It’s estimated a retirement tax could bring in up to $2 billion a year, real money in a state that’s broke and getting broker.
But seniors can chill because, as I said, it’s unlikely this year.
As an old dude who’d be whacked by the tax, I’m relieved.
As an old dude who worries about the mountain of debt we’re piling onto our children and grandchildren, I think it should at least be considered as part of an overall solution.
Lawmakers in 40 states bit the bullet, faced the wrath of seniors and imposed a tax on retirement income.
Most are still around to talk about it.
But this is Illinois, a dystopian government Wonderland where a refusal to even consider the obvious is business as usual.
The Mad Hatter would love it.
* But AARP is not taking any chances and has launched an ad campaign just in case somebody tries to move it forward. Click here to see the newspaper ad, which is running in these papers…
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun-Times
Rockford Register Star
Champaign News Gazette
Springfield Journal Register
Peoria Journal Star
Belleville News Democrat
Illinois is in a deep fiscal crisis – and special interests and some elected officials are proposing a tax on your retirement income in order to solve it.
That just isn’t right or fair.
Retired Illinoisans did not cause this mess. They certainly shouldn’t be sacrificed to clean it up.
Ninety-percent of older Illinoisans, including those still working strongly rejected a tax on retirement income according to an AARP survey.
A tax on retirement income would have a dire financial impact on retirees and their families.
That’s why AARP is fighting to protect the financial security of retired Illinoisans and to make sure taxpayers are represented at the table.
Take action, fight back and make your voice heard! Urge your legislators to oppose the taxation of retirement income.
* And here’s a Chamber press release in response to today’s protest…
“The Illinois Chamber of Commerce appreciated that union workers are concerned about the state budget. The Chamber is too. But we have said for years that grossly unbalanced state budgets would lead to a crisis. You cannot expect smooth sailing when Illinois has been spending billions of dollars more than it has coming in for more than a decade. This was the year that the check came due.”
“To solve this problem, we need pro-growth reforms to bolster the Illinois economy, which will be good for workers, companies, state government, and the organizations that state government funds. Otherwise, we will be in an increasingly precarious situation with each coming year. Time is running out. Let’s solve this problem now.”
* No matter how unthinkable it might be, I can see it happening and I’ve been hearing members and other Statehouse types saying the very same thing lately…
Dem leader Rep Lou Lang at union rally: "We might not have a budget during the term of Bruce Rauner." pic.twitter.com/LxZB4dhvbj
How Leader Lang and others expect our human service provider network to survive even a few more months without an actual budget is beyond me, but we could easily be headed for an unimaginable dystopia come June 1st.
Also, too, what if Rauner is reelected?
…Adding… From an administration official…
It’s clear that Speaker Madigan and his most loyal members are doing whatever they can to derail negotiations and prevent a state budget deal. It’ll be up to rank and file Democrats to either fall in line with Madigan or push for a deal.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Prevailing wage is the minimum wage and workmanship standard for those who build our schools, hospitals, bridges, and other public facilities. Strong prevailing wage laws improve the lives of veterans, who work in construction at much higher rates than non-veterans, and come home to put their battle-tested leadership and problem solving skills to work building our communities while providing a good life for their families. Unfortunately, in the last two years, at least eleven states (including Illinois) have considered repealing or weakening their prevailing wage laws, which would hurt our economy and drive thousands of veterans out of their jobs and into poverty. Our veterans fought for us over there. Let’s show them that we have their back here at home. Stand with veterans and sign our petition for the strong prevailing wage laws that help veterans and their families access good paying construction jobs in our communities.
Chicago ranks 65th out of 70 metro areas for employment equality for blacks and 62nd out of 70 for income equality, according to the 40th annual State of Black America report, published yesterday by the National Urban League.
Unemployment for blacks in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area stands at 18.6 percent, compared with 5.8 percent for whites. Unemployment for blacks in the metro area that ranks first, Providence-Warwick, R.I., is 9.9 percent, compared with 6.8 percent for whites.
Black households in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area have a median income of $35,169, versus $74,759 for whites. By contrast, black households in the city that ranks first, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., have a median income of $46,438, with $60,668 for whites. That means in that area, black households’ median income is 76.5 percent that of white households; in Chicago, it’s 47 percent.
“Chicago is in a crisis, a perfect storm of inequities,” says Shari Runner, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. The unemployment rates for blacks ages 20 to 24 is 47 percent, and for 16- to 19-year-olds it’s 88 percent.
There was a bit of good news for Latinos in the region. They had the 49 highest unemployment in the 2015 report at 10.6 percent, but that was down to 42nd highest at 8.6 percent in the 2016 report.
* This was introduced very late in the game and it’s probably going nowhere in the Senate, which is run by an Emanuel pal…
As Mayor Emanuel continues to look for ways to prevent the city’s largest worker pension fund from going broke before the decade’s out, the folks who run the fund have sent the city a legislative message: just pay up.
The Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago got Illinois Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, to introduce legislation Tuesday that calls for the city to ramp up its contributions to the fund, which is nearly $10 billion in the hole.
Under the proposal, the city would be given 40 years to bring the fund up to 90 percent funding, under the threat of reduced state funding for failure to do so. It does not reduce benefits, as did an earlier Emanuel plan that the Illinois Supreme Court struck down in March. […]
But Emanuel has said he’s still looking for a way to soften the blow on taxpayers when it comes to city workers and laborers. And the administration issued a chilly statement Tuesday in response to the bill: “Introducing and passing legislation that requires scheduled pension contributions from the city without also identifying a dedicated revenue source is irresponsible.”
* Strong opposition by the retailers along with a couple of pledged supporters who didn’t show up for the vote killed this one off…
Legislation that would allow municipalities to share confidential taxpayer information with third-party vendors in order to correct errors from the Department of Revenue was defeated in the Illinois Senate by one vote Tuesday.
This marks the second time in a week the bill has fallen short of passage.
The legislation would give third-party vendors access to information so long as they entered into confidentiality agreements with municipalities. Vendors could then use the information to discover and collect tax revenue that may have been reported to the wrong community by the Department of Revenue.
“Financial advisers may have abilities and software to provide checks and balances with the Department of Revenue,” said Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, the bill’s sponsor. “Time and time again, the Department of Revenue makes multiple mistakes allocating money that municipalities aren’t entitled to.”
As of Tuesday, a bill was making its way through the Illinois statehouse that, if signed into law, would make it easier for ex-offenders to get an occupational license in barbering, cosmetology, roofing, and funeral home directing. The bill would bar the IDFPR from denying occupational license applications to people with a criminal record if their conviction wasn’t “directly related” to the profession. It would also require IDFPR to issue a written decision if it did reject an applicant on the basis of their criminal record, as well as mandate a yearly report from the department on those decisions.
The bill wouldn’t do anything for the the dozens of other professions, like insurance, that require a license in the state. Illinois Representative Marcus Evans is sponsoring the bill in the house.
“We have these four categories which will provide more opportunities, and I think hopefully we can build on that,” he said. “Going through the legislative process you can’t always get everything you want. But as long as we are moving in the right direction I am reasonably satisfied. And hopefully we can get more in the future.”
After Tony Graham was denied his insurance producer’s license, he was unemployed for a while. He almost lost his house. But he eventually found work: driving for the rideshare service Uber.
Eleven of the 18 members of the Illinois Republican Party platform committee reportedly are agreed that the one-man, one-woman marriage plank should be removed from the 2016 platform. […]
Wednesday night, the committee is expected via conference call to confirm the platform they will be recommending to party delegates this weekend IL GOP State Convention in Peoria. […]
Committee members that support removing the section say the IL GOP’s position preferring one-man/one-woman marriage over same sex marriage is viewed negatively by younger voters that are more libertarian on the issue.
Others argue that since the Supreme Court ruled on same sex marriage, states are not allowed to hold positions differing from the decision, thus the position is irrelevant. Still others insist the Republican Party boasts a “big tent” that should welcome anyone with any position on the sanctity of marriage.
A. We recognize that a strong family, based on the institution of marriage, sanctified by God and strengthened by the legal protections afforded to that institution by government, is the basic building block of society. Accordingly, we support public policies that promote the formation, endurance, and autonomy of the nuclear family and that empower parents to provide a safe and nurturing home environment for their children.
B. We recognize that religious freedom is the “first” freedom, as enshrined in the First Amendment. While we oppose discrimination in any form, we also oppose public policies that seek to compel or coerce individuals, businesses, religious institutions, or other organizations to violate their core religious beliefs, including, without limitation, by participating in ceremonies that run contrary to their core religious beliefs.
C. We believe that parents—not bureaucrats—are best-positioned to make decisions regarding the health and welfare of their minor children, and we support public policies that preserve and strengthen parental rights.
D. We believe that the disintegration of the nuclear family is a leading cause of generational poverty and that a connection exists in this and other respects between “social” and “fiscal” public policy issues.
E. We recognize that the states reserved to themselves—implicitly throughout the U.S. Constitution and explicitly in the Tenth Amendment—the power to legislate on matters related to marriage and family, and we oppose efforts by the federal government to encroach on that reserved power.
* I’ve seen a ton of stories about the long security screening lines at O’Hare and other airports, but few point to the fact that this is self-inflicted. From a March 30th AP story..
Launched nationwide in 2012, PreCheck gives previously vetted passengers special screening. Shoes, belts and light jackets stay on. Laptops and liquids stay in bags. And these fliers go through standard metal detectors rather than the explosive-detecting full-body scanners most pass through.
PreCheck lanes can screen 300 passengers an hour, twice that of standard lanes.
The TSA offered Congress a lofty goal of having 25 million fliers enrolled in the program. Based on that and other increased efficiencies, the TSA’s front-line screeners were cut from 47,147 three years ago to 42,525 currently. At the same time, the number of annual fliers passing through checkpoints has grown from 643 million to more than 700 million.
As of March 1, only 9.3 million people were PreCheck members. Applicants must pay $85 to $100 every five years. They must also trek to the airport for an interview before being accepted. Getting once-a-year fliers to spend the time or the money to join has been a challenge. While 250,000 to 300,000 people are joining every month, it will take more than four years at that pace to reach the target.
* The last sentence in this excerpt pretty much sums up the philosophy of the Illinois Policy Institute…
As part of Taxpayer Advocacy Day, Swanson was one of about 50 Illinoisans who gathered Tuesday at the Capitol to lobby for sustaining Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill to send union negotiations to binding arbitration. If an unelected arbitrator were to rule in the union’s favor, it could cost the state billions, Rauner has argued
Over 200 people signed up for the taxpayer rally put on by Illinois Policy Action, an arm of the Illinois Policy Institute that conducts independent research and calls for limited taxation.
“We’re here to show there are people here who want to fix Illinois,” Swanson said.
While rally participants sought to encourage lawmakers to vote against an override of House Bill 580, Hugh McHarry of Havana said they were there to support government solutions that lower taxes and stop residents from fleeing the state.
“We are tired of talking about this in our homes,” McHarry said. “Illinois representatives should represent the taxpayers and not the tax receivers.”
What we really need is a better balance. As I’ve said many, many times before, we need to do things for employers like make workers’ comp insurance more affordable. We need to help local governments deal with their cost burdens as well. But it has to be a balanced approach. Until recently, the governor hasn’t been interested in that. I think he’s changing, at least in the context of making a budget deal before everything crashes and burns.
* And here’s something that the folks who don’t want a deal always miss: Once Rauner agrees to a tax hike, he will have a far tougher time holding everybody hostage. Yes, he can veto future budgets in order to try and obtain even more reforms. But if there’s ample revenue coming in, we won’t be racking up these huge deficits.
So, I think the working group on the “non-budget” items should make its product public, even though it’s not yet completed. Right now, opponents of a deal (including Speaker Madigan) keep talking about how they’ll fight to the death the governor’s proposed reforms from last year. But those proposals have changed, in many cases considerably.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The following is an excerpted letter to the editor from this week’s Crain’s, co-authored by James Hansen, President of Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions and Michael Shellenberger, Founder and President of Environmental Progress.
“…New legislation would invest in renewables and efficiency, and only support Exelon’s two economically distressed plants, Quad Cities and Clinton, not all of its nuclear fleet.
…We would prefer to see a 100 percent zero emission standard by 2030, one that treats all sources of zero-carbon electricity—from solar and wind to nuclear and coal with carbon capture and sequestration—equally. But that is not going to happen this legislative session, so we encourage the Illinois Legislature, Gov. Bruce Rauner, environmental groups, labor unions and others to put pressure on all sides to get a deal and pass a version of SB 1585 into law.
…Time is running out. If Illinois legislators fail to act quickly to pass legislation, the state will lose 23 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources and carbon emissions will skyrocket the equivalent of nearly 2 million cars over the next two years due to the loss of two nuclear plants, Clinton and Quad Cities.
We encourage all sides to agree to reasonable compromise so Illinois can be a leader on climate and green jobs.”
* This local is only about 50 members, but a four-year wage freeze and other stuff in this deal is on the table in the AFSCME negotiations. It’s also notable because today is the big labor rally…
Governor Bruce Rauner issued a statement [yesterday] following the Illinois Federation of Teachers ratification of four-year collective bargaining agreement:
“We are proud to announce that the Illinois Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO Local #919, representing educators at the Illinois School for the Deaf, ratified a four-year collective bargaining agreement with our Administration. This group of educators is dedicated to the School and the Administration’s shared mission “to educate students who are deaf or hard of hearing to be responsible, self-supporting citizens.”
“Through negotiations, our Administration created a lasting partnership with the Illinois Federation of Teachers that will benefit the parents and students we serve. The end result is a labor contract that is consistent with the contracts previously ratified by 17 other bargaining units representing over 5,000 state employees and is a testament to what can be accomplished when both sides are willing to compromise and negotiate in good faith.
“We are excited about the new day in our relationship with the Illinois Federation of Teachers.“
BACKGROUND
The agreement includes the following terms:
· A structure for new labor-management committee to facilitate biannual—if not more frequent—discussions between the Union and senior members of our administration to advance the School’s mission;
· Joining the health insurance program agreed to by other unions and offered to the state’s nonunion employees that will offer employees a variety of new options, allowing them to either maintain their current premiums, maintain their current coverage, or mix and match in the way that is most beneficial to them;
· A new incentive program to reward employees with performance bonuses for cost-saving measures and meeting or exceeding performance standards;
· A four-year temporary salary freeze;
· A commitment to improve summer employment opportunities for educators;
· A commitment to timely fill educator vacancies with well-qualified candidates, allowing sufficient time to recruit highly sought-out candidates with a degree from an accredited Deaf Education program; and
· A program to enable the State of Illinois to address minority underutilization in state government.
The Rauner Administration has reached collective bargaining agreements with the following unions:
· Teamsters (Downstate)
· Teamsters / Professional & Technical Employees Local Union No. 916
· Teamsters (Fox Valley)
· Teamsters, Local 700 (Cook County)
· Teamsters, Local 700 (Master Sergeants at Illinois State Police)
· International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers - Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers
· Illinois State Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
· United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
· International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
· SEIU, Local 1, Fireman and Oilers Division
· International Union of United Food and Commercial Workers
· Laborer’s International Union of North America (LIUNA) (Prevailing Rate)
· International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers
· International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399
· International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
· United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry
· International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, & Transportation Workers
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Despite increased costs resulting from the regulatory environment, credit unions are the only financial institutions which overwhelmingly offer free checking accounts. A study by Moebs Services confirmed that nearly 74% of credit unions offer free checking to their members, while only 46% of banks offer the same. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, new regulatory requirements have significantly increased compliance costs for all financial institutions. For many, the increased operating costs have been passed on to customers in the form of fees associated with financial transactions. However, credit unions continue to offer financial services at the lowest possible cost – sometimes even free – to their members.
Experience the credit union difference. Visit ASmarterChoice.org to locate a credit union near you!
After they had passed the tuition grant bill, [House Democrats] called votes on legislation to freeze property taxes, an item on Rauner’s legislative wish list. The bill doesn’t include the language Rauner has requested that would allow local governments to save on costs by setting limits on collective bargaining. That language is included in a separate amendment, and Democrats have spent the past year voting to approve the property tax freeze while rejecting the collective bargaining provisions. It’s a trick designed to allow Democrats to go on record supporting the property tax freeze, which is popular with voters, while forcing Republicans to cast protest votes against it.
House lawmakers spent much of the rest of the day debating whether it was the 17th or 18th time Democrats had called the legislation for a vote.
Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said she remains “pretty skeptical.”
“We’ve had a lot of working groups, and (Madigan) disavows any knowledge or interest of them every time,” Radogno said. “I think ultimately the working group needs to be the speaker himself and the leaders because he manipulates the process and then nothing happens. That’s what I’m worried about.”
Video of Radogno’s remarks, along with House GOP Leader Jim Durkin’s comments, is here.
The meeting was the first of its kind since rank-and-file lawmakers last week presented leaders and the governor with a framework for a balanced budget for next year. That outline included roughly $2.4 billion in spending cuts and $5.4 billion in new revenue, which would be generated in part by raising the state’s personal income tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.85 percent.
After the meeting, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said Rauner reiterated his willingness to raise new revenue to balance the budget.
“That’s, I think, very helpful,” Cullerton said, “because if you don’t have revenue, you could never possibly come to a balanced budget.”
Cullerton said the governor declined to go into specifics about what revenue proposals he would support. The package lawmakers presented also included expanding the state sales tax to some services, an idea Rauner campaigned on.
While Cullerton labeled the meeting productive, Madigan issued a statement shortly afterward, saying Rauner continues to insist upon passing his “personal agenda” before discussions on a state budget could happen. […]
Shortly after the meeting, Madigan gathered enough votes to pass a bill to fully fund MAP grants — funded from the state’s general revenue fund. Rauner has said he’ll only approve spending bills if they come from special funds or from cuts. Lawmakers tried to pass a bill to fund tuition grants in February, which Rauner vetoed.
In a statement about the MAP bill, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said the governor remains “committed to reaching a balanced budget alongside meaningful reforms in a bipartisan manner.”
Chicago Public Schools told some principals Tuesday to expect total school budget cuts of between 20 percent and 30 percent as the district plans for “the worst.”
The broke district, which has been begging Springfield all year for financial help, plans to chop its own per-pupil contribution by nearly 40 percent, according to proposed budgets given to 15 elementary and high schools. […]
The district says principals have to “plan for the worst — higher class sizes, loss of enrichment activities, and layoffs of teachers and support staff” while waiting for the General Assembly to take action on proposed pension help or revising the state’s funding formula, spokeswoman Emily Bittner said.
On average, schools will feel a budget cut of 26 percent once they receive their state and federal funding, she said. The base per-pupil rate will drop from $4,088 to $2,495 if the proposed budget becomes final. It includes an equivalent cut for charters, too, she said.
“Given the size and complexity of an average school budget cut of 26 percent, CPS has involved principals in the school budget process earlier than ever, and has begun working with example schools to understand how cuts will affect students,” the district said in a statement. “We are also exploring mitigation strategies to lessen classroom impacts. Even as we continue to seek equal funding in Springfield, we must continue to plan for the worst – higher class sizes, loss of enrichment activities, and layoffs of teachers and support staff.” […]
“When we are told by our principal that one out of every five teachers may lose their job, that breaks my heart because we have the most amazing teachers at that school,”said CPS parent Lynn Ankney. “Seeing the waste going on in the district– it’s maddening and it’s got to stop.”
This year’s per-pupil spending reductions were partly mitigated by $41 million in federal funds pulled from programs and reserve accounts the district never specified.
CPS has said in financial disclosure documents that each 5 percent cut to the district’s student-based school budget rates would save about $100 million.
The district projects it will end its current budget year with about $24 million in cash. That amounts to less than two days’ worth of operating expenses.
Union supporters plan to rally at the Illinois Capitol to protest Gov. Bruce Rauner’s calls to change collective bargaining policies.
A coalition of labor groups plans to march by the governor’s mansion Wednesday on their way to the state Capitol.
Rauner is in the midst of prolonged negotiations for a new labor contract with the largest union representing state workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The march comes days after he vetoed a measure that would let an arbitrator settle state-employee wages and working conditions if union negotiations stalled.
* Press release…
Thousands of working people from across Illinois will hold a march and rally in Springfield today, Wednesday, May 18, to call on Governor Bruce Rauner and his legislative allies to drop their harmful demands and make Illinois work for all.
WHAT: Men and women representing labor, community, and religious organizations from across Illinois will march and rally to bring attention to the negative consequences Governor Rauner and his anti-worker agenda are having on their families and communities. Speakers will highlight how Gov. Rauner has held funding for critical services hostage until his destructive policy demands are met – demands that would drive down the wages of working people, strip their rights to negotiate together, and make it harder for injured workers to get needed care and compensation.
WHEN: Today, Wednesday, May 18, 2016
The march will begin at 11 a.m.
The rally is scheduled to begin at noon
WHERE: The march will start at the corner of 5th and Washington streets in Springfield, Ill., and will proceed down 5th Street, past the Governor’s Mansion, up 4th Street, and to the Capitol via Capitol Ave. The rally will take place at the corner of 2nd Street and Capitol Ave.
WHO: Rally speakers will include:
· Workers whose livelihoods are under attack by Rauner’s malicious agenda
· Illinoisans who have been impacted by the Rauner-driven budget crisis, including people with disabilities, seniors, students and others
· Michael Carrigan, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO
· Jorge Ramirez, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor
· William McNary, Co-Director of Citizen Action/Illinois
· John Bouman, President of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law
· Pastor T. Ray McJunkins, Union Baptist Church of Springfield
WHY: Governor Bruce Rauner is hurting Illinois, holding the state hostage in order to pass his own divisive agenda that is harmful to working people. Rauner and his allies need to drop their extreme demands and join with working families to make Illinois work for all.
Additional Info: The event is organized by Illinois Working Together and has been endorsed by:
· Action Now
· Alliance for Community Services
· Arise Chicago
· Brighton Park Neighborhood Council
· Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
· Chicago Jobs Council
· Citizen Action/Illinois
· Faith Coalition for the Common Good
· Grassroots Collaborative
· ICIRR
· Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans
· Illinois Main Street Alliance
· NAACP Illinois State Conference
· ONE Northside
· Quad Cities Interfaith
· Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
· SOAR (Steelworker Retirees)
· The Rainbow PUSH Coalition
“When the Republicans talk about how much Chicago spends per pupil, they always inflate the number by counting the money CPS puts into its pension fund,” Manar said. “Then they compare that to per pupil spending in the suburbs and downstate where residents don’t put anything directly into the state teacher pension fund. It’s apples to oranges and makes it sound like Chicago is spending $2,000 more per year per student than it is.”
* From the US Department of Health & Human Services…
Illinois Uninsured Rate Reaches Historic Low
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the latest National Health Interview Survey. The survey shows that the uninsured rate for all ages fell to 9.1 percent in 2015, making it the first year in our nation’s history that fewer than 1 in 10 Americans lacked health insurance.
In addition, the survey showed that the uninsured rate in Illinois had reached 6.8%.
* The full report is here. If you scroll way down, you’ll see that Illinois’ uninsured rate in 2013 for people aged 18-65 was 17.8 percent. By 2015 it was 9.9 percent. That’s a 44 percent decrease.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is all but summoning the bond vigilantes. In an exclusive interview with Breakingviews, the onetime buyout baron challenged a pervasive belief in markets that governments can always just raise taxes to plug deficits. The issue resonates beyond his state’s $140 billion fiscal mess. From Springfield to San Juan, debt investors have neglected to focus political minds. […]
“We’ve spun ourselves into incredible debt, the worst debt in America for any state,” he said. “We can’t cut our way out. We can’t tax our way out. We’ve got to grow.”
The message should resonate not just with elected officials, whose financial neglect over many years loaded the state and its biggest city with debt, but also debt investors who have abetted government largesse in Illinois and beyond.
“There is an underlying assumption that in the end, you can always raise taxes. Let’s not sweat deficits too much, they’ll raise taxes eventually” Rauner said. “Bond buyers end up being advocates for tax hikes. That’s not the long-term solution.”
Detroit’s general obligation bondholders, for example, ultimately agreed to be paid less than par value for their holdings in the city’s bankruptcy proceedings. Allowing over-indebted governments in Illinois to restructure their debts could further shake the market from its complacency. Rauner said bond investors “might have to be thoughtful and actually do work, actually assess risk and reward.”
He’s absolutely right that we need lots more growth. But he sure doesn’t sound like a guy who’s trying to pass a massive tax hike. Maybe he should keep that in mind.
Also, too, if he ever attempts to pass a capital bill he’s gonna have to convince those investors to give us a decent rate. Dumping all over the state ain’t gonna help.
* A letter written by Eastern Illinois University President David Glassman to the four legislative leaders and the governor dated May 2nd warned them that university administrators will “find ourselves challenged to make payroll for the second half of July and the first half of August” if it doesn’t get its full Fiscal Year 2016 appropriation very soon.
The university has already laid off 400 employees. The stopgap approp passed last month just won’t be enough to keep the doors open, Glassman said. “Our gap has not been filled,” he warned.
To clarify - we won’t “close” in late summer. We’ll have to raid restricted bond funds to cover payroll until fall tuition if no additional state funds come through.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced that his office is upgrading security features to the Driver’s License/ID card design and expanding the central issuance process for driver’s licenses and ID cards to all applicants. With implementation of these changes, Illinois has moved closer to achieving full REAL ID compliance, which is a federal mandate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
By the end of July, applicants visiting Driver Services facilities will no longer be issued a new permanent DL/ID card at the end of the application process. Instead, they will leave the facility with a temporary secure paper driver’s license, which is valid for 45 days and will serve as their DL/ID for driving purposes and proof of identification. The temporary, secure paper driver’s license or ID card will contain a photo and the basic information that appears on the permanent driver’s license or ID card. In addition, the facility employee will return the old DL/ID card back to the applicant after punching a hole in it.
Meanwhile, the applicant’s information will be sent to a centralized, secure facility in Illinois. After fraud checks have been conducted to ensure the applicant’s identity, a higher quality, more secure DL/ID will be printed and sent via U.S. mail within 15 business days to the applicant’s address.
“These changes are necessary for Illinois to be REAL ID compliant,” said White. In addition, the changes further enhance our efforts to protect Illinoisans from fraud and identity theft.” The upgraded driver’s license and ID card contain a variety of enhanced security features that take advantage of new developments in technology.”
For purposes of air travel, DHS states that it will accept the temporary document in conjunction with the old DL/ID to board an aircraft until the permanent card arrives in the mail. Illinois joins 39 other states that have moved to centralized production of DL/ID cards. This includes heavily populated states like California, Texas, and New York – as well as Illinois’ neighboring states.
These necessary changes are important steps toward becoming REAL ID compliant. DHS announced in January that Illinois DL/IDs will continue to be accepted as primary forms of identification to board commercial airplanes for domestic travel until January 22, 2018. The Illinois Secretary of State’s office continues to work with DHS and the Illinois General Assembly on the Real ID Act.
“Becoming REAL ID compliant is a step-by-step process, and with these changes Illinois is now 84 percent compliant with the federal mandate,” said White.
Central issuance provides better fraud and identity theft prevention by allowing the office to investigate possible fraud before applicants receive their DL/ID – and preventing its issuance and mailing. In addition, the design of the DL/ID card has been upgraded with important features that over-the-counter technology simply cannot produce. These types of anti-counterfeiting security features help prevent and deter fraud.
The transition to central issuance will take place in phases. First, beginning this week, Safe Driver Renewal applicants will receive by mail their new driver’s license with the upgraded security features. These motorists opted for and expect to receive their driver’s license via mail. Second, through a gradual rollout, Driver Services facilities throughout the state will implement central issuance using the newly designed card. By the end of July, all Driver Services facilities will have transitioned to central issuance.
It is imperative that applicants ensure their address is updated with the Secretary of State’s office in order to receive the permanent driver’s license or ID card. By law, address changes must be reported within 10 days. Illinoisans can update their address online at www.cyberdriveillinois.com. If an applicant does not receive their new permanent driver’s license or ID card after 15 business days of visiting a facility, they can check the status at www.cyberdriveillinois.com or call 217-782-7044.
While the driver’s license and ID card upgrades are being implemented, there will be more than one valid driver’s license/ID card until the old design format is phased out. Fees remained unchanged.
Kirk said he is running for another term because he believes he will be the “best advocate for the state of Illinois.” He sees himself as one of the more moderate members of Congress — he supports same-sex marriage and was the first Republican senator to meet with Garland, Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. Kirk called Trump a “river boat gamble” but said he still supports the presumptive Republican nominee.
“I had my reservations,” he said. “I’ve been thinking, in an age of Trump where you don’t know the direction of the country, the person you need most is a steady conservative hand like Mark Kirk in the Senate to be advising the president, especially on national security topics…which is my particular expertise after 23 years in the Navy.”
* Duckworth deputy campaign manager Matt McGrath responded…
“It is abundantly clear to most people in Illinois that Donald Trump lacks the knowledge and temperament to be President, and should never be placed anywhere near the nuclear codes. Republican Mark Kirk, who has been wrong about virtually every major foreign policy decision for the last 15 years, apparently views such a frightening possibility as an opportunity to increase his influence. Sad!”
OK, but I thought his statement, while admittedly self-serving, was somewhat reasonable.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, a bill with strong bipartisan, labor, and community support called the Next Generation Energy Plan (NGEP) was introduced in Springfield that will drive Illinois’ clean energy future, while protecting and creating thousands of jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
Specifically, the NGEP will:
• Introduce a Zero Emission Standard, keeping the state’s at-risk, nuclear facilities operating, saving 4,200 jobs, and preserving over $1.2 billion in economic activity annually.
• Enhance the reliability and security of the power grid
• Jumpstart solar energy in Illinois with rebates and more than $140 million per year in new funding for solar development.
• Nearly double energy efficiency programs, creating $4.1 billion in energy savings
• Provide $1 billion of funding for low-income assistance.
• Reduce the fixed customer charge for energy delivery by 50% and create equitable rates, giving customers more control over their bills.
• Strengthen and expand the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly: Vote YES on the Next Generation Energy Plan by May 31 to avoid lost jobs, economic activity and increased carbon emissions in our state.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The daily fantasy sports gambling industry is pressuring officials to pass a bailout that actually costs taxpayers. According to COGFA these Internet gaming giants would each pay just $900,000 in state taxes, but they could afford $500 million in television ads last year.
Taxpayers may actually have to subsidize regulating online sports wagering. The Illinois Gaming Board doesn’t know how much it will cost to oversee this new form of online gaming.
The state is facing an unprecedented budget crisis, but two out-of-state companies, which the Attorney General said broke law, want you to give them valuable Internet gaming licenses.
Everyone but paid fantasy sports operators agree, it’s gambling:
Proponents are telling elected officials a fantasy, but the budget crisis is real. Don’t make it worse and pass a fantasy sports bailout that actually costs the state money.
[GOP Rep. David Harris] said the continued impasse is due in part to the difficult and contentious policy issues, such as collective bargaining, worker’s compensation, prevailing wage and property tax freezes.
Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) said those ancillary policy disputes and the budget are the two major problems facing the state legislature right now.
“The budget problem is important – really important – and difficult – really difficult, but there’s kind of a mechanism to come together. You can average two numbers. You know what halfway between my budget idea and your budget idea looks like,” Biss said. “On some of these policy questions … you have diametrically opposite core philosophies. And so if the goal is to get all of those things worked out simultaneously, I think you’re going to have a great degree of difficulty getting there.”
Biss is mostly right about the budget, but there are always ways to find avenues for agreement on those non-budget issues. The Democrats whacked the teachers unions a few years back with their education reforms that private citizen Bruce Rauner was pushing at the time, for instance. They’ve taken away some union collective bargaining rights on outsourcing some school contracts in Chicago. They whacked AFSCME and the teachers on pensions… twice. They even jammed up the trial lawyers years ago on behalf of the Medical Society.
The problem isn’t the way forward, necessarily, it’s the will to move forward. And if there’s no will, there ain’t no way. And there’s very little will in the House Democratic caucus because everything has been so divisive for a year and a half and their leader is leading them away from compromise.
Biss said getting rank-and-file members to agree on a budget might be a path to success.
“I think there is an extremely strong opportunity for rank-and-file legislators to push. I think if you’re saying, will there be a coup where one of the four leaders is deposed? I think that’s unlikely simply because the situation is so tense that people tend to hunker down together,” Biss said.
Yep, and that’s something that the House Democrats still don’t quite understand. They expected a House Republican coup months ago. They’ve predicted it on a regular basis ever since. It hasn’t happened. Yes, the Republicans have risen up in protest, particularly on veto overrides, but the governor’s people are smart enough to know how to avoid a defeat on those things. They specialize in it.
So, maybe it’ll happen, but grumbling in the ranks is an extremely common thing. Just because they’re yelling about Rauner or Durkin in private (and I’ve heard it, as have others) doesn’t mean they’ll actually do anything about it. Open revolts are extremely rare around these parts.
And the same goes for the governor. He truly believed he could peel off significant numbers of House Democrats to force Madigan to the table. Hasn’t happened. Maybe it will happen, but experience says it probably won’t. They’re all hunkered down together.
* We have Speaker Madigan’s reaction to today’s leaders meeting…
Madigan: Comprehensive, Full-Year Budgets Achievable When Governor Drops Attacks on Middle Class
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan on Tuesday issued the following statement after Governor Rauner again insisted on passing his personal agenda before further discussions on a comprehensive state budget could take place:
“Progress has been made on budget items with Governor Rauner over the past year when he sets aside his non-budget agenda that attempts to lower the wages and standard of living of middle-class families.
“Illinois is in its 11th month without a state budget, and Governor Rauner’s refusal to make the budget his top priority has led to dreadful consequences for the elderly who rely on in-home care, victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, college students and universities, disabled persons, and providers of critical medical care.
“Since March 2015, the governor has worked with the Legislature to pass six budget measures. Not one of these measures was dependent on passage of his agenda that hurts middle-class families. Clearly, progress on the state budget is made when the governor sets aside his agenda that attacks the middle class.
“The governor’s continued insistence on passage of his agenda that hurts the middle class is a clear indication he is not interested in passing and implementing comprehensive, full-year budgets that do not decimate needed services relied upon by the people of Illinois.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From someone who was in the meeting today…
Perhaps this was drafted prior to the meeting and released without consultation with the speaker or his chief of staff. Not sure who to believe: the Mike Madigan in the room today or the Mike Madigan in this press release.
Interesting.
*** UPDATE 2 *** As I told you earlier, the governor’s main thrust today was to convince Speaker Madigan to allow the non-budget working groups to move forward on a more formal basis. And Madigan did just that, which makes his above statement even more odd…
Speaker left meeting w/o comment, but spox says: 1) House to take up full MAP $ 2) MM will appoint Reps to Gov's non budget working group
*** UPDATE 4 *** I just talked to Steve Brown, who said, “We made the appointments because the governor requested it.”
Madigan, Brown said, “continues to believe that entangling the buget with his personal agenda is proven not to be an effective way to make budgets.”
* Brown also said that Madigan’s appointees will have a specific role at the negotiations. “On most of those topics, people will be able to go to those meetings and explain what the House has already done on those topics in the past year and a half.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s choice to fill the college faculty slot on the Illinois Board of Higher Education has prompted backlash from faculty at the University of Illinois.
Rauner announced John Bambenek, a former Champaign school board member and a onetime Republican state Senate candidate, as his faculty choice in mid-April.
Members of the Urbana campus Senate Executive Committee will draft a letter protesting the nomination to the Rauner administration. The Faculty Advisory Council to the Illinois Board of Higher Education plans to send a memo expressing frustration over Rauner’s choice to the state Senate’s Executive Appointments Committee.
In response to questions about the appointment from The News-Gazette, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly issued the following statement: “John Bambenek’s knowledge and experience make him a valuable addition to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He is qualified under statute to serve in this position.”
He is apparently qualified under statute, and he also shares Gov. Rauner’s views that higher ed administration is eating up too much of the total college cost. Remember this op-ed he did for us last year?…
In light of potential higher education budget cuts, I decided to calculate how much of the University of Illinois’ tuition dollars end up in instructors’ pockets.
I teach 125 Computer Science students. Assuming they are all in-state and they are all 3-hour students, they pay about $1,655 to take the class. This adds up to $207,000 paid to the University. It’s actually much higher than that because about half my students are out-of-state and pay double the in-state tuition and I have about a half-dozen 4-hours students.
My salary and the grading staff pay is only about 13% of that $207K. So the vast majority of those tuition dollars goes to things other than actually teaching the class. By way of comparison, when I teach overseas I am paid between 50-60% of the course cost.
Ideally, the person representing professors across the state would be a full-time, tenure-system faculty member who understands the “lifeblood” of a university, said DePaul University Professor Marie Donovan, chair of the IBHE’s Faculty Advisory Council.
“No. 1, he’s not a faculty member. That has not been his livelihood,” she said Monday. “He’s not been working with students, advising them. He’s not been deliberating curricula, he’s not been engaged in sustained research, and he hasn’t had to juggle all of those teaching, research, scholarship and service activities,” she said.
“It’s not his fault,” she said. “I’m pointing our fingers at the governor and the governor’s staff who are responsible for advising him.”
I really don’t think the governor cares all that much. Not only is Bambenek in sync with the governor on administrative costs, Rauner probably knew the appointment would drive the profs up a wall.
Bambenek also denounced all campus unions: “unions on this campus are nothing more than an added expense placed on taxpayers and students. University unions, and public-sector unions in general, have largely hijacked the legacy of the unions from the days when they were necessary.”
In another column, Bambenek denounced “The misuse of ‘academic freedom’ as a bludgeon to impose academic serfdom.” He complained, “Instead of talking about intelligent design, the acolytes of Darwinism engage in character assassination.” Yes, that’s right: Bambenek demanded the teaching of creationism in college.
He proposed limiting academic freedom to only the right of researchers to explore ideas, and the right of students to “determine for themselves what is sound.” He explicitly rejected academic freedom in the classroom: “Academic freedom should not be a right of classroom instructors to turn their podiums into pulpits.” Bambenek concluded his column by declaring that universities that are too “liberal” ought to be shut down: “liberal academia needs to engage with the world and ideas around it, or we will close down these bastions of failed thought.”
Ah, unions. The governor’s sweet spot. Or bitter spot, if you prefer.
* Also, the link is broken, but complaining about character assassination is not the same as demanding that creationism be taught. I was able to get part of the column in question, however…
Academic freedom should be confined to two areas and two areas alone. First, the researcher should be free to explore ideas without having pre-planned conclusions. Second, students should be free to explore the wide range of ideas and determine for themselves what is sound. Academic freedom should not be a right of classroom instructors to turn their podiums into pulpits. Their role is to present information, not preach it. Diverse instructors should be hired to present all reasonable positions within the disciplines.
I’m not endorsing it because I haven’t had a chance to think it through, but that seems kinda reasonable on its face.
* I’ve admitted a soft spot for Bambenek in the past. He’s been more than a bit of a loose cannon, but sometimes those folks appeal to me on certain levels. We disagree on a lot, and he’s gonna have to rise and fall of his own accord. But he’s not an evil cartoon character (although he’s tried to be at times) and deserves a fair hearing. Aside from the union stuff, he’s more on the side of faculty when it comes to their share of the pie than they may realize.
State Rep. Reggie Phillips, R-Charleston, was surrounded Monday by a swarm of riled members of the Eastern Illinois University community, calling for better support for the university.
A day before the Illinois House of Representatives meets, members of EIU-UPI, a faculty union, and others marched toward the legislator’s district office to show their support for university funding.
From 20 to 50 people walked from Morton Park with signs reading “Reggie Phillips: Stand Up to Rauner. Fully Fund EIU,” to “remind” Phillips of their call for full funding, they said. […]
“We are out here because 30 percent funding is a 70-percent cut,” said Sace Elder, EIU-UPI march organizer. “We thought this was very good time to remind Representative Phillips that we expect him to stand up to Rauner (and) stand up to the naysayers in order to get our community fully funded.”
Phillips said those demanding that he “stand up” to the governor were “confused” as to Rauner’s authority over the House.
“Rauner is really the secondary player on this right now,” Phillips said. “It is in Mr. (Michael) Madigan’s hands … anybody that thinks that fund EIU is going to happen if we pressure Rauner is nuts.”
While Madigan is indeed a very big problem, the pressure needs to be on everybody, continually, until the end of the month. Phillips included. This gets us back to what Rep. Franks said…
“Both sides suffer under the delusion that it’s OK that real people get hurt as long as the other side gets blamed for it.”
* As we discussed last week, the Illinois Policy Institute is having a rally today and participants are eligible for $40 gift cards. According to a participant (who is actually on the other side) turnout is a bit light…
* There are free t-shirts…
* But they’re made in Bangladesh…
* The Bangladeshi-t-shirt-wearing mini crowd will descend on the Statehouse today to lobby these Republican legislators to ask them to vote against the AFSCME “no strike” bill…
…Adding… A closeup of the “Because… Madigan!” t-shirt…
They’re so clever.
…Adding More… And, of course, the teevee people apparently think it’s all organic…
Several folks showed up in front of Speaker Madigan's office in support of Rauner's veto HB 580. #twillpic.twitter.com/9TNpljeteh
* Just minutes before the leaders are set to meet for only the second time this year, House Speaker Michael Madigan filed a new amendment to a shell appropriations bill…
The sum of $227,274,400, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission from the General Revenue Fund for grant awards to students eligible for the Monetary Award Program, as provided by law, and for agency administrative and operational costs not to exceed 2 percent of the total appropriation in this Section.
Cue the “It has no real funding source and is therefore a sham” press release from the governor’s office in 3… 2…
Public Policy Polling was in the field for SEIU Health Care, looking specifically at five legislative districts where Republicans are incumbents. The surveys looked at Gov. Bruce Rauner’s approval numbers and asked about wages, policy issues and funding for child care. Remember SEIU Health Care is still in contract negotiations with the governor.
An accompanying memo reads: “Rauner’s approval numbers were upside down. Fifty-one percent of voters in the 99th District, where the State Capitol is located, said Rauner was doing a bad job, compared to 32% who said good. He notched similarly dismal numbers in two downstate districts and one Chicago area district. In a northern suburban district voters offered a split verdict, 40% good versus 37% bad, but expressed serious reservations about positions taken by the legislators.
“It’s not only the governor’s unpopularity that should be a cause of worry, but the lack of support for a number of his policies. In all of the districts, a majority of voters said they would be less likely to vote for a legislator who “opposed small wage increases for working poor Illinoisans who care for children, the elderly and persons with disabilities.” The question pertains to a stalled contract negotiation between the Rauner administration and SEIU Healthcare, the organization that represents those workers. Voters also did not look favorably on representatives who have stood behind the Rauner’s administrations cuts to childcare programs for lower-income working families, with a majority or near-majority in all districts saying it would make them less likely to vote for the member.”
As with the AFSCME bill, none of these results indicate that voters are truly up in arms about the policies.
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Sheri Jesiel if you knew she voted to cut $200 million in funding for services that help frail senior citizens stay independent and prevent them from going to nursing homes that cost taxpayers more, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 27%
Less likely 44%
Wouldn’t make a difference 22%
Not sure 7%
You word a question like that and still only get 44 percent “less likely”?
How would you rate Governor Bruce Rauner’s job performance: good, bad, or are you neutral?
Good 34%
Bad 48%
Neutral 16%
Not sure 2%
If the election for State Representative were held today, would you vote to re-elect Republican Rep. Michael McAuliffe, or do you think it’s time for someone new?
Vote to re-elect Rep. Michael McAuliffe 45%
It’s time for someone new 40%
Not sure 15%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Michael McAuliffe if you knew he was supported by Governor Bruce Rauner, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 20%
Less likely 42%
Wouldn’t make a difference 36%
Not sure 2%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Michael McAuliffe if you knew he was supported by Donald Trump, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 22%
Less likely 44%
Wouldn’t make a difference 32%
Not sure 3%
When you’re as toxic to your incumbents as Donald Trump, there’s a problem. Just sayin…
How would you rate Governor Bruce Rauner’s job performance: good, bad, or are you neutral?
Good 40%
Bad 37%
Neutral 21%
Not sure 2%
If the election for State Representative were held today, would you vote to re-elect Republican Representative Sheri Jesiel, or do you think it’s time for someone new?
Vote to re-elect Representative Sheri Jesiel 36%
It’s time for someone new 43%
Not sure 21%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Sheri Jesiel if you knew she was supported by Governor Bruce Rauner, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 25%
Less likely 36%
Wouldn’t make a difference 34%
Not sure 5%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Sheri Jesiel if you knew she was supported by Donald Trump, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 22%
Less likely 43%
Wouldn’t make a difference 31%
Not sure 3%
How would you rate Governor Bruce Rauner’s job performance: good, bad, or are you neutral?
Good 30%
Bad 46%
Neutral 21%
Not sure 2%
If the election for State Representative were held today, would you vote to re-elect Republican Representative Avery Bourne, or do you think it’s time for someone new?
Vote to re-elect Representative Avery Bourne 42%
It’s time for someone new 47%
Not sure 11%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Avery Bourne if you knew she was supported by Governor Bruce Rauner, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 15%
Less likely 44%
Wouldn’t make a difference 37%
Not sure 4%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Avery Bourne if you knew she was supported by Donald Trump, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 20%
Less likely 38%
Wouldn’t make a difference 38%
Not sure 4%
How would you rate Governor Bruce Rauner’s job performance: good, bad, or are you neutral?
Good 32%
Bad 51%
Neutral 16%
Not sure 1%
If the election for State Representative were held today, would you vote to re-elect Republican Representative Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, or do you think it’s time for someone new?
Vote to re-elect Representative Sara Wojcicki Jimenez 33%
It’s time for someone new 49%
Not sure 19%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Sara Wojcicki Jimenez if you knew she was supported by Governor Bruce Rauner, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 18%
Less likely 49%
Wouldn’t make a difference 31%
Not sure 3%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Sara Wojcicki Jimenez if you knew she was supported by Donald Trump, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 14%
Less likely 45%
Wouldn’t make a difference 39%
Not sure 2%
The governor is seriously upside down in that state employee-dominated district which he won with 58 percent.
How would you rate Governor Bruce Rauner’s job performance: good, bad, or are you neutral?
Good 27%
Bad 50%
Neutral 21%
Not sure 2%
If the election for State Representative were held today, would you vote to re-elect Republican Representative Terri Bryant, or do you think it’s time for someone new?
Vote to re-elect Representative Terri Bryant 45%
It’s time for someone new 44%
Not sure 11%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Terri Bryant if you knew she was supported by Governor Bruce Rauner, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 17%
Less likely 40%
Wouldn’t make a difference 39%
Not sure 3%
Would you be more or less likely to vote for Representative Terri Bryant if you knew she was supported by Donald Trump, or would it not make a difference?
More likely 22%
Less likely 40%
Wouldn’t make a difference 35%
Not sure 3%
Rauner won that one with 60 percent, yet he’s more of a drag than Trump.
* Of course he’s for it. We have a super rich man wanting to plop a gargantuan homage to himself on the Chicago lakefront instead of building it where it could do some actual good for a community. I mean, what’s not to like?…
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner says he hopes the City of Chicago wins in a lawsuit over the placement of the George Lucas museum. Lucas chose Chicago in 2014 over sites in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The City has been in a legal battle with the group Friends of the Parks over whether the museum should go on the lakefront. Rauner says it’s not often people like George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson say they’ll give a 700-million dollar gift.
“I hope the Lucas family stays persistent and Mellody stays the course. I believe they’ll win in court eventually. I’m sorry the court process takes a while, but I think they should win because I think it’s the right thing for the people of Chicago and the people of Illinois.”
Friends of the Parks wants to keep the lakefront open, but the city wants the Lucas museum to replace a parking lot by Soldier Field.
With just two weeks left before the scheduled end of the Legislature’s spring session—and nearly a year since the state had a budget—Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly’s four top leaders finally plan to sit down face to face on Tuesday.
Expectations are low—to put it mildly.
Though the guv and the “four tops” haven’t met since winter, and though the loose outlines of a potential budget deal emerged last week, the stumbling block remains what it has been for a year and a half: whether Democrats will give Rauner some of the pro-business, union-weakening structural changes he wants in Illinois government, or whether he will cave in. […]
Of course, miracles can happen. Look at how “this year” finally has seemed to arrive for the Cubs.
Meanwhile, the speaker, Senate president and the two GOP leaders are set to gather at 11:30 a.m. in Rauner’s office in the Capitol. If nothing else, it ought to make for good TV.
I’m told that the question the governor will ask Speaker Madigan today is, essentially: Are you ready to let the non-budget reform negotiators move forward in a more official capacity?
The answer to that question is expected to be “No,” but if he surprises everyone then there’s still a tiny ray of hope that something can be accomplished by May 31st.
Madigan has often said that the governor needs to learn how to declare victory. He was absolutely right for many, many months. But there comes a time when the House Democrats need to learn the same thing. That time is now.
“Both sides suffer under the delusion that it’s OK that real people get hurt as long as the other side gets blamed for it.”
That’s exactly, totally right.
It’s how everybody involved in this mess sleeps at night, from the governor, to the leaders, to the members, to their respective cheerleaders.
They convince themselves that it’s all Rauner’s fault for being so anti-union and anti-bureaucracy, or it’s completely Madigan’s fault for being… Madigan.
* But real people are getting hurt out there. And it’s time for everyone to accept their own responsibility and find a way to come together and pass a freaking budget.
They continue to act as if they’re the real victims here, or they’re just helpless bystanders. They’re neither. The real victims are the homeless children and victims of domestic abuse who can’t find shelter, the rape victims who can’t find help, the college kids from poverty-stricken families who lost their dream of bettering themselves.
And the minions out there on both sides need to stop cheerleading this war. You are culpable as well.
A rough outline of budget ideas for Illinois may already be on the way to a dead-end; Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is giving a cool reception to a potential budget framework drafted by a group of state legislators. […]
“I think you will find many Democrats who will find that framework to be inadequate,” he said in an interview with NPR Illinois. “That’s an important thing to understand. Because you’ll find the majority of Democrats have a strong view as to what the government of Illinois should do for the people of Illinois. And I think that they would find that that framework would not be fully supportive of what they think the … government of the state of Illinois should do for the people in education, social services health care. So it was a group of people that met, they talked, they exchanged ideas. It hasn’t been shared with the general membership in the legislature. That’s an important thing to do.” […]
Madigan says he isn’t ready to pass final judgment on it. But he predicts many Democrats will find the framework “inadequate,” and that they won’t appreciate the depth of the cuts, and stressed it’s nature as a loose draft.
“Whatever the agreement is has not been shared with the people in the legislature,” he said. That would be a very interesting exercise.” When pressed on his own opinion, of the plan’s adequacy, Madigan answered: “I don’t know enough about it to say whether it’s adequate or inadequate. It’s a framework.”
OK, I see where he’s coming from, but wait a second here.
Speaker Madigan has said from Jump Street that crafting a budget was the most important thing that Gov. Rauner could do and what the state truly needs. So, they get to a budget framework and now he’s throwing ice water on it?
C’mon, man.
*** UPDATE *** If you listen to the entire interview, Madigan says of the governor…
“Why does he continue to insist that these [social service] agencies, that provide for the vulnerable in our society, are not paid for the services that they’ve provided to the state? Why doesn’t he deal with that?”
Um, Speaker. That (and more) is exactly what the framework is supposed to address.
For more than forty years, the Clark home was a gathering place for songwriters, folk singers, artists and misfits; many who sat at the feet of the master songwriter in his element, willing Guy’s essence into their own pens. Throughout his long and extraordinary career, Guy Clark blazed a trail for original and groundbreaking artists and troubadours including his good friends Rodney Crowell, Jim McGuire, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Verlon Thompson, Shawn Camp, and Vince Gill.
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
99th General Assembly:
Today I veto House Bill 580. Nearly one year ago, the General Assembly passed an almost identical bill, Senate Bill 1229. I vetoed that bill because it was a dangerous, unprecedented attack on our taxpayers. HB 580 recycles the same dangerous proposal that I vetoed last fall.
Prior to the veto override vote on SB 1229 and within the last few days, newspaper editorial boards from all corners of the state – north to south, urban and rural, heavily Democrat and Republican districts, and those with large union and non-union readerships – wrote about the dangers of stripping taxpayers of their voice at the collective bargaining table.
The editors at The Southern wrote, “[n]othing like SB 1229 exists anywhere in the country. Nor should it. It’s an open assault on transparent representative government.” The Pantagraph in Bloomington wrote, “This is a terrible piece of legislation that should have never received much attention.” Just yesterday, the Dispatch-Argus rightly called HB 580 “worse than the original.” And The News-Gazette described HB 580 as “wrong on so many levels that it represents Exhibit A for the sloppy, irresponsible manner in which our failed state has been and continues to be run.”
HB 580 goes even further than SB 1229 did, sneaking in additional costly language under the guise of technical changes. For the reasons I explain in this message, our taxpayers rightly insist that HB 580 not become law.
We should be very clear about what prompted SB 1229 and now HB 580. A single union, AFSCME, made unaffordable and unsustainable salary and benefits demands during its collective bargaining negotiations, and then refused to meaningfully compromise. AFSCME’s leaders demanded salary increases of up to 29% over four years; a more expensive, platinum health care plan; and lavish overtime benefits, including time and a half after 37.5 hours of work each week and 2.5 times wages for some holidays. AFSCME is demanding that our taxpayers fund these additional benefits to the tune of $3 billion over the life of the contract. What’s worse, with HB 580, AFSCME wants to ensure that those taxpayers have no say in the matter.
Everyone knows that our taxpayers simply cannot afford these unreasonable demands. As a result, our negotiators emphatically rejected AFSCME’s most costly contract proposals. We offered solutions that are fair to both our taxpayers and our employees. Those proposals included performance bonuses of up to 8% of salary, greater choice of lower cost health care plans, and changes in work rules that would require the payment of overtime after 40 hours of work per week, which is standard and consistent with federal law, rather than 37.5 hours. We also proposed to eradicate underutilization and to promote the hiring and advancement of minorities in state government jobs by setting aside the current arbitrary barriers that stand in the way. AFSCME rejected all of these common sense proposals.
Unaccustomed to having to explain how the State could possibly pay for AFSCME’s unaffordable demands, union leaders sought to legislate away such inconvenient questions. AFSCME asked legislators to strip taxpayers of their rights under existing Illinois labor laws. Current law ensures that the Governor represents taxpayers’ interests at the bargaining table. Those rights are consistent with every state and municipal labor law in the country and the rights given to employers in the National Labor Relations Act, the federal law that governs all private sector labor negotiations, as well. AFSCME wants to squash those rights precisely because they stand in the way of AFSCME’s unreasonable demands.
HB 580 replaces the Governor in collective bargaining negotiations with an unelected, labor-friendly arbitrator who can single-handedly impose the union’s $3 billion demand on the taxpayers, and do so over the objections of the Governor, the General Assembly, the Labor Board, and the majority of taxpayers themselves. One person would have the ability to determine over 25% of our annual budget for the next 3 years, forcing increased taxes and cuts to other vital state services to pay for it all.
More than 30 years ago, AFSCME, and many others in the labor community, were instrumental in writing the collective bargaining laws across the country. In Illinois, AFSCME’s efforts led to the passage of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, the very law by which these negotiations were conducted for almost a year. Now AFSCME seeks to rewrite its own handcrafted rules simply because our negotiators invoked those same rules to protect our taxpayers against AFSCME’s unaffordable financial demands.
The AFSCME bill is crafted to apply to only a single negotiation and a single Governor. AFSCME cannot identify any jurisdiction in the country – even the most labor-friendly – that has ever enacted this type of sweeping rewrite of its labor laws targeting a single negotiating session. Taxpayers, through their elected officials, have an important, longstanding role in public labor negotiations. My action today defends taxpayers who are being denied their voice at the bargaining table.
I urge the General Assembly to stand with taxpayers and sustain my veto. In responding to AFSCME pressure to override this veto, please keep the following two things in mind:
First, a year ago, you were told that SB 1229 was needed to protect all labor unions from a concerted attack on organized labor from a series of unreasonable bargaining demands being made by our administration. But since then, 12 different bargaining units representing the State’s electricians, plumbers, painters, machinists, carpenters, engineers, and many others have voluntarily negotiated and agreed to substantially the same proposals offered to AFSCME. Despite AFSCME’s heated rhetoric trying to portray our bargaining proposals as unreasonable, these 12 unions chose to join 5 Teamster units in acting reasonably and reaching fair agreements with our administration. State employees ratified many of those agreements by over 80%. Together, these 17 agreements now cover more than 5,000 state employees.
What makes these unions different from AFSCME is none of them insisted upon the same unrealistic financial demands that AFSCME’s leadership is still making to this day. Significantly, but not surprisingly, many of AFSCME’s own members do not support these demands either. Unlike their union leaders, these members want to be part of the solution, not exacerbate the problem. But AFSCME has refused to allow them to vote on these proposals. Before AFSCME asks members of the General Assembly to vote to override this veto, why not ask them to let their own members take a vote on the same proposals that were ratified by wide margins by 17 other unions? Given that opportunity, if AFSCME allows for a fair, democratic vote without undue influence by union leaders, I predict AFSCME members would ratify this contract by the same overwhelming margins that their coworkers have.
Second, as you are aware, the impasse in negotiations with AFSCME is currently being litigated before the Illinois Labor Relations Board. AFSCME filed its own unfair labor practice charge that is part of that litigation. The Board will decide if negotiations should continue or an impasse has been reached. The Board will decide if we have offered a plan that is fair to AFSCME members. The General Assembly has a long history of not intervening in active litigation. That is precisely the procedural status of the current proceedings between the two sides. If AFSCME’s attack on our bargaining proposals has merit, AFSCME has ample opportunity to make that case to the Board. If AFSCME succeeds, the Board can order both parties back to the bargaining table to negotiate a mutual agreement. There is absolutely no need for the General Assembly to be involved.
AFSCME did say that the Labor Relations Board proceedings are unfair and that you should intervene to stop these hearings before they resulted in a decision. But here, too, AFSCME’s leaders are being disingenuous. I have attached a copy of the Tolling Agreement, which is a contract voluntarily signed by AFSCME Executive Director Roberta Lynch herself. In fact, this is the third such agreement signed by AFSCME. This one was signed on September 9, 2015 – just days after the veto override vote on SB 1229.
As the Tolling Agreement clearly states, “if a dispute exists with respect to the existence of an impasse, the parties agree to submit the matter to the Illinois Labor Relations Board.” The agreement adds, “this agreement will remain in effect until the ILRB resolves the issue” and furthermore “that this agreement will remain in effect until impasse is reached.” Director Lynch signed this agreement freely and voluntarily, including those provisions that select the Labor Relations Board, and not an arbitrator, as the appropriate authority to resolve the present dispute. HB 580 dramatically changes the terms of the Tolling Agreement and would improperly alter the very dispute resolution procedures agreed to by the parties in that contract.
AFSCME also recently filed a separate lawsuit that asks a court to decide if the parties are in compliance with the terms of the Tolling Agreement. AFSCME admits in that lawsuit that the Tolling Agreement was entered freely and voluntarily and is a valid agreement. That is a significant concession that should end any further effort to turn HB 580 into law. AFSCME squarely acknowledges it signed a valid contract. AFSCME should be required to hold up its end of the deal.
But just as with its push for HB 580, AFSCME is also asking the court to rewrite the Tolling Agreement in a way that would permit AFSCME to sidestep the Labor Board process to which it has agreed. Because the issue of what the Tolling Agreement obligates the parties to do is now squarely presented not only before the Labor Board but also in court, the General Assembly has double the reason not to interfere.
The question now before the General Assembly is whether to intervene in ongoing litigation and alter the terms of a binding contract between the State and AFSCME – all at the expense of the taxpayers we represent. I urge you to resist the pressure to override HB 580 and instead stand with taxpayers by holding AFSCME to its own commitments under the Tolling Agreement.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 580, entitled “AN ACT concerning State government”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
* AFSCME’s response…
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has vetoed the fair arbitration bill, House Bill 580. AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch responds:
“Public service workers in state government keep us safe, protect kids, respond to emergencies and much more. They want to stay on the job to serve their communities, not be forced out on strike, and they deserve fair pay and health care they can afford. This bill seeks compromise and avoids a strike by allowing an independent, neutral third party to settle the differences between workers and management. It is the process already used for tens of thousands of fire fighters, police officers, correctional workers and others throughout Illinois.
“Beneath Governor Rauner’s false claims and wild exaggerations about the bill is this reality: The governor walked away from negotiations with our union in January and is seeking total power to unilaterally impose his demands, including forcing state and university employees to pay double their current costs for health care. Given that power, the governor could impose his demands and leave state employees no choice but to strike. That’s exactly what Rauner as a candidate vowed to do.
“Governor Rauner doesn’t like HB 580 because it would require him to be moderate and seek compromise. He wants his way or no way at all. Public service workers in state government want better for the millions of citizens we serve. That’s why new polls show voters support the fair arbitration bill by 3-1 margins even in Republican districts, and why we will urge all lawmakers of both parties to protect public services, ensure fairness and override the governor’s veto of HB 580.”
For too many years, Illinoisans have been misled. Each of you in state government has been misled. Taxpayers who fund government have been misled. Recipients of public services, including our most vulnerable residents, have also been misled. The consequences are before us, and they are dire.
I ran for office to right these wrongs. I believe that solving our state’s crisis requires a simple first step — for someone to tell the truth. So here it is.
The truth is that Illinois is broke. Our taxpayers, who pay the highest property taxes in the nation, are maxed out and local governments continue to raise property taxes.
Expanding the size of government faster than middle-class paychecks are growing is a failing strategy. That is why I have no choice but to veto AFSCME’s arbitration bill, HB580.
It’s not because I don’t want to see you earn a better living today. I do. I veto HB580 because I want to protect the pension system that you are counting on for your retirement.
If I signed this bill, I would be subjecting all taxpayers to another $3 billion in higher taxes. That makes no sense when too many jobs have been leaving Illinois, and those hardworking Illinoisans that remain see their incomes falling.
We can make Illinois a state where our employees receive the pension benefits they were promised, where our budget is truly balanced through strong economic growth rather than destructive tax hikes, and where our state workers are not forced to work in decaying buildings with technology that is older than my children and furniture that is older than me.
I pledged on my first day in office to build a partnership with state employees, and that is exactly what we have done. Our 1970s computers are being replaced with next generation technology. With the General Assembly’s help, I pledged to put the Thompson Center up for sale and move employees to more modern space. We pushed for more flexible scheduling and ended Rod Blagojevich’s corrupt hiring system.
When Attorney General Madigan sought to shut off pay, Comptroller Munger and I defeated that misguided attack on state employees. And I have called on the General Assembly to honor Governor Quinn’s failed promise of wage increases from 2011. We must respect our commitments and not make new commitments that we cannot afford.
We also sought employees’ ideas for improvements and savings, prompting us to send out the first-ever state employee survey. The results were eye-opening.
You told me that promotions and compensation are not based on merit. You told me that agencies don’t reward creativity and innovation. I want to reward hard work and ingenuity. Unfortunately, union leadership is blocking many of these common sense ideas — ideas that you want. Rest assured, I heard your desire for these reforms loud and clear.
So my administration took action. We launched a truly meaningful merit pay program. We started a gainsharing program that will reward state employees for helping save taxpayers’ money. We implemented a “rapid results” system that removes obstacles to employee innovation and allows employees to personally change processes that impede good customer service.
But as I have noted, with a truly historic budget deficit and skyrocketing debt, our taxpayers cannot afford the added spending pressure of huge wage and health insurance increases. That is why I must veto HB580, ensuring that the legal process agreed to with AFSCME leaders and currently underway before the Labor Board, is allowed to proceed and fairly resolve any outstanding issues.
But I make this pledge: The State will honor its promises to you. We will continue to listen and build a workplace that values and rewards hard work, innovation, and creativity, all in a welcoming work environment. We will keep fighting to get you paid in full and on time. And we will continue to stand for fiscal discipline so that you and your families can again know you are, finally, being told the truth.
Illinois owes 800 service providers more than $350 million under contracts the state issued but lacks the appropriations authority to pay, according to Department of Human Services data obtained by the Fiscal Policy Center. The state issued these contracts even though Governor Rauner vetoed spending bills that would have allowed the state to make good on these contracts. Without payment for the services they have provided, many organizations are struggling to survive.
In an attempt to get desperately needed emergency funding to human service programs after more than 10 months without a state budget, the General Assembly last week approved by overwhelming margins a bill for more than $700 million in funding to social services. The nearly $250 million designated for DHS programs would allow the state to pay a sizable portion of the what the state owes under these contracts. Governor Rauner has not yet said whether he will sign this bill.
Pay Now Illinois, a coalition of 64 Illinois-based human and social service agencies and companies, is suing Governor Rauner and agency heads seeking payment of more than $100 million for services provided in FY16. The lawsuit seeks to begin immediate payments of the most overdue bills. The coalition notes that the lawsuit is the “only possible basis of preventing an even more serious cutback of services” and that once “these services and programs are cut or eliminated, it will be difficult to resume them.”
The list on Voices site is a sobering collection of IOUs.
Like the $7.7 million owed to the Ounce of Prevention Fund for its healthy families and parents-to-be programs. The fund’s president is Diana Rauner, otherwise known as the governor’s wife.
Among some of the others who got contracts and have been doing the work but not getting paid are Cardinal Health, at $11.5 million; the city of Chicago at $22.2 million just for child care; $2 million to the Easter Seals program for early intervention; $6 million to the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault; and $3.5 million to the Women’s Treatment Center for anti-addiction programs.
…Adding… Emily Miller in comments…
(T)his is only the list of contracts from DHS. There are many hundreds of millions of dollars more in contracts issued from other Departments without appropriation authority for the comptroller to pay for them.
The Illinois Republican Party made sure media outlets were aware of the video footage of Illinois state Rep. Katherine “Kate” Cloonen, D-Kankakee, and another state Democrat playing video games during a budget session last month. The image was caught and broadcast by WCIA-TV in Champaign and a television station in Rockford.
“This was a mistake, and I apologize,” Cloonen told the Daily Journal. “It won’t happen again, and that’s needless to say.” […]
She said she hasn’t cashed a single paycheck since the budget impasse started last July and has spent countless hours reaching out to social service providers, schools and other entities that need state funding to survive.
“I hear these struggles,” Cloonen said. “We work on it every day.”
If you ever wondered why Cloonen has been able to win a majority Republican district, you just found out. That was very well done. Time to move along.
The State Board of Elections today narrowed the scope of its inquiry into Frank Mautino’s campaign spending. Frank will be working with his team to amend his campaign reports by July 1 in an attempt to resolve these questions.
* From a local reporter…
The state Board of Elections found that the complaint against Frank Mautino was filed on justifiable grounds.
* Gov. Rauner is often (and justifiably) criticized for putting politics over governance. But he’s not the only one who plays this game. For years, the needs of politically targeted House Democrats have driven Speaker Madigan’s policy goals. Every now and then, he’ll muscle something through and give the targets a pass, but more often than not his political shop dominates.
So, have a look at what a Tier One target, appointed state Rep. Andy Skoog (D-LaSalle) has to say about Sen. Andy Manar’s school funding reform bill…
State Rep. Andy Skoog said his stance on school funding is simple: “No school loses funding in my district.” […]
“We need to work with all stakeholders and local educators to make sure our local schools receive their fair share and to make sure our local schools are not negatively impacted by any formula changes,” Skoog said in a phone message to The Times about questions on school funding.
Skoog’s comments go against a Senate bill Andy Manar, of Bunker Hill, is supporting within his party. That bill would change state funding to give more money to less property wealthy districts, such as Streator Elementary, which the state is recommending for “financial difficulty.” The bill, however, would result in more than $4 million of state funding lost to districts within La Salle County, including Ottawa Elementary, which itself is deficit spending and on an “early warning” list in its financial status. […]
“The taxpayers of the Illinois Valley shouldn’t be on the hook for decades of fiscal mismanagement and failures in the Chicago Public Schools system,” Skoog said in a press statement. “I wholeheartedly stand against bailing out Chicago’s schools.”
How self-centered can you get? Totally, apparently, which is par for the course in the Illinois political world.
Also, the governor has been rightly chastised for his incessant Chicago bashing, but Madigan is spanking it up as well - something he’s done for years.
* There comes a time when you gotta put your state over your party. As anyone who’s ever been around a while knows, Madigan has repeatedly done that in the past.
But while his political staff has been brilliant at doing their jobs, there’s just too much emphasis placed on the next election cycle. It has led at least partially to the dire straits we’re in now. People complain about corporations that only focus on the next quarter. Well, the House has historically had the same sort of myopic bent.
We have to somehow move beyond this. There are problems with Manar’s bill. Even he admits that. But our state’s fate shouldn’t depend on what some appointee in LaSalle County wants.
/rant
* Meanwhile…
Republican House (IL-76) candidate Jerry Long has a statement to make about Rep. Andy Skoog’s use of public funds for political campaigning.
“Rep. Andy Skoog pulled a stunt last week that shows a blatant disregard for the law. He used state money to send out a campaign mailing for political purposes when Illinois doesn’t even have a budget.
“Residents in our district got a political mailer masked as a “constituent survey” that trashed political opponents and pandered for votes from target demographic groups. Illinois law specifically prohibits politicians from using public funds for their campaigns.
“The idea that taxpayers would fund this mailer is an outrage, but this is what politicians do when they’re on Michael Madigan’s leash. They do whatever they can to get re-elected so Madigan can keep his stronghold on power in the Illinois House.
“I am confident that the voters will see right through this. November can’t come soon enough for us.”
Most of the letter in question can be seen here, here and here. Mainly standard stuff. Lots of potshots at Rauner, though. And sending these mailers when there’s no budget should be called out (which I’m sure the Dems will do as well).
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Skoog…
Jerry Long is continuing the kind of politics that has caused chaos and gridlock in Springfield and Washington. This is the kind of politics that is destroying our state and causes the inability for elected leaders to work across the aisle and get things done for our families. In addition to walking door-to-door and calling hundreds of constituents to stay in touch with residents and identify important local issues each week, I sent a survey to constituents to help me better understand residents’ concerns and to provide updates on issues at the capitol including my fight against reckless plans that slash critical state funding for cancer screenings, care for the elderly and services for victims of sexual assault.
Monday, May 16, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Daily fantasy sports is not gambling, it is my passion and a hobby.
I find myself entering a few contests a week. I honestly do not do it for the money. Instead, I enjoy the competition and challenge. I enjoy the camaraderie of playing against friends. The contests are fun and exciting! Furthermore, I enjoy daily fantasy sports because I love the skill involved. I love it so much I now write articles helping others who do not have time to do the research. I ask lawmakers to think about their constituents. Please, pass a bill to legalize and regulate the contests, but do not take away our right to continue to play.
A bipartisan group of legislators came together, and last week presented the governor and legislative leaders with a menu of options for getting to a balanced budget.
One of them — Senator Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat — says, as has previously been reported, that it calls for raising the state income tax from 3.75 percent to 4.85 percent, a corporate tax hike, closing corporate loopholes and a expanding the sales tax base. […]
“We’re looking at a beverage tax, which some have called a sugar tax or the pop tax, which would bring in approximately $375 million.” Trotter also says the package contemplates gambling expansion.
“Also on the table is that old standby of looking at the possibility of bringing gaming, or to expand gaming here in the state of Illinois,” Trotter said Sunday on WGN radio’s “Sunday Spin” program.
Judge Approves Agreement in Ashoor Rasho v John Baldwin
The Illinois Department of Corrections is pleased that the settlement agreement in the case of Ashoor Rasho v John Baldwin has been approved. U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm accepted the agreement on Friday, May 13th, noting that the Department’s plans for improving the delivery of services for mentally ill offenders are “fair and reasonable.”
The agreement requires the Department to update its policies for treatment and observation, increase out of cell time for mentally ill offenders housed in segregation, construct four residential treatment units aimed at providing individualized care for mentally ill offenders, provide an inpatient level care for offenders who require the most intensive level of treatment, and hire additional staff to accommodate the changes.
While the Department does not admit liability regarding the allegations made in the suit, it does recognize that providing adequate care for offenders with mental illness will improve their quality of life and ultimately improve safety within its correctional facilities. The Department has already taken significant steps to comply with the terms of the agreement:
· The Department has updated its policies to ensure that Mental Health Professionals are involved in all disciplinary actions taken against those identified as having a mental illness.
· The Department has revised its segregation policies for all offenders, which will continue to result in a significant reduction of segregation time.
· Construction continues on the residential treatment units at Dixon, Pontiac, and Logan Correctional Centers as well as the former IYC Joliet facility.
· The Department has hired additional mental health staff for the treatment units at Dixon and Logan.
· The Department has partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Illinois to develop curriculum and ensure all IDOC staff receives training on how to better interact with, communicate with, and understand the needs of those who require treatment.
· The Department has hired an internal legal advisor and has secured an external monitor to ensure that it remains in compliance with the agreement.
The Ashoor Rasho case has lingered in the courts since 2007 after an offender at Pontiac Correctional Center filed suit challenging the delivery of mental health services within the IDOC. The Department reached a partial agreement in 2013 but had not been able to fully implement a plan to streamline mental health services. Governor Rauner’s commitment to improving the state’s correctional system put the case on a fast track and his administration worked diligently with the IDOC legal team to reach a suitable agreement.
* Related…
* AP: Judge OKs settlement in lawsuit on mentally ill inmates
* One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight. In the meantime, the more he says they could find money other ways, the less credible he’s gonna appear when the tax hike vote hits the floor…
During his trip to Normal West High School this week, Rauner said [education] funding could come from a number of sources and raising taxes isn’t one of them.
“Number one: procurement reform,” said Rauner. “We could save a billion dollars from that. That’s a lot of school funding.”
Pension reform was another way Rauner said Illinois can save money.
“We can do it where we protect everybody’s pension – everything they’ve earned so far they get protected – but future work can have different options that may be more cost effective,” said Rauner. “That could save $1-2.5 billion.”
The governor added consolidating units of governments is an option as well. He said Illinois has 7,000 units of government.
I thought he’s said procurement reforms produced half that amount, but whatever. And I seriously doubt that any pension reform savings could be realized until the Supreme Court weighs in - and even then, I doubt those numbers are real.
…Adding… My preference is to be paid a billion-trillion dollars for Capitol Fax. But I would never say that with a straight face because people would think I was daft…
Rauner said his preference is to cut all taxes (unclear which ones) but he's open to raising them; talked workers comp as part of compromise
Like any other, the Thompsonville High School graduating class includes its cliques: the athletes, the studious ones, the artists, the comedians, the popular kids and so on.
Though, in this case, the list really isn’t that long.
These “cliques,” as described by the students, also are a bit smaller in size — comprising just a few, or even one student, each.
That’s just part of the oddities experienced by a class of only 12 students.
12 kids in the graduating class. They have a principal, with full staff and infrastructure for 12 kids.
I attended a high school with 12 kids in its graduating class many moons ago. That high school (in Hanover, IL) was eventually consolidated with some other towns.
One of the advantages of attending a small school is that when it comes to graduation, each senior can really savor the moment. Shiloh High School’s 24 members of the Class of 2016 made their graduation Friday night a very personal affair.
There are indeed advantages to attending such a small school. There are also disadvantages, and overhead cost is just one of them.
Monday, May 16, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The daily fantasy sports gambling industry is pressuring officials to pass a bailout that actually costs taxpayers. According to COGFA these Internet gaming giants would each pay just $900,000 in state taxes, but they could afford $500 million in television ads last year.
Taxpayers may actually have to subsidize regulating online sports wagering. The Illinois Gaming Board doesn’t know how much it will cost to oversee this new form of online gaming.
The state is facing an unprecedented budget crisis, but two out-of-state companies, which the Attorney General said broke law, want you to give them valuable Internet gaming licenses.
Everyone but paid fantasy sports operators agree, it’s gambling:
Proponents are telling elected officials a fantasy, but the budget crisis is real. Don’t make it worse and pass a fantasy sports bailout that actually costs the state money.
Monday is the deadline for Rauner to act on that bill that would send unresolved labor negotiations between the state and some of its employee unions to binding arbitration. If he doesn’t act, the bill automatically becomes law.
Rauner was asked last week what he plans to do with the bill. He wouldn’t say exactly, but he did say, “It’s stunning. It’s atrocious legislation.”
Gee, sounds like he’s going to sign it.
* And the governor’s office has been busily contacting editorial boards. Here’s one of the latest…
Not only does HB 580 contain the same language as SB 1229 which would allow an arbitrator – not the elected legislature or governor – to decide what could eventually be a $3 billion tax hike for Illinois taxpayers, it also contains additional language that could cost taxpayers another $400 million on top of that.
With negotiations stalled, and the previous contract having expired, the Rauner administration announced that it would not continue to pay automatic salary step increases that the state could not afford. SB 508 includes new language that would force the state to retroactively pay these step increases from the expired contract to the tune of another $400 million, according to administration sources.
*** UPDATE *** At least one guy in comments (somebody who usually knows these things) thinks the deadline is tomorrow. Either way, the Illinois Policy Institute is sending mailers against the bill. Here’s one…
In response to Republican Mark Kirk’s latest in a series of misleading attack ads, the Duckworth campaign today released a new 30-second campaign spot, entitled “Repeatedly.” The ad highlights Duckworth’s service to her country over the course of 23 years in the military, as well as her accomplishments on behalf of her fellow Veterans. By contrast, Kirk has been caught repeatedly lying about his own military record — including claims to have served in combat when he never did. Last week, the Kirk campaign acknowledged to the Associated Press that they are actively attempting to undercut Duckworth’s service record and commitment to Veterans — a line of attack that had even Republicans ’saying they don’t think voters will buy it,’ according to the AP. The ad can be viewed HERE.
“Republican Mark Kirk’s new ad isn’t just dishonest, it’s shameful — but what else would you expect from someone who has lied about his military record at least 10 times, including falsely claiming to have been in combat. Tammy Duckworth is a 23-year Veteran of the National Guard who nearly lost her life in Iraq in 2004, and who has been a fierce and accomplished advocate for her fellow Veterans since recuperating at Walter Reed. Unlike Kirk, Tammy can point to real results at the state and federal level helping our Veterans get jobs, reducing Veterans’ homelessness, increasing awareness and screening for PTSD, and addressing the scourge of Veterans’ suicide — among other things. Kirk is obviously willing to say or do anything to hold on to his Senate seat — including taking a page out of Karl Rove’s old ‘swift boat’ playbook. He should be ashamed of himself.” -Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
Ending months of speculation, Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks announced his candidacy for McHenry County Board Chairman, setting up what is sure to be a fierce race for the first-ever election for the seat.
But while the move gives the McHenry County Republican Party a hard fight for what was an uncontested race, it also gives the GOP a chance to reclaim the 63rd Illinois House District seat that Franks said he is relinquishing to run for chairman instead.
Franks, of Marengo, made the announcement Sunday morning, shortly after the Democratic Party of McHenry County voted to slate him to run against Republican nominee Michael Walkup. Walkup, a County Board member from Crystal Lake, narrowly defeated incumbent Chairman Joe Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake, in the March 15 primary. […]
The county Democratic Party has until August to select a candidate to run against Reick, and Democratic Party of McHenry County Chairman Michael Bissett said the decision will not happen until at least after Memorial Day.
“I’ll be the face of McHenry County in both Springfield and Washington,” Franks said. “I’ll give us credibility, and I’ll be able to put McHenry County back on the map.”
Franks sought to portray the long-rumored move as a result of frustration over the lack of a state budget. But as a Democrat holding a seat in Republican territory, Franks was potentially a target of Republican Gov. Rauner and his allies this fall.
Rauner is trying to pick off as many House Democrats as he can this year and in 2018 to dethrone Speaker Michael Madigan, his chief nemesis at the state Capitol. It’s an uphill struggle for Rauner this fall, as he faces a political landscape that includes a Madigan-drawn legislative map, a presidential year when Democrats turn out in greater numbers and the prospect of Donald Trump at the top of the GOP ticket.
For Franks, running for County Board president allows him to sidestep a possible Rauner-funded challenge. While Franks got 58 percent in 2014, Rauner easily carried the district. It’s Republican territory, but Franks was able to use family name recognition to hold onto the seat since first winning it in 1998.
* Riopell asks what Franks’ departure means for “taxes, budget stalemate.” Not much…
Franks often votes against Democratic budget and tax plans, anyway. Democrats in the House have 71 members, enough to override a Rauner veto if they all stick together.
But they often haven’t, and Franks’ votes along with Democratic Reps. Scott Drury of Highwood and Ken Dunkin of Chicago have often meant Rauner’s vetoes stand.
The drama will continue to play out as a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rauner’s budget director came up with a package of budget ideas last week that includes an income tax hike. And the state hasn’t approved a full state budget that’s now in danger of becoming a year overdue.
“Maybe this will help break the deadlock, the gridlock. Because the fact is, I keep hearing about this mythical 71. You know, do all the tax increases. But it’s not real,” Franks said. “It’s a mirage.”
Democratic bench: Independence? Executive experience? It’s something Democrats are looking for as they are to face a bitter gubernatorial election in 2018. So far, no one has raised his or her hand to go up against deep-pocketed Rauner. But should Franks win the county chair seat, it could quickly propel him high on the Democrats’ short list.
An Illinois rape crisis center is suspending nearly all of its services and will lay off five employees after operating for nearly a year without state money.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported that the nonprofit Rape Advocacy Counseling and Education Services agency will end counseling, legal advocacy and community education programs June 1.
But the Urbana center’s 24-hour crisis line will continue with $25,000 from United Way of Champaign to hire a part-time volunteer coordinator. The money comes from United Way’s emergency fund designed to help agency partners in need.
City Water, Light and Power of Springfield is among municipal utilities that would earn monthly interest on overdue state bills under a change pending with an Illinois rules-making panel.
The change also assumes eventual legislative approval of the spending.
CWLP is owed $11.7 million from overdue state electric bills. The state owes the city another $1 million for water, sewer and sanitary service, according to CWLP figures. A $2.8 million payment in April brought the total paid toward overdue bills to $6 million since the start of the state fiscal year last July. […]
A rules change proposed by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services would include municipally owned utilities under the state’s Prompt Payment Act. The change would allow for a 1 percent interest charge after 90 days for each month a bill is overdue. The change would apply to utility service provided after July 1, 2015, according to a summary of the rule at the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
While House Democrats’ priority has been to pass a comprehensive, full-fiscal year budget using a balanced approach that includes spending cuts but does not decimate needed services, Gov. Rauner’s priority puts his personal agenda first and attacks the wages and standard of living of the middle class. His insistence on passing his personal agenda has been the single roadblock to finding a true bipartisan budget solution.
However, since March 26, 2015, Gov. Rauner has approved six budget proposals that did not include any part of his personal agenda. This reaffirms my previous statements that when the governor sets aside his personal agenda that hurts middle-class families, we can make progress on the state’s most important issue. The people of Illinois want to see progress. They want to see a comprehensive full-year budget. I, too, am committed to passing comprehensive budgets for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. I also hope the governor will look at his recent budgetary actions and see that we can come together to find reasonable solutions when he sets aside his personal agenda that will hurt middle-class families and has nothing to do with the state budget.
* So, it’s difficult to disagree with all of this Tribune editorial…
Rauner’s own budget director has been involved in the talks among rank-and-file lawmakers. Those talks have addressed the possibility of raising income taxes and adding new taxes on services such as landscaping and attorney fees. The talks also have addressed some spending reforms, such as reducing costs within the state’s health care program for the poor and pushing high-end pension costs onto local governments that generate them. There’s also talk of borrowing $5 billion to pay down a backlog of overdue bills.
More borrowing? Grrr. But the point isn’t that anyone loves everything being negotiated. It’s that some serious people in Springfield are trying to cut a deal. […]
Rauner has said he is open to the possibility of raising taxes to straighten out the state’s fiscal nightmare. It is Madigan who is shutting the door to compromise, mostly for political reasons. He doesn’t want to jeopardize his members’ chances at re-election this fall with controversial votes. Madigan is doing exactly what he accused the GOP of doing in 2010 — saying “no” for campaign reasons, even though it hurts the state. […]
Judging by Madigan’s reaction to proposals being negotiated by his own members, prepare for some semblance of 2014 and 2015 in 2016. There will be no grand bargain without Mr. No.
The governor and speaker haven’t given up their partisan politics. Rather, there’s a sense that Rauner finally may have watered down his Turnaround Illinois agenda enough that a reasonable compromise can be reached. Cullerton is key to that happening.
Unlike the total tactician that is Madigan—at this point in his career, does he give a damn about anything other than doing what it takes to win the next election?—Cullerton seems to remember that his North Side voters sent him to Springfield to get stuff done. And that he has, somehow keeping together the most liberal legislative caucus the Capitol has seen in decades while on occasion rolling the dice to accomplish something.
There are two issues in particular that the Senate president is associated with: revamping the state’s broken public school aid formula and reforming the state’s hugely indebted public pension plans. Both are central to finally getting a budget deal before the General Assembly’s scheduled May 31 adjournment. […]
Whether we finally get a budget deal in the next week or two probably depends on whether the Senate president is willing to isolate the speaker. It would be risky. Lots of people have rued the day they attacked Madigan. But if someone doesn’t take him on, the state may never get a budget, despite the rising human toll.
That makes Cullerton the man on the spot. Let’s see if he’s up for it.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has been visiting schools almost every day for weeks to drive home his message that the Illinois General Assembly must approve a funding bill by the end of this month for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Rauner wants to make sure schools open on time, and he often talks about how we need good schools to make sure Illinoisans can get quality, high-paying jobs.
But much of the best job training is being done by community colleges, and the Republican governor vetoed their budget last year. He also vetoed the budget for four-year universities, which companies large and small rely on for white-collar workers. And he vetoed money for scholarships for kids from impoverished families who are trying to make a generational step-up.
What gives?
“The one important difference between K-12 schools and our university system—and, frankly, our community colleges—is the universities have other funding sources that are very, very significant that our K-12 schools do not have,” Rauner explained to reporters recently.
OK, that’s just silly. Yes, universities and community colleges charge tuition. But all public K-12 schools rely heavily on local property taxes, and they get bucks from the federal government. Also, anyone with a kid in school knows about all the special fees they have to pay every year.
We saw some examples last week of why school funding reform is so difficult to accomplish in Illinois.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin appeared with Gov. Bruce Rauner at Lyons Township High School, which is in Durkin’s district. Durkin pointed out to reporters that the school would lose $1.9 million in state funding under Sen. Andy Manar’s controversial school funding reform bill.
Leader Durkin also claimed that every school district in his House district would lose funding with Manar’s proposal. Chicago, he noted, would gain hundreds of millions of dollars. Durkin declared that he and his members could not and would not support a plan that shoveled bigtime bucks at Chicago while cutting their own districts.
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But that’s really the whole point of Manar’s plan. He wants to shift state funding away from wealthier suburban districts like those Durkin represents (14.2 percent of Lyons Township High School students are from low-income households) to districts that have high numbers of impoverished students (86 percent of Chicago Public Schools students are from low-income households). Sen. Manar wants a “hold harmless” provision to make sure no district loses money right away, but that’ll cost quite a bit of cash, which the state doesn’t currently have.
Leader Durkin represents half of Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno’s district, so convincing both of those chamber leaders to sign off on a plan that takes state money away from their own schools is just as difficult as convincing the two Chicago Democrats who head up the House and Senate to agree to Gov. Rauner’s K-12 funding proposal that reduces Chicago’s annual appropriation by $74 million because of the state’s antiquated and complicated funding formula.
Like I said, this ain’t easy.
The governor has also dumped all over Sen. Manar’s plan. He and his his surrogates have slammed the proposal as a Chicago “bailout” and have vowed campaign reprisals.
It’s not exactly the same, of course, but, in a way, Sen. Manar is to Senate President John Cullerton what former state Sen. Barack Obama was to Senate President Emil Jones, who helped mentor Obama’s rise to power.
Manar is Cullerton’s former chief of staff and Cullerton is helping him any way he can. He’s essentially Cullerton’s golden boy.
There is no doubt that Sen. Manar has worked this piece of legislation harder than any individual has worked a bill in recent memory. He has traveled from one end of the state to the other, meeting with school superintendents and other education leaders in an attempt to cobble together a workable plan. He was on Chicago’s South Side just the other day, which produced smirks from some Republicans who believe he’s attempting to use this issue to advance his political career.
But the reality is Manar has Cullerton’s full support, and Cullerton has been far more cooperative about coming up with a deal to end the months-long governmental stalemate than has House Speaker Michael Madigan. So, maybe the governor and his peeps should lay off the rhetoric a bit because things are tough enough.
Cullerton allowed Manar to hold a vote on his funding plan last week, even though Manar and other Democrats went out of their way to declare that the bill needs a lot more work.
Republicans claimed that forcing the vote could very well make it more difficult to reach an agreement on education spending. Many freely admit that the current system is horribly flawed. But the school funding formula is so crazily complicated that any successful revamp will take serious bipartisan effort. And, indeed, talks have been held to devise a more easily constructed “bridge” between today’s system and a future more in line with Manar’s vision.
But the Republicans say by running Manar’s bill instead of negotiating, the Senate Democrats may have very well hardened positions on their side of the aisle. Only one Republican voted for it, after all.
So the momentum has shifted to the other chamber, where a special committee led by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie is attempting to construct an alternative. But there are those who believe Madigan isn’t serious about getting something done.
But someone had better come up with something soon because Manar said last week there was no way he will vote for the governor’s K-12 appropriations bill because it slashes funding for schools in his district, as did other Senate Democrats. And even some Downstate Republicans who voted against Manar’s bill would prefer a different formula to prevent their own schools from losing state money under the current formula.
