Repeals the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Amends various Acts to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
There are no co-sponsors on this bill which has about zero chance of passage, but, wow is there ever a press release…
STATEMENT FROM TANJA MURRAY, VOLUNTEER CHAPTER LEADER WITH THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“It’s baffling and shameful that some of our representatives apparently want to get rid of a common-sense law that makes it harder for dangerous people to get guns. At a time when our state’s largest city is reeling from a gun violence crisis – a crisis made worse by guns brought in from states without background check requirements – this proposal would only make it easier for criminals to get guns right here in Illinois.
To reduce the gun violence affecting communities across Illinois and across the country, we need more states, not fewer, to require background checks for all gun sales. I urge our representatives to reject this proposal and make clear that Illinois will not let the gun lobby roll back lifesaving gun laws.”
“Some” would be “one,” at least, so far.
But, hey, ever vigilant. I get it.
* And speaking of gun bills, this is from the NRA…
On Wednesday, January 25, the Senate Criminal Law Committee is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 50. Sponsored by state Senator William Haine, Senate Bill 50 continues the fight for important pro-gun safety reform for hearing protection rights. NRA Members and Second Amendment supporters are encouraged to sign a witness slip to go on record in support of Senate Bill 50. Please also contact your state Senator immediately and urge them to support SB 50.
Suppressors provide numerous benefits to the hunters and sportsmen who choose to use them. Most importantly, suppressors can decrease muzzle report to hearing-safe levels and reduce shooters’ risk of hearing damage, which can occur when discharging a firearm without proper hearing protection. Additionally, suppressors help increase accuracy by reducing felt recoil and shot “flinch.” Beginners to shooting sports adhere to a quicker learning curve on average because the muffled sound equates to increased focus and concentration on proper shooting mechanics. Furthermore, suppressors help reduce noise complaints from neighbors, which are frequently used as an excuse to close hunting lands throughout the country
Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Provides the annual training of police chiefs must include at least one course on the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, and firearms investigations. Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Permits the State Police to notify the FBI if a person on the Terrorist Watchlist applies for a FOID card. Requires the State Police to provide notice and reason for the disqualification of a firearm purchase or a FOID card revocation to all law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction to assist with the seizure of the person’s FOID card. Adds as grounds to deny an application for or to revoke or seize the person’s FOID card that the person is charged with making a terrorist threat or soliciting or providing material support for terrorism. Makes other changes. Amends the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. Provides that a person may not carry a concealed handgun equipped with a silencer. Amends the Wildlife Code. Removes the prohibition on using a silencer to mute the sound resulting from firing a gun. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that the offense of unlawful use of weapons includes knowingly: using, or possessing with the intent to use, a silencer on a handgun, except at a shooting range; or possessing any silencer for firearms, other than handguns, not in compliance with the National Firearms Act. Provides that the offense of unlawful sale or delivery of firearms includes knowingly transferring a silencer to a person not authorized to possess the silencer under federal law. Effective immediately.
* In anticipation of the strike authorization vote starting January 30th, I asked AFSCME’s Anders Lindall a couple of quick questions about what to expect. Here are my questions with his answers…
* What are your strike vote authorization rules?
The strike authorization vote is an internal process determined by the union bargaining committee. All members who would be eligible to strike are eligible to vote.
We want every member to make their voice heard by voting.
* Do you need a percentage of members voting (ie a majority of those who show up to a meeting to vote) or a total percentage of all membership? And is it 50 percent plus one to authorize?”
A vote of more than 50 percent of those voting would grant the bargaining committee the authorization to call a strike if necessary.
But as we have repeatedly made clear, a vote to authorize a strike would not necessarily mean there will be a strike. The committee will continue to do everything in its power to bring the governor back to the bargaining table in good faith, and to avoid a strike.
* The New York Times reports on various gubernatorial reactions to a reported Trump administration plan to block-grant the Medicaid program…
Governors like the idea of having more control over Medicaid, but fear that block grants may be used as a vehicle for federal budget cuts.
“We are very concerned that a shift to block grants or per capita caps for Medicaid would remove flexibility from states as the result of reduced federal funding,” Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, a Republican, said this month in a letter to congressional leaders. “States would most likely make decisions based mainly on fiscal reasons rather than the health care needs of vulnerable populations.”
Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama, a Republican, said that if a block grant reduced federal funds for the program, “states should be given the ability to reduce Medicaid benefits or enrollment, to impose premiums” or other cost-sharing requirements on beneficiaries, and to reduce Medicaid spending in other ways.
In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said he was troubled by the prospect of a block grant with deep cuts in federal funds. “Under such a scenario,” he said, “flexibility would really mean flexibility to cut critical services for our most vulnerable populations, including poor children, people with disabilities and seniors in need of nursing home and home-based care.”
Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, said that block grant proposals could shift costs to states and “force us to make impossible choices in our Medicaid program.”
Will House Democrats Bow to Mike Madigan Again This Week?
Decision to Enact Madigan’s Rules Expected This Week; Would Give Madigan “Total Control”
“House Democrats voted less than two weeks ago to give Mike Madigan an unprecedented 17th term as Speaker. This week House Democrats must decide whether they will give Madigan even more power by adopting Madigan’s Rules, which would give him total control of the legislative agenda of the General Assembly.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
Background:
After the inauguration of a new General Assembly every two years, members of the Illinois House of Representatives adopt the little-known rules package that governs how their legislative body hears, debates, and votes on pending legislation.
For decades, House Speaker Mike Madigan has used the Rules of the House of Representatives to control the legislative agenda of the General Assembly according to his personal whims and political strategy. Speaker Madigan rules the Illinois House of Representatives and determines what legislation lives and dies.
“The way our House rules operate, I think they are more restrictive than any other legislature in the country and create a lot of control in the speaker.” – State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, October 2013
The House based its rules on the Senate’s rules back when the Republicans had control of both chambers. The Senate’s rules are still pretty close to the House’s rules, yet nary a peep about that chamber.
* Even so, I’ve been railing against these rules since Pate Philip first unveiled them. They’re undemocratic and they should be changed.
Committee chairmen and minority spokespersons should be elected by their caucuses, not appointed by the leaders. Committee staff should report to and be hired by chairmen/spokesmen and not the leaders.
I’d hesitate to bring back floor amendments, which long ago could be filed on bills without first having to clear the Rules Committee as long as they were related to the underlying subject matter. Back in the old days, Madigan would simply refuse to move any legislation at all to the floor that could be amended with hostile language to his favored constituencies (like trial lawyers). And the House Republicans tried one year to essentially shut down the chamber’s operations by filing a couple of hundred floor amendments to a bunch of bills on the floor. The old rules required taking action on all those amendments before the underlying bills could be advanced.
Also back in the day, the House Rules Committee only really met to enforce a chamber rule that limited legislation in even-numbered years to appropriations bills and “emergency” (I think that was the term) legislation. The Rules Committee decided what could be considered an emergency under the rules during election years (a very handy power). Now, Rules controls everything all the time. It should be reined in.
* Anyway, that’s a few points for starters. Y’all have any other ideas?
[The Senate’s grand bargain] plan isn’t perfect, but no compromise ever is. The governor’s budget office says their plan isn’t balanced, so more work definitely needs to be done.
In public, the governor has been doing his best not to derail the Senate’s proposal, but nobody really knows what he’s doing behind the scenes. Madigan hasn’t said much of anything, but nobody expects him to just accept something from the Senate and gleefully put it on Rauner’s desk.
To my mind, the key to getting something done right now is in the hands of House Republicans. They were, after all, the caucus that asked the governor’s budget office to analyze the Senate’s appropriations plan. Rauner’s budget folks projected a $2.3 billion deficit for next fiscal year.
Did Rauner or his people “suggest” this request? My guess is yes, but House Republicans need to make darned sure that Rauner doesn’t somehow kill this thing off. Work with—and not for—the governor to help figure out how to fix and pass the Senate’s plan.
An agreement would mean Madigan will be outnumbered and surrounded—the position he has worked so hard to avoid for two solid years. Right now, he can credibly point to Rauner’s intransigence while the Republicans point at him, and he can do this for as long as he wants.
But an agreement means that Madigan will either have to finally lay all his own cards on the table or take all the heat for the ongoing destruction.
Don’t screw this up. We simply can’t go through another two years of this.
* I told subscribers a bit about this poll earlier today…
The Illinois Democratic County Chairman’s Association announced that from Monday January 23rd to midnight on Sunday January 29th, it will conduct an online straw poll of its members and Democrats who join the organization via online submission to measure their preference for whom Democrats in Illinois should nominate for Governor.
The straw poll results, once tabulated, will be released to the public the following day on IDCCA’s website and social media channels. The straw poll will run from 10:30am on Monday January 23rd until midnight on January 29th.
“After two years of disastrous management under Governor Rauner and with the impending presidency of Donald Trump, Democrats must offer a positive vision to voters and draw their attention to the numerous well-qualified and exciting candidates who can lead Illinois into a better future,” said IDCCA President and Chairman of the Rock Island County Democrats Doug House.
The straw poll will be the first of its kind in Illinois to express the preference of activists, elected party leaders, and volunteers in all of Illinois’ 102 counties. IDCCA intends to conduct several more polls to continue drawing attention to the Democratic primary race for Governor.
The candidates included in the first straw poll are (in alphabetical order):
• State Senator Daniel Biss
• Congresswoman Cheri Bustos
• Congresswoman Robin Kelly
• Chris Kennedy
• State Senator Andy Manar
• Alderman Ameya Pawar
• J.B. Pritzker
• State Senator Kwame Raoul
• City Treasurer Kurt Summers
“Since November, there has been tremendous energy and desire among the people to find a way to fight back. IDCCA and its members across Illinois are prepared to play a leadership role in harnessing this enthusiasm and preparing it for our eventual nominee,” said House.
The straw poll will be monitored by staff to prevent duplicate or fraudulent voting. Submission of an identifiable and valid email address and an Illinois zip code are the only requirements for membership in IDCCA and for the vote to be counted. This straw poll is not scientific and should not be construed as an accurate measurement of public opinion among Democratic primary voters.
If you vote, let us know which way you went and why.
…Adding… The link has now been fixed. Click here. [I had to fix the link again. Sorry about that! The second time was on me. Oops!]
* The Illinois Policy Institute continues to focus on Senate Republicans in order to kill off the chamber’s “grand bargain.” Here’s its latest…
Americans for Tax Reform, a taxpayer advocacy group, maintains an active pledge for lawmakers across the country to sign. The pledge states that the signer will agree to not vote for or support any new taxes or tax hikes. The pledge has proved popular among candidates and officeholders across federal, state and local levels of government with signatures from over 1,400 elected officials.
The following Illinois state senators have also signed the pledge:
Tim Bivins, R-Dixon
Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon
Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove
Dave Syverson, R-Rockford
Bill Brady, R-Bloomington
Sue Rezin, R-Morris
The state senators who signed this pledge should remember they were not making a promise to Americans for Tax Reform, but rather to Illinois taxpayers. Illinois already has one of the largest combined tax burdens in the country, and the last thing middle-and working-class Illinoisans need at this point is yet another tax hike.
Meh.
It was a campaign pledge, and campaign pledges should be broken when the very future of the state is at issue.
And, really, the only pledge that matters now is the pledge that all lawmakers make when they’re sworn in: To uphold the state Constitution. And that Constitution requires a balanced budget.
So, unless these geniuses can come up with a plan to close a $6 billion budget hole without raising any taxes whatsoever, that pledge to Grover Norquist means nothing.
* Meanwhile, here’s its latest Facebook ad, which appears to be targeting Leader Radogno’s own district…
Parts of a potential budget agreement in Springfield include a number of pro-business incentives, but business advocates say they’re no consolation for massive tax hikes.
A series of bills waiting to be voted on in the Illinois Senate are being promoted by leadership as the grand compromise that will break Illinois’ two-year long budget stalemate between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. The proposed plan rakes in billions by raising the state’s income tax to almost five percent along with other taxes. They also included a two-year property tax freeze and minor reforms to pensions and workers compensation laws in an effort to court business support.
But Technology and Manufacturers Association of Illinois President and former state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger says token reforms are no justification for a massive tax increase. “An increase in revenue is not a good deal for minor changes to the workers’ compensation program,” he said.
*** UPDATE *** Hilarious…
According to Capitol “Fax” Illinois Senators should vote against the “grand bargain” because it’s out of balance by billions #twillpic.twitter.com/S8v6RKQR7T
In a perhaps unprecedented move, Senate President John Cullerton and Republican Leader Christine Radogno will present to their members a proposal that’s like a Jenga game — remove one cube and the whole thing collapses. […]
Without analyzing each Jenga cube, we’re on board with the idea of nudging the fragile tower forward. We agree with Radogno’s description of this proposal — at this point in Springfield, it’s this something vs. everyone else’s nothing. Waiting for a more critical development, a more perfect policy package, a less painful strategy, hotter pressure from bond markets or constituents, would only continue the status quo.
Is a “do something” strategy the ideal way to proceed? Not even close. There are 100 reasons senators could collapse the Jenga tower. Perhaps most difficult to swallow will be the proposed tax hikes, which include an increase in the personal income tax from 3.75 to roughly 5 percent, along with a new state tax on sweetened beverages. Those proposals could change; the tax hike bill, along with many of the others, is not the final product. […]
But we agree with Radogno that at this point, given this sorry state, what she and Cullerton are doing is something vs. nothing. If passed in the Senate, it will put pressure on Madigan’s House and on Gov. Bruce Rauner to react.
The most interesting part of that editorial was in its description of our current environment as the “status quo.” The Trib has formerly relegated that phrase to the decades before Gov. Rauner was elected. So, is that an admission that we’re now in a whole other realm? We’ll see.
The editorial also concluded with the admonition that it was waiting to see all the bills before issuing its final opinion. So, things could change.
As to the grand deal itself, we can say this: We appreciate the political courage Cullerton and Radogno are displaying in putting the state’s interests above their own, risking the political fallout from special interests and partisans.
We are not ready, at least not yet, to sign onto the entire proposed 13-point proposal that would include a significant increase in the state income tax and an expansion of legalized gambling. We do, however, agree without reservation with many aspects of the plan — a property tax freeze, the leadership term limits, workers’ compensation reform.
And it is clear that Illinois is not going to solve its significant problems and rebuild its reputation, is not going to stop the exodus of families and businesses fleeing the state, unless our two parties work seriously together in a spirit of cooperation and compromise.
No matter anyone’s positions on the proposed grand deal, the two Senate leaders deserve everyone’s thanks for their willingness to put themselves on the line.
We’ve got to hand it to Senate leaders; they don’t discriminate. Their proposal is equally bad for middle class wage earners and business owners.
“The Senate budget proposal is an absolute disaster,” Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, said. “Raising the income tax rate by 32 percent, or even up to 40 percent, would crush taxpayers.
“We need to cut spending, not raises taxes. This would be the final nail in the coffin of the state of Illinois. … We lost 115,000 people [to outmigration] last year. This will drive even more people out of the state. …”
We urge state senators, including Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, and Sen. Karen McConnaughay, R-St. Charles, to reject this plan.
One way to cut costs without further reducing worker benefits would be to give the Illinois Department of Insurance the authority to ensure workers’ comp insurance companies aren’t getting excessive profits. That’s a safeguard that already exists in many other states.
Setting workers’ comp benefits at a reasonable level can help Illinois’ economic competitiveness. But Illinois shouldn’t expect to have lower workers’ comp costs than its neighbors. Part of the formula for calculating workers’ comp premiums is the total amount of employer payrolls. Because Illinois has higher average incomes than adjoining states, it can’t expect its workers’ comp rates to be lower.
Cullerton and Radogno are pushing for a bipartisan solution to a political impasse that has forced Illinois to stagger along without an annual budget for more than a year and a half. We support that effort. We also trust they can get the job done while preserving a fair workers’ comp system.
* Related…
* Phil Kadner: Small ray of hope for fairer school funding in Illinois
State Rep. Scott Drury, the lone House Democrat that didn’t vote for House Speaker Michael Madigan earlier this month, reported a $2,000 contribution from Blair Hull, a businessman and 2004 primary candidate for U.S. Senate.
Not mentioned is that Hull was a top backer of Speaker Madigan’s Democratic primary opponent last year. So, the contribution to Drury makes more sense in that context.
As J.B. Pritzker explores a 2018 bid for governor, he has tapped an array of advisers that includes influential Democratic donor Michael Sacks, POLITICO has learned.
Sacks, GCM Grosvenor CEO and a top personal adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, called Pritzker “extraordinary” and offered his backing should Pritzker ultimately file campaign papers.
Sacks was the lead donor to the anti-Gov. Bruce Rauner political action committee, LIFT — Leading Illinois for Tomorrow — in last November’s legislative battles, and has long financially backed Emanuel’s campaigns and funded Democratic efforts in Illinois and elsewhere. […]
Among others with whom Pritzker is conferring on an unofficial basis: state Sen. Heather Steans, who chairs the Senate appropriations committee and Matt Hynes, former chief lobbyist to the city of Chicago under Emanuel, said Becky Carroll, who is handling Pritzker’s communications for this phase.
Steans was once considered a possible gubernatorial candidate and is closely allied to Senate President John Cullerton.
Anyway, that’s a lot of Rahm folks.
* One person not mentioned in the piece is Nikki Budzinski, who was the UFCW’s political director before running labor outreach for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. She’s from Illinois and was recently hired by Pritzker to handle things. From her Twitter feed this past weekend…
On Saturday, [Chris Kennedy] took part in the Women’s March in Chicago.
“He marched with his wife and kids and other relatives in Chicago,” said Hanah Jubeh, a senior adviser to Kennedy.
Hanah Jubeh is also an advisor to Sen. Kwame Raoul, who describes Kennedy as an old friend. The two men attended the Operation PUSH breakfast on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last week. Sen. Raoul has long been listed as a possible gubernatorial contender, but Kennedy’s Jubeh hire makes me think he may be aiming for something else.
* Related…
* Sneed exclusive: Pritzker goes on gubernatorial ‘listening tour’
On a fairly regular basis back in the day, state Sen. Barack Obama would walk up to the Senate press box and bum cigarettes off me. That was when people could smoke in the Senate chambers and back when both of us smoked. Now, we both chew nicotine gum and smoking on the Senate floor is strictly forbidden.
Obama was mainly an OPC smoker, meaning “other peoples’ cigarettes.” I’d usually give him a little grief about how maybe he should buy his own pack once in a while, but I never denied his request unless I was almost out. He’d always take the cigarette to a room in the back of the chamber, never seeming to smoke at his desk like others did.
One day as I was wandering through the Statehouse near his office, Obama hollered out my name and asked me to come in and join him. I presumed he wanted to bum yet another cigarette and I was right. I tossed my pack on his desk and he took one out, lit it and we made a little small talk.
Honestly, I didn’t much care for the guy in those days. He hadn’t yet done a lot of real work, or built strong relationships with fellow legislators by then, particularly with members of the Senate Black Caucus. And by the time of our little chat he’d gotten way ahead of himself by challenging Congressman Bobby Rush in the 2000 Democratic primary and losing badly.
I was interviewed by the Chicago Reader newspaper during that campaign. I told the reporter that Sen. Obama was “a very intelligent man” who has “some really good ideas,” and would “probably make a pretty good congressman.” But I also pointed out that he hadn’t had a lot of success in Springfield and speculated that it could be “because he places himself above everybody. He likes people to know he went to Harvard.”
I got a phone call from Obama after that story was published. He was stung by my comments. I tried to point out the positive things I said, but that didn’t work. At the end of our conversation, we agreed to start talking more often, which may have been why he called me into his office that day.
We had finished our cigarettes and I remember getting up to leave. It’s not like he knew any hot inside information that I could use in my Capitol Fax publication, so I had work to do and needed to move on. But Obama asked me to stay a while longer, so I sat back down and we each lit another smoke.
Obama then stunned me by asking a question that I never in a million years would’ve anticipated: What would I think of him running for U.S. Senate in 2004?
His question seemed so . . . presumptuous. Rush had just cleaned his clock by a 30-point margin, I reminded Obama. If he ran for statewide office and lost, he’d be finished, washed up, out of the game for good. “There is still some honor to serving in the Illinois Senate,” I gently scolded him.
But Obama said he was getting heat from the home front. His Springfield duties were preventing him from making a decent living as an attorney, so he either had to move up to a much higher office or get out of politics and go make some real money.
I couldn’t argue with that logic, but I suggested that maybe he stop using “Barack” and call himself “Barry” or something. He said that’s what his friends called him when he was growing up, but said he wanted to stick to his given name. I made some sort of joke about Irishing up his last name with an apostrophe after the “O” and using green yard signs. Had I known at the time that his middle name was “Hussein,” I’m sure I would’ve made some sort of inappropriate joke.
I tell this story whenever somebody asks me for advice about whether to run for higher office in order to explain why I no longer provide that sort of counsel. I mean, I actually told a future President of the United States to not be so darned ambitious. It was not my proudest moment.
Nowadays, I just say, “What do you really want to do?” And if they can answer that question, I urge them to put their entire heart and soul into the effort.
It works out much better that way—for them and for me.
* Next week is the State of the State address and probably Senate votes on the chamber’s bipartisan “grand bargain” (click here for a late Friday afternoon update from the Daily Herald), so rest up, campers…
* Chicago City Treasurer Kurt Summers has floated his name for governor. Today, he lashed out at our new president by tying him to our governor…
Today, the 45th President of the United States of America was sworn in to office. I believe it is my responsibility as an elected official to respect the peaceful transition of power and do all that I can to ensure the success of the new administration. However, as Chicago City Treasurer and as a citizen, I cannot sit back and accept the behavior that has been demonstrated by President Trump and others like him, both during his campaign and leading up to today. Our city, state, and country cannot allow blatant racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination to be commonplace in our public discourse.
In Illinois, we have seen exactly what happens when our leaders prioritize divisive politics over people. Our Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, just like President Trump, wants to do away with the Affordable Care Act and leave roughly 18 million people without healthcare. Under Rauner, over one million people in Illinois have lost vital services because of the lack of a budget, and over 160,000 Illinois students have had to ask themselves if they can afford to go to college because their access to MAP grant funding has been eliminated. These partisan and political actions have placed our most underserved residents at risk, those who are working hard everyday in pursuit of the American Dream. We need leadership that focuses on a balanced budget, meaningful education funding reform and a jobs plan that works for all communities in Illinois, not just a select few. Simply stated, Illinois is no longer working for working people.
As a state and as a nation, we must unite in fighting against those who would promote hate and seek to marginalize our citizens who need us most. We must stand up to protect the important legacy of President Obama and the progress we have made as a nation over the last eight years.
One of the fundamental rights of every American is to live in a safe community. A Trump Administration will empower our law enforcement officers to do their jobs and keep our streets free of crime and violence. The Trump Administration will be a law and order administration. President Trump will honor our men and women in uniform and will support their mission of protecting the public. The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong. The Trump Administration will end it.
The Trump Administration is committed to reducing violent crime. In 2015, homicides increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. There were thousands of shootings in Chicago last year alone.
Our country needs more law enforcement, more community engagement, and more effective policing.
Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter. Our job is to make life more comfortable for parents who want their kids to be able to walk the streets safely. Or the senior citizen waiting for a bus. Or the young child walking home from school.
Supporting law enforcement means supporting our citizens’ ability to protect themselves. We will uphold Americans’ Second Amendment rights at every level of our judicial system.
President Trump is committed to building a border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities. He is dedicated to enforcing our border laws, ending sanctuary cities, and stemming the tide of lawlessness associated with illegal immigration.
Supporting law enforcement also means deporting illegal aliens with violent criminal records who have remained within our borders.
It is the first duty of government to keep the innocent safe, and President Donald Trump will fight for the safety of every American, and especially those Americans who have not known safe neighborhoods for a very long time.
Though Chicago dwarfs New Orleans, Memphis and St. Louis in population and economic might, a weekend in any of those places drives home the missed opportunities back home. All three cities have museums dedicated to telling the music’s story; tours and branded districts where people can walk in the footsteps of legends; airports, parks and streets named in their honor, life-size statues for tourist selfies; and, of course, an abundance of live music clubs that all three cities actively help promote throughout the year.
Chicago’s failure to acknowledge seminal figures who were born or made their most influential recordings here—Muddy Waters, Curtis Mayfield, the Staple Singers, Jimmy Reed, Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Thomas Dorsey and Benny Goodman—has become an opportunity elsewhere.
Memphis brands itself as “Home of the Blues and Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll”; New Orleans claims native son Louis Armstrong with an airport and downtown park named in his honor though he made his most influential recordings in Chicago; and last year St. Louis opened the National Blues Museum, a $13 million, 23,000-square-foot institution revitalizing its downtown riverfront.
Chicago has none of that. No museum, no statues, no official tours, no markers of the vital clubs that existed on 43rd Street, 59th Street, Stony Island Avenue, West Madison Street, Roosevelt Road or Lake Street, most of which the city allowed to be razed; that includes the historic Maxwell Street Market, a fundamental endpoint for the Great Migration where musicians from the South gathered outdoors and the blues were inevitably electrified. Even the Muddy Waters home in Bronzeville is abandoned and in disrepair.
This city that boasts of a world-class image has failed to promote its best-known international attraction, says Janice Monti, a sociologist at Dominican University in River Forest who heads the school’s annual Blues & the Spirit Symposium. “European and Asian tourists come to Chicago, and the first thing they ask is where can they learn about the music, and they’re surprised there is no place to go,” she says. “We never seem to have the collective will to move any of this forward.”
Before it closed, I was a semi-regular at Lee’s Unleaded, one of, if not the last Chicago blues clubs to feature mostly black artists playing for a mostly black crowd. Man, that South Side place was something else. Interestingly enough, a lot of the musicians were from the West Side.
I went to the Underground Wonderbar for New Year’s Eve and had a blast. It’s got a very loyal (and integrated) customer base and never disappoints. They mix in some jazz, but it’s always hot. ADDING: I didn’t see this on the site when I got the link, but the Wonderbar is closing next month. This is a huge loss for Chicago. Ugh.
My brother Devin has played at Rosa’s Lounge, and I’ve seen plenty of good shows there. And there’s always Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines, where you’ll see more tourists.
So, there are places to go, but everything is pretty spread out. The city would definitely benefit from a music district like they have in Memphis (and which, according to the above article, has helped spike tourism to a “$3.2 billion industry that attracts 11 million visitors a year and supports 20,000 jobs”). The mayor has spoken about it in the past, but he hasn’t yet made it happen.
The Illinois FILM Office today announced that Illinois’ film industry generated $499 million in estimated Illinois spending, a 51 percent increase over the same period last year. This adds to the 18 percent increase that was seen in 2015. The office worked with 345 television, commercial and film projects that generated 13,377 non-extra job hires over the course of 2016.
In addition, Chicago, Illinois was just named the #5 best place to live and work as a moviemaker in North America by MovieMaker Magazine. This is the third year in a row that Chicago has made the top-ten list.
“The film industry here in Illinois continues to grow stronger,” Illinois FILM Office Director Christine Dudley said. “Our focus on attracting innovative and diverse projects has led to an unprecedented half a billion dollars in qualified Illinois production spending. My hope is that we continue to build upon these last two years of success to show everyone that there is no better place to film than Illinois.”
A strong talent pool of cast and crew members, diverse shooting locations and a competitive incentive program attracted a wide variety of projects to film in Illinois in 2016. Primetime hits “Empire” (FOX), “Chicago Fire” “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Med” (NBC) returned to the lineup. NBC also green lit the pilot for the fourth installment in the Chicago franchise, “Chicago Justice.” The series was picked up for a full season which began production filming in September 2016. Online media services also increased their presence in Illinois with the production of original content episodic series: Easy (Netflix), Sensa 8 (Netflix) and Patriot (Amazon).
Illinois is the only state in the country to set a diversity standard for production hiring of women and minority crew members. This growing industry is a priority of the Rauner Administration, and by focusing on making it an inclusive and diverse industry, the Illinois FILM Office is creating opportunities for underrepresented groups in every corner of the state.
The Illinois FILM Office promotes Illinois as a location for film, television and advertising productions, providing assistance with everything from location scouting, hiring cast and crew to working with local unions and guilds. The Office also administers the state’s film tax credit, which has been integral in growing a competitive film industry in Illinois. The 30 percent tax credit is awarded to productions for money spent on Illinois goods and services, including wages paid to Illinois residents. The goal of the Tax Credit Act is to grow, sustain and provide economic and job opportunities for local vendors, crew and filmmakers.
Though the film office did not break down the $499 million by project, a majority of the spending came courtesy of NBC producer Dick Wolf. […]
The previous record was $358 million in 2013, according to the film office.
* As mentioned in the release, MovieMaker Magazine listed Chicago as 5th best spot to live and work in the business. The city placed behind New York and Vancouver (tied for 1st), Hollywood and Atlanta. From the magazine…
Illinois’ 30 percent tax credit has no cap and low minimum spends ($50,000 for shorts under 30 minutes, $100,000 for longer work). We particularly like Illinois’ requirement that production companies submit a plan to proactively hire diverse crew.
There’s room for improvement, of course, in “a state that flirts with bankruptcy at every turn,” notes Ray Pride, film critic for Chicago weekly Newcity. […]
Nicole Bernardi-Reis, executive director of IFP Chicago, agrees: “access to capital, decision makers—distributors, production companies, programmers, commissioning editors, etc.—and talent” can be a challenge. Yet “it has become a lot easier in the last few years,” she says, with “a number of incubator programs, angel investment groups and programs that give filmmakers the opportunity to pitch. IFP Chicago launched one last year that we’ll be expanding in 2017.”
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate in December inched up +0.1 percentage points to 5.7 percent and nonfarm payrolls decreased by -16,700 jobs over the month, based on preliminary data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and IDES. November job growth was revised down to show a decrease of -4,500 jobs rather than the preliminary figure of +1,700 jobs. The downward revision, coupled with the drop in December payrolls kept job growth well below the national average, with Illinois -52,500 jobs short of its peak employment level reached in September 2000.
“Nonfarm payrolls reflect the job market and this kind of drop is troubling, to say the least,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “It’s the largest monthly decline we’ve seen this year and the drop was across most sectors.”
“Another month of climbing unemployment numbers that are far from the national average,” said Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity Acting Director Sean McCarthy. “Illinois needs structural reforms and a balanced budget to attract new jobs and investment in our state. We cannot repair the damage of losing 11,000 manufacturing jobs, 9,700 construction jobs and 5,800 information and financial activities jobs over the course of just one year without real changes that create growth and opportunity in our economy.”
In December, the two industry sectors with the largest gains in employment were: Financial Activities (+1,600); and Information (+300). The three industry sectors with the largest declines in employment were: Education and Health Services (-5,400); Professional and Business Services (-3,600); and Construction (-3,200).
Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +28,400 jobs with the largest gains in two industry sectors: Professional and Business Services (+31,600); and Leisure and Hospitality (+11,900). Industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines in December include: Manufacturing (-11,000), Construction (-9,700), Information (-2,900), and Financial Activities (-2,900). The +0.5 percent over-the-year gain in Illinois is less than the +1.5 percent gain posted by the nation in December.
The state’s unemployment rate is higher than the national unemployment rate reported for December 2016, which increased to 4.7 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate is down -0.4 percentage points from a year ago when it was 6.1 percent.
The number of unemployed workers increased +1.7 percent from the prior month to 374,500, down -6.5 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force was little changed over-the-month (-2,500) and grew by +0.3 percent in December over the prior year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and are seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
Secretary of State Jesse White has called for legislation that would allow advertisements to be printed on license plate renewal reminders.
His office is pursuing the advertisements in order to afford the cost of mailing them out. During the latter half of 2015, the renewal notices weren’t mailed due to the Secretary of State’s Office lacking the resources to do so.
SOS spokesman Dave Druker said that if the legislation gets passed, it would help the office avoid a similar dilemma.
“The state ran out of money without a budget in the fall of 2015, and we had to stop sending out the notices because we couldn’t afford it,” Druker said. “
* The Question: What advertisements do you predict will appear on license plate renewal reminders?
* Former US Sen. Mark Kirk attended the Illinois State Society of Washington inaugural ball last night…
Kirk said he will “probably” be setting up a firm to do “strategic consulting” for large Illinois employers doing business in Washington and Beijing. He will travel to Beijing next month with other former senators on a Chinese government-sponsored trip. With Republicans in charge of the House, Senate and White House, GOP lobbyists and “strategic” consultants will be in demand.
Kirk remains outspoken. His gaffes got him in political trouble. Asked if he ever got a ride with Obama on Air Force One, Kirk said, “white Republicans really didn’t get to go on that kind of trip.”
*Sigh*
His first client should be himself. Corporate types don’t usually dig public race jokes.
Duckworth was asked if she was concerned about Kirk setting up a consulting shop.
Duckworth, who moved up from the House, said, “I’ve always been worried about those things, and in fact, in the House Armed Services Committee I fought very hard to prevent retiring general officers from leaving the Pentagon and turning right around and coming back to be lobbyists on the Hill. . . . It’s why I voted against the waiver for General [James] Mattis, for example,” a reference to Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, who needs congressional approval for a waiver to be in the Cabinet because he has not been out of the military for the requisite seven years.
Should he reconsider? Said Duckworth, “I think Mark Kirk does want he wants to do.”
Though Gov. Bruce Rauner and state lawmakers acted to fully fund K-12 public schools despite the ongoing budget impasse, local district officials say it isn’t happening.
Each district is supposed to receive four quarterly categorical payments each fiscal year, in addition to general state aid, to help pay for transportation, special education and other expenses. Those categorical payments have been tied up for months, however, leaving districts to scramble to cover the shortfalls by moving money around, borrowing or looking to local property taxes. […]
While Illinois has been keeping up with its distribution of general state aid, which covers day-to-day operations for schools, categorical payments are sitting in a stack of unpaid bills at the state comptroller’s office that totaled nearly $10.9 billion at the end of December.
The final [GSA] payment for 2015-16 was received by most districts in December, six months past the usual deadline. So far, no categorical payments have been deposited for the 2016-17 school year.
The state owes Normal-based McLean County Unit 5 $6 million. Unit 5 Business Manager Marty Hickman said parts of his projected budget are “razor thin” or in the red, even with the assumption that some of the late payments will come through.
* Semi-related…
* City Sells $1.16B In Bonds, But Pays A Heavy Price For CPS Crisis: Chicago sold $1.16 billion in general obligation bonds Thursday, but paid a heavy price for a school financial crisis made worse by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill promising $215 million in pension help.
As far as the revenue package, the leaders said there’s still room for changes, but Cullerton ruled out an expansion of the sales tax base [to services] for the package. Both leaders also said they’re in support of taxing six-figure retirement incomes but said that measure would be hard to pass, Radogno saying politically, it’s a “third rail.” […]
And the leaders are playing coy about saying the income tax hike would be capped at 4.95 percent.
“We’re taking input,” Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said when asked about a cap at a Sun-Times Editorial Board meeting on Thursday.
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton also refused to say whether the hike is set in stone.
“The principle here is we’d like it to be as low as possible. But the principle here is to make sure we have a balanced budget going forward for fiscal year 2018,” Cullerton said, adding he’s looking at a budget office analysis and is looking at its deficit and assumption of spending. “And we’re going to see where we are with our members on some of these other revenue provisions like the soda tax to see if we can get to the point where we have a sufficient amount of money to have cuts — but a balanced budget.”
* Related…
* Mark Brown: Rare and refreshing—Democrat, Republican working together: It’s very difficult to force Madigan’s hand, but in the interest of self-preservation for his members — and retaining the House leadership he covets above all else — it’s possible the Senate moves will motivate him to find common ground as well.
* Sun-Times Editorial: Listen to Illinois Senate leaders and say uncle: If approved by the Senate, the budget package will move to the House, dropping right into Madigan’s lap. The Speaker might then face a defining choice: Get behind this effort or be shown up as a man who, as his critics like to say, cares about nothing but power. The grand bargain contains much that should appeal to Madigan, such as a hike in the minimum wage to $11 by 2021 and Chicago-friendly changes to how the state funds schools. But it includes a few victories for Rauner, as well, including term limits for legislative leaders, a property tax freeze and workers’ comp reforms.
* Senate leaders want to grab momentum for massive budget plan next week: Radogno said she did not consider the release of the spending estimates as Rauner trying to tamp down the Senate’s progress. “I will take the governor at his word, his public comments have been that he wants to see this process continue and see where we can get,” she said. “And those have been his public comments. Those have been his private comments to me. He has never said, ‘Don’t do this.’”
* Voice of the Southern: Thumbs down to the 550 days the state has been without a budget, and to Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly for failing to reach a budget agreement. Forging a budget is one of the basic job requirements of our elected officials. They simply won’t, or are unable, to do their jobs. Their inability to perform that basic task is hurting everyone in the state. People are leaving the State of Illinois. Those of us staying are seeing our parks crumble, our schools left without funding and our services wondering how to foot the bill. We bounce from crisis to crisis, day to day. In the meantime, bills and debt service is piling up. If the state were a business, it would have been forced to close its doors. It’s time to go to work. It’s time to get things done.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s Facebook page…
BREAKING: Senate Republican leadership is selling out Illinois taxpayers. Contact your state senator today and tell them to reject the proposal to hike your income taxes by more than 30%.
Contact your Senator now and tell them to vote “NO” on the income tax hike: http://illin.is/2iGZOb5 […]
We’ve now sent thousands of emails into state Senate offices. Tell your state Senator to reject the bogus deal that uses fake reform to mask a massive tax hike.
As of 9:47 this morning, the post had been shared almost 1,000 times.
* From the group’s Twitter feed…
It’s generous of the Illinois Senate to give homeowners two years to relocate to another state. #grandlarceny
Illinoisans don’t deserve the Senate’s terrible budget deal. They deserve structural spending, pension and economic reforms that finally bring an end to Illinois’ perpetual crises. If politicians would implement real reforms, such as 401(k)-style retirement plans, comprehensive property tax reform, a revamped workers’ compensation system, and changes in collective bargaining and Medicaid, they wouldn’t be burdening their constituents with multibillion-dollar tax hikes.
And all that will balance the budget… how?
I suppose they could kick people off of Medicaid to save some money, but even that wouldn’t be enough. Workers’ comp changes would save the state some cash, but not a huge amount. It could spur economic activity, but the governor’s own projection didn’t come up with huge amounts of state dough. 401(k)-style retirement plans won’t address the gigantic unfunded pension liability, which is what is really driving state outlays. Property tax reform won’t directly save the state cash. Paying poverty wages to state workers would save some dough, but not nearly enough.
It’s easy to kick and scream. It’s much, much harder to actually come up with a real solution.
* According to GOMB, we’ve got a projected base FY17 spending level of $39.7 billion if everything that isn’t on autopilot is appropriated and Chicago gets its pension parity payment. The projected revenue without a tax hike is $33.7 billion.
That’s a $6 billion hole and the fiscal year is more than half over.
School funding has increased by nearly 15% and this is the first school year it has been fully funded since ‘08-‘09. #Year2Reviewpic.twitter.com/6wLUFIQIap
This December, the new Byrne Flyover ramp linking inbound Interstate 90/94 to outbound Interstate 290 opened to drivers. @IDOT_Illinoispic.twitter.com/AECoynADxZ
We are closer to getting lead out of our schools. The bill I signed at the @PushExcel MLK breakfast will protect all our children from lead. pic.twitter.com/QN0vem72Kw
Springfield’s budget stalemate may be claiming a major new victim: a generally well-received plan to expand capacity on the congested Stevenson Expressway (I-55) by adding two new toll lanes in its median strip.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration floated the plan more than a year ago and has had what it termed positive discussions with at least 18 construction groups interested in bidding to build and operate the toll lanes.
But the General Assembly has not given needed approval, and in an interview today, Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn said time is running out on the plan, which would add toll lanes on a 25-mile stretch between I-355 and the Dan Ryan Expressway.
“We are reaching the crunch point in this project,” Blankenhorn said. “If we wait much longer, it’s simply not going to happen.” […]
“We met with 17 builder groups in October, and this matter came up repeatedly in those conversations,” Blankenhorn said. The companies are worried about spending money amid “political risk.”
The holdup is Speaker Madigan, who apparently wants a more detailed plan even though five House committee hearings have been held on the project.
* According to this story by Debby Hernandez in the Southern Illinoisan, just seven legislators had opted out of the General Assembly’s pension plan in Fiscal Year 2012…
As of this week, 52 of the General Assembly’s 177 current members have opted out of the pension plan.
Meanwhile, each chamber will consider proposals in the new session to end pension benefits for future legislators.
A House bill would prohibit the retirement system from accepting future lawmakers beginning Jan 1. As part of its “grand bargain” budget package, the Senate proposes an overarching pension reform plan, including restricting the General Assembly plan from accepting any new participants after the legislation is enacted. […]
Of the 17 newly elected lawmakers this year, 12 have opted out, while five have yet to decide whether to accept legislative pensions. New lawmakers have up to two years to decide whether to participate.
President Barack Obama made his final grants of clemency on Thursday with less than a day left in office and imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was not on the list.
Blagojevich was handed a 14-year sentence on corruption charges, with one of the most sensational his attempt to “sell” the Illinois Senate seat then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was vacating after being elected president in November 2008.
The Justice Department earlier confirmed that Blagojevich, in year four of his imprisonment, filed a request to have his sentence commuted. He was arrested in December 2008, a few weeks after the presidential election.
Blagojevich’s bid for clemency from Obama was always extremely unlikely because of the nature of his offense. […]
Obama cut short the sentences of 330 federal inmates convicted of drug crimes on Thursday, with Obama focused on cutting the prison time of offenders with overly harsh sentences that would not be imposed under guidelines for judges in place today.
Some people insisted for years that Obama had some sort of special relationship with Blagojevich which would lead to a pardon. They were living in a fantasy land.
…Adding… Pool report forwarded by the White House press office…
A travel/photo lid has been called at 4:10 p.m. […]
And with that, Barack Obama’s final full day as president has come to an unofficial close.
State regulators say half a dozen people have developed a virus linked to rats at two Illinois rat farms.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reporting Thursday that there have been six confirmed cases of Seoul virus in individuals who had direct exposure to rats in two different Illinois ratteries, including one in east-central Illinois. Ratteries are facilities where rats are bred.
A rattery in Wisconsin purchased rats from the two Illinois ratteries, and two Wisconsin residents have also tested positive for Seoul virus. Results of laboratory testing of rats at these facilities are pending.
The agency said it is working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local health departments to investigate the source of the Seoul virus infections, coordinate testing, and prevent possible future cases.
Learn something new every day. I’d never heard of a rattery before, and I didn’t know the state has two of them.
Illinois politics saw a watershed year for cash on legislative campaigns in 2016, with newly released financial reports documenting Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s lead role in funding GOP candidates and Democrats under House Speaker Michael Madigan relying on union and labor allies to keep General Assembly majorities. […]
All told, the House Republican Organization raised and spent about $30 million on individual campaigns, eroding Madigan’s 71-member, veto-proof majority to a 67-51 edge. Madigan, who was attacked by Republicans as a symbol of what is wrong in Springfield, fought back with about $15.5 million in spending from four political funds he controls.
The Republican State Senate Campaign Committee, focused on fewer contests, spent nearly $8 million and picked up two GOP seats to reduce Senate President John Cullerton’s majority from 39 members to 37 against 22 Republicans — still a veto-proof margin.
On the Senate side, three political funds controlled by Cullerton cycled through $14.5 million in spending. The campaign arm of Senate Democrats spent $9.7 million, with about $5 million coming from two other Cullerton funds.
Those House numbers looked a bit off to me, so I asked Team Rauner if they had compiled anything.
* From Mike Schrimpf…
We took a look at the Tribune story and did our own analysis based on competitive races. Because of Illinois’ unique state campaign finance system and the different strategies used by both parties to fund campaigns, we believe you need to expand what you are looking at to get a complete picture of campaign spending.
As we’ve detailed previously, the Democrats use a number of incumbents as “piggy banks” to transfer significant funds between campaigns while Republicans largely do not. Therefore, we believe the most accurate way to analyze campaign spending is to isolate and exclude transfers out by party and candidate committees (since that money will also be counted in a candidates’ finance report) and then sum the remaining spending by candidate committees and other political committees and outside groups.
Doing that shows total spending by all sides on the general election campaigns were at parity. Please take a look at the attached for a more detailed breakdown.
* Schrimpf pegged total Democratic spending at $50,215,528.21 and total Republican spending at $50,985,565.04.
According to Schrimpf’s analysis, House Democratic candidates outspent House Republicans $19.5 million to $15.7 million. Again, click here because Schrimpfy has all the numbers down to the penny.
Schrimpf says Senate Democrats also outspent SGOP candidates $10.4 million to $5.9 million.
Party spending is where the Republicans had the big advantage, at $22.3 million (mainly Rauner money), versus $7 million by the Democrats. And that helped even the score on the local level.
But the Democrats had an advantage in outside spending (almost $10 million of that by Sen. Daniel Biss’ PAC) with $13 million, versus $7 million by the Republicans (much of that by Dan Proft’s PAC, but $2 million by a Rauner committee).
One big caveat on that last batch of numbers. Biss’ PAC did a statewide buy, so I don’t know if it should be included. But, whatevs. He spent it, let’s tally it.
* The other thing to ponder is that Madigan, Cullerton and others worked very hard to raise about $40 million last year, and Madigan’s and Cullerton’s allies helped boost Biss’ LIFT PAC. They’re gonna have to do that all over again for 2018, which is why some top Democrats want a self-funder candidate for governor.
They were stretched to the very limit last year, but still managed to keep up. If they also have to fund a gubernatorial candidate next year, they may not be able to keep up again.
* I’ve lost track of the number of developers who’ve promised to erect the tallest building in Chicago over the years, including, if memory serves, Donald Trump.
Aside from that, selling the Thompson Center and developing the property makes some sense to me. Downtown is full of construction cranes, so the market is hot and property like this doesn’t come around very often…
The state legislature’s GOP leaders, Sen. Christine Radogno and Rep. Jim Durkin, are once again introducing legislation that would allow the state to sell the 16-story, 1.2 million-square-foot structure and move state workers to leased space in other buildings, Durkin said.
This time around, the state’s Department of Central Management Services is providing specific estimates of how much a sale of the Thompson Center would boost the state’s finances. A sale would generate potential net proceeds of $220 million and would prevent the state from addressing $326 million in deferred maintenance on the building, according to CMS. […]
One rendering shows a 115-story, 1,700-foot-tall tower that would be the city’s tallest, topping the 1,451-foot Willis Tower. The tower would include offices, retail, residential units, a hotel and an observation deck. A second plan would have buildings of 40, 60 and 70 stories with mixed uses. […]
The estimated cost to repair the Thompson Center is more than triple the $100 million in deferred maintenance that Rauner first cited in 2015. Commercial real estate experts also say the state would be hard-pressed to get even half of its estimated $220 million net proceeds in a sale, since a buyer would still face extensive demolition costs just to clear the site and start a new development.
Putting the property into private hands would also generate a bunch of property tax revenue for the city.
*** UPDATE *** From Ald. Brendan Reilly, whose 42nd Ward includes the Thompson Center…
I stand ready to meet with the Administration to discuss zoning limitations & redevelopment parameters for the property before they market it for auction. Potential buyers will want a general sense of what can and cannot be done on that site before they would bid on the property at auction.
* Many of us in this business knew Barack Obama from his days in Springfield. So, for those of you who did know him (or still do), what’s your favorite Obama story?
Back in 2009, urbanist Aaron Renn wrote about new kinds of economic development that don’t involve things that move on trucks. Pointing to New York City, he noted that there are good reasons why the deal-makers of the big banks and investment houses have to be in Manhattan. However, their back-office operations, where is done the essentially clerical work that cleans up the mess made by traders every day, don’t have to be there. That work can be outsourced to lower-cost cities that also offer workers affordable housing and better quality of life. And that’s what the finance industry has done, sending jobs to Florida, North Carolina, Delaware and the like.
Several kinds of work lend themselves to this separation of functions. One of them is the law. By “offshoring” prep work for big cases to branches in places outside the Loop, Renn argues, the big Chicago firms could tap a pool of lower-cost lawyers. “Chicago,” he wrote, “might be the only elite city in the country where you can get access to a far lower cost point just by going beyond the immediate metro area.”
Renn argues for Milwaukee and Indianapolis as bases for such operations, but might similar possibilities exist for Springfield lower on the food chain? The city has a white-collar workforce, many of whom at the moment haven’t much to do. It also offers some lifestyle advantages to young lawyers. including a quick drive home to a relatively cheap house. That would seem to make it a good place to open what amounts to legal back-office operations, linked with the state’s economic engine via genuinely high-speed public transportation and super-fast broadband. Springfield would have a bright future as, not a branch office, but a branch city.
John Terranova
Deputy Director, Labor Relations
Illinois Dept. of Central Management Services
Room 501, Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
Dear Mr. Terranova:
AFSCME and the State of Illinois have a long history of collective bargaining going back more than 40 years, spanning the terms of seven different governors. Although the parties have not infrequently had serious disagreements with one another, both parties have historically understood the need to conduct themselves with integrity. Employer representatives therefore have had a high degree of credibility with employees and with the Union. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.
State employees have now learned that, as a general rule, when their employer makes a statement, it is more than likely false. Your most recent missive (1/13/17) is but another shameful example.
You told employees that the Labor Board “approved” the governor’s “reasonable proposals.” There is nothing in the Board’s decision that approved the proposals or found them reasonable. Your statement is blatantly false.
You claimed that in the new framework our union put forth employees would not really forego a wage increase for four years, while your boss called that painful decision “superficial.” The Union was very clear that the framework provided for no “base wage increase,” and that it provided for step increases in only the last two years for those 40% of employees who have not yet reached the full rate of pay for their classification. Surely you are familiar enough with the collective bargaining agreement to understand the distinction between “steps” and “base wages”.
You implied that there is something wrong with letting the judicial system determine whether or not Governor Rauner broke the law by unilaterally deciding to deny employees step increases after the expiration date of the contract. As you are fully aware, the union did not include steps for the first two years of the contract as part of the settlement framework. If the courts determine that the governor did not break the law, then the he has nothing to worry about. If the courts determine that he did break the law, then the courts will also decide on the remedy for that violation. Again, the framework does not propose that the state agree to pay steps in the first two years.
You belittle the offer to pay an additional 8.5% in health insurance premiums, plus increased out of pocket costs, while going four years with no base wage increase. That may seem “tiny” to someone like your boss who makes 188 million dollars in one year, but it is not “tiny” for the average state employee.
You make the outrageous and patently false claim that AFSCME refuses to compromise even though the Union has been telling you for a year now that we have new proposals that provide for further compromise on our part. It is the governor who has refused to allow you to meet with our bargaining committee to receive and discuss those new proposals, thus foreclosing any opportunities for further compromise.
You continue to falsely claim that other unions have agreed to offers similar to the one the governor is seeking to impose on AFSCME members even though the truth is that those unions have not agreed to forego wage increases for four years and also to pay significantly more for insurance.
You attempt to mislead employees by saying that the Administration will offer them health insurance plans with the same or lower premiums while failing to say that all of those plans could cost the average employee thousands of dollars more in out of pocket costs. And you do this even though you know that all of the plans the Administration wants to impose on employees would require the same shift in costs from the State onto the employees. Either way, the average employee would have to lose $10,000 over the term of the contract.
You try to frighten employees by suggesting that a strike could be illegal because the Tolling Agreement might still be in effect, even as you continue to assert in court that it is not in effect.
Fortunately, the union has top flight attorneys, so state employees do not have to rely on your distortions and scare tactics. If the Tolling Agreement is in effect, then the governor cannot impose his terms on employees. If it is not in effect, then employees have the right to strike. There is no valid legal argument that the governor can impose with impunity, while employees have no right to resist. If there is a strike, it will be a lawful one, and employees’ legal right to strike will be protected.
You go to great lengths to describe the cost of a strike that would last a month. I don’t know how you came up with a month, nor do I know how you arrived at the figure you presented, but we do not believe it is accurate. Moreover, there is still ample opportunity for the Administration to avoid a strike by returning to the bargaining table.
You suggest that if there is a strike, the state will somehow be able to maintain services by hiring strikebreakers. The idea that the Administration could readily replace 28,000 skilled, knowledgeable, and dedicated employees is demonstrative of this administration’s lack of respect for the work that state employees do.
Finally, I urge you to immediately cease and desist from using the state’s email system to spread your falsehoods and fear-mongering.
I will close by reiterating that our union is doing everything possible to avert a strike and reach a fair contract settlement. If the Rauner Administration has any genuine interest in those goals, you can return to the bargaining table and work constructively with us to find common ground.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says President Barack Obama’s health care law has “massive flaws,” but he’s cautious about repeal “with nothing to replace it.”
Rauner spoke to reporters Wednesday after an event in Springfield. The Republican says he’s encouraging Illinois officials to talk with President-elect Donald Trump’s team and “encourage them to be thoughtful about it.”
“I don’t think it works very well to just take it away and have nothing to replace it with,” he said. “I don’t think that works.”
He also spoke out against changing Medicaid into a block-grant program, something supported by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Health Secretary nominee Tom Price.
“Illinois is not well-positioned if they do that,” he said. “Illinois has been mismanaged on its Medicaid program for years. We’re trying to fix it but we’ve only been at it for two years and it takes a while.”
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s Facebook page…
A new bill in the Illinois Senate is taking aim at soda drinkers.
The Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Act, introduced by State Senator Toi Hutchinson, would place a penny-per-ounce tax on bottled sugar-sweetened beverages, syrups or powders. The new tax would supposedly raise an estimated $560 million annually for Illinois.
But the law would raise this money on the backs of poor Illinoisans.
Like sales taxes, a tax on soda is regressive. It would place a larger share of the tax burden on residents least capable of paying it. On top of that, many residents from Hutchinson’s district would be hit the hardest.
So, that means the “Institute” now wants progressive taxes?
Cool.
Maybe they’ll help pass petitions to put a progressive income tax on the ballot.
Pawar says he believes in a graduated income tax rate for the wealthy to pay their fair share.
He’s also campaigning on providing universal daycare, increasing funding to local schools and equitable funding that makes districts less reliant on property taxes. […]
“I also want to run on a vision,” Pawar said. “And, what I’m trying to present to people is to say we need a new deal for Illinois. Enough of this shaking up Springfield and cutting benefits and wages, we need a deal, a new deal for all Illinoisans that helps them get a fair shake of the middle class and the American dream.”
He said government, whether local, state or national, is getting a bad name from those claiming and repeating “that everything government does is broken or evil or corrupt.” However, he said, government “created the largest middle class we’ve ever seen after the Great Depression,” citing the New Deal, Civil Rights Act and Great Society programs.
“So I think government can be a force for good,” he said on a visit to the Quad-Cities on Wednesday to attend a Democratic Party rally. “And that means you have to elect people who believe in government and not people who want to run government like a business. So I think that means going out and talking to people and changing the narrative. […]
He also favors universal day care and criminal justice reforms.
“It doesn’t matter where you go in Illinois, it’s poor people being incarcerated for substance abuse and mental health issues,” Ald. Pawar said. “That’s got to change.”
That comment about government creating the middle class could get him in some trouble, but he is, after all, the leftie in the race.
* I was interested, however, in his response to a question about where he stood on Speaker Madigan, which wasn’t reported but is in the raw video of a TV interview. He started out by repeating something he’s said many times: “I’ve only met him once, after I won in 2011.” The interviewer followed up by saying Madigan has a record as well…
“He has a record as well, but I think if you turn everyone into a bogeyman you can’t expect them to come to the table and work with you.
“I’ll put it in these terms, private sector terms, since that’s what the governor likes. What CEO of a company comes in and says ‘I can’t do my job because the operations manager won’t let me?’ You have to be able to work with people.
“He’s basically turned over the keys to the governor’s mansion and office to the Speaker and says ‘I can’t do anything, it’s all his fault.’ He ran for the job, but now he says he can’t do the job because of one person. That’s not how it works in any other level of government in any time in history.
“His goal is to reduce benefits and destroy collective bargaining rights. And the Speaker is standing in the way of that. Do I agree with the Speaker on everything? Absolutely not. I also don’t know him. But I’m also not going to sit and demonize someone who I might have to work with.
“That includes the Republican leaders. I don’t think Republicans are bad, they’re just a different party. But they’re people who care about their constituents.
“I just can’t say the same thing about Gov. Rauner in terms of whether he actually just cares about his wealthy friends and an agenda or whether he has a real goal in Illinois other than just creating constant chaos.”
He needs to tighten that up a lot, and drop the “operations manager” analogy because it doesn’t quite work. In the private sector, a CEO can just fire an operations manager.
Other than that, it’s not a bad way to deal with the “Madigan question” that every candidate at every level will get as 2018 nears.
* Related…
* Charlie Wheeler: Check The Facts Before Buying Into The King Madigan Storyline: However, even a rudimentary understanding of state government and a cursory online search of past Illinois leaders would disclose how Madigan’s supposed “running” of the state for 34 years — his “kingship” — is nonsense. For starters, while speaker is undeniably a powerful position in the House, the post has little to no sway in the other legislative chamber, the Senate. And, of course, whatever legislators decide to do, the governor has almost the final say with a range of veto powers. But wait, can’t the legislature override vetoes? Sure, but despite their veto-proof majorities on paper, Democrats overrode only two of more than 100 vetoes in Rauner’s first two years, one of them with his blessing.
* Austin Berg: Madigan makes history as Illinois bleeds: Madigan decides which bills receive a public hearing, who chairs committees and receives the $10,000 stipends that go with them, who votes in committees, and when bills are called before the full House. That’s not democracy. That’s a dictatorship.
The three longtime lawmakers from Southern Illinois whose legislative jobs have officially ended represent more than 50 years of combined experience.
With the swearing in of the 100th General Assembly on Wednesday, the terms of Sens. Gary Forby and Dave Luechtefeld have officially come to a close. Rep. John Bradley’s legislative career ended Jan. 1 when he resigned a few days ahead of the scheduled end of his term.
Forby and Bradley, both Democrats, were defeated in November as a Republican wave swept across Southern Illinois. Luechtefeld, a Republican, chose not to run again after his home was drawn out of the district he represents in the decennial redistricting process.
The transition marks a substantial loss of clout and experience at one time for the Southern Illinois delegation under the dome, where seniority plays a role in everything from committee assignments to parking spots. […]
There also are returning members of the Southern Illinois delegation. Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, has served since 2003, and now is the most senior member of those representing deep Southern Illinois. Rep. Jerry Costello II, D-Red Bud, has served since 2011. Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, has served since 2015.
At a later stop in Springfield, Rauner noted the importance of early childhood education and blasted the current state of child care.
“Too often in Illinois and around America, especially for lower-income communities, child care has no education component,” he said. “And in fact, good child care is regarded as ‘strap a child in a car seat and turn the TV on.’ That is institutionalized brain damage. To me, it should be criminal.”
Um, OK, so maybe now we know why he cut child care program funding?
And an upgrade like what he’s talking about will not be cheap. At all. We’ll need a bigger tax hike if he wants to actually do it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Response from Faith Arnold, SEIU Healthcare Illinois executive board, vice chair, child care division…
“Bruce Rauner’s insensitive characterization of the state of child care in Illinois shows his gross disregard for providers and the children and working parents we serve. Our choice of profession reflects our commitment to children and families and is NOT a reflection of our education. And it certainly is not a reflection of our character. However, the governor’s insulting choice of words serves as a poor reflection on HIS.
“Rauner knows better than anyone that HIS cuts to service have caused incredible damage to the Child Care Assistance Program, which at one point was among the most successful in the nation. No more. As a result of his arbitrary administrative maneuvering, and his failure to reach a fair contract with the state’s child care providers, he has engaged in a full-scale dismantling of the program which has cost jobs, slowed economic growth and harmed Illinois families.
“But more than that, his regrettable use of language to insult people like me shows someone entirely disconnected from the working families he claims to serve. It’s no wonder we enter a new year without a budget and with little hope for true leadership or compromise from Bruce Rauner, who is resorting to bully language once again.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the governor’s office…
Hi, Rich:
The governor and First Lady have spent more time working to improve the lives of young children than almost any couple in America. And as Governor, he has successfully increased early childhood funding by $100 million. His comments were not attacking the hardworking men and women who care for children so parents can go to work, go to school, and allow kids to flourish – but he is concerned about cases where children are placed in front of a TV with few toys and even fewer books.
The governor wants to ensure that every child arrives in kindergarten developmentally prepared. His Children’s Cabinet is working to address this very issue, bringing together state agencies to improve state credentialing and licensing programs. It is disappointing that instead of joining in those efforts, SEIU is choosing to mischaracterize the Governor’s words and intentions.
