Speaker Madigan told reporters later, “We had a very calm and reasonable meeting today. And everybody understands the gravity of the situation. I think (Republicans) understand that it’s their responsibility to persuade the governor.” Madigan said his chamber will start voting on his reform proposals tomorrow. “There is substantial compromise contained in the positions which will be advanced by the House tomorrow.”
* But a clearly agitated House Republican Leader Jim Durkin told reporters later that Madigan had once again “moved the goal posts.”
Madigan, Durkin claimed, added a fresh demand that Gov. Rauner sign the AT&T bill, which includes a mobile phone fee hike to subsidize 911 emergency call centers. Rauner has said he will veto the bill.
Durkin said that while Madigan expects him to convince the governor to accept reasonable demands he can’t ask the governor to get behind these things unless he can first convince his own members to support them.
Leader Durkin insisted that Madigan “show his cards” on a tax hike and produce a budget implementation bill to show exactly where he’s cutting. “Unless we see revenue, we cannot determine whether it’s a balanced budget,” he said.
And he characterized tomorrow’s floor votes on Democratic reform bills as just that: Democratic bills without bipartisan compromises. He has negotiators working on deals with Democrats - some of whom were meeting with each other during the leaders’ meeting - but none of the talks are yet finalized.
“It’s a two-way street,” Durkin said. “I can’t determine if they’re sincere or not.”
“We need to resolve this in a bipartisan manner by the end of the week,” Durkin said.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) outlined the House Democrats’ budget plan. Here are a few dot points…
* The state is currently spending $39 billion. Rauner’s introduced budget was $37.316 billion. The House plan is $36.489 billion
* HDems wanted to take the “best ideas” from SDems and GOP plans and accommodate requests of the governor
* $1.850 billion for group health insurance. Full payment for next year.
* 5 percent reduction to operating lines for most agencies. Give directors lump-sum flexibility.
* HDem plan is a five percent cut to higher ed as opposed to a 10 percent cut in the GOP plan.
* Goal is to “live within the confines” of the revenue set by SB 9. But is not ready yet to release an actual revenue proposal.
* There are no new programs in the HDem budget…. But they’ve decided to supplement existing programs.
* Transferring money from new computer software projects, which totaled about $900 million.
* “We are showing a teeny, tiny surplus.”
* $7.394 billion for pensions. Full payment.
* Borrow money to pay off bill backlog, saving hundreds of millions in interest penalties to providers, but there’s no set plan yet
…Adding… Hmm…
Insight into 4 tops meeting in Springfield and why Spkr Madigan "blew a gasket" coming up at 6p on NBC 5
* We talked about a new ABC 7 story on NEIU’s problems a little earlier today. Here’s the end of the piece…
The governor’s office offered a written statement saying the governor is gravely concerned about the “severe financial challenges” that face students and higher education universities. The statement said the governor is working hard for a sustainable solution. It is the same written statement the governor’s office has released about higher education funding multiple times in the past.
“The Governor understands and is gravely concerned about the severe financial challenges facing our students, colleges and universities due to the General Assembly’s failure to pass a balanced budget,” Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said in a statement. “This is why he is working every day to find consensus on a budget that is truly balanced, and ensure the state’s higher education system thrives in the long term.”
Rauner spokesperson Catherine Kelly referred questions to Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis.
“The Governor understands and is gravely concerned about the severe financial challenges facing our students, colleges and universities due to the General Assembly’s failure to pass a balanced budget,” Purvis said in an email response. “This crisis is why he is working every day to find consensus on a budget that is truly balanced, and ensure the state’s higher education system thrives in the long-term. Instead of pointing fingers, we would encourage Comptroller Mendoza to urge her former colleagues in the General Assembly to pass a balanced budget with changes to fix our broken system.”
The Rauner administration responded to the rally with a statement from Secretary of Education Beth Purvis.
The Governor understands and is gravely concerned about the severe financial challenges facing our students, colleges and universities and that is why he is working every day to find consensus on a budget that is truly balanced.
“Governor Rauner understands and is gravely concerned about the severe financial challenges facing our students, colleges and universities and that is why he is working every day to find consensus on a budget that is truly balanced, and ensure the state’s higher education system thrives in the long-term,” Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis said in a statement, adding that Rauner won’t endorse a budget unless it addresses long-term pension reform.
* The Question: How about you give the governor’s office some new talking points without using the phrase “gravely concerned”? Have fun.
The Illinois chapter of Americans For Prosperity use Springfield as an example for why this exemption could blow a big hole in a freeze…
Exempting pensions from a property tax freeze would fail to address a substantial contributing factor to our highest-in-the-nation property taxes. Take Springfield, for example. Here in our fair capital city pension payments consume 80% of all property taxes paid to the city.
The first image is from Springfield’s FY2016 CAFR [Comprehensive Annual Financial Report] (pg. 10) showing property tax revenue of $27.9M. The second image is a Sangamon County Clerk’s Office 2016 Levy and Rate Report showing the city’s property tax extensions for pensions totaled $22M, or 80% of all property taxes paid by Springfield residents to the city. Clearly exempting pensions from a freeze will have little effect on ever-increasing property taxes.
* You can click on the images for the original documents…
* So, what does this mean? Well, in Springfield, at least, including pension payments in a freeze could create a serious squeeze at the local level. While polls shows that people hate their property taxes, they’re probably not gonna love reduced services, either.
And there is a real problem with the unfunded liability levels for police and fire pensions. Those funds weren’t subjected to the same requirements as other municipal pension funds, so lots of local governments skimmed and skipped payments. Taxes will have to rise to pay for that and/or governments will have to cut.
* Meanwhile, here’s an AFP press release on the HDem proposal…
“This legislation is a step backwards if we are to deliver true property tax relief to Illinois homeowners and small businesses. Exemptions for debt service and unpaid pensions render meaningless any promises of taxpayer relief,” said AFP-IL Director Andrew Nelms. “Our property tax burden is driving families and jobs from our state. Illinoisans acknowledge that their sky-high property taxes are a problem and legislation to implement a meaningful freeze would be a welcome sign that our lawmakers understand the gravity of the problem. Illinois lawmakers should instead pass a long-term property tax freeze with no exceptions. Beleaguered Illinois homeowners and businesses deserve true tax relief.”
House Speaker Michael Madigan was the latest to join the chorus. Madigan over the weekend said he would agree to a property-tax freeze, if the governor were prepared to spend more state money on the Chicago Public Schools.
Madigan is largely responsible for creating this problem. He has never been a champion of spending on public education outside of Chicago. And his law firm has made a fortune on property-tax appeals cases.
This state is rotten to the core. Instead of addressing the real problem, the state budget and state debt, Rauner and Madigan want to appease taxpayers by freezing their property taxes, which will hurt public schools.
It’s a bait-and-switch tactic to make voters feel better about a state that can’t pay its bills. With the ship of state taking on water, elected officials want to throw your children overboard.
*** UPDATE *** From Springfield’s budget director William McCarty…
Rich,
Our pension obligation issue is more pronounced than that 80% calculation would lead you to believe. The nonmajor governmental portion of property taxes collected are from SSAs and the increments from TIF districts. Absent SSAs and TIF, most of that money would go to other taxing districts, not Springfield.
It is likely that in the next fiscal year, police and fire pension obligations will exceed the city’s General Fund property tax revenue for the first time ever (i.e. 100%+) Even if we were to include the city’s true portion of the tax increment monies, I would venture to guess we would still be at or near the 100% level next year. In the past, we paid for the library, debt service and other items from property taxes. Those days are gone.
One other thing, the City of Springfield component rate of total property taxes has not been increased since 1984. Our taxes have increased due to development and increases in valuation, not a change in the rate.
* As if getting kicked out of the Powerball and Mega Millions wasn’t enough…
If you win more than $25,000 in the Illinois Lottery after July 1, don’t expect to take home your winnings right away.
The Illinois Lottery said the lack of funding due to the state budget crisis will cause a delay in the payment of lottery winnings. In 2015, a similar situation caused by a lack of appropriations held up more than $112 million in lottery claims.
“Players should be confident knowing the Illinois Lottery has the money to pay these winning claims,” Illinois Lottery Acting Director Greg Smith said. “That means the General Assembly needs to approve a truly balanced budget that includes Lottery funding in order to ensure all prize payments will occur.”
Small prizes of $600 or less will continue to be paid normally.
* Greg Hinz reported yesterday that the Illinois Chamber doesn’t want to expand the sales tax to services, but can support an income tax rate above 5 percent…
[President and CEO Todd Maisch] said his members dislike both the idea of a wider sales tax and the “unconstitutional” aspects of applying it to some types of entertainment but not others. He conceded that eliminating the service tax extension could bump up the individual income tax, which under the GOP proposal would go from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, but he said the shift would be worth it.
“Most people get that game” of holding just below 5 percent, he said. “You might as well get to 5.02 or 5.03, if you’re at 4.95 or 4.99.”
The chamber also wants more money for roads, with a new dedicated revenue stream—Maisch leans against a gasoline tax hike in favor of something broader—and is vigorously against a pending clause in a proposed budget pushed by Republicans that would shift $266 million next year in road funds to public transit, mostly in Chicago.
Maisch conceded that shift aims to avoid making cuts in spending for the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and other agencies that easily could translate into politically unpopular fare hikes. But diverting such funds “upsets a fragile consensus about how you divide transportation money.”
A new effort to revive the state’s Edge payroll tax credit has surfaced in Springfield, and while this one lacks the poison pill that made business groups hate an earlier version, there’s no guarantee it will pass amid the larger Capitol budget war.
The new version comes from Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Chicago. It would extend the program, which expired April 30, but trim benefits for qualifying companies.
For instance, Edge recipients now are able to claim 100 percent of the cost of payroll taxes as a credit against their corporate income tax liability. Under the bill, the credit for net new employees in the state would be 50 percent of their payroll tax plus up to 10 percent for training costs. The 50 percent figure would jump to 75 percent if the facility involved was in an economically depressed area. The credit for retained employees generally would be 25 percent (plus the 10 percent for training).
The plan also toughens language to qualify, saying that applicants must provide evidence that the incentive was “essential” to making an Illinois facility price-competitive with locating in another state.
The June 30th clock is ticking loudly, but this amendment was filed to a House bill on 2nd Reading today. If they get a new Senate vehicle or zip this along right away, it’ll be worth watching.
* Press Release: IRTBA, Members of Industry to Testify on the Illinois House Floor Regarding Impact of Transportation Construction Project Shutdown - $345 Million and 43,000 Jobs in Jeopardy, New Analysis Shows
The Illinois General Assembly is seven days into the special session but lawmakers continue to spend minimal time actually in special session, which Gov. Bruce Rauner called with the intent of passing a state budget.
The Illinois House of Representatives and Senate adjourned from the seventh day of special session after less than 11 total minutes between the two chambers. The Senate adjourned after only six minutes and 49 seconds. The House marked its shortest special session yet, adjourning after a mere three minutes and 55 seconds.
Over seven days, the two legislative chambers have put in less than 111 minutes of work in special session. With each day of special session costing taxpayers an additional $50,000, according to an estimate from the Chicago Tribune, the special session has run taxpayers around $350,000, or about $3,150 for each minute the House and Senate have worked.
Today, the JB for Governor campaign launched a new statewide mailer highlighting Bruce Rauner’s abdication of responsibility when it comes to protecting Illinoisans’ health care.
While five GOP senators and three GOP governors are actively working to stop TrumpCare because of its devastating impact on their states, Bruce Rauner has stayed silent and hasn’t lifted a finger to shield Illinoisans from this assault on their wellbeing.
Devastating is a mild description of the far-reaching damage that TrumpCare would have on Illinois:
* 5.5 million Illinoisans would lose protections for pre-existing conditions
* Millions of Illinoisans’ heath insurance coverage would be jeopardized
* Over 600,000 working Illinoisans would lose their Medicaid
But instead of doing his job and standing up for the people of Illinois, Bruce Rauner is standing by and doing nothing.
“Bruce Rauner should be fighting tooth and nail against this devastating bill — like five GOP senators and three GOP governors have been — but instead, he’s doing nothing,” said JB Pritzker. “TrumpCare is a disaster for our state. Millions of Illinoisans’ coverage could be jeopardized and over 600,000 working Illinoisans could lose their Medicaid. So I ask Bruce Rauner: What are you doing to stand up for the people of Illinois?”
Dozens of faculty members from Northeastern Illinois University held a New Orleans-style funeral march for the state’s higher education through the streets of Winnetka and up to Governor Bruce Rauner’s door.
They marched to the governor’s home because they said they were out of other options. NEIU typically operates on a $90 million budget, one-third of which is funding from the state. Now the school is trying to figure out how they will open their doors in the fall.
The NEIU employees took their slow funeral march through downtown Winnetka. At the front of the pack of horns and robed employees was a tombstone symbolizing the death of public education.
“What we think this is, is Rauner trying to ruin the university system,” said Sophia Mihic, professor of political science and philosophy at NEIU and president of the faculty union.
* Rep. Wallace is an African-American female legislator from Rockford. She is, in other words, potential running mate material…
Today, Daniel Biss announced the endorsement of State Representative Litesa Wallace.
“Daniel Biss is the leader we need to take our state back,” said Litesa Wallace. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Daniel in Springfield for a few years now, most recently on our bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. As a legislator, educator, therapist, and mother, I’m serious about fighting for economic justice for Illinois families, and I know Daniel feels the same way. He is the only candidate in this race who combines a powerful, positive vision and the experience to make that vision a reality—that’s why I endorse Daniel for Governor of Illinois.”
“It is an honor to receive Litesa Wallace’s support,” said Daniel Biss. “She is an inspiration with unparalleled dedication to working families and the courage to stand up to Bruce Rauner, most notably when he tried to slash child care. I look forward to working with Litesa in the coming weeks as we demand that Governor Rauner raise the minimum wage, and in the coming years as we enact progressive solutions to our state’s greatest problems.”
* And speaking of the minimum wage bill which was sent to the governor’s desk yesterday, here’s the Washington Post…
When Seattle officials voted three years ago to incrementally boost the city’s minimum wage up to $15 an hour, they’d hoped to improve the lives of low-income workers. Yet according to a major new study that could force economists to reassess past research on the issue, the hike has had the opposite effect.
The city is gradually increasing the hourly minimum to $15 over several years. Already, though, some employers have not been able to afford the increased minimums. They’ve cut their payrolls, putting off new hiring, reducing hours or letting their workers go, the study found.
The costs to low-wage workers in Seattle outweighed the benefits by a ratio of three to one, according to the study, conducted by a group of economists at the University of Washington who were commissioned by the city. The study, published as a working paper Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has not yet been peer reviewed.
On the whole, the study estimates, the average low-wage worker in the city lost $125 a month because of the hike in the minimum. […]
Yet the study will not put an end to the dispute. Experts cautioned that the effects of the minimum wage may vary according to the industries dominant in the cities where they are implemented along with overall economic conditions in the country as a whole.
And critics of the research pointed out what they saw as serious shortcomings. In particular, to avoid confusing establishments that were subject to the minimum with those that were not, the authors did not include large employers with locations both inside and outside of Seattle in their calculations. Skeptics argued that omission could explain the unusual results.
* I’ve already told subscribers about this new TV ad buy, so I’ll just post it here without much comment. First, the press release…
A new effort, entitled Do Your Job, Inc., is on the air with a new ad calling on Governor Rauner to do his job and end the budget crisis.
The ad, entitled “The Brink”, features the words of former Republican Governor Jim Edgar. In the ad, which begins airing today, Edgar declares that Illinois is in the worst condition he can ever remember including the state’s tenure during disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich. The ad then encourages voters to call Governor Bruce Rauner and tell him to do his job as the state reaches the brink.
Do Your Job Inc is led by IL Sen. Mike Hastings of South Suburban Cook County, IL Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie and Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael T. Carrigan. “The Brink” will run in conjunction with the legislature’s special session schedule in hopes of helping to secure a budget.
“For two and a half years, Bruce Rauner has been able to hide behind ads blaming everyone but himself for the state’s fiscal condition. Meanwhile, the Illinoisans most affected by the Governor’s inaction - domestic violence victims, seniors who’ve lost healthcare, and women who can’t get breast cancer screenings - haven’t had a voice on the airwaves. That changed today. Our first ad gives voters the opportunity to hear directly from a former republican governor as Illinois reaches the brink of collapse,” said the group’s leaders in a joint statement. […]
Do Your Job, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) organization and does not coordinate with other candidates, campaigns or political parties.
Edgar: The fact that we’ve gone now without a budget for over two years has put this state in the worst condition I can ever remember. Even during the Blagojevich years it wasn’t this bad.
Narrator: Governor Rauner has brought Illinois to the brink of collapse. Rauner is standing in the way of a budget deal – refusing to compromise, putting funding for our schools and roads in jeopardy. Call Governor Rauner. Tell him to sit down, pass a budget and do his job.
* The group also has a Facebook page and will do some social media ads, which may be based on this info from the organization…
Governor Edgar’s words are from a longer interview he gave on WXAN 103.9 FM on May 2nd. That interview contained other notable quotes including:
6:35 mark: “This state needs a budget and a good budget and that’s going to take compromise. And that’s going to take everybody sitting down concentrating on the budget and not other things.”
11:22 mark: “To me the budget is the most important thing that state government has to deal with – particularly now. And as Governor I always felt that was the number one priority. There are other things I’d like to get done but those have to wait until I get a budget.”
12:13 mark: “These other issues, some of them are good – some of them I don’t think are worthwhile – but the budget is to me the most important issue and has to be the one that everybody focuses their attention on.”
12:30 mark: “It’s painful to see what’s happened to the state…because state government hasn’t done the job of coming up with a balanced, adequate state budget.”
13:57 mark: “If people are worried about the economy that alone ought to underscore why we need to get a budget.”
Extra! Extra! This morning 27 House Democrats received personalized letters highlighting their vote this January to permanently freeze property taxes.
Unfortunately, the tax freeze bill died in the Senate. But Democrats in the General Assembly now have a chance to make good on their pledge and pass real property tax relief.
As Politico Illinois notes - the current proposed Democratic property tax freeze has major gaps, including exemptions for the City of Chicago and CPS. It’s simply not real relief as drafted.
The following Democrats received letters this morning:
HD 15 John D’Amico
HD 44 Fred Crespo
HD 46 Deb Conroy
HD 55 Marty Moylan
HD 56 Michelle Mussman
HD 59 Carol Sente
HD 62 Sam Yingling
HD 98 Natalie Manley
HD 96 Sue Scherer
HD 111 Dan Beiser
HD 116 Jerry Costello
HD 118 Brandon Phelps
HD 40 Jaime Andrade, Jr.
HD 3 Luis Arroyo
HD 83 Linda Chapa LaVia
HD 58 Scott Drury
HD 12 Sara Feigenholtz
HD 31 Mary Flowers
HD 24 Elizabeth Hernandez
HD 113 Jay Hoffman
HD 78 Camille Lilly
HD 60 Rita Mayfield
HD 21 Silvana Tabares
HD 67 Litesa Wallace
HD 11 Ann Williams
HD 77 Kathleen Willis
HD 22 Speaker Madigan
* The hand-delivered letter…
As I’ve already told subscribers, the House Republican Leader has informed Speaker Madigan that he could be for a freeze plan that exempted the city. The state party and the governor who funds it need to back the heck off and let the House negotiate.
Given Madigan’s and Rauner’s negotiating styles, I expect at least 2 more blow ups.
I jokingly said there could be 20.
But it’s something to keep in mind as we move through this week. I warned you yesterday that there will be problems. The main thing we need now is for the people in charge to keep their cool. No “emotional” veto threats from the governor. No embarrassingly over the top political gamesmanship by the House Speaker.
Above all, they need to commit to remaining on the playing field.
* Dusty Rhodes has written the best article on the school funding reform debate I’ve yet seen. Go read the whole thing…
All districts receive state reimbursement for seven “categoricals” above what they receive in General State Aid. Since 1995, CPS has received its reimbursement in the form of a block grant. But as enrollment has declined and the block grant has not, CPS now receives about $250 million more from this block grant than it would if it had to submit vouchers for reimbursement. The Democrats, sticking to the “hold harmless” concept, would bake that $250 million into CPS’s base funding minimum. The Republicans would allow CPS to keep four categorical bonuses that add up to about $50 million; the remaining $202 million would be redistributed via the new funding formula.
Here’s how Barickman explained it at the Saturday hearing:
“When you make adjustments to the Base Funding Minimum for Chicago, and that’s the only place where adjustments are made, that eats up dollars first that cannot then go through the formula,” he said. “And for all of us who purport to say we want to fix the formula and create something with equity, the way in which we do that is by driving money through the formula.”
As a result of these conflicting interpretations of “hold harmless,” the two school funding bills run very different amounts of funding through the new formula. The Democrats’ most recent model assumes a $350 million appropriation (despite their own appropriation bill setting aside only $288 million). The Republicans’ model uses $672 million through the new formula, which results in much larger dollar amounts promised to each district. That $672 million includes fiscal year 2017 appropriation plus the $288 million proposed by Democrats, along with the $202 million taken from Chicago Public Schools’ block grant. (Despite conflicting testimony at Saturday’s hearing, this amount does not appear to include the “equity grant” that was given to districts with heavy concentrations of low-income kids). […]
Both the Chicago pension fund and TRS have massive unfunded liability. In the upcoming fiscal year, the state’s TRS payments will increase from $4 billion to $4.6 billion. Jessica Handy, with the statewide advocacy organization Stand For Children, testified Saturday that CPS’s statutorily required pension payment will be $721 million. The Democrats’ plan would provide a partial accommodation to CPS by adding a $500 million credit to its “local capacity target.”
What’s a local capacity target? In simple terms, both bills (Democrat and Republican) use a model built on interactive parts, like a mobile you’d see hanging over a baby’s crib. When one part is pulled down, the opposite side goes up. The State Board would calculate for each district an “adequacy target” (the amount needed to fund schools) and a “local capacity target” (the amount the district can be expected to generate using local property taxes). The state would supply funding to bridge the gap in between.
Ralph Martire, with the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, helped write the Democrats’ plan, and on Saturday, he tried to explain that it handles CPS legacy pension costs less like a gift and more like a tax credit.
“The way we decided to deal with that in SB 1 was to acknowledge they can’t spend the same tax dollar twice,” Martire said. “So if they have to devote their local capacity to covering these unfunded liability costs, that local capacity is also not available to help fund schools.”
Another major point of contention on Saturday was whether the hold-harmless should be done on a per-district basis or a per-pupil basis. The Democrats’ plan uses district funding; Republicans, in an effort to compromise, use district funding for the first few years and then switch to per-pupil. That switch could result in decreased funding for districts that have lost enrollment. Rep. Christian Mitchell, a Democrat from Chicago, did a little research on how that might play out, and found that the majority of schools that have lost enrollment are in Republican-held districts.
* Illinois’ rate dropped by almost ten percent, according to this study…
As states implement reforms to address issues related to overuse and misuse of opioids, a new study released today by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) observed decreases in the frequency and amount of opioids dispensed to injured workers in a majority of study states. However, higher utilization of opioids and other high-risk utilization patterns were seen in some states in the most recent study period.
“This report serves as a tool to monitor ongoing policy changes on opioid utilization in 26 state workers’ compensation systems. By comparing variations in the use of opioids across the states, this study can help policymakers and stakeholders be better informed about the level of opioid use in their states and better target future efforts to address issues related to prescription opioids in their states,” said Ramona Tanabe, WCRI’s executive vice president and in-house counsel.
The study, Interstate Variations in Use of Opioids, 4th Edition, examines interstate variations and trends in the use of opioids and prescribing patterns of pain medications across 26 state workers’ compensation systems covering data from October 2009 through March 2015.
The following are sample findings from the study:
* Comparing opioid utilization for workers injured in 2010 and 2013 over an average two-year period following the injury, the study found reductions in the average amount of opioids dispensed to injured workers in several states, with larger reductions seen in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, and New York.
* Despite the reductions, opioid use was prevalent among nonsurgical claims with more than seven days of lost time. In 2013/2015, about 65 to 75 percent of these injured workers with pain medications received at least one opioid prescription in most of the study states. The proportion was higher in Arkansas (85 percent), Louisiana (80 percent), and South Carolina (80 percent).
* The average amounts of opioids received in Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania continued to be the highest among the 26 study states for claims with opioids. Although New York is among the states with a higher-than-typical amount, it is important to note the substantial decrease in both the frequency and amount of opioids in New York over the study period.
* The study observed a sizable percentage of claims with opioids that were receiving chronic opioids (at least 60 days of opioids supply over any 90-day period) and at higher doses (average daily dose of opioids exceeding 50 and 90 morphine equivalent milligrams).
* Among claims with opioids, simultaneous use of opioids with at least one other sedating drug was seen in one-third to one-half of injured workers across the 26 states. Muscle relaxants and opioids were dispensed together in 28-48 percent of claims with opioids. Use of both opioids and benzodiazepines at the same time was seen in 0-9 percent of claims.
This study uses data comprising over 430,000 nonsurgical workers’ compensation claims and nearly 2.3 million prescriptions associated with those claims from 26 states. We observed prescription utilization over an average two-year period after the injury for claims with injuries arising from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2013. The data included in this study represent 36-69 percent of workers’ compensation claims in each state.
The 26 states included in this study are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. These states represent over two-thirds of the workers’ compensation benefits paid in the United States.
To download a copy of this study, visit WCRI’s website at https://www.wcrinet.org/reports/interstate-variations-in-use-of-opioids-4th-edition. The study was authored by Vennela Thumula, Dongchun Wang, and Te-Chun Liu.
* A friend of mine read the post yesterday about Family Focus laying off 100 employees and slashing its services. The group provides parenting classes for DCFS families, “drastically reducing the percentage of parents that reengage with the system.”
My friend said she couldn’t sleep last night and explained why via text message this morning…
I was playing out all the awful scenarios. DCFS is already WAY over capacity in terms of caseloads. Without Family Focus and other similar organizations, those numbers go up. That means more and more children who are being neglected and abused who are just waiting for a grown up to step in and save them will die. That’s not hyperbolic. That’s what actually happens.
Remember when Rauner said Quinn owned the consequences of his dysfunctional DCFS?
We’re talking about getting to a point where there’s a tangible body count. Of children.
* And it’s not just DCFS children. Here’s Mark Brown…
Operators of group homes across Illinois say they are facing a staffing crisis because they can’t pay high enough wages to attract workers.
And they say they can’t pay workers more because for nearly 10 years the state has not increased the reimbursement rates it provides for the care of individuals residing in their homes.
As a result, 13 group homes across Illinois have closed in the past year while another 22 have consolidated, according to the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities.
That translate into fewer group home openings for the Lenza twins and thousands of other families in a state that was already regarded as woefully short of housing opportunities for disabled adults.
Illinois has more than 8,500 individuals with developmental disabilities on a waiting list for residential services. Even when approved for funding, they often have trouble finding a group home in their area that will accept them.
Family Focus, an early childhood development center with seven locations across the Greater Chicagoland area, has announced a “mass layoff” amid the historically-long budget crisis manufactured by Bruce Rauner. A stunning 71% of their staff is being let go to end a “severe cash flow crisis” as they wait for $2.7 million in state payments. That amounts to another 100 jobs lost under Rauner’s failed leadership.
Meanwhile, Bruce Rauner spent his day yesterday visiting Iowa to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony and is the happiest he’s been in 20 years.
“For two and a half years, Bruce Rauner has been utterly tone deaf, saying that ‘we’ll take short-term pain for big long-term gain.’ But these are people we’re talking about, not line items on a budget,” said JB Pritzker. “This is not short term. These are children. You can’t unhurt a child. You can’t redo childhood. The children and families who lose access to these services will be permanently affected. Is Rauner’s special interest agenda worth endangering the lives and well-being of the 17,000 families Family Focus serves?”
…Adding More… From the DGA…
Late last Friday, Governor Rauner’s administration announced the appointment of Beverly Walker to head the state’s troubled Department of Children and Family Services after the resignation of George Sheldon.
Governor Rauner has not, however, gone into any details about the scandals that engulfed DCFS and played a part in the Sheldon’s resignation. Nor has Rauner explained to the public what it was doing to correct the mistakes of the past and prevent future tragedies. In his only public comments on Sheldon’s resignation, Rauner said his administration was “investigating everything” pertaining to the ex-Director’s tenure, yet the public has seen nothing.
All he public knows is that Bruce Rauner did not ask for George Sheldon’s resignation and does not think his hiring was a mistake. That is worrisome for future reform.
“Governor Rauner cannot simply wish away the crisis at the Department of Children and Family Services,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Governors lead by showing the public they are actively working to address issues, but Bruce Rauner has failed the leadership test by hiding from accountability. The public deserves an acknowledgement from Governor Rauner that his administration failed to protect children and a full accounting of past mistakes.”
“Oh no, we’re going to be there until next summer,” Diana Rauner told Chicago Inc. on Monday, after giving a speech on early childhood development at the City Club of Chicago.
Long-overdue renovations to the 162-year-old governor’s mansion forced the couple to move this spring into the bungalow on the fairgrounds, where they have encountered a family of foxes, and now, Diana Rauner said Monday, a family of hedgehogs. […]
More serious topics of conversation, alas, were deemed out of bounds. The first lady declined to discuss her husband’s oft-repeated story, in which she informs the governor that she has not seen him happier in 20 years. Democrats this weekend seized on the governor’s latest recitation of the tale as evidence he was “out of touch” with ordinary people during the state’s ongoing budget crisis.
Diana Rauner told Inc. that “I’m not going to discuss that today.” She was whisked out of the building before she could be cornered by a gaggle of TV camera crews.
A U.S. judge should order Illinois to pay Medicaid providers about $1 billion a month to ensure medical care continues for the three million recipients of the health program after talks with the state reached an impasse, according to a court filing on Monday.
The move would cause a huge problem for the cash-strapped state, which has accumulated a $15 billion bill backlog due to a budget stalemate between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature. It could force Illinois to stop making full payments on other state-mandated or court-ordered spending such as pensions and payroll.
The filing in U.S. District Court by attorneys representing Medicaid recipients asked Judge Joan Lefkow to order the state to pay $500 million a month for four months to start reducing a $3.1 billion pile of unpaid bills owed to managed care organizations that turn pay doctors and others.
As long as Illinois remains without an enacted budget, the proposed order calls for the state to spend an additional $586 million a month to cover Medicaid-related bills incurred after June 30, 2017.
The proposed order noted that federal reimbursements for Medicaid would reduce Illinois’ outlay to $543 million a month.
Oh, this is so not good. As we’ve already discussed, Illinois will barely have enough cash to make its “core” payments in July and will fall $185 million short of having enough money in August for those payments.
A court hearing is scheduled for later today tomorrow at 9:45. (For some reason, I keep thinking today is Wednesday. Maybe it’s because we worked over the weekend.) Stay tuned.
* Earlier today, state Sen. Daniel Biss sent me this statement about Gov. Rauner going to Iowa for a ribbon cutting ceremony at a bridge that spans the Mississippi River…
“Bruce Rauner had to go to Iowa to find a groundbreaking ceremony because there aren’t any ribbons to cut in Illinois.”
The Chris Kennedy campaign and the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association also piled on Rauner for abandoning his post during special session and I think some folks were a bit rankled.
* As it turns out, the leader of Sen. Biss’ own chamber, Senate President John Cullerton, was spotted working out at a Chicago gym at about 9:30 this morning. Special session started at 10 o’clock, so he couldn’t have made it back to Springfield in time.
So, I asked Cullerton’s spokesman what his boss is doing in the city during a special session day…
“He is meeting with a group of concerned constituents who are specifically concerned about school funding and their local public schools in Chicago and that meeting takes priority today.”
…Adding… Senate President Cullerton reportedly approved this statement earlier today, but it’s just now going out. I didn’t know whether to put it here or on the earlier post below, and decided to just post it on this one…
“There is a sad irony in that as we celebrate the start of this tremendous construction project the reality is that the looming downgrade to junk status would make it nearly impossible from a financial aspect to ever do such a substantial project again.
“The lack of a budget will soon hobble a state known for building big dreams into reality. From our bridges and highways to our transit systems to our airports and convention centers, our ability to maintain their structural health and grow our economy is undercut if the financial sector loses confidence in us as a state and we fall into junk status. I don’t want that to happen and I trust that the people of Illinois don’t want that to happen either. The Senate has taken the tough votes and provided the legislative vehicles to end this impasse. We can end this standoff and avoid the downgrade to junk status if the will is there. I would urge all involved to prove that it is.”
At the urging of colleagues, I am writing to share news of a mass layoff at our social service agency, Family Focus.
Family Focus has been providing early childhood development programs in the Chicagoland area for more than 40 years. We currently serve 17,000 people annually in Chicago, Aurora, Cicero, DuPage County, Evanston, and Highland Park/Highwood. We help families make sure their children meet developmental milestones and are ready for school on time. We provide parenting education to DCFS families, drastically reducing the percentage of parents that reengage with the system. Our centers have been a cornerstone of the communities we serve for many years.
We are heartbroken that we have to take this step and we hope that our partner organizations can be saved from this pain. So, we are sharing our story in the hopes that it may move someone in a position to help bring an end to this impasse. I attached a letter from our CEO, Merri Ex, explaining the steps we are taking.
On a personal note, I’ve been reading Capitol Fax since I started working with our state contracts. The information you’ve posted has helped us plan as much as was possible over the past two years, and your work is much appreciated.
According to the CEO, the state owes Family Focus $2.7 million. They’re laying off 100 employees, about 71 percent of their staff. They’ve taken out emergency loans from board members and key donors, but it hasn’t been enough. They’re experiencing an extreme cash flow crisis and have to slash costs.
You can learn more about this group by clicking here and here.
* Rep. Greg Harris, the House Democratic budget point person, told reporters today his caucus would soon present its own budget plan. Leader Durkin said yesterday there would be no point in another leaders’ meeting unless the House Dems had their own budget plan.
“Once [the spending plan] is in place, the question is, can we work together to find the revenue to pay for that spending plan? And that’s where we come up against Gov. Rauner’s demands for an extreme right agenda. This is where, I said a few days ago, that the House Democrats will be fully engaged on every issue brought to us in the special session. Those issues will be property taxes, pensions, government consolidation, workers’ compensation. We’re fully engaged on those issues, we’ve designated members of our caucus to talk to Republicans about all of the issues.
Notice that the House Speaker didn’t mention term limits. That subject matter is also included in the governor’s special session proclamation.
“My prediction of two and a half years ago stands. If Gov. Rauner is reasonable on these issues, then we can finalize an overall agreement. The responsibility will lie upon the Republican leaders. Take the positions that will be negotiated between Democratic designees and the Republicans, take those positions to the governor and persuade the governor to be reasonable. It will be the responsibility of the Republican leaders, persuade the governor to be reasonable on these non-budget issues.
And then he talked about his own non-budget issues, like SB 1, the controversial Medicaid managed care contract and rate regulation on workers’ comp insurance companies.
* When asked about the 30-vote requirement for House Republicans, Madigan said, “That’s the responsibility of legislative leaders,” adding “Mr. Durkin’s predecessors were always able to do their job.”
Asked about a property tax freeze, Madigan said the House Revenue Committee will meet tomorrow morning and hinted that his property tax plan would be unveiled at that time. The hearing is scheduled to start at 8:30.
* With many thanks to Amanda Vinicky, here’s the raw audio…
Even after both the Illinois House and Senate overwhelmingly approved resolutions supporting funding for job creating sections of last year’s Future Energy Jobs Act, a budget proposal by Senate Republicans - and endorsed by Governor Rauner - would sweep every penny of $185 million slated for the landmark Illinois Solar for All Program, which was created by the new law. The law, often called the biggest clean energy breakthrough in state history, won praise for its support of job training and expanding access to solar energy and solar jobs to economically disadvantaged communities.
“Illinois requires a budget that delivers what communities need, including human services, education, and economic and environmental justice. Taking away these funds, from communities most in need, prevents critical jobs, job training, and access to money-saving solar energy,” said Juliana Pino, Policy Director at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. “We must not hollow out the core promise of the Future Energy Jobs Act.”
The funds in the Renewable Energy Resources Fund (RERF) were raised from electric utility bills, not taxes, and are intended to be used for projects that will create jobs and expand access to solar energy.
“The innovative Illinois Solar for All program is a bright spot to accelerate clean energy, create jobs and improve environmental health in Illinois,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “The General Assembly should not divert the negotiated renewable energy funds that are vital to keep Illinois competitive in growing our clean energy economy.”
The Illinois Power Agency is in the process of implementing the Illinois Solar For All Program and has worked closely with stakeholders to ensure the program benefits communities across the state, and that the funds are maximized for the greatest job-creating impact.
“There is incredible statewide excitement about the Solar for All Program,” said Lesley McCain, Executive Director of the Illinois Solar Energy Association. “We’ll fight to make sure the money is there and the program is a success.
Today, 726 days into Bruce Rauner’s manufactured crisis, the Pritzker campaign released new robo calls targeting state Senate districts across the state. The calls aim to expose what Bruce Rauner’s budget compromise actually is: a sham. It’s a plan written solely by Republicans behind closed doors and that’s not compromise. While lawmakers are in Springfield today, Bruce Rauner will be in Iowa, doing nothing to help end this crisis he created.
The robo calls are part of the multimedia Crisis Creatin’ Rauner campaign, holding Bruce Rauner accountable for this crisis of his own making and the families, schools, and social service agencies that continue to pay the price.
“Bruce Rauner kicked off special session with a sham unity address that called on legislators to support a partisan budget written behind closed doors,” said Pritzker campaign communications director Galia Slayen. “While Bruce Rauner travels to other states and pretends to want compromise, Illinois families, schools, and social service agencies are suffering under his failed leadership. 726 days and counting without a state budget, and Bruce Rauner and Republicans are leading Illinois off of a fiscal cliff – it’s time they’re held accountable for their political games and disingenuous efforts to end the budget crisis. Bruce Rauner needs to focus on doing his job for Illinois families.”
For the third year in a row, Bruce Rauner has failed to produce a fair budget for Illinois families.
It took Bruce Rauner and Republicans over 700 days to introduce a compromise budget, but it wasn’t a compromise at all.
It’s the same special interest agenda that Bruce Rauner has been trying to force on Illinois from the start. Their budget was crafted behind closed doors with Rauner pulling the strings.
That’s not a compromise. That’s a sham.
Our social service agencies are shutting down. Our schools might not be able to open in the fall. Our families are suffering. We don’t have time for Bruce Rauner’s political games.
Tell the governor to do his job and pass a balanced budget now.
“To clarify my position regarding House Republican priorities, it is my intention to designate House Republican members to address consolidation and term limits and I ask the same from the House Democrats.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** After saying again that he was focused on workers’ comp, pension reform and property taxes, Durkin was asked (at about the 15:14 mark on the raw audio) whether he was willing to give up on term limits. Here’s his response…
“I’m talking about three issues right now. I think term limits, uh [long pause] I’m focused on those three. I don’t have a designee on that, but I think that right now I’m focused on the major issues that are going to help the Illinois economy and help the middle class.”
The Durkin people say this isn’t a walk back, but he more than just implied that those other three issues were the big ones.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* House Republican Leader Jim Durkin talked to reporters today. You can click here for the raw audio. Here are some highlights…
Durkin says he is focused on three issues: Pensions, workers' comp and property taxes. Needs those reforms.
* 30 House Republican votes out of the 71 needed for anything with an immediate effective date is a fair deal for Leader Durkin. As I told subscribers this morning, it’s the same basic percentage as Durkin’s 51 out of 118 House members.
And Durkin is right that the more Madigan waters down this stuff the tougher it’s going to be for him (and, don’t kid yourself, the governor) to round up those 30 votes. But, the Republicans have always known that Madigan would water down whatever came out of the Senate, or whatever the Republicans proposed. It’s a balancing act, but that’s what governing is.
* Leader Durkin also said his people have met with the Democrats twice each on property taxes and pension reform within the past 24 hours, so that’s good. There have been multiple meetings on workers’ comp reform, which still has a ways to go.
The most positive part of this press conference was that, while the Republicans expressed concern, the process hasn’t gone off the rails. Both sides will at times be tempted to derail this train. And I figure there will be some high-profile wrecks this week. That’s always to be expected and particularly so in this climate. But everybody should do whatever they can to prevent any problems from becoming fatal.
And it goes without saying that “not focusing” on term limits is good news for those who want a deal because Speaker Madigan is so opposed. But it ain’t such good news for people who’ve believed that Gov. Rauner would finally rid the state of Speaker Madigan (albeit in ten years). A tax hike and Madigan in perpetuity won’t go over well with people like the Illinois Policy Institute’s loyal followers. Their heads are gonna explode.
* Bruce Rauner was interviewed earlier this month by Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution. A Statehouse reporter just tweeted about it so I took a look. The full video is here and the transcript is here.
Bruce Rauner: Well, there are many factors, but we were taken over in 1983 by some politicians who were really in public service for their own benefit, a lot of self-dealing, a lot of corruption. Government insiders, special interest groups that make their money from government became ascendant and really took power, and as a result, deficit spending, inside deals, corruption, cronyism, patronage. Four out of the prior nine governors to my administration, four of them went to prison. Many members of the General Assembly are engaged in very much self-dealing and selfish behavior, and the system has just broken down.
Gee. I wonder what happened in 1983? Who took over that year? Hmm. Could it be… I dunno… Madigan?!!!
Bruce Rauner: Well, we have the highest property taxes in America, right up there with New Jersey, and we have political leaders, the head of the legislature, the head of the Democratic party, also happens to have a property tax appeal law firm, where he’s become a millionaire by holding up business owners in Cook County for their property tax appeals. We have a very corrupt, self-interested regime running the system. What I said is let’s break that system up. Let’s freeze property taxes by law, and let’s empower local residents, local voters to decide themselves what their property tax levy should be by voter referendum. They want more taxes for their schools, they can vote to do it. They want their property tax levy to come down, they can vote to do that. Give power to the people, and take it away from the politicians.
He got rich by “holding up business owners”? Yikes.
Peter Robinson: We’ll get to what did happen. What did you think would happen? You say to a guy, “Here’s a club, and the moment I get elected I’m going to smack you right between the eyes.” What did you think the legislature would do?
Bruce Rauner: The good news is that many Democrats in the General Assembly know that what we’re advocating for is the right thing for the long term. The issue is getting them to vote the right away against the wishes of their leadership. The speaker is very powerful, been the speaker for 35 years.
Peter Robinson: Speaker Madigan.
Bruce Rauner: That’s correct. The issue is he’s very much focused on self-dealing and maintaining the status quo. We’ve got to convince his caucus members to vote the right way. We’re getting there, but it’s been too slow.
* From a “consensus statement” from the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) Board of Directors on the Republican US Senate healthcare plan…
The Senate bill does formalize several critical administrative and regulatory improvements, such as giving Medicaid Directors a seat at the table in the development of regulations that impact how the program is run, and the pathway to permanency for certain waiver programs.
However, no amount of administrative or regulatory flexibility can compensate for the federal spending reductions that would occur as a result of this bill.
Changes in the federal responsibility for financing the program must be accompanied by clearly articulated statutory changes to Medicaid to enable states to operate effectively under a cap. The Senate bill does not accomplish that. It would be a transfer of risk, responsibility, and cost to the states of historic proportions.
While NAMD does not have consensus on the mandatory conversion of Medicaid financing to a per capita cap or block grant, the per capita cap growth rates for Medicaid in the Senate bill are insufficient and unworkable.
Medicaid - or other forms of comprehensive, accessible and affordable health coverage - in coordination with public health and law enforcement entities, is the most comprehensive and effective way address the opioid epidemic in this country. Earmarking funding for grants for the exclusive purpose of treating addiction, in the absence of preventative medical and behavioral health coverage, is likely to be ineffective in solving the problem and would divert critical resources away from what we know is working today.
Medicaid Directors recommend prioritizing the stabilization of marketplace coverage. Medicaid reform should be undertaken when it can be accomplished thoughtfully and deliberately.
The NAMD is a “professional organization representing leaders of state Medicaid agencies.”
* It would be helpful if the administration was required to fully disclose all the bills it’s sitting on because the comptroller can only estimate the backlog…
The Debt Transparency Act is a good piece of legislation that’s in line with the private sector’s best practices.
That’s why a veto-proof, bipartisan slate of Illinois lawmakers thrust it upon Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk. And that’s why Rauner — facing a potential revolt from his fellow Republicans — should sign it immediately. […]
As Mendoza tells it, on any given Friday, as much as $1 billion in bills might land on her desk from out of the blue. These aren’t new charges, mind you. In some cases, they’ve been festering in executive agency accounting departments for up to 10 months. Then, at the last minute, they get submitted.
Rauner’s primary motto has centered on interjecting business sense into historically wasteful state government. No private entity — at least one designed to last very long — would manage its books the way Illinois does now. Just keeping track of cash flow is impossible when a few hundred million could suddenly appear on the books, just because the executive doesn’t feel like submitting the vouchers.
If Rauner is really about good business, then DTA is a no-brainer.
Cost of Property Tax Freeze to IL Schools? Up to $830 Million
CTBA analysis indicates that a two-year property tax freeze would be devastating for Illinois’ public education system, effectively cutting between $430 million and $830 million from K-12 education per year by the end of 2019.
Late last month, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 484, which would freeze property tax collections for school districts across the state for two years. Such a measure has been a central demand of Governor Bruce Rauner, who has insisted that he will not sign a full state budget without a property tax freeze.
CTBA’s projection was derived by applying the property tax freeze in SB484 to property tax collections by school districts in 2014 and 2015, the most recent years for which full property tax data is available from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Because the base of collections has increased since then, a funding gap created by the freeze of the same proportion would be greater in nominal dollars today. The smaller amount, $430 million, assumes that every district will increase its levy by the full Consumer Price Index (CPI), which SB484 would allow only for debt and pension payments. The larger amount, $830 million, is the effect of the freeze if no district has debt payments for which it can increase its levy under these terms.
These cuts would hit all areas of the state. Cook County would see an annual schools funding cut of between roughly $200 million and $360 million; the collar counties, between $76 million and $214 million; and districts in the rest of the state, between $156 million and $250 million. On a per-pupil basis, these cuts amount to as much as $496 for every student in Cook County, $382 for every collar county student, and $375 for every student in the rest of Illinois. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate these cuts.
On Friday, the Cook Political Report released a new analysis of 2018 Gubernatorial races, and it was only bad news from Governor Bruce Rauner. Cook Political Report not only moved the ranking of the race from “Lean R” to “Tossup”, they also singled out Governor Rauner for being the “most vulnerable incumbent seeking re-election next year.”
Cook Political Report:
“The fifth seat is in Illinois where GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner is seeking a second term. Rauner has been under siege for much of his term in a standoff with the Democratic-controlled legislature over the state’s budget – or rather, the lack of one.”
…
“As a Republican in a very blue state, Rauner is the most vulnerable incumbent seeking re-election next year.”
Governor Rauner’s re-election challenges are numerous and self-inflicted, and really boil down to one question – has Illinois moved forward under Governor Rauner? With no budget, skyrocketing debt, job growth stuck in the mud, and an education system on the verge of collapse, it’s hard to see many voters eagerly pulling “Rauner” in 2018.
To complicate matters, Governor Rauner will have an albatross hanging around his neck named President Trump pushing unpopular legislation on health care and the environment. Rauner so far has refused to break with his party’s leader in memorable fashion.
Rauner’s already suffering from punishingly low approval ratings, and with an election strategy that is summed up as “blame someone else,” it looks like 2018 will not be kind to him.
“You don’t get labeled the ‘most vulnerable incumbent’ without compiling an impressive record of failure,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “With no accomplishments to run on, Governor Rauner’s only hope at re-election is to spend tens of millions dodging responsibility and blaming others for his own failed leadership. Illinois voters will see through his cynical re-election strategy and demand accountability for the state’s slide backwards.”
The full report is here. Just keep in mind they do these ratings from far away and it’s really early, so the ratings are always subject to change.
* Meanwhile, from the Rauner campaign…
We’re quickly approaching the end of the quarter.
Normally at this time of year, we’d email you to help us reach our big end of quarter fundraising goal, which directly fuels our team’s efforts across the state.
But this isn’t a normal end of quarter here in Illinois.
Last week, Bruce called legislators back to Springfield for a special session to work towards a Capitol Compromise that brings a balanced budget and real reforms to Illinois.
These legislators have just four more days to come together in a bipartisan fashion to fix our state.
We’re not concerned about our end of quarter fundraising deadline. We’re concerned about our state legislators following Bruce’s lead to change the system and get our state back on track.
So, instead of contributing to our fundraising goal today, we’re asking you to show your support. Will you commit to the budget and reform movement? Sign here.
Let’s show Bruce that we’re behind him as he keeps up the momentum in Springfield.
Our movement is stronger than ever, no matter what career politicians try to get in the way.
* Chris Kennedy’s pink feather boa is great and I don’t think our current governor could pull off that look. But, I’m sorry, the Cub float in the background just ruins the pic for me…
* And I’m not sure all the Democratic candidates can run like this…
…Adding… The Pritzker campaign just posted a new video…
MK and I had such a great time marching with everyone yesterday at Chicago Pride. We will never stop fighting for equality. #Pride2017pic.twitter.com/bMSUUDu578
* I wore my “Missing Budget” t-shirt to the Statehouse yesterday. Click here to order one for yourself. The proceeds benefit charities that have been slammed by the impasse.
* Posted in the order they were received. Pritzker campaign…
Pritzker Campaign Launches New Digital Ads Holding Bruce Rauner Accountable on Health Care
Bruce Rauner Has No Plan for Health Care Bill Jeopardizing Coverage For Millions of Illinoisans
Chicago, IL – Today, the JB for Governor campaign launched new digital ads holding Bruce Rauner accountable for his failure to respond to the GOP health care bill. The ad campaign will run banner ads on local online publications throughout the state.
The bill introduced by Senate Republicans will be nothing short of devastating for Illinois families. It jeopardizes health care coverage for millions of Illinoisans, automatically terminates Medicaid coverage for 650,000 low-income Illinoisans by 2021, and could cost the state $40 billion over 10 years. Premiums could skyrocket across the board, with seniors bearing the brunt of the increased costs.
Despite the devastating impact this will have on our families, Bruce Rauner has yet to produce a plan to mitigate its impacts on the people he is supposed to represent. The new digital ads aim to hold Bruce Rauner accountable for failing to protect Illinoisans from this damaging legislation.
“This health care legislation will jeopardize coverage for millions of Illinoisans, financially devastate our families, and cost people their lives. There is no excuse for Bruce Rauner failing to produce a plan,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This is a time for courage and leadership in Springfield to guide our state through the crisis this legislation will deliver to our doorstep. Instead Bruce Rauner is telling Illinoisans they will have to go it alone as Donald Trump’s agenda devastates our state. Rauner’s silence is cowardly and his failure to act will do long term damage to Illinois families.”
* From the ILGOP…
Pritzker and Madigan Sync Up Talking Points – Again!
Use Liberal Dog Whistles to Attack Reform
J.B. Pritzker and Mike Madigan are syncing up their talking points yet again.
Both oppose efforts to reform Illinois – but refuse to actually explain why outside of name calling.
Just yesterday, Madigan called Republican efforts to get lasting property tax relief an “extreme right-wing agenda.”
Likewise, J.B. Pritzker regularly refers to good government reforms like term limits, fair maps, and property tax relief as a “right wing Koch brother agenda.”
Here’s a question for Madigan, Pritzker, and the other candidates for Governor who oppose reform – what about helping the middle class is extreme?
What about an honest political system that works for the people, not the politicians, is extreme?
Democrats need to stop the liberal dog whistles and provide real solutions for Illinois.
A massive tax increase with no reform just won’t cut it.
Who won?
*** UPDATE *** Galia Slayen of the Pritzker campaign…
“After two and a half years as governor, Bruce Rauner is still unable to articulate how his turnaround agenda will help the middle class. That’s because this agenda has always been about shaking the foundation of working class families as he uses them as leverage to achieve his personal, special interest agenda. Workers’ compensation reform that funnels more money into insurance company coffers isn’t real reform and undermining collective bargaining is an attack on working families. Illinois GOP arguing that these proposals help middle class Illinoisans is as much a joke as Bruce Rauner’s failed leadership. The fact that Rauner cannot seem to focus on the task at hand — passing a budget — further proves that he is incapable of providing the leadership our state needs. Focus, Bruce, focus.”
* Stephen Moore, an economic consultant at Freedom Works and senior economic analyst at CNN, writing in the Washington Times…
The media has hyper-obsessed over the Kansas tax hike this year and has sold this as a repudiation of “supply side economics.” But the real story in the states has been the catastrophic effects of “tax and spend” fiscal policy in Illinois. […]
Back in 2013 the previous governor, Democrat Pat Quinn, followed the advice of economists like Paul Krugman of The New York Times, and raised taxes on the very wealthiest residents of the Land of Lincoln. He argued that the super rich in Illinois could easily afford to pay a bigger share of the tax load and no one would leave.
The more Mr. Quinn raised taxes, the deeper the budget hole got. Whole resort towns in Florida and Arizona have become high-income refugee camps of former affluent residents of Chicagoland. […]
So what is the lesson for the rest of America? Soak the rich economics almost never works. As tax receipts keep sinking in Illinois, the safety net is tattered, the roads are in disrepair, crime is out of control in Chicago, and the state is home to some of the worst schools in the nation.
When you try to soak the rich, they leave, the state goes bankrupt and it’s the middle class that gets all wet. How’s that for tax fairness?
Why is the national media ignoring this story?
The national media isn’t “ignoring” this particular story because Moore has his facts completely wrong. Illinois has a flat income tax. It didn’t jack up tax rates solely on the rich, it jacked up tax rates on everybody, rich and poor, and it looks like it’s about to do it again.
Also, Quinn raised taxes once, and the bill payment cycle was reduced to under 30 days. That income tax hike was allowed to partially expire on January 1st of 2015 and it hasn’t since been restored. The government is running mostly on auto-pilot due to court orders and state statutes and the comptroller is struggling to pay state invoices from last September.
…Adding… As a commenter also points out, the tax hike was passed in 2011, not 2013, as Mr. Moore claims.
After years of railing against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for making several “non-budget” items a prerequisite to a spending agreement, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan announced Sunday he’s come up with his own demands if there’s to be a deal.
Madigan says he expects three things from Rauner: signing the Democrats’ big education funding overhaul, letting Illinois regulate workers’ compensation insurance rates, and slowing down a big change in the Medicaid program, so it can go through the normal state procurement process.
“This is a governmental negotiation. This is a situation where nobody gets 100 percent,” Madigan said. “I asked the Republican leaders: Please go down to the governor and explain — in a governmental negotiation, nobody gets 100 percent. Please do that.” […]
“Remember, there’s been a lot of complaints about the governor ‘moving the goalposts’ — we just saw that today from the Democrats,” [House GOP Leader Jim Durkin] said. “But you know, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We’ll work it out.”
“I think the fact that they’re willing to negotiate, to me, is a little more movement than we’ve seen in the past,” he said.
Madigan said House Democrats are working on a bill to freeze property taxes, although he did not say for how long. Madigan said the length of a freeze is an “open question.” […]
Although Durkin said there were some positives from the meeting, he said there won’t be another one until the House Democrats produce their own balanced budget plan.
“The fact is, we’re not going to meet until we actually get a plan out of the House Democrats,” Durkin said. “We’ve got five days left.”
“That’s forthcoming very shortly,” said Madigan who added that he wants to meet with the leaders again on Tuesday.
“Only because the governor wants to impose that on people who depend upon public schools to education children, OK? It’s part of the extreme right agenda,” Madigan said of Rauner insistence on a property tax freeze.
Local property taxes are the primary funding source for schools.
“That is the furthest from the truth. And that’s really disappointing at this stage, after two and a half years that it has now become part of some right wing conspiracy. That doesn’t help,” House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said of Madigan’s comment. “Our property taxes are the worst … in the United States. Not a good statement to make.”
Will Madigan agree to Rauner’s term limits proposal? “I strongly believe in the wisdom of the people of Illinois and how they vote,” Madigan said before referring to his own reelection. “We had a term limits question on the Southwest Side of Chicago about a year and a half ago. There was a million dollars spent against me — and the people voted for me.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner regularly attempts to “go over the heads” of the news media and talk directly to the public without any journalistic filters.
Usually for people in his particular position, that’s just not possible. Governors aren’t presidents, after all.
They can’t deliver Oval Office addresses that are carried live by television networks or give stump speeches that cable news networks regularly broadcast. They don’t have millions of Twitter followers or Facebook video watchers.
But that hasn’t stopped Rauner from trying. It’s what his prolific television advertising is really about. He has spent millions even in non-election years attempting to frame his issues his own way without any filters — mainly to avoid taking any blame for his state grinding to a halt without a budget and to shift all blame to House Speaker Michael Madigan and the Democrats instead.
Aside from those ads, most of his Facebook videos have fewer than 10,000 or so views, a tiny fraction of Illinois’ population. He only has about 20,000 Twitter followers, which is fewer than I have.
So, last week’s Old State Capitol speech about the need for “unity” was a true rarity. Rauner’s 3-minute, 15-second address was carried live by several television stations, including the one with the largest news audience in the Chicago region, Channel 7.
He didn’t break much ground with what he said.
What was new was the platform he used. Because he inserted himself into TV news broadcasts, tons of people got a chance to hear him speak live on the topic of his choosing for the very first time without interruption — which has simply never happened before in this state.
The extreme drama of more than two years with no budget, a state teetering on fiscal collapse and a crucial special legislative session starting the following day was just too juicy to resist for the stations. Toss in the location of the Old State Capitol, which was used by both Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama for major speeches and the setup was nearly perfect.
The governor used lots of buzz words like “compromise,” “bipartisan” and “unity.” He got in his pitches for a property tax freeze, school funding and term limits, all hugely popular out there in Voter Land.
Not once did he utter the phrase “tax increase,” even though he supports a plan to increase the income tax rate by about a third. And he called the impasse “unnecessary” even though the Statehouse war was basically his idea from the get-go.
It was all too much for the Democrats, who mostly reacted harshly.
Chris Kennedy labeled it as “a few minutes of empty remarks in an empty room.”
Sen. Daniel Biss called it “the worst infomercial in our state’s fiscal history.”
JB Pritzker said: “Rauner has decided he wants to make people think that he’d like to work together to get something done.”
Ameya Pawar called Rauner a “liar, a fraud and a flake.”
And the House Democrats’ official response accused the governor of “talking out of both sides of his mouth.”
To the people who watched the speech, that reaction may have been seen as an overreaction, if they even bothered to look up the react. Rauner’s specialty is winning the news cycle, and he most certainly won the week with that little address of his.
Rauner’s speech wasn’t about getting a budget deal. It was about portraying himself as the good guy and the person who is not to blame and then letting the other side take its nastiest shots to prove how they’re not so good.
“Why are they picking on this man who only wants bipartisan unity?” would be the preferred message received.
On the other hand, Rauner was poorly lit, his face and head were distractingly shiny, the empty room had lousy acoustics and he had what appeared to be a cold sore on his upper lip.
Television is all about the visuals, which is why the best way to effectively rate a TV ad is to turn off the sound. People see way more than they hear.
What they probably heard last week were the poll-tested, tried-and-true buzz words.
What they saw may not have been so great.
Still, the fact that Rauner pulled it off is quite an accomplishment.
I used to tell Rod Blagojevich to stop trying to go over our heads and learn to deal with the news media’s filter.
Rauner figured out how to do what Blagojevich never could.
What: Governor Rauner Joins Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds to Break Ground at the I-74 Bridge Project
Where: Leach Park
100 12th St., Bettendorf, Iowa
Date: Monday, June 26, 2017
Time: 1:45 p.m.
Note: No additional media availability.
* From the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association…
While Democrats Work to End His Crisis, Rauner Attends Out-Of State Photo-Op
Rauner to campaign in Iowa instead of meeting with legislative leaders in Springfield
Springfield, IL – On Monday, June 26th, Governor Bruce Rauner is attending a political photo-op in Bettendorf, IA at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Interstate 74 bridge over the Mississippi River. This project is expected to cost taxpayers up to one billion dollars. While Rauner is in Iowa attending the event, Democrats are in Springfield trying to find a way out of the budget crisis that Bruce Rauner created.
Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association President Doug House issued the following statement ahead of Bruce Rauner’s photo-op:
“It takes a special kind of arrogance to call a $40,000 per day Special Legislative Session and then attend a photo-op out of state to promote a one-billion-dollar construction project that cannot start because of the budget crisis he created. I echo what other Democrats have said. Bruce Rauner should meet with legislative leaders every day until a compromise is reached on the state budget. He shouldn’t be leaving the Illinois for photo-ops while the state burns down.”
House further added:
“Democrats have attempted to meet the Governor halfway on his demands. We want to end the Rauner crisis and start to put the pieces of our state back together, but the governor simply refuses to compromise. Voters are starting to wise up to Rauner. Rauner needs to stop pointing fingers, stop the political attacks, and end this crisis immediately. ”
Fair hit or not? I’m kinda torn. Yeah, he should be in Springfield, but he hasn’t called out individual Democratic legislators for skipping special session days (which would be an easy hit) and he’s not directly involved in the leaders’ meetings. Frankly, it’s probably better that he leaves town for a while, considering what he did to the Senate’s grand bargain.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Sen. Daniel Biss…
“Bruce Rauner had to go to Iowa to find a groundbreaking ceremony because there aren’t any ribbons to cut in Illinois. Due to the budget crisis Rauner has created, the Illinois Department of Transportation will be forced to shut down all construction work in the state in just four days.
“What Illinoisans have learned about Bruce Rauner over the last three years is that while he loves endlessly campaigning to keep his job, he won’t actually do his job.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Chris Kennedy campaign…
Governor Rauner is failing to lead once again. Instead of focusing on our budget impasse, he has fled Springfield to cut a ribbon for a bridge we can’t pay for without a budget. This bridge is a productive capital project that creates jobs and strengthens infrastructure in the region but without a budget, it will become a bridge to nowhere. Inevitably, Iowa will need to collect Illinois’ share of the I-74 bridge project. When they do, we will need a functioning budget in place to deliver on our commitment. After more than 725 days without a budget, there is little to no faith that Governor Rauner will follow through. It’s time for the governor to start building bridges in our state legislature and not dodging his responsibility to the people of Illinois.
