Ethics probe continues
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
The House Committee on Ethics announced on Monday it will continue a review of whether Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., violated House rules and federal law through a hiring agreement he made with his former chief of staff, Doug Scofield, while declining to take the more serious step of creating a special panel to investigate the allegations.
The committee chairman, Rep. Michael Conway, R-Texas, and ranking member, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., said in a four-paragraph statement they will continue to “gather additional information necessary” for the review and did not set a timetable for their work to be completed.
At issue is the $590,000 Scofield received over 10 years from federal funds allocated to run Gutierrez’s congressional office.
The ethics probe is looking at whether Scofield functioned as a contractor — which is permissible — or if his long-term relationship with Gutierrez’s congressional office was really more like that of a consultant who performed more like an employee, which is not allowed. […]
“Today’s announcement by the Committee reveals that it will not convene a special ethics panel. As the Committee reviews this matter, Congressman Gutiérrez and his office will continue to cooperate fully. As the Committee points out, its review does not indicate that any violation has occurred or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” Gutierrez spokesman Doug Rivlin said in a statement.
“After its exhaustive review, the OCE made a single recommendation that the House Committee on Ethics assess whether the approved contract was permissible under ambiguous House rules.”
Go read the whole thing. The report is here. Scofield declined to cooperate.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
HB 4075 is a taxi-industry protection bill that not only pre-empts Chicago’s home-rule authority, but undermines common-sense regulations that prioritize safety and accountability.
Creating bureaucratic roadblocks and burdensome guidelines aimed at preserving the status quo only wipes out emerging competition, stifles innovation and eliminates consumer choice.
The truth is that new technology provides an opportunity to increase safety above and beyond what is required of taxis, which is why ride-sharing services have developed strict criteria and comprehensive insurance policies that are 3 times what is currently provided in Illinois taxis.
The people of Illinois – tens of thousands of whom use ridesharing – deserve affordable, convenient and safe transportation choices, especially those living or working in underserved areas ignored by taxis.
“…the status quo needs to change. Those six-digit medallions are out of reach of actual drivers…they work long shifts with no guaranteed income, and sometimes don’t break even…Consumers, meanwhile, have no choices.”
- Chicago Tribune Editorial, April 30
“…[state] negotiations should not result in a bill that serves as a roadblock for ride-sharing.”
- Chicago Sun-Times Editorial, March 27
Vote NO to the status quo and NO on HB 4075.
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Question of the day
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The White Sox play the Cubs tonight in Wrigley Field. Trash talking, anyone?
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Madigan’s constitutional irony
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Daily Herald editorial board…
Last week, a close ally of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan filed suit to challenge citizens initiatives to impose term limits on state legislators and to change the way legislative districts are drawn every 10 years.
We’re big fans of the remap referendum. We’ve editorialized on its behalf for months as a solution to the politicized way districts are drawn. We are not as enamored with the term limit referendum. We see some pros but also many cons.
But the important thing isn’t whether we like either initiative. The important thing is that the public has made clear its interest in putting these questions on the ballot.
It’s important also that the politically motivated suit against it was predictable. For a long time, the cynics have said — no way will Madigan and the politicians let these referendums happen.
The challenge only confirms that cynicism — and in doing so, spreads it further.
As Eric Zorn and I have already pointed out on multiple occasions, there are some legit constitutional questions about both of these petition drives. Those questions, in my opinion, do deserve a full hearing.
* However, it is beyond richly ironic that while Speaker Madigan is relying on a highly precise and quite literal reading of the Illinois Constitution to defeat the two proposed citizen initiatives, he’s also arguing that the common sense, plain meaning of the Constitution should be ignored when it comes to pension reform.
Just sayin…
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*** UPDATE 2 *** Cleared…
Charges of plagiarism dogged Democrat Ann Callis’ campaign for Congress for about six hours Monday until a staffer running a campaign in Iowa cleared the former judge from Edwardsville.
Callis, vying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, was accused by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Jack Dorgan Monday morning of pilfering lines for her campaign website from Iowa Democrat Staci Appel.
By mid-afternoon, Appel campaign manager Ben Miller said it was his campaign that copied the material.
“The language identified on that page was intended to be a temporary placeholder and was inadvertently published,” Miller said in an email. “We removed the copy when it was brought to our attention.”
*** UPDATE 1*** From an e-mail…
Rich,
Just wanted to get you the correct information regarding your post on the Callis website. The Republican attacks are a lie—our site was up with full content weeks before the Appel campaign had anything but a splash page on their site.
August 16, 2013: Callis launches live site with issue statements: https://twitter.com/callis4illinois/status/368484491867594753
September 7, 2013: A web capture search found that on 9/7/2013 the Appel campaign only has a splash page—without any issue content. https://web.archive.org/web/20130907220609/http://appelforiowa.com/
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best,
Marshall
–
Marshall Cohen
Campaign Manager, Ann Callis for Congress (IL-13)
Apparently, nobody can play this game.
Heh.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* Yesterday, a state Republican Party official sent me a screen shot of Democratic congressional candidate Ann Callis’ campaign home page…
He noted that the domain named had expired on May 3rd. “Heck of a campaign so far!” he cracked.
Oops.
* The Republicans appear to have been doing some opposition research, because after the website went live again, the state GOP unleashed this attack…
BREAKING: Ann Callis Caught Plagiarizing On Her Campaign Website
“Cut-and-Paste Callis” lifts whole sections from Iowa Democrat’s “Issues” Page… and tries to pass them off as her own.
Plagiarism Scandal is the latest example of Callis’ refusal to tell the voters of the 13th District what she stands for.
SPRINGFIELD, IL – Ann Callis, running for Congress in Illinois’s 13th Congressional District, was caught today plagiarizing key phrases, issue positions, and entire sections of the “issues” page on her website.
In two sections of her “issues” page, Callis’ entire position on “Women’s Health” and “Alternative Energy” are nearly identical to the positions on the website of Staci Appel, a Democrat running for Congress in Iowa, with the name changed to “Ann Callis” instead.
“Ann Callis thinks she deserves to be your Congresswoman, but she has to steal someone else’s words to tell you why,” said Jack Dorgan, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. “Callis owes the people of the 13th District an explanation, not an excuse.”
On Callis’ web page (as of May 4, 2014):
A total of at least 186 words have been copied directly from Staci Appel’s page, in four different issue sections: “Pragmatic Leadership,” “Education,” “Alternative Energy,” and “Women’s Health.”
Ann Callis’ issues page went live on January 9, 2014, more than two full weeks after Staci Appel’s (12/24/13, per Web.Archive.Org).
* This looks more like the usual lazy, cut and paste DCCC amateur hour crud than actual plagiarism. But it’s a legit hit. Here’s just one example. “Women’s health”…
* Both candidates’ issues pages…
* Staci Appel
* Ann Callis
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* Bloomberg…
Hillary Clinton returned to her Illinois roots to accept her latest award, offering reflections on her childhood while making no mention of a future that could include a 2016 presidential bid.
Speaking yesterday in Chicago, the home of President Barack Obama, Clinton called Abraham Lincoln “the greatest president who ever served our country” as she accepted the Order of Lincoln. She made no mention of Obama — who derailed her in the fight for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and then named her secretary of state — or the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton.
* But this choice nugget was buried deep in the story. Emphasis added…
Some of the other seven persons who received the award yesterday were Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, former UAL Corp. Chairman Glenn Tilton, private equity investor John Canning and attorney Newton Minow, a former Federal Communications Commission chairman. [Emphasis added.]
* Hmm. Newton Minow. Does that name sound familiar? Maybe this recent Tribune op-ed by Minow will jog your memory…
President John F. Kennedy once said that “sometimes party loyalty asks too much.”
I believe Kennedy was right as we consider the election for Illinois governor this year. As a longtime member of the Democratic Party, I’m taking a leave of absence from the Democratic Party’s campaign for governor in November and will vote for Republican Bruce Rauner for governor.
I couldn’t find any video or photos of Quinn’s presentation to Minow of the state’s highest award, so we missed out on one heck of a caption contest today. Perhaps you can make something up for us in comments.
Have fun.
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Playing both sides
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bruce Rauner has been making the rounds of association lobby day events the past two session weeks. I’ll have more on this for subscribers, but it was pretty obvious that, after months of attacking the Springfield culture, Rauner was doing everything he could to ingratiate himself with people who spend their lives working in that very culture.
Anyway, Bernie looked at some of what Rauner said in Springfield last week…
“I’m right in the middle of the process of meeting with every legislator here in Springfield,” Rauner said. “I want to get to know them all. I’ve spent time with the speaker and the president and the caucus leaders and their members. I’ve met with all the Republican members, and I’m in the process of meeting with all the Democratic members.” […]
“Maybe Mr. Rauner confused his Cullertons, because the Senate president hasn’t talked to him in three years,” and it was about school reform, said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Cullerton. “There was no meeting. There was no conversation. There was no telephone call.” She said Rauner also has not met with state Sen. Tom Cullerton of Villa Park, a distant cousin of the president.
Steve Brown, spokesman for Madigan, said as far as he knows, the last time Madigan met with Rauner was more than two years ago, also on school reform.
* Now, compare that to what Rauner told reporters when he turned in his term limit petitions…
“We have career politicians who are fundamentally corrupt and engaging in patronage cronyism and failing the people of our state, and we’ve got to dramatically change that culture,” Rauner said at the event.
* Bernie asked Steve Brown for a comment…
“He was calling everybody corrupt, career politicians,” at one event, Brown said, “and now he’s trying to pretend like … he’s having meetings and he’s not making them the boogeyman.”
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Today’s numbers
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* All emphasis added. Doug Finke…
Sen. Bill Brady R-Bloomington, has introduced a bill adding the Obama library to the list of charities to which Illinois income tax filers can make contributions. It would join the other options for charitable contributions like breast cancer research, diabetes research, military family relief, child abuse prevention and others.
Construction of the library wouldn’t hinge entirely on the tax check-off. That’s good. Last year, the top charity on the tax form brought in about $153,000. At that pace, it would only take about 653 years to raise $100 million for the library.
* Kurt Erickson…
The election board’s work on the proposed amendments began Wednesday when the Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits showed up at the offices with a 36-foot-long box filled with 67,976 pieces of paper holding more than 590,000 signatures. […]
On Thursday, the Yes For Independent Maps coalition dropped off a 27-foot box filled with about 37,000 pieces of paper holding more than 532,000 signatures. […]
Borgsmiller said if each piece of paper turned in by the groups were laid end to end, the paper trail would stretch 33 miles. […]
In the scanning room, a team of technicians and temporary workers huddle around eight high-tech scanners. Once the paper is digitized, a review of the signatures begins.
Rather than view each signature to ensure they are from registered voters, staffers will do a random test of 5 percent of the signatures.
* And maybe an algebra expert can figure out the University of Illinois’ layoff ratio of faculty-to-staff from these numbers in Crain’s…
After shedding roughly 12 percent of its faculty at its flagship campus since the 2007-08 school year […]
Today the institution employs 17,236 permanent workers in Champaign-Urbana, 5 percent below its 18,150 headcount in 2008-09 […]
[Chancellor Phyllis Wise] announced plans last year to add 500 faculty members by 2020, raising the number of professors to 2,350.
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Caption contest!
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Rep. Ed Sullivan…
Saw this while running the Palos Heights Half Marathon. This is Dem Country.
* The photo…
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Quinn tries to respond
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pat Quinn appeared on several Chicago TV stations on Friday to defend himself after it was revealed that the feds are looking into his horribly botched 2010 anti-violence initiative. Here are some of the links…
* ABC 7: Quinn defends handling of anti-violence program amid probe
* NBC 5: Quinn Responds to Probe of Troubled Anti-Violence Program
* CBS 2: Quinn Takes Blame For Botched Anti-Violence Program — But Credit For Shutting It Down
* I’ve already dissected Quinn’s comments for subscribers today, so I won’t go into too many details again here. Suffice it to say that I wasn’t impressed or convinced.
And this is from the CBS 2 story…
“It was a program that was designed to protect the public safety and violence-plagued neighborhoods and to provide jobs for young people, mentoring,” the governor says.
Spending records CBS 2 obtained tell a different story. In Maywood, where murders dropped from a high of 10 in 2008 to two in 2009, Quinn’s program gave the Village of Maywood millions. In 2010, the Democratic machine in Maywood cranked out more votes for Quinn in 2010 than for Rod Blagojevich both times he won the governor’s race.
Quinn OK’d millions to Healthcare Consortium of Illinois, based in Dolton, to dole out funds to worthy groups. A document CBS 2 obtained shows politicians ruled the advisory board.
It included three state representatives, two state senators and Frank Zuccarelli, the powerful supervisor of Thornton Township.
Oy.
* And the Tribune takes a look at recent history of busts and convictions over state grants…
Last month, Quinshaunta Golden, a onetime top aide to former state public health chief Dr. Eric Whitaker, pleaded guilty in a $400,000 state grant kickback scam. Prosecutors have agreed to request that Golden, niece of Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago, be sentenced to no more than 10 years in prison. Whitaker, a close friend of President Barack Obama’s, has said he is fully cooperating with the government and not involved “in any way” with the alleged crimes in the case.
Before that, the daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s controversial former minister, was convicted of laundering thousands of dollars from a $1.25 million state grant for a Chicago-based job training program. Jeri Wright has said she will appeal. Her attorney argued Wright was a victim of a web spun by longtime friend Regina Evans, the former Country Club Hills police chief who was sentenced to five years on Thursday after pleading guilty to corruption in the case. Evans had secured a state job training grant but allegedly diverted the money.
Two Chicago women were sentenced to prison last October after pleading guilty to diverting grant money intended to encourage more minorities in Chicago to become nurses. One of them, Margaret Davis, said then-state Sen. Rickey Hendon helped secure the grant money. The flamboyant West Side politician abruptly resigned in February 2011, months after revelations that a federal grand jury issued subpoenas for records on dozens of state grants, some of which he sponsored. Hendon has not been charged.
The task force’s efforts claimed the political career of former state Rep. Connie Howard, who pleaded guilty last year to diverting as much as $28,000 from a scholarship fund she created to benefit needy students.
Democratic state Rep. Derrick Smith, already expelled once from the Illinois House, is scheduled to face trial this month in Chicago after federal investigators alleged he pocketed $7,000 from a day care operator who wanted him to write an official letter supporting a bid for a $50,000 state grant in 2012. The operator was working undercover for the FBI. Smith, who lost his March primary election, has denied any wrongdoing.
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Today’s quotable
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown on the net out-migration from Illinois…
Darren Lubotsky, an associate professor of economics at the University of Illinois and another handy guy with census data, cautions against using the population statistics to support a particular political narrative.
“Illinois has been a net exporter of people for a long time. These are long-term trends. This isn’t caused by the latest state budget crisis or anything like that,” Lubotsky said. “This isn’t something that just happened in the last 10 years.”
And no matter how many Illinois residents are talking about moving, relatively few actually will, he said. That’s just the pattern throughout the U.S. in recent years.
I can’t discount the connection between government policies, jobs and migration. But I don’t accept that the best solution is to create an Illinois economy where employers reign supreme, the rich get richer and workers suck it up like in the Good Old Days.
If that’s where we’re headed, I’m going to need to start looking for a beach. [Emphasis added.]
Your thoughts?
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The strong power of partisanship in Illinois
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
I commissioned a We Ask America poll on April 21st of the races for governor, comptroller and treasurer. But I forgot to put the candidates’ party labels in the poll’s questions. The results came out very weird.
Bruce Rauner led Gov. Pat Quinn by 11 points in that poll, 49-38. Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka trounced Lt. Governor Sheila Simon by an astounding 27-point, 56-29 margin. And Rep. Tom Cross led Sen. Mike Frerichs in the state treasurer’s race by 13 points, 33-20.
The Topinka crosstabs were bizarre. The Republican was leading among Democrats 55-30, ahead in Chicago 57-23 and among African-Americans 55-22. No way.
Garbage in, garbage out, as they say, so I dumped the poll and ran a new one on April 27th. This time we identified the candidates’ party affiliations.
The results were strikingly different.
In the second, April 27th poll, which specifically told respondents which candidate was a Democrat and which was a Republican, The Republican Rauner and the Democrat Quinn were tied 44-44 - an eleven-point swing. Topinka still led big, but by a much more believable 51-38 - a 14-point swing. And Republican Cross’s lead over the Democrat Frerichs dropped to 41-37 - a nine-point swing.
Both polls had almost identical partisan breakdowns of respondents and both had similar margins of error, ±3.21 percent in the first poll and ±3.14 percent in the second.
The crosstabs show just how dramatically the results changed when voters were given candidate party labels.
The first poll, which didn’t give voters the candidates’ party labels, Rauner led 62-27 among Downstaters. But the second poll, which did include the partisan info, Rauner’s Downstate lead dropped to 52-33. Among whites, Rauner led 57-33 in the first poll, but 51-38 in the second, when they knew which party the candidates belonged to.
The partisanship impact was even more clear with traditionally Democratic-leaning constituencies. Rauner’s recent TV ads have featured his Democratic wife, and the first poll found that Rauner actually led Quinn among women 44-41 when women weren’t told which party he or Quinn represented. But when women did have that partisan information, they flipped big to Quinn in the second poll, 48-38.
When African-Americans weren’t told that Rauner was a Republican, he trailed Quinn 55-22. But when black voters were given both candidates’ party labels, Quinn led Rauner 70-19. That’s still not horrible for Rauner, but far more believable.
Rauner ran some Spanish-language TV ads after the primary was over, and the first poll, which didn’t tell Latino voters that he was a Republican, showed him winning that crucial demographic by 3 points, 37-34. But the second poll, which identified Rauner as a Republican, had Quinn winning Latinos 52-36.
Let’s look at the Topinka numbers, which were what initially made me realize that I’d made a wording mistake. Topinka has been around for decades and voters clearly like her. She’s also a liberal-leaning Republican, which makes her much more electable in Illinois.
But Topinka’s 55-30 lead over Simon among Democrats in the first poll was more than reversed to a 24-67 deficit when Democrats were told that Topinka was a Republican. Her initial 57-23 lead in Chicago and 55-22 margin among African-Americans were also reversed in the second poll, when she trailed Simon 35-54 in the city and 29-58 among African-Americans. And her 55-28 lead among women dropped to 48-40 when voters knew that Simon was a Democrat and Topinka was a Republican.
Tom Cross is better known that Michael Frerichs because of his years as a legislative leader who lives in the Chicago media market and because he had a contested GOP primary race. Frerichs’ 26-19 lead among Democrats rose to a 68-11 lead when Democrats were given candidate party affiliation labels a week later.
The difference between the two polls is far more interesting to me than the actual results. It’s early. Results will change over time.
But if it wasn’t before, it’s now crystal clear that a large number of likely voters cast their ballots based on partisanship. And as a result the Republican Party faces a gigantic hurdle in Illinois. That’s probably not news to most of us, but at least now it’s somewhat quantifiable.
Discuss.
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An attempt at real unity
Monday, May 5, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
The Democratic Party in Illinois is dominated by powerful, entrenched politicians with huge egos who don’t really care much about each other.
It’s not that they necessarily go out of their way to hurt one another, mind you. It’s that they don’t do more than is absolutely necessary to help each other. Yet a recent summit is a sign the Democrats want to change.
Despite their long tenures, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin don’t work together very well. Mr. Durbin was elected to the Senate in 1996 after serving in the U.S. House for 14 years.
Over the years Mr. Durbin has unofficially assumed several of the duties normally held by the state party chairman, a post held since 1998 by Mr. Madigan.
Although Mr. Madigan has focused on his House candidates to the exclusion of everyone and everything else, he doesn’t often care for the way Mr. Durbin has usurped his role.
Gov. Pat Quinn, who is up for re-election, is a longtime political outsider. He lacks the clout of Messrs. Durbin and Madigan and operates mostly in his own domain, although he often has helped lower-tiered candidates.
The same go-it-alone approach applies to organized labor. The trade unions never have loved the public employees unions, and government workers are still furious at Mr. Quinn, Mr. Madigan and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton over the pension overhaul law passed in December.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees hasn’t given any money to Mr. Madigan’s campaign committees in years.
But something happened this year that has changed everything.
Click here to read the rest of the story.
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Stay requested on pension law
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The State University Annuitants Association has filed a motion requesting that the relevant portions of the pension reform law be stayed. WUIS has more…
These workers can escape some of the pension reductions if they quit before July. But once someone retires, there’s no going back.
The filing argues that “misinformation and confusion” surrounding the pension law is widespread.
And with State University Retirement System overwhelmed with members seeking counseling, people are having to make these decisions without “the benefit of full information.” It says many workers may be compelled to retire on the mere chance the law would be upheld.
Though the motion is specific to members of the State University Retirement System, a stay would likely be effective for all affected public employees.
I’ve requested a copy of the motion. Check this post for updates in a bit.
…Adding… Click here to read the motion.
…Adding more… With a hat tip to a reader, this was in the DeKalb Daily Chronicle…
As many news organizations have reported in the past week or so, the new, controversial pension “reform” law includes a mistake that affects some public university employees and is causing what some are calling “a mass exodus.”
That’s not an exaggeration. Just at NIU, it’s been reported that as many as 800 employees, or 20 percent, are suddenly heading for the exits. Without even concentrating, I personally can think of about 10 people leaving. Sure, some faculty members might come back to teach on an ad hoc basis, but many won’t and very few staff will return.
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Question of the day
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sean Sullivan writing in the Washington Post’s “The Fix”…
The road to reelection for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) was always going to be difficult. But it looks even harder at the end of a troubling week for the Democrat when a federal probe of an anti-violence initiative he started has received widespread attention in the state.
At minimum, the episode is an unwelcome distraction; at most, it could become a big blow to the good-government image Quinn has carefully crafted, close watchers say. […]
A large part of Quinn’s path to victory will depend upon how negative a light Democrats can cast Rauner in during the run-up to November. But the more the focus is on Quinn, the more difficult his path becomes.
Keep in mind that Rod Blagojevich was reelected a few days after his top fundraiser Tony Rezko was indicted and that Quinn was elected in 2010 with an approval rating in the 30s. Also keep in mind that Bruce Rauner has a whole lot more money to spend than any GOP nominee in many a year.
* The Question: On a scale of one to five, with one being the least and five being the most, rate the impact of this anti-violence initiative scandal on Quinn’s reelection chances. Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
customer survey
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Beyond the rhetoric
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an op-ed by Kent Redfield on the proposed constitutional amendment to reform redistricting…
This redistricting amendment is straightforward: Create an independent commission of Illinois citizens who would draw state maps in a transparent way, using nonpartisan, criteria. Those criteria would include keeping together communities of common interests — economic, social, racial, linguistic or cultural.
They also include respecting existing city and geographic boundaries and complying with state and federal voting rights laws. And the criteria prohibit the commission from favoring one political party over another or using district boundaries to reward or punish any incumbent legislator.
The number of signatures collected showing support for putting the proposal on the ballot make it unlikely a challenge to their validity will be successful. My reading of the proposal is in agreement with many experts who believe the Illinois Supreme Court will turn back any legal challenge to the proposal.
Yet political leaders in control of the legislature are laying the groundwork to challenge this measure.
Why use precious resources against long odds? The risk does offer a reward. If efforts to block the proposal from being on the November ballot are successful, it will relieve those in power from having to defend the failed status quo.
During the debate over the constitutional convention several years ago, I argued forcefully and repeatedly for a convention based mostly on this one issue of redistricting reform. Politicians shouldn’t be allowed to choose their own voters.
* But there’s a real constitutional issue here. This is what the Illinois Constitution says about citizen amendment initiatives…
Amendments shall be limited to structural and procedural subjects contained in Article IV
Article IV is the General Assembly’s article.
* But this is from the proposed amendment’s language on the composition of the Redistricting Commission…
For ten years after service as a Commissioner or Special Commissioner, a person is ineligible to serve as a Senator, Representative, officer of the Executive Branch, Judge, or Associate Judge of the State or an officer or employee of the State whose appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate.
By prohibiting people from running for judge or statewide office for ten years, the proposal goes well beyond anything in Article IV.
And that’s a real problem, no matter what the merits of the issue of redistricting reform itself may be. I can understand the reform reasoning for putting that campaign ban in there, but I don’t yet see the constitutional support for it.
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Wheeler on the rebates
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Charlie Wheeler has the best criticism I’ve yet seen on the proposal by House Speaker Michael Madigan and Gov. Pat Quinn to mail out $500 “property tax rebate” checks before the November election…
Quinn touted the idea as “the most significant property tax relief in state history,” at best a dubious claim for a couple of reasons. Chief among them is the fact that the annual $500 check would not be linked at all to actual property tax payments, nor would the giveaway benefit everyone. Indeed, homeowners whose tax bills exceed $10,000 actually would lose money under the governor’s plan, because they’d no longer have the current income tax credit equal to 5 percent of property taxes paid. Renters would get nothing, even though they also pay property taxes as part of their monthly payments.
The governor likened his plan to former Gov. Jim Edgar’s 1997 effort to raise income tax rates to provide more money for local schools and to cut local property taxes, also a stretch if not downright mendacious. The key difference: A major feature of the Edgar tax swap proposal called for a dollar-for-dollar reduction in local school levies for some $900 million in additional state aid, which analysts at the time estimated would amount to almost a 30 percent cut in school operating taxes. Quinn’s plan ignores local property tax levies altogether.
In addition to property tax relief, the Edgar proposal also would have increased state aid to poorer school districts by some $600 million; the only way the governor’s $500 checks would help struggling schools would be if the folks who got them splurged at PTA fundraisers.
Still, maintaining income tax rates at current levels, as Quinn wants, is critical to the financial well-being of the state’s schools, which would lose more than $600 million in general funds otherwise, according to budget documents. With the rates in place, the budget recommends a $291 million general funds increase.
Using the $700 million in net new cost for those rebate checks could boost that school spending increase to a billion dollars.
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Beware the radicals
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an anti-fracking op-ed by William Rau…
Last year, I emailed Illinois legislators showing how the definition of high-volume horizontal fracturing in the Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing Act created a loophole exempting oil producers from the law. Legislators dismissed the warning and passed the Frack Act last May. Now, Denver-based Strata-X is preparing to frack a horizontal well next month with a permit filed under the old Illinois Oil & Gas Act.
The consequences? First, permit fees drop from $13,500 per well to $15 per well when Strata-X drills its 100-plus planned wells. Second, production taxes, which are 11 percent in North Dakota, drop from about 3 percent to one-tenth of 1 percent in Illinois with all revenue going to an oil promotion board. Counties can forget about receiving state funds for highway repairs.
Third, blanket bond moneys for plugging defunct wells and cleaning up well sites drop from $500,000 — already inadequate for preventing bond forfeiture — to $25,000. For 100 wells, that’s $250 per well, about 1/100th of actual plugging and cleanup costs.
Guess who will be stuck with the cleanup costs?
Finally, public notice requirements, baseline water testing, insurance provisions, modest environmental protections and setbacks, earthquake mitigation, bans on open pit storage of frack waste water, etc., are all gone.
* There’s also another claimed loophole. SJ-R…
Environmental groups dismissed draft rules released in November as riddled with loopholes favoring the oil and gas industry.
Opponents of the practice of using high-pressure water and chemicals to free oil and gas from rock formations also are pushing for a fracking moratorium in the spring legislative session.
“The big issue with us is the fact that we are pretty convinced the industry is already dry fracking,” said Annette McMichael, spokeswoman for Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment.
McMichael said dry fracking relies on nitrogen and propane to circumvent limits on the volume of water and chemicals permitted.
* I asked Mark Denzler of the IMA to respond…
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Mr. Rau’s continued forays against energy development in Illinois. Mr. Rau and IPA are publicly on record as opposing any form of hydraulic fracturing in Illinois so his latest op ed is simply more of the same on this topic.
For the record, there are no loopholes in the Illinois law. The General Assembly, working in concert with industry, environmental community and the Attorney General’s office, crafted a strong law regulating the new generation technology known as high volume hydraulic fracturing. It’s interesting to note that a few days ago, the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana reached a milestone of producing its 1 billionth barrel of oil while we continue to wait for the Department of Natural Resources to promulgate final rules.
The definition of a high volume hydraulic fracturing operation is 300,000 gallons of fluid (not simply water) or 80,000 gallons per stage. The total gallonage standard was a last second request by the environmental community during negotiations and inclusion of a conversion factor is being discussed as part of the rulemaking process. Generally speaking, HVHF operations use millions of gallons of water so in reality Illinois set a very low threshold in order to ensure that the new regulations captured a wide range of operations. these operations must comply with the new law. Illinois policymakers clearly wanted to delineate the difference between conventional wells and new HVHF wells and they took the time to do their homework to craft a law that recognizes the differences.
Secondly, Illinois set a very stringent standard by defining a horizontal well as one that deviates more than 100 feet from surface to bottom hole location. Nearly every well has deviation and Illinois’ definition is very strong.
The legislature was diligent in making sure the law was tailored to address precisely the types of unconventional operations that have been the subject of media and policy discussion in other states.
So, actually, there is sort of a loophole for “dry fracking” in the legislation, but the conversion factor between nitrogen or propane and water is currently under discussion.
Also, I’m told it’s very likely that Strata-X’s project can’t circumvent the current law. We’ll see, but the standards are pretty darned tough.
In other words, the sky most likely isn’t falling.
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Credit Unions – Paying it Forward in their Communities
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions have a well-recognized reputation for providing exemplary service in meeting their members’ daily financial needs. A “People Helping People” philosophy also motivates credit unions to support countless community charitable activities on a continual basis. Financial Plus Credit Union is no exception, having raised and donated tens of thousands of dollars for many worthwhile causes throughout north central Illinois. This includes serving as the main sponsor and co-host of the local Easter Seals telethon, conducting food drives for local food pantries, collecting supplies during times of disaster such as last year’s flooding, and much more. Members are also seeing new donation canisters in the credit union’s lobbies this year that facilitate collections for a different local organization each quarter. Staff members has also come to the aid of the community via donating individual funds to help families facing significant medical crises, and purchasing holiday gifts on a private basis for foster children. Credit unions are able to wholly serve their communities because of their not-for-profit cooperative structure and leadership of a volunteer board elected by and from the local membership. Financial Plus has been family managed since its inception in 1951 and for the past 38 years under the leadership of Jack Teausant. Credit unions– locally owned, voluntarily led, and Paying it Forward in your community.
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Today’s numbers
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jeff Ignatius looks at another reason why the progressive “Fair Tax” proponents might be better off waiting until next year, if, of course, the 5 percent income tax is made permanent…
• Compared to the pre-2011 flat-income-tax rate of 3 percent, the Fair Tax represents a tax break for only those whose net income is below roughly $13,150. (Over-simplistically, net income is total income minus the standard deduction of $2,100 per person in a household. So for a married couple with two dependent children, $13,150 in net income would be the same as $21,550 in total income.)
• Compared to the 3.75-percent income-tax rate that is scheduled to take effect on January 1, the Fair Tax plan represents a tax cut to taxpayers with net incomes up to roughly $21,740.
• Compared to the 5-percent income-tax rate that took effect in 2011 and is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, the Fair Tax plan represents a tax cut for those with net incomes up to roughly $202,630. This is the comparison that Fair Tax advocates are making with the promise of tax cuts for 94 percent of Illinoisans. (You can see how your income-tax picture looks in this scenario at FairTaxCut.com. Be sure to enter your total income before the $2,100-per-person standard deduction.)
Yet even if one compares the Fair Tax plan to the 5-percent rate, the tax cut is modest. At $180,000 of net income, a taxpayer’s bill under the Fair Tax plan would be $430 less than it is now – a tax cut of less than 5 percent.
As a percentage of taxes owed, the Fair Tax plan would benefit lower-income taxpayers most, but even then it would amount to only a few hundred dollars. (The tax cut doesn’t reach $300 until $50,000 of net income.) Still, for taxpayers with net incomes below roughly $62,000, it is a tax cut of more than 10 percent from what they’re currently paying.
The lower-income tax cuts are offset by tax hikes for higher incomes. A taxpayer with $1 million in net income will see a tax hike of $15,150 (more than 30 percent) compared to the current 5-percent-flat-tax rate, and $27,650 (almost 74 percent) compared to the scheduled 3.75-percent rate. At $300,000 of net income, the tax hike is $1,850 (more than 12 percent) compared to the 5-percent flat rate, and $5,600 (almost 50 percent) compared to 3.75 percent.
Thoughts?
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Grant probe is “not over”
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
The former police chief of County Club Hills was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for diverting $917,000 from a state job-training grant to help remodel her home, travel to Las Vegas and distribute cash to her family and friends.
Regina Evans, 51, tearfully begged U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough to not “take my life away,” before the sentence was handed down. Federal prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of more than 10 years.
After the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass said the investigation that led to Evans conviction and has also taken down former state Rep. Connie Howard, Jeri Wright, the daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and a top state public health official, is ongoing.
“It’s not over,” Bass said.
* More on that last line from the Sun-Times…
Without naming names, [Evans’ lawyer, Lawrence Beaumont] lashed out at the prosecution during the hearing, accusing the government of having a “misguided vendetta” against her. He said she “made telephone calls” and wore a wire on behalf of the government in pursuit of other targets, but she didn’t deliver any prized political pelts sought by prosecutors.
“In my humble opinion, part of the prosecution in this case had some kind of vendetta against her because she refused to cooperate or didn’t cooperate the way they felt she should against some political people in Chicago. They seem to want to take that out on her, which in my opinion is inappropriate,” Beaumont said.
During testimony in her two-day sentencing hearing, U.S. Postal Inspector Basil Demczak indicated the government criminal investigation into grant fraud at the Department of Commerce and Opportunity remains ongoing.
Asked later to clarify those remarks, Bass said, “I can only speak for what’s in the record. Again, what’s in the record is what Inspector Demczak testified to, and that is this case arose from an investigation of DCEO’s employment opportunity grant program that was targeted at helping underrepresented persons, underprivileged minority persons in the Chicago-area community.
“The investigation involved not just looking at Ms. Evans as one grantee but the entire program and whether or not other persons, other grantees, or other public officials had engaged in any wrongdoing. Inspector Demczak testified that investigation is ongoing,” Bass said, declining to name any targets.
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A much better response
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the problems with some Republican opposition to House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bill to appropriate $100 million to help fund the construction of an Obama presidential library was that the GOPs set a rhetorical trap for themselves. For instance…
“We’re not opposed to the library, but we have lots of other needs,” [Republican Rep. Ed Sullivan] said, citing, for example, Emanuel’s push to outfit more city schools with air-conditioning.
“Do you want to pay for air conditioning in schools or a library? Do you want to pay for cops on the streets to stop the killing or do you want to pay for a library?” Sullivan said.
Statements like that made it appear that they could support big, new spending for Chicago.
* Sen. Bill Brady’s idea to allow Illinois taxpayers to contribute via income tax checkoff is much better…
“We absolutely want future presidential libraries to be built in Illinois. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library has proven to be a major tourist destination, bringing people from around the country and world to visit Springfield,” Brady said. “However, simply put, Illinois doesn’t have $100 million to spend on a presidential library. State funds are already spread too thin to pay off our debt, make upgrades to our roads and provide essential services.”
If approved, the tax check-off would appear on tax returns in 2015 with any proceeds going toward the construction of the library. If less than $100,000 is collected, the check-off would be eliminated.
* Even Madigan’s mouthpiece couldn’t say a whole lot in response…
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said contributions to tax check-offs have been “spotty.” But he said the speaker welcomed the additional fundraising option.
“We thank Senator Brady for his endorsement,” Brown said.
Discuss.
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An Illinois tradition
Friday, May 2, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Twitters…
* Bill Cameron at WLS has more…
The feds in Springfield are now on the case investigating Governor Pat Quinn’s very controversial anti-violence program that the GOP calls a slush fund to buy black votes before the 2010 election.
This is the fourth Illinois governor in a row to be investigated by the feds. Before Quinn, governors Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan did time, or still is doing time, for selling their offices. Even Jim Edgar was probed in the MSI scandal, but survived the search.
Jim Thompson was not investigated, but he was the feds, having been the U.S. attorney who sent another governor to prison, Otto Keener, in a race track stock scandal. Governor Dan Walker did time, not for corruption, but for bank fraud after he was out of office.
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Quinn wants to ban “puppy mill” sales
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Has anybody told Pat Quinn that Bill Brady lost the primary? From a press release..
Governor Pat Quinn today announced his support for legislation to end “puppy mill” sales at pet stores in Illinois. The legislation, sponsored by State Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) and State Representative Dan Burke (D-Chicago), would prohibit Illinois pet shops from selling dogs and cats they have acquired from commercial “breeders” – often large facilities that mass-produce animals for sale. Today’s announcement is part of Governor Quinn’s agenda to improve animal welfare in Illinois and protect pets and their owners.
“This proposal will help end inhumane puppy mills, protect pet owners and help shelter animals find loving homes,” Governor Quinn said. “Cook County will soon offer this humane protection and together we can build on that momentum for families across Illinois.”
Senate Amendment 1 to House Bill 4056 would require pet shops to sell only those dogs and cats they have acquired from an animal shelter or animal control facility. Pet shops could no longer sell dogs or cats they have acquired from a breeder, but the bill allows responsible breeders to sell directly to individuals. The legislation is supported by the Humane Society of the United States.
“This measure ensures safer and more humane treatment of pets and will also guarantee that people will be able to purchase healthy dogs and cats,” Senator Kotowski said.
“Pets are a part of many families, and this legislation will help when choosing one of these new family members,” Representative Burke said. “It will also reduce the number of shelter animals and bring more healthy pets into Illinois homes.”
Many pet stores do not disclose the true origins of the animals they obtain from commercial breeding operations. The animals are often produced in unhealthy or inhumane environments that could result in heartache or large veterinary bills for unsuspecting buyers. Responsible breeders usually want to meet their buyers in person to ensure their puppies or kittens find a good home and that pet owners’ questions about the animals can be fully answered.
“This legislation would help end the euthanasia of thousands of adoptable dogs and cats every year in the state, and will drive the market toward responsible breeders and adoptions of homeless animals from shelters and rescues instead of puppies produced in puppy mills,” Kristen Strawbridge, Illinois State Director of the Humane Society of the United States said.
“This legislation is about both animal welfare and consumer protection,” Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey said. “I commend Governor Quinn for his leadership on this issue that will make healthier pets and happier owners throughout Illinois.”
“The filthy and abusive conditions found in puppy mills are beyond inhumane,” said Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, who helped enact the city ordinance that inspired this proposed state legislation. “This legislation is about protecting not only the pets we love, but also the consumers who want to provide a loving home to an animal that needs one. I’m very proud that the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago are national leaders when it comes to humane animal laws.”
Governor Quinn is the proud owner of a rescue dog named Rosie, a Yorkshire Terrier mix who he recently adopted from PAWS. The Governor has long been a pet lover and advocate for the humane treatment of animals. Last year he signed the “Puppy Lemon Law” to give buyers protection for pet purchases and to help reduce the possibility of emotional trauma that comes from losing a pet. He also signed new laws to help ensure that all dogs in Illinois are treated humanely when tethered outside and to provide humane options for stray farm animals such as adoption or placement in a sanctuary.
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* This story is firing up some of the bluest blogs…
As state courts across the nation prepare to referee numerous public pension reform disputes, a gaggle of interested parties — from major corporations to the Koch brothers — will next week sponsor an expenses-paid conference on public pension reform for judges who may decide the cases’ fates.
Conference funders, which include ExxonMobil, Google and Wal-Mart, could benefit from efforts to slash benefits for public employees. Alternative approaches to shore up state budgets would likely require higher corporate taxes, fewer corporate subsidies and reduced government services, all of which would be bad for business. […]
[David Sirota, a liberal writer and commentator], for one, said the conference hosted by George Mason’s Law & Economics Center is “an effort to lobby judges.”
“It’s crossing a line that’s not supposed to be crossed,” he said. “What’s next? Is a company going to be able to hire a lobbyist to go lobby a judge in chambers?”
Illinois is featured prominently in the story, so I checked with Joe Tybor over at the Illinois Supreme Court to ask if any justices were planning to attend the conference. He asked them all and told me that none were going.
* Meanwhile, from Illinois Review…
Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey said Wednesday that Illinois towns and cities would be in a better position to face their public safety pension obligations if they had the ability to file for bankruptcy.
The statement came during a downstate and suburban mayors’ news conference held in Illinois’ state capitol. […]
“Soaring pension costs aren’t just a Chicago issue or a state issue. The fire and police pension systems are suffocating the budgets of every town, village and city in Illinois,” said Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. “In Peoria, for every dollar the city pays a firefighter, we pay over 50 additional cents to fund their pension. For police officers, it’s 41 additional cents.
Thoughts?
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Feds taking a look
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Auditor General Bill Holland forwarded his documents from his audit of Gov. Pat Quinn’s horribly botched anti violence program to the US Attorney in Springfield. That office then made a call to the comptroller in late March asking for some records…
“We have been contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative,” spokesman Brad Hahn said following an inquiry from the Chicago Sun-Times political portal E&O. “There was a request for information, I can’t go into the nature of what they were looking for.”
The request was made on March 27th by phone, Hahn said.
“I can’t disclose the nature of the request from law enforcement, it’s a legal issue,” he said. “In keeping with the attorney general’s interpretation of FOIA, I can confirm we’ve been contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice.” […]
Sources with knowledge of the exchange said investigators asked for vendor information, copies of contracts and copies of signed checks tied to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.
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Question of the day
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Reboot…
The Chicago pension bill backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and passed by Springfield is sitting on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk, and the governor is in no hurry to sign it. […]
Quinn doesn’t want to sign off on legislation that could possibly lead to an increase in property taxes for Chicagoans, especially after he trumpeted property tax relief in his 2014 budget address. Instead, Quinn proposed giving out extra tax revenue in the state to municipalities in need of pension fixes, including Chicago.
Emanuel has no problem with the governor sharing a greater amount of the state income tax revenue with municipalities, but that won’t replace the need to raise property taxes in Chicago, he said.
* The Question: What do you think Gov. Quinn will do with the Chicago pension reform bill? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
surveys
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The fear of change
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The University of Illinois at Chicago interviewed several dozen guardians of Jacksonville Developmental Center, which was closed by the Quinn administration. The center cared for severely disabled residents. The closure was hugely controversial.
Initially, the vast majority of guardians, 83 percent, were dissatisfied with the facility’s closure. But since then, 89.2 percent said they are now somewhat to very satisfied with their ward’s current living situation.
Also, 33 percent said their wards were “significantly” better off after the closure, while another 27 percent said they were “somewhat” better. 27 percent said there was no change and 13 percent said the situation was somewhat worse. Nobody, however, said their ward’s situation was significantly worse.
* But, not all went well…
The majority of survey respondents felt that the closure process moved too quickly.
• 52% said it was too fast;
• 43% said it moved at a good pace; and
• 5% said it moved too slowly.
* Anyway, the Tribune referenced this March report in an editorial today about Quinn’s plans to close a similar facility….
Bruce Rauner, the Republican candidate for governor, recently announced that he opposes Quinn’s plans to close the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia. “Right now, Murray Center is the best option for these families,” Rauner said at a Saturday appearance there.
Rauner wants to keep the center operating until the relatives and guardians of all of its 222 residents are willing to accept an alternative placement for their loved ones, a campaign spokesman said.
This mystifies us. Doesn’t Rauner profess to be the candidate who will make the tough decisions to put Illinois on sound financial footing? In this case, he’s taking political advantage of a tough decision made by Quinn … to put Illinois on sound financial footing. […]
Here’s the argument we would have expected Rauner to make:
Illinois’ remaining seven developmental centers serve about 1,800 residents at an annual cost of $240,000 per person. The cost of community-based group homes averages less than one-third of that amount, though the cost varies depending on the level of care provided. According to evidence presented by the state in the federal lawsuit seeking to block the closing of Murray, Illinois stands to save $100,000 a year for each Murray resident who makes the transition to community care.
Discuss.
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* Bruce Rauner spent months bashing state employees and their unions, but now wants them to help take down Gov. Pat Quinn. From a press release…
CALL (855) PAT-TIPS
Bruce Rauner’s campaign today launched a statewide whistleblower tip line for citizens who wish to anonymously report incidents of corruption, including patronage hiring and misuse of state funds. The “Pat Quinn Corruption Hotline” comes amid reports that Pat Quinn and his administration are under investigation by the state’s inspector general for illegal hiring practices and separately under investigation by the Cook County State’s Attorney for misuse of state anti-violence funding.
On Wednesday, Gov. Quinn’s lawyer confirmed to a federal judge that the state inspector general is investigating allegations of illegal patronage hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Also Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times broke the news that the Cook County State’s Attorney had issued subpoenas probing alleged misuse of funds in a Quinn anti-violence program. Yesterday, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk and several members of the congressional delegation requested a federal investigation into whether Quinn misused federal stimulus funds to subsidize or justify patronage hiring.
“Pat Quinn has expanded Rod Blagojevich’s culture of corruption in Illinois and these investigations are just the tip of the iceberg,” Rauner campaign spokesperson Mike Schrimpf said. “We know there are good, honest, hard-working people around Illinois who have information about Pat Quinn’s corruption and patronage schemes. If you see something, say something – call the toll-free Quinn Corruption Hotline at 855-PAT-TIPS and report Pat Quinn’s wrongdoing. The people of Illinois deserve to know the truth.”
The Quinn Corruption Hotline accepts anonymous tips. Caller identities will be protected to prevent political retaliation. Tips can also be emailed to stopcorruption@brucerauner.com.
Later today, from 11:30am to 12:30pm, Rauner campaign volunteers will be outside the James R. Thompson Center (100 W. Randolph Street, Chicago) to distribute information about the hotline to state employees during their lunch breaks. Media are invited to film b-roll.
Discuss.
*** UPDATED x1 *** Gov. Quinn established a similar thing in 2009…
Governor Pat Quinn backs government watchdogs
Launches Whistleblower.Illinois.gov to crack down on corruption
CHICAGO – April 15, 2009. Governor Pat Quinn is urging government employees and taxpayers to demand integrity and honesty in state government by blowing the whistle on corruption. To advance this effort, Governor Quinn is launching Whistleblower.Illinois.gov, an interactive website that allows watchdogs to easily report suspected government corruption.
“Today is the deadline for filing U.S. tax returns that support and pay for our government. So it’s especially fitting that we demand our elected officials always operate in the taxpayers’ interest,” said Governor Quinn. “When an official betrays the public’s trust, it’s often a whistleblower that helps bring that injustice out in the open.”
Governor Quinn added that those who blow the whistle on waste and fraud in government are protected from official retribution by the Illinois Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act. In 1991, then-State Treasurer Quinn spearheaded passage of the Illinois whistleblower law.
In 2008, the Illinois Whistleblower Act was expanded to include all levels of government in the state. Since the act was strengthened, the state can collect up to three times the amount lost to fraud, along with fines up to $10,000. A whistleblower can get up to 30% of the amount recovered as a reward for upon completion of a successful whistleblower suit.
The new website, Whistleblower.Illinois.gov, provides concerned citizens details on the Illinois Whistleblower Act and advice on how to report corruption.
* Also OneMan is at the Thompson Center…
Not many people there.
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Farnham gets $4500 bond, home confinement
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Really?…
A former Illinois state representative charged with possession of child pornography was released Wednesday on $4,500 bond but ordered confined to his home pending a trial.
Former Illinois State Rep. Keith Farnham, 66, was charged Monday after two child pornography videos were found on a computer seized from his Elgin office in March, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
A federal judge on Wednesday banned him from using computers or having unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.
* Even a cursory reading of the federal complaint would make one question this judge’s decision. More…
Farnham was charged Monday with possessing two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin a week before his abrupt resignation in March.
The federal criminal complaint also alleged he used personal and state-owned computers to trade hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography and engage in graphic online chats in which he allegedly bragged about sexually molesting a 6-year-old girl. Authorities also linked a Yahoo email account used by Farnham to an online trading forum in which he chatted with other users about his sexual preferences, according to the charges.
Ugh.
* Sorry, but I don’t care about his physical health…
On Wednesday, Farnham looked gaunt and carried a portable oxygen tank. He answered “yes” to the judge when asked if he understood his rights.
Shortly after the brief hearing, Farnham’s attorney, Terry Ekl, told reporters he had not reviewed the case and could not discuss the evidence.
Ekl said his client has serious medical conditions, including a past bout with bladder cancer. Farnham is also in need of a lung transplant, Ekl said.
“Between his physical health and these charges, he’s having a very difficult time,” Ekl said.
Whatever.
My own personal opinion about what Farnham ought to do now would get me banned from my own blog.
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* The GOP opposition to House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bill appropriating $100 million for an Obama presidential library is principled and on target…
“We’re not opposed to the library, but we have lots of other needs,” [Republican Rep. Ed Sullivan] said, citing, for example, Emanuel’s push to outfit more city schools with air-conditioning.
“Do you want to pay for air conditioning in schools or a library? Do you want to pay for cops on the streets to stop the killing or do you want to pay for a library?” Sullivan said.
* Rep. Ron Sandack…
“I would love to see an Obama Presidential Library in Chicago, but believe it is incredibly irresponsible for the majority party to suggest allocating $100 million in taxpayer money to help fund it. Illinois has colossal financial problems, and at a time when critical budget areas like Education, Human Services, Infrastructure and Public Safety are underfunded, it’s just bad policy to be throwing money we don’t have toward a project we’re not required to fund.
“Representatives from the federal National Archives and Records Administration stated that all existing presidential libraries from our 31st President Herbert Hoover through our 43rd President George W. Bush, were constructed solely with privately-raised funds. The precedent is clear, and Illinois is not in a position to break tradition by offering to foot the bill.
“This isn’t Monopoly Money that would be funding this project. It’s real, hard-earned taxpayer money from the citizens of Illinois. Sometimes I wonder if the majority party forgets that they are dealing with actual dollars.
“Majority party leaders in Springfield are talking out of both sides of their mouths. They claim they must permanently extend the temporary tax increase of 2011 because the State is in dire financial trouble, and in the next breath they are advocating spending $100 million in taxpayer funds on the Obama library project. The state has $7.2 billion in unpaid bills and a $100 billion unfunded pension liability. While I support the construction of the Obama Presidential Library in Illinois, I cannot support spending taxpayer money on it. I’ll be voting no.”
* Jack Dorgan…
“We certainly think that the Obama Library in Springfield or Chicago would be a perfect location,” said Jack Dorgan, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. “But the use of public funds at this time is unacceptable. It needs to be spent on deteriorating classrooms and fixing potholes in our streets.”
* But Madigan is pretty much all about the politics…
“The people that are concerned about the optics are the people that are not supporting it. And you heard the roll call: They’re all Republicans,” Madigan told reporters.
* He did, however, address the propriety of spending tax dollars…
“We did it for Abraham Lincoln here in Springfield,” Madigan said, citing the presidential library and museum in Lincoln’s hometown for which $125 million in state funding was appropriated. “We should do it for Barack Obama in Chicago.”
To further tamp down the GOP concerns about state funding for the Obama library, Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown, added that presidential libraries across the country have been built on land that either was given or leased to those respective institutions by universities.
* More…
“You don’t have Lincoln’s friends and family any longer who could raise money,” said Representative Ed Sullivan, a Republican from suburban Chicago. “It’s apples and oranges.”
Sullivan said Obama, 52, is a “prolific fundraiser,” who with Democratic allies raised more than $1 billion for his 2012 re-election campaign. Sullivan pledged to personally contribute to the project, if public funds aren’t used.
State Senator Matt Murphy, another Republican from suburban Chicago, said Madigan’s push for the public money has more to do with “racial and partisan” politics than economic development.
“He is showing a fear that his base isn’t going to come out in this election,” Murphy said. “They are trying to gin up the usual wedge issues.”
Brown said politics are also playing a role on the Republican side.
“The Tea Party gene has kicked in,” he said in a reference to the national limited-government movement. “Anything that has the Obama name, the Tea Party wants to object to.”
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* Sun-Times…
Powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has fired a pre-emptive strike at efforts to impose term limits and to take away his Democratic Party’s power to draw the boundaries of the state’s legislative map.
Madigan’s longtime lawyer Michael Kasper filed a lawsuit this week in Cook County Circuit Court that would prevent state, county and Chicago election authorities from conducting referendums of the two proposals in November. Setting term limits and changing the state’s redistricting process would require constitutional amendments. […]
The suit takes aim at what Kasper called two petition drives that “have been (or shortly will be filed)” with state officials to generate referendums on term limits and the redistricting proposal.
“This is a taxpayer action to restrain the expenditure of public funding to consider the propriety of two proposed amendments” to the state Constitution, Kasper wrote.
He also argues in the suit that the Illinois Supreme Court already ruled 20 years ago that term limits are an “improper subject for amendments.”
* AP…
Supporters of term limits were quick to call the lawsuit a “cynical ploy” by Madigan.
The 25-page complaint, filed on behalf of a group of community leaders representing a diverse group of ethnic, racial and business interests, argues that the proposed ballot measures are invalid because they do not meet a constitutional requirement for changes to the Legislature. The complaint also says “millions of taxpayer dollars” should not be used by the Board of Elections to reach that conclusion.
A spokesman for Madigan declined to comment on any involvement in the lawsuit.
“I know Speaker Madigan believes everyone should play by the rules,” spokesman Steve Brown told The Associated Press.
* Tribune…
At the heart of the taxpayer lawsuit are previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings involving petition-driven efforts to change the state constitution. The only part of the constitution that can be amended through the petition process must affect the legislature — and the state’s highest court has created only a narrow window, ruling that any proposed change must affect the legislature both structurally and procedurally.
The lawsuit contends the term-limit amendment proposal attempts to string together several unrelated issues to try to meet the court’s structural and procedural court test.
In addition to limiting legislative service to eight years, the proposed term limit amendment would require a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a governor’s veto rather than the current three-fifths vote. It also would increase the size of the House from 118 to 123 members while reducing the Senate from 59 to 41 members. It also would eliminate the two-year terms that senators serve once every decade.
The lawsuit contends the state Supreme Court previously held that term limits, on its own, did not meet the structural and procedural test. It also alleged the increase in votes needed to override a veto was an “impermissible” transfer of power from the legislature to the governor.
As for the soon-to-be-filed remap proposal, the lawsuit notes the plan would prevent anyone serving on a newly constituted 11-member redistricting commission from becoming a lawmaker, statewide elected official or judge for 10 years. The suit contended that the new prohibitions affected qualifications for office and exceeded the scope of petition-driven amendment proposals.
* The lawsuit can be read in full by clicking here. I went into detail about the heart of the lawsuit for subscribers this morning, so I won’t be doing that here. But, to be brief, the main argument is that several items in both proposals go well beyond the Constitution’s requirement…
Amendments shall be limited to structural and procedural subjects contained in Article IV.
Anything in these proposals beyond those two changes, the suit claims, means they are unconstitutional.
* React from the Yes for Independent Maps group…
Well, it took almost no time for Mike Madigan and his lawyer to file their first frivolous lawsuit against Independent Maps. In fact, they filed it before we even got to Springfield with our petitions!
That tells you how desperate they are to keep us off the ballot, and how worried they are at the prospect of a system that puts the voters back in charge. Madigan’s blatantly political attempt to question the constitutionality of Independent Maps is just a feeble distraction from the back-room deals that dominate Illinois’ redistricting process, no matter which party is in power.
Our diverse supporters include former U.S. Attorneys, top-tier legal scholars, and many of the state’s most well-respected lawyers of all political stripes. This team spent two years making sure our amendment could withstand scrutiny, and we are confident in this proposal. It is exactly the kind of referendum that the drafters of the Illinois Constitution believed should bypass the legislature and go directly to the voters. After all, the leaders of the Illinois General Assembly have no reason to fix the system that has kept them, and their hand-picked successors, in power for decades.
We all knew the status quo would have an outsized reaction to us submitting petitions, but no one thought their fear would lead them to these depths quite so quickly. But thanks to you, tomorrow we’re going to give them over 500,000 reasons that the people of Illinois want our government back.
* Rauner campaign react…
Pat Quinn and Mike Madigan are the poster boys for term limits, and they both oppose this good-government reform so this lawsuit is no surprise.
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Sen. Kirk, GOP congressmen get into the act
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today sent a letter to Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation, asking for an immediate investigation to determine the extent to which federal funds were used to subsidize or justify the potentially illegal hiring of dozens of patronage workers at the Illinois Department of Transportation.
In the letter, the group states, “We write with extreme concern that federal funds were directly or indirectly involved in a scheme to subvert state hiring practices as mandated by the Court. Federal funds should never be provided to states to subsidize or justify political patronage. If the State of Illinois misused federally appropriated funds in this way, the American people deserve to know.”
Additionally, as Congress looks for ways to use taxpayer money more efficiently to address problems such as the highway trust fund and other infrastructure funding, the group asked Inspector General Scovel to make recommendations to ensure such misuse of federal funds can never happen again.
The full text of the letter is as follows:
Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General
United States Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave SE, West Blding7th Floor
Washington, DC 20590
Mr. Scovel:
Last week, a motion was filed in U.S. District Court against Illinois Governor Pat Quinn alleging illegal hiring practices at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), including the appointment of dozens of patronage workers to non-policy making positions in violation of a 1989 Supreme Court decision (Rutan).
According to the Associated Press, Governor Quinn “told reporters Monday that there were federal stimulus dollars that had to be spent quickly and efficiently, along with a massive capital bill” and said “the increase in jobs free from hiring rules at the Illinois Department of Transportation were ‘absolutely’ necessary.”
Additionally, according to the Associated Press, in a court proceeding on April 29, Governor Quinn’s office acknowledged “an ongoing investigation by Illinois’ inspector general of hiring practices”.
We write with extreme concern that federal funds were directly or indirectly involved in a scheme to subvert state hiring practices as mandated by the Court. Federal funds should never be provided to states to subsidize or justify political patronage. If the State of Illinois misused federally appropriated funds in this way, the American people deserve to know.
Therefore, we request that you launch an immediate investigation to determine the extent to which federal funds were used to subsidize or justify the potentially illegal hiring of dozens of patronage workers at IDOT and, further, to make recommendations to ensure such misuse of federal funds can never happen again.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz writes about yesterday’s widely expected failure of a constitutional amendment for a graduated income tax…
Mr. Harmon’s problem wasn’t with his proposal. It was with the timing of his proposal, which comes at the very same time that lawmakers are preparing to vote on making permanent the “temporary” Illinois income tax.
Instead of being revenue-neutral overall, Mr. Harmon’s proposal and companion bill would have set rates at a level designed to pull in as much money overall as the pending permanent income tax hike. Thus, only individual income below $12,000 a year would be subject to a 2.9 percent rate. Anything above that would be hit with 4.9 percent or 6.9 percent, this at a time when rates are set to revert to 3.75 percent on Jan. 1 unless the Legislature extends the “temporary” hike.
Bottom line: While Mr. Harmon was trying to sell what advocates dubbed a “fair tax,” his plan was easily dubbed a “tax increase.”
If the senator really wants to pass a graduated income tax, my suggestion is to let lawmakers do what they’re going to do this year — and that’s probably to make the current 5 percent individual tax rate permanent. Then next year, he can come back with a proposal that’s truly revenue neutral and only shifts the burden around from the bottom toward the top.
* The Question: If you could give any unsolicited advice to proponents and opponents of a graduated tax for Illinois, what would it be?
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* Holy moly…
Every state has at least some residents who are looking for greener pastures, but nowhere is the desire to move more prevalent than in Illinois and Connecticut. In both of these states, about half of residents say that if given the chance to move to a different state, they would like to do so. Maryland is a close third, at 47%. By contrast, in Montana, Hawaii, and Maine, just 23% say they would like to relocate. Nearly as few — 24% — feel this way in Oregon, New Hampshire, and Texas.
* Yeesh…
* Context…
Thirty-three percent of [US state] residents want to move to another state, according to the average of the 50 state responses. Seventeen states come close to that 50-state average. Another 16 are above the average range, including three showing an especially high desire to move. In fact, in these three — Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland — roughly as many residents want to leave as want to stay.
* More…
In the same poll, Gallup asked state residents how likely it is they will move in the next 12 months. On average across all 50 states, 6% of state residents say it is extremely or very likely they will move in the next year, 8% say it is somewhat likely, 14% not too likely, and 73% not likely at all.
* Oy…
* Keep in mind that the follow-up question of why they are planning to move has an extremely small sample size…
In most states, it is not possible to view these answers because there are too few respondents, but in each of the 11 states with the highest percentages wanting to leave, roughly 100 answered the question.
* In Illinois, 8 percent of those who said they were leaving claimed it was because of taxes (versus 14 percent of New York respondents, 8 percent of Marylanders, 6 percent of Connecticut folks, and 2 percent of N. Carolinians.
26 percent of Illinoisans who said they were leaving claimed it was work/business related, 17 percent said weather/location, 15 percent said it was for a quality of life change, 9 percent said cost of living, and 6 percent said it was for family/friends or school related.
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Overtly political
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There’s no real mystery behind this bill…
An Illinois House committee is again endorsing Speaker Michael Madigan’s plan to offer a $100 million incentive to lure Barack Obama’s presidential library to Illinois.
The Executive Committee voted 7-4 Wednesday to send the plan to the House floor. […]
Madigan believes the public money would be well spent. But public funds have never been used to build an official presidential library recognized by the National Archives.
Madigan has made it crystal clear that he will do whatever he can this spring to move legislation that will gin up his party’s base voters.
A recent Rasmussen Results poll of Illinoisans found that President Obama has a 96 percent job approval rating among African-Americans, 89 percent job approval rating among liberals, 85 percent with Democrats, 66 percent with voters 18-39 and 57 percent among women.
Madigan wants the Republicans to loudly oppose this bill, regardless of the financial cost to the state. Bet on it.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Yesterday, the Rockford Register Star became the third Illinois newspaper – joining the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times – to publish an editorial urging legislators to reject Senate Bill 2187. The bill, sometimes called “RxP,” would allow psychologists to prescribe in spite of having no medical training.
“When something as fragile as the human mind is at stake, the utmost care must be taken to ensure the highest quality of those services,” the Register Star editorial stated. “We encourage representatives to vote no.”
Also yesterday, former Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), a noted advocate for the rights of mental health patients, wrote to members of the General Assembly urging them to reject SB 2187.
“It is out of deep concern for patients and their families that I urge you to oppose Senate Bill 2187,” Kennedy wrote. “This legislation would undermine mental health care in Illinois and put patients at risk.”
Current Illinois law allows only people who have medical training – doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants – to prescribe drugs. Why does medical training matter? Physical illnesses and mental disorders are often intertwined. Additionally, psychiatric medication, such as drugs for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, can interact negatively with medication for chronic illnesses. Finally, many drugs are powerful and have risky side effects. To understand these complexities, psychiatrists go through four years of medical school and four additional years of residency, on top of their college training in the sciences. They learn to treat the whole patient – not just the brain.
Psychologists should stop insisting on a law that would put patients at risk. To become involved, join the Coalition for Patient Safety, http://coalitionforpatientsafety.com.
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A double double standard
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune editorialized on two topics today, both of which were directed at Gov. Pat Quinn and one of which was the temporary tax hike…
Keep the promise that the income tax hike would be temporary.
This was the second time since mid-April that the Trib addressed this issue…
Quinn already is hobbled by his flip-flop attempt to make permanent the supposedly temporary Quinncome tax increases that are set to roll back in January.
I don’t think the governor ever specifically “promised” - in public, anyway - that the tax hike would be temporary. He was always pretty vague on that topic until his budget address. Tons of articles were written over the past few years about how Quinn wouldn’t talk about what should happen with the tax. When he finally decided he was for making it permanent, that was really huge news.
And here’s how Quinn responded to a question about whether the tax hike would stay on the books the day after the tax hike bill passed…
“We will deal with this one day at time, one week, one month, one year at a time,” Quinn said then. “I think our job now is to take what was passed last night and carry it out.”
But Bruce Rauner has accused Quinn of breaking his promise, and the Trib has now officially sanctioned that line of attack.
…Adding… The Rauner campaign points to statements Quinn made soon after the bill passed where he called the tax “temporary” several times. But he made no specific promise that the temporary tax wouldn’t be made permanent once it partially expired this coming January. Indeed, he was specifically asked whether he’d support making it permanent that day and that’s when he gave his “We will deal with this one day at a time,” comment from above. Watch the video by clicking here. The question was asked at the about the 15:00 mark.
* The rest of the editorial was about pensions, particularly local pensions. The paper reiterated its demand that Quinn sign the Chicago pension reform bill. This is the third time the paper has made that demand, and it has not opposed a property tax hike…
Given the terrible finances of the city’s pension funds, Gov. Pat Quinn has no responsible choice other than to sign the bill, and the aldermen have little choice but to raise taxes. Barring the miraculous appearance of some substitute plan, the likeliest (and unimaginable) alternative is to let city pension funds deteriorate even further — and to send Chicago’s credit ratings even closer to oblivion.
No, we’re not happy with the prospect of higher taxes. But over the years Springfield and Chicago politicians created huge pension obligations that the funds have nowhere near enough money to pay. The consequence for taxpayers is clear. The consequence for the politicians who promised more in pension payments than Chicago could pay is … yet to be determined by voters increasingly stuck with the cost of all the pols’ retirement giveaways to public employees.
* All that despite repeated and emphatic promises by Rahm Emanuel to never raise property taxes to solve the city’s pension problems. From February, 2011…
Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday ruled out a property tax increase of any size […]
Emanuel’s pledge not to entertain a property tax increase of any size came in response to a question about how he planned to solve the city’s pension crisis.
A bill approved by the Illinois General Assembly over Mayor Daley’s objections would saddle homeowners and businesses with a $550 million property tax increase in 2015 unless pension concessions are negotiated or another new revenue source is found.
During the campaign, Emanuel ruled out raising property taxes that much, which would amount to a 90 percent increase. On Wednesday, he was asked whether he would entertain a property tax increase of any size. His answer was an emphatic no.
Hmm.
* Keep in mind that just about every penny of the income tax increase has been used to make the state’s pension payments. Whatever was said during the time it was passed, taxes were in reality jacked up so the state could responsibly meet its pension obligations. And just as the Tribune has been warning about what could happen to Chicago’s bond ratings if the pension bill isn’t signed into law and taxes aren’t raised, Wall Street pushed Illinois hard to raise taxes to stop its rapid fiscal decline.
So, an income tax hike to make long-neglected pension payments is a bad thing, while a property tax hike to make long-neglected pension payments is an acceptable thing?
And no specific promise of a temporary tax is labeled as a broken promise, while numerous promises never to raise property taxes to make pension payments is jettisoned into a bottomless memory hole?
I’m confused.
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Candidates argue over a dead idea
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sen. Mike Frerichs (D-Champaign) voted to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2011 which would merge the offices of comptroller and treasurer. The measure went nowhere in the House.
But when asked the other day by WBBM’s Craig Dellimore whether he supported merging the office, Frerichs said…
“People have said to me, ‘Wouldn’t it just be a lot more efficient if we just had one financial officer?’ And I’ve said yes, we could become very efficient, efficient like the city of Dixon, Illinois, who just had one chief financial officer and she was able, from this small little town, over several years to take something like $52 million away from them.”
* Rep. Tom Cross’ campaign pounced…
“Mike Frerichs’ opposition to streamlining these offices reveals a troubling lack of consistency and fortitude, which will cost Illinois taxpayers more despite already being victims of the Quinn/Frerichs tax and spend regime,” said Kevin Artl, Campaign Manager for Cross for Treasurer. “After the Quinn/Frerichs team raised taxes, cut funding for education and drove jobs out of Illinois, Frerichs is continuing to punish Illinois taxpayers by opposing one of the most practical, common sense cost-saving measures available to lawmakers.”
* As did the Illinois GOP…
Why did Mike Frerichs switch his position on merging the office of comptroller and treasurer? In 2011, Frerichs voted to support the measure. In January 2014, he answered the Daily Herald Treasurer candidate questionnaire by touting his support of the merger. But now in April 2014, he opposes the merger. Why the change in position?
* Frerichs held a press conference yesterday and was asked about this…
“What I said that I think he misconstrued—or his team that they probably misconstrued—is that we need to make sure that we have proper internal control in place, and checks and balances.”
* More…
“I think you can combine the offices if you have strong controls in place,” Frerichs, of Champaign, told reporters.
“If we can get those strong internal controls and checks and balances, then yes, I think we should take action to save money for the people of the state of Illinois,” he said.
Past corruption led to the creation of separate fiscal offices as part of the 1970 Illinois Constitution.
But the reality is, this idea is going nowhere as long as House Speaker Michael Madigan remains opposed.
* By the way, Cross reported raising $232K last quarter, spent $410K and had $210K cash on hand.
Frerichs raised $375K, spent $127K and had just under $1.1 million on hand.
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HB 4075: Support Ride-share Protections for All
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
You know those ride-share companies that operate like taxis?
Well, should those ride-share companies follow the same consumer protection rules as other transportation companies, like police background checks, drug testing and proper insurance requirements?
You can already see what’s happening in the absence of these protections: recently, NBC 5 Chicago investigated an ex-convict on probation with a list of felonies spanning over twenty years who became a ride-share driver almost immediately after she applied, even after her so-called “background check.” And another ride-share driver in San Francisco hit and killed a 6-year-old girl, only to have the ride-share company deny liability and the family proper insurance.
Your elected officials are soon going to decide if you deserve these consumer protections or not.
How do you want them to vote?
Support Ride-share Protections for All. Vote YES on HB 4075.
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Rauner files over 591,000 term limits signatures
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
The Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, chaired by Bruce Rauner, filed petitions today containing 591,092 signatures, nearly twice the statutory minimum, with representatives from the Secretary of State’s office at the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Term Limits and Reform has been collecting signatures in a statewide petition drive since September in order to place the Term Limits and Reform constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. Because of an outdated requirement for filing a petition with the State Board of Elections, left over from when petitions were divided by county instead of a single statewide filing, the 36-foot long, 67,976 page, 1,600-pound Term Limits and Reform petition was delivered to the Board of Elections by semi truck and required a team of over 20 to deliver.
The amendment limits state lawmakers to 8 years in the general assembly, while also making other structural and procedural changes to the legislature, including raising the threshold to override a gubernatorial veto to bring Illinois in line with 36 other states, and changing the number of state house and senate districts, saving taxpayers millions and bringing house members closer to home.
“All these reforms, especially term limits, will go a long way towards changing the insider culture of Springfield and send a message that power belongs in the hands of the people, not the career politicians and special interests,” Bruce Rauner said.
* From the Tribune…
Rauner has made support for legislative term limits a major plank in his run for governor, his first bid for public office, and the wealthy Winnetka equity investor has given $600,000 of the more than $1.6 million raised by the term-limit committee.
All told, Rauner, national term-limits advocate Howard Rich, conservative donor Richard Uihlein and real estate mogul Sam Zell have donated 76.5 percent of the money raised by the term-limit group.
After the petitions are filed, the State Board of Elections will conduct a random check of 5 percent of the signatures to determine if the proposal has enough valid registered voter names to be submitted to voters for ratification.
The proposal still is likely to face a legal challenge before the Illinois Supreme Court over whether it meets the constitutional requirement to appear before the voters.
* Meanwhile…
Wednesday in Springfield, Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno argued that limiting the Governor and other top officials to two terms in office would allow for fresh ideas.
“Sometimes we have good and useful people who feel they cannot possibly overcome the disadvantage of incumbency,” said Radogno. “and, this discourages people who are well qualified from running.”
But Democrats on the Senate subcommittee voted down the proposal 2-1.
The proposal never had a chance.
* More…
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said 35 other states place term limits on their statewide officials, and most of them are in better shape than Illinois. She said the overwhelming power of incumbency has scared away qualified candidates who might challenge the status quo. She also said voters are ready to “tear their hair out” over the lack of options at the ballot box.
Democrats, though, criticized Radogno for waiting until the last minute to introduce the amendment. Even if the Senate had approved the measure, the House would have had to add additional session days in order to take up the measure before Monday’s deadline. They also noted that a statewide official can pledge not to serve more than two terms without the amendment. Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has said he will not serve more than eight years. Gov. Pat Quinn has also said he will not run again if he is re-elected in November.
* And…
“If you believe in it, you should practice what you believe,” Clayborne told Radogno, trying unsuccessfully to extract a promise from her that should wouldn’t run for re-election as a symbolic show of support for her concept.
Radogno said she would adhere to whatever voters decide on a separate amendment aiming to limit legislators’ terms, assuming it makes it onto the fall ballot.
* The group pushing to change the way the General Assembly draws state legislative district maps is filing its petitions tomorrow.
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Illinois lagging behind again
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Pot is really going mainstream in Colorado…
The Colorado Symphony is giving new meaning to hitting a high note, announcing on Tuesday a bring-your-own marijuana concert series, the first of which features its chamber ensemble and South-of-the-border food and booze.
The U.S. states of Colorado and Washington became the first to legalize the possession and use of recreational cannabis in 2012, and the first retail pot shops opened in Colorado in January.
The orchestra’s “Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series” seeks to tap the blossoming market in a series of summer fundraising concerts, at a time when more than half of Colorado voters believe legalizing recreational marijuana has been good for the state, a recent poll showed.
The Denver Post newspaper reported the events are aimed at boosting attendance, including drawing younger concert-goers, at a time when the Colorado Symphony has struggled financially.
* Illinois is nowhere near legalization as of yet, but some folks are hoping to at least get a study going…
The group [of four Chicago-area Democrats] held a press conference Monday at the Cook County building, calling for the state to decriminalize marijuana possession and — eventually — legalize recreational use of the leafy plant.
“The main difference between the War on Drugs and Prohibition is that, after 40 years, this country still hasn’t acknowledged that the War on Drugs is a failure,” Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey said, drawing a parallel with the outlawing of booze in the early 20th Century. […]
The group has yet to drop a bill in Springfield to legalize the drug and, in reality, substantive change is likely a ways off, the group acknowledged. At this point they just want fellow Democrats in the General Assembly to green-light a task force to study the issue. The hope, they say, is that Illinois will eventually develop a more laissez-faire approach to pot, which for now is classified a “dangerous” Schedule I narcotic by the federal government.
* Two bills have been introduced to decriminalize weed, and another would lower penalties. A poll taken in late March found that 63 percent of Illinoisans support a $100 non-criminal fine for possessing an ounce or less.
* From an ACLU study…
The national marijuana possession arrest rate in 2010 was 256 per 100,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest overall marijuana possession arrest rates per 100,000 residents were:
D.C. 846
New York 535
Nebraska 417
Maryland 409
Illinois 389
• Cook County, IL (includes Chicago) made the most marijuana possession arrests in 2010 with over 33,000, or 91 per day. [Emphasis added.]
Sheesh.
But I’m not really a fan of decriminalization for two big reasons. First, criminals would still be controlling the cultivation and distribution of the drug. Second, decriminalization means no tax revenues. If it’s a step toward legalization, then fine. But only like civil unions were a step toward gay marriage. Decrim is not the final answer here.
Just legalize it already and let’s have a concert.
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* Tribune…
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has launched a probe of a troubled $55 million anti-violence program Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn put in place in 2010 amid a tough election battle.
A grand jury issued a subpoena seeking documents related to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative Program, which funneled money to various community groups in what Quinn billed as an effort to target crime in some of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods.
Republican critics contend the program was a slush fund designed to shore up support for Quinn in heavily Democratic Cook County, while a recent scathing state audit found the initiative was “hastily implemented” and failed to track how taxpayer dollars were spent.
Alvarez sought documents pertaining to the names and identities of those who received grants under the program, as well as copies of all payment invoices and related audits and compliance reports.
* The Sun-Times broke the story and shares what may be the most important part of the grand jury probe…
The request was issued to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity on March 19 and sought records tied to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative — including those for the Chicago Area Project, a program tied to the husband of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.
The Sun-Times previously reported that almost seven percent of the $2.1 million in funds given to the Chicago Area Project meant to combat crime in West Garfield Park went to Brown’s husband, Benton Cook III.
Actually, the state’s attorney went out of her way to point in Brown’s and Cook’s direction…
Correspondence from Alvarez’s office asked for “names and identities of all grantees participating in the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, including, but not limited to Chicago Area Project.”
* From that earlier Sun-Times story…
In 2011 and 2012, the West Side [Garfield Park] neighborhood got more than $2.1 million from Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration through his Neighborhood Recovery Initiative anti-violence program, state records show.
But instead of all that public money going toward quelling the shooting and other violence there, a substantial chunk of it — almost 7 percent — appears to have gone into the pocket of the husband of Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.
Benton Cook, Brown’s spouse, was paid more than $146,401 in salary and fringe benefits from state grant funds to serve as the program coordinator with the Chicago Area Project, the agency the Quinn administration put in charge of doling out anti-violence funding to West Garfield Park, state records show. […]
Separately, Cook is at the center of a newly opened investigation by Cook County’s inspector general into a June 2011 deal in which he was given land on the South Side for free by a campaign donor to his wife.
A Better Government Association/Fox 32 investigation published in the Sun-Times found that Cook, once he’d obtained the land, added his wife’s name to the property’s deed, conveyed it to a corporation they both own, then sold it for $100,000. Brown never disclosed the transaction on her county economic interest statement.
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Group launches $310K radio buy against Durbin
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Americas PAC has just completed a $310,000 radio ad buy opposing Dick Durbin’s reelection to the US Senate. The ads will begin running in late April.
“I fully anticipate Americas PAC, and myself personally, to be attacked by the full force of the Federal Government and given the full Al Salvi/Tea Party treatment,” Chairman of Americas PAC Tom Donelson said. “I expect to be audited by the IRS, to have my tax returns leaked to the media, to be investigated by multiple government agencies and be raided late at night.”
Donelson was referring to the letter Senator Dick Durbin sent to the IRS asking the agency to investigate a particular conservative group and the comments made by Mr. Salvi about his US Senate campaign against Durbin in 1996.
“I should probably just turn over my passport to a judge now,” Donelson continued.
The state-wide radio advertising campaign by Americas PAC will highlight many of Durbin’s shortcomings and liabilities including, but not limited to, the pay discrepancy between women and men on his US Senate Staff, his worthless guarantee that people could keep their health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act and his desire to bring back pork spending.
“Durbin is only polling around 50%. That is a pretty weak number for a member of leadership who has not faced a strong campaign in nearly two decades,” Donelson said. “Rather than sit on the sidelines and see what happens, Americas PAC is proactively framing the debate about Durbin.”
A recent Rasmussen poll had Durbin leading JIm Oberweis 51-37.
* The spot he sent me deals with Obamacare…
Rate it.
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Credit Unions – Paying it Forward in their Communities
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions have a well-recognized reputation for providing exemplary service in meeting their members’ daily financial needs. A “People Helping People” philosophy also motivates credit unions to support countless community charitable activities on a continual basis. Financial Plus Credit Union is no exception, having raised and donated tens of thousands of dollars for many worthwhile causes throughout north central Illinois. This includes serving as the main sponsor and co-host of the local Easter Seals telethon, conducting food drives for local food pantries, collecting supplies during times of disaster such as last year’s flooding, and much more. Members are also seeing new donation canisters in the credit union’s lobbies this year that facilitate collections for a different local organization each quarter. Staff members has also come to the aid of the community via donating individual funds to help families facing significant medical crises, and purchasing holiday gifts on a private basis for foster children. Credit unions are able to wholly serve their communities because of their not-for-profit cooperative structure and leadership of a volunteer board elected by and from the local membership. Financial Plus has been family managed since its inception in 1951 and for the past 38 years under the leadership of Jack Teausant. Credit unions– locally owned, voluntarily led, and Paying it Forward in your community.
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