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Monday, Apr 27, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. Bruce Rauner was asked a question about his Wikipedia entry last week by a student journalist…

“You played the English horn in college and won several honors for outstanding performances in playing this instrument. Do you still play this instrument?” Gordon asked. […]

Rauner, however, said the entry isn’t true.

“This is a good life lesson for all of us,” the governor told the class. “I never — I didn’t play the English horn. This is a good lesson and it’s OK. I get asked that question a lot, and I go ‘I didn’t play the English horn.’

“We changed it. In fact, we had it removed from the website twice and someone puts it back. And I’m like, ‘You’re kidding me!’” he said. […]

“I actually played the trumpet and I played the baritone,” he said. “I can’t say I was award winning. I was pretty good, but I wasn’t award winning.”

Indeed, if you take a look at the Wiki revision history, you’ll see somebody has been attempting to claim he played or plays either the English horn or the French horn.

* The Question: Your theory about this weird but very real Wikipedia conspiracy?

Snark is heavily encouraged.

…Adding… The Sun-Times looks at some of the revisions…

* He plays the English horn in his spare time.
* French horn musician.
* In order to help himself cope with his divorce 22 years ago, Rauner has found solace in playing the French horn.
* At Dartmouth, he also studied [English horn], played in the orchestra and won several statewide honors.

The paper reports that the English horn reference was added again this morning, then changed.

73 Comments

Sam Zell quadruples wife’s contribution

Monday, Apr 27, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Remember last week when I told you that Sam Zell’s wife Helen had contributed $1 million to IllinoisGO, an ostensibly “Democratic” PAC that many folks believe is really guarding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s left flank?

Well, not to be outdone, Sam Zell himself just contributed $4 million to Gov. Rauner’s Turnaround Illinois committee, which is an independent expenditure PAC.

No collusion, though. For sure.

/Snark

[Hat tip: Tom Kacich.]

…Adding… Speaking of contributions…

A Gov. Bruce Rauner appointee to the Illinois Gaming Board heads a group that has taken money from the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the state’s most lucrative casino.

In naming Illinois State Police special agent Hector Alejandre last month to the board that regulates the state’s casinos, Rauner said Alejandre “will bring a law enforcement perspective to the position.”

The governor noted that Alejandre is the president of the Hispanic Illinois State Law Enforcement Association, or HISLEA, a nonprofit organization of Latino police officers.

The group — which holds safety seminars and provides college scholarships — has taken $5,500 in donations from Rivers since 2012. The money went toward scholarships and programs, according to Juan Valenzuela, a spokesman for the group.

Doesn’t seem like a big deal.

18 Comments

Anti Israeli boycott bill moves to the House

Monday, Apr 27, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This topic comes to us via a highly biased piece in the Chicago Monitor. I’m posting it only because I didn’t see any other stories online…

On Wednesday, the Illinois Senate voted to punish companies that boycott Israel… by requiring Illinois retirement funds to expend resources blacklisting, monitoring and withdrawing funds from such companies. The House adjourned on Friday without calling its own identical bill that had already been voted out of committee. The Senate Bill will now go to a House Committee for hearings before it goes to the whole House for a vote.

The Illinois Coalition to Protect Academic Freedom and Free Speech (member organizations listed below) was formed in response to this anti-boycott legislation introduced in the Illinois State Senate. This same coalition defeated bills in the Illinois legislature last year that sought to penalize Illinois higher education institutions, teachers, and other academics if they supported the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Many of the same Illinois senators and representatives that voted against these anti-boycott bills in committee last year have voted for these bills this year.

* The difference this time around is that the bill is strongly supported by Gov. Bruce Rauner…

Requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board, by April 1, 2016, to make its best efforts to identify all Iran-restricted companies, Sudan-restricted companies, and companies that boycott Israel and to assemble those identified companies into a list of restricted companies. Defines “Iran-restricted company”, “Sudan-restricted company”, “company that boycotts Israel”, and “restricted companies”. Requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board to review the list of restricted companies on a quarterly basis. Requires State-funded retirement systems and the Illinois Board of Investment to identify restricted companies in which it owns either direct holdings or indirect holdings and, under certain circumstances, to divest from those restricted companies. Prohibits State-funded retirement systems and the Illinois Board of Investment from acquiring securities of restricted companies. Provides that the cost associated with the activities of the Illinois Investment Policy Board shall be borne by the boards of each pension fund or investment board created under the State Universities, Downstate Teachers, or Investment Board Article. Provides that actions taken in compliance with the amendatory Act are exempt from any conflicting statutory or common law obligations, including fiduciary duties. Provides that beginning January 1, 2016, certain Sections of the Code that prohibit investment in certain companies that do business with the Government of Iran and the Republic of the Sudan shall be administered in accordance with the amendatory Act. Contains a statement of legislative intent. Contains a severability clause. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

* The measure passed the Senate 49-0, with three Democrats voting “Present” (Landek, Raoul, Van Pelt) and six Democrats and one Republican not voting (Bennett, Brady, Collins, Hutchinson, E. Jones, Sandoval, Stadelman).

The Middle East can bring out teh crazy in some people, so I’m only going to say this once: Confine yourselves solely to the content of the bill. Extremists will be deleted and then banned for life. No exceptions. No further warnings will be issued. This is a state politics blog, so let’s keep it that way. Thanks.

…Adding… The legislation may come up tonight…

Israeli Consulate holds Israel Independence Day celebration with Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Roey Gilad hosting Gov. Bruce Rauner as keynote speaker

WHAT: Israel’s 67th Anniversary reception and concert
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Monday, April 27, 2015
WHERE: Standard Club, 320 S. Plymouth Court
WHO: Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Roey Gilad
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez
Cong. Bill Foster
City of Chicago Aldermen and other elected officials
Members of the Consular Corps
Israeli ensemble Baladino and Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble
WHY: To celebrate Israel’s 67th Anniversary

24 Comments

*** UPDATED x1 *** Your daily “right to work” roundup

Monday, Apr 27, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** UPDATE *** Oops. I forgot about this one…

Macon County Chairman Kevin Greenfield said there are no plans to discuss or vote on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” resolution.

“The community is upbeat and things have been going well enough that there’s been a lot of positive attitude going around,” said Greenfield, R-Decatur. “The last thing I want to do is bring about a resolution that could divide the county up and really rile up people.” […]

The decision by Macon County officials comes despite Republicans holding an 11-10 advantage on the county board. In addition, Rauner proved popular in the area in the gubernatorial election, receiving 61.24 percent of the 33,773 votes recorded in Macon County.

However, the county board has rarely acted in an overtly partisan manner in recent history, with members of both parties coming together to pass budgets and handle other, seemingly heated issues.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* Nothing yet from the governor’s office, but here’s the IFT’s aggregated roundup (mostly from the IL AFL-CIO) of upcoming Rauner resolution votes…

* Jefferson County
Monday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m.
100 S. 10th St., Mt. Vernon

* Lexington (McLean County)
Monday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m.
329 W. Main St., Lexington

* City of Chicago Committee on Workforce Development and Audit
Tuesday, April 28 at 11:00 a.m.
City Council Chambers

* Village of Mahomet (Champaign County)
Tuesday, April 28 at 6:00 p.m.
503 E. Main Street, Mahomet

* Kane County Board
Tuesday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m.
719 S. Batavia Ave, Geneva

* Cook County Board
Wednesday, April 29

Chicago and Cook are taking up anti-Rauner resolutions. Kane is expected to take a pass on the whole thing.

* Chuck Sweeny looks around northern Illinois…

Stephenson County Chairman Bill Hadley, also a Republican, said Friday he’d just received the governor’s resolution, which he’s going to send to the board’s Finance Committee and then to the full board for a vote in May.

“There’s some things in there I like, but I have the same concerns that the Winnebago County Board had. They took all the anti-union stuff out,” Hadley said.

Boone County Board Chairman Bob Walberg said he got the Rauner resolution too late to put it on last month’s agenda.

“We’re going to send it to a committee, and bring it out of committee and decide whether to endorse it or not. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” said Walberg, a Republican who believes the governor is trying seriously to get the state back on the road to fiscal solvency.

* Meanwhile, Finke calls out the governor on some anti-union rhetoric…

“I went into one department. I looked around, and there’s a lot of people and papers moving around. There’s a lot of papers on the walls in the back room,” Rauner said. “I said, ‘You know, somebody told me computers got invented a couple of years ago. This looks like we could digitize this and maybe make it more productive and more efficient.’”

But, as Rauner related it, the employees said that wasn’t possible. Why? Because — wait for it now — the unions won’t allow it. Specifically, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. […]

“And people knew the numbers,” Rauner said. “Very quickly somebody got back to me and said, ‘Governor, we could spend approximately $1.7 million on a computer system. We could save $8 million a year.’ ”

The rub, though, is that making the change would cost 120 jobs, and therefore the union won’t agree to the change. According to Rauner.

But the Rauner administration wouldn’t tell Finke which agency Rauner was referring to. AFSCME is skeptical, to say the least…

“This sounds like pure fiction,” spokesman Anders Lindall said. “There is no work rule preventing digitization. Gov. Rauner is making claims without bothering to talk to the union or find out the facts.”

* I’m told negotiations are now under way on this bill…

Illinois Republicans have unveiled legislation backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner they say will clean up state hiring rules that allow a governor to hand out jobs to loyal lieutenants instead of hiring strictly on merit. […]

But majority Democrats in the General Assembly are wary. The bulk of McConnaughay’s measure is devoted to limits placed on collective bargaining units, going so far as to remove some employees from labor unions and empowering the government to transfer or dismiss those found to have been improperly hired at IDOT. They warn that the bill could lead to more politics in state hiring.

It also includes a “hiring reform” section which directs agencies under the governor to correct faulty job descriptions, revise procedures for determining exempt positions and seek to decertify union coverage where appropriate. […]

The proposal “would result in stripping thousands of public employees of their right to be represented by a union,” AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall said, “with the perverse result, given the bill’s supposed purpose, of giving agencies even greater leeway to circumvent the merit system.” It would do “nothing to prevent future political hiring scandals,” he said.

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