* OK, let’s try this again, shall we? I published and then removed a post about an Illinois Supreme Court action today. I thought it was a different case, but I checked with AFSCME and the attorney general’s office too late. There are actually two AFSCME cases out there and the one the Supremes acted on today is the case to halt payroll for state workers appealed by the attorney general and NOT the case about whether the governor can impose his terms on AFSCME. Sorry about that. Too many lawsuits!
Anyway, here’s the order again…
SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS COURT CONVENED AT 10:30 A.M., MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2017 THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE MADE:
CIVIL DOCKET
No. 121984 - The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Council 31, et al., appellees, v. Bruce Rauner, Governor of the State of Illinois, et al., etc. (People State of Illinois, appellant).
Motion by appellant for direct appeal to this Court pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 302(b). Motion denied.
Order entered by the Court.
Again, this is the case that Attorney General Lisa Madigan tried to directly appeal from St. Clair County regarding paying state employees without an appropriation. So, it’s back to the appellate level for her.
*** UPDATE *** AFSCME…
Today the Illinois Supreme Court denied the Attorney General’s motion for direct appeal of a Circuit Court Order that ensures state employee payroll continues even in the absence of an enacted state budget. AFSCME and other unions that represent state workers secured that order and opposed the motion for direct appeal.
We believe the standard appeals process should be followed. Dissolving the order would only worsen the uncertainty that the lack of a budget is inflicting on our state. Despite all the chaos caused by Governor Rauner, the people of Illinois have been able to rely on state workers to be there, providing important public services.
In the absence of a budget, the order ensuring state workers are paid is only a temporary measure keeping Illinois from spiraling further downward. It’s past time for Governor Rauner to stop holding the budget hostage in pursuit of his own ideological agenda. He should do his job and work constructively with the General Assembly toward a budget plan that is balanced and fair.
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* Press release…
Bills for consultants and technology contracts for computer software have helped deplete a fund created for the relief of providers of health care services through Illinois’ financially stressed Medicaid program, State Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced Monday.
Doctors and other health care providers around Illinois are waiting six months to a year or more to get paid because the state has not had a balanced budget in more than two years. This fund, as its name suggests, is designed to send relief to health care providers, Comptroller Mendoza said.
“Where are this administration’s priorities?” Comptroller Mendoza said. “These funds are supposed to be for critical healthcare services. There is a time and a place for technology upgrades, but our state is in the midst of the biggest financial crisis in its history and we simply cannot put consultants and new computers ahead of vulnerable people.”
The state’s Medicaid backlog now sits at approximately $3.5 billion, a major component of the overall bill backlog that now approaches $13 billion. Because those bills are paid late, taxpayers also must pay an additional $2 million a month of late payment interest penalties.
In just over two years, Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration has spent an estimated $112 million in Healthcare Provider Relief Funds on various consulting and management fees and contracts for computer software instead of direct payments to providers according to the reports filed with the Office of the Illinois Comptroller.
A single consulting firm – Deloitte Consulting LLP – has received $27.6 million in consulting fees from the Healthcare Provider Relief Fund between January 2015 and March 2017. The fees are associated with technology initiatives at the Department of Healthcare and Family Services and are part of over $350 million spent by DHFS overall on consulting and software costs since Governor Rauner took office. Whether those initiatives had successful outcomes has not yet been fully established.
The new report comes on the heels of findings indicating the Rauner Administration has budgeted nearly $100 million in additional funding for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program, an initiative overseen by the Governor’s newly created Department of Innovation Technology, which is directed to receive $1.3 billion in funding in FY2018 according to budget documents.
Comptroller Mendoza has put the brakes on $27 million in a fund being used for ERP spending pending answers from the administration on the program’s costs, progress and results to date.
Comptroller Mendoza announced the findings of her staff’s research at a speech at the City Club of Chicago. She noted her commitment to upgrading technology in government, citing her performance as City Clerk of Chicago, where she shifted more than 1.3 million Chicago City Vehicle Sticker customers from a seasonal sales program to year-round sales, bringing in more revenue for the city at lower cost to taxpayers and eliminating long lines for drivers.
“I didn’t get a blank check for technology upgrades from the City Council,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “I needed to provide transparency, accountability, and results and so should the Governor. The days of the Comptroller’s office handing out blank checks for the Governor’s pet projects are over. I am going to be the check and balance the Constitution designed this office to be.”
Mendoza also claimed at the City Club today that “days before I took office, my predecessor transferred $71 million from the General Revenue Fund… into funds used to pay, in part, the ERP.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the governor’s office…
Comptroller Mendoza will do anything to distract from the fact that she used taxpayer dollars to buy herself an SUV while cutting funding to human services.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Oof…
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* You’ll recall that Gov. Rauner asked the Illinois Supreme Court Friday to take his appeal of a case he lost against AFSCME...
The administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner is asking the state Supreme Court to rule on whether it can impose its contract terms on the union representing some 38,000 state employees.
In a filing late Friday afternoon, the administration is asking the state’s high court to immediately consider the case, rather than wait for the 4th District Appellate Court to rule first, a process the administration said could take months.
“The delay of waiting for the Fourth Circuit adjudication will impose enormous costs,” the administration said in its filing.
Those costs, it said, include $30 million to $40 million a month in expenses to the state just from being unable to impose health insurance cost savings on members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Rauner’s general counsel Dennis Murashko said in a statement the state and union went through 67 days of negotiations before the state presented its last, best and final offer.
* Here was AFSCME’s response on Friday…
Instead of wasting more time and money in the courts, Governor Rauner should simply do his job and negotiate with our union. State workers are willing to do their part, but Bruce Rauner is so blinded by his anti-union animosity that he refuses to compromise.
Contrary to the misleading statements from the governor’s office, no other union has accepted Rauner’s extreme demands that would hike health costs by 100%, freeze wages for four years and remove safeguards against irresponsible privatization schemes.
Finding that AFSCME has a “reasonable likelihood” of prevailing on appeal, the 4th District Appellate Court blocked Rauner from rushing to impose those demands. Since the governor continues to choose confrontation over compromise, we are prepared to make our case before the Supreme Court.
* This morning, the governor’s office sent over a somewhat odd response to AFSCME. Here’s Eleni Demertzis…
We are delighted that AFSCME is ready to resolve the impasse issue in the Supreme Court and hope the Court does so without delay.
Huh?
* I sent it over to AFSCME’s spokesman for comment…
No clue what she’s talking about. We said instead of wasting time and money in the courts, Governor Rauner should do his job and negotiate with our union.
*** UPDATE *** More from AFSCME…
Typical of its tendency to misinform, the governor’s office is making claims it knows are untrue about AFSCME’s statement on Friday regarding our appeal of the Illinois Labor Relations Board ruling. That statement is below. To clarify the last sentence, we are prepared to make our case before the Supreme Court that normal judicial procedures should be followed, with the Appellate Court review proceeding as scheduled.
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* Not unexpected, but ouch…
A man who launched an ill-fated primary election challenge of Michael J. Madigan, arguably the most powerful politician in Illinois, has again lost to the Speaker of the State House of Representatives, after a federal judge tossed out his lawsuit alleging Madigan and his political allies violated his constitutional rights by conspiring to smear his name and undercut his campaign.
On March 14, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly sided with Madigan and other defendants accused in the lawsuit, saying plaintiff Jason Gonzales presented no evidence that Madigan and his allies used the power of the state or their positions to violate any of Gonzales’ rights.
“Gonzales argues … that, due to Madigan’s lengthy service in the Illinois House of Representatives, his ‘authority as a private person and the authority he derives from his position are indistinguishable,’” Kennelly wrote. “Gonzales cites no case law to support this proposition. The Seventh Circuit has repeatedly stated that ‘[t]he mere assertion that one is a state officer does not necessarily mean that one acts under color of state law.’
“Gonzales must allege facts permitting a plausible inference that Madigan engaged in conduct made possible by his official authority under state law that contributed to the alleged constitutional violations. Gonzales has not done so in his complaint in its current form.”
Kennelly dismissed the complaint without prejudice, for now, giving Gonzales until March 29 to refile a lawsuit “that contains at least one viable claim.”
Go read the whole thing. Brutal.
*** UPDATE *** Um, OK. But how about just coming up with “one” fact?…
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[Comments are now open.]
* From Sen. Daniel Biss’ campaign…
Tomorrow morning at 10 am CT, I’ll be sharing some exciting news on Facebook Live. Because you and I have been on this journey together for so long, it would mean a lot to me if you could tune in.
I want to make sure you’re there for this. Click the “Get Reminder” button on this post, and Facebook will notify you when we’re about to go live.
We just wrapped up yet another week of legislative session in Springfield and, frustratingly, there is still no budget in sight. The longer this stalemate continues, the more people get hurt and the more our state’s fiscal situation deteriorates.
It’s time to be honest about why we’re in this mess — and to take bold new action to solve these problems.
I’ll be speaking to these issues, taking your questions — and sharing some exciting news — tomorrow at 10 am CT on Facebook Live.
Be sure you don’t miss this — head on over to our Facebook Live post and select “Get Reminder.” Then, tune in on Facebook at 10 am CT tomorrow and join the conversation in the comment section.
More soon,
Daniel
From what I’m hearing, he’s jumping into the governor’s race.
…Adding… Tribune…
Democratic state senator from Evanston who put together ads last fall attempting to link Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to President Donald Trump has told leading Democrats he will formally launch his campaign for governor on Monday, sources said. […]
Biss did not return calls for comment. But sources said that on Sunday he informed top Democratic officials and current and potential rivals in the March 2018 primary of his plans to run for governor. If he does so, Biss would be giving up his state Senate seat, which is up for election next year. […]
Madigan’s personal campaign fund gave $500,000 to the Biss super PAC. It also got money from longtime Democratic donors — including $3 million from money manager Michael Sacks and $1.25 million from media mogul Fred Eychaner — as well as from organized labor.
Other donors to the Biss PAC included Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy, who already has announced his candidacy for governor, and Chicago entrepreneur and investor J.B. Pritzker, who last week formed an exploratory committee for a run for governor.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The predictable ILGOP response…
“Don’t let his exterior fool you, Daniel Biss is the North Shore branch of the Madigan machine. Biss has taken over $260,000 in Madigan money, supported Madigan for Speaker and voted for billions in unbalanced Madigan spending. Last fall, Biss proved his loyalty to Speaker Madigan once and for all by running a Madigan political front group that spent millions leading up to the Election.
“Daniel Biss is a willing Mike Madigan accomplice who would give the Governor’s office back to the Chicago machine.” – Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe
Daniel Biss has transformed into another member of Mike Madigan’s machine.
Financial records reveal that Biss has taken over $260,000 in tainted Madigan money.
In exchange, Biss supported Madigan for Speaker.
As a state representative, Biss voted for every enacted Madigan budget, adding billions in debt.
Biss even supported Madigan’s $7 billion out-of-whack budget proposal in the Senate last year. That spending proposal was the most unbalanced in Illinois history.
Biss is so loyal to Madigan that he was tapped to run Madigan’s political front group – LIFT.
We can’t afford a Mike Madigan accomplice in the Governor’s office.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Ameya Pawar…
“Senator Biss is a good friend and I welcome him to the race for governor. As I’ve been touring the state and meeting with people in my own campaign for governor, I’ve said that if we expect our government to be a force for good we have to elect people who believe in the role of government to ensure a more fair, just and equal society. We need good people like Senator Biss to join in the conversation about changing the direction of our state and addressing the real and immediate issues we face in Illinois.”
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