* The governor is right on his overall position. Not sure if the veto was the right thing to do, but it is past time that the GA solved this problem…
Veto Message for SB 332
January 26, 2018
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
100th General Assembly:
Today I veto Senate Bill 332 from the 100th General Assembly, which would authorize the issuance and renewal of a liquor license for a specific establishment in Chicago.
This legislation requests an exemption from a state law regarding which establishments can hold liquor licenses based on their distance from a church, school or other specified institution. Many of the broad exemptions to the general 100-foot restriction still leave out certain business owners, especially in Chicago. As a result, owners of 75 businesses have found it necessary to secure individual exemptions through legislation like this.
The time has come for the General Assembly to reform this broken system. Businesses should not have to secure exemptions to state law to acquire the licenses they need to thrive. Liquor licensure of this sort should be handled at the local level, where the impact of allowing a business to sell certain products is the greatest. Local government officials can better determine whether allowing such exemptions and licenses is appropriate for a given community, and are more well-situated than the state legislature to create a streamlined process for making these determinations in a business-responsive manner.
I have stated in the past that I would no longer sign these carve-outs into law, and have repeatedly urged the General Assembly to address the flawed structure. Legislation such as Senate Bill 2436 provides for local liquor commissioners to take ownership of this process and grant exemptions to the 100-foot rule if authorized by local law or ordinance, and represents a solution to a problem instead of a repeated work-around.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 332, entitled “AN ACT concerning regulation,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
(sss) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuance or renewal of a license authorizing the sale of alcoholic liquor at premises located within a municipality with a population in excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants and within 100 feet of a church if:
(1) the premises are approximately 2,800 square feet with east frontage on South Allport Street and north frontage on West 18th Street in the City of Chicago;
(2) the shortest distance between the north property line of the premises and the nearest exterior wall of the church is 95 feet;
(3) the main entrance to the church is on West 18th Street, faces south, and is more than 100 feet from the main entrance to the premises;
(4) the sale of alcoholic liquor is incidental to the sale of food in a restaurant;
(5) the principal religious leader of the church has not indicated his or her opposition to the issuance or renewal of the license in writing; and
(6) the alderman of the ward in which the premises are located has indicated his or her support for the issuance or renewal of the license in writing.
I'm hearing that ISBE, Gov's office, and Dept of Rev just agreed to accommodate 30+ pvt schools in the "recognition" pipeline so their donors can get in on tax credit deal.
Poof. Just like that. Rauner admin proves his veto of school funding bill was totally unnecessary.
Private schools will sleep well tonight. Underfunded public schools won’t; they are used to sleepless nights. Too many kids continue to wait for the equity we promised them. https://t.co/QvYTs5tMRN
*** UPDATE *** Looks like I should’ve waited another half an hour. Press release…
A compromise negotiated this week has paved the way for more Illinois schools to participate in the Invest in Kids scholarship tax-credit program, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today. The move leaves the General Assembly clear to act swiftly to fully implement the requested cleanups to the state’s historic funding law.
“We have worked with schools, advocates, legislators from both parties, the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois State Board of Education to ensure that more schools will be able to participate in the Invest in Kids Program,” Rauner said.
The compromise announced today allows ISBE to notify IDOR in real time as new schools become recognized, eliminating the lag time that prevented schools from participating in this program.
Earlier this month, the governor used his amendatory veto power to address an issue that prevented a number of schools from participating in invest in kids; they had not achieved “recognition” status by the Illinois State Board of Education in time.
“We encourage swift passage in the General Assembly of legislative language necessary to correct the other unintended consequences so the historic school funding law can be fully implemented,” Rauner said.
Invest in Kids is a scholarship tax-credit program that gives low- to middle-income students the opportunity to attend nonpublic schools that best meet their needs.
“I applaud Governor Rauner for taking action, and working with us in a bipartisan way, to ensure that even more schools, students and families in Illinois have the opportunity to participate in Invest in Kids,” said State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago. “I look forward to continuing to work with the governor to support schools across Illinois.”
Going forward, ISBE has committed to accepting applications for initial nonpublic school recognition on a rolling basis throughout this school year. An updated list of schools that are recognized has been posted on the ISBE website. That list will continue to be updated as new schools reach this status.
Advocates including Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, Rabbi Shlomo Soroka, director of Government Affairs for Agudath Israel of Illinois, Nakisha Hobbs, principal and co-founder of the Village Leadership Academy, and Myles Mendoza, executive director of Empower Illinois, lauded the bipartisan, collaborative compromise that gives Illinois families more choices when it comes to educating their children.
“Once again, bipartisan leadership worked together to benefit the education of all Illinois children,” said Gilligan. “The Catholic Conference of Illinois, on behalf of the state’s Catholic schools, is grateful for this latest effort by the governor and legislators, along with the Illinois State Board of Education, to find a solution that allows more families to apply for a tax-credit scholarship so their children can attend a recognized school of their choice.”
“Following discussions with stakeholders, a solution ensuring the participation of all schools that become recognized was achieved,” said Rabbi Soroka. “Agudath Israel of Illinois thanks the Rauner Administration, the bipartisan group of legislators, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Department of Revenue and advocates who worked together to provide quality educational options to more students.”
“Over the past few weeks I’ve worked closely with State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, the Governor’s Office, African-American school leaders and other education advocates from across the state to ensure that all high-quality schools had a path to participation in the inaugural year of the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program,” said Hobbs. “I am grateful to Governor Rauner’s administration for its demonstrated commitment to inclusion, and to Representative Ford for his unwavering and effective leadership.”
Empower Illinois also praised the collaboration. “This was a bipartisan effort by lawmakers, schools and advocates to expand quality education options for students across Illinois,” said Mendoza. “There is clear unity on the value of this program, as the demand for scholarships by families continues to grow. Today is a victory for Illinois kids.”
“Thanks to this collaborative, bipartisan effort,” Rauner said, “families in Illinois will have more choices when it comes to the education of their children.”
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* I seriously doubt this will ever see the light of day beyond the hearing…
Lawmakers in Illinois are so desperate to shore up the state’s massively underfunded retirement system that they’re willing to entertain an eye-popping wager: Borrowing $107 billion and letting it ride in the financial markets.
The legislature’s personnel and pensions committee plans to meet on Jan. 30 to hear more about a proposal advanced by the State Universities Annuitants Association, according to Representative Robert Martwick. The group wants Illinois to issue the bonds this year to get its retirement system nearly fully funded, assuming that the state can make more on its investments than it will pay in interest.
It would be by far the biggest debt sale in the history of the municipal market, and in one fell swoop would be more than Puerto Rico amassed in the run up to its record-setting bankruptcy.
An effort is underway in Illinois that would let the terminally ill choose to end their life.
Oregon approved the option back in the mid 90’s. A few more states and Canada have followed with similar laws. They allow a terminally ill and mentally sound individual to choose to end their life.
“We all die and unfortunately as we approach death, as we get sicker and sicker, often a lot of pain and suffering comes with it. And when death is imminent, when suffering is intolerable, it should be your choice,” said Ed Gogol of Final Options Illinois. […]
Gogol wants an Illinois law that would have the patient being prescribed medication they would self-administer. It’s not “physician-assisted suicide” or “euthanasia” because the doctor would only make sure the person qualified.
Paul Vallas continues to set the stage for a run against a formidable Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Vallas, who was appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner to help restart a financially beleaguered Chicago State University, tells Sneed he plans to step down from that job soon — a clear reminder of what he has done politically in the past: not hold a public job while running for public office.
“My job is done,” said Vallas. “Although my contract ran until July 1, I now plan to leave March 31,” he said while also repeating an earlier report by Crain’s Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz he was “seriously considering” running for mayor.
Trust me: The decision by Vallas to leave early is a huge indication he hopes to run for mayor.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly is taking attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week.
Kelly, of Matteson, has endorsed state Sen. Raoul in the eight-way Democratic primary. His parents immigrated from Haiti, and Trump was quoted this month calling Haiti and African countries “shithole countries.”
“As a first-generation Haitian-American, his presence and voice at the State of the Union is greatly needed,” Kelly said of Raoul, “especially in light of the president’s recent racist and derogatory comments about Haiti and other nations.” […]
Raoul’s trip to Washington lets Kelly make her point about Trump and gives him a bit of a profile boost in the crowded attorney general primary.
What, no mention of Raoul’s Trump comments at the Tribune editorial board meeting this week?
* Kristen McQueary had asked the candidates to describe how they would specifically go up against the Trump administration. Raoul pointed to the Affordable Care Act, immigration and the “very insecure” Crosscheck system…
McQueary: I think you were one of the only candidates on your survey where you said the attorney general needs to be nonpartisan… If an attorney general is constantly fighting a Republican administration does that tend to look partisan?
Raoul: Well, it’s not because he’s Republican, it’s because he’s nuts.
Mayors and village managers across Illinois often complain bitterly that they have little control over the cost of the governments they run. They’re mostly right, and it’s thanks to unfunded mandates imposed by the state. Those mandates include workers’ compensation, binding arbitration for labor contracts and pension coverage.
This is about another one of those unfunded mandates—prevailing wage requirements for public works—and the numbers are scandalous.
The Illinois Department of Labor publishes, county by county, the hourly wages local governments must pay contractors and subcontractors. It’s important to note, and often overlooked, that 1) wages are set based on compensation paid on other public works, not private-sector compensation; 2) municipalities have to pay the cash equivalent of the additional compensation, including pension benefits, paid on other public works; and 3) all of that must be calculated on a full-time-equivalent basis to understand it properly.
The all-in result: The average total full-time-equivalent compensation, including benefits, for all job categories over all counties is $119,000.
* Jim Sweeney of Local 150 claims in a rebuttal that Glennon’s $119K figure is baloney because it assumes all construction workers are employed throughout the year…
The average salaries that Glennon suggests are preposterous, as construction workers do not earn “full-time equivalent” wages. Most construction is seasonal work, influenced as much by weather as by municipal budgets. According to the 2016 Economic Census of Construction, the average public works construction worker in Illinois clocked an average of 1,786 hours in a year, and earned an average base wage of $60,000. Put in perspective, that’s roughly the same as the statewide median household income figure Mr. Glennon cites in his column—a figure that is conveniently distorted downward by its inclusion of people who are either not working or work part time.
By contrast, most other occupations in Illinois are easily working the full-time equivalent of 2,080 hours per year.
Weather is a factor, but so is the availability of jobs. Very often, even with perfect weather, the jobs just aren’t there.
Vermilion County is an illustration: The average, total full-time-equivalent yearly compensation for a prevailing-wage worker in cities and towns in that central Illinois county is over $100,000.
Does anybody really think that annual compensation over $100,000 is “prevailing” in Vermilion County? Median household income for the county is only $43,600. Statewide, the median is just $59,000.
Comparing construction worker wages to all wages seems odd. Should we do that for Medicaid doctors, too?
* Yesterday, we discussed some of the objections to Personal PAC’s endorsement of JB Pritzker for governor, even though he isn’t the only pro-choice candidate. Here’s Terry Cosgrove’s full explanation about why his organization is backing Pritzker…
Who Will Defeat Governor Rauner?
The Personal PAC Board voted to endorse JB Pritzker after fully considering the qualifications of all of the candidates and conducting in-depth interviews of Daniel Biss, Chris Kennedy and JB Pritzker. Despite claims by their supporters to the contrary, none of these candidates is without flaws. That is to be expected from loyal partisans, passionate supporters and close friends of each candidate.
Governor Rauner lacks the capacity to tell the truth and does not hesitate to take inconsistent positions on the same issue at any given time. The only way to fully protect the reproductive rights of all women in Illinois for the next decade is to defeat Bruce Rauner on November 6, 2018. Within hours of the polls closing on March 20, the Rauner team will unleash a non-stop torrent of television, radio, direct mail and social media ads that will cost upwards of $250 million on a 7+ month nonstop assault on the winner of the Democratic primary.
Because Rauner has accomplished little to nothing over the past 4 years, his ads will be negative, untruthful and predictable: Biss voted for Speaker Madigan and ran his Super PAC; Kennedy sought Speaker Madigan’s endorsement at some point; Pritzker is secretly Speaker Madigan’s candidate; and all three have ties to the evil Cook County Democratic party. Wash. Rinse. Spin. Repeat.
Beware of those who refuse to learn from history. After the 2006 primary election, then severely wounded and endangered incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich found himself facing Judy Baar Topinka, one of the most popular and admired officials from one end of Illinois to the other among Independents, Democrats and Republicans. The Blagojevich campaign was smartly flush with money and Topinka was broke after the primary, leaving the Blagojevich campaign to immediately launch a brilliant non-stop campaign of “Judy Baar Topinka: What’s She Thinking?” ads. With no money, Topinka never had a chance to recover from or respond to those ads and this highly respected candidate was trounced by Blagovich’s team in the November election.
The Rauner campaign will be the 2006 Blagojevich campaign on steroids, regardless of who wins the 2018 Democratic primary on March 20. Given the near unanimous agreement among Democrats and progressive independents that Rauner must be defeated and the few significant policy differences among the Democratic nominees, including support for reproductive rights, the critical question is which Democrat is in the best position to defeat Bruce Rauner.
I completely reject the most common arguments about this race, which are 1) Rauner can’t possibly win (think Donald Trump); 2) Democrats won’t be united around any one candidate (see none are without flaws above); 3) Money shouldn’t matter and is evil (think Rauner’s $250 million, Citizen’s United is the law of the land in 2018 no matter how much anyone hates it). It is quite possible that, despite being incredibly unpopular, Governor Rauner could win a second term. Democrats must be united behind their nominee and money does matter a great deal.
As I frequently tell people, don’t expect me to show-up to a proverbial knife fight against anti-choice activists with my left leg in a cast, my right arm tied behind my back, holding a toothpick, and expect me to win for pro-choice candidates. It’s-not-happening! We have to show up on a level playing field and play by the rules, whether we like the rules or not. Complaining about the rules in the middle of an election is like showing up for a rugby game and complaining about the rules and the players on your team, saying “if only the players and rules were different, I could win this match.” The same is true in politics. If you are going to sign-up to compete as a candidate or supporter of a candidate, know the rules and accept them. It’s called reality. Think passing HB 40, thank you.
I firmly believe JB Pritzker is the very last person Rauner wants to face in November, as only JB can go toe-to-toe with Rauner hours after the polls close on March 20 through the November 6 general election. Why would Rauner spend millions and millions of dollars before the Democratic primary attacking Pritzker instead of his Republican challenger? Rauner will immediately bury Biss or Kennedy in an avalanche of social media, radio and tv ads starting at 5 a.m. on Wed. March 21, from which they will never recover a la Blago/Topinka 2006. Instead, at that same time on March 21, Pritzker’s team will be up with their onslaught of ads against Rauner that will never cease until November 6, even as Rauner spends $250 million to survive. Pritzker will not be outdone, outsmarted, outspent or intimidated by Rauner. Pritzker is building the deepest statewide campaign apparatus I have ever seen by a gubernatorial candidate whose organizers are embedding themselves in local communities in 25+ field offices with over 100 full-time staff from Rockford to Carbondale, in Cook County and the Collar counties. Pritzker social media platforms are diverse and massive. His paid television and radio is superb with high rotation statewide, along with his direct mail campaign, making a huge impact in every corner of the state. And it is only January. No other candidate has travelled to and spent more time in as many counties as Pritzker has in this campaign. Pritzker is the only candidate in the Democratic primary that is doing more to unite the Democrats than divide them. That demonstrates strong leadership.
JB Pritzker’s commitment to progressive values and reproductive freedom is lifelong. He marched with us in the 1993 Washington, D.C. National March for Abortion Rights and was one of the earliest allies of LGBTQ rights in Chicago decades ago, long before it was “mainstream” and comfortable for most other people to do so openly.
In addition to Personal PAC believing JB Pritzker is the best candidate to defeat Rauner, a broad range of diverse organizations and individuals across Illinois have endorsed only his candidacy, including nearly every labor union that has made an endorsement to date, Citizen Action, Democratic County Chairs’ Association, Illinois Education Association (IEA), Illinois AFL-CIO, Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), United Mine Workers, United Steelworkers District 7, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley. Cheri Bustos and Luis Gutierrez, State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Secretary of State Jess White, HB 40 Senate sponsor Heather Steans, HB 40 House sponsor Sara Feigenholtz, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle City Clerk Anna Valencia along with dozens of other State Senators and State Representatives, Alderpeople and Cook County elected officials. All of us united behind JB Pritzker to defeat Bruce Rauner.
We cannot allow Rauner to be re-elected. I firmly believe JB Pritzker is the best candidate to prevent that from happening on November 6, 2018.
Terry could very well be right about Rod and JBT and how that could repeat itself in the spring. But I’d rise to make a point of historical order here: Cosgrove helped Blagojevich by repeatedly attacking Topinka for not being pro-choice, even though she was. She just wasn’t pro-choice enough for Personal PAC.
Creates the CTE Prevention Act. Defines terms. Provides that a child under the age of 12 may not participate in tackle football offered by an organized youth sports program. Provides that a child under the age of 12 may participate in all other athletic activities offered by an organized youth sports program.
Keep in mind that Sente is retiring and she has no co-sponsors. But her bill did strike a nerve.
The best evidence shows CTE risk correlates to the number of years playing football, much as lung cancer risk correlates to number of years smoking. Athletes who begin football before 12 have a greater risk of cognitive impairment, mood and behavior disturbances as adults than players who began after 12.
The coalition also pointed to overwhelming public support from former and current football players and coaches and the general public to end tackle football for pre-teens, and to encourage them instead to play flag and other non-contact versions of football.
“They don’t need a helmet. They can play flag football. And with flag football you can get all the techniques. Why do we have to start with a 6-year-old who was just potty trained a year ago and put a helmet on him and tackle? … We’ll eventually get to tackling.”
The Illinois bill is similar to a proposal in New York, and Nowinski said lawmakers in at least one other state are working to raise the age at which children begin playing tackle football. He said studies have shown that starting tackle football before the age of 12 can lead to great neurological impairment later in life.
“This isn’t about an act to ban tackle football,” Nowinski said. “This is about an act to prevent children from being hit in the head hundreds of times through sports each season.“
State Representative Carol Sente, a Democrat from Vernon Hills is sponsoring the bill. Sente says research and data prove the risks of playing tackle football “aren’t worth it.”
“I’m not trying to ban football. You can balance protecting football with protecting our kids,” says Sente. “Illinois has been a leader in concussion legislation and I’m proud of that. We want to be the leader in the CTE issue.”
Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said because there is no national organization that oversees youth football, a state law would be the best bet for establishing guidelines.
“This isn’t about an act to ban tackle football, it’s an act to prevent children from being hit in the head hundreds of times through sports each season,” Nowinski said. “CTE is not something you get from bumping your head every once and a while. This has to come from the government if it’s going to happen at all.”
Boston University last year reported an association between participation in youth tackle football before age 12 and impaired mood and behavior later in life.
More recently, a Boston University publication linked CTE to repetitive hits to the head, even if they don’t produce symptoms of a concussion. According to the report, the risk is higher for athletes who played tackle football as children, which is why Sente’s proposal would target pre-teens.
At the Aspen Institute discussion, Robert Cantu, a leading concussion and brain trauma researcher at Boston University, said he believes children younger than 12 should not play tackle football.
Cantu said research shows brains reach their maximal developmental state between ages 10 and 12. If kids experience brain injuries at that point, he said, it can have stark effects later in life. He also said playing contact sports at a young age increases the number of subconcussive blows, which research has shown can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy even without a concussion.
“If you injure a brain at that early age, you have later life potential consequences,” Cantu sad. “I want very much for football to be played in a safer form. I think that safer form is flag.”
Some experts, though, took issue with Sente’s bill, saying no evidence demonstrates that younger football players are at greater risk for the disease.
“There’s no scientific consensus that 12 or 11 is a threshold age below which (tackle football) becomes more dangerous,” said Dr. Julian Bailes of the NorthShore University HealthSystem Neurological Institute, a CTE researcher who advises the Pop Warner youth football organization.
Jerry Miller of Bill George Youth Football, a suburban league of 3,500 players, about 1,000 of whom are under 12, said the game already has undergone numerous changes that have made it safer.
“The problem is that when all this happened, football was played as a gladiator sport,” he said. “Football has toned down so much. Our league hardly hits.”
In a statement, Brian Heffron, a spokesperson for Pop Warner, said that while the youth football organization encourages player safety, they “don’t agree banning football for young people is the answer.”
“We can’t imagine elected officials mandating to parents which sports their children can play,” Heffron said. “Literally millions of young people have played Pop Warner football for nearly 90 years and have grown up to be healthy, successful adults contributing to society in so many ways. We think the life lessons, experiences and memories from playing this great team sport far outweigh the risks.”
Not everyone agrees with the new proposed legislation. John Calabria, head of the Schaumburg Athletic Association’s football program, says the legislation is over-reaching.
“You’re not getting that growth, that ability to be a teammate,” he said. “Hard work, ethics, all that is taken away. Yes, you get some of that with flag football, but not to the fullest effect as with tackle (football).”
If a bill proposed Thursday ends up getting passed, youth football organizations like Sycamore Youth Football League won’t be able to offer tackle football to children younger than 12.
SYFL President Brian Klaassens said he feels football is being unfairly targeted.
“I’m not very surprised that’s what they are trying to do,” said Klaassens, who is in his first year as president but has had two children play football in the league. “At what point do we try to stop and limit any kind of sports to our kids?”
Just sayin, but a lot of those adults would be out of jobs if this bill passed.
Children under the age of 12 should not play tackle football. It is too dangerous.
We say that as an editorial board, and also as parents. We don’t say it as a matter of potential law. We believe this is a decision best left to parents, not dictated by the Illinois Legislature.
If ever there was a problem that seems to be taking care of itself, this is it. Participation in youth tackle football is plummeting, even without legal bans, as the risks become more widely understood. Since 2009, participation among boys ages 6 to 12 has fallen nearly 20 percent, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, and you can bet participation will fall further as more parents wise up.
“Public safety issues that have severe health implications, I think, the government does play a role, whether that’s car seats or seat belts or smoking I think that the data at this point, for me, while it’s not 100 percent, it’s convincing,” said State Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills.
Mayor Emanuel and Gov. Rauner are on the set of Chicago P.D. this morning, according to a source. Both gov’s office and mayor’s office not immediately responding. Cinespace visit not on their public schedules.
Democratic governor contender Chris Kennedy abruptly left a candidate forum Monday, criticizing Republican candidate Jeanne Ives for what he called “ignorance and stupidity” after she said Chicago’s gun violence could be solved if more fathers stayed in the home.
The controversy came when Ives, a three-term conservative lawmaker from Wheaton who is challenging Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, responded to a question on curbing gun crimes.
“The problem is the gun violence in this city of Chicago, predominantly. And you know how you’re going to solve it? Fathers in the home,” she said.
As the audience booed and shouted, she repeated, “Fathers in the home.”
The Ives campaign later doubled down on the comment, explaining in a statement released to media that “many have advocated the same idea, including President Obama.”
The Ives statement quoted from a 2008 Father’s Day speech in which then-candidate Obama, himself raised mostly by a single mother and her parents, called on fathers to own up to their family responsibilities.
So is Ives seeking to further an idea that was earlier championed by Obama? Did Obama say fathers actively raising their children will solve the epidemic of gun violence in Chicago? We decided to check.
Ives claims she was echoing comments from former President Obama as she declared recently that the solution to curbing rampant gun violence would depend on more fathers taking responsibility for their families.
In his 2008 speech, Obama drew a link between children from fatherless homes and those who stray into crime. But Ives took it a lot further than Obama ever did.
Her sweeping claim is not supported by the passages from Obama’s speech that her campaign pointed to as evidence. A reading of the full speech doesn’t support Ives either.
As president, Obama made several speeches about the proliferation of guns and violence, and also laid out an array of proposals to deal with the problems. In his public pronouncements, however, Obama did not make statements linking the problem of absent fathers with gun violence.
Ives is taking the message from Obama’s 2008 Father’s Day speech out of context. We rate her statement False.
* The video file didn’t come from the Rauner campaign or even a Republican. But I’m told this new Rauner TV ad which uses FBI wiretap audio of JB Pritzker talking to Rod Blagojevich about being appointed state treasurer will go up Monday…
In the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s downfall due to sexual assault and harassment claims from numerous women - it’s glaringly apparent that the issue is not limited to a certain industry or segment of society. Statehouses across the nation have joined in the #MeToo movement. Some are saying state legislatures harbor environments where such activity is commonplace.
In Illinois, over 150 people signed an open letter calling for change and alleging rampant sexual harassment within the system of state politics. Kerry Lester was one of those people to sign. She’s spent years covering the statehouse as a reporter for the Association Press, she’s now with the Daily Herald. She says like many other women, she has been treated inappropriately by men in power, but hadn’t know how to respond in a meaningful way that wouldn’t threaten her credibility. Listen to an interview with her below about what’s been going on in Springfield as a result of that letter.
* Lester has since left the Daily Herald and has written a new book called “No, My Place: Reflections on sexual harassment in Illinois government and politics.” Click here to order it on Amazon…
Illinois women understand well that political currency is a delicate mix of connections, favors and power. They’ve also learned that the game is fixed, one that puts them, more often than not, in no-win situations. Award-winning journalist Kerry Lester collects the stories of harassment, inappropriate and sexist behavior endured by the state’s most powerful women, including the Illinois Attorney General, the Cook County State’s Attorney, Chicago’s City Clerk, numerous members of the General Assembly, lobbyists and political consultants.
* Kerry was kind enough to send me an advance copy and said I could post an excerpt here. There are no “outings” of men by name, but some folks may be able to figure some stuff out.
Several years ago, before I was a lawmaker, I was an advocate down in Springfield working on a bill. When the legislation finally passed both chambers, a state representative who had helped me suggested we go to The Globe, a popular bar near the Capitol, and celebrate.
It was then when I experienced how gross and entitled many men can be. While we were having drinks, this lawmaker became very handsy. He was clearly not being professional and took the instance as a sexual opportunity. He was on the make, and it became obvious to me that this was pretty habitual for him.
After he’d had a few drinks, he put his hand on my leg and invited me up to his room. I was able to extricate myself from the situation as quickly and politely as possible. I made it clear that I wasn’t interested and left it at that. I was glad that the bill we had worked on together had passed already, so I didn’t really have to have much to do with him after that. I was able to put that episode behind me.
I think a lot of men in Springfield behave like that because they believe it’s the norm, and they don’t believe there’s any chance they’ll be reprimanded or anything. And experiences like mine aren’t serious enough that most women would go and report them. I didn’t.
Again, click here to order. You can buy the hard copy now and it can be downloaded on January 31st.
Illinois could lose political clout and federal funding if immigrants afraid of deportation in the Trump era sit out the 2020 census, experts say.
Officials with the U.S. Census Bureau are weighing whether to ask households across the country about their citizenship status, a move experts say could have a chilling effect on participation among immigrants. The fear is that the data, including home addresses, could lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the doors of those living in the country without documentation. And even for those on their way to becoming naturalized citizens, the controversial question may keep them from raising their hands and being counted, especially as the immigration debate has taken sharp turns and left them uneasy about their future here.
In Illinois alone, immigrants make up about 7 percent of the state’s population, ranging from those on their way to becoming naturalized citizens to others living here illegally, said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution. Illinois’ falling population means it’s already on the cusp of losing one representative, but if immigrants decide they don’t want to be counted, that could cost the state a total of two seats, Frey said. […]
Thomas Saenz, the president and general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said if a question about citizenship made it onto the 2020 census, the bureau could face legal challenges on the grounds that it would lead to an inaccurate count and thus not fulfill its constitutional mandate. That’s one of the reasons why Saenz said the request could be more political than rooted in an actual need.
“I’m not sure the DOJ is serious,” Saenz said. “This could be just a dog whistle to the far right that this administration often seems to feel the need to cater to. It could be a political message.”
I emailed Rauner campaign spokesman Justin Giorgio to find out why the governor is laying low. He did not respond to multiple emails.
Of course, Rauner doesn’t likely see himself as a coward. He’s probably been advised not to give his opponent an opportunity for free publicity since he is leading her in the polls.
But there is a problem with that contention. When there is no debate, the loser isn’t Jeanne Ives. The losers are the voters.
They deserve to know where their candidates stand on the issues. When Rauner thumbs his nose at debating the person he is running against, he is showing contempt not just for his opponent but for the process. […]
Since Rauner’s campaign won’t say why he won’t debate, I asked Ives why she thinks the governor is avoiding facing her.
“Bruce Rauner is not prepared to have a substantive policy discussion with me. There is much he has to answer for during his four years in office. He’s just afraid to debate a woman on the issues.”
They are meeting at the Tribune editorial board next week, but that’s it.
The inspector general for the Illinois General Assembly says a top state senator did not sexually harass a woman whose legislation he was sponsoring last year.
Inspector General Julie Porter concludes in a report that Sen. Ira Silverstein’s interaction with Denise Rotheimer did not rise to the level of ethical misconduct. But she says it was “conduct unbecoming of a legislator” and recommended the 19-year veteran lawmaker be counseled by the Senate’s ethics officer.
Rotheimer helped author a 2011 law to increase penalties for violent sex offenders. She said she was working with Silverstein to pass legislation to help crime victims get free legal representation during ongoing criminal cases, when the senator killed the bill because he thought she had a boyfriend.
“Once I explained to him I don’t have a boyfriend, my bill came back alive,” Rotheimer said at the hearing.
Contacted Thursday, Rotheimer said she was “livid” over the ruling and fears it will discourage others from lodging complaints against lawmakers.
“For her (Porter) to victim-blame and to say I was flirting with him, that shows that the whole system is corrupt,” Rotheimer said. “The process is worse than the abuse because now I’m being blamed.” […]
Porter said Silverstein’s conduct could only be defined as sexual harassment if it created “an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.”
She also found evidence that Silverstein continued to push the legislation even after it was clear there was little support for passage. Rotheimer said that’s why, recognizing there was no employer-employee relationship with Silverstein, she filed an “abuse of power” charge with the Legislative Ethics Commission, not a sexual harassment complaint.
Porter noted two instances when Silverstein teased Rotheimer that he would drop sponsorship of the bill. The context of the conversations was lighthearted, but even the appearance that a lawmaker’s opinion of legislation could be based on his relationship with the advocate “has harmed the public’s trust in the General Assembly,” she wrote.
[Inspector General Julie Porter] also noted many of the messages were “flirtatious,” although none were “sexually explicit and there was never any express discussion in the messages about cultivating a romantic relationship.”
And she did not conclude that Silverstein “killed” the bill.
“If anything, it appears that Silverstein — like Rotheimer — was misguided or naive about whether the bill could actually succeed as proposed. He kept going and going because he wanted to help, please and placate Rotheimer,” she wrote.
In explaining why she considered Silverstein’s conduct “unbecoming” of a legislator, Porter writes that “he did not maintain an appropriate professional distance from the proponent of a bill he was sponsoring.”
She writes that Silverstein “should have been much more cautious and conscientious about engaging in these types of teasing and flirtatious communications with someone he knew was depending on him to advance legislation.”
“Legislators are public servants, held to a higher standard,” Porter wrote. “Even the appearance — which Silverstein himself created — that Silverstein felt enamored with a bill proponent and may have used his office to advance or impede legislation as a result is problematic and warrants my finding.”
Attorney Les Alderman, who has handled harassment cases in Washington, D.C., said Porter’s report will have consequences.
“Here you have this inspector general airing all of this dirty laundry and declaring it to mean nothing, and to amount to no violation of the law,” Alderman said. “That will have a chilling effect on the victims who will decide that they don’t need to go through the same process and get the same result.”
Alderman said accusers should take their cases to court. Rotheimer said she’s evaluating her options and that the process is rigged in lawmakers’ favor.
Illinois state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond, said the legislature’s harassment task force is evaluating how other inspectors general investigate cases in other agencies and other states.
Becky Carroll, a political consultant and one of the women behind the open letter last fall, said she did not think the inspector general’s finding would discourage women from coming forward.
“Women and our allies are united more than ever around this issue, and this movement is too strong a force to be deterred by any single incident of this nature,” Carroll said. “There’s no going back.”
Carroll said she could understand why Rotheimer was dissatisfied with the process, saying state government needs a “clear, consistent and fair process in place so everyone who comes forward has confidence that their complaints will be taken seriously and addressed accordingly.”
Lawmakers have formed two task forces to try to address the larger issues of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in Springfield.
Silverstein didn’t want to answer any of my questions about the finding, but he did say “I am very grateful that we have an independent inspector general who saw the facts for what they were. My priorities are now my family and my re-election.”
But Silverstein’s two more impediments to his re-election: He’s currently 45 signatures short on his petition to get on the March 20th ballot and even if he does get on the ballot he’s got a primary challenger.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Daiber put some distance between himself and his primary opponents Thursday afternoon by suggesting the state tax retirement income to help pay pension obligations.
Daiber, the only Downstate candidate running for governor, said those seeking the office had to “think outside the box” to meet the state’s more than $130 billion pension obligations instead of acting as if it could be solved by spreading “fairy dust.” To do that, Daiber said everyone in the state will have to pitch in, from retirees to those currently receiving large tax breaks. […]
State Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, one of Daiber’s opponents in the Democratic primary, said he does not support taxing retirement income under the state’s current flat tax structure, but would be open to the idea under a progressive system.
“I would only consider taxing retirement income once we’ve amended the Illinois Constitution to allow for a progressive income tax so that we tax retirement income of wealthier Illinoisans rather than burden middle-class Illinoisans,” Biss said.
Fellow contender J.B. Pritzker does not support a tax on retirement income, his campaign said.
Chris Kennedy’s campaign couldn’t be reached for comment by the reporter.
Illinois farmers harvested 611.9 million bushels of soybeans last year, which led the nation, and we had a 58-bushel yield, also No. 1 in the nation. At nearly $10 a bushel, this is a $6 billion industry. We are a soybean factory in Illinois. Soybeans are used in food, fed to livestock, and converted to biodiesel. Thousands of jobs are generated in the handling, transportation and processing of soybeans, and in the biodiesel industry. Soybeans are essential to the Illinois economy.
But the health of the soybean industry is threatened by the herbicide dicamba.
Bob Daiber, a Democratic candidate for governor and a small-time farmer himself, is urging Illinois, at the center of the soybean universe, to ban dicamba, either through legislation or regulation, before crop damage and insurance claims are rampant. The ban should last indefinitely, until problems with drift are resolved. Arkansas and Missouri already have banned the use of dicamba.
“Somebody has to look out for the long-term health and best interests of agri-business in Illinois,” Daiber said. “If we let this get out of hand, farmers will end up in a thicket of crop loss, insurance claims and litigation, none of which are good for business. If I should be honored to be elected governor, you’ll have someone in Springfield who knows about farming, and how a few pennies here or there, multiplied over thousands of acres, make a difference. But I will also be someone who wants to make sure we don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, whether it’s regarding corn and beans, livestock or specialty crops.”
Daiber, in addition to his duties as regional superintendent of schools for Madison County, is a small-time farmer himself: He and his wife own 250 acres in four locations in Madison and Macoupin counties, and he personally farms 120 acres (corn and beans).
Dicamba kills plants – except for the soybean plants that are genetically modified to survive dicamba. But the trouble is, whether through misapplication or off-label use by farmers, or because of a design flaw in the product itself, dicamba drifts. It not only damages soybeans: A farmer in Pulaski County lost 40 acres of beans and 12 acres of grapes (www.semissourian.com/story/2456331.html). There are reports of oak trees damaged by drifting dicamba.
Dicamba has been used in the United States for 50 years, but starting with the 2017 crop year, it was approved for the first time to be sprayed on fields after the soybeans are already growing, instead of before they sprout. It’s a product farmers find attractive because some weeds have developed resistance to other herbicides.
Lawsuits and insurance claims are piling up. Farmers are having insurance claims against neighboring farmers denied, with the insurance companies claiming it is not the farmer who is to blame, but the product itself. The manufacturers – Monsanto, BASF and DuPont – are being sued.
Nationally, 3.6 million acres have been damaged – that’s 4 percent of the crop – and 2,708 claims are in process, including 245 in Illinois, according to the University of Missouri.
“There are herbicides on the market that don’t drift. Illinois farmers in this important crop sector should stick to those until that bugs are worked out of dicamba,” Daiber said.
* Democrat Daiber Pushes Dicamba Herbicide Ban For Illinois Farming: “We have to make a decision in this state whether we want billionaires to govern us. I believe that the best thing that could happen for all of Illinois, from Chicago to Cairo, is if an everyday working-class person like me became the next governor, (someone) who really understands how everyday people work and live,” Daiber said.
* Meanwhile…
Madison County regional superintendent of schools and Democratic candidate for governor, will address labor issues on Monday, Jan. 29 at news conferences in Wood River and Springfield.
Daiber, a teacher for 28 years, was a member of the Illinois Education Association, and served four years as president of his local at Triad H.S. in Troy.
Members of the media are invited and urged to attend. The Wood River news conference will be on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bobdaiber2018/. The Springfield news conference will be available on Blue Room Stream.
* Eric Zorn’s latest column is entitled “Kennedy fail: Camelot has become Goofalot in the race for governor.” It basically covers Chris Kennedy’s slam on JB Pritzker when asked to say something nice about the other candidates during the NBC 5 forum, and Kennedy’s flubbing a press conference on Joe Berrios…
When reporters asked Kennedy to name his greatest weakness, he replied, “my honesty.”
No. Not in this context. Though I agree with him on many issues, Kennedy’s greatest weakness is that he simply isn’t ready to play the game at this level.
It was not too long ago that Chris Kennedy was seen by many as the best challenger to J.B. Pritzker. But after a couple of stumbles during and after some candidate forums this past week, some political observers say Kennedy needs to rev up his campaign quickly, before it’s too late.
“I think it’s very clear from the debate performance, that he was a bit sluggish and it’s very clear from just watching the airwaves that both Pritzker and Biss are a bit ahead of him,” Northwestern Political Science Professor Alvin Tillery said.
Time is of the essence for Kennedy. And with Biss launching a new TV ad attacking Kennedy and Pritzker by trying to tie them to President Donald Trump and Governor Bruce Rauner, Tillery said Kennedy needs to make a move now with a new TV ad of his own. Kennedy’s campaign says they will, soon. […]
“He needs more than an ad to go up, he needs a series of ads. In fact, he needs to go up and not come down through March 20 is what he needs at this point,” political consultant Delmarie Cobb said. […]
“I think he still has an opportunity to correct any mistakes he’s made, I mean they haven’t been fatal blows at all, they’ve been what I would call novice mistakes,” Cobb said. […]
Kennedy’s campaign said they are the only ones message of vision and change for Illinois. On Thursday, a spokeswoman said “we’re very much in contention with or without ads.”
He can’t run ads without money and he doesn’t have enough to go up and stay up more than a week or so, if that.
For the third day in a row, Gov. Bruce Rauner doesn’t have any public events scheduled, so reporters won’t get a chance to ask him about a lawsuit that says he had a 2015 meeting about an investment on the back porch of the governor’s mansion.
That gathering on taxpayer property came to light Tuesday after a lawsuit filed by former investment partner Harreld N. “Kip” Kirkpatrick III was unsealed. It says Rauner and Kirkpatrick disagree on how a $67.5 million settlement from other court proceedings was divvied up.
On Wednesday, Rauner’s attorneys fired back in a court filing accusing Kirkpatrick of “a continuing pattern of self-dealing,” according to the Sun-Times. And The Associated Press reported that the governor’s official calendar shows a scheduled meeting with Kirkpatrick at the mansion on the date in question.
Rauner stayed out of the public eye Wednesday, and the last public appearance listed on his schedule was Monday, the day before the lawsuit details went public.
* Make that four days in a row…
Daily Public Schedule: Friday, Jan. 26, 2018
What: Gov. Rauner launches Bicentennial K-12 education resource: ‘Illinois Chronicles’
Where: Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago
Date: Friday, January 26, 2018
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Note: No additional media availability
* I’ve seen this happen to several freshmen back in the day, particularly in the House, but never to a veteran. From the IG’s report on Sen. Ira Silverstein…
Silverstein, who is married, told The Associated Press that he could not remember whether he did the things Rotheimer alleged, but also suggested that she might have been unhappy because the legislation has not yet passed.
“There were no mind games, no power struggle,” Silverstein said. “I was working the bill. That was my job, to work the bill. She might not like how bill was proceeding. Maybe that’s the issue here.”
“I apologize if I made her uncomfortable,” he said.
* From the Legislative Inspector General’s report…
When questioned about this, he says he was talking about checking the roots of Rotheimer’s hair (because grey hair and dying hair had been a repeated conversation for them).
Just as Rotheimer downplays her own role in encouraging the intimacy of the discussions she had with Silverstein, Silverstein also has an overly generous view of his own conduct… he does not appear to fully to accept that the messages went beyond “joking around,” were unprofessional and created at least the appearance that he had a romantic interest in Rotheimer.
The IG went on to recommend that Silverstein be counseled by his ethics officer.
Embattled anti-choice Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL) spoke at a March for Life-affiliated event alongside abortion foes aligned with the Trump administration’s agenda—just a day before he skipped his scheduled Friday address to the march, declining to put himself in what he called a “potentially morally compromised situation” by speaking at the same event as the president.
“So many have been driven out [of the Democratic Party]. And I have a lot of people tell me, ‘Well, just get out,’” Lipinski told the Law of Life Summit, according to an audio recording obtained by Rewire.
“And I always say, ‘Well, I think it’s important to evangelize. I think it’s important to have a voice, crying out in that wilderness, of the need to protect life,’” he continued. “And I’ve always believed, and I always say, the Democratic Party says it stands up for the little guy, and there’s no one who is more vulnerable than the unborn, who need the protection. And so I’m hanging in there.”
The Lipinski family formula for political longevity, now spanning 36 years, has always been built upon hewing to the conservative side of the Democratic Party, finding peace with Republicans as protection for general elections.
LaGrange businesswoman Marie Newman thinks that formula has passed its expiration date for U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, who followed his father Bill into Congress 14 years ago.
“I don’t think he understands the district has changed beyond dramatically since his tenure,” Newman told the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board Wednesday in a joint appearance with Lipinski, their first of the campaign.
The 3rd Congressional District, which represents much of Chicago’s Southwest Side and the southwest suburbs, is now solidly Democratic turf that deserves a solid Democratic vote in the House, not a “squishy situation where you don’t know how the congressperson is going to vote,” Newman said.
Lipinski, 51, countered that the “pragmatic” voters of his district want a like-minded representative willing to reach across party lines to solve problems, not someone who would add to the “bickering and gridlock” in Washington.
The Newman campaign released some poll results last month which it claimed showed Lipinski is vulnerable to a challenge (click here).
* I asked for some additional results. People seem to think that this district is still full of socially conservative Reagan Democrats living in bungalows. But times change. Here are a few results the Newman campaign sent over…
Now, I’m going to read you a list of public figures and I’d like you to tell me whether you have a FAVORABLE or UNFAVORABLE opinion of each person using a scale that runs from 0 to 10. A 0 on this scale means you have a VERY LOW or VERY UNFAVORABLE opinion of that person. A 10 on this scale means you have a VERY HIGH or VERY FAVORABLE opinion of that person. Now, you can use any number between 0 and 10 to tell me your opinion of each. If you have never heard of a name, or don’t know enough to rate them, please just say so.
Bernie Sanders
Very Fav: 35%
Smwt Fav: 31%
Ntrl: 11%
Smwt Unfav: 9%
Very Unfav: 8%
CR: 4%
NH: 2%
Total Fav: 66%
Total Unfav: 17%
Which of the following types of candidates for Congress are you more likely to support: [RANDOMIZE ORDER, RANDOMIZE PAIRS]
A Democrat who is pro-choice and pro-LGBT rights 65%
OR
A Democrat who is pro-life and supports traditional marriage 23
(DON’T KNOW) 11
One last question. When it comes to the issue of abortion, do you generally think of yourself as PRO-CHOICE or do you generally think of yourself as PRO-LIFE?
And would you say you are STRONGLY [PRO-CHOICE/PROLIFE] or do you lean [PRO-CHOICE/PRO-LIFE]?
Ruiz charged that at a forum with the Chicago Sun-Times this month, Raoul had defended taking the tobacco industry money by saying he’d had the contributions approved by the attorney general’s office. Raoul repeatedly disputed having said that.
“You cannot tell me what I said,” Raoul shouted at one point.
Jesse Ruiz: Did the attorney general’s office advise you that it was OK or not OK? You said at the Sun-Times, you told the Sun-Times editorial board to their faces that the office of attorney general told you it was OK.
Kwame Raoul: That was not what I said.
Jesse Ruiz: That is what you said.
Kwame Raoul: Jesse, you cannot tell me what I said!
Jesse Ruiz: I heard you, that’s why I can tell you…
Aaron Goldstein: “Senator, if you were the attorney general, would you continue with the lawsuit against the tobacco companies?”
Raoul: “I talked to the attorney general. The attorney general does not control that lawsuit.”
Goldstein: “But you have oversight. You have oversight as attorney general. Would you remove yourself from it?”
Raoul: “The attorney general does not control that lawsuit. I checked with the donor and I checked with the attorney general’s office. They are a signatory to the settlement. The settlement is done. What happened is that …[ interrupted by others] Let me finish.”
Ruiz: “That is not true.”
Raoul: “First of all let me start with the fact that I am not for sale.”
Sharon Fairley: “No, because you’ve already been bought.”
…Adding… From the Ruiz campaign…
As reported by Crain’s Chicago business,
Levin’s Top Tobacco is one of the parties to the national pact that Madigan enforces and oversees here in Illinois. Madigan’s office confirms that it has opposed Top Tobacco in a series of arbitrations—one pending—in which it is seeking tens of millions of dollars from that company and others in a dispute over payments to the state from the tobacco settlement.
Kwame Raoul’s assertion to the Sun-Times’ editorial board that his donor has no pending action in front of the AG’s office is simply incorrect.
In addition, the Sun-Times article quotes Kwame as saying, “I checked with the donor, and I checked with the attorney general’s office.” Yet in front of the Tribune editorial board, Kwame denied that he consulted the attorney general’s office. That flatly contradicts Kwame’s earlier statement.
In the tale of the tapes, this one goes to Team Ruiz.
But another group, Personal PAC, which spends hundreds of thousands of dollars in some election cycles, announced it is backing only one candidate: Pritzker.
In a phone interview, Personal PAC CEO Terry Cosgrove confirmed the decision and said it has nothing to do with the fact that Pritzker last spring donated more than $300,000 to the group and to its affiliated independent expenditure committee.
While other candidates have taken pro-abortion rights stands, too, the decision to endorse Pritzker alone “came down to viability,” Cosgrove said. “We felt J.B. had the campaign apparatus, the resources and the commitment to win against (incumbent) Bruce Rauner.” […]
Personal PAC endorsements are not affected by donations it receives, Cosgrove added. “Ask Diana Rauner how much her tens of thousands of checks to us have done for her husband. . . .Three-quarters of my board has no idea of donations.”
A spokesman for Biss said his candidate was “surprised” that he failed to receive the Personal PAC endorsement, given that he “for years has worked on women’s issues.” Biss was “pleased” that Planned Parenthood felt otherwise.
* In other campaign news, from a pess release…
Today, the JB for Governor campaign released a new digital ad, “In Charge,” highlighting Bruce Rauner’s failure to lead and JB’s commitment to standing up for all Illinoisans and taking charge when he’s governor.
“Bruce Rauner unleashed a budget crisis on our state, and after all of that, he has the nerve to look you in the eye and say, ‘I am not in charge,’” said JB Pritzker. “If I’m elected governor, when the Dreamers need my protection, when people of color need my commitment to justice, when the LGBTQ community needs my voice, and women everywhere need me to say, ‘we believe you,’ I will be in charge. Illinois deserves better than Bruce Rauner. Illinois deserves a leader.”
Sen. Ira Silverstein today gave this statement about sexual harassment allegations against him: “I am very grateful that we have an independent Inspector General who saw the facts for what they were. My priorities are now my family and my reelection.”
* So I reached out to Denise Rotheimer, who has accused Sen. Ira Silverstein of sexual harassment. Rotheimer told me this today about the Legislative Inspector General…
The LIG said she has concluded her investigation and is taking no action at this time.
More when I know more.
…Adding… The Legislative Ethics Commission now has the option to order the LIG to reopen the investigation or it could go out and hire another special inspector general to pursue the claims. Neither seems likely.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Ms. Rotheimer…
I have been informed by Julie Porter that I have no rights. None that she can think of.
When I told her I have a constitutional right under the 1st Amendment to speech that I am entitled to be heard in this process. She said I am confused because that is not how this process works and explained when I filed the complaint it was nothing more than making a tip to the government.
On Friday I asked her the status on my complaint because I am having nightmares. She said she concluded her investigation but will not take action at this time. I asked her in an email to take action on a finding sooner than later and not wait until the March primary. If however Silverstein who does have rights in this process and was privy to the LEC meeting today that I didn’t know about until being contacted by a reporter- knows something I don’t because I “am not a person ” in this process then it’s possible the LIG did take action.
This process is rigged in his favor so I know he is happy with it. But I have not been informed with any action by the LIG of her finding or recommendation other than what she said in Friday that her investigation is complete but she is not taking action at this time.
Ultimately, I conclude that although Silverstein did not engage in sexual harassment in violation of the State Officials and Employee Ethics Act, or other unlawful conduct, he did behave in a manner unbecoming of a legislator in violation of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act, 5 ILCS 420/3-107.
In the communications available to me, there are dozens of instances where Rotheimer initiates, prolongs and deepens the intimacy of the discussions. She repeatedly compiments and flirts with Silverstein. […]
I do not suggest that she is lying about how she felt, and I do not conclude that that she subjectively welcomed the communications. Again, my interviews with the State’s Attorney and Rotheimer’s friend corroborate Rotheimer’s assertions that - at the time - she was uncomfortable… My objective assessment is that even if Rotheimer was internally cringing at the messages Silverstein sent her and did not welcome them, she gave no outward sign of that at all, and no one - including Silverstein - would have any way of knowing that she was not a fully willing participant in the discussions.
“I’m not a person in this case. He gets all the rights,” she said of Silverstein, adding she planned to put out further evidence publicly.
“If she wants to make a no finding, I will show everybody with this evidence that I have that she has but doesn’t know I have,” Rotheimer said. “I’ll make it public and she’ll have to answer to that.”
*** UPDATE 5 *** Press release…
Today, Democratic Candidate for State Senate Ram Villivalam (IL-8) made the following statement regarding the Inspector General’s report summarizing her investigation into the sexual harassment charges against State Senator Ira Silverstein (IL-8):
“The Inspector General’s report makes it clear that Illinois State Senator Ira Silverstein ‘did behave in a manner unbecoming of a legislator in violation of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act.’ It is ALSO clear that we need to have a Legislative Ethics Act with real consequences. If and when a legislator violates the Legislative Ethics Act, there need to be specific statutory punishments up to and including expulsion from the Legislature. Women need to be believed. And men need to be held accountable.
The people of the 8th State Senate District - and ALL of Illinois - deserve better.”
*** UPDATE 6 *** From another primary opponent, Caroline McAteer-Fournier…
Legislators are not above the law just because they write the laws. The general assembly needs to be held to the same level of accountability as any other citizen.
We have an Inspector General report finding that Sen. Silverstein engaged in conduct “unbecoming of a legislator,” in violation of the Ethics Act. Furthermore, the report says Silverstein “correctly acknowledges” that very fact. The public trust in the senator has evaporated. We need a senator who doesn’t require “ethics counseling.” Women all over the country are putting a stop to this nonsense, and we can do it here in the 8th District too. Sen. Silverstein, Times Up!
* From Rep. Ann Williams’ (D-Chicago) Facebook page…
I will join colleagues, staff, and lobbyists in wearing black to the State of the State address in Springfield next week as a show of solidarity with the #metoo movement. A reminder to all that #timesup on inequality, gender discrimination and sexual harassment in our state capitol and beyond.
* Sen. Daniel Biss was on The Young Turks show the other day…
“We have been able to raise serious money, millions of dollars by having literally thousands and thousands of people from hundreds of towns across Illinois contribute.”
This sort of thing plays well with the people at TYT because they loved them some Bernie Sanders. According to Politifact, 44 percent of Bernie’s individual contributions (which excludes political action committee cash) came from contributions of $200 or less. Without the help of any joint fundraising committees, Sanders’ small-dollar total was 58 percent of his individual contributions.
* Since April 1st of last year (a few days after he filed his gubernatorial D-1), Sen. Biss has reported raising $2,946,368.43 (one of the reasons Biss entered this quarter with over $3 million in the bank is because he started his statewide campaign last year with $1.6 million cash on hand).
Anyway, of that $2.95 million he’s raised, $2,622,515.25 came from individual contributions.
Of that, $271,742.48 have been small-dollar contributions that weren’t itemized. He itemized another $54,850.28 in contributions of $150 or less (contributions in excess of $150 must be reported).
So, his small-dollar contributions totaled $326,592.76 since he got into the race, about 12.5 percent of his total raised. Up that to $200 (to equalize it with the Bernie numbers) and it works out to $358,653.48, or 13.7 percent of his total.
By contrast, Biss’ individual contributions of $10,000 or more totaled $1,241,600, or 47 percent of his total from individuals.
Individual contributions to Biss of $1,000 or more totaled $2,218,177.18, or 84.6 percent of his total raised.
* The AP story really doesn’t do justice to yesterday’s Tribune editorial board meeting with the Dem AG candidates…
Several candidates took jabs at Raoul, who leads in fundraising and high-profile endorsements.
They questioned his campaign contributions from big tobacco and the gaming industry, focusing on possible conflicts of interest. Ruiz, a former Chicago education official, said he’s abstained from votes to avoid complications and questioned Raoul’s impartiality. At one point, Raoul shot back, calling Ruiz “a serial liar.”
“It hasn’t compromised me in the past,” Raoul said. “I’m not for sale.” […]
“How can people expect that things are going to be different if we keep electing the same people?” [Renato Mariotti ] asked Quinn. “If you can’t defeat Bruce Rauner, why we would trust you take on Donald Trump?”
Two of the Democratic candidates — state Sen. Kwame Raoul and former Chicago Board of Education head Jesse Ruiz — clashed loudly over political contributions.
When asked if Raoul’s campaign funds from tobacco companies would compromise his ability to litigate against them as Illinois’s attorney general, Ruiz upped the ante by insisting Raoul was contradicting his comments to the Chicago Sun-Times from another forum earlier this month.
“Jesse, you cannot tell me what I said,” Raoul yelled across the table. “You are a serial liar.” The exchange was broken up by tabletop bell wielded by the Tribune.
* The entire Tribune story, however, is a must-read…
“You cannot tell me what I said,” Raoul shouted at one point.
“I heard you,” said Ruiz.
“You are a serial liar,” Raoul replied. […]
“I think one of the big problems that we have in this room is that we have people that are beholden to powers that be that don’t want to change anything,” Drury said. He called Quinn “the patronage pal of Mike Madigan.”
Rotering accused Drury of “the height of hypocrisy,” noting that he had “taken money from people who are funding Rauner.” Drury countered that one of Rotering’s biggest donors was also a contributor to Rauner. […]
“You know, we keep hearing about laws that you passed when you had all these different roles in state government, and we’re left with a corrupt government that is corrupt and a government that people don’t have trust in here in Illinois,” Mariotti said to Quinn. “And I guess the question is: How can the people of Illinois expect that things are going to be different when we keep electing the same people who’ve been in charge, when these laws are passed that are supposedly enough to deal with corruption in Illinois and it hasn’t been done?”
* Let’s try this again because people seem to be getting way too far into the weeds. Gov. Rauner was asked in October about a lawsuit filed against him by Kip Kirkpatrick. Media outlets had reported that Rauner had demanded the case be sealed. So, a reporter asked him “Why are you fighting to keep that sealed?”…
Gov. Rauner: I am not. So, to be clear, my assets, all my investments are in a trust that I don’t control. I did that when I became governor. I can’t comment on any business disputes. That gets settled in its own process.
Reporter: Is that the reason why it’s sealed because it’s through a blind trust?
Gov. Rauner: I can’t even tell you, I mean, I don’t really have much to do with that.
Today, the Democratic Governors Association filed a public records request with Governor Bruce Rauner’s office, seeking visitor logs for the Governor’s Mansion and his temporary residence at the State Fairgrounds.
The DGA submitted the request following the revelation in a lawsuit unsealed this week that Governor Rauner held a meeting related to his business interests on the back porch of the Governor’s Mansion. Rauner netted a $15 million profit from the settlement of the investment, which he discussed on the back porch.
“Bruce Rauner asked the public to trust him, and he broke that trust,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner promised the public he would wall himself off from his business interests. Now, Rauner must come clean and turn over any information about other business meetings he had while in office.”
Rauner has fought attempts to bring transparency in the operation of his office. The Illinois Times tried to obtain Rauner’s office calendar which quickly lead to a long lawsuit. Rauner maintains he does not use an email address, but his office fought the release of his wife’s emails even though the Chicago Sun-Times showed they pertained to state business.
Specifically, the DGA is requesting:
copies of all visitor logs of the Governor’s mansion in Springfield from January 12, 2015 to January 23, 2018; and
copies of all visitor logs of the Governor’s temporary residence located on (or near) the Illinois State Fairgrounds from March 1, 2017 to January 23, 2018.
…Adding… Pritzker campaign…
On the heels of a now unsealed lawsuit against Bruce Rauner, a new report confirms that Rauner held a private business meeting at the People’s House, aiming to maximize his personal profit while driving state finances into the ground.
Despite pledging to remove himself from business dealings when he took office, Rauner reneged on that promise and had his state-paid secretary schedule a meeting with Kip Kirkpatrick at the Governor’s Mansion. The 300% profit on the business deal was “apparently not enough for Rauner.” The Associated Press filed Freedom of Information Act requests in 2015 to pry Rauner’s official calendar from the administration to confirm the meeting took place.
“It is now clear that Bruce Rauner conducted private business while in office, despite repeatedly vowing to remove himself from the potentially conflicting deals,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This failed governor spent years trying to cover up his unethical behavior and blatant lies to the public, undoubtedly breaking the trust of the people of this state.”
Today, Daniel Biss announced that Illinois members of MoveOn.org Political Action have voted overwhelmingly to endorse Daniel Biss in the state’s gubernatorial race, with 66% of votes cast in favor of backing Biss, who is challenging Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner. MoveOn members praised Biss’ people-powered campaign and progressive policy agenda.
“Daniel’s people-powered campaign is building momentum from Chicago to Champaign to East St. Louis. He’s running on a bold vision for a massive change to Illinois politics and economy. One that puts middle-class values and families first, not the billionaires and big corporations,” said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action in an email to Illinois MoveOn members. “His support for single-payer health care, tuition-free public universities, fixing a broken criminal justice system, and making sure the wealthy pay their share is a recipe for energizing the broad coalition it’ll take to beat Bruce Rauner in the fall.”
MoveOn will mobilize its 265,000 members in Illinois to volunteer and vote for Biss.
Here’s what a few MoveOn members in Illinois had to say about Biss:
“I like that Biss has talked about supporting public schools and that he sends his kids to public schools. I like he is a middle class candidate who is not using his own pocket money to fund a campaign. No more millionaire candidates. I feel he will really understand the needs of the middle class while working for all of Illinois.” —Kate from Chicago
“Daniel and Litesa are the only ticket with two active records of progressive legislative experience. Looking at what they’ve been able to accomplish while Rauner has been in office, I feel so much more confident about what they can do to reform Illinois once he’s voted out!” —Sara from Brookfield
“Daniel Biss brings progressive values, creative thinking, consensus building and real, in-the-trenches government experience to his campaign. He left his profession as Math professor at the University of Chicago to become a community organizer, and has since served both in the Illinois House and Senate. He is a man of the people and for the people, not buying his candidacy because he is a billionaire. He is a candidate so worthy MoveOn’s support.” —Rebecca from Champaign
“Of all the candidates running for governor Daniel is the only one with legislative experience. I feel that he will represent the interest of working families like mine. I have donated both time and money to this campaign, even though I do not normally give to political campaigns. I believe that strongly in him.” —Giovanna from Rockford
“Because Daniel is a breath of fresh air - well-educated, fighting for those whose voices are typically ignored (elderly, disabled, immigrants and more). When he speaks, he engages you, speaks to you and not down to you. I think everyone can identify with Daniel. He has a clear story of inspiration that has guided him down this path. He expects accountability - even for himself. This is our next governor.”—Tonna from Carpentersville
“I’m proud to receive MoveOn’s endorsement,” said Daniel Biss. “When I first got involved in grassroots organizing in response to the Iraq War, I fell in love with the idea that we can fundamentally transform our communities when we unite around a common vision. That belief inspired me to run for office for the first time a decade ago, to organize around progressive reform in the state legislature, and to take on wealthy, establishment candidates as I run a grassroots campaign for governor now. MoveOn was founded with this same faith in people-powered politics and has earned a reputation nationwide for backing true progressive candidates and amplifying the voices of voters, both on the ground and through innovative digital tools, to break through the noise in an era of unprecedented election spending. I’m excited to partner with MoveOn to mobilize Illinois voters in this election, and to fight for progressive reform in the years ahead.”
Here are the final vote totals from Illinois MoveOn members:
Daniel Biss - 66%
J.B. Pritzker - 20%
Chris Kennedy - 12%
Bob Daiber - 1%
Tio Hardiman - 1%
Robert Marshall - 0%
In endorsing Daniel Biss, MoveOn members in Illinois join other progressive leaders and organizations including National Nurses United, Reclaim Chicago, U.S. Congresswoman Robin Kelly, former Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, State Representatives Kelly Cassidy, Carol Ammons and Will Guzzardi, and many more. See the full list of endorsements here.
This cycle, MoveOn members have also endorsed seven Senate candidates: progressive Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Sherrod Brown (OH), who are running for reelection in states Trump won; Beto O’Rourke (TX); as well as progressive champions Mazie Hirono (HI), Chris Murphy (CT), Bernie Sanders (VT), and Elizabeth Warren (MA) for reelection. MoveOn members have also endorsed Marie Newman for Congress (IL-3) and Stacey Abrams for Governor (GA).
In 2017 and 2018 to date, MoveOn members have contributed $1.5 million to candidates—including $250,000 for Senator-elect Doug Jones (AL) and $620,000 for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (MA) reelection. In 2016, MoveOn members raised $1.2 million for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, mobilized volunteers, and ran ads in support of endorsed candidates.
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group
DATE: January 23, 2018
RE: Recent Survey among Illinois 4th CD Democratic Primary Voters
From January 18 to 21, 2018, Garin-Hart-Yang conducted a survey among a representative sample of 400 likely Democratic primary voters in the 4th CD. This survey, which has a margin of error of ±5 percentage points, was fully representative of the 4th CD’s geographic and ethnic demographics, and included cell phone interviews as well as a significant proportion of Spanish-language interviews. The following presents the survey’s key findings:
Chuy Garcia enters the race to succeed incumbent Luis Gutierrez with exceptionally high name recognition and an extremely favorable image that is positive by better than a nine-to-one ratio:
Mr. Garcia’s 93% name recognition puts him on par with Congressman Gutierrez (the rare instance where a non-incumbent candidate has the same name ID as the long-time incumbent), and he is significantly better known than his primary opponents. With the primary election less than two months away, Mr. Garcia’s almost-universal name recognition is an important advantage in a district contained in the expensive Chicago media market.
Mr. Garcia is able to translate his strong name recognition and popularity into a dominating position in the initial trial heat for Congress, already garnering three- fifths of the vote, with NONE of his opponents able to break double digits.
Several key survey results affirm Chuy Garcia’s strong standing and the likelihood that he is headed for an overwhelming victory in March.
o First, Mr. Garcia has strong support among white voters (48% Garcia, 9% Sol Flores) and overwhelming support among Hispanic voters (70% Garcia, 7% Proco Joe Moreno).
o Second, sufficient evidence suggests that Mr. Garcia has as good a chance as any of the other candidates to win undecided voters, which is notable because Chuy already has well over a majority of support. His ratings among undecided voters is positive by better than two to one, with nearly 70% of undecided voters finding his background appealing after they hear pro-Garcia information.
o Finally, Mr. Garcia maintains a better than four-to-one lead in the trial heat (45% Garcia, 11% Proco Joe Moreno) after we read several negative criticisms of Mr. Garcia that could be communicated in this campaign. Again, Chuy Garcia leads by 45% to 11% even after we read critical information about him with NOTHING else read to voters (i.e., NO pro-Garcia OR negatives against his opponents). In other words, if the Garcia campaign does NOTHING and allows his opponents to criticize him without any let-up from now until election day (NEITHER scenario is remotely likely), Mr. Garcia would STILL win this race.
In summary, Chuy Garcia’s high name recognition AND popularity among white and Hispanic voters puts him in a dominating position in the primary election with little “oxygen” for any of his primary opponents. Our survey data makes clear that 4th CD Democrats strongly believe that Chuy Garcia is the best person to succeed Congressman Gutierrez.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s official calendar shows he scheduled a May 2015 meeting at the Executive Mansion with a former business partner who claims in a lawsuit they discussed a personal business deal.
Harreld “Kip” Kirkpatrick’s lawsuit is over a disagreement with Rauner about how to divide a $67.5 million settlement from an investment they made before Rauner became governor.
He says one meeting was May 11, 2015 at the governor’s mansion in Springfield.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of Rauner’s calendar under the Freedom of Information Act. It shows Rauner’s state-paid secretary scheduled a meeting at the mansion with Kirkpatrick for 5 p.m. that day.
…Adding… To be clear, the executive mansion is treated as a residence in state campaign finance laws, so doing a business deal on the porch is fine. The problem is that Gov. Rauner said he was handing over control of his business dealings and told reporters he didn’t know why he was being sued by Kirkpatrick when pressed last fall.
Trump and Rauner. Two rich guys who scammed the system to avoid taxes. Now these Democrats got caught copying them with tax scams of their own.
Daniel Biss is the only Democrat for governor who will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes to fully fund public schools and level the playing field. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy. Daniel Biss, the middle class governor.
After Trump and Rauner refused to release their tax returns, these Democrats for governor are copying them, refusing to come clean.
Only Daniel Biss released his full returns. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
Daniel Biss today released a series of television ads, with a substantial open-ended buy, pointing out that JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy are not so different from Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump; each scammed tax systems while refusing to release their full tax returns. The ads contrast the four inexperienced wealthy businessmen with Daniel Biss, a middle-class progressive who has never taken advantage of the tax system. And unlike his opponents, he is the only candidate in the race with the experience to fix a system that allows the wealthy and well-connected to profit while middle-class and working people fall further behind.
“Trump and Rauner. Two rich guys who scammed the system to avoid taxes,” says the narrator. “Now these Democrats got caught copying them, with tax scams of their own.”
“Daniel Biss is the only Democrat for governor who will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes,” says the narrator, “to fully fund public schools, and level the playing field. And only Biss has a progressive record money can’t buy.”
“There are striking similarities between Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner, Chris Kennedy and JB Pritzker,” said Biss campaign manager Abby Witt. “Using the same language to avoid releasing their full tax returns to the public. Scamming the tax system to line their own pockets, leaving the rest of us to make up the difference. Asking voters to trust them to fix the broken systems they’ve all benefited from. Sometimes it’s hard to tell these guys apart.”
A second spot in the series, “Returns,” reminds viewers that Pritzker and Kennedy are also refusing to release their full tax returns, copying Trump and Rauner’s lack of transparency.
“We’ve seen what happens when an inexperienced billionaire businessman who hides their financial entanglements is elected governor, or even president,” continued Witt. “The choice in this election is whether we’re going to keep copying Rauner and Trump, or if we’re going to elect a middle-class progressive champion. The voters will choose Daniel.”
“Clue,” the third ad in the series, compares experience in office between Trump, Rauner, Pritzker and Kennedy. A 15 second spot, “Scam,” further highlights the tax scams that all four have engaged in.
* To make this easier than watching the videos posted on NBC 5, here are the ads in YouTube format. “Clue” is the only one not posted above…
*** UPDATE 3 *** Pritzker campaign manager Anne Caprara…
Dan must not be very thrilled with his performance last night if he decided to be the first Democratic candidate to go negative on TV in this campaign.
This morning, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives picked up endorsements from eight state and local legislators. It is highly uncommon for sitting legislators to endorse a challenger to an incumbent governor from their own party.
Yet this morning, State Representatives Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), Peter Breen (R-Lombard), Margo McDermed (R-Frankfort), and Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee), along with Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak, Naperville Township Commissioner Warren Dixon, and Wheatland Township Trustee Raquel Mitchell joined Ives in a press conference to announce their support for the GOP challenger. State Sens. Kyle McCarter (R-Vandalia) and Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), along with State Representatives David McSweeney (R-Cary) and Barb Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) have additionally pledged their support for Ives.
The endorsement comes as many party members are rallying behind State Representative, West Point Graduate and Army Veteran Jeanne Ives ahead of the March 20 primary.
Ives adds the support of her legislative colleagues to a growing list, including Northwest Side GOP Club, Wheatland Township Republican Organization, Fremont Township Republican Organization, Republican Organization of Wheeling Township, Chicago GOP, Batavia Township Republican Organization, Wauconda Township Republican Organization, Republican Assembly of Lake County, and Tax Accountability (Taxpayers United of America).
“It is unprecedented to have legislators in open revolt against a governor from their party, said Ives. “The story here is not just my colleagues who are willing to stand with me, but the dozens and dozens more who are with me, but who don’t want to go against the Governor publicly because they have their own elections and other considerations. The numbers of legislators endorsing me combined with those who are sitting out the primary is clear and convincing evidence that Governor Rauner has lost the Republican caucuses in both chambers. As more evidence of this fact, we do have the House Republican Floor Leader here in Rep. Peter Breen.
“We are unified. We all supported Rauner. We all gave him a chance to lead. We all supported the broad strokes of his policy agenda.
“But we quickly learned his words were just words. We learned he didn’t want to do the work, both in terms of policy homework and coalition-building. We learned he was content to play press release politics, just like his wine-club buddy, Rahm. And then the betrayals came, one after the other.
“Across the state, Republicans know that the revolution they were promised in 2014 will not be delivered by Bruce Rauner. We are going to come together and defeat Bruce Rauner. Then, with the help of those with me today, we will deliver the revolution Illinoisans were promised in 2014.”
Thanks to those of you who watched Preckwinkle vs. Fioretti.
Our final live-streamed endorsement session of primary election season will be between Gov. Bruce Rauner and state Rep. Jeanne Ives on Monday Jan. 29 at 11 a.m.
* Rauner grabs DuPage County support, Ives dubs it “back scratching”: DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin boosted Governor Bruce Rauner with kind words at an event spotlighting Rauner supporters in challenger Jeanne Ives’ Du Page County backyard Monday… Fourteen area mayors sided with Rauner - including Hanover Park’s Rod Craig and Naperville’s Steve Chirico. One of State Rep. Jeanne Ives’ House colleagues - Grant Wehrli - also backed the governor.
* Sen. Kwame Raoul’s spokesman Ron Holmes was sitting behind Rep. Scott Drury during today’s Tribune editorial board meeting with the Democratic candidates for attorney general…
Employees at the Illinois Capitol have been told to use just a “pencil-sized stream of water” to wash their hands after a test of the water system revealed the possible presence of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
Officials announced the preliminary test results in an email sent late Monday evening. In recent weeks, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has faced criticism over how it handled a deadly outbreak of the disease at a state-run veterans home.
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff, Tim Mapes, sent a memo Tuesday saying that until further tests are complete, “everyone in the Capitol is advised to have a pencil-sized stream of water when washing their hands” and “turn off all nebulizers and humidifiers.” The direction came after Democratic and Republican staff met with Secretary of State Jesse White’s office, health officials and environmental consultants.
It’s unclear how those washing their hands in bathrooms with automatic faucets should follow those guidelines, but White spokesman Henry Haupt said maintenance workers would remove faucet aerators. He said showers also would be disabled, including one in the governor’s office and those belonging to legislative leaders.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, whose district office is in the Stratton Building, praised the quick response from state officials.
“I think what this underscores is that Legionella is pretty prevalent, and that that’s one of the things that came out in the story with Quincy,” where 13 residents of a state-run veterans home died after Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks, Butler said. “I was glad to see that both the administration through the governor’s office and the Secretary of State took pretty swift action to get the word out about it being found in the Capitol.”
Butler said his office will continue to monitor the situation and rely on those conducting the tests to make sure that the situation is resolved, a sentiment echoed by fellow Springfield-area state Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez.
“I think one of the challenges with this type of information is that people can become kind of worrisome,” said Jimenez, R-Leland Grove. “But I think what we have to do in these types of situations is rely on the experts and overcommunicate.”
A business associate of Gov. Bruce Rauner says he met twice with the governor in 2015, including once on the back porch of the governor’s mansion, to discuss the status of a business investment that now is the subject of a legal fight between the men.
That business deal allegedly allowed Rauner to turn a $15 million profit on a $5 million investment, which “apparently is not enough for Rauner,” according to a lawsuit filed by the former associate that contends the governor is seeking more.
Harreld “Kip” Kirkpatrick III’s account of his contacts with Rauner, contained in newly unsealed court records, raised questions about the “blind trust” arrangement in which the governor says he placed his vast wealth when he took office.
Under that arrangement, Rauner has stated he no longer has personal control over his assets to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
* From the Pritzker campaign…
“Bruce Rauner is accused of using the governor’s mansion as a personal office and he is desperately dodging attempts at transparency,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This lawsuit raises more questions about the extent of Rauner’s lies and unethical behavior than it answers and it’s time this failed governor come clean.”
* DGA…
“The last thing Bruce Rauner’s failing reelection needed was another scandal,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner’s still reeling from the fallout over 13 deaths at a state-run veterans’ home, and now he will have to address more questions about breaking the public’s trust. The fact is that back porch business deals at the Governor’s Mansion will do little to rehabilitate Rauner’s Trumpian-level approval ratings.”
Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said in an email that the governor “disputes Mr. Kirkpatrick’s allegations, including Mr. Kirkpatrick’s characterizations of any conversations.”
The governor’s office did not answer directly when asked whether he or his staff had any concerns about conducting private business on state property. Rauner’s office did not provide copies of the governor’s schedule from the day of either alleged meeting.
Kind of a non-denial denial.
But the question about conducting private biz on state property is a good one.
* The Trib didn’t mention that somebody has already tried to get Rauner’s schedule for May 11, 2015, which is when Rauner allegedly met with Kirkpatrick on the mansion’s “back porch.” From September of 2015…
A central Illinois weekly newspaper is suing Gov. Bruce Rauner after the attorney general’s office said he must turn over appointment calendars showing his daily schedule.
An Illinois Times reporter submitted a May request through the Freedom of Information Act for Rauner’s daily calendar from April 1 to May 15. When the documents arrived, information was redacted.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office issued an 18-page opinion saying Rauner’s office violated the act and should provide the requested information.
However, Madigan’s office can’t enforce the ruling.
Rauner’s office did eventually release his daily calendar. The Illinois Times posted his April calendar online, but I haven’t yet been able to find anything for May. I’ve asked the attorney general’s office and the reporter who filed the original FOIA for assistance. I’ll let you know when I know.
* One of the things I noticed during the Democratic gubernatorial forum last night was the number of times moderator Carol Marin cut off Sen. Daniel Biss. Let it play out all the way to the end because this is one of the funnier videos I’ve seen in a while…
* Mark Kleine was a pretty good “get” for the congressional Republicans. He had made a bunch of money with Kleine Equipment, a group of independent John Deere dealerships, so he could start out against incumbent Democratic US Rep. Cheri Bustos with a pile of cash. But Kleine dropped out earlier this month…
In a letter to campaign contributors, Kleine said he became disillusioned with the political process through his experience since announcing his candidacy.
“I took great care in building a campaign team that I could rely on and surrounded myself with those who are considered experts in this field …” Kleine wrote. “Recently I terminated my relationship with my campaign staff.
“My intentions and my sincere desire to serve are based on a lifetime of values, experience and skills needed to do a difficult job. Above that was my willingness to share in the financial responsibility and the commitment to help fund the campaign with my own investment. While I believed in the race and was confident in my chance at winning I realized it would never be enough to satisfy the experts. At what point do we say enough is enough. How many millions of dollars does it really take to run for office?
“There is a profound and detrimental difference between what I believe in and what is today’s business of campaigns. I’ve learned this is an industry that celebrates wasteful spending, encourages inflated campaign budgets and has no regard for operational oversight just ‘to win the race’ but more importantly for others to prosper.”
James Thompson, who lost a close special election in Kansas and is again running for the Wichita seat in 2018, said the DCCC is specific about why it wants candidates to raise money. “They want you to spend a certain amount of money on consultants, and it’s their list of consultants you have to choose from,” he said.
The comptroller’s report also confirmed that as of the end of December the state had accumulated $1 billion in late payment penalties. State law requires interest payments of up to 12 percent a year be paid on overdue bills. The number of those overdue bills soared during the two-year budget impasse.
Just imagine what the state of Illinois could have done with an extra $1 billion.
That could have started to alleviate the inadequate funding provided for K-12 education. It could have constructed new buildings on our higher education campuses, or provided a pathway for students in need of some help with their tuition bills to attain a higher education so they could share their talents and improve the state’s economy. Think of the roads and railways that could have been improved. This list could be endless once you get going.
Instead, Illinois during the past few years blew $1 billion on late fees accumulated by not paying the state’s bills on time. A huge chunk of money and the only thing we have to show for it is the state’s dysfunction was laid bare for the entire country to see.
It’s not exactly surprising news. We watched the stack of unpaid bills climb to a record high of more than $16 billion, all thanks to years of spending more than the state received in revenue, and then a two-year budget impasse where vendors and agencies were made to wait months for reimbursement. And there is a state law that requires interest payments of up to 12 percent a year be paid on overdue bills.
Now that the state has an actual budget and some $5 billion more in revenues, the pile of unpaid bills has dropped from $16.7 billion to about $8.8 billion. Proceeds from a $6 billion bond sale have lowered the interest on remaining bills to 3.5 percent.
But the lower interest rate won’t bring back the $1 billion the state has already spent. It won’t revive the many small businesses in Illinois that closed because they weren’t getting paid for services they provided to the state. It won’t help people who worked at those businesses who lost their jobs.
Next month, the annual budget process will start up again when Gov. Bruce Rauner
is scheduled to present his spending plan for the next fiscal year. Rauner has said it will include unspecified spending cuts.
Whatever emerges after his plan goes to the Legislature, it should include a plan for avoiding paying huge amounts of unnecessary interest in the future.
* The Question: Should Illinois repeal its 12 percent interest penalty for overdue state bills? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
During last night’s Democratic forum, JB Pritzker claimed that his reason for being on FBI wiretaps with disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich was that “hundreds of people were speaking with Governor Blagojevich at the time.”
Just because other people were doing it does not make it the right thing to do.
Here is a list of other things that hundreds of people have done that were wrong:
Hundreds of people may have used steroids in baseball
Hundreds of people thought Sharknado was a good movie
Hundreds of people took patronage jobs from corrupt Illinois politicians like Mike Madigan
Hundreds of politicians advocate every day for higher taxes
Hundreds of people thought eating Tide Pods was a good idea
Hundreds of politically-connected property tax lawyers take advantage of a corrupt system that hurts Illinoisans
News flash, JB Pritzker. Just because you weren’t accused of any wrongdoing doesn’t mean you didn’t do anything wrong.
* I was getting spin like this from the Biss campaign during and immediately after last night’s candidate forum…
Tonight’s @nbcchicago forum was a win for @danielbiss especially with how often JB Pritzker attacked him. His $42 million campaign must be worried about our grassroots movement! #TeamBiss#ILGovForum
Rick Pearson on WGN rt now: the story of this 1st televised #ILDemForum is that ppl were looking at it before as a pritzker v kennedy battle…@danielbiss has made mvt. & is now looking to the public like pritzker's #1 competition.
Billionaire investor J.B. Pritzker and state Sen. Daniel Biss tried to change the dynamics of the Illinois Democratic governor’s race Tuesday night, attacking each other during the first televised debate and relegating businessman Chris Kennedy largely to the sidelines. […]
“He’s obviously worried. He kept naming me all night long,” Biss said of Pritzker afterward. Later, Biss added, “What I left here wondering (was), ‘What’s in J.B. Pritzker’s polling data? Why on this day was J.B. Pritzker all of a sudden going after me?’” […]
“The best thing for (Rauner) in this election is to run against another billionaire who’s Mike Madigan’s candidate,” Biss said. “If we want to be successful, we can’t afford to do that. And so I think it’s important to nominate someone with a record of standing up to Mike Madigan.”
Pritzker responded that Biss was “the only candidate on this stage that voted for Mike Madigan for speaker of the House, that ran Mike Madigan’s super (political action committee) in 2016, and you’ve accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Springfield insiders and bankers and lobbyists.”
“So I don’t think you’re the one to lecture here,” Pritzker said to Biss. “I think you should just be who you are and stop criticizing others.”
While Pritzker and his campaign had focused their attacks on Kennedy for months, on Tuesday, Pritzker chose to go after Biss for a pension bill Biss sponsored that fell flat with the Illinois Supreme Court — and for voting for Madigan’s leadership. That might be an indication Biss — who has painted himself as the “middle-class governor” — gaining traction in the race — although no major polls have been released in the thus far.
“He’s obviously concerned because he doesn’t want the Democratic primary voters of Illinois to face a choice between a middle-class progressive and a billionaire.”
* The most infamous moment in last night’s candidate forum was when Chris Kennedy was asked to say something positive about his opponents…
Just days after he said Gov. Bruce Rauner “should be applauded” for running attack ads and being “willing to speak truth to power,” Democrat Chris Kennedy on Tuesday declined to say anything positive about Democratic rival J.B. Pritzker.
Demonstrating the rough nature of the campaign, Kennedy — of the Kennedy political dynasty — was unable to list a “positive thing” the billionaire philanthropist and entrepreneur had contributed to the campaign.
Kennedy first paused when it was his turn to answer moderator Carol Marin’s question, then he criticized the perceived front-runner.
Kennedy: “I mean I’m challenged in this election because I think that as Democrats, we believe government can be our ally. And when J.B. emerges as the poster child of all that’s wrong with the corrupt system in our state, it’s difficult for me to heap praise on him. And that’s where I unfortunately need to end it.”
* Biss’ spokesman reacted…
REMINDER: Chris Kennedy just said that he couldn’t praise another candidate, but yet praised Bruce Rauner this week… #ILGovForum#TeamBiss
#1 rule of debates: when you are asked to say something nice about your opponents - say something nice. We should be bigger than a race or a campaign and remember we are humans first. #ILDemForum
Wow. When asked by @CarolMarin tonight to say something nice about his opponent @JBPritzker, Chris Kennedy refused to. Sadly that's no surprise given he's been too busy saying nice things about Gov. Rauner. #ILDemForum
.@JBPritzker can twist my words however he wants. I’ll focus on winning this state’s hearts and minds, not just its commercial breaks. We won tonight, especially if my lack of praise is the only thing he can cite. https://t.co/s7kNnjFHHg
Afterward, Kennedy was asked about his inability to say something nice about Pritzker. “I regret that. I apologized to him while I was leaving the stage,” Kennedy replied.
He tried to clean things up by praising Pritzker for “an incredible record around providing early childhood education, working towards that.”
Kennedy also later rattled off a list of what he said were Pritzker’s liabilities. And when asked what his own weaknesses were, Kennedy said, “My honesty.”
As of last night’s survey deadline, the majority of candidates for Governor, including Democratic frontrunners: J.B. Pritzker, Daniel Biss, and Chris Kennedy, submitted responses to the Illinois Redistricting Collaborative’s 18-question gerrymandering survey.
Organizations involved in the crafting of the survey included: CHANGE Illinois, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, the Better Government Association, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause Illinois, League of Women Voters Illinois, NAACP Chicago – South Side Branch, the Small Business Advocacy Council, and the Chicago Chapter of the Centrist Project.
The survey asked candidates specific questions about gerrymandering such as if they would support creating an independent redistricting commission to take over the map-making process, if they would actively advocate for a constitutional amendment to be passed by the Illinois General Assembly and sent to the voters, and supporting key changes to the process to increase transparency and public participation.
You can find each gubernatorial candidate’s response to the survey posted at: www.changeil.org/2018survey.
The winner of the 2018 governor’s race will play a major role in the next redistricting process in 2021. That governor will be responsible for approving or vetoing the maps.
“Getting them on the record in support of fair maps – an issue that 72 percent of Illinois voters support – was the easy part,” said John Sirek, Interim Executive Director of CHANGE Illinois. “Now, we need to keep the issue of gerrymandering front and center in their campaigns and beyond. If elected Governor, how will they see to it that Illinois enacts meaningful redistricting reform ahead of the next map-drawing process?”
Members of the Illinois Redistricting Collaborative are currently drafting a legislative constitutional amendment and have begun reaching out to allies in the Illinois General Assembly. The collaborative also plans to send a similar gerrymandering survey to members and candidates for the General Assembly in the coming weeks.
Last October, a Paul Simon Institute poll showed overwhelming support in Illinois for redistricting reform - with 72 percent of Illinoisans supporting an independent commission to draw Illinois’ district lines.
If you click here, you’ll see that neither Republican candidate and none of the Libertarian Party candidates sent a response by the deadline. Only the Democrats (except for Tio Hardiman).
Why no mention of this?…
As a non-partisan organization, we want to be able to work with the candidates of both parties on this issue and didn’t want appear one-sided just based on who answered and who didn’t. And thus, thought that it was unnecessary for us to call them out on their non-response to the survey, when you would have figured it out and will ask their campaigns anyway.
Following tonight’s Democratic Forum on NBC 5 Chicago, Citizens for Rauner Communications Director Will Allison released the following statement:
“JB Pritzker’s response to the very first question of tonight’s debate gave voters the answer they need: Pritzker can’t give a clear explanation as to why he was seemingly the only person in Illinois who didn’t know that now-imprisoned Governor Rod Blagojevich was under investigation in 2008.”
- Citizens for Rauner Communications Director Will Allison
Governor Rauner said it best last week: “It shows how pathetic our system is, how broken. Anyone who would use an excuse and say, ‘I did something immoral, unethical, disgusting, and self-dealing, but I didn’t go to jail, so it’s ok.’ Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?”
At tonight’s Illinois Democratic candidate forum, JB Pritzker made some erroneous statements.
Pritzker claimed to support Barack Obama in 2012.
“I supported Barack Obama in 2012, 2008, and was chosen by him in 2014 to run his early childhood summit.”
But here are the facts:
JB Pritzker went on the trading floor and said that he was considering Republican candidates. Bloomberg News clip, 3/9/12
After Pritzker touted his union support as evidence that he was the best candidate to take on pension reform, Biss said:
“JB was funding the right wing organization that was trying to push for much much more changes to pensions - it was trying to do away with pensions all together and replace them with 401Ks, something I never supported.”
* The Pritzker campaign was sending out “reality check” e-mails throughout the debate…
REALITY CHECK: Kennedy Supported Rahm Emanuel, Until He Didn’t
On the campaign trail, Chris Kennedy has all but declared war on Rahm Emanuel, but he has a closer relationship with the mayor than he’d like to admit. In 2014, Kennedy praised Emanuel’s leadership and donated $5,000 to his re-election campaign. Kennedy even sought Emanuel’s endorsement prior to his run for governor. And while his primary criticism of Emanuel is his “strategic gentrification plan” to push African Americans residents out of Chicago, Kennedy himself skirted requirements to include affordable housing units at Wolf Point.
REALITY CHECK:
Chris Kennedy donated $5,000 to Rahm Emanuel’s re-election campaign in 2014 and praised Emanuel’s leadership in a speech in front of Wolf Point, even comparing him to Joe Kennedy.
Despite claiming Emanuel has a “strategic gentrification plan” that pushes African Americans out of Chicago, Kennedy hired zoning lawyers to avoid affordable housing unit requirements at his luxury Wolf Point development.
Chris Kennedy even asked Emanuel for his endorsement in the governor’s race.
* And…
REALITY CHECK: JB Pritzker Has a Plan to Reform Our Criminal Justice System
JB Pritzker has a four-point plan to reform our criminal justice system and give all Illinoisans a chance to reach their full potential. JB’s plan focuses on legalizing marijuana and modernizing sentencing practices, reducing recidivism rates, reforming the juvenile justice system, and treating gun violence like a public health epidemic. With these reforms, JB will help build a criminal justice system that delivers justice to victims, rehabilitates individuals, and builds safer communities after decades of systemic disinvestment.
REALITY CHECK:
JB’s plan will legalize marijuana in a safe way and modernize sentencing laws to reverse the foundational causes of mass incarceration that disproportionately impact communities of color.
To reduce the recidivism rate, JB will prioritize rehabilitation and re-entry services for incarcerated people and create economic opportunities in all of our communities.
JB will promote rehabilitative alternatives to prosecution and incarceration in our juvenile justice system with a focus on restorative justice.
JB will address gun violence as a public health epidemic and hold police more accountable to the communities they serve.
* And…
REALITY CHECK: Biss Voted for Mike Madigan and Ran Madigan’s SuperPAC
Despite trying to put daylight between himself and Mike Madigan now, Daniel Biss is closer to the House Speaker than he’d like to admit. Biss accepted Madigan’s help to get elected to office in 2010 and then voted for Madigan for Speaker the following year. Biss accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Speaker’s state party. In 2016, he even ran Madigan’s Super PAC. While Biss uses anti-Madigan campaign rhetoric on the campaign trail, his years of loyalty to the Speaker tell a much different story.
REALITY CHECK:
In 2010, Daniel Biss accepted Madigan’s help to get elected, receiving $14,374.35 in in-kind contributions from Friends of Michael J. Madigan.
In 2011, Biss voted for Mike Madigan to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Over the years, Biss has accepted nearly $250,000 from the Democratic Party chaired by Madigan.
In 2016, Biss also ran Mike Madigan’s Super PAC, Leading Illinois for Tomorrow (LIFT), filling its coffers with millions from Madigan and top allies.
Biss did run that Super PAC and Pritzker was one of its top donors.
* And…
REALITY CHECK: Kennedy Is Against Legalizing Marijuana
Unlike what he said tonight, Chris Kennedy is against the legalization of marijuana despite the fact that it could bring in $350 to $700 million annually in much needed revenue. Kennedy said it’s “dangerous” to legalize recreational marijuana, calling it a “public health hazard.” However, studies show legal marijuana can actually help combat opioid addiction, and is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol. If Kennedy’s preference for decriminalizing marijuana instead of legalizing was all that was implemented, it could mean fines and jail time that would disproportionately impact communities of color.
REALITY CHECK:
Chris Kennedy called legalizing marijuana “dangerous” and a “public health hazard.”
While Chris Kennedy supports decriminalization, this alone could still mean fines or jail times that disproportionately impact communities of color.
A variety of studies have found that marijuana can be legalized safely, including a University of British Columbia study that found, “using marijuana could help some alcoholics and people addicted to opioids kick their habits.”
* And…
REALITY CHECK: JB Pritzker Has a Plan to Expand Healthcare for Illinois Families
JB is committed to defending the progress we’ve made under the Affordable Care Act and building on that progress to ensure all Illinoisans have quality care. JB was the first candidate in this race to put forward a comprehensive plan to expand healthcare for Illinois’ working families. In early August, JB introduced his plan, IllinoisCares, which would allow every Illinois resident to have access to quality, affordable healthcare through a public option. If implemented, Illinois would be the first state in the nation to expand healthcare in this way, at little to no cost to the taxpayer.
REALITY CHECK:
JB’s plan for healthcare, IllinoisCares, would be a first-in-the-nation program allowing Illinois residents to buy into the state’s Medicaid program.
The Medicaid buy-in option would expand quality, affordable healthcare for Illinois’ working families across the state.
JB has also been a fierce advocate for President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, running a statewide ad campaign to encourage Illinoisans to sign up after Donald Trump slashed the advertising budget and shortened the enrollment period.
* And…
REALITY CHECK: Biss Led Efforts to Cut Benefits for Working Families
In 2013, Daniel Biss helped write legislation to slash pensions for hundreds of thousands of workers, earning him the lowest lifetime AFL-CIO rating of any Democrat in the Senate. Were it not for the Supreme Court stepping in and ruling Biss’ bill unconstitutional, the bill would have had a devastating effect on Illinois workers.
REALITY CHECK:
Daniel Biss helped write legislation to cut pensions for more than 467,000 downstate teachers, university workers, and state employees.
Biss also voted for $1.6 billion in cuts to Medicaid and to strip some employees of collective bargaining rights.
Biss’ attacks on working families in the General Assembly earned him a 62% lifetime rating from the AFL-CIO through 2015, the worst of any Democrat in the State Senate.
* And…
JB Pritzker Makes Choice Clear in First Democratic Debate
Chicago, IL – At the first televised debate among Democratic candidates for governor, JB Pritzker demonstrated why he is the only candidate ready to take on Bruce Rauner. JB clearly laid out his vision for Illinois and spoke about his plans to expand healthcare, pass a progressive income tax, and invest in communities that have suffered from decades of disinvestment.
“Tonight, JB Pritzker showed Illinois why he’s the only candidate capable of beating Bruce Rauner,” said Pritzker campaign manager Anne Caprara. “With focus and force, JB made a clear case for his candidacy and proved why this failed governor is already running scared. JB took charge, laying out his vision for Illinois and his real policy plans to get this state back on track. Illinoisans watching across the state saw JB for the strong leader he is – ready to bring people together and move Illinois forward.”
* We’ll talk lots more about this topic tomorrow, but here’s the last Pritzker e-mail I received tonight…
Chris Kennedy Compliments Rauner, But Can’t Say a Single Nice Thing About a Democrat
Chicago, IL – While Chris Kennedy has been “applauding” Bruce Rauner for the past few days, he couldn’t muster a single nice thing to say about a Democrat running for governor at the NBC 5 / Telemundo debate tonight.
On Friday, Kennedy said, “I think Bruce Rauner is trying to do what he thinks is best for the state of Illinois,” and praised Rauner’s “willingness to speak truth to power.” But when asked to name something positive about JB, Kennedy paused for six seconds before resorting to his desperate Rauner playbook of attacking JB.
“While Chris Kennedy has heaped praise on Bruce Rauner for speaking ‘truth to power,’ in a stunning display of ungraciousness, he refused to name a single positive thing about JB,” said Pritzker communications director Galia Slayen. “JB praised the Kennedy family for their work on the Special Olympics, but Chris would rather praise the Worst Republican Governor in America than a Democrat running for governor.”
* The first live televised Democratic gubernatorial candidates’ forum starts at six o’clock tonight. It will be moderated by NBC 5 Political Editor Carol Marin and Mary Ann Ahern and and Karla Leal will take questions from the audience. Click here or watch it below if it works (and I’m not sure it will)…
On May 31, 2017, House Resolution Number 100 was adopted and directed the Office of the Auditor General to conduct an audit of Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), which included a comparison of State expenditures between MCOs and the Medicaid fee-for-service program for fiscal year 2016.
The audit found:
Auditors determined that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) did not maintain the complete and accurate information needed to adequately monitor $7.11 billion in payments made to and by the 12 MCOs during FY16.
Specifically, HFS could not provide auditors with the following information:
* all paid claims to Medicaid providers by the MCOs in FY16;
* Medicaid provider claims denied by MCOs in FY16;
* the administrative costs incurred by MCOs in FY16;
* the coordinated care costs incurred by MCOs in FY16; and
* Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) calculations since calendar year 2012.
* In FY16, HFS made multiple monthly capitation payments to MCOs for the same months for the same individuals totaling $590,237.
The audit recommends HFS should:
1) monitor the actual administrative costs incurred by its MCOs to ensure that the administrative costs do not exceed what is allowed by contract;
2) calculate the Medical Loss Ratios for the previous four calendar years (2013 through 2016), and determine whether the State should be reimbursed by MCOs due to overpayment;
3) require all MCOs to submit all Medicaid provider payment data for all services (including DASA, LTC, and waiver services), and perform on-site reviews of the MCOs’ financial data systems and test the completeness and accuracy of the data reported to HFS that is used to monitor the payments made to Medicaid providers;
4) provide clear guidance to the MCOs for reporting denied claims, and ensure that MCOs provide the denied claims to HFS as required by contract;
5) ensure multiple monthly capitation payments are not being made for the same Medicaid recipients, immediately identify and remove all duplicative recipients from its eligibility data, and recoup any overpayment of duplicate capitation payments; and
6) ensure that it effectively monitors the newly awarded MCO contracts to ensure compliance with all contractual provisions.
I just read the Auditor General’s performance audit of the FY 16 MCO contracts. The most damning part of the report is the conclusion that ‘HFS did not maintain the complete and accurate information needed to adequately monitor $7.11 billion in payments made to and by the 12 MCOS during Fiscal Year 16.’
This is another example of the hypocrisy of Governor Rauner. He runs around the state claiming to be a fiscal conservative, but his real record as Governor reflects extreme financial mismanagement.
Gov. Rauner: I am not. So, to be clear, my assets, all my investments are in a trust that I don’t control. I did that when I became governor. I can’t comment on any business disputes. That gets settled in its own process.
Reporter: Is that the reason why it’s sealed because it’s through a blind trust?
Gov. Rauner: I can’t even tell you, I mean, I don’t really have much to do with that.
Reporter: Is there attorneys who are doing that?
Gov. Rauner: I assume. I don’t know.
Rauner aide: Alright, thanks everyone.
He didn’t know anything about it and didn’t have much to do with it, eh?
Rauner invested $5 million as a limited partner in Kirkpatrick Capital to acquire a minority share in United Shore Financial Services, LLC (”United Shore”), a privately held mortgage lender.
Rauner received an exceptional return on that investment which was made possible by a settlement of two distinct disputes with United Shore—a personal bonus claim brought by Kirkpatrick against United Shore and derivative claim brought by Kirkpatrick Capital against United Shore. This parties’ dispute concerns the allocation of those settlement proceeds. Rauner’s share of the settlement proceeds turned his $5 million investment into more than $20 million.
This $15 million gain, however, apparently is not enough for Rauner. Rauner now seeks to cut-off Kirkpatrick, in a confidential arbitration closed to public scrutiny, from his fair share of the settlement proceeds by seeking to ensure his own, self-serving interpretation of the United Shore settlement agreement (even though he is not a party to it). Rauner seeks to use Kirkpatrick Capital’s partnership agreement as a shield in the proceeding, alleging that his claims arise under Kirkpatrick Capital’s partnership agreement (which has an arbitration clause). Rauner’s claims, however, do not arise from the partnership agreement, but instead from the settlement agreement (which requires litigation in this Court) and therefore must be heard in this Court. […]
Kirkpatrick specifically kept Rauner informed throughout the litigation regarding his objectives in terms of a return on Rauner’s investment and the allocation of the settlement proceeds. At an in-person meeting in Springfield, Illinois, on May 11, 2015, on the back porch of the Governor’s mansion, Kirkpatrick laid out his expectations regarding the return to Kirkpatrick Capital from a settlement and the allocation of the settlement. These expectations were updated and communicated at a second in-person meeting between Rauner and Kirkpatrick at the Chicago Club on the evening of September 15, 2015. At neither meeting did Rauner object to the proposed allocation of the settlement proceeds, nor the return on his investment he would receive. […]
Rauner’s total proceeds from the United Shore investment were approximately $20 million, with $15 million of that being profit.
In the summer of 2017, after receiving all payments due to him, Rauner filed a demand for arbitration before the American Arbitration Association that the settlement agreement precludes Kirkpatrick Capital’s allocation of the United Shore settlement proceeds and claiming that Kirkpatrick and the Kirkpatrick Capital breached and interfered with the LPA.
Tellingly, Kirkpatrick Capital’s other two investors, Ganzi and Chaifetz—who are seasoned and sophisticated equity investors did not dispute or take issue with Kirkpatrick Capital’s allocation of the settlement proceeds.
Also, Politifact took a look at the “blind trust” angle. Click here. The topic will likely be revisited now that an allegation has been made that Rauner took an active role in his investments while he was governor.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Biss campaign…
“This is why we need to be careful when a billionaire uses the word “trust” colloquially. From Rauner’s investment scams to JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy’s tax scams, it’s getting hard to tell these guys apart.” - Tom Elliott
*** UPDATE 2 *** Pritzker campaign…
Today, a judge unsealed Kip Kirkpatrick’s lawsuit against Bruce Rauner, shedding light on a business dispute Rauner had previously claimed to have no involvement in and no knowledge of.
The lawsuit details Bruce Rauner’s maneuvers as governor to maximize returns on a $5 million investment he had made in Kirkpatrick Capital. Kirkpatrick claims to have met repeatedly with Rauner, including once at the governor’s mansion, regarding his business interests despite Rauner’s claim to the public that “all my investments are in a trust that I don’t control.”
“Bruce Rauner is allegedly conducting private business out of the governors’ mansion and then openly lying about it to the public,” said Pritzker communications director Galia Slayen. “It is no wonder this failed governor tried to keep this lawsuit sealed, but now that it’s public, it is time for Bruce Rauner to tell voters the truth.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Kathleen Murphy at the Jeanne Ives campaign…
“Lying and screwing people out of their money is apparently a practice Bruce Rauner brought with him from his dealings in the private sector to his dealings as Governor.”
* As we discussed yesterday, Chris Kennedy erroneously claimed that the Cook County Assessor had valued the Hyatt Center at $160 million even though the building has a $385 million mortgage. The assessor’s office pointed out that Kennedy didn’t do his homework because the building is actually valued for tax purposes at $382 million, reduced on appeal by the Cook County Board of Review from the assessor’s initial $396 valuation.
Greg Hinz caught up with the gubernatorial candidate today…
Today, in a phone call, Kennedy admitted his error, agreeing with Berrios that he’d looked at only some and not all of the Property Index Numbers that cover the property and its assessment.
“I’m conceding that we are missing PIN numbers,” Kennedy told me in a phone call. “The error is on me,” and not the campaign worker—a former employee of the assessor’s office whom Kennedy declined to name—who researched the matter before yesterday’s news conference.
If Berrios ran a truly open and modern office, he wouldn’t rely on multiple PINs for the same property, some of them with different street addresses, Kennedy said.
“Why do we have five different PINs? Why can’t we collapse them into one. . . .That’s just one of the signs that (Berrios’) system lacks transparency.”
Berrios’ office denied that the system is complicated, particularly for someone such as Kennedy, who ran the Merchandise Mart for years and is developing high-end apartment towers at Wolf Point.
“He’s incompetent on this issue,” Shaer said. “His family has made billions of dollars on real estate.”
* Rumors circulated last April that the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity was shutting down. Not so, the Franklin Center claimed…
“The Franklin Center has not shut down; it continues to operate and we expect growth as we progress through 2017,” said Franklin Center spokeswoman Laurel Patrick, who previously worked for Walker. “In order to achieve this growth, it is undergoing a reorganization.”
She said that the center had appointed new leadership. John Tillman, the CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, has been named the new chairman, and Chris Krug, the publisher and general manager of the Illinois News Network and Illinois Radio Network, has been named president, Patrick said.
Krug replaces Nicole Neily, who was in the job for only a year.
“Watchdog.org will continue, and we are committed to growing that brand,” Patrick said. “The new management team will be working with all current and former employees in the coming week to find the right path forward for each person and Franklin.”
Lots of familiar names in that piece. Laurel Patrick, you will recall, was brought in last July as Gov. Rauner’s director of communications during the first round of staff purges. She was purged by late August.
* And then this press release went out today…
Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity announced today that it acquired the Illinois News Network (INN) from the Illinois Policy Institute, and will utilize INN as the template for an initiative at Watchdog.org to improve statehouse coverage nationwide.
INN – a non-profit, non-partisan news service that reports on state, regional and local issues and distributes its content from the digital hub ILNews.org – continues to attract new partners, and delivered content to 139 media outlets across Illinois in 2017.
ILNews.org published nearly 1,600 news stories in 2017, and legacy media companies republished more than 1,300 of them in their print and digital editions.
Chicago Tribune Media Group, Hearst Newspapers, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy, Paddock Publications and Shaw Media are among the legacy news companies whose newspapers and digital sites published INN’s reporting in 2017.
Franklin Center’s Watchdog.org project is a non-profit, non-partisan journalism initiative that seeks to improve the accuracy, balance and quality of statehouse news reporting across the United States.
“Acquiring INN is precisely the right next step for the future of Watchdog.org,” Franklin Center President Chris Krug said. “INN has become an essential read for Illinoisans. Our focus now moves to bringing that same journalistic energy, focus and timeliness in highly consumable news packages to readers across the country.”
Krug, named president of Franklin Center last April, has served as publisher and general manager at INN since 2016. INN was launched by IPI in 2013, and operated as an independent project prior to acquisition by Franklin Center.
Krug said that accuracy, consistency and speed have made ILNews.org a trusted statewide reporting service for media companies seeking balanced coverage in their daily reports.
“ILNews.org established itself over the past two years as a trusted source for high quality, state-focused journalism created specifically for an Illinois audience,” he said. “We weigh in on important issues every day at INN. It’s that core approach and daily execution that will benefit Watchdog.org in other states.
“Each state will require a customized approach, but will benefit from INN’s operational excellence and efficiency. We begin with an incredible core group of journalists in Illinois who will mentor and train our national editors, reporters and contributors.
“Statehouse news coverage is in need of attention and manpower across the country. Legacy media is hurting everywhere, and the resources allocated to covering state legislatures have dwindled substantially. Contextual coverage of statehouse news is the proverbial donut hole in local news coverage. The expertise we have demonstrated in Illinois will allow us to bring truth to light elsewhere, and bridge the gap for readers in states across the country,” Krug said.
Dan McCaleb, News Director at INN, was named News Director for Watchdog.org. McCaleb will focus on building each of the forthcoming Watchdog.org state news teams.
“Dan has uncommon drive,” Krug said. “He has a true passion for finding the truth. He is an excellent news leader and manager who understands and meets the expectations of readers in the digital age. The editors and reporters Dan recruits into the Watchdog.org project will raise the bar for statehouse reporting nationwide.”
During 2017, the CEO of Illinois Policy assumed the chairmanship of the Franklin Center, another 501(c)(3) not for profit organization, and the board of directors of that organization was reconstituted. Also during 2017, a for-profit subsidiary of the Franklin Center, named American Media Unlimited, was established. During 2017, the assets of the Illinois Radio Network, currently owned by the Institute, will be transferred to American Media Unlimited.
*** UPDATE *** If you click here, you’ll see American Media Unlimited’s latest state corporate filing. John Tillman is listed as the company’s secretary.
* While I’m feeling much better than I did a couple of weeks ago, I still have it and I’m still miserable…
Of the 30 U.S. children who have died from the flu so far this season, some 85 percent had not been vaccinated, said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who urged Americans to get flu shots amid one of the most severe flu seasons in years.
“My message is, if you haven’t gotten a vaccine, please get a vaccine. Also, please get your children vaccinated,” said Fitzgerald, who is urging citizens “to take every advantage that you can to protect yourself.”
The dominant strain during this flu season is an especially nasty type called influenza A (H3N2) that in seasons past has been linked with severe disease and death, especially in the elderly and young. This year’s seasonal flu epidemic is especially severe.
In its latest report, the CDC said the virus is present in every state, with 32 states reporting severe flu activity.
Although the vaccine is only estimated to be about 30 percent effective against the H3N2 strain, it has been shown in studies to reduce severity and duration if people do become infected, said Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fitzgerald conceded in a telephone interview that reports that the flu vaccine in Australia was only 10 percent effective may have caused people to think the vaccine would not be worth the trouble.
Thirty kids. Wow.
I really wish I had ignored those “10 percent effective” stories and gotten the vaccine.
Rauner said marijuana has changed dramatically over the years.
“It’s not what it used to be 20, 30, 40 years ago. It’s a very potent, very dangerous drug. I think we should watch, take our time, and not rush into changes that could impact the quality of life for many Illinoisans,” the governor said.
That attitude may explain why the governor and his Department of Public Health have been dragging their feet on medical marijuana.
Tell Gov. Rauner, drop the appeal & allow medication access.
Petition by Rep. Kelly Cassidy & Sen. Heather Steans
To be delivered to Governor Bruce Rauner
The Court has ordered the Rauner administration to add chronic pain to the list of conditions in the Illinois medical cannabis program. The administration has promised to appeal rather than allow people in pain access to medication safer than addictive opioids.
Petition Background
If the administration won’t show compassion and allow people access to safer pain relief, the General Assembly needs to. Is it a good use of state resources to appeal the court’s decision on including chronic pain in the medical cannabis program? Tell Governor Rauner to drop the appeal and allow pain patients access to the medical cannabis program.
* Press release…
Given a choice between showing compassion for those suffering from chronic pain or pursuing a costly legal battle, the Rauner administration should choose compassion, Senator Heather Steans said today.
Steans (D-Chicago) called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to expand access to Illinois’ medical marijuana program by adding intractable pain to the qualifying condition list rather than appeal a judge’s order that the condition be added.
Intractable pain is a severe form of chronic pain that is constant and incurable. It can be resistant to treatment, but some patients can benefit from using medical cannabis.
“Gov. Rauner needs to drop the appeal and allow patients with intractable pain to have access to medical cannabis,” Steans said. “Patients should have an alternative to opioids that doesn’t force them to turn to the black market for medicine.”
A patient with intractable pain recently sued the Illinois Department of Public Health over rejecting her petition to add intractable pain to the list of qualifying medical conditions for medical cannabis. A Cook County judge ordered the IDPH director to add it to the list last week.
“It’s time for the governor to show some compassion for Illinoisans who are suffering from severe, life-altering pain and allow them to access medical cannabis for relief,” Steans said.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Monday pointed to Northwestern University students in Evanston smoking weed with impunity as an example of the racial disparities in enforcement associated with the drug.
While addressing an Illinois House-Senate committee tasked with reviewing the implications of legalizing marijuana in Illinois — Preckwinkle is for it, by the way — she told a quick anecdote about her daughter, Jen, visiting a friend who attends Northwestern.
“My youngest, who is college aged, went to visit one of her friends up at Northwestern and she came back and she said, ‘Mom, you won’t believe it. The kids walk up and down the streets smoking dope, and nobody says anything.’
“I said: ‘Yes, Jen,’” Preckwinkle recalled in an exhausted voice.
“And then she said, ‘You know, if my friends and I did this in our neighborhood we’d be arrested.’”
“I said: ‘Yes, Jen.’”
The Preckwinkles live in the Kenwood neighborhood.
Citizens for Rauner Launches Petition for Release of All Pritzker-Blagojevich Tapes
Since JB Pritzker says he was “never accused of wrongdoing,” he should have no problem with the rest of the FBI wiretap tapes being released. We have a petition just for him, and we invite him to sign it himself. Even Patti Blagojevich, the former governor’s wife, has called for the full tapes to be released.
Today, Citizens for Rauner is starting a petition to release ALL the recordings of conversations between Pritzker and disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich caught on FBI wiretap. This comes after the release of the full, unedited 11 minutes of conversations previously published by the Chicago Tribune.
As is widely known, the main evidence used to convict former governor Rod Blagojevich, and send him away to prison for 14 years was his private conversations with his aides, wife and brother. The conversations were secretly recorded by the government in late 2008, over eight separate phone lines, including the governor’s home phone and campaign office.
But only a tiny fraction of these tapes have ever been released despite the governor’s repeated demand that the government “release them all.”
There are literally hundreds of hours of Blagojevich tapes that the people of Illinois have never heard. When I first came onto the governor’s case in 2011, I put all of these recordings onto my ipod and spent weeks listening. I can assure you that these tapes tell a very different story about the governor than the story told by the federal prosecutors.
At trial, the government played for the jury cherry-picked excerpts of its tapes — the ones that fit its narrative that the governor tried to sell the senate seat for personal gain and betrayed the people of Illinois. In response, Blagojevich argued that the deal he tried to make for the senate seat was for the benefit of the people of Illinois, not for himself.
Blagojevich argued that he tried to negotiate a deal to appoint Lisa Madigan to the Senate in exchange for Speaker Mike Madigan’s cooperation in enacting the governor’s legislative priorities, including an infrastructure bill and healthcare reform.
Government lawyers, however, convinced Judge James Zagel to exclude the tapes in which Blagojevich discussed the Madigan deal. Then, in closing argument, the lead prosecutor deceptively told the jury to “go back and look at the calls and see how many times Lisa Madigan is actually mentioned … and you’re not going to find it.”
As the prosecutor well knew, the reason the jury couldn’t find these tapes is because the court had excluded them, at the government’s request. […]
Readers will note that this newly leaked tape illustrates exactly what Blagojevich tried to tell his jury – that the primary aim of his deal-making was to make a deal with Madigan to get a “capital bill” (to pay for new and repaired infrastructure) and “health care” reform through Madigan’s House. But the jury never heard this tape. Nor did it hear dozens of other similar taped conversations where Blagojevich worked towards a deal with Madigan.
I recently spoke with the former governor, and his response to this latest episode of selective leaking by the government of his private calls is both consistent and predictable: The government should “release them all.”
As I’ve said many times before, Blagojevich’s plan was pure fantasy. But this is a pretty clever little move by Rauner. He ain’t going down without first waging the fight of his life.
I’ve asked the Pritzker, Kennedy and Biss campaigns for comment.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Chris Kennedy campaign…
If there is nothing wrong or untoward in those FBI tapes, then this is something JB Pritzker should welcome too.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Daniel Biss campaign…
“It’s another day of team Kennedy-Rauner squaring off against team Pritzker-Blago. We can do so much better than this.” -Tom Elliott
Zing!
*** UPDATE 3 *** Pritzker campaign…
Bruce Rauner is continuing to play politics in the Democratic primary so he can distract from his disastrous record as governor. Instead of falling for Rauner’s ploy, Democrats should focus on calling out his failures. This includes refusing to release documents and emails related to how 13 Veterans and spouses lost their lives due to his fatal mismanagement in Quincy, attempting to keep lawsuits against him sealed, and rejecting standard FOIA requests of his administration.
Seeking to address longstanding fears of state jobs being poached from Springfield, a local lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require most new and vacant positions to be located in Sangamon County.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove, said the legislation, House Bill 4295, would make Springfield and the county the default location for employees of most state agencies and the governor’s office. It would require the director of Central Management Services to give a reason why a job needs to be based elsewhere.
“It’s my opinion that if those folks are providing a direct service or need to be in a different part of the state, they should be,” Jimenez said. “But for all jobs that don’t need to be in a specific geographic location, I believe and many of my constituents I think would agree that those jobs should be located in the capital city because we are the seat of state government.”
A 2016 study conducted by CMS found that nearly 400 state jobs, both filled and vacant, could be moved back to Springfield.
A total of 267 of the jobs were filled, and Jimenez had said she had no desire to uproot families by relocating them to Springfield. However, the survey said the other 119 jobs were vacant at that time.
Even if she wins in November, the conservative lawmaker running against incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner in the March Republican primary says the income tax hike that was enacted on his watch will have to remain in place for at least two more years. And Chicago and Cook County taxpayers should be prepared to dig deeper if her state budget plans pan out. […]
[Rep. Jeanne Ives] Ives said she’d start by working to repeal the income tax hike that was approved over Rauner’s veto. But “I wouldn’t do that immediately,” she said. “I suspect that, within two years, we could set that out as a goal.” […]
On her list for axing are hundreds of millions of dollars of year in new state funding that CPS got under terms of the fiscal 2018 state budget. Chicago, for purposes of the new aid formula, is considered a poor, Tier IV district, even though in reality the city economy is doing so well that Chicago actually is Tier 1, she said. […]
Ives would save another big chunk in the budget by eliminating the Obamacare expansion and making other cuts in Medicaid, even though the former has shifted hundreds of millions of dollars a year from Cook County taxpayers to the state and federal governments. “Chicago’s got a lot more state support than they should,” she said. And if that means local taxpayers will pay more to give relief to taxpayers outside of the city, “I don’t have to win (Chicago and Cook County) to be elected, she said. “This is a 50-percent-plus-one race.” […]
New workers need to be shifted from a defined-benefit pension to a 401(k)-style defined-contribution model, perhaps with a “generous” inducement, she said. Old pension debt, roughly $120 billion just in the state retirement system, can be “renegotiated” with employee unions that have rejected such actions so far, but may come to the table as they realize some of the pension funds are “one (economic) downturn away from failing.”
Taking away all of CPS’ new state money ($450 million) and canceling the Medicaid expansion (which is mostly funded by the federal government) won’t balance the state’s budget.
Also, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that pension benefits are individual contracts. Unions can’t negotiate any benefit reductions without all individuals signing off on them one by one.
Reporter: Governor, there’s a new debt transparency report that the comptroller’s office put out, and it shows that there’s going to be a $2.3 billion shortfall for this year. That seems about on par with some of the numbers that you’ve given. We’re about half way through the fiscal year, what are you gonna do about it?
Gov. Rauner: Propose a balanced budget, actually propose a process to begin to roll back the tax hike that was passed over my veto last summer. We need to…
Reporter: That’ll be in this year’s budget address?
Gov. Rauner: Correct. Unfortunately, in the budget that was passed over my veto last summer, not only was there a very large income tax increase, but there was spending that was even out of balance even after the tax increase. We have been fiscally irresponsible again. So, we’re gonna propose changes into our government operations to reduce wasteful spending so we can put more money into education. I’m gonna propose even more record funding for our schools around the state to support our teachers and our students. But change other things in the system. Pension changes and healthcare changes so that we can reduce the cost of government so we can put more money into our schools and our students.
Reporter: So, just to be clear, in this budget address you’re going to take care of a balanced budget for FY19, the $2.3 billion shortfall for FY18 and more money for education while also doing away with an income tax increase? All of those?
Gov. Rauner: We’re gonna step down, it’s gonna take a few years, we’re gonna step down the income tax increase and put more money in education and shrink the wasteful spending in government and close this deficit. This is, we’ve had a deficit now for years and even after a tax hike there’s still deficits. It’s financially irresponsible.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Jeanne Ives…
“No one should believe Governor Rauner’s statement on stepping down the tax increase. First, everyone knows that the Governor was actually in favor of a tax increase. He openly stated as much when he took office. Secondly, the tax increase is permanent. So it would take legislative action to change the tax rate, which will be nearly impossible under the current Democrat leadership. Once again, Governor Rauner is making promises he can’t keep.
“The truth is Governor Rauner publicly removed himself from negotiations over the summer when the tax increase occurred. He didn’t make phone calls to Republican members or make any attempt to hold the caucus together on the most important vote of his tenure – the largest permanent tax increase in state history. Governor Rauner is right about one thing: he is not in charge.”
“Ending the tax increase by the end of his second term just as he promised to do at the end of his first? Fool me once…”
* Click here to see the latest A-1 from Liberty Principles PAC.
Richard Uihlein has now given Dan Proft’s group $5 million during this cycle. His grand total is $12 million.
* Meanwhile, Proft’s group ran an ad for this guy on Fox Springfield during one of Sunday’s NFL championship games…
Oakland Republican Chris Miller, seeking to replace Charleston Republican Reggie Phillips in the Illinois House, is picking up financial support and endorsements from quite an array of Republicans.
Miller is running against Charleston Republican Terry Davis in the 110th District, which includes all of Coles County plus all or parts of Edgar, Cumberland, Clark, Crawford and Lawrence counties.
Last week he announced the endorsement of former U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson of Urbana, who also gave Miller a $1,000 campaign contribution through his federal Middle Ground PAC.
Miller also got $2,000 from state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville.
And he’s been the recipient of almost $5,550 in “independent expenditures” (for mail pieces and video) from Chicago conservative Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC. […]
Miller said he’s staying neutral in the Rauner-Ives race.
“Oh heavens no. That would be a landmine,” he said. “I have no desire to get involved in that mess. I have enough problems running my own campaign.”
Chicago-based conservative radio commentator Dan Proft, an influential operative in Illinois Republican politics, has spent thousands supporting one candidate in the three-way GOP race to fill the seat held by state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth.
From October to the end of 2017, Proft’s Liberty Principles political action committee spent $19,455 for Dan Caulkins, a former Decatur city councilman, according to documents filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. The money has gone to television, online and direct-mail advertising.
Caulkins’ own campaign spent $14,181 in 2017 on other items such as printing, T-shirts, and radio ads. Meanwhile, state records also show his primary opponents, Piatt County Board Chairman Randy Keith and Cerro Gordo School Board President Todd Henricks, have spent a fraction of that. Keith raised $16,733 last year and reported spending $8,046. Henricks raised $13,345 and spent $2,619 in 2017.
The only Democrat in the race, Jen McMillin, raised $600 last year.
Preliminary test results show the “possible presence” of Legionella bacteria in the water system of the Illinois Capitol Complex, a memo disclosed Monday night.
Officials said they are not aware of any reports of Legionnaire’s disease, a type of pneumonia, among state employees or the public. And experts at the Illinois Department of Public Health are confident the complex is safe for state employees to go to work.
“Out of an abundance of caution and because of heightened awareness and continued misconceptions about Legionnaires’ disease, we want to make you aware of preliminary test results that indicate the possible presence of Legionella bacteria in the Capitol Complex hot water system,” said the memo sent to state employees who work in the complex from Deputy Gov. Trey Childress and Mike Wojcik, the secretary of state’s director of physical spaces.
The Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees the Capitol Complex, ordered the test after a pipe burst in the Illinois State Armory just north of the Statehouse.
“Given the fact that it was at the dead end of a pipe, we wanted to err on the side of caution and have it tested right away, which we did because of the potential for stagnated water,” Henry Haupt, a spokesman for the secretary of state, said Monday night.
Only a preliminary test has been conducted, which does not indicate whether the bacteria are alive. Only cells that are alive cause a health risk, said Ian Cull, owner of the indoor environmental consulting company Indoor Sciences.
“If water treatment is doing it’s (sic) job, you may have dead cells in the system,” Cull told Chicago Tonight via email.
The memo advises employees to avoid using showers or “removing aerators” but that “we have been advised by experts that the transmission of this bacteria in normal, day-to-day office operations is unlikely” given that Legionnaires’ disease is not spread from person to person or by drinking water, but rather by inhaling vapors from a contaminated water source.
Additional testing at the capitol complex is underway. According to the memo from Childress and Wojcik, it could take 14 days to determine whether the cells are living.
This is a good idea, even if it turns out to be a false alarm. But taking this step so early completely undermines the claims by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Public Health that early warnings like this could panic the public.
It also opens up the state to claims that it acts with an “abundance of caution” when it comes to the health of high-level Capitol Complex bureaucrats, but waits weeks to notify residents and their families of the presence of Legionnaires’ disease at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy.
* Democratic attorney general candidate Aaron Goldstein hasn’t raised much money on his own ($6500 last quarter), but he did loan himself $185,000 and now he wants to spend it…
Aaron Goldstein’s campaign for Illinois Attorney General has released a preview of its new television commercial, entitled “Standing Next to You.” It is part of an aggressive $100,000 ad campaign which will be seen on broadcast TV, cable TV and digital media throughout the entire state beginning today. The commercial will air on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC as well as local media in markets in all of Illinois, such as Rock Island, Champaign, Carbondale, Chicago, Springfield and many more.
“We want people throughout the state who are frustrated with the status quo—politics dominated by big money, big corporations and political insiders, at the expense of everyday Illinoisans—to understand our bold progressive message,” said Goldstein. “Our campaign is about returning power to those who haven’t had a voice, and bringing fairness and justice to everyone, not just powerful special interests. I will be the People’s Defender. I will stand with the people of Illinois.”
The ad features Goldstein, who is a career public defender and civil rights attorney with the most trial experience in this race, representing clients who feel the legal and criminal justice system is rigged against them. The ad also shows Goldstein with his family: his wife Nicole, also a public defender, and their two lovely daughters.
Goldstein is running for Illinois Attorney General on a platform that includes reforming the criminal justice and police systems, including legalizing marijuana and ending the racist drug war, fighting big-money politics and public corruption, and defending Illinois against the extremist right-wing policies of the Trump administration. As Attorney General, one of his first actions will be to establish a Public Integrity Bureau within the Attorney General’s office, whose sole function will be to investigate governmental corruption and hold accountable those public officials who exploit and manipulate the system for the select few.
Sorry, but a $100,000 statewide media buy is in no way, shape or form “aggressive.” $100,000 in this state will not even have the impact of spitting into the wind.
He might’ve done himself more good by holding a press conference to give that $100K to charity
