[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Chicago Tribune, 11/29/16 - Rescue 2 Illinois nukes? Why Springfield shouldn’t pick winners and losers
“…Repeatedly putting the thumb of government on the scale to determine which energy industries win and lose is no way to run an economy… Rushing to pass this very complex legislation, with its additional government distortion of the robust energy supply market, is the wrong way for Springfield to expend energy.”
State Journal Register, 11/30/16 - Our View: Too many unknowns remain regarding energy legislation
“A massive energy policy overhaul that affects every resident and business should not be rushed through the handful of days dedicated to the fall Veto Session..”
Crain’s, 11/26/16 - Energy bill improved, but again—why the bailout for money-losing nukes?
“…one troubling fact remains: Exelon is getting a bailout… In any other business, owners themselves would have to deal with a money-losing operation. Exelon thinks it’s exceptional, however. Why should Illinoisans absorb the cost of keeping these unneeded plants open?”
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“This is no way to encourage manufacturers and residents to choose Illinois… this bill fails to put the customer first.”
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* From AFSCME Council 31…
Documents recently provided to AFSCME by an anonymous whistleblower inside state government reveal that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has established a new division dedicated to restricting employees’ rights inside his Department of Central Management Services.
Dubbed the Labor and Employment Advisory Division (LEAD), the group is intended to “gain and maintain control over the workforce”, documents show.
Among the group’s stated goals are to “mitigate external interference with employer-employee relationship” (a bit of management jargon that’s usually code for union-busting) and “implement systems that reward and recognize high performers” (a euphemism for so-called “merit pay” schemes that open the door to favoritism and political influence).
Its listed “tactical objectives” include to “invigorate management’s ability to discipline … employees” and “reduce unionization among managers and supervisors”. The administration has already begun a systematic effort to strip union representation from employees who years ago were found not to be managerial and thus have the legal right to join a union.
On a list of supposed “tools for building a better workforce”, first is “Reinvigorated employee discipline”. Also noted are so-called “merit pay” and “managed competition” (aka privatization) schemes.
Five subsequent pages dated Nov. 2, 2016 list “LEAD lawyers” assigned to each agency of state government.
“These documents reveal Bruce Rauner’s adversarial attitude toward the tens of thousands of state employees who provide vital services to Illinois residents,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch said. “He won’t work toward a budget for priorities like schools and human services, but he’s diverting public resources to intimidate workers and undermine their union rights.
“State workers do difficult jobs, often without adequate resources. They protect kids, respond to emergencies, care for the vulnerable and keep us safe,” Lynch said. “Added to his attempts to freeze their pay and double their health care, the governor’s campaign to silence their voices threatens to create a hostile work environment and drive morale to an all-time low.
“Maybe as a billionaire CEO, Bruce Rauner used bullying tactics to get his way,” Lynch added, “but public service workers are not property to be ‘controlled’, workplace democracy is not ‘external interference’, and threats of ‘invigorated discipline’ are the worst possible way to motivate a workforce.”
The document is here.
* Rauner administration’s response…
This is a misleading distraction from AFSCME’s refusal to work with the administration on implementing our last best and final offer. LEAD is part of the State’s employee relations efforts.
Like most employers in the country, the state recognizes that good legal advice on the front end helps reduce litigation risks and goes a long way to restoring an ethical working environment free of unlawful discrimination or employee misconduct.
Rather than misleading and protesting overtime after 40 hours, merit pay, bereavement leave and testing employees if they’re suspected of being drunk or using drugs on the job, it’s time to work together on implementing the state’s fair and reasonable contract that is similar to the same contracts ratified by 18 other unions.
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* According to the governor’s office, during today’s leaders meeting, after Speaker Madigan made clear he would not negotiate on reforms and would only negotiate a stopgap spending bill, Gov. Rauner declared he would only consider a stopgap spending bill if the General Assembly first passes term limits and a “permanent property tax freeze.”
I’m told he also made clear his preference remains a balanced budget with reforms where no one reform had to be included.
Is a final showdown coming early next year when the state’s checkbook runs dry? If people stick to their guns, it sure looks like it.
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* House Speaker Michael Madigan emerged from the leaders’ meeting after about 90 minutes to say, “The House will vote today on the question of whether there should be a Rauner lame duck tax increase.”
That means they’ll vote on at least one of the resolutions moved out of committee today that would put members on record as being opposed to a tax increase during January’s lame duck session.
* Madigan also shot back at those who criticized him for not attending yesterday’s meeting. “I am available,” he said. “I was available when Gov. Rauner was in Rome. I was available when Sen. Radogno was not available before Thanksgiving.” He refused to answer questions about this week’s Republican Party attacks.
Rep. Greg Harris said the governor’s budget director gave a “very good review” of the work that was done during the working groups earlier this year. House Democrats, Harris said, sent a letter to the other three caucuses to suggest that the working groups be reconstituted and their recommendations updated.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Leader Durkin emerged from the leaders meeting and said “Unfortunately, the Speaker isn’t interested” in negotiating with the Republicans on the governor’s reforms. He did say, however, that Senate President Cullerton was engaged on the topic.
Durkin said it was Madigan who had been demanding a tax hike, not the Republicans, pointing to Madigan’s 2015 City Club address. But, he said the Republicans want a “true balanced budget.”
But asked whether a budget could truly be balanced without a tax hike, Leader Radogno said, “I think the governor’s said repeatedly that… it’s an option” along with reforms. “The reforms are integral to the budget,” Radogno said.
Asked whether term limits were integral to the budget, Leader Radogno said it had to do with the “perception of the state” by business owners in their decision to expand or locate here.
“Grow up,” Leader Radogno said to a question about whether Madigan ought to be upset considering this week’s Republican Party attacks.
Radogno said the leaders will meet again tomorrow and Friday.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor’s office has told Republican legislators that if they want to vote for the anti-lame duck tax hike resolutions they should feel free to do so.
Meanwhile, some Democrats contend this memo from the governor’s chief of staff means that Rauner has been plotting a lame duck tax hike in January, even though it basically just says the same thing that Rauner has been saying for two years…
By the way, a top Rauner administration called the contention that this is evidence of some plot, “truly pathetic.” The Democrats are, he said “devoid of new ideas. They can’t get over the fact that they got their clocks cleaned in November.”
Yeah, we’re making tons o’ progress here, campers.
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* Illinois peaked at 27 US House seats after the 1910 census and has been losing seats after every census since the 1940s. So, this is no surprise, but is still quite depressing…
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* Press release…
Rauner Administration to Implement Reasonable Suspicion of Alcohol and Drug Testing
Governor Bruce Rauner’s Administration today announced that the state will begin testing employees who exhibit behaviors that create a reasonable suspicion that they are under the influence of a banned substance or alcohol.
“Employees who are under the influence of a banned substance or alcohol while on the job present a risk to their co-workers and to the taxpayers they serve,” said Dennis Murashko, the Governor’s General Counsel. “Being impaired also prevents employees from being able to perform their job duties effectively. By implementing this commonsense proposal, we are taking the necessary steps to further protect the health and safety of our employees and those they serve.”
The proposal, which was part of the state’s last, best and final offer during contract negotiations, does not allow for random drug and alcohol testing. Rather, it only allows the state to test employees if “specific objective facts and circumstances warrant rational inferences that a person may be under the influence of alcohol or a banned substance.”
Those “facts and circumstances” include:
· Observable phenomena such as direct observation of use or the physical symptoms of using or being under the influence of controlled substances such as, but not limited to: slurred speech, direct involvement in a serious accident, or disorientation;
· A pattern of abnormal conduct or erratic behavior; and,
· Information provided either by reliable and credible sources or which is independently corroborated.
Guidance will be provided to supervisors on what types of behavior create a reasonable suspicion that an employee is under the influence of alcohol or a banned substance. Generally, employees that test positively for intoxication will be suspended for 30 days and will be enrolled in a confidential Employee Assistance Program for substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. All records concerning tests would remain confidential.
* Meanwhile…
*** UPDATE *** AFSCME’s response to the governor’s move…
“They’re trying to distract from their refusal to negotiate. They’re trying to distract from their attempt to force working people to pay 100 percent more for health care. They’re trying to distract from their attempt to cut the pay of public service workers,” AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall said.
Lindall said AFSCME – which represents 38,000 state workers – would challenge in court any attempt to carry out the drug and alcohol testing policy.
“The Rauner administration broke off negotiations and walked away from the bargaining table back in January, and has wasted more than 10 months in refusing to even meet with our union bargaining committee. If they want to address this issue or any other issue, they should renew negotiations,” he said.
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Hey! Cub fans!
Wednesday, Nov 30, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The news, with a bit of context…
* A little react…
* Caption?…
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* I’m told by a source very close to the negotiations that Gov. Rauner’s administration has agreed “in principle” to support a new deal on the bill to prevent the closure of two of Exelon’s nuclear power plants and expand alternative energy sources.
I’m also told there are “hard” caps on rate increases for residential ratepayers and commercial users, and the proposed microgrids and some other items have been dropped from the measure to save money.
There have been plenty of doubts around the rail that the Rauner administration could actually get something done here. But they negotiated well into the night last night (when things just about fell apart) and then restarted bright and early this morning (6 o’clock) and got it done.
Waiting on react and more details. Stay tuned.
…Adding… Exelon folks have confirmed this as well.
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* Um, OK…
* The cartoonist’s explanation…
Illinois Speaker Mike Madigan, acting as the petulant Czar of the state, has once again not shown up to a meeting of Illinois leaders. A post-election get-together to discuss budget issues that plague this state. (Madigan lost his super majority in the Illinois House of Representatives due largely to money spent by Governor Bruce Rauner). If this dysfunctional mess of a state government is ever going to be righted, the Speaker has to man-up and put the concerns of the people of Illinois ahead of his own fragile ego. A feat Madigan has yet to do in his decades long domination of state government.
Madigan’s spokesman told me yesterday his boss will show up for the leaders meeting at 10 o’clock today. As of 10:05, though, nobody was there yet. You can follow the progress on our live coverage post.
*** UPDATE *** The meeting has begun…
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* Apparently, Illinois government isn’t competent enough to take care of anybody. Severely disabled adults are horrifically mistreated, female prisoners are abused, and kids in the state’s custody are urged by guards to fight each other…
The American Civil Liberties Union is applauding indictments announced this week against four guards at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles, where law enforcement officials say detainees were encouraged to attack others as a form of discipline.
The civil rights group also is pointing to the allegations as evidence that an ongoing consent decree involving the two organizations is still necessary.
“We are pleased to see the state is moving forward to investigate these incidents of abuse and to hold the staff accountable,” ACLU spokesman Edwin Yohnka said. “Because nobody in (Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice facilities) should ever be subjected to the kind of horrific mistreatment that is described in these indictments.” […]
Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon alleges the guards, led by Klimek, encouraged juvenile residents to physically attack other residents, according to court records. The four are accused of facilitating attacks and standing by while they happened, he said.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in 2012 challenging conditions and services at six state-run juvenile justice facilities around Illinois. The suit led to a consent decree jointly filed in federal court by the ACLU and the Department of Juvenile Justice in 2014. The pact outlined improvements to schooling, mental health treatment plans, protections for LGBT youths, an end to solitary confinement as a form of discipline and stricter limitations on when and how employees of the department may restrain youths’ freedom of movement, according to the ACLU.
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* Speaker Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown responds to yesterday’s Republican Party slam on three House Democrats for being Madigan tools…
“They’re kind of in disarray because they’ve schemed to have the lame duck tax increase, and it’s blowing up,” Brown said, referencing the introduction of a House resolution and constitutional amendment to prevent lame duck tax increases. “The lame duck tax increase has been the Rauner strategy all along. He could have a bump in the road. All of his allies would be unable to vote, unless they want to violate their pledge.”
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, and Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, introduced a series of bills to try to fight off a last-minute tax hike vote. It’s an effort to try to make sure the 16 “lame ducks” don’t pass controversial bills, including a tax hike.
“The actions of unaccountable legislators have been allowed to go unchecked for too long,” Franks said.
McSweeney called “grand bargain” and “grand compromise” the scariest words in Springfield.
“That’s just a simple code phrase for a massive income tax increase,” McSweeney said. “We need to stand up for our constituents, for the working people of the state, the families of the state and oppose raising the income tax.”
Those proposals are here.
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* Illinois ACLU…
The Illinois Human Rights Commission has declined review and adopted the report and recommendation of an administrative law judge, ruling against a Paxton Bed & Breakfast after its owners denied a downstate couple – Mark and Todd Wathen – access to the facility to celebrate their civil union in 2011. Today’s action comes after an administrative law judge found that the denial of the use of the facility was because the Wathens are gay – a violation of Illinois law. The judge also previously ordered the Bed & Breakfast to pay $30,000 to the Wathens for their emotional distress, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs. Most importantly, the owners of the Bed & Breakfast were ordered to cease discriminating against same-sex couples by denying them use of the facilities for marriage and civil union ceremonies.
The Illinois Human Rights Commission refused the Bed & Breakfast’s request to review the administrative law judge’s recommended orders, which makes them the final orders of the Commission.
The following can be attributed to John Knight of the ACLU of Illinois, who along with Betty Tsamis of the Tsamis Law Office and Clay Tillack and Robert A. H. Middleton of Schiff Hardin served as counsel to the Wathens:
The Commission’s decision once again sends a clear message that denying couples the use of a public wedding venue in Illinois because they are gay or lesbian is simply not permitted. Business owners cannot pick-and-choose to follow laws simply because they personally disagree with same-sex couples’ decision to marry.
Fortunately, we have not seen many examples of this type of blatant discrimination since the same-sex couples have had the freedom to marry in Illinois.
The judge’s ruling is here. More background is here.
* Law Bulletin…
Section 5-102(A) of the Human Rights Act states that it is a civil rights violation to deny “the full and equal enjoyment of the facilities, goods, and services” on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation and other categories at a “public place of accommodation” — defined as restaurants, theaters, parks and a broad collection of other types of businesses aimed at convenience and enjoyment.
Robinson found that, because the inn really only declined services to others if, for instance, they couldn’t afford them, that the inn qualified as a public place of accommodation under the law.
He also said the inn owners did not factually back up their defense under the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act — which says that “the government may not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” unless it proves a narrowly tailored, compelling interest for doing so.
That defense should be resolved by an appellate court, Robinson wrote. But he added that Timber Creek did not explain how allowing a same-sex ceremony on its premises, especially when its employees were not required to be present at such an event, was “somehow a sub silencio endorsement of anything goes on during that event.”
That logic was spelled out in Robinson’s initial decision in the case on Sept. 15, 2015. His rationale on damages was spelled out in his March order, in which he also briefly contemplated the notion that the Wathens might be “testers” — activists less interested in justice for themselves than in creating legal precedents.
* Associated Press…
Jason Craddock, an attorney for the bed and breakfast owners, said he plans to fight the decision. The owners have been ordered to pay about $80,000 in damages and legal fees and allow same-sex couples access to their facilities. Timber Creek’s website still notes that they do “not host civil union or gay marriage ceremonies and/or receptions.”
Craddock said he wasn’t surprised by the panel’s move and was prepared to ask the whole commission to consider the case and, if necessary, take it beyond the agency to an Illinois appellate court.
* News-Gazette…
[The B&B’s co-owner, Jim Walder] called the panel’s decision “disappointing,” but he added that “it will not change our policy.” Walder was referring to a policy that remains explicitly stated on the TimberCreek B&B’s website, saying the business “cannot host civil unions or gay marriages” because “we cannot be part of what God condemns.”
“For thousands of years homosexuality has been considered sodomy and gay marriage an abomination — civilly and Biblically,” Walder said Tuesday. “We choose to remain consistent in obeying long-held civil understanding and biblical teaching on both.”
Discuss.
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* ILGOP press release…
Extra! Extra! Democrats To Get Morning News Delivery
Madigan’s Property Tax Scheme Tops the Headlines; Democrats can’t hide behind ignorance and misdirection
This morning, Democrat legislators will receive copies of two noteworthy articles they should consider before supporting Speaker Mike Madigan to be their leader.
The first is an op-ed drafted by Rep. Margo McDermed, outlining how their Speaker, Mike Madigan, makes millions under a conflict of interest property tax scheme.
Read the op-ed here.
The second is a recent editorial by The News-Gazette exposing Democrats’ long-standing tradition of deploying “deceitful games” and “disingenuous tactics” to mislead their constituents about their support of Madigan’s leadership.
Read the editorial here.
Today’s delivery is part of the Illinois Republican Party’s ongoing effort to educate stakeholders and the public about why Madigan desperately wants to protect the status quo, and how Democrats empower him to do so.
Now, Democrats have no excuse for being in the dark about Madigan’s rigged property tax appeals practice, and Democrats can no longer run from their support of Madigan as their undisputed leader.
Knowing that Madigan makes millions from controlling the status quo, will House Democrats continue to support the most corrupt and longest reigning Speaker in American politics?
McDermed’s op-ed is from August, so it’s hardly new info.
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Our sorry state
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yet another mess created by Pat Quinn that has yet to be cleaned up by the current administration…
The situation for women housed at the Logan Correctional Center in downstate Lincoln has become “untenable,” according to a new study funded by the Department of Justice that found overcrowded conditions, problems with handling mentally ill inmates and the overuse of harsh punishments.
The problems, according to the study, are rooted in part in a 2013 decision by the Illinois Department of Corrections to consolidate the populations of its two largest women’s prisons at Logan, an aging facility that had been used to house about 1,500 men. IDOC now houses about 2,000 women there, according to the review, including hundreds of inmates with mental health problems.
The state’s prison system made the transition “with limited planning, staff training and efforts to take into account the unique nature and needs of such a large, complex women’s prison population of all security levels,” the report states, outlining how women are often treated too harshly and their stays behind bars are extended unnecessarily. […]
“Our staff is our greatest asset. They work hard every day to maintain order in our facilities and protect public safety across this state,” IDOC Director John Baldwin said in an email. “But it is clear they did not receive critical and necessary training on how to work with female offenders in 2013, when Logan transitioned from a male to female facility.”
Um, director, no offense, but 2013 was three years ago and you’ve been on the job since August of 2015.
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* As expected…
To answer Rep. Ammons’ question, the rest either didn’t show up to town today or are Republicans who switched sides and voted with the governor.
…Adding… The roll call is here. The previous roll call is here.
*** UPDATE *** Harsh…
Trevor Gervais with the government watchdog group Common Cause Illinois noted that the Republican version has no timeline for the policy’s implementation.
“What we anticipate happening is that it would be delayed until after the governor’s reelection in 2018,” he said. “It’s very clear what his motives are for that.”
As the president-elect considers an Attorney General with a checkered record on voting rights, and Republicans take control of more state legislatures and governor’s mansions across the country, Gervais lamented the Illinois did not opt Tuesday to make voting more accessible.
“We’re stepping into four years of direct attacks on voting rights,” he said. “Here in Illinois we actually had an opportunity to expand voting rights before the attacks began, but instead we’re going to do nothing because of our billionaire governor.”
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Magic 8-Ball: Outlook not so good
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bob Reed on Donald Trump’s $1 trillion capital plan and the Illinois Safe Roads Amendment and what that all means…
There is even some cautious, if overly hopeful, talk that sometime next year Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan could put aside their differences and craft a multiyear capital spending bill.
Don’t laugh.
Yes, that’s a pretty tall order since both men have failed to reach a budget deal for over two years. Still, others say a rapprochement is possible.
Jim Reilly, an experienced political hand who’s now a senior fellow at the Metropolitan Planning Council, envisions a capital bill emerging if and when a state budget accord is reached.
That’s particularly true if the budget deal calls for higher taxes and lawmakers are scrambling to explain a rate hike to their tax-averse constituents, he adds.
“Historically, the legislature has also done a capital bill so legislators can say they voted for an increase but, ‘look, I also got you a new highway or a bus route or whatever,’” said Reilly.
Unless there’s a truce, and a real honest to goodness truce at that, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Capital bills give governors enormous leverage. They can dangle projects over members’ heads to get them to vote the way they want. Anyone think that Speaker Madigan is ready to hand those powers over to Gov. Rauner? Yeah, maybe - maybe - he could somehow draft legislation to lock in spending, but Rauner would still have to sign it.
Also, too, the governor himself just said that Madigan is backing away from a tax hike for now.
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* Speaker Madigan yesterday…
“The governor has spoken at length about a lame duck tax increase. I think it’s very interesting. I think that we ought to listen to the governor and work with the governor and that’s what I plan to do.”
* Gov. Rauner was asked about Madigan’s comment early this morning…
“That’s a little goofy. I mean, the speaker came out a year ago in December and said ‘Hey, let’s start with putting the income tax back up to 5 [percent] and go up from there.’ I mean that was a quote. I mean, I’ve never been an advocate for higher taxes. I’ve always fought against them. I’m trying to get more efficient government. So, for the speaker to [laughs] it’s a little, a little humorous.
“But, anyway, and at this point he seems to have backed off of pushing for a tax hike right now and has kinda said ‘Let’s just do stopgap budgets, like we’ve done seven stopgaps in the last two years. Let’s do more of those going forward.’ That’s not solving our problems. That’s going to push more employers out. That’s going to raise more taxes in our future, ’cause it’s more deficits today, more borrowing today. We need balanced budgets and reforms to grow our economy.”
So, the logical follow-up question would be: Doesn’t that make you in favor of a lame duck tax increase just like Madigan said you are? And if Madigan has, as you say, “backed off pushing for a tax hike right now,” doesn’t that erode your position?
But, hey. Morning shows.
* Meanwhile…
Concerned over a possible post-election tax increase, state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, filed a proposed constitutional amendment that would require three-fifths House and Senate supermajorities to raise taxes until the new General Assembly is seated after the election. Lawmakers in past sessions have used the post-election lame-duck session, and its lower threshold to pass bills, as a way to enact significant legislation while avoiding voter wrath.
Franks, who will be sworn in next month as McHenry County Board chairman, said getting it onto the House floor for a vote, at the very least, will put House members on the spot regarding their willingness to raise taxes if a much-discussed “grand compromise” state budget package comes to fruition.
“My goal is to get a majority of the House of Representatives to support my measure, and once I do that, we’re on record as not wanting to increase taxes during the lame-duck [session],” Franks said.
Under the Illinois Constitution, the threshold required to pass legislation that takes effect immediately increases from a simple majority to a three-fifths supermajority – or 71 House members and 36 senators – with the end of the spring session May 31. But it decreases back to a simple majority – or 60 House members and 30 senators – on Jan. 1. That gives lawmakers after each November election a window to pass controversial legislation until the new General Assembly is sworn in on the second Wednesday in January, which this time around falls on Jan. 11.
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We really need some straight answers here
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is obviously a huge difference in estimates: Less than 25 cents a month vs. $4.20…
A week after ComEd and Exelon dropped some of the most contentious provisions of a controversial energy bill making its way through the Illinois legislature, the power companies say they are paring the bill even further.
The most recent changes would trim below 25 cents the average monthly increase customers would see on their bills if the legislation passes, Tom O’Neill, senior vice president of regulatory and energy policy and general counsel at ComEd, said Monday during a meeting with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board.
A third amendment to the bill was filed Monday. ComEd previously estimated the entire proposal, presented earlier this month, would cost consumers an extra 25 cents a month.
“It’s going to be substantially less” with this newest amendment, O’Neill said, although ComEd does not know exactly how much less.
Opponents, however, still disagree with ComEd’s math.
Better Energy Solutions for Tomorrow, or the BEST Coalition, a nonprofit organization made up of business and consumer groups who oppose the legislation, estimated the original legislation would cost ComEd ratepayers $6.23 more per month on average. That number drops only to $4.20 per month with the changes. “This enterprise began as a nuclear bailout and it will end as a nuclear bailout,” said coalition director Dave Lundy.
Expect yet another amendment tomorrow.
* From an op-ed in favor of the bill…
Illinois businesses, as well as consumers, will without a doubt see their electric bills rise as a result of the closure of the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants. These plants contribute $1.2 billion to Illinois’ GDP and provide for 4,200 jobs, but of equal concern, their loss would drive up electric rates by a minimum of $364 million per year and have an environmental impact of $1.1 billion annually. This is a major concern for businesses that depend on the competitive electric rates that are one of the few clear competitive advantages Illinois enjoys over neighboring states.
* But…
Average wholesale electricity prices have dropped 15% this year to $29.70 a megawatt-hour, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of power market data from the Energy Department. That is 43% below the 2014 average. […]
“It’s an adverse environment because of the low gas prices, and it’s aggravated by the growth of renewables,” said Hugh Wynne, an analyst at investment research firm SSR LLC in Stamford, Conn.
Natural gas is becoming a dominant fuel for U.S. power plants, and with its price at historic lows, operators of commercial nuclear and coal plants are taking a hit. Also, power demand across much of the U.S. is flat, which weighs on electricity prices and power-plant margins.
U.S. electricity sales this year through August totaled 2.5 billion megawatt-hours, down nearly 1% compared to the same period a year ago, according to data from the Department of Energy.
* And…
Competitive Power Ventures announced Thursday its intention to open a state-of-the-art electric generating facility in the Three Rivers area of unincorporated Grundy County.
The CPV Three Rivers Energy Center is a nearly $1 billion privately funded project designed to meet the future electricity demands of Illinois. The 1,100-megawatt natural gas-powered 2-by-1 combined cycle facility will provide enough electricity to power about 1.1 million homes.
* Related…
* Biz opposition grows as Exelon trims bailout bill again
* Editorial: Rescue 2 Illinois nukes? Why Springfield shouldn’t pick winners and losers
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* The Illinois Republican Party has a new website called BossMadigan.com. The party is making no bones about its three top targets for next cycle and is warning them about their vote for House Speaker in January…
* From the site…
Brandon Phelps has taken over $200,000 from Mike Madigan’s political machine and has voted to make Madigan the Speaker seven times. Phelps voted for Madigan’s plan to hold funding for his school district hostage to try to bail out Chicago Public Schools. Phelps also voted for Madigan’s $8 billion unbalanced budget that would force at least $1,000 tax hike on middle-class families. Phelps even voted for the Madigan-Blagojevich pension scheme that increased pension debt by up to $22 billion.
Despite these actions, Phelps can show he’s ready to begin repairing Illinois by opposing Mike Madigan for Speaker in 2017.
Mike Madigan’s funneled over $1.6 million to Sam Yingling’s campaigns, and in return, Yingling has twice voted to make Mike Madigan the Speaker of the House. Yingling sided with Madigan to hold school funding hostage in an effort to bail out Chicago schools. He also voted for the broken Madigan budget that would have increased state debt by $8 billion and forced a massive tax hike without reforms on hard-working families.
In the weeks ahead, Yingling can show he’s ready to put Illinois families ahead of his political patron by opposing Madigan for Speaker in 2017.
Mike Madigan’s given Jerry Costello nearly $200,000, so it’s no surprise that Costello has twice supported Mike Madigan as Illinois Speaker. Like the rest of Madigan’s members, Costello followed orders and held his own school districts hostage to bail out Chicago. And Costello tried to force a $1,000 tax hike on families in his district by voting for Madigan’s phony budget that was nearly $8 billion in the hole.
In January, Jerry Costello can show he’s willing to start fixing Illinois by voting against Mike Madigan as Speaker.
Discuss.
…Adding… I’m told these are just the “first three” targets. “Long time until the vote for speaker to add more.”
…Adding More… From the twitters…
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Tipping their hand?
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the problems that many Democrats have with workers’ compensation reform is that it too often seems like a never-ending race to the bottom.
Yes, there’s no doubt that more reforms are needed here. But check out this quote from yesterday’s House hearing…
Legislators overhauled workers compensation in 2011. Jay Shattuck with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce says that made a dent, but Illinois’ system is still too expensive.
“From the business community standpoint, 2011 was a good start. We have, um, had, some savings. Which we are glad to have,” Shattuck said. “But we’re not in a static environment. Other states have been aggressively looking at workers’ compensation reforms and have passed legislation and enacted laws that have helped their businesses in their communities also to have lower workers’ comp costs.”
So, apparently, as long as other states continue to “aggressively” cut workers’ compensation benefits, Illinois will have to go along.
* Related…
* Workers’ compensation for state, county and municipal workers costs Illinois taxpayers $400 million per year
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* Yesterday…
As he has stated for weeks, Madigan said a deal would be reached only if Rauner followed the “framework” for other temporary spending agreements. That’s code meaning Rauner should set aside his economic agenda, as he has done in the past facing other funding emergencies.
Asked why he participates in these meetings if he’s opposed to Rauner’s ideas, Madigan said he attends “at the request of the governor.”
Republicans, meanwhile, said they were unclear with whom they were negotiating, suggesting either a game of “good cop, bad cop” between Cullerton and Madigan or a divide between the Democratic leaders.
“It’s hard to know what’s going on here,” said Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno, of Lemont. “So we’ll see who shows up tomorrow.”
* Today…
I told subscribers about this earlier today.
*** UPDATE *** Senate President John Cullerton just told reporters that “hopefully” the leaders can reschedule for this afternoon. “If we can get back today we will. If not we have a time scheduled for tomorrow.” Cullerton met with the other leaders for more than half an hour before he talked to reporters.
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IDOT embraces vaporware
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* CBS 2…
The head of the Illinois Department of Transportation said driverless cars are here, and Illinois needs to welcome them. […]
State Transportation Secretary Randall Blankenhorn told the City Club of Chicago, his agency is already talking to companies that want to use autonomous vehicles to deliver goods. But he admits there are some hurdles to overcome.
Blankenhorn said that autonomous vehicles are here, and the Rauner Administration and lawmakers must work on safety regulations and standards for them. He opposes any ban on self-driving cars, despite a resolution passed by the Chicago City Council.
Um, driverless cars are here? Where?
* Forbes…
There has been much-fevered talk about the imminence of self-driving cars, leaving the impression with the public that it won’t be very long before the automobiles we buy don’t even have steering wheels or pedals.
This has been fuelled by the car manufacturers themselves as they swap overblown rhetoric about the progress being made thanks to their engineer’s ingenuity and the massive sums committed to these projects.
Britain’s BMI Research hosted a seminar recently where it tried to get the hype and bluster and provide some insight into the prospects of computerized/robot/autonomous vehicles. Perhaps job one should be to decide which of these terms makes the most sense.
But the most important “fact” to emerge from the meeting was that fully-autonomous cars won’t be available for up to 15 to 20 years , according to BMI Research analyst Anna-Marie Baisden.
If it’s 15 years minimum, any regs the state devises today will be hopelessly out of date by then.
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Actually, it’s a House resolution with several Democratic co-sponsors…
Urges the United States Congress to immediately adopt an “American Recovery” program by restoring the provisions of the Glass Steagall Act; returning to a national banking and a federal credit system, modeled on the principles of Alexander Hamilton’s First Bank of the United States; using the federal credit system to build a modern network of high speed rail, power generating systems, and water projects; and creating programs to rebuild our space program to put a permanent manned colony on the Moon, explore the solar system, and create nuclear fusion.
Why stop there?
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The dysfunction continues
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dan Petrella…
Members of an Illinois House committee on Monday spent a portion of their hearing on a proposed workers compensation overhaul debating whether the hearing should have been held at all.
Following a meeting earlier this month among Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the four top leaders of the General Assembly, the House Labor and Commerce Committee scheduled a hearing on a long-dormant bill from House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs. […]
But Republicans on the committee, including Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said the bill doesn’t reflect progress made last spring in negotiations among a bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers.
“I don’t know what we’re going to accomplish today,” Brady said, noting that Republicans did not ask for the hearing and that Durkin was in a meeting with Rauner and the other legislative leaders at the same time.
* Amanda Vinicky…
Democrats persisted anyway, and used the chance to criticize Rauner’s plan as unfair to workers.
But Chicago Rep. Luis Arroyo evidently didn’t get the memo. He seemed to take a page from Republicans’ playbook instead.
“We shouldn’t have this dog and pony show to stand here and talk to everybody all day on something that ain’t going to matter anyway,” he said. “Let’s not play no games. I drove three and a half hours today in the rain, for three and a half hours, thinking that something was going to happen on this bill. And now you guys are telling me that nothing’s happening …. I didn’t come here to waste my time today.”
* Monique Garcia…
Republicans balked at the outrage, noting they don’t control the House and can’t schedule hearings. That duty falls to Democrats under long-serving Speaker Michael Madigan.
“We did not schedule this meeting,” said Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington.
And so the dysfunction continued as lawmakers return to Springfield for the final scheduled week of the fall session, with the pressure on to cut a budget deal as a temporary stopgap plan expires at the end of the year.
Democrats also complained that Gov. Rauner was tweeting workers’ comp reform stuff during the hearing even though nobody from his office bothered to show up.
* Matt Dietrich is the only one who got into what was actually discussed once the hearing got underway…
Democrats say a 2011 reform bill made workers’ compensation much less expensive for insurers, but those insurers have not passed savings along through lower premiums. But the insurance industry says 332 companies write workers’ comp policies in Illinois, making it the most competitive state in the country. Profits for those companies are 2.68 percent, said Steve Schneider, the American Insurance Association’s vice president for state affairs, Midwest region. “It has not been tremendously profitable,” Schneider told the committee.
Health care providers spoke out against the bill’s proposed 30 percent reduction in several parts of the workers’ compensation medical fee schedule, noting that the 2011 reforms imposed a 30 percent across-the-board cut. “An additional 30 percent would force many medical providers to stop seeing injured workers,” said David Spaccarellie of Deerfield-based Surgical Care Affiliates.
While an enhanced “causation” standard that would require the workplace to be the major cause of an injury is the top goal of Rauner’s workers’ compensation reform plan, Illinois’ current standard is not an outlier. “The causation standard in Indiana is exactly the same as it is in Illinois,” said David Menchetti of the Chicago law firm Cullen Haskins Nicholson Menchetti. Indiana’s insurance rates, rated second lowest in the country in a recent study, are low because employers control medical choices for injured workers and because it pays “poverty level” workers’ compensation benefits, Menchetti said.
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From the editorial board suggestion box
Tuesday, Nov 29, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* SJ-R editorial…
We fear not having a budget has become the norm, and because the vast majority of people haven’t been personally touched by the lack of one, they feel no need to urge action.
That is unacceptable.
We need outrage. We need phone calls made and letters written and protests organized. And we need it from all corners of the state, and from people not directly affected by the budget woes. We see it from the social service agencies, small businesses and higher education institutions that rely on state funding. They are pleading for a resolution, because they don’t want to go back to the year of no budget (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016) and all the horrors that included, such as layoffs, serving fewer clients, or in some extreme cases, shutting down. We need it from everyone now.
It’s not too late for either Rauner or Madigan to do the right thing. Absent that, the rank-and-file legislators need to raise hell and get more involved. They need to be willing to sacrifice the monetary security Madigan and Rauner provide during campaigns to those they consider allies in favor of the greater good. They need to demand to be part of the budget process. It should no longer be solely hammered out by the leaders in private conversations with the governor. Not when we’re again on the edge of not having a fiscal blueprint for a significant amount of time. This is the public’s business, and it’s time it is done in the light.
* Sauk Valley Media editorial…
When the election for House speaker takes place, minority Republicans should not do the same thing they’ve done for years – fruitlessly vote for their party caucus leader for speaker.
Instead, after some behind-the-scenes negotiations, they should announce the following:
“We are prepared to vote en masse for a compromise Democratic candidate for House speaker.”
That’s right, 51 Republicans voting for a DEMOCRATIC candidate who is not named Madigan.
Republicans could continue:
“We, in fact, will nominate such a person. We will then supply 51 votes, out of the minimum 60 that are required for election. That’s 85 percent of the total.”
Democrats disaffected by Madigan’s leadership would thus have an opportunity and a choice to bravely chart a new course.
It would take a coalition of only 9 Democrats to join 51 Republican colleagues to unseat Madigan as House speaker.
Nine Democrats who want Illinois to have fresh leadership.
Is this outside the box? Definitely.
Unorthodox? Of course.
But it could happen.
Your thoughts?
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* Just a few months ago, Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar was floating his name for a mayoral bid. Now he’s publicly mulling a race for governor…
Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar, who five years ago pulled off a historic upset with his against-the-grain aldermanic campaign to defeat a machine candidate, is now looking to do the same on a bigger platform. […]
With $58,000 in his campaign account, Pawar, who would run as a Democrat, said he doesn’t fear taking on incumbent Republican millionaire Gov. Bruce Rauner, who reported $188 million in income last year.
“In 2011, I ran for office and people laughed at me. I took on the machine and I beat it,” Pawar said. […]
“We’ve had a set of politics pitting one group of people against another. I don’t think that’s productive,” he said. “I think it’s time we have a progressive campaign for governor.” […]
“When I won in 2011, four weeks before the election I had $2,000 left from the $7,000 to 8,000 we started with,” Pawar said. “We ran the most shoestring campaign you’ve ever seen. Since then, I’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. I feel I can raise money to be competitive. … There’s a tendency to throw a bunch of money at the problem, throw money at the airwaves and crucify one another. There isn’t a lot of going out and talking to one another.”
Pawar did beat a machine candidate, but he did that with lots of door-knocking. A statewide bid is an entirely different level of campaigning, however. You can’t just go out and talk to people one-on-one and expect that to work. You have to raise big bucks, like it or not. Statewide is about wholesale, not retail.
Mayor Emanuel lives in Pawar’s district, so it’s almost assured Pawar will be tagged with the “Rahm’s alderman” moniker. It goes without saying that Emanuel is one of the least popular politicians in this state.
* From earlier this year…
He readily admits that he’s fundraising and that he’s interested in replacing Rahm Emanuel—should the mayor decide not to seek a third term. If Rahm does run again, Pawar, born in Evanston to immigrants from India, says he won’t challenge him. He credits Rahm, his constituent, for helping him on many of his legislative accomplishments.
Again: “Rahm’s alderman.” As if being an alderman in a city that has huge financial and crime problems isn’t bad enough.
* Pawar has limited himself to two terms, so that’s why he’s looking around for something else to do. But he already seems to be breaking a promise he made in August...
“What I’m not going to do is spend the next three years scheming for a higher office, any higher office. I think the problem with that is that you’re rooting for someone else’s failure so you can take their job. I’ve never run a negative campaign. I find it odd that the principle campaigns are run on is to destroy the other person; to make yourself look better by making the other person look bad.”
* He does have a progressive record to run on, though…
In his five years in City Council, Pawar counts among his successes the towing bill of rights, directing $40 million in TIF funds to schools and libraries in his ward, the licensing debt collectors ordinance, anti wage theft ordinance, and more.
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“Clean jobs” group backs Exelon bill
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, many of whose members had announced their opposition to the original version of the legislation, voted Monday night to support the amended version of the Future Energy Job Bill and urged its passage during the Illinois General Assembly’s current veto session.
The coalition released the following statement:
“We as a coalition are firmly committed to acting on the urgent need to create thousands of clean jobs and spur needed investment in the state, cut energy bills for consumers and respond to the growing threats of climate change. We are especially pleased to have found common ground with ComEd and Exelon to fund at least $750 million in investments in low-income communities, finally fix the state’s broken Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to spur private capital investments in wind and solar projects, and boldly expand energy efficiency standards, a key reason Illinois has the lowest electric rates in the Midwest.
“As with any compromise bill, our coalition is not pleased with every detail. But we are united in the belief that Illinois urgently needs to modernize our energy policy so we stop losing clean energy jobs and other benefits to more innovative states. We believe this bill can be a strong step toward our goals of creating thousands more clean jobs, cutting electric bills and cleaning the air we all breathe. We urge the General Assembly and Gov. Rauner to pass and support the Future Energy Jobs Bill during the veto session.”
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* Senate President John Cullerton emerged from the leaders meeting shortly after 4 o’clock to say that the Democrats will “offer counter-proposals” to the governor’s ideas tomorrow. He said those counter-proposals would be centered on workers’ comp, consolidation of government and pension reform. “We’ll see if we can make some more progress,” he said.
Asked about any progress on the budget, Cullerton said “we’re talking about ‘reforms,’” before they “talk about the budget.”
Asked why he described it as a “good meeting,” Cullerton said “We have an understanding of the topics and process,” going forward and the leaders “will have a normal give and take.”
* But will the Democrats really offer counter-proposals? House Speaker Michael Madigan emerged to say, yet again, that if the leaders “continue to use the framework” successfully used for seven budgets, they could get something done. That’s usually his code for saying that they need to work out a budget before they tackle the governor’s reforms.
So why is he participating in the talks if the governor insists upon talking about his reforms first? Madigan said he participated today at the invitation of the governor.
And when asked about Cullerton’s comment regarding counter-proposals, Madigan initially dodged the question, but later said “Sen. Cullerton can speak for himself and I’ll speak for myself.”
* House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said the Democrats would offer counter-proposals on the governor’s proposed reforms tomorrow. But, Durkin said, he wasn’t “getting the same sense of urgency” on completing a budget from the Dems.
Durkin said if nothing changes he fears the Democrats would push stop-gap budgets for the next two years.
* Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno said “It’s unclear who we are negotiating with.” Cullerton, she said, pledged to bring counter-proposals tomorrow, but Madigan, she said, is sticking with his “seven successful budget negotiations” stance.
“It does seem that there’s a divide between the two of them about how committed they are to any kind of change,” Radogno said, adding she’d take Cullerton at his word. “But I just continue to hear the rote comments” about the seven successful budgets out of Madigan.
Durkin said he was worried that Cullerton might bring a “workers’ comp lite” proposal to the meeting tomorrow. Radogno wondered if Cullerton was once again just playing “good cop” to Madigan’s “bad cop.”
Durkin said that, rather than a special session, the leaders should meet every day, whether in Springfield or in Chicago.
* Meanwhile, Madigan also told reporters that he had “overwhelming support” for his reelection as House Speaker. And when asked about a lame duck session, Madigan said “The governor has spoken at length about a lame duck tax increase,” with a bit of snark in his voice, calling that fact “interesting.”
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* Phil Kadner…
The people who support the Republican governor seem happy to see him doing battle with Madigan, who they blame for everything that’s wrong with this state. There’s little doubt the Democratic Party leader is responsible for much of it.
On the other hand, Rauner has done absolutely nothing to resolve any of the major problems, other than confront Madigan. That alone seems to satisfy some people. […]
But the problem is that these two men are impervious to public pressure. They simply don’t care. They don’t care what you have to say, they don’t care if their political strategy fails and they don’t care if people get hurt along the way.
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Fun with numbers
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The governor’s office released a video of Gov. Rauner’s morning show interviews today. From that video…
“We tried a big tax hike in 2011. They did that. Fixed nothing. Job losses accelerated and the pension liability went up.”
* From the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Illinois page…
And, of course, the pension liability has continued to rise even after the tax hike partially expired, so that argument is essentially meaningless, although it does sound good to the teevee people.
…Adding… More from the governor’s round of morning show appearances. This one from WGN TV…
Rauner is also pushing four key ideas that will help benefit the budget: reforms to get more jobs, bring down property tax burden, properly fund our schools and term limits on all elected officials.
More jobs would create more revenues. But how many more jobs can be created and how much additional revenues would they generate? He doesn’t say. Lowering the property tax burden would conceivably free up money that could be used for job creation, but how much? Again, he doesn’t say.
Also, too, properly funding schools will require more money, not less. And I’m not quite sure how term limits will “benefit the budget.”
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Around and around and around we go
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Doug Finke…
When the leaders last met, Rauner also distributed copies of a bill filed by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs to overhaul workers’ compensation to reduce costs.
The bill was initially filed in 2015, but the House has not acted on it. Until now. A House committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill Monday, a day before the full legislature returns to the Capitol.
However, in a letter to House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and the other leaders, Durkin said he objected to the timing of the hearing.
“At the conclusion of (our last) meeting, we agreed to return with feedback on the various reform proposals discussed during the meeting,” he wrote. “Our workers’ compensation reform proposal is a starting point for discussion, not an ultimatum. I believe it is premature to hold a hearing on the matter; our goal should be to use the legislation as a starting point for discussion at our leaders’ meeting (Monday).”
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown disagreed.
“They talked about getting feedback on workers’ comp,” he said. “One of the ways you get feedback is having a committee hearing.”
The hearing on that bill is set to start today at 3 o’clock, the same time as the leaders meeting.
* Tribune editorial…
We’ve all seen the stories: Employee claims a shoulder-related job injury. Employee qualifies for workers’ compensation. Employee posts photo on social media of himself hoisting a 150-pound yellow fin tuna while deep sea fishing. Employee busted.
How does this keep happening?
Cracking down on abuse within the state’s workers’ compensation system, which would lower insurance costs for employers, is part of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s so-called turnaround agenda. But he isn’t alone: Legislators on both sides of the aisle agree changes are needed.
That’s a clear case of fraud…
Anyone found guilty of any of these actions is guilty of a Class 4 felony, punishable by 1-3 years imprisonment and a $25,000 fine.
The guilty party shall be required to pay complete restitution, and may be found civilly liable for up to three times the value of benefits or insurance coverage that was wrongfully attained.
The Democrats and the unions have said they’re open to weeding out more fraud. That’s not what’s holding things up.
* Back to the editorial…
Yet Madigan keeps reinforcing his battle line: He won’t mix budget negotiations with policy negotiations, even though certain policy changes — workers’ comp included — would improve the state’s economic health. Madigan says the issues are unrelated. Never mind Madigan’s long history of mixing budget negotiations with policy negotiations.
His argument is silly. Improving Illinois’ business climate is intrinsically related to funding the state budget.
Madigan does, indeed, have a long history of mixing budget talks with other stuff. And I agree that our business climate is pretty darned harsh. As long as Madigan is just saying “No” to everything, he puts himself into the position of defending an age-old status quo. He refers constantly to the 2011 reforms (which were good), but won’t talk about the results of the 2005 reforms (not so good).
I’ve long advocated for a reasonable compromise which would roll back part of the 2005 reform bill while creating a credible commission to study alleged insurance company recalcitrance at passing along reform-generated savings to employers.
Nobody listens because they prefer their war.
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A lot of motion, but no movement?
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
The Illinois House of Representatives this week faces a critical opportunity to strengthen voting rights and make Illinois’ electoral process more secure and cost effective by voting to override the veto of SB250, a bill that would create automatic voter registration in Illinois. SB250 passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support in May but was vetoed in August. The Senate voted to override the veto earlier this month, but without a successful override vote in the House on week, the veto will stand.
Senate Bill 250 reforms current registration laws so that whenever an eligible Illinois resident receives services at a designated state agency such as Drivers Services, he or she will be automatically registered to vote in the local jurisdiction unless they opt out. Registered voters will also be able to update their voter information when they interact with these agencies.
Just Democracy Illinois, a broad-based coalition of religious, community and civil rights organizations, urged representatives to vote to override the veto. […]
Earlier this month, Republican lawmakers introduced a watered down automatic voter registration bill that SB250 supporters condemned as an effort to give political cover to Republican lawmakers seeking to avoid voting on the veto override. On Monday, the Just Democracy Illinois coalition and House sponsor Rep. Robyn Gabel again urged lawmakers to abandon alternative efforts and focus on the SB250 override.
* Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) insists the Republican alternative is a good bill…
During debate in the House last May, I raised this concern, but was told that there was not time to make changes before the deadline on May 31. The bill passed. Over the summer Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed SB 250. In his veto message, the governor identified a number of fixes needed for AVR to work properly in Illinois. Specifically, the governor sought to ensure that AVR in Illinois is consistent with federal voting requirements. His recommended fixes would also avoid problems when personal information is passed between state agencies, particularly in the age of identity theft and computer hacking.
In order to address many of the problems with Senate Bill 250 but also providing Illinois voters with automatic voter registration, I joined with Republican Leader Jim Durkin to file House Bill 6627. House Bill 6627 provides an opt-out box on a form like the driver’s license application. A similar, early opt-out method is used in California, Connecticut, Vermont and West Virginia. With this change, when a person opts out, their private, personal information goes no further than the initial agency and their privacy is respected.
House Bill 6627 also addresses the concerns raised by the governor that involve voter eligibility. The bill will require the Secretary of State to verify a voter’s eligibility at the time of application, as is done in the state of Oregon. House Bill 6627 also requires the applicant to attest to their eligibility to vote, as is required by the National Voter Registration Act and used by all other states that have AVR. These additions are not included in the bill Gov. Rauner vetoed. House Bill 6627 also allows any state agency that processes citizen applications to participate in AVR if they are technically able to do so. Illinois will be the first state in the union to allow such a broad AVR process for potential voters.
* But it may not matter one way or the other, as Finke notes…
The official reason for the veto session is to give lawmakers a chance to vote on overriding vetoes that the governor issued on bills in the preceding months.
During the first week of the session, the Senate did just that. The chamber voted to override Rauner vetoes on seven bills, including automatic voter registration and legislation raising the pay of home health care workers from $13 an hour to $15 an hour.
The House, meanwhile, continued to show that Madigan’s supermajority exists mainly on paper. The House tried to override four vetoes that Rauner made on House bills and failed on all of them.
Now the bills where the Senate approved overrides must still be approved by the House. If the House fails to do that, the bills will be dead.
I dunno, maybe a compromise is in order?
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A brief Cuba story
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Former Gov. George Ryan talked with Kerry Lester about his historic 1999 trip to Cuba…
Although there had been no formal talks between the U.S. and Cuba since 1961, when President Dwight Eisenhower severed diplomatic relations after Castro signed a trade treaty with the Soviet Union, Ryan says he hosted a Cuban “representative” at a state dinner in Springfield shortly after his inauguration. He was then invited to visit Cuba.
Ryan, a pharmacist by trade, considered the visit a humanitarian mission. He said he “put together a package of pharmaceuticals and drugs the people needed, Jewish menorahs and things the Jewish community needed, some things from the Archdiocese of Chicago,” as well as school supplies for the trip.
“They’re very big on Abraham Lincoln in Cuba,” Ryan added.
Along with Ryan, the 45-member delegation included House Speaker Michael Madigan, House Minority Leader Lee Daniels, Senate Minority Leader Emil Jones, Lopez and Serrano.
Ryan describes lengthy meetings and dinners with Castro where “he never stopped talking. I had to interrupt him on several occasions.”
Ryan said he got along well with Castro. “But I never forgot where he came from. He took a lot of lives and he was a pretty brutal guy.”
There’s lots more, so go read the whole thing.
I was also on that trip. Castro held a marathon 3+ hour press conference and he yelled at me for asking about foreigners making big bucks running tourist hotels in his socialist paradise. I also asked about rampant prostitution and street hustling, and suggested his answer (if tourists want it, who am I to stop it?) sounded a lot like Batista. And I told him about a lunch I had with some military veterans who couldn’t afford shoes. He said I should send them some shoes, but I didn’t because I figured I would’ve put a big target on their backs.
* My greatest regret is that, because he pointed his finger in my face while yelling at me and then cut me off when I asked about the hotel owners, I didn’t get to ask Castro about something I’d witnessed countless times in Havana.
Whenever anybody I talked with in Cuba mentioned Castro, they never used the man’s name. Instead, they’d always slyly stroke their chin to mimic somebody stroking their own beard. People whispered to me that they did this because Castro had spies literally everywhere and nobody was sure who was whom. Saying his name out loud risked perking up somebody’s ears nearby and then draw unwanted attention to the person who was speaking.
Castro talked often during that press conference about how the people loved him and how free they all were. So, I wanted to use that chin-stroking thing as my final question, but I never got to ask it.
And now I never will.
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Rauner again imposes some of AFSCME’s ideas
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner today announced the creation of two task forces aimed at improving workplace environments for state employees. The Health and Safety Task Force and the Workplace Violence Task Force, both part of the state’s last, best and final offer and proposed by the union during contract negotiations, will be comprised of representatives from the administration and the union.
“These task forces will be instrumental in improving the day-to-day work environment for state employees,” Governor Rauner said. “It is our hope that union leaders will work with our administration to get these union-proposed task forces off the ground quickly so that the state can benefit from their recommendations as soon as feasibly possible.”
The Health and Safety Task Force will identify state agencies, programs or specific worksites that have a high number of serious job-related injuries; analyze the principle cause of job-related employee injuries or illnesses; review current “best practices” to determine how other employers have been able to reduce job-related injuries and illnesses; and develop recommendations for changes to work environments or enhanced employee education and training. Recommendations from the task force are to be issued within twenty-four months of the initial meeting.
The Workplace Violence Task Force will develop recommendations to reduce the risk of violence in the workplace and protocols for employees to follow for when they believe they are faced with safety and health issues that could result in immediate harm.
To many eyes, this is going to look very reasonable on the governor’s part.
* Meanwhile, the SJ-R recently published an editorial entitled “Time for AFSCME to put its cards on the table”…
Rauner is under no obligation to negotiate. We recommend that he does, but only — and this is mandatory in our eyes — if a hard-and-fast expiration date is set so both sides come ready to negotiate. AFSCME must come to the table with a proposal that indicates the union understands just how precarious Illinois’s finances are. […]
AFSCME told this editorial board it hasn’t presented its last/best offer. Here’s their chance: Publicly release it. Let the public know what you’re asking for, so taxpayers can judge the merits.
The union should not dismiss some of the pragmatic proposals that the Rauner administration says are in its plan. Overtime kicking in after working 40 hours would mirror the federal standard. Getting 2 times pay, instead of 2.5 times pay, for working the “super holidays” of Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas seems generous as the private sector typically gets time and a half.
While the motivations might have been purely political, two moves by the Rauner administration have made it seem responsive and inclusive. The union wanted bereavement leave for AFSCME members for the death of a child or stepchild — Rauner says he will implement it. The merit pay plan for the first year will provide $1,000 bonuses based on attendance, and the governor wants union input on who should receive it for the remainder of the contract.
The union needs to provide a different narrative if it expects any public pressure on the governor to return to the bargaining table. AFSCME must show taxpayers that it understands cuts to personnel costs will be needed to help the state improve its financial situation. But this also is its chance to provide evidence for what a doubling of health care costs would mean for employees making $30,000 a year, and offer alternatives so we have something to compare. Make it compelling, so the governor’s administration would look unreasonable to not give it consideration.
Thoughts?
…Adding… From Council 31…
Our committee was still negotiating when the Rauner Administration walked away back in January. There is no “last” offer to present because negotiations had not reached that point when the governor cut them short.
Ever since, we have repeatedly indicated our willingness to continue to negotiate, but Rauner has refused. It’s good that both the Journal-Register (and the Journal-Star) have now said the governor should return to the table. Lawmakers of both parties have said the same.
It’s also worth noting here that the ALJ found, and the board affirmed, that the administration committed multiple violations of labor law (unfair labor practices) in refusing to provide basic information requested by the union in order to develop further proposals on many core issues.
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On the other hand…
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a commenter…
The GA has for years repeatedly ignored budgets submitted by Governors, now they claim they can’t do their work without one.
That is totally true. I cannot tell you how many times a governor’s budget proposal has been dead even before the the last lines of his budget address were uttered in the House chambers. It was probably all of them.
Yes, this current governor’s proposed budgets have been particularly egregious. Gov. Rauner has refused to take the heat for the massive cuts that would be required to balance the budget without a tax hike, so we get phony budget plans. The Democrats don’t want to propose cuts or tax hikes, so they just pass stopgap bills (or, in the case of the House, massively out of whack spending plans).
* But, hey, we can’t even get to budget negotiations until the governor is placated with some Turnaround Agenda “wins.”
…Adding… The Rauner people point out that they did talk about a budget with the Democrats last May, but the Democrats wouldn’t agree to any of their reforms. So, OK, I’ll rephrase: “We can’t even get to a real budget deal until the governor is placated with some Turnaround Agenda ‘wins.’”
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Exelon bill still up in the air
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s Chicago Business still doesn’t like the Exelon bill…
For a while, it looked as if Exelon would be able to sweet-talk lawmakers into including language that would jack up bills for downstate folks to keep open financially ailing coal-fired power plants. That gift was Exelon’s way of buying support for its nuke bailout from coal-plant operator Dynegy, the largest power generator downstate. But propping up coal was a bridge too far for consumer and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Citizens Utility Board, and thus, Dynergy lost its subsidy.
That’s progress.
The compromise language being worked out before Thanksgiving also shielded large industrial power users from a big hike in their electricity costs. That’s a win for Illinois’ overall economic health, since relatively low power rates make the Land of Lincoln more competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining big employers.
Also jettisoned from the original bill is a controversial proposal to overhaul how Commonwealth Edison’s electricity delivery rates are set. ComEd wanted to begin charging households and small businesses based on how much power they consume at peak demand times of the day rather than how much they consume overall during the course of the month. The Rauner administration termed that a nonstarter—another win for consumers.
So, you might wonder, what’s the problem? Well, even though the revised legislation provides a cheaper set of ratepayer-funded subsidies—and those subsidies sunset after 10 years—one troubling fact remains: Exelon is getting a bailout. Through that bailout, the company would keep open two nuclear plants that Exelon itself has declared are not economically viable. In any other business, owners themselves would have to deal with a money-losing operation. Exelon thinks it’s exceptional, however. Why should Illinoisans absorb the cost of keeping these unneeded plants open? We’re still waiting for a sensible answer.
* The QC Times thinks it has that answer…
Gov. Bruce Rauner has staked his reputation on job creation. General Assembly Democrats cling to unions and environmental issues.
The Exelon bailout furthers all of those goals. It protects jobs and local governments. It prevents yet another exodus of workers. It assures that water vapor is pumped into the atmosphere instead of greenhouse gases. It positions Exelon to expand its footprint in the market, while granting nuclear the benefits offered to other “green” energy sources.
* Meanwhile, the governor and the two Democratic leaders are trying to wait each other out…
Rauner said that while he wants the plants to stay open, he also wants a solution that doesn’t adversely affect consumers and businesses… “It’s a very fluid situation. We’ve got to protect all of the jobs we can, protect ratepayers and taxpayers. We can’t have our energy prices go through the roof or we’ll lose jobs.” [Gov. Rauner said]
Madigan and Cullerton aren’t ready to sign onto anything yet, their spokesmen said.
“We don’t have legislation in front of the Senate, and it sounds like changes continue to be made,” Patterson said. “The ultimate question comes down to where’s the governor on all of this and what would he be willing to sign.”
“Until we get to a final proposal, I’m not sure we have a position,” Brown said. “We don’t know what the final outcome might be or when this might occur.”
They’re going to need a structured bipartisan roll call in both chambers, but that won’t be easy if the governor won’t say whether he’ll sign the thing. Passing a bill like this is a whole lot more difficult than killing a bill, so this is a big test for Rauner.
All five leaders are meeting today at 3 o’clock, so we may get a better idea after that’s over.
* Related…
* AP: A closer look at bill that could save Cordova plant
* Pastor Of South Side Church Organizes Opposition To ComEd Rate Hike
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Time for a “real” budget?
Monday, Nov 28, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The House Democrats have lately taken to demanding that Gov. Rauner produce a “real” budget plan…
The governor and leaders are meeting as Illinois approaches a deadline: When 2016 is over, so is a temporary spending plan.
Rauner continues to prioritize an agenda he says will grow the economy in the long run; Democrats continue to resist those plans.
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman, Steve Brown, says passing a budget should come first. Madigan has brought in one rank-and-file legislator, Chicago Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, to be part of budget discussions, and says Madigan will call for other legislators to do the same.
“It’s one thing to say ‘Well, we’ll do a budget and then we’ll do these other matters and then maybe we’ll find a way to fund it. I think people have fundamental questions about the budget as the first step,” Brown said. “What’s going to be in that budget? Are you going to continue to devastate higher education, for example? Are you going to continue to put real … limits on some of the social service programs, around there? How do you expect them to function? And so I think there’s key questions on the budget that have to be answered.”
* But a Tribune columnist claims Rauner has already done so…
One of the naysayers’ favorite ways to shift blame for the state’s financial mess is to assert that Rauner never introduced legitimate, authentic, balanced budgets.
False, false and false.
The first budget Rauner balanced in 2015 was the remainder of the 2014 budget that Democrats knowingly underfunded and then left in his lap. Then Rauner introduced a budget for fiscal year 2016 — the 12 months that ended June 30 — that anticipated savings from pension reform. The savings were dependent on the Illinois Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of altering pension benefits.
But a few months after Rauner introduced that budget, the court struck down the pension changes. Yes, a hole was blown into Rauner’s budget. But not because he was playing games or was derelict in his duty. […]
This year, Rauner essentially introduced two budgets. The first included a hole that his aides openly acknowledged and planned to fill with new taxes, if the legislature would agree to reforms. If the legislature didn’t agree to a compromise and new revenue, Rauner proposed a backup budget that would have required the General Assembly to untie his hands. He would make cuts himself, but he needed the legislature to unlock the handcuffs that mandate certain spending practices, such as Medicaid rates.
But he didn’t actually propose any of those specific cuts this year. He just left a gigantic hole in the budget and said they’d somehow work it all out. That wasn’t a “legitimate, authentic, balanced” budget in any way, shape or form.
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[Bumped up from last Wednesday for visibility and comments opened.]
* Comptroller-elect Susana Mendoza announced the other day that she would take her oath of office in January, even though the statute which created the special election appeared to set a December 5th swearing-in date.
Press release…
Illinois Comptroller-elect Susana A. Mendoza will be sworn in on Monday, Dec. 5 in Springfield, Lauren Peters, the managing director of her transition team, said in a statement released Wednesday.
“Comptroller-Elect Susana Mendoza has decided to take her oath on Dec. 5 once the election results are officially certified. After conferring with Attorney General Lisa Madigan, we have made a final decision with regard to interpretations of the unprecedented law governing the recent special election. While our legal team reached one interpretation of the law, which does not have any existing legal opinion guiding it, the Office of the Attorney General has concluded that the Comptroller-Elect should be sworn in on Dec. 5 upon certification of the ballots from the November election. As the chief legal officer for the state of Illinois, we believe it is in the best interest of the state to defer to her opinion and move forward with a swearing in date of Dec. 5.”
The exact time and location of the swearing in, which will be open to the public, is to be determined in the coming days. It will take place in the Illinois State Capitol Building.
The Mendoza folks say they consulted with their own attorneys, but then decided it was best to bow to the AG’s opinion.
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