Thursday, May 12, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
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House Democrats today rejected a common-sense proposal pushed by Republican legislators to add funding for critical state correctional facilities to SB2038, a stopgap funding bill aimed at helping social services providers.
“House Democrats today chose to put Mike Madigan’s political war ahead of public safety and what is good for their own districts,” said Illinois GOP spokesman Steven Yaffe. “They rejected a reasonable Republican amendment that would have provided critical emergency funding for state correctional institutions. It’s outrageous that House Democrats are willing to put prison workers and public safety at risk just to avoid crossing Mike Madigan.”
SB2038, the $700 million social service stopgap bill passed the House today, does not fund critical Department of Corrections facilities. Without any amendments, this bill lacks funding for facilities in the following districts.
The administration has been pushing this idea for weeks, but the HDems have so far resisted.
Sigh.
On the other hand, Rauner did veto their approp bill last year.
* If you haven’t read it yet, click here for House Speaker Michael Madigan’s comments to Jordan Abudayyeh about his plan to “continue to do budget-making without references to changes in collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and prevailing wage.”
* The Question: Should Madigan resist any and all attempts to reform collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and prevailing wage in relation to a new state budget? Or should he try and find a reasonable compromise? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exelon was caught this week with their hand in the cookie jar.
Exelon, the only company ever kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association and the company single-handedly preventing a fix to Illinois’ broken RPS claims the near zeroing-out RPS funding in their multi-billion dollar bailout bill was a two-page “drafting error.”
* Permanent Nuclear Subsidy – Continues for the “useful life of the plant.”
* Subsidy in Advance – Exelon gets their subsidy a year in advance by projecting revenues and costs.
* Windfall Profits – if energy prices go up, Exelonkeeps the windfall profits.
* ComEd Gets Back in the Generation Biz – breaks 1997 deregulation agreement preventing ComEd from owning generation.
* Demand Charge Rate Hike – First in nation “demand charge” will raise rates for nearly ½ of ComEd customers.
* Energy Efficiency – ComEd to earn first-ever guaranteed profits on efficiency programs.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. JUST SAY NO TO THE EXELON BAILOUT.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
Illinois Democrats are proposing $700 million to partially finance various human service programs that have gone without state funding since last summer because there’s no budget.
A House committee on Wednesday unanimously advanced the bill to the full chamber. The measure would use $450 million from a fund dedicated to human services and $250 million from other special funds. […]
The money would go to programs including homelessness prevention, rental assistance, addiction treatment, and veterans’ rehabilitation.
The proposal would fund 46 percent of what human service programs expected to receive had the state budget taken effect July 1.
Officials with Rauner’s office threw cold water on the social services plan, saying they feared the legislation is a signal that Democrats will pull out of behind-the-scenes negotiations aimed at striking a comprehensive deal, which has thus far remained elusive.
Further, if lawmakers continue to empty those funds, there will be less flexibility for Rauner down the road when the next budget emergency arises – such as the operation of prisons, where vendors are also waiting to be paid.
* That approp bill passed today. A senior administration official passed along this memo from the governor’s budget office which claims there are some bigtime problems with the bill…
Senate Bill 2038 has been put forward as a stop gap measure to fund some state programs currently not funded due to lack of appropriation authority.
The language contained in section 996 would prohibit some agencies from funding some of the very programs that this bill purports to fund. By prohibiting the use of funds for operational expenditures, some of the programs, which are operational in nature, would not be able to be funded. The prohibitive language is as follows:
“Section 996. No appropriation authority granted in this Act shall be used for personal services, state contribution for employee group insurance, contractual services, travel, commodities, equipment, permanent improvements, land, electronic data processing, operation of automotive equipment, or telecommunications services, as those terms are defined in Section 13 of the State Finance Act.”
We believe this provision clearly prohibits spending from operational line items which would be needed to implement some of the spending priorities outlined in this bill.
In fact, the appropriations language that authorizes funding for these programs references that the funding can be used for “administrative expenses” over 30 times in the bill, then prohibits the use of administrative expenses to carry out the programs in Section 996. Section 996 language is extraordinarily uncommon and seems to run counter to the purpose of the bill.
A few examples:
Dept on Aging
• Senior Help Line is a call center. Aging could not pay the related phone line charges and communication equipment used to support the call center.
Military Affairs
• Lincoln’s Challenge could not pay for food, educational/instructional materials and supplies to support the program.
Healthcare and Family Services
• Information Technology Infrastructure is an intergovernmental agreement with Michigan to develop new eligibility system. These expenditures would fall under contractual services and electronic data processing, which would be prohibited by Article 996.
Dept of Human Services
• Cornerstone is the main reporting and billing system for programs such as Early Intervention. A third party administers this system and DHS would not be able to pay the vendors to maintain the system or upgrade the computer software.
Dept of Public Health
• HIV/AIDS ADAP program could not purchase medical supplies, pay for lab testing or pay insurance premiums for clients.
Oy.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), who chairs the Human Services Appropriations Committee, just called to say that the language was “intentional.” It wasn’t an error. Harris explained it was done this way to prevent the administration from transfering the money around for administrative costs.
But GOMB makes a good point that there could very well be some unintended consequences, so we’ll see what happens now that it’s in the Senate.
* Jordan Abudayyeh asked House Speaker Michael Madigan about his spring session goals…
“My goal for the remainder of the session is to continue to do budget-making without references to changes in collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and prevailing wage. And my further goal is not to agree with the governor to use the government to bring down the wages and the standard of living of middle class families, to send injured workers to the emergency room or to welfare, or to continue to hurt the vulnerable in our society. Those are my goals.”
An Illinois judge on Thursday tentatively set a trial date well before the November general election in a 7-year-old workplace retaliation lawsuit accusing Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth of ethics violations while she led the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
Union County Judge David Boie rejected an effort by government lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to go to trial in August and remain a campaign issue for Duckworth. The Illinois congresswoman is trying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk in November. Duckworth did not attend the hearing. […]
Duckworth’s supporters call it a twice-dismissed nuisance suit resuscitated to embarrass her politically amid a campaign with national implications, as Democrats seek a net gain of at least four seats in 2016 to take back the Senate majority Republicans won in 2014.
The case was initially scheduled to go to trial in April and remained largely idle as Duckworth’s accusers took more than three years to provide certain documents requested by the state.
This week [Kirk’s] campaign launched an online ad featuring a hearing on a lawsuit two Illinois VA employees filed against Duckworth, accusing her of retaliating against them when she led the agency- complaints that have twice been dismissed. Kirk also has repeated claims by two whistleblowers who say Duckworth ignored their reports of misconduct at a federal VA hospital west of Chicago.
They point to two employees at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital near Chicago who say they took their concerns to Duckworth and other Democrats but heard nothing, and to an Illinois Auditor General report of the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs that found inadequate financial controls and programs that were supposed to be implemented but weren’t during the time Duckworth was leading the office.
The two other employees, whose lawsuit is in court Thursday, say she tried to fire one employee and gave another a bad review that cost her raises after the women complained about facility leadership at an Illinois VA home, where they still work. Duckworth was appointed to lead the Illinois VA in 2006 by now-imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Alarmed by chronic problems with lead-contaminated water in downstate Galesburg, federal officials are urging local officials to provide bottled water or filters to residents where testing at household taps found high levels of the toxic metal.
Though the small Knox County city stands out for repeatedly exceeding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lead standards, a Tribune analysis of state data has identified nearly 200 other public water systems in Illinois — serving more than 800,000 people in all — where test results exceeded federal standards during at least one year since 2004.
In the Chicago region, about a dozen water systems exceeded the EPA standard at least twice during the same time period, including Berwyn and Forest View in Cook County, York Township in DuPage County, Barrington and Volo in Lake County, and Marengo and Richmond in McHenry County. […]
Drinking water typically is lead-free when it leaves a treatment plant but can be contaminated as it passes through or stagnates in lead service lines that connect homes to water mains, as well as lead plumbing inside homes. The hazards are widespread in Illinois, which has a large number of older homes and more lead service lines than any other state. [Emphasis added.]
We’re probably gonna need some national help with this.
Miller says she is disappointed with the finger pointing that has gone on for the last 10 months but in some ways, it’s fitting. “Both sides blame the other side, and maybe they’re right to do that because they’re both to blame,” she says. “One of the most devastating things about this crisis is that it was absolutely preventable, and everyone knew it was coming. And now that we’re here, nobody seems to want to take responsibility for it.”
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, a bill with strong bipartisan, labor, and community support called the Next Generation Energy Plan (NGEP) was introduced in Springfield that will drive Illinois’ clean energy future, while protecting and creating thousands of jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
Specifically, the NGEP will:
• Introduce a Zero Emission Standard, keeping the state’s at-risk, nuclear facilities operating, saving 4,200 jobs, and preserving over $1.2 billion in economic activity annually.
• Enhance the reliability and security of the power grid
• Jumpstart solar energy in Illinois with rebates and more than $140 million per year in new funding for solar development.
• Nearly double energy efficiency programs, creating $4.1 billion in energy savings
• Provide $1 billion of funding for low-income assistance.
• Reduce the fixed customer charge for energy delivery by 50% and create equitable rates, giving customers more control over their bills.
• Strengthen and expand the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly: Vote YES on the Next Generation Energy Plan by May 31 to avoid lost jobs, economic activity and increased carbon emissions in our state.
An alternative to the paper license pocket card is now available for the majority of licensed professionals regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). An estimated 1.1 million active licensees within the Division of Professional Regulation (DPR) and the Division of Real Estate (DRE) may now choose to store an electronic license pocket card on their smartphone or tablet. This is of particular importance to more than 110,000 licensed professionals across seven regulated professions who are statutorily required to carry a pocket card and the many others who choose to carry with them proof of their professional licensure. The e-license pocket card is the latest announcement from IDFPR in their ongoing efforts to modernize the state’s regulatory agency.
“Smartphone technology permeates our existence in 2016,” said Bryan A. Schneider, IDFPR Secretary. “We use them in all facets of our lives, from keeping up with our friend’s social lives to managing our personal finances. By providing an electronic pocket card, we are able to offer the latest in innovation for our licensee’s digital wallet.”
“For the over 43,000 licensed real estate professionals who are required to carry their license at all times, the e-license pocket card is a welcome announcement,” said Kreg Allison, Director of Real Estate. “By offering this option, we provide our real estate professionals added flexibility and convenience.”
For licensees wishing to store an electronic license pocket card on their smartphone or tablet, please visit: www.idfpr.com/GetMyLicense. Electronic pocket cards may be saved as a PDF file or by taking a screenshot and storing as a photo.
* The remap reformers filed their petitions the other day to put their initiative on the ballot. Opponents have now filed a challenge. Click here to read the whole thing, but it appears to boil down to these arguments…
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** From Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps…
“Political insiders want to deny voters the chance to reform Illinois government. Independent polls show close to two-thirds of Illinois voters are ready to vote ‘yes’ on an independent, transparent and impartial process for drawing state legislative maps. Springfield insiders aren’t willing to risk those odds and would rather cynically preempt at the courthouse what they cannot win at the ballot box.
“Plain and simple, this lawsuit is a struggle for power. It is Illinois politicians struggling to retain the power to manipulate elections versus citizens demanding reform. We knew this lawsuit would be the response to our submission of 570,000 petition signatures from Illinois voters, and we are ready to aggressively defend the constitutionality and fairness of the Independent Map Amendment.”
Lots of Tribune-style huffing and puffing, but no legal argument.
* Mayor Emanuel is not happy with the GOP’s recent Chicago bashing…
“How about this? … Give us back all our money and then you go on your way. You don’t get to participate in O’Hare. You don’t get to participate in all the institutions of higher ed here. I don’t think that’s a deal the state wants to cut. So my point is, it’s not really an accurate question. We can’t cut and go our own way, nor are we expecting to go our own way. On the other hand, you can’t keep trying to manage the state without the city of Chicago.”
Emanuel’s comments came as the city versus suburbs and Downstate rhetoric is heating up in the waning days of the spring legislative session. State Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, said in a radio interview that aired Sunday on WLS-AM that Emanuel needs to shutter a bunch more schools. “But they have 100 more that are really, you know, adult employment centers serving as schools. They need to do more in that regard,” Murphy told reporter Bill Cameron.
With Emanuel’s wife, Amy Rule, looking on from the crowd Wednesday at an event to promote a summer jobs program for at-risk youth, Emanuel was measured in his response to Murphy. “I’ll listen to everybody and have suggestions,” the mayor said. “But it’s probably noted, we did close schools that were failing educationally and were under-enrolled. And we did something that other people never did, and took a big step. I appreciate the counsel from Sen. Murphy.”
Emanuel then repeated his recent shot at Palatine, saying the school district in Murphy’s hometown was able to recently award teachers a 10-year contract with pay raises only because the state is picking up the teacher pension payments there, unlike in Chicago.
* Meanwhile, Democratic Senators who voted for Andy Manar’s school funding reform bill are defending themselves from Illinois Republican Party attacks for voting for a “Chicago public schools bailout”…
“Downstate taxpayers should not be forced to bail out Chicago, and downstate schoolchildren deserve more than to be used as political pawns,” the GOP release said.
“I don’t really give a damn about Chicago,” [Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton] said. “I voted my district. I voted for the schools in my district who do the best they’ve done in recent years by Senator Manar’s bill.” He said Manar’s bill isn’t perfect, but is a good first step.
“The governor’s plan puts $55 million into the school systems, and my districts still lose,” Haine said.
[Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton] said schools in his district gain almost $4 million under Manar’s plan but would lose 35 percent under the governor’s proposal.
“The main reason I voted for this bill was not for up north, but for my district,” Forby said.
Sen. Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, voted this week in favor of a new Illinois school funding formula that could cost his hometown’s elementary schools about half the $10 million they now receive in state aid.
You’d better believe that was a tough vote. A principled one, too.
But Harmon, whose Senate district stretches from the Chicago Public Schools-served neighborhoods of Austin and Galewood to the DuPage County enclaves of Addison and Bensenville, said Illinois must begin overhauling its flawed system of distributing education dollars.
I called Harmon on Wednesday because I knew his Senate district encompasses the varying impacts of changing the funding formula — with some communities coming up winners and others losers.
Despite the losers, Harmon believes the bill that advanced Tuesday through the Senate on a partisan 31-21 vote is a good start in the direction of fairness by directing more resources to students that need them the most.
A group of lawmakers from both parties and both legislative chambers who had been meeting as part of the so-called Budgeteer Group in Springfield is forwarding a budget package to leadership, Illinois Playbook has learned. As part of the package: proposed cuts and proposed tax increases. There are no items from Rauner’s turnaround agenda included in it.
“This is a really simple budget issue. Just pluses and minuses. That was the agreement from all the leaders,” said a legislative source who is part of the negotiations. “This is a package that somehow on paper is balanced. This is forwarded to the leaders and the governor and we’ll see how they react … Keep in mind, that at the end of the day, no matter what we put together, this particular group cannot get to 60 votes in the House and 30 votes in the Senate. That’s up to leaders and to the governor’s office.”
MONEY FOR SCHOOLS — What’s not included in the package? Funding for K-12 education. Education leaders in the House are discussing a new “hybrid” plan that would take portions of a Senate-backed funding formula overhaul and partner it with a so-called evidence-based plan backed by school superintendents. Sources tell Playbook that Manar’s proposal will have a tough time passing as is, with opposition coming from lawmakers whose school districts lose out under the Bunker Hill Democrat’s funding proposal change. The hybrid approach would mean no schools would lose money but Manar’s machinations would go into effect based on district need to boost those with the least funding, while keeping others at the same levels.
And there are no Turnaround Agenda items because this package is from the people working on the budget. Work continues on the governor’s agenda.
*** UPDATE *** I was curious about that school funding part, which I didn’t have today. But I’m now told that money for schools is actually in the budgeteers’ framework.
* The long-haired guy on the right with the purple shirt and the silly grin was Grant Ward, one of the best friends I ever had…
Grant ran off to join the circus when he was a young man. He followed the Grateful Dead’s “circus” for a while as well. I wrote about him years ago when the Springfield factory where he worked moved operations to Mexico.
He wasn’t famous, he wasn’t “accomplished” in the socially accepted way, but he was a truly kind-hearted soul who would always do anything for anyone. He didn’t make enemies. He made friends, and he kept those friends his whole life. Those friends will never forget him.
Grant loved to fish. We spent long hours on my pontoon boat trolling around the lake late at night, drinking beers and talking about music and politics and women and whatever else came to mind. He almost never caught a fish on those outings of ours, but neither of us much cared.
A couple of summers back, we took my camper to that flying carp festival on the Illinois River. We had a flat tire on the way there, blew out my electrical system at the makeshift campground, got thrown out of a bar and scolded by some off-duty cops, but, man, did we ever have a great time. He was just about the easiest person in the world to hang with.
He was also a dog lover and one of those people whom dogs loved as well. Oscar couldn’t get enough of the man.
Years ago, Grant and his brother Tedd shared a house in Springfield. I moved into the coal bin in the basement. I was somehow surviving on $50 a week writing for the Illinois Times in an attempt to break into the business. Living in Grant and Tedd’s basement helped me find a way to change my whole life around. Without them, I’m not sure I could’ve done it. I’ve loved them both like brothers for 25 years.
Grant died in an auto accident yesterday. My heart feels like it’s broken. This one’s for him…
Mama, Mama, many worlds I’ve come since I first left home
When Exelon last week unveiled its new plan to preserve two Illinois nuclear plants at danger of closure, the company touted concessions to its traditional environmentalist adversaries, including $140 million in spending annually on new solar power projects in the state.
But when green groups and renewable power companies read the actual language of Exelon’s bill a few days later, it turned out the measure only would generate about $7 million a year. That would effectively kill Illinois’ clean-energy law, which has a goal of gradually boosting the state’s reliance on wind, solar and other renewable electricity sources over time.
Exelon acknowledged what environmentalists said about the bill language. But the company said that wasn’t its intention. The company said a drafting error was to blame.
The error, Exelon said in a statement, “already has been fixed to ensure all of (the bill’s) intended benefits, which includes $140 million in new funding for solar, solar rebates for customers and increased energy efficiency, are fully included. The reality is that changes to legislative language are a normal part of the process to make corrections and incorporate negotiated changes into a pending bill and we have submitted an amendment to correct the error.” […]
“This doesn’t give us confidence that Exelon has reversed its historic opposition to the renewable portfolio standard,” said Sarah Wochos, co-legislative director at the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center. “In a carefully crafted bill, it’s hard to believe that this latest attempt to eviscerate renewable funding was a two-page ‘drafting error.’” […]
And, even if one accepts Exelon’s explanation, the company’s bill doesn’t allow for funding via the state’s clean-energy law for new wind farms, said Seth Kaplan, EDP senior government affairs manager.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s polling numbers are edging dangerously close to Mayor Rahm Emanuel territory. A new survey out today by Morning Consult shows Rauner’s approval dipped 8 percentage points to 34 percent since it conducted a similar survey last year.
The percentage of people who said they disapproved of the way that Rauner is doing his job went up by 9 points, giving him a disapproval rating of 54 percent. According to the Morning Consult rankings, Rauner is the sixth most unpopular governor in America. His numbers dropped during a period that saw an unprecedented Illinois’ budget stalemate persist, leaving social services in a lurch and a very public crisis in higher education that was only recently, partially resolved.
* However, a word of caution. This isn’t your usual poll. From an e-mail sent by the company…
More than 66,000 registered voters across America have evaluated the job performance of key elected officials on Morning Consult’s weekly online national polling from early January 2016 through May 5, 2016.
On each poll, Americans indicated whether they approved or disapproved of the job performance of President Barack Obama, their state Governor, both of their U.S. Senators, their Member of Congress and their mayor (if they lived in a city with more than about 10,000 residents). For each question, they could answer strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or don’t know / no opinion.
Morning Consult obtained an up-to-date list of Governors, U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives from Sunlight Foundation’s Congress API v3 and Open States API and obtained a list of mayors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Survey respondents were assigned to their appropriate Governor and both U.S. Senators based on their state of residence, assigned to their Member of Congress based on a combination of zip code, IP address, latitude and longitude, and assigned to their mayor based on their state and zip code.
Morning Consult obtained population parameters for registered voters from the November 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS) and applied post-stratification weights based on gender, age, educational attainment and race. Thus far, the median state includes a total of 883 respondents, the state with the most respondents is California (n = 5,968) and the state with the least respondents is Wyoming (n = 165).
Online polling conducted over five months. I dunno. Maybe.
According to an April 8 poll commissioned by The Illinois Observer for our e-newsletter, The Insider, delivered to subscribers on April 15 (subscribe here) of 703 likely 2016 voters in the district of State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Crystal Lake), a top 2016 GOP target, voters blame Bush over Governor Bruce Rauner – 45.7%-32.2% – for the continuing budget stalemate. 22.1% are undecided.
The survey has a +/- 3.75% margin of error.
Additionally, the poll finds that Bush’s job approval is upside down with just 29.5% approving and 41.3% disapproving. 28.2% are undecided.
That’s a dramatic reversal from a July 6 survey of 556 likely voters commissioned by The Insider that had found that Bush had a 22.3% job approval rate from voters and a 18.5% disapproval or a net positive of 4-points and a whopping 58% were undecided.
That survey, conducted by Chicago-based Ogden & Fry, had a +/- 4.24% margin of error.
As I told you the other day, incumbent legislators are shouldering the blame for this impasse and there are a whole lot more Democratic incumbents than Republicans.
An Elgin man accused of leaving a voicemail threat to Gov. Bruce Rauner faces felony charges of threatening a public official, Kane County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Jesse M. Kuzma, 31, of the 1100 block of West Highland Avenue, is accused of leaving the voicemail at about 11 p.m. Friday, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office.
The message said “if I ever see you consider this your death threat,” according to Kane County Assistant States Attorney Scott Schwertley.
The charge is a Class 3 felony, said Kane County Judge Judith Brawka. She set bail at $50,000, adding conditions that, if released on bail, Kuzma was barred from contact with the governor.
If Kuzma is released, he is to have no contact with Rauner, be placed on electronic home monitoring and surrender any gun owner cards and weapons.
Schwertley could not specify what, if any, ties Kuzma had or has to Rauner or his office. Kuzma is a reservist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has a job in Elgin as a machine repairman and was arrested by Illinois State Police Tuesday, according to court records and testimony.
Kuzma doesn’t have any previous criminal arrests in Kane County, but was arrested in May 2002 by Wheaton Police and charged with the misdemeanor of carrying “objects containing noxious liquid or gas,” records show.
A resolution being introduced Wednesday by Republican Cook County Commissioner Peter N. Silvestri petitioning the General Assembly and the governor to change the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court position from an elected position to an appointed one is already hitting a brick wall in Springfield.
The resolution seeks to have the president of the Cook County Board and the Commissioners appoint and confirm the Clerk of the Circuit Court rather than determined by the will of the County voters.
The Cook County Board’s resolution comes months after a major scandal involving a 400-day delay in indicting officer Jason Van Dyke who shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and similar police shootings. The lack of transparency led to protests and a huge voter turnout resulting in the defeat of Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez by Kim Foxx, largely because of the “Black Lives Matter” and youth movements.
Rep. Mary Flowers (D-31st) and Senator Mattie Hunter (D-3rd) strongly objected to the resolution both saying the choice of a Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court should be left up to the voters and not politicians.
An effort to make the elected post now held by embattled Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown an appointed office was abandoned Wednesday amid an outcry from a bevy of African-American groups that alleged racial motives were behind the initiative.
In a County Board room packed with black protesters, including members of Black Lives Matter Chicago and members of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH, Commissioner Peter Silvestri, R-Elmwood Park, withdrew his proposal.
Parents of D211 who want their children protected from mixing sexes in school bathrooms, dressing rooms and showers are calling for help in opposing a Senate resolution that condemns two states for outlawing mixed gender bathrooms.
Two Chicago area senators - Democrat Senators Emil Jones III and Heather Steans - have filed a resolution condemning North Carolina and Mississippi for passing laws that call for biological sex to determine which public bathrooms a person should use.
“Please take one minute to fill out an online witness slip to OPPOSE a horrible Senate Resolution that misrepresents the truth,” the D211 Parents for Privacy’s Facebook page says, and provides a link to the State Government and Veterans Affairs Committee. The resolution was assigned to the committee on May 3rd.
Senators Jones and Steans want Governor Rauner to prohibit all non-essential state travel to North Carolina or Mississippi until the states repeal those laws.
Exelon has introduced a 316-page amendment to a bill in the state Senate (SB 1585) that [Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth] said is still being analyzed by House Republican staff. The legislation refers to “zero emission credits from zero emission resources,” such as nuclear energy.
Mitchell said he was told by Exelon officials that the legislation would cost the state about $150 million.
“I think you can say that the old bill was a $300 million cost to the state. This is about half of that, $150 million, and that’s between the two plants, Quad Cities and Clinton.
“According to Exelon they just want to be on the same level playing field with natural gas and other sources.”
At a meeting in Clinton last month, Mitchell and state Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet — who also is scheduled to be at Thursday’s meeting with Rauner — said the plant employs 700 people with a median annual salary of $90,000. And its annual property tax bill includes $7.6 million to the Clinton school district, $2 million to DeWitt County government and $1 million to Richland Community College in Decatur.
* A new appropriations proposal has been filed. House Amendment 2 to SB 2038 appropriates about $700 million for human service program expenses through the end of the fiscal year, according to the sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago). The legislation is scheduled for a committee hearing this afternoon at 1:30.
There’s no General Revenue Fund money in this proposal. About $450 million is from the “Commitment to Human Services Fund,” which is a special fund that receives a small chunk of income tax revenues. It’s basically like the dedicated education fund which was tapped for the higher education bridge approp bill. Another $250 million is from various other state and federal funds.
* As subscribers remember, the governor’s office has agreed previously to tap this fund for programs, but, also as subscribers know, the Rauner administration wants to use money in the Budget Stabilization Fund (our rainy day fund) to pay vendors in the state’s prison system to keep it from collapsing. This is also being pushed by Downstate lawmakers in both parties.
Rauner’s budget office has compiled this list of municipalities and utilities which would benefit if that bill is passed…
Chester
Springfield
Aurora
Hillsboro
East St Louis
Jacksonville
Dixon
Carbondale
White Hall
Roodhouse
East Moline
Centralia
Decatur
Pittsfield
Canton
Galesburg
Sumner
Pontiac
DuQuoin
Vandalia
Robinson
Taylorville
Lincoln
Mt. Sterling
Crest Hill
Joliet
Pinckneyville
A wide range of counties, including Johnson and Hardin
Southern IL Electric
Clinton County Electric
Norris Electric
Shelby Electric
Southwestern Electric
Egyptian Electric
Expect the governor’s office to be calling around today to mayors and others to ask them to put some heat on Downstate Dems in order to get this done.
* The governor also wants to tap that rainy day fund to stabilize “critical operations” at the Department of Human Services. And here’s their list of municipalities which stand to benefit…
City of Chicago, Alton, Chester, Jacksonville, Rushville, Springfield, Elgin
…Adding… From Emily Miller…
Voices for Illinois Children supports the appropriation bill as emergency funding to human service and public safety programs that are dying. The bill appropriates money from special funds that have existing cash balances. That existing cash can be used to prevent very real suffering in the very short term.
It is not acceptable as a substitution for a fully funded year long budget. We encourage lawmakers to continue to work toward a long term revenue solution to our budget crisis.
…Adding More… From a source involved with the budget working group…
Why would they move a stopgap now when the budget group is nearing completion? Why blow up that track?
Does this mean they are preparing for no deal? Because all of these funds are basically agreed to in the budget group. And more.
Uh-oh.
…Adding Still More… The breakdown of that Department of Corrections stopgap proposal by district…
…More… The bill passed committee unanimously…
Stopgap human services bill passed 20-0, though GOP note they are still examining legislation.
At issue is a bill sponsored by Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Orland Hills, that would allow cities and villages to hire outside auditors to review confidential Illinois Department of Revenue data to determine if the department is giving the locals the tax income to which they’re entitled.
Some of the data is collected store by store and would be of value to those trying to data-mine or get a marketing edge. But the municipalities are worried about being shortchanged after a recent incident in which the Department of Revenue conceded that it had overpaid local governments $168 million in personal property replacement tax revenues and wants the money back.
Hastings says he may call the measure for a final Senate vote today and says his bill is just a limited step to ensure that the money goes where it’s supposed to. Opposing business groups are “fear mongering,” he charges. […]
But Illinois Retail Merchants Association President Robb Karr says the local governments “don’t need the sensitive information of a local business—particularly if they want to give it to an unaccountable third party operating under a contingency-fee arrangement.” […]
“A government auditor’s role is to determine the correct amount of tax; no more, no less. When the party in that role has a financial incentive to maximize the amount of tax, there is an inherent conflict. If the Department of Revenue started compensating their auditors based on how much money they brought in, the uproar would be (rightfully) huge; this is no different.” [said Carol Portman, president of the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois]
I can definitely see Portman’s point, but when the government makes a $168 million mistake, you gotta expect people to question the entire process.
CNN’s senior political reporter Manu Raju inquired yesterday about Sen. Mark Kirk and Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepared to go to Washington.
Raju let everyone know via Twitter: “Mark Kirk, in a tough Senate race in Illinois, refuses to talk about Trump. ‘We’re not taking any Trump questions,’ aide says.”
Kirk may be trying to use the same tactic as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. When Rauner was asked the other day about Trump, the governor wouldn’t even mention his name.
Still, both Illinois Republicans have said they will support the nominee, though Rauner won’t be giving any formal endorsement.
Congressman Bob Dold (R-10) has refused to support Trump, and is planning to write in a presidential candidate when he votes in November, according to Politico.
* And the mad, desperate scramble to find someone to take on a third party bid has already missed one important deadline, with Illinois’ coming up at the end of May…
Talk of a third-party run has been percolating for weeks, if not months — the volume of it directly correlated to the likelihood of a Trump victory — with the idea being that such a bid could deny both Trump and Hillary Clinton the 270 electoral college votes needed to win (a real long shot) and/or bring Republican voters disaffected by Trump’s candidacy out to the polls (more feasible). But it’s always been tempered by real-world restrictions.
The deadline to appear on the ballot in Texas passed just this Monday, meaning the Lone Star State’s 38 electoral votes are likely out of the picture, absent a successful lawsuit. In addition, between today and the end of June, at least three other states — Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina — have deadlines, accounting for an additional 34 electoral votes (North Carolina’s deadline being the soonest). After June, a third-party candidate would face more and more deadlines for appearing on the ballot — a task made more difficult due to the patchwork of complex rules and regulations concerning ballot access across the country.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, a bill with strong bipartisan, labor, and community support called the Next Generation Energy Plan (NGEP) was introduced in Springfield that will drive Illinois’ clean energy future, while protecting and creating thousands of jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
Specifically, the NGEP will:
• Introduce a Zero Emission Standard, keeping the state’s at-risk, nuclear facilities operating, saving 4,200 jobs, and preserving over $1.2 billion in economic activity annually.
• Enhance the reliability and security of the power grid
• Jumpstart solar energy in Illinois with rebates and more than $140 million per year in new funding for solar development.
• Nearly double energy efficiency programs, creating $4.1 billion in energy savings
• Provide $1 billion of funding for low-income assistance.
• Reduce the fixed customer charge for energy delivery by 50% and create equitable rates, giving customers more control over their bills.
• Strengthen and expand the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly: Vote YES on the Next Generation Energy Plan by May 31 to avoid lost jobs, economic activity and increased carbon emissions in our state.
The report assesses states’ OPEB liabilities (liabilities for retiree benefits other than pensions) and funding trends, as well as how they are affected by aspects of state retiree health plans.
Because retiree health insurance benefits account for the majority of states’ OPEB obligations, many states have enacted policy changes to address these looming obligations. The report finds that states’ strategies for addressing OPEB liabilities vary greatly and that the methods states choose to contribute to their retirees’ health insurance premiums substantially affect the size of their OPEB liabilities.
Pew also released today a related issue brief with a more focused look at state OPEB assets and liabilities; that brief can be found here: http://bit.ly/24Lqtlf
Lauren Dickinson
Associate, Communications
The Pew Charitable Trusts
States’ OPEB liabilities decreased 10 percent, to $627 billion, between 2010 and 2013, after adjusting for inflation. This drop resulted from lower rates of growth in health care costs and changes states made to their OPEB funding policies and retiree health plan provisions.
State-funded ratios—representing the amount of assets states have set aside to fund their OPEB liabilities—increased from 5 percent in 2010 to 6 percent in 2013. However, this trend varied greatly among states—the funded ratio of eight states decreased, and Oregon increased its funded ratio by 25 percentage points.
Illinois, of course, is not part of either trend. Our OPEB liabilities went from $43.9 billion in 2010 to $56.3 billion in 2013 - which looks to be about the biggest increase in the nation.
Michigan’s liabilities dropped from $45.5 billion down to $25.5 billion during the same time period, and they had an 11 percent funded ratio. Our funded ratio is zero because we don’t set aside any money.
By the way, Illinois’ population is about 4 percent of total US population, but our OPEB liabilities are almost 9 percent of total US.
A question-and-answer session with students in the [Lakes Community High School] auditorium was “one of the best” he’d experienced in the state, Rauner said.
But senior asked Rauner about unpaid bills to state social-service providers, pointing to a lawsuit that was filed last week against Rauner and members of his administration by a group of agencies that provide services to youths, homeless people, people with HIV/AIDS and low-income people with mental health issues.
“All our priorities have not been getting paid for years and years and years, and we’ve got to change that system,” Rauner said in response to her question. “That’s what we’re fighting for is to restructure the government, make it more efficient and effective. We waste billions of dollars in bureaucracy and inefficiency and waste.”
Rudolph said she felt the answer wasn’t much of an answer.
“He definitely dodged my question,” she said. “He tried to tie it back into schools and the funding that we need, but there was absolutely no answer how he’s going to confront the lawsuit, what he feels about the necessity of these services. I just felt there was not a real answer. I just kind of got talked in a circle.”
[Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson] focused his remarks on how much of the bloodshed is being driven by about 1,300 individuals on the Police Department’s “strategic subject list” — those believed to be most prone to violence as a victim or offender.
About 78 percent of the homicide victims and about 84 percent of the nonfatal shooting victims this weekend were on the list, he said.
The list, generated daily from a computerized algorithm, assigns a score from 1 to 500 based on such factors as a person’s arrests and the activities of his associates. Gun charges play a key role. When Johnson chalked up much of the city’s violence to 1,300 people, he was referring to those with a score on the strategic subject list somewhere in the upper 200s or higher. We don’t know if Pierre Loury was on the list, but if 80 percent of the shootings during a bloody weekend were connected to a finite group of known individuals, that gives the criminal justice system a manageable place to focus attention.
CPD says it uses the list in different ways: to help in police work and to warn gang members on the list that they have a short window to change their ways or risk tragedy. They are offered help from social service agencies. Should the algorithmic clock of doom tick high enough, a police official may come to the residence to provide “custom notification.” Consider it a visit from Jacob Marley’s ghost.
This will not be enough to save the gangbangers who have made their choices and will kill or die because of them. For these miscreants with long rap sheets and bad judgment, doom may come. But the list provides a valuable warning for the rest of us: Repeat criminal offenders at the nexus of gangs, guns and drugs are a menace even greater and more concentrated than we might have imagined. Work with them if we can, but when they are convicted of serious crimes, put them away.
Keep them off the streets, for our safety and theirs.
* Tonight is the annual Conference of Women Legislators event…
* But there is another event today that might catch your attention…
Peace and love? At the IMA, IRMA party?
Huh?
Turns out, The Schwag is playing. They’re a pretty famous Grateful Dead cover band out of St. Louis. The IMA’s Greg Baise, you may recall, is a Dead Head.
Downstate legislators are banding together in an effort to revive the market for Illinois coal. It comes as the renewable and nuclear industries are asking for legislative intervention.
Representative Jerry Costello, a Democrat from St. Clair County, stood alongside Republicans in calling for a comprehensive approach on energy. […]
Costello and the other pro-coal lawmakers appear open to where those talks go. An early concept seeks to have Illinois coal plants outfitted with air pollution control devices.
It doesn’t require it, or include a way to pay for the “scrubbers.” Rather, it calls for state regulators to find a funding mechanism. The proposal also requires Illinois utilities to make it a goal to buy more coal in-state.
Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, introduced a bill on Tuesday to create incentives to cleanly burn coal. The proposal is an effort to keep the coal industry as an energy-policy player in Illinois.
“We know the desperate situation of the Dynegy fossil fuel plants currently within the state of Illinois, we know the dire situation with the Exelon and ComEd nuclear plants in northern Illinois, and we believe that Illinois coal is part of the overall energy discussion,” Bradley said at a press event at the Capitol.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said preserving the coal industry has bipartisan support.
“In the district that (Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond) and I represent, a question all the time is that we have a power plant down the road, but we can’t burn coal that comes from the mine the other direction that’s a stone’s throw away, and that’s something that’s plagued our state for years,” Manar said. “This legislation is going to help solve that problem, and it will raise employment and help out communities that have been struggling for years.” […]
Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said that while he supports a comprehensive plan for Illinois that includes renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power, they are intermittent. Therefore, he said, there should be an increase in the amount of energy derived from reliable coal.
The proposal requires utilities to have purchasing agreements with clean-coal burning facilities.
The goal is for those agreements to represent at least 40% of their retail customer load by 2020.
The bill also allows the Illinois Commerce Commission to devise a way to pay for scrubbers that allow the plants to burn coal more cleanly.
It also allows the state to purchase and sell coal to generating facilities if it chooses.
* They couldn’t have written a better press release themselves, which was probably most of the point…
Southern Illinois lawmakers say they stand united in putting Illinois coal back into action.
Representative John Bradley introduced a bill on Tuesday that would allow the Illinois coal industry to be relevant again. Other area lawmakers support the bill, including Rep. Terri Bryant, Rep. Jerry Costello Jr., and Sen. Gary Forby.
They say our region depends on Illinois coal for good paying jobs and to drive our economy.
“The main thing it does is get us in the discussion. The second thing it does is creative an incentive program with the ICC to put scrubbers on the existing coal fire facilities that we have and of which are in jeopardy of closing,” says Bradley.
* I still disagree with it, but this is just one of many reasons why Gov. Rauner and others are pushing municipal bankruptcy legislation…
(G)iven the [Illinois Supreme Court’s] rulings on the sanctity of government worker pension benefits, some believe the city has no choice but to simply start paying the $11.2 billion owed to the two funds.
Among them is the Municipal Employees and Benefit Fund of Chicago, which is nearly $10 billion in the hole and at risk of going broke within eight years, according to a recent analysis it commissioned. The smaller Laborers Annuity and Benefit Fund has about $1.2 billion in red ink and is projected to run out of money in 11 years, according to its most recent audit.
Both pension funds backed the proposed benefit cuts the Supreme Court struck down. Now that a different approach is required, the municipal workers are pitching state lawmakers on proposals to shore up the fund by dramatically increasing the amount of taxpayer money going into it.
Under the proposal, the city would be required to come up with at least $509 million more in annual contributions to the funds within the next five years and at least $1.6 billion over the long haul. Where would the money come from? A Chicago casino, which still doesn’t exist despite two decades of city efforts. It’s the same money machine Emanuel is eyeing for the police and fire pension funds.
Even with a casino, the city would have to cut spending, raise hundreds of millions of more dollars each year or both to make the contributions required under each of the payment schedules under four different versions of the municipal workers’ plan. With Chicago’s sales tax already the highest among big cities in the nation, the one place the city can turn for new revenue without help from state government is the property tax — a particularly difficult political prospect given that taxpayers already are being hit up for the police and fire pension funds.
A school funding bill that revamps the funding formula — and one dubbed a Chicago Public Schools “bailout” by several Republicans — narrowly passed the Illinois Senate on Tuesday.
State Sen. Andy Manar’s bill passed 31-21, and now heads to the Illinois House, where members are working on their own plan. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has formed a House task force to do its own review of school funding.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Tuesday that the task force will “take the best elements of the Manar plan and try to incorporate them.”
On the Illinois Senate floor, Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill, called his bill “the most profound anti-poverty measure” lawmakers could take and a “down payment to getting this right.”
Let’s hope the House is serious about coming up with an alternative plan and doesn’t just punt.
Figures provided by the Senate Democrats show the Chicago school system would get an extra $175 million from the formula changes. Barickman and other Republicans maintain that the figure is much higher because of other, separate grants to Chicago schools contained in the bill.
At the same time, many districts in Republican areas of the Chicago suburbs stand to lose state assistance.
“This is a huge redistribution of wealth primarily from suburbanites and many downstaters to Chicago,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine.
Manar said the reason Chicago gets more money is the same as why Taylorville in his Senate district gets more.
“It is underfunded plain and simple, just like other downstate districts, just like suburban districts like Elgin,” Manar said.
“What we do know today is that the system the governor has proposed is $55 million that earns a whole bunch of school districts less money,” Manar said. “That’s what we have to measure this bill against, a system that spends more with outcomes that aren’t as good.”
Rauner has accused Democrats of embracing the school funding formula issue as a way to prevent schools from opening on time amid the continuing budget stalemate that’s left Illinois without a complete budget for the last 11 months. Rauner vetoed most of the spending plan Democrats sent him, save for the portion that ensured schools opened in the fall — even though Republican lawmakers voted against the measure at his direction.
That has frustrated Democrats, who see Rauner taking credit for funding schools even though it was Democrats who sent him the bill. On Tuesday, Manar balked at the suggestion that he would hold up dollars for schools in exchange for his proposal, saying, “I don’t presume I have the authority to.”
“I don’t think anybody wants to see that,” Manar said. “That would inject more uncertainty into the system. That would amplify the challenges that the poorest districts face today.”
* Senate President John Cullerton…
“Today marks a significant step forward in creating a new classroom funding formula that recognizes the real needs of students across Illinois.
For too many children in too many communities, their paths to excellence are blocked by the existing school finance system that shortchanges their schools and fails to provide needed resources. It’s an injustice we’ve tolerated too long. Our students, parents, teachers and taxpayers are tired of the bickering, tired of the impasse. They’re looking for leaders with the courage to step beyond the status quo and do what’s right.
Today, the Illinois Senate did just that. The classroom funding plan the Senate approved begins to recognize the local needs of schools and students. It addresses the economic and social hurdles they face by investing resources in those schools and those children.
I would recommend the House get behind this proposal, and Governor Rauner should show leadership and make this legislation a priority if he is truly interested in turning Illinois around.”
* The Sun-Times editorial board is upset with the governor over his opposition to the bill…
Yes, Manar’s bill picks winners and losers, which the governor, his fellow Republicans and some Democrats dislike. But the state’s current school funding formula also picks winners and losers — the current losers being our state’s poorest kids. Why double down on that?
Moreover, under Manar’s plan there need be no losers. His bill calls for making this shift in funding over a number of years, ideally to give the governor and Legislature time to increase overall funding so that no district has to take a hit.
Our fear is that this bill is going nowhere, doomed by the legislative calendar — the current session is scheduled to adjourn May 31 — and raw politics.
Rauner prefers a simple standalone bill that would fully fund the existing school aid formula, giving all districts at least a bit more money, safely upsetting no political allies. Once the governor has made sure, then, that the schools will open on time in the fall, he will feel freer to play hardball on the rest of the state budget.
* But if you really want to hear some anger, click here and listen to Sen. Manar’s Q&A with reporters yesterday after the vote. Whew.
• The city of Springfield is owed $12.6 million in unpaid electric and water bills. Springfield operates City Water Light and Power and has more than 200 accounts related to the state government.
• Memorial Health System, which operates hospitals in Springfield, Lincoln, Jacksonville, and Taylorville as well as other medical offices statewide, is owed more than $83.6 million. Memorial Medical Center in Springfield has delayed plans to build an $80 million medical office building, a spokesman said.
• Stepping Stones Inc., a drug addiction treatment center in Joliet, has burned through $100,000 in reserves to maintain services and had to stop treating non-Medicaid patients in mid-February. By June 30, the end of its fiscal budget year, the state will owe the nonprofit about $300,000.
• Illinois owes about $125 million to dentists, says Greg Johnson, a spokesman for the Illinois State Dental Society, which represents dentists and dental hygienists.
• Groups that administer the Community Care Program, which helps seniors stay in their homes rather than nursing homes, are owed $212 million from the Department of Aging. More than 83,800 people participated in the program last year.
The wheels in Springfield are churning, with the so-called Budgeteer Group meeting in private on Tuesday evening and reportedly making progress in talks… On Tuesday, talk included the possibility of tax increases.
The governor’s office, too, has been meeting with the group and according to a Rauner administration official, there’s real movement. “From the beginning of the process our office has been forward leaning in the interest of getting a deal,” the official told Illinois Playbook. “The budget group is a place where only bipartisan, bicameral agreement can come forward. Folks with an agenda might want to advantage themselves by putting revenue ideas on one party but the group will only produce something that everyone can agree to.”
No huge surprises on the table here: The governor’s office is willing to talk about revenue options but they must be paired with reforms. That’s something Gov. Bruce Rauner has long discussed and the Republican first-term governor has backed off significantly from what reforms must be part of a budget package. The X factor, as always, is Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Madigan has repeatedly said he’s wanted a mix of cuts and new revenue and has rejected pairing Rauner’s turnaround agenda with a budget. But we are far away from the kinds of demands Rauner was making a year ago. We are also much farther in the hole on a bill backlog, pension debt, and we have a litany of social service groups screaming for help.
* [I’ve been assured that this reason is legit.] I’m really hope this has nothing to do with the fact that Hodas was Sen. Sam McCann’s media consultant…
The Illinois Governor’s Prayer Breakfast, an annual Springfield event since 1963, is being postponed and likely will not be held this year.
Although the breakfast receives no state money, and the governor’s office is not involved in organizing it, the state’s ongoing budget stalemate is being blamed for the postponement.
“The current budget impasse made it very difficult to find speakers,” said Glenn Hodas, a member of the all-volunteer organization that puts on the breakfast in early May. […]
“Basically, we realize the governor and legislative members who usually make up the event are so busy with the session negotiations, that it was just not a good idea to have a prayer breakfast this year,” Hodas said.
* Let me know when you get some Republican sponsors [Sen. McCann ended up voting for the bill]…
* If you want to see a prime example of a Chicago politician who doesn’t understand that new jobs and development on the West Side are vitally important, click here.
* OK, except we hardly invest anything in transportation infrastructure any more…
Excellent point by Stephanie Strong from @ChiUrbanLeague - "We invest in things like buildings and transportation but not human capital"
In short, Puerto Rico’s problem is mainly one of lack of capacity to deal with its problem while Illinois’ situation is more a lack of will and discipline
He pointed to a 2015 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found no big crash risk associated with people driving with marijuana in their system but says more study is needed. said.
CHICAGO—As anger builds over Sen. President John Cullerton’s stalling of elected school board legislation for Chicago, CPS parents and community members will be stepping up the pressure Wednesday with a rally and press conference in front of the senator’s Lakeview office. The groups are pledging to continue to picket at his office until he moves the legislation in the senate.
The bill, HB 0557, sailed out of the Illinois House earlier this year by a vote of 110 - 4, but is now stuck in the Senate because Cullerton refuses to even assign it to a committee. At a meeting with parents last month, he pledged to advance the measure but has not kept that promise.
WHAT: Rally and picket for an elected school board
WHEN: 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 11
WHERE: Office of Senate President John Cullerton, 1726 W. Belmont
WHY: Cullerton is blocking HB 0557, the elected school board bill, even though he promised constituents he would allow the bill to proceed in the senate. Parents and community members demand that he keep his word.
VISUALS: Parents marching, chanting and carrying signs calling out Cullerton for not keeping his promise to move the elected Chicago school board bill.
As president of the Senate, Cullerton controls how and when legislation advances. Although he is the chief senate sponsor of the bill, he refuses to assign it to a committee, which would give the measure a good chance at passage by the full senate.
The elected school board bill passed out of the house on March 3. Even though the measure has widespread support among Chicagoans and Cullerton’s own constituents, he has blocked the bill in the Senate for the last two months.
A non-binding referendum last February passed by nearly 90 percent in the 35 wards where it appeared on the ballot, including Cullerton’s own 33rd ward. But the Senate President continues to side with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over his constituents and other Chicagoans who are demanding more democracy and accountability in Chicago Public Schools.
Groups plan to protest outside Cullerton’s office until he advances HB 0557. Groups involved in the protest are: Parents 4 Teachers, Illinois Raise Your Hand, Northside Action for Justice, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, the Kenwood Oakland Community Council, ONE Northside, and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center.
* The Question: Should Cullerton call the bill for a floor vote? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* It won’t be easy, both because of the subject matter and because it’s an amateur production, but whatever else you do today you must force yourself to watch this video…
* As we’ve discussed before, the Illinois Department of Human Services has clamped down on overtime by personal caregivers to avoid paying time and a half per federal rule…
Terri Harkin, vice president in charge of home health care for SEIU, said Rauner is using the policy as leverage to extract concessions in negotiations to replace the union’s contract with the state, which expired June 30. Human Services spokeswoman Marianne Manko chastised SEIU for trying to salvage a system that endorses what she said was “slave labor.”
A Jan. 1 federal rule decreed that home-care workers on the clock more than 40 hours a week be paid time-and-a-half for overtime. Rauner, managing a state with a multibillion-dollar deficit and no approved budget plan, ordered a limit to overtime. Human Services said additional workers would have to be brought into homes where the caretaker worked more than 40 hours.
“In unilaterally implementing the new cap and throwing the system of care in disarray, the Rauner administration has violated the law,” Harkin said in a statement. “But this is not just illegal policy — it hurts people with disabilities.”
Manko said the policy doesn’t ban or cap overtime, but rather it requires workers to justify the hours they report on the job. She said other state agencies and private-sector employers follow such policies.
* OK, back to the video. I’m told that Jordon’s mom Theresa has been his sole personal assistant up until recently and provided about 75 hours a week of service.
Jordon apparently has multiple disabilities, including an inability to absorb vitamin D, osteoporosis, an inability to swallow and a severe seizure disorder. He needs to be watched 24/7 and seizes multiple times a day. The complexity of his disabilities has made it extremely difficult to secure additional attendants, and his mom can’t leave him with his father because he has a history of heart attacks, so it wouldn’t be safe.
Theresa, I’m told, applied for an overtime exception for her son, but was denied and she had to cut back to 40 hours per week. But she also had to find a part-time job to make up for the lost income.
She managed to find someone to work with Jordon while she is at her new job, but that will end in 3 months and she is said to be very concerned that she won’t find another caregiver.
* A close family member of mine is going through a similar situation with her grandma, who just had a serious stroke. They had such a difficult experience finding a qualified, caring personal attendant for her now late grandpa that her mom will be quitting her job to provide the care this time around.
We need to help these people. And the state needs to realize that they may be causing more harm by trying to save a few bucks on overtime.
…Adding… From a friend of Theresa’s…
Before April 2008, Theresa worked at North American Lighting for nearly fifteen years. Jordon was able to walk and was a different person. Before December 2007 Jordon rarely had a seizure. In December of 2007, he was nearly dead on the table at Salem Township hospital post a non stopping grand mal seizure. He was sent to ICU at Barnes. He was put into a coma to stop the seizing. They lost half of Jordon’s abilities that day. After Jordon’s hospitalization in December 2007 Theresa found it too difficult to continue working, plus handle his medical appointments, plus be up at night. Jordon’s service plan has him at 300 hours of service per 31 day month, or about 67 hrs of Home Services Program support per week. He has another personal attendant who only works two to three days per week at 5-6 hours on those days. This person works approximately 15 hours a week, with Theresa handling the other 52. Even with the other personal attendant, Theresa is still leery of leaving but must at times. Theresa’s husband also has a history of multiple heart attacks. With the DHS overtime policy as it is, if Theresa’s husband were to pass (or leave for that matter) Theresa would only have the 40 hours a week of work, which is unsustainable financially for her to keep Jordon at home.
Also, Theresa says the 3 month job did not pan out and the attendant she found to cover those hours quit before starting.
Confronted with the bloodiest weekend in Chicago since being named police superintendent six weeks ago, Eddie Johnson on Monday called the gun violence “completely unacceptable” and said the dozens of shootings highlight “the uphill battle” confronting police.
More than 50 people were shot, eight fatally, between Friday afternoon and early Monday, the city’s most violent weekend since the end of September, according to a Tribune analysis. […]
He focused his remarks on how much of the bloodshed is being driven by about 1,300 individuals on the Police Department’s “strategic subject list” — those believed to be most prone to violence as a victim or offender.
About 78 percent of the homicide victims and about 84 percent of the nonfatal shooting victims this weekend were on the list, he said.
“That means essentially we know who they are,” he told reporters at 50th Street and South Karlov Avenue, where a Chicago police officer fatally shot a bank robbery suspect on Monday. “Oftentimes, they have gang affiliations, and many have had previous arrests and convictions.”
Not sure what they can do about those 1,300 people except try to keep some tabs on them, but it’s not like you can assign a cop to every person on the list. Perhaps the feds can help since they have experience with their terror watch lists.
Veterinarians in central Illinois say canine influenza has sickened dozens of dogs in the Bloomington and Normal area over the past few days.
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports that veterinarians are urging dog owners to keep their animals away from other dogs and take their dogs to the veterinarian if they show symptoms.
Dr. Kirsten Pieper of the Animal Emergency Clinic of McLean County says the most important thing pet owners can do is keep their dogs at home until the outbreak is under control.
The newspaper reports that the first case in the area was confirmed two weeks ago and since then the number of cases has risen.
* Gov. Rauner was asked yesterday about his demand for term limits as part of his Turnaround Agenda. He noted that it was too late at the moment to get the issue on the ballot for this fall, but he had another suggestion…
“But you know what? We could vote now in the General Assembly or next week or next month and get it on the ballot in 2018. Let’s do that. How about we vote as part of our grand compromise and grand reforms and get term limits on the ballot in 2018?”
Look, the governor has been pretty good about watching his mouth lately, but it’s kinda dangerous to set expectations this high. I mean, what did the Tribune say about Trump when they bashed him the other day? Oh, yeah, he “promises big changes, most of which appear either implausible or too vague to take seriously.”
“Governor Rauner, who I think has sterling fiscal conservative credentials, has now in two sessions as governor not laid out a balanced budget that doesn’t rely on additional revenue,” [Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss] said.
“And the reason for that is even someone who is deeply interested, as he is, in decreasing expenditures and finding low-tax ways of balancing budgets has looked very closely at this and simply not found a mechanism to balance the state’s books that doesn’t have some additional revenue coming in.”
Exactly right.
And, by the way, it’s something the members of the Tribune editorial board have yet to comprehend. Their great fiscal hawk hero has been blatantly telegraphing the need for more state revenues since Day One.
To: House Democratic Caucus Members
From: Michael J. Madigan
Date: May 9, 2016
Re: Governor Rauner’s Actions: Fiscal Year 2016 Budget
The state is beginning its 11th month without a complete budget for the 2016 Fiscal Year. Following the May 2015 spending proposals passed by legislative Democrats, House Democrats have debated numerous measures to provide needed funding for critical state services, including breast cancer screenings, in-home medical care for the elderly, meals for homebound seniors, and higher education, as well as funding for victims of child abuse and sexual assault – only to see our efforts blocked by legislative Republicans and Governor Rauner.
While House Democrats’ priority has been to pass a comprehensive, full-fiscal year budget using a balanced approach that includes spending cuts but does not decimate needed services, Governor Rauner’s priority has been his personal agenda that attacks the wages and standard of living of the middle class. His insistence on passing his personal agenda has been the single roadblock to finding a true bipartisan solution to the budget deficit and implementing a Fiscal Year 2016 budget.
However, since March 26, 2015, Governor Rauner has approved six budget proposals that did not include any part of his personal agenda. This reaffirms my previous statements that when the governor sets aside his personal agenda that hurts middle-class families, we can make progress on the state’s most important issue. Like you, I am committed to passing comprehensive budgets for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. I also hope the governor will look at his recent budgetary actions and see that we can come together to find reasonable solutions when he sets aside his personal agenda that has nothing to do with the state budget.
Governor Rauner has signed 6 appropriations bills passed by the General Assembly:
*** UPDATE *** From a a senior administration official…
We’ve seen recent success when rank and file legislators stand up to the speaker and demand compromise. We saw it recently on the higher education bridge funding bill, which passed over the speaker’s objections. By now, rank and file legislators have seen the governor’s willingness to compromise and do a budget — the only thing they’re waiting to see is whether the speaker will support meaningful reforms that create jobs and lower property taxes.
Anyone worried that Ken Griffin might run out of cash for the November election can rest assured.
The CEO of Chicago-based investment firm Citadel took home an estimated $1.7 billion last year, making him tied for the highest-paid hedge fund manager in 2015, the New York Times notes, reporting on the annual ranking by Alpha magazine.
Coincidentally, demonstrators shut down Citadel’s Loop headquarters yesterday, demanding higher taxes on the rich, Fox Business News reports. The ranking saves them from finding another billionaire to protest for another year, which can be so inconvenient.
Illinois’ top Democrat said Monday that the party can’t rest on its laurels if Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination for president. […]
“Now that the Republicans have nominated Trump, or appear ready to, don’t rest on your laurels,” Madigan told the group in downtown Springfield. “This will be a very contested election, from president on down, and particularly the Illinois election.” […]
“At the end of the day, Democrats will be together,” Madigan said. “This is about the future of the country, and Democrats understand it’s about the future of the country; that’s what will bring them together.” […]
“It’s no surprise that Speaker Madigan is urging party unity,” Illinois Republican Party spokesman Aaron DeGroot said. “Madigan wants the conversation to be about anything other than his disastrous 30-year record of tax hikes, cronyism, and corruption.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has become so concerned that he won’t even talk about the presidential race any more — or so much as utter Trump’s name.
Rauner waved off a question about Trump at a Tuesday news conference at Lyons Township High School, declining to expand on comments last week when he confirmed he won’t be going to Cleveland. […]
“I’ve said everything I’m going to say about the presidential race,” Rauner repeated over and over last week in response to questions about Trump. […]
Even some of those who plan to attend the conventions, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, say they aren’t ready to endorse Trump.
House Republican House Leader Jim Durkin says his focus is on trying to get lawmakers out of Springfield by the end of the month with a budget. But he admits he is thinking about how presidential politics might play into the legislative contests.
“The air is different,” he said. “There is a lot of volatility out there and I’m not going to predict how things are going to end up in November and how they are going to work in the suburbs or in the north part of the state or the southern part of the state but this is going to be a more unique election than the one that I was involved with Senator McCain and then-Senator Obama so I was very involved in that.”
In fact Durkin led John McCain’s campaign in Illinois in 2008. Barack Obama won big here.
* Related…
* Illinois GOP platform committee opens door for suggestions: Sources familiar with this year’s platform committee discussions suggest that while the pro-life plank is always touchy, the biggest controversy appears to be more on the IL GOP’s family plank. Whether the 2012 definition of marriage remains the same could be the most divisive issue with which the committee deals in 2016.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Over 50 million Americans participate in fantasy sports contests, including more than two million men and women from Illinois, which makes our state the third largest player in the nation. In addition, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association is headquartered in Chicago, along with local and regional fantasy sports entities based here in Illinois.
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The governor and House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said rank-and-file legislators, meeting behind closed doors, are finding common ground on how to make Illinois’ workers’ compensation insurance program less expensive for businesses — a key Republican priority.
They said there’s also been movement on property tax relief and changing the way state and local governments buy items, which Rauner has said could save millions annually. Durkin, of Western Springs, said there could be a report “very soon” on possible workers’ compensation legislation.
At a west suburban event to highlight the need for school funding reform, Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on Monday also cited progress in the working groups when it comes to workers compensation reform, and he said the group would issue a report “very soon.” He also said there was progress with procurement reform and property tax relief.
Rauner also walked back his position on a CPS bankruptcy, saying, “I certainly don’t advocate bankruptcy.
“That’s a hard process and it’s a dangerous process,” Rauner said. “That said, I believe bankruptcy should be an option if it’s absolutely necessary.”
That’s a change in tone from earlier this year, when Rauner was aggressively pushing the bankruptcy option.
“When I look at the numbers, I don’t see an option. I either see bankruptcy or massive, massive property tax hikes on the people of Chicago,” Rauner said in late February.
State Sen. Andy Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill who is part of another group looking at issues such as school funding and workers’ compensation, acknowledged “general progress” and positive discussions in recent weeks, but said there’s been a lack of clarity about what Rauner wants.
“If we had a better idea of what his position was, we could attempt to try and find a compromise,” he said Monday after the City Club event. “The test of progress is going to be this: Is the governor going to drop his ‘turnaround agenda’ in order to allow the legislature to have an honest debate about a budget?”
As anybody knows who has ever tried to deal with Speaker Madigan, getting the guy to show his cards is the most difficult part. Rauner is taking basically the same route.
Despite the Illinois State Board of Education last week revealing CPS isn’t in bad enough shape for a state takeover, Rauner said on Monday that bankruptcy should still be an option.
“Chicago should have that option for itself in the school system, and I believe all school districts across the state should have that as an option,” Rauner said.
A bipartisan group of state legislators tasked with sorting out the state’s stalled budget could have some answers by the end of the week, a Republican legislator said Monday.
State Rep. Patti Bellock, R-Hinsdale, the deputy minority leader of the House and actively involved in budget talks, said the working group formed by the governor, with legislators from both parties, including those in charge of appropriations committees, are now meeting daily for several hours at a time. […]
At a west suburban event to highlight the need for school funding reform, Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on Monday also cited progress in the working groups when it comes to workers compensation reform, and he said the group would issue a report “very soon.” He also said there was progress with procurement reform and property tax relief.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, whose school funding bill still awaits a vote, offered his own “bold prediction” to the City Club crowd.
“The question was what does an eventual budget look like? I think it’s going to look substantially similar to the budget that was passed last year that the governor vetoed,” he said.
So what’s the most likely legislative budget scenario? Similar to last year: Lawmakers are required to put forward a budget and it’s likely be a Democratic plan (surprise!). Rauner will have the option to veto it in its entirety as he did in 2015 (with the exception of K-12) or use reduction veto power to fund certain services that suffered over the last year like higher ed, social services, rape crisis centers, senior services, etc. It’s unclear how Chicago schools would fare in such a scenario, however. That’s something Senate Pres. John Cullerton sought to address in his formula change push. […]
THE QUOTE: A veteran Democratic operative talking about the Rauner era in Springfield: “In the Civil War we had a budget. In the first War World we had a budget. In the Great Depression we had a budget. In the second World War we had a budget. 18 months ago we had a budget. We don’t have a budget now. What’s the only difference?”
The difference, Rauner would probably say, is that state budgets have been unbalanced for decades and he wants his reforms before he’ll do another one.
A bipartisan forum of state lawmakers at the City Club of Chicago on Monday produced a fair amount of optimism, though tempered by the panel’s two Democratic members.
State Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, referred to himself as “Little Dark Raincloud” in pointing out the “very dramatic clash” of philosophical differences between Republican Gov. Rauner and Democrats who hold legislative supermajorities.
Biss also warned that if and when a budget agreement is ever reached after the state’s lengthy impasse, lawmakers shouldn’t “act as if it never happened” and that the “depth of the long-term damage” to social service providers should “guide our behavior.”
Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) Director Candice Jones today issued the following statement:
“On February 12, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) announced the closure of the Illinois Youth Center at Kewanee as part of the State’s strategy to further shift towards a model of rehabilitating youth that aligns with national best practices, strengthens youth outcomes and improves community safety.
“Since that time, the Department has followed the process outlined in State law to move forward with the closure of IYC-Kewanee. We have met with employees, legislators, community leaders and youth advocates to provide context, answer questions and plan for the future.
“Last week’s advisory vote by the Members of the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is disheartening. It is hard to justify keeping a facility open when the Department has excess capacity, outcomes for youth are poor, and the State’s resources are sparse.
“We must focus on a meaningful dialogue about how to change Illinois’ juvenile justice system to improve public safety through better youth outcomes.
“While we are disappointed in the advisory recommendation from the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, we recognized the potential for a vote against closure and the need to outline next steps if the Commission made such a vote. The Department will move forward with closure of IYC-Kewanee in recognition of national best practices based around high-intensity individualized services for high-risk youth in its facilities. We will continue to work with IYC-Kewanee employees to secure placement in IDJJ or other State agencies’ vacant positions.
“By closing this large, maximum-security facility, IDJJ will be able to transition to developing smaller, regional treatment-focused facilities that are proven to be more effective in rehabilitating youth. That’s good for taxpayers, youth, families, and our communities.”
Those cable TV ads that VoteVets Action Fund is running in two contested Downstate legislative districts are part of a larger multistate push to protect local prevailing wage laws, the group said.
Cable TV records showed the group buying $185,000 in ads, part of pushing a study showing veterans who return home to construction-related work benefit “substantially” from prevailing wage policies.
Prevailing wage laws require governments to pay prevailing union wages on public works construction projects. Republican Gov. Rauner wants to give local governments the option to forgo prevailing wage requirements as part of his pro-business, union-weakening agenda.
The study, whose authors include Frank Manzo, policy director of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, and Robert Bruno of the University of Illinois, concludes that there are “significant costs to repealing state prevailing wage laws for veterans.”
VoteVets is running $127,470 in ads in the central Illinois House district where Republican state [Sen.] Sue Rezin of Morris is being challenged by Ottawa Democrat Christine Benson. It also has bought $57,660 in ads in the Kankakee state Senate district where Democratic [Rep.] Kate Cloonen is being challenged by Republican Lindsay Parkhurst.
* Press release…
A first-of-its-kind, peer reviewed study released today finds that prevailing wage greatly improves economic outcomes for veterans and that growing attacks on prevailing wage at the state level will disproportionally hurt the hundreds of thousands post-9/11 veterans who are returning to the workforce.
Exploring of the economic impact of state prevailing wage laws on veterans in the construction industry, the study was commissioned by VoteVets, the largest progressive group of veterans in America, and conducted by Frank Manzo IV of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, University of Illinois-Urbana Professor Robert Bruno, and Colorado State University-Pueblo Economist, Dr. Kevin Duncan.
“The data clearly shows that veterans work in the skilled construction trades at significantly higher rates than non-veterans,” said Manzo. “The difference is even more pronounced in states with average or strong prevailing wage policies–so any changes in these laws will have an outsized impact on those who have served in the military.”
In the state budget impasse, Gov. Bruce Rauner was campaigning for reform Monday in the suburbs.
Still no deal and Rauner is now claiming the Democrats are holding the state school budget hostage.
“They’re screaming and saying it’s got to change this year and it can’t go further and they’ve threatened to hold up school funding and school opening in the fall for a new school funding formula,” Rauner said. “That’s wrong. Our schools should not be held hostage. We’ve got to put more money in the schools while we continue to work on a bi-partisan basis to come up with a school funding formula change.”
He’s not just claiming it now, he’s been saying it for months, ever since Senate President John Cullerton tipped his hand in January that two can play the hostage game.
“Since day one, I have been committed to building a world-class education system in Illinois that ensures every child goes to a high-quality school and can go on to a high-paying career. Fully funding our schools is a step closer to making that a reality.”
Apparently, they can finish high school and get a “high-paying career” without state funding for higher education, the House Democrats note…
Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, criticized Rauner for pushing for K-12 funding while the state still hasn’t fully funded colleges and universities for the current year.
“I don’t know when it became in vogue to separate,” Brown said. “It strikes me if you’re going to improve the prosperity of the state, I think the whole education network needs to be up, running, funded.”
* And the HDems continue to walk back Cullerton’s threat to hold the K-12 approp up until the funding process is reformed…
Not in Madigan’s playbook: But a high-level Democrat close to House Speaker Mike Madigan tells Illinois Playbook the speaker has no desire or intention of delaying school openings in the fall. The discussion over a funding formula overhaul timed for this session has largely played out in the Illinois Senate. The source says Madigan believes the strategy of attempting to leverage school openings in order to pass a full state budget is a losing gambit, saying it could be viewed as placing the interest of children on equal footing with even the most mundane of spending.
“We can’t let school funding be held hostage for the political games that are going on in our state legislature,” Rauner said. “We can’t allow Rockford schools, which are much better run, to be held hostage to the problems in Chicago.”
Steve Brown, a spokesman for Madigan, called Rauner’s claims “irrational” and that there is no basis for what the governor is saying. Brown attributed the hard stance to Cullerton, but said the Senate president made the statement in broad terms — that the entire state school funding system needs to be overhauled.
“We are concerned about how critical the Governor is of the Chicago Public Schools,” said Brown in a phone interview. “But we are going to work with him to help all students and better fund all schools.”
