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Budget address open thread

Wednesday, Feb 19, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Click here for the budget briefing. Click here to watch or listen to the address.

…Adding… Text…

Speaker Madigan, President Harmon, Leader Durkin, Leader Brady, Lieutenant Governor Stratton, my fellow Constitutional Officers, Honorable Members of the General Assembly, the incomparable First Lady MK, distinguished guests and people of Illinois —

My friends, not long ago I shared with you news of our state’s progress over the last year and my genuine confidence that our future is bright and that Illinois is growing stronger each day.

I know I have a reputation for being a bit of an irrepressible optimist – something somewhat unusual among those who have held this job recently – but I believe that the cynics had their years in power and that the people of Illinois suffered because of them.

Being a cynic is easy.

Cynicism, after all, demands only that you believe in the worst and do nothing to stop it from happening.

It’s optimism that’s hard. Because optimism demands hope, and patience, and faith…and most importantly, action.

Last year we began turning our ship of state in the right direction. Today we have the lowest unemployment rate in our history. We gave pay raises to working people. And once again we began attracting more students who want to go to college here, because we made college more affordable.

Our resurgence has been fueled by the very source of our historic resilience: the fundamental strength and goodness of our people, who demonstrate time and again that they can overcome any challenge that comes their way.

Never bet against that.

Before I took office, we had two long years without a state budget, longer than any other state in U.S. history. It nearly destroyed the lives of the most vulnerable children and families in Illinois, and it left all of us with billions of dollars in unpaid bills. It forced us to figure out how we would rebuild mental health care and schools and universities and how we would attract job creators and give working families a fighting chance.

And we did start to figure it out. Last year Republicans and Democrats alike rolled up our sleeves, worked out our differences and produced a bipartisan, balanced budget that has begun to put our state back on a sound fiscal path.

FINANCIAL IMPROVEMENTS
We’ve taken enormous strides forward to undo years of financial mismanagement.

For example, the state entered 2019 with almost $8 billion in unpaid bills. But a year later, responsible fiscal management has reduced that bill backlog by nearly $1 billion. Our late payment penalties, which had reached $950 million before I became governor, will fall to just over $100 million this fiscal year. In this regard I want to praise the tremendous efforts of our Comptroller Susana Mendoza and our Treasurer Michael Frerichs – who have been tireless advocates on behalf of getting our fiscal house in order.

From 2015 to 2017, credit rating agencies downgraded our state’s credit 8 times, which means Illinois taxpayers were paying higher interest rates. But this year, rating agencies and analysts have noted a “distinct improvement” in our fiscal stability, and interest rates on our bonds have tumbled to their lowest rate since 2013. That will save tens of millions of dollars for taxpayers.

Greater fiscal stability, fewer unpaid bills, lower interest payments — these are all monumental achievements in light of our state’s fiscal condition just 13 months ago. How are we doing it? Most of these advances are attributable to a disciplined approach to managing our state’s limited resources responsibly, and it’s important that we continue that hard work in the years ahead. The budget I propose to you today will build on the steady progress we’ve been making over the last year.

Our choices remain hard; our financial situation challenging.

In the context of the past devastation wreaked upon our state, the proposal I share today takes a disciplined approach to managing our limited resources while also investing in the very efforts that will make our state stronger: better schools, greater public safety, more job creating businesses, improved care for our most vulnerable children and seniors.

After years of poor fiscal management, of past leaders lying about how we got here, of scapegoating the wrong people and problems – our constituents deserve some honesty.
No amount of wishful thinking will wave away our structural deficit or our pension obligations. No amount of lip service will balance the budget or fund our schools or improve public safety.

I want to give you one stark example of why a change in approach was so desperately needed. Bruce Rauner went to war with labor unions, and one consequence of that was millions of dollars in costs for the state due to litigation and back pay. In contrast, when I came into office I negotiated substantial health care savings and finalized fair contracts with state workers. As a result, the upcoming fiscal year’s budget will spend $175 million less, and we will save $650 million over 4 years.

Lowering the wages of workers, trying to bankrupt the state and seeking to destroy government … didn’t work.

Also, trying to separate Chicago from the rest of Illinois, whether rhetorically or literally, will not solve the economic challenges of downstate Illinois. Quite the opposite. Some of you need to stop pretending that one part of Illinois can exist without all the others. We are … one Illinois.

There are realities about running a state and caring for our people that we have to face with more clear-eyed resolve, with a focus on unity and far less partisanship. Our future genuinely does depend on it.

EFFICIENCIES

Once again this year, I approached this budget looking to use taxpayer dollars as efficiently as possible. I’m pleased to say that this proposed budget saves taxpayers more than $225 million annually and more than $750 million over three years through operational efficiencies, possible agency consolidations, and the elimination of excess boards and commissions. And there is potentially $100 million more in additional structural savings in fiscal year 2022 and beyond through long term initiatives.

I believe that we are sent here to effectively manage the resources necessary to deliver what Illinois families need: good schools and healthcare, clean water and clean air, paved roads and sturdy bridges, a growing economy.

Let’s all agree that effective government demands efficient government.

BUDGET STABILIZATION

As we continue to make progress repairing the financial damage of the past, we must begin restoring safeguards for our future. It starts by building up reserves in our Budget Stabilization Fund, more commonly referred to as the Rainy Day Fund. It’s been more than a decade since the last contribution was made to the Rainy Day Fund, and it was almost entirely wiped out in 2017 under my predecessor.

The budget I am introducing today begins to restore it, dedicating $100 million to the Rainy Day Fund over the next 16 months. In addition, in concert with Senator Heather Steans, who is one of the General Assembly’s most responsible budgeteers, Comptroller Susana Mendoza recently proposed legislation that will create mandatory annual contributions to the Rainy Day Fund – a great step to improve fiscal protection for Illinois’ future.

CREATING JOBS AND REVENUE

Here’s another responsible step we’re taking together: Last year we worked on a bipartisan basis to pass a new source of general funds revenue and create tens of thousands of jobs with the legalization of adult-use cannabis. Our first focus was on making this law the most socially equitable in the nation. That’s why 25 percent of revenues are earmarked to reinvest directly in the communities most severely impacted by the war on cannabis.

Licensing fees from the first round of medical dispensaries have already provided a $30 million loan fund so that social equity applicants have access to capital to start new cannabis related businesses – a program that doesn’t exist in any other state at this scale. And I pardoned more than 11,000 individuals with low-level cannabis convictions. That’s just the beginning of our effort to remove barriers to housing, employment and education for hundreds of thousands of people.

With a successful first month of sales under our belt, I can conservatively project that adult-use cannabis sales will generate at least $46 million in revenue for our general fund in the coming fiscal year, of which $10 million will go directly to pay down our bill backlog.

A second new source of revenue we passed last year is from expanded gaming – including sports betting, which appears on track to be up and running in time for March Madness. As you know, gaming revenue directly funds our bipartisan, historic Rebuild Illinois capital plan which provides critical relief to state and local budgets for badly needed maintenance and construction work at our universities, community colleges and state facilities.

My office is working with the City of Chicago and the General Assembly to make a much needed adjustment in the legislation passed last spring to help make sure the Chicago casino is a success that will help fund projects throughout our state. I hope you all will join me in supporting these legislative efforts when they come before the General Assembly this session.

A BRIDGE TO FAIRNESS FOR ALL ILLINOISANS

Most importantly, this budget represents a bridge to the future, where I believe we have an opportunity to change our tax structure so working families are treated more fairly.

For at least the last 50 years, the burden of shoring up our state finances has fallen hardest on the 97 percent of Illinoisans who make $250,000 a year or less. You’ve been paying a higher portion of your income, when you include income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes, than those who make a million dollars a year or more! That’s not fair, and I’ve made it very clear that I believe it’s time for a change.

Last year, this General Assembly took an important step forward, and passed income tax rates so that working class and middle-class families will pay a lower rate and wealthy people will pay a higher rate. I believe this is far more fair than the flat tax rate we have today. These rates would go into effect only if Illinois removes the constitutional prohibition on a graduated tax, a decision that will be made by voters in November. If the constitutional amendment is passed, those rates will go into effect Jan. 1, 2021 – midway through our budget year.

As your governor, I take seriously my constitutional duty to offer a balanced budget that lives within our means as a state, whatever may transpire. To address the uncertainty in our revenues, this budget responsibly holds roughly $1.4 billion in reserve until we know the outcome in November. Because this reserve is so large, it inevitably cuts into some of the things that we all hold most dear: increased funding for K-12 education, universities and community colleges, public safety and other key investments – but as important as these investments are, we cannot responsibly spend for these priorities until we know with certainty what the state’s revenue picture will be.

Even if the graduated income tax does not take effect, our budget nevertheless continues our progress, although at a much slower pace than I think we require to get ourselves out of the hole previous administrations have dug for us. And if the graduated tax rates do take effect, this budget proposal takes major steps to stabilize our fiscal condition and build on the historic investments and improvements we’ve made across the board to better serve the people of our state.

PENSIONS

One of Illinois’ most intractable problems is the underfunding of our pension systems.
We must keep our promises to the retirees who earned their pension benefits and forge a realistic path forward to meet those obligations.

The fantasy of a constitutional amendment to cut retirees’ benefits is just that – a fantasy. The idea that all of this can be fixed with a single silver bullet ignores the protracted legal battle that will ultimately run headlong into the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution. You will spend years in that protracted legal battle, and when you’re done, you will have simply kicked the can down the road, made another broken promise to taxpayers, and left them with higher tax bills.
This is not a political football. This is a financial issue that is complex and requires consistency and persistence to manage, with the goal of paying the pensions that are owed.

That’s why my budget delivers on our full pension payment and then some, with $100 million from the proceeds of the graduated income tax dedicated directly to paying down our pension debt more quickly. We should double that number in subsequent years. Next year would be the first year in state history that we will make a pension payment over and above what is required in statute. It begins to allow us to bend the cost curve and reduce our net pension liability faster.

At the same time, without breaking our promises, we must relentlessly pursue pension initiatives that reduce the burden on taxpayers. This year, the State’s required payment to the State Employees Retirement System alone will be $32 million less than it would’ve been without the optional pension buyout program. We extended that program last year – because it’s good for taxpayers. That’s why I’ve asked all of the state’s retirement systems to fully implement buyout programs across all our systems.

What we do to reduce future net pension liabilities for our state and local pension plans has enormously positive benefits for taxpayers. Last year, working with members of this General Assembly, we did what no one had been able to do after more than 70 years of trying: consolidate the investments of the 650 local police and firefighters funds into two statewide systems. Because of their collective size, these funds are projected to see billions of dollars of improved returns over the next 20 years. That means lower property tax pressure on families and businesses across the state.

This is a great example of how both sides of the aisle can come together with reasonable solutions to address intractable problems. Let’s continue on that path.

EDUCATION

Over the past year we have made great strides to improve our schools and build back our higher education system, and this budget continues those investments.

Higher Ed

For more than a decade, our state universities saw significant declines in enrollment. But today, because of the important investments we made in MAP grants and school funding, for the first time in many years, applications are up at our public universities — and some schools, including UIUC and Illinois State, are seeing an increase in applications not just from in-state students, but out-of-state too.

Investments in our universities are giving people and companies from all over America, and the world, new reasons to choose Illinois. Just last week, I announced that with the support of businesses and philanthropists, the state will invest in University of Illinois’ new technology hub called Discovery Partners Institute. With it, we’re supporting nearly 50,000 new economy jobs in the next ten years, with an economic impact of $19 billion. Integral to DPI’s success is the Illinois Innovation Network, which will radiate across the state to 15 other university campus hubs from Chicago to Rockford to Peoria to Edwardsville. We’re investing in workforce development, innovation and R&D all across our state.

DPI is already succeeding. Azriel Alvarado was born here in Illinois, and then moved to Panama with his parents when he was very young. He never lost his Illinois roots though, and dreamed of attending the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign to study computer science.

Azriel set his sights on their world-renowned engineering program, moving home to Illinois to attend Oakton Community College and settle back into his life in the United States. After two years, he was accepted as a transfer student into the U of I engineering school and hasn’t looked back. Azriel says most people don’t imagine community college as the path to academic success. But he learned that the most popular way to do things isn’t always the best way to do things. He’s now studying as a DPI City Scholar and intends to set down roots and become a computer scientist here in Illinois.

Azriel is just one example of how investing in our state can attract and retain invaluable talent. Azriel is here today, and I’d ask him to stand so we can recognize your terrific achievements.
Making college more affordable for in-state high school students ought to be among our state’s highest priorities. My budget proposal for next year aims to make community college tuition free to all MAP-eligible students whose families make under $45,000 a year.

Today we have two students here whose families and communities will be stronger thanks to their hard work and our investments in MAP grants. They personify exactly why we need to set aside MAP funding especially for community college students. Lincoln Land Community College here in Springfield is lucky to count them among their student body.

When Lauren Hernandez was 12, her 6-year-old sister was diagnosed with cancer. After watching how hard the nurses worked to help her sister every day, she felt drawn to the healthcare profession. When her sister passed away a few years later, it cemented Lauren’s conviction to become a nurse. Today, Lauren is married and the mother of a beautiful baby boy – and MAP grants are covering the portion of her tuition that she couldn’t afford. She’s the first person in her family to attend college. She’s working overnight shifts at St. Francis Hospital. And she’s why our future as a state is so bright. Please give Lauren a round of applause for her hard work and commitment.

I also want to introduce you all to Brandon Ihlenfeldt, who earned his GED at Lincoln Land and is in the final semester of his H-VAC program. He’ll graduate this spring with a degree and the ability to do work that he loves. Brandon is also a husband and a father, and after a full day at work at Illinois National Bank and a full evening at school, he finds time to spend with his family. But he knows that an education is the key to being able to get a good job to support them. Without MAP grants, he would’ve had to take on loans and debt, with two young children. For Brandon, this is an opportunity he wouldn’t have had otherwise; and it’s an opportunity you all made possible by expanding the MAP grant program. Please give a round of applause to a great family man and a hard worker, Brandon Ihlenfeldt.

There is no more critical investment we can make in the future of our state than in our bright and ambitious young people, like Azriel, Lauren and Brandon.

So my budget proposal adds another 20,000 new scholarship students overall, on top of the 10,000 additional MAP grant and AIM High scholars you funded this year. And we will continue rebuilding our universities and community colleges with a 5 percent funding increase which, among other things, allows the University of Illinois to provide free tuition for students whose families make less than $67,000 per year.

K-12

Another way to make college more affordable is to help our students earn college credit before they even graduate high school, potentially savings thousands of dollars in tuition down the road.

Administrators and teachers across the state are engaged in this work — and it’s making a difference at places like Fenton High School, a majority-minority high school in Chicago’s western suburbs where most students qualify as low-income.

A few years ago, a snapshot of an Advanced Placement classroom at Fenton didn’t look much like the actual student body. So Fenton’s leadership began expanding their Advanced Placement program, and they now reach a third of the entire student body. Even more impressively: AP scores have gone up across all racial and ethnic groups.

In March, the College Board named Fenton “Advanced Placement District of the Year.”
Fenton provided the opportunity for their students to achieve extraordinary success and to save thousands of dollars on their first year’s tuition. We should follow Fenton’s lead and make it easier for more students to earn college credit in high school. My budget proposal last year requested $2 million to defray the cost of AP test fees for low income students, and you approved it. I’m making a request for FY21 of $2.5 million. It’s an innovative and cost-effective way to make college more affordable.

Speaking of removing financial barriers to college: 23 years ago our state launched an investment program that lured tens of thousands of Illinois families to invest early in their children’s educations through the College Illinois program. The program’s creators didn’t forecast that tuition increases would outstrip market returns, and we find ourselves in a place today where the program will be insolvent in six years. We didn’t create this problem – but we are charged with fixing it and rather than wait until the last minute, my budget puts a $27 million down payment on solvency for College Illinois in FY21. It’s time to make good on the existing contracts families signed up for and reassure them that their children’s college tuition will be paid.

We all want our children to go to college prepared to succeed, and that means investing in public schools that serve all our students from their earliest days. This budget makes a historic investment in K-12 schools, with a new $350 million of equitable funding, as Illinois continues down the path of ending our ignominious distinction as the worst state in the nation for state funding of public education.

This is not nearly enough to fund our schools properly and allow us to alleviate spiraling local property tax burdens throughout our state. But in a year dominated by limited resources and guided by prudent decisions about our state budget, this is the strongest investment we can afford to make today.

Funding isn’t the only determinant of a healthy school. Great teachers make great schools. But we have thousands of unfilled teaching positions throughout Illinois. This budget invests in strengthening our future teacher pipeline with increased funding for the Illinois Golden Apple teacher preparation program and scholarships. I’m also proposing support for accelerator programs that help people who are seeking a second career in teaching to transition into the profession faster.

In addition, this budget seeks to address the mental health concerns that schools face with their students every day. I’ve directed our Emergency Management Agency, Board of Education and State Police to apply for federal grants to launch a statewide school violence prevention tip line, a highly effective concept pioneered in Colorado after the Columbine tragedy. And I’ve proposed state funding to supplement the federal grants and develop curriculum to change the culture of stigma and silence around mental health. Students, parents, teachers, friends, will be able to call in with real concerns about a child’s wellbeing — possibly even about their survival. And a professional can check in on them. Here in Illinois, our tip line will be called Safe2Help Illinois, a confidential reporting program intended to be available via text, phone call, app, and social media platforms.

Early Childhood

Prioritizing our youngest Illinoisans offers the strongest return on investment for our future. Kindergarten is nearly too late to begin educating a child – social emotional development begins at birth, and a child’s earliest interactions are the most important ones. That’s why I’m determined to make Illinois the best state in the nation to raise young children.

When our families lack access to quality early childhood education and childcare, we all lose. I propose expanding our early childhood block grant funding by an additional $50 million – not as much as I would like – but responsibly moving our state another step toward universal preschool for every low-income child.

This budget also allows us to move forward on my pledge to offer evidence-based home visiting services to all of our most at-risk families with very young children, a service that is proven to pay dividends in supporting parents.

For too many families, quality childcare has become prohibitively expensive. Low and middle income parents are those hit the hardestby arise in childcare costs that has not kept pace with wages. I’m proud to propose a continued expansion of the Child Care Assistance Program so that we can maximize federal funding to offer reduced co-pays for families of the children we serve and improve the quality of the care they receive. This will result in eligible families paying no more than 7 percent of their income for childcare.

HEALTH CARE AND HUMAN SERVICES

Since I took office, it’s been a priority to provide health care that is accessible, preventative and equitable. For the second year in a row, I am proposing a substantial increase in mental health and addiction treatment services. This 2021 budget includes a $40 million increase, funded in large part by revenues from the successful roll out of adult use cannabis, which dedicates 22 percent of cannabis taxes to these programs.

When I took office a year ago, we were handed an enormous Medicaid backlog of more than 140,000 people who had applied for health care coverage but whose applications were simply never reviewed. This includes newborns, families with young children and seniors entering nursing care at the end of their lives. People got sick and couldn’t see a doctor. Some of the people on the list waited for more than a year.

That’s unconscionable.

So my teams at HFS, DHS, and DoIT worked in a concerted, collaborative effort and have reduced the backlog by 70,000 people. That’s healthcare coverage for a population the size of Decatur. There’s more to do, and we are committed to doing it. That’s why this budget adds employees at the Department of Human Services, allowing them to help finish the job.

We also budgeted $4.5 million to restore the vital health care navigator program that the Trump administration eliminated, leaving hundreds of thousands of families and employers without any assistance. This program helps small businesses and their employees and families lower their healthcare costs as they look for coverage options through the federal insurance marketplace.

Last year, we began restoring funding to the Home Delivered Meals program to reduce the existing waitlist and deliver proper nutrition to thousands more senior citizens. It’s a program that improves quality of life and saves money in the long run through a reduction in chronic health problems. For the coming year, I’ve once again proposed an increase of $2 million for the program. As Donald Trump continues to attack the safety net for seniors, my administration is doing everything we can to fight back.

Our Department of Public Health has been hard at work over the last year, restoring the federal immunization program that my predecessor closed down, which allowed us to beat back a potential outbreak of measles and other diseases across Illinois. And once again DPH has done outstanding work coordinating with Chicago health officials and the CDC in fighting coronavirus.

Thanks to their collective good work, the risk to the public remains low.

I’m also particularly proud that this budget supports the necessary additional funding for DPH to maintain our current service levels for family planning and related health services—without caving to the Trump Administration’s outrageous gag rule on women’s reproductive rights.

Child Welfare (DCFS)

There’s nowhere in state government that needs more attention and resources than the Department of Children and Family Services.

There are no overnight fixes for DCFS, no easy promises that can be made, no simple solutions for an agency that deals with some of our most complex societal problems.

There is an old saying that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. And the second best time to plant a tree is today.

So we began planting trees last year by bringing in new DCFS leadership and outside expert advisors and monitors. Every staff person, from top to bottom is being retrained. New policies and procedures have been enacted, the hotline has deployed new technology and added staff.
We’re moving forward with new ideas from experts that will transform the agency. Many of the most important reforms of DCFS that are being enacted were recommended by respected experts like Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and Casey Family Programs. Outside contractors are also working with DCFS and DoIT to bring better technology to improve how cases are tracked and more prolific use of mobile technology for caseworkers to keep better records. After I heard from frontline workers a year ago that their jobs were harder because they couldn’t test parents on-site for substance abuse, we started rolling out on-site drug testing again.

We have a nationally acclaimed simulation program with a training lab in Springfield and newer one in Chicago, both of which provide real-life scenario training for frontline workers. Case workers and investigators are being retrained in these simulations labs so they can learn new techniques to manage difficult cases and investigations. Some of you have already visited these simulation labs, and I invite all of you to do so if you haven’t – and you will see why I insisted that our FY21 budget allow DCFS to open a third simulation lab in southern Illinois.

Overall, this budget proposal for DCFS increases funding by 20% compared to what the state was spending in FY19. We will increase personnel numbers by nearly 150 new staff — that’s on top of the 300 workers we added over the last year. This would represent an 11 percent staffing increase over the past two years. For the contracted agencies who carry out much of the work helping children and who struggle to retain staff because of the state’s poor funding and payment delays, we are increasing funding by nearly 4 percent – only the third increase in 19 years.

One of the moral tests of government is how we treat our most vulnerable. The funding needs of DCFS should transcend party and partisanship and be a cause we can all rally around.

CLOSING

It’s become something of a political sport in this state over the last several years to present our fiscal issues as insurmountable. I’m here to tell you, they are not.

Our budget challenges are hard, no doubt about it – but it’s a myth to think they were ever easy. Our state has grown and changed so much over the years and the complexities of running our government have evolved with it. Our future will not be built on the shaky rhetorical foundation of those who keep rooting for us to fail.

Every decision we make about how we spend the money our citizens trust to our keeping is, at its root, a deeply moral undertaking.

These lines on a budget spreadsheet – they give peace to sleepless nights worrying about medical bills, they are delivery on a deferred dream, they stand between poverty and prosperity. A road that is properly repaired and maintained is a car accident than never happens. A strong education system is the slingshot to success allowing a child to thrive. Fully funding public safety means a life saved, a crime solved and a justice system that is more equitable and fair.

Every worry that we erase, every dream that we fund, every obstacle we remove is a small bit of happiness that we give back to our citizens. Sometimes we forget that in 2020.

We can add happiness back into people’s lives. The pursuit of happiness is the real rhetorical and moral foundation of our government. The founders were optimists too, it turns out.

With that singular focus at the heart of all that we do, with an eye to our future and with prudence and responsibility as our guiding lights, I submit this budget proposal, and I urge the General Assembly to work with me in the pursuit of happiness for all Illinoisans.

Thank you.

  33 Comments      


*** UPDATED x1 *** DCFS refuses to stop shackling children

Wednesday, Feb 19, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* ACLU IL yesterday…

Earlier today at a meeting of the Illinois House Adoption and Child Welfare Committee, Carol Melton of the Department of Children and Family Services – under questioning by Committee members – refused to guarantee that DCFS would not shackle children in their care. The following can be attributed to Heidi Dalenberg, Director of the Institutional Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois:

The Department must clear up any confusion immediately, with no further delay. DCFS made a promise late last year to the children in their care, to the ACLU as attorneys for those children and to a federal court judge that they would not shackle children going forward. When that promise was broken earlier this month, the promise was renewed. We are puzzled, and angry, to see this hedging in Committee today.

No child in the care of DCFS should be shackled. It is not hard. Just stop doing it.

* From the hearing

Rep. Keith Sommer (R-Morton) wanted to know why DCFS is still shackling children, even though it is against their current policy.

“It’s pretty basic. I think everyone heard it - you’re still shackling. Why,” Sommer asked. “How do you defend it? Tell members of the committee and the people of the state of Illinois how you defend it.”

“I’m not going to do that,” said DCFS Legal Counsel Carol Melton. “I can tell you that when it came to the administration’s attention last week, we took immediate action and stopped it - terminated a contract for cause, self-reported the incident - so I’m not going to defend it.”

“Can you guarantee me there won’t be any children shackled moving forward,” asked Sommer.

“I don’t know how you expect me to answer that question. I can tell you that our General Counsel is working very closely with the ACLU to make sure that we are complying with the B-H consent decree. And we’re making sure that we are acting appropriately and making sure anytime that there’s a problem that we take action to address it,” Melton explained.

* From the Cook County Public Guardian…

Marc Smith, Director
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

Re: DCFS Shackling Children

Dear Director Smith:

I was shocked to hear that, today, your agency testified before an Illinois House Committee that you cannot assure that DCFS will follow its own policies, the law, and the constitution, all of which preclude shackling of children.

Today the Illinois House Adoption and Child Welfare Committee conducted a hearing on the so-called shackling bill, HB 3969. Carol Melton, DCFS’s Asst. Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer, testified for DCFS. When Representative Keith Sommer asked Melton if DCFS can assure the committee that no more kids will be shackled between now and until the bill moves forward, Melton responded to the effect, I can’t tell you that.

In other words, most remarkably, DCFS can’t say it won’t break the law, the constitution, and its own newly-promulgated policies prohibiting shackling of children. DCFS can’t say it won’t continue to trample on children’s civil rights. The only positive takeaway is that your attorney and ethics officer testified honestly.

I certainly hope that we won’t continue to see children shackled.

Sincerely,

Charles P. Golbert
Public Guardian

*** UPDATE *** Letter from DCFS Director Marc Smith…

Dear Mr. Golbert,

We share your concerns regarding the safety and welfare of our children. As you know, the express policy of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services states that “[u]nder no circumstances shall any agent or employee of [DCFS] any agent or employee of any provider, or any transportation company designated to transport youth in DCFS care use handcuffs and/or shackles for transporting any youth in DCFS care.” To be clear, DCFS will do everything it can to ensure that – consistent with its express policy – neither handcuffs nor shackles are used to transport any youth in DCFS care.

Last week, after Jim Stewart Transportation LLC inappropriately used leg restraints to transport a youth in DCFS care, DCFS immediately terminated its contract with Jim Stewart Transportation LLC and conducted a training with DCFS leadership regarding the required secured transport protocol. DCFS is working diligently to identify appropriate vendors to securely transport youth in DCFS care when necessary and appropriate and continues to work collaboratively with the ACLU of Illinois regarding potential revisions to its protocol.

We appreciate your continued commitment to collaborating with DCFS to better serve the youth in our care.

Regards,
Marc D. Smith

  14 Comments      


It’s just a bill

Wednesday, Feb 19, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

State Representative Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego), has filed legislation to allow legislative assistants to unionize if they so choose.

House Bill 4587 would remove the prohibition of legislative assistants to join a union. The legislative assistants can then be free to join whichever bargaining unit they choose to join.

“I support individuals having the right to unionize and the Illinois General Assembly should embrace this for their own employees”, stated Kifowit ”I have been asked by some legislative assistants to allow them this right to collectively bargain for issues that are important to them, such as work environment and wages”.

Legislative assistants are bound to the decisions of the majority party’s leader. Recently disparity exists between the House legislative assistants and the Senate legislative assistants. Legislative assistants in the Senate have a higher starting salary and are assigned one Senator to support; whereas, the House legislative assistants have lower starting salary as compared to their Senate counterparts and are assigned three Representatives to support.

“I believe in leading by example,” Kifowit continues, “and this is just commonsense legislation that further shows our commitment to hard-working individuals that play an important role in supporting us as legislators in Springfield”.

* Press release…

Pets are part of two out of three households in America, including 72 percent of renters. Restrictions in public housing can prevent a family from keeping a pet based on its size, weight or breed. That results in pets being surrendered to already-burdened animal shelters.

Senate Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes is introducing Senate Bill 2973, which would allow any tenant living in housing acquired, constructed or rehabilitated with state funds for low-income housing to keep a pet dog or cat regardless of its size, weight, or breed.

“A leading reason pets end up surrendered to shelters is housing issues that force some pet owners into a position of choosing between keeping their pet or keeping a roof over their head,” Holmes said. “Pets are part of our families, regardless of the family’s income level.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, pets have positive effects at nearly every stage of life. They influence social, emotional, and cognitive development in children and promote an active lifestyle. They provide emotional support, improve moods, and contribute to the overall morale of their owners, including among the elderly and disabled. Studies reveal that people with pets tend to have lower blood pressure.

“There is a shortage of affordable housing for families in Illinois, and that is exacerbated for pet-owning families,” Holmes said. “On the animals’ side, in shelters they may be adopted, or they may be destroyed. And there is an emotional toll on a family if they have to give up their beloved cat or dog. With this legislation I’m seeking a way to address both sides of this situation and keep pets with their families and out of shelters.”

According to Best Friends Animal Society, renters with pets stay longer than those without; do no more damage statistically than non-pet renters; and 90% of renters have never lost a security deposit due to a pet.

Senate Bill 2973 has been assigned to the Senate Local Government Committee.

* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line

A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups on Tuesday introduced a package of bills aimed at reducing plastic consumption and waste, including banning Styrofoam and imposing a statewide 10-cent fee on plastic bags.

The other bills in the package would require restaurants to make single-use plastic silverware, plates, bowls and cups available to customers upon request or at self-serve stations, in addition to tweaking Illinois’ procurement laws encourage the use of recyclable and compostable materials. Another measure would make Illinois the 11th state to create a statewide bottle deposit program, giving glass, aluminum and plastic bottles, jars and cartons a 5-cent value for deposit.

State Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) said she and her colleagues introduced the bill package because “plastic never really goes away” and gets into both air and waterways, in addition to making its way into the food system.

“Based on the average of plastic particulate in our air and water and food, the average person consumes the equivalent of a chunk of plastic the size of a credit card every year,” said Williams, who is the lead sponsor of several bills..

* Marie Fazio at Chalkbeat Chicago

Backers of a bill that would establish a 21-member Chicago school board say they are building momentum again, this time in the Illinois Senate.

If the bill passes the legislature, Chicago could hold school board elections starting in 2023.

The bill has supporters, including Sen. Robert Martwick, a Democrat who represents Chicago’s Northwest Side and some adjacent suburbs. But it has had its share of detractors, too, who say that a 21-person board would dwarf that of any other major urban school district’s governing body and would be too large to govern effectively.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who currently appoints the school board, opposed the bill last year. Speaking with reporters Tuesday in Springfield, she said she briefly discussed the bill with Martwick during her visit to the Capitol and agreed to meet “at another time” to discuss it further.

…Adding… I’m pretty sure that this was last year’s plan during the veto session. The mayor’s people told me yesterday that nothing new is on the table at the moment

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot came to Springfield on Tuesday armed with a new plan to lure a big casino operator to Chicago while still helping out casinos and tracks statewide.

She proposed extending the time a casino or track would have to pay its reconciliation fee — the charge that would amount to 75 percent of a casino or track operator’s best year in gaming revenue over a three-year period. The fee could be paid over six years and without interest — instead of the current two-year payment period with interest. The casino (or track) operator still could deduct the up-front licensing fees from the payment.

How it works: If a casino in its third year has gaming revenues OF $100 million, for example, it would pay the state a fee equal to $75 million less its previously paid upfront fee over six years.

The adjustment to the current law — paying over six years and interest-free instead of two years with interest — would be available to all new casinos in the state. That includes Chicago, Rockford, Waukegan, Danville and any other town with a new casino planned or track that elects to have casino gaming.

  20 Comments      


Rod Blagojevich open thread

Wednesday, Feb 19, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Your memories of our former governor?

…Adding… Raw video

  100 Comments      


*** LIVE COVERAGE ***

Wednesday, Feb 19, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

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More commutation react

Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A.D. Quig at Crain’s

President Donald Trump’s commutation of the 14-year sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich sends the wrong message about the current corruption scandal roiling the state, lawmakers and the attorneys who prosecuted Blagojevich say.

The timing “couldn’t have been worse,” says Jeff Cramer, a managing director at Berkeley Research Group in Chicago and formerly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. “Here we are with the U.S. Attorney’s Office bringing several political corruption cases, there are elected officials wearing wires to bring other cases, there’s no indication that tide is going to stem anytime soon.”

Cramer, who was a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the time of the Blagojevich prosecution, doesn’t see any apparent political upside to Trump releasing a Democratic official. “It’s a difficult message for the president, a law and order guy, as he postures himself, to have a couple weeks where he’s just throwing out gifts to the politically connected.”

* Tribune

In August, of Blagojevich, Trump said, “And a lot of people thought it was unfair, like a lot of other things — and it was the same gang, the Comey gang and all these sleazebags that did it.”

The president was referring to former FBI Director James Comey, a frequent Trump target who he contends sought to politicize the nation’s top law enforcement agency in the 2016 election in which Trump faced Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. After taking office, the president fired Comey amid the investigation into Russia’s interference in the election and whether the Trump campaign was involved.

The president’s comments mirrored what Patti Blagojevich has said in not-so-veiled attempts to link her husband’s prosecution to some of Trump’s perceived political enemies.

In reality, Comey was in private practice from 2005 to 2013 — virtually the entire time Blagojevich was investigated and prosecuted. And Blagojevich’s prosecution was launched by a Justice Department under the George W. Bush White House.

* Sun-Times

Trump has repeatedly erred when he said Blagojevich was sentenced to 18 years or so. Zagel gave Blagojevich 14 years, putting him on track for release in March 2024.

* Senate President Harmon…


* From Judge Zagel’s 2011 sentencing

A corrupt governor can be “more damaging than any other office in the United States, except that of the president,” Judge Zagel said before announcing the sentence.

“When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn, disfigured and not easily repaired,” Zagel said. “The harm here is not measured in the value of money or property. The harm is the erosion of public trust in government.”

* Mark Brown

Whatever path he takes, Blagojevich will undoubtedly command our attention for the rest of his life.

We elected him, not once but twice, and now there’s no escaping him.

That’s our punishment.

…Adding… Capitol News Illinois…

Durkin questioned why Blagojevich should get “special treatment” when others who are imprisoned for drug offenses receive decades in prison without relief from presidential pardons.

“It’s just because of the celebrity of Rod Blagojevich,” Durkin said. “I think it’s wrong and it sends a bad message to people in this country that … you don’t have to pay your debt to society.”

“I’m never going to be able to figure out how the president messages, nor the decision making that he does,” Durkin said. “That’s something he’s going to have to explain, but I think he needs to explain to the people of Illinois who saw a governor destroy the integrity of this office but also did some very, very terrible things to the finances of this state. I hope that he could make a plausible explanation of why this is appropriate, because I haven’t seen anything yet.”

Durkin added “I guess he’s not concerned about the state of Illinois for next November.”

  42 Comments      


*** UPDATED x7 - Durbin dodges - ILGOP delegation opposes - Former prosecutors weigh in - Pritzker responds - Trump confirms Blagojevich commutation *** Question of the day

Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ll believe it when I see it because the president came pretty close to commutation months ago and was talked out of it by the Illinois GOP delegation…


* The Question: Do you support or oppose a presidential commutation for Rod Blagojevich? Please make sure to explain your position.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Some initial react…


*** UPDATE 2 *** NY Times says it’s a done deal

President Trump has commuted the 14-year prison sentence of former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, the Democrat who was convicted of trying to essentially sell President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat for personal gain, according to a person briefed on the decision.

Mr. Trump commuted the former governor’s sentence on Tuesday and is planning on announcing it soon, taking the action after saying for years that he was considering intervening in Mr. Blagojevich’s case.

By commuting the sentence, the president would free Mr. Blagojevich from prison without wiping out the conviction. Republicans have advised the president against it, arguing that Mr. Blagojevich’s crime epitomizes the corruption that Mr. Trump had said he wanted to tackle as president.

*** UPDATE 3 *** The president confirms…


…Adding… Common Cause Illinois Executive Director Jay Young…

While former Governor Rod Blagojevich will get to walk free, Illinois is still being held prisoner to the consequences of his long record of corruption, bribery, and abuse of power. President Trump’s commutation of Blagojevich’s sentence is the latest action by a lawless president to undermine ethics and accountability in our government. This decision is wrong and deprives the people of Illinois the justice they deserve. After consistently ignoring our nation’s ethics norms and laws for the last three years, President Trump has now chosen to side with the long line of Illinois politicians that have been imprisoned or had their careers ended due to corruption.

…Adding… Comptroller Mendoza…

No surprise. Birds of a feather flock together.

*** UPDATE 4 *** Gov. Pritzker…

Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption, and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated. President Trump has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time. I’m committed to continuing to take clear and decisive steps this spring to prevent politicians from using their offices for personal gain, and I will continue to approach this work with that firm conviction.

*** UPDATE 5 *** Press release…

STATEMENT OF FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTION TRIAL TEAM AND FORMER UNITED STATES ATTORNEY REGARDING PRESIDENTIAL COMMUTATION IN U.S. V. BLAGOJEVICH

Reid J. Schar
Chris Niewoehner
Hon. Carrie E. Hamilton
Patrick J. Fitzgerald

CHICAGO ― The following statement was issued today regarding the President’s commutation of the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich:

    “Although the President has exercised his lawful authority to commute the remaining portion of Mr. Blagojevich’s prison sentence, Mr. Blagojevich remains a felon, convicted of multiple serious acts of corruption as governor. The criminal conduct for which a jury unanimously convicted Mr. Blagojevich included the following actions:

    (1) extorting the CEO of a children’s hospital by withholding important state funding to help sick children until the CEO provided campaign contributions;
    (2) extorting the owners of a racetrack by intentionally holding up the signing of important state legislation until the owners provided campaign contributions in response to an explicit demand for them;
    (3) extortionately demanding funding for a high-paying private sector job, as well as campaign contributions, in exchange for naming a replacement to an open U.S. Senate seat; and
    (4) lying to the FBI to cover up his criminal activity.

    The law and extensive facts underlying Mr. Blagojevich’s conviction were reviewed by independent judges on an appellate court and by the Supreme Court of the United States. These courts affirmed Mr. Blagojevich’s conviction and sentence, and the appellate court described the evidence against him as “overwhelming.”

    Extortion by a public official is a very serious crime, routinely prosecuted throughout the United States whenever, as here, it can be detected and proven. That has to be the case in America: a justice system must hold public officials accountable for corruption. It would be unfair to their victims and the public to do otherwise.

    While the President has the power to reduce Mr. Blagojevich’s sentence, the fact remains that the former governor was convicted of very serious crimes. His prosecution serves as proof that elected officials who betray those they are elected to serve will be held to account.”

Mr. Schar, Mr. Niewoehner, and Judge Hamilton are former Assistant United States Attorneys in Chicago who represented the government at trial in U.S.A. v. Blagojevich. Mr. Fitzgerald was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois during the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Blagojevich. This statement is issued in their individual capacities.

…Adding… Jason Gerwig with Leader Brady’s office…

Leader Brady believes the sentence former Governor Rod Blagojevich received was justified and should have been served in its entirety.

*** UPDATE 6 *** Press release…

Congressmen Darin LaHood (IL-18), John Shimkus (IL-15), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Rodney Davis (IL-13), and Mike Bost (IL-12) released the following statement after the President commuted the sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

“We are disappointed by the President’s commutation of Rod Blagojevich’s federal sentence. We believe he received an appropriate and fair sentence, which was the low-end of the federal sentencing guidelines for the gravity of his public corruption convictions. Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters. As our state continues to grapple with political corruption, we shouldn’t let those who breached the public trust off the hook. History will not judge Rod Blagojevich well.”

*** UPDATE 7 *** Sen. Durbin has said he would support commutation for Blagojevich. But here’s what he said on commutation day…

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Donald Trump commuted the 14-year prison sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich:

“Former Governor Blagojevich betrayed the people of Illinois and engaged in a pattern of corrupt behavior for which he was held accountable and which cost him more than seven years of freedom.

“At a time when corruption by elected officials is still in the headlines, Illinois and Washington should move quickly to establish stricter ethics requirements, including the full detailed disclosure of income, net worth, and income tax returns by all elected officials.”

…Adding… From a Durbin spokesperson…

Senator Durbin has never lobbied any President to commute former Governor Blagojevich’s sentence.

…Adding… Press release…

Statement from Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs on President Donald Trump Granting Clemency to Former Governor Rod Blagojevich

“Eleven years ago, I voted to convict and remove a member of my own party who abused his office to further his own re‑election.

I wish that Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate had shown similar courage when a leader in their party abused his office to further his own re-election.

If that had happened, we would not be dealing with this today.

It is some comfort, however, that my motion to bar our former governor from ever holding public office again means he will no longer be able to abuse the public trust.”

  194 Comments      


*** UPDATED x2 - GOP names members - Carranza responds *** Qualifications challenge process to begin next week for Rep. Eva Dina Delgado

Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

State Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch, a career attorney and certified administrative hearing officer, will lead the Qualifications Challenge Committee tasked with evaluating complaints against the appointment process of state Rep. Eva Dina Delgado. Welch released the following statement Tuesday:

“As a practicing attorney for more than 20 years and a certified administrative hearing officer trained to serve in a quasi-judicial role, I’ve dedicated my career to the pursuit of justice – and that same pursuit will guide the work of this committee. Just as in a court of law, our committee will pursue a fair process that reviews the complaints about the appointment process free of politics and outside influence.

“This process and these proceedings will be driven by the House rules, state statutes, the Illinois Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and precedent – not by partisan politics.”

“It’s no secret that in recent months, bad actors in government have publicly marred the efforts of all legislators who serve with integrity. Restoring trust and confidence in our General Assembly demands we recommit ourselves to our fundamental belief in fairness and justice for all, free of bias or partisan influence.

“The committee will meet on Tuesday, February 25, at which time we will establish the rules and process for moving forward. Reviewing precedent and the House Rules, we know that this must be an expeditious process but also an equitable process that logically evaluates the complaints in the context of the existing rules and laws. All sides involved, as well as the people of our state, can know this committee will be fair, impartial and committed to a just and proper outcome.”

Since they’re not meeting until next week for an organizational meeting, they’ll have just nine calendar days to get this to the floor before the House adjourns for the spring primary. It could happen, but I’m not sure I’ll hold my breath.

…Adding… Rep. Welch tells me the other Democrats on the committee are Reps. Kelly Burke, John Connor, Fred Crespo and LaToya Greenwood.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…

Below is the statement of Nidia Carranza, Democratic candidate for Illinois’ 3rd District, on today’s announcement of a Qualifications Challenge Committee to investigate the appointment of corporate lobbyist Eva-Dina Delgado to the seat formerly held by indicted State Rep. Luis Arroyo.

“I applaud today’s creation of a committee to investigate the appointment of corporate lobbyist Eva-Dina Delgado to the seat formerly held by indicted State Rep. Luis Arroyo.

“From the outset, I denounced the appointment process as rigged and corrupt–exactly the opposite of what the working people of the 3rd District deserve. The appointment allowed the allies of Luis Arroyo, who has been charged with bribery in federal court, to hand-pick his successor.

“My opponent was not only silent about the obvious ethical concerns surrounding this process, but put her own ambitions ahead of the good of the 3rd District to accept the position. Enough is enough. We don’t need another lobbyist engaging in pay-to-play politics in Springfield. Fortunately, the voters will have their say on March 17.”

*** UPDATE 2 *** House GOP…

The following members will serve on the Qualifications Challenge Committee:

    Patrick Windhorst
    Avery Bourne
    John Cabello
    Blaine Wilhour

  6 Comments      


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Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

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