Tribune Publishing said Tuesday in a letter that USA Today owner Gannett was “erratic” and “unreliable” as the two newspaper companies tried to discuss a possible tie-up.
Gannett, which is based in McLean, Virginia, said it offered $12.25 in cash for each Tribune share. That’s a 63 percent premium to Tribune’s Friday closing price of $7.52. Gannett valued the total deal at about $815 million, which includes about $390 million of debt.
Gannett said Monday that it wants to buy Chicago-based Tribune to expand its USA Today Network, an effort launched late last year that helps it share stories between national paper USA Today and its more than 100 local daily newspapers.
I wouldn’t be too happy if I owned Tribune stock, I gotta say. But, I don’t, so whatevs.
* The Question: Your thoughts on a national company buying up the Tribune?
A 10-month budget standoff in Illinois has reached the point where the state comptroller, Leslie Geissler Munger, says she plans to delay the monthly paychecks of lawmakers and state officials because other bills and services deserve to be paid first. The comptroller, a Republican running for re-election, seems to think this will force the Democratic General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, to compromise.
The paycheck strategy would be politically amusing were it not for the fact that the budget impasse is having severe effects on Illinois citizens.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is about as pro-business as Republicans come, right?
He’s got to be one of those free-market libertarian types, right?
Would you be surprised to learn his health care department is considering giving a multi-million-dollar contract to one company to provide products thousands of Illinoisans need?
This is a little story about the nitty-gritty dealings of government that affect real people and the real people who run businesses.
Lisa Kotsirs can’t leave her 29 year-old epileptic autistic daughter alone in a room because she fears her daughter would harm herself. But a looming pay cut for home caretakers triggered by the ongoing state budget impasse could leave Kotsirs with a difficult decision to make.
She and her daughter, Mandy Kotsirs, took part in a news conference Monday at the E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi Center to protest state regulations that, beginning May 1, will cap overtime pay for home caretakers. That means people such as Mandy who need more than 40 hours of care a week must find multiple caretakers to juggle the task.
Mandy needs continuous care because she has severe developmental delays, sensory issues and autism. Her mother works as her personal care worker, earning $13 an hour. About 8,600 personal care workers will feel the impact of the new overtime cap and many families could be forced to place their children in state institutions, Lisa Kotsirs said.
“This [in-home care] is needed … to help have them be more independent and hopefully drastically improve quality of life,” she said. “Caring for people like my daughter is a difficult task and not many people want to do the job.”
Home healthcare workers, like Templeton, get paid by the department of human services.
Starting May 1st they’re limited to 40 hours of work per week with some exceptions. […]
The department of human services says some people are taking advantage of the system, collecting dozens of hours in overtime pay.
The new rules mean the state will more closely review which workers earn time and a half.
* The fact that SEIU was behind yesterday’s media event suggests there’s more going on here…
Home care workers say they regularly work overtime. Now, because they’re required by law to be paid overtime, the Rauner Administration is cracking down on their hours.
Members of SEIU say the Rauner Administration’s new policy limiting hours to 40 a week doesn’t take into account what those who rely on home care workers need.
Those who need more than 40 hours a week can hire additional help under the new rules, but workers say their clients prefer people they know and trust.
“These consumers have built a repertoire with this particular person. These consumers may have disabilities that require specific needs and they may put their trust in one person. They may have worked for this person for 20 years, and now they are changing it where they have to hire someone else to come into their home and provide this assistance,” said Denise Groesch, Center for Independent Living.
There are nearly 9,000 disabled people impacted by the new overtime rules. The union representing home healthcare workers says it is an attempt by the Rauner Administration to avoid new federal rules that extend overtime to those healthcare workers.
You would expect the union to be OK with less overtime because that would mean more people (meaning more members) would have to be hired. But they’re on the side of those receiving care and the organizations providing it.
If there’s fraud, clamp down. Otherwise, why incur the expense of hiring and training more people? I’m not sure I understand this yet.
* For years, I have staunchly resisted the urge to jump on the Chicago Blackhawks bandwagon.
I played football, baseball and basketball and skied while in school. I knew those sports back and forth and have always thoroughly enjoyed them. I also attended Golden Gloves matches when my family lived in Utah for a couple of years, which got me interested in boxing.
I knew nothing about hockey - at all. I could never skate worth a darn, either. I have watched precisely one NHL game in person my entire life. I liked it, but it was in St. Louis, so I didn’t take it too seriously. Until recently, I’d never watched an entire NHL game on TV. It just didn’t do anything for me.
So, to all of a sudden become a Blackhawks fan just because they were winning seemed a bit distasteful - even wrong - to me.
* But this playoff series with St. Louis got me hooked, man. I even managed to figure out some of the rules that had previously eluded me. And because the Hawks lost, I think I’m now cleared to consider jumping aboard the ol’ bandwagon.
* This Neal Gabler piece in the Atlantic entitled “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans,” made me physically ill. Gabler documented how the middle class has little to no financial cushion and the resulting shame it causes…
Since 2013, the Federal Reserve Board has conducted a survey to “monitor the financial and economic status of American consumers.” Most of the data in the latest survey, frankly, are less than earth-shattering: 49 percent of part-time workers would prefer to work more hours at their current wage; 29 percent of Americans expect to earn a higher income in the coming year; 43 percent of homeowners who have owned their home for at least a year believe its value has increased. But the answer to one question was astonishing. The Fed asked respondents how they would pay for a $400 emergency. The answer: 47 percent of respondents said that either they would cover the expense by borrowing or selling something, or they would not be able to come up with the $400 at all. Four hundred dollars! Who knew?
Well, I knew. I knew because I am in that 47 percent.
I know what it is like to have to juggle creditors to make it through a week. I know what it is like to have to swallow my pride and constantly dun people to pay me so that I can pay others. I know what it is like to have liens slapped on me and to have my bank account levied by creditors. I know what it is like to be down to my last $5—literally—while I wait for a paycheck to arrive, and I know what it is like to subsist for days on a diet of eggs. I know what it is like to dread going to the mailbox, because there will always be new bills to pay but seldom a check with which to pay them. I know what it is like to have to tell my daughter that I didn’t know if I would be able to pay for her wedding; it all depended on whether something good happened. And I know what it is like to have to borrow money from my adult daughters because my wife and I ran out of heating oil.
You wouldn’t know any of that to look at me. I like to think I appear reasonably prosperous. Nor would you know it to look at my résumé. I have had a passably good career as a writer—five books, hundreds of articles published, a number of awards and fellowships, and a small (very small) but respectable reputation. You wouldn’t even know it to look at my tax return. I am nowhere near rich, but I have typically made a solid middle- or even, at times, upper-middle-class income, which is about all a writer can expect, even a writer who also teaches and lectures and writes television scripts, as I do. And you certainly wouldn’t know it to talk to me, because the last thing I would ever do—until now—is admit to financial insecurity or, as I think of it, “financial impotence,” because it has many of the characteristics of sexual impotence, not least of which is the desperate need to mask it and pretend everything is going swimmingly. In truth, it may be more embarrassing than sexual impotence. “You are more likely to hear from your buddy that he is on Viagra than that he has credit-card problems,” says Brad Klontz, a financial psychologist who teaches at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and ministers to individuals with financial issues. “Much more likely.” America is a country, as Donald Trump has reminded us, of winners and losers, alphas and weaklings. To struggle financially is a source of shame, a daily humiliation—even a form of social suicide. Silence is the only protection.
* While it’s not an exact or even particularly close match, I’ve been in much the same financial and mental place many times in my life (perhaps more recently than you might think). My friends and family have been there and many are there right now. Many of us know what it’s like to be afraid to go to the mailbox. Heck, I still have a phobia about it to this day and I do pretty well right now. I absolutely hate going to the mailbox, even when I know checks are sitting there.
Anyway, sorry for the whiny TMI. I could, of course, easily afford a $400 emergency. I’m not at all the issue here, but Gabler’s piece truly had a profound impact on me and I wanted to share it with you. So, go read the whole thing.
* Let’s take a look at a couple of stories about what happened at yesterday’s Illinois Labor Relations Board hearing on whether the contract talks between AFSCME and the Rauner administration are at an impasse…
An attorney for the state, Tom Bradley, said the administration had indeed bargained in good faith during 24 bargaining sessions stretching over 67 days. He pointed to tentative agreements that were reached on a number of non-economic issues. Even on economic issues, he said, the state “made many concessions” even though that isn’t a requirement to prove good-faith bargaining.
“The state is not negotiating in a vacuum,” Bradley said. “The state is negotiating under the very heavy weight of the worst financial crisis in the state’s history.”
That crisis, he said, is why the administration wants to freeze wage and step increases for union members as well as extract savings on their health insurance plan. AFSCME has rejected those provisions and has made wage and benefit demands that leave the two sides about $3.3 billion apart, he said. When AFSCME still hadn’t changed its demands in a “substantial” way by Jan. 8, the state sought to have the talks declared at impasse.
“A finding of impasse does not mean negotiations are over,” Bradley said. Instead, an impasse would provide the two sides a cooling-off period, he said.
A cooling-off period? That seems like a unique interpretation.
[AFSCME Council 31 attorney Steve Yokich] accused the Rauner administration of purposely staking out extreme positions to force a lockout or strike. He ripped out pages of the current contract to demonstrate benefits and rights Rauner wanted to cut back or eliminate, including doing away with fees unions can charge nonmembers and abolishing so-called “bumping rights” that shield more senior employees from layoffs.
“We think the evidence will show that the parties were not at impasse the day the state walked away from the bargaining table,” said Yokich, who added the union had questions on numerous proposals such as bonus pay that the administration never addressed.
“The employer never gave us specifics so it’s very hard for us to make counterproposals to move the ball forward,” Yokich said. “I think they came to the table with a predetermined resolve not to budge from their proposal.”
Yokich also questioned the relevancy of the state’s budget crisis in the administration’s position, saying it amounts to a “self-inflicted wound” after the 2015 rollback of an income tax increase that blew a $4 billion hole in the state budget. Rauner campaigned on letting the tax start to expire, though he has said he is open to a tax increase if combined with his business-friendly, union-weakening political agenda.
They’re making the same basic argument as the CTU - essentially that the state is “broke on purpose.” But I think they have a better argument here than the CTU.
* OK, so we’ve heard from House Speaker Michael Madigan and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin. I thought you’d also like to hear from social service advocates, who lobbied hard for the higher education “stopgap” bill in order to open a door for another stopgap for their programs. Here’s Emily Miller…
Hi Rich,
Since last week’s bi-partisan agreement to provide emergency cash to higher education, a narrative of regret and finger-pointing has emerged from officials who are afraid the move displays political weakness. On the contrary, reaching a bi-partisan agreement on the merits of a budget related issue shows promise.
To be clear, the agreement was a far cry from a solution. The emergency cash infusion to higher education will run out by the end of the summer, and the ongoing damage to human service providers who got left out of this deal entirely will continue to mount. We’re still on track to have upwards of $10 billion in unpaid bills by the end of the fiscal year in June. We still have no realistic plan to pay FY16’s unpaid bills, let alone an entire FY17 budget for the year that begins July 1.
But in this toxic political environment, the ability of rank and file members to sit across from each other and agree on something is a welcome change. The ability of leaders to stop themselves from tanking the deal shows progress.
Still, this crisis will continue to worsen without the revenue necessary to perform all of the most basic functions of state government, including K-12 education, higher education and human services.
Eventually lawmakers and leaders are going to run out of pots of emergency money to throw at crises, and they’ll have to admit to each other that the ability of our state to pass balanced budgets in the long-term requires new revenue. But the agreement reached last week proves that rank-and-file lawmakers have what it takes to reach past the political rhetoric that has dominated budget talks over the last year and really hear each other.
If elected officials keep talking and listening to each other, they’ll be able to negotiate a responsible budget that invests in children, families and communities across Illinois.
Emily Miller
Policy and Advocacy Director
Voices for Illinois Children
“After the compromise that occurred last week outside of the purview of Speaker Madigan, I’m not surprised by his attempt to take my statements out of context in an attempt to prevent future compromise. I have been consistent for months - work with the Republicans to reach a negotiated balanced budget that provides for state services with real money rather than the phony appropriation bills he supports that only add to the $7 billion plus backlog of unpaid bills.”
To: House Democratic Caucus Members
From: Michael J. Madigan
Date: April 25, 2016
Re: Republican Leadership Comments on Higher Education Funding
Mere hours after the House of Representatives passed a small stopgap funding package for higher education last Friday, the Decatur Herald & Review reported the following:
However, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said the funding approved Friday could end up being all that universities receive for the current fiscal year.
“I’m not quite sure we can get anything else done on higher ed,” Durkin said.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Durkin also said:
“The only thing I’ve made a commitment with is to work with the Democrats on human services.”
The House minority leader’s comments confirmed my predictions about what legislative Republicans and Governor Rauner would do if Senate Bill 2059 moved forward and passed in the form it did. I shared with you in our caucus meeting, among other concerns, that I wanted to continue fighting for a bill that included greater funding for our universities, community colleges and MAP grant recipients to sustain our institutions of higher education for a longer period of time for the very reason the minority leader expressed: I believed the Republicans may consider Senate Bill 2059 a final action on higher education. However, a number of those involved in the negotiations on Senate Bill 2059 felt that was not the case and that the bill was only the first step in a larger agreement for higher education.
In a statement I released last Friday, I expressed hope that Governor Rauner would not see this funding as a final solution to higher education as I had feared, but would begin working with Democrats to craft a full-year budget that properly funded higher education and human services. While I will continue fighting to ensure a full budget is passed for higher education, the House minority leader’s comments just hours after the passage of Senate Bill 2059 do not leave me optimistic that will happen.
An Illinois legislative leader is predicting the months-long state budget standoff could be nearing an end.
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin (R) Western Springs, told “The Big John Howell Show” on WLS, ”I’m hopeful we can have an FY (fiscal year) 16 and FY 17 budget that we can accomplish by the end of May. We have members that are now saying ‘Enough’s enough. Let’s get this done.’”
Let’s stop trying to knock the train off the tracks, shall we?
Brian Nelson’s years in solitary confinement left him terrified of other people, and he says he can still taste the concrete dust from his cell, even though he’s been free since 2010.
The 51-year-old is afraid to ride the bus, he takes five psychotropic drugs, and sees a psychiatrist every week. Even when he’s at a park surrounded by grass, he says everything starts turning gray, and he remembers how tiny air pockets in the walls kicked up dust whenever he would clean his cell at a now-shuttered maximum security prison in Tamms, near the southern tip of Illinois. He was confined there for the final 12 years of a 26-year sentence for murder and armed robbery.
“Those four walls beat me down so bad,” he told members of an Illinois House committee during a recent emotional hearing on the state’s solitary confinement practices.
Stories like Nelson’s have led Illinois lawmakers to push prisons to restrict the use of solitary confinement, joining a national movement that has policymakers rethinking the longstanding form of punishment that critics say has a profound psychological impact on inmates.
Monica Cosby, who spent 20 years in prison, experienced solitary confinement about 12 years ago when guards discovered lip balm in her pocket.
The typical 15- to 30-day penalty would extend for months due to what Cosby characterized as minor violations such as lying in bed at an angle that leaves a guard unable to see her face. […]
Allen Mills, executive director of Uptown People’s Law Center in Chicago, said current solitary confinement practices are unconstitutional, citing a similar case where an inmate who had a piece of candy in a pocket received 30 days in isolation.
Mills spoke of another inmate who was having a seizure and was sentenced to a year of solitary confinement after guards thought she was faking and pushed her against a wall to restrain her.
Mike Atchison, the Department of Corrections’ chief of operations, said that instances like these may be attributed to rogue officers. But if a person commits a serious enough offense, the language in the rules the department follows speaks to the preservation of the safety and security of the facility.
Preserving the “safety and security of the facility” was the same argument used back in the day to justify giving imprisoned gang leaders the power to hand out prison jobs. Back then, prison officials were focused solely on the problems they themselves faced (not blaming them, really, because the problems were and are huge), but didn’t consider the problems they were creating once those prisoners were released. Every now and then, they need to be reminded of this. And it’s happening again.
As you’re no doubt aware, there’s a Democratic bill floating around the General Assembly to set tax rates should the state adopt a graduated income tax.
Supporters said it would actually give a tax cut to 99 percent of Illinois taxpayers and increase taxes only on the very wealthy. […]
A number of objections were raised to the idea of a graduated income tax and to the Democratic proposal in particular, including this one raised by a couple of Republicans: The bill would raise $1.9 billion in new revenue, but the state’s budget deficit is many billions of dollars more than that. So the bill didn’t solve the state’s financial problems.
That’s true. It’s also true that a constant Republican theme for months has been that the Democrats are trying to maneuver the state into a massive tax increase. To then argue a revenue bill is flawed because it doesn’t raise enough money is a good one.
* Federal elections have had non-coordination rules for years. Candidates get around these rules sometimes by posting tracker videos on YouTube or pics on Facebook, among other things. The idea is that it’s not their “fault” if some independent expenditure PAC watches the videos or comes across a photo. They can’t control what some random person does with their stuff.
In Illinois, doing such a thing might not bring a penalty from the Illinois State Board of elections. However, it can still get you in trouble if you happen to work for the Illinois State Police…
State Trooper BRYCE BENTON of Springfield, who lost the 50th Senate District GOP primary on March 15 to state Sen. SAM McCANN, R-Plainview, was given a one-day suspension without pay because pictures of him in uniform were used in campaign materials.
Benton benefited from more than $3 million in “independent expenditure” advertising from a group called Liberty Principles Political Action Committee, and some TV ads from the group featured Benton in uniform. […]
“As part of my campaign,” [Benton] added, “my staff asked me to submit as many pictures as possible for potential use in campaign materials. I gave the campaign a multitude of pictures, including pictures of me in uniform. I advised my staff that I believed we may be unable to use the pictures due to ISP directives, and to refrain from using them pending approval.
“At some point during the week of January 18, my campaign uploaded multiple pictures to my website, including pictures of me in uniform without my knowledge or consent. I was unaware that the pictures were in the public arena until the morning of January 22, when I saw them on television in a third-party ad,” he said. “My campaign staff learned of the use of the uniform pictures the morning of January 22 and removed the pictures from our campaign website early (that) afternoon.”
“At no time did we coordinate with the third-party group on the usage of the pictures in their commercial,” Benton wrote, “and have still had no interaction or discussions with the group.”
That’s probably true about specific coordination. But why even post the pictures to begin with? Benton knew that wasn’t allowed, and his staff surely did as well.
And, man, that suspension is gonna look downright horrible if Benton ever runs for a contested seat in the future. His own people may have ruined their guy. But he was probably disposable to begin with. Maybe now he realizes that.
* The Belleville News-Democrat has a new editorial about “consumer math”…
The wholesale cost of electricity is $17 per megawatt hour and increases to $150 per megawatt hour, increasing the consumer cost by $131 a year. What will a drop to $72 per megawatt hour save that same consumer in a year? A: $21. B: $71. C: We could explain it, but there’s a lot of consumer math involved. You wouldn’t understand.
The answer is A.
See? That’s consumer math. It doesn’t ever work out to the consumer’s advantage.
Ameren Illinois customers paid out $131 more when the wholesale electricity cost surged, but then when it dropped to less than half at the most recent auction the expected savings will not be less than half that increase, as one might expect. You’ll save about $21 in the coming year.
Commonwealth Edison’s leaders rarely miss a chance to tout how the evolving smart grid is ushering in green technologies and customer choice.
But while solar power grows in other states, including those with climates similar to Illinois’ like Minnesota, the industry essentially doesn’t exist here. In ComEd’s vast service territory, with 3.6 million households, there are little more than 500 residential rooftop solar customers.
In Chicago itself, residential solar power is nearly nonexistent, in large part because so many residents don’t own or control access to a roof on which to place solar panels.
Solar industry representatives and their environmentalist supporters say the lack of inroads here is no accident. ComEd recently went out of its way to halt a state rule aimed at jump-starting one of the most promising new technologies—solar energy fields built to serve groups of customers in densely populated areas like Chicago.
In an October 2015 report on the implications of a shutdown of Exelon’s three Illinois plants, The Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying group, noted that “over the past 10 years, the (Illinois’ 11 reactors) … have operated at 96 percent of capacity, which is above the industry average and signifcantly higher than all other forms of electric generation.” […]
“The average consumer could pay twice as much for electricity” if the [Clinton] plant closes, contends Stoner. Estimates from a state study indicate that wholesale energy prices could rise by as much as $341 annually for families and businesses in the surrounding region.
Perhaps produce less electricity? I dunno. But if prices are too low with all plants running at almost full capacity, and if prices will skyrocket if one plant is shuttered, perhaps they could come up with an Exelon-based power management decision that doesn’t require a ratepayer bailout?
[Story changed a bit because I had a brain freeze. Still recovering from last week, I think. Sorry.]
* You may not like Senate President John Cullerton’s idea to withhold school funding until school funding reform is completed, but it’s most definitely putting pressure on legislators to end the impasse…
HARRISBURG — The economic hard times that have hit this Illinois coal town are particularly visible inside its 113-year-old high school, where cracks in the walls and holes in the ceiling go unfixed and paint is peeling off the purple lockers lining the hallways.
But lately a greater worry is weighing on Superintendent Mike Gauch: that he’ll have to close the doors. He’s among scores of school officials who face this prospect as Illinois lawmakers’ epic fight over a state budget threatens to spill into summer and jeopardize the education of several hundred thousand students.
Unthinkable even a few months ago, the possibility of the impasse extending to a second year and shutting down school systems has grown stronger in recent weeks. If it happens, it would be the most traumatic consequence of a fight between the state’s Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, and Democrats who run the legislature, and mark a new low for political dysfunction in the nation’s fifth-largest state.
“It scares me to death,” says Gauch, who estimates that without state funds his district of about 2,100 students could remain open until November or December, at best. Other superintendents say their schools won’t make it that long. […]
“Had I not seen that with my own eyes I wouldn’t believe it either,” said Jeff Fritchtnitch, superintendent in the Altamont school district. “For the first time in 30 years (in education), I think this can happen.”
What we’ve seen since June will pale in comparison to what we’ll see if K-12 schools aren’t funded.
I have no involvement in the case, but found it interesting while reviewing cases because two of the justices, Holdridge and Schmidt, offer insight into what Holdridge calls the “sausage factory in Springfield.” (see paragraph 34.) Schmidt’s special concurrence gives some historical context behind the Certificate of Need for hospitals and basically rips the whole process. Schmidt says, “This legislation assures that money keeps pouring in to Illinois politicians not only from those wishing to build new hospitals, but also from incumbent hospitals wishing to avoid any competition. Each side wants their friends on the Board. This, of course, leads each side to “donate” to Illinois governors and senators. This in addition to the history of bribes to Board members.” (see paragraph 48)
I realize it pales in comparison to other things going on in Springfield (not the least being the lack of budget), but thought you might be interested.
Thanks for doing such an amazing job with the blog. It is must-read for anyone who cares about Illinois.
In closing, we offer a few words on the special concurrence. Justice Schmidt’s offering brings to mind a timeless observation made in 1869 by American lawyer and poet John Godfrey Sax, to wit: “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) An Impeachment Trial, The Chronicle, Mar. 27, 1869, at 4. By taking the public on a tour of the sausage factory in Springfield, Justice Schmidt risks triggering a collective case of indigestion. On the other hand, Justice Schmidt may be this generation’s Upton Sinclair. A little dyspepsia might be a small price to pay for some much needed (and long overdue) transparancy. After all, as Justice Brandeis so aptly put it, “[p]ublicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” Louis D. Brandeis, Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use It (1914). We can only hope that the light that Justice Schmidt shines on the factory floor in Springfield leads to the production of more sanitary and wholesome sausages in the future. For now, to paraphrase Captain Renault from Casablanca, we will merely note that we are shocked, shocked to find that political considerations are influencing the legislative process in Illinois.
In essence and in fact, this legislation is nothing more than an additional corruption tax added to the cost of healthcare in Illinois. This legislation is clearly anticonsumer, but propolitician. Ironically, eradicating the Planning Act would fulfill the stated goal of the Planning Act. Yet, as the cost of healthcare continues to rise and Illinois remains the poster-child for political corruption, the General Assembly repeatedly refuses to do so. This legislation assures that money keeps pouring in to Illinois politicians not only from those wishing to build new hospitals, but also from incumbent hospitals wishing to avoid any competition. Each side wants their friends on the Board. This, of course, leads each side to “donate” to Illinois governors and senators. This is in addition to the history of bribes to Board members.
By restricting the output of healthcare services and diminishing incentives to pursue innovation, the Planning Act imposes significant and unnecessary costs on healthcare consumers, i.e., the people of Illinois. As a result of this legislation, Centegra has been forced to jump through years of pointless hoops and incur untold unnecessary costs in order to build its hospital. Guess who ultimately incurs those costs. This is unacceptable. For these reasons, I specially concur in the judgment.
Last year, 60 percent of Illinois beehives collapsed, devastating beekeepers and putting our favorite fruits and vegetables at risk.” Bees are an important source for honey, but in addition to that, 30 percent of crops worldwide depend on them for pollination according to a 2011 NRDC report. In America, that equals about $15 billion a year in crops. “Without bees, many plants including food crops would die off,” the report says.
Democratic Rep. Will Guzzardi of Chicago introduced House Bill 5900, which would make it illegal to use neonictinoids on public land and for residential use. Currently, seven states restrict the use of neonictinoids. Rep. Guzzardi says: “Home Depot and Lowe’s are no longer selling anything that contains neonics, and the grocery store, Aldi, is not selling any foods that have been sprayed with neonics. It is time for the government to step up and join these private corporations’ efforts.”
Jeff Donald — a spokesman for the German chemical company Bayer, which patented the first commercial neonicotinoid and currently manufactures the globally used chemical Syngenta — said in a written statement: “Although bee health is an important concern, honey bee colonies are not declining, and U.S. colonies have steadily risen over the past decade, reaching 2.74 million in 2014, the highest level in many years. Scientists around the world have affirmed the safety of these products to pollinators and consumers when used according to label. A ban on neonicotinoids would only hurt those who depend on these products.”
Notice, the flack didn’t talk about the number of bees, just the number of colonies. The actual bee population is in alarming decline…
These statements stand in stark contrast to what bee experts have observed, says Gene Robinson, director of the Bee Research Facility at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. He says the latest national numbers show a 40 percent reduction in the bee population since last year.
While experts agree that cutting the use of these pesticides could help bees, they also note that neonictinoids are only one of multiple threats. Pollinator experts are clear that banning the use of neonicotinoids would not solve the problem.
Robinson says there is no single smoking gun that is causing the honeybees to die. “The declining bee population is a four-part problem: Neonictinoids are harmful to pollinators. Honeybees need to be nutritionally healthier. We need more pollinator acreage, and we need to combat the varroa mite,” Robinson says. Varroa mites carry disease that can devastate bee colonies. Robinson says, the mite and the Asian bee have an “evolutionary live-and-let live relationship.” But he says, “the mite and western honeybee do not share this live-and-let-live understanding, and the mite is killing honeybees in record numbers.”
* The governor has signed the stopgap higher education funding bill…
Governor Bruce Rauner signed SB 2059 today and issued the following statement:
“This legislation doesn’t solve our budget crisis or help our economy grow, but it does represent a first step toward compromise between Democrats and Republicans. Now is the time to build on this bipartisan momentum and focus on enacting a truly balanced budget for Fiscal Years 2016-2017 alongside meaningful reforms that create jobs and free up resources for education, social services and infrastructure.”
The list of victims related to the state’s budget impasse continues to grow, as officials with an Elgin-based drug treatment center traveled to Springfield last week to announce they will close shop July 1 without state help.
About 160 people are at risk of losing their jobs should the Latino Treatment Center, which also has locations in Chicago and West Chicago, go under.
The state owes the center $56,326, on top of $60,690 cut from the group’s budget by the Rauner administration in 2015.
To get by without state funds, agency officials said they cut staff salaries and exhausted credit lines and cash reserves. Without a budget agreement, employees will begin to be laid off on May 15, and two facilities will close by June 15. The third will follow by July 1.
Rauner administration officials and lawyers for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 will meet in a courtroom this morning to begin what could be a weekslong hearing over whether to end negotiations for a new contract for state workers.
At issue is the Rauner administration’s contention that the two sides have reached “impasse,” a technical stage in contract negotiations that could put the union in the position of having to either accept Rauner’s terms for a new contract or go on strike.
An administrative law judge at the Illinois Labor Relations Board will hear arguments from both sides after Rauner asked the panel in January to decide whether impasse had been reached. […]
Rauner contends that the two sides are deadlocked on “nearly every core issue” in the negotiations and that more bargaining “would be futile,” according to paperwork his administration submitted to the board. The union says it’s not done negotiating and Rauner should get back to the table.
According to the Trib, the hearing is expected to last through May. Whoever loses can appeal to the full board.
*** UPDATE *** Monique Garcia is live-tweeting today’s hearing. Follow along here with ScribbleLive…
* Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss has outlined three broad goals to kick off his new effort to help formulate a progressive response to Raunerism…
Tackle the outliers first. People can quibble about all sorts of things, but there’s no question that when it comes to a few measures — credit rating, for instance — Illinois is an extreme state, and not in a good way. That means that we should try to solve the extreme problems first. Does it bother you that Illinois is only 35th best in some way? Fine. But let’s work on that after we’ve tackled the ways that Illinois is one of five or fewer states that need to change a practice.
Go after the structural causes of corruption. The transactional nature of Illinois politics has harmed us in many ways, not least in helping us avoid long-term thinking and therefore adding to our debt load. We need to take this culture on by understanding what enables it and fighting accordingly, starting with money in politics, lobbying practices, and the proliferation of unscrutinized silos all across government.
Take advantage of our assets and retool for a high-skill, high-wage modern economy. This might be the most controversial of the principles, but it is also the most important. We can no longer afford to ignore the changes that have swept the Midwest. We have to acknowledge them in our policies, and we need to chart a bold new economic course. Governor Rauner wants that course to be a race to the bottom, using lower compensation as an economic development tool. Instead, we should capitalize on our many strengths to become a high-wage leader in the new economy.
Go read the whole thing, but what do you think of these and would you add any further expansive goals?
* State Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside) Mark Denzler, vice president and COO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and Bill Gibson, Illinois state director at Great Lakes Graphics Association wrote this on behalf of the AIM Coalition…
Illinois is home to more than 450 corporate research and development facilities, yet businesses watched the R&D credit renew and expire four different times over the last 13 years. Imagine how hard it must be for a business to invest and spend in Illinois with the uncertainty of our tax environment.
Companies plan their R&D investment 5, 10 or even 20 years in advance and the present on again/off again cycle is one we need to break. Further, the absence of a permanent policy is driving R&D investments to neighboring states taking those good, high paying jobs averaging salaries of $80,000 with them. We are seeing this migration more frequently as new agricultural implement research expands in Iowa and as companies remain headquartered in Illinois, but choose to manufacture and develop product across state lines.
Or in the case of the commercial printing industry, Illinois is the only state in the nation without an incentive for commercial printers engaged in manufacturing activity. Yes, once again we’re at the bottom. The graphic arts exemption expired at a time when the industry employed 55,100 workers in more than 2,300 facilities. Quite simply, that industry’s livelihood is dependent upon this incentive encouraging businesses to invest in higher quality, more technologically advanced printing and graphic arts equipment.
An opportunity exists with bipartisan support to rally around legislation that backs the modern and permanent extensions of four critical tax incentives including:
It’s been pretty obvious since it was unveiled that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s rescue plan to keep the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Chicago is the longest of long shots. […]
Let me float a third way that’s been the subject of some chatter. It’s not perfect, and it could require financial juggling down the road. But if it flies, Emanuel wouldn’t have to worry about filmmaker George Lucas taking his prized collection of art and all those tourists back to the West Coast, because construction already would have begun here.
The two-part idea: Put the museum back in its original location, which happens to be a windblown surface parking lot between Soldier Field and McCormick Place; that would provide a few acres of new green space in the process. Second, enact an ordinance or whatever legally binding step is needed declaring that, when the dilapidated Lakeside Center at the east end of the McCormick Place complex is demolished—you could even add a deadline—all of the land there will be returned to permanent park status, perhaps 20 more acres of it.
Friends of the Parks would have a real public benefit to brag about: not one, but two chunks of new park space. Lucas would be able to start construction on his museum this year. Emanuel would get both without having to spend a ton of money he doesn’t have. And while some of the space in the Lakeside Center (also known as McCormick Place East) eventually might have to be replaced with new exhibition space elsewhere in the McCormick Place campus, the city would have time to come up with a comprehensive plan.
A blog post appears to have helped at least temporarily break the long stalemate at the Illinois Statehouse.
Rep. Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago, wrote up a story and I posted it on my blog (CapitolFax.com) last Monday about a way to provide some funding for higher education. Universities and community colleges haven’t received a dollar from the state since June of last year because the government has no budget. Some are on the verge of actually going under.
Fortner’s idea wasn’t new. Some other folks, particularly at the endangered Eastern Illinois University, have been saying for a while now that money is just sitting in a state account and isn’t being used for its intended purpose. Budget negotiators have also been eyeing the fund.
But, for whatever reason, Fortner’s proposal took off like a rocket. It probably helped that the Republican legislator devised the plan with a Democrat from the Senate, Pat McGuire of Joliet.
The governor’s folks almost immediately embraced Fortner’s concept, which gives higher education hundreds of millions of dollars to tide the schools over until tuition money starts coming in. The money comes from the Education Assistance Fund, which receives dedicated tax revenues and is split between K-12 and higher education.
Rep. Fortner’s proposal also included giving universities “relief from some of the procurement code.” Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he wants to redo some of the reforms enacted after Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, and has made it part of his otherwise controversial “Turnaround Agenda.” But while those earlier procurement reforms have, indeed created problems at universities and in state government, House Speaker Michael Madigan has resisted changing them. Legitimate fears of history repeating itself after the Blagojevich scandals is cited as the main reason.
Rauner won’t negotiate a budget until he passes his Turnaround Agenda. So, good news came when Rauner decided not to tie his procurement reform demands to the passage of Fortner’s funding plan. And then more good news came when top Democrats started openly talking about “building a bridge” to next fiscal year, which begins July 1. They can’t pay the state’s obligations without a lot more revenue, and they can’t raise taxes without an agreement on the Turnaround Agenda. So, they wanted to try and prevent a systemic meltdown in the meantime.
The imminent closure of Chicago State University at the end of April, the severe problems faced by several social service providers (including Catholic Charities), the possibility that the legislature might not fund K-12 schools this year, the state comptroller’s decision to delay issuing legislative paychecks for two months and the looming week-long legislative Passover break, all combined to create an extreme sense of urgency.
So, Fortner’s op-ed came just at the right time.
And things are starting to look up elsewhere, too.
Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks’ proposed constitutional amendment to reform the redistricting process sailed out of committee last week. Franks pledged to include some changes suggested by (who else?) Rep. Fortner, and the Illinois Chamber supports it, which possibly indicates where the Rauner folks are.
Ending gerrymandering is part of the governor’s Turnaround Agenda. Speaker Madigan once called redistricting reform a “plot” by Republicans. Yet, he’s supporting Franks’ proposal.
Meanwhile, significant progress is being made in negotiations behind the scenes on workers’ compensation reform, one of Gov. Rauner’s top priorities. People close to Madigan admitted late last week that some reasonable procurement reforms could be achieved.
Last week, rank-and-file legislators in both parties became so disgusted with the impasse that they forced their warring leaders just far enough apart to get something done. Fortner helped that process along by shining a bright, focused light on a solution.
We’re not out of the woods yet. Finding a way to finally end this disgraceful impasse will be far more difficult than tapping an unused state fund. And, heck, even that wasn’t easy. Negotiations were heated, attempts were made at the eleventh hour to pry even more spending out of Rauner, things broke down time and time again and Speaker Madigan ended the week with a nasty shot across Rauner’s bow.
“Time will tell,” Madigan said via press release, “if Governor Rauner has further intentions of destroying our state institutions and human service providers, or if he will begin working with us to craft a full-year budget that is not contingent on passage of his demands that will destroy the middle class.”
Rauner is almost always quick to respond in kind to these sorts of statements by Madigan. This time, though, he let it go.
Friday, Apr 22, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Nearly 1,900 people responded to the recent Citizen’s Utility Board survey about Exelon’s push to bailout its nuclear plants. Here is how CUB put it:
“Exelon says keeping its nuclear plants open will fight climate change—and they need economic help. Opponents say Exelon just wants bigger profits.
Should Illinois give unprofitable nuclear plants more money if it helps fight climate change?
No:1,583 (about 84 percent)
Yes:298 (about 16 percent)”
—————————————————
Illinois still has no budget, the state’s finances and services are in shambles, the social safety net is being decimated but Exelon STILL wants the Legislature to pass a huge BAILOUT.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visitwww.noexelonbailout.com.
* The Illinois Nurses Association informed CMS this morning that their tentative union contract agreement had been “overwhelmingly rejected” by its membership.
“613 nurses voted to reject the tentative agreement,” INA Executive Director Alice Johnson told me. Another 275 voted to accept. “It wasn’t a squeaker, let’s put it that way,” she said.
But the governor’s office thinks the union illegally put its thumb on the scale. From a Rauner spokesperson…
What happened here is a direct result of an unprecedented move by the Illinois Nurses Association bargaining committee not to support and recommend for passage the tentative agreement that the Union signed with our administration. That is a clear violation of labor law in Illinois. Had the Union complied with its obligations of good faith bargaining during ratification, we are confident the agreement would have been ratified, just like 17 other agreements that we had reached with numerous other unions. We have asked our attorneys to prepare an unfair labor practice charge to resolve this issue in a proper forum.
Whew.
* Johnson claimed that the INA is a “democratic union,” and pointed out that the vote was “not even remotely close” and came after a period when “all members had a chance to see the tentative agreement.”
“We met our legal obligation,” Johnson insisted. I also asked her about a claim by one administration official that the union had attempted to go around the contract by getting the General Assembly to pass a bill. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“We worked very, very hard in the negotiation process,” Johnson said. “There was a vote and this was the result.”
“I really wish they would’ve contacted us instead of talking to the media,” she added.
* This is significant since the INA tentative agreement is similar to the offer that Rauner has made to AFSCME.
* Overall, was the “stopgap” appropriation passed today for higher education a good idea or a bad idea? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Friday, Apr 22, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, a group of leading climate scientists and conservationists from Illinois and around the world, including Dr. James Hansen, Rachel Pritzker, and Michael Shellenberger, urged Illinois’ leaders in an open letter to save Illinois’ nuclear plants so they can provide clean energy for decades to come. They wrote:
Illinois generates more zero-emissions electricity than any other state. Most of it comes from the state’s six nuclear power plants, which produce about half of Illinois’ total generation and 90 percent of its low-carbon generation. These plants are in their prime and could stay in service many more years and even decades.
Unfortunately, Illinois is at risk of losing one or more of its nuclear plants and with them the progress the state has made in clean energy.
If Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants were replaced by natural gas, carbon emissions would immediately increase the equivalent of adding two million cars to the road. If they were replaced by coal, the carbon emissions would more than double.
… Illinois is at an urgent juncture. Failure to keep all of Illinois’ nuclear power plants running for the full lifetimes will result in more air pollution, and further cause Illinois to underperform on climate. Action now would establish all of you as leaders in safeguarding clean air today and the climate for future generations.
Illinois State Comptroller Leslie Munger issued the following statement Friday following General Assembly passage of legislation to partially fund state universities and community colleges and avoid further cuts and potential closings. The legislation also includes funding for Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants for college students. Governor Rauner is expected to sign the legislation:
“It is heartening that the Governor and legislative leaders have come together to authorize funding for our universities, community colleges and student MAP grants. I have directed my staff to begin processing payments immediately, giving top priority to students and the institutions that are suffering the most.
“The $600 million in funding for this legislation comes from the state’s Education Assistance Fund, which today has $354 million on hand. Those dollars will allow us to immediately pay student MAP grants and work closely with our universities and community colleges to ensure they have the resources they need to avoid further cuts and closings. We will continue disbursing funds as they become available, with final payments being made in July. Our students and schools have paid a heavy price for this budget impasse, and we will do everything possible to provide long-overdue relief.
“It is my deep hope that the spirit of cooperation we saw today will continue and lead to the comprehensive balanced budget that our state so badly needs.”
State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) filed early on Friday morning an updated 2016 1st quarter campaign disclosure report, revealing $983,154 in additional campaign expenses than were not reported on the April 15 deadline. […]
On April 15, Dunkin, an ally of Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, began the fourth quarter of 2015 with $221,143 in the bank; raised $1,309,500 ($1,300,000 from a Rauner ally) and reported spending only $294,462 and ending with $1,236,180 in the bank, according to state election board records.
Dunkin’s new report, which was filed at 12:31 a.m. on Friday, April 22, now shows that, after $1,220,197 in expenses, he still has a tidy $310,130 in the bank. Nice.
Much of the previously undisclosed money was spent on TV ads, but there are also a ton more workers listed now. Click here for the amended report, which has 932 pages of expenditures. And click here for the original report, which had 432 pages of expenditures.
“Governor Rauner has said that crisis creates opportunity and leverage, and that government may have to be shut down for a while. Now, he has forced a situation where some universities are on the verge of closing. The plan the House passed delivers emergency relief for the state’s colleges, universities and students as we continue pushing for a more comprehensive budget and full fiscal year funding.
“While the governor has said he would approve this small portion of funding for higher education, it’s unfortunate he was unwilling to approve any further funding for human services. If he continues his unwillingness to assist our human service providers, he will be successful in destroying the safety net for those most in need and for critical state services, including services for women who need breast cancer screenings, victims of child abuse and victims of sexual assault.
“I am hopeful the governor sees the funding in this higher education package not as a solution, but as emergency assistance to those most in need. Time will tell if Governor Rauner has further intentions of destroying our state institutions and human service providers, or if he will begin working with us to craft a full-year budget that is not contingent on passage of his demands that will destroy the middle class.”
Um, wow, he doesn’t sound too happy. As one person just said to me, “That sounds like a guy who lost.”
* By contrast, here’s Treasurer Michael Frerichs on today’s passage of the higher education approp bill…
“We took two very important steps today. We took a step closer to fulfilling our promise of helping families pay for college. Equally important, we also saw men and women from both parties work together to find common ground.”
Exactly right.
This war needs to end. Today was a small step. Legislators desperately needed to rediscover the fact that they could work together and trust each other and get something done.
When this thing unexpectedly went off the rails last night, people actually cried. One legislator looked like he was going to be physically ill. Another looked like he couldn’t catch his breath. Others were angrier than I’d ever seen them.
* Rank and file members forced this issue forward (too many names to mention here, but there were a lot of them, including Rep. Rita Mayfield, who pushed hard for Chicago State University and kept her focus throughout the day). The governor temporarily dumped his Turnaround Agenda not just to prevent a caucus revolt, but to keep the doors open at universities and colleges throughout the state. The House Speaker was accused of playing games yesterday, but he came around enough to let the bill move forward (although he’s clearly not yet sharing in the joy). The Senate President was patiently firm and didn’t panic when the bill didn’t move last night. He had said all along that he was prepared to keep the Senate in town until they could get a resolution, and he did that by canceling today’s scheduled adjournment. The Senate Republican Leader also kept her cool and worked cooperatively with Cullerton. Top Democrats figured there was no way House Republican Leader Jim Durkin could keep all of his folks in line, but he defied their expectations. Maybe that’s part of the reason why MJM is so upset.
And kudos to Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) and Sen. Pat McGuire (D-Joliet) for coming up with the outline of a plan to fund some higher education needs that was adopted by both chambers today.
* Shortly after approving the House-passed higher ed appropriation, the Senate passed yet another appropriations bill today that includes money for some social service programs. Click here to read it. The bill passed unanimously.
Here’s a quick response from Emily Miller of Voices for Illinois Children…
SB2047 was a surprise, so advocates haven’t had time to fully review it.
Upon first glance it appears that the maintenance of effort and federal match funds were not included in the appropriation. That’s concerning moving forward because it puts a lot of federal money in jeopardy when it comes to human services in Illinois in the long term. But without new revenue, there isn’t a lot that you can do to fully fund human services. The short-term cash infusion will be helpful for many providers and will slow some bleeding, but a long-term fix is going to require new revenue.
I hope that lawmakers don’t think their job is done after passing this.
Because of constitutional requirements, the House cannot vote on the Senate proposal today.
…Adding… Rep. Guzzardi is more succinct, but no less correct…
We need. A damn. Budget. Dipping into special funds for quick fixes is only postponing the day of reckoning.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure on Thursday that would exempt feminine hygiene products from the state sales tax. The plan heading to the House is a part of a national movement to eliminate the so-called “pink tax.”
The average statewide sales tax is 6.25 percent but can be as high as 10.25 percent in Chicago.
The roll call is here. Sen. McCarter initially voted against the tax cut, then rose to say his wife told him he voted the wrong way and asked to be switched to “Yes.”
In the House, lawmakers approved a measure that would expand contraceptive options for women by eliminating a complicated waiver process they must go through to get birth control medications not offered by their insurance companies.
Sponsoring Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, said women should be able to choose birth control that’s best for their bodies without having to pay more. She argued the bill actually would save the state money by preventing more unintended pregnancies. […]
“I seriously question how much promiscuity should an insurance company pay (for),” said Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon. “It’s simply wrong, and I think we’re trying to address issues that quite frankly don’t have any business coming up in this General Assembly.”
Supporters contended the debate wasn’t about cost or morality, with several female lawmakers arguing birth control could be used for means other than pregnancy prevention, such as treating migraine headaches or regulating menstrual cycles.
Say what you want. It’s a free country. But a guy running for reelection in a swing district (during presidential years, which this is) should probably keep in mind that a whole lot of happily married, monogamous women use birth control and lots more women who use contraception probably won’t be flattered by his characterization of their private lives when that quote hits their mailboxes come October.
* CTU President Karen Lewis has come under intense criticism for saying Gov. Bruce Rauner is an ISIS recruit…
“You know, I`ve been reading in the news lately about all of these ISIS recruits popping up all over the place — has Homeland Security checked this man out yet?” Lewis said. “Because the things he`s doing look like acts of terror on poor and working class people.” […]
When asked about her comments after the event, Lewis said the governor is “holding people hostage” by delaying the budget.
“Who does that?” Lewis said. “You hold defenseless mothers who are brand new, you hold people who are disabled hostage because you can’t get something you else want that has nothing to do with a budget? It’s ideological. That’s terrorism.”
* She was pretty defensive with a Twitter user…
@KarenLewisCTU@SharkeyCTU1 calling Gov. Rauner the new ISIS recruit it's time you step down and let someone with intelligence do the job!
A day after Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis made inflammatory remarks about Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, the Illinois GOP looked to raise some money from her comments and added its own spin. […]
In the fundraising email appeal, Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider, whom Rauner hand-picked for the top party post, called Lewis’ comments “beyond despicable.”
“Our governor was compared to a group that murders innocent children in cold blood and sells women in to slavery,” Schneider said in the email.
“Stand with Gov. Rauner and tell Karen Lewis that her obscene rhetoric won’t be tolerated. She must be held accountable for such grossly inappropriate statements,” Schneider said. He said Lewis should “set a better example for our school children.”
* Remember Moon Khan? He’s the guy who ran as a write-in for DuPage County recorder, but was initially denied a victory after a bunch of votes weren’t counted. The DuPage Election Commission found 170 votes yesterday after a court-ordered recount, so he’ll be on the November ballot.
The DuPage Election Commission needs to investigate its processes and training of judges further and make significant changes before it runs another Election Night debacle as it did on March 15. It’s already been criticized for its slowness in counting ballots, and now it’s clear that judges erred in several write-in contests. […]
An earlier vote recount resulted in two Republican precinct committeeman write-in candidates also being declared winners. […]
Couple these errors with the need to investigate new technology to help speed up counting, and it’s clear that the election commission needs to get to work to improve it’s one main job.
* Jack Franks has never voted for a tax hike in his life. And even though “Fair Tax” supporters say taxes will increase only on one percent of taxpayers, that’s still a tax hike. So, no surprise here…
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said Thursday he intends to vote against his party’s progressive income tax amendment along with a proposed set of income tax rates in a separate plan.
Asked in a Reboot Illinois interview if he would vote against the amendment designed to ask voters if they approved of graduated tax rates, Franks replied, “That’s my intention.” […]
With all Republicans expected to oppose the progressive tax amendment and, therefore, all 71 Democratic votes required to approve it by a May 6 deadline for the fall ballot, Franks’ declaration could effectively block the plan that just was unveiled April 15. Sponsors said their progressive tax rate plan would generate $1.9 billion in new tax revenue. […]
Franks said he was concerned that rates could and would rise rapidly and that he believes structural changes should be made before tax rates change. That belief is in line with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s call for his turnaround agenda items before he will agree to a tax increase.
They’re gonna need Republican votes to pass this thing, but the governor and the House GOP Leader have done a remarkable job so far of keeping that caucus in line this year. Hey, strange things happen. Just look at yesterday. But GOP votes on this bill would be a truly strange occurrence. Stay tuned.
The [constitutional] amendment by Democratic Sen. Tom Cullerton of Villa Park to eliminate the office of lieutenant governor failed 21-28. Cullerton says it would save the state $1.6 million annually.
Critics say the lieutenant governor has little to do except stand by to succeed the governor if the top post goes vacant. Two lieutenant governors in the past 35 years have resigned for different jobs, and former Gov. Pat Quinn, when he took over for the impeached and ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2009, did not fill the post until 2011.
But Republicans criticized Cullerton’s idea, saying succession would fall to the attorney general — and that post could be occupied, as it is now, by a member of the opposite party.
Some Senate Democrats voted down the amendment, too, but the hypocrisy among Republicans — the party of so-called fiscal conservatives who advocate for smaller, more efficient government — was starker. Instead of putting the measure on the ballot for voters to decide, they swooped in and blocked it.
Even richer, 14 Senate Republicans who helped kill the proposal were co-sponsors of the same legislation in 2013.
Their issue this time around? Who would step in if the governor died or became unable to serve. That’s the primary role of the lieutenant governor. The proposal for a constitutional amendment, sponsored by Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, would tap the attorney general for that role. Same as the 2013 bill that many Republicans co-sponsored. […]
We’re told the directive to vote “no” came from Gov. Bruce Rauner, who ran for office on a platform of government consolidation, not political gamesmanship. His own hand-picked lieutenant governor, Evelyn Sanguinetti, advocated recently for the elimination of her own office. Not long ago, she finished a lengthy report, at Rauner’s direction, on how local governments could get rid of unnecessary layers of government. How voters could be empowered to cut bureaucracy.
They’re right, but this little thing is the issue they finally throw down on?
*** UPDATE 2 *** The House has overwhelmingly approved the measure 106-2. Democratic Reps. Jack Franks and Scott Drury voted “No.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** The Senate unanimously approved the bill.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* The governor’s office and the House GOP Leader did a remarkable job of keeping things together yesterday, and then it all seemed to fall apart…
A bill to send $600 million to universities and community colleges to keep them operating until September was suddenly derailed in the House Thursday night, leaving the fate of the funding bill in doubt.
Illinois House members appeared poised to approve the bill that had bi-partisan support and, according to Republicans, would have been signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.
However, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, suddenly announced that she would not be calling the bill for a final vote Thursday.
In the confusion that followed, Democrats said that House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, had requested that the bill not be called for a vote last night.
“There was something going on with the Senate. I don’t know what,” Currie said after the House adjourned for the night. She walked away without further comment.
Rep. Mark Batinick, a Republican from Plainfield, reminded lawmakers after the bill was postponed that prospective college students are deliberating where to go to school, with a May 1 deadline looming for their decisions.
“Congratulations, everybody,” he said, slapping away his microphone.
The money for the bill is possible because of a surplus in the state’s Education Assistance Fund, which takes a portion of income taxes for public schools and colleges. The funding proposal also has nearly $170 million in tuition grants for low-income students.
“The purpose of this bill is simply to provide emergency funding to our universities through the summer with the hope that we can continue to work on a budget so that we can fully fund them,” said Rep. Rita Mayfield, the Democrat sponsoring the measure.
Some lawmakers said they shouldn’t support a deal on higher education funding that amounted to a massive cut. Others saw an opportunity to add spending on social services to the mix. After all, allies of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said he would support the budget bill without linking it to provisions to his political wish list known as the Turnaround Agenda. Perhaps they could get the governor to open up the state’s checkbook a little more.
“I think logic finally came in,” said Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, who argued against the bill. “I think we have an opportunity now. Because of this, it shows that the other side is now willing to go forward with budget items that don’t have the Turnaround Agenda tied to it, which I think is a major breakthrough.”
A revamped proposal could emerge Friday to provide temporary relief for schools that have been forced to shed jobs and cut programs amid a record-setting state budget impasse. It’s the last chance before lawmakers take a one-week break. Many are eager to act amid intense pressure from universities and social service providers back home, and rank-and-file legislators have been meeting privately all week in an effort to reach a deal.
In a sign of how delicate negotiations remain, even the sometimes pointed Rauner struck a measured tone in a statement released by his office late Thursday.
* The statement was indeed measured…
“The Governor applauds the members in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle who are coming together to deliver emergency assistance to our universities, community colleges and low-income students. We hope the majority will respect the bipartisan agreement reached today and move the agreement to the Governor’s desk without delay.”
Considering the blowups of the recent past, you gotta give them credit for keeping an even keel. It wasn’t easy, by any means.
Some people just want the war to continue. But, someday it has to end. That process should start today. Pass this stuff and move the heck on.
“Well, I’m not sure what just happened because even the old hands here in the Capitol were surprised by this. But clearly, we’re at the point of existential crisis for some of our institutions. And there has to be a patch. There has to be a stop gap” [said Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn].
Jack Thomas, president of Western Illinois University, was visibly angry and requested a few minutes to calm down before answering questions.
“We were all excited tonight, thinking that they were going to come to an agreement, and then BOOM! No budget right now, everything has been put on hold.”
A representative of Chicago State University - slated to close at the end of this month - had previously agreed to an interview but cancelled after the deal collapsed, telling me “We have nothing to say.”
* The flanger, the hair, the technique, the moves, the professionalism, the wordsmanship, the groove, the intelligence, the voice, the artistry, the brilliance, the soul, the end. This 13 minutes and 34 seconds will either change your life or already did….
You say you want a leader
But you can’t seem to make up your mind
