* From the emergency motion for direct appeal…
Movants ask this Court to resolve whether, and to what extent, the Illinois Constitution permits the payment of the state employee payroll when the General Assembly and Governor have failed to enact appropriations statutes. At the heart of the matter is the constitutional separation of powers under which the General Assembly and the Governor must take action to enact annual appropriations statutes. Although the appellate court had settled this issue in AFSCME v. Netsch, 216 Ill. App. 3d 566 (4th Dist. 1991), holding that the Appropriations Clause prohibits the payment of the state eniployee payroll without an appropriation, the Circuit Court of St. Clair County has declined to follow that precedent, necessitating this Court’s intervention. This Court should permit direct appeal pursuant to Rule 302(b) from the conflicting temporary restraining orders entered by two circuit courts in this matter of great public importance raising constitutional questions that affect the core of the government’s operation.
Click here to read it all.
*** UPDATE *** From the AG’s office…
“We absolutely want State employees to be paid their full wages. But we must follow the Illinois Constitution. The law is clear: the State cannot legally pay all employees their full paychecks without a budget. Because there are now conflicting court orders on this critical constitutional issue, we have asked the Illinois Supreme Court to take the appeals in the cases and resolve them. The Court can provide important guidance on what the Constitution allows when the Governor and Legislature have failed to act. Ultimately, as we have repeatedly said, the only way to fully resolve this unfortunate and damaging situation is for the Governor and the Legislature to do their jobs and enact a budget.”
* She also filed two other things today…
* Appeal of St. Clair County ruling to appellate court
* Request to assert validity of Cook County TRO with appellate court
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* Press release…
Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger on Monday announced that her office has finished processing payroll for July 15, ensuring that all state employees will receive their scheduled paychecks without interruption.
The action comes after a St. Clair County Court last week granted Munger’s request to pay all state employees in order to comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and avoid potential fines totaling three times the amount of missed payrolls.
“Paying all state employees is the right, legal, and fiscally responsible thing to do and I appreciate the Court’s authorization to move forward,” Munger said. “We are simply compensating workers for services they are already providing the state and ensuring that we are in compliance with federal law. To do otherwise would not only cause hardship to tens of thousands of employees and their families, but also make the state vulnerable to staggering penalties that we cannot afford.”
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires the state pay “covered” employees at minimum wage or face fines from the federal government. However, Illinois’ antiquated payroll systems make it impossible to swiftly determine which of the state’s 65,000 employees fall under the designation. Even when the respective employees are identified, the antiquated systems require Comptroller’s Office personnel to manually enter tens of thousands of reductions in pay rate and corresponding changes in deductions and benefits.
Given those realities, Munger and the Governor’s Office of Central Management Services last week asked the Court to allow the state to run full payroll to ensure compliance with the federal law. A Cook County Court initially directed the state to pay only minimum wage for “covered” employees but that decision was later stayed by an Appellate Court. On Thursday, a St. Clair County Court granted Munger’s request to run full payroll, giving her the Court Order she needed to legally move forward.
“While the legal process will continue to play out, I am confident that the Court will ultimately see that paying all state employees is the best and only way to protect the state from significant federal fines,” Munger said. “At the same time, it provides welcome relief to workers across the state, including those on the front line in serving our communities and most vulnerable residents.”
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Peoria announced as GOP convention host
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The quadrennial convention will be held in Peoria…
The Illinois Republican Party has chosen Peoria as the site of its 2016 state convention.
The Peoria County Republican Central Committee will be the local host of the event May 20-22, 2016. It will be at the Peoria Civic Center and Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette. […]
Besides Peoria, finalists were Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Collinsville and Springfield.
Next year’s theme?
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Madigan: Subpoenas would be “extreme”
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yesterday, House Speaker Michael Madigan handed out a list of seven instances when the Rauner administration refused to testify before a House committee, which he deemed unprecedented and said that if the Obama administration had done the same thing in DC it would be a huge controversy.
Click here to see the list.
* A reporter followed up about whether he might issue subpoenas…
Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, told reporters that Rauner’s office had so severely flouted past practice of gubernatorial transparency that he considered issuing subpoenas to get the administration to appear before committees.
“But we haven’t done it, because we want to be reasonable, and we want to function in moderation,” Madigan said, repeating the talking points that have become his mantra.
“We’re not interested in taking extreme actions.” […]
“We’re going to continue to provide an opportunity to the Rauner administration to participate in our three-part government here in Illinois, which means that they interact with the Legislature. … It’s rather routine in the history of Illinois that gubernatorial administrations participate in legislative hearings,” Madigan said.
Most of the committee hearings were repeats, and they may have all been political traps. Nevertheless, when the Revenue Committee is looking into gubernatorial office spending, that’s still legit, even if it is mainly designed as a gotcha or to make the chairman (a Tier One target) look strong to the folks back home.
Your thoughts?
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Question of the day
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Earlier today, we talked about Speaker Madigan’s advice to Gov. Rauner.
* The Question: What should Gov. Rauner’s advice be to Speaker Madigan?
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* Oy…
Hazardous-materials teams from the Springfield Fire Department and other agencies are investigating a powdery substance that was sent in an envelope to an Illinois attorney general’s office at 3000 Montvale Drive. […]
Employees are being asked to stay inside their offices while Springfield firefighters conduct on-site testing of the substance. No employees are experiencing any medical problems, authorities said.
Police do have information about the person who sent the package. The FBI has been called in to assist in the investigation.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The AG’s office just told me that the police department has given employees the “all clear” sign.
Whew.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The package, I’m told, was from a prisoner addressed to a lawyer.
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By special request…
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* An e-mail exchange…
From: Steve Brown
To: Rich Miller
Re: Doin’ Somethin’ Useful
From: Rich Miller
To: Steve Brown
Re: Re: Doin’ Somethin’ Useful
From: Steve Brown
To: Rich Miller
Re: Re: Re: Doin’ Somethin’ Useful
But your fans would love it and you could prove your clout….KC nearly had the whole AL team before the media spanked them, now they partner with the Cards for the last two spots. I think all those tech savvy folks that follow you would be very impressed with your efforts.
From: Rich Miller
To: Steve Brown
Re: Re: Re: Re: Doin’ Somethin’ Useful
Only if you let me use your emails in the post.
From: Steve Brown
To: Rich Miller
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Doin’ Somethin’ Useful
They don’t call him the Press Secretary General for nothin’.
Click here and vote.
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Dem Senator says Rauner is like Madigan
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Suburban Life…
[State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, D-Shorewood] was a guest Wednesday during the monthly Plainfield Coffee with the Mayor. She commented on the state budget impasse and answered questions about the local impact.
“I am not alone in saying this is a very, very unusual year,” Bertino-Tarrant said about her third year in Springfield. “Down there, it’s becoming more partisan. We have a very wealthy governor not afraid to say, ‘It’s my way or I’m coming after you.’ ”
Bertino-Tarrant compared Gov. Bruce Rauner as the Illinois Republicans’ version of House Speaker Michael Madigan, who has been known to have a far-reaching influence on state Democrats.
“Government is a service, not a business, as much as we’d like to think otherwise,” Bertino-Tarrant said.
* I asked reporter Vikaas Shanker for the Senator’s actual quote about Rauner being another version of Madigan. Here it is…
“Over the years people have talked about Madigan having a thumb on his people. Well, unfortunately, our Republican friends are seeing the same thing now. … I don’t work with Madigan, so I say they’re getting a little bit of Madigan on their own side.”
…Adding… This is becoming a familiar theme. From yesterday’s floor debate…
State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, called GOP lawmakers “minions” and “enablers” of the Republican chief executive. […]
“I don’t think anybody on this side of the aisle is a minion,” answered state Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon. “We’re state representatives and we’re here to balance the budget. The derogatory tone is not a good sign.”
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said the display was “political theater.”
“It’s definitely becoming more intense,” Brady said.
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Today’s quotable
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomberg…
Allstate does not hold any general-obligation bonds of Illinois, where the insurer is based, as politicians haggle over a budget for the fiscal year that started July 1, CEO Thomas Wilson said.
“If you don’t like the income statement, the balance sheet or the governance, why would you loan them money just because they never defaulted before?” Wilson said yesterday at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “We have a philosophy that we’re not trying to take credit risk in the muni-bond world.”
The largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, whose ads say, “You’re in good hands with Allstate,” held $8.7 billion of municipal bonds as of March 31, down from about $25 billion in 2007. Wilson said in 2010 that borrowing by U.S. states “is way out of control.”
Wilson, who works at Allstate headquarters in Northbrook, said he’s told state lawmakers: “How’re you going to go broke? Gradually, then suddenly.”
* Wilson then added…
He said he’s been involved with “Illinois is Broke,” a statewide campaign about fiscal issues created by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
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Tone it down, avoid u-turns
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday said he’s encouraged by facets of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed pension bill, but cautioned the Republican to tone down his political rhetoric against House Speaker Michael Madigan if he wants to strike a deal to overhaul the state’s pension woes and end a budget standoff with Democrats.
The remarks illustrated the role Emanuel is playing during the state stalemate — publicly trying to bring Rauner and Madigan together while continuing to negotiate in private on the city’s interests. […]
At an unrelated CTA event Thursday, Emanuel applauded Rauner for trying to address pension funding problems for the state, Cook County, Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and downstate law enforcement in a single package. But the mayor, who has a fiery political reputation, offered Rauner an “unsolicited piece of advice.”
“There’s merit to having one pension bill where all the interests are addressed, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to have your politics get in the way of your policy. What I mean by that is, by personalizing somehow that the speaker is the holdup doesn’t help advance the proposal that at least deserves merit, a discussion, and is a way of addressing a serious problem that both Chicago, suburban and downstate communities and the county all face together in one way or another,” Emanuel said. “I constantly want to urge to lower the personal temperature, keep the conversation and dialogue and trust-building exercise so serious issues like a pension proposal can be heard without the politics getting in the way of progress.”
* There was another warning discerned by the Sun-Times, however…
Between the lines, Emanuel seems to be saying that Rauner has backed himself into a political corner. Now that the governor is on record as supporting Chicago’s ambitious wish-list, he can’t renege without looking like he’s flip-flopping and turning his back on the city.
“The governor now is in favor of the police and fire pension [reforms]. That is a good thing. The governor is now in favor, publicly, of a Chicago-based casino to pay a portion of police and fire pensions,” Emanuel said.
“The governor is now in favor of things we have talked about for decades about equity on teachers’ pensions so students and teachers in Downstate and suburbs are not treated better than teachers and students here in Chicago. He’s supportive of some of the things we’ve proposed for Chicago Public Schools … and also the notion that the rest of the state has a role to play in creating fairness and equity across the system where Chicago taxpayers are not responsible for paying for everybody else’s teachers pension and our pensions.”
* Now that the mayor has mentioned it, the governor needs to watch out for that flip-flopping meme. From Madigan’s press conference…
“He said he wouldn’t sign the appropriation for elementary and secondary education either, and if you follow the governor’s actions day by day there’s a lot of u-turns, a lot of u-turns in a row,” says Madigan.
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* Tammy Duckworth got a big boost yesterday when she was endorsed by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee…
Senator Jon Tester, Chair of the DSCC, issued the following statement announcing the Committee’s support of Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth in Illinois:
“Tammy Duckworth has spent her life serving this nation and the state of Illinois, and she has a proven record of advocating for veterans, women and working families. Tammy’s incredible story reflects her persistence and tenacity, even when the odds are stacked against her, and she brings that same determination to her work on behalf of her constituents every single day. We are excited to support Tammy and we are confident that she will be an outstanding Senator for the State of Illinois.”
* But her fellow Democratic candidate Andrea Zopp was not pleased. Tribune…
In a statement, Zopp said she was “saddened and shocked that the DSCC would issue an endorsement without even interviewing me” and accused the group of displaying “total insensitivity to Chicago, African-American women and the democratic process.”
* Her full statement is posted on her website…
“Frankly I’m saddened and shocked that the DSCC would issue an endorsement without even interviewing me. I don’t know if it comes from their fear of me having raised in only two weeks nearly ¾ of what their candidate raised in two months…or their total insensitivity to Chicago, African American women and the democratic process,” said Andrea Zopp.
While Zopp has not yet formally announced, over the past three weeks during which she has explored the viability of running, she has raised nearly $700,000 and broad-based support.
Long-time political activist Leon Finney, who has been part of Zopp’s exploratory committee, added his comments.
“Actually we found the DSCC endorsement a sign of weakness and by the way not a little insensitive,” said Finney. “ The fact that the DSCC would make an endorsement while totally ignoring, interviewing or even reaching out to an exceptional, experienced, self-made African-American female candidate who in just over two weeks has raised two-thirds as much as their ‘chosen one’ demonstrates how totally out of touch Washington-centered politics are with the nation.
Having lived in Illinois since she completed Harvard Law School, Ms. Zopp has served as the first female, First Assistant State’s Attorney, General Counsel for some of the nation’s leading corporations, Executive Director of the Chicago Urban League and served on wide variety of boards and commissions. Ms. Zopp is married and has one daughter.
I received at least four urgent e-mails from Republicans pointing to her statement, by the way.
But, just for clarity, a “wide variety of boards” would include Chicago’s school board. And “some of the nation’s leading corporations” includes Exelon.
Just saying…
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“Good solid advice”
Friday, Jul 10, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Speaker Madigan held a press conference yesterday and talked about a meeting he’d had with the governor earlier in the day…
“I had a frank discussion with the governor,” Madigan said. “And I gave him what I consider to be good solid advice.”
He later added with a hint of a smile: “I felt good when I walked out of that meeting.”
Any guesses about what that advice was?
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