Raoul gets Bluhm boost
Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This will definitely help. Via the great Shia Kapos…
Billionaire philanthropist Neil Bluhm is backing Kwame Raoul, the Democratic state senator who’s running for Illinois attorney general.
Bluhm is a longtime campaign donor to Democrats. He raised $200,000 for former President Barack Obama’s 2008 bid and $500,000 for the 2012 race.
No word yet on how much Bluhm will donate to Raoul, who was appointed to the state Senate in 2004 to fill the vacancy left by then-state Sen. Obama after he won a U.S. Senate race.
Bluhm will serve as finance chair for the campaign. With an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion, it will be interesting to see if his backing scares off other Democrats from running against Raoul.
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* Subscribers were tipped to this earlier today…
Today, State Representative Peter Breen (R-Lombard) and State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) filed the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which would prohibit units of government in Illinois from using taxpayer funds for elective abortions, reversing key provisions of the recently enacted House Bill 40. Breen and McConchie are pressing for full debate and a floor vote on the measure during the upcoming fall veto session later this month, before HB 40 goes into effect in 2018.
“With the signing of HB 40, Illinoisans will be put on the hook for roughly 75% of the state’s 40,000 annual elective abortions,” said Breen. “Strong majorities of Illinoisans, especially folks in the suburbs and downstate, oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act will respect both their pocketbooks and their consciences. Considering the average cost of $1,000 per Medicaid abortion, we don’t have the $30 million required to cover 30,000 abortions every year.”
“The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act is a critical piece of legislation that respects the moral and fiscal concerns of our residents,” said McConchie. “In states that have legalized Medicaid abortions, over 50% of all abortions become taxpayer-funded. The residents in my suburban district are overwhelmingly opposed to this new spending scheme.”
The legislators are relying on data from the Guttmacher Institute, the former research arm of Planned Parenthood, about income levels of those seeking abortions and payment data from other states that provide elective abortion funding. Guttmacher indicates that 75% of women seeking abortions are below 200% Federal Poverty Level, and that, in states with elective abortion, over 50% of all abortions are paid for by Medicaid. See, https://www.guttmacher.org/report/characteristics-us-abortion-patients-2014. Because Illinois’ Medicaid system extends eligibility to pregnant women up to at least 213% Federal Poverty Level, those who will be eligible for taxpayer funded abortions may be even higher than 75%. See, http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=14091 (pregnant women considered at least family size 2, as Illinois law counts unborn children in family size). The legislators also received information from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services showing that the average cost, over the past five years, for a Medicaid abortion and ancillary services is approximately $1,000 per procedure.
Breen drafted the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act on the model of the federal Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding for abortions, other than for abortions sought in connection with pregnancies that result from rape or incest, or that threaten the life of the mother. Abortions under these circumstances constitute roughly 1% of all abortions. Federal law already requires states to provide Medicaid abortions under these three conditions, and the proposed Act recognizes those federal provisions.
While the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act reverses the substantive provisions of HB 40 and prevents taxpayer funding for abortion at all levels of government, it adds new public policy language on abortion, not including controversial “trigger language” about Roe v. Wade that was at issue in HB 40.
“The ‘trigger language’ in HB 40 had no legal effect, and there’s no need to reopen a theoretical debate about language from over 40 years ago. Instead, we wanted to start fresh with updated language and concepts that reflect the majority position of Illinoisans, especially folks in the suburbs and downstate, who care very deeply about this issue,” Breen added.
“This controversial and culturally divisive act should not be one that taxpayers should be forced to fund,” said McConchie. “Likewise, there is no good reason for taxpayers to be on the hook for someone else’s personal decision.”
Additionally, while the federal government typically matches a state’s Medicaid expenses, it will not do so for elective abortions. Breen has stated previously that, based on the estimated direct cost to the state of $30 million for abortions, the true impact to the Medicaid system is actually double that, $60 million in lost medical services.
Within an hour of the filing of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, numerous legislators from across Illinois joined the bill as cosponsors. The bills are pending as HB 4114 & SB 2241. Legislators are also considering legal action in the coming weeks to challenge whether HB 40 can be effective before June 1, 2018, due to it being held beyond the May 31 deadline set by the state constitution for the passage of bills. The current effective date is set at January 1, 2018, and legislators estimate the five-month difference in effective dates could prevent taxpayer funding of 10,000 abortions or more.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times on Ameya Pawar…
“I’m not ruling anything out. I just don’t want to talk about another office or another race today or any time in the near future. But I can tell you I’m not done in politics. I’m sure that I will run again.”
A natural alternative for supporters of Pawar’s populist campaign is progressive State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston). But Pawar said he is not prepared to endorse any of his opponents “at this time.”
* Greg Hinz…
Pawar’s absence may boost the chance that Biss or Kennedy will emerge as the top competitor to Pritzker, instead splitting the anti-establishment vote. […]
Meanwhile, a Democratic political consultant who’s not affiliated with any candidate for governor, ex-Rahm Emanuel aide Tom Bowen, agrees with my take that Pawar’s withdrawal “frees up a little more of the progressive lane, probably to Biss.”
But Pawar didn’t have that much support to start with, so the impact is limited, Bowen continued. “If Kennedy or Biss left, that makes a difference.”
But Biss seriously disrupted his own campaign when he picked and then dropped Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa as his lieutenant governor running mate. And Kennedy has yet to find his stride as a contender, with his fund-raising short of what he’ll really need to be competitive against Pritzker.
* The Question: What impact, if any, will Pawar’s exit have on the gubernatorial campaign?
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* ILGOP…
Hey Rich,
Wanted to flag this Register-Mail article for you. Mark Kleine is running an impressive campaign for Congress in IL-17. So far, his campaign has raised $507k, with 90% of those funds coming from donors within the district. $100k of that total comes from Kleine himself.
Cheri Bustos probably hasn’t noticed the groundswell of support for Kleine because she’s too busy helping Madigan and Chicago Democrats anoint J.B. Pritzker with the Democrat nomination for governor.
This will be a race to watch next year.
Thanks,
Aaron
* The article…
Mark Kleine, a local entrepreneur running to represent Illinois’ 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, announced Tuesday his campaign has raised close to $400,000 since he announced his candidacy in late August.
Kleine said that money came from donors. He provided roughly $100,000 in his own money. The total contributions amount to $507,000, and over 90 percent of the donated funds came from donors living in the 17th district, Kleine said.
“I’m investing in my own campaign because I want to utilize my money to help people throughout the district,” Kleine said.
* Bustos’ campaign just sent out a fundraising e-mail entitled “Urgent Message → Read Immediately”…
This needs your IMMEDIATE attention:
The Register-Mail:;Donors give nearly $400,000 to’ Cheri Bustos’ Republican opponent
We can’t afford to sugarcoat this: Since Cheri was one of only TWELVE Democrats to win a Trump-district — this fundraising haul could doom our campaign.
We need to fight back — so we’re asking 5OO people to chip in $5 before Saturday.
Will you RUSH a $5 donation to Cheri’s Democratic Campaign?
Look, Cheri’s Republican opponent is ramping up his campaign arm.
The GOP knows their best chance of passing their extremist agenda is to replace strong Democrats like Cheri.
And since Cheri is FIGHTING BACK to stop Trump and the GOP from gutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, they’re desperate to defeat her.
That’s why hitting Saturday’s goal is critical. Everything we care about is at stake.
A bit on the dramatic side. She won by 20 points last year even though Trump slightly won her district.
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* Sun-Times…
An annual tracking of child well-being finds huge gaps statewide in educational access and achievement that spans birth through college, and disproportionally affects low-income and minority children.
Illinois Kids Count 2017, being released Thursday by Voices for Illinois Children, blames systemic inequities in access to early childhood education, public funding for kindergarten through 12th grade, and both readiness for and access to college for those disheartening education statistics.
The annual report by the advocacy group shines new light on the critical nature of recent reforms to Illinois’ public education funding system. It found 82 percent of state kids most in need had access to preschool in 2015.
In 2016, only 22 percent of third-graders in that same population were meeting English Language Arts standards; and only 14 percent of sixth-graders were meeting math standards. Racial disparities in graduation rates remain entrenched. In 2016, only 75 percent of African-American students graduated in four years; 81 percent of Hispanic students, and 90 percent of white students. […]
Of those enrolling in college, less than half were meeting college readiness benchmarks, and only 60 percent were graduating from public or private nonprofit colleges and universities.
* From Voices for Illinois Children…
“The data in the 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book clearly proves that to build a future for Illinois where every child is a high achiever, we must reduce systemic inequities and increase support for the students who need it most,” said Tasha Green Cruzat, President of Voices for Illinois Children. “It’s time for leaders across Illinois to fulfill their promise to all our children by providing adequate revenue for quality and competitive programming. We must close the achievement gap and give children, in every community, the tools they need to reach their full potential.”
Through recent policy and budget changes – specifically affecting early childhood education programs, K-12 funding, school breakfast options, after school program access, high school and postsecondary alignment – Illinois has taken steps to reduce educational inequities for children across the state. The 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book concludes that in order to build on the State’s foundation and continue the progress of these policies, Illinois must raise additional revenue.
The 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book concludes Illinois will only make systemic gains in education for all groups of students by:
· Increasing investments in quality early childhood education programs for low and middle-income children;
· Examining and addressing inequities in school resources, teacher and principal distribution, course rigor and discipline practices;
· Coordinating support services so that every child has access to food, safe after-school programming and mental and health services.
“This information shines a clear light on where Illinois has made progress and where challenges remain,” said Anna Rowan, KIDS COUNT Manager at Voices for Illinois Children. “The expansion of access to early childhood education is promising, yet too many children still lag behind and graduate high school without the tools they need for college and a career. While new policies are a step in the right direction, we must continue to make necessary investments, especially in low-income and minority communities, so every child has the chance succeed.”
* From the introduction to the report…
The 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book uses 16 indicators to rank each state across four domains — health, education, economic well-being, and family and community — that represent what children need most to thrive. Illinois ranks:
10th in health. Illinois has been a national leader in providing children with access to health insurance. From 2010 to 2015, Illinois cut the uninsured rates for African-American and Latino children in half, from 6 percent to 3 percent, for both groups.
13th in education. Early childhood education has been a bright spot for Illinois. Less than half of 3- and 4-year olds do not attend school, ranking the state fifth in this indicator. However, the state still has significant work to do to close the achievement and attainment gaps that exist between low-income and minority students from their white and more affluent peers.
25th in economic well-being. Illinois families continue to struggle with economic security. Although more kids’ parents are now working full-time, year-round jobs than in 2010, the percentage of children living in poverty has not changed when comparing the height of the Great Recession in 2010 to 2015 data.
28th in the family and community domain. Illinois has made great strides in reducing the teen birth rate. There were more than 6,000 fewer teen births in 2015 than in 2010. But there are still far too many children living in high-poverty areas and in single-parent families.
The data show that key investments in health and early education have reduced racial disparities among children. Although Latino children still lag behind in preschool attendance, there is little difference between the percentage of African-American and white children who aren’t attending preschool. Additionally, all groups of kids are accessing health insurance at roughly the same rate. However, there is still work to do to lessen other disparities. For example, more than two-thirds of the half a million Illinois children living in poverty are children of color. If Illinois elected officials fail to enact a budget for a third year, we run the very real risk of causing disparities to grow and wiping out the progress we’ve made.
The full report is here.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Facing the pension music
Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Not to diminish the problem with Illinois’ pension debt, but this is an apples to oranges comparison from the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
In one year, Illinois’ pensions added more debt than 25 U.S. states’ entire budgets.
The Illinois Department of Insurance released its two-year report on every public pension in the state. From 2015 to 2016, Illinois’ 671 pension funds added $17 billion in additional unfunded liabilities, bringing it up to $185 billion. That’s larger than 25 state budgets in fiscal year 2016.
The pension debt is long-term. Those are one-year budgets.
* More…
The Teachers’ Retirement Fund is the state’s largest pension. At an estimated $71.4 billion in unfunded liabilities, it also carries the most debt. Director Dick Ingram said that his fund’s main issue is that the older, more generous pensions cost too much.
“The albatross that’s still out there is the Tier 1 unfunded,” he said.
Yep. And that debt can pretty much only be reduced by making the payments. Actually, it’s the only way unless somebody comes up with a brilliant plan that hasn’t yet been devised or tried.
* Moody’s recently issued a rating for the state’s upcoming bond issue to pay off part of the bill backlog. Check out the number one way Moody’s says Illinois can improve its credit rating…
Factors that Could Lead to an Upgrade
- Adoption of a realistic, long-term plan to provide funding for pension obligations
- Progress in reducing the state’s massive payment backlog, and formulation of a legal or policy framework to prevent renewed build-up of late bills
- Enactment of recurring fiscal measures that support the expectation of sustainable, structural balance
And check out the number two factor that could lead to a downgrade into junk bond status…
Factors that Could Lead to a Downgrade
- Structural imbalance that leads to renewed build-up of unpaid bills following issuance of debt to pay down backlog
- Efforts to obtain near-term fiscal relief by reducing pension contributions in a way that exacerbates the state’s long-term funding burden or indicates a lack of long-term sustainability
- Difficulty managing the impacts of adverse exogenous factors, such as a national recession or a reduction in federal Medicaid funding
*** UPDATE *** Dave Urbanek at TRS…
Rich:
The Illinois News Network story you highlighted today misquoted Dick. We saw it late in the morning and asked them for a correction. They complied and changed the story in the afternoon. You ran the original version.
The problem was that in the lead up to Dick’s quote in the original version, they wrote that he said that older pension benefits “cost too much.” That’s not what he said in the interview with them. The “albatross” he was referring to in his quote is the unfunded liability.
No one at TRS would ever give an opinion on the nature of benefits, and especially the cost of those benefits. Benefits are enacted exclusively by legislators and the governor. The job of TRS is strictly to administer those benefits, whatever they may be. We have to stay detached from the creation of benefits. We will talk about whether we have the proper resources and tools to do the job and keep the fund financially healthy, but commenting on the nature or cost of the benefits would violate the System’s fiduciary duty to its members.
Just wanted to keep the record straight.
Thanks,
Dave
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Biss campaign manager warns of viability issue
Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune has a piece today about the Biss campaign’s reaction to JB Pritzker writing another $7 million check to his campaign…
“Why would J.B. continue dumping millions of dollars in this race, this early in the primary? Here’s the answer: he and the establishment backing him believe their best chance at winning is by piling on millions of dollars right now,” Biss campaign manager Abby Witt said in an email fundraising appeal.
“They think that a grassroots movement without the backing of a billionaire has no chance. They think it’s time to write our obituary. And they want you to believe that too,” she warned.
Even as she boasted of the grassroots support for Biss, Witt added an unusual cautionary note about the campaign’s long-term viability to try to raise some money.
“We have a lot of ground to make up. If we’re going to take this all the way to the March primary, we’re going to need each and every one of you to step up however you can,” she said.
That’s likely just a standard “scare the contributor into ponying up more dough” line, but in the wake of Ameya Pawar’s announcement today that he’s getting out of the race over money issues, they might want to shy away from that sort of thing in the near future.
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* From an e-mail sent to supporters…
Today, I am ending my campaign for Governor. Briefly, I want to explain why: we simply don’t have the money to meaningfully scale this campaign statewide. Without more resources, the only choices for expanding the campaign to a scope that could earn the nomination were to take on more personal debt or to cut staff. I have a young family, and we decided not to take on more personal debt right now. As to cutting staff, I simply refuse. We raised $828k from 2,526 donors; that is amazing. But as you know, the race for Illinois governor will set a record as the costliest race in American history. For democracy’s sake, I hope we see this as a troubling trend. My donors did the best they could, I’m the one who came up short, but I am not ashamed. Just know that while we didn’t have the most money, we have the volunteers (3,200), the signatures (10,000), and the right message. I’m sorry for the people who have stood with me that I don’t have the extraordinary wealth or extraordinarily wealthy connections to make up the difference.
We’ve all heard Winston Churchill’s famous line, “never give in, never, never, never, never.” Less often quoted is the rest of the sentence: “except to convictions of honour and good sense.” I think both suggest that this is the right time for this campaign to come to an end. I wish there was a sensible path forward, but we have always been playing a long game, and this is more of a beginning than an end. At this time, I will not be endorsing a candidate. That said, I urge you to get to know the other Democratic candidates. They are good people, and any one of them will make a fine governor.
Today, I am launching One Illinois, a political action committee to organize young people around progressive issues and fight the false and bigoted divides around race, class, and geography. We all want to see progressive change and policies, but to achieve our goals we must take on the politics that are used to keep communities fighting one another over scraps. I hope that you will join me in this new effort. More on this in the coming weeks.
We all want to see progressive change, but we must organize and attack the false divides around race, class, and geography. If we don’t, we won’t realize the changes we all seek.
Enough about the primary campaign’s end, now I want to talk about a beginning. I began my public service career with, quite frankly, a pipe dream. I decided to knock on every door in the 47th Ward to listen to the ideas of people who had lived there for years, in some cases, more years than I’ve been alive. My backup plan if I lost — and I was almost certainly going to lose — was to join the military. My chances of winning were roughly somewhere between zero and the Cubs winning the World Series. But as we know, these things can happen. My experience in city council convinced me that, as intransigent as politics can be, a normal guy with authentic passion can make a difference. One of the blessings of getting into politics as a no-name with no affiliation was that I didn’t have to play a character. I got to be myself from the very start. And that was the same for this race. I knew that speaking about my own progressive ideas and policies was a risk. When billionaires who own football teams are so afraid of public opprobrium that they say nothing while national politicians vilify their employees for unobtrusively exercising their rights, believe me, I realize that condemning the War on Drugs as a war on black and brown families is going to raise some hackles. But I got into public service speaking my mind when nobody cared what I had to say, and by now all I know how to do is be myself.
The reason I got into this race, honestly, is that I was afraid. Afraid of the society my daughter might inherit if the American ship stays the current course. She’s only one-and-a-half, but America is not a small ship. It is a giant tanker, the kind you need to start steering miles out from shore if you want to dock without crashing. We are not on a safe course right now, and we know it. If from nothing else, that should be obvious when nuclear diplomacy occurs on Twitter. (Threatening nuclear annihilation on Twitter really seems like it should be a violation of the terms of service.) And if we don’t address inequality across race, class, and geography, I believe we are headed to a very scary place. Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump are targeting communities and turning them into ‘the other.’ We have seen before the brand of fear mongering that Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump wield to pit people against their fellow citizens, to divide us by geography, or race, or class, or absolutely any other difference that can be wielded for political expedience. It never ends well.
One of my goals was to force a conversation on progressive values and shine a light on how race, class, and geography are used to drive a wedge between communities and prevent progressive change. That’s why I declared for the race first, so that I could plant the conversation firmly in progressive ideas. We hit the road with our message – a message that included progressive income tax, mass commutations of low-level nonviolent drug offenses, calling out the War on Drugs for the racist failure that it was, universal childcare, and single-payer healthcare. We also listened, a tactic in too-short supply among public officials. Today, I am so tremendously proud and so deeply heartened to see the other campaigns talking about race and class and geography. As the first entrants to the race, I believe we pushed the public discourse to the left, toward a more progressive Illinois. I may have come up short, but together, we made progress. I urge all candidates to continue those vital discussions in the fight against the plainly bigoted agendas prosecuted by the chief executives of both our state and our nation.
While fear got me into this race, as I leave it, it is the shared humanity I experienced on the trail that I’ll take with me. Beyond giving me hope, it literally makes my skin tingle when I remember the love and compassion people expressed, often people in desperate circumstances who were worrying about everyone but themselves. A moment that I can’t wait to tell my daughter about, when she’s old enough to understand, occurred at our campaign stop for a parade in Eldorado. My running mate, Cairo Mayor Tyrone Coleman, was traversing southern and central Illinois as part of our Don’t Close Our Communities Tour, and he was anxious about this visit. Whereas Cairo was the final stop on the Underground Railroad, Eldorado was once a “sundown town.” That is, in the 1960s people of color were required to leave by sundown. As a pastor, a man who came of age during the Civil Rights Movement, and founder of a southern Illinois chapter of the NAACP, Mayor Coleman knew that history well. As he and his wife, Mary, marched in the parade, a woman stopped them and shared how decades of disinvestment from Cairo reminded her of the disinvestment from Saline County and Eldorado. Specifically, she recounted how the decline of jobs ushered in the opioid crisis. Then she said: “We all want the same thing. We’re neighbors.” A town that black people once fled to and one they once fled from, but today they are neighbors in search of the same things.
Memories like that will continue to fuel me.
As will memories of the devotion of my incredible team. Sam, Will, Tom, Kayley, Charissa, Lindsay, Heather, Spencer, John, Maggie, Mica, Zach, Katie, EJ, Maria, Jordan, Morgan, Mary, Anjali, Jenn, Steve, David, Leslie, Stacy, Brian, Kyle, and Collin. Thank you. You are family to me and Charna. We did something amazing. We will be forever grateful for the time and energy you put into this campaign, and we hope you know we will always have your backs, personally and professionally.
To our volunteers, it has been the honor of my life. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are the most talented and hardworking people I ever had the pleasure to fight alongside. Your commitment, your energy, and your steadfast support kept me going. I hope you will stick with me because this is just the beginning.
To Mayor Coleman, thank you. Mrs. Coleman, thank you. Charna and I are so honored to call you our friends. Cairo captured a piece of my heart, and I look forward to working together to put a spotlight on Cairo and communities all over the state as they fight for investment. I hope to join you and your community as you fight for affordable housing, the port authority, and jobs. I urge every campaign for governor to meet Mayor Coleman and his constituents. Cairo deserves all of our attention.
Finally, I want to thank my wife, Charna. Our daughter Sigalit was 10 months old when I got into this race. I’ve missed so much, and Charna took everything upon herself so that I could run. She has sacrificed over the last eight years to support me. I am looking forward to sacrificing for her and what she wants. (Imagine that, a gubernatorial campaign wasn’t a new mother’s first choice!)
I wanted to be your nominee for governor. I gave it everything I had. But I don’t have the resources to continue in a manner that I think would both be fair to the people who work with me and would set us up to win, and I require both. But I feel the same way about the inspiration I’ve acquired to make positive change as the Greek philosopher Plutarch did about education: It is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
I will keep organizing around the principle that we are stronger together and that we must defeat the politics of divide-and-rule. For you. For us. For my daughter. After all, we all want the same thing. After all, we are neighbors.
Onward,
*** UPDATE *** Mayor Emanuel…
“Ald. Pawar has been a strong voice on the city council, not just for his ward but for Chicago. While he may have ended his bid for the governor’s office I have no doubt his commitment to public service and his commitment to using his voice to stand up for others will continue.”
* Pritzker…
“I want to thank Ameya Pawar for being a part of this race and running a positive campaign focused on our party’s progressive values,” said JB Pritzker. “Ameya made the race for our state’s highest office a real conversation about the issues that affect all Illinoisans—increasing public school funding, providing universal child care and paid family leave, creating jobs through investing in infrastructure, and reforming our criminal justice system. With his running mate, Mayor Tyrone Coleman, this was a ticket that focused on how we can lift up communities from Chicago to Cairo.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Chris Kennedy…
Ameya Pawar is a committed public servant motivated by social justice. We thank him for giving voice to the people of Illinois who have been left behind by a failed government that benefits a wealthy and well-connected few.
Ideas and solutions from a thoughtful, progressive leader like Alderman Pawar are critical to the future of our state. We should all be disappointed in a system where money is driving people out of politics and, in turn, silencing conversations that drive change.
Daniel Biss…
“Ameya Pawar ran an incredible campaign that elevated the effects of systemic inequality on working families. Illinois and the Democratic Party are better for it, but we still have a long way to go. Good candidates are being pushed out of races by big money and insiders. If you care about democracy, this should be unacceptable.
“As a father, I know how tough campaign life can be. Thanks to Charna and Sigalit for sacrificing so that Ameya can serve the people of Illinois. And thank you to Ameya’s supporters for the energy and commitment they’ve shown to progressive politics this year. Ameya, you’ve been a friend for years, and I’m especially proud to call you a friend this year. Today is hard, but I hope you’re proud of the campaign you’ve run.”
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* The Cannabist…
In 2017, Colorado eclipsed $1 billion in marijuana sales in eight months; in 2016, it took 10 months.
Colorado’s marijuana retailers logged upward of $1.02 billion in collective medical and recreational sales through August, according to The Cannabist’s extrapolations of state tax data released Wednesday. Year-to-date sales are up 21 percent from the first eight months of 2016, when recreational and medical marijuana sales totaled $846.5 million.
This year’s cumulative sales equate to more than $162 million in taxes and fees taxes and fees for Colorado coffers. […]
The special sales tax rate for recreational marijuana increased to 15 percent from 10 percent in July, as the result of a new law that also exempted recreational marijuana products from the 2.9 percent standard state sales tax. Medical marijuana and accessories are still subject to that 2.9 percent sales tax rate. […]
Here’s a look at Colorado’s previous cumulative yearly sales totals:
2014: $699,198,805
2015: $996,184,788
2016: $1,313,156,545
Illinois has more than twice Colorado’s population.
Right now, Illinois has decriminalization. But that means it’s not taxed and the production and distribution networks are controlled by criminals - and some of those criminals are violent people.
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Rauner’s new focus on international trade
Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WMBD Radio…
On the heels of trade mission trips to China and Japan, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has plans to head overseas again in the coming months.
Rauner says in about three weeks, he will head up a trade mission to Israel, meeting with Israeli officials, business leaders and university heads in hopes of expanding opportunities for Illinois. […]
The governor says after Israel, he will travel to Europe, with stops in the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.
* Pritzker campaign…
Bruce Rauner is planning on traveling to at least four countries in the coming months, which means four more opportunities for Rauner to bash Illinois abroad.
Last month when Rauner was in Asia, he criticized Illinois’ business and regulatory climate while trying to bring businesses to the state. Now he’s headed to Israel in three weeks and Germany, Poland, and the UK in a couple months, but will Rauner bad mouth the state — again?
“This is Bruce Rauner’s international bad-mouth Illinois tour,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “After failing to lead our state and creating economic turmoil, Rauner is taking his special interest agenda abroad and trashing Illinois wherever he goes.”
* Have you noticed the governor’s Twitter feed recently? He’s all about the international angle…
And that’s not even all of them.
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* Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin…
The most important role of a county commissioner is to pass a yearly budget that meets the needs of the residents and fairly balances services and costs.
I voted Wednesday — along with Commissioner Jerry Butler — to keep Cook County’s sweetened beverage tax because it was a tax on a small number of people rather than a general sales or property tax on all. This tax had a twofold purpose: First, it provided enough revenue to balance our 2017 budget without gimmicks. Second, it helped us fight the increase in heart disease, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis and the high cost of treatment.
Unfortunately, repeal of the sweetened beverage tax also repeals the law that prohibited the raising of any taxes by Cook County until after 2020. This tax limitation covered property taxes, sales taxes and home-rule excise taxes. The repeal of the tax limitation means all taxes are in play.
* Daily Herald…
Cook County homeowners are getting a property tax break that their counterparts in other counties aren’t.
The $7,000 homeowners exemption and $5,000 senior citizen exemption are both increasing by $3,000 next year, to $10,000 and $8,000 respectively, thanks to legislation Gov. Bruce Rauner recently signed. Cook County taxpayers will see the effects of the exemption increases on the second installment of their property taxes next summer, officials said.
“The exemptions hadn’t kept pace with the values of homes in Cook County,” said Tom Shaer, a spokesman for Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios. “This was designed to help lower-market and middle-class homeowners.”
The exemptions cut taxes by reducing the assessed value of homes.
Meanwhile, homeowners in the collar counties and downstate won’t see similar increases to their exemptions. The homeowners exemption will stay at $6,000 for collar county and downstate homeowners, and the senior citizen exemption will remain at $5,000. […]
Using Cook County’s most recently available average tax rate for the Northern suburbs, the change in the homeowners exemption would reduce the tax bill on a $300,000 home by about $277 next year if tax levies remain flat. People over age 65 who receive both exemptions on a $300,000 house could expect to pay about $555 less.
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* Tribune…
Facing ongoing criticism from conservatives, Gov. Bruce Rauner this week has put $4.45 million into the state GOP that he controls in what was branded as an effort to topple Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan next year. […]
Since he won the Republican nomination, Rauner, wife Diana and the Citizens for Rauner campaign fund have contributed more than $35.5 million to the state GOP, campaign finance records show. The donations represent more than 71 percent of the nearly $50 million the state Republican Party has raised during that period. For 2017 alone, Rauner has given the state GOP $6.6 million, records show. […]
“He has his tentacles in every part of the Republican Party all across the state because he’s put so much money into it. And now he’s fractured all of those tentacles and we’re in a very bad spot right now,” state Rep. Peter Breen of Lombard, the House GOP floor leader, said before Rauner’s most recent campaign contribution.
“We have a really serious problem. Folks are depending upon money from Rauner. At the same time, he’s betraying our principles. So we have to have a difficult family discussion within the Republican Party: Are we going to continue to stand with a guy just because he’s writing big checks?” Breen asked. “I mean if he wasn’t writing these kind of big checks, you think anybody, anywhere in the Republican Party would still be with him for governor?”
But he is writing big checks and he just wrote another one. Ah, the conundrum.
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