” House Speaker Michael Madigan opened his press conference today by recalling that he labeled Gov. Bruce Rauner’s original budget a “reckless spending plan” because he used $2.2 billion in phantom anticipated pension savings to fund his budget.
Madigan used today’s press conference to unveil the Democratic budget plan. The proposal “will be consistent with our view of what the State of Illinois should do for Illinoisans who need the government will be helpful for them.” He admitted that there will be a revenue “shortfall” with the budget, but committed to working with the governor to find a solution.
Madigan said he’ll need “a little over $3 billion” in revenues to make the budget balance. “We’ve built cuts into our spending plan,” he added, including human services, higher education and general services. There will be increases for pension payments, Department of Corrections and K-12 education.
“The most important thing for the governor and the Legislature to do right now is to prepare a spending plan,” Madigan said, adding that he didn’t think it was “appropriate” to attach non-spending demands to the appropriations process, and pointed to the governor’s press release today as an example of non-budget issues that aren’t appropriate for the budget-making process.
“I would just disagree with his method,” Madigan said. “Several of those non-budget issues have been rejected [in the House]. They’ve lost. And now it’s time to move onto a spending plan.”
“They will say what they want to say, and it would be unfortunate if they took the focus off the budget making and engaged in a bunch of political rhetoric.”
Asked about the governor’s reported plans for post-session TV ads, Madigan said Rauner will do what he was going to do after the session ended and said the Democrats would do what they were going to do. “I’m going to continue to do my work,” he said.
Asked about Rauner’s contention that some of his Turnaround Agenda could save the state money, Madigan said: “That’s pretty much of a David Stockton theory. Do you remember David Stockton?” Stockman was Ronald Reagan’s supply-side budget director.
“He has his views about what should be done by the government,” Madigan stressed about Rauner, saying others have different views. He then reiterated his demand that non-budget issues should be off the table during a budget process.”
“Issuing threats is really not helpful to this process,” Madigan concluded.
* House Speaker Michael Madigan is set to hold a media availability today. Watch it here. But the governor’s office “responded” before Madigan’s press conference even began…
Statement attributable to Lance Trover, Director of Communications, Office of the Governor
“Speaker Madigan and the politicians he controls are walking away from the negotiating table and refusing to compromise on critical reforms needed to Turnaround Illinois. Instead, they appear ready to end the regular session with yet another broken budget or massive tax hike -and no structural reforms. The Speaker and his allies in the legislature are sorely mistaken if they believe the people of Illinois will accept doubling down on a broken system that has failed Illinois over the last dozen years.”
Whew.
Stay tuned for updates from MJM’s presser, which, as of 3:50 has not yet begun. Rauner’s statement was sent at 3:30.
When Gov. Bruce Rauner and state legislators were faced with filling a $1.6 billion hole in the state’s current budget, they turned to the same pot of money that’s been used in the past.
They decided a major part of the solution would be to take $1.3 billion out of the hundreds of special funds that are part of the state’s financial structure.
It was the first time Rauner used the technique of sweeping special state funds to help pay for other state operations. His office did not respond to questions about whether the governor might use the technique in the future.
However, Rauner did show a willingness to dip into special state funds again this spring to restore cuts made to human services programs known as the “Good Friday cuts.” The cuts later were restored when regular state revenues came in higher than expected.
When lawmakers decided to sweep $1.3 billion from special state funds to plug a hole in this year’s state budget, funds that pay for road construction took a hit.
Three funds provided $350 million of the total. The state’s road fund was hit up for $250 million, the most taken from any fund.
“We are always opposed to diversions,” said Michael Sturino, president and CEO of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association.
The Illinois Department of Transportation said the fund sweeps would not affect road projects in the current year. But as Sturino pointed out, the money is not going to be repaid to the funds which means that much less that will be available in the future.
* The Question: Your thoughts on fund sweeps? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
During his six years in Congress, Rep. Aaron Schock could count on commodity trader Darren Frye and his wife, Becky, for campaign cash, transportation and use of an upscale condominium in Chicago, according to records and sources.
But now that Schock has resigned from Congress and is under federal investigation, his dealings with donors such as the Fryes could prove far from beneficial to him.
Schock’s use of the Fryes’ condo and travel services may run afoul of campaign laws and House ethics rules, according to legal experts.
In addition, some of the Fryes’ campaign contributions have raised questions about possible “donor swapping,” a practice that falls into a gray area in the law and can allow political candidates to effectively collect more from a single donor than is legal.
Keep in mind that the Frye’s haven’t been accused of wrongdoing, but go read it all.
As state lawmakers find themselves in their typical late May posture of trying to pass a budget, a new political dynamic hovers over the proceedings: more than $34 million in campaign cash under the control of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and his allies.
Rauner already has sprinkled a total of $400,000 in contributions to every Republican legislator as he talks about the need for the GOP to “stay unified” at the end of session. Democrats have made those campaign donations an issue, citing what they say are the bad optics of Rauner doling out money at the same time he’s asking Republicans to take tough votes for what he calls his “Turnaround Agenda.”
But Rauner has plenty of money left to unholster against the Democratic-controlled General Assembly should the session go into overtime and stretch into the summer. The implied threat is that incumbents not supportive of the governor could face a barrage of TV and radio attack ads and negative mailings, if not find opponents fielded against them in next year’s legislative races.
Already, an advertising agency that handled Rauner’s multi-million dollar campaign commercials last year has been inquiring about buying broadcast air time, said one media representative who was not authorized to speak publicly. The ad agency declined to comment.
I spent the better part of last Wednesday asking folks around the Statehouse if they had anything positive to tell me. I went looking for anything that might indicate a silver lining to this increasingly nasty spring legislative session.
Mostly, people just laughed at me.
Other than some individual personal developments, there just wasn’t much positivity around. The governor’s chief of staff Mike Zolnierowicz and his incomparable wife Barret were about to have a new baby. They’re great people and that’s wonderful news, but it also means that “Z” was not going to be able to work on solving the problems for a few days.
A gaming expansion bill appeared to be progressing. But I’m told the governor is in no mood to sign it as long as his “Turnaround Agenda” is being ignored by the majority Democrats.
The Senate Democrats, meanwhile, were expected to move legislation to help Chicago out of its horrific fiscal mess, but there’s still the problem with the governor’s refusal to do anything for the Democrats until he gets what he wants.
So, I came up with nothing.
The governor’s list of demands had been whittled down, but he still wasn’t backing off his insistence that the General Assembly give him at least some anti-union “right to work” local zones. He wanted a “causation” standard for workers’ compensation and a property tax freeze, which in even watered-down forms continued to be a nonstarter.
The list of demands went on and on, but in exchange, the governor was willing to support $3.5 billion in new revenues, which doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that he also wanted the Democrats to agree to $3 billion in spending cuts. The governor’s folks thought they were being generous by offering more revenues than cuts, but the Democrats pointed out that getting their people to vote for both tax hikes and huge spending cuts was pretty much impossible.
Instead, the Dems talked last week about sending the governor an unbalanced budget, telling him to cut as much as he could and then they’d come back and help provide the revenue to make the monster balance. They wanted to put the cuts on Rauner’s head, and his head only.
But it was more likely that Rauner would just simply veto the budget bill in its entirety and harangue the Democrats via a massive TV ad campaign for once again producing an “irresponsibly unbalanced budget.” And I’m hearing that when the clock strikes June 1st, the governor’s list of 80 demands and concessions goes out the window and he will put his entire agenda back on the table and withdraw all the concessions, including (and especially) much-needed new revenues.
So, in an admittedly desperate attempt to find something positive to write about, I maneuvered two people, one from each side, to a table last Wednesday night to see if they could hash out one little thing.
Take it from me, these guys are all talking past each other. They just don’t understand each other, and really don’t even comprehend one another, although it did appear that the governor’s people were slightly more willing to cut a deal and they appeared to “get” the Democrats at least a bit more than the Dems appeared to “get” the governor.
The Rauner folks know, at least somewhere deep down, that attacking unions is an existential issue for the Democratic Party. The Dems ain’t gonna move a millimeter on that one. But the Rauner folks have been pointing out that raising taxes is also a potentially existential issue for Rauner and the GOP. He can’t just break his promise to reform government and the economy and then hand the majority party a gigantic tax hike. He’ll get slaughtered for that. Maybe the Dems know that and want to force him to cut his own political throat, or, being Democrats, they just don’t comprehend how tax-averse he is. But as long as he’s willing to go part way on revenues, they’re going to try and push him to go the full boat.
And then I got home Wednesday night and read Gov. Rauner’s op-ed in the State Journal-Register. “If legislators are willing to reform how we do business, they will find me an eager partner,” the governor wrote. “If they are not, then they should expect a very long extra session because I will keep fighting for major reforms.”
Like I said, I got pretty much nothing in the way of good news. Sorry.
Let’s start with what, surprisingly, is the easier part: money. Right now, Illinois has a roughly $6.6 billion hole in that budget, and the only ways to solve it are to raise taxes, cut spending or do some of both.
Rauner has offered to put anywhere from $3.2 billion to $3.5 billion in tax increases on the table (the figure depends on whom you believe). That number could be pushed somewhat higher. That depends on whether the governor is willing—in addition to partially restoring the income tax hike—to add some of the $2.2 billion in potential service-tax revenues that two civic groups proposed recently. Look for Rauner to move a bit more.
On the cut side, Democrats reportedly are willing to part with $1 billion in spending. That, too, likely is an initial bargaining position. No one yet is detailing who would lose, but insiders suggest that the University of Illinois will take a hit, reimbursement rates for physicians participating in Medicaid will drop and local municipalities will lose a portion of what they get from the state’s income tax (though not as much as Rauner originally proposed). Toss in some sweeps of “excess” revenues from special state funds, and the two sides are a mere billion or so away from a balanced budget. Shazam!
Pensions, too, aren’t where the real divisions lie now thanks to the Illinois Supreme Court, which pretty much gave the state one option: Pay up. Lawmakers could try a variation on the “consideration” plan pushed by Senate President John Cullerton, in which some benefits go up and others fall. But the savings will be modest and can’t be counted now.
Agreements on a couple of other issues are needed to give this big, end-of-session deal lift-off velocity. Lawmakers need to pass Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s pension reform plan, which pairs benefit cuts with more money from the county, and let the courts deal with it. Mayor Rahm Emanuel really does need a casino to pay police and fire pensions. And the fiscal cliff that will require the city to pay a whopping $550 million more a year in pension contributions starting Jan. 1 needs to be smoothed down. Does it really matter whether the retirement systems are fully funded in 2040 or 2050?
Then throw in a capital spending bill to give everyone some ribbons to cut. Funding source: possibly an increase in the gas tax.
But, as Greg points out, there’s still that Turnaround Agenda problem. And it’s a big one.
* I just rolled in from a weekend at the Summer Camp music festival in Chillicothe. Wow. I’ll tell you more about it some other time because I gotta get the Fax out to subscribers ASAP. But for now, here’s a live version of a Trigger Hippy song I’ve posted before. “Rise up Singing”…
* The House and Senate are convening Monday afternoon, so I expect to be back online just before then. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Sorry to shut ‘er down so soon, but I’m totally outta here, man…
* If Arlington Park wants table games, all the other tracks will want them as well. The gaming expansion bill could get much bigger…
Arlington Park officials want to add table games to the gambling options at the track in addition to the slot machines they’ve sought for years, a suburban lawmaker said.
Previous proposals called for the addition to 1,200 slot machines at the Arlington Heights horse racing track. State Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican, said adding table games is being discussed.
“It’s on the table,” Murphy said.
As video gambling machines in bars and restaurants become more common, the track might need table games to keep up with the competition, Murphy said.
What they essentially want are full-blown casinos at the tracks.
* Who’s more to blame for the current Statehouse gridlock and pending overtime session? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Donald Stolworthy, acting director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, submitted his resignation to the Republican governor this week, but will remain on the state payroll while a search for a replacement is underway.
“We have accepted the resignation of Acting Director Stolworthy. At our request, he has agreed to help during the transition period to continue our transformation of the Department of Corrections while we identify the leader that will succeed him,” Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in an email Friday.
Stolworthy was named to the $150,200 post on March 8 after serving as an official in the U.S. State Department’s prison bureau. The 54-year-old Arlington, Virginia resident replaced S.A. “Tony” Godinez, who had overseen the agency since 2011.
The governor’s office provided no reason for Stolworthy’s pending departure.
* Senate President Pro Tempore Don Harmon responds to Gov. Rauner’s SJ-R op-ed, in which the governor threatened a long overtime session unless Democrats agree to support his reforms…
After reading Governor Bruce Rauner’s opinion piece I agree with the governor on some of the problems the state faces: Our pensions need to be funded and our property taxes are too high.
Unfortunately, we don’t begin to agree on solutions.
Let’s start with pensions. I voted for a major reform two years ago. The Supreme Court just struck it down, ruling that once someone is hired by the state, pension benefits cannot be diminished.
Yet the governor continues to call for diminished benefits “going forward.” We need pension reform, but we’ll never get there with a governor who ignores the Constitution, the Supreme Court and reality.
Yes, property taxes are too high. They’re also extremely unfair to hard-working families who end up getting hit much harder than the wealthy.
I’m working on a solution to provide tax fairness for the middle class.
My solution is a fair income tax, one where higher rates would apply to higher incomes and lower rates would apply to lower incomes. It’s logical and allows middle class families to keep more of their hard-earned money. Nearly every state that borders Illinois already has such a system.
What solutions does the governor offer? None that work for the working families.
He slashes funding for our communities and freezes property taxes. That results in fewer firefighters and police officers, slow snow removal and more pesky potholes.
Illinois deserves better.
It’s clear who Governor Rauner is looking out for and it’s not regular families.
Rauner’s looking out for his Wall Street friends, the corporate millionaires and billionaires who don’t want to pay their fair share.
More alarming is that the governor refuses to move forward on a balanced budget until we approve his agenda. He’s holding the entire state hostage until he gets what he wants, and in the meantime he’s putting real families and real programs in jeopardy. This isn’t leadership. This is bullying.
His plan cripples unions and lowers the wages and benefits of working families.
He wants to make it easier for employers to refuse to pay injured workers.
He wants to make it harder to collect unemployment if your company lays you off.
He wants to keep the minimum wage lower than the cost of living.
That’s class warfare, aimed squarely at the middle class. The only people who benefit from Governor Rauner’s agenda are his corporate pals.
I’m willing to work with the governor to balance the budget.
What I won’t do is dismantle the middle class, no matter what the governor threatens.
The middle class is not a “special interest.” The middle class is the key to a healthy, thriving Illinois.
“Are you stoned or just stupid?” freshman State Rep. Chad Hays (R-Danville) asked Democrat colleague State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville) on the House floor Friday morning, when Hoffman presented one piece of legislation after another concerning workers compensation reform, for which he then urged a “No” vote.
“I didn’t put these proposals forward, the governor did - these are your proposals, not ours,” Hoffman said. “You can’t handle the truth. The governor hasn’t put a proposal forward, and we’re not working on the budget. Rome is burning.”
Friday morning, Hoffman proposed changes to the workers’ compensation system that would require the company to be at least 50 percent the cause for injuries, that American Medical Association’s injury guidelines to be used, and other proposals that had been discussed in legislative working groups.
But he asked that his colleagues vote no on each reform. Every one of the amendments the lawmaker proposed failed, just as he asked.
* Things are most definitely getting hairy…
When a long time Dem State Rep screams "Rome is Burning" about IL, he might want to self-report, not as mere fiddler but an arsonist. #Cmon
* Speaker Madigan coined a new phrase after his millionaire’s tax proposal was defeated yesterday…
All Republicans voting on the proposed amendment voted against it. Three Democrats also voted against the measure: Jack Franks of Marengo, Ken Dunkin of Chicago and Scott Drury of Highwood.
Even though three Democrats voted against his proposed amendment, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, blamed members of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s party for its defeat.
“The passage of this was in the hands of the Rauner Republicans,” Madigan said. “The roll call was very clear. The Rauner Republicans voted against the resolution. They don’t even want to give the voters of the state the opportunity to vote on this question. It’s very regrettable.”
“As an individual, when I earn more I accept that I will pay more,” state Rep. Carol Sente, a Vernon Hills Democrat, said. “The approximate $1 billion per year in additional revenue is direly needed by our state to fund education.”
* But the Republicans got in some solid licks yesterday…
Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove, took the opportunity Thursday to quiz Madigan about past votes by lawmakers that added to the state’s poor financial shape, including decisions to borrow money to make pension payments or skip payments altogether.
“Now, essentially the problem makers wish to be the problem solvers by asking taxpayers to come out of their pockets yet again without doing the real work necessary to solve our state’s financial problems,” said Sandack, who argued the tax would encourage high earners to leave the state.
Madigan said he had “no reason to disagree with your version of history” but said he was offering voters the chance to raise more money for local schools, which districts could use to ease their pension obligations.
* Under current state law, if you have any THC in your system and you’re involved in a car crash, you can be sent to prison - even if you hadn’t ingested any THC in weeks. The new marijuana decrim bill amends that ridiculous statute…
One little-reported provision of the measure would change the state’s zero-tolerance law for driving with marijuana in one’s system.
Marijuana remains in the body much longer than alcohol, after the effects of pot’s psychoactive component, THC, have worn off. So instead of drivers being deemed intoxicated with any amount of pot in their systems, the new limit, if the bill becomes law, would be 15 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood, or 25 nanograms per milliliter of saliva.
Cassidy said the standard is based on federal studies that looked at when impairment occurs.
Police would still be able to use field sobriety tests to establish impairment regardless of blood levels, just as with alcohol.
Democrats have begun to craft their own budget without Rauner’s input. They’re looking to spend $36 billion on government operations next year, according to a Democratic source with knowledge of budget talks. That figure is the same amount lawmakers signed off on last year, which Rauner’s office has said was $1.6 billion out of whack. That shortfall will only grow next year after the January rollback of portions of an income tax increase, and questions remain about where the state will get the money to cover that level of spending.
While Democrats have made no secret of their desire to raise taxes to avoid deep cuts, they say a conversation on how to bring in more revenue likely won’t happen before the May 31 budget deadline.
There will be some “natural” revenue growth next fiscal year, but there’s no doubt that the Democrats’ budget will be way out of whack. Subscribers know even more about that gaping hole.
Gov. Bruce Rauner spent his first months in office fixing the phony budget his predecessor signed.
He’s made it absolutely clear he won’t play that game. If anyone needed a reminder, Rauner offered it Thursday in an oped in the Springfield Journal-Register. “I might be new around here, but I understand what I was sent to do. It was not to accept the dismal failure that our state government has become.”
Last year’s budget deal was, indeed, phony. It took $1.6 billion in patches to make it balance this fiscal year.
$1.6 billion is a big hole.
But compare that to Gov. Rauner’s proposed state budget, which built in a $2.2 billion hole with a completely phony pension savings, well over $700 million in phantom employee heath insurance cost savings, and around $100 million in illusory savings from human services.
Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton complain that budget negotiations with Rauner have been fruitless.
From what we hear, it’s because they won’t give. On anything. Behind closed doors, Rauner has taken his most controversial proposals off the table. He’s pushing for workers’ compensation reform, term limits, an honest effort at restructuring state government. He will be flexible on their wishes, which would include more spending than he proposed in his budget.
The Democrats haven’t budged. That’s true. It’s their usual play.
But Rauner has most definitely not taken all of his “most controversial proposals off the table.” Subscribers know more about this. He has moved some, but, man, there are still a whole lot of things that Democrats cannot and will not agree to.
This is not a cartoon, even though some (*cough*Tribune*cough*) would like to portray it as such. And I’m sure we can expect more editorials like this as the summer progresses.
With just 10 days remaining in the spring legislative session, Gov. Bruce Rauner has finally put large parts of his so-called Turnaround Agenda into bill form, a move that follows months of criticism by Democrats who argued there was no way to vet his plans.
Rauner aides shared copies of five pieces of legislation with reporters late Thursday, including measures that would make changes to workers’ compensation insurance for employees hurt on the job, overhaul the system for awarding judgments in civil cases and freeze local property taxes. Also drafted were two constitutional amendments that would set term limits for lawmakers and statewide officials and change the way legislative boundaries are drawn.
Administration officials say the legislation will be formally filed Friday, but would not say who they’ve recruited to sponsor the measures. The governor’s office said it decided to release the information after Democrats walked away from the bargaining table.
* The administration won’t be filing a “right to work” zones bill, however…
Not included in the stack of new bills is legislation to create right-to-work zones where union membership would be voluntary — a proposal that has drawn heavy protests from organized labor and that House lawmakers soundly defeated during a symbolic vote last week.
But the legislation will include measures to allow some local governments to opt out of collective bargaining with public-employee unions and prevailing wage agreements, which set a minimum level of salary and benefits for work on government projects. Rauner has said the agreements drive up the cost of public construction projects.
A spokesman for Rauner declined to comment on the proposals Thursday. But Rep. Ed Sullivan, a member of House Republican leadership, said the package represents Rauner’s attempts to compromise with Democrats who control the Legislature following weeks of closed-door, bipartisan meetings. […]
Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, said they would review the bills, but offered no guarantees they would advance.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Dems do with the term limits and redistricting proposals. No way does MJM want to deal with term limits on the floor. Everything else could likely be killed off without much worry.
Sources say the move by Rauner’s administration is to respond to complaints by Democrats that the governor has failed to give them specific language he wants included in reform measures he’s pushing.
“Democrats have all but abandoned his working groups,” one source with knowledge of the proposals told the Sun-Times. “This is his response to the Democrats’ failure to cooperate and meaningfully find common ground on his agenda items.” […]
One Republican said the six so-called “vehicle bills” to be filed Friday should at least get an airing on the committee level.
“I welcome that opportunity. Look, from a minority perspective in the House, we’re fighting off bad bills and fighting off bad bills brought ostensibly in the name of the governor. They were examples of political theater only,” said state Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove. “I’d like to have a real debate. I think the issues are important enough to have a serious discussion.”
If they want committee hearings, though, maybe the Dems will oblige.
* Meanwhile, House Speaker Michael Madigan has filed a package of amendments dealing with workers’ comp. A vote on tort reforms had been planned today, but that’s being pushed off until next week.
The business community is asking for “Present” votes from members…
Illinois job creators have consistently called for comprehensive and meaningful reform of the Workers’ Compensation Act that will significantly reduce costs for employers – private and public sector - while protecting the rights of legitimately injured workers and ensuring their access to quality health care. Despite the 2011 reforms, Illinois still has the 7th highest cost of workers’ compensation in the United States and it is consistently cited as one of the primary reasons that companies move out of state or choose not to invest capital and grow jobs in Illinois.
“At this time, we are asking all House lawmakers to vote present on the workers’ compensation amendments filed yesterday until our elected officials have reached comprehensive agreement on reform. Illinois employers stand ready to work with leaders on both sides of the aisle.”
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association
Illinois Retail Merchants Association
National Federation of Independent Business
Associated Builders & Contractors
Home Builders Association of Illinois
Illinois Self-Insurers Association
Mid-West Equipment Dealers Association
Mid-West Truckers Association
Technology & Manufacturing Association
Friday, May 22, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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As a thank you for their ultimate sacrifice to our country, credit unions from across the state unite to sponsor wreaths to decorate the gravesites of veterans from each branch of the military during the holidays. This past year, through member donations collected at their branches and with funds directly provided by the credit unions themselves, nearly 570 gravesites were decorated with wreaths sponsored by Illinois credit unions at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, as well as at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. True to their mission, groups of volunteers from Illinois credit unions also participate in the ceremonial act of placing wreaths at the gravesites.
As not-for-profit financial cooperatives with a mantra of “People Before Profits”, credit unions are a highly valued resource by nearly 3 million Illinois consumers — and remembered for their efforts in serving their communities this Memorial holiday and every day.
* Nothing so far from the governor’s office or the AFL-CIO, but The Tribune has a long story today about how the governor is pushing local governments to pass resolutions supporting his “right to work” agenda and other issues.
Only a fraction of the village and county boards across the state even took up the symbolic resolution of support that Rauner aides drafted. Most of the places that approved it are small, and the resolution sometimes ran into problems in larger locales that outright rejected, set aside or altered the measure to strip out the anti-union language. […]
Of the three dozen or so that have approved it, most have populations under 10,000 or are counties with less than 50,000 people. Rockford, Illinois’ third-largest city, adopted the resolution, as did McHenry County. And a few medium-sized suburbs have passed the measure, including Elk Grove Village and Round Lake Beach.. […]
Naperville isn’t known as a Democratic stronghold, but hundreds packed into the municipal center in late April when the council planned to vote on a modified version of Rauner’s resolution that contained softer language about collective bargaining. Dozens spoke against it during an extended public comment period that led the council to put off the matter.
Some council members said they had received personal phone calls from the governor on the eve of the vote, but were confused by the resolution and felt rushed to support something they didn’t fully understand. The Naperville situation highlighted what Democrats including Madigan say has been a flaw in the governor’s approach: His delay in putting out legislation detailing out how his proposals would work.
(T)he possession of 15 grams or less of cannabis is a civil law violation punishable by a minimum fine of $55 and a maximum fine of $125;
The bill will be held in the chamber until a House “trailer bill” is eventually passed by the Senate.
…Adding… Press release…
The Illinois Senate approved a bill 37-19 Thursday to remove criminal penalties for possession of a small amount of marijuana. The measure, which was approved by the House of Representatives in April, will now be sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) for his signature.
HB 218, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Michael Noland (D-Elgin) and in the House by Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), makes possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana a civil law violation punishable by a $125 fine. Individuals will no longer face time in jail, and the civil offense will be automatically expunged in order to prevent a permanent criminal record.
“Serious criminal penalties should be reserved for individuals who commit serious crimes,” Rep. Cassidy said. “The possibility of jail time should not even be on the table when it comes to simple marijuana possession. Criminalizing people for marijuana possession is not a good use of our state’s limited law enforcement resources.”
Under current Illinois law, possession of up to 2.5 grams of marijuana is a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,500; possession of 2.5-10 grams is a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,500; and possession of 10-30 grams is a class 4 felony punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $1,500 fine. More than 100 localities in Illinois have adopted measures that reduce penalties for simple marijuana possession.
“We hope Gov. Rauner will sign this important and broadly supported legislation,” said Chris Lindsey, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. “This is a sensible alternative to Illinois’s needlessly complicated and draconian marijuana possession laws. It’s time to stop destroying people’s lives over possession of a substance that is undeniably less harmful than alcohol.”
Illinois marijuana laws disproportionately impact communities of color, according to reports released by the Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Roosevelt University in May 2014 and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in June 2013. African Americans in Illinois are 7.6 times more likely to be cited or arrested for marijuana possession than whites, despite using marijuana at a similar rate, according to the ACLU.
“This legislation is long overdue in Illinois,” said Rev. Alexander Sharp, executive director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy. “Simple marijuana possession does not warrant harsh criminal penalties that can turn someone’s life upside down. Laws should protect people, not cause more harm to them than the activity they’re intended to prevent.”
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have removed the threat of jail time for simple marijuana possession.
(A) House panel advanced Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s plan to overhaul government worker pensions.
The proposal would cut benefits and raise retirement ages but also guarantee health care benefits for workers when they retire. It calls for the county to put almost $147 million more a year into the pension fund, though Preckwinkle continues to be publicly vague about how she’ll fund that increase.
But prospects for the bill to move forward are shaky amid opposition from Republicans leery of a tax hike that likely would fund the county’s increased contributions and some Democrats who don’t like that some powerful employee unions are opposed. Still, Preckwinkle said she remained “hopeful” that Rauner may support the bill and pressure Republicans to vote in favor.
In reviving the legislation, Preckwinkle argues that the county’s liabilities are rising by $30 million a month and a reform bill needs to be passed “immediately.”
The county’s proposal would withstand a legal challenge in part because, like Chicago, the county is not relying on the ‘police powers’ argument that the state used to defend its reforms, Preckwinkle said.
The county’s plan would also offer employees something they don’t have now - a dedicated revenue source for health care benefits, according to the county.
“Our plan, which was the product of over two years of negotiations with a cross section of unions and stakeholders, also confers on participants significant new value in return for changes in the pension system,” Preckwinkle said in a statement.
Is there any point after the Supreme Court slapdown? The city and the county say their proposals could thread the eye of the needle at the Supreme Court, though the odds seem to be against them.
The Supreme Court took dead aim at the state’s self-inflicted pension crisis. Cook County argues that it, unlike state government, has always made its legally required pension contribution. County officials believe that and other differences would prompt the court to give this legislation a fresh look.
We encourage Illinois lawmakers to pass Preckwinkle’s pension bill. Get it to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk. It may be a stand-alone reform or it may become part of a grand bargain to save state and local government from financial catastrophe. But let’s get it passed.
Preckwinkle says she recently had an “interesting” conversation with Republican Governor Bruce Rauner last week and says the ball’s in his court.
Preckwinkle says Rauner wants a package of pension bills to pass as the state, City of Chicago, Cook County, and several suburbs look to restructure their retirement benefits. A spokesman for Rauner had no comment.
It’s May 21st. Ten days to go. The budget process is in shambles and now he won’t approve Cook County’s bill until he gets a giant ominibus reform bill?
Chicago could reduce a looming $550 million hike in contributions to its police and fire retirement systems due next year by extending the deadline for reaching a 90-percent funded level, the city disclosed in bond documents on Thursday.
The city laid out options for dealing with the payment in documents relating to its plan to convert about $805 million of variable-rate debt into fixed-rate bonds to avoid accelerated debt payments and termination fees to banks. […]
Under a 2010 Illinois law, Chicago’s annual contributions must be in an amount that would enable the retirement systems to be 90 percent funded by 2040. The city said it was in talks with unions to amend the law to extend the 2040 deadline and create a phase-in period to reduce contributions in initial years.
Chicago has projected that contributions to all four of its retirement systems will climb to $1.1 billion next year from about $478 million this year. […]
In the absence of payment relief from the legislature, Chicago may have to increase its property tax levy by Dec. 29 to accommodate the full $550 million police and fire contribution, the documents added.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday he wants to see how the frenzied final days of the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session play out before asking the new City Council to begin the search for new revenue to solve the $30 billion pension crisis that has dropped Chicago’s bond rating to junk status.
“We’re in active discussions on a casino as a funding source to shore up” police and fire pensions, the mayor told reporters after a City Council meeting. […]
Emanuel said he remains hopeful on what he once described as a “mega, mega-deal” that may include a sales tax on services, partial restoration of the expired increase in the state income tax, a Chicago casino and pension relief for police and fire and Chicago teachers.
“We’re now in the final two weeks before the end of the session. And as you know, this is usually the time — not just in Springfield, but with legislative bodies [everywhere] — when days are weeks and weeks are like months,” he said.
“There will be a lot of activity. I’m gonna be out there pressing the issues that are related to Chicago and its future [to make certain] Springfield does not make decisions at the expense of Chicago because there’s not a healthy Illinois without a healthy Chicago,” Emanuel said.
I’m not seeing it, and hizzoner is the only upbeat guy on this particular topic right now. Maybe it’ll happen. Lot of movement needed, though.
He said he would much rather see a Chicago casino close to a convention and entertainment area, which people could avoid if they’re against gambling, than to see a video poker machine in scores of bars across Chicago.
I dunno. Why not put money in the pockets of scores of hard-working bar owners around the city rather than concentrate it into the hands of already wealthy casino interests?
Illinois law defines pension benefit payments as obligations of the pension funds, which are separate legal entities from the city, Moody’s noted.
“But if the pension funds are unable to fulfill these obligations, it is unclear which party will be responsible for paying annuitants,” Moody’s said.
The city’s position is that it would be legally required to make retirement payments to police and firefighters if their pension funds become insolvent, but not those covered by the municipal employees and laborers funds — unless the city’s pension reform law is upheld by the courts. […]
The municipal and laborers funds are projected to go belly up in 10 years to 12 years without a revenue infusion. The firefighters fund, which is in worse shape, could be insolvent in half that time.
At the point the city has to start directly paying its retirees, taking away money needed to provide city services, nobody will be doubting this pension crisis is real and affects everyone.
* Doug Finke obtained an AFSCME Council 31 bargaining bulletin. Harsh stuff...
A May bargaining bulletin from the union obtained by The State Journal-Register, also said the administration is seeking “deep cuts to health insurance benefits” that the union said could drive up employee costs by more than 500 percent.
“This week the administration made all too clear how little value it places on the work we do,” the bulletin said. “The governor’s negotiators presented the AFSCME Bargaining Committee with a lengthy list of economic proposals that amounted to a massive assault on the standard of living of every state employee.” […]
* The administration wants a salary freeze for the length of the contract.
* Rauner wants to eliminate step increases available to workers during their first eight years on the job and wants to take back longevity pay that is awarded to workers who no longer qualify for step increases.
* The administration is seeking to reduce vacation and holiday time off.
* The governor also wants to eliminate additional pay for working in maximum security facilities, being called back to work and for continuing education.
A state appeals panel rejected a union challenge Tuesday to a law that took collective bargaining rights from some state employees, such as general counsels and chiefs of staff.
In a 21-page opinion, a 1st District Appellate Court panel said the law was legitimately aimed at making government more efficient and did not infringe on employees’ due process or equal protection rights.
Affirming an Illinois Labor Relations Board ruling, the appellate panel also said the law did not violate state constitutional prohibitions against arbitrary legislation or delegations of power from one branch to another.
Concerned by the rising number of high-level state employees in unions, lawmakers two years ago gave the governor powers to prohibit thousands of them from joining unions.
Section 6.1 of the Illinois Labor Relations Act authorized then-Gov. Patrick J. Quinn “to designate up to 3,580 [s]tate employment positions collectively within [s]tate agencies directly responsible to the [g]overnor” and exclude them “from the self-organization and collective bargaining provisions” of the law.
It was reasonable for the legislature to make a determination that the Governor’s participation was warranted to remove certain high-level managers from collective bargaining units so that he could effectively run his executive department as he sees fit. The Governor is in the best position to know which employees’ positions entail policy-related and discretionary responsibilities and which do not. Rather than inefficiently micro-managing the process itself or requiring the Governor and the ILRB to go through the lengthy classification process for each employee, the General Assembly gave the Governor an efficient tool to reassign employees whose positions he believed were incompatible with collective bargaining unit membership. Giving the Governor the authority to classify those from whom the State demands undivided loyalty as unsuitable for collective bargaining unit membership is a reasonable method to achieve the direct objective of section 6.1. […]
If AFSCME’s arguments are correct, meaning that the individuals are not actually managers, AFSCME has provided no reason why the individuals cannot simply file a clarification petition to be reclassified as public employees thereby reobtaining collective bargaining unit membership. It seems as though AFSCME is simply trying to have it both ways: for the individuals to keep their managerial status and the benefits that come along with that; and also to keep their collective bargaining unit membership and the benefits that come along with that. […]
AFSCME argues that section 6.1 unconstitutionally impairs the collective bargaining agreement that was in place when the statute was passed… [But] the established procedures for adding or removing positions from the collective bargaining unit have long been in place and a reclassification of employees does not constitute a breach or an impairment of an existing collective bargaining agreement. The individuals here had no vested right, constitutional or otherwise, to remain in the unit until the agreement expired and changes to their status were foreseeable. Once an employee is reclassified as a managerial employee, he or she loses the right to any benefits flowing from the agreement going forward.
Seems reasonable. Thoughts?
[The headline on this post was changed and the Finke story was added above.]
* Perhaps the least surprising “news” item of the day…
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said he can’t get behind a bill that may be called for a vote on the House floor on Thursday that would tax individuals who make more than $1 million a year.
“I don’t think I can vote for it. I think it’s bad policy,” Franks told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. Franks said neither Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan nor any representative from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office has reached out to him on the vote.
Franks’ “no” vote is significant since the so-called Millionaire’s Amendment, which passed out of committee on Wednesday, needs a supermajority to advance. That means all 71 Democrats would have to vote in favor.
Franks has never voted for a tax hike, so he’s not about to start now. Besides, the millionaire’s amendment was not overwhelmingly popular in Franks’ district last year like it was elsewhere, winning 52-48. Gov. Rauner, however, crushed Pat Quinn in that district 65-31.
Expect at least two other Democrats to also oppose this.
Democrats have the numbers, but not the power needed to enforce their agenda. They’ve signaled they want and may need Republican votes on any deal to fix the state’s financial crisis. Rauner, meanwhile, has made overtures to woo independent Democrats to his side and wields a $20 million war chest with which he aims to support lawmakers who back him.
“The term supermajority, it’s a myth,” said Rep. Jack Franks, a Democrat from Marengo. “And it’s probably more of a hindrance than a help. It creates expectations that aren’t realistic.”
Franks is one of several lawmakers who pride themselves as independents. In his case, he’s the only elected Democrat in solidly Republican McHenry County and therefore wary of being seen toeing any Democratic line. He describes himself as a pro-labor Democrat endorsed by numerous unions, but also says he’s never voted for a Democratic budget or a tax or fee increase in his 16 years in the statehouse.
Franks and fellow Democratic Rep. Scott Drury of Highwood, who also crosses party lines on occasion, opposed last spring’s “millionaire tax” push by Madigan and other Democrats. Madigan withdrew the proposal within weeks, which would tack a 3 percent surcharge on income earned of more than $1 million, due to lack of support, but has reintroduced it this year. The two also were among about a half-dozen lawmakers who opposed extending the temporary income tax hike increase, which their Democratic colleagues felt was necessary to fund the $35.7 billion budget.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s formula for fixing Chicago Public Schools has always put a priority on building better leaders, so it could have been a setback for the mayor’s agenda when a prominent education nonprofit balked at funding a training program for principals in mid-2012. […]
Emanuel’s first schools CEO, already on the outs with the mayor, was soon replaced by a new boss — Barbara Byrd-Bennett, a veteran educator who just months earlier had been the lead trainer for SUPES Academy LLC, an education consulting firm.
Minutes after confirming Byrd-Bennett’s appointment as the new schools CEO in October 2012, the Emanuel-appointed school board voted to give SUPES a $2.1 million principal training contract, followed less than a year later by a $20.5 million deal. Both were done without competitive bidding or public debate. That arrangement is now at the center of a federal criminal investigation.
“I’d really rather not talk about it,” said Andrea Zopp, a school board member and former prosecutor who last week announced her bid for the 2016 Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. “There’s a lot in the public record on this already.”
Yes, much has been written, but as the Tribune notes the board met in secret before approving the no-bid SUPES contract without public debate . If Zopp wants to run for US Senate, she’s gonna have to answer questions about that meeting.
A new study of bipartisanship in Congress, released on Tuesday, ranks members based on how many co-sponsors from the other party they can get on their bills or how willing they are to cross the aisle in co-sponsoring legislation. […]
Actual votes on measures are not measured in the “Bipartisan Index” scoring by the nonprofit nonpartisan Lugar Center founded by former Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Using this method, Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., is ranked as the most bipartisan Illinois House member, coming in at 16 out of 422 representatives included in the study.
In the 2016 Illinois Senate race, bipartisanship and the blunting of party labels is already a theme of Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., so far the only declared challenger.
Kirk, who highlights Vice President Joe Biden in his first re-election ad, initially televised last week, is ranked as the 6th most bi-partisan senator out of the 98 ranked. Duckworth is high on the House bi-partisan ranking, coming in at 39. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Democratic leader, comes in at 67.
* And speaking of Kirk, this is from the rather over the top group named Illinois Family Action…
Another day, another notch in the “Don’t Say You Weren’t Warned” belt that is squeezing the life out of conservatives: Mark Kirk has hocked another loogie in the spittle-splashed faces of conservatives who held their noses and helped elect him. He, along with U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), has introduced a resolution to remove the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment, which has long since passed.
This comes on the heels of his shameless pandering to homosexual activists at a marriage-deconstruction rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court a few weeks ago.
Chicago’s population grew by only 82 residents last year, giving it the dubious distinction of being the slowest-growing city among the top 10 U.S. cities with 1 million or more residents. […]
New York maintained its ranking as the nation’s largest city, gaining 52,700 residents last year, for a gain of 0.6 percent that pushed its population to 8,491,079. Los Angeles added 30,924 residents, up 0.8 percent and bringing its population to 3,928,864.
Sun Belt cities with more than 1 million residents — places like Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix — all continued to see dramatic gains in new residents. But some smaller Midwestern cities also topped Chicago. Minneapolis, for instance, saw its population increase by 1.6 percent while Indianapolis’ grew by 0.6 percent.
“The boom of Chicago in the 1990s was due to immigration,” said Rob Paral, a Chicago-based demographer who advises nonprofits and community groups. “You take away that catalyst of immigration, and you see what we have. They’re going to different parts of the country, and there’s much less immigration to the U.S. than there was decades ago.
Oy.
The Census Bureau says that’s an increase of 0.003 percent.
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My nephew works at residential home for the mentally ill here in Chicago. With the help of his cousin they put together this video of clients being interviewed and the home they live in. The purpose of course is to show how our state money is being spent and on who.
I think it is well done and powerful. If you have any thoughts on how to better share this, please pass them on.
Thanks
* The video was posted to YouTube yesterday and it already has more than 4,000 views. Watch it…
Thursday, May 21, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
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Insiders, including legislators, say the Democratic version is shaping up to contain cuts too, but drastically smaller ones. Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, who chairs the House Higher Education Appropriations committee, says universities will see cuts of less than ten-percent.
“This is where our talent gets trained and educated, and for us to dismiss them in a such a way — or to write them off … is not the right message that we need to send,” Dunkin said.
What appears to be missing from the equation, so far at least, is a way to pay for that spending, given that it’ll be the first full budget year with the new, lower tax rates. Democrats could be content to send Gov. Rauner a budget that dares him to make the drastic cuts he’d outlined.
While there’s been no action on revenue enhancers like a higher income tax rate, retirement tax, adding a sales tax to services (as Gov. Rauner had promoted during his campaign), there are revenue options.
Gambling is a possibility — a legislator involved with those negotiations say a proposal with five casinos (in Chicago, Lake County, the south suburbs, Rockford and Danville) is shaping up. The House Speaker, Michael Madigan, is also keeping alive a “millionaires’ tax”; a constitutional amendment that could lead to the surcharge on income over a million dollars advanced out of a House committee. It’s opposed by Gov. Rauner and his business allies.
While Democrats say a revenue hike is needed, they insist they won’t do it without the GOP.
That sets up a scenarios where Democrats send Rauner a budget without deep cuts or any tax increase. Basically, leaving it to Rauner to sign — or slash (that could put both parties in a political pickle. Democrats may look like the out-of-control spenders their critics paint them to be; Rauner could look like the cutthroat, out-of-touch millionaire. Will it be that Democrats throw the governor a hot potato, or will they play into his hands, making it easy on Rauner to throw the gauntlet?).
“What I think will happen with the budget is … we’ll pass one,” Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D- said. “And people need to realize that we just give directive to the governor on .. how to spend the money. It’s up to him to write the checks. And he can take our advice or he can ignore us.
“That’ll leave things “in a big mess,” Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno says.”The fact of the matter is, if they do that, the governor will manage it and that will hurt the very constituents they’re talking about wanting to help. So it’s very incongruous. I think it’s very cynical. They need to get to the table and have a very serious discussion about reforms.” And then, she says, Republicans will have a serious discussion about raising taxes that could stave off cuts.
But that’s only after Rauner’s pro-business, anti-union agenda advances.
While Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget blueprint called for a 31 percent cut to universities in the fiscal year beginning July 1, the Democratic proposal would pare the reduction to 6.5 percent, the Herald & Review Springfield Bureau has learned.
The potentially positive change for higher education is among a number of alterations Democrats are expected to highlight when they begin debating their spending plan in the closing days of the spring legislative session.
Republicans said university officials should remain wary of the Democratic budget since Rauner could veto all or parts of the plan if it is unbalanced.
“That’s a facade budget. That’s not going to be the budget at the end of the day because the governor is not going to sign that budget,” said Republican state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington, who represents Illinois State University.
Sources also told FOX 32 News that the Democrats may call for spending up to $37 billion. Gov. Rauner said the state has only about $32 billion for next year.
So if that budget passes, the Governor could sign it. He has the power to spend only for the services he thinks the state can afford.
Or, Option 2: Rauner could veto it outright.
Democrats would then need a supermajority to override his veto. But that would leave the governor with the Democrats budget and he again would spend only on the services he thinks the state could afford.
Or, Option 3: He could go line by line vetoing the parts of the budget he doesn’t like, which the Democrats would have to override line by line.
* Related…
* CTU to rally against Rauner turnaround plan: The Chicago Teachers Union is sending a delegation to Springfield this morning to lobby state lawmakers for more money, more benefits, cheaper housing and child care for union members, and higher taxes to pay for it all.
Marseilles City Council unanimously rejects Rauner anti-worker resolution and passes a pro-worker resolution.
* I didn’t see anything online about either Boone County or Taylorville, but I did find some Marseilles news…
Without discussion, the Marseilles City Council unanimously rejected Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Illinois Turnaround plan Wednesday night and passed a nonbinding resolution, which will be forwarded to officials in Springfield.
Mayor Jim Trager said the resolution was “a carbon copy” of the resolution passed May 5 by the Ottawa City Council.
Provisions of the resolution include:
* “Passage of a local ‘right-to-work’ ordinance would undoubtedly generate legal challenges that our government would have to fruitlessly defend at a significant cost to taxpayers.”
* “Prevailing wage laws create a level playing field for local construction contractors by forcing out-of-state contractors to bid on projects based on the skill and efficiency of their workplace, not how far they can drive down wages and benefits.”
* “By benefiting local contractors, prevailing wage laws greatly increase the likelihood that construction workers from our community will be employed on the projects that their tax dollars and those of our other taxpayers fund.”
I’m the new guy in Springfield. I’m proud of that.
Although being new means I’m not as familiar with how things historically have been done in state government, it keeps me idealistic and hopeful. I’m not jaded or cynical about what we can accomplish to make Illinois great again.
But I’ve grown concerned by what I’ve seen in the legislature during the past few weeks. We’re approaching the end of the regular legislative session with no apparent long-term solution to the state’s budget, pension and economic mess.
We’ve seen what happens to our economy, our taxpayers and our school children without reforms. Budget deadline or no budget deadline, I will not ask the people of Illinois to put more of their money into a broken system.
If legislators are willing to reform how we do business, they will find me an eager partner. If they are not, then they should expect a very long extra session because I will keep fighting for major reforms that will grow jobs and help properly fund services by shrinking waste inside government.
“Extra” session. Never heard that one before. Maybe it’s his way of avoiding the negative connotations of the word “overtime.”
