* From the governor’s office talking points memo sent to Republican legislators today touting Gov. Rauner’s accomplishments…
Defeated the Democrat supermajority FY 2017 spending plan that would have raised personal income tax rates to more than 5.5% - The House Democrats’ $40 billion spending plan for FY 2017 was more than $7 billion out of balance and would have required crushing tax increases to pay for all of its promises.
The state of Illinois’ spending will outstrip what it brings in by nearly $8 billion this year, according to a government analysis obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
The legislative Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability reviewed the budget deal that lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner approved in June on the brink of the new fiscal year, which began this month, at the behest of Republican Rep. David McSweeney.
The report, provided to AP in advance of general release, found that the state will spend $39.6 billion — including $3 billion in obligations that were not addressed in the six-month stop-gap budget agreed to by Democrats who control the Legislature and Rauner — but only bring in $31.8 billion.
So, what are the tax hike consequences of Rauner’s own proposal? If the rate would’ve been “more than 5.5%” under the Dems’ $7 billion deficit, what are the “crushing tax increases” required for an $8 billion hole?
From: Tim Nuding, Director, Governor’s Office of Management and Budget
Mitch Holzrichter, Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs
To: Republican Members of the House of Representatives and Senate
Date: July 14, 2016
Fiscal Year 2016 in Review – Holding Strong for Taxpayers
Illinois state government has been overspending and overpromising for years. Rather than confront the State’s deteriorating fiscal condition, prior governors and General Assemblies, controlled by Democrat supermajorities, just kicked the can farther down the road. They bandaged over our fiscal problems with unbalanced budgets, borrowed funds, and tax increases, resulting in record backlogs of unpaid bills and more than $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
But during the last fiscal year, Governor Rauner and Republicans in the legislature changed the dynamic in Springfield by placing a renewed emphasis on the taxpayer as a key stakeholder in state government. From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, Governor Rauner and Republicans in the legislature:
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich formed a band called the Jailhouse Rockers while serving time at a federal penitentiary in Colorado, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by the disgraced governor’s legal team late Monday night.
According to the memo, Blagojevich formed the band with a fellow inmate, described as “accomplished musician” “Ernie B.” An avowed Elvis fan, Blagojevich paid homage to the king of rock ‘n’ roll by naming his band after one of the famed rocker’s biggest hits.
* The Question: If Gov. Rauner was in a band, what would its name be? Bonus question: Who’d be in it with him?
* Comptroller Leslie Munger was asked today when legislators would be paid next. As you know, she’s put those paychecks into the pile of past due bills with everything else. Legislators received their April checks on July 6th. Legislators are paid once a month.
Munger said the May paychecks probably wouldn’t go out until late August or early September. The June checks, she said, “could be four to five months behind.”
* The governor was asked by WMAQ reporter Mary Ann Ahern today about his opinion of neighboring Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who has reportedly been chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate. He took a pass. Ahern asked him which presidential candidate he’d be voting for and he twice took a pass, saying he wouldn’t be commenting on the race any more. She also asked him a question he also refused to answer the other day. What does he plan to do next week during the Republican National Convention?…
“Ah, next week, I will be, ah, traveling the state of Illinois meeting with, ah [clicks his tongue], community leaders, business leaders and some legislators and signing some of the most important legislation that got passed this spring.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Sen. Kirk wasn’t nearly as reticent about Gov. Pence when asked yesterday…
“I hope he gets the nod,” said Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, a former congressman. “I love Mike. He was the leader of the conservatives and I was the leader of the moderates. And we had a mutual admiration society.” (Kirk, who’s up for reelection, said “we’ll see” when asked if he’d reconsider backing Trump if Pence is chosen, but his spokeswoman later called to say he would not back Trump no matter who the running mate is.)
Oops.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Kirk campaign…
Here is a statement you can attribute to Senator Kirk:
I like and respect Mike Pence but I will not be supporting Donald Trump.
He does not have the temperament to serve as our Commander in Chief.
*** UPDATE 3 *** DPI…
“It looks like Republican Mark Kirk is getting his wish and extreme social conservative Mike Pence will be ignorant buffoon Donald Trump’s running mate. Kirk even opened the door to supporting Trump again if Trump were to pick his friend Pence. While Kirk has gone to great lengths to try and disavow his Republican roots it’s worth noting his enthusiasm for Pence, a staunch conservative with a history of attacking women’s reproductive rights and who signed one of the country’s most discriminatory anti-LGBTQ bills into law. Likewise, when they served together in Congress, Kirk and Pence both opposed the rescue of the American auto industry, supported several trade deals that have shipped American jobs overseas, and supported the Ryan budget, which would raise taxes on the average middle-class family by $2,000 and turn Medicare into a voucher system in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Kirk’s enthusiasm for Pence is all anyone needs to know about him: no matter how much he tries to change his stripes in an election year, he’s a typical Republican, through and through,” said Democratic Party of Illinois spokesperson Sean Savett
Um, weren’t some of those trade deals done by a Democratic administration? Just wondering…
The group backing the proposed state constitutional amendment to reduce the influence of politics in legislative mapmaking says a majority of its petition signers were Democrats.
Dave Mellet, the campaign manager for the Independent Maps group, said it commissioned a demographic analysis of the 20,518-signature sample that the State Board of Elections used to verify that the proposal qualified for the fall ballot.
That sample is a random 5 percent of the more than 563,000 people who signed petitions to put the proposal on the ballot.
Mellet said the petition sample found 56 percent of signers qualified as likely Democrats, 23 percent as likely Republicans, and 23 percent as likely independent voters based on primary voting history.
* From the Independent Maps press release…
“Illinois is a Democratic state, so it’s not surprising that Democrats would make up the largest group of petition signers,” he said. “However, these numbers are much larger than expected and debunk the narrative pushed by opponents of redistricting reform that Democratic voters do not support this amendment.”
* Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Steven Yaffe…
“The Independent Maps movement is proof that Mike Madigan and the politicians who support him don’t care about good government reform even when it has bipartisan support from voters. Democrats were key to making sure the Independent Map Amendment received enough signatures to make the November ballot, but all Madigan wants is to protect his grip on power.”
Look, right off the bat let me just say there is zero doubt that remap reform polls very well among all demographics, including partisanship. Heck, I support remap reform myself and have for many years, although I have my own oft-stated reservations about this particular proposal.
* But there’s something missing here. What was the percentage of petition signatures gathered in Chicago? After all, the city’s high density makes it a much easier place to gather petitions.
From the Independent Maps folks…
About 34 percent of the signatures were provided by registered voters in Chicago.
5,241,179 votes were cast in Illinois for the top four presidential candidates. 1,015,634 votes were cast for president in Chicago that year - or about 19 percent. So the overall petition submission is heavily skewed to Chicago, which Obama won with 84 percent of the vote.
* Even so, let’s be very clear again, this doesn’t mean Democrats don’t back the ballot initiative. It’s obviously popular in the city if that many petitions were signed there. But are the Democratic numbers really “much larger than expected” considering where so many of them were gathered?
House Republicans called for the removal of Auditor General Frank Mautino on Wednesday amid a federal probe of his campaign spending, while Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner declined to weigh in, saying the investigation should “play itself out.”
Mautino, a Democrat, is a former member of the Illinois House whose appointment late last year to the 10-year term as the state’s fiscal watchdog won overwhelming support from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. […]
Asked about the calls from his fellow Republicans to fire Mautino, Rauner said he was “troubled” by what he’d heard about the case but was “focused on other things.”
“There’s an investigation, there’s a process going on,” Rauner said. “It should just play itself out.”
Agreed. Mautino has a couple of weeks to get his state campaign filings in order and we’ll know a lot more then. We can all wait two weeks.
The Reader has obtained video footage of Saturday’s Taste of Chicago protest that calls into question the official police version of events that led to the arrest of Ja’Mal Green, a 20-year-old activist accused of attacking an officer.
Green was charged with five felonies—two counts of aggravated battery of an officer, two counts of aggravated battery in a public place, and attempting to disarm an officer—and two misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing an officer, according to CPD News Affairs.
As was previously reported by DNAInfo, police said that Green had two separate altercations with police Saturday evening, including one at approximately 6 PM. During a hearing Monday, assistant state’s attorney Erin Antonietti alleged that during this incident, Green swung his arms and punched police commander George Devereaux in his left shoulder. Antonetti cited a Tribune photo as evidence of the attack.
However, newly obtained video appears to show Devereaux initiating contact with Green, pulling him off a barrier, then tussling with him after he lands, with protesters attempting to separate the two.
If you actually watch the video, you’ll see that Commander Devereaux ordered Mr. Green several times to get off a metal barricade that Green was standing on amidst a sea of loudly chanting protesters. When Green refused, Devereaux yanked Green’s pant leg enough that Green had to jump off the barricade. Then Green pushed at Devereaux hard and threw a punch, although it appears as though Green didn’t land that punch, but it’s somewhat difficult to tell.
Was Green over-charged? The video itself doesn’t have evidence to back all those claims. But at the very least, the video which supposedly exonerates Green does appear to show him pushing a cop during a highly volatile situation.
* So, why is this even a thing? Because some activists are accusing a Tribune reporter of essentially shilling for the cops…
Yesterday afternoon, a lawyer who wishes to remain unidentified, warned Chicago’s activist community about Peter Nickeas, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. The lawyer stated that he noticed Nickeas and his tweets about Malcolm London during the Laquan McDonald protests back in November 2015. That night, Malcolm London was arrested, and Nickeas’ tweets featured Tribune photos that not only showed a biased angle, but clearly an angle that aids CPD in their further criminalization of young, Black people and utilizes the “hyper-aggressive” stereotype of Black people for clicks. Last week, the same lawyer witnessed similar tweets and coverage from Peter Nickeas during the Taste of Chicago shutdown action, and then created a meme to go along with his warning to us. Tweets from Nickeas supported the narrative that Green was hitting Cmdr. George Devereaux, whereas video now surfaced showing that Green was actually being pulled down from a barricade, courtesy of the Chicago Reader.
* Some have even all but accused the Tribune reporter of being a cop informant. But at least one of his detractors was forced to back off on Twitter when confronted with actual, you know, evidence by another person…
* This is a far more dangerous version of the old “working the referees” game, where you yell at reporters/columnists/etc. loud enough to force them to back off their tougher calls.
What we have here is a bunch of propagandists criticizing journalists for not being propagandists for their own side. Is there media bias? Heck yes there is. Do reporters make mistakes? Sure they do. But retweeting a photo does not automatically make one a police informant or shill.
And possibly putting that reporter into harm’s way with these bizarre conspiracy theories is completely unforgivable.
…Adding… Take a look at the very end of that video. A commenter rightly points this out…
The defendant is walking up behind the police officer when [the video] conveniently ends
Yep.
* Related…
* How technology disrupted the truth - Social media has swallowed the news – threatening the funding of public-interest reporting and ushering in an era when everyone has their own facts. But the consequences go far beyond journalism
Congresswoman and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Tammy Duckworth’s campaign today released a new ad, entitled “Flat Out.” The ad features Illinois Veterans discussing Duckworth’s commitment to her fellow Veterans, while also responding to Republican Mark Kirk’s latest false attack on Duckworth’s record on Veterans’ issues. The ad, which begins airing this morning at significant levels on Chicago broadcast and cable, can be viewed HERE.
“After serving 23 years in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve, Tammy has made fighting for her fellow Veterans her life’s work. She has real accomplishments to show for it, including programs to help Veterans find jobs as well as to address homelessness among Veterans and suicide,” campaign spokesman Matt McGrath said. “Republican Mark Kirk, on the other hand, was caught repeatedly lying about and embellishing his military record, and with his campaign in desperate straits, he’s now lying about Tammy Duckworth. Illinois Veterans aren’t fooled by Kirk’s desperate lies, and Illinois voters won’t be, either.”
Isiah Bradford: She chooses to get her health care at the VA, like us.
Wally Kubicki Jr.: She knows the VA and gets how important it is to us. Mark Kirk flat out lied repeatedly about his own military service. Now he has the gall to attack Tammy Duckworth on the VA?
Dan Devine: Kirk told one lie after another after another.
VO: Tammy Duckworth made fighting for Veterans her life’s work, and she’ll never stop.
Bradford: Tammy Duckworth fought like hell for us.
TD VO: I’m Tammy Duckworth and I approve this message
Preliminary reports show Duckworth spending more than $160,000 alone on ABC-7 in the next two weeks along with at least $60,000 in cable TV for the next week. Duckworth’s campaign says it’s spending upwards of $600,000 in total.
The ad by Duckworth, a two-term congresswoman from Hoffman Estates, comes as Kirk pumped another $200,000 into an already-running spot criticizing the Democrat for settling an alleged workplace discrimination lawsuit for $26,000. Kirk campaign spending includes nearly $80,000 on ABC-7, $45,650 on CBS-2 and more than $56,000 on Chicago cable TV.
Statement from Kirk For Senate campaign manager Kevin Artl:
“The simple truth is that throughout Duckworth’s political career, she has placed politics above veterans. When Rod Blagojevich was under investigation for denying jobs to veterans, she endorsed and defended him. When VA whistleblowers came to her to address life-threatening issues for veterans, she ignored them and said ‘that’s just the way it is’ at the VA. At each opportunity during her long political career, Duckworth has defended the bureaucracy, ignored whistleblowers and fostered mismanagement instead of fighting for reform at the VA to protect veterans across the nation.”
* How Much Is Your Arm Worth? Depends On Where You Work - Each state determines its own workers’ compensation benefits, which means workers in neighboring states can end up with dramatically different compensation for identical injuries.
* Comptroller Leslie Munger is expected to announce today that the state’s bill payment delays will reach six months by the end of this December. Her office has reportedly projected that it’ll still be paying off bills incurred in Fiscal Year 2016 come December, which is midway through Fiscal Year 2017.
Munger will say, however, that she will be working with social service groups and others to make sure those who are struggling most are helped as quickly as she can.
Munger will also announce a $10 billion bill payment backlog projection for December.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the comptroller’s press conference…
When new spending authorization is accounted for, Illinois is on track to spend $2.5 BILLION more than it brings in over the next year
Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger on Thursday said the state’s bill backlog will grow throughout the fall and Illinois will enter the New Year with approximately $10 billion in unpaid invoices, resulting in payment delays of at least six months.
The announcement follows last month’s passage of a stopgap budget, which authorized payments that were being delayed due to the state’s year-long budget impasse.
“While the stopgap is a positive step forward, it does not address our larger fiscal challenges. When we look at the numbers we are facing, the realities are sobering,” said Munger, noting the state is on pace to spend $2.5 billion more than it takes in the next six months. “Those severe cash shortages mean my office will continue to perform triage to help those most in need and protect our most critical services.”
While payments as a rule will continue to be treated on a first-in, first-out basis, priority will be given to:
Nonprofits not covered by court orders or consent decrees that continued to provide services without an FY16 budget, including autism services, programs for the homeless, mental health services and others.
Business owners who provided goods and services to the state in good faith last year without payment.
Colleges, universities, and MAP Grant students who faced significant cuts and delays this past year.
In addition, Munger will continue her policy of treating compensation for state elected officials like all other payments. As a result, lawmakers and state constitutional office holders - including Munger - will continue to stand in line for payments with human service providers, small business owners, hospitals, schools and others.
“We’re looking at $10 billion in unpaid bills and vendors waiting 6 months or more to be paid. How can I in good conscience tell hospitals, schools, small businesses, nonprofits and others to get in line - and then walk politicians to the front?” Munger said. “It remains a matter of fundamental fairness. We are all in this together and we all should wait in line.”
Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, told Bill Cameron on “Connected to Chicago” that Donald Trump “cannot win the election.” Brady, who is a Kasich delegate to the Republican National Convention, said there’s still an outside chance that Trump will not receive the nomination. Brady told Cameron that Trump’s solutions are not Republican solutions and that Trump’s lack of organization ensures he will lose.
Brady said neither Abe Lincoln or Ronald Reagan would attend this year’s convention because of Trump, and that he’s not surprised that many members of the Illinois GOP Congressional Delegation aren’t attending - although they usually don’t. However, Brady believes this absence of delegates may be a way to open the convention and nominate someone other than Trump.
Regarding the presumptive Democrat Party nominee, Brady told Cameron that FBI Director James Comey is “one of the most highly respected law enforcement people in the country” and that he had “no quarrel with his decision not to bring forward” an indictment of Clinton.
Brady admitted that no matter what happens, he’s “certainly not voting for Donald Trump” in November; and thinks that four years of Hillary Clinton might be good in that it will allow the Republicans to get the Senate back in 2018, which he presumes the Republicans will lose this year. Brady said he “cannot stomach the idea of Donald Trump being in the White House for a minute,” and that Hillary Clinton is a better alternative.
Discuss.
…Adding… From the ILGOP…
ICYMI: GOP Convention Providing Around the Clock Satellite Interview Opportunities for Regional Television Affiliates
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The 2016 Republican National Convention will provide regional television affiliates with around-the-clock access to satellite interviews with delegates, elected officials, and Convention surrogates live or live-to-tape during the week of the Convention (July 18-21, 2016).
GOP-TV is a television production run jointly by the Republican National Convention and the Republican National Committee to provide surrogate interviews to local TV affiliates, live or live-to-tape, via satellite. It will be provided free-of-charge to television stations. We will have a large Regional Press operation with specific staffers working with your television station to book interviews.
There will be multiple locations around the Convention complex to maximize local affiliates’ access to interviews. The studios will be available Monday, July 18th through Thursday, July 21st, from 6 am – 12 am each day for live or live-to-tape interviews.
In addition to facilitating remote interviews via satellite, the GOP-TV studios and satellite feed will regularly provide behind-the-scenes original raw content for television stations’ to utilize.
I’m not a convention type person and have only been to one national convention (when it was in Chicago), but from that experience I’m figuring that 11:59 pm interviews with delegates could be, um, interesting.
Social service providers working without pay because of Illinois’ budget troubles say they still haven’t been compensated after lawmakers approved a short-term spending plan. The providers say they will push ahead with a lawsuit to force funding.
The Pay Now Illinois coalition is suing Gov. Bruce Rauner and state agencies because of fallout from the budget impasse. Attorneys for the coalition and Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office appeared in court Wednesday. Both sides want time to revise court documents to reflect budget developments.
1. Since the filing of Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint, the General Assembly passed, and Defendant Rauner signed into law Senate Bill 2047—a “stop-gap” budget bill—on June 30th.
2. This budget still fails to provide sufficient funding to fully compensate the plaintiffs for the services they were contracted to perform in fiscal year 2016.
3. Nonetheless, it is a complicated bill that changes the posture of the case sufficiently to warrant an amendment to the complaint. […]
6. Because this “stop-gap” budget does not adequately address the irreparable injury faced by the plaintiffs, and especially in light of the uncertainty regarding how it will be administered, plaintiffs still plan to seek preliminary relief.
7. There are instances in which no money has been appropriated for contracts in fiscal year 2016, and in many cases plaintiffs do not know when or if they will be paid under these contracts at all. As set forth in plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, many providers have cancelled or are about to cancel programs because there is no money left to pay the staff.
8. However, as the budget does provide appropriations to pay for at least some of the services performed under some of the contracts at issue, plaintiffs seek to file an amended motion for preliminary injunction in order to properly advise the Court of the facts justifying that relief.
* The State Employee Retirement System’s board is meeting right now to approve a revised expected rate of return on pension investments and other changes including revised mortality rates which will result in a total state contribution increase of $323.2 million in Fiscal Year 2018, which starts next July 1.
* To put this into perspective, $323.2 million is about half of the $659 million projected state sources revenue growth from this fiscal year to next, according to COGFA. That assumes, of course, no income tax hike.
* Statehouse reporter Dusty Rhodes is a longtime pal of mine and she posted this on Facebook early Sunday morning…
That moment when your kid arrives home in a cop car bc he was playing Pokemon Go with friends past curfew in Leland Grove. Luckily, all those years of training him to be respectful and cooperative with cops paid off, and he is safe. Huge thanks to Amy Ballinger-Cole and Ben Cole for telling the officers that Evan is a great kid.
Dusty’s son Evan is black. Dusty is white. If you aren’t familiar with Leland Grove, it’s a suburb within Springfield that is 97 percent white, 0.44 percent black and has the highest per capita income outside of the Chicago metro area.
Warning: This is long. But it’s also long overdue. I should’ve written this at 2 a.m. Sunday. But I’d like to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to Ben Cole. The incident with Evan and Pokemon Go and police — the whole thing has taken a while to sink in. And many of my friends have commented “it all turned out fine” or words to that effect, as though I should feel grateful that my son — innocent of any crime — actually survived his encounter with police. I am grateful. But I’m mainly grateful to Ben and Amy Ballinger-Cole.
If you’re around kids (and we are talking about a child here, despite the fact that he’s 6 feet tall and has facial hair), you know that they’re easily provoked into defensive words, gestures, or exclamations. And such gestures from a black male can be easily misconstrued. When Evan got home, he told me that one of the officers kept accusing him of lying. “I emptied out my pockets, mom, just to show him I didn’t have ANYTHING.” Even as an older adult, I know how frustrating it can be to argue with someone who refuses to believe you.
The fact that first Ben and then Amy were right there is what probably saved the entire situation. Their presence meant that Evan (not the most articulate child) didn’t have to argue alone. Their presence meant that he felt supported and affirmed. Their presence meant that the two officers knew that homeowners (potential “burglary” victims) were vouching for the innocence of my son. Their presence meant that WHITE people were saying he’s a good kid. Their presence lessened the provocation, the friction that was building between Evan and the officer accusing him of being a thief.
There are so many ways this could’ve turned out wrong. I didn’t write this very well. I may come back and edit it again. Evan’s dad, Randy Erwin, is also still processing this experience.
* Evan’s dad explained more in reply to someone who asked what their 15-year-old kid was doing out after curfew…
He was in front of a friend’s house with children his age who lived in that house. But instead of telling them all to go inside, and despite the pleading of their parents, the police singled him out because of his skin color, and using the curfew law as a pretext, took him away in a squad car.
Aside from the hyperpartisan ravings, my social media streams are filled these days with rantings about cops, black people and Pokemon Go. So, this has everything. But let’s try to avoid ranting here or silly armchair judging.
This isn’t about cops, necessarily, or the plight of black kids.
It’s about a real life mom who got the scare of her life, and about two parents and a kid struggling to make sense of it all.
…Adding… Dusty updates in comments…
I need to correct something Evan’s dad said. Evan’s friend was also taken home in a squad car, and she’s white. So both kids got the ride. That said, I’ll also add that Amy and Ben tell me their teenage daughters +friends frequently walk to the nearby supermarket or church playground late at night, and have never been stopped for curfew violation. So I guess they haven’t experienced the Grove’s rite of passage yet.
Like I originally said: I’m still figuring all this out. The only thing I know for sure is 1) I’m grateful Amy and Ben were there, and 2) my kid won’t be walking anywhere after dark ever again.
Reboot Illinois is thrilled to announce its partnership with the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, based in Tampa, Florida.
Now the exclusive home of PolitiFact Illinois, Reboot Illinois is partnering with the world-renowned news operation to prosecute political speech, find the facts and determine in transparent fashion whether the claims and counterclaims of Illinois’ officeholders, public figures and pundits are true.
“We’ve had massive out-migration of people and jobs. We have the highest unemployment rate of any state in America,” Rauner said, detailing a litany of Illinois’ problems on the business and government front. “We have the highest level of corruption and cronyism and patronage of any state in America. We have lower family incomes in Illinois today than we had 17 years ago in Illinois. We are fundamentally in decline because of the control of (House) Speaker (Michael) Madigan and his Democrats.”
Rauner made several claims here, but we’re going to focus on the part about family incomes. Is it true that Illinois has lower family incomes today than in 1999?
Indeed, the 2014 median household income in Illinois was $54,916 and the 1999 median household income, adjusted for inflation, was $65,850. That’s a decline of 16.6 percent.
Pretty bad, right?
But look at neighboring Indiana, which saw its median household income plummet 17.2 percent — to the current $48,060 — in the same time period. Or Wisconsin, which had a 10.5 percent drop. Missouri went from $58,819 in 1999 to $56,630 in 2014 — a 3.7 percent decline.
Nationwide, the inflation-adjusted median income went from $57,843 in 1999 to $53,657 in 2014. That’s a drop of 7.2 percent.
So there’s no disputing that Illinois’ median household income fell between 1999 and 2014, but Rauner presented the figure as if Illinois were an outlier among other states; that its political leadership had chartered a uniquely disastrous course. A look at the same time period for Indiana — a state repeatedly cited by Rauner as a beacon of economic growth — shows Illinois was far from alone.
But the bigger problem here is that by choosing the peak income year among 30 years’ worth of data and presenting Illinois as an isolated case, Rauner tacitly asserts that Illinois is unique in seeing lower income “today” than in 1999.
We rate the statement Half True.
Our state’s median household income dropped at more than twice the national rate. Yeah, Indiana’s fell by more, perhaps even by design.
But I’m not so sure I’d rate Rauner’s statement as “half true.” In isolation, which is what the fact check is supposedly about, it’s fully true.
In context, it’s still mainly true, but this wasn’t supposed to be about the context.
* Setting semantics aside, we have very real economic problems in Illinois. While our problems are not ours alone, they’re still pretty darned bad and worse than most.
But, so far, Rauner is the only one at the top of the state’s political food chain talking about this problem. It burns me to no end that nobody else is addressing this topic.
So, I’d give him a bit of latitude until somebody else steps up with some new ideas to address our clearly lagging economy.
CHICAGO, IL – In response to the failure of Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino to answer questions amidst the ongoing federal and state investigations into his campaign spending irregularities while a member of the Illinois General Assembly, State Representative Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) announced the filing today of House Joint Resolution 158 aimed at removing Mautino from office, a measure with over 20 co-sponsors.
“Auditor General Mautino is not able to perform his duties with the trust and confidence that Illinoisans deserve,” Rep. Kay said. “The Auditor General’s Office is a position where transparency is at the very heart of the job itself. Illinoisans deserve a clean government and Auditor General Mautino, by his refusal to respond to public questions surrounding his ethical conduct, has demonstrated that he is unfit to remain in office.”
At issue is more than $200,000 Mautino spent over 10 years on gas and vehicle repairs at a Spring Valley service station owned by a city alderman, as well as $259,000 in payments made to a local bank since 1999.
“As the Auditor General labors under the weight of state and federal investigations which could continue for a long duration of time, the citizens of Illinois and the General Assembly must have complete, unreserved confidence that the Office of Auditor General is able to operate effectively and without the hint of scandal,” Rep. Kay added.
In a letter sent last month, over 20 other House and Senate Republican lawmakers urged Mautino to take an unpaid leave of absence until federal and state investigations into irregular campaign spending while he was a state representative conclude, noting that the Auditor General has yet to provide documentation clarifying his campaign expenditures and reporting practices through his now inactive political committee. Mautino has not responded to the letter or to repeated calls to answer official legislative inquiries.
“Frank Mautino cannot effectively do his job as Auditor General while defending himself against potential criminal charges and a State Election Board investigation,” said Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton), a Chief Co-Sponsor of the Kay resolution. “If he will not do the right thing on his own and step aside, we have a responsibility as the people’s elected representatives to hold him accountable.”
* The Question: Should Auditor General Mautino resign now or should we wait for more developments? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Governor Bruce Rauner today signed an Executive Order to help ensure equal opportunity is provided to all Illinois businesses looking to contract with the State. Executive Order 16-08 directs the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) to oversee the implementation of the recommendations from a 2015 Disparity Study. It also directs CMS to investigate and, if needed, take appropriate steps to implement a sheltered markets initiative, to increase the number businesses owned and controlled by minorities, women, and persons with disabilities doing business with the State.
“We need to lift up minorities, women, and persons with disabilities who have been overlooked within our society and are underrepresented in our economy,” Governor Rauner said. “Illinois is one of the most diverse states in the country, yet a 2015 study found that disparities exist between the number of minority-owned and women-owned businesses and their utilization on contracts and subcontracts through the State. This Executive Order seeks to address this disparity and ensure more minority-owned businesses are given the opportunity to do business with the State.”
EO 16-08 directs CMS to institute a number of reforms to how it currently administers State of Illinois Business Enterprise Program (BEP) to address the problems highlighted by a 2015 Disparity Study. Details of the study can be found here.
Many of these reforms are common sense administrative fixes to make it easier for BEP businesses to understand and access state markets, including: creating an electronic data collection and monitoring system to track BEP utilization; reviewing CMS’ own process for setting BEP goals on state contracts; and, reviewing the time it takes to get procurements out to the public and the time bidders have to submit responses to these procurements.
“This Executive Order, especially the thoughtful consideration of use of Sheltered Markets, is perhaps the most important step the State of Illinois has taken toward bringing equity to Black and minority-owned businesses in the state,” said Larry Ivory, President and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce.
Other reforms are designed to help BEP businesses become more competitive bidders, including: developing a mentoring program to pair BEP businesses with more established businesses; strengthening State-sponsored bonding and financial assistance programs; and, implementing procurement forecasts to increase BEP businesses’ access to contracting information.
“This is an important step for the minority business community and their ability to compete and grow,” said Sheila Morgan, President and CEO of the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council. “The Governor’s action today shows a sincere desire to support economic development through inclusive practices in procurement in the State of Illinois.”
The Executive Order also directs CMS to determine whether the creation of “Sheltered Markets” can reduce disparities and, if so, take appropriate steps to establish sheltered markets in industry-specific areas.
Sheltered markets may be created when certain State procurement solicitations are specifically set aside for BEP-eligible businesses. These initiatives are able to target areas where discriminatory practices have prevented progress towards parity in contracting. They also complement and bolster the efforts of other BEP measures such as the state goal of 20 percent of contracts awarded to minority businesses.
Pursuant to the Executive Order, CMS must report on its results on July 1st of each year, beginning on July 1, 2017.
* A press release this past March from the U of I will give you some insights into how this could work…
The University of Illinois Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved the state’s first contracts under a new Illinois purchasing initiative enacted to attract more minority and female-owned businesses as vendors for state agencies and universities.
Under the groundbreaking awards, 28 minority- and female-owned companies will receive three-year contracts to provide information technology services on an as-needed basis, augmenting existing staff on the university’s campuses in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign. The contracts take effect July 1, 2016.
The university received bids from 45 companies after issuing the state’s first request-for-proposal last April through the new “sheltered market” initiative, which followed years of work by the state to address disparities in contracting IT and telecommunications services by state entities.
The “sheltered market” initiative allows certain state contracts to be set aside specifically for businesses owned by minorities, females and people with disabilities, and was established after an Illinois Business Enterprise Program Council disparity study found that sectors of the IT/telecommunications industry were being unfairly excluded from state business.
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The Independent Map Amendment has received editorial support from news outlets across Illinois:
“A fair redistricting process is the single most important reform that could come to Illinois. Voters will have more choices and better candidates.” -Chicago Tribune; June 17, 2014
“The stakes could not be higher in this fight between entrenched political power brokers who profit from the status quo and reformers who believe changing the way state lawmakers are elected will help jump-start the legislative election process in Illinois.” -Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette; July 7, 2016
“Illinois residents want a chance to change their dysfunctional government, but that won’t happen until the map-drawing process is changed.” -Bloomington Pantagraph and Decatur Herald & Review; June 14, 2016
“If legislative districts are no longer drawn by politicians, they would be more likely to serve the public better through elected officials who are more accountable for their actions, or lack thereof.” -Shaw Media; June 8, 2016
“The single biggest reason so many races now are not even races — just that one lone candidate — is that the politicians draw up district boundaries in cockeyed ways to eliminate competition.” -Chicago Sun-Times; June 1, 2016
Rauner openly admits there is a lot riding on the general election for control of the General Assembly in Springfield. A couple of candidates he supported lost their primary bids. Juliana Stratton beat Rep. Ken Dunkin (a Democrat who sided with Rauner at times) and incumbent Sen. Sam McCann beat primary challenger Bryce Benton (who Rauner supported).
“November is very critical,” Rauner said. “This is a time if the speaker and his supermajority get more power, reforms and less tax burden and balanced budget are going to be much harder to achieve. If we can have a legislature where both parties have a voice relatively more equal than completely one-sided, we have a chance to grow the economy more, protect taxpayers more, get term limits and redistricting reform done.”
News conferences from Springfield over the last 18 months would suggest there’s no love lost between the Governor and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. However, there’s no denying the two need each other to get anything significant done. Rauner described that relationship.
“It’s actually on a personal level, it’s perfectly fine, very cordial,” Rauner said. “We’re very candid with each other. We’re very frank. We’re very honest and direct. There’s a lot of posturing that has to go on. The reality is we have a fundamental disagreement, an honest disagreement.”
I think this is the first time he’s ever acknowledged that Madigan is coming from an “honest” position. I doubt we’ll see him say that much more, though. We’ll see.
Critics contend the formula shortchanges districts that serve poor children and doesn’t do enough to compensate districts that can’t rely on high real estate values to cover their spending needs with property taxes. But ideas to fix the problem usually hinge on raising taxes or reducing the amounts that go to wealthier districts in order to boost funding for poorer ones, both of which are difficult to sell politically.
In the meantime, the issue has been studied and bandied about in countless panels such as the one created by Rauner. So-called “blue ribbon” school funding panels were a hallmark of former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar during the 1990s, but he gained little traction.
Rauner tried to put an optimistic spin on the idea Tuesday, saying he thinks that given “the financial pressures that school districts are facing, the state is facing, the city of Chicago is facing, there’s a lot of motivation to try to improve the system.”
Still, the commission’s structure appeared designed to give Republicans a louder voice, even though Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature. Rauner stacked the panel with allies by appointing his education secretary as chair and allowing Republicans to select 15 of the 25 members.
Several commenters were kinda harsh on the governor’s idea yesterday. And I even questioned the timing of the announcement.
* But, after sleeping on it, I’ve decided that we should look on the bright side.
Right now, identify five key issues or problems. Then put his administration on alert to identify five doable things to address those issues. As you solve those problems, let people know. Create the image of competent, professional management of our state. That’s what we need: someone who can identify real problems and solve them, not complain about them. We’ve got 11,999,999 people to complain. We need 1 to step up and solve. He wanted to be that 1.
Rauner’s supporters mostly hated that piece. But, regardless of the politics, regardless of the historical challenges, this new study group allows the governor to do all that. And, who knows, it might actually get something done.
* Why do I think it could succeed? Well, first up, here’s Mayor Emanuel’s react…
“If we were starting from scratch, nobody would design the funding formula we have today penalizing poor kids. The governor is acknowledging the work that’s been going on in Legislature trying to grapple with this problem. That, to me, is a real turnaround,” Emanuel said.
“The fact that he wants to create this commission is an acknowledgment that you cannot double-down on a funding system you say is broken. Righting the wrongs of a broken funding formula demands more attention, not less. More resources, not less. That will be a true turnaround for the state of Illinois.”
The early 2017 deadline would permit legislators to take up a bill in spring session — a tight deadline, he acknowledged, but one that’s doable “partly because there have been efforts.”
“I think there’s a frustration level of wanting to get something done, I also think the financial pressures that school districts are facing, the state is facing, the city of Chicago is facing,” Rauner said at the Thompson Center. “There’s lot of motivation to try to improve the system. . . . Granted, this is going to be hard. But I’m optimistic.”
He’s right. This could be the right moment. Maybe not, but maybe so.
Either way, it’s a positive step and we should accept it as such.
Starting today and ending on Friday, Dave Severin, candidate for State Representative in the 117th House District, will countdown the top 5 ways in which Representative John Bradley has sided with Mike Madigan and the Chicago political machine instead of representing Southern Illinois. Severin said of Mr. Bradley’s actions:
“John Bradley talks out of one side of his mouth in Southern Illinois and then votes with the other side of his mouth up in Springfield. Actions, not words, define who someone is. The idea that Mr. Bradley is independent of Madigan’s control is ridiculous and obviously doesn’t match his record over 13 years in the General Assembly.”
Coming in at #5 is Rep. John Bradley’s vote to give illegal immigrants state issued driver’s licenses.
It wouldn’t be really about the fact that many illegal immigrants have brown skin, would it?
Nah. Couldn’t be.
Never in a million years.
Man, this campaign is gonna be ugly, campers.
…Adding… A couple of very good points have been made in comments. First, A Guy…
This legislation also made it more easy and possible for people to get auto insurance. You know, in case they hit your car…Hmmm.
Archpundit…
Of course the bill wasn’t about controlling illegal immigration. It was about controlling a problem created by illegal immigration. This is how we know it’s a dog whistle–the law didn’t do anything for those undocumented workers other than make the roads safer for all of us.
…Adding More… Another…
Sen. Radogno was one of the co-sponsors of SB 957 in 2012. So was Sen. Sandack, Sen. Bill Brady, and Sen. Millner. It got 41 votes in the Senate.
Among the Yes votes in the House was Tom Cross, Jim Durkin, Dan Brady, as well as Reps. Sanger, Saviano, Pritchard and Winters.
If the bill was good enough for the Minority Leaders, how can it be so terrible for a Democrat?
During the recent state budget impasse, Illinois colleges and universities have been forced to scrape by without state funding, except for stop gap money designed to keep them open through the fall semester. But that may not satisfy accreditation agencies. James Applegate, director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, says the Higher Learning Commission may just home in on the fact that Illinois schools are missing what schools in other states have: a solid budget.
“As grateful as we are for getting money so we can stay open — a half year budget — when they read it at the regional accreditor office, that aggravates the problem, because they’re saying, ‘They couldn’t even get a full year budget together,’ ” Applegate says. “Because the accreditors are not looking at next semester or even next year. They’re saying: Are institutions financially able to serve students they enroll for four or five years? And I would not be surprised if we continue to garner attention from regional accreditors.”
The IBHE is proposing a plan where schools would promise certain outcomes in exchange for the state providing a basic level of funding for three years.
Accreditation is necessary because if a school doesn’t have it, students cannot get federal students loans and their credits won’t transfer to other accredited institutions.
“Obviously it’s welcomed in the sense that it helps our institutions stay open into the fall, but it certainly is not the solution. This doesn’t help us in terms of being able to plan for an academic year. It leaves us in a state of flux and uncertainty, and even with this funding and the April funding, if you were to look at what the higher ed system received in (fiscal year) ‘15, before all this started, even after that budget was cut toward the end of the year, and you just said, ‘Well let’s assume a reasonable budget would be in (fy) ‘16 and (fy) ‘17 we had that ‘15.’ So ‘15 times two. The current amount of money that’s been given to our universities is less than half of that. So this is supposed to carry them for 18 months. Then it is good that we finally paid the bills for the MAP (Monetary Awards Program) students last year, but there’s no certainty for next year, and ISAC (Illinois Student Assistance Commission), who administers the MAP program, is saying MAP applications are significantly down. So there are thousands of students who are just deciding why bother? Why should we go to college?”
In other words, it’s less than 9 months of revenue for 18 months of operations.
Chicago State University has been notified it could lose accreditation within a year because of its unstable finances.
The Higher Learning Commission, the agency that oversees public colleges and universities, also dinged the South Side college on long-term planning. But it primarily blamed the school’s woes — significant program and staffing cuts — on the year and a half impasse between the governor and Legislature.
“The institution’s financial situation in FY2016 has been unstable due to the state budget impasse,” the agency wrote in a July 11 letter to CSU leadership.
“The University continues to have diminished financial resources and is accounting in its planning for continued diminution of its resources in the near future. As of the date of this action, the State of Illinois has yet to pass a comprehensive state budget for either FY2016 or FY2017 . . . thus further exacerbating the financial challenges and lack of financial predictability,” the agency wrote.
CSU was given until June 2017 to prove financially stability, or lose accreditation, which would jeopardize ability of students attending the school to transfer credits to other institutions.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz appears safe as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee until the November elections after Democrats privately mulled options to replace her, including with Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, according to several sources familiar with the discussions. […]
So privately, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid offered an alternative: Durbin as Wasserman Schultz’s replacement, according to several people familiar with the situation. In an interview on Tuesday, Durbin confirmed to CNN that he spoke with Reid about the matter, but downplayed the discussion.
“A lot of people put my name up but I didn’t ask for any of this,” Durbin said.
Asked about Reid floating his name, Durbin said: “He told me that he had mentioned it. That was as far as it went. There wasn’t any active discussion. Nothing came of it.”
Like the article says, Wasserman Schultz isn’t going anywhere until after the election anyway.
Comptroller Leslie Munger has been silent on Donald Trump’s rise in the Republican party while he calls Mexicans rapists, mocks disabled reporters and disparages women, just to name a few. She is looking like quite the ally to her party’s new leader, even sitting with him at a City Club event.
But I’m not staying quiet… or having lunch with Donald Trump.
This morning, I stood in front of Trump Tower in Chicago to say enough is enough.
We need to build a symbolic wall between Trump and the White House.
It’s time to unite and tell our opponent Leslie Munger and her pal Donald Trump that his hateful rhetoric, and her silence in the face of it, are destructive to the well being of our state and country.
If you’re ready to send a clear message to Leslie and her friends, chip in $10 today and say ‘enough is enough.’
Together, we can make sure Donald Trump’s hateful and divisive rhetoric stays far away from Springfield.
* The accompanying pic…
* And you may remember this tweet during Trump’s City Club speech…
Mendoza, who is running for Illinois comptroller, said she came to denounce Trump’s “message of hate.”
“Our job is to stand up against that, to espouse about love. Talking about our differences is what makes us great and to actually get through our differences through talking as professionals, adults, rationally, instead of as, like, bullies on the playground,” Mendoza said.
The incumbent comptroller, Leslie Munger, last month said she wouldn’t attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but wouldn’t comment on whether she supports Trump.
Mendoza on Tuesday called on Munger to publicly denounce Trump.
“It takes about a half a nanosecond to know where you should stand when it comes to Donald Trump,” Mendoza said. “She should be denouncing him, just like pretty much anybody who has half a brain is doing these days.”
The House Republican Organization has been prolific in its TV advertising against potential Democratic targets in the fall’s legislative contests, and it’s back at it again.
But in its latest ad, linking three Downstate Democrats to powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, it accuses them of backing “a bailout for Chicago schools.”
This raises the conundrum facing Republicans — including Gov. Rauner. They vowed not to give the city’s financially troubled schools any extra money. But in a full-year school funding deal that Rauner and many Republicans supported, CPS gets extra funding, including the possibility of a state taxpayer-financed pension subsidy.
Republicans backing the deal quickly wanted to let their suburban and Downstate constituents know that the bill was not a Chicago “bailout,” just as Democrats had insisted. Now, Republicans may be faced with being asked to define the word “bailout.”
…Adding… I was looking at the wrong roll call. Sorry about that! Targets in both parties were pulled off that roll call.
In the end, Rauner and lawmakers agreed on a spending plan for schools that ensured that no school district would receive less money that it got last year, while sending extra money to poorer districts, including an additional $130 million to CPS and potentially more than $200 million for teacher pensions on top of that.
But that battle of wills, waged most publicly by Rauner, positioned him as the chief obstructionist in the school funding formula issue, even though lawmakers themselves can’t agree on how the formula should be changed. The new commission is an attempt by Rauner to seize control of that discussion, and to potentially reposition himself as an advocate for the school districts that routinely lose out under the current formula.
Even so, Rauner on Tuesday was vague about what he’d like to see emerge from the commission. And while he acknowledged that spending more money on schools will require the state to find a way to pay for it, he wouldn’t commit to raising taxes to do so, saying he’s an “anti-tax person,” who ran for office “to try to bring down the tax burden.”
No love for the guv there.
* If you look at the timing of the governor’s announcement today, and couple it with the fact that he seemed kinda uninformed about his own commission (30 members or 25?), I can’t help but wonder if he at least partly wanted to prove to everyone that he was nowhere near Donald Trump’s downtown fundraiser today. Whether that was intentional or not, he certainly succeeded.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is in Chicago and the state’s top Republican - Gov. Bruce Rauner - was not with him.
The governor announced Tuesday morning he will form a commission to change the way that Illinois funds public education. Not only is he not attending the fundraiser with Trump, but his office scheduled that event at the same time. Intentional or not, it does drive home the point that Rauner has not endorsed Trump for the presidency.
“I love you, Charles. I am not going to comment,” Gov. Rauner said. “I have said everything I am going to say about the presidential race.”
The governor said he has so much to do in the state of Illinois that he has no time for presidential politics - at least that is how he is avoiding the Trump controversy.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
All he has to do now is come up with a plan for next week…
At an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning at the Thompson Center, Rauner walked out without responding to reporters who asked what he’d be doing instead of attending his party’s national convention.
Chicago-area business leaders strongly believe that donating to a local politician or hiring a high-powered lobbyist adds to the city’s already serious corruption problems. But, according to a new survey, they also overwhelmingly believe that paying to play works.
The survey also finds that business leaders, by an 8-to-1, margin say that “things in Chicago are . . . off on the wrong track,” with 79 percent negative and just 10 percent positive.
The online survey of 428 Chicago-area decision-makers was conducted by Crain’s Custom Media in May for the Committee of Economic Development of the Conference Board, a nonpartisan, business-led policy group. Those polled by email indicated that their companies had at least $1 million in revenue last year and that they either hold a top management slot or serve on the firm’s board.
The results “are indicative of the constant sort of low-level scandals that seem to happen on a regular basis in Chicago,” said committee senior advisor Cindy Canary, a well-known local reformer.
More than half (53%) felt that big campaign donors have a great deal of impact on increasing Chicago corruption, while 39% felt they have some impact.
The rating of impact of big donors on increasing Chicago corruption was significantly correlated with the rating of ethical behavior of Chicago officials. For example, among those who felt that big campaign donors have a great deal of impact, 71% also felt that Chicago official ethical behavior is a very serious issue.
Most (91%) felt that companies that engage with the political process in Chicago by using paid lobbyists and making political contributions gain a business advantage.
Slightly more than half (54%) of these respondents felt that campaign contributions give companies a more significant advantage than the services of paid lobbyists. However, this still leaves 46% who felt that the services of paid lobbyists give companies a more significant advantage than campaign contributions. Thus, respondents were roughly split on whether lobbying or contributions had the more significant effect.
More than half (54%) felt that lobbying of Chicago City Council members and other officials has a great deal of impact on increasing corruption, while another 39% felt this has some impact.
The rating of impact of lobbying on increasing Chicago corruption was significantly correlated with the rating of ethical behavior of Chicago officials. For example, among those who felt that lobbying has a great deal of impact, 72% also felt that Chicago official ethical behavior is a very serious issue.
Approximately eight-in-ten (81%) felt that Chicago’s elected officials are generally more responsive to lobbyists than to voters. Others either felt that Chicago’s elected officials are generally more responsive to voters than to lobbyists (9%) or they were not sure (10%).
More than half (58%) would support a program that encourages small-dollar contributions. One-in-six (17%) would not support this type of program, while 25% were not sure. The sizable proportion who were not sure suggests that there is room for further communication / education about this type of program, while the finding that the majority would support it suggests that there is significant potential for this type of program in the future.
Some (15%) felt that a small donor program would strongly improve the quality of candidates who run for municipal office in Chicago, while nearly one-third (32%) felt that this would lead to some improvement. Only 5% felt that this would have a negative impact, although many felt it would make no difference in the quality of candidates (35%) or they weren’t sure (13%).
The rating of the impact of a small donor program was significantly correlated with the willingness to support this type of program. For example, among those who would support it, 70% felt that a small-donor program would lead to at least some improvement in the quality of candidates, while this was true for 4% of those who indicated that they would not support this type of program.
Most (92%) felt that a form of crony capitalism is practiced in Chicago. (This was after crony capitalism was defined as the unhealthy relationship between some businesses and government, which can lead to favoritism in the form of tax breaks, government grants, and other incentives.)
Half (50%) felt that there is a lot of pressure on business leaders in Chicago to make political contributions, while 38% felt there is some pressure.
As for [US Sen. Mark Kirk], Trump said he had reason to believe that the Illinois senator’s distaste for him was feigned, but he would not share his evidence for the record. He reminded me that he had won both Kirk’s and Ayotte’s states during the primaries and predicted that he would repeat that feat in November. If the two senators felt it wise to separate themselves from their party’s leader, then Trump would support, if not endorse, the idea. “I want them to do what they need to do,” he said of the vulnerable senators. “It’s fine with me. It won’t hurt me. I think it’ll hurt them, frankly.”
Illinois House Republicans welcomed a new member on Monday after Grundy County Board Chairman David Welter was picked by party officials to represent the 75th District.
Welter replaces former Rep. John Anthony, who resigned in June to begin a new position as executive assistant to the director of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Welter, of Morris, has served as Grundy County Board chairman since 2014 and first joined the county board in 2010 when he was 19.
In a statement, House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said Welter was joining the legislature “during very difficult times” but said he was confident the newest member of his caucus was prepared “to do the heavy lifting required to get Illinois back on track.”
Welter, who has served on the Grundy County Board since age 19, was appointed Grundy County chairman Dec. 1, 2014, and currently holds the position.
“I am extremely impressed by the level of experience, professionalism and accomplishments that Mr. Welter has packed into his six years in public service,” Marter said in the news release. “David’s passion, youth and energy will be an asset to the residents of the 75th district.”
* Former Rep. Anthony had his own preferred candidate and was initially angry about the choice…
Former state Rep. Frank Mautino is getting another two weeks to answer the state elections board’s concerns about his campaign finance reports.
The Board of Elections granted an extension for Mautino, D-Spring Valley, at its monthly meeting Monday.
He has until Tuesday, July 26, to provide the information. If it’s considered insufficient, a public hearing will be set in which a hearing officer will take testimony about Mautino’s reports, which are the target of a citizen’s complaint, said Tom Newman, the board’s director of campaign disclosure.
For nearly six months, Mautino, now the state’s auditor general, has avoided answering questions about how he spent campaign money. His spending included nearly $250,000 in gas and car repairs at Happy’s Super Service in Spring Valley as well as more than $250,000 in payments to Spring Valley City Bank.
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news network…
Going against the recommendation of the election board’s general counsel, the board voted 5-3 to deny a motion to stay its investigation while the U.S. Attorney’s office investigates hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending.
The board wanted guidance from federal investigators before deciding to hold off on the state investigation. Election board member John Keith said that guidance indicated the board’s decision would not impact any possible federal case.
Board member William Cadigan said denying the motion to stay treats Mautino’s case like every other case the election board handles.
Board member William McGuffage voted no on the motion, saying the election board’s decision could bolster negative press, hinder the federal investigation and be used in any possible impeachment proceedings against the Auditor General.
Mautino’s attorney said the expected the stay to be granted and did not have amended expense reports to file Monday. In a separate motion, the board decided to give Mautino two weeks to file amended reports. If no reports are filed, the case will go to public hearing, which would give the person who filed the complaint subpoena power.
Mautino’s attorney indicated the Auditor General could use his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination because of an ongoing federal investigation into campaign spending.
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, said that explains a lot. “That tells you everything you need to know right there. He’s not willing to answer questions because he may have to answer to them in a criminal matter,” Ives said.
* The issue is already showing up in campaigns…
CHICAGO – State Representative Dwight Kay along with a group of suburban House lawmakers will hold a press conference on Wednesday, July 13th at the James R. Thompson Center to announce a new House resolution to address the ongoing situation with Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino.
WHO: State Representative Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon)
And other suburban lawmakers
WHEN: Wednesday, July 13th at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: Blue Room (15th Floor)
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, IL 60601
* Pro Publica estimates that at least 100,000 people every year plead guilty to drug-possession charges which rely on inexpensive (often two dollars each) police field-test results as evidence…
Police officers arrest more than 1.2 million people a year in the United States on charges of illegal drug possession. Field tests like the one Officer Helms used in front of Amy Albritton help them move quickly from suspicion to conviction. But the kits — which cost about $2 each and have changed little since 1973 — are far from reliable.
The field tests seem simple, but a lot can go wrong. Some tests, including the one the Houston police officers used to analyze the crumb on the floor of Albritton’s car, use a single tube of a chemical called cobalt thiocyanate, which turns blue when it is exposed to cocaine. But cobalt thiocyanate also turns blue when it is exposed to more than 80 other compounds, including methadone, certain acne medications and several common household cleaners. Other tests use three tubes, which the officer can break in a specific order to rule out everything but the drug in question — but if the officer breaks the tubes in the wrong order, that, too, can invalidate the results. The environment can also present problems. Cold weather slows the color development; heat speeds it up, or sometimes prevents a color reaction from taking place at all. Poor lighting on the street — flashing police lights, sun glare, street lamps — often prevents officers from making the fine distinctions that could make the difference between an arrest and a release.
There are no established error rates for the field tests, in part because their accuracy varies so widely depending on who is using them and how. In Las Vegas, authorities re-examined a sampling of cocaine field tests conducted between 2010 and 2013 and found that 33 percent of them were false positives. Data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab system show that 21 percent of evidence that the police listed as methamphetamine after identifying it was not methamphetamine, and half of those false positives were not any kind of illegal drug at all. In one notable Florida episode, Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies produced 15 false positives for methamphetamine in the first seven months of 2014. When we examined the department’s records, they showed that officers, faced with somewhat ambiguous directions on the pouches, had simply misunderstood which colors indicated a positive result.
No central agency regulates the manufacture or sale of the tests, and no comprehensive records are kept about their use. In the late 1960s, crime labs outfitted investigators with mobile chemistry sets, including small plastic test tubes and bottles of chemical reagents that reacted with certain drugs by changing colors, more or less on the same principle as a home pregnancy test. But the reagents contained strong acids that leaked and burned the investigators. In 1973, the same year that Richard Nixon formally established the Drug Enforcement Administration, declaring “an all-out global war on the drug menace,” a pair of California inventors patented a “disposable comparison detector kit.” It was far simpler, just a glass vial or vials inside a plastic pouch. Open the pouch, add the compound to be tested, seal the pouch, break open the vials and watch the colors change. The field tests, convenient and imbued with an aura of scientific infallibility, were ordered by police departments across the country. In a 1974 study, however, the National Bureau of Standards warned that the kits “should not be used as sole evidence for the identification of a narcotic or drug of abuse.” Police officers were not chemists, and chemists themselves had long ago stopped relying on color tests, preferring more reliable mass spectrographs. By 1978, the Department of Justice had determined that field tests “should not be used for evidential purposes,” and the field tests in use today remain inadmissible at trial in nearly every jurisdiction; instead, prosecutors must present a secondary lab test using more reliable methods.
But this has proved to be a meaningless prohibition. Most drug cases in the United States are decided well before they reach trial, by the far more informal process of plea bargaining. In 2011, RTI International, a nonprofit research group based in North Carolina, found that prosecutors in nine of 10 jurisdictions it surveyed nationwide accepted guilty pleas based solely on the results of field tests, and in our own reporting, we confirmed that prosecutors or judges accept plea deals on that same basis in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle and Tampa.
* I asked the Illinois State Police for comment…
Hi Rich,
The ISP utilizes field test kits (similar to the illustration in the attached link you sent) to aid in establishing probable cause for arrest by detecting the possible presence of narcotics. Field test kit results are considered presumptive. The ISP laboratory utilizes scientifically validated methods for confirmatory testing of specimens to determine the presence of narcotics in submitted evidence.
* I asked what “presumptive” meant, exactly. The spokesman pointed me to this passage in a policies and procedures manual…
Involvement in the criminal justice system begins with an alleged violation of state criminal law or local or municipal ordinance. Individuals can enter police custody in different ways. A police officer may directly observe a violation of the law or ordinance or may be called to investigate a report of a possible crime. In either case, when a police officer determines that he or she has probable cause to believe an individual committed a criminal act, he or she can take that person into custody. Even with probable cause, a police officer may choose to release the individual and continue an investigation into the alleged offense. A police officer has discretion, limited by the police department’s policy, regarding what action he or she takes.
So I then asked how often the lab checks those field tests, and what the rate of false positives is on those follow-uptests. I was asked to submit a FOIA. I will and will let you know what I learn.
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Don Harmon is also concerned about this issue and says he has already started looking into it. He texted me that there’s another problem with the tests: “The number of people held in Cook County Jail for almost a month and then released because of no probable cause is staggering. As is the associated cost of the taxpayer”…
We recently passed a bill to do a pilot program in Cook County, because all the other counties in the state are already using the field tests. Mike Z was the House sponsor.
The reason this is important is that people in Cook County are spending 20 to 30 days in jail, waiting for the results of the lab tests before even getting their probable cause hearing.
I’m concerned about the story regarding accuracy of the tests, and I’m already looking into it. But, at least in Cook County, I’m not sure that a false positive is worse than spending 20, 25, 30 days in jail only to have your case dismissed for no probable cause once you finally get your hearing. […]
In Cook, they won’t do the probable cause hearing without the lab results. Hence, the long wait in jail.
It’s also my understanding that judges are routinely throwing out small-amount cases, citing lack of probable cause, even when the field test or the lab test come back positive. apparently, it’s just not worth the time and effort to proceed. It’s like they’re viewing the 20 to 30 day stay in jail as the sentence already served.
What: Governor Announces Creation of Commission to Reform School Funding Formula
Where: James R. Thompson Center – Blue Room
100 W. Randolph, Chicago
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected today to make a new push toward revamping how schools receive state money in Illinois. At a Thompson Center news conference, Rauner is scheduled to announce the creation of the Illinois School Funding Reform Commission, which will be tasked with “developing an equitable, adequate and affordable school funding formula to use with the FY18 school year,” according to the governor’s office. Rauner’s hand-picked Secretary of Education Beth Purvis will act as commission chair … by taking on school funding equity, Rauner may neutralize possible attacks on Republicans in advance of the November election.
Faced with a shortage of infrastructure capital and a big employer that needs help, the state of Illinois is moving into the private toll bridge business.
In a rather unique twist today, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced a deal under which CenterPoint Properties will build a $170 million to $190 million private toll bridge linking Interstate 80 and its huge multimodal facility in Will County.
Rauner said the first-of-its kind deal, a variation on the public/private partnership model, will alleviate traffic congestion on local roads that weren’t built to handle fleets of 18-wheelers while strengthening the local economy.
“This project is long overdue and will only enhance the region’s position as a freight hub for North America and an economic engine for the state,” Rauner said in a statement. “Illinois needs more projects just like these creative solutions to fund infrastructure.”
Under the deal, which Rauner said has the backing of the city of Joliet and Will County, but won’t need General Assembly sign-off, CenterPoint would be authorized to build and operate a new toll bridge on Houbolt Road over the Des Plaines River and the BNSF tracks.
Rauner said yesterday at the press conference that he wanted to keep the tolls as low as possible because he has a lot of friends who are truckers and they don’t like paying tolls.
* Meanwhile, Marc Levine, the chairman of the Illinois State Board of Investment, has a new op-ed in the SJ-R…
Hopeless. Unmanageable. Unfixable. It is all we hear about Illinois’ fiscal status. But before we give up hope on reform and renewal, transformation is occurring at many levels of state government. Through management action, the Illinois State Board of Investment has been able to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in the last year.
ISBI manages $16 billion in pension assets, mostly for Illinois state employees. Because the pension system is so vastly underfunded, pension contributions have become one of the largest line items in the state budget, crowding out spending on education, social services and placing pressure on lawmakers to raise taxes.
Here is what ISBI has done to help. Since Gov. Rauner’s election, ISBI has cut its annual investment management expenses by 50 percent, or about $40 million. ISBI expects to save $200 million over the next five years, without sacrificing returns or increasing risk.
How? ISBI, like many pension systems across the country, had been enamored with Wall Street investment managers, particularly hedge funds. Inconveniently for everybody, these funds failed to add value. Over the past three years ISBI paid hedge fund fees of $180 million. What did ISBI get for it? Before fees, the hedge fund portfolio underperformed a simple balanced index fund that costs virtually nothing. So early this year ISBI reduced hedge fund investments by 70 percent and fired nearly all of our hedge fund managers.
ISBI has also terminated about half of our “active” investment managers — those trying to beat the markets. They also failed to add value, yet were being paid fees in the millions. Shouldn’t underperformance by a government vendor be cause for dismissal? There’s nothing special about money managers — imagine the outrage if a construction firm built bridges that were consistently less safe than industry standards.
In total, ISBI has taken about $3 billion back from these managers and invested the money in index funds at minimal cost. Does this mean our pension fund will miss great returns? In fact, it’s exactly the opposite — our investment consultant projects that our expected returns will be higher and our risk is lower. And that’s before taking into account the expense savings.
Illinois is ditching the controversial state PARCC exam for high school students, instead giving 11th-graders a state-paid SAT college entrance exam next spring.
The announcement from the Illinois State Board of Education on Monday comes after only two administrations of PARCC, in the spring of 2015 and 2016, following dismal test scores and thousands of students skipping the exams. […]
At the high school level, the PARCC exams took away from key instruction time, school administrators said, as tests piled up in the spring, including Advanced Placement exams for honors-level students and a college entrance exam in many districts.
Against that backdrop, some students didn’t seem to take PARCC seriously.
“There was no element of skin in the game for the kids — they didn’t know why they had to take the exam,” said Argo Community High School District 217 Superintendent Kevin O’Mara, president of the High School District Organization of Illinois.
Durbin said he’s glad Illinois has a stop-gap budget, but the year-long budget crisis didn’t help reduce violence in Chicago.
The short-term budget passed by the state at the end of last month restored funding for youth programs like Ceasefire and Redeploy Illinois. But Durbin said the budget stalemate exacerbated the problems people in the poorest neighborhoods in the state face, such as drug trafficking and gang activity. The year-long budget impasse meant Illinois cut off resources for anti-violence programs.
“I can’t specify that the state budget equals more violence,” he said. “I wouldn’t go that far. But I will tell you, it creates an environment of vulnerability.”
“The reasons for it are many, involving drug trafficking, involving gangs and broken families,” he said.
Law enforcement agencies in the state said in March that program cuts to youth diversion programs and community-based services were increasing the likelihood of more crime.
Federal prosecutors want former Gov. Rod Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years in prison all over again.
But Blagojevich hopes the federal judge who originally hammered him with that 14-year sentence will reconsider and give him as little as five years behind bars.
Blagojevich has already been locked up for four years in a Colorado prison. Next month, his battle to overturn his conviction could land him back in front of U.S. District Judge James Zagel for re-sentencing, after years of cries that Blagojevich was dealt too severe a punishment. The feds stood by the sentence in a sentencing memo filed just before midnight Monday, though.
“Corruption spreads unless it is deterred,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Riggs Bonamici wrote in the memo. “Public officials who gain from corrupt deals are incentivized to do more, and successes inspire other public officials to see if they can do it too.”
Blagojevich’s activities behind bars could become a focal point of his resentencing. As part of his filing Wednesday, [Blagojevich’s lawyer, Leonard Goodman] included letters from more than 100 inmates in the Littleton, Colo., prison camp describing Blagojevich as kind, a mentor and a man with the utmost respect for the law.
“To forgive and not hold resentment is not an easy thing to do,” wrote one inmate, identified by his initials F.H. “Rod has taught me that it only harms myself to be bitter about my circumstance. He has taught me that the ‘wheels of justice’ do turn, even at times if justice seems slow in coming.”
While Zagel could simply let his original sentence stand, many legal experts believe the judge will recognize the dismissal of some of the counts by shaving off some time.
Prosecutors filed their motion just a minute before the midnight deadline.
