Moody’s states the obvious
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
A national credit rating service is calling the emergency bridge funding measure for Illinois colleges and universities a “credit positive” move, but only for the short term.
The $600 million stopgap measure signed into law last week provides $356 million to public universities, $169 million to Monetary Award Program financial aid grants and $74 million to community colleges.
“The measure provides some breathing room, particularly for those with the thinnest liquidity and pressured student markets,” Moody’s said. But it also warned the higher education sector “will continue to confront longer-term funding pressures as the state remains unable to resolve its own severe budget issues and significant pension underfunding.”
Moody’s noted the money amounted to 29 percent or less of the state funding that Illinois’ largest public universities received in the 2015 budget year.
We need a real budget. Period.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Nuclear facilities produce more than half of the electricity in Illinois and they’re by far the most reliable source of energy we have. As a result, our state’s businesses know they can depend on the electrical grid round-the-clock for their energy needs.
This is a huge asset and a competitive advantage for Illinois businesses, as they are able to operate regardless of weather or the time of year to meet the demands of their customers. Consumers benefit from this too, as affordable, reasonably-priced energy allows them to purchase goods at a lower cost.
That is why it is so important to find a solution to our state’s current energy problems. A recent State of Illinois report found that if some of our nuclear plants were to close early, as they’re projected to do soon, our state would lose $1.2 billion in annual economic activity and nearly 4,200 jobs. Coupled with higher electricity rates, this would be a severe blow to Illinois’ businesses and consumers.
For Illinois’ businesses to thrive, we need to ensure that nuclear energy remains in our state’s energy future. I urge our state legislators to enact energy reform legislation that properly values the contributions of nuclear energy in our state.
Signed,
Omar Duque, President and CEO, Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
For additional information, read my op-ed that recently appeared in the State Journal-Register.
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* Makes sense…
To members of the Illinois General Assembly,
After reviewing HC0058 Sponsored by State Representative Jack Franks it is the considered opinion of MALDEF that his proposal would better protect interests of racial and language minorities covered under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The language of HC0058 prioritizes minority voting rights over a number of criteria including respecting the geographic integrity of units of local government. These subordinate criteria must give way when these are in conflict with the goal of protecting minority voting rights. HC0058 (“Franks Bill”) states:
(a) Legislative Districts and Representative Districts shall each, in order of priority, be substantially equal in population; provide racial minorities and language minorities with the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice; provide racial minorities and language minorities who constitute less than a voting-age majority of a District with an opportunity to substantially influence the outcome of an election; be contiguous; be compact; respect, to the extent practical, geographic integrity of units of local government; respect, to the extent practical, communities sharing common social or economic interests; and not discriminate against or in favor of any political party or individual.
By contrast the Independent Maps proposal does not prioritize minority voting rights and the mandatory language it uses sets up a conflict by requiring that “the redistricting plan shall respect the geographic integrity of units of local government.” This creates a new cause of action where any person of any race sitting in a city or town that was not completely within a given legislative district could have standing to sue to challenge the plan’s treatment of their unit of local government. Two Suburban Chicago legislative districts that currently elect Latinos, Districts 24 and 21, cross a number of city and town borders and under the Independent Maps proposal could be challenged on the basis that they do not “respect the geographic integrity of units of local government.” Under the Franks Bill, if Districts like 21 and 24 were challenged the sole fact that a unit of local government was not kept intact would not be a basis to challenge the map as the criteria is less important than minority voting rights and under the plain language is only required to the extent practical.
Another important way that HC0058 is better is that when it refers to discrimination on the basis of party affiliation it does not contemplate a lawsuit based on disparate impact or unintentional discrimination. HC0058 adds a requirement that a redistricting plan “not discriminate against or in favor of any political party or individual.” Placing this at the end of a list of criteria prioritized by importance and in which minority voting rights is near the beginning of the list better protects minority voting rights.
By contrast the Independent Maps language states:
The redistricting plan shall not either intentionally or unduly discriminate against or intentionally or unduly favor any political party, political group or particular person.
Stating that the plan won’t intentionally “or” unduly favor a political party, group or person, sets up “intentionally” and “unduly” as separate, and distinct forms of discrimination. This allows what is essentially an effects test (or disparate impact) to creep into (ultimately) a court’s assessment about whether a plan “unduly discriminates” even if it does not “intentionally” discriminate.
Historically effects tests have been limited to cases where a protected class cannot show discriminatory intent but can show a discriminatory impact or effect – like under Title VII. These effects tests exist because for the most part people and institutions don’t state that they intend to discriminate against members of protected classes but often adopt policies that do so in effect, and where intentional discrimination may be difficult if not impossible to prove. The language in the Independent Maps amendment puts political discrimination on par with race discrimination. In the voting rights context, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act actually requires a showing of discriminatory effect plus a finding under the totality of the circumstances that a map discriminates – this is a higher standard than that arguably required to show political discrimination under the Independent Maps language.
Finally, the Franks bill decouples State Senate Districts from State Representative districts by striking the requirement that two representative districts be nestled within one senate district […]
In Illinois, this measure would likely give more flexibility to the map drawers to create majority minority districts when doing so would otherwise be complicated by the nesting requirement.
Very truly yours,
Jorge Sánchez
Senior Litigator MALDEF
Midwest Regional Office
Rep. Franks’ proposal passed the House today by a vote of 105-7.
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Open thread
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I have to go give a speech at noon, so blogging will be light for awhile. So, talk amongst yourselves. Be kind to each other and please keep it state-related. Thanks!
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Lead, follow or get the heck out of the way
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This intransigence by the governor needs to end…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner came under fire Monday as the doctors, nurses and patients on a state panel that recommends whether to expand Illinois’ medical marijuana test program complained their suggestions are routinely ignored.
The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board suggested that 10 previously recommended ailments receive approval, as well two new ones: Type 1 diabetes and panic disorder.
As some at a hearing celebrated the diabetes recommendation, board member and pediatrician Dr. Nestor Ramirez cautioned the crowd to “wait for what the governor says.” […]
Rauner’s Illinois Department of Public Health has rejected the board’s past recommendations. The governor, who inherited the medical marijuana program, has been reluctant to broaden access, instead calling for further study of the drug’s benefits and risks.
Ugh.
* More…
Board chairwoman Leslie Mendoza Temple, who is a primary care doctor, said it’s hard to get top quality research on medical cannabis because it’s an illegal drug. She said the Rauner administration’s standards on approving the conditions are too strict.
“Pharmaceutical medications often have randomized controlled trials, so if we put medical cannabis research requirements at that level, of FDA drug approval status, we’re never going to get there,” she said.
The governor’s office has said not enough time has passed to fully evaluate it. […]
A decision by Rauner is expected by July. The pilot program started in 2013, but sales didn’t start until late last year.
Don’t hold your breath.
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Daley’s tinfoil hat
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
When Dennis FitzSimons described how the Independent Map coalition would need to take a truck to the State Board of Elections to deliver their nearly 600,000 petition signatures, Bill Daley had some advice.
“I think you ought to get a decoy truck,” said the former White House chief of staff and brother and son of two Chicago mayors.
“I wouldn’t be so open about how we’re going to get these petitions (delivered) because, over the years, I’ve been around and strange things happen with petitions that look like they’re going to make a change,” Daley said.
FitzSimons is the chairman of the Independent Map drive, which is attempting to put on the November ballot a proposed state constitutional amendment asking voters to remove some of the partisanship in the way legislative districts are drawn.
That conspiracy theory neatly and succinctly sums up how the monied elite feel about Speaker Madigan. In their minds, he’ll do anything, even hijack a truck, to win.
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30-day pause in Lucas lawsuit
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Friends of the Parks has suspended its lawsuit against the proposed Lucas Museum on Chicago’s lakefront, the group announced Tuesday.
The nonprofit group, which has blocked the push by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas and Mayor Rahm Emanuel to build an arts museum near Soldier Field, said in a news release that the stay “gives all parties the opportunity to have a more direct and productive dialogue to reach a potential solution about a museum site.”
It said it has informed U.S. District Court Judge John Darrah of its decision but added that it could restart its lawsuit, if necessary. City officials asked the group to halt its lawsuit and the group said it agreed “because the city is now prioritizing another site” for the museum.
The suspension is only for 30 days.
* The Sun-Times has more, including the list of demands…
* Active and serious investigation of other possible non-lakefront sites that include the Michael Reese Hospital site acquired by former Mayor Richard M. Daley as the site of an Olympic Village before Chicago’s first-round flame-out in the 2016 Olympics sweepstakes, an 18th Street site across from the Soldier Field site, and the marshalling yards for trucks and recreational vehicles west of McCormick Place.
* A “strong grasp of the impact” the Lucas museum would have on “jobs, particularly for South Side residents, tourism and the economic in general, taxes and other costs to Chicago residents and educational benefits.”
* “Clear specifics” about any proposed site and plan that promises to generate the most viability and create more park space for residents and visitors.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported exclusively in mid-April that Emanuel has shifted his focus from Soldier Field’s south parking lot to the site of McCormick Place East to avoid a protracted legal battle over the Soldier Field site and satisfy Lucas’ demand to get moving on the legacy project.
Emanuel’s plan calls for tearing down the above-ground portion of McCormick Place East, building the museum on a portion of the site that includes Arie Crown Theater and replacing the lost convention space by building a $500 million McCormick Place expansion over Martin Luther King Drive.
Any deal would have to be approved by the GA and the governor.
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Brady amendment kills lite guv proposal
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Petrella…
Also scheduled for a hearing Tuesday [in the Senate] is the House’s lieutenant governor amendment. Despite voting against the previous version, Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, is sponsoring the House version.
Brady said he plans to propose changing the line of succession the amendment would establish, having a vacancy in the governor’s office filled by the highest-ranking official of the same party rather than by the attorney general, who might be of the opposite party.
That would address a major concern for Republicans who voted against the Senate version, he said, but it would mean the amendment won’t make it to the November ballot.
* The Tribune editorial board is not happy with this Brady development and addressed a missive to the Senate sponsor…
Your amendment changes the succession order to the next highest-ranking official of the governor’s political party: attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, and then majority or minority leader in the Senate and House — someone who is of the same political stripe as the outgoing governor. That is, your amendment would keep the office of governor in the same political party.
But if you demand those changes, voters won’t have the chance to weigh in on this proposed constitutional amendment. They have been waiting decades. Literally. Various proposals to eliminate the office of lieutenant governor have swirled around Springfield since the 1970s. […]
Senator, you co-sponsored the exact same bill in 2013 that would give the attorney general line-of-succession powers should the governor be unable to serve.
Now, all of a sudden, that’s a problem for you.
Don’t block the one chance voters have in November to eliminate an unnecessary state office. None of us has forgotten that you ran as the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2010 promising to shrink government.
A whole lot of ink has been used up by editorial boards on this mainly symbolic constitutional amendment. Most are upset that Rauner and the Senate Republicans have flip-flopped. And I suppose they believe that if legislators can’t even eliminate this office then shrinking other governments would be out of the question. Maybe, but I doubt it.
But with all the real carnage out there, I find it kinda ridiculous that so much “outrage” is expressed on something that doesn’t really matter either way. I mean, the Tribune did not ever express one bit of concern when the governor submitted grossly unbalanced budgets two years in a row, but they’re somehow all fired up about a million or two bucks a year?
Weird.
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* Bloomberg on the impasse…
Rape crisis centers, owed about $5 million, are depleting reserves, leaving positions unfilled and creating waiting lists for victims of sexual assault. Homeless shelters haven’t gotten state aid this year, which is also jeopardizing matching funds from the federal government, according to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
“The whole social services safety net is starting to wear away,” Bob Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois told lawmakers last week. The state owes Catholic Charities of Chicago $18 million. “Once it goes, it’s virtually impossible to rebuild.”
Illinois bonds aren’t in danger of defaulting because state law mandates monthly transfers to ensure that semi-annual debt payments are made. But the the turmoil hasn’t gone unnoticed: Investors are demanding an extra 1.8 percentage points to hold Illinois’s 10-year debt, the most among the 20 states tracked by Bloomberg and up from as little as 1.1 percentage point two years ago.
“Bondholders pay attention to distress in social services for the borrower,” said Adam Buchanan, senior vice president of sales and trading at Ziegler, a broker-dealer in Chicago. “It’s a signal of weakness of potentially greater problems in the future.”
No question, the pre-Rauner status quo was bad. But the current status quo is much worse at the moment.
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* Dan Petrella…
Although they wouldn’t name any names, Democratic Reps. Lou Lang of Skokie and Christian Mitchell of Chicago said at a Statehouse news conference Monday that they think some Republicans will support their plan to introduce a graduated state income tax.
“This is an issue whose time has come,” said Mitchell, who is sponsoring the amendment. “I believe that this is going to pass with bipartisan support.” […]
Emily Miller of Voices for Illinois Children, an advocacy group that’s backing the amendment and a companion bill from Lang that would cut taxes for more than 99 percent of taxpayers while raising rates on the wealthiest Illinoisans, said she expects the House to vote Tuesday to approve the amendment.
“This does have some very promising bipartisan support,” she said, adding that the group has been working with members of both parties.
They’ll likely need at least three GOP votes in the House to overcome expected Democratic opposition. But they could need more. And Gov. Rauner is dead set against the proposal.
* Illinois is one of just eight states with a flat income tax among the 43 states which tax incomes. But not everybody thinks Rep. Lang’s companion bill, with its 9.75 percent top rate, is a good idea, including those who support the concept of a graduated income tax…
In general, it’s a good idea to consider when the state is short on revenue, [Don Fullerton, a tax policy expert and the associate director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois] said, adding that a graduated system eases the burden on lower-income taxpayers while drawing in more revenue from those who have more disposable income.
That said, Fullerton thinks the upper end of Lang’s proposal may be asking too much.
Kim Rueben, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington, agrees on both counts.
“Having a graduated income tax makes sense, but I would think that you don’t necessarily want to immediately go to one of the most graduated income taxes that we see in the country,” Rueben said. […]
Rueben said it might make more sense to have a smaller increase at the top of the scale and also raise rates on individuals earning between $100,000 and $500,000.
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More bad news for Exelon
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Steve Daniels…
Exelon’s board got a stern rebuke from company shareholders, who voted overwhelmingly to oppose how much the company paid CEO Chris Crane last year.
The 62 percent vote against the Chicago-based electricity giant’s 2015 compensation package in an advisory “say on pay” vote is the largest margin so far this year against any company’s pay, according to proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services. Exelon disclosed the results of the shareholder vote late on April 29. […]
In its report, ISS cited relatively easy goals Exelon set for Crane in order to earn the nearly $16 million in cash, stock and other rewards he received last year.
“Exelon’s stock performance lagged many of its peers over the last three- to five-year periods,” ISS said in a March 29 report. “However, nearly every component of CEO pay increased during FY2015 and incentive awards, both long and short, were earned at above-target levels and based on nearly flat or lowered performance goals.”
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Civic Federation rips Rauner budget proposal
Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Gov. Rauner’s latest budget proposal is at least $3.5 billion out of balance, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the Civic Federation, a government finance watchdog group.
The report found Rauner’s budget plan “does not fully account for the actual cost of essential state services and is based on projected savings that are unlikely to be realized.”
Those unlikely savings include reducing pension contributions by almost $750 million, largely by deferring payments, as well as cutting employee health insurance costs by $445 million. An additional $475 million in one-time savings would come from emptying the state’s rainy day fund and the sale of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago, which requires legislative approval.
If that deficit is not addressed, the Civic Federation estimates the state’s backlog of unpaid bills could reach a new high of $12.8 billion by the end of the next fiscal year.
* Greg Hinz…
In a beyond-blistering report being issued today, the Chicago watchdog says the budget’s reported $3.5 billion deficit—a shortfall Rauner has suggested might be filled with spending cuts and perhaps some tax hikes—in fact is “more like $4.5 billion to $5 billion,” federation President Laurence Msall told me in a phone interview last evening.
* From the report…
The Civic Federation opposes Governor Rauner’s recommended FY2017 budget because it has an operating deficit of at least $3.5 billion and presents an insufficiently detailed plan for closing the gap. The $3.5 billion figure appears to be understated because it does not fully account for the actual cost of essential State services and is based on projected savings that are unlikely to be realized.
And how is this deficit understated? Read on…
The Civic Federation is concerned about the following aspects of the Governor recommended FY2017 budget:
* The General Funds budget has an operating deficit of at least $3.5 billion and an insufficiently detailed plan to close the gap between revenues and expenditures;
* After declining for the past three years, the State’s backlog of unpaid bills is expected to be significantly higher in FY2016 and FY2017 due largely to the phaseout of temporary income tax rate increases in the middle of FY2015;
* The State’s pension contributions are reduced by $748 million partly by deferring costs to future years;
* The proposal budgets a reduction of nearly one-fourth in group health insurance costs, with savings that depend on either a successful resolution to labor negotiations or the removal of health insurance from collective bargaining; and
* The Budget Stabilization Fund, the State’s only rainy day fund, is depleted to help balance the budget.
* The proposal to save nearly $198 million by moving seniors who are not eligible for Medicaid from the Community Care Program to a much less costly program could lead to increased institutionalization of elderly residents; and
* The use of one-time resources to pay for ongoing operating costs guarantees future deficits and continues the ongoing budget imbalance. These include fully depleting the Budget Stabilization Fund and the sale of the James R. Thompson Center and savings from not repaying FY2015 interfund borrowing.
* One big problem…
Because of the FY2016 budget impasse, the backlog of unpaid claims had grown to $2.9 billion by the end of February 2016 and was expected to increase by $200 million per month. Group health insurance is one of the main areas of government that has not received funding during the budget standoff. However, the costs of the program must be paid eventually due to State law and union contracts, and interest penalties will be paid at the same time.
* More…
The administration arrives at the $3.5 billion operating deficit for FY2017 by beginning with a maintenance budget that has a $6.6 billion shortfall. The Governor’s recommended FY2017 budget reduces the operating deficit to $3.5 billion through projected spending cuts of $2.6 billion and the use of $476 million in one-time revenues.
The $3.5 billion figure appears to significantly understate the shortfall because it does not fully account for the actual cost of essential State services and is based on projected savings that are unlikely to be realized. The administration has not released details about its proposed cuts to the Community Care Program, which seeks to keep elderly residents out of nursing homes, or any actuarial reviews of its proposal to save money on pension contributions. The recommended savings on overtime pay and group health insurance depend on changes that have so far been rejected by the State’s largest labor union.
The administration is also seeking to transform other areas of government, including streamlining the procurement process and modernizing the information technology system, according to the FY2017 budget document and the Governor’s State of the State speech in January 2016.
The Civic Federation supports efforts to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government through major reforms. However, it is imprudent to base so many deficit-reduction measures on untested initiatives. Given the State’s dire financial plight and long history of fiscal mismanagement, the State cannot afford to ignore the discipline of budgetary balance. […]
The backlog of unpaid bills declined from $8.1 billion at the end of FY2012 to $5.2 billion at the end of FY2015. If additional appropriations are enacted with no additional revenues, the backlog is expected to reach $9.3 billion at the end of FY2016. It will remain at that level in FY2017 if the operating deficit in the proposed budget is closed. If the gap is not eliminated, the backlog could grow to $12.8 billion, or 37.5% of projected FY2018 revenues.
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When “nonprofit” means “highly profitable”
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
Seven of the 10 most profitable U.S. hospitals are nonprofits, according to new research, including one in Urbana, Illinois, where hospital tax exemptions are headed for a contentious court battle that soon could determine whether medical facilities are paying their fair share of taxes.
The “Top 10″ list accompanies a study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs. The analysis is based on federal data from 2013 on nearly 3,000 hospitals. The authors measured profits using net income from patient care services, disregarding other income such as investments, donations and tuition. Researchers say the measure reflects how hospitals fare from their core work, without income from other activities.
The research comes as cities in New Jersey, Michigan and Wisconsin also wage battles over hospital tax breaks. Officials are scraping for revenue and pressuring hospitals to either pay up or justify their tax-exempt status. […]
But money-making hospitals also include nonprofits such as the Carle Foundation Hospital in Illinois, where a state appeals court in January ruled a state law allowing hospitals to avoid taxes is unconstitutional. The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to review the decision, on appeal by Carle Foundation Hospital.
* More…
Less than two months after Carle Foundation Hospital was removed once again from local property tax rolls, a new study has named it one of the 10 most profitable hospitals in America. […]
The 328-bed Carle earned profits of $163.5 million, or $2,080-per-patient, according to the study. […]
Urbana mayor Laurel Prussing said the study highlights the need for reform at both the state and federal level.
“They’re just overcharging people,” she said of Carle. “They cost more than the Mayo Clinic.”
Wow.
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50 UIUC students disrupt Rauner visit
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Fox 55…
It was a rude welcome for Governor Bruce Rauner at a stop at the University of Illinois Thursday. Protesters interrupted several events that the governor attended.
The chants were loud and the message was clear; protesters were angry over Illinois politics.
* USA Today…
A handful of the protesters followed Rauner into the ceremony, while security stopped the others from entering. Those outside in the hall banged on the walls repeatedly chanting, “Rauner, go home!” and “Fund higher-ed! Fund higher-ed!” […]
He eventually left the event earlier than planned.
Alex Villanueva, external vice president of the Illinois Student Senate, tells USA TODAY he agrees with the “ends” of the protest but disagrees with the “means … They did not represent Illinois well.”
“To see students hurling expletives in public, running through the student union and chanting and banging on the wall during his speech is disrespectful, not only to him, but far more importantly to the students he was recognizing,” Villanueva tells USA TODAY College.
“Ultimately, I think this behavior will make things worse and will certainly make Governor Rauner wary of visiting campus, which keeps him from seeing firsthand the great things we are doing at Illinois, and how the lack of a budget is hurting everyday students.”
* Daily Illini…
The protesters pursued him to the second floor of the Illini Union and then down to Illini Room C, chanting the whole time.
When Rauner entered the event, about 20 protesters were able to enter the room to hold up signs and “cackle” at the governor; the remaining 30 protesters then went around through the kitchen to the south lounge of Union, Daniels said.
There, they loudly banged on the Illini Room C walls from the outside of the room for the majority of the time Rauner spoke, which made Rauner’s speech almost inaudible. […]
“He spent like 10 minutes on the second floor while we were all chanting, so I doubt he was able to get his message across, and then he spent like 30 seconds speaking and that was supposed to be his main speech,” Daniels said. “There’s no way he was planning on spending this little time here.”
Daniels said the protesters’ main motivation was to send the message that Rauner is not welcome here and Daniels thinks they definitely sent that message.
* Sun-Times…
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday said he shares in the “anger” of protesters who heckled him over the state budget impasse the day before at the University of Illinois’s Urbana campus.
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Zopp tapped to be deputy mayor
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sneed…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has offered a slice of the power pie to former Urban League powerhouse Andrea Zopp, a highly respected Chicago attorney who lost her Democratic primary bid for the U.S. Senate to Tammy Duckworth.
Sneed has learned Rahm asked Zopp, who has strong ties to Chicago’s African-American political and fiscal power players, to become Chicago’s deputy mayor in charge of overseeing major city projects.
“Rahm can talk a good game, but he needs to get his projects completed,” said a top Sneed source familiar with the Zopp appointment.
Translation: Rahm feels Zopp’s moxie and magic can get things done.
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It’s all about the 1 percent
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Whatever else, they’re consistent…
Madigan spokesman STEVE BROWN said it’s been shown “on numerous times that compromises can be reached on state spending when you don’t tangle it up with nonbudget issues,” which is what many Democrats call elements of Rauner’s business-friendly, union-weakening agenda. […]
Brown also characterized turnaround agenda items as not being reforms.
“All they do is they stuff more money in the pockets of the 1-percenters,” he said.
I asked how term limits or a new way to draw legislative districts would make anybody money.
“Because then the 1-percenters prop up more candidates, like we saw in the primary, put millions of dollars in the campaign so they can get their agents,” he said.
Except, Brown has also said that Madigan supports Rep. Jack Franks’ redistricting reform proposal.
But who knew that MJM would turn out to be such an Occupy Wall Streeter?
* Related…
* Rauner turns to privatization push during second year in office: “He wants these things on the table, to be considered in that sort of grand bargain type of discussion,” said Republican Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine. “Philosophically, the idea is, let’s look at ways we can operate government in a way that is more efficient and cost-effective and maybe produces better results.” But much like the governor’s legislative agenda, Democrats view Rauner’s privatization agenda through a different lens: rooted in an effort to reduce costs on taxpayers and businesses by weakening worker rights. “There of course is a concern that this is really a precursor to doing away with the unionized state employees,” said Democratic Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie, a top deputy to House Speaker Michael Madigan. “The governor has spent a good deal of time aggressively going after, even attacking, public-sector labor unions.”
* Rauner gets behind Illinois redistricting reform push for fall ballot: “What we don’t want to do is confuse voters, and it would not be productive to have several constitutional amendments on redistricting on the ballot at the same time,” Rauner said… “At a time when our state is seemingly on the edge of God only knows what … 70 percent of the legislature doesn’t have a fight in the fall. You don’t have a budget. Who cares (among legislators)? That’s what this is all about,” Daley said.
* The Donald & the Democrat; Burke saved Trump $11.7M
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* Exelon’s lobbyists have been handing out this flier to legislators…
So, according to the flyer, none of Exelon’s nuke plants are profitable right now, which would appear to bolster its case that it has to shut down some plants without an intervention by the General Assembly.
* But as Crain’s reports, that’s not what they’re telling Wall Street…
Of course, Exelon’s nukes are essentially protected from spot 2016 prices. More than 90 percent of their output was sold well in advance at prices that were considerably higher a few years ago. […]
The charts Exelon distributed show each nuclear plant earning energy revenue from $19.40 per megawatt-hour to $27.80 per megawatt-hour.
In investor presentations, Exelon has shown that about 90 percent of its energy revenue in the Midwest is locked in at more than $34 due to previous hedges. Combine that with $5.60 per megawatt-hour in additional revenue per agreements to deliver during high-demand periods, and Exelon’s fleetwide revenue is about $40. Subtract a few dollars to cover the costs of congestion on the power grid, and the fleet (other than the smaller, higher-cost Clinton plant downstate) would seem to exceed the break-even cost of $35 per megawatt-hour Exelon has laid out.
So why didn’t Exelon say that to Illinois lawmakers?
“It’s not relevant,” Dominguez says. “From my perspective and the company’s perspective, the hedges aren’t repeatable.”
Yeah, but we don’t even know what their prices will be next year, right?
* Meanwhile, the Illinois Solar Energy Association eviscerates ComEd’s “small solar rebate for potential customers”…
ComEd’s announcement of the rebate does not distract from the fact that ComEd has spent years blocking reforms that would fix Illinois broken renewable portfolio standard (RPS), that would unshackle the potential of rooftop and community solar, creating thousands of new clean energy jobs.
ComEd’s announcement does nothing to change the fact that its bill includes many provisions that will hurt solar customers and workers. ComEd proposes to greatly reduce net metering, the foundational solar policy that is in place in over 40 states. Without net metering, the fledgling solar industry in Illinois would be devastated. But ComEd goes further and proposes a damaging rate change for residential customers that would limit homeowners’ ability to control their energy bills. This residential rate design is so extreme, it is not used by any other investor-owned utility in the country.
Ouch…
*** UPDATE *** Seems odd to me…
A deal that could have reopened Horseshoe Lake State Park fizzled because the park’s electricity provider wants the state to also get caught up on its bills at two other state parks.
Metro East Park and Recreation District, at the urging of local government leaders, has offered to pay the trash and electricity bills at Horseshoe Lake during the state’s budget impasse. But the electricity provider won’t restore service at Horseshoe Lake unless the state also gets caught up on its delinquent bills at Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area and Carlyle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area.
The state Department of Natural Resources announced April 20 that it was closing Horseshoe Lake because electricity and trash service were being cut off. The electricity and trash vendors weren’t being paid due to the state’s budget stalemate. […]
The deal fell through because the electricity provider, Southwestern Electric Cooperative, said it wouldn’t restore electricity to Horseshoe Lake unless Southwestern also gets what it’s owed at two other state sites: Ramsey Lake and Carlyle Lake.
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Proft warns “quislings”
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bernie writes about how the Illinois Policy Institute’s radio network has picked up Dan Proft’s radio show…
In a show days after the March 15 primary, Proft’s guest was PAT HUGHES, co-founder of the Opportunity Project, and both agreed that trying to defeat McCann was worthwhile in the long run.
On that show, Proft called McCann “a wholly owned subsidiary” of “public sector union bosses. …”
“If you’re going to have Republicans that serve as enemies inside your perimeter voting with Chicago Democrats … voting against Governor (BRUCE) RAUNER’s turnaround agenda, then what’s the point?” Proft asked. “You destroy the party from within and you make the Republican Party what it’s been for so long … sort of indistinguishable from the Democrats.”
Rauner backed Benton, and Proft said on the show he didn’t think the governor regretted that stand.
“For others who are contemplating becoming a quisling like McCann, just know that you’ll have millions of dollars put against you if good other Republican conservative candidates can be found,” Proft said. “I bet we’ll turn people out more often than we won’t.”
The big question some Republican legislators had during and immediately after the primary was what happens if they vote for a tax hike as part of a grand bargain and Proft decides that he’s against it. While Proft gets a lot of money from Rauner, he also has other supporters who could break from the governor.
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Stopgap can’t stop massive CSU layoffs
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Threats of mass layoffs that had hung over the state’s only university serving a predominantly minority, low-income student population became reality Friday, as Chicago State let go 300 employees.
The layoffs, effective April 30th, trimmed just over a third — 35 percent — of Chicago State University’s administrative and non-faculty staff, sources said.
The move comes a week after CSU, which has been hardest hit by the higher-education crisis triggered by the state’s historic budget impasse, received $20.1 million from a long-stalled $600 million emergency funding bill for public universities finally agreed upon by the legislature and governor. […]
“Our monthly payroll is approximately $5 million, and our goal is to get to about half of that,” the CSU source said about Friday’s layoffs, which will save about $2 million a month. “We’re thankful for the money we received but because we don’t know when we will get the rest of it, we’re going to live with what we have.”
* Tribune…
The cuts will save about 40 percent in payroll costs, or about $2 million a month, Calhoun said. They come after Chicago State and other Illinois schools went nearly the entire academic year without state money as lawmakers were unable to agree on a budget. Last week, lawmakers approved $20.1 million in emergency funding for Chicago State, part of a larger funding package for public universities, but it proved to be too little, too late.
State lawmakers approve funding to keep universities afloat through summer. […]
While the cash influx provided some relief, it was not enough to prevent the layoffs. Some of the money needs to go toward outstanding vendor bills. The university also has to prepare for a tenuous future, with uncertainty about student enrollment this fall and continued questions about if and when the state will approve more funding. […]
“I do expect there is a likelihood that not all faculty will be recalled,” [Chicago State President Thomas Calhoun Jr.] said. He also said the university will close some buildings this summer to reduce utility and maintenance costs and will evaluate academic programs, a routine process that will involve more scrutiny this year because of the fiscal situation.
“There are those kinds of tough decisions that certainly will be made as we go through this program review process,” Calhoun said.
* Meanwhile, the AP has a profile of CSU…
The student body doesn’t look like those found at the other state universities. Three-quarters of the students are black and almost three-quarters are women. More than half are 25 or older and many, if not most, have transferred from other schools after struggling elsewhere.
“I’ve seen lots of them come unprepared for college work,” said Robert Bionaz, an associate professor of history. “These are bright people who in many cases have seen life intervene.” […]
But the campus tucked into a part of the city with chronically high levels of unemployment and crime represents a chance, sometimes the last chance, for many students.
“Honestly, this is like people’s last resort, last choice,” said Denzel Tucker, a senior physics major who transferred to Chicago State from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where a year of tuition is more than $40,000. Chicago State charges $6,000 a year.
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Report: CTU could delay strike
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
The Chicago Teachers Union appears to be backing off an end-of-year strike, citing concerns about losing health insurance as well as pay all summer, as the committee tasked with setting a strike date is to meet Wednesday.
The union also is concerned about the difficulty of winning support so close to the end of the year from Chicago Public Schools parents, who’ve already scrambled to make plans for kids out of class on a district-mandated March furlough day and a one-day teachers strike on April 1. […]
“If CPS provokes us, and unilaterally effects change, all bets are off,” [CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey] said, referring to the district’s assertion it could yank a 7 percent pension benefit. “In the absence of that, I get a sense that our members would not be looking at a strike in May.”
CPS has announced that a mid-May strike wouldn’t prevent kids from graduating or finishing the school year, so a strike at that point wouldn’t accomplish much except whacking teacher paychecks and upsetting parents.
* And this is also interesting…
At a regular monthly meeting Wednesday, members of the House of Delegates will consider whether they want to set a strike date. The earliest state law permits a strike is May 16. The union has to give at least 10 days’ notice before walking out. The union’s executive team also will meet this week and discuss strike possibilities, Sharkey said. But CTU leadership would like to give legislative proposals in Springfield, including a school funding bill proposed by state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, time to play out.
The CTU has until now been non-committal about joining up with CPS to push Manar’s bill.
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Reasons for hope?
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers last week that the governor’s people believed the group of legislators and staff working on crafting a conclusion to the impasse will “reach a turning point” this week.
Natasha heard pretty much the same thing over the weekend…
Sources tell POLITICO that one of those groups, which calls itself the Ad-Hoc budget committee, has a draft proposal on the table that calls for addressing both the 2016 and 2017 budgets. The proposal includes an income tax increase and the creation of a sales tax on services, as well as a version of workers compensation reform, which is something Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has been calling for.
The Ad-Hoc budget group has met for more than a year, and is steered by rank and file interests rather than directed by leaders. It could present a recommendation this week.
Three committee members told POLITICO over the weekend that a proposal and its timing were still in flux.
Things can always change on a dime around here, so we’ll see. But there is reason for some hope.
* More…
Separately, a bipartisan group of rank and file lawmakers who call themselves “the Budgeteers” have met since mid-April with the backing of four legislative leaders and Rauner. In a rare act of compromise in a hyper-acrimonious era that’s seen unprecedented spending in primary elections, leaders agreed to quietly launch the group in an attempt at finding some path forward on a budget.
The group’s committee has been meeting with Rauner’s budget director Tim Nuding and the governor’s staff. That group has met every session day and on Monday is expected to meet to discuss funding for the Department of Human Services.
The decision to allow the budgeteers to meet was made at the only leaders’ meeting of the year. Subscribers got an update about human services funding today.
Anyway, good stuff by Korecki. Lots of deets. Go check it out.
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Naïve cynicism and Illinois
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Rebecca Solnit’s brilliant piece in the current issue of Harper’s…
Cynicism is first of all a style of presenting oneself, and it takes pride more than anything in not being fooled and not being foolish. But in the forms in which I encounter it, cynicism is frequently both these things. That the attitude that prides itself on world-weary experience is often so naïve says much about the triumph of style over substance, attitude over analysis.
Maybe it also says something about the tendency to oversimplify. If simplification means reducing things to their essentials, oversimplification tosses aside the essential as well. It is a relentless pursuit of certainty and clarity in a world that generally offers neither, a desire to shove nuances and complexities into clear-cut binaries. Naïve cynicism concerns me because it flattens out the past and the future, and because it reduces the motivation to participate in public life, public discourse, and even intelligent conversation that distinguishes shades of gray, ambiguities and ambivalences, uncertainties, unknowns, and opportunities. Instead, we conduct our conversations like wars, and the heavy artillery of grim confidence is the weapon many reach for.
Naïve cynics shoot down possibilities, including the possibility of exploring the full complexity of any situation. They take aim at the less cynical, so that cynicism becomes a defensive posture and an avoidance of dissent. They recruit through brutality. If you set purity and perfection as your goals, you have an almost foolproof system according to which everything will necessarily fall short. But expecting perfection is naïve; failing to perceive value by using an impossible standard of measure is even more so. Cynics are often disappointed idealists and upholders of unrealistic standards. They are uncomfortable with victories, because victories are almost always temporary, incomplete, and compromised — but also because the openness of hope is dangerous, and in war, self-defense comes first. Naïve cynicism is absolutist; its practitioners assume that anything you don’t deplore you wholeheartedly endorse. But denouncing anything less than perfection as morally compromising means pursuing aggrandizement of the self, not engagement with a place or system or community, as the highest priority.
We are seeing this play out right before our very eyes. Criticize Gov. Rauner and you’re Speaker Madigan’s toady, and vice versa. Compromise is either “destruction of the middle class” or a refusal to stop Illinois’ “status quo death spiral.”
* Her conclusion…
What is the alternative to naïve cynicism? An active response to what arises, a recognition that we often don’t know what is going to happen ahead of time, and an acceptance that whatever takes place will usually be a mixture of blessings and curses. Such an attitude is bolstered by historical memory, by accounts of indirect consequences, unanticipated cataclysms and victories, cumulative effects, and long timelines. Naïve cynicism loves itself more than the world; it defends itself in lieu of the world. I’m interested in the people who love the world more, and in what they have to tell us, which varies from day to day, subject to subject. Because what we do begins with what we believe we can do. It begins with being open to the possibilities and interested in the complexities.
Agreed.
Go read the whole thing.
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History made on the South Side
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Theresa Mah (D-Chicago) was never given much of a chance at winning the 2nd House District Democratic primary race March 15 against a well-known political name who had a huge demographic advantage.
Mah was vying to be the first Asian-American legislator in state history. But the 2nd District was purposely drawn to include Chinatown in order to give Asian-Americans only some “influence” in the district. In previous years, Chinatown and Asian-American neighborhoods were sliced up between several legislative districts, but the Democrats made a conscious decision to avoid a federal lawsuit against their map by creating an “influencer” district.
The census numbers show the 2nd has an Asian-American voting-age population of 23.5 percent, vastly smaller than the 53 percent Latino VAP. And Rep. Eddie Acevedo’s (D-Chicago) organization had put another Asian-American on the ballot to further muddy things on behalf of Acevedo’s son Alex’s candidacy to replace him. But that put-up candidate was kicked off the ballot Feb. 1, and things went rapidly downhill from there.
The younger Acevedo’s campaign took its own Latino base for granted and didn’t take Mah very seriously. Acevedo only sent two negative mailers against Mah, and they hit the boxes very late and weren’t all that effective. On the other hand, Mah, a former Pat Quinn administration official, sent numerous mailers that disastrously defined Acevedo as a Rauner/Emanuel candidate. Acevedo’s Facebook page displayed a photo of him and his father with their arms around Rauner along with a post about endorsing Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s re-election. Both men are hugely unpopular in Chicago, and they were tied around Acevedo’s neck in multiple brutal mailers.
The Acevedo organization reportedly expected Asian-Americans to make up about 18 percent of the district’s final turnout. Instead, the final number was closer to 30 percent. Asian-Americans in the city typically turn out in far lower numbers than their population strength would suggest. Not this time.
Why? A big reason was they finally had a legitimate candidate to vote for who spent a lot of time, energy and money on getting them to the polls. One Acevedo operative said he knew they were in big trouble when he saw the first packed bus unload Mah supporters at an early voting location. Same-day registration played a huge role in Mah’s win as well, and it really kicked into high gear when Acevedo sent loud, obnoxious thugs to disrupt a Mah campaign event featuring Rep. Luis Gutierrez’s endorsement of her. Gutierrez told reporters that he feared for his life during the rowdy event.
Word spread like wildfire (helped along by Mah’s campaign) that the demonstrators had used a racial epithet. There isn’t any video evidence of that, but the rumor took hold, and Chinatown’s elders were furious and demanded that powerful 11th Ward Committeeman John Daley withdraw his endorsement of Acevedo.
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ big surge in Chicago also contributed. Sanders won the top three wards in the 2nd District, including Daley’s 11th. But that backing was put into focus when Sanders supporter Chuy Garcia, a former mayoral candidate, endorsed Mah’s bid. Liberal whites and younger Latinos took strong notice, and their fury at Donald Trump’s appearance in Chicago and their fervent support of Sanders were channeled into supporting Mah.
The Acevedo people realized late in the game that the district’s “hipsters” were coming out hard and tried to address it by placing “Acevedo/Sanders” signs at polling places. It didn’t work.
Mah won Daley’s ward. Some say Daley pulled his captains from the precincts the afternoon of election day under pressure from Chinatown. Others say he cleverly diverted some Democratic voters into a contested Republican ward committeeman race, where each candidate received over 700 votes while Mah won the district by a bit over 500. Others point to the fact that Daley refused to appoint the younger Acevedo to the seat if the elder Acevedo retired early as evidence that he was secretly backing Mah.
The Acevedo family also got itself involved in a nasty Democratic ward committeeman race, siding with Sen. Tony Munoz over 12th Ward Ald. George Cardenas. Cardenas lost the committeeman’s race, but he ended up backing Mah, and she won the 12th by a couple of hundred votes. There were more contributing factors, but this isn’t a book, even though it may feel like it.
Rep. Acevedo vows his son will be back for another try in 2018, so Mah, Illinois’ first Asian-American legislator-elect, will have to work hard and not ever let her guard down.
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Meep-meep
Monday, May 2, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
Remember the “Road Runner” cartoons? I loved them when I was a kid in the 1960s, even though the plot never once changed.
There were only two characters: Road Runner and his pursuer, Wile E. Coyote. The hungry coyote would chase the bird and always come up short. The coyote would develop more and more elaborate methods of capturing or killing the bird throughout each episode, often involving bizarre machines manufactured by Acme.
But the traps never worked. Dynamite failed to detonate under the bird, but the plunger would explode in the coyote’s paws. A catapult would misfire, crushing the coyote under a boulder. Some crazy Rube Goldberg contraption would fail, dashing the coyote’s hopes yet again.
“Meep-meep,” the bird would say as he dashed down the road.
Some folks saw the cartoon as a metaphor for our failure in Vietnam. We had ultramodern equipment, but our Third World enemy always evaded defeat. Former political blogger Andrew Sullivan often compared President Barack Obama to the Road Runner and the Republican Congress to the coyote.
I think we now have a more recent, more local metaphor.
Read the rest before commenting, please. Thanks.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Today, Senator Martin Sandoval, a leading champion of immigrant rights in the Illinois Senate, was joined by 9th graders at Solorio Academy High School in Gage Park, Chicago, home of the 3rd highest number of undocumented immigrants (nearly 11,000) in Illinois, on calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pass SB3021 and send it to Governor Rauner’s desk. SB3021 replaces the term “alien” from Illinois State statutes, as a definition for an undocumented immigrant.
The students started a campaign to rid the state’s vocabulary of the words “alien” and “illegal alien” which are often used to describe undocumented immigrants. The state of California recently took action to eliminate this word. It is the hope of the students that their efforts would result in Illinois following suit and called upon Senator Sandoval to champion this initiative vital to the dignity of their community. […]
A 2013 Pew Research Center survey showed that media organizations have shifted greatly away from using the phrase “illegal alien” to refer to people living in the United States without documentation. During comparable two-week news cycles in 2007 and 2013, use of the phrase in news stories dropped from 21 percent of the time to 5 percent of the time, according to the survey.
“All workers, documented or undocumented, pay taxes and do their fair share, so there is no such thing as an “Illegal” person,” said Delila Lopez, 9th grader at Solorio Academy High School.
Meanwhile, perception that undocumented immigrants “strengthen the country” has steadily been on the rise among all adults since 2010, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said they think undocumented immigrants should be allowed to remain in the U.S., barring they meet certain requirements.
“The word “alien” is really offensive. It’s not just rude but it dehumanizes undocumented people, and that’s not right,” said Uriel Hernandez, 9th grader at Solorio Academy High School.
* The Question: Should the term “alien” be removed from state statutes when it’s used as a definition for an undocumented immigrant? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey services
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IML, firefighters unite on “public duty rule”
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* First, a bit of background…
The [Illinois] Supreme Court’s decision came in a case involving the 2008 death of Coretta Coleman in unincorporated Will County.
Coleman, 58, called 911 because she was having difficulty breathing. There was a series of delays and miscommunication among emergency personnel, and by the time Coleman’s husband arrived home and let paramedics in, more than 40 minutes had passed. She was found unresponsive inside and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Coleman’s family sued the East Joliet and Orland fire protection districts, Will County, and their employees who were involved in the response.
Citing the public duty rule, lower courts ruled in favor of the defendants. But the high court overruled them in a 4-3 decision, abolishing the rule it had established in previous decisions.
* From the 4-3 majority opinion…
We believe that departing from stare decisis and abandoning the public duty rule and its special duty exception is justified for three reasons: (1) the jurisprudence has been muddled and inconsistent in the recognition and application of the public duty rule and its special duty exception; (2) application of the public duty rule is incompatible with the legislature’s grant of limited immunity in cases of willful and wanton misconduct; and (3) determination of public policy is primarily a legislative function and the legislature’s enactment of statutory immunities has rendered the public duty rule obsolete.
* From the spirited dissent…
To summarize, then, the compelling new reasons that Justice Kilbride gives for departing from stare decisis and abandoning the long-standing public duty rule are that (1) the rule lends itself to the use of a common analytical tool and (2) the rule is incompatible with statutory provisions that have been on the books for decades and that this court has repeatedly held have nothing to do with the public duty rule. Neither of these reasons is credible, let alone convincing. And this matters, because the importance of stare decisis is that it “permits society to presume that fundamental principles are established in the law rather than in the proclivities of individuals.” Chicago Bar Ass’n, 161 Ill. 2d at 510. That being the case, if the reasons proffered by Justice Kilbride are sufficient to justify a departure from stare decisis in this case, then we may as well abandon the stare decisis doctrine altogether. Because if they are good enough, then anything is good enough, and we need not waste our time going through the motions of what will essentially have become a hollow exercise.
* The Illinois Municipal League and the firefighters are pushing to enshrine the “public duty” concept into law…
“This legislation provides a legal umbrella for both our citizens and the first-responders who are sworn to protect them,” said Pat Devaney, president of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois. “Never should a first-responder have to worry about the legal ramifications of an effort to save a life. It’s re-establishing a principle we’ve been operating under for many years.”
Cole said the principle is that police and firefighters have a duty to protect the public at large, but not specific members of the public. […]
“Absent making these changes, we believe we’re going to create an environment where there’s going to be a cottage industry of frivolous lawsuits aiming to capitalize on the suffering of others,” Devaney said. […]
The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association is opposed to the legislation the Municipal League wants approved. ITLA president Perry Browder said the proposed law could extend immunity to situations where there clearly was misconduct by a police officer or firefighters. He also said municipalities are already protected by other immunity laws.
* From the legislation…
The public duty rule is an important doctrine that is grounded in the principle that the duty of a local governmental entity to preserve the well-being of the community is owed to the public at large rather than to specific members of the community. […]
A local governmental entity and its employees owe no duty of care to individual members of the general public to provide governmental services.
Your thoughts?
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Nuclear Energy: Vital for Illinois’ Clean Power Plan Goals
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Even with the clean air contributions of its current nuclear energy facilities, Illinois is expected to decrease its CO2 emissions by 31 percent by 2030 under the U.S. EPA’s pending Clean Power Plan – the equivalent of removing 5.7 million cars off the road, or more than all of the current passenger cars in the state. Losing any nuclear energy facilities would be a major setback. Here are the facts about nuclear energy in Illinois:
o Nuclear energy is the single greatest provider of clean air energy in Illinois, producing 92 percent of the state’s carbon-free electricity.
o To replace the carbon-free electricity produced by just one nuclear facility, Illinois would have to build a solar farm larger than Springfield or install windmills five miles deep along the state’s entire shoreline of Lake Michigan.
o If all of Illinois’ nuclear energy facilities were to close, it would result in a 130-million megawatt-hour shortage of carbon-free electricity – enough to power more than 11 million homes or twice the number of homes in Illinois!
Nuclear is an irreplaceable part of Illinois’ energy portfolio. Click here to learn more about the value of nuclear energy and its importance to Illinois in meeting the EPA’s Clean Power Plan requirements.
- CASEnergy Coalition
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Tackling opioid overdoses
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We talked yesterday about how opioid use is soaring in the Metro East.
There is a bill out there which would make abuse a bit more difficult by using some new technology…
A coalition of physicians, law enforcement agencies, addiction survivors and substance abuse counselors urged state lawmakers during a press conference Tuesday to pass legislation that would make it more difficult to misuse prescription opioid medication.
House Bill 2743, which has been sitting idle in the Rules Committee since last May, would require Illinois health insurance companies to cover opioid painkillers made with abuse deterrent properties (ADP).
Prescription opioids containing this relatively new technology are significantly harder to crush and helps prevent users from breaking a pill’s extended release mechanism to achieve a quick and intense high through snorting, smoking or melting and injecting the powder, says Dr. Michael Rock, an attending anesthesiologist and pain mangement director at Community First Medical Center in Chicago.
During a demonstration, Rock showed a pill with abuse deterrent properties can withstand blows from a metal hammer, while a pill that doesn’t have the technology is pulverized with a single strike.
* But there’s also this research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association…
OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between the presence of state medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A time-series analysis was conducted of medical cannabis laws and state-level death certificate data in the United States from 1999 to 2010; all 50 states were included.
EXPOSURES: Presence of a law establishing a medical cannabis program in the state.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Age-adjusted opioid analgesic overdose death rate per 100,000 population in each state. Regression models were developed including state and year fixed effects, the presence of 3 different policies regarding opioid analgesics, and the state-specific unemployment rate.
RESULTS: Three states (California, Oregon, and Washington) had medical cannabis laws effective prior to 1999. Ten states (Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont) enacted medical cannabis laws between 1999 and 2010. States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate (95% CI, -37.5% to -9.5%; P = .003) compared with states without medical cannabis laws. Examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time: year 1 (-19.9%; 95% CI, -30.6% to -7.7%; P = .002), year 2 (-25.2%; 95% CI, -40.6% to -5.9%; P = .01), year 3 (-23.6%; 95% CI, -41.1% to -1.0%; P = .04), year 4 (-20.2%; 95% CI, -33.6% to -4.0%; P = .02), year 5 (-33.7%; 95% CI, -50.9% to -10.4%; P = .008), and year 6 (-33.3%; 95% CI, -44.7% to -19.6%; P < .001). In secondary analyses, the findings remained similar.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Medical cannabis laws are associated with significantly lower state-level opioid overdose mortality rates. Further investigation is required to determine how medical cannabis laws may interact with policies aimed at preventing opioid analgesic overdose.
Legalize it.
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Why didn’t Hastert’s secret come out sooner?
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jolene Burdge’s brother had confided to her that Dennis Hastert had molested him, and she says she confronted Hastert with the information after her brother’s wake in 1995. She then attempted to tell the public about Hastert’s dark secret in 2006. Roll Call tells us what happened…
Burdge said the Foley scandal convinced her that she had to come forward. She wrote letters to an advocacy group for victims of priest sex abuse, a prominent defense attorney who had tried several sex abuse cases, ABC News and Oprah Winfrey’s media company. She told all of them that she knew why Hastert hadn’t delved more deeply into complaints about Foley.
Only, Burdge was afraid to allow the news organizations to use her name, and she did not want to take on someone of Hastert’s caliber without support. “I didn’t know what could happen to me,” she said. “I didn’t know if I had any rights.”
Unable to quote her by name, the news organizations balked. Asked why ABC did not air Burdge’s claim at the time, spokeswoman Caragh Fisher referred to a story the network published in June, saying it could not corroborate Burdge’s story and that Hastert denied her claim. The Associated Press also reported in June that it had contacted Burdge after receiving a tip, but Burdge would not go on the record. A spokeswoman for the Oprah Winfrey Network did not return a request for comment.
Defense attorney Jeff Anderson and victims advocate Barbara Blaine both said they believed Burdge’s story, but there was little they could do. Reinboldt was dead, and the Illinois statute of limitations had expired decades earlier.
“We didn’t have any way to expose him or do anything with it,” said Blaine, who leads SNAP, the Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests.
Anderson said at least one other person had come to him with similar allegations about Hastert.
“I thought the information given to us in the strictest of confidence was credible, was serious and deserved serious attention,” Anderson said. Still, “there was little or nothing that could be done given the information received.”
* From that AP statement…
As a scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley was unfolding in 2006, a person with no firsthand knowledge pointed The Associated Press to Jolene Burdge. On the phone and by email she repeatedly declined to talk about Dennis Hastert and provided no information that would have allowed AP to pursue a story, despite AP’s further efforts to do so at the time.
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A silly idea
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yesterday, Gov. Bruce Rauner was asked for his thoughts on a possible special session if he fails yet again to get a budget deal by the end of May. Rauner said he thought the General Assembly could come to an agreement on a two-year budget deal along with elements of his Turnaround Agenda by the end of May, then said…
“If we have to go into special sessions, we’ll deal with that at the time. I don’t want taxpayers to be charged for it. I would seriously consider - we’re discussing this within our administration - me paying for it personally, so the taxpayers don’t have to if special sessions have to be called. We should not let this go past May 31st.”
* The SJ-R looks at recent history…
Last year, the legislature worked past its May 31 adjournment in an attempt to reach a budget agreement. But since the extended session wasn’t a special session called by the governor, lawmakers did not receive per diem pay, which stops after May 31.
“There was just a mechanism the House used last year to keep the legislature in continuous session, and I don’t think the term special session ever came up,” said Steve Brown, spokesman to House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
The current per diem amount for legislators is $111 per session day, which would cost the state $19,647 daily if every lawmaker accepted the pay. However, some lawmakers are unwilling to accept per diems in overtime sessions, and some don’t accept it year-round.
So, the only way it would likely cost taxpayers much of anything would be if Rauner forced everyone back to town. And Rauner has admitted in the past that such a thing doesn’t really work. The only way it works is if everybody is ready to cut a deal. But then you don’t really need an official special session. They can just come back for a couple of days, vote and then go home.
* Meanwhile, Rauner’s not the only person calling attention to his massive personal wealth…
Homeless youth and advocates gathered outside one of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s homes on Thursday, to call attention to the state budget impasse and its impact on programs for the homeless.
The group lined up backpacks outside 340 on the Park, a high-rise condo building across the street from Maggie Daley Park. Rauner owns a condo there, and organizers of the demonstration said the governor uses that condo only for storage.
“We are out here in front of one of Governor Rauner’s nine homes. He owns nine luxury homes, and yet there are thousands of homeless people around the state that have no homes, and the only places that they have to stay are in jeopardy,” said Julie Dworkin, policy director for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
The 25 backpacks they laid out on the sidewalk represent the 25,000 homeless children in Illinois. For homeless youth, backpacks often carry everything they own.
Maybe his money would be put to better use by helping those kids.
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* In the wake of Dennis Hastert’s sentencing yesterday, this press release landed in my in-box…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) [yesterday] called on Illinois lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations for felony criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse crimes against children.
Madigan and ICASA’s Executive Director Polly Poskin have long supported the removal of the current statute of limitations for sexual assault crimes against children. Illinois law should allow children who have been victims of sexual assault and abuse the time to come forward and report their crimes. Survivors of sexual assault crimes during their childhood should be afforded the time it takes to process their assault and come forward to report their crimes to authorities.
“Sexual assault continues to be pervasive in society, affecting far too many children and families across Illinois,” said Madigan. “When a prosecutor cannot indict an offender for these heinous acts because the statute of limitations has run, it raises serious moral, legal and ethical questions. We have long supported extending the time period for prosecutors to file sexual assault and abuse charges, and we urge the Legislature to eliminate the statute of limitations on all sex crimes involving children.”
“What is most important in these cases - the offense or the time that has passed?” Polly Poskin said. “If people understood the devastating and debilitating impact that sex crimes have on someone, then they would understand why it’s so hard to step forward, especially when the perpetrator is someone in a position of trust, like a teacher or coach. These victims need justice in order to heal – even decades after the
abuse.”
Your thoughts?
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* Brittany Hilderbrand at the Illinois Times…
Despite the criticism he encountered as a result of running out of ballots during the presidential primary election in March, [Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray], a Republican, still has no Democratic opposition in the upcoming general election. Part of the reason is a quirk in state law that requires the county clerk of Sangamon County to receive training and certification as a township property assessor. Democrats may have trouble finding a candidate who qualifies.
The county clerk’s mistaken assumptions on the necessary number of ballots to print for the election, at least by some accounts, cost some registered voters their votes in one of the highest-turnout primaries held in the state. Others got to vote at the expense of their time and frustration.
For example, the State Journal-Register reported that 17-year-old Jacob Crawford was one of many registered voters who were told that Grace Bible Chapel was out of ballots and that he should go to the county building to cast his vote, a seven-mile drive. Two hours later, Crawford was finally able to vote. State law allows 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 by the following general election. […]
The Illinois Township Code asserts that for any township within any city that has a population of more than 50,000 people, the county clerk shall be the ex-officio township assessor. Capital Township is the only place this rule applies in the entire state of Illinois.
The Illinois Property Tax Code requires that to become certified as the township assessor, a candidate must fulfill one of six qualifications prior to filing for candidacy. The possible qualifications include becoming a certified Illinois assessing officer, a certified assessment evaluator or having a professional designation. Completion of the classes can take anywhere from three months to a year. This could make it difficult to find a qualified candidate to run for the County Clerk position in time for the election in November. The required classes are offered through the Illinois Property Assessment Institute and the Illinois Department of Revenue. […]
Another attempt to consolidate townships occurred April 21, when the Senate passed a bill that would eliminate township clerks, assessors, collectors, highway commissioners, supervisors or trustees. Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, sponsored the bill, calling on the House to pass the bill and Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign it. If the bill were to become law, it would ultimately eliminate Gray’s role as the township assessor.
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Today’s quotable
Thursday, Apr 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
“I’ve been watching as members in the General Assembly have been meeting. I’m not privy to all their conversations, I have not personally attended all the meetings,” Rauner said. “But I hear reports, I hear rumors, I hear some feedback from members of the General Assembly. And I am seeing more excitement and more optimism within the rank and file saying ‘you know, this has gone on too long. Everybody is going to have to come off their positions, and some of their hardest positions, and come up with some middle ground.’ I’m hearing that on a level I haven’t heard before. And so that makes me optimistic.”
* More Trib…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday sought to strike an optimistic tone that a “grand compromise” with Democrats can be reached by May 31 to end the unprecedented budget impasse that’s threatened universities, caused havoc for groups that care for the vulnerable and led to a large stack of unpaid bills.
Whether Rauner’s optimism has a basis in reality was at best unclear, however. […]
But it’s an election year, and both sides are trying to pin blame on the other for the mess at the Capitol. By broadcasting he’s open to a deal, Rauner is seeking to avoid blame as an obstructionist should an agreement remain elusive.
It’s not the first time Rauner has declared he’s “cautiously optimistic” about a pending deal. He said as much nearly a year ago, though those talks quickly fell apart. His optimism has since wavered depending on whether he’s in attack mode.
Subscribers know more.
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We’re number one!
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Oy…
Illinois has the highest median property tax rate in the nation, with various agencies and entities taking a combined 2.67 percent bite, according to a CoreLogic analysis of real estate property taxes nationwide.
Nationally, the median property tax rate is 1.31 percent, said the Irvine, Calif.-based data provider to financial services and real estate companies. That means that a home valued at $200,000 will, on average, pay annual total property taxes of $2,620.
In Illinois, that homeowner would pay $5,340. […]
After Illinois, the states with the highest median property tax rates are: New York, 2.53 percent; New Hampshire, 2.4 percent; and New Jersey, 2.37 percent. […]
Recent studies by both WalletHub, a personal finance website, and the nonprofit Tax Foundation, both based in Washington, D.C., found that Illinois had the second-highest property taxes in the nation, after New Jersey.
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Today’s number: 12,330
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
A war of statistics has broken out over a proposal to institute a graduated income tax in Illinois, with varying camps presenting it as a battle between “fairness” and a potential business flight from the state.
Both sides [yesterday] offered a flood of competing facts, figures and charts—all accompanied by lots of spin—with one group contending that the plan would give Illinois the third-worst business tax climate of the 50 states. […]
At issue, as previously reported, is a pending bill by Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, to revamp the state’s current 3.75 percent individual income tax. The rate in the lowest bracket would go down to 3.5 percent, enabling Lang to contend that “99.3 percent” of individual filers overall would pay less. But the rate would soar to 8.75 percent for income above $500,000 a year for individuals ($750,000 for married couples filing jointly) and a cool 9.5 percent for income above $1 million a year for individuals ($1.5 million for joint filers). […]
In a report and at a Springfield news conference, [the Tax Foundation] said owners of small businesses, who often just “pass through” their business income to their personal tax return, will be put at a huge disadvantage relative to other states. In fact, they note, since pass-through businesses also have to pay the state’s 1.5 percent corporate personal property replacement tax, the combined top rate would be 11.25 percent—higher than any other locale except California and New York City, and higher than the combined 7.75 percent paid by big C corps.
Greg thinks the truth is somewhere in the middle, but I think the Tax Foundation’s numbers make the case that a relatively tiny number of people will take a big hit.
* But the group is also misleading as heck. Check out this bit of Tax Foundation “analysis”…
Despite the more than $30 billion raised by the temporary tax increases, Illinois still has over $7.2 billion in unpaid bills
That mountain of unpaid bills was a whole lot lower before the tax hike partially expired. And it’s that high now because the tax hike expired, not “despite” the 2011 tax hike.
I mean, really. C’mon, people.
* Read on…
Of particular note, the companies responsible for over half of all small business income would be subject to a top marginal rate of 11.25 percent, which is significantly higher than Illinois corporate income tax rate of 7.75 percent. Even businesses with income above $500,000 but not more than $1 million would pay more as pass-through entities than they would under the corporate income tax were this plan adopted. The table below gives a sense of how many Illinois small businesses would be adversely affected by the tax increase, and the percentage of total pass-through AGI they represent.
The table…
So even the Tax Foundation admits that just 8.31 percent of pass-through business owners would pay more - and that could be way off because if those business owners are married then the tax hike wouldn’t kick in until $750,000.
* Rep. Lou Lang…
“The majority of Illinois small businesses in Illinois, 73% are pass through entities and pay the individual income tax rate and over 90% of those businesses have an adjusted gross income of $200,000 or less. All of those small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan.”
The reality is that a comparatively tiny number of pass-through business owners (12,330, according to the Tax Foundation - roughly the size of a single Springfield ward) make up a very large (51.94 percent) chunk of total adjusted gross income in this state. Those are the owners who would pay the most. They are at the center of this argument. And they are also making a whole lot of money. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just a fact.
* And speaking of which…
The small number of people who would pay more are, indeed, Illinoisans. Rep. Lang should know better.
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A truly bizarre turn of events
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Some of us have been hearing for several days now that the “Individual D” in the Dennis Hastert case was none other than the brother of former House Republican Leader Tom Cross. Those rumors were confirmed today when Scott Cross testified.
So, we witnessed the bizarre spectacle of House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s brother Tom presiding over a sentencing hearing in which the brother of Leader Durkin’s immediate predecessor testified about being molested by the defendant.
You couldn’t write this as a novel because it would be too unbelievable.
* The Tribune got to Scott Cross before anyone else…
Scott Cross, 53, said that until recently he never spoke to anyone about what happened in Yorkville High School’s locker room after wrestling practice one night when he stayed behind to try to drop some pounds before his next match. […]
Late one night after practice his senior year, Scott Cross had stayed afterward to “cut weight,” according to the prosecution’s sentencing memo. Hastert suggested a massage could “take some pounds off.” But instead Hastert removed the wrestler’s pants and performed “a sexual act” on him, according to the court filing. […]
His older brother, Tom Cross, 57, of Oswego, is the former longtime Illinois House GOP leader. Tom Cross has credited Hastert with introducing him to political life and helping him ascend to public office.
Hastert asked the former legislator earlier this year if he would write a letter of support for his sentencing, but Tom Cross by then was aware of his brother’s allegation and did not respond, according to sources.
* Former Leader Cross issued a statement today on behalf of the family…
“We are very proud of Scott for having the courage to relive this very painful part of his life in order to ensure that justice is done today. We hope his testimony will provide courage and strength to other victims of other cases of abuse to speak out and advocate for themselves. With his testimony concluded, we ask now that you respect Scott’s privacy and that of our family.”
I cannot imagine what it must’ve been like for Scott Cross to watch as his molester helped his brother scale the political heights. And imagine the crushing revulsion Tom Cross experienced when he eventually discovered that his political godfather was a monster. And then to get a request from his own brother’s molester for a kind letter to the judge?
Ugh. Just… ugh.
What a surrealistic nightmare this has become.
And, unfortunately, despite Cross’ request for privacy, I doubt that reporters will let this one go anytime soon. The whole, ugly story will eventually come out.
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Rauner says he may pay for special session
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I just don’t see how he could do this without an appropriation…
Also, hasn’t he said many times that special sessions don’t work?
#Grandstanding?
* Meanwhile, the governor said last week’s higher education funding bill was “only a stopgap,” and “a short-term solution to this crisis,” adding, “It is not the only money I want us to put into for higher education.” His comments appeared to directly contradict Leader Durkin’s remarks from last week which set off Speaker Madigan.
Rauner said he wants a “long-term solution and a grand compromise” for both this and next fiscal years on higher education and everything else.
* As far as a social service stopgap spending bill, “I do believe that there might be a short-term solution there,” Rauner said. The governor said he naturally prefers not to do a short-term crisis bridge like the higher ed bill and prefers to focus on the long-term, but he left the door open for a stopgap.
Rauner also said he would negotiate reforming the state’s school funding formula, but again insisted that a K-12 appropriation be passed at the end of May if negotiations come up with nothing.
* Listen to the raw audio…
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52,000 hurt by impasse in Will County
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is crazy…
More than 52,000 clients are estimated to be affected by the Will County Health Department’s decision to suspend a handful of programs, according to a department news release.
The department — faced with a $2.1 million shortfall caused by the state’s budget impasse — announced last week it was laying off 53 employees. The agency is also suspending nine programs, including its adult psychiatric services.
Those affected include 39,000 served by a school vision and hearing program, 1,800 behavioral health clients and 4,000 clients who use HIV prevention and education services, according to the news release.
A union representative for Will County Health Department employees slated for layoffs later this month said the loss of programming will have a ripple effect on the community’s “most vulnerable citizens.”
David Delrose, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1028, said while employees are aware of the Illinois budget crisis, the scope and immediacy of the layoffs were unexpected.
Ugh.
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Opioid use soars in Metro East
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Keep in mind that we’re talking about prescription drugs here…
Madison and St. Clair County residents are buying opioid prescriptions at a rate that soars above the national average, according to new data from federal agencies.
In 2014, there were 14,367,940 oxycodone and hydrocodone pills sold in Madison County, and 9,031,240 sold in St. Clair County. That’s the most recent year that statistics were available from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration diversion program, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
That’s approximately 34 pills per St. Clair County resident, and 54 pills per Madison County resident.
By comparison, the statewide average per Illinois county is 153,841 pills a year, and the national average is 182,742 pills. That translates to 1.22 pills per Illinois resident or 1.73 pills per U.S. resident — a fraction of the ratio in Madison and St. Clair County. […]
Gibbons said according to the statistics his office has compiled, only about nine pills out of every 30 prescribed are used for legitimate medical purposes. The other 21 pills end up being sold, diverted or are otherwise feeding addictions, he said.
* Related…
* An Opioid Treatment Model Spawns Imitators
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* Sun-Times…
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert arrived at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse about 7:10 a.m. Wednesday to be sentenced for violating banking laws.
The case, however, has become notorious not for that crime but for what the investigation of his financial transactions uncovered. Federal prosecutors say Hastert was paying to cover up sexual misconduct with a student years ago at Yorkville High School.
* Follow along with ScribbleLive…
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* Greg Hinz…
A political consultant who has played a prominent role in the Springfield battle between Gov. Bruce Rauner and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has abruptly lost a job promoting a candidate for a huge food concession at Midway International Airport in Madigan’s Southwest Side district.
Though no one involved wants to publicly say much about it, multiple inside sources report that Chicago-based Resolute Consulting, a firm headed by Greg Goldner, recently was dropped from its position as a media and marketing advisor to SSP America.
SSP is the lead company in a venture that’s expected to soon land a roughly $250 million deal selling food and retail items at the airport. But the deal has not yet closed, and could have problems with the city if it attracts political fire.
SSP dropped Goldner “because they saw him as a liability,” says one source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named. “SSP did not want to create any trouble now.”
Goldner, of course, runs IllinoisGO, which heavily backed Dunkin in his 68-32 Democratic primary loss. As part of that effort, the group paid for a million-dollar TV buy that included a nasty swipe at hizzoner.
Greg goes on to note the important fact that Midway Airport is in Madigan’s district and reports that the mayor’s office denied widespread rumors that Emanuel was personally involved in this.
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