If you’re feeling safe because there’s been no “mass shootings” as dramatic as the one Wednesday in San Bernardino, California or the one in Colorado Springs the week before, you’re simply not informed about how violent the state of Illinois has been in 2015.
Data from shootingtracker.com shows that according to the Reddit group that maintains the information, there have been 23 mass shootings in Illinois in 2015 alone. Shootingtracker.com defines mass shootings as incidents when at least four people are killed or wounded, including the gunman.
The website is down as I write this, but you gotta wonder if many of these mass shootings are gang-related.
Whatever the case, and no matter what else has happened to the image of the police here in the past several weeks, the cops are doing a job that almost none of us would ever want.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday he favors releasing the dashcam video that reportedly shows a Chicago police officer shooting 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III.
“We’ll do that next week,” Emanuel said after unrelated event Thursday.
The video allegedly shows a police officer shooting Johnson eight days before Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by another Chicago police officer.
* It’ll be interesting to see how the Fraternal Order of Police reacts to this new video. Its president’s reaction to the LaQuan McDonald video was quite something to behold.
Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo told reporters this week that when he watched the McDonald video, he saw Officer Van Dyke stepping “into his training mode.” And then he said he saw this…
“Just prior to the engagement, of the first shots fired, the shoulders square off towards the officer.”
In case you need to refresh your memory, click here to watch the shooting video. I’ve watched it several times and don’t see any clear sign that the kid “squared his shoulders” at the officer.
* This FOP behavior could very well give the anti-union governor some credibility…
Rauner on collective bargaining btwn FOP & city on discipline for cops: ppl have begun to question that process
Recently ousted police Supt. Garry McCarthy said in a 2013 interview that his policy is “termination” for cops who get caught lying during an official investigation.
But as things turn out, that’s hardly the case in our town.
DNAinfo Chicago found that IPRA recommended firing only 55 percent of officers found guilty of violating Rule 14 [a little-known provision in the Chicago Police Department’s disciplinary code related to officers “making a false statement, written or oral.”]. And none of those officers were fired for making false reports. […]
[Chicago should] Follow the lead of states including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio and Washington, that make all police disciplinary records public.
* Related…
* Rauner: ‘I cried’ when watching Laquan McDonald video: “Anybody who sees that video has to really wonder, why would it take so long to prosecute or deal with this? What’s taking so long? It’s a legitimate question for everybody to be asking.”
* The Beth Hamilton Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Secretary/Admin. Assistant goes to Carol Shehorn, who works for both Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie and Assistant Majority Leader Sara Feigenholtz…
I don’t care what kind of day you are having or what is melting down on your legislative agenda, Carol will make it seem you are the most important in the Statehouse and your issue the most important.
She handles a parade of lobbyist and agency staff coming and going and never, ever gets rattled or fails to treat everyone with respect no matter what is going on around her.
* And as long as no objections are heard, the Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Senate Secretary/Admin. Assistant will be henceforth named after this year’s winner…
Robin Gragg is unfailingly pleasant and helpful in her traffic-cop role at the antechamber to SenDem leadership offices. Some days, there are 15 people milling about in that tiny space, making demands, etc, and it never seems to faze Robin.
She’s won before, so I think it’s only fair to everyone else if we name the award after her so others can win. Plus, she really is an example for others to follow.
* Today’s categories are…
* Best State Senate Staffer - Non Political
* Best State House Staffer - Non Political
Try to nominate in both categories if you can. I understand if you just don’t have enough info about one chamber, but please try. And always remember that the awards are based far more on the intensity of the nominations than the number of nominations. Explain your votes!
Also, unless I hear strong objections, I’d rather skip over political legislative staff this year. We’re running out of time and it’s not a campaign year.
HARRISBURG — In the sixth month of a state budget stalemate, lawmakers may make a final push this weekend to agree on the details of historic education funding, expanding the sales tax base, reforming public pensions and making wine and liquor more readily available.
The plan to increase state spending by 6 percent is far from finalized. There’s a “framework” of an agreement, but questions remain on the tax increase. Some Republicans question the robustness of liquor and pension proposals.
Several session days are scheduled next week.
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, when asked how much is agreed to, said: “Ninety percent, but that last 10 percent is the bumpiest.”
“We have to be close,” said Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. “We worked through the past weekend. We need a budget soon.”
Wolf told reporters there’s not “any sticking point” but rather a need to work out details and language.
Pennsylvania is the mirror image of Illinois. They have Republican majorities in the General Assembly and a wealthy Democratic governor.
* Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and others have called for a Department of Justice civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department. Mayor Emanuel didn’t like the idea, but he came around to it today. From a press release…
“Many things must happen to restore trust in the Chicago Police Department and I welcome efforts and ideas that can help us achieve that important goal. I want to clarify my comments from yesterday and I want to be clear that the City welcomes engagement by the Department of Justice when it comes to looking at the systemic issues embedded in CPD.
First and foremost, we need answers as to what happened in the Laquan McDonald case, which is why the United States Attorney should swiftly conclude his year-long investigation and shed light on what happened that night, and the actions of everyone involved.
As it relates to a longer-term review of our police department and efforts to improve police accountability, I am open to anything that will help give us answers and restore the trust that is critical to our public safety efforts. I trust the Department of Justice to make the right decision based on the facts and the law. Like every Chicagoan, I want to get to a place where we’re permanently addressing the entrenched issues in our police department. Our residents deserve that, as do our police officers. Adherence to civil rights and effective crime fighting go hand in hand.”
Background:
* On Tuesday, Mayor Emanuel announced that a six-member Police Accountability Task Force would immediately begin a top-to-bottom review of the system of oversight and accountability training and transparency that is currently in place at CPD.
* In his speech, Mayor Emanuel said: “Every day, we must ensure the checks and balances are in place to keep the confidence of Chicagoans … There are systemic challenges that will require sustained reform. It is a work in progress as we continue to build confidence in our police force.”
* Additionally, on Wednesday during a discussion with Politico, Mayor Emanuel was asked a question of whether CPD violated the constitution and federal laws. He responded to that question in the context of the Laquan McDonald case. See the exchange below:
Q: Yesterday, the Illinois Attorney General requested the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division investigation whether practices by the Chicago Police Department violate the constitution and federal laws. Do you worry that’s the case?
A: No. I want everybody to remember this. First, the city had a civil – there’s kind of three legal tracks and three kinds of oversights. On February 27, the family came and approached the city. We reached a settlement in and around the civil case and then took it to the City Council. If you go and look back at what Steve Patton said in front of City Council, a lot of that was there and in public domain. Immediately after the incident, back in February 2014 – so 14 months ago, within weeks, I think two weeks — the U.S. attorney and the State’s Attorney both opened up investigations with the FBI as an investigatory body. They had all materials, all the tapes, all the background. We settled – as I said – in April. But started in the discussions end of February when the family approached. As you now know, the State’s attorney concluded her investigation. There’s an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office here in Chicago with the FBI. My view is that given the period of time they’ve had the information, like everybody else, I await their conclusion. They are looking into this situation and all the aspects around it. I think an additional layer prior to the completion of this, in my view, would be misguided. And if you notice, they are doing a thorough job, given that they had the information two weeks after, just immediately after the incident. They are doing a thorough job, and hitting the restart button on a whole new investigation does not get you to the conclusion in an expedited fashion.
Q: But those are two different things. What she’s looking at is a civil rights investigation. It would look at pattern and practice at the police department. It would be a more sweeping view. Other cities have done it – would you welcome that?
A: Well, what I would first welcome is the conclusion of the existing investigation by the U.S. Attorneys right now that’s present. I think that one of the reasons I asked the former head of the Civil Rights Division, Deval Patrick, to be an outside adviser and senior adviser to this working commission is because it’s exactly the question he is familiar with and he has a different set of eye — I think is essential. Before the U.S. Justice Department would ask the local U.S. Attorney and FBI to take on additional work, I would them to complete the work – I understand these are very hard cases. And so they are taking on and look at all the perspectives around this case.
* Randall Samborn, who was the US Attorney’s press spokesman for years, explains what’s at stake…
What is needed is a full-scale Justice Department “pattern-and-practice” investigation of civil rights abuses within the Chicago Police Department — the type of sweeping, outside investigation that Chicago, seemingly alone among large American cities, has mysteriously evaded over the last several decades.
From Newark to New York, Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, Albuquerque and Los Angeles, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which exercises sole authority to launch and conduct such inquiries, has scoured dozens of large police departments, leaving Chicago’s omission head-scratching.
The Justice Department may act if it finds a pattern or practice by a local law enforcement agency that systemically violates people’s rights. These investigations have resulted in settlements and court orders requiring increased transparency and data collection, steps to prevent discriminatory policing, independent oversight, improved investigation and review of uses of force, and more effective training and supervision of officers — all measures that the Chicago Police Department urgently needs.
*** UPDATE *** I meant to post this earlier and forgot…
The Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of a black teen also played a role in the alleged cover-up of another fatal police shooting 10 years ago, according to court records in an ongoing civil lawsuit against the city.
Officer Jason Van Dyke admitted as part of that civil case that he copied the work of other officers on the scene, which made his official report match theirs, without conducting his own interviews of witnesses to the controversial 2005 shooting of Emmanuel Lopez.
While his role in that case was relatively minor, it looms larger now as the Lopez family lawsuit heads to trial in February over allegations that Chicago police shot the 23-year-old janitor 16 times without justification and then concocted a story that they were acting in self-defense because Lopez tried to run over an officer with his car.
If no one ran in the GOP primary, the Republican Party could pick someone in a caucus, gather signatures for him or her to put the choice on the ballot.
If a ringer like Lichte were on the ballot without opposition, however, the local GOP would not be able to field a serious candidate against Franks.
Unknown to the Franks folks, Steve Reick, the Democrat’s 2014 opponent who drove his winning margin down to 58%, changed his mind and filed on the last day possible.
Nevertheless, a Lichte stalking horse campaign could be of value to Franks.
His pawn could be the source of criticism of Reick, leaving Franks’ hands relative clean.
The Google photo you see below, however, makes the connection of Lichte to Franks picture perfect.
The Franks sign is readable; the other isn’t.
It is Franks’ sign favoring passage of electing the McHenry County Board in an at-large election.
We tend to think of the drastic decline in unions as an inevitable consequence of technological change and globalization, but one need look no further than Canada to see that this isn’t true. Once upon a time, around a third of workers in both the US and Canada were union members; today, US unionization is down to 11 percent, while it’s still 27 percent north of the border. The difference was politics: US policy turned hostile toward unions in the 1980s, while Canadian policy didn’t follow suit.
Emboldened by the furor over police shootings in Chicago, lawyers for another black teenager gunned down by police nearly three years ago after allegedly stealing a car are fighting to take the images of his final moments public.
So far, City Hall has fought back.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Geraldine Brown shot down an attempt last month by the family of Cedrick Chatman to make public the video of the 17-year-old’s Jan. 7, 2013 shooting death. The case is the subject of a federal lawsuit, and the judge issued her ruling the same day a Cook County judge ordered City Hall to release video footage of a Chicago police officer shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times. Chatman family attorney Brian Coffman is now set to ask U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman on Dec. 9 to overrule Brown.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo Davis, a former top investigator for the city’s Independent Police Review Authority who said he was fired earlier this year for resisting orders to justify police shootings, said Wednesday that he saw the video of Chatman’s death before his dismissal. His lawyer, Torreya Hamilton, said the Chatman case led to Davis’ dismissal from IPRA.
Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times that Coffman’s shooting death was an “unnecessary use of deadly force” — and a murder.
“You don’t kill a person unless you have to,” Davis said.
The officer who pulled the trigger has said that he feared for his partner’s life when Chatman made a “slight” turn of his torso during a foot chase, records show. The shooting was ultimately justified in an IPRA report that indicated Fry saw “a dark colored object” in Chatman’s hand that he thought could be a firearm. An IPRA spokesman did not comment on Davis’ allegations. A spokesman for City Hall’s law department also did not comment on the case.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune is demanding that Mayor Emanuel release the Ronald Johnson police shooting video.
* As you all know, there’s another guy named Mike Madigan running for state Senate. The other day, the State Journal-Register published an op-ed by somebody named James Durkin entitled “Compromise needed to restore Illinois’ standing” with this footnote…
The writer is a Mokena resident and part-time professor of political science and criminal justice at several northern Illinois community colleges. He is not the state representative of the same name.
* And today the Tribune ran a letter to the editor from a John Culloton…
Our Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan — who has made a practice of pursuing minor investigations — suddenly has written a letter to the U.S. attorney general requesting an investigation of the Chicago Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice. Why now?
All we need now is a fake Radogno and we’ll have a complete set.
The Riverview Center in Dubuque announced it will drastically cut services to its clients in both Western Illinois and Dubuque. The center receives funding from both the state of Illinois and Iowa.
At its Illinois offices in Jo Daviess and Carroll County, 85 percent of its domestic violence staff and 33 percent of its sexual assault program staff, will be laid off.
Northern Illinois University and Kishwaukee College students said the state suspending funding for the Monetary Award Program has been unnerving, especially as they try to plan for their future.
Rainn Darring II, a 21-year-old senior studying communications at NIU, said anxiety set in when it dawned on him that he might not receive the grant he was awarded – at least not right away. Darring is scheduled to graduate in May, but he was worried that the funds being delayed would push that big day back for him.
“My biggest worry was that I wasn’t going to have the necessary funding to register for my spring classes, the final courses heading into my graduation,” said Darring, who is also president of the Campus Activities Board. “People in Springfield don’t realize they’re touching so many lives by stopping this funding.”
He’s already taken out several student loans since his freshman year.
* Meanwhile, as I write this the House is debating a non-GRF funding bill (SB 2039) which is expected to pass…
House taking up a budget bill that spends $28 million in GRF funds - DOESN'T FUND core and essential community ID/DD and MH services #twill
*** UPDATE 1 *** Polly Poskin, Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, just called to say that domestic violence programs were included in the bill which passed today, but not funding for sexual assault victim programs. That’s just bizarre.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Emily Miller…
Domestic violence legal aid is GRF, and not included in the bill. You cannot fund bits and pieces of these services and expect the outcome to be successful. It makes no sense.
*** UPDATE 3 *** IML…
Municipal leaders across the state applaud the Illinois House for passing SB 2039 (Rep. Currie), which could pave the way for the Senate to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars the state owes municipalities.
“When the bill is approved by the Senate and signed into law by the Governor, municipalities will finally have the much needed relief to make ends meet with this crucial funding,” said Brad Cole, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League. “There is an urgency to have these funds distributed as rapidly as possible.”
IML has been actively working to gain the release of the funds being withheld by the state of Illinois during this lengthy budget impasse. SB 2039 would release specific state money owed to municipalities from various funds such as the Motor Fuel Tax fund, Use Tax revenue, video gaming fees, casino fees, and 911 service fees. These are non-general revenue funds that are otherwise distributed to local governments.
The IML appreciates the leadership of House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn-Currie and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin for generating overwhelming support for this legislation, as well as Rep. Marty Moylan and Rep. David Harris for their continued advocacy on behalf of local municipalities. In addition, the IML thanks Governor Bruce Rauner for his support recognizing the needs of local governments in serving citizens across Illinois. The IML appreciates the bi-partisan support being demonstrated by Senate President John Cullerton and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno for scheduling a vote on this legislation for next week.
If SB 2039 is signed into law, hundreds of millions of dollars would be allocated to fund the following areas of importance to local governments:
$582 million for Motor Fuel Tax Fund payments to be used for road improvements
$340 million in Use Tax payments
$154 million to 911 centers
$145 million to municipalities where casinos and video gaming is allowed
In the past ten years, the city has paid five hundred and twenty-one million dollars in alleged police-misconduct cases, according to a study by the Better Government Association
House Speaker Michael Madigan said Tuesday that he’s been too focused on the state’s budget problems to give any real thought to the March primary, declining to say which races his Democratic Party plans to pour money into.
Madigan also did not directly answer a question about whether he’d support Chicago Rep. Ken Dunkin’s re-election efforts, after Dunkin twice would not cast votes during Democratic attempts to overrule Republican Gov. Rauner on spending for child care and services for the elderly and disabled.
“We haven’t reached any decisions on the primary at all, we’ve been occupied with the No. 1 issue facing the state of Illinois: the budget deficit,” Madigan told reporters.
Madigan also brushed aside an inquiry about the three people challenging him for office, including whether he had anything to do with recruiting additional candidates to make it more difficult for one person to take him on.
The Speaker repeated his line about being too preoccupied with the budget to be dealing with putting up primary opponents against himself. He answered the same way when asked whether the county party ought to rethink its neutrality in the state’s attorney race. He’s just way too focused on the budget.
And if you believe any of that then you’re beyond help.
“When there is a meeting the speaker says nothing, the senate president talks a lot – and some of what he says is different out here than in [the meeting] and that’s a problem,” [Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno] said.
Senate President John Cullerton, D- Chicago, said he wished they would meet more often and he wants to pledge that it will continue but, “The first thing we have to do is see if we can even agree on what the facts are before we even get to the part where we disagree on and [have] different opinions.” […]
“I thought it was a productive meeting. I think it was meaningful. I think it was good that we met,” Madigan told reporters. “We agreed that we’re going to meet again.”
Madigan did admit he is quiet in meetings, but defended himself stating, “I learned a long time ago, that when you talk, you don’t learn. And my purpose today was to listen, to learn.”
“I think we should pledge to continue to meet, because if we don’t meet, how are we supposed to know how to reach a conclusion? What if I wanted to surrender to you? Where was I supposed to go? So here I am, and we’re willing to talk.”
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said he was encouraged by the meeting and remains ready to negotiate.
But he also took a shot or two at Rauner’s leadership style, saying they governor should have summoned the leaders sooner and more frequently, and he implied Rauner needs to step up when it comes to the budget.
“The budget is our (the Legislature’s) problem and he’s just the governor? That doesn’t make sense,” Cullerton said.
“The mess we find ourselves in today, including the worst credit rating under one party, Democrat control, falls into the hands of the Democrats,” a fiery Durkin said. […]
“Rather than meet you half way, our friends at the end of the aisle ran away,” Durkin said, adding Democrats view the budget impasse as a “war” without compromise.
“I’m sorry but I’ve seen this bad movie before. It doesn’t end well for the Illinois economy,” Durkin said.
“There needs to be a willingness on behalf of Democratic leadership to say that those reform agenda items need to make some progress,” Durkin said. “There’s got to be reform before we get to anything else.” […]
“This never-ending tax-and-spend cycle has driven this state into the ditch,” Durkin said. “Revenue is not the answer; it is never going to be the answer.”
“I think the governor’s very clear about what he is looking for; nothing’s changed,” House GOP leader Jim Durkin said. “And that’s not going to change either. There needs to be a willingness on behalf of the Democrat leadership to say that those reforms, agenda items the governor has specifically stated, that there needs to be made some progress.
“The Democrats talk about their core principle beliefs on certain issues as if they’re the only party that has core beliefs. We have some as well,” Durkin said.
I’ve spent more time at Alexander’s this year than any other year, and there are always heavy hitters dining alongside tables of local families. It’s a nice change of pace to venture off campus and be with real people.
It has, indeed, become a non-sandbox session hangout. Even MJM occasionally dines there.
* The Golden Horseshoe Award for best Statehouse bar goes to Boones Saloon…
Boones is the best Springfield bar. There is always a crowd of characters and you are guaranteed a good night after a long stressful day at the Capitol.
* Unless I hear any real objections, I think we need to name the Golden Horseshoe Award for best bartender/waiter/waitress after this year’s winner…
Kathleen at the Globe. Has my drink ready when I walk in and handles the shenanigans that occur with the biggest smile on her face.
Honorable mention to Alisha Kulek at the Butternut Hut.
* Today’s Golden Horseshoe categories are…
* The Beth Hamilton Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Secretary/Admin. Assistant
* Best Senate Secretary/Admin. Assistant
Remember that these awards are based on the intensity of your nominations, so please explain your votes. Also, please do your best to nominate in both categories. Thanks!
* Neil Steinberg writes about the problems created after the ouster of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy…
Problem One: who replaces him? Someone from within the force who, weaned on the you’ve-got-my-back-I’ve-got-yours buddyism that is the air of the Chicago Police Department, knows how things work and could change them were he inclined to. But he wouldn’t be; that’s how he lasted so long in the first place. Anyone who has risen high enough within the CPD to be on the short list for superintendent should be excluded from consideration.
Bring in an outsider, however, and the rank and file immediately hate him, on general principles, for being an outsider and suggesting that any young cop who arrives with a gun and dream can’t grow up to be superintendent. They’ll resist with all their might whatever Supt. Not-From-Here tries to do even more than they’d resist someone from within trying the same thing, not that someone from within would do anything beyond symbolic chair shuffling.
He’s right, unfortunately.
The city needs more than just somebody new at the top of the force. The entire department needs an attitude adjustment. Some new state laws limiting the powers of the police union might be something to look at. Let’s look again at what McCarthy said on TV yesterday moments before he was fired…
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy admitted Tuesday on NBC Chicago that the initial press release sent out after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was fatally shot 16 times by an officer last year was wrong.
“The initial press release was mistaken, no two ways about it,” he said. “I guess that’s my fault.” […]
McCarthy added that he didn’t see dash-cam video of the shooting until the day after the press release went out.
“At that point I was too involved in trying to learn the circumstances of this event and what I needed to do internally and externally and communication is a part of that, no two ways about it, but in this particular case my greatest concern was that information came from elsewhere that he had lunged at the officers, which we knew not be the case and that was what I was trying to fix behind the scenes with the FOP quite frankly,” he said.
Emphasis added for obvious reasons, because, I mean, what the heck, man? If the FOP is so powerful that it can cow a superintendent into participating in a 13-month coverup, then the FOP needs to be reined in. But I doubt anything can be done about it on the state level because the governor has made anti-union issues his top priority and the Democrats have reacted by retreating to the arms of organized labor.
Problem Three is the real problem, underlying all this. It isn’t McCarthy’s fault, or Emanuel’s fault or even Anita Alvarez’s fault, which is really saying something, because everything is her fault. That problem is: how do we fix the grotesque undervaluing of human life that is behind the Laquan McDonald atrocity? It’s as if even the public doesn’t want to notice. It wasn’t the 16 shots, horrible as that was, that was the most horrible part of the video. It was the cops letting the teenager lie dying in the street, unaided, uncomforted, almost unnoticed. As if he were a dog. How do we fix that? Cameras might cow cops into grudgingly doing their jobs better, although Jason Van Dyke certainly wasn’t inspired to excellence. Besides, cameras break. We need a police force that knows the people they’re policing, the dreaded community policing that was tried and abandoned because it costs money and officers we don’t have.
The $5 million given to McDonald’s family is viewed only as hush money. Anybody noticed another awful injustice: the same family that left him a ward of the state after two abuse investigations gets a giant payday at his death? You could hire a lot of cops for $5 million. And those cops could get to better know the people they’re policing. And then they will be less inclined to shoot them.
Agreed on all counts, except for the dog part. I’m betting they’d give aid and comfort to a dying dog. The officers walked past that bleeding kid like he didn’t even exist. He might as well have been a fly on a windshield.
* Most every media outlet claimed that both sides essentially recycled all their old talking points yesterday. That’s mostly true, but the Democratic leaders did focus on something that they haven’t really highlighted much in the past…
“Put it all together, and Illinois is awash in debt. Awash in debt, at a time, where Mr. Governor, you have committed to spend over 100 percent, of the amount of money that you estimate will be available this current budget year,” [House Speaker Michael Madigan] said.
Before his “awash in debt” comments, Madigan also talked about the state’s structural deficit and its unfunded pension liability and then sharply criticized the governor for borrowing to pay for state operations. Afterwards, he noted that bond raters haven’t commented at all about workers’ comp reform, collective bargaining, the prevailing wage or whatever, and instead have focused their criticisms about the money coming into the state versus the money going out.
What he didn’t mention, of course, is that the House and Senate didn’t renew the income tax hike after the last election, which would’ve solved most of those problems.
House GOP Leader Jim Durkin disputed [Speaker Madigan’s] position, saying 12 years of unbalanced budgets passed under “total Democratic control” wrecked the state’s finances and drove away jobs.
Senate President John Cullerton responded that “speeches like that won’t help,” but then went on the attack himself, saying that Rauner’s refusal to sign off on tax hikes have “doubled” state IOUs after years in which Democrats had paid down debt.
School districts take more than 60 percent of your property tax dollars and that’s largely because the state — you guessed it — has failed to adequately fund public education. School districts do approve pay raises for teachers and that represents a big chunk of their spending. But how many people would support cutting the pay of the teachers in their schools when neighboring districts are paying more? More to the point, perhaps, how many parents would support a school district that faced a teacher’s strike?
Most people who move to the suburbs select an area because of the quality of the public schools. Their home values are closely tied to the quality of those schools. I suppose there may be some people who would vote against their self-interest in that regard, but it hasn’t happened in any wealthy, Republican suburbs I am aware of, places with some of the best schools and highest paid teachers.
But here’s the important point. Even if property taxes were frozen, even if municipalities could decide for themselves what issues they would collectively bargain (an issue where legal scholars disagree) there is no reason to believe that the problem involving school funding would change at all. This state simply doesn’t have the money now to adequately fund public education. The governor has provided no long-term solution to the problem because there isn’t one in sight.
Once again property taxpayers and school children are being used as pawns in a political game. I’m surprised that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Rauner’s supposed foe, didn’t stand up and applaud the governor’s maneuver. He’s been using this ploy with great success for decades himself.
In recent years, I have given readers the same advice many times.
If a state legislator or governor talks about his devotion to public school children, or property taxes, you ought to assume he is lying.
I do not know if Republicans and Democrats will ever reach a budget agreement. The problems facing this state and the philosophical differences among the people involved seem insurmountable.
However, they can agree on one thing. If you claim you support public education and criticize the property tax system, the people of the state will love you for it. You don’t have to do a thing. In fact, you can even make the situation worse, which has happened often.
A long-awaited budget talk among Gov. Bruce Rauner and other Illinois leaders repeated some of the well-worn conflicts that have punctuated the lengthy impasse over state spending and ended with the promise of yet another meeting.
Rauner used his opening public comments to outline top priorities in the upcoming negotiations, calling term limits for public officials and changes to how political boundaries are drawn “easy votes” for state lawmakers.
“Let’s vote for the next generation, not the next election,” he said.
But shortly after the meeting adjourned, Rauner’s chief foil, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, called both the issues Republican talking points for the 2016 campaign, raising questions of whether a budget compromise is anywhere close to reality.
“I don’t think that they ought to be advancing political party positions relative to a future campaign” as part of budget talks, Madigan said.
OK, that’s pretty rich coming from Madigan. I mean, the guy has forced how many votes on his property tax freeze bill? Those “No” votes by Republicans won’t be used in mailers and TV ads? Please.
* But why do I say we should’ve seen this other stuff coming? Well, let’s go back to November 13th when the governor announced his plans for the meeting…
At that point, we will allot 10 minutes for each leader to make his or her case to the people of Illinois — uninterrupted and unfiltered. While you can discuss any issues you’d like, I suggest it may be most productive for each leader to use their 10 minutes on the issues about which they feel most passionately: Speaker Madigan, balancing the budget with specific additional taxes/revenue details; Leader Durkin, the need for reform before revenue; President Cullerton, overall spending levels, pension reform and Chicago’s financial crisis; Leader Radogno, economic reforms to improve the jobs climate like workers’ compensation reform; and I will focus on term limits, redistricting reform and local control of costs and property taxes.
Emphasis added.
* As such, we can ignore this report from the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
Illinois’ governor has narrowed his agenda to three points he says are not extreme while the leading House Democrat stuck to statements he’s made in the past.
During the much-anticipated meeting to discuss the budget impasse now in its sixth month between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and the four legislative leaders, Rauner said he’s willing to raise taxes but wants three reforms: redistricting reform for political maps, term limits on elected officials, and a property tax freeze with local cost controls.
Several items Rauner had previously pushed for that didn’t get aired Tuesday afternoon were reforms to tort law and workers’ compensation.
C’mon, man. Talking about those three things was his plan all along. Radogno was supposed to talk about workers’ comp (which she did in private and subscribers know more).
