Governor Bruce Rauner has issued the following statement on the Senate’s decision to override his veto of SB 1229:
“Every Senator who voted to overturn our veto chose special interests over the taxpayers. They made it abundantly clear that they’d rather raise taxes than stand up to the politically powerful. It is now up to House members to take the responsible, pro-taxpayer position and uphold our veto.”
…Adding… From organized labor…
Illinois Senate super-majority overrides Rauner veto of fair arbitration bill
Union leaders: Bill ensures reasonable compromise and keeps Illinois working
By a vote of 38-15, a super-majority of state senators from every part of Illinois voted today to override Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of the fair arbitration bill, Senate Bill 1229.
Applauding the action was the Illinois AFL-CIO and many unions that represent state workers and other public employees, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31, the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), the Illinois Nurses Association (INA), the Laborers International Union of North America-Midwest Region, the Police Benevolent & Protective Association (PB&PA), SEIU Healthcare Illinois and the Illinois Education Association (IEA).
The legislation offers to state employees (such as child protection workers, nurses and caregivers) the option of the same fair arbitration process provided to state and local police, fire and prison security personnel in Illinois for more than 30 years.
The bill would help avert the potential conflict, hardship and disruption of a statewide strike or lockout by offering arbitration as an alternative means of resolving contract disputes between state employees’ unions and the Rauner Administration if ongoing negotiations fail to produce agreements.
To enact the bill, three-fifths of the state Senate and House of Representatives must vote to override the Governor’s veto. With the Senate’s action today, the House now has 15 days to follow suit.
As a candidate, Governor Rauner repeatedly vowed to “take a strike and shut down state government for a few weeks” in order to force workers to accept his extreme demands. More recently, the governor has made legislation that strips the rights of workers to bargain collectively a precondition of his willingness to enact a state budget or address other unrelated policy matters. And in a possible signal that the governor’s office is preparing to provoke a work stoppage, the Rauner Administration has reportedly solicited retirees to serve as strike breakers and considered mobilizing the National Guard.
“The Senate has done right by the citizens of Illinois today,” Illinois AFL-CIO president Michael Carrigan said. “Simply put, this legislation will make sure the state keeps working if negotiations fail.”
“State employees keep us safe, protect kids, care for veterans and provide countless other important services,” AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch said. “Public service workers want to be treated fairly, they don’t want to be forced out on strike, and today’s vote is a strong step in the right direction.”
“On behalf of the thousands of state employees represented by the IFT, I want to thank State Senators for standing up to protect the vital public services we all rely on,” said IFT President Dan Montgomery. “While it doesn’t provide the Governor with the political showdown he so obsessively desires, this legislation does help ensure state services will continue without interruption—a real priority to Illinois taxpayers.”
“After this resounding defeat, it is time for Bruce Rauner to follow the advice of Gov. Jim Edgar and shelve his anti-worker obsession so that a budget is passed and vulnerable Illinoisans are protected,” SEIU Healthcare Illinois president Keith Kelleher said. “We applaud the senators who stood up to his bully tactics and join the growing chorus who see the Rauner agenda for what it is—protection for billionaire interests and pain for everyone else.”
“Registered Nurses and the patients they care for deserve the fair and reasonable process provided by SB 1229,” INA executive director Alice Johnson said. “We thank the senators who, in voting for SB 1229, stood up for nurses and patients, and against an extremist agenda that seeks to force nurses to work while exhausted, putting lives at risk.
“Today’s vote shows again how far out of step Governor Rauner is with Illinois’ middle class,” said Sean Stott, Director of Governmental Affairs of the Laborers’ Midwest Region. “Rauner claims to want good-paying jobs in this state but is moving heaven and earth to cut workers’ pay and benefits. We thank the supermajority of senators who stood up to him today.”
“The governor’s statements contradict the facts. He has had months to negotiate but has failed to make any meaningful progress,” PB&PA Illinois director Sean Smoot said. “He says he will not lock workers out, but he has already sent layoff notices to employees. A layoff is quite simply a targeted lockout.”
“We believe it’s important that state services continue to be delivered to the people of Illinois by hardworking state employees,” IEA president Cinda Klickna said. “By voting to override the veto, the House will send the message that it’s time for the governor to stop pushing a personal agenda against unions and, instead, focus on solving Illinois’ real problems, starting with the state budget.”
One Republican, Sen. Sam McCann, voted to override.
The rally wasn’t without its foibles. Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, combating attacks by Democrats that the GOP has a “war on women,” twice hailed the late Judy Baar Topinka, a Republican, as the state’s first female comptroller. It actually was Democrat Dawn Clark Netsch, who 20 years earlier became the first woman elected to a statewide constitutional office in Illinois.
Leslie Munger, who Rauner appointed to the comptroller job following Topinka’s death late last year, said she was “proud to be here as the governor’s wingman, so to speak, on the budget issues.” Munger is seeking to retain the post in a special statewide election next year.
With a backdrop of supporters holding up letters reading “Our Home,” Rauner said, “You mess with my home Speaker Madigan, you picked the wrong guy.”
“Speaker Madigan, you know what, he’s got ice water in his veins. He’s standing his ground,” Rauner told reporters before taking the stage at the Director’s Lawn.
Rauner said Madigan “doesn’t care about central Illinois. He doesn’t care about agriculture. He’s about the Chicago machine. That just shows the kind of political manipulation that’s going on here.”
A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan says Gov. Bruce Rauner, not the Chicago Democrat, is “Mr. Cut” and responsible for slashing social services because there’s no agreement on a yearlong state spending plan.
Rauner told reporters at the state fair that Madigan “has ice water in his veins,” inured to reductions in programs such as subsidized day care for working parents. Hundreds of protesters opposing the changes attempted to shout down GOP speakers.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the reduced spending is Rauner’s doing.
Brown says, “The only cuts that were done were by the governor, so if the guy wants to look about for who’s responsible for cuts, he should just stare right in the mirror, and that mug he sees coming back at him is ‘Mr. Cut.’”
The governor also said that if Senate President Cullerton overrides his veto of the AFSCME no strike bill, then that proves he is essentially Madigan’s puppet (paraphrasing).
*** UPDATE *** Cullerton’s spokesperson responds to the governor saying the Senate President will show he’s under Madigan’s thumb if he overrides the AFSCME bill veto today…
The Governor is attempting to reduce the Senate President’s leadership to fit into today’s political talking points. He is undermining the “willing to compromise” image that he has tried to project regarding his relationship with the Senate President. Cullerton and his caucus will make a decision about the no strike and no lockout bill later today.
Wednesday, Aug 19, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exelon has been dropping not so subtle hints lately that it’s about to close its Quad Cities plant unless it gets a bailout. They’re complaining the plant is losing money. They’re complaining the energy market is getting worse.
But here’s what they’re not telling you:
• Exelon Profitability Grows: In the last six months alone, Exelon, the company that claims it needs a bailout has reported more than $1.3 BILLION in PROFITS.
•PJM Capacity Auction Revenues Substantial: The PJM grid operator that includes the ComEd service territory is conducting three auctions for “capacity”. These auctions will pay winning power companies hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue starting in June 2016.
•Carbon Regulations Likely To Boost Revenues: The US EPA finalized its rule restricting carbon emissions which will likely close some Illinois coal plants, resulting in higher prices for electricity and more revenue for Exelon.
EVEN IF EXELON ANNOUNCES IT’S CLOSING QUAD CITIES, IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE
•No Closure Possible Before June 2017: because Exelon has already sold its Quad Cities power through that period.
• PJM Reliability Study Before Closure: If Exelon notifies PJM it is planning to close a plant, PJM will launch a study to determine if that plant is needed for grid reliability.
•Must-run Contract to Ensure Reliability: If PJM determines Quad Cities is needed for reliability, Exelon will receive a “must-run” contract which will keep the plant open and pay Exelon its costs plus a guaranteed profit for a number of years.
Just Say “NO” to the Exelon Bailout
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses. Visit www.noexelonbailout.com.
Eastern Illinois University President David Glassman says the school is laying off 67 employees and says more people will lose jobs as the school wrestles with declining enrollment and financial uncertainties.
Glassman said in a news release Tuesday that another 51 open positions will not be filled.
Glassman said unspecified additional cuts will happen “very shortly.”
The jobs are civil service or administrative and professional positions rather than faculty.
And this may not be the end to job cuts at EIU, where enrollment has dropped from 11,630 students in 2010 to 8,913 in 2014. Glassman said more employees with administrative and professional or academic support positions will be notified “very shortly” of job eliminations or reductions.
Oof.
On the bright side, since no faculty members are being laid off, the student/teacher ratio will improve.
If he stays in, he could be competitive. The guy is personally wealthy and has lots of rich friends from his NFL days. But he’s not the greatest organizer. He was lucky not to get kicked off the ballot last time around, so we’ll see what sort of staff he hires.
* Biss never did have a shot at the nod, and he knew it…
Comptroller candidate Daniel Biss says Gov. Rauner pushing "radical anti-family, anti-union policies. "
The late Judy Baar Topinka always said she was a big fan of the state fair and now, her name is part of the fairgrounds. Governor Rauner, dedicated the sign that marks Judy Baar Topinka Lane that replaces Corn Dog Lane.
Springfield alderman Cory Jobe, who worked for the late comptroller, says Topinka would have loved the sign.
“She’d be pretty humble about it. You know, Judy was just an everyday, real Illinoisan. I think that’s what made her unique. Her straight-talk approach to issues made her stand out. Everybody thought she was just one of us,” said Jobe.
* She was a huge state fair fan. And I think she would’ve gotten a chuckle knowing that “Corn Dog Lane” is now named after her. One reason is the street is lined with porta-potties…
Wherever Judy is, she has to be laughing.
The blue curtain separating the ceremonies from the rest of “Judy Baar Topinka Lane” kept onlookers from seeing a line of porta-potties along what used to be “Corn Dog Lane.”
Topinka, a former state lawmaker, three-term treasurer, and Republican gubernatorial nominee in 2006, had just been elected to a second term as comptroller when she passed away in December.
“The fair was Judy’s Las Vegas,” said the master of ceremonies.
In addition to that, Sen. Karen McConnaughay sponsored legislation aimed at improving the state’s computer system and government websites, increasing transparency for people wanting to better understand the government, making it easier to see its inner-workings. It’s a staple of leading that was important to the late Judy Baar Topinka.
“What I believe to be a very important piece of legislation. Yes, it honors Judy, but it also represents what she thought was the most important part of being a public servant - that we work for the people,” said Sen. McConnaughay.
Before showing off the legislation, Gov. Rauner said that Judy Baar Topinka was, “A champion of this legislation and Karen McConnaughay carried it.”
Standing behind the auction pen as championship rabbits, chickens and goats came and went, Rauner made his move when Scotty, a Land of Lincoln grand champion steer, went up on the block. The governor, however, had a celebrity proxy do his bidding — Scotty McCreery, the Season 10 winner of “American Idol” and the steer’s namesake. The country singer was opening for Rascal Flatts, the evening’s grandstand concert headliner.
As the rapid-fire bidding slowed down, the auctioneer turned to Taylor Donelson, a McLean County girl who raised Scotty, and suggested she should ask the deep-pocketed governor if he could please bid $61,000. The teen turned to Rauner and made the request. The crowd roared, and Rauner threw up his arms in mock protest before giving a thumbs up. The bid set a new record.
The steer will be slaughtered, as is state fair custom, and the governor plans to give the meat to the University of Illinois. Auction proceeds are split among the young exhibitors and the Future Farmers of America and the 4-H youth organization.
* This officeholder really needs a primary so she can be held accountable…
Cook County Democratic leaders are leaning against backing State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez as she seeks a third term against three potential challengers next March.
During Tuesday’s endorsement session, a panel recommended an “open primary.” A final decision will come Wednesday, but it’s rare for the party to reject a committee recommendation.
County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is backing her onetime chief of staff, Kim Foxx, a former assistant state’s attorney who helped Preckwinkle lead an effort to lower the jail population and reform the juvenile justice system.
Other committeemen backed Donna More, a lawyer who was a county and federal prosecutor and Illinois Gaming Board attorney. Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey, a former assistant attorney general and state representative, said he’s running but did not ask for an endorsement.
With the loyalties of ward and township committeemen divided, Preckwinkle suggested the open-primary recommendation.
Alvarez acknowledged “there might be criticism from some members” of the committee, but she said, “I have been the most innovative state’s attorney in the history of the state’s attorney’s office.”
* And you just knew this would happen…
Anita Alvarez invokes diversity in asking Ck Cty Dems for endorsement. "I'm the only Latina on this ticket."
The surprise of the day was an unexpected push to slate [Todd] Stroger to fill the remaining two years on the term of Patrick Daley Thompson, who left his seat on the Water Reclamation District board to become 11th Ward alderman.
“Most of you knew my father, and I’d like to follow in his footsteps,” Stroger told committeemen, invoking his late father, John, his predecessor as county board president.
Influential Thornton Township Committeeman Frank Zuccarelli and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) voiced support for Stroger.
On Wednesday, a group of Republican office holders had scheduled a “Day at the Races” as part of Governor’s Day activities at the fair.
The event, hosted by Comptroller Leslie Munger, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and several other Republicans, is set for the grandstand where harness horse racing takes place.
But there’s a problem. Due to budget constraints, there is no horse racing on Wednesday.
State Rep. Tim Butler, a Springfield Republican who is co-hosting the event, said the plan was to carry on a tradition launched by the late Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.
When this year’s gala was put together, organizers were unaware racing would be canceled because of the stalemate that has left Illinois without a budget for nearly eight weeks.
“We’re calling it, “A Day at the Races Without the Races,’” Butler said.
One prominent Republican who’s skipping the fair festivities is first-term U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who is viewed as one of the top targets for Democrats nationally next year as the party looks to win back President Barack Obama’s former seat. A campaign spokesman said late Tuesday that Kirk has Iran briefings in Chicago on Wednesday.
Or not. All of the state’s political reporters attend the State Fair and Kirk surely knows that. Maybe he’s avoiding us.
(H)ere’s our look at the 2016 Senate landscape, ranked in terms of which seats look most likely to change hands next year:
1. Illinois (Sen. Mark Kirk (R) running for reelection) (Previous rank: 2)
Kirk needs to run close to a perfect race to win reelection in deep-blue Illinois. So far, he’s doing anything but. The first-term Republican has suffered a seemingly uninterrupted series of gaffes this year, causing even close allies to (temporarily) wonder if he should abandon his campaign. His likely opponent, Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, has her own issues to worry about, including a potentially damaging civil lawsuit and a primary opponent. But for now, she looks like a clear-cut general-election favorite.
On Governor’s Day three years ago, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn was booed off the stage at the fair director’s lawn and chased around the fairgrounds by public union members angry over his push to cut their pension benefits. The rancor prompted Democrats to avoid the fairgrounds the last two years.
It’s unclear what public employee unions may have planned Wednesday for Rauner’s day. But the Republican governor’s push to weaken collective bargaining rights for teachers and other government workers has become the most significant political issue in Illinois, with legislative candidate signature gathering for the 2016 elections set to begin next month.
The Dems didn’t really “avoid the fairgrounds,” but they did start requiring free tickets for entry, which kept out the boo birds.
Rauner has taken a page out of that Democratic playbook. No ticket, no entry today.
The woman, who for several decades oversaw Illinois day care, was asked by legislators last week to assess the impact [of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s new rules on child care program cuts].
“Devastating!” said Linda Saterfield.
“Will some of the people rejected for day care have to quit their jobs to take care of their own children?” asked State Rep. Lou Lang.
“That’s a possibility,” she responded.
On Tuesday, it was made known that Saterfield was ousted from her job after delivering that testimony.
When FOX 32 tried to contact Saterfield, a spokeswoman for the Rauner Administration called. She said Saterfield was reassigned to another post in the Department of Human Services “for internal personnel reasons.”
* I obtained a memo that she sent out to colleagues yesterday…
Dear Child Care Advisory Council Members-
Today I have been notified that effective immediately the Department is taking a new direction with leadership for Child Care and I am being replaced as the Associate Director of the Office of Early Childhood. I have been offered the position of Associate Director of Adult Supports and Basic Services. I will be relocating my office to 823 E. Monroe by next week but as of today I will no longer represent Child Care.
It has been my pleasure and honor to serve as the State Child Care Administrator since 1998 and I am proud of what we have accomplished together. We have enjoyed a wonderfully successful partnership and through our work have been recognized as a national leader in child care. We truly have much to be proud of in Illinois.
I will miss working with all of you. You have been wonderful volunteers and advocates for child care program over the years. With reauthorization underway it seems to be an appropriate time to bring in new leadership to take this program to the next level. I know you will provide the new Associate Director your commitment and I am certain you will continue to advocate on behalf of the families and children of this state. Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Linda Saterfield
* And then this went out…
Yesterday we, as an Early Childhood Community, received the worst possible news, IDHS irrationally transferred Linda Saterfield out of child care after over 35 years of service. The viability of the entire child care system is now in question. In these incredibly difficult and tumultuous times we need Linda’s leadership and knowledge more than ever.
Within the next 2-3 hours please email the Governor’s Secretary of Education Beth.Purvis@illinois.gov urging her to take whatever action is necessary to walk back this terrible decision. Please feel free to share this email as quickly as possible with as many stakeholders as possible.
* From an Illinois Republican Party press release…
Governor’s Day Event on the Director’s Lawn
When: Wednesday, August 19th at 12:00PM CT (Press Set-up at 11:45AM CT)
Where: Director’s Lawn of the Illinois State Fair
Who: Republicans from all over Illinois will be in attendance to celebrate Governor Bruce Rauner. In addition to Governor Rauner, other Illinois Republican leaders will give remarks, including Lt. Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, Comptroller Leslie Munger, Congressman John Shimkus, Congressman Randy Hultgren, Congressman Rodney Davis, State Senator Darin LaHood, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
Well, it is Governor’s Day. But that’s an odd choice of words.
I know the Governor’s office is intensifying pressure on you to sustain his veto of SB 1229, the fair arbitration bill. Unfortunately, his crusade against this bill is based on hyperbole and misinformation. I wanted to respond specifically to some of the key misrepresentations in the governor’s memo sent to you today.
Arbitration is not a dangerous and alien idea. In fact, it is already in state law. As you know, this legislation merely extends to state workers the same fair arbitration process that Illinois law has provided for more than 30 years to municipal police and fire personnel and to state prison employees and state troopers.
Arbitration could avoid a strike if negotiations fail. Nothing in the legislation compels the parties to go to arbitration. In fact, either side could choose arbitration if negotiations fail to produce a settlement. As such, the bill does not short-circuit the negotiating process, but offers an additional path to a settlement free of the hardship, conflict and disruption that a lockout or strike could cause.
AFSCME has said repeatedly, and I reiterate, that it is our preference to reach a settlement at the bargaining table. We’ve been working diligently to achieve that goal and intend to continue to do so.
Our union has a four-decade track record with six different governors (and countless mayors, county executives and other elected leaders) of doing just that—bargaining in good faith to reach an agreement. The Rauner Administration does not have any such track record. The governor can point only to one settlement reached for one small unit of state workers on his watch.
On the other hand, we have his bellicose statements made more than once on the campaign trail that he’ll “take a strike and shut down state government” in order to impose his demands on state workers.
State employees remain deeply troubled by the threats he made then and the related actions he takes now: Reports of the administration recruiting strikebreakers among retirees or the National Guard; false characterizations of the compensation now earned by state workers and the proposals our union has made in negotiations; legislative poison-pill demands that would wipe out workers’ rights as a precondition of enacting other unrelated policies.
Arbitration is fair. The governor is wrong to insult the reputation of the experienced professionals who serve as independent arbitrators. Arbitrators are mutually chosen by both the employer and the union and they are guided by the law to consider factors including the state’s financial condition in crafting a fair settlement. There is no evidence to suggest that they rely on only a few states in forming their opinions, and even a cursory review of the arbitration decisions listed on the state labor board’s website makes clear that they rule at least as often—if not more often—in favor of the employer as the union.
False claims. It’s regrettable that the governor’s memo resorts to repeating disproven claims about state employee compensation. Illinois state employees do not earn salaries far in excess of other states, and a University of Illinois study found that state and local government workers earn 13.5% less than comparable private sector workers.
The governor’s misstatements about the pay of child protection workers, correctional officers, nurses, emergency responders, caregivers and all the other men and women who do the real work of state government are particularly offensive given the six-figure salaries and political clout hires reported among the governor’s own top staff. His administration’s push to replace a pay scale based on a worker’s job and experience with one based on who the boss likes best would open the door wide to similar cronyism throughout state government.
The governor’s claim that the union’s initial economic proposal would cost the state $1.6 billion borders on the ludicrous. The administration has failed to produce any accounting of this number, despite our union’s requests for the calculations to back it up. The governor’s memo likewise distorts many other of our proposals: AFSCME has not made a single proposal to “increase pension benefits”; we have proposed almost no changes to the state health plan; and our proposals regarding overtime are intended to reduce it, not increase it, but the administration has rejected them.
Act in the public interest, override the veto. One has to ask why the administration is resorting to such desperate tactics to defeat a perfectly reasonable piece of legislation. Why the over-the-top rhetoric, habitual falsehoods and political pressure tactics? The only plausible explanation is that the bill would provide stability where the governor wants conflict. The bill would prevent a strike when the governor has vowed to force one. And if negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the bill could allow independent arbitrators to craft a fair settlement instead of giving the governor free rein to impose his extreme demands.
In the end, each legislator must vote their conscience and their constituents. We hope you will look at all the facts and, in the name of ensuring stability of public services and fairness for public service workers, override the veto to enact SB 1229.
To: Members of the General Assembly
From: Bruce Rauner, Governor
Re: SB 1229
Date: August 18, 2015
Beginning tomorrow, you may be asked to consider overriding my veto of Senate Bill 1229. I strongly urge you not to vote to override. This bill is one of the worst pieces of legislation in Illinois history. It is a direct affront to Illinois taxpayers and to my ability to negotiate on their behalf. To put it simply, a vote to override my veto of SB 1229 is a vote to pave the way for a massive tax hike.
Our Administration has demonstrated a willingness to negotiate a fair contract with any reasonable partner. I have stated publicly and I also pledge in writing to you that we will not lock-out state employees. There is no reason our authority to negotiate on behalf of taxpayers regarding the state’s largest employment contract should be suddenly stripped away.
This is the first time AFSCME has ever demanded interest arbitration for all of its members rather than good faith collective bargaining, and the bill expires in four years. Hopefully this legislation is not related to the fact that I am the first Governor in Illinois history to be totally independent of AFSCME since it was first recognized under Governor Walker in the 1970’s.
Unfortunately, our political system in Illinois has inherent biases stacked against taxpayers. This legislation specifies that only a small group of predominantly pro-labor arbitrators may be selected to serve as the tie-breaking panel chair absent agreement. Last year, of the four interest arbitrations held using this roster of arbitrators where local units of government sought to freeze salaries for even a portion of the contract term, taxpayers lost every time.
Our system has also been set up so arbitrators use salary comps from very high-cost states (NY, NJ, PA) rather than emphasizing the five states that border us. This has resulted in Illinois government employees receiving compensation, when benefits are included, that is 22% higher than for the same jobs done by private citizens, and in many cases 30% or more higher than for the same work done by government employees in our surrounding states.
Illinois government employees are terrific. They deserve good salaries and attractive benefits. But their compensation should reflect merit more than seniority, similar to the system most taxpayers have in the private sector. We can and will pay higher salaries in the future, but pay should be based on productivity, not just the passage of time.
The system has to be fair for everyone, including our taxpayers. SB 1229 is especially harmful now because AFSCME’s current proposal would cost our taxpayers an additional $1.6 billion in salary, overtime, and pension costs and would eliminate $500 million per year in healthcare savings that is part of the health savings in both Democratic and Republican budgets.
AFSCME has proposed an expensive structure that would increase many salaries by 29% over 4 years, force the state to pay for premium health insurance benefits, extend those benefits to part-time and intermittent workers, increase overtime pay and dramatically increase pension benefits. We have told AFSCME at the bargaining table, and I cannot emphasize to you strongly enough, we cannot afford AFSCME’s extreme financial demands at this precarious time for our state.
That is why this legislation is so dangerous. Under SB 1229, labor arbitrators, unlike arbitrators in other disputes, are only given the option of picking between the state’s proposals and the union’s proposals, which is why the union has refused to make any concessions. The amount of spending the arbitrator would decide in this case is over $7 billion, or 20% of the state budget. Financial decisions of that magnitude should be decided at the bargaining table or by elected officials, not unelected labor arbitrators.
Again, to be clear, a vote to override my veto of SB 1229 is a vote to pave the way for a massive tax hike.
Finally, I have stated publicly and I also pledge in writing to you that we will not lock-out state employees. That pledge is also reflected in a binding legal agreement with AFSCME, known as a tolling agreement, which ensures that there can be no strike or lock-out as long as the parties are both bargaining in good faith at the bargaining table. Like the Teamsters, if AFSCME would commit to around the clock, non-stop, good-faith negotiations, I am confident we could reach a fair deal for taxpayers and their members.
The structure of our AFSCME contract is critical to the future of Illinois. We can and will negotiate a balance between the interests of government employees and those of taxpayers.
Every dollar we save inside state government is a dollar we can invest in our schools and social services. I ask you to join me in representing taxpayers, school children and our most vulnerable residents by upholding the veto of SB 1229.
During a swing through the Statehouse newsroom Tuesday, the first-term Republican chief executive said he is not getting involved in picking one of the 17 candidates seeking the GOP nomination.
“I am very clearly, specifically staying out of that,” Rauner told reporters before heading out to the Illinois State Fair.
Rauner did say he’s familiar with a big chunk of the field, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
“I have six pretty good personal friends running in the Republican primary,” Rauner said. “I’m pretty close to virtually all of the governors.”
* If he manages to get on the ballot and can raise a little cash, the Democrats’ chances will drop precipitously in the 13th…
David Gill, who has sought to represent Central Illinois in the nation’s capitol four previous times beginning a decade ago, announced Tuesday he will be making an independent bid in 2016 for the 13th Congressional District post. […]
If he collects enough signatures to qualify for the November 2016 ballot — he’ll need an estimated 15,000 registered voters — Gill is likely to face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a second-term Republican from Taylorville. […]
Gill last ran for the seat in 2012 and lost by 1,002 votes to Davis.
He stepped aside in 2014 when the Democratic Party coalesced behind former Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis.
It’s not that Davis was expected to lose, but having Gill on the ballot will make it that much tougher to recruit and push a quality Democratic candidate there. He’s a gift for Davis.
Envy isn’t a rational response to the upcoming 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
But with Aug. 29 fast approaching and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu making media rounds, including at the Tribune Editorial Board, I find myself wishing for a storm in Chicago — an unpredictable, haughty, devastating swirl of fury. A dramatic levee break. Geysers bursting through manhole covers. A sleeping city, forced onto the rooftops. […]
So if you think somehow new leadership is going to right the ship, you might want to get your head checked. There is no sense of urgency about the city’s or the schools’ perpetual abyss. Not under Emanuel. Not with a new City Council. Not with a new board at CPS.
That’s why I find myself praying for a real storm.
OK, was anybody who pays attention at all surprised? I mean, she sits on the Tribune editorial board, which is too often the most irrational, hyperbolic body in the state of Illinois.
All of the borrowing kicks the can down the road, costs taxpayers hundreds of millions more in interest payments and jeopardizes other worthy programs, under the guise of what? Protecting middle-class taxpayers from a big hit? No, they’re lining us up for a firing squad.
That highlighted sentence gets to the very heart of the matter here. She actually equated higher taxes (in a city with some of the lowest property taxes in the state) with a governmental firing squad. No wonder she openly wished for a biblical-level disaster. She’s just fighting the good fight, speaking truth to power, storming the ramparts of the evil-doers…
Chicago needs urgent, revolutionary change.
That was from her non-apology follow-up, wherein she essentially blamed readers for misinterpreting the essence of her pure heart.
And it shows again the real problem here. What Chicago most desperately needs are clear, sober minds and fiscal sanity. The city must finally, rationally face up to its obligations and stop stomping its collective feet and screaming about how unfair everything is. Raise some taxes, cut some spending, work with the governor and the GA on a reasonable compromise in exchange for more state money. Find some real solutions and stop wailing like mad, drunken ivory tower pseudo-revolutionaries.
In other words, grow the heck up already.
* The best news out of this is that maybe, finally people will once and for all stop treating that editorial board seriously. As nice as they may be in person, when some of those board members get to work they don’t want their readers to think, they want them to seethe with vicious rage at a manufactured cartoon world of black and white. That makes them the worst sort of propagandists. And they were getting away with it until one of their own members stepped over the line and brought down some serious national heat.
On Friday, Rauner’s office sent a letter to state Rep. John Bradley asking that he reschedule Monday’s hearing of the House Revenue and Finance Committee so that it could be held in the capital city.
“With the Senate in session next week, the governor expects key budget, legislative and legal personnel to be working in the Capitol,” the letter noted.
The request was rejected and the committee meeting was held at one of the state’s Chicago office buildings.
Bradley, a Marion Democrat, said it was disrespectful of the administration not to show up. “I think it’s a very, very bad calculation. Its not good practice,” he said. […]
At the same time Bradley’s hearing was underway, Rauner outlined his latest push for a statewide property tax freeze at a nearby state office building.
“State government is fundamentally in Springfield,” Rauner told reporters. “Let’s hold these hearings in Springfield where our administration actually works.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner is combining several of his proposals into one bill, but that doesn’t seem to sway Democrats opposed to parts of his agenda.
Rauner’s consolidated legislation includes some old items (a property tax freeze, allowing local governments to limit collective bargaining and opt out of prevailing wage laws) and some new additions (allowing schools to use outside contractors for certain services, increased funding for impoverished school districts).
“I believe this is the single most important piece of legislation which we can pass this year,” Rauner said.
One bill is how Rauner would prefer it remain, as he called on House Speaker Michael Madigan not to try to separate the proposals.
“I’m asking the Speaker not to break the bill apart into little pieces, not to call sham votes on individual pieces. Debate the bill in its entirety and vote on the bill in its entirety,” Rauner said.
Bills, except bills for appropriations and for the codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be confined to one subject. Appropriation bills shall be limited to the subject of appropriations.
We’ll talk more about the substance of the governor’s proposals later, but if you click here for the governor’s bill summary, you’ll see he appears to have illegally mixed in an appropriation and has combined several quite different subject matters together.
They want “one bill, one vote” so they can get the Democrats on record as being opposed to some of the bill’s more popular items, like a property tax freeze and (for Chicagoans) more money for CPS, or perhaps peel some Democrats away from their leaders.
But if they passed a law like this it would probably be shot down pretty quickly in the courts.
The absurd facade of this long-running state government impasse might best be summed up with two brief statements.
1) Gov. Bruce Rauner to Democrats: “Just support my plans to eviscerate organized labor and I’ll give you the rare privilege of voting to raise everybody’s income taxes.”
2) Democrats to Rauner: “Just accept our piddly little workers’ compensation reforms and we’ll let you put all Republican legislators on an income tax hike bill, which you can then, of course, gleefully sign into law.”
Those two statements bring to mind a long-ago description of the absurdist theatrical “Waiting for Godot.” It was, the reviewer wrote, a play in which “nothing happens, twice.”
Ain’t that the truth.
Neither of those two things ever will happen.
I also have heard some portray this standoff as something like a religious war, where each side is so wedded to their own core beliefs, particularly when it comes to labor unions (Rauner against, Democrats for), that all rapprochement is impossible.
But, really, as absurd and hardline as the summer has most certainly appeared, I am increasingly becoming convinced that this overtime session cannot accurately be described as either of those things.
Rauner talks a good game, but as we’ve seen, he often backs off. He repeatedly threatened to shut down the government during last year’s campaign but instead has done everything possible to avoid a shutdown after vetoing most of the budget in June.
The governor has railed against unions but negotiated a state contract with the Teamsters that even includes collecting “fair share” fees that he believes are unconstitutional. He has made innumerable cuts that were quickly restored, whether through executive fiat, legislation he supports or court cases he backs.
House Speaker Michael Madigan likewise talks a very good game about “protecting the middle class,” but he hasn’t always been such a white knight for his core constituencies, either. He flipped on his much-favored trial lawyers and rammed through medical malpractice lawsuit reforms last decade.
The speaker made a deal that undercut trade unions at McCormick Place when asked to by Chicago’s mayor. He muscled through a Tier 2 pension plan for state workers and teachers that resulted in their boycott of him in the 2010 campaign. That led to the 2011 legislative education reforms (also pushed by the mayor and people like Rauner), aimed mostly at teachers and their unions, and legislation to cut back the number of state workers represented by AFSCME, along with pension reform Part 2.
To me, the key here is Mayor Rahm Emanuel. If he really is privately asking for some legislative limits on teachers’ union collective bargaining powers, as the governor has been telling reporters and anyone else who will listen, then you can expect the speaker and the Senate president eventually will go along.
Why would they? Because that’s what Democratic leaders from Chicago usually do when their mayor needs them. Not every time, but it’s a pretty safe bet.
And since Emanuel has not, as of this writing, actually denied the governor’s claim about what he really wants, I’m guessing the governor probably is telling the truth. Or at least a close enough version of reality to finally smoke out the mayor and have him prod his two leaders to move on a resolution that can be applied statewide.
As you know, the governor refuses to even talk about a budget until he gets some of his “turnaround agenda” passed, and keeping the teachers’ unions in check could go a long way toward that goal.
Until then, I think the Democratic leadership is content to continue their slow walk to oblivion and watch the governor’s poll numbers move inexorably down toward their own low positions, while galvanizing organized labor behind the Democratic Party like never before.
And as long as Rauner can keep most of government functioning, I don’t think he is prepared to make any major deals, either.
So the Democrats and the mayor and the governor could all choose to wait until the stuff really hits the fan this month and into next month, when the state government’s rapidly deteriorating condition could very well excuse an ugly deal in the minds of their respective constituencies.
Or they could just stick their necks out, act like statesmen and hammer out a compromise before the pain really begins.
Long story short: Despite several attempts at quitting, I’ve smoked cigarettes most of my adult life. I wasn’t feeling right about six weeks ago. So, I had a heart stress test, which found a problem. I had bypass surgery last Wednesday and it went so well that I was sent home on Sunday morning. I’ve also been medically cleared to briefly attend Governor’s Day and Democrat Day this week. My schedule will be somewhat reduced for a few weeks, but I really do feel pretty darned good, so don’t worry. All’s well that ends well and I will NEVER smoke again. Promise.
* Jerry Garcia may have saved my life.
For as long as I can remember, whenever my shoulders ached I knew I was coming down with something. They started hurting several days before the Grateful Dead shows in Chicago. And then when I was walking up a ramp to Soldier Field, my shoulders felt like they were on fire and I was short of breath and felt dizzy.
Later that Sunday evening during a random conversation, somebody mentioned that Jerry was 53 when he died.
I’m 53.
I went in to see my doctor and requested a stress test.
* I only told a few people what was going on. Even Barton didn’t know because I didn’t want to put him in an awkward position and I wanted him to focus on the task at hand, not on me.
My mom is staying with me this first week, so I’m in very good hands. My daughter was surprised yesterday that I was walking around my house like nothing had happened. I’m not in much pain and my lungs are rapidly improving. I’m pushing myself to get better, but not so much that I become exhausted. I want to improve a little every day, not regress. There will be some coverage gaps over the next few weeks, but I love my job and it keeps me sane, so I will keep writing.
* When I went in to meet my surgeon he told me he does a ton of bypasses every week, even sometimes on weekends. I asked him if that stressed him out. Nah, he said. Surgery isn’t stressful, it’s a calling. He told me his only stress comes from things that happen outside the operating room. From that point on I knew I was in excellent hands. Piece of cake.
The last thing I remember saying to my anesthesiologist before going under was, “Let’s get this show on the road, doc. I have a life to live.”
*** 7:15 p.m. *** - A source briefed on the matter says the Dept. of Corrections inadvertently released employee names, job titles, and Social Security Numbers while completing a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a member of the general public.
Illinois officials erroneously released the Social Security numbers of more than 1,000 Illinois Department of Corrections’ employees this week.
A news release from the IDOC on Friday evening stated that, in response to a civilian Freedom of Information Act request, employees’ Social Security numbers were released along with their ranks, salaries and job duties.
…Adding…
Official DOC statement…
On Friday, August 14th, we were made aware of a security breach within the Illinois Department of Corrections. More than 1,000 of our employee’s Social Security Numbers were included in a response to a civilian FOIA request, along with their names, ranks, salaries, and job duties. We sincerely apologize for the release of this personal information and we are working to remedy the situation. At this time, there is no indication that the information has been misused. We are in the process of notifying the impacted employees and will be available to assist them with any questions they may have.
Since the breach was discovered, we have undertaken an investigation of the incident. We are also reviewing our internal policies and procedures and will make necessary adjustments to prevent similar incidents in the future. The General Assembly has also been notified, as required under the Personal Information Protection Act, 815 ILCS 530.
*** 8:42 p.m. *** - The Department of Corrections says it has launched an internal investigation into the incident. They won’t confirm where the employees worked just yet, however employee notifications are being sent out in tomorrow morning’s mail.
*** 9:09 a.m. 8/15 *** - AFSCME’s statement…
“The department yesterday informed our union of the potential breach of correctional employees’ personal information. In response to this troubling disclosure, AFSCME immediately recommended steps to inform employees and prevent the data from becoming public.
“At this time we believe that the actions of a quick-thinking mailroom worker stopped the information from being released. That individual is to be lauded for their actions and good judgment.
“AFSCME will do all we can to protect the security and personal privacy of the men and women who keep Illinois safe.”
* Here is a band you never…ever…ever…EVER thought would make an appearance on Capitol Fax.
But then again, remember the last time Miller went on vacation and left me the keys? He sent us some European screamo song for the Friday p.m. post.
So maybe this isn’t so random.
* I was a big Fall Out Boy fan when they were starting up in the early 2000s. Back then those guys played shows in the community centers and Lions Club halls in rural middle of nowhere central Illinois like they were sold out stadiums. I remember at one of their shows before they went really mainstream (I think it was at Bone Student Center?) a member of the event staff came to the microphone and warned us about getting too rowdy and out of hand. Without missing a beat, the band opened the set saying we’d take to the streets if they shut down the show.
Adding to the energy of those shows was a sense of pride. Here was a musical act quickly on the rise, and they were our generation and our state. Now THAT was cool.
* Anyways, FOB is playing the Fair this weekend. If they play the Grandstand like they played backwater Illinois back then, you guys are in for a good time.
This conversation’s still dead on arrival
Thanks for putting up with the kid this week. See y’all around.
Standard Poor’s Ratings Service lowered the Chicago Board of Education’s credit to junk, giving a thumbs-down to CEO Forrest Claypool’s proposed budget for 2016.
S&P becomes the third ratings agency to drop the Board of Ed to below investment grade, following downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service in May and Fitch Ratings in July.
“The rating action reflects our view of the proposed fiscal 2016 budget, which includes what we view as the board’s continued structural imbalance and low liquidity with a reliance on external borrowing for cash flow needs,” said S&P analyst Jennifer Boyd, according to a statement.
Kroll Bond Rating Agency is the only firm to give the Board of Ed an investment grade rating of BBB, one notch above junk bond status.
Governor Bruce Rauner announced today he has made appointments to the Labor Advisory Board, as well as several Arbitrator reappointments to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Name: Robert J. Fulton
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Robert J. Fulton to the Labor Advisory Board. Fulton brings close to four decades of experience in labor relations to the board.
Since 2007, Fulton has been a business manager and financial secretary-treasurer at Machine Movers, Riggers & Machinery Erectors, Local Union 136. In this capacity, Fulton provided leadership to Local 136 by negotiating collective bargaining agreements, overseeing day-to-day business and representing the union at political meetings. Prior to this, Fulton was a business agent and apprentice coordinator at Local 136.
Fulton resides in Chicago.
Name: Pedro DeJesus, Jr.
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Pedro DeJesus, Jr. to the Labor Advisory Board. DeJesus’ experience in corporate management and legal affairs will provide the board with unique insight.
DeJesus is currently the Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Tampico Beverages, Inc. In this capacity, DeJesus serves on Tampico’s executive leadership team. His principal areas of focus are commercial negotiations, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property rights management and legal affairs. He also provides strategic advice to the management team and the board of directors. He has been in this role since 2007. From 2004 to 2007, DeJesus was Vice President & Corporate Counsel at Information Resources, Inc. Prior to that he was an attorney at McGuireWoods Ross & Hardies.
DeJesus earned his bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University and his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law. He lives in Lake Forest.
Name: Guy Niedorkorn
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Guy Niedorkorn to the Labor Advisory Board. Niedorkorn brings 13 years of experience to the board.
Niedorkorn is the Vice President of the Power and Utility Group at Aldridge Electric, where he is responsible for overseeing that department’s operations. He has served in this capacity since 2003.
Niedorkorn is an active member of Local 134 IBEW and is on the Corporate Advisory Board for the Illinois Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Niedorkorn resides in Palatine.
Name: John T. Coli
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed John T. Coli to the Labor Advisory Board. Coli brings close to four decades of experience in labor relations to the board.
Coli serves as the President of Joint Council 25 in Chicago and Secretary-Treasurer of Local 727. Coli has been a Teamster since starting work as a parking lot attendant in 1971. He has served as a steward, business agent and Executive Board member of various labor organizations.
Coli resides in Chicago.
Name: Mark B. Buisson
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Mark B. Buisson to the Labor Advisory Board. Buisson’s experience in the insurance industry, as well as in sales and marketing will bring an important perspective to the board.
Buisson is currently the Vice President, Region Executive at PURE Insurance. At PURE, Buisson is responsible for growth, profit and loss for the company’s Midwest region, which is comprised of twelve states and includes $40 million in premiums. Prior to this role, Buisson was a sales and marketing manager at PURE, as well as the Director at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. He is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM).
Buisson earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Carthage College. He lives in Mundelein.
Name: Jonathan D. Ginzel
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Jonathan D. Ginzel to the Labor Advisory Board. Ginzel brings extensive experience in labor and employee relations to the board.
Ginzel is currently the Director of Labor & Employee Relations at Caterpillar Inc. At Caterpillar, Ginzel is responsible for negotiating and administering labor contracts in the U.S. and Canada, as well as providing consolation on labor issues globally. Prior to this role, Ginzel was a Senior Human Resource Manager and Division Manager at Caterpillar.
Ginzel earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bradley University as well as his MBA and law degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in Peoria.
Name: Kim Clarke Maisch
Position: Member – Labor Advisory Board
Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed Kim Clarke Maisch to the Labor Advisory Board. Clarke Maisch’s knowledge of small business issues and the impact of legislation and regulation on them will be incredibly helpful to the board.
Clarke Maisch has been the Illinois State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business since 1998. In this role, Clarke Maisch is responsible for the organization’s communications with both the media and state agencies. Prior to this, she was Director of Communications for Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson. She has previously served on the Illinois Department of Employment Security Advisory Board, the Illinois Small Business & Workforce Development Task Force, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board and the Social Security Retirement Pay Task Force.
Clarke Maisch earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. She lives in Springfield.
Governor Bruce Rauner has nominated John R. Baldwin to become the next Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections. Baldwin is the former Director of the Iowa Department of Corrections and brings more than 35 years of overall experience to the position.
Baldwin led the Iowa Department of Corrections from January 2007 until his retirement in January of this year. As the director he oversaw a staff of nearly 4,000 officers who supervised 38,000 offenders. During his tenure, he worked with the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative to build a state-specific cost-benefit analysis on the state’s corrections department. The data was used to make more informed policy and budget decisions in an effort to reduce recidivism.
Baldwin began working for the Iowa Department of Corrections in 1983. In addition to his leadership as Director, Baldwin was the Deputy Director of Administration where he oversaw a number of areas including the budget, personnel and evidence-based practices. Prior to that, he supervised the business office for a forensic psychiatric hospital that was under the control of the Iowa Department of Corrections.
Baldwin holds a master’s degree in political science from Iowa State University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Iowa.
Nearly 90 percent of state spending has now been committed because of recent court rulings and Rauner administration actions even though there is no state budget in place.
Illinois Senate Democrats estimate that 89.4 percent of all state general funding is covered by court orders, consent decrees, mandated state spending or other agreements and arrangements. In other words, almost 90 percent of what the state usually spends has already been committed even through there’s no state budget in place.
In recent weeks, a federal judge ordered the state to pay Medicaid providers who serve children in Cook County. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration subsequently announced that it would expand those payments to Medicaid providers serving children throughout the state. Most recently, the administration further expanded that to cover all Medicaid providers and all services statewide in order to avoid additional legal action.
That means nearly $7.8 billion worth of Medicaid spending will occur at the Department of Healthcare and Family Services despite there being no state budget in place. Medicaid spending across all state agencies is approaching $9 billion in the absence of a budget. The Medicaid program and overall budget numbers reflect Senate Democrats’ best estimates based on tracking of past budgets and estimated spending for those programs in the current budget year.
At the moment, the court orders and other agreements have put the state on a trajectory to spend an estimated $38 billion this fiscal year. The budget lawmakers approved that the governor vetoed, contained $36 billion in spending and investments. The state is expected to bring in $33 billion in revenue this budget year.
The thing is that these consent decrees do not cap spending. They only say what services or operations should be funded - sometimes broadly. To the best of our knowledge the administration is sticking to Fiscal Year 2015, but absent a budget and with the decrees structured the way they are there isn’t anything binding them to that.
So what if the budget passes with an appropriation that is below what was spent under the consent decree? It doesn’t sound like there is solid answer to that right now. Depending on how late in the year a budget comes and how much has been spent by then, is it possible there won’t be enough left to cut so that revenues and expenditures line up?
The whole scenario reminds me of speculation during the campaign that Rauner would have to sign a tax increase because the budget would be that bad and his hands would be tied. Are we headed that direction?
* I did ask the Governor’s Office if they agreed with the Senate Dem’s analysis. Their response…
The Governor proposed and asked the legislature to support numerous proposals that would result in billions of dollars of savings to the State, including adjustments to Medicaid provider rates, reductions in the amount the state spends on units of local government, pension reforms, workers compensation reforms, and reforms to the state employees’ health insurance program, among others. None of those proposals have been enacted by the legislature. None.
Instead the Madigan Democrats continue to support the failed status quo and push only for tax increases which failed to solve any problems over the last 4 years.
* Senate Democrats announced their intentions to make MAP Grants their next funding goal. They call it a “financial aid compromise to end student limbo…”
Democrats increased MAP funding in a budget proposal approved earlier this year. Rauner, however, vetoed the legislation, leaving many colleges and students in limbo for the coming year. Because of the governor’s veto, the state began its budget year on July 1 without a full budget plan, forcing colleges and universities to start up a new academic year with no state support and no financial aid for students.
That’s where the Senate hopes to begin to add some certainty. Since the governor vetoed efforts to raise MAP funding, the Senate Democrats are now putting forward a compromise that mirrors funding levels recommended by the governor in his budget plan.
Gov. Rauner recommended spending $373.3 million on student financial aid through MAP. The General Assembly approved an addition $24 million in student aid that led to the veto.
* Our Opinion: Topinka correctly predicted Illinois’ heart attack: The state is like a body, Topinka said during a campaign debate between her and Democratic challenger, former Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon. “If you try to pull it all out now, you will take a $2 billion hit, and you will cause the state to have a heart attack,” Topinka said. “You will also cause me to have a heart attack, because it would leave us high and dry.”
* An analysis of a recent PPP survey by the Clean Energy Trust suggests Gov. Rauner could win over, or at least maintain some support, of independent Illinois voters by supporting President Obama’s new clean energy plan.
According to a recent survey by Public Policy Polling (PPP), Illinoisans overwhelmingly support President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) by a margin of 67-31%, including 48% who strongly support it. Among Democrats, 85% approve of the CPP (73% strongly) while 67% Independents support the CPP, including 43% who strongly favor the President’s plan.
Even after negative arguments against the CPP are read to respondents, voters still overwhelmingly favor the President’s plan, with 62% of Illinois voters approving and just 31% opposed. Again, plans to limit carbon pollution are popular with Independents, who favor the CPP by a twenty-point margin, 59-39%, even after negative arguments are read.
Once respondents are read a description of the Illinois Clean Jobs bill, which would raise wind and solar production to 35% and double energy efficiency in order to meet the President’s Clean Power Plan, 67% approve while just 31% oppose. As with the CPP, Independents pace support for the Illinois Clean Jobs bill by 65- 33% margin, including 45% who strongly support.
Were Governor Rauner to support the CPP, it would greatly help him win back Democrats and Independents whose support may have waned during the ongoing and highly partisan budget crisis. By 38-15% margin, voters would look more favorably upon Governor Rauner if he supports President Obama’s initiative. That includes an astonishing 48-6% margin among Democrats and a healthy 23-point margin among Independents, whose opinion of Governor Rauner would improve by a 36-13% margin. Even 26% of Republicans would feel more favorable to Rauner if he supported the CPP.
The hike was supposed to be automatic because of court decisions and a 2014 law.
But Rauner, a Republican, battered the Legislature for weeks in mid-summer over the 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for lawmakers who haven’t seen an increase in eight years.
But there were a few other fairly interesting measures the Governor also acted on, including some vetoes. Let’s go over them together, shall we?
The bill numbers and actions taken were announced via press release yesterday. The synopsis is straight from the General Assembly’s website.
Bill No.: HB 228
An Act Concerning State Government
Action: Signed
Effective Date: January 1, 2016
Amends the General Assembly Organization Act. Provides that until 4 years after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the General Assembly shall not enact any law creating any new unit of local government, including, but not limited to, the division of existing units of local government. Provides that the amendatory Act does not apply to the creation of a new unit of local government from the consolidation of 2 or more pre-existing units of local government.
Bill No.: HB2644
An Act Concerning Civil Law
Action: Veto
Current law permits condominium owners, acting by approval of 75% of unit owners, to limit or restrict certain rights of their board with respect to disputes and legal actions. This bill would remove that right and automatically void any contrary provision in a condominium instrument. This bill is an unnecessary restriction on the rights of condominium owners with respect to their property.
Bill No.: HB3104
An Act Concerning Local Government
Action: Signed
Effective Date: Immediate
Amends the Counties Code. Provides that appropriations required to meet an immediate emergency and certain transfers of appropriations exceeding the budget may be made with a two-thirds vote of a county board….provides that transfers of appropriations may be made without a vote of the board except in transfers that affect personnel and capital which require a two-thirds vote. Further provides that such transfers may be made only if the total amount appropriated for the fund is not affected.
Bill No.: HB3231
An Act Concerning Animals
Action: Signed
Effective Date: January 1, 2016
Amends the Humane Care for Animals Act. Provides that, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, a person who is convicted of a specified cruel treatment of animals violation upon a companion animal in the presence of a child shall be subject to a fine of $250 and ordered to perform community service for not less than 100 hours.
Bill No.: HB 3428
An Act Concerning Education
Action: Signed
Effective Date: Immediate
Amends the College and Career Success for All Students Act. Provides that beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year, scores of 3, 4, and 5 on the College Board Advanced Placement examinations shall be accepted for credit to satisfy degree requirements by all public institutions of higher education. Provides that each institution of higher education shall determine for each test whether credit will be granted for electives, general education requirements, or major requirements and the Advanced Placement scores required to grant credit for those purposes. Provides that by the conclusion of the 2019-2020 academic year, the Board of Higher Education shall analyze the Advanced Placement examination score course granting policy of each institution of higher education and the research used by each institution in determining the level of credit and the number of credits provided for the Advanced Placement scores and file a report that includes findings and recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor. Provides that each institution of higher education shall publish its updated Advanced Placement examination score course granting policy on its Internet website before the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year. Effective immediately.
Bill No.: SB 816
An Act Concerning Local Government
Action: Amendatory Veto
Note: Amendatory veto message below.
Illinois currently has almost 7,000 units of local government, far more than any state in the country. I strongly support the authority of units of local government to take initiative to dissolve and consolidate.
In one particular circumstance, however, this authority is hampering the DuPage Water Commission’s ability to effectively serve its constituents. The Commission was created and funded by voluntary participating municipalities. Because the Commission can be effectively dissolved by those municipalities, the additional authority conferred by the 2014 law is not necessary in the limited case of the Commission.
Bill No.: SB 1344
An Act Concerning Civil Law
Action: Veto
Note: Veto message is below
Under current law, a common interest community association may initiate the process to incorporate as a municipality upon approval by two-thirds of its members. Senate Bill 1344 would lower that threshold from two-thirds to “51%” of the members.
The decision to incorporate as a municipality, which implicates a range of tax and local governance policies, should not be taken lightly. Illinois has almost 7,000 units of local government, more than any state in country. As such, we should maintain the higher threshold for initiating the incorporation process.
Bill No.: SB 1360
An Act Concerning Business
Action: Veto
Note: Veto message is below.
Under current law, a business that operates with an assumed name is required to register that name with the Secretary of State and each county in which the business operates. The business is also required to renew that registration with the Secretary of State – and pay a renewal fee to the State – periodically. This bill would require the business to also renew its registration with Cook County, but no other county, every five years and pay a renewal fee to Cook County.
This new mandate and fee would apply mostly to small businesses. The economic climate in Illinois is already detrimental to business, particularly small business. Over and over, we hear small businesses report that they are overburdened with regulations and fees, which hamper their ability to expand and impose barriers to entry.
“We continue to look forward to productive conversations as we work toward an agreement that protects our classrooms, our teachers’ pensions and the taxpayers,” district spokeswoman Emily Bittner said. “Mediation is often productive in helping parties bridge their disagreements.”
Because the Chicago Teachers Union has deemed picking up all 7 percent of its pension costs at once as “strikeworthy,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel confirmed Wednesday that CPS CEO Forrest Claypool will propose stretching out the change over several years.
“It’s one of those things that the parties do when you don’t have a contract done, by law,” said CTU attorney Robert Bloch. “We could settle through mediation, that could get it done.”
Mediation is the first of several steps required before a strike can occur. The CTU has not yet held a strike authorization vote by its members.
* Meanwhile, We Are One chairman Michael Carrigan has an editorial in today’s SJ-R bashing the Governor for vetoing the arbitration bill…
The use of an independent arbitrator is a common and time-tested way to resolve contract disputes. The same fair process that SB 1229 offers to all state employees has been used for police officers, firefighters and prison security staff in Illinois for more than 30 years.
Unfortunately, Gov. Rauner has employed a lot of misinformation in his effort to defeat the bill. Contrary to his claims, there are many safeguards to ensure arbitration is fair. Among them, the governor and union mutually select the independent arbitrator, who has to take the state’s financial condition into account in crafting the fairest possible result for both sides.
The governor says the bill is not needed because he won’t lock out state workers. Tellingly, however, he never says he won’t try to impose demands so extreme that employees essentially are forced out on strike
* Related…
* New CPS CEO Forrest Claypool lines up leadership team: Andrell Holloway, a former CTA official who supervised internal audits, has taken a similar position at the school district at a $191,000 annual salary.
Another hire from the CTA is Doug Kucia, who resumes his role as Claypool’s chief of staff. Kucia, a longtime aide to Claypool during his time as a Cook County commissioner and head of CTA, has an office adjacent to Claypool’s executive suite at CPS’ downtown headquarters and will make $175,000 a year.
* My family and I marched in the Twilight Parade. There were a TON of people at the Fairgrounds taking in the parade and the preview. Here are some of the videos I took…
Jenny and I thought Robin, who is 14 months now, would throw a bunch of waves and blow kisses as she is prone to do during our walks through the park. No dice…
he Illinois Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in November on Chicago’s year-old pension law.
Orders entered Thursday set an expedited schedule with briefs due over the next three months.
The overhaul approved by Illinois lawmakers sought to eliminate more than $9 billion in unfunded pension liability by cutting benefits and increasing contributions. It would affect about 61,000 city employees and retirees.
Last month, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Rita Novak overturned a 2014 state law that reduced cost-of-living benefit increases for retired city workers and laborers and increased contributions by current employees. Those changes were coupled with increases in taxpayer payments to the pension funds.
Novak based her decision on a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling in May on a similar pension case. The court struck down a law changing state pensions, saying the Illinois Constitution’s protection against “diminished or impaired” pension benefits for public workers and current retirees was absolute. Novak concluded that ruling provided “crystal-clear direction” in the city pension case.
* I found this study while researching the McQueary column.
A study of New Orleans schools that considered test results of only students that returned to NOLA after the storm and their cohorts was published recently and concluded…
Student academic performance has risen considerably in New Orleans over the last decade as most of the city’s public schools were turned into charters, according to the Education Research Alliance.
The education overhaul following Hurricane Katrina boosted student performance by eight to 15 percentage points in the last decade. (That’s effects of 0.2 to 0.4 standard deviations for the more statistically minded among you).
That range takes into account a variety of factors that could skew the numbers either way: the effects of trauma, population changes, test-based accountability, and students spending a spell in better-performing out-of-state schools after evacuating from New Orleans.
Assuming the research was done in good faith and without bias, it sounds like good news. But then you have to consider that this only puts New Orleans on par with school districts throughout the State of Louisiana, which is consistently rated as one of the worst in the nation. Progress, but where else is there to go if the only option is up?
The national response to the hurricane aftermath was heartening, and for many young people, contributing to the rebuilding effort became a calling. Later, as the reform effort took hold, New Orleans also became the nation’s epicenter of school reform, an ideal place for aspiring reform-minded educators. Because the city is smaller than many urban districts, school leaders could be very selective in choosing from the pool of educators who wanted to come and work there.
The effects might also be smaller, at least in the short run, if the reforms were adopted on a statewide basis, because the reform is dependent on a specific supply of teachers. It seems difficult enough attracting effective teachers and leaders to work long hours at modest salaries in New Orleans; doing it throughout Louisiana is unrealistic without a major change in the educator labor market.
Leslie Koczur was a very popular lobbyist who worked for Comed as well as other organizations.
She passed away Tuesday. Can you post the details?
Here are the arrangements for Leslie Koczur:
The family will accept visitors on Sunday, August 16, 2015 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Sullivan Funeral Home & Cremation, 60 South Grant Street, Hinsdale, IL 60521, 630-323-0275.
Funeral service will be held on Monday, August 17, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. at St. Isaac Jogues Parish, 306 West 4th Street, Hinsdale, IL 60617, 630-323-1248.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF)http://jdrf.org/
Many readers thought my premise — through my use of metaphor and hyperbole — was out of line. I certainly hear you. I am reading your tweets and emails. And I am horrified and sickened at how that column was read to mean I would be gunning for actual death and destruction
*** End of update ***
* A member of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board and columnist is facing strong criticism for saying she hoped a “storm” would hit the nation’s third largest city as the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches.
Envy isn’t a rational response to the upcoming 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
But with Aug. 29 fast approaching and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu making media rounds, including at the Tribune Editorial Board, I find myself wishing for a storm in Chicago — an unpredictable, haughty, devastating swirl of fury. A dramatic levee break. Geysers bursting through manhole covers. A sleeping city, forced onto the rooftops.
That’s what it took to hit the reset button in New Orleans. Chaos. Tragedy. Heartbreak.
That’s why I find myself praying for a storm. OK, a figurative storm, something that will prompt a rebirth in Chicago. I can relate, metaphorically, to the residents of New Orleans climbing onto their rooftops and begging for help and waving their arms and lurching toward rescue helicopters.
* The column was initially posted on chicagotribune.com at around 3:20 p.m. yesterday, but was subject to some edits throughout the remainder of the afternoon and early evening. Huffington Post Chicago saved the first edition, and has made it available for review.
Among the edits was a new headline…
“In Chicago, wishing for a Hurricane Katrina” to “Chicago, New Orleans, and rebirth”
…and a modified closing…
“That’s why I find myself praying for a real storm. It’s why I can relate, metaphorically, to the residents of New Orleans climbing onto their rooftops and begging for help and waving their arms and lurching toward rescue helicopters.”
“That’s why I find myself praying for a storm. OK, a figurative storm, something that will prompt a rebirth in Chicago. I can relate, metaphorically, to the residents of New Orleans climbing onto their rooftops and begging for help and waving their arms and lurching toward rescue helicopters.”
On that front, a comparison of how the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, spends its money and levies its taxes to the City of Chicago, Illinois? Really? Quite a few differences between the two.
Today, there’s a feeling of desolation on nearly every block of the [Lower Ninth Ward] predominantly African-American neighborhood.
One of the first things you notice is the many empty lots, several on every street. Instead of houses, they now hold weeds and tall grass.
After Katrina, only about 37 percent of households returned to this once-vibrant neighborhood, which had a population of about 14,000 in 2000.
* Putting all of that aside, I can’t quite figure out what the author is hoping for if not a catastrophic natural disaster…
That’s what it took to hit the reset button in New Orleans. Chaos. Tragedy. Heartbreak.
Residents overthrew a corrupt government. A new mayor slashed the city budget, forced unpaid furloughs, cut positions, detonated labor contracts. New Orleans’ City Hall got leaner and more efficient. Dilapidated buildings were torn down. Public housing got rebuilt. Governments were consolidated.
…and…
At City Hall, nothing much has changed under four years of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The candidate in 2011 who promised to make tough decisions on city finances has followed many of the risky practices of his predecessor. The city continues to pass budgets that are unbalanced and rely on borrowing, temporary revenue sources, gimmicky fee hikes and tax increment finance sweeps.
But before closing…
So if you think somehow new leadership is going to right the ship, you might want to get your head checked.
If electing new leadership won’t solve the problem, then why wish for a catastrophic event that might lead to an overthrow of the government? The column is critical of Mayor Emanuel for, in the author’s view, breaking his promise to make tough decisions. But if new leadership won’t change things, then I guess Emanuel can count on your vote.
For crying out loud, the new Governor this editorial board endorsed and has backed at virtually every turn while simultaneously lobbing bombs at his political enemies was elected after campaigning to shake things up. But if new leadership won’t solve the problem, as this column says, then all of that was for naught.
Throw the bums out, but that won’t fix the problem. What does that mean? Is that a different way of saying, “Meet the new boss; same as the old boss?” Is that to say we’re forever trapped in a cycle we can never free ourselves of?
If that’s the case, then what is the point of wishing for “an unpredictable, haughty, devastating swirl of fury” storm, figurative or not, other than just to have one?
* Last day, campers. I hope those of you who were in town enjoyed the Twilight Parade and the Fair.
A Bears pre-season victory and a Cubs sweep of the Crew certainly made for an even more enjoyable evening.
Let’s do this. Only one more day to the weekend!
* Frustrated Emanuel takes second crack at infrastructure trust: Nearly the entire board has been replaced ahead of a Friday meeting. Former Boeing Co. executive James Bell quietly resigned as the trust’s chairman in January with a year left on his term. The new chairman is Kurt Summers, who was an executive at the private equity firm of the mayor’s top campaign donor when Emanuel named him city treasurer late last year.
* Schock judge schedules hearing next week on leaks: U.S. District Court Judge Sue Myerscough ordered the hearing after federal prosecutors told the court “that, on August 10, 2015, there were media reports containing information that appear to derive solely from the government’s motion for an order to show cause, which remained sealed as of August 10, 2015.” “In light of this information, the court sets this matter for a videoconference on August 18, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.,” the judge said in the order.
* Top taxi official admits laundering vehicle title on Chicago cab: Alexander Igolnikov, 68, of Northbrook, faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to a single count of securities fraud when he is sentenced Nov. 19 by U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang.
* Motorola Mobility slashes 500 jobs in Chicago: Motorola Mobility is cutting 500 positions, or 25 percent of its workforce in Chicago, as part of a major restructuring by its parent, China’s Lenovo Group.
* Chicago FOP president worries new Rauner law will slow cop responses: “This will burden the officers with more paperwork and keep them from being proactive,” FOP President Dean Angelo said Thursday. “They won’t be out there as much as they used to be.”
* SEIU Healthcare has a new ad attacking the Governor…
A new 30-second ad featuring the opposition of First Lady Diana Rauner and former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar to the dangerous cuts and political posturing of Bruce Rauner will debut today statewide, targeting a dozen legislators who previously have supported Illinois’ successful child care and home care programs.
A narrator in the ad notes the consequences of Bruce Rauner’s budget and contract proposals, as well as administrative rules changes, that would force seniors and people with disabilities into nursing homes and 100,000 kids off the state’s Child Care Assistance Program.
“If you think this is wrong, you’re not alone,” the narrator says, jumping to news footage highlighting the Diana Rauner and Jim Edgar aversion to the Bruce Rauner agenda.
Watch the new ad, titled “Growing Chorus,” here.
James Muhammad, Communications Director for SEIU Healthcare Illinois and a vice president of the organization, had this to say about the new ad:
“From a governor who campaigned for him to his own wife, a child advocacy leader who knows the stakes to this vulnerable population, the chorus of voices who are asking Bruce Rauner to back off from his radical agenda is growing louder by the day. We hope these new ads give legislators who have supported Illinois’ successful child care and home care programs in the past the courage to stand up to Bruce Rauner and say ‘enough is enough.’ ”
HB 4272, if passed, would force the state to fulfill its moral and constitutional commitment to properly funding public education by providing a continuing resolution for General State Aid and directing 55 percent of all new state revenues toward education. The bill would also implement a responsible pension cost shift carefully structured to invest all savings directly into General State Aid. This measure would result in an immediate infusion of $200 million for the Chicago Public Schools.
We’re told that State Rep. Christian Mitchell, a Democrat from Chicago, is going to introduce a bill that proposes a “cost shift,” meaning all downstate and suburban school districts would pay their own teacher pension costs – as opposed to having the state pay those costs, as it does now.
Chicago Public Schools said it will quit paying the bulk of pension contributions for more than 2,000 nonunion workers, a move that lays groundwork for the district to request similar concessions from the Chicago Teachers Union and other employees with labor contracts.
At the end of the month, affected employees will start to pick up an additional 2 percent of their pension costs, saving the district about $3 million, officials said. The next year, those employees will pay an additional 2 percent and, the following year, another 3 percent.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the plan “a path” he hopes teachers will agree to follow.
“It is a pay cut. Seven percent is huge,” Lewis said.
On the Claypool plan to reduce the contribution gradually, the union wrote Wednesday: “Whether this reduction is done at once or in phases, it still amounts to the same thing - a pay decrease at a time when workloads have increased by more than 20 percent.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel - who appointed Claypool last month - says the CPS pension pickup is outdated.
“What worked 30 years ago, 40 years ago is different, we’re in a different position,” Emanuel said.
CPS reportedly has asked state lawmakers to pass a bill to remove the issue from CTU negotiations, in effect ordering Chicago teachers to pay all of their pension costs.
Powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan said in theory, he opposes such interference.
“Repealing or resetting collective bargaining reduces wages and the standard of living of middle class families,” Madigan said.
…Adding…
I missed this before posting, but Lewis has changed her rhetoric a bit. Via Chicago Tonight…
I understand the notion of phasing it in. If we want to be more like the private sector, then we need to be treated more like the private sector, compensation-wise.
It’s the members’ call, and that’s something we haven’t had a conversation about yet. We haven’t talked about that because it was never brought to us that way. But we do not want, clearly, a 7 percent [pay cut]. One of the other ways to deal with that is they always bring in new people. How do you do that with new people? How do you do that with people who are five years from retirement? What do you do with people who are 10 years away?
Robert Bloch, the general counsel of the teachers union, says CPS hasn’t discussed unilaterally phasing out the pension pickup and disputes the view that the expired contract would allow it.
In the past, CPS continued to pay the pension pickup after a contract had expired, undercutting CPS’ interpretation, said Bloch, who is also a partner in Chicago-based law firm Dowd Bloch Bennett & Cervone. In particular, CPS under the Emanuel administration made the payments during the tumultuous negotiations in 2012.
The language, which has not changed substantively in more than 30 years, has not been interpreted by a court or arbiter, he said, making past practice crucial.
“They can’t just take that away,” added Jackson Potter, staff coordinator at the teachers union. “It would be a potentially unfair labor practice.”
Governor Bruce Rauner signed SB 1304 today to create the Police and Community Improvement Act.
“Today we are taking steps to strengthen the relationship between our law enforcement officers and the public they protect with the Police and Community Improvement Act,” Governor Rauner said. “As a society, we must ensure the safety of both the public and law enforcement. SB 1304 establishes new and important guidelines and training for police departments and their officers, while protecting the public by prohibiting officers from using excessive force. I thank the legislators who sponsored this bill. It will have a lasting and positive impact on the people of Illinois.”
Additional Background: Illinois is the first state in the country to pass comprehensive legislation that include procedures for police departments that utilize body cameras; establish reporting requirements for officers who make stops or arrests; crisis intervention and racial sensitivity training; and prohibits excessive force like choke holds.
A detailed description courtesy of Sen. Raoul’s office…
Senate Bill 1304 implements numerous recommendations of the federal task force by
· - Requiring independent investigations of all officer-involved deaths
· - Improving mandatory officer training in areas such as the proper use of force, cultural competency, recognizing implicit bias, interacting with persons with disabilities and assisting victims of sexual assault
· - Creating a statewide database of officers who have been dismissed due to misconduct or resigned during misconduct investigations
· - Improving data collection and reporting of officer-involved and arrest-related deaths and other serious incidents
· - Establishing a Commission on Police Professionalism to make further recommendations on the training and licensing of law enforcement officers
The legislation also prohibits the use of choke holds by police and expands the Traffic Stop Statistical Study, which provides insights into racial disparities in vehicular stops and searches, to include pedestrians whom officers “stop and frisk” or temporarily detain for questioning. Finally, it codifies rules concerning the appointment of special prosecutors.
The new law does not require law enforcement agencies to deploy officer-worn body cameras, but if they choose to do so, they must adhere to the following standards:
· - The cameras must be turned on at all times when an officer is responding to a call for service or engaged in law enforcement activities.
· - The cameras can be turned off at the request of a crime victim or witness, or when an officer is talking with a confidential informant.
· - Recordings are exempt from FOIA with some exceptions:
· Recordings can be “flagged” if they have evidentiary value in relation to a use of force incident, the discharge of a weapon or a death.
· “Flagged” recordings may be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act; however, in certain sensitive situations, such as a recording of a sexual assault, victim consent is required prior to disclosure.
· - Recordings must be retained for 90 days or, if “flagged,” for two years or until final disposition of the case in which the recording is being used as evidence.
“Police unions in this state stepped up to the plate and really led in a lot of the discussions involving the elements that were involved in this bill,” said Sean Smoot, Illinois Police Benevolent and Protective Association legal counsel and who also served on the White House task force on community policing. “I think that says a lot about our state and about our police officers and the people they put into position of leadership.”
“I truly regret comments made by House Republicans where they characterize as ‘poison pills’ efforts to help women with breast cancer and children with disabilities. These are not instances where these people requested this disease or this disability. These are people that are struggling through life - women with breast cancer; children with disabilities - and House Democrats today tried to include appropriation items in the appropriation bill which would address these problems.”
“The Rauner Republicans in the House objected to appropriating state money for LIHEAP, breast and cervical cancer screenings, early interventions, Meals on Wheels and child care, but they did not object to spending state money on McCormick place.”
“You can find a lot of Republicans here in the Capitol building who will whisper to you that, `We know that we need new revenue,’ but they whisper it and look around to make sure Rauner’s not watching. I’m open and public about it.”
* I asked the Governor’s Office if the Governor, as Leader Durkin indicated on the House floor during debate, supported Amendment Three. This was their response…
The Governor supports a clean bill that allows the state to pass through federal funds without adding to the state’s budget deficit. He is pleased to see the House pass legislation that does exactly that. This bill allows the state to provide services to some of our most vulnerable citizens while we continuing working on passing much needed structural reforms and a balanced budget
The House-endorsed measure adds about $435 million in additional federal funds for terrorism preparedness and for spending by the Illinois State Board of Education for things such as preschool expansion and student assessments.
It also provides $166.5 million to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority from special state funds for debt service on expansion bonds. McPier, as it’s known, missed a $20.8 million monthly payment on bonds sold to bankroll a convention center expansion.
On a 12-0 vote, a House appropriations panel endorsed legislation that would prevent the Republican chief executive from altering a scoring system used to determine whether elderly and disabled residents qualify for certain state programs.
Republicans on the panel voted “present” on the proposal.
In February, Rauner proposed changing the scoring system to make it tougher for certain seniors to receive home health care services, such as homemaker assistance. While the governor was seeking to save money with the maneuver, opponents argued his plan would result in an estimated 24,000 senior citizens losing in-home care services.
Another 15,000 people with disabilities would lose their state assistance, Democrats said.
* There are some who appear to be unpersuaded by Sen. Kirk’s explanation as to why a former caregiver also received a paycheck from his re-election campaign, and instead believe the Senator may have violated federal campaign finance law.
In case you missed it yesterday, the Chicago Tribune wrote about the Senator’s live-in caregiver being paid by Kirk on a personal basis but also by Kirk for Senate. Campaign officials said in response the caregiver assisted Kirk in the mornings and evenings, which is why he was paid personally by the Senator. Then during the day the same guy did data entry and event staffing for the campaign - services he was paid for by Kirk for Senate.
“If the expense existed irrespective of whether Sen. Kirk was a candidate or officeholder, then he cannot pay for it with campaign funds,” Ryan said. “It seems to me that Sen. Kirk had these home care expenses irrespective of his candidacy.”
Kirk’s campaign said the senator personally paid Fombe-Abiko for caregiver services — a total of $29,177 over a 16-month period beginning in September 2013. Those duties varied depending on Kirk’s schedule, but typically involved a few hours in the morning and evening.
They say Fombe-Abiko was paid separately by the campaign for entry-level work such as data entry, driving Kirk to political events and stuffing envelopes.
Anyone who has faced the hardships of taking on a caregiver to assist a disabled or elderly family member could sympathize with Sen. Mark Kirk for dipping into his campaign funds to pay for a full-time helper after his stroke.
…
Although I consider this an improper use of campaign money for personal expenses, I’ve seen worse and can certainly appreciate Kirk could be feeling a financial squeeze, even with his $174,000 annual salary.
In the wake of a massive stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., needed a caregiver to help him. Kirk paid him through a combination of personal and campaign funds.
The arrangement shows how Kirk was able to leverage his control of his “Kirk for Senate” campaign fund to employ the caregiver.
Most stroke victims do not have the luxury of providing a second job for a caregiver not paid through personal funds. In Kirk’s case, according to a letter from the Senate Ethics Committee, most of the duties of that second, campaign-paid job could be performed at Kirk’s home.
Yes, the guy received paychecks from Kirk personally and the campaign. The Senator isn’t denying that. What they are denying is that the campaign paycheck was for caregiving services.
You might be able to argue that from an optics perspective Kirk and the campaign made a bad move by hiring the guy’s caregiver to work on the campaign, too. It’s fine to be skeptical of the campaign’s explanation, but I haven’t seen anything emerge that would justify dismissing their explanation of the arrangement.
Remember, the Senate Ethics Commission took a look at this arrangement back in 2013 and they found no laws were broken. At that time, Kirk also sought the legal counsel of a former FEC chairman and chief counsel to the Ethics Committee. Here are their thoughts…
From Rob Walker: There is ample precedent for allocating mixed purpose costs between a federal campaign and a federal candidate/officeholder. The Senate Committee on Ethics approved the dual employment arrangement for Senator Kirk and the Kirk campaign as fully permissible under the Senate Code of Conduct.
From Michael Toner: From an FEC perspective, the bottom line is that a campaign cannot pay for any expenses that constitute a prohibited personal use – that is, a use that would exist irrespective of an individual’s campaign for election to federal office or the individual’s duties as a federal officeholder. By separating an employee’s responsibilities into two separate positions, and having Senator Kirk and Kirk for Senate separately an employee for the work that he performs for each position, he has simplified the allocation process and eliminated personal use concerns.
I really don’t care if Kirk paid his caregiver out of his campaign funds, although that could be a violation of some law that prohibits paying someone to do campaign work who is actually doing something else, like helping you on and off the toilet.
If you ask me, that would be a pretty essential service for a candidate recovering from a medical illness, but Kirk’s not making any such claim and, in fact, contends the caregiver’s time was carefully monitored so he was paid out of the campaign funds only when he was working on campaign things, not when he was cooking the senator his meals, or helping him get dressed.
As I pointed out some years ago, as Kirk was recovering from his stroke, I was rooting for him. I happen to believe that anyone, senator or fast-food worker, ought to get the best treatment possible to allow him to recover from such a horrific medical event and then enough time off (with pay) to recover before returning to his job.
* By the way, there could be something to be said of the fact that none of the Democrats vying to take on Kirk have issued their own statement. Make your own deductions, if any, but to me their silence is near-deafening.
As federal spending watchdogs keep an eye out for $100 hammers, Illinois is getting away with $669,608 doors.
That’s right: The broke-as-a-joke Land of Lincoln, with its abysmally funded pension system and toilet-level credit rating, is dropping major coin to renovate the Capitol building in Springfield.
Yes, those copper doors. Remember all of the jokes, editorials, column inches, and moments of precious air time that were devoted to this story? Perhaps not quite as much as has been said about how much better Indiana is than Illinois. Surely such a blessed land would never…
A proposal scheduled to go before Indiana lawmakers later this week would spend nearly $875,000 on new doors for the Indiana Statehouse.
Gov. Mike Pence’s Indiana Department of Administration wants the money because officials say they’re worried about security issues regarding six doors that let government employees enter and exit the statehouse.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted the request of Governor Rauner for disaster designation in 87 Illinois counties and 14 contiguous counties that suffered losses due to rain and flooding this year.
“Illinois has suffered a lot of storm and rain damage throughout this Spring and Summer,” Rauner said. “I am pleased our request for federal assistance was granted and encourage farmers throughout these counties to contact their local Farm Service Agency for questions.”
The governor issued an official letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack on July 23, 2015. The 19 members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation also signed a letter to President Obama to endorse the governor’s request for this designation. Counties eligible for assistance were determined through the Loss Assessment Reports reviewed by the USDA.
“I am grateful to all the members of our Illinois Congressional delegation for their strong and united support for securing this assistance for farmers throughout the state,” Rauner added.
Farmers who believe they may be eligible for assistance should contact their county Farm Service Agency office. Loan applications are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and applicant’s repayment ability. Farmers who have questions should contact the state FSA office at (217) 241-6600.
“We’ll be making an announcement soon,” spokesman Andrew Edmier said.
Khouri is serving a second term on the county board and is owner of Green T Services.
Federal Election Commission records show she raised more than $100,000 toward a congressional campaign in the second quarter of the year. That follows a $200,000 loan she made to the campaign in the spring and another $15,250 loan in June.
* An expanding Illinois-based manufacturer is heading to East Chicago. From Crains…
In East Chicago, he said, Hoist will save $1 million annually on workers compensation-related costs, a significant sum for the firm. Workers compensation lawyers in Cook County right now are bringing three to four illegitimate claims against the firm a month, costing it money, according to Flaska.
Indiana also offers lower taxes for the company and less-expensive housing for his employees, he said. Hoist employs welders, assemblers, material handlers and other production workers. Hoist’s lifts are used by big manufacturers, like automakers.
Incentives played a critical role in the company’s decision to leave Illinois. Hoist will be able to lay claim on a big package of tax credits as it ramps up operations in East Chicago. By 2022, the company plans to employ around 500 people there.
More than two weeks after Mitsubishi announced it was pulling up stakes on its taxpayer-subsidized auto plant in Normal, officials still aren’t saying whether the company will have to repay any of the financial incentives it received from the state.
Rather than focus on the estimated $9 million that has been paid out to the company as part of a decade-long economic development agreement inked in 2011, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity says it is trying to ensure some other manufacturer fills the space left behind.
“DCEO’s primary focus is working with all parties to find a buyer for the plant and preserve the workforce,” agency spokeswoman Lyndsey Walters said in an email.
Mitsubishi received an EDGE grant not too long ago. Go read the whole thing before commenting.
* More posts to come this afternoon, so make sure you check back.
* Governor’s office responds to budget plea from Williamson County commissioners: The state also cannot reimburse salaries for some county officeholders, including state’s attorneys, public defenders and the supervisor of assessments, spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said. “The state does not have the appropriation authority to distribute local municipalities their shares from video gambling and the motor vehicle fuel tax, as well as reimburse for some county salaries paid for by the state, because Speaker Madigan and the legislators he controls failed to pass a balanced budget,” Kelly said
* Officials report sharp increase in medical marijuana cards for Illinoisans: About 3,500 people have applied for the cards, a 40-percent increase over the number four months ago, according to recently posted numbers by the Illinois Department of Public Health. What’s more, the department has issued 2,800 approval letters, a 75-percent increase over numbers reported as of March. Ten applications have been approved for patients under 18 years of age, according to the department.
* Kraft Heinz to cut 700 jobs in Northfield: “This new structure eliminates duplication to enable faster decision-making, increased accountability and accelerated growth,” Mullen said. He said the savings will free up money to be invested back into the company’s products. Affected employees, who worked in jobs such as sales, marketing and finance, will be given severance benefits of at least six months, Mullen said.
* Property assessments out this week for areas affected by O’Hare jet noise: The good news for Jefferson Township homeowners is that the Cook County assessor’s office will take the unusual step of “revisiting” affected areas in that township next year, after more market data and the results of a comprehensive review of jet noise implications are available, officials said. Normally, reassessments are done every three years.
* Stateville inmate diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease: Legionnaires’ is caused by a bacteria commonly found in warm water, like in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, fountains and large plumbing systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People contract the illness by breathing in a mist or airborne water droplets carrying the bacteria, according to the CDC. It is not spread from person to person. People who come down with the disease can have a cough, shortness of breath, fever, achiness and headaches, according to the CDC.
* State appeals court throws out murder conviction in Burge-related case: In an opinion issued just two weeks after holding oral arguments, the three-judge panel concluded that it was “impossible to conceive” how prosecutors would be able to use Shawn Whirl’s confession at a new trial.
