* Gov. Bruce Rauner responded today about the lack of support for his ideas in the House and Senate…
“The legislators in both political parties, and especially the Democrats have gotta wake up.
“We have been subsidizin’ the patronage and abuse in CPS for years. Their suburban taxpayers, their Downstate taxpayers are sendin’ extra cash to CPS. They better wake up and protect their taxpayers.
“One of the things that’s gonna happen this year is that our legislators are gonna get called out. They talk against the Chicago political machine. They talk against the Speaker. They say ‘I stand up, I work for my district.’ They’re not workin’ for their district. They take money from the Chicago political machine. They vote for the Speaker to stay in power and it’s breakin’ our state. And the legislators around, around the suburbs of Chicago and Downstate had better wake up and start smellin’ the coffee and deal with the votes for the right thing.”
* He was then asked, “How are they going to get called out?”…
* Well-reasoned, thoughtful and destroys several of Gov. Rauner’s arguments…
January 21, 2015
The Honorable Bruce Rauner
Governor, State of Illinois
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62701
Dear Governor Rauner,
I enjoyed meeting you personally as we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I especially appreciate the expression of support you offered to me regarding Chicago State University. In the spirit of engaging that support, I am writing in response to the memo issued by your Deputy Chief of Staff Mr. Richard Goldberg in hopes of clarifying any misstatements.
The overall tone of the Mr. Goldberg’s memo calls into question the academic integrity of CSU. To that end, I would ask your administration to consider our independent accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), and their 2014 decision to grant Chicago State University a full 10-year reaccreditation. I can assure you this reaccreditation is no rubber stamp and did not come easy. A committee of respected higher education experts thoroughly reviewed every aspect of our operations and decided that CSU had earned the highest reaccreditation a university can receive.
Most of the critiques in Mr. Goldberg’s memo have one thing in common; they are based on a mistaken construct that Chicago State University is comparable to more traditional universities. The truth is that CSU serves a unique and diverse population and a simple “apples to apples” comparison to other universities with traditional student bodies paints an inaccurate picture of our impact and our student’s successes.
Unlike other state universities, the majority of students at CSU are transfer students. This is an important fact because the graduation rate numbers quoted in your memo are drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), a federally generated metric that does not count transfer students. For example, in the cohort of 6820 students referenced in your memo, only 9% would be counted by IPEDS. Full-time and part-time transfer students make up two-thirds of our student body and are a much more accurate metric by which to measure student progress at CSU. For example, the graduation rate for full-time transfer students in the 2008 cohort referenced in Mr. Goldberg’s memo is 51%. That graduation rate, however, is not reported by the federal system. It is also worth noting that 42% of our students are first-generation college students and 55% come from homes below the poverty level. Experienced educators will tell you that students with this background can and do succeed, but need an increased level of academic support services, and are therefore more expensive to educate.
CSU is an extremely important educational outlet for the south side of Chicago, in large part because it provides an affordable pathway to a degree for the city’s African American communities. It is implied in your memo that CSU is graduating white students at 83%, a much higher number than students of color. This misleading statistic fails to recognize that within the 2008 cohort referenced, six white students began their degree, and five completed. For point of reference, CSU issues on average 800 degrees annually, graduates 1 out of 2 African Americans receiving a bachelor’s degree from a public university in Chicago and 1 out of 6 in Illinois.
Perhaps the most troubling portion of Mr. Goldberg’s memo is that your staff refers to CSU as a university that “rejects reform.” Governor Rauner, nothing could be further from the truth. As I write this letter, I have been President of CSU for less than three weeks. One of the things that attracted me to the position was that I saw a university emerging from a significant transformational change and poised to soar. Over the past five years, CSU made difficult decisions to prioritize academic quality and integrity over pure enrollment numbers. That decision led to several students being dismissed, but helped ensure that our student body is comprised of those ready to succeed in college.
Furthermore, over the past four years CSU has reduced audit findings by 55% and improved both compliance and transparency. Your memo references unaccounted for university property. I would like to highlight that the amount referenced accounts for less than 1% of all university property. Several other issues cited including past lawsuits which are still in appeal and have not been paid by the university to date, claims made in the media by former employees who were terminated, and improperly inflated administrator head counts are all issues in the past. CSU is poised to move forward.
Over the past week your office has raised several concerns, many of them legitimate and worthy of further discussion about the need for reforms. Since January 2015, CSU has cut 10% of its work force and trimmed administrative costs by over 20%. In addition, administrative salaries have been frozen, we have reduced travel, delayed payments to vendors and cut back on purchasing throughout the year. We have also not filled vacancies and consolidated both positions and academic programs. We fully recognize the state of finances in Illinois and we have worked and continue to work to tighten our belts.
I also feel it is important to express that one of my top goals as I enter CSU is to increase the amount of private revenue coming into the university. I know that we cannot simply continue to look to the state for increased funds and must do more on our own to maximize outside investment. Like any university looking to cultivate more revenue, we are in the early stages of a broader effort that we feel will in time result in a reduced reliance on state funds.
As for necessary reforms to areas of spending such as procurement, workers compensation, pensions and cutting costs, we remain ready to work with you and your staff on any proposals that will help create a more efficient, transparent and effective public university system for Illinois students. However, the work of enacting meaningful reform takes time, and time is simply not a luxury the CSU campus community has at the moment. As you have likely seen in the news recently, the lack of state appropriations to both higher education and to the MAP grant program has created a significant shortfall in our operating budget. At the moment, we are struggling to complete the current semester and the fate of multiple public universities after the current semester is uncertain.
On behalf of the students, faculty, alumni and staff of Chicago State University, we stand here today ready to work with you to make meaningful reforms in higher education and we are willing to lead by example. With that said, we cannot enact such reforms if we do not have the ability to function.
Each day I meet students who are working every day to lift themselves out of poverty and get the education they need to build a better life for themselves and their families. These students are the lifeblood of our university and they will be the victims if public universities are allowed to collapse under the weight of financial pressure. I implore you, as a lifelong educator, a minister and a fellow seeker of change to provide the funding CSU and its sister universities need to operate through the fiscal year so that we may be in a better position to help your team achieve real results that will benefit every student and parent in Illinois.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Calhoun Jr., PhD
President, Chicago State University
That white graduation rate debunk is particularly strong.
…Adding… Rauner himself used the debunked white graduation rate line during his Q&A with the media today. Dumb move.
The following statement can be attributed to Lance Trover, communications director for the Governor’s Office:
“Administration lawyers have spent weeks negotiating the best possible pension reform language with members of Senator Cullerton’s staff.
“Central to the Cullerton model is that future salary increases are part of the employee election, and that to ensure the proposal passes Constitutional muster current law must be changed to make the employee’s election permanent. On that core principal, the Governor’s legal team and the President’s legal team have agreed, and this is the model that the Governor and Republican leaders endorsed today.
“We hope the Senate President still supports this agreed upon model, originally developed by his office. If he no longer supports it, we urge him to immediately introduce new pension reform legislation that he thinks will be approved by the Supreme Court, and the governor will be open to considering it. Now is the time to act.”
Cullerton’s plan would give workers a choice between having their pay frozen for pension purposes or retaining the 3 percent annual increase they now get that’s designed to offset inflation. Over Madigan’s opposition, Cullerton’s plan never got anywhere in the House.
“In order for President Cullerton’s bill to be constitutional, salary increases have to be taken out of collective bargaining. This is a key point. Salary increases come out of collective bargaining. So the union has nothing to do with it in the future,” Rauner said. “And each individual employee makes their own choice: do they want their salary increase in the future to be pensionable or not? It’s their choice and not the union’s choice. President Cullerton has agreed with that. That is necessary, and a requirement in order for this to be constitutional.”
Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan issued the following statement Thursday after Gov. Bruce Rauner and Republican legislative leaders proposed changes to Illinois’ pension system:
“I have shown my commitment to achieving pension reform on a number of occasions over the last several years. The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that the General Assembly cannot alter earned benefits. With the court’s guidance, we now have a clearer framework of what cannot be done in any future pension reform proposal. To avoid wasting taxpayer dollars on lawsuits, it’s important that we carefully consider the court’s direction when we take up pension reform proposals as we work to address the state’s unfunded pension debt while ensuring that retirees who have worked hard for decades will receive their retirement benefits.
“The Governor said today that in exchange for negotiating on pension reform, he will continue to demand changes that will drive down the wages and standard of living of middle-class families. Despite the Governor’s desire to drive a wedge between Democrats in the House and Senate, neither President Cullerton nor I will agree to make changes proposed by the Governor that will hurt the middle-class families of our state.”
So, not a “no” on doing some sort of pension reform, but it sure looks like a definite “no” on this…
It's about the unions: #ILGov Rauner says to be constitutional, wages cannot be part of collective bargaining with public employees.
*** UPDATE *** The governor’s people flatly deny this, by the way. They say this is indeed Cullerton’s plan…
The following statement was released by Senate President John J. Cullerton regarding Republican leaders’ pension proposal:
“The governor called me this morning to say he was going to back my ideas for pension reform. The plan he outlined at his news conference isn’t what we talked about. It’s not my plan. It goes beyond what we discussed and beyond what I support.
“We apparently still have a fundamental disagreement over the role of collective bargaining in this process, in the sense that I think collective bargaining should continue to exist and the governor does not.
“I look forward to working with the governor to clarify these issues and appreciate his willingness to consider other ideas and just how far he’s moved away from his original pension reform ideas.
“But this is not my plan, not the plan we discussed this morning, and it does not have my support.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the We Are One Illinois union coalition…
“Another day, another hostage for Governor Rauner in his war on the working people of Illinois. Yesterday it was public schools, for more than a year it has been the state budget, and today it is retirement security for teachers, first responders and other public service workers.
“Rather than address his failure to enact a state budget or take a new approach by showing a willingness to work together, the Governor promotes cutting constitutionally-protected pensions in an effort to further attack working people and their unions he considers his political enemies.
“Rauner’s latest proposal is irresponsible and divisive. Slashing retirement security by forcing workers to choose between two diminished options is clearly unconstitutional. And to no one’s surprise, poison pills in the governor’s plan would wipe out the right of working people to have a collective voice on the job on behalf of their families and those they serve.
“Our coalition has always advocated a responsible solution to the pension funding issue that is both constitutional and fair. We urge the governor to abandon unconstitutional attacks and put the people of this state ahead of his political agenda. His disregard for working families is causing irreparable harm to children and communities across Illinois.”
They’re called Joint Purchasing Agreements, and Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole says they’re a great way for local governments to find taxpayers cost savings by banding together to get discounts for a variety of things.
“It could be regular supplies, it could be maintenance related to roads or construction, it could be vehicles.”
Cole says the state could partner with local governments to find even bigger cost savings.
“They do it right now for vehicle purchases, particularly squad cars for police departments. The state can coordinate these themselves and offer it to different municipalities or different organizations.”
Cole says the state could expand on current programs to join with local governments.
*** UPDATE *** From CMS…
Hi Rich,
I saw your post on joint purchasing and want to highlight efforts already taking place under the state’s Joint Purchasing Program.
CMS offers local governments and state agencies the opportunity to participate in the Joint Purchasing Program; this cooperative purchasing is designed to save time and money when purchasing many commodities, services and equipment. Both the state and local governments can benefit from this joint purchase structure. When bulk-purchasing power from multiple state agencies is enhanced by the increased sales volume added by local governments, we can push per-unit costs down.
Some examples of commodities and services offered include:
Automobile repair parts
Computer hardware and software
Defibrillators
Mowers and tractors
Rock salt
Vehicles
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Meredith Krantz
Deputy Director & Public Information Officer
Illinois Office of Communication and Information
Department of Central Management Services
This looks like a government mail and phone program for a top targeted state legislator, Rep. Terri Bryant (her first name is misspelled on the document). Standard stuff in Illinois, even if it looks more than a bit campaigny.
* Here’s a closeup of the category called “Leadership Mail Target Letters FY 17″…
I asked for a response…
It was a draft of an internal staff document tweeted in error.
* Pat Quinn’s public rehabilitation tour continues today…
At a press conference at the VFW Hall in Elk Grove Village this morning Former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced his support for Mike Noland’s campaign for Congress.
Governor Quinn is the latest progressive leader to join Mike’s campaign. Quinn was Illinois’ 41st Governor, serving from 2009-2015. Quinn has been one of the biggest champions of progressive causes in Illinois for over 30 years. While in office, the Governor created the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program and signed into law sweeping ethics and campaign finance reform legislation, the strongest in Illinois history. Before becoming Governor, he served for six years as Lieutenant Governor, four years as state Treasurer, and before that he was a political activist who successfully led efforts to shrink the size of the General Assembly and create the first-of-its-kind Citizens Utility Board.
“Mike is one of the good guys. I’ve known Mike Noland for a long time, and he has always had a strong moral compass. That’s the kind of leader we need in Congress,” said Quinn. “I like Mike because we share a strong progressive vision of how we can move our state and our nation forward. Whether it’s advocating for campaign finance reform, fighting for a cleaner environment, or standing up for veterans, Mike has always put people first.”
One of the cornerstones of the Governor’s legacy is standing up for servicemembers and veterans. He worked with Senator Noland, a U.S. Navy veteran, on legislation to protect veterans, such as HB 1260, which protected veterans from having their utility services disconnected.
“Having Governor Quinn’s support means the world me,” said Noland. “Governor Quinn has always stood up for what is right even if it means going against what’s popular. I am running for Congress because we need leaders who are will stand up against the status quo, and I am ready to do just that.”
Noland has also been endorsed by Senate President John J. Cullerton, former Senate President Emil Jones Jr., over 75 current and former elected officials from across Illinois, Northside Democracy for America, Blue America PAC, Kane County Democratic Organization, AFSCME State Council 31, American Postal Workers Union Local 3140’s executive board, Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, Bricklayers Administrative District Council of Illinois, Sheet Metal Workers State Council, SMART Transportation Division (formerly United Transportation Union), Fox Valley Building Trades, Elgin Trades Council, IFT Local 1211 (Northwest Suburban Teachers Union), Operating Engineers Local 399, Painters District Council 14 & 30, and Teamsters Joint Council 25.
* But US Sen. Dick Durbin is backing the candidate who has raised far more money…
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois is backing Raja Krishnamoorthi in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District of Illinois.
“Raja has impressed me with his focus on fighting for working families to help build and grow a vibrant middle class in America that is the most certain way to move our economy forward,” said Durbin, the state’s senior senator and Senate Minority Whip, the second highest ranking position among Senate Democrats. “Raja is a strong progressive and the best choice to succeed Tammy Duckworth and represent the hardworking taxpayers of the northwest Chicago suburbs. The product of humble roots, Raja will make sure that the same programs that were there for his family, like quality public schools and Social Security and Medicare, will be there for future generations.”
Durbin was elected to the Senate in 1996 and first served in the U.S. House beginning with his election in 1982 to the seat once held by Abraham Lincoln. While a member of the House, Durbin won a landmark ban on smoking on commercial airline flights of less than two hours in 1988 that was eventually expanded to all domestic flights. Over his career, Durbin has spearheaded numerous other laws concerning consumer and product safety, college student loans and affordability, gun violence, national security, and fiscal reform and government oversight.
“I look forward to working in Congress with Senator Durbin to craft legislation to assist working families in Illinois and the 8th District,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I am very humbled by Senator Durbin’s support and his belief in me to represent the 8th District in Congress.”
Sen. Durbin’s endorsing Raja follows key labor union support of Raja announced earlier this month from the Amalgamated Transit Union, the United Steelworkers and Ironworkers Local 63. Durbin’s endorsement also comes after House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced her backing of Raja for Congress.
“Raja’s combination of public and private sector experience uniquely prepares him to work in Congress to develop and protect American jobs, defend a woman’s right to choose, and strengthen America’s gun laws,” Durbin said.
* I fired up the same feed we used yesterday. The press conference is scheduled to begin at 10:30, but in the meantime some Chicago Democrats are calling on the release of surplus TIF funds to help out CPS. Follow both topics right here with ScribbleLive…
Chicago State University, a 5,200-student institution founded in 1867, is considering drawing up a financial exigency plan, equivalent to college bankruptcy, as soon as next month, according to Tom Wogan, a spokesman. The move would be a first step to keep the school afloat as it hemorrhages cash to cover the loss of state funds. All options are on the table to get through the current semester, including missing payments on $12 million of outstanding tax-exempt bonds, he said.
The school, with a 70 percent black student body, would become the most visible casualty of the stalemate between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, a former private-equity executive, and legislative Democrats, with leaders from Chicago, over a spending plan for the year that began July 1. While other public universities can draw on endowments or raise funds from alumni as the impasse persists, that’s not the case at Chicago State, whose students count on federal and state grants. […]
Chicago State is among colleges nationwide that are grappling with limits on their ability to raise tuition as the pool of graduating high-school seniors shrinks and students balk at taking costly loans. About two-thirds of its students are from Chicago or the surrounding area. It ranks highest among Illinois colleges in awarding bachelor’s degrees to black students in the physical sciences and health professions, according to its website. About 70 percent of attendees relied on financial aid in 2013. […]
To stay open, the university board would have to declare fiscal exigency next month so it has more flexibility to adjust contracts and potentially bond payments, Wogan said. Louisiana State University contemplated such a step because of proposed budget cuts in 2015, which led it to scrap a municipal-bond deal because of a buyers’ revolt.
“If we can’t make payroll and we can’t do a number of other things, everything about the university’s functions are at risk,” Wogan said. “The biggest short-term concern right now is operation funds to get through the semester and get through the fiscal year.”
*** UPDATE *** From the twitters…
Rauner says Chi State U "throwing money down the toilet" and failing their students. CSU says it may not make future payroll.
* From the Chicago Tribune’s recent editorial on Speaker Madigan’s primary opponent…
Gonzales owns up to some, ah, political challenges.
He grew up in the suburbs, lived in various places near downtown, and has rented an apartment in the district only since August 2014. He says he has deeper roots on the Southwest Side through family members who have been longtime residents.
He admits he had run-ins with the law in his youth. He was arrested for unlawful use of a credit card in 1991, when he was 17. He spent more than two months in jail. Yet, he says, he overcame that, graduated from an alternative high school and stacked up impressive degrees, including a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
* But as it turns out, his record is a bit longer than just the one arrest when he was 17. Kerry Lester found convictions for six crimes between the 1991 thing mentioned by the Trib and 1994, when he would’ve been 20 or so…
Longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Democratic primary opponent, whose campaign so far largely is funded by Republican donations, was pardoned in 2015 by then-Gov. Pat Quinn for six crimes he was convicted of committing in the suburbs between 1991 and 1994, involving forgery, theft and the misuse of credit cards.
According to documents I obtained from the state’s Prisoner Review Board, Jason Gonzales’s offenses include using a stolen credit card to make purchases at Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee in 1993, presenting a forged credit card receipt to receive a $942 refund at an Arlington Heights Service Merchandise in 1994 and using a stolen credit card to buy a $1,000 Sony camcorder from a Highland Super Store in Morton Grove in 1991.
But, to his credit, he’s not running away from it now that his past has been more fully exposed…
Spokesman Ben Gould tells me Gonzales “has a story that can resonate … it’s important to see where he came from and what he is now. That’s something that can inspire people.”
* Even so, he might wanna change his online campaign bio now that more facts have emerged…
My path was not one that would necessarily lead me to where I stand today, but instead led to non-violent run-ins with the law that culminated in spending several weeks in jail after an arrest at 17.
* Subscribers were told about the likelihood of executive orders, etc. last week…
STRATEGY: Several political observers tell Illinois Playbook that Rauner will make a series of headline-grabbing announcements in the run-up to next week’s State of the State address. That may include his signing more executive orders and proposing new legislative packages.
Democrats contend the governor is panicking because he can’t point to actual progress from his first year in office. They paint Rauner as the private equity guy who is treating Illinois like a company he has taken over, stripping it down and allowing some pieces to fall off without regard to who or what they are. And they say he wants to divert attention away from the fact that Illinois is still operating without a budget.
Republicans contend it’s a frustrated Rauner who is putting a spotlight on Democratic legislative leaders Mike Madigan and John Cullerton — and Rahm Emanuel, who are asking the state for bailout money without addressing issues that got us there in the first place. “Are we supposed to stand by and watch CPS burn to the ground? What are Chicago Democrats doing about Chicago schools?” state Rep. Ron Sandack said. They would say they have proposed SB1, a funding formula overhaul, which is still being negotiated.
The inherent fallacy here is that the Democrats are not cooperating with the governor and the Republicans know they couldn’t pass that takeover/bankruptcy bill even in the best of bipartisan times as long as the mayor opposed it.
So, the governor is making the best of a rotten situation by using clever PR to shift attention and blame away from him, and the Democrats are making the best of it by making Rauner the bad guy.
None of this gets us to a budget, by the way. Just the opposite.
Government, and amassing power within it, has become Madigan’s business, Rauner told the crowd.
“He has created an unethical empire,” Rauner said. “He has become a multi-millionaire from government. He is all about power for power’s sake. He gets his money from that power. He thinks about the upcoming elections, not about good policy. That is just a fact.”
Rauner added that he will not cave in to Madigan’s demands, and that he is willing out outlast his political opponent.
“I have a job to do,” Rauner said. “No one will stand in the way of me doing it. Michael Madigan and I are mirror images. He is about politics and making money from power. I am about working for you.”
…Adding More… Text message from a pal…
Last week it was the screen pass, yesterday it was the flea-flicker, today they try the quarterback sneak on 3rd and long. Heck of an opening drive to start the second quarter.
Within hours, however, Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool was declaring the proposal is far from a lifeline. He also hinted strongly at a federal discrimination lawsuit against the state if school funding inequities are not corrected.
“This is more of a smokescreen to hide the fact that the State of Illinois continues to discriminate against Chicago school children by providing just 73 cents for every dollar that children in the rest of the state receive on average,” Claypool told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s an unequal funding system for some of the most vulnerable and impoverished children in the state. It’s immoral and it won’t withstand scrutiny.”
Pressed on whether CPS was contemplating a lawsuit against the state, Claypool said, “No comment. No comment. No comment.”
* Claypool’s official statement has the same sort of hints. Here it is, with emphasis added…
Gov. Rauner’s proposal is frankly a sideshow to the real issue: the need to fix a school funding system that is separate but unequal. Instead, the Governor and Republican leaders want to preserve a school funding system that systematically discriminates against Chicago children. CPS represents 20 percent of state enrollment but gets just 15 percent of state funding, even though 86 percent of our children live in poverty.
The missing 5 percent represents nearly $500 million, the exact amount of our budget gap. Our children’s futures are just as important as those in the suburbs and downstate, and I hope Governor Rauner takes constructive steps to treat them equally.
In fact, while Republican leaders choreograph this distraction, CPS is taking steps to fix everything within our fiscal control and keep as much money in our classrooms as we can. CPS and the CTU leadership are working feverishly to reach a deal that would cut costs while preventing midyear layoffs, the district is going to market with $875 million in bonds and we’re on the verge of even deeper cuts to the bureaucracy.
Instead of offering a reckless smokescreen that distracts from the real financial problems facing CPS, the Governor should pass a state budget that treats CPS students equally with the rest of the state.
The Faith Coalition for the Common Good is supporting Senator Andy Manar’s efforts to change the school funding formula.
SB1 is back in the spotlight as school districts across the state are still struggling to make ends meet despite more money being appropriated for K through 12 education.
The latest data shows the current formula is failing minority students as districts with high minority populations get, on average, two thousand less per student.
So, local control is fantastic when it’s about the state letting local governments out of the collective bargaining process and paying prevailing wage.
But the holy notion of local control is never mentioned when the state wants to nullify a local union contract.
What: Governor Rauner, Leader Radogno and Leader Durkin Hold a Press Conference Regarding the Illinois Pension System
Where: James R. Thompson Center – 16th Floor
100 W. Randolph, Chicago
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2016
Time: 10:30 a.m.
And I’m sure the unions will love it.
Brace for another busy day around here, campers. I’ll post a live coverage feed later this morning.
We’re one year into the administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner, but somehow we’re still in campaign season. The latest never-going-to-happen idea: a state takeover of Chicago Public Schools and, possibly, a trip to bankruptcy court.
This plan, unveiled today in semi-baked form by the Republican governor’s legislative lieutenants Christine Radogno and Jim Durkin, doesn’t have a prayer of passing a Democratic-controlled General Assembly, so why propose it?
Even if a state takeover had a shot at passage, there are reasons to doubt it’s a good idea. Other cities have tried the “run it like a business” model with unintended and sometimes disastrous results. Google “Flint Michigan” and “water” for details.
Let’s be clear: CPS is a train wreck. The Board of Education approved an irresponsible budget with a $500 million hole in it. The Chicago Teachers Union is seeking hundreds of millions of new money but isn’t willing to add a penny to the employees’ pension contributions. The system keeps borrowing to meet short-term needs, and the cost of that borrowing is only going up. And CPS—which has been led by a merry-go-round of CEOs for the past five years under Mayor Rahm Emanuel—is so incompetent that it can’t account for the desks and chairs that were in the 50 schools it closed two years ago.
Against this backdrop, the idea of a takeover has a certain appeal. But a takeover by whom? The state of Illinois? Springfield, now entering Month 7 of a disastrous budget impasse, hardly seems the right place to look for guidance on effective governance.
In response to the forthcoming legislation seeking to allow for the bankruptcy and government takeover of the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools being pushed by the governor and Republican leaders, Senate Assistant Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford released the following statement.
“The Republican administration has gone too far, and the governor has shirked his real duties to the people. If he wants so desperately to restructure Chicago Public Schools, he should start by restructuring the systemic prejudice that continues to permeate our children’s schools.
“Chicago is not a third world country to be seized by a government. This is not our path to success. All of our leaders need to treat Chicago students and teachers with respect, value them as equally as any other student or teacher and be willing to proactively restructure our education system for the next generation.”
The legislation would also allow CPS to declare bankruptcy. And Rauner tried to calm nerves that tend to fray when the word ‘bankruptcy’ is used.
“Many people hear the word ‘bankruptcy’ and you think: ‘That’s horrible. That’s a disaster. That means massive layoffs. That means firings. That means destruction of the system.’ It does not mean that at all,” Rauner said.
“In fact, the liabilities are restructured so we can afford to hire even more teachers, if it’s done properly.”
…Adding… Mark Brown is more than somewhat on the mark…
As soon as Rauner drops his union fixation, it might be possible for him to finally get something accomplished.
* From the Southeastern Illinois Agency on Aging’s Facebook page…
Illinois Aging Network Alert
I4A Alert for Tuesday January 19, 2016 (Prepared by AgeSmart)
Since September 28, 2015 the Area Agencies on Aging have been providing a weekly alert addressing the impact of the budget Impasse. Reviewing those 15 alerts we are beginning to see the erosion of services to seniors in the State of Illinois. Below is a visual of the loss of services to seniors in Illinois.
Number of reported seniors who have lost:
Home Delivered Meals - 3203
Home and Community Based Services - 6104
Loss of Jobs (FTEs) – 90.5
Since October we have seen four senior centers close and many other organizations reduce the days they are open. In a network survey about the budget impasse conducted in the fall it was estimated that if there was no budget by the end of February 84,500 seniors will be without services.
Gov. Bruce Rauner says that if Illinois takes over Chicago Public Schools, he’ll stand up to the teachers’ union on contract negotiations.
The first-term Republican governor said Wednesday that he backs a proposal to allow a state-appointed board to take over operations of the nation’s third-largest school district. An appointed authority would have the ability to negotiate new contracts.
The Chicago Teachers Union is locked in contentious negotiations with school officials. The union went on strike in 2012, its first walkout in 25 years.
Rauner accused Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel of caving on contract negotiations then and says Emanuel is set to do so again.
* Mayor Emanuel and Sen. Heather Steans have both said Rauner is using the issue as a “distraction” because he doesn’t yet have a budget of his own and has to submit a new one soon. Senate President Cullerton has said the governor’s “ridiculous idea” is a “distraction from the state’s problems” and that it’s “not going to happen.”
They make a very good point about the distraction stuff, but how about we focus on the policy instead?
* From the Radogno/Durkin press release…
* Recognize CPS’ financial difficulties and amends current state law, established by HB5537/PA 98-1155, to include the Chicago Public School system in the Illinois State Board of Education District Intervention law
* Specifies the process for the Illinois State Board of Education to establish an Independent Authority (IA) to run the school district and the removal of the current CPS Board of Education
* Specifies the State Superintendent of Schools must appoint 5-7 members to the Authority, who shall be selected based on expertise and knowledge in education policy and governance including local community members, in cooperation with local officials;
* Authority members must not be CPS employees or have a financial interest
* Authority members will serve without compensation
* Grants the Authority the power to serve as the School Board, with the same powers and duties; specifics the Authority cannot unilaterally cancel or modify existing collective bargaining agreements
* The Authority would serve until the State Board of Education determined CPS is no longer in financial difficulty; Provides the phase-in process for an elected CPS Board of Education and prohibits union contributions to those candidates
* Establishes that the state is not liable for the school districts’ debt.
The Chicago Public Schools educate nearly 400,000 students, almost 90 percent of them from low-income households. Five percent are homeless. Almost one-fifth are learning English as a second language. Yet against the odds and starved of resources, the state’s largest school district is achieving higher test scores and graduation rates for its students. […]
They portray their plan as merely a matter of fairness – adding CPS to an existing law allowing for state intervention in certain districts. But this could not be farther from the truth.
Illinois’ current intervention law does not require or even allow bankruptcy; in fact, Illinois does not permit any unit of government to declare bankruptcy, and the current situation in Michigan demonstrates the serious pitfalls of rushing to release governments from their financial obligations.
In addition, CPS educates more than 14 times the number of students in the largest district currently eligible for state intervention. The State Board of Education is simply not equipped to manage such a large, complex and diverse system of schools.
* The Question: Should the state be allowed to take over CPS? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* As you’ll recall, the House came one vote short of passing a bill to overturn Gov. Bruce Rauner’s huge child care program cuts. The lone Democrat who didn’t vote for the bill, Rep. Ken Dunkin, was involved in the negotiations to craft an alternate plan. The SJ-R looks at how that compromise is going so far…
Enrollment dropped to an average of 133,374 children in the period from July through December 2015, compared with the average total of 181,563 children in the program during the same period one year earlier, according to Illinois Department of Human Services spokeswoman Marianne Manko.
That’s a reduction of about 48,200 children, or more than one-fourth of the previous eligibility level.
Even though eligibility guidelines have been mostly restored, there’s still a gap between 162 percent of FPL and 185 percent, and the higher co-payments instituted by Rauner remain, according to Maria Whelan, president and CEO of Chicago-based Illinois Action for Children.
The current income guideline, by itself, keeps 10,000 children out of the program who normally would be admitted under the original income ceiling of 185 percent of FPL, she said.
Another 5,000 children are being denied entry because of a restriction that Rauner opted not to lift, involving children whose parents are in school but not employed, Whelan said.
That still leaves more than 32,000 children who, in theory, could be enrolled in the program but aren’t. […]
The 24,498 home-based providers who received state subsidies in August had dwindled to 19,975 by October — a drop of more than 4,500 or 18 percent, according to Service Employees International Union’s health-care division in Illinois.
Rauner promised to raise the Federal Poverty Limit eligibility to where it was before (185 percent) once we have a state budget.
* Kyle is referring to this Springfield press conference…
Higher Education Coalition Kicks Off Statewide Push for State Funding
Group Unites to Urge Lawmakers, Governor to Solve Months-Long Funding Stalemate
SPRINGFIELD – The time is now for legislators and the governor to find a solution for the stalemate over higher education funding as colleges and universities face a growing crisis heading into its seventh month, a new coalition announced on Wednesday.
The Illinois Coalition to Invest in Higher Education hosted a news conference at the Statehouse to outline what’s at stake in the ongoing funding stalemate and how that is affecting and will affect campuses around the state.
The Coalition is a collection of business, labor, and organizations representing public and private colleges and universities coming together to urge immediate action. Illinois universities and colleges have gone without hundreds of millions of dollars in MAP grants and operational funding since July, and aid has not been included in relief packages approved by legislators and the governor since the summer while they have not reached agreement on a full-year budget.
Coalition members discussed a number of problems facing Illinois campuses from the ongoing lack of funding and uncertainty about when funding will be approved, including:
· Students being unable to graduate or continue classes because their Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants that let them afford college are held up
· Prospective students – in and outside Illinois – choosing out-of-state colleges because of the funding uncertainty here
· Classes and programs being closed or suspended until funding is restored
· Employees being laid off
· Cuts creating long-term consequences for campuses – losing students and faculty/staff talent to other competitors, and projects being delayed that will cost more to complete later
The Coalition delivered a clear message: higher education cannot afford more funding delays from Springfield.
“The ongoing higher education funding crisis in Illinois is a real threat to our state because its impact is much deeper than the classrooms and productive people who fill them,” said Chris Harbourt, co-founder and CEO of Agrible, located in the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign. “Agrible and scores of other innovative businesses like ours work to make our customers more efficient, productive and successful. Draining resources from our campuses does exactly the opposite.
“It not only hurts the thousands of students, faculty and workers on campus, but also it sends the message to business that the higher education system you depend on for your talent and support is not a priority here. We urge a quick resolution so we can refocus on creating a more dynamic, competitive workforce and business environment in Illinois.”
Tom Livingston, a University of Illinois alum and an official with CSX in the rail industry, notes business and higher ed need to work with legislators and the governor to stabilize this funding question.
“Successful states have formed strong economic and academic partnerships with their colleges and universities,” Livingston said. “Consistent investments in Illinois higher education over the decades have attracted businesses and life-changing innovation to the direct benefit of our fellow citizens.”
* One tweet does not a pattern make, but this is a somewhat interesting development from a group everybody figures is guarding Rauner’s Democratic flank…
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Wednesday after allies of Gov. Bruce Rauner announced plans for a state takeover of Chicago schools and to allow CPS to declare bankruptcy:
Seven months into a new fiscal year, the state still has no budget under Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, and it’s because he’s more interested in driving down the wages and standard of living of middle-class families than working together to solve our state’s problems.
Today, the sponsor of his new proposal admitted that this new plan is an attempt to force Governor Rauner’s agenda of destroying the middle class onto the Chicago Public Schools. Governor Rauner’s proposal could also help him achieve his goal of taking money away from public schools in order to establish more charter schools. Taking one unelected school board appointed by the mayor and allowing it to become a board of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats appointed by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner is not a step in the right direction.
Governor Rauner hopes to use a crisis to impose his anti-middle class agenda. Republicans’ ultimate plans include allowing cities throughout the state to file for bankruptcy protection, which they admitted today would permit cities and school districts to end their contracts with teachers and workers – stripping thousands of their hard-earned retirement security and the middle-class living they have worked years to achieve. When Detroit was granted bankruptcy protection, retirement security was slashed for employees and retirees. That is not the path we want to follow in Illinois.
The disaster in Flint, Michigan, is a very timely example of how reckless decisions just to save a buck can have devastating consequences on children and families. In April 2014, under Republican leadership, the state of Michigan appointed an emergency manager to Flint to address a financial crisis, and switched Flint’s water source to the Flint River, which had long been known to be a dirty river. An earlier study showed that water from the river could have been drinkable had it been treated at a cost of about $36,000 a year. A crisis created by a Republican takeover could have been averted at what amounted to a mere fraction of a fraction of the state’s budget. That is not the path we want to follow in Illinois.
* And here’s Senate President John Cullerton’s response, in case you missed it in our live coverage post…
“This is not going to happen. It’s mean spirited and evidence of their total lack of knowledge of the real problems facing Chicago Public Schools. The unfair treatment of pension systems by the state is the immediate cause of CPS’ financial problem. That situation ought to be addressed rather than promoting this far-fetched notion that the state is somehow in the position to take over Chicago schools. This ridiculous idea only serves as a distraction from the state’s problems that these two state leaders should be focusing on.”
…Adding… Goldberg’s two cents…
Rep Greg Harris voted 2 allow state 2 takeover any school dist in #IL EXCEPT CPS, now against removing exception https://t.co/JJkx6NXuHZ
From: Richard A. Goldberg, Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs
To: Members of the General Assembly
Date: January 19, 2016
Re: CSU: Lobbyists & Administrators Win, Students & Taxpayers Lose
Over the last few days, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle along with key university officials publicly agreed with the Administration that we must reform the way Illinois public universities spend taxpayer money. University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen said “he agrees with some of the concerns about excessive spending at public universities raised by an aide to Governor Bruce Rauner.” Democratic Senator Bill Cunningham said “bills are in the works to deal with some of the issues raised by Goldberg.”
At the same time, however, some university officials continue to reject reform and would rather double down on a broken system that spends tuition money without accountability or transparency. According to the Associated Press, Chicago State University spokesman Tom Wogan claimed the “characterizations of the state’s universities” contained in last week’s memo “do not fit 148-year-old Chicago State” because it doesn’t “have private jets, our president doesn’t have a country club membership.”
Mr. Wogan – a former aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan and operative for the Democratic Party of Illinois – must not remember an interview he gave to Fox 32’s Dane Placko just a few months ago in which he defended giving the university’s president a “spectacular mansion on historic Longwood Drive in Beverly” where the school “has paid more than $32-thousand dollars just for landscaping and sprinkler service alone since 2013.” Recent reports of wasteful spending, corruption and low academic performance at Chicago State are plentiful. Sadly, minority and disadvantaged students are among the worst served at Chicago State.
Chicago State Is Failing Their Students
· While 83% of white CSU students graduate in six years, only 19% of African-American students and 15% of Latino students do the same. On average across Illinois public universities, white students have a 61% graduation rate while African Americans have a 39% graduation rate. In Illinois, Chicago State has the second lowest graduation rate for African-American students (behind NEIU’s 8% graduation rate) and the second highest graduation rate for white students (behind UIUC’s 87% graduation rate).
· According to data from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Chicago State’s enrollment fell by 45 percent from 1996 to 2014.
· For those full-time students who enrolled in 2006, 4% graduated in four years while 21% graduated in six years. For those who enrolled in 2008, those numbers got worse: 2% graduated in four years, 19% graduated in six years. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, that puts CSU in the 2nd worst percentile nationwide.
· According to a recent Brookings Institute study, Chicago State ranks in the 6th worst percentile for the average mid-career income of its graduate.
Financial Mismanagement and Misconduct
·
In November 2015, just a couple of months ago, a former Chicago State University Vice President was indicted for hiring her mother in a ghost payroll scheme.
· In 2014, a jury awarded $3 million in back pay and damages to a former CSU employee who was fired by Chicago State’s former president in retaliation for reporting alleged misconduct by the president and others.
· In 2013, Chicago State was fined $311,963 by the federal government for allowing failing students to remain enrolled and continue collecting federal student aid. According to the Chicago Tribune, students with grades as low as 0.0 were allowed to register for classes, in part to boost enrollment.
· According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago State doled out huge salary raises to school administrators. The Tribune reported that former Chicago State President Wayne Watson fired CSU’s Vice President of Administration and Finance after the latter raised questions about the salary increases.
· According to the Office of the Auditor General, during Chicago State’s most recent compliance audit, auditors found that the university could not locate $276,584 worth of university property.
Lobbyists and Administrators Win, Taxpayers Lose
· According to the Secretary of State’s records, Chicago State employs two firms to lobby the state on the university’s behalf: Taylor K. Anderson and James A. Deleo & Associates. At present, we do not have access to their contracts to assess compensation.
· According to a 2013 Auditor General report, CSU had, by far, the highest ratio of administrators to students of any state university – one administrator for every 17.7 students. The next highest was the University of Illinois system with one administrator for every 29.7 students.
· According to the Auditor General, Chicago State spent 45 percent of its total payroll on administrators and 55 percent on faculty – the worst ratio of any state university. The next highest was the University of Illinois system, which spent 31 percent of its payroll on administrators and 69 percent on faculty.
· According to the Auditor General, Chicago State’s administrator salaries cost $3,609 per student – the highest of any state university. The next highest was the University of Illinois system whose administrator salaries cost $2,960 per student.
· According to the Auditor General, Chicago State had the second fewest students of nine state universities and university systems, but the third most administrators.
· According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Chicago State spent $114,762 per undergraduate completion (degrees and certificate programs) in 2013 – significantly more than the $90,406 per completion average for all Illinois public universities and the $66,436 per completion average for all U.S. public universities.
The Way Forward
The General Assembly cannot turn a blind eye to the rampant financial mismanagement inside the university system that hurts academic performance and sends tuition costs skyrocketing. Rather than creating a cash flow crisis by appropriating hundreds of millions of dollars in General Revenue Funds for MAP or general higher education without accompanying spending reductions or cost-saving reforms, let’s find a sensible and responsible way to fund MAP and higher education by tying such funding to other spending reductions or cost-saving reforms.
Radogno denied the idea is to dismantle traditional public schools in CPS in favor of charters.
“That is absolutely not true,” she said.
“It allows the state Board of Education to remove the current Chicago Public Board of Education and create an independent authority for CPS until the State Board of Education determines that CPS is no longer in financial difficulty,” Radogno said.
Durkin added that 24 states already allow local governments to declare bankruptcy, as the Republicans’ still-to-be completed legislation would do.
Sen. William Delgado, chairman of the Illinois Senate Education Committee, criticized the move.
“The governor has forced the state into a financial crisis, and now he wants to take over one of the biggest public school systems in the nation,” Delgado said in his written statement.
“I find it hard to believe that this decision has the best interest of CPS students and families in mind,” the statement continued. “We need to get CPS back on level ground, not force it into bankruptcy and then allow the governor to treat it like another business.”
I don’t think anyone’s talking about forcing CPS into bankruptcy.
* Press release…
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) issued the following statement in response to the Republican proposal to take over the Chicago Public Schools:
“With this maneuver, Gov. Rauner has laid bare his true intentions. His purpose in stubbornly refusing to work with CPS, even at the risk of costing the jobs of thousands of teachers, is now clear: to force our public schools into layoffs and bankruptcy, in order to promote his political agenda.
“Bankruptcy and some type of state receivership could allow the Governor to vacate agreements and contracts such as pension obligations, health insurance and other benefits, and above all, the collective bargaining rights of teachers and other public employees.
“Instead of the GOP trying to highjack city government and our public schools and public services, long-term, attainable solutions for state funding are required.
“I support Sen. Andy Manar’s education funding bill as being fair and equitable for both the city and entire state. This bill is a good starting point to begin to repair the damage rather than inflicting more harm.
“What we need now is an open and honest discussion based on the goal of providing quality education through our neighborhood schools throughout our entire city.
“As a duly elected representative of the people of my neighborhood and of my city, I vigorously object to the Governor’s undemocratic attempt to disenfranchise the people of our city.
“Chicago should not allow itself to be bullied by Gov. Rauner and the Illinois GOP.”
Ald. Lopez represents the 15th Ward, which includes Back of the Yards, Brighton Park, Gage Park and West Englewood. There are seven elementary schools and three high schools in his ward.
Disenfranchise Chicagoans?
Huh?
…Adding… From 47th Ward in comments…
And everyone is taking the bait. Sigh.
Rauner can’t run Springfield. Why on earth would anyone think he’s serious about taking over CPS?
This is all a distraction to divert attention from the looming state budget disaster. This ploy is ridiculously transparent. I have a better chance of taking control of Google than Rauner has of taking over CPS.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Oy…
Responding to CPS bankruptcy idea, #CTU Prez Karen Lewis calls Rauner an emperor not a governor. pic.twitter.com/vSyNy0GCrK
“Giving control of our children’s future to a governor who can’t pass his own budget, who is racking up billions in unpaid bills, and who is crippling higher education across the state makes zero sense,” Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said. “With just a few weeks to go before delivering a second budget address without having passed his first budget, it’s clear the Republicans in Springfield are trying desperately to distract from their own failures.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Sen. Heather Steans…
State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago 7th) issued the following statement today on the announcement by Republican legislative leaders that they plan to file legislation allowing for a state takeover of the Chicago Public Schools:
The Chicago Public Schools educate nearly 400,000 students, almost 90 percent of them from low-income households. Five percent are homeless. Almost one-fifth are learning English as a second language. Yet against the odds and starved of resources, the state’s largest school district is achieving higher test scores and graduation rates for its students.
But the irresponsible agenda Gov. Rauner’s legislative allies rolled out today isn’t a reflection of those realities; it’s another politically motivated distraction from what the state and its public schools really need.
They portray their plan as merely a matter of fairness – adding CPS to an existing law allowing for state intervention in certain districts. But this could not be farther from the truth.
Illinois’ current intervention law does not require or even allow bankruptcy; in fact, Illinois does not permit any unit of government to declare bankruptcy, and the current situation in Michigan demonstrates the serious pitfalls of rushing to release governments from their financial obligations. In addition, CPS educates more than 14 times the number of students in the largest district currently eligible for state intervention. The State Board of Education is simply not equipped to manage such a large, complex and diverse system of schools.
The bottom line isn’t changing: Illinois needs a balanced budget, and Illinois’ public schools desperately need adequate and fairly distributed resources. Today’s announcement distracted from these difficult but essential objectives. If the governor and his allies in the General Assembly want to treat Chicago students fairly, they should start by supporting parity for CPS in state education funding and contributions toward teacher pensions.
The Chicago Board of Education can’t catch a break as it tries to borrow to pay for upgrades to the third-largest U.S. school system.
First, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings cut it to one step above junk last month, delaying a planned $372 million bond sale. Then last week, before a pared-down $296 million version of the deal, set for today, Gov. Bruce Rauner said the system may need bankruptcy protection, an option that’s not legally open to it. […]
Given the system’s more than $9 billion in unfunded pension obligations and growing deficit, Rauner, a first-term Republican, raised the specter of bankruptcy April 14 at an education forum in Chicago. The governor, who supports giving Illinois localities authority to file for Chapter 9 reorganization, repeated his claim that union contracts are putting local governments in financial peril.
The Chicago Board of Education will sell $875 million of bonds on Jan. 27, according to Bloomberg data from J.P. Morgan, an underwriter on the deal. The deal is made up of $796 million of tax-exempt securities and $79 million of taxable debt, according to bond documents. The proceeds will cover capital projects, convert variable rate debt to fixed, fund swap termination payments and pay debt-service bills, bond documents show.
So, the governor played up the bankruptcy angle the last time CPS went to the financial markets and he’s doing it again just days before CPS sells more bonds.
* I think I’m going to try and make this a regular feature. Here’s Mark Konkol…
Gov. Bruce Rauner came to Pullman Tuesday to promote a new effort that as far as anyone can tell is aimed to boost the clout of poor, minority entrepreneurs in hopes they might be more successful navigating the racial inequities that exist in big business and banking industries that have been controlled for generations by rich white men.
Rauner, a white multimillionaire capitalist with considerable clout, didn’t directly mention race to explain the benefits of his Advancing Development of Minority Entrepreneurship pilot program.
He put it this way: “We are jumpstarting minorities’ entrance into the web … of business relationships that gets transactions done. Minorities haven’t been in the … network.
“You can call it the Old Boys Network or whatever you want. It’s relationships of past success that drives future success; we have to jumpstart minority entrepreneurs into that web, into that network. That’s what this is about.”
UrbanDictionary.com defines the “old boys network” that Rauner refers to as the “informal system by which money and power are retained by wealthy white men through incestuous business relationships. It is not necessarily purposeful or malicious, but the ‘Old Boys Network’ can prevent women and minorities from being truly successful in the business world.”
One reporter asked the governor if he could be “candid about why … capitalists have not ventured into the hood before now?”
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Governor Bruce Rauner said Tuesday he does not control whether AFSCME strikes. But, Rauner said, he will be the first governor to stand up to the union.
“That makes them a little cranky and it’s one of the reasons they wanted me out of the negotiations. That’s my duty, representing the taxpayers. If every elected official said to them ‘if you’re going to say you’re going to strike and I can’t stand that so I’m going to give you whatever you ask for,’ then there is no balance of power. That’s what is going on in Illinois and the city of Chicago for decades.”
Rauner also says he has no intention to shut down government or to lock workers out.
The union has said the governor is trying to force a strike, something Rauner says is nonsense.
“I don’t control whether AFSCME strikes or not. I don’t control that. They decide. That’s their right. I hope they don’t. I have asked them not to strike. I said it would be terrible for the people of Illinois. What I have said is…if you do choose to strike, we’ll stand up to you and we’ll win”.
The governor says that somebody has to stand up to the union or else there will be continued economic decline. Rauner’s administration announced they asked for the Illinois Labor Relations Board to review negotiations to declare if there’s an impasse. AFSCME says they’re still willing to negotiate but the governor has said they don’t think continuing negotiations would be worthwhile.
* The governor also said yesterday he was “misquoted” about being willing to shut down the government.
“I may have to take a strike and shut down the government for a few weeks,” he said, with Dan Proft looking on. Rauner said he might not be happy about it, but “I will do it probablyproudly because it’s the right thing to do.”
Two years after Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed a record 50 schools over low enrollment, officials say they don’t know where many of the computers, desks, books and other items from those buildings ended up.
After being pressed for more than six months on what happened to the classroom equipment, Chicago Public Schools officials now say they don’t have an answer.
They blame bad record-keeping under Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Emanuel’s disgraced former schools chief, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in October to steering millions of dollars in CPS contracts to her former employer in exchange for what prosecutors said were promises of kickbacks.
“Unfortunately, the previous CPS administration did not adequately manage or keep records on the day-to-day operations of the transition logistics,” CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner says.
B3 can’t totally take the fall for this, can she? I mean, she wasn’t personally tracking the movements of furniture, was she? Or is this just par for the CPS bureaucratic course?
• CPS says it has no records on what happened to any of the books from the closed schools.
• There are more than 9,400 desktop and laptop computers listed on inventories of schools that were closed. Of those, 3,724 were “redeployed” to other schools or to CPS headquarters, according to CPS, which says the rest were “disposed” of — though how or where isn’t clear.
• More than 33,000 chairs and roughly 12,000 desks and 6,000 tables were listed in good condition in the closed schools, CPS records show. About 9,500 of those chairs, 3,900 desks and 1,000 tables apparently were moved to other buildings. It’s unclear where the rest went.
It kinda goes without saying that if you want lots more money from the state for your school system, then this sort of news isn’t going to help matters much.
According to an analysis released today by the institute, $53 million is the “penalty” the state paid when it sold $480 million in general obligation bonds last week.
Specifically, it’s how much the state garnered from the sale compared with how much it would have netted in 2006, before the state’s credit rating repeatedly had been lowered.
Here’s how bond sales work: An interest rate is set, but then buyers bid for how much they’re willing to pay to get that return, effectively raising or lowering the price. Last week’s sale netted prices ranging between 98 percent and 114 percent of par value, depending on time to maturity. But the state got 104 percent to 127 percent of par value a decade ago. The difference between the two is $53 million, roughly $568 million for the state versus the $515 million we actually got.
Last week’s GO sale was the first since Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan went to war over the budget, tax hikes, the governor’s “turnaround Illinois” agenda, etc. But it won’t be the last. And if the standoff continues, the penalty could double on future sales, says study author Martin Luby, an institute visiting scholar from DePaul University.
Rod Blagojevich was governor in 2006, the benchmark for this study. The economy wasn’t great, but it was fairly decent. Blagojevich and Speaker Madigan started warring with each other right after Blagojevich was reelected and the feud didn’t end until early 2009. Because of this, the state government was totally unprepared to deal with the Great Recession.
• The $53 million financial condition penalty estimate only relates to the 2016 Bonds. Assuming that future debt sales will be at typical levels of about $1 billion each year, this financial condition penalty grows to $106 million per year.
• Furthermore, based on recent analyses, the state will need to issue much more annual debt than in the past to address its growing infrastructure needs. A recent estimate of the annual bond amount required to address these needs is $4 billion. At this $4 billion annual bond level, the financial condition penalty estimate grows to $424 million per year.
• Even in the context of the overall state budget, this $424 million is a significant annual amount of money, especially given the dire fiscal straits the state finds itself in today. For example, this $424 million would provide a substantial amount of the extra funding that the Chicago Public Schools is requesting from the state to address its budget deficit.
In other words, the governor’s projected revenue gains from passing his Turnaround Agenda will barely cover the added bond costs as a result of this impasse.
“Chicago Tonight” has learned that Gov. Bruce Rauner and top Republican leaders are planning to introduce legislation aimed at an emergency financial takeover of the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. This comes in light of an imminent $500 million shortfall within the Chicago Public Schools system.
The Republican leaders are set to announce the legislation tomorrow, but Paris Schutz has the exclusive information tonight.
Sources tell “Chicago Tonight” that the governor and his top two legislative leaders – Senate minority leader Christine Radogno and House minority leader Jim Durkin will file a package of legislation Wednesday that would allow for an emergency financial oversight board appointed by the state to take over the financially strapped school district. Other legislation would allow for emergency financial oversight of the credit-beleaguered city of Chicago.
Legislation would also allow for CPS and the city of Chicago to declare bankruptcy – something by law both cannot currently do.
We’re also told that the legislation would call for an elected Chicago Public Schools board once the financial situation is remediated. This, in light of the fact that CPS has set now as a deadline to receive $500 million in relief from the state or else lay off thousands of employees, including teachers.
“The mayor is 100 percent opposed to Gov. Rauner’s ‘plan’ to drive CPS bankrupt. If the governor was serious about helping Chicago students, he should start by proposing — and passing — a budget that fully funds education and treats CPS students like every other child in the state,” Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said in a statement Tuesday.
Radogno brought up the bankruptcy option on last weekend’s “Sunday Spin” radio show on WGN-AM 720. Declaring bankruptcy would allow the district to ditch its union contracts, which dovetails with Rauner’s broader union-weakening push.
On Tuesday, Rauner was asked about a CPS bankruptcy bill and took shots at the mayor.
“I’m worried that the mayor is failing. The mayor gave in and caved on the (teachers) strike 41/2 years ago. Hurt the taxpayers, hurt the schoolchildren as a result. I’m very concerned about the trajectory of where we’re going with CPS. And right now, the mayor’s only real message to the state government is ‘Hey, we failed financially our schoolchildren, send us half a billion dollars. That’s not a reasonable position for the mayor to take,’” Rauner told reporters.
“The governor is defending a school funding system that is separate but unequal. Our children are facing systematic discrimination. CPS represents 20 percent of state enrollment but gets just 15 percent of state funding, even though 86 percent of our children live in poverty. The missing 5 percent represents nearly $500 million, the exact amount of our budget gap. Our children’s futures are just as important as those in the suburbs and downstate. But the state does not value them equally.”
Rauner is in the midst of a political war with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, whose spokesman Tuesday night likened the takeover proposal to the state of Michigan’s takeover of Flint, Michigan which is now in the midst of a water lead poisoning crisis.
“I would say that anybody worried about state takeovers should look at Flint, that’s what takeovers look like,” Brown told POLITICO. “That may be the template you may want to use when you evaluate whether it’s a good idea to take over. Look at what happened to the people in Flint and try not to repeat mistakes.”
The school proposal would include a provision that would apply state oversight rules to Chicago schools if the district falls below a certain financial threshold, sources say. Under state law, school boards can be removed and replaced by the state board when that happens. CPS was exempt from the oversight, but the proposal would remove that exemption.
Um, but as that article points out, the General Assembly passed a bill last year to do just that.
* One of the bill’s Democratic sponsors talked to Greg Hinz…
Specifically, I’m told, the package offered by the two top Republicans would extend to Chicago a measure authored by Sen. Heather Steans that allows the state to intervene in and effectively run troubled downstate and suburban districts. Such a move would be initiated by an independent review panel appointed by the State Board of Education.
The bankruptcy measure likely would be in separate legislation. Local units of government are not allowed to file for bankruptcy under current state law, but a pending GOP bill in the House would allow cities and villages to file.
Steans, in a phone call, confirmed that her takeover bill last year excluded CPS, which has been treated differently than other districts since lawmakers turned control over to then-Mayor Richard M. Daley a generation ago.
Steans said her view of a state takeover of CPS might depend on whether it came with additional state aid, but said bankruptcy would be “insane,” potentially undoing gains in CPS performance in recent years. “You’d have a much harder time fixing the schools” under a bankruptcy filing, she contended.
* I’m told that Radogno and Durkin could claim today that the legislation is the result of anxious constituents who worry that the city and CPS will drag the state down. The press conference is at 9:30. I’ll have live coverage.
Gov. Bruce Rauner unveiled a new program Tuesday aimed at helping minority and women entrepreneurs grow their businesses, saying African-Americans didn’t come to Chicago “because we had a great welfare system or a great minimum wage,” but because they were seeking opportunity that has since “bled away.” […]
Asked if the state could make a greater impact by recruiting large, established businesses into struggling minority communities, Rauner said the focus instead should be on improving opportunity.
“The money follows the opportunity, and that’s what we got to get across,” Rauner said. “Here’s what’s happening. African-Americans are in Chicago in massive numbers. They didn’t come here because we had a great welfare system or a great minimum wage. That’s not why they’re here. That’s not why the people of Illinois are here. We’re here for opportunity.”
He continued: “Chicago used to be one of the greatest cities in the world, one of the fastest growing, most economically dynamic cities in the world. That’s why we’re all here. That’s why my ancestors, my grandparents — great grandparents — came to Chicago. That’s why our families are here. That opportunity is being bled away. It’s not about a government program. It’s not about more government money. We are not competitive in Chicago. We’re not competitive in the state of Illinois.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner says he thinks General Electric bypassed Illinois for its new headquarters because of the “trajectory” of the state’s fiscal problems. […]
Rauner says company officials didn’t want to go from “one failed state to another.” He cited Connecticut’s property taxes, income tax and pension problems.
It’s amazing to me that he can say stuff like this without ever thinking that maybe, just maybe, he’s at least partially to blame for our alleged “failed state” situation.
Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) today called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to seek to renegotiate lucrative interest-rate swap deals that send $6 million in taxpayer money to big banks every month at the expense of Illinois’ poorest residents and struggling college students.
An alarming new report indicates the state of Illinois is engaging in the same kinds of interest-rate swap deals that crippled the finances of the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. So-called “swap” arrangements perversely penalize the state for low interest rates caused by the global financial crisis.
Illinois has spent $618 million on such swaps already, and the total cost to taxpayers could climb to $1.45 billion by 2033, when the deals are set to end. In addition, according to the report, taxpayers could be on the hook for $124 million in termination penalties as soon as November, depending on how long budget negotiations are delayed.
Biss noted that a great deal of harm is being done to the state’s most vulnerable residents – the poor, the elderly, the disabled and struggling college students – as a result of the current budget impasse.
“In this environment we have an obligation to pursue every possible avenue to relieve fiscal pressure, and if seniors, children and the disabled are being forced to sacrifice, then there’s no reason for Wall Street to remain untouched,” Biss said. “We in the legislature have a responsibility to the people of Illinois to explore these questions and do our best to recover any legally available funds.”
An interest rate swap is type of financial derivative that allows a bond issuer — like the State of Illinois — to limit or manage exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. The issuer pays a fixed interest rate on a floating-rate bond. The bank on the other side of the swap pays the variable rate and pockets the difference between the fixed and floating rates.
When Illinois first entered into the now-costly swap deals in the early 2000s, the intention was to hedge risks and save money on the billions of dollars in variable-interest bonds that state agencies had issued. These bonds, issued under former governor Rod Blagojevich, are pegged to fluctuations in the broader interest rate environment.
But in order to lock in what state financiers saw as bargain interest rates, the governor’s office entered into swap agreements with ten major Wall Street banks. Under the deals — which are commonplace in the corporate world — the state would pay the banks a fixed interest rate, while the banks paid bondholders the variable rate. In theory, the maneuver would protect the state from sharp interest rate moves.
When the stock market crashed and the Fed lowered interest rates virtually to zero, the state couldn’t refinance at the lower rate. “The swaps kept the state locked into rates nearly 4 percent higher than what its bank partners were paying bondholders,” the article states.
The state has paid $618 million in swap fees since 2003, according to the ReFund America report, with another $832 million yet to come. While Ciccarone noted that those totals include the interest Illinois would have otherwise paid on the variable-interest bonds, they also include tens of millions of dollars in additional costs related to the complex requirements that swaps entail.
Those fees might not be all. Today, with interest rates still scraping historic lows, termination fees totaling $286 million prevent the state from exiting its swap agreements.
The swaps can still get a lot worse: If the state’s credit rating continues to tumble and it is unable to renew its credit enhancements on the 2003B bonds in November 2016, that could trigger termination clauses on the Governor’s swaps and force the state to pay $124 million in penalties to the banks.
JPMorgan Chase is both a credit enhancement provider for the 2003B bonds and a counterparty to one of the related swaps. This would potentially put the bank in a position to be able to collect termination penalties on the swap by refusing to renew the credit enhancement—a tactic the bank has used elsewhere in the past.
* Dan Proft, writing in the Tribune over the weekend about how he wants Bruce Rauner to get tough with AFSCME and other unions…
This is Rauner’s moment of truth.
Even more important than a fiscal-year budget is sending the unmistakable message to AFSCME (and its SEIU and teachers’ union cohorts) that the balance of the nearly 13 million residents of Illinois not in their ranks do not exist as spare parts for the machine that spits out compensation packages 27 percent higher than their own.
If that involves a siege on Springfield like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker confronted in Madison, so be it.
If that requires layoffs and outsourcing of state work to contractors, so be it.
If that requires losing an election, so be it.
Rauner ran for governor saying he is not a politician. He said he is a businessman who will make the difficult decisions to turn around the state he loves.
We’re about to find out if that’s true.
* Well, today Turnaround Illinois, which is funded mainly by Gov. Rauner and Sam Zell and has as its officially stated purpose “To support state legislative candidates who support Gov. Rauner’s bold and needed reforms, and to oppose those who stand in the way,” made a big contribution to Liberty Principles PAC…
All in!! $1,818,000.00 from Turnaround Illinois to Liberty Principles PAC. https://t.co/J4Sm2FHTjH
House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton controlled a combined $13.25 million warchest to begin 2016.
Heading into a critical election year of House and Senate races, the Democrats who lead the Illinois General Assembly have assembled a combined $13.25 million warchest to begin 2016, state campaign finance records show.
Veteran House Speaker Michael Madigan had $8.5 million to start the year in the four campaign funds he controls, records showed, while Senate President John Cullerton had $4.75 million in the three funds he operates.
That compares to $1.2 million in campaign funds controlled by House GOP leader Jim Durkin and $1 million in campaign funds authorized by Senate GOP leader Christine Radogno, according to reports filed with the State Board of Elections.
If you’re looking for something good amid all the rotten news in Illinois, here’s a little something: Gov. Bruce Rauner says there’s some agreement on the fundamentals of a pension reform plan.
That’s not to say that a deal is imminent, he cautioned.
“The president of the Senate (John Cullerton) and I agree on what it’s going to take to have a constitutional pension reform, and the speaker’s staff is not disagreeing. I can’t say they’ll be out there proactively being positive, but they’re not really disagreeing. And that’s a big deal,” Rauner said.
It’s a big deal if it gets worked out, resulting in “billions of dollars in pension savings at the universities as well as school districts and state government,” the governor said.
But state employee unions already indicated opposition to Cullerton’s plan, which is said to include a provision that makes employees choose between retaining cost-of-living increases in retirement or taking pay raises now. That may not be the offer made to employees.
* So, I reached out to Cullerton’s press secretary John Patterson. His response…
“There are still major differences regarding the recognition of collective bargaining rights.”
* And here’s Speaker Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown…
“I don’t think that, unfortunately, they’re anywhere close to a constitutional plan.”
At this point, I suppose, he has no other choice. But, man, this isn’t going to be an easy Democratic primary for him while he’s locking arms with a hugely unpopular (among city Democrats) Republican governor.
* Meanwhile…
Today, Jason Gonzales, candidate for state representative against Speaker Madigan, has announced the first of his endorsements. First is Dick Simpson, former Alderman and Chair of Political Science at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The second is Democracy for America, it’s Southside chapter.
In his endorsement letter Dick Simpson remarked, “I’m endorsing Jason Gonzales for State Representative of the 22nd District because he has the education and experience to start leading our state back in the right direction. I know he will work tirelessly on behalf of the people of the 22nd District and the State of Illinois, and make the tough choices necessary to make sure that the best days of Illinois are still ahead, and that the pathways to opportunity will be here for future generations.”
Simpson’s full endorsement letter can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/jasonforillinois/photos/a.1697480273798899.1073741828.16964610739008 19/1710838759129717/?type=3&theater
The endorsement from Democracy for America came after a Saturday forum that included elected officials, candidates, and campaign surrogates for campaigns for federal, state, county, and local offices. After the forum, the members of the group voted on the endorsements of the candidates, which led to Gonzales’ nearly unanimous endorsement.
“It’s an honor to have the endorsement of both Alderman Dick Simpson and DFA-Southside,” Gonzales said. “Dick has consistently been a tireless advocate for working families and political reform throughout Illinois. DFA-Southside is a group of passionate, instrumental political activists fighting for democratic values in our communities.”
Higher Education Coalition Kicks Off Statewide Push for State Funding
Group Unites to Urge Lawmakers, Governor to Solve Months-Long Funding Stalemate
* On January 4th, the Illinois Municipal League’s executive director Brad Cole sent his higher education ideas to the U of I’s government relations office. I’m told the proposals received a “mixed” response. The IML got involved because the universities want to work with mayors of college towns…
Here are my suggestions for moving forward on the higher education funding issue. What seems to be lacking is any kind of plan that everyone can get behind, and without that there will probably be no movement by the General Assembly or Governor. I think everyone needs to agree to a few points and then present a focused effort. Thanks for coordinating this group, we’re looking forward to hosting the meeting tomorrow. This is what I would do (which doesn’t mean they are necessarily good ideas):
1. Ask for a six month appropriation to be passed immediately in January based on the same levels as what was passed and vetoed last year, I think that included a 6.5% overall reduction. As part of that, though, ask for a six month extension on the lapse period spending authority (through 12/2016). This would give schools half the budget now (since it is halfway through the fiscal year) and if something isn’t worked out on-time in the upcoming budget they would have more flexibility in holding it over into the fall. The chance of getting a full twelve month budget at this point seems very slim, and the fact that schools have managed thus far doesn’t help them in saying they need the full appropriation. It also shows a willingness by the schools to take a massive cut and move on. This could be coordinated by campus presidents/board leaders to make the ask officially.
2. Ask for the full fiscal year funding of MAP. By default this would mean some money to offset the lost appropriation, as it would bring in money that was floated for students enrolled in fall 2015. Then bring in a thousand students, whether they all get MAP or not, and let the story be about students… since that’s what each school should be about, anyway. I would do this a few days before either the State of the State Address or the Budget Address, but not too close prior or immediately after either. Put the story in the news about three days before the Governor gives his speech and make him and the legislative leaders react or account for it in all of their remarks. Timing is important and having the capitol under siege by students is critical; one bus load of students from every university campus and community college would be overwhelming. The local chambers of commerce could pay for the buses and the student government associations can coordinate from each campus; give everyone a t-shirt or hat or sign or something and set them loose in the capitol with the name and office location of their home district legislators… the organized chaos would be quite interesting and better than any AFSCME rally (and they know how to rally).
3. Find a judge/court in a county seat that houses a public university, probably downstate or in St. Clair County where the other suit was filed, and file a motion to consider all public university employees in the same class as all other state employees that are getting paid without a state budget. Public university employees are state employees (with state sponsored health care, retirement, etc) and the courts have already ruled on this issue, but the rulings didn’t specifically include university employees. I realize this won’t help the private schools or community colleges, but it will help the public universities. I would throw-in an extra motion that seeks repayment of employee salaries that were paid during the first six months of the fiscal year, as reimbursement, which would obviously further strengthen the cash flow for those schools that are hurting most. Maybe there is a bigger reason why the universities were left out of the original suit so this may not work, or maybe it was not seeing the forest for the trees; I don’t know, but it seems worth a try. The employee unions could take the lead on this like they did in the original employee payroll suit last July. I have a marked-up copy of the Fifth District Appellate ruling that I will give you for more information.
4. Have each college and university put money toward a major statewide public relations campaign that would promote the value of higher education, tie it to the brain drain and population out-migration hitting Illinois, show how the local economies are impacted, and tell the story of students who might not get their diplomas because of the lingering impasse. If every school, through their private foundation funds and not with state funds obviously, would contribute $20,000 or $50,000 or $100,000, there would easily be a couple million dollars to launch a comprehensive and immediate press/media campaign throughout the state and in targeted legislative districts to get attention on this issue. Radio, television, print and social media advertisements bombarding the issue would be impressive. That amount of money to contribute to this effort is minimal considering the tens- and hundreds of millions of dollars the campuses are losing. Have everyone contribute, pick a major firm to handle it, and then let them go (without a university-style committee to slow it down forever) and get it done. A lot of this should be focused on the FY17 budget process.
5. Key to any future (FY17) appropriation is making an offer of what schools are willing to do without. If a reasonable plan was submitted to the Governor and General Assembly, and reasonable in the sense of the overall state budget problems not just keeping the status quo for the campuses, there would be more of a chance of getting something agreed to by the leaders. There are lots of suggestions I could make, which I will save for another conversation, but asking for a multi-year budget appropriation or anything that doesn’t resemble a significant cut to really transform the funding levels is likely a non-starter. Unless the higher education community goes on offense with a plan, they will be on defense and other plans will be made without them.
I’ve been surprised at the lack of involvement by the U of I’s alumni group. The school has fired up that much-feared (at the Statehouse) group several times to stop what it considered to be harmful legislation. But where are the alumni now?
Anyway…
* The Question: Which of Brad’s 5 suggestions is the best? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* My former intern Barton Lorimor came over to the house yesterday with his cute daughter Robin…
Oscar loves him some Barton, and after a slow start, Robin fell in love with Oscar, too (he can sometimes be a bit too rambunctious for little kids).
Barton said he needed to get home to make dinner, but my mom and dad, my daughter and her family and some other great friends of ours were all coming over so I said he ought to just invite his wife to my place and we’d have dinner together.
He stayed and we all had a great time, particularly Oscar, who basked in all the attention.
* Mom and Dad left today, though, and Oscar spent some time by the front door. I think he was hoping for more visitors…
To combat challenges created by uncertain economic conditions, Chicagoland small businesses plan to expand business operations in 2016 to continue revenue growth.
The results of the second annual Chicagoland Small Business Economic Outlook Survey, conducted by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business, reveal that local business owners are realistic about the current state of business. Business owners have lost confidence in the local, state and national economies over the past year, and revenue growth remains their top concern.
“Only 28 percent of business owners surveyed believe Chicagoland’s economy will strengthen over the next year, down from 42 percent last year,” said Katie Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of Programs at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. “These survey results show us that in order to combat current economic conditions and restrictive public policies, business owners are forced to be realistic and find new ways to expand their business operations.”
Key takeaways from the 2016 Chicagoland Small Business Outlook Survey:
· Small businesses are significantly less confident than last year in the economy at the local, state and national levels
· More than three in four respondents plan to grow their business [in the coming year]
· 38 percent expect to hire additional workers
· 52 percent plan to expand within Illinois (up from 45 percent last year)
· Nearly one half of respondents feel negatively impacted by local taxation
· The top three areas small businesses need support are marketing, technology and business planning
“Revenue growth remains a top concern for small businesses,” said Dr. Alexander Krasnikov, assistant professor, Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business. “These businesses are increasingly self-reliant, looking to grow through investment in things like marketing and tech platforms, hiring part-time employees, and taking on more clients.”
Given the vital role small businesses play in creating jobs and anchoring communities, this study will be used to better understand the needs and expectations of local small businesses and entrepreneurs and help shape Chamber programs and policies to best suit the needs of small businesses in Chicagoland.
“Small businesses are the heart of Chicago’s neighborhood economy and we must continue providing them with resources they need to thrive,” said Kurt Summers, Treasurer of the City of Chicago. “I am pleased to see the results that highlight over 50 percent of small business owners surveyed are planning on expanding in Illinois in 2016. The Treasurer’s Office is committed to providing new and innovative ways to help small business owners access capital in order to grow and expand in Our Chicago.”
The 2016 Chicagoland Small Business Outlook Survey was conducted electronically in October and November of 2015, with 574 small businesses participating. Several partners contributed to the survey, including the Better Business Bureau, Constant Contact, Blue Daring the Office of the City Treasurer.
* As the Illinois Review rightly notes, this op-ed by former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar appears to be more about the never-mentioned Bruce Rauner than it is about Congressman Rodney Davis…
When faced with the choice to fund the government or face another government shutdown, he voted for progress. It was the responsible vote to cast. The economic losses from a government shutdown would have been astronomical. Continuing dysfunctional government in Washington is not governing and it is not leadership. Unfortunately, some in politics allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.
In my experience, you don’t always get everything you want. But it is important to keep making progress and stay focused on solving problems. Davis voted to lead, to govern and to make progress. He did the right thing.
Governing is challenging. Negotiating with divided branches is difficult and success comes slowly. When I was governor, for all but two years, we had a divided government and I often faced situations where I didn’t always get the reform I wanted. But even in divided government, we were able to work together to eliminate a massive backlog of state bill payments, build historic state budget surpluses and reduce the size of government.
We made progress together because we were disciplined, kept lines of communication open between the divided branches of government and recognized the need to compromise for the good of the people. […]
In this time of polarizing politics, our country needs to make progress. I appreciate true leaders who will make the tough decisions to strengthen America and tackle problems. And I count Rodney Davis as one of them.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has endorsed Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering over former U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider in the race for the Democratic nomination in the North Shore 10th Congressional District.
“Nancy combines fiscal responsibility with true progressive values,” Durbin said in a statement.
Rotering called Durbin a “role model” and “the epitome of a public servant for over 30 years.”
Durbin’s endorsement, while significant, also shows the split among the Democratic establishment over the race. While he backs Rotering, Schneider has the backing of top House Democratic leadership, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
* From the Durbin press release…
“Nancy brings to this race an extraordinary record for a first-time Congressional candidate. As Mayor of Highland Park she successfully confronted ComEd when local families were suffering from unreliable service, balanced the City budget five consecutive years and enacted real reforms,” stated Durbin. “Her most noteworthy achievement gained national attention when she passed one of the nation’s first local assault weapons ban and successfully defended the ordinance against an onslaught of gun lobby attacks all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. While the Republican-led Congress refused to respond to the nation’s gun violence, Nancy Rotering and her City of Highland Park showed real leadership. Nancy combines fiscal responsibility with true progressive values.“
* From the Pelosi release…
“Brad Schneider is a relentless defender of women’s rights and LGBT equality. His legislative vision is a direct reflection of his genuine passion for helping others. We need strong progressive voices like Brad’s in Congress. That’s why I’m proud to endorse his candidacy,” said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
“I am humbled to receive the endorsement of Leader Pelosi,” said Schneider. “I’m looking forward to returning to Congress to work with Leader Pelosi on the critical issues facing Americans.”
Campaign Manager Magen Ryan said, “Our campaign is in a better spot than ever less than 60 days from the election. This week Brad received the unanimous endorsement of the AFL-CIO following the recent endorsements of SEIU Illinois State Council, the Lake County Federation of Teachers, and many other unions throughout the Tenth District. The support of labor along with seven members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, including Tammy Duckworth, more than 60 other of Brad’s former colleagues in Congress, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Secretary of State Jesse White, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and more than 30 other local elected officials demonstrates the breadth and depth of the support of his candidacy.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Rotering is now airing her first TV ad of the primary. Click here.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From our pals at Comcast…
Nancy Rotering for Congress
Democratic Candidate for US Congress in IL CD 10
Agency: Dudley Media, Philadelphia
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1/19/16 - 2/8/16
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Dayparts: 5-9A, 9A-4P, 4P-7P, 7P-midnight, Sa-Su 11A-7P
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Total Buy: $122,892
[Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez] defended her record on police prosecutions. “Any officer who commits a crime should be held accountable,” Alvarez said to a smattering of boos. “I’ve been doing it, I will continue to do it and there’s no need for a special prosecutor.” Alvarez and More opposed special prosecutor appointment while Foxx welcomed it.
By her own admission, Chicago Police Officer Allyson Bogdalek was “untruthful” during a 2011 court hearing for Ranceallen Hankerson, who was charged with armed robbery and attempted murder in connection with a violent liquor store stick-up on the South Side a year earlier.
While under oath on the stand, Bogdalek told the courtroom she hadn’t shown the liquor store owner – who was shot in the leg during the 2010 robbery – a photo spread with Hankerson’s picture prior to his arrest.
In reality, she had shown the owner Hankerson’s photo, but the victim initially failed to identify Hankerson as the assailant – a critical piece of information for Hankerson’s defense, according to court records and interviews.
In 2012, following a series of court hearings but before Hankerson’s actual trial, Bogdalek came clean about what happened – after Hankerson’s defense attorney got a hold of Bogdalek’s squad-car video from the day Hankerson was arrested. The video captured a cell phone conversation between her and a supervisor in which she mentioned showing lineup photos to the liquor store owner shortly after the stick-up.
Hankerson’s criminal case was quickly dropped by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s office because of Bogdalek’s conduct, according to interviews and court records […]
But more than three years later, Bogdalek is still on the job, and it recently came to light that Alvarez ignored a recommendation from an underling to hit Bogdalek and her partner with perjury-related charges – raising further complaints that Alvarez too often looks the other way when it comes to alleged police misconduct, particularly within the Chicago Police Department.
The budget impasse in Illinois is beginning to depress enrollments at the state’s colleges and universities, as state money earmarked for low-income students remains tied up in a political stalemate that shows no signs of easing.
More than 1,000 students failed to return for the second semester as their schools stopped picking up the tab for the $373 million Monetary Award Program, said Randy Dunn, president of the Southern Illinois University system.
The program normally provides grants of up to nearly $5,000 to some 128,000 students with mean family incomes of about $30,000, said Lynne Baker, spokeswoman for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the program. But with no state budget in place since summer, the program’s funding has stopped. […]
The problem is poised to grow quickly as schools wait for their share of about $1 billion in state funding.
Disabled Illinois residents who depend on in-home help for daily needs will suffer once the state stops paying overtime for their caregivers beginning March 1, some home health care workers and their union say.
Tens of thousands of employees who help people with disabilities live independently are eligible for time-and-a-half pay over 40 hours in a week, under a federal rule that took effect Jan. 1. But without a state budget in place to control spending, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration says it can’t afford the extra pay.
A state Department of Human Services memo obtained by The Associated Press indicates the policy will allow 35 hours of work and five hours of travel.
The workers, who make about $13 an hour, and their supporters say that 30,000 clients who need assistance because of physical or developmental disabilities will receive less-efficient and less-effective care because most need more than 40 hours of weekly assistance. Families will have to find other aides to help, meaning disruption, and for some clients, discomfort with a new person.
A lot of folks have taken to calling Bruce Rauner “Governor 1 Percent” because of his immense personal wealth. Gov. Rauner himself told the Chicago Sun-Times during the 2014 campaign that he was in the top one-tenth of one percent of income earners.
But, right now, anyway, he ought to be referred to as “Governor 1.4 percent.”
Why? Stay with me a bit and I’ll explain.
I sat down for an interview last week with Gov. Rauner. As with just about every reporter, Rauner blamed House Speaker Michael Madigan for stifling his beloved Turnaround Agenda. The governor said he was “frustrated” with Madigan for saying that his anti-union, pro-business reforms were “unrelated to the budget.”
“For example,” Rauner said, “if we can get business regulatory change so I can recruit manufacturers here and more transportation companies here, and more businesses here, we can generate billions of new revenue without raising tax rates. That’s directly tied to the budget.”
“Billions?” I asked.
“Billions,” he replied, while promising to send me a detailed analysis.
A few days later, his staff e-mailed me a memo that the governor had sent to lawmakers last fall. You can see it yourself at CapitolFax.com/turnaround.
But the memo didn’t really say much of anything about revenues, other than if the governor could get Illinois to “average” levels of unemployment and Gross State Product and if the governor could stop the migration of Illinoisans to other states, his agenda would produce a grand total of $510 million in additional revenues.
That ain’t “billions.”
And while $510 million is nothing to sneeze at, it won’t even cover the interest on the state’s mountain of overdue bills that have been accruing because the state has no budget and no way to pay them.
Of course, the state has not had a budget since June and has no way to pay those overdue bills because the governor refuses to negotiate a new budget until he gets his Turnaround Agenda passed, which according to his own memo wouldn’t produce enough revenue to pay the juice on money owed to the state’s vendors — not to mention the universities which haven’t received any state funding, creating major crises at several of them, and all the other social service groups which make up our safety net being stiffed, forcing the state’s most vulnerable to go without.
And while $510 million seems like a lot of money, the governor’s projected revenue growth from his Turnaround Agenda would only be a 1.4 percent increase over the last state fiscal year.
Hence, “Gov. 1.4 percent.”
And would it even be that much? Rauner has said he would agree to higher state taxes if legislators agree to his Turnaround Agenda. But as a Republican legislative friend pointed out to me last week, that tax hike will reduce growth, even with all of Rauner’s agenda items.
“The point is that they can’t argue that these anti-labor changes will magically produce $510 million of economic growth/revenue and then discount the negative effect of a tax increase on economic growth,” he wrote me.
True.
OK, but maybe the governor was just a little confused and meant to include state governmental savings in that “billions” remark.
So, let’s go back to the memo.
The governor claims the state would save $1.75 billion by making his demanded changes to union collective bargaining laws. $750 million of that would come from cutting healthcare costs for state employees. The rest isn’t explained.
He also claims that workers’ comp reforms would save the state $65 million a year. So, we’re looking at about $1.8 billion in savings. That’s far more substantial, but so far he’s getting absolutely nowhere because he’s taken such a hardline stance against unions.
To be fair, Rauner’s memo also claims that local governments would save billions more with his reforms, but some of his numbers just don’t add up, like overstating the savings on allowing governments to opt out of prevailing wage requirements on nonfederal projects.
I’m not all opposed to doing some pro-business reforms. I think an easy case can be made that workers’ comp costs are far too high, for example.
But I spent part of an afternoon last week listening to an otherwise tough-minded woman cry helplessly on the phone about the literal implosion of the state’s social service safety net.
And one of the greatest charitable groups in the history of this state, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, is facing an existential crisis because the government owes it $6 million.
In my opinion, the payoff for continuing this governmental impasse is not worth the price being paid.
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through
Friday, Jan 15, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions exist as member owned cooperative financial institutions. Cooperatives are most often formed to support producers such as farmers, purchasers such as independent business owners, and consumers such as electric coops and credit unions. Their primary purpose is to meet members’ needs through affordable goods and services of high quality. Cooperatives such as credit unions may look like other businesses in their operations and, like other businesses, can range in size. However, the cooperative structure is distinctively different regardless of size.
As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, credit unions serve individuals with a common goal or interest. They are owned and democratically controlled by the people who use their services. Their board of directors consists of unpaid volunteers, elected by and from the membership. Members are owners who pool funds to help other members. After expenses and reserve requirements are met, net revenue is returned to members via lower loan and higher savings rates, lower costs and fees for services. It is the structure of credit unions, not their size or range of services that is the reason for their tax exempt status - and the reason why almost three million Illinois residents are now among 100 million Americans who count on their local credit union every day to reach their financial goals.
AFSCME REFUSES TO COMPROMISE DESPITE BETTER COMPENSATION THAN MOST TAXPAYERS
Study Shows State Workers Earn 40% More than Private Sector Workers
NAPERVILLE — Americans for Prosperity-Illinois highlighted a study released in June 2015 by its sister organization, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, showing the total annual compensation, including salary and benefits, for Illinois state government employees is 39.6% higher than the compensation earned by comparable private sector workers.
“AFSCME has shown itself to be wildly out of touch with the financial realities facing the taxpayers who fund their compensation packages, as well as the fiscal calamity facing the state,” said Americans for Prosperity Illinois State Director David From. “This 2015 study shows that taxpayers are being asked to fund compensation packages that they themselves are not able to obtain. Yet, AFSCME continues to demand in negotiations that taxpayers pay for continued raises and unaffordable health care plans for its members, while refusing commonsensical reforms like triggering overtime after 40 hours per week rather than 37.5 hours.”
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation study found that Illinois state government employees receive a benefits package that is on average, three times more generous than is received by private sector workers. In particular, Illinois state employees receive health coverage, retiree health plans, and pension benefits that are substantially more generous than are paid in the private sector. The average Illinois state government employee in the data sample receives an annual salary of $56,919. In addition, Illinois employees receive annual benefits, either received in that year or accrued toward retirement, worth $55,791. A comparable Illinois private sector employee receives a slightly higher salary of $61,017 but annual benefits of only $19,725. Total annual compensation for Illinois state government employees equals $112,710 versus $80,742 for comparable private sector workers, a difference of $31,968 or 39.6 percent. The study author, Andrew Biggs, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where he has written extensively on public employee compensation.
“Governor Rauner is right to stand up for the beleaguered Illinois taxpayers,” continued From. “AFSCME has continually pushed pay and pension packages that have contributed to the fiscal challenges facing the state. Rauner’s push for sensible changes and more modest pay increases are necessary and the right thing to do in the interest of taxpayers.”
“This latest inaction from the governor is just another step in his plan to make Illinois a right-to-work state. AFSCME has been able to negotiate contracts with governors for the past 30 years from each party in good faith. Just as with the budget, this governor is sidestepping negotiations and using the back door take employee benefits.
“Governor Rauner has said before that he wants chaos. What he fails to comprehend is the situation he’s creating means mothers and father can’t provide for their families, sick people go without health benefits and more people are steered to state-sponsored benefits instead of being able to provide for themselves. Now the governor’s hand-picked Labor Relations Board will decide whether or not the governor negotiated in good faith. I don’t think the people he appointed will decide against him. Looks corrupt if you ask me.”
Whew.
* Rep. Christian Mitchell…
“Today’s action by the governor is yet another example of him holding working families hostage to his far right political agenda. By walking away from the bargaining table, he continues to show an unwillingness to compromise.
“Public service workers – the people who help keep us safe, provide critical services for our most vulnerable, and respond to emergencies – deserve wages and working conditions that reflect the importance of the work they provide our state. They are often our neighbors, our friends or our family members. Today, Governor Rauner turned his back not just on our public service workers, but our entire state.
“I call on the governor to rejoin the bargaining table, negotiate in good faith, and find a solution that is fair to both our state employees and the citizens of Illinois.”
Despite an ongoing battle with the Chicago Teachers Union (which is backing his primary opponent to the hilt yet again), Rep. Mitchell has been endorsed by the Chicago Federation of Labor, Illinois AFL-CIO, AFSCME Council 31, SEIU Illinois State Council and others.
* Rep. Lou Lang…
“It is extremely disappointing that Governor Rauner has terminated negotiations with AFSCME. Apparently he wants to provoke a confrontation and disruption of state operations. That would mean the loss of vital services relied upon by millions of Illinois residents every day, as well as further instability in the state’s business climate.
“That is why I and other lawmakers sought to enact a fair process for contract resolution through neutral arbitration last fall. Maintaining public services is critical, and such a process needs to become law.”
* Rep. Rob Martwick…
“I am extremely disappointed that Gov. Rauner is using procedural maneuvers in an attempt to force a strike by state workers. This action contradicts his promise to negotiate in good faith. The state workers have negotiated in good faith, have recently offered compromise on wages, health insurance and other important issues. Most importantly the employees have been and continue to be willing to negotiate.
Today, we see Gov. Rauner’s true intentions. His rhetoric during his campaign for governor was about forcing a strike, and today it is clear that he’s been on this path all along. His agreements with other bargaining units cover a very small portion of state employees. Now, along with his failings as governor to propose a balanced budget and find solutions to our state’s financial problems, he is putting Illinois taxpayers at risk of losing access to vital government services, causing more suffering for decent, hard-working families.”
So far, I’ve received no press releases from any Republican legislators or from the two caucus leaders (or the Democratic leaders, for that matter). Keep an eye on this for updates, however.
…Adding… Rep. Kelly Cassidy…
This morning, Governor Rauner declared an impasse in negotiations with AFSCME, the union that represents over 38,000 child protection workers, nursing aides, correctional officers, human service workers and other state employees. Prior to this week, there was no indication negotiations would be broken off, and AFSCME has expressed their willingness to continue to bargain and work to find common ground.
Declaring an impasse creates chaos and is not the path to reaching a fair agreement. Negotiations are inherently difficult, but dedication to working through differences and achieving compromise is critically important.
Our state employees that help to keep us safe, respond to emergencies and care for our most vulnerable deserve more than bad faith negotiations and brutal cuts. Their work is vitally important, and putting in whatever effort it takes to reach a fair agreement is equally important.
I strongly urge all parties to recommit to sincere negotiation and work through the process to achieve compromise. While it is unclear what the result of an impasse could be, a strike or lockout would be devastating. Our social service system has already faced crushing difficulties under the budget impasse, causing many organizations to reduce services or shut their doors. This would further reduce critically important services for our most vulnerable citizens.
* Sen. Dave Koehler…
Having already shutdown the state budget process, Gov. Bruce Rauner is now walking away from labor talks with the state’s largest employee union.
On Friday, his office said there is an impasse in negotiations, even though labor groups claim they are willing to keep working toward a compromise.
“The Governor’s asking for an impasse to be declared by the labor board is disappointing. If this is a step to force a last and best offer on state workers, it will add even more chaos to state government,” said State Senate Dave Koehler (D-Peoria). “This is why I supported SB1229 – to engage both sides into interest arbitration as a way to settle the labor contract with AFSCME. Interest arbitration has been used successfully with police and firefighters in Illinois for many years, and would offer a reasonable way to end this dispute.”
Though the Rauner administration has contended it has reached settlements with all other unions representing state employees, in fact, no settlements have been reached with the six other unions representing more than 25,000 state employees, including state troopers and thousands of child and home health care providers.
“What we don’t need is to force state workers out on strike. The situation with not having a budget is bad enough. Let’s not make things worse,” said Koehler. “Compromise is hard work. I urge all involved to look for ways either through arbitration or mediation, to resolve the differences between the administration and the union.”
According to AFSCME, this past week, the union presented three separate proposals to the State, in which wages and health care were modified to better align with the administration’s framework, and an IDOC proposal was altered to create a joint labor-management committee to improve rehabilitative opportunities for inmates.
* Sen. Linda Holmes…
State Sen. Linda Holmes issued the following statement in response to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Unfair Labor Practices Act petition to the Labor Relations Board against the largest state employee union.
The move is the first step in the possible declaration of an impasse in negotiations, a move which could force employees to strike.
“Governor Rauner assured the state employees who protect children, provide care to veterans and the elderly, staff our prisons and maintain our infrastructure that he would not walk away from the bargaining table or provoke a strike,” said Holmes, D-Aurora. “We can see now that he does not intend to honor that promise.”
The governor’s office has reached settlements with unions representing about 5,000 state employees, but negotiations have continued with six unions representing more than 25,000 state employees, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31. Among employees still waiting for a settlement are nurses, state troopers and thousands of home health care and child care providers legally defined as state employees for purposes of collective bargaining.
“This is picking a fight at a time when both sides should be working to reach an agreement,” Holmes said. “AFSCME has shown a willingness to negotiate in good faith, and Governor Rauner should do the same.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Our first leader’s response in either party is from Jim Durkin…
“It is disappointing that after eleven months and 24 bargaining sessions there is no agreement on a new labor contract with AFSCME. Based upon the latest offer from AFSCME, it does not appear that they are sincere about negotiating with the administration and are not willing to make concessions regardless of the state’s ability to pay. I am stunned that AFSCME is still clinging to their 37.5 hour work week when 17 labor unions representing state employees agreed to a 40 hour week with the administration. Governor Rauner is correct in seeking a decision from the Illinois Labor Relations Board to determine whether there is an impasse. Governor Rauner has negotiated in good faith with AFSCME but at some point this must be brought to a conclusion for both taxpayers and state employees.”
“Governor Rauner has clearly demonstrated he can successfully negotiate labor contracts by compromising with unions. He has reached agreement with 17 labor unions which have been ratified by more than 80 percent of union members. He has also shown that he is a true advocate for taxpayers at the negotiation table — something AFSCME may not be accustomed to – but it’s the undisputed reality of our financial crisis.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Press release…
State Representative Ed Sullivan (R-Mundelein) has expressed his unhappiness at the news Gov. Bruce Rauner has been forced to ask the Labor Relations Board to weigh-in on contract negotiations between his administration and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Good faith negotiations agreed to in September appear to have stalled, causing the Governor to ask for the Labor Relations Board to rule on the matter of an impasse.
“It’s very unfortunate that the Governor has had to call on the Labor Relations Board to make a determination about an impasse with AFSCME,” said Sullivan. “Despite many claims to the contrary, Gov. Rauner has worked tirelessly to negotiate in good faith through 24 bargaining sessions and has already come to agreement with 17 other unions representing state employees. AFSCME doesn’t seem to understand that Illinois taxpayers are unable to handle the $3 billion in additional costs they are demanding.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle…
“It is my view that leaders of government and its employees should work together for the public good. In our state, this often means reaching a mutually agreeable resolution in contract negotiations with collective bargaining units of government employees.
“Declaring an impasse as a way to pressure public service workers is, in my view, short-sighted and does nothing to engender trust between parties.
“In Cook County, we negotiated and have reached agreements with almost 100 separate collective bargaining units. I would urge the Governor to rethink his position, return to the negotiating table and respect the collective bargaining process.”
* Matt Dietrich at Reboot writes about the governor’s promise of “long-term gain” in exchange for short-term pain as it relates to MAP Grants…
The prospect of “long-term gain” is meaningless to a college student who’ll miss the coming semester because he/she had a promised state grant snatched away. The very concept of long-term gain is a cruel hoax if the end result is a state with universities irreparably damaged by an extended state funding drought and thousands of young people who have given up hope on attending college.
The same applies if this is allowed to happen in the interest of protecting the standard of living of the middle class. Many MAP recipients need college aid because they aspire to get into the middle class.
Rauner on Jan. 27 will deliver his second State of the State Address. If the MAP situation stays as it is today, an awful lot of young adults in Illinois will be a week or so into what would have been their spring semester as Rauner speaks in Springfield.
For them and the thousands of other Illinoisans affected directly and immediately by the Illinois budget crisis, this is no abstract exercise in political theory.
* Mayor Emanuel held his annual Martin Luther King interfaith breakfast today. Things got weird…
Prior to Emanuel’s breakfast, three African-American pastors leading a boycott of the event from religious leaders attempted to hold a news conference at the main entrance of the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. Their bid to speak to the assembled cameras, however, was delayed by several minutes as a half-dozen angry protesters shouted obscenities at the ministers and claimed they had long been part of the city’s problems.
* Meanwhile…
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has decided not to show up at Mayor Rahm Emanuel's MLK interfaith breakfast.
* Yes, Democratic state’s attorney candidate Donna More actually said this to the county’s Democratic Central Committee yesterday…
“I’m not here today seeking your political endorsement,” More said in her remarks at party headquarters. “Politics has already done enough to damage our criminal justice system.”
Indignant snorts and half-stifled chuckles — but no audible applause — greeted More after she’d finished speaking.
Well, at least she got her name in the papers. But this is loser talk…
“I think it [not getting the endorsement] does help me, because I have been out there since the beginning of my campaign saying that we need an independent prosecutor, and Miss Foxx claims to be independent, but Toni Preckwinkle’s been doing her bidding since the beginning,” More said after the endorsement.
According to the party, Foxx got 85 percent of the vote.
A year after Gov. Bruce Rauner directed his administration to help local governments start putting their employee salary data on a state website, the information still hasn’t been posted.
A law directing the state to post the local information online was approved in 2012. A year ago Friday, Rauner issued an executive order aimed at getting things moving.
“It was never implemented. This is state law today,” Rauner said then. He blamed former Gov. Pat Quinn for not directing the state agency in charge of the website to get it done.
“No more,” Rauner said at the time. “We are going to get this done.”
Jason Gonzales is a 41-year-old consultant on a mission to beat House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was elected to the Illinois House before Gonzales was born.
Gonzales filed paperwork to run as a candidate in the March 15 Democratic primary in the 22nd District. Yes, Madigan’s district. He’s trying to beat Madigan in Madigan’s backyard.
He’s a consultant on a mission!
I’m betting that slogan ain’t gonna be on any bumper stickers.
And a friend just sent this screen cap of her browser as she attempted to access Gonzales’ campaign website at work…
* As we’ve already discussed, Senate President John Cullerton’s chief of staff Dave Gross and press secretary Rikeesha Phelon are leaving for the private sector.
* Our esteemed commenter “RNUG” (which stands for Retired Non Union Guy) takes a look at the governor’s latest move on AFSCME…
Reading the documents carefully is an interesting exercise.
Reading the list of concessions, I get a bit confused. While maintaining the status quo may not be a good thing, a lot of what they maintain are concessions are nothing more than agreeing to the status quo. I’ll admit there are a couple of items I would not have conceded. There are some others, from both sides, that just seem plain silly to me. And to the public who will read most of it as gobbly-gook, I’m sure all of it will seem crazy.
I did find the switching between 3rd person and 1st person a bit disorienting in some of the FAQs. That removes the appearance of objectivity that we expect in such answers.
Maintaining the $1000 bonus and 2% increase are the same thing is disingenuous. The amounts are different and will have different financial consequences. I understand they are trying to convey that, with both pensionable, there is a similar Fiscal impact on future salaries and budgets, but they phrased it poorly.
While trying to talk all around it, the State is, in fact, doubling the health insurance cost for the current coverage levels. They also mislead somewhat on the health insurance; if we stick with ACA terms, it would probably be more accurate to call it a gold plan instead of platinum.
From what I can see here, I’m guessing the health insurance is the major sticking point. If I was AFSCME, I would agree to the wage freeze in exchange for status quo or a slight percentage increase in the health insurance. IMO, minimizing the health insurance increases has more impact on the employees than gaining raises.
…Adding… Our “Rookie of the Year” commenter “Honeybear” offers some thoughts…
I just want to ask if posters could be respectful as we go into this labor unrest. This is going to be a horrifying time for a lot of families of public servants, mine included. Most of the folks I work with here live paycheck to paycheck, not because of financial irresponsibility but because life is more expensive. No one I work with drives a luxury car, has a large home, etc. The folks I work with are just solidly middle class working folks. The lucky ones have a spouse that works in the private sector. The ones that are really going to hurt are the younger single workers who are just starting out. God bless them, every one has said they won’t cross the picket. I ask that posters be respectful during this time. It’s horrific to face financial ruin. Please remember that you’re talking about fellow Illinoisans. I had sincerely hoped we wouldn’t be here.
AFSCME and the public-service workers we represent have worked hard to reach a fair agreement with the Rauner Administration, and we’re prepared to continue to do so. We reject the claim that the bargaining process is at an impasse.
It’s regrettable and damaging to the public interest that the governor has chosen a confrontational path. Just as Gov. Rauner is holding the state budget hostage, his “my way or no way” demands of state employees are the obstacle to a fair agreement. Rauner’s demands would force workers and their families pay double to keep their health care—making the Illinois state health plan the nation’s worst for any state workforce—while getting zero wage increase for four years. Instead of fairly compensating all workers, he wants to base bonuses on unknown criteria open to political favoritism. And the governor wants to wipe out protections against irresponsible privatization of public services. These are just some of more than 200 extreme demands the administration has made during this process.
Although we have serious disagreements with the governor’s positions, we reject the administration’s charge that we have not been “seriously negotiating.” The members of AFSCME’s rank-and-file elected bargaining committee have consistently responded to the administration’s demands with fair counterproposals. We’re committed to continuing to do so, and we don’t want disruption of the public services we provide. That’s why last summer we supported the option of both sides going before an independent arbitrator if our differences couldn’t be resolved by bargaining.
Unfortunately, the administration’s ongoing campaign of false claims about these negotiations makes compromise that much harder to achieve. Among their many misleading statements, the administration has never offered AFSCME the same terms as other unions. Some unions received vastly better terms on health insurance than those offered to AFSCME. Many others did not agree to a four-year pay freeze. We know of none who agreed to change hours of work or reduce overtime or holiday pay for employees who go above and beyond to serve. In any event, no union can be forced to accept the terms of other unions that have different circumstances and concerns.
The administration claims to want innovation, yet it has rejected our union’s proposals to work together to improve inmate rehabilitation programs in state prisons, rejected our proposals to ensure nondiscrimination in the hiring of women and minorities, and rejected our proposals for labor-management collaboration to improve public services.
Governor Rauner is wrong to walk away and try to end negotiations. Public-service workers who keep us safe, protect kids, respond to emergencies and care for the most vulnerable want to keep serving their communities, and they want to do their part to reach a fair agreement, but we can’t do it alone.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the IFT…
100,000 IFT workers stand with AFSCME
WESTMONT, IL – In response to Governor Rauner’s move to declare impasse in negotiations with workers represented by AFSCME, Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) President Dan Montgomery issued the following statement:
“Governor Rauner’s actions today prove once again that his priority is forced conflict, not progress. The 100,000 workers of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, some of whom are also state employees, are proud to stand with AFSCME as we face a deceptive and irresponsible Governor willing to use middle-class families, the most vulnerable, and our students as a wager in his fanatical game. Make no mistake: this isn’t in service of financial savings for the state. This is an ideological obsession unfit for a state leader forcing chaos to enact a reckless and unpopular agenda. Our members go to work each day trying to help others, trying to resolve conflict, trying to educate our children. Governor Rauner could learn a thing or two from them.”
In addition to teachers, school staff, and higher education faculty at community colleges and universities throughout Illinois, the IFT includes thousands of public employees under dozens of agencies and statewide officeholders.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Cinda Klickna, President of the Illinois Education Association…
“The 130,000 members of the Illinois Education Association support the members of AFSCME as they try to negotiate a fair contract with a governor who seeks confrontation instead of compromise.
Rather than negotiate a fair contract, Governor Rauner seems focused on picking fights with the hard-working men and women who provide services to the people of Illinois.
It is shameful that, as he enters his second year as the state’s top constitutional officer, Gov. Rauner remains either unwilling or unable to govern. The people who elected him deserve much better service than they have received from Gov. Rauner.
We urge Gov. Rauner to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair contract with the public service workers who keep us safe, protect kids, respond to emergencies and care for Illinois’ most vulnerable. It is what he was elected to do.”
After AFSCME Rejections, Administration Appeals to Labor Board
Labor Board to Determine if Parties at Impasse
SPRINGFIELD – Last week, AFSCME refused to seriously negotiate for the 24th bargaining session in a row on any of the core contract proposals presented by the Rauner Administration.
At the bargaining table, AFSCME made clear that they are unwilling to negotiate any contract similar to the ones agreed to by 17 other labor unions, which in many instances, were ratified by more than 80 percent of union members.
In the press, AFSCME described small changes to their proposal as “a big new offer.” The “big new offer” would end up costing the State billions over the next four years.
In response to AFSCME’s refusal to seriously negotiate, and in accordance with the tolling agreement, the Rauner Administration is now asking the Labor Board to determine whether or not the parties are at an impasse.
“While we have reached innovative and fair contracts with most unions and seen those contracts approved overwhelmingly by union members, AFSCME leadership unfortunately refuses to budge or offer reasonable proposals. We want to reach an agreement with AFSCME members, but their leaders have proven unwilling,” Governor Bruce Rauner said. “Instead of acting reasonable like the state’s other union leaders, AFSCME bosses have said no to merit bonuses, they’ve said no to programs to help minority employees, and they’ve said a 40-hour work week is too long. At a time of unprecedented fiscal crisis, AFSCME is pushing insurance and wage demands that would cost taxpayers more than $3 billion. As a result, we are asking the Labor Board to determine the next steps in the negotiating process.”
AFSCME vehemently rejected the Administration’s proposal to implement merit pay programs similar to ones welcomed by the 5 Teamsters and 12 other Trade Union bargaining units.
AFSCME vehemently rejected the Administration’s proposal that would maintain a 37.5-hour work week, but have overtime rate wages kick in only after completing a 40-hour work week. AFSCME rejected this offer despite the fact it is more generous than the 40-hour work week the Teamsters and Trade Unions ratified. Instead, AFSCME wants to only work 37.5 hours per week and immediately get paid overtime wages for any minute worked over 37.5 hours. They are also demanding double pay for regular holidays and even 2.5x pay for some “super holidays.”
AFSCME vehemently rejected the Administration’s proposal to make it easier to promote minority employees. Other unions welcomed efforts to promote minority employees.
AFSCME vehemently rejected a health insurance proposal that closely mirrors insurance proposals agreed to by the Trade Unions. Instead, AFSCME is demanding insurance that is considered platinum-plus under the Affordable Care Act. They are also demanding taxpayers subsidize over 80% of the cost of these platinum level plans, which is asking to pay silver-level premiums for a platinum-plus plan. Additionally, while the Teamsters agreed to maintain their current wages for the next four years, AFSCME is demanding wage increases that would cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion over the next four years. These demands come after many union members have already seen their salaries double since 2004. Illinois employees are now the third-highest paid in the nation – behind California and New Jersey - and the highest after adjusting for the higher cost of living in those states. Altogether, AFSCME’s wage and insurance demands would cost taxpayers over $3 billion.
Under the signed tolling agreement, the Labor Board must now determine whether the Administration and AFSCME are at impasse. During this time, the parties must adhere to all statutory obligations regarding good faith negotiations while the Labor Board is deciding the case. Quoting from the tolling agreement, this specifically means there can be no “strike, work stoppage, work slowdown, or lockout” until the Labor Board has determined that the parties are at an impasse. The Governor will comply with these and all other obligations regarding good faith negotiations.
We would love to continue negotiating if it meant we could reach a deal with AFSCME. AFSCME’s actions at the bargaining table and their comments over the last week are strong evidence why further negotiation is no longer worthwhile. While the Governor has indicated he now shares the views of his bargaining team that the parties are at an impasse, today’s action simply asks the Labor Board to resolve this dispute.
More from the FAQ…
The tolling agreement that the Governor and AFSCME signed and renewed several times prohibits either side from declaring impasse unilaterally. Today’s action does two things. First, it asks the Labor Board to determine that AFSCME has committed an unfair labor practice by bargaining in bad faith. Second, under the tolling agreement, the parties can ask the Labor Board to decide if they are at impasse, but only the Labor Board can make a final determination. All that the Governor did this morning is to ask the Labor Board to determine if AFSCME has been bargaining in bad faith and whether the parties are at an impasse. Since the parties disagree about whether they are at an impasse, the only tribunal that can answer this question is the Labor Board. […]
During the debate over SB 1229, the Governor committed to continue to negotiate in good faith, and he has kept that commitment. At the Governor’s initiative, the parties extended indefinitely the tolling agreement that was initially set to expire September 30, 2015. That agreement requires both parties to negotiate in good faith. AFSCME has not been bargaining in good faith. […]
The Board will now determine whether the Governor’s filing properly before it and, if so, whether an evidentiary hearing should be scheduled. If a hearing is scheduled, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) assigned to this matter will conduct the hearing and, after its conclusion, receive the parties’ written submissions. After the ALJ has ruled on these issues, either party can appeal to the Board. The Board will then issue the final decision. […]
Under the terms of the tolling agreement, it is the Labor Board’s right to decide if the parties are at impasse, whether the State has presented its best and final offer, and when it can be implemented. The Governor will accept the Board’s direction on these questions. It is critical to mention that the last offer made by the State to AFSCME is virtually identical to the agreements signed by 17 other unions. These agreements were ratified in many cases by over 80% of state employees in those unions. This is not a radical or extreme contract as AFSCME has portrayed, but one that is fair, reasonable, and overwhelming accepted by large portions of state government already. It is also reasonable when compared to our neighbors: under the State’s proposal, state workers would continue to make over $20,000 more per year, on average, than their peers in Indiana and Missouri.
* Progress Illinois interviewed former Gov. Pat Quinn this week…
Asked whether he has any plans to run in the next Illinois gubernatorial election, Quinn said he’s currently interested in grassroots organizing.
“I’m not too interested in candidacy campaigns and [all] that. I’m interested in petitions and referendums. That’s what I got started on when I started in Illinois politics 40 years ago. We did the petition drive that set up the Citizens Utility Board. So I’d like to do a referendum in Illinois this year, at least in the Chicago area. That gives people a chance to open up the government to more citizen participation.”
“There’s a lot of work to be done. This is the year to get it done,” he added. “We can’t let someone who stands in the way of progress, Bruce Rauner, stop the people of Illinois from getting progressive, fair government. And I want to say to the 130,000 students who are looking for their scholarship that they were promised, but it’s being denied by the governor, that we’re not gonna take that sitting down. We’ve gotta organize.”
So, he’s interested in running a petition drive, not in running for governor, then in the next breath blasts Rauner and brings up MAP Grants - always one of his pet programs.
* Until a year ago, Tyrell, 62, was the COO of Rahm Emanuel’s public school system…
Governor Bruce Rauner today announced today the Central Management Services Director Tom Tyrrell will be transitioning out of state government.
Governor Rauner has designated Mike Hoffman as the Acting Director of CMS. Hoffman is the current Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).
On Broad Street, a steady stream of people are swinging into a coffee shop serving lattes and elaborate scones. They can sip their drinks while hitting up the record store and eyeing instruments at a shop where Wilco buys gear. Or they can walk up the street for a haircut from a celebrity stylist, turn onto Main Street to grab a beer at one of the three craft breweries in town, then tuck into a chickenless chicken salad sandwich at the local vegan-friendly cafe.
Only a taxidermy parlor with a moose on its roof makes it plain that this isn’t Wicker Park but a small northwest Indiana town, population 16,500, just south of Gary, 35 miles from the Loop.
Griffith, with its suddenly cool six-block downtown, has a story that starts with the familiar Rust Belt tropes—a rail town hit hard by the rise of trucking in the ’70s, then hit again as area steel mills declined. Without jobs to keep young families in town, Griffith shuttered one of its four elementary schools—the one anchoring its downtown—in 2011. But then the story changed.
A $2 million shot in the arm and a $600,000 facade program triggered a reinvention straight out of a city planner’s dreams. Today, Griffith’s downtown is filled with young entrepreneurs building the kind of independent businesses that attract 20- and 30-somethings. In 2007, the vacancy rate downtown stood at 60 percent. Now it hovers around 7 percent.
Good on both Griffith and Indiana.
We don’t have to exactly copy this example, and it obviously can’t work everywhere because there are only so many hipsters to go around and only so many forgotten places that close to the Loop.
But we need more innovative thinking like this in Illinois. Everywhere in Illinois, including in the governor’s office. Enough with the anti-union stuff. Move the state forward.
* Gov. Bruce Rauner’s work on criminal justice reform has been highly commendable and even historic. He attended his criminal justice commission’s meeting yesterday…
Commissioners are still working to reach Rauner’s goal of reducing Illinois’ inmate population by 12,000 men and women over the next decade. They have delivered their first set of recommendations, and Rauner told commissioners he was excited about the report, calling it “excellent.”
“What I can guarantee you: I will work tirelessly to make sure this isn’t just something that just gathers dust,” he said. “I’m going to implement this.”
Rauner is the first sitting Illinois governor to have visited state prisons in years. He said they’re harsh, hostile places — but they don’t have to be that way. […]
Rauner said “everyone makes mistakes” and “everyone deserves a second chance.”
The group suggests more training for officers at every level, especially when dealing with race.
The Governor applauds that suggestion.
“I don’t think there’s any question that there’s bias in the system. I mean, the system is built by human beings and human beings have biases. We all do and some of them are more harmful than others and we’ve got to be honest about it and it’s really hard to be honest about it. This is a tough set of issues, but to serve the people of Illinois well we have to talk about it and not be afraid to talk about it,” said Gov. Rauner.
* But I wish he’d put as much thought into other vitally important issues as he obviously has on this one...
“I think everyone’s big concern is, as we do this, some of these things are going to require resources, and resources means money, and I think that’s just a point of anxiety,” said Brendan Kelley, St. Clair County state’s attorney.” […]
“There’s no question that sometimes to save money in the long run requires spending more money in the short run, and in Illinois, we haven’t been doing that for years,” Rauner said. “We’ve always taken the short-run decision, what cuts costs now and not what saves significant resources over a longer term. We’ve got to change that mindset.”
The governor added that the goal is to move the corrections system away from simply housing offenders and keeping them away from the public, and to focus on effective rehabilitation, such as substance abuse training, mental health treatment and counseling to ensure those offenders don’t make the same mistakes again.
“If we can implement (the commission’s) recommendations, I firmly believe that we can have the people of Illinois safer,” Rauner said. “I believe we can save taxpayer money, and most importantly, I believe we can help those who made mistakes lead productive lives and come back as productive, full citizens who are enhancing the quality of life for everyone in all of our communities around Illinois.”
* A Lutheran Social Services of Illinois internal memo…
January 14, 2016
Dear LSSI Staff Member,
Recently we asked you to contact your state legislators and Gov. Rauner to urge them to pass a state budget. Thank you for your continued advocacy on LSSI’s behalf.
This January, Illinois entered its 7th month without a state budget. No one anticipated a budget impasse of this length. LSSI is in the challenging position of responding to the deadlock’s impact on our ability to continue providing services to those in need. At this time, the state owes us more than $6 million for services delivered.
Over the past months, LSSI has been using a bank line of credit and available resources from our Cornerstone Foundation. As we worked with the state regarding nonpayment for services provided, LSSI leadership began exploring options to restructure our programs and contain costs. As we finalize plans for a restructured organization, we will keep you informed in the coming weeks of the changes this will bring. I can assure you we have taken these steps with careful deliberation and prayerful consideration.
We urge you to contact your legislators and the governor’s office to let them know how critical it is for them to pass a state budget.
During these challenging times, we are grateful for your continued prayers and support of our mission.
In Faith,
Mark A. Stutrud
President and CEO
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of this group, which serves 97,000 people across the state. It cannot be allowed to whither on the vine.
Click here for information on LSSI’s good works. Click here to donate your money or your time. Thanks.
