Ed Duffy
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Before we close out for the week, I need to post this…
Edward Duffy, best known to those he loved most as Dad or Papa, left this earth on Saturday surrounded by his girls.
Born in 1945 to Edward & Dorothy Duffy, it was obvious from the start that the world would be changed by this young boy. He made wonderful childhood memories with best friends and siblings, Bill and Patty. He married our mom in 1968 and together they created a family that loves like no other.
In the decades since he joined the work force he left his indelible mark on a variety of fields. From his early years on the Chicago Police Force to his years with the State of Illinois heading the Dangerous Drugs Commission, The Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, The Department of Public Aid, and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Thompson. Realizing as his girls grew that he wanted to spend more time at home, he moved to the private sector where he oversaw the rebuilding of Arlington Park Racetrack as President and then later the transformation of Sportsman’s Park into a dual-purpose facility that brought world class auto racing to Illinois with Chicago Motor Speedway. Undoubtedly his most loved job was his last - being Grandpa to 8 kids who were absolutely the loves of his life.
His legacy will live on in those he left behind; the love of his life Nancy, his daughters Colleen, Meghan, Kelli, Erin, and Cara, the sons he welcomed with open arms; Tim, Eric, Brent, and Scott, and most importantly his grandkids whom he loved with no limits: Katelyn, Madison, Braden, Bryce, Ansley, Everleigh, Finnegan, Brooklyn, and his newest due late this summer.
Instead of sending flowers, please consider a donation to either The Ronan Thompson Foundation or The Truth 365 as they are personal favorites of his, we know it would mean the world to him.
Memorial visitation Friday, January 10th, 3:00 until the time of service 8:00 pm at the Countryside Funeral Home & Crematory, 950 South Bartlett Rd.(at Stearns Rd.) Bartlett. 630-289-7575 or www.countrysidefuneralhomes.com.
Ed had a lot of friends and my heart goes out to his family.
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The dogs of Munich
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I spent some time in Munich over the break. I went to college there for a year, so it was cool to see how the place had changed.
We also went to the spectacular Neuschwanstein Castle. I’d never been there, and despite the very long walk up the hill, the view was most definitely worth it…
* One of the things that really stood out for me was the number of German dogs who accompanied their owners to places that American dog owners are never allowed to bring their pets.
We walked into the Hofbräuhaus and there was a dog kicking back at his beer-drinking owner’s feet. It’s a naturally accepted thing over there. People bring their dogs everywhere and it’s just no big deal. Heck, there were even two dogs at the Louis Vuitton store (and, no, I didn’t buy anything there).
I think the Deutches Museum was the only place where I saw a “No Pets” sign. Every other spot was cool with animals, and they all behaved quite well.
Maybe that’s the difference. American dog owners are kinda notorious for letting their dogs get a little too rambunctious in public. Same goes for their kids.
* Oscar the Puppy is often a bit too enthusiastic in public, and his breed is infamous for joyously jumping on people by way of a greeting. So we have to keep a close eye on the little guy when he goes anywhere outside the grounds of the International Headquarters.
But he sure wasn’t raucous when we picked him up Monday evening. The poor thing was exhausted from playing with his puppy pals almost non-stop for two weeks. He slept all the way home, then went right to bed.
* Oscar is pretty much fully recovered today, but he was still tuckered out yesterday when I took this video…
One day, I’m gonna take that puppy to the Hofbräuhaus.
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Everybody wants to get into the act
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the DCCC…
Republican Bob Dold wanted struggling Illinois families to have the minimum wage cut, too. Before Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner set off a firestorm with his suggestion that he wanted to lower the minimum wage, Dold advocated for lowering the minimum wage during a live interview. In 2010, Dold was asked if he’d support a reduction in the minimum wage and argued he would support such a move. “Certainly lowering the minimum wage I know in my business I can’t hire anybody at the minimum wage but certainly if we lower the minimum wage more people will go back to work.”
“There’s no better example of Bob Dold’s refusal to stand up to the Tea Party’s reckless agenda than Dold’s proposal to lower the minimum wage,” said Brandon Lorenz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Instead of strengthening middle class families and growing the economy, Bob Dold’s standing with the reckless Tea Party agenda that leaves them out in the cold.”
BACKGROUND:
Congressman Dold Supported Lowering the Minimum Wage. In 2010, Dold was asked if he’d support a reduction in the minimum wage. “I think the federal government in general needs to get out of the way, take regulation off […] Certainly lowering the minimum wage I know in my business I can’t hire anybody at the minimum wage but certainly if we lower the minimum wage more people will go back to work.” [Political Shoot-Out Interview WLS 890 AM Radio, 1/03/10]
* Audio…
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Big buckaroos
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Conservative gazillionaire Richard Uihlein just contributed $1.5 million to Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC, which is now an independent expenditures PAC.
*** UPDATE *** Illinois Review…
When asked about this, Dan Proft, Chairman and Treasurer of Liberty Principles PAC told IR the organization’s resources will continue to be focused on state legislative races only. About Uihlein’s specific donation, Proft said:
“The investment represents Mr. Uihlein’s ongoing commitment to the economic liberty policy agenda and to Illinois state legislative candidates who share that commitment. Mr. Uihlein’s financial commitment is shared by a growing number of Liberty Principles PAC donors who understand the need for new political leadership in Springfield in order for Illinois to attract and retain businesses and grow jobs.”
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Question of the day
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From last month…
Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson became the 15th player to draw a warning for violating the anti-flopping rule, the NBA announced Monday.
Gibson drew his warning for a play that occurred in the first quarter of Saturday’s victory over the Cavaliers. A video replay showed Gibson exaggerating contact he drew from Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving.
No fine is involved. If Gibson draws a second warning, he will be fined $5,000.
* The Question: Your proposed “new rules” for Illinois politics?
It’s Friday, so try to have some fun.
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For him when it suits their purposes
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* On May 29th, the Chicago Tribune editorial board implored, even begged House Speaker Michael Madigan to use all of his vast powers to pass a pension reform bill by the end of the spring session…
Working your bill in the Senate is what a leader committed to pension reform — even you, the House leader — should do. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve broken protocol to get the results you wanted. You do it all the time:
•You stopped your wristwatch on the final day of session in 1988, right before the clock struck midnight, to get a new stadium approved for the White Sox. For that deal, then-Gov. Jim Thompson was on the floor of both chambers muscling votes too.
•You lobbied hard for a controversial 1999 gambling expansion bill that would have moved a riverboat license to Rosemont. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley lobbied for it. Senate President Pate Philip handed out cigars when the bill passed both chambers.
•In 2007 you called a rare committee of the whole meeting in your chamber to address Rod Blagojevich’s gross receipts tax. The hearing lasted eight hours.
•And two years ago you stepped onto the Senate floor to help pass a 67 percent hike in the personal income tax rate. After you worked the room, it passed.
Remember, Mike, you’re also chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. You and your majority-party-in-both-chambers can’t leave Springfield, yet again, without passing major pension reform. Which means you can’t allow ego and sandbox foolishness to derail progress. Not when your bill has come this far. Not when 62 House members, some of whom you finessed, already put “yes” votes on the board.
Work your bill to completion. Persuade Cullerton to call it for a vote. Get it on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. When it’s all over, we’ll buy you all ice cream cones to help smooth things over. We’re guessing you’re a sherbet kind of guy.
Deal? Hope so.
Sincerely,
Chicago Tribune editorial board
* On November 6th, the Tribune editorial board praised Madigan for working his magic on the gay marriage bill…
Many people deserve credit for building support in the House and Senate, including the leaders, Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan.
* But yesterday, the Tribune reverted to form and blasted Madigan for being too powerful and argued for term limits…
Madigan has been speaker for all but two of the last 31 years. Yet you didn’t elect him. The other lawmakers did.
They know he’s guilty of overreaching, and they know how to stop it. They could pass a law, or even a House rule, that limits how long any member can serve as speaker. Or they could, you know, elect someone else. But they don’t and they won’t.
Why? Because Madigan owns them. He draws their districts, too. He directs the patronage army that gets them elected. He bankrolls their campaigns, and here, too, he has granted himself an advantage: When the General Assembly passed the state’s first-ever campaign finance limits, Madigan made sure legislative leaders were exempt from those caps.
The blue ribbon ethics commission that championed those caps also recommended term limits for leaders. A bill was drafted and forgotten.
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Today’s numbers are bad, too
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Moody’s Analytics ranks Illinois dead last among the 50 states for projected 2014 job growth. The firm is predicting a growth rate next year of just 0.98 percent. Click on the pic for the full interactive map…
Indiana is ranked 25th at 1.60 percent. Wisconsin is ranked 32nd at a projected 1.49 percent growth for the year. And Michigan is 27th at 1.55 percent 2014 projected growth.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Fix it now
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the main reasons that I felt comfortable with the new fracking regulatory law was that the Illinois Sierra Club was at the negotiating table and agreed to the final cut.
But if the Sierra Club is this unhappy with the proposed Illinois Department of Natural Resources regulations, well, now I’m very uncomfortable indeed…
Six months ago, Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law legislation that had passed by wide margins in both houses to regulate fracking, or hydrauling fracturing. The bill was the result of an agreement hammered out between drilling interests and environmentalists, and Quinn boasted it gave Illinois the best environmental protections in the nation.
But the devil is always in the details. It’s the Department of Natural Resources’ job to translate more than 100 pages of legislation into rules governing fracking. It’s complicated because no one is allowed to talk to each other ex parte, i.e., in private.
When the DNR put out a first draft of the regulations, no one was very happy, as often happens with complicated legislation. Environmentalists thought the rules were weaker than the compromise legislation envisioned, and the drilling industry had its own objections. And some grass-roots environmentalists have been complaining all along that the mainline environmental groups that participated in the legislative negotiations caved.
“We do think the DNR needs to go back to the drawing board on these rules because they are not as strong as the law,” said Jack Darin, director of the Sierra Club’s Illinois chapter. “We viewed the law as a floor, not a ceiling, in terms of protections. … Given the consequences of a mistake or an accident and the great difficulty of remediating contaminated groundwater, we need to make sure these rules are as strong as possible from the get-go. … We don’t think these rules are good enough to protect the public.”
The Sierra Club has been barraged with criticism by fringe groups on this issue, so it’s possible that things have just gotten too hot for the organization.
But Jack Darin stuck his neck way, way out on this thing, so DNR needs to accommodate his concerns as much as humanly possible.
Now.
*** UPDATE *** The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association claims that some groups are attempting to use the rules process to renegotiate the bill. From an IMA letter to DNR…
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Another new Rauner clip surfaces
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* So, does Bruce Rauner really believe in raising the minimum wage? Or is this just a position of convenience to allow him to escape the perils of his previous demands to cut the wage by a dollar an hour?
We may gain some further insight into Rauner’s thinking from this audio clip. Rauner appeared on Springfield-area tea party leader Fritz Pfister’s WMAY radio program in September. Have a listen…
* In case you can’t listen, here’s the exchange…
PFISTER: “Will raising the minimum wage actually help the people it’s intended to help, or will it harm them?”
RAUNER: “No, it’s a very bad idea, it’s a terrible idea.
“We’ve already got one of the highest unemployment rates in America, in fact the second highest of any state and far and away the worst unemployment rate in the Midwest.
“And raising the minimum wage will only devastate job opportunities for young people and lower income folks that need jobs first and foremost, rather than try to force businesses and interfere in pay scales that are competitive that allow businesses to thrive and hire people.”
He really needs to explain why he can now support raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour when he claimed it would “devastate” job opportunities and how he was previously so against “interfering” in pay scales. Yes, he says he wants to couple that hike with business-friendly law changes, but what, exactly does he want to do? And how realistic are his ideas?
* Meanwhile, a Tribune story cuts down Rauner’s attempt to explain away his position on lowering the minimum wage by saying it was just a “flippant” remark…
Though Rauner sought to indicate he was rushed in giving an inarticulate answer at the Quad Cities forum, Rauner and his three foes for the March 18 GOP nomination had been provided the questions in advance, according to an email sent to the campaigns by the event’s organizers.
Oops.
* Also, here is how the Quad City Times reported on that December candidates’ forum where Rauner said he wanted a cut in the minimum wage…
The four candidates got mostly business-centered questions. All opposed an increase in the minimum wage
Oy.
* The Dispatch did pick up on it, but buried it near the end of its story…
The candidates agreed that taxes and regulations need to be cut, and oppose efforts to raise the minimum wage. Mr. Rauner went further than his rivals on the minimum wage by saying it should be cut.
The minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 but Mr. Rauner said it should be cut to the federal rate of $7.25 to make the state more competitive in attracting jobs.
Gov. Quinn wants to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour and argues that the $8.25 rate is insufficient to keep workers out of poverty.
What a difference a month makes, eh?
And it should be noted that while Rauner’s Republican opponents whacked him but good this week for proposing to cut the minimum wage, they were standing right there on the same podium with him in December when he initially made the remarks and didn’t utter a peep.
* In other news, Mayor Emanuel jumped on the bandwagon…
“And I think the idea that anybody would even cross the mind of thinking about reducing it when the idea should be about how to expand it, strengthen it and make sure all of the other types of investments from health care to college costs are affordable and accessible to middle class families,” Emanuel said. “And the idea that you would reduce it is actually an idea that looks backwards and actually takes us down.”
* And in other news…
[Steve Shearer], the treasurer and chair of a new committee aimed raise money to combat Rauner, said he could have launched a C-4 SuperPAC where donors would have been shielded. Instead, he has an independent expenditure committee where he will promote transparency.
“My effort is designed to be 1000 percent transparent,” Shearer told the Sun-Times. “It’s an independent expenditure committee. I have nothing to hide about this. This is all about informing Republican voters about the whole Bruce Rauner. Obviously, we’re in a Democracy and we want to provide voters with information to vote. It’s up to them to do what they want with it to the degree they find it credible.”
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Rate Rutherford’s new video
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times writes about Dan Rutherford’s new campaign video…
The video, a prelude to what future ads might look like, stays upbeat and away from mud slinging in the four-way primary. It’s thin on issues but gives you a snapshot of the candidate’s homegrown background, including that his family ran a pizza place when he was younger.
Puff video? Of course. But outside of Bruce Rauner’s “Shake Up Springfield” ad campaign, this is the first peek we’ve had into what other candidates may have to offer up in the run-up to the March 18 primary.
Some of the conversations between Rutherford and business owners or factory workers are a bit awkward. But cut down to 30-second videos for ads with a voiceover, there’s potential.
He’s gonna need a lot more than intro spots. Just sayin…
* Watch and rate…
Dan Rutherford for Governor of Illinois - Bio from Dan Rutherford on Vimeo.
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Ballot troubles for Hardiman, Sanchez
Friday, Jan 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There’s an interesting turn of events in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Tio Hardiman’s running mate may have some problems staying on the ballot. And that could raise some fresh, tough questions about Hardiman’s ballot access.
The State Board of Elections delayed a ruling yesterday and may decide next week. Kurt Erickson reports…
At issue is whether the political newcomer’s running mate, lieutenant governor candidate Brunell Donald of Chicago, submitted petitions containing her correct address. […]
Donald acknowledged Thursday she recently moved but failed to change her voter registration.
“I was registered to vote at my old address, not my new one,” Donald told the Lee Enterprises Springfield Bureau Thursday.
For state election regulators, the case is potentially precedent setting because of a change in state law that now requires governors to pick their lieutenant governor candidates before the primary election.
If Donald is ruled ineligible for the ballot, there is no case law providing a roadmap for determining whether Hardiman would remain eligible to stay on the ballot against Quinn.
If they kick Donald off the ballot and not Hardiman, this thing will definitely wind up in the courts for quite a while.
* Meanwhile, Cook County Board candidate Al Sanchez is also having troubles. Tribune…
A county election board hearing officer heard arguments Wednesday from an attorney representing Robert McKay, one of three Democrats running against Sanchez in the March 18 primary, as well as a lawyer for a resident of the South Side and south suburban district. The lawyers contended that Sanchez should not be allowed to run because he remains on supervised release following a prison term for rigging city hiring to benefit political foot soldiers under former Mayor Richard M. Daley.
State law allows a convicted felon to serve on the County Board, but election lawyer Adam Lasker said Sanchez can’t legally put his name on the ballot until he’s finished serving his parole. Lasker noted that Sanchez had to sign a statement of candidacy swearing that he is eligible to vote. Since Sanchez can’t vote until he’s finished his federal sentence, he’s not eligible to run, Lasker contended.
“He’s not eligible to be a qualified elector, he’s not eligible to hold the office. And he had to be when he swore on his statement of candidacy form, on that date, when he swore ‘I am a qualified elector, I am qualified to hold the office,’” Lasker said. “Those are false swearings. Because at that time he was not qualified.”
Sanchez lawyer Dan Johnson countered that what matters is that Sanchez was free from prison when he officially became a candidate last month. And Johnson said Sanchez will petition to have his supervised release terminated in July, well before he would take office if he won.
He’s still listed as “challenged” on the county’s website.
* The Sun-Times editorializes…
By law, municipal offices are off-limits to convicted felons. So are school boards — last year a Cook County judge booted the Thornton High School District 205 board president because he had a felony record. But under the state Election Code, a felony on the resume doesn’t appear to bar a felon from running for the County Board, so the board is the first place felons look when they decide to run for political office. The Legislature should put a stop to this by amending the Election Code to extend the municipal ban to other elected offices.
We’re sympathetic to people who want to rebuild their lives and careers after serving time. They’ve paid their debt to society and deserve a second chance. But not in elected office. There are plenty of other careers they can pursue. Putting felons in charge at any governmental level sends a miserable message. […]
Let’s update the state’s Election Code to close the County Board loophole. Let’s make it clear we’re all for ex-offenders rebuilding their lives, but they have no place holding public office.
Thoughts?
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Shearer finally emerges, lashes out
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Former Aaaron Schock chief of staff Steve Shearer has been noticeably quiet ever since I first wrote that he was heading up a new political group - funded by trade unions - to attack Bruce Rauner. Shearer finally spoke via press release today…
“You can’t put toothpaste back in the tube,” said Steven Shearer, the chairman of the Republican Fund for Progress and Jobs. “In a single month Rauner took completely opposite positions on the minimum wage. It is clear to me that Rauner got poll results showing how toxic his position was with the voters. Rauner then concocted a story saying he ‘misspoke’ and was ‘flippant.’ Now it turns out that was big lie because he said the same thing just as forcefully last fall.”
Shearer continued, “This is why Republicans who know about Rauner have no doubt he would go down in flames next November were he to win the nomination, but also that Rauner would drag down other Republicans to epic defeat in Illinois.”
“The notion that Rauner is the ‘inevitable’ nominee has been shattered. All of Rauner’s millions of dollars he is spending to buy this election can’t cover up for lies and an amateurish campaign operation.”
Shearer concluded, “This whole episode demonstrates why we formed the Republican Fund for Progress and Jobs–Republicans will have severe buyer’s remorse after the primary if they don’t take a very hard look at Bruce Rauner before they vote.”
Shearer’s PAC reported its first contribution today, a $45K transfer in from Operating Engineers Local 150.
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* Ugh…
Hours after FEMA denied the state’s request for federal assistance to help local governments in nine counties recover expenses related to the deadly storms on Nov. 17, Governor Pat Quinn today announced the state will appeal the decision. While the federal government has approved millions of dollars to date of aid to help people and businesses recover, today’s decision denies aid to local governments in impacted communities throughout Illinois.
“While we appreciate FEMA’s partnership in helping individuals and businesses recover, I’m disappointed in this decision,” Governor Quinn said. “My Administration will immediately work to develop a strong appeal that demonstrates how much this assistance is needed. The state of Illinois will continue doing everything necessary to help our hardest hit communities rebuild and recover from these historic tornadoes.”
On Dec. 19, Governor Quinn requested federal aid for local governments in Champaign, Douglas, Grundy, Massac, Tazewell, Vermilion, Washington, Wayne and Woodford counties. That request included documentation of tornado-related expenses, such as emergency protective measures, debris removal and repair or replacement of government-owned facilities incurred by the nine counties and the state.
“On behalf of the city and residents of Washington, I appreciate Governor Quinn’s continued partnership and support as we recover,” Washington Mayor Gary Manier said.
Those costs, which totaled more than $6.1 million, were compiled by a joint damage assessment conducted by FEMA and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) in early December. That total is short of the federal threshold for Illinois of $17.8 million, which is based on the state’s population multiplied by $1.35. This calculation hurts the chances of aid for geographically large states with large urban centers like Illinois.
The request also noted other impacts from the tornadoes, including winter weather conditions that will delay debris clean up and rebuilding, affected communities still dealing with costs related to flood events in April 2013 and April 2011 and public property losses that may not be completely covered by insurance. The state will make the appeal within 30 days to FEMA.
*** UPDATE *** From Sens. Kirk and Durbin…
U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (R-Ill.) today expressed disappointment after receiving word that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has denied the State of Illinois’ request for Public Assistance to help nine Illinois counties recover from the deadly tornadoes that struck the state on November 17, 2013. The State of Illinois plans to appeal the decision.
“I am incredibly disappointed with FEMA’s decision to deny Illinois the necessary funding it needs to rebuild after November’s devastating tornadoes,” Sen. Kirk said. “Having seen firsthand the destruction that our state has suffered, and having met countless volunteers and families affected by these 24 tornadoes, those families and the hard working members of our community deserve the opportunity to rebuild and recover from the deadly storms. I fully support Governor Quinn’s appeal of this decision.”
“This was some of the worst storm damage I have ever seen,” said Durbin. “While the Individual Assistance designation that the counties received just before Christmas will help families and businesses recover, a Public Assistance designation is desperately needed to help local governments rebuild the infrastructure that will make these communities whole again. I am disappointed in today’s decision, but I will support Governor Quinn’s appeal and work with the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation to identify other opportunities for federal assistance.”
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* Sun-Times…
A day after Bruce Rauner offered qualified support for a minimum-wage hike, a new video surfaced Thursday showing the GOP gubernatorial candidate telling an audience of Downstate Republicans in September that he “adamantly, adamantly” opposes raising the income bar for Illinois’ working poor.
The video in which Rauner appears to contradict the minimum-wage platform he outlined Wednesday came from the Democratic-funded Super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, which Thursday posted on YouTube the recording of Rauner addressing the issue four months ago before Ford County Republicans.
“I am adamantly, adamantly against raising the minimum wage. My view is we already have the second highest unemployment in America. We already have an outrageously high unemployment rate among low-income, poor minority kids in Chicago, in Rockford, in Peoria and East St. Louis. And raising the minimum wage is just going to blow them out and take away their jobs. We cannot do this,” Rauner said in the video.
“Let’s be clear: The right answer to raised wages is a booming economy with employers competing to hire people and having our young people well educated and well trained,” Rauner said, drawing applause from the crowd gathered Sept. 7 at a Gibson City golf course.
This ain’t going away.
* Video…
Turns out that this is a BlueRoomStream.com video used without permission, so it may not be up long because the folks over there are quite upset. If it gets pulled down, I’ll repost.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From almost a year ago, we look back on a profile of Dawn Clark Netsch…
Basically it’s ALS; Lou Gehrig’s disease,” Netsch said in an interview.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative nerve disorder, is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the famed New York Yankees baseball player.
“And my first reaction was I’m not even a Yankees fan. I’m a White Sox fan,” she said.
ALS robs a person of some of life’s most basic functions and normally can be deadly in three to five years. ALS weakens the nerves and makes it difficult to walk, swallow and speak.
“It’s a tough one,” she said sitting in the kitchen of the near north side home she shared with her late husband, famed architect Walter Netsch.
Asked why it was important to speak of her disease, Netsch did not hesitate.
“Might get more people thinking about what is ALS,’ she said, noting, “I’m going to be straight about this also.”
* From a Tribune perspective after she died…
A policy wonk and ethics guru, the Northwestern law school professor tackled the complex issues of taxes and finances, crime and punishment, education and the poor. She tried to improve pension funding during the 1980s when the debt was $8 billion, but governors and lawmakers often ignored such warnings as the retirement system liability grew into today’s $100 billion shortfall.
Wealthy from the successes she had along with her husband, noted architect Walter, she once gave $10,000 to help support the state pension system because she “just thought it was fair.”
In 1994, Netsch became the first and only woman to win a Democratic primary for governor. Distancing herself from her image as a brainy woman with a collection of clunky necklaces and bright, flowing scarves, the state’s first female comptroller showed off the pool-shooting skills she honed as a child. She called herself a “straight shooter,” and primary voters loved it.
In the general election, she pressed her plan to raise income taxes, lower property taxes, increase money for schools and help the poor. The move got panned by better-funded Republican Gov. Jim Edgar. After he easily won the election, Edgar unveiled a similar plan but couldn’t get it passed.
She was a “founding mother” of modern Illinois government and just one heckuva woman.
* The Question: Should there be a statue of Dawn Clark Netsch somewhere in or around the Illinois Statehouse? Take the poll and then explain your comment and/or suggest where the statue should be and what it ought to depict.
survey services
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* Bruce Rauner on WGN Radio today…
“The government union bosses, they are bribing politicians to give them unaffordable pensions, free healthcare, outrageous pay and benefits and they’re bankrupting our state government, they’re raising our taxes and they’re forcing businesses out of the state, and as a result we’ve got brutally high unemployment.”
* This is a guy who has used his millions to his own benefit, political and maybe otherwise. For example, he made huge contributions to a Democratic governor and then received a bigtime pension investment deal…
Rendell left the meeting buoyant, but confessed to aides he never asked the would-be donor for a set amount. Rendell “just had a feeling,” he told them. A week or so later, the Chicagoan, Bruce Rauner, sent a check for $200,000. Another check, for $100,000, came just before the election. At the time, Rauner’s private-equity firm had business with the state of Pennsylvania. GTCR L.L.C. was managing $110 million in pension funds for the State Employee Retirement System, records show. After Rendell became governor, the state doubled its stake in GTCR funds, to $226 million. That meant at least $4 million more in management fees to the firm.
* He also used his big pile of cash to help pass education reform…
Edelman openly bragged about how his group had outfoxed the teachers unions and the Illinois media, and had taken advantage of an opening with House Speaker Michael Madigan to pass his sweeping education reform proposal, which is now state law. His remarks created a huge stir and Edelman has since apologized for his candor, but most of what he said about Illinois politics was quite fascinating and definitely worth a look.
Edelman told the Aspen Institute’s conference participants that wealthy investor Bruce Rauner had approached him about expanding his group’s school reform efforts to Illinois.
* And then there were all the conveniently timed contributions to local political organizations just ahead of slating sessions…
State Senator Kirk Dillard released the following statement today regarding the Cook County Republican Party endorsement:
“Today’s endorsement is yet another sad example of Bruce Rauner buying the election. Ask yourself: why would Cook County GOP bosses support Rauner, knowing that he voted democrat, gave millions of dollars to state and national democrats, is a Rahm Emanuel insider, AND hired a convicted Blagojevich insider to win state contracts? There’s only one explanation — the Bruce Rauner money machine was at work again. Only in Illinois would the legitimate concerns of rank-and-file, grassroots Republicans be dismissed so brazenly. Welcome back, pay-to-play!
Not to mention that if the unions had successfully “bribed” politicians here, why did pension reform pass and get signed into law?
I mean, really, he’s fast becoming a bigger drama queen than Joe Walsh.
Seriously, this is the same guy who has pledged to fund a political committee after he’s elected to give money to legislators who are with him.
* The IFT’s president responds…
“We are starting to learn quickly that billionaire Bruce Rauner’s Carhartt jacket not only still has its tags on, but it’s very transparent sheep’s clothing,” said Dan Montgomery, President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and a high school English teacher of 20 years. “The real Bruce Rauner is a hypocrite who will stop at nothing to enact his right-wing fantasy of cutting the minimum wage by a dollar an hour – including accusing teachers, firefighters, and nurses of illegal activity as he did today. Like any typical politician, he is desperately trying to convince voters that he’s just like you and me, but he crossed a line with this allegation.
“It’s also hard to understand how a guy who makes $25,000 an hour has the audacity to call the $40,000 average salary of a teacher ‘outrageous’ and would cut the income of our most vulnerable citizens by 15%. It’s hateful, it’s hypocritical, and Illinois voters aren’t buying it.”
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Madigan blamed for job loss
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* OK, I got a little chuckle out of a recent Investment News story. Who knows, maybe there’s something to it. I really doubt it, though.
The story goes that Vincent Romano was a broker at Morgan Stanley. He decided to run against Rep. Lou Lang as a Republican back in 2012. He was fired in May and Romano asked for damages…
“[Morgan Stanley] feared a loss of business with the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois because [Morgan Stanley Smith Barney] has a relationship with House Speaker Michael Madigan, and Romano was running on a reform platform that could upset Michael Madigan’s political power,” Mr. Romano argued
Upset Madigan’s political power? Hardly. Romano spent less than $29K in the final quarter and was thoroughly thumped 68-32 by Lang.
* But this comment went into Romano’s permanent record…
There were “concerns about [the] financial adviser running for elected political office, despite not having received prior firm approval for same, as required by firm policy,” the firm wrote on his U5, which is publicly available through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.’s BrokerCheck database.
Romano claimed that he was initially given permission to run.
* And he won his case, but didn’t get nearly the $8 million he’d demanded…
In the end, the arbitration panel awarded $475,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages.
It also ordered that the language on Mr. Romano’s termination form be altered to read that he was fired because of “concerns about the financial adviser running for elected political office, despite not having received prior firm approval for same, due to a misunderstanding between the firm and the financial adviser. The terminated employee violated no investment-related statutes, regulations or rules.”
Mr. Romano said that he would have liked the award to have been more substantial, but he applauded the panel’s decision to award punitive damages, though he characterized the amount as a “slap on the wrist.”
Morgan Stanley said that it regretted the award and denied any wrongdoing, pointing to the arbitrators’ characterization of the disagreement as a “misunderstanding.”
By the way, Romano circulated petitions to run against Lang again this year, but was removed from the ballot on Tuesday.
According to the Investment News story, Romano is “working on a business venture in firearms manufacturing,” which probably wouldn’t go over too well with Skokie-area voters anyway.
[Hat tip: IR]
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Today’s numbers ain’t good, either
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
A new report says almost one-third of Illinois homes are “deeply underwater” meaning that they’re worth at least 25 percent less than what’s owed on the loans.
The report released today by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac says that represents almost 775,000 Illinois homes. The report is based on data from December.
Only Nevada and Florida fare worse, with 38 percent and 34 percent of homes deeply underwater, respectively.
Ugh.
Perhaps less talk about cartoon characters and more action on the economy is in order, governor.
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Quinn signs local pension bill
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The specific local might not be willing to back Gov. Quinn any more because of this signature, but I highly doubt that SEIU as a whole is gonna walk away anytime soon…
Picking a fight with one of his most important union supporters, Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday signed legislation to raise the retirement age for Chicago Park District employees and cut post-retirement benefits for park district retirees. […]
The law would cut annual cost-of-living increases for current retirees from 3 percent to the lesser of 3 percent or one-half of the rate of inflation. Under the plan, the retirement age for existing employees under 45 would jump from 50 to 58. It also would require current employees to contribute up to 2 percent more out of their paychecks by 2019 while the park district would up its contributions to the system by $75 million during that period. […]
The measure was opposed by SEIU Local 73, which has donated $28,677 to Quinn. That is part of $4.5 million that SEIU as a whole has given the governor during his career.
“We’re incredibly disappointed in what Gov. Quinn did,” union spokesman Adam Rosen told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We did not know he’d be signing this today. He did not tell us. We found out about the same time you did. […]
“Now that those two bills are signed, the possibilities of financially supporting him are dwindling,” Rosen said. “Right now, it doesn’t look good from our view of Gov. Quinn. He has signed two very unconstitutional bills that impact thousands of workers and didn’t seem to consult with the public on it. That’s two major strikes against him.”
Discuss.
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* From an e-mail to supporters…
Dear Friend,
As I prepare to lay out plans to continue moving Illinois forward in 2014 and beyond, four right wing Republicans are busy talking about their schemes to drag us backwards.
All four Republicans oppose my plan to raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour in Illinois. One of them - a billionaire at that - even announced his proposal to slash the minimum wage by $1 an hour, taking $2,000 a year out of the pockets of those earning the least, which is cruel, heartless and wrong.
These guys have all the compassion of C. Montgomery Burns.
In America, if you work hard and play by the rules, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty. People should be rewarded for their work, not punished.
Putting more money into the pockets of those who are living paycheck to paycheck is not only the right and decent thing to do, it’s good for the economy. Everyday people don’t admire the extra money they earn in the bank - they spend it in the local community, creating more jobs.
As long as I’m Governor, I will never stop fighting until we raise the minimum wage in Illinois. Click here to get involved in my campaign.
Full speed ahead in 2014.
Your friend,
Governor Quinn
* Related?…
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Kay proposes “knockout” bill
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This case ginned up a big uproar in the St. Louis area when the initial allegations surfaced in November…
A 23-year-old Metro East college student said she was viciously punched in the face along a south St Louis sidewalk Monday.
Police say the woman was ambushed and deliberately knocked to the ground in what officers say may be a game called “Knockout.”
All the student knows is that it happened as she walked along Arsenal at Brannon early Monday morning, trying to get to a waiting vehicle. She and her boyfriend were giving a friend a ride from a local bar. […]
“I dropped immediately to the ground and screaming and crying and everybody just scattered, “she said.
She wondered if she was victim of the so-called “Knockout Game” – when a stranger attacks someone at random.
* The story had a racial component as well…
She claimed she was walking through a large crowd around Arsenal at Brannon street when 3 black men punched her in the eye and knocked her out before the crowd scattered.
* But…
The “knockout game,” in case your grandmother has not been emailing you repeatedly about it, is an alleged game teens are playing in which they attack random folks on the street and knock them out. The woman appeared on KMOV local news, describing the alleged attack and discussing how she had a double fracture of the bone under her eye and needed reconstructive surgery.
Now the woman has admitted it was all a lie. Ashley DePew, 23, was actually punched in the face by her boyfriend, Justin Simms, 25.
More…
On Thursday, December 5, 2013, the couple admitted they made up the entire ‘knockout game’ story after St. Louis police “Had to spend a significant amount of resources unraveling the lies they told.”
Sheesh.
* A few days later, Metro East state Rep. Dwight Kay filed a bill to increase penalties for anyone 15 years or older involved in the so-called “Knockout Game.” From a press release…
The Knockout Assault Prevention Act would increase the penalty for adults or minors committing battery in the form otherwise known as the ‘knockout game’. The penalty for committing such an act of violence would result in a Class 2 felony, a 3-7 year prison sentence. The new Act amends the Juvenile Court Act to provide that, if the juvenile court judge finds probable cause exists to believe that a minor age 15 and up committed such a crime, then the case shall be transferred to adult criminal court.
Rep. Kay added, “Knockout violence has become more prevalent over the past year. It is a serious threat to law abiding citizens when they shop, walk in a park or while just getting into their car. This sort of criminal behavior will not be tolerated in Illinois and I intend to do whatever is necessary to deter the knockout game.”
* But Rep. Kay’s local coppers say it isn’t a problem in their neck of the woods…
The bill would increase the penalty for battery related to the knockout game to a Class 2 felony, punishable by 3-7 years in prison. It also amends the Juvenile Court Act to require that if a minor aged 15 and up commits such a crime, he will be transferred to adult criminal court.
The latter gives St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson some pause.
“Moving it up to a Class 2 felony, I have no issue with that,” Watson said. “But I’m not sure about the juveniles… Moving 15-year-olds (into adult court), that’s something I think is quite an issue.”
However, Watson said he doesn’t think the knockout game is a significant problem in the metro-east. “We have not had any reports of that; that’s more of a city-type issue,” he said. “We live in the state of Illinois, where Chicago experiences things that we simply don’t experience in southern Illinois. Around here we haven’t had the issue, and I definitely believe this is a Chicago issue … but if they introduce it and it becomes a law, we can use it.”
Madison County Sheriff Bob Hertz also said that he has not seen any cases of “knockout game” violence
* And is it really a “trend”? Doubtful at best…
The new scare is the “knockout game,” in which black youths supposedly attack innocent people just for fun. Conservative pundits decry the MSM for suffering from political correctness and whitewashing crimes perpetrated by black people, but a more reasonable explanation for why most media outlets aren’t devoting round-the-clock coverage to the knockout game is that—sorry, Sean Hannity—there is no hard data showing that it’s a trend.
An important clarification: the game definitely exists, and has been around for at least a couple of years. I’m not claiming the game doesn’t exist. But the idea that it’s reached epidemic levels, or that it’s only being played by young black people, is a fallacy. As Alan Noble convincingly writes, “Analyzing data is not as simple as watching some YouTube videos and Googling ‘knockout game.’” And when it comes to the knockout game’s supposed popularity, the data is almost entirely anecdotal:
Here’s the fascinating thing about this “spreading” trend: nobody seems to have any evidence that it’s spreading, or that it’s new, or that it’s racially motivated, or that black youths are the ones typically responsible, or that whites are typically targeted. This hasn’t stopped Mark Steyn, Thomas Sowell, and Matt Walsh from describing this specifically as a crime committed by blacks against whites, CNN from claiming that it is “spreading,” or Alec Torres at NRO from say it is “evidently increasing [in] popularity.” […]
Crime happens to every type of person, and is perpetrated by every type of person. What makes the false narrative of the knockout game—or any “black mob violence” story—crop up every year is the fact that some people will always believe the color of someone’s skin predisposes him to commit a crime. When a few YouTube videos are able to convince terrified white folks that young black people are dangerous, they may as well assume that all cats can play the keyboard.
* Ironically enough, Rep. Kay voted for a bill in April that raised the bar on charging juveniles with felonies…
The new state law that classifies 17-year-olds charged with some felonies as juveniles rather than adults won’t have much effect on the Sangamon County justice system.
“Nothing has changed as far as the number of prosecutors and judges assigned to juvenile cases,” said Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser. “We may have some fewer cases in adult court, but the violent ones will still be adjudicated there.”
Gov. Pat Quinn in July signed legislation that raises the age of the state’s juvenile court jurisdiction to include 17-year-olds charged with felonies. The reform is the second step in a process that began in 2010 when 17-year-olds charged with misdemeanors were moved from adult to juvenile courts on the theory they will receive more rehabilitative services in the juvenile justice system.
The new law, effective Jan. 1, doesn’t change laws that automatically place youths age 15 or older who commit certain serious crimes in adult criminal court.
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Dillard wants Godinez sacked
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Republican candidate for Governor Kirk Dillard [yesterday] called on Governor Pat Quinn to fire Illinois Department of Corrections Director Salvador Godinez, after Corrections officials permitted a former gang member with a lengthy criminal record to be hired by the Department of Corrections. Xadrian McCraven was fired only after a Sun-Times investigation became public.
“It’s outrageous that former gang members are now running the prisons,” Dillard said. “No matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, from Chicago or Cairo, this is just plain wrong and dangerous.”
Dillard called on the Governor’s Inspector General to investigate the circumstances under which McCraven was hired and whether any political influence was exerted to secure his employment. “The Governor needs to come clean and tell people who Mr. McCraven’s clout is. Who intervened with the Blagojevich and Quinn administrations to get this guy a state job?”
Dillard noted that McCraven’s 24 arrests and documented gang connections make it unlikely IDOC followed its own internal procedures in conducting a complete criminal background check.
Dillard called for Auditor General Bill Holland to determine whether IDOC hiring procedures were followed. “I’m filing a resolution to investigate whether someone bypassed hiring safeguards, or if hiring procedures need to be radically overhauled to prevent this from happening again,” Dillard said.
* Background and react from the Sun-Times…
Aides to Quinn said the governor continues to stand by Godinez. They also disputed Dillard’s statement about McCraven’s duties when he was senior adviser to the chief of parole — the $111,432-a-year job from which McCraven was fired Monday.
“Mr. McCraven never had any management or security duties and certainly was not involved in ‘running the prisons’ at any level,” said Tom Shaer, a corrections department spokesman. […]
McCraven, whose criminal history includes dozens of arrests in his youth, has made $1,700 in campaign contributions to elected officials including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other Democrats. In 2003, he was among thousands of politically connected people listed in a then-secret database of candidates for jobs, transfers or promotions in Blagojevich’s administration. […]
Brooke Anderson, Quinn’s communications chief, said that McCraven “was hired under Rod Blagojevich and inherited by the Quinn administration.”
After the Sun-Times reported on McCraven’s past, Quinn “directed the Department of Corrections to review the individual’s employment status, at which point discrepancies in his previous application were identified. He was immediately terminated from employment,” Anderson said. “The Governor supports Director Godinez, who is managing one of the toughest jobs in the country.”
Thoughts?
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* I asked “RNUG,” co-winner of our 2013 Golden Horseshoe for best commenter, to take a look at the lawsuits filed so far against the state pension reform law. And here it is…
As everyone should know, last year’s SB-0001, now Public Act 98-0599, “reformed” the Illinois Pension Code. There was an outcry at the time that it was unconstitutional and various groups were expected to challenge the “reform” via lawsuits. We are currently at three pension lawsuits and counting. It is expected that more suits will be filed, since the ones to date don’t cover every possible affected employee or retiree, most notably those employees or retirees governed by bargaining agreements. I look for union groups like AFSCME, the IEA, the IFt and SEIU to jump in at some point.
While I’m trying to get this right, I may miss things or skip over what someone would consider important. I have every confidence that CapitolFax.com readers will find anything I miss or get wrong. I do know, every time I read the filings, I find an additional item or two.
* First to file (12/27/2013) was a group of individual members of the Teachers Retirement System, and they requested class action for members of TRS who are specifically not members in either the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) or the Illinois Education Association (IEA). Their suit was filed in Cook County.
Next to file (1/2/2013) was the Retired State Employees Association (RSEA) plus individual members, and they requested class action for all SERS members (including current employees) and annuitants (retirees and survivors). This was filed in Sangamon County.
A couple of hours later the Illinois State Employees Association Retirees (ISEA-R) and individual members filed, and they requested class action for annuitants in SERS, SURS, GARS and TRS with a minimum of 20 years service. This was filed in Sangamon County as well.
All three lawsuits make common diminishment claims against the constitutionality of the AAI (cost of living adjustment) calculation change, the age change, and the pensionable salary cap. But once you get past those commonalities, there are significant differences in their claims and approaches.
* The Cook County case takes the nuclear approach, maintaining that the Illinois Constitution Pension Clause overrides everything else and citing the relevant history and case law. They also ask for class action status only for non-bargaining group / non-represented retirees. While they make other minor claims, that pretty much sums up their argument. (Side note: among other things, they cite Senate President John Cullerton’s statement about the law likely being unconstitutional.) Their requested relief is simply to declare PA 98-0599 unconstitutional. If it works, great, but I’m not seeing any obvious fall-back position or appeal strategy. The one unique portion of this suit, alongside the request for simple declaratory relief, is a specific request for a jury trial on those issues that can be tried in front of a jury.
* The RSEA case takes a much broader approach, adding claims of a violation of the Equal Protection Clause (since the judges’ retirement system was not changed), Contract Law violations, and additional specific Contract Law violations for the early retirment groups (1991, 2002 & 2005) to the unconstitutional claim made in the first case by the individual TRS retirees. RSEA asks for class action status for all (Tier 1) SERS members and annuitants. They also ask that all monies that would have been paid under the previous flat 3% AAI law that exceed the payments due under PA 98-0599 be escrowed until such time as the case is resolved. That escrow request, if granted, will negate, at least temporarily, any pension fund savings for at least the next fiscal year. This case is also the one with the most supporting documents filed right up front. Reading between the lines of the RSEA claims, I think they are setting up for an appeal under contract law in the federal court system if they were to lose at the Illinois Supreme Court (IL SC) level.
* The ISEA-R case shares pretty much all the same claims the RSEA suit does, puts a couple of individual twists to it, and makes an additional claim or two. What is most different is their definition of a class: all retirees in all state retirement systems except the Judges Retirement System (JRS) with 20 or more years of service and not subject to a collective bargaining agreement. That’s a much broader class than the other two suits. (As an interesting side note, former state Rep. Gwen Klingler is a party to this suit.) They also make an additional promissory (basically implied contract) claim for the various ERI groups. While it isn’t spelled out, with the ERI / 20 year service reference, I’m wondering if this isn’t a second run at the premium free health insurance promise; a lot of people relied on that promise when they accepted the ERI. ISEA-R’s strategy seems to be very similar to the RSEA case, including the escrow request and appearing to set up, if needed, for a federal appeal under contract law.
Personally, as a non-union SERS retiree with more than 20 years service and a RSEA member, I like the approach being taken by both RSEA and ISEA-R. Given the inclusion of much of what the regulars here have discussed the past year, I have to assume the board members and legal counsel for those two cases are daily readers of the Capitol Fax. I’m also guessing that, even though they filed separate suits, these two groups may have discussed some common strategy.
Assuming Rich provides links to all three suits as filed, you should go read them. Hint: on the RSEA suit, you really only need to read the first 20 pages and the last page or two; the rest is supporting documentation.
* And here are links to all three lawsuits…
* Individual teachers suit filed in Cook County
* Retired State Employees Association (RSEA)
* Illinois State Employees Association Retirees (ISEA-R)
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* From the Rauner campaign…
Bruce Rauner’s campaign for governor released a new television ad today explaining why government union bosses are preparing to attack Bruce in an effort to try to hijack the Republican primary.
“Springfield is broken and too many career politicians are controlled by the government union bosses and special interests who make their money from the government,” Bruce said. “They know I’m the only candidate willing to shake things up and that scares them. Voters will be able to see right through their attacks.”
* Rate it…
It’s a good idea to warn voters of an attack on the horizon. No doubt. But he’s gonna have to eventually deal with the substance of those attacks, whatever they’ll be. My bet is on his close connections to lots of Democrats like Rahm Emanuel.
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Rauner tries to walk it back
Thursday, Jan 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Veering 180 degrees in a stunning political turn, millionaire private equity investor Bruce Rauner said Wednesday he misspoke and was “flippant” when he appeared to advocate a rollback last month in Illinois’ minimum wage.
In fact, Rauner now says he wants to see the minimum wage increase. […]
Rauner insisted he never meant to suggest lowering Illinois’ minimum wage by $1.
“I never said that. I said we should tie the minimum wage in Illinois to the national minimum wage. I didn’t use numbers. I didn’t use $7.25. I didn’t say any of that,” Rauner said. “I said I want Illinois competitive with other states.
Oh, please. Here’s what he said…
“I will advocate moving the Illinois minimum wage back to the national minimum wage. I think we’ve got to be competitive here in Illinois. It’s critical we’re competitive. We’re hurting our economy by having the minimum wage above the national. We’ve got to move back to the national.”
He didn’t use a number, but it’s clear what he proposed doing - roll the minimum wage back by a buck an hour. Anybody with even half a brain can see that.
* And now he says he wants to increase the minimum wage. NBC5…
Rauner now says “I support moving Illinois to the national minimum wage” at the same time supporting “the national minimum wage moving up.”
How far up? Rauner says “I can support raising the Illinois minimum wage in the context of pro-business reform.” Rauner says “I’m comfortable at $10.”
* Tribune…
In a Wednesday interview, Rauner initially sought to make the case that his Moline remarks had been taken “out of context” and that he was not in favor of cutting Illinois’ minimum wage even though he used the term “moving” it “back to the national” level. He acknowledged the remarks had created “quite a firestorm.”
“I was flippant, and I oversimplified an issue. I’m sorry. That was a mistake,” he said. Rauner said his support for tying Illinois to an increased federal minimum wage was coupled with the state adopting a comprehensive pro-business approach that included changing labor and environmental regulations, reducing taxes and improving education
He didn’t “oversimplify an issue.” He said what he said. But if he’s sorry and it was a mistake, then fine.
* However…
Rauner acknowledged the minimum wage topic “a sensitive issue” but accused Democrats of ginning up a “class warfare issue” by creating a state that was “hostile to business,” leading to continued high unemployment.
He was the one engaging in class warfare by proposing to cut the minimum wage by a buck an hour. That’s just the way it is, man. That class warfare stuff cuts both ways and Rauner has until now firmly planted himself on the side of the big boys.
* Rauner even quickly penned a Tribune op-ed that the paper obligingly rushed to print…
Tuesday, news outlets reported on a remark I made last month about lowering the minimum wage. One went so far as to characterize my remark as a “key policy proposal.” I strongly disagree. My statement was an oversimplification of a complex issue that deserves more detailed discussion.
Let’s acknowledge upfront that there’s no way you can raise a family and have a decent standard of living on the minimum wage. That’s true regardless of whether we raise the rate by $1.75. Makes you wonder whether the advocates of minimum wage hikes are really looking to help the working poor or whether they’re more interested in scoring political points.
For many young people, the minimum wage is a stepping stone to higher employment levels. When I was young, I had minimum wage jobs as a busboy, flipping burgers and parking cars. For many others, the minimum wage is a difficult ongoing reality of adult life.
To make a profound difference in living standards, we need a comprehensive economic development and education agenda. Incremental increases in the minimum wage won’t address the underlying skills and investment gaps in Illinois.
Yeah, he’s just a regular guy. A common man. Flipped burgers when he was a kid and parked cars. A true man of the people. Probably still wearing the same watch.
And that “comprehensive economic development and education agenda”? Not spelled out at all in the op-ed. Just pablum.
* I dunno, but perhaps Tillman didn’t get the memo about Rauner’s policy switch. From ABC7…
“Anyone who wants to see more people going back to work should support lowering the minimum wage,” John Tilman, Illinois Policy Institute, said.
* Also, Rauner still hasn’t explained this comment he made in Carbondale on Tuesday…
“We should only do that [reduce the minimum wage by a dollar an hour] in the context of dramatically improving our schools and creating a business environment where everybody’s got jobs so we don’t have such a brutally high unemployment rate.”
Still trying to figure that one out.
* And you gotta love this quote by Sen. Kirk Dillard…
Dillard called Rauner’s idea to lower the rate “political suicide.”
“Being as wealthy, a multi, multi- millionaire as he is, shows he is out of touch with regular Illinoisans,” Sen. Dillard said.
OK, well, then how “out of touch” is a candidate who wants the “marketplace” to set the minimum wage instead of the government? He’s getting a total pass on this issue so far from the media.
* Here’s some much-needed context from the Economic Policy Institute…
When describing who would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased, it is important to look at everyone who earns between the current minimum wage and the proposed new one, as well as workers earning just above the new minimum wage (who would likely also see a small pay increase as employers move to preserve internal wage ladders). The typical worker who would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2015 looks nothing like the part-time, teen stereotype: She is in her early thirties, works full-time, and may have a family to support. Our analysis of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage shows:
* The average age of affected workers is 35 years old;
* 88 percent of all affected workers are at least 20 years old;
* 35.5 percent are at least 40 years old;
* 56 percent are women;
* 28 percent have children;
* 55 percent work full-time (35 hours per week or more);
* 44 percent have at least some college experience.
Claims that mostly teenagers would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased are sometimes based erroneously upon the official Bureau of Labor Statistics data on workers who are earning the federal minimum wage or below—i.e. workers earning exactly $7.25 per hour or less. These data do not provide an accurate picture of who would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased because they exclude all workers from the 19 states with higher state minimum wages, along with all workers making slightly above the current federal minimum wage but below the proposed minimum, all of whom would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased.
* From the DGA…
Democratic Governors Association Communications Director Danny Kanner today issued the following statement regarding billionaire Bruce Rauner’s attempt to explain away his plan to cut the minimum wage in Illinois:
“They say a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. In the case of Bruce Rauner, he showed his true colors when he said that Illinois’ minimum wage needs to be cut. Only a right-wing billionaire would think it’s right to take thousands of dollars a year from working people who live on the brink of poverty. Forget his insincere apology today - the real Bruce Rauner would force thousands of Illinoisans into poverty if he had the chance, and voters won’t soon forget.”
Will voters forget?
…Adding… CTU President Karen Lewis analyzes…
In an interview with the Sun-Times, Lewis, who calculated that at $7.20-an-hour, Rauner made more money in one second than what he proposed minimum wage earners should make in one hour, accused Rauner of now changing his tune because of politics.
“It made him look really insane. So he had to pull this back,” Lewis told the Sun-Times on Wednesday. “It played badly, so his handlers told him to change that. I think people need to understand this is who he really is.”
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Tobin picks a horse
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
Mr. Rauner this morning got an endorsement from another figure who doesn’t rank very high on the friends-of-labor list. That would be Jim Tobin, a prominent critic of public-sector pensions and pay levels who’s best-known for heading the group Taxpayers United of Illinois.
Another group he heads, Taxpayer Accountability, also endorsed Mr. Rauner today, along with Jim Oberweis for the U.S. Senate. Said Mr. Tobin in a statement: “Bruce Rauner is a successful businessman and strong leader with the fiscal experience to save Illinois from its history of failed and criminal leadership. Bruce has pledged to repeal the 67 percent state income tax increase surcharge and to perform a complete overhaul of the state’s tax policies to simplify and eliminate the corporate welfare that burdens individuals and small businesses.”
* Let’s look back a couple of years to when Tobin was vilifying Abraham Lincoln…
Lincoln’s real priority was not the slaves but the collection of revenue. He knew that a low-tax independent South would attract far more European trade to its relatively duty free ports like Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans, and that goods could easily be smuggled from there across the long border the U.S. would share with the Confederacy. Lincoln’s mercantilist plans would be foiled, and Lincoln was a true mercantilist. He believed in increasing a nation’s wealth by government regulation of all of the nation’s commercial interests. […]
Rather than wish Lincoln a Happy Birthday, perhaps we can celebrate the birth of William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773). Having died only a month into his first term as President, Harrison did not live long enough to do nearly as much damage as Lincoln.
And…
Did Lincoln save the Union? Not if the Union was a voluntary association of States that delegated limited, enumerated powers to the federal government as it was prior to the war.
Lincoln’s use of military force against the peaceful secession of southern states gutted the Ninth and Tenth Amendments and laid the foundation for the federal leviathan we have today.
There’s somebody you want in your camp.
…Adding… Tobin must’ve thought Fort Sumter was an “inside job” or something. The secession wasn’t at all “peaceful.”
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* Bruce Rauner’s statement that he most definitely wanted to lower the minimum wage by a dollar an hour is becoming quite a big story, despite his attempt to walk back the demand yesterday.
As noted below, all four Republican gubernatorial candidates have now weighed in on the minimum wage issue. And now it’s moved into the state treasurer’s race. From a press release…
Republican Gubernatorial candidate and billionaire Bruce Rauner announced yesterday that he supports lowering Illinois’ minimum wage rate from $8.25 to $7.25. Representative Tom Cross has a long history of rejecting minimum wage increases, most recently voting against increases in 2003 and 2006. If Tom Cross had his way, the minimum wage would still be $4.25 cents an hour as it was when he was first elected. The Cross\Rauner plan to stop an increase or even lower the minimum wage is mean-spirited and would drain millions from our economy and throw thousands more into poverty.
State Senator Mike Frerichs, Democratic candidate for State Treasurer, released the following statement responding to Rauner’s ridiculous idea;
“I’m shocked by billionaire Bruce Rauner’s attack on working families who are just trying to earn a living. Bruce Rauner says that he wants Illinois to be competitive with surrounding states. If he really means that, then he should join our President in his effort to raise the minimum wage for everyone in this country.
Perhaps Rauner took his cues from Tom Cross who in the last ten years voted against raising the minimum wage twice (2003 and 2006) and as recently as last year agreed that raising the minimum wage was a “job killer”. It’s not surprising that Rauner has partnered with Tom Cross by giving the maximum of $10,600 to Cross’ campaign.
Bruce Rauner and Tom Cross represent what the Illinois Republican Party is comprised of; clueless candidates who denigrate low-income workers and stack the deck against working families just trying to get ahead. I repudiate Rauner’s race to the bottom in wages and urge people to sign my petition at www.FrerichsforIllinois.com/supportminwage and tell Rauner and Cross to stand with working families and support President Obama’s call to raise the minimum wage.”
One minor correction. Rauner actually made his original statement on December 11th, according to John Gregory at the Illinois Radio Network, not yesterday. It was reported yesterday, but the quote had been sitting around a while.
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Red ink as far as the eye can see
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The governor’s budget office has posted its new three-year projection as required by law. Here’s the projection for revenue losses due to the expiration of the temporary income tax hike. These are fiscal years and the first line is for personal income tax receipts and the second line is for corporate receipts…
* Without changing any state laws or programs, GOMB is projecting a $1.9 billion deficit in FY 2015, $4.1 billion by 2016 and $4.6 billion by 2017. And the state’s bill backlog is projected to grow to $16.2 billion by the end of FY 2017.
The budget office’s spending projections (which you can see here) use existing law with existing programs, and calculate savings from the pension reform bill in FY 16 and 17. So, they’re projecting increases all around. But those increases won’t exist without those income tax revenues.
* From Voices for Illinois Children…
According to GOMB projections, revenue losses due to the scheduled decrease in income tax rates will lead to budget shortfalls of $1.9 billion in fiscal year 2015 (which begins in July 2014), $4.1 billion in FY 2016, and $4.6 billion in FY 2017. Closing gaps of this magnitude would require draconian cuts to programs and services that are essential for the well-being of children, families, and communities across Illinois.
The state’s investments in early childhood education, K-12 education, and higher education — which have eroded over the past five years — would be significantly undermined. Programs such as child care assistance, afterschool programs, child protection services, and a wide range of community-based services for families, people with disabilities, and seniors would be in serious jeopardy.
* From the Senate Republicans…
Because the major portion of the 2011 tax hike is set to expire automatically, the budget office was required to assume that the state will lose those dollars. The drop in that revenue coupled with the anticipated spending growth has the potential to create the largest deficits the state has ever seen.
The figures released by the Governor’s office clearly reveal that without a decrease in spending, the state will be forced to choose between higher taxes and massive deficits. Ever since the tax hike was imposed during a lame-duck legislative session in 2011, Senate Republicans have warned that significant spending reductions were needed to allow for the tax increase to expire as promised.
The projections from Quinn’s budget office reveal the Governor plans to continue to increase state spending regardless of whether or not the state has any money.
Not quite. The projections, as explained above, were put together using existing laws and programs.
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* Bruce Rauner may, depending on the day, want to lower the minimum wage by a dollar an hour, but Sen. Kirk Dillard says he wants the “marketplace” to decide what the minimum wage should be. To me, at least, that sounds like he wants no statutory minimum wage at all.
Audio courtesy of John Gregory at the Illinois Radio Network…
The quote, in case you can’t listen to audio files at work…
“I am a, what I guess is known as a Jeffersonian free market principle guy. And I believe that the marketplace ought to set everything, including the minimum wage.”
Dillard also said he was against raising the minimum wage because it would cost jobs. Then he added this…
“The people who push for it in Springfield generally are Chicago legislators, minority legislators. But it really hurts the minority community because they’ll have fewer jobs for those in the minority community that those who try to push these things through the legislature are really trying to help.”
* By the way, John at IRN also shared the full Bruce Rauner audio where the candidate said unequivocally that he wanted to roll back the minimum wage by a dollar an hour…
Rauner’s quote…
“I will advocate moving the Illinois minimum wage back to the national minimum wage. I think we’ve got to be competitive here in Illinois. It’s critical we’re competitive. We’re hurting our economy by having the minimum wage above the national. We’ve got to move back to the national.”
Seems clear to me.
*** UPDATE *** From a press release…
Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, today said proposals by two gubernatorial candidates to change Illinois’ minimum wage rates are counter-productive for Illinois job growth and working families.
“We have Governor Quinn proposing to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, and Bruce Rauner talking about lowering it by $1. They are both out-of-touch with the needs of Illinois families and Illinois business,” Brady said.
“If we raise the rate, we discourage job growth. If we cut it, we impact hard-working Illinois families who depend on a minimum wage as better jobs continue to leave Illinois,” Brady said.
“I believe the state and minimum wage rates need to be paired and support a moratorium on increases in the Illinois minimum wage until the federal rate has caught up with ours,” he said.
Illinois’ minimum wage rate of $8.25 an hour is the fourth highest in the country and $1 higher than the federal rate.
“I understand the need for a reasonable minimum wage, as Illinois and the nation have lost higher-paying manufacturing jobs to service industry employment,” Brady said. “My focus will be on restoring more of those higher-paying jobs to Illinois, giving more of our families larger paychecks.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From a press release…
Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford does not support lowering the state’s minimum wage, nor does he support increasing it at this time.
“Lowering the minimum wage in Illinois is a bad idea. Doing so would place an unfair burden on workers. I will never be a fan of taking money from peoples’ wallets, and that’s what lowering the minimum wage would do.”
“I believe every American should be able to make as much money as possible, legally and ethically. State government should not put an artificial cost of doing business increase on a business, church or local unit of government by increasing the minimum wage.”
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Today’s numbers ain’t good
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I don’t think this means people are having fewer babies. Pretty sure it means people are leaving…
The Land of Lincoln grew by only about 52,000 residents between the last census on April 1, 2010, and the latest estimate, on July 1, 2013, the bureau said.
In the last year of that period — from July 1, 2012, to July 1, 2013 — the growth rate was 0.1 percent, with the state gaining an estimated 13,943 residents to reach a population of 12,883,135.
In comparison, the country as a whole grew about 2 percent since the census, adding 7.4 million people for a total of 316.1 million.
Illinois’ very slow growth was outpaced by the Midwest region for the most recent year-over-year comparison. During the period, the regional population grew 0.3 percent.
Ugh.
Full data here.
* Since the last full Census, Illinois’ population grew 0.2 percent. Nearby states…
Indiana: 1.34%
Michigan: 0.12%
Ohio: 0.3%
Wisconsin: 0.98%
Discuss.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Eric Zorn wants term limits for legislative leaders in order to get rid of Speaker Madigan…
Gov. Pat Quinn and Rauner support leadership term limits, though their first choice is legislative term limits, according to their spokesmen. The other three Republican gubernatorial candidates — Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard — support leadership term limits.
The public is also enthusiastic: A September 2012 poll of Illinois voters by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found that 78 percent support the idea.
And yet. Illinois lawmakers have introduced proposed constitutional amendments to limit the terms of legislative leaders 10 times since 2007 and never gotten so much as a committee vote — a pattern of failure seen in seven other states in the last 15 years.
No state has such limits in its constitution, analyst Brenda Erickson said.
There’s an effective limit on the terms of Senate presidents in 14 states where the lieutenant governor is term limited and also serves as the president of the state Senate. Four states limit leadership terms either by chamber rules or caucus rules, and one state, Maine, has statutory but not constitutional limits.
It’s hard not to think that the reason such a popular and obvious proposal has such trouble moving through legislatures is that the men and women whose job security is threatened by leadership limits are the same men and women who have the power to sidetrack legislation.
* The Question: Would you support a ten-year term limit for all four state legislative leaders? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
online polls
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Rauner now hedges on lowering minimum wage
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Southern Illinoisan…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner’s “Shake Up Springfield” bus tour made a stop Tuesday at the Italian Village restaurant in Carbondale.
Rauner called Illinois the worst run state in America, citing high unemployment, deficits and deteriorating schools. […]
Rauner would not rule out minimum wage increases or decreases, but he said any change to the minimum wage should be a comprehensive approach that makes labor regulations and the tax burden more attractive to small businesses and improves the education system.
Hedging, eh?
* Here’s what John Gregory at the Illinois Radio Network reported him saying at an earlier time…
Bruce Rauner believes Illinois should do the opposite, and lower it to $7.25. “I will advocate moving the Illinois minimum wage back to the national minimum wage. I think we’ve got to be competitive here in Illinois,” Rauner said.
Sounds like a strong position, forcefully held.
* But that IRN quote was picked up by the mainstream media after I posted it here, so Rauner may have decided to run away from his “courageous” position. Here’s Rauner’s full Carbondale quote from yesterday, provided by SI reporter Chris Hottensen…
“What we should really do is be comprehensive in our approach. We need to become pro-business again. If we do raise the minimum wage, we should do it in the context of making our labor regulations and our tax burden much more attractive to small business so we have a growing economy so everybody’s got jobs. The reality is if we only increase the minimum wage we could end up hurting the very folks we’re trying to help. Unemployment could go up, small business owners could shut their doors, business owners could leave the state. We have to be competitive and if we don’t have a booming economy with people getting hired we’ll defeat the very purpose for raising the minimum wage.
“If we move it to a level where we are at the same level as the national wage that will allow us to be competitive and create more job opportunities.
“But to lower it would hurt some lower income folks and we should only do that in the context of dramatically improving our schools and creating a business environment where everybody’s got jobs so we don’t have such a brutally high unemployment rate.”
Yep, that’s a hedge, and not a very artful one, either.
* The national polling on this issue has been pretty clear. Click here to see several polls that show strong support for hiking the minimum wage.
* A December Washington Post-ABC poll asked “The minimum wage in this country is now seven dollars and 25 cents an hour. What do you think it should be?”
All respondents…
Republicans…
Conservatives…
Conservative Republicans…
So, even a strong 60 percent majority of conservative Republicans would like to see an increase in the minimum wage. While a quarter or so would like it to remain the same or lowered, and a tiny handful says it needs to be eliminated.
No wonder he’s hedging.
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Dillard wants lots more debates with Rauner
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told you yesterday that Bruce Rauner had agreed to five debates. Kirk Dillard believes he ought to agree to far more. From a press release…
The Dillard-Tracy campaign today released the list of debates and forums in which they will be participating in the coming months. This list is in addition to the many other forums that Senator Dillard and State Representative Tracy have already participated in.
January 11 Women’s Republican Club Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Forum
January 14 Will County GOP Tea Party Debate
January 16 Daily Herald Forum
January 20 Chicago Tonight/WTTW - Mikva Challenge (Gubernatorial)
January 21 WGN/Chicago Tribune Debate
January 22 Union League Club Debate
January 23 Illinois Public Broadcasters/League of Women Voters Debate
February 3 Sun-Times Candidate Forum
February 4 Illinois Manufacturers’ Association Debate
February 10 WLS-AM/NW Suburban Townships Debate
February 16 Illinois Forum Debate
February 18 Citizens Club of Springfield Debate
February 20 Illinois Mechanical & Specialty Contractors Forum
February 25 Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce Debate
February 25 Chicago Tonight/WTTW - Mikva Challenge (Lt. Governor)
February 27 ABC7 Chicago/League of Women Voters Debate/Univision
March 4 NBC5/University of Chicago Debate
March 6 Chicago Tonight/WTTW Lt. Governor Debate
March 13 Chicago Tonight/WTTW Gubernatorial Debate
Debates and forums are an important way for voters to learn more about the candidates and their positions. The Rauner campaign recently announced that it will participate in 5 events, none of which are in January.
“It’s curious that Bruce Rauner has decided to skip all debates and forums in January,” Campaign Manager Glenn Hodas said. “Perhaps they interfere with his Montana fly-fishing vacation plans with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Regardless, we’ll be here in Illinois, talking about bringing more jobs to our state, and Bruce can return to the conversation after his trip.”
That January 23rd debate is particularly important to Downstate public TV stations. Rauner ought to agree to that one.
But, on the whole, I’m not sure if many people care what debates that candidates engage in. And since Rauner has positioned himself as the “inevitable frontrunner,” limiting his debate exposure is an expected move.
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Not ready for prime time
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
[Earceen Alexander] was a laborer on a city garbage truck nearly 10 years ago when she was pinned between a telephone pole and the truck. The vehicle’s driver, Denise Alcantar, was an inexperienced city employee who owed her job to the Hispanic Democratic Organization’s clout.
Alexander’s thigh was gashed, her pelvis broken and a lung damaged, forcing her to remain in a wheelchair, tethered to an oxygen tank, for much of the following five years until she died in 2008, at age 63.
Her daughter Angelique Boyd felt a measure of redemption for her mother’s death when Al Sanchez, once Mayor Richard M. Daley’s top Streets and San man, went to federal prison a few years ago for rigging the hiring process to favor HDO campaign foot soldiers.
Sanchez is now running for county board. His response to a Sun-Times inquiry…
“It was an accident,” Sanchez said Tuesday of the 2003 incident that maimed Alexander. “It happens with Streets and San. Everybody wants to make a bigger deal out of it.”
OK, it was an accident. These things do happen. But a candidate who is this callous really ought to rethink his decision to run for public office.
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The unions prepare a Rauner assault
Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* While I was away, some reporters began to pick up bits and pieces of the anti Bruce Rauner movement building among organized labor. From Bernie’s column on December 26th…
Rich Miller, publisher of the Capitol Fax newsletter and associated website, reported this week in his syndicated column that sources tell him labor unions are “moving ever closer to jumping into this primary battle.” The intent, he said, is to “spend a … few million bucks” to try to defeat candidate Bruce Rauner of Winnetka in the primary, because if Rauner is the GOP nominee, it would cost “tens of millions to fend him off in the fall.”
Of even further interest in central Illinois, Miller reported to his subscribers last week that several sources say that while some unions plan to work with the Democratic Governors Association to build this challenge, other unions instead will be involved in forming a separate organization to pay for ads. And, Miller said, “several sources” told him that Steve Shearer will run that group.
Shearer is Congressman Aaron Schock’s former chief of staff.
More Bernie…
In light of reports in Capitol Fax, Roman passed along Schock’s statement that also was given to the website. In it, Schock said in part of Shearer: “At no time did we discuss his future plans or employment.”
“Regarding this effort,” Schock said of the reported anti-Rauner push, “I have never been a party to any campaign to influence the outcome of the Republican primary for governor. I have met with several of the candidates who are running for the Republican nomination for governor, and I may get involved in the primary at a later date.”
Shearer was not available for comment.
* The Sun-Times tried to take some credit…
Rauner’s three opponents are struggling to register on the radar. Earlier this month, Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery telegraphed the move to the Sun-Times, saying Republican primary involvement could be in the cards. Montgomery and other unions were incensed about pension-reform legislation that makes wholesale changes to the structure of public-employee benefits. It had the IFT as well as other unions looking at all available political options.
More…
Two of the other three Republican competitors — Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford — opposed pension reform legislation, keeping alive their chances to get union support. Dillard has already been the beneficiary of $250,000 in teacher union money, campaign finance records show. Dillard and state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, are demonstrating dismal fundraising so far. Rutherford has remained consistent in bringing in money, but none of the three can compete with the $100,000 checks Rauner is bringing in with ease. And Rutherford and the others aren’t generating enough cash to sustain a TV ad campaign to target Rauner’s vulnerabilities, including his ties to Democratic Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel.
Attack ads against Rauner from a third party could be a game-changer in this race.
* Back to Bernie…
Paperwork was filed with the State Board of Elections last week to form The Republican Fund for Progress and Jobs, which is an independent expenditure political action committee. The chairman and treasurer is STEVEN SHEARER of Peoria, former chief of staff and campaign manager to state Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria.
This is apparently a group that will gather money from anti-Rauner forces, particularly labor unions — as was recently tipped in Capitol Fax.
As an independent expenditure group, the new PAC can raise unlimited amounts, but it cannot make direct contributions to candidates or coordinate expenditures with candidates.
The media focus so far has been on the Shearer PAC, but the DGA’s PAC appears to be the one that will carry the heaviest load. Subscribe for more info.
* Meanwhile, unions are also sending cash to Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign fund. Ormsby…
In the last quarter of the year, Governor Pat Quinn disclosed on Tuesday that he raised nearly $2 million.
In two campaign finance filings with the state election board, Quinn reported $1,970,232 in large contributions, the bulk of which came from trade unions.
The top union checks include:
$250,000 – Operating Engineers Local 150
$150,000 – IBEW
$100,000 – Plumbers, Pipefitters Union
$100,000 – Laborers Union
$100,000 – Painters Union
$50,000 – Illinois Pipe Trades
$50,000 – Illinois Associated Fire Fighters
$30,000 – Chicago Regional Carpenters
Discuss.
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I just gotta say…
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Two weeks away felt like two months, mainly because I had such a fantastic time and didn’t take my laptop with me. But i’m really glad to be back, and not just because I missed my puppy.
This Capitol Fax thing has always been more than just a job to me. It’s pretty much my whole life, which my remaining friends can probably attest to. No regrets, though. Just the opposite. I have the best job in the world, or at least in Illinois. And I’m happy to be back and in the thick of things again today. It’s why I drove home yesterday. I truly wanted to get back to work. I love this stuff. Who wouldn’t?
There are some stories that broke while I was away which I didn’t get to today because I’m still trying to catch up on other stuff as well. Worry not. We’ll get to as much as we can.
Anyway, I just wanted to say how happy I am to be here.
- Rich
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Vallas won’t join campaign until March
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Paul Vallas, Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate, plans to keep working as the school superintendent in Bridgeport, Conn., until March 1 — 17 days before the primary election. […]
Vallas has continued to work in Bridgeport because “he does not want to leave the Bridgeport school system in the lurch,” says Steven Ecker, an attorney for Vallas in Connecticut. “If he had done nothing and they wanted to fire him, he would have gotten a big payday.”
If the Bridgeport school board had fired Vallas before Dec. 31, the board would have owed him a lump sum of $234,000 — equivalent to one year of his salary — plus one year of health insurance for him and his family, according to his contract.
Instead, Vallas will collect about $72,000 from the school system if he remains on the job until March 1 — 16 weeks after he decided to run for lieutenant governor of Illinois.
It’s not like Quinn really needs him around, but this is a very unusual arrangement, to say the least.
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Rauner commits to five debates
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Bruce Rauner announced today that he will participate in five candidate debates and forums with media partners prior to the March 18th primary. Evelyn Sanguinetti has also agreed to participate in the WTTW televised debate for lieutenant governor candidates.
“Debates are an important part of the election process, and I’m glad we will have several televised debates. I look forward to debating the critical issues of jobs, taxes and spending, education, term limits, and more with my fellow Republicans,” Bruce said. “In addition, as the primary nears, we will continue to increase our breakneck campaign pace that has already put more than 35,000 miles on the Ford and brought us to more than 200 community and campaign events. Illinoisans are ready to shake up Springfield and bring back our state – I feel it on the campaign trail every day.”
In addition to the debates below, Bruce has already completed more than half a dozen candidate forums and even more joint appearances.
Confirmed events include:
Governor
Sponsor: Illinois Manufacturers’ Association
Proposed Date: February 4
Sponsor: Citizens Club of Springfield
Proposed Date: February 18
Sponsor: League of Women Voters, ABC 7, Univision
Proposed Date: February 27
Sponsor: NBC 5, University of Chicago
Proposed Date: March 4
Sponsor: WTTW
Proposed Date: March 13
Lieutenant Governor
Sponsor: WTTW
Proposed Date: March 6
Looks like he might be trying to dictate terms.
No word yet from the other candidates.
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Another Chicago gun ordinance bites the dust
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Reuters…
A Chicago ban on gun sales within the city, aimed at reducing gun violence, is unconstitutional because it goes too far in barring buyers and dealers from engaging in lawful sales, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang found that the U.S. Constitution’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms must include the right to acquire them, within limits.
The judge stayed the ruling, however, in order to give the nation’s third-largest city a chance to respond. Chang said the city had until Monday to submit a motion to stay the ruling pending an appeal if it chooses to do so.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel “strongly disagrees” with the court’s decision, according to a statement from the city, adding that he has instructed the city’s lawyer to consider all options to better regulate the sale of firearms within the city’s borders.
“Every year Chicago police recover more illegal guns than officers in any city in the country, a factor of lax federal laws as well as lax laws in Illinois and surrounding states related to straw purchasing and the transfer of guns,” the statement said. “We need stronger gun safety laws, not increased access to firearms within the city.”
Judge Chang is a recent Obama appointee.
* The full opinion is here…
(C)ertain fundamental rights are protected by the Constitution, put outside government’s reach, including the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense under the Second Amendment. This right must also include the right to acquire a firearm, although that acquisition right is far from absolute: there are many long-standing restrictions on who may acquire firearms (for examples, felons and the mentally ill have long been banned) and there are many restrictions on the sales of arms (for example, licensing requirements for commercial sales).
But Chicago’s ordinance goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms, and at the same time the evidence does not support that the complete ban sufficiently furthers the purposes that the ordinance tries to serve.
* Sun-Times…
The judge was unmoved by the city’s efforts to prove that the gun sale ban disproportionately affected “parochial” gang members who might find it hard to cross rival gang boundaries to travel to the suburbs, where many guns used in crime are currently purchased.
Though nearly all illegally used guns were originally sold by licensed dealers, “guns used in crimes generally pass through several hands before being acquired by the ultimate perpetrator,” the judge wrote.
He suggested that “straw purchasers” who use their clean criminal backgrounds to buy guns for criminals can be tackled by “more focused approaches, such as law enforcement operations that target dealers who would sell to straw purchasers.”
Nothing in his ruling stops Chicago Police from enforcing gun laws, or “prevents the City from considering other regulations — short of the complete ban — on sales and transfers of firearms to minimize the access of criminals to firearms and to track the ownership of firearms,” Chang wrote.
* New York Times…
“The stark reality facing the city each year is thousands of shooting victims and hundreds of murders committed with a gun,” the judge, Edmond E. Chang, of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, wrote. “But on the other side of this case is another feature of government: certain fundamental rights are protected by the Constitution, put outside government’s reach, including the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense under the Second Amendment.” […]
Several residents and an association of Illinois firearms retailers filed a lawsuit, leading to Judge Chang’s decision. “Chicago’s ordinance goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms,” the judge wrote, “and at the same time the evidence does not support that the complete ban sufficiently furthers the purposes that the ordinance tries to serve.”
Gun rights advocates said they hoped the ruling would send a message to Chicago and other cities setting similar limits. “Just because people live in Chicago doesn’t mean they’ve given up their rights,” said Richard Pearson, the executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. Even with Chicago’s ban on sales, officials have long complained about the patchwork of laws that allowed guns to be obtained in neighboring states and suburbs.
* Tribune…
Mark Walsh, campaign director for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said the financially powerful NRA has systematically fought to water down gun laws in Illinois and across the country.
“That’s the NRA’s game plan. They keep filing suits and filing suits to chip away laws and get to their ultimate goal of a complete armed citizenry,” he said.
Though the 7th Circuit Court has ruled favorably for the NRA in recent cases in Chicago and Illinois, Walsh said other federal appellate courts have not followed suit.
“All too often the narrative is that the NRA is this monolithic machine that is winning everywhere, but that really isn’t the case,” he said. “There has been the fear mongering by the NRA and gun manufacturers, but it does not necessarily translate.
* Meanwhile…
About 4,500 requests for concealed carry permits were submitted the first day Illinois’ online application system was open to the public, officials said Monday.
The applications submitted Sunday during the system’s first 24 hours of operation brought the total permit requests to more than 11,000, said Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police. The other 6,500 applications came in recent weeks, as the state allowed firearms instructors to apply for permits early in order to help test the online application system. Detailed information on what areas of the state saw the most applicants wasn’t yet available, Bond said.
“Right now we’re pleased with the ease of the process so far,” she said. Bond called the number of applicants a “pretty healthy number.”
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* From a press release…
Bruce Rauner’s attempt to shed his out-of-touch billionaire image by touring Southern and Central Illinois is nothing more than a gimmick, according to the Dillard-Tracy team.
“Wearing a Carhartt vest and a cheap watch won’t fool voters in central and downstate Illinois,” State Senator Kirk Dillard said. “Bruce Rauner made over $1 million a week last year, and is apparently so close to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel they vacation together. That’s not someone who understands struggling downstate families.”
“I don’t need a ‘listening tour’ to bring me up to speed,” Dillard said. “I’ve crisscrossed this state hundreds of times, talking to central Illinois farmers and southern Illinois coal miners. They want someone with the experience to get Illinois moving again, and you can’t do that from your 33rd floor penthouse.”
Dillard’s running mate, State Representative Jil Tracy, expressed similar concerns. “I’m a southern Illinois native, whose first job was in Monroe County working for Inland Steel. I understand southern and western Illinois because I’ve spent my entire life living and working with the families of this area. The people of Anna, Mt. Vernon, Oblong, West Frankfort, and Neoga know better than to fall for a Chicago politician.”
The “listening tour” seems designed to distract voters from some of the real issues dogging Rauner in this GOP primary:
• Voted Democrat: Why did Rauner vote Democrat in 2006?
• Democrat Donations: Why Did Rauner contribute hundreds of thousands to state & national Democrats?
• Influence: Why did Rauner hire a convicted Blagojevich influence peddler to get state business?
• Chicago Mayor: How close is Rauner to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel if they vacation together?
“Rauner needs to answer these questions, sooner rather than later,” Campaign Manager Glenn Hodas said. “No fancy bus tour is going to make them go away. People deserve to know if Bruce Rauner is hijacking the Republican Party.”
Dillard and Tracy both noted that they have been working around the state since early last fall and are continuing their travels in advance of the March 18 Republican Primary.
Dillard noted that during his recent Southern Illinois travels he took part in the DuQuoin State Fair parade, the Williamson County GOP dinner, met with Effingham City leaders on economic development, discussed pension reform issues with retired correctional officers in Chester and attended a BBQ fundraiser in Ste. Marie.
Representative Tracy marched in the Murphysboro Apple Festival and Deer Festival in Golconda parades, took part in the SIU Homecoming festivities, met with agricultural and business leaders in Mt. Vernon, and attended GOP fundraisers and party functions in O’Fallon, Olney and West Frankfort.
“It takes a southern Illinois native, or someone like Kirk who spent many summers with his grandparents in rural America, to be able to understand and improve our state’s economic climate and bring jobs back to the region,” Tracy concluded.
If Dillard had the money to get that message out he’d be in much better shape right now. But his campaign is running on financial fumes.
Also, spending summers with your grandparents in rural America makes you “able to understand and improve our state’s economic climate and bring jobs back to the region”? I don’t get it. And doesn’t Rauner constantly brag about spending summers with his grandparents on their farm? If that’s what qualifies you to jump-start the economy, then Rauner is qualified by Dillard’s own goofy measuring stick.
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* My connecting flight to St. Louis was cancelled Sunday night and I was told I probably couldn’t get on another plane until Wednesday. So, I rented a car and drove home from Atlanta yesterday, with side trips to pick up Oscar the Puppy and our luggage at the STL airport. I rolled into my driveway about 11:30 last night.
Interstate 64 down in Southern Illinois was relatively clean by the time I arrived, but there were tons of cars in the ditches. I saw a dozen or more off the road in one half-mile stretch alone. All those unfortunate souls had to literally be rescued because the temperatures were so low. This was a life and death matter for them.
My hat is off to everyone who has been working on the roads for the past few days, particularly the rescuers. From a press release…
Stories of heroism by rescuers continue to emerge as emergency responders work around the clock to assist those impacted by the extreme weather.
Personnel from the Illinois National Guard field maintenance shop in Mattoon coordinated with Illinois State Police troopers and Illinois Department of Transportation snow plow crews to assist motorists in approximately 375 vehicles backed up on I-70 and I-57 north of Effingham Sunday evening. The backup was the result of several vehicles and semi-trucks that were stuck in snow drifts, making it impossible for snow plows to clear the route for the cars to proceed. Illinois National Guard personnel used a wrecker to pull the stranded vehicles and trucks from the road, which allowed IDOT crews to clear the road and rescue hundreds of passengers.
“The men and women of the Illinois National Guard are again demonstrating their commitment to the safety and security of Illinois citizens,” Brig. Gen. Daniel M. Krumrei, the Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard, said. “We train extensively throughout the year to be ready and on the scene to help our neighbors at a moment’s notice. Within two hours of activation, our Soldiers navigated dangerous road conditions in sub-zero temperatures to rescue stranded motorists.”
Conservation Police Officer Trent Reeves rescued seven people and two pets that were trapped by snow drifts along Route 47 north of Mahomet. Emergency vehicles could not reach the people, so Officer Reeves traveled by snowmobile and on foot to rescue the stranded individuals and deliver them to nearby emergency vehicles. All of those rescued, including the pets, are fine. Officer Jim Mayes assisted with the rescue, and himself used his truck to rescue six individuals who were stranded on Interstate 74 in east central Illinois.
Your experiences with Polar Vortex Snowmageddon 2014?
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The problem with patronage
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune published a long story over the weekend about Speaker Madigan’s patronage army. My favorite part…
The Tribune found many cases in which Madigan operatives bounced from government job to government job, agency to agency. One example is David Foley, 50, a longtime top precinct captain who has donated more than $23,000 to Madigan political funds since 1999, when he got one of nearly a dozen different government jobs he has held in 25 years.
Foley lasted only weeks in some jobs, was fired from one and landed in another position that has been repeatedly filled by members of Madigan’s political brigade.
Records show he’s been an engineer technician at the Cook County Highway Department, county correctional officer, seasonal laborer for the county Forest Preserve District, Chicago cop, administrative assistant to the county recorder of deeds, customer service manager at the county treasurer’s office, cemetery hotline director for the state comptroller, executive officer under the county medical examiner, state highway traffic patrol manager and director of verification for the Chicago city clerk, and is now an executive assistant for the secretary of state.
When Foley took the city clerk job, one of the top positions in the office, in January 2012, he succeeded another Madigan precinct captain. That worker, Lawrence McPhillips, left to take another government job making $123,000 for the city.
When Foley left the post last year, he was succeeded by James Gleffe, 31. Gleffe, who records show came from a $65,000 job as a legal adviser to the secretary of state, has been a Madigan paid political soldier since 2010, records show. Gleffe makes more than $99,000 a year, according to the clerk’s office.
The biggest problem I have with patronage is people like that.
You got a hard worker who would do a really good job at a particular agency? OK, well, make your pitch. The courts have defined that as protected speech. But if he’s a mope, you shouldn’t be constantly sticking up for him. That’s truly bad for government.
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*** UPDATED x2 *** Fun with numbers
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bruce Rauner says those who earn $8.25 cents an hour make too much…
All four Republican candidates for governor are against raising the state’s minimum wage. Gov. Pat Quinn says he wants to raise it to at least $10 per hour by the end of the year.
Bruce Rauner believes Illinois should do the opposite, and lower it to $7.25. “I will advocate moving the Illinois minimum wage back to the national minimum wage. I think we’ve got to be competitive here in Illinois,” Rauner said.
To put this into a little perspective, somebody earning minimum wage in Illinois today (before any Rauner-enforced pay cut) would have to work 6,424,242 hours to match Rauner’s 2012 income of $53 million. That works out to 803,030 days, 160,606 40-hour weeks, or 3,088 years.
Rauner’s income last year averages out to $204K a day for a five-day work week, or $25,550 every hour for an eight-hour day. It would take a minimum wage employee 399 days to earn as much money as Rauner made in a single hour last year. And, again, that’s before any pay cut.
Now, I get where he’s going on the rhetoric about staying competitive with other states. But I’m not sure he’s the best guy to make this proposal.
* And I’m not the only one pointing out Rauner’s wealth, by the way…
GOP gubernatorial primary candidates on Thursday took issue with multimillionaire Bruce Rauner’s declaration that his fund-raising prowess — including $4 million last quarter — makes him the only one in the field who could go “toe-to-toe with Pat Quinn.”
Rauner made the statement as he announced that his campaign took in a whopping $4 million in the fourth quarter of last year — with $1 million coming from his own personal fortune after his self-funding lifted the typically mandated caps on state campaigns. […]
“Mr. Rauner’s finally come clean and admits that his major qualification to be the GOP nominee for governor is that he can buy the election,” said competitor state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale.
*** UPDATE *** Courtesy of a commenter, this is from Bruce Rauner’s Twitter feed…
I suppose this is designed to show what a “regular guy” he is.
I checked the Marion Super 8 website and rooms start at $59.99 a night. Based on his 2012 income, it would take Rauner less than 9 seconds to make that amount (which is less time that it takes to read this update). A minimum wage worker would have to work about 8 hours to earn enough to stay there.
Just sayin…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Ormsby…
House Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang (D-Skoke) today fired back at GOP gubernatorial Bruce Rauner’s proposal to cut the Illinois minimum wage, saying that the hyper-wealthy Rauner is “delusional.”
“In my 26 years in the legislature, I’ve seen many candidates roll out anti-poverty plans, but Bruce Rauner is the only candidate to roll-out a pro-poverty plan,” said Lang. “He’s delusional if he thinks that General Assembly would bow to his class warfare on low-income workers. He needs to have his delusion shaken up.” […]
“Rauner is deeply out-of-touch with working people,” said Lang. “He needs to come to grips with the fact that the era of robber barons is over and impoverishing workers is no longer an economic growth strategy.”
Lang is right about the impossibility of something like this passing.
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Quinn rewrites history
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pat Quinn told Chicago Tonight that he believes his veto of legislative salaries is what forced a final resolution to the pension reform debate. Watch…
Trouble is, the governor vetoed the salaries in July. A judge struck down his veto as unconstitutional in September and legislators were immediately paid all their past-due wages. The pension reform bill then passed in December - long after Quinn’s veto was taken out of the equation.
But he’ll probably continue crowing about his “great victory” throughout the upcoming campaign as long as reporters let him slide.
* Meanwhile, check out how Quinn’s spokesperson jumped into the fray right off the bat and refused to allow the WTTW reporter to ask a question about the state’s unpaid bills…
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Polar vortex snowmageddon 2014 snark
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Context provided in a press release issued yesterday…
- Due to the severe winter storm and dangerously low temperatures and wind chills that have followed, causing hazardous conditions across Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn today implemented the State’s Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plans (COOP/COG). The inter-agency plans will ensure continued delivery of critical state response services during the severe winter weather conditions while ensuring the safety of the state’s workforce. State government employees – except those serving in critical government functions – are instructed to stay home on Monday, Jan. 6.
“As we continue to monitor weather conditions and work nonstop to respond to this winter storm, we will ensure that critical state services continue,” said Governor Quinn. “To protect the safety of our employees and the people they serve, I am directing state employees whose duties are not critical to state services to stay home and off the roads on Monday.”
The COOP/COG ensures that employees responsible for continuity of operations observe the hours needed to guarantee continued delivery and availability of essential public health and safety state services, including: Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) Veterans’ Homes, Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) central health centers and centers for the developmentally disabled, Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) youth centers, Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) correctional institutions, as well as the Illinois State Police (ISP), Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS).
The Governor also today made a disaster declaration due to the severe winter weather and activated the Illinois National Guard to provide aid.
* And the resulting snark, passed off as straight news by Illinois Watchdog, which was picked up by the Fox News channel for obvious reasons…
Snow plow drivers, state troopers, prison guards and Gov. Pat Quinn (and his spokespeople) are apparently just about all the state government Illinois needs.
In the grasp of a “polar vortex,” Illinois closed state government offices and told all non-essential government workers to stay home.
“We said to all of those in critical response, ‘You gotta be here,’” Quinn said at an apparently critical news conference in Chicago on Monday. “My job is to be here when people really need our help…I think it’s important that our government be here when people need us.”
But that begs the question, who is a non-essential government worker?
Thousands of people who answer phones in the massive state bureaucracy were told to stay home. Same with the folks who sell license plates and the people who run Illinois’ universities. Even the folks implementing Obamacare got a day off because they are not needed.
Sheesh.
* Also, here’s the full audio of Quinn’s presser…
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