If you’re gonna ban every artist who “glorifies” violence, your gonna ban acts from a whole lot of genres. After all, Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
* We’ve done this before, but I think it’s time we do it again. Do you think both Illinois state fairs should go ahead as planned or should they be canceled? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Low income mothers who rely on a supplemental nutrition program for their children may get less help because of the state budget crisis. The organization that operates the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in Illinois says it will no longer be able to provide crucial services to tens of thousands of women.
At issue: federal money for WIC must pass through Springfield before it can be distributed in Illinois by the Community Economic Development Association (CEDA).
Anna Lopez depends on WIC to help feed her baby daughter, Luna.
“They’re helping me each month. They give me some coupons so I can go and buy some milk, eggs,” Lopez said.
The CEDA office, one of 19 Cook County WIC outlets, will close next week and suspend services to 50,000 low income women and children. The kids include many infants on special diets.
“We are the provider for over 5,000 medically fragile children that require a specialized formula,” Margaret Saunders, CEDA, said.
By law, the state is required to have a fair. But, it remains to be seen how exactly it will all work.
Take the grandstand performers, for example. Traditionally, they are paid on the spot with a check after the curtain comes down on their show.
But, there currently is no appropriation to write those checks for acts like Sammy Hagar, Hank Williams Jr. or Rascal Flatts.
On one hand, the Illinois Department of Agriculture is saying don’t worry about it.
“Grandstand acts will be paid,” spokeswoman Rebecca Clark said in an email.
On the other hand, Clark made it sound like they actually don’t know how this is all going to work.
“Department officials are looking into all options at our disposal in the event a budget agreement is not reached prior to the start of the Illinois State Fair. We are hopeful that Speaker Madigan and the legislature can put aside their differences and come together to hammer out an agreement on the FY16 budget,” Clark added.
* From a letter sent to parents whose children are enrolled at the Rauner Family YMCA’s Teen REACH program…
As you may be aware, the State of Illinois remains without a budget, which means critical funding that the Y relies on has not been decided or disbursed for the fiscal year that began in July. Unfortunately, this limbo has impacted our ability to provide after school programming through Teen REACH, and it is with deep regret and sadness that I am formally notifying you that the Rauner Family YMCA has made the difficult decision to end Teen REACH due to lack of funding to adequately operate the program.
The last day of Teen REACH programming at the Rauner Family Y will be Friday, August 14, 2015. However, the teens’ memberships will remain active until the school year begins in September so they can continue to utilize all that our center has to offer to our members.
We truly appreciate your commitment and trust in the Y, which you have demonstrated by faithfully sending your child to Teen REACH each day. We are dedicated to ensuring the Y continues to be a safe place for our youth. Your teen is invited to apply for our new Pilsen Foodies program⎯a culinary arts apprenticeship funded by After School Matters⎯in the fall and spring. This program will teach youth healthy cooking skills and job readiness. Current Teen REACH participants will be given priority enrollment after they go through a required interview. Three Teen REACH participants in this summer’s session have reported they are having great experiences. Pilsen Foodies will operate three days per week, three hours per day. We will notify you once the application becomes available.
We would also like to share that, through resume development and mock interviews, we were able to assist 90 percent of our Teen REACH participants in obtaining either a summer job or internship. Thankfully, this means the majority of our teens are involved in activities for the rest of the summer.
We will notify you if additional opportunities for your youth become available during the school year. Again, it is with regret that we share this news with you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [redacted].
Sincerely,
Maria León
Youth & Family Program Director
This was just one of three YMCA Teen REACH programs that are being shut down because of a lack of state resources. It is, however, the most newsworthy for obvious reasons.
* The full release is here, but this is pretty solid spin, particularly the highlighted text…
Members of a broad coalition of environmental, business, health, faith and community groups said that the Illinois Clean Jobs Bill (SB1485/HB2607) is the best way for Illinois to comply with the standards called for by President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, the final EPA rule released today that calls for states to reduce carbon pollution from power plants by nearly one-third by 2030.
They urged members of the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner to support the legislation to ensure that Illinois meets the new standards, and can capture new jobs, consumer savings and health benefits.
“The Illinois Clean Jobs bill offers our state the best opportunity to comply with the EPA standard, while also showing that a better environment and a better economy go hand in hand,” said Jen Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council. Walling added that speedy passage of the bill would also make Illinois eligible for incentives available to states that comply quickly.
The Illinois Clean Jobs Bill would meet the clean power goals by increasing the share of energy Illinois generates from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, to 35% by 2030, and boosting energy efficiency goals to 20% by 2025. Walling noted that the recent comments by Exelon on the future of their nuclear plants makes the need to dramatically increase renewable energy production a necessary step to comply with the Clean Power Plan.
Dave Kolata, Executive Director of the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), said that the bill would also save customers $1.6 billion by 2030 according to a study by CUB. That would translate into average household savings of nearly $100 per year.
“By strengthening state efficiency standards, the Clean Jobs bill is the only measure in the General Assembly that allows Illinois to meet the new power plant standards while helping Illinois families save more than $1 billion on their power bills. This is a win-win for Illinois,” Kolata said.
A series of studies have confirmed CUB’s conclusion that clean energy measures, like those contained in the Illinois Clean Jobs Bill, will save customers money. The Union of Concerned Scientists determined that the bill would save customers 23% (or $22 per month) by 2030. In just the past week, a study by Georgia Tech University predicted that the Clean Power Plan would mean savings of 20% for Illinois customers.
Chris Nickell of Springfield-based American Wind Energy Management said that the bill would employ more than 32,000 additional workers than there are today and sustain that level for the next decade, and said that the bill would help Illinois capture wind and solar projects that have been built in states with more aggressive clean energy policies.
“We can no longer delay getting Illinois’ renewable energy policy right,” he said. “We have now fallen behind Oklahoma for installed wind, and every day that passes, rural communities across our state are missing out on tax revenue and farmers are missing out on lease payments. It’s time to make help Illinois compete in this growing field.”
Yes, those Exelon nuke jobs are important, but Exelon wants to completely shut out other alt power industries from any benefits, even though those industries can employ lots more people here.
If Exelon wants to save its plants, it needs to get its collective rear to the bargaining table and end its unilateral corporate blackmail attempt.
A primary race may be shaping up for the Democratic nomination for Illinois’ 12th District House seat now held by U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.
On Monday, Belleville lawyer C.J. Baricevic formally announced his candidacy for the seat, while St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson confirmed that he will be talking with party leaders in Washington, D.C., about a possible run. […]
Watson, 59, said Monday that he loves his job as county sheriff, but wants to hear the DCCC’s pitch anyway.
“It’s such an honor to be asked,” Watson said. “I have to give it some thought.”
Watson said he has spoken with [Former Congressman Jerry Costello], a longtime friend. Costello held the 12th District seat for nearly a quarter of a century before retiring in 2011.
Baricevic is 30 years old. Sheriff Watson, who was appointed to the spot and then ran unopposed, is 59. Costello’s son, state Rep. Jerry Costello, still has kids to put through college.
You don’t need an advanced political science degree to figure out what’s going on here.
* It came as no surprise that Sheriff Watson turned down the DCCC after his meeting…
Rick Watson, the St. Clair County sheriff, announced Thursday morning he won’t seek the Democratic nomination to run for the 12th U.S. House seat, even as a national Democractic party official was critical of another candidate in the race.
But the national Democratic Party, which tried hard to recruit Watson to join the race, is apparently unhappy that Baricevic — the son of John Baricevic, the St. Clair County chief judge and St. Clair County Democratic Party leader — remains in the race.
Brian Smoot, a political consultant who in 2010 served as director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s Independent Expenditure program, questioned Baricevic’s ability to beat Bost in the November general election.
“I just would say that this is not the type of candidate that DCCC would be interested in,” said Smoot, who in the 2008 cycle served as that group’s political director. “I can’t speak for the DCCC. But I can say he doesn’t reach a certain threshold as a credible candidate.” […]
As for Baricevic’s candidacy, Smoot noted that he raised about $85,000 over the last four months.
“Not good,” Smoot said. “It’s an interesting question. What’s a credible amount? But I can tell you that $85,000 is definitely not credible.”
Smoot probably wouldn’t have stepped up to the mic without prompting from his former employer.
But keep in mind that the DCCC went along with Costello’s choice of Bill Enyart, who turned out to be a guy who eschewed the district work necessary to hold on in an off-year, and ended up losing that seat - which the party has held since World War II - to Mike Bost.
And now they want yet another older white male?
Please.
I know very little about Baricevic and have no idea if he’d be a good candidate, but he does have significant support in the all-important St. Clair County and from two of the deep southern Illinois Democratic legislators. The DCCC had better either find a good candidate who won’t just be a lackadaisical placeholder, or reconsider its bizarre attacks on the only guy who has actually been working the district.
The national party is getting played here.
…Adding… Former Congressman Costello just called to clarify that he wasn’t the original backer of Bill Enyart. That’s true. My bad.
He also said that he fully expects Baricevic will receive the St. Clair County Democratic endorsement.
United Way of Illinois, the statewide association of 52 local United Ways, and collectively the largest non-governmental funder of health and human services in the state, surveyed human service agencies across Illinois to understand the steps they are taking to deliver services in light of the state budget impasse.
More than 400 human service agencies across every county in Illinois responded to a survey conducted July 13-17. Survey respondents represented a range of service categories including youth development, early childhood education, mental health, emergency housing, senior services and employment training, and varied in budget size from less than $500,000 to more than $15 million.
Key findings from the survey include:
o 34% of Illinois human service agencies have already cut the number of clients they serve
o Program categories hit particularly hard include childhood education and job training
o 39% of agencies responding have tapped into cash reserves to continue operations
o Of those agencies using cash reserves 70% have 3 months of cash on hand or less
o 24% of agencies have tapped into lines of credit to shore up operations
o 19% of agencies will deplete their cash reserve by the end of August
“Human service organizations are the backbone of the delivery of state programs to needy citizens,” said Kristi Long, Chairman of United Way of Illinois. “Our leaders in Springfield and the citizens of Illinois need to understand that the ongoing budget impasse is causing genuine disruption and hardship for people in Illinois who need services and for the agencies that deliver them.”
Among the other measures human service agencies reported taking to maintain operations during the stalemate are increasing their waiting lists for services, referring clients to other agencies where possible, not filling vacant positions and laying off staff. Several agencies reported the need for more drastic action in the near term, including the Prairie Council on Aging. Based in Jacksonville and serving 3,000 people across five counties, the agency reported that it would exhaust its reserves by September and face dire choices without some resolution to the state budget situation.
“If the delays continue, thousands of mentally ill clients will be without psychiatric support, including medications,” said Rashad Saafir, President of the Bobby E. Wright Comprehensive Behavior Health Center in Garfield Park. “The result is client suffering, disruption to families, and increases in the use of more expensive emergency room and inpatient psychiatric services.”
The overall survey data indicates that government inaction is causing significant challenges for nonprofit agencies that are impacting at-risk populations and working families.
Just as millions of Americans hit the road last month for vacation, even the governor took a quick break from the mess in Springfield.
Although his aides said nothing before he left town and offered no clue about his whereabouts for the weekend, the governor’s office did confirm he spent last weekend visiting one of his college-age children and participating in Parents’ Day activities.
No further details were released.
I think he meant the weekend before this past weekend.
Seven sitting governors, six incumbent senators and two House members — all Republicans — have flown here this weekend for the Koch donor network conference.
There are 450 donors at a seaside resort here, and the network of conservative advocacy groups they fund aims to spend $889 million in advance of the next White House election.
According to the story, Gov. Rauner was there as well.
*** UPDATE *** From Mike Schrimpf…
This is not accurate. The governor was in Springfield all weekend.
You can check out his twitter to see what he was doing in the area all weekend:
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, has already said the Senate will vote this week on an override. Presumably, the chamber could succeed. The Senate voted 38-17 to approve the bill. It would take 36 votes to override.
The House is a different story. The vote there was 67-25 in May. It takes 71 votes in the House to override.
But 17 House members, all but two of them Republicans, took a walk. They didn’t vote on the bill. That includes most of the Republicans from the Springfield area, who represent large numbers of state workers. They can always take another walk on an override, but in the meantime, they’ll probably get pressure from constituents to support an override — just as they’re likely to get pressure from Republican leadership to support their governor and vote against it.
Unless something changes, there won’t be enough House votes for an override.
There is doom on the way, and nobody wants to talk about it.
The deadlock over the Illinois budget isn’t hurting bondholders or state employees, but it is about to smash social services providers, which depend on about $3.1 billion a year in state funding. These nonprofits do everything from working with kids on probation and finding foster homes to sheltering the homeless, helping autistic children and running group homes for the mentally ill, troubled teens and the developmentally disabled.
“None of my members have authorized me to release any specific information,” Janet Stover, CEO of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, tells me.
All I was trying to find out was how the state budget impasse was impacting or about to impact thousands of social services groups and providers, but I couldn’t find a straight, simple answer.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, for instance, revealed that it had already closed two shelters and two child development centers and laid off about 40 people. But asked when, specifically, it would get really bad, a spokeswoman only would say they would re-evaluate at the end of the summer.
“There could be a time when we suspend services if the negotiations last months, but we are not at that point yet,” Des Plaines-based Lutheran Social Services of Illinois says in a statement.
All of these nonprofits rely heavily on state funding. So you’d think they would want to get the word out about the coming meltdown.
It turns out, quite a few of these providers are flat-out scared to death about their very existence.
A document issued in June by the Springfield-based rehabilitation association shows us why.
* The Tribune finally comes out in favor of a specific Bruce Rauner proposal, except Rauner himself dumped that idea months ago…
Here’s an option: Entice a foreign automaker to Illinois by making it possible to operate the Normal factory in a local right-to-work zone. Yes, this is the idea that has been pitched by Gov. Bruce Rauner and shunned by Democratic leaders.
Ideology, meet practice: Do those leaders want to secure an empty plant for years to come?
Right-to-work status doesn’t bar union organizing, it does say that workers are not compelled to join or pay dues to a union. Foreign automakers have made it clear that right-to-work status is required for them to make an investment.
Here’s an opportunity. By wooing a foreign nameplate, the state could save the plant and its 1,200 jobs and send a dramatic message that Illinois is open for business.
The global economy knocks down borders, intensifies competition and creates all kinds of surprising bedfellows. Mitsubishi once joined Chrysler in Normal. Let’s do everything possible to get someone to follow in their tire tracks.
If there was any doubt before last week, there’s zero uncertainty now. Gov. Bruce Rauner won’t allow anyone else to interfere with his dominance of the Illinois Republican Party.
When the party was out of power for 12 years, several independent actors were always trying to influence elections from behind the scenes, elbowing people out, putting people in. This is a diverse state, and the party has numerous factions, both economic and social. All of those factions have de facto leaders.
One of those independent actors has been Ron Gidwitz, a moderate, wealthy business executive and one-time gubernatorial candidate with a network that includes lots of his rich friends. He ran the monied wing of the party.
Gidwitz used his and his friends’ money to boost candidates who were to his liking. He backed Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor in 2010, for instance, then switched his allegiance to Bruce Rauner four years later. That move did more to hurt Dillard than it did to help the mainly self-funding Rauner because it totally dried up Dillard’s money, leaving him unable to effectively compete until organized labor finally entered the race on his behalf.
After months of public silence, Gidwitz reemerged last week. Sources say he has been bad-mouthing US Sen. Mark Kirk behind the scenes for quite a while. A recent Michael Sneed item in the Chicago Sun-Times about an anonymous top Republican who wanted Kirk to step down from the Senate was widely pinned on him.
Sen. Kirk has had his problems of late, forced to apologize for, or at least back away from some racially charged and just plain weird remarks. Numerous Republican leaders have privately expressed shock at the bad press he’s generated for himself. Kirk has had to fight off rampant speculation about his future ever since his massive stroke, and his oddball statements during the past few months have kept the rumor mill at a fever pitch.
Kirk also faces the fight of his political career next year, running statewide in a presidential election year when Democratic turnout will very likely be much stronger than during his off-year 2010 victory. National political pundit Larry Sabato’s much-watched “Crystal Ball” publication recently moved Kirk’s race from “Toss-up” to “Leans Democratic.”
So, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when Gidwitz told Greg Hinz at Crain’s Chicago Business last week that Kirk ought to let somebody else run.
“I do not believe he will be a US senator in 2017 and, as top of the ticket, he could cause collateral damage (to other Republican candidates),” Gidwitz told Hinz about Kirk. “I call on him to step aside and allow other Republicans to seek his seat.”
If that reads like a prepared script, it’s because it was. These weren’t off the cuff remarks. It was a carefully planned hit.
Well, perhaps “carefully” is the wrong word here.
If you hadn’t noticed, Gov. Rauner is a bit of a control freak, to say the least, and he has taken full command of the Republican Party’s power and money structure here. “I’m the head of the Republican Party,” the governor firmly declared to WJBC Radio just the other day.
He allows very little to no independence. Republican state legislators may grumble about him in private (boy, do they ever), but they toe the Rauner line when it comes time to vote on the House and Senate floors. Only one legislator, Rep. Raymond Poe (R-Springfield), has ever had the temerity to vote against the governor’s commands – and that only happened once.
The state Republican Party Chairman is a Rauner guy, as is the Cook County Party Chairman.
Much of Gov. Rauner’s top staff came out of Mark Kirk’s Senate office and Kirk’s campaigns. Those high-level staffers still have a strong loyalty to their former boss, and Team Rauner is fully behind the incumbent Senator.
So, not long after Greg Hinz called the Kirk campaign for comment about Gidwitz’s statement, Gidwitz himself got a call. And it wasn’t a very nice one, either.
“He sounded like a beaten man” after the governor’s forceful message was relayed to him, declared one GOP source later that evening.
Soon after, Gidwitz called Hinz to fully retract his comments and endorse Kirk’s reelection.
I should say that I’ve always liked Gidwitz and respected him. But the days of Gidwitz and others successfully acting independently are over.
Gidwitz’s complete backtrack was one of the more humiliating scenes I’ve witnessed in quite a while. Others most surely took notice.
* The House Speaker penned a rare op-ed for the State Journal-Register over the weekend…
Solving the fiscal challenges of Illinois requires a balanced approach.
That is why I pledged to work cooperatively and professionally with Gov. Bruce Rauner. I will keep that pledge and continue working to ensure the governor and the Legislature come together in moderation to help Illinois’ middle class and other struggling families.
In addition to that pledge, I stated that the number one issue facing Illinois was the budget deficit. That has not changed.
In February, Gov. Rauner proposed a budget that was not only billions of dollars out of balance, but also cut the medical care services of the elderly, the disabled and struggling families through Medicaid by $1.5 billion, services for victims of child abuse, and the nursing home care of thousands of frail elderly residents.
But the state cannot rely on cuts alone to solve its $4 billion deficit. Eliminating the budget deficit will take a balanced approach that includes both spending reductions and new revenue.
Legislators did not agree with the governor’s unbalanced approach, so we passed a plan that included hundreds of millions of dollars in spending reductions while protecting middle-class families and others who struggle by increasing funding for schools and preventing damaging cuts to public safety and services for the elderly, children and the developmentally disabled.
In addition to approving hundreds of millions of dollars in spending reductions, House Democrats opposed increasing lawmakers’ pay. In the budget we passed, legislators’ pay was frozen at the same level as last year. However, despite the Legislature’s intentions, when the comptroller made it clear that she planned to provide a pay increase to lawmakers, we took action to make clear that we opposed an increase in lawmakers’ pay.
* A federal judge has already ruled that Cook County hospitals and other providers that treat should receive all their Medicaid reimbursements, so this was expected…
Providers offering Medicaid services to children throughout Illinois will continue to receive funding during the budget impasse, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) announced today.
HFS will be making payments to its providers to ensure children in Illinois have access to necessary healthcare services. The department intends to continue this funding until a new state budget is approved. Details of the decision will be developed and announced soon.
It seems to me that much of what we are seeing is rational behavior (although whether it is responsible is a different question). Both sides prefer to avoid, if possible, owning the tax increase that’s coming. Both sides prefer, if possible, to avoid owning the program cuts that are coming. Certainly the Ds want to avoid owning even the small things that are probably coming that will impair working people. Surely the admin prefers not owning the less moderate of the proposals it has made, at least in the minds of the people (and their supporters) most negatively impacted by them. The governor appears completely sincere in his belief that significant changes need to be made in Illinois’ business environment if economic growth and employment is going to even get back to it’s previous normal levels. And it’s hard to doubt the Ds sincerity in their defense of the pink/blue collar workers of the state (although the benefit to some of their traditional non working class funders is also a given).
If I’m even close to right, then it’s going to be very hard to get people to abandon what they believe to be rational behavior and engage in behavior that seems antithetical to their goals. But that is what a compromise is going to require. Very hard.
* And then an hour and a half later, another Schnorf comment…
Let me suggest another thought. Although we have a few hard left and right wingers posting on here, most of us are pretty moderate. Setting aside whether the governor’s specific proposals are the right ones or not, I suspect that most of us agree with the proposition that it’s pretty important to do some things to improve Illinois economic and employment climate. I believe that our moderate mindset is a part of what makes many on here wince at some of the governor’s proposals.
That’s not how we would do it at all, me included. Build consensus as you go, chip away at the problem as solutions are agreed to, use the agreed bill process, that’s how most of us grew up politically/governmentally, and we still believe in that approach.
I’m not trying to channel the governor here, I’m just trying to kind of intuit what he might be thinking. First, I think he believes the state’s situation is quite serious, more serious than most of us think, and I think that he believes a time consuming solution is inadequate. It would be pretty hard to argue that we’ve made a heck of a lot of progress in the past 10 or 15 years. Two recessions and our state government’s actions and inactions have left us with a lot of unpaid old bills, seriously degraded reputation in the credit markets, too much underemployment. too many people simply giving up and dropping out of the workforce, too much immigration out and too few people moving in, too few state employees in many program areas to do their jobs properly, you name it.
I suspect the Governor came to the conclusion that the gradual moderate approach wouldn’t adequately address our problem; essentially, we lose too much ground and time each year so that gradual solutions are a problem compounder, not a solution. Something pretty significant needs to be done as quickly as possible.
If you believe that, and also believe more drastic solutions are needed than can be accomplished thru the old tried and true approach (an agreed bill process is never going to lead to a dramatic change in one fell swoop) it is probably reasonable to say let’s do it all at once, not drag the pain out over two or three sessions with a lot of hard votes each year: rip the bandage off and fix the problems now.
Again, if I’m even close it’s easier to understand why we are where we are. But I don’t have a clue how we get out of it.
This shows, again, why I believe Steve Schnorf is one of the smartest human beings I’ve ever known.
And if even he can’t figure out how to get out of this mess, we’re in deep trouble, campers.
*** UPDATE *** I just asked Senate President Cullerton’s spokesperson about this passage in the governor’s letter…
President Cullerton publicly expressed this week that he is open to changes in the prevailing wage law.
She said he made those remarks at the Tribune editorial board meeting. “He indicated that he could be open to looking at modest proposals but would rather look at other ways to maximize savings for local communities and school districts,” she said.
OK. So I asked if those “modest proposals” include allowing local governments to eliminate the prevailing wage.
“Nope,” she said.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* The governor just sent a memo to legislators…
To: Members of the General Assembly
From: Bruce Rauner, Governor
Re: Turnaround Agenda – Property Tax Freeze and Local Control Legislation
Date: July 31, 2015
As both legislative chambers prepare to reconvene next week, I want to begin directly communicating with you on our Turnaround Agenda and the state budget.
I know this extra session is frustrating for many of you – it is for me as well. It has already gone on far longer than necessary. As soon as all parties are interested in beginning real negotiations, there is no reason we can’t quickly reach an agreement that will make Illinois more competitive and free up resources inside state government so we can afford to be more compassionate. I am eager to reach an agreement soon on reasonable reforms to turn around the state we all love.
I also know that many of you may be having difficulty receiving full and accurate information about our proposals. I suspect that much of what you have read or heard about our compromise proposals is likely incomplete or lacking critical context. This memo is the first in a series that are meant to clarify our positions and explain directly why our reforms are both reasonable and necessary.
Before addressing the first policy area, I want to reiterate the motivation behind our Turnaround Agenda. I simply want Illinois to be the most competitive and the most compassionate state in the nation. It is not an ideological agenda – I have shown a willingness to embrace policies that run contrary to Republican orthodoxy. Our reforms are aimed at growing our economy so that over the long term we have more money to invest in our schools and social services, and our reforms are meant to free up money inside state government so that we can give the most vulnerable among us a hand up. I know it sounds trite, but I love Illinois and her people. They are the motivation behind our agenda.
One issue where the people of Illinois demand reform is on property taxes. As you know, we have the second highest property taxes in the nation, and those high taxes hurt middle class families as well as our economic competitiveness. We need to deliver property tax relief.
A short-term property tax freeze alone, while politically popular, is only a small step and will not be truly effective at helping our homeowners and small business owners unless we also give local units of government and school districts the ability to control costs. Absent those tools, property taxes will increase again as soon as the freeze expires. Our proposed legislation offers reasonable reforms that allow – but do not require – local units of government to use tools to control costs.
More detailed information on these tools is below:
Collective Bargaining Reform
Current Law
Years of court rulings and negotiations have gradually eroded management flexibility in collective bargaining agreements for schools, cities, counties, community colleges and other units of government. Once a topic is negotiated by an employer, the government is effectively obligated to continue negotiating over that topic for future collective bargaining agreements. This creates a “one-way ratchet” in which decisions made decades ago by other leaders effectively cannot be altered.
Proposed Changes
Local units of government and school districts should be allowed to “reset” this framework. The compromise Turnaround legislation gives local governments and voters the ability to determine what issues must be negotiated. If they do not want to change existing collective bargaining topics, they can keep the status quo. Local voters and elected officials would be given a choice to craft the best option for their communities, allowing them to free up resources, if necessary, for other critical government services.
Context
Chicago Public Schools is facing the very challenge this legislation seeks to address.
In 1981 CPS agreed to “pick up” most of the teachers’ share of their pension contributions. That means that on top of the employer share of pension contributions, CPS also picks up 77 percent of the employee’s share. This deal, created more than 30 years ago, has resulted in CPS in FY15 alone paying approximately $127 million towards the employee contribution for teachers.
Chicago leaders have requested that the state remove the “pension pick up” from collective bargaining and require teachers to pay their own share. In recent years, the state has given Chicago other requested collective bargaining changes. For example, CPS was given the ability to decline to negotiate over particular subjects, including the length of the school year and duration of instructional time, at the Mayor’s request in 2011. We should end the piecemeal-type approach to collective bargaining reform and give all our local leaders the tools and flexibility they need.
Prevailing Wage Reform
Current Law
Illinois law requires wages on state and local construction projects that do not reflect true market rates. This drives up taxpayer costs by up to 20 percent and diverts money that can otherwise go to fund our schools and social services. Illinois’ is an outlier in this regard. Nearly 20 states do not have any prevailing wage requirements, and more than 20 additional states limit prevailing wages to a monetary threshold.
Proposed Changes
The compromise Turnaround legislation allows true competitive bidding in local taxpayer- funded construction projects.. Local units of government and school districts would be allowed to opt out of or remain in the state prevailing wage law. They would be able to set their own local prevailing wage requirements that are better tailored to their community. Existing prevailing wage requirements would remain for all state projects
Context
Any prevailing wage changes would occur only if a local community decided to adopt changes. Additionally, local units of government could adopt local contractor preferences, similar to what the City of Chicago has already enacted, to encourage Illinois-based workforces. Reforming the law would also open up more economic opportunity for a broader range of small businesses and minority-owned firms.
President Cullerton publicly expressed this week that he is open to changes in the prevailing wage law. That is encouraging and a starting point for more serious discussions about ways to control costs for local units of government. Given the financial plight of the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and many communities and school districts throughout the state, it is common sense to also include collective bargaining reforms to the list of what we should be discussing. There is no reason the state should be tying the hands of our local leaders as they try to rescue our communities from years of bad financial decisions. Instead of binding our local leaders to short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible decisions made in the past by others, let’s give our current leaders the tools necessary to fix the future.
President Cullerton has also appropriately noted that school funding is a major component of our property tax system and a discussion of school funding formula should be included in any discussion of property taxes. I agree. While some details need to be worked out, I am very willing to include school funding reform as part of a compromise property tax and local control package.
We still must find a way to give local units of government tools to controls costs, but little else should be standing in the way of an agreement on this critical topic.
I hope you find this information helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me or our staff if you have additional questions or ideas.
* I told subscribers about this and two different mailers today…
The other day, the pro-Rauner Turnaround Illinois political action committee sent a mailer to many of Rep. Frank Mautino’s constituents.
On both sides of the mailer, there is a giant, black-and-white photo of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is labeled as “Chicago’s political puppetmaster Mike Madigan.” In front of the frowning speaker is a smiling Mautino connected to a puppeteer’s strings. Madigan, the mailer says, is “trying to control your representative.”
Constituents are asked to call Mautino’s office to urge the local representative to “cut the strings.”
Think this attack is unique to Mautino. Think again.
Others are targeted as well. For instance, the very similar mailer was sent to constituents of Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake. The only difference is that Yingling’s smiling face was Photoshopped above the same dark suit with red tie.
* I’m not a fan of many small biz regulations, but this seems reasonable, considering where some of the items may come from…
Beginning next year if you’re looking to find a pawn shot to take that item with the serial number removed, you’re out of luck. Governor Bruce Rauner signed Senate Bill 1820 that prohibits pawnbrokers from accepting items that have the manufacturer’s serial number, make, model, PIN, or other identifying marks removed or altered. The law also says no personal property purchased by a pawnbroker can be sold or removed from the shop or even transferred to another store within a period of 10 days. The law takes effect the first of the year.
* As someone who drives a gas/plug-in hybrid, I like this idea because I’ve been blocked from outlets in the past by gas-powered vehicle owners…
Beginning next year if you park your non-electric vehicle in a spot meant to charge electric vehicles, or EVs, you can expect a minimum fine of $75. The law, which takes effect the first of the year also allows parking lot authorities to remove any non-EVs parked in EV designated spots. The Governor signed House Bill 198 earlier this week that, aside from allowing for the fine and tow, requires municipalities to post signs for the EV charging station parking spots.
Provides that all severance agreements entered into by or on behalf of a public body are public records subject to inspection and copying by the public, subject to redaction as allowed by the Act.
* Seems like these teams should’ve been able to do this already…
Exempts certain health care professionals licensed to practice in another state or country from State licensure requirements if the professional is practicing in the State while under contract to provide services to an athletic team.
Friday, Jul 31, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
While our state budget crisis becomes increasingly dire, Exelon still demands a corporate bailout despite making more than $1.3 BILLION in profit in the first six months of the year. This is exactly the wrong thing for Illinois’ citizens and businesses.
EXELON JUST ANNOUNCED SECOND QUARTER 2015 PROFITS: $638 MILLION
SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS A DAY or $292,125 AN HOUR
That’s up 22.2% from 2014! Sounds like Exelon had a pretty good second quarter. And yet this wildly profitable company still seeks a bailout from struggling Illinois ratepayers and threatens to throw thousands of people out of work because they’re supposedly not making enough money.
EDITORIAL BOARDS FROM CHICAGO TO BELLEVILLE AGREE…JUST SAY NO TO THE EXELON BAILOUT.
Belleville said it best:
“Good old Exelon. The company has come up with legislation to subsidize its nuclear reactors, get electric users throughout the state to pay for it and claim it’s in the interest of clean energy.”
“State lawmakers need to see this bill for the dirty trick it is and kill it.”
Just say no to the Exelon bailout. Vote no on SB1585/HB3293.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
* Consolidation across platforms appears to be the new thing in the gaming industry. Not long ago, an Illinois casino proposed buying a Metro East horse racing track. Now this. From a press release…
Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN: Nasdaq) (the “Company,” or “Penn National”) announced today that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Illinois video gaming terminal (“VGT”) operator Prairie State Gaming (“PSG”) in an all cash transaction. One of the largest VGT route operators in Illinois, PSG’s operations include more than 1,100 terminals across a network of 270 bar and retail gaming establishments throughout the State. For the twelve-months ended June 30, 2015, PSG generated nearly $10 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). The transaction, which is expected to be immediately accretive to Penn National upon closing later this quarter, is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals and conditions.
Jay Snowden, Chief Operating Officer of Penn National Gaming, commented, “The planned acquisition of PSG is consistent with our proven long-term strategy for growth through accretive acquisitions. PSG is one of Illinois’ most respected VGT operators, with a strong track record of regulatory compliance and a reputation for reliable around the clock service backed by one of the industry’s most experienced teams. With its strong financial position, PSG has also distinguished itself in the Illinois VGT industry for its ability to quickly roll out new games to customers.
* John Fund writes in the National Review that the Illinois Republicans could easily find somebody to replace US Sen. Mark Kirk if he stepped aside…
The Illinois Republican bench includes Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Iraq War veteran in Kirk’s moderate mold, Republican National Committeewoman Demetra DeMonte, former Representative Joe Walsh, and Jason Plummer, a 2010 candidate for lieutenant governor.
I like Kinzinger, but he is pro-gun, pro-life and anti-gay rights. He may be a “moderate” in DC, but not statewide here.
Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting of the LaSalle County Tea Party Republican National Committeewoman, and former RNC Secretary Demetra DeMonte took a question from the audience about the conservative base of the Republican Party. The questioner expressed anger with GOP leadership who continually lie to get elected and make big promises only to do nothing once they get to Washington, and worse.
DeMonte said that she shares those concerns and wants to see the Republican Party embrace conservatives more.
“I know your frustration,” DeMonte said.
As one of Illinois members to the Republican National Committee, DeMonte has helped get the RNC to take policy stand to help fight against Common Core, earmarks, and defend religious liberties.
DeMonte understands why people are attracted to the message Donald Trump has been offering as a Presidential candidate. Note: DeMonte is not endorsing any candidate at this point in time.
She also is a fan of Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin.
Joe Walsh? Yeah, that’ll work.
And I mainly just posted this excerpt to see your reaction to the Jason Plummer idea. We haven’t had him in the barrel in quite a while.
The Illinois Executive Mansion Association has sent a letter of intent to local contractor Henson Robinson Company to restore the building’s ailing roof. The winning bid came in at an economical $492,934 for the project. To support the growing campaign to restore the People’s House, Henson Robinson Company is also including a generous in-kind donation in their proposal.
“It is crucial that we begin this work soon to stop further decay to the mansion that is caused by the damaged roof. We are very excited to be working with the Henson Robinson Company, as they have been serving Springfield for over 150 years through six generations,” said Jeff Evans, owner of a Springfield architectural and construction management firm who is volunteering his time and services to the project. “They have worked on some of the most important and historical buildings in Illinois and we appreciate their dedication to restoring the People’s House at a cost-effective rate.”
The Henson Robinson Company was first founded Springfield in 1861 and provided Civil War soldiers with various appliances and tools. Since then, the company transformed into an employee-owned contractor specializing in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, roofing, plumbing and other systems. Their top historical and landmark projects include the restoration of the Illinois Capitol building’s dome in the 1960s, repair work to Lincoln’s Tomb and the 2014 installation of air conditioning in Abraham Lincoln’s Illinois home.
“We are all honored by the opportunity to participate in another historical Illinois landmark. This project, like so many before it, continues our legacy of providing quality construction services on so many of Springfield’s most recognizable buildings,” said Dan Hoselton, President, Henson Robinson Company. “Our team of construction professionals is already at work perfecting our plan to execute the work safely, on time and in budget.”
The Illinois Executive Mansion is the third-oldest state governor’s residence in the United States and the oldest gubernatorial residence in the Midwest. Since the 1971-1972 renovation, only emergency repairs and maintenance work has been performed on the building and mechanical systems.
The repairs will be supported solely through private funds raised by the Illinois Executive Mansion Association.
According to the association, prevailing wages will be paid on this project.
And, by the way, good on Henson Robinson Company for donating some of the costs. That shows real local pride.
Between 1979 and 2011, carmakers and their suppliers closed 267 plants across the U.S., according to a Center for Automotive Research study. Almost two-thirds of them were in the Midwest, and 42 percent of the closures occurred between 2004 and 2010, when the Great Recession bankrupted General Motors and Chrysler.
While Wisconsin no longer has a single car factory and Missouri is down to two, Illinois had managed to avoid the industry’s retrenchment. But the geography of production continues to evolve. Even as they’ve cut labor costs, the traditional domestic producers are losing market share in North America to rivals based overseas, driving them, in some cases, to move jobs and increase investments in Mexico, a rising auto-industry powerhouse. […]
Ford’s Torrence Avenue assembly plant, however, is humming along thanks to the popularity of the Explorer. In 2014, the factory produced 284,993 of the sport-utility vehicles, boosting total production at the facility 4.3 percent to 366,672 vehicles, according to the Automotive News data. The factory also produces Taurus cars and police Interceptors but is losing the Lincoln MKS. […]
In Belvidere, nearly 4,500 Fiat Chrysler employees made 348,552 vehicles last year, an increase of 7.2 percent from 2013 and a number that surpassed the previous peak eight years ago. The London-based company’s Jeep Compass and Patriot brands accounted for about three-quarters of the activity, with the Dodge Dart making up the remainder. […]
Though Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford has shifted some jobs back to the U.S., more recently the company said it will take production of its Focus compact car from Michigan and invest $2.5 billion to build engine and transmission factories in Mexico.
As long as automakers and other manufacturers prize squeezing workers over everything else, we’re always gonna be faced with a big problem here. And so is every other state.
In an email to her former colleagues, Rep. Tammy Duckworth admitted to wrongfully terminating a whistleblower. As Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs under Governor Rob Blagojevich, Duckworth fired a whistleblower and then admitted that she “screwed up” in firing her. In the same email, Duckworth asked her subordinates for help in justifying the wrongful termination.
“Rep. Duckworth fired a whistleblower and then admitted her wrongdoing to her co-workers. Instead of correcting her mistake, Duckworth doubled down on her poor decision and asked her subordinates to justify her misconduct,” said Nick Klitzing, Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party. “Illinois needs leaders who stand accountable for their actions and who right wrongs, not compound them.”
* The e-mail…
*** UPDATE *** From Matt McGrath at the Democratic Party of Illinois…
“In a week when Mark Kirk was encouraged to drop out of the race by Gov. Rauner’s finance chair and called the Republican Senate majority’s ‘weak link,’ it’s understandable that he and his political allies are desperately trying to change the subject. In this instance they’re pinning their hopes on a willful misreading of a single element of a years-old lawsuit that already has been dismissed in full or in part three separate times. Illinois voters will see this for what it is: the politics of desperation from a badly struggling campaign.”
* From the self-described “Democratic centrist” group with strong ties to Gov. Bruce Rauner…
Illinoisans for Growth and Opportunity (IllinoisGO) today announced the launch of a web ad focused on the need for Democrats to come together to support a balanced budget plan that seriously addresses our state and its cities’ financial challenges. IllinoisGO’s video, part of a larger digital organizing campaign, is airing on multiple digital platforms in Democratic districts statewide to educate and encourage Democratic voters to get involved to help change the dynamic in Springfield.
Illinois and its cities are facing major financial crises, thanks to the reckless leadership in the General Assembly and Governor’s office over the last decade. Democratic lawmakers have been accountable only to the narrow special interests and not to the people they represent. Their failure to pursue responsible budgeting has led to massive cuts to the state’s most critical responsibilities - educating our kids and providing for the most vulnerable among us – and a sluggish economy.
But Springfield can and must make the responsible, hard choices to get us back on track and pass a balanced budget that supports services for those in need, makes the tax code more fair, and protects the key investments necessary to grow our economy.
“Illinois’ dire financial state is a result of the majority party’s failed leadership and we need to come together to protect progressive values and save our state,” said IllinoisGO Chairman Anthony Anderson. “We will continue to urge Democrats in Springfield to change course and support the tough, but responsible, decisions to correct our state’s financial course, better serve our most vulnerable residents, and grow our economy.”
Rauner wants to give local governments more flexibility on what matters are subject to collective bargaining — Cullerton suggested that’s a non-starter. Rauner wants to curb venue shopping for friendly courts in the civil justice system — no dice with Cullerton.
If there’s room to deal, he suggested, it might come in modest changes to the workers’ compensation system and prevailing wage laws.
The changes Rauner seeks — we’d argue they’re business-friendly, taxpayer-friendly, citizen-friendly — are geared toward shaking a moribund status quo here that has consigned Illinois to be an economic also-ran. […]
[Cullerton] does seem to want to create some distance, at least in style, between himself and Madigan, who is locked in a glare-off with the governor. Madigan’s chief contribution to all this has been his weekly clenched-fist news conference. (Home of the famous quote: “I’m not going to spend a lot of time on that question.”)
(a) A public employer and a labor organization may not bargain over, and no collective bargaining agreement entered into, renewed, or extended on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly may include, provisions related to the following prohibited subjects of collective bargaining:
(1) Employee pensions, including the impact or implementation of changes to employee pensions, including the Employee Consideration Pension Transition Program as set forth in Section 30 of the Personnel Code.
(2) Wages, including any form of compensation including salaries, overtime compensation, vacations, holidays, and any fringe benefits, including the impact or implementation of changes to the same; except nothing in this Section 7.6 will prohibit the employer from electing to bargain collectively over employer-provided health insurance.
(3) Hours of work, including work schedules, shift schedules, overtime hours, compensatory time, and lunch periods, including the impact or implementation of changes to the same.
(4) Matters of employee tenure, including the impact of employee tenure or time in service on the employer’s exercise of authority including, but not limited to, any consideration the employer must give to the tenure of employees adversely affected by the employer’s exercise of management’s right to conduct a layoff.
Also, no mention at all of getting rid of the prevailing wage. No substance about any of the governor’s proposals or why Madigan is opposing them. Just happy talk about the hero and bashing of the villain.
Why are the governor’s supporters so darned reluctant to defend their guy’s anti-union proposals in the mass media?
* Flight noise has become a significant media/political issue in Chicago, so we’re seeing legislation…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday signed legislation that will increase the number of runways allowed at O’Hare International Airport to 10 from eight, an effort designed to expand flight paths and reduce jet noise affecting some Chicago neighborhoods and western suburbs since 2013.
The Chicago Department of Aviation previously had cited the eight-runway limit as the reason for the planned Aug. 20 closure of one of four diagonal runways that runs northwest to southeast. A second closure of a diagonal runway with the same alignment was planned for November 2019.
It’s unclear whether the change will result in Chicago officials calling off the August closure and working with the Federal Aviation Administration to disperse the more than 2,400 daily flights at O’Hare across a wider number of runways pointing in a variety of directions. […]
Colleen Mulcrone, a member of Fair Allocation in Runways, said she hoped it would provide “the breathing room everyone has asked for to give the continued use of the diagonal runways full and thorough consideration.”
State Sen. John Mulroe sponsored the legislation. He said it will allow the four existing diagonal runways to be preserved and, he hopes, used. That would disperse airport traffic over a larger area.
The legislation also would give the owners of more homes around the airport access a fund to pay for noise mitigation.
* And it’s not just O’Hare, either. Flight patterns have changed for Midway, and that’s stirring up some ire on the South Side…
Midway noise complaints from April through June totaled 4,844, more than double the number of complaints filed in the first three months of the year, according to a report by the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Complaints from South and Southwest side residents and suburbanites have ballooned since the Federal Aviation Administration implemented a change in flight paths in February 2014 that directs planes from over Lake Michigan to a track above the Stevenson Expressway and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to land on Midway’s runway 22 Left, which runs northeast to southwest.
City officials said the big jump should be viewed from the perspective that 76 percent of the complaints about Midway jets in the second quarter came from only six addresses.
They say a similar pattern of “serial complainants'’ occurs around O’Hare International Airport, which has received 1.3 million noise complaints in the first five months of 2015. Complaints started to skyrocket after air-traffic patterns were changed at O’Hare in late 2013 when a new parallel runway came on line.
However, anti-noise activists say thousands of people who suffer from chronic jet noise over their homes simply don’t complain because they are resigned that nothing would change. [Emphasis added.]
It’s very possible that people don’t officially complain even though they are suffering. But 76 percent of the complaints came from just six addresses? Bizarre. That’s 614 per address, or about 7 calls per day per address during the second quarter.
