* I’ve seen Senate President Pro Tempore Don Harmon play guitar. I’ve gone to several gigs by Reps. Mike Tryon and Chad Hays (although I missed last night’s performance). I didn’t know that Rep. Martwick played in a band, however…
Robert F. Martwick, Illinois House of Representative, 19th District, sported a different persona Sat., Apr. 27, when he and the Chris N group rocked in Phyllis’ Musical Inn, 1800 W. Division St.
While Martwick tucked the guitar away when he was close to 9-years-old and when years later he told his bride that he wasn’t going to run for a political office again, Saturday night was proof that life can take unexpected turns.
* 11:58 am - House Speaker Michael Madigan has filed a pension reform proposal. I’m still going through it, but I’m sure our pension experts out there can help figure out what’s in it. Click here to read the amendment (which was tacked onto Senate President Cullerton’s SB1) and make sure to comment below.
* 12:17 pm - I was given a quick briefing on the bill. Here are some of the highlights, but overall it’s somewhat pretty close to the Nekritz/Cross bill…
* The Tier 3 and cost shift language from Nekritz/Cross are out;
* COLA change is a “bit less onerous.” Instead of basing compounded COLA on only the first $25K of salary at retirement, this would provide a formula of $1k per year of service. So, if somebody worked 30 years, then the first $30K would qualify for compounded COLAs;
* The proposal’s Social Security wage cap is slightly lower than Nekritz/Cross. The cap is tied to the Tier 2 level. So, now the cap is $109k, which is a few grand lower and will grow more slowly;
* Retirement age, employee contribution levels are the same as Nekritz/Cross;
* State funding guarantee language is stronger than Nekritz/Cross - basically the same commitment as made to the bond houses.
Facing dwindling revenue from the state gasoline tax, the Transportation for Illinois Coalition will propose new motor fuel fees in May, an official with the group said Monday.
Among the possibilities being considered, said Jennifer Morrison, managing director of the coalition, are a surcharge on electric and hybrid vehicles and moving away from a per-gallon tax (now 19 cents a gallon) to a percentage-based tax that would bring in more money as the price of fuel increases. Morrison’s organization is a coalition of business, labor and transit groups interested in transportation funding issues.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now program is winding down, Morrison said, and the motor fuel tax, which funds state and local road projects, “is stagnant and declining, and at the same time, there is a dramatic increase in the cost of construction. That terrible dynamic (causes) … the incredibly diminished purchasing power of the motor fuel tax.
“Obviously, that’s not sustainable going forward. Cars are going to get increasingly fuel-efficient and are mandated to do so. We need to do something to fix that structural problem and investment in transportation.”
Switching the motor fuel tax to a percentage tax from a gallonage tax is a huge ask, to say the least. A couple of reacts…
In order to afford those projects, lawmakers will look for places where the state is losing revenue. Representative Mike Bost says truckers are avoiding Illinois because of its higher gas tax and the state needs to try other techniques to bring in their business.
“That’s why we still need to maintain a sensible, competitive rate, for encouraging travel through the state of Illinois and we are losing a lot of those dollars that way,” explains Bost.
Representative Brandon Phelps says Chicago lawmakers want a bigger portion of the state’s transportation fund. Right now, it’s a 55/45 split favoring downstate projects. He says Chicago lawmakers want a 50/50 split.
“We can’t afford to let that happen,” says Phelps.
Translation: No higher taxes.
* Meanwhile, AAA is opposed to raising the speed limit to 70 mph…
“The Illinois legislature should not ignore the enormous speeding problem Illinois already has on its roadways,” said Brad Roeber, president of AAA Chicago. “Speeding accounts for more than half of Illinois’ over 900 roadway fatalities, and this problem cannot be fixed by letting cars and trucks travel faster.”
The data on speeding are clear. From 2008-2011, Illinois’ roadway fatalities dropped 12 percent; but those fatalities due to speeding rose nearly 14 percent. Furthermore, in 2010 and 2011, Illinois speed limits for large trucks were raised to 65 mph. Over this time, there has been a 39 percent increase in fatalities involving large trucks.
Well, on Illinois’ rural interstates, the majority of drivers actually are traveling well over 65 mph — more like 70 to 75 mph. We’ve all seen it. Drive 65 or slower on I-55 and you run the risk of being blown off the highway, honked at or rudely gestured to. […]
Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, who sponsored the bill, said he doesn’t believe people who already speed now will just drive even faster if the limit is raised.
“I really don’t think so,” he said. “In fact, I would be willing to support a tighter enforcement of the speed limit.”
We agree with Oberweis. If officials are concerned about excessive speeding and the possible repercussions, we encourage the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement agencies to crack down on speeding on the interstates and send a message that flouting the state’s speed limit won’t be tolerated.
The speed limit is almost always the minimum speed. Of course people will drive faster. Ever been to a state with higher speed limits than Illinois? People in state’s I’ve visited tend to drive faster than their posted speed limits. Also, is Oberweis OK with cutting other budgets to beef up ISP speed enforcement? Where and how?
Also, the SJ-R editorial cited as an authority the National Motorists Association, which is offering a $20,000 cash reward to anyone who can substantiate the stats in this National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statement…
Despite the tireless efforts of thousands of advocates, impaired drivers continue to kill someone every 30 minutes, nearly 50 people a day, and almost 18,000 citizens a year. NHTSA and its partners are working together to put a stop to these deadly statistics.
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In April 2012, Peoples Gas established the Utility Workers Training Program (UWTP) for military veterans—a $3.5 million multi-partner and union-backed training-to-placement program for those who have honorably served our country. To date, 60 veterans have completed the program and 42 have started a career as a gas utility worker at Peoples Gas.
Through this program, veterans develop the skills they need to enter Illinois’ natural gas industry. The curriculum of core classes has enabled each student to earn 52 college credits toward an AA degree. The new employees have also earned their Gas Utility Worker Advanced Certification at Dawson Technical Institute, a satellite site of Kennedy-King College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago.
The UWTP was created to support Peoples Gas’ Accelerated Main Replacement Program (AMRP) to replace 2,000 miles of cast and ductile iron mains in its distribution system. This project has already created over 1,000 jobs, including UWTP graduates.
The Natural Gas Modernization, Public Safety and Jobs Bill (SB 1665/HB 2414), is needed to allow natural gas utilities to confidently invest and continue hiring in Illinois. If it is not passed, Peoples Gas will be forced to slow or halt its pipeline modernization project, which would threaten the jobs that are putting Illinois veterans to work.
Members of the General Assembly: vote YES on SB 1665/HB 2414.
* There appears to be a real need for this program…
State lawmakers are considering legislation that encourages witnesses to cooperate more with police. The bill that already passed the House would provide more funding to protect, and in some cases, relocate witnesses of gang-related crimes. […]
Law enforcement officials say their investigations are often hampered by witnesses who are reluctant to testify. Yet some programs designed to coax them into working with prosecutors can barely keep up with demand.
“I could double the staff and keep everybody busy all the time,” said Lori Smith, head of Cook County’s victim witness assistance unit. “Every year funding shrinks and we are always subject to what’s going to happen with the county budget.”
Smith said last year the unit had 52 employees handling about 13,000 cases. […]
A similar witness protection program was launched in 1996 and administered by the Illinois State Police. The state appropriated $666,000 for the Gang Crime Witness Protection pilot program, but two years later the program was eliminated due to lack of funding.
Unless and until there’s an official appropriation, or unless the controlling agency somehow finds some grant money, this bill means nothing. It’s just a well intentioned feel-good measure, which is why it passed unanimously.
A copy of Sen. Kwame Raoul’s proposed [conceald carry] legislation that was obtained by The Associated Press indicates the plan would require an applicant to not only be free of a criminal record and pass a background check, but provide a “proper reason” for wanting to carry a gun and be “of good moral character.”
Those are hallmarks of laws in states such as New York, where police have wide latitude to deny applications. But Raoul said it was lifted from neighboring Indiana, whose concealed carry law dates back decades.
Raoul said a staff member told him that verbiage came from neighboring Indiana, which has been considered a conservative “shall issue” state for at least 25 years.
“I’ve never heard anybody characterize the state of Indiana as having a super-liberal approach to guns,” Raoul said.
“Proper reason” is stated plainly in the Hoosier state’s law: It is “for the defense of oneself or the state of Indiana.”
(d) The superintendent may make whatever further investigation the superintendent deems necessary. Whenever disapproval is recommended, the officer to whom the application is made shall provide the superintendent and the applicant with the officer’s complete and specific reasons, in writing, for the recommendation of disapproval.
(e) If it appears to the superintendent that the applicant:
(1) has a proper reason for carrying a handgun;
(2) is of good character and reputation;
(3) is a proper person to be licensed; and
(4) is:
(A) a citizen of the United States; or
(B) not a citizen of the United States but is allowed to carry a firearm in the United States under federal law;
the superintendent shall issue to the applicant a qualified or an unlimited license to carry any handgun lawfully possessed by the applicant.
(1) does not have a conviction for resisting law enforcement under IC 35-44-3-3 within five (5) years before the person applies for a license or permit under this chapter;
(2) does not have a conviction for a crime for which the person could have been sentenced for more than one (1) year;
(3) does not have a conviction for a crime of domestic violence (as defined in IC 35-41-1-6.3), unless a court has restored the person’s right to possess a firearm under IC 35-47-4-7;
(4) is not prohibited by a court order from possessing a handgun;
(5) does not have a record of being an alcohol or drug abuser as defined in this chapter;
(6) does not have documented evidence which would give rise to a reasonable belief that the person has a propensity for violent or emotionally unstable conduct;
(7) does not make a false statement of material fact on the person’s application;
(8) does not have a conviction for any crime involving an inability to safely handle a handgun;
(9) does not have a conviction for violation of the provisions of this article within five (5) years of the person’s application; or
(10) does not have an adjudication as a delinquent child for an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, if the person applying for a license or permit under this chapter is less than twenty-three (23) years of age.
* Tribune: ComEd rate hike request would add $6 to monthly bills
* Crain’s: ComEd wants $311 million rate hike in 2014
* Sun-Times: ComEd wants rate hike but says bills will be lower
* The Tribune explains the reasons behind the higher rate…
Commonwealth Edison said Monday that it will charge $6 more per month on average to deliver electricity to utility customers beginning in 2014 as a result of higher transmission costs and expenses it has incurred to modernize the electrical grid.
In a filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission Monday — its third under a new formula-based rate making system devised in 2011 — the utility requested $311 million in additional revenue from customers in 2014 for its role in delivering electricity, maintaining electrical lines and improving the electrical grid. That increase would amount to about $5 per month for the average electricity customer and must be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
* Crain’s breaks down its $311 million number and provides some context…
ComEd filed for a $311 million increase in the revenue it receives from ratepayers, a figure that ComEd executives said will be more like $335 million once recently passed legislation by the General Assembly to increase the utility’s revenue becomes law.
Under the controversial 2011 “smart grid” law, enacted over Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto, ComEd is permitted to increase delivery rates annually over a decade to finance a $2.6 billion grid modernization program that includes the installation of “smart meters” in every home and business in northern Illinois.
After the ICC reduced ComEd’s rate hike last year, the utility delayed the planned installation of the meters for what it said were lack of funds. Executives said today that, if the bill just passed becomes law by June 15, the company will begin installing meters in the fourth quarter of this year and aims to install 60,000 in 2013.
Mr. Quinn is expected to veto that bill, but there are sufficient margins in both the state House and Senate to override a veto.
Despite the request, the average electric bill for a residential customer will fall from about $81 monthly to about $66, beginning in June — thanks to falling energy prices.
If the higher delivery rate is approved, bills will rise in January to an average of about $72 monthly — still about 10 percent below the current rate.
Bills will fall even with the higher delivery charges because power suppliers are producing energy more cheaply, ComEd officials said.
House Republicans are targeting popular “mommy blog” websites in a digital ad campaign beginning Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to repair the GOP’s image with certain voting blocs — in this case swing female voters — who have sided decisively with Democrats in recent elections.
The banner ads will be featured on over 100 websites popular among women and geo-targeted to be viewed by residents in 20 Democratic-held congressional districts targeted by the GOP for 2014. The House Republican campaign operation is increasing its use of niche digital ad marketing for the upcoming election cycle. They used a similar strategy targeting Democrats on the unpopular automatic spending cuts known as sequester in March.
The $20,000 ad buy, running on sites including Ikeafans.com and MarthaStewart.com through Friday, will call on Democrats to vote with House Republicans next week on a bill to give hourly private sector workers more flexibility to choose between compensatory time and cash payment for overtime work. […]
The legislative effort is not expected to garner much Democratic support because it has long been opposed by labor unions and Democratic interests who argue it is a backdoor attempt to weaken workers’ rights to overtime pay.
“It’s a shame that Bill Enyart is willing to play politics while working moms and their kids need a voice to fight for them in Congress. It’s time for Enyart to stop forcing women to choose between work and family and start protecting the needs of all Illinois families.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Katie Prill
The federal government won’t make a decision for years on whether to close Scott Air Force Base, but leaders in southwestern Illinois fear growing budget pressures in Washington could affect the facility’s future.
Illinois’ congressional delegation has vowed to work to keep the base open, even though the next round of closures won’t begin taking place until at least 2015.
U.S. Department of Defense officials have said the military has more infrastructure than needed, and Illinois lawmakers fear the base will stay on the chopping block as the costs of Medicare and other government-funded social programs continue to soar, forcing spending reductions in other areas of the federal budget.
“If we don’t reform our entitlement programs, discretionary dollars will continue to get cut, which puts Scott more at risk,'’ Republican U.S. Rep. John Shimkus told the newspaper.
U.S. Rep. Bill Enyart, D-Belleville, who replaced Costello in January, is seen as a strong voice for Scott. A former commander of the Illinois National Guard, Enyart serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
Enyart spoke optimistically of community-wide efforts to protect Scott. It’s a campaign bolstered by the fact the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command cited the St. Louis region’s strong support for military personnel at Scott Air Force Base as the reason for awarding the region the prestigious Abilene Trophy. The trophy is to be awarded officially in June.
“The folks are pulling together because they know how important it is,” Enyart said. “We’re going to be working very diligently to make sure that Scott isn’t impacted by BRAC … This is not a partisan issue. This is our region, our economy, and we’re all working together.”
Victims of childhood sexual abuse would no longer face legal deadlines regarding how long they have to seek damages from their abusers, under legislation state Sen. Terry Link passed out of the Illinois Senate this week.
“I don’t know how you put an expiration date on being scarred for life,” Link said after his legislation, Senate Bill 1399, was approved 48-4. It now advances to the Illinois House for further consideration.
Current state law imposes a 20-year deadline for a sexual abuse victim to file a lawsuit against the abuser. More specifically, the victim has 20 years from the date that he or she knew of the abuse to go to court.
Link’s plan simply eliminates that deadline so a victim could sue for damages at any time.
* Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked the US Supreme Court to grant an extension in the concealed carry case. Read the filing by clicking here.
Madigan has to file her petition for certiorary by May 23rd, while the spring session is still in session and several days before the June 9th appellate court deadline is imposed on the state. She’s asking for a 30-day delay.
Gov. Pat Quinn is listed on the request as a petitioner. Quinn has publicly urged Madigan to file an appeal.
From the AG’s office…
The June 9 deadline still stands for the legislature to act. This filing doesn’t impact that.
What this filing does is allow us more time to prepare a petition, and to the extent the legislature takes action before June 9, it allows us to take that action into consideration as we draft a petition for review as the Attorney General continues to assess the appropriate next steps.
* Former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Moses Harrison passed away last week. This is his career defining quote…
“People often ask how I see my role as a judge. It is to protect ordinary citizens against wrongdoing by the government, large corporations and powerful individuals.”
In a 2002 Supreme Court news release announcing his retirement, Harrison said his small-town upbringing in Collinsville instilled within him a philosophy that “the reason for our existence is to help other people.”
One of the more well-known dissents Harrison delivered came in November 1998, when he wrote that the state’s death penalty was unconstitutional because “the execution of an innocent person is inevitable.”
About three months later, according to the court’s 2002 release, Death Row inmate Anthony Porter was exonerated and released after someone else admitted to the murders that put him behind bars.
“There are some who say Chief Justice Harrison was the first to call for a stop to executions in Illinois,” the court’s 2002 release states.
Not even a year after Harrison issued a public statement in 1999 that said the governor had the constitutional power to stop executions, the release notes that former Gov. Ryan issued a moratorium on the state’s death penalty.
Memorials may be made to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 111 O’Fallon Troy Road, O’Fallon, IL, 62269, or the Justinian Society of Lawyers Scholarship Fund, 734 N. Wells St., Chicago, IL, 60610.
“When you look precinct by precinct, you see the impact that John Hartman had,” Gill told me last week. “I would have won by at least a point and a half had there not been a John Hartman.”
Yeah, and if Davis wasn’t on the ballot, Gill would’ve won by a landslide.
Whatever.
He was a weak candidate. End of story. If Gill runs again and wins the primary, he’ll be a weak candidate again.
* As I told subscribers last week, the DCCC is pinning its hopes on the chief judge of the 3rd Judicial Circuit Ann Callis…
Callis was in a similar situation before. Two years ago Democrats tried to talk her into running in the 12th Congressional District, for the seat that had been held by former U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville. She took a pass that time — “I came to the conclusion that at this time, I could not leave a community that I love, employees and colleagues of Madison County Circuit Court that have become like family to me,” she said — and the seat eventually went to Rep. William Enyart, another Democrat.
But Democrats now want her to run in Davis’ 13th Congressional District, even though her home outside of Troy is in the 15th District represented by Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville. […]
As the chief judge in the 3rd Judicial Circuit, she has name recognition in several counties in the southern end of the district, she has contacts and money (she self-funded her campaign for judicial retention last year and her father, Lance Callis, is a Granite City trial lawyer who made millions by investing in the Argosy Casino in Alton, then selling his shares in 2005) and she has a good reputation.
Callis can self-fund, which is a big plus for the DC folks. Expect an announcement soon.
* Former state Senator Rev. James Meeks appears in a new robocall aimed at African-American voters. Meeks encourages people to call their Illinois House members and demand they vote against the gay marriage bill. Listen…
“The [African-American Clergy Coalition] has begun distributing fliers to Cook County African American Churches,” a release from the AACC said today. “African American Clergymen have now taken the AACC flier and began instructing their Congregations to call their legislators.”
The fliers contain a list of African American House members with their phone numbers.
Direct lobbying by pastors in their churches seems pretty darned close to the line. Click the fliers for a larger view…
* In other news, Carol Marin writes about House Republican Leader Tom Cross’ stance on gay marriage…
Inside Cross’ caucus of 47 Republicans, David Harris and most others will vote “no” when the time comes. Only two Republicans, Ron Sandack of Downers Grove and Ed Sullivan of Mundelein, have publicly voiced support for same-sex marriage. And they’re reportedly taking a huge amount of heat from some GOP brethren because of it.
Enter Cross.
“I’m trying to balance . . . and respect the wishes of a whole caucus . . . at the same time trying to remind everybody in our caucus that there are folks who are for this. You have to respect them,” he said by phone on Friday.
The ironies abound.
Some of the downstate members of Cross’ caucus who invoke their conservatism in opposing gay marriage don’t seem very conservative at all when it comes to pension reform. On that issue, they seem to have found common ground with their liberal Democratic colleagues, dependent as many of them are on the support of public employee unions.
* Rhode Island Beats Illinois To Gay Marriage: The risk of a black lawmakers losing his seat seems minimal, though. They can’t lose their seats to Republicans, and in 2014, is any Democrat going to run a primary campaign on the issue of opposing same-sex marriage? The winner wouldn’t have a lot of friends in the House Democratic Caucus. More likely, a black legislator trying to move up to alderman, county board, state senate or Congress would be denied a Sunday appearance at a conservative black church. That’s a valuable endorsement in the black community, so that may be enough to make a politician hesitate before pressing “yes.”
Monday, Apr 29, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Cooperatives can be formed to support producers such as farmers, purchasers such as independent business owners, and consumers such as electric coops and credit unions. Their primary purpose is to meet members’ needs through affordable goods and services of high quality. Cooperatives such as credit unions may look like other businesses in their operations and, like other businesses, can range in size. However, the cooperative structure is distinctively different regardless of size. As not-for-profit financial cooperatives, credit unions serve individuals with a common goal or interest. They are owned and democratically controlled by the people who use their services. Their board of directors consists of unpaid volunteers, elected by and from the membership. Members are owners who pool funds to help other members. After expenses and reserve requirements are met, net revenue is returned to members via lower loan and higher savings rates, lower costs and fees for services. It is the structure of credit unions, not their size or range of services that is the reason for their tax exempt status - and the reason why almost three million Illinois residents are among 95 million Americans who count on their local credit union everyday to reach their financial goals.
* As Doug Finke points out, there’s an awful lot to do in the next five weeks…
The deadline has now passed for the House and Senate to act on bills that started in their respective chambers, marking the halfway point in the process. Let’s see where some big things stand.
The state budget? It’s not May yet, so of course it’s nowhere to be seen. Outside, that is, of Gov. PAT QUINN’s budget that was outlined in March and hasn’t been heard of since. Even Quinn’s budget probably wouldn’t be out there if the state Constitution didn’t force him to do it. Bzzzt. (Cue the penalty buzzer).
Gambling expansion with its lure of easy new millions for the state? Hasn’t’ passed either chamber. Bzzzt.
Concealed carry seems headed toward the state in one form or another after a court-ordered deadline of June 9. Surely the legislature has acted to put its stamp on that, right? Nope. The House has debated and voted on two concealed-carry bills — one restrictive, one not — and rejected both of them (guess they get points for consistency). That still puts the House ahead of the Senate, which has yet to publicly debate and vote on any concealed-carry bill. Bzzzt.
Compared to all of that, there’s been an explosion of activity on pension reform. The Senate actually passed a reform bill (on the second try) dealing with one of the five systems. The House has passed three reform bills over to the Senate.
Unfortunately, none of that stuff is the final version of pension reform. Plus, it all passed before the spring break that ended April 5. Since then, nothing
Brown, in his second term in the House, is sponsor of HB 2496, a bill to provide state incentives to help lure a $1.2 billion fertilizer plant to Tuscola, a project that would be an economic boon to East Central Illinois. Iowa also is competing for the plant.
Brown had lined up two dozen co-sponsors for the measure, met with House leaders, the governor and others, got the bill out of committee unanimously and thought it was in good shape for passage.
“It was getting extremely close to being called. We had a meeting with Speaker (Michael) Madigan, (Democratic Leader) Barbara Flynn Currie and (Republican Leader Tom) Cross where we sat down and discussed all the issues at hand. They indicated they were supportive,” Brown recalled.
“And then a couple days later, John Bradley filed Amendment 3.”
Amendment 3 forgives a $15 million state loan to the Chicago Port Authority that was made 25 years ago.
The odd thing is that Rep. John Bradley is from Marion, about 310 miles from the offices of the Chicago Port Authority. But Bradley is also among Madigan’s assistant leaders.
The amendment was approved in a voice vote on the House floor, so now it’s part of Brown’s bill for the Tuscola fertilizer plant, a bill that was seemingly headed for approval. Now his bill is on hold.
“I tried to remove it,” Brown said. “But it turned out that wouldn’t work out.”
A pattern is developing in the House of holding off on all the goodies until the hard stuff is passed. Brown is a conservative, but he’s against pension reform. He’s also a likely “No” vote on the budget. The thinking may be to not give him what he wants for his district until after the hard stuff has passed.
But that means a ton of legislation (far more than listed above) is backlogged. It’s gonna be a crazy May. Either that, or nothing will get done.
* Related…
* Editorial: Don’t give state more money to throw away
A new statewide poll shows a majority of Illinoisans favor concealed carry. But an overwhelming majority in every area of the state also say it’s OK with them if Chicago and Cook County police have additional authority over who gets to carry in their own jurisdictions.
The Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll of 1,284 likely voters found that 52 percent say they approve of allowing concealed carry.
“Illinois lawmakers are debating proposed laws that would allow some citizens who are properly licensed to carry concealed firearms,” respondents were told. “In general, do you approve or disapprove of allowing licensed citizens to carry loaded, concealed firearms?”
The poll, taken April 24th, found that 46 percent disapprove and just 2 percent were neutral or had no opinion. The poll had a margin of error of +/-2.7 percent. 26 percent of the numbers called were cell phones.
Geography breaks down pretty much how you’d expect. Chicagoans staunchly opposed concealed carry 69-29, while suburban Cook County voters opposed it 52-46. Downstaters strongly support the proposal 67-32 and collar county voters support it 53-46.
Women disapproved of the idea 55-43, while men supported it 64-34. Republicans backed it 72-26, Democrats opposed it 65-34 and independents favored it 61-36. African-Americans opposed the idea 61-36, but whites backed it 56-43, as did Latinos, 56-43.
The results for the poll’s second question were even more interesting.
The Senate is currently considering a plan that would allow Chicago police and the Cook County Sheriff to reject State Police-issued concealed carry permits if they have questions about the applicants’ character. The plan stalled last week when Republican Senators balked after strong National Rifle Association opposition and Chicago-area Democrats demanded more restrictions in the rest of the bill.
But the voting public absolutely loves this idea, with a whopping 73 percent voicing their approval. “I can’t get 73 percent of people to agree that it’s dark at midnight,” joked We Ask America pollster Gregg Durham last week.
“If a concealed carry law is passed, Chicago and Cook County law enforcement officials want the right to stop a permit being issued to any individual in Chicago or Cook County when there is a concern about the applicant’s character,” respondents were told. “Do you think they should be able to stop a permit in Chicago or Cook County under those circumstances?”
A mere 22 percent disagreed with the proposal and only 5 percent were neutral or had no opinion.
The results didn’t surprise Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), who is attempting to craft a compromise bill. Raoul said he believed that Downstaters don’t care what happens in Chicago or anywhere else as long as they get their right to carry. And Chicagoans are so concerned about guns that they want their local cops to have an extra say.
According to the poll, a hugely strong 71 percent of likely Downstate voters said they approved of the plan, while 25 percent were opposed. The NRA has threatened legislators with retaliation if Chicagoans don’t end up with the same access to concealed carry as everyone else, but that particular message may not fly as long as Downstaters get what they want for themselves.
Even so, Downstaters seem to be sticking with the NRA. “I am working to pass a Concealed Carry law that specifically says it SHALL apply to all counties in Illinois,” state Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) wrote on his website last week. “The Second Amendment of the Constitution applies [to] all citizens, including those in Chicago.”
But a sky-high 80 percent of likely Chicago voters approved of the proposal, as did 72 percent of suburban Cook voters and 71 percent of collar county voters.
Support was also very high across all demographics. Women were 80-14 in favor, and men were 62-32 in favor. Black voters backed it 75-16, whites supported it 65-34 and Latinos approved of it 75-18. Republicans supported it 64-30, Democrats favored it 82-13 and independents backed it 67-23.
Results like that could make you think this ought to be a no-brainer issue. But the NRA is bringing all of its considerable might to the table here, and that muscle is, so far, outweighing overwhelming public opinion.
Subscribers have crosstabs.
* Related…
* Quinn: Cities, not state, should approve concealed guns: Sen. Tim Bivins of Dixon, the Republican negotiator on the issue, supported Raoul’s idea of a “compromise” giving Chicago more authority if carry permits were more readily available to lawful gun owners in the rest of the state. But he was much more cautious late last week after seeing the proposed language. A more widespread local option is out of the question, the former Lee County sheriff said.
George Jones, known as “the greatest voice in country music,” died today at a Nashville Hospital after being hospitalized last week with a fever and irregular blood pressure, his publicist said today. He was 81 years old. “The world has lost the greatest country singer of all time,” his friend Merle Haggard said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “Amen.”
Born in Saratoga, Texas into an extremely poor household, Jones went on to 143 Top 40 country hits; fourteen went to Number One, beginning with 1959’s “White Lightning,” and they continued through the decades including “She Thinks I Still Care” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Sinatra called him “the second greatest singer in America” (second only to himself) while Keith Richards calls him “a national treasure.” “If we all could sound like we wanted to, we’d all sound like George Jones,” Waylon Jennings once sang.
“Most people’s voices are a gift from God,” Garth Brooks once said. “With George Jones, I think it started out as a gift from God and then they built a body around it because anybody who has ever wanted to sing country music wants to sound like George Jones.”
* Here’s one from last year with George, Jamey Johnson and Blackberry Smoke singing “Yesterday’s Wine”…
You give the appearence
Of one widely travelled
I’ll bet you’ve seen
Things in your time
Calvin Sutker devoted much of his adult life to politics — as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, Cook County commissioner, state representative, Skokie trustee — and for 33 years, the Niles Township Democratic committeeman.
But he spent his last decade speaking to community groups about his experience as a young soldier who witnessed firsthand the horror of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp in southern Germany.
“We were sickened at the ghastly spectacle of the depravity of the Nazi perpetrators,” Mr. Sutker said at a 2003 Kristallnacht observance marking the Nov. 9, 1938, night when Nazis destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses.
“He had never spoken publicly about it before that day,” said a daughter, Sharon McGowan.
A longtime Skokie resident, Mr. Sutker died Thursday morning, a few weeks before his 90th birthday, at Evanston Hospital.
Mr. Sutker met his late wife, Phyllis, when he delivered an order from his father’s Austin deli and grocery to her home — an event orchestrated by her mother. […]
Visitation will be at 12:45 p.m. and a funeral service at 2 p.m. Friday at Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation, 4500 W. Dempster St., Skokie. Burial will be in Westlawn Cemetery, 7801 W. Montrose, in Norridge.
You can watch Sutker talk about his experience at Dachau by clicking here.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration has cut off funding to the state’s largest charter-school operator, the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization, over insider deals it says violated terms of a $98 million state grant, according to a letter obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The deals involved millions of dollars in state funds that went to companies owned by two brothers of a high-ranking UNO executive, Miguel d’Escoto, that were hired as contractors on state-funded school construction projects in Chicago, according to the letter, which was sent to the organization Thursday from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The state agency began investigating UNO in response to reports in the Sun-Times that revealed that d’Escoto Inc. and Reflection Window Co. have been paid a total of $8.5 million out of the state grant. D’Escoto Inc. is owned by Federico “Fred” d’Escoto. Reflection Window is owned by Rodrigo d’Escoto.
The two men are brothers of Miguel d’Escoto, a city transportation commissioner in former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration who resigned Feb. 12 from his $200,000-a-year position as UNO’s No. 2 executive following the Sun-Times reports.
State officials said UNO should have notified them it was using the companies owned by the d’Escoto family members.
* Gov. Quinn emphasized today that the grant funding suspension was “temporary” until the state can “get to the bottom” of what’s going on. Unless the group “straightens things out,” Quinn said, “they won’t get any money.”
Federal prosecutors raised the prospect on Friday in court of having their experts examine former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. if his lawyers plan to raise his bipolar disorder as a mitigating factor in trying to reduce his prison sentence.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson made no decision after prosecutor Matt Graves said he wanted to “alert” her to the possible issue in advance of the sentencing July 1 of Jackson and his wife, former Ald. Sandi Jackson. […]
Graves said the government is “entitled” to have Jackson checked “by our own experts” if Jackson’s lawyers decide to argue Jackson’s mental health should be taken into consideration by the judge when she sentences him.
Defense attorney Reid Weingarten told Judge Jackson that the former congressman’s bipolar disorder is well known and “not controversial.”
Seven of 12 Metro Areas See Increase in March Local Unemployment
4/25/2013
Chicago, Rockford, Kankakee Lead March Job Growth
CHICAGO - March local unemployment rates increased in seven of 12 metro areas, decreased in four, and were unchanged in one compared to last year, according to preliminary data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Not seasonally adjusted data compares March 2013 to March 2012.
The largest increases were in: Decatur MSA (+1.4 points to 11.8 percent), Danville MSA (+1.1 point to 10.8 percent), and Peoria MSA (+0.9 point to 8.9 percent). The Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Metropolitan Division was up +0.5 point to 9.5 percent. The largest decreases were Metro East (-0.9 point to 8.9 percent) and Quad Cities (-0.5 point to 7.2 percent).
Bost said the Legislature has put money in the budget for the center, but Gov. Pat Quinn still refuses to keep the Murray Center open.
“The Governor has never visited the center,” Bost said. “We are still trying to do everything we can procedurally to keep it open. These are our most vulnerable citizens. It’s awful what is happening.”
“The Governor is a politician and fake,” Bost continued. “I appreciate him showing up at veterans funerals. It’s easy to show care and compassion in a situation you have no control over. In this case, he has the control. It flies in the face of sincerity on other issues.
“If he is so compassionate, why doesn’t he just walk in the facility? If he had been there first, he may have understood the need. It’s heartbreaking.”
* The AP follows up on a story that first appeared here yesterday…
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wants Attorney General Lisa Madigan to drop a lawsuit over back pay for unionized state workers so he can implement a new state contract he says will save hundreds of millions of dollars.
But Madigan’s office said Thursday the attorney general won’t dissolve the legal action until her lawyers know whether lawmakers will put up $140 million to pay the back wages that are at the center of the wrangling. If there’s a hang-up in the General Assembly, the attorney general needs to keep legal options open, spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said.
Quinn and the employees’ union settled the dispute at the bargaining table, and his assistant budget director, Abdon Pallasch, said prolonging the lawsuit holds up $900 million in health care savings. The union won’t sign the contract its membership ratified until the lawsuit is pulled off the docket.
Madigan, a Chicago Democrat like Quinn, is considering opposing him in the gubernatorial primary next spring, but officials were careful Thursday to stress the lawsuit is not a question of political ill will. […]
Quinn wants to put the rancor behind him now, particularly with election season approaching, but also because there are savings to be had. While he gave up the fight over the raises, Quinn is eager to realize the health care savings from current and retired state workers in the newly ratified pact, Pallasch said.
“Failing to resolve the $64 million lawsuit now risks the $900 million in health care savings for taxpayers under the contract,” he said.
This is a real standoff. Right now, it doesn’t look like the GA is in any mood to fund the back pay. So the lawsuit won’t be dropped. But that means the contract won’t be signed. The whole thing could come tumbling down, and might even spark another contract vote.
*** UPDATE *** AFSCME just sent this e-mail to its members…
AFSCME has informed the Quinn Administration that the union is not prepared to sign the new contract without further authorization from the union membership. Your AFSCME Bargaining Committee is convening on Monday to recommend a course of action—and further information will be coming to you soon.
I know that the situation can be confusing and frustrating—especially for those employees who have not received their negotiated raises. However, it’s critical to keep in mind how far we have come by standing together and standing firm.
When the pay raise was initially withheld, AFSCME immediately took the issue to arbitration—and won. When the State appealed that decision to court, the Union battled through all the legal delays and maneuvers and secured a ruling that the contract must be honored. When the state said it had no money to pay any raises, AFSCME’s research turned up tens of millions of dollars which resulted in thousands of employees receiving the wages owed over the past two years and many more in line to receive monies from the funds held in escrow.
We’ve succeeded time and again when others said it couldn’t be done. We’re not going to give up now. We’ll keep on fighting to ensure that justice is done for all members. And if all members stand together, we can succeed once more.
Sincerely,
Henry Bayer
Executive Director
*** UPDATE 2 *** If you click here, you’ll see an amendment to a Speaker Madigan bill filed today by Rep. John Bradley which appears to fund the back pay.
Not all that long ago, DuPage County was about as reliably Republican and rock-ribbed conservative as they came.
Things are changing
For one, it’s not nearly as Republican. Back in the 1998 governor’s race, Republican George Ryan defeated Democrat Glenn Poshard by 104,000 votes in DuPage.
But in 2010, during the greatest Republican landslide since 1946, Republican Bill Brady managed to beat Gov. Pat Quinn by less than half Ryan’s total: 45,000 votes. Barack Obama carried the county in both of his presidential bids.
DuPage used to be dominated by Pate Philip, the no-nonsense conservative former state Senate president. Pate wasn’t much for women’s rights, or civil rights, or gay rights or whatever. Back in those days, whenever you thought of DuPage County, you automatically thought of Pate Philip. He seemed to embody an area built on white and corporate flight out of Chicago.
I tried reaching Pate on Thursday because I wanted to ask him about some new polling I’d seen of his beloved county. No luck. That’s too bad, because I genuinely enjoy talking to him. You always know where you stand with that man, and he always tells you what he thinks.
The We Ask America poll I wanted to talk to Pate about found that a plurality of DuPage County’s likely voters support gay marriage.
According to the poll, 49 percent of DuPagers say lawmakers should pass legislation to allow gay marriage while 45 percent oppose it. The poll of 1,052 likely voters taken April 22nd had a margin of error of plus/minus 3 percent.
The poll found that 62 percent of people aged 18-24 support gay marriage. In fact, every age group backed gay marriage except for senior citizens, who opposed it 55-40.
If you had told me a year ago that a poll could turn up these sorts of results in DuPage, I would’ve thought you were dipping into your medical marijuana stash.
But here we are.
There are those in the Republican Party who say that their setbacks in Illinois are just temporary. The party, they say, needs to stick to its core principles, including its very clear party platform plank opposing gay marriage.
To compromise, they say, is to just become “Democrat Lite.” So, only one Republican state senator voted for gay marriage in February. Just three of 47 Republican state representatives say they’re in favor ahead of a House vote.
Famed political prognosticator Nate Silver projects that national support for gay marriage will continue increasing by 1.5 percentage points per year. If he’s right, it’ll just be a few more months before there’s actual majority support for the issue in DuPage.
Conservatives are, by nature, slow to change. That’s totally understandable. It’s who and what they are. But there’s slow and then there’s political suicide. Eventually, they’re going to have to come to grips with this issue. Their all too often harsh rhetoric is alienating the people they need to get their party members elected.
Pate Philip has been out of power for 10 years, now. I truly miss his straight talk, but his brand of politics was on the way out here even before he retired. These days, it seems as though he lived in another world. The trouble is, too many Republican politicians still live in that world.
But now that more people in Pate’s DuPage County favor gay marriage than oppose it, if the GOP still can’t see the writing on the wall, then they probably deserve whatever’s coming to them
* Let’s start our roundup of Aaron Schock’s decision not to run for governor with the Sun-Times report…
“He said back in the fall he was going to see whether he thought he could do more good running for re-election for Congress or running for governor,” Schock aide Steve Shearer told the Peoria Star late Thursday.
Schock, 31, ultimately decided to remain on Capitol Hill, where he serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, said Shearer, Schock’s chief of staff and campaign manager.
But the young third-term Peoria congressman also faced the reality of a crowded GOP field — and a tough general election race if he prevailed. […]
“Aaron realized he is only 31 and is not willing to risk everything against Rauner’s millions and probably Lisa Madigan,” said one state House Republican familiar with Schock’s thinking.
Had Congressman Schock survived a brutal Republican primary race, he still would have faced the daunting challenge of either facing an incumbent governor, Pat Quinn, or a popular attorney general with a well-known family name, Lisa Madigan. Or even throw in the longshot possibility of running against Bill Daley, former Secretary of Commerce and brother of Chicago’s former mayor, Richard M. Daley. All three would be tough opponents, making this race for governor “mission impossible,” that could have resulted in ending his promising political career.
In February, the House Ethics Committee announced it would continue an investigation into Schock over allegations he sought donations of more than $5,000 per donor to a political action committee. The super PAC backed Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who was running in a House primary against Rep. Don Manzullo. Kinzinger won the March 2012 primary.
At the time, Schock spokesman Steve Dutton said Schock hadn’t done anything wrong and the case was “without merit.”
Shearer said Schock’s increasing seniority in the House after the changeover of members in the previous two national congressional elections was a significant factor in the decision not to seek the governor’s office. Schock is only two seats away from the halfway point of seniority on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Schock also serves on the House Administration Committee and in an advisory role to the House Republican Conference.
* Schock has had a storied career so far, and he’s only 31…
The 31-year-old won an unexpected write-in victory for the Peoria District 150 School Board in 2001 by a 20 percent margin over the incumbent board president while still a student at Bradley University. Three years later he won an equally difficult victory in a majority-Democratic state House district where he served for two terms before running for Congress in 2008.
In the House especially he has proven to be a prolific fundraiser, bringing a host of high-profile speakers to central Illinois including former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, House Speaker John Boehner, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, then-President George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former House colleague Allen West.
During the first three months of 2013, Schock brought in just shy of three-quarters of a million dollars to his federal campaign fund, and was sitting on a war chest of about $2.7 million, according to disclosure documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.
He could very well be the future of the GOP in this state.
His decision not to run leaves only one Republican candidate at the moment with access to major campaign cash, Chicago investment mogul Bruce Rauner, though Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford has raised some hundreds of thousands of dollars.
* 8:03 pm - Republican Congressman Aaron Schock is calling around this evening to inform people that he’s announcing Friday that he will not run for governor.
* 9:03 pm- The story is spreading so I took off the password protection.
* FRIDAY, 8:00 am - From a press release…
Aaron Schock has chosen to run for re-election to Congress in 2014
(PEORIA, IL) Last fall Congressman Aaron Schock said he was considering whether he could do the most good by running for re-election to Congress or by running for Governor of Illinois. After carefully considering both options, today he is announcing that he has chosen to run for Congress again in 2014.
The ISRA has learned that an anti-gun senator from Chicago has written a horrible “may issue” concealed carry bill that would “carve” Cook County out from the rest of the state. In effect, this bill would allow the Cook County Sheriff and the Chicago Superintendant to deny permit applications filed by Cook County residents. Furthermore, carry permits issued in other counties would be VOID in Cook County. In other words, it would be illegal for you to carry a defensive firearm in the place you need it most – Cook County.
It is important that every firearm owner in the state call their State Senator and express opposition to this bill – it affects every one of us, not just Cook County residents. No matter where you live in the state, as a gun owner you cannot sit idly by and watch millions of good citizens in Cook County have their civil rights trampled. If this bill passes, it won’t be long until the obstacles to concealed carry erected by Cook County will spread to many other counties in the state. You must act now!
As of the writing of this Action Alert, no bill number has been assigned to this bad carry bill. The Senate leadership is playing a shell game with us. There is no telling where it will pop up. Nonetheless, it is very important that you follow the instructions in this alert!
Remember. . .
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart does not have the right to decide if you are worth defending or not.
Chicago Police Superintendent Gerry McCarthy does not have the right to decide whether you will live or die.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel does not have the right to condemn your family members to rape, robbery and murder.
A Republican congressman from Virginia who chairs a key appropriations panel lashed out Wednesday over the federal government’s purchase of a vacant Illinois prison, telling Attorney General Eric Holder that he “really created a mess with your bailing out the state of Illinois with the Thomson prison purchase.”
Rep. Frank Wolf, of Vienna, Va., in suburban Washington, chairs a House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Justice Department.
Wolf will be instrumental in approval of money necessary to upgrade and open the prison, where the Obama administration once hoped to send detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now the administration wants federal prisoners held there.
* This warning has appeared above the comment box for years…
Inappropriate or excessively rabid comments, gratuitous insults and “rumors” will be deleted or held for moderation. Profanity is absolutely not acceptable in any form. “Sock puppetry” is forbidden. All violators risk permanent banishment without warning and may be blocked from accessing this site. Also, please try to be a little bit original.
Today, I added a new line…
In other words, do your best to be civilized and smart.
* The Question: How do you think you can be more “civilized and smart” in comments?
The panelists at times struggled to find common ground, and the deep divide between stakeholders on how to fix the pension funding crisis was painfully evident.
But a pension reform forum sponsored Wednesday by the Daily Herald and the nonpartisan reform website Reboot Illinois did produce civil discourse in the organizations’ attempt to further understanding of the $100 billion mess and, hopefully, prompt meaningful steps toward a solution.
There are no magic solutions to this mess. Legislators are intensely divided. Outsiders and “good government” types think it should be easy, and maybe it should be, but that isn’t legislative or political reality.
And if anybody thinks attending a forum on this topic will “prompt meaningful steps toward a solution” then I want some of whatever they’re smoking. I mean, is Rep. Tom Morrison going to back away from his 401(k) plan because he attended a forum? Nope…
One of the first questions asked to those in the audience was how many in attendance were state employees. When a strong majority in the room raised their hands, Morrison framed his argument that pensions should be moved to employee-managed 401(k)-style accounts with another question to those employees: “Who trusts Springfield politicians?”
“My ideal solution is to get the state out of the defined benefit pension plan,” he said. “One thing we can all agree on is that we can’t trust politicians who have been representing us down in Springfield.”
A proposal that would ban people from smoking outdoors on all state-supported university and community college campuses fell five votes shy of the 30 need to pass the Illinois Senate Wednesday.
Sponsoring Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, used a parliamentary maneuver to keep the bill alive for a possible second vote in the future.
“I want to be perfectly clear here that if you go to tailgate at a football game you will not be able to smoke at you car, standing next to your cookout grill, is that correct?” Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, asked Link. […]
Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, ridiculed the bill on the floor.
“So a university employee who is riding on a tractor, out in the middle of the university farm at the University of Illinois or Illinois State University, and who is literally so far away from anyone else that someone would have to use a telescope to see that they’re smoking a cigarette, that person under your bill would be banned from smoking a cigarette?” Righter asked. Link admitted the person would be banned from smoking.
“Surely all of us can get on board with the notion that the duly appointed members of the boards of trustees should be able to make some decisions,” he said. “And that the person who is literally a football field away from anyone else, working on a construction site and wants to have a cigarette, poses exactly no health risk to anyone else. There is a point, even for those who believe in the most active of governments, to which you say, ‘You know what, even Springfield’s arm isn’t that long.’”
* Roundup…
* State prison officials want more money: In a Senate hearing Wednesday, Corrections budget chief Brian Gleck-ler said the department is requesting about $41.8 million to finish out the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The money is needed because Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration was or-dered to pay wage hikes to employees it had withheld during tight budget times two years ago.
* Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune editorial board thundered its outrage over not being able to obtain an official copy of the new AFSCME contract with the state…
We’ve been asking for a copy since Feb. 28, the day the two sides announced the agreement. Quinn’s office said we had to wait until union members ratified the contract. That happened on March 19.
Since then, we’ve been told the lawyers needed time to tidy up the paperwork.
A full month of tidying? Sorry, but we’re out of patience. Taxpayers are picking up the tab for this contract. They deserve to know how much Quinn and the employee union ordered up in pay and benefits. In fact, taxpayers should have the opportunity to weigh in before the contract gets finalized with Quinn’s signature.
* So, I contacted a few folks to see if I could find out what was going on. Why couldn’t we get an official copy? We’ve already seen the copy that went out to union members, but what about the final copy? Anders Lindall with AFSCME e-mailed me back late yesterday afternoon…
As you know, once finalized, our state contract is publicly available; the previous contract is posted in its entirety on the CMS website. With respect to the new agreement, you and others have reported on all key provisions, even publishing our internal summary that covers economic issues as well changes in workplace practices, policies and procedures. But at this point, with the contract not yet signed and the parties still finalizing finely-tuned language changes, there is simply nothing more to release.
Wait. The contract isn’t signed? It was ratified weeks ago.
Why isn’t the contract signed?
Lindall replied…
Like I say, parties still finalizing language.
*** UPDATE 1 *** This may help clear things up, thanks to a commenter. From a message to union members from Henry Bayer…
The Administration has moved forward to fulfill these commitments:
1. The FY 14 budget that the governor submitted to the General Assembly includes funding to bring all employees to their proper wage level pursuant to the previous and the current contract.
2. The Administration is now moving forward on the dispersal of the escrowed funds. These are monies that the union had demonstrated to the court were appropriated in the FY12 budget and could therefore be used toward payment of the back wages owed for FY12. There is approximately $42 million in this fund. Many of the dollars are restricted in how they can be allocated (e.g., federal grants for specific purposes or appropriations for specific agencies), so the distribution to employees will not be uniform and the restrictions may prevent all of the $42 million from being distributed. Allocation of these funds is in the process of final review and affected employees will be notified in the coming weeks.
3. The remainder of the back pay owed (approximately $154 million) requires a supplemental appropriation by the General Assembly. The Administration has drafted the supplemental and expects it to be introduced next week.
4. The Governor’s Office notified Attorney General Lisa Madigan that the appeal of the circuit court ruling should be withdrawn. To date, the Attorney General has failed to do so, indicating that she is conducting a thorough review of the case before reaching a decision as to how to proceed.
Council 31 staff have been working intensively for weeks now to finalize the new contract, which requires ensuring the accuracy of the specific wording of the contract language and verifying all elements of the health plan and other economic components.
However, the new contract has not been signed, pending the state’s action on the lawsuit. [Emphasis added.]
So, it’s not all about the “language.” Attorney General Madigan is holding up the union’s signature. I’ll ask her why right now. Check back.
But, yes, the health plan language is still a sticking point. There’s some debate over what type of health plan should now be used. More on that another time.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The attorney general’s office responds…
It’s our understanding that the full payment of backpay is dependent on a special appropriation. We know the Legislature, the Governor and AFSCME are working on that. In the meantime, until a special appropriation bill moves forward, it’s most appropriate to put the lawsuits on hold, as the Governor, the legislature and AFSCME continue their work.
* I never would’ve thought this could be a problem, but it is for at least one person, so the Senate just approved a bill to help him out…
A measure that would allow an Edgar County man to stop paying child support for a teenager who isn’t his was approved 52-0 by the Illinois Senate.
The measure, SB 1867, was sponsored by Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, and was introduced to aid Brad Entrican, a Paris man who earlier told a Senate committee that he has been paying child support for years but didn’t learn until after DNA testing in 2011 that he was not the father of the boy, who is now 13. Attempts to resolve the case through administrative procedures and in the courts failed because Entrican had not filed his petition within the two-year statute of limitations.
The legislation allows a man to continue to challenge a finding of paternity after the statute of limitations has been filed when there is DNA evidence supporting him. […]
Entrican had said earlier this year that he didn’t challenge the paternity until the summer of 2011, after meeting the boy for the first time. He had failed to appear for a scheduled genetic testing in 2001 because at the time, he had no reason to doubt he was the boy’s father.
A fascinating personal story. I can’t help but feel sorry for the kid, though. Now what does he do?
Thursday, Apr 25, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In April 2012, Peoples Gas established the Utility Workers Training Program (UWTP) for military veterans—a $3.5 million multi-partner and union-backed training-to-placement program for those who have honorably served our country. To date, 60 veterans have completed the program and 42 have started a career as a gas utility worker at Peoples Gas.
Through this program, veterans develop the skills they need to enter Illinois’ natural gas industry. The curriculum of core classes has enabled each student to earn 52 college credits toward an AA degree. The new employees have also earned their Gas Utility Worker Advanced Certification at Dawson Technical Institute, a satellite site of Kennedy-King College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago.
The UWTP was created to support Peoples Gas’ Accelerated Main Replacement Program (AMRP) to replace 2,000 miles of cast and ductile iron mains in its distribution system. This project has already created over 1,000 jobs, including UWTP graduates.
The Natural Gas Modernization, Public Safety and Jobs Bill (SB 1665/HB 2414), is needed to allow natural gas utilities to confidently invest and continue hiring in Illinois. If it is not passed, Peoples Gas will be forced to slow or halt its pipeline modernization project, which would threaten the jobs that are putting Illinois veterans to work.
Members of the General Assembly: vote YES on SB 1665/HB 2414.
* Sen. Dan Duffy (R-Lake Barrington) was not at all happy with a bill that passed his chamber yesterday. Duffy was so angry that he posted a diatribe about the bill on his Facebook page, blasting his own Republican leader and two fellow GOP members, both likely gubernatorial candidates…
Yikes.
* Sen. Duffy has been an ardent opponent of red light cams ever since he received two red light tickets in three days at the very same red light. Video of the first infraction…
Under the proposal, local municipalities or counties would have to sign off before a school district could use the cameras because penalties for going around a stopped bus would need to be reviewed by law enforcement rather than school officials. Sponsoring Sen. Tony Munoz, D-Chicago, said school districts would receive the bulk of the money from fines and the rest would be used to underwrite costs of the program. A first offense would cost $150 and a second offense $500, Munoz said.
But the bill drew a skeptical eye from Sen. Dan Duffy, who challenged the need for the bill and feared that the cameras could lead to more controversies. As of mid-April, Redflex said it had been awarded 25 school bus contracts and 18 trial programs in eight states: Rhode Island, Connecticut, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Maine, Alabama and Washington.
Redflex is expanding into automated school bus cameras amid the federal probe of its Chicago red-light program that has led to questions from officials across the country. Federal authorities issued a subpoena for financial records of a former city official at the center of the escalating international scandal after the Tribune raised questions in October about the city’s contract with Redflex.
Duffy contended that the lobbyists for camera companies and lawmakers who support the measure are supporting one more way to squeeze “cold hard cash” from the taxpayers of Illinois. “This is the next generation of red-light cameras,” said Duffy, R-Lake Barrington.
* Duffy’s remarks went beyond even that. Sun-Times…
Duffy also alluded to a Chicago Tribune report on a federal bribery investigation into Chicago’s red-light camera program and a rival purveyor of red-light cameras, Redflex Traffic Systems - a probe Duffy bombastically characterized Wednesday as the “largest scandal in Illinois history.”
“It’s the same camera company and the same camera lobbyists associated with Gov. Blagojevich and other scandals who’s promoting this bill,” said state Sen. Dan Duffy (R-Lake Barrington), who has been a frequent critic of red-light cameras.
Neither RedSpeed nor Redflex testified in favor of Munoz’ bill in Senate committee, legislative records show.
“Here he stands now, saying there’s corruption about cameras, the worse there has ever been and bringing up Blagojevich. We took that matter up, and we know where he is,” Munoz said, referring at first to Duffy and then the imprisoned governor.
“You like to go around cameras,” Munoz snapped, his voice rising in a direct verbal hit on Duffy. “You drive right through them, you in your fancy car, your fancy suit. You want to bring it up? I can do it too.”
Sen. Munoz referenced an IDOT study which found that about 120 drivers reported seeing over 3,000 instances of drivers going around school buses with stop signs extended outward.
* Thanks to our very good friends at BlueRoomStream.com, you can watch the interchange, which begins at just after the 1-hour, 3-minute mark. The “good stuff” starts about ten minutes later…
* Sen. Dan Kotowski has a “puppy lemon law” proposal…
Consumers who buy a new dog or cat only to find out it has a serious disease or ailment would have a new form of recourse under an Illinois Senate proposal.
The Senate Executive Committee voted 8-5 Wednesday in favor of a bill described as a “puppy lemon law.”
The legislation would allow people who buy a dog or cat at a pet store to get a replacement or a refund if the animal needs veterinary care for certain illnesses or conditions within 20 days of purchase. The buyer also could seek damages for the cost of veterinary care.
Provides that, if there is an outbreak of distemper, parvovirus, or any other contagious and potentially life-threatening disease affecting more than 2 dogs at a seller’s pet shop or kennel within a 60-day period, then the seller shall provide each customer that purchases a dog a written notice stating the nature of the outbreak, and shall notify the State Veterinarian of the outbreak within 2 business days after becoming aware that a third animal has contracted the disease.
Provides that a customer who purchased a dog from a seller is entitled to a remedy if certain conditions relating to a disease, illness, condition, or death of the dog are met. Sets forth conditions that a customer shall meet to obtain a remedy from a seller and a timeframe in which the seller shall provide a reimbursement to the customer. Provides that a customer may not be entitled to a remedy if the customer fails to meet certain requirements. Provides that a seller may contest a remedy sought by a customer. Provides that if a customer and seller do not reach an agreement within 10 business days, then the parties may agree to binding arbitration or the customer may bring suit in a court of competent jurisdiction. Changes certain references from “pet shop operator” to “seller”.
* Republicans said that Kotowski should’ve also included pet shelters in the bill, even though everyone in the room knew there was no way the Republicans would ever vote for such a thing. They were simply using one of the arguments put forth by the pet store opponents…
Opponents of the proposal took issue with animal shelters being exempted, which leave those who adopt cats or dogs from shelters with no similar recourse.
Kotowski said there is a huge difference between spending $1,000 for a dog at a pet store versus the smaller amount one pays a shelter for immunizations.
He likened it to the difference between purchasing an item from Nordstrom versus going to a thrift shop.
State Sen. Dale Righter, a Charleston Republican, took exception with Kotowski’s characterization, saying he was essentially saying those who cannot afford to buy from a pet store don’t deserve consumer protection.
