CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) Aug. 5, 2016–S&P Global Ratings lowered its underlying rating three notches to ‘BB+’ from ‘BBB+’ on Governors State University Board of Trustees, Ill.’s series 2007 and 2012 university facilities system (UFS) revenue bonds and series 2008 and 2009 certificates of participation (COPs), issued on behalf of Governors State University (GSU or the university). The outlook is negative.
“The downgrade and negative outlook reflect our view of Illinois’ ongoing severe challenges due to its weak financial position, and the resultant impact on GSU’s financial position which, in our opinion, creates significant liquidity risk for the university and without correction or intervention, could result in a negative cash balance by August 2017,” said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Jessica Wood. Additionally, the university’s operations have been deficit on a full-accrual basis for the past couple of years, and this is expected to continue given the state pressures.
Throughout fiscal 2016, the state’s public universities, including GSU, received only a small fraction of historical operating appropriations, placing significant liquidity stress on these institutions given their dependence on these funds to support operations. Furthermore, given the length of the fiscal 2016 budget impasse and the absence of a substantial agreement among elected leaders, it is our opinion that state appropriation outcomes will remain uncertain through at least fiscal 2017. […]
Illinois State University Debt Ratings Lowered To ‘A’ On Fiscal Uncertainty; Outlook Negative
CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) Aug. 4, 2016–S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term rating to ‘A’ from ‘A+’ on Illinois State University Board of Trustees’ auxiliary facilities system (AFS) revenue bonds. In addition, we lowered our long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on existing bonds and certificates of participation (COPs), issued on behalf of Illinois State University (ISU), to ‘A’ from ‘A+’. The outlook, where applicable, is negative.
“The downgrade reflects our view of ongoing operational and liquidity uncertainty attributable to budgetary stresses at the state level,” said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Ashley Ramchandani. “While the state has provided stop-gap funding and ISU does not have immediate liquidity pressures, state budgetary pressures have, and will, in our view, continue to negatively affect the university such that we believe its credit profile is now more consistent with the ‘A’ rating.”
The negative outlook reflects the aforementioned challenges that we believe the university will continue to face over the next two years, and their potential impact on the university, particularly if the state continues to delay, reduce, or not provide operating appropriations and of Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) funding. The funding situation remains unresolved for fiscal 2017.
The state of Illinois passed a stop-gap budget on the final day of the fiscal year 2016 (June 30), providing higher education institutions with $1 billion of funds to support operations during the first six months of fiscal 2017. Under this budget, which was approved by both houses and signed by the governor, ISU is scheduled to receive approximately $38 million of state operating appropriations and $6 million of MAP funds for spring semester of fiscal 2016. While receipt of these state operating appropriations mitigated liquidity risks, we do not view these stop-gap measures as a long-term solution to ISU’s state funding support given the state has yet to make substantial progress toward a budget for fiscal 2017. Please see the full analysis (published Feb. 22, 2016) for more information.
The ‘A’ rating reflects our view of ISU’s enterprise profile, which we assessed as strong, characterized by stabilizing enrollment, a respectable demand profile with improved matriculation and moderate selectivity for the rating. We also assessed ISU’s financial profile as strong, with robust balance sheet metrics and consistently negative operating performance on a full-accrual basis (though somewhat positive on a cash basis) because of historical softening in enrollment and operating in a challenging state funding environment. Combined, we believe these credit factors lead to an indicative stand-alone credit profile of ‘a’ and long-term rating of ‘A’.
* Mark Kirk on himself, the governor and Donald Trump…
Noting the two oppose Trump, Kirk, who was in a wheelchair, said, “I think the governor and I both suffer, forgive the humor here, from a form of PTSD: Post-Trump trauma disorder.”
* Heh…
Just stumbled Chris Farley style through the railing on my steps. I landed in my hydrangea and broke my labor union yard sign.
Is Chicago’s usually private first lady Amy Rule making an unprecedented sortie into the Illinois comptroller’s race?
Er, no — though Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza seemed to suggest so Friday morning.
“Join me and Chicago’s First Lady on 8/22 for an evening on the river,” tweeted Mendoza, who is challenging incumbent Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger in November.
Turns out that, in this case, “Chicago’s First Lady” refers not to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s wife but to the name of the boat that Mendoza’s campaign fundraiser will be held on.
* The governor just announced the signing of a ton of bills and I’m still going through them, but here’s one of a few he vetoed…
Veto Message for SB 2767
To the Honorable Members of
The Illinois Senate,
99th General Assembly:
Today I return Senate Bill 2767, which would allow certain counties to collect delinquent taxes and fees through private debt collectors.
Current law authorizes large, Chicago area counties to pursue court-adjudicated fines, such as for violation of county ordinances, through private debt collection. Senate Bill 2767 would expand that law to also apply to taxes and fees.
Illinois has the second highest property taxes in the country, and those taxes continue to rise. Many property owners struggle to make tax payments. The current tax sale process provides both counties and taxpayers with a system through which to address unpaid or delinquent taxes. Referring unpaid tax bills to private debt collectors would penalize property owners who are already facing skyrocketing property taxes. First and foremost, we need to make property taxes more affordable.
Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 2767 entitled “AN ACT concerning local government”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR
Thoughts?
…Adding… Rauner also signed HB 5529 today, which critics have said would allow school districts to continue getting around tax caps by over-levying a non-capped fund (like transportation) and then transferring excess money into a capped fund (like education).
* Gov. Rauner appears in a new ad touting an online petition favoring term limits. The ad features one character saying “Let’s get a million signatures this time.” Another follows with “Make ‘em debate it.” The ad is paid for by Turnaround Illinois, Inc., which is one of Rauner’s campaign funds. So it’s very likely that Rauner will use the ad to not only boost his flagging poll numbers (since the issue is so popular), but to also gather up contact information to use against Democrats in legislative races this year.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing an Illinois doctor and two pregnancy care centers filed suit Friday in state court against Gov. Bruce Rauner after he recently signed a bill into law that forces doctors and medical facilities to promote abortion regardless of their ethical or moral views on the practice.
ADF sent a letter to Rauner in May on behalf of numerous pro-life physicians, pregnancy care centers, and pregnancy care center network organizations advising him that the bill, SB 1564, would violate federal law and therefore place federal funding, including Medicaid reimbursements, in jeopardy. ADF also warned legislators about the problems with the bill last year. The lawsuit claims the new law, which is actually an amendment to the existing Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act, violates state law and the state constitution.
“No state should attempt to rob women of the right to choose a pro-life doctor by forcing pro-life physicians and entities to make or arrange abortion referrals. What’s even worse is that Illinois did this by amending a law designed specifically to protect freedom of conscience,” said ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman. “The governor should have vetoed this bill for many reasons, including its incompatibility with Illinois law and the state constitution, which specifically protects freedom of conscience and free speech.”
The new law forces medical facilities and physicians who conscientiously object to involvement in abortions to adopt policies that provide women who ask for abortions with a list of providers “they reasonably believe may offer” them. Illinois law prohibits government from placing burdens on religious conscience without a compelling interest for doing so. Additionally, the Illinois Constitution protects “liberty of conscience,” saying that “no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his religious opinions.” It also protects free speech, which includes the right not to be compelled by government to speak a message contrary to one’s own conscience.
“Pro-life health care professionals shouldn’t be forced to hand out lists describing how to contact abortionists, yet that’s what this law mandates that they do,” explained ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “If this profane amendment to Illinois’ conscience protection law remains on the books, doctors and medical staff committed to saving all lives will be forced to promote the killing of some children, women will lose access to doctors who unconditionally value human life, and pregnancy resource centers that offer free help and hope to pregnant women will be forced to refer to abortionists. This is the kind of government coercion that the state constitution, the state Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the very law that was amended were all designed to prevent.”
Mauck & Baker LLC attorney Noel Sterett, one of more than 3,000 private attorneys allied with ADF, is co-counsel in the case, The Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford v. Rauner, filed in the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Winnebago County.
The main targets of this new law are those crisis pregnancy centers. Click here to read the lawsuit. And click here to read the letter the group sent the governor in May.
* Meanwhile, the AP has finally gotten around to covering this story. Click here.
2016 MADIGAN PRIMARY OPPONENT FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST MADIGAN AND HIS MINIONS
Mr. Gonzales ran against incumbent Mr. Madigan in the democratic primary for the 2016 election for the District 22 seat tothe Illinois House of Representatives. Mr. Madigan defeated Mr. Gonzales by engaging in illegal acts both by himself and through his vast network of operatives. On Monday, August 8, 2016, Mr. Gonzales filed a 39-count lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois United States District Court against Mr. Madigan and several of his co-conspirators.
WHO: Jason Gonzales
Anthony J. Peraica (counsel for Mr. Gonzales)
WHERE:Everett M. Dirksen United States Courthouse
219 S. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
WHAT:Announcement to the public of Mr. Gonzales’ lawsuit against Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and others.
* There are those who speculate that the governor’s office is using an alleged September 1 strike date and the potential for union fines if they cross the picket line in an attempt to scare state employees into dropping their full union memberships and switching to “fair share.” This e-mail from the governor’s labor negotiator John Terranova will only increase that speculation…
Colleagues,
My office has recently learned that AFSCME representatives are advising employees about the consequences of crossing the picket line in the event of a strike, which could be as early as September 1. Specifically, we heard that the Union is threatening to fine employees as much as $5,000.
We respect every employee’s decision to join a union. We also respect the relationship that employees have with their union representatives. That’s why employees should reach out to their union representatives with any questions related to the threat of fines for crossing the picket line. Employees can ask their union representatives to see any provisions on this topic in the union bylaws.
As the employer, however, we also care about state employees and their rights. I, for one, found it troublesome that, given a chance to firmly deny that it could or would fine employees for exercising their right not to strike, AFSCME Council 31’s spokesman failed to do so.
In light of the Union’s failure to flatly deny that it could or would fine employees, I feel it is my obligation to ensure employees know their rights.
You have the right to report coercion or intimidation by union officials; the right to change your union dues status in order to protect your hard-earned salary and prevent the Union from imposing fines if you want to work during a strike; the right to request a copy of the Union’s bylaws; and more. If you visit the Team Illinois website, team.illinois.gov/laborrelations, you’ll find answers to questions you’ve raised and some basic information about these employment rights.
For example, you’ll find information posted in response to the number one question we’ve been receiving since the Union first began threatening employees with fines if they cross the picket line: how do I change my union dues status to avoid getting fined? The process is simple. You just submit your dues revocation form to the agency that employs you, and they will modify your payroll deductions accordingly. If you visit team.illinois.gov/laborrelations, you’ll find a link to the online form where you can change your status. Separately, you will need to notify your union in writing of your intent to change your status, and you will find a sample letter on team.illinois.gov/laborrelations.
Please know that the decision is yours - and yours alone. The State cannot and will not advise you one way or the other and will respect your decision either way.
Rest assured, regardless of your status–fair share or full union members–we will treat you the same way. Your wages, hours, or any other terms and conditions of employment will not change if you become fair share (in the same way that they do not change if you switch from fair share to a full dues paying member). Regardless of your status, you will retain all benefits of your union’s relationship with the State as it relates to the terms and conditions of your employment.
As always, please continue to visit the Labor Relations tab on team.illinois.gov/laborrelations for important updates.
Yours,
JT
I’m pretty sure this post will be updated with AFSCME’s response.
*** UPDATE *** From AFSCME’s Anders Lindall…
Rich,
While the governor himself is missing in action—unseen and unheard for nearly an entire week—here in Illinois, public service workers in state government are on the job, protecting kids, caring for veterans and people with disabilities, ensuring public safety and performing all the other vital functions for which they’re responsible every day.
Meanwhile the missing governor’s appointees are piling up one lie after another in a desperate bid to create an alternate reality in which down is up, night is day and Bruce Rauner is a friend to state employees.
No matter how many times they repeat the lies, and no matter who says them—John Terranova, Governor Rauner or anyone else—false statements don’t magically become true. The truth is, no one has been fined by AFSCME and no one will be. No one has been threatened. No strike date has been set nor any strike authorization vote taken. And the cynical, obvious ploy of the Rauner Administration to strip union members of their rights and to silence their voices by weakening their representation is doomed to fail.
AFSCME members are going to keep serving our communities, speaking up through our union and standing up for the fair treatment that all working people deserve.
The Rauner Administration should drop its transparent anti-union campaign and focus on the real priorities of state government and the people of Illinois.
* So, according to US Sen. Mark Kirk, Tammy Duckworth hired a criminal under orders from Rod Blagojevich? Really? Where did that even come from? As we’ve already discussed, a criminal was allegedly hired at the Anna Veterans’ Home in 2007 by the facility’s acting manager, not by Duckworth. And he was told to get out the next day. Nobody has ever said that Duckworth knew about the hiring in advance (in fact, one of the whistleblowers in this bizarre case said under oath that the acting manager was solely responsible) and nobody has ever once alleged that Blagojevich played a role in it.
* Here is a transcript of Sen. Kirk talking to reporters yesterday with his most absurd comments highlighted for your reading convenience…
KIRK: I will be able to send you the picture of me in Qalat, Zabul Province in 2009, where I went on a foot patrol walk with the locals. And I’ve done three served assignments in Afghanistan. I know Tammy would like to take that away from me. I actually went to Afghanistan and I worked for General Vick Nicholson, who is now the commander of ISAF. Let me take a moment; take it one of you wanted to about this man Jesse Bell. That is the center of the case against Tammy Duckworth. The two whistleblowers that came forward, who said to us that the entire dispute was between Tammy Duckworth and the people at Anna nursing home Was over hiring this convicted felon, who was a convicted felon. Let me read you his rap sheet.
Guilty Of Felony For Possession Of Stolen Vehicle, Guilty Of Felony For Knowingly engaging in domestic Battery, Guilty Causing Bodily Harm; Guilty of Fleeing Police, Guilty of elder abuse, Guilty Domestic Battery. In the case of…let me be very specific, Jessie Bell committed his greatest crime after Duckworth hired him is now in the Pinckneyville prison for murder. That shows you the kind of person that he was. We cannot have someone running for the Senate who picks people this questionable taking care of our veterans. This disqualifies Tammy Duckworth from office. By, under orders from Rod Blagojevich for whatever reason she wanted to pick up this multiple convicted felon taking care of veterans in the Anna facility and the whistleblowers were exactly correct in saying that this man should not be taking care of veterans.
Reporter: And you know they already responded he did only work for 24 hours?
Kirk: I would say that putting someone this questionable in charge of, and you know, when you look at the whistleblowers, they really heavily objected to this and they were correct to do that and if a normal, like for me it was very easy for my staff to get his prison pictures online.
Reporter: Are you saying that Duckworth had a direct role in hiring the bad guy?
Kirk: She, uh according to the uh, I talked to the uh, my staff talked to the uh, talked to the plaintiffs. They highlighted the battle with Tammy Duckworth was over Jessie Bell, this convicted murderer…
Reporter: Are you saying that Duckworth had a direct role in hiring that man?
Kirk: According to the — my staff talked to the plaintiffs. They highlighted the battle with Tammy Duckworth over Jessie Bell, this convicted murderer. Who committed this murder after he was involved with the Anna nursing home facility.
Reporter: So you have Duckworth hiring this person, correct?
Kirk: She was insisting that this person could come in and that’s why the whistleblowers — let me point out the whistleblowers were right here and highlight my record on whistleblower protection. In the last VA appropriations bill, I put the Kirk whistleblower protection act in there to make sure that people who may be a convicted murderer should be taken care of veterans so they have protections. We’ve got to protect the protectors here.
Man, is that ever weird. Again, if you need a refresher, click here.
“Mark Kirk has floated plenty of lies, but this one is absurd. Tammy had no role in any unauthorized individuals entering the Anna facility, and virtually nothing he said today is supported by the court record — or reality. This is a new low, even for Kirk, and he should be ashamed of himself.” - Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
Kirk was accused by the Duckworth campaign yesterday of deceptively pumping up his military service record. Instead of focusing on blowing that out of the water, he talked about Rod Blagojevich. Weird.
It was a normal afternoon at Erik’s Deli in Oak Park – normal in that Gov. Pat Quinn was there eating lunch.
Also normal in that the former governor was engrossed in a conversation with his two lunch mates about, you guessed it, Illinois politics. […]
Asked whether he plans to run against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in the next election, Quinn hedged, but he didn’t say no.
“It’s hard to watch right now, just looking at what’s happened to the budget or lack of a budget,” he said. “The help for lots of vulnerable people in Illinois has been shredded by the current governor, and I think there are a lot of people who want to make a change.”
Something else that’s hard to watch? A guy who’s polling at 10 percent in a Democratic gubernatorial primary.
* Related…
* Pat Quinn: Trump’s remarks about Khans can’t be excused
* The Illinois Policy Institute commissioned a pretty darned comprehensive poll of registered Illinois voters by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates on criminal justice reform. Whatever else you may think of that group, it’s done yeoman’s work on this topic.
Press release…
A new poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute found that Illinoisans view the state’s criminal-justice system as unfair and ineffective, and citizens strongly support reforms.
The poll surveyed 500 registered voters in Illinois on a variety of criminal-justice policies, ranging from mandatory minimum sentences to re-entry reform. Democrats, Republicans and Independents in Illinois overwhelmingly support not only changes to the state’s current system but also candidates who support reforms. The data are broken down by opinions, political affiliation, gender, race and age.
“Despite widespread political polarization, Illinois voters are in agreement on at least one thing: the need for bold criminal-justice reform,” said Bryant Jackson-Green, criminal-justice analyst at the Illinois Policy Institute. “This report shows majorities of liberals, moderates and conservatives have voiced support for major reforms such as reducing Illinois’ prison population, ending money bail, and removing barriers keeping former offenders out of work. Policymakers should heed this support and continue down the path toward reform.”
A majority of respondents, 56 percent, feel that the Illinois criminal-justice system is unfair. There is something of a partisan divide here: 65 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of Independents see the system as unfair, while only 42 percent of Republicans feel the same way.
Next, pollsters asked if voters think the Illinois criminal-justice system is at least doing a good job of keeping communities safe. Bipartisan majorities don’t think it is: 58 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of Independents do not believe the Illinois criminal-justice system, as it stands now, is doing a good job at keeping communities safe. […]
• A plurality of poll respondents (39%) think nonviolent crime sentences are too long, though 18% think they’re too short and 23% think they are just right.
• Democrats (+34) and men (+28) polled most strongly for saying sentences are too long.
• A plurality of Republicans (32%) think the sentences are just right.
But that doesn’t mean Republicans are opposed to reform or that politicians can’t be seen as tough on crime while supporting reform. On the contrary, over 80 percent of respondents in all parties think politicians can support criminal-justice reforms “such as community supervision, mandatory drug testing and treatment programs – instead of prison – that reduce the likelihood the offender would commit a new crime.” […]
• Nearly three-quarters of poll respondents believe prisons should primarily be used for violent offenders.
• This sentiment is weakest among Republicans, but they still agree by a 63%-35% margin. […]
More than 4 in 5 respondents support reforming laws to reduce the number of nonviolent offenders in prison. Democrats are most likely to favor this reform at 92 percent, but Republicans are also largely in favor by a 75-22 percent margin. […]
Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that “people arrested for drug use should be offered drug treatment instead of being sent to prison.” […]
Eighty-two percent of respondents – including 87 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Independents – agree and want drug users to be offered treatment instead of being sent to prison. […]
• Poll respondents back increasing the felony theft threshold by a 50-point margin.
Pollsters asked whether respondents agreed with the following statement: “Judges should be able to sentence an offender based on their particular offense, their criminal history and risk for reoffending, instead of having to sentence based on mandatory minimums.”
Respondents were overwhelmingly in favor of this idea [88 percent to 11 percent]. […]
Pollsters asked: Illinois’ Crime Reduction Act created Adult Redeploy, which allows counties to create local treatment programs like drug courts that nonviolent offenders can go to instead of prison. These programs cost about $4,400 a year per participant, compared to $22,000 a year for prison. Do you favor or oppose the proposal to expand the Crime Reduction Act so that all probationable offenses, such as DUIs, are also eligible for these evidence-based treatment programs?
Eighty-six percent of respondents – including 92 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Independents – support allowing all probationable offenders to participate in ARI-funded programs. […]
• A majority of poll respondents (53%) said a candidate’s support for reforms to lower the number of nonviolent offenders in Illinois’ prisons makes them more likely to vote for that candidate.
• Only 9% of respondents said they would be less likely to support such a candidate, with the remainder saying it would have no impact on their votes. […]
“Illinois has at least 118 business and occupational licenses that by law either must or may be denied to people with criminal records. This includes, for example, occupations such as barber and real estate agent. Once someone has successfully completed their prison sentence and parole, do you think they should be denied these licenses, or should they be granted these licenses if they’re otherwise qualified?”
Most poll respondents think ex-offenders should be eligible for occupational licenses
• There is significant support for the granting of licenses to qualified, former parolees at
76%-15%. […]
Plurality of poll respondents more likely to vote for candidates who support removing barriers to occupational licensing
• A plurality of respondents (46%) said a candidate’s support for granting occupational licenses to those who have completed sentences/parole makes respondents more likely to support that candidate [13 percent less likely, 23 percent no impact or don’t know]. […]
• There is solid support for sealing nonviolent criminal records, with at least 2 in 3 poll respondents from the major groups backing the proposal [70-25]. […]
• Respondents were more likely to back a candidate who supports a law allowing limits on who can view criminal records of nonviolent offenders by a 40%-16% margin, with another 43% saying it would have no impact on their vote or they don’t know whether it would. […]
Pollsters asked respondents whether they would “favor or oppose a … law in Illinois that would protect a company from being sued for hiring employees with criminal records when their offense isn’t directly related to the job they’re hired for.”
• Eighty percent of respondents, including 82 percent of Democrats, 78 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Independents, would support this reform.
Pollsters also asked whether support for this reform would make the respondents more likely to vote for a candidate, and 46 percent said they would be more likely to vote for someone who supported reforming negligent-hiring liability laws.rt for protecting employers from legal liability if they hire ex-offenders. […]
89 percent of registered voters opposed property seizures without a conviction. This includes 93 percent of Democrats, 86 percent of Re- publicans and 89 percent of Independents.
Additionally, most respondents – 54 percent – would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports reforming these laws. Twenty-eight percent would be “much more” likely to vote for a re- former on this issue. […]
“Currently, Illinois courts use a bail system for the release of an accused defendant from custody be- fore trial. Instead of bail, there is a proposal to have judges use a risk assessment to decide whether to hold the accused before trial. Under such a system, a court would decide whether to hold an al- leged offender before trial based on a defendant’s criminal history, age, the nature of the offense and other risk factors unrelated to their ability to pay for bail. Do you favor or oppose this change from a bail system to a risk-assessment system for deciding whether to release an accused defendant from custody before trial?”
A majority expressed openness to the change.
• Poll respondents supported switching from a bail system to a risk-assessment system by a 63%-28% margin.
• A majority of Republicans support the switch, but their backing is at a much lower margin (+19) than Democrats (+44) or Independents (+41).
Sixty-three percent of voters would favor a risk-assessment rather than money-bail system. Of course, the details of such a reform vary. What this would look like is a critical question that de- serves further debate and research.
The poll has a margin of error for N=500 [registered voters] of +/-4.38 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Interviews were stratified into proportionate geographic units based on the population of registered voters. Sixty-one percent of voters were surveyed via landline. Thirty-nine percent of voters were surveyed via cell phone.
Even before Aki Colovic slipped through the sliding door of the Uber minivan outside his house Friday afternoon he thought something was up.
The 34-year-old just couldn’t quite place where he had seen Jaime, his driver, before.
Then it hit him: The man behind the wheel was his local state representative, Jaime Andrade Jr.
“It’s very surprising. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it,” Colovic said minutes into the ride.
The two had met when Andrade had knocked on the door of Colovic’s Old Irving Park home while campaigning in early 2014.
Andrade, who represents the state’s 40th District, has been driving Uber under the radar for more than two months.
It’s not a gimmick.
The representative, whose district includes a portion of the Northwest Side, said he needs the cash to support his family as the state budget mess drags out and regular paychecks to legislators have been sporadic at best.
* You may recall that SEIU Local 73’s two top officers, President Christine Boardman and Secretary-Treasurer Matthew Brandon, were removed from office this week by the international union and the local was put into trusteeship. Brandon told Fran Spielman that the move was a “hostile takeover” and intends to file a federal discrimination lawsuit…
“I don’t view this as a trusteeship. I view it as a hostile takeover. What the international failed to address was the fact there was a vote by the membership based on a motion by Christine Boardman that she would retire in June and, per the constitution and bylaws, I would then assume that office with an election of the executive board to follow within 30 days,” he said.
“To rescind a motion requires a two-thirds vote. Christine refused to do that. Said she didn’t have to do that. She said she simply changed her mind. When I went in to chair the July executive board meeting, I informed her that, based upon the vote of the membership and the executive board, she was retired. She adjourned the meeting, stormed out and cancelled the general membership meeting scheduled for the next day. The rules be damned.”
* He claims a high-level official asked him “to deal with a personal issue that was affecting Boardman’s job performance.” But Boardman viewed his follow-up as an attack.
Brandon, who is black, is not taking this sitting down…
“…These people don’t know what can of worms they’ve opened here. The members are absolutely furious.”
Brandon, who is black, charged that SEIU “discriminates against African-American males” and that he would “be able to prove that.”
* FiveThirtyEight has a very long and interesting analysis about the state of the Republican Party. There are tons of choice nuggets in there, so I encourage you to read the whole thing. Here’s one that really stands out…
“You’re not going to do better than 59 percent,” Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney’s chief strategist, told me not long ago, citing the percent of the white vote that his candidate got in 2012 while winning 24 states. Ronald Reagan, by comparison, got only 56 percent of the white vote in 1980 but won in a 44-state landslide. […]
According to the American National Election Studies, the white percentage of the national vote overall has dropped fairly steadily from around 95 percent during the period from 1948 to 1960 to the low 80s by 1992 to 73 percent in 2012. The Republican party did not keep pace with this change, nor did it do much to win younger voters. 2008 featured a gaping chasm between the over-65 vote and the 18- to 29-year-old vote: There was a 43-point difference between how the two groups voted, with the older crowd going for John McCain by 10 percentage points, even as he lost the overall election by a 7-point margin to Barack Obama, the country’s first black president.
The Trump people believe they can expand the playing field and inspire lots more white males to vote this year. Easier said than done on the dwindling demographics alone. But I don’t think it’s completely impossible if Trump ever learns how to channel that very real populist anger at Hillary Clinton instead of diffusing it over an ever-widening swath of his enemies, both perceived and real. Again, easier said than done.
If Trump lost, [Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson] said — which seems at this point, not an unreasonable possibility — the factions in the party would only become more entrenched. It would not just be the Trump supporters vs. the Never Trumps; instead, Never Trump would be pitted against Never Trump in a civil war of the moral resistance. Lacking a common enemy, they would revert to their differences.
“On the one hand, you have the autopsy folks, right?” she said, referring to those who concur with the findings of a 2012 report that said, among other things, that the GOP should reach out to minority voters. “You have the people that look at Donald Trump and they go, ‘He’s alienating Latino voters, he’s doing damage to the brand, he’s looking backwards, not forwards, he’s the opposite of what we needed.’”
The other Never Trump faction — “the Ted Cruz folks, the conservative purists,” as Soltis Anderson put it — would disagree with the diagnosis of why Trump was bad for the party. “Their main argument with Trump is not that he’s mean to Latinos; their main argument with Trump is that he’s not really a conservative, he’s not really one of us,” she said. “When all is said and done, those two Never Trump forces are going to blame each other for his existence.”
The prospect that the GOP leaders wouldn’t even be able to agree on why Trump — arguably the worst crisis the modern party has experienced — was even a crisis to begin with, seemed to say it all.
“There is no happy ending to this story,” she said.
That battle has been coming for a very long time. The big money is on the side of the post-2012 “autopsy Republicans,” including the DC leadership and people like Gov. Bruce Rauner, who closely followed that roadmap in 2014. But the party’s intensity and its “bodies” are on the Christian conservative side. Even so, both wings are too small to win without the other.
Rauner united the two wings in 2014 because party members, out of power for so long, were starving for victory and loved his attacks on people like Speaker Madigan and so they didn’t seem to mind all that much when he put a more liberal, independent face on the GOP for the general election. One wing is fraying a bit these days with his signature of the “Right of Conscience Act” changes favored by pro-choicers. But his mind-boggling pile of cash and his well-deserved reputation for revenge is expected to keep folks in line. Also, the Cruz-like faction in Illinois missed their chance in 2010 with Bill Brady’s gubernatorial loss despite a huge national GOP landslide.
So, while there may be some significant national repercussions if Trump gets thumped, I don’t yet think it’ll have an immediate impact here. Then again, these are some crazy times, campers.
Now, Illinois’s Independent Maps campaign fights for its very survival in state Supreme Court. Last month, a local court in Chicago struck down the push to force it onto the November ballot, siding with House Speaker Michael Madigan and his Democratic cronies.
And yet, Rauner decides his time is best spent touring districts of at-risk Democrats, spouting off on the perennial GOP fringe talking point — term limits. Not the best use of time or influence, Governor.
No, last week’s stop in Coal Valley wasn’t about empowering voters or loosening the Democratic stranglehold that’s suffocating Illinois. Such a long-view too often appears beyond Illinois’s freshman executive. His goal was to hit the likes of state Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, where they live. Tie them to Madigan. Accuse them of being part of the problem.
November’s election, not legitimate policy, was Rauner’s goal. It’s a scattershot approach to governance, an all-to-frequent feature of Rauner’s short tenure in office.
One could argue that Rauner’s quest to chip away at bicameral Democratic majorities is a way of affecting change. But, frankly, term limits is an issue best left for the conservative fringe. What’s next, a return to the gold standard? Both have about the same chances of survival.
Rauner has millions, and he’s shown a willingness to spend it against the union-backed Democrats. That’s politics, complete with a whiff of old fish. Yet, that cash could be spent filing brief after brief in support of Independent Maps. It could be ending the election rigging that, for years, has disenfranchised voters and protected those in power.
Ouch.
* Meanwhile, the group opposing the remap proposal filed a brief with the Illinois Supreme Court yesterday. Click here to read it…
The trial court found that the initiative is not “limited to the structural and procedural subjects contained in Article IV” as required by the structural and procedural clause because it would impose new duties and qualifications on officers created outside Article IV and change the jurisdiction of the Illinois Courts. The trial court also found the initiative violates Article III’s free and equal clause because it would force voters to accept each of the myriad policy choices proposed by the initiative in a single proposition.
Intervenor-Defendant-Appellant Support Independent Maps asks this Court to reverse the trial court’s decision. In doing so, Intervenor would have this Court ignore not only the text of the Constitution, but the decisions of this Court that have interpreted these provisions as well. For the reasons that follow, plaintiffs respectfully request this Court affirm the trial court.
“If the state had shut down, you better believe we would have had a budget by now — and everybody knows it,” said Illinois Sen. Toi Hutchinson, the Democratic chairwoman of the Revenue Committee. “We can’t even shut the state down right.”
The Liberty Justice Center has filed a federal lawsuit to strike down Illinois’ Election Day voter registration law. The lawsuit shows that this law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by making it more difficult for people to register to vote in some areas of the state than in others.
In 2014, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law creating a system for Election Day voter registration in Illinois. The law is unlike any other voter registration law in the U.S. because the availability of Election Day voter registration at polling places varies by county. The law requires counties with populations of 100,000 or more to offer Election Day voter registration at all polling places. However, the law does not require counties with lower populations to offer Election Day voter registration at all polling places – making it more difficult for people to register to vote in some areas of the state than in others.
Every state senator and representative who voted for this scheme was a Democrat, and every state senator and representative who voted against it was a Republican. Not coincidentally, high-population counties in Illinois tend to favor Democratic candidates; low-population counties in Illinois tend to favor Republican candidates. Former Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law during his final days in office.
“Illinois’ voter registration law is unconstitutional. The state cannot give some citizens better opportunities to vote than it gives to others,” said Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. “If Illinois is going to have Election Day voter registration at polling places, it should be available statewide. And it should be fair.”
The plaintiffs in this case are Patrick Harlan, a candidate for Congress in Western Illinois, and the Crawford County Republican Central Committee.
The lawsuit asks the federal court to order the Illinois State Board of Elections to direct election authorities in all 102 Illinois counties not to provide Election Day registration at precinct polling places in the November election. That’s the only way a federal court can fix the unfairness of this law. Or, the General Assembly could fix the unfairness of the law by changing it, so that Election Day registration is available at polling places everywhere – not just in places where one political party wants to boost its turnout.
State Senator Don Harmon, a Democrat from suburban Chicago and the law’s chief Senate sponsor, said Illinois law commonly differentiates between counties’ populations and said election officials in less-populous counties voiced concern about not having resources for polling place registration.
Under the law in question, voters in smaller counties can still register on Election Day in county clerks’ offices.
Harmon suggested the lawsuit’s real aim is to dampen Democratic voter turnout this fall, particularly in party strongholds like Cook County. In 2015, there were 4 million residents in the county above the voter-eligible age of 18, according to the U.S. Census. […]
“I suspect the plaintiffs are much more interested in having same-day registration thrown out in Cook County than they are in extending it to every small county in Illinois,” Harmon said.
If I was going to put on my tinfoil hat, I’d say it also has something to do with contested legislative races. The Institute is a major Rauner ally and he’s dumping millions of dollars into those races.
In an increasingly contentious presidential campaign, just a quarter of voters who support Donald Trump in the general election say they have a lot or some close friends who are supporters of Hillary Clinton. Even fewer Clinton backers (18%) say they have at least some friends who support Trump.
Nearly half of Clinton supporters (47%), and 31% of Trump supporters, say they have no close friends who support the opposing candidate.
* The Question: Do you maintain any active close friendships with people on the other side of this election? Take the poll and then explain why or why not in comments, please.
* A News-Gazette editorial discusses the potential 2018 Democratic candidates for governor and concludes…
Serious candidates should ask themselves: “How badly do I want to be governor if Mike Madigan is really calling the shots?”
It’s a good question. Pat Quinn was widely viewed as hapless, and that was at least partly the result of him never figuring out how to constructively engage with the House Speaker - and a lot of that falls on Madigan himself.
After Madigan lost the majority in 1994, he pledged to change his ways if he regained power. And he mostly did. He worked with Jim Edgar for the next two years and George Ryan for four years. And he cooperated with Rod Blagojevich for a year after Blagojevich’s first election. But then, it all went downhill.
Frankly, I have no idea why Dick Durbin or anybody else would want to endure the brutality of a campaign against a deep-pocketed Bruce Rauner for a year only to wind up getting the tar knocked out of them by MJM for the next four years.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday put in place the final piece of the pension puzzle he was elected to solve but in a way that will impose another heavy burden on Chicago homeowners reeling from rising property taxes compounded by reassessments.
To generate the $239 million over five years needed to save Chicago’s largest city employee pension fund, Emanuel wants to slap a new and quickly escalating “utility tax” on water and sewer bills over the next four years.
The plan is to start with a 7 percent tax, double it in year two, impose a 21 percent tax in year three and end at 28 percent in years four and five.
After that, the tax would rise annually to meet the “actuarially required contribution” to achieve a 90 percent funding ratio by 2057 for a Municipal Employees pension with $18.6 billion in unfunded liabilities that is due to run out of money in 2025. […]
It is expected to cost the average homeowner $4.43 more month or $53.16 a year in 2017. In the fourth year, the added tax burden will be $225.96 a year.
Last year, aldermen passed a record property tax increase to resolve shortfalls in the police and firefighter pensions and raised the cell phone tax to shore up the laborers’ retirement fund. They also tacked on a garbage pickup fee to the aforementioned water bills that were increased sharply in 2012 to rebuild mains and sewers.
“We’ve doubled the water rates historically and now we’ve added the garbage fees, so there’s a lot of frustration in our neighborhood,” said Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward). […]
Another reason Emanuel ruled out another city property tax increase is that the Chicago Public Schools system has been authorized to raise its levy by $250 million and is expected to do so later this month.
The mayor plans to ask the General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to sign off on altering the municipal fund pension system to save about $2 billion over the next 40 years. The legislative changes to the pension fund would require newly hired employees, starting next year, to increase their retirement account contributions to 11.5 percent of their salary from 8.5 percent.
Employees who were hired from 2011 to 2016 and already receive lower retirement benefits would have the option of increasing their contributions to 11.5 percent. In exchange, they would be eligible to retire at age 65 instead of 67.
But employees hired before 2011 would see no changes, after the Illinois Supreme Court struck down Emanuel’s earlier attempt to reduce their benefits, citing a constitutional clause that states their benefits shall not be diminished or impaired. “You can’t touch existing employees, that’s walled off,” Emanuel told investors.
Emanuel and affected unions have an “agreement in principle” on identical changes to the much smaller city laborers fund, with additional city contributions coming from a $1.90-per-month-increase on landline and cellphones billed to city addresses that was approved by the City Council two years ago.
Thursday, Aug 4, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The Illinois Supreme Court has accepted an amicus brief filed by the following organizations urging the state’s highest court to let voters have a say on transparent, impartial and fair redistricting in November:
• League of Women Voters of Illinois
• Small Business Advocacy Council
• CHANGE Illinois
• Illinois Campaign for Political Reform
• Rockford Chamber of Commerce
• McCormick Foundation
• Champaign County Chamber of Commerce
• Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI)
• Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• Latino Policy Forum
• Illinois Public Interest Research Group
• West Rogers Park Community Organization
• Metropolitan Planning Council
• Better Government Association
• Chicago Southside Branch NAACP
• Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization
• Union League Club of Chicago
• Illinois Farm Bureau
• Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce
• Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
• Common Cause
• Illinois Chamber of Commerce
• Citizen Advocacy Center
• The Civic Federation
• The Commercial Club of Chicago
• Chicago Embassy Church
• Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
On Monday, Illinois citizens were jolted by a piercing pain in the wallet as federal officials unveiled proposed Obamacare insurance premium rates for 2017. Insurers plan to dial up rates as much as a heart-stopping 45 percent for those who buy plans on the Obamacare marketplace when open enrollment starts Nov. 1.
That means thousands of people will scramble for affordable insurance … and won’t find it.
* From the US Department of Health & Human Services…
Statement by Press Secretary Jonathan Gold on Illinois health insurance rate changes:
“Consumers in Illinois will continue to have affordable coverage options in 2017. Last year, the average monthly premium for people with HealthCare.gov coverage getting tax credits increased just $4 from $102 to $106 per month, despite headlines suggesting double digit increases. People in Illinois understand how the Marketplace works, and they know that they can shop around and find coverage that fits their needs and budget. In fact, last year more than 53 percent of them did exactly that by switching plans to save money. In addition, the vast majority of consumers in Illinois qualify for tax credits that reduce the cost of coverage below the sticker price. Today’s announcement is just the beginning of the rates process, and consumers will have the final word when they vote with their feet during Open Enrollment.”
Background
Proposed rates aren’t what consumers pay. While today’s filings show an average rate increase in Illinois, a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services demonstrates that proposed premium changes from preliminary rate filings do not capture what Marketplace consumers actually pay. Last year, the average monthly premium for people with HealthCare.gov coverage getting tax credits increased just $4 from $102 to $106 per month, despite headlines suggesting double digit increases.
Most people receive tax credits and can buy a plan for less than $75 per month.
75% of Marketplace consumers in Illinois receive tax credits, which are designed to protect consumers from premium increases and help make coverage affordable.
Tax credits increase if the cost of the second lowest-cost silver, or benchmark, plan goes up. So if all premiums in a market go up by similar amounts, 75% of Marketplace consumers in that market will not necessarily pay more because their tax credits will go up to compensate. Average rate increases reported with the preliminary rate filings do not account for tax credits.
For 2016 coverage, 53% of customers in Illinois had the option of selecting a plan with a premium of $75 or less per month after tax credits.
Shopping: The ACA Marketplace helps consumers shop around for the best deal.
Prior to the ACA, it was nearly impossible for consumers to compare plans and shop around easily – and many Americans went uninsured because they couldn’t afford insurance or had pre-existing conditions. Those who did have insurance in the individual market were often trapped in the plan they had, since people with even small health problems could be denied coverage or charged an exorbitant price if they tried to switch plans or issuers.
Today, Marketplace consumers in Illinois can purchase any available plan regardless of health conditions, and tools such as the doctor lookup and out-of-pocket cost calculator help them find the plan that meets their needs. Last year, 53% of returning Marketplace consumers in Illinois switched plans. They saved an average of $636 annually.
Based on an examination of preliminary 2017 rate filings for nine states that released rates earlier this year, Avalere found that the average rate increase for lowest and second-lowest cost silver plans was 7-8%, about half the overall average rate increase in these states. That difference highlights how consumers can benefit from shopping around.
A major new issuer, Cigna, has indicated it will begin offering plans in the Chicago area for 2017, which will further bolster choice and competition in the Illinois Marketplace.
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, plans were typically inferior and excluded services like maternity care, or even routine services like prescription drugs. Plans also often charged a higher premium, or denied coverage altogether, to consumers due to a pre-existing condition. Now, all consumers have the option to purchase quality, affordable coverage.
This is a big deal for as many as 5,636,000 people in Illinois with a pre-existing condition.
Preliminary rates aren’t final rates. Preliminary rates often change significantly before being finalized. In particular, they are subject to rate review, which led to $1.5 billion in savings for consumers in 2015. Last year, final rates in some states were below proposed rates.
Health insurance is clearly something people in Illinois like, want, and need: 388,179 people signed up for 2016 coverage through the Marketplace.
Since major provisions of the Affordable Care Act went into effect, Illinois’ uninsured rate fell from 14.2 percent in 2013 to 7.9 percent in 2015 for non-elderly residents, according to new data released recently.
Both Marketplace and non-Marketplace consumers continue to benefit from the low health care cost growth of recent years.
Marketplace rates remain well below expectations when the law was passed. Marketplace rates for 2014 came in about 15% below Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections in 2010. Better-than-expected Marketplace premiums are due in large part to lower-than-expected economy-wide health care cost growth and other efficiencies.
For the half of Americans who obtain health insurance through an employer, premiums for family coverage grew by an average of 5% per year from 2010 to 2015 – compared with about 8% per year from 2000 to 2010. Premiums grew at an even slower 4.2% rate in 2015. If premium growth since 2010 had matched the average growth rate over the prior ten years, the average family premium would have been almost $2,600 higher in 2015.
Over the past fiscal year, the lack of an enacted budget has resulted in the State Employee Group Insurance Program (SEGIP) building up a large backlog of unpaid claims. As of the end of June, approximately $3.34 billion in claims were being held by the state from various insurers, organizations, and companies.
Of this total, the largest portion was approximately $1.6 billion of HMO/Medicare Advantage claims. The second largest portion, Open Access Plans, totaled $741.2 million. The third largest portion of the overall claims hold came from CIGNA, which had $556 million in claims currently held by the state.
Concurrently, the estimated time for claims to be held was 314-557 days for Managed Care, 477-547 days for Open Access Plans, and 497-574 days for CIGNA. […]
Despite a stop-gap budget being passed, however, claims will continue to build up and estimated claims hold times will increase due to no appropriation for Group Insurance.
Analyzing thousands of pages from state agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Natural Resources and the attorney general’s office, the Tribune found that pollution incidents from hog confinements killed at least 492,000 fish from 2005 through 2014 — nearly half of the 1 million fish killed in water pollution incidents statewide during that period. Pig waste impaired 67 miles of the state’s rivers, creeks and waterways over that time.
Using either measure, no other industry came close to causing the same amount of damage. […]
Confinements with multimillion-dollar annual revenues often paid just a few thousand dollars in fines after causing massive fish kills. Many went to court to challenge authorities; since 2005, the state attorney general has filed or resolved at least 26 pollution lawsuits against swine confinements. Some operators polluted repeatedly. And the multistate pork producers who supply the pigs and profit from the confinements were rarely held accountable, the Tribune found. […]
In 2010, Illinois’ failure to monitor or regulate livestock confinements prompted the U.S. EPA to threaten funding cuts and decertification of the state EPA. Since then, Illinois has bolstered its inspections staff as well as documented and visited 236 of the largest swine facilities. That is fewer than half of the estimated 527 in the state and includes none of the additional 427 hog confinements with up to 2,500 animals.
Weeks after taking a job as a breeding technician at Eagle Point Farms, an anguished Sharee Santorineos sat down and wrote a three-page whistleblower complaint.
“I seen pigs that are pregnant beat with steel bars,” said her letter to the Illinois Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. “I seen them kicked all over their body.” […]
Instead, like other worker allegations about animal abuse in Illinois’ 900-plus hog confinement facilities, Santorineos’ account went nowhere.
After Eagle Point executives gave a state bureau inspector a guided tour of the 6,000-pig operation, he wrote a single-page report.
“I did not observe anyone mistreating the animals,” it said. “No violations found. Docket is closed.”
The state has regularly discounted or dismissed such worker complaints, a Tribune investigation has found. In the Illinois hog confinements that send 12 million pigs to market annually, the bureau did not find a single animal welfare infraction or violation during the past five years, the Tribune found in reviewing thousands of pages of bureau records.
Still, the system was working for them until the mid-1990s brought punishing downswings in the market for live hogs — including a devastating 1998 price collapse. Big producers like Smithfield Foods and Cargill swooped in, Steele recalled, and enticed farmers to become “contract growers” instead of raising their own pigs.
It was a way for many to insulate themselves from market risk and remain on their land rather than shutting down altogether.
“For our generation, we all wanted to come back to the farm, and this has enabled us to do so,” said Genny Six, a contract grower whose Morgan County operation in central Illinois has steadily expanded to 7,200 pigs.
Then came the most recent seismic shift: China’s largest meat processor purchased Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion while a Brazilian firm paid $1.45 billion last year to acquire Cargill’s U.S.-based pork business.
“It used to be, the farmer raised the corn that fed his pigs here in Illinois, they got harvested by a packing plant here in Illinois and they probably got consumed here in Illinois,” said western Illinois hog farmer Greg Giertz. “Now the hogs might be owned by someone in Iowa, raised in Illinois, slaughtered in Indiana and shipped to China.”
Across Illinois, the nation’s fourth-largest seller of pigs, large hog confinements have exploded in number and size. Raising pigs for slaughter in an efficient, factorylike setting, the operations help hold down the price of the most widely consumed meat in the world. […]
Other states and local agencies have moved aggressively to address the problems caused by large hog confinements. Illinois has not, the Tribune found, even as consumers demand more humane treatment of livestock and stronger environmental protections. […]
With the pace of new construction permits accelerating, state authorities say they are doing the best they can to protect neighboring communities and the environment. But they acknowledge that Illinois’ Livestock Management Facilities Act gives them few tools to hold confinement owners accountable.
Twenty years after the state law was put in place, critics liken its provisions to a frontier-era timber blockade in the path of a bullet train.
* From Rebecca Shi, the director of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition…
Hello Rich,
Hope your summer is going great! Governor Rauner signed into law a bill providing health insurance for 41,000 undocumented children. We are celebrating this Friday with Archbishop Blase Cupich, Minority leader Jim Durkin, Latino caucus co-chairs Iris Martinez and Lisa Hernandez, and 350 business, faith, and Latino Asian leaders. Wondering if you would you be interested in this story?
I wholeheartedly believe that this is one bright spot in this year’s Springfield fight: Bi-partisan support for renewal of health care for 41,000 undocumented children in Illinois, passed legislation in the House and Senate with the support of all four legislative leaders, and Gov. Rauner signed the bill. In this era of Trump and his wall, the national anti-immigrant groups weighed in against this legislation and they were crushed.
We had active support from the grass-roots, the faith community (especially Catholics), the business community (including Susan Crown and Bill Kunkler, who put an op ed in the Tribune, Exelon’s John Rowe and Crate and Barrel’s Carole Segal), and the united healthcare community. A beautiful piece of organizing.
I hope perhaps you can tell this story. It is both ironic and beautiful that the MOST vulnerable and least politically relevant people - undocumented children - was where Rauner and Madigan agreed to sheath their swords and each actively worked to move towards a successful resolution.
Even as Donald Trump was wrapping up the Republican presidential nomination in part with his get-tough rhetoric on immigration, Illinois political leaders moved in a decidedly different direction in the waning days of the spring legislative session.
With bipartisan support that included backing from Gov. Bruce Rauner, lawmakers renewed a state health insurance program for low-income children that includes coverage for undocumented youth.
Such celebrations are often held as part of bill-signing ceremonies, but in this case, Rauner quickly signed the legislation to beat a July 1 deadline and is not expected to attend Friday’s festivities. […]
Sen. Chris Nybo of Elmhurst, one of many Republicans who supported the bill, argued that it is in keeping with his pro-life philosophy.
“Being supportive of children and families should transcend immigration status,” Nybo said. […]
House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton kept the bill separate from other Medicaid-funding legislation to keep it from getting caught up in the partisan budget wars.
* Like with his signature on the Right of Conscience Act revisions opposed by the far right and all the new criminal justice reform measures he’s backed, the governor has tried to tamp down coverage of his signatures by signing potentially controversial bills without comment. It’s mostly worked. The uproar over the Right of Conscience Act bill has received almost no mainstream media coverage. And I doubt many people beyond those who read this blog are aware of all the new criminal justice reforms.
Also, Sen. Nybo put to voice something I’ve heard others say. Almost every pro-life legislator (except a few like Nybo) voted against that All Kids bill, despite the fact that it will almost certainly save the lives of newborn infants. And since it came with a 90 percent federal match, it’ll save Illinoisans some cash because those costs won’t be shifted to providers, who then shift those costs to people who have insurance.
And good on all four legislative leaders and the governor for doing their very best to keep this out of the impasse war. Without that cooperation, the bill would’ve never become law.
* As we’ve discussed a few times already, Gov. Rauner signed a whole lot of bills last Friday before clearing this week’s schedule. Bernie writes about another one…
Gov. BRUCE RAUNER last week signed Senate Bill 2613, which provides that employees are entitled to up to 10 workdays of unpaid bereavement leave following the death of a child.
Among advocates for the bill was JIM DIXON of Springfield. He and his wife, LINDA, lost a son, TODD, in a one-car accident 25 years ago, and they lead a group call Bereaved Parents of Springfield. Jim Dixon is also president of the Springfield and Central Illinois Trades and Labor Council.
The bill applies to private-sector businesses that employ 50 or more employees for at least 20 work weeks in a year.
“The pain a parent who loses a child must experience is unimaginable,” said state Sen. JENNIFER BERTINO-TARRANT, D-Shorewood, chief sponsor of the legislation. She said she was saddened to learn that while the Family and Medical Leave Act allows time off to care for a sick child, there was not a similar provision for time upon the death of a child.
“Since introducing this bill, I have heard many stories of parents feeling they were not mentally prepared to go back to work so quickly or needed more time to grieve,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “I am grateful parents now have this guarantee.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was talking to the Chicago Investors Conference on Wednesday when one investor asked him to comment on the fact that the mayor’s idea of pursuing “reform with revenue sounds similar to the governor’s turnaround agenda.”
“Yeah, well we got it done,” Emanuel said in reference to Rauner’s failure to get much of his agenda through Springfield, and the mayor’s relative success in getting his pension funding plans approved.
“That was cheap,” he said as the crowd laughed. “That was not fair. Just couldn’t help myself.”
