Sen. Mark Kirk (Ill.) was a lonely Republican voice outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, looking over the crowd waving rainbow flags and throwing his support behind marriage equality.
Other Republican lawmakers, such as Reps. Bill Flores (Texas) and Steve King (Iowa), also showed up as the Supreme Court justices inside heard arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case expected to settle whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. However, they spoke against legalizing same-sex marriage. […]
“After my stroke I learned a lot about love and death,” [Kirk] told The Huffington Post after his speech. “I realized that life gets down to who loves you, who you love, and the government has nothing to do with that decision.”
“For me, the real legacy of our party is freedom on top of freedom,” he added. “To remember the Abraham Lincoln legacy that the only way to solve a freedom problem is to provide more freedom to people. That your basic right of association as an American is a right to associate with whomever you want, and the government should not be able to block that.”
1) I’m happy to see the governor has started to discover one of the greatest “real world” benefits of trade unions: They train a highly skilled workforce who make living wages and keep this state in the game. Anyone who has ever driven down I-55 has seen those big union training centers. Our regional economy (including Northwest Indiana’s) absolutely depends on that training.
2) Now, if the governor would only pause for just a moment to consider that maybe we need more of this, not less. “Right to work” would mean less. And then who’ll do all that training, and will it be any good?
Over 7,000 highly trained piping professionals ready to work for you!
That’s what Chicago Pipe Fitters Local 597 has to offer, along with a track record of excellent labor/management relations, proven by over 125 years without a strike.
Our four year UA apprenticeship program makes our pipe fitters, welders and HVAC service technicians the best in the industry, so your projects are done safely and cost effectively. Contact us for information about our work force, our career opportunities and our dedication to the advancement of the piping industry.
A bad bill in Springfield would raise our electricity bills to protect Exelon’s bottom line. The Legislature should either rewrite it significantly or flick the off switch altogether.
There is a feeling here of a company trying to socialize the risks while keeping the profits private.
Good old Exelon. The company has come up with legislation to subsidize its nuclear reactors, get electric users throughout the state to pay for it and claim it’s in the interest of clean energy.
State lawmakers need to see this bill for the dirty trick it is and kill it.
Just say no to the Exelon bailout. Vote no on SB1585/HB3293.
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.
In Bruce Rauner’s Illinois, the common villain behind crushing pension debt, municipalities sliding toward bankruptcy and businesses bypassing the state is organized labor.
“Government union bosses” are also the reason that Chicago Public Schools are likely to go bankrupt, the Republican governor said recently. And residents of the city, which Rauner says faces greater financial peril than Illinois, can blame them if property taxes skyrocket, he says.
In a little more than 100 days as chief executive of the nation’s lowest-rated state, Rauner has begun an election-worthy campaign tying much of Illinois’s financial misery to the actions of organized labor. If union power isn’t rolled back in a state where one in seven workers is a member, Illinois is doomed, he says.
“We’re slowly, slowly starting to become southeast Michigan,” Rauner, 59, a former private-equity executive, said April 15 in a not-so-veiled reference to Detroit’s record $18 billion bankruptcy. […]
“Our government unions are very, very powerful,” Rauner said in a speech Monday to the Great Lakes Economic Forum in Chicago. “We’re 93 percent unionized — the most unionized state government in America.”
“Very high cost, very much featherbedding and overstaffing,” he said.
And again with the Detroit card? Has he ever been to Detroit? People have been playing that card since Harold Washington was mayor. Yes, the city has big problems, but Detroit it ain’t, and neither is Illinois.
With a series of titanic budget votes coming up fast, Gov. Bruce Rauner went into full campaign mode today, depicting himself as a man on a sacred mission to break the hold that “corrupt” insiders and labor unions have on the state’s government and economy.
Speaking to a friendly business group here in Chicago, the state’s new GOP governor appeared to pull no punches and signaled no interest in compromise—and, if anything, he seemed to lengthen the list of things on his agenda.
“We have a moral duty to act,” Rauner told the Alliance for Illinois Manufacturing. “We have a duty to minimize how much we have to take from you. . . .That money belongs to taxpayers.”
Right now, Rauner said, “the unions control everything. There is not a school district in America that can withstand a strike of over a week.” The result, especially here in Illinois, is “higher taxes. Deficit spending. It’s a conflict of interest we’ve got to take care of.”
Alluding to “tough votes” that will occur within a month or two in Springfield, Rauner said “special interests” are “yelling and screaming and trying to intimidate the process.” But they have so weakened the Illinois economy that a “crisis has created the opportunity for structural change.”
He loves him some drama, man.
…Adding… A commenter points to the Waukegan teacher strike last year, which lasted a month.
Management pushing to make our workplaces less safe and much less fair.
After several rounds of negotiations, there’s little common ground to be found. The Union is pressing for stronger safeguards against irresponsible privatization, while the Rauner Administration is pushing to wipe out any limits on privatization at all. In fact, the Administration is pushing for changes that would allow the employer to lay off bargaining unit employees and bring in vendor employees to… do their work.
The Administration is proposing dozens of other changes to key sections of the contract aiming to undo decades of progress in shaping safe, fair and humane working conditions. They want to do away with any limits on forced overtime, to eliminate bumping and other layoff rights, to require longer hours and less overtime pay—and much more.
While no economic proposals are yet on the table, the Administration included over $700 million in cuts to the group health plan in its FY 16 budget based on a drastic restructuring of health insurance benefits that could cost each employee thousands of dollars annually.
The governor is claiming that state employee salaries are too high and pensions too generous. In fact, neither our wages nor benefits are out of line with other states or with our skills and education. We ‘re on the job every day providing services that citizens depend on, while the governor is travelling the state trying to stir up animosity toward unions and working people.
We’re standing together for a fair contract! We’re standing up for our union rights!
Unity Day — Thursday, April 30 We’ll be wearing green clothes, or wearing union t-shirts, or wearing the new ‘100%’ union buttons. We’ll have union signs or banners. Check with your local union for the “unity day” plan for your worksite
Gonna be a long, hot summer for Roberta Lynch et al.
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
From the sub-zero temperatures and unyielding snow of winter to the blazing hot summer temperatures that are just around the corner, the state of Illinois knows a thing or two about extreme weather.
Nearly half of Illinois’ electricity comes from nuclear energy, which is always on, providing reliable power when we need it most – even under extreme weather conditions. Without nuclear energy, there would be inadequate energy to meet our needs on the coldest and hottest days of the year.
During the 2014 Polar Vortex, when coal, natural gas, and wind facilities did not perform well, nuclear plants maintained a capacity factor between 95 and 98 percent, allowing businesses and residents the ability to keep their lights and heat on during that period of extreme weather.
But half of our state’s nuclear energy plants may be shut down prematurely because of outdated energy policies. According to the State of Illinois, the cost of these premature closures would be enormous and include:
• Decreased Electric Grid Reliability
• Forcing Consumers to Pay For Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In New Transmission Lines
• Elimination of Nearly 8,000 Jobs
• The Loss of $1.8 Billion Annually in Economic Activity
• The Destruction of State and Local Tax Bases
• Increase in Carbon Emissions and Dirtier Air
• Higher Consumer Energy Costs
If we lose these plants, things could get really uncomfortable.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly: Vote YES On HB 3293 / SB 1585
I’m a longtime reader (not a subscriber though, I know, shame on me). You’ve touched on an issue in several posts but I’d love for you to dive into it more, that is…
Why do you think Rauner isn’t engaging the media?
I have several theories but I’d like your take. Here’s my short list:
1. He just isn’t good at handling the media’s line of questioning and/or is stiil learning.
2. He’s very big on controlling his message and doesn’t see the media as being able to help him carry that message.
3. He views them as the enemy that’s only going to support the unions and the Dems.
4. He’s naturally a private person and doesn’t see the value in opening up. (That would seem to make sense knowing how little we learned about him during the election.)
5. He doesn’t want to get pulled away from his message, that is union busting and the budget.
Anyway, thanks for all your work. All the best, keep it up.
* The Question: Why isn’t Gov. Rauner talking much to the media lately? Take the poll, click as many answers as you think may apply and then explain your vote(s) in comments, please.
*** UPDATE *** The governor will take some questions today in Springfield…
What: Governor Attends Workers Memorial Day Event with IDOL Director Chaviano
Where: Essentra Specialty Tapes
7400 Industrial Dr, Forest Park
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Note: No additional media availability.
What: Governor Attends IDOT Listening Tour Event with Secretary Blankenhorn
Where: Hoogland Center for the Arts
420 S. Sixth St.
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Time: 2:30 p.m.
What: Governor Discusses Turnaround Agenda at IL Association of County Officials Spring Conference
Where: Hilton Springfield
700 E. Adams St., Springfield
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Time: 5:45 p.m.
Note: No additional media availability.
* The IFT continues to aggregate “right to work zone” resolution votes. From yesterday…
Jefferson County - (38,827) - no vote
Lexington (McLean) - (2,060) - tabled
Lindenhust (Lake) - (14,462) - tabled
In addition, Morton Grove passed a resolution last night which omitted the more blatant anti-union stuff. Click here to read it, starting on page 35.
* That Jefferson County non-action was interesting…
An effort to bring an employee empowerment zone to Jefferson County didn’t get off the ground.
Hundreds of union workers showed up to protest the proposal Monday evening. County Chair Bob White says Governor Rauner is calling for the zones across the state, which would give communities more local control over union contracts.
White called for a motion to vote on the proposal twice, but no other board members would make the motion.
The meeting had to be held in the county building’s lobby to accommodate the huge crowd…
So far, I haven’t heard anything from the governor’s office. I’ll let you know.
Chicago aldermen and union representatives will get to voice their opposition to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed right-to-work zones Tuesday at a hearing on a symbolic measure that’s the latest bit of political posturing on the issue.
The mayors further complained about Rauner’s statewide tour asking local towns to sign onto his Turnaround Agenda, arguing he has failed to provide details on what exactly it is and what it would do. Tully said in his experience, the details from the governor’s Turnaround have “evolved,” leaving him at a loss over what he’s asking his community to sign on to.
Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig said he was equally at a loss for details.
“Up to date, it’s like a shuffling of the deck. We don’t see the cards, and basically we’re asked to respond to a number of platitudes,” said Craig. “If they can’t put it in clear writing, give me the clear facts and legislation then we’re going to struggle with that. . . . We’re happy to work with him, [but] we’re struggling with the facts that don’t exist.”
Village of Mahomet (Champaign County)
Tuesday, April 28 at 6:00 p.m.
503 E. Main Street, Mahomet
Kane County Board
Tuesday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m.
719 S. Batavia Ave, Geneva
Cook County Board
Wednesday, April 29
* Related…
* Let’s kill all the unions: Unions have been gradually losing public support as they have lost membership. From the 1930s through the 1960s, about two-thirds of Americans approved of labor unions in Gallup polls. That proportion has fallen to barely over half in 2014. Since the 1960s, the proportion of workers in unions has fallen from one quarter to one tenth.
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
My name is Susan Males. In 2011, I was a healthy, vibrant woman in her mid-40’s. I was experiencing some irregular heartbeats and it was recommended that I have a cardiac catheterization procedure to determine the cause.
I was assured by my referring doctor that this procedure was done by the cardiologist daily. They told me I’d show up to the hospital in the morning, they would do the procedure and I’d be home resting comfortably by lunch time. There was no talk of what could happen, no talk of any risks to this procedure.
I only briefly met the cardiologist who would be doing my procedure. I put my faith in this doctor because he did so many of these “routine” procedures on a daily basis. I trusted him and assumed he knew what he was doing.
As I awoke after the procedure, I was very, very nauseous with an excruciating headache and my vision was very foggy, to the point where I could not see. My “routine” procedure had turned into something much more. I later learned I suffered a stroke after the procedure and it took over 12 hours for someone to recognize the signs. Had the hospital’s staff recognized that my symptoms were consistent with a stroke, my condition could have been treated and I would have returned to my normal self.
Unfortunately, my vision loss is permanent, preventing me from being able to drive and my future earnings potential has been limited.
I turned to the civil justice system to seek recourse. I wanted to hold the doctors and hospital accountable for their lack of response to my stroke symptoms. Using the civil justice system allowed me closure to this difficult time in my life, and has given me the resources to help me live my life the best I can.
I really don’t want to be a class warrior, but what I continue to see going down is that rich people, no longer satisfied with the privileges of being rich, are going for complete control. […]
Rauner’s anti-union agenda… relies on buying into the concept that life will be better for working people in Illinois if they just give the corporate community what it wants: an easier path to lowering wages and benefits. […]
But if you think Sam Zell donated $4 million for your benefit, then you must also be one of those delusional types who think the deck is somehow stacked in favor of working people in this state.
I was asked the other day why I cared so much about this particular topic. My response was that unions are far from perfect, and maybe even terribly flawed and in need of reform and maybe even reined in a bit on some particular issues.
But they are the only folks who can and are effectively standing up to the power of the super-wealthy in this country. As we’ve seen time after time here, the Democrats regularly cave. The unions don’t. Wipe them out and it’s game over.
We’ll have your daily “right to work” roundup later this morning.
The Carbondale City Council could pass its 2016 fiscal year budget tonight.
The budget includes a 0.25 tax increase as an insurance policy against looming cuts in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed state budget. Carbondale’s budget also has an anticipatory 15 percent budget cut built into it. […]
Carbondale City Manager Kevin Baity said, if the cuts are more than 15 percent, the city must come up with more revenue. […]
Baity said the budget proposed general fund is balanced with revenues exceeding expenditures by $9,469, and it is set up so the city did not have to cut any essential services.
* Mayors all over the state are gearing up to oppose the governor’s proposed FY 16 cuts…
Mayors from Downers Grove, to Lynwood to Hanover Park, complained that they already made drastic cuts that lawmakers in Springfield failed to make in the years following the recession and the housing bubble burst.
Downers Grove Mayor Martin Tully said the state now wants to dip into a $1.2 billion Local Government Distributive Fund, money that covers 10 percent to 15 percent of local municipality budgets and are dedicated to essential services such as police, fire, garbage and snow removal. They launched a new website, ProtecttMyTown.com, for residents to quickly send letters to state lawmakers or the governor’s office about the potential impact of the cutbacks. Rauner’s proposed cuts were part of his plan to deal with a $6 billion shortfall after allowing the state’s income tax increase to expire. […]
“I’m gonna tell you, it’s like the state’s failing, and they want to take the municipalities down with them,” said [Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig]. “I’m not going to stand for that.”
I support ensuring that local tax dollars remain in my community to pay for essential needs like adequate police and fire protection, street repairs, snow removal, garbage collection and many more services that I rely on my municipality to provide every day.
Proposals to divert this revenue away from municipalities unfairly shift the tax burden onto my community and directly onto local taxpayers like me.
It’s a no-win situation for municipalities that don’t want to impose severe cuts in services that we have paid for and expect, or to increase property taxes to make up for the lost revenue. Either of these outcomes would negatively impact our communities and our quality of life.
Our community has been fiscally responsible and balanced its budget every year. I urge you not to shift an additional tax burden onto my community.
Thank you for your consideration and for registering my comment in opposition to reducing the Local Government Distributive Fund and other revenues rightly intended for use by local governments to provide essential services in their communities.
The effort is backed by several prominent mayors’ groups statewide, including the Northwest Municipal Conference and DuPage Mayors and Managers, showing they’ll be fighting the proposal hard for the next month.
They’re up against dozens of other interests all working to protect their share of the state’s tight budget. Mayors preserved their share in a short-term spending fix approved by lawmakers earlier this month.
But that came at the expense of schools and human services programs. Perhaps most notably, Rauner cut spending for a key autism program, a move that has been the subject of pointed questions from lawmakers.
“Overspending and insider deals put in place by career politicians have created a $6 billion budget hole while the amount of money transferred to local governments over the last decade has skyrocketed by 42 percent,” Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a statement. “The status quo is broken and unsustainable.”
Criticizing the new governor puts most of these officials in a difficult place politically. Rauner, who promised to shake up state government, won the collar counties by overwhelming margins last November.
“We want to see where this all pans out. Right now we’re facing a clear and present danger,” said Downers Grove Mayor Martin Tully.
It’s with a heavy heart that I inform you that Don is in the final stages in his battle with a virus that has overwhelmed his body. He is now receiving palliative care in the hospital with the love and support of Naydene and his daughters. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and I’m sure yours would be most welcome.
Despite these most difficult times Don has expressed his concern that the battles we have long fought not be set aside. I will continue to do my best to carry on Don’s legacy in advocating for people with disabilities and representing those agencies who serve them.
While Don is in the waning moments of his life, he will long remain with us in our hearts.
The man is a tenacious legend in these parts. His loss will be incalculable.
Don isn’t accepting visitors, but Vickie says if folks want to send cards or notes they can mail them to his office: 310 East Adams, Springfield, IL 62701.
— Reamortize its pension debt from a 30-year payback to 43 years, and level annual pension payments at about $7.3 billion. They’re scheduled to be $6.8 billion in the next fiscal year.
— Increase the personal income tax rate from the current 3.75 percent to between 4.25 percent and 4.5 percent. The rate was 5 percent until Jan. 1.
— Expand the sales tax to include consumer services.
— Start taxing retirement income on a graduated scale.
The amortization plan is a real problem because it immediately increases costs by half a billion dollars a year. The income and service tax arguments are both politically doable because the Dems would back the income tax and the governor has already proposed a service tax (although his campaign service tax plan mainly relied on revenues from trial lawyers).
But that retirement income tax is a legislative non-starter.
Influential Senate President John Cullerton on Monday suggested the state should start taxing retirement income. Illinois does not currently tax pensions or retirement funds such as 401(k) plans, but Cullerton suggested that the idea be in the mix as part of an effort to change the state’s outdated tax system.f
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is backtracking on a suggestion to tax retirement income, a statement to which many seniors didn’t respond well.
Keep in mind that Cullerton proposed merely taxing annual retirement income above $100,000. But the liberal lion ran away screaming less than 24 hours later.
The new revenue, Martire said, would total $4 billion to $4.4 billion.
“It’s a lot of money but it’s less than 1 percent of our state’s economy,” he said. “That’s all it takes to solve our problems. So, you need to get after it and lobby for it.”
If he can come up with a new amortization plan which doesn’t immediately increase costs and finds a replacement for those retirement tax revenues, he’ll have much more of an impact.
A Southeast High School Spartans hooded sweatshirt retails for $26.99 at the Walgreens at Fifth Street and South Grand Avenue.
Also for sale is a Southeast performance T-shirt for $16.99, a Springfield High School hooded sweatshirt for $26.99 and a Springfield High regular T-shirt for $12.99.
There’s nothing stopping Walgreens, or any other store in town, from selling Springfield School District apparel, School Superintendent Jennifer Gill told school board members last week.
There’s also nothing in writing ensuring that the district, individual schools or booster clubs get a cut of the profits made off apparel sold by retailers, she said.
What the heck, man? Why isn’t the IHSA all over this? And why would stores rip off schools like that?
* From Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey’s Facebook page…
Granted it’s not the best picture of us but it was still a pleasure to have Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger stop by my office to chat about various issues and how we can work together in our respective capacities.
* The governor has been touting some horribly biased polling results which purport to show that the public favors his “Turnaround Agenda.” The Illinois AFL-CIO has now countered with its own statewide poll. You could argue that its questions are somewhat biased, but they’re not nearly as biased as Rauner’s polling was. Check it out…
Governor Rauner says the State of Illinois has been spending too much money over the past decade and therefore must make drastic across the board cuts to the state budget, including education. Others say these drastic cuts could be avoided by rolling back tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Which is closer to your view: that we should make across the board cuts to the state budget, or that we should roll back tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy?
Should Make Across the Board Cuts to State Budget 37%
Should Roll Back Tax Breaks for Corporations and the Wealthy 56%
Not sure 6%
Governor Rauner has been a staunch opponent to labor unions that represent state workers, saying that they have too much power. Others say unions are necessary because they provide a voice for workers, improve public service, and fight for the middle class against politicians and corporate greed. Which is closer to your view: that unions have too much power, or that they are necessary to fight for the middle class?
Unions Have Too Much Power 42%
Unions are Necessary to Fight for the Middle Class 56%
Not Sure 3%
Governor Rauner says public sector unions should not be able to make campaign contributions to the elected officials who negotiate their contracts. Others say that as long as billionaires and corporate CEO’s have a right to make huge campaign contributions, workers should have a right to participate in the democratic process through their union. Which is closer to your view: public sector unions should not be able to make campaign contributions, or public employees have a right to participate in campaigns through their union?
Public Sector Unions Should Not Be Able To Make Campaign Contributions 41%
Public Employees Have a Right to Participate in the Democratic Process Through Their Union 55%
Not sure 4%
Illinois law does not require anyone to join a union, but allows labor and management to agree that union represented employees must pay at least a fee sometimes called ‘fair share’ to cover the costs associated with bargaining the contract that benefits all employees. Some people believe that all employees who receive benefits as a result of collective bargaining should be required to pay something toward the costs of negotiating those benefits and administering union contracts. Governor Rauner does not agree that everyone represented by a union should pay something toward negotiating those benefits and administering union contracts. Do you agree or disagree that everyone represented by a union should pay something for negotiating and administering union contracts?
Agree 55%
Disagree 33%
Not sure 12%
The Illinois prevailing wage is a rate based on local wage standards for workers on public works construction projects. Governor Rauner wants to allow the state to pay workers lower wages than the prevailing wage in local areas, since it would save the state money. Others say the state should not undercut local, middle class wage rates because it drags down everyone’s incomes and hurts local business. Which comes closer to your view: that the wage standard should be set locally with a prevailing wage, or that the state should pay below the local prevailing wage?
Wage Standard Should be Set Locally with Prevailing Wage 68%
State Should Pay Below Local PrevailingWage 23%
Not sure 9%
Workers’ compensation costs, including medical expenses and payments to injured workers, were substantially reduced in 2011 by the State Legislature; however there is no evidence that insurance companies reduced insurance premiums accordingly. Do you support or oppose tougher regulation of insurance companies so that this does not happen again?
The crosstabs show that the governor’s base is mostly sticking with him, but not on everything…
* Methodology…
Public Policy Polling surveyed 642 registered voters in Illinois between April 10th and 12th on behalf of the Illinois AFL-CIO. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.9%.
During a hearing before lawmakers Wednesday, the new head of the state’s economic development agency offered up a recipe for how he’s going to lure more companies to Illinois.
Jim Schultz, an Effingham entrepreneur tapped by Rauner to run the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said Illinois has many “hidden assets” that he’s going to use in his quest to replace jobs lost in recent years. […]
He said he wants to go to drought-affected California and tell manufacturers what Illinois can offer.
“Come to our state, I’ll give you our water. We have unlimited water,” Schultz said, pointing to the Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio rivers. […]
“We have so many great hidden assets. We just haven’t optimized them,” Schultz said. “My focus is to go out and market this state.”
1) It’s nice to finally see a Rauner appointee not running down this state.
2) Water is, indeed, a major Illinois asset. Check out this list of the nine most drought-endangered states. Lots of Illinois competitors on there, including Texas.
* The lesson here is that the governor and his people don’t always have to harp on the union issue when it comes to economic development. As I told subscribers several days ago, the governor’s anti-union local resolution efforts are doing for unions what they haven’t been able to do for themselves: get organized locally.
Adams County Board members voted April 15 to table their resolution supporting Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” after union members wanted to speak and the board’s one-week-early sign-up period for speakers was challenged. Board Chairman Les Post expects the vote will occur next month.
So what will this vote do?
It won’t really put any pressure on the Legislature. Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, a pair of Chicago Democrats, have control over whether a right-to-work bill comes up for a vote. They’re never going to allow a vote.
What it will do is energize the unions, which will want to get more politically involved and get their people in office.
* Related…
* Cahill: How exactly is privatization better, Mr. Governor?
When the governor bemoans the state’s “vast bureaucracy,” he’s not just talking about unionized state workers. He’s also talking about Illinois’ huge network of not-for-profit human service providers.
At the Department of Human Services, for example, most programs will continue to provide services because money can be moved around to cover the cuts. But for seven programs within the department, such maneuvers aren’t possible and spending on services will be slashed by $1.1 million, department spokeswoman Veronica Vera said. Among those is a domestic violence shelter program that will lose $419,300 and a program for expectant parents that will lose $225,900. […]
Jeri Linas, the executive director of Chicago’s Teen Living Programs, said she is expecting her organization to face cuts but hasn’t yet learned just how much.
With locations in Bronzeville and Washington Park, Teen Living provides housing and support services for homeless youths in Chicago. The agency gets about $275,000 from the state, some of which pays for staff members who help young at-risk clients find jobs, enroll in school and get subsidized housing. […]
“The double whammy is, some of us who have contracts utilize funding from the state as a match for federal funding,” Linas said. “So when you cut a program’s budget … the risk of an agency closing its doors is very real.”
* There’s no question that Illinois needs much better oversight of these not-for-profits. There’s also no question that the groups can provide services much more cheaply than the state - they raise a significant amount of money on their own and they don’t employ higher-priced state workers. And there’s no question that most of those groups have political sponsors.
So, it’s a delicate balancing act. Some groups need to be weeded out. Others may no longer be providing a necessary service. Slashing funding for autism programs was stupid on all counts. Initially, that showed Rauner was willing to take on this “vast bureaucracy” no matter what the political price. He’s since been forced to backtrack.
This can’t be done with an axe, no matter how much some folks are eager for that to happen.
* Gov. Bruce Rauner was asked a question about his Wikipedia entry last week by a student journalist…
“You played the English horn in college and won several honors for outstanding performances in playing this instrument. Do you still play this instrument?” Gordon asked. […]
Rauner, however, said the entry isn’t true.
“This is a good life lesson for all of us,” the governor told the class. “I never — I didn’t play the English horn. This is a good lesson and it’s OK. I get asked that question a lot, and I go ‘I didn’t play the English horn.’
“We changed it. In fact, we had it removed from the website twice and someone puts it back. And I’m like, ‘You’re kidding me!’” he said. […]
“I actually played the trumpet and I played the baritone,” he said. “I can’t say I was award winning. I was pretty good, but I wasn’t award winning.”
Indeed, if you take a look at the Wiki revision history, you’ll see somebody has been attempting to claim he played or plays either the English horn or the French horn.
* The Question: Your theory about this weird but very real Wikipedia conspiracy?
* He plays the English horn in his spare time.
* French horn musician.
* In order to help himself cope with his divorce 22 years ago, Rauner has found solace in playing the French horn.
* At Dartmouth, he also studied [English horn], played in the orchestra and won several statewide honors.
The paper reports that the English horn reference was added again this morning, then changed.
* Remember last week when I told you that Sam Zell’s wife Helen had contributed $1 million to IllinoisGO, an ostensibly “Democratic” PAC that many folks believe is really guarding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s left flank?
Well, not to be outdone, Sam Zell himself just contributed $4 million to Gov. Rauner’s Turnaround Illinois committee, which is an independent expenditure PAC.
A Gov. Bruce Rauner appointee to the Illinois Gaming Board heads a group that has taken money from the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the state’s most lucrative casino.
In naming Illinois State Police special agent Hector Alejandre last month to the board that regulates the state’s casinos, Rauner said Alejandre “will bring a law enforcement perspective to the position.”
The governor noted that Alejandre is the president of the Hispanic Illinois State Law Enforcement Association, or HISLEA, a nonprofit organization of Latino police officers.
The group — which holds safety seminars and provides college scholarships — has taken $5,500 in donations from Rivers since 2012. The money went toward scholarships and programs, according to Juan Valenzuela, a spokesman for the group.
* From a Sen. Michael Connelly (R-Wheaton) press release…
“The Saturday before the local election I found in my mail a promotional piece touting the College of DuPage. The notion that a government body sees no issue with mailing a taxpayer-funded mail piece, a mere 3 days prior to this month’s election is absolutely ridiculous,” Connelly said. “Taxpayer funds should never be used to either explicitly or implicitly influence an election.”
Senator Connelly successfully advanced Senate Bill 914, which bans all units of local government from sending any promotional materials from Jan. 1 to the date of the consolidated election. The measure is similar to already long-established bans that are in place for Illinois constitutional officers and legislators.
If local government officials, employees, or contractors engage in the behavior, they could face termination from their jobs and be charged with a Class 4 felony.
* The CoD board was under siege before the election because of corruption allegations and federal investigations. Several board members were facing strong electoral opposition. The mailer was blatant pre-election propaganda…
According to campaign records with the Illinois Elections Board, Illinois State Senator James Clayborne from East St Louis, the number two man in the state senate, spent some $42,000 on chauffeured limousines between 2003 and 2014.
Fox 2 also discovered Clayborne spent $50,000 in campaign funds during those years on overseas travel to a dozen nations.
The senator represents some of the most impoverished areas of the metro east.
When asked to explain himself, Clayborne said, “Campaign dollars are donations. They’re not public dollars.”
But clearly the public cares how candidates spend dollars. The Illinois Policy Institute helped with this investigation.
“Campaign money should go towards campaigning,” said executive director Kristina Rasmussen.
Actually, state law allows legislators to use campaign money to pay for legislative functions. It saves taxpayers some money. But that many limo rides? Sheesh.
* This topic comes to us via a highly biased piece in the Chicago Monitor. I’m posting it only because I didn’t see any other stories online…
On Wednesday, the Illinois Senate voted to punish companies that boycott Israel… by requiring Illinois retirement funds to expend resources blacklisting, monitoring and withdrawing funds from such companies. The House adjourned on Friday without calling its own identical bill that had already been voted out of committee. The Senate Bill will now go to a House Committee for hearings before it goes to the whole House for a vote.
The Illinois Coalition to Protect Academic Freedom and Free Speech (member organizations listed below) was formed in response to this anti-boycott legislation introduced in the Illinois State Senate. This same coalition defeated bills in the Illinois legislature last year that sought to penalize Illinois higher education institutions, teachers, and other academics if they supported the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Many of the same Illinois senators and representatives that voted against these anti-boycott bills in committee last year have voted for these bills this year.
* The difference this time around is that the bill is strongly supported by Gov. Bruce Rauner…
Requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board, by April 1, 2016, to make its best efforts to identify all Iran-restricted companies, Sudan-restricted companies, and companies that boycott Israel and to assemble those identified companies into a list of restricted companies. Defines “Iran-restricted company”, “Sudan-restricted company”, “company that boycotts Israel”, and “restricted companies”. Requires the Illinois Investment Policy Board to review the list of restricted companies on a quarterly basis. Requires State-funded retirement systems and the Illinois Board of Investment to identify restricted companies in which it owns either direct holdings or indirect holdings and, under certain circumstances, to divest from those restricted companies. Prohibits State-funded retirement systems and the Illinois Board of Investment from acquiring securities of restricted companies. Provides that the cost associated with the activities of the Illinois Investment Policy Board shall be borne by the boards of each pension fund or investment board created under the State Universities, Downstate Teachers, or Investment Board Article. Provides that actions taken in compliance with the amendatory Act are exempt from any conflicting statutory or common law obligations, including fiduciary duties. Provides that beginning January 1, 2016, certain Sections of the Code that prohibit investment in certain companies that do business with the Government of Iran and the Republic of the Sudan shall be administered in accordance with the amendatory Act. Contains a statement of legislative intent. Contains a severability clause. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
* The measure passed the Senate 49-0, with three Democrats voting “Present” (Landek, Raoul, Van Pelt) and six Democrats and one Republican not voting (Bennett, Brady, Collins, Hutchinson, E. Jones, Sandoval, Stadelman).
The Middle East can bring out teh crazy in some people, so I’m only going to say this once: Confine yourselves solely to the content of the bill. Extremists will be deleted and then banned for life. No exceptions. No further warnings will be issued. This is a state politics blog, so let’s keep it that way. Thanks.
…Adding… The legislation may come up tonight…
Israeli Consulate holds Israel Independence Day celebration with Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Roey Gilad hosting Gov. Bruce Rauner as keynote speaker
WHAT: Israel’s 67th Anniversary reception and concert
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Monday, April 27, 2015
WHERE: Standard Club, 320 S. Plymouth Court
WHO: Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Roey Gilad
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez
Cong. Bill Foster
City of Chicago Aldermen and other elected officials
Members of the Consular Corps
Israeli ensemble Baladino and Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble
WHY: To celebrate Israel’s 67th Anniversary
If it was part of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s agenda to court the press during his speech at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers conference in Chicago, it didn’t quite work out.
Rauner, a businessman who made his fortune in private equity, gave the keynote speech on Saturday, the final day of the conference, to a nearly-full ballroom, pitching his ambitious agenda to transform Illinois.
He opened his speech with a request to reporters to help him pass his reforms, asking for the press’s support three times during his 15-minute speech. […]
After the governor wrapped up his speech, he declared he wouldn’t answer any questions from the audience. An audible groan rippled through the crowd. As he left, several reporters followed him into the hallway. […]
According to [Marty Wolk, president of SABEW], it was a difficult process to get Gov. Rauner to appear at the event. He explained that all speakers know beforehand that their comments are on the record and are expected to take a few questions, given their audience is a room full of business journalists.
“An hour before he arrived, his advance person said no questions from the podium, but that he would be available for 15 minutes afterward to meet people,” Wolk said. Rauner left immediately after his speech.
“For a public figure to say, ‘I want you to help me sell this story’ and not understand it’s a two-way conversation, and not take questions? It fundamentally misunderstands the role of media in this age. In any age,” Wolk said.
Macon County Chairman Kevin Greenfield said there are no plans to discuss or vote on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” resolution.
“The community is upbeat and things have been going well enough that there’s been a lot of positive attitude going around,” said Greenfield, R-Decatur. “The last thing I want to do is bring about a resolution that could divide the county up and really rile up people.” […]
The decision by Macon County officials comes despite Republicans holding an 11-10 advantage on the county board. In addition, Rauner proved popular in the area in the gubernatorial election, receiving 61.24 percent of the 33,773 votes recorded in Macon County.
However, the county board has rarely acted in an overtly partisan manner in recent history, with members of both parties coming together to pass budgets and handle other, seemingly heated issues.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Nothing yet from the governor’s office, but here’s the IFT’s aggregated roundup (mostly from the IL AFL-CIO) of upcoming Rauner resolution votes…
* Jefferson County
Monday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m.
100 S. 10th St., Mt. Vernon
* Lexington (McLean County)
Monday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m.
329 W. Main St., Lexington
* City of Chicago Committee on Workforce Development and Audit
Tuesday, April 28 at 11:00 a.m.
City Council Chambers
* Village of Mahomet (Champaign County)
Tuesday, April 28 at 6:00 p.m.
503 E. Main Street, Mahomet
* Kane County Board
Tuesday, April 28 at 4:00 p.m.
719 S. Batavia Ave, Geneva
* Cook County Board
Wednesday, April 29
Chicago and Cook are taking up anti-Rauner resolutions. Kane is expected to take a pass on the whole thing.
Stephenson County Chairman Bill Hadley, also a Republican, said Friday he’d just received the governor’s resolution, which he’s going to send to the board’s Finance Committee and then to the full board for a vote in May.
“There’s some things in there I like, but I have the same concerns that the Winnebago County Board had. They took all the anti-union stuff out,” Hadley said.
Boone County Board Chairman Bob Walberg said he got the Rauner resolution too late to put it on last month’s agenda.
“We’re going to send it to a committee, and bring it out of committee and decide whether to endorse it or not. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” said Walberg, a Republican who believes the governor is trying seriously to get the state back on the road to fiscal solvency.
“I went into one department. I looked around, and there’s a lot of people and papers moving around. There’s a lot of papers on the walls in the back room,” Rauner said. “I said, ‘You know, somebody told me computers got invented a couple of years ago. This looks like we could digitize this and maybe make it more productive and more efficient.’”
But, as Rauner related it, the employees said that wasn’t possible. Why? Because — wait for it now — the unions won’t allow it. Specifically, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. […]
“And people knew the numbers,” Rauner said. “Very quickly somebody got back to me and said, ‘Governor, we could spend approximately $1.7 million on a computer system. We could save $8 million a year.’ ”
The rub, though, is that making the change would cost 120 jobs, and therefore the union won’t agree to the change. According to Rauner.
But the Rauner administration wouldn’t tell Finke which agency Rauner was referring to. AFSCME is skeptical, to say the least…
“This sounds like pure fiction,” spokesman Anders Lindall said. “There is no work rule preventing digitization. Gov. Rauner is making claims without bothering to talk to the union or find out the facts.”
Illinois Republicans have unveiled legislation backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner they say will clean up state hiring rules that allow a governor to hand out jobs to loyal lieutenants instead of hiring strictly on merit. […]
But majority Democrats in the General Assembly are wary. The bulk of McConnaughay’s measure is devoted to limits placed on collective bargaining units, going so far as to remove some employees from labor unions and empowering the government to transfer or dismiss those found to have been improperly hired at IDOT. They warn that the bill could lead to more politics in state hiring.
It also includes a “hiring reform” section which directs agencies under the governor to correct faulty job descriptions, revise procedures for determining exempt positions and seek to decertify union coverage where appropriate. […]
The proposal “would result in stripping thousands of public employees of their right to be represented by a union,” AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall said, “with the perverse result, given the bill’s supposed purpose, of giving agencies even greater leeway to circumvent the merit system.” It would do “nothing to prevent future political hiring scandals,” he said.
* Let’s hope they do better than last time. There is no doubt that we need a new, less partisan and far less goofy remap process here. From a press release…
Independent Maps, a non-partisan statewide coalition, will hold a news conference Tuesday to brief reporters on the start of a campaign to win voter approval of a state constitutional amendment creating a non-partisan independent commission responsible for drawing Illinois General Assembly districts.
The coalition will have one year to collect 290,216 valid signatures on petitions to place the Independent Map Amendment before voters in November 2016. The Independent Maps coalition will build on the statewide network of thousands of volunteers involved in the 2014 campaign for an independent redistricting commission.
WHO: Dennis FitzSimons, Chair of Independent Maps, and the coalition’s board of directors, which includes prominent members of both major political parties, as well as leaders from the clergy, academia and philanthropic organizations. FitzSimons is Chairman of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and a former Chairman and CEO of Tribune Company.
WHEN: 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 28
WHERE: Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph, Cinema Room, 3rd floor, Chicago.
The Illinois House Monday took a first step toward possibly ending the dizzying proliferation of specialty license plates in the state.
By a 108-1 vote, the House approved a bill that calls for creation of a universal specialty plate that can then be sold to support a variety of charitable causes.
If the bill eventually becomes law, the state would no longer issue new plate designs for charitable causes approved by the legislature.
“It’s hard for police officers to keep up with every plate on the street,” said Rep. John D’Amico, D-Chicago, sponsor of House Bill 1081. “It seems like we constantly have more and more plates coming before us. This would stop these plates from growing out of control.”
Before leaving town last week, members of the House voted 110-5 to create a special license plate that will raise money to pay for planting milkweed along Illinois highways.
The reason: Monarch butterflies, which are the official state insect, need the plant to survive.
“Today’s vote in the House was an overwhelming victory and demonstrated broad bipartisan support for the Illinois state insect,” noted Rebecca Riley, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
A couple of weeks ago, I started noticing that House Speaker Michael Madigan wasn’t voting on most legislation during his chamber’s floor debates. Madigan was feeling under the weather that week, and was ill enough that a leadership meeting with the governor couldn’t be scheduled until a few days later, so I let it go.
But the pattern continued the following week. A spot check of roll calls showed Madigan was listed as present and accounted for, but hadn’t voted either for or against much of anything.
What the heck?
Madigan’s historical voting record is all over the map because, in the past, he has tended to vote for all of his Democratic members’ bills unless he has a strong ideological position in opposition, or if he has a conflict of interest.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown told me the speaker decided in January that he only wants to make “informed” votes. There are just so many bills out there and not enough time to consider each one, Brown said.
Huh?
Madigan and his top staff examine each and every bill and amendment back and forth, upside down at least once a week, and often several times a week. So if any legislator is informed, it’s Michael J. Madigan.
Brown also agreed with my own observation that Madigan could be patterning his behavior after the U.S. House speaker, who traditionally votes on only the rarest of occasions. Madigan did vote for a recent fiscal 2015 state budget fix, but that’s probably because he was a party to the agreement. He has voted on a handful of other bills, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern.
Brown said it was conceivable that Madigan would also step in and vote if one of his members needed an extra push to get his or her bill to the minimum majority of 60.
It’s possible, I suppose, that Madigan doesn’t want to tip his hand to the governor, or anyone else for that matter, about where he actually stands on legislation. But I was told by others that this has nothing to do with the new governor, although they refused to say what was really going on.
Keep in mind, this is a guy who is legendary in Springfield for his mildly eccentric habits. He eats an apple at noon every day. He eats dinner at precisely 7 at night — almost always at one of two Springfield restaurants (unless he’s in the rare mood for a steak, and then he and his people head out to that spot), and he eats the same meal and drinks the same wine every time. A severe crisis erupted at one of those restaurants several years ago when weekend staff accidentally served all of Madigan’s special wine to some tourists.
There is, or at least seems to be, a reason for every single thing he does. He makes no moves without considering all the possible angles. It took him eight hours to issue a press release after Rod Blagojevich was arrested, for crying out loud.
So, after 44 years in the Illinois House, for this man to suddenly and without a credible explanation decide to stop voting on almost all legislation is simply bizarre.
And his top lieutenants are enforcing Madigan’s new policy with a vengeance. I’m told a couple of staffers were upbraided last week when they pushed Madigan’s roll call button on some legislation. They were reportedly told in no uncertain terms to never do that again.
Some have darkly speculated without evidence that maybe some investigators are poking around Madigan’s voting record. But, really, if something is up (and there is zero evidence of that) then why change his behavior now, after it’s too late? That just doesn’t make sense.
Maybe he’s just trying to play with everybody’s head. I just don’t know. Whatever is going on, Madigan certainly wouldn’t allow any of his members to behave this way. I can just see it now:
Madigan: “Why aren’t you voting?”
Member: “I only want to make informed votes, Mr. Speaker, sir.”
Madigan: “Then read the analyses that my staff writes for you and pick a button. Better yet, just let my staff ‘inform’ you of your best voting options. Your constituents sent you here to vote on legislation, not sit there like an armless bump on a log with zero political future because I’m going to find somebody else to take your seat if you don’t start voting right now.”
Member: “Yes, sir. It’ll never happen again, sir. I’m sorry, sir. May I please shine your apple, sir?”
It doesn’t take much time at all, fractions of a second, to be marked and mapped, recorded and reported.
The automatic license plate reader cameras don’t look like much — just a pair of strobe lights on the back of a squad car, or maybe a cartoon character, depending on whom you ask.
“We had little kids call them ‘Wall-E,’” says Springfield Police Sgt. Charles Kean, whose department has been using the technology on two squad cars since 2013. The reference is to a lovable animated robot, the titular character from a 2008 Disney film.
But the mounted cameras are a little more formidable than that. Like many technologies available to law enforcement, they offer power that police praise and civil rights advocates consider warily. ALPRs, as they’re known, can scan and record thousands of license plates every hour. Comparing the plates to lists of stolen or otherwise flagged vehicles, the systems’ software sounds an alarm when there’s a match — giving police officers a handy technological edge in traffic enforcement.
“It’s impossible to remember 25,000 plates and cars and whatnot,” Kean says. With the ALPRs, there’s no need for officers to try.
Forty percent of Illinois voters say they approve or strongly approve of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s job performance, according to a new Ogden & Fry poll released in light of the Republican’s first 100 days in office.
In a March 13 Ogden & Fry Poll taken after the governor’s first 60 days in office, Rauner’s approval rating was also at 40 percent. That’s down from a 43 percent approval rating Rauner garnered in a February Ogden & Fry survey.
Thirty-six percent of the 971 voters surveyed for the latest poll, conducted April 22 on behalf of the Illinois Observer, gave the governor a negative job approval rating. About 23 percent of the respondents were neutral or had no opinion on the governor. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.21 percent.
Friday, Apr 24, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
“I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
- President Harry S. Truman
“A plan to financially reward Exelon Corp. for producing no-carbon energy and potentially save three Illinois nuclear plants from closure would cost ratepayers $1.6 billion over five years and strain budgets for financially strapped businesses and municipal governments, a study released Tuesday found.” - Associated Press, 4/21/15
By applying legislative mandates in SB 1585 / HB 3293 to historical data on Illinois electric costs and consumption, the Kestler Energy Consulting study simply calculated how much of a rate hike Exelon’s legislation would impose on families, businesses and local governments statewide.
Just say no to the Exelon bailout. Vote no on SB1585/HB3293.
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.
Friday, Apr 24, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In these uncertain times, it’s important to have a financial institution you can trust. Credit unions have been serving their members for more than a century, providing them with a member-owned, not-for-profit alternative to traditional banks.
Credit unions are different. They return profits back to their members in the form of lower rates and reduced fees. And because credit unions are member-owned and member directed, credit unions provide members with services they want, not products that will generate a tidy profit for a few investors.
Credit unions know their members. Loan decisions are made locally, not by bureaucrats and computer models from across the country. If you are a credit union member, you already know the credit union difference. If you are not a credit union member, go to www.asmarterchoice.org to see which credit union can show you the advantage of credit union membership.
Exelon’s downstate nuclear plant will see a revenue increase from a spike in downstate Illinois electricity bills, but it won’t come close to the $50 million that some critics and analysts have estimated.
Exelon said yesterday that its money-losing Clinton nuclear plant, which the company threatens to close without financial help from the state, will see $13 million in higher revenue in the year beginning June 1. That won’t solve Clinton’s financial problem.
“The results are not sufficient to make Clinton power station profitable,” Exelon said in a statement. […]
If Exelon had bid all of its capacity at the Clinton plant into the auction held by MISO, it would have seen a $50 million-plus windfall.
But Exelon already had sold more than half of Clinton’s output for the year beginning June 1 to other parties. And the company did not set the $150-per-megawatt-day clearing price that’s causing downstate electricity rates to soar.
So, Exelon makes a bad business decision and that’s a reason for a government bailout?
The CEO of Illinois’ second largest power generator is warning lawmakers that they will put downstate jobs at his company’s coal-fired power plants at risk if they approve Exelon’s proposal to hike electric bills statewide in order to provide more revenue to its Illinois nuclear fleet.
Bob Flexon, chief executive of Houston-based Dynegy, said that Illinois effectively will be sacrificing jobs downstate to protect jobs mainly in the northern half of the state if it agrees to subsidize Exelon to stave off threatened nuke closures.
“It’ll have a severe economic impact on jobs downstate,” he said in an April 22 interview. Dynegy’s plants will be “more at risk for shutdown.”
What he really means is he wants some nuke plants to close in order to drive up prices for Dynegy’s coal plants.
In the meantime, Dominguez said Exelon continues to demand action from Springfield on its bill in this legislative session. The electricity-rate spike downstate is prompting some to call on Exelon to delay the bill until the fall veto session to see how power markets develop. A similar capacity-price increase that would hike electric bills beginning in mid-2018 is forecasted for the regional grid that includes the Chicago area.
Exelon won’t agree to that, Dominguez said. “We need to have certainty one way or the other by the end of the session,” he said.
If this Exelon bid follows the usual corporate handout playbook, we’ll soon be seeing some sort of announcement about an imminent plant closure.
The Clinton Nuclear Power Station and the Clinton Board of Education continue to be at odds over the value of the power station.
The value of the power station means a great deal to the Clinton Board of Education as they reap the benefits of the property taxes that come in from it. According to Dr. Jeff Holmes, Superintendent of Clinton Schools, the latest negotiations have been as productive as several before. […]
The taxing bodies will be entering into an appraisal process with the power plant. Dr. Holmes points out this has been done before and has found the value of the power plant is decreasing because of factors in the energy markets. It is the belief of the taxing bodies the decline in the value is not as drastic as Exelon officials say.
Exelon wants to lower the value of its plant from $217 million down to a mere $72 million.
* Once again, the governor’s office has no local “right to work” resolution results to report. Livingston County Board members decided last week to remove the Rauner resolution from its agenda, but hundreds of people showed up last night and the board allowed public comments…
The twice-postponed Livingston County Board meeting finally took place within the Pontiac Township High School gymnasium Thursday evening, and the Board rolled right through its regular agenda.
The public commentary session near the end, however, doubled the length of the meeting as a number of union activists, of the hundreds filling the bleachers, spoke out against right-to-work, prevailing wage, and the encompassing Turnaround Agenda proposed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The Turnaround Agenda advisory vote was taken off the County Board’s revised agenda for the rescheduled Thursday night meeting despite its appearance on the prior agenda.
Still, union workers filled the high school’s parking lot by 5 p.m., and shortly before the meeting took place an hour later, most filed into the building and squeezed into the bleachers of Crowley Gymnasium on either side of the County Board members, who stretched in a line at the south end of the gym.
A bill restricting the use of electronic cigarettes in some indoor places will not be called for a vote after the sponsor decided to wait for regulation guidelines from the federal government.
Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, sponsored House Bill 2404, which originally would have banned the use of electronic cigarettes, or “vaping,” indoors. After receiving a multitude of calls to her office and working with shop owners and industry professionals, Willis said she decided to amend the bill to only include schools and public places in government facilities.
Now, Willis said she is going to wait for the Food and Drug Administration to release its guidelines before moving forward on the legislation. Vaping products are not regulated at the federal level.
“The big thing is the FDA just came out last week saying they are ready to release their regulations on vaping products,” she said. “With that right on the horizon, it didn’t make sense to me to move forward with this bill.”
* I’m told the sponsor moved her bill yesterday over concerns about House attendance today, which is the passage deadine for bills on 3rd Reading. So, while there was some tension yesterday, it’s not really a sign of things to come. Those’ll get bad soon enough on their own accord…
A measure the Department of Children and Family Services says creates a substantial new financial liability for the state passed the House Thursday with only 61 votes. And, passage of the measure provides at least one Republican representative with concerns of things to come for upcoming budget discussions. The measure would provide transitional and independent living programs, among other services, for people up to 21 years old. Despite several requests to hold the measure another day so lawmakers could work on several issues the Democratic majority voted in favor while 44 representatives voted present. After the vote, Republican Representative Barbara Wheeler says she’s worried that’s a sign of upcoming budget actions.
“It was, however, revealing how this budget process is going to proceed. Please don’t insult us anymore by asking us for bipartisan support. As my colleague from the supermajority just reminded me, “that’s just how it goes,” very disappointed.”
In a fiscal impact note for House Bill 3507 DCFS says the measure increases the state’s liability by possibly expanding the number of lawsuits that can be brought against the state, provides statutory requirements regarding $100 million in projected service expenditures, and disincentivizes youth from engaging in services. The measure now heads to the Senate.
*** UPDATE *** From the ACLU’s Ed Yohnka…
Noticed the post today with regard to DCFS services for youth ages 18 to 21 years-old. It is curious to see the Department refer to these services as a “new” financial responsibility. In fact, DCFS has been responsible for services for youth in this age cohort (when a juvenile court just finds the young person would continue to benefit from the continued protection/services, like education or mental health care, provided by DCFS) as part of a long-standing consent decree — the “B.H.” decree. In other words, the State long ago promised to provide these services. Nothing new here.
The Illinois Senate unanimously endorsed sweet corn to be the official state vegetable on Thursday.
State Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, said the idea came from the fourth-grade classes at Chatham Elementary School south of the capital city as a way for them to learn about state government.
McCann said he has heard complaints that there are more important things to take care of in state government, like the budget. But he insisted sweet corn is important, as the fourth-grade classes watched from the Senate gallery.
“We have to invest in the future leaders of our state and nation,” McCann said. “And these young people took an extraordinary interest in the process.”
The Illinois House of Representatives today approved Rep. David McSweeney’s (R-Barrington Hills) legislation to provide property tax relief for Illinois residents.
House Bill 178 passed the full House today by a vote of 75-37. The bill would help reduce skyrocketing property taxes here in Illinois by freezing the property tax levy for many townships for a one year period.
“Year after year, Illinois ranks near the bottom of the list of tax friendly states,” Rep. McSweeney stated. “My bill isn’t a cure-all, but it’s a first step that will be a welcome news for many Illinois families. Property tax relief is long overdue.”
Former Gov. Pat Quinn’s 11th-hour solution to the violence plaguing Chicago’s streets would have been banned under a Republican initiative unveiled Wednesday.
At a press conference in the Capitol, Republican state Sen. Jason Barickman of Bloomington said governors and legislators would be banned from publicly promoting new programs and grants in the 60 days preceding an election.
The blackout period might have stopped Quinn’s 2010 Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, which was pitched by the Chicago Democrat as a way to combat violence in the state’s largest city.
Republicans have argued the $50 million program was actually a political slush fund designed to put taxpayer money in the hands of Quinn supporters in the lead-up to his 2010 victory against state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington.
A proposal banning the sale of powdered caffeine in Illinois breezed through the Senate on Wednesday.
Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant’s Senate Bill 9 would ban the sale of pure, powdered caffeine to minors. The Shorewood Democrat’s bill passed without opposition. […]
Pure caffeine is typically used as a workout supplement. One teaspoon can contain the same amount of caffeine as 25 cups of coffee, potentially leading to heart failure.
It is currently unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration and can be purchased in bulk.
Ford’s Troy Design & Manufacturing operation isn’t as well known as the Dearborn, Mich.-based firm’s sprawling assembly plant on Torrence Avenue on the far Southeast Side of the city.
But the Troy facility, in part of a shared warehouse about a mile and a half east of the main assembly line, is where Ford autoworkers outfit police vehicles for use across the globe.
It’s at the Troy facility that the Interceptor sedans and sport-utility vehicles get the red-and-blue lights, hidden door locks, ballistic upgrades and other features that make them ready for police forces.
Yesterday, workers at the operation rolled the 100,000th vehicle they’ve customized in Chicago since the operation started up about three years ago through a bay door in the warehouse, pausing to commemorate the moment.
In order to support American-made products, the House endorsed legislation Wednesday to require the state to buy vehicles assembled in North America.
State Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, who sponsored a similar proposal that failed to win support in the Senate last year, is the main proponent of the legislation.
“This is for the state of Illinois only. It does not include municipalities or any other governmental agencies,” Smiddy told his colleagues during a debate on the House floor.
The legislation requires the state to rent or buy vehicles assembled in North America, excluding Mexico. […]
Though the 70-42 vote was not a complete political split, many Republicans voted “no.”
The rollcall is here. Republicans voting for the bill included Brady, Bryant, Cabello, Moffitt and Sommer.
* I’m not a fan of decriminalization because it does nothing to address the illegal supplier market. Legalization would yank the production and supply chain away from often violent criminals. But, hey, every little step in that direction is a good step and we shouldn’t be locking people in cages for smoking pot…
A bill treating low-level marijuana possession charges similar to speeding tickets statewide passed the Illinois House on Thursday with bipartisan support.
The bill is the brainchild of Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, and would make possession of 15 grams of marijuana — or roughly half an ounce, the equivalent of about 30 joints — punishable by a fine of up to $125. It also would create protocol for a driving under the influence of marijuana charge. Offenders would have their records expunged of the possession offense after six months.
Cassidy said the bill would help alleviate some of the racial disparity involved in criminal sentencing as well as save the state money. The bill passed by a 62-53 vote. […]
The Illinois Department of Corrections estimated that Cassidy’s proposal would save the state about $30 million.
Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove, supported the bill and said it is in line with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s platform of both reducing the prison population and cutting costs.
“I think police have been bogged down with petty possession crimes,” Sandack said. “I think courts have been bogged down with petty possession crimes. These people, they’re not dealers. They have no intent to sell.”
Others opposed a provision in the bill that would prevent drivers who test positive for small traces of marijuana from being charged with driving under the influence.
“It’s like a slap on the wrist. There’s no penalty,” said Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego. “The effect of the bill, in some people’s minds, is that marijuana is a less offensive drug than alcohol in Illinois. That concerns me.”
But advocates argue that because marijuana can stay in a person’s system for a longer period of time than alcohol, it’s possible someone could be charged with a DUI even if he or she isn’t showing signs of impairment.
A month ago, new Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and state lawmakers agreed to $300 million in cuts as part of a plan to fix a budget passed last year that didn’t have enough money to cover 12 months of spending. […]
The administration will make roughly $106 million in cuts to the Medicaid health care program for the poor, much of which takes the form of a 16.75 percent reduction to reimbursement payments to doctors and pharmacies. Another $1.1 million would be slashed from human service programs including domestic violence shelters, services for homeless youths and the sickle cell clinic at the University of Illinois.
College scholarship grants for low-income students also would be cut, as would funding for community colleges. Lawmakers briefed by Rauner budget director Tim Nuding said he indicated that scholarships would be trimmed by about $6 million and colleges would lose about $8 million.
Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said the cuts are “consistent” with agreements made during weeks of budget negotiations between lawmakers and Rauner’s office to fix a budget that the new governor inherited from his Democratic predecessor Pat Quinn.
According to a document released by Rauner’s budget office, the Department of Human Services will see an overall loss of $1.1 million. That includes a $419,000 cut to domestic violence shelters and a $103,000 reduction to homeless youth services. A mental health program involving psychotropic drugs would be cut by $42,000. Spokeswoman Veronica Vera said the only two programs not affected are for developmental disabilities and mental health.
Illinois community colleges will see a $6.37 million cut, according to data from its governing board. Spokesman Matthew Berry said the cut would have an immediate impact on the schools because it’s occurring so late in the year and could have an impact on services over the summer as schools will be forced to dig into reserve funds
Rauner’s budget office also said cuts will affect the Monetary Award Program at the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, but did not disclose a specific dollar amount. […]
State Sen. Dan Kotowski, one of two Senate appropriations chairs, called Thursday’s move a “stark contrast to the letters that were sent out on Good Friday without any notice.”
These are not going to be popular cuts, but legislators are at least being informed about what’s going on.
When Gov. Bruce Rauner was last in the Peoria area, he said his “turnaround agenda” of reform proposals was ready to go, written into legislative form and ready for debate in the General Assembly whenever lawmakers were prepared to receive it.
Days later, he worked with legislative leaders to plan a test drive for the proposals covering matters including workers compensation reform, lawsuit reform, allowing municipalities to institute right-to-work restrictions on unions within their boundaries, freezing property taxes, raising the minimum wage, and a host of other topics — putting them before legislative “working groups” to hash out some of the details. […]
“I met with all four of the leaders in the General Assembly last week, and we’ve formed working groups and now various legislators have been assigned working groups under the different pieces of legislation. That process is underway,” Rauner said. “Those bills will come out of that in the time those groups decide and when the legislative leaders decide they’re ready for introduction to the full General Assembly. Hopefully that’ll be soon.”
However, a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton said that matters were not nearly that advanced.
“The goals, members and operational details of the groups are still being determined,” Rikeesha Phelon said by email Wednesday afternoon.
C’mon, Bruce! Stop getting so far ahead of yourself. Also, the Speaker says you don’t have anything “in legislative form.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is dealing with a federal investigation into a no-bid contract approved by the Chicago school board he appointed — a scandal that has forced his hand-picked schools CEO to step down and for the contract in question to be suspended.
But that didn’t stop the mayor from throwing stones at the elected board at the College of DuPage, which is the subject of its own federal investigation amid questions about no-bid contracts given to companies with links to members of the board.
Emanuel was appearing Wednesday on WTTW Ch. 11’s “Chicago Tonight,” where a group of teens asked him policy questions. He was pointing out his reasons for opposing an elected Chicago school board in response to a question from a Kelly High School student, and mentioned the problems at the west suburban community college.
“Let me give you juxtaposition. The College of DuPage has an elected board, yet you read all about the problems they have at the College of DuPage,” he said. The mayor’s comment came as federal investigators probe the Chicago School Board’s contract with SUPES Academy.
C’mon, Rahm! You’ve got an appointed superintendent under federal investigation and you have the gall to throw CoD under the bus?
* From IDES…
March was the thirteenth month in a row that unemployment rates fell in every metro area in the state compared to a year ago, according to preliminary data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Rates also fell in all 102 counties for the twelfth consecutive month and the thirteenth time out of the past fifteen months. Not seasonally adjusted data compares March 2015 with March 2014.
Illinois businesses added jobs in eight metros. The largest increases were seen in: Kankakee (+2.3 percent, +1,000), Rockford (+2.1 percent, +3,100) and Danville (+2.1 percent, +600). Total nonfarm jobs in the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metro Division rose (+1.5 percent, +52,100). Decreases were seen in: Decatur (-1.6 percent, -800), Carbondale-Marion (-1.5 percent, -800) and Bloomington (-0.6 percent, -600). The industry sectors recording job growth in the majority of metros were Retail Trade (9 of 14), Transportation, Warehousing and Public Utilities (9 of 14), Education and Health Services (8 of 14) and Leisure and Hospitality (8 of 14).
“It appears that the decline in the number of unemployed people has translated directly to the decline in the overall labor force both locally and statewide.” IDES Director Jeff Mays said. “This is very troubling and merits more study.”
C’mon, Jeff! According to your own numbers, state employment grew by 65,300 jobs since March of last year, and you want to focus on labor force participation, which is not out of line with surrounding states?
* Don Fullerton and Julian Reif with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs writing in the SJ-R…
To emulate private business, Illinois could charge for the use of its roads with a fee based on vehicle miles traveled. Users would pay a small price for each mile driven on public roads or they wouldn’t get to use those roads — just like laundry services and package delivery.
By one simple method, Illinois could take annual odometer readings, calculate each car’s annual miles driven, charge a penny per mile and send a bill to each driver. But other more high-tech options also are available.
With GPS to track each car’s mileage, the state could allow people to subtract miles driven outside of Illinois and to subtract miles on roads already subject to tolls in Illinois. The state even could charge a different price per mile depending on market demand: a higher price per mile on a busy urban road at rush hour and a lower price per mile in rural locations or on weekends when drivers are not using vital space on congested roadways.
So, lemme get this straight. You want the government to put a GPS device on my car to track my every movement?
C’mon, man (and woman)!
…Adding… From Sir Reel in comments…
Illinois is billed as the crossroads of America. That’s supposed to be a good thing. At least with a State gas tax we capture some revenue from the out of state traffic. Using a miles driven method means only Illinois residents pay for Illinois roads. Thanks but no thanks.
Former state Rep. Derrick Smith has been sentenced to five months in prison for accepting a $7,000 cash bribe, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman handed Smith the sentence at the end of an emotional sentencing hearing Thursday, telling him his willingness to pocket the bribe and his half-hearted apology showed, “It’s all about him, not about the people.”
Smith, who had faced a maximum of five years, did say “Sorry” at Thursday’s hearing, but said, “I am not a criminal.” Coleman said he had failed to acknowledge it was wrong to accept the bribe.
Smith had spent barely a year in the Illinois House when the Feds caught him trying to line his pockets with the $7,000 cash bribe. Prosecutors had asked Coleman to sentence him to as many as five years in federal prison.
He barely apologizes, says he’s “not a criminal,” his lawyer says “Derrick Smith’s life is about serving the public and giving of himself,” and you give him 5 months???
Thursday, Apr 23, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
It has been 133 days and counting since the BEST Coalition – remember it stands for “Better Energy Solutions for Tomorrow” – was first launched. A lot has happened in Illinois since then.
• A new Governor and General Assembly has been sworn into office in Springfield.
• Not 1 but 2 Chicago mayoral elections have been held.
• A State of Illinois report was released which found that the premature closure of three of Illinois’ six nuclear plants could result in $1.8 billion annually in lost economic activity, the elimination of nearly 8,000 jobs, and increased air pollution.
• The Low Carbon Portfolio Standard (HB 3296/SB1585), one of the policy solutions identified in the State of Illinois report, was introduced, earned bipartisan and widespread support across Illinois, and passed unanimously out of the Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee.
• The Chicago Bulls made the 2015 NBA playoffs.
• Wrigley Field reopened in time for MLB Opening Day.
• Patrick Kane’s collar bone was broken and is now healed in time to play in the playoffs.
But in all that time the BEST Coalition has yet to propose even a single solution for the problems facing Illinois. Maybe they do things differently where the groups that hide behind the BEST Coalition are from, but in Illinois, we believe in taking action to address Illinois’ problems.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez was accused Wednesday of deliberately charging a now-acquitted Chicago Police detective with involuntary manslaughter instead of first-degree murder to “curry favor with” the Fraternal Order of Police.
Flamboyant criminal defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. said the rare directed verdict of acquittal that abruptly ended the trial of Dante Servin makes Adam more likely than ever to challenge Alvarez in the 2016 Democratic primary.
In issuing the stunning ruling, Circuit Judge Dennis Porter said pointing a gun at an intended victim and pulling the trigger is an intentional act — not a reckless one. He essentially said Servin should have been charged with murder — not involuntary manslaughter — for firing into a crowd and killing 22 year-old Rekia Boyd in March 2012.
Adam couldn’t agree more. But he argued that Alvarez’s “mistake” was intentional.
“When a man comes out, argues with an individual, then shoots an unregistered handgun over his shoulder into a crowd and rips the life out of a young vibrant African-American woman with no good cause and that individual is treated completely differently because he’s an off-duty police officer, that shows the problem we have in this county,” Adam said.
“To charge that as reckless conduct and not first-degree murder — either you’re doing it because you want to curry favor with the police department or you’re completely inept,” Adam said. “I think there’s no question it was deliberate. She wants to curry favor with the FOP. It took a $4.5 million settlement to get charges in this case. She was stuck in a hard place. If you charge first-degree murder, the FOP is mad at her. If you don’t charge anything, the community is upset. So you play the odds. That says you’re thinking about your job, not about what’s right.”
Top prosecutors in State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s office insisted the decision to charge Detective Dante Servin with involuntary manslaughter, not first-degree murder, was the only option given the facts of the case.
“The facts that were available and were presented at trial showed that this defendant did not commit an intentional or a knowing murder,” said Alan Spellberg, supervisor of the office’s criminal appeals division. “What he did was he shot over his back, backwards into the dark of night … towards people. That’s the classic definition of a reckless discharge.” […]
Spellberg of the state’s attorney’s office said first-degree murder charges weren’t an option because prosecutors didn’t have evidence that Servin had a specific intent to kill anyone.
While Servin’s attorneys argued their client intended to kill Cross [in self defense], that potential evidence never came in at trial because of its abrupt end, Spellberg said.
* On another topic, from a BGA press release…
How often do Chicago police officers miss work-related court hearings, and what effect do those absences have on criminal and traffic proceedings?
Those are potentially important questions that speak to how well officers are doing their jobs, the integrity of the criminal justice system, the stewardship of taxpayer dollars and a host of other issues.
But apparently they aren’t questions the Chicago Police Department is willing to answer.
Citing the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, the Better Government Association asked the police department for copies of records on court absences. Unsatisfied with CPD’s response, the BGA submitted a new request pressing for detailed records – including a database with information on court absences by officers – and CPD failed to even respond.
So on April 22, 2015, the BGA filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against the police department, claiming the agency violated FOIA, the state law guaranteeing public access to public records upon request.
“They not only didn’t turn over the information we asked for, they ignored our request altogether, in blatant violation of FOIA,” said BGA CEO and President Andy Shaw. “CPD is supposed to enforce laws, not break them. This really speaks to a culture of indifference to taxpayers, and a woeful lack of transparency.”
The BGA has another pending lawsuit against CPD for its failure last year to respond to a FOIA request seeking copies of letters and emails between aldermen and police district commanders.
“The Emanuel administration, which oversees CPD, has heralded its commitment to transparency, but has not delivered in too many instances,” Shaw said. “The proof is in the numerous lawsuits we’ve filed in recent years against various city government agencies, including the police.”
Peel away the layers of negative headlines and patient investors will find low default risks and underlying credit strength in this week’s $300 million Chicago Board of Education deal, according to Municipal Market Analytics.
“BOE debt is well insulated from default risk by significant ‘belt and suspenders’ protections,” MMA wrote in a market piece authored by Matt Posner & Kevin McGuigan Friday. “We understand that negative headlines, downgrades and Chapter 9 speculation have all damaged value but believe the case can be made for a considerable underlying credit strength that exists for patient investors.” […]
“Regardless of statements by the governor, Chapter 9 is likely a low probability outcome, allowing for a less cynical reading of CPS’ otherwise strong pledged security,” MMA wrote Monday in its weekly outlook authored by Matt Fabian, Lisa Washburn, and Bob Donahue.
“This security presents only minimal payment default risk,” Monday’s outlook piece said.
* Despite all that, an Illinois Policy Institute analyst writes that bankruptcy is “the only sensible option”…
Bad news on Chicago is deep and broad. Consider the following:
* The Chicago Public School system has a $1.1 billion budget bole in a $5.9 billion budget
* The city’s 2015 budget kited two months of property taxes from the fiscal year 2016 budget
* A $228 million to $263 million derivative time bomb just triggered on the Chicago Board of Education
* Chicago Public Schools may be out of cash in 30 days
* Corruption investigations plague the school board
* The school district faces a pension payment in 2016 of about $700 million.
Since downstate voters will not want to bail out Chicago, we may easily be approaching the point the Illinois General Assembly realizes it has no choice other than to allow municipalities the option of declaring bankruptcy.
* The Question: Should the Illinois General Assembly pass a law to allow the Chicago Public School system to declare bankruptcy? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Thursday, Apr 23, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
“I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
- President Harry S. Truman
“A plan to financially reward Exelon Corp. for producing no-carbon energy and potentially save three Illinois nuclear plants from closure would cost ratepayers $1.6 billion over five years and strain budgets for financially strapped businesses and municipal governments, a study released Tuesday found.” - Associated Press, 4/21/15
By applying legislative mandates in SB 1585 / HB 3293 to historical data on Illinois electric costs and consumption, the Kestler Energy Consulting study simply calculated how much of a rate hike Exelon’s legislation would impose on families, businesses and local governments statewide.
Just say no to the Exelon bailout. Vote no on SB1585/HB3293.
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.
Thursday, Apr 23, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The cable industry is asking lawmakers to place a NEW 5% tax on satellite TV service. The satellite tax is not about fairness, equity or parity – it’s a tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV.
Satellite Tax Will Hurt Illinois Families and Small Businesses
• Satellite TV subscribers will see their monthly bills go up 5%.
• This tax will impact every bar, restaurant and hotel that subscribes to satellite TV service, which will translate into higher prices, decreased revenues, and fewer jobs.
• Rural Illinois has no choice: In many parts of Illinois, cable refuses to provide TV service to rural communities. Satellite TV is their only option.
Satellite Tax Is Not About Parity or Fairness
• Cable’s claim that this discriminatory tax is justified because satellite TV doesn’t pay local franchise fees could not be further from the truth. Cable pays those fees to local towns and cities in exchange for the right to bury cables in the public rights of way—a right that cable companies value in the tens of billions of dollars in their SEC filings.
• Satellite companies don’t pay franchise fees for one simple reason: We use satellites—unlike cable, we don’t need to dig up streets and sidewalks to deliver our TV service.
• Making satellite subscribers pay franchise fees—or, in this case, an equivalent amount in taxes—would be like taxing the air. It’s no different than making airline passengers pay a fee for laying railroad tracks. They don’t use; they shouldn’t have to pay for it.
* I think I may go to this if I decide to submit myself to the mandatory background check…
Inmates at Decatur Correctional Center are starring in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” The stage play opens Wednesday, April 22nd and runs through Sunday, April 26th. The media is invited to attend the Saturday showing at 1:00p.m., when the inmates will perform in front of their family and friends.
Millikin University Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance Alex Miller is directing the play and has been rehearsing with the women for several months. Miller brought the “Shakespeare Connected” program to Decatur Correctional Center in 2011, hoping to help inmates tap into their acting abilities and teach them lessons about their own lives. This is the fourth Shakespeare production at the facility. The inmates starred in “Othello” in 2012, “The Tempest” in 2013, and “The Taming of the Shrew” in 2014.
* Today is Shakespeare’s birthday, by the way…
Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the City of Chicago celebrate William Shakespeare’s 451st Birthday on April 23, 2015 with an official proclamation from Mayor Rahm Emanuel declaring the day Talk Like Shakespeare Day. The annual holiday is an occasion for citizens from Chicago and across the globe to bring the spoken words of the playwright into their daily lives.
A bill that opponents say would force doctors that hold religious convictions to choose between God and government is on third reading in the Illinois Senate, and could be called for a floor vote at any time.
SB 1564, sponsored by Democrat senators Daniel Biss - Julie A. Morrison - Toi W. Hutchinson - Linda Holmes - Kimberly A. Lightford, Michael Noland, Heather A. Steans, William Delgado, Iris Y. Martinez, Jacqueline Y. Collins, Emil Jones, III and Donne E. Trotter, is called the “Health Care Right of Conscience Act.”
It demands that medical personnel permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for or participate in health care services a patient demands - even if it is against his or her religious belief system - unless a written protocol with alternatives is available to share with the patient.
Biss’ proposal contradicts the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, Thomas More Society counsel Tom Brechja said, the first part of which says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …”
“If you’re impairing the patient’s health by delaying his or her access to a suicide pill, [for example], that may be ‘Brave New World,’ but we’re already living in ‘Brave New World,’” Brechja said. “Who knows what some court somewhere is going to decide. With this bill, you’ve certainly started down that path, and into the abyss.”
Once the law says a person’s conscience must yield to state or federal law, there’s no prediction where that may lead, Brechja said.
While Illinois’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act allows citizens to act upon their religious beliefs, Biss’ law would supersede the state’s RFRA.
Nationwide, some states’ conscience clauses explicitly cover abortion, contraception, sterilization, and the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatments.
Some clauses cover local conditions. For example in Oregon, a conscience clause describes a physician’s right of refusal concerning physician-assisted suicide, which is legal in that state.
*** UPDATE *** From Ed Yohnka at the ACLU…
Rich,
I just caught the coverage on the blog today about Senator Biss’ SB1564 which the Senate approved yesterday. I think that our friends at the IFI and Illinois Review have a rather distorted view of the measure, which now reflects an agreement between the ACLU, the Catholic Conference and the Catholic Health Care Association. These last two organizations would be shocked to see this description given their assent on the measure.
I know that you have covered the bill earlier in the session, but the purpose of the measure is to ensure that patients in Illinois get the health care that is best for them WHEN a doctor, a nurse of a health care institution exercises a religious objection. Nothing here eliminates the ability of a health care provider to make a conscience objection and nothing forces anyone to provide a service to which they have an objection.
Finally, while language referencing “suicide pills” is colorful and has a rhetorical flourish one might enjoy, the bill (back here in the real world) only applies to legal medical procedures. Enough said about that.
I’m attaching here our fact sheet on the bill. I’m also attaching a couple of examples of why we need this law in Illinois.
Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that would reverse a 30-year-old ban on public money being used to pay for abortions.
The bill raises one of the most controversial issues in American society, with religious groups objecting on moral grounds and women’s rights groups saying it’s a matter of fairness.
House Bill 4013, sponsored by Chicago Democrat Sara Feigenholtz, would allow state employee health insurance and Medicaid to cover abortions. The bill passed the House Human Services Committee in March with an 8-6 vote. The votes fell along party lines, with each Democrat on the panel voting for the bill and each Republican voting against it.
Since at least 1980, state law has prohibited coverage of abortions for state employees who receive health insurance through the state. The same prohibition has applied to people on Medicaid since at least the late 1980s. State law does allow coverage for abortions in cases of rape, incest, life endangerment and health endangerment. Feigenholtz’s bill would reverse that prohibition, allowing elective abortions to be covered under both state employee health insurance and Medicaid.
The bill also reverses a ban on state grants to organizations that perform abortions or refer women for the procedure. Currently, the state can make grants to organizations that provide services for women experiencing problem pregnancies. Additionally, abortion providers would no longer be required to provide a description of the method used in each request for Medicaid reimbursement under Feigenholtz’s bill.
State legislation reinstating $26 million in cuts to social services and public health grants passed the Illinois Senate Wednesday afternoon, state Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Joliet, said.
Senate Bill 274, sponsored by Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Park Ridge, would restore funding for a long list of programs targeted for funding suspension by Gov. Bruce Rauner earlier this month, including money to pay for indigent burials, smoking cessation, youth and teen employment and AIDS.
However, the bill appears to be headed nowhere fast in the House, where Democrats said they want a better accounting of how Rauner is using spending authority already given to him.
Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said she currently does not support the plan the Senate approved.
“We didn’t get good enough answers to our questions yesterday at our budget oversight hearing,” said Currie, the House majority leader. “I think we would want to get more chapter and verse before we jumped on the bandwagon in finding more resources.”
“This legislation is a byproduct of lengthy negotiations with Governor Rauner, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans. By using surplus funds normally reserved for special interests, we can now restore funding for autism, epilepsy and substance abuse prevention,” said state Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Park Ridge. […]
But, the proposal faces skepticism in the House, where Democratic leaders say Rauner already has enough cash to keep the programs afloat.
“There’s money currently to pay those grants,” said Assistant House Majority Leader John Bradley, D-Marion. “There’s great concern that there’s money already there and he needs to go ahead and get these programs paid with what we’ve already done.”
Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said the proposal is under review.
While advocates for the programs say they’re thankful it may be false hope because the House isn’t on board with the plan. Under a previous agreement with Rauner, lawmakers already swept other… special funds.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie says she wants to know what the governor did with all of that.
“We didn’t get good enough answers to our questions yesterday (Tuesday) in our budget oversight hearing about what’s happened to the $900 million that we gave them. So I think we would want to get more chapter and verse before we jumped on the bandwagon in finding more resources,” Currie says. “I think we just want some answers. Where did the money go? Surely it’s not sitting in the bank, or under the governor’s pillow?”
The governor’s office says it’s been clear from the onset: that money was never enough to fill the state’s current budget hole.
“There are a number of people who are served by the state of Illinois and all of them think that their program is the most important … because it’s their life and it’s important to them,” [Greg Bassi, acting secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services] said. “That’s what makes this so challenging.”
Last Thursday, a group of organizations that administer the TAP grants held a press conference to plead their case. Russell Bonnano, program manager for TAP of Illinois, said that although the window had been left open for more funding in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2016, many of the nonprofits administering the program will not survive unless funding is restored for Fiscal Year 2015. He also noted the irony of having to face this dilemma during Autism Awareness Month. […]
Debra Vines, who runs The Answer Inc., one of TAP’s beneficiaries, made reference to her 27-year-old son, Jason Harlan, who after two months in the program, learned to write his name for the first time.
In stark contrast to Jason is Nehemiah, whose success his parents largely credit to TAP, which he had started in January. Earlier this month, Nehemiah was ranked third in his class for spelling.
One amenity that the 835 Chicago Ave. development in Evanston won’t be able to boast of at its groundbreaking later this morning is gigabit speed internet service.
In January 2013 then Gov. Pat Quinn showed up at the library branch across the street to announce a $1 million state grant to provide ultra-high-speed internet service for what city officials hoped would become an “innovation corridor” along Chicago Avenue near the Main Street intersection.
Well, after various delays in getting the project launched, new Gov. Bruce Rauner cancelled the grant earlier this year and city officials — who’d already received the money — now will have to return it.
Thursday, Apr 23, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Nursing homes are big business. An increased emphasis on profits has led to a distressing rise in neglected and abused seniors. With regulatory and legislative bodies unable to cope with a groundswell of neglect and abuse, the civil justice system has stepped into the breach. Attorneys who represent our nation’s seniors and their families play a critical role in uncovering abuse and neglect.
Stories of abuse and neglect are all too common in American nursing homes. 14,000 nursing home patients died nationwide of malnutrition and dehydration. Nearly 160,000 residents had at least one pressure ulcer, yet only 35 percent of those with the most severe ulcers received special care for their wounds. As many at 1.5 million seniors are abused every year, and experts believe that for every case of reported abuse, five go unreported because nursing home residents are afraid of repercussions. Trial attorneys have proven to be the most effective advocates of abused and neglected seniors.
The civil justice system is the most effective force to compel corporate nursing homes to fix their conduct. For more information, click here.
In January 1994, the tollway instituted a multi-project labor agreement requiring that collective bargaining agreements be applied to all tollway projects.
With a vote of 6-3 Thursday, the board rescinded that effective May 1. The change will affect future contracts, not existing ones.
The tollway is in the midst of a massive $12 billion building program with work on the Jane Addams (I-90) and Elgin-O’Hare Expressway (Route 390) going on simultaneously.
Sweeney recalled a construction strike in 2010 involving a number of building trades unions. Tollway work continued because of the multi-project labor agreement, he said, noting workers were bound to cross picket lines.
Tollway administrators said the change didn’t mean the agency wouldn’t be hiring unions, but their actions did reflect the governor’s comments and discussions with his staff.
Start with the contention that Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. If that were truly the case, it indeed would be possible to redress a significant portion of Illinois’ fiscal woes by cutting “nonessential” spending. So when confronted with a $1.6 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year, you’d expect the governor’s team would identify all those “nonessential” services and propose giving them the ax. And you’d be wrong.
As the Rauner administration quickly discovered, it’s difficult to categorize things like child care for working parents, staffing levels at prisons and court reporters as “nonessential.”
This in turn led to a deal with the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to avert some $1.3 billion in potential cuts by raising that amount in revenue through a sweep of various special funds. Mind you, this left $300 million to cut, an amount Rauner apparently believed was too severe. Shortly after announcing the deal, he emphasized that “our administration had actually advocated more sweeping and fewer cuts.”
This is interesting because it shows, in both words and action, that Rauner recognizes that two core aspects of his campaign rhetoric don’t pass the reality test.
First and foremost, it demonstrates that spending on nonessential fluff isn’t the problem. Indeed, the services being cut are crucial for many Illinois families. And if he didn’t get that before Good Friday, he certainly did after. […]
Second, there’s the implicit recognition by Rauner that more revenue is needed to support core services. Apparently, this need is so glaring that it justifies using one-time revenue obtained through fund sweeps to plug the current spending gap — which works, of course, only for the current year. Next year, there will be no revenue available to support the $1.3 billion in spending that was so “essential” this year that special funds had to be raided to cover them.
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday said that it’s a “travesty” for Illinois to be “dead last” in general funding for its schools and promised to send more money to classrooms. […]
Rauner suggested that cost saving could be found in the layers of bureaucracy within the state’s 850-plus school districts, some of which are just a single school.
“The money should be in the classroom with the teachers, with technology, with the infrastructure and with the students. Not in the bureaucracy,” he said. “We have a lot of layers that consume the money.”
The topic of school district consolidation has been a recurring one in Illinois. Decades ago, Illinois went from 12,000 school districts to roughly the current setup. But separate elementary school districts and high school districts remain throughout the state, including the Metro East.
Gov. Bruce Rauner said he has no plans to run for president and revealed his favorite ice cream is chocolate chip during an interview Wednesday by a group of fourth-graders from Harristown, a town west of Decatur.
The 27 students, in Springfield as part of a civics event first launched more than four decades ago, toured the Hall of Governors and then interviewed Rauner in his second-floor office on Wednesday. All of the students wore media badges with their name and the media outlet they wanted to represent.
Jordan Szczelaszczyk, 9, asked the governor if he plans to run for other offices, like president.
“That’s a very good question, I get asked that a lot and there’s a very simple answer. I really don’t have an interest in anything else, other than helping Illinois as governor,” Rauner said. “But I’m privileged to be governor; that’s all I want to do. And the most I want to do it for is eight years.”
Rep. Bob Dold, R-lll., won a coveted slot on the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, replacing former Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., who resigned last month and now faces a criminal probe of his spending of taxpayer and campaign funds.
The House Republican Steering Committee handed the plum to Dold, said his chief of staff, James Slepian. “The issues he hears most frequently about are the economy, taxes and health care,” said Slepian, all areas under the Ways and Means panel jurisdiction. […]
Dold will have to surrender the seat he now has on the Financial Services Committee in order to join Ways and Means.
Other Illinois lawmakers on Ways and Means are Republican Rep. Peter Roskam and Democrat Danny Davis.
*** UPDATE *** DCCC…
To the Manor Born: Dold Inherits Schock’s Plush Committee Seat After Taking Schock Money
Looks like Aaron Schock has found an heir for his fashionable seat on the Ways and Means Committee: none other than Congressman Bob Dold. This comes just weeks after Dold “doubled down” on his refusal to donate to charity the tainted donations given to him by the disgraced former Congressman.
“Congressman Dold’s eager acceptance of Schock’s gilded Committee seat shows he’s only too keen to pick up where Aaron Schock left off when he left town in disgrace: doing the bidding of special interests in Washington,” said Matt Thornton, spokesman for the DCCC. “Congressman Dold is clearly Republican leadership’s anointed heir to a shameful legacy and will continue to be a reliable vote for his party.”
Man, is that ever a stretch.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* And from a press release…
A little over a week after announcing his exploratory bid for the 8th Congressional District, state Senator Tom Cullerton has secured the early support of several of Illinois’s largest labor unions. Supporters include International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 2, Teamster’s Joint Council 25, Laborers International Union of North America Local 68, and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, and Utility Workers of America Local 18007. […]
“I am proud to have the support of the working men and women of these locals. I will be a relentless voice for those in labor and working people in Congress.” Cullerton said.
Sen. Tom Cullerton, prior to being elected to the State Senate was member of Teamster’s Local 734. He was a route salesman for Hostess Brands before they filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Cullerton is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 8th Congressional District.
* The governor’s office says it has no updates for us this morning. Let’s move along to local media coverage starting with the Elgin Courier-News…
Kane County won’t be endorsing Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Turnaround Illinois reform package, but will craft its own resolution calling for reform in Springfield.
“Kane County will play no part in the Governor’s politically motivated crusade against the working class citizens of Illinois, we will instead actively engage Springfield ’s legislative initiatives that directly impact our county’s budget and the wellbeing of our citizens,” County board member Myrna Molina said at the county’s Legislative Committee meeting Wednesday.
The county’s Legislative Committee’s Wednesday agenda included a discussion on a resolution. Rauner has been asking cities, villages and counties to pass a Local Government Empowerment and Reform resolution. He made a stop in Kane County April 7 seeking support. Rauner’s office could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Union members from around Kane County crowded Wednesday’s meeting to speak out against the resolution.
Joliet Mayor-Elect Bob O’Dekirk said Tuesday he opposes the governor’s proposal to creation of right-to-work “empowerment zones” in order to entice new businesses to Illinois.
Eliminating workers’ rights to collectively bargain by asking voters to vote on the issue through local voter referendums is “not an option,” O’Dekirk said in a statement he released on the issue. […]
“While the governor says that he respects the rights of labor to organize and fight for their wages and benefits, the creation of right-to-work zones would effectively create a disadvantage for union employers to create and expand operations in municipalities that respect the right to organize,” O’Dekirk.
“Union training, union standards and union safety rules protect workers, employers and the general public from workplace accidents and disasters. A union worker may cost more, but you get more, and so does the local economy. Those union wages support every business in the city of Joliet while the additional corporate profits earned in non-union companies may never find their way back into our local economy.”
“The governor is encouraged that communities across the state from Round Lake Beach to McHenry County to Rockford to Effingham County are embracing the turnaround agenda,” Rauner’s office said in a statement Wednesday. “The turnaround agenda resolution is a way for communities to show they embrace the governor’s plan for more voter empowerment and local control.”
East Dundee Village President Lael Miller, however, says the village’s unanimous support of the agenda is not an endorsement of one of its most controversial elements — so-called empowerment zones or right-to-work zones that could be created if municipalities were allowed to decide whether workers must join a union to be employed. Proponents of the governor’s plan say the zones will help attract jobs, but union leaders denounce them as “right-to-work-for-less” zones.
“What (the resolution) says is that we’d like to start a larger conversation with the governor,” Miller said. “We realize that Illinois has a severe fiscal crisis. We know that things have to change. This is a starting point.” […]
In Buffalo Grove, officials approved a resolution that opposes unfunded mandates and asks the state not to freeze property taxes or cut the amount of tax revenue it gives back to municipalities. But it was a far cry from what Rauner suggested.
“I didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to do deal with those types of union issues,” Village President Jeffrey Braiman said.
“There are thousands of employers, manufacturers and transportation firms, foreign-owned companies, that won’t come to a closed-shop, forced-unionization state,” [Gov. Rauner] said. And he added that as local governments consider the resolutions, “the special interest groups that like big government and currently control government, they’re showing up by the hundreds. They’re shipping them from other communities by the busloads to protest.
“Stand up to the protests,” Rauner told the bankers. “The government doesn’t belong to those folks; it belongs to the local people.” He said to tell local officials to support the agenda. […]
[Bill Looby, political director of the state AFL-CIO] hadn’t heard of any busloads of out-of-towners at any of the local meetings.
“It’s false and insulting to local communities for the governor to dismiss or distort grassroots resistance to his anti-worker tactics,” [Anders Lindall, spokesman for AFSCME Council 31] said. “If he listened to testimony in town after town, he would hear teachers, caregivers, construction workers and tradespeople” protecting their “middle-class standard of living against the governor’s attacks. … The only ‘outsiders’ I’m aware of at these meetings are the governor’s own staff.”
The abrupt resignation Tuesday of Friends of the Parks President Cassandra Francis, who fought to keep the Obama presidential library off park district land, may have been the final hurdle in bringing the iconic library and museum to Chicago.
A top source claims the mayor’s office is saying the Obama Presidential Library is now a definite go for Chicago.
Sneed is told Francis resigned “because her annual evaluation and ability to work with the board was not turning out well,” said a Friends of the Parks source who asked to remain anonymous.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has turned to state lawmakers to get some legal leverage as he tries to outflank park preservationists’ opposition to two hoped-for legacy projects: the Barack Obama presidential library and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
A measure to change state law to clarify that the city has the authority to build the Obama library near the University of Chicago and the Lucas museum along the lakefront surfaced in Springfield late Wednesday afternoon and was put on a fast track to reach Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk as soon as Thursday.
Senate President John Cullerton argued that the bill was to make “doubly certain” the city could move forward should it win the bid for the Obama library, noting fierce competition from Columbia University in New York. Obama is expected to make an announcement on his library location in the coming weeks.
“We just want to make sure that there’s no issue with regard to Chicago being able to be chosen,” Cullerton said. “Obviously there were some concerns about our competition in New York having a clearer ownership issue with the land.”
To that end, the proposal would amend state law to specifically allow the construction of “presidential libraries” on public parkland as long as the public can access the grounds “in a manner consistent with its access to other public parks.”
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL ON STATE SENATE PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT TO THE PARK DISTRICT AQUARIUM AND MUSEUM ACT
Amendment reaffirms that presidential libraries, other museums can be built on park land
“As the city where President Obama started his career in public service and raised his family, Chicago is united in its effort to welcome the President’s legacy and the foundation of his future civic initiatives. We have taken the necessary steps as a city to ensure that Chicago does not lose out on this incredible economic, cultural and educational opportunity. Further, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will be a great new addition to the city’s museum campus that will benefit residents and visitors for generations to come. I commend the State Senate for passing this amendment, as this action makes it clear that they agree with the city’s position that a presidential library and other museums enhance park land for the benefit of the public, and I urge the State House of Representatives to join with us in supporting this amendment.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** The bill passed the Senate at about 12:30 this afternoon. I checked the bill status at 12:50 and it’s already zipping through the House…
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the press room at 1:50 pm…
Steve Brown has advised me the Obama library bill will be up in about 5 minutes in the House
Rick Millard
*** UPDATE 4 *** Press release…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel today commended House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton, Senator Kwame Raoul and the Illinois General Assembly on their passage of an amendment to the Park District Aquarium and Museum Act.
“I commend the Illinois General Assembly for making it clear that they agree with Chicago’s position that presidential libraries and other museums enhance park land for the benefit of the public,” said Mayor Emanuel. “The Obama Presidential Library and Lucas Museum of Narrative Art would not only benefit residents and visitors for generations to come, these institutions would provide incredible economic, cultural and educational opportunities to the city and state.”
As part of the Mayor’s commitment to secure the presidential library for Chicago, this action will provide further reassurance for the Barack Obama Foundation to choose the president’s home town as the site of the Barack Obama Presidential Library and Museum.
The amendment was passed today by both the Illinois State Senate and House of Representatives.
Wonder how long it’ll be before the guv signs it?
*** UPDATE 5 *** Press release…
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan issued the following statement after legislation to help ensure Barack Obama’s presidential library is located in Illinois was sent to the governor Thursday:
“Ensuring President Obama’s library is sited in Illinois is a priority. For more than one year, I have worked to make Illinois proposals the most attractive and competitive. Today’s vote enhances those proposals and clarifies this is a proper use of park land for this truly historic institution,” Madigan said.
“I believe it will be a destination for visitors from every corner of the globe and a repository of documents and artifacts from a transformational presidency,” Madigan added.
In 2014, the Speaker called for the state’s next capital construction program to include funding for President Obama’s library to help improve Chicago’s bid in the competitive site selection process. The legislation approved Thursday is another way the state can help bring President Obama’s library to Illinois, its rightful home, Madigan explained.
“Current and future generations deserve the opportunity to learn first-hand the impact of President Obama on Illinois as a member of the General Assembly, a U.S. senator and our president, and to also learn how our state had an impact on him.
“We’re proud to be able to say that Illinois is home to the presidential library and museum of our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. But the opportunity to bring a presidential library to Illinois is rare. It is an opportunity that we should seize upon.”
Madigan noted the legislation will also assist with the development of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is also expected to draw a worldwide audience.
* Former Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) will be sentenced in federal court today…
It took Derrick Smith only a year in the Illinois House of Representatives to try to line his pockets with a $7,000 cash bribe.
Now prosecutors want the disgraced former state representative to spend as many as five years in a federal prison to think about the stack of bills he kept in a chest at the foot of his bed until admitting to the FBI he’d “f—ed up,” according to trial testimony.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marsha McClellan said that length of sentence would send a message to the unrepentant Smith — who denied his guilt even after his conviction last year — and to the constituents who re-elected him after his arrest in March 2012. […]
Victor P. Henderson, Smith’s defense attorney, will seek leniency for a man he said is simply trying to move on with life and provide for his family. Before his 2012 re-election, the West Side legislator became the first member in a century to be tossed from the House. […]
“Derrick Smith’s life is about serving the public and giving of himself,” Henderson wrote in his own memo to the judge in February.
Yeah. OK.
*** UPDATE *** Five months?…
US Dist. Judge Sharon Coleman sentences fmr. IL Rep Derrick Smith to 5 months in prison for taking $7g bribe.
