Dozens of school districts around the state are scrambling to keep preschool programs intact — or to lay off staff — after learning their preschool funding was reduced or zeroed out.
Illinois lawmakers approved $50 million in additional money for preschool this year, so it was a shock to many of the programs to learn their funding was slashed.
* Mark Maxwell looked at some other schools yesterday…
Abrupt cuts to early childhood education programs like the Prevention Initiative and the Early Childhood For All project caught several school districts off guard, especially because their scores met or exceeded the requirements to maintain funding. pic.twitter.com/9fAMFUK8KJ
The State Board of Education said they simply ran out of money.
* ISBE press release…
Fiscal year 2019 was the first statewide open competition for the Early Childhood Block Grant in a number of years. The process provided funding for 5,000 additional children. However, due to the large number of applicants, the appropriation could not fully meet the need statewide, and not all qualified programs received funding.
The State Board of Education is collaborating with the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and the Department of Human Services on a solution to fund additional high quality Prevention Initiative and Preschool for All Expansion programs. The agreement will fund programs that met standards (scored 60 or above) and did not initially receive funding for FY 2019 due to the limited funds in the State Board’s appropriation. These programs will receive funding at the same per child cost as other funded programs. The State Board is deeply appreciative of the collaboration to further expand access to high-quality early childhood services.
I’m not sure, though, that the board can find enough. They told Maxwell that they’d need $170 million to make everyone whole. I’m hearing they’re only looking to come up with a fraction of that. We’ll see.
*** UPDATE *** From the Board…
$170 million is the amount we are short for all requests. The $20 million identified will fund all of the eligible programs (those that scored above a 60) at the per child amount - not full requests. So it will put the 60+ programs that qualified for funding at the same level as those that were funded.
* The AP takes a look at bills awaiting gubernatorial action. Here’s one…
Lawmakers also sent Rauner a proposal to raise the limit on damages from $100,000 to $2 million for those who sue the state, a measure that has been billed by Democrats as a way to provide justice for family members of veterans who died of Legionnaires’ in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, have said the proposed changes are overly broad and would harm taxpayers.
Increases the maximum award for certain claims sounding in tort filed on or after July 1, 2015 from $100,000 to $2,000,000. Provides that the court shall annually adjust the maximum awards to reflect the increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers for the previous calendar year, as determined by the United States Department of Labor.
* Oh, man, was this ever a big mistake by Lori Lightfoot’s comms director. From Think Progress…
It was a Tuesday in late June when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned the world upside down. The New York machine shuddered to an unexpected halt. A 28-year-old socialist had taken on the King of Queens in the state’s 14th congressional district and won.
Some 800 miles west, in Chicago, mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot was hoping to replicate that victory. A little more than seven months out from the city’s election, Lightfoot and her campaign have tried to paint her as the next insurgent progressive to knock out a more moderate, white, establishment incumbent in the wake of Ocasio-Cortez’s victory.
Lightfoot, however, is more hesitant to take on the same ultra-progressive stances Ocasio-Cortez made central to her campaign. And, at least at this juncture, Lightfoot hasn’t yet managed to inspire the same activist energy that propelled Ocasio-Cortez to victory — energy crucial to Lightfoot’s bid against incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the field of nine other challengers.
Two days after Ocasio-Cortez’s primary win, Lightfoot’s communications director reached out to me over email. She noted that I had written about Ocasio-Cortez, New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, and several other women candidates in the past, pitching Lightfoot as the next progressive sensation.
What follows is an evisceration of Lightfoot on just about every possible left-wing purity test level. Not pretty.
For you kids out there, don’t do this.
* Related…
* Emanuel-allied group hires away potential rival’s fund-raiser: Going to work for Progress Chicago, a group backed by Emanuel confidant Michael Sacks and other mayoral associates, is Katelynd Duncan, a fast-rising fund-raiser whose clients have included Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Illinois Democratic Party Acting Executive Director Christian Mitchell, Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), and—until recently— [Bridget] Gainer, who insiders say will announce against Emanuel within the next two weeks.
* Columnist George Will essentially endorsed Bruce Rauner for governor in 2014…
Illinois voters can choose Rauner and term limits, or the acceleration of stagnation and the end of the pleasure of complaining.
* And Will was ecstatic about Rauner’s inauguration in February of 2015…
The most portentous election of 2014, which gave the worst-governed state its first Republican governor in 12 years, has initiated this century’s most intriguing political experiment. Illinois has favored Democratic presidential candidates by an average of 16 points in the last six elections. But by electing businessman Bruce Rauner, it initiated a process that might dismantle a form of governance that afflicts many states and municipalities.
* And when the impasse was really hitting home in August of 2016, Will stuck up for his guy…
Seated in his office in Chicago, wearing neither a necktie nor a frown, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is remarkably relaxed for someone at the epicenter of a crisis now in its second year and with no end in sight. But, then, stress is pointless when the situation is hopeless. Besides, if you can ignore the fact that self-government is failing in the nation’s fifth-most populous state, you can see real artistry in the self-dealing by the Democrats who, with veto-proof majorities in the state Legislature, have reduced this state they control to insolvency.
“I love a fight,” says an ebullient Rauner, whose rhetoric cannot get much more pugnacious. He calls Madigan “the worst elected official in the country” and Madigan’s machine “evil.” The nation has a huge stake in this brawl because the “blue model” is bankrupting cities and states from Connecticut to California, so its demolition here, where it has done the most damage, would be a wondrous story enhancing the nation’s glory.
Maseng Communications, which is run by Will’s wife, Mari Maseng Will, was given a contract by the Rauner campaign this past spring.
The Supreme Court is especially admirable when correcting especially deplorable prior decisions, as with the 1954 school desegregation decision rejecting a 1896 decision’s “separate but equal” doctrine. It did so again June 27, overturning a 41-year-old precedent inimical to the First Amendment.
* Gov. Rauner press release today…
Gov. Bruce Rauner today announced the 2019 recipients of the Order of Lincoln, which is the state’s highest honor for professional achievement and public service.
“These distinguished individuals make us proud to be Illinoisans,” Rauner said. “They have honored us with their achievements in medicine, business, the arts, the law and sports, so it is only fitting and proper to bestow upon them the state’s highest honor.” […]
“While the recipients’ work spans many fields, all have the traits of Abraham Lincoln in common,” Rauner said. “They possess tremendous talent. They are great leaders, great community servants and great lovers of Illinois.” […]
George F. Will is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post who also is a regular contributor to NBC News and MSNBC. Will is also a prolific writer of books about national and international relations, politics, government, and the sport of baseball. Titles include “The Pursuit of Happiness and Other Sobering Thoughts,” “Statecraft as Soulcraft,” and “One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation.” Will was named Best Writer by the Washington Journalism Review in 1985 and one of the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal in 1997. He grew up in Champaign.
…Adding… I changed the headline because the governor has no direct role in naming these awards. From the governor’s office…
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, and self-perpetuating organization established in 1964 to recognize the outstanding contributions made by living Illinois citizens, whether by birth or by residence.
The laureates are selected at a called meeting of the Regents and General Trustees, a group of no more than sixty distinguished Illinoisans in attendance, from the nominees submitted. There is a vote to determine those most deserving to honor as Laureates of the Academy, thereby conferring upon them the Order of Lincoln.
IMPACT JOURNALISM: SEC regulators bust Illinois GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner over pay-to-play investigation we broke in 2014. Original story here: https://t.co/Cw3GRiEJSg New SEC action here: https://t.co/gYInsxvl8J
Upon further review, SEC actually sanctioned firm that did biz with TRS. Member of the firm gave money to Rauner campaign, but that was refunded upon request. Firm was prohibited from doing biz with TRS for 2 years under pay2play rule. But kept going. Firm penalized $120,000 https://t.co/N33kXCJfct
Illinois Republicans gathered in Tampa for the Republican National Convention, and they’ve designated House Speaker Mike Madigan as their punching bag, launching the website FireMadigan.com dedicated to paraphernalia with the logo seen at right. A Madigan spokesman laughed the Republicans’ gumption off, saying, “Not much success then. No reason to think their luck will change.”
“We need to make a change, people recognize that,” said Illinois GOP Chair Pat Brady. “We’re just going to create awareness about the damage Mike Madigan’s policies — or lack of policies — have done to the state of Illinois. That’s a message that’s really resonating (with voters.)”
Former governor Jim Edgar says the “fire Madigan” campaign is a gimmick.
That’s not necessarily bad — campaigns need gimmicks, he says … but Edgar says Republicans ought to be focusing on winning more elections.
“I’d like to see more Republicans in the legislature, and yeah, I’d like to see Tom Cross as Speaker. I’m not so — [I don’t] think we ought to just concentrate on telling the Democrats they ought to get rid of Mike Madigan. That’s their decision.”
After coverage of our FIRE MADIGAN signs at Republican Day at this year’s Illinois State Fair, we’ve had many people asking for FIRE MADIGAN materials so we’ve created this online FIRE MADIGAN store.
If you think after over 40 years in Springfield and Illinois being ranked as one of the worst states financially that it’s time to Fire Illinois House Speaker/Illinois Democratic Party Chairman/Father of the Illinois Attorney General Mike Madigan, you can have a little fun helping spread the word with any of these FIRE MADIGAN products, including t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, buttons, and signs. Check back often as more designs and products will be added in the weeks ahead!
“When we started this, it was less about building unfavorables and more about letting people know who he is and how Springfield actually works,” said Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party who launched a “Fire Madigan” campaign four years ago. “Now they are trying to take that and win seats with it, and I think they are going to have success.”
“It’s ‘Fire Madigan’ on steroids because they have the resources and the funding and a lot of very smart people running these campaigns. It’s a lot more well thought out and a stronger strategy than we’ve ever had,” Brady said. “We are in a state that has been dysfunctional for so long that they are looking for someone to blame, and the speaker is an easy target. If we can get across the point that a vote for an individual Democrat is a vote for Madigan, I think that’s very effective.”
Others are less convinced.
“We’ve made Madigan an issue for years. I mean, when I was running for governor re-election, I had quadruple bypass surgery. I credited one of the bypasses to Mike Madigan,” former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar quipped to a Springfield audience last month before raising doubts about the strategy targeting Madigan.
Together, the people of Illinois can hold their state representatives accountable by asking them to sign The People’s Pledge, putting the people back in charge of state government and ending Mike Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.
Visit www.FireMikeMadigan.com to learn more about The People’s Pledge and get involved.
Illinois politics is rotten at its core. Dominated for decades by one man: Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
He’s amassed power at all costs, even as Illinois has suffered under his rule. Madigan will do anything to keep his grip on power, even as scandal engulfs his reign.
Enough is enough.
THE PEOPLE’S PLEDGE requires members of the Illinois House of Representative to promise to oppose Mike Madigan as House Speaker no matter what.
Even if Madigan refuses to resign, our state representatives can still take his power away by removing the Speaker’s gavel from Madigan’s grip.
The People’s Pledge also makes sure a Madigan-like politician can never rise again by placing term limits on legislators and statewide officeholders. The People’s Pledge puts the people back in charge of state government.
An Instagram post of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner appearing to officiate at the wedding of Equality Illinois board member Mark Cozzi and James Koeke on July 1st has been stirring interest for the past few days.
The photo is on newlywed Mark Cozzi’s Instagram account, along with photos of him and his new husband on their honeymoon in Italy. While the governor’s part in the ceremony as the photo indicates has not been clarified, it’s obvious that Rauner is no longer hopeful of attracting social conservatives to help re-elect him in November.
“It’s clear that the governor has learned nothing from his near-loss in the Republican primary this year,” Illinois Family Institute’s executive director David E. Smith told Illinois Review. “He’s not interested in attracting social conservatives to get out and vote Republican this fall.” […]
The governor has chosen to snub the Illinois Republican Party social conservative base despite being faced with near-mutiny when he almost lost the 2018 Republican Primary to conservative State Rep. Jeanne Ives in March.
Others applauded the governor’s role in the wedding. Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said it shows “love is love and that people are recognizing that.”
“I don’t really know all the politics of it. I’m going to guess some of it. But the truth is, it’s just a public official respecting and honoring the fact that love is just love,” Yohnka said. “I thought they [the Illinois Family Institute], my friend David, is supposed to be about families and this is a family and it’s a wonderful thing.”
Equality Illinois — the state’s civil rights organization for LGBTQ people — too, applauded Rauner’s role in the wedding.
“As chief executive of our state, it is appropriate for Gov. Rauner to administer government-sanctioned functions, including marriage,” said Mike Ziri, spokesman for Equality Illinois. “There is no license to discriminate in Illinois, as the Illinois Family Institute seems to falsely believe.”
I’ve asked the Pritzker and McCann campaigns for a response.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Pritzker campaign pointed me to this tweet…
Appearing with a Vice President who wanted to take money away from HIV prevention to fund conversion therapy the same week you officiate a gay marriage is a really interesting take on having no social agenda. #ilgov#twillhttps://t.co/2JuxQNaOLG
Media from across the state has roundly criticized the latest ad by JB Pritzker for peddling lies. Despite the Rauner campaign’s clear rebuttal of claims made in the ad, the Pritzker team doubled down on their allegations despite clear falsehoods.
Take a look at how media from around the state covered Pritzker’s ad:
Chicago Tribune:
Rauner’s campaign noted that the governor late last month called for an end to Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that labeled migrants entering the country as a criminal rather than civil matter. He called the policy “wrong” and “heartbreaking” and said while the nation needs to “secure our borders and stop illegal immigration,” a policy of “separating families is not the right answer.”
Pritzker’s ad quotes Rauner, suggesting he hadn’t given “any thought” to the separation policy. But the governor actually responded to a question about a Trump administration desire to deploy state National Guard units to the Mexican border. No such request had been made for the Illinois National Guard.
The ad also asserts Rauner profited from the firm Correct Care Solutions. The firm is being used to provide healthcare at some federal Department of Homeland Security migrant detention centers. Rauner previously was a partner in the equity investment firm GTCR and has said his current investments have been delegated to a power of attorney.
Rauner’s campaign referenced comments by his government spokeswoman Patty Schuh, who said the firm still owns the investment in Correct Care Solutions but it has not shown any profits or losses from it yet.
Rauner left GTCR in 2012, his campaign said, and the equity firm didn’t invest in Correct Care Solutions until 2014.
Rauner campaign spokesman Alex Browning said the Pritzker ad “intentionally misrepresents the facts” in order to “weave a false and deceitful narrative. The Pritzker campaign should immediately take down this dishonest and shameful ad.”
State Journal-Register: The governor’s campaign notes correctly that when Rauner said he hadn’t given any thought to an issue, it was when he was asked if the state would send Illinois National Guard troops to the border – and there had been no such request from the federal government. He said at that same appearance that the policy of separating children from parents is “bad policy” and “heartbreaking,” and “not the moral thing to do.”
“We need to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration, but separating families is not the answer. I’m strongly against that and I’ve made my views clear to (the) federal government,” Rauner said at that appearance.
Politico:
Billionaire J.B. Pritzker, who also knows his way around an investment portfolio, is taking the bluntest approach possible.
His campaign team poured gas on the fire with an ad that took liberties with some of the facts of our story. Rauner’s camp says the ad is wrong about three points:
1. The ad says Rauner is an owner of CCS. He’s not. But the company does sit in the GTCR fund’s portfolio, for which Rauner is an investor and disclosed earnings.
2. The ad claims CCS is helping “keep children separated from their parents.” It’s not. The company provides health-care services at the detention facilities.
3. The ad quotes Rauner out of context, says communications chief Will Allison. When Rauner said “I’m not giving that any thought whatsoever,” he’s referring to whether he’ll send National Guard troops down to the border — not to separate families, Allison said.
Actually, Rauner has called for an end to dividing families, saying, “It’s wrong. It’s heartbreaking. It’s not the moral thing to do.”
Capitol Fax:
Pritzker campaign doubles down on false claim
CBS Chicago:
Fact is, the ad is highly misleading at best.
“The company is in the business of health care. They are not in the business of separating families. So this commercial is untrue on so many levels,” said Illinois Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti.
The company is called Correct Care Solutions. It’s at least partially-owned by Rauner’s former private equity firm GTCR. And it does provide medical care to detainees. [Emphasis in original.]
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story said Gov. Bruce Rauner’s economic interest statement reported profits from Correct Care Solutions. The governor’s statement reported profits from GTCR Fund X, a private equity fund that has an ownership stake in Correct Care Solutions.
Except its headline, “Illinois governor profits off ICE detention center contracts,” hasn’t been changed for some odd reason.
* He’s been talking about doing this for weeks and weeks. From a media advisory…
Tomorrow, Governor Rauner will attend an event in Marion hosted by the House Republican Organization to launch the People’s Pledge campaign across the state. The People’s Pledge states that candidates for the State House of Representatives, when elected, will vote for term limits on all elected officials and for anyone other than Mike Madigan for Speaker of the House, making state government accountable to hardworking Illinoisans.
The big question for me, though, is whether he’s finally going to drop some big bucks into the HRO’s coffers. Money talks, pledge gimmicks walk.
…Adding… From HRO…
“Mike Madigan has been in office for over 47 years, driving Illinois into the ground and personally profiting along the way. That’s wrong. With ‘The People’s Pledge,’ Illinois voters can hold candidates for state representative accountable by demanding they support term limits for lawmakers and constitutional officers and oppose Madigan as House Speaker. Together, the people of Illinois can take control of Springfield and end Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.” - House Republican Organization Political Director Joe Woodward
Today, House Republicans announced the creation of The People’s Pledge, a campaign to end Madigan’s grip on power and hold candidates for state representative across Illinois accountable by asking them two simple, yet powerful, questions:
1) Do you pledge to support a term limits referendum that would amend the Illinois Constitution to term-limit state lawmakers and statewide officeholders?
2) Do you pledge to oppose Mike Madigan’s speakership, voting to deny him another term as Speaker of the Illinois House?
The people of Illinois know that term limits are not a partisan issue. Public opinion polls show that over 80% of voters across the political spectrum support term limits on state lawmakers and statewide constitutional officers. Republicans, independents and Democrats across Illinois support term limits, but Mike Madigan and his allies are standing in the way.
Madigan has held onto power for so long primarily because Illinois lacks term limits. Madigan and his lawyers have repeatedly blocked voter attempts to put it on the ballot. Madigan runs for office year after year, amassing more power and profiting along the way. That’s wrong. With term limits, we can hold state government accountable and make sure Illinois has no more ‘Madigans’ who accumulate power.
Together, the people of Illinois can hold their state representatives accountable by asking them to sign The People’s Pledge, putting the people back in charge of state government and ending Mike Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.
Visit www.FireMikeMadigan.com to learn more about The People’s Pledge and get involved.
The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Faculty Senate cast a vote of no confidence in SIU President Randy Dunn on Tuesday and is urging the Board of Trustees to remove him as soon as possible.
The resolution, which claims that Dunn worked to undermine the SIU system, passed 25-1; two senators abstained from the vote.
The group’s action comes after an analysis of nearly 1,900 pages of internal documents revealed that Dunn worked closely with SIU Edwardsville to develop a $5.1 million reallocation proposal, while leaving SIU Carbondale officials in the dark. Dunn also appears to have helped develop and guide legislation to dissolve the system.
WHEREAS President Dunn has also acted contrary to the Board of Trustees statement Mutual and Respective Roles of the Board, President, and Chancellors which requires the System President to serve “as a ‘shield’ against outside interference in University and campus matters”;
WHEREAS President Dunn worked with SIUE leadership and constituents, the press, lobbyists, and legislators to write, guide, and promote legislation to dissolve the SIU System;
WHEREAS President Dunn coordinated efforts to undermine the SIU Carbondale Campus;
WHEREAS President Dunn’s activities have served in a variety of ways to damage the reputation of the SIU System at a critical time for all SIU campuses. WHEREAS President Dunn has lost the trust of the Carbondale faculty.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the SIUC Faculty Senate provides a vote of NO CONFIDENCE regarding President Randy Dunn and his ability to lead the SIU System.
FURTHERMORE BE IT RESOLVED that the SIUC Faculty Senate urges the Board of Trustees to meet as soon as possible to remove Randy Dunn.
Shortly after the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees voted down a proposal to shift millions of dollars to the Edwardsville campus this past spring, the chancellor of SIU Edwardsville sent out a bombshell announcement: A state representative would soon introduce legislation to split up the system.
A little over an hour later, SIU President Randy Dunn forwarded the announcement to his wife with a short message. “It’s on now. Xoxo,” he wrote.
For Dunn, who represents both Edwardsville and its sister campus, Carbondale, the April 12 board vote and separation bill filing represented what appears to be the culmination of several months of planning and working closely with Edwardsville officials.
Based on analysis of nearly 1,900 pages of internal emails, correspondence and meeting notes released by the SIU FOIA office, it appears Dunn was aware of the separation legislation before trustees were informed. The documents also suggest that Dunn’s staff might have assisted in developing the bill — even though Dunn publicly claimed a neutral stance on it.
* Voice of The Southern: What’s done is Dunn: Given the problems facing the system, SIU needs a president like Abraham Lincoln, who said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Instead, Dunn’s actions are more secessionist.
Dunn survived a trustee motion to oust him because of a 4-4 tie. Both campuses have student trustees, with the tradition that one of the campuses has actual student voting powers for a year, and then the other campus gets the vote the next year. Edwardsville’s student trustee was Dunn’s saving grace.
* Regardless of tradition, however, the governor has the statutory authority to decide which campus has an official student trustee vote. The Southern recently interviewed the incoming Carbondale student trustee, Brione Lockett…
“It’s intimidating because of the situation we’re in, but it’s less intimidating because my vote isn’t just supposed to be my own biased vote. It’s supposed to be the vote of the students.” […]
Lockett said the voting trustee for the 2018-19 academic year hasn’t yet been appointed, although the student trustees’ one-year terms began July 1. [Emphasis added.]
In other words, the ball is now in Gov. Rauner’s court.
By the numbers: The mayoral primary election is seven months away but the numbers are flying like it’s tomorrow.
A poll taken last month and secreted away by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s political campaign shows he has an approval rating of 43 percent and a favorable rating of 45 percent of voters.
The numbers popped up coincidentally (hmm) in my email after Lori Lightfoot’s campaign released a poll earlier this week showing the mayor had a approval rating of 32 percent and a favorability rating of 36 percent.
Lightfoot’s poll didn’t reveal head-to-head numbers between her and Emanuel, but the mayor’s did. It shows him leading Lightfoot by 16 points.
The bigger numbers have dollar signs in front of them. According to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Emanuel has $8.2 million on hand and Lightfoot has $391,000.
Speaking of polls: A telephone poll last night about the Chicago mayor’s race threw out the names of all the usual suspects and this one: Valerie Jarrett. A source tells me it was hard to discern who conducted the poll, though more than a few questions were focused on Garry McCarthy, the former police chief. Adding Jarrett to the mix would sure make it interesting. Emanuel and Jarrett, both former White House aides who should be chums, have a bristly relationship.
Lightfoot hasn’t spent a dime and she’s only behind by 16 points according to Rahm’s own poll?
This latest poll was conducted roughly two weeks before Lightfoot declared her candidacy by condemning Emanuel’s autocratic, “us-vs.-them” style of government.
At the time, McCarthy’s 70 percent name recognition vaulted him into second-place, with 16 percent of the vote, followed by Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown with 15 percent and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas with 9 percent.
Lightfoot is my personal “one to watch” right now, with the caveat that she can raise the money. If I’m her, I’m calling everybody who contributed to Daniel Biss’ gubernatorial campaign. And if she can use that money to put “progressive” North Siders together with a sizable chunk of the African-American population, I think she could make a real run at this.
* No surprise at all considering they ran pretty much the whole show. Tribune…
Third-party governor candidate Sam McCann reported receiving $77,700 more in campaign contributions from a union that endorsed J.B. Pritzker in the Democratic primary for governor, campaign finance records show.
About $60,000 from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 paid for petition circulation services for McCann. Last month, he turned in roughly 65,000 petition signatures to get on the November ballot, a number so big that it helped insulate him from an attempted challenge by Republican allies of Gov. Bruce Rauner and others.
McCann is running under the new Conservative Party banner, exacerbating the challenges facing Rauner’s re-election as he seeks to heal divisions within his party’s base.
The central Illinois Republican previously had received $50,000 from the politically active union. It plays politics on both sides of the aisle, but union leader James Sweeney has been highly critical of Rauner’s agenda, particularly in trying to end a requirement that prevailing union wages be paid on public construction projects.
150 has endorsed Pritzker. Not too difficult to figure out what’s going on there.
* Meanwhile, from a press release…
Today, Sam McCann applauded President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy left on the United States Supreme Court by retiring Justice Kennedy.
McCann issued the following statement:
Brett Kavanaugh is an outstanding choice to fill Justice Kennedy’s vacancy on the Supreme Court. He has made logical common-sense interpretations of gun laws throughout his years on the bench, and his appointment brings an opportunity to eliminate infringements upon the rights of lawful firearm owners in Illinois and across the country.
Once confirmed, Kavanaugh will protect and restore the conservative values that Americans hold dear, but which have been under attack for decades. Having a solid conservative majority on the court also brings hope for the overturn of Roe v. Wade, one of the most wrongly-decided cases in American history.
I am a staunch pro-life advocate and the distinction between my opponents and I could not be clearer on this issue. Bruce Rauner and J.B. Pritzker are both outspoken advocates for abortion, with Rauner’s campaign pointing to his support of House Bill 40 as his effort to preserve women’s right to choose in Illinois in the case that Roe v. Wade is overturned. Prior to House Bill 40’s passage, a reversal of Roe v. Wade would have rendered abortions illegal in Illinois. When he signed House Bill 40, Bruce Rauner turned on conservatives and threw his support behind on-demand taxpayer-funded abortions, which have quadrupled in the first half of 2018.
Conservatives across Illinois should celebrate this nomination, and this movement should further alienate Governor Rauner for his betrayal of conservative principles and the sanctity of human life.
* Earlier this week, WCIA TV ran a story based on Politico’s report about Gov. Rauner “turning a profit from a health care group that services U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, including facilities that hold immigrant families with children.” Click here if the embed doesn’t work for you…
And WCIA is clarifying a story we reported last night about the governor’s finances. A web story, published first by Politico, suggested with incomplete evidence that Gov. Rauner makes a profit from immigration detention centers at the southern border. We cannot confirm that report and the governor’s office denies it. An investment firm that Rauner used to control does hold stake in a healthcare company that provides medical treatment for inmates there. However, it remains unclear if that contract is profitable. A spokesperson for Rauner says the firm has not collected any profit from it.
FYI, the above YouTube video was posted by the governor’s campaign.
* Related…
* 10 Chicago-area politicians sign letter urging that ICE be abolished: Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Skokie), Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston), Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago), joined Ald. George Cardenas (12th), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th), Ricardo Muñoz (22nd), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), Milly Santiago (31st) and Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) in co-signing an open letter calling for an end to the agency.
* My mom sent me a link to this SJ-R story last week and I’m just now getting around to posting it…
The [American Political Items Collectors] national convention – a once-every-two-years event – will be in Springfield for the first time July 18-22 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The non-profit membership organization is dedicated to promoting the collection, preservation and study of materials relating to political campaigns and the presidency – though the buttons, banners and bandanas can also come from races for governor or other offices.
The convention will include more than 225 dealer tables of political and historical items being bought and sold.
Part of the show – from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 21 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 22 – will be free of charge and open to the public. On that weekend, members of the public will also be able to get free appraisals of their political items and can have them auctioned at one of several sessions during the day for a commission fee.
* You can’t see it very well in the pic below, but Mayor Richard J. Daley signed this 1975 campaign poster and it’s one of my favorite pieces in my own personal collection…
I used to have a “Honkies for Harold” button, but I somehow lost it. One day, I’ll replace it.
* And this poster was, um, obtained from the Illinois GOP’s state fair tent many moons ago…
I shoulda got Rod to sign that before he went away. Oh, well. He may be out soon. One never knows.
We had an “official” Question of the Day about memorabilia years ago, but maybe you’d like to refresh our memories about your own favorite items.
* Gov. Rauner’s campaign manager Betsey Ankney tells Greg Hinz that there is a path to victory for her boss…
“In our focus groups, people can’t cite a single positive thing about Pritzker even after he’s spent $80 million” on TV ads, Ankney said. That’s why, when Rauner in the spring spent “$4 million over six weeks” running ads tying Pritzker to imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, “his positive rating dropped 20 (percentage) points.”
Ankney declined to release the latest results from her campaign’s pollster, Dave Sackett. But said Rauner has pulled “closer than any public poll indicates.” The closest poll that I’m aware of came a couple of weeks ago from We Ask America for Capital Fax. It showed Pritzker ahead just 36 percent to 27 percent, a nine-point margin. (Pritzker hasn’t released his poll figures either, but it’s believed they show him much further ahead.)
Ankney said the campaign will seek to drive those numbers down more by staying on the attack. “There’s a whole host of things to come,” she said, indicating that among them are the Pritzker family’s failed Superior Bank. “The oppo book on him is very thick. You can expect to see a lot more. . . .He’s a target-rich environment.”
That having been said, Ankney’s view appears to be a minority one, even among Republicans. “There is a path to re-election for Rauner,” says one insider. “I just don’t think they’ve found it yet.”
“Maybe if Hillary Clinton was president and Democrats weren’t crawling out of their skin,” said another.
Pritzker put the blame on his sister Penny for the failure of Superior Bank on the FBI wiretaps…
“What happened to her bank?” Blagojevich asked. “Did it collapse or something?”
“Yeah, she was chairman of the bank,” Pritzker said. “It had subprime loans. I mean bad stuff.”
“Superior Bank turned out to be an inferior bank,” the governor remarked.
“Inferior. Exactly, exactly. Very good,” Pritzker said. “I like that. Inferior Bank. I haven’t thought about that. That’s a good one.”
However, the Pritzker campaign is currently running an ad which falsely claims that Rauner owns a company “which is paid millions to keep children from their parents.” You go down that road and it’s tough to complain when the other side does it back to you.
Even so, the Rauner campaign has cycled through three different messaging tracks in the past month or so. They kicked everything off with a Blagojevich ad, then switched to the toilet issue and now they’re on a Madigan track.
“How do you build a narrative if you’re changing messages every 2 weeks?” a Democratic pal of mine asked yesterday.
But, hey, this is politics. And just about anything can happen in politics, which is why I love it so much.
By the way, I heard weeks ago that the Rauner folks were touting a poll showing the Republican trailing by 8 points, which is 1 point closer than the poll I commissioned.
Suicide rates in Illinois have increased by nearly 25 percent, mirroring national trends.
With a state total of 1,415 suicides in Illinois in 2016, it’s becoming increasingly clear to advocates and experts that awareness is only half the battle. The state’s suicide rate increased about 23 percent from 1999 to 2016. Nationally, the rate increased about 25 percent over the same period.
“(Suicide) is the 11th leading cause of death in Illinois last year, and actually, when you look at the numbers for young people, the number is actually greater,” said Steve Moore, co-chair of the board of directors for the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “For (the) age group of 15 to 34, it is the third leading cause of death. It’s the fourth leading cause of death for those between the ages of 35 and 54. [The number of suicides in 2016] is actually higher than homicide.” […]
Placing some of the blame for suicides on the availability of healthcare resources, Moore said that to lower the risks, proper help needs to be provided. In fact, 90 percent of suicide victims had diagnosable mental illnesses, he said.
Now “union” is a dirty word. Whenever a Sun-Times story mentions “union” these days, the word is quickly followed by an explanation that the ownership of this newspaper includes a number of union organizations.
Newspapers owned by rich guys and run by corporations (and that’s almost all of them) do not include such disclaimers in stories about tax cuts for big business or appointments of Supreme Court justices expected to rule against the rights of workers.
It would be refreshing to see something like, “For the sake of disclosure we must reveal that our multi-millionaire owner is going to benefit substantially from government deregulation, which is likely to pollute your drinking water and increase the likelihood that your children will die from cancer.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner discussed the threat posed by escalating trade disputes with the the Japanese ambassador to the United States on Tuesday at a machine tools facility in Schaumburg.
“We … talked about tariffs, and the importance of making sure we don’t break out in a full trade war, how tariffs can cause massive unemployment, job losses, around the world and here in Illinois,” Rauner said.
Rauner said he told Ambassador Shinsuke J. Sugiyama in a private meeting that he had cautioned Trump administration officials to avoid a “tariff war” during a recent trip to Washington D.C.
Gov. Bruce Rauner acknowledged a trade war “could cause massive unemployment and job losses” in Illinois as he was touring a Schaumburg steel company Tuesday with Japanese officials who worry the White House will double down on tariffs. […]
Japan-based Amada America Inc. fabricates sheet metal and employs about 90 people at its Schaumburg location, mostly engineers and managers.
The company gets much of its steel domestically but is facing uncertainty, Amada Executive General Manager Jeff Otten said. “We’re still waiting to see what happens,” he said.
Steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Trump are a grave concern, Consul-General of Japan in Chicago Naoki Ito said, as is a new threat of similar tariffs against auto parts.
“Japan is a major investor in Illinois … and is responsible for creating many tens of thousands of jobs,” said Rauner, who added he’d voiced concerns about the policy to Vice President Mike Pence and congressional leaders while visiting Washington recently.
It’s just too hard to get Republicans elected in Democrat-dominated Cook County and Chicago, so there’s an effort to throw in the towel and wipe out partisan labels in the county’s elections.
At least that’s what it sounds like Cook County GOP Chairman Sean Morrison is pushing to happen in the state’s largest county - with the help of IL GOP Governor Rauner.
Morrison - who also serves on the Cook County Board as one its few Republicans - is asking for help for a petition drive to “get a binding referendum question on the ballot that would make elections for all Cook County countywide offices non-partisan.”
“This initiative, if we are successful, will have a longstanding impact on our ability to run candidates countywide,” Morrison wrote to the Palos Township GOP Friday.
Indeed. Morrison was unable to get candidates to run in Cook County’s countywide races this time around. Democrats are running unopposed - making the Republican platform and its public policy positions unavailable for Republicans living in the county.
* Background is here. From the script of a new JB Pritzker TV ad that I’m told will be airing tomorrow…
Across the country, Democratic and Republican Governors spoke out against their state supporting Trump and keeping children away from their parents.
Rauner wasn’t giving it a thought and now we learn why.
Rauner has been profiting on Donald Trump’s policy.
Rauner is the owner of this company which is paid millions to keep children from their parents.
Bruce Rauner, that’s a disgrace.
OK, first of all, Rauner officially retired from GTCR in October of 2012. GTCR didn’t invest in Correct Care Solutions until 2014. GTCR co-owns the company with two other companies, Audax Private Equity and Frazier Healthcare. As I told you earlier today, Rauner hasn’t yet directly made any money off that GTCR investment. Audax Private Equity lists its own investment as “Unrealized.” And, despite what the Pritzker ad says, Rauner has spoken out against the family separation policy.
* But most importantly, this is what Correct Care Solutions actually does…
We provide medical and behavioral health services for nearly 250,000 patients located in state hospitals, forensic treatment and civil commitment centers, as well as local, state and federal correctional facilities.
The company provides healthcare. It’s not “paid millions to keep children from their parents.”
* Like many of you, I’ve lost sleep at night over this absolutely obscene federal debacle. This tweet has been open in a browser tab all week and I find myself looking at it multiple times a day with the same disbelief and shock as the first time I saw it…
14 month old boy separated from immigrant parents at the border, was returned after 85 days, covered with lice, had apparently not been bathed - part of lawsuits filed by states against Trump administration @LisaDNews reports @NewsHour tonight
I just want to scream at somebody about this whole Kafkaesque nightmare.
And, for sure, this new Pritzker ad will strike a chord out there with people who will never know the whole story. It’s definitely a “get tough on Rauner” spot.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rauner campaign spokesman Alex Browning…
Pritzker’s latest ad intentionally misrepresents the facts of an unsubstantiated story to weave a false and deceitful narrative. The Pritzker campaign should immediately take down this dishonest and shameful ad.
Galia Slayen, spokeswoman for Pritzker, stood by the ad. She called it “disgraceful and disgusting” that Rauner is “an owner of a company that has been paid to keep children separated from their families.”
Gonna be a long summer and fall. I hope the Pritzker campaign doesn’t whine when they are lied about because I’m gonna bring that quote right back up.
Even after an appeals court ruled Streator resident David Cooke didn’t get a fair shake, the state Board of Elections again cast an inconclusive vote on whether Frank Mautino violated election law.
Tuesday, the elections board voted 4-4 on a pair of motions concerning Mautino’s disputed fuel, food and gas expenditures. It is effectively the same result issued last year and, barring another appeal or reversal, it could reduce the likelihood Cooke will get a prosecutor to open a criminal probe into Mautino’s missing campaign finance records. […]
“Obviously, we disagree,” said Jeffrey Schwab of the Liberty Justice Center in Chicago. “The evidence showed there were violations at both the gas station and at the bank. We’ll decide in the next few days whether to appeal. We’ll see.”
The case stems from tens of thousands of dollars in questionable campaign spending from when Mautino was a state Representative. The case has been going on for over two years, and started shortly after Mautino was approved by the Illinois General Assembly to replace retiring Auditor General Bill Holland beginning in early 2016.
Campaign expenditure records over a 16-year period of large round figures being paid to a service station in Mautino’s then legislative district and checks for cash from a bank in his district raised red flags for Streator resident David Cooke, who filed a complaint against Mautino’s now-defunct campaign committee to the elections board.
The case made it up to the appellate court, which sent it back to the state elections board. The elections board heard the case again Tuesday.
Even if there had been a finding of a violation, it’s unclear what could have been done about it. The usual penalty is a fine, but the campaign committee was dissolved long ago and has no more assets.
* There was some heated debate…
This hearing is getting contentious. One Board member, William McGuffage, mentions that Mautino is also facing a concurrent federal investigation, which is why Mautino hasn't said anything.
Member Scholz notes the difficulty in levying fines against a defunct committee. Says "our big hammer here is ballot forfeiture." Says Mautino "can never run for office in the state of Illinois, we will not allow that." https://t.co/hql2co1WpG
McGuffage and Scholz are both Democrats. The board is evenly split with 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans. It’s that way by design, of course.
* The Question: Subject to confirmation by the Senate, should the governor be allowed to appoint a ninth member (and therefore a tie-breaking vote) to the State Board of Elections? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* According to AFSCME, the woman on the left is Darneice Cooper, a casework manager with the Illinois Department of Human Services and the president of AFSCME Local 2806…
“People e-mailed me and said, ‘You know your picture is on the web site of the Illinois Policy Institute,’” Cooper relates. “I’m like, ‘What? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ So I went on there and sure enough my picture was right there [next to a headline encouraging state workers to quit the union]. Like I’m supporting that caption that they have under my name! I was appalled. I was very upset.”
* Cooper sent the Illinois Policy Institute a letter…
To whom it may concern:
I was shocked and dismayed to discover recently that you are using my photo on your website as part of your effort to get employees to drop out of our union. This is a really a form of identity theft—using my image to promote something that is completely wrong in my eyes.
I am a proud AFSCME member, I support my union, and I will never quit standing with my fellow workers.
I was outraged by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Janus case. Five conservative justices sided with the billionaires and corporate special interests who funded this case – and who fund your organization. They ruled against not just those of us who work in public service, but those we serve every day.
I help make sure some of Illinois’s most vulnerable seniors get the care they deserve. I don’t do what I do to get rich, like our billionaire governor or your corporate donors.
Like my coworkers, I’m in public service because I care about my community. Being in a union gives us a voice and allows us to fight for the resources we need to serve the people of Illinois.
Please remove my photo from your website immediately.
I’ve asked the Illinois Policy Institute for comment.
*** UPDATE *** Illinois Policy Institute response…
Rich:
This photo is licensed through the Associated Press and has been available since May 23, 2012. It was a photo taken by an AP photographer at a public political rally at the Illinois State Capitol. Any concerns about the photograph should be directed to the Associated Press.
…Adding… Heh…
.@illinoispolicy: people shouldn't be forced to support a political agenda
also @illinoispolicy: people can't stop us from using their photo to support our political agenda
With Roe v. Wade on the verge of being overturned, it is now more important than ever that we have a governor who’s a committed defender of a woman’s right to choose — someone who can be trusted on this issue.
Bruce Rauner has played politics with HB 40 and women’s lives for far too long. One day he is promising pro-choice voters he supports HB 40 and the next day he’s telling anti-choice extremists he’s opposed to HB 40. He lied to me, he lied to Personal PAC, he lied to Jeanne Ives, he lied to the Illinois Family Institute, and then he lied to the Cardinal. That’s quite an accomplishment.
The truth is, if re-elected, Bruce Rauner has proven he can’t be trusted to protect legal abortion in Illinois, unless the voters of Illinois have a written promise—this written promise—that if re-elected he won’t do anything to repeal, diminish or amend HB 40.
With the Supreme Court now on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade, Bruce Rauner’s refusal to sign this pledge by the June 22nd deadline puts Governor Rauner squarely on the same page with Donald Trump in counting the hours until abortion becomes illegal in Illinois. Prior to Roe, Cook County Hospital had an entire 17 bed ward called the “Septic Abortion Ward” where women were admitted with massive infections, hemorrhaging and dying from botched illegal abortions. That septic abortion ward closed on January 22, 1973 when Roe was decided.
If Governor Rauner does not commit to protecting HB 40, the re-opening of septic abortion wards is Bruce Rauner’s promise to the women of Illinois.
At a Chicago press conference, a group of Democratic officials and a staunchly pro-choice group allied with Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker called on GOP incumbent Bruce Rauner to publicly pledge not to sign any legislation that “repeals, modifies or in any way diminishes H.B. 40 . . . (and) continue to support H.B. 40 as the law of the state.” […]
With a newly conservative Supreme Court, abortion rights will “suffer death by a thousand cuts,” as lawmakers consider a bill to enact waiting periods, hospital-like medical standards, and spousal approval, said state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, noting that Republicans some day could regain control of the Legislature.
But reporters at the session kept asking whether the call for a public promise wasn’t more about politics than protecting abortion rights, given that Rauner already signed H.B. 40 into law. And if Rauner “has shown his dishonesty” by “lying” to the cardinal and Ives, what use is getting him to sign a statement that would provoke conservatives and that he could walk away from later?
“You do the best you can to make sure,” answered Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago.
* From Will Allison at the Rauner campaign…
Hey, all-
Personal PAC held a press conference this morning about HB40 — a bill that Governor Rauner already signed into law.
Please see this quote from Rauner campaign manager Betsy Ankney:
“Governor Rauner supports a woman’s right to choose and he signed legislation that protects that right in Illinois, regardless of what happens at the federal level. This is pure politics from a group and politicians aligned with Pritzker seeking to scare women. Democrats need to stop playing politics with this critical issue.”
NOTE: JB Pritzker has donated $407,200 to Personal PAC.
Additionally, many of those who attended the press conference this morning praised Governor Rauner last year when he signed the bill into law.
Heather Steans: “I am thrilled that the governor decided to honor his commitment and protect women’s reproductive rights in Illinois by signing House Bill 40.”
Sara Feigenholtz: “I am grateful that Governor Rauner has finally realized how important this legislation is to women in the current political climate. Governor Rauner has decided to stick to his original promise, and his decision will help ensure women continue to have access to all reproductive care.”
Kelly Cassidy: Chicago Sun-Times Interview
QUESTION: Please list three of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s principles, or decisions he has made, with which you agree. Also please list three of the governor’s principles, or decisions he has made, with which you disagree.
ANSWER: “I agree with the Governor’s eventual stance on HB40, some aspects of criminal justice reform, and the TRUST act. He kept his campaign promise to keep abortion services legal and accessible in Illinois, which is a deeply personal issue for me.”
* Cosgrove’s response to reporters…
With all due respect to the questions about the need for the pledge to protect HB 40, you could easily answer the question of whether Governor Rauner would veto any bill that comes to his desk which would repeal, modify or in any way diminish HB 40 by simply asking him to reply “yes” or “no” to that question. I anxiously await your asking him and hearing his answer to that very simple question.
*** UPDATE 1 *** I didn’t see the governor’s quote in the Sun-Times…
Rauner, too, accused Democrats of “trying to play politics with this issue.”
“I want to make clear that I signed legislation here in the state of Illinois so that women’s reproductive rights are protected regardless of what happens at the federal level,” the governor said.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Pritzker campaign…
In a tweet last night, Bruce Rauner hailed Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, calling for a “fair hearing and swift vote.”
Rauner applauded the nomination despite troubling threats to women’s rights, affordable healthcare, and Kavanaugh’s expressed opinion that a sitting president is above criminal prosecution. The praise comes as Rauner refused to sign a pledge guaranteeing a woman’s right to choose, claimed pro-choice groups were “seeking to scare women” with the pledge, and has bragged about being the “strongest supporter” of anti-choice candidates.
“Donald Trump is remaking the court in his own image and leading an all-out assault on affordable healthcare, basic rights for women, and the rule of law as Bruce Rauner cheers him on,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Illinoisans can’t afford to have a failed governor who puts politics before people and joins in on Trump’s attacks on fundamental rights.”
Illinois taxpayers paid for nearly four times more abortions in the first six months of 2018 than the year before and one state lawmakers expects the total number to eventually be much larger.
Records of the number of abortion reimbursement requests Illinois News Network obtained through an open records request from the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services showed 84 abortions from January to June last year. The same time period this year, there were 314 abortions.
[U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam] will report that he’s raised $1 million in the second quarter, bringing his total for the cycle to $4.4 million.
Roskam faces Democrat Sean Casten, a scientist and clean-energy entrepreneur who’s raised $807,000 for Q2 and is at $1.96 million for the cycle. […]
Immigration a hot-button. Roskam, who has more so-called Dreamers in his district than in any other in the state, has gone out on a limb, to some extent, speaking out against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. He even voted with Democrats on a recent anti-immigration measure.
“[D]ragging children away from their parents” is just plain wrong, said Roskam, who has held his seat since 2007.
Casten sees Roskam’s vote as disingenuous and has been courting the Latino voters. He’s teamed up with state representative candidate Karina Villa in West Chicago, specifically, to engage with the Latino community.
Impressive money. He’s gonna need every dime of it, too.
Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and Democratic challenger Sean Casten sparred over recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving public unions and a travel ban in the first of what’s promised to be several debates leading up to the November election. […]
Among the topics covered in the first meet-up was the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that public sector workers do not have to pay labor union fees if they don’t wish to be part of the union.
“Now government workers have the choice of whether they want to be in a union or not, and I think that that is something that is healthy for us,” Roskam said early in the debate. […]
“The Janus (v. AFSCME) decision really shouldn’t be a bipartisan question,” Casten said. “If you were to ask objectively, should people be allowed to receive a benefit they didn’t pay for, I think Republican, Democrat we would all agree that free riders make the economy less efficient.”
When asked during a radio interview with WLS about a plan to raise taxes on gas, Casten said, “…absolutely we should raise the gas tax.”
Casten has been one of Mike Madigan’s most consistent supporters for a progressive tax hike.
Sean Casten supported Mike Madigan when his party voted to override the Governor’s veto, burdening Illinois taxpayers with a 32 percent state income tax hike.
Casten opposed the Governor’s recent budget because he said it didn’t do enough to raise taxes on Illinois residents.
Earlier this year, Casten announced his intention to repeal the tax breaks Sixth District families and small businesses received through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and support a plan to instead, raise their taxes.
In his white paper on tax policy, Casten proposes eliminating the cap on taxes for Social Security, claiming that senior citizens need to “pay their fair share to support” Social Security and Medicare.
“During the debate, Sean Casten renewed his promise to raise the gas tax, raise income taxes, support a progressive tax hike and support Mike Madigan’s plan to remove the property tax freeze,” said Roskam for Congress spokesman, Veronica Vera.
“Sean says we need to raise the gas tax. He says we need to take the cap off the social security earnings tax,” said Rep. Peter Roskam.
“He’s voted with the Republican party 97% of the time. He’s voted with Donald Trump 94% of the time. He is working very hard to redefine himself,” Casten said.
“That 94% figure, when pushed, he can’t give an answer to where I’m going against the sixth district. So, when I’m voting to cut taxes, deregulate the economy, create more buoyancy, trying to fix health care, that’s reflecting the sixth district,” Roskam responded.
Casten said he’d repeal the Republican tax cut bill that Roskam helped to write, because it added a trillion dollars to the national debt, among other things.
* Gov. Rauner again bad-mouthed Chicago yesterday, bemoaning the city’s “failure of government in Chicago to reduce crime, to bring down the taxes and create more jobs.” But the Sun-Times noted this at the bottom of the story…
Despite Rauner’s claim that the city has failed to reduce crime, Chicago Police statistics in June showed the city has seen its 16th consecutive month of declining violence. The city saw 79 fewer murders and 270 fewer shootings in the first six months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, police said.
A $169 million industrial complex is planned for the Southeast Side, according to NorthPoint Development, the Kansas City company that will build the project just north of Ford’s Torrence Avenue plant on the site of a former Republic Steel mill. […]
NorthPoint estimates the project will create more than 1,300 permanent jobs and says about 650 construction jobs will be needed for the duration of the project.
The 2.2 million-square-foot project is to include six industrial buildings, each ranging from 215,000 to 600,000 square feet, and would be the largest industrial park in Chicago, according to the mayor’s office. […]
Each of the six buildings would house one or more firms. Hagedorn said they are expecting 10 businesses to operate from the complex.
A private equity firm plans to buy a smattering of brands, including the U.S. rights to Pillsbury baking products and the Funfetti brand, from the The J.M. Smucker Co. for $375 million, the Connecticut-based Brynwood Partners announced Monday.
To manage those brands, Brynwood intends to create a new company, Hometown Food Co., that will be headquartered in Chicago, said Henk Hartong, chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners. The office will employ about 40 people, said Hartong, who declined to provide an exact location for the office until the lease is finalized.
“Chicago is the center of the universe for (consumer packaged goods),” Hartong said in an interview Monday. “We want to recruit the most talented management team that we can.” […]
Once final, this will be the largest deal yet for Brynwood, which is making a name for itself as a firm that acquires lagging businesses from food companies, also known as “corporate carve-outs.” [Emphasis added]
By one count, more than 50 high-rise buildings were under construction as the year began. The pace of construction starts has slowed lately, but the booming redevelopment of downtown will be creating jobs in Chicago for years.
To civic boosters, this is good news. But for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, facing a tough re-election battle, the downtown construction boom is a political mixed bag. When construction cranes spring up like midsummer weeds in the 312 area code, a mayor with a reputation for favoring downtown at the expense of the neighborhoods will have some explaining to do. Lori Lightfoot, Paul Vallas and other mayoral contenders no doubt are laying plans to use the construction boom against the mayor. Even Emanuel’s energetic pitch for Amazon’s HQ2 and its bounty of 50,000 jobs has been criticized by opponents.
When the critique comes in, Emanuel will be ready to strike back, and one of his favorite counterpunches likely will be the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. It’s a program that takes the downtown boom and turns it into cash for businesses on the South and West sides. Chicago’s building codes limit the density of construction projects. But under the program, developers can “purchase” the right to ignore the density caps downtown. […]
With 80 percent of the funds earmarked to those South and West Side neighborhoods, Emanuel will be able to use the program to parry thrusts from mayoral contenders claiming he has ignored the neighborhoods. He’ll also surely mention major investment in the Red Line and in CTA stations throughout those neighborhoods, while his opponents will wonder—with good reason—why he has not made more progress addressing crime or fixing the crises in Chicago Public Schools.
I’m not at all saying that everything is well in the city. At all. I’m just saying that this constant bad-mouthing is really getting old.
* The impact of a budget impasse lasting two and a half years cannot be instantly cured. It’s going to take a while longer...
The Illinois State Dental Society said as of last week, the state still owed dental practices $50 million.
In November 2017, they said the state was $150 million behind in payments.
Dr. Albert Capati said the state payments are coming in more regularly now compared to this time last year. […]
“During the impasse, the state was about 15 months behind in paying,” Capati said. “Prior to the impasse, it took about three months to get paid and now we’re at about six months.”
“We’re happy to have a state budget but what many people don’t realize is that the budget impasse effects continue to be felt,” said Andrea Durbin, CEO of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth. “This year’s budget didn’t address the backlog of bills.”
Illinois’ lingering structural issues include a lack of progress in addressing its sizable accounts payable backlog and questions around $400 million in unpaid step-pay increases. Nonetheless, “enacting an on-time budget with bipartisan support allows Illinois to enter the new year with a clear fiscal plan and clarity for the state’s key fiscal partners,” said Porter.
A year after Illinois lawmakers ended a historic state budget impasse, social service agencies and other providers hardest hit by funding cuts say they’re just starting to recover.
The providers say some rate increases approved in fiscal 2018 and 2019 isn’t enough to undo all the damage.
Judith Gethner is executive director of Chicago-based Illinois Partners for Human Service. She says the impasse led to layoffs and those positions haven’t been filled.
Gethner says the crisis has made it a challenge for many nonprofits to recruit qualified professionals willing to work in such an environment.
…Adding… DGA’s Sam Salustro…
Good afternoon reporters –
Today, as Governor Bruce Rauner visits WINGS Program, a non-profit serving victim of domestic violence, Rauner has yet to answer for the damage his policies have done to the state’s domestic violence programs. Due to Bruce Rauner’s budget crisis, payments to domestic violence shelters were delayed or cut, resulting in many agencies reducing staff hours, laying people off, and taking out lines of credit. One advocacy group reported that 7,800 people seeking shelter were turned away in 2016.
Did the failed governor ask providers how they felt about the fact that he vetoed all funding for their programs twice?
Despite hearing testimony from dozens of local property taxpayers and receiving hundreds of phone calls in support of SB2544, today the Lake County Board approved a resolution recommending that the governor issue an amendatory veto on the bill.
SB2544 increases fairness and accountability in the office of the Lake County Assessor by putting a question on the ballot in November to let the people decide whether the position of Lake County Chief County Assessment Office, the Lake County Assessor, should be popularly elected by the people.
“An amendatory veto by the governor would deny taxpayers the right to vote on the measure in November, and that’s unacceptable,” said Yingling. “It’s appalling that some members of the Lake County Board are so eager to ignore the will of the people.”
A strong grassroots campaign has been built to support SB2544. Yingling has been airing TV ads in Lake County that have been reaching thousands of taxpayers at home every day. The campaign’s digital ad has been viewed over to 20,000 times on social media. Thousands of Lake County taxpayers have made phone calls to the governor to urge him to sign the bill. Hundreds more have called Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor to urge him to stop playing games and support the measure.
“Last week, I sent Governor Rauner over 1,000 signatures from my constituents urging him to sign SB2544 because the property tax status quo is not working,” concluded Yingling. “I remain hopeful that Governor Rauner will sign SB2544 instead of interfering with the will of the people as the Lake County Board has chosen to do. Anything short of a signed bill from the governor will deny the taxpayers of Lake County their right to vote this November to make the property tax system accountable to them.”
Lake County officials are weighing asking Rauner to use his amendatory veto power to expand the legislation so the same question appears on ballots for the roughly 60 Illinois counties that have board-appointed assessment officers and board-chosen chairmen, just as Lake does. The board will debate forwarding the veto request to Rauner Tuesday.
“We support the right of voters to make this decision,” said Chairman Aaron Lawlor, a Vernon Hills Republican. “But if it’s such a good idea, why not make it applicable (elsewhere)?”
Clever.
* Other stuff…
* How Illinois retirement program works (and is it a good idea?): An estimated 1.2 million workers will be eligible for automatic enrollment in Secure Choice, with 5 percent of gross pay being deducted and placed in a default target-date retirement fund. Employees will be able to switch savings rates and retirement funds or may opt out of the program.
* Editorial: The merits of Illinois’ retirement savings option: Perhaps you work for a company with no retirement program and you’re disciplined enough to contribute on your own to a money-market, IRA or other retirement savings account. If so, good for you and feel free to bypass Illinois Secure Choice. But if you’re like most people, you’ll benefit greatly from this program.
* Effort to consolidate local governments is finally making headway: The bill to encourage streamlining was sponsored by state Sen. Tom Cullerton, a Villa Park Democrat, and state Rep. David Olsen, a Downers Grove Republican. It would allow a majority of mosquito abatement district trustees to vote to fold its functions into a neighboring township, municipality or county.
* Rauner: Wage hike could bankrupt school districts: “We’ve got to be careful that we don’t crush small communities that have very limited resources,” Rauner warned last week when asked if he would sign the bill. “To be told they have to pay ‘X’ may bankrupt some small school districts.” Lawmakers sent the plan to the governor’s desk last month in a bipartisan vote. Four Senate Republicans and two others in the House joined Democrats to pass the measure which would require districts to immediately pay teachers at least $32,076 per school year. The proposed increases would peak at a minimum of $40,000 in the 2022-23 school year pending review by the General Assembly.
* Two Bills On Governor’s Desk Could Help Address Illinois’ Addiction Treatment Gap: According to federal data, only one in ten people with a drug addiction receive treatment. Behavioral health advocates say two bills awaiting action from Governor Bruce Rauner would help bridge the treatment gap in Illinois. One of the bills - SB 682 - would keep providers from sending patients home if they don’t get immediate authorization from their insurance company for treatment, said Sara Howe, CEO of the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health. … Another bill - SB 1707 - would provide stricter enforcement of the state’s existing mental health parity laws, which Howe said should help patients stay engaged in treatment for as long as they need.
* Physician assistant hirings could rise under legislation sent to governor: “That would allow me so much more latitude,” Dowell said of Senate Bill 2904, which passed the Illinois House and Senate this year without opposition. “What this legislation really does for me is that it gives me the ability to hire more physician assistants in markets where it’s hard to hire physicians to work.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner this year reported turning a profit from a health care group that services U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, including facilities that hold immigrant families with children. […]
Rauner’s financial disclosure does not specify the level of profit from Correct Care, except to say he earned more than $5,000 from GTCR’s Fund X, which owns the company. GTCR, Rauner’s former private-equity firm, raised $3.25 billion in capital for its Fund X and used that money to acquire companies, including Correctional Healthcare in 2012, which later became Correct Care Solutions through a merger.
In 2017, Moody’s reported Correct Care held $1.2 billion in revenue and listed GTCR as among the company’s top co-investors. [Emphasis added.]
* Fund X is a $3.25 billion fund and it’s quite broad-based…
GTCR Fund X, L.P. specializes in buyouts and corporate finance. The fund seeks to invest across healthcare, banking, financial services, financial technology, business services, information technology, software, data, and services. The fund also seeks bolt-on acquisitions. It targets investing in North America. GTCR Fund X, L.P. comprises of GTCR Fund X, L.P. and parallel funds GTCR fund X/A LP and GTCR fund X/B LP.
And while Fund X may be a “top investor,” to claim that it “owns the company” may be an exaggeration.
* Also from yesterday…
In his "blind-trust commitments", Rauner promised he would donate "any proceeds from investment interests that I may hold that have any contract with the State of Illinois"
Has he donated his profits from Correct Care? Are there other investments like this? pic.twitter.com/eXwdU2Hqju
— Illinois Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) July 9, 2018
* From Rauner press secretary Patty Schuh…
GTCR still owns the investment so there are no profits or losses yet. If and when there are profits, the Governor will abide by his agreement and donate any profits to charity.
In other words, while Rauner has “turned a profit” off of the massive Fund X, he says he hasn’t yet made any money off of Correct Care. If that’s accurate, a retraction may be in order.
The fair-share fees required of employees who decline to join the union — which in the Janus case were about $45 monthly, or 22 percent less than regular dues — are meant to support only the union’s collective bargaining activities and not its political initiatives. But Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion said that all public sector bargaining is inherently political. Collecting fees from nonconsenting government employees, who are protected by the First Amendment, violates their free-speech rights, the court said.
Private sector employees don’t have that same First Amendment protection in their employer relationships, and most legal analyses of the ruling said the court’s reasoning wouldn’t apply to them. But [Cesar Rosado, co-director of the Institute for Law and the Workplace at Chicago-Kent College of Law] disagrees.
Private sector employees are governed by the National Labor Relations Act, a federal law that requires employers to bargain with unions that employees have voted to represent them, and those unions may set mandatory fees and may lobby for all sorts of public causes, including government spending and minimum wage levels, that some employees may not agree with, he said.
“I don’t see a big difference, therefore, between the First Amendment issue in the public and private sectors,” Rosado said. “Therefore, I can totally see Janus getting extended to the private sector.”
Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman Michael J. Madigan is calling on senators to reject President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, and instead insist on a consensus candidate who will stand with the majority of Americans in supporting a woman’s right to choose, access to quality health care and voting rights.
“President Trump has said he would only consider Supreme Court candidates who will roll back women’s most fundamental rights, restrict access to health care and impose a narrow special interest agenda on Americans for 40 years or more,” Madigan said. “As Trump continues putting his own extreme ideology ahead of what’s best for the country, it’s up to senators to insist on a candidate who will respect the law and precedent, instead of a right-wing ideologue whose goal is to move the court to the right and enforce minority rule on our country from the bench for a generation. And it is now up to each and every one of us to hold our elected leaders accountable.”
Madigan has launched a petition drive calling on senators to stand with this vast majority of Americans by rejecting Trump’s anti-choice nominee and instead provide Trump with a list of mainstream candidates who will protect women’s health, ballot access for all, quality health care and other hard-won rights and freedoms.
If you click that link, you’ll see this banner headline: Join Chairman Michael Madigan and the Democratic Party of Illinois in Opposing Trump’s Extremist Supreme Court Nominee.
That’s something different.
* Pritzker…
“Donald Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court could upend the rights of communities across Illinois and considering that Bruce Rauner is in ‘constant communication’ with the White House, I call on this governor to oppose Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination in full force,” said JB Pritzker. “This nomination comes less than four months before an election and entirely disregards precedent set by the Senate Republican’s own majority leader. It is an attempt by Donald Trump to remake the court in his own, hateful image and will leave us with a judicial branch that sides with special interests instead of vulnerable communities. A woman’s right to choose is on the line, LGBTQ rights could be rolled back, affordable healthcare could be brought down, fair housing, consumer protections, and environmental protections could all be decimated. There are lives on the line here and this is a moment that calls for leaders of all political stripes to come together. I call on Bruce Rauner to join me in opposing this nomination and to stand up for the rights of Illinois’ families.”
* Rauner…
Our nation deserves a justice who is qualified, experienced, and will faithfully interpret and defend the Constitution. Judge Brett Kavanaugh has impressive credentials and he deserves a fair hearing and swift vote on his nomination.
Kwame Raoul, Democratic candidate for Attorney General, issued the following response to President Trump’s appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I am incredibly disappointed that Donald Trump has put so many critical protections on the line, including the right to access abortion safely and legally. I will not stand by and allow my children to have fewer rights than my generation or see Illinoisans made vulnerable to federal attacks on healthcare, voting rights, the environment, the rights of workers or the importance of diversity on college campuses.
Illinois now has laws protecting access to abortion in case Roe v. Wade is overturned, but Illinoisans must be able to trust their Attorney General to enforce these laws and defend them in court. That’s why it’s more important than ever to elect leaders who will fight back and be a strong advocate for women and victims of assault, not just a bystander to the attacks.
So much hangs in the balance, and I urge the Senate to reject this nominee.”
While running for Congress in 2014, Republican candidate for Attorney General Erika Harold told the State Journal-Register that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape and incest, stating, “I would not discriminate (against the fetus) based on the circumstance of conception.”
She re-confirmed this position in a recent interview on WCIA.
Reporter: “In a previous run for Congress, you mention that even in cases of rape and incest - which most Republicans carve those out - you are still opposed to abortion. Have your views at all evolved or changed on that particular issue?”
Harold: “My views are clear. I will uphold Illinois law, and that’s what’s important for voters to know about this.”
* Erika Harold…
GOP AG candidate @ErikaHarold responds to #Kavanaugh pick: “Judge Brett Kavanaugh has impeccable legal credentials and an impressive resume of public service. I look forward to learning more about his legal career and judicial philosophy as the confirmation process unfolds.”
The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) praised President Donald J. Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the Supreme Court of the United States. RAGA Chairman and Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge offered the following statement:
“Judge Brett Kavanaugh is eminently qualified to serve as an Associate Justice of the highest court in the United States. In our divisive times, where politics is pervasive in our society, we often look to the courts for clarity. I have every confidence that Judge Kavanaugh will serve with distinction on the Supreme Court; he will apply textualist and originalist reasoning to the legal questions of our time.
“’The president shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint… Judges of the supreme Court…’ so reads our U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2. I urge the Senate to take up this worthy nominee and confirm him swiftly.”
* US Rep. Mike Bost…
“I am pleased to see President Trump nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is a highly qualified jurist with the temperament and mindset to interpret the U.S. Constitution in the spirit in which our Founders wrote it. I expect Judge Kavanaugh to showcase his sterling credentials and brilliant legal mind in the weeks ahead during confirmation hearings conducted in the Senate.”
* And now let’s hear from the only two people from Illinois who will actually have a vote. Sen. Durbin…
The next Justice will likely be the deciding vote on whether Americans will keep affordable health insurance for pre-existing conditions, whether women will lose the freedom to make their own health care choices, and whether we have a Constitution that protects the rights of all Americans or just big corporations and wealthy elites.
Brett Kavanaugh is a judge who consistently favors big business and undermines protections for consumers, workers, women, and the environment. Replacing Justice Kennedy’s swing vote with a far-right jurist like Judge Kavanaugh could change the rules in America. Just as troubling, in light of the ongoing Russia investigation, Judge Kavanaugh has expressed staunch opposition to criminal investigations of sitting Presidents.
With a subservient Republican Congress and a far-right Supreme Court, there is a real risk that the worst impulses of the Trump presidency will go unchecked. The stakes for this nomination are historic.
* Sen. Duckworth…
“The newfound urgency to fill Justice Kennedy’s Supreme Court seat from many of the same people who refused to even consider President Obama’s nominee is transparent opportunism that represents everything Americans hate most about politics today. We can’t ignore the reality that Donald Trump wants to take us back to a time when insurers could refuse coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or that he promised to only nominate Justices who would put the government back in between women and their doctors.
“If he succeeds, it won’t only affect people like me who could be prevented from having children through IVF; the impacts will be felt by everyone. Whoever replaces Justice Kennedy will play a critical role in the lives of all women and every single American. Moving forward, I will thoroughly review Judge Kavanaugh’s rulings, evaluate his qualifications and look for him to make it clear to the American public that he would be independent, not simply a rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s whims, if he hopes to earn my support.”
* Mark Maxwell’s Twitter feed was particularly helpful last night. For instance…
This Kavanaugh opinion — if carried out in his views on the Supreme Court — would almost certainly mean curtains for the Illinois-based local ban on assault weapons that has already been through the legal ringer. https://t.co/iyHO29v4CL
* I’ve been able to confirm that Rep. Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago) has been named the interim executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. He’ll serve through the fall campaign, and then a new search for a permanent director will commence. The position became vacant when Tim Mapes was forced out as Speaker Madigan’s right hand man over a #MeToo controversy.
Mitchell has plenty of campaign experience, not only in a couple of his own hard-fought primaries, but also working for President Obama’s Midwest operation and Tammy Duckworth’s Senate campaign. He worked for The Strategy Group, so you can see the rest of his bio by clicking here. I think he’ll have the chops to do this job.
Rep. Mitchell was also an early supporter of JB Pritzker’s campaign, so this appointment shows yet again that the Pritzker folks are not going to just sit back and let Speaker Madigan run the entire show. DPI’s search committee for a new executive director was co-chaired by Rep. Juliana Stratton, Pritzker’s running mate.
* And speaking of Pritzker, expect an announcement sometime today from Rep. Mitchell about a new $1 million voter registration project funded by Pritzker and run by the DPI. It will reportedly focus on flippable districts.
DPI has long been criticized for focusing exclusively on Speaker Madigan’s House priorities. Those days may be over, but Madigan is still the party chairman, so we’ll see. Last month, the party named longtime Madigan loyalist Mary Morrissey as Chief Operating Officer and promoted DPI staffer Emily Wurth to the job of Chief Financial Officer.
…Adding… Rep. Litesa Wallace (D-Rockford) had been interested in the job (she gave up her seat to run as Daniel Biss’ running mate) and she’s not exactly ecstatic…
Although there was no clear application, submission, or selection process for individuals who were interested in the position of Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois to participate in, an individual has been selected. I would like to wish my colleague Rep. Christian Mitchell all the best in his new role as Executive Director of our party. I will continue efforts to move our party forward, which means ridding ourselves of the issues of power and oppression inherent to systemic racism and sexism, even as we work to elect candidates that value the rights of all.
…Adding… Press release…
Today, members of the Democratic Party of Illinois Search Committee announced State Representative Christian Mitchell as the new Interim Executive Director of the state party, Mary Morrissey as the Chief Operating Officer, and Emily Wurth as the Chief Financial Officer. The historic announcement will make Mitchell the first African-American to serve in the role.
Representative Mitchell currently serves as state representative for the 26th District and brings his background as a grassroots organizer and communications professional to the role. As state representative, Mitchell has played an instrumental role in standing up for women’s rights, fighting for criminal justice reform, and advocating for Illinois’ working families. Prior to serving as state representative, Mitchell served as the Midwest Director of Paid Media and Polling for Obama for America, senior advisor for Tammy Duckworth’s U.S. Senate campaign, Director of External Affairs for Cook County government, and as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago.
The committee’s announcement comes after making their selection and with the support of Chairman Madigan, the JB Pritzker campaign, and other Democratic leaders across the state.
“I am so proud to announce State Representative Christian Mitchell has been selected as the Interim Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” said search committee co-chair Juliana Stratton. “As a community organizer, Christian is part of a new generation of leaders who know how to build grassroots movements and win campaigns. As a state representative, Christian was critical in the fight to pass the ERA and has a strong record of protecting a woman’s right to choose, standing up for our working families, and building a more inclusive economy. And as the first African-American Executive Director in the history of the Democratic Party of Illinois, I am confident he will play an essential role in building a party that reflects the diversity of our state and helps us win up and down the ticket, in every corner of Illinois.”
Notice that the press release not only was issued by Stratton, she’s the only one quoted. I’m not yet sure if Speaker Madigan will issue his own release. Stay tuned.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Rep. Mitchell…
Today, State Representative Christian Mitchell was historically selected as the new interim Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois and released the following statement:
“I’m honored to accept the role of interim Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” said State Rep. Christian Mitchell. “I look forward to doing the work necessary to assure Democratic victories up and down the ticket and charting a new and inclusive path forward for our party. Together, I know we can build a party that represents the diversity of our state, listens to our young people, and relentlessly fights for the values that make Illinois strong.
“In my work in Democratic politics, I’ve seen the power of bringing people together and building from the grassroots up to win – and that is exactly what we’ll do in November. To that end, I’m excited to announce that my first action as interim Executive Director is to launch a new voter registration initiative in partnership with the JB Pritzker for Governor campaign. This $1 million initiative will help us reach voters in districts where a strong Democratic turnout from new or unregistered voters could flip seats and lead Democrats to victory up and down the ballot. We’re going to win in November and move our communities forward. I’m so proud to help lead that fight.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Chair Sen. Kimberly Lightford…
“We are so proud of today’s historic announcement naming our colleague, State Representative Christian Mitchell, as the next interim executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. We believe it is essential that our party reflects the diversity that makes our state great, and today’s announcement shows the Democratic Party shares that commitment. With Christian’s background building grassroots campaigns and fighting for working families, we know he is the right person to chart the way forward for the Democratic party and help us win up and down the ticket, in every community.”
The choice of a man by the all-women panel was somewhat unexpected because the fallout from the #MeToo movement has plagued Democrats under Madigan, who also serves as the party’s chairman. […]
“People tried to make the best decision going through the election,” said Lauren Beth Gash, Democratic state central committeewoman for the 10th Congressional District and a former state lawmaker. “There are many people who would be qualified, but Christian’s experience in this arena is unique.” […]
Additionally, the choice of Mitchell and the involvement of Pritzker’s campaign team may represent a broadening of the state Democratic Party’s role into down-ballot contests across the state.
“I would like to see that,” Gash said. “I believe that (Mitchell’s appointment) does that.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Interesting…
So proud of my friend, @cljmitchell! Also grateful that he’s the one friend I can count on to talk about soccer with while I’m at the World Cup. You’re going to kill it this cycle 🙂 https://t.co/odAeWJZACU
*** UPDATE 5 *** And now Kelly Cassidy. Another MJM critic…
Congrats to my pal @cljmitchell on this new role. I don’t know a more thoughtful, strategic or relentlessly focused campaigner. Looking forward to working towards dem wins statewide together. I’ll bring the blondies buddy! https://t.co/1y2qrd5lQY
— Rep. Kelly Cassidy (@RepKellyCassidy) July 10, 2018
