Lynn Lucchese-Soto thought she was being scammed when she got a phone call at work earlier this year, supposedly from the Illinois State Treasurer’s office, saying that two children she was raising were the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy.
Skeptical, the Chicago lawyer hung up, found the agency’s number, dialed it, and learned it was true: The children’s mother, who was killed in a 2007 car crash, had a life insurance policy for more than $100,000.
The coverage came to light through a life-insurance audit by Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs, who held a hearing Wednesday on how unpaid life insurance benefits can help families — if they know that the policies exist. The proposed Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act, whose provisions include forcing companies to be more diligent about determining whether a policyholder has died, is awaiting action by Gov. Bruce Rauner. […]
Since 2011, auditors working on behalf of the Illinois treasurer’s office have identified more than $550 million in death benefits that were owed to grieving Illinois families but hadn’t been paid, Frerichs said.
The bill would require insurance companies to use the Social Security Administration’s “death master file,” which contains the records of deaths reported to the federal agency, to determine if a policyholder has died and to notify beneficiaries on how to make a claim.
In a July 28 letter to Rauner, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform wrote: “Approval of this legislation will likely increase the problem of overreaching audits that are frequently conducted on behalf of states by private audit firms hired under contingency fee arrangements. The explosion of irrational unclaimed property enforcement audits is often driven by profit-motivated private audit firms, and these audits have become a national concern for American businesses.” […]
Also penning a letter was the National Alliance of Life Companies, which represents small and midsize life insurers. It wrote, “By disallowing private contingency fee audits, the state of Illinois would pass a more business-friendly and budget-conscious solution.”
A spokesman for Frerichs called the industry’s 11th-hour objections disingenuous, saying the bill would dramatically reduce the need for audits. “Insurance companies would start doing themselves what we have auditors do now,” he said.
He called the bill a matter of simply righting a wrong that’s existed for years. “We’re talking about dollars that (but for the bill) would stay with the insurance company,” he said.
Rockford-area residents treated daily in the triage program at the Rosecrance Mulberry Center suffer from such things as depression, psychotic episodes, extreme paranoia and debilitating anxiety.
Some self-medicate by abusing drugs and alcohol and some are a threat to themselves or someone else.
These are the people who could find themselves without help if the center’s triage program ends next month.
On Tuesday, Rosecrance President and CEO Philip Eaton announced the triage program will be shut down in 30 days if the state continues to renege on what he called a “good-faith promise” to fund community mental health services after closing the Singer Mental Health Center in 2012.
Rosecrance requested $750,000, half of the $1.5 million that was zeroed out in the state’s fiscal year 2017 stopgap budget.
Some Ray Graham Association workers in DuPage County are leaving their posts for higher-paying jobs in fast food or big box stores as the clock is ticking on GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign or veto a bill raising pay for caregivers for those with disabilities. Workers statewide average $9.35 an hour.
President and CEO Kim Zoeller recalls an email she got the other day highlighting the placement of a disabled resident in a part-time job. “I’m so excited for this, but check out this wage,” the email read. It was higher than the email’s sender — the employment specialist.
Zoeller says 50 of Ray Graham’s 300 or so caregiver positions are open and the agency is experiencing higher turnover than ever. With those gaps, she says, the agency no longer is able to devote time to take residents into the community for such things as going to church or grocery shopping. Ray Graham serves 2,000 disabled children and adults in the suburbs and operates 23 group residential homes.
Illinois last increased reimbursement for such nonprofits in 2008. Efforts to increase reimbursements have fallen short with some arguing the state, faced with a multibillion-dollar bill backlog, must take care of existing obligations before taking on new ones.
…Adding… This is the e-mail received by the attorneys…
OPINION: Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Relief (d/e [4]) is GRANTED. Defendants are ENJOINED from enforcing the Illinois Election Code’s signature requirement against David M. Gill, independent candidate for U.S. Representative in the 13th Congressional District in light of the fact that he has obtained 8,593 valid signatures and shown a modicum of support. Consequently, because it appears Gill otherwise qualifies to be on the ballot, this ruling requires that Gill remain on the ballot. (SEE WRITTEN OPINION) Entered by Judge Sue E. Myerscough on 8/25/2016. (GL, ilcd)
In a hearing Wednesday, Gill was seeking a preliminary injunction that would prevent the State Board of Elections from removing his name from the ballot despite an earlier State Board of Elections staff review that found Gill had 8,593 signatures considered valid. The number he needed, under state law, was 10,754, and he had turned in more than 11,300.
But Gill claims the law is unconstitutional because so many signatures are required. While Republican and Democratic candidates have to go through a primary to get on the November ballot, they also need to collect fewer than 740 petition signatures each. Gill’s case is based on the idea that the threshold for independents and third-party candidates is so high that it creates an unfair burden.
Gill has noted that independent candidates for U.S. Senate in Illinois have to gather five times the 5,000 signatures required of major-party candidates for that statewide office, but as an independent House candidate, he is required to gather nearly 15 times what a Democrat or Republican needs.
“The point of me running as an independent is because people have been poorly served by both major parties for the last 30 or 40 years, and now we’re seeing both major parties try to keep me from being on the ballot, and I think it’s entirely unconstitutional the way in which they’re doing so,” Gill said after the hearing.
* I’m pretty sure this CJ Baricevic TV ad, which is airing in Paducah, is the first Democratic congressional spot to make Gov. Rauner an issue. The governor is apparently not polling well down ‘yonder. Rate it…
* Script…
I worked at Granite City Steel with a crew of steamfitters to pay for school at SIU. It was hard work—a good job—and it taught me a lot. That’s why I fought against Governor Rauner’s devastating budget. But Washington’s forgotten how hard you work. Congress gives Wall Street billionaires tax cuts and trade deals that ship our jobs overseas and we get higher tax bills and pink slips. I’m CJ Baricevic and I approve this message because I’ll fight for working families—not Washington special interests.
* This is the Rauner budget thing they’re referring to…
The St. Clair County ruling stated workers could receive their entire paychecks without a state budget in place. Circuit Judge Robert LeChien issued that ruling. Attorney C.J. Baricevic argued on behalf of union workers.
…Adding… From a Rauner guy…
Baricevic ad makes no sense considering our attorneys were in court with him in support of paying the workers.
The reason the Democrats have a Blue Wall is because they dominate in large population states like California and New York. They are making inroads in others like Ohio, Florida, Arizona, Georgia and even Texas. Part of that is these states are home to large urban areas. The Republican Party has simply written off our urban centers. For this, it is necessary to adopt to what I refer to as the “Rauner template.”
Bruce Rauner, when running for Illinois Governor, did not avoid Chicago. In fact, he went into the city with greater zeal than his Democratic opponent because Democrats take the urban vote for granted. Democrats win the urban vote because the Republicans have abandoned it. But there is one truth: the relationship between the Democratic Party and urban voters is loveless.
Rauner’s outreach to minority communities in Chicago did not win him the black or the Hispanic vote in that city. But, it did accomplish three things: (1) it decreased Democratic turnout, (2) it opened the door to minorities to at least consider an alternative to Democrats in the future, and (3) it helped Rauner perform better in the whiter, more affluent areas of the city. He performed admirably in Chicago not because minorities voted for him in droves, but because urban white voters did.
He got about three percentage points more than Bill Brady received four years earlier, and Quinn got about 13,000 fewer votes than in 2010.
* What that very public outreach did accomplish, aside from what’s listed above, is send a strong signal to suburban moderates (particularly women) that he was not bigoted. As I’ve pointed out for decades, indy suburban women have the balance of power in statewide races here, so that was hugely important, along with his wife’s TV ads about him being pro-choice and not having a “social agenda.”
The national GOP will have to learn this lesson if they want to win back the White House because moderate suburban women have a lot of sway in several swing states, too.
The rhetoric continued to escalate in the U.S. Senate race Wednesday, as Republican Sen. Mark Kirk accused Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth of mocking stroke victims when she characterized him as “unhinged” for likening President Barack Obama to the nation’s “drug dealer in chief” over the January Iran prisoner release deal. […]
On Tuesday, the Democrat appeared at the City Club of Chicago for a speech in which she characterized Kirk as “unhinged” for his comments on the Obama administration sending $400 million to Iran as U.S. hostages were being released as part of the multination agreement aimed at reducing the Middle Eastern country’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. Kirk likened Obama to the nation’s “drug dealer in chief” last week in an appearance before a Springfield newspaper editorial board.
Duckworth assigned to Kirk a term defined as “mentally deranged.” But Duckworth backed off when asked by reporters if voters should take into consideration any possible aftereffects of her opponent’s stroke. […]
“She is so desperate to run for office she would denigrate any stroke victim in America and make fun of them and that’s awful. You shouldn’t do that. For people who have strokes, they can make tremendous comebacks mentally and physically,” said Kirk, who also rejected Duckworth’s call for an apology to Obama.
This is at least the second time that the paper reported that Duckworth “backed off” her original comment. But that would only be the case if Duckworth had actually tried to connect Kirk’s stroke to the “unhinged” remark.
* Here’s what she said during her speech…
Senator Kirk has joined the rogue’s gallery of the President’s fiercest — and most unhinged — critics, and for that he should be ashamed. What he said is beneath the dignity of the office he now holds, and Senator Kirk should apologize immediately to the President, as well as to the people of Illinois.
Duckworth on Tuesday called Kirk “unhinged” for his comments and urged him to apologize.
“If you look at all of the things he’s said, I think he lacks the ability to control what he’s saying, and you can look at the numerous gaffes that he’s had over the years,” Duckworth said after a City Club of Chicago event.
The Democrat sidestepped reporters’ questions about whether she was suggesting Kirk was suffering after effects from his stroke.
Bill Cameron [WLS 890 AM radio]: You said [Senator Kirk] was unhinged. Is it that bad?
Cong. Duckworth: Well, if you look at all the things he has said, I think that [Senator Kirk] lacks the ability to control what he is saying. And, you can look at the numerous gaffes that he has had over the years.
Derrick Blakely [NBC-5 News]: Is that inability due to his stroke?
Mike Flannery [Fox 32 News] : Unhinged?
Cong. Duckworth: I do think [Senator Kirk] is unhinged. To call the Commander in Chief—basically comparing [the President] to a drug dealer. I think that is a significant thing for a United States Senator to say. I mean this is the same man who called one of his colleagues ‘a bro with no ho,’ it’s not befitting of a United States Senator.
* She was then asked: “Tammy, if that lack of ability is a result of the after-effects of the stroke, should voters take that into consideration?” Her response…
I think that is, uh, the furthest thing that people should look at. People should look at the fact that he’s been ineffective as a Senator.
It seems to me that the reporters really wanted her to talk about Kirk’s stroke and she wasn’t taking the bait. Maybe I’m wrong, though. Watch the video yourself and let us know what you think…
* What she most definitely side-stepped, however, was a question about her support for President Bush’s big tax cuts. She has blasted Kirk for voting for the tax cuts, but she backed those same cuts in her 2006 congressional campaign. Her excuse was that she never actually voted for the cuts.
Last Thursday, private prison stocks dropped like a rock when the Department of Justice announced that it would be phasing out its use of for-profit detention facilities. If you were an investor who had no ethical qualms about profiting from an industry that’s been accused of perpetrating a number of human rights abuses, it would have been a good time to buy. It turns out that reports of the industry’s imminent death have been greatly exaggerated.
Experts who track the business tell The Nation that as mass-incarceration reform has become a bipartisan issue, private prison companies large and small have seen the writing on the wall, and are aggressively moving into alternatives to imprisonment. In fact, they say, the very same companies that have traditionally lobbied hard for tough-on-crime policies that would assure their facilities a steady flow of warm bodies are now embracing the language of criminal-justice reform as they reach out into what they see as more lucrative markets.
“These companies know what they’re doing,” says Christopher Petrella, a lecturer at Bates College who studies the industry. “They’re agile, they follow market trends, and they know where the growth is.” According to Petrella, two of the biggest companies—GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)—“have really pivoted to diversify their services away from traditional incarceration. They’ve both invested heavily in the past five or six years in prisoner rehabilitation services, mental health centers, residential reentry programs and monitoring technologies for supervised release.” These are all areas that are expected to grow as efforts to reduce the prison population gain traction. Until eight or nine years ago, these companies could have relied on partisan gridlock to maintain the status quo, but as conservatives have come to embrace the issue, their future as jailers has started to look less bright.
“It’s really clear looking at mergers and acquisitions that this is where the big companies like CCA and GEO are headed,” says Caroline Isaacs, program director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Tucson office, and the author of several reports on the industry. “And then there are a whole host of other companies that are sort of popping up to fill in the field.”
To be clear here, I’m all for criminal justice reform. And there are certainly areas where not-for-profit groups should be participating. And that goes for profit-seeking companies as well, as long as they’re properly monitored. Problems with that private industry are legion, so they need to be watched closely.
* You have to dig through this Daily Egyptian story for the meat, but it’s interesting when you take a little time. Just keep in mind that John Pfeifer retired from his Southern Illinoisan job only last month…
Former publisher of the Southern Illinoisan John Pfeifer repeatedly asked SIU administrators to make changes to the Daily Egyptian’s format so he could be included in the public bidding process to print the student-run newspaper. The Southern Illinoisan eventually did get the contract, but only after the state purchasing officer apparently made a miscalculation based on incorrect dimensions. […]
In 2014, a “swat team” of newspaper professionals was organized by then-director of the School of Journalism William Freivogel to provide ideas on what steps should be taken to ensure the existence of the student media source. Through that team, a number of strategies were floated to right the sinking ship, including limiting the number of runs per week, introducing a new student media fee and outsourcing the print operation.
Pfeifer was one of those brought in as a consultant to discuss the future of the Daily Egyptian.
“One of the recommendations that came out of that group was to close the printing press and outsource the printing sooner rather than later,” Pfeifer said Wednesday, adding that much of his two-year tenure with the Southern was spent attempting to secure the contract. […]
In January 2015, Pfeifer sent an email to Dunn expressing disappointment his company was unable to submit a bid. He noted that looking at outsourcing the print in the near future was his suggestion and wondered why he was “shut out” of the process.
“Seven months later, finding out that printing is moving to Cape Girardeau by reading the DE’s Facebook page seems a rather poor way to treat a business neighbor, community partner and stakeholder in the Daily Egyptian’s future,” he wrote. “Assessing all SIU students an additional $9 in fees and then sending that money to Missouri is simply not right.”
Pfeifer said the outsourcing was a “sore spot” for him and he had questioned reasoning by the student newspaper’s former business manager to retain the tall tab format to reach advertisers.
* Related…
* Dan Proft: Who’s political now? An unvarnished look at the Southern Illinoisan editorial board
* Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) used Monday’s bill signing ceremony of a package of criminal justice reforms to issue a challenge to both political parties…
Rauner has long advocated for improving the criminal justice system, and he made an early pledge shortly after taking office that he would work to reduce the state’s prison population by 25 percent over 10 years. The first-term governor found willing allies in that cause, particularly among Chicago Democrats, and it has become one of the few areas where he can tout bipartisan efforts and accomplishments.
But it has also opened up an avenue for attack in districts where voters want a tough-on-crime approach. Take the contest in a House district in Downstate Marion that’s home to a federal penitentiary. An attack ad run by Democratic Rep. John Bradley warns voters that Republican candidate Dave Severin’s “biggest supporter wants to let 25 percent of the state’s prisoners loose into our communities.”
Cassidy chided her fellow Democrats for trying to use Rauner’s criminal justice efforts as a “political weapon.”
“Until we come to a place where a legislator or a governor doesn’t have to make a decision whether the hit that’s going to come from signing or voting on a bill is too great a risk to take…we won’t get to that just criminal justice system,” Cassidy said. “My party is running ads. I’m sure that the Republicans will be running ads this year. And I dare everybody to stop.”
All of the new laws passed with bipartisan support. That’s tricky business these days, when Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on whether the sun is out.
But there’s a lot of unfinished business on the criminal justice agenda. So hear, hear for Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, who urged her fellow lawmakers — Rep. Bradley, are you listening? — not to poison the bipartisan effort during their campaigns.
“My party is running ads,” she said. “I’m sure that the Republicans will be running ads this year. And I dare everybody to stop.”
We double-dare them.
Working together, Democrats and Republicans produced a batch of laws that will save taxpayers money, make communities safer and help offenders turn their lives around. There’s some momentum going now. Don’t blow it.
She’s absolutely correct. And she’s going to be completely ignored. Because it’s always campaign season in Illinois, and the people who run the parties have no concern greater than growing their own influence.
They’re right, of course. The hope is that this doesn’t spill over into the legislative arena.
Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL) is working to ensure his administration can keep suing inmates to recoup the cost of their stays in jail.
After the Chicago Tribune brought some abusive room-and-board lawsuits to light last fall, state lawmakers hashed out a tense compromise over legislation to shield inmates. But on Friday, Rauner sent the bill back to the legislature. […]
Rauner’s increasing interest in going after inmates in court in the past two years has sometimes seemed vengeful.
One inmate he sued had just won a $50,000 legal settlement from the agency over inadequate medical care claims. The state sued him for $175,000 “even though the department already had agreed in writing not to try to claw back the settlement money,” the Tribune wrote in November.
Think Progress bills itself as “a news site dedicated to providing our readers with rigorous reporting and analysis from a progressive perspective.”
But that “rigorous reporting” apparently doesn’t include checking to see if the Illinois attorney general is part of the governor’s administration. She’s elected on her own. And she, not Rauner, is the one who decides whether to file the lawsuits.
While it’s no secret Gonzales was backed by Republicans and supporters of Rauner — Madigan’s biggest political foe — is it true his campaign was funded with more than $1 million from them?
Indeed, Gonzales’ campaign received big donations from people who also gave to Rauner’s campaign fund, but the speaker implies that every donation came from individuals and groups aligned with the governor. In fact, a few of Gonzales’ top donors have also contributed to Democrats and one of his top five donors contributed to Gonzales and no one else.
Where do they get “every donation” came from Rauner opponents?
He said the campaign was funded with more than a million bucks from Rauner allies. Was it? They didn’t actually do that math.
Further, Madigan’s “more than $1 million” includes spending by the Illinois United for Change super PAC, despite the fact that super PAC money cannot be given directly to a candidate’s campaign nor can it be coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.
So, they exclude Blair Hull’s Super PAC money, even though it was most of the money spent (almost a million dollars) during that campaign? How do you wish all that cash away?
Thursday, Aug 25, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The State Journal-Register Editorial Board endorsed Independent Map Amendment last week. Here’s what they had to say:
“Hopefully, the Supreme Court will side with the more than half million citizens who signed the petition asking simply that they be given the chance to vote on this idea.
“They’ve had enough.
“Let’s hope the Supreme Court will give them the chance in November to weigh in on how their government works for them, not for those already in office.”
“Maintaining the status quo allows Springfield’s power brokers to manipulate legislative boundaries, which are redrawn every 10 years. Letting politicians do that handiwork allows them to shape districts to influence the outcome of an election. Split up pockets of Republicans, for example. Draw districts to protect incumbents. The system is so rigged that, of this year’s legislative races, nearly two-thirds aren’t even contested.
“That brings us to the Illinois Supreme Court, the last hope for voters to finally get a chance to decide for themselves whether to amend their own constitution.”
Republican Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger and Democratic challenger Susana Mendoza are scheduled to face off for the first time Thursday during an afternoon appearance before the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board.
The race for the normally low-profile office that oversees the state’s checkbook has morphed into a key proxy battle between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who appointed Munger, and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Mendoza mentor. […]
Also scheduled to appear are Green Party candidate Tim Curtin, of Hillside, and Libertarian candidate Claire Ball, of Addison.
* As subcribers already know, Republican House candidate Jerry Long is being blasted in a new Democratic Party of Illinois campaign mailer for renting to a sex offender…
Long rents out a house to a 32-year-old man who was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. According to the state’s sex offender database, the man is listed as a sexual predator who committed his crime against a 13-year-old when he was 24.
The house is next door to Long’s on Carr Street in South Streator. […]
In a telephone interview, Long said he was “dumbfounded” by the mailer. He said he and his wife conduct a “standard check” on all tenants but wouldn’t say how the sex offender in question fell through the cracks.
He noted the piece was funded by the state Democratic Party, which is chaired by Speaker Madigan.
“This is clearly Andy Skoog and Michael Madigan trying to distract from their disastrous record,” Long said. “I feel they are desperate.”
Fair Economy Illinois wants lawmakers to take up their “People and Planet First Budget” plan, which seeks to raise $23 billion in annual state revenue by enacting a graduated income tax, closing various corporate tax loopholes and passing a LaSalle Street tax on financial transactions.
Activists say the revenue could be invested in education, health care, infrastructure, human services, public pensions and green energy development
Jason Gonzales, who lost to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in the primary election, was at the protest.
In an interview with Progress Illinois, Gonzales blasted Madigan for “participating in the ability for companies like Exelon and others to dodge their tax responsibility.”
“I believe Exelon and others need to pay their fair share,” Gonzales said.
Asked whether he has any plans to run again, Gonzales said: “I haven’t really decided yet. Honestly, I’m still mulling my political future, but I’m not leaving politics.”
Exelon pays our fair share of taxes to the state, and suggestions to the contrary are simply false. Including ComEd, Exelon has more than 12,000 employees in Illinois and is the ninth largest company in the state. We rank among the state’s largest taxpayers, paying $456 million in state and local taxes in 2015. Exelon has made its headquarters in Chicago since its founding and is a major economic engine for the state, investing billions of dollars annually to ensure the Illinois economy is powered by clean, reliable energy. These investments, along with our significant contributions to nonprofit institutions across the state, support thousands of additional jobs in Illinois. Being a good corporate citizen is among our core values, and that includes paying our fair share of taxes to support schools, government agencies and other services that benefit our customers and communities.
Regarding ComEd specifically, today’s protestors misunderstand the impact of tax policies to utility customers. Thanks to the regulated process by which rates in Illinois are set each year, it is ComEd’s customers who benefit from tax decreases, not ComEd. ComEd’s tax decreases are reflected in customer bills.
* The two US Senate candidates are speaking to the Illinois Farm Bureau today. Tammy Duckworth has already spoken and an IFB official announced there’d be a brief break.
“We tried to design this so that the candidates do not have an opportunity to to be seen together,” the official told the audience - with a straight face - after about 15 minutes.
Sheesh.
“So,” he continued, “Representative Duckworth is gone and Sen. Kirk will be here in about five minutes.” Attendees were then asked to take their seats.
* Earlier this week, there was some doubt that BlueRoomStream.com would even be allowed to video the event, let alone livestream it. The company was told they’d be able to cover the post-event Q&A’s, if any, but that was it. By late yesterday, they were given the go-head to livestream and you can watch by clicking here.
Both sides deny that they tried to suppress media coverage.
* Background for this post is here. From Council 31…
The Illinois Department of Corrections’ attempt to lay the blame on injured employees for the August 21 outbreak of inmate violence at Pontiac Correctional Center is shameful and baseless, according to the union that represents employees at the maximum-security correctional facility.
“The department’s assertion that the employees involved in the incident failed to ‘follow workplace safety procedures’ was made without a shred of evidence before any investigation had been undertaken,” said Eddie Caumiant, Regional Director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31. “In fact, the employees’ actions that day were in compliance with departmental procedures.”
When AFSCME representatives met with management staff at the Pontiac facility on August 23 to review the details of the assault that occurred two days earlier, facility management did not provide any indication whatsoever that employees failed to follow IDOC procedures, Caumiant said.
“It seems all too clear that the IDOC statement laying blame on employees was nothing more than the department’s top brass trying to evade responsibility for the ongoing problems at Pontiac Correctional Center,” Caumiant said. “The IDOC director should immediately and personally apologize to each of the employees who were injured in the assault for besmirching their records.”
According to the union, three female employees (one lieutenant and two correctional officers) and three male workers (including one lieutenant) were assaulted by the prisoners.
* Gov. Rauner was asked today if he would campaign with Sen. Mark Kirk. His response…
Well, I’m really not focused heavily on any kind of electioneering right now.
I’m focused on making sure Illinois is strong and advocating for reforms for the state, term limits, fair maps, pension reform. Education funding reform, we’ve formed a task force and a commission, we’re trying to change that. And we also need property tax reform. Our property taxes are killing our homeowners and our businesses.
So, that’s where I’m spending all my time.
He then went on to say he’s a fan of Sen. Kirk. But, he said, “In terms of electioneering, I’m really not focused on that.”
This from the same guy who has dumped millions of dollars and his own staff into legislative contests, is airing a mega-bucks campaign-style ad pushing an online term limits petition designed to bump up his own poll numbers and dumped millions more into Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC. If that’s doing nothing, then it would be fascinating to see what “completely involved” looked like.
*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a commenter, this is from June 11th…
Returning to the Capitol last week after making a dozen campaign-style stops across Illinois beginning the day after the Democratic-controlled legislature failed to approve a state budget on time, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner offered an assessment: “We’re in election mode now.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has for years not so subtly laid the blame for many of Chicago’s problems at the doorstep of his predecessor, Richard M. Daley.
But five years out of office, Daley may be tiring of Rahm’s shtick.
Twice on Tuesday, Daley’s longtime spokeswoman Jackie Heard interjected to prevent the former mayor as he appeared to be on the verge of laying into Emanuel, whom he has always been careful not to criticize.
Which of the following do you think is most responsible for Chicago’s budget problems?
Past mayors and city councils for making promises we couldn’t afford 37%
Springfield and Bruce Rauner for the state’s budget mess that is hurting Chicago 21%
Washington, DC and Republicans in Congress for cutting programs and funds for large cities like Chicago 10%
Pensions and benefits for city workers that are far too high 12%
The current mayor and city council for not fixing the problem 12%
[VOL] Don’t know/Refused 8%
And considering that “past mayors and city councils” also created the pension mess, you’re looking at nearly half of the blame falling on Daley, et al, while just 12 percent blame Emanuel.
When it comes to managing budget priorities for Chicagoans, who do you trust more– Rahm Emanuel or Bruce Rauner?
Rahm Emanuel 51%
Bruce Rauner 23%
[VOL] Both 1%
[VOL] Neither 23%
[VOL] Don’t Know 3%
23 percent is slightly more support than Rauner received in the 2014 election, so he’s not doing as badly in Chicago compared to Emanuel as some might’ve thought, considering all the bad press. Then again, Emanuel ain’t so popular, either.
* The poll itself was ostensibly designed to test the theory propagated by the Chicago media that a “tax revolt” is brewing in the city. From the pollster…
• Voters do not blame the current Mayor and city council for the city’s budget problem. Only 12% of voters say the budget problems are the current government’s fault, compared to 37% who blame past mayors and city councils. Springfield and Bruce Rauner (21%) also earn a higher share of the blame.
• Taxes are not a top of mind issue. Voters are more concerned about education (35%) as well as crime and police issues (34%) than they are about taxes (15%). Even the tiny 14% of Chicago voters who identify as Republicans list taxes as their #3 issue.
• Voters are willing to pay higher taxes for more services. Voters would rather pay higher taxes for more services (29%) than lower taxes for fewer services (20%), though a plurality would prefer the current level of both (44%). A majority are also willing to pay more in taxes for the following specific services:
More police officers on foot and vehicle patrol 66% [willing] / 32% [unwilling]
More funding for school construction, teachers, and science and technology improvements 64% / 33%
Free universal Pre-K classes for all four year olds in Chicago 57% / 41%
More neighborhood services like rat abatement, tree trimming, and road paving 56% / 41%
• When forced to specific choices, voters prefer tax increases to cuts in services:
o Twice as many people prefer Chicago “raise taxes like property taxes and other fees” (53%) instead of “cutting services like schools and police officers” (25%) to pay the pensions Chicago promised to city workers.
The following findings are based on a poll of n=600 Chicagoans who voted in at least 1 of the last 3 Mayoral elections (2011 primary, 2015 primary, 2015 runoff) conducted from August 8-11, 2016 via landline and cellphone [46% of respondents]. The expected margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level is +4.0% and higher for subgroups.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth labeled U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk “unhinged” over the Republican’s comparison of President Barack Obama to “drug dealer in chief” for a $400 million payment made to Iran as U.S. hostages were released.
While Kirk has been under fire for a series of verbal gaffes, it was Duckworth’s harsh choice of words that came under question Tuesday. The two-term congresswoman assigned to Kirk a term defined as “mentally deranged.” The first-term senator suffered a major stroke in 2012 and spent a year in rehabilitation.
Asked by reporters if voters should take into consideration any possible aftereffects of her opponent’s stroke, Duckworth backed off.
“That is the furthest thing that people should look at. People should look at the fact that he’s been ineffective as a senator,” she said after a speech to a largely supportive audience of about 300 at the City Club of Chicago.
Kirk’s campaign called Duckworth’s remarks “desperate.”
The criticism, Duckworth said, was not a reference to Kirk’s capabilities following a debilitating stroke. […]
“If you look at all of the things that he said, I think that he lacks the ability to control what he’s saying. If you look at the numerous gaffes he’s had over the years,” Duckworth said Tuesday after she addressed the City Club of Chicago. “I do think he is unhinged. To call the commander in chief, basically comparing him to a drug dealer? I think that is a significant thing for a state Senator to say. This is a man who called one of his colleagues ‘a bro with no ho.’ It’s not befitting of a United States Senator.”
Duckworth said she wasn’t telling voters they should judge Kirk based on the ill effects of a 2012 stroke, but consider him on his record.
“I think that is the furthest thing that people should look at. People should look at that he’s been ineffective as a senator,” she said. “I’m traveling the state. He’s not even traveling the state.”
I don’t think anyone needs to raise the issue of Kirk’s health or whether he lacks an “ability to control” what he says to question whether that’s what they want from their U.S. senator.
Judge the man by his performance, one important aspect of which is the outlandish stuff that he says.
* The Democratic Party of Illinois, however, focused on the racial angle, releasing statements from several elected officials, including these three legislators…
State Senator Toi Hutchinson: “Mark Kirk may be running away from his party to save his seat, but his characterization of Barack Obama as the ‘drug dealer’ demonstrates that he is embracing Trumps racial strategies to delegitimize an African American president. Here’s my message to Kirk: Stop using racial code words, because you know African Americans can hear you, right? And to us it sounds just like when Newt Gingrich called Obama the ‘Food Stamp President.’ You are coming through loud and clear.”
State Representative Christian Mitchell: “Senator Mark Kirk needs to apologize immediately for his inappropriate and racially-charged comments about President Obama, which offend not only African-Americans, but all Illinoisans. This is, sadly, not the first time Senator Kirk has delivered a racially motivated remark beneath the dignity of his office, including when he said people ‘drive faster through’ black neighborhoods. For those of us - of all races - who live in those neighborhoods, we need a Senator who fights for our community, rather than insulting it.”
State Representative Marcus C. Evans Jr: “Republican Mark Kirk should apologize immediately for his degrading and racially-charged remarks calling President Obama ‘the drug dealer in chief.’ It’s disgusting that a United States Senator would stoop this low but given Kirk’s history of making offensive comments about women and communities of color, I’m hardly surprised.”
Kirk stated that he does not feel a need to apologize for his statement towards President Obama and feels his recent actions are “distasteful”.
*** UPDATE *** The White House press secretary was asked about this today…
Chicago Tribune’s Katherine Skiba: Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois recently said that President Obama was acting like the drug dealer in chief with the respect of the payment of $400 million to Iran. Is the President aware of that statement and does the White House have a response?
WH Press Secretary Josh Earnest: “Well listen, this is not the first time that we’ve heard that kind of rhetoric from Senator Kirk, and I don’t think that kind of rhetoric is consistent with the views of most people in Illinois about the efforts of President Obama to advance our interests around the world and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“And so, I know there’s a temptation, particularly for those politicians that are on the ballot to say outrageous things to try to get attention, but that’s certainly no way to run a country and it’s certainly no way to confront issues that are as important as preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, securing the safe return of U.S. Americans that are detained unjustly overseas and settling a 35-year-old financial dispute with an adversary of the United States in a way that saves taxpayers potentially billions of dollars.”
Traffickers who take advantage of looser laws in neighboring states to illegally import guns to Illinois will face tougher penalties if caught under a measure Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law Tuesday.
The new law, which passed both chambers of the General Assembly without opposition, makes it a felony for a person who has not been issued a state firearm owner’s identification card to bring guns into Illinois with the intent to sell or deliver them. Penalties will be stricter for those who’ve previously been convicted on gun trafficking-related charges.
On hand to celebrate Rauner’s approval of the bill were Republican legislative leaders and representatives from the Illinois State Police. Notably, no Democratic lawmakers or Chicago Police Department officials attended the signing ceremony — an indication of the touchy political situation between Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The mayor has been pushing for legislation that would toughen penalties for illegal use of a weapon — an idea he raises regularly when discussing Chicago’s persistent violent crime problem. But the idea has gone nowhere in the General Assembly, stalled in part by Illinois’ different geographic views on guns, and Rauner on Tuesday said the mayor hadn’t called him on it.
The mayor hasn’t called the governor about it? Hmm.
Emanuel didn’t attend the governor’s bill signing ceremony at the Illinois State Police crime lab in Chicago. Neither did Chicago Police officials. Afterwards, the mayor issued a statement that made it clear why he was a no-show. He called it a “step in the right direction” to go after “those who knowingly bring guns into Illinois illegally.”
But he said, “We must continue to build upon this new law” by partnering with Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) and other legislators “to strengthen sentencing for the repeat gun offenders who are driving violence on our streets.”
Raoul and two other Chicago members of the black legislative caucus, Sens. Jacqueline Collins and Mattie Hunter, are sponsoring a new gun-possession bill — along with Sens. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago), assistant majority leader.
The bill would target repeat gun offenders, creating sentencing guidelines that would suggest a stiffer prison term than the minimum sentence for crimes such as possession of a gun by a felon. If a judge chose to reject the guideline sentence and give a lesser prison term, the judge would have to say why in writing.
It’s a different approach than creating higher mandatory minimum sentences for gun offenses. Emanuel has pushed the concept for years, but it has repeatedly run into a wall in Springfield.
Creates the Location-based Video Game Protection Act. Provides that within 2 business days of receiving a request from the real property owner, manager, or custodian, the developer of a location-based video game shall remove from its location-based video game an ecologically sensitive site or location, historically significant site or location, site or location on private property, or site or location otherwise deemed as dangerous by the real property owner, manager, or custodian. Requires the developer of a location-based video game to provide an easily accessible procedure for removal of ecologically sensitive sites or locations, historically significant sites or locations, sites or locations on private property, or sites or locations otherwise deemed as dangerous by the real property owner, manager, or custodian from its location-based video game. Allows for civil enforcement of the Act by a real property owner, manager, or custodian, and a civil fine of up to $100 for each day a developer of a location-based video game is in violation of the Act. Defines terms.
* A press release explains…
Pokémon Go and other augmented reality games are rapidly increasing in popularity, but this new technology comes with a few glitches. At the Loyola Dunes Restoration Site in Rogers Park, Chicago, a PokéStop has been placed on a state and federally protected site, enticing players to leave the designated path and inadvertently trample sensitive habitat and bird nesting grounds. Despite many receiving many requests for the site to be removed - including one from the Chicago Park District - the game’s developer has yet to move the Pokéstop.
In response, State Representative Kelly Cassidy has proposed HB660, or “Pidgey’s Law”, which would fine developers each day they fail to remove a requested site from augmented reality games.
I was all set to make fun of this legislation, but Jen Walling of the Illinois Environmental Council and Jack Darin of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club will also be in attendance, so this bill apparently isn’t about a cheap press pop. Also, if you read Rep. Cassidy’s Facebook post, you’ll see others are also upset about players trampling on the dunes.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Cassidy just told me that “hundreds” of players congregate late at night in the dunes area. During the day, it’s less, but still significant as this pic shows…
* Subscribers know more about a planned vote later this week by the Teachers’ Retirement System to potentially lower its assumed investment return rate, which could blow yet another big hole in the state budget…
“If the (TRS) board were to approve a lower assumed rate of return taxpayers will be automatically and immediately on the hook for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in higher taxes or reduced services,” Michael Mahoney, Rauner’s senior advisor for revenue and pensions, wrote to the governor’s chief of staff, Richard Goldberg.
When TRS lowered the investment return rate to 7.5 percent from 8 percent in 2014 the state’s pension payment increased by more than $200 million, according to the memo. […]
One of Rauner’s top Republican legislative allies, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, urged the TRS board to delay a vote Friday to give the public time to weigh in on its possible actions.
“This issue is important enough at the very least to put the TRS board on notice we don’t want them taking any action that could cost taxpayers $200 to $300 million without appropriate scrutiny,” she said.
