Caption contest!
Monday, Dec 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Democrat Susana Mendoza was sworn in as Illinois comptroller Monday, saying bipartisan agreement is needed to get the state out of its fiscal crisis, but also saying GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “turnaround agenda” shouldn’t be linked to passing a budget.
“I don’t think that the approach of tying non-budgetary related items to the budget has proved fruitful for Illinoisans,” Mendoza, 44, told reporters concerning Rauner’s priorities, which have ranged from term limits and a property-tax freeze to limiting some collective bargaining and lowering workers’ compensation costs. “I think all of those things independently should be standing on their own merits and should not be tied to the budget.” […]
“I will use the full power of my office to prevent Illinois’ hospitals, group homes, rape crisis centers and universities from going under,” Mendoza said. […]
“As I said during my campaign, I am here to be that independent, truth-telling fiscal watchdog that will prioritize … both the state’s fiscal and moral health,” Mendoza said. “If anyone from the governor on down tells you we can afford to bail out the big power companies but we have to bail on Illinois’ school children, I’ll be here to call their bluff.”
That last line closely echoed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s criticism of the governor for backing the Exelon deal while vetoing Chicago Public Schools funding…
“The governor said he was going to sign a bill to bail out the utilities and then vetoed a bill that bailed on the children of the city of Chicago. That’s the way I look at it,” said Emanuel of a measure that raises electricity rates for consumers and keeps open two nuclear power plants.
* Anyway, let’s welcome our new comptroller…
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* Gov. Rauner was asked today about his recent calls to Democrats to tone down their rhetoric. But what about the BossMadigan.com site, which is run by the Illinois GOP that’s almost totally funded by the governor? Why not give that a rest for a while?
His response…
This is the job we’ve chosen. We’re in a field where politics is always going on. Partisan stuff. That’s on the side. We can keep that out. That’s not in the room when we’re negotiating. That’s its own process. I have nothing to do with it. I don’t spend my time thinking about it or focusing on it. We ought to be mature enough, thoughtful enough that we can put politics aside. Politics are always going on. That’s the world we live in. We should focus in the room on getting a compromise, doing the right thing for the long term for the people of Illinois… The political stuff, the partisan stuff, ignore it. That shouldn’t matter. That should not get in the way.
* From my inbox today…
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Rauner says he’s “proud” of the Exelon deal
Monday, Dec 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says legislation that provides billions of dollars in subsidies to power giant Exelon Corp. is imperfect but that he’s “proud” of the deal lawmakers reached.
The measure approved Thursday provides $235 million per year to Exelon to keep unprofitable nuclear plants running in Clinton and the Quad Cities. More than 4 million customers of power-distributing subsidiaries ComEd and Ameren will pay more to finance the plan.
Rauner has previously blasted “special deals” for corporations. On Thursday he vetoed additional state money for Chicago Public Schools, calling it a “bailout.”
The Republican, who’s expected to sign the Exelon bill, said Friday that Clinton and the Quad Cities communities would have been “devastated” if those plants closed.
* The Quad City Times, where one of the plants is located, hailed the bill’s passage…
For a few days, Illinois touted a functioning government, and the sudden bit of 11th-hour bipartisanship salvaged nuclear plants in Cordova and Clinton, Illinois. […]
This time, Gov. Bruce Rauner showed real leadership. For months, his administration was oddly silent on the Exelon bill. Only when it really mattered did Rauner and his staff speak up, leveraging its full political muscle to shape something palatable to Rauner, pro-business Republicans and environmentally minded Democrats. Rauner’s administration said late Thursday that the Exelon bill is expected to be signed into law.
Madigan, too, backed off on his “poison pill.” Finally, Illinois’ dominant speaker freed his members to speak for themselves.
* Tom Kacich had a different take…
It made for another sad commentary on a Legislature that seems impotent and fearful in the ongoing budget dispute between Rauner and Michael Madigan, but was willing and able to take tough votes to assist a profitable corporation.
* Crain’s was more direct…
The governor’s team actively worked to craft the Exelon bailout. Too bad the only time Rauner and Democrats in the General Assembly found common cause, it was to do the state harm.
Ouch.
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* Illinois Review…
“It’s all about clean hands,” a group of Republican lawmakers is complaining Monday, and the Illinois Democrats that filed a lawsuit last week to get their paychecks from State Comptroller Leslie Munger simply “don’t have them.”
The lawsuit six state representatives filed last week sues on behalf of all the state lawmakers affected by Munger’s policy of “No budget, No pay,” but those six are a part of the reason why no state budget has been passed, and why they’re not getting their paychecks.
“In order to be worthy to file the lawsuit, those filing must be worthy of asking, and they have not complied with the statutory requirements” to pass a balanced state budget Illinois Review was told by a source that wanted to remain anonymous. […]
“The House members must comply with their required duties or they have no standing to file a complaint about not getting their paychecks - in other words, they don’t have ‘clean hands’ required,” and that position could soon be filed in court.
* Here’s a bit more from an e-mail that’s being circulated among some lawmakers that I obtained this afternoon…
As of June 30, 2014, the General Assembly members get paid under a continuing appropriation bill covering their salaries.
Unfortunately for the continuing appropriation bill, the cumulative effect of the current expenditures exceeding funds estimated to be available by the General Assembly, such an appropriation bill is unconstitutional under Article VIII, Section 2(b) of the Illinois Constitution which says:
“The General Assembly by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year. “
The doctrine of unclean hands is an affirmative defense to a Mandamus of the type requested by the 6 Illinois House members. First, look at the standard definition of Unclean Hands:
“For instance, if a plaintiff asks the court for an injunction to stop the defendant from dumping his trash in the plaintiff’s backyard, the defendant may argue that the plaintiff has also dumped her trash in the defendant’s backyard, and so the plaintiff has “unclean hands” and should not receive the injunction she wants. The doctrine is based on an idea of basic fairness: One person should not be able to stop another person from doing a bad action if the first person is also doing it.”
http://www.rotlaw.com/legal-library/what-are-unclean-hands/
Second, consider the fact that it is the very acts of the 6 named Plaintiffs individually and collectively as a body that has refused to send to the governor’s desk a Constitutional appropriations bill where all expenditures do not exceed the funds estimated to be available. The doctrine Unclean Hands of Plaintiffs should prevent the Cook County Court from issuing a Mandamus order.
The only step missing in this lawsuit is to have one or more members of the General Assembly file an interpleader to join the lawsuit as a matter of right and to oppose the relief requested because of the unclean hands of the plaintiffs. Do not let the crooks who created this problem and who can collectively solve the problem by the own required duty avoid the effects of their own Constitutional malfeasance.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner today called on Democratic legislators to put taxpayers and critical human services ahead of their own personal gain by withdrawing their lawsuit seeking paychecks and join him in pushing for a balanced budget with reforms.
“This lawsuit is a stunning reminder of why we need change in Springfield,” Governor Rauner said. “Only in Illinois would politicians who have failed to pass a balanced budget and reforms put their own personal gain before taxpayers and critical human services.”
As promised, Governor Rauner does not accept a paycheck or benefits.
“Democrats should end this frivolous lawsuit, put taxpayers and human services ahead of themselves, and pressure their leadership to work with Republicans on passing a balanced budget with reforms that create jobs, lower property taxes and improve our schools,” Rauner added.
Governor Rauner and Republican leaders are pushing for a balanced budget with reforms that will create jobs, lower property taxes and improve our schools.
Speaker Mike Madigan prefers a stopgap spending measure. While the speaker prefers calling it a budget, it is not. What the speaker advocates for is simply a short term, incomplete stopgap spending measure. Last week, the governor made clear that he will only support a stopgap measure if the Democrats pass term limits and a permanent property tax freeze.
He also talked about it at his press conference today…
*** UPDATE 2 *** From a plaintiff in that lawsuit…
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Question of the day: Golden Horseshoes
Monday, Dec 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yes, it’s that time of the year again. I realize that many of you are grumpy as heck, but our annual awards are a Statehouse tradition and we’re not going to stop now.
As always, we’ll start off light. Your nominations, please, for best political bar and best political restaurant in Springfield?
Make sure to explain your nomination or it won’t count. These awards are about intensity rather than numerical supremacy. And please nominate in both categories.
Thanks!
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* I have some appointments to deal with and some errands to run today, so I probably will not be around when this breaks.
Friday e-mails from a reader…
I’m in the court St Clair County. Judge is issuing a TRO to prevent implementation of Rauner’s last best and final offer.
So they agreed that the TRO would come out Monday at noon. Mum’s the word until then.
I’ve confirmed this with others.
*** UPDATE *** I’m told that the Illinois Labor Relations Board has issued its written ruling, which the governor’s people say renders the St. Clair County decision moot.
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* From a reader…
Good Morning.
I read the blog often to help keep up to date on various downstate activities and enjoy the knowledge and difference of opinions everyone brings and shares.
When it comes to the budget, I am not sure if anyone has shared that while a K-12 budget may have been passed, the bigger picture of an overall budget still affects districts. The gaping revenue whole that has produced the backlog is still taking a toll on a district like mine.
As of now, we are in the 6th month of the budget year and the State still owes us over $600k from last fiscal year. As you may or may not know, School Districts get categorical money from ISBE and the State as well as the General State Aid (GSA) that is talked so much about. We get the GSA monthly, and are happy for that, but we get those categorical payments four times a year. As it stands, we are still owed that final payment from last year and have not of course seen the first payment this year.
This still puts hardships on districts and do not think that this is mentioned enough as I know that there are other districts that serve a low socioeconomically diverse population like we do. I just think that it should be noted that passing that budget did not necessarily save districts, it just saved them from shutting our doors at the beginning of the year.
Students still suffer when cash flow is this bad and we need to make decisions on what we purchase and when because our state is not only dead last in the country with education funding, but is this far behind with what they do pay.
Patrick Palbicke
Director of Business/CSBO
Beach Park District #3
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Unclear on the concept
Monday, Dec 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The State Journal-Register offers advice to our new Illinois Comptroller, Susana Mendoza…
One of your main duties is to cut the state’s checks; we feel you should know that as of right now, there are hundreds of nonprofits, social service agencies, schools and other vendors waiting to be paid for work they did or services they provided months ago. We were encouraged to hear that you do not believe state legislators should be bumped to the front of the line for payment, and they would have to wait just like everyone else does.
Granted, it might not be your choice anymore: Six Democratic lawmakers filed suit Friday against your predecessor, Leslie Munger, saying she was violating the constitution by not issuing them paychecks. They may legally be right, but perhaps you can tell them what you said last week during a Better Government Association forum held in Springfield, that withholding paychecks is not a punitive action, but that the pain has to be shared. It’s a concept some state lawmakers haven’t always understood.
Sure, it may be unconstitutional. Sure, it gives unprecedented authority to an otherwise ministerial executive branch officer to set state policy by fiat. And sure, it hasn’t worked at all.
But, hey, it polls off the charts and allows us to howl populist platitudes at the wind, so by all means let’s do it!
* I realize this is a completely “politically incorrect” thing to say in our current political climate, but duly elected members of the Illinois General Assembly should not be held hostage to the political whims of a state comptroller.
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About those 14 minutes
Monday, Dec 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Sunday…
“Today we talked about the budget for 14 minutes,” Madigan said, and then actually provided the tick-tock. “From 10:16 to 10:20 and from 11:15 to 11:25 we talked about the budget.” The meeting ended at about 11:38 or so.
* This is a big reason why it only lasted 14 minutes. The Republicans unexpectedly turned the table on the Democrats…
However, Radogno argued that the brevity of discussion was by state Democrats’ design.
“Today we said, ‘OK, what are your ideas on the budget?’ ” Radogno said. “[Madigan] had Greg Harris there — his appointed spokesman — unprepared to talk about the budget.”
* Rep. Harris had kind of a lame excuse…
Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, countered that unknowns in the future of the state’s economic situation needed to be “accurately accounted for” before a substantive discussion could take place. […]
Harris argued lawmakers have a number of questions to answer before substantive progress can be made. Among them, Illinois’ new road lockbox amendment, which requires all transportation related fees and taxes be used exclusively for transportation-related expenses. Harris also referenced the incoming Trump administration and looming questions regarding block grants for Medicaid.
“These will have profound implications on our state budget-making,” Harris said.
No doubt those will have profound implications, but Trump won’t even be inaugurated until after the second half of the stopgap starts. And he has to pass a whole lot of bills for whatever he wants to do. Illinois can’t wait to deal with the rest of this fiscal year while DC sorts itself out. Leave that talk to next fiscal year.
So, maybe by tomorrow, when the leaders meet again, the Democrats can walk in with a plan.
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* Gov. Bruce Rauner a few days ago…
“My strong recommendation is that we tone down the rhetoric,” Rauner said Friday, when asked about harsh response from Emanuel. “Heated rhetoric doesn’t help. Getting emotional doesn’t help. Pointing fingers doesn’t help. Let’s stay mature. Let’s stay thoughtful. Let’s stay positive.”
* From the almost solely Rauner-funded ILGOP today…
Four More Added to BossMadigan.com
Time for Cullerton, Nekritz, Scherer and Moylan to Prove Their Independence
The Illinois Republican Party this morning made four more additions to BossMadigan.com – Sen. Tom Cullerton and Reps. Elaine Nekritz, Sue Scherer and Marty Moylan.
“Mike Madigan is doing everything in his power to block a property tax freeze, term limits, job-creating economic reforms and a balanced budget,” said Illinois Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe. “It’s time for legislators to put a balanced budget and bipartisan reforms ahead of Mike Madigan.”
“Tom Cullerton already betrayed the students in his district by voting to bail out Chicago Public Schools with $215 million in taxpayer money, but Elaine Nekritz, Sue Scherer and Marty Moylan can prove their independence by opposing this reckless bailout and refusing to support Mike Madigan for speaker until he allows votes on bipartisan reforms.”
Tom Cullerton
Just this month, Tom Cullerton betrayed the students in his district by voting to bail out Chicago Public Schools with $215 million in taxpayer money. Before his most recent election, Cullerton voted against the bailout, but he now sold out to Mike Madigan. Tom Cullerton proved that he cares more about Madigan’s Chicago agenda than the families in his own district.
Elaine Nekritz
Elaine Nekritz has voted 7 times to make Mike Madigan the Speaker of the House. In return, she was selected by Madigan to serve on his leadership team. Only the most loyal legislators are named one of Madigan’s top lieutenants, and taxpayers have paid a steep price for Nekritz’s loyalty.
Nekritz voted for Mike Madigan’s reform-free, 67% income tax hike, the largest in state history. She joined Madigan in teaming with Rod Blagojevich on a pension scheme that increased debt by up to $22 billion. And Nekritz even voted for legislation that makes sure she gets paid even if there is no state budget. Now, legislators are using the Nekritz-backed legislation to sue so they get paid before social services receive their funding.
It’s time for Elaine Nekritz to break with Mike Madigan.
Sue Scherer
Sue Scherer’s campaigns have pocketed more than $850,000 from Mike Madigan. So, it’s no surprise Scherer voted repeatedly to make Madigan the Speaker. Scherer also supported Madigan’s broken budget that would increase state debt by $8 billion or force a $1,000 tax hike with no reforms on Illinois families. She also helped enable the current lawsuit filed by legislators that is trying to force they get paid ahead of funding for services for the needy.
Sue Scherer can show her independent by finally opposing Mike Madigan as Speaker.
Marty Moylan
Mike Madigan has helped funnel nearly $1 million into Marty Moylan’s campaigns, and Moylan’s returned the favor by twice supporting Madigan as Speaker. Moylan joined Madigan in trying to hold local schools hostage to force a bailout for Chicago, and he voted for Madigan’s broken budget that would have required a massive tax hike without reforms. Moylan also voted to make sure he gets paid even if the government shuts down.
It’s time for Marty Moylan to put the people ahead of his political patron. It’s time for him to vote against Mike Madigan as Speaker.
…Adding… Meanwhile…
Members of the Illinois House will cast votes in January on whether Michael Madigan will again serve as their speaker. And the state’s Republican Party is warning that if metro-east lawmakers vote the wrong way, it’ll haunt them in 2018.
Republicans have been trying to make an issue of whether downstate House members will vote for Madigan as speaker. Their efforts include a website, www.bossmadigan.com, which singles out Democratic House members from Southern Illinois: Rep. Jerry Costello II, D-Smithton; Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Eldorado; Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville; and Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton.
Costello said he hasn’t made a decision.
“I don’t think I can answer that question until I know who all the candidates are,” he said. “What I have to do is vote in a way which helps me best represent my constituents and my district. I represent roughly 110,000 people, and what I’ve got to do is make sure the vote I cast isn’t an emotional vote — that it’s a vote that allows me to best represent those people.”
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* JB Pritzker has been calling around gauging support for a possible run for governor…
Some Democrats believe Pritzker, who has instant name recognition, a lengthy resume in philanthropy and an investment in Chicago’s business and tech world, is uniquely positioned to go up against multimillionaire Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who in 2014 spent a record amount of money in an Illinois governor’s race — more than $65 million.
“J.B. is not intimidated by Rauner’s money,” said a source close to Pritzker. “If he did this, he would do whatever it took to do it the right way. He would run to win and he would do what it takes to do that.” […]
Not everyone is cheering Pritzker’s potential candidacy. Some progressives fear pitting a billionaire against another multi-millionaire would create the wrong narrative in the Democrats’ quest to retake the governor’s mansion. Democrats have painted Rauner as the out-of-touch rich guy who is allowing the state’s neediest to suffer in order to push through his personal political agenda. Warring sides have left the state without a full budget since Rauner took office in 2015. […]
“[Chris Kennedy] can’t walk in with a check for $100 million and go toe to toe with Rauner,” said one said a top Illinois political operative who was among those Pritzker called.
We’ll see. Rich guys like to talk a lot of smack about writing big checks, but few actually do. Rauner did, which made him unique. And, speaking of money, Rauner stressed that he didn’t inherit his great wealth, which helped him connect with people lower on the economic food chain (think his grandparents’ trailer at their dairy farm that he mentions every chance he gets, or his fondness for his Harley, or his trash-can van, or his g-droppin’ ways). Pritzker inherited a fortune, which makes it far tougher for him to show he’s like everyone else.
Also, when he hires an opposition researcher to thoroughly look into his own past, we’ll know he’s more than just taking a cursory look at this run. Rauner did that early on, which was key to understanding that he was dead serious about his campaign.
Pritzker may have “instant name recognition” in some circles, but I gotta figure that lots of folks in Rock Island or St. Clair counties don’t know who the heck he is. More importantly, what will he do to build the party beyond Cook County and other reliable Democratic strongholds? He doesn’t have to win Downstate, of course, but he has to do much better than Pat Quinn within that region. We already know he’s a progressive Democrat, but how will Pritzker connect with the rest of the state?
And, early on, he’ll need an answer to the “Madigan question.” He needs to show that he can get things done, but isn’t willing to return to the pre-Rauner “status quo.” That’ll be important to Downstate and also to the suburbs, where the pro-choice Rauner will pursue independent women with a ferver.
* Your further suggestions?
…Adding… Right on schedule…
From the narrative…
There are a few guidelines that were employed in this process. First, no incumbent starts a cycle in the Toss Up column. Do we expect Illinois GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner and Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to have difficult races? Absolutely, but first they need announced first-tier opposition.
Emphasis added.
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Rhetoric can have consequences
Monday, Dec 5, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
If you want to get things done in government, you have to occasionally be careful with your political rhetoric. That’s easier said than done in this age of anything goes, grab ‘em by the whatever campaigns. But here’s one small but important example.
During the campaign, state Sen. Gary Forby’s Republican opponent Dale Fowler sent out a mailer headlined: “Organized labor can’t trust Gary Forby!”
That would be news to the Illinois AFL-CIO, which endorsed Forby, D-Benton, along with just about every union in his district.
Why can’t labor trust Forby? ”Forby voted to install Rauner appointees to the board deciding the fate of our union contracts,” the mailer said.
So a Republican candidate who, in one way or the other, got most of his money from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner sent out a mailer denouncing a pro-union Democrat for voting to confirm Rauner’s anti-union appointees.
Cute.
Now, you may have heard that Illinois government is in meltdown mode. The state hasn’t had a real budget since Rauner was inaugurated almost two years ago because the governor won’t negotiate a budget until he obtains some anti-union, pro-business reforms.
Just about nothing can get done in this toxic environment. But one of the few things that has worked so far has been the Illinois Senate’s confirmation process. The governor, to his credit, sat down with Democratic Senate President John Cullerton early in his term and went through the details of how the process worked and what was expected from both sides. Rauner has worked well with Cullerton, who is far more willing to make accommodations than House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Some folks predicted massive appointment confirmation battles between the Democratic Senate and the Republican governor, but it’s been smooth sailing.
Last year, Rauner appointed Alexander “Sandy” Stuart to the Illinois Teachers Retirement System board. Stuart’s father, Robert Stuart Jr., was a former chairman and CEO of Quaker Oats, and the wealthy Lake Forest resident is respected in Republican circles. But the nomination drew an angry response from the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
Stuart’s family foundation gave a six-figure contribution to the Illinois Policy Institute. The economically right-wing group has also received money from Rauner and opposes defined-benefit pensions, and, like Rauner, opposes prevailing wage laws and champions so-called “right to work” legislation.
The Rauner folks claim the Stuart Family Foundation made those contributions when its founder, Robert Stuart Jr., was still alive and making the decisions. The elder Stuart founded the America First Committee, which opposed America’s entrance into World War II. He was a pretty far-right dude.
Sandy Stuart’s nomination sat in limbo while he continued to serve on the TRS board for the past year. The Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, never publicly opposed his nomination.
However, the governor quietly
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
As Senate President John Cullerton sees it, Gov. Bruce Rauner “needed an excuse” to veto a bill last week that would’ve given the Chicago Public Schools $215 million for its June 30th pension payment. And Cullerton believes he turned out to be that excuse.
There’s little doubt that Rauner was likely to veto the proposal, which passed in June with Rauner’s support contingent upon a pension reform agreement by early January. Rauner’s office was already privately threatening to veto it as part of the ever-escalating war over a “stopgap” budget with House Speaker Michael Madigan. And, frankly, one of the biggest reasons why the neo-liberal education reformer ran for governor in the first place was his view that the Chicago Teachers Union had “won” its 2011 strike and needed to be severely reined in or even broken. “Starve the beast” to force teacher layoffs would be one way to hobble that union.
Not to mention that the governor and his top people have been convinced for months that Speaker Madigan wouldn’t ever come to terms on a pension reform deal. A proposal backed by Mayor Emanuel to make changes to the pension laws for non-educator employees at the Chicago Public Schools system is opposed by the CTU, and Madigan and that union have become super-tight since Rauner’s inauguration—and the relationship only strengthened when CTU backed Madigan during his primary campaign earlier this year.
It also probably didn’t help matters much when Cullerton suggested to Rauner during a leaders meeting earlier last week that it would be a whole lot easier to pass a pension reform bill if the governor reached a contract agreement with AFSCME. Gov. Rauner, who has often referred to the state employee union as “AF-Scammy” and said during his campaign that he might have to “take a strike” to bring the union to heel, told Cullerton in no uncertain terms that the two issues were not connected and would not be connected. This from the same guy who wants to connect term limits to passing a budget.
And then after last Thursday’s leaders meeting at the Statehouse, Cullerton was asked about the timeline of the pension reform negotiations so that CPS could get its $215 million. “You’re talking about two different bills,” Cullerton said. “We haven’t talked about putting those two things together at this point in time.” Reporters followed up, saying they thought there was a deal tying the two topics together. Cullerton said that was the governor’s plan. Rauner, he said, had declared he wouldn’t sign the CPS bill without a pension agreement, but that the Democratic leaders had always reserved the right to override if that didn’t happen.
The governor’s people only heard Cullerton say there was no deal. They claimed he was deliberately blowing things up and were furious about it. The governor’s veto of the CPS legislation soon emerged: “Breaking our agreement undermines our effort to end the budget impasse and enact reforms with bipartisan support,” Rauner wrote in his veto message.
The move took Cullerton by surprise. He agreed during a chat with me later in the day that he’d put a parliamentary hold on the bill in June in order to “buy time to negotiate the pension reform.” But he denied that he’d broken any agreement. “Pension reform was the price for signing the bill,” he admitted, but “I was always reserving the right to try to override” a CPS funding veto if that deal couldn’t be done.
“They misunderstood what I said and they should’ve called and asked me and I would’ve gone back out and clarified it,” Cullerton insisted. “They just vetoed the bill.” That failure to reach out to him convinced Cullerton that Rauner was simply looking for any excuse to kill the CPS bill.
Cullerton insisted that he was serious about trying to negotiate a pension reform deal. “I’m the only one pushing the pension reform stuff. He hasn’t actually worked on passing any bills,” Cullerton said of Rauner.
Sen. Cullerton didn’t deny that he’d brought up settling the AFSCME contract with Rauner, but said it was a “logical” step to take to find the necessary votes to pass a pension reform bill. Plenty of Republican legislators, after all, have state employees in their districts. “You don’t just go out there and pass a bill,” he said, adding, “They don’t know how to pass a bill.”
They do know how to veto one, though.
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[Comments are now open on this post.]
* Speaker Madigan literally counted the minutes that the four leaders and the governor spent talking about the budget today: 14.
“Today we talked about the budget for 14 minutes,” Madigan said, and then actually provided the tick-tock. “From 10:16 to 10:20 and from 11:15 to 11:25 we talked about the budget.” The meeting ended at about 11:38 or so.
So, apparently, he was checking his watch a lot.
“The remainder of the meeting was concerned with local government consolidation and mandates on local governments,” Madigan said.
What did those budget talks consist of? “Obviously, not too much,” Madigan cracked.
The good news as far as Madigan is concerned: “There’s an agreement we’re going to talk about the budget on Tuesday,” the Speaker told reporters. The meeting will be held at 2 o’clock. The Republicans leaders, however, didn’t confirm that particular topic.
On workers’ comp and other reforms, Madigan said, “I’m available for those discussions,” but then went back to his repeated rhetoric on how the leaders have worked out a budget “7 times” in the last two years and they should stick to that format.
* Raw audio, including Rep. Greg Harris’ comments about the budget process and how they need to wait and see how things like Donald Trump’s proposals play out before they could formulate a new budget plan…
* House GOP Leader Jim Durkin emerged from the meeting to say he remains “alarmed” by the lack of urgency to get a budget. “We have a divided government,” he said, and Republicans are willing to work with Democrats on their priorities, but want the Democrats to work with them on GOP priorities.
“We did a pretty deep dive today” into local government consolidation, said Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno. But, she said, there was a “lack of engagement” on the topic from the Democrats.
Leader Radogno said the leaders were meeting based totally on Speaker Madigan’s availability.
Radogno said the Republicans asked Madigan what his budget plans were. He didn’t have a plan, she said, partly because the Democrats said they needed to wait and see the impacts of Donald Trump’s agenda. “If we are waiting on that, we are certainly not going to see it by December 31st,” Radogno said, referencing the end of the current stopgap budget.
Leader Durkin said it was clear to him that this was all about the 2018 governor’s race. The idea, he said, was to stall in order to not give Gov. Rauner any victories at all and then defeat him in two years.
“There was a new level of stalling today,” Radogno claimed, particularly since the Democrats weren’t prepared to discuss their actual budget plans.
* Raw audio…
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* From a Sun-Times editorial today…
The thinking is that House Speaker Mike Madigan is killing time until newly elected state comptroller Susana Mendoza, a fellow Democrat and Madigan team player, comes on board and stops paying state workers, if she can get that by the courts. This would precipitate such a crisis that Rauner would be forced to abandon his last preconditions for a budget deal — a property tax freeze and legislative term limits. A competing theory says Rauner is prepared to ride this impasse straight into the 2018 elections.
* Gov. Rauner didn’t respond to that last sentence, but told reporters today that the editorial “troubles” him and “has me concerned”…
“What we don’t want is a crisis where the government is shut down. And our state employees are hard working, unlike the legislators… I’d ask Comptroller Mendoza to please stand firm like Comptroller Munger did.”
Raw audio…
* So, I reached out to Comptroller-elect Mendoza’s transition team. “She hasn’t talked to the Speaker about this,” I was told by an exasperated staffer, who noted that the CS-T didn’t check in first.
“They’ll look at every court case and get up to speed,” the transition official said. The staff “need some time to understand these things and develop their own legal opinions… You just can’t make decisions like this in the dark.” Until then, all options need to be on the table, I was told.
With that being said, I’m told this is not an option Mendoza wants to pursue.
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* Press release…
House Speaker Michael Madigan on Friday released the following statement regarding meetings with Gov. Bruce Rauner about the state budget and other state issues:
“I am available to meet with Governor Rauner this Saturday and Sunday, and I will work to get a budget completed. Representative Greg Harris, who will continue to join me in these meetings, has worked successfully with other legislators to negotiate the details of budgets we’ve passed previously. We believe this previously successful framework should be used to work on a budget that will ensure schools open on time, public safety is maintained and services for seniors and the most vulnerable continue.
“I am requesting from the governor’s office by Sunday a list of topics, so experts from our caucus can attend to facilitate a real conversation on these issues, unlike the superficial discussions held by the governor this week that did not help us get any closer to a full-year budget. Like I privately requested earlier this week, I request that we get into the details of these issues. I hope the governor and all legislative leaders bring with them any expert they deem necessary to have a real discussion on these topics, rather than a repeat of the same dialogue. I would also like to add for consideration the following topics:
· Memorandums of Understanding for future and past funding agreed to by the governor. House Democrats are concerned about the ability to ensure money appropriated from the Legislature will be spent as intended when an agreement is reached with Governor Rauner. For instance, the governor’s Good Friday cuts in April 2015 included severe and draconian cuts to many items previously agreed to by the governor with our caucus. These cuts betrayed the agreement our caucus made with the governor. This behavior has continued with the most recent stopgap budget, in which line items have not been spent per the agreement made by the governor to the leaders. House Democrats want to be assured the governor will spend appropriations based on his agreements when a full budget is passed.
· Governor Rauner’s veto of Senate Bill 2822. The governor’s veto of this bipartisan legislation will severely harm the education of nearly 400,000 school children in the Chicago Public Schools, all for the purpose of holding more meetings. In light of Senate President Cullerton’s presentation just the other day on pension reform, it seems that this was simply a punitive move meant to harm the schoolchildren of CPS.
· A full recounting of all taxpayer-funded corporate giveaways handed out to businesses since Governor Rauner took office, and how many new jobs have been created in Illinois by those corporations since Governor Rauner awarded them taxpayer dollars. Also, a list of all state tax incentives given to corporations in instances when those corporations had any interaction with the Public Private Partnership introduced by Governor Rauner.
· A status of contract negotiations with AFSCME state employees following the governor’s declared impasse with workers. As this matter concerns the wages and benefits of employees throughout the state, and the potential shutdown of critical state services, it is therefore a significant budget issue and important we know the facts of the present situation and the governor’s plan moving forward.”
Longtime readers will recall Madigan demanded multiple memorandums of understanding from Rod Blagojevich after Blagojevich broke his word several times.
In other words, the defcon level has been increased.
*** UPDATE *** House GOP Leader Jim Durkin has a measured response…
“I am pleased to see the Speaker engaged in the process and committed to attending meetings. Traditionally, we have been able to reach agreement on tough issues among the four leaders and the governor. That’s why I have asked the governor to limit these meetings to the actual decision makers–the leaders and their key staff.”
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Question of the day
Friday, Dec 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Your one word description of this year’s veto session? One real word only, please. No hyphenating.
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Shimkus loses out on plum post
Friday, Dec 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Hill…
Republicans have elected Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) the next chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Walden defeated Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), the former committee chairman, in the race for the gavel. Current chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is stepping down from the position due to term limits. […]
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who aggressively campaigned around the country with Walden this year, spoke in favor of the Oregon lawmaker during Thursday’s Steering meeting, according to sources in the closed-door gathering. […]
During his push for the chairmanship, Shimkus emphasized his experience on all six of the committee’s subpanels. He outranks Walden on the committee and, in a letter to members last month, noted his work passing a major chemical safety overhaul bill this year. […]
But Republicans watching the contest said Walden’s work at the National Republican Congressional Committee — where he helped secure the GOP’s largest majority since the Great Depression, raised millions of dollars for candidates and limited Republican losses in last month’s elections — helped him nail down the chairmanship.
That’s a huge loss for Illinois’ congressional influence.
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* From Rachel Cortez, Vice President & Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s Investors Service…
“Yesterday, the Governor of Illinois vetoed a $215 million payment to help cover the pension costs for Chicago Public Schools (rated B3/negative outlook). If the veto holds, CPS’ deficit net cash position could stand at over $1 billion when its fiscal year ends in June 2017. While the funds from a possible veto override would be positive for CPS, there would still be insufficient funding to alleviate the school district’s severe liquidity issues.
“CPS remains dependent on cash flow borrowing and state assistance to sustain its operations, and its reserves are nearly depleted. While CPS can still take steps to address its fiscal situation, its financial position remains weak and could further deteriorate.”
* Meanwhile…
Hilarious. Dude vetoes $215 million over a few words at a press conference without so much as a phone call to verify intent and he asks people to tone down the rhetoric.
*** UPDATE *** Gov. Rauner’s full remarks…
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* This has been expected all week…
A group of state representatives filed a lawsuit over legislator pay against Illinois state Comptroller Leslie Munger on Friday — Munger’s last day in office.
The suit was filed by Reps. Emmanuel Chris Welch, Kate Cloonen, Mary Flowers, Sonya Harper, Lisa Hernandez and Silvana Tabares.
Legislators haven’t been paid since June. Several legislators have been vocal about their disdain over not getting paid amid the state’s budget impasse — on the Senate and House floors and in private.
More as it comes in.
* Press release…
State Reps. Emanuel Chris Welch, Kate Cloonen, Mary Flowers, Sonya Harper, Lisa Hernandez and Silvana Tabares released the following statement Friday regarding their lawsuit to restore legislators’ pay and end unwarranted political pressure being brought by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Comptroller Leslie Munger:
“The decision by multimillionaire Comptroller Leslie Munger and billionaire Gov. Bruce Rauner was a thinly veiled attempt to force their political opponents into taking positions in support of the governor’s positions and against the beliefs of their constituents,” Welch said. “Many lawmakers don’t have the multimillion dollar side incomes the governor and comptroller enjoy.”
“Our lawsuit is a principled stand for an independent Legislature that cannot be bullied by any governor, Republican or Democratic,” Cloonen said. “The 177 members of the General Assembly are elected to serve the people of our districts, but the comptroller’s and the governor’s actions show they believe we are elected to serve them, and that they can use illegal means to force us to bow to their extreme agenda.”
“Just like when Pat Quinn tried to eliminate lawmakers’ salaries in an attempt to get his way, the governor and comptroller would set a dangerous precedent under which any future governor or comptroller could unilaterally coerce duly elected legislators by tying their salaries to any number of demands that could hurt local residents and their families,” Tabares said. “We urge the courts to recognize the Legislature as a co-equal branch of government, not a subsidiary of a billionaire governor.”
The lawsuit was filed Friday in Cook County.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The complaint is here.
From the complaint…
The Illinois Constitution of 1970 provides that each legislator “shall” receive a salary as provided by law. ILL. CONST. 1970, art. IV, § 11. The Constitution further prohibits any “changes” to the salaries of legislators during their terms of office. Id. The General Assembly Compensation Act mandates that legislators’ salaries be paid in “12 equally monthly installments.” 25 ILCS 115/1. By intentionally withholding salary payments from legislators, the Comptroller has violated both Article IV, Section 11 of the Constitution and Section 115/1 of the General Assembly Compensation Act. The Comptroller’s actions are a direct threat to the independence of the General Assembly.
In 2004, the Illinois Supreme Court invalidated Governor Blagojevich’s attempt to threaten the independence and integrity of the Judiciary by eliminating judicial salary increases. In doing so, the Court stated as follows: “For checks and balances to work properly in protecting individual liberty, each of the three branches of government must be kept free from the control or coercive influence of the other branches.” Jorgensen v. Blagojevich, 211 Ill. 2d 286, 299 (2004). Protecting the Judicial or Legislative Branches of government from unwarranted intrusion by any executive branch officer is vital to preserving the separation of powers. As the Supreme Court stated, “Avoiding the concentration of governmental powers in the same person or political body was seen by the founding fathers as essential to freedom and liberty.”
In 2011, the Circuit Court of Cook County, Hon. Judge Neil Cohen presiding, invalidated Governor Quinn’s attempt to eliminate legislators’ annual salaries through a line item veto. Judge Cohen held that “the Governor’s line item veto of SB 214 was constitutionally void and of no effect.”
The Comptroller’s refusal to make monthly payments to legislators constitutes an unconstitutional change in salary and a violation of the General Assembly Compensation Act. As in Jorgensen, and Cullerton & Madigan, this Court should invalidate the Comptroller’s attempts to hold hostage the salaries for members of the General Assembly.
The Comptroller lacks legal authority to deny the members of the General Assembly their salary for a simple reason: the members of the General Assembly are elected by their constituents to represent their interests. By denying the members of the General Assembly their salary, the Comptroller is attempting to force the General Assembly to forgo representing the interests of their constituents and accede to the policy preferences of an executive office that has no formal role in the legislative process.
If the Comptroller is permitted to unilaterally decide when and how often General Assembly members receive their salary, the independence of each member of the General Assembly is threatened. For some legislators their legislative salaries constitute their principal or only source of income. Accordingly, if the Comptroller were permitted to withhold salaries of members of the General Assembly, unless and until they acceded to her legislative preferences, he or she would use that power to unconstitutionally influence the will of the Legislative Branch.
In this particular instance, the Comptroller has stated that her dispute with the General Assembly concerns the appropriation process. If the Comptroller’s actions are sustained, there will be no limit to the power the Comptroller could assert over members of the Legislative Branch. Future Comptrollers could refuse payment until any policy demands are met to the Comptroller’s satisfaction. Allowing such power to be vested in the Comptroller would irrevocably alter the separation of powers so carefully crafted by the framers of the Illinois Constitution of 1970.
By this action, Plaintiffs, elected members of the Illinois General Assembly, respectfully request this Court declare that the Comptroller is required by the Illinois Constitution and Illinois law to pay their salaries and the salaries of all other members of the General Assembly in the full amounts required by law, and in a timely manner. As the Comptroller lacks discretion to withhold the members’ salaries, Plaintiffs further request this Court issue a writ of mandamus ordering the Comptroller to pay legislative salaries forthwith to remedy that constitutional and statutory violation.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Says the guy who made $180 million last year…
*** UPDATE 3 *** Munger press conference…
*** UPDATE 4 *** From Comptroller-elect Mendoza…
“I was very clear on the issue of withholding legislators’ pay during my campaign: Everyone needs to
share in the sacrifice. My policy will be to prioritize the most vulnerable people in our State and continue the delay in legislators’ pay, unless a court instructs me to do otherwise.”
Sorry about the original post of that statement. I cut it off accidentally.
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The “green energy” side of the Exelon bill
Friday, Dec 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tina Sfondeles at the Sun-Times takes a look at a big part of the Exelon bill that’s been mostly ignored…
State Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, called it “the most important green energy bill that has ever come before the General Assembly.” […]
And the Environmental Defense Fund has said the bill will bring $12 billion to $15 billion in renewable energy capital investment to the state. […]
The bill is viewed by environmental advocates as being based primarily to fix the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard — or to fix the state’s renewable policies by restarting the industry and allowing projects to be built in the state. Those same advocates say just 20 percent of the bill concerns Exelon’s bailout, with about 10 percent benefitting ComEd and Ameren by running better energy efficiency programs. […]
Part of the renewable energy efforts in the bill include the development of wind farms, solar on roofs and a new provision called community solar, which allows people who can’t put solars on their roofs to subscribe to a project at a local business. Customers would see credits rolled off their electric bill for subscribing to those projects.
* PV Magazine has more…
The remaining portions of the bill appear to be largely positive for clean energy. Notably, SB 2814 will reform the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policy, including requiring in-state procurement of renewables and increasing the target to 35% renewable energy by 2030, up from 25% by 2025.
This puts Illinois’ RPS towards the more ambitious end of the spectrum in the United States, even if it is still below the 50% by 2030 targets set by New York and California, let alone Vermont’s 75% by 2032 or Hawaii’s 100% by 2045.
Perhaps more significantly, solar advocates say that the previously broken system of renewable energy credits will now be replaced with a declining block grant incentive program. This is the model that has been implemented in New York and California, and Massachusetts’ latest draft solar program is also following this model. The exact level of incentives will not be set by SB 2814.
* Alliance for Solar Choice…
“We are encouraged to see SB 2814 pass without anti-consumer, anti-solar proposals like mandatory demand charges, and ending net metering. Legislators and utilities listened to the public and to consumer advocates–like Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and AARP–and made it clear that job growth, the environment, and energy choice are important,” said Amy Heart, Director of Public Policy for Sunrun and spokesperson for The Alliance for Solar Choice. “SB 2814 also contains positive pieces such as a fix to the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which will go a long way to increasing access to solar in Illinois, helping residents and businesses manage and lower energy bills, and expanding job opportunities in the solar industry.”
* Jack Darin at the Sierra Club…
“While this bill contains difficult compromises, this is a tremendous leap forward for clean energy in Illinois. With these policies now in place and strengthened, we will continue the work to reduce dangerous carbon pollution, support opportunities for family-sustaining jobs in Illinois’ energy economy, ramp up renewable energy and ensure that clean energy opportunity is prioritized for communities burdened for decades by pollution.
“Clean energy technology is growing every year in Illinois. These policies will nurture that shift away from fossil fuels, bolster our energy economy, and help ensure that every Illinois community can thrive in the clean energy economy. With federal climate action being more uncertain than ever, it is more important than ever that states act decisively on climate change, and Illinois is doing just that.”
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Caption contest!
Friday, Dec 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From my inbox…
…Adding… Reps. Laura Fine and Jerry Costello were added to the list since I took that screen shot.
…Adding More… Reps. Deb Conroy, Anna Moeller and Michelle Mussman were all just whacked. I’m not sure why it’s taking the ILGOP so long to get these out because they are all identical. For instance…
Will Anna Moeller Vote to Bail Out Chicago?
Moeller Should Make Clear Where She Stands
“Within the next two weeks, Anna Moeller must decide whether she will stand with the families in her district, or vote to bail out Chicago Public Schools with $215 million in taxpayer money. Moeller should make clear today where she stands.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
After Democratic leaders yesterday reneged on their promise to pass pension reform, an agreement that would have freed up resources for Chicago schools, House Democrats will soon face their first big test.
They can either stand for taxpayers who are demanding fiscal sanity from Springfield, or vote to recklessly bail out Chicago Public Schools.
And…
Will Deb Conroy Vote to Bail Out Chicago?
Conroy Should Make Clear Where She Stands
“Within the next two weeks, Deb Conroy must decide whether she will stand with the families in her district, or vote to bail out Chicago Public Schools with $215 million in taxpayer money. Conroy should make clear today where she stands.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
After Democratic leaders yesterday reneged on their promise to pass pension reform, an agreement that would have freed up resources for Chicago schools, House Democrats will soon face their first big test.
They can either stand for taxpayers who are demanding fiscal sanity from Springfield, or vote to recklessly bail out Chicago Public Schools.
…Adding Still More… They keep coming in: Manley, McCasey, Kifowit, Willis, Sente, Gabel and Nekritz.
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How is this “breaking our agreement”?
Friday, Dec 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Lawmakers approved the CPS bill at the end of June, but Cullerton did not send the measure to Rauner until last month. The delay was intended to provide time to reach a deal on a larger pension measure, but that was never achieved.
“If he wants to tie it to something else like pension reform, that’s something I am supportive of. We haven’t talked about putting the two things together at this point in time,” Cullerton said.
* Capitol Fax…
Cullerton said the governor told the leaders today that he wasn’t going to sign the CPS funding bill.
“The governor indicated that he thought before he would sign that he wanted to have some pension reform,” Cullerton said. “That was the governor’s insistence. We passed the bill and put it on his desk, so I would urge him to sign it. If he’s not going to sign it because he wants something else, he hasn’t told us what that is yet.”
* Rauner veto message…
Still, President Cullerton withdrew his motion to reconsider the bill, ruled that Leader Radogno’s motion was inapplicable, and presented the bill to me for approval or veto – forcing me to take action. Then today, President Cullerton suddenly denied that the leaders had agreed that this bill would depend upon first enacting comprehensive pension reform. Breaking our agreement undermines our effort to end the budget impasse and enact reforms with bipartisan support.
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* We covered this issue ad nauseum yesterday, so we’re going to focus on just one angle in this post, starting with the AP…
Illinois Democrats failed Thursday to override the Republican governor’s veto of $215 million to help the financially struggling Chicago Public Schools with pension payments as negotiations on an overdue state budget broke down again.
Using its Democratic supermajority, the Senate quickly voted to overturn Gov. Bruce Rauner’s move, but the House adjourned for the year Thursday evening without bringing the override question for a vote. Although the House has 15 days to try again, it’s unclear if there is enough support in the chamber.
Losing the money would be a huge blow to the finances at CPS, which crafted the current year’s budget expecting the funds. Without state support, officials at the nation’s third-largest school district have warned of budget cuts and in the past they’ve said that could include layoffs.
* Tribune…
House lawmakers have 15 days to take up the override, but the body is not scheduled to return to Springfield until Jan. 9 — two days before new lawmakers are sworn into office. Lawmakers could return before then, though it’s often difficult to round up people during the holiday season. Even then, it likely would take all 71 House Democrats to overturn Rauner unless a few Republicans buck the governor.
* Sun-Times…
The House has 15 days to try to override the veto, and convincing its members to push one through, albeit on a specially called session day, may be the best option for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the families of 380,000 CPS students.
That favored political script would duplicate what happened last spring with legislation giving Chicago 15 more years to ramp up to a 90 percent funding level for police and fire pensions.
Three Republican crossover votes pushed Emanuel over the finish line, giving him the 71 votes needed to override the governor’s veto of the police and fire pension reforms and to dodge another sizable property tax hike.
Emanuel pulled off the surprise victory, only after burning the phone lines. The question is, can he do it again?
“It’s not impossible to do, but it’s not going to be easy, either. It’s a high threshold to reach. Funding for Chicago Public School students is a polarizing issue when it shouldn’t be,” said a top mayoral aide, who asked to remain anonymous.
“People understand that pensions need to be funded, which is why we were successful on police and fire. With CPS, it’s not just teacher pensions, but also the impact on the operating budget, students and teachers. That’s a difficult thing to vote against. That’s what we have going for us. What we have going against us is a governor who has chosen to play politics and use children as hostages to get the reforms he wants. And he has a lot of influence in this Capitol.”
* OK, so one of the three Republicans who voted with the city on that pension override was Rep. Dave McSweeney. But he’s standing with Gov. Rauner on this one…
After Cullerton’s Senate overrode Rauner, House Democrats face a more difficult task. Republicans like northwest suburban Cary’s David McSweeney vowed to support the governor, calling money for CPS without pension reform “a bailout.”
“If you just give the city of Chicago, CPS, $215 million, with no pension reform, you don’t solve any problems,” McSweeney said.
Rep. David Harris (R-Arlington Heights) also voted to override the veto of that city pension bill. He told me this morning that, without pension reform, he’ll likely be voting with the governor on the CPS funding override.
Rep. Michael McAuliffe, the only Chicago Republican in the General Assembly, might be counted on to vote with the city, but that means there’s maybe only one guy on the other side of the aisle who will stand with CPS.
So, the House Democrats better make sure they have everybody in town if they want to override the bill within the next 15 days. And, as I mentioned yesterday, scheduling a special session that everyone can attend during the holiday season ain’t exactly easy.
* Not to mention statements like these from February…
In a response to efforts being made by Chicago politicians to bailout Chicago Public Schools, CPS, State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said Feb. 16 that he was launching a petition drive to garner community support for his efforts to oppose any type of Chicago bailout.
“It is frustrating that as soon as Chicago cries for help because they messed up their own finances that Southern Illinois is expected to pick up the pieces and bailout them out,” Phelps said in a news release.
“The money earned by hard-working residents here in Southern Illinois should stay here and not be sent up to Chicago bureaucrats who are just trying to line their pockets.” […]
Recently Governor Rauner announced his plan for the state to bailout the failing Chicago Public School (CPS) system, a move being criticized by state Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton.
“Bailing out the Chicago Public School system is a terrible idea, especially when we have so many other problems with our state budget and our schools are in need of greater investment,” said Beiser. “I have long stood against the idea of Chicago getting an automatic cut of school funding while downstate schools are hurting. I object to the governor’s idea to put local taxpayers on the hook for Chicago’s fiscal mismanagement.”
Beiser voiced his frustration that Governor Rauner is focusing on a CPS bailout, rather than addressing the budget crisis impacting all corners of the state.
Both of those guys are at the top of the ILGOP’s 2018 hit list. Everyone else on the list (and more, I’m sure) will have to be extremely careful about taking a vote like this.
In other words, without a deal really soon on pension reform, it’s not looking very likely at all.
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* Jamey Dunn at Illinois Issues…
New projections show nibbling around the edges of the state’s budget problems will get Illinois nowhere.
The state may have gone for nearly a year and a half without a full budget. But there’s a surprising level of consensus about what must be done if lawmakers and the Gov. Bruce Rauner can come to a compromise on the governor’s policy demands and ultimately get down to trying to close the budget gap.
Political leaders, academics, commentators, Democrats and Republicans — even the rivals at the center of the impasse, Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan —all recognize that at least two components are needed: new revenues and cuts. […]
Unfortunately, the dosage isn’t nearly high enough. As a new report points out, such a plan wouldn’t come close to closing the budget gap. In fact, in 10 years, it could actually leave the state with a deficit similar to the one it’s in today.
New projections from the Fiscal Futures Project at the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government And Public Affairs (IGPA) make the case that for Illinois to achieve a balanced budget, policymakers would have to agree to increasing the income tax, taxing some retirement income, eliminating tax breaks, applying the sales tax to certain services and making billions in cuts. A little economic growth would also be needed to make this cure viable.
Even under such a politically ambitious plan, it would take a decade for the state to reach solvency.
Go read the whole thing. Lots of important stuff in there.
* From the aforementioned Fiscal Futures Project report…
We combined the most recent data available (as of the end of October 2016) from the Comptroller with our model to calculate the same four measures of Illinois’ fiscal condition reported in January 2015. Under current (baseline) policies we find:
1. A deficit of around $13 billion for the current year (FY2017)
2. A projected gap of around $14 billion per year for the next five years
3. “Legacy costs” for unfunded liabilities for retiree pensions and health care of $174
billion
4. Unpaid bills for services already provided to the state of $10 billion
As our analysis will demonstrate, it is almost certainly not feasible to remedy imbalances of this magnitude by policy changes in a single year. Rather, climbing out of the hole that Illinois is in likely will require hard choices, fiscal discipline and sustained attention over a long period of time. Because of this, our analyses put particular emphasis on projecting the implications of sustained multi-year policy changes that move Illinois toward fiscal balance. […]
What are the alternatives to maintaining current revenue and expenditure policies? Alternatives to the baseline scenario come in essentially three flavors: (a) reduce spending, (b) increase tax rates or expand tax bases, or (c) generate more economic growth, which would in turn make it possible to generate more tax revenue at current tax rates while potentially holding or cutting spending. Our simulations examine each of these possibilities and show that none by itself is likely to be sufficient to close the budget gap and that, even if we model all of these potential policies and scenarios together, closing the budget gap is likely to be challenging and to take many years. […]
We see no plausible path to sustained fiscal stability without sacrifice—Illinois will need to simultaneously increase revenue and cut spending. But fiscal austerity alone will not guarantee success. Increasing revenue, especially through taxation, could discourage economic activity and be counter-productive in the long run. Any revenue enhancement policy should be carefully thought through and be consistent with continued vibrant economic activity. Similarly, budget cuts could be counter-productive if they neglect festering social problems that end up costing even more to deal with in the long run. Furthermore, budget cuts that reduce services essential to the smooth operation of the economy could reduce economic activity and ultimately lead to even larger budget gaps.
What is needed is a “grand plan” that includes multiple spending cuts, multiple new sources of revenue, and spreads these adjustments over multiple years in the form of even more borrowing. Finding the right mix of policies—sharing the pain of digging out of the hole that we are in—will require cooperation among a broad spectrum of groups in this policy arena. Groups will not only have to compromise among themselves but will have to engender confidence that they are committed to sustained action to fill in the budget hole. In the absence of a clear signal of a long-term commitment to this goal, neither workers nor business owners can be expected to make the necessary investments to build Illinois’ fiscal future.
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* Gov. Rauner’s statement issued last night after the passage of the Exelon bill…
“For months our administration has been very clear that any energy legislation should follow the guiding principles of protecting jobs, ratepayers and taxpayers. After dozens of hours of good faith negotiations, we have reached an agreement that aligns with those principles. This legislation will save thousands of jobs. It protects ratepayers, through guaranteed caps, from large rate increases in years to come. It also ensures taxpayers are not on the hook to keep the power plants open and online. We thank the rank-and-file legislators and stakeholders for their perseverance and commitment to seeing this through. This process shows that when all parties are willing to negotiate in good faith, we can find agreement and move our state forward.”
The Illinois Manufacturers Association has been one of the harshest critics of the Exelon bill, testifying against it this week and taking an official stance in opposition. The IMA’s staff has been inundated with calls from members outraged at the prospect of their electric bills increasing, which they say would make the state’s business climate even worse.
* So, this ought to be interesting…
Daily Public Schedule: Friday, December 2, 2016
What: Governor Rauner Discusses Reforms to Create Jobs, Lower Property Taxes, Improve Schools and Enact Good Government Initiatives like Term Limits at the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association
Where: J.W. Marriott (Grand Ballroom)
151 W. Adams St., Chicago
Date: Friday, December 2, 2016
Time: 11:45 a.m.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From a pal at the event…
Rauner got a pretty decent round of applause when he was introduced. Greg [Baise] joked about not always agreeing. Gov said he’s personally opposed to “special deals” but “we have to play the cards we are dealt”. “I’ve never seen an issue where the experts were more divided” “I’m proud of the outcome, even though I don’t love it.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Raw audio…
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