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FEJA Will Make Solar Power Accessible for All

Thursday, Nov 29, 2018 - Posted by Advertising Department

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*** UPDATED x2 - Taxes? - Ward office raided, too *** This may not end well

Thursday, Nov 29, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Whoa…

What are federal agents doing this morning at Ald. Ed Burke’s Finance Committee?

— Carol Marin (@CarolMarin) November 29, 2018

I’m outside Ald. Burke’s committee on Finance. Glass doors papered over.
Feds appear to be inside.
More on NBC5 @11.

— Carol Marin (@CarolMarin) November 29, 2018

Source says feds showed up this am, asked everyone to leave and put brown paper on the doors. pic.twitter.com/4qJBwzoKF4

— Fran Spielman (@fspielman) November 29, 2018

Reporters gathering outside Ald. Ed Burke’s office. Windows are covered. No comment. pic.twitter.com/ZTfu11w8lx

— A.D. Quig (@ad_quig) November 29, 2018

…Adding… Hmm…

Peeking through a crack in the brown paper covering the windows, "There's a guy in there." He's ignoring knocks from reporters. pic.twitter.com/1Mv6iMDAiz

— Ashlee Rezin (@Ashlee_Rezin) November 29, 2018

*** UPDATE 1 *** Tribune…

Burke’s ward office on the Southwest Side also had the same brown paper taped over its front door with three signs that read, “Office closed.” An officer sitting in a squad car parked behind Burke’s ward office said a search warrant was being executed inside but offered no further details. […]

A law enforcement source told the Chicago Tribune that FBI agents raided Burke’s City Hall office and that the search was ongoing. No arrests were made or are imminent, said the source, who had no details on the nature of the investigation.

…Adding… Prudent…

Follow-up: Apparently Justice Burke's swearing-in ceremony in the court chambers on the 18th floor of the Bilandic Building were canceled. She was sworn in by Chief Justice Karmeier in her chambers "some time this morning," according to security guards who talked to me.

— David Thomas (@DaveThomas5150) November 29, 2018

*** UPDATE 2 *** Greg Hinz…

There was no immediate word on what instigated the raids, but Burke’s influence as chairman of the Finance Committee over the city’s workers’ compensation fund could be a focus. Burke has kept outside oversight of its payouts to a minimum—even outside the purview of the city’s inspector general.

Another area of law-enforcement interest could be reflected by a recent surge in payments to the Internal Revenue Service by one of Burke’s campaign finance committees.

According to filings, Friends of Ed Burke paid nearly $150,000 to the IRS during the three months ended in June. That compared with much more modest sums in earlier periods, including two checks issued for $2,154.80 each and a third for $84 in 2017’s second quarter.

The committee also stepped up its payments to the Illinois Department of Revenue, sending more than $10,000 during the three months ended in June.

And…

Ald. Burke responds to FBI raid: “I’ve been in office for 49 years. I’ve been under investigation in the past. Nothing has ever come of it, and I’ve always cooperated. And I’ll cooperate whatever this investigation is.” ⁦@fox32news⁩ pic.twitter.com/KQiiSfnGQW

— Dane Placko FOX 32 (@dsplacko) November 29, 2018

92 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Rauner sues attorney general, One Illinois over FOIA issue

Thursday, Nov 29, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here. From One Illinois…

The governor is suing the state attorney general and One Illinois to withhold emails on government appointments from the public.

Although he lost his re-election bid Nov. 6, Gov. Bruce Rauner filed suit a week later to fight a binding opinion issued by Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office that 1,783 emails should be released to One Illinois in a Freedom of Information Act case.

The move was unexpected — at least by One Illinois — in that Rauner could have simply ignored the binding opinion issued by the attorney general’s public access counselor and forced One Illinois to file suit to compel enforcement. Instead, he took the initiative in filing — and in spending government money and resources to keep the emails from the public.

According to legal experts, suits against binding opinions in FOIA cases are likely losers, as the public access counselor has already examined and ruled on the issues. Madigan’s office will handle the litigation and press for release of the emails.

If the suit’s not decided by the time Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker is inaugurated Jan. 14, control of it would pass to his administration and he could simply move to release the emails. The Rauner administration would violate several laws if it tried to destroy the emails before he left office. Professor Emeritus Kent Redfield of the University of Illinois at Springfield speculated that Rauner could seek a restraining order that would extend beyond his term in office, but such rulings are rarely granted in these cases.

*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…

We’re not suing the AG, we can’t just ignore the opinion.

We’re appealing a binding decision made by the Public Access Counselor.

25 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Anecdotes are not data

Thursday, Nov 29, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here if you need it. From the Illinois News Network…

A report from Oregon shows that workers’ compensation costs are falling in Illinois, but a manufacturing group said employers here have yet to see any savings.

The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association heralded a report this week from the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services that ranked Illinois workers’ compensation costs at the 22nd highest in the nation, down from the eighth highest. […]

Illinois Manufacturers’ Association’s Mark Denzler said while the industry group has seen the Oregon report, the state’s employers haven’t seen the savings.

“We talk to companies on a daily basis who actually pay workers’ comp and write the checks for it and they have not seen significant reductions in workers’ compensation costs,” Denzler said.

Love me some Denzler, but show us actual numbers.

*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a commenter, these are the premium rates before they dropped from 8th highest to 22nd highest in the nation. You can plainly see premiums were already going down. From the Illinois Department of Insurance…

31 Comments

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