A former member of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s cabinet appears to have taken a more aggressive role than previously known in safeguarding the state job of a campaign volunteer tied to the “rape in Champaign” email scandal, newly obtained records show. […]
On Aug. 1, 2012, one day after McClain’s email, Randy Wells, former deputy chief of staff and legislative affairs director for the state Department of Human Services, notified former Quinn aide Gary Hannig and another DHS official about an unspecified “human resource issue with Senator Sullivan.”
Wells said pending action by the agency would result in “an extremely negative reaction” from Sullivan. Ashby, an employee of DHS, was not singled out by name in the Wells email, but it appears to relate directly to Ashby’s disciplinary case, a source familiar with the document told WBEZ.
“Senator Sullivan has already told me he is going to Gary and the Governor about this issue if we take action,” Wells wrote in the document. […]
In a brief, text exchange Friday, Sullivan acknowledged the newly released Wells email likely alluded to Ashby’s disciplinary action but did not confirm he had been prepared to respond with an “extremely negative reaction” if the Quinn administration took action against Ashby.
“It sounds like McClain hyperbole to me,” Sullivan wrote in a text message.
* I was able to reach Randy Wells by phone. Here’s part of what he told me…
What I’ve read in the email, without seeing it, reflects the standard operating procedure that I always used at DHS. If a member of the General Assembly contacted me and I knew that they were frustrated and getting irritated with a situation, I immediately would shove that up the food chain to the governor’s legislative staff. And the reason being, is because I didn’t want the governor’s office blindsided by a member of the General Assembly saying ‘Hey, I made Randy aware of something and he didn’t bother to tell you about it?’
Seems reasonable. But, Wells said he has no memory of this particular situation with Ashby over seven years ago and doesn’t think he did know back then.
Sullivan seemed to tell WBEZ that perhaps McClain got to Wells and told him Sullivan was really angry. Wells said he “can’t recall who contacted me about it,” adding, “I don’t remember McClain contacting me about this one, but I don’t know.”
Former state Rep. Luis Arroyo appears to be preparing to plead guilty in his federal corruption case, a new court record indicates.
Federal prosecutors filed a charging document Friday known as an information against Arroyo that repeated allegations first made against him in October. The filing is significant because an information typically means a defendant plans to plead guilty.
If Arroyo does enter such a plea, it would be the first conviction secured against an elected official as a result of the feds’ multiple public corruption investigations that became known with the November 2018 raid of Ald. Edward M. Burke’s office.
…Adding… Meisner concurs…
///BREAKING/// Federal prosecutors just filed a criminal information in ex-state Rep. Luis Arroyo’s bribery case — a clear sign he’s planning to plead guilty. This is a big development in a case involving the shady world of “sweepstakes” gaming and a state senator wearing a wire.
* Dan Proft has shut down his two campaign committees, Liberty Principles PAC and Proft for Governor. He hasn’t raised money lately, so this wasn’t unexpected.
Liberty Principles PAC raised over $25 million since 2012. Much of that money came from the super-wealthy Richard Uihlein, but Uihlein stopped contributing a while ago. Proft ran for governor in 2010, losing the GOP primary, but he kept his PAC open and ended up raising almost $1.3 million.
Proft didn’t win a large number of contests, but he did help create what we now know as the Eastern Bloc. And the millions he spent on GOP primary races unnerved lots of Republican incumbents in this state, particularly in the House. It’s one reason so many House Republicans who voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of the tax hike chose not to stand for reelection the following year.
I reached out to Proft to ask if he plans to open any new campaign accounts. I’ll let you know what he says, but last month he signed on to do a nightly show for the Salem Radio Network, which serves 2,000 radio stations across the country. He replaced Joe Walsh, who is running for president… sorta.
* Proft went out with a twist. Liberty Principles PAC filed what turned out to be its final quarterly report this week showing it with a balance of $0. It reported an in-kind $1,007 contribution for “legal expenses” from the Illinois Opportunity Project and an odd expenditure of $38,847.89 for “Corrective Accounting/Journal Entry.”
Proft’s personal campaign committee also filed its final quarterly report this week showing a $0 balance, a $412.50 payment for legal fees and $3,353.11 listed under “Other Receipts” for “Corrective/Journal Entry.”
Our firm represents Liberty Principles PAC, Committee ID Number 24614, in connection with the above-referenced matters. Please be advised as follows:
The Committee’s Quarterly D-2 report filed electronically on January 13, 2020 for the quarter ending December 31, 2019 is the committee’s final report. This report contains a corrective accounting journal expenditure entry in the amount of $38,847.89 to account for the difference in available balance that would have otherwise shown on the committee’s D-2 Quarterly report and actual $0.00 cash balance in Committee’s bank accounts at end of quarter. The Committee is unable to account for the difference in the reported available balance and the actual cash balance even after an exhaustive internal audit through the end of 2018 that resulted in the committee’s filing of Amended D-2 Quarterly Reports from 2016Q1 to 2018Q3.
Please accept this 2019Q4 D-2 Quarterly Report as the committee’s final report. Do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions, concerns, or require any further action relating to these issues.
Our firm represents Proft for Governor, Committee ID Number 22072, in connection with the above-referenced matters. Please be advised as follows:
The Committee’s Quarterly D-2 report filed electronically on January 13, 2020 for the quarter ending December 31, 2019 is the committee’s final report, This report contains a corrective accounting/journal receipt in the amount of $3,353.11 to account for the difference in negative balance that would have otherwise shown on the committee’s D-2 Quarterly report and actual $0.00 cash balance in Committe&s bank accounts at end of quarter. The Committee is unable to account for the difference in the reported available balance and the actual cash balance even after a review of its available banking records. The $3,353.11 reported as a ‘4Corrective/Journal Entry” other receipt on December 31, 2019 is not an actual contribution nor receipt of anything else of value.
Please accept this 2019Q4 D-2 Quarterly Report as the committee’s final report. Do not hesitate to contact inc should you have any questions, concerns, or require any flrther action relating to these issues.
…Adding… The irony of the missing money is pretty rich when you consider this history…
The Feb. 7-13 edition of the weekly McHenry Times devoted much of its ink to Mautino, a Spring Valley Democrat who became the state’s auditor general Jan. 1. Its lead story was titled, “Scandal brewing over Illinois auditor general’s dubious campaign expenditures.”
The Liberty Principles PAC hired a company, Chicago-based Newsinator LLC, to produce the products. The PAC paid Newsinator $85,000 in February, according to a report filed with the state Board of Elections.
Andrew McKenna, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party from 2005 to 2009, is listed as the agent for Newsinator, according to the secretary of state’s business database.
[Federal agents’ seized a whopping $60,000 in cash from [Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci’s] west suburban home late last year, the [federal] document shows, though it does not indicate whether he’s being eyed as part of the same political corruption investigation that’s been rocking local governments.
Ragucci couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday, but in November he was asked by the Chicago Sun-Times whether he or his community has drawn scrutiny from federal agents because of the town’s use of the company SafeSpeed to operate red-light cameras.
SafeSpeed is a focus of the ongoing federal investigation, with agents looking into whether company representatives landed deals through payoffs. The company was the subject of a 2017 Chicago Tribune story about the controversial push to install SafeSpeed cameras in the town, and the questionable efforts of then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval to go to bat for the firm.
“That was all done legit,” Ragucci told the Sun-Times of the SafeSpeed contract. “We did everything legit and clean here.”
Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci recently paid $30,000 from his campaign fund to a lawyer representing him amid an ongoing federal corruption probe, according to campaign finance records and sources. […]
On Tuesday evening, Ragucci was a no-show at the monthly City Council meeting that he typically presides over. A clerk told a Tribune reporter that the mayor had been at City Hall earlier in the day but was not feeling well. […]
There are indications, however, that Ragucci is not planning on running again. Earlier this month, he filed an amendment changing his campaign committee’s status from a candidate-supporting fund to an “independent expenditure committee,” according to state election records.
The amended committee now states its purpose as simply to “Promote Good Government,” according to the filing.
* Former Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), whose Statehouse office was raided by the feds last year, this week reported receiving a large campaign contribution refund from the Senate Democratic Victory Fund, which is chaired by retiring Senate President John Cullerton…
I asked SDVF’s political director if this was part of some deal to convince Sandoval to resign. I was told “No.” The check was written on January 13th.
Why wasn’t the money donated to charity or something? I was told the decision was made by Senate President Cullerton, who has not yet responded.
The SDVF ended the fourth quarter with $840K in the bank and a whopping $625K in debt. That $60K refund could’ve also been used to pay off some of that debt before he left office.
I’ll let you know if Cullerton responds.
…Adding… According to a State Board of Elections website search, Sandoval has contributed $84,200 to SDVF since 2011. So, this refund represented 71 percent of the money Sandoval gave.
Governor JB Pritzker today signed the License to Work Act, which eliminates driver’s license suspensions for most non-moving violations and allows tens of thousands of Illinoisans whose licenses were canceled, suspended or revoked to have their driving privileges reinstated.
“With this bipartisan legislation, Illinois now recognizes the fact that suspending licenses for having too many unpaid tickets, fines, and fees doesn’t necessarily make a person pay the bill — but it does mean that people don’t have a way to pay,” said Governor JB Pritzker, who also has called for reform for the past several years. “We, as a state, have a vested interest in making sure all our residents who need their licenses to apply to a job or an apprenticeship program, or who already use their licenses to drive to work, to the grocery store, or to the doctor, don’t lose those opportunities because of a practice that reinforces cycles of instability.”
More than 50,000 Illinois licenses are suspended each year because drivers cannot afford to pay tickets, fines, and fees. Suspended licenses hinder an individuals’ ability to maintain employment and pay off fines and fees, keeping people trapped in a cycle of debt and unemployment.
“For years, Illinois has held driver’s licenses hostage when people couldn’t pay excessive parking and vehicle tickets. That drives people into poverty and keeps them out of work. Using license suspension for debt collection is cruel, counterproductive, and frankly embarrassing,” said Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago). “I am proud to stand with my colleagues, community leaders, and partners and say; this practice ends today. No more will Illinois take driver’s licenses away and turn lives upside down because of parking and vehicle compliance ticket debts. This is an important victory in the fight to end policing for profit and stop funding government through tickets, fines, and fees - especially on the people least able to afford them.”
“The License to Work Act was truly a labor of love. This piece of legislation has taken over two years to introduce and pass and I am honored to have championed it. This new law doesn’t just restore drivers licenses to tens of thousands of Illinois residents, it restores dignity, equity, and quality of life. It eliminates driver’s license suspension as a penalty for most non-driving violations,” said Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Champaign). “I am grateful that Gov. JB Pritzker understands that when we take basic life necessities away from people, we perpetuate a downward spiral of financial despair. This legislation was designed to ensure that over 50,000 licenses are restored, jobs are restored, economic growth is restored, community is restored. Today, that downward spiral of financial despair ends, and we starting building up.”
“For far too long, thousands of residents in Chicago and around the state every year have had the experience of having their driver’s license taken away — in turn putting them at risk of losing their car, their job, or worse, and often inflicting the most harm on our Black and Brown communities,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “Today we applaud Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly for taking a giant step forward for Illinois and its communities by signing SB 1786 into law today to prevent driver’s license suspensions for minor offenses. We know that suspending driver’s licenses has a severely detrimental impact, with one study showing that 42% of those who had their licenses suspended lost their jobs. The City of Chicago was proud to take the step of halting driver’s license suspensions for non-driving violations last year, and we’re elated that not only will driver’s licenses now be reinstated, these new policies will also be true throughout the state.”
“Over 50,000 Illinoisans have suspended licenses because they simply can’t afford to pay tickets or fines,” said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R- Burr Ridge). “This bill stops a practice that doesn’t fit the times and is the right thing to do.”
Gov. Pritzker just announced he has asked the University of Illinois’ board to expand free tuition for low income families: “More than half of the households in this state will qualify for free tuition.” #twill
Pritzker: “I believe that they will be able to implement it by the end of this month…people who are applying for the new school year, in the fall, will be able to access that 10% increase.”
For the first time in six years, tuition will be going up for in-state students attending University of Illinois schools.
Trustees on Thursday unanimously approved a proposal that will raise base tuition for Illinoisans by 1.8% at the campuses at Urbana-Champaign and Chicago, and by 1% in Springfield.
That means tuition for Illinois freshmen in fall 2020 will be $12,254 at Urbana-Champaign, $10,776 at Chicago and $9,502.50 at Springfield. […]
The tuition hikes do not affect currently enrolled students — only the next incoming class. Illinois’ Truth in Tuition law guarantees that the price students pay in their first year of college essentially is locked in for four years.
…Adding… I asked the governor’s office if this included any state revenue to fund it and was told this…
The current bipartisan balanced budget included increased funding for higher education and the Governor remains committed to investing in education in future budgets.
Meanwhile, [Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady] said he also plans to spend the next 10 months making the case against the graduated or progressive income tax proposal that will be on the ballot in November. […]
Brady said he’s worried that abandoning Illinois’ flat income tax will prompt more high-end earners and middle-income families to leave the state.
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker supports the graduated income tax and made it a central part of his 2018 campaign against then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, winning with 55% of the vote. […]
“I believe the voters will reject—when they’re informed about the risks of this alteration—I believe voters will reject it. The question is, can we overcome the Pritzker money when it comes to messaging the truth about this alteration?” Brady said.
That is indeed a major question.
* Opponents are gonna need to start raising money sometime soon, and I assume they will. I mean, there are plenty of rich people in Illinois who don’t want to pay higher taxes. But, since Brady mentioned it, this is from the Vote No On The Blank Check Amendment committee’s fourth quarter D-2 report…
Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period: $0.00
Total Receipts: $0.00
Subtotal: $0.00
Total Expenditures: $0.00
Funds available at the close of the reporting period: $0.00
* We discussed yesterday how Speaker Madigan’s campaign committee spent over $445,000 on legal fees during the fourth quarter. Here’s Paris Schutz at WTTW…
Madigan isn’t the only public official providing paychecks to Chicago-area attorneys. Campaign disclosures show that McCook Mayor and Democratic Cook County Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski paid $200,000 in legal fees in the last quarter; $100,000 went to the law firm of Blaine & Vanzant, and another $100,000 to Walsh, Fewkes & Sterba. Federal agents raided Tobolski’s home and the village headquarters of McCook on Sept. 26. Tobolski, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, has not commented about the federal probe. His campaign fund is not nearly as robust as Madigan’s: he raised $5,750 in the last quarter and has about $225,744 available.
On the same day Tobolski was targeted, federal agents sacked the home and offices of former state Sen. Martin Sandoval. Sandoval reported paying $90,000 in legal fees in the last quarter and stepped down from the General Assembly amid the federal probe.
Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, 14th Ward, paid nearly $400,000 in legal fees from his campaign account in the last quarter, according to state campaign disclosures. The payments went to high-profile attorneys at two white-collar defense firms – Jenner & Block and Loeb & Loeb, who are defending Burke in a 14-count federal indictment. Burke has nearly $12 million in campaign cash across multiple funds he controls.
Chicago Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th Ward, spent $40,000 in legal fees in the last quarter – paid to the law firm of Clark Hill. Austin reported raised only $700 in the last quarter and has around $30,000 available, according to state filings. Federal agents raided Austin’s ward office last June. Austin has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Former Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) reported reimbursing his spouse Maribel $10,000 on November 11th for legal fees that she paid “with personal funds.” Arroyo was arrested by the feds in late October and his indictment has been postponed until February 20th. He had close to $228K in his campaign account at the end of the year.
Cullerton reported receiving almost $10,000 last quarter from contributors including AFSCME Council 31, ComEd, Comcast and (are you ready?) the Illinois Policy PAC. That’s the campaign arm of the Illinois Policy Institute. It contributed $2,000.
…Adding… I just did something I’ve criticized others for doing and I’m upset at myself. I jumped to a conclusion by looking at contribution dates. As I’ve said many times before, the receive date is when the check is deposited. AFSCME tells me their contribution was actually made in June. Ugh! Sorry! I will listen to myself more often!
The state’s child welfare agency is delaying the rollout of a new Medicaid plan for thousands of youth in its care by at least another two months amid ongoing concerns from advocates about whether it will hinder health care access for foster children.
About 13,000 foster children who were set to be enrolled in a Medicaid managed care plan Feb. 1 will now have until April 1 to get set up for the new system, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services announced Thursday.
DCFS negotiated the new date with the American Civil Liberties Union, which had objected to the implementation next month. Later Thursday, DCFS and the ACLU presented the plan in front of a federal judge presiding over the matter, who lauded the agreement and scheduled another hearing in March to monitor the progress. […]
This is the second time since September that DCFS and the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services are changing the launch date. Despite efforts to shore up the new system since then, the agencies have faced tough questions about the number of participating doctors, communication with foster parents and the quality of health assessments.
Retired federal Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown, who was appointed special master in the B.H. case in 2018, will be checking in with DCFS, HFS and ACLU at least every two weeks, according to the parties’ agreement, and have deadlines for specific benchmarks for the transition. If Brown decides that the parties have not completed their work by March 15, HFS must announce another delay in implementation on March 16.
State officials said Thursday that IlliniCare has already hired more than 200 care coordinators and operations staff to manage the transition.
While the managed care transition will be delayed two more months for foster children, 18,800 former youth in care — including foster children who have been adopted or young adults under age 26 who aged out of the foster care system — will be transitioned into Medicaid managed care on Feb. 1 as scheduled.
ACLU Director of Institutional Reform Heidi Dalenberg told The Daily Line those young adults and the adoptees and their families had a choice between IlliniCare and other medicaid managed care organizations, whereas children currently in foster care do not.
Illinois Democratic senators plan to meet Sunday behind closed doors to select one of the most powerful players in state politics.
And it appears the field has dwindled to two heavyweights: Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, and Assistant Majority Leader Don Harmon, D-Oak Park.
Harmon would be the first suburban Democrat to hold the job this century.
Lightford would become the first woman ever.
“There hasn’t been a woman at all, no matter what nationality,” she said. I think it’s time to have a woman’s perspective.”
Other behind-the-scenes drama has a few Black Caucus members feeling pressured to vote for Lightford. Others worry Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s team is taking sides (The governor says not so). Leadership positions are being offered in exchange for votes. Deals are being brokered. One senator said “tensions are high and claws are out.”
The phrase used most often: “It’s fluid.”
Some senators have stayed on the fence because they don’t want to side with the losing candidate and face possible retribution. A secret ballot is their friend.
That sort of pressure is not unusual in a race like this. It happened the last time the Senate had a contested race for president.
The winning candidate will have no shortage of crises to deal with, from federal investigations of several state senators and lobbyists to serious ethical investigations into the conduct of members and their staffers.
The leadership role also requires a candidate who can fundraise for fellow senators, and in that area Harmon has a decided advantage, having outraised Lightford while also donating far more money to other political candidates.
“Don has more money in his coffers, but that’s because he’s been running for the idea of the presidency for a lot longer than I have,” she said.
“On the political side I think I’m in the best position to protect our caucus and to grow it,” Harmon said. “I’ve demonstrated my ability to help my colleagues with their election and raising the resources we need.”
I will open the blog on Sunday during the caucus meeting and subsequent floor vote (if any).
The reconstituted Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum board of trustees will try again to authenticate a stovepipe hat that could have belonged to the 16th president.
The board also has started the process to appoint a new executive director for the museum, chairman Ray LaHood announced during the board’s first meeting Wednesday.
A subcommittee comprised of three members from the ALPLM board and three from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation will determine how to proceed with the hat.
“My research was prematurely halted in May 2019,” said State Historian Samuel Wheeler. “I want to resume and complete my initial research plan. I look forward to working with the subcommittee.”
