Right over the cliff
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday said he’s preparing for a state takeover of Chicago Public Schools and has told state Board of Education members to start looking for an interim superintendent for the city’s cash strapped school district.
At a news conference in Springfield to discuss legislation that would change the state’s procurement process, Rauner said he’s already told the state Board of Education to begin the process of identifying who can take over as superintendent of CPS.
“The state’s going to be ready to step in and take action,” Rauner said a day after the Chicago Teachers Union rejected a contract proposal from CPS.
“I asked our administration. I believe it’s coming. I believe a state takeover is appropriate,” Rauner said.
* CTU’s Karen Lewis responds…
“What’s he gonna take us over with? He has no budget. He has no authority. Please don’t pay attention to the ravings of a madman,” Lewis said of Rauner.
* Rauner eventually walked it back a bit…
* But Cullerton wasn’t amused…
Senate President John Cullerton issued the following statement regarding the governor directing the Illinois State Board of Education to explore a state takeover of public schools in Chicago:
“I thought we’d already addressed this. The law doesn’t allow him to do that. So it’s not going to happen.”
* Meanwhile…
Claypool said school support staff will likely bear the brunt of the layoffs - teaching assistants, clerks and other administrative roles. A letter to CTU President Karen Lewis from Claypool says the workforce cuts will save $50 million. […]
Claypool said they will also begin deducting 7 percent from all CTU members’ checks as soon as possible due to an inability to meet the pension pickup for teachers. Claypool says the schools will save $130 million with that action. […]
Lewis called the cuts an “act of war” and expects the union will rally against CPS and the “bankers who are siphoning off millions” and announced a demonstration at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and LaSalle and Adams.
* Also…
* The Sun-Times already has an editorial…
Do they think a strike will somehow restore trust — or will it simply make them feel good to stick their thumb into the administration’s eye? Either way, the hard-liners in the CTU appear to be on a suicide mission to bring the system to its knees.
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Not so much
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Post-Dispatch…
20-year-incumbent Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, raised more than $1.3 million last year and had about $1.37 million on hand in his campaign account at the end of 2015, according to his FEC filing. […]
Shimkus’s opponent in the March 15 Illinois primary is state Sen. Kyle McCarter. He raised about $141,000 last year, but about $60,000 of it came from a personal loan, according to his newest campaign reports. McCarter, who has attacked Shimkus as not conservative enough for the district and for going back on a term-limit promise when first elected, had about $87,000 cash in his campaign accounts at the end of last year.
McCarter did raise that much, but it appears that he has to give a big chunk of it back.
Check out his FEC filing. McCarter received money from corporations, which is still not allowed. He’s already identified about $13,000 in corporate contributions as “refund pending” on his FEC report, but some other possible corporate contributions, totaling by my eye somewhere near $8,000, aren’t identified as such.
He also accepted a $37,300 contribution, which is way over the federal limit, and it’s identified on his FEC form as “refund pending.”
So, out of the $81,000 he raised from others (which is a horribly small number to begin with), he admits having to return about $50K of that to donors and might have to return another $8K or so. Either way, that’s most of his January 1st cash on hand.
What a mess.
* Meanwhile…
Among those who missed Thursday’s roll call votes in Springfield on legislation providing funding for community colleges and for MAP grants to low-income college students were Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, and Rep. Reggie Phillips, R-Charleston. […]
“It’s clear that Senator McCarter is focused on the job he wants, not the job he was elected to do. The hard-working families of his district deserve better representation than a politician that skips out on votes to campaign,” said Kayleen Carlson, the campaign manager for U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, the Collinsville Republican whom McCarter is challenging in the 15th Congressional District primary.
McCarter, in a statement, called the legislation “not good policy,” but did not explain his absence from Springfield.
“I have and will continue to fight for education policy that is affordable for the state of Illinois and (Thursday’s) vote was a Democrat bill passed by a Democrat majority with no money appropriated. It is simply not good policy,” he wrote. “This attack is another example of Congressman Shimkus shifting the focus off his liberal voting record of funding Planned Parenthood, Obamacare and amnesty.”
Actually, there was money “appropriated.” The Democrats passed an appropriations bill. There were no revenues provided, however.
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Undoing some lousy “reforms”
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There is no question that the state’s procurement reforms were a complete overreaction to Rod Blagojevich’s reign of error. Here’s just one problem that was outlined in a 2012 Crain’s article…
The biggest concern, particularly for the construction industry, is that reforms meant to curb influence-peddling effectively have turned into gag orders for state employees, who ultimately could lose their jobs if they don’t properly report discussions with contractors, even if it’s just to clarify policy or processes. Contractors, in turn, fear they will be barred from bidding if they bring a good idea to the state.
“I think there’s broad agreement there were unintended consequences, primarily a chilling of useful communication that in the long run would undermine the state’s best interests,” says Illinois Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, co-chair of the Senate Procurement Committee.
Transportation projects often are too complicated and fast-moving to be completely spelled out in a document. Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider recently issued a memo clarifying rules for vendors to hold discussions with state employees.
The construction industry “appreciates the guidelines, but it’s still a huge problem,” says Jennifer Krug McNaughton, vice president of Lemont-based K-5 Construction Corp. and chairman of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association. “You need to clear it up legislatively.”
It’s a giant mess. Thanks, reformers!
Let this be a lesson: Just because something is called “reform” doesn’t mean the idea is any good or will actually work.
* Gov. Bruce Rauner claims that it takes 9-12 months to complete an RFP process in Illinois. Crazy. And it’s even crazier when you find out the process took only 2-3 months before that “reform” was enacted into law.
So, he outlined a list of changes he wants made today…
Requests for Qualification (RFQ)
• Allows state agencies to create a pre-qualified pool of vendors in different categories of supplies and services, speeding up the process by which the State can receive price quotes and proposals.
Cooperative Purchasing
• Allows the State to “piggyback” on the procurements of other states, governmental entities, and purchasing consortiums in order to leverage this large buying power, while at the same time speeding up the procurement process.
Procurement Exemptions
• Allows an exemption from the procurement code for personal services contracts, public-private
agreements governed by other State statutes, domestic and international trade shows and
exhibitions, tollway improvements when moving railroads and utilities.
• Allows construction agencies to enter into emergency procurements for greater than 90-days in
order to streamline the process of repairing state buildings and structures.
Higher Education Exemptions
• Exempts many procurements that higher education institutions enter into from the
procurement code to increase speed and give purchasing flexibility back to universities.
Energy Conservation Program
• Permits the State to use the Energy Performance Contracting model authorized by statute to enact capital upgrades designed to reduce operating costs and improve the functionality of existing state-owned buildings in lieu of adequate capital funds.
Buy Illinois
• Creates a preference for buying supplies and services from Illinois businesses.
Vendor Support
• Allows vendors to fix issues with their registrations with the State and creates a cure period for
these mistakes.
• Adds more clarity and guidance to vendors on what constitutes acceptable communication and
the prohibited bidder process.
• Streamlines the annual certification requirements for multi-year contracts, reducing
bureaucratic paperwork.
• Streamlines the disclosure process for vendors when resolving various issues.
• Streamlines the specifications procedures for procurements by allowing the agency making the procurement the lead on these issues.
• Makes the Illinois Procurement Bulletin more navigable for vendors by requiring bulletins be produced by each agency requiring the procurement.
• Removes the confusing procurement communications reporting requirements for vendors. Streamline the Procurement Reporting Structure
Proposed Structure Supports more Streamlined, Consistent and Efficient Procurement
Revised CPO Structure
• The bill modifies the current Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) structure. Under the current
system, there are four CPOs (General Services, Transportation, Capital Development, Higher Education). The proposed language would place procurement authority in one CPO (CMS Director for General Supplies and Services) with statutory delegations of procurement authority to four Designated Procurement Officers (DPO) (Transportation, Tollway, Capital Development, and Higher Education).
• Returns the Procurement Policy Board to an advisory body and focuses their mission on creating policies and rules consistent with the Procurement Code.
• Streamlines the rulemaking process to eliminate confusion for vendors and businesses by working within one set of rules.
Auditor General Audit
• Requires an audit of procurement every two years, while also allowing the Auditor General to perform surprise audits on the agencies to ensure laws and statutes are being followed.
The problem with undoing reforms, even lousy reforms, is that everybody is gonna think you’ve got a hinky angle. For instance, the governor has been blasting universities for their big-spending ways, but now he wants to let them out of procurement procedures? What up with that?
Well, actually, the universities tried like heck without success to keep themselves out of the procurement process reforms. Many of the problems they predicted turned out to be true.
* I would’ve preferred a bipartisan process on this. The governor’s press conference to unveil his reforms today featured two three GOP legislators, Dan Brady, Pam Althoff and Chapin Rose.
Hopefully, they can work with the other side of the aisle on this because Rauner isn’t wrong. The Democratic majority didn’t allow Gov. Quinn to change the process when he tried a few years back, but maybe something can be done now because something most definitely should be done.
The full legislation is here. Hopefully, our more knowledgeable commenters can sift through the deets and let us know what they think.
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Noland raised… $68,000?
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune updates the fundraising situation. Bob Dold is doing very well, but Mike Noland essentially raised car fare…
Dold raised more than either Democrat in the period from October through December, as he has since the race kicked off. His overall receipts since his 2014 win: almost $2.4 million. He has no GOP primary rival and had about $1.49 million in the bank at the start of year, reports show. That figure does not take into account about $139,000 in the Dold campaign’s debts and obligations. […]
In the last quarter, Dold raised about $464,000 while Schneider raised about $391,000 and Rotering raised about $265,000, which includes a $100,000 loan she made to her campaign. Rotering has loaned her campaign $345,000 overall. Schneider has loaned his campaign $5,000. Schneider started the year with less in the bank: $882,000 to Rotering’s $936,000. […]
In the 8th Congressional District, Krishnamoorthi, who is from Schaumburg, maintained his commanding lead in campaign fundraising. His campaign opened the year with more than $1.27 million in the bank after picking up $453,000 in the quarter. He has raised more than $1.49 million overall. […]
Krishnamoorthi’s Democratic rivals include state Sen. Mike Noland of Elgin, who collected about $68,000 in the last quarter of the year and $210,000 overall. Noland had about $64,000 in the bank to start the year.
Maybe instead of appearing with former Gov. Quinn at an endorsement event, Noland should’ve handed him a phone and a call list, because obviously Noland isn’t doing what he needs to do here.
Seriously, there are state legislative candidates without opponents who raised more than that in the 4th quarter.
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Pot, meet kettle
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
The Senate President is playing politics with a bill that appears doomed on arrival. That’s according to Governor Bruce Rauner’s office in response to Senate President John Cullerton calling for a cooling-off period before sending over a tuition assistance bill.
Senate Bill 2043, which Democrat majorities say will fund MAP grants for eligible students, passed the legislature last week despite minority Republicans pointing out the governor intends to veto the bill because it’s not tied to any funding stream.
Senate President John Cullerton’s office issued a news release Monday saying he’s waiting until February 16th to send the bill to the governor so the governor will “rethink his veto announcement.”
Cullerton’s office said the state isn’t honoring its commitment to students and urged the governor rethink his position and “not act rashly but rather in the best interest of these students.”
Governor Bruce Rauner’s office responded saying there’s no way to pay for SB 2042. The administration has offered a path toward compromise. A statement from Rauner’s office says the governor has agreed “to sign legislation that funds MAP, community colleges and universities tied to ways to pay for the programs.”
The governor’s office says “rather than playing politics with a dead piece of legislation, we urge the Senate to focus on finding real solutions and vote next week on legislation that would fund MAP grants with a fiscally responsible way to pay for them.”
* From today…
The CPS takeover bill he supports, which would enable the state action, is, of course, also “doomed on arrival” in the House and Senate.
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* The governor will speak today at 11 about reforming the state’s Procurement Code. Listen or watch here.
Comptroller Munger will “discuss the current bill backlog and spending projections for the remainder of the fiscal year, and then take questions from the media.” Her show also starts at 11. Watch her here.
* And here’s your ScribbleLive feed…
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OK, but let’s see the brilliant plan
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno on the non-existent higher education budget…
Lack of funding for higher education creates “uncertainty if you’re a student,” she said. But, she added, “some of these universities have cut some of their administrative costs –- sort of squeeze-the- beast theory.”
She said “global questions” about higher ed could now be asked.
“Should we have six, eight schools of education, everybody having a program and everything? I don’t know,” Radogno said. She noted a couple of two-year colleges went to four years, including what is now the University of Illinois Springfield.
“Maybe we ought to have more going from four to two,” she said.
Look, only a fool would defend skyrocketing administrative spending at universities and colleges. The Senate Democrats’ investigative report was a real eye-opener, but not all that surprising.
* So, we can probably infer from Leader Radogno’s comments and the governor’s own recent attacks on higher ed spending that the object here is to starve the beasts into submission.
In the past, universities have been too politically strong to ever force them to do anything. Their alumni organizations (particularly at the U of I) are fiercely protective.
But if the schools are starving, they will be more amenable to accepting significant reforms to stave off massive cuts or even closure.
At least, that appears to be the theory.
* Meanwhile, poor kids are losing their MAP grants (and with it their paths into the middle class) and adult education programs are closing (which shuts off career advancement for older, mostly poorer folks).
I would be far more comfortable with this idea if somebody in power had an actual plan. Just spitballing the closures of entire college programs isn’t really a plan.
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*** UPDATE 1 *** Still in denial…
In an apparent effort to turn up the heat on floundering negotiations, the Chicago Public Schools announced it would be forced to make $100 million in new cuts — that could be rolled back if a new contract is reached with teachers.
The Chicago Teachers Union blasted the proposed cuts in a news release the union issued even before CPS held the news conference to announce them.
CTU called the cuts “an act of intimidation and bullying because teachers refused to accept a flawed contract offer.” CTU President Karen Lewis was even more blunt, calling it “the latest act of war” and promising a rally of teachers Thursday.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sheesh…
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Mark Brown on the CTU bargaining committee’s rejection of the contract deal cut by Karen Lewis…
Looking at it from the other side, how does schools CEO Forrest Claypool and his team negotiate with a union bargaining committee that can’t confidently speak for its members? […]
The CTU is in a very unique place, as far as labor unions go in the 21st century, its members still empowered by the perceived success of its 2012 strike.
But I would caution its members that if they’re seriously contemplating another strike they should expect to encounter a less sympathetic public than they did in 2012, when public opinion was on their side.
Agreed on both points.
* And let’s hope we don’t have a repeat of 2011, when Lewis signed off on an education reform bill along with the IFT and the IEA only to walk it back after she was ripped to shreds by her own union. And, like now, Lewis was also assailed by folks on the other side of the negotiating table for not being a trustworthy bargaining partner. She cut a deal then disowned it.
After that legislative debacle, Lewis was forced to become even more hardline, which led directly to the 2012 strike.
…Adding… I should’ve noted here that the CTU will be electing officers this spring, which is why Claypool wanted these contract negotiations wrapped up as soon as possible. If this isn’t finalized soon, the campaign will make it even more unlikely that they can get a deal because Lewis will have to guard her left flank (and, considering this union’s membership, it’s a huge flank).
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Dunkin contribution sets new primary record
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Sun-Times on the Rauner-allied Illinois Opportunity Project’s $500,000 contribution to Rauner-allied Democratic state Rep. Ken Dunkin…
Kent Redfield, a campaign finance expert, called the half-million-dollar contribution the largest single Illinois legislative primary contribution since at least 1976, when the State Board of Elections started keeping track of political contributions.
“It’s a huge contribution,’’ said Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
“When you have high-profile races, caps in Illinois law are irrelevant,” Redfield said. “They are going to get waived.”
The Dunkin windfall sends the message that “good things happen to you if you support the governor,’’ Redfield said.
* Crain’s…
The contribution comes less than a week after IllinoisGO, an independent expenditure committee that some observers call a front for Rauner, reported spending nearly $240,000 on behalf of Dunkin, which lifted the contribution caps in the race. Combined, that’s $27.25 for each voter who cast a ballot in the ho-hum Nov. 4 general election.
Dunkin’s opponent in the March 15 primary, Juliana Stratton, has some catching up to do. The former aide to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle had nearly $70,600 in her campaign fund on Dec. 31, and raised another $78,700 on Jan. 28, mostly from unions.
* Related…
* Ken Dunkin, Sam McCann: Two very different lawmakers facing consequences of crossing their leaders
* Why Was Rahm Ally Burnett Promoting Video for Conservative Talk Show Host?
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* Tribune…
Family Home Services, a home-care agency that assists hundreds of seniors, plans on cutting agency workers’ pay by half as early as Friday because of the ongoing Springfield stalemate, the Service Employees International Union says.
The union says the action would affect 200 home care workers who now earn between $10 and $11 an hour. Union officials are joining with some Democratic lawmakers for a Chicago news conference to highlight the continued effects of the impasse.
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* This is why unpopular incumbents prefer multi-candidate primaries…
Alvarez, known by nearly all voters, had 34 percent support, while Foxx had 27 percent and More had 12 percent, the poll showed. An additional 26 percent said they backed another candidate or were undecided.
Only about a third of Democratic voters support her, and a quarter are undecided or clueless, but she’s still leading the pack.
* More…
The poll found a large percentage of voters don’t accept Alvarez’s explanation for her handling of the McDonald case. More than 7 in 10 Democratic voters said they were not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with it. That included 85 percent of black voters, 67 percent of Hispanic voters and 64 percent of white voters. […]
Overall, half of voters in the poll disapproved of Alvarez job performance, while 30 percent approved and 20 percent had no opinion. White voters were split on the question, while 68 percent of black voters disapproved as did 47 percent of Hispanic voters. The error margin for racial and ethnic subgroups is 5.7 percentage points.
30 percent approval.
Whew.
* One more…
Not to be Mr. Obvious or anything, but if Foxx can tightly sew together blacks, unions and liberals she has a very real path in a three-way primary.
* Meanwhile, this is probably a good move by Alvarez…
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez slams Kim Foxx after the Foxx campaign launched a radio ad hitting Alvarez over the Laquan McDonald case, saying she failed to charge in the case for 400 days. Alvarez has contended she was working in concert with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the period between the shooting and the release of the video. “It’s disappointing that Kim Foxx is running attack ads to score political points off the death of a teenager — in a case that Anita Alvarez has already charged after a joint investigation with the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office,” Alvarez campaign manager Mike Carson said in a statement to POLITICO.”
“Maybe Foxx wants to avoid a discussion about her real record of … raising the sales tax and using tax dollars to give out millions in political pay raises to her supporters. It’s time for voters to learn about the real Kim Foxx.” Given that Foxx is Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s chief of staff, it’s clear team Alvarez plans to lay Preckwinkle’s flip-flop tax hike at Foxx’s feet.”
THIRD CANDIDATE — Running in the three-way primary for Cook County State’s Attorney is Donna More. More announced Tuesday she is launching a month-long TV ad campaign. From More’s camp: “The effort includes a 30 second spot entitled ‘Anita Alvarez Must Go.’ The cable TV schedule that the campaign purchased will have both 30 and 15 second ads running in primetime and daytime … The ads are intended to draw a sharp distinction between the ‘justice delayed, justice denied’ term of incumbent Anita Alvarez and More’s qualifications for restoring the integrity of the State’s Attorney’s Office. Citing Alvarez’ misconduct, one of the ads says, ‘Anita Alvarez must go.’ The other is a 15 second spot that focuses on More’s plan for reducing gun violence.”
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CTU rejects deal, strike clock started
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
The Chicago Teachers Union’s “Big Bargaining Team” voted unanimously on Monday to reject a four-year contract offer, a source has told the Chicago Sun-Times.
That team of 40 union members is scheduled to hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. Monday to formally announce their vote on what the union had termed a “serious offer.”
With the team — made up of teachers, social workers and other school staffers — voting unanimously against that latest proposal, that contract agreement will not go before the House of Delegates, as the union’s governing body is known.
The rejection means that CPS and the CTU will enter a final legal stage of negotiations that starts a 105-day clock ticking toward a strike.
* Hinz has some background on what the rejected deal entailed…
The deal effectively swaps some non-economic things that the union has wanted for a long time — like changes in work rules and a cap on new charter schools — for economic pain. Specifically, teachers would have to pay more toward their own pensions, with the 7 percent of salary that CPS now pays on their behalf vanishing immediately for new hires and over the course of two years for those already on the payroll.
The “step-and-lane” experience hikes for current teachers would be frozen for a year. And while teachers would get an across-the-board pay hike, it only would cover the give-back on the pension side, raising base pay just 1 percent over four years, knowledgeable sources tell me. That’s a cost-savings package of almost $500 million.
It’s amazing to me that Karen Lewis, of all people, was deemed insufficiently tough with Emanuel by her own bargaining team.
We’re in La-La Land now, campers. No union deal will probably mean no more borrowing and most assuredly no state money.
Whew, baby. Hang on to your hats.
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* Press release…
IOP Invests $500,000 in State Representative Race
February 1, 2016 - The Illinois Opportunity Project (IOP) announced today that it is making a $500,000 donation to the campaign of State Representative Ken Dunkin, a Chicago Democrat.
IOP promotes public policy solutions rooted in economic liberty and the leaders who advance such solutions. We are policy-focused and thus post-partisan.
As such, IOP decided that a substantial financial commitment is warranted to support State Rep. Ken Dunkin against the onslaught he is facing from House Speaker Mike Madigan and his public sector union allies in the March primary election.
Rep. Dunkin has consistently shown independent thinking and provided support in policy areas of critical importance including: (1) protecting honest, adversarial collective bargaining between the governor and public sector unions representing state employees, and (2) ending the discrimination against children based on their household income and address when it comes to the primary and secondary schools they may attend. Dunkin’s support for certain structural reforms well predate the election of Gov. Bruce Rauner. For example, in 2010, Dunkin voted for the school choice legislation (SB 2494) sponsored by then State Sen. James Meeks.
We hope Rep. Dunkin’s example of acting in furtherance of his constituents rather than toeing the party line established by Speaker Madigan will be followed by more of his colleagues in the House.
The group’s leaders are Matthew Besler, Dan Proft and Pat Hughes.
With IllinoisGO’s independent expenditures (which blew the caps), that race is already approaching a million dollars.
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* Press release..
Cullerton provides cooling-off period for Rauner to rethink student aid veto
CHICAGO - Senate President John Cullerton issued the following statement regarding the status of SB2043:
“Thousands of students across Illinois rely on the Monetary Award Program to be able to attend college and pursue degrees. This year, the state isn’t honoring its commitment to them. The governor already vetoed funding once and now is threatening to do it again even before we’ve sent the proposal to his desk.
I would urge the governor to rethink his position, reconsider his priorities and not act rashly but rather in the best interests of these students, their futures and the future of Illinois.
We’re going to give him time to do just that. The Senate will send Senate Bill 2043 to the governor on Tuesday, Feb. 16. That gives him two weeks to ponder whether another veto is the best approach.
I hope the governor uses the time to rethink his veto announcement. And I hope those who understand the importance of the state’s student aid program will use the time to help convince the governor to do the right thing.”
* Meanwhile, I told subscribers about this last week…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner wants lawmakers to address Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation pension crisis “right away.” But despite a rare agreement between Rauner and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton, it’s unlikely a bill will advance anytime soon.
Cullerton says it’s tougher than usual to pass a pension bill this year. That’s because of upcoming elections, union opposition, an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that declared a previous law unconstitutional and the ongoing state budget saga.
Cullerton says a pension bill could be part of a broader deal between Rauner and majority Democrats on a budget and other issues. […]
Rauner’s spokesman said Monday there’s “no good policy reason to delay.” He says the legislature could be “putting politics ahead of good policy.”
Subscribers know more.
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
Hi, Rich –
Mike asked me to send this to you:
“The Governor made clear he will veto SB 2043 because there is no way to pay for it – but he has offered a path toward compromise by agreeing to sign legislation that funds MAP, community colleges and universities tied to ways to pay for these important programs. Rather than playing politics with a dead piece of legislation, we urge the Senate to focus on finding real solutions and vote next week on legislation that would fund MAP grants with a fiscally responsible way to pay for them.”
Thanks,
ck
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Question of the day
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
“President Obama has come out strongly in favor of both term limits and redistricting reform,” Rauner said [during his State of the State Address]. “I agree, and the people of Illinois agree. The only reasons not to do this are pure partisan politics, and a desire to cling to power.”
Obama said in his State of the Union address that the country should “end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around.” He expressed broad support for the idea of term limits during a July trip to Africa, saying “nobody should be president for life.”While Republicans are hoping that Obama’s visit will inspire his allies to back Rauner on term limits and redistricting, Democrats said they have other priorities.
“It’s nice of him to return and grace us with his honorable self,” said Sen. Kim Lightford, D-Maywood. “But the better politics, better selves sounds like a peace offering in trying to help a real negotiation process or a real compromise to begin taking shape to get us past the budget impasse. And with all the challenges with police brutality in the state, it’s nice that he would come home for the ninth anniversary, but also in my hope, be the peace offering that we need to help us with many of the challenges that we’re facing.”
* CBS 2 hypes the visit…
Senate President John Cullerton recently wrote the president, saying now would be a good time for a visit.
“Well, he’s had some problems, himself, in Washington, so he’s certainly aware what the conflict is like,” Cullerton said. “He’s had to fight that. Hopefully he’ll have an effect on all of us.”
* The visit was a well-guarded secret, but somebody knew…
For the upcoming visit, the Springfield Police Department has had “several days” of notice, and the initial planning has begun, Deputy Chief Dan Mounce said.
The Secret Service is in charge of the detail, he said, and city police, and typically Illinois State Police and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, assist them.
The level of security-related planning for an event of this magnitude depends on a number of factors, Mounce said.
“Rest assured that there is a significant amount of planning and manpower that’s needed for a visit by a president,” he said.
* And…
President Barack Obama has been to Springfield before and actually worked there as a state senator several years ago. Now, Gov. Bruce Rauner hopes when Obama returns next month, nine years after announcing his presidential candidacy, the two will have time for a beer together.
Springfield sources tell NBC 5 Rauner’s office has reached out to the White House to see if the president has time for a beer at Obed and Isaac’s when he visits Illinois Feb.10.
Obed and Isaac’s, steps from what’s known as the Lincoln neighborhood, is known for its craft beers – from the Backporch Farmhouse Ale to the Ditzy Blonde — and is quite popular among residents. […]
Details on how long Obama’s visit will be and what he will do during the trip weren’t immediately known. As for whether or not he and Rauner will toast a Backporch Farmhouse Ale, we’ll have to wait and see.
* The Question: Do you think President Obama should accept Gov. Rauner’s invitation? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
panel management
Also, stick to the topic. I mean it.
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* Tom Kacich…
One of the theories floating around the state is that there won’t be a budget for fiscal year 2017 (which begins July 1) until after the November general election when, the thinking goes, Republicans will have made inroads into the big majorities Democrats have in the Illinois House and Senate.
But former Gov. Jim Edgar suggested last week that Republicans might not make any gains in the 39-20 advantage Democrats have in the Senate and 71-47 margin they have in the House.
“I don’t think there’s going to be enough change in the Legislature, one way or another. The top of the ticket is going to have an impact. If it’s Trump or Cruz (for the Republican Party), I don’t seem them playing well in Illinois,” said Edgar, who is running as a delegate committed to Jeb Bush. “I don’t see the Republicans making enough gains to control either house and I think there’s a better chance the Democrats might pick up a vote or two. That’s all based on the top of the ticket.
“And if we’re still in this (state budget) mess you can beat up (House Speaker Michael) Madigan all you want but most people think the governor is the governor. That was always my philosophy, that at the end of the day I was going to be the guy who would be responsible no matter what the Legislature did. So I don’t think the November election will have that much of an impact.”
I disagree with the premise. The reason for waiting until after November is more about finding votes than which party does better. But that’s an important consideration, too. If MJM is knocked out of his super majority, then might he be more amenable? Maybe. But what if holds on?
* As far as Edgar’s headlined comment goes, that’s true. But for right now Gov. Rauner is able to blame Madigan because MJM is undoubtedly the least popular figure in Illinois politics. It’s a relatively easy sale: Because… Madigan!
One wonders how long he can continue to do this, but he’s not totally wrong. It does, after all, take two to tango.
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A “half-muffled” democracy?
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Tribune op-ed…
Rauner’s beef with public unions was echoed during a recent Supreme Court session. A number of justices were troubled that a California teachers’ union requires non-members to pay a portion of members dues. Doesn’t that mean that non-members are forced to pay for political causes that the union supports but that they may not? The union answered that it wasn’t an infringement of the teachers’ right of free speech. Nothing prevented them from expressing their political convictions as individuals.
Some justices seemed skeptical — leading court observers to think the union will lose the argument.
Yet five years ago, the Supreme Court bought it. At issue in the famed “Citizens United” case was whether corporate funds could finance political campaigns. The government argued “that corporate independent expenditures can be limited because of its interest in protecting dissenting shareholders from being compelled to fund corporate political speech.”
The court rejected that argument, saying dissenting stockholders could find other ways to express their views. Should it now turn around and say dissenting teachers have no alternatives would mean that good for the goose is not good for the gander. There would be one rule for corporations, another for unions. And that won’t be good for any of us, whatever our politics. We will be on our way to a semi-noisy, half-muffled democracy.
Your thoughts?
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* AP…
The state owes $2 million to Ashley’s Quality Care in Chicago, which provides in-home care workers to keep seniors out of nursing homes, according to chief accountant Michael Robinson. The company has not met its payroll for 14 weeks, forcing the departure of 40 percent of its previous 1,000 employees; clientele has dipped by one-third, to 800, slicing revenue.
So, think about this. They keep seniors out of nursing homes. That saves the state big bucks.
Ugh… Just… Ugh.
…Adding… As a commenter notes, this is a feature, not a bug…
Rauner was among panelists at a 2012 tax policy conference in Chicago, sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute. Moderator MARGARET SPELLINGS, former U.S. secretary of education, asked him how people could build a “political constituency for change.” […]
“We will crush our economy if we try to spend money on both high-cost, inefficient, bureaucratic, heavily unionized government and a social safety net to help the disadvantaged,” Rauner said.
“We can’t afford both,” he said, and “wealth creators,” like JIMMY JOHN LIAUTAUD, founder of Jimmy John’s sandwich shops and another panelist, would be forced to leave the state.
“I think we can drive a wedge issue in the Democratic Party on that topic and bring the folks who say, ‘You know what, for our tax dollars, I’d rather help the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the elderly, the children in poverty,’ ” Rauner said, instead of directing tax dollars to the Service Employees International Union or “AF-Scammy,” an apparent reference to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME for short.
* Another commenter pointed to this, which is also from Bernie…
Radogno also said that, while many social service agencies are struggling without state funding, and “seeing the bigger agencies have problems is very scary,” there “needed to be a shakeout.”
“Most legislators I talk to agree with that,” Radogno said. “I mean I actually met with an agency that had 36 clients. … Some of these very small, very weak agencies, where their clients were being taken over by larger agencies. … I think not all of that was a horrible thing.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** IMPACT CIL, which serves disabled people in six Metro East counties is now furloughing staff one day a week. The organization is owed $100,000 by the state. Click here for more info.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From a reader…
Rich, here are a couple things to think about. One is this article from the Quad Cities, LSSI’s adult daycare is being taken over by a multi-state company backed by a wall street firm. This happened really quickly.
http://kwqc.com/2016/01/27/new-company-plans-to-fill-void-left-by-closing-of-intouch/
Then there is the email all of us got from DHS last week. Add in Radogno’s comments after the SoS, and Bernie’s column on Sunday. Maybe I am paranoid, but we just might be seeing a major move by this administration to consolidate human services from locally controlled non-profits to multi-state, for-profit firms, and the Illinois-based groups that are large enough to survive some time without being paid. Just some food for thought.
The e-mail from Khari Hunt, Chief Operating Officer at DHS…
Good Morning-
A while back in WSCI we discussed encouraging strategic mergers among service providers that were struggling financially and/or did not have the back office expertise to support their business.
I met with Jim Lewis at Chicago Community Trust who some of you may know has been working with their resources to support non-profits interested in these strategic merger opportunities. He has funding and available time but he does not have client non-profit service providers.
Do we have service providers that do good work which we would like to tee-up for this opportunity? Are we interested in meeting with Jim to discuss further?
FYI
Jim Lewis profile: http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/insider-guide-to-program-offic/james-lewis-chicago-community-trust.html
CCT merger projects : http://www.thebackofficecoop.org/; http://communityservicepartners.org/Default.aspx
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Signs of the times
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This made the rounds of social media over the weekeend…
Heh.
* But Dunkin ain’t giving up. Far from it…
State Rep. Ken Dunkin wants House Speaker Mike Madigan to let legislators vote on a bill that would eliminate red-light cameras and speed cameras in Illinois, pointing to the recent federal bribery conviction of a former Chicago official who helped establish the city’s red-light camera program.
“All I’m asking today is for Speaker Mike Madigan to call House Bill 141 that’s been held hostage in the Rules Committee since last spring,” Dunkin, a South Side Democrat, said at a news conference Sunday at the corner of 76th and Stony Island in the shadow of a red-light camera. […]
Dunkin claimed the cameras are a money-making scheme, do not improve safety and were born of corruption that was evidenced by the recent conviction of former Chicago Transportation Department official John Bills, who accepted bribes to steer business to the company that established red-light cameras in Chicago. […]
“There’s no (legislative) member in their right mind who would not support this legislation,” said Dunkin, who noted the highly unpopular red-light and speed camera programs allow for residents “to be gouged and to be played by the scam of the century.”
That’s a smart move. Obviously, red light and speed cams are hugely unpopular. Whenever former West Side state Sen. Rickey Hendon had a tough race (or was doing ads for someone who did) he’d always highlight his (or his candidate’s) opposition to red light cams. It’s a great issue.
* However, there are two glaring omissions in the above story.
1) During the 2011 veto session, the General Assembly took up this issue…
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is lobbying hard for a bill that would allow the city to use red light cameras to catch speeders near school zones and parks.
The measure quickly passed the Senate two weeks ago, but some representatives say it could face stiffer opposition in the House, which is expected to vote this week.
The House passed that bill, SB 965, by a vote of 64-50. Wanna guess who one of those “Yes” votes was in that relatively close roll call? Yep. You’re right.
2) The vast majority of spending in Dunkin’s primary has been done by a group called IllinoisGO. That group is run by Greg Goldner, who was hired early on by RedFlex…
The O’Malley commissions also went to pay for an Arizona condominium, a speedboat, a Mercedes-Benz, even Bills’ June 2011 retirement party when he left the city and soon took a job on Redflex’s payroll working with Resolute Consulting. The consulting firm, owned by longtime Chicago political power broker Greg Goldner, was hired by Redflex around the same time the company was pushing to expand its red light cameras to include speed cameras.
Just to be super clear here, nobody has ever suggested that Goldner did anything unethical or illegal. I’m not making that suggestion either, and neither should you.
But at least we now know that IllinoisGO is most definitely not coordinating with Dunkin’s campaign messaging.
/snark
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Caption contest!
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Heather Weir Vaught’s Facebook page…
As I prepare to return to work on Monday, I realize how lucky I am to have had a maternity leave. I will miss our little rituals, which include reading him Rich Miller’s Cap Fax in the morning and watching Friends in the afternoon. Like every other working parent, the guilt is awful. One day I will explain to him what I do and why it is important to me. And maybe, just maybe, he will be better off because of it.
Heather is House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief legal counsel. She’s been missed.
* And here’s little Thomas, who is, apparently, a future subscriber…
What a cutie!
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Unintended consequences
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The BGA’s Andy Shaw writes about the retirement of U.S. Rep. Steve Israel…
Israel explains that he’ll “be leaving Congress at the end of this term…liberated from a fundraising regime that’s never been more dangerous to our democracy.”
He estimates he spent 4,200 hours “dialing for dollars,” held 1,600 fundraisers and collected nearly $20 million in donations.
He calls the fundraisers “panhandling with hors d’oeuvres.”
Ouch.
Shaw uses the column to push for reforms like matching small contributions with public funds.
OK, that’s not a bad idea.
* But he’s missing something important. The reason Israel and others have to spend so much time raising money is because of campaign contribution caps.
Reformers love caps and even pushed hard for their imposition in Illinois. But caps mean politicians have to raise the same amount of money that they need to remain competitive from lots more people. That’s one reason Illinois’ state caps are higher than the federal caps. It perverts the process by putting way too much emphasis on fundraising.
Caps haven’t worked. If they had, don’t you think we’d notice a move away from monied interests since caps were imposed? It’s been just the opposite.
Also keep in mind that Democrats here are now fighting with one hand tied behind their back because Gov. Rauner and a couple of his pals can flood the zone with unlimited money (and they’ve already started), while Democrats not immediately targeted are forced to live within the caps.
We need a better way.
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Today’s number: 124
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune looked at the number of lawsuits filed against Chicago cops…
The city since 2009 has settled seven lawsuits against Campbell, a 17-year veteran officer. He ties for second among officers named in the most lawsuits settled by the city during those past six years, the Tribune’s analysis of available data shows. His partner during the Guzman arrest, Sautkus, was named in four settled cases.
Both are part of a small group of officers — just 124 of the city’s police force of roughly 12,000 — who were identified in nearly a third of the misconduct lawsuits settled since 2009, suggesting that officers who engaged in questionable behavior did it over and over. The Tribune’s investigation also found that 82 percent of the department’s officers were not named in any settlements. Still, the conduct of those 124 officers cost the city $34 million, the Tribune investigation found.
The Tribune also found that while many officers as well as police union officials attribute claims of misconduct to the rough and tumble of working in crime-ridden neighborhoods, complaints against Campbell, Sautkus and their colleagues have often occurred while the group patrolled relatively low-crime areas, focused on quality-of-life issues.
* Related…
* 3 Koschman cops face punishment; 3 quit, avoid sanctions
* Street cops say ‘ACLU effect’ drives spike in gun violence: But the ACLU rejects any correlation between declining street stops and rising violence, said Karen Sheley, director of police practices for the ACLU of Illinois. Other cities have scaled back their street stops without an explosion of shootings, she said.
* Bloody start to the year as Chicago Police investigate FIFTY murders last month making it the city’s worst January for homicides since 2000
* Police: 6 killed, 23 wounded in Chicago weekend shootings
* Chicago Police exchange gunfire with suspect in West Ridge
* Police: Four armed robberies in just two hours on NW Side
* Jail inmates target female guards, lawyers with sexual abuse
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The pound foolish impasse
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Nancy Ronquillo of Children’s Home & Aid in Chicago writing in Crain’s…
Seven months into the fiscal year, with no end to the state budget stalemate in sight, my organization, Children’s Home & Aid, announced the suspension of a program that has been working: our Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program. The decision was a direct result of the budget impasse: The state has not paid nonprofits for contracted services since July.
Let me tell you about the CCBYS program. A few months ago, like most every day, we received a call about a teen living in a foreclosed building with another homeless friend. Her mom was very ill and was struggling to provide even the most minimal care for her child. After the police investigated, we were called to work with the teen and her family to remedy their issues. Because we had been redirecting funds from other programs to keep CCBYS afloat, we were able to take the call and help her find a safe place to stay with another family member. After working with her for a few days, it was clear that while she was now safe and off the streets, she would need a long-term plan if she was going to have a brighter future. We helped her enroll in Job Corps, a federal education and jobs training program, where she has spent the past few months completing her GED and training to work in a medical office.
Now that our program is suspended, when the police reach out for help, options are limited. Rather than reaching a trained social worker who is on call 24/7 to work one-on-one, the police will be referred to a hotline.
CCBYS costs about $200 per month for each youth—that’s right, less than $10 a day—and it pays for our dedicated staff to be on call 24/7 to help kids who flee dangerous homes. We find a way to reconnect kids with their families. In over 90 percent of the cases, our staff members help kids to be safe at home and in school.
When this happens, we prevent kids from entering juvenile detention or the foster care system—alternatives that cost much more. CCBYS costs, on average, $1,883 a year per youth. The cost of incarceration for a youth totals roughly $111,000 a year. Homelessness risks a youth’s entire future and, in the worst cases, their very life.
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The other side of the debate
Monday, Feb 1, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last week’s legislative votes on funding MAP grants and other higher ed items was not met with open arms by some editorial boards…
This is how far circumstances have degenerated in the General Assembly. Legislators pass a ghost spending authorization — a promise to spend with no real money to back up the promise — and characterize it as “real action.”
Here’s the problem with the legislation.
Gov. Rauner has promised to veto the bill. But assuming it becomes law, the $721 million that the state is authorizing would go on top of the huge pile of unpaid bills, which last week stood at $7,034,014,415.
One of the lead sponsors of the legislation, state Rep. Kelly Burke, a Chicago-area Democrat, dismissed concerns about the adding to the state’s unpaid bills. She suggested that Comptroller Leslie Munger can deal with an extra $721 million just as she’s dealing with the current $7 billion in unpaid bills.
* Others also weighed in…
Democrats “could have tied in spending reductions or attached a revenue plan (to the bill), but instead they simply made another unfunded political promise that the state can’t actually pay,” [Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford] said in a statement.
The governor is likely to veto this bill, and that sets up the scenario the Democrats wanted. Not only is Rauner against Mom, apple pie and the Fourth of July, he’s pro-ignorance!
So let the printing presses roll. Fire up the websites. Start the negative campaigns now!
What Illinois needs desperately is a budget. We haven’t had one in seven months. Yet there’s no sense of urgency in either party to pass one.
* No argument from me. But there is another way of looking at this…
College students across Illinois may face an academic halt if Gov. Bruce Rauner refuses to pass the education bill that would allow students who rely on state-funded aid to continue their education. Columbia students, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, President of the Illinois Senate John J. Cullerton, and Illinois State representatives Ken Dunkin and Mary Flowers, held a press conference Jan. 29 at Rainbow Push, located at 930 E. 50th St., to call for Rauner to pass for a full education budget.
“There are high school counselors in Illinois today telling students don’t go to school in Illinois,’” Cullerton said. “That is not good for our future and that’s not good for business and that’s not business-friendly because there’s uncertainty whether or not universities are going to get their money.”
Cullerton said Rauner could not spend money unless the senate authorizes him to do so. Cullerton also said Rauner has been authorized to spend money on MAP grants and scholarships in the past but he chose to veto it. However, Cullerton said a new education budget bill is in place authorizing Rauner to spend money on these educational issues and he hopes the governor reconsiders his decision.
I talked to Cullerton about this over the weekend. To his mind, these are “allocations.” The General Assembly can’t force the governor to spend any or all the money it appropriates (the courts can, but that’s a different story). So, Cullerton said, by signing the bill, Rauner, in conjunction with the comptroller, could prioritize all spending and only release as much money as the state can afford.
Heckuva way to run a railroad, I know, but it’s an argument that isn’t being heard right now.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Every time Gov. Bruce Rauner gives a major speech, social media (and even mass media) lights him up over the way he drops his Gs at the end of words.
He’s workin’ and doin’ his best and shakin’ up Springfield, or whatever.
Last year, after his first State of the State Address, Illinois Public Radio even interviewed a language expert about whether he was doin’ this on purpose.
It does seem contrived. Rauner was educated at Ivy League schools, after all, and worked in some of the highest echelons in business. If you listen to any of his speeches in the years before he ran for governor, you’ll notice that he talked back then like an educated Midwesterner.
Anyway, Gov. Rauner asked me over to the Executive Mansion for a chat after last Wednesday’s State of the State Address.
It wasn’t exactly an honor. He wanted me to come by so he and I could have it out after he said something false about me at a press conference.
He held the presser to unveil an executive order consolidating information technology services into a single state agency. It was a fairly non-controversial announcement about a much-needed governmental upgrade.
I was actually kinda bored listening on the Internet until the governor was asked about some state revenue projections that he sent to legislators several months ago and shared with me earlier this month. Rauner’s own projections were based on what would happen if the governor got his economic agenda passed. The memo to legislators was designed to build support for (or at least, defend) his controversial pro-business agenda.
I published Rauner’s projection of a $510 million revenue increase, which I thought insufficient to justify all this impasse-related carnage. As I pointed out, the governor’s numbers meant he was aiming for a mere 1.4 percent revenue increase over Fiscal Year 2015.
“The author of the Capitol Fax has his numbers way, way wrong and we will be discussin’ that in our budget address,” Rauner told reporters, even though I simply used Rauner’s own numbers.
“I will also point out,” Rauner continued, “that the author of that blog used to work for Speaker Madigan, so I don’t want to put too much credence in the commentary.”
What an absolute, total crock.
I was a House page for two or three weeks way back in 1985. My tenure may not have even been that long because the House wasn’t in session while I was a page, and I quit before they came back to town for a job on my college campus.
I wish I could tell you what happened at my subsequent meeting with Rauner, but I can’t because it was completely off the record. As he told reporters, Rauner will be issuing revised projections. Total increased revenue and state and local government savings, he believes, are about $6 billion.
I can, however, tell you a story because I cleared it with the governor the next day.
At one point during our discussion, I decided to lighten the mood a little and asked him what the deal was with all those dropped Gs, teasing him that he sounded like somebody attempting to imitate a hillbilly. That got a big laugh, particularly from Mrs. Rauner.
The governor said he now feels “free” to be himself since he was elected. Mrs. Rauner agreed that his public wardrobe has drastically deteriorated since election day, as has his grammar.
Rauner told me he couldn’t talk like he wanted and wear what he wanted when he was a businessman because nobody would want to do business with him. At one point, he said, his business partners even asked him not to drive his lousy old car to company outings because it was an embarrassment to them.
Rauner said he was the only partner at his firm who didn’t own a private jet and fancy cars. He said he’s “proud” to still have the first tie he ever bought.
So all of that video and audio of him speaking years ago was actually the contrived Rauner, the governor said. Now, he just wants to be himself, and that means droppin’ his Gs and doin’ other stuff like wearin’ the clothes he likes, not the clothes others expect him to don.
Anyway, it’s not exactly earth-shattering stuff, but I thought you’d be interested because this does give us some insight into how the governor thinks.
First, if you really get him angry he will throw you under the bus with Madigan. And second, he will happily and un-self-consciously drop his Gs while he does it.
Your thoughts on this?
…Addin’… I just noticed that the Sun-Times editorial board has weighed in on this column…
Many Americans have a way of adapting new speech patterns and verbal ticks, linguists say, that might reflect the democratic notion that people can be what they want to be. It can be social climbing — the Eliza Doolittle in a lot of us. Or a need to fit in. Or sincere affinity.
Point bein’, it ain’t necessarily contrived.
In a classic 1963 radio interview, Studs Terkel asked Bob Dylan why a “highly literate, educated man” such as himself would talk “mountain talk.” Dylan, who grew up in Minnesota, laughed off the question, so Terkel supplied an answer of his own.
“It’s probably easier for you,” Terkel said to Dylan, to “express the feelings” you have in this way. Studs pointed out that their mutual hero, Woody Guthrie, never stopped talking like a dust-bowl Oakie though at some point he briefly went to college. […]
But if Rauner insists on talkin’ like regular folks, he might want to do a better job of standin’ up for regular folks.
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* Not too surprising, considering all the problems he’s had. The one bright spot is that 51 percent overall think Mayor Emanuel should not resign. But that’s pretty cold comfort…
Only 27 percent of Chicagoans approve of his job performance, while a record 63 percent disapprove. The poll was conducted by Research America Inc., featuring live landline and cellphone interviews with 985 registered city voters from Jan. 20-28. It has an error margin of 3.2 percentage points. […]
Overall, 59 percent of city voters said they viewed Emanuel as not honest and trustworthy, including 64 percent of Hispanics, 63 percent of African Americans and 51 percent of whites. Only 27 percent of city voters said they considered the mayor to be honest and trustworthy. […]
Only 21 percent of voters agreed with Emanuel’s decision to fight the McDonald shooting video release, while 68 percent said the mayor’s actions to delay the release were not justified. […]
(O)nly 17 percent of voters said they believed Emanuel’s explanation of how he learned the details of the case. An additional 74 percent said they did not believe Emanuel’s version of how the events unfolded, including 83 percent of African-Americans, 76 percent of Hispanics and 67 percent of whites. The poll’s margin of error among racial and ethnic subgroups was 5.7 percentage points. […]
Asked if the mayor should resign from office, 51 percent said Emanuel should not resign, while 41 percent said he should step down. That finding is largely due to support from white voters.
* And one more…
Go read the whole thing.
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