Thanks for putting up with me this week. I’ll be here for at least part of next as well, so stick around because the show will still go on.
I really enjoyed your “Session” playlist suggestions in yesterday’s question. I found this one while playing through some of them and thought it was too good to not add to our list.
Please be safe if you’re traveling this weekend.
It’s good to get high, and never come down
It’s good to be king of your own little town
Friday, Apr 18, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The cable TV industry is asking lawmakers to place a NEW 5% tax on satellite TV service. This proposal is an unfair, unjustified tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV.
Satellite TV taxes will hurt Illinois families and small businesses
• Residential satellite TV subscribers will see their monthly bills go up 5%.
• This tax will impact every bar, restaurant and hotel that subscribes to satellite TV service, which will translate into higher prices, decreased revenues, and fewer jobs.
• Rural Illinois has no choice: In many parts of Illinois, cable refuses to provide TV service to rural communities. Satellite TV is their only option.
This is not about parity or fairness
• Cable’s claim that this discriminatory tax is justified because satellite TV doesn’t pay local franchise fees could not be further from the truth. Cable pays those fees to local towns and cities in exchange for the right to bury cables in the public rights of way—a right that cable companies value in the tens of billions of dollars in their SEC filings.
• Satellite companies don’t pay franchise fees for one simple reason: We use satellites—unlike cable, we don’t need to dig up streets and sidewalks to deliver our TV service.
• Making satellite subscribers pay franchise fees—or, in this case, an equivalent amount in taxes—would be like taxing the air. It’s no different than making airline passengers pay a fee for laying railroad tracks.
Police officers trying to find out who was behind a fake Twitter account set up in the name of Peoria’s mayor have raided a home, seizing computers and phones and hauling several people in to be questioned.
Tuesday’s raid was carried out by four plainclothes officers even though Twitter had suspended the account several weeks ago. Three people at the home were brought to a police station to be interviewed, as were two other people who were met by police at their workplaces.
No arrests were made in connection with the Twitter account, but one of the residents was charged with possession of marijuana, the (Peoria) Journal Star reported. Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard says officers were investigating it as a possible case of impersonating a public official, an offense punishable with a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail.
The account, @peoriamayor, has been suspended by Twitter administrators. The suspension not only prevents the account holder from using the account to add posts, but it removes all previous Tweets.
* Ironically, a number of new parody accounts for Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis and the police chief have popped up since the story became public. The Peoria Journal Star’s digital editor has compiled a list of some of those accounts.
I’m sure this isn’t the last we have heard of this story.
When it was active, (Jon) Daniel used it to portray Jim Ardis, the mayor of Peoria, as a weed-smoking, stripper-loving, Midwestern answer to Rob Ford. The account never had more than 50 followers, and Twitter had killed it because it wasn’t clearly marked as a parody. It was a joke, a lark—but it brought the police to Daniel’s door. The cops even took Daniel and one of his housemates in for in-depth questioning—they showed up at their jobs, cuffed them, and confiscated their phones—because of a bunch of Twitter jokes.
…
Full disclosure: Part of the blame for this situation rests on my shoulders. I loudly promoted @peoriamayor when I first noticed it, having no idea someone I knew was responsible for tweets that mostly had the fake mayor using drugs and partying. It was pretty damn funny. One of Daniel’s roommates told me that the first question police asked him was, “How do you know Justin Glawe?”
…
“Tell them my name. Tell them I did it,” he said, acknowledging the cops have him cornered. “But when they lock me up tell them to tweet using the hashtag #freesleezyd.”
Illinois State House members are advancing a bill that would devote $100 million toward a Barack Obama presidential library. The House Executive Committee meeting in Chicago today voted, by an official tally of 9-0, to authorize using state money for the library…Nine representatives were recorded as voting for the bill, even though there were five lawmakers in attendance at the hearing. That is because Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island), who chairs the Executive Committee, employed a procedural move.
Rita used the attendance record from a previous hearing that occurred Wednesday as the vote for the presidential library cash. House Speaker Michael Madigan, who sat in on today’s hearing, clarified Rita’s maneuver, saying the attendance would serve as nine votes in favor of the library, even though the previous committee hearing was on a possible Chicago casino and not related to a presidential library.
No Republicans attended Thursday’s hearing on the presidential library.
Sullivan serves as the Committee’s Minority Spokesperson. Generally when the chairman asks for “Leave of the attendance roll call,” the question is posed to the person in that position. Sullivan did attend the committee’s previous meeting, which was not adjourned but simply recessed to the call of the chair. As you probably know, attendance is not taken at the start of a meeting when the previous meeting is recessed instead of adjourned.
Adding to the mixture is that committee chairs will often instruct clerks to mark committee members as being in attendance if they arrive after roll call. I haven’t spent nearly as many hours in committee as most of those of you likely to comment on this post, but I have yet to see a chairperson instruct a clerk to have someone removed from the roll call if they leave the room or are not present when a recessed committee resumes. That said, I have seen chairpersons exclude absent members from attendance roll call votes. Clearly that did not happen here, and it does not happen all of the time.
Under the rule of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D, Chicago), the House Rules committee often convenes throughout the legislative calendar to alter, change or suspend House rules to move various proposals. In this instance, even the stated rules appear to be violated.
Under current House rules, a committee cannot vote on measures unless a quorum is present and the proper posting requirements have been met. Under a parliamentary review, the following were violated: Rule 32 providing a majority of those appointed constitute a quorum of a committee, Rule 21 authorizing actions by recessed committees but requiring the House to be in session, and Rule 49 providing that no member of a committee may vote except in person at the time of the call of the vote.
“I’m not even a member of the Executive Committee and the Democrats chose to vote on my behalf, which is a blatant violation of House Rules,” said Rep. Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon). “This is typical Chicago politics at work. My constituents elected me to vote for them. They didn’t elect the Chicago politicians who stole my vote today.”
On Wednesday, April 16th State Representative Dwight Kay served as a temporary replacement on the House Executive Committee for a hearing in Chicago to discuss gaming expansion in Illinois. Rep. Kay participated in the hearing to express his opposition to an amendment which would exclude Fairmount Race Track from the proposed gaming expansion. After the hearing, Kay traveled back to his legislative district nearly 300 miles south of Chicago and was no longer a substituted member on the Executive Committee. Therefore, he was not present at Thursday’s recessed hearing to vote on the legislation to spend $100 million in public funds on the Obama Presidential Library.
Someone with more legal experience might be able to chime in, but I think technically since the Committee was recessed and Kay was not marked as being absent when it resumed, he would have still been a substituted member.
* Fitch Ratings stuck with its “A-” rating and “Negative” outlook on Illinois’s general obligation bonds. From the explanation…
BUDGET TEMPORARILY STABILIZED WITH TAX INCREASE: Temporary increases in both the personal and corporate income tax rates, coupled with statutory spending limits, have closed a significant portion of the structural gap in the state’s budget through the current fiscal year 2014.
NEED FOR LONG-TERM SOLUTION REMAINS: Due to the temporary nature of the enacted tax increases, the state will need to find a more permanent solution to the mismatch between spending and revenues. The Negative Outlook reflects the critical need to address this issue. The governor’s recommended budget for the coming fiscal year would make these tax increases permanent and provide a basis for the state to achieve fiscal balance.
LARGE BALANCE OF DEFERRED PAYMENTS REMAINS: The state has a large general fund accounts payable backlog, which although reduced still totaled $4.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2013. The state prudently used higher than forecast income tax collections in fiscal 2013 to pay down a portion of the accounts payable balance.
The governor has proposed two alternative budgets for fiscal 2015; one based on current law with expiring tax rates and a second recommended budget that makes permanent the higher tax rates. The current law budget is balanced through large spending cuts. Even with the higher taxes maintained, however, the recommended budget would rely on a small interfund borrowing ($170 million or 0.4% of forecast general fund revenues) to balance. The recommended budget includes a total of $650 million in interfund borrowing, the balance of which would be used to pay down accumulated accounts payable.
* A budget roundup…
* State approves prison hepatitis C drug, likely to cost millions: Officials say there are an estimated 100 to 150 inmates at each of the state’s 25 prisons who have the disease…Documents show the state estimates the cost of treating an inmate with Sovaldi will range from $61,000 to $122,000.
* SIU budget cuts could cost hundreds of jobs: “With a $23.5-million dollar decline in our appropriation it will get into the hundreds of people that we will not be able to rehire,” said Dr. Glenn Poshard. “There may be layoffs, but there certainly will be hundreds of positions left unfilled.”
Since December 2012, GTCR has owned Correctional Healthcare Cos., which got a five-year contract with a five-year renewal option from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice in February 2013 to provide medical, dental and mental health evaluations and treatment for the approximately 900 inmates, ages 13 to 20, of six state-run youth detention centers in the Chicago area and downstate.
The state deal is worth as much as $99.3 million.
Grant Klinzman, a Quinn spokesman, says the Democratic governor wasn’t involved in awarding the contract and didn’t know of Rauner’s ties to Correctional Healthcare.
Rauner campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf notes that the Winnetka Republican retired as managing director of GTCR in October 2012 — two months before the firm acquired Correctional Healthcare and four months before the state contract was awarded. Schrimpf says Rauner didn’t work on the Correctional Healthcare acquisition and wasn’t aware the company has a state contract.
Rauner has said if elected he would put his investments into a blind trust.
State Rep. SUE SCHERER, the freshman House member from Decatur who faced quiet but — as it turned out — tough primary opposition in March, survived the race with the help of more than $90,000 from committees controlled by House Speaker MICHAEL MADIGAN, D-Chicago.
…
Most of the Madigan support doesn’t show up on Scherer’s campaign finance report, because $89,702 of the total came as independent expenditures from Democratic Majority, one of the committees Madigan controls. Those expenditures, which can’t be coordinated with a candidate’s campaign, included money for staff, polling, insurance, and printing and postage for a barrage of Scherer mailers that went to households in the 96th.
Because they were independent expenditures, that also meant they weren’t capped. Direct contributions from that committee to Scherer could not have topped $78,900 in the primary.
Scherer’s own campaign committee had $58,085 in the bank as of Jan. 1, raised $94,625 in the first three months of the year, spent $86,792, and ended up with nearly $66,000 in the bank as of March 31.
Mike Bell, Scherer’s Republican challenger this November in the 96th House District, reported just $5 on hand at the close of the first quarter. Bell, R-Edinburg, raised $6,730 through the first three months of the year, $2,000 of which were contributions from his mother, Joan Bell, and another $1,200 on a loan taken by Mike Bell. Another $1,000 came from Elizabeth Soldwedel, who uses the on-air name “Liz Willis” at Capital Radio Group in Springfield and works communications with the Illinois House Republicans.
A roundup…
* WALSH: SORRY, SEN. KIRK, THAT TRAIN HAS ALREADY LEFT THE STATION: What’s changed in the past thirty days that caused Mark Kirk to take back his previous statement? And let’s be clear: he didn’t change his mind. He has no interest in supporting Oberweis, and he genuinely wants Durbin to get reelected.
* You may recall last month the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s eavesdropping law. Among other things, the law required a person recording conversations to receive consent from all participating parties before pushing the “Record” button. Now a days, you don’t even need that. It’s all fair game.
“We cannot let this stand, because right now, you can record anybody, any time with or without (their) knowledge and use it for whatever purpose — and there’s nothing to control that,” said Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat. “I think that’s a situation we really need to fix.”
…
Ideally, Nekritz said, she’d like to have a new eavesdropping statute proposed before the end of the General Assembly’s spring session on May 31. But with lawmakers focusing more on the state’s finances than criminal law, she’s not confident a bill will advance.
She wants to keep one of the primary provisions in the old law — that all parties in a conversation give their consent before any recording is made — and add in exceptions for conversations that cannot reasonably be deemed to be private.
Question: Are there any provisions in the old Eavesdropping Law you would like to see in a hypothetical new statute?
Cheer up, everyone. We’re talking about the Blackhawks. They aren’t exactly the Cubs offense in New York or Chris Sale’s bullpen support in the ninth. IT’S THE MOTHER FLIPPIN’ BLACKHAWKS! RALLY CAP TIME, CHICAGO!
* Analysis: Pension reforms to cost workers $55 million by 2025: The Anderson Economic Group also calculated the cost to Chicago taxpayers that Emanuel hopes to offset with a $250 million property tax increase if Gov. Pat Quinn agrees to sign the pension reform bill. The city will be required to contribute $530 million by 2025. That’s 9 percent of overall city revenues and $450 million more than the city would otherwise be required to contribute without pension reform. But the cost of waiting even five more years to confront the city’s pension crisis was even worse. It was pegged at $310 million because of lost investment returns.
* Sneed: Cardinal George may preside over his last Easter Mass on Sunday: George’s third and final dose of chemotherapy for his third bout of cancer is Monday, the day after Easter. “Then we’ll see what comes next,” said Dolan. Sneed is told the cardinal’s request a week ago that the Papal Nuncio begin his replacement process was based on more than just his deteriorating health. George, who replaced Cardinal Joseph Bernardin five months after his death, regrets missing the opportunity to seek Bernardin’s opinion and “ask questions,” said Dolan. “He’d like to give his replacement that opportunity.”
* IDNR fires Tony Mayville: The 58-year-old Du Bois resident said officials claimed he began campaigning for the seat before he was cleared to run by IDNR chief Marc Miller. He said his handling of campaign donations from a coal company also played a role in his firing. “I still contend I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Mayville, who was earning $92,642 annually before his ouster.
* Brown: Odds may finally favor a Chicago casino — if Madigan is dealing: In particular, the most important new wrinkle — giving ownership of a Chicago casino to the State of Illinois, which would then split the revenue 50-50 with the city — bore the fingerprints of a solution crafted by Madigan to resolve the city’s problematic demands for public ownership.
* Beaman files new lawsuit against former Normal police officers: Beaman served more than 13 years in prison for the 1993 death of Jennifer Lockmiller of Decatur before the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 2008.
* ISU Students continue to ask questions about Flanagan resignation: Members and supporters of the group I Paid For Flanagan met in Schroeder Hall Wednesday night to lay out exactly what they the university to answer. Organizer and Senior Sociology Major Chris Roehl said it starts with answering where the money for Flanagan’s $480,000 severance package comes from.
So far, break has been just that. However there was one bit of news that came out of the SIU Board of Trustees meeting this morning you might be interested in…
* All week we have seen agency directors and not-for-profit executives featured in media stories about what services they would have to cut if the income tax rate’s sunset dates stand as they are. The school funding card in that equation is a big one, and the Senate Democrats played it yesterday…
If Illinois lawmakers don’t extend the state’s temporary income tax, school districts could see a net reduction of more than $450 million in general state aid next year.
That was the message sent by Democrats in the Senate Wednesday as they released a breakdown of how Illinois schools would fare under a doomsday budget scenario.
Nearly every one of the state’s 800-plus school districts would come out on the losing end of the state funding blueprint at a time when Illinois already is spending 89 percent of what it says it should be spending to guarantee all students get a quality education.
“We don’t believe the scenario they’ve created — that without an extension of their 67 percent income-tax increase the state budget will collapse,” said Patty Schuh, spokeswoman for Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno. “We believe they are attempting to create a crisis to justify going back to taxpayers’ pockets.”
Schuh said Democrats “have not made education a priority” the past 10 years they’ve run the Statehouse.
“The Democrats have chosen to spend taxpayers money in other areas, so who would believe now that education would be a priority?” she said.
The “Why should we believe you?” argument made a regular appearance last week during Executive Committee hearings on the graduated income tax and before Speaker pulled the plug on the millionaire’s tax.
* Related..
* Report: Big cuts to state aid for schools if income tax increase expires: In Springfield alone, the school district would see a reduction of just over $4 million. The Senate Democrats’ figures showed the district getting about $35.8 million in general state aid this year.
Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In any discussion about treating mental illness, patients and their families must come first. But Senate Bill 2187 – sometimes called “RxP” – puts the interests of a small group of professionals ahead of protecting patients.
SB 2187 would allow psychologists who have no medical training to prescribe medications. 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.
“When you talk about prescribing medicine, the Number One point that you want to drive home is safety,” says Dr. Napatia Tronshaw, an Orland Park psychiatrist and medical doctor. “In order to safely approach prescribing medication, there is a certain knowledge base that you should have.”
Psychologists who want to prescribe can follow the route taken by Illinois nurse practitioners, physician assistants and doctors. They can obtain medical training – instead of insisting on a law that would put patients at risk. To become involved, join the Coalition for Patient Safety, http://coalitionforpatientsafety.com.
* A little while back, I created a post on Facebook about what songs I should include on an iTunes playlist called “Session.” For example, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant is there. “Life in the Fast Lane” by The Eagles was a must. Dylan’s “Things Have Changed” is on the list.
You get the idea.
Anyway, the original post didn’t really attract much attention (sad story, I know). So with that in mind…
Question: What songs would you include on a music playlist entitled “Session?”
Please don’t everyone suggest every track on Pink Floyd’s “Animals” album. VanillaMan, it’s your time to shine, buddy!
The existence of the records was first disclosed in the report issued last month by the Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force, appointed last summer by Gov. Pat Quinn to recommend improvements for Metra and the other transit agencies. The task force was created after ousted CEO Alex Clifford alleged that House Speaker Michael Madigan and other power brokers pressured him on issues ranging from hiring to contracts.
The cards date roughly from 1983 to 1991, and relate to people who were referred for jobs, promotions or raises by various public officials or others with political influence, the task force said. Some of those people got the jobs they were seeking and others did not, the task force said.
…
The index cards provide a quirky but incomplete history of hiring at Metra. Each card offers a partial snapshot of job candidates, what positions they were seeking or received and who was listed as their patron.
The jobs range from budget analyst to car cleaner, and the patrons were some of the most colorful characters in Chicago history. They include a host of now-convicted power brokers, from ex-Gov. George Ryan to former Chicago Ald. Ed Vrdolyak and former Metra board member Donald Udstuen. Among the other marquee political names were Madigan, former Gov. Jim Edgar, former Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip, ex-Mayor Jane Byrne and even the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon.
* Now if there is a suspicious hiring move or a salary bumps, it’s a headline…
Former Democratic state Rep. Karen Yarbrough has been Cook County’s recorder of deeds for little over a year.
But in that time, records show, Yarbrough has put one family member on the payroll and hired several people with political ties to her, as well as to her husband, former Maywood Mayor Henderson Yarbrough.
Borrowing a legal argument crafted by Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios, Yarbrough claims in court papers that the county ethics ordinance — which bars the hiring of family members — doesn’t apply to her as an independently elected office holder.
What’s more, when Cook County Inspector General Pat Blanchard looked into the hires, the employees and ranking staffers lied to investigators and refused to cooperate, Blanchard said in a blistering report released Wednesday.
I think “Don’t lie when they come talk to you” was a tip that came up more than once in yesterday’s Question of the Day.
* Metra’s $2.4 million in non-union raises — here’s the list
* Claypool hires ex-county staffers with past ethics problems: Claypool named James D’Amico to help manage the CTA’s rail maintenance. Though D’Amico has no railroad experience, he is a longtime government worker who late last year left his county management post after the inspector general recommended he be fired for allegedly coercing government workers into donating to Todd Stroger’s campaign. D’Amico joined Gerald Nichols, a top executive under John Stroger, who is Claypool’s general manager of legislative affairs and government and community relations at the CTA. In 2006, Nichols was placed on paid suspension from his county job pending an internal investigation into hiring irregularities following an FBI search of county offices that did not result in any charges. Nichols remained suspended until he left the county later that year.
* Remember the old “I was put on this Earth to fix pensions” days? Whacky fun, right?
Before the state pension bill passed, Gov. Quinn frequently deferred to comment on other issues because it wouldn’t be right to address anything but pension reform. Of course now that there is (at least momentarily) a pension bill in the books, the Governor can’t use that as cover anymore. And sure enough, gaming expansion proponents are back at it. A hearing was held yesterday to discuss the latest amendments to the proposal…
The newest version separates plans for a Chicago casino with up to 10,000 betting positions from a broader package that would add a total of five new casinos across the state and allow slot machines at horse tracks. The shift in strategy is aimed at blunting arguments that the gambling market outside the city is already saturated with existing casinos and video gambling machines at neighborhood bars.
However, peeling a Chicago casino out of a larger gambling package presents its own problems as Downstate and suburban lawmakers may be less inclined to vote in favor unless they get a piece of the gambling pie. But sponsoring Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, said a new provision that would split revenue from a Chicago casino evenly between the city and state should help win support of legislators and the governor, who has vetoed two previous expansion bills.
Crain’s Chicago noted that Governor Pat Quinn might be more amenable to this plan than he has been to previous proposals that involved building casinos throughout the state. However, as both Crain’s and the AP described, putting a single, large casino in Chicago will almost certainly face long odds in the General Assembly; downstate representatives have already objected on the grounds that the primary purpose of a casino bill ought to be revitalizing economies around the state with construction and permanent jobs.
In fact, and as you will recall from last week in one of Rich’s posts, the Governor has lightened up on a Chicago casino. But get this…
#Rahm "not appropriate to talk about gaming until we've addressed pension reform" #twill
Why is one of the most vocal proponents of a Chicago casino recycling lines from one of its biggest opponents?
One theory is the Mayor does not want to upset the Governor while the city’s pension bill is still on his desk.
In the meantime, though…
After years of pushing for slots machines at racetracks, some horse racing advocates are worried the smaller number proposed in a new plan won’t generate enough money.
The current plan would allow for 600 slot machines at Arlington International Racecourse, half the 1,200 called for in previous plans that were vetoed by Gov. Pat Quinn.
“All right, we’ll exist. Horse racing will exist with (600) machines. But we will not flourish. We will not flourish like other states,” said Bob Molaro, an industry lobbyist.
* Down-ballot fundraising shows big gaps: Democrat candidate Mike Frerichs of Champaign has raised $375,820 since January, giving him more than $1.08 million to spend. That’s compared to the $232,133 raised by his opponent, Republican Tom Cross of Oswego. He currently has $210,000 on hand. … Attorney General Lisa Madigan has an enormous fundraising advantage over her Republican challenger, Paul Schimpf. The Chicago Democrat raised $59,503 last quarter, putting her cash reserves at over $4.7 million. Schimpf brought in $22,135. After campaign expenses for the quarter, Schimpf reports having only $14,649 on hand.
* Quinn with nearly $9 million as Rauner reloads: Democrats held a campaign fundraising advantage in statewide races for secretary of state, attorney general and treasurer, but not for comptroller. In that contest, Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka had $1.1 million left and Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon had $399,000.
* A new report by the Public Interest Research Group says businesses that pay taxes in other countries through shell companies costs individual Illinois taxpayers $1,396 a year. For small businesses, that number is $4,588. From the coverage…
Every year, corporations and wealthy individuals avoid paying an estimated $184 billion in state and federal income taxes by using complicated accounting tricks to shift their profits to offshore tax havens. Of that $184 billion, $110 billion is avoided specifically by corporations.
…
“This is yet another example of why tax reform needs to be more than just campaign rhetoric,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., a co-sponsor of H.R. 1554. “Hard-working middle-class Americans and the small businesses that are the future of this nation should not be forced to carry the tax burden sidestepped by others through the use of offshore accounts. I applaud Illinois PIRG for their exemplary work on this issue.”
Illinois can also take measures to reclaim some of the revenue lost to tax havens. Illinois PIRG found that by passing a simple, proven reform already on the books in other states, Illinois could save $108.3 million annually.
“The Illinois number is striking,” said Illinois state Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago. “If big corporations only paid their fair share for one year, the state’s operating budget problems could disappear overnight, elementary, secondary and higher education would be fully funded, MAP grant scholarships doubled, home and health services for senior citizens and people with disabilities fully restored, after-school and anti-gang programs tripled, and every overdue bill paid. So many of the troubles that face our state and communities would be wiped out in an instant if these loopholes were closed.”
* Lake County GOP chooses new leader: In their own conference, held simultaneously in Gurnee, the Democrats re-elected state Sen. Terry Link as their chairman.
* ComEd asks state for rate hike to help fund smart grid: Electricity customers would pay the higher rate regardless of which electricity provider supplies their electricity because its pays for upgrades to the ComEd-owned system that delivers that power. “These improvements, if done right, should pay for themselves in the long run, but the key moving forward is to hold ComEd accountable,” said Jim Chilsen, a spokesman for consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board in Chicago.
* New warden named for Menard prison: Kim Butler, a 20-year veteran of the Illinois Department of Corrections, was named warden of Menard Correctional Center on Wednesday. She is the first woman to serve as warden at the maximum-security prison in Chester.
* Opponents of Murray center closure win round in court: The decision means a public guardian can continue his job of overseeing some residents of the Warren G. Murray Developmental Center. The ruling stems from a decision last year in which attorney Stewart Freeman was named as the legal guardian of 28 Murray residents after questions were raised about the representation they were receiving from a state guardian. In his position, Freeman has the power to block the state from taking certain steps to move the residents out of Murray, potentially stymieing the governor’s push to shutter the facility.
* Fake Twitter account prompts real raid: Police searched a West Bluff house Tuesday and seized phones and computers in an effort to unmask the author of a parody Twitter account that purported to be Mayor Jim Ardis. The account — known as @Peoriamayor on the popular social media service that limits entries to 140 characters — already had been suspended for several weeks when up to seven plainclothes police officers executed a search warrant about 5:20 p.m. at 1220 N. University St. Three people at the home were taken to the Peoria Police Department for questioning. Two other residents were picked up at their places of employment and taken to the station, as well. One resident — 36-year-old Jacob L. Elliott — was booked into the Peoria County Jail on charges of possessing 30 to 500 grams of marijuana and possessing drug paraphernalia, but no arrests were made in connection with the Twitter account.
(Bruce) Rauner says he would support freezing pensions for current workers and moving them into a separate 401K-style system for future work. But, he says police and fire officials would be exempt from that.
“The two groups, I believe, that should have a special deal that’s much better and different than voters, are police and firefighters because they risk their lives, and that’s a different arrangement,” Rauner said.
Rauner did not offer specifics on what a pension deal for police and firefighters would look like. But his stance could be beneficial to gaining the endorsement and support of state police and fire unions.
The attempt to split the union base has already drawn ire remarks from AFSCME…
“Of course police officers and firefighters put their lives on the line to serve the public. Of course they earn their pay and deserve their pension,” said AFSCME spokesperson Anders Lindall. “But I’d like Bruce Rauner to tell a correctional officer in an overcrowded state prison how he thinks their service is worthless. I’d like Rauner to explain to a parole agent that their sacrifice isn’t as worthy. I’d like Rauner to tell a child protection worker knocking on the door of an abusive household that they don’t put themselves in harm’s way. He should explain to EMTs and highway maintainers and employees at Chester Mental Health Center, where the state commits individuals found not guilty of crimes by reason of insanity, that their public service isn’t sufficiently dangerous in Bruce Rauner’s mind to merit the pension they earned. He’s not going to do that, because this billionaire is so out of touch he probably doesn’t know these men and women exist.”
Police and fire unions would be a valuable ally. They bring one heckuva ground game to the table among other things.
Their political strength is the primary reason they were excluded from the Chicago pension bill, which the Tribune editorial board called on Gov. Quinn to sign…
The Chicago pension crisis that burdens an array of Chicago funds is Chicago’s problem and Chicago, to its credit, at long last has negotiated a partial solution. Now, though, Chicago needs that gubernatorial signature.
Every year, whoever is governor of Illinois signs a mound of geography-specific bills that, as laws, give individual local governments leeway to address their local problems. This bill is no different. If Quinn signs the bill and City Hall raises taxes, that’s on City Hall, not on Quinn. It would be preposterous for opportunistic Republicans or aggrieved city taxpayers to blame him for signing the agreement that City Hall negotiated with the unions, City Hall wrote into final form and City Hall persuaded legislators to pass.
So if the City Council raises property taxes as a result of this bill, Gov. Quinn should not be blamed for signing this negotiated measure.
But in the editorial’s closing lines…
Still worried that you’ll be blamed for signing a pension bill affecting city laborers and municipal workers that permits a property tax hike? Too late:
In late 2010 you signed a pension bill affecting city police officers and firefighters that … permits a property tax hike.
Governor, those who criticize your tax policies already have their reasons. Signing this bill shouldn’t add to that list.
Present Pat Quinn is being criticized for Past Pat Quinn signing a bill that could mean higher property taxes if local governments short their pension payments. However, Present Pat Quinn should sign this pension bill that contains similar mechanisms because it shouldn’t be held against Future Pat Quinn?
The Governor isn’t giving any public indication as to how he might rule on this bill. To complicate matters further, Rauner encouraged him earlier this week to veto the bill.
* Mark Brown devoted his column to the difficulties the police and fire unions could pose to the Mayor when he comes back to town to overhaul the remaining pension systems…
Mayors across the state have joined forces in hopes of getting relief from their own soaring police and fire pension costs if the Legislature moves to help Chicago.
Their involvement creates both opportunities and complications for Mayor Rahm Emanuel as he tries to finish what he started with fixes to the pension funds of city municipal workers and laborers.
The opportunity is that Emanuel can expect to have most of those mayors — Democrat and Republican — in his corner next time as he lobbies legislators on police and fire pensions.
The complication is that he also could find every current and retired police officer and firefighter in the state converging on Springfield to oppose him.
Orr’s first recommendation is to pare down existing TIFs by removing some properties to immediately return money to communities. If just 10 percent of the TIF increment is returned to the rolls, this administrative move could result in Chicago taxing districts’ ability to levy an additional $38.5 million annually, of which $10 million would be available to the city and $24 million for Chicago Public Schools, according to an analysis by the Clerk’s office.
…
Orr’s second proposal requires the state legislature to take action to increase the frozen value of TIFs by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year and capture the increase as recovered TIF value. Chicago taxing bodies could recoup an estimated $5.7 million each year – $1.5 million for the city and $3.5 million for CPS – by increasing their levy and applying the increase to such things as pension costs.
…
Orr reiterates his stance that all TIF districts should be audited and those audits made available to the public – a recommendation of the 2011 TIF Reform Task Force not yet implemented. Chicago officials say $1.5 billion of its $1.7 billion TIF fund is committed to projects, but the public has no way to judge whether each project is worthwhile without a comprehensive audit and open debate.
Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) has already proposed a 1 percent commuter tax on 620,000 suburbanities who earn their paychecks in Chicago.
On Tuesday, Ald. Will Burns (4th) took the wraps off his ideas. They include a congestion fee that would require motorists driving into the downtown area to pay a toll for the privilege.
“The property tax has to be part of the mix. But we also need to find other revenue options that are fairer than the property tax. If you’re able to generate more revenue from other sources, maybe the property tax goes down,” Burns said.
* Earlier this morning I posted some of the “rules of the road” bestowed upon every Capitol Fax intern.
Rule #1: Assume everyone is wearing a wire.
Rule #2: Don’t go home with an intern.
Rule #3: Friends aren’t necessarily the ones that pick-up the check. Friends are the ones that bring you chicken soup when you’re sick. Stick with your friends.
There are a few others, but you get the gist.
Question: What advice would you give to someone that might be joining a political campaign for the first time?
We have done a QOTD like this in the past, and the responses were exceptional. I figure the timing is just about right for us to revisit the topic. I think I even saw a comment suggesting such a QOTD, so have at it.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign fund is bursting with nearly $8.8 million, giving the Democrat a 6-1 financial advantage over Republican challenger Bruce Rauner, an early sign of what is likely to be one of the most expensive elections in Illinois history.
Mr. Rauner raked in nearly $9.2 million during the first three months of 2014, a crucial period of fundraising that included the March 18 primary, in which he defeated state Sen. Kirk Dillard by a closer margin than expected.
But Citizens for Rauner Inc. spent nearly all that money, leaving the campaign with almost $1.4 million available on March 31. Fundraising is not expected to be an issue for Mr. Rauner, a private-equity investor from north suburban Winnetka who already has reportedly contributed $6.6 million to his own campaign over the past 13 months.
Nearly $104,000 came from political donors in Texas, courtesy of a fundraiser thrown in Austin by the concert promoters who put on the Lollapalooza music festival in Grant Park every summer. The fundraiser, hosted at a private home by the co-founders of C3 Presents, coincided with the mayor’s trip to sell Chicago to tech-savvy entrepreneurs attending Austin’s South By Southwest festival.
* Related…
* Oberweis says he and Durbin are both millionaires
* Carl Officer forms SuperPAC to support GOP candidate: “I am sure we will hear the moans and groans from our Democrat friends regarding our decision in this endorsement and support of a Republican,” Officer said. “However, we ask them to consider whether we do not need a totally different approach for all Illinoisans to have a chance to carve out their share of that American dream.”
* One of the biggest lessons Rich tries to install in his interns, myself included, is “Rule #1″ - Assume everyone is wearing a wire.
That’s not supposed to make one paranoid, and unable to trust anyone. There are other lessons for that. Rule #1 taught us not to do anything we wouldn’t want our mothers to read about in the morning paper.
Now, with his trial on bribery charges just months away, federal prosecutors have filed court documents alleging smith actually admitted to the scheme moments after he was arrested by FBI agents in 2012.
The documents read:
“At numerous times during the interview Smith stated ‘I f—ed up’… Smith stated that it was all about getting money to put money back out on the streets in the hands of his campaign workers.”
Smith’s attorneys are fighting to keep the alleged confession out of the trial, arguing Smith was falsely led to believe he was cutting a plea deal.
According to the charges, the informant told investigators Smith started talking about needing help with fundraising almost as soon as he was appointed to fill a vacated House seat in March 2011 and was willing to accommodate reasonable requests from donors who wanted something in return for their contributions. The FBI had the informant tell Smith about the day care center, and Smith offered his help for $5,000, a figure he later raised to $7,000, prosecutors alleged. The day care center — while real — was not actually applying for a state grant, authorities said.
They’re out there, man.
* Rule #3: Friends aren’t necessarily the ones that buy steak dinners or always have a joke. Friends are the ones that would bring you chicken soup when you’re sick. Stick with your friends…
Lawyers for Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by an ex-employee alleging sexual harassment and forced political work on state time.
The motion in U.S. District Court in Chicago seeks to end the lawsuit by Edmund Michalowski.
Michalowski worked for the former Republican candidate for governor for three years before leaving in January and filing the lawsuit
In briefs filed in federal court this week, lawyers say Rutherford’s behavior toward an ex-employee “amount to nothing more than minor, offhanded comments … and innuendo” and do not form the basis of a legal case.
* Rich is on vacation this week, and Oscar hasn’t quite mastered home row. That means you are stuck here with me for the time being.
* Feds: Indicted State Rep. Smith admitted to accepting cash bribe: The documents read: “At numerous times during the interview Smith stated ‘I f—ed up’… Smith stated that it was all about getting money to put money back out on the streets in the hands of his campaign workers.” Smith’s attorneys are fighting to keep the alleged confession out of the trial, arguing Smith was falsely led to believe he was cutting a plea deal.
* Addiction treatment specialists say state funding is too low: If the temporary income tax were allowed to drop from 5 percent to 3.75 percent next year as scheduled, the Illinois Department of Public Health would lose $20 million in funding for its drug treatment programs. IDHS estimates it would have to eliminate services for 15,922 people.
* Strip club tax for rape centers falls short of projected revenue
* Lawmaker kicks off new campaign for Chicago casino: “Basically the gaming board is a good regulator and they’ve figured out bad things in the existing casinos,” Mr. Quinn’s press office quotes him as recently saying. “Chicago wanted to regulate itself. I think they’ve pretty much given that up and they understand the gaming board will call the shots. That’s principle number one.” I’d take that as a sign that Mr. Qunn is warming up to the Rita bill. On the other hand, City Hall is not there, at least not yet. “We agree with the Governor’s prior statements of not focusing on gaming until our pensions have been resolved,” his spokeswoman, Sarah Hamilton, told me yesterday.
* Normal’s city manager discredits claims by Illinois Policy Institute: “I don’t know what would render them to be considered an expert - what special qualifications they have, first of all,” said Peterson. “I don’t know that. I don’t know why they should be considered a credible critic.” Peterson said most, if not all, the information the Institute claims is missing is there…and it’s not hard to find.
* From the WTTW-TV page carrying a recent Chicago Tonightinterview…
“One of the consequences of the property tax increase is more property tax revenue in TIF [Tax Increment Financing] districts,” Burns said.
There are 153 TIF districts in the city, and typically, any additional increment generated would go into the TIF districts, according to Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn.
“Aldermen Burns and Pawar came to the administration with the idea that any additional funds generated in TIFs would immediately be declared a surplus. It was a good, creative idea that the mayor fully supported,” Quinn said in a statement. “This means that CPS will get 50 percent of the surplus, while the City will receive 20 percent, of which will go towards pension payments.”
“Revenue is the issue,” says Stacy Davis Gates, Political Director with the Chicago Teachers Union. “Pensions are not the issue. He proposed a commuter tax. He also proposed other innovative ideas.”
* By the way, while we’re on the topic of Fioretti…
ld. Bob Fioretti (2nd) slammed Mayor Rahm Emanuel Monday, calling some of his decisions “inescusable” and saying his administration had “fumbled” many projects.
He also said he’s been mulling a mayoral run in next year’s election while “meeting with people all across the city in every ward.”
“I’m honored and I’m encouraged by the responses that I hear,” he said at a City Club of Chicago luncheon Monday. The alderman promised he “will make the announcement at an appropriate time, in the appropriate place.”
The dialogue regarding why the Senate Republicans voted against this proposal but put green lights on others, and how the state might handle other communities that come to Springfield to adjust their pension systems is especially interesting in the long run. Now that the Mayor has broken through, others are saying they will follow…
“Personally, I was patient until Mayor Rahm Emanuel went to Springfield and showed the rest of the mayors of the state how to get it done,” Hanover Park Village President Rodney Craig said. “Then my patience kind of runs out.”
Because the General Assembly made pension reform happen for Chicago, Craig said, “I want the same level of commitment to the municipalities of the rest of the state.”
On Monday, Craig and other members of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference met with the Daily Herald Editorial Board to insist a state law that reduces pension benefits for police and firefighters is needed to stabilize municipal budgets and prevent pension systems from collapsing.
(1) express our concerns about the serious implementation issues SERS faces as we struggle to prepare for the effective date of the new pension law and for the burden SERS will face if the law is implemented and then found unconstitutional,
(2) request that the Attorney General seek or agree to a stay of the new law’s implementation until the lawsuits that challenge the new law’s constitutionality are finally completed, and
(3) if the Attorney General will not comply with point (2), request that the Board of Trustees be allowed to select its own counsel to defend SERS and the Board in the lawsuits that name them as defendants so that SERS and the Board are able to express their position in the lawsuits and seek or agree to a stay of implementation of the new law until the lawsuits that challenge the new law’s constitutionality are finally completed.
The resolution passed unanimously.
H/T to a regular reader who brought this matter to our attention yesterday afternoon.
*** 12:43 p.m. - *** From comments below, an update from resident pension expert RNUG…
This is old news. I did hear that the lawyers for Kanerva / Maag filed additional information / arguments immediately after the favorable AZ ruling but that was a while back. Truthfully, I had expected we would have known something by now. Right now it’s anybody’s guess; maybe the AZ decision has the ISC rethinking their unpublished opinion.
Nahshon Shelton didn’t want to pay the 22-cent tax on his $1.79 two-liter of Pepsi on Saturday afternoon, Chicago Police said.
So he allegedly pulled a blue-steel Intratec .22-caliber submachine gun out of his Gucci satchel inside the convenience store in the 4000 block of West Madison Street where they tried to make him pay it — and he threatened to kill everyone there, a prosecutor said.
This “is my neighborhood, I’m tax exempt!” he would later allegedly tell the cops, the Sun-Times is reporting. “Man, you know what, I’ll keep it real. I had to put them in their place.”
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have proposed a hike in the Illinois soft drink tax.
Soft drinks in the state are subject to a 6.25 percent tax compared to ‘qualifying food and drugs,’ which are taxed at one percent. The legislation would raise the cost of soda, juice drinks, sports drinks and teas.
The tax would be a penny-per-ounce surcharge on sugar-sweetened drinks.
Add soft drinks to the ever-growing list of items legislators are looking to tax. Over in the House, legislators have heard proposals to increase the cigarette tax, overhaul or eliminate the corporate franchise tax, extend the research and development tax credit, and making tax credits transferable.
A recent proposal to raise the Illinois fuel tax to pay for state transportation costs is meeting opposition.
Retail gas station owners announced their opposition to such a plan on Monday in Springfield. They say raising the tax hurts drivers and businesses during a tough economy.
Bill Fleischli is the vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association. He says the state should stop diverting money intended for roads to other areas of the budget.
BlueroomStream subscribers should have access to video of yesterday’s media availability with the petroleum marketers.
* Suit filed in wake of concealed carry permit rejection: “The training class was worthless because it did not qualify consumers for the concealed-carry permit,” the lawsuit alleges. “(Ambrose) wasted a significant amount of time taking the worthless class, and had his application for a concealed-carry permit rejected.” … Illinois State Police officials said earlier this month that the agency had denied concealed carry licenses to 327 applicants who received inadequate training from an instructor in Bolingbrook.
* FBI director in Chicago: ‘Painfully aware’ of city’s gun violence: “There is not an easy answer on violent crime, especially gang-related crime that is so embedded in the culture,” he said. “Chicago has a larger and more ingrained and sophisticated street gang structure than many American cities…You can’t arrest your way to a healthy neighborhood.”
* Illinois House orders new audit of anti-violence spending under Quinn: The House resolution pushed by state Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, directs Auditor General William Holland to study that spending. Further, Reis’ resolution asks Holland to audit state funds disbursed by the Criminal Justice Information Authority to a social-service provider that helped implement the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, the Chicago Area Project.
* In Illinois, a Challenge Recruiting Rural Students for State’s Flagship University: While the size of the freshman class at the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has decreased slightly, from about 8,200 in 2004 to about 7,200 in 2013, the number of students who matriculate from rural counties has sharply declined. In 2003, there were 1,017 freshmen from rural counties who enrolled, compared to only 600 rural students in the freshmen class during the 2013-14 school year.
* Illinois Debates Continuing Free ACT Test: State board officials estimate it will cost $14 million for all high school juniors to take the ACT test next year, which they want to keep even though it is scheduled to be phased out with the implementation of other exams … By keeping the ACT and adding new exams at the elementary and high school levels, the cost of state testing would total $54 million next year, double this year’s $27 million.
* I-Team: Watchdog group questions one gas company: The CUB e-letter warns residents “don’t be fooled” by the pitches and promises of Nicor Advanced Energy.
You guessed it: I am coming out of retirement briefly to take you through the next week or so because Rich is off enjoying spring break. Once he comes back, I go right back in the box.
* If you were here the last time I filled in, then you know the jokes get a lot worse as the week goes on.
You would also know most of the day’s posts will be up first thing in the morning since I am on state time during the day. I appreciate all of your comments and emails, which is why my Twitter account and email address are available at the top of every post I do.
So here we go, gang. How is everybody this morning?
* I had an e-mail exchange with Dan Proft last month that I meant to post at the time, but didn’t get around to it because session had kicked into high gear and I was buried with government stuff. I asked him for permission yesterday to reprint our exchange and he agreed.
Proft sent me a characteristically ascerbic note last month about a post I did disagreeing with his big-bucks support for Keith Matune, a Republican who finished just a smidgeon behind GOP Rep. Ron Sandack in the March primary…
The worst thing Proft did though, was that when the truth came out [about Matune’s multiple arrests], he didn’t back away. Instead, he doubled down, forcing the House Republicans to spend a fortune to keep the seat. If Proft’s guy had won, the House Democrats would have assuredly jumped in and made the House Republicans spend even more money to defend the seat.
Look, this is a free country. Proft can do whatever he wants. But the Matune race shows his only real priority was defeating a Republican he didn’t like, not winning a Republican seat. It was totally irresponsible to push a supremely flawed candidate so hard.
* Proft’s response…
Your analysis of Sandack-Matune conveniently ignores the substance of Sandack’s legislative record–the focus of the campaign material I put out. Additionally, it ignores the details of the Matune allegations Sandack misrepresented or outright manufactured and any context to his 20-year old arrests for such crimes against humanity as public urination.
But I’m “reckless and irresponsible.” Okay. Someday–and I know today is not that day–I hope you’ll give consideration to your routine defenses of all things GOP establishment, particularly when those defenses offer no contextual consideration of their performance–you know, those guys in the superminority–much less mine.
I am forever fascinated by the differing standards of analysis.
Regards.
* Lemme let you in on a little secret. We disagree about a lot of stuff, but Proft and I have a history that’s been mostly friendly, albeit peppered with occasional acrimony, which I actually have enjoyed. So I chuckled at his e-mail and, since I’m not generally in the habit of sending long e-mails, my reply was brief…
You do have a way with words. But your response completely ignores my points.
* Proft fired back…
Which is what, the shibboleth from Team Durkin you’re re-purposing that Matune would’ve put the district in play in the general? Nonsense. 60%+ GOP district.
They were making the same argument against [Peter] Breen and he is unlikely to even draw an appointed opponent (certainly not one of any consequence) according to what I understand.
* My reply…
More nice words. You may refer to it as a shibboleth, but it’s real. More importantly, though, you forced leadership to spend money it didn’t have on a primary to fight off a very flawed candidate.
Shibboleth: An old idea, opinion, or saying that is commonly believed and repeated but that may be seen as old-fashioned or untrue.
* Proft…
They spent money to defend a very flawed candidate. As they did with Pihos. No one forced Durkin to spend money. His choice. Just as it was my choice.
Two years ago against a woefully underfunded candidate Sandack won 54-46. This time by 150 votes. Maybe there is an actual uneasiness with Sandack in his district with darn nearly half of the GOP primary electorate that should be considered? Is that possible? Should that be part of the assessment? Why is Sandack such an unpopular incumbent (and was before his marriage vote)? Compare his fav/unfav numbers to Pihos, for example, before I ever spent a dime in either race (except on polling).
We don’t exist to do leadership’s bidding because they have titles. That philosophy begets the superminority–as they have proven. I don’t see offices as someone’s birthright where someone else gets to decide who runs and who doesn’t and when. That approach pushes talented people away–a long-running problem with the GOP.
So when does a decade-plus of under-performance demand questioning of “leadership’s” decision-making? I am baffled by the deference they are supposed to be afforded.
Oh, and considering our interests are now aligned for the general election and Durkin has expressly asked for me help, “leadership” has a strange-way of party-building or asking for help. But that too will be left on the cutting room floor, I suppose, as it doesn’t fit the narrative or a plucky group of legislative leaders financed by the politically promiscuous trying to stave off assaults from the radicals who believe in free minds and free markets.
* At that point, I said he’d made some good arguments, then shifted the discussion to our mutually beloved White Sox. I’m just not into these long back and forth e-mail arguments and figured we were finished arguing and now it was time to talk about other stuff.
Look, I don’t agree with everything Proft wrote or everything he has done, but that’s not required. Some of y’all hate the man and you have your reasons. But while I’ve winced more than once when he’s said or done something I didn’t agree with, I have never, ever disliked him.
My best friend in the world once told me that you should never hate more than three people at once. If you hated more than three, it probably said more about you than them. A disagreement is just that. It ain’t personal and you shouldn’t make it personal unless everybody’s going to the mattresses.
* Anyway, try to address his points in your comments instead of his personality. And keep my best friend’s warning about hatred in your thoughts. Thanks.
