“I’m excited to be back here in Monroe County. This is strong Republican territory here,” he cheered, motioning to a crowd of more than 22o supporters. Rauner had attended the county’s Republican Lincoln Day Dinner in 2013 as a prospective gubernatorial candidate and returned in 2014 for a short visit while on the campaign trail.
During his speech, the governor went on to thank the county for their support and for fighting for the party’s values. He briefly mentioned the state budget, but only as a means to transition into his agenda.
“Some people think the problem is about the budget,” he uttered in a sincere tone. “It’s partly about the budget, but it’s really about our future prosperity.”
To Rauner, that future prosperity includes bringing power back to the Republicans in Springfield — he confidently foretold at the dinner that eight more Illinois Republicans would unseat Democratic representatives in the 2018 elections. He also continued his call for pension reform, job growth, term SAT limits and non-partisan redistricting, among other topics. [Emphasis added.]
Rauner’s standard stump speech always includes that line these days about picking up eight Democratic House seats. He says it everywhere he goes.
“I am all in to make sure we pick up eight seats next November,” Rauner said [at the Piatt County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner]. “And when we do, Republicans control the House of Representatives. … We can turn this state around dramatically if the House flipped to Republican control. … We’ve got a really good shot.”
It would actually take a nine-seat pickup for Republicans to take over the Illinois House
The Democrats have 67 House seats. So if the Republicans pick off 8 seats there’d be a 59-59 tie.
Personally, I’ve been praying for a 59-59 tie since the 1990s. Man, what great theater that would be.
* Ameya Pawar’s official response to JB Pritzker’s announcement sent to reporters…
“J.B. Pritzker is an accomplished investor and philanthropist and I welcome him to the race for governor. People are hungry for a governor who understands working families and my legislative record shows my commitment to protecting the middle class. I look forward to a healthy debate about the issues.”
* But this is what he sent to supporters…
Friend –
Moments ago, another billionaire entered the race for Governor. In a field of millionaires and billionaires, Ameya stands out as a voice for all of us – a leader with a strong track record as Alderman of delivering results for working families.
Big money politics shouldn’t limit what we can achieve as a state. When supporters like you speak up and chip in, we can fight back. Please show your support right now by donating $5, $10, $15 or whatever you can.
Ameya may not have a Springfield-backed Super PAC or a billion dollars, but what we’re building is far more powerful – thousands of grassroots supporters like you who are ready for real change.
The groundswell of support we see in town after town shows that voters are hungry for real change in Springfield. They’re looking for a progressive champion. A leader who isn’t afraid of taking on tough issues.
Now we need to keep this going to compete with our opponents’ big bank accounts and their special interest money. Can you chip in $5 or more to fuel our momentum?
Together, we’re sending a signal that people across Illinois are tired of the Trump/Rauner agenda, and ready to bring real change to Springfield.
I’ll post other reactions as they come in.
*** UPDATE *** United Working Families is a coalition that includes the Chicago Teachers Union, Cook County College Teachers Union and SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana. It sent out an e-mail today entitled “BREAKING: Battle of the Billionaires”…
It’s official: Billionaire investor J.B. Pritzker is entering the race for Illinois Governor.
If he wins the Democratic primary, he’ll square off against billionaire investor Bruce Rauner, who recently put $50 million of his own fortune into his re-election campaign.
Tired of being priced out of politics? Donate $5 or more a month to become a United Working Families member today.
A real estate mogul in the White House. An investment banker in Chicago’s City Hall. And now the billionaires are battling it out for the Illinois Governor’s mansion, while more and more working people are left behind.
It’s time to build something different: politics for the people, not the plutocrats. Become a member of United Working Families today.
Illinois is my home. This is where I’ve raised my family, where I started businesses and where I’ve created programs to improve the lives of people across the state.
What’s happening now in Springfield is offensive to our values and who we are as a state. Bruce Rauner’s failure as Governor isn’t just about numbers, it’s creating real damage every day to people across Illinois.
Now, let me address a question I imagine may be on your mind:
With Bruce Rauner as Governor and Donald Trump as President, why do we need another rich guy running for office?
My answer is that it’s a matter of values, and that Trump and Rauner are trying to destroy many of the things I’ve spent my life fighting for.
About a century ago, my great-grandfather Nicholas arrived in Chicago penniless. He worked hard — but he had help. A social service agency helped him find a place to live. A good public school helped him learn English. A state university allowed him to get a higher education degree.
You can’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you don’t have any, and this state gave my great grandfather his bootstraps.
It’s what everyone in Illinois deserves, it’s what I’ve been fighting for my whole life, and it’s what I’ll be fighting for every day as your next governor.
Pretty sure that argument alone is not gonna do the trick. Your own thoughts about what he should say?
* This from a state Republican Party whose governor says he would be fine with a 4.99 percent income tax rate and a new tax on services…
Before even announcing his campaign for governor, J.B. Pritzker followed Mike Madigan’s lead and proposed raising the income tax to over 5 percent without any reforms to fix Illinois.
At the City Club in 2015, Mike Madigan said that raising the income tax back to 5 percent with no reforms was “a good place to begin.”
Now, as J.B. Pritzker prepares to plunge into the Democratic primary, he’s made clear he supports Madigan’s tax hike plan.
Behind closed doors, Pritzker told Chicago machine insiders that he supports raising the income tax to over 5 percent.
At a meeting with Democratic activists just three weeks ago, Pritzker told party insiders the following:
“Let’s remind everybody, the tax used to be 5 percent, and he let it lapse down to three and three quarters percent. And that’s what started a lot of the problems that we’ve got in the state. So, if you just put it back that’s $5 billion dollars. That doesn’t get you everything you need, but it’s a good way toward, you know, toward getting real revenue in the state.”
“Like a true machine politician, J.B. Pritzker mirrored the Madigan tax hike plan behind closed doors, before even announcing his campaign. It’s clear that Pritzker’s loyalty belongs to Mike Madigan and his plan for Illinois is higher taxes with no real reform.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
Also, the doors weren’t closed. The media was inside the event.
But, hey. Politics!
…Adding… I thought they were referring to the Democratic committeeman’s event, but Yaffe says the recording was made during “a meet and greet put on by a state legislator from Chicago.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** The ILGOP has a new press release and a digital ad…
“Political insider J.B. Pritzker is the financial muscle behind Mike Madigan’s political machine, funneling over a million dollars to help him in just the last year. And like Madigan, Pritzker wants to hike the income tax to over 5 percent without any fixes to repair Illinois. One can only imagine the devastation Mike Madigan could do with a lapdog billionaire at his side. Pritzker puts the insiders first and the taxpayers last.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Kirsten Kukowski
To welcome Pritzker to the race, the Illinois Republican Party is launching digital ads highlighting the Madigan-Pritzker plan to pass a devastating income tax hike with no reform to fix our broken system.
Pritzker Caught on Tax Hike Lie
Tells media one thing, insiders another
At his campaign announcement, J.B. Pritzker responded to tapes revealing his plan to raise the income tax to at least 5%.
His response to the media? The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Pritzker, “tells reporters state should start with taxing millionaires and billionaires first, not middle class.”
Except, he told Madigan machine insiders the exact opposite – admitting that his tax plan could not realistically be implemented for at least three years.
Pritzker said behind closed doors, “so lets just talk about this flat income tax, because we’re not going to be able to turn it into a millionaire’s tax, a fair tax – it’s gonna take us three years.”
“Pritzker kicked off his campaign by trying to cover up his real tax plan: a massive tax hike on every Illinoisan with no real reforms,” said Illinois Republican Party spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. “The tape doesn’t lie. If he’s elected, J.B. Pritzker wants to take income taxes over 5 percent as soon as he takes office with no changes to bring down costs or grow jobs.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the governor’s campaign…
We’ll be frank – no one on Team Rauner is surprised by the news today.
J.B. Pritzker announced his bid for Governor and now joins a list of Democrats who want to be governor so they can raise your taxes while enacting no changes to control spending, reform government or grow jobs.
In fact, Pritzker has already said he wants to take the income tax to over 5 percent. Higher than it was under Pat Quinn!
We know they will all try to tell a different story. So, we’ve set up a fund to directly combat the anticipated attacks from J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy, and any other candidate as they try to detract from their own questionable plans.
Your contribution today will help us keep Illinois voters informed of the truth.
Here on Team Rauner, we’re working to bring back Illinois and put our state’s families first. And now matter how hard the political machine tries to stop us, we won’t give up.
The entire tone of these Fix Illinois commercials seems meant to create the impression that Rauner is a newcomer to Illinois’ problems instead of one of the major problem creators for the last couple of years.
He’s not some new guy with great, new solutions running for office. He is the hard-line governor of the state that won’t pass a budget.
So, these dress-up commercials seem more that a bit disingenuous.
Maybe the Democrats should counter the governor’s commercials with commercials of their own.
Let’s see, Rauner dressed up as Norm the carpenter from “This Old House” (minus the protuberant stomach possessed by all real carpenters).
Who could Madigan dress up as for his TV commercial?
* The Question: Who could Madigan dress up as for his own TV commercial? Explain.
Indiana gained 20,000 Illinoisans on net in 2015, the most recent year of data available. From 2006 to 2015, Illinois lost more than 119,000 people to Indiana on net. That’s equivalent to Indiana annexing the entire city of Peoria.
Illinois also suffered a net loss of more than 11,000 people to Wisconsin in 2015, and nearly 86,000 people over the preceding decade. That’s almost as if the entire city of Waukegan moved 15 miles up the shoreline.
There is some good news for Illinoisans: The state now has more payroll jobs than ever, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it’s a question of where those jobs are being created that should concern political leaders. […]
Illinois has regained barely a sliver of the manufacturing jobs that evaporated during the Great Recession, and it’s lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs since the turn of the century. There are now far more jobs in sectors such as state and local government, leisure and hospitality, and business and professional services than in manufacturing. It didn’t used to be that way.
Indiana and Wisconsin, however, are seeing strong manufacturing comebacks. Both states have recovered a larger share of their manufacturing jobs than Illinois, and manufacturing workers see higher wages than their Illinois counterparts, when adjusting for cost of living.
A mostly empty warehouse at 2410 South Grand Avenue East in Springfield now holds neat rows of filing cabinets and pallets of paper records which belong to the Department of Human Services. The lease agreement binds Illinois to fulfill at least the first five years of the deal, which adds up to a minimum of $2.4 million.
Procurement Board Member Ed Bedore, an appointee of House Speaker Michael Madigan, tells WCIA the total cost could clear $11 million before the 10-year deal is over. Bedore estimated Illinois could have purchased the property for $700,000. It’s value is listed at $1.1 million.
The Procurement Policy Board is led by Chairman Frank Vala, a Republican appointee of Governor Bruce Rauner. Vala’s five-member panel had the chance to block the Rauner administration from overspending on an inflexible lease arrangement, but it never held a discussion about the terms of this lease. Rick Morales and former state representative Bill Black are the other two Republican appointees on the board. Larry Ivory was appointed by Senate President John Cullerton, a Democrat. […]
The Illinois Department of Central Management Services provided this statement in an email: “The lease was secured through the open, competitive bidding process and was fully reviewed by the Illinois Procurement Board.” WCIA is only aware of one other bid for this particular lease. Those familiar with the Procurement Policy Board’s discussions say the warehouse lease was never even discussed.
The DHS statement also claims the facility owners, Climate Controlled Holdings, LLC, made “additional enhancements” to the warehouse, upgrades the state could not afford to make without a full budget or a specific appropriation.
According to records kept by the Secretary of State’s office, Climate Controlled Holdings is registered to Mr. Thomas Storniolo at 20 North Clark Street in Chicago. The business appears to be a young entity. It was registered with the state in February of last year.
Storniolo’s LinkedIn page also shows him as the Controller of New Frontier Management.
WCIA reporter Mark Maxwell is new to town, so he apparently didn’t recognize the New Frontier Management name.
Old-timers will recognize it, however. That’s the company which used to be run by Bill Cellini and which leased a whole bunch of buildings to the state over the years.
* From a reader who knows how to do research…
Climate Controlled Holdings (CCH) has 3 members of the LLC and has a registered agent named Thomas Storniolo at 20 Clark Street, Suite 1600. One of the members of CCH is Andiamo Development LLC. The other two LLCs are registered in Springfield. Andiamo has the same registered agent and address. Andiamo is managed by 3GEN Management INC. 3GEN Management has the same registered agent and address and lists Jeffrey Richards, also of the same address as President of 3GEN Management.
On LinkedIn Thomas Storniolo identifies himself as the Controller/Secretary at New Frontier Management, Co. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-storniolo-3152a564/)…
New Frontier Management lists Thomas Storniolo as the registered agent and is also at 20 Clark Street, Suite 1600. The president is listed as Claudia Cellini. New Frontier Developments has the same registered agent and address and also has Claudia Cellini listed as the president.
In a 2011 article on Bill Cellini, Bernie Schoenburg writes “New Vista’s address is listed as 20 S. Clark St. in Chicago, an address shared by several other firms associated with the Cellini family.” (http://www.sj-r.com/x422405742/Cellini-business-interests-remain-extensive-documents-show) The focus of that article is partly on New Frontier Companies. New Frontier Company, on their website http://www.nfcompanies.com/, lists their address as 20 Clark Street, Suite 1600. The registered agent for New Frontier Company is Thomas Storniolo at 20 Clark Street, Suite 1600. The president for New Frontier Company is listed as William F. Cellini, Jr.
Additionally, you’ll see that the property was obtained January 3, 2017 for $575,000 (http://tax.co.sangamon.il.us/SangamonCountyWeb/app/saleSearchResults.action?pn=22-02.0-201-029&township=&saleClass=&saleYear=&fromDate=&toDate=&fromAcres=&toAcres=) Yet, it is listed on CMS lease inventory going back to October of 2016 for a lease starting February 1, 2017 (https://www.illinois.gov/cms/agency/property/leasing/Documents/October-2016-CMS-Lease-Inventory.pdf) In October, 2016 CMS is listing a lease starting Feb 1,2017 with CCH for a building they don’t even purchase until January 3, 2017.
The lease started before the property was even purchased by the new owners? That ought to raise some eyebrows. But it’s that Cellini family name which could gin this up even more. This may very well be all smoke and no serious fire, but it’s an easy thing to understand for Springfieldians who’ve seen these types of deals for decades.
CMS put out for bid three times the need for warehouse space before settling on the Springfield location. Only two landlords responded – apparently a sign of property managers’ reluctance to do business with the state of Illinois, which is more than $12.6 billion behind in paying vendors.
*** UPDATE *** From CMS Acting Director Mike Hoffman with all emphasis in the original…
Hi Rich –
First, this lease was handled in the exact same way as every other lease as required by law, which includes review and approval by the independent Chief Procurement Officer.
It was posted publicly on the Illinois procurement bulletin and reviewed by the Procurement Policy Board.
State and Federal law requires the safe keeping of these documents.
The Quinn administration was inappropriately keeping these documents in dilapidated facilities around the state including Dwight Correctional Facility. These facilities were not designed for storage of sensitive materials and some files were incurring damage from flooding, mildew and mold. In addition, DHS staff was unable to access many of these documents without having to travel and incur further costs.
Some of these storage areas also did not have the proper level of security to store these documents.
Under this administration, DHS made the decision to consolidate these documents in a more appropriate facility in Sangamon County – providing better access to the documents, greater security as well as a climate controlled space that would ensure the integrity of these documents as required by law.
Finally, the consolidation of these documents is an important first step in any future digitization effort. As far as the facilities that were used under the Quinn Administration, the storage of these documents at those sites precluded the sale or disposal of these locations of which the maintenance and upkeep costs taxpayers millions each year.
The initial requirement stated by DHS was 26,000 sq ft.
An RFP was put out twice with no responses.
By the time the third RFP was issued DHS’ space needs had already increased to 37,000 sq ft. and there were more sites scheduled to be consolidated which would increase their need even more.
As such, the option was exercised to take the full building of 60,000 sq ft.
It is important to note: that Climate Control Holdings was the only bidder who put forward two properties – CMS took the lesser of the two bids.
Rich, to your question about leasing before they owned:
The law allows CMS to enter into a lease as long as the party shows site control and/or option to buy – they had shown an option to buy.
The Democrat-controlled Illinois House is preparing another stopgap spending plan that would allocate more than $800 million to higher education and human services.
A House committee Wednesday afternoon approved the plan that taps into two special state funds intended to help education and human services. The vote split along party lines. The bill now goes to the full House.
The two funds get a small part of income tax receipts as they are received by the state and are constantly replenished.
“We have $800-some million dollars sitting in a bank account gathering dust, doing nothing, that could go out the door immediately to help our communities, to help seniors, to fund our higher education system,” said Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago, a top House Democrat budget negotiator.
The move came as Northeastern Illinois University announced it was canceling three days of classes in an effort to save on salary costs as it struggles to make ends meet without financial support from the state. School employees were already asked to take unpaid furlough days during the recent spring break.
Rauner, however, disputed the idea that the Democrats’ plan would help. He posted a video on his Facebook page and said stopgap budgets do little to address long-term issues but “keep universities, community colleges and social service agencies on the verge of collapse with no permanent lines of funding.”
The governor repeated an earlier pledge that he would not sign off on another one-time spending plan unless it also included provisions to “protect taxpayers” such as a permanent property tax freeze.
“Instead of focusing on stopgaps that serve the Springfield insiders, we should be coming together to pass real and lasting solutions to our problems,” Rauner said.
Yeah, well, the Senate tried to do that and was stopped dead in its tracks.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Democrats were watching the Facebook video during caucus.
“It’s reminiscent of the big staircase press conference he had at the end of May a year ago, where he denounced everybody. And then at the end of the day, he signed a temporary spending plan that included $400 million in spending for higher education that he had left out,” Brown said of the video. “I think history may serve as an example here. We are hopeful of getting a full budget done but that appears to be an elusive goal.”
Brown was referring to a news conference Rauner held on the Capitol staircase, surrounded by GOP lawmakers, in which he called the 2016 spring session a “stunning failure” while accusing Madigan of holding the state hostage. The Illinois Senate — just before the midnight adjournment — shot down a budget plan that was approved by the Illinois House. In June 2016, Rauner signed a stopgap budget and school funding bill — while calling it no solution, and not a balanced budget: “This is a bridge to reform. That’s what this is.”
That partial budget ran out on Jan. 1 — leaving social service agencies and universities in the lurch of the historic budget impasse. […]
The Facebook video was released as House Democrats wrapped up a caucus to discuss the measure.
A new survey conducted by United Way of Illinois documents the impact of Illinois’ record-breaking budget impasse on the human services sector and on people and communities across the state. Data shows that 69% of agencies have received no or only partial payment for services delivered in fiscal year 2017.
“We see the deep and lasting effects of this impasse every day in our schools, in our neighborhoods and in the state’s spiraling reputation. The lack of urgency from the state in coming together to work on a full budget is negligent given rising violence, population decline and the loss of jobs and talent,” said Sonja Reece, Board Chair of United Way of Illinois, the statewide association of 52 local United Ways and the largest non-governmental funder of health and human services in the state. “While stop-gap funding provided limited and temporary relief to some service providers, it did not repair the long-term damage imposed by the lack of a full budget, nor is it funding current service delivery.”
Survey data showed that 46% of agencies have been forced to reduce the number of clients served, with the highest reported declines in the areas of youth development, mental health and job training. “Hospitals, law enforcement, State’s Attorneys, housing and city/community staff are asking when services will start again as they have no other resources to take care of the quite dire situations in their communities,” said Kathy Weiman, CEO of Alternatives in Moline.
Twenty-five percent of respondents have been forced to completely eliminate programs due to the lack of payment from the state. The most significant program cuts were reported in the areas of criminal justice, job training and youth development—programs that were contracted by the state to reduce crime and violence and build the strength of the Illinois economy. “We know investing in our young people and in training for living wage jobs is key not only to solving social challenges like poverty and violence by providing opportunity, but also in growing the local economy,” said Wendy DuBoe, President and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. “Additionally, waiting lists for services and a lack of psychiatric support for the mentally ill results in more expensive interventions down the line.”
Agency respondents reported taking a number of measures to continue delivering services contracted, but not paid for by the state, including eliminating staff, not filling vacant positions, increasing waiting lists and utilizing cash reserves. Survey data shows that private philanthropy cannot plug the hole left by the state, with only 1 in 10 agencies reporting they have replaced 25% or more of the funding owed to them by the State through additional fundraising efforts.
“Private philanthropy can never provide enough resources to solve for the delinquency of the state,” said Reece. “United Ways and generous Illinoisans are doing their best on the private end of the private-public partnership meant to maintain and build well-being in the state, but we currently have no public partner.”
The survey was conducted March 3-March 17, 2017, and responses were received from 463 human services agencies that represent every region in the state and every service category including youth development, domestic violence prevention, mental health, emergency housing, senior services and employment training.
By the way, that 69 percent who report receiving no or only partial payments for services in FY17 is almost double the 35 percent who reported the same thing in Fiscal Year 2016.
Chris Kennedy’s campaign for governor of Illinois announced today it has received over $1 million from over 3,000 individual contributors since launching his candidacy six weeks ago.
Kennedy has raised more individual contributions in the first six weeks of his campaign than Governor Rauner did between announcing his campaign and the Republican primary in 2014.
“Thousands of Illinois families have contributed to this effort because they know fixing our state’s challenges will take more than a big wallet,” Kennedy said. “Illinois has never been in worse shape than it is under Governor Rauner. We need a fundamental change in state government. Thousands of Illinois families have responded to our message because they want to restore the promise of the American Dream. I am ready to bring my unique set of experiences to build a stronger economy that works for every Illinois family, no matter where they live in our state.”
Sneed is informed Dem dollar powerhouse J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire businessman and major Dem donor, will officially announce his bid today to run for governor in the Democratic primary.
UPDATE: The Pritzker campaign later Thursday morning announced the time and place of the announcement: 2 p.m. at Grand Crossing Gym, 7655 S. Ingleside Ave.
There’s lots of snark potential there and I was all set to unleash a fusillade of it, but was then informed by a Pritzker staffer that the candidate has lost 50 pounds, so he has probably seen the inside of a gymnasium in recent weeks.
Grand Crossing Park and its surrounding community take their name from a historic train wreck which occurred less than a mile away from the site of the park.
Again, the snark potential is pretty much endless. But that same Pritzker person sent me a text message earlier today. The person hadn’t Googled the park or the neighborhood and wasn’t involved in the location choice, but said…
The community is still standing– they rebuilt it together after a historic train wreck. That’s a pretty decent job description for the next governor.
Not a bad analogy.
*** UPDATE *** From Sen. Daniel Biss…
“I welcome J.B. Pritzker into this primary race — one which will be a test for Democrats across Illinois. Do we want to perpetuate the broken politics that got us into this mess to begin with or do we want to write a different kind of future? Do we try to out-Rauner Bruce Rauner or offer a truly democratic alternative that empowers ordinary Illinoisans? I welcome the debate about whether the future of the Democratic party will be a vehicle for the very rich and machine politicians or one for the rest of us.”
Ready? OK. Assuming it passes the House, should the Senate Democrats pass the Gov. Rauner-opposed stopgap budget bill that funds some higher education and social service needs, or should it focus on passing its grand bargain proposal and a full-year budget? The polling app isn’t working today, so answer below and make sure to explain your answer, please.
A coalition of 17 downstate school districts say they filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Bruce Rauner and his administration, contending the state has failed to provide enough money to deliver a “high quality” education for students.
The suit against Rauner and the Illinois State Board of Education argues that Illinois’ reliance on local property taxes to pay for schools creates a disparity in poorer communities where districts have less of a tax base to rely on. That makes it harder for students to meet educational standards adopted by the state as class sizes increase and programs are cut.
The school superintendents bringing the lawsuit want the state to put in place a different model to determine how much money the state should funnel to low-income districts in order for students to meet those standards, saying current assessments are “arbitrary and capricious.”
“Despite efforts to properly educate our leaders, pleading for change and commonsense solutions at our legislators’ fingertips, when negotiations begin in the Capitol, students’ needs get lost in the political shuffle and the battle for power in Springfield far outweighs doing what is right for children,” said Brad Skertich, superintendent of Southwestern Community Unit School District #9, which serves the towns of Brighton, Medora, Piasa and Shipman
I’ve asked for a copy of the lawsuit and will share when I get it.
* From Illinois Secretary of Education Dr. Beth Purvis…
“Illinois school districts are receiving the highest level of funding ever under Governor Rauner, who has increased school funding by $700 million since taking office. The Governor also created a bipartisan school funding commission to improve the formula, which has recommended changes that will create an equitable school funding formula that will better meet the needs of each students within every school district in our state. The Governor never stops working to increase funding for our students and hopes school districts across Illinois will work with him and members of the General Assembly on this endeavor.”
For the past year, J.B. Pritzker and Mike Madigan have teamed up in an attempt to install Madigan supporters in local elections – and have failed miserably.
Before the 2016 election, Pritzker secretly funneled $200,000 to Madigan-backed House candidates, hiding his name by funneling the money through corporations. Madigan Democrats lost six seats in that election.
Last month, Madigan ally Linda Chapa LaVia failed to advance to the runoff in her race for Aurora Mayor after being blasted for her ties to Madigan. Pritzker campaigned and provided Chapa LaVia with financial support. Then, Pritzker backed Rick Guzman in the runoff, who lost to Republican Richard Irvin. Irvin will be Aurora’s first black Mayor.
And just yesterday, Pritzker teamed up with Democratic activists to oust Mayor Roger Claar from Bolingbrook. Despite statewide Democrats descending on the town, and despite Pritzker’s photo-op door knocking, Claar appears to have held on in a village with a heavy Democratic registration advantage.
Instead of trying and failing to win local races, Madigan should pass a balanced budget with reforms.
* From the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association…
Against Proft and Rauner’s Millions, Democrats Make Historic Gains
Big Republican outside money wasn’t enough to stop Democratic victories
Springfield, IL - Across Illinois, Democrats made unprecedented gains against outsized Republican spending and influence in local races. Republicans invested heavily in municipal and township races across the state, but Democrats made headway in elections they had not won - in some instances - for over a decade.
“Dan Proft and the Republicans were ready for the Democratic backlash after Trump’s election, but the money Bruce Rauner gave them wasn’t enough,” said Doug House, Chairman of the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association. “Across the state, Democrats picked up seats we weren’t supposed to win as well as in other places where thousands of dollars were spent against us. The takeaway: No Republican will go unchallenged no matter how hard and how tough the race will be.”
Democrat wins were evident across Illinois in these locations:
City of Kankakee - Chasity Wells-Armstrong upset incumbent Nina Epstein, electing Kankakee’s first Democratic African-American Mayor.
City of Rockford - Democrat Tom McNamara bested his opponents in a landslide, proving Rockford does not stand for Bruce Rauner’s turnaround agenda.
City of Springfield - Democrat Kristin DiCenso won in convincing fashion beating her Republican Precinct Committeeman opponent by almost 70%
West Deerfield Township (Lake County) - For the first-time Democrats took entire control of this Lake County Township.
Vernon Township (Lake County) - Democrats swept the trustee elections, as well as electing Daniel Didech as Supervisor - taking out five incumbents.
Normal Township (McLean County) - Democrats elected supervisors and trustees to this township board for the first time in over 100 years.
Springfield Township (Sangamon County) - Lakeisha Purchase made history last night by becoming the first Democrat (and top vote getter) to be elected to the Springfield Township board since 1976
Chatham Township (Sangamon County) - Diana Carlile became the first Democrat (and top vote getter) ever to be elected to this predominantly Republican stronghold.
Palatine Township High School District 211 (Suburban Cook County) - Love trumped hate, and incumbent school board members who supported transgendered students were re-elected against opponents funded by outside hate group Alliance Defending Freedom.
New Trier Township (Suburban Cook County) - Among many areas Dan Proft was funding, Republican candidates attempted to fly below the radar in this township, but were soundly defeated by the Democratic Economy Party.
Maine Township (Suburban Cook County) - Democrats elected Claire McKenzie in the all GOP-controlled township government.
Richland Community College (Macon County) - Macon County Democratic Chairman Jim Underwood won in impressive fashion and will now be able to bring a strong Organized Labor voice as this Community College as they deal with higher education cuts from Bruce Rauner.
Lincoln Land Community College (Sangamon County) - Not even Donald Trump could save 16-year incumbent and former Trump State Director Kent Gray. He was trounced by Democrat Gordon Gates in this contested race.
In other races across the state Democrats came within inches of beating entrenched incumbents. Grass-roots Democrat Jackie Traynere lost by less than 100 votes against 30-year Republican Trump supporter Roger Claar after Dan Proft and others spent hundreds of thousands in television attack ads against Jackie.
Gov. Bruce Rauner and his conservative allies had a good night in yesterday’s suburban elections, winning more races than they lost. […]
[However] On the North Shore, a slate of incumbents easily held off challengers in contests for New Trier Township commissioner, despite lots of conservative activity. And in High School District 211, where Rauner ally and big funder Dick Uihlein also was involved , incumbents won easily in a race focused on whether to revisit the district’s stance on allowing transgendered students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their self-identified gender.
Beyond that, Rauner made a bit of play in elections in Rockford, and got clocked.
Still, overall results show that as long as Rauner’s big wallet is open, it will have an impact.
A new report by the Illinois Policy Institute finds that workers’ compensation costs Illinois taxpayers $982 million each year proving that not only is it a budgetary item, but it is also a major cost driver that should be controlled and managed.
The new report analyzes workers’ compensation costs for state government, school districts, townships, special district governments, municipalities, counties, other special police and fire districts, and publicly funded construction projects.
Illinois taxpayers are forced to shoulder not only the cost of government wages, health insurance, pensions and other benefits, but also to fund workers’ compensation costs that surpass those among the other states in the region. According to the recent “2016 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary,” Illinois’ system is the most expensive in the Midwest and ties for seventh-most expensive in the nation.
That comes up to a combined $982 million, about 4 percent of payroll. The total number is almost certainly higher because the institute was able to get only partial information from the city of Chicago. (Chicago officials tell me the cost to the city alone runs about $100 million a year.)
If those costs were lowered to the average of other Midwest states, state and local governments collectively would save about $300 million a year, the institute contends. […]
“I always figured 5 percent of payroll (for workers’ comp),” says [Brad Cole, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League], the former mayor of Carbondale. “I haven’t seen their report yet, but I think their numbers are reasonably accurate. Some of the items they talk about have a considerable cost.” […]
[The Illinois AFL-CIO] underlines that the institute’s figures in part are estimates, and says that cost of workers comp for construction workers is covered by private contractors, not the government. Finally, it says that average medical costs alone here are lower than in Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
On the other hand, Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno likes it. She says in a statement, “Once again, we have evidence that Illinois’ workers compensation system is costly to not only private industry, but units of government and the taxpayers as well. Illinois is out of step. There are definitely ways to lower costs—some of which was accomplished in our 2011 reform effort which is now showing some results. But there is clearly room for additional cost-saving reforms which I continue to fight for in the legislature.”
* I’ve seen some people mocking Mrs. Rauner on social media for this comment by her husband. But it’s not a laughing matter. I know numerous parents who are upset to the point of freaking out about this very same thing…
Gov. Bruce Rauner continues his push to reverse the trend of people leaving the state by bringing about economic reforms he says will grow the economy.
During his most recent Facebook live event Tuesday, Rauner read a question about why people are sticking around if the state is in such bad shape. Rauner said he and his wife, Diana, struggle with this issue.
“We’ve raised our six kids in Illinois. None of them live in Illinois,” Rauner said. “They all have found their opportunities outside of Illinois. My wife cries about it. It’s so sad.”
Many young adults are leaving because of the lack of opportunities in Illinois, the governor said.
“I talk to so many people who are frustrated. They don’t see their children and their grandchildren having the future in Illinois that they had themselves, that we had, that I had, growing up in Illinois going back 30, 40, 50 years ago,” he said.
The governor is in a position to do something about it, of course. Some of the parents I know are sad because they don’t want their kids going to an Illinois university, and that’s directly on the governor for his refusal to negotiate a budget.
And this impasse isn’t helping the economy and jobs one bit. It’s hurting. Period. Full stop.
The race drew $200,000 in campaign ads and mailers to oust McLaughlin, who had been in office since 1993 and raised eyebrows when the village board voted last year to make the mayor’s office a full-time job. The move bumped his $40,000 salary up to $150,000 in what Pekau denounced as a “pension grab.” McLaughlin dismissed the claim as “misinformation” because the move eliminated a costly village administrator position.
McLaughlin also suggested the presidential election played a role in his defeat, saying it ushered in “a sea change in the way people cast their votes.”
“The national elections in November taught us those lessons,” McLaughlin said in a concession statement. “The election is over, at least for me. In tact is a team of trustees who love Orland Park like I do.” […]
Pekau, a U.S. Air Force veteran and business consultant, said he would opt out of a pension if he won. On Monday, he said the donations from Dan Proft-led Liberty Principles PAC, which received hefty donations from Gov. Bruce Rauner last summer, helped his cause.
A slate of candidates calling itself Parents with Purpose went after three open seats on the District 211 school board, largely in opposition to the district’s agreement with the federal government to provide girls’ bathroom and locker room access to a transgender student who filed a complaint with the federal government.
The slate was supported by an aligned group called Parents for Privacy, made up of about 50 families who are suing District 211 and the federal government over the agreement. The suit is pending.
With almost all precincts reporting, though, incumbents Robert LeFevre Jr. and Anna Klimkowicz and former board member Edward Yung appeared headed for victory. They have said generally that they support the agreement, though it applies to only one student.
In an historic election for the Lake County city [of Waukegan], Democratic alderman Sam Cunningham defeated independent candidate Lisa May. Cunningham’s victory will make him the city’s first African-American mayor. May would have been the city’s first female mayor.
Democrat Tom McNamara took home the Rockford mayoral race with 68 percent of the vote. […]
McNamara will replace Larry Morrissey , a three-term mayor who decided last fall to not run for re-election. […]
McNamara may find a friendlier City Council seated before him when he is sworn in as mayor May 1st. Although Rockford’s aldermen have tended not to vote along party lines, power will shifted from Republicans to Democrats. Republican Jamie Getchius and Independent Teena Newburg are both incumbents who lost to their Democratic challengers. Democrats picked up two open spots for a total of 8 of 14 council seats. A record number of Independents ran this year – five for alderman and two for mayor – but they all lost.
In Evanston, management consultant Steve Hagerty was leading the city’s first openly gay alderman, Mark Tendam, with 50.5 percent of the vote — a margin of just 163 votes.
In Aurora, the race to lead the state’s second-largest city was also too close to call, as Rick Guzman — assistant chief of staff to Mayor Tom Weisner, who stepped down for health reasons last year — led by just nine votes as of 10 p.m. over Ald. Richard Irvin.
Absentee ballots were expected to be tallied in both races into Wednesday morning.
* Pecak upsets Broda to become Lisle mayor: Pecak said during the campaign that he was running to bring change to the village. The construction manager said he would work for a property tax freeze, a balanced budget and improved transparency.
* Lincoln-Way 210 voters have their say following school closure: Two longtime Lincoln-Way High School District 210 board members appeared to be trailing in their bids for re-election against a crowded field Tuesday night, following a heated year of fallout stemming from the closing of a high school and questions about board oversight.
Longtime Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar could be returning for another term. As of last night, the incumbent held a narrow lead over challenger Jackie Traynere with all 32 precincts reporting. Claar has been the mayor of the village for over 30 years. He stirred up controversy last year after hosting a September fundraising event for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
His opponent, Jackie Traynere, currently a Will County board member, received endorsements from Illinois’s U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and congressman Bill Foster. But unofficial results show Claar leading Traynere by just 103 votes. Provisional and mail in ballots will be counted in 2 weeks.
Traynere spokesman Tom Bowen acknowledged because of the number of outstanding votes, Traynere is facing an “uphill battle.” […]
Claar hosted a fundraiser for Trump in September, which angered some voters in the suburb of about 75,000 people. As a result, support for Traynere poured in from top Democrats nationwide, including from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and a group spun out of Sanders’ campaign. […]
[Claar] has previously dismissed the situation in Bolingbrook, saying Democrats are “trying to take over” and partisan politics shouldn’t be a factor in the race. His tenure has seen major development and growth in Bolingbrook.
The municipal contest is technically nonpartisan. But concerns raised in the presidential campaign and initial months of Trump’s tenure have hit home in the racially-diverse community with two mosques and where at least 20 percent of the community is foreign born.
It looked like every member of Claar’s Bolingbrook First slate would hold onto their seats except for trustee Sheldon Watts, a recent appointee on the board.
The race was seen as offering a glimpse into Mr. Trump’s early effect on elections in 2017. Mr. Claar, 71, the village’s mayor for 31 years, was running unchallenged for his ninth term last fall when he co-hosted a fund-raiser at the Bolingbrook Golf Club for Mr. Trump, who was then the Republican presidential nominee.
But it quickly escalated into a political issue for Mr. Claar: More than 100 people protested the fund-raiser, saying that Mr. Trump did not share the values of their diverse, Democratic-leaning village of about 74,000. One of the protesters, Ms. Traynere, 54, decided to challenge Mr. Claar in the mayor’s race — and quickly made Mr. Claar’s association with Mr. Trump one of her main lines of attack.
A lineup of powerful Democrats in Illinois, including both United States senators, campaigned for Ms. Traynere. Soon Mr. Claar, who usually runs unopposed, found his job on the line.
There were other issues at stake in Bolingbrook — Ms. Traynere said Mr. Claar had driven the village into debt, and Mr. Claar said she was unqualified for the job. Before Election Day, it was unclear whether Bolingbrook residents would vote on their feelings for Mr. Trump, or whether they would focus on more local concerns instead. Early voting was brisk, indicating that residents were fired up about the race.
* And the Tribune, which for whatever reason didn’t cover this race until it was over…
Traynere said she called Claar and congratulated him on a good race, but she did not concede.
She pointed to Claar’s thin lead as an indicator that people in Bolingbrook want change.
“I don’t think this town wants him,” she said, adding that if Claar had done such wonderful things for Bolingbrook his lead would be larger.
“David really hurt Goliath,” she said, noting Claar had the benefit of a larger campaign fund.
If he won, the town wants him. And if he outspent her, that’s on her and all the folks who backed her.
Claar apparently did very well with vote by mail, which may be why the Traynere people aren’t predicting victory. He mailed to a wide swath of registered voters and then constantly followed up. Bolingbrook is a nice place to live if you like the suburban experience, so running on that and against the natural fear of change (particularly tax hikes) was a pretty solid formula and helped bring people to the polls who may have otherwise not voted. And it appears to have worked.
Also, I’m told Congressman Dan Lipinksi dispatched a few of his precinct workers to Bolingbrook to help Claar. Some of the same folks who backed Traynere are also coming after him in the Democratic primary.
* Subscribers know more, including the Team Rauner react and immediate prospects in the Senate…
House Democrats are weighing a plan to rush money to social service providers and universities that have gone months without state funding, with some pushing for a vote this week before legislators leave town for spring break.
As with all things in the Capitol, plans remain fluid. But there’s roughly $750 million set aside in special funds not currently being used that could potentially be tapped, said Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat and key budget negotiator. That’s just a fraction of what would normally be spent on higher ed and care for the state’s most vulnerable, but Democrats’ hope is to provide a lifeline amid widespread cuts and layoffs.
“I think we need to do everything that we can to get some money to these folks as soon as we can,” Harris said.
Talks of pushing the plan come as a bipartisan budget proposal in the Senate remains stalled, which Democrats blame on interference by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Still, Rauner continues to say he’s hopeful the Senate can come up with a broad agreement, and he has generally opposed one-off spending plans.
He may have generally opposed one-off spending plans, but he did two in 2015 and another one last year.
*** UPDATE *** Monique with some deets…
Ok, let’s do this again: Rep. Harris says stopgap has $258 million for social services, including $6.6 mil for domestic violence shelters.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor tweets his video response…
Stopgap spending plans do nothing to balance the budget, they don’t fix a broken system. They force higher debt & higher taxes down the road pic.twitter.com/JXLuszE2Cb
He’s claiming the proposal will “force higher debt,” but these things are being funded by special state funds specifically designed for those very same spending purposes.
* There are two distinct tracks currently developing in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. One is for “top underdog” status between Pawar, Biss and, to a lesser extent, Bob Daiber and Kurt Summers if he gets in.
The other developing track is for “acknowledged frontrunner” status between Kennedy and Pritzker. The Summers poll showed Kennedy leading the pack with 44 percent, so he’s a frontrunner, but Pritzker has the big dough. Unlike the other candidates, Kennedy needs to show he can raise the money to directly compete with Pritzker. I’m not sure this shows he can do that yet…
Businessman Chris Kennedy hasn’t released his full contributions for the first quarter, but according to records with the state Board of Elections, he has received at least $145,700. He also has contributed $250,100 to his campaign, which broke the caps.
Kennedy’s campaign on Tuesday said he is attending a fundraiser in New York, hosted by his sister, which is expected to reap $250,000 for his campaign.
Aside from his own contribution, Kennedy has so far reported raising less money this quarter than Pawar or Biss. And with the contribution caps off, you’d think he would be expecting to raise more than $250K at a Kennedy-hosted fundraiser in one of the wealthiest cities on Earth.
First quarters are usually a first-time candidate’s best quarters, but that isn’t happening with Kennedy. Still, there’s a very long way to go with a whole lot of unknowns in front of us and money isn’t everything.
Turns out an effort has been underway by a segment of the party to recruit state Sen. Sam McCann (R-Plainview) to run against Rauner in a GOP primary. Three sources told us as much, and last night, McCann confirmed to POLITICO he has been approached. Despite Rauner’s financial advantage, a primary from a serious opponent would obviously create a major headache for the governor. Having to defend himself from the conservative wing of the party (I love Trump!) while making himself general election-worthy (I hate Trump!) could prove beyond tricky.
McCann made clear he would not entertain a decision about a gubernatorial run during the legislative session. “I do not intend to think about the concept of running for governor, let alone comment on it, until after May 31st, if at all,” McCann told POLITICO. “There was a significant segment of the party that attempted to recruit me to run as an independent in 2014. I chose not to do that because I wanted to play a role in bringing my party and my beloved state together, not see them both torn apart more than they already were. Fast forward to the present and we see our state more divided and in bigger shambles than ever. It’s heart wrenching,” McCann said.
“I have been casually approached by some within the party about running for governor. I have said to each of them what I will say to you now: I am a patriot. I do not believe it is fitting or proper for anyone of either party to actively and openly campaign for any state office as long as the General Assembly is engaged in its regular spring session. Especially considering the historic times in which we find ourselves,” he said.
HISTORY — You may recall that McCann is a pro-union Republican who went against Rauner and voted for a labor arbitration bill. Rauner and the governor’s political allies heavily targeted McCann in the last primary election, to no avail. McCann is now helping lead the charge against Rauner’s move to privatize nurses in Illinois prisons.
Second, primarying Rauner probably wouldn’t turn out that well for McCann. Remember all the 2016 primary race oppo on his personal finances and the claim that he was Speaker Madigan’s “favorite Senator”? McCann’s voters ignored most of it because they know their guy. He won’t be known statewide so Rauner wouldn’t even have to respond all that much to either the Trump stuff or the social conservative angle (McCann is pro-life).
Third, if labor unions help primary Rauner they could wind up highlighting his moderation on some social issues, which will only help him in the fall. They’ll also give Rauner and his organization a tuneup race and an excuse to blanket the state with ads. But if McCann (or somebody else) sticks to things like the impasse, he could rough Rauner up a bit in advance of the fall campaign.
* But could he win? According to that recent Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll, Rauner’s job approval rating is 63 percent among Republicans. That’s more than enough to win a primary, of course, but it ain’t great for an incumbent and will hurt him with base turnout in the fall if those numbers don’t improve a lot. There is some room here to bruise him badly in a primary if the poll is accurate and the race is run properly. But a primary is still almost undoubtedly a Kamikaze mission.
*** UPDATE *** Considering the Statehouse’s usual gossip mill, this recent WMAY interview might be where the rumors actually started…
An area Republican lawmaker says he would be willing to support a primary challenger to GOP Governor Bruce Rauner if the right candidate came along.
State Senator Sam McCann made the comment during a live interview with WMAY’s Frank McNeil Monday. […]
McCann says he’s tried to mend fences with the governor, without success…and says the two of them have traveled too far to come back.
And then somebody tells somebody about the radio program and it eventually morphs into Republicans want McCann to run. Or not.
For years, Illinois has spent more than it’s brought in, and it is unacceptable. That’s why we are working every day to grow the IL economy. pic.twitter.com/j5vOuLqEhr
* The plaintiffs are represented by Dan Webb and other Winston & Strawn attorneys. Press release…
The State of Illinois is forcing thousands of small businesses across the state to cough up half of their profits to video gaming operatives - a mandated shakedown that violates the constitutional rights of thousands of bar and restaurant owners.
According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, the state’s Video Gaming Act is written in a way that also deprives those locally-owned businesses of millions of dollars in potential revenues, while shorting the state of much-needed revenues, as well. An analysis of revenue figures shows the law costs local businesses as much as $150 million annually – or nearly $25,000 a year for an average bar or restaurant.
Some of those businesses are now suing the Illinois Gaming Board, stating the law “serves no rational purpose” other than to illegally line the pockets of those who own coin-operated video gaming machines
.
“I can think of no other industry where, by law, a business is forced to give up 50% of their profits and is strictly prohibited from even trying to negotiate better terms,” said attorney Dan K. Webb, of Winston & Strawn, whose firm filed the complaint. “This law is not only unconstitutional, it provides a gravy train of unearned cash for big gaming businesses that make little investment in Illinois.”
Though video gaming existed illegally in Illinois for years, a law to legalize it was passed in 2009 and took effect in 2012. Its purpose was to help small, locally-owned businesses grow. Since then, nearly 6,000 bars, restaurants and cafes have added to their revenues by installing a few gaming machines in their business. Those machines have led to new job creation, more than $3 billion in net revenues and created nearly $1 billion in state and local tax revenues. Last year alone, those establishments added $277 million to state coffers and $55 million more to local governments.
Once those taxes on the machines are paid, local businesses aren’t allowed to keep whatever is left. Instead, by law, they must give up half of those profits to the companies that delivered the machines – an unfair demand, given that the bars, restaurants and cafes are funding the operations and expenses of the business.
After significant lobbying by the terminal operators, the state mandated in February that nearly all promotional efforts to attract customers to play the games – and increase revenues – be shouldered by those who own the business, even as they are forced to give away 50% of all of their profits to the terminal operators. As an example, the state agreed to implement new rules this year, saying terminal operators aren’t even allowed to help pay for a bag of peanuts as a free give-away to players.
The Liquor Control Board has the same sort of rules for taverns and it’s goofy. One of the few disagreements I ever had with the late Steve Schnorf was the liquor commission rule that tavern owners couldn’t use coasters supplied by distributors. Schnorf was the commission’s chairman for years. The rule is why coasters mostly disappeared from lots of small bars, only to eventually reappear when the video terminal operators started handing them out to the owners. I hate using napkins as coasters, but here we go again.
* Anyway, my petty little complaint aside, the lawsuit is here. A sampling of what bar and restaurant owners are missing out on is here. We’re talking some serious bucks.
Rauner admin paying $2.4M for a 5 year lease on a DHS warehouse with a market value of $1.1M #twill
— IL Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) April 4, 2017
* OK, let’s back up to this SJ-R story from last month…
The Illinois Department of Human Services is taking over the former Barney’s Furniture space on South Grand Avenue East in Springfield.
DHS plans to use the space as a downstate, files warehouse. Five employees will work at the building, which will not be open to the public. Barney’s Furniture relocated last year to expanded space at 1987 Wabash Ave. after 41 years at 2410 South Grand Ave. E.
“The employees will be retrieving, sorting and maintaining files on a daily basis,” DHS said in a statement. “Efficiencies include the consolidation of required (record) retention efforts from other facilities, as well as the maintenance required to the current dispersed warehouse locations.”
DHS has signed a five-year lease at a cost of $478,256 annually the first two years, $487,881 for years three and four, and $497,507 for the final year.
The property was valued at $1.1 million, but it was actually purchased from the Barney’s Furniture people for $750,000 and then leased to the state for a total of $2.4 million over five years. As you might imagine, the news has caused quite a stir in Springfield, and Sen. Andy Manar wanted to get to the bottom of it today.
* Under questioning by Manar, DHS Secretary James Dimas told the Senate Appropriations Committee today that his agency needed a place for file storage because it had lost another space in Dwight. CMS put the lease out for bids and this was the lowest one available, he said.
So, why didn’t the state just buy the building? Because without a capital budget, the state couldn’t purchase it, Dimas said. And without legislative authority, it couldn’t move money around to buy it, either.
Another DHS official pointed out that the owners had agreed to add to the building, which would’ve cost the state money even if it could’ve bought the property, which it couldn’t. The owners are also responsible for things like upkeep.
And considering how horribly late the state pays its bills, it probably has to pay a premium price to rent from anyone.
* So, I dunno if there’s a real scandal here, but it’s something that’s hard to explain and the potential “scandal” aspect is very easy to understand. From a recent letter to the editor in the SJ-R…
Why in the name of decency would the state pay over three times the value of the building over five years just to rent it?
How can the state find money to waste so exorbitantly, when they are 18 months behind paying my company, which is a state vendor, providing deeply discounted services to the people?
Shouldn’t the attorney general investigate such flagrant waste?
Something smells rotten here. But even if it is all legitimate, shouldn’t a government agency be charged with cutting wasteful spending, and instead securing a reasonable deal?
It turns out that every demographic but one supported legalization. Even folks you wouldn’t normally think would be in favor are in support, according to the poll. Conservatives (51 percent), Republicans (52 percent) and those 66 and older (51 percent) all want to legalize it.
* The only demographic to oppose legalization? According to the poll, 52 percent of born again Christians said they were against legalization, but 44 percent supported it and 32 percent strongly supported it.
However, 58 percent of self-identified born again Christians said they favored decriminalization. Just 38 percent were opposed.
We have decrim now. The sky hasn’t fallen. Decriminalization helps consumers, but the distribution networks are controlled by criminals, and some of those criminals are quite violent. So it’s time to take the next step.
The Ameya Pawar for Governor campaign today announced that more than 1,200 people from across the state donated more than $325,000 and joined the grassroots movement to fight for a New Deal for Illinois. Ameya Pawar, 47th Ward alderman and Democratic candidate for governor issued the following statement:
“These numbers are just one more sign that people are sick and tired of Donald Trump and Bruce Rauner’s agenda and are responding positively to our concrete plans to create jobs, fairly fund our schools, and bring sanity back to the Governor’s office. I knew this race wouldn’t be easy, but I believed in the power of everyday people rising up to demand accountability from our government.
“I’m not a billionaire, and I didn’t start with a million dollar war chest. I don’t have the benefit of having led SuperPACs while entrenched in Springfield politics. But the groundswell of support as we visit people across the state has made it clear that Illinois families are hungry to put a progressive fighter in the Governor’s office.”
Interesting little shot at Daniel Biss for that LIFT PAC of his. Will the two of them go after each other to prove that they’re the “real” progressives in the race? Could be.
Is billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker closing in on a formal announcement for governor? A couple of top Illinois politicos told us Monday they were picking up signals that he was close to announcing. The Pritzker camp was mum about timing last night.
* He’s been signaling it on his Twitter account lately as well…
This is what happens when a failed leader like Bruce Rauner puts politics above passing a budget. #twillhttps://t.co/cZcqwII6Qj
As of February 28, 2017, the amount of SEGIP claims on hand is $4.2 billion and growing approximately $200 million per month. The current FY 2017 payment cycles are:
- CIGNA claims: 615 days for preferred providers, 692 days for non-preferred (CMS projects 450 days and 525 days for FY 18)
- Managed Care claims: Approximately 12 to 19 months, depending on the provider (CMS projects 17 to 28 months for FY 18)
- Prescription/OAP claims: up to 529 days for Prescriptions, 329-362 days for OAPs (CMS projects 465 days for Prescriptions and up to 480 days for OAPs in FY 18)
- Dental claims: 220 days for network claims, 383 days for non-network claims (CMS projects (250 and 450 days for FY 18)
In FY 2009, the annual liability per participant in the group health insurance program was $5,893.
According to CMS, the estimated liability per participant for FY 2017 will be $9,453, a large increase. This is in part due to much higher interest payment liabilities projected to total $493 million in FY 2018
A downstate transit agency is suing the state for unpaid funds in a case that could have big implications for public transit agencies throughout Illinois.
The River Valley Metro Mass Transit District manages a fleet of buses around Kankakee, including a route from Bourbonnais to Midway Airport in Chicago. Rob Hoffman, managing director of River Valley Metro, said bus service around Kankakee has been suspended on Sundays and holidays to save money during the budget impasse.
River Valley Metro’s is now the latest in a string of lawsuits filed against the state asking the judicial branch to mandate payments even though no full budget has been approved by the legislature and governor. […]
When River Valley Metro filed its lawsuit in late February, the state owed it $1.27 million. Records from the comptroller’s office show River Valley Metro was paid that money on March 23.
But another payment request was filed on March 16, and River Valley Metro is still waiting on $829,278 from the state, according to the comptroller’s office.
The comptroller’s office has been treating the transit district as a hardship case, so they’re pretty much current on their vouchers. As with everything else, this is a triage operation. You hand out enough cash to keep as many vendors alive as you can.
* A set amount of money is supposed to be transferred from the General Revenue Fund (the state’s “checkbook”) to the Downstate Transportation Fund every month. But because the state’s revenues are dwarfed by its expenditures, that hasn’t always happened going back maybe a year. As of today, the comptroller has $79.1 million in pending vouchers for that fund, but the fund only actually contains $264,038.16.
The lawsuit is here. The plaintiffs essentially want the judge to force the state to pay into that transportation fund as required.
But the only way to truly resolve this is with a real budget. And that increasingly looks unlikely.
A top Senate Democrat says the unthinkable is possible: Illinois may go two more years without an agreement on a Budget.
Illinois state Sen. Don Harmon is President Pro Tem of the Senate.
The Democrat from Oak Park notes that the state’s backlog of unpaid bills grows by the day, and state universities and many local service agencies are suffering. But he’s not seeing any real progress to resolving the two-year budget stalemate.
“It is absolutely devastating, but I am trying brace myself and others for that possibility.”
Naturally, he blames Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, questioning whether really wants a “grand bargain” compromise.
This is the second time in a couple of weeks that Harmon has said this. I checked in with him about it today and he said “I also emphasized that the Senate is ready to negotiate a balanced budget, including spending cuts and revenue, but we need a willing negotiating partner.” Harmon also said they’re working every day to get a budget because going without one would be “unthinkable.”
But the unthinkable could become reality. And that means the day may very well be coming when the comptroller will have to choose which judicial order or consent decree to violate in order to abide by another one.
The Illinois Supreme Court has denied the Rauner administration’s request to bypass the Fourth District Appellate Court and hear a direct appeal of the state labor board’s ruling on the question of whether AFSCME and the administration were at impasse when Rauner walked away from contract negotiations more than a year ago.
Rauner asked the Supreme Court to remove the case from the appellate level after Fourth District judges refused to allow Rauner to immediately impose his terms, including a 100% hike in employee costs for health care and an end to safeguards against irresponsible privatization schemes.
The appellate court’s refusal to allow Rauner to impose his demands was predicated on what it called a “reasonable likelihood” that AFSCME will prevail on appeal.
“AFSCME members are public service workers who do their jobs every day, protecting kids, keeping us safe, helping veterans and the disabled and much more,” Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “Governor Rauner should stop wasting time and money on costly court fights and instead do his own job, working constructively to find common ground.”
The union’s appeal of the labor board ruling will now be heard in the Fourth District Appellate Court according to the schedule it has established.
The Supreme Court does this often, so it’s not much of a surprise. Click here for the documentation.
*** UPDATE *** From Rauner’s General Counsel Dennis Murashko…
“We have gone as far as we can go in negotiations - and our last, best and final offer is all that our taxpayers can afford. It is therefore regrettable that AFSCME is continuously resisting every attempt for a quick resolution and wants to continue dragging this out in the courts. Every day of delay costs taxpayers over $2 million.”
* Rep. McSweeney is kinda like the Republican version of former Democratic Rep. Jack Franks. He speaks his mind, and it’s a populist, anti-tax mind. He proved it again this week during a radio interview…
State Rep. David McSweeney, a conservative who sits on the House Revenue committee, made some direct statements aimed at a fellow Republican — Gov. Bruce Rauner — in a radio interview with Southern Illinois station WJPF and host Tom Miller. McSweeney was discussing the need for Medicaid funding efficiencies when he criticized the governor for skipping a meeting with President Donald Trump on the issue. McSweeney also brought up former Gov. Pat Quinn more than once — calling him one of our worst governors but adding that Republicans were now considering tax increases that Quinn would never dream of and saying that with no budget the state is now spending more than it did when Quinn was governor.
Some highlights: “I don’t understand why the governor didn’t go to the White House for the National Governors Association meeting when they talked about Medicaid. President Trump has wanted to focus on this issue of Medicaid reform and hopefully our governor will get into the game and start talking about cutting spending in this state,” McSweeney said. “We need to be engaged in this. Again, I don’t know why the governor wouldn’t go to the White House dinner with President Trump and actually talk about this issue. 46 governors attended that meeting and I think that it’s very important that we are engaged in a dialogue with President Trump, with the Republicans in Congress because they’re looking to redo the entire Medicaid system … Illinois will be affected … we need to be at the table. That’s why we need to engage with President Trump on this issue.”
On the state budget: “The governor did not propose a balanced budget. We are spending more money right now than we were under Pat Quinn and we don’t have a budget. People need to realize, we are spending $38.5 billion. Under Pat Quinn we were spending $35 billion. What we need to do in this state is we need to cut spending … We should just give the governor a lump sum and allow him to manage the resources. He said he’s willing to do that … he said he would have the ability to manage the money.”
Pawar’s policies also include universal childcare, equitable school funding and massive infrastructure projects that he calls “Illinois’ New Deal.” The idea is framed after President Franklin D Roosevelt’s infrastructure projects that followed the Great Depression.
“I know right here in Peoria, there’s about a billion dollars worth of lock and dam work. So, we have an opportunity to not only build out our intermodal facilities, but also do ecological and wildlife restoration and lock and dam work.”
Pawar says that project would put people to work, create jobs downstream and create a “regional hub” for commerce on the Illinois River.
The Gen. Assembly has delayed progress for 2 years. That's unacceptable. They need to quit playing political games & help the people of IL. pic.twitter.com/KK4Eg4XZNg
Hi, everybody. The time to act is now. We need to make structural changes and pave the way for a balanced budget in Springfield. We proposed a balanced budget, but Speaker Michael Madigan’s Democrat majority has done nothing. Speaker Madigan continues to use stall tactics and refuses to bring real change and relief to the hard-working taxpayers of Illinois.
The General Assembly has been delaying progress for two years now. That’s unacceptable. They need to quit playing political games and help the people of Illinois.
Speaker Madigan’s Democrats are the party of “no.” No to absolutely everything, except for a big tax increase.
But we are not out of options. We can do this if we work together. What we need to do is clear. Freeze property taxes, put term limits in place and redraw our district lines so they benefit voters, not the politicians. We need to improve schools and create jobs. This isn’t rocket science, it’s common sense. We can get this done and we can get it done now. We’re working every single day with all of you on our minds. We want what’s best for you and your families, and we won’t stop until we get it done.
So many things to say, but I’ll keep it brief. He didn’t propose a balanced budget. That’s just objectively false. Madigan, however, has done zero this year, so he’s right about that.
The Senate tried to make some progress, but Rauner deliberately knocked that train off its tracks, so the current predicament is also on him. He’s leading a “party of no” as well.
And political games? He’s the one spending a million dollars on campaign ads right now.
You just can't make stuff up. You did NOT propose a balanced budget. All the TV spendin' & talkin' ain't helpin' or fixin' IL. #DoTheJobhttps://t.co/4H3TkwvJ0Y
* The people who drafted the stopgap budget last year and the people who passed it didn’t notice that they’d left out funding for domestic violence shelters. The bill was passed so quickly that advocates didn’t notice the omission, either. And, now…
The executive director of The Women’s Center warns that without state funding in the next three months, the agency that provides services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault across eight Southern Illinois counties may be forced to shut its doors.
“If we don’t see a budget for FY17 we will be closing,” Cathy McClanahan said Monday. “We see no other option.” The fiscal year 2017 budget ends June 30, and McClanahan said that because the nonprofit agency has not received any state funding since December, it will soon burn through most of its savings and local donations to make payroll and pay overhead costs.
McClanahan said that funding for domestic violence shelters was left out of the fiscal year 2017 partial year budget that the General Assembly passed on June 30.
Therefore, The Women’s Center has not received any state money for its domestic violence shelter since July 1, though it received some federal grant dollars through December. In a typical year, the center receives $494,000 annually through its contract with the Department of Human Services, she said. McClanahan said she is holding out hope that was an oversight legislators will correct. […]
The Women’s Center’s domestic violence shelter in Carbondale houses up to 40 women and their children, she noted.
Eleven days into Senator Daniel Biss’ gubernatorial campaign, Illinoisans are sending a strong message that they are ready to take their state back from money and the machine.
In this primary, Democrats will have to decide if we keep doing things the same way or demand different results. With $313,861 in contributions to the Biss for Illinois campaign in the first quarter, they are making their voice heard. Biss, who ends the quarter with $1.5 million cash on hand, issued the following statement:
“Ours will never be the billionaires’ campaign - in either who we are or who we fight for. If that’s what you’re looking for, you have plenty of options in this race but I’m not your guy. But, what is certain now is we’ll have the resources we need to build a campaign that wins because of the clear desire and energy for change in our state.
“This primary will be a test of Democrats across Illinois. Do we want to keep doing things the same way, or do we want change? Do we want to emulate Bruce Rauner or provide a Democratic answer that empowers ordinary Illinoisans? Do we want a party and government that is only accessible to the forces of money and the machine, or one that is owned by, and works in the service of, the people? Do we want to flood politics with unlimited contributions or with thousands of people ready to take their state back?
“Based on the early results, we know the answer. I’m energized by the overwhelming grassroots response to our campaign, which sends a clear message that the people of Illinois are ready to take their state back from the forces of money and the machine.”
Biss launched his gubernatorial campaign on March 20th, 2017. After that date, he raised $259,467 for the remainder of the quarter. Last week, Chris Kennedy contributed just over $250,000 to his own campaign, allowing unlimited contributions by anyone in the race. In contrast, nearly 90% of Biss’s donations in that period were for less than $150. The donations came from over 1000 contributors from 116 cities and towns across Illinois.
There’s a money trail that leads from Madigan’s campaign treasury to a Biss-operated political action committee.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Biss led a superPAC — “Leading Illinois for Tomorrow.” […]
The Hill, a Washington, D.C., publication, said Biss “has benefitted from a lot of money from Madigan and those in his orbit.”
The Friends of Michael J. Madigan gave Biss’ PAC $500,000, his daughter’s campaign committee gave Biss $150,000 and a Madigan backer and prominent Democratic donor Fred Eychaner contributed $1.2 million.
Labor unions friendly to Madigan also contributed huge sums — $750,000 from AFSCME alone. Madigan was instrumental in passing legislation aimed at stripping Rauner from his authority to negotiate AFSCME’s current contract, but Rauner vetoes were sustained over Madigan’s vehement objections.
The Federal Election Commission itemized $10.4 million in contributions to Biss’ PAC, much of it raised with Madigan’s direct and indirect assistance.
A talk radio host who was called out by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza for an on-air comment about duct-taping her mouth said Monday that he was “offended” by the way she addressed the issue.
Mendoza on Friday held a news conference and blasted WGN radio host Steve Cochran for “rape culture” language after he joked on air with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner last week about using duct tape to “put it over her mouth.” Mendoza called on Cochran and Rauner to apologize, “for the millions of women who’ve been victims of violence or sexual abuse.” […]
On his Monday show, Cochran reiterated the apology. He also questioned Mendoza’s motives, saying her choice to address the issue by news conference was “a reach for publicity.”
“If the event was called blowing something out of proportion for potential political gain, it would have made sense. But not in this case,” Cochran said. “I’m quite sure the comptroller knows how this works. If you’re upset, we talk about it … if you call me, I’ll talk to you and we’ll talk it out. Nobody from the comptroller’s office called me, I’m not that hard to find, and I didn’t find out she was going to do this until … the event happened Friday afternoon and became a news story.”
You get paid to make a stupid joke about duct-taping a female officeholder’s mouth shut on a 50,000 watt clear-channel radio station and yet you’re the victim because she somehow owes you a phone call?
When Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner took office, he boasted of a “superstar” team he’d hired to help remake state government.
The team consisted of a consultant with experience helping governors craft spending plans in Florida and California, a former budget office chief from Georgia and the ex-governor of Hawaii. Rauner said they were “the perfect trio” to “help turn our state around.” […]
It’s common for politicians to tout an incoming administration as better, brighter and more competent than that of the vanquished predecessor. In Rauner’s case, his pledge to “assemble a superstar ‘A’ team to turn the government around” also was symbolic of a central premise of his candidacy: that a successful businessman could bring fiscal order to state government by recruiting special talent and applying private-sector practices. […]
When Rauner first talked up his superstars, the new governor was fresh off a campaign in which he’d promised to “shake up Springfield” and use his business skills to streamline the state government bureaucracy. These days though, the governor says he’s focusing on what he can “control.”
That shift has resulted in less emphasis the past year on the notion that superstars can whip the state into shape. Instead, the governor has pivoted his message to attack Democrats who’ve long controlled the legislature and have blocked many of his initiatives.
* And this passage is getting some play in the Twitterverse…
The Illinois Senate’s leader is promoting legislation he says will protect immigrants from Trump administration actions.
Several immigrant and anti-crime groups and labor unions joined Democratic Senate President John Cullerton of Chicago on Monday to unveil legislation he calls the TRUST act. It would bar law enforcement agencies in Illinois from helping in immigration actions unless federal authorities present a warrant from a judge.
It also would bar federal agents from state-funded schools or health institutions unless they have a court-issued warrant.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Telecom giant AT&T is asking for Illinois’ permission to scrap requirements that the company maintain land-based phone lines.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, only four percent of Illinoisans still rely solely on landlines. AT&T has to get permission from a number of state legislatures before they can formally ask the Federal Communications Council to be allowed to scuttle the thousands of miles of land-based phone lines, with Illinois being one of those states. The bill is currently awaiting a Senate floor vote.
A proposal to give the Chicago Teachers Union expanded authority to go on strike advanced out of an Illinois House committee Wednesday over opposition from Chicago Public Schools and its allies.
The legislation would dramatically transform the rules of contract negotiations between the union and the district when a deal reached just before a strike deadline in October expires in 2019. […]
The amended bill, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Silvana Tabares of Chicago, would do away with a provision that prevents the CTU from striking over issues including class sizes, outsourcing, staffing, layoffs and the length of the school day.
Under current law, contract talks can cover those subjects, but CPS has broad authority to implement its own policies on those matters without fear of a teacher walkout.
* Simple, indeed, but is it a good one? Not so sure…
Cullerton said he agrees with Rauner that there should be some sort of redistricting reform, saying “let it be two bipartisan folks that the Supreme Court chooses. Have those two people decide what the maps would be.”
And if they can’t decide? What then? Pistols at 40 paces?
Cathy McClanahan, executive director of the Women’s Center, which offers programs to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and serves about 1,200 people annually, said the center has not received a payment from the state since December.
“We have about three months’ worth of payroll left in order to keep the building open and keep it going,” she said.
[State Sen. Paul] Schimpf responded by saying there are many examples of suffering the budget has caused. He and [state Sen. Dale] Fowler thanked McClanahan for bringing the matter to their attention and said they would seek a resolution to the problem.
“There are companies right now that are wanting to come to the state of Illinois,” Fowler said. “… but they’re not coming to the state of Illinois because we don’t have these several reforms, especially in our workers’ compensation.”
Destiny Edmond said she’s moving out of the [South Shore] neighborhood to Hyde Park or the South Loop when her lease ends at the end of the month because of the violence.
She said at 4 a.m. Thursday, a man tried to force his way into her roommate’s car as he was pulling into their garage near 78th Street and Yates Avenue claiming people were trying to shoot him.
Edmond said she was woken up shortly after that by the alarm going off in the garage and found the man, who she said was 19-20 years old, hiding in the car in the garage.
“When I told him to get out of the car, he just stared at me,” Edmond said. “I put him in a chokehold because he wouldn’t leave.”
She said the man again said he was hiding from people trying to shoot him and when she kicked him out he threatened to come back and shoot her.
“Thankfully, the lease is up next month,” Edmond said.
She said she knew there was violence in South Shore, but didn’t know it was as bad as it is. She said she’s now worried about this man retaliating against her and is moving as soon as she is able.
Juan Calderon, chief operating officer for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, filed a complaint against Assistant Illinois House Majority Leader Luis Arroyo with the state’s legislative inspector general on Thursday.
Calderon alleges that Arroyo threatened to cut funding for his and other community groups who opposed Arroyo’s resolution in favor of Puerto Rican statehood. Calderon says he wants Puerto Rico to remain a U.S. commonwealth. […]
“I received a threatening call from the representative,” Calderon wrote in the complaint. “Mr. Arroyo said in no uncertain terms that he noted all of us who spoke against his resolution and promised that there would be retribution. In other words, community-based organizations with links to those who disagreed with him in public will not receive state-funded grants.” […]
“As he is planning to purchase a retirement home on the Island, he hopes to curry favor, or in his precise words, ‘win brownie points’ with the [pro-statehood] administration, which he expects will help him secure a better deal on a better home to enjoy during his retirement.”
Whoa.
However, Rep. Arroyo called the allegations a “total fabrication” and said he’s currently building a retirement house in Florida, not Puerto Rico.
I have several questions for prospective Champaign council District 2 voters before the upcoming municipal election.
Do citizens prefer the current nonpartisan city council of Champaign, or do they want to follow Urbana and the Champaign County Board into the divisive morass of “real urban politics”?
Do they want a rational and experienced council person with a solid and proven track record in thoughtful and positive municipal oversight, or will they choose the progressive special interests of a social justice warrior with zero experience in municipal governance and with union ties which possibly reach all the way to Chicago’s Michael Madigan?
Suburban voters are seeing plenty of local races on their ballots this week, but they don’t always see much choice.
Barely 30 percent of the hundreds of races being decided Tuesday are contested, according to a Daily Herald analysis. That’s down from about 45 percent of races that were contested in local elections eight years ago.
“The voters I’ve talked with are excited about having a choice,” said Ron Sebonia, who is running for Elmhurst City Council against incumbent Jim Kennedy. Sebonia’s candidacy forced the only contested municipal race in Elmhurst this year, where voters have only one option for mayor, clerk, treasurer and six of the seven council seats. The number of contested races in Elmhurst has dropped steadily since 2009, when six of seven council seats, mayor and clerk were contested.
The lack of contested state legislative races is constantly blamed on gerrymandering, but citywide races aren’t gerrymandered. So, the Daily Herald editorializes today in favor of local government consolidation. The paper doesn’t suggest which towns that Elmhurst should be consolidated with, however.
* The Question: Is anything interesting happening in your local races?
Illinois owes a group of women whose police officer and firefighter husbands died in the line of duty more than $351,000 apiece for their losses, but the state’s chronic inability to pass a budget has left all of them unpaid like thousands of state vendors.
The widows’ plight in a state with a $12.7 billion unpaid bill backlog represents yet another frustrating byproduct of lllinois’ 22-month budget stalemate, a span of fiscal ineptitude unmatched by any other U.S. state.
Illinois has limped along without a full operating budget during that time because the state’s Democratic-led legislature and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner have clashed over a list of nonbudgetary demands he has insisted be part of any budget deal. All told, seven Illinois women have been waiting as long as a year for their shares of more than $2.7 million in awards and interest owed under the state’s Line of Duty Compensation Act, which mandates one-time payments and burial reimbursements to the families of fallen first responders.
The Senate passed a stand-alone appropriation for this program last year, but it went nowhere in the House. Instead, the House put the line item into its budget which went nowhere in the Senate.
Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis told Reuters the governor believes the state should “uphold any promised payments made to the families” of fallen first responders. But she emphasized the payments should be part of a broader budget deal.
That is something the governor has failed to broker since taking office in January 2015. He has butted heads with Democrats over his insistence that his enactment of a budget be conditional on approval of state workers’ compensation changes, term limits for legislative leaders and a property-tax freeze, among other things.
“Unfortunately, they cannot be paid until the General Assembly passes a balanced budget,” Demertzis said of the widows in a statement. “Governor Rauner continues to advocate for a solution that balances the budget and ensures payment of those types of benefits.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner recently gave Mayor Rahm Emanuel good reason to be ticked off with him. Actually, he gave everyone who has even a passing interest in Chicago’s fiscal well-being good reason to be ticked off with him. Rauner’s offense: He vetoed legislation that would have enabled the city to pump critically needed money into two municipal pension funds nearing insolvency. Without this infusion, the funds will fall further into arrears, meaning the bill will be that much bigger when it’s paid off.
Rauner said he blocked the legislation because it would have fixed only two Chicago pension funds and not underfunded public-employee pension funds throughout Illinois. In other words, the Republican governor killed what was a sane step toward civic responsibility at the municipal level solely to give himself leverage with the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly in their long-running fight over the state’s budget.
* And then there’s the I-55 privatized tollway plan and the Thompson Center sale that are stuck in the House. Greg Hinz…
The Senate is poised to act [on the toll lane]. Building trade unions and planning groups are on board, too. But Madigan’s House, after a year of considering, is not ready. Though Team Madigan denies that it’s just trying to deny Rauner an accomplishment for his upcoming re-election race, it’s clear that the speaker wants to retain House signoff on the deal when Blankenhorn comes back with a final negotiated contract a year or so from now. Team Rauner replies that potential private partners won’t put up with that much uncertainty. […]
Rauner went too far the other day when he accused Madigan of bad faith on [the Thompson Center] deal. Insiders in state and city government confirm that there are some unresolved issues holding up a vote to authorize the sale. Among them: Would the measure lock the city into having to accept whatever private deal Rauner cuts? Would the new owner guarantee keeping big Chicago Transit Authority el stops in and under the building? And is Rauner shooting too high in pitching what could be a 115-story tower on the site, a potential overreach that could leave a big hole in the center of the Loop (like a giant version of the once-upon-a-time Spire near Lake Shore Drive)?
Again, reasonable people could work this out. But the speaker wants a final deal on this project to come back before him. And people who would know make it clear that Emanuel is not going to lean on anyone to vote for Rauner’s plan until he gets the $215 million for teacher pensions he says Rauner unfairly is keeping from him.
That last line is by far the most important.
* So, to sum up, Rauner vetoed the city pension plan to squeeze something out of the Democrats, and the mayor isn’t going to help push anything of Rauner’s forward until he gets what he wants out of the governor.
* Back in February, several Senate Democrats either tweeted out or otherwise posted a “fact check” of Gov. Rauner’s budget address. Click here to see one of them.
Rauner Claim #4: “We know the challenges facing human services … that is why our proposal increases support for Child Care and other programs that assist children, senior citizens, and our other most vulnerable residents.”
FACT: Governor Rauner has called every year for eliminating funding for afterschool programs for at-risk youth, homeless prevention services and programs that help autistic children.
In an email newsletter, state Sen. Jacqueline Collins accused Gov. Bruce Rauner of calling for the elimination of “funding for afterschool programs for at-risk youth, homeless prevention services and programs that help autistic children,” each year he’s been in office.
A Democratic staffer pointed to five instances where Rauner proposed cuts or freezes to these three programs. We verified these instances by looking at Rauner’s current and former budget proposals, a vetoed bill and news stories.
Rauner has proposed budgets that would eliminate funding in the areas Collins cites. But his 2015 veto of a bill that contained autism funding was in the context of rejecting 19 budget bills on the grounds that the entire package was unbalanced. His veto message did not specifically mention eliminating autism funding. Rather, he said he was vetoing several bills because he wanted structural reforms as part of a balanced budget which majority Democrats did not send him.
Collins’ statement is accurate, but needs clarification and additional information.
We rate Collins’ claim Mostly True.
Um, huh?
* They didn’t actually fact check the original claim by Sen. Collins. As mentioned above, they got a Senate Democratic staffer to send them a list of things Rauner supposedly did and then they fact checked that staff-supplied list. And they apparently only had a minor problem with one of those staffer claims.
Collins’ claim: In April 2015, Rauner announced his plan to freeze funding for autism and homeless prevention.
Our findings: On April 3, 2015, Rauner did call for a $26 million suspension in social services and public health grants. The Chicago Tribune reported, “The Republican’s office released a list of targeted programs…that included funding to pay for…smoking cessation, teen programs, autism, and HIV and AIDS programs, among other things.”
That wasn’t “Collins’ claim,” that was a staffer’s claim. Instead of doing their own homework, they relied on a member of Senate staff to justify the original claim. OK, fine, it’s much easier that way. But if you’re gonna fact check what Collins said, then stick to what she said, not somebody else.
And what Collins and other Senate Democrats said is that Rauner “has called every year for eliminating funding for afterschool programs for at-risk youth, homeless prevention services and programs that help autistic children.” So, if the governor did that at least once in 2015, 2016 and 2017 - and he did, according to Politifact - then why the heck is Sen. Collins’ statement rated only “mostly” true?
* Maybe Pat Quinn and Leslie Munger could offer up joint testimony about how this grand scheme worked out when they tried it…
Politicians in the North should be denied their salaries if they fail to reach a power-sharing agreement, a former UK minister has said.
Former Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson said withholding pay from MLAs might “crystallise minds” in the Northern Ireland Assembly against lengthy negotiations.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire pledged yesterday to keep “all options under consideration” in his efforts to form a new executive.
During an urgent statement on Northern Ireland in the UK House of Common, Mr Paterson asked Mr Brokenshire: “Would you agree with me that there is one measure that would put pressure on the parties to come back to the talks and might crystallise minds, and that would be to make it clear that should the elected members not form the executive after a lengthy period of negotiation then their salaries and expenses will not be paid from the public purse?”
And, just in case somebody over there finds this post via Google, former Gov. Quinn vetoed legislative salaries in order to get a pension reform deal. There was no pension reform deal until after a judge ordered the salaries reinstated. And former Comptroller Munger delayed paying legislative salaries last year in order to punish legislators for not reaching a budget deal. There has been no budget deal since then and a judge recently ruled that the salaries had to be paid in a timely manner.
• More than 1 million Illinoisans have lost access to critical services. (United Way)
• 22,000 seniors outside of Chicago have lost access to services such as home delivered meals, transportation and help accessing resources. (Age Options)
• Nearly 47,000 fewer children receive affordable childcare that allowed parents to work and go to school. (SEIU Healthcare)
• Higher education funding has been slashed by $2.3 billion over the past two years — 59% — threatening permanent damage to many colleges amid layoffs, decreased enrollment, academic program cuts, and tuition hikes. (Center for Tax and Budget Accountability)
• K-12 schools are struggling due to cuts to transportation, special education, and school lunches. (The State-Journal Register)
• $0 dollars of state funding has been provided for domestic violence services for the entire state since June 2016, putting thousands of
lives at risk. (Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network)
• Illinois is not funding tuition grants for 130,000 low-income college students, forcing many to drop out. (Young Invincibles)
• 80,000 people in Illinois have lost access to needed mental health services. (National Alliance on Mental Illness, Chicago)
• As rates of opioid addiction steadily rise, over 24,000 fewer Illinoisans were admitted to addiction treatment services. (Illinois Association for Behavioral Health)
• Nearly 30% fewer pregnant women and families with young children have received proven, cost-effective parent coaching and home visiting services. (The Ounce of Prevention Fund)
• 34% fewer women received life-saving breast and cervical cancer screenings. (Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Taskforce)
• 90% of homeless service providers have been forced to cut clients, services, or staff. (Housing Action Illinois)
• 2,311 fewer formerly homeless Illinoisans received needed supportive housing services putting them at risk of losing their homes and entering higher cost systems. (Housing Action Illinois)
• Illinois’ 29 rape crisis centers were forced to lay off staff and cut hours resulting in waitlists for survivors seeking help. (Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault)
• Public transportation used by workers, seniors and those with disabilities has had days and routes cut in Central and Southern Illinois counties. (The State-Journal Register)
• Adult literacy grants were cut by 50%, significantly limiting access to this critical step toward self-sufficiency for the 2.1 million Illinoisans with low literacy skills. (Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition)
• Cuts to HIV/AIDS testing, housing and prevention services are risking lives and increasing stigma. (AIDS Foundation of Chicago)
• Over 100,000 immigrants have lost access to services like citizenship assistance and language access. (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)
• Employment and training programs have been cut, denying job seekers of these cost-effective services. (Chicago Jobs Council)
• Illinois’ agricultural infrastructure has been damaged by cuts to crop research and development, livestock laboratories, soil and water conservation districts, county fairs and more. (Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Farmer Today)
• 21 home healthcare agencies serving low-income seniors and people with disabilities have closed, reduced service areas or capped intake, raising the likelihood of institutionalization. (SEIU Healthcare)
• Services that divert youth from incarceration have been shut down in 24 counties across Illinois. (Illinois Collaboration on Youth)
• As community violence rises, over 15,000 youth have lost access to safe spaces after school. (Illinois Collaboration on Youth)
On the topic of unions, Cullerton, seen as an ally of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, worried that creating an elected Chicago Public School Board would lead to one-sided negotiations with unions that would commandeer the electoral process and place friendly members in office.
“It might end up being electing union members to the school board and those unions represent the teachers. The question would be, would there be any kind of oversight,” he said.
I get what he’s saying, but the last time I checked every other school board in the state was elected.
The state has been without a budget for almost two years. The credit ratings agency Moody’s warned Illinois there will be long term damage of Illinois doesn’t have a budget soon. Rauner says he is not worried about Moody’s warning.
“Rating agencies work for bond houses. They love tax hikes, they love pension deferrals, bonds not pensions,” Rauner said.
Actually, they don’t like pension payment deferrals.
This isn’t new, of course. The governor has said similar things about the ratings agencies since the impasse began. But this is what he said during the campaign…
llinois’ credit rating just got downgraded again, the 12th time since Pat Quinn became governor. Unacceptable.
Journalists covering state government should take training courses in adolescent conflict resolution. That’s the caliber of discourse between elected officials.
Do you know who doesn’t care about the daily political score? Bond rating agencies that monitor Illinois’ dysfunction with increasing alarm. “Illinois is at a critical juncture and its leaders must choose between further credit deterioration and drift without compromise, or the potential for stabilization,” Ted Hampton, a Moody’s Investors Service executive, now warns. “With a budget consensus, Illinois could quickly secure its financial position.” […]
So forgive us for viewing the Democrats’ new agenda with skepticism. We’ll know they’re serious if they work with Rauner to find common ground on a budget and on proposals he will sign into law, not to simply pass piles of bills they know he’ll veto.
Two months of the General Assembly’s spring session remain. If lawmakers can’t deliver solutions, they invite voters to ask: Why do we keep electing legislators who perpetuate disaster?
The Senate did try to do that, but were foiled by the big guy.
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said veteran Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s actions have shown Madigan is more interested in denying GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner a win than in helping govern the state.
Durkin, speaking on WGN-AM 720 on Sunday, said Madigan’s reluctance to move forward with comprehensive changes to public employee pensions, a private-public partnership on express toll lanes on the Stevenson Expressway and the sale of the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago back up his view.
“I’m getting to a point where I believe the speaker is more interested in ensuring that this governor does not get a legislative success. That is starting to percolate more and more,” Durkin said.
“But I will say this, his (Democratic) members are not accepting of this. His members need to rise up and say, ‘Put it aside, the elections will come and go.’ But I do believe the gubernatorial race and blocking the governor from getting any kind of legislative success seems to be more apparent.”
Is he governing or campaigning? As Governor Bruce Rauner toured Illinois Science and Technology Park in Skokie Friday pushing his agenda to grow Illinois’ economy, new TV commercials appeared [last] week featuring a plaid shirt Rauner blaming Democrats for the budget mess.
The governor says they are not campaign commercials. Instead, he says the ads are a way to communicate to the people of Illinois about the need for a balanced budget.
Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton doesn’t buy it. The Democratic leader calls the commercials counterproductive.
“This is not governing. Cutting commercials and blasting people who are in the legislature who you want to vote for tough bills it’s campaigning not governing and it’s not helpful,” Cullerton said.
Cullerton says is it’s not helping negotiate a budget deal he and Republican Senate Leader Christine Radogno are trying to work out.
* Gov. Rauner yet again pointed to the great economies created around Stanford in the Bay Area and Harvard and MIT in the Boston area as something Illinois should emulate…
Rauner cited founders and executives of Oracle Corp., PayPal Holdings Inc. and Yahoo Inc. who graduated from or attended the U of I but whose companies are located elsewhere.
“We have an ecosystem, but we have not been strategic about them working together and about location of that capability,” Rauner said. “We’ve got to figure out how to keep the geniuses in Illinois.”
OK, I agree. Universities should be economic engines for their regions and for the entire state.
Rauner envisions a state-university system that doesn’t duplicate programs as much as is the case currently.
“I want to see them succeed, but we’ve got to be thoughtful about which degrees they offer,” Rauner said. “I believe in specialization and being great at certain things and not trying to be OK at a bunch of stuff.
“Do we need every school to offer the exact same stuff, but they’re two hours from each other? Should we think more strategically about the offerings?”
I don’t necessarily disagree, but pretty much the only concrete actions to come out of this administration have been to either propose huge cuts to higher education or squeeze them slowly to death by not passing a budget.
The only way a vision like this can be implemented is after the state government moves past its constant crises. And that just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon.
* Related…
* Education Secretary Defends Gov. Rauner’s Higher Education Budget Proposal: In a two-hour grilling that one Republican called “an inquisition,” representatives pressed Purvis to justify slashing higher education by almost 60 percent over the past two years. Her answers repeatedly referred to the ongoing “budget crisis,” pension costs, and students leaving Illinois to go to school in other states. She was also asked what the administration had done to help schools. “Actually, the responsibility of running those universities and those programs falls directly on those boards. So in appointing high-quality candidates to those boards, I think the governor has done a very important job, as has my team, in putting people on those.” Rauner has proposed funding higher education at up to 90 percent of the 2015 level. That’s the last time Illinois had a full budget. A recent report from bond rating agency Moody’s says state universities have been shorted $2.2 billion dollars since the budget fight began.
As the Senate’s two leaders tried again to find the votes to pass their “grand bargain” last week to end the state’s two-year governmental gridlock, Gov. Rauner began spending over a million dollars on two new TV ads that portray him as an every-man “duct tape” hero in the fight for Illinois’ future.
“Illinois is broke and broken,” Rauner says to the camera while standing in a well-kept garage and wearing a plaid flannel shirt. “And the politicians that got us into this mess, their solution is this,” Rauner says as he holds up a roll of duct tape. “Higher taxes,” he says as he yanks out a piece of duct tape, “More spending,” he says with another jerk on the roll, “No real reforms,” he says as he takes one more strong pull.
“After decades of ignoring problems, it’s time someone fixes ‘em,” the governor says. A list of bullet points appears on the screen in front of a line of tools neatly arranged against the garage wall as Rauner says: “Our balanced budget plan freezes property taxes, caps spending, creates jobs and puts term limits on politicians.”
Rauner is then shown sitting on a chair in the garage. “Our plan brings real reforms to Illinois,” he says as he grabs the roll of duct tape. “Their duct tape solutions won’t work anymore. We will fix Illinois together.”
The second, shorter ad, begins with Rauner peeling off duct tape from a piece of glass over the camera. “Springfield politicians don’t want you to see what they’re up to,” the governor begins, wearing the same flannel shirt in the same garage. “‘Cuz their duct tape solutions just cover up Illinois’ problems. They don’t fix ‘em,” he says with a smile on his face. “Fix Illinois,” an announcer says.
The governor’s people firmly believe that they have staked out a comfortably poll-tested platform. “What we oppose, the public opposes,” a Rauner official said last week. “What we support, the public supports.”
The public hates tax hikes and Rauner is gearing up for the 2018 campaign with a message that he saved the state from ruinous Democratic tax increases without his demanded job-creating reforms, which include the above-mentioned balanced budget, property tax and state government spending freezes, term limits and other awesome stuff.
Trouble is, he’s never once proposed a balanced budget and can’t get anything else passed. Rauner is heading into a reelection campaign without much of anything to show for his time in office. Hence, the duct tape ads.
Team Rauner is also still opposed to whatever comes out of the Senate’s negotiations because the proposals don’t meet its demands.
Talks have reportedly faltered over a “five and five” proposal to raise the income tax for five years and cap property taxes for the same amount of time. The Senate Democrats are also still refusing to specify major budget cuts (which the governor has refused to do as well), and a dispute has developed over the latest education funding reform bill.
Should the Senate’s plan go down in flames yet again, the Democrats will undoubtedly say that Rauner never actually wanted a deal to begin with. They’ll claim in unison that the Turnaround Agenda was, in reality, a mere ploy to achieve Rauner’s “real” result, which is the slow but very deliberate destruction of “weak” universities and social service programs and the crushing of unions and “the middle class.” And they might possibly even get some backup from a clearly furious Senate Republican leader, who lashed out at the governor and his chief of staff earlier this month for declaring through an unnamed source in a newspaper article that the grand bargain was dead.
Rauner will continue to counter with a campaign based on running against the Springfield “status quo,” and in particular the overwhelmingly unpopular House Speaker Michael Madigan. But after over two years in office, a kabillionaire who conspicuously drops his “g’s” and dons the costumes of the working class in expensive TV ads to claim he’s on the common man’s side may be finally be wearing thin. The governor’s 58 percent job disapproval rating in the latest Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll didn’t appear out of nowhere, after all.
Instead of constantly worrying about his own political future by producing yet another round of expensive TV ads far away from election day, the governor ought to find another way to improve his state’s future. He has a Republican Senate leader who is firmly committed to getting us out of this horrific ditch. Instead of undercutting her at every turn, he ought to be helping her across the finish line. Doing otherwise will only prove the Democrats’ point that he doesn’t really want a deal.
