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Norwood defends her boss on HB 40, but sponsor says Rauner is trying to change the subject after “lying”

Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois Healthcare and Family Services Director and former Planned Parenthood Vice Chair Felicia Norwood cut a video to defend Gov. Rauner’s decision to veto HB 40…

* One of the claims Director Norwood makes in the video was something I told subscribers about yesterday and the Tribune had today…

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, would allow women to use Medicaid coverage and state employee health insurance for abortions. Supporters say the bill also would help ensure abortion remains legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court by removing a so-called trigger provision in current law.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has vowed to veto the bill, despite pledging in 2014 to work for legislation that would lift restrictions on Medicaid- and state employee insurance-covered abortions. The governor’s office told Feigenholtz he could support the bill if she removes that portion, but she declined.

* I called Rep. Feigenholtz this morning and asked her about Norwood’s claim. Feigenholtz said she’d received a “confidential” call from the governor’s staff telling her that Gov. Rauner would sign HB 40 without the Medicaid and state employee health insurance coverage expansions. Rauner, at the time, was under huge pressure from his right flank to veto the bill.

“I would never separate those bills,” Rep. Feigenholtz said. “They are very very important to women,” she said, adding that the General Assembly “has to undo” what she called an “injustice.”

Rauner, she correctly noted, had submitted a questionnaire to Personal PAC which “not only checked the right box,” but also included a long addendum that extrapolated on his strong belief that Medicaid and state employee insurance should cover abortions.

The governor “filled out a questionnaire for the highest state office in government,” and then “lied to voters in this state. And that to me is a betrayal,” Feigenholtz said.

“They’re using this to try to change the subject, but they are the ones who lied,” she said.

…Adding… From a GOP operative…

Pritzker said last night that Sara Feigenholtz is supporting his campaign. It’s worth putting today’s march, and the refusal of Democrats to remove taxpayer funded abortions from the bill, in the political context of this Gov’s race.

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Kennedy will attend Women’s March after all

Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Chris Kennedy isn’t on the list of speakers for today’s Women’s March. I was told the other day that he had a scheduling conflict. Well, that conflict has now been resolved and he’ll be in town in time for the second rally featuring the gubernatorial candidates. Good move, but kinda late.

Anyway, Kennedy was in Caseyville last night and went live on Facebook. Lots and lots of red meat in here, including him saying that Gov. Rauner is holding the state “hostage” and “needs to be stopped.” He also talks about Trump voters and economic segregation. It’s worth a look and it got about 4,500 views, despite not being promoted with ads. That’s less than Gov. Rauner’s last heavily promoted FB Live video event, but more than JB Pritzker’s campaign kickoff event.

Have a look…

* Meanwhile Ameya Pawar has a new post on Daily Kos…

A billionaire with no political experience decides to run for office as a self-proclaimed “outsider.” Elected by people who are tired of a broken political system that has forgotten them, he quickly runs away from any campaign promises and pursues measures that would hurt the people who elected him. He introduces chaos and dysfunction to the point where members of his own party wonder what he’s doing.

Sound familiar? In Illinois, we didn’t need to see this movie. We wrote the script.

Bruce Rauner, the governor of Illinois since 2015, might not seem like Donald Trump on the surface. He isn’t a preening megalomaniac, and doesn’t get into Twitter feuds with minor celebrities. But he provided the playbook for Trump’s rise, running as a regular, flannel-wearing guy who understood working families and could help them by overturning the political system. He ran as a problem solver.

Illinois has a lot of problems to solve. Unequal school funding means students across the state are at competitive disadvantages. Underfunded pensions threaten the economy and jeopardize the well-being of the people who worked their whole lives depending on them. Social services across the state are crumbling, along with our neglected infrastructure.

To say that Gov. Rauner failed to solve these problems is to minimize the issue. He didn’t even try. Like Trump, he talks about the working class while undercutting unions (the latest version of this is privatizing prison nurses so they can be paid less). He’s threatening to limit abortion rights to placate the far right (despite professing to be pro-choice). He’s even slammed the door on Syrian refugees, betraying any sense of Midwestern decency.

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*** UPDATED x2 *** Women’s March kicks off with a bit of controversy

Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Politico…

In advance of today’s Women’s March in Springfield, Personal PAC posted a video skewering Gov. Bruce Rauner on abortion. It had 3,000 views in three hours. In it, Rauner’s voice is heard from a 2014 debate in which he says abortion is an issue between a woman and her doctor. As he’s talking, the video shows state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, HB40 chief sponsor, walking into a store. It continues, music building up. It cuts to Diana Rauner from those 2014 TV ads saying “Bruce doesn’t have a social agenda” and turning to Rauner’s latest spot referring to “duct tape solutions.” What’s Feigenholtz buying at the store? Duct tape. Enter state Rep. Kelly Cassidy: “We’re taking duct tape to Springfield to help Bruce Rauner stick to his promises to defend women’s health.” The video ends by slapping duct tape across Rauner’s mouth.

Um, remember when Comptroller Mendoza held a press conference to slam WGN Radio host Steve Cochran for joking with Gov. Rauner on-air about taping her mouth shut with duct tape?

Yeah. In that light, maybe it wasn’t the best image to use. Watch the video…

*** UPDATE 1 *** I just spoke with Terry Cosgrove, who said the duct tape image “was intentional.”

“This was intentional to highlight what was said about Susana Mendoza and the duct tape. And this veto of HB 40 is an extension of that sexism,” he said.

“He’s being sensitive about duct tape? Please!”

*** UPDATE 2 *** A formal written response from Cosgrove…

Gov. Rauner keeps saying he wants real solutions to real problems and not duct tape solutions. The ad points out he is using duct tape to cover up his lies about abandoning his support for HB 40. Governor Rauner should use the duct tape to stop telling lies to voters.

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* The governor’s people put out their own video highlighting his commitment to women. It begins with his former comptroller, Leslie Munger…

Kind of a yawner.

* More on today’s proceedings…

A Democratic lawmaker pushing legislation to remove prohibitions on publicly funded abortions in Illinois hopes to call it for a vote as thousands of women converge on Springfield to lobby for a “progressive agenda.” […]

A vote Tuesday would coincide with the Illinois Women March on Springfield. It’s patterned on worldwide women’s marches Jan. 21. It will include a rally for measures including Feigenholtz’s bill and the long-stalled ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The event will include a noon rally at the Lincoln statue on the east side of the Statehouse grounds, and a rally in the Statehouse rotunda at 2:30. Lobbying and a march around the Capitol complex comes between those events.

To make way for the marchers, Second Street will be closed between Monroe and Jackson streets, and Capitol Avenue will be closed from Second to Third streets, city public works officials said. The closures begin at 10 a.m. and last until 1:30 p.m.

A full list of speakers and event details are here. There won’t be a public live video feed, but you can follow the march by monitoring our live coverage post.

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