Hippies are gonna make us kill all our dogs!!!
Wednesday, May 9, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Oh, for Pete’s sake…
If Illinois legalizes marijuana for recreational use, law enforcement officials fear job losses for hundreds of officers — specifically, the four-legged ones.
Agencies spend thousands of dollars and months of training to teach their dogs how to sniff out and alert officers to the presence of marijuana, heroin, cocaine and other drugs. If pot use becomes legal, the dogs would likely either have to be retrained — which some handlers say is impossible or impractical — or retired. […]
Training a K-9 can take anywhere from eight to 16 weeks and cost between $3,000 to $5,000, not including the time commitment, overtime costs or advanced training. Depending on the dog’s breed, training and purpose, the price of an animal can range anywhere from $8,000 to $16,000 each. […]
Because many K-9s are trained not to be social so that their work won’t be affected, Larner said a number of dogs would likely have to be euthanized.
Um, maybe they could just sell the dogs to lesser evolved states and then don’t train replacement dogs to sniff out pot?
They’re making such a weak argument.
* For instance, just last year, the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association among others backed this bill…
Creates the Police Dog Retirement Act. Provides that a police dog, which is deemed no longer fit for public service, may be offered by the county, municipality, or State law enforcement agency to the officer or employee who had custody and control of the animal during its service. If the officer or employee does not wish to keep the dog, it may be offered to another officer or employee in the agency, or to a non-profit organization or a no-kill animal shelter that may facilitate an appropriate adoption of the dog.
That bill is now law. So, spare me the scare tactics.
Besides, if military dogs can be adopted, why not these? Oh, wait, they can be adopted. Who knew?
* From a Seattle Times report after Washington legalized marijuana…
The dogs will get a good home, police Chief Tim George promised. They definitely would not be euthanized, he said.
I mean, seriously, of all the “consequences” of legalizing marijuana, this is what the cops come up with?
C’mon, man.
* Meanwhile…
It’s being heralded by Democrat gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker as a potentially giant revenue maker for Illinois, but recreational marijuana has produced “limited” tax revenues in two states that have legalized it — with little of that money flowing to the state or city’s general fund.
Those are among the findings in a new report from Moody’s Investors Service.
That’s so incredibly misleading. Just because most of the pot money isn’t funneled into their General Revenue Fund, doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of cash coming in.
* From the Moody’s report...
Marijuana revenues generally make up only a relatively small share of state general fund revenues, and therefore provide only modest budget relief. Colorado’s gross revenues from recreational and medical sales in fiscal 2017 equaled only 2.0% of total general fund revenues. Washington state’s gross marijuana revenues for the 2015-17 biennium equaled only 1.2% of general fund revenues.
Furthermore, in most states, voters or statute have earmarked most marijuana revenues to special programs and only a small portion is available for general fund spending. In Colorado, almost half of state fiscal 2018 marijuana revenues are directed to the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund where they are used for a variety of marijuana-related programs including enforcement, regulation and prevention, as well as substance abuse programs; 40% is earmarked for K-12 education including capital assistance for school construction; and 7% is distributed to local governments. Only about 5% is directed to the general fund, representing only 0.1% of state general fund revenues(see Exhibit 2). In Washington, only about one-third of state marijuana revenues are directed to the state’s general fund, representing only 0.6% of general fund revenues in the 2017-19 biennium.
Moody’s is looking at state GRF, but K-12 is getting a goodly amount of money from Colorado’s legalization…
Total state tax revenues from medical and recreational sales on a cash basis grew by 118% to $223.5 million in fiscal 2017 from $102.4 million in fiscal 2015, the first full fiscal year of legal recreational sales. The state projects total state marijuana revenues to grow to $258.6 million (budget basis) in fiscal 2018
That’s $258.6 million for a state with much less than half the population of Illinois.
49 Comments  
|
Loyola’s Sister Jean comes to Springfield
Wednesday, May 9, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
The Illinois House and Senate are in session. Loyola University’s Sister Jean (and some players) will be at the Capitol for lawmakers to honor the basketball team’s NCAA tournament run.
I’m told she’s delivering the opening prayer in the Senate today. Expect a packed gallery.
7 Comments
|
* WGN TV…
ICC investigators concluded Lincoln Towing conducted 462 unauthorized tows in a seven month period they examined.
“Lincoln’s pattern and practice of conducting unauthorized relocations harms the public and demonstrates that Lincoln is incompetent and unworthy to hold a relocator’s license,” ICC staff concluded.
Lincoln Towing’s tactics have been the subject of complaints for decades. Folk singer Steve Goodman recorded a song in 1972 referring to the towing outfit as the “Lincoln Park Pirates.” At various times politicians have promised to shut the company down. After WGN Investigates reported the towing firm’s more recent troubles in January 2017, the ICC investigation intensified. Dozens of hearings took place as investigators and a lawyer for Lincoln Towing traded accusations.
“If I explained to you how many tows a year and how few violations we have, it’s like .0003 percent of 1 percent,” Lincoln lawyer Allen Perl told WGN in 2017. “Literally every 500 cars is a violation. That’s a pretty good record.”
The staff recommendation on whether the company should lose its license is here. The matter now goes before an administrative law judge.
26 Comments
|
* Northwest Herald…
A state lawmaker is lambasting Gov. Bruce Rauner after Illinois’ top leader met in private during the weekend with members of the McHenry County Republican Party.
Rauner spent part of his Saturday at an invitation-only roundtable at the McHenry County GOP’s Crystal Lake headquarters – an event featuring a who’s who of party insiders, including McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim, McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally and County Board member Jim Kearns.
But state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, took issue with someone else in attendance at the meetup: the local Republican Party’s new chairwoman, Diane Evertsen, who at one time served as president of the Minutemen Midwest – an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center designated a “nativist extremist” group.
“The governor should apologize for meeting with a known extremist,” said McSweeney, who heard about the meeting after it happened.
McSweeney pointed to Evertsen’s association with Minutemen Midwest, which the SPLC named several times on its annual list of nativist extremist groups between 2007 and 2010.
* A blog popped up in 2010 that saved deleted posts by Evertsen like this one…
An invasion is taking place. Whether by means of legal or illegal immigration, the third-world hordes are invading the first world, and they are taking no prisoners. If this is not stopped now, America within one generation will be a third-world sewer.
Invaders from the Orient, Asia, Africa, Central and South America are invading the first world, and they are intent only upon conquest. (cut) Americans have been duped by the left-wing notion of a “proposition nation” and by myths about third-world assimilation, neither of which will occur. Historically, nations have been built upon blood and soil, kith and kin, ancestral rites, and genealogical ties. A real nation is but an extension of a tribe, and this realization should be shared by all traditionalists, conservatives, paleolibertarians, patriotic liberals, union democrats, and moderates. The “creedal nation” (one only has to believe in propositions to be a good citizen) is a lie; it is but a Trojan horse to implement the third-world invasion of America.
That’s quite a county party chair they have up there.
…Adding… DGA…
Yesterday, the Northwest Herald reported that Governor Bruce Rauner recently met with McHenry Country GOP leaders, including Diane Evertsen, former President of the “nativist extremist” group Minutemen Midwest. The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled them a “nativist extremist” group from 2007 to 2010 for writings that warned of a “conspiracy afoot to merge the U.S. and Mexico” by a “shadow government” and claimed “most Mexicans…are not Western; genealogically, they are Asiatic, and they despise the West.”
Rauner’s clandestine meeting is not out of line with his overall record - Rauner’s done little to push back on President Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and refused to protect the 42,000 DACA recipients in Illinois facing deportation. But Rauner’s cozying up to the far-right risks alienating other Republicans like state Representative David McSweeney who called on the governor to apologize for agreeing to the meeting.
“Bruce Rauner is showing his stripes by cozying up to anti-immigrant extremists and silently supporting Donald Trump’s agenda,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “After failing to protect Illinoisans from President Trump, Rauner’s giving the far-right a voice in Springfield.”
…Adding… Democratic Rep. Sam Yingling…
Instead of negotiating in good faith to pass a state budget or working to reduce local property taxes, Bruce Rauner spent last weekend meeting with the former leader of Minutemen Midwest, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled a “nativist extremist” group. There’s no place in for the fear-mongering tactics and conspiracy theories these extremist groups espouse in our state, and I applaud Representative Dave McSweeney, a Republican from McHenry County, for demanding an apology from Bruce Rauner, the head of the Illinois GOP. I join my colleague across the aisle in demanding an apology from this failed governor and hope other local elected officials and candidates will as well.
23 Comments
|
* From the Rauner campaign…
Democrats Refuse to Give Revenue Estimate for Budget Negotiations
When Illinois families sit down to hammer out their budgets, the conversation starts with a simple question: “how much money is coming in?”
It is the starting point for any discussion of how to allocate their money.
Since his budget address in February, Governor Rauner has asked time and again for the General Assembly to provide a revenue estimate as a basis to negotiate, but Democrats have failed to produce one. It’s time to be honest with taxpayers about how much of their money is expected to flow into state coffers to pass a balanced budget.
Um, they could also just use the governor’s own revenue estimate if they want to base the negotiations on something. From the Civic Federation’s new report…
Going into FY2019, revenue forecasts by the executive and legislative branches are $99 million apart—less than 0.3% of expected revenues and among the closest they have been in recent years. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) forecasts General Funds revenue of $37.96 billion in FY2019, while the legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) forecasts $37.87 billion. The relatively small differences between the two estimates are offsetting. COGFA estimates $164 million less individual income tax revenue than GOMB and $76 million less sales tax revenue, but $77 more in corporate income tax.
* WCIA TV…
“I believe that Democrats are strongly in favor of actually finally getting a real budget done before the May 31st deadline,” Pritzker said. “It seems clear to me that the governor is not, but we will see over the next couple of weeks whether he is willing to actually work with them to get the job done.”
Pritzker would not comment on the necessity of a revenue estimate, which Republican leaders have insisted is a crucial starting point to any budget negotiation, required by state law. […]
Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) chimed in too, calling the morning meeting an “important step” toward closing the gap that divides the two parties.
“I think we’ve all agreed that the CoGFA numbers are a realm to begin with,” Brady said, referring to bipartisan analysis from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. “We’d like for [Democrats] to solidify that,” but said there was “nothing we can do” about “their reluctance to do so.”
Brady has the right attitude here.
* Tribune…
Still, lawmakers likely are facing a budget gap of several billion dollars. The legislature’s forecasting arm predicts the state will have roughly $37.8 billion to spend this year, down $2.7 billion from the $40.6 billion it has currently. That’s because several one-time revenue sources can no longer be relied upon.
Yeah, but that’s still up from the $31 billion or so the state took in last fiscal year.
* Related…
* Rep. Keith Wheeler: How Speaker Madigan elbows aside Illinois taxpayers
22 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
* This sort of thing may be one reason why the governor’s office is asking for a supplemental approp for IDOC…
A Peoria murder trial was delayed this week after the Illinois Department of Corrections said it was short of gas money.
This week, an official at Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling sent an email to the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office saying it couldn’t bring an inmate, who was slated to be a witness in a murder trial, because it was “having difficulties with making fuel purchases at the current time.”
The official then asked the state’s attorney’s office to push the trial back later in May “when the probability is more likely that we will be able to obtain fuel while on the road if needed.” […]
The delay is significant because Samuel T. Clay Jr.] has been in custody since the fatal shooting [of October 2015 shooting of 14-year-old and has only days left before the 120-day limit for the Speedy Trial Act. While he’s been in custody for well more than that, the clock is stopped when he asks for or agrees to continue the proceedings.
His attorney Maureen Williams had initially agreed to the continuance Monday but then vigorously opposed it on Tuesday, saying it was within the power of the state’s attorney’s office to get the prisoner to Peoria — a notion that both Judge John Vespa and prosecutor David Gast contested.
Oy.
*** UPDATE *** From Lindsey N. Hess at IDOC…
While the Department acknowledges it is in desperate need of additional appropriation authority from the General Assembly, I want to make it clear that no offenders have missed scheduled court appearances because of a fuel shortage. The IDOC has no record of the offender who was named in the article being required to attend court on May 8. The Department will transport him, and all other offenders who have court appearances, on the dates they are scheduled.
36 Comments
|
* Precariously…
A Chicago-based fiscal watchdog group said Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget proposal is “precariously balanced” and doesn’t do enough to pay down the state’s remaining backlog of bills.
The Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability, said in a report released Wednesday that Rauner’s budget plan released in February “is substantially closer to being balanced than his administration’s previous proposals.”
But it concluded Rauner’s plan relies on “aggressive assumptions” that may not come to fruition.
“Illinois residents were able to breathe a sigh of relief following the end of the unprecedented impasse, but the state is far from fiscal stability,” Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the possibility of renewed political stalemate hangs over Springfield and it would be financially reckless to wait until after the upcoming election to start working toward long-term stabilization.”
* Sun-Times…
The civic watchdog’s report says the group “cannot support” Rauner’s recommended budget because it is “only precariously balanced,” citing a projected surplus of $351 million that depends on “various aggressive assumptions” totaling $1.8 billion in savings or additional revenues.
“It is not clear whether these assumptions are backed up by contingency plans,” the report says.
The report says the budget again relies on the selling of the James R. Thompson Center for the third year in a row and on “speculative group health savings.”
The Civic Federation also says it doesn’t support a budget that doesn’t have a plan to eliminate the unpaid bill backlog. The surplus would go towards the bill backlog — which was at $6.88 billion on Tuesday — but it’s “unclear how the State will pay the remaining backlog in future years.”
* Trib…
There are some parts of Rauner’s plan the group supports, but it does not endorse shifting suburban and Downstate teachers’ pension costs to local school districts.
* From the report…
The Civic Federation is supportive of several initiatives in the Governor’s recommended FY2019 budget, including aligning responsibility for payment of current-service pension costs with decision making about workers’ salaries and reducing the State’s role in financing health insurance costs for teachers and university and community college employees and retirees. The Federation also supports the proposal to enact the “consideration model” of pension reform, while not applying any savings until it is certain that the reform is constitutional.
* Crain’s…
The federation also generally sided with mayors in arguing against Rauner’s budget proposal for the second year in a row to grab a portion of the municipal share of state income-tax receipts for his budget, rather than passing it on to cities and villages
More ominously, the federation noted that Illinois “narrowly avoided a (bond) downgrade to junk status” last year.
“Illinois residents were able to breathe a short sigh of relief following the end of the unprecedented impasse,” in which the state went two years without a full, normal budget, federation President Laurence Msall said. “Unfortunately, the possibility of renewed political stalemate hangs over Springfield…Another impasse could squander recent progress.”
Illinois needs a long-term plan for fiscal stability, Msall added. “This proposal does not accomplish that goal.”
15 Comments
|
* WCIA TV…
“No new taxes, truly balanced budget and for a full year, [and we should] not [be] waiting to deal with some of the difficult decisions until after the election,” Rauner said. “There was some expression within the conversations about ‘Maybe we should deal with some of these things post election.’ We should not let politics or elections get in the way of doing the right thing for the people of Illinois.” […]
“It’s apparently the kind of confusion [Rauner] is attracted to, for whatever reason,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown responded, suggesting Rauner had perhaps seized on Cullerton’s public comments to reporters and not to any conversations that had occurred in private.
“What is true is that there’s an election in the middle of the fiscal year and we haven’t had that before,” Cullerton said, “so that might play a role in somebody’s motivation.” He quickly clarified the political calculations were “Not mine.”
The Senate Democrats agree with Brown’s claim that the topic of delaying decisions until after the elections wasn’t discussed during the leaders meeting.
I think Brownie may be right on this one. After previous meetings, the governor has watched BlueRoomStream.com’s live video of the leader avails and then reacted. So, Gov. Rauner could’ve been watching yesterday’s video feed of Cullerton’s post-meeting comments and heard that election mention and then said what he said afterward.
20 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
* AP…
A coroner in western Illinois is facing sharp criticism for how he handles poor people who can’t afford to bury their loved ones: He has them sign over their rights to the deceased, leaving them without the death certificate, then cremates the body and keeps the ashes until the family pays $1,000.
If they cannot come up with the money, the ashes are eventually buried, along with others, in an unmarked grave. If the family needs the death certificate to access bank accounts or life insurance, the coroner first arranges for the county to recoup its costs from any proceeds.
Adams County Coroner James Keller says the policy started after the state, which for years has faced billion-dollar deficits and unpaid bills, announced it was too broke to pay for indigent funerals and burials — shifting the cost to funeral homes and county coroners. Of the $1,000 people pay, he says $800 goes to the funeral homes and $200 to the crematory. […]
Illinois provides up to $1,655 — $1,103 for funerals and $552 for cremation and burial. But the money was cut off in 2010 and again in 2015 as the state headed into a more than two-year budget impasse. In some cases, counties ended up picking up the costs.
* Not mentioned in the story is that money was appropriated last year…
For Funeral and Burial Expenses under Articles III, IV, and V, including prior year costs 9,271,600
* From October of last year, after the General Assembly passed its own budget…
(A)gencies that get assistance from three-dozen state human service programs learned in recent weeks that Rauner had unilaterally decided to withhold some of the money promised them in the state budget lawmakers passed this summer over the governor’s veto.
As of last October, funeral and burial expenses had been cut by 35 percent. And this wasn’t the first, or even second time that the governor has tried to cut or zero out burial expenses.
* From the comptroller, with emphasis added by me…
Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza is urging the Illinois Department of Human Services to ensure that county coroners, funeral directors and cemeteries are aware that there are state reimbursements available to help cover the costs of funerals and burial for those in Illinois who cannot afford these services.
The move comes after the Associated Press reported that Adams County Coroner James Keller is refusing to release remains and death certificates to families who cannot afford to pay for a funeral and burial.
“Holding the remains of people’s loved ones for ransom is unthinkable. Everyone deserves a respectful burial. Being poor is not a crime, but disrespecting grieving families the way Coroner Keller is should be,” said Comptroller Mendoza. “This disgusting behavior by Coroner Keller isn’t reflective of who we are as a state.”
The two-year budget impasse has left county officials and funeral directors feeling as though they cannot count on the indigent funeral and burial program. No state money was spent on the program for Fiscal Year 2016. In FY 17, only $2.1 million of the $8.8 million appropriation was expended. This lack of state support created an environment that allowed for Keller’s gross abuse of power.
The AP story reveals a sad reality that many coroners, funeral directors and family members of the indigent are not aware of existing funding administered by DHS. There is a $9.3 million appropriation in the current fiscal year for the program, but only $1.5 million has been expended to date. The Comptroller’s office pays these reimbursements within a few days of receiving the vouchers for them from DHS. In fact, the office is currently prioritizing payment of all vouchers from DHS.
“We are urging the Rauner administration to do more to let county officials and funeral directors know that this money is set aside at the state level, so the costs aren’t pushed onto local taxpayers and businesses, and families aren’t faced with added stress in a time of mourning,” Mendoza said. “Through my office’s role working with cemeteries and funeral homes in a regulatory capacity, we have confirmed that many in the industry are not aware that these funds are available.”
In an effort to increase awareness of the program, the Comptroller’s office will inform funeral directors and burial entities in the Office’s regulatory listing that funding is available for the program in the current year and provide them with the appropriate contact information at DHS.
“When DHS receives these reimbursement applications, they should process them as quickly as possible and send the vouchers to my office for payment. If there are any outstanding applications, I would ask the department to expedite them. Doing so will allow us to bring relief to the funeral homes, that have been shouldering the cost of the state’s financial dysfunction, and lift some of this unnecessary burden on grieving families,” Comptroller Mendoza said.
If DHS is sitting on lots of vouchers, this could get uglier. Both the comptroller and the governor need to get on this.
26 Comments
|
How far will he go?
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here…
Two hours ago (1:30 or so) I e-mailed this question to the governor’s press person…
Would the governor veto a budget/appropriations bill without a formal revenue estimate?
No response.
What do you think he should do?
23 Comments
|
In which I agree with Kristen McQueary
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* She’s right. It’s pretty much all Rauner has, except for the likely “corruption” claims. Taxes, Madigan, Taxes, Madigan, Corruption, Taxes, Corruption, Madigan, Taxes all the way to November…
The numbers don’t look good for Gov. Bruce Rauner’s re-election chances based on enthusiasm among Democratic voters alone. Four years ago, the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries drew 1.3 million voters to Illinois polling places. In March, that number jumped to 2.1 million, driven by Democrats. They’re stoked.
Consider that Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker in a six-way race still collected 597,756 votes. Rauner, in a two-way primary, collected only 372,124. Too early to cue the “Price is Right” loser horn? Bum-bum-ba-buuum. Perhaps.
Rauner has one shot: Convince Illinoisans of both parties that a vote for Pritzker is a vote for higher taxes. Tap into the rebellion that overturned the Cook County soda tax. Remind voters that Springfield cannot be trusted with another blank check. Rauner still can position himself as the only backstop between voters’ wallets and the irresponsible savoir-faire of the General Assembly.
It starts with a fierce campaign against the Democrats’ graduated income tax proposal requiring a constitutional change. Pritzker and House Speaker Michael Madigan are positioning the tax as a fairness issue. Stick it to the rich guys (and never mind the ambidexterity of their positions, being two rich guys).
The rest of the column is a bit on the hyperbolic side, but that part is right.
26 Comments
|
Happy anniversary! (Reposted)
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
[I accidentally hit the “publish” button on an earlier version of this story before I was finished. That post has been deleted, but then I accidentally lost all my work, so I had to start all over again. Oops! Been one of those days, I guess.]
* Elizabeth Campbell at Bloomberg…
Three years ago today, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s attempt to cut its employees’ pension benefits to chip away at a retirement-system debt that’s swelled to almost $11,000 for every man, woman and child.
Since then, Illinois’s credit rating was downgraded to the verge of junk, its bonds have tumbled and its largest city — Chicago — was stripped of its investment-grade status by Moody’s Investors Service. And Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-led legislature have made no real progress toward a new plan that doesn’t violate the state constitution’s ban on reducing benefits. […]
The funding shortfall across Illinois’s five retirement systems climbed to $137 billion by last June, a jump of about $17.8 billion since 2015, after the government for years failed to made adequate contributions. That pension deficit — more than four times larger that its debt to general-obligation bondholders — is adding hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to Illinois’s budget each year as the government plows more money in to catch up. […]
Even as the state is set to pay $8.5 billion to the five retirement systems in 2019, it’s still not enough. Unfunded liabilities keep growing. And the 2019 contribution is more than three times the state’s payment a decade earlier: Illinois paid $2.8 billion to pensions in 2009. By 2045, the projected contribution will be $19.6 billion, according to a March report, based on actuarial valuations.
Yes, the projected annual state contribution will be $19.6 billion by 2045, but the state’s Unfunded Accrued Actuarial Liabilities will be just $32.7 billion by then, so I’m thinking the state will likely avoid the full payment for that year and probably a few years before as well. That ramp is so darned back-loaded.
* According to COGFA, Tier 2 is working. Tier 1’s annual “normal costs” (the benefits paid out in a given year) are 17.4 percent of payroll this fiscal year, while Tier 2’s are 1.6 percent. By 2032, Tier 1 costs drop below Tier 2, at 6.7 and 6.8 percent respectively. By 2045, Tier 1 will cost 0.5 percent of payroll, while Tier 2 will be at 10.4 percent.
The question becomes whether Tier 2 can survive federal regulations because the benefits are so low. That could very well be a huge ticking time bomb.
The real problem, as always, is the unfunded liabilities.
23 Comments
|
Good cop, bad cop after leaders’ meeting
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Senate President John Cullerton emerged from the leaders’ meeting after about an hour to say they had some good discussions. He said the leaders didn’t talk about the supplement appropriation requested by the governor. He said there was no talk about a tax hike. “We did that last year,” Cullerton said.
He denied an earlier claim by Gov. Rauner that the Democrats were slow-walking the process and later said, “We have a much closer, smaller gap and there’s ways to fill it.” And when asked how receptive Gov. Rauner has been to listening to his and other leaders’ priorities, Cullerton replied, “Very receptive.”
* There’s still a budget gap to fill, he said, but he said he was hopeful that they could do some things that they’ve done in the past to close it, including interfund borrowing. Cullerton also said there was some “federal changes” that may allow Illinois to “bring in some more revenue,” but didn’t specify what those were. He was pressed a couple of times about coming up with a formal revenue estimate…
My point was to not get hung up on a specific number, because whatever that number is there’s a general idea about what it is and it’s not enough to pay for our other bills. So, that’s where we get into these other variables. You know, selling the Thompson Center could bring in 200 or 300, so there’s a number you’re never gonna tie down. But that’s another consideration of closing this gap. There’s a number of different things that we would consider to closing the gap and that’s what we’re going to ask our negotiators to do. […]
I wouldn’t get hung up on that. That gets into somewhat of a gotcha game and a political fight… That’s not what’s holding us up.
He kinda meandered, but I think what he meant was there could be ideas for bringing in more revenue (including sweeps, etc.), so locking everything down now with a formal estimate isn’t necessary and could be counter-productive.
* Then came Gov. Rauner…
* But Leader Brady was more optimistic…
After more than three years, the governor has yet to successfully negotiate a full-year budget. Maybe listening to Leader Brady would be the smart move here.
19 Comments
|
Today’s number: 3
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rae has been on a tear about this issue lately…
* Related…
* Jacked: Report says only 3 juveniles were repeat carjackers when released last year, but Illinois poised to pass law keeping more youth in lock-up: The statewide discussion on catch-and-release took its early shape during a crime spike last November when over a dozen cars got jacked in under a week and police struggled to make arrests. When two black teenagers led police on a chase following an alleged carjacking in Oak Park, police told the press they suspected the two of being behind the whole rash of armed vehicle thefts. But the spate continued well after the two were in custody.
* Rahm’s anti-carjacking bill is unfair, being falsely sold and won’t work: The offense targeted by House Bill 4729 and proposed amendments is not carjacking – or assault, robbery, or any related violent offense. The bill, far more broadly and dangerously, would make it easier to convict someone of felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle by allowing a court to “infer that a person knows or recklessly disregards” a car is stolen if he or she happens to be in a vehicle “without the consent of the owner.” … Like nine out of ten shootings, nine out of ten carjackings did not end in an arrest by the Chicago Police Department by the end of the year. This is not the fault of state sentencing laws. Giving more felony convictions and prison years to a very broad group of people because police can’t identify the small number who are committing violent crime isn’t a public safety strategy. It is wanton state interference with employment, housing, education, child support and the host of other factors that contribute to stable families and communities.
* Chicago has fewer beat cops despite police hiring surge, records show: More than a year into the Chicago Police Department’s biggest hiring surge in decades, 14 of the city’s 22 police districts now have fewer beat cops than they did when the push was announced, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
* Carjacked — by a boy who reminded me of my son: It’s aggravating to see the hyperbolic rhetoric about crime ravaging our city and all the tough-on-crime speeches that haven’t worked. I do appreciate police Superintendent Eddie Johnson bringing in federal agents on this matter and Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushing new legislation aimed at combating carjackings. Yet I struggle and consider this boy. Would I really want him to get a punishment that would cut him off from any opportunity or future?
* Editorial: Young offenders with de facto life terms deserve a chance at parole: Juvenile justice reformers and scientific experts have pointed out that young people are less culpable for their actions because their brains are not fully developed. It’s easy for them to make terrible decisions, as McKinley did, especially because of peer pressure or in the heat of the moment. Our laws already recognize that young people don’t make decisions as well as adults: That’s why we have age requirements for voting, drinking, driving, smoking, getting married and joining the military.
23 Comments
|
* RGA…
A clear contrast in the Illinois governor’s race is emerging between GOP Governor Bruce Rauner, who supports reforms that will help Illinois grow jobs, and Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who wants to hike taxes and do nothing to help Illinois’ business climate.
Rauner has proposed numerous pro-jobs reforms, but they’ve been consistently vetoed by J.B. Pritzker’s top ally, House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Now, the News-Gazette editorial board is slamming J.B. Pritzker for allying with Madigan and having “shown no interest in promoting changes needed to boost the business climate.” With Illinois families and businesses already fleeing the state in record numbers, Pritzker wants a massive tax hike that will make the problem even worse.
Illinoisans know that this November’s election is a choice between J.B. Pritzker’s tax-hike, anti-jobs agenda, and Governor Bruce Rauner’s pro-jobs reforms that will get Illinois back on track.
* From the editorial…
Massachusetts ranks No. 45, Connecticut (46), New Jersey (47), Illinois (48), New York (49) and California (50) [according to Chief Executive magazine].
If that seems familiar, Chief Executive said, “That’s because those are the exact same positions each of these states has occupied in each of the last four years in our annual poll of CEOs about business climates.” […]
Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, was elected four years ago on a platform dedicated to restoring a healthy business climate. But he’s been stopped cold by a Democratic-controlled Legislature determined to maintain the status quo.
That doesn’t mean Democrats are automatically hostile to policies aimed at creating more job opportunities. But Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, so far at least, has shown no interest in promoting changes needed to boost the business climate.
That’s the kind of static situation Chief Executive cited as a factor to running in place. Right now, Illinois is two spots from last place and shows no interest in moving up.
Aside from completely absolving Gov. Rauner, the editorial fails to mention the fact that supposedly last place California has had an astonishing rebirth under Gov. Jerry Brown…
California’s economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world’s fifth largest, according to new federal data made public on Friday. […]
California last had the world’s fifth largest economy in 2002 but fell as low as 10th in 2012 following the great recession. Since then, the largest US state has added 2 million jobs and grown its GDP by $700bn, now contributing a little over 14% of the US economy despite having 12% of the US population, according to state economists.
California’s GDP growth was 3 percent from 2016 to 2017, ranking it third in the nation behind Washington and Colorado. The state had a $28 billion budget hole when Brown took over, but he’s turned that into a $6.1 billion surplus.
Massachusetts, which Chief Executive magazine ranked 45th, had a 2.6 percent GDP growth, ranking it 11th out of 50. Massachusetts has a popular Republican governor who has worked well with his Democratic legislature.
* Illinois’ GDP growth was just 1.2 percent, ranking us a miserable 33rd. Pritzker’s economic plans don’t really amount to a whole lot. He has a long ways to go to live up to the promise of his Sun-Times endorsement…
Pritzker founded 1871, the tech business incubator in the Merchandise Mart credited with creating some 7,000 jobs. This remarkable nonprofit has raised Chicago’s profile nationwide as a high-tech hub. He served as chairman of Chicago’s Technology and Entrepreneurship Committee. He was a founder of Matter, the nonprofit healthcare technology incubator.
This kind of future-focused approach to economic development is precisely what Illinois sorely needs right now. It is also reflective of what seems to be Pritzker’s philosophy for trying to make a difference in this world: work it from the bottom up.
27 Comments
|
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The credit union movement focuses heavily on community service and charitable giving, but credit unions also give back to their members through generous financial benefits like low loan rates, high savings rates, and fewer fees than most other banking institutions. In 2017, Illinois credit unions gave an estimated $309,145,878 in direct financial benefits to the nearly 3.2 million credit union members in our state (CUNA.org). Intrigued? Visit ASmarterChoice.org to learn how you can save by becoming a credit union member today.
Comments Off
|
ERA debate focuses on abortion rights
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune...
Abortion, military service and racial inequality could remain at the center of debate over whether Illinois lawmakers should ratify the decades-old Equal Rights Amendment in the coming weeks.
Those issues were on display at a four-hour Illinois House committee hearing in Chicago on Monday, more than 35 years after the 1982 deadline for states to pass the constitutional amendment designed to protect citizens against sex-based discrimination. […]
Anti-abortion activists were the most vocal in Monday’s hearing. They view the Equal Rights Amendment as a vehicle for putting abortion protections into the U.S. Constitution. […]
Lang needs 71 votes to get the amendment approved by the House, meaning he’ll need both Democrats and Republicans to back it. While Lang has noted conservative opposition, some Democrats don’t like it either. So the issue may be more complicated than traditional partisan differences.
* From Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago)…
Isn’t this all about changing the law on abortion?
No. The right to abortion is already protected under the U.S. Constitution. Whether the ERA has an additional impact on state laws relating to abortion is something that courts will have to resolve, based on the goal that the state is attempting to achieve through the law and whether the law is narrowly tailored (and the least restrictive means) of achieving that goal. Within Illinois, ratifying the ERA will not lead to a significant change in the status of state laws that might touch on abortion, given that the Illinois Constitution already prohibits sex discrimination by the state government.
Reproductive Rights:
The repeated claim of opponents that the ERA would require government to allow “abortion on demand” is a clear misrepresentation of existing laws and court decisions at both federal and state levels.
In federal courts, including the Supreme Court, a number of restrictive laws dealing with contraception and abortion have been invalidated since the mid–20th century based on application of the constitutional principles of the right of privacy and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. The principles of equal protection or equal rights have so far not been applied to such cases at the federal level.
State equal rights amendments have been cited in a few state court decisions (e.g., in Connecticut and New Mexico) regarding a very specific issue – whether a state that provides funding to low-income Medicaid-eligible women for childbirth expenses should also be required to fund medically necessary abortions for women in that government program. Those courts ruled that the state must fund both pregnancy-related procedures if it funds either, in order to prevent the government from using fiscal pressure to exert a chilling influence on a woman’s exercise of her constitutional right to make medical decisions about her pregnancy. The New Jersey Supreme Court issued a similar decision based on the right of privacy and equal protection, with no reference to its state constitution’s equal rights guarantee.
The presence or absence of a state ERA or equal protection guarantee does not necessarily correlate with a state’s legal climate for reproductive rights. For example, despite Pennsylvania’s state ERA, the state Supreme Court decided that restrictions on Medicaid funding of abortions were constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court in separate litigation (Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1992) upheld Pennsylvania’s restrictions on the abortion procedure under the federal due process clause.
State court decisions on reproductive rights are not conclusive evidence of how federal courts would decide such cases. For example, while some state courts have required Medicaid funding of medically necessary abortions, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the federal “Hyde Amendment,” which has for decades prohibited the federal government from funding most or all Medicaid abortions, even many that are medically necessary.
More issues with the ERA are discussed here.
18 Comments
|
* Sun-Times…
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday announced the federal government has approved a state Medicaid waiver that will allow community-based service providers to provide more care for patients with substance abuse and other mental health problems.
The waiver, which was more than two years in the making and includes 10 pilot programs, will provide services that are not currently covered by Medicaid, Felicia Norwood, director of the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said Monday at a West Side press conference. And it’s aimed at getting patients continual care instead of having them go to pricey emergency rooms or institutions.
“I personally believe this is maybe one of the most important days in the history of public health for the state of Illinois, anywhere in our state’s history,” Rauner said.
The initial focus of the program will be behavioral health, both mental health and substance abuse, and that was chosen “due to the urgency of the issue as well as the potential financial and human impact,” the state’s department of Healthcare and Family Services said in a fact sheet. The goals are to help stem the opioid epidemic, reduce violent crime and violent encounters with police and improve maternal and child health.
This waiver has been sought for years, starting with Gov. Quinn. It’s a very big thing.
* Illinois News Network…
Gov. Bruce Rauner announced Monday that the federal government has approved $2 billion in Illinois-directed Medicaid funding for the use of programs focusing on behavioral health conditions and addiction treatment via a 5-year pilot program named Better Care Illinois. Without the waiver, the money couldn’t be used in this manner.
Rauner says the waiver will allow the state to care for the whole person while finding savings in the Medicaid system.
“We believe that this will save huge amounts of taxpayer funding while improving the quality of mental health and total health for the people of Illinois,” he said.
* Those savings won’t be realized right away, of course. It will take time to implement the programs and lots more time for the programs to work as intended…
Rauner said one in four Medicaid recipients have behavior health conditions. They account for 52 percent of Medicaid spending.
“We are going to change the way our services are provided up front,” Gov. Bruce Rauner said. “That will save money over the five-year waiver program, and we’re going to then reinvest those savings back in the program and then drive major savings in the future subsequent to the five-year waiver.”
So some savings within five years and then “major savings” after five years.
* With that in mind, check this out from yesterday’s IDHS bullet points…
What is budget neutrality?
The federal government requires the demonstrations to be “budget neutral,” meaning that during the course of the waiver Medicaid expenditures cannot exceed what they would be without the waiver. The 1115 waiver is not a grant but rather an opportunity to use Medicaid dollars differently to increase the efficiency and quality of care for Medicaid populations.
That link and language was provided by a commenter, who asked…
Question for the Governor: since the overall state spending of federal dollars cannot increased, what will he be cutting out of current Waiver spending in order re-direct money to the pilot programs, or is he planning to use money out of GRF that receives no federal match for the pilots and what will he then cut out of GRF to pay for that?
* More…
The state has five years of flexibility for how it spends $2 billion. It’s a fraction of Illinois Medicaid spending, which is about $21 billion a year.
In other words, they’ll be repurposing about ten percent of current Medicaid spending. It’s actually 2 percent per year for five years…
$1,997,670,906 in repurposed spending over 5-years… So we’re talking about 2%, not 10%.
8 Comments
|
* Last week…
Speaking on WOC AM-1420 in Davenport, Iowa, Rauner declared himself a unifier — not just among Republicans, but also with independents and Democrats.
“You know primaries are tough. They’re part of the process. I respect the process and now we’re all coming together in the state. We’re unifying all Republicans,” said Rauner, who faces a third-party challenge from Downstate Republican state Sen. Sam McCann and a potential battle over re-electing his hand-picked state GOP chairman.
* This week…
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday tried to distance himself from a leadership battle within the Illinois Republican Party, the latest in an ongoing struggle between the governor and a vocal wing of conservatives who say they have been betrayed. […]
On Monday, Rauner tried to make light of the party leadership issue, saying: “I really don’t spend much time thinking about it.” […]
Rauner said Monday that he’s not paying attention to the infighting within the party, pointing out that “there have been fights and disagreements and challenges many times over the years. It’s part of the process.”
* Meanwhile…
33 Comments
|
* NBC 5…
Lori Lightfoot has resigned as head of the Chicago Police Board, the board confirmed Monday. […]
Her resignation comes days before sources say the former U.S. attorney is expected to announce her campaign for mayor, set to happen Thursday.
Lightfoot has been meeting with key political operatives to build a team, but will not confirm the Thursday timing.
* Fran Spielman reports that Lightfoot has already “hired a fundraiser, a pollster, a campaign consultant and a firm to handle her direct mail.” OK, but she hasn’t even filed a D-1 yet. From Fran’s piece…
Greg Goldner, who managed Emanuel’s 2002 congressional campaign, advised Lightfoot to follow the playbook that carried County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to a landslide victory during a 2010 campaign master-minded by Ken Snyder, who just happens to be Lightfoot’s political consultant.
“She unified the African-American community to a large extent, and she was able to get white progressives,” Goldner said of Preckwinkle. […]
Jacky Grimshaw, who served as a top aide to former Mayor Harold Washington, has her doubts about Lightfoot’s ability to pull it off.
“Dorothy Brown has the church ladies. I don’t know what constituency Lori has,” Grimshaw said. “If police and police misbehavior is your issue, then you pay attention to it. If it’s not, what else have you done? How’s that gonna help me get a job? How’s that gonna help me keep my health care?”
Grimshaw is right. Dorothy Brown does, indeed, have “the church ladies.” Brown visits several churches every weekend and she’s the only Emanuel opponent so far with a readily identifiable and historically friendly base. If she survives the federal investigation (which has dragged on for years and years), she could very well make the runoff without having to spend much. Don’t laugh. Weirder things have happened.
13 Comments
|
Four leaders to meet with Gov. Rauner today
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The four legislative leaders will meet with the governor at 11 o’clock this morning. They met briefly last month. Watch the live coverage post for updates.
Your predictions? Snark it up if you want.
* Meanwhile…
Gov. Bruce Rauner said Monday that budget talks have been “frustratingly slow” ahead of a deadline to pass a spending plan with simple majorities.
“I hope it’s not some orchestrated effort to go slow,” Rauner told reporters Monday in Chicago. “We need a balanced budget for a full year, not just six months, no new taxes and a budget that lives within our means.” […]
“[The] pace [is] being set by his budget director,” said Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesman. “The speaker continues to work to get the budget done by the end of the month.”
Brown also said the budget director is focusing on a fiscal 2018 supplemental budget “to pay for administration overspending.”
20 Comments
|
* Rep. Jeanne Ives was interviewed by CLTV’s Paul Lisnek yesterday. Audio clip and transcript were not generated by me…
LISNEK: So is this something the state can and should pay for? Durbin [says] we’re going to get federal money. Is it something where we might get the feds? Some have called on the governor to call Trump and say ‘help us.’
IVES: Well that would be me, because I called on the governor months ago to call Donald Trump and ask for assistance immediately and to have that entire structure torn down and rebuilt, and I’m kind of shocked that he has not done that and made that call yet. Maybe he has and it’s being misreported, but I would certainly reach out to the VA [unintelligible] as well.
LISNEK: Before I leave this topic I just wanted to get your reaction to the Darlene Senger— I know you know her well— but that e-mail. Obviously she never intended that to be public, but nevertheless, ‘Hey maybe we can put this back on Tammy Duckworth,’ who you know is a decorated war veteran, served this country. What was your reaction to that?
IVES: Listen, it’s unfortunate that she would ever try to link this Quinn administration that was years before the Rauner administration. Granted, I will give her this though, that for decades both the Democrats and the Republicans have not set aside money to do the maintenance that is required in many of our areas. In fact, I know we’re $21 billion per year behind on infrastructure improvements and much of that goes to our state facilities. So I think there’s some blame to be shared, but you don’t blame-shift when you had 13 deaths and then you failed to actually move those Veterans out of an unsafe condition. Nobody should be blaming that on anybody but the Rauner administration.
* Meanwhile, from that same interview, here’s Politico…
During an interview with CLTV’s Paul Lisnek on Monday, state Rep. Jeanne Ives went on a tear against Gov. Bruce Rauner and Tim Schneider, the Illinois Republican Party chairman the governor is backing. Ives, who narrowly lost to Rauner in the March primary, is supporting Schneider’s opponent Mark Shaw in a heated fight over the GOP throne.
Among the reasons Ives is backing Shaw: she blames Schneider for the Nazi candidate running as a Republican in Illinois’ 3rd congressional district.
“So he’s alienating the base by propping up Schneider again, and Schneider has failed. Look we have 37 state reps, Democrats, unopposed in this coming up election. It is the party chairman’s responsibility to find opponents. We have an avowed Nazi sitting as a Republican in a congressional race, and that’s wrong too. And then on top of it, the entire emphasis from Tim Schneider and Rauner et al over the last campaign cycle is simply to get Rauner elected, and so much of what they did in terms of data collection and everything else did not support our state reps. We need a whole new vision for our party, and a whole new way to attract voters.”
And then there’s this exchange. Ouch: Lisnek: “If polls look close come November and it looks like Pritzker could pull it out, would that be enough of a scare for you to look at your supporters and say it’s ok, vote Rauner?”
Ives: “I can’t predict what the future’s going to look like, umm, in a few months, so we’ll just see what’s going on.”
*** UPDATE *** DGA, with emphasis added by me…
ILGOP Feud Continues - Ives Says Rauner “Never Actually Heard the Message that Was Sent to Him”
While Governor Bruce Rauner claims he’s “unifying” Republicans, state Representative Jeanne Ives blasted the Governor’s lack of rapprochement with the 48% of Republicans that supported her in the primary. Ives went on CLTV and reiterated that they still, a month and a half later, have not spoken:
Reporter: “The Governor says everything is fine between you and him. Let me get your take. Is it all good?”
Ives: “Listen, I have not spoken with the Governor yet. So, he is doing his thing. And I am continuing to do my thing as a state Representative.”
Rauner’s strategy of ignoring Ives is clearly not working as they continue to fight over the party chairman position and the direction of the Republican Party:
Reporter: “…But isn’t supporting somebody besides Tim Schneider an effort to sort of say we still need to shake things up?”
Ives: “No, it’s actually… Governor Rauner supporting Tim Schneider is basically saying he never actually heard the message that was sent to him on March 20th… So, he’s alienating the base by propping up Schneider again, and Schneider has failed.”
Ives finished the interview by refusing to commit to helping Rauner.
Reporter: “If the polls look close come November, and Pritzker could pull it out - will that be enough of a scare for you to look at your supporters and say it is ok to vote Rauner?”
Ives: “I cannot predict what the future is going to look like in a few months. So, we just see what is going on.”
“Bruce Rauner’s sham strategy of claiming that his party was unifying without reaching out to the 48% of Republicans that rejected him is clearly not working,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “It’s been nearly two months since the primary and the only unifying Bruce Rauner has done is getting Independents, Democrats, and Republicans in agreement that he has failed them long enough.”
51 Comments
|
*** LIVE *** Session coverage
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ve made some changes to this now-daily post to make it even more user-friendly. I’ve added some of the morning roundups I receive every day and I’ll “pin” one of them to the top for the first part of every morning (the pinned item has a red triangle in the upper-right corner). The pinned roundup comes from RK PR Solutions’ Ryan Keith. Many thanks for his help.
The new format worked out well for me yesterday. Instead of adding to my workload it actually reduced it a bit because I didn’t have to struggle to figure out how to post some marginal items. Those will go here from now on, so keep an eye on this post every day. Anyway, watch all the action with the help of ScribbleLive…
1 Comment
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
 
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS |
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax |
Advertise Here |
Mobile Version |
Contact Rich Miller
|
