Speaker Madigan: House Democrats are fighting to provide for a #FairTaxNow to build an economy that works for the middle class, not millionaires and billionaires like Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump.
IPI so confident they’ve turned madigan into a ghoul they’ll post video of madigan promoting a progressive tax/attacking rauner knowing it’ll turn people off to the idea
Have you ever wondered what Governor Rauner does to relax and have fun?
Well here’s your chance to find out with our very first Brewskis with Bruce video!
Bruce loves catching up (and grabbing some beers) with folks around the state, listening to their concerns and just enjoying good conversation — whether about the issues facing Illinois or his love of ice skating. We’re excited to feature the first of these stops in a new series, Brewskis with Bruce!
Check out the video here
Enjoy!
Anthony Sarros
Political Director
P.S. Keep an eye out for YOUR CHANCE to participate in Brewskis with Bruce.
When taxes are hiked, people take a hike and taxable income (AGI) goes with them. IL lost record amounts after 2011 tax increase. In 2015, IRS says $4.75B walked. Cost $800M in state/local tax revenue. History says, graduated income tax = BACKFIRE! #NoNewTaxespic.twitter.com/pc3lfjYlYB
With 3.1 million registered voters, barely 600,000 voted in the county judicial races, so 19% of the voters picked their judges. Democratic committeemen in the Hispanic 6th subcircuit fared poorly, but the Irish committeemen in the 8th subcircuit did well.
For whatever reason, Russ’ column reminded me of a story that Speaker Madigan told me years ago. I asked him about Ronald Reagan winning the 13th Ward, and Madigan said he ordered his captains to not talk about presidential races at the doors. Voters, he said, like to think that they’re making up their own minds on presidents.
Besides, he said, those captains had judges to elect. And back then, the total votes cast for the top of the ticket and for the judge(s) at the bottom of the ticket were usually very close in his ward, unlike other wards.
* Countywide circuit court judicial races are more easily compared between wards, so I picked one at random: The Brewer vacancy.
Here is the percentage change from the total votes cast for governor to that Brewer race in a handful of wards with reputations for turning out the vote…
Click here and here to start your own goofy research project that you wish you hadn’t thought of because it took too long to put together and probably won’t get any comments anyway, but that you absolutely had to finish because reasons and you were just doing something to keep yourself busy until the Comcast person arrived to fix your Internet connection.
* Landmarks Illinois has again placed the Thompson Center on its endangered list. This time, it is proposing an alternative…
In conjunction with its annual list of endangered buildings, Landmarks Illinois has released a series of renderings that reimagines Helmut Jahn’s James R. Thompson Center with enhanced public space, while playing up its potential for adaptive re-use with an addition of a super tower.
o Two-story entrance bays at the plaza would be removed to create open connections between the outside and the voluminous atrium to become a truly public space.
o The ground floor and upper office floors would be enclosed to separate private office and retail spaces from the public, open-air atrium.
o The lower-level food hall could be enclosed or fitted with retractable glass partitions.
o Retail space would be expanded and café dining areas and seasonal food markets could be accommodated in the plaza and open atrium.
o Additional seating, landscaping and public art would be encouraged in the open atrium.
o The current elevator tower to upper office floors would be enclosed and secured with a new office lobby, while the hotel and residential lobbies would be located within the new tower.
o The southwest corner is the best location for a new tower with minimal impact to the building’s significant atrium space.
o A new tower, with a footprint of approximately 13,000 square feet, is developed on the southwest corner with hotel uses on the lower floors and residential on the upper floors.
o Thompson Center’s second level would connect to the tower’s second floor hotel lobby. Hotel meeting facilities would be incorporated into levels 3 and 4 of the Thompson Center.
o The remainder of the existing Thompson Center floors would be utilized as office and tech space.
* The Question: What do you think of this idea? Make sure to explain.
Sen Sandoval's SB2562 regarding law enforcement use of drones for safety at large-scale events would attempt to prevent situations like the Las Vegas shooting massacre. pic.twitter.com/SQVhUDPihk
The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday accused Mayor Rahm Emanuel of being the heavy hand behind legislation that would allow police officers to use drones to monitor the growing number of protests on the streets of Chicago.
The groundbreaking bill would allow drones to be used to hover over crowds, for the purpose of taking still photos and making audio and video recordings of demonstrations. Even more troubling to the ACLU, the drones could be equipped with facial recognition technology. […]
“Given Chicago’s history of surveillance against protesters and social justice advocates – including by the notorious Red Squad — the Chicago police should not be able to use this new, powerful tool to monitor protesters near silently and from above,” Karen Sheley, director of the ACLU Police Practices Project, was quoted as saying in a news release.
“The legislation also ignores sweeping surveillance tools currently available to the police – including an integrated public camera system that covers much of the city.”
Sheley noted that the House and Senate versions of the controversial bill “effectively guts” legislation passed three years ago requiring a judicial warrant for the use of drones by police in Illinois.
* New Pension Intercept Law Puts Distressed Illinois Cities In The Crosshairs For Added Oversight: [Jim Spiotto, bankruptcy expert at Chapman Strategic Advisors] and the Civic Federation of Chicago have helped write a bill called the Local Government Protection Authority. Among other things, the bill would establish an oversight board, set up a clear procedure for dealing with a stressed city, and allow Chapter 9. The bill is currently languishing in the House Rules Committee.
* Dean Neubrander believes solution to nursing shortage lies in academic progression and partnership: In Springfield today, nurses were shut out of the discussion regarding baccalaureate nursing education. It was a sad day under the dome. “There is no question that we are facing a nursing shortage both here in Illinois and nationally. And, there has been much discussion about how to best act to combat that shortage. It is my firm belief that the path forward lies not in legislation that gives the community college the opportunity to offer the BSN, but via strategic partnerships between community colleges and four-year institutions that provide the best possible education to the next generation of nurses. We also need to find solutions that address the shortage of clinical site placements and qualified faculty,” Neubrander explains.
* Lawmakers eye changes to cut cost of Illinois construction projects: The Illinois Department of Transportation is backing changes to the procurement process aimed at saving taxpayers money on construction projects. Most construction projects in Illinois are split into two phases – design and construction – with one company getting a contract to design and another company getting a contract to build. Design-build is a procurement process that combines the engineering and design of a project with the construction, instead of having separate bids for each part.
He just announced he’s running as a third party candidate for governor and now state Sen. Sam McCann has filed a lawsuit, with the help of Local 150, against the Illinois Republican Party, Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady and others. The lawsuit charges that he was inappropriately booted from the Republican Senate caucus after he announced his candidacy as a third party candidate for governor. Brady and others have said hey, if McCann is running as a third party candidate then he doesn’t belong in the GOP caucus. And they cut off his resources.
Each house shall determine the rules of its proceedings, judge the elections, returns and qualifications of its members and choose its officers. No member shall be expelled by either house, except by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to that house.
Senator John Cullerton of the 6th Senate District of Illinois was first elected as Senate President by a majority of the members of the Senate and began serving in that capacity in 2009. Senator Bill Brady of the 44th Senate District of Illinois was elected Minority Leader to replace his predecessor in 2017. Plaintiff McCann never affirmatively voted for Senate President Cullerton during his time in the Senate.
A Senator, therefore, by the very nature of the Senate Rules, is either a member of the majority caucus, or, if not, a member of the minority caucus. Plaintiff McCann, for purposes of the Senate Rules, is a member of the minority caucus.
Maybe. There’s nothing stopping an independent from refusing to caucus with either party. Former Sen. James Meeks was first elected as an indy, but he chose to caucus with the Dems. He didn’t have to. But that was, again, his choice. McCann alleges he wasn’t offered a choice. He was just given the boot.
* The suit then mentions the continuing appropriation passed in 2014 which guaranteed funding for the operation of the General Assembly, which the suit claims “underscores the vital role the availability of significant taxpayer-funded resources plays in an elected representatives effective representation of his or his constituents.”
It notes that, by statute, the Senate President and the Minority Leader evenly split a pot of money for their caucus operations. They each received $5,295,074 in the new budget for operations. McCann, like all Senators, receives $73,000 to spend on district stuff.
* The suit also points out that McCann was elected as a Republican twice, details his fight with Gov. Rauner over the AFSCME bill and his resulting Rauner-funded primary fight, and then offers this explanation…
Due to what Plaintiff McCann saw as a continuous attack on traditional conservative values by Rauner’s Republican Party—including the availability of state-funded abortions, the ability for transgender residents to alter their birth certificates, attacks on working people, and turning Illinois into a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants—and facing the prospect of a third consecutive Republican primary opponent, on December 4, 2016, Plaintiff McCann announced that he would not seek the Republican nomination for the 50th Senate District. Rather, Plaintiff McCann decided to explore running for Governor of Illinois.
* Then, on the same day he announced as a third party candidate for governor, McCann alleges this…
On April 19, 2018, Defendant Brady, in his capacity as Minority Leader of the Senate’s minority caucus and leader of the Illinois State Senate Republican Caucus, without conducting a hearing or other proceeding, expelled Plaintiff McCann from the Illinois State Senate’ minority caucus and the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus.
On April 19, 2018, Defendant Brady, in his capacity as Minority Leader of the Senate’s minority caucus and leader of the Illinois State Senate Republican Caucus, without conducting a hearing or other proceeding, denied Plaintiff McCann access to material, taxpayer- funded legislative operational resources required for him to fulfill his duties to his constituents as the duly elected Senator of the 50th Senate District.
Brady also announced that he had accepted Sen. McCann’s proffered resignation from the Senate GOP caucus, a claim that McCann flatly denied at the time and still does today.
Interestingly enough, Sen. McCann claims to have “genuine concerns regarding what little taxpayer funds remain accessible to him; specifically, funds designated for use at district offices for payment of rent, utilities, and the like.”
Plaintiff McCann’s participation in the minority caucus, and access to the taxpayer- funded legislative resources—which are available to every other member of the Senate—are vital to his ability to represent effectively the constituents of the 50th Senate District.
The First Amendment protects against State prohibition of political speech and, conversely, State punishment or penalty for the exercise of free speech rights, especially where the State’s action infringes upon the political speech of a duly elected legislator in his capacity as such.
Therefore, Defendants Brady, et al., in their official capacities, unconstitutionally infringed upon Plaintiff McCann’s right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
* Count Two basically restates all that with an allegation that the defendants violated his 1st Amendment right to freely associate…
Defendants Brady, et al., in their official capacities, unconstitutionally infringed upon Plaintiff McCann’s freedom of association under the First Amendment and punished him for the exercise of his associational rights when it expelled him from the Illinois State Senate’s minority caucus and the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus, and denied him access to material and taxpayer-funded resources required for him to fulfill his duties as the duly elected Senator of the 50th Senate District
* Count Three alleges violations of due process rights under the 14th Amendment…
No elected representative of the people may be barred from participation in a forum to which he or she was elected for misconduct, no matter how egregious, without a hearing.
Defendant Brady, et al., in their official capacities, unconstitutionally expelled Plaintiff McCann without a prior hearing in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
* Count Four alleges a 14th Amendment “equal protections clause” violation…
By depriving Plaintiff McCann of the opportunity to participate in the minority caucus and the Illinois State Senate Republican Caucus where such participation is necessary for Plaintiff McCann to effectively fulfill his duties to represent the voters of the 50th Senate District, Defendants Brady, et al. created two classes of voters: one class consisting those citizens whose duly elected representatives could effectively and fully participate in the legislative process, and another whose Senator is only allowed to participate to a severely limited degree.
By denying Plaintiff McCann the vital taxpayer-funded resources necessary for Plaintiff McCann to effectively fulfill his duties to represent the voters of the 50th Senate District, Defendants Brady, et al., created two classes of voters: one class consisting those citizens whose duly elected representatives could effectively and fully participate in the legislative process, and another whose Senator is only allowed to participate to a severely limited degree. Defendants Brady, et al., in their official capacities, unconstitutionally deprived Plaintiff McCann’s constituents of Equal Protection of the law in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
* And we’re back to the 1st Amendment for Count Five…
The First Amendment protects against State prohibition of political speech and association and, conversely, State punishment or penalty for the exercise of free speech or associational rights, especially where the State’s action infringes upon the political speech or association of a duly elected legislator in his capacity as such.
Defendants, while acting under color of state law, violated Plaintiff McCann’s clearly established right against retaliation in violation of the First Amendment because Defendants’ decision to deprive minority caucus resources and/or deprive access to minority caucus and republican caucus participation was motivated at least in part by Plaintiff’s constitutionally protected speech and associational rights.
* Also of note, if you check the list of attorneys at the bottom, you’ll see they’re all with Local 150 of the Operating Engineers Union. And it’s a very long list. They have a ton of attorneys over there.
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office said all Democrats remain hopeful a balanced budget agreement can be reached by the end of the month.
Senate President John Cullerton’s office said with everyone participating, that goal should be attainable.
A spokeswoman for the governor said late Monday that bugeteers are meeting, but said progress hasn’t been “as fast as we would like.”
“[T]hey’re even stalling on establishing the revenue estimates,” Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said in an email. “How can they put together their budget if they won’t agree to what revenues are available? We hope Democrats aren’t delaying to set the stage for yet another tax increase. In February, the Governor presented what the people of Illinois need – a full year, balanced budget that paves the way for a surplus that would allow us to begin to pay down the bill backlog.”
Aside from the fact that the governor didn’t propose a truly balanced budget, if you scroll all the way down, you’ll see that Madigan spokesman Steve Brown posted a comment via Facebook.
I talked with Brown and he said the governor’s spokesperson “may want to check with the budget director.” According to Brown, the governor’s budget director currently “wants to focus on a supplemental appropriation” to address “over-spending” during the impasse and not the revenue estimate for next fiscal year.
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said if Democrats don’t go with Rauner’s proposals like the pension cost shift “then our expectation is, and it should be everyone’s expectation, that they’re going to come back with an offset that keeps the budget in balance.”
That’s just one reason why the budget isn’t actually balanced. That cost shift is something like $700 million.
* Background is here and here. From Meghan Powers at the Illinois Department of Human Services…
Hi Rich-
We met with Representative [Greg] Harris just two weeks ago to discuss IES, the integrated eligibility system that launched in 2013. Phase 2 of IES rolled out last October. We’ve been working to communicate with not only legislators, but also our staff and community agencies about the new system. We’ve recently sent a letter to legislators (attached) sharing system performance updates and a message has also gone out to IDHS staff. Initially, we were not invited to participate in Monday’s hearing, and were not able to appear with the one business day’s notice that we received.
It’s regrettable that Representative Harris has chosen to misrepresent issues with the system, which is only causing confusion and fear among our customers. We’ve worked with other members of the General Assembly on both sides of the aisle to try to dispel these rumors and help them understand the federal program requirements customers must follow to remain eligible for assistance.
I’m unsure what “40,000 Medicaid recipients” is referring to in Ms. Hodge’s story, but if she is referring to eligibility redeterminations, these have always taken place. The very point of redeterminations is to understand if customers are still eligible for the program, resulting in the continuation of some customers’ benefits and the discontinuation of others. IES has automated the process of receiving customer information and determining eligibility. Prior to IES, this was a manual process. We knew there would be some issues with a system of this size and complexity, but we’ve fixed them as they surfaced and system performance is improving.
As always, we encourage reporters and legislators to reach out to us if they have questions about the validity of their claims. We will continue to update legislators, staff and stakeholders with information about IES and system performance.
At times caseworkers experience errors or are timed out of the system. This creates a longer process for caseworkers when updating or processing a case; however, we’ve been working hard to improve this.
I am very happy to report that some of our efforts to improve IES performance have been paying off and last week we saw significantly better system performance. We saw a 63% improvement in number of timeouts or errors that caseworkers experience when processing cases and this included a 2 hour period when the Federal Data Services Hub became unavailable causing a disruption in IES. If you remove the data when the Federal Data Services Hub was unavailable, we saw an 80% improvement. Now, the average time it takes for a caseworker to determine eligibility in the system is down 49% from last month.
I’ll check to see if Rep. Harris (D-Chicago) has a response.
We have heard hours of testimony from families, seniors, healthcare providers and people with disabilities all telling heartbreaking tales of problems they have endured because of these new systems. We have heard dedicated workers across the state describe the system failures that prevent them from helping those in need. I believe the families and the workers.
* Let’s take a look at the Quincy veterans’ home task force report. Sun-Times…
The task force issued four recommendations, stating that “anything less than complete reconstruction will fall short.” The report recommends building a new nursing facility that could house up to 300 residents. The estimated cost is between $190 and $230 million.
The task force also recommends constructing a new, underground “water loop” that feeds existing buildings and new construction.
“New piping would remove the current system, which is suspected to contain significant amounts of mature biofilm — biofilm which may be harboring biological organisms” the report says. The report says all plumbing and piping must also be replaced, with the new plumbing loop estimated at $2.2 million and the new piping estimated at $13.4 million.
The other recommendations include developing an alternate water source and making improvements to the existing water treatment facility and purchasing and renovating an off-site facility to temporarily house residents during construction and demolition of the original campus. The report notes “the asking price of the building is $795,000 and construction costs for this project are under review and tentatively estimated at $5M-6M.”
The estimated cost of complete reconstruction is between $202 million and $245 million, the report notes. It must be approved by the Illinois General Assembly.
That’s a lot of money, but some federal dollars could soon be available, with the state required to put up a 35 percent match. Still, according to the Quincy Herald-Whig, the total federal approp for state-run veterans’ home construction is expected to be $500 million, so Illinois would likely be eligible for only a fraction of that. And Illinois is trying to finish constructing another veterans’ home in Chicago.
The governor explained to reporters yesterday that an alternative water source is necessary because the home currently takes surface water from the Mississippi River, where the bacteria often grows. The governor seemed pretty knowledgeable yesterday about details of both the problems and potential solutions. He appears to be taking the time to really get his head around this.
* What else does the governor want the GA to do? From the report itself…
• Extend the sunset date for the Design Build Act - SB 3128 seeks an extension to the sunset date of the Design Build Act (30 ILCS 537/5) which permits CDB to use the design-build delivery method on public projects. Design-build can allow for an expedited construction schedule.
• Access to federal reimbursement funding for capital projects, subject to appropriation - Legislation has been filed that contains trailer language to Public Act 98-0245 (SB 667, SB 3127, SB 3144). This Public Act contained contradictory language respective to where federal reimbursement funds for capital facilities projects should be deposited. As a result, the reimbursement funding cannot be released or used for any purpose, and it is collecting in the Capital Development Board Contributory Trust Fund. Currently, over $12 million is in the fund, with an additional $4 million expected in the near future. The purpose of this legislation is to allow the Capital Development Board the ability to use the federal reimbursements for capital projects, as appropriated by the General Assembly.
• Procurement Code-increase thresholds for financial disclosures - Section 50-35 of the Procurement Code (30 ILCS 500/50-35) requires financial disclosures from all vendors and subcontractors with a contract over $50,000 prior to work beginning on a project. Waiting for compliance from vendors and subcontractors can slow the project start time. Increasing the threshold for financial disclosure requirements from $50,000 to $250,000 can help expedite the projects referenced in this report.
• Licensing and Control of Off Campus Buildings - For continuity of care for the residents, a modification to the Veterans Affairs Act stating that for the purposes of licensing, supervision, appropriations, home funds, and member benefit funds, the Illinois Veterans Homes includes the main campus and all other residential structures operated by the Department that are located in the city limits of the Illinois Veterans Home.
I’m thinking they may not get what they want on the Procurement Code stuff, but we’ll see.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the release of Governor Bruce Rauner’s plan of action for ensuring the safety of residents, family, and staff at the Illinois Veterans’ Home (IVH) Quincy:
“The need for a detailed plan of action is critical and long overdue given the multiple outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease at IVH Quincy that have sickened more than 65 residents and killed 13 over the past three years. The ideas in this plan are not new or revolutionary – in fact, all of the recommendations have been suggested for years and have been ignored by this Administration for far too long. It is unclear why it took so long for the Administration to come to this conclusion, but now that it has, we urge Governor Rauner to finally provide leadership on this crisis and implement these changes before another resident or staff member falls ill or dies.
“As members of Illinois’ congressional delegation, we will continue to advocate for State Veterans Homes like IVH Quincy and push for federal funding, just as we did in the Fiscal Year 2018 spending bill, as well as technical assistance on their behalf. But now it is up to the Rauner Administration to do its part and carry out this plan of action immediately so that every veteran and staff member whose life is entrusted to the state of Illinois is in a safe facility.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday appeared to brush aside concerns from independent pharmacies whose owners say reduced reimbursements from the state’s expanded Medicaid managed-care program threaten to put them out of business.
“The reality is what we’re trying to do is drive more competition, and sometimes businesses can be competitive in costs, and some businesses can’t,” the Republican governor said at a Springfield event honoring Illinois small businesses.
Rauner was asked to respond to complaints about the managed-care reboot, HealthChoice Illinois, that have been made by owners of independent pharmacies, small-chain pharmacies and also small businesses selling outpatient medical equipment and supplies.
Those businesses say managed-care companies and companies operating as pharmacy benefit managers as part of the managed-care reboot are forcing pharmacies and durable-medical equipment providers to accept drastically lower rates for serving Medicaid patients since the reboot took effect earlier this year. […]
Rauner said that despite concerns expressed by small businesses adversely affected by HealthChoice Illinois, “My concern is to make sure we have high-quality health care provided to our residents who need it and deserve it, and that we drive real value for taxpayers.”
There is some dispute, however, over whether those reforms are actually driving costs down.
*** UPDATE *** Pritzker campaign…
Independent pharmacies and small businesses selling medical equipment are struggling to keep their doors open after reimbursement rates were slashed under Bruce Rauner’s Medicaid managed care overhaul, but Rauner couldn’t care less.
While attending an event to celebrate National Small Business Week, Rauner dismissed the small businesses’ concerns, stating “sometimes businesses can be competitive in costs, and some businesses can’t. It’s unfair to our taxpayers to subsidize businesses that are high-cost.” The Illinois Pharmacists Association responded to the SJ-R, “I think he basically wrote us off. He obviously doesn’t understand the mechanisms of how health care works in his administration.”
“Bruce Rauner dismissed pleas from small businesses struggling to keep their doors open during a National Small Business Week celebration,” said Pritzker campaign spokesman Jason Rubin. “This is staggering incompetence from a failed governor who is completely unaware of the damage he’s done across the state.”
* Meanwhile, on another Medicaid topic, here’s the Pritzker campaign…
After families and caseworkers testified about the systemic failures of Bruce Rauner’s new Medicaid enrollment system, the failed governor downplayed the situation at a press conference yesterday.
“Many folks aren’t used to doing the process the right way, so it’s causing a little bit of consternation,” Rauner said yesterday when asked if he was satisfied with his overhaul. The new system delayed applications and cut access to healthcare while over 175,000 Illinoisans were kicked off Medicaid in four months.
“Bruce Rauner and his agencies wipe their hands of responsibility while failing to provide the basic healthcare services that every Illinoisan deserves,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This is gross mismanagement from a failed governor unleashing needless pain on families across this state.”
REPORTER: Are you happy with the new way managed care is working? There was a hearing in Chicago yesterday. Apparently, your directors DHS and HFS didn’t show up. But people are saying they’re waiting in line for hours, eight hours sometimes. Disabled kids, their parents can’t get stuff because the new computer system put in under a new $300 million contract isn’t working right. Is it working right with Deloitte? Have mistakes been made, and what can you do get out of that bureaucratic, apparently, a mess?
RAUNER: So, we are implementing a new IT system that was first started in I believe 2013 is when the new systems got put into place. And that process is ongoing. New IT systems are complicated. It’s certainly not perfect, and I’m never satisfied. I always wanna do better and faster. The reality is we haven’t followed proper procedure in Illinois for years in terms of getting eligibility determined for folks receiving government benefits. Now there’s actually a rigorous process that actually needs to be done right, and many folks aren’t used to doing the process the right way, so it’s causing a little bit of consternation.
The governor went on to complain about how the budget that was passed over his veto “gutted” his IT program, which he says will save money in the long run.
The deteriorating condition of Illinois’ transportation systems, state owned facilities, education buildings, and veterans’ homes have resulted in residents across the state experiencing pothole filled roads, overcrowded schools, and poorly maintained university buildings and state facilities. The annual cost of needed repairs and investment currently stands at $21 billion per year, according to a new study released today by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI).
ILEPI’s board is filled with contractors, trade unions and their allies, so keep that in mind here. I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m just saying they’ve got their own motivations here.
▪ Historically, transportation, education, and public service agencies throughout Illinois could depend on a capital bill approximately every 10 years.
▪ A capital bill has not been passed since the 2008 bill known as “Illinois Jobs Now!”
▪ The federal infrastructure plan depends largely on state and local governments and private organizations for funding, thus Illinois lawmakers should be motivated to supply their own capital funding.
State buildings and facilities have significant maintenance and repair needs.
▪ Total deferred maintenance needs are over $7.3 billion for fiscal year 2019.
▪ Deferred maintenance needs have grown by $550 million per year.
▪ The Departments of Corrections and Health and Human Services alone account for over 50% of deferred maintenance needs, at over $2 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively.
Education facilities are also facing massive maintenance and repair needs.
▪ Higher education facilities, including public universities and community colleges, have additional deferred maintenance needs totaling more than $5.5 billion for fiscal year 2019.
▪ The two-year capital needs for P-12 education facilities in fiscal year 2017 were $7.5 billion, averaging approximately $18.5 million per district.
Additional investment is necessary to bring transportation systems into a state of good repair.
▪ IDOT requires an additional $11 billion through the year 2023 to bring all road miles into an acceptable condition and repair all backlog bridges.
▪ The Regional Transportation Authority’s current capital needs total $19.4 billion.
▪ Downstate transit systems require $2 billion in capital improvements to both urban and rural systems over the next 10 years.
Over $21 billion per year is necessary to address deferred building maintenance and bring the state’s transportation systems into a state of good repair.
▪ Building facilities needs account for over $16 billion per year, with state owned facilities accounting for 34% of total needs.
▪ Education needs stand at approximately $9 billion per year – 44% of total needs.
▪ Almost $5 billion per year is required just to address backlog on IDOT roads and bridges and statewide transit systems.
A state senator called House Speaker Mike Madigan on Tuesday with “serious concerns” about whether a panel he created to combat sexual harassment could remain independent with the addition of Democratic Cook County Clerk nominee Karen Yarbrough — who is also the vice chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
And in less than an hour, Yarbrough stepped down. […]
“We had serious concerns that someone that’s vice chair of the party would be part of the panel,” [Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake] said. “I told [Madigan] why I was concerned. That I really thought she should be removed. We want to make sure there’s a firewall and that we are able to be independent.” […]
Yarbrough said she submitted a letter, writing that she would have loved to serve but did not want to be a distraction — comparing herself to state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a Madigan ally.
“I already know that Susana was a distraction and if I’m going to be a distraction I would rather step down and help them from abroad,” Yarbrough told the Sun-Times, adding she helped to create sexual harassment policies for the Cook County Democratic Party.
I’ve seen the Pritzker campaign’s FOIA request and would suggest they amend it to include communications from the governor’s current chief legislative liaison Darlene Senger, the GOP comptroller candidate who sent an e-mail last night advising the administration to try to tie this Illinois Veterans’ Home scandal to US Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
* Well, WBEZ filed its own FOIA request after I posted that tidbit and four months later they finally received the documents…
Shortly after WBEZ published the original investigation on Dec. 12 of last year, one Democratic state lawmaker called for an audit examining the fatal Legionnaires’ outbreaks at the facility. The governor’s deputy chief of staff, Darlene Senger, floated a novel — if highly politicized — idea to shift blame for the deaths of the elderly Illinois Veterans Home residents.
“We can maybe tie this back to Duckworth,” Senger wrote in an email obtained through an open-records request. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq War veteran, ran the state agency that oversees the Quincy home under former Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich.
Senger, of course, is now running for comptroller against incumbent Democrat Susana Mendoza. We can expect this to be a campaign issue.
Asked for comment on the email, Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said “Our office has focused on the veterans at the Quincy Veterans Home and their health and safety. We are engaged in ongoing large-scale remediation efforts, while providing top quality skilled nursing care and planning for the future of the home and its residents.”
“There is no doubt that the lack of proper funding for veterans over the last decade has exacerbated the problems we currently face,” [Senger] said in a prepared statement. “If we choose to ignore the past, systemic failures to fund our veterans’ programs, then we are destined to continue to face these challenges in the future and that was the point of my comment — we need to understand how and when these problems started in order to find long-term solutions.” […]
“I’m shocked that anybody would be focused on political gain when you should be focused on veterans’ health. Bottom line,” Duckworth said in an interview. “This is the frustration that I have. Why are we wasting time on this kind of stuff instead of troubleshooting and what do we need to do to prevent another outbreak?”
The newly-published email attempting to blame combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth for the Quincy Veterans’ Home crisis makes one thing clear: Bruce Rauner is willing to blame anyone but himself for his failures.
While stumbling through crisis after crisis, Rauner has repeatedly tried to evade responsibility, pointing fingers at state workers, his own employees, and countless others for his constant failure. With his history of ducking accountability, one question has to be asked: “Who does Bruce Rauner think is to blame for the Legionnaires crisis?”
“Bruce Rauner has a pathological refusal to take responsibility for his failures,” said Pritzker campaign communications director Galia Slayen. “After his administration tried to blame a war hero for the deaths of 13 Veterans and spouses, Rauner needs to be held accountable for his latest crisis.”
…Adding… DGA…
Senger’s email is the latest evidence of the Rauner administration’s effort to pass the buck on Quincy instead of addressing the crisis that killed 13 veterans. Just a few weeks ago, Rauner’s administration released a 35-page memo that, in part, tried blaming previous administrations for the deadly outbreak. Rauner’s team was also caught trying to shape press coverage while residents were dying, attacking journalists’ integrity, accusing home workers of lying, and stonewalling legislative inquiries.
“Bruce Rauner has reached a new low in his desperate attempt to deflect blame – now his administration is falsely attacking a combat veteran for their own mismanagement,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner needs to show leadership and take responsibility for his administration’s failures at Quincy.”
