* 3:29 pm - A St. Clair County judge has denied Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s motion to dissolve a 2015 court order mandating that the state pay its employees without an appropriation. More in a bit.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From AFSCME…
AFSCME, other unions successfully defend state employee paychecks
A St. Clair County Circuit Court judge has denied a request by the Illinois Attorney General to dissolve an order previously won by unions representing state employees, ensuring that state workers would continue to get paid on time and in full even in the absence of an enacted state budget.
Legal counsel for the unions led the defense of the order, arguing persuasively that by agreeing to abide by court orders, the General Assembly has in effect appropriated funds for state employee payroll. The judge indicated that he did not want to see state government shut down and that the balance of equities in the case favored continuing to pay state employees.
“Through all state government’s chaos of the past two years, the people of Illinois have been able to rely on state workers to be there, providing important public services,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “This decision ensures that that commitment can continue.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rauner administration…
The Rauner Administration issued the following statement from General Counsel Dennis Murashko in response to a St. Clair County judge denying the Attorney General’s motion to block state employee pay.
“We’re pleased our hard working state employees, who show up to work every day on behalf of the people of Illinois, will continue to be paid. It is our hope the Attorney General drops this lawsuit so the bipartisan negotiations in the Senate can continue in order to reach a balanced budget with changes to get our state back on track.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Attorney General Madigan’s spokesperson…
We think the law is clear. The Illinois Constitution requires an enacted appropriation for state spending. Under the current injunction, the state has spent over $3 billion in taxpayer money without any transparency or legislative debate as required by law. The Governor is using this injunction to avoid following the Constitution and enacting a budget, irreparably harming the people of Illinois. We will appeal the court’s order.
*** UPDATE 4 *** We don’t have the judge’s ruling yet, but a friend who was in the courtroom said the judge appeared to be swayed by an AFSCME argument which references this language in the stopgap budget passed last June…
All appropriation authority granted in this Act shall not supersede any order of any court directing the expenditure of funds for fiscal years 2016 or 2017.
The GA didn’t appropriate any money for state employee payroll in that approp bill. It instead relied on the court order to pay workers.
Most of the stopgap expired at the end of December, but there are other approps in that bill that last through the end of the fiscal year.
* The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability took a look at yesterday’s budget address. Here’s some of what they found…
The speech broke little new ground, and repeated some long debunked myths. CTBA is combing through the details of the proposed budget, and will be providing more in-depth analysis over the next few days and weeks. […]
The first is that the Governor has proposed a budget with a $4.57 billion deficit — at a time when the state is projected to begin the next fiscal year with as much as $13.5 billion in unpaid bills. Even discounting that backlog, nearly $1 of every $5 the Governor proposes to spend on General Fund services is not paid for. […]
One of the most glaring inaccuracies in the speech was that Illinois has the nation’s fifth largest state and local tax burden. This ranking comes from a Tax Foundation report that includes taxes paid to other states. If you look only at taxes actually collected by governments in Illinois, then our state ranked just 27th in state and local tax burden as a percentage of income in 2014 — slightly below the median. And 2014 was before the phase-down of the temporary income tax increase; if our income tax had been what it is now, CTBA estimates Illinois would have ranked 37th, tied with Idaho and Texas. […]
The Governor’s demand for a permanent property tax freeze is not sound fiscal policy either. Freezing the main revenue source for local governments and public education will cause severe strain in communities across the state. Indeed, such an initiative would make it virtually impossible for communities to maintain adequate levels of such basic services as police and fire protection. This is an especially questionable proposal now, given that recent state law imposed a significant increase in pension funding requirements on local governments that will continue to grow over the next two decades. [Emphasis added.]
*** UPDATE *** The Senate Democrats have posted their own analysis of the governor’s budget plan. Click here to read it.
Calling on parishioners to “speak for the children in the womb,” Cardinal Blase Cupich condemned legislation that would expand Illinois women’s access to abortion services.
The bill in question would eliminate a so-called “trigger” provision that would make abortion illegal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. It also would allow women with Medicaid and state employee health insurance to use their coverage for abortions.
The measure is a direct response from Democratic state lawmakers to Republican President Donald Trump, who has touted anti-abortion policies and said he would appoint Supreme Court justices with the goal of overturning Roe v. Wade. […]
The measure could be voted on in the House as early as Thursday. Cupich urged parishioners to ask their lawmakers to reject the bill and instead focus on passing a budget that funds “essential services.”
It is with some urgency that I write to you today, about a bill in our Illinois legislature, HB 40. The bill in question, if passed, would use tax dollars to pay for taking the life of a child in the womb through an abortion. There are strong indications that HB 40 could be enacted into law if we fail to act.
In addition to mandating state funding of abortion through the Medicaid program, HB 40 also calls for abortion coverage in state employees’ health care plans. It also allows for the use of tax dollars to fund grants to organizations that refer, counsel for and perform abortions, e.g., Planned Parenthood. All of these state-funded mandates are currently prohibited by Illinois law.
We have raised our voices in the past for those who have no voice, whether they be the immigrant or the refugee, the poor, or the unemployed. We now need to speak for the children in the womb, who are the weakest among us.
We need to let our elected officials know that taxpayers should not be forced to fund the taking of human life. In fact, tax money should be used to fund prenatal services for the poor and child care for working mothers, as well as expand health-care options for those in need. Please join me in advocating for all life by urging your state representative to reject HB 40 and work instead to pass a budget that funds all essential services.
The last abortion-related bill approved by the House only passed with 61 votes, all of whom were Democrats. One of those Democrats, Mike Smiddy, lost to a Republican last year.
* I subscribe to the governor’s campaign YouTube channel and just got an alert that this video was posted. I expect to receive a press release about it soon. Have a look…
* Script…
Whatever it takes. Bruce Rauner’s plan to balance the budget reforms Illinois, builds a new economy, freezes property taxes, caps spending, pays down the debt and term limits politicians’ power. Learn more at BudgetAndReform.com.
After school programs are zeroed out, immigrant services were zeroed out, epilepsy grants zeroed out, ARC of Illinois was zeroed out, autism services for children were zeroed out
* Also, these…
…Adding… A more complete list of zeroed-out lines…
I am heartened by the Governor’s speech today –and his very public demonstration once again of his willingness to work with Republicans and Democrats to bring Illinois out of this crisis.
I share his sense of urgency – the time is now. Illinois goes $11 million further into debt each and every day we continue to spend without a budget in place. Today the Governor also acknowledged the great deal of groundwork that has gone into negotiating a package that can pass in a Democrat-controlled Senate and encouraged us to keep working. We can now consider the Governor’s advice in our discussions as we move forward.
We want what the Governor wants – a bipartisan compromise that is a good deal for the taxpayers.
Notice that she pointedly did not embrace the governor’s advice.
* Senate President John Cullerton…
“Right now the Senate is working on this year’s budget because there isn’t one. We need to restore stability and sanity to Illinois’ finances. That begins with a budget for the here and now. That’s what the Senate is trying to do.”
Nothing whatsoever about the governor’s advice, which isn’t going down so well, to say the least.
* Speaker Madigan…
Madigan: Democrats are Proposing a New Way Forward on Budget, Economic Reforms
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, D-Chicago, issued the following statement Wednesday after Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Budget Address:
“Throughout my time in state government, legislators and governors from both parties have agreed that the state budget must be a priority. While the House has passed a number of budget bills to fund critical services for seniors, children and public safety, it appears that for the third straight year Governor Rauner has failed to introduce a balanced budget.
“As the governor told a newspaper recently, his plan is to ‘stay the course.’ That means continuing to use the disabled, the elderly, school children, victims of abuse, and many others as negotiating tools in his effort to increase profits of big corporations at the expense of middle class and struggling families. ‘Staying the course’, as the Governor wishes, means billions of dollars in new debt, and lost services for tens of thousands of Illinois’ most vulnerable children, seniors and families.
“Unlike the governor’s ‘stay the course’ plan, Democrats are proposing a new way forward. We want to work cooperatively with the governor to pass a full-year balanced budget and improve our economy, but we don’t accept that the only way to create jobs is by cutting wages and stripping away protections for workers in an effort to increase profits for businesses – all at the expense of middle-class families. We will pass reforms that lift up the middle class and provide good jobs for working families while also helping businesses grow and expanding our economy.
“We want solutions that address the challenges Illinois is facing right now. We continue to urge the governor to join us and pass a full-year budget that provides for the needs of middle class and struggling families, cares for the elderly, invests in our schools, and keeps our communities safe.”
Nothing new there.
And nothing yet from the House Republican Leader. Check back.
…Adding… Leader Durkin…
The Governor fulfilled his constitutional obligation with today’s budget address. It is now time for the legislature to fulfill its constitutional obligation by working jointly to pass appropriations that do not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly during the year, or otherwise, pass a balanced budget. Again, this will only be accomplished when both parties respect the priorities of each. Our caucus is prepared to negotiate a fair compromise and break this unprecedented impasse on behalf of all Illinoisans.
* I’ll be on Public TV today at noon and again just after the governor’s speech concludes. Check your local listings. Meanwhile, follow all the action with ScribbleLive…
[Bumped up from last night for visibility purposes.]
* Press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration today filed an opposition to the Attorney General’s irresponsible attempt to cut off paychecks for hardworking state employees.
“As we explain in our opposition, federal and state law requirements support continuing the Court’s July 2015 order that would ensure that state employees receive the paychecks they have earned,” said Dennis Murashko, General Counsel to the Governor. “Instead of fighting to cut off employee pay in the middle of the Senate’s work on passing a balanced budget with changes to the system, the Attorney General should become a productive partner in the process.”
Former Comptroller Leslie Munger retained her own counsel to fight vigorously for state employees to continue being paid for the work they do. Comptroller Mendoza has taken a different path, abdicating her responsibility to fight for state employees.
Our administration unequivocally stands with state employees. Last week, Governor Rauner sent a video message to state employees reiterating his dedication to ensuring they continue to be paid for their work. We continue to call on the Attorney General to abandon her quest to deprive Illinois state workers of their hard-earned wages.
* This is kind of an odd legal filing. Check it out…
Although the Attorney General focuses exclusively on the appropriations process, numerous other legal grounds support paying state employees in the absence of specific appropriations for state employee payroll. As described below, federal law requires the State to pay its employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, superseding state law. In addition, roughly eighty federal court consent decrees direct the State to perform a wide range of services, which tens of thousands of state employees must be paid to provide. Next, state employees must be able to protect the health, safety, and welfare (including the economic well-being) of the people under the State’s police powers. And finally, numerous legislatively-enacted commands mandate that state agencies perform a wide variety of services and functions, operating as a continuing appropriation of all funds necessary to provide them. Thus, even if the Attorney General could demonstrate that no specific appropriations existed to pay state employees (a factual matter that the Attorney General simply assumes to be true), the Attorney General would be required (but completely fails) to specify which employees’ pay can be stopped despite the above legal grounds for paying them.
Notice the incredibly broad police powers claimed in this filing. Even if AG Madigan wins this motion, they’re going to fight like heck to keep every possible function operating.
For these reasons, or any combination of them, the Attorney General has not met her burden to upset the status quo requiring that state employees continue to be paid in full. This Court should therefore continue its July 2015 Order. In the alternative, this Court should reject the Attorney General’s invitation to create an artificial emergency and instead should continue its July 2015 Order until such time as it can oversee the fact-specific inquiry necessary to determine which state services must be provided. In the event that the Court elects to follow this course, the Attorney General should explain which employees she believes must be deprived of a paycheck and which services she believes should no longer be provided to the people of this State.
And now they want to put the burden on the attorney general to decide who should and shouldn’t be paid?
Madigan spokeswoman Maura Possley said Rauner “is asking the court to relieve him of his responsibility to ever sign a budget covering the state employee payroll.”
“The governor should do his job instead of asking the court to do it for him,” she added.
