* House Republican Leader Jim Durkin will announce this evening that Rep. Peter Breen will take over as his new floor leader.
Breen (R-Lombard) is an attorney who advocates for pro-life causes. He’s very sharp in floor debates, so this role should be a good fit. He’s from the Jeanne Ives ideological wing in the HGOP caucus, but doesn’t have the same personal abrasiveness as some of those folks. Even so, it’s going to be interesting watching this guy work. Smart, very conservative and quick-witted.
Former floor leader Steve Andersson was ousted after he helped lead the override of Gov. Rauner’s budget and tax hike vetoes. It’s pretty darned certain that Rep. Breen won’t ever be doing anything like that.
* Sen. Jason Barickman, the lead school funding reform negotiator for the Senate Republicans, told reporters this afternoon that he spoke to the governor about negotiating with the Democrats on SB 1…
I asked the governor, ‘When the bill is transmitted to you, will you hold the bill so that we can have a negotiation?’
He said, ‘Yes.’ He said ‘That’s a very reasonable thing to do. But I need the bill first.’ […]
I will tell you I am concerned that those negotiations will play out like prior ones, where the Democrats walked away from the table, introduced legislation that had no public scrutiny and advanced it through the legislative process that they control.
After a follow-up question, Barickman confirmed what he said. “There will first be negotiations, yes.” He also said there are no “hard lines in the sand.”
The best way to help schoolchildren is for Gov. Rauner to agree to sign a landmark overhaul of how Illinois funds public education, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Thursday.
Cullerton renewed his request for Rauner to indicate his support for Senate Bill 1 and cautioned him against using his veto powers to rewrite the plan, which would jeopardize its future. Cullerton noted that an amendatory veto does not automatically become law and instead sets up a showdown with lawmakers on an override vote.
Here is the full statement from Senate President John Cullerton:
“All the governor needs to do is tell us he will sign his name. The fastest way to help the children is to sign this historic education reform into law.
An unconstitutional amendatory veto threatens all the work that has gone into this reform proposal. I again urge the governor to show us any changes he wants and to sit down for rational discussions now.
We’ve done our homework. We passed an overhaul of the worst public school funding system in the nation. All the governor has to do is sign his name to get credit.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Well that didn’t take long. And look how he’s blaming the coverage of his exact words…
Sen. Jason Barickman issued the following statement to clarify comments that were made at a press conference earlier this afternoon: pic.twitter.com/eEFDPH38Oo
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
A new safety report ranks Illinois as the second safest state in the country. But one lawmaker says there’s a fine line between safety and being a nanny state.
Illinois gets high marks from the National Safety Council’s latest state-by-state report of its safety laws. Everything from mandatory seatbelt laws to partial credit for a workplace safety mandate. The report even praises Illinois’ workers compensation system for it’s generous payouts and lifetime coverage.
Peoria Sen. Chuck Weaver says he talks to business owners every week who say Illinois shouldn’t be lauded for its workers’ compensation system.
“Right now, they feel that they are being taken advantage of. They feel that the laws are unfair. They feel that there’s a lot of fraud in the system,” Weaver said. “Every one of these [business owners] wants to make sure they are fair to workers. But you can’t have laws in place that allow the system to be taken advantage of. And that’s what we have in the state of Illinois right now.”
Fraud and taking advantage of the system have little to nothing to do with being an allegedly safe place to live. If you want workers to receive less compensation or receive fewer on the job protections, just come out and say it.
Abe’s right arm temporarily joined the backlog of repairs and maintenance at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield earlier this month.
The 30-foot, fiberglass statue of a young, ax-carrying Abe Lincoln has stood inside the Main Gate on Sangamon Avenue for 50 years. Illinois Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Rebecca Clark said Wednesday fairground workers believe age simply took its toll.
“We do not believe this is related to storm damage or vandalism, rather just routine wear,” said Clark. “While repairs were underway, the decision was made to give Abe a fresh coat of paint so he can welcome visitors to the Illinois State Fair.” […]
The department called on the expertise of Ernie Ball at Ernie Ball Auto Body of Springfield to reattach the arm and repaint the statue.
“It’s fiberglass, just like a Corvette. I’ve been working on them for years,” said Ball. “It took about a day and a half.”
* The Question: There’s gotta be an Illinois government analogy here somewhere, so can you come up with any?
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
“We’re all here. Speaker Madigan, President Cullerton chose to do nothing,” Rauner said Thursday after both chambers adjourned with no action. “President Cullerton, Speaker Madigan, turn in your homework. … A bill was passed two months ago to fund schools, but they’re hiding it.”
Cullerton said Wednesday that he hoped to meet with Rauner to negotiate changes before the governor uses his amendatory veto powers on it. He said he’d send it to the governor’s desk Monday if that meeting does not happen before then.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon and was asked why wait until Monday.
“There’s nothing magical about Monday, you’ll have to ask the senate president that question,” Manar said, adding that Rauner has changed his position multiple times since the Senate first passed the measure in mid-May.
“That makes it difficult for us to understand where and how he wants to land the plane,” Manar said. Sending the bill to Rauner and allowing him to veto it “would put the bill in … final action. There’s no redo on an amendatory veto. That’s a take-it-or-leave it proposition.” […]
“What is so outrageous is to use our children as political leverage,” Rauner said at Thursday’s news conference.
Rauner, interestingly enough, didn’t take questions at that news conference.
I’ve asked the governor’s office for a list of schools that might not be able to reopen after summer break, or would have to close down soon afterward. So far, nothing.
Without a state funding solution for public education, several Macon County districts could run out of money and turn to borrowing by January or earlier, district leaders said Wednesday. […]
For Cerro Gordo, the answer is 167 days, meaning the district would run out of money by early January, Robinson said. State money makes up about one-third of the district’s $5.1 million budget.
The need for a solution is even more urgent for Decatur Public Schools, which would run out of cash in mid-November, top officials have said. […]
Meridian Superintendent Dan Brue said his district also would consider those options if the state doesn’t come through with funding by mid-January, when his district would run out of money. […]
The Mount Zion district is in a better position than many of its Central Illinois neighbors, Superintendent Travis Roundcount said. The district has just under $11 million on hand, more than the $6 million to $7 million per year that it typically receives from the state.
CPS has said it will reopen in the fall come heck or high water.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Illinois Dem Gov Candidate Chris Kennedy Caught Using Tax Reduction He Attacked
After spending months railing against property taxes on the campaign trail, a new report shows that Illinois Democrat gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy’s rhetoric does not match his actions. POLITICO has revealed that Kennedy, who has criticized Illinois’ property tax appeal system as a way of giving “lucrative tax breaks to politically connected insiders,” used the same process he condemned to pursue an appeal for a 20 percent tax reduction on his home in suburban Chicago.
POLITICO reports:
“Democrat Chris Kennedy has made Illinois property taxes — among the highest in the nation — a focus of his campaign for governor. He’s railed against an appeal system that he has likened to “extortion” for kicking lucrative tax breaks to politically connected insiders with high-powered lawyers.
But even as Kennedy took to social media and forums to complain about a ‘rigged system,’ he was actively pursuing a second property tax appeal of his own — asking for a 20 percent reduction for his personal home in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth.
Kennedy then quietly withdrew his appeal request, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO, seven days after a story surfaced that was critical of property tax reductions won by his chief primary opponent, billionaire J.B. Pritzker.
‘Dear board members, please withdraw the above-referenced complaint for the 2016 assessment year,’ said the letter, dated May 19.
It was penned by Kennedy’s attorneys, Tully & Associates, a firm has donated at least $60,000 to members of the board that considers such requests. The firm also represented Kennedy and business partners when they won a nearly 63 percent reduction in one of the buildings under development, according to Crain’s Chicago.”
Chris Kennedy’s message to Illinois voters is clear: do as I say, not as I do. Kennedy’s decision to engage in this level of hypocrisy shows voters that they can’t trust him to tell the truth or govern effectively.
Meh. He withdrew it. Nobody busted him out first. He did it on his own. I just have trouble getting all worked up about this. Maybe I’m wrong. Your thoughts?
“When a person who sets tax policy and has controlled it for 35 years also controls a property tax appeal law firm that fundamentally makes money from the property tax policy in a way that … specifically disadvantages the families of Illinois, that is wrong; our system is broken; it’s fundamentally unfair.”
Asked about it at his own news conference later, Madigan reiterated what he has said in the past: His law firm’s clients are a matter of public record, and an extensive newspaper investigation into his law practice found no client that got special or inappropriate treatment.
“My firm and myself operate under conflict rules,” Madigan said. “Any potential client seeking a state benefit is rejected. If a client requests my intercession with a state agency, I refuse. If a client expresses an interest in legislation, I recuse myself from consideration of the bill.”
* Steve Brown sent me the outline of Madigan’s statement that he read to the press yesterday…
* It’s plain that they’re talking about two different types of conflicts of interest. Madigan is focusing on the legal and direct ethical conflicts of dealing with law firm clients. Rauner is talking about the broader concept.
* During his press conference yesterday, Senate President John Cullerton mentioned the new workers’ comp ratings advisory. Cullerton crowed about the recommended 10.9 percent drop. We have two views today, starting with Sean Stott at the Laborers’ Union…
This week, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) released the latest figures on what Illinois employers should expect to pay for workers’ compensation insurance next year – a 10.9% decrease in their premium rates compared to this year. This is the fifth consecutive recommendation for lower rates for employers following the 2011 workers’ compensation benefit cuts enacted by the Illinois General Assembly, and follows the third largest drop in the nation in 2017. In total, Illinois employers should have seen a 36.5% reduction in their workers’ compensation rates since the 2011 benefit cuts, according to the NCCI.
But in Illinois, insurance companies aren’t required to follow those recommendations, and the industry has increased its own profit margin rather than pass savings on to Illinois employers.
“Common sense will tell you that if insurance companies are paying out less to injured workers and paying less to health care providers, costs should also go down for Illinois employers,” said Sean Stott, Director of Governmental Affairs for the Midwest Region of the Laborers’ International Union of North America. “But that’s not happening. In fact, insurance profits have increased more than 400% since the 2011 benefit cuts.”
“The Legislature passed bills that would hold insurance companies accountable for what they charge Illinois employers and create a more competitive market,” said Stott. “If Governor Rauner truly wants to save Illinois employers money, he would sign those bills into law.”
This year’s recommendation is the fifth time since 2011 in which the NCCI has recommended lower rates for workers’ compensation insurance, including the second consecutive double-digit percentage reduction. The NCCI did not make a recommendation in 2016.
In 2011, the General Assembly made the following changes to the workers’ compensation system in Illinois:
· Cut medical fee payments by 30%;
· Expanded the use of American Medical Association (AMA) Guidelines for assessing permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits (despite the AMA’s insistence that this is an inappropriate use of their Guidelines);
· Restricted PPD wage differential benefits to the later of age 67 or 5 years after injury;
· Cut PPD for most carpal tunnel cases by 20% and reduced the basis upon which benefits are calculated by 7.5%; and
· Allowed employers to limit injured workers’ choice of medical providers.
* From Mark Denzler at the IMA…
Illinois continues to have the 8th most expensive cost of workers’ compensation in the United States and it remains a major impediment for manufacturing companies operating in this state. Surgeons continue to charge 250 to 350 percent more for performing the exact same surgery on a patient covered by workers’ compensation than they receive under private insurance. In real numbers, an arm injury in Illinois pays out an average of $439,858 compared to the national average of $169,878 – these out-of-whack numbers are the reasons why wealthy trial attorneys, union bosses and doctors oppose even modest changes to the current system. The fact is that the average cost of a workers’ compensation claim in Illinois is among the highest in the nation.
While we are pleased that NCCI’s latest advisory recommends an advisory rate level decrease, and our members hope to see some reduction in their premium cost from insurers, the cause behind NCCI’s advisory underscores the real problem facing the state’s economy.
NCCI made a key observation about a drop in the lost-time claim frequency of 4.6 percent in the last year. However, NCCI research points to three main reasons for reductions in lost-time claim frequency including
* an industry shift away from construction and manufacturing jobs,
* a decrease in average weekly hours for employees, and
* a reduction in earned premium resulting from an unstable economic climate.
Quite simply, Illinois’ poor economic climate coupled with the loss of good, middle-class manufacturing jobs and reduced hours for workers is causing the drop in lost-time claim frequency.
At the end of the day, Illinois is not competitive when it comes to the cost of workers’ compensation and we will continue seeing companies leaving the state and families suffer because Illinois lawmakers choose to protect the interests of wealth trial lawyers, union bosses, and the medical community over job creators and hard working Illinoisans who struggle to find good jobs.
* The governor has never been able to specify just how he arrived at the district-by-district numbers in his school funding reform plan. From the other day…
REPORTER: Did ISBE score this version of your amendatory veto?
RAUNER: Uh, I don’t know. We, we’ve done the calculations.
REPORTER: Who is we?
RAUNER: Our administration in conjunction with, uh, our legislators and in conjunction with, uh, school officials.
Another topic Rauner sidestepped today was whether the Illinois State Board of Education had run the numbers on his plan. State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) stepped to the microphone to state that ISBE analyzes only legislation, not proposals.
Via email, ISBE spokesperson Jackie Mathews later offered this explanation for the confusion: “ISBE will produce an analysis for legislation before it is filed but will make the analysis public only at the request of the bill sponsor. An analysis is considered draft until the bill is filed.”
When lawmakers want to see how a school funding bill would work out, they ask the Illinois State Board of Education to build a simulation or model. But on June 26th — the Monday after House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) held a press conference to demand that Rauner sign the school funding bill known as Senate Bill 1 — ISBE received “multiple requests” for new models showing varying appropriation levels. To expedite matters, the board’s legislative liaison, Amanda Elliott, sent an email to several staffers in both parties with a detailed plug-and-play diagram attached, showing them how to build their own school funding simulations using models already published on isbe.net. […]
NPR Illinois obtained the email through the Freedom of Information Act.
So, why the need for sloppy answers and secrecy? Couldn’t they have just said right off the bat how they arrived at their numbers? Sheesh.
PURVIS: In addition, the comptroller has not yet released the Q3 and Q4 what are called mandatory categorical payments. The schools are owed about $850 million from FY17. And so we also call on the comptroller to release at least those Q3 dollars so that schools have the cash on hand that they need to open their doors.
COCHRANE: Why did she not release that?
PURVIS: That is a question for the comptroller. We believe that, and I think there have been conversations with her from many people saying she can at least release those Q3 dollars. Again, Q3 and Q4 the districts across the state for their mandated categorical payments, which is serving students with disabilities, serving English language learners, transportation, transportation for special education students. So when you add what is now a 56 or 57-day delay [in sending SB 1 to the governor’s desk] and the fact that the comptroller will not release those Q3 and Q4 payments, it is creating a crisis in all 850, well, not all, in those districts that serve a high percentage of low income kids, including the Chicago Public Schools, and those districts, who, because of proration of General State Aid or the fact that the General Assembly did not fully fund the schools from 2009 to 2015, a lot of them have burned through their cash reserves, so this cash flow issue is a really big one.
COCHRANE: Nobody runs a business like this. How can you run, you know, politicians standing up and going ‘Oh, it’s the kids, it’s all about the kids.’ Kiss my butt. It’s all about the kids, you care about yourself. And let me tell you something, when it comes to the comptroller, gimme an e-mail address Andrea for the comptroller so that we can let every listener know that they should be e-mailing the comptroller today and demanding an answer for why those Q3-Q4 payments haven’t been released, and when will they be…
* From the comptroller’s office…
If creating havoc for the State of Illinois was a form of art, Governor Bruce Rauner would be Michelangelo. Just three weeks removed from a narrowly-avoided statewide financial meltdown, he’s back at work on his latest masterpiece, plunging the state into a school funding crisis, and blaming everyone but himself.
Governor Rauner more than tripled the state’s bill backlog from $5 billion to $15.4 billion since taking office. Despite Governor Rauner’s manufactured budget crisis, our office prioritized putting together $429 million last month to make a delayed categorical payment to schools around the state. As of today, the state’s checkbook balance is only $254 million. The Governor has not left enough money in the state’s accounts for another categorical payment to happen again soon. Falsely blaming our office for not making payments from a bank account he emptied is like a check-bouncer blaming the bank for bouncing his check.
Thanks to the General Assembly overriding his veto and passing a budget, our office has been able to use dedicated funds — funds that can’t be used for K-12 education — to provide much-needed relief to higher education and Medicaid. General State Aid (GSA) to K-12 schools cannot be paid through interfund borrowing or through the General Revenue Fund (GRF) without a school funding bill being passed to authorize those expenditures.
This misinformation campaign coordinated by the Rauner Administration is the height of hypocrisy. Unfortunately, we have seen this playbook before. The governor needs to stop the political spin, do his job, and stop holding schools hostage. School funding legislation must be sent to the governor and he needs to sign it so I have the legal authority to release critical funds for schools.
In other words, you can’t pay big bills with a nearly empty checking account.
In an interview with the Sun-Times on Monday, Education Secretary Beth Purvis noted vouchers were submitted to the comptroller’s office on time by the Illinois State Board of Education and implored Mendoza to “prioritize” the payment the same way she prioritized post-secondary education payments.
Purvis said that payment would alleviate some pressure — without a school funding bill in place. The governor and Democratic leaders continue to bicker about that measure, with Rauner vowing to issue an amendatory veto to take out Chicago pension costs.
The comptroller’s office released about $429 million for “categoricals” a month ago. But another quarterly payment is delayed because there’s no revenue in the books yet to pay for it.
Mendoza on Thursday pinned the blame for the delayed payment — and the budget impasse — squarely on Rauner’s back.
* I seriously doubt that this particular POTUS would’ve favored a state he lost by 17 points over a state he unexpectedly won and which helped make him President, but whatever…
Early this month, when they hit taxpayers with a 32 percent jump in the individual income tax rate, many legislators broke a promise they had made: No more tax hikes without major reforms to help Illinois’ moribund economy. Don’t worry, said Democrats who pushed the tax hike. We’ll get to those reforms soon enough.
But not soon enough, we now see, to keep electronics giant Foxconn from bypassing Illinois to make a jobs-rich investment in southeast Wisconsin. This is a huge win for Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin whom Illinois Democrats loathe. Just as this is an embarrassment for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton.
Once again, the people of Illinois see how Madigan and Cullerton, with their combined 86 years in Springfield, have left Illinois ill-prepared to compete for 21st-century jobs. Their agenda is about raising taxes, not about delivering those reforms. As we wrote a few days ago, every other state on Foxconn’s short list looked better than Illinois by the basic measures of financial stability and pro-growth economies. […]
But we do know this: Wisconsin boasts a freshly burnished global image. One of the planet’s largest tech firms, with a million workers worldwide, says its search led it to bet a fraction of its future on Wisconsin. Assuming that happens, expect robust economic growth from suppliers, subcontractors, construction companies and other businesses that will serve Foxconn and its workforce.
Illinois is a train wreck. The government is paralyzed with infighting and barely keeping its fiscal head above water, it can’t figure out how to fund its schools, the state has a lousy economic climate overall and is losing population. What’s not to love?
But it will still benefit from this because workers in the northern part of the state could find employment, and some or even many of those suppliers and contractors could wind up being from Illinois (unless they move operations north, of course).
* Not to mention that, at a time when the state is still struggling mightily to recover from the just-ended impasse and can’t even revive its most important corporate incentive (click here for that story), shelling out as much as $3 billion in subsidies probably would be frowned upon here…
Let’s take a look at those figures: Wisconsin is paying as much as $1 million per job, which will carry an average salary of $54,000. The state’s economic development corporation is selling the project to taxpayers with a claim that it will create 10,000 construction jobs for building the facility and another 6,000 indirect positions. It’s expecting $3.3 million of investment per employee from the Taiwanese company.
Politicians, lobbyists and Foxconn can make the figures work by being generous with the facts. For example, if every one of those jobs came to fruition, they can claim 29,000 positions for $3 billion, or $103,000 per job. But that’s not going to happen.
Foxconn has factories in China and another dozen countries globally, yet that stated $10 billion investment is more than the group’s publicly traded flagship — Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. — has devoted to capital expenditure over the past five years combined.
There is potential for the payroll to climb to 13,000 in the future — a figure crucial to Wisconsin justifying the expense — but I wouldn’t bet your 401(k) on it. That’s because if Gou really does dish out $10 billion on this facility, the only way to make it viable is by keeping staffing low and leaning on automation to boost productivity. This LCD factory will be either labor intensive or highly automated. It can’t be both.
The agreement represents an opportunity as well as a risk for Wisconsin — state lawmakers must now consider a subsidy package nearly 50 times bigger than the state’s previous record.
The factory project would involve a virtual village, with housing, stores and service businesses spread over at least 1,000 acres, according to interviews. That acreage, a 1.5 square-mile area the size of Shorewood, could be assembled from parcels that initially aren’t contiguous, the source said.
At 20 million square feet, the factory would be three times the size of the Pentagon, making it one of the largest manufacturing campuses in the nation. It would initially employ 3,000 workers making an average of $53,900 a year plus benefits and could eventually boast more than four times that.
Intersect Illinois already has been talking with county officials about how to plug local folks into Foxconn Technology Group’s talent search, and has had preliminary talks with the company that likely will be followed by a fuller discussion later this year, he said.
“We want to talk to them about what they need,” he says. “What can we do to customize (through worker training and other programs)?”
The state also may facilitate a connection between Foxconn and Northwestern University, Peterson said. Foxconn likes to work with academic institutions, and engineering-heavy NU “has a lot of things that could be beneficial.” […]
The potential is at least equally large for suppliers, Peterson said.
Though some will be located on a campus with Foxconn’s main factory—and still, a site hasn’t been chosen—”A lot of times, they want their suppliers close but not in their backyard. They don’t want to cannibalize their own workforce.”
Crisis Creatin’ Rauner released a new video today highlighting Bruce Rauner’s so-called “best team in America,” a group of radicals and amateurs, many of whom were hired directly from the Illinois Policy Institute.
After Rauner was asked about his controversial new hires by a Quad City TV station, Rauner said, “we’re building the best team in America.” So far that team has included a staffer fired on his first day for “racially-charged, homophobic and sexually explicit tweets,” and a still employed staffer who “compared abortion to Nazi eugenics.” In total, over 20 Rauner staffers have been fired or resigned in protest and have been replaced by people with little to no government experience and extremist views.
“The only thing Rauner’s new team is ‘best’ at is unleashing crisis on this state,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. ‘‘His new hires will only aid Rauner in furthering the damage he’s done to the state, and their radical views are deeply out of step with the people of Illinois. Surely, even Bruce Rauner and the Illinois GOP can do better than this.”
*** UPDATE *** That video reminded me of something that a buddy pointed out to me earlier this week and I forgot to post. This is from Gov. Rauner’s recent WSIL TV interview about the hiring and firing of his one-day body man, who, you’ll recall, tweeted out some pretty disgusting things…
REPORTER: But weren’t you involved in interviewing him?
* And if you click here and let the video run for a few seconds, you’ll see the governor appearing at an event with his body man on the day he was fired. Here’s a screen grab…
I suppose that traveling with the guy for a couple/three hours back and forth to an event in Mt. Zion could be characterized as meeting him “once.” Or maybe he was just hoping nobody would notice.
By itself, on a scale of 1-10 this might rise to a 1.3. Not a big deal at all (which is why this is an update and not its own post). But politicians who establish a pattern of telling little fibs to reporters can often find themselves in hot water down the line.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* And this is from the ILGOP…
It’s been over 57 days since Mike Madigan and his machine have taken school funding and the futures of Illinois children hostage for their $500 million Chicago bailout.
Today, the Illinois Republican Party has updated BossMadigan.com with a stopwatch to remind voters just how long the Madigan Machine has taken our children hostage.
On May 31st, SB1 passed the General Assembly. Per the Illinois Constitution, the bill is supposed to head to Governor Rauner’s desk.
But Mike Madigan and John Cullerton are intentionally holding the bill, perverting the legislative process.
It’s a blatant assault on our democracy in order to create pressure for their Chicago bailout.
In case you missed it: this month, Michael Madigan forced the largest tax hike in state history on Illinois families.
FIRST: Career politicians crippled our state for decades with a culture of corruption and self-interest.
THEN: Madigan, the House and Senate rejected commonsense reforms presented by Governor Rauner.
NOW: Madigan forced a permanent 32% income tax hike on Illinois families and passed a budget that is $2 billion out of balance.
We can’t sit by and watch Illinois go back to the old way of doing things.
Illinois is already suffering and the last thing we need is higher taxes without structural reform.
We have only 5 short days until July 31st and we need to raise $10,000 by then in order to send the message that we’re not going to accept the unsustainable and dangerous habits of the past.
Will you help fight back against the 32% tax hike?
If you agree we need to see real budget reform in our state - NOT a massive 32% tax hike - please donate to our reform fund today so we can fight back.
We need to show Madigan that Illinois does not want the old way.
Team Rauner
As I’ve talked about before, small-dollar fundraising helps people feel they have “buy-in” on a campaign. The tiny amount of money is irrelevant to Rauner. But a list of committed small-dollar donors is worth its weight in gold. Rauner reported over $182K in unitemized receipts during the last quarter. Not bad for a rich guy.
* Meanwhile, in other campaign news…
Today, Illinois Painters District Councils No. 14, No. 30, and No. 58 joined together to endorse JB Pritzker for governor. As members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, they represent 36 different craft trades collectively across Illinois. This endorsement comes as labor support for JB Pritzker continues to grow, with support from the Illinois AFL-CIO and seventeen unions across the state of Illinois, including the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881, and the United Steelworkers Union.
* The governor was asked this question during a press conference yesterday…
Governor, the Senate President says he’s holding [SB 1] until Monday in the hopes that you’ll come around and agree to meet with him and to negotiate. Are you unwilling to have that meeting?
* The governor’s clearly angry response, after a long pause, is the headline to this post…
Now, the governor does go on to explain there is a constitutional process here. The legislature passed a bill in May, but haven’t sent it to him yet. The next step in the process is he takes action and then the General Assembly takes further action on his amendatory veto. He’s right about all of that.
But to claim that a meeting with a legislative leader is an “outrageous” demand is a bit much.
* I’ve already given my brief take to subscribers, but here’s the full polling memo from Normington Petts on behalf of the Democratic Governors Association…
• Incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner remains extremely vulnerable with every measure of his political support below 40%.
• Rauner’s veto of the budget has worsened his standing with voters.
o His favorable rating has declined since January, dropping from an already meager 33%-44% to 33%-48%.
o His job rating as governor is also lower, falling from 36%-58% to 34%-63%.
o Against a generic Democrat, Rauner trails 37% to 49%, a wider margin than the 35%-45% deficit we measured in January.
• Rauner’s job rating on “the state budget” is a devastating 29%-65%, with a majority (50%) saying Rauner has done a “poor” job on that issue.
Not only do the common measures of political strength show weakness, but under the surface there are signs of significant trouble for Rauner’s re-election chances. Since January, the percentage of voters who rate the job he is doing as governor as “not so good” or “poor” has increased from 58% to 63% (+5) across the Prairie State. In what should be alarming for Rauner supporters, Rauner’s negative job rating stands at 61% and has increased 10 points among white voters age 60 and older since January (61% negative, +10). Rauner has seen negative increases in other key demographic and geographic groups including in the Chicago media market (68% negative, +8), among Independents (65% negative, +8) and in the Collars (54% negative, +4).
Rauner is not just losing ground with those critical constituencies, but there are signs that Rauner’s low standing among his own partisans combined with the intensity of dislike from Democrats could create a disproportionate turnout scenario that further damages his re-election chances. Democrats rate the job Rauner is doing as governor at 8%-89%, with 66% saying he is doing a “poor” job. That level of intensity among Democrats is met with tepid support from Republicans who give him a job rating of 68%-29%, with just 17% saying he is doing an “excellent” job. That is a nearly 4 to 1 ratio of hate to love. These kinds of ratings create a plausible scenario of unenthused Republicans staying home and angry Democrats coming out in larger than expected numbers, which results in a wave across Illinois that will affect every candidate in 2018. Rauner is on track to be an albatross around the neck of GOP candidates up and down the ballot.
(L)ive interview telephone survey conducted among 600 likely voters in Illinois on behalf of the Democratic Governors Association. Respondents were reached on both landlines and mobile phones. Interviews were conducted July 18-20, 2017. The sampling error for this survey is ±4%. There are references to a poll conducted January 3-5, 2017 with the same sample size and methodology.
* Pritzker campaign response…
Today, the Pritzker campaign released the following statement in response to a new poll showing Bruce Rauner’s poll numbers underwater after failing to do his job, vetoing the state budget, and causing lasting damage across our state.
“Bruce Rauner is the most vulnerable governor in the country and it’s clear that Illinois voters are ready for a real leader like JB,” said Pritzker campaign manager Anne Caprara. “While Rauner continues to blame everyone but himself for his failures, Illinois families know the truth. Rauner created a 736-day budget crisis, drove the bond rating to the edge of junk status, and is now holding funding for schoolchildren hostage to force his reckless, special interest agenda. Our campaign is committed to holding Rauner accountable for his callous disregard for the people of this state. This should be a wake-up call for anyone who thinks it’s politically wise to follow the governor’s polling numbers off a cliff.”
* Both chambers convene at noon. No committee hearings are currently scheduled. And since the Senate President said yesterday that he isn’t sending SB 1 to the governor’s desk until Monday, attendance may be even lighter today. Follow along with ScribbleLive…
Illinois Director of Mental Health’s Statement on Leader Cullerton’s Comments
SPRINGFIELD – Director Diana Knaebe of the Illinois Division of Mental Health today issued the following statement after Leader Cullerton’s press conference:
“The Illinois Division of Mental Health works every day to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness. For a political leader to perpetuate this stigma to score political points is completely inappropriate and we respectfully request that our leaders stop doing so.”
I get what she’s saying, but Cullerton didn’t say that the governor was mentally ill. He said he had concerns about the governor’s “mental state,” specifically citing Rauner’s anger. The governor himself once cited his own emotions as reason for vetoing a bill that’s directly related to this very topic.
…Adding… A different perspective in comments…
Cullerton was plainly trying to insult Rauner by deriding his “mental state.” That insult only works if having mental issues is something perceived as bad. That’s where Knabe is coming from, and that’s why Cullerton is in the wrong, full stop.
[As a commenter rightly noted, I didn’t understand what Madigan was saying, so the headline and a few other words have been changed. Oops.]
* It took him a while to get there (you should definitely watch the video), but Speaker Madigan said today that he didn’t believe an amendatory veto acceptance motion would ever get to the House…
Speaker Madigan won't commit to allow a vote on @GovRauner's school funding AV. Predicts it will die in Senate. Won't say how he knows that. pic.twitter.com/lRJAIxjDJb
“In all likelihood, the amendatory veto will never get to the House,” is his quote.
But asked later about the prospects for an override in his chamber, Madigan said “I think there’s a good possibility of an override in the House.” Madigan explained that as more members learn about what’s in the bill, they’re liking it a lot more.
[Rep. Steve Andersson] was the GOP’s floor leader in the House until he voted to override Rauner’s veto of the budget bill. He was asked to step down from his post after his vote.
But don’t expect Andersson to break with the governor over SB1. He’s a firm “no” vote as the bill stands now.
Andersson recently told Mark Brown that he was undecided.
As lawmakers battle over school funding in Springfield, Illinois’ First Lady is stepping into the ring.
On Tues., the Rauner campaign released a digital ad that shows First Lady Diana Rauner seated on a beige couch, praising her husband’s position.
But during a press conference in Peoria Wed., Diana Rauner gave a veiled response to whether or not she supports the plan approved by the Democrat-majority Legislature.
“I’m actually not going to speak about any particular bills, I just want to say that we, all of us, know how important it is that all children have access to high quality education throughout their lives,” Rauner said.
* From the governor’s second press conference of the day, held in the governor’s ceremonial office, speaking about pension reform…
I was going to appear with you in this room with President Cullerton to announce that he and I together were going to do his plan. He got a phone call from the Speaker on the way to that press conference and then he didn’t show up. The Speaker said, ‘You’re not gonna do an agreement with the governor for pension reform.’ And that died.
I’ve asked Cullerton’s press secretary for a rebuttal. Speaker Madigan would only say this is part of the “world of Bruce Rauner,” when he was asked about it today.
*** UPDATE *** John Patterson…
Do you know what bill or when this press conference was allegedly supposed to occur?
The Senate passed the consideration model. It is something the Senate President and the governor agree on. It’s in the House.
The Senate also passed and helped enact all the other pension system changes the governor wanted.
As to the Speaker call: No. That didn’t happen.
The Senate President doesn’t recall ever being invited to a Rauner pension news conference.
Today, JB Pritzker kicked off a series of live streamed policy discussions called “JB & Me Live.” The debut livestream focused on education funding, with JB urging Bruce Rauner to sign Senate Bill 1 – legislation the governor agrees 90% with. If Rauner doesn’t agree to sign the bill, Illinois schools may not be able to open on time. JB also discussed his own priorities for education and his over two decades of advocacy for early childhood education in Illinois and across the country.
“J.B. Pritzker’s support for SB1 in its current form is all about politics, not the children. He knows that a Chicago bailout hurts children across Illinois by redistributing their tax dollars towards a broken pension system without reform, but he doesn’t care. Pritzker is willing to hurt children in order to maintain his good favor with Mike Madigan’s Chicago machine.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
In a Facebook live video today, billionaire J.B. Pritzker declared his unequivocal support for SB1 in its current form – a school funding bill that includes a massive taxpayer funded Chicago bailout.
Pritzker knows that funneling 64% of all new education funding towards Chicago is fundamentally unfair, but he’s unwilling to speak up for children across Illinois.
Pritzker knows holding SB1 in the Senate is a perversion of the democratic process. And he knows that Madigan wants the bailout – so he’s playing ball.
It’s just more evidence that Pritzker works for Mike Madigan and his Chicago Machine, not us.
* Pritzker campaign response…
“As JB outlined in his Facebook live event today, Bruce Rauner is willing to say just about anything to distract voters from that fact that when it comes down to it, he’s not looking out for Illinois children and families. And his partner, the Illinois GOP, trots out the same tired talking points to paper over their governor’s callous disregard for children and families.
“Bruce Rauner doesn’t seem to care about anything other than his personal political agenda. This is the man who vetoed the entire Illinois budget, including literally every single program that gives children and families the tools they need to build better lives.
“If Rauner had his way, Illinois wouldn’t have funding for public education, agriculture and vocational training, child care, higher education, MAP grants for low-income college students, roads, bridges, clean water, community care for seniors, mental health and substance abuse treatment, job training, adult literacy programs, HIV/AIDS prevention, state parks, breast and cervical cancer screenings, small business incubators, immigrant integration services, homeless youth services, heating assistance for seniors, or meals on wheels – to name a few.
“What sort of man tosses the best interests of children and families across this state aside in favor of a radical right-wing agenda, and then places blame on everyone but himself?” — Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh
A new report from the National Journal Hotline lists Bruce Rauner as the most vulnerable incumbent governor in America, and ranks Illinois as the third most likely gubernatorial seat to flip parties behind New Jersey and New Mexico whose governors are term-limited. Hotline’s listing comes just weeks after Rauner was tagged as the “most vulnerable incumbent” by Cook Political Report.
In what could break spending records for a state race, Republicans’ most vulnerable incumbent is seeking a second term after overseeing a two-year budget impasse in a state Hillary Clinton won handily. Rauner seeded his campaign with $50 million and has shifted right by hiring conservative think-tankers.”
As National Journal points out, Bruce Rauner faces the uphill challenge of running in a democratically leaning state, and with Trump’s approval rating sitting at 36%, a right-wing staff shakeup will not help his reelection chances. Besides, it was Bruce Rauner’s no-compromise governing that earned him low approval ratings, and doubling-down on that style of politics will only solidify voters’ already poor impression of him.
“Political analysts agree – Governor Bruce Rauner’s reelection effort is in big trouble and it should come as no surprise,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Bruce Rauner has earned the title “Most Vulnerable Incumbent” by consistently putting his political considerations ahead of Illinois families’ concerns. Rauner forced the state through a two-year budget crisis that did real damage – jobs lost and people fleeing the state, social services programs cut, and schools on the brink. When legislators sent him a budget to end the impasse, Rauner vetoed it. Illinois is worse-off under Bruce Rauner’s failed leadership, a fact that has not escaped voters’ attention.”
Governor Bruce Rauner’s plan to influence the national healthcare debate is to wait and see what happens next.
Vice President Mike Pence cast the deciding vote in the Senate on Tuesday, bringing Republicans one step closer to repealing President Obama’s signature health law, the Affordable Care Act. In a narrow 51-50 vote, the Senate filed a motion to proceed into the next phase of debate.
Governor Rauner’s office responded to the vote in an email to WCIA, which said, “The governor is eager to see how Congress resolves the debate over the Affordable Care Act. As you know, the situation in Washington has been changing on a near daily basis and he is holding judgment until there is a final product and plan on the table. That’s when he’ll be able to assess what this really means for Illinoisans.”
The statement provided by new Communications Director Laurel Patrick paints Rauner as a referee instead of a player. While no governor has a vote in Congress, several popular Republican governors in deep blue states have taken a more vocal stance against repealing Obamacare. Governors John Kasich of Ohio, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Maryland’s Larry Hogan are a few Republicans who have signed letters to Congress urging a more moderate solution.
I’m afraid he’s acting out of anger. You know he has had a bad month. I mean, we’ve overridden him I think four times in a row, half his staff was either fired or quit. And I just wanted to have a meeting with him so we could talk rationally about what’s in the bill.
* When asked later why he hadn’t yet sent SB 1 to the governor’s desk, Cullerton told reporters this…
It’s because of the mental state of the governor. It’s been the fact, as I said, he’s really had a bad month.
Whew, man. I haven’t heard talk like that since the Blagojevich days.
…Adding… As a couple of commenters have rightly pointed out, Cullerton has been holding SB 1 for almost two months, so he did have an opportunity to release the bill during a “good” month for the governor.
* We’ve discussed this topic before, but here’s a new story from Illinois Public Radio…
A website that popped up this month asks a question as its URL: arethereanywomenrunningforilgovernor.com. It then very simply answers it with a bright red “NO.” A group of professional women in the state are behind the effort to draw attention to the issue.
Kady McFadden is the deputy director of the Illinois Sierra Club. She’s one of the people behind the site. She says the idea came up over dinner with several other women who also hold powerful positions. “It sort of felt like the elephant in the room that we needed to address - and the first thing we wanted to talk about before we could dive into the race itself. As colleagues - as female colleagues that work in politics, that care about issues in our state, it was one of the first things on our minds,” says McFadden.
For the past 10 years, I have worked with candidates across the state of Illinois running for local and statewide office. Over and over again, I have seen donors who are reluctant to give money and campaign resources to female candidates. Research has shown us that, when women decide to run, they are elected and re-elected at the same rate as their male counterparts. However, with the epic spending no longer limited to the “sexy” top-tier offices such as president, Senate or gubernatorial races, down-ballot races cost more than ever.
The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that the governor’s race here in Illinois is averaging about $120,000 spent per day. There are still 18 months until the election—a race for a single office that, according to Politico, is on track to become the most expensive statewide contest in U.S. history, possibly topping a record $300 million.
So what does this all mean? It means that consultants, candidates and donors need to adapt and evolve. Fast. Gender aside, the traditional donor pool cannot keep up with this level of campaign spending and raise enough money to win. The bar of fundraising expectations has been raised to a level that renders potentially viable candidates—not just women, but especially women—irrelevant if they don’t have the resources to run.
That’s where we step in. Not only do we need to build a pipeline of talent at the local level—we need to give them checks. Change starts at home, and we need more women to run for local school boards, public libraries and boards of commissioners. We need to donate to them, too.
While bipartisan campaign finance reform is a pipe dream, donating to women candidates can be a reality. There are currently dozens of women running for office in Illinois right now, each one an opportunity to invest in the future of our state.
And until we start making that investment, we surely will have the same male candidates over and over again.
Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan deliberately advances policies that promote high property taxes out of a “stunning conflict of interest” that has made him wealthy, Gov. Bruce Rauner charged Monday.
In a harsh broadside that likely previews a re-election campaign strategy to target the house speaker, Rauner said, “Madigan for his own reasons is a fan of high property taxes.” […]
Asked to clarify, the governor did not offer specifics but pointed to the legal work on property tax appeals conducted by Madigan & Getzendanner, the Chicago law firm Madigan co-founded in 1972.
* Bernie Schoenburg pointed out to the governor today that he had vetoed an income tax increase that would’ve personally cost him “millions of dollars.” Wasn’t that also a conflict of interest? The governor’s response…
Bernie, when a person who sets tax policy and has controlled it for 35 years, also controls a property tax appeal law firm that fundamentally makes money from the property tax policy in a way that systematically disadvantages the families of Illinois. That is wrong. Our system is broken. It’s fundamentally unfair.
Bernie tried to follow up to get him to answer the actual question, but Rauner moved on and the other reporters let him.
* A look at the influence of labor unions in the governor’s race by ICPR…
Democratic candidate JB Pritzker is currently leading the field of gubernatorial candidates as measured by union endorsements. The self-funded Democrat has secured endorsements ranging from small local councils to large, statewide unions, including the 900,000-member Illinois AFL-CIO. All told, Pritzker has received 17 endorsements from unions collectively representing over 1.1 million members.
As endorsements have come out over the last few months, some argued that unions backed Pritzker early because of his personal wealth and promise to self-fund his campaign, which would allow unions to spend more money supporting labor-friendly candidates in General Assembly races across the state.
Kent Redfield, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois - Springfield, agrees with this assessment, ascribing many of these early endorsements to financial priorities. Redfield said that instead of focusing on policy differences between candidates, “union money is going to be much more concerned about whether they have to spend on the governor’s race, and on keeping a Democratic majority” in the General Assembly. Redfield noted that unions spent over $30 million on Governor Pat Quinn’s campaign in 2014, and would prefer to spend that money on down-ballot races in 2018.
Notably, some large labor groups have refrained from endorsing a candidate this early into the race. Such organizations include AFSCME Council 31, SEIU, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. […]
[Wayne Steger, Professor of Political Science at DePaul University] believes that state employee and teacher’s unions, like SEIU, IFT, and AFSCME, “are withholding their endorsement because they are trying to get stronger commitments from JB [Pritzker].” Steger points out, “it’s a risk, because if they wait and Pritzker takes a big lead in the polls, they are coming late to the game.” However, if the polls are looking close for Pritzker, key endorsements before the Primary could give Pritzker the edge he needs to win, elevating the clout of the unions.
* But I wanted to give a couple of those public employee unions a chance to respond. Here’s Anders Lindall from AFSCME Council 31…
AFSCME endorsements are the culmination of a grassroots process in which union members throughout the state examine the records, priorities and viability of the candidates in any given race. With respect to the 2018 primaries, that process is now in its early stages and will conclude at a statewide conference in January. If ICPR or the professor had contacted us before publishing this piece, we would’ve been happy to share that our actions to date reflect our process, not our judgment about any candidate.
* And here’s Aviva Bowen from the Illinois Federation of Teachers…
We’re not withholding anything. Our members drive the endorsement process, and they have only just started learning about the candidates and their visions for the future of Illinois. All we know for certain right now is that Bruce Rauner is committed to crisis, and we will do everything we can to stop him from hurting working people any further.
* Gov. Rauner spoke to reporters today about SB 1…
Let me be crystal clear. The Senators have been clear with our team that they are under specific orders from Speaker Madigan to hold the bill… You guys are all smart. You’ve been around Illinois politics for a while. You know how this goes. Speaker Madigan has directed the Senators to hold the bill.
President Cullerton called me about an hour ago. I called him back. His specific request was, he said ‘Governor, you know, um, I’d like to meet with ‘ya on Monday in Chicago to talk about school funding.’
Really? Are you kidding me? Monday? In Chicago? When we’ve called a special session, when it’s the duty of the legislature to pass a funding bill and get it done so our schools can open on time? You’ve got to be kidding me.
The governor then claimed: “Our children are being held hostage by these politicians.” And he repeatedly refused yet again to provide any details of his own plan.
I’ve asked the Senate President’s office for a response. I’ll post it if and/or when I get it.
*** UPDATE *** Hmm…
#BREAKING Senate President Cullerton says he told the governor he would send him the bill Monday if he won't meet with him.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration signed off on an elaborate financial shell game that obscured payment of $55 million for renovations at Navy Pier with tax dollars reserved to fight urban blight, records show.
The bookkeeping jiujitsu appears to violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the controversial tax-increment financing program, which critics say has been widely abused and not used for its intended purpose of spurring development in or near economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
A joint investigation by the Better Government Association and Crain’s Chicago Business finds that the administration began filtering the money in 2014 through a hotel project at McCormick Place, capitalizing on its Near South Side location as a rationale for tapping funds reserved for struggling communities.
Emails and internal documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that officials at the city as well as the governing body of the lakefront convention complex knew the planned 1,205-room Marriott didn’t need the financing. But they also knew that Navy Pier, 3 miles away and a vast distance from any urban blight, did.
* It’s a long and involved story, but Ben Joravsky breaks it down…
In the case of South Loop TIF deals, the mayor swore up and down he was spending $55 million in TIF dollars on the arena/hotel project at 22nd and Michigan. But thanks to Crain’s and the BGA, we now know the money was diverted to pay for Navy Pier renovations. So it’s a diversion of a diversion. Impressive! I’m not sure Mayor Daley the Younger even tried that—and he pioneered this scam. […]
Surprisingly, state and city officials were up front about the apparent switcheroo—at least in the e-mails they wrote to each other. James Reilly, the former CEO of MPEA—its board is appointed in equal parts by the mayor and the governor—acknowledged the unorthodox transaction in a July 12, 2013, e-mail, one of many Chase and Ecker secured via Freedom of Information Act request: “There is a somewhat complicated series of cash flow issues that we need to get a handle on between the City, MPEA and [Navy Pier] with regard to the Tiff [sic] funds that will come from the City to MPEA to reimburse MPEA for the purchase of the land for the [hotel and basketball arena] which in turn will enable MPEA to grant $55M to [Navy Pier] for its reconstruction project.” […]
Wait, there’s more. In October 2014, Richard Oldshue, MPEA’s chief financial officer, sent the following message in an e-mail to Mark Jarmer, an aide to Illinois house speaker Michael Madigan: “None of this TIF money comes to MPEA as incentive or otherwise. The City is aggregating balances from various existing [TIF] districts as they become available to transfer funds to MPEA which we transfer in full to [Navy Pier]. We don’t keep any.” […]
Dowell says she’ll insist the City Council hold hearings on the deal. That would be helpful—as the council never actually held a hearing on whether to spend the $55 million in the first place. In July 2013, two weeks after Reilly wrote the aforementioned e-mail, Emanuel hammered the deal through on a voice vote—most aldermen didn’t know about it until after the vote was taken. We now know why the mayor wanted to keep it a secret.
* David Reifman, a commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning & Development, and Lori Healey, chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, respond…
By failing to understand the typical approach to how the city expends TIF funds, the authors of this article have created unnecessary confusion and overshadowed the significant public benefits that the Elevate Chicago initiative has achieved. We are writing to set the record straight.
In short, no TIF funds were diverted to Navy Pier.
First and foremost, it’s important to understand the city contributed $55 million toward the $498 million overall hotel project cost as a reimbursement to the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, not as an upfront payment. This approach protected the public’s interest by only allowing the expenditure of TIF funds after eligible expenses were complete. MPEA advanced the funds for these reimbursable costs through its own sources. Only after MPEA made these upfront payments did the city reimburse it, and the city’s payments were applied only to certified TIF eligible costs related to the hotel and for no other purpose.
It is also important to remember that all of the projects mentioned in the article were announced together in May 2013 as Elevate Chicago, a unified and targeted $1.1 billion investment in Chicago’s tourism and convention infrastructure. Elevate Chicago included Wintrust Arena, the Marriott Marquis Chicago, a privately funded smaller hotel, streetscape work and the first phase of Navy Pier renovations. This was widely reported in 2013.
In sum, MPEA advanced all of the funds for the hotel project, some of which were later reimbursed by the city. Only once MPEA received reimbursement from the city did it have sufficient funds to support other Elevate Chicago projects, including a capital investment in the improvement of Navy Pier, which it owns.
Today, the Illinois Republican Party released robocalls statewide highlighting Mike Madigan’s hostage-taking.
Mike Madigan and his political allies are trying to hold schoolchildren hostage in order to force through a $500 million Chicago bailout without reform.
This comes after Madigan held state government hostage for years in order to force through his 32% permanent income tax hike.
Now, the Chicago Machine is refusing to release education funding for all Illinois schools unless they get their taxpayer funded bailout.
And while Madigan and his allies work the legislative side, Madigan’s candidates for Governor – J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy and Daniel Biss – support the bailout too.
The Illinois Republican Party is committed to exposing Madigan’s hostage-taking scheme.
That’s a school bell ringing, but your kids may not hear it this fall if Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan gets his way.
Mike Madigan and his enablers in the state house are threatening to shut down schools unless they get a special $500 million bailout for Chicago public schools.
First, Madigan held the budget hostage to force through a 32% permanent income tax hike with no reforms.
Now, Madigan is holding our school children hostage to get a $500 million bailout for Chicago.
And Madigan’s candidates for Governor - J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy and Daniel Biss - support the bailout too.
Now is the time to fight back and stop the Chicago politicians before it’s too late.
Call your state representative and state senator. Tell them your higher taxes shouldn’t pay for a Chicago bailout.
Labor union leader James Sweeney, who accused Gov. Bruce Rauner of trying to “destroy the labor movement” in Illinois and once parked an inflatable rat on the tollway lawn, won’t be reappointed to the tollway board.
Rauner chose not to keep Sweeney, president of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. His term expired in May.
A Local 150 spokesman confirmed an official told Sweeney last week that his term wouldn’t be renewed. […]
“They’re losing a lot of expertise … there’s no longer any directors with firsthand knowledge (of road construction) during one of the largest capital expansions in the tollway’s history,” Local 150 Communications Director Ed Maher said.
I mean, the guy did everything he could to deny Rauner a 2014 GOP primary win, funded a Libertarian Party candidate against Rauner in the general, helped engineer the early AFL-CIO endorsement of JB Pritzker and is now actively looking around for a Republican to run against Rauner in the 2018 primary.
At issue is the way the bill factors CPS’ finances into what would become the new statewide funding formula. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with both Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton Monday as he continued his calls for Rauner to sign the legislation.
“My view is do what’s right,” Emanuel said Tuesday. “I know for a fact the old Bruce Rauner – before there was this coup in his office – supported, by saying he agrees with 90 percent of the funding in education, 90 percent of what’s in this bill,” he added.
It might be a B that was rotated around the center. If you look at the right half the top part is slightly smaller than the bottom, and if you look at the B in Biss it follows the same style. Kinda weak but best I have.
Yesterday, Bruce Rauner released a new ad featuring his wife Diana, highlighting the couple’s “passion for education.” But lately Rauner’s only passion is causing crises and distorting his own record. The reality is that Bruce Rauner continues to intentionally cut programs that help children and families build better lives.
Let’s take a look at Bruce Rauner’s real record on education:
Due to Rauner’s 736-day budget crisis, Illinois is over $1 billion behind in paying school districts money they were promised.
Hundreds of public university employees were laid off and dozens of programs were cut after Rauner failed to pass a budget for two years.
Rauner proposed a 20% cut to higher education and a 31.5% cut to universities in his 2015 budget proposal.
The ad claims Rauner “increased early childhood education to its highest level ever,” but in reality he proposed a $338.5 million cut to the Childcare Assistance Program in 2016 and decimated the program with his 2015 Emergency Rule, cutting off 90% of previously eligible families.
This month, Bruce Rauner vetoed the entire FY18 Illinois State Board of Education budget worth $11.9 billion, including:
$443.7 million for the Early Childhood Block grant.
$29 million in additional funding for bilingual education.
$387.6 million for disabled student transportation.
$135.2 million for disabled student tuition.
$262.9 million in transportation reimbursement.
$15 million for afterschool programs.
$1.4 million for the parent mentoring program.
$2.4 million in technology for success.
$846,000 for blind and dyslexic services.
$3.1 million for district consolidation costs and supplemental payments for school districts.
$100,000 for autism training and technical assistance.
$9 million in reimbursement for free breakfast and lunch programs.
$1.4 million for the visually impaired and educational materials coordinating unit.
$38 million for career and technical education.
$11.5 million for truant alternative and optional education program.
$6.3 million for alternative education and regional safe schools.
$5 million for agriculture education program.
$2.4 million for Afterschool Matters.
$500,000 for advanced placement classes.
$1 million for the lowest performing schools.
“Fresh off vetoing the entire education budget, this governor is ready to allow schools not to open next month. There is nothing ‘right’ about what Bruce Rauner is doing to Illinois schoolchildren,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “No amount of messaging, distortion, and validation is going to change the fact that this governor is failing in his basic obligation to ensure Illinois children receive a quality education.”
The childcare program and early childhood education are separate beings, but wrapping that veto around him isn’t a bad play.
* Related…
* Mark Brown: Downstate knows more about its schools than first lady does
What: Gov. Rauner signs HB 643, freezing legislative per diems
Where: Governor’s Office – Illinois State Capitol
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Time: 11:30 a.m.
What: Gov. Rauner addresses media
Who: Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin
Where: Governor’s Office – Illinois State Capitol
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Time: 15 minutes after adjournment of General Assembly
Amends the General Assembly Compensation Act. Establishes the fiscal year 2018 mileage reimbursement rate and allowance for lodging and meals. Amends the Compensation Review Act. Prohibits cost-of-living adjustments for or during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017 for State government legislative and executive elected officers and appointees in positions for which the Compensation Review Board previously recommended or determined compensation. Effective immediately.
So, by signing that bill today, he will prevent the cost of the special session from rising. Notice, however, that the two top legislative sponsors (both Democrats) aren’t on the schedule.
Lawmakers will continue to collect $111 in daily expense money because they were called into special session by Rauner to deal with school funding. However, without the bill signed by Rauner, that amount would have automatically increased to $142 a day.
“The special sessions the governor has demanded are expensive, costing taxpayers upwards of $48,000 each day,” said Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, in a statement. “I am pleased that the governor signed my measure to prevent his special sessions from becoming even more expensive.”
Bush was the lead Senate sponsor of House Bill 643 to freeze the rates. Neither Bush nor the lead House sponsor, also a Democrat, were at the bill signing ceremony in Rauner’s office attended by numerous Republican lawmakers.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Rauner’s Education Secretary Beth Purvis said the Democrats’ bill is an evidence-based plan, but it also provides hundreds of millions of dollars to Chicago Public Schools pensions above and beyond the funding formula.
Purvis said that in 1995, an agreement was made that, because the state didn’t pay for the cost of Chicago Public Schools pensions, it instead would send a block grant, which is about $250 million a year “that is over and above what they would otherwise get within the school funding formula.”
“And the idea was, ‘Chicago Public Schools, we’re going to give you that money and pay down your pensions’,” Purvis said. “Now CPS didn’t use that $250 million to pay down their pensions. In 11 of 25 years, they only made partial payment or no pension [payments].”
Purvis said by ignoring that pension debt, the health of CPS pension funds deteriorated rapidly.
“Our argument is … it’s as if your parents gave you money to pay for your college tuition,” Purvis said. “You didn’t pay for your college tuition, instead you bought a car. That car got you to and from school so it’s important but now you’re going back to your parents and saying, ‘Hey, can I have some of my brother and sister’s college money to pay down my college debt?’ I just don’t think that’s fair.”
In reality, the CPS block grant has no formal relationship to pensions. All districts receive state reimbursement for seven “categoricals” above what they receive in General State Aid. Every district except Chicago has to submit vouchers to get reimbursed for these categoricals. But since 1995, Chicago has been reimbursed via a block grant, based, at least in part, on the reality that submitting claims for thousands of different students was burdensome. Over the years, as CPS enrollment has declined, the block grant resulted in the district receiving $250 million more than it would if it had to submit vouchers for reimbursement.
Rauner’s education czar Beth Purvis has said those extra funds have been audited, and aren’t being misspent. “There’s no implication that CPS is misusing those funds in any way, shape or form,” she told me in May. “We believe that they’re using them for the educational costs of educating those children.”
* So far, it’s just two. We’ll see if anyone else joins…
IL LEGISLATORS BOYCOTT “SPECIAL SESSION” TO HELP SCHOOLS GET READY FOR STUDENTS
Cassidy and Williams hold service day at CPS elementary school, reject Rauner session as political stunt
What: Members of IL General Assembly perform service day, painting classrooms at CPS elementary school
When: July 26, 2017; 10:00 a.m.
Where: Gale Community Academy, 1631 W. Jonquil Terrace, Chicago IL, 60626
Who: State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-14th) State Rep. Ann Williams (D-11th) CPS Parents
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Ann Williams…
Hi Rich: As you may know, it’s budget week at CPS. I have no less than a dozen Local School Council meetings on my schedule - this is where neighborhood schools consider and approve their budgets. Like I do every year, my staff and I will attend as many as possible. The idea of going down to Springfield to play political games while my principals, teachers and CPS families struggle to make their budgets work was untenable for me. I decided to join Kelly in opting to spend the week doing something more productive. I’ll be continuing to attend my LSC meetings this week and join Kelly for daily service projects.
Asked if she would return for Monday’s special session, Rep. Williams replied…
If there is legislation pending or the governor is willing to discuss how his threatened veto will impact neighborhood schools, I’ll be there!
* Also…
If you remember, this is the school that had all of the lead paint issues. This is much appreciated! #Twillhttps://t.co/gMJ9BqnysC
Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan deliberately advances policies that promote high property taxes out of a “stunning conflict of interest” that has made him wealthy, Gov. Bruce Rauner charged Monday.
In a harsh broadside that likely previews a re-election campaign strategy to target the house speaker, Rauner said, “Madigan for his own reasons is a fan of high property taxes.” […]
Asked to clarify, the governor did not offer specifics but pointed to the legal work on property tax appeals conducted by Madigan & Getzendanner, the Chicago law firm Madigan co-founded in 1972.
“He’s got that personal wealth-creating business,” Rauner said.
* Yesterday, when a reporter and the governor were sparring a bit over SB 1, the reporter mentioned that the Senate President claims he isn’t sending Gov. Rauner the bill because he’d threatened to veto it. The governor’s response…
How many bills have they sent to my desk that I was gonna veto? That doesn’t stop ‘em. That doesn’t stop ‘em.
Well, one bill that springs to mind immediately is HB 40.
The divisive legislation, which passed [the Senate on May 10th] in a 33 to 22 vote, aims to protect abortion rights in Illinois should the U.S. Supreme Court strike down or change Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal in the U.S. It also prevents insurers from denying coverage of abortion services to women on Medicaid and state workers on the Illinois health insurance plan.
As Rauner prepares to seek re-election, the passage of this bill puts the governor, a Republican, in a tough spot between pro-choice suburban women and pro-life downstate voters.
Sen. Don Harmon filed a motion to reconsider shortly after the floor vote and it hasn’t moved since.
* With the governor under fire for hiring a bunch of staffers from the economic and social right wings, Rauner also had this to say yesterday…
And to be crystal clear, I am a strong advocate for women’s reproductive rights.
But, as you’ll recall, Rauner has said he’s against HB 40, even though he told Personal PAC in 2014 that he favored everything in it…
Gov. Bruce Rauner is casting his promise to veto legislation that’s become known as the “abortion bill” as a matter of timing rather than philosophy.
“I have always been and will always be a strong supporter and protector of women’s reproductive rights,” Rauner said Friday. “We in Illinois have good existing law.”
Rauner said however that “expending taxpayer funds is a very divisive issue. A very controversial issue” and right now “we need to focus” on jobs, property taxes, term limits and school funding.
Needless to say, signing that bill would go a very long way toward dispelling claims that he’s lurching even further rightward in the wake of his budget veto overrides. And vetoing it now would likely help burnish arguments that he is, indeed, moving right.
* The Question: Should Sen. Harmon send Gov. Rauner HB 40 now or wait? Click here to take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
The Illinois Legislature passed a school funding bill — separate from the rest of the state budget — but did not send the legislation to the governor for his approval.
That’s because the governor has threatened to amend the school funding bill by eliminating money for the Chicago Public Schools, which he claims is a CPS pension bailout. That could be anywhere from $100 million to $250 million, or about 2 to 3 percent of the total state spending on schools.
That’s right. This major battle in Springfield is about next to nothing, which is quite something. […]
In addition, the governor’s own school finance reform commission estimated the schools need $3.5 billion to $6 billion more from the state, which isn’t going to happen. […]
But the governor has now chosen to pit Chicago against the rest of the state, using school funding to gain political advantage. Of course, the governor says he loves the children.
So much dung gets tossed around in Springfield when it comes to education that Illinois schoolchildren should be required to wear hazmat suits.
While there’s a lot of attention on the number of people killed in Chicago, a lesser known statistic also tells the story of pain and insecurity gripping the streets.
That number is 29%. That’s the percentage of murders solved by Chicago police last year. In other words, 71% of killers got away with murder. […]
Chicago’s murder clearance rate lags behind other major cities. Police in New York City, for example, report solving 80% of their murder cases last year. The most recent data available from the FBI shows the national average was 61%.
Chicago police point to an entrenched “no snitching” policy brutally enforced by the city’s street gangs as one reason for the lower clearance rate. […]
But police statistics portray another factor that experts say contributes to low solve rate: The sheer number of murders may be overwhelming investigators.
In 2015 and 2016, [Chicago] detectives solved roughly the same number of homicides (227 and 225, respectively). But because the number of murders soared between those two years (488 murders in 2015 and 770 murders in 2016) the solve rate between the two years fell dramatically: From 47% down to 29%.
* A deliberate attempt at softening the image by Team Rauner…
Rauner Highlights Education Record in New Digital Series
Diana Rauner Talks Governor’s Record, Commitment to Education
As lawmakers return to Springfield to deal with Mike Madigan’s political games, the Rauner campaign today released new digital ads featuring Illinois First Lady Diana Rauner, highlighting Governor Bruce Rauner’s longtime to commitment to improving education.
As Governor, Bruce Rauner increased K-12 education funding by $700 million and brought state support for early childhood education to record levels.
Rauner has worked to do what no Governor has done in years – bring educators and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle together to finally fix Illinois’ broken school funding system.
Rauner is committed to being the education Governor. That’s why he favors bipartisan reform of the education funding formula that is fair to all schoolchildren and supports an evidence based funding model.
Bruce and I share a passion for education.
It’s motivated him his entire life.
It’s about ensuring that every child has the opportunity to be successful in life.
We know how lucky we are to have the opportunities to help other people.
And we treat it like a mission.
Bruce has increased education funding by $700 million dollars.
He increased early childhood education to its highest level ever.
It’s about doing what’s right, not what’s easy.
We’re doing this for our next generation.
Notice she’s careful to say education funding, not education spending. The state still owes K-12 a huge pile of money that it couldn’t pay out because of the impasse. At last check, it was about a billion dollars.
Chris Kennedy’s Campaign Releases First Digital Ad
This is the Kennedy campaign’s first advertisement. It will be distributed digitally through email, web and social media today. The ad highlights Chris’ statewide anti-violence plan, which he announced on Saturday.
Chris Kennedy, Democratic candidate for governor, spoke to a congregation on Chicago’s south side today to outline his anti-violence plan and share his own family’s personal experience dealing with the effects of gun violence.
“Violence which can touch our society anywhere will eventually touch our society everywhere, just as it did to my family, just as it has done for too many of the people in this room, just as it has done to tens of thousands of families across Illinois,” said Kennedy, son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Chris lost both his uncle, President Kennedy, and his father, Robert Kennedy, to gun violence.
The persistent gun violence that plagues Illinois shows no signs of slowing down. While Chicago is on its way to exceed 700 homicides for the second consecutive year in a row, there are other communities in Illinois that have more gun crimes per person.
“Never should the problem be solved from above with solutions pushed down,” Kennedy said. “I believe this is true with violence. I believe the ideas that are present in the community are more important than those that can be found in white papers and academic journals.”
Kennedy made a call to action to address the violence and outlined specific plans he would pursue as Governor, including:
Creating a gun tracing program to trace the ownership of all guns used in a crime and cooperate with other states that want to do the same thing to ensure compatible data collection and reporting techniques.
Licensing gun dealers in the state of Illinois, just like the state licenses restaurants, barbers and nail salons.
Closing the gun show loophole where any can purchase a gun without a background
Providing resources to the state police to speed up the process of getting a firearms owner identification card (FOID).
Passing an Order of Protection Act to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and those involved in domestic violence.
Banning anyone on the terrorist watchlist from receiving a FOID card in Illinois.
Confronting the gun train issue where low levels of security are provided to trains loaded with guns, which is a public safety issue for the state of Illinois.
“These are all things we must do. But alone, they will not stem the violence unless we transform neighborhoods from places where people are merely trying to survive, to communities where they can thrive,” Kennedy said. “We need a progressive income tax - where if you make more money, you pay a little more in taxes, and we need to use those resources to fairly fund schools based on the unique needs of students and families within that community.”
“For communities disproportionately affected by violence, that means committing to counseling, and social, emotional and mental health access for children attending schools in communities affected by violence.”
“When we allow Governor Rauner and his broken government to jeopardize programs that help at-risk youth, we add to the problem of violence. When the mayor closes down nearly 50 schools, violence inevitably goes up,” Kennedy said. “And, when you rely on a rigged property tax system to fund schools and government, you lack the resources necessary to combat gun violence.”
* Usually, the governor gets softball questions from TV types. But Jim Niedelman of the Quad Cities came prepared for his interview. Let’s start with his follow-up to Gov. Rauner talking about what Chicago Public Schools should and shouldn’t get in education funding reform…
NIEDELMAN: So, if you allow [CPS] to have the… block grant would the pension then be included the way other pensions are funded across the state? Every other school district, the state picks up the pensions. Chicago’s separate from that. They want to be included in the rest of the state. You’re against that?
RAUNER: Well, so, here’s the issue, the bill needs to be on my desk so I can do the amendatory veto and you wouldn’t even have to ask the question, it would be clear how we’re gonna do it…
NIEDELMAN: Well, I’m asking the question now..
RAUNER: Yeah. Well, well, to, to talk about the detail when they haven’t even passed me the bill and I can’t fix it, we’re wasting our time…
It’s really worth a watch. Go to about the 6-minute mark to hear him dodge repeated questions about whether he was in favor of primarying Republicans who voted to override his budget vetoes. He also defends his own contributions to himself by saying he’s supported by “tens of thousands who’ve donated whatever they can afford.” All but a tiny handful of his dollars came either from him or a few buddies.
* And then he was asked about Brittany Carl, his new staffer who compared abortion to Nazi eugenics…
RAUNER: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard about her, I, you know, people have their own views. Uh, there’s many people I don’t agree with, it’s fine. I focus on my four things, and, uh, we, we focus on the agenda of fixing our state so it’s working for the people.
NIEDELMAN: Do you want her to stay on within your administration?
RAUNER: So, we’re, we have a lot of folks in the administration, we’re building the best team in America to turn the government around.
NIEDELMAN: Do you want her to be, to stay with your administration?
RAUNER: Best team in America…
NIEDELMAN: I’ll take that as a non-answer, Mr. Governor, but I appreciate your time.
It’s fine?
Also, sheesh, this guy is getting worse than Chris Kennedy. Up your game, governor.
Illinois officials are investigating a longtime state investigator whose personal email has been the source of racist, sexist and anti-gay emails.
The state began reviewing Frank Capuzi, 62, with the Workers’ Compensation Commission after the newspaper’s probe of derogatory emails that were forwarded from his address to a water department boss and others, the Chicago Tribune reported. […]
The messages came to light in the ongoing investigation of Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s emails to and from the Chicago Water Department. The findings of Ferguson’s messages have led to five high-level water department bosses being let go, including Commissioner Barrett Murphy; his deputy, William Bresnahan; and Paul Hansen, a district superintendent. Ferguson also has been blocked from working on city projects.
Um, huh? Ferguson is the investigator. Those aren’t his e-mails and he hasn’t been blocked from working on city projects.
…Adding… The above story was posted online last night at 7:22. A correction was issued at 12:42 pm today…
Correction: Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson is investigating emails to and from the Chicago Water Department. Ferguson did not write any of the emails. A previous version of this article misreported Ferguson’s involvement in the case.
Rolf Sivertsen, the school superintendent in Canton in west central Illinois, is among a group of Downstate school officials who may be more important to the future of Chicago schoolchildren than Forrest Claypool.
Sivertsen and the others are ardent supporters of Senate Bill 1, the school funding legislation that Gov. Bruce Rauner has promised to veto as soon as it reaches his desk. Rauner calls it a “Chicago bailout.”
Contrary to the governor’s assertions that their communities are being shortchanged, these Downstate superintendents say the legislation is fair and are asking Rauner to sign it.
More important, if the governor goes ahead with his veto as expected, many told me they will ask their local legislators to override the governor’s veto if no compromise solution is found quickly.
* With that said, I still don’t think this meeting is being held out of desperation…
#developing. @GovRauner convening last-ditch meet of all GOP lawmakers Thursday to halt defections on SB1.
Sen. Sam McCann may vote with the Democrats to override the coming SB 1 veto (he just got a big campaign check from the IEA, after all), but the governor has mostly stuck to the plan laid out by his former chief of staff Richard Goldberg and so I doubt very many others will cross over. We’ll see.
Rauner took money from Chicago (how much is still in dispute because he won’t release his plan) and spread it around to suburban and Downstate districts (how he did that is also in question) and set this up as both a racial/geographical and a “I gotta vote my district” battle. So, no matter what your superintendents might say, Rauner has framed this simply: If you vote for SB 1 you vote against your district and for those corrupt Chicago incompetents.
Never underestimate the power of that argument in Illinois, particularly when the governor is so blatantly fanning the flames.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said Monday that accusations that he cares less about predominantly minority students in Chicago Public Schools are “hurtful” and that he “cares deeply” about every child in Chicago.
Speaker Michael J. Madigan issued the following statement Tuesday:
“Throughout three years of the governor’s budget crisis, we saw very clearly that political theater is not a substitute for real leadership. By calling a special session while he refuses to negotiate and even says ‘there’s nothing to discuss,’ the governor is continuing to create a crisis that pits one child against another.
“The governor knows very well that the education funding reform bill in question is not in the House, and members of the House cannot take positive action on the governor’s call until it is in our chamber, especially as he refuses to even detail the changes he would like.
“Governor Rauner, however, can take action. Instead of simply paying lip service to how desperately Illinois’ schools, educators, students and property taxpayers need education funding reform, he can put aside his veto threats and sign a bill he is on record as supporting 90 percent of. Instead of playing political games with our children’s education, he can agree to sign a bill that fixes one the most inequitable funding formulas in the country. I urge the governor to stand with us in choosing reform over a status quo that is failing our students.”
He has a point about how the House can’t take action on a veto until the Senate does. It was basically the same sort of complaint the Senate President had during the last special session.
But the special session proclamation doesn’t specify a veto action. It merely says the purpose of the special session is to consider “appropriate legislation to ensure that all school districts in Illinois are equitably and adequately funded to provide a high quality education to all Illinois students.”
Check out this tracker footage of a confused Kennedy speaking to the 40th Ward Democrats in Chicago on Thursday. Kennedy is bumbling trying to talk about taxes, and stumbles his way into saying he wants taxes to go up. Not a good look for the self-proclaimed Democratic “reformer.”
* Kennedy does stumble at one point (bad brain freeze and switches from one tax idea to another), but his overall point is actually in synch with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s own 2014 campaign pledge: A tax on services, including on attorneys…
Man, that guy has real trouble on the stump. Painful.
Some background on Rauner’s service tax plan is here.
So said Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday when asked why he has hired a bunch of ideologues from a far-right advocacy group, the Illinois Policy Institute, to run his office.
But Rauner’s reply was a misdirection. The question was not whether the IPI might tell him what to think. The question was whether the governor, by hiring reductivist worshipers of libertarian philosophy, was revealing his own true intellectual colors. The question was whether Rauner was about to double-down on an ideologically-driven approach to governing — as opposed to, you know, living in the real world — that already has done tremendous damage to Illinois.
On Monday we got the answer: You betcha. […]
Some people pursue a life of simple-minded purity, like those libertarian heroes in an Ayn Rand novel. Other people — the ones who get big things done — see the world as it is, complicated and messy. They are more pragmatic.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is 60 years old and ought to know better than to throw in with the ideologues. Yet that’s exactly what he’s done by firing much of his senior staff and replacing them with a bunch of right-wing cranks from the Illinois Policy Institute. Having been out-maneuvered on a new state budget by the Democrat-controlled legislature, Rauner is dropping any pretense of bipartisanship and doubling down on a simplistic anti-labor, anti-government politics. Some argue these were his true colors all along, but it’s a juvenile move nonetheless.
Granted, the Illinois Policy Institute is no John Birch Society. Can’t be because the Red menace faded with the fall of the Soviet Union and rise of state-capitalist China. Now the supposed enemy of freedom and prosperity is Big Labor and its unholy alliance with Big Government — an alliance led in these parts by a devil incarnate known as House Speaker Michael Madigan.
So we’re in for another season of name-calling and heroic posturing, beginning this summer with a showdown over who is supposed to foot the pension burden of the Chicago Public Schools. This is one of the more complex public policy issues in memory, involving city-state agreements reached years ago as to Chicago’s outsized share of special-purpose grants and the mayor’s appointive control of the CPS board — not to mention how those pension funds got so far in arrears.
The IPI employs about two dozen policy “analysts” as well as lawyers who fight oppressive regulations on small business. The IPI also has a stable of newspaper op-ed writers and a radio network to push its agenda.
I put “analyst” in quotes because, like many advocacy groups of both right and left, IPI’s approach is conclusion driven. To wit: Illinois could have enacted its recent budget without a tax increase. Then the so-called analysts go out in search of a narrative to buck up the conclusion. […]
Now that they are inside and running Illinois state government, I hope the IPI management team takes a problem-solving approach to its work.
But I am not optimistic. Ideology thrives on rigidity. It is not good at governance.
“There’s been a lot of writing and talk about staffing. It’s the tempest and the teapot. There’s nothing changing. My positions have been clear. I am a strong advocate for the people of Illinois. I want to change our government so it actually works for people and put our children and our families first. Political insiders, the privileged inside government, the folks who make their money from political power, we need to battle against them.”
Rauner contended “sometimes you need fresh troops to engage in the battle.”
Carl was not among several communications staffers at the press conference on Monday, which was the governor’s first Chicago media availability since his staff shakeup. Since July 10, there have been at least 20 administration exits — both firings and resignations in protest. The transition hasn’t been easy. After being asked to come back into the Thompson Center’s Blue Room to make an introduction to reporters, the staffers learned they were locked in.
“I have a key!” a staffer said quickly before they made their exit.
Cullerton ADMITS Chicago Machine Holding School Funding Hostage
“We slowed down the process”
Senate President John Cullerton admitted yesterday for the first time that Democratic politicians in Springfield are intentionally holding SB1 from reaching Governor Rauner’s desk.
Cullerton told the Chicago Tribune that “We slowed down the process in the Senate in order to let everyone blow off some steam, politically speaking.”
This is a direct admission that the Chicago Machine is holding school funding hostage.
John Cullerton has no right to pervert the legislative process in this way. It’s an affront to democracy.
John Cullerton and Mike Madigan should stop helping try to get their friends in Chicago a $500 million bailout and allow SB1 to reach Governor Rauner’s desk for an amendatory veto.
Anything less is a slap in the face to the voters of Illinois and their confidence in our democratic system.
* Or perhaps Cullerton was just remembering history. From February…
Sometimes in politics, emotions get involved. Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday brought up emotions when discussing his December veto of legislation that would have provided $215 million for Chicago Public Schools.
“You know, I’m a human being, I get a little emotional sometimes,” Rauner said at an appearance before the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board.
Rauner was explaining his abrupt veto of a plan that had been part of a larger deal he struck over the summer with the Democrats who control the General Assembly — House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. […]
“There was a commitment in our leaders meetings last summer, when we did our stopgap spending plan … that when we did comprehensive pension reform for the state, Chicago’s teacher pension would be changed instead to be picked up by the state,” Rauner said. “That was part of the — that was a verbal agreement, crystal clear. And you know, I’m a human being, I get a little emotional sometimes. When that was publicly reneged on — you don’t do that, that’s not right.”
Since then, there’s been no pension reform agreement, but the Democrats want the CPS pension language to remain in SB 1 anyway and they know the topic makes the governor react in an emotional way.
So, Cullerton, whose chamber passed a pension reform bill that never made it out of the House, held the bill. Cullerton is taking heat from Rauner for being Madigan’s pawn, but it looks to me like he’s playing a two-track game: Prevent the governor from vetoing the bill while hoping Madigan will finally budge on pension reform and then everyone can “win.”
* They need a negotiated agreement, but that doesn’t seem likely in the near term for a few reasons:
1) The governor appears to want to avenge the overrides of his budget vetoes by locking up Republicans with big promises of more money for their schools at the expense of Chicago. An override on this particular bill looks all but impossible in the House. Madigan, fresh off Rauner’s budgetary defeat, probably doesn’t want to “lose” this round. So, everybody will stand their ground for a while. How long people are willing to hold out is the big question right now.
2) The governor flatly refuses to negotiate until the Senate sends him the bill. But even if Rauner did agree to leaders’ meetings, I’m not sure that Speaker Madigan would want to be in the same room with the governor’s new chief of staff, who has made a career out of bashing the man.
3) Speaker Madigan has shown absolutely zero interest in passing any bills that are opposed by organized labor, and public employee unions definitely do not love Cullerton’s pension reform plan. So, getting Madigan off the dime on pension reform doesn’t look likely in the near term. In a perfect world, Madigan would either tell the unions that the bill is probably unconstitutional anyway, so just suck it up and deal with it; or tell CPS to wait until the Democrats elect a governor and then they’ll get their pension money from the state, just like every other school district. But this isn’t a perfect world. Far from it.
Saying it was “one of the hardest decisions of my life,” State Representative Carol Ammons has decided not to run for Congress.
“With my deepest appreciation for your support and encouragement, I have decided not to run for the 13th Congressional District in 2018,” Ammons posted on her Facebook page on Monday night.
Ammons, D-Urbana, had been considering challenging incumbent Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, for the past two months and held several “listening sessions” throughout the district during that time.
“Across the 13th Congressional District, from Champaign-Urbana to Edwardsville, I heard you say that the issues and policies impacting your lives on a day-to-day basis, the ones pushing you into survival mode, crushing your families and dampening your children’s dreams, are primarily state issues,” Ammons said. “What I heard at the listening sessions, loudest and clearest, is that right now I am needed most in state government, fighting for Champaign-Urbana and all of Illinois in 2018.”
Erik Jones, 37, an attorney from Edwardsville who has worked for the state attorney general and congressional committees, on Monday announced he is a Democratic primary candidate for the U.S. House from the 13th Congressional District.
“Illinois needs to send bulldogs, not backslappers, to Congress to confront our challenges,” Jones said in a statement. “We’ve grown too comfortable with low expectations of our leaders. It’s time we raise the bar, and that starts with who we send to Washington.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville now represents the 13th.
Jones becomes the third Democrat to announce for the race, joining physician and past congressional candidate David Gill of Bloomington and Betsy Dirksen Londrigan of Springfield, who has worked as a self-employed fundraiser for people including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and entities such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.
A competitive race is almost certain to be an expensive affair, with Davis’ campaign committee reporting $801,532.39 on hand at the end of June, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Jones said he was confident that he could raise the money necessary to “run a serious campaign” against Davis.
“I wouldn’t be in this race if I didn’t think I could put in a serious campaign,” he said.
Most recently, Jones said, he was in private practice with the Venable law firm, aiding domestic companies in their response to data breaches by foreign hackers who were targeted individuals’ consumer information.
Jones said he is in the process of leaving the firm and intends to devote “100 percent” of his time to the race in the congressional district that extends from Champaign-Urbana on the northeast to Edwardsville on the southwest, a distance of about 150 miles.
“I’ll be running full time, that’s the plan,” he said.
Another topic Rauner sidestepped today was whether the Illinois State Board of Education had run the numbers on his plan. State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) stepped to the microphone to state that ISBE analyzes only legislation, not proposals.
Via email, ISBE spokesperson Jackie Mathews later offered this explanation for the confusion: “ISBE will produce an analysis for legislation before it is filed but will make the analysis public only at the request of the bill sponsor. An analysis is considered draft until the bill is filed.”
Today, I am starting a new chapter in my life. I am leaving my job as the House Republican Spokesperson to take a position in communications with the Illinois Commerce Commission.
For 23 years I have been blessed to get to know and work alongside so many talented lawmakers, staff, journalists and lobbyist. I am most thankful for the lasting friendships that I have made along the way.
Life under the dome is not easy. The schedule is grueling and the level of stress generally remains high, but I always felt at home. I considered all who passed through the copper doors regularly a part of my extended family.
I am proud of the work I have done and will look back with no regrets. As a senior staff member, I worked for 3 House Republican Leaders and 8 Chiefs of Staff. I had a front row seat into the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich and the Ryan, Blagojevich and Quinn administrations. I saw a good friend (Mike Bost) have a tirade on the House floor that went viral and fielded media calls from all over the nation for weeks - he is now a U.S. Congressman. Following years of media stories regarding the abuses of the legislative scholarship program, as the Director of Communications, I helped convince many Republican legislators to quit handing out the scholarships – the program was eventually abolished. And as a volunteer, I was there to celebrate with many candidates after winning an election, and I have been there to cry with others when they lost. So many memories….so many stories to tell. To quote my good friend former State Rep. William Black of Danville, “You couldn’t make this stuff up.”
Earlier this year, I saw the last of the original lawmakers who were in the House when I started back in July of 1994 leave the House chamber….and I have seen hundreds of staff members and reporters come and go.
Now it is my turn.
I am particularly grateful to Leader Jim Durkin for the opportunities he has given me over these past four years. He is a true statesman and a man of great integrity. I am proud to call him my friend. He has a tough job. I wish him nothing but the best in the months and years ahead.
For me…I am looking forward to taking a little time off and a long-planned vacation with my family before starting my new adventure.I am looking most forward to getting through a meal with my family without having to take a phone call or answer an email.
Please wish me luck and I hope you will invite me to join you for a drink sometime.
* From a memo Leader Durkin sent to his members today…
Dear House Republican Member:
Today I am announcing that Vicki Crawford will be moving on to take a communications position at the Illinois Commerce Commission. I cannot thank Vicki enough for her service to me as my spokesperson since becoming Republican Leader nearly 4 years ago and for the more than 20 years of hard work and dedication that she has provided to the House Republican Caucus. It will be extremely difficult to replace her talents, experience, and institutional knowledge but we wish her the best moving forward.
I hope to identify and announce a new spokesperson in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Jim Durkin
She’s not just a straight shooter and a professional in every regard. She’s also a kind and decent human being and it has been a pleasure working with her over the decades.
* For weeks, the Democrats have been saying they don’t want to lift the parliamentary hold on SB 1 because they hoped to talk Gov. Rauner out of a veto. Well, those days are over. The governor intends to use his amendatory veto powers on the bill. I think it’s clear that the governor doesn’t actually know all the particulars about what he plans to do, but I also don’t think that the Democrats could talk him out of vetoing it anyway. Chicago bad! Madigan bad! This thing is tailor-made for him.
But now that the governor has called yet another special session starting Wednesday, what would be the point of holding onto SB 1 now, except to prove they can’t be bullied into doing something? I mean, are the Democrats just going to sit around in Springfield and… what? Do they think they can just sit on the bill until Labor Day?
The bill gives CPS the pension bailout Chicago officials have long demanded. SB 1 requires state taxpayers to give the district $215 million a year for CPS’ “normal” pension and health care costs – the additional benefits Chicago teachers earn annually – every year going forward.By forcing state taxpayers to pay for CPS pensions, lawmakers are bailing out CPS from the 10-year pension holiday it took starting in the mid-1990s. For nearly a decade, CPS failed to put any money in its pension plan, instead using money that should have gone to pensions primarily for salary increases.
Under SB 1, CPS is partially exempt from the new “evidence-based” formula to which every other district is subject. It gets to keep the early childhood education portion of its special block grant, which no other district receives. That will provide CPS with millions more from the state than it would otherwise get.
Under the bill, the district is allowed to look “poorer” than it actually is when applying for education state aid. CPS will get to subtract the cost of its old retirement debt from its local revenues. That means the district will get more state aid than it otherwise would. No other district will get to do that.
Chicago will also benefit from SB 1’s “hold harmless” provision. The “hold harmless” provision ensures that a district cannot receive less in state aid funds than it did the previous year. The provision protects a district’s state funding even if it experiences changes in demographics (e.g., a drop in student attendance that would have otherwise led to less state funding).
* Illinois Policy Institute’s news service, July 24…
It also appropriates about $300 million in new state dollars to Chicago Public Schools to help bail out its failing pension system. Rauner and Republicans have said suburban and downstate taxpayers should not be paying to bail out Chicago schools.
The formula bill passed by Democrats in late May creates such an “evidence-based” system for distributing state aid, but Rauner opposes the bill because it includes $215 million in pension assistance for Chicago Public Schools and it allows the district to keep a special block grant worth $250 million.
Rauner indicated Monday that he plans to use his veto pen to zero out CPS’ pension money so that it instead would go to classrooms in rural and suburban school districts, which aren’t responsible for their own pension costs.
Under SB1 & SB6 (the budget bill) there is an additional $778M invested in K-12 Education. Under the amended SB 1, CPS would receive $495M of that $778M. That is 64% of all new money! Keep in mind that CPS has only 19% of the students in Illinois public schools. […]
The plan that I can support eliminates that extra $215 million payment to CPS pensions and allows that money to be redistributed through the new evidence based model formula.
It’s a staggeringly complex subject—I still can’t figure out where there’s a $100 million-a-year difference in some key figures the two sides are giving me—and no one here gets a pass. But the more I learn, the more I tilt against Rauner. He’s decided to demonize part of his electorate, Chicago, in a way I haven’t seen in this state’s politics for many decades. And he’s cherry-picking numbers even more than the other side. […]
On balance, CPS would receive an extra almost $300 million in 2018, according to the Democrats. They say that figure still is less than it ought to be, based on student population, and represents only a quarter of next year’s overall statewide increase in spending.
Republicans say the hike for Chicago is more like $400 million. I haven’t been able to get them to explain why. But part of it is the roughly $200 million-a-year block grant CPS gets from an old budget deal, money the Republicans want to phase out in exchange for the pension money. […]
In this fray, I find fairly convincing the contention that, even assuming the Democrats get their way, Chicago by their count would receive 16 percent of the money while educating 19 percent of the state’s public school kids. CPS is being shortchanged.
If Republicans have different figures, they’re not disclosing them. Believe me, I’ve asked. Instead, they respond that Chicago wouldn’t need as much if it hadn’t mismanaged and undercontributed to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund. In other words: Dig yourself out of your own mess. […]
But by the “own mess” standard, the state’s Teachers’ Retirement System, which will get $4.56 billion from taxpayers next year, was even more mismanaged. It has only 39.8 percent of the assets needed to pay expected liabilities compared to the city fund’s 52.4 percent. So why can’t downstate and the suburbs dig themselves out of their hole?
S&P Global Ratings upgraded four Illinois universities and took three others off watch for a potential downgrade because the state ended a standoff over the budget that had left the schools reeling from the loss of aid.
The legislature’s decision this month to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto to enact the first full budget in two years lifted a financial threat to the state’s public colleges, which had been laying off employees, slashing spending and shuttering programs to cope with funding delays.
“These universities’ immediate liquidity risks as a result of the state’s failure to provide timely payment of operating appropriations are mitigated with the recent passage of the fiscal 2018 budget and retroactive payment anticipated for fiscal 2017,” Ashley Ramchandani, an S&P analyst, said in a statement on Monday.
Southern Illinois University and Governors State University had their ratings lifted one level to BB+, one step below investment grade. Northeastern Illinois University and Eastern Illinois University were upgraded one step to B+, four levels below investment grade. All four were moved from negative to stable outlooks.
Bruce Rauner has made it clear he intends to pit schoolchildren and communities against each other by issuing a yet to be revealed amendatory veto to SB 1, a bill that lets school districts across the state open their doors on time. In response, JB Pritzker issued the following statement:
“The only person driving an ‘artificial crisis’ is Bruce Rauner. Rather than working cooperatively with lawmakers, advocates, families and school districts, Rauner has once again decided to approach school funding with his arrogant and dismissive ‘my way or the highway’ style,” said JB Pritzker. “It’s simply unconscionable that Bruce Rauner cares more about pushing a right-wing agenda than he does about making sure children get a quality education. Unfortunately for our children and families, it looks like Rauner still hasn’t figured out that being governor means coming out from behind the desk in his office to work with other people. If he follows through on his threats to hold children and families hostage to his political agenda, Rauner will be responsible for preventing schools across Illinois from opening on time.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** ILGOP…
ILGOP Supports Rauner Decision to Call Special Session
Mike Madigan’s Attempt to Hold Schoolchildren Hostage Needs to Stop
“It is beyond inexcusable that Mike Madigan and his allies refuse to release education funding for all Illinois schools unless they get their $500 million Chicago bailout. It’s just another attempt by Madigan to hold our state hostage for his disastrous Chicago agenda.”
“Governor Rauner’s decision to call lawmakers back to Springfield is necessary to protect students across Illinois from Mike Madigan’s hostage-taking.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
*** UPDATE 3 *** Press release…
Daniel Biss released the following statement in response to Governor Rauner’s calling of a special legislative session:
“We already knew Bruce Rauner as the proverbial kid on the playground who takes his ball and goes home when he doesn’t get everything he wants. Today, he’s proven that he’ll also bulldoze the playground.
“After more than two years of manufactured crisis, and over Rauner’s objections, Illinois has a budget, and a semblance of certainty. In retaliation, Rauner is now using divisive and evasive tactics to plunge us into crisis once again.
“Despite the pleas of families, students, educators, and legislators, Rauner has made it clear that he wants to create a crisis so that he can impose 100% of his ideological agenda on us.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** The governor’s official proclamation states that the “Illinois State Board of Education is required to begin making payments to school districts across the state on August 1, 2017.”
In making this distribution, the State Board of Education shall present vouchers to the State Comptroller on the 10th and 20th days of each month beginning in August.
Moneys distributed under this Section shall be calculated on a school year basis, but paid on a fiscal year basis, with payments beginning in August
So, maybe that’s where the confusion is.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Kennedy campaign…
“This is the latest smokescreen Bruce Rauner has thrown up. He has no interest in fair funding for public schools in Illinois. He hasn’t led and waited until the eleventh hour to threaten a veto. That’s what happens in Springfield under Bruce Rauner. He creates a crisis instead of finding a solution. There’s been plenty of time to debate the bill. It isn’t perfect. It doesn’t fix the broken property tax system tied to our school funding, but it’s too late to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It’s time to show up, lead, and allow our schools to open this fall— not use our public schools, teachers and students as Bruce Rauner’s latest political football.”
*** UPDATE 6 *** Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria)…
“Governor Rauner has demonstrated once again that he favors campaigning over governing. Rather than focusing on how he could work constructively with the General Assembly, he calls Blagojevich-style special sessions that only waste taxpayers’ dollars.
“I am calling on the governor to sign a bill that his own administration says he supports 90% of. It is time to stop pitting one part of the state against the other for political purposes.”
*** UPDATE 7 *** Ameya Pawar…
“It’s painfully apparent that Bruce Rauner continues to play politics instead of governing. He says he agrees with 90 percent of the school funding bill lawmakers passed during the last session, yet he is threatening an amendatory veto without releasing any details. Now, he’s calling lawmakers back to Springfield to rehash what was a common sense solution to our inequitable school funding system. Lawmakers did their jobs, while Bruce Rauner is failing at his.
“What Bruce Rauner is doing is pitting communities against each other and dividing our state by race, class and geography. He’s telling downstate communities that their schools aren’t getting funding because of ‘those people’ in Chicago - propping up a false narrative that Senate Bill 1 is a bailout for Chicago, despite the fact that it increases funding for every school district in the state. Meanwhile, school districts and families across the state are in panic mode as they try to plan for the start of the school year.
“We must reform our outdated school funding formula that relies on property taxes for funding and start making significant strides toward closing the 20 percent funding gap between upper income and lower income school districts. Instead of asking local communities to foot a majority of the bill for their schools, our government needs to make school funding a priority as our state constitution requires.”
He referred to his Republican allies in Congress as “they,” while casting himself passively as “sitting in the Oval Office … pen in hand, waiting to sign something.”
While here in Illinois…
At my desk, preparing for a balanced budget to arrive. Lawmakers need to come together & get this done for Illinois. Time is running out. pic.twitter.com/mnspNHImmf
Former FBI Director James Comey said he documented his meetings with President Trump because he worried he’d have to defend himself and the FBI publicly over those conversations because Trump “might lie,” a feeling he never had with previous presidents with whom he worked.
“I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting,” Comey said.
When asked about his relationship with Madigan and whether the two of them could sit down and talk, Rauner said he had spent “hours and hours and hours” meeting with the speaker.
“When I first met him eight years ago, I asked him what his goal was for improving the quality of life for the people of Illinois. You know what he said to me? He laughed and said ‘I don’t have a goal like that.’ He said ‘I do two things: manage power and make money for managing power,’” said Rauner.
I asked the House Speaker’s spokesman for comment. His e-mailed reply…
Sounds like another election night phone call to me.
You’ll recall that Rauner said on election night that he had spoken with Madigan about the future, but actually hadn’t.
President Donald Trump predicted Tuesday that Republicans would wait for the federal insurance market to collapse and then work to broker a deal to rewrite the nation’s landmark health-care law, while Senate leaders pressed ahead with a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no immediate replacement.
“Crisis creates opportunity. Crisis creates leverage to change … and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change,” said Rauner, borrowing from a political philosophy famously coined by his friend Rahm Emanuel that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford on Sunday said President Donald Trump threatened to back a Republican primary challenger against him if he voted against the American Health Care Act, the GOP’s Obamacare replacement bill that failed last month.
The Illinois Republican Party heavily funded by Gov. Bruce Rauner has worked for years to tell voters that Democrats wanted to raise state taxes.
Then a bunch of the party’s own lawmakers voted for a tax hike and bucked the governor’s override. Shortly after, Rauner’s hand-picked state GOP chairman released a statement sharply critical of them.
“After all we have accomplished together, it is astonishing that these legislators would now turn their backs on taxpayers across the state,” the statement from party Chairman Tim Schneider read in part. “I am confident voters will hold those politicians accountable for choosing Mike Madigan over the people of Illinois.”
Assuming Schneider isn’t suggesting he wants Democrats to defeat those Republicans, the statement suggests those GOP lawmakers could face primary opponents next spring.
* Nationally…
Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!
I'm not afraid either. While I've had members of the Govs staff berate my support of SB1, I've never heard a peep from Speaker Madigan. https://t.co/baaDtKxGbn
The group’s Facebook page generated hundreds of thousands of often profanity-laden, hate-filled and even some comments that appeared to advocate violent acts like lynching. It also succeeded in inundating legislators with calls and e-mails. At least one legislator, Rep. Steve Andersson (R-Geneva), reported receiving death threats. The group claims to have an “unblemished” record of “decency, civility, and candor,” but that’s not how some of those legislators see it.
* The Question: What major differences do you see separating President Trump from Gov. Rauner? Don’t forget to explain. And, please, no snark. This is a serious question.
One of the constants during Gov. Bruce Rauner’s 2 1/2 years in office has been his belief in the power of messaging: If only people understood his agenda, the resulting groundswell of public support would be enough to pressure Democrats to get on board with his ideas.
It’s a notion so central to the Republican governor’s philosophy that it’s common for him to ask supporters, onlookers and even journalists to “help get the message out.”
“We just need to get our friends and our neighbors and our allies to stand up together and message on this issue,” Rauner said last week during remarks at a gathering of road builders in Oak Brook. “Everything we’re fighting for is a win for the people of Illinois, and we’ve got to message that together.”
Since the start of the year, Rauner’s focus on messaging intensified as a temporary budget expired and pressure built for the Republican governor to strike a budget deal with Democrats who control the General Assembly, according to people familiar with the operations of the governor’s office who spoke to the Chicago Tribune on condition of anonymity.
OK, but what does he mean by “messaging”?
* If you scroll all the way down to the very end of WBEZ’s story on the Illinois Policy Institute staffers hired by Gov. Rauner, I think you’ll see what he’s talking about…
[Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine)], however, said Rauner’s new chief of staff and communications team would focus more on how the governor delivers his message.
“One thing the Illinois Policy Institute does well is communicate the untold stories that maybe the media is unable or unwilling to tell,” Morrison said.
* This is the same basic explanation given by Chicago Tribune editorial board member Kristen McQueary on Dan Proft’s radio show a couple of weeks ago…
If you look at what [Gov. Rauner’s new chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen] has done with the Illinois Policy Institute, regardless of what you think of the Policy Institute, until they started growing and putting pressure on different policy issues in Springfield, there was really no entity down there pushing that agenda, or refuting what the Left was always doing, or taking unions to task, or looking more critically at the state budget and all of these issues. They have become a force de jour under her leadership. So, I think that probably speaks to why she is a good choice.
I mean, you know the liberals will go nuts because the Illinois Policy Institute is seen as a real flash point down there. And this will be interpreted as he is now going to listen even more to his base and anti-union rhetoric and all that. That’s what the push will be. But I just see this as more of a policy-driven, disciplined person who will be in his ear every day rather than some of these people who perhaps did not know Springfield as well as they should have. […]
She also has just a really good grasp of media, of story-telling. When I’ve been on this show at times, sometimes I’ve felt as an editorial writer that I was telling stories that his people should’ve been telling… It fuels the idea that maybe there isn’t good messaging coming from his office when they’re not good at explaining why, for example, a locally approved right to work zone, and I know these are considered off limits kind of off the bat, but they shouldn’t be. Some of these issues that were on his initial Turnaround Agenda were not anti-union, union-bashing. They were small, locally approved issues to help places like the South Side of Chicago and the West Side that have not seen new development in 25 or 30 years.
* Gov. Rauner was asked by reporters several times today about the details of his threatened amendatory veto of SB 1. “We need it on my desk and you will see,” he said to one reporter.
“We can’t have any rational discussions until that bill’s on my desk,” he told another who asked about leaders meetings. “There’s nothing really to discuss without that bill being on my desk.”
“If they would actually deal with the reality and have the truth come, I could, you could read my amendatory veto and you’ll see what I do. They don’t want the truth. They don’t want an open debate. They don’t want this to be out in public. Because the truth is so bad for their position.”
Um, SB 1 is out there for everyone to see. The governor’s plan is the only secret here. There can be no public debate until we see his plan, and I don’t see what the harm would be in making it public. Perhaps I’m wrong. What do you think?
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the DGA…
In a bizarre press conference today, Governor Bruce Rauner repeatedly dodged direct questions about his plans for SB1. In addition, Rauner called for Democrats to send him SB1 so that he could amendatory veto the legislation, but refused to spell out what his changes will actually entail.
Perhaps Rauner’s reluctance to talk to address the specifics of SB1 has to do with his general campaign of misinformation regarding the school funding formula. Greg Hinz of Chicago Crain’s writes that Rauner has “decided to demonize part of his electorate, Chicago, in a way I haven’t seen in this state’s politics for many decades” and he’s “cherry-picking” numbers to do it. Hinz continues:
“Rauner, for instance, while wailing about those fat-cat Chicago teachers and their big pensions, is promoting a website that shows how much other districts would get under his school funding plan. The trouble is in the fine print: The site purports to redistribute money that would come not from pension funding but from phased-out block grants. Apparently taking away money from impoverished kids in Chicago isn’t as popular as whacking teacher pensions.”
Worse, Friday Rauner admitted the state’s school board of education was not even involved in the math behind Rauner’s planned veto, and instead the work was done by unnamed administration people. Dusty Rhodes of NPR Illinois writes:
“He hasn’t shown the work behind his calculations, and said he didn’t know whether the Illinois State Board of Education had been involved in the creation of the spreadsheet. ISBE, which is headed by Rauner appointees, traditionally models funding proposals using their in-depth database. Full models of other proposals, including SB1, sponsored by Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and SB1124, sponsored by Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) are available at isbe.net.”
It sure seems like Governor Rauner’s concerned about the policy here.
“Bruce Rauner’s actions these past two weeks showed a governor more concerned about his reelection than about making sure schools open on time,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner has pursued a campaign of misinformation designed to divide one state against the other, and today Rauner’s cynical strategy was exposed when he refused to address direct questions about his plans for SB1. Illinois families have seen this failed style of leadership when Bruce Rauner dragged the state through a two-year budget impasse that drove jobs and people from the state.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** ILGOP…
ILGOP Releases Digital Ads
Ads Highlight Mike Madigan’s Chicago Bailout, Attempt to Hold Schoolchildren Hostage
Mike Madigan’s attempt to hold schoolchildren hostage for a $500 million Chicago bailout is everything wrong with Illinois politics.
Madigan is willing to put politics ahead of the interests of Illinois children. He’s willing to take money from children across the state to bailout his friends in Chicago with no promise of reform. It’s just plain wrong.
That’s why today, the Illinois Republican Party is releasing digital ads calling out Mike Madigan for his scheme to force through a taxpayer funded Chicago bailout.
Sneed hears rumbles the days might be numbered for Brittany Carl, one of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s newly hired communications aides — who compared abortion to Nazi Germany’s eugenics programs on a conservative blog before she was hired. […]
“Both the governor and Diana are irate over the comments,” said a top source for the couple, who claims they are disappointed with the loss of some of their staff amid abrupt firings and resignations last week. […]
“It’s true Rauner was hoping for a diversity of hiring, but Carl’s hiring wasn’t well thought out,” said a Sneed source.
Sneed is told the governor was not happy with the leadership of his communications department, felt relationships with the media could have been much better, and had tried to bring in new talent to offer new ideas — but felt his communications staff was not open to new ideas.
“So the plan was to bring in new talent who related better to the press and were better at messaging,” the source said.
People who relate better to the press? Really? Here’s the Illinois Policy Institute’s publisher and general manager of its news network…
When people ask me how Madigan has managed to maintain his grip on the state, I tell them that it’s two pieces. One, he owns his district. He’s had it on lockdown for decades. Two, he owns the Springfield Bubble Press Corps, who seem only too willing to amplify whatever anyone blows into their recorders. Some of that reporting brings to mind the foreign press I observed in my world travels.
* Related…
* Statement of Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard): “Illinois Democrats and their left-wing allies will do anything to distract from their massive tax increase and Chicago bailout, including mischaracterizing a smart, competent woman for her strong support of the pro-life position. In her private capacity, well before taking a public political position with the Rauner administration, Brittany Carl wrote articles linking her strong feminist position with her equally strong pro-life position. She wrote with the passion and conviction you would expect from an advocate, not the carefully crafted words of a politician. While her past writings don’t deserve to be judged by the standards of political press releases, folks should heed her core message: a belief in feminism is consistent with a belief in the dignity and worth of every life, no matter how small. The leaders of the Democratic Party recently declared that pro-life people cannot be Democrats. Thank God Governor Rauner, despite being pro-choice, doesn’t discriminate against people based on their own personal abortion positions.”
* Gov. Rauner told reporters today that if SB 1 isn’t sent to his desk by noon, he’ll start calling legislators back for a special session starting this Wednesday.
Before he does, however, he might want to sign HB 643, which keeps legislative salaries, mileage reimbursements and lodging allowances at last fiscal year’s levels…
Amends the General Assembly Compensation Act. Establishes the fiscal year 2018 mileage reimbursement rate and allowance for lodging and meals. Amends the Compensation Review Act. Prohibits cost-of-living adjustments for or during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017 for State government legislative and executive elected officers and appointees in positions for which the Compensation Review Board previously recommended or determined compensation. Effective immediately.
* Meanwhile, this track is from the 2004 special session that was called by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. You’ll hear what sounds like Rep. Jim Durkin say “I think it’s really the arrogance of the Governor that’s keeping us here.” Another complains that it seems “ridiculous” to call a special session “where there’s no agreement,” among other gems…
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton renewed his request that Governor Rauner put down his veto pen and instead meet with the legislative leaders to make sure he understands what is in the historic school funding overhaul before it arrives on his desk. Here is the full statement from Senate President John Cullerton.
“Last week, the governor didn’t know where he’s getting the education numbers he’s been using. He lashes out over what he calls a ‘Chicago bailout,’ but the same provision appears in his ‘plan.’ He calls Senate Bill 1 ‘historic’ and then says he will veto it immediately.
I’d like to have a conversation with Governor Rauner in hopes of getting some clarity as to exactly what is going on. We slowed down the process in the Senate in order to let everyone blow off some steam, politically speaking.
Six weeks later, the governor’s temper continues to flare. I don’t want him making statewide classroom funding decisions out of a position of anger.
I’d like the opportunity to make sure he knows what is in the proposal from the people who wrote it so he can make a rational decision.”
* The governor had an answer for Cullerton earlier today at the Daily Herald…
Rauner says Cullerton's calls for leaders meetings a "sham" a "diversion" an "excuse not to send me SB1."
Gov. Rauner is not the only obstacle to improving Illinois. How do you think you will handle Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to get your agenda moving?
* JB Pritzker said he could get things done as governor just like he has in the private and public sectors and then said…
But I think we gotta stop throwing the leadership of the Democratic Party at each other. That is Bruce Rauner’s game. It is his game to make us fight each other in this primary so that he’s got an easier chance in the general elecction. That’s why I have not said one cross word about anybody that’s on this stage. I have been adamant about the fact that we need to focus every day on the failings of Bruce Rauner. That’s the guy that has made the mistakes in this state. That’s the guy that has stood up against working families. And I’m going to beat him in the general election.
This weekend, we got even more evidence that J.B. Pritzker is Mike Madigan’s pick.
Asked at a Democratic forum how he would handle Illinois’ corrupt Speaker, Pritzker defended Madigan.
Capitol Fax reports that Pritzker responded by saying that “we gotta stop throwing the leadership of the Democratic Party at each other.”
It’s been widely reported that J.B. Pritzker is Mike Madigan’s handpicked candidate for Governor.
Just last month, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Madigan was “breaking legs behind the scenes to help Pritzker”.
J.B. Pritzker has now made his position clear – he is unwilling to criticize Mike Madigan for anything.
He is unwilling to criticize Madigan for forcing through his 32% tax hike without reform. For refusing to bring term limits up for a vote. For using his personal attorney to kill the fair maps ballot initiative. For his decades of patronage hiring. For rigging the property tax system against hardworking taxpayers.
Nope, Pritzker is fine with all of it.
It’s easy to see why Madigan likes Pritzker so much.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Galia Slayen of the Pritzker campaign…
“Welcome back ILGOP. Good to know you still remember your tired talking points. In case you missed it while you were gone, your governor cleaned house, brought in a bunch of radical extremists, and is now holding funding for Illinois schoolchildren hostage. So hope you got some rest. You’re going to need it.”
Drawing parallels between the horrors his family has faced and the challenges facing Chicago, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy laid out plans Saturday he said he would enact to help curb the rampant gun violence in the city.
Several times during a 40-minute speech detailing his plans, Kennedy spoke of the residual effect that gun violence can have.
Kennedy spoke of “a boy” whose father was killed and the troubles he faced and overcame growing up. […]
Kennedy laid out eight areas he said he believes would lead to a decrease in violence: boosting economic development, halting the flow of illegal guns into the state, doing more to mentor at-risk youth, putting a greater focus on using proven techniques to quell violence, acknowledging that violence will continue, making the police department better reflect the communities it serves; and reforming the criminal justice system.
Asked how much his plans would cost, particularly in shifting the burden off property taxes to state taxes, Kennedy said he was speaking about “solutions that drive our costs down.”
Asked what his plan to add up to 2,000 police officers in Chicago with benefits and pensions would cost city taxpayers, Kennedy responded: “Tell that to the thousands of people who were shot last year. Tell that to the people of the families that lost a loved one. Tell that to the children who will be unproductive adults because they can’t process the trauma. Tell that to the taxpayer who’s going to have the burden of those families for their entire lives because we didn’t pay for a few extra police officers today.” […]
“We are using strategic gentrification as a weapon against the poor and people of color. We’re underfunding the schools because we pay for them with property taxes,” said Kennedy, who said education should be funded with “a basket of taxes” including a graduated income tax that levies a higher tax rate based on wealth.
“This is the root of fundamental unfairness, not just in Chicago but across the entire state as well,” he said of the property tax system. “Not only does it cause our kids to be undereducated, it contributed clearly to the violence in our communities. People are dying. They’re being killed because we are not providing them alternative economic opportunities simply because they are undereducated.”
Kennedy said there’s a lot of focus on Chicago, but other parts of Illinois have shootings, too.
“Violence which can touch our society anywhere will eventually touch our society everywhere. Just as it did to my family, just as it has done to too many of the people in this room. Just as it has done to too many families across the state of Illinois,” he said.
During the speech, Kennedy criticized Governor Bruce Rauner for not doing enough to curb violence in Chicago, saying that the governor’s belief in limited government intervention has been the wrong path forward.
“The Republican party in the state of Illinois was hijacked by a libertarian madman who believes that there is no role for government in people’s lives nor the economy nor in state support for any anti-violence program,” he said.
* Kennedy also sat down for an interview with WGN TV…
Chris Kennedy spent his childhood coping with his father death but also the murder of his uncle President John F. Kennedy.
“We would watch TV and watch the news every night it would just appear on screen on news broadcast or part of a movie screen,” he says. “That was always very disturbing. It would rattle us.”
From a wealthy family, Kennedy had resources to help him deal with the family tragedies, but he worries about all the children of Chicago’s gun violence who do not.
“Today, it’s different in Chicago and elsewhere where you have thousands of those events occurring every year and way too many people being injured physically and mentally and mostly emotionally. I’d say that the bullet that kills the father wounds the child. … We have entire communities deal with PTSD and other issues. … Now we know how to fix now we know how to heal, now we know how to help and yet we don’t help, we don’t heal. We don’t fix because we don’t spend the money to do so.”
As Bruce Rauner threatens to call a special session on education funding today, it is important to recognize that Rauner clearly doesn’t understand what’s in his own plan.
Rauner is committed to amendatory vetoing SB 1, even creating a web page with unverified numbers to spread his misinformation. But when pressed by reporters as to why he is doing this or where his numbers came from, Rauner had no answers. Rauner refused to provide a yes or no as to whether the Illinois State Board of Education even scored his plan, saying his numbers came from, “our administration in conjunction with, uh, our legislators and in conjunction with, uh, school officials.” Really convincing.
“Bruce Rauner is ready to call a special session and potentially shut down Illinois schools to force an education funding plan he doesn’t even understand,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This shoot first ask questions later strategy is evidence of a failed governor and his new radical staff, desperate for a political victory no matter how many schools and children get hurt in the process.”
* ILGOP…
Editorial Boards Call on Democrats to Release SB1
Madigan Democrats Should Stop Holding Schoolchildren Hostage
Mike Madigan and his allies in Springfield are holding schoolchildren hostage for a $500 billion Chicago bailout. They’re refusing to release SB1, the education funding bill, to Governor Rauner’s desk for an amendatory veto to release school funding and remove the bailout.
They are trying to use our children’s education as a leverage for Madigan’s Chicago bailout.
It’s wrong, and editorial boards across Illinois are calling them out for it.
“Send the bill to the governor now. Let him use his amendatory veto, and put it to a vote now.”
The Southern Illinoisan editorial board wrote this weekend that, “Some things need to be above politics. Educating our children should be at the top of the list.”
“Take out the Chicago pension funding provision and get the bill to the governor’s desk.”
Mike Madigan – it’s time to release education funding and drop your Chicago bailout.
In the meantime, it’s time for the two sides to quit bickering and put a plan in place. […]
It is time for a pragmatic approach. Take out the Chicago pension funding provision and get the bill to the governor’s desk. And, the governor has to keep the goalposts in place and affix his signature.
The governor is holding a Thompson Center press conference at 10:30 this morning with House GOP Leader Jim Durkin and Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady. I’ll let you know what happens.
[Gov. Rauner] has been traveling the state, saying will use his amendatory veto to send more money to downstate schools. But a third of the dollars he plans to give downstate districts come straight out of Chicago Public Schools’ block grant, which he plans to cut by at least $200 million. That’s not a point he’s been emphasizing in his appearances, and when I asked him about it, he seemed fuzzy on the facts.
“Chicago has received a special block grant that no other school district gets,” he said. “Auburn doesn’t get any of that money. Springfield, Decatur doesn’t get any of that money. And that was put in place more than 20 years ago because Chicago pays its own pensions. So we, all of us in Illinois, taxpayers, have been funding Chicago extra money — $250 million per year, in large part because Chicago pays its own teacher pension.”
In reality, the CPS block grant has no formal relationship to pensions. All districts receive state reimbursement for seven “categoricals” above what they receive in General State Aid. Every district except Chicago has to submit vouchers to get reimbursed for these categoricals. But since 1995, Chicago has been reimbursed via a block grant, based, at least in part, on the reality that submitting claims for thousands of different students was burdensome. Over the years, as CPS enrollment has declined, the block grant resulted in the district receiving $250 million more than it would if it had to submit vouchers for reimbursement.
Rauner’s education czar Beth Purvis has said those extra funds have been audited, and aren’t being misspent. “There’s no implication that CPS is misusing those funds in any way, shape or form,” she told me in May. “We believe that they’re using them for the educational costs of educating those children.”
Nevertheless, all Republican plans would eliminate CPS block grant overages for at least three of those seven categoricals, resulting in a loss of $202 million, which would then be redistributed to other districts. That’s one reason Rauner’s online spreadsheet shows much more generous payouts to downstate schools.
* Way down deep in a recent Tribune story about the governor’s staff changes was this little nugget…
Even before this month’s staff changes, Rauner brought in two outside consultants to help distribute his message. In April, he hired Jon Morris, founder and CEO of Rise Interactive, a Chicago digital marketing agency, and Anne Kavanagh, a former TV reporter who now does media training, crisis management and publicity work.
Morris was hired to help Rauner’s office with its digital media strategy, while Kavanagh was brought on to assist with the administration’s “earned media” strategy — industry-speak for free publicity that usually comes in the form of coverage on television or in print.
According to “engagement letters” drawn up by Dennis Murashko, Rauner’s general counsel, Morris and Kavanagh were both hired for an initial period of three months. The letters, obtained by the Tribune though a public records request, detail how Morris and Kavanagh are to interact with the governor’s office. Both were required to report to Rauner’s then-communications staff, but were not paid using taxpayer dollars.
Morris declined to comment. Kavanagh acknowledged she had been doing work for the governor, but said she wasn’t part of the decision-making process regarding the recent shake-up in the governor’s office.
That’s an unusual arrangement, to say the least.
You can scroll through more info on Morris’ firm by clicking here.
* Kavanagh’s firm has (or, at least at one point had) some interesting clients…
As you can see, my clients are super smart and good looking… Hanging with Diana Rickert and Kathy Myalls at the Illinois Policy Christmas party!!
Media Training Bootcamp for 20! Thanks to Lilia Chacon, Lauren Cohn and our crews including my son Connor!! Enjoyed working with the Illinois Opportunity Project!
In the end, Mike “Z” Zolnierowicz had only one choice. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top political lieutenant, the man everyone calls “Z” who was most responsible for winning the 2014 Republican primary and the governor’s former state chief of staff, simply had to resign late in the afternoon on Friday, July 14th.
The week began with the early Monday morning firing of Richard Goldberg, Z’s hand-picked successor as Rauner’s chief of staff and his close friend. Rumors had circulated for months that First Lady Diana Rauner had turned on Goldberg and wanted him out, and in the previous few weeks it was known among a select few that the governor had been calling around looking for a possible replacement, including calling a couple of people in Indiana who declined the offer.
But Z and others were totally caught off guard when Goldberg was abruptly fired and was not offered a position in the vast campaign apparatus that Z had constructed. Rauner had not only made a major decision without consulting Z, his supposedly number one guy, he had also needlessly kicked Goldberg to the curb.
Goldberg’s secretary was told in short order to pack up her stuff and then summarily escorted out of the building without being offered another position somewhere else. Before working for Goldberg, she had also been Z’s cherished secretary. She didn’t ask for an extended maternity leave when she had her second child. Instead, she was so committed to her duties that she’d often bring her infant with her to the office. Her callous treatment was widely seen as an unnecessary abomination as well as a direct affront to Zolnierowicz.
The governor’s top staff was mainly put together by two people: Z and Goldberg. And the loudest critics in Rauner’s personal inner circle of those staffers included people at the top of the Illinois Policy Institute. When Rauner’s staffers were replaced by Illinois Policy Institute executives, it was seen as yet another jab at Z.
Rauner and Z reportedly met a couple of days after Goldberg and others were fired and the governor asked Z to stay on. But by Friday, when several more staffers were given the boot or turned in their resignations, it was abundantly clear to everyone that Rauner was going in a totally new direction. Rauner’s campaign side and his governing side should be on the same page, Z reportedly told the governor, so he tendered his resignation. In reality, I think Z probably would’ve been eventually moved out anyway by the coup plotters.
If Goldberg had been eased out in the “traditional” way, perhaps being sent to the campaign or to some other group after consultation with people like Zolnierowicz; if the rest of the staff hadn’t been so shabbily treated; if the governor’s office hadn’t been so obviously outsourced to the Illinois Policy Institute, then Z likely wouldn’t have felt the need to leave. But if the sky was green, grass might be blue.
So, what happens next? Z reportedly told the governor he was still willing to offer advice and help from the outside. He wouldn’t talk at all about it to me either on or off the record except to say that he believes Rauner still has a real chance at reelection.
But Z’s departure is a potential disaster for this governor. It shows great weakness, and weakness is the deadliest virus in politics. If someone as loyal as Z felt he had to leave, then what kind of person would ever work with Rauner now? Zolnierowicz is a lovable man with amazing skills, but who also has the ability to turn on and off the inner soul of a political killer - and that combination has served Rauner well. Z is the guy who built up the governmental and political apparatus to support Rauner. Without him, Rauner is just a limitless checkbook with a big mouth.
For the last year and a half, top Rauner administration insiders have muttered their belief that John Tillman, who runs the Illinois Policy Institute, wanted to gain control of the governor’s state office, while conservative political activist Dan Proft wanted to control the governor’s campaign operation.
To their minds, Tillman “succeeded” with Rauner’s staff purge because several of Tillman’s own staffers were brought on board. And the Monday after Z quit, one of Proft’s people, Matthew Besler, was given the helm of the governor’s political operation.
It’s a whole new world, campers.
* Dan Proft was not pleased with that conclusion and sent me some text messages, including this…
For perspective, it would be less inane to suggest I’m angling to run House Dem races for Madigan.
