Gov. Bruce Rauner joined other state and local government officials today as Canadian manufacturer Brandt Industries announced its plan to grow jobs at an existing plant Brandt is buying in Hudson.
Advanced manufacturing and agriculture are target industries for Illinois, and state and local economic development officials have been working with the Saskatchewan-based agricultural manufacturer for months. Brandt’s deal with Kongskilde is expected to close Dec. 15, and will be the firm’s first manufacturing venture outside of its native Canada.
“It is terrific news that the former Kongskilde facility near Bloomington-Normal will not become another dormant site,” Rauner said of the 200,000-square-foot plant where Kongskilde employees formerly made agricultural equipment. “Brandt is a well-run and exceptionally successful firm that will add hundreds of manufacturing jobs in the years ahead. We’re thrilled to work with and welcome them to Illinois.”
“We are very excited at the prospect of saving this plant from closure,” said Brandt President Shaun Semple. “This is a world-class manufacturing facility with a highly trained workforce, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to make a tangible contribution to the growth of the American economy.”
The governor met with Brandt Chairman Gavin Semple and Shaun Semple prior to a 10 a.m. press conference, where Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council CEO Kyle Ham welcomed the governor, several Brandt officials, McLean County Board Chairman John McIntyre, McLean County Unit 5 School District Superintendent Mark Daniel and others.
Legislators in attendance included state Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, state Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, and state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Normal.
“The jobs being created as part of this project will have a positive impact on our economy both locally and throughout the state,” said Bill Brady.
DCEO Director Sean McCarthy said the company’s decision to establish its first U.S. facility in Illinois was “a testament to the workforce and assets of this great region.”
House lawmaker Brady also welcomed the manufacturer.
“I am pleased to have this project call the 105th Legislative District home, along with the jobs and revenue generation for our entire area and the investment Brandt has pledged to provide,” he said.
Bloomington-Normal EDC officials said Brandt’s selection speaks highly of the state and the central Illinois region.
“We’re extremely excited about the Brandt family of companies’ decision to make McLean County their base of operations in the U.S., establishing their first international manufacturing facility in the Bloomington-Normal area,” said Ham. “Our talented workforce, central location, and long history in agriculture make this the perfect match for Brandt.”
The Brandt Group of Companies include Brandt Agricultural Products, Brandt Engineered Products, Brandt Equipment Solutions, Brandt Road Rail, Brandt Developments and Brandt Tractor — the world’s largest privately held John Deere construction and forestry equipment dealer. Brandt has 50 locations in Canada and the U.S., with nearly 2,000 employees.
Between 300 and 500 new jobs are projected at the Hudson plant over the next 10 years.
“This is great news for central Illinois, and all of Illinois,” said Barickman. “We need to make sure we enact the type of business reforms necessary so that we can have more of these celebrations of job and business growth.”
* Press release…
Today, Gov. Bruce Rauner and leaders of the Illinois Bicentennial Commission officially kicked off the state’s yearlong 200th birthday celebration at Fifth Third Bank Winter WonderFest at Navy Pier. Illinois Bicentennial will pay tribute to the people, places, and things that are being BORN, BUILT & GROWN in the nation’s fifth most populous state.
“This is an opportunity to celebrate all that has been great in our first 200 years and lay the foundation for 200 more years of growth and prosperity,” Rauner said. “Illinois is home, and the Bicentennial gives us a chance to reflect on how we can continue to make it great for our children and grandchildren.”
“Today marks Illinois’ 199th birthday,” said Lori Healey, co-chairwoman of the commission and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. “Illinois Bicentennial will be a yearlong celebration between Dec. 3, 2017, and Dec. 3, 2018, which will be our state’s 200th birthday.”
“The Bicentennial is a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to fall in love with Illinois all over again,” said Gloria Castillo, co-chairwoman of the commission and president and CEO of Chicago United. “Throughout the next 365 days, Illinois Bicentennial will pay tribute to the people, places, and things that are being BORN, BUILT & GROWN here every single day.”
The Navy Pier festivities mark the beginning of events and projects that the Commission has planned to kick off the celebration around the state. In addition to the Winter WonderFest ceremony, events today and Monday include:
“Raise the Curtain on Illinois Bicentennial,” where 100 winners of the commission’s 100 Day Countdown Video Contest will share the stage with the governor and the cast of “Hamilton” following this afternoon’s matinee performance.
The Illinois Bicentennial Exhibit will be previewed today at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, with music provided by the Illinois Symphony.
A simultaneous Bicentennial flag-raising takes place at municipalities around the state at noon Monday, Dec. 4, to note the beginning of the state’s 200th year. The Illinois Municipal League and United Airlines partnered to provide complimentary flags to counties and municipalities statewide, and the Commission will also host a flag raising ceremony at McCormick Place at noon on Dec. 4.
During his kickoff address, the governor encouraged all citizens to participate in the celebration, to visit illinois200.com and to use the hashtag #IllinoisProud on their social media posts.
Fifth Third Bank hosted today’s festivities at Navy Pier, where the Bicentennial logo is featured on the Navy Pier Centennial Wheel and on signage throughout Winter WonderFest today. Guests can also purchase merchandise commemorating the state’s milestone and have pictures taken with “Big Lincoln,” near the Illinois Bicentennial and Office of Tourism booths.
Also in attendance at today’s press conference were Bicentennial Commission co-chair Randy Dunn, president of Southern Illinois University System; Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole; United Airlines Vice President State and Local Government Affairs Dan Lynch; UPS Delivery Driver Don Bence; Navy Pier President and CEO Marilynn Gardner; and Fifth Third Bank Executive Leader of Civic Engagement and Strategic Partnerships Francia Harrington.
* Media advisory…
Governor to greet National Guard soldiers returning from Puerto Rico
What: Gov. Bruce Rauner along with Maj. Gen. Richard J. Hayes and IEMA Acting Director Joe Klinger will greet the Illinois Army National Guard Military Police who are returning from Puerto Rico after assisting with Hurricane Maria relief efforts.
Where: Illinois National Guard’s 182nd Airlift Wing
The Cook County sweetened beverage tax has officially been lifted. A few commissioners are literally raising glasses to celebrate. Jewel-Osco is even using the end of the tax as an irresponsible sales ploy. Drink up, everyone! Sugar is cheap. And so is your health.
Is this really the right message for children and families in a county and state suffering from obesity-related illnesses and the associated costs — both physical and financial?
The Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity (IAPO) is taking this opportunity to spread a healthier message.
IAPO and its partners are kicking off a weeklong campaign — #RethinkYourDrinkIL — calling on Illinois residents to reconsider the drink choices they make every day.
* From a couple of links that were included in the advisory…
Today represents nothing less than Independence Day for the taxpayers of Cook County. The pop tax is gone! pic.twitter.com/OgKeYP1mV1
There’s a delay until at least Tuesday in Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans’ lawsuit against County Board President Toni Preckwinkle over layoffs in the new budget.
A Lake County judge on Friday agreed to delay arguments in the case until 11 a.m. Tuesday after Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s lawyers said they needed time to hire outside counsel because the office has a conflict of interest.
Attorneys declined to detail the conflict after the hearing at the Richard J. Daley Center, but Foxx spokesman Robert Foley later said the reason was because “the state’s attorney’s office represents the office of the chief judge in multiple cases pending litigation.” Lawyers for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office is representing the chief judge, agreed to the delay.
In allowing the continuance, Lake County Judge Mitchell L. Hoffman urged both sides to engage in negotiations before Tuesday’s hearing, saying the Illinois Supreme Court has made it “very clear” in the past that it prefers not to see such lawsuits filed between separate branches of government – in this case the judiciary and legislative.
“This type of litigation should be a last resort,” said Hoffman, who was brought in from outside Cook County for the hearing.
Reporter: Yesterday, you applauded Congress on what appears to be a deal on a tax plan for America, and it looks like it might go through tonight in the Senate. In your view, in your estimation, assessment of this bill, it’s likely to change American practice for maybe 30 years – how we run our businesses and how we run our households. What parts of it are you good with and what parts of it are you not good with?
Gov. Rauner: Yeah, so let’s talk about taxes. This is an important point and if you listen to what I said, it’s a little different than what your question was premised on and what’s being spun. I have not commented on any specifics about the federal tax proposals. And I will not. And I believe it’s a long way from being done. I think it’s a long way from being baked. They got a long way to go, and I won’t comment on any specifics.
What I applauded, and do applaud, is them trying, trying to reduce the tax burden on our families and our businesses, that’s what they’re trying to do. They’re a long way to go. And I’m applauding them for trying and for keep trying. Whatever passes in one house or the other, it’s a long way from done. And I encourage them to keep trying.
Here’s what the goal should be – every effort in tax reform should focus on one thing: increasing the net take-home pay for middle-class families. That should be the goal of any and every tax reform. Increase the net take-home pay for working-class and middle-class families. That’s it. They’re a long way from that so far, so I don’t applaud, I don’t applaud the current result, what I applaud is the process. And this is an important distinction that I want you guys to understand.
[Crosstalk]
Reporter: So, in other words, you do agree with so many who have analyzed this, that they really haven’t done a good job yet at looking out for the middle class?
Gov. Rauner: They are not where they need to be. They are not there yet.
Reporter: And what do you think it’s going to take for that to occur?
Gov. Rauner: Well again, Ed, you know, for me, it’s not a good idea – it doesn’t help anybody by trying to negotiate through the media. So, I’m talking to members of the federal administration. I’m encouraging things. We need to increase the net-take-home pay for middle-class families, for working families. Most important thing. So, I’ve encouraged them to focus on the middle-class. I’ve encouraged them to help small-business, particularly. And we’ll see where it goes. It’s a long way from done. And I don’t to get want too much to get in the middle of it.
*** UPDATE *** From a DGA press release…
While speaking with reporters yesterday, Bruce Rauner came up with his third different answer to queries if he supports the proposed GOP tax changes in Washington. Independent analysts have shown the plan would raise costs and taxes on many middle-class families while the wealthiest would get a tax cut. On Wednesday, Rauner told a Southern Illinois radio station that he “applauded” Republicans’ efforts and said, “I hope they come through.” By that afternoon, his staff claimed Rauner had merely expressing “general” support.
On to Rauner’s newest answer to a simple question: [Part of transcript from above quoted…]
Rauner acknowledges the bill is not helping the middle-class, but he still will not use his position to demand changes and continues to applaud Washington Republicans’ efforts. Got it?
“Bruce Rauner has admitted Donald Trump’s tax plan hurts the middle-class but he still supports it,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner continues to encourage and applaud Washington Republicans’ efforts to pass a tax bill, which currently benefits the wealthiest while raising taxes on middle-class families. It’s time for Rauner to take a stand and protect the people of Illinois, otherwise he’s culpable for the passage of the bill.”
Governor Rauner joined the DeKalb County Economic Development Corp. Thursday, helping them celebrate 30 years of growing jobs in DeKalb County. The governor gave the keynote speech at the celebration, and lauded the efforts of DCEDC while providing commonsense solutions to continue growing jobs in DeKalb County and throughout the state.
When the DeKalb County Economic Development Corp. celebrated its 30th anniversary, it was able to brag that DeKalb County is now on international radar, having doubled the number of international companies with locations in the county, as well as companies in other countries excited about the prospect of moving here.
Gov. Bruce Rauner gave the keynote speech at the State of the County banquet Thursday at Faranda’s Banquet Center in DeKalb.
…Rauner said that with a few small changes in Illinois, the state could be very competitive in attracting businesses from around the country and world.
“We gotta tweak a couple things, and if we tweak a couple things we’re going to bring them in on a massive scale,” he said. “We gotta reduce the regulatory burden, and we have to have tax relief. … It’s not rocket science, it’s not complicated.”
Rauner said many businesses told him while he was on recruiting tours of China, Japan and Israel that even if half of the reforms get done, they’ll move to Illinois.
…The county also doubled the number of international companies with a presence in it in 2017. Finnish company LEDiL, an LED light manufacturer, and Solotech, an audio visual company from Quebec, joined Nestle and Tate & Lyle as foreign companies with a presence here.
To increase the region’s competitiveness, Rauner said he wanted NIU and other Illinois colleges and universities to integrate more with businesses as they do on the West Coast and in Israel. To help universities recover from the two years of budget uncertainty and declining enrollments, he said he wanted to add $500 million into higher education funding.
“This is a labor of love. We love Illinois,” he said. “This is home.”
The following political leaders have visited Cairo since the public housing crisis in Illinois’ southernmost city came to a head:
• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson • U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Democrats • U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro • Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill • State Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg • State Rep. Natalie Phelps Finnie, D-Elizabethtown • Former State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Eldorado • Former Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, of Lemont • State Treasurer Mike Frerichs • Democratic gubernatorial candidates J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy and Daniel Biss and former candidate Ameya Pawar
Meanwhile, one prominent Illinois political leader has not visited Cairo since HUD announced in April its decision to relocate about 400 people from two derelict public housing complexes that have been deemed beyond repair:
• Gov. Bruce Rauner
As you will see, that one stung him but good.
* A week later, Rauner was in the region for a hastily arranged press conference to announce a project that few knew was coming…
In 1993, the Sahara Coal Co. closed its doors and some 300 miners lost their jobs.
On Wednesday, Gov. Bruce Rauner visited that company’s reclaimed strip mine near Carrier Mills and announced that the state plans to develop a 26-mile off-highway vehicle trail system here, the first-of-its kind on state-owned land in Illinois.
Gov. Bruce Rauner made a cameo appearance Wednesday in Southern Illinois, appearing at a hastily-called, bizarre press availability at Sahara Woods State Fish and Wildlife Area near Carrier Mills. […]
Assembled media members fired questions at Rauner after the announcement. His response, or lack thereof, was reminiscent of an absentee father bringing elaborately wrapped gifts to his child’s birthday party, but having absolutely no idea what was inside the packages.
It wouldn’t have taken much thought to anticipate the first two questions — how many jobs will be created by this project and when will ground be broken. Yet, Rauner didn’t have these most basic answers. […]
The number of jobs will be determined when construction plans are finalized. And, no timetable for construction was announced, although Rauner did say he hopes it will open in the first half of 2019.
Yet, the governor assured us that the track would be an economic engine for the area.
Pardon us if we’re skeptical.
There are two similar commercial operations nearby — Little Egypt Off Road, located in Williamson County, and Williams Hill Pass, which is southeast of Harrisburg. While both contribute to the financial health of the region, calling the two entities economic engines would seem to be a stretch.
Opening a government-operated off-road vehicle trail that will compete with two privately owned trails seems a bit counter-productive, but whatever.
* Anyway, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Rauner was back in the region this week…
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner stressed the importance of economic growth and investing in education during a special luncheon Wednesday at Rend Lake College.
The event was held in honor of a delegation from the Japanese Consulate’s Chicago office which toured Jefferson County to learn more about the region’s economy. Rauner and Japanese Consulate Consul General Naoki Ito were featured guests at the luncheon.
Governor Bruce Rauner joined Japan’s Consul General to the Midwest at Rend Lake College for a workforce and education roundtable.
* But the governor also faced questions while he was down there about a project he launched over a year ago that hasn’t yet gotten off the ground…
The proposed re-purposing of the Illinois Youth Center facility in Murphysboro is taking longer than originally announced.
In October 2016, Governor Bruce Rauner said he wanted to re-open the center as a life skills and a re-entry facility. He expected it to open in about six months. But, 13 months later, the facility remains closed.
Rauner was asked about it during a visit to southern Illinois Wednesday. The governor said he doesn’t know when it will re-open, but as far as he’s concerned, the sooner the better.
“I don’t want to give you an exact date. But, I’m pushing this fast. I want it open yesterday. I’m going to push as much as I can.”
He said it’ll be an important economic engine for the region and help keep communities safer.
This facility — expected to open in six months — will house about 300 prisoners on the verge of re-entering the community and employ about 120 people, Rauner said. It will be managed under the Pinckneyville facility, which is managed by Warden Jacqueline Lashbrook, who was also at Friday’s news conference.
It was built in 1997 and closed in 2011.
“This facility should never have been closed,” Rauner said, to a spattering of applause from some of those assembled. “We’ve got budget trouble, but we have to make sure our facilities are run well.” […]
At the news conference, the governor did not specifically say where the money would come from to finance the project. Rauner’s press secretary said later that it would cost $800,000 to reopen and repurpose the facility.
I do not support legalizing marijuana. I think that’s a mistake. You know there’s a massive human experiment going on in Colorado and California and other places. We should see how that’s impacting lives and addiction and hurting young people before we make any decision about it here. I do not support legalizing marijuana.
It’s looking more likely Michigan will vote next year on whether to legalize recreational marijuana.
This week, the The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted over 360,000 petition signatures to place the question on the 2018 ballot.
If the Michigan Bureau of Elections determines that at least 252,523 of those signatures are valid, the question will likely appear before voters next November. […]
“The revenue would be shared between schools, roads, and local governments (under the proposal),” says Roth. “And these are areas that people are constantly saying are in desperate need of money.”
Michigan could very well be the first Great Lakes state to legalize it.
Today, Daniel Biss’ campaign released a new video, “What Are They Hiding?” highlighting the financial interests JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy have in major corporations that bring into question their progressive credentials, the sources of their income, and what business entanglements they may have.
“Candidates for governor must disclose personal investments with companies that do business in Illinois. This helps identify potential conflicts of interest,” says the narrator in the video. “JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy just disclosed theirs. Here’s what we learned about where they make their money. These are just some of the companies that JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy have profited from.”
Halliburton | Philip Morris | Exxon Mobil
Lockheed Martin | Energy Transfer Partners LP (Dakota Access Pipeline)
“This is what they’re forced to disclose - but we won’t know the rest of the story until they release their full tax returns. What are they hiding?”
“JB Pritzker’s and Chris Kennedy’s financial disclosures perfectly encapsulate why we should be skeptical of billionaire businessmen who say they’ll fight for us - and why we need to see full tax returns to better understand their financial interests,” says Biss campaign manager Abby Witt. “How can we trust someone invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline to stand against big oil once in office? Someone invested in the nation’s largest cigarette company to work to curb teen smoking? Someone invested in fracking to keep fracking out of our state? The revelations of these financial disclosure forms, a legally-required bare minimum standard of transparency, raise serious doubts in my mind—and make me wonder what they’re still hiding.”
Exxon Mobil, Philip Morris, the Dakota Access Pipeline, Halliburton. These are the investments JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy were forced to tell us about. What else are they hiding? How can we trust them to put our interests first when their money is tied to the profits of these companies? Illinois needs a governor that puts the people and planet first, not big tobacco and big oil.
Posted by Daniel Biss on Thursday, November 30, 2017
In November, 2014, Republican Bruce Rauner beat then-Gov. Pat Quinn by some 142,000 votes following a campaign featuring “the incumbent Democrat is a failure” as a major theme.
Not surprisingly, a lot of folks — many of them union workers smarting from Quinn’s efforts to cut public employee retirement benefits — voted for Rauner simply because he was not Quinn.
As candidate filing this week officially kicked off campaign 2018, one might suspect that Rauner’s new mantra is, “Vote for me because I’m not Mike Madigan.” The focus on the long-serving House Speaker is politically expedient, of course, because Madigan may well be the most disliked political figure in the state, after the governor and his operatives have spent millions characterizing the Chicago Democrat as the Darth Vader-Lord Voldemort of Illinois.
But the governor’s Madigan fixation also may reflect that by many measures, Rauner’s three years in office have been worse for Illinois than the “failed” Quinn, leaving Rauner with little to crow about.
Democratic state lawmakers announced a plan Thursday to halt Illinois’ participation in a controversial multi-state voter registration database after efforts to persuade the State Board of Elections failed.
The legislation would remove Illinois from the Kansas-run Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, a free and voluntary program that helps states determine if voters are registered in more than one state.
However, advocacy groups in Illinois and elsewhere argue Crosscheck isn’t secure and could contribute to voter suppression. They’ve also raised questions about the partisan ties of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. He oversees Crosscheck and is a chairman of President Donald Trump’s election fraud commission, which is investigating unsubstantiated claims that millions voted illegally in 2016.
Advocacy groups including Indivisible Chicago and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois pushed for a recent legislative hearing where an expert pointed to security flaws with emailed passwords and unsecured servers storing voters’ names and dates of birth. […]
Also, there isn’t yet bipartisan support. A message left for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s spokeswoman wasn’t immediately returned Thursday. The State Board of Elections was split 4-4 on party lines to exit the program.
Crosscheck, which was pioneered by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, is seen by many as nothing more than an attempt to keep minorities from voting.
Senator Raoul has made his opposition to the racially-biased program clear, calling for the state to cease using it at once.
“Crosscheck can be used to knock valid voters off the rolls, and it disproportionately impacts minority voters, who are more likely to share last names and be flagged by the system,” Raoul said. “That flies in the face of the voter protection policies we have embraced in Illinois.”
Earlier this month, a joint committee heard testimony from Shawn Davis, a faculty member at the Illinois Institute of Technology Center for Cyber Security and Forensics Education. Davis testified that the Crosscheck system has several security concerns that make private personal information easily accessible. While most websites handling sensitive information use secure file transmission networks called SFTPs, Crosscheck uses an unsecured network system.
Senator Cunningham says the state should address these concerns by leaving Crosscheck to protect voter information.
That’s one of the state’s two voter database systems used to identify voters who are registered in more than one state.
The other is the Electronic Registration Information Center, commonly called ERIC. […]
“When you look at the security between two of the systems, the ERIC system, and the Crosscheck system, it is evident that Crosscheck is a far inferior program that makes data susceptible to hackers,” Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, said. […]
Over half the states in the union currently use the International Crosscheck system and 16 states and Washington, D.C. use the ERIC system.
One of the arguments people employ on behalf of staying in Crosscheck is that ERIC only has a handful of participants and neighboring states don’t use it, perhaps because it costs money.
“I believe the legislature will pass a responsible budget in 2018,” [Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park] said. “But will the governor sign it? The governor is a little erratic these days.”
Uncertainty over funding is hurting enrollments, but Governors State University in University Park saw its number of applications quadruple this year after passage of the first full-year state budget since 2014, Hastings said.
Funding cuts for higher education, public transportation and other areas, along with an income tax hike, were needed to restore balance to the state’s finances, said state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago.
“We still have a rather large hole we have to climb out of,” Cunningham said. “I think next year’s budget will not be nearly as difficult as the last one … I don’t think the governor wants to be bogged down in Springfield when he’d rather be out campaigning.”
* Once again, Gov. Rauner is not having a great week. As Greg Hinz notes, he’s taking heat because one of his top contributors, Dick Uihlein, is backing Roy Moore in Alabama. He “seemed to waffle” on where he’s at on the DC tax bill. And the National Review called him the “worst Republican governor in America.” Not good…
It’s all got to be weighing on the Chicago private-equity mogul who thought he would save the state. It certainly is showing on his increasingly haggard face. […]
“Republicans understand that Gov. Rauner is unelectable,” [Rep. Jeanne Ives] declared in a statement. “He betrayed his party’s values. He broke promises. And lied about his intentions, most notably on a bill that forces taxpayer funding of abortion on demand.”
Ives is right about the latter. Rauner was for abortion rights, then against them, before he finally was for them again. The position irritated just about everybody on all sides of the volatile abortion issue and was only the latest sign a guy who couldn’t get his own way on taxes, workers compensation reform, spending or lots of other things couldn’t find a middle ground to get what he needed.
“He never understood the concept of 30 and 60,” quips Greg Baise, the veteran Republican who heads the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, referring to the number of votes needed to pass a bill in the Democratic-controlled Senate and House, respectively.
To put it a little differently, it took Rauner three years to learn, if he really has learned, the difference between firing off orders as a private-equity chieftain and governing a mostly Democratic blue state.
* IWT rubs it in…
What horror will tomorrow bring for @BruceRauner? - Dartmouth Alumni Magazine calls Rauner a “disgrace to the Big Green” - Yachting Magazine rates Rauner “not shipshape” - Wall Street Journal calls him “Gov. Junk” (again)#ilgov
Massage Envy, the first and by far the largest chain of massage franchises in the country, is a billion-dollar business that promises trustworthy services at an affordable price. But BuzzFeed News found that more than 180 people have filed sexual assault lawsuits, police reports, and state board complaints against Massage Envy spas, their employees, and the national company. Like Susan Ingram, many say their claims were mishandled or ignored by employees and owners of individual Massage Envy spas, and by the national company itself.
It’s one of the most disgusting stories I’ve read in a long while.
Four women have filed lawsuits against Massage Envy franchises in Chicago and the suburbs claiming they were sexually assaulted by massage therapists, part of a growing list of women who say they were sexually assaulted by employees at the company’s franchises across the U.S. […]
An attorney for LCG Massage, owner of the Tinley Park Massage Envy franchise, denies the allegations of any sexual touching, according to court documents. The attorney also noted that law enforcement was notified of the woman’s complaint, but no charges were filed against the massage therapist, according to court documents.
The other three women have either settled or voluntarily dismissed their lawsuits, according to a review of court records in Will, Cook and DuPage counties.
In April, a Plainfield woman settled a 20-count lawsuit against Massage Envy, a massage therapist and the franchise manager regarding a May 2013 incident at the Massage Envy at 2775 Showplace Drive in Naperville. The lawsuit sought at least $1 million in damages and court costs. Court documents do not disclose the settlement amount.
* Press release…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan [on November 29] issued subpoenas to the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based franchisor Massage Envy and four of its Illinois-based franchisees as part of an investigation into claims the spa chain failed to handle sexual assault allegations by customers appropriately.
Madigan’s office is investigating Massage Envy and its Illinois franchisees at certain locations in Chicago, Elmhurst, Naperville and Tinley Park following public reports of women alleging they were sexually assaulted by male massage therapists. Through the subpoenas, Madigan is seeking information about the company’s policies, employee training, and handling of complaints related to sexual assault and sexually inappropriate behavior.
“I appreciate the women who have reported the sexual assaults they experienced during their massages,” Madigan said. “I issued subpoenas to Massage Envy because the public has a right to know what Massage Envy’s policies are and what steps the company takes to prevent and address sexual assaults.”
Madigan’s investigation into Massage Envy’s sexual assault policies comes as women around the country are coming forward to report instances of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Earlier this week, an investigation by Buzzfeed News found that more than 180 women throughout the country alleged that they were sexually assaulted during services at Massage Envy spas. Despite multiple lawsuits, police reports and complaints by women, Buzzfeed found that many claims were mishandled, and the company’s policies and procedures for reporting and addressing sexual assault allegations were vague or unclear.
According to its website, Massage Envy has more than 1,170 franchised locations in 49 states that employ approximately 25,000 massage therapists and estheticians that provide massage and skin care services to around 1.65 million members.
Tracking food deserts. The Department [of Public Health] shall provide an annual report to the General Assembly by December 31 of each year that identifies the locations of food deserts within the State and provides information about health issues associated with food deserts. If the annual report contains information from the federal government that identifies the locations of food deserts in the State and provides information on health issues associated with food deserts, then the requirements of this Section shall be satisfied. For the purposes of this Section, “food desert” means a location vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, in part due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, or healthy food providers.
Representative Sonya Harper, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation, says many communities in and out of Chicago have gone generations without the option of fresh food in their neighborhoods. As a result of this, she says, “…we have a lot of people dying in our communities simply from preventable, diet-related diseases. And I believe it’s because they lack access, it’s because fruits and vegetables are not something that’s easy to come by in their community.”
The information gathered could help bring food stores to neighborhoods where they are needed, and in turn help create jobs.
“And again—just trying to figure out ways—how do we bring in more sources for fresh food, and perhaps even jobs—at that right?” Harper says, “because there is an opportunity as well, for those food retailers to also spur some local economy and bring some more jobs.”
Over the last few years, residents in food deserts have responded by creating communal gardens and urban farms to teach each other how to grow their own food.
Is U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush going to be the second Chicago congressman in a week to hang it up? […]
As of [yesterday] morning, with filing due to close in just four days, on Dec. 3, neither Rush nor anyone else seems to be circulating petitions in his 1st District, which stretches from the South Side of the city past Joliet into Will County. And Rush’s office isn’t returning phone calls or emails asking what’s up.
In talking to insiders here and in Washington, I’ve picked up two theories. The first is that Rush is running, but is intentionally filing late this time, having almost been knocked off the ballot by a petition challenge two years ago. The second is that he really is retiring, and perhaps is trying to work out a way to hand off the seat to his son, Flynn Rush, who had been viewed as a likely candidate for the Illinois House seat being vacated by Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, but hasn’t yet filed.
If petitions aren’t out circulating yet, it will be very, very difficult to get enough valid signatures just over the weekend.
Representative Bobby Rush is the only Illinois Congressman not to file his petitions for re-election, but this isn’t the first time that he’s put off filing.
In his re-election bid for the 2016 race, he waited until the very last day to file his petitions. If he chooses to do that again this year, Monday would be the last day that he can turn them in to be eligible for the March ballot.
Despite the delay in filing, those close to the congressman, including community activist Hal Baskin, say that “he’s in.” Even Rush’s Congressional colleagues have asked him if he is retiring and he has told them no.
Rush’s son Flynn Rush has not filed yet either, but he is circulating petitions for the first time to replace State Rep Barbara Flynn Currie, as she will not be seeking re-election. Some skeptics have insinuated that there could be a switch in plans for Rush, but those whispers remain rumors as the deadline date approaches.
Ending weeks of speculation, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush tells Sneed exclusively he will file for his 14th term in office on Monday. […]
“We must go back and protect the legacy of President Barack Obama, in the area of jobs, health care, education and environment,” he said.
Rush, who has been in office for 25 years, also told Sneed that his son Flynn will also file his nominating petition on Monday to run for the seat of retiring state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, who is the majority whip of the Illinois Assembly representing the 25th District.
In response to the BGA investigation of a church owned by Rush, he told Sneed, “It’s all in the Lord’s hands, it’s always in God’s hands.”
Ald. Howard Brookins has decided at the last minute to circulate petitions for the March primary to run for Congress in Illinois’ 1st District, he told NBC 5 Friday.
That’s the seat held by longtime Congressman Bobby Rush.
While those close to Rush say he plans to file his petitions on the last day — Monday — Brookins told NBC 5 he began circulating petitions because “something doesn’t seem right.”
Rush is the only Illinois Congressman who has not yet filed his petitions for re-election, but this isn’t the first time that he’s put off filing.
“This guy hasn’t stopped campaigning since day one,” [Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park] said. “I try to be quiet about these things but I can’t help it. My district is the heart and soul of organized labor in the entire state of Illinois.”
Large numbers of tradesmen, teachers, public safety and other government workers live in the area, Hastings said. He said Rauner once invited him to the Governor’s Mansion to talk issues over beer and cigars.
“He asked me, ‘How do you feel about organized labor?’” Hastings recalled. “‘How do you feel about unions in the state of Illinois?’ as if he didn’t do his research about the district I represent.”
“‘Would you be willing when the time came to take a vote and make Illinois a right-to-work state or diminish workers’ rights?’” Hastings said the governor asked. “It’s almost like getting a slap in the face, right there, when it’s one-on-one. I didn’t know whether to go off the chain or whether to be calm.
“But I’m thinking to myself, ‘These people are my neighbors, these people are my family members, these people put food on the table for their children, and I’m going to vote against that? You’ve got to be out of your mind.’ It’s an example of his lack of leadership, and knowing who you’re talking to.”
Asking Sen. Hastings, of all people, to consider voting for a “right to work” bill is a truly silly idea.
But the real quotable here is Hastings claiming “I try to be quiet about these things.” /s
Bob Daiber, Madison County Regional Superintendent of Schools, officially filed his candidacy for Governor on Thursday. Daiber and his running mate Jonathan Todd filed over 9,500 signatures with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Daiber stated that they exceeded the required threshold of 5,000 signatures to ensure a spot on the March 20th Democratic primary ballot.
“Jonathan Todd and I would like to thank the volunteers across Illinois who have joined in this grassroots campaign to make our candidacy possible. The effort has been incredible,” stated Daiber.
Daiber is the only candidate outside of Cook County who has filed and the first Democrat from Southern Illinois to file for governor in twenty years.
* The Question: Do you think Daiber stays in the race to the end? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* This is a $9,345 cable buy. Not much, but it’s enough to convince Roll Call to write a story…
NARAL Pro-Choice America is launching a five-figure TV buy attacking Illinois Democrat Dan Lipinski on Thursday.
The ad, shared first with Roll Call, hits the congressman for voting against the 2010 health care law, opposing abortion rights and background check and same-sex marriage legislation. It will run on cable TV in his 3rd District for a week.
Lipinski is facing a primary challenge from marketing consultant Marie Newman, who secured the backing of NARAL, MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Human Rights Campaign on Tuesday. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s leadership PAC endorsed Newman earlier this month.
“Dan Lipinski is way out of step with his constituents and with Democratic party principles when it comes to women’s rights, LGBT equality, and the basic freedoms that Americans hold dear,” Mitchell Stille, NARAL’s National Campaign Director, said in a statement.
In contrast, Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC just bought its second week of $70,000+ in cable ads against House GOP Leader Jim Durkin. JB Pritzker’s latest cable buy was $55,605.
* SIU-Edwardsville’s student population has grown 27 percent since 1996. What’s happening there?…
SIUE officials attribute the enrollment growth to the evolving campus and community.
“SIUE’s consistent and steady growth over the past 20 years can be attributed to the ever-evolving nature of this campus and the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area,” said Association Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Scott Belobrajdic.
He highlighted past construction of residential halls, the addition of the School of Pharmacy, expansion of the School of Engineering and the move to NCAA Division I athletics as points that bolstered enrollment.
“Beginning in the mid-’90s we began the transition to a primarily residential campus,” he said. […]
“In 1996 the mean ACT for an incoming class of 1,191 was 20.9. Fall of 2014 brought a record of 2,126 new freshmen to campus with an average ACT of 23.5,” he said.
Adding and expanding reputable programs most certainly helped not only grow the student population, but attract more qualified students. And Edwardsville itself is a lot different than the backwater it was 20-some years ago. It’s now the jewel of the Metro East. The city and the university worked with each other, fed off each other and grew together. (It’s probably no coincidence that Edwardsville’s highly successful mayor of 20 years also ran the local YMCA and grew both while stressing quality. When the now-retired mayor took over the local YMCA, it had less than a thousand members. Now, as he is about to retire from that job, it has 19,200 members - three quarters of the town’s population.)
* Anyway, SIU-Carbondale? Not so great. Enrollment has dropped, the town has struggled and now we have yet another grand scheme from the campus’ tenth chancellor in twenty years - twice the turnover rate as SIUE.
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Chancellor Carlo Montemagno has unveiled a plan to restructure the university’s academic programs. A core feature of the chancellor’s proposed plan underscores the need to minimize administrative costs and sharpen the university’s focus on teaching and curricula.
The plan calls for the elimination of SIU’s current department-based structure to be replaced by a system of colleges and schools within the university, thereby cutting down on administrative bloat.
Addressing the university’s fiscal priorities in a video posted on the university’s website, Montemagno said, “We are spending too much time and money on administration and not enough time on teaching and research.” […]
Full-time equivalent administrator positions at Illinois public universities increased by 26 percent from 2005 to 2015, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. But full-time equivalent fall student enrollment dropped by almost 3 percent over that time. Further, teaching- and classroom-related functions, including instruction, research and public service full-time equivalent positions, increased by only 2 percent.
If it saves significant money and doesn’t disrupt education, then go for it. But the university has to start thinking about way more than cutting bureaucratic jobs (which will, unfortunately, exacerbate the city of Carbondale’s problems). It needs stability and growth. A state of near-constant flux has not helped that place.
Kids want to go to schools where they can have some fun, and money is definitely an issue, but they really want to get a degree that’s respected in their chosen fields.
Today, the Thomas More Society filed a taxpayer lawsuit against State of Illinois officials in a counterattack against House Bill 40, which requires public funding of tens of thousands of elective abortions. The taxpayer lawsuit, filed in the Sangamon County Circuit Court, is brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Illinois taxpayers, represented by county and statewide pro-life organizations, the Springfield Catholic Diocese, and a group of Illinois legislators from across the state.
“The people of Illinois totally reject taxpayer-funded abortions,” stated Thomas More Society Special Counsel Peter Breen, who drafted the lawsuit. “Under HB 40, Illinoisans will be forced to pay for 20,000 to 30,000 abortions per year with their tax dollars. Even apart from the sincere moral objections that many folks have to paying for abortions, there is no money in this year’s Illinois state budget to pay for them. And, because of games played by Senate Democrats, in holding HB 40 until late September, after the May 31 cutoff for legislative action, this bill can’t be effective until June 1, not January 1.” Breen also serves as state representative for Illinois’ 48th District.
The complaint levels two challenges against HB 40. First, the General Assembly has not set aside funds to pay for HB 40’s tens of thousands of elective abortions, and there’s no money available to pay for those abortions and still be within the Balanced Budget requirements of the Illinois Constitution. Second, despite efforts to make HB 40 effective January 1, 2018, it cannot come into effect until June 1, because it did not pass out of the Senate until September 25, 2017. The Illinois Constitution imposes a May 31 cut-off date for General Assembly action for bills to go into effect faster.
If implemented, despite its illegality, HB 40 would force every Illinoisan to pay for free abortions for those on Medicaid and state employee health insurance. This would apply through the full nine months of pregnancy and for any reason, even when the latest scientific research has shown that the unborn child can feel pain and survive outside the womb.
There is no cap on the number of abortions that could be covered under Medicaid and no cap on the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on these procedures. Based on recent figures from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services showing a cost of up to $1000 per Medicaid abortion, state government spending on abortions could range anywhere from $15 million to $30 million.
The State of Illinois is unique in having a tradition of allowing taxpayer lawsuits, which are brought by private individuals to protect the public treasury. Illinois law requires such a suit to be brought by a petition for leave to file a complaint. The petition in this case has been set for hearing before Associate Judge Brian T. Otwell, on Thursday, December 7, at 10:30 a.m., at the Sangamon County Courthouse.
“Regardless of your feelings about abortion, it is incredibly fiscally irresponsible to enact a law designed to spend millions of dollars that Illinois does not have,” said Breen. “The state legislative process has steps that must be correctly followed in order to prevent budget-busting laws like this from being ramrodded through. It is part of our civic process of checks and balances.”
The Illinois legislators bringing the lawsuit include:
● Representative Barbara Wheeler, District 64
● Representative Mark Batinick, District 97
● Representative Steve Reick, District 63
● Representative Keith Wheeler, District 50
● Senator Dale Fowler, District 59
● Senator Kyle McCarter, District 54
● Senator Dan McConchie, District 26
● Senator Paul Schimpf, District 58
The pro-life groups listed on the complaint include:
● Pro-Life Action League, Inc.
● Springfield Right to Life
● Clinton County Citizens For Life
● Henry County Right to Life, Inc.
● Knox County Right to Life, NFP
● Lake County Right to Life Committee, Inc.
● Morgan County Right to Life, Inc., NFP
● Pro-Life Action League, Inc.
● Illinois Right to Life Action
● Illinois Federation for Right to Life
The above listed legislators and groups are joined in this action by:
● Diocese of Springfield In Illinois
Read the Petition for Leave to File a Taxpayer Action to Restrain and Enjoin the Disbursement of Public Funds and the Taxpayer Complaint to Restrain and Enjoin the Disbursement of Public Funds here.
Seems like a long shot at best, but you never know with the courts.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Pritzker campaign…
“Reproductive rights are once again under attack by Illinois Republicans, and we must continue fighting these archaic attempts to restrict a woman’s right to choose,” said JB Pritzker. “Whether it’s a new lawsuit filed today or legislation filed a month ago, the GOP is committed to rolling back the clock on women’s rights. As governor, I will be a champion for women’s rights, and I will always fight to expand and protect reproductive rights in Illinois.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Treasurer Mike Frerichs…
“My office has not yet been served in this lawsuit. But, perhaps before coming to me, the anti-choice groups and Republican representatives bringing this suit should first have a conversation with the Office of Governor Bruce Rauner, who signed HB40 into law.”
…Adding… Jesse Ruiz…
Passing HB 40 was an important milestone in the protection of a woman’s right to choose. Now a far-right-wing organization wants to undo the progress made by the Illinois General Assembly and throw out this vital law. They must be stopped.
This lawsuit demonstrates how critical it is that we elect an Attorney General who will fight for a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices. As your Attorney General, I will be a champion for women’s rights, including the right to access contraception and safe, legal abortion.
I know that Attorney General Madigan will stand up strongly to this wrongheaded lawsuit, and I feel confident that our courts will overturn this extreme attempt to endanger women’s health in Illinois.
When Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois announced in October that he would seek reelection in 2018, he released a two-minute campaign video. It shows the Republican wearing blue jeans and a black leather vest as he rides his Harley-Davidson motorcycle from Chicago to Springfield, the state capital. “Four years ago,” he says in a voiceover, “I crisscrossed our state, looked people in the eye, and promised to fight business as usual.”
This boast came about a month after Cardinal Blase Cupich accused him of breaking his word and the Chicago Sun-Times put his picture on its front page, below a headline that shouted: “Benedict Rauner.” The governor’s offense was to have signed what may be America’s most radical abortion-funding law after vowing to veto it. The betrayal capped a season of defeats for conservatives, including an income-tax hike, a big bailout of Chicago’s public schools, and turning Illinois into what critics of illegal immigration are calling a “sanctuary state.”
Now Rauner, 60, confronts a problem that few would have predicted as recently as last spring: a possible Republican meltdown in the Land of Lincoln. In next year’s GOP primary, he’ll face a scrappy challenge from a credible conservative opponent. Jeanne Ives is a graduate of West Point, a mom, and a wonky state representative from Wheaton, Ill. “Somebody needs to stand up for Republicans and conservatives,” she says. “We can do a lot better than Bruce Rauner.”
This much is clear: Illinois hardly could do worse. It suffers from one of the weakest economies in the nation, with the slowest personal-income growth, low labor-force participation, and distressing levels of manufacturing-job losses. Its tax burden is among the heaviest in the country. It has the lowest credit rating of any state (just a notch above junk-bond status) and the highest level of unfunded pension liabilities (about $250 billion, according to Moody’s). Four of its last ten governors have wound up in prison. “Illinois is worth fighting for,” says Rauner in his new campaign ad — but many of its citizens have chosen to flee. The state has lost population every year since 2014
…Adding… DGA…
“Democrats and Republicans have finally found something they agree on – Bruce Rauner is the worst,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner cannot even count on the support of his own party in Illinois and conservative leaders have concluded that Illinois is worse off with him at the helm. Under Rauner, the state endured a two-year budget impasse that drove up debt, drove out jobs and people, and devastated the state’s services. The facts are undeniable – Bruce Rauner has failed.”
Although there are only two references to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan in the story — one calling him “perhaps the most powerful state lawmaker in the country” — Rauner’s campaign chose to focus on the speaker in reacting to the story.
“We’re glad National Review pointed out that Mike Madigan and his cronies have consistently blocked Governor Rauner’s reform agenda just to protect their own corrupt practices,” campaign spokesman Justin Giorgio said. “Governor Rauner will keep fighting to make a Illinois a better place to live and work for everyone by working to lower property taxes, increasing school choice, and eliminating job-killing regulations.”
I wanted to follow up on yesterday’s post about the governor’s comments concerning Susana Mendoza. The Democrats feigned outrage on this issue is absolutely stunning. It’s ridiculous that the Democrats are crying wolf over words that they use on a regular basis. Where was the outrage when:
Sangamon County Democrats also called Jimenez “Rauner’s hand picked puppet” in a 10-18-16 Facebook post (photo attached)
Springfield’s Laborers Local 477 also called Jimenez a “puppet” in a 3-10-16 Facebook post (photo attached)
Mike Madigan’s DPI sent mailers against Avery Bourne and other female Republican lawmakers featuring Governor Rauner pouring them a glass of champagne, among other poses, last year (photos attached)
I could go on and on, but you get my point. Let’s assume for a second that the Democrats will apply their standard for acceptable political rhetoric to themselves.
Does Kelly Cassidy think SEIU’s comments toward Winger, Bourne, Jimenez, and Bryant were sexist? Does Christian Mitchell think Susana Mendoza is sexist since she called Munger “a lapdog”? Does Carol Ammons think Madigan’s mailers against Bourne and other female GOP lawmakers were sexist?
Hypocrisy is a word that comes to mind. If the Democrats think this sort of rhetoric is unacceptable, maybe they should practice what they preach.
* From yesterday’s appearance by Gov. Bruce Rauner on WJPF Radio…
I put out a balanced budget proposal, they overrode, uh, ignored it, passed an unbalanced budget, I vetoed it, they overrode me.
* Pritzker campaign…
Bruce Rauner can’t stop lying about the fact that he never presented a balanced budget. On WJPF yesterday, Rauner once again claimed his budget was balanced, but Politifact debunked that claim in March, rating it ‘pants on fire’ and saying the claim “doesn’t come close to adding up.”
“For three years, Bruce Rauner failed to complete his basic responsibilities to govern this state and now he’s set on pretending none of that ever happened,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “No amount of brazen lying will hide the truth: Bruce Rauner is a failed governor who never produced a balanced budget and did irrevocable damage to this state.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Governor Bruce Rauner is “applauding” Congressional Republicans’ efforts to pass a tax plan, which will raise middle-class taxes while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Rauner said, “I hope they come through” in an interview with Tom Miller on WJPF radio. The Sun-Times reported that “moments later” the Illinois Republican Party, largely funded by Rauner, took to Twitter to defend the plan.
Numerous independent analyses, including by the Congressional Budget Office, have found that the GOP bill would raise taxes on middle- and lower-class households in order to cut taxes for the wealthiest. The latest analysis of the Senate bill shows:
By 2027, a majority of Americans earning less than $75,000 would pay more in taxes;
By 2027, 60% of middle-class American earners would face a tax increase;
Nearly all of the top 0.1% of earners would receive an average $208,060 tax cut;
Health care provisions in the bill would force up health care premiums on Illinois residents buying their own insurance. By 2027, a 27-year old would pay $745 more in premiums, and a 60-year old $1,928 more.
Costs are going to go up for middle-class Illinoisans, and Rauner’s “applauding” the effort.
“Bruce Rauner’s hypocrisy knows no bounds,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “By siding with President Trump and Washington Republicans, Rauner has proven his campaign slogans to be nothing more than a farce. Rauner just endorsed a plan that will raise taxes on middle-class families all to support a tax break for the wealthiest Illinoisans. No wonder Rauner wanted to hide his real views for so long.”
* SEIU Healthcare…
On Wednesday, Governor Rauner went on the record to support Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans’ tax plan, saying, “I’m applauding Congress. I hope they come through.”
The GOP tax plan will be paid for by slashing Medicaid and other federal health care supports and with tax hikes on a majority of all families.
SEIU Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley issued the following in response to Rauner’s support of the GOP tax plan:
“Today, Gov. Rauner showed his true colors. He’s not the Carhartt jacket, $18 watch wearing ‘every day man’ that he wants us to believe. He’s a billionaire who would rather have Illinois families give up their healthcare to pay for HIS massive $300 million tax cut provided by Trump and the Republican Congress. Rauner doesn’t need another mansion, but families – children, people with disabilities and the elderly — need healthcare provided through Medicaid, which would be drastically cut and lead to devastating circumstances for millions if Rauner gets his wish.”
Was the governor endorsing the Senate version of the plan or the House version? (The Senate version would eliminate the deduction for property taxes, which tend to be higher in Illinois than elsewhere. The House version would keep the deduction, but limit it to $10,000.)
Neither, apparently. Rauner spokeswoman Patty Schuh said the governor was expressing “general” support for reducing taxes and hopes Congress is able to “deliver when all said and done.”
*** UPDATE *** So, he’s not applauding them today?…
Rauner says Congress is “not where they need to be yet” on tax reform.
Big Tobacco. Big Oil. Casinos. The largest defense contractor in the world. And the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Those are just some of the hundreds of investment portfolio areas Democrats J.B. Pritzker and Chris Kennedy list as part of paperwork they were required to file to run for governor.
The disclosure form — aimed at transparency — gives information about entities and investments. But it doesn’t provide full financial disclosure, including how much money is involved or other details.
Kennedy, a businessman and son of former U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, listed companies linked to defense, tobacco and oil interests among the hundreds he named in the economic interest statement he filed Monday with the Illinois secretary of state.
Kennedy’s listings included shares in Philip Morris International, the nation’s largest cigarette manufacturer and part of the 1998 court settlement tobacco companies reached with the attorneys general of 46 states over public health concerns. […]
Pritzker’s extensive filing — 10 pages of hundreds of stocks, mutual funds partnership and membership interests — shows a partnership interest in Energy Transfer Partners LP, a pipeline operator that constructed and is a part-owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which carries oil underground from North Dakota all the way to an oil tank farm near Patoka, Ill.
Click here for Kennedy’s statement of economic interest, click here for Pritzker’s and click here for Biss’ (nothing really there).
*** UPDATE 1 *** Biss campaign…
“JB Pritzker and Chris Kennedy’s financial disclosures perfectly encapsulate why we should be skeptical of billionaire businessmen who say they’ll fight for us—and why we need to see full tax returns to better understand their financial interests,” says Biss campaign manager Abby Witt. “How can we trust someone invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline to stand against big oil once in office? Someone invested in our nation’s largest cigarette company to work to curb teen smoking? Someone invested in fracking to keep fracking out of our state? The revelations of these financial disclosure forms, a legally-required bare minimum standard of transparency, raise serious doubts in my mind—and make me wonder what they’re still hiding.”
J.B. Pritzker’s mouth is writing checks even his wallet can’t cash.
In yesterday’s Chicago Sun-Times report, it was revealed that Pritzker continues to hold investments in industries that don’t line up with his own rhetoric.
“Pritzker’s extensive filing — 10 pages of hundreds of stocks, mutual funds partnership and membership interests — shows a partnership interest in Energy Transfer Partners LP, a pipeline operator that constructed and is a part-owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which carries oil underground from North Dakota all the way to an oil tank farm near Patoka, Ill.
” … Pritzker also has a partnership interest in Niagara Casino Group, LP and a stock in A.N.P. Gaming Corporation. The Pritzker family has part ownership of the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. Pritzker, too, invests in big oil, with stocks in Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.”
But just last month at a Sierra Club Forum, Pritzker repeatedly proclaimed the ‘evils of fossil fuels,’ saying things like:
“We’ve got to stand up to them. Our endeavor must be to say no when they say it’s ok if we pollute the air and make it harder to breath to stand up for the profits of the fossil fuel industry.”
“This idea of profits over people we have to do away with.”
“I believe we need that clean energy technology here in Illinois… in order to get to that 100% clean energy goal.”
Pritzker continues to lie to Illinoisans, regardless of their party preference. Pritzker’s incessant hypocrisy is proof that he is the wrong choice for Illinois.
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said on Tuesday The Boring Company will compete to fund, build and operate a high-speed Loop connecting O’Hare Airport to downtown Chicago.
Musk, the chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc and rocket company SpaceX, recently started the Boring Company to build transport tunnels for the system, which he says would be far faster than current high-speed trains and use electromagnetic propulsion. […]
Musk is seeking to revolutionize transportation by sending passengers and cargo packed into pods through an intercity system of giant vacuum tubes known as the “hyperloop.”
When asked on Twitter to elaborate on his “high-speed loop” proposal that would link O’Hare Airport to downtown Chicago, Musk tweeted, “A Loop is like a Hyperloop, but without drawing a vacuum inside the tube.”
One of the golden rules of journalism is to stick to the facts. Unfortunately, a hit piece published by Gateway Journalism Review missed the mark. The authors of this piece set out not to investigate the truth, but to build a case to support a false premise they’d already convinced themselves was true. Virtually every paragraph is riddled with inaccuracies or distortions.
It’s important to note that before maligning the Illinois Policy Institute, the authors of this piece failed to pick up the phone and talk to the Institute. They even failed to offer our organization a chance to comment. If the authors had extended this basic journalistic courtesy, perhaps they could have avoided the many inaccuracies in their piece.
Our bias — as the authors like to refer to our point of view — is to advocate for policies that empower the people, not the government. We believe in fiscal responsibility, limited government and reforms that will grow the state’s economy. It’s very clear that Gateway’s complaint about our organization isn’t a process disagreement over modes of operation, which nearly every media organization has confronted and experimented with as new media has reshaped the landscape. It’s a desire to silence different points of view and new ways of reaching the public.
Hit pieces like this don’t make journalism better. They make Illinois worse.
This report is the work of an investigative reporting class in the School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The project analyzed public records about an interlocking network of conservative news organizations connected to the free market, anti-tax, anti-union Illinois Policy Institute. The SIU reporting project examined documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, reporters tracked down freelancers who wrote local Illinois stories from thousands of miles away. Nathaniel Dean Fortmeyer was the student who took the lead in the investigation. William Recktenwald taught the class and reported from Harrisburg. Recktenwald was an investigative reporter at the Chicago Tribune. William H. Freivogel is publisher of GJR.
A group of free-market billionaires and conservatives allied with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner controls a network of newspapers, radio stations, news sites and policy institutes promoting the governor’s agenda while presenting themselves as independent and free from bias.
When people in Carbondale, DuPage, Chicago, Kankakee, Rock Island, Will County and other Illinois communities pick up the local newspaper or click on a website, they are promised traditional journalistic values — the “highest standards of truth and accuracy…and independence” — “Just the Facts” — “nonpartisan, nonprofit…dedicated to the principles of transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility.”
What readers get is a strong pro-Republican, pro-Rauner, anti-Michael Madigan slant manufactured by the interlocking group of media organizations revolving around the free-market, anti-tax, anti-union Illinois Policy Institute (IPI).
Readers also get “local” stories often written by freelancers thousands of miles away who never set foot in Illinois. And, even though the conservative network promises transparency, some funding is shrouded in dark, unreported money.
Brian Timpone — who runs ICS and the Local Government Information Services newspapers where the stories are published — describes himself as an “entrepreneur focused on developing software and systems that grow and enhance media.”
Timpone said in an interview that distant reporters are better and fairer than those who live in the community.
“The reason local news reporting is so crappy is because the reporters are too local. You don’t want them to live in the communities…. If you have [a reporter who has] done city councils in a city, you are too close.” Local journalists embedded in communities are “ill-equipped to objectively judge information,” he said. “I am partisan to ideas. Free market. Capitalism.”
In 2012 Timpone admitted that his company had made mistakes. This American Life had reported that a freelancer, Ryan Smith, had rewritten content from foreign contributors from the Philippines, who were given fake bylines. Timpone acknowledged the fake bylines were a mistake, although he still claimed the foreign contributors were just entering data, not writing stories.
Some of Timpone’s current journalists say they can’t talk about their duties because they are required to sign non-disclosure agreements. One of those is Chandra Lye, a freelancer from British Columbia. Her byline appeared on a Sept. 19 story in the Metro East Sun headlined: “Belleville area cheers Lisa Madigan’s decision to call it quits.”
Contacted via Twitter, Lye responded with an email, “I have been informed that I am not authorized to discuss the process with you.”
* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
The newly appointed Inspector General in Springfield told the victim of alleged sexual harassment by a lawmaker to turn over unlimited access to her cell phone and social media account.
Anti-abuse advocate Denise Rotheimer says Julie Porter, the woman lawmakers tabbed to be the Legislative Inspector General, asked for a little more of her private life than she wanted to give up.
“What she was asking for was way too overreaching and unrelated to the complaint,” Rotheimer said. “I didn’t want to give her access to all of my text messages going years and years back.”
Eventually, Porter settled for just the information specific to Rotheimer’s complaint.
Rotheimer had already given Porter hundreds of pages of Facebook and other comments she received from married state Senator Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago. The comments included things that ranged from aggressive flirtation to lewd comments about Rotheimer’s body.
What’s more, if Rotheimer’s sexual harassment claims are validated by [interim Legislative Inspector General Julie Porter], the law license Silverstein has held since 1985 could be at risk, said the former 15-year head of the state Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which licenses Illinois attorneys and recommends sanctions against lawyers who engage in misconduct. […]
“If he were found to have engaged in conduct that amounted to sexual harassment of her in the context of representing her father — and there were a finding by some administrative body that the harassment had occurred — he would be vulnerable in terms of his law license,” said lawyer Mary Robinson, the ARDC’s former administrator who is now in private practice.
However, after reviewing portions of the emails Rotheimer released, Robinson said she is not entirely certain that what she read at WBEZ’s request constitutes a clear-cut punishable offense by her former agency.
“I don’t see a sense of him using authority to keep her engaged. It appears as much as you can tell from just reading black and white … to be a very collaborative engagement. No one seems to be pulling the other one way or another,” Robinson said.
“I didn’t read them all, but I didn’t see any instance in which I would have read any of his messages as suggesting she would be more likely to get what she wanted either on behalf of her father or on behalf of her base … by keeping him happy,” she said. “I did not see an indication he was trying to use power in order to get something she would have been otherwise unwilling to engage in.”
Taxpayers United of America has graded me at 92% in taxpayer friendliness. I want to improve on that by blocking more Madigan tax hikes so Illinoisans can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. #twill#ilgovhttps://t.co/JBoxgUKI65
Bruce Rauner may be the governor of the “Land of Lincoln,” but he’s promoting kudos from a group led by a self-styled taxpayer watchdog who contends Abraham Lincoln fought the Civil War to keep collecting taxes from Southern states, not over the issue of slavery.
On Wednesday, Rauner’s campaign Twitter account noted the governor had “been graded 92 percent in taxpayer friendliness, because as governor, I’m the biggest advocate for taxpayers. I won’t stop fighting to protect Illinoisans from more tax hikes.” […]
Tobin’s foundation features several posts critical of Lincoln with such titles as “Lincoln brutalized the country and shredded the constitution,” “Illinois and Lincoln set the bar for political sleaze” and “Lincoln’s unpopular war.” […]
After the Tribune asked the Rauner campaign for comment, the Wednesday tweet promoting Rauner’s ranking by Tobin’s Taxpayers United was removed from Twitter. […]
The Tribune asked the Rauner campaign for comment about its promotion of Tobin as part of the governor’s re-election. A Rauner campaign spokesman sent a statement: “The Chicago Tribune, as well as other respected news sources, have cited Jim Tobin and the Taxpayers United of America several times.” Five Tribune stories were about transportation and school issues.
That’s true. Tobin is often cited by reputable publications that ought to know better.
*** UPDATE *** From Justin Giorgio at the Rauner campaign…
Hi Rich,
Providing some clarification on the Tribune story you posted this morning. They only mentioned 5 Tribune stories in the article, and justified those by saying they were ‘transportation and education’ focused. However, all had a political slant, and there were additional stories not focused on those issues at all. Here’s a list we provided of stories from the Tribune and others citing Taxpayers United of America.
Bruce Rauner was again promoting recent praise from Jim Tobin, an activist who believes the Civil War was fought over taxes, not slavery. But after the Chicago Tribune started asking questions about the controversial move, Rauner’s campaign deleted the now nowhere to be found tweet:
Despite pushback, Rauner’s campaign continued to defend the praise today and stand by Tobin and his radical views.
“After a 736-day budget crisis that hurt working families across the state, it’s clear that praise from the likes of Jim Tobin is the best this failed governor can muster,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is endorsing Cook County Commissioner Jesús “Chuy” Garcia in the Democratic primary race to represent Illinois’ 4th Congressional District. Garcia, who served as a national Latino surrogate for Sanders in his 2016 quest for the Democratic Party nomination for president, said yesterday he would run for the U.S. Representative seat after the current U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez announced he was retiring and backing Garcia to replace him.
“‘Chuy’ Garcia is the right person at the right time for the work we have ahead of us,” Sanders said. “He is ready and willing to stand up and fight for the working families of Chicago and our nation and take on the powerful special interests who have far too much power over the economic and political life of our country. He is also an experienced legislator who has risen up the ladder of Chicago’s brawling politics. That makes him well groomed for jumping into the House’s rough and tumble political battles.
“There will be no learning curve when Chuy gets to Washington. He served on the Chicago City Council, he was the first Mexican-American in the Illinois state Senate and he is currently serving on the Cook County Board of Commissioners. As an immigrant who has embraced his adopted homeland, he will be a fresh voice in Congress.
“And with his strong ties to the Puerto Rican community, he will be a strong ally and powerful advocate for our ‘Marshall Plan’ legislation to rebuild and renew that island.”
Sanders noted that the need to have a voice for immigrants on the national stage becomes more urgent every day, as the March 2018 withdrawal of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) protection for undocumented young people draws near and the Trump administration continues to escalate immigration raids, check-ins and deportations.
Garcia said he was looking forward to joining the new wave of progressive, national Democratic Party leaders, inspired by Sanders. He said he was aligned with the senator on virtually all of his key issues, including a strong program for rebuilding Puerto Rico, health care for all, immigration reform, boosting access to higher education and fiscal responsibility with a tax system where everyone pays their fair share.
“I support America, a nation of rich cultural heritage and unmatched strength, whose founding fathers believed in building bridges, not walls,” Garcia said. “I champion opportunity for all as an ally of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders. I will do everything in my power to move the nation forward on these crucial issues.”
* Related…
* Race Already Heating Up to Replace Rep. Gutierrez: Six candidates are scrambling to get onto the ballot in time for the March primaries, when the race will truly begin to replace the retiring Gutierrez.
