To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois House of Representatives,
99th General Assembly:
Today I veto House Bill 580. Nearly one year ago, the General Assembly passed an almost identical bill, Senate Bill 1229. I vetoed that bill because it was a dangerous, unprecedented attack on our taxpayers. HB 580 recycles the same dangerous proposal that I vetoed last fall.
Prior to the veto override vote on SB 1229 and within the last few days, newspaper editorial boards from all corners of the state – north to south, urban and rural, heavily Democrat and Republican districts, and those with large union and non-union readerships – wrote about the dangers of stripping taxpayers of their voice at the collective bargaining table.
The editors at The Southern wrote, “[n]othing like SB 1229 exists anywhere in the country. Nor should it. It’s an open assault on transparent representative government.” The Pantagraph in Bloomington wrote, “This is a terrible piece of legislation that should have never received much attention.” Just yesterday, the Dispatch-Argus rightly called HB 580 “worse than the original.” And The News-Gazette described HB 580 as “wrong on so many levels that it represents Exhibit A for the sloppy, irresponsible manner in which our failed state has been and continues to be run.”
HB 580 goes even further than SB 1229 did, sneaking in additional costly language under the guise of technical changes. For the reasons I explain in this message, our taxpayers rightly insist that HB 580 not become law.
We should be very clear about what prompted SB 1229 and now HB 580. A single union, AFSCME, made unaffordable and unsustainable salary and benefits demands during its collective bargaining negotiations, and then refused to meaningfully compromise. AFSCME’s leaders demanded salary increases of up to 29% over four years; a more expensive, platinum health care plan; and lavish overtime benefits, including time and a half after 37.5 hours of work each week and 2.5 times wages for some holidays. AFSCME is demanding that our taxpayers fund these additional benefits to the tune of $3 billion over the life of the contract. What’s worse, with HB 580, AFSCME wants to ensure that those taxpayers have no say in the matter.
Everyone knows that our taxpayers simply cannot afford these unreasonable demands. As a result, our negotiators emphatically rejected AFSCME’s most costly contract proposals. We offered solutions that are fair to both our taxpayers and our employees. Those proposals included performance bonuses of up to 8% of salary, greater choice of lower cost health care plans, and changes in work rules that would require the payment of overtime after 40 hours of work per week, which is standard and consistent with federal law, rather than 37.5 hours. We also proposed to eradicate underutilization and to promote the hiring and advancement of minorities in state government jobs by setting aside the current arbitrary barriers that stand in the way. AFSCME rejected all of these common sense proposals.
Unaccustomed to having to explain how the State could possibly pay for AFSCME’s unaffordable demands, union leaders sought to legislate away such inconvenient questions. AFSCME asked legislators to strip taxpayers of their rights under existing Illinois labor laws. Current law ensures that the Governor represents taxpayers’ interests at the bargaining table. Those rights are consistent with every state and municipal labor law in the country and the rights given to employers in the National Labor Relations Act, the federal law that governs all private sector labor negotiations, as well. AFSCME wants to squash those rights precisely because they stand in the way of AFSCME’s unreasonable demands.
HB 580 replaces the Governor in collective bargaining negotiations with an unelected, labor-friendly arbitrator who can single-handedly impose the union’s $3 billion demand on the taxpayers, and do so over the objections of the Governor, the General Assembly, the Labor Board, and the majority of taxpayers themselves. One person would have the ability to determine over 25% of our annual budget for the next 3 years, forcing increased taxes and cuts to other vital state services to pay for it all.
More than 30 years ago, AFSCME, and many others in the labor community, were instrumental in writing the collective bargaining laws across the country. In Illinois, AFSCME’s efforts led to the passage of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, the very law by which these negotiations were conducted for almost a year. Now AFSCME seeks to rewrite its own handcrafted rules simply because our negotiators invoked those same rules to protect our taxpayers against AFSCME’s unaffordable financial demands.
The AFSCME bill is crafted to apply to only a single negotiation and a single Governor. AFSCME cannot identify any jurisdiction in the country – even the most labor-friendly – that has ever enacted this type of sweeping rewrite of its labor laws targeting a single negotiating session. Taxpayers, through their elected officials, have an important, longstanding role in public labor negotiations. My action today defends taxpayers who are being denied their voice at the bargaining table.
I urge the General Assembly to stand with taxpayers and sustain my veto. In responding to AFSCME pressure to override this veto, please keep the following two things in mind:
First, a year ago, you were told that SB 1229 was needed to protect all labor unions from a concerted attack on organized labor from a series of unreasonable bargaining demands being made by our administration. But since then, 12 different bargaining units representing the State’s electricians, plumbers, painters, machinists, carpenters, engineers, and many others have voluntarily negotiated and agreed to substantially the same proposals offered to AFSCME. Despite AFSCME’s heated rhetoric trying to portray our bargaining proposals as unreasonable, these 12 unions chose to join 5 Teamster units in acting reasonably and reaching fair agreements with our administration. State employees ratified many of those agreements by over 80%. Together, these 17 agreements now cover more than 5,000 state employees.
What makes these unions different from AFSCME is none of them insisted upon the same unrealistic financial demands that AFSCME’s leadership is still making to this day. Significantly, but not surprisingly, many of AFSCME’s own members do not support these demands either. Unlike their union leaders, these members want to be part of the solution, not exacerbate the problem. But AFSCME has refused to allow them to vote on these proposals. Before AFSCME asks members of the General Assembly to vote to override this veto, why not ask them to let their own members take a vote on the same proposals that were ratified by wide margins by 17 other unions? Given that opportunity, if AFSCME allows for a fair, democratic vote without undue influence by union leaders, I predict AFSCME members would ratify this contract by the same overwhelming margins that their coworkers have.
Second, as you are aware, the impasse in negotiations with AFSCME is currently being litigated before the Illinois Labor Relations Board. AFSCME filed its own unfair labor practice charge that is part of that litigation. The Board will decide if negotiations should continue or an impasse has been reached. The Board will decide if we have offered a plan that is fair to AFSCME members. The General Assembly has a long history of not intervening in active litigation. That is precisely the procedural status of the current proceedings between the two sides. If AFSCME’s attack on our bargaining proposals has merit, AFSCME has ample opportunity to make that case to the Board. If AFSCME succeeds, the Board can order both parties back to the bargaining table to negotiate a mutual agreement. There is absolutely no need for the General Assembly to be involved.
AFSCME did say that the Labor Relations Board proceedings are unfair and that you should intervene to stop these hearings before they resulted in a decision. But here, too, AFSCME’s leaders are being disingenuous. I have attached a copy of the Tolling Agreement, which is a contract voluntarily signed by AFSCME Executive Director Roberta Lynch herself. In fact, this is the third such agreement signed by AFSCME. This one was signed on September 9, 2015 – just days after the veto override vote on SB 1229.
As the Tolling Agreement clearly states, “if a dispute exists with respect to the existence of an impasse, the parties agree to submit the matter to the Illinois Labor Relations Board.” The agreement adds, “this agreement will remain in effect until the ILRB resolves the issue” and furthermore “that this agreement will remain in effect until impasse is reached.” Director Lynch signed this agreement freely and voluntarily, including those provisions that select the Labor Relations Board, and not an arbitrator, as the appropriate authority to resolve the present dispute. HB 580 dramatically changes the terms of the Tolling Agreement and would improperly alter the very dispute resolution procedures agreed to by the parties in that contract.
AFSCME also recently filed a separate lawsuit that asks a court to decide if the parties are in compliance with the terms of the Tolling Agreement. AFSCME admits in that lawsuit that the Tolling Agreement was entered freely and voluntarily and is a valid agreement. That is a significant concession that should end any further effort to turn HB 580 into law. AFSCME squarely acknowledges it signed a valid contract. AFSCME should be required to hold up its end of the deal.
But just as with its push for HB 580, AFSCME is also asking the court to rewrite the Tolling Agreement in a way that would permit AFSCME to sidestep the Labor Board process to which it has agreed. Because the issue of what the Tolling Agreement obligates the parties to do is now squarely presented not only before the Labor Board but also in court, the General Assembly has double the reason not to interfere.
The question now before the General Assembly is whether to intervene in ongoing litigation and alter the terms of a binding contract between the State and AFSCME – all at the expense of the taxpayers we represent. I urge you to resist the pressure to override HB 580 and instead stand with taxpayers by holding AFSCME to its own commitments under the Tolling Agreement.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 580, entitled “AN ACT concerning State government”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
* AFSCME’s response…
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has vetoed the fair arbitration bill, House Bill 580. AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch responds:
“Public service workers in state government keep us safe, protect kids, respond to emergencies and much more. They want to stay on the job to serve their communities, not be forced out on strike, and they deserve fair pay and health care they can afford. This bill seeks compromise and avoids a strike by allowing an independent, neutral third party to settle the differences between workers and management. It is the process already used for tens of thousands of fire fighters, police officers, correctional workers and others throughout Illinois.
“Beneath Governor Rauner’s false claims and wild exaggerations about the bill is this reality: The governor walked away from negotiations with our union in January and is seeking total power to unilaterally impose his demands, including forcing state and university employees to pay double their current costs for health care. Given that power, the governor could impose his demands and leave state employees no choice but to strike. That’s exactly what Rauner as a candidate vowed to do.
“Governor Rauner doesn’t like HB 580 because it would require him to be moderate and seek compromise. He wants his way or no way at all. Public service workers in state government want better for the millions of citizens we serve. That’s why new polls show voters support the fair arbitration bill by 3-1 margins even in Republican districts, and why we will urge all lawmakers of both parties to protect public services, ensure fairness and override the governor’s veto of HB 580.”
For too many years, Illinoisans have been misled. Each of you in state government has been misled. Taxpayers who fund government have been misled. Recipients of public services, including our most vulnerable residents, have also been misled. The consequences are before us, and they are dire.
I ran for office to right these wrongs. I believe that solving our state’s crisis requires a simple first step — for someone to tell the truth. So here it is.
The truth is that Illinois is broke. Our taxpayers, who pay the highest property taxes in the nation, are maxed out and local governments continue to raise property taxes.
Expanding the size of government faster than middle-class paychecks are growing is a failing strategy. That is why I have no choice but to veto AFSCME’s arbitration bill, HB580.
It’s not because I don’t want to see you earn a better living today. I do. I veto HB580 because I want to protect the pension system that you are counting on for your retirement.
If I signed this bill, I would be subjecting all taxpayers to another $3 billion in higher taxes. That makes no sense when too many jobs have been leaving Illinois, and those hardworking Illinoisans that remain see their incomes falling.
We can make Illinois a state where our employees receive the pension benefits they were promised, where our budget is truly balanced through strong economic growth rather than destructive tax hikes, and where our state workers are not forced to work in decaying buildings with technology that is older than my children and furniture that is older than me.
I pledged on my first day in office to build a partnership with state employees, and that is exactly what we have done. Our 1970s computers are being replaced with next generation technology. With the General Assembly’s help, I pledged to put the Thompson Center up for sale and move employees to more modern space. We pushed for more flexible scheduling and ended Rod Blagojevich’s corrupt hiring system.
When Attorney General Madigan sought to shut off pay, Comptroller Munger and I defeated that misguided attack on state employees. And I have called on the General Assembly to honor Governor Quinn’s failed promise of wage increases from 2011. We must respect our commitments and not make new commitments that we cannot afford.
We also sought employees’ ideas for improvements and savings, prompting us to send out the first-ever state employee survey. The results were eye-opening.
You told me that promotions and compensation are not based on merit. You told me that agencies don’t reward creativity and innovation. I want to reward hard work and ingenuity. Unfortunately, union leadership is blocking many of these common sense ideas — ideas that you want. Rest assured, I heard your desire for these reforms loud and clear.
So my administration took action. We launched a truly meaningful merit pay program. We started a gainsharing program that will reward state employees for helping save taxpayers’ money. We implemented a “rapid results” system that removes obstacles to employee innovation and allows employees to personally change processes that impede good customer service.
But as I have noted, with a truly historic budget deficit and skyrocketing debt, our taxpayers cannot afford the added spending pressure of huge wage and health insurance increases. That is why I must veto HB580, ensuring that the legal process agreed to with AFSCME leaders and currently underway before the Labor Board, is allowed to proceed and fairly resolve any outstanding issues.
But I make this pledge: The State will honor its promises to you. We will continue to listen and build a workplace that values and rewards hard work, innovation, and creativity, all in a welcoming work environment. We will keep fighting to get you paid in full and on time. And we will continue to stand for fiscal discipline so that you and your families can again know you are, finally, being told the truth.
Illinois owes 800 service providers more than $350 million under contracts the state issued but lacks the appropriations authority to pay, according to Department of Human Services data obtained by the Fiscal Policy Center. The state issued these contracts even though Governor Rauner vetoed spending bills that would have allowed the state to make good on these contracts. Without payment for the services they have provided, many organizations are struggling to survive.
In an attempt to get desperately needed emergency funding to human service programs after more than 10 months without a state budget, the General Assembly last week approved by overwhelming margins a bill for more than $700 million in funding to social services. The nearly $250 million designated for DHS programs would allow the state to pay a sizable portion of the what the state owes under these contracts. Governor Rauner has not yet said whether he will sign this bill.
Pay Now Illinois, a coalition of 64 Illinois-based human and social service agencies and companies, is suing Governor Rauner and agency heads seeking payment of more than $100 million for services provided in FY16. The lawsuit seeks to begin immediate payments of the most overdue bills. The coalition notes that the lawsuit is the “only possible basis of preventing an even more serious cutback of services” and that once “these services and programs are cut or eliminated, it will be difficult to resume them.”
The list on Voices site is a sobering collection of IOUs.
Like the $7.7 million owed to the Ounce of Prevention Fund for its healthy families and parents-to-be programs. The fund’s president is Diana Rauner, otherwise known as the governor’s wife.
Among some of the others who got contracts and have been doing the work but not getting paid are Cardinal Health, at $11.5 million; the city of Chicago at $22.2 million just for child care; $2 million to the Easter Seals program for early intervention; $6 million to the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault; and $3.5 million to the Women’s Treatment Center for anti-addiction programs.
…Adding… Emily Miller in comments…
(T)his is only the list of contracts from DHS. There are many hundreds of millions of dollars more in contracts issued from other Departments without appropriation authority for the comptroller to pay for them.
The Illinois Republican Party made sure media outlets were aware of the video footage of Illinois state Rep. Katherine “Kate” Cloonen, D-Kankakee, and another state Democrat playing video games during a budget session last month. The image was caught and broadcast by WCIA-TV in Champaign and a television station in Rockford.
“This was a mistake, and I apologize,” Cloonen told the Daily Journal. “It won’t happen again, and that’s needless to say.” […]
She said she hasn’t cashed a single paycheck since the budget impasse started last July and has spent countless hours reaching out to social service providers, schools and other entities that need state funding to survive.
“I hear these struggles,” Cloonen said. “We work on it every day.”
If you ever wondered why Cloonen has been able to win a majority Republican district, you just found out. That was very well done. Time to move along.
The State Board of Elections today narrowed the scope of its inquiry into Frank Mautino’s campaign spending. Frank will be working with his team to amend his campaign reports by July 1 in an attempt to resolve these questions.
* From a local reporter…
The state Board of Elections found that the complaint against Frank Mautino was filed on justifiable grounds.
* Gov. Rauner is often (and justifiably) criticized for putting politics over governance. But he’s not the only one who plays this game. For years, the needs of politically targeted House Democrats have driven Speaker Madigan’s policy goals. Every now and then, he’ll muscle something through and give the targets a pass, but more often than not his political shop dominates.
So, have a look at what a Tier One target, appointed state Rep. Andy Skoog (D-LaSalle) has to say about Sen. Andy Manar’s school funding reform bill…
State Rep. Andy Skoog said his stance on school funding is simple: “No school loses funding in my district.” […]
“We need to work with all stakeholders and local educators to make sure our local schools receive their fair share and to make sure our local schools are not negatively impacted by any formula changes,” Skoog said in a phone message to The Times about questions on school funding.
Skoog’s comments go against a Senate bill Andy Manar, of Bunker Hill, is supporting within his party. That bill would change state funding to give more money to less property wealthy districts, such as Streator Elementary, which the state is recommending for “financial difficulty.” The bill, however, would result in more than $4 million of state funding lost to districts within La Salle County, including Ottawa Elementary, which itself is deficit spending and on an “early warning” list in its financial status. […]
“The taxpayers of the Illinois Valley shouldn’t be on the hook for decades of fiscal mismanagement and failures in the Chicago Public Schools system,” Skoog said in a press statement. “I wholeheartedly stand against bailing out Chicago’s schools.”
How self-centered can you get? Totally, apparently, which is par for the course in the Illinois political world.
Also, the governor has been rightly chastised for his incessant Chicago bashing, but Madigan is spanking it up as well - something he’s done for years.
* There comes a time when you gotta put your state over your party. As anyone who’s ever been around a while knows, Madigan has repeatedly done that in the past.
But while his political staff has been brilliant at doing their jobs, there’s just too much emphasis placed on the next election cycle. It has led at least partially to the dire straits we’re in now. People complain about corporations that only focus on the next quarter. Well, the House has historically had the same sort of myopic bent.
We have to somehow move beyond this. There are problems with Manar’s bill. Even he admits that. But our state’s fate shouldn’t depend on what some appointee in LaSalle County wants.
/rant
* Meanwhile…
Republican House (IL-76) candidate Jerry Long has a statement to make about Rep. Andy Skoog’s use of public funds for political campaigning.
“Rep. Andy Skoog pulled a stunt last week that shows a blatant disregard for the law. He used state money to send out a campaign mailing for political purposes when Illinois doesn’t even have a budget.
“Residents in our district got a political mailer masked as a “constituent survey” that trashed political opponents and pandered for votes from target demographic groups. Illinois law specifically prohibits politicians from using public funds for their campaigns.
“The idea that taxpayers would fund this mailer is an outrage, but this is what politicians do when they’re on Michael Madigan’s leash. They do whatever they can to get re-elected so Madigan can keep his stronghold on power in the Illinois House.
“I am confident that the voters will see right through this. November can’t come soon enough for us.”
Most of the letter in question can be seen here, here and here. Mainly standard stuff. Lots of potshots at Rauner, though. And sending these mailers when there’s no budget should be called out (which I’m sure the Dems will do as well).
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Skoog…
Jerry Long is continuing the kind of politics that has caused chaos and gridlock in Springfield and Washington. This is the kind of politics that is destroying our state and causes the inability for elected leaders to work across the aisle and get things done for our families. In addition to walking door-to-door and calling hundreds of constituents to stay in touch with residents and identify important local issues each week, I sent a survey to constituents to help me better understand residents’ concerns and to provide updates on issues at the capitol including my fight against reckless plans that slash critical state funding for cancer screenings, care for the elderly and services for victims of sexual assault.
Monday, May 16, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Daily fantasy sports is not gambling, it is my passion and a hobby.
I find myself entering a few contests a week. I honestly do not do it for the money. Instead, I enjoy the competition and challenge. I enjoy the camaraderie of playing against friends. The contests are fun and exciting! Furthermore, I enjoy daily fantasy sports because I love the skill involved. I love it so much I now write articles helping others who do not have time to do the research. I ask lawmakers to think about their constituents. Please, pass a bill to legalize and regulate the contests, but do not take away our right to continue to play.
A bipartisan group of legislators came together, and last week presented the governor and legislative leaders with a menu of options for getting to a balanced budget.
One of them — Senator Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat — says, as has previously been reported, that it calls for raising the state income tax from 3.75 percent to 4.85 percent, a corporate tax hike, closing corporate loopholes and a expanding the sales tax base. […]
“We’re looking at a beverage tax, which some have called a sugar tax or the pop tax, which would bring in approximately $375 million.” Trotter also says the package contemplates gambling expansion.
“Also on the table is that old standby of looking at the possibility of bringing gaming, or to expand gaming here in the state of Illinois,” Trotter said Sunday on WGN radio’s “Sunday Spin” program.
Judge Approves Agreement in Ashoor Rasho v John Baldwin
The Illinois Department of Corrections is pleased that the settlement agreement in the case of Ashoor Rasho v John Baldwin has been approved. U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm accepted the agreement on Friday, May 13th, noting that the Department’s plans for improving the delivery of services for mentally ill offenders are “fair and reasonable.”
The agreement requires the Department to update its policies for treatment and observation, increase out of cell time for mentally ill offenders housed in segregation, construct four residential treatment units aimed at providing individualized care for mentally ill offenders, provide an inpatient level care for offenders who require the most intensive level of treatment, and hire additional staff to accommodate the changes.
While the Department does not admit liability regarding the allegations made in the suit, it does recognize that providing adequate care for offenders with mental illness will improve their quality of life and ultimately improve safety within its correctional facilities. The Department has already taken significant steps to comply with the terms of the agreement:
· The Department has updated its policies to ensure that Mental Health Professionals are involved in all disciplinary actions taken against those identified as having a mental illness.
· The Department has revised its segregation policies for all offenders, which will continue to result in a significant reduction of segregation time.
· Construction continues on the residential treatment units at Dixon, Pontiac, and Logan Correctional Centers as well as the former IYC Joliet facility.
· The Department has hired additional mental health staff for the treatment units at Dixon and Logan.
· The Department has partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Illinois to develop curriculum and ensure all IDOC staff receives training on how to better interact with, communicate with, and understand the needs of those who require treatment.
· The Department has hired an internal legal advisor and has secured an external monitor to ensure that it remains in compliance with the agreement.
The Ashoor Rasho case has lingered in the courts since 2007 after an offender at Pontiac Correctional Center filed suit challenging the delivery of mental health services within the IDOC. The Department reached a partial agreement in 2013 but had not been able to fully implement a plan to streamline mental health services. Governor Rauner’s commitment to improving the state’s correctional system put the case on a fast track and his administration worked diligently with the IDOC legal team to reach a suitable agreement.
* Related…
* AP: Judge OKs settlement in lawsuit on mentally ill inmates
* One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight. In the meantime, the more he says they could find money other ways, the less credible he’s gonna appear when the tax hike vote hits the floor…
During his trip to Normal West High School this week, Rauner said [education] funding could come from a number of sources and raising taxes isn’t one of them.
“Number one: procurement reform,” said Rauner. “We could save a billion dollars from that. That’s a lot of school funding.”
Pension reform was another way Rauner said Illinois can save money.
“We can do it where we protect everybody’s pension – everything they’ve earned so far they get protected – but future work can have different options that may be more cost effective,” said Rauner. “That could save $1-2.5 billion.”
The governor added consolidating units of governments is an option as well. He said Illinois has 7,000 units of government.
I thought he’s said procurement reforms produced half that amount, but whatever. And I seriously doubt that any pension reform savings could be realized until the Supreme Court weighs in - and even then, I doubt those numbers are real.
…Adding… My preference is to be paid a billion-trillion dollars for Capitol Fax. But I would never say that with a straight face because people would think I was daft…
Rauner said his preference is to cut all taxes (unclear which ones) but he's open to raising them; talked workers comp as part of compromise
Like any other, the Thompsonville High School graduating class includes its cliques: the athletes, the studious ones, the artists, the comedians, the popular kids and so on.
Though, in this case, the list really isn’t that long.
These “cliques,” as described by the students, also are a bit smaller in size — comprising just a few, or even one student, each.
That’s just part of the oddities experienced by a class of only 12 students.
12 kids in the graduating class. They have a principal, with full staff and infrastructure for 12 kids.
I attended a high school with 12 kids in its graduating class many moons ago. That high school (in Hanover, IL) was eventually consolidated with some other towns.
One of the advantages of attending a small school is that when it comes to graduation, each senior can really savor the moment. Shiloh High School’s 24 members of the Class of 2016 made their graduation Friday night a very personal affair.
There are indeed advantages to attending such a small school. There are also disadvantages, and overhead cost is just one of them.
Monday, May 16, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The daily fantasy sports gambling industry is pressuring officials to pass a bailout that actually costs taxpayers. According to COGFA these Internet gaming giants would each pay just $900,000 in state taxes, but they could afford $500 million in television ads last year.
Taxpayers may actually have to subsidize regulating online sports wagering. The Illinois Gaming Board doesn’t know how much it will cost to oversee this new form of online gaming.
The state is facing an unprecedented budget crisis, but two out-of-state companies, which the Attorney General said broke law, want you to give them valuable Internet gaming licenses.
Everyone but paid fantasy sports operators agree, it’s gambling:
Proponents are telling elected officials a fantasy, but the budget crisis is real. Don’t make it worse and pass a fantasy sports bailout that actually costs the state money.
Monday is the deadline for Rauner to act on that bill that would send unresolved labor negotiations between the state and some of its employee unions to binding arbitration. If he doesn’t act, the bill automatically becomes law.
Rauner was asked last week what he plans to do with the bill. He wouldn’t say exactly, but he did say, “It’s stunning. It’s atrocious legislation.”
Gee, sounds like he’s going to sign it.
* And the governor’s office has been busily contacting editorial boards. Here’s one of the latest…
Not only does HB 580 contain the same language as SB 1229 which would allow an arbitrator – not the elected legislature or governor – to decide what could eventually be a $3 billion tax hike for Illinois taxpayers, it also contains additional language that could cost taxpayers another $400 million on top of that.
With negotiations stalled, and the previous contract having expired, the Rauner administration announced that it would not continue to pay automatic salary step increases that the state could not afford. SB 508 includes new language that would force the state to retroactively pay these step increases from the expired contract to the tune of another $400 million, according to administration sources.
*** UPDATE *** At least one guy in comments (somebody who usually knows these things) thinks the deadline is tomorrow. Either way, the Illinois Policy Institute is sending mailers against the bill. Here’s one…
In response to Republican Mark Kirk’s latest in a series of misleading attack ads, the Duckworth campaign today released a new 30-second campaign spot, entitled “Repeatedly.” The ad highlights Duckworth’s service to her country over the course of 23 years in the military, as well as her accomplishments on behalf of her fellow Veterans. By contrast, Kirk has been caught repeatedly lying about his own military record — including claims to have served in combat when he never did. Last week, the Kirk campaign acknowledged to the Associated Press that they are actively attempting to undercut Duckworth’s service record and commitment to Veterans — a line of attack that had even Republicans ’saying they don’t think voters will buy it,’ according to the AP. The ad can be viewed HERE.
“Republican Mark Kirk’s new ad isn’t just dishonest, it’s shameful — but what else would you expect from someone who has lied about his military record at least 10 times, including falsely claiming to have been in combat. Tammy Duckworth is a 23-year Veteran of the National Guard who nearly lost her life in Iraq in 2004, and who has been a fierce and accomplished advocate for her fellow Veterans since recuperating at Walter Reed. Unlike Kirk, Tammy can point to real results at the state and federal level helping our Veterans get jobs, reducing Veterans’ homelessness, increasing awareness and screening for PTSD, and addressing the scourge of Veterans’ suicide — among other things. Kirk is obviously willing to say or do anything to hold on to his Senate seat — including taking a page out of Karl Rove’s old ‘swift boat’ playbook. He should be ashamed of himself.” -Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
Ending months of speculation, Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks announced his candidacy for McHenry County Board Chairman, setting up what is sure to be a fierce race for the first-ever election for the seat.
But while the move gives the McHenry County Republican Party a hard fight for what was an uncontested race, it also gives the GOP a chance to reclaim the 63rd Illinois House District seat that Franks said he is relinquishing to run for chairman instead.
Franks, of Marengo, made the announcement Sunday morning, shortly after the Democratic Party of McHenry County voted to slate him to run against Republican nominee Michael Walkup. Walkup, a County Board member from Crystal Lake, narrowly defeated incumbent Chairman Joe Gottemoller, R-Crystal Lake, in the March 15 primary. […]
The county Democratic Party has until August to select a candidate to run against Reick, and Democratic Party of McHenry County Chairman Michael Bissett said the decision will not happen until at least after Memorial Day.
“I’ll be the face of McHenry County in both Springfield and Washington,” Franks said. “I’ll give us credibility, and I’ll be able to put McHenry County back on the map.”
Franks sought to portray the long-rumored move as a result of frustration over the lack of a state budget. But as a Democrat holding a seat in Republican territory, Franks was potentially a target of Republican Gov. Rauner and his allies this fall.
Rauner is trying to pick off as many House Democrats as he can this year and in 2018 to dethrone Speaker Michael Madigan, his chief nemesis at the state Capitol. It’s an uphill struggle for Rauner this fall, as he faces a political landscape that includes a Madigan-drawn legislative map, a presidential year when Democrats turn out in greater numbers and the prospect of Donald Trump at the top of the GOP ticket.
For Franks, running for County Board president allows him to sidestep a possible Rauner-funded challenge. While Franks got 58 percent in 2014, Rauner easily carried the district. It’s Republican territory, but Franks was able to use family name recognition to hold onto the seat since first winning it in 1998.
* Riopell asks what Franks’ departure means for “taxes, budget stalemate.” Not much…
Franks often votes against Democratic budget and tax plans, anyway. Democrats in the House have 71 members, enough to override a Rauner veto if they all stick together.
But they often haven’t, and Franks’ votes along with Democratic Reps. Scott Drury of Highwood and Ken Dunkin of Chicago have often meant Rauner’s vetoes stand.
The drama will continue to play out as a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rauner’s budget director came up with a package of budget ideas last week that includes an income tax hike. And the state hasn’t approved a full state budget that’s now in danger of becoming a year overdue.
“Maybe this will help break the deadlock, the gridlock. Because the fact is, I keep hearing about this mythical 71. You know, do all the tax increases. But it’s not real,” Franks said. “It’s a mirage.”
Democratic bench: Independence? Executive experience? It’s something Democrats are looking for as they are to face a bitter gubernatorial election in 2018. So far, no one has raised his or her hand to go up against deep-pocketed Rauner. But should Franks win the county chair seat, it could quickly propel him high on the Democrats’ short list.
An Illinois rape crisis center is suspending nearly all of its services and will lay off five employees after operating for nearly a year without state money.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reported that the nonprofit Rape Advocacy Counseling and Education Services agency will end counseling, legal advocacy and community education programs June 1.
But the Urbana center’s 24-hour crisis line will continue with $25,000 from United Way of Champaign to hire a part-time volunteer coordinator. The money comes from United Way’s emergency fund designed to help agency partners in need.
City Water, Light and Power of Springfield is among municipal utilities that would earn monthly interest on overdue state bills under a change pending with an Illinois rules-making panel.
The change also assumes eventual legislative approval of the spending.
CWLP is owed $11.7 million from overdue state electric bills. The state owes the city another $1 million for water, sewer and sanitary service, according to CWLP figures. A $2.8 million payment in April brought the total paid toward overdue bills to $6 million since the start of the state fiscal year last July. […]
A rules change proposed by the Illinois Department of Central Management Services would include municipally owned utilities under the state’s Prompt Payment Act. The change would allow for a 1 percent interest charge after 90 days for each month a bill is overdue. The change would apply to utility service provided after July 1, 2015, according to a summary of the rule at the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
While House Democrats’ priority has been to pass a comprehensive, full-fiscal year budget using a balanced approach that includes spending cuts but does not decimate needed services, Gov. Rauner’s priority puts his personal agenda first and attacks the wages and standard of living of the middle class. His insistence on passing his personal agenda has been the single roadblock to finding a true bipartisan budget solution.
However, since March 26, 2015, Gov. Rauner has approved six budget proposals that did not include any part of his personal agenda. This reaffirms my previous statements that when the governor sets aside his personal agenda that hurts middle-class families, we can make progress on the state’s most important issue. The people of Illinois want to see progress. They want to see a comprehensive full-year budget. I, too, am committed to passing comprehensive budgets for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. I also hope the governor will look at his recent budgetary actions and see that we can come together to find reasonable solutions when he sets aside his personal agenda that will hurt middle-class families and has nothing to do with the state budget.
* So, it’s difficult to disagree with all of this Tribune editorial…
Rauner’s own budget director has been involved in the talks among rank-and-file lawmakers. Those talks have addressed the possibility of raising income taxes and adding new taxes on services such as landscaping and attorney fees. The talks also have addressed some spending reforms, such as reducing costs within the state’s health care program for the poor and pushing high-end pension costs onto local governments that generate them. There’s also talk of borrowing $5 billion to pay down a backlog of overdue bills.
More borrowing? Grrr. But the point isn’t that anyone loves everything being negotiated. It’s that some serious people in Springfield are trying to cut a deal. […]
Rauner has said he is open to the possibility of raising taxes to straighten out the state’s fiscal nightmare. It is Madigan who is shutting the door to compromise, mostly for political reasons. He doesn’t want to jeopardize his members’ chances at re-election this fall with controversial votes. Madigan is doing exactly what he accused the GOP of doing in 2010 — saying “no” for campaign reasons, even though it hurts the state. […]
Judging by Madigan’s reaction to proposals being negotiated by his own members, prepare for some semblance of 2014 and 2015 in 2016. There will be no grand bargain without Mr. No.
The governor and speaker haven’t given up their partisan politics. Rather, there’s a sense that Rauner finally may have watered down his Turnaround Illinois agenda enough that a reasonable compromise can be reached. Cullerton is key to that happening.
Unlike the total tactician that is Madigan—at this point in his career, does he give a damn about anything other than doing what it takes to win the next election?—Cullerton seems to remember that his North Side voters sent him to Springfield to get stuff done. And that he has, somehow keeping together the most liberal legislative caucus the Capitol has seen in decades while on occasion rolling the dice to accomplish something.
There are two issues in particular that the Senate president is associated with: revamping the state’s broken public school aid formula and reforming the state’s hugely indebted public pension plans. Both are central to finally getting a budget deal before the General Assembly’s scheduled May 31 adjournment. […]
Whether we finally get a budget deal in the next week or two probably depends on whether the Senate president is willing to isolate the speaker. It would be risky. Lots of people have rued the day they attacked Madigan. But if someone doesn’t take him on, the state may never get a budget, despite the rising human toll.
That makes Cullerton the man on the spot. Let’s see if he’s up for it.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has been visiting schools almost every day for weeks to drive home his message that the Illinois General Assembly must approve a funding bill by the end of this month for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Rauner wants to make sure schools open on time, and he often talks about how we need good schools to make sure Illinoisans can get quality, high-paying jobs.
But much of the best job training is being done by community colleges, and the Republican governor vetoed their budget last year. He also vetoed the budget for four-year universities, which companies large and small rely on for white-collar workers. And he vetoed money for scholarships for kids from impoverished families who are trying to make a generational step-up.
What gives?
“The one important difference between K-12 schools and our university system—and, frankly, our community colleges—is the universities have other funding sources that are very, very significant that our K-12 schools do not have,” Rauner explained to reporters recently.
OK, that’s just silly. Yes, universities and community colleges charge tuition. But all public K-12 schools rely heavily on local property taxes, and they get bucks from the federal government. Also, anyone with a kid in school knows about all the special fees they have to pay every year.
We saw some examples last week of why school funding reform is so difficult to accomplish in Illinois.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin appeared with Gov. Bruce Rauner at Lyons Township High School, which is in Durkin’s district. Durkin pointed out to reporters that the school would lose $1.9 million in state funding under Sen. Andy Manar’s controversial school funding reform bill.
Leader Durkin also claimed that every school district in his House district would lose funding with Manar’s proposal. Chicago, he noted, would gain hundreds of millions of dollars. Durkin declared that he and his members could not and would not support a plan that shoveled bigtime bucks at Chicago while cutting their own districts.
-
But that’s really the whole point of Manar’s plan. He wants to shift state funding away from wealthier suburban districts like those Durkin represents (14.2 percent of Lyons Township High School students are from low-income households) to districts that have high numbers of impoverished students (86 percent of Chicago Public Schools students are from low-income households). Sen. Manar wants a “hold harmless” provision to make sure no district loses money right away, but that’ll cost quite a bit of cash, which the state doesn’t currently have.
Leader Durkin represents half of Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno’s district, so convincing both of those chamber leaders to sign off on a plan that takes state money away from their own schools is just as difficult as convincing the two Chicago Democrats who head up the House and Senate to agree to Gov. Rauner’s K-12 funding proposal that reduces Chicago’s annual appropriation by $74 million because of the state’s antiquated and complicated funding formula.
Like I said, this ain’t easy.
The governor has also dumped all over Sen. Manar’s plan. He and his his surrogates have slammed the proposal as a Chicago “bailout” and have vowed campaign reprisals.
It’s not exactly the same, of course, but, in a way, Sen. Manar is to Senate President John Cullerton what former state Sen. Barack Obama was to Senate President Emil Jones, who helped mentor Obama’s rise to power.
Manar is Cullerton’s former chief of staff and Cullerton is helping him any way he can. He’s essentially Cullerton’s golden boy.
There is no doubt that Sen. Manar has worked this piece of legislation harder than any individual has worked a bill in recent memory. He has traveled from one end of the state to the other, meeting with school superintendents and other education leaders in an attempt to cobble together a workable plan. He was on Chicago’s South Side just the other day, which produced smirks from some Republicans who believe he’s attempting to use this issue to advance his political career.
But the reality is Manar has Cullerton’s full support, and Cullerton has been far more cooperative about coming up with a deal to end the months-long governmental stalemate than has House Speaker Michael Madigan. So, maybe the governor and his peeps should lay off the rhetoric a bit because things are tough enough.
Cullerton allowed Manar to hold a vote on his funding plan last week, even though Manar and other Democrats went out of their way to declare that the bill needs a lot more work.
Republicans claimed that forcing the vote could very well make it more difficult to reach an agreement on education spending. Many freely admit that the current system is horribly flawed. But the school funding formula is so crazily complicated that any successful revamp will take serious bipartisan effort. And, indeed, talks have been held to devise a more easily constructed “bridge” between today’s system and a future more in line with Manar’s vision.
But the Republicans say by running Manar’s bill instead of negotiating, the Senate Democrats may have very well hardened positions on their side of the aisle. Only one Republican voted for it, after all.
So the momentum has shifted to the other chamber, where a special committee led by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie is attempting to construct an alternative. But there are those who believe Madigan isn’t serious about getting something done.
But someone had better come up with something soon because Manar said last week there was no way he will vote for the governor’s K-12 appropriations bill because it slashes funding for schools in his district, as did other Senate Democrats. And even some Downstate Republicans who voted against Manar’s bill would prefer a different formula to prevent their own schools from losing state money under the current formula.
* This photo I took sums up how I will remember my good friend Grant, who passed away this week. He’s the guy in the funny straw hat and the (of course) US Grant t-shirt. Always the joker…
A happy, kind man surrounded by close friends he loved and who loved him, cracking endless corny jokes and kicking back to enjoy a day on the water.
* Grant had a dog years ago he named Stella. He said he did it so he could stand on his back porch and yell “Stel-la!!!” like Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire.
He was an odd bird, that one. Completely irreplaceable. It feels like I’ve lost a physical part of me, and I know I’m not the only one.
It all rolls into one
And nothing comes for free
There’s nothing you can hold
For very long
And when you hear that song
Come crying like the wind
It seems like all this life
Was just a dream
To: Agency Ethics Officers
From: Georgia Man, Chief Compliance Officer and Associate General Counsel
Re: Enforcement of State Officials and Employees Ethics Act Political Activity Ban Date: May 6, 2016
The State Officials and Employee Ethics Act (5 ILCS 430) (the “Ethics Act”) makes clear that State employees shall not perform prohibited political activity on State time, using State resources, or on State property (5 ILCS 430/5-15). The Ethics Act states that “a person is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if that person intentionally violates any provision of Section 5-15….” Furthermore, the Ethics Act states that a State employee who intentionally violates Section 5-15 is subject to “discipline or discharge by the appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority.”
Recently, we have received questions and complaints about political flyers and pamphlets being displayed in the workplace. These flyers and pamphlets trigger our obligations under the Ethics Act and Executive Order 2016-04 to promptly notify the Office of the Executive Inspector General (the “OEIG”) of alleged misconduct, including potential violations of the Ethics Act’s ban on prohibited political activity.
Such behavior is not unexpected as we near the close of the legislative session in an election year. Nevertheless, we must ensure that we continue to comply with the obligations of the Ethics Act, and that public employees continue to channel their enthusiasm for the political process into lawful methods of discourse.
Accordingly, ethics officers must take appropriate steps to ensure that prohibited political activity is not occurring on State-compensated time, using State resources, or on State property. Ethics officers are directed to take the following actions with respect to political flyers and pamphlets in the workplace:
1. Remind employees of their obligations under the Ethics Act with respect to prohibited political activity, and the potential penalties involved for violation of Section 5-15 of the Ethics Act;
2. Promptly report any information concerning potential violations of the Ethics Act to the OEIG; and
3. Remove any flyers or posters that contain political messaging.
If any State employee raises concerns to you about political flyers or pamphlets in the workplace, steps 2 and 3 above should be followed. The State of Illinois does not tolerate retaliation against State employees who raise genuine concerns about unethical, inappropriate, or illegal behavior, including State employees who report unlawful political activity in the workplace to their Ethics Officer and/or the OEIG.
The State appreciates and welcomes the free speech rights of employees and the public. However, the State must ensure that whenever members of the public visit State facilities, there is no appearance of impropriety or partiality on the part of those delivering State services. Moreover, the law permits the State to implement procedures to avoid such appearance.
Um, wow. Seems a bit harsh.
* So, this flier began appearing…
Heh.
* Meanwhile, the Illinois Policy Institute is having its own rally…
Taxpayers have remained silent for far too long.
Join us on May 17 for a Taxpayer Advocacy Day, and make your voice heard in the Statehouse.
DATE AND TIME
Tuesday, May 17
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
LOCATION
Illinois Statehouse
Howlett Building
501 S. 2nd Street
Springfield, IL 62756
Register online at Eventbrite.
Invite your friends on Facebook.
Our team will provide $40 gift cards to cover travel costs.
$40 gift cards? Interesting. I guess that’s easier than arranging bus transportation.
Friday, May 13, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exelon was caught this week with their hand in the cookie jar.
Exelon, the only company ever kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association and the company single-handedly preventing a fix to Illinois’ broken RPS claims the near zeroing-out RPS funding in their multi-billion dollar bailout bill was a two-page “drafting error.”
* Permanent Nuclear Subsidy – Continues for the “useful life of the plant.”
* Subsidy in Advance – Exelon gets their subsidy a year in advance by projecting revenues and costs.
* Windfall Profits – if energy prices go up, Exelonkeeps the windfall profits.
* ComEd Gets Back in the Generation Biz – breaks 1997 deregulation agreement preventing ComEd from owning generation.
* Demand Charge Rate Hike – First in nation “demand charge” will raise rates for nearly ½ of ComEd customers.
* Energy Efficiency – ComEd to earn first-ever guaranteed profits on efficiency programs.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. JUST SAY NO TO THE EXELON BAILOUT.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
* Like many of us, I own some of the late Bob Waldmire’s fantastically complicated map posters. Here’s a tiny part of one Bob did of Springfield many moons ago…
All in!! $2,000,000.00 from Illinois Republican Party to House Republican Organization. https://t.co/PuARKRLiGh
— Trib IL CampaignCash (@ILCampaignCash) May 13, 2016
* Meanwhile, the state GOP is sending out a bunch of identical press releases attacking numerous Democratic legislators over redistricting. Here’s just one…
Will Sen. Tom Cullerton Side with the People or with Mike Madigan?
“Tom Cullerton owes it to the voters to make clear where he stands on Mike Madigan’s lawsuit to stop redistricting reform. Democrats already played political games this session to kill redistricting reform in the legislature. Now, they are trying to block voters from having the chance to vote on it in November.
If Tom Cullerton was truly committed to fair maps and stopping the Speaker’s disrespect to the voters of Illinois, he should refuse any support from the Illinois Democratic Party or Mike Madigan until the lawsuit is dropped.” – Illinois GOP Spokesman Steven Yaffe
Illinois Democratic Party General Counsel Mike Kasper filed a lawsuit Wednesday trying to kick a non-partisan redistricting reform Constitutional Amendment off the Illinois ballot this November.
From The Chicago Tribune:
The people of Illinois want to change the state constitution so that lawmakers don’t draw their own districts. House Speaker Mike Madigan is determined not to let that change happen.
Once again, a citizens’ group has collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to put a proposed redistricting amendment to a vote in November. And once again, Madigan’s proxy has gone to court to try to block the measure.
Independent Maps, a nonpartisan coalition, raised $3.6 million and circulated thousands of petitions because lawmakers, who could put an amendment on the ballot without spending all that time or money, refuse to do so — for obvious reasons.
Those lawmakers cannot possibly harbor any doubts that their constituents want this change. Poll after poll after poll has shown an overwhelming majority of voters support having an independent commission draw the maps. The Independent Maps campaign is the third such attempt since 2010.
The group submitted its petitions last week, assembled in a single binder as required by law. It was 35 feet thick and contained twice the required number of signatures, the better to survive the inevitable challenge before the Illinois State Board of Elections.
That’s separate from the attack launched Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court. Michael Kasper, general counsel for the Illinois Democratic Party — chaired by Madigan — filed a lawsuit claiming the proposal runs afoul of the rules under which citizens can amend the constitution.
Friday, May 13, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
When your car breaks down or the air conditioner stops cooling your home, paying for a repair can cause a serious strain on the family’s finances, in addition to causing emotional stress. You need a trusted ally who will help guide you through your financial options when times get tough. The credit union difference is based upon a strong relationship between credit unions and their members. Credit union staff go out of their way to assist members in times of need. For credit unions, members are their top priority, not profits. Be it offering monetary assistance or advice, credit unions stand by their members during times of need.
Credit Unions are member based, not-for-profit financial organizations that believe in the philosophy of “People Helping People”. For more information on the credit union difference, go to ASmarterChoice.org.
Chicago Public Schools has been bracing principals for school budget cuts of at least 20 percent for the upcoming fiscal year, the district acknowledged Thursday.
That devastating math is based on an estimated $1 billion deficit to CPS’ operating budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
CPS has offered scheduling training so principals can allocate staff in smarter ways — and maybe share positions, too, said Nate Pietrini, principal of Hawthorne Elementary Scholastic Academy.
But “the reality is scheduling or sharing of resources isn’t going to close a $1.1 billion budget hole,” he said, adding that only the state can do that.
The Illinois State Board of Education, following an investigation of the district’s finances, said CPS is planning to cut $120 million in its coming budget year. ISBE officials said that with those cuts, CPS can stave off a “negative operational budget” until its 2019 fiscal year.
Without the cuts, ISBE said, CPS would have no cash balance to pay its bills as early as its 2018 fiscal year.
Even after borrowing money through a strategy that resembles a payday loan, the district projects it would end its current budget year with about $24 million in cash. That amounts to less than two days’ worth of operating expenses.
There will be a Governor’s Prayer Breakfast this spring after all, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office said Thursday. The event is now planned to take place at the Executive Mansion on May 26.
A spokesman for the volunteer organization that puts on the breakfast told The State Journal-Register Monday that the event was being postponed this year and was unlikely to take place – breaking an annual tradition that began in 1963.
The governor’s office told the newspaper Thursday that Rauner was disappointed that the event wasn’t going to happen, so the office reached out to several local and statewide organizations to see if they would be willing to continue the tradition.
Glenn Hodas, a member of the all-volunteer organization that had been planning the breakfast, had said Monday that the state’s budget impasse made it difficult to find speakers, and that lawmakers were busy with session negotiations.
“I appreciate learning from you what the governor intends to do,” Hodas told a reporter Thursday evening, “and we’re planning on meeting to discuss it.”
Hodas, you will recall, was Sen. Sam McCann’s media advisor.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, thought he had the votes to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of legislation that would have empowered the state’s largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The bill would have limited Rauner’s authority to bargain during contract negotiations. So Rauner vetoed it. Every Illinois taxpayer should have applauded him for doing so.
But when the motion came before the House to override his veto, it crashed and burned. Madigan didn’t have enough votes. One of his caucus members, Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, failed to show up. Dunkin was out of town when Madigan had to have every Democratic vote.
Dunkin’s absence and his outspokenness about Madigan’s iron fist cost him his political career. Madigan ran a candidate against Dunkin in the March primary and beat him.
The man got 32 percent of the vote. He won three precincts, and those were all partial precincts. He spent $1.3 million and others spent even more. The President himself came out against the guy after Dunkin attempted to turn a public presidential putdown into a ringing endorsement. Members of the Black Caucus, which he once led until they believed he became far too cozy with Rauner, were so disgusted with him they wouldn’t lift a finger to help his campaign. He was accused of attempting to choke a woman with a phone cord. He was also accused of paying people $50 cash per vote.
* Last month, I wrote a subscriber-only piece about the amazing progress women have made at the Statehouse since I started working there. Among the many replies I received was this…
I would say that the inappropriate conduct continues. I’ve had male representatives/senators say or do really inappropriate things to me or to my staff. Dunkin’s demise addresses some of that.
If the Commission fails to adopt and file with the Secretary of State a redistricting plan by June 30 of the year following a Federal decennial census, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Judge of the Supreme Court who is not affiliated with the same political party as the Chief Justice shall appoint jointly by July 31 a Special Commissioner for Redistricting.
Currently, if the redistricting process is deadlocked, Democrats and Republicans basically flip a coin to decide whose map is adopted. Under the new proposal by the Independent Maps coalition, if the process becomes deadlocked, the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and the justice of the opposing party with the most seniority appoint someone to draw the new boundaries.
And if the two justices don’t agree? Maybe they can play rock-paper-gavel.
Our Supreme Court is currently a very amicable body. But things can change, especially with all the money that’s floating around out there and the importance of that single appointment.
* The Supreme Court’s changed role is the subject of a Tribune editorial…
The proposed amendment falls outside the legislative realm, supposedly, because it would assign mapmaking tasks to entities outside the General Assembly. (The plan relies on the state’s auditor general to select a review panel to name the members of the redistricting commission, for example, and tweaks the Supreme Court’s role in breaking a deadlock.) […]
The language of the constitution has been twisted and tortured beyond reason by those gotcha arguments. The section that spells out how citizens can amend it might as well say that they can’t.
That’s the version Kasper is selling, at least. We hope the judge doesn’t buy it this time.
“There is gonna be a time, very soon, that I am gonna run again. My biggest obstacle in making the decision was my wife. And she’s warming up to the idea. She told me, she said, ‘There’s gotta be two things, I want two things: Number one is, you can’t finance your own campaign… she’s 100 percent right.. I did it and told her I would never do it again. But more importantly, you know what she says to me? She says ‘Scott, I don’t want you to run unless you have a plan on how to fix whatever it is you want to fix.’ Does that make sense? You have people who run just to run. You have people who run because they’re arrogant. And they have no plan.”
File this under: #ThingsCanAlwaysGetWorse
But if he’s not financing his own campaign, you gotta wonder who would kick in that kind of dough for him. So, maybe we’re safe after all.
* Toward the end of the interview, Cohen gave out his AOL e-mail address and said…
“There’s a bunch of intelligent people that watch this show, they’re smart people. I wanna ask if there’s anybody that has a plan or an idea. How to fix the budget. How to bring revenue in creatively. Um, how to fix the pension problem that we have. I’m not saying ‘Fire this person, fire that person.’ That’s all bull—t. I want somebody that has a real idea, a real plan. Contact me. And I’d love to hear what they have to say.”
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey has been indicted on federal corruption charges in connection with an ongoing investigation into his business dealings with a Florida doctor, authorities said Wednesday.
The indictment charges the Democrat, who has held his seat since 2006, with 14 counts, including bribery and conspiracy, over his ties to Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida optometrist and the politician’s longtime friend. […]
The indictment states that Menendez accepted nearly $1 million worth of “lavish gifts” and campaign contributions from Melgen in exchange for using the power of his Senate office to influence the outcome of ongoing contractual and Medicare billing disputes worth tens of millions of dollars to Melgen.
Melgen was also seeking Menendez’s support of the visa applications of several of Melgen’s girlfriends, according to the indictment.
Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, says the nuclear agreement with Iran “condemns the next generation to cleaning up a nuclear war in the Persian Gulf.” […]
“The president will make this a viciously partisan issue, leading most Democrats to standing with the Iranians and hopefully losing the next election on this point,” Kirk said. “He will ask the Democrats all to stand with Iran and make sure that we can’t get two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate.”
Asked if any Democrats disagreed with the president, Kirk pointed to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, who he believed “has just been indicted maybe on the crime of being against the Iran deal.”
Kirk said he believed the only reason the president supported legislation from Republican Sen. Bob Corker, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, that allowed Congress to review the deal was because he “wants…to get nukes to Iran.”
At least one Republican is coming to aid Menendez: Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois. He argues the president (who comes from the same state) is exacting revenge on Menendez because he was using his position on the Foreign Affairs Committee to undermine the administration’s nuclear talks with Iran.
“I worry that in Chicago they play a kind of politics just to destroy and bury our enemies,” Kirk accused. “And this is kind of Chicago politics with Bob.”
Kirk doesn’t have evidence, but he says if you think New Jersey politics are rough, just come to Chicago where the president was groomed.
“You know, the case of what Justice Department people come to the president and say, ‘Hey, we were thinking about nailing Menendez to the wall.’ I think the president probably says, ‘Yeah, go for it.’”
That’s a farfetched conspiracy, according to many observers — even allies of Menendez, including U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk hasn’t let up on his insistence that President Obama is using his power as president to lash out at a political enemy.
At a fundraising event last month in Chicago, the Illinois Republican can be heard on audio defending indicted New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat, while accusing Obama of targeting Menendez because of his stance on Iran.
“And let me say something about Bob Menendez. I believe that Bob Menendez was indicted solely on the crime of opposing the President on Iran,” Kirk is heard saying on a recording provided to POLITICO. […]
On Thursday, Kirk’s campaign shrugged off the audio, saying Kirk has stood by his statement and made similar remarks in the past.
So, he’s repeatedly defending a fellow US Senator who’s been indicted on 8 bribery counts and his opponent is the DC insider and is “everything that’s wrong with Washington”?
* I got a whole lot of press releases from GOP legislators yesterday, including this one…
The House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that would send $700 million in designated funds to human service agencies that have been caught in the state’s budget battle. In response to the bipartisan support given to SB 2038, State Representative Peter Breen (R-Lombard) has issued the following statement:
“While Speaker Madigan continues his efforts to score political points through continued gridlock, today we saw a more of a new trend in Springfield: Democrat lawmakers coming back to the negotiating table with Republicans to fund vital Illinois programs. Just as we did a few weeks ago with emergency funding for higher education, today we approved $700 million in stopgap funding for our human service charities.”
* And this one…
Calling it a major victory for Republicans who have been fighting for responsible and balanced spending in Springfield, State Representative Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove) applauded the House’ 111-0-3 vote on Thursday that will send $700 million in dedicated and available funds to human services agencies that have been caught in the crossfire of the budget battle.
“House Republicans have advocated for over a year now and have beseeched our Democrat colleagues to engage in responsible budgeting and spending,” said Sandack. “Throughout the year we have opposed spending money we didn’t have and making funding promises we couldn’t keep. Today, we matched spending with identified revenue to provide stopgap funding for struggling human service agencies.”
A stopgap appropriations bill to immediately fund social services agencies will likely sit idle on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk.
The measure, approved by both the Illinois House and Senate on Thursday would have authorized spending about $450 million from a human services fund, and another $250 million from special funds to be spent on items such as foreclosure prevention, and affordable housing.
The governor can sit on this thing for 60 days, and that appears to be the case for now here. So, all that glorious talk yesterday was for show. Expect a Speaker Madigan press release about GOP gamesmanship in 3… 2…
Despite Republican support for the plan in the House, the governor was lukewarm on the idea of signing another stopgap funding bill, saying Thursday that he preferred a comprehensive budget compromise to a quick fix. […]
The Rauner administration also laid groundwork for a future veto, sending a memo to lawmakers detailing a glitch in the bill’s language that could prohibit funding operational expenses for human services programs. For instance, the memo contends an HIV/AIDS program within the Department of Public Health couldn’t pay for administrative costs like lab testing or medical supplies under the plan.
Emily Miller, director of policy and advocacy with Voices for Illinois Children, dubbed the appropriations bill “emergency cash” — not a stopgap — while urging a full budget for social service agencies.
“Only a budget can actually provide some stability and let them have the lines of credit returned to them. This doesn’t really do that,” Miller said. “We’ve got to agree on new revenue and a total budget package.”
We absolutely need a real budget. No doubt about it.
But if it doesn’t happen, he needs to sign that bill.
There is widespread speculation that state Rep. Jack Franks will be the candidate that McHenry County Democrats caucus in Sunday to run against Republican Michael Walkup for McHenry County Board chairman.
Franks, D-Marengo, already is on the November ballot seeking re-election to the 63rd District House seat he currently holds. He simultaneously can run for both offices, although he likely wouldn’t serve in both if he were to win both.
Franks and party leaders aren’t talking publicly about the speculation, but if it’s true, what a monster race that would turn out to be.
November will be the first time voters popularly elect their County Board chairman. County Board members themselves have chosen their chairman every two years after the fall election. Not afraid to get involved in county politics, Franks has been an advocate for years for county government’s top official to be elected by voters. And voters in 2014 approved a referendum to popularly elect the chairman beginning this year.
* Since he doesn’t want to confirm anything, I asked Rep. Franks a hypothetical question this morning: Is it possible, hypothetically, to run for both the House and the county board chairmanship at the same time?
Caught on camera: Lawmakers play video games during budget debate
Investigation reveals diverted attention from some members
Instead of eyes on the budget, lawmakers had their eyes on their phones.
When people vote a lawmaker into office, they’d expect them to always be focused on their job. But during a budget session in April, some lawmakers played video games during a major debate over higher education funding.
State Representative Mike Smiddy (D-Port Byron) was found playing a game at his seat, and he didn’t apologize for his divided attention.
“I knew about the higher education bill. I had been in caucus, I knew what it was going to do for my schools both Western and Blackhawk,” Smiddy said.
He was asked if playing the game gave a bad impression to voters, or if it was a mistake to pull out the app during a debate funding hundreds of millions to colleges and universities. Smiddy had no answer.
Another lawmaker, State Representative Katherine Cloonen (D-Kankakee) was seen playing Candy Crush during the same debate. She put it away after she saw our cameras overhead.
She said in a statement she’s “been focused on working to end the budget impasse.” But she did not apologize or express any regret for playing games.
Hilarious.
* The Illinois Republican Party pounced…
#CandyCrushCloonen Doesn’t Have Time To Pass a Balanced Budget
Democrat State Rep. Kate Cloonen shamelessly plays videos games on the House floor
Just days ago, Democrat State Representative Kate Cloonen was caught shamelessly playing video games during session on the House floor.
Cloonen, unaware that voters in the 79th House District didn’t send her to Springfield to play video games, eventually stopped when she became mindful that she was on the House floor and there were onlookers in the gallery.
When asked on the matter, Cloonen said “she’s been focused on working to end the budget impasse.” When Cloonen was further pressed on the issue, Matt Porter, Capital Bureau Chief at WCIA-TV, says, “[Cloonen] did not apologize or express any regret for playing games.”
“If playing Candy Crush during session is being ‘focused,’ God help us from whatever havoc Kate Cloonen will wreak on Illinois whenever she decides to put down her iPad,” said Aaron DeGroot, spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party. “Illinois has gone nearly a full calendar-year without a budget. Our unpaid bill backlog is exploding, as is our unfunded pension liabilities. House Democrats like Kate Cloonen would rather play Mike Madigan’s ‘Game of Drones’ than pass a balanced budget. Legislators must act before it’s game over for Illinois.”
I understand why the party jumped down her throat, but this is probably not a road that anybody wants to go down. Just sayin…
“Like other House Democrats, Mike Smiddy would rather play Mike Madigan’s ‘Game of Drones’ than pass a balanced budget,” said Aaron DeGroot, spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party. “Smiddy seems to be blissfully unaware that Illinois has gone nearly a full calendar-year without a budget, has an exploding unpaid bill backlog and unfunded pension liability, among other financial woes. Legislators like Smiddy must act before it’s game over for Illinois.”
A hike in the state income tax, an expansion of the sales tax and $2.5 billion in cuts are among the key budget recommendations that rank-and-file lawmakers have sent to top legislative leaders, sources told the Sun-Times.
A bipartisan working group dubbed the “Budgeteer” group proposed the package for $5.4 billion in new revenue and sent it to the leaders on Wednesday.
Gov. Bruce Rauner said he is generally “cheering” the group’s work, but a top Republican leader cautioned that they are not “anywhere close to a deal.”
Illinois Budget Director Tim Nuding has been part of the talks, and has given Rauner some of the revenue numbers.
Under the proposal, the state would bring in roughly $5.4 billion through a combination of tax increases. That includes raising the personal income tax rate from 3.75 percent to as much as 4.85 percent, expanding the sales tax to certain services and eliminating some corporate tax breaks. […]
Meanwhile, spending would be cut by roughly $2.5 billion. That includes a reduction in health care spending for the poor, saving $750 million in pension costs by ending late-career salary spikes and requiring schools and universities to pick up employee pension costs above a $180,000 yearly salary, along with unspecified changes in how the state buys goods and services. In addition, the state would no longer be required to pay back $450 million it borrowed from special funds last year to plug a separate budget hole.
The state also would borrow $5 billion to pay down a backlog of bills expected to hit $10 billion by July 1. That debt has skyrocketed this year, in part because of the tax rollback, which created a $4 billion hole that only grew worse during the impasse. That’s because while there isn’t a full budget, more than 90 percent of government operations have been kept running through various laws and court orders, but big-ticket items like higher education, prisons and social services have only been partially funded or not funded at all.
The loan would be paid back over five years, with the goal that the state would carry a more manageable load of unpaid bills of about $3 billion a year.
It also includes $2.4 billion in cuts to state spending to areas like Medicaid, changing state purchasing laws and adopting pension reforms Rauner outlined in his budget proposal. […]
Sources said the plan would extract about $400 million in savings from Medicaid without a rate reduction or elimination of services. About $750 million would be saved by implementing pension changes Rauner sought in his budget speech. That includes schools and universities picking up pension costs for employees who make more than $180,000 a year. […]
Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, also tried to tamp down expectations.
“There’s no agreement with the group,” Crespo said. “It was basically an exercise to put together a balanced budget. There’s no agreement in the group. We just agreed to present this to the leaders and see how they react and what direction they give us afterward.”
The lawmakers also outlined $2.4 billion in savings, including a $400 million reduction in Medicaid spending, about $450 million from letting the state off the hook for repaying money borrowed from special funds to plug holes in last year’s budget, and $750 million from pension changes Rauner has proposed. […]
Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, who is a member of the bipartisan budget group but declined to go into detail about its work, said the conversations among lawmakers have been “sometimes heated but generally productive.”
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
When your car breaks down or the air conditioner stops cooling your home, paying for a repair can cause a serious strain on the family’s finances, in addition to causing emotional stress. You need a trusted ally who will help guide you through your financial options when times get tough. The credit union difference is based upon a strong relationship between credit unions and their members. Credit union staff go out of their way to assist members in times of need. For credit unions, members are their top priority, not profits. Be it offering monetary assistance or advice, credit unions stand by their members during times of need.
Credit Unions are member based, not-for-profit financial organizations that believe in the philosophy of “People Helping People”. For more information on the credit union difference, go to ASmarterChoice.org.
House Democrats today rejected a common-sense proposal pushed by Republican legislators to add funding for critical state correctional facilities to SB2038, a stopgap funding bill aimed at helping social services providers.
“House Democrats today chose to put Mike Madigan’s political war ahead of public safety and what is good for their own districts,” said Illinois GOP spokesman Steven Yaffe. “They rejected a reasonable Republican amendment that would have provided critical emergency funding for state correctional institutions. It’s outrageous that House Democrats are willing to put prison workers and public safety at risk just to avoid crossing Mike Madigan.”
SB2038, the $700 million social service stopgap bill passed the House today, does not fund critical Department of Corrections facilities. Without any amendments, this bill lacks funding for facilities in the following districts.
The administration has been pushing this idea for weeks, but the HDems have so far resisted.
Sigh.
On the other hand, Rauner did veto their approp bill last year.
* If you haven’t read it yet, click here for House Speaker Michael Madigan’s comments to Jordan Abudayyeh about his plan to “continue to do budget-making without references to changes in collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and prevailing wage.”
* The Question: Should Madigan resist any and all attempts to reform collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and prevailing wage in relation to a new state budget? Or should he try and find a reasonable compromise? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exelon was caught this week with their hand in the cookie jar.
Exelon, the only company ever kicked out of the American Wind Energy Association and the company single-handedly preventing a fix to Illinois’ broken RPS claims the near zeroing-out RPS funding in their multi-billion dollar bailout bill was a two-page “drafting error.”
* Permanent Nuclear Subsidy – Continues for the “useful life of the plant.”
* Subsidy in Advance – Exelon gets their subsidy a year in advance by projecting revenues and costs.
* Windfall Profits – if energy prices go up, Exelonkeeps the windfall profits.
* ComEd Gets Back in the Generation Biz – breaks 1997 deregulation agreement preventing ComEd from owning generation.
* Demand Charge Rate Hike – First in nation “demand charge” will raise rates for nearly ½ of ComEd customers.
* Energy Efficiency – ComEd to earn first-ever guaranteed profits on efficiency programs.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. JUST SAY NO TO THE EXELON BAILOUT.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
Illinois Democrats are proposing $700 million to partially finance various human service programs that have gone without state funding since last summer because there’s no budget.
A House committee on Wednesday unanimously advanced the bill to the full chamber. The measure would use $450 million from a fund dedicated to human services and $250 million from other special funds. […]
The money would go to programs including homelessness prevention, rental assistance, addiction treatment, and veterans’ rehabilitation.
The proposal would fund 46 percent of what human service programs expected to receive had the state budget taken effect July 1.
Officials with Rauner’s office threw cold water on the social services plan, saying they feared the legislation is a signal that Democrats will pull out of behind-the-scenes negotiations aimed at striking a comprehensive deal, which has thus far remained elusive.
Further, if lawmakers continue to empty those funds, there will be less flexibility for Rauner down the road when the next budget emergency arises – such as the operation of prisons, where vendors are also waiting to be paid.
* That approp bill passed today. A senior administration official passed along this memo from the governor’s budget office which claims there are some bigtime problems with the bill…
Senate Bill 2038 has been put forward as a stop gap measure to fund some state programs currently not funded due to lack of appropriation authority.
The language contained in section 996 would prohibit some agencies from funding some of the very programs that this bill purports to fund. By prohibiting the use of funds for operational expenditures, some of the programs, which are operational in nature, would not be able to be funded. The prohibitive language is as follows:
“Section 996. No appropriation authority granted in this Act shall be used for personal services, state contribution for employee group insurance, contractual services, travel, commodities, equipment, permanent improvements, land, electronic data processing, operation of automotive equipment, or telecommunications services, as those terms are defined in Section 13 of the State Finance Act.”
We believe this provision clearly prohibits spending from operational line items which would be needed to implement some of the spending priorities outlined in this bill.
In fact, the appropriations language that authorizes funding for these programs references that the funding can be used for “administrative expenses” over 30 times in the bill, then prohibits the use of administrative expenses to carry out the programs in Section 996. Section 996 language is extraordinarily uncommon and seems to run counter to the purpose of the bill.
A few examples:
Dept on Aging
• Senior Help Line is a call center. Aging could not pay the related phone line charges and communication equipment used to support the call center.
Military Affairs
• Lincoln’s Challenge could not pay for food, educational/instructional materials and supplies to support the program.
Healthcare and Family Services
• Information Technology Infrastructure is an intergovernmental agreement with Michigan to develop new eligibility system. These expenditures would fall under contractual services and electronic data processing, which would be prohibited by Article 996.
Dept of Human Services
• Cornerstone is the main reporting and billing system for programs such as Early Intervention. A third party administers this system and DHS would not be able to pay the vendors to maintain the system or upgrade the computer software.
Dept of Public Health
• HIV/AIDS ADAP program could not purchase medical supplies, pay for lab testing or pay insurance premiums for clients.
Oy.
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), who chairs the Human Services Appropriations Committee, just called to say that the language was “intentional.” It wasn’t an error. Harris explained it was done this way to prevent the administration from transfering the money around for administrative costs.
But GOMB makes a good point that there could very well be some unintended consequences, so we’ll see what happens now that it’s in the Senate.
* Jordan Abudayyeh asked House Speaker Michael Madigan about his spring session goals…
“My goal for the remainder of the session is to continue to do budget-making without references to changes in collective bargaining, workers’ compensation and prevailing wage. And my further goal is not to agree with the governor to use the government to bring down the wages and the standard of living of middle class families, to send injured workers to the emergency room or to welfare, or to continue to hurt the vulnerable in our society. Those are my goals.”
An Illinois judge on Thursday tentatively set a trial date well before the November general election in a 7-year-old workplace retaliation lawsuit accusing Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth of ethics violations while she led the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
Union County Judge David Boie rejected an effort by government lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to go to trial in August and remain a campaign issue for Duckworth. The Illinois congresswoman is trying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk in November. Duckworth did not attend the hearing. […]
Duckworth’s supporters call it a twice-dismissed nuisance suit resuscitated to embarrass her politically amid a campaign with national implications, as Democrats seek a net gain of at least four seats in 2016 to take back the Senate majority Republicans won in 2014.
The case was initially scheduled to go to trial in April and remained largely idle as Duckworth’s accusers took more than three years to provide certain documents requested by the state.
This week [Kirk’s] campaign launched an online ad featuring a hearing on a lawsuit two Illinois VA employees filed against Duckworth, accusing her of retaliating against them when she led the agency- complaints that have twice been dismissed. Kirk also has repeated claims by two whistleblowers who say Duckworth ignored their reports of misconduct at a federal VA hospital west of Chicago.
They point to two employees at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital near Chicago who say they took their concerns to Duckworth and other Democrats but heard nothing, and to an Illinois Auditor General report of the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs that found inadequate financial controls and programs that were supposed to be implemented but weren’t during the time Duckworth was leading the office.
The two other employees, whose lawsuit is in court Thursday, say she tried to fire one employee and gave another a bad review that cost her raises after the women complained about facility leadership at an Illinois VA home, where they still work. Duckworth was appointed to lead the Illinois VA in 2006 by now-imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Alarmed by chronic problems with lead-contaminated water in downstate Galesburg, federal officials are urging local officials to provide bottled water or filters to residents where testing at household taps found high levels of the toxic metal.
Though the small Knox County city stands out for repeatedly exceeding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lead standards, a Tribune analysis of state data has identified nearly 200 other public water systems in Illinois — serving more than 800,000 people in all — where test results exceeded federal standards during at least one year since 2004.
In the Chicago region, about a dozen water systems exceeded the EPA standard at least twice during the same time period, including Berwyn and Forest View in Cook County, York Township in DuPage County, Barrington and Volo in Lake County, and Marengo and Richmond in McHenry County. […]
Drinking water typically is lead-free when it leaves a treatment plant but can be contaminated as it passes through or stagnates in lead service lines that connect homes to water mains, as well as lead plumbing inside homes. The hazards are widespread in Illinois, which has a large number of older homes and more lead service lines than any other state. [Emphasis added.]
We’re probably gonna need some national help with this.
Miller says she is disappointed with the finger pointing that has gone on for the last 10 months but in some ways, it’s fitting. “Both sides blame the other side, and maybe they’re right to do that because they’re both to blame,” she says. “One of the most devastating things about this crisis is that it was absolutely preventable, and everyone knew it was coming. And now that we’re here, nobody seems to want to take responsibility for it.”
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, a bill with strong bipartisan, labor, and community support called the Next Generation Energy Plan (NGEP) was introduced in Springfield that will drive Illinois’ clean energy future, while protecting and creating thousands of jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
Specifically, the NGEP will:
• Introduce a Zero Emission Standard, keeping the state’s at-risk, nuclear facilities operating, saving 4,200 jobs, and preserving over $1.2 billion in economic activity annually.
• Enhance the reliability and security of the power grid
• Jumpstart solar energy in Illinois with rebates and more than $140 million per year in new funding for solar development.
• Nearly double energy efficiency programs, creating $4.1 billion in energy savings
• Provide $1 billion of funding for low-income assistance.
• Reduce the fixed customer charge for energy delivery by 50% and create equitable rates, giving customers more control over their bills.
• Strengthen and expand the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly: Vote YES on the Next Generation Energy Plan by May 31 to avoid lost jobs, economic activity and increased carbon emissions in our state.
An alternative to the paper license pocket card is now available for the majority of licensed professionals regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). An estimated 1.1 million active licensees within the Division of Professional Regulation (DPR) and the Division of Real Estate (DRE) may now choose to store an electronic license pocket card on their smartphone or tablet. This is of particular importance to more than 110,000 licensed professionals across seven regulated professions who are statutorily required to carry a pocket card and the many others who choose to carry with them proof of their professional licensure. The e-license pocket card is the latest announcement from IDFPR in their ongoing efforts to modernize the state’s regulatory agency.
“Smartphone technology permeates our existence in 2016,” said Bryan A. Schneider, IDFPR Secretary. “We use them in all facets of our lives, from keeping up with our friend’s social lives to managing our personal finances. By providing an electronic pocket card, we are able to offer the latest in innovation for our licensee’s digital wallet.”
“For the over 43,000 licensed real estate professionals who are required to carry their license at all times, the e-license pocket card is a welcome announcement,” said Kreg Allison, Director of Real Estate. “By offering this option, we provide our real estate professionals added flexibility and convenience.”
For licensees wishing to store an electronic license pocket card on their smartphone or tablet, please visit: www.idfpr.com/GetMyLicense. Electronic pocket cards may be saved as a PDF file or by taking a screenshot and storing as a photo.
* The remap reformers filed their petitions the other day to put their initiative on the ballot. Opponents have now filed a challenge. Click here to read the whole thing, but it appears to boil down to these arguments…
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** From Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps…
“Political insiders want to deny voters the chance to reform Illinois government. Independent polls show close to two-thirds of Illinois voters are ready to vote ‘yes’ on an independent, transparent and impartial process for drawing state legislative maps. Springfield insiders aren’t willing to risk those odds and would rather cynically preempt at the courthouse what they cannot win at the ballot box.
“Plain and simple, this lawsuit is a struggle for power. It is Illinois politicians struggling to retain the power to manipulate elections versus citizens demanding reform. We knew this lawsuit would be the response to our submission of 570,000 petition signatures from Illinois voters, and we are ready to aggressively defend the constitutionality and fairness of the Independent Map Amendment.”
Lots of Tribune-style huffing and puffing, but no legal argument.
* Mayor Emanuel is not happy with the GOP’s recent Chicago bashing…
“How about this? … Give us back all our money and then you go on your way. You don’t get to participate in O’Hare. You don’t get to participate in all the institutions of higher ed here. I don’t think that’s a deal the state wants to cut. So my point is, it’s not really an accurate question. We can’t cut and go our own way, nor are we expecting to go our own way. On the other hand, you can’t keep trying to manage the state without the city of Chicago.”
Emanuel’s comments came as the city versus suburbs and Downstate rhetoric is heating up in the waning days of the spring legislative session. State Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, said in a radio interview that aired Sunday on WLS-AM that Emanuel needs to shutter a bunch more schools. “But they have 100 more that are really, you know, adult employment centers serving as schools. They need to do more in that regard,” Murphy told reporter Bill Cameron.
With Emanuel’s wife, Amy Rule, looking on from the crowd Wednesday at an event to promote a summer jobs program for at-risk youth, Emanuel was measured in his response to Murphy. “I’ll listen to everybody and have suggestions,” the mayor said. “But it’s probably noted, we did close schools that were failing educationally and were under-enrolled. And we did something that other people never did, and took a big step. I appreciate the counsel from Sen. Murphy.”
Emanuel then repeated his recent shot at Palatine, saying the school district in Murphy’s hometown was able to recently award teachers a 10-year contract with pay raises only because the state is picking up the teacher pension payments there, unlike in Chicago.
* Meanwhile, Democratic Senators who voted for Andy Manar’s school funding reform bill are defending themselves from Illinois Republican Party attacks for voting for a “Chicago public schools bailout”…
“Downstate taxpayers should not be forced to bail out Chicago, and downstate schoolchildren deserve more than to be used as political pawns,” the GOP release said.
“I don’t really give a damn about Chicago,” [Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton] said. “I voted my district. I voted for the schools in my district who do the best they’ve done in recent years by Senator Manar’s bill.” He said Manar’s bill isn’t perfect, but is a good first step.
“The governor’s plan puts $55 million into the school systems, and my districts still lose,” Haine said.
[Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton] said schools in his district gain almost $4 million under Manar’s plan but would lose 35 percent under the governor’s proposal.
“The main reason I voted for this bill was not for up north, but for my district,” Forby said.
Sen. Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, voted this week in favor of a new Illinois school funding formula that could cost his hometown’s elementary schools about half the $10 million they now receive in state aid.
You’d better believe that was a tough vote. A principled one, too.
But Harmon, whose Senate district stretches from the Chicago Public Schools-served neighborhoods of Austin and Galewood to the DuPage County enclaves of Addison and Bensenville, said Illinois must begin overhauling its flawed system of distributing education dollars.
I called Harmon on Wednesday because I knew his Senate district encompasses the varying impacts of changing the funding formula — with some communities coming up winners and others losers.
Despite the losers, Harmon believes the bill that advanced Tuesday through the Senate on a partisan 31-21 vote is a good start in the direction of fairness by directing more resources to students that need them the most.
A group of lawmakers from both parties and both legislative chambers who had been meeting as part of the so-called Budgeteer Group in Springfield is forwarding a budget package to leadership, Illinois Playbook has learned. As part of the package: proposed cuts and proposed tax increases. There are no items from Rauner’s turnaround agenda included in it.
“This is a really simple budget issue. Just pluses and minuses. That was the agreement from all the leaders,” said a legislative source who is part of the negotiations. “This is a package that somehow on paper is balanced. This is forwarded to the leaders and the governor and we’ll see how they react … Keep in mind, that at the end of the day, no matter what we put together, this particular group cannot get to 60 votes in the House and 30 votes in the Senate. That’s up to leaders and to the governor’s office.”
MONEY FOR SCHOOLS — What’s not included in the package? Funding for K-12 education. Education leaders in the House are discussing a new “hybrid” plan that would take portions of a Senate-backed funding formula overhaul and partner it with a so-called evidence-based plan backed by school superintendents. Sources tell Playbook that Manar’s proposal will have a tough time passing as is, with opposition coming from lawmakers whose school districts lose out under the Bunker Hill Democrat’s funding proposal change. The hybrid approach would mean no schools would lose money but Manar’s machinations would go into effect based on district need to boost those with the least funding, while keeping others at the same levels.
And there are no Turnaround Agenda items because this package is from the people working on the budget. Work continues on the governor’s agenda.
*** UPDATE *** I was curious about that school funding part, which I didn’t have today. But I’m now told that money for schools is actually in the budgeteers’ framework.
* The long-haired guy on the right with the purple shirt and the silly grin was Grant Ward, one of the best friends I ever had…
Grant ran off to join the circus when he was a young man. He followed the Grateful Dead’s “circus” for a while as well. I wrote about him years ago when the Springfield factory where he worked moved operations to Mexico.
He wasn’t famous, he wasn’t “accomplished” in the socially accepted way, but he was a truly kind-hearted soul who would always do anything for anyone. He didn’t make enemies. He made friends, and he kept those friends his whole life. Those friends will never forget him.
Grant loved to fish. We spent long hours on my pontoon boat trolling around the lake late at night, drinking beers and talking about music and politics and women and whatever else came to mind. He almost never caught a fish on those outings of ours, but neither of us much cared.
A couple of summers back, we took my camper to that flying carp festival on the Illinois River. We had a flat tire on the way there, blew out my electrical system at the makeshift campground, got thrown out of a bar and scolded by some off-duty cops, but, man, did we ever have a great time. He was just about the easiest person in the world to hang with.
He was also a dog lover and one of those people whom dogs loved as well. Oscar couldn’t get enough of the man.
Years ago, Grant and his brother Tedd shared a house in Springfield. I moved into the coal bin in the basement. I was somehow surviving on $50 a week writing for the Illinois Times in an attempt to break into the business. Living in Grant and Tedd’s basement helped me find a way to change my whole life around. Without them, I’m not sure I could’ve done it. I’ve loved them both like brothers for 25 years.
Grant died in an auto accident yesterday. My heart feels like it’s broken. This one’s for him…
Mama, Mama, many worlds I’ve come since I first left home
When Exelon last week unveiled its new plan to preserve two Illinois nuclear plants at danger of closure, the company touted concessions to its traditional environmentalist adversaries, including $140 million in spending annually on new solar power projects in the state.
But when green groups and renewable power companies read the actual language of Exelon’s bill a few days later, it turned out the measure only would generate about $7 million a year. That would effectively kill Illinois’ clean-energy law, which has a goal of gradually boosting the state’s reliance on wind, solar and other renewable electricity sources over time.
Exelon acknowledged what environmentalists said about the bill language. But the company said that wasn’t its intention. The company said a drafting error was to blame.
The error, Exelon said in a statement, “already has been fixed to ensure all of (the bill’s) intended benefits, which includes $140 million in new funding for solar, solar rebates for customers and increased energy efficiency, are fully included. The reality is that changes to legislative language are a normal part of the process to make corrections and incorporate negotiated changes into a pending bill and we have submitted an amendment to correct the error.” […]
“This doesn’t give us confidence that Exelon has reversed its historic opposition to the renewable portfolio standard,” said Sarah Wochos, co-legislative director at the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center. “In a carefully crafted bill, it’s hard to believe that this latest attempt to eviscerate renewable funding was a two-page ‘drafting error.’” […]
And, even if one accepts Exelon’s explanation, the company’s bill doesn’t allow for funding via the state’s clean-energy law for new wind farms, said Seth Kaplan, EDP senior government affairs manager.
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s polling numbers are edging dangerously close to Mayor Rahm Emanuel territory. A new survey out today by Morning Consult shows Rauner’s approval dipped 8 percentage points to 34 percent since it conducted a similar survey last year.
The percentage of people who said they disapproved of the way that Rauner is doing his job went up by 9 points, giving him a disapproval rating of 54 percent. According to the Morning Consult rankings, Rauner is the sixth most unpopular governor in America. His numbers dropped during a period that saw an unprecedented Illinois’ budget stalemate persist, leaving social services in a lurch and a very public crisis in higher education that was only recently, partially resolved.
* However, a word of caution. This isn’t your usual poll. From an e-mail sent by the company…
More than 66,000 registered voters across America have evaluated the job performance of key elected officials on Morning Consult’s weekly online national polling from early January 2016 through May 5, 2016.
On each poll, Americans indicated whether they approved or disapproved of the job performance of President Barack Obama, their state Governor, both of their U.S. Senators, their Member of Congress and their mayor (if they lived in a city with more than about 10,000 residents). For each question, they could answer strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, or don’t know / no opinion.
Morning Consult obtained an up-to-date list of Governors, U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives from Sunlight Foundation’s Congress API v3 and Open States API and obtained a list of mayors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Survey respondents were assigned to their appropriate Governor and both U.S. Senators based on their state of residence, assigned to their Member of Congress based on a combination of zip code, IP address, latitude and longitude, and assigned to their mayor based on their state and zip code.
Morning Consult obtained population parameters for registered voters from the November 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS) and applied post-stratification weights based on gender, age, educational attainment and race. Thus far, the median state includes a total of 883 respondents, the state with the most respondents is California (n = 5,968) and the state with the least respondents is Wyoming (n = 165).
Online polling conducted over five months. I dunno. Maybe.
According to an April 8 poll commissioned by The Illinois Observer for our e-newsletter, The Insider, delivered to subscribers on April 15 (subscribe here) of 703 likely 2016 voters in the district of State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Crystal Lake), a top 2016 GOP target, voters blame Bush over Governor Bruce Rauner – 45.7%-32.2% – for the continuing budget stalemate. 22.1% are undecided.
The survey has a +/- 3.75% margin of error.
Additionally, the poll finds that Bush’s job approval is upside down with just 29.5% approving and 41.3% disapproving. 28.2% are undecided.
That’s a dramatic reversal from a July 6 survey of 556 likely voters commissioned by The Insider that had found that Bush had a 22.3% job approval rate from voters and a 18.5% disapproval or a net positive of 4-points and a whopping 58% were undecided.
That survey, conducted by Chicago-based Ogden & Fry, had a +/- 4.24% margin of error.
As I told you the other day, incumbent legislators are shouldering the blame for this impasse and there are a whole lot more Democratic incumbents than Republicans.
An Elgin man accused of leaving a voicemail threat to Gov. Bruce Rauner faces felony charges of threatening a public official, Kane County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Jesse M. Kuzma, 31, of the 1100 block of West Highland Avenue, is accused of leaving the voicemail at about 11 p.m. Friday, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office.
The message said “if I ever see you consider this your death threat,” according to Kane County Assistant States Attorney Scott Schwertley.
The charge is a Class 3 felony, said Kane County Judge Judith Brawka. She set bail at $50,000, adding conditions that, if released on bail, Kuzma was barred from contact with the governor.
If Kuzma is released, he is to have no contact with Rauner, be placed on electronic home monitoring and surrender any gun owner cards and weapons.
Schwertley could not specify what, if any, ties Kuzma had or has to Rauner or his office. Kuzma is a reservist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has a job in Elgin as a machine repairman and was arrested by Illinois State Police Tuesday, according to court records and testimony.
Kuzma doesn’t have any previous criminal arrests in Kane County, but was arrested in May 2002 by Wheaton Police and charged with the misdemeanor of carrying “objects containing noxious liquid or gas,” records show.
A resolution being introduced Wednesday by Republican Cook County Commissioner Peter N. Silvestri petitioning the General Assembly and the governor to change the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court position from an elected position to an appointed one is already hitting a brick wall in Springfield.
The resolution seeks to have the president of the Cook County Board and the Commissioners appoint and confirm the Clerk of the Circuit Court rather than determined by the will of the County voters.
The Cook County Board’s resolution comes months after a major scandal involving a 400-day delay in indicting officer Jason Van Dyke who shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and similar police shootings. The lack of transparency led to protests and a huge voter turnout resulting in the defeat of Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez by Kim Foxx, largely because of the “Black Lives Matter” and youth movements.
Rep. Mary Flowers (D-31st) and Senator Mattie Hunter (D-3rd) strongly objected to the resolution both saying the choice of a Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court should be left up to the voters and not politicians.
An effort to make the elected post now held by embattled Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown an appointed office was abandoned Wednesday amid an outcry from a bevy of African-American groups that alleged racial motives were behind the initiative.
In a County Board room packed with black protesters, including members of Black Lives Matter Chicago and members of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH, Commissioner Peter Silvestri, R-Elmwood Park, withdrew his proposal.
Parents of D211 who want their children protected from mixing sexes in school bathrooms, dressing rooms and showers are calling for help in opposing a Senate resolution that condemns two states for outlawing mixed gender bathrooms.
Two Chicago area senators - Democrat Senators Emil Jones III and Heather Steans - have filed a resolution condemning North Carolina and Mississippi for passing laws that call for biological sex to determine which public bathrooms a person should use.
“Please take one minute to fill out an online witness slip to OPPOSE a horrible Senate Resolution that misrepresents the truth,” the D211 Parents for Privacy’s Facebook page says, and provides a link to the State Government and Veterans Affairs Committee. The resolution was assigned to the committee on May 3rd.
Senators Jones and Steans want Governor Rauner to prohibit all non-essential state travel to North Carolina or Mississippi until the states repeal those laws.
Exelon has introduced a 316-page amendment to a bill in the state Senate (SB 1585) that [Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth] said is still being analyzed by House Republican staff. The legislation refers to “zero emission credits from zero emission resources,” such as nuclear energy.
Mitchell said he was told by Exelon officials that the legislation would cost the state about $150 million.
“I think you can say that the old bill was a $300 million cost to the state. This is about half of that, $150 million, and that’s between the two plants, Quad Cities and Clinton.
“According to Exelon they just want to be on the same level playing field with natural gas and other sources.”
At a meeting in Clinton last month, Mitchell and state Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet — who also is scheduled to be at Thursday’s meeting with Rauner — said the plant employs 700 people with a median annual salary of $90,000. And its annual property tax bill includes $7.6 million to the Clinton school district, $2 million to DeWitt County government and $1 million to Richland Community College in Decatur.
* A new appropriations proposal has been filed. House Amendment 2 to SB 2038 appropriates about $700 million for human service program expenses through the end of the fiscal year, according to the sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago). The legislation is scheduled for a committee hearing this afternoon at 1:30.
There’s no General Revenue Fund money in this proposal. About $450 million is from the “Commitment to Human Services Fund,” which is a special fund that receives a small chunk of income tax revenues. It’s basically like the dedicated education fund which was tapped for the higher education bridge approp bill. Another $250 million is from various other state and federal funds.
* As subscribers remember, the governor’s office has agreed previously to tap this fund for programs, but, also as subscribers know, the Rauner administration wants to use money in the Budget Stabilization Fund (our rainy day fund) to pay vendors in the state’s prison system to keep it from collapsing. This is also being pushed by Downstate lawmakers in both parties.
Rauner’s budget office has compiled this list of municipalities and utilities which would benefit if that bill is passed…
Chester
Springfield
Aurora
Hillsboro
East St Louis
Jacksonville
Dixon
Carbondale
White Hall
Roodhouse
East Moline
Centralia
Decatur
Pittsfield
Canton
Galesburg
Sumner
Pontiac
DuQuoin
Vandalia
Robinson
Taylorville
Lincoln
Mt. Sterling
Crest Hill
Joliet
Pinckneyville
A wide range of counties, including Johnson and Hardin
Southern IL Electric
Clinton County Electric
Norris Electric
Shelby Electric
Southwestern Electric
Egyptian Electric
Expect the governor’s office to be calling around today to mayors and others to ask them to put some heat on Downstate Dems in order to get this done.
* The governor also wants to tap that rainy day fund to stabilize “critical operations” at the Department of Human Services. And here’s their list of municipalities which stand to benefit…
City of Chicago, Alton, Chester, Jacksonville, Rushville, Springfield, Elgin
…Adding… From Emily Miller…
Voices for Illinois Children supports the appropriation bill as emergency funding to human service and public safety programs that are dying. The bill appropriates money from special funds that have existing cash balances. That existing cash can be used to prevent very real suffering in the very short term.
It is not acceptable as a substitution for a fully funded year long budget. We encourage lawmakers to continue to work toward a long term revenue solution to our budget crisis.
…Adding More… From a source involved with the budget working group…
Why would they move a stopgap now when the budget group is nearing completion? Why blow up that track?
Does this mean they are preparing for no deal? Because all of these funds are basically agreed to in the budget group. And more.
Uh-oh.
…Adding Still More… The breakdown of that Department of Corrections stopgap proposal by district…
…More… The bill passed committee unanimously…
Stopgap human services bill passed 20-0, though GOP note they are still examining legislation.
At issue is a bill sponsored by Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Orland Hills, that would allow cities and villages to hire outside auditors to review confidential Illinois Department of Revenue data to determine if the department is giving the locals the tax income to which they’re entitled.
Some of the data is collected store by store and would be of value to those trying to data-mine or get a marketing edge. But the municipalities are worried about being shortchanged after a recent incident in which the Department of Revenue conceded that it had overpaid local governments $168 million in personal property replacement tax revenues and wants the money back.
Hastings says he may call the measure for a final Senate vote today and says his bill is just a limited step to ensure that the money goes where it’s supposed to. Opposing business groups are “fear mongering,” he charges. […]
But Illinois Retail Merchants Association President Robb Karr says the local governments “don’t need the sensitive information of a local business—particularly if they want to give it to an unaccountable third party operating under a contingency-fee arrangement.” […]
“A government auditor’s role is to determine the correct amount of tax; no more, no less. When the party in that role has a financial incentive to maximize the amount of tax, there is an inherent conflict. If the Department of Revenue started compensating their auditors based on how much money they brought in, the uproar would be (rightfully) huge; this is no different.” [said Carol Portman, president of the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois]
I can definitely see Portman’s point, but when the government makes a $168 million mistake, you gotta expect people to question the entire process.
CNN’s senior political reporter Manu Raju inquired yesterday about Sen. Mark Kirk and Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepared to go to Washington.
Raju let everyone know via Twitter: “Mark Kirk, in a tough Senate race in Illinois, refuses to talk about Trump. ‘We’re not taking any Trump questions,’ aide says.”
Kirk may be trying to use the same tactic as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. When Rauner was asked the other day about Trump, the governor wouldn’t even mention his name.
Still, both Illinois Republicans have said they will support the nominee, though Rauner won’t be giving any formal endorsement.
Congressman Bob Dold (R-10) has refused to support Trump, and is planning to write in a presidential candidate when he votes in November, according to Politico.
* And the mad, desperate scramble to find someone to take on a third party bid has already missed one important deadline, with Illinois’ coming up at the end of May…
Talk of a third-party run has been percolating for weeks, if not months — the volume of it directly correlated to the likelihood of a Trump victory — with the idea being that such a bid could deny both Trump and Hillary Clinton the 270 electoral college votes needed to win (a real long shot) and/or bring Republican voters disaffected by Trump’s candidacy out to the polls (more feasible). But it’s always been tempered by real-world restrictions.
The deadline to appear on the ballot in Texas passed just this Monday, meaning the Lone Star State’s 38 electoral votes are likely out of the picture, absent a successful lawsuit. In addition, between today and the end of June, at least three other states — Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina — have deadlines, accounting for an additional 34 electoral votes (North Carolina’s deadline being the soonest). After June, a third-party candidate would face more and more deadlines for appearing on the ballot — a task made more difficult due to the patchwork of complex rules and regulations concerning ballot access across the country.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Recently, a bill with strong bipartisan, labor, and community support called the Next Generation Energy Plan (NGEP) was introduced in Springfield that will drive Illinois’ clean energy future, while protecting and creating thousands of jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
Specifically, the NGEP will:
• Introduce a Zero Emission Standard, keeping the state’s at-risk, nuclear facilities operating, saving 4,200 jobs, and preserving over $1.2 billion in economic activity annually.
• Enhance the reliability and security of the power grid
• Jumpstart solar energy in Illinois with rebates and more than $140 million per year in new funding for solar development.
• Nearly double energy efficiency programs, creating $4.1 billion in energy savings
• Provide $1 billion of funding for low-income assistance.
• Reduce the fixed customer charge for energy delivery by 50% and create equitable rates, giving customers more control over their bills.
• Strengthen and expand the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly: Vote YES on the Next Generation Energy Plan by May 31 to avoid lost jobs, economic activity and increased carbon emissions in our state.
The report assesses states’ OPEB liabilities (liabilities for retiree benefits other than pensions) and funding trends, as well as how they are affected by aspects of state retiree health plans.
Because retiree health insurance benefits account for the majority of states’ OPEB obligations, many states have enacted policy changes to address these looming obligations. The report finds that states’ strategies for addressing OPEB liabilities vary greatly and that the methods states choose to contribute to their retirees’ health insurance premiums substantially affect the size of their OPEB liabilities.
Pew also released today a related issue brief with a more focused look at state OPEB assets and liabilities; that brief can be found here: http://bit.ly/24Lqtlf
Lauren Dickinson
Associate, Communications
The Pew Charitable Trusts
States’ OPEB liabilities decreased 10 percent, to $627 billion, between 2010 and 2013, after adjusting for inflation. This drop resulted from lower rates of growth in health care costs and changes states made to their OPEB funding policies and retiree health plan provisions.
State-funded ratios—representing the amount of assets states have set aside to fund their OPEB liabilities—increased from 5 percent in 2010 to 6 percent in 2013. However, this trend varied greatly among states—the funded ratio of eight states decreased, and Oregon increased its funded ratio by 25 percentage points.
Illinois, of course, is not part of either trend. Our OPEB liabilities went from $43.9 billion in 2010 to $56.3 billion in 2013 - which looks to be about the biggest increase in the nation.
Michigan’s liabilities dropped from $45.5 billion down to $25.5 billion during the same time period, and they had an 11 percent funded ratio. Our funded ratio is zero because we don’t set aside any money.
By the way, Illinois’ population is about 4 percent of total US population, but our OPEB liabilities are almost 9 percent of total US.
A question-and-answer session with students in the [Lakes Community High School] auditorium was “one of the best” he’d experienced in the state, Rauner said.
But senior asked Rauner about unpaid bills to state social-service providers, pointing to a lawsuit that was filed last week against Rauner and members of his administration by a group of agencies that provide services to youths, homeless people, people with HIV/AIDS and low-income people with mental health issues.
“All our priorities have not been getting paid for years and years and years, and we’ve got to change that system,” Rauner said in response to her question. “That’s what we’re fighting for is to restructure the government, make it more efficient and effective. We waste billions of dollars in bureaucracy and inefficiency and waste.”
Rudolph said she felt the answer wasn’t much of an answer.
“He definitely dodged my question,” she said. “He tried to tie it back into schools and the funding that we need, but there was absolutely no answer how he’s going to confront the lawsuit, what he feels about the necessity of these services. I just felt there was not a real answer. I just kind of got talked in a circle.”
[Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson] focused his remarks on how much of the bloodshed is being driven by about 1,300 individuals on the Police Department’s “strategic subject list” — those believed to be most prone to violence as a victim or offender.
About 78 percent of the homicide victims and about 84 percent of the nonfatal shooting victims this weekend were on the list, he said.
The list, generated daily from a computerized algorithm, assigns a score from 1 to 500 based on such factors as a person’s arrests and the activities of his associates. Gun charges play a key role. When Johnson chalked up much of the city’s violence to 1,300 people, he was referring to those with a score on the strategic subject list somewhere in the upper 200s or higher. We don’t know if Pierre Loury was on the list, but if 80 percent of the shootings during a bloody weekend were connected to a finite group of known individuals, that gives the criminal justice system a manageable place to focus attention.
CPD says it uses the list in different ways: to help in police work and to warn gang members on the list that they have a short window to change their ways or risk tragedy. They are offered help from social service agencies. Should the algorithmic clock of doom tick high enough, a police official may come to the residence to provide “custom notification.” Consider it a visit from Jacob Marley’s ghost.
This will not be enough to save the gangbangers who have made their choices and will kill or die because of them. For these miscreants with long rap sheets and bad judgment, doom may come. But the list provides a valuable warning for the rest of us: Repeat criminal offenders at the nexus of gangs, guns and drugs are a menace even greater and more concentrated than we might have imagined. Work with them if we can, but when they are convicted of serious crimes, put them away.
Keep them off the streets, for our safety and theirs.
* Tonight is the annual Conference of Women Legislators event…
* But there is another event today that might catch your attention…
Peace and love? At the IMA, IRMA party?
Huh?
Turns out, The Schwag is playing. They’re a pretty famous Grateful Dead cover band out of St. Louis. The IMA’s Greg Baise, you may recall, is a Dead Head.
Downstate legislators are banding together in an effort to revive the market for Illinois coal. It comes as the renewable and nuclear industries are asking for legislative intervention.
Representative Jerry Costello, a Democrat from St. Clair County, stood alongside Republicans in calling for a comprehensive approach on energy. […]
Costello and the other pro-coal lawmakers appear open to where those talks go. An early concept seeks to have Illinois coal plants outfitted with air pollution control devices.
It doesn’t require it, or include a way to pay for the “scrubbers.” Rather, it calls for state regulators to find a funding mechanism. The proposal also requires Illinois utilities to make it a goal to buy more coal in-state.
Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, introduced a bill on Tuesday to create incentives to cleanly burn coal. The proposal is an effort to keep the coal industry as an energy-policy player in Illinois.
“We know the desperate situation of the Dynegy fossil fuel plants currently within the state of Illinois, we know the dire situation with the Exelon and ComEd nuclear plants in northern Illinois, and we believe that Illinois coal is part of the overall energy discussion,” Bradley said at a press event at the Capitol.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said preserving the coal industry has bipartisan support.
“In the district that (Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond) and I represent, a question all the time is that we have a power plant down the road, but we can’t burn coal that comes from the mine the other direction that’s a stone’s throw away, and that’s something that’s plagued our state for years,” Manar said. “This legislation is going to help solve that problem, and it will raise employment and help out communities that have been struggling for years.” […]
Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said that while he supports a comprehensive plan for Illinois that includes renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power, they are intermittent. Therefore, he said, there should be an increase in the amount of energy derived from reliable coal.
The proposal requires utilities to have purchasing agreements with clean-coal burning facilities.
The goal is for those agreements to represent at least 40% of their retail customer load by 2020.
The bill also allows the Illinois Commerce Commission to devise a way to pay for scrubbers that allow the plants to burn coal more cleanly.
It also allows the state to purchase and sell coal to generating facilities if it chooses.
* They couldn’t have written a better press release themselves, which was probably most of the point…
Southern Illinois lawmakers say they stand united in putting Illinois coal back into action.
Representative John Bradley introduced a bill on Tuesday that would allow the Illinois coal industry to be relevant again. Other area lawmakers support the bill, including Rep. Terri Bryant, Rep. Jerry Costello Jr., and Sen. Gary Forby.
They say our region depends on Illinois coal for good paying jobs and to drive our economy.
“The main thing it does is get us in the discussion. The second thing it does is creative an incentive program with the ICC to put scrubbers on the existing coal fire facilities that we have and of which are in jeopardy of closing,” says Bradley.
* I still disagree with it, but this is just one of many reasons why Gov. Rauner and others are pushing municipal bankruptcy legislation…
(G)iven the [Illinois Supreme Court’s] rulings on the sanctity of government worker pension benefits, some believe the city has no choice but to simply start paying the $11.2 billion owed to the two funds.
Among them is the Municipal Employees and Benefit Fund of Chicago, which is nearly $10 billion in the hole and at risk of going broke within eight years, according to a recent analysis it commissioned. The smaller Laborers Annuity and Benefit Fund has about $1.2 billion in red ink and is projected to run out of money in 11 years, according to its most recent audit.
Both pension funds backed the proposed benefit cuts the Supreme Court struck down. Now that a different approach is required, the municipal workers are pitching state lawmakers on proposals to shore up the fund by dramatically increasing the amount of taxpayer money going into it.
Under the proposal, the city would be required to come up with at least $509 million more in annual contributions to the funds within the next five years and at least $1.6 billion over the long haul. Where would the money come from? A Chicago casino, which still doesn’t exist despite two decades of city efforts. It’s the same money machine Emanuel is eyeing for the police and fire pension funds.
Even with a casino, the city would have to cut spending, raise hundreds of millions of more dollars each year or both to make the contributions required under each of the payment schedules under four different versions of the municipal workers’ plan. With Chicago’s sales tax already the highest among big cities in the nation, the one place the city can turn for new revenue without help from state government is the property tax — a particularly difficult political prospect given that taxpayers already are being hit up for the police and fire pension funds.
A school funding bill that revamps the funding formula — and one dubbed a Chicago Public Schools “bailout” by several Republicans — narrowly passed the Illinois Senate on Tuesday.
State Sen. Andy Manar’s bill passed 31-21, and now heads to the Illinois House, where members are working on their own plan. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has formed a House task force to do its own review of school funding.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Tuesday that the task force will “take the best elements of the Manar plan and try to incorporate them.”
On the Illinois Senate floor, Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill, called his bill “the most profound anti-poverty measure” lawmakers could take and a “down payment to getting this right.”
Let’s hope the House is serious about coming up with an alternative plan and doesn’t just punt.
Figures provided by the Senate Democrats show the Chicago school system would get an extra $175 million from the formula changes. Barickman and other Republicans maintain that the figure is much higher because of other, separate grants to Chicago schools contained in the bill.
At the same time, many districts in Republican areas of the Chicago suburbs stand to lose state assistance.
“This is a huge redistribution of wealth primarily from suburbanites and many downstaters to Chicago,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine.
Manar said the reason Chicago gets more money is the same as why Taylorville in his Senate district gets more.
“It is underfunded plain and simple, just like other downstate districts, just like suburban districts like Elgin,” Manar said.
“What we do know today is that the system the governor has proposed is $55 million that earns a whole bunch of school districts less money,” Manar said. “That’s what we have to measure this bill against, a system that spends more with outcomes that aren’t as good.”
Rauner has accused Democrats of embracing the school funding formula issue as a way to prevent schools from opening on time amid the continuing budget stalemate that’s left Illinois without a complete budget for the last 11 months. Rauner vetoed most of the spending plan Democrats sent him, save for the portion that ensured schools opened in the fall — even though Republican lawmakers voted against the measure at his direction.
That has frustrated Democrats, who see Rauner taking credit for funding schools even though it was Democrats who sent him the bill. On Tuesday, Manar balked at the suggestion that he would hold up dollars for schools in exchange for his proposal, saying, “I don’t presume I have the authority to.”
“I don’t think anybody wants to see that,” Manar said. “That would inject more uncertainty into the system. That would amplify the challenges that the poorest districts face today.”
* Senate President John Cullerton…
“Today marks a significant step forward in creating a new classroom funding formula that recognizes the real needs of students across Illinois.
For too many children in too many communities, their paths to excellence are blocked by the existing school finance system that shortchanges their schools and fails to provide needed resources. It’s an injustice we’ve tolerated too long. Our students, parents, teachers and taxpayers are tired of the bickering, tired of the impasse. They’re looking for leaders with the courage to step beyond the status quo and do what’s right.
Today, the Illinois Senate did just that. The classroom funding plan the Senate approved begins to recognize the local needs of schools and students. It addresses the economic and social hurdles they face by investing resources in those schools and those children.
I would recommend the House get behind this proposal, and Governor Rauner should show leadership and make this legislation a priority if he is truly interested in turning Illinois around.”
* The Sun-Times editorial board is upset with the governor over his opposition to the bill…
Yes, Manar’s bill picks winners and losers, which the governor, his fellow Republicans and some Democrats dislike. But the state’s current school funding formula also picks winners and losers — the current losers being our state’s poorest kids. Why double down on that?
Moreover, under Manar’s plan there need be no losers. His bill calls for making this shift in funding over a number of years, ideally to give the governor and Legislature time to increase overall funding so that no district has to take a hit.
Our fear is that this bill is going nowhere, doomed by the legislative calendar — the current session is scheduled to adjourn May 31 — and raw politics.
Rauner prefers a simple standalone bill that would fully fund the existing school aid formula, giving all districts at least a bit more money, safely upsetting no political allies. Once the governor has made sure, then, that the schools will open on time in the fall, he will feel freer to play hardball on the rest of the state budget.
* But if you really want to hear some anger, click here and listen to Sen. Manar’s Q&A with reporters yesterday after the vote. Whew.
• The city of Springfield is owed $12.6 million in unpaid electric and water bills. Springfield operates City Water Light and Power and has more than 200 accounts related to the state government.
• Memorial Health System, which operates hospitals in Springfield, Lincoln, Jacksonville, and Taylorville as well as other medical offices statewide, is owed more than $83.6 million. Memorial Medical Center in Springfield has delayed plans to build an $80 million medical office building, a spokesman said.
• Stepping Stones Inc., a drug addiction treatment center in Joliet, has burned through $100,000 in reserves to maintain services and had to stop treating non-Medicaid patients in mid-February. By June 30, the end of its fiscal budget year, the state will owe the nonprofit about $300,000.
• Illinois owes about $125 million to dentists, says Greg Johnson, a spokesman for the Illinois State Dental Society, which represents dentists and dental hygienists.
• Groups that administer the Community Care Program, which helps seniors stay in their homes rather than nursing homes, are owed $212 million from the Department of Aging. More than 83,800 people participated in the program last year.
The wheels in Springfield are churning, with the so-called Budgeteer Group meeting in private on Tuesday evening and reportedly making progress in talks… On Tuesday, talk included the possibility of tax increases.
The governor’s office, too, has been meeting with the group and according to a Rauner administration official, there’s real movement. “From the beginning of the process our office has been forward leaning in the interest of getting a deal,” the official told Illinois Playbook. “The budget group is a place where only bipartisan, bicameral agreement can come forward. Folks with an agenda might want to advantage themselves by putting revenue ideas on one party but the group will only produce something that everyone can agree to.”
No huge surprises on the table here: The governor’s office is willing to talk about revenue options but they must be paired with reforms. That’s something Gov. Bruce Rauner has long discussed and the Republican first-term governor has backed off significantly from what reforms must be part of a budget package. The X factor, as always, is Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Madigan has repeatedly said he’s wanted a mix of cuts and new revenue and has rejected pairing Rauner’s turnaround agenda with a budget. But we are far away from the kinds of demands Rauner was making a year ago. We are also much farther in the hole on a bill backlog, pension debt, and we have a litany of social service groups screaming for help.
