* I’m told this is about a $30 million a year program. So since we are a bit more than half way through the fiscal year, the providers are owed somewhere north of $15 million…
Hi Rich.
Here’s a statement from the Shriver Center on the Family Case Management court order yesterday that compels the state to make good on promises it made to providers of preventive healthcare services for pregnant women, infants and children.
Recently, this blog highlighted that the Governor spoke highly of criminal justice reform measures as being worth the initial short term investment because of the long term return on that investment for communities. Voices for Illinois Children absolutely agrees that responsible public investment up front yields high returns for investors, who are the taxpayers of this state.
These preventive healthcare services, along with so many of the services disappearing in this state, are another prime example of a short term investment that yields big returns.
While this one piece of the vital-services-puzzle will be maintained, unfortunately a court order can’t compel lawmakers and the governor to keep their promises to children and families across the board. Only a complete budget with new revenue passed by lawmakers along with a governor willing to execute it can do that.
Emily Miller
Voices for Illinois Children
* Statement…
A federal judge has ordered Illinois to make payments to continue health care access for hundreds of thousands of families and support for the providers who offer it. This week’s court-ordered mandate will ensure Family Case Management providers – who have not been paid since June 2015 – are duly paid millions of dollars by the State of Illinois for the important Medicaid-funded services they provide to pregnant women, infants, and children. The Shriver Center and Legal Council for Health Justice and the Chicago firm Goldberg Kohn won a court order to compel these payments to hundreds of valued, hard-working providers, including local health departments and clinics, many of whom were on the brink of closure or had already shut-down because of non-payments.
This is a valuable victory for preserving health care access in Illinois, but it shouldn’t take a court order to force our government to keep its commitment to the communities it is meant to serve.
The Family Case Management program affects the state’s infant mortality rate and health care expenditures. It is smart preventative medicine. It saves millions of dollars in long-term health costs. We hope that these court-ordered payments will allow this critical program to continue during the budget impasse. Such a needed and cost-effective program should not languish or dissolve as a result of failure to do the basic work of governing.
Illinois needs to keep its promises and implement its policies. Illinois needs to pass a budget.
Club for Growth Action, a political arm of the Club for Growth, announced the release of a 30-second television ad calling for the election of Kyle McCarter in the 15th congressional district of Illinois. It will begin airing tomorrow on broadcast and cable markets throughout the district.
“Twenty years in Washington has a way of turning some Republicans into Establishment sell-outs who represent their party leaders better than their constituents back home,” said Club for Growth president David McIntosh. “Years ago, John Shimkus became a reliable vote for debt-busting spending bills and the big-government agenda of Washington Republicans.
“Club for Growth PAC has endorsed Kyle McCarter, a successful businessman who fought for pension reform in the State Senate and against higher property taxes. McCarter is committed to fighting for pro-growth policies that will limit the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy.”
Note: John Shimkus has a lifetime score of 66% and a 2014 score of 34% on the Club for Growth Scorecard that tracks how members of Congress vote on economic legislation.
McCann Awarded with Campaign Cash by Madigan’s Top Special Interest Allies from Chicago
Only 13 donors from 50th Senate District have contributed to McCann since January 2015
On Tuesday, February 9th, State Senator Sam McCann received the maximum contribution of $53,900 from the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC, a top Chicago ally of Speaker Mike Madigan. In stark contrast, only 13 donors from the 50th Senate District have contributed a total of $13,000 to Senator McCann since January 2015.
Over the past 5 years, the Operators have contributed $643,600 to Speaker Madigan and the committees he controls: 13th Ward Democratic Organization, Democratic Majority, Democratic Party of Illinois, and Friends of Michael J. Madigan.
* OK, forget about the apparently coordinated message with Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC. Take a look at these $50,000 contributions from the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC on one day in December of 2015 alone…
Illinois House Victory Fund [Purpose: To support Republican candidates for the House of Representatives of the Illinois General Assembly]
JBD Lead Forward PAC [Purpose: To promote Republican candidates throughout Illinois]
House Republican Leadership Committee [Purpose: To promote Republican candidates for the illinois house of representatives]
House Republican Organization [Purpose: To support Republican candidates for the House of Representatives of the Illinois General Assembly]
Citizens for Durkin [ Purpose: To support the candidacy of State Representative James B Durkin in the State of IL]
That’s $250,000 to those groups, plus a bunch to other Republicans.
* Benton also says McCann has only reported 13 donors from within the district since January.
Pretty much all of the money being spent in that district is coming from Liberty Principles PAC. By my rough count, it’s been about $666,000 reported so far. And there’s a long way to go until primary day.
* Benton, by the way, has reported raising just $35,100, since January 1, most of which came from a $25K contribution from Illinois Liberty PAC (not within the district) and a $2K loan from himself.
So, if you’re keeping score, Benton has actually raised just 4.8 percent of the total spent so far. And just 1.2 percent of the total spent has been raised within the district.
If not for Proft, this guy’s fundraising wouldn’t be taken seriously by anyone.
This month, we asked our members whether the governor should keep fighting to pass his economic agenda. Their answer came through loud and clear: Seventy-four percent of survey respondents say Illinois’ economy is on the wrong track, while an overwhelming 88 percent believe the governor should continue pushing his “turnaround agenda.” More than 560 owners completed the survey.
We drilled a little deeper and asked specifically whether our members support the governor’s plan to repair the state’s workers’ compensation system, repeal prevailing wage and reform our legal system; 88 percent answered yes.
The takeaway is that while some get a little squeamish amid controversy or recoil at a tough challenge, small-business owners understand the grave nature of what Rauner is trying to do and are willing to weather this storm.
They know firsthand, from experience, that sometimes hard decisions must be made in order to keep the doors open.
Make no mistake, we know this is painful to some and scary for those whose futures are in question. But for the vast majority of the private sector who pay their own freight for retirement and want their children to have a better future, there is no more pressing issue than righting this ship called the state of Illinois. Now.
You see, in business, when there’s a problem, you fix it before it gets worse. Apparently, in state government, you just keep pushing the problem aside until it is so gigantic the solutions are almost unbearable. Remember, the governor has been in office for one year; our problems have been in the making for decades.
Another attempt is being made in the General Assembly to send the stalled contract talks with the largest state employee union to arbitration.
The House Labor and Commerce Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would send the talks to binding arbitration while also prohibiting the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from striking.
The legislation mirrors a bill passed by the General Assembly last year to do the same thing. Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the bill and the House was not able to override the veto. […]
“We are in a unique situation here,” AFSCME deputy director Mike Newman said. “We’ve never heard a public employer boast that if there is a strike, we will win. I don’t know how anybody can define a strike by 10s of thousands of state employees as a victory.”
Sponsoring Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said the bill marked a “major concession” by unions in giving up their right to strike, and he called on his colleagues to prevent a lockout and government shutdown.
Rauner has asked the Illinois Labor Relations Board to determine whether his administration and AFSCME have reached a stage in negotiations that would allow him to bypass further talks and impose his own terms on the roughly 38,000 state workers the union represents.
That review could take months, and Rauner and the union have agreed to keep workers on the job in the meantime. But if Rauner ultimately succeeds in putting a stop to the talks, the union will have to decide whether to go on strike for the first time. […]
In testimony to the committee, Mike Newman, deputy director of AFSCME Council 31, said a governor who has made weakening unions part of his agenda simply wants to force his terms without considering the pain and disruption a strike would cause.
Rep. Welch has a Democratic primary opponent who just received some funding from one of Dan Proft’s groups.
* The Rauner administration response…
Illinois Taxpayers Cannot Afford HB 580
HB580—a second bite at the failed attempt to pass SB1229 last Fall—should not become law. Simply put, our taxpayers cannot afford it.
Over the course of the last year, the State and certain labor unions have engaged in productive, good-faith negotiations. Indeed, the State has signed collective bargaining agreements with seventeen unions represented by, among others, the Teamsters, SEIU, the Laborers’ International Union, and the International Union of Operating Engineers. All seventeen agreed that tightening our belts now is the only responsible approach if we have any hope of avoiding cuts to essential services, massive employee layoffs, continued credit rating downgrades, and the further ballooning of our unfunded pension liabilities, bill backlog, and budget deficits. These unions offered to be a part of the solution.
Not AFSCME, which has continued to insist that the State somehow, somewhere find over $3 billion to give ASFCME employees more money while maintaining luxury health insurance coverage at garage-sale prices. So, after almost a year of unproductive negotiations, the State invoked a procedure to which AFSCME and the State thrice agreed, asking the Labor Board to determine whether the parties are at an impasse. Instead of lobbying for yet another version of the failed legislation from last Fall, AFSCME should defend its proposals before the Labor Board. This is what AFSCME has agreed to do in that very forum, on three separate occasions. If ASFCME believes its actions are reasonable, it should make its case to the Board.
But now that the matter is before the Labor Board, and AFSCME has to actually defend its proposals, AFSCME wants to rewrite the rules. Why is AFSCME afraid of the Labor Board process to which it previously agreed? Why does it want to replace that fair process with an all-or-nothing gamble at taxpayers’ expense that typifies labor arbitration in this State? Arbitrators may not fashion a middle ground that the State can actually afford. Instead, arbitrators must choose either the State’s or the union’s proposal wholesale. What AFSCME is hoping for is that AFSCME’s current proposal—over $3 billion in additional costs—is implemented. AFSCME could never defend such an unreasonable proposal at the negotiating table. And AFSCME is afraid it cannot defend it before the Labor Board. And thus the arbitration gamble becomes very attractive for AFSCME, no matter how unaffordable it is to our taxpayers.
Worse still, courts in Illinois have been recently upholding arbitration awards even in the absence of appropriations. The General Assembly would thus be bound by arbitration resulting from HB580, making balancing the State’s budget that much more difficult.
If HB580 becomes law, the General Assembly would effectively cede major financial decisions to unelected, unaccountable arbitrators. AFSCME is gambling for a big payday in arbitration. But it is the General Assembly that will have the difficult job of finding the money to pay for AFSCME’s jackpot, likely at the expense of cutting essential services in the State, imposing employee layoffs, or other drastic measures.
WATCH: Today we launched our first TV ad, "Amen." The ad showcases Kim’s personal and professional experience that we know will drive her holistic approach to repairing our broken criminal justice system. Check it out, then share, #TeamFoxx!
Together with Rich Miller, we’ll be hosting a happy hour reception at the Sangamo Club, 227 E Adams St, on Tuesday, February 16th from 3:30 to 6:30pm. We’ll have a computer set up, so you can see first-hand how TrackBill can work for you.
Stop by for cocktails and light appetizers, and feel free to bring a friend!
* Now that the Sun-Times has finally shed itself of its meddling pro-Rauner owner, might we see more editorials like this?…
You don’t smash the engine to make a car go faster, yet that is what Gov. Bruce Rauner is doing to Chicago, the engine of Illinois.
For more than a year, Gov. Rauner has been inflicting permanent damage on one of America’s great cities — and so too, then, on the entire State of Illinois — by holding the city hostage to a rigid “turnaround” agenda that is going nowhere. Rauner charged into office promising dramatic pro-business, anti-union reforms, but he’s fast shaping up as one of the least successful and most politically inept governors in the state’s history.
It is easy to say “a pox on both your houses,” as we have in the past, laying blame equally on the governor and the Democratic leaders of the state Legislature, especially House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. And certainly, as President Obama said in his speech to the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday, there is a need across the political spectrum for “civility and compromise.”
But increasingly, with respect to Gov. Rauner, that is a false equivalency.
They do get some things wrong. Rauner long ago abandoned his robust and harmful (to his own aims) public push for so-called “right to work” laws, for example.
* Most importantly, though, Chicago has done far more harm to itself with ridiculous tax and spend policies (low property taxes on residents and too much spending as well as too much delay on dealing with pensions) over the past couple of decades (with mayors and aldermanic majorities endorsed by the Sun-Times) than Rauner could ever possibly do in a year.
I get their anger. I share it. But the city’s leaders started this raging fire and then deliberately ignored it until they had pushed Chicago to the cusp of insolvency. Emanuel didn’t have the courage to raise taxes in his first term, and, of course, there was Daley’s (endorsed) abject cowardice. Now, the tax hikes have to be much larger and the cuts much deeper if Chicago hopes to ever survive, which is why Rauner and others are pushing so hard for the bankruptcy option.
* Illinois, on the other hand, did address its revenue problem in 2011, much to the chagrin of many. But then Rauner demanded that the Democrats not renew that tax hike and the Dems complied. Big mistake in hindsight. However, because he made that request, Rauner now owns the current state problems much more than he owns Chicago’s.
And while many don’t or refuse to believe it, state spending was cut before Rauner took over (not enough, but it was). Now it can’t be cut with any sort of reasonableness and logic and humaneness because we don’t have a budget and the judiciary is ordering spending, while some entities (like rape crisis centers and universities) aren’t getting any state money at all.
Rauner’s performance as governor lies at the heart of the problem now. His largely inflexible demands are unrealistic and his coercive tactics ineffectual. His harsh rhetoric has made constructive compromise — the heart and soul of politics if not the private equity business — all the more difficult.
The irony here is that Rauner is championing some good stuff for which he might possibly, over time, cobble together bipartisan support. We’re with him on the need to reform the way legislative maps are drawn to make elections more competitive. We see merit in term limits for legislators. There’s a good argument that Illinois could go further in reforming its worker’s comp laws.
But Rauner came to Springfield and demanded it all, right away. Without even a nod to political realities, he front-loaded his entire agenda into the first year of his four-year term. And we’re troubled by his seeming obsession with curtailing the power of unions; is it so complete that he cannot see that he will never get a right-to-work law through the General Assembly?
Again, Rauner, to his credit, did dump the so-called “right to work” issue last year. But his obsession with unions is downright bizarre.
* The governor also seems to enjoy kicking people and entities when they’re down, and he’s been far too eager to do that to Chicago. So the editorial is spot on in that regard.
And he’s mostly contained the state meltdown to Chicago, where problems with schools, crime and the state’s only majority African-American public university are rapidly coming to a head. He should be trying to help, no doubt, but he would say he has offered help. Trouble is, that was all wrapped up in his anti-union obsession. He really needs to find other ways to make this state more competitive.
But you can’t deliberately hit yourself in the head with a hammer and then sue the manufacturer. Well, you can (this is Illinois, after all /snark), but you’d look pretty silly doing it.
* Either way, and despite my strong disagreements, having a “new” Chicago counterpoint to the Tribune is most definitely needed. That paper has been dominating this debate for far too long.
Thursday, Feb 11, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
MembersAlliance Credit Union, based in Rockford, started a fundraiser in 2009 to help fund and increase awareness for the Tutoring Clubs program, an effort of Stateline Youth for Christ that reaches out to local “at risk” school children in grades 1-5 through one-on-one relationships with adult volunteers. This year, 11 credit unions of the Rockford Area Chapter supported the Tutoring Clubs Program, resulting in their most successful fundraising year to date.
Gregg Giamalva, Stateline Youth for Christ Executive Director, stated, “We are so appreciative of our local credit union members and community for their support of Tutoring Clubs, raising over $8,000−by far our best year yet! Our program is a preemptive effort to direct children in becoming productive citizens. All monies raised go directly to local Tutoring Clubs, which are growing in the stateline area.” Giamalva added, “Our mission is to help these young people increase confidence and make improvements in their academic, social and spiritual lives, and we have seen impressive results in all these areas.”
“The credit union motto is People Helping People, and Tutoring Clubs is an excellent example of this philosophy,” commented Lorna Cote, Chairman, Rockford Area Chapter of Credit Unions (RACCU). “This is one of several collaborative efforts of the RACCU. As we invite people to find a local credit union to love, we also give back to our community and appreciate the giving hearts of our members.”
“I think it’ll kind of make it … really kind of embarrass people into not being so …. so, stuck in their ways, you know?” [Senate President John Cullerton] said, “And hope that — we still have a big gap to close, but if people (as I’ve been trying to do, by the way since I’ve been here) to try to do bring people together and try to pass some legislation.”
Republicans by and large weren’t quite that optimistic.
“I think you can never have enough reminders of the importance of coming back to a respectful tone. It’s not going to change over night, the President acknowledged that,” Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, said.
“I think we need to take his remarks today, and realize that we do need to work together to try and get things done. But is this going to move us off the dime a little bit on budget negotiations? I don’t think so,” Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said.
Sandack said that he is ready to answer the president’s call for greater “civility” in political discourse.
“In this age where the political divide seems insurmountable, we have a responsibility to behave respectfully and with the best interests of our constituents in mind,” Sandack said. “I am ready to do my part, and invite my colleagues from the other side of the aisle to join me for those discussions.”
“I think he was addressing both sides in equal parts,” Manar said. “I do think it offers us a new perspective that I hope will be helpful moving forward. I count it as a perspective coming from the president of the United States that I hope will be helpful to break the impasse that has brought our state to a halt.”
“I think there were a lot of things Republicans and Democrats can agree to,” said Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville. “Unfortunately I think politics are playing too big a role in Springfield for (that speech) to have an effect.”
Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, R-Leland Grove, said lawmakers will have to wait and see if there is any lasting impact.
“I think we should observe to see if it makes any difference,” she said. “I’ve been hopeful that we can work together and work toward compromise very quickly. The point is we should all be listening to all people’s points of view.”
* The Question: In the coming weeks, what sort of impact do you think the President’s speech will have? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* The Tribune’s Christi Parsons spent nearly an hour yesterday afternoon with President Obama and three of his former Illinois Senate colleagues, Denny Jacobs, Larry Walsh and Kirk Dillard. The published story is here. The full video is here. And the official White House transcript is here…
THE PRESIDENT: Now, the one thing — last thing I should say is I especially want to thank Larry and Denny — I can’t thank Kirk for this, but these two contributed to the early college fund for Malia and Sasha. (Laughter.) Through our poker games. I saw Tommy Walsh, one of the Republicans that played, and Dave Luechtefeld and those guys contributed as well. But Malia and Sasha, they got a good seed fund for their college, because these guys, I took them for all they were worth. (Laughter.)
DILLARD: I said to Denny in the motorcade over here, Mr. President, I said, do you think the President still carries cash. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, absolutely. I mean, we can get a — now, probably –
WALSH: I got a deck. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Part of the secret of beating these guys, though, is I would just nurse my beer, and these guys — you know. So the longer the game went on, the looser their betting got. (Laughter.)
WALSH: Now, don’t you go telling too many stories here, Mr. President. (Laughter.)
I was honored that President Obama affirmed my decision to find a compromise to bring people together. As the President noted, our problems are not new and compromise is not a sign of weakness or being a sellout, but necessary for self government. I also found his Lincoln reference interesting considering some of the dialogue surrounding the politics in Springfield. Honestly, I feel vindicated.
STOP LYING AND TELL THE TRUTH…YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!
Perhaps some history revisionists would like to revisit their statements! The only people who don’t seem to get it are the Springfield regulars. So as your social service agencies continue to starve and families continue to suffer, I often wonder do you pat yourself on the back for not being able to reach a compromise. I Know you think you are being valiant, but most of us are tired and want to get a deal. The state is screwed and YOU participated.
I 100% believe that Dunkin was referenced in the speech and it wasn’t negatively. The funny thing is Dunkin has been getting calls from all over the nation commending him on being a visionary. Whether you like it or not Dunkin was the POSTIVE in the speech, I think the people with the ooh’s and ahh’s were who the POTUS was actually talking to!
From the Washington Post:
The president was clearly at ease. He joked with Illinois state Rep. Ken Dunkin (D), who angered his own party by missing a key vote to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a labor bill. Obama said that compromising with the opposing party “doesn’t make me a sellout to my own party.”
“Heck, yeah,” someone shouted from the floor.
Obama responded: “We’ll talk later, Ken.” The audience exploded in laughter and applause, and Dunkin stood and saluted the president.
Oh…and how about that 8 second intro from the Speaker. The POTUS made it his HOUSE today, but alas, for the negroes back to work tomorrow!
Because in Springfield, no matter how high you climb, you are still a [racial expletive deleted]!
During his speech, Obama said making bipartisan compromises “doesn’t make me a sell out to my own party.” He then turned to Rep. Ken Dunkin and said, “We’ll talk later, Dunkin. Sit down.”
Dunkin, a democrat, has recently come under fire after forging an alliance with Gov. Rauner.
“I was honored that President Obama affirmed my decision to find a compromise to bring people together,” Dunkin told Ward Room. “As the President noted, our problems are not new and compromise is not a sign of weakness, but necessary for self-government.”
Dunkin also told Ward Room that he has been invited to visit the White House on March 17.
* The Civic Federation has released its annual state budget report…
In a report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability proposes a comprehensive three-year plan that addresses Illinois’ ongoing financial crisis with painful but necessary spending limits and revenue enhancements. The full 55-page report is available at www.civicfed.org.
More than seven months into the current fiscal year, the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget. However, virtually all of the State’s projected FY2016 revenues will be spent through statutory requirements, consent decrees, court orders and appropriated funds for elementary and secondary education. This leaves little for the areas of government that have gone unfunded, including all higher education and major human services programs. If current revenue and expenditure policies continue, the State’s backlog of bills could grow to $25.9 billion by the end of FY2019.
“Systemic payment delays and the ongoing budget impasse in Springfield have only exacerbated our State’s financial woes, and there are no more politically popular solutions left to explore,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation. “Despite this dire situation, our roadmap shows that with dedicated action and shared sacrifice, it is possible to enact a comprehensive plan that will get Illinois back on sound financial footing by FY2019.”
The Federation proposes the following recommendations as part of a comprehensive three-year plan:
*Limit Spending and Pay Down Bills: The State should control spending to generate budget surpluses that would allow it to pay down the backlog of unpaid bills by the end of FY2019. Projected spending for FY2016 starts at a low level that is more than $1 billion below previously estimated maintenance levels.
* Revenue Cliff: The State should retroactively increase the income tax rate to 5.0% for individuals and 7.0% for corporations as of January 1, 2016, up from 3.75% and 5.25%, respectively, in order to address the fall in revenues resulting from the income tax rate rollback on January 1, 2015.
* Broaden the Income Tax Base to Include Some Retirement Income: Out of the 41 states that impose an income tax, Illinois is one of only three that exempt all pension income. The State can no longer afford to provide this generous benefit and should eliminate the income tax exemption for non-Social Security retirement income from individuals with a taxable income of more than $50,000.
* Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to Provide Assistance to Low Income Residents: To help soften the impact of the State’s fiscal crisis on low income residents, the Civic Federation proposes an increase in the State’s Earned Income Tax Credit from 10% of the federal credit to 15% of the federal amount.
* Expand the Sales Tax Base and Reduce the Retailer’s Discount: The Civic Federation recommends that Illinois temporarily suspend its sales tax exemption for food and nonprescription drugs, enact a new general consumer services tax and cap reimbursement to retailers for collecting sales tax revenues.
* Establish Comprehensive Teachers’ Pension Funding Reform: There is no good public policy reason for Illinois to maintain two separate funds for public school teachers’ pensions. The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund and Teachers’ Retirement System should consolidate, providing more equitable pension funding for all teachers and helping to stabilize Chicago Public Schools’ finances.
* Approve Constitutional Amendment Limiting Pension Protection Clause: The Civic Federation urges the General Assembly to draft and approve a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution for the November 2016 statewide ballot specifying that the clause in the Illinois Constitution protecting public pension benefits applies only to accrued benefits.
* Make Supplemental Pension Payments: In order to mitigate the impact of the State’s inadequate statutory pension funding plan, the State should make supplemental payments corresponding to the reduced debt service obligations associated with retiring Pension Obligation bonds beginning in FY2019 until all five State retirement systems are 100% funded.
Only after the State eliminates its backlog of bills and begins to make progress toward building a rainy day fund should it explore reversing some of the tax policy changes that were necessary to end the crisis as part of a comprehensive look at the State’s tax system.
It is important to note that with less than six months remaining in the current fiscal year to address an operating shortfall of $4.6 billion, there are no practical measures that would completely balance the FY2016 budget and prevent an increase in the backlog of unpaid bills by the end of FY2016. Unlike FY2015, there are no easy stop-gap fixes such as interfund borrowing or fund sweeps that are available or adequate to close such a large operating shortfall.
Savings from pension reforms are no longer possible due to the Illinois State Supreme Court’s ruling that the changes were unconstitutional. Only difficult choices remain for the State.
(T)he afterglow of a wistful President Barack Obama’s call in Springfield for a “better politics” of civility might not even last 24 hours at the Capitol.
House Democrats have resurrected a labor-backed bill that would prevent a lockout or strike if an impasse is reached between state employees and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration.
The measure will go before a House committee Thursday morning, a day after Obama’s lofty speech to state lawmakers.
Last year, Gov. Rauner vetoed a similar measure, which Democrats in the House failed to overturn when House Speaker Michael Madigan was unable to keep his veto-proof majority unified. The state’s collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 expired July 1, the start of the new budget year.
* I told subscribers earlier this week about a Dan Proft radio ad blasting Republican state Sen. Sam McCann. Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC is now out with a similar TV ad. Rate it…
…Adding… Wordslinger in comments…
I think it’s a much more effective spot for the second intended audience, which is GOP GA members.
The message is, if you buck the governor on even one vote, if you cast a meaningless vote for a measure that doesn’t even become law, this is what you can expect.
“People think it’s a fight about the budget. It’s not really about the budget. It’s about the future of the state. Speaker (Michael) Madigan and his legislators, what they want to fight me on is to raise taxes. That’s not the answer. Or to cut services. That’s not the answer either.”
Rauner said he wants to fight “the wasteful bureaucracy” and make Illinois “a pro-growth state.”
“Now we’re winning, but it’s taking longer than I’d like,” he admitted. “But what I’ve said I won’t do is raise taxes on the people of Illinois until I know we’re getting more value for your taxes, and we’ve got real strong economic growth creating jobs in the state.
“Until I can say that, we are never raising taxes in this state.”
In the past, Rauner has indicated some willingness to increase taxes once parts of his reform agenda were enacted, but he took a more strident anti-tax tone Wednesday.
Since it’s Lent and I’m trying very hard to change the tone of discourse in my own life, I thought I would pass along a nifty little article that one of my UIS Philosophy profs gave us on how to ‘disagree agreeably’. Just thought it was timely.
Daniel Dennett (b. March 28, 1942), whom artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky has called “our best current philosopher” and “the next Bertrand Russell,” poses an apt question that probes some of the basic tendencies and dynamics of today’s everyone-is-a-critic culture: “Just how charitable are you supposed to be when criticizing the views of an opponent?”
In Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (public library) — the same fantastic volume that gave us Dennett on the dignity and art-science of making mistakes — he offers what he calls “the best antidote [for the] tendency to caricature one’s opponent”: a list of rules formulated decades ago by the legendary social psychologist and game theorist Anatol Rapoport, best-known for originating the famous tit-for-tat strategy of game theory. Dennett synthesizes the steps:
How to compose a successful critical commentary:
* You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.
* You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
* You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
* Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.
If only the same code of conduct could be applied to critical commentary online, particularly to the indelible inferno of comments.
But rather than a naively utopian, Pollyannaish approach to debate, Dennett points out this is actually a sound psychological strategy that accomplishes one key thing: It transforms your opponent into a more receptive audience for your criticism or dissent, which in turn helps advance the discussion.
Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exelon announced that its profits for 2015 were $2,270,000,000 and that it is increasing dividends to shareholders 2.5% per year for the next three years.
So you’re thinking – “The company is healthy, shareholders are getting more $$$, the power auctions provided them $1.7 billion for their nuclear plants in Illinois so they must be done asking struggling Illinois ratepayers for a bailout, right?” Nope - it’s never enough for Exelon.
“Groundhog Day was yesterday, but Exelon appears to want to keep celebrating. The Chicago-based nuclear giant is back to threatening to close nuclear plants in Illinois without financial help from the state.” – “Exelon’s Crane beats the drum again for nuke subsidies” Crain’s, February 3, 2016
To review:
Exelon made more than TWO BILLION DOLLARS ($2,270,000,000) last year
Exelon is INCREASING DIVIDENDS FOR SHAREHOLDERS
Exelon received a $1.7 BILLION WINDFALL through new capacity charges
Illinois still has no budget, the state’s finances and services are in shambles, the social safety net is being decimated but Exelon STILL wants the Legislature to pass a huge BAILOUT.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
We understand that many of Rauner’s critics want to energize their loyalists; others demonize him to raise donations. No problem, free country, all fair.
What we don’t understand is the Rauner critics’ willingness to see services shrink and institutions close. Their reluctance to get in Michael Madigan’s face, just as they get in Bruce Rauner’s.
“I think we can drive a wedge issue in the Democratic Party on that topic and bring the folks who say, ‘You know what, for our tax dollars, I’d rather help the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the elderly, the children in poverty,’ ” Rauner said, instead of directing tax dollars to the Service Employees International Union or “AF-Scammy,”
* A Tribune news report on a Tribune editorial board appearance last year…
“Crisis creates opportunity. Crisis creates leverage to change … and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change,” said Rauner […]
One such moment came when Rauner railed against public worker unions that donate heavily to further their political aims. Asked how he intended to get a ban on union campaign contributions through a legislature that is heavily backed by organized labor, Rauner pointed to the binders his staff had prepared.
“Read it,” he said. “Change the law … that’s what our proposal is.”
Pressed to explain, Rauner simply said: “Crisis. Crisis creates leverage.”
So, can you see why most legislators who aren’t in the governor’s party are so reluctant to do a deal with him? He said he would create a crisis and he did it. If they give in, he’ll probably just do it all over again.
* Let me be abundantly clear here that I have been pushing for and demanding a resolution to this impasse for a very long time. I believe that the governor makes extremely good points about the state of our economy and about the unfairness of our property tax system.
But, at the same time, it’s really not too difficult to understand why the other side doesn’t want to cave.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Chicago Rep. Will Guzzardi is not at all what you would ever call an “organization Democrat.” He defeated an organization Dem on his second try. His response to the Trib’s editorial on his Facebook page…
Here’s the thing about this article. It operates on the same faulty premise that I think the Governor has: fear of Speaker Madigan is the only thing keeping us from being full-throated advocates of the Turnaround Agenda.
That’s just wrong. You could have another Speaker tomorrow and you’d still be miles away from 60 votes on right to work, ending prevailing wage, gutting workers comp, capping remedies in civil court, or any of the rest of Rauner’s “reforms.”
I’m opposed to those things, and it’s certainly not because I’m under the thumb of Madigan. Most of my colleagues are opposed to them too. It’s because we actually believe in the merits of those programs.
Anyone who wants this thing to end needs to realize that, irrespective of Madigan, there is *no way* that the Turnaround Agenda will pass the House. Insisting on it as a precondition of a budget deal is the same thing as saying “I do not want a budget deal.” That’s why we blame Rauner.
You may disagree with his ideology, but you can’t argue the merits of his argument here. Very, very good points. [Hat tip: 47th Ward in comments]
*** UPDATE 2 *** Good points by a commenter…
The Democrats undeniably did the following things:
1) They passed a tax increase with a sunset provision, then for 4 years and total control of Congress and Gov’s office they took no action to either get expenses in line to prepare for the drop off in income tax, OR to renew the tax rates before they hit sunset. They could have taken that action as a party at any point from 2011 to 2015. They could have extended the tax sunset in the lame duck session of 2014 but they did not do that.
2) Democrats passed an unbalanced budget twice, once in 2014 when there was a Democratic governor and again in 2015 with Rauner.
Yep. Very true. Blame for the past, even the recent past, is very easy here. Going forward, however, I don’t see how it makes much of a difference.
Frank Mautino says now the more than $200,000 he racked up in fuel and auto service charges since 1999 wasn’t accumulated through his personal vehicle alone but in fact for four vehicles, including one owned and driven by a campaign worker.
After weeks of silence over questions raised about his campaign expenditures, the longtime Democratic state representative, now Illinois auditor general, released Tuesday a kind of statement explaining somewhat his fuel expenditures. These reached the seemingly improbable total of $213,000 from Happy’s Super Service in Spring Valley over more than a decade. […]
-A 2014 Ford Fiesta with 93,000 miles
-A 2002 Ford Explorer with 200,000 miles
-A 2014 Chevrolet Equinox with 30,000 miles
-A 1997 Ford F-150 with undisclosed miles
(NOTE: The Equinox mileage appears to be 30,000; the letter issued as a PDF file by Mautino spokesman Ryan Keith was not consistently legible.)
“All of these vehicles are personal vehicles,” Mautino wrote, excepting the F-150 which belonged to campaign worker Harry Pelka. “All the vehicles have been used for personal and campaign use. My primary work and campaign vehicle is the 2014 Ford Fiesta.” […]
The Ford Explorer, which Mautino said was primarily driven by campaign worker William Losey, alone accounts for 200,000 miles and would have been driven during calendar years when per-gallon fuel costs would have consistently been more than $3 and at times more than $4.
* Like I said earlier, blogging could be light today because I’m heading into the Obamapalooza event. You can watch a live video feed by clicking here. Follow along with ScribbleLive…
Rand Paul‘s campaign manager is jumping on board the suddenly flagging Marco Rubio campaign.
Chip Englander, who ran the Kentucky senator’s campaign before it ended last week, will be a senior political adviser responsible for the Midwest. Based in Chicago, Mr. Englander also ran Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner‘s successful 2014 campaign
The Rubio campaign, which placed fifth in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, hopes to capitalize on Mr. Englander’s connections to Mr. Paul’s libertarian supporters, even though the two senators’ presidential efforts were based on very different ideas. Mr. Paul campaigned on a foreign policy highly skeptical of intervention abroad and government surveillance, while Mr. Rubio backs a far more robust American presence overseas and stresses his support for electronic government surveillance.
Mr. Englander was spotted on an airplane Tuesday afternoon reviewing a contract to join the Rubio campaign. Rubio spokesman Alex Conant confirmed Mr. Englander’s employment Wednesday morning.
* Meanwhile, our two-time Golden Horseshoe winner Nancy Kimme has been working closely with Gov. Kasich’s campaign and could use some more volunteers…
* I’ve changed my mind and am now leaning toward going to the President’s event. So, blogging could be light today. I’ll have a live coverage post up soon because I need to get to the Capitol.
In his speech to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly, “without endorsing a specific path forward,” Obama will “talk about the need to address gerrymandering, including in his home state of Illinois,” the White House said Tuesday.
The Chicago Sun-Times has learned that Illinois Republican Reps. Rodney Davis and Darin LaHood — whose districts take in parts of Springfield — were asked by the White House to greet Obama on the tarmac of Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield — but not fly out with him on Air Force One.
Because Congress is in session, however, they would have had to scramble back from Washington for the arrival ceremony, flying commercial, while Democratic Illinois Reps. Mike Quigley, Robin Kelly and Tammy Duckworth got the lift on the president’s plane.
Davis’ district includes the Statehouse. He should’ve been invited on the flight.
Sen. Durbin is flying on the big plane as well. And Duckworth is a special guest to boost her US Senate primary bid.
The president is expected to give remarks there alongside several lawmakers he once worked with, including former state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Republican who is now Regional Transportation Authority chairman.
Dillard said he was invited to appear by the White House along with former state Sens. Denny Jacobs, a Democrat from East Moline, and Larry Walsh, who’s now Will County executive.
“I tell my children that Dad was a very lucky person that he got to work in Springfield with a gentleman who became the president of the United States,” said Dillard, who during the 2010 governor primary was the subject of Republican attack ads for his previous appearance in a campaign ad supporting Obama. “I pinch myself every now and again.”
I’m also hearing that Pat Quinn was invited to attend.
“If we just grew at the national average for a year, we wouldn’t have unpaid bills today, we wouldn’t have a deficit today and we wouldn’t have (had) to do the tax hike in 2011,” Rauner said.
I’m told he meant “every year,” not just one year.
* But that’s still a pretty bold statement and I wanted to see the actual numbers, so I asked his staff for an explanation. Here it is…
According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, if our revenues (individual income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax) grew at the national average GDP growth since Fiscal Year 2000, we would have generated an additional $19 billion total in surplus revenue even without the 2011 tax hike. With average growth and no tax hike, we would have generated $305.5 billion in revenue from the income and sales taxes. In reality, we generated just $286.5 billion. That means with average growth, there’d be no bill backlog (as well as the more than $1 billion dollars in prompt payment interest that has accrued since 2003), no budget crisis and more resources for schools, Medicaid and social service providers.
So, that means overall revenues would’ve grown an additional 6.6 percent over time. That would be welcome, but I’m not sure it would’ve solved all the problems.
President Obama will address the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday, February 10 in the House Chambers. Streaming of President Obama’s speech will be available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/live
Family members will not have access to the house floor for Wednesday, February 10. Members should be advised the House Floor temperature has been lowered due to the additional personnel and camera lights in the room, so members may want to dress appropriately for the day.
Members should plan to arrive at the Capitol Building by 11 a.m. All Members, staff and guests will need to use the west wing entrance and will be required to pass thru the magnetometers. Members & guests should limit what they bring (such as water bottles, coffee cups, computer devices and laptops) to the Capitol Building as this will only delay the scanning procedures.
Parking: For Wednesday February 10th, there is no parking on the North Drive. Parking will be provided for North Drive vehicles in lot G, the gravel lot to the north of the capitol building. Parking is available on a first come, first served basis.
The schedule for the day.
7:30-10 a.m. State Capitol Building closed for a security sweep. All tunnels close at 7:30 a.m. for the day.
10:15 a.m. The State Capitol west doors open for Members & guests. Please dress warm as the Springfield temperature may be in the low teens. Also, there will not be any drop-offs in between the Capitol and Stratton Buildings.
All Members, staff and guests will need to go thru a magnetometer.
Only Members, building staff and guests with seats in the Gallery or the Speakers Gallery will have access to the Capitol Building.
Any person going to the House Chamber of Gallery, will need a pass for the day. That pass can be collected at the registration table on the first floor west wing, after you are scanned.
Guests will need passes as well for the Gallery and the Speakers Gallery.
Those guests who are in the Speakers Gallery will enter the 4th floor Gallery doors, then walk around the Chamber Gallery.
There will be a staffed coat room – Room 118, for House Members and guests.
11:30 a.m. House Session convenes
11:45 a.m. House –Senate Joint Session to convene, then stand at ease
Members can move about the building, but certain areas will not be accessible.
The East Corridor from the Senate to the House will not be accessible. Members may only access the Chamber thru the 3rd floor rotunda doors. Room 300 will only be accessible for those with offices.
Lunch: House Members can take a few moments for lunch in room 114. No food will be allowed on the House Floor or the House Galleries.
12:45 p.m. All House and Senate Members and dignitaries will need to be on the House floor near their seats.
All guests in the Galleries will need to be in their seats.
As a reminder, for any guests in the galleries, they will need to use the restrooms on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floors. So time should be factored into one’s schedule to traverse the building.
1 p.m. Members and guests should be in their seats, as the doors to the Chamber will be closed.
Members should note committees have been scheduled for Wednesday, February 10, after the President’s address. House committees are be scheduled for the morning of Thursday, February 11.
* Capitol Avenue between Second and Seventh streets
* Edwards Street between Second and College streets
* Walnut Street between Edwards Street and North Grand Avenue
* From the White House…
DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
In the morning, the President will travel to Springfield, Illinois. The departure from the South Lawn is open press, and the arrival at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport is open to pre-credentialed media.
While in Springfield, the President will address the Illinois General Assembly about what we can do, together, to build a better politics – one that reflects our better selves. The President’s remarks at the Illinois State Capitol will be pooled press.
Afterward, the President will deliver remarks to supporters, stakeholders and volunteers. The President’s remarks at the Hoogland Center for the Arts will be pooled press.
In the evening, the President depart Illinois en route San Jose, California. The departure from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport and the arrival at Moffett Federal Airfield are open to pre-credentialed media.
The President will remain overnight in San Jose.
In-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: CBS
Print: The Root
Radio: WW1
Out-of-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: NY Times
Print: CBS
Radio: NPR
EST
9:00AM In-Town Pool Call Time
10:05AM THE PRESIDENT departs the White House
South Lawn
Open Press (Final Gather 9:50AM – North Doors of the Palm Room)
10:20AM THE PRESIDENT departs Andrews Air Force Base en route Springfield, Illinois
Out-of-Town Travel Pool Coverage (Call Time 9:00AM – Virginia Gate, Joint Base Andrews)
CST
11:20AM THE PRESIDENT arrives in Springfield, Illinois
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, Springfield, Illinois
Open to Pre-Credentialed Media
1:25PM THE PRESIDENT addresses the Illinois General Assembly
Illinois State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois
Pooled Press
3:25PM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks
Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, Illinois
Pooled Press
5:10PM THE PRESIDENT departs Springfield, Illinois en route San Jose, California
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, Springfield, Illinois
Open to Pre-Credentialed Media
PST
7:30PM THE PRESIDENT arrives in San Jose, California
Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View, California
Open to Pre-Credentialed Media
Briefing Schedule
Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz will gaggle aboard Air Force One en route Springfield, Illinois
* When somebody starts comparing you to Lincoln, you can either politely demur or just go with the flow. Frerichs went with the flow…
Although Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs is a Democrat, when he was visiting the La Salle County Farm Bureau office in Ottawa on Monday, it was readily apparent he bears some resemblance to Republican Abraham Lincoln.
His height and new beard would seem to be similarities — but only to a point, he says.
Frerichs is 6-foot 8-inches while Lincoln was 6-foot 4-inches. But, he says, Americans today are on average three to four inches taller than they were in Lincoln’s time.
“If Lincoln had been born today, he probably would have reached his full potential of 6-feet 8-inches,” Frerichs told The Times.
Also, Frerichs noted his full beard is different than Lincoln’s chin curtain style, where the mustache is shaved.
However, Frerichs agrees there are similarities in that both are tall and lanky and grew up in Central Illinois.
* And here he is…
Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs is talking at the La Salle County Farm Bureau about the Ag Invest Program. pic.twitter.com/zFOCjlXz7m
A state agency is seeking former state Rep. Frank Mautino’s “clarification” on the more than $250,000 he paid to a Spring Valley bank since 1999.
Mautino, who is now the state’s auditor general, listed Spring Valley City Bank as the recipient of $259,000 in campaign money, even though the purpose listed in documents for the spending was for everything from food to travel.
“They are clearly not expenditures to the bank,” said Tom Newman, director of campaign disclosure for the state Board of Elections. […]
“Maybe the committee didn’t know the correct way to do it, and they took their best stab at it,” Newman said. […]
“We’ll try a couple of times to get in touch with them and see where it goes from there,” Newman said.
So far only one House Democrat, Ken Dunkin of Chicago, has publicly crossed Madigan in favor of Rauner, but the Governor tells WLS several other Democrats would like to follow suit.
”We’re getting more and more members of the Democratic caucus in private who say they agree with me, that we need reforms and they’ll support it, but only one Democratic Rep. so far has publicly stated we need reforms as part of the budget. I’ve got to get more of them steppin’ up and speakin’ out. Hopefully that will happen.”
* The Politico story was a bit confusing and Public Policy Polling hasn’t yet released its numbers, but here’s the breakdown of its latest poll in the 8th Congressional District Democratic primary to replace Tammy Duckworth…
* State Sen. Michael Noland: 22 percent
* Raja Krishnamoorthi: 17 percent
* Villa Park Mayor Deb Bullwinke: 11 percent
* Undecided: 50 percent
Still a wide open race with a slight Noland edge. Raja needs to start spending more of that money.
I suppose he figures that people will rush to their phones and the Interwebtubes to pressure their legislators to stop being Madigan allies and start voting with the governor. Will it work? The first part, yes. The second… No.
Those two legislators (particularly Smiddy) haven’t spared any words for Rauner, so turnabout, etc.
* But Verschoore and Smiddy are total union guys and always have been, which is something that the governor can’t quite ever understand. They support unions. They don’t vote the way they do out of fear of unions or of Madigan. They do it because that’s who they are.
Smiddy, for one, was elected in a GOP district with only a few hundred bucks from Madigan. AFSCME bankrolled almost his entire campaign. He was an AFSCME member and was totally with them. They actually wanted somebody in that seat who would be independent of Madigan and more aligned with them. He’s not gonna suddenly “break with Madigan” and side with Rauner and against AFSCME. That’s missing the entire point.
Revenue isn’t the problem. An October report from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that Illinois’s tax collections have grown by almost 20% since 2008, largely thanks to a short-term income-tax hike of two percentage points that expired this year.
But what the state has taken in, it has spent with reckless abandon. The $8.5 billion in unpaid bills at the end of 2015 nicely matches the $8.5 billion in unpaid bills the state had at the end of 2011, when then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, instituted the tax increase. The theory was that this would rescue Illinois and give it time to renounce bad habits. That didn’t work.
Breathtaking.
1) Revenue is not a problem? The analysis used above is akin to saying to someone who was just laid off: “Your average income over the past few years shows you’re doing fine, so don’t bother finding a new job.”
2) Reckless abandon? First of all, the backlog number used for the very end of 2011 is incorrect. And the bill backlog at the very end of 2014, when Quinn lost the election and before the tax hike expired was $4.36 billion. It’s now way higher. Why?
Lack of revenues and no budget to control court-ordered spending!
Also, too, the state finally made its full legally mandated pension payments after the tax hike, which (for the kabillionth time) explains most state spending growth.
It’s like getting a new, better-paying job and using almost all the new cash to pay down second mortgages and credit card bills from your previously profligate ways. Your quality of life isn’t noticeably improving, but your long-term prospects are greatly enhanced.
* He’s said this before, of course, but you gotta wonder what his suburban and Downstate members are thinking, and what the governor will do to them this fall…
Cullerton: I don't think any schools should be funded until Chicago schools are funded fairly.
* Congresscritter Tammy Duckworth tried to blame Mark Kirk for radicalizing American Islamists yesterday, then kinda walked it back, then kinda didn’t…
“In the case of those two young people, the Iraq refugees in Texas, they were actually, radicalized here in the United States,” Duckworth said. “They came as teenagers and they were radicalized because they’d been on those talk hotlines with ISIS. Because they see people like Mark Kirk demonizing Muslim and Islam and wanting to shut down our borders. That’s how we turn people against us.”
Immediately though, one of the moderators asked, “You think they were radicalized by U.S. politicians?”
“No, I think they were radicalized by ISIS, who are attempting to get U.S. politicians and the United States to react in fear,” Duckworth responded.
When asked again about her saying politicians like Kirk were responsible for radicalization, she said, “Donald Trump is out there wanting to shut down all Muslims from entering the country. We cannot go back against our values.”
* Kirk was not amused…
unfortunate & wrong- @tammyforIL says common sense, bipartisan security measures to protect our homeland lead to radicalization. #unprepared
* Terrorists are “manipulating the refugee crisis” in Europe, for sure. Refugees are flooding over porous borders. To compare that situation to the refugees waiting years to get into the US because of our screening process is bogus.
But Duckworth got way ahead of herself when she said the US should accept 200,000 refugees. Screening that many folks at the current pace would take many, many years, if not decades. So, does she want to increase the pace? If so, how?
* Either way, if you’re gonna make a serious claim that your opponent is inspiring radicalism, then have the guts to stick with it or don’t level the allegation in the first place.
Sheesh. You’d think she’d never run for office before.
*** UPDATE *** From Duckworth’s office…
Hey Rich—good chatting a few minutes ago. As discussed, the letter that the Congresswoman signed onto—which is the basis for the 200,000 claim that has been floating around (that the Washington Post said was “wrong” and led to a correction from the Associated Press)—is available here.
It endorses a recommendation by Refugee Council USA (a coalition of 20 of the nation’s premiere refugee organizations) for the U.S. to accept 100,000 Syrian refugees, not 200,000 as some have claimed—and that was by the end of 2016, not per year.
With regards to the “does she want to increase the pace/if so, how” questions, that’s explained in the letter sent long before this became a political issue (emphasis added), though the letter is not her only action on this topic:
“There are those who will oppose taking in additional refugees. They will say it is a security risk, or will hurt our economy. This criticism ignores the fact that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program subjects applications to more thorough security vetting than any other traveler or immigrant to the United States. We recognize the importance of security checks and will continue to support your Administration’s strong background checks for all refugees… We pledge we will do everything we can to ensure that, if steps are taken to accommodate additional refugees, there will be adequate additional resources for U.S. resettlement agencies, and for security checks, in order to meet the increased demand.”
Additionally, I’d argue with the implications that the number is:
a) Unreasonably high. In recent American history, we’ve had refugee admission ceilings near 250,000 and over the last decade the ceiling has hovered near 100,000. This chart made from State Department data may be helpful for background on where the numbers have historically been set.
a. As Refugee Council USA notes:
i. “This would not be the first time that the United States proudly carries out our historic tradition of welcoming refugees in large numbers. After the end of the wars in Southeast Asia, the United States resettled 111,000 Vietnamese refugees in 1979 and then essentially doubled that number to 207,000 in 1980.”
b) Out of the political mainstream. Former Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait and Lebanon Ryan Crocker (who served under GOP and Democratic Presidents) recently said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed:
a. “That’s why the Obama administration should commit to resettling 100,000 Syrian refugees over the next year.”
i. In addition to Amb. Crocker, former Syrian Ambassador (who also served under President George W. Bush) Robert Ford, a group of diplomats from across the political spectrum and even Bush Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz signed onto a letter urging our country’s leaders to support:
1. “100,000 Syrian refugees on an extraordinary basis, over and above the current worldwide refugee ceiling of 70,000.”
Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks!
Ben Garmisa | Communications Director
Rep. Tammy Duckworth | Illinois’ 8th Congressional District
* From EIU’s president. Just so you’re clear, “A&P” employees are administrative and professional workers, not tenured faculty…
Dear Campus Community,
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through the cost reductions made necessary by the budgetary impasse in Springfield. I greatly appreciate the input and support I have received in this process from both within our campus community and beyond.
There is very little additional news from Springfield. A smattering of bills were filed last month providing various levels and scopes of funding for public higher education, including one that would provide funding but only for community colleges and MAP grants and another that would provide both full MAP funding as well as an appropriation for the universities but at a rate of only 80 percent of last year’s level. The recent flurry of bills being filed to support higher education appropriations is a positive sign that our lawmakers are realizing the urgency and critical nature of what we are facing.
There was an immense showing of support by our campus and regional community at the Fund EIU rally last Friday. We all love this institution first and foremost for the excellence it provides in educating our students. However, it is also an economic, intellectual and cultural engine for our entire region of Illinois. I remain steadfastly confident that our General Assembly and Governor realize the great importance of EIU and all public universities to the future of our great state.
I would like to re-emphasize that the entirety of our cost reduction activities that are being implemented this month and continuing in March (with layoffs and furloughs) is the direct result of not having an appropriation for EIU enacted by the state and not receiving funds for MAP grants that were committed to our students by the state (which we honored).
Owing to the budgetary situation and in respect to our many colleagues facing layoffs, I am postponing our annual Years of Service luncheon scheduled for this week until later in the year or, perhaps, not until next fall. We will look forward to celebrating when our appropriation is enacted and the recall of those laid off begins to take place. Employees may contact the Vice President for Business Affairs to receive their service pins.
I am disappointed that we will need to lay off 198 civil service employees. Layoff notices will be delivered on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 10 and 11). Our Human Resources Office will provide as much assistance as possible to those who will be laid off. We are saddened to be put in this position, and realize it will affect either directly or indirectly our entire campus community.
If an appropriation is enacted and funds begin to be received at the university by the layoff date of Saturday, March 12, many or all of the layoff notices could be rescinded.
In addition to layoffs, all A&P employees (beginning on March 1) will be required to take the equivalent of one day of furlough per week, each month, until further notification or up until June 30, 2016. For those employees who were already required to take a specific number of furlough days, these days will be added until an employee has reached a total of 24 furlough days at which time they have met the maximum furlough limit (EIU IGP #189). The specific days chosen to furlough for any month will be determined by the supervisor in consultation with the employee according to university operational needs and the interests of the employee.
There will be the following number of furlough days:
· March: 5 days
· April: 4 days
· May: 4 days
· June: 5 days
Days in the month chosen for furlough need not be structured as one per week. For example, it would be possible, pending supervisor approval, to use the five days of Spring Break to satisfy furlough for the month of March.
The administration continues to work on alternative strategies that may allow for reducing the number of layoffs. As these discussions continue, I will communicate with the campus. A reduction in A&P required furlough days is possible upon the enactment of an appropriation and timely receipt of funds from the state.
Let us stand together in optimism that an appropriation for EIU will be enacted quickly with funds distributed to our university in order that these difficult measures affecting our campus family can be avoided. I am thankful and proud to serve as your president and we will continue together in action for our students and our beloved university.
Sincerely,
David M. Glassman
President, Eastern Illinois University
* Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle visited both the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune editorial boards yesterday. You can read the stories here and here, but I think this Mihalopoulos Twitter feed is actually more enlightening…
So, I asked, why not follow Rauner’s lead and ask Madigan to move on Rauner’s Turnaround Illinois Agenda, something the governor says is needed for him to back a tax hike that likely is needed to pass a balanced state budget?
Because Rauner takes and doesn’t give, Preckwinkle replied in so many words.
Specifically, Rauner last year asked Preckwinkle to dispatch county CFO Ivan Samstein on a special duty, serving on a task force Rauner formed to draft a possible solution to state pension woes.
“I consented, without condition,” she says. “He wanted Ivan down there (in Springfield). He was, a day a week. For two months.”
Afterwords, Preckwinkle says, she asked Rauner for help getting her own pension bill through the General Assembly, where it had been blocked by labor unions who felt it was too tough.
“He told me he’d help me only if I helped him on his turnaround agenda,” Preckwinkle said. “It’s sort of his way or the highway.”
During the side-by-side interview with Stratton on Monday, Dunkin referred to Democratic lawmakers as “monkeys”— before quickly correcting himself and calling them “minions”— prompting a lengthy denouncement from Stratton.
“To compare himself in the Illinois House to this horrific institution of slavery is not only offensive, but I also find it to be pathetic,” Stratton said. “For him to use that type of language I see that as race-baiting.”
Dunkin didn’t back down, claiming Madigan has demanded the Black Caucus vote the party line, while the speaker ignores caucus members’ requests for help in their districts.
“The Mike Madigan slave mentality of his plantation politics is real,” Dunkin said. “That’s an afro-centric terminology in terms of plantation politics. If you want to go there [Madigan] has been there 45 years, 32 years been the speaker. Have you gone on the West Side of Chicago, in certain parts, certain parts of the South Side?” […]
“The best people to say whether he gets credit [for his dealmaking] are the people of the 5th District,” Stratton said. “His alliance with Gov. Bruce Rauner is not going to be something that is going to be good for them.”
* The Belleville News Democrat reports on a blockbuster prisoner lawsuit about alleged brutality by “an elite, mobile Illinois Department of Corrections tactical unit” known to inmates as “Orange Crush”…
Members of the tactical unit begin the tactic by running onto a prison tier when female guards are sometimes also present, “whooping,” banging on metal tables and shouting to prisoners: “Get butt-naked.”
The guards do this, according to the lawsuit, while dressed in orange fatigues, wearing helmets, carrying clubs and chanting “Punish the inmate. Punish the inmate.”
Hundreds of prisoners at a time were marched in this way in April of 2014 at four Southern Illinois prisons while being threatened by laughing guards who shouted they would be taken immediately to solitary confinement if they allowed any daylight between themselves and the man in front of them, the plaintiffs’ lawyers allege. Prisoners were eventually led to an exercise area and made to stand for hours with their faces pressed against a wall while their hands were cuffed behind them in a “stress” position. During this time, other members of the guard unit searched the prisoners’ cells for contraband.
“This is above and beyond what I’ve seen ever in the 35 years I’ve been doing this kind of work,” said civil rights attorney Alan Mills of the Chicago-based Uptown People’s Law Center, one of two law firms pressing the lawsuit. “This is part of some official policy. Higher-ups in IDOC will have to explain what in the world they were thinking when they gave these people this kind of direction and leeway.”
Mills said the practice continued on at least a few occasions after the lawsuit was filed in 2015.
Federal Judge Staci Yandle recently allowed the lawsuit to continue and ruled against two motions presented by the attorney general.
* In a follow-up editorial the paper called for an immediate investigation and a fix for this alleged craziness…
This practice being carried out in front of female corrections officers and accompanied by whoops and pounding metal tables is a scene out of a bad movie. There can be no purpose other than to sexually humiliate the inmates.
Remember the last group engaging in that behavior? They were U.S. soldiers holding inmates at Abu Ghraib in Iraq who outfitted the inmates with dog leashes, women’s underwear and shrouds as they were hooked to fake electrocution devices.
Our state owes compensation, safety and respect to its correctional officers. They in turn owe us professionalism in how they exert power and to curb their own sense of entitlement so it does not extend to fake workers’ comp claims that give them fancy bass boats or to sadistic shows that give them a sense of superiority.
They also owe their fellow correctional officers a safe work environment. Since when does punishing a group of inmates for the violence of a few do anything but build a large reserve of resentment?
(T)here are three things President Barack Obama won’t do during his swing through Springfield on Wednesday:
Play “back-seat driver” and offer detailed advice to try to solve the state’s budget stalemate. Sit down one-on-one with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for a beer. And try to negotiate a peace accord between Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Previewing the trip, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Obama will pick up the themes of his State of the Union speech in January and urge the country to move past partisan divisions. […]
As for the state’s budget impasse, his call for bipartisanship could help, but he won’t be putting forth detailed remedies, Earnest said. For one thing, Obama’s proposed federal budget comes up the day before his trip to Illinois. “We’ve got our hands full here,” the spokesman said.
“This is actually something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Earnest said in a conference call. “There has always sort of been the sense that going back to Springfield on the anniversary of his announcement speech would be fun to do. And it would serve as the background for a discussion about the kind of potential that the president sees in the country.”
“The president views this as an opportunity to not offer advice or be a back-seat driver for running the state government of Illinois but rather an opportunity to deliver a broader message about the value and potential benefit associated with trying to find common ground,” Earnest said.
* Sweet asked why this visit is a good idea, considering Springfield’s partisan gridlock…
“It’s a good idea because the president’s experience when he served in Springfield was different than the situation the president encountered in Washington. And the president does see this as a good backdrop to talk about the kinds of benefits that can be realized when our citizens and our elected representatives don’t allow themselves to be so easily divided.”
Rauner singled out his two big issues – term limits and redistricting — in focusing on what he wants Obama to talk about, suggesting incorrectly that Obama backs Rauner’s term-limit crusade.
Rauner is not going to get that one-on-one beer he sought with Obama. He will be greeting him on the tarmac of the airport in Springfield.
While Obama did discuss term limits when in Ethiopia last summer delivering a speech to the people of Africa, saying “old thinking can be a stubborn thing,” Earnest said Monday that Obama’s message there was not a general call for term limits. He said Obama was telling leaders not to overcome limits already imposed, “either by ignoring them or by coercing the government to change the rules just for them.”
Obama, Earnest said, sees his speech as an opportunity “to deliver a broader message about the value and potential benefits associated with trying to find common ground. … That doesn’t mean that anybody needs to capitulate on their most strongly held principles. That typically is not a recipe for success, either.”
FULL COURT PRESS. Today’s Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times readers are being hit with splashy full-paid ads courting public support for a resolution in the stalemate between CTU and CPS. Behind the ads: Illinoisans for Growth and Opportunity, a nonprofit organization that says it “is driven by a fundamental belief, grounded in progressive principles, that if government is to be an agent for change and equal opportunity, it must operate effectively and efficiently to maintain public trust and confidence.” In a statement to Illinois Playbook, the group blames the CTU bargaining committee for rejecting a contract offer that it says “met every major demand - guaranteed raises, job security, and pension payments - while avoiding cuts.”
– CLAYPOOL AGREES: In op-ed in the Sun-Times, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool hit the same points: Under the headline “A message to Chicago Teachers Union: Trust is a two-way street,” he writes: “I understand the frustration of teachers. They work hard and give their hearts and souls to their students and in return they expect a fair salary and a dignified retirement. I truly believe that our proposal met those goals.” http://bit.ly/1mmBSGO
– CTU DOES NOT: The union sent a letter to parents late last week, accusing the district of promoting “lies” regarding the district’s economic woes. From DNAinfo’s David Matthews, the letter “is authored by top CPS executives and says the rejected contract would have “raised teachers’ pay, prevented teacher layoffs for economic reasons, and provided for autonomy for teachers in their classrooms.’ ‘It was an agreement worked out with CTU leadership and that was good for teachers, good for parents and most importantly, good for students,’ the letter states.” http://dnain.fo/1L9HZVg
I don’t know what a “full-paid ad” is, but I will be billing them.
President Barack Obama’s speech in the Illinois House chamber at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday will not be open to the public, officials confirmed on Monday.
The only people allowed inside the chamber will be elected officials, people with credentials and invited guests, said Steve Brown, a spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. […]
White House officials said Monday that after the speech Obama “will visit with a crowd of supporters, stakeholders, and volunteers gathered to watch his remarks at a local viewing location. The president will thank this group for their support, from the beginning of his political career to today.” The officials did not specify the location of that viewing location.
* The “local viewing location” is the Hoogland, according to a friend of mine who offered me his ticket. I declined.
So far, anyway, it looks like local media will be confined to a Senate hearing room, so I doubt I’ll be going to that, either.
I just don’t see the point in going through all that hassle unless I can get onto the House floor, and I really doubt I can do that.
Your thoughts?
…Adding… A few “press pool” reporters will be allowed access to the House floor, but I have zero interest in that and likely no shot of getting in even if I wanted to assume that role, which I don’t.
Karen Lewis: Time to replace 26th District “Rauner” Democrat
CTU president to join congressman, local electeds, grassroots activists in call for ouster of 26th District incumbent in favor of challenger Jay Travis.
CHICAGO, February 8, 2016: With Illinois’ Republican governor ratcheting up his attacks on teachers, public workers, retirees and the state’s most vulnerable, a growing chorus of local voices are calling on voters to reject “Rauner” Democrats who represent Chicago neighborhoods in Springfield — including the 26th District incumbent.
CTU President Karen Lewis will join U.S. Congressman Danny Davis, 10th Ward Alderman Sue Garza, 42nd Ward Alderman Brenden Reilly, and parents, community organizers and local residents of the 26th District TODAY at 12:30 PM, Monday, February 8 at the 42nd Ward’s iconic Billy Goat Tavern, located on the lower level of Michigan and Hubbard at 430 N. Michigan, to lay out their reasons for opposing incumbent Christian Mitchell. The incumbent has been branded a “Rauner” Democrat for sharing elite donors and a political agenda with the Republican governor that they say hurts retirees, schoolchildren, parents, educators and working families.
The 26th District includes some of the city’s most affluent and most economically challenged neighborhoods — from the northern tip of South Chicago all the way north to Streeterville and the Gold Coast.
Travis’ endorsers’ include four aldermen whose wards are included in the district: 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, 5th Ward Alderwoman Leslie Hairston, 10th Ward Alderwoman Sue Garza and 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly. Along with Congressman Davis, Travis has also been endorsed by Citizen Action/Illinois; United Working Families; the Network for Public Education Action; ATU Local 308, the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents CTA rail workers; the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 80,000 teachers and paraprofessionals in the state; BATs — The Badass Teachers Association (BATs), a national education activist organization with over 50,000 members; PUA — People United for Action; and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Travis has worked as a community organizer and non-profit professional for over 20 years, most recently as national coordinator of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, a national community labor alliance that works for equitable public education. Before that, she worked as a program officer for the Wood Foundation, and before that for 12 years as the executive director of KOCO — the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. She currently work as a consultant for groups that include the Midwest Academy, with a focus on coaching and training organizers and grassroots activists.
She’s running against a two-term incumbent who’s taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from school privatization groups, anti-labor groups and hedge fund billionaires, supporting a series of anti-labor, pro-privatization bills Travis’ supporters say undermine workers’ rights, neighborhood public schools and the long-term economic health of working families.
Karen Lewis lives in Mitchell’s district. She’s been trying to install her own candidate there for years. Hey, that’s her right. But most of the rest of organized labor has clearly moved on. Lewis won’t, which may be why the aldercreatures have folded.
State Rep. Christian Mitchell announced this week that his bid for reelection has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association, a statewide teachers union, comprised of over 130,000 elementary and secondary education teachers, professors, educational support professionals and retired teachers from across Illinois.
“We are proud to endorse Christian Mitchell for reelection to the Illinois House of Representatives,” said Cinda Klickna, President of the Illinois Education Association. “Christian has stood up against Governor Rauner’s attempts to destroy unions and has fought to protect our ability to collectively bargain. He supports more funding for our schools. Christian is the right choice for our students and our teachers.”
“I’m grateful for their support, and I look forward to continuing our work together in Springfield, particularly our fight against Governor Rauner’s attacks on organized labor,” said Mitchell.
* Last week, the Rauner administration sent an e-mail to employees outlining its contract offers and AFSCME’s “bad faith” negotiations. Here’s AFSCME’s response…
Fact Check – Setting the Record Straight (AGAIN)
“Luxury” Health Plans?
Rauner Administration Claim: The average actuarial plan value (what federal regulations and insurance companies use to assess how rich a health plan is) for the State’s current plans is 92%… “Platinum” under the Affordable Care Act is defined as plans that are between 88 % and 92%. Platinum is the highest level under the Affordable Care Act-above Gold, Silver, and Bronze. And as mentioned, the State’s average plan value is 92%-the high end of Platinum…Moreover, to be clear: under the State’s proposal, employees will have the option to continue this rich coverage at higher premiums, should they so choose. Alternatively, employees would have the option to have less-rich coverage and maintain current premiums. Employees will not have to both pay higher premiums and receive less-rich coverage.
AFSCME Accurate: As AFSCME has consistently stated, the state’s current health plan is on par with the health benefits of other state workforces across the nation. The typical state government employee in this country is enrolled in a health plan with an actuarial value of 92%—the same plan value as Illinois currently has. Our health plan is simply not too rich as the Administration would like you to believe. (The “actuarial value” is based on plan design and reflects what employees pay in co-pays and deductibles, but does not take into account the amount employees pay in premium contributions.)
Terranova acknowledges that under the Administration’s proposal, in order to keep your current health care coverage you will have “higher” premiums. What he doesn’t say is that, in fact, your premiums will increase by 100%. Yes, as he points out, rather than paying those exceedingly high new premiums, you could choose to have less-generous coverage at your current premium level. But then your co-pays and deductibles would drastically increase, by an average of 250%.
Further, under the Administration’s proposal, employee premiums could increase by up to 10% more in both FY 18 and FY 19, no matter which option you choose. So even if you opted for what the Administration calls “less-rich coverage”, you would almost certainly pay both higher premium contributions and higher out-of-pocket costs over the term of the new contract than under the current plan.
Health Care Comparisons
Rauner Administration Claim: With retiree coverage included, Illinois pays nearly 3/4 of the total cost of coverage for its workers. In comparison, Indiana pays less than 45% of the total cost of coverage …. Even if we only look at coverage for active employees—where the State is proposing to pay 60% of costs—the State’s proposal is still better than many other States and on par with the private sector.
AFSCME Accurate: First, for retirees, the state contributes 5% of the premium cost for each full year of creditable service up to 100%. In FY 15, retirees and retiree dependents paid 12% of their total health care costs. Moreover, when John Terranova states that the proposal to pay 60% of health care costs is still “better than many other states”- he means better than just 4 states. The Administration’s proposal would move Illinois from average to bottom tier when it comes to the health benefits offered to employees.
Reduced Layoff Rights
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: The State’s proposal would wipe out all job security rights. Fact: The State’s offer does not eliminate these rights. Layoffs would still happen in reverse seniority order. Employees would still have the opportunity to “bump” less senior individuals in the same position and qualifications. Employees would also still have the opportunity to transfer to other vacancies for which they are qualified.
AFSCME Accurate: In fact, the Administration’s original proposal would have completely eliminated bumping rights. Since it modified that proposal, what the Union is saying—and what Terranova conveniently fails to mention –is completely accurate: That under Management’s current proposal, employees would lose several bumping options, particularly the ability to bump into a lower classification, even one previously held.
Maximum Out-of-Pocket Limits
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: If I have a major medical issue under the new insurance, there is no limit on what I could pay. I could go bankrupt! Fact: The Affordable Care Act has an annual out-of-pocket maximum of $6,850 for an individual. While that’s a lot of money, it prevents people from being financially ruined due to a medical issue. You can go here to fact-check this for yourself: http://obamacarefacts.com/health-insurance/out-of-pocket-maximum. The bottom line is no matter what coverage level employees select, there will be strict limits on how much each employee is going to be asked to pay in any given year.
AFSCME Accurate: This is a made-up myth. The Union isn’t saying there will be no limits—we’re saying that the limits will be unaffordable for many employees. Management never told the AFSCME Bargaining Committee what the new insurance plan would look like other than that it would be comparable to a ‘silver plan’ per the ACA. On the Illinois ACA exchange, the average ‘silver’ plan has out-of-pocket maximums of $6,400 for an individual and $12,800 for a family. Many employees facing serious medical problems could not afford that kind of expense in one year—and then the clock starts ticking all over again and they could have to pay those same amounts in the next year (and the year after, etc.) if their health problem persisted or new ones arose.
Merit Pay
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: Merit pay is just political pay. Fact: Politics has nothing to do with it. In fact, the State would prohibit any Governor’s staff and appointees from being eligible for performance bonuses.
AFSCME Accurate: This misstates the issue. The Union doesn’t say merit pay is fundamentally political pay because it will only go to the governor’s staff and appointees. Rather, “political pay” refers to the fact that the Rauner Administration alone would determine what constitutes “exceptional performance standards,” and which employees qualify. We all know the kind of cronyism, favoritism, and pure politics that will enter into those judgments.
Not “substantially similar”
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: The Governor is “now seeking to impose on state employees” his contract…. Fact: It is critical to mention that the last offer made by the State to AFSCME is substantially similar to the agreements signed by 17 other unions. These agreements were ratified in many cases by over 80% of state employees in those unions. This is not a radical or extreme contract as AFSCME has portrayed, but one that is fair, reasonable, and overwhelming accepted by several thousand State employees already.
AFSCME Accurate: Again, the contracts ratified by other unions were NOT “substantially similar.” They were far more generous than what is being offered to AFSCME and other unions still in negotiations with the Rauner Administration. AFSCME specifically asked across the bargaining table if the Administration would agree to the same employer health insurance contribution as that made to the Teamsters, and the answer from Management was absolutely not.
Labor Board
Rauner Administration Claim: By submitting this dispute to the Labor Board, the Governor did nothing more than invoke the very process to which both parties voluntarily agreed.
AFSCME Accurate: In reality, rather than merely “submitting” the matter to the Labor Board, the governor filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the Union on the grounds that AFSCME refuses to agree that negotiations are at impasse. In other words, he is objecting to the fact that the Union wants to continue negotiating to reach an agreement that is fair to all!
Refusal to Negotiate
Rauner Administration Claim: What the Governor is seeking, and AFSCME is refusing, is for AFSCME to submit the Governor’s actual proposal to employees for a vote. What better way is there to determine whether the proposal is deemed fair and reasonable by the very people whose work will be governed by that proposed contract?
AFSCME Truth: John Terranova attached Management’s proposal to the Union to his letter to employees and labeled it “for Tentative Agreement”. This is an attempt to mislead or confuse union members. AFSCME has NOT reached a Tentative Agreement with the Rauner Administration. In fact, the Administration is refusing to continue to negotiate to try to reach a Tentative Agreement. When one is reached, it will be presented to the full membership for a vote—as has been done in every set of contract negotiations over many decades. This is just a ploy by the governor to avoid returning to the bargaining table.
Teamster Comparison
Rauner Administration Claim: Myth: The Teamsters’ agreements provide “far more generous health insurance terms.” Fact: Comparing Teamsters’ health insurance to AFSCME’s is like comparing apples and platypuses. AFSCME employees’ health insurance is provided by the State, where the State charges premiums. Teamsters’ health insurance is provided by Teamsters’ own health and welfare funds. The State contributes to those funds but does not get to decide the level of coverage or premiums.
AFSCME Accurate: The issue is how much the Employer contributes toward each employee’s health care coverage, not who administers or designs the plan. In the proposal the Administration is trying to impose on AFSCME members, it would contribute only $967 per employee per month—a steep cut from the $1224 per employee per month the State currently contributes. In the Teamsters agreement, the Administration has already agreed to contribute $1,600 per employee per month—a big increase over the current $1224 contribution. This is a gross inequity.
Building Trades Comparison
Rauner Administration Claim: AFSCME claims the distinguishing feature is that the trades’ agreements do not include a wage freeze. But what AFSCME fails to mention is the trades get compensated on a wholly different metric, known as the prevailing wage.
AFSCME Accurate: Far from failing to mention the “prevailing wage”, AFSCME has put out a number of fact sheets and bulletins explaining that the building trades agreements are based on the prevailing wage.
Prevailing Wage
Rauner Administration Claim: That wage is determined through a certification process administered by the Department of Labor and is not guaranteed to increase during the course of the contract. In fact, the prevailing wage could go down over the life of the contract.
AFSCME Accurate: In recent years, the prevailing wage has gone up and very rarely gone down. AFSCME members, on the other hand, would have no possibility whatsoever of getting any wage or step increases for all four years under the Administration’s proposal.
Other Unions Haven’t Settled
Rauner Administration Claim: AFSCME stands alone in demanding guaranteed wage increases and luxury health insurance coverage.
AFSCME Accurate: AFSCME does not ‘stand alone’. There are six other unions that have not reached settlements with the state—and all of them are seeking wage increases and rejecting the Administration’s demand for huge health care cost hikes. Together, these seven unions represent more than 10 times the number of state employees represented by the unions that have settled.
Wage Comparison
Rauner Administration Claim: State employees in Illinois make more than their counterparts in other Midwestern States. For example, Illinois state workers made, on average, over $20,000 more per year in 2014 than state workers in Indiana or Missouri. In absolute dollars, Illinois state worker pay was third-highest.
AFSCME Accurate: Illinois ranks 9th nationally, not 3rd, for state employee pay. Illinois is in the top tier because, generally speaking, it is a high-wage state. Overall, Illinois wages rank 10th in the nation—putting state employees right on a par with their fellow citizens.
Bad Note-Taking
Rauner Administration Claim: Fact: Here’s what AFSCME’s Executive Director Roberta Lynch said during bargaining: “People who came up with this [merit pay proposal] ought to go to f**king prison . . . fact that you want to give measly 25% to some who are doing the job already . . . 75% of people not doing their best - that’s a f**king lie. I think it’s an insult to every single person who works for the State of Illinois.” Here’s how AFSCME interprets the above quote: “it wasn’t fair to leave out 75% of employees from getting a bonus, given the difficult jobs that employees do-and that whoever came up with that idea should try going and actually working in a prison so they’d know how hard the job is.” We appreciate that AFSCME’s Executive Director regrets her choice of words when she reads those words on paper. Nonetheless, she does not get to rewrite the history of negotiations based on what she wishes she has said.
AFSCME Accurate: The “history of negotiations”? Only if we want to let the Rauner Administration write our history for us. In reality, that supposed ‘quote’ is nothing more than what someone on Management’s team wrote down. He or she may have deliberately misrepresented the facts or was just a very poor note-taker. The whole AFSCME Bargaining Committee heard Roberta’s argument and knows that what the Union reported is what she was saying. In any event, AFSCME has no interest in getting into a prolonged argument over this—though it’s not accurate, the purported ‘quote’ shows Roberta standing up for union members.
Fair Arbitration Bill
Rauner Administration Claim: SB1229 was AFSCME’s attempt to … saddle the State’s taxpayers with a multi-billion dollar cost of AFSCME’s unreasonable contract proposal that it knew, under the existing laws, it could never get the State to agree to at the bargaining table.
AFSCME Accurate: The Union’s contract proposal is not “unreasonable” and does not cost “multi-billion” more dollars. The health care coverage and pay increases—averaging little more than 2% per year—that the Union proposed are comparable to those negotiated in union contracts with other states, cities and counties all across this country. The most recent US DOL data shows that the average pay raise for all U.S. workers last year was 2.5%.
Moreover, AFSCME has indicated time and again that the proposal the Union has on the table is not our final proposal. In fact, the Union has already modified our wage proposal and had done so again just last month, right before Management broke off negotiations. It is the governor who is refusing to negotiate, thus making clear that the Union is correct to press for passage of legislation that would require arbitration. If the Rauner Administration truly believed it had a reasonable and fair contract proposal, it wouldn’t hesitate to submit it to an independent arbitrator for consideration.
Passing HB 580
Rauner Administration Claim: HB580—another version of the same failed bill, which would strip the Governor of his constitutional authority—is as unaffordable and damaging now as it was then.
AFSCME Accurate: Under current labor law arbitration procedures have been in place for decades for law enforcement and fire safety employees all across Illinois. Neither the governor nor any other employer has a “constitutional authority” to control negotiations. The same law already requires him to submit to arbitration for security employees. If he thinks arbitration is unconstitutional, why hasn’t he challenged that provision in court? Because it’s not, of course. What the governor doesn’t like about arbitration is it allows an impartial third party to decide on a reasonable settlement, instead of letting the governor do an end run around the collective bargaining process and impose his own terms.
Rauner Administration Claim: This is as clear a signal as any that AFSCME is not interested in negotiating… AFSCME is only interested in imposing its will through an unelected, unaccountable arbitrator. This is bad faith in spades, and why the matter is now before the Labor Board.
AFSCME Accurate: An Administration that walks away from the bargaining table and flatly refuses to return says the Union doesn’t want to negotiate? That doesn’t pass the laugh test. In fact, our Union has clearly and consistently stated our willingness to continue to negotiate, while the Rauner Administration is trying to persuade the Labor Board to allow it to force its extreme demands on employees—or force the disruption that a strike would cause. In the end, we’ve come full circle—nearly three years ago, as a candidate, the governor said he wanted a strike—and he’s still doing his very best to try to provoke one now.
The first meeting between Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders since mid-December is set to take place later this week.
Since meeting three times in December to discuss ways to end the budget stalemate, no formal discussions have taken place. Rauner said staff members have been in “almost daily communication,” and is promising to offer new proposals in this week’s negotiations.
“We’re going to offer more compromises and creative solutions and hopefully, we’ll come up with some bipartisan answers, so we can have true long-term balanced budgets where the interests of taxpayers are protected along with the interests of those inside the government. We’re working hard on it and I think we’ll get there,” Rauner said.
Rauner declined to offer specifics on what new compromises he’ll offer.
* There was a big rally at Eastern Illinois University the other day, but the area’s Republican legislators weren’t invited to speak…
Less than two hours before the event held in the face of coming layoffs and furlough forced by the state budget impasse, [Sen Dale Righter] said he was prevented from speaking at the event.
He issued the following statement in response to being barred from publicly speaking at the event on campus:
“I am deeply disappointed in the decision made by the organizer of this rally to not allow me to address the rally.”
Both Righter and [Rep. Reggie Phillips] said they appreciated the strong support shown for Eastern at the rally but would have liked to have been given the opportunity to speak there. […]
Organizer Kate Klipp told the JG-TC that the event was focused on the university’s students…. “It’s not designed to be a campaign stomping ground,” Klipp said.
Democratic Sen. Scott Bennett was invited to speak, even though he doesn’t represent the university. Klipp works for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 149, which could be the reason for the GOP omission.
The state senator’s office has reported that under Righter’s legislation, four year colleges/universities would be funded at 80 percent of 2015 funding levels, two-year community colleges would be funded at 90 percent, and MAP grants would be funded at 100 percent. […]
After the rally, state Rep. Reggie Phillips, R-Charleston, said he has spoken with Rauner multiple times about the need to allocate higher education funding and he has proposed legislation to accomplish this goal. He said Eastern has done everything it can to cut its budget while carrying out its education mission and should not be penalized by the state.
Phillips said he will not support legislation that reduces funding for Eastern and other schools by more than 10 percent, adding that he would prefer an even less of a reduction. Phillips said he also will not support higher education funding legislation that does not have existing funding sources available to pay for it.
Rural Toledo businessman Jonathan Kaye, who is running against Phillips for the Republican nomination in the 110th District, said after the rally that he would support higher education funding that is not tied to any unrelated issues in the budget negotiations.
* Pennsylvania also doesn’t have a budget yet. They have a Democratic governor with a Republican GA, the mirror opposite of Illinois…
Similarly, in Pennsylvania, court orders have kept some money flowing to social services and helped ease pressure. This is much different from budget stalemates past, said McLaughlin.
“It used to be, when you didn’t have a budget, nobody got paid, no checks went out. It was ugly, but also an enormous amount of pressure,” he said.
On Thursday, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said spending mandated by consent decrees and court orders on social services could cost Illinois up to $1.2 billion more than the previous year by July.
But, in both states, observers say the lawmakers will likely not do anything too controversial to resolve the crisis until after the primary elections. For Pennsylvania, that’s not until April 26. In Illinois, it’s March 15.
* Illinois GO has a new TV ad supporting Rep. Ken Dunkin. Rate it…
I’m expecting a response from SEIU pretty soon about this ad.
*** UPDATE *** As expected…
A leader from the union that represents state child care providers on Monday called on Illinoisans for Growth and Opportunity (Illinois GO), widely considered a Republican front group, to withdraw a television ad running on behalf of Bruce Rauner ally Rep. Ken Dunkin because of massive misrepresentations regarding damage the couple has caused to the Child Care Assistance Program—and ignoring the state’s own figures showing 48,000 fewer children in the program.
The ad from the deep-pocketed Republican group, which apparently began running this weekend, includes the outrageous claim by Dunkin that he “restored childcare funding” to 100,000 Illinois children. In fact, CCAP has NOT been restored and is reportedly down tens of thousands of children (citations below), the consequence of unilateral action by Bruce Rauner that was enabled by Ken Dunkin’s refusal to back legislation protecting eligibility.
Illinois GO is citing Ken Dunkin’s made-up numbers in an ad praising Ken Dunkin’s made-up numbers, and ignoring the fact that Rauner has said that he will make new cuts to the program thanks to the enabling Dunkin “deal.”
In a letter to Illinois GO (attached), Brynn Seibert, SEIU Healthcare Illinois vice president for child care, called on Illinois GO to tell the truth about child care in Illinois and withdraw the deceptive new ad:
“The cuts put in place by Bruce Rauner, and enabled by Ken Dunkin now and forever, have done permanent damage to a program that has served as a bipartisan model for helping working families enter the middle class. Not only is the 100,000 kids figure entirely made up out of whole cloth and without any basis in fact, it is a reminder of the cynicism of politicians like Ken Dunkin and Bruce Rauner, who are using vulnerable people as pawns in a political game that is harming the welfare of Illinois….
“On behalf of the tens of thousands of kids and working families who have been harmed by Ken Dunkin’s and Bruce Rauner’s cuts to child care in Illinois and who remain in their crosshairs, we ask that you cease and desist and withdraw this deceptive ad.”
On one side of the room, Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was telling reporters he believed his defense needs to be considered among the all-time greats after Sunday’s dominant performance against the Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
On the other, Danny Trevathan took things a little further. The Broncos linebacker believes the unit’s season-long dominance — which included suffocating performances against Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Cam Newton in the final three weeks — moves Denver into rarified air.
“You’re going to ask me? No. 1. No. 1 in my opinion, over ‘85 Bears,” he said. “If not No. 1, No. 2. I feel like we did a good job playing our games. It wasn’t ever pretty, but when you put it in our defense’s hand we always come up with that win.”
Not enough can be said about what Denver pulled off at Levi’s Stadium. Newton came into the game as the league’s MVP, playing the game at a uniquely dominant level. That the once-swaggering Newton left the building a hollowed-out shell speaks volumes.
Not to mention that Newton was so rattled he avoided contact at a crucial moment…
Congrats to Denver…great Defense and a great season.
But this is ABSURD!
Not even close.
‘85 #Bears:
46-10 in SB
Only five of the teams they faced scored more than 10 points all season
Hall of famers everywhere
* The Question: Which team had the better defense, the ‘85 Bears or this season’s Broncos? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
…Adding… I changed the headline to reflect a bit of a misreading by me here. They’re going to reopen the museum, but if the GA doesn’t agree with the amendatory veto, then it’ll take longer to get it reopened with the administrative rules process.
Hope that clears things up.
* The catch is that House Speaker Michael Madigan usually refuses to advance these sorts of dramatic gubernatorial rewrites. So, we’ll see what happens…
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Wayne A. Rosenthal announced today that an agreement has been reached to reopen the Illinois State Museum to the public. IDNR has worked closely with Governor Bruce Rauner’s office to develop a new, more sustainable model for operating the museum that will save about $1 million per year by closing two museum branches, consolidating human resources and accounting functions within IDNR, and by development of a new management and organizational structure. The museum will also seek to improve revenue by charging an admission fee, and increase fundraising efforts through an improved partnership with the Illinois State Museum Society.
The timeframe for reopening will depend upon the Illinois General Assembly taking up the amendatory veto (AV) of SB 317 and implementing the suggested changes. Governor Bruce Rauner’s AV asks that the authority to charge an admission fee be placed in statute so it can be implemented immediately upon the acceptance of the amendatory veto.
“If the General Assembly acts quickly on the Governor’s amendatory veto, we believe we could reopen the museum in a matter of weeks,” said IDNR Director Wayne Rosenthal. “Without the General Assembly’s support, it could take months to get the museum reopened.”
Michael Wiant will become interim director of the Illinois State Museum immediately. Rosenthal will ask the Illinois State Museum Board to begin the search for a new director. Rosenthal also will ask the Museum and Society boards to call emergency meetings so work to reopen the museum can begin immediately.
“With challenge comes great opportunity, and the museum staff is grateful for this tremendous opportunity to continue to share the art, history and culture of Illinois with its citizens,” said Dr. Michael Wiant, Interim Director of the Illinois State Museum.
“I applaud the Governor’s action as it creates a realistic path forward to reopening the Illinois State Museum,” said State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield). “Reopening the museum is vital to our community and the plan announced today will provide for the long-term viability and growth of the museum system. I look forward to working with the community, legislators, and the Governor as we again open the doors on a wonderful asset of our State.”
“I am encouraged that the Governor took careful steps in adjusting this legislation while maintaining the ultimate goal of allowing our State Museum to resume its important work. We all want to see those doors open to the public once again, and this compromise could make that happen,” said State Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez (R-Springfield).
“The Illinois State Museum Society is looking forward to the challenge of becoming a stronger partner and playing a greater role in the success of the Illinois State Museum,” said Karen Westbrook of the Illinois State Museum Society.
Munger encouraged “all parties” to “get together in a room and start … talking about this and focus on solutions.” For her part, she said, one area she could see for compromise is lowering workers’ compensation rates to be more competitive.
“I cannot understand why union members would not love that,” she said, because it would free up money so more skilled workers could get jobs.
Former State Representative Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, has announced his endorsement of Bryce Benton, Republican candidate for State Senate in the 50th District.
“I had the honor of serving Sangamon County in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1995-2015,” said Poe. “I believe that we deserve a State Senator who calls Sangamon County home and will represent us with integrity. Sam McCann has put his interests above the interests of Central Illinois. I endorsed Sam McCann’s primary opponent in 2012, and I am happy to endorse his opponent this year. Sangamon County deserves better than Sam McCann.”
“I know Bryce Benton well, and he’s a strong public servant who will always put the interests of Central Illinois above his own,” said Poe. “The 50th Senate District is home to many current and retired state employees, and as a state employee himself, Bryce will be a strong voice for them in state government. Illinois will be well served with Bryce Benton in the Senate.”
“I’m incredibly humbled to receive the support of Representative Poe,” said Benton. “Raymond is a Sangamon County institution who has honorably served Illinois for decades, and he, more than anyone, knows what makes a good public servant - and what doesn’t. Raymond Poe has endorsed me because he knows that I have the integrity to serve the voters of Sangamon County and the 50th Senate District.”
Poe joined other prominent Sangamon County Republicans backing McCann’s GOP primary opponent in 2012 — GRAY NOLL, who is now Morgan County state’s attorney. This year, the Sangamon County GOP is backing McCann.
That fight was mainly about Sangamon County not having its own Senator. But that wasn’t a good enough argument for voters. Noll won the county, but got clobbered everywhere else.
Last fall, when Northrop Grumman beat out a joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin bid to engineer a bomber for the U.S. Air Force, it felt like a big loss for Chicago. With orders for other military aircraft winding down, the defense unit at Chicago-based Boeing desperately needed the $79.40 billion deal—so much so that executives formally protested the decision. A ruling due Feb. 16 from the Government Accountability Office will determine whether the Air Force has to rebid the contract.
But Boeing’s loss appears to be the region’s gain. While Boeing is the most prominent defense contractor based here, with about 560 employees downtown, Northrop operates the most significant military-focused factory in metro Chicago, with 2,100 people at a campus in Rolling Meadows. For those engineers, technicians and production workers, the bomber win likely adds a measure of job security at a time when military spending has fallen off because of automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.
The bomber business could trickle down, too, to smaller manufacturers nearby linked to Northrop’s facility. It’s the rare example of how the Chicago area, which isn’t known for defense manufacturing, could catch a tail wind from a big-ticket military procurement effort.
Would a Boeing win have helped the region? Probably not much, because the company doesn’t employ anyone other than HQ workers here.
* Crain’s recently published a story entitled “The incredible shrinking corporate headquarters.” It’s a good read…
Corporations moving their headquarters to Chicago arrive with only a handful of employees and a modest economic impact
Even Boeing, the largest company to come to Chicago from out of state, brought just 400 employees here in 2001, compared with the 1,000 it employed at its headquarters in Seattle. Fifteen years later, its Chicago headcount is up to roughly 560. […]
Boeing’s Seattle location was identified with its commercial airplane unit at a time when the company was still digesting its merger with St. Louis-based defense contractor McDonnell Douglas and it needed a “neutral location” for its headquarters.
Since that Boeing relocation, it’s becoming obvious that some (not all) of these big companies are trying to get away from their employees by moving to the Chicago region. And that means the region has little to no shot at any manufacturing or other expansion gains. The bomber contract is a good example of this. A win for Boeing doesn’t really do much for the region.
* The big brains need to start thinking about this. Snatching a corporate HQ is a great PR win, but if it puts the region out of the running for “real” jobs, is it worth anything at all?
Peabody Energy, one of the state’s largest coal mine operators, soon could be in bankruptcy, but regulators are allowing it to meet future cleanup obligations with a promise rather than a bond.
The state permits certain companies to “self-bond”—effectively to pledge, backed by audited financial statements, that the money will be there to clean up the mine sites after they’ve been tapped out. That practice is under fire from environmentalists now that plummeting commodity prices are putting intense financial pressure on the industry.
In Illinois, just one of the state’s top five operators, St. Louis-based Peabody, self-bonds. The projected cost of cleaning up three large Peabody mine sites in southern Illinois is $92 million, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. That’s 22 percent of the $412 million the state estimates is needed to reclaim all of Illinois’ mines.
The state risks having to shoulder at least some of that cost if Peabody files for bankruptcy protection, as five publicly traded U.S. coal companies have done in the past two years.
* The Sun-Times notes a change in FOIA tactics by the governor…
For the past year, Gov. Bruce Rauner has resisted efforts by news organizations to obtain copies of his daily schedule, blacking out big swaths of the documents, mounting a legal fight to keep them under wraps and — after those efforts failed — using abbreviations and code to hide the names of those the governor met with or called.
After losing the fight to black out portions of his schedule, Rauner and his staff began concealing his activities by just leaving information off his schedule to begin with.
On Oct. 7, for example, the governor’s schedule listed four afternoon meetings — with “MH,” “EB,” “JM,” “MW,” “JC” and “AP.” There’s no identification beyond initials. […]
Two weeks later, on Oct. 27, Rauner set aside 30 minutes for a call with “EM.” Ed Murphy is his director of research.
The rest of that day’s schedule was blank — not unusual for Rauner. The governor held no public events the next day either, when his schedule showed only that he would videotape a short message and make phone calls to “JS” and “SK.”
More than two years after federal researchers found high levels of lead in homes where water mains had been replaced or new meters installed, city officials still do little to caution Chicagoans about potential health risks posed by work that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is speeding up across the city.
In a peer-reviewed study, researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found alarming levels of the brain-damaging metal can flow out of household faucets for years after construction work disrupts service lines that connect buildings to the city’s water system. Nearly 80 percent of the properties in Chicago are hooked up to service lines made of lead.
The study also found the city’s testing protocols — based on federal rules — are likely to miss high concentrations of lead in drinking water. […]
Most older cities, including Chicago, add corrosion-fighting chemicals to the water supply that form a protective coating inside pipes. Officials in Flint stopped the treatment in an ill-advised attempt to cut costs. The EPA study and other research shows the anti-corrosion treatment also can be thwarted when street work, plumbing repairs or changes in water chemistry disrupts the coating, causing alarming levels of lead to leach from service lines.
“I am taking this opportunity to set the record straight,” Thomas Powers, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Water Management, wrote in a October 2013 letter to aldermen in response to Del Toral’s EPA study. “Chicago water is absolutely safe to drink and meets or exceeds all standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois EPA.”
* We already know that Laquan McDonald was a ward of the state when he was shot by police. So, his family (immediate and extended) obviously failed him. And so did the government at all levels, according to the BGA…
* The city schools McDonald attended had some of the lowest academic ratings, and two were later closed because they were so bad.
* The psychiatric hospital he was sent to by child welfare officials was the subject of a scathing report detailing physical and sexual abuse there.
* The Chicago Public Schools system placed him in a small, private school for children with emotional disturbances, but the district failed to collect any performance measures on the facility and others like it for years.
* The last school McDonald attended is highly rated but child advocates believe it didn’t have the resources needed to help students with complex behavioral issues.
* The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which was responsible for McDonald’s well-being when he was a foster child, was “nonexistent” when it came to ensuring McDonald was adequately placed in schools.
Ben Wolf, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has pushed for greater accountability at DCFS, said too many foster children wind up in the worst schools and eventually drop out.
“In general, most schools don’t know what to do with foster children,” Wolf said.
One CPS social worker who reviewed McDonald’s school records said she was appalled at the lack of involvement by DCFS, saying, “It was nonexistent.”
As has been reported, McDonald was sexually and physically abused while in foster care — while living with people he was not related to — under the supervision of DCFS.
President Barack Obama returns to Springfield this month for a speech to the Illinois General Assembly about “what we can do, together, to build a better politics—one that reflects our better selves.”
Obama served in the Illinois Senate during a long overtime session in 2004, which only came to an end because he had been picked to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention and state party leaders didn’t want to embarrass him. Leadership also didn’t want to miss the partying and fundraising opportunities at the convention.
So if he was partly responsible for “solving” one impasse, could he break the current gridlock that has paralyzed Illinois since May?
* Apart from the obvious here, Springfield could really use those construction jobs…
Springfield’s two largest hospitals are owed a total of $76 million for the care of state workers, retirees and dependents — a record amount that continues to grow during the state budget impasse and threatens to stifle growth in the local medical industry.
Memorial Medical Center, which is owed $46.3 million from the State Employees’ Group Health Insurance Program, is delaying plans to construct an $80 million medical office building for exclusive rental to doctors at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine because of the impasse, the leader of Memorial’s parent organization said Friday. […]
Springfield Clinic doesn’t plan to ask patients to pay more up front, either, said Mark Kuhn, chief administrative officer, though the clinic is owned about $35 million — a record amount — from the state employee insurance plan.
Much of that money gets recirculated through the local economy, so this is just nuts. And every dollar a local bank has to lend the providers to keep them afloat is a dollar they can’t lend to grow the economy.
Then again, if they’re owed this much money and are still humming along, perhaps it’s time to renegotiate?
* Gov. Bruce Rauner has endorsed former Rep. Brad Halbrook in this race, so today’s endorsement sets up a proxy battle of sorts between the former governor and the current governor. Acklin has also been endorsed by the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Champaign County GOP is all in for him, making this three-way primary race one to watch…
Former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar has announced his endorsement of Jim Acklin for the Republican nomination for State Representative in the 102nd District.
“Illinois needs dedicated and experienced people to get this state moving again. Jim Acklin’s experience speaks for itself,” said Edgar. “If you look at his time as a teacher, coach, and school superintendent, Jim Acklin has the kind of experience and judgement we need at the State Capitol. That’s why I’m happy to support him for State Representative.”
The 102nd District includes portions of Champaign, Douglas, Edgar, Macon, Moultrie, Shelby, and Vermilion Counties. Acklin has lived in Champaign County for over 35 years and was a longtime Superintendent at St. Joseph-Ogden High School and the Shiloh School District in Douglas and Edgar Counties. He grew up in Paris.
Acklin says Edgar was a “wonderful Governor and a man who is revered in east central Illinois” and thanked him for his support.
“Governor Edgar is a man who served Illinois with tremendous integrity is a model of what public service should look like,” said Acklin. “Governor Edgar served our area as Governor, Secretary of State, and as a State Representative. He has great respect and admiration for the people here, because he is one of us. To have the endorsement of a man whose legacy of saying “no” to spending we couldn’t afford, combined with an enduring reputation of being honest and forthright, is truly special. I’m honored to have his friendship and support.”
Acklin lives in Ogden with his wife, Cindy, and has three children. To learn more about Jim’s campaign, visit www.jimacklin.com or www.facebook.com/acklin102.
Lindall provided detailed notes one member provided the union of the call the member received on the survey. According to the member, the interviewer wanted to know if the worker had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Rauner, AFSCME and AFSCME executive director Roberta Lynch.
Other questions included whether the employee was a full union member or a fair-share member, if the worker would accept a pay freeze, would the worker participate in a work stoppage, how long the worker was willing to go without pay while participating in a work stoppage, how the worker felt about Rauner’s plan to award bonuses to employers and whether the worker was aware the state was in a financial crisis.
“In essence, state employees are being asked to do one of two untenable things,” Lindall said. “Either they make statements critical of their employer to an unknown person who knows their identity, or they agree with leading statements that are designed to say things that are critical of their own union.”
Lindall said union members reported that their caller IDs showed the calls coming from SSI, which stands for Survey Sampling International. A representative of SSI said the work was commissioned by Fabrizio, Lee and Associates of Alexandria, Va. A call to Fabrizio, Lee on Friday afternoon was not returned.
“Don’t Shoot” is an aggressive multi-strategy anti-gang and anti-gun violence program designed to save lives and reduce the number of people impacted by gun crimes. It is modeled after a concept found in the book, “Don’t Shoot. One Man, A Street Fellowship, and The End of Violence in Inner-City America,” by David M. Kennedy.
Led by Mayor Jim Ardis, the initiative creates partnerships among federal, state and local prosecutors; law enforcement; outreach specialists; community leaders; and media.
* Emphasis added because the mayor’s pet program apparently went awry…
A Peoria man sentenced in December to 15 years in prison for running an underage prostitution operation plied his illegal trade out of an apartment obtained with the help of the Peoria Police Department, according to documents procured under the Freedom of Information Act.
Peoria police arrested Matthew Petrakis, 44, on prostitution-related charges on May 21, 2015, and he has been incarcerated since then. He opted for a bench trial in the first week of November, and Judge Kevin Lyons found him guilty on one count of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. […]
Petrakis had been in close contact with the Peoria Police Department for months before his May 2015 arrest. At one point the department helped him obtain the apartment where up to six men a day paid to have sex with a 16-year-old girl, according to documents released by the department following a public records request by the Journal Star.
The department, under the umbrella of the Don’t Shoot anti-gun violence initiative, also arranged for Matthew Petrakis to meet U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and sought to have his unpaid fines for traffic tickets waived so he could obtain a valid driver’s license, according to a contact log with the department’s community services coordinator, Krista Coleman.
* Greg Hinz on whether Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda is worth the price being paid…
In recent days, he has gleefully tried to torpedo a big Chicago Public Schools bond issue, failing in his effort but driving up the already prohibitive cost to city taxpayers.
He has said little about a report from his handpicked state comptroller, Leslie Geissler Munger, that Illinois debt soon may blow by the level reached by Gov. Pat Quinn, the guy who took over from Rod Blagojevich amid the worst U.S. economic downturn since Herbert Hoover was president.
He mostly has just watched as thousands of Illinois college students consider dropping out because their financial aid is gone, some of them never to return. He also lost General Electric’s headquarters when the company chose Boston over Chicago.
I could go on. But here’s the cold, hard fact: This war Rauner is in with House Speaker Michael Madigan is of increasingly questionable value relative to the costs. Though our GOP governor is right that Illinois’ economy is too weak and public-sector unions too strong, is the payoff of his turnaround agenda worth it? […]
Rauner is right that CPS finances have been a mess for way too long. Piling on more debt is a bad idea. But his plan to fix CPS by forcing it into bankruptcy comes out of the same fairy-dust factory as the proposal by Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis to maintain the status quo by taxing commodities trades and rich people and emptying tax-increment-financing districts for the dough.
More real was Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan: to finally bargain hard with the CTU, cut some jobs, get more money from the state and buy more time via borrowing. But Rauner (who actually agrees that CPS needs more state money) turned thumbs down on a deal that would have forced every teacher to take what amounts to a 7 percent pay cut because the deal also would have left CTU alive and capped the number of charter schools.
Potter said while CPS offered teachers a 2.75 percent pay raise that would take effect in the second year of their four-year contract offer, those raises would have been negated by teachers’ increased pension and health insurance contributions. Factoring in those costs, Potter said teachers would actually lose 1.55 percent of their pay if they accepted the contract Monday.
Last week, a reporter said to Gov. Bruce Rauner that Secretary of State Jesse White had suggested that Rauner bring in former governors, including George Ryan, to help break the long governmental impasse which has prevented the state from having a budget for over seven months.
Rauner laughed and said, “Uh, wow.”
The governor clearly did not take the suggestion seriously.
“I’m not gonna talk about the failures of the past that created this mess,” Gov. Rauner said through chuckles.
“I focus on the future. I don’t live in the past. We’ve had failure in our elected government for decades. This mess didn’t happen over night. And what we’re not gonna do is reproduce the dynamic that created it.” The governor laughed throughout most of that last sentence.
Bringing in graybeards has been tried before without success. Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert and then-Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard to town to help him pass his massive construction proposal that Speaker Madigan refused to agree to. It didn’t work. The two men left town as soon as they realized how hardened Madigan’s position had become against Blagojevich.
While former governors have been through similar troubles, nothing really compares to today’s self-inflicted disaster. Madigan and Blagojevich played hardball, but the game is exponentially meaner now.
And, besides, what would the former governors say or do that could make a difference? They’d probably advise Rauner to cut a deal which doesn’t bash unions. But our governor seems wholly uninterested in doing such a thing.
The simple fact is that nothing – nothing – will change until Madigan and Rauner decide it will.
Madigan’s long history clearly shows he forces the other side to negotiate against itself until he believes they’re close enough to his position. Rauner has clearly not moved far enough away from anti-union proposals and things like term limits for Madigan’s taste.
And Rauner, for his part, seems fed up with the whole process and has taken to issuing repeated dire warnings of political consequences to Madigan’s Democratic members if they continue backing the Speaker.
But as we saw not long ago, when rank and file Senate Democrats rejected the pension reform compromise negotiated by Senate President John Cullerton (even though a majority of that caucus had voted for a very similar bill a couple of years earlier), most Democratic legislators are in no mood to work out a deal, either, and continue to insist that the governor come to the table and finally agree to a budget instead.
Late last Thursday, Chicago State University officially declared a “financial exigency,” which could lead to the reduction of tenured faculty and drastic reductions in programs in order to save the school from closure. The state’s only majority black university had already announced last month that it would run out of money to pay salaries in early March.
CSU gets more than a third of its funding from the state, more than all but one other 4-year public university in Illinois. But the governor has publicly complained that taxpayers have been throwing Chicago State’s money “down the toilet” and wants drastic reforms. For now, anyway, the Democrats are staying on the sidelines and loudly pointing fingers at Rauner.
The governor has been talking about his grand plan for years, long before he was elected.
He never made it a major campaign issue, but it’s clear from looking at his past statements that he believes Democrats will eventually side against the unions and with social service agencies (and places like the CSU campus and the Chicago Public Schools) if he can, in his own words, “drive a wedge” into the party. The object is to make the Democrats choose between money for their pet causes or union rights. He’s shut off the money, but he hasn’t yet driven that wedge.
That’s probably why Rauner looked like he was attempting to tank the Chicago Public School’s bond sale last week with loud demands that it should go bankrupt and be taken over by the state. Without that bond sale, the school system would’ve been in danger of shutting down.
The object here appears to be to create so much chaos that the Democrats finally start negotiating in order to save all the programs and institutions they’ve been building for decades.
So far, that isn’t happening, but the real chaos is yet to come. We’ve seen smaller social service agencies close, we’ve seen larger agencies shut down vital programs, but so far nothing huge has happened.
It’ll probably take the “death” of something very important and very large to test this theory.
* Related…
* Durbin to Rauner: “It’s time to govern”: “What is happening to this state, the state I love and am honored to represent is devastating, devastating,” said Durbin.
Monday, Feb 8, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Chicago’s public school system is facing financial meltdown. Chicago Public Schools is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, $10 billion in debt and a “junk” credit rating. Just last year, Chicago Public Schools spent 13 months of revenues in just 12 months. Despite this, the school system was able to reach an agreement with leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union on a contract that met every major union demand, including:
· Guaranteed pay raises for teachers – every year
· Guaranteed job security and no teacher layoffs
· A commitment to prevent cuts to classrooms
· Fully funding the employer portion of teachers’ pensions
In exchange, members were only asked to pay their full share of employee pensions.
The Chicago Teachers Union unanimously rejected the proposal.
Chicago families can’t afford more classroom cuts and another teachers’ strike that closes schools.
Our elected officials must take a stand: Do you support the Chicago Teachers Union’s action?
