The decision by Conaway and Sanchez makes it unlikely that Schock will ever be sanctioned by the Ethics Committee.
Even without a sanction, this revelation is gonna make for some devastating TV ads if Schock decides to run for governor. Just devastating.
Schock has been under investigation for urging House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor to shift $25,000 from his leadership PAC to the Campaign for Primary Accountability to assist Rep. Adam Kinzinger in his March 2012 GOP primary victory over Rep. Donald Manzullo in the state’s new 16th District.
But investigators said that between March 14 and March 17 — three days before the primary contest, the Campaign for Primary Accountability received at least $115,000 in contributions “as a result of the efforts of Representative Schock and his campaign committee.”
In addition to Cantor’s leadership PAC, the 18th District GOP central committee donated $25,000. Other donors investigators cited were David Herro, a wealthy money manager from Chicago who gave $35,000, and Anne Dias Griffin, who gave $30,000. Dias Griffin is a Chicago hedge fund manager and founder of Reboot Illinois, a GOP-oriented social media operation.
Reboot Illinois has a story on its front page about possible jail time for former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., but nothing about the Schock story.
A spokesman for the Peoria Republican dismissed the announcement as “just one more step in the long process of adjudicating ethics complaints that can be submitted by anyone for any reason.”
“The complaint in this case is entirely without merit,” said Steve Dutton, Schock’s communications director. “We remain firmly convinced that Congressman Schock will be exonerated when the Ethics Committee examines the complaint and in due course resolves this matter. We fully cooperated with the OCE review, and we will continue to cooperate as the Ethics Committee now conducts its own review.”
Freshman U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, did not cooperate with the Office of Congressional Ethics in its initial probe of alleged campaign finance violations by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria.
“The OCE infers that the information Mr. Davis refused to provide, taken together with the factual findings in this referral, supports the conclusion that there is substantial reason to believe that the alleged violation occurred,” the OCE said in a report made public Wednesday.
The report recommends that Davis and three other non-cooperating witnesses be subpoenaed. […]
Davis said the report does not suggest any improprieties on his part.
Wait. He mummed up and refused to talk to investigators? That requires some explaining from the freshman. And that sure looks like it was improper.
The investigatory panel said Davis, who was formerly a staffer for Republican U.S. Rep. John Shimkus of Collinsville until his election in November to Congress, was a “non-cooperating” witness. Davis, investigators said, helped steer money to the Campaign for Primary Accountability.
Also listed as “non-cooperating witnesses” by investigators were Michael Bigger, chairman of the 18th District Central GOP committee, and Rob Collins, a former chief of staff to Cantor, the report said.
Sneed has learned a plea deal is now on the table between former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and federal authorities probing allegations of campaign fund misuse.
Sneed is told the plea deal includes Jackson serving time in federal prison.
“Significant jail time is now definitely a part of the deal,” said a top Sneed source close to the probe.
“But I think [Jackson’s wife] Sandi, feels like she was thrown under the bus by her husband, ” now that a separate probe has begun on her, a second source added.
Sandi Jackson claims she was stunned by campaign finance abuse disclosures against her husband, who has been treated for mental disorders and allegedly spent $40,000 on a Rolex watch purchased with campaign funds.
For 38 minutes, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn spoke enthusiastically, even lovingly of “our Illinois” without answering any questions about how the state will deal with its $130 billion pension debt, $9 billion in unpaid bills, or hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts that are certain to come this spring.
Quinn hammered home the theme of “This is our Illinois” throughout his State of the State speech Wednesday.
Many lawmakers, state officials and policy makers were unimpressed.
Lawmakers from both parties said Wednesday they were disappointed that Gov. Pat Quinn didn’t go further in his State of the State speech to outline how he will accomplish the elusive goal of pension reform. […]
“What he said on pension reform is no different than what he has said a thousand times,” said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, the third ranking Democrat in the House. “We need to do pension reform, but just saying it doesn’t get it done.”
Illinois has an unfunded pension liability approaching $100 billion. Its bond rating is ever-sinking, and it has billions in unpaid bills. But you’d hardly know we live in “Deadbeat Illinois” from listening to Gov. Pat Quinn’s State of The State speech.
Quinn made only scattered references to the state’s most pressing problem — a stifling public-employee pension deficit, but the squeeze it puts on other government spending was an undercurrent throughout the governor’s fifth State of the State address.
“I am disappointed because I don’t feel like what he talked about is going to change the direction of Illinois,” said Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy for the Illinois Policy Institute. “He didn’t talk about what really mattered, which is in-depth pension reform, and how to increase prosperity in Illinois to make us a more competitive state.”
* I disagree that he didn’t “answer any questions” about the pension debt. Quinn came out forcefully for SB1, Senate President John Cullerton’s hybrid pension reform bill. You may not like it, others may not like it, either. But that’s definitely one solution. And, unlike his past vague pronouncements, this is an actual bill with real live language that can be debated, amended and reconstructed as necessary. That’s a specific, which has been lacking in the past.
And his support of SB1 was different than what he’s said “a thousand times” before. Plus, this is a speech, not action. So, yeah, saying it doesn’t get it done, but was he supposed to call for a vote right then and there while he was at the podium?
And as far as the budget goes, the budget address is in March.
Quinn spent most of his last State of the State address talking about pensions. It didn’t move the ball forward. Everybody knows that pension reform is a huge issue. He proposed a workable, specific legislative solution yesterday.
* State of the Union and State of the State addresses usually include references to what has been done. Mark Brown compiled a list…
Although often derided for his ability to get things done in Springfield, the fact is that a lot of important and difficult legislation has been approved by the General Assembly and signed into law under Quinn, much of it with mixed popularity. […]
◆ Created and funded a long-sought public works program, Illinois Jobs Now, for rebuilding the state’s infrastructure.
◆ Overhauled the state’s Medicaid program to keep it from going broke.
◆ Changed the workers compensation program to save businesses millions of dollars in insurance premiums.
◆ Legalized civil unions for gays and lesbians.
◆ Established temporary driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.
◆ Approved a bipartisan education-reform package with benchmarks for teacher evaluations.
◆ Ethics reforms including establishing voter recall for Illinois governors, limits on campaign contributions and elimination of the scandal-plagued legislative scholarship program.
◆ Reduced pension benefits for new state employees.
◆ Closed 54 state facilities to save money over opposition from unions and local politicians of both parties.
I’m not saying Quinn was the moving force behind each of these measures, but all of it would have been hard to do without him.
* These sorts of addresses also usually provide an outline for where the president or governor wants to go. And Quinn did that as well with a whole lot of proposals that we’ll get to today.
But, as far as I’m concerned, he said what he had to say on pensions. Now comes the hard part.
