* Gov. Rauner said several times last week that he expected the Illinois State Board of Education to finish running the district numbers on his school funding reform plan by today. He explained to reporters today that the process is “very complicated,” and said he hoped they would be out very soon.
The governor then repeated his claim he made again and again last week that ISBE won’t run numbers unless there’s a specific piece of legislation in front of them, so he couldn’t get ISBE that language until the Senate sent him SB1 and he was able to formally issue his amendatory veto. And, of course, he’s upset that the Senate waited so long to send him the bill because that caused an unnecessary delay in getting the numbers out of ISBE.
PEARSON: Why didn’t you have Sen. Brady just introduce a bill that had the language of your amendatory veto since much of the debate that’s been going on was about what you were going to be proposing in your amendatory veto? It could’ve been scored already, we would’ve already had the numbers and then you could have a back and forth discussion where everybody knows where they stand instead of trying to cherry pick numbers?
RAUNER: Well, Rick if your argument is trying to defend what the General Assembly did…
PEARSON: I’m not trying to defend anybody… You say you couldn’t score the numbers and you accuse the Democrats of holding the bill so that they couldn’t score the numbers. You said if it was in legislative form it could be scored. You could’ve asked Sen. Barickman, you could’ve asked any of the Republicans to put your AV… in legislative form and it could’ve gotten scored. That’s all I’m saying. It’s a process question, it’s not a political question.
RAUNER: [Takes deep breath, maybe says “Fair,” moves along to next question.]
PEARSON: I’m sorry! Couldn’t you have done that?
RAUNER: [Takes next question.]
Oof.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Chris Kennedy campaign asked that I post this update, which they entitled “Kennedy campaign response to Rauner’s mess” to either “the CPS thread or the Pearson thread,” so I put it here…
How much more time does Springfield need to fix the state’s broken school funding formula? How many more setbacks will it take before Governor Rauner stops using children as political pawns? This is not an abstract budgeting exercise. The governor has failed our state on an epic level. We need change now - for the sake of students across the state.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Video…
.@rap30 asks @GovRauner to explain why he didn’t introduce school funding plan earlier
Illinois is exactly like #GameOfThrones Boss Madigan IS the Night King. Same eyes, same will. Suburban taxpayers, he's coming. Prepare! pic.twitter.com/cjUF5vc9bl
Chicago Public Schools on Monday moved ahead with plans to lay off about 950 staff members but put off an announcement on an operations budget, citing a need to wait for action on school funding from state lawmakers.
A proposed budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 had been expected on Monday, two weeks after principals received spending plans that anticipated state lawmakers would send an extra $300 million to CPS. The education funding picture remains muddled however after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner issued an amendatory veto on a plan passed by the General Assembly that would reduce the money going to CPS.
Principals were nonetheless expected to move forward with staff adjustments. The district said 356 teachers and 600 support staff would be let go as a result of “enrollment changes, program adjustments and/or changes in students’ academic needs.”
A CPS spokesman said the district expected to have 500 vacant teaching positions it would try to refill by the time classes begin next month. The teachers whose positions were eliminated will be able to apply for those jobs.
But the district may not be done laying off staff. A final enrollment count will be taken on the 20th day of school, which this year falls on Monday, October 2. Since CPS allocates money to school for each student they have, schools that don’t meet their enrollment projects will see their budgets drop and could lose more staff then.
That really bugs me about CPS. They complain and complain about how Gov. Rauner and the Republicans want to base their hold harmless funding by student population, contending it ought to instead be based by district. But then CPS does the exact same thing in their own school-by-school funding calculations.
* From CPS, by the numbers…
320 schools, across all geographic areas of the city, will have no teacher or staff impacts this year.
356 teachers will be impacted this year, which is less than 2 percent of the district’s total teachers.
240 elementary school teachers are impacted
116 high school teachers are impacted
Approximately 6 percent of CPS’ school-based support personnel (600 staff members) are impacted this year.
134 elementary school support personnel are impacted
466 high school support personnel are impacted
CPS expects to have more than 500 teaching vacancies, which it will attempt to fill prior to the beginning of the school year. Impacted teachers will be invited to apply to open CPS positions, and three career fairs have been organized specifically for teachers. They will be held on August 11, 15 and 16 to help expedite the hiring process and fill these positions before the start of school, per the District’s contract with CTU.
In recent years, approximately 60 percent of impacted teachers have been rehired in full-time CPS positions. An additional 23 percent of impacted teachers work as substitute teachers.
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Daniel Biss…
“The arrogant ‘my way or the highway’ mindset of billionaire Bruce Rauner has cost 950 middle class workers their jobs today. That’s indisputable evidence that it’s time he lost his.
“We can’t expect a billionaire to understand the anxiety of educators who lost their jobs, the fear of those who remain, or the frustration of families like mine who rely on Illinois public schools. If Bruce Rauner thinks he can destroy our jobs but keep his own, he’s not just arrogant — he’s wrong.”
Roughly 67 percent of Illinois families could qualify to send their children to private schools using diverted taxpayer money under a proposal being considered by legislators attempting to break a stalemate that’s threatening school funding on the eve of a new academic year, WBEZ has learned.
Those families may “qualify,” but a $100 million program, even if fully enacted, won’t pay for nearly that many kids to go to private school.
* And check out how this automatic annual escalator is glossed over…
Under the draft proposal reviewed by WBEZ, individual taxpayers could choose to send up to $1 million annually to scholarship organizations rather than to the state Department of Revenue. Those diverted taxpayer dollars would fund scholarships to pay tuition cost at private or parochial schools, or to pay the cost for a public school education in a district outside a child’s community.
All told, the state could dole out $100 million annually in tax credits to finance this scholarship program. If the scholarship fund attracts at least $90 million in donations in any year, it would grow to $125 million. It could continue to grow by 25 percent annually, with no cap, as long as taxpayers send at least 90 percent of the maximum allowed to the fund. Donors could direct their money to a specific school, rather than a specific student, and some eligible students could be turned away.
Emphasis added because if this grows by 25 percent a year with no cap we’re eventually going to have a very real fiscal problem when all that cash is diverted from General Revenue coffers to private schools.
Also, too, there was zero mention in that piece about how nobody has figured out how to pay for this yet, or what sort of revenue stream could possibly support a 25 percent annual growth rate.
…Adding… Oops. I forgot to link to the plan’s outline. Click here.
Schools are set to receive payment from the state in just three days, but that can’t happen until the Illinois legislature approves a new “evidence-based” funding model. But last week, Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed large portions of Senate Bill 1 — the only such plan that’s passed both chambers. At the moment he issued his amendatory veto, the governor was missing some vital information: He didn’t know how many votes he would need to enact his changes, he didn’t know how his changes would impact dollars going to each school, nor did he know how long it would take the State Board of Education to do all that complicated math.
He also had not shared his plan with his own party’s longtime point-person on school funding, State Sen. Jason Barickman, of Bloomington.
“Well, you know, I can’t speak for my colleagues, I was not given a chance to see the amendatory veto before it was issued,” Barickman told me on Friday.
At first, I thought I’d misunderstood the senator. At Rauner’s request, Barickman is currently one of four Republican legislators assigned to a bipartisan negotiation squad that’s supposed to be hammering out some sort of compromise. Barickman sponsored the first EBM legislation back in 2015. Furthermore, he’s now the sponsor of Senate Bill 1124 — a version of the “evidence-based model” that has never been voted upon, but is the one Rauner finds more palatable. He was one of the more active members of Rauner’s bipartisan, bicameral School Funding Reform Commission that spent approximately 100 hours meeting during the months of July 2016 through January 2017 in an effort to draft a new school funding bill (despite strong nudging from State Sen. Andy Manar, the best the commission could come up with was a “framework”).
Why would Rauner take veto action without running his plan past Barickman?
“Well, we all have different roles in this,” Barickman says. “I’m a Republican legislator. I’m certainly not the governor.”
* And he might not have liked what he saw had he been given a preview, particularly when it comes to how his schools would lose out under the governor’s proposed TIF “subsidy” changes. This analysis of Barickman’s district is from the Senate Democrats…
* I’m thinking that the state Senators who worked on the Grand Bargain are now thanking their lucky stars that they resisted attempts by Gov. Rauner to include a sugary beverage tax in their revenue mix. From We Ask America…
As you may know, a new tax has taken effect in Cook County that places a one cent per ounce tax on most sweetened beverages. We’d like to know if you APPROVE, or DISAPPROVE of the new Cook County beverage tax that places a new tax on most sweetened beverages.
Approve 12.34%
Disapprove 86.64%
Undecided 1.02%
Some of the Cook County Commissioners who voted for the tax say they did so to improve the health of Cook County residents, while many in the press speculate that the tax was passed merely to raise more money for County officials to spend. We’d like to know which reason for passing the tax YOU think is more accurate.
Raise money 80.33%
Improve health 8.44%
Unsure 11.22%
Will you be MORE LIKELY or LESS LIKELY to re-elect a Cook County commissioner who voted for this new beverage tax?
More likely 10.48%
Less likely 82.56%
No difference 6.96%
This poll was conducted from August 3 through August 6, 2017 using both automated (recorded) and live operator-initiated calls. In all, 1,119 registered voters completed all questions on the poll. About 46% (515) of the responses came from cell phones. The voters dialed were randomly selected from a proprietary registered-voter database of likely voters to assure the greatest chance of providing an accurate cross-section of opinion from the county-wide sample. No weighting formulas were applied to correct any over- and under-sampling.
…Adding… Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was on WGN Radio over the weekend and explained her side. Click here.
Gov. Bruce Rauner announced Friday he’s chosen Sam Pfister to lead his Washington DC team.
Pfister replaces Kathy Lydon, who had served Illinois in DC for years dating back to Sen. Charles Percy. Lydon quit three weeks ago as the governor overhauled his staff and more than two dozen of his inner circle were either fired or quit in protest.
Pfister will be paid $75,000.
Pfister’ most event job is four years as the associate director of state outreach for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The think tank was founded by Richard Fink, who heads the Koch Industries lobbying group in Washington, DC.
* From the governor’s office…
Springfield native Sam Pfister has been named Director of Federal Affairs in Washington D.C. As director, Pfister will be working closely with Congress and the Executive Branch to ensure Illinois’ interests are being represented. He also will work with other governors’ offices to achieve shared goals.
Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL15), among other representatives, said Pfister will be a great addition to the governor’s team.
“I congratulate Sam Pfister on his new position in Governor Rauner’s Washington D.C., office,” Shimkus said. “Sam’s experience and relationships on Capitol Hill, including as an intern in my office, will be a great benefit to Illinois as he takes a lead role in coordinating with state and federal policymakers on issues ranging from healthcare to disaster assistance to energy and environmental regulations. I wish him the best and look forward to working with him.”
“As someone who grew up in central Illinois and worked for Congressman Tim Johnson, Sam understands what it takes to represent downstate Illinois in Washington, and I’m confident he will do a great job,” Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL13) said. “My team and I look forward to working with him.”
Pfister is a graduate of Western Illinois University. He held an internship with Congressman Shimkus in September and October of 2009 before working for Congressman Johnson, eventually becoming his top policy adviser. Pfister has spent the past four years as Associate Director of State Outreach for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, Va.
South suburban parents are anxiously awaiting news from state lawmakers, wondering if public school funding will be approved and their teachers will report for duty on the first day of classes, just two weeks from today.
But they’ll be kept in suspense for at least another week, thanks to the prioritized travel plans of State Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields), South Cook News has learned.
Publicly, Senate President John J. Cullerton (D-Chicago) has expressed interest in swiftly resolving the school funding impasse.
Privately, he has long known the State Senate would be effectively blocked from convening this week on account of a long-planned Boston trip for Hutchinson, a key vote who is attending the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) annual convention and will be formally sworn in as the group’s president.
The State Senate cannot meet and act on the schools bill until Hutchinson returns Thursday. […]
Hutchinson is the first NCSL president from Illinois since 1989-90, when then State House Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels (R-Elmhurst) held the post.
Secondly, there are, I’m told, 22 legislators in Boston this week, including both the House and Senate Republican leaders. Cullerton is also out there.
Subscribers have known for a while now which day the Senate will have enough votes to finally reconvene, and it’s several days after the NCSL conference ends this Wednesday.
Illinois State Senator Bill Haine is prepared to go to Springfield next weekend, in hopes of over-riding Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of Senate Bill One.
Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, will be sworn in as an officer of the organization. The trip was planned months ago, she tells us, and she’ll fly back “on a moment’s notice” if Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, calls members back to Springfield.
The home state of former President Barack Obama will commemorate his birthday under a new law.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has signed a plan honoring the 44th President’s birthday on 4 August. It won’t be an official state holiday, rather a day to honor Obama. The law notes Obama’s efforts to protect Americans’ rights and build “bridges across communities.” […]
The measure takes effect next year. It received overwhelming support in the Democrat-led Legislature. The Republican governor signed it Friday.
Interestingly enough, the Senate sent the bill to the governor back in June. Instead of signing it before August 4th, the governor waited until late in the day to approve the legislation. Because he waited, next year will be the first year the state can actually “commemorate” the former president’s birthday.
…Adding… From a commenter who is right, correcting me who is wrong…
Because the bill didn’t have an immediate effective date, it’s not effective until January 1. Even if the governor had signed the bill August 3, Barack Obama Day wouldn’t have started until August 4, 2018.
A federal appeals court Friday cleared the way for same-day voter registration to resume in Illinois, tossing a challenge to the new law back to a lower court.
The ruling is likely to have no immediate effect, since the next election is not until the March primaries.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated an injunction a U.S. District Court judge granted last year to former Downstate congressional candidate Patrick Harland, barring implementation of the law.
The opinion Friday stated that, given the amount of time until another election in the state, the injunction was no longer needed and the case’s proceedings in the Illinois Northern District Court could continue.
* The appellate opinion is blisteringly harsh. For instance…
Taking the basic criteria in order, we look first at Harlan’s showing of harm. His case rests exclusively on Hood’s testimony, which we summarized earlier. We conclude that his opinion comes nowhere close to demonstrating that Illinois voters would suffer any harm at all—let alone irreparable harm—under the system set up by P.A. 98‐1171. Hood’s report barely considered the effect of the statute against the backdrop of the rest of Illinois’s electoral system. At best, it gave a 30,000‐foot view of some academic research and a table of votes for the candidates of each major party in statewide races in small and large counties. The district court did not explain how that data related to the question before it. […]
Last, we turn to likelihood of success on the merits. Here, too, we find nothing in this record that supports a finding that Harlan has any realistic chance of prevailing. […]
Perhaps recognizing that it was on thin ice, the district court also concluded that even under rational‐basis review, Harlan had some likelihood of succeeding on the merits. But it provided no support for this conclusion, and we cannot find any in the preliminary‐injunction record. Harlan offers no evidence of discriminatory intent, as opposed to evidence of some differences in treatment.
In light of the minimal harm posed by P.A. 98‐1171 and Harlan’s failure to show a likelihood of success on the merits, we conclude that the preliminary injunction should not have issued. Our view is bolstered by the absence of any consideration of the public interest in the opportunity to register to vote, and to vote. Even though P.A. 98‐1171 does not force quite as many options on the smaller counties as it does on the 20 largest counties, it permits every county to adopt the default same‐day rules, and it provides realistic same‐day options even in the smaller places. This, coupled with the lack of any data about which groups are disadvantaged and how, dooms the injunction. […]
The preliminary injunction entered by the district court on September 27, 2016, is hereby VACATED and the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In 2014, Republican Bruce Rauner defeated Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn by just 142,284 votes out of more than 3.6 million votes cast during a huge national Republican landslide.
Quinn was a very unpopular governor at the time. The last two polls before Election Day had his job disapproval rating at 55 and 54 percent.
According to exit polling on Election Day, Rauner beat Quinn among self-identified moderates 52 to 45 percent. Four years before, Quinn won moderates 51 to 39 percent.
Quinn was an ineffective, unpopular governor up against a strong national partisan headwind.
Throughout 2005 and 2006, polls regularly showed Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s job disapproval rating at or above 50 percent. One poll, taken less than a month before his 2006 re-election, had Blagojevich’s disapproval rating at a whopping 59 percent.
Even so, Blagojevich wound up defeating Republican Judy Baar Topinka by 10 points. He spent heavily and ran a good campaign, but this unloved, bumbling governor was helped by the mighty tailwind of a national Democratic wave so strong it flipped control of the U.S. House and gave Illinois Senate Democrats a super-majority.
It also helped that Republican President George W. Bush was extremely unpopular in Illinois. Some of my more liberal friends had a simple reason for voting for Blagojevich, even though they didn’t care for him. He was, to their minds, a layer of protection, a state firewall if you will, against Bush.
Billionaire entrepreneur and investor J.B. Pritzker pumped another $7 million into his self-funded campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor. So far, Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels family fortune, has put all $21.2 million into his race for the nomination. State Board of Election reports show the latest donation was reported Saturday. With the March primary still months away, Pritzker already is approaching at least one state record — the most money spent by a Democratic candidate on himself in a primary. Right now, the record is the $29 million that commodities trader Blair Hull spent from his wallet in 2004, only to finish third in a primary contest for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination won by eventual president Barack Obama.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner spent nearly $28 million of his own money to win the primary and the governor’s office in 2014. The former equity investor also made the largest ever self-donation to a political campaign in Illinois when he put $50 million into his re-election bid in December of last year. That number could end up as its own primary record.
I can’t get excited about the governor’s race. The election is 15 months away. Plus, I have a sinking certainty in my gut how it all turns out: the cash Death Star of J.B. Pritzker vaporizes both Biss and Kennedy — a Charlie Brown cry of “How can we lose when we’re so sincere?” and then a pile of ash blown away by the wind.
In November 2018, assuming the country hasn’t devolved into anarchy by then, Pritzker loses to Gov. Bruce Rauner, because the disgust Chicagoans feel at Rauner’s whole C. Montgomery Burns act, his disdain for the poor and the sick, evaporates past the cornfields ringing the city.
There people see a gaunt successful businessman in a Carhartt jacket, droppin’ his Gs, squintin’, bravely battlin’ an alien overlord named My-Kill Mad-Again, who certainly demonizes up well. I don’t think there is enough TV commercial airtime in the world to make people in Kane County look up from their plows and muse, “You know, maybe I’ll vote for the big fat Jewish billionaire.” I hope I’m wrong, hope that this is fat-shaming and self-hatred on my part. Somebody ought to replace this GOP zealot who can’t wrap his head around the fact that the first six letters of the word “governor” spell “govern.”
But if you’ve noticed, we have sailed into a world where unqualified sneering rich guys try to fill the gaping voids where their souls should be by rolling up their sleeves and taking a fling at public office. Not that I put Kennedy in that group. He’s a principled, idealistic, thoughtful man who doesn’t realize that those qualities are now liabilities.
J.B. Pritzker is spending more than $100,000 a day. And he just gave himself another $7 million for his campaign. So far, Pritzker has self-funded his campaign with over $21 million.
Last month, he spent over $8 million on a television and direct mail blitz, while Chris spent zero dollars on paid communications. The result — Chris is still ahead in the polls. It shows that the people of Illinois are tired of being unheard and don’t want another self-funded billionaire in office.
Let me be clear: Pritzker might have billions to self-fund his campaign, but what he doesn’t have is an organic groundswell of support from the people of Illinois.
That is why I’m asking for you to make a $5 contribution to show the strength of our movement. Send a message to Pritzker that our beliefs are bigger than his billions.
There’s only one J.B. Pritzker but there are over 5,000 of us who have contributed to bringing radical change to Illinois. And, over 90% of those contributions were under $100. Your contribution, whether it’s $1 or $100, represents a more significant donation and sacrifice than whatever one billionaire businessman is willing to put into this race.
Our opponents, both Pritzker and Rauner, have money and plenty of it. But what we have is much more important that. We have a groundswell of voters, supporters and volunteers. The reason we will take back Illinois and fix Springfield is because people matter more than their money. Your voice matters more than their bank accounts.
Our campaign is about restoring opportunity back to Illinois and that is only possible when we stand together. Can you make a $5 contribution to join our campaign?
Thank you,
Hanah Jubeh
Senior Advisor
Kennedy for Illinois
It has been more than a month since the General Assembly authorized Gov. Rauner to offer up to $6 billion in General Obligation bonds, which would allow the state to lower the interest rate it pays on its debt.
That high interest rate – up to 12 percent a year – is costing Illinois taxpayers $2 million a day in late payment interest penalties for every day the Governor does not move on putting together the bond issue.
Minutes after the General Assembly voted to override the Governor’s budget veto July 6, Comptroller Mendoza sent a letter (see attached) to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, seeking a meeting to talk about getting started on the bond issue. Our staff met with the budget office July 14. No timetable for a bond offering was provided.
We sent a follow-up letter (see attached) to the Governor on Friday, July 28, but have heard nothing back. It will take several weeks to put the bond deal together and the longer the wait, the more taxpayers will pay in higher interest rates.
Comptroller Mendoza released a video Monday morning to help familiarize Illinois citizens with the importance of refinancing the state’s debt through a bond offering. “You should know that this debt is costing you, the taxpayer, $2 million dollars a day, at up to 12% interest in late payment interest penalties. 12%. That’s brutal,” Comptroller Mendoza says on the video. “But just like you at home, if you had the opportunity to refinance your debt at a lower interest rate, and save money, you would. People do it all the time with their home mortgages. That’s just common sense.”
The bonding will be used to start to tackle the state’s bill backlog, which reached a record peak of $15.4 billion in June. It will give some relief to providers and businesses awaiting payment from the state. Over the past two years without a budget, they have had to exhaust their lines of credit, lay off employees and, in some cases, turn away Illinois citizens in need of services.
“Approximately 90% of our mental health and addiction treatment providers’ bills have gone unpaid over the last 12 months,” Sarah Howe, CEO of the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, said. “We strongly urge Governor Rauner to move forward on the authorized bonding to pay for services for which the state is obligated to pay under contracts that the governor’s Department of Human Services signed. This action would help bring stability to a system faced with potential closures.”
“Since the budget impasse has ended, many people believe human service providers’ financial woes are over,” Sherrie Crabb, Executive Director of Family Counseling Center in Vienna, said. “This couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact remains that human service providers, like Family Counseling Center, are still owed hundreds, and some even millions, of dollars. Agencies like ours have had to reduce programming, cut employee jobs and benefits, and some have even closed their doors.”
“While we are feeling some relief now that a budget is in place, we are still operating week to week,” Cathy McClanahan, Executive Director of the Women’s Center in Carbondale, said. “Releasing bonds would guarantee that our services to domestic violence and sexual assault survivors will continue.”
I’ve asked the governor’s office for a response. I’ll post it when I get it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Laurel Patrick in the governor’s office…
Rich,
Comptroller Mendoza isn’t telling the whole story. She has the authority to immediately use over $600 million from fund transfers and inter-fund borrowing to pay down bills. This $600 million can be used to reduce the backlog of bills by as much as $1.2 billion if she prioritizes Medicaid payments, which will allow the state to capture federal matching dollars.
The Comptroller should act now. Our office contacted hers last week identifying potential fund transfers and inter-fund borrowing options to begin paying down the backlog. This would reduce the backlog of bills, reduce interest costs, and provide clarity for bonding options.
The Governor’s final decision on bonding requires us to first know how much of the bill backlog can be addressed through means other than bonding. That is why we ask the Comptroller to begin reducing the backlog of bills immediately. We have worked cooperatively with the Comptroller to achieve this critical first step, and ask that she take action to help the state. This will not only reduce the backlog of bills, it will advance the analysis necessary to make a final decision on bonding.
We are additionally working to save taxpayer dollars by reducing spending and reforming government not only to pay down the backlog of bills but also to keep the state from building more debt in the future.
Thanks,
Laurel
Interesting points. I’ll be following up with Mendoza’s office.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the comptroller’s office…
We’d like to thank the Governor’s Office for validating the work that we have already been doing, in paying down the $15 billion backlog of unpaid bills that has more than tripled since Governor Rauner took office. Now it’s time for the Governor to do his job.
The Office of the Comptroller has utilized funds from inter-fund transfers to access millions of dollars in federal funds. Ironically, the budgetary tools we are using now were vetoed by the Governor, who has come around and is now apparently encouraging their use.
What we need right now is movement by the Governor’s Office and a solid timetable for refinancing the debt so that our office can establish a comprehensive cash management plan for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018.
Interfund utilization was never envisioned as a substitute for refinancing the debt. They are supposed to work in tandem. Our office has been working effectively on this with GOMB and our communications (see attached) show that.
The fact remains that $600 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly $15 billion backlog of unpaid bills. Our office is appropriately managing our responsibilities, but until the Governor does his job, taxpayers will continue to be on the hook for $2 million a day in late payment interest penalties.
I’ll post the correspondence when I receive it.
…Adding… The paper trail referenced above is here and here.
*** UPDATE 3 *** A commenter wondered where the state treasurer was on this issue. Ask and ye shall receive…
As the state’s chief investment officer, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs today urged Gov. Bruce Rauner to act on the authority given to him and refinance the nearly $15 billion bill backlog.
The backlog, which has tripled since the Governor took office, represents loans from unwilling employers doing business with the state at the outrageous interest rate of 12 percent.
“There is not a financial advisor worth his salt who would urge a family to keep a 12 percent loan when better interest rates are available,” Frerichs said. “Taxpayers paying $2 million in interest each and every day defies common sense and borders upon malpractice.”
Despite going nearly two years without a budget, there still is appetite in the financial markets to refinance Illinois debt because the state guarantees repayment. Indeed, that repayment guarantee is another argument supporting refinancing.
“Refinancing isn’t enough, of course, and difficult decisions remain,” Frerichs said. “But why in the world would we not do this?”
Illinois has endured eight credit downgrades since Gov. Rauner took office in January 2015. The bill backlog was considered with each downgrade.
* As I noted on Saturday, my weekly syndicated newspaper column was written before we started to see just exactly the sort of Downstate and suburban collateral damage this amendatory veto will cause…
The education funding reform bill which passed the House and Senate in May and was finally sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk in July was the product of four years of research, endless listening tours and lots of hard bargaining.
The House Democrats changed some things at the last minute to benefit Chicago and the governor didn’t like it, but his own education czar claimed the governor still approved of “90 percent” of the legislation.
However, when Rauner issued his amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1 this week, he introduced a bunch of new ideas that had never been on the table, including during endless discussions among members of his own education funding reform commission.
These new ideas are poisoning the already putrid Statehouse water and are prompting some folks to suspect that the governor’s new top staffers from the Illinois Policy Institute are attempting to sabotage the bill.
The far-right group is on record opposing the whole idea of the “evidence-based” school funding formula contained in the Democrats’ SB1 and endorsed by the governor’s funding reform commission and by Republicans in both legislative chambers. Could some of those same people who are now running Rauner’s office be out to kill off the progress made over the years?
Historically in Illinois, the best way to keep suburban and Downstate Republicans from voting for a bill is to label it a “Chicago bailout.” Rauner and the Illinois Policy Institute have done so repeatedly with SB1, even though Politifact has rated the claim “false” and the almost always pro-Rauner Chicago Tribune editorial board has argued it is not a bailout.
Rauner’s amendatory veto would change the way school districts currently calculate how much property tax revenue they can no longer capture after other local governments create Tax Increment Financing districts. Existing state law recognizes the reality that the school districts won’t receive that money, but the governor’s proposal would order the State Board of Education to ignore that reality.
Doing that would put enormous financial pressure on schools, which might then lead to some reforms of the TIF laws. The Illinois Policy Institute wants to get rid of TIFs. I don’t disagree with them, but I’d rather that we not use school kids’ education as the hammer to do it.
Keeping it Chicago-centric, the Illinois Policy Institute pointed last week to Cook County Clerk David Orr’s claim that Chicago’s TIF money accounts for almost 10 percent of all property tax revenue billed within the city. In suburban Cook, Orr reports, TIF revenues equal about 3.5 percent of property tax bills.
Nobody involved with the funding reform negotiations has ever publicly proposed changing the way the State Board of Education projects school districts’ potential property tax revenue collections by essentially wishing away the impact of the state property tax cap law (known as PTELL). Nobody, that is, until the governor issued his amendatory veto.
Partly because Chicago is so large and has so much property wealth (particularly in the Loop area), it benefits more than anywhere else from the property tax cap school “subsidy,” as the Illinois Policy Institute calls it. The group wants to get rid of that “subsidy.”
But the political danger here is clear. By going after Chicago so hard and making its school district look “wealthier” than it really is by officially pretending that it can capture more tax money than it really can, the governor’s amendatory veto would also create collateral damage throughout the state. TIF districts have been created in a ton of communities, Downstate and in the suburbs. And lots of school districts also fall under the property tax cap.
Sen. Andy Manar, the Senate Democrats’ lead education funding negotiator, claimed last week that the governor had completely gutted “the whole purpose” of SB1 by changing what’s known as the “adequacy calculation.” The bill as passed calculates need by factoring in the actual costs of things schools do. That calculation, Manar said, is the “most profound difference” between the status quo today and what his bill tries to fix.
So, if Manar is right about the governor’s proposed changes, that would be additional, um, evidence that there may be an attempt to sabotage evidence-based funding from within Rauner’s office.
There are other “coincidences” between Rauner’s amendatory veto (and demands being made during negotiations) and Illinois Policy Institute dogma, but the basic premise is that the group wants to kill this bill and Rauner’s proposed changes could conceivably lead to that result if the governor sticks to his guns during negotiations.
…Adding… Pritzker campaign…
While Bruce Rauner has promised for weeks that his school funding veto won’t take away money from any school district besides Chicago, the facts are not on his side. Language in Rauner’s veto — pushed by the right-wing Illinois Policy Institute now running the governor’s office — would leave hundreds of school districts across the state with less money.
Rauner is proposing changes to rules in the school funding formula bill to target Chicago’s funding. But those changes don’t just cripple CPS, they also damage schools across the state. Peoria Public Schools could lose $1 million if Rauner’s changes became law. Rich Miller explains in his Crain’s column:
By going after Chicago so hard and making its school district look “wealthier” than it really is by officially pretending that it can capture more tax money than it really can, the governor’s amendatory veto would also create collateral damage throughout the state. TIF districts have been created in a ton of communities, Downstate and in the suburbs. And lots of school districts also fall under the property tax cap.
“Bruce Rauner is at war with an entire city he is supposed to represent and the collateral damage will impact schools across the state,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Rauner’s Illinois Policy Institute-backed veto would suffocate our public education system and advance their radical agenda.”
* Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) becomes the latest budget veto overrider to announce his retirement…
Life is lived in cycles. There are cycles due to changes in our personal lives and those of our families. Elected officials are not immune to these cycles. At the end of this term in 2019 I will have served 12 years in the general assembly – 6 years representing the 49th district and 6 years before that representing the 95th district. Before I was sworn in as a state representative I served 12 years in elected office with the City of West Chicago – 6 years as mayor and 6 years as alderman before that. It has been my honor to serve the public at both the state and local level, but after many months of reflection I have decided that it is time for this cycle to end, and I will not run for reelection in 2018.
As a state representative I have been privileged to use my experience in local government, science and technology to help the people of Illinois. I led the effort to improve our electric power by allowing municipalities to buy power on behalf of their residents. I have been successful in protecting our privacy from unauthorized video recording and unauthorized use of passwords on social media. This year I was successful in helping to negotiate major improvements to the way we recycle electronic equipment, and to improve access to voting registration through automation. However, none of this would have been possible without the support of the people I represent and my colleagues in the legislature.
Twelve years ago a door opened for me when my predecessor decided to seek another position. With this announcement I can open a door to a successor, who I hope will enjoy the same support and success I have in public office.
He’s smart as heck and a sweet man. The GA is also losing its only nuclear physicist.
…Adding… The running list and a bit of context…
Here’s the updated list of 100th GA legislators choosing to give up their seats (so far) pic.twitter.com/kbNpLv8xQB
“I have been privileged to serve alongside Mike Fortner throughout his time in the Illinois General Assembly. He has been a leading voice on important issues such as energy policy, election reform, local government and technology. Mike used his background and expertise to serve the public good and he has been a tremendously effective legislator. We will all miss his professorial intellect, wit and ability to work in a bipartisan fashion to improve the lives of Illinois families. I wish Mike all the best in his future endeavors.”
Therefore, school districts that are subject to PTELL [property tax caps] and school districts that have TIF districts within their borders are more likely to lose out on additional funding the State may provide in FY2018 and future years. School districts not subject to PTELL and that do not have TIF within their borders are more likely to gain some of that additional funding.
* Just one of those two changes made by the governor would cost the Peoria Public Schools a million bucks…
Rauner has said cutting subsidies for tax-caps and TIF districts would end school districts’ tendency to under-report property wealth and, subsequently, their capacity to pay for an adequate education. But TIF districts have long been a bone of contention between municipalities and school districts, with school districts saying TIF districts deprive them of revenues generated by growing property values. Ending the subsidies would be a double-whammy.
PPS officials estimate the district could lose $1 million without a state subsidy for the effects of TIF districts. [Emphasis added.]
A million bucks, just from one change in one school district.
* Now, imagine the ruckus once these other school districts do their own calculations…
A top, top GOP politico tells Sneed Republican state legislators are being indoctrinated with far-right ideology since the state budget limped into passage recently.
• Translation: “They are being called in to meet individually with the staff of the uber-conservative Illinois Policy Institute for questioning and/or indoctrination on its far-right ideology — now that Governor Bruce Rauner has moved many of its staff, including his new chief of staff, Kristina Rasmussen, from the institute’s office into the actual office of the governor,” the source tells Sneed.
I haven’t been able to confirm that story today. I’ve seen Rauner’s new chief at dinner with some members, but nobody’s complained to me about any “indoctrination” effort. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, but I still have my doubts.
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Chris Nybo (R-Elmhurst) told me earlier that the Sun-Times story above doesn’t make any sense, so I asked him to send me a quick statement…
It stuns me that people would say Ms. Rasmussen is attempting to ‘indoctrinate’ Republican legislators. Just the opposite. In my meetings with her, I feel she does more listening than talking, and her focus has mostly been on operational (not ideological) issues. In fact, I’ve rarely been so impressed in such a short timeframe with what has been said and how it has been said. She’s a clear, concise, and capable communicator.
For years conservatives have asserted that homosexuals are pursuing children, and for years homo-activists have mocked that claim. Due to either their profound ignorance or their commitment to deception as a tactic for advancing their pernicious goal of normalizing homoeroticism, homo-activists misrepresented what conservatives were claiming.
Homo-activists falsely claimed that conservatives were worried that they would try to “turn children gay,” when, in reality, most conservatives were claiming that homo-activists were feverishly working through every cultural institution to eradicate conservative views on the nature and morality of homosexuality. In other words, homo-activists were pursuing the hearts and minds of other people’s children. […]
Unfortunately for the countless children and teens who attend public schools, the 2017/2018 school year is just around the corner, and like dirty old men in trench coats lying in wait to expose children to sordid things, so too await public school administrators and teachers to do likewise. Unlike perverts who lurk in darkness, however, these government employees have no shame. They do their dirty work of exposing children to wickedness openly and call it “love.”
Ed Yohnka, an ACLU spokesman, said: “When people go to their corners and stop listening … we lose a moment that could be used for education.”
“There is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be transgender … a transgender boy is a boy; a transgender girl is a girl,” Yohnka said.
And Amy Biancheri, a Batavia teacher who commented on behalf of the IEA, described likening public school teachers to “dirty old men” as “ludicrous.”
“LGBT students in general and transgender students in particular are at greater risk of homelessness, suicidal ideation and completion, and harassment from other students — it’s teachers’ job to create a safe space for learning for all students, regardless of race, class or gender identification.”
* Generally it’s believed that when people start complaining about seeing your ads too much, that means the ads are getting through…
Heh.
Not everyone watches TV, so you gotta get ‘em wherever else they are.
* The Question: What online ads are you noticing lately? It’s Friday, so you don’t have to contain your responses to Illinois politics, but you can if you want.
* I shared Sen. Andy Manar’s press release with you yesterday, as well as responses from the GOP leaders and the governor. Manar made several specific points at his press conference yesterday that weren’t covered in the release, so I asked for those bullet points. From the Senate Democrats, with a couple of minor typos corrected…
The seven items Manar mentioned that are in the governor’s AV that bend education spending downward over time and constrain investment in public schools:
· Regionalization factor. The governor changes the regional cost differential in SB1. He drives it down.
· PTELL. For school districts that can’t access property wealth because of the tax cap law, the governor says we shouldn’t recognize that they can’t do that, so they appear wealthier than they actually are.
· Enrollment changes. Gov. Rauner calls for punishing school districts that lose enrollment.
· Minimum funding requirement. The governor changes it. This is the guarantee that future general assemblies and governors of both parties will continue to uphold the commitment to adequately and equitably fund schools in years to come.
· TIF districts. The governor changes how TIF districts are accounted for in the formula. He pits job-creation efforts against school funding.
· Pension cost shift. He removes language protecting an accounting for a potential pension cost shift. Framers put that in SB 1 because they thought it was a good piece of public policy, and they wanted to make sure that if it ever changed in the future that the state would account for it in an adequacy target. The governor removed it out entirely.
· Adequacy calculation. This one completely guts the whole purpose of Senate Bill 1. The governor changes the adequacy calculation so that it will not reflect actual costs in coming years. That’s the most profound difference between Senate Bill 1 and the status quo today. We recognize that costs go up and down in school districts based on many factors. The governor constrains that to divest from public education in future years.
* Remember that July 18-20 Democratic Governors Association poll which found that Gov. Rauner’s job disapproval was 63 percent? Well, I was writing my Crain’s Chicago Business column yesterday and reached out to the DGA to see if they polled President Trump’s job approval rating here as well. Their answer didn’t arrive until after my deadline, so you get them instead. Here are their job approval/disapproval numbers…
Trump – 35%-63%
Rauner – 34%-63%
I thought Trump’s disapproval rating might be higher. Either way, not good for both of those guys.
State Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston: “Mike Madigan is part of the problem,” he said in a phone interview. “But calling people names is a waste of time and counterproductive. We have a system that doesn’t work and is keeping a lot of people locked out, and making this campaign about replacing one person and not replacing the system is a recipe for failure.”
Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th: “The idea that one person is responsible for the state’s problems ignores how both sides have contributed to them, and it does Bruce Rauner a great favor,” he said in a phone interview. “Leaders of both parties haven’t been willing to raise the money to pay for the services people say they want. They haven’t been willing to tell voters that we live in a very wealthy state with a very regressive tax system.”
Businessman Chris Kennedy: “It’s not my job to defend Mike Madigan,” he said, also in a phone interview. “There’s plenty of blame to go around. Rauner has fabricated the fiction that if it weren’t for Madigan, we’d have a balanced budget, our credit rating would improve and all our problems would be solved. But speakers don’t lead states, governors do. And ours has lacked strong governors with a strong vision.”
Kennedy renewed his charge that Madigan’s role as a prominent property tax appeals lawyer is in conflict with his role as speaker, and he said he expects to be “oppositional” with Madigan during the primary season.
Billionaire investor and entrepreneur J.B. Pritzker, thought to be Madigan’s favored candidate, didn’t respond to my numerous requests for comment.
* I reached out to the Pritzker campaign this morning and asked for a response. Here it is…
“JB is focused on holding Bruce Rauner accountable for the damage he has done across this state and for his failed leadership. As noted yesterday, JB believes the Illinois Democratic Party has improvements to make – and he will lead those efforts as governor.”
State Rep. Scott Drury announced the themes for his nascent campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor Thursday at a Lincoln Park library, delivering a literary comparison by likening House Speaker Michael Madigan to Lord Voldemort.
“I’m a huge Harry Potter fan,” said Drury, a five-year lawmaker from Highwood. “The big thing about Harry Potter was this guy (Lord) Voldemort — that he shouldn’t be named. And when I sit on debates and public forums in this campaign, it’s almost as if there is a Voldemort in the state of Illinois and no one wants to use his name. And if you can’t use his name, how are you going to fix the problem?” […]
“To me and to the public — I’m not an outlier here — it is a Madigan problem, and we have to address it. We have to address it as a party,” he said.
“I’m concerned about the Democratic Party. I’m concerned about the longevity of the Democratic Party. I’m concerned that we are losing younger voters who look at the stale Democratic Party and they won’t want to be a part of it. I’m concerned we’re losing voters who have seen the same old thing year after year, decade after decade, of promises from the Democratic Party that we don’t deliver on,” he said.
* Related…
* Zorn: For my Friday, Aug. 4, 2017 column, I reached out to the leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates to ask for their responses to Democratic state Rep. Scott Drury’s recent blast at veteran Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. I also reached out to House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang of Skokie, who is not a candidate for governor but a top Madigan ally. I didn’t have room in the column for his reponse, which was by far the most robust. Here it is in full
As the Madigan Machine continues to stall, refusing to call Governor Rauner’s amendatory veto of SB1 for a vote, Rauner blitzed editorial boards this week, highlighting how his amendatory veto delivers more money to schools across the state and removes Madigan’s Chicago pension bailout.
The Kankakee Daily Journal: Governor firmly rejects Chicago school bailout
“They stopped paying their pensions,” Rauner said. “Chicago’s teacher pension was basically fully funded 17 years ago. Now, it’s woefully underfunded. Now, [House Speaker Mike] Madigan and Mayor [Rahm] Emmanuel said they have a pension mess. They dumped it on the state by including it in this funding formula. That’s not fair to the taxpayers of Illinois.”
Rauner said his amendatory veto would generate an additional $1 million for Kankakee School District 111.
Northwest Herald: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on SB1 veto: Make school funding fair for the whole state
Gov. Bruce Rauner accused Democrats in the General Assembly of sitting on Senate Bill 1 twice, risking state funding for Illinois schools to pass the bill in its current form.
Rauner on Tuesday vetoed SB 1, expecting the General Assembly to then discuss an alternate plan, override the veto or accept the changes to the bill that seeks to revamp a 20-year-old school funding formula that many critics call the worst in the nation.
Rauner, who met Thursday morning with the Northwest Herald Editorial Board, said he believes that lawmakers instead are waiting out time until school starts to generate pressure to pass the bill without the amendments, which he said would take billions of dollars from schools around Illinois and give it to Chicago Public Schools.
Dispatch Argus: Rauner: Legislature must act on school bill
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said he is encouraging Republicans and Democrats to work together on a school funding bill that is a compromise for both sides.
Gov. Rauner issued an amendatory veto to Senate Bill 1 on Tuesday, legislation that would change the way school districts are funded to one based on need.
When asked why he removed language on minimum funding levels from the bill through his amendatory veto, Gov. Rauner denied it would hurt neediest school districts the most.
“I’ve asked for more school funding in my first year — $700 million — and I asked for more this year — $720 million,” Gov. Rauner said. “The Democrats cut school funding four times in the prior 10 years before I became governor. Right now the bill says the state has to put $340 million extra, compounded in the future. Only a handful of districts get all the incremental money. That’s not fair.”
Gov. Rauner said it wasn’t appropriate to have a law mandating minimum funding levels.
“If the General Assembly puts it in, that’s fine,” he said. “But to put it in as law requiring that is completely unfair to taxpayers and the majority of school districts.”
So, it’s OK if the GA puts it in the bill, but not into law? I’m a bit confused here.
State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, also opposes SB 1, but is concerned with the overall amount of spending, and not just the funds allocated to CPS.
“It doesn’t have any real reforms. It doesn’t require school districts to cut administrative expenses,” McSweeney said. “It doesn’t require them to look at consolidation and it also doesn’t do anything about property taxes and we’re just sending a lot of money back to the schools, but there’s no requirement to cut property taxes.”
Good points and the governor’s AV doesn’t address those issues, either.
“I am frustrated by the fact that we can’t do anything right now,” said Scott Wakeley, superintendent of Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School District 307. “In that part, I am not a fan of the amendatory veto. At some point, we have to move on.
“At the same time, it’s a shame that kids are being used as a political pawn to help CPS. We all have low-income students. Sometimes, I feel like everything has to be taken care of in Chicago before everyone downstate can be taken care of.”
Kankakee Superintendent Genevra Walters said her district hasn’t even considered how much more they would make through the governor’s veto because of all the numbers that are being used. Throughout the past couple years, the district has cut its way out of what was once a $3.5 million budget crisis.
“I can’t say whether or not we should help CPS, but we cannot abandon any kids in Illinois,” Walters said. “Every change has always benefited our school district. I just want to stop the uncertainty. We need to be able to plan long term. It’s very hard to do that with how state and national politics are going.”
* We’re going to see lots more of these, unless every Republican who voted for the tax hike simply retires (and many will). And while I don’t know much about this specific situation yet, a lot of primary opposition to Republicans who voted for the tax hike will be organic. The dominant wing in the GOP these days hates taxes, no matter how needed they might be. So some just won’t wait for the big anti-tax players (like Dan Proft) to make a decision before they jump in…
Pittsfield businessman Jonas Petty says he looks forward to bringing his conservative values to the Illinois House.
“My values will align with my actions,” he said.
Petty, 38, is running in the Republican primary against state Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer of Jacksonville in the 100th House District. [..]
Davidsmeyer was one of 15 House Republicans who joined Democrats and voted for a budget last month – after the state went two years without one – that was opposed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. After Rauner vetoed the actions, Davidsmeyer later voted against the override, but 10 Republicans did, allowing the budget to take effect.
“I don’t believe you can call yourself a conservative and vote for a tax hike with no reform,” Petty said.
Davidsmeyer responded later that, “To say you’re a conservative and stand by and not pay your bills is not a good thing either.” He had noted when he voted for the budget, including an increase in the income tax on individuals from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, that he was worried the state backlog of bills could grow from what was about $15 billion to $25 billion; and he was concerned about a potential state bond-rating downgrade to junk status.
Rep. Davidsmeyer voted against the veto override motion, but that won’t spare him much grief.
Rauner Declines to Hold Trump Accountable on Health Care
Rauner’s Continues to do Nothing While Trump Administration Sabotages Families’ Health Care
Since entering office, President Trump has actively worked to undermine the Affordable Care Act, leading to uncertainty in the markets and causing premiums to rise. This past Wednesday on WGN radio, Governor Bruce Rauner was asked if he blamed the Trump administration for the uncertainty around the health care bill. He passed, and in his tradition, looked to blame the predecessor (audio available here):
Reporter: Governor can I ask you … about health care as well? We’ve seen the headlines lately, about how Obamacare rates in Illinois, the premiums could rise again, the rates could rise again (Rauner: Yes. It’s terrible). They’re pretty tough headlines to look at if you’re relying on that system, but it affects the rest of the system. Federal money coming our way, uncertainty abounds. Do you blame the President for creating that, where do you place blame…
Rauner: Blame which president?
Reporter: President Trump for potentially creating uncertainty in the markets…
Rauner: Look at those insurance rates for the last year, the insurance market under the Affordable Care Act has been breaking down, insurers have been leaving, and the rates have been going through the roof every year.
Reporter: So more importantly, what can you tell the people of Illinois about what to expect?
Rauner: Well what I’ve encouraged…this is a federal issue this is not a state issue. And I’ve encouraged members of congress and this administration please come together to work out what you can. Clearly those exchanges that many people rely on, people I know, personal friends are on those exchanges and they are getting hammered. And it’s not been just this year, this has been going on for four or five years now.
It’s no secret that Governor Bruce Rauner sat out the debate on health care. Rauner could have played a crucial role in the debate, like his Republican peers in other states, but declined to expose himself politically. Had Trumpcare passed (and it may still), the results would have been disastrous for Illinois families.
Sadly, it appears that Rauner is gearing up to sit out another fight.
“Bruce Rauner will not stand up to Donald Trump, and fight for the people of Illinois,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “For months, Bruce Rauner did nothing to stop congressional Republicans from passing Trumpcare, which would have cause premiums to skyrocket and punched a $40 billion hole in the state budget. Now the Trump administration is actively trying to sabotage health insurance markets, a cynical move that will only hurt middle-class families, and Rauner would play politics than hold President Trump accountable for his actions. Bruce Rauner’s failure to lead on health care is enabling President Trump and hurting Illinois families.”
There are really three scenarios. My amendatory veto could be upheld. Which is, hopefully that’s what’s done. They’ve done it. They’ve upheld my amendatory veto on many bills. For example, automatic voter registration. I amendatory veto, they came back, that’s getting done. And they’ve done it on others, public safety ones and others. So this is very doable. Some people have said, ‘Well, he AV’d it so it’s dead, it’s over.’ No. They’ve done it repeatedly. They’ve upheld my amendatory veto in the past. So this is very doable.
OK, first of all, as we just discussed on Tuesday, Gov. Rauer did not issue an AV on the AVR bill. He straight-up vetoed that bill and it died when the General Assembly could not override him. He issued a statement along with his veto saying what he could support, but it was not an amendatory veto. The General Assembly took much of what he wanted and put it in a new bill which he is apparently going to sign.
* An explanation from the governor’s press office…
The governor was making a conceptual point that in the past our veto messages have been adopted by the legislature through another vehicle and passed into law. For instance, after we proposed an outright veto of automatic voter registration legislation and a counter proposal, the lead negotiator, Andy Manar, ultimately turned to compromise towards a unanimous vote.
Ultimately, the governor’s point is that the legislature has several options before them, one of which is to adopt his AV. Otherwise, we stand ready and waiting if Democrats want to come to the table and negotiate in good faith.
OK, but if you watch the video, the governor told the editorial board that there are three scenarios, and accepting his AV was the first such scenario. Rauner then accurately noted the second scenario is an override of SB1. And the third scenario, the governor himself said, is that the Democrats work on a new, bipartisan proposal and get it to his desk.
The fact is the General Assembly has never once accepted any of the governor’s amendatory vetoes.
* From the Senate Democrats…
Looks like three AVs this session. SB 1 — pending. SB 1839 — dead. HB 1811 — overridden. It looks like 32 AVs last session (two year span). Only 2 became law, both by override. HB 1 — that was the opioid bill. SB 440 — Chicago pensions.
So, 35 amendatory vetoes issued so far and not a single one was accepted.
* The Sun-Times is the first mainstream media outlet to take a close look at a proposed $100 million state tax credit program for private school scholarships…
As Democrats continue to push for an override of Rauner’s school funding veto, state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, on Thursday characterized the archdiocesan scholarship program as something the governor is asking of Democrats “in order to continue discussions on Senate Bill 1 and a final compromise.”
The program seeks to create scholarships for low- and middle-income students so they can afford Catholic or other private schools, according to the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s public policy arm. Corporate and individual donations would be funneled through scholarship-granting organizations.
As initially proposed, donors would get a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit for their contributions. A family of four earning up to $110,000 could qualify for a scholarship for a limitless tuition cost.
Republicans want a $100 million scholarship program paired with a 100 percent tax credit. But there’s now talk of reducing it to 75 cents per dollar, and many want it much lower. Democrats also want a pilot program with a sunset, not a permanent one. […]
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan supports the idea that the program could fund scholarships, but not as initially proposed, said his spokesman Steve Brown.
There’s still the very real question about how this will be funded, however. Nobody seems to have an answer. And that’s important because, as proposed, the plan reportedly contains automatic annual escalators.
In the language you cite, JB states he supports a “federal” single-payer system. The criticism Daniel made of his plan, is that he doesn’t support a state level single payer system. Indeed, the fact that Trump and Republicans control Congress is all the more reason a single-payer system at the state level, as we’ve seen with efforts in CA, is needed. The larger point is, while it’s nice he supports a federal level system, he’s not running to be governor of Congress. He’s running to be governor of Illinois, and his position on single-payer for the state is what Democratic primary voters want to know.
That’s a critical distinction among Dem primary voters and among the candidates in this race. I’d hate for people to get the impression that he supports single-payer, writ large, as your piece implies. Because he doesn’t.
In 2011, Biss voted against a single-payer task force. The Health Care Justice Implementation Task Force never came to fruition, in part, because Biss voted against it. The primary goal of the task force would have been to draw up a blueprint for how to implement a statewide single payer healthcare plan. Big businesses successfully lobbied against the measure through the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
In the same year, Biss passed on another chance to demonstrate his support for single-payer. Representative Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) filed the Illinois Universal Health Care Act which called for a statewide single payer healthcare plan. Flowers’ bill gained the support of eight co-sponsors, including some of the most prominent members of the House Democratic Caucus. Biss was not one of them.
Last month, Biss told a group in a church on Chicago’s south side, “There’s not been a vote on a single payer issue, a single-payer piece of legislation in Springfield so I don’t have a voting record on it.”
As a member of the General Assembly, Biss has the power to sponsor bills and file them with the legislature. To date, he has not filed a bill calling for statewide single-payer healthcare.
When asked about these specific votes, the Biss campaign dodged.
Instead, spokeswoman Abby Witt responded with a statement saying, “Daniel has supported single-payer for his entire career and continues to now. He’s been clear that not just nationally, but in Illinois, we need a comprehensive plan that includes universal access to health care, and a truly progressive plan to pay for it that isn’t balanced on the backs of the middle class, but instead by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.”
* From a state Republican Party e-mail to supporters…
The State Fair is coming up in a few short weeks - we’re excited to spend another Governor’s Day with fellow Illinois Republicans celebrating our great state and our efforts to bring back Illinois.
But we wanted to keep you in the loop: Like years past, we expect Mike Madigan and his special interest allies to protest outside of our rally. The Chicago Machine organizes this group to distract from their disastrous Chicago agenda and block our reforms.
We need you to come to the Governor’s Day rally at the State Fair to show the people of Illinois that Madigan’s status quo has put us in a ditch - we need Governor Rauner and Republican lawmakers to continue their fight to turn our state around.
We’re excited to see you there - thanks for stepping up for the ILGOP.
From punishing schools for enrollment declines to penalizing them for their communities’ aggressive job-creation efforts, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner appears to be lining up an all-out assault on Illinois’ long-standing commitment to public education.
And most of the unwitting victims in this battle are school districts that already are underfunded by the state of Illinois and struggling with growing numbers of impoverished students and other challenges.
“What Gov. Rauner outlined in his veto of Senate Bill 1 this week would cause the state to pull back from its investment in public education at historic levels and starve public schools everywhere,” said Senator Andy Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat and a longtime school funding reform advocate. Manar is the chief Senate sponsor of Senate Bill 1.
“This was never about a so-called ‘Chicago bailout.’ This is about Bruce Rauner seizing upon an opportunity to get what he wanted all along: divestment in public education and shifting costs onto local taxpayers.”
In his veto of Senate Bill 1, Rauner proposed more than 100 changes to Senate Bill 1. Among them were provisions that pit schools against local economic development efforts (tax increment financing districts) and penalize schools for losing students.
Many downstate communities utilize TIF districts for job creation and economic development, and more than 360 school districts have seen enrollment declines for various reasons.
In addition, Rauner’s veto language suggests the state should pretend school districts have access to resources that they don’t so that the state is on the hook for less funding, forcing districts to make difficult decisions about asking for local property tax increases or making cuts. He went so far this week as to accuse them of purposefully hiding property wealth.
Manar said the veto language goes against everything Rauner has led people to believe about his commitment to public education.
“Gov. Rauner has suddenly taken a hard right turn and abandoned all of his own policies and achievements to betray public schools – all within a matter of weeks,” he said.
“What the governor has proposed in his veto of Senate Bill 1 does not ‘make it a better bill,’ as he continues to insist. Every lawmaker who signed on to support this veto before they saw the language was sold a bill of goods.
“We need to override this veto, and we need to do it as soon as possible, because what Gov. Rauner has proposed will devastate Illinois schools and will set us back even farther than we are today.”
* The GOP Leaders react…
Senate Republican Leader-Designee Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin today issued the following statement regarding Illinois’ school funding crisis and claims made in the State Capitol Thursday.
“Schools and students don’t need another press conference, what they need is an assurance that their schools will open on time and that every school district in Illinois is treated fairly and equitably. The Governor’s Amendatory Veto of Senate Bill 1 provides those assurances. If the Democrats are unwilling to support his Amendatory Veto, then it is up to them to return to the negotiating table and offer a solution that bridges the gap between both plans. We cannot let another 60 days pass without working to solve this unnecessary crisis. The students of Illinois deserve nothing less than our best effort, and time is of the essence.”
* One of the points that’s getting lost is what the governor did with schools within TIF districts and schools under PTELL (Property Tax Extension Law Limit). That’s what Manar was talking above above when he claims the governor “suggests the state should pretend school districts have access to resources that they don’t so that the state is on the hook for less funding.”
Here’s the graphic displayed at the press conference on this topic…
Following Community-Led Effort, Gov. Rauner Commits to Sign Illinois TRUST Act
Bill backed by broad coalition would make Illinois a national leader in welcoming immigrants, and provide strongest statewide protections in the country
(CHICAGO, IL) After hundreds of community leaders visited their state legislators in Springfield and in district, thousands of residents called the Governor’s office, and two days after community leaders presented the Governor with over 3,600 postcards collected in just three weeks, the Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois is proud to announce that Governor Bruce Rauner has committed to signing the Illinois TRUST Act (SB 31). The TRUST Act received bipartisan support in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. A date and time for the bill signing will be announced shortly.
“At a time when many are scapegoating immigrants, Republicans and Democrats are coming together in Illinois to reject xenophobic rhetoric and policies,” said Andy Kang, legal director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago. “We want to thank the Governor’s team for working with us in the lead-up to this announcement, and we look forward to the signing ceremony.”
Under the TRUST Act, local police cannot comply with immigration detainers and warrants not issued by a judge. Local police also cannot stop, search, or arrest anyone based on that person’s immigration or citizenship status.
Estela, a founding member of PASO (West Suburban Action Project) and an undocumented mother of three from Melrose Park, was a key leader in the statewide Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois. “This law will go a long way to shield me, my family, my community and hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents from the risk of family separation through deportation. I am grateful that the Governor and the General Assembly have listened to the desires of people from throughout Illinois and bring us one big step closer to make our state welcoming for all.”
“The Illinois TRUST Act will be a national model for common-sense, constitutional state-level immigration policy,” said Mark Fleming, associate director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “We are proud to live in a state that is taking action to defend basic due process rights for all of our residents, no matter where we come from or what we look like.”
“Illinois will soon have the strongest statewide protections for immigrants in the country. This is due to the tireless efforts of over 60 organizations from across the state that were part of the campaign to pass the TRUST Act,” said Lawrence Benito, chief executive officer at Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, one of the co-conveners of the campaign steering committee. “This accomplishment is a testament to our communities’ power. It shows what we are collectively capable of during these trying times, and sets the stage for our next campaigns and future victories.”
The TRUST Act is the work of the Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois, and is endorsed by over 60 community organizations from across the state. The full supporter list can be found at www.TrustInIL.org. The TRUST Act has also received support from legal and advocacy groups, and law enforcement agencies from throughout Illinois.
“Illinois is corrupt,” said Scott Drury, Democratic candidate for governor, during a press conference, as he made the case for his blueprint to Rebuild Illinois. “It’s morally corrupt, ethically corrupt and, yes, can be criminally corrupt.” According to Drury, time is of the essence for Illinois to get serious about wiping out this culture of corruption as it is the primary cause of most of the State’s problems. “An honest government pays its bills, balances its budget, only makes promises it can keep and values its citizens,” said Drury.
Titled “Rebuild Illinois,” Drury’s blueprint builds the foundation for Illinois’ bright future and upon that constructs long-term structural fixes that will restore stability, prosperity and opportunity to every corner of the State.” Drury, a former federal prosecutor and sitting state representative, said that Rebuild Illinois is based on his depth of experience both as a prosecutor and a legislator. “Illinois needs an experienced and trustworthy leader with a history of fighting for the public, not political insiders like Mike Madigan,” he said. “I stand alone in offering that.”
The most comprehensive plan offered by any gubernatorial candidate, Rebuild Illinois takes aim at Illinois’ rigged election process, overwhelming debt and culture of corruption. The blueprint offers a constitutional and fair solution to Illinois’ government-created pension problem, promotes competitive elections through fairly drawn electoral maps and campaign finance reform, and promises balanced budgets by mandating that Illinois pay its bills on time. The blueprint also tackles public corruption by finally empowering the Illinois Attorney General to prosecute it, as well as giving prosecutors new tools to use in the battle. Further, the blueprint addresses what Drury calls the “Madigan problem,” calling for term limits for legislative leaders, prohibiting legislative leaders from holding outside employment and cutting off a major source power – the ability to covertly direct and solicit third-party campaign contributions to other candidates and PACs.
Unlike others’ plans that rely on increased income taxes, Rebuild Illinois generates savings to pay for Illinois’ bright future. The savings result from the pay down and responsible management of existing debt and a significant reduction in Illinois’ prison population. That savings will be used to fund public education, healthcare, job training and neighborhood investment.
Drury said that much of Rebuild Illinois has already been filed as legislation, with the remaining components to be rolled out throughout the course of the campaign. Earlier today, Drury filed House Bill 4079 which ends the morally corrupt practice of lobbyists providing politicians with gifts and nominally free meals. In 2017, alone, lobbyists lavished over $100,000 of these gifts and meals on state legislators. Not a penny of that went to Drury. “Real people know there is no such thing as a free lunch,” said Drury. “This begs the question, what are these lobbyists paying for?”
– A State defined by hope and prosperity
– Stability for employers and residents
– No more partisan bickering
– A government you can trust and want to invest in – A State you can be proud of
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is sending a strong message to anyone who wants to mess with her pop tax: Don’t.
In an action a judge said could have “a chilling effect” on government and citizens’ rights, county attorneys are seeking $17 million in damages from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the group that, with a couple of co-plaintiffs, won a temporary restraining order delaying the levy by about a month.
Preckwinkle spokesman Frank Shuftan says seeking damages is appropriate: “Actions have consequences.”
He added in an email: “The financial damage to the county as a result of this delay is projected at more than $20 million. . . .The county has every right to be made whole as a result of the judge’s ruling upholding the ordinance and removing the TRO.”
Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has so far spent at least $9 million with the help of significant self-funding on his challenge to Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. While most of this spending has focused on TV ads and other paid media that promote his own candidacy, the longtime donor is also promising to back up down-ballot candidates.
“We do not have a strong state party that’s out defending the Democratic message writ large,” Pritzker said in an interview, emphasizing he is focusing on promoting his anti-Rauner message. “So my campaign is really having to fill in.”
Illinois Democrats see Pritzker’s candidacy as an opportunity to expand beyond Cook County, something one Democratic strategist said has been a longtime goal never fully realized. Pritzker is already running robocalls in state legislative districts outside of Cook and DuPage counties, and as far as the Missouri and Kentucky borders. But he also plans to open at least seven office spaces that could help down-ballot candidates, according to two Illinois Democratic strategists.
In “internal conversations about J.B. Pritzker, there is a level of excitement about his willingness to invest financially” in party building, said Illinois Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos. The congresswoman, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “heartland engagement,” is the only Democrat in the delegation from outside of the Chicago area.
He’s certainly right about DPI’s messaging. The party is all about helping a few House incumbents and candidates.
Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss, another Illinois gubernatorial candidate, said in an interview that the party lacks a “unified message.” He in part faulted Democratic Speaker Mike Madigan, the chair of the state party, and warned that “the Pritzker-Madigan alliance, while powerful, seems to be all about doubling down on just being present” in “a few swing districts.”
I followed up today and was told that the additional $221 million is used by Gov. Rauner to fund moving CPS’ normal pension costs out of the school funding formula and to the pension code. So, he’s leaving $221 million in his new formula projections that, by all rights, shouldn’t be there if he wants a balanced budget with no other spending or revenue changes.
In reality, therefore, the governor’s district-by-district numbers for schools outside Chicago would be inflated by a grand total of $221 million, if yesterday’s analysis was correct and the CPS pension move is fully funded with existing revenues.
* Gov. Rauner spoke with the Joliet Herald-News editorial board yesterday and told them that the ISBE will likely release an analysis on Monday about his new education funding proposal. The governor warned the board against the coming political spin…
But you’ll hear the mayor up in Chicago and other people saying ‘Oh, the governor’s numbers are phony,’ or ‘He made ‘em up,’ or ‘They’re fuzzy math.’ I mean, you’ll hear that [chuckles]. That’s part of their political messaging. The reality is the real numbers will be out from ISBE and, my numbers will, I mean I’m sure they’ll get adjusted, but, when they do the real calculation, but they’re not, I mean, a million dollars more for Joliet’s a lot of money and it’s not gonna go to zero or $200,000, it’s gonna be a lot of money.
“Fuzzy math” would certainly encompasse double-counting $221 million, in my opinion. But that’s just me.
The other thing is that you’ll hear some superintendents supported SB1 in its current form. Cause they had no alternative, there was no other bill that the Speaker would allow. So, they’re like “that’s what’s available, I’ll take that.” They and many of them as I’ve explained the numbers to them they go, “wow Governor, your bill’s way better your measure… veto is way better.”
But, maybe they won’t be nearly as good as he’s been claiming.
* For future reference, the governor’s site that contained his district-by-district breakdown is no longer password protected. But the numbers are gone and visitors are told this…
These numbers are currently being updated to reflect the amendatory veto issued by the governor on Tuesday, August 1st.
* I’ve been telling you that 222 school districts lost enrollment between 2015 and 2016. That’s incorrect, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. The ISBE’s Jackie Matthews sent me this today…
Based on Fall Enrollment Counts, 527 school districts showed an enrollment decrease of at least one student between 2015 and 2016.
Illinois has 852 public school districts, according to Wikipedia. So, according to the ISBE, 62 percent of those districts lost pupils.
Why is this important? As we’ve already discussed, the governor’s amendatory veto strips out the district-based hold harmless provision in SB1 and replaces it in a few years with a hold harmless based on the number of students.
Cards Against Humanity and the Marijuana Policy Project are partnering to support an effort to legalize and regulate marijuana use among adults in Illinois. Cards Against Humanity donated $70,000 to the MPP today and will continue to raise money for the campaign until legislation is passed.
Such legislation is currently pending before Illinois lawmakers and likely to come up for a vote next year.
To fundraise for the effort, Cards Against Humanity released the Weed Pack, which features 30 new cards and is for sale at CardsAgainstHumanity.com for $5. Proceeds from all sales will go to the MPP; the donation amount will grow.
“We’re proud to support the Marijuana Policy Project because our current marijuana laws are failing,” said Cards Against Humanity head writer Jo Feldman. “Nationally there are more arrests for marijuana possession each year than for all violent crimes combined. The MPP has been at the forefront of changing marijuana laws for the better, in Illinois and nationwide.”
“Also, I could really go for a bean chalupa,” Feldman added.
Similar Cards Against Humanity expansion packs have raised nearly $5 million for charity partners including DonorsChoose.org, the EFF, the Sunlight Foundation, the Wikimedia Foundation, Heifer International and the Chicago Design Museum.
“A recent poll says that 66 percent of Illinois voters support regulating marijuana like we do alcohol,” said Cards Against Humanity co-creator Max Temkin. “You’re telling me this effort is something the vast majority of people support that makes everyone happy and pays for our schools and roads, and we’re not doing it?”
Founded in 1995, the MPP was the driving force behind five successful state campaigns to make adult-use legal. In Illinois, MPP spent nearly a decade and more than $1 million securing an effective medical marijuana law, which passed in 2013.
“The team behind Cards Against Humanity is doing a great service helping us fight what really is a crime against humanity: marijuana prohibition,” said Chris Lindsey, senior legislative counsel for the MPP. “The Weed Pack is a hilarious approach to the topic but doesn’t overlook the fundamental injustice in arresting adults for using something that is safer than alcohol.”
Said Temkin: “For us, this is a common sense issue of racial justice, health justice and criminal justice. State and national politics are incredibly screwed up right now, but it gives us hope to think that we can make progress on these kind of common sense issues that everyone supports.”
In our capacities as the Senate Leader Designee and House Republican Leader, we are requesting a formal legal opinion from your office. As you know, Governor Bruce Rauner recently issued an amendatory veto of the 100th General Assembly’s Senate Bill 1, known as the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act. As a result, the General Assembly faces the immediate prospect of a vote either to accept the Governor’s amendatory veto or to override it.
For the reasons explained below, we are concerned that an outright vote to override the Governor’s amendatory veto of SB1 may result in a law that cannot constitutionally become effective until June 1, 2018. We are therefore requesting an official legal opinion on the following two questions:
1. If the General Assembly votes to override the Governor’s amendatory veto of SB1, what will be the effective date of the bill under Article IV, Section 10 of the Illinois Constitution, given that the General Assembly chose not to pass SB1 until July 31, 2017?
2. If the General Assembly votes to accept the specific recommendations made by the Governor’s amendatory veto of SB1, what will be the effective date of the bill under Article IV, Section 10 of the Illinois Constitution?
Background:
By way of background, the General Assembly initially voted on Senate Bill 1 on May 31, 2017, with the House voting 60 to 52 and the Senate voting 35-22 to concur in two House amendments. However, Senator Donne Trotter on that same day filed a motion to reconsider in the Senate, which prevented SB1 from being passed out of that chamber and delayed starting the 30-day clock provided in Article IV, Section 9(a) of the Illinois Constitution for presentment to the Governor.
Sixty-one days later, Senator Trotter on July 31, 2017, withdrew his motion to reconsider. As a result, on the same day, SB1 passed both houses of the General Assembly and was sent to the Governor.
The Governor issued an amendatory veto of SB1 on August 1, 2017, pursuant to his power under Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution. That amendatory veto revised several provisions of SB1.
Following the Governor’s action, the Senate, as the legislative body in which SB1 originated, placed the amendatory veto on its calendar on August 1, 2017. Pursuant to Article IV, Sections 9(c) and (e) of the Illinois Constitution, the Senate now has 15 calendar days, or until August 17, 2017, in which to either accept the Governor’s amendatory veto or attempt to override the veto outright. If either vote is successful, the House will then be required to take up the same issue within the 15 calendar days following that vote.
Interaction with the Effective Date of Laws Provision:
We raise the two questions listed above to understand the interaction of these procedures with another provision of the Illinois Constitution, Article IV, Section 10. That section is entitled “Effective Date of Laws” and provides in relevant part that “A bill passed after May 31 shall not become effective prior to June 1 of the next calendar year unless the General Assembly by the vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house provides for an earlier effective date.”
Determining the date on which a bill is “passed” for purposes of determining the date on which it takes effect is governed by another statute and Illinois Supreme Court cases. These authorities distinguish between the effective date of a bill that becomes law following a vote to override a governor’s veto and a vote to adopt a governor’s recommendations made in an amendatory veto.
The law states that “[f]or purposes of determining the effective dates of laws, a bill is ‘passed’ at the time of its final legislative action prior to presentation to the Governor pursuant to paragraph (a) of Section 9 of Article IV of the Constitution.” That statute codifies longstanding Illinois Supreme Court precedent defining “the time when a bill is passed as the time of the last legislative act necessary so that the bill would become law upon its acceptance by the Governor without further action by the legislature.”
In the context of a vote to override a governor’s veto, courts have held that passage, or the “last legislative act necessary,” occurs at the time of initial passage prior to presentment to the governor, not upon the legislature’s vote to override. As one court explained, “[t]he override procedure can be distinguished from the procedures . . . which deal with the initial consideration and passage of a bill by the legislature.” Because “the action of the legislature in voting to override a veto culminates in the bill becoming law,” override is “no more an element of final ‘passage’ than the Governor’s signature. . . . the action of the legislature in overriding the Governor’s veto is not part of the ‘passage’ of a bill, as that term is used in [Article IV,] section 10” of the Illinois Constitution.
Based on this law, it appears that if the General Assembly votes to override the Governor’s veto of SB1 outright, the law will have been “passed” for purposes of determining its effective date as of July 31, 2017. That is the date on which the final legislative action prior to presentation to the Governor occurred. Based on that date, SB1 appears to require a three-fifths majority in both houses of the General Assembly to become effective before June 1, 2018. The House of Representatives vote of 60 to 52 provides just over 50% of the 118 members elected, and the Senate’s 35 to 22 vote provides just 59% of the 59 members elected. Both are less than the three-fifths constitutionally required for SB1 to become effective prior to June 1, 2018, and the veto override vote itself appears not to count for purposes of calculating that percentage.
An amendatory veto, however, appears to have a different passage date and therefore a different vote for purposes of calculating the three-fifths requirement. The Illinois Supreme Court has held “that a bill that is the subject of an amendatory veto under article IV, section 9(e), of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 is not ‘passed’ for purposes of determining its effective date until the final vote approving the Governor’s recommended changes is taken in the General Assembly.” That decision also cited a number of Illinois Attorney General Opinions reaching the same conclusion. This is because “[a] bill changed upon the Governor’s specific recommendation is no longer the same bill as initially ‘passed’ by the General Assembly[,] and the ‘final legislative action’ would not simply be a reaffirmation of the bill’s original language as in the situation involving an override of a non-amendatorily vetoed bill.”
Under an amendatory veto, then, the passage date depends on the date that the second house of the General Assembly adopts the Governor’s recommendations. In the case of SB1, that would be the date that the House of Representatives votes following the acceptance of SB1 by the Senate. In turn, so long as those votes meet the required three-fifths majority, the bill would be effective immediately by its own terms upon becoming law. In that instance, the evidence-based funding model in SB1 would be available to allow schools to open this fall.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, we are concerned that the General Assembly may jeopardize the date on which SB1 may constitutionally become effective if the General Assembly pursues an outright veto override motion. It appears that the decision to delay SB1’s passage until July 31, 2017, may prevent the General Assembly from making an SB1 veto effective before June 1, 2018. If that is the case, the evidence-based funding formula established by SB1 may only be used this August to distribute school funding to schools across the state if the legislature adopts the Governor’s amendatory veto by a three-fifths vote.
Please feel free to contact either … if you wish to discuss this request.
Sincerely,
Senate Republican Leader Designee Bill Brady
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin
OK, so the analysis is right except maybe for the highlighted text and whatever relates to that text.
* Where they may go wrong is claiming that the withdrawal of a motion to reconsider a vote is “legislative action.” I talked to some folks about this first, and from what I’ve been able to discern, “legislative action” is understood to be action that requires a vote. If you click here for the Senate rules, several things are deemed to be legislative action. The Senate President can set and even change deadline dates for those actions. Withdrawing a motion does not require any vote at all and the submission deadlines are set by rule and can only be changed if they change the rules.
So, withdrawing a motion is not an action, a lot like officially transmitting a bill to the governor is not considered an action.
So the last “legislative action” on SB1 was in May. At least, that’s how I look at it. We’ll see how the attorney general views this. Her office declined comment yesterday.
…Adding… From comments…
If the motion to reconsider is something that could delay the effective date of an Act that doesn’t get a 3/5 vote, wouldn’t immediate effect on any Bill that doesn’t get 3/5 be able to be scuttled by someone who opposes it (just by filing the motion and letting it sit past 5/31)?
That’s correct and no court is going to allow that.
If elected governor, state Sen. Daniel Biss said Wednesday that he intends to help working class families by raising the minimum wage, getting rid of the flat income tax and fixing the pension system.
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate was introduced by Rock Island County Board member Kai Swanson during a town hall meeting at the Laborers’ Local Union 309, 2835 7th Ave., Wednesday night. […]
Sen. Biss told the crowd of more than 50 people that Gov. Bruce Rauner was to blame for much of the state’s dysfunction.
“Bruce Rauner is a dismal failure,” Sen. Biss said. “We’re supposed to be a blue state, but yet have one of the most aggressive tax codes in the nation. We can’t adequately fund our schools. We’ve had a broken system that hasn’t been working for decades.” […]
Sen. Biss said the state could begin fixing its pension crisis by requiring payments into the pension system.
I’m assuming he said “regressive” and not “aggressive,” but some might agree with “aggressive,” what with the new income tax hike, the new Cook County pop tax, etc.
* Anyway, maybe those alleged 50 attendees were on the other side of the room, or they left before this newspaper pic was taken?…
*** UPDATE *** The campaign tweeted this pic so you can see there were people at the event…
State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, will be making an announcement Thursday regarding his future in the Illinois General Assembly.
Mitchell, an Assistant Republican Leader in the Illinois House, has represented his Central Illinois district since 1999.
Rep. Mitchell took huge heat when he voted to override the governor’s tax hike and budget vetoes last month. I’ll update this post when he makes an announcement.
Pretty sure we’ll be in double digits on retirees before too long.
Bill Mitchell, the Forsyth Republican who has represented Central Illinois for nearly 20 years, announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2018.
“I can’t repay the people of Central Illinois what they’ve done for me, because they’ve allowed me to serve in a democratically elected body. For a citizen, there’s no greater honor,” said Mitchell, who represents the 101st House District and has served since 1999.
During a news conference in Clinton, Mitchell said he announced the move in August to give his potential successors plenty of time to start next month circulating petitions to get on the ballot.
“I have been privileged to serve alongside Bill Mitchell since he first came to the Illinois General Assembly in 1999. He has always been a passionate advocate for downstate Illinois, standing up for the priorities and values of his constituents. Bill’s advocacy was instrumental in helping keep the Clinton nuclear power plant open. As a member of my leadership team, Bill continues to provide me with a perspective that is much needed in the Capitol. More importantly, Bill Mitchell is my friend and someone whose opinion I’ve always respected. I wish him all the best as he looks forward to a well-deserved retirement at the completion of his term.”
Jeremy Yost, chief executive officer of Yost Enterprises and Yost Management Services, Inc., announced his candidacy for state representative of the 110th District on Thursday at the Lifespan Center, according to a press release.
A part of his platform includes not raising taxes, the release states. It stated that he spoke on “why raising taxes on the hard working people of Illinois is not the right path to get our state in the right direction.” […]
According to his website, Yost also is focused on business reforms and property tax reform. […]
The announcement of Yost’s candidacy came a day after incumbent Rep. Reggie Phillips told constituents at a budget forum that he would reveal more about his intentions on running for a third term in August.
When running for his second and current term, Phillips expressed that he’d hold to a two-term limit for himself, but that might have changed. Phillips acted more open to the idea of a third term this spring, noting that if he was needed he might stay.
PolitiFact Illinois and the Better Government Association, or BGA, have botched their fact-checking of Senate Bill 1, a bill that bails out Chicago Public Schools as part of a rewrite of Illinois’ education funding formula.
CPS gets to keep $200 million in block grant funding
Um, keeping what you currently have isn’t a bailout, it’s keeping what you have. You may not think CPS deserves it, but status quo funding isn’t a bailout.
SB 1 allows CPS to appear poorer than it actually is when applying for state aid, granting the district even more funding. No other district gets to do that.Currently, CPS contributes about $500 million annually to pay down its unfunded pension liability. The new funding formula allows CPS to deduct that $500 million from its local resources for education when it applies for state aid. That makes CPS look poorer and helps ensure the district gets more money from the state than it should.
I’ve seen numbers of up to $40 million in state costs for that, so it’s hardly a bailout. Also, the state picks up all legacy costs for suburban and Downstate teacher pensions, and that would of course continue. So, are those school districts being bailed out because they keep the largesse they currently have?
SB 1 allows Chicago to benefit from a set of rules that allow select school districts to undervalue their property wealth so they look poorer than they actually are.Districts whose revenues are affected by local property tax caps (Property Tax Extension Limitation Law, or PTELL) and special economic zones (tax increment financing, or TIF) are able to underreport their available property wealth when applying for state aid under the new SB 1 formula, just as they can under the current formula.
“Just as they can under the current formula,” according to the Institute. So, again, they keep what they have. How is that a bailout?
Chicago will also be a major beneficiary of SB 1’s “hold harmless” provision. This provision ensures that a district cannot receive less in state aid funds than it did the previous year. The provision protects a district’s state funding even if it experiences changes in demographics, such as a drop in student attendance that would have otherwise led to less state funding.
As we’ve already discussed today, 222 school districts lost students between FY15 and FY16. So, this is not an issue confined to one district.
In addition to all of the above, the state will begin paying CPS’ normal pension costs going forward. SB 1 requires state taxpayers to give the district at least $215 million for CPS’ “normal” pension and health care costs – the additional benefits Chicago teachers earn annually – every year going forward. This puts the district on par with other districts around the state.
And putting CPS on par with other districts in this one regard is a bailout? Gov. Rauner’s AV would achieve the same end by a different means. Is he bailing out Chicago too?
In one case, Emanuel noted how the controversy involving, and Trump’s ultimate firing of, White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci overshadowed what should have been positive storylines for the president — an increase in the GDP and Foxconn adding thousands of jobs in Wisconsin.
“He is his own worst enemy,” Emanuel said of Trump, before drawing a parallel between the president and Rauner. “I actually don’t think it’s an accident — since people say, ‘oh we need a businessman’ — they don’t understand politics, and we see it in our governor’s office. He’s a businessman. He fired all of his staff. He got overridden four times. He has no sense of how to work with other people. He’s got no sense of how to hear what other people are saying. It’s either my way or the highway, and he undermines people in that process. I think that’s why, in both cases, nothing’s getting done.”
Sorry, JB and Chris. You’re businessmen, just like Rauner and Trump. /snark
* Speaking of Drury…
DRURY TO UNVEIL BLUEPRINT TO REBUILD ILLINOIS
Highland Park, Illinois – Today, August 3, 2017, at 1:30 p.m., Scott Drury, Democratic candidate for governor, will unveil his blueprint to Rebuild Illinois and pave the path to Illinois’ brighter future. Comprehensive in scope, Rebuild Illinois will return prosperity to Illinois by tackling its crushing debt, reforming its rigged election process, ending the corrupt deal between lobbyists and legislators, and restoring trust through the implementation of multiple anti-corruption initiatives.
