*** UPDATE *** The Illinois Policy Institute’s John O’Hara was on Chicago Tonight yesterday and said the real issue here was whether the country will have “two classes of people: a highly politically powerful, public employee unions and everyone else who pays for their salaries.” Watch…
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* One of the refugee legislators from Indiana was at the Illinois Statehouse last night and spoke briefly at a Senate Education Committee meeting…
[Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon] said she chose to stop by the education committee because the subject is “one of the reasons we’re fighting.”
“The most important thing that we can do is provide a free and quality education to our students,” Reardon said. “The fact that this governor in Indiana does not recognize the contributions that educators make is very disappointing to me”
State Sen. James Meeks, D-Chicago, chairman of the committee, used his microphone to ask the fleeing lawmaker: “Is there any kind of reward for you?” […]
Reardon said she would remain in Urbana, Ill., for “as long as it takes.”
I was at a different meeting and missed that one. But it’s kind of ironic that she stopped by an education hearing, considering what the Illinois Federation of Teachers thinks about a proposed education reform…
(T)he Illinois Federation of Teachers is watching a proposed legislation that they say is an attempt to eliminate collective bargaining for teachers.
“It’s actually worse than that Gov. Walker is proposing in Wisconsin,” said federation spokesman Dave Comerford. He said the proposal would make it so “the district could legally walk in and say they’re going to cut pay and there’s literally no recourse” for the unions.
The group responsible for the proposal, which was heard by a special committee convened by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), is supported by a coalition of child advocacy and business groups. While Comerford said they are by no means taking these measures for granted, “I think our lawmakers are watching what’s going on [in Madison] and saying they hope it won’t happen here.”
The leader of boycotting House Democrats plans to return to Indianapolis.
Spokesman John Schorg says House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer will return from Illinois to Indianapolis for a meeting on Wednesday, but it is not clear if the meeting will be with Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma.
House Republican spokeswoman Tory Flynn says Bosma does not have any meeting scheduled with Bauer.
[Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville] said he was one of the Dems who met [Monday] with Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, near Kenosha. He said the meeting was cordial and Dems gave Fitzgerald a list of changes to the budget repair bill that they wanted.
Fitzgerald took the suggestions to the speaker and guv, and they exchanged counter offers later in the day, but couldn’t reach a compromise, Cullen said.
He said he spoke with Fitzgerald this morning, but it wasn’t a negotiating session.
“The door may be closed to the kinds of changes that we need,” Cullen said. “But I think the possibility of talking again will be there.”
* A first-hand look at Wisconsin lawmakers’ life on the lam - Democratic state senator Bob Jauch from Poplar and the rest of the 14 senators who escaped from Wisconsin spent parts of several days last week in the charming northern Illinois town of 22,000 where the movie “Groundhog Day” was filmed.
* Even Without Muni Bond Sale, Wisconsin Not in Fiscal Peril
* Why Your Boss Is Wrong About You: As anybody who has ever worked in any institution — private or public — knows, one of the primary ways employee effectiveness is judged is the performance review. And nothing could be less fair than that.
