Debate happening now on SB2273 which will remove Illinois from the Crosscheck system that is putting our voter data at risk. Follow along here: https://t.co/ZxGTML9EPJ
The Illinois House today unanimously passed Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza’s “Truth in Hiring” Act to bring all “offshored” employees of the Governor’s office back into the Governor’s budget. State Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, sponsored the bi-partisan bill in the House.
For too long, Illinois governors – Democratic and Republican – have engaged in the deceptive practice of “offshoring” their employees’ salaries to other agencies — for example, paying an education advisor $250,000 from the Department of Human Services; or a deputy chief of staff $140,000 from the Illinois State Police’s budget — to mask the true size of the Governor’s budget.
A recent payroll analysis shows only 44 of Governor Rauner’s staffers are actually paid from the Governor’s budget. MOST of his staff – 58 people – are hidden in other agency payrolls. If the Governor were honestly reporting all the people working in his office, he would have to disclose his office budget is more than $10 million, instead of the $4.9 million that is budgeted for the current fiscal year.
Yesterday, 111th State Representative Monica Bristow made her feelings clear on the House floor regarding how much legislators should be paid:
“Hopefully if this body [the Illinois House] and the Senate gets its act together, we will be able to have our revenue exceeding expenditures and we’ll all get raises.”
Monica Bristow made this astonishing admission live on the House floor while debating HB 5760 - a bill concerning mileage reimbursement rates for legislators and the halting of cost-of-living adjustments. We all have dreams of a more prosperous future - Monica’s dream just happens to be paid for by overburdened taxpayers.
Mike Babcock, Republican candidate for 111th state representative, had this to say in response to Bristows comments:
“It is no surprise that Rep. Bristow, tightly entrenched within the Madigan self-serving machine, would advocate for more pay for herself. Let me be clear, career politicians in Springfield shouldn’t be receiving an extra dime. As a small business owner, I wouldn’t give an employee with the same record of failure a raise - I’d replace them. Rep. Bristow is the taxpayers employee and I’d say it’s time we replaced her too.”
When it comes to elected officials safeguarding taxpayer money, Mike Babcock leads by example. Mike Babcock has forgone a pay raise during his 9 years as Wood River Township Supervisor, has never raised taxes, and has a budget surplus year after year.
* Remap proponents trying to get issue before voters, but it’s not looking good: Senate leaders allowed proponents of the amendment to make their case at a subcommittee hearing Wednesday. However, in the House, the proposals have been locked up in the House Rules Committee and time is quickly running out. Both the House and Senate would have to vote by May 6 to put the issue on the ballot. The House is not scheduled to be in session the week of April 30 through May 4.
* Medical Marijuana for School Students Approved By Illinois House: “Before anyone sets their hair on fire about medical marijuana in school, it’s important to understand that tots won’t be toking up in class,” says Lang. “Discreet, private locations in a school will set aside for parents to administer the product and have no impact on anyone else in the building.”
* Illinois youth tackle football ban dead for now: Opposition to restrictions on America’s most popular sport stifled it for now. Sente, a Vernon Hills Democrat, said she will not call the legislation for a House vote before the General Assembly’s scheduled May 31 adjournment. But the bill stays alive until year’s end, and Sente, who is not seeking re-election in November, raised the possibility that the issue might be ripe for a vote this fall.
* Lawmakers Seek Broader Reviews of Suburban Police Shootings - Following a BGA/WBEZ investigative series, members of the Illinois black legislative caucus vow a push to mandate reviews of whether officers who shoot citizens violated policies or best practices.
* Editorial: Time to throw away golden parachutes for public employees
* Women fighting cancer ask, ‘why won’t Illinois insurers cover egg, embryo freezing?’: In Illinois, about 5,800 people of reproductive age — between 14 and 45 — are diagnosed with cancer each year, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, though not all those patients would need or want to freeze sperm, eggs or embryos.
* Slowik: Caregivers support expanding alerts to include people with disabilities: State law currently allows police to issue “Amber Alerts” for missing children and “Silver Searches” to help locate missing senior citizens. Police, however, cannot currently issue an emergency notice when a non-elderly adult with a developmental disability is missing.
In September, [Gov. Rauner] said, Hannover Messe will have an exhibition in Chicago.
“We’re working out the details to do a big Hannover Messe show in McCormick Place later this year,” he said. […]
“I had dinner with a business owner in Poland who makes agricultural equipment and he would like to evaluate opening a plant in central Illinois to make agriculture-related equipment We had good discussion there,” he said. “I think Illinois is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the Polish economy’s growth. […]
“We have Ed Seidel from the U of I (the university’s vice president for economic development) and we’re going to talk about joint research projects between the U of I and Aachen University,” Rauner said. “We’ve also met with research organization called Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, which does joint projects around the world focused on economic development. We’re going to be working with them to do a partnership with the U of I in Champaign.”
The 21 leaders on “Intersect Illinois” mission include state economic development officials, leaders of the Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, economic development officials from Lake and DuPage counties, and officials from the University of Illinois and Rend Lake and Harper community colleges. There are also representatives from German-American and Polish-American business groups.
I reached Anderson and the governor by phone late Tuesday afternoon. It was about 11 p.m. their time and they were in Germany aboard a bus bound for Frankfurt. Each man was in a buoyant mood despite having been on the go since 4:30 that morning. “It’s no glamour trip. We’re working nonstop,” said Anderson, who was sitting next to Rauner on the bus. […]
Anderson met in Warsaw with the Polish president and other Polish officials.
“I used the skills I learned working from (former Illinois senator) Peter Fitzgerald,” Anderson said. “I worked the room with the staff people. The Polish people and their leaders are in love with America and they are extremely impressed that we came all this way to meet with them.”
As of yet, however, the governor’s office has not released a list with names of all the people he’s traveling with, even though he did it before both of his previous overseas trips (click here and here).
* There are delegation photos, however, including this one…
This photo is an excellent representation of the gender and ethnic diversity of the State of Illinois. It’s almost as diverse as the @realDonaldTrump White House Intern Photo. Well done, @GovRauner ! #twillpic.twitter.com/5MgsNzLA8a
*** UPDATE *** Choose DuPage has posted the list of folks traveling with the governor. Click here.
* Related…
* Zorn: Rauner to ask Germans, Poles to invest in a ‘broken’ Illinois: When state or city leaders are forever rending their garments about how terrible things are, it makes the job of attracting and keeping business and residents all that much more difficult. This, in turn, makes things more terrible.
We already know that Sam McCann is profiting off of politics. But now it’s readily apparent that he’s also a pawn being used by Democrats. Just check out the statements from JB Pritzker and Democratic Governors Association. Their joy about McCann is blatantly transparent. So what conversations has Sam McCann had with Pritzker’s campaign and Illinois Democrats?
Statement from JB Pritzker: “I welcome another voice to the race for governor at this critical time for our state,” said JB Pritzker.
Statement From the DGA: “Today, the nation’s most vulnerable incumbent saw his reelection chances dwindle even further. Bruce Rauner is still reeling from a brutal primary and now he has to deal with an outright revolt from the right. Jeanne Ives voters now have another Republican to vote for in Sen. Sam McCann.”
These are the same tricks from the old corrupt machine that tried and failed to defeat Bruce Rauner before. It happened in the 2014 primary and general elections and in the 2018 primary.
Mike Madigan and McCann’s biggest backers have been playing both sides for years.
In an August 2017 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Brown, IUOE Local 150 President-Business Manager Jim Sweeney, a “staunch ally of Speaker Madigan,” revealed his strategy to support both McCann and Pritzker in the 2018 election. McCann knows he can’t win, so he’s teaming up with allies of Pritzker and Madigan to play the part of spoiler and profit along the way.
* There was also this friendly little exchange today…
Thank you, @JBPritzker, I look forward to having serious debate about the issues facing Illinois. The People deserve nothing less.
*** UPDATE *** From Galia Slayen at the Pritzker campaign…
Jeanne Ives, Sam McCann, and 48% of Bruce Rauner’s own party are in open revolt against his failed leadership. Rauner can keep spewing desperate lies, but the only person he has to blame for this is himself.
* I’ve gone over my thoughts on this with subscribers for the past couple of days, so I’ll just post the press release here and y’all can talk about it in comments…
This morning, Senator Sam McCann (C-Plainview) announced that he and Veterans’ Rights Activist Aaron Merreighn (pronounced “marine”) (C-Riverton) would join the Illinois Gubernatorial race as Conservative Party candidates. They will face Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker and incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.
“When I announced I was not going to run for Senate, I said the Republican Party under Rauner was unrecognizable to me. Rauner has smeared the reputations of proven conservatives and abandoned the principles that millions of Illinois working families hold dear: economic liberty, traditional values, and law and order,” said McCann. Sen. McCann was first elected to the State Senate in 2010 and decided not to seek reelection as a Republican in 2018. In the legislature, McCann has been an advocate for taxpayers, working people and small businesses, veterans, and common sense.
McCann added, “Illinois deserves a clear choice in November. I am the only conservative in the race, and the only candidate who has stood up to both Rauner and Madigan. Our campaign offers a real chance for Illinois to break free from the politics as usual crowd. Our campaign offers the only choice voters have to take back Illinois.”
McCann tapped Veterans’ Rights Activist Aaron Merreighn as his running mate. The two have worked together on a variety of veterans issues, most notably the Quincy Veterans Home. “Rauner’s handling of the Legionnaires’ outbreak at the Quincy Veterans Homeneedlessly put lives at risk, and his record on veteransissues is nothing short of shameful,” said Aaron Merreighn. “Sadly, it has become symbolic of the failed leadership in Springfield that governs by crisis instead of by common sense.”
Merreighn is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran, serving five tours of duty, including three in Iraq. Following his service to his country, Merreighn worked as a mechanic for a trucking company and for a family business. He now works for the State of Illinois as a Human Resource Representative. “In the Marine Corps, the values you learn lead you to service and helping others. That is why I became an advocate for my buddies, and why I want to serve my fellow Illinoisans as Lt. Governor,” Merreighn added.
McCann and Merreighn must reach the 25,000 signature requirement to make the ballot for the General Election as the Conservative Party candidates. The General Election is November 6, 2018.
…Adding… Some of you are missing the point in comments, so here’s a little context. Check out this contribution to McCann from earlier in the week…
Do you really think that Operating Engineers Local 150 wants to defeat JB Pritzker? Nope.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Posted in the order they were received. Pritzker campaign…
Today, JB Pritzker issued the following statement in response to State Senator Sam McCann entering the race for governor:
“I welcome another voice to the race for governor at this critical time for our state,” said JB Pritzker. “Bruce Rauner is a failed governor who has done untold damage to communities throughout Illinois, and people from across the political spectrum are ready for change. Since announcing this campaign, I have worked to hold Rauner accountable for his failure and I will continue doing so as we bring Illinoisans together to put Springfield back on the side of working families.”
* Rauner campaign…
The Rauner campaign released the following statement in response to Sam McCann’s entry into the Govenor’s race:
“Sam McCann is the worst kind of political opportunist who is only running for Governor to line his own pockets. McCann’s unethical record speaks for itself: he failed to pay his taxes, racked up massive debts, lied about serving in the Marine Corps, and used his campaign account as a personal piggy bank, even buying himself an SUV.”
“Public service should not be for personal gain and Sam McCann’s new ‘campaign’ is just a thinly veiled attempt to profit off of politics.”
- Rauner Campaign Communications Director Will Allison
Background:
Sam McCann owns business with more than $200,000 in tax liens from the Internal Revenue Service and Illinois Department of Employment Security. McCann faces several lawsuits for unpaid credit card debt totaling nearly $20,000.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady’s spokesman…
This morning, Sen. Sam McCann offered his resignation from the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus and Leader Brady accepted.
*** UPDATE 3 *** ILGOP…
Sam McCann’s Entry Into Governor’s Race Is His Latest Example Of Self-Dealing And Using Politics For Profit
McCann’s shady record makes him the perfect crook to cut a deal with Pritzker and Madigan
“Sam McCann’s professional and political careers have been devoted to serving himself. Whether it’s lying about serving in the Marines, dodging taxes on his failed business, or treating his campaign funds like a personal piggy bank, McCann will say or do anything just to make a buck.
“Now, McCann is jumping into the governor’s race to play the part of spoiler, hoping to cash in along the way and maybe land a lucrative appointment from Pritzker or Madigan after the election. Sam McCann is the worst kind of politician - one who uses politics for profit.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
Today, State Sen. Sam McCann announced his intention to run as a third-party candidate for Illinois Governor. McCann’s goal? Money for himself – and lots of it. McCann’s campaign has been funded by Madigan-allied labor unions that have already endorsed Pritzker’s campaign for governor.
So why would these same unions back another candidate for governor? To spoil the election. They tried and failed the same dirty tricks in 2014 and it looks like they’re back to their old habits. McCann is taking the opportunity to cash in big time. Public records reveal that McCann treats his campaign fund like his own personal piggy bank, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on himself and his lifestyle. The potential for even more big checks from unions gives McCann the opportunity to make even more money.
McCann’s time in Springfield has been mired in lies, scandal and self-dealing, which makes him the perfect crook to cut a deal with Madigan and Pritzker in an attempt to spoil the election for Illinois Republicans. Be on the lookout for McCann to receive a lucrative appointment or job from Pritzker or Madigan after the election, but in the meantime, Sam McCann will be exposed for what he is: a crooked politician who uses politics for profit.
Today, Democratic Governors Association spokesman Sam Salustro released the following statement in response to state Senator Sam McCann’s entry into the Illinois governor’s race:
“Today, the nation’s most vulnerable incumbent saw his reelection chances dwindle even further. Bruce Rauner is still reeling from a brutal primary and now he has to deal with an outright revolt from the right. Jeanne Ives voters now have another Republican to vote for in Sen. Sam McCann. It’s no surprise Republicans keep lining up to challenge Rauner – they know that he is a failed governor who has betrayed families across the state.”
*** UPDATE 5 *** House GOP Leader Jim Durkin…
It is no surprise that Sen. McCann sells out the Republican party for his own self-interest.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Ives has said previously that she would vote for Rauner…
Would @JeanneIves consider backing McCann? Looks unlikely. She tells me, “I've already made my statement on the topic. I'm a Republican. That hasn't changed. I'm focused on policy like the pension crisis gobbling up communities like Harvey.” https://t.co/l3ED1RGWgO
“This is labor,” former GOP Chairman Pat Brady says. “This is not McCann running because he wants to be the conservative mouthpiece this is labor is trying to screw with Rauner.”
Illinois Senate Minority Leader and Bloomington Republican Bill Brady also had harsh words for McCann.
“The Illinois Republican Party didn’t leave Sam McCann,” Brady tweeted Thursday. “He left the Republican Party with his lockstep votes to support Mike Madigan’s agenda of unbalanced budgets and putting the interests of public sector unions ahead of Illinois taxpayers.”
