* An endorsement like this could actually help move the ball forward with some more conservative, pro-union Democrats and even some Republicans…
WHEREAS the Illinois AFL-CIO has a long history of supporting full equality and civil rights for all Americans, regardless of their race, their religion, their sex, their national origin, their sexual orientation or gender identity; and,
WHEREAS the Illinois AFL-CIO has worked in support of anti-discrimination protection, domestic partner benefits, and other protections and benefits for our union brothers and sisters who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender; and,
WHEREAS gay and lesbian workers in same-sex relationships are treated as second class citizens in their workplace, denied family and medical leave, equal insurance coverage and other benefits that build strong families in Illinois, despite the fact that 13 states and the District of Columbia extend the freedom to marry to same-sex couples; and,
WHEREAS, the federal Government Accounting Office documents more than 1,100 federal benefits denied to loving, committed gay and lesbian couples, including Social Security benefits, worker compensation, pension benefits, Family and Medical Leave Act benefits, and many more; and,
WHEREAS President Barack Obama has endorsed the freedom to marry for all Americans, saying “We are a people who declared that we are all created equal – and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well”; and,
WHEREAS the National AFL-CIO filed a “friend of the court” brief asking the Supreme Court of the United States to find the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Illinois AFL-CIO joins with leaders from the faith community, civil rights organizations, President Obama, our own unions and a growing majority of Americans in supporting marriage equality legislation that effectively protects religious freedom; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on our Illinois state legislators to sponsor and vote for this legislation; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that Illinois AFL-CIO will work to advance legislation and/or support ballot measures, at both the state and federal level, to confer full marriage equality, including health and pension benefits, family and medical leave, tax treatment and disability benefits to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Discuss.
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* 2:32 pm - Wow…
*** UPDATE *** * 2:45 pm - The ruling can be downloaded by clicking here.
* The judge rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that by not vetoing the “total” lines in the appropriations bill he hadn’t really vetoed the money. The judge said it was “abundantly clear” that everybody knew the governor’s intent.
* The judge relied on the Jorgensen case, which involved cost of living increases for judges, to rule that the comptroller must “immediately” pay salaries, plus interest.
* More Judge Cohen…
Governor Quinn invites this court to consider statements made during the 1970 Constitutional Convention in construing the word “changes.” This court declines to do so. It would only be proper to consider the debates… if there was doubt as to the common meaning of “changes.”
That means the judge ruled legislative salaries cannot be raised or lowered during a term of office. The governor had argued that Con-Con delegates only referred to stopping legislators from increasing their pay during their terms.
* 3:17 pm - Cullerton react…
Senate President John J. Cullerton released the following statement on Judge Cohen’s order in Cullerton v. Quinn:
“Today the circuit court vindicated the Illinois Constitution as Judge Cohen ruled to protect and preserve the separation of powers. Now that the governor’s actions have been answered by a court, I trust that we can put aside all distractions and focus on the goal of pension reform.
“Pension reform remains our top priority. Even while this case was pending, the legislature never stopped working on this issue. I applaud the progress of the pension conference committee as its members shape a pension plan that maximizes our savings and upholds a fundamental standard of fairness.”
Any bets on whether Quinn will file an appeal?
*** UPDATE *** * 3:20 pm - I got the answer to my own question. I’m told that Quinn will appeal.
Quinn can ask the judge to stay his ruling during the appeal, which would hold up the checks, but Cohen doesn’t have to comply.
* 3:26 pm - Bruce Rauner react…
Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner issued the following statement regarding Judge Neil Cohen’s ruling that Illinois must pay lawmakers:
“When Pat Quinn suspended legislators pay I called it ‘just another political stunt.’ More than two months later, the pension system is still broken.
We don’t need any more political stunts. We need a leader who is willing to take on the government union bosses and special interests that control Springfield, and the crowd in charge now refuses to do it. I’ll get the job done.”
*** UPDATE *** * 3:41 pm - I’m told that Quinn may ask for a stay this afternoon. So, there’s kind of a behind the scenes race going on right now between the comptroller’s office, which is quickly processing the checks, and Quinn’s attorneys, who want an immediate stay.
* 3:45 pm - Quinn statement on his appeal and request for a stay…
Governor Pat Quinn Statement on Judge Ruling Against Suspension of Legislative Pay
CHICAGO – Governor Pat Quinn issued the below statement regarding today’s ruling by Judge Neil Cohen to allow legislators to receive their paychecks:
“I respectfully disagree with the judge’s decision.
“On behalf of Illinois taxpayers, I intend to appeal the decision and seek a court stay that would prevent any legislative paychecks from being issued until this case is considered by a higher court.
“However, this case is about far more than just the Governor’s constitutional authority to suspend the appropriations for legislative paychecks.
“The reason I suspended legislative paychecks in the first place – and refused to accept my own – is because Illinois taxpayers can’t afford an endless cycle of promises, excuses, delays and inertia on the most critical challenge of our time.
“Illinois’ pension crisis is costing taxpayers millions of dollars a day; robbing our children of the education and public safety services they desperately need; and holding our economy back from real recovery.
“I will not accept a paycheck until a comprehensive pension reform bill is on my desk, and neither should legislators.
“Nobody in Springfield should get paid until the pension reform job gets done.”
*** UPDATE *** JBT…
TOPINKA: COURT HAS RULED, PAYCHECK PROCESSING TO BEGIN
Comptroller instructs staff to process payments for lawmakers
CHICAGO - Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka made the following statement Thursday in response to the Court’s ruling to restore compensation for lawmakers:
“In light of today’s Court ruling, I have instructed my staff to begin processing salary payments for Illinois lawmakers. I have consistently said action was required by the General Assembly or the Court to authorize restoration of those payments. That has now occurred, and the Comptroller’s Office will comply. Processing of paychecks for August, September and October begins today.”
* 4:10 pm - From Speaker Madigan’s spokesman…
At this point we will defer comment until issues such as a stay are resolved
*** UPDATE *** * 4:14 pm - Topinka just told Roe Conn of WLS that paychecks will be issued by Monday.
* 4:17 pm - Twitters…
*** UPDATE *** * 4:19 pm - Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno…
“It will be unfortunate if the decision is appealed and a further waste of taxpayer dollars. Pension reform discussions are moving along with committed legislators meeting regularly, negotiating and working toward a compromise. Illinois desperately needs pension reform. Yet another legal maneuver is a distraction we don’t need.”
* 4:22 pm - Sun-Times…
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady described the governor’s original move to withhold legislative pay as “dirty politics” and said any appeal of Thursday’s ruling by Quinn would be “a waste of money.”
“Clearly, when he did this, his own party, particularly the majority party, the Democrats, were very upset, and it didn’t help us move forward on pension reform,” Brady said in an interview with the Sun-Times. “Hopefully, we can set this aside now, get down to brass tacks and come up with a meaningful pension package that will protect the interests of the people who paid into the system and will give us a financial platform to move forward on.”
The state senator from Bloomington also urged Quinn not to appeal.
“The decision has been made. The judge has looked at it. It would just be a waste of money and further erode any chance we have of a meaningful pension package,” Brady said.
“It’s not something I would have done, although I understand in the public eye the governor may have hit a grand slam. But it’s really kind of dirty politics, and he certainly didn’t help himself,” Brady said.
*** UPDATE *** * 6:33 pm - Comptroller Topinka talked to the media today and compared Quinn’s veto to “blackmail.” She also said legislators signed up for direct deposit would likely get their pay tomorrow morning. Listen…
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Today’s quote
Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* James Krohe Jr. wrote about the Statehouse remodeling controversy. He doesn’t think much of it. Krohe’s conclusion…
The Capitol is a singular building. If you want to mock the pretensions of the original conception, go ahead; they verge on the preposterous.
But attempting to aggrandize self-government is not an entirely contemptible gesture, and in this case it left the people with a museum of vanished craftmanship that dazzles by its sheer exuberance if not its taste. It is unique, priceless, irreplaceable. Almost everyone who sees it with unjaundiced eyes realizes that we could never do that today. Sadder still, we would never dare to try.
I for one would like to see Illinois officials try a little harder to be as big as their building.
I’m in total agreement with that last line.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Corruption-busting former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Wednesday voiced concern that the region’s four transit agencies seem to have dropped the ball on adequately training staff on how to remove politics from hiring.
Fitzgerald’s comments came during the second meeting of a transit task force formed in the wake of allegations by ex-Metra CEO Alex Clifford that two Metra Board members conspired to dump him because he would not “play ball” on patronage requests — two of them supposedly originating with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). […]
In an exchange with RTA executive director Joseph Costello, Fitzgerald asked whether the RTA keeps any record of politicians who call the RTA to say they’d like someone hired.
Costello said no such record is kept because all such callers are referred to the agency’s website for directions on how to apply for jobs.
* The Question: Should all public agencies document instances when politicians inquire about patronage jobs? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
customer surveys
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* Rhode Island has been held up as a national model for pension reform. But within Matt Taibbi’s fascinating account of how some businesses and groups are taking money they’ve made from pension fund management and using it to lobby for reductions in pension benefits is this astounding segment…
Hedge funds have good reason to want to keep their fees hidden: They’re insanely expensive. The typical fee structure for private hedge-fund management is a formula called “two and twenty,” meaning the hedge fund collects a two percent fee just for showing up, then gets 20 percent of any profits it earns with your money. Some hedge funds also charge a mysterious third fee, called “fund expenses,” that can run as high as half a percent – Loeb’s Third Point, for instance, charged Rhode Island just more than half a percent for “fund expenses” last year, or about $350,000. Hedge funds will also pass on their trading costs to their clients, a huge additional line item that can come to an extra percent or more and is seldom disclosed. There are even fees states pay for withdrawing from certain hedge funds.
In public finance, hedge funds will sometimes give slight discounts, but the numbers are still enormous. In Rhode Island, over the course of 20 years, [Edward Siedle, a former SEC lawyer] projects that the state will pay $2.1 billion in fees to hedge funds, private-equity funds and venture-capital funds. Why is that number interesting? Because it very nearly matches the savings the state will be taking from workers by freezing their Cost of Living Adjustments – $2.3 billion over 20 years.
“That’s some ‘reform,’” says Siedle.
“They pretty much took the COLA and gave it to a bunch of billionaires,” hisses Day, Providence’s retired firefighter union chief. [Emphasis added.]
* And this…
On Wall Street, people are beginning to clue in to the fact – spikes notwithstanding – that over time, hedge funds basically suck. In 2008, Warren Buffett famously placed a million-dollar bet with the heads of a New York hedge fund called Protégé Partners that the S&P 500 index fund – a neutral bet on the entire stock market, in other words – would outperform a portfolio of five hedge funds hand-picked by the geniuses at Protégé.
Five years later, Buffett’s zero-effort, pin-the-tail-on-the-stock-market portfolio is up 8.69 percent total. Protégé’s numbers are comical in comparison; all those superminds came up with a 0.13 percent increase over five long years, meaning Buffett is beating the hedgies by nearly nine points without lifting a finger.
* The Illinois Teachers Retirement System started pumping huge amounts into hedge funds a couple of years ago. From a 2011 Crain’s article…
Springfield-based TRS, the state’s largest pension provider, plans to allocate about a third of its $37.8-billion portfolio to alternative investments such as private-equity and hedge funds, a four-month Crain’s investigation of TRS holdings and practices finds. These unconventional assets typically dangle the potential for higher returns, but only because they also carry greater risks and fees. TRS is shifting its portfolio while it’s still developing an in-house risk-management system.
Gunning for bigger returns exposes the plan to the possibility of bigger losses, further jeopardizing the pensions of 362,121 former and current teachers. The system, which has just 46.5% of the assets it needs to cover promised payments to retirees, is counting on an 8.5% annual return, which many portfolio managers and investors, including Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett, say is unrealistically high. If TRS banked on a 7.75% return — the rate that two other Illinois public pensions lowered their forecasts to this year — its assets would equal only 43% of obligations. That would swell its shortfall to $50.1 billion from $43.5 billion.
* And Bruce Rauner’s former investment firm GTCR also takes a 20 percent fee, plus extras…
GTCR has managed money for years for the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System and the Illinois State Board of Investment, the largest and third-largest, respectively, in Illinois, as well as state and municipal pension plans from the San Francisco City and County Employees’ Retirement System to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. Its funds have delivered above-average returns for Illinois, according to Preqin Ltd., a London-based investment data provider.
For its work, GTCR takes a slice of returns it reaps from business sales, typically about 20 percent, and charges management fees, up to 1.5 percent. The Illinois State Board of Investment, for instance, reports it paid $280,000 in fees last year on $85 million it has in two GTCR funds.
Combined, TRS and the ISBI have committed $252 million with GTCR since 1993.
Some folks were understandably upset with the Dixon lawyers’ big cut of the Rita Crundwell settlement yesterday, but we need to talk more - a lot more - about these insanely high fund fees. They’re essentially robbing the pension funds of needed dollars and pushing to use benefit cuts to make up the difference.
Ridiculous.
…Adding… From Bruce Rauner’s campaign spokesman…
Rich - saw your post on fees and returns provided by alternative investment vehicles.
There a few important clarifications that would provide context for your readers:
1. GTCR performance for Illinois has far exceeded the pension funds’ returns: “William Atwood, who leads the Illinois State Board of Investment and has invested the state employee pension fund’s money with GTCR…. says the board’s investments with GTCR have generated annual returns of 17.2% since 1984.” Pension fund over that same time period has been closer to 7-8%. Those are annualized returns, so GTCR has made the pension funds a lot of money.
2. Hedge funds and firms like GTCR are different types of businesses. Hedge funds are typically sophisticated (and leveraged) trading entities. GTCR invests directly in private companies and builds them for the long term.
3. The 20 percent fee is only received if/after they sell a company for profit.
Bottom line is comparing GTCR’s performance for Illinois to that of hedge funds in other states is like comparing apples and oranges.
Also, worth pointing out, as one of your commenters did, that the rate of return for pensions is after fees.
Thanks,
Mike
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Quinn gets his way over torture commission
Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
The director of a state commission vetting allegations of police torture is stepping down amid controversy after some victims’ families complained the panel violated Illinois law by excluding them from the process.
David Thomas, who has chaired the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission since 2011, told members at the commission’s public meeting at the Thompson Center on Wednesday that he is retiring as of the end of the month.
The move came less than two weeks after Gov. Pat Quinn revealed that he had asked Thomas to resign because of a failure to notify victims’ families about the board’s decisions in violation of the 2009 statute establishing the commission.
* The Sun-Times editorial board was indignant about Quinn’s behavior throughout the entire process…
The commission’s job is to root out any remaining cases in which innocent men are languishing in prison because of statements extracted through police torture in the 1970s and ’80s by former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge and his so-called Area 2 midnight crew. More than 100 men have claimed they were tortured, and so far the commission has made recommendations in about 25 cases, either rejecting them or forwarding them for further judicial review.
But in three cases, the commission’s staff — which consisted of the executive director and a secretary — neglected to notify relatives of victims about the hearings, as the law requires. It was clearly an oversight by an overworked staff and the commission has rectified it by pulling back the cases so that family members may testify. But relatives of victims in one of the cases, the 1983 home invasion, rape and murder of Dean and JoEllen Pueschel and the beating of their son, understandably remain angry that they weren’t notified. […]
After the Legislature authorized the creation of the commission in 2009, it sat dormant for about a year until Quinn finally appointed commissioners.
When the commissioners finally had a quorum, they appointed Thomas executive director, but it took four months for his appointment to get through a lumbering state hiring process. It took two more months to hire a secretary. Then the commission had to devote several months to the complicated state-required process of setting up rules and regulations.
In August 2011, the commission finally was able to begin reviewing claims, but in June 2012, the Legislature stripped all its funding, and work stopped. Funding finally was restored in late March, and the commission was pulled out of mothballs. Now, it’s facing another delay.
The commission’s job is not to decide guilt or innocence, but only to determine which cases contain credible claims of police torture. Those cases are referred to Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, who assigns them to judges for further review. Those judges may decide that the torture claims, while credible, are not sufficient to justify an evidentiary hearing. But even those cases that proceed to a hearing won’t necessarily get a new trial, and any new trials won’t necessarily lead to acquittals. And given other strong evidence, the Pueschel case is not a likely candidate for a reversal.
* But Chuck Goudie has portrayed the governor as a hero throughout…
The head of the Illinois torture commission resigned Wednesday after an I-Team report revealed shoddy treatment of the family of a murder victim. Illinois is the only state in the nation with a torture board.
Officially named the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, appointees of the governor look at a narrow spectrum of murder cases tinged by police brutality and determine whether to recommend the cases be re-examined in court. Late Wednesday afternoon, the embattled executive director of the commission, Dave Thomas, turned in his resignation. Nearly two weeks after the I-Team broke the story that Governor Quinn wanted Thomas out. […]
Thomas is resigning with Governor Pat Quinn’s foot on his behind. As paid director of the commission that reviews cases of police torture, Mr. Thomas had become the focus of angry, emotional complaints from the relatives of murder victims.
Discuss.
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More like this, please
Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Senators Kirk and Durbin have been pressing the US Attorney to do more to fight Chicago street gangs. From a media advisory…
U.S. Attorney Gary S. Shapiro, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy, and representatives of the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. today, Thursday Sept. 26, 2013, to announce federal criminal charges against alleged leaders of a Chicago street gang for engaging in a series of violent drug-related crimes, including murders.
The press conference will be held in the U.S. Attorney’s Office press conference room on the 9th floor, north end, of the Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219 South Dearborn St., Chicago. Media representatives will have access at 2 p.m.
The criminal charges and a detailed press release will be issued early this afternoon in advance of the press conference.
I’ll let you know what happens.
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* Power Construction is moving from Schaumburg to Chicago (15 miles, according to Google) and is getting $2.4 million in state assistance over ten years. That naturally prompted questions…
Dan Seals, the former congressional candidate now serving as assistant director of the Ill. Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, was asked how he justifies giving a tax break to an Illinois company to move a short distance from suburb to city.
“We didn’t give a company a tax credit to move a few miles. What we did is saw a company that we thought was a good company that was looking to leave the state entirely that was receiving several million dollars to come to another state. We wanted to compete. We thought it was a good company to retain. And that’s what we did. And we won,” Seals said.
“You only get [the state aid] if you create the jobs. If you don’t create the jobs, you don’t get `em. And they’re based on the tax revenue that comes off the job. So, the state comes out ahead.”
Power got an EDGE tax credit. About the EDGE credit…
The EDGE program is designed to offer a special tax incentive to encourage companies to locate or expand operations in Illinois when there is active consideration of a competing location in another State.
The program can provide tax credits to qualifying companies, equal to the amount of state income taxes withheld from the salaries of employees in the newly created jobs. The non- refundable credits can be used against corporate income taxes to be paid over a period not to exceed 10 years.
To qualify a company must provide documentation that attests to the fact of competition among a competing state, and agree to make an investment of at least $5 million in capital improvements and create a minimum of 25 new full time jobs in Illinois.
In other words, if a company is being lured by another state and they’re willing to create some new jobs, the state can let them use their employees’ state withholding taxes to lower their corporate income tax bill. Power says it will create 30 new jobs.
Still, it would be nice to know what state was competing with us and how much they were offering.
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* Mayor Rahm Emanuel has some pretty big pension problems on his hands, the result of years of not paying into the funds. So, he’s proposing a new and extended “ramp” to get the payments up to snuff over time. Gov. Pat Quinn vigorously opposed a shorter new ramp last spring, so Emanuel is trying again…
The measure would require a series of small city property tax increases starting in 2018 — three years into what would be Emanuel’s second term as mayor. It also would delay the need for big increases in city pension payments to 2022, three years into what would be Emanuel’s third term, if he decided to serve that long and was able to win re-election. […]
Emanuel needs to press for relief because of the timing of a state law approved while Richard M. Daley was mayor. It would require the city to put in nearly $600 million more in contributions to police and fire pensions starting in 2015. That additional amount is about one-fifth of the city’s day-to-day operating budget. […]
The state law that kicks in requires higher payments into the police and fire pension plans based on what actuaries say the city needs to pay to get up to 90 percent funding by 2040.
And his warning…
Combine City Hall’s pension costs with the huge amount of money needed to fund Chicago Public Schools pensions and the resulting property tax hikes means “there will be a mass exodus” from Chicago, Emanuel said.
“It will be the largest caravan since America settled the West,” the mayor said. Suburban property taxes historically are much higher than those in Chicago, however.
So are Downstate property taxes. Chicago has relatively low residential property taxes because commercial property is taxed at a higher rate.
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Caption contest!
Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Treasurer Dan Rutherford tweets…
In @MetropolisIL found my newest supporter
The photo…
Funniest commenter will win a free copy of a new mobile app that I’ll be rolling out before veto session.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This doesn’t look like too bad of a deal for Dixon even with the healthy cut to the city’s attorneys…
The city reached a $40 million out-of-court settlement this morning with its auditors and bank it said were to blame for former Comptroller Rita Crundwell’s theft of nearly $54 million in city funds over two decades.
Mayor Jim Burke made the announcement this morning during a special meeting of the Dixon City Council, during which the council approved the settlement.
The agreement was reached Friday in Chicago, Burke said.
Including about $10 million more the city expects to receive from the sale of Crundwell’s assets, the city could recover about $50 million. The city’s attorneys will receive about $10 million from the settlement, meaning Dixon actually would recover about $40 million.
* Rita Crundwell…
* The Question: Caption?
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Time to get the lead out
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From my old buddy Michael Hawthorne at the Tribune…
Dangerous levels of lead are turning up in Chicago homes where pipes made of the toxic metal were disturbed by street work or plumbing repairs, according to a new federal study that suggests the city’s aggressive efforts to modernize its water system could inadvertently pose health risks.
The problem starts with lead service lines that Chicago installed across the city until the mid-1980s to connect water mains with homes. Researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that spikes of lead can leach into tap water when those pipes are altered by water main replacements, meter installations or street work.
High levels can be found in tap water for years afterward, the EPA study found, raising concerns that other cities with lead pipes could face similar problems.
Most homeowners likely are unaware they could be drinking tainted water. Under federal rules, utilities rarely are required to warn residents that work is being done or tell them they can take steps to reduce their exposure to lead. A potent neurotoxin, lead can damage the brains of young children, lower IQ and trigger learning disabilities, aggression and criminal behavior later in life. [Emphasis added.]
* I bolded that phrase because Kevin Drum wrote a fascinating story earlier this year about how several studies have found a seemingly direct correlation (with an astonishingly accurate 20-year lag) between gasoline lead emissions and the gigantic crime explosion that began in the 1960s. A chart…
Make absolutely sure to go read the whole thing when you have time.
Lead abatement may or may not reduce crime. It may just be too early to tell. But it most certainly will have a positive impact on health.
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* Mark Brown…
Those immigrant advocacy groups that lost funding from a Catholic charity in a tussle with Cardinal George and the Archdiocese of Chicago over gay marriage may get their money after all — but from somebody else.
A group of progressive charitable foundations — active in both the immigration reform and marriage equality movements — will step up Wednesday to announce creation of an emergency fund to replace the $300,000 stripped from member organizations of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
I’m glad to see that somebody has got these folks’ back.
As you’ve read here previously, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, cut off funding to those organizations this summer after the coalition endorsed same-sex marriage legislation pending before the Illinois General Assembly.
The cutoff included funds to such worthwhile programs as Bikes N’ Roses, an initiative of the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, which operates a free bike repair clinic that trains young people as bike mechanics. Punishing them was just plain senseless.
Now coming to their rescue will be the newly-formed Solidarity Fund, which will be operated through the Crossroads Fund of Chicago — with involvement from Fred Eychaner’s Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Foundation for Women, the Gill Foundation and the Pierce Family Foundation.
Look, I understand that some folks were outraged by this, but the Catholic Campaign, like any organization, has the right to withdraw funding from coalition partners that aren’t fully on board with its program. The immediate need was to find alternative funding. It’s been found, at least for now.
…Adding… I put this in comments after some criticism about this post…
I stand by what I wrote.
But what none of you have caught onto yet is that this is exactly what I said when the state cut off funding for Catholic Charities after that group refused to cooperate with the civil unions law on adoption and foster care.
The Cardinal and the Bishops would do well to stop complaining about that state action when they take these sorts of actions against others.
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Beavers gets six months, $10K fine
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* District Judge James Zagel has sentenced Bill Beavers to six months in prison for his conviction on four counts of tax evasion…
Former Cook County Commissioner William Beavers was sentenced to six months in prison this morning for failing to pay taxes on tens of thousands of dollars he took out of his campaign fund and used for gambling and other personal expenses.
The sentence is far short of the 21 months requested by prosecutors. Beavers was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and just under $39,000 in back taxes. […]
In recommending a sentence of 21 months in prison, prosecutors in a recent court filing portrayed the outspoken former police officer and alderman as someone who abused the trust placed in him as a public official despite “maintaining a front row seat for the long and sordid history of public corruption in Chicago and Illinois.”
“As an elected official for over 30 years, Beavers saw many of his fellow Chicago aldermen – as well as numerous state and local officials – convicted of public corruption crimes, and he had reason to appreciate the impact such corruption has had on the public’s faith in government,” prosecutors wrote.
* Background…
Beavers was accused of using his political campaign accounts from 2006 until 2008 as a “slush fund” to swell his pension and for losing gambling sprees at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, then failing to pay taxes on those withdrawals.
But he claimed he’d merely loaned himself the money. Beavers also blamed the county for failing to report $30,000 in expense checks that he took as income. Nevertheless, his conviction cost him his seat on the County Board
Beavers initially claimed that he was being prosecuted because he wouldn’t wear a wire for the feds, whom Beavers said were after John Daley. From last year…
John Daley said he was surprised at what he characterized as Beavers’ attempt to change the story.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Daley said.
He said Beavers never approached him to say that any federal agents had asked Beavers to wear a wire on him. Looking at the indictment against Beavers, Daley said: “It’s pretty obvious what this is about, and this has nothing to do with me. I have never taken my [commissioner’s expense account] from Day 1.”
Daley said Beavers appeared to be throwing Daley’s name up Thursday in an attempt to change the story.
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A totally messed up system
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More details on Bryon Champ, who was allegedly wounded by a rival gang member before allegedly taking part in a mass shooting in a Chicago park…
Champ’s criminal record includes a 2012 conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and a 2011 conviction for receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to Cook County Jail boot camp for the gun-possession conviction and had received probation in the other case, records show.
In the 2012 case, police had responded to a report of someone being shot and saw Champ running through a gangway with a gun in his hand, according to court records. When police arrested Champ a short while later, he was carrying a .40-caliber semi-automatic gun loaded with 10 rounds and one in the chamber, records show.
So Champ gets sent to boot camp, but Edward Hambrick, who had a valid FOID card and an out of state concealed carry permit, languished 14 months in the Cook County jail after being busted for having a loaded gun in his car.
It makes me wanna scream.
* And then there’s this…
Brian Otero spent nearly two years in Cook County Jail waiting to go to trial for a burglary. The jury found him not guilty, but he didn’t get to leave the courtroom like they do on TV. No, he was brought back into the Cook County Jail to be “processed” out. He was put in a small cell just off the front of the courtroom, to eventually be brought back into the jail.
Now remember, at this point, there are no charges against Otero, yet he’s being detained against his will because that’s just how we’ve always done it in Cook County. Defendants who have been held in jail awaiting trial are brought back into the jail. They can be handcuffed, searched, and locked back up in their cell even though there are no charges against them.
Sheriff Tom Dart and county officials are doing little to change the seemingly unconstitutional practice and that could cost taxpayers millions
On his way back into the jail after acquittal, Otero was put in a holding cell with a number of other inmates and three men attacked him.
“They approached me and asked me, ‘Did you win your case, are you going home today?’” Otero said in an interview in his attorney’s Loop law office. “Upon me saying ‘yes’ one of them swung at me and when he swung at me the other two grabbed me and they started hitting me all over my body.” […]
Otero was eventually brought back to his cell, to wait. Ten hours after he was acquitted he was finally released from the jail.
Fingers are pointing everywhere…
But even if the sheriff’s office makes the technological leap to the 1990s in all 17 courthouses, the rest of the Cook County court system under Clerk of Courts Dorothy Brown is pretty solidly stuck in the 70s. The whole court system is paper and carbon copies. That presents a problem for Lt. Charles Luna when he’s supposed to release someone from the jail.
And…
While it’s Sheriff Dart who is detaining people, it’s Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez who tells Dart what he needs to do to comply with the constitution. For two weeks Alvarez’s office has failed to provide WBEZ with any explanation as to whether the current practices are constitutional, or what her office is doing to ensure Cook County doesn’t have to pay out millions in settlements arising from this practice of detaining people after they’ve been found not guilty.
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It’s never as simple as it looks
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Tribune editorial…
[Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy’s] point: Illinois needs stricter gun laws, and it needs to enforce its gun laws, to ensure that criminals know possessing a gun on the street carries dire consequences.
Here’s the frustrating part: A bill to do just that went nowhere in the legislature this year. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Michael Zalewski, D-Chicago, would have set stiffer sentences for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and for gun crimes committed by felons. It would have required that offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.
McCarthy, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel supported the bill. Had it been in place last year, Champ would have been sent to prison, not boot camp, for running around his neighborhood with a loaded gun. […]
This spring, the General Assembly was intensely preoccupied on legislation to permit the concealed carry of firearms. Zalewski’s bill to crack down on illegal gun possession got out of a House committee but then languished. Some Democrats opposed the stiff mandatory sentencing requirements, and some Republicans refused to back it before they passed a concealed carry law. Zalewski tells us he didn’t have the votes to pass his bill. […]
So here we are. Another national embarrassment for Chicago. Another senseless crime. Thirteen people wounded. The trauma extends well beyond those 13 people. It extends to their friends, to their families, to their neighbors, to everyone who has to think twice about whether he or she will catch a random bullet when gangbangers go after each other. […]
Zalewski said he plans to reintroduce his bill during the fall veto session. It should pass without a single “no” vote. Not … one.
* But Todd Vandermyde of the NRA posted a couple of notes in comments yesterday about that bill. I’ve fixed most of the typos to make it easier to read…
We offered the City an 85% 3-year term on Felons in possession last session, we were turned down because they wanted the whole thing to include those without a carry permit when we didn’t have one.
And…
We as the NRA could work on and support the “felons in possession” issue. The Cook County State’s Attorney often tosses the Aggravated UUW or UUW as part of the plea deal for whatever reason.
I tried to pare down the issue to “bad guys with guns.” But they were so invested in the Plaxico Burress version they didn’t seem to care.
* I asked Rep. Zalewski for a response…
As I mentioned to the Chicago Tribune, a number of members expressed concern last Spring about voting for HB2265 in light of the ongoing conceal carry debate.
I, as the sponsor, had numerous constructive conversations with those members, along with Todd Vandermyde, chief legislative liaison for the NRA, in an effort to see if those members’ concerns could be addressed in the bill.
Unfortunately, there was never a meeting of the minds. As is my practice, I will continue to look for common ground in an effort to get the bill passed.
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Racing board wants state to pony up big bucks
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Uncertainty reigned Tuesday after the Illinois Racing Board drafted the 2014 thoroughbred and harness racing schedules.
Taking into account the possibility that funds may not be available to enable the Racing Board to regulate racing, Chairman William Berry made a motion to approve four alternative schedules and it passed by an 8-1 vote.
•Under the best-case scenario, the 2014 schedule will bear a striking resemblance to the 2013 slate with 466 dates at the state’s five pari-mutuel tracks.
•Under the worst-case scenario, next year’s schedule will bear no resemblance to this year’s thoroughbred and harness dates, consisting of a combined total of 87 programs and leaving the state with only one harness track. [Emphasis added.]
Not mentioned in the Trib’s dot points is that the “best-case scenario” includes a “supplemental state payment” of at least $725,000.
* The problem has been the lack of Internet wagering income for over five months this year and uncertainty over next year…
The board depends on account-wagering handle for part of its funding and lost about $725,000 when the law permitting account-wagering companies to operate in Illinois was allowed to expire Jan. 31 and wasn’t restored until June 7. Unaltered, the law expires again on Jan. 31, so the board can’t know if it will have enough money to fulfill its statutory obligations for a full racing season.
The board will request a supplemental payment from the state to plug the hole left by the 2013 account-wagering shutdown, and the legislature, when it meets for a fall session starting Oct. 22, will be asked to extend the account-wagering law. How racing is conducted next year in Illinois depends on how much of that money actually flows to the IRB. Because of the uncertainty the board approved four possible schedules.
What a screw up this was.
* In other news, Phil Kadner looks at video gaming’s growth…
There now are 9,794 [video gaming] machines operating at 2,402 locations, according to the Illinois Gaming Board, which is the equivalent of adding nine casinos. […]
But an entirely new industry has emerged in recent months, video cafes, designed specifically to appeal to the gambler.
Although most of these offer food and alcoholic drinks, they’re marketed as places where suburbanites can lose their money in comfortable surroundings without being bothered by drunks.
Oak Lawn Mayor Sandra Bury is so concerned about the increase in video gambling in her village that she has asked the state senator from the area to introduce legislation that could limit the number of locations.
Oak Lawn appears to be the leader in the Southland in the number of sites with video gambling, having 18 locations and 83 video machines.
In August, gamblers lost $319,338 in the machines, producing $15,966 in tax revenue for Oak Lawn and $79,834 for the state.
I was talking with somebody who owns several locations that have video gaming machines, and he said he hopes the Legislature passes a bill to limit the number of new machines and locations. Why? Because such a law would mean less competition for him.
* Back to Kadner…
I’ve always been a free-market guy when it comes to legalized gambling. So long as the operations have no ties to organized crime and the machines pay off as advertised, I think they should be allowed to proliferate.
By limiting the number of casinos, all the state has done is give a small group of people a license to make lots of money.
Now, they have some competition in video gambling, and businesses in the suburbs are getting a piece of the action.
But the law of supply and demand is still being denied by elected officials, who seem to believe they can limit vice by tightly regulating it.
Agreed.
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* From CBS Money Watch…
Using data compiled for CBSNews.com by a real estate analytics provider, we looked not only at cities where home prices have the farthest to go to climb back to their pre-bubble peak, but also where prices are still declining.
* At the “top” of their list are two Illinois cities. Ranked second least likely to recover from the real estate crash is Rockford…
Growth needed to match peak: 31.5 percent
Growth this year: -3 percent
And number one is Kankakee…
Growth needed to match peak: 39.2 percent
Growth this year: -3.5 percent
* Back to the narrative…
Residents of two cities in Illinois have the bleakest prospects of seeing home prices rebound. The state’s high unemployment rate is the biggest factor restraining prices. At the peak of the recession, Rockford’s jobless rate shot up to a whopping 20 percent unemployment rate, and it remains high at around 10 percent.
Kankakee faces a similar problem as Rockford, Ill. The population is stagnant and its unemployment rate hasn’t been below 10 percent since mid-2008. Even selling the city’s many foreclosed properties is unlikely to boost home prices much. Unless the city sees a serious economic turnaround, it will be nearly impossible to recover that 39 percent drop in home values.
Oy.
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* Illinois Review…
A new We Ask America poll shows U.S. Senator Richard “Dick” Durbin could be vulnerable in his 2014 re-election bid, and Illinois State Senator Jim Oberweis may be the GOP’s strongest challenger.
In a head-to-head, the poll shows Durbin at 49.97% and Oberweis at 38.67%, with 11.36% undecided.
Breaking down the data, Oberweis polls stronger among men at 47.13% to Durbin’s 45.16%. He also polls stronger among voters 25-44 years old, and beats Durbin in the vote-rich collar counties as well as downstate.
Oberweis told Illinois Review he was surprised by the poll and the results. He said he’s considering a run, but has made no decision.
I’m told that We Ask America didn’t do the poll directly for Oberweis, but he’s still touting it, as he should.
Considering some other numbers I’ve seen lately, the president’s popularity appears to be sagging in Illinois right now. That’s creating some headwinds.
* And just keep in mind that an incumbent at 50 percent this far out is gonna be really hard to beat, particularly one who has a lot of money to spend on himself.
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Rutherford rhetoric may be music to union ears
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I don’t think he answered the questions, but I’d bet money that his kinda-sorta non-answer will please some public employees…
When asked by members of the audience about his approach to fixing the looming pension crisis facing the state, [Treasurer Dan Rutherford] voiced his disdain for the inaction of others. He contends that even though Quinn raised income taxes in January 2011, he hasn’t used the added revenue toward pension funds.
“I don’t want it (continued income tax increases), but it may have to be on the table in part of a financial solution to the situation we are in,” admitted Rutherford. “I know that’s not a popular thing to say, but it is a realistic thing to say.”
Rutherford is against changing the state constitution to take away any pension funding, saying “pensions to teachers, university employees and state employees is a covenant. They deserve what they have coming.
“Everybody now has skin in the game, and we are all going to have to take a little of the hurt,” he added.
Rutherford attributed the pension problem to past governors who didn’t put enough aside for the pension fund, inflated portfolio rates set by the Retired Teachers Board, and people living longer.
“The pension system had to start selling its assets to make payments for retires,” said Rutherford. “That is a death spiral. We have to fairly and substantively address this.”
I’d sure like to hear how he intends to do all that. For now, though, he looks to have the best shot at convincing those Downstate and suburban public employee union members who also happen to be Republicans or lean that way (and there are lots of them) to get on board. But it’s early and we don’t really know what he’s talking about here other than his rhetoric is much softer than his opponents’.
* Meanwhile, Greg Hinz…
GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Rauner quietly has moved his legal voting residence back to the suburbs from Chicago — a move that may help him politically but risks rekindling a flap about why he came to the city in the first place.
According to Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office, Mr. Rauner changed his voting residence April 30 from a downtown Chicago high-rise condominium at 340 E. Randolph St. to his former official residence: a home on Rosewood Avenue in Winnetka.
Mr. Rauner’s spokesman confirms the candidate did indeed go back to the ‘burbs.
“He just wanted to make everything consistent,” said the spokesman, Mike Schrimpf.
* In other news…
Today, we got notice that state Rep. JoAnn Osmond, an Antioch Republican who isn’t running for re-election in 2014, said she’s backing state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale for governor.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Kankakee Daily Journal’s Phil Angelo interviewed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner…
The Illinois budget: Would make cuts by inviting 30 senior business executives to examine state practices. “It is time to downsize and outsource.”
* The Question: Do you think senior business executives would have enough expertise to find significant state budget cuts? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey hosting
Also, sorry for the typo. Can’t get the poll to update my fix. Ugh.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Across Illinois, same-sex couples lack the ability to protect the one they love through the security of marriage. SB10 – the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act – can change that.
Tell lawmakers it’s time for the freedom to marry in Illinois. Take action at IllinoisUnites.org.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, giving legally married same-sex couples access to more than 1,000 federal protections. But that won’t help same-sex couples in Illinois, who still occupy a second-class legal status that denies them access to these protections.
More and more Illinoisans believe gays and lesbians should be able to marry, share a lifetime commitment, and care for their families through the stability of marriage. If two people want to share a lifetime of commitment and responsibility, who are we to stand in their way?
Tell our Representatives it’s time to treat all Illinois families with fairness and respect. Urge the Illinois House to pass the freedom to marry this year. Call your legislator and tell them to vote Yes on SB10 by clicking here.
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Let’s all try to remain calm
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Buried deep in the Decatur Herald & Review’s story about ADM moving some top corporate jobs out of town was this nugget…
Shareholder Martin Glotzer of Chicago, who was openly booed when he asked [ADM Chairman, President and CEO Patricia Woertz] last year about moving ADM’s headquarters, said he knew it would not be a popular question in Decatur. However, he thinks in the long run, ADM and Decatur would benefit from being able to attract higher-quality career people who would rather live and work in Chicago than Decatur.
If the company is better off, Glotzer said it could grow and hire more people. [Emphasis added.]
That shareholder is probably right.
I totally sympathize with Decatur residents who fear what this move means for their beleaguered town. But the company’s CEO has talked for years about a possible HQ move, and if they’re going to move I hope it’s to Chicago.
* So what we have to guard against in the coming months is an intensifying regional battle over this ADM move. We can’t have angry Downstate politicians blocking state assistance solely out of spite. Yes, there should be a robust debate if the company wants any state help, but let’s keep it honest and open. The idea should be to keep ADM’s international headquarters in Illinois if the price is right.
* And, while I’m at it, I’m really getting sick (already, and it’s still early) of the Chicago bashing coming from the GOP gubernatorial candidates. Yes, we have our regional differences, but this is one state, people. Try to remember that.
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* From a Mayor Rahm Emanuel press release…
“The men and women of the Chicago Police Department once again showed why they are the nation’s best by moving quickly to arrest four individuals, including the shooters, for their roles in the gun violence in the Back of the Yards neighborhood last week. But great police work is only part of a successful strategy to keep our streets safe. We also need laws that reflect our values when it comes to gun crimes and carry real consequences for illegal gun possession.
“We need a three-year minimum penalty for illegally carrying a gun on our streets. One of the shooters should have been behind bars rather than in Cornell Park on Thursday night.
“As we invest heavily in programs for youth, in new policing strategies, and in building supports for those most likely to fall into gangs, we also need a three-year mandatory minimum bill for gun crimes.” [Emphasis added.]
* This is the guy MRE was referring to…
On Monday, Bryon Champ, 21, and Kewane Gatewood, 20, both of Chicago, were also charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. Chicago police said the two “played significant roles” in the shooting.
A law enforcement source said Champ and Gatewood helped transport the weapon used in the shooting to the scene. Another source said the shooting was in retaliation after one of the suspects had been grazed earlier in a gang conflict in Back of the Yards.
Police identified Champ as a convicted felon and a documented street gang member. He was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in July 2012 and was sentenced to boot camp at the Cook County Department of Corrections. [Emphasis added.]
* According to the cops, Bryon Champ was injured last week in a shooting, so the Back of the Yards shooting was retaliatory…
McCarthy said motivation behind the Back of the Yards shooting was retaliation, stemming from an unreported shooting the week before in which Champ was injured.
“As a result, the retaliation took place at Cornell Park,” he said. [Emphasis added.]
* More on Bryon Champ…
Champ’s criminal record includes a 2012 conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and a 2011 conviction for receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to Cook County Jail boot camp for the gun-possession conviction and had received probation in the other case, records show.
On Monday, McCarthy pointed to the case to highlight the need for stricter gun laws.
“He received boot camp for that gun crime and was back out on the streets to be a part of this senseless shooting,” McCarthy said. “That is unacceptable. To truly address violence for the long-term we need state and federal laws that keep illegal guns out of our communities and provide real punishment for the criminals who use them.”
McCarthy continued to hammer the point at a news conference Tuesday, pressing the need for punishment for criminals who carry illegal guns: “If Bryon Champ is not on the street — as he shouldn’t have been — this incident likely does not occur.”
* So far, all Gov. Pat Quinn has done is talk about banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. But maybe the governor ought to listen to Superintendent McCarthy and focus on keeping these criminals behind bars longer.
Champ gets boot camp for felony gun possession while he’s apparently on probation for another felony? What the heck?
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It’s a swing district
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rodney Davis launched his congressional reelection bid yesterday. Sen. Dick Durbin blasted Davis on Sunday…
“He just continues to follow the tea party line in Washington,” Durbin said before a Democratic State Central Committee meeting in Springfield. “That may be good news in his Republican primary, but this is a pretty evenly divided district. Come the general election, he’ll have some questions to answer.
Actually, the 13th District has swung wildly between Democratic and Republican, depending on the year. Obama stomped John McCain 55-42. But Judy Baar Topinka beat Rod Blagojevich 48-37 in the 2006 off-year, and Bill Brady beat Pat Quinn in the next off-year election 54-37. On average, I suppose, it’s “evenly divided,” but in reality, it swings with the national winds.
One reason for this swing is the large number of college students in the district. It includes the U of I, ISU and tons of other schools.
* The wild swings back and forth are a big reason why Rep. Jay Hoffman and other bigtime Democrats decided to take a pass last year. They thought they could win last year, but figured they would have real trouble being reelected in Obama’s final off-year election.
That’s why both Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato have this race as “Lean Republican.” The only reason so far why it isn’t rated as “Likely Republican” is because the Democrats plan to spend lots of cash there. But I’m not sure they can pull this off.
…Adding… Some folks seem unclear on the concept here. Those election results are based on the new district lines, not the old ones. So, yeah, Davis had a tough race last year, but if the pattern holds, it won’t be nearly as tough next year.
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Quinn never said it
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Saturday AP report…
Gov. Pat Quinn said he’s open to sending Illinois National Guard troops or Illinois State Police to assist Chicago police with curbing violence if city officials want the help.
He told reporters Saturday after an unrelated event in Chicago that state police have helped in places like East St. Louis, but only when local authorities coordinate things.
Quinn said he hasn’t been approached by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel yet.
* However, Quinn never actually talked about sending in the Guard. He was asked by a reporter “Governor, have you had any conversations regarding the National Guard [and] the State Police supplementing Chicago?”
His response didn’t include anything about sending in the Guard. He talked about how he’d sent the state cops to East St. Louis and about working with local law enforcement. He was then asked a question about whether he’d talked to Mayor Rahm Emanuel about supplementing police on the streets, but the phrase “National Guard” wasn’t included in that question.
Listen for yourself…
* His spokesperson made that clear to CBS2 right away…
Quinn did not specifically veto the idea of deploying Guard members in Chicago. A press aide later told CBS 2 the governor was speaking only about the possibility of using state police to help out.
* But because of that shoddy AP report, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy went through the roof…
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for the latest group of police recruits at Navy Pier, McCarthy told reporters his department does not need the help from outside agencies, pointing to statistics showing a drop in overall crime, including murders.
“I say, ‘No way, no how,’” McCarthy said. “It’s not an issue of resources.”
McCarthy instead reiterated his call for a three-year minimum prison sentence for those caught possessing illegal guns, saying that changing the law, and not sending in state police, is “the contribution that Springfield can make to the city of Chicago.”
“If people don’t go to jail for possession of a firearm, they don’t learn not to carry a firearm. Carrying a firearm is the gateway crime to committing a murder,” McCarthy said. “We’ve got more than 130 examples so far this year … of individuals who would’ve been incarcerated if that law was in effect.”
“We’re doing good policing, we’re doing smarter policing, we’re getting better cooperation from the community. But without adequate penalties for gun violence, we’re churning them out and they’re doing it again,” he said. “They’re not learning not to do, they’re learning that there’s no sanction. Therefore they continue to do it.”
McCarthy said no amount of outside influence would sway him on bringing in officers from outside his department, even if “the rest of the country” thinks it’s a good idea, as one reporter suggested.
“The rest of the country is not Chicago Police Department … The fact is the National Guard is not a policing force, they’re a military force,” said McCarthy. “So let’s stop the hysteria and let’s talk about practical steps to move forward.”
The Chicago media really needs to take a breath. “The rest of the country”? Please.
* And today, the AP backtracked…
A spokeswoman says Gov. Pat Quinn would be open to using Illinois State Police but not the Illinois National Guard if it comes to assisting Chicago police combat city violence.
Over the weekend Quinn was asked by reporters about the potential for deploying the Guard or state police to assist local authorities. The Chicago Democrat said state police help in East St. Louis, but that any state help would have to be through coordinated partnerships.
Spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said Monday that when it comes to Chicago’s violence, state help would not include National Guard troops. The governor is only allowed to deploy the Guard in specific situations like a terrorist threat.
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* 1:40 pm - ADM is announcing that 100 top executives will be moved out of the company’s longtime Decatur home. Word from inside is that the company is considering moving those top jobs to Chicago.
* From a press release…
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) announced today that it is exploring establishing a new global headquarters and customer center.
“Our company is growing and becoming more global and more customer-centric,” said Patricia Woertz, ADM chairman and chief executive officer. “To continue to succeed, we need a global center in a location that allows us to travel and work efficiently with customers and employees throughout the world. We also need an environment where we can attract and retain employees with diverse skills, and where family members can find ample career opportunities.”
The company is considering locations and having discussions with various public officials and advisors. It does not expect to discuss those details publicly.
It expects to locate a small, corporate team at the global center, with approximately 100 jobs relocated to the center. In addition, the company plans to create a new IT tech center at the same location, adding approximately 100 new positions there over the next few years.
The company does not plan any layoffs in connection with the move to a new global center.
“As we look to establish the new global center, we remain firmly committed to the 4,400 colleagues who will continue to work in Decatur, and to the economic strength and viability of the Decatur community,” Woertz said.
In recognition of the breadth and importance of the work that will continue to be centered in Decatur, the company’s office there will be designated the North American headquarters. ADM also maintains regional headquarters in Rolle, Switzerland; São Paulo, Brazil; and Shanghai, China.
“To ensure that Decatur remains a strong and vibrant community for years to come, we are also announcing today several multi-year financial commitments. We are investing in Decatur’s economic development to help ensure it flourishes economically, in its schools to foster a strong workforce pipeline, and in critical social services to enhance the quality of community life.”
Among the specific commitments the company is making is $250,000 a year for three years to fund an enhanced public-private partnership and unified marketing campaign for the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur & Macon County, including the funding of a mayoral economic development fellow; and $500,000 a year for five years to Decatur Public School District 61. In addition, the company will maintain its other Decatur and Macon County community support at $1 million a year for at least 10 years.
“This is an exciting time for our company. We are preparing for a large North American harvest and the completion of our acquisition of GrainCorp,” Woertz said. “We look ahead to a strong 2014, as we position our company for continued success.”
ADM is also seeking “assistance from the State of Illinois through the Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) Tax Credit and other credits against other state taxes to help facilitate the relocation and creation of additional Illinois jobs.”
So, we may be in for a bidding war.
I doubt that Rep. Bill Mitchell will be all that pleased. You will recall that Mitchell (R-Forsyth) is a Decatur-area legislator who has demanded that Chicago secede from Illinois.
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Question of the day
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If you had to guess, do you think Gov. Pat Quinn will prevail over whoever the Republicans nominate next year?
Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
surveys
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An inevitable backlash
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A group of social conservative leaders sent Republican state legislators a warning today about state Rep. Ron Sandack. From the letter…
The letter continues…
Although we know it is usually the custom of House members to support colleagues engaged in primary fights, we ask you to take a pass on Ron Sandack. He has disgraced your Caucus and himself by his untruthful behavior.
It was signed by the leaders of Family PAC (Paul Caprio), Eagle Forum of Illinois (Penny Pullen), Illinois Family Action (David E. Smith) and Illinois Family Network (Ralph Rivera).
Going up against Sandack for flip-flopping on them appears reasonable to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Sandack. He took a courageous stand on this issue. But he knew what he was getting into when he changed positions.
* And, meanwhile, passing a gay marriage bill would obviously have some benefits for the wedding industry, but I’m not sure it’s enough to make the case for approving gay marriage…
Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie sent a letter to all House members earlier this month saying it’s time to approve legislation legalizing same-sex marriage. The letter follows a push in early September by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to lure Illinois’ gay couples to wed in Minnesota, which legalized same-sex marriage earlier this year. […]
“Illinois has been missing out on this economic opportunity long before Minneapolis’ mayor unleashed his advertising campaign in our state,” Currie wrote in the letter released Saturday.
Currie said the wedding industry is big business and Illinois is losing millions to states like Minnesota that allow same-sex marriage.
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The Tribune looks back
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We’ve discussed this several times before, but it’s still good to see the Tribune take a look at the history of how Constitutional Convention delegates devised the pension benefits protection clause…
“If a police officer accepted employment under a provision where he was entitled to retire at two-thirds of his salary after 20 years of service, that could not subsequently be changed to say he was entitled to only one-third of his salary after 30 years of service, or perhaps entitled to nothing,” said Helen Kinney, of Hinsdale, a Republican delegate to the convention drafting the new charter and one of four lead sponsors of the pension clause.
The debate was whether to define pension benefits as “an enforceable contractual relationship” that “shall not be diminished or impaired.” After hours, the convention voted 57-36 in favor of adding the language to the broader constitutional draft.
Why they did it…
Believe it or not, the state’s key pension funds were in almost as bad financial shape back then as they are now, and for the same reason: a chronic failure by lawmakers to pay enough money into the funds to cover projected pensions costs and keep them financially sound.
Go read the whole thing.
* Zorn’s take…
I’ve earlier made the point that this vital article underscores, which is that those crafting the constitution ere not making airy, gauzy feel-good promises, but attempting to prevent future lawmakers from succumbing to the inevitable, powerful temptation to balance the state’s books by reneging on promises they’d already made in their labor agreements.
The idea some are floating that we must now go back on these promises because the state’s in a real financial bind miss the point that we’re in exactly the sort of pickle that the framers envisioned.
* And despite what someone is quoted as saying in the Trib’s story, it wasn’t just the Con-Con debate that can be relied on here. The explanation of that passage to voters who approved the new Constitution was also crucial…
The Convention stated in its official text and explanation of the proposed Constitution that under the Pension Clause “provisions of state and local governmental pension and retirement systems shall not have their benefits reduced.” And, “membership in such systems shall be a valid contractual relationship.”
The Convention’s official explanation also stated that the Clause was a new section “and self-explanatory.” The Convention’s official text and explanation was mailed to each registered voter in Illinois and published in newspapers throughout the State prior to the special referendum election held in December 1970 to approve the proposed Constitution
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Highly doubtful
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
The question is whether any of the four GOP candidates for governor has the guts to make a serious play for them—not just in the November 2014 general election but in the March Republican primary.
If Mr. Quinn is the standard-bearer of the Democrats’ liberal and minority base, Mr. Daley is a card- carrying member of its more centrist, pro-business wing—hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions, of voters who consider Republicans cavemen on social issues but fear that Mr. Quinn either can’t or won’t keep what’s left of our economy from melting away.
Those voters now are up for grabs, be they soft Democrats or true independents. And if a Republican is going to win the governor’s mansion in this solidly blue state, he has to bring them over.
I spent much of the week talking to GOP insiders about whether any of the four is willing to roll the dice in hopes of luring, say, an extra 100,000 or so soft Democrats/independents into a GOP primary that likely will pull only 750,000 or so voters. Almost all of them say their advice would be not to risk straying from the party’s mantra: No new taxes, curbs on union powers and pensions, no gay marriage, gun rights and as many limits as possible on abortion.
“People are looking for a strong leader, someone with a message they’re willing to articulate,” Wheaton-based strategist Dan Curry says. “I think someone with a strong conservative message can win in the general election.”
* The much-vaunted, Rush Limbaugh-inspired Republican crossover vote in Texas and Ohio didn’t do nearly as well as some people believed at the time.
But Michigan’s 2000 presidential primary is often pointed to by people who think that enough Democrats can successfully be lured into voting for Republicans. John McCain got a lot of Democratic votes that year against George W. Bush. Democrats comprised about 17 percent of the total GOP primary vote that year and 14 percent of the total went to McCain.
But Michigan’s governor at the time, refused to use that pursuit of Democrats against McCain…
In a brief interview, Mr. Engler said he regretted not advising Mr. Bush to advertise here that Senator John McCain was appealing to Democrats for support. ‘’We could have gone right at the fact that Senator McCain was making such an explicit pitch, reaching over to the most partisan Democrats, and therefore the least likely ever to become Republicans,'’ he said. ‘’You could have gone to the Republicans in the Republican areas of the state and sort of exposed that directly.'’
If a Republican candidate here tried to do the same thing, it would definitely be used against that person with hardcore GOP primary voters and it could cost that candidate dearly. It would be definitive proof that the candidate is a RINO.
And, as Hinz pointed out, nobody appears willing to take that step here - not yet, anyway, and most certainly not openly.
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Dillard explains, backtracks and hedges
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bernie wrote about a conservative survey that Sen. Kirk Dillard filled out in 2011…
One of the questions, as pointed out recently in the Capitol Fax blog, that got an “x” in the “support” box from Dillard was, “Do you support/oppose the repeal of the civil unions law?”
Dillard also wrote in that “It is a litigious nightmare!!”
“Senator Dillard has not changed his position on any of the issues,” said campaign spokesman WES BLEED. “On the question of civil unions, he was responding to a (yes-no) question. He is against the current legislation and would want to replace it with a law that would protect religious liberties.”
The backtrack…
“I think if we’re going to have civil unions in Illinois, we should have an amendment to the current civil union statute that allows religious institutions to get back in the foster care and adoption business,” Dillard told reporters. Asked if the civil union law should be repealed without such a change, Dillard said, “We’ll see,” which Bleed said later was a reference to seeing what happens with attempts to change the law.
* He also hedged a bit on his support for repealing the Motor Voter law…
“I have always been concerned about potential vote fraud and people standing in longer lines at the driver’s license facility,” Dillard said in a statement to me. “But I am open to discussing Motor Voter going forward.”
* And remember this?…
To improve education, Dillard said he would prevent Chicago schools from taking about $1 billion they currently take away from downstate schools.
“A child who lives in poverty in downstate should be equal to one in Chicago,” he said.
* Well…
Dillard, a state senator from Hinsdale, defended his critique that the city’s control of state government has led to Chicago Public Schools siphoning nearly $1 billion in general state aid payments from rural and suburban schools, including changes in funding formulas for students living in poverty.
“I’m not proposing we take a penny out of the Chicago Public Schools. But my point is, when you have control of the entire state by one city, things happen,” Dillard said in an interview on WGN-AM (720).
“I’m not saying at all that you ought to reduce the funding to the Chicago Public Schools,” he said. “What I’m saying is that when we have these formulas, you need geographic balance in Illinois and I will be a governor for all of Illinois–not just the suburbs, not just Chicago, not just downstate Illinois or southern Illinois.” […]
Dillard acknowledged, however, the increased general state aid education payments to Chicago are largely a “wash” with income tax payments made by Chicago taxpayers to help fund teacher pensions outside Chicago.
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Brady’s path to victory
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
For a moment, let’s flash back to a poll I commissioned last month. The August 13th Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll surveyed 1,102 likely Republican primary voters.
The poll found that 74 percent of Republicans wanted GOP gubernatorial candidates to choose a running mate who was “more conservative” than the candidates themselves. Another 18 percent said ideology made no difference and a mere 7 percent said they wanted a more liberal running mate.
The poll found that 73 percent of Republican women and 75 percent of men wanted a more conservative running mate. 79 percent of seniors, who tend to dominate GOP primaries, wanted a more rightward pick. 77 percent of collar county Republicans, 73 percent of suburban Cook and Downstate Republicans and 69 percent of Chicago Republicans wanted the candidates to look to their right when picking their lieutenant governor candidates.
As you probably already know, Illinois changed its laws on running mates. Before, lieutenant governor candidates ran independently in primaries. Now, candidates for governor are required to choose a running mate before they begin circulating nominating petitions.
Fast-forward to today. So far, anyway, the gubernatorial candidate who has by far heeded this poll result the most is state Sen. Bill Brady, who was, socially anyway, the most conservative candidate in the race to begin with.
Brady did not try at all to “soften” his ideological stances by picking a more moderate candidate. Unlike state Sen. Kirk Dillard, who chose a sitting state Representative as his running mate, Brady went outside the state party establishment and selected a former suburban mayor of a wealthy small town named Maria Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez has spent the past few years running a far-right statewide tea party-affiliated organization for Adam Andrzejewski, who wasn’t a particularly great statewide candidate in 2010, but did build a heck of a large list of devoted tea party activists, partly because of his executive director Rodriguez,.
Sen. Brady was outspent by more than 7-1 by Andy McKenna in the 2010 gubernatorial primary and almost 3-1 by Sen. Dillard. Despite some polling which showed McKenna leading near the end, the previously unknown’s support turned out to be paper thin and he dropped like a rock in the last few days as the election became “real” to voters. Dillard, for his part, was hurt badly in the closing days by McKenna’s attacks on him for cutting a TV ad for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
But nobody so much as touched Brady, and Republican primary voters turned to him at almost literally the last minute. The only poll I know of which caught Brady’s late surge was a privately commissioned We Ask America poll taken the weekend before the primary election. Brady hadn’t been tainted by hardcore attacks and he was ideologically “pure” enough for GOP primary voters, so he ended up being the default choice. Chicago political reporters, taken completely by surprise, raced down I-55 to Bloomington on primary night to cover Brady’s victory rally.
Despite Dillard’s rightward lurch since losing that 2010 primary, Brady is still likely considered the more “authentic” conservative. And his choice of an outsider tea party leader as a running mate will almost certainly help him lock down the right side of the party.
The difference between now and then, of course, is that Brady won the 2010 primary and he has to be taken seriously by the other candidates. He won’t get a pass between now and March by the big-spending Bruce Rauner or by Dillard and Treasurer Dan Rutherford. This is why Brady’s well-known inability - even reluctance - to raise big money could hurt him badly.
But the idea for 2014 is still the same as 2010. Stay to the right, stay focused on painting his opponents as being far to his own left, pick a running mate who bolsters his conservative credentials and who will “keep him honest,” and try to make the electorate believe that he’s the most “electable” Republican because he’s been there before and has learned how to do it.
I personally never make predictions. The latest polling had Brady leading the pack, although the top three (Brady, Rutherford, Rauner) were all bunched up within 7 points of each other. What I will say is that Brady appears to have a plan that deals with Republican primary voters as they are and it could very well work. More money would help, however.
As always, subscribers have full crosstabs and all the questions asked in that poll.
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Cross officially steps aside
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
State Representative Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) today has taken over the reins as the new House Republican Leader.
Tom Cross who has served in the position since 2003 has stepped aside to pursue another opportunity.
“Tom Cross was a good leader. I wish him the best in his future endeavors and thank him for service to our caucus,” said Durkin.
“It is a privilege to have been selected the new House Republican Leader by my peers and I’m anxious to get to work. Illinois is a great state facing serious challenges. House Republicans have solid ideas on how to solve our fiscal crisis, and get residents back to work. Like our neighbors, we want safe schools and neighborhoods, and an end to government corruption. We want to restore pride in Illinois – working together we can get the job done.”
Discuss.
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Bill Daley, copper doors and pension reform
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yes, I managed to get all that into one Sun-Times column…
Bill Daley’s withdrawal from the governor’s race pretty much snuffed out the “Statehouse doors” controversy.
The late-summer scandal quickly cranked up to full roar after details emerged that a set of six, custom-made doors on the newly remodeled Western wing of the Illinois Statehouse cost almost $700,000.
I was on vacation during much of the uproar, but I figured this would happen years ago when the remodeling began. This kind of thing always happens.
The last time the remodelers were turned loose, the press went nuts over some $400 doorknobs. The cost of a new rug for the secretary of state made big headlines as well one year.
The Statehouse itself was over-budget when it was built in the 19th Century, so I’m sure there was plenty of public screaming way back then, too.
I gathered from the rather blasé response by the state legislative leaders who were in charge when the building was remodeled that they expected there’d be outrage about something. If it wasn’t the doors, then it would’ve been something else. And, frankly, even if the doors had only cost half as much, there might very well have been a hue and cry about that price, too.
The usual response to media events like this is to lie low, issue a terse press statement insisting that the overall work was well worth the price and that the little extras like copper-plated doors represented only a tiny fraction of the cost of much-needed upgrades to an outdated building, then wait patiently for the storm to blow over, which it apparently has.
It’s all just part of a very old and predictable game. Reporters, columnists and editorial writers complain, a few publicity-seeking legislators send out press releases denouncing the overspending, the governor jumps in with his own criticisms, but it’s too late to do anything about it.
And irony of ironies, in just a few days, Statehouse reporters themselves will be moving into their spiffy new Capitol digs, for which they (including me) pay no rent.
I’m not trying to excuse the spending, I’m just telling you how it’s always been in order to set up the rest of this column, which is about pensions.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, Gov. Pat Quinn and the two Republican legislative leaders, along with their cheerleaders in big business, support a pension reform plan that relies heavily on so-called “police powers” to pass constitutional muster.
The legal minds who came up with this say the idea is that Illinois’ fiscal situation is so dire that the state has no choice but to break the state Constitution’s guaranteed contractual right to public pension benefits that can neither be diminished nor impaired.
In fact, Madigan’s own pension reform bill that he introduced earlier this year included a preamble which declared: “the fiscal crisis in the State of Illinois jeopardizes the health, safety, and welfare of the people and compromises the ability to maintain a representative and orderly government.”
Yet, somehow, the fiscal crisis wasn’t quite dire enough to persuade legislators to put off spending $50 million on a Statehouse remodeling project that included $670,000 for copper-plated doors, $300,000 for chandeliers and $80,000 for a couple of statues.
Make no mistake, pension costs are crowding out spending on other much-needed state programs, particularly education. There really is a crisis.
It’s just going to be a bit tougher now to square that reality with this large Statehouse remodeling tab if and/or when a new pension law finally gets in front of a judge.
* Meanwhile…
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan says he’s waiting for a vote to be scheduled on a pension overhaul.
But the Chicago Democrat says any pension plan must be “meaningful” in order for him to call it for a vote. He didn’t elaborate. […]
Madigan and Cullerton sued Gov. Pat Quinn for halting lawmakers’ pay over pension inaction. A judge is expected to rule soon. Madigan says they’ll likely appeal the case if the ruling doesn’t go their way.
* And let’s finish this post with a comment from Finke…
For a couple of weeks now, we’ve heard people taking shots at the $51.5 million renovation of the Capitol’s west wing, particularly the famous $670,000 copper-plated doors.
Now for a different perspective. Pulitzer Prize winning architecture critic BLAIR KAMIN of the Chicago Tribune added his perspective to the project last week. The story was headlined “Illinois Capitol rehab worth every penny” so it wasn’t going to be another attack on the project’s various outlays. […]
Kamin reviewed the fact that when a major overhaul like this is done, it makes more sense and lowers the cost to do the redecorating at the same time as the other work like replacing the ventilation system and bringing the building up to modern life safety codes.
He also noted that the Capitol is expected to last basically forever.
“When investing in a building like this you take the long view,” he wrote. “You don’t cut corners. Seen in that framework, the renovations should be celebrated, not censured.”
Finke also observed several tourists getting their photo taken in front of the new doors, which has to be helping Springfield’s economy a little bit.
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Caption contest!
Monday, Sep 23, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Illinois Democrats’ state central committee met in Springfield yesterday and slated Gov. Pat Quinn and the rest of the unopposed ticket…
It took less than a half hour for the party’s state central committee to slate candidates in six statewide primary races. Five candidates currently are unopposed. […]
Gov. Pat Quinn touted the party endorsement as significant even though Daley, his main challenger, withdrew last week with a parting shot — predicting that Quinn would be defeated by a Republican. The only other announced gubernatorial primary candidate is Tio Hardiman, former director of a Chicago anti-violence group and who is little-known outside the city. […]
“The Democratic party is like a family and in any family you’ve had differences,” party chair and House Speaker Michael Madigan said after the meeting. “What I’ve learned about Democrats is that when they have differences, they’re able to work through the differences, and when it’s time for a general election they unite.” […]
Only three of the six candidates — Quinn, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, who is making a bid for comptroller — were present to make a pitch for the committee’s endorsement.
* Bernie Schoeburg was there and tweeted a pic…
Funniest commenter wins a free state legislative mobile app that I’m preparing to unveil.
Our last winner was Michelle Flaherty.
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