Gov. Bruce Rauner pledged Monday to continue rooting out improper patronage hiring at the same time his lawyers were attempting to block a federal court monitor’s expanded review of all state administration jobs. […]
Yet, Rauner says a review of all state positions by a special master — appointed in 2014 to investigate the scandal, in which the staff assistant posts were improperly handed out as political favors — is premature, too costly and duplicative of the work it wants the Office of the Executive Inspector General to do. […]
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Rauner’s administration argues that the state has already paid $800,000 to the special master; expanding her workload would come at a much steeper cost. It also outlines a newly created Hiring and Employment Monitoring unit under the executive inspector general. […]
The Rauner administration countered Monday that a statewide special master expansion is premature, would unnecessarily complicate the government’s attempts to reform hiring, would cost the cash-strapped state too much and duplicate the work of the newly established Hiring and Employment Monitoring unit.
In its new survey of Illinois, the Loras College Poll finds Democrat Hillary Clinton with a lead over Republican Donald Trump. The live-caller statewide survey of a random sample of 600 likely voters was conducted Sept. 13-16. […]
Hillary Clinton 43 percent
Donald Trump 30 percent
Gary Johnson 8 percent
Jill Stein 3 percent
Clinton and Trump both continue to struggle with the public’s perception of them. Even in the state she used to call home, 50 percent of likely Illinois voters view Clinton unfavorably, while 67 percent view Donald Trump negatively. […]
Candidate Net Favorability
Hillary Clinton -8
Donald Trump
About even numbers of Trump supporters indicate they intend to vote for the real estate mogul more out of opposition to Clinton (46 percent) than in support of Trump (44 percent). For Clinton, a majority (54 percent) indicated that their choice of Clinton was due more to support of her than opposition to Trump.
Nothing unifies quite like an opponent can, and that’s particularly true of Trump supporters right now.
In terms of race, Trump’s support among Hispanic and African-American voters is very small, with only 10 percent of Hispanic voters surveyed intending to vote for the real estate mogul. Only 4 percent of African-Americans surveyed indicated they intend to vote for Trump. […]
Geography is also an important element in understanding Illinois politics, with the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and City of Chicago holding substantial importance politically and economically. Downstate Illinois comprises the third geographic unit of analysis. Geographic differences in voter preference are revealed in this Loras Poll, as Clinton’s margin is strongest in the City of Chicago (64 percent Clinton to 12 percent Trump), while within the Chicago MSA the race is more competitive (42 percent for Clinton and 31 percent for Trump). There is one geographic region in which Trump holds the advantage over Clinton. In downstate Illinois Trump leads over Clinton 40 percent to 31 percent.
President Obama’s job approval rating is 55 percent, compared to 40 percent who disapprove.
53 percent of likely voters expect that Hillary Clinton will be elected in November, while 26 percent expect the winner to be Donald Trump.
35 percent of likely voters believe the country is on the right track, with 51 percent indicating the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Looking at the impact of partisanship on perception of the direction of the country, Democrats are more positive than Republicans—52 percent of Democrats believe the country is on the right track compared to just 11 percent of Republicans. Seventy-nine percent of Republicans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared to just 33 percent of Democrats.
Only 24 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of both Clinton and Trump.
That last line is interesting. You’d think by reading analysis online that everybody hates both candidates.
California employers quieted any lingering doubts about the state’s economy in August, as an uptick in hiring helped absorb hordes of new job-seekers.
The state added a net 63,100 jobs last month and the unemployment rate remained at 5.5%, according to data released by the Employment Development Department on Friday.
Across the nation in August, employers added a net total of 151,000 new positions, meaning that California accounted for 42% of all U.S. job growth last month. […]
Since last August, the state has boosted payrolls by 378,000 workers — a 2.3% gain. Despite new paid-leave mandates, a rising minimum wage and strict environmental regulations, California has managed to grow faster than the rest of the country for several months.
* The Daily Herald has been looking into these sorts of stories for a while now, but they hit the mother lode on a candidate without much hope of winning…
A DuPage County Board member making a bid for Congress improperly claimed a number of homeowner exemptions on properties her family is renting out, a Daily Herald investigation has found.
Republican Tonia Khouri of Aurora, who is running against Naperville Democrat Bill Foster in the 11th Congressional District this fall, listed rental properties in Aurora as supplementary sources of income on the financial disclosure report filed in mid-May with the clerk of the House of Representatives. […]
But the Kane County and Aurora Township assessors offices, where the rental properties lie, confirmed the Khouris also received primary homeowners exemptions on homes on High Street from 2012 through 2015, on North Ohio Street in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and on Elliott Street in 2014 and 2015, all homes which are being rented out by the Khouris. Together, the Khouris have received more than $6,000 in exemptions for the properties, records show. […]
Khouri is not the first candidate to be found to be taking extra exemptions. The Daily Herald reported in 2013 that Gov. Bruce Rauner claimed $1,616 in extra homeowner exemptions on a Winnetka home, a Chicago penthouse and a condo, and that Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth was claiming two exemptions on homes in DeKalb and Hoffman Estates at the same time for a total of $1,928 in extra exemptions. Last fall, the Daily Herald also reported that Arlington Heights Trustee John Scaletta had claimed an extra $4,200 exemption on a second property.
* Meanwhile, in other congressional campaign news…
Watch our latest ad! CJ opposes bad trade deals. Rep. Bost voted to "Fast Track" the TPP trade deal. pic.twitter.com/9SKBhnK8m0
* If you click below and go to about the 8:30 mark [fixed link], you’ll hear Gov. Rauner yet again refuse to answer a question today about who how he’ll be voting for president…
“Now is the time to come together, now is the time to unite, up and down the ticket,” Rauner told the convention. “What we can’t do is let Hillary Clinton get in the White House. No way Hillary Clinton is getting elected.”
Rauner repeatedly had sought to stay out of the presidential race, though he did say that as leader of the GOP in Illinois, he would back the eventual nominee. But Rauner aides stressed there are various levels of “support”
* The Question: Why do you think that Rauner is refusing to respond to this question?
* I don’t really think that driverless cars are going to be a real issue for quite a long time. If you look carefully at the breathless write-ups about Uber’s splashy “no-driver” car rollout in Pittsburgh, you’ll see that the cars do, indeed, have drivers who had to take control at various points in the demonstrations and the drivers require special two-week training classes before they get behind the wheel.
My main concern is that policymakers shouldn’t succumb to Uber and the other big players’ expected attempts to get the government to somehow subsidize this stuff or set aside big chunks of city streets for the ice cream of the future cars.
Hours after Uber launched driverless cars in Pittsburgh, aldermen proposed an ordinance to ban driverless cars in Chicago.
Aldermen Ed Burke and Anthony Beale proposed the ordinance Wednesday in a City Council meeting, calling it a “preemptive strike” after Uber’s announcement it was beginning a pilot of self-driving cars.
“We do not want the streets of Chicago to be used as an experiment that will no doubt come with its share of risks, especially for pedestrians,” Burke said in an emailed press release from the city’s Committee on Finance. “No technology is one-hundred percent safe.”
Sigh.
They’re not even here yet. They’re not even driverless yet. Take a breath already.
* For whatever reason, Ald. Burke decided to appear on Dan Proft’s radio show. You should really give this a listen. Burke is raked over the coals about his proposed ban and the city’s less than stellar governance. I don’t think he realized what he had gotten himself into…
Rauner Administration Abolishes Position in IDOT Patronage Hiring Scandal
Illegal hires off state payroll
The Rauner Administration announced today it has abolished the staff assistant position at the Illinois Department of Transportation. The position was central to the IDOT patronage hiring scandal that began under previous administrations.
“Every day we are working to restore the people’s faith and confidence in government,” Governor Rauner said. “Ending this illegal patronage hiring and abolishing the staff assistant position is another step in regaining the trust of Illinois taxpayers. Government should work for the people and not the government insiders.”
On September 1, the Administration announced the remaining staff assistants at IDOT had received layoff notices. Their last day with the agency was Thursday, September 15; they are no longer on state payroll.
The staff assistant position came under scrutiny in 2014. An Executive Inspector General Report found the previous administrations had illegally hired employees into the staff assistant position at IDOT. These employees would then transfer into protected government positions or perform job duties that had little or no relation to their actual job description. The previous administration tried to layoff these employees, but the union representing the employees sued to stop those proceedings. The Rauner Administration reached an agreement with the union to finalize the layoffs of the illegal patronage hires.
Since taking office, Governor Rauner has taken a number of actions to increase transparency in hiring. He signed an Executive Order to publish Rutan-exempt employees on the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal website in a direct response to the IDOT hiring scandal. In addition, he signed an Executive Order that removed the requirement that the Governor’s Office review and approve the hiring and promotion decisions of Rutan-covered positions. This Executive Order removed a level of bureaucracy in hiring civil-service positions and further protected the process from unlawful political influence.
* Notice this buried passage from the release…
The Rauner Administration reached an agreement with the union to finalize the layoffs of the illegal patronage hires
The last day for the staff assistants will be Sept. 15. Rauner’s administration said the group was laid off on Thursday after the state reached a settlement with the union representing the workers, Teamsters Local 916.
Part of the settlement included abolishing the position of “staff assistant” within IDOT.
That settlement is here. It’s dated April 8th and lays out a complicated process to move staff assistants to other jobs. 32 people remained on IDOT’s payroll as staff assistants at that time, down from 55 in 2014. And the folks who were laid off this month are now on a recall list for three years. If anyone is hired back for a position at a lower classification, they’re guaranteed at least 96 percent of their former salary.
Each Illinois taxpayer is on the hook for $45,500 in unfunded liabilities—more than most residents earn after taxes in an entire year.
That’s the bottom line of yet another report that whacks Illinois’ pension-impacted finances but presents the numbers in a way the average taxpayer may more easily grasp.
Today’s report from a division of Truth in Accounting—a Chicago-based, bipartisan think tank whose board includes DePaul University researcher Bill Obershain, Democratic strategist Rick Jasculca, conservative activist Dan Proft and financial analyst Terry Savage—categorizes the Land of Lincoln as a “sinkhole state” and finds it in the third-worst shape of any of the 50 states.
The group came up with its figures by dividing total net state debt (liabilities minus available assets) by 4.1 million, the combined number of individual and company tax returns filed in 2015. Illinois’ per-taxpayer debt of $45,500 is exceeded only by New Jersey’s $59,400 and Connecticut’s $49,000—and well above that in some surrounding Midwest states such as Ohio at $5,000, Wisconsin at $4,600 and Indiana at $2,400.
“Norine Hammond either broke state campaign finance laws and failed to report a contribution of nearly $10,000 she accepted from Illinois’ most powerful politician, or she’s afraid to let people know about the governor’s very generous contribution just before crucial votes…” Curtis was quoted in the media release.
While Hammond confirmed receipt of such a check from Citizens for Rauner, she told the Voice on Friday that she also destroyed the check. The check was sent soon after the governor was elected and before the General Assembly began its session, she said.
“He sent them out, and I was not comfortable with that from the beginning,” Hammond said. “There’s a perception. I don’t want to be tied to a governor because he gave me $8,000. It didn’t feel right.”
In a written response to Curtis’ claim, Hammond stated, “My opponent may want to get his facts straight. I tore up the check from Governor Rauner when I received it. By law, you do not report a contribution until it is deposited. And moving forward, (Curtis) may want to tighten up his accusations given he’s looking for people to trust him with their representation.” […]
In her written response, Hammond noted she broke with the governor on several issues and helped to drive the rank and file compromise that kept Western Illinois University and the local Meals on Wheels programs going through the budget impasse.
* From an interview with Rolling Meadows Mayor Tom Rooney, who will take Sen. Matt Murphy’s spot…
Q: How does it feel to be leaving Rolling Meadows and moving on to the state Senate?
A: Of course it’s difficult to leave something I’ve been doing for a long time. I’m certainly still going to keep my eye on everything. I still live in town and I’m not going anywhere. Now I just get to represent the same people on a higher level. Plus, I’ve wanted to be in a House or Senate chamber since I was 17 years old, so this is a special moment.
Q: How will you work with Gov. Bruce Rauner and the gridlock in Springfield?
A: I’m already feeling that the caucus in the Senate is a great big club of people who want to be unified and charge forward. They’re sending that signal from the governor on down, and it’s a neat feeling. It feels like a tremendous honor to get to be a part of the team.
* It was his turn, so it’s not unexpected. He’s widely expected to retire after he does his two years as chief. From a press release…
The Illinois Supreme Court announced today that Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier will be its next Chief Justice. Justice Karmeier was unanimously elected to the office by his fellow justices and will serve a three-year term commencing October 26, 2016. He succeeds Rita B. Garman, whose tenure as Chief Justice ends October 25, 2016.
An installation ceremony honoring Justice Karmeier’s election as Chief Justice will be held at the Supreme Court Building in Springfield on Monday, October 31. Justice Garman will administer the oath of office.
Justice Karmeier will be this State’s 120th Chief Justice and the second person from Washington County to hold that office. Justice Byron O. House, for whom Justice Karmeier served as a law clerk, was the first.
“I appreciate the confidence shown by the other members of the court in electing me to this position,” said Justice Karmeier. “Since joining the court in 2004, I have had the privilege of serving under five different chief justices, all of whom have done an outstanding job. I will do my very best to live up to the high standard they have set.”
* Coincidentally, this press release also arrived today from Robert Clifford’s law firm…
An Illinois federal judge late Friday (Sept. 16, 2016) granted class certification to plaintiffs representing 4.7 million State Farm policyholders involved in a complex Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) regarding an alleged scheme involving campaign contributions being poured into an Illinois Supreme Court justice’s race to influence the reversal of a $1.05 billion decision. If successful, that could result in a more than $7.6 billion payout from State Farm for the class given the interest that has accrued.
This case alleges violations of the “RICO” against State Farm and related defendants who allegedly “perpetrat[ed] a scheme through an enterprise specifically designed to defraud Plaintiffs and Class out of a $1.05 billion judgment,” according to the complaint. That “scheme” allegedly involved the defendants orchestrating a “dark money” network of campaign contributions to the campaign committee of Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier for the Illinois Supreme Court who would be sympathetic to State Farm’s position in the $1.05 billion class action, and then misleading and lying to the Court about its clandestine and sizeable involvement in contributions to Karmeier’s contested election.
“Dark money” is campaign contributions that are run through political action committees (PACs) so that the actual source of its distribution is muddied. Here, it is alleged that State Farm contributed millions to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that then sent the money back to PACs and the Illinois Republican Party for use in Karmeier’s campaign.
Karmeier’s contested election for an open downstate seat on the Illinois Supreme Court for the November, 2004 election was one of the highest in history for a judicial election and his recruitment for the position involved someone “who would support State Farm once its appeal came before the [Illinois Supreme] Court for disposition,” according to pleadings. The underlying case involves a class action filed in 1997 that led to a $1.05 billion verdict that was upheld by the appellate court. But when it ultimately was decided by the Illinois Supreme Court more than two years following oral arguments before the Court that Karmeier never heard, by then Karmeier had been elected and had taken the bench and decided to participate in the Court’s decision, with Karmeier admitting he cast the deciding vote.
The defendants in the RICO certified class action are State Farm; Edward Murnane, President of the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL); and William G. Shepherd, employee/lobbyist of State Farm and ICJL Executive Committee Member. Karmeier’s election committee, now long disbanded, remains associated in the enterprise, according to the pleadings.
Friday’s decision certifying the class brings this case one step closer to a jury trial to determine the damages suffered by the class that consists of 4.7 million State Farm policyholders who made a claim for vehicle repairs pursuant to their policies from 1987-1998. These claims were litigated in the Avery v. State Farm case and involved damages to cars that were repaired with non-factory authorized and/or non-Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts when they were led to believe that they were factory authorized, as their policies provided.
The claimed misleading comments and lies by State Farm representatives to the Illinois Supreme Court and the damages they caused are now the subject of the RICO class action after plaintiffs hired a former FBI agent who uncovered the alleged “dark money” ties of State Farm to Karmeier’s campaign in his bid for election to Illinois’ highest court. Plaintiffs allege Karmeier’s participation in that case and his apparent lack of objectivity tainted the tribunal that resulted in the reversal by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Friday’s decision comes on the heels of an earlier decision by U.S. District Court Judge David R. Herndon who held in June that plaintiffs’ experts, including a judicial election expert as well as a forensic accounting expert who valued the case to now be worth $7.6 billion, could testify as expert witnesses during the expected trial of this matter.
“The Illinois Constitution clearly provides that four votes are required to reverse the decision of an appellate court. In the absence of four votes, the Illinois Constitution provides that the decision of the appellate court stands, which in this matter would have resulted in affirming the $1.05 billion verdict,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and co-lead counsel of the class action matter. “The next step is that we will continue our preparations for trial of this matter on behalf of the millions of State Farm policy holders.”
In its 29-page written opinion issued Friday (Sept. 16, 2016), Judge Herndon said that in certifying the class, “the Court agrees with plaintiff that all questions of law and fact are common as to the putative class: did defendants act in concert over a period of time to select and elect Justice Karmeier and to fraudulently conceal the nature and the scope of their involvement to enable and defend his participation in Avery.”
The parties are expected to be before Judge Herndon Oct. 15 in St. Louis for a status on the case.
Illinois has paid more than $631,000 in bonuses over the past two years to dozens of Illinois Lottery employees for meeting sales targets and other goals.
Introducing programs like this, which reward workers financially based on certain measures of job performance, throughout state government has been a priority for Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration in stalled contract talks with a union representing 38,000 state workers. The administration wants to do away with guaranteed annual raises in favor what it calls “merit pay,” but the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 has opposed those proposals because, among other reasons, it sees opportunities for favoritism. […]
McDevitt said the program has proved effective at improving performance. For example, the percentage of retailers activating new games within two weeks was 79 percent in September 2012, but it’s now up to about 95 percent, he said. […]
While performance might be easily measurable for some workers, such as “an exceedingly small number of employees” at the Lottery, that’s not the case across the board, [AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall] said.
“How would one fairly and accurately quantify the performance of a child protection investigator or a nurse assistant in a veterans home or a caregiver for someone with disabilities?” he said. “We’re skeptical that that can be done.”
Lindall is right that it’s fairly easy to quantify a lottery salesperson’s bonuses. That’s a no-brainer (and, frankly, I’m not even sure why the state is handling what should be given to an outside vendor).
And bonuses can be manipulated by the type of boss who wants to reward his or her friends and punish his or her enemies.
* But I could see situations where some of Anders’ own examples, including child protection investigators, could be subject to a bonus system. If, for instance, the state is too slow at initiating investigations, bonuses could be awarded to those who are prompt.
Then again, as we saw with the recent Wells Fargo scandal, if you reward employees based on a specific metric, they could very well do whatever they can to meet that particular goal, even if it doesn’t actually accomplish anything. You have to be careful when setting goals to avoid this sort of outcome.
It’s like teaching to the test. If you base teacher pay/ratings on how much their students’ test scores improve, they’re gonna teach that test as much as they possibly can. Does it really improve the overall education of those kids? Nope. But are other incentives wrong? Nope.
* Semi-related…
* Rauner eliminates IDOT job position tied to patronage hiring: Rauner’s office said early Monday that abolishing the staff assistant positions at the Illinois Department of Transportation was necessary for “regaining the trust of Illinois taxpayers.” On Sept. 1, Rauner issued layoff notices to the remaining 29 staff assistants. Investigations previously found they were hired based on clout instead of merit. Their last day was Thursday.
* Press release: In an announcement today at the 2016 National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Conference in Orlando, Florida, the Center for Digital Government named Illinois as one of the most improved states in the country for technology and innovation. In just 18 months, Illinois has moved from the bottom quarter to the top third of all 50 states.
I was duped by a right-wing organization into appearing in what will probably be a propaganda movie. It’s my own fault. The producer claimed that while some people were pointing fingers at House Speaker Michael Madigan, his company was interested in doing a fair and balanced film about “what’s really at the center of it all.”
Two days later, I found out that the forthcoming “documentary” is backed by an arm of the well-funded Illinois Policy Institute, one of Madigan’s fiercest critics and a staunch ally of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. The institute’s top executive is also a close Rauner adviser. I’m not exactly popular with that group, although I have strongly supported several of its small-business initiatives in Chicago. I’m not expecting to come out of the editing room looking too well.
Such is life.
But just to make sure I get my side in, I thought I’d tell you some of what I told the filmmakers.
Illinois State Fair officials are trying to put the best spin on this year’s attendance figures.
13-percent fewer people came through the gates this year… but fair officials say revenues overall should remain even, in part because of record Grandstand ticket sales.
PRELIMINARY REPORTS INDICATE GROSS REVENUE FOR 2016 FAIR WILL SURPASS 2015 REVENUE LEVELS
2016 Fair Breaks Two Grandstand Ticket Records
SPRINGFIELD, IL - Despite triple digit heat indices, power outages, flooding and the cancelation of a concert at the Grandstand, the 2016 Illinois State Fair revenues remained on pace with figures from previous years. In fact, preliminary figures project that gross revenue estimates for the 2016 Illinois State Fair will surpass 2015 revenue levels.
2016 was the highest-grossing Grandstand line-up in State Fair history with tickets sales of $2.08 million. The sales figure eclipsed the previous record of $2.03 million set in 2013. Concerts like Meghan Trainor, Jake Owen, KISS, and Cole Swindell proved to be popular among fairgoers.
“Someone once stated that conducting the Illinois State Fair consisted of 15% planning and 85% weather, and after this year’s fair, I tend to believe it,” said State Fair Manager Kevin Gordon. “This year we battled obstacles at every turn: triple digit heat indices, power outages and seven and three quarter inches (7.75″) of rain. In one evening alone we saw a record 5.59 inches of rain which led to extensive flooding, parking lot closures and event cancellations. Yet, we still had thousands of people leave Springfield with memories and experiences that will last a lifetime.”
The Illinois State Fair continues to provide affordable entertainment and free educational opportunities for Illinoisans. In addition, the fair offers the State of Illinois an opportunity to highlight our state’s number one industry. This year an estimated 357,409 fairgoers attended the Illinois State Fair. While flooding forced the early closure of the fair on the first Friday (August 12), near perfect weather conditions followed for the first weekend (August 13-14). Historically, the first weekend of the fair is the highest attended dates of the Illinois State Fair.
And it goes on and on and on like that until you finally get to the actual attendance figures. But instead of providing a grand total and context from last year, the state fair folks only provided each individual day’s attendance figures for this year.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has said several times over the past few weeks that he’s not involved in legislative races. He said it again last week.
“I’m asked that all the time and I do want to emphasize I’m not really involved,” Rauner said after an event in Decatur. “I’m not involved in races per se, predicting races or advising races. I’m not involved in that.”
Yeah, but he’s involved in a way that’s way more important — and probably way more appreciated by the candidates — than giving them advice on how to run their campaigns. That’s giving them money. Big money. You may have heard the reports that the state Republican Party has raised $15 million since March 31, and nearly all of that came from Rauner’s campaign committee, to which he is the biggest contributor. There are similar lopsided contributions to the House Republican Organization.
It’s not illegal. It’s also not uninvolved. Any more than labor unions or business organizations can say they’re uninvolved just because they make campaign contributions.
* The total went up since Doug filed his column…
Of the $20,927,496 that the Illinois Republican Party has raised this cycle $20,071,600 has come from Rauner, his committee or his wife.
Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is launching a new TV ad today featuring the two women who sued his Democratic challenger, Tammy Duckworth, for alleged workplace retaliation during her tenure as head of the state’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
A judge in Union County has not acted on the case, in which the attorney general’s office in June said that a $26,000 settlement had been reached with no finding of wrongdoing, only to see the plaintiffs subsequently say later that they didn’t agree to it.
In the new 30-second Kirk attack ad, the two plaintiffs, Christine Butler and Denise Goins, who work at the Anna Veterans’ Home, try to make their case to the public while an announcer accused Duckworth of “covering up the abuse” of veterans.
Goins: She said to me point blank: keep your mouth shut and you won’t be fired.
Announcer: Veterans abused under Tammy Duckworth’s watch. When whistleblowers came forward, Duckworth fired and threatened them - covering up the abuse.
Butler: Director Tammy Duckworth was trying to protect Governor Blagojevich. I believe she put her personal aspirations ahead of the veteran’s care.
Announcer: Duckworth is a war hero. But she’s been a terrible public servant.
Butler: The veteran was not Tammy Duckworth’s top priority.
I’m Mark Kirk and I approve this message.
*** UPDATE *** Response…
“The story this ad purports to tell is a lie, pure and simple, and Senator Kirk knows it. The lawsuit was called a ‘garden variety workplace case’ by a federal judge, and has been dismissed in whole or in part three times. Indeed, the plaintiffs agreed to settle the case for what the Attorney General called ‘nuisance value,’ before Senator Kirk cynically recruited them to star in a political commercial. Tammy Duckworth, a decorated combat veteran, has spent her entire adult life defending our country and assuring that Veterans are treated with respect. Tammy gets her own health care from the VA, and she makes no apology for fighting to assure that Veterans are given nothing but the highest quality care. Senator Kirk, on the other hand, has lied at least ten times about his own military record. He continues to plumb the depths of campaign vitriol, desperately spinning yarns of his own military glory, while baselessly attacking his opponent’s dedication to our Veterans. Kirk’s claims are pathetic. He should salvage what’s left of his dignity, apologize to Veterans, and pull this shameless ad.” — Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
Food-truck operators in Chicago — facing a crackdown by City Hall on a business that’s found big support among the young and hip — are getting backing from groups financed by staunch conservatives including the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers and Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Lawyers from the Institute for Justice, based in Arlington, Va., are pressing a long-running lawsuit to overturn the city’s rules, which bar food trucks from doing business within 200 feet of restaurants.
The Institute for Justice says it got “initial seed funding” from Charles G. Koch of Wichita, Kansas, and recognizes the “generous” financial support of David H. Koch, who lives in New York. The octogenarian brothers control Koch Industries, the country’s second-biggest privately held company, and are among the largest financiers of Republican politicians and right-wing causes nationally.
Another conservative organization, the Illinois Policy Institute, which ramped up its campaign on behalf of Chicago’s food trucks in recent weeks, has received funding from the Charles Koch Institute and Rauner’s family foundation, according to publicly available tax returns those groups have filed with the Internal Revenue Service as not-for-profit organizations.
I’ve written about this before, but let me say it again: The city’s overly complicated food truck regulations are just plain ridiculous.
The [Illinois Policy Institute press release] promises “an impressive lineup of interviews,” and on the list is Rich Miller, publisher of the Capitol Fax newsletter and blog. But Miller says he was never told, when he sat for an interview last week, that Illinois Policy was involved, and he would not have participated had he known.
“I … wouldn’t have consented if the project was backed by the Illinois AFL-CIO, either,” Miller told me. […]
Miller later told me the questions he was asked were fine, but he felt he had been “duped into participating in an Illinois Policy Institute project.”
He added that he has “no idea if the producer and director knew who was funding them. I asked them numerous times on Tuesday who was providing the money, and they kept saying it was Emergent.”
I brought someone with me to the interview, so he can attest to the fact that I repeatedly asked about who was behind the project.
Thanks for posting about the IPI “documentary”. I have the same story. When I asked who was doing the documentary they said they were. That Madigan was an interesting subject unknown to the rest of the country. I didn’t press them. Live and learn, I guess.
-Scott
* Considering my witness and Stantis’ e-mail, perhaps the Illinois Policy Institute’s Diana Rickert might want to reconsider this quote…
“Rich’s comments are strange. The film crew is top notch, and was very forthcoming about the scope of the documentary and our involvement when asked who was funding the project. We’ve been critical of Speaker Madigan and his political machine for many years, so we’re certainly not shy about our work on this issue. It’s not like Rich was stopped on the sidewalk in Springfield and caught off-guard with a random guy filming with his iPhone; the interview was scheduled in advance, he signed a release form and he even went out for drinks with the film crew after they were done. Our research was used as the premise of many questions. Some of the other interviews for our documentary were even filmed in our Chicago office.”
I didn’t just go out to drinks with the director and producer, I took them both out to dinner. They seemed like fine sorts and they did ask reasonable questions, and, yes, a couple/three were based on stuff I’ve read at the Illinois Policy Institute’s website.
My beef is with this dishonest secrecy. And the Illinois Policy Institute is compounding their dishonesty by not telling the truth now. Some interview subjects may very well have been told about the group’s participation. I was not, and Stantis says he wasn’t, either.
The Republicans have been saying behind the scenes that they have put four Democratic state Senators “on the bubble”—Tom Cullerton in DuPage County, Melinda Bush in Lake County, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant in Will County and Gary Forby in deep southern Illinois.
Understandably, Senate President John Cullerton does not agree.
“If it wasn’t for Donald Trump maybe four would be on the bubble,” Cullerton told me the other day.
Cullerton claimed that the one-two punch of Trump and Gov. Bruce Rauner was hurting Republicans in contested districts everywhere. “Downstate, Trump’s popular,” he admitted, “But Rauner’s not.” In Sen. Forby’s heavily targeted district, Cullerton said, “Rauner’s hated down there.”
People in Forby’s district may have voted for Rauner two years ago, but, in reality, Cullerton claimed, “They were voting against Pat Quinn.” And the same goes, he said, for the contested neighboring open seat race currently held by retiring Sen. Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville).
In the suburbs, Cullerton said, Rauner and Trump are both very unpopular, “Maybe Trump is a bit more unpopular,” he averred. But that still works to the Democrats’ advantage, Cullerton said.
Noting that his operation only surveys contested “swing” districts, Cullerton claimed that the governor’s poll numbers are “underwater everywhere.” And while Rauner “picked up a few points” after the governor and the General Assembly agreed to a stopgap budget in June, Rauner’s “job performance is still way underwater.”
Cullerton did not share any specific numbers, but what he said matches with what I’ve been hearing from others, including a few Republicans.
And that may also be part of the reason why Rauner continues to tell reporters that he isn’t much involved in legislative campaigns, even though GOP sources say he is involved. Personally interviewing candidates to replace retired state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) along with his former chief of staff as well as what appears to be his favorite adviser John Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute was more than just a clue that his interest approaches granularity levels. Admitting to actually being heavily involved would result in news stories about how he’s strongly influencing specific local races, however.
The Republicans have been tying House Speaker Michael Madigan to Democrats in both chambers in their mail and in their TV ads, but the Senate President claimed “The Madigan stuff doesn’t rub off on Democratic candidates,” then backed up a bit to say he was only familiar with polling for Senators and Senate candidates. “It doesn’t work on the Senators,” he said.
But, what if he’s wrong? What if Rauner’s vast wealth and his field operation manage to break through the extreme white noise of a presidential election and the Republicans do actually pick off several Democratic seats?
Well, a million dollars spent on Chicago broadcast TV ads hasn’t managed to propel Rep. Michael McAuliffe (R-Chicago) over 50 percent, according to the Republicans’ own polling, and his margin has actually shrunk since July. President Obama won McAuliffe’s district in 2012 by eight points, 53-45, according to data compiled by pollster We Ask America. Structural presidential year turnout like that is very difficult to overcome, and that includes those Senate races.
Still, I’ve been asking Democratic operatives lately what is keeping them awake at night, and they’ve all had about the same basic answer.
Targeted legislative races can often be decided by just a handful of votes. Rep. Kate Cloonen (D-Kankakee) is the most extreme example of this, winning by an average of about 100 votes the last two cycles. Rep. Mike Smiddy (D-Hillsdale) won his 2014 race by 314 votes. Former Democratic Rep. Frank Mautino won his last race two years ago by 337 votes.
The biggest potential problem is the unpredictability of Donald Trump’s supporters. Some Dems believe his support is actually higher than the polls are currently showing.
And in any given district, five hundred (or even fewer) Trump backers who rarely vote and therefore haven’t been personally contacted much, if at all, by either side could decide to head to the polls on election day and then continue supporting Republican candidates straight down the ticket and create some upsets.
Gov. Rauner’s unprecedented campaign spending and his emphasis on a ground game along with Trump’s huge popularity with white working class voters (who dominate all of the Democrats’ contested Downstate districts) are making this presidential cycle extremely unusual and, to an extent, unpredictable. So, no matter what Cullerton says, the Democrats are worried that they may actually lose some seats.
* Assistant DCEO Director Andria Winters and I didn’t hit it off too well. The first time we ever talked we wound up in a loud and extended state policy argument and didn’t speak much to each other for weeks afterward. We’ve long since patched things up, however, and I always get a kick out of hanging with her and her husband Aaron. Those two are something, man.
Winters leaves DCEO today to become Intersect Illinois’ new president. Intersect Illinois is described as: “A private organization working collaboratively with the Department of Commerce to increase our competitiveness for jobs and investment.” It’s the privatized DCEO, basically.
Andria was the policy director for Motorola Mobility and was also director of strategic initiatives for the company’s foundation. She worked for US Sen. Mark Kirk in a high-level job and currently serves on the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s board of directors. We still don’t always agree, but she’s a darned good person.
From a press release…
“Intersect needs leaders who understand the best that Chicago and Illinois offer. Andria brings a wealth of knowledge of key regional growth sectors as well as how to break down bureaucratic barriers for business,” added Ted Souder, Head of Industry, retail for Google. “She is a great addition to the team and will be an important conduit for businesses and economic development organizations.”
“My concern with the proposal so far, is they’re largely based upon re-ramping the payment schedule and slowing down the payment schedule and backloading it,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done in Chicago for decades and it’s the reason Chicago has the worst credit rating of any city other than Detroit.
* Well, the inimitable Fran Spielman put one and one together and got veto threat…
Although the City Council easily approved the mayor’s plan to slap a 29.5 percent tax on water and sewer bills to save the Municipal Employees pension fund, the Illinois General Assembly still needs to sign off on employee concessions tied to the deal as well as the funding schedule.
Same goes for the mayor’s plan to save the Laborers pension fund, bankrolled by a previously-approved, 56 percent tax on monthly telephone bills. […]
In an emailed statement, Molly Poppe, a spokesperson for the city’s Office of Budget and Management, said the governor fails to recognize that Chicago is moving “from a woefully insufficient contribution level set by state law that ensures bankruptcy in the next ten years to a responsible payment plan with a ramp” to an “actuarially required contribution” that “ensures actuarial funding in perpetuity.”
Pressed on whether Rauner was, in fact, threatening a veto, his spokesperson Catherine Kelly would only say that the “dialogue” continues about “enacting comprehensive pension reform for both the city and state.”
“Unlike the state, the city of Chicago is taking steps to address its challenges head-on . . . While the state’s credit rating is susceptible to rating downgrades, we think Chicago’s identified pension funding proposals should forestall further downward rating pressure,” the report states.
“Illinois’ unprecedented budget impasse is ultimately political and the path to compromise is still unclear . . . By operating without a budget for so long, state leaders have created a structural budget gap too severe to address without significant new revenues or drastic cuts.”
The last time Rauner vetoed a Chicago pension bill, both chambers overrode it with a couple of House Republicans jumping on board. So, a veto might be futile again. We’ll have to see.
So, essentially he paid a blackmailer in the Philippines. For what? Well, that’s apparently blacked out above. And then the blackmailer wanted even more money and that’s when things got really weird.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Oof…
In statement, frmr Rep. Ron Sandack says he was target of int'l crime ring that lured him to engage in "inappropriate online conversations."
*** UPDATE 2 *** From what I’ve been able to discern from reading online stuff, the first thing to do when this happens is to shut down all social media accounts so that the blackmailer can’t ping friends/contacts/followers. Sandack, you will recall, abruptly shut down his social media accounts several days before he abruptly resigned. Sun-Times…
Sandack said counterfeit social media accounts started appearing, which he said jeopardized his online identity.
“Nonetheless, I was a victim. Poor decisions on my part enabled me to be a victim and, as a responsible citizen, I reported it and have been working with the police throughout their investigation,” Sandack said in the statement. “I want it to be clear that no aspect of my involvement in this incident was related to my position as a State Representative nor was the computer state property.
“I’m human. I made a mistake for which I am remorseful and ashamed; especially because I have hurt my family, and there is no greater self-inflicted wound than that.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Ain’t that the truth…
Jim Durkin: "I respect Ron Sandack’s decision to resign on July 25 and believe he did the right thing."
* From the Sun-Times write up on yesterday’s editorial board debate with the comptroller candidates…
Mendoza’s campaign has also sought to highlight that Munger has listed Elizabeth Brandt, mayor of Lincolnshire as her campaign chairwoman. Of importance is that Lincolnshire in December adopted right-to-work rules, passing a controversial labor ordinance that gives union-covered employees the option of whether or not to pay dues.
But Munger on Thursday denied Brandt’s involvement in her campaign, calling it an “error” that she did not remove her from paperwork filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Brandt’s name is still listed on her paperwork for her comptroller campaign.
* That’s not all the comptroller said. Munger claimed that she didn’t really get her comptroller campaign off the ground until this year. “I did not update my paperwork,” she said.
* If Brandt wasn’t such a gung-ho poster mayor for a hugely controversial attempt to impose a local “right to work” ordinance (with a big assist from the legal arm of the Illinois Policy Institute) this would be no big deal. But she is, so it’s a legit issue whether Munger or the Republicans or anybody else care to admit it. If you elevate a person like that to such a place of prominence in your official campaign, you have to answer for it.
And because the Illinois attorney general has declared ordinances like the one that Brandt engineered illegal, it’s not just a local issue. It’s a statewide issue because if Brandt and the Illinois Policy Institute succeed, other municipalities could follow. Keeping her on as campaign chair for ten months after that ordinance passed implies agreement.
And, by the way, as I write this, she’s still listed as Munger’s campaign chair.
…Adding… From the Munger campaign…
Susana Mendoza was Rahm Emmanuel’s outspoken Campaign Co-Chair. If she wants to play guilt by association, we ask her;
Does she take responsibility for Rahm Emmanuel’s record $543 million property tax hike?
Does she responsibility for Rahm Emmanuel’s $239 million water and sewer tax hike?
Does she take responsibility for Rahm Emmanuel’s $60 million garbage collection fee?
Does she take responsibility for Rahm Emmanuel $48 million taxi and ride hailing service fee hike?
Does she take responsibility for Rahm Emmanuel’s $40 million amusement tax hike on computer “cloud” services and streaming?
Emanuel is spelled with one “m,” and despite saying it was an “error” to not file paperwork changing her campaign chair, Munger still hasn’t done it.
Otherwise, what do you think?
…Adding Even More… Apparently, Ms. Brandt didn’t get the memo about not being involved…
Illinois may be operating on stopgap budgets into 2019, a local legislator warned this week.
“I want to be blunt with you,” state Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Joliet, told the Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees on Tuesday. “I hear from more and more of my colleagues that we might force Illinois to subsist on stopgap budgets through fiscal year 2019.” […]
He said the forecast for more stopgap budgets is based on a belief that Gov. Bruce Rauner will continue to attach his turnaround agenda proposals to full-year budgets. Democrats have opposed the Republican governor’s turnaround agenda. […]
McGuire said funding problems facing higher education also has led to talk of consolidating some of the state’s nine public universities. Possibilities being discussed, he said, include combining Eastern Illinois University with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as combining Chicago State University with the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** Oops…
Senator Pat McGuire, D-Joliet, issued the following statement to clarify his recent remarks regarding the status of higher education in Illinois.
“I am not aware of any discussions at any level of government about consolidating state universities. What I attempted to say at Tuesday’s Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees meeting is that absent any apparent plan to stabilize Illinois higher education, suggestions are being tossed about. I regret I did not communicate that clearly, and I regret any harm done to those schools named.
“I am eager to work toward an Illinois higher education plan.”
* The Southern Illinois has been interviewing legislative candidates. Here’s part of the paper’s sitdown with Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton)…
“We’ve got to sit down and make things work. We’ve got to tighten our belt up. You’ve got to cut back.” Forby said legislators need to go through the budget line-by-line and look for areas to cut before they consider a tax increase. He said only then would he consider a new proposal to raise revenue.
Asked whether he thought that had not happened in the past, Forby, who has been in the General Assembly since 2001, said there’s more work to be done. He said he’s never voted for a tax increase because of that. Forby said one area where he thinks the state could save money is in the elimination or reforming of Central Management Services, because he believes that agency causes many duplication of services throughout state government. But he did not name other big-ticket items he could support cutting. Rather, Forby talked only in general terms about the need for the state to tighten its belt. […]
Forby said that to the best of his knowledge he has not supported a tax increase during his time in the General Assembly. He voted against temporarily raising the corporate and personal income tax in 2011 that then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law. According to newspaper records, Forby supported a similar bill to raise the income tax in 2009 that didn’t become law, making a last-minute decision to change his vote from “present” to “yes.”
“I cannot go home and throw my nursing homes out in the street, shut my hospitals down and not pay our bills,” Forby was quoted as saying after the vote. “It’s definitely going to hurt me, but you know what sometimes you have to do the right thing. You just can’t lay back and hide all your life.” Forby has been criticized by his opponent for that vote. Forby said this week he didn’t recall that vote.
“I don’t think I’ve voted on taxes since I’ve been up there,” he said.
Still, going forward, Forby said he believes that “everything should be looked at” when it comes to finding ways to balance the budget. Whatever is passed will need bipartisan support, Forby said.
“It’s time for Gary Forby to stop lying in a desperate attempt to save his political career and start telling the truth. He voted to nearly double the income tax and expand the sales tax.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe […]
(I)n 2009, Forby voted for a $5.2 billion tax hike on all Illinoisans. The bill would have doubled the state’s income tax and expanded the sales tax. Forby then defended his vote, telling the Southern that, “sometimes you have to do the right thing.”
Forby should “do the right thing” and be honest about his record.
* While we’re on the topic of southern Illinois, click here to check out an op-ed by Jimmy Dean, a local radio personality. Dean writes about the various candidates’ positive attributes. Quite refreshing in this day and age.
Human Rights Campaign criticizes Schneider ad in IL-10: The gay rights advocacy group is taking issue with a new TV ad that former Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Dold in the North Shore 10th Congressional District.
In the ad, a female narrator says: “Dold and the Republicans even said employees could be fired, just for being gay.” The picture accompanying the words shows Dold in between photos of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Dold is the only House Republican to receive the endorsement of the Human Rights Coalition and Dold was the first House Republican to become a co-sponsor of the Equality Act.
“Bob Dold has repeatedly voted in favor of federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. And he has made clear through his votes and support for marriage equality that he believes in a world where everyone, including LGBTQ people, can live free from fear of discrimination,” David Stacy, the group’s government affairs director, said in a statement.
To back up its claim, Schneider’s campaign website cited a January 2010 interview Dold gave to WLS-AM 890 radio.
“Dold said gay people shouldn’t be given ’special rights’ to ensure that employers are prohibited from firing someone because of their sexual orientation,” the Schneider campaign says in a footnote.
The DCCC also points to a vote Dold took earlier this year. He joined six other Republicans who support gay marriage in opposing an amendment that would have kept the prohibition on anti-LGBT discrimination by federal contractors out of a bill that created the option to review and repeal federal regulations.
The Dold campaign insists that the vote — on a so-called motion to recommit — was a procedural maneuver, not a substantive policy vote. Most members of the majority party typically vote against motions to recommit.
Dold voted for amendments offered by Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Scott Peters that protected President Barack Obama’s executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT employees of federal contractors.
* Um, wouldn’t it be better if they just worked out their problems with the guy and keep him around? I mean, for crying out loud the university has been screaming about the lack of money for well over a year, just laid off a ton of staff, and now they’re gonna shell out big bucks to get rid of a guy who has received high marks from faculty and other leaders? This makes no sense…
Sources: severance for outgoing #CSU president Calhoun, let go after 9 months on job, could be as high as $600,000 #ChicagoTonight
Faculty members say Calhoun’s hands were tied when he was hired. The board of trustees created a four-person management team that consisted of Calhoun and three other administrators that would make all the administrative decisions. The professors we spoke to say those other administrators are close with the trustees and with the university’s former president, Wayne Watson – whose own tenure was marked by scandal, but who was being paid severance and is currently on the board. They believe Watson and other trustees wanted to call the hiring and spending shots, and that Calhoun suffered from one fatal flaw.
Rauner said this week that his administration will look closely at appointing new trustees to the board. Four trustees’ terms are up in January.
“I’m still trying to sort out, our team’s trying to sort out, exactly what’s going on there,” Rauner said Thursday. “We’re going to do a thoughtful process to try to find highly qualified individuals to serve on that board. The second thing I’ll say is, Chicago State is a very important institution. We’d like to see them do well. I would like to be very supportive of them. But in the past, for many years, they’ve had management problems and they’ve had significant financial difficulties. And I’d like to see them better run.”
Trustees at financially troubled Chicago State University voted Friday to approve a separation agreement with President Thomas Calhoun Jr. that includes a $600,000 payment.
The vote was 6-1 to accept Calhoun’s resignation. Trustees are scheduled to choose an interim president later Friday.
Former Gov. Jim Edgar and Chris Kennedy, former chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, will speak at a luncheon called “Elections 2016: Candidates, Chaos and Consequences” in Springfield on Sept. 27.
The Better Government Association program will feature BGA president and CEO Andy Shaw having a “candid conversation” with Edgar and Kennedy about the election season. Natalie Bomke, reporter and anchor at Fox 32 TV in Chicago and daughter of former state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, will be emcee.
There are several local sponsors to the event, with Isringhausen Imports the presenting sponsor.
* After releasing his doctor’s report this week which claimed he has made a “full cognitive recovery,” Sen. Mark Kirk is now running a TV ad about his stroke…
The Kirk For Senate campaign has launched a new television ad, titled “Determined,” highlighting Senator Mark Kirk’s determination to recover from his stroke and represent Illinois with fierce independence.
I remember holding the hand of the paramedic and knowing something was very wrong.
I thought that was the last human being I would ever touch.
As I learned to walk and climb again, I thought of our Illinois families struggling to get by.
After facing death, Mark returned even more committed to serve.
Bucking his party to support marriage equality and fight to combat gun violence.
I was determined to return to the Senate, to do the job you elected me to.
