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Kicking them in the shins

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* As subscribers read this morning, Gov. Pat Quinn is asking the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to approve an emergency rule that implements his plan to scrap union worker pay raises…

Vicki Thomas, executive director of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, said the panel has a number of options, including one that could block the governor’s move. “Yes. They could stop it,” Thomas said Wednesday. […]

State Sen. John Jones, R-Mount Vernon, who also is a member of the panel, said he doesn’t support the governor’s decision. “I would be inclined to go against the governor,” Jones said. “I don’t know how you can go against the contract like that.” […]

Righter said the governor needs to explain why he thinks he is legally allowed to cancel the raises, given the state’s collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME. “Clearly, there are a lot of unanswered questions out there,” Righter said.

* These are all union pay raises, by the way. We’re not just talking about the 2 percent raise that was supposed to take effect July 1 under the contract…

* Meanwhile, the SJ-R reminded readers of how the governor blasted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker earlier this year over his own dealings with public employee unions…

“In Illinois, we always believed in working together as a team and not kicking somebody in the shins,” Quinn said in February as he welcomed Wisconsin Democratic senators who had fled to Illinois to stop Walker’s move.

To be clear, we can’t exactly say our hearts go out to the 30,000 union employees who won’t receive raises that total 5.25 percent over the next seven months.

At a time when their non-union colleagues have gone years without raises, this was an exceedingly sweet deal. It also ignores the financial reality in which most private sector employees now live.

But Quinn signed off on it back in September, then accepted AFSCME’s endorsement in the November election.

He needs to live up to the agreement or bring the unions back into discussions to change it.

* And remember this classic from February? Quinn was on MSNBC and said those who don’t believe in giving unions a “voice at the table” ought to “soak their heads”…

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:06 am

Comments

Like Big Daddy Unruh said, “If you can’t take their money and then turn around and screw them, you’re in the wrong business.”

Now that Quinn has played the JCAR card, I think it’s clear he wants the GA to wear the jacket for his move and/or build support for more appropriations in the fall.

I’m not saying that it’s a well thought-ought strategy, but that seems to be the way it’s going.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:16 am
Quoted comments from two Senate Republicans who did not put any votes on teh budget and proposed an Fy12 budget that cut $5 to $7 billion.

Insert snark.

Comment by Leroy Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:17 am
I have a real problem with legislators that clearly underfunded personal service lines in the budget but not owning the results of those actions.

Comment by Leroy Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:19 am
I also have a problem with a governor who could have called them on it with something called a veto.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:36 am
David Vaught is the one who apparently negotiated with the unions then made the decision to screw AFSCME for the most odd of reasons. Anyone who has ever dealt with him are not surprised.

So what happens to the union employees who are not in the 14 targeted agencies? I assume thier raises went through.

Comment by Cassiopeia Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:48 am
If I didn’t know better I would think Blago was still in office. Following his own rules, cancelling contracts, not paying elected officials that have Statutory job duties. But WAIT!!! Many of his staff were Blago staff as well. Apparently they didn’t learn under their old boss.

Oh, and the union officials shouldn’t get a free pass on this either. Let this be a lesson never to open up the contract again.

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:51 am
Is it time to start the impeachment talk?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:54 am
===So what happens to the union employees who are not in the 14 targeted agencies? I assume thier [sic] raises went through.===

I believe that is correct; in other agencies the raises went through. I know this is true in one agency, so I assume it to be the case in others.

Comment by TwoFeetThick Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 10:59 am
**Is it time to start the impeachment talk?**

Huh? For what? Not liking his decisions?

Comment by dave Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:10 am
While it may at first glance appear that Quinn is a fool, I am confident that that appearance is only based on facts and not the Governor’s adorable personality!

You go Soy Boy! Beam him up Governor Scotty! Meet your new cheesehead.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:15 am
- David Vaught is the one who apparently negotiated with the unions then made the decision to screw AFSCME for the most odd of reasons. Anyone who has ever dealt with him are not surprised. -

Please, Vaught didn’t know what the GA was going to appropriate when he was negotiating with the union. What he does know is that the budget battle isn’t over yet, and it’s going to take a whole lot of effort to get the GA to appropriate more money for these raises. AFSCME may have made a deal, but they can’t expect the Governor’s office to create money out of nothing. Additionally, anyone that really knows David Vaught knows that his character is impeccable, your insidious hinting otherwise is completely unfounded.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:15 am
STL,
yes, the guy who over saw the $800 million underfunding of Group Health Insurance in last year’s budget - and somehow the state still had insurance — is now an unassailable angel of budgetary truth in his belief that no raises can occur in select agencies because of under appropriations amounting to roughly $77 million.

I will agree only that Mr. Vaught is a character.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:22 am
An argument could be made that Quinn is a liar.

Comment by Fed up Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:33 am
LOL, fed up. This time, I’ll allow it.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:38 am
Is it too early to have PQ fulfill his ‘bet’ with Scott Walker?

There seems to be no reason to avoid a photo op with someone who is too tough on the unions.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:38 am
Dear Ryan: Pat kept only a handful of Blago top aides, and gave the rest the boot…get over it already…

Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:46 am
So if you are AFSCME do you strike over this?

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 11:47 am
I think the bigger question is not if AFSCME will strike but if AFSCME will continue to provide funding to, support, and vote for Democrat candidates?

Comment by DRB Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 12:08 pm
Michelle-

The Group Insurance underfunding was done by the legislature. The Govenor has tried to address that with a revenue stream in the tax increase to restructure our debt. To say that’s David Vaught or OMB’s fault is uninformed and ridiculous.

Comment by Little Lebowski Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 12:18 pm
= if AFSCME will continue to provide funding to, support, and vote for Democrat candidates? =

Of course they will. They’ll just put more focus in the primaries to ensure a more pro-union Democrat for the general.

Comment by SirLankselot Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 12:19 pm
Maybe it is time for state unions to start spreading those campaign donations around instead of feeding Democrats who turn on them?

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 12:23 pm
Louis: Unions walking for Republicans? Support the party that wants to annihilate them? When hell freezes over pal…

Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 12:29 pm
Lil Lebo,
Sorry you’re wrong.
You’ll recall that last year’s budget was a lump sum budget.
The GA told the Gov: Here you go Gov, here’s all the money the state’s got. You figure out where it goes, we’re outta here.
As such, the administration made the decision to underfund Group Health by $800 million so the money could go elsewhere.
And if Vaught and OMB weren’t in charge of establishing those spending lines in the lump sum budget, please do inform the rest of us of who did.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 12:36 pm
Loop Lady The ones that are left are in very influential positions. Chief of Staff to name just one! The policies have not changed.

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 1:15 pm
==The policies have not changed.==

Amen.

Comment by Pat Robertson Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 1:33 pm
Going to JCAR with emergency rules was a peculiar move.

It undermines Quinn’s argument that he’s got “no choice” about axing the raises to ask JCAR’s permission.

Of course if JCAR says No, which they will, then Quinn can just say:

“We’re not going back to the old days where the General Assembly spends money that we don’t have. If they want pay raises, they need to appropriate funding for them.”

I THINK Quinn’s goal here is to force a reopening of the budget by insisting on a supplemental approp for the pay raises.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 1:39 pm
I am not getting into it with folks who don’t work in State government and don’t have a handle on the day to day…beleive what you wish about Quinn, but there are very few holdovers that have his ear that didn’t pass the sniff test…loyalty is everything in politics on both sides of the aisle the last I heard…I beleive Quinn is posturing indeed with an end game of reopening the budget process and forcing the GA to be part of the collateral damage which is only fair IMHO because they helped to create this massive deficit by enabling Gov Elvis and and sitting on their brains all day during the budget process…

Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 1:55 pm
trust me there are plenty of hold overs left some of which are in the union!!!!!

Comment by Just Because Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 2:11 pm
Lou, I agree with you. My political mentor told me “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”. There is no leverage being created with a one-sided commitment. State employees who have been with the state for twenty plus years (some former union representatives)have told me that they received better treatment under Republican governors.

Comment by onevoter Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 2:47 pm
Anyone who has worked for Quinn knows he does not value employees enough to pay competitive wages.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 4:54 pm
And, as far as most state employees I know can tell, the only thing that has changed is the governor’s hair.

Comment by Pat Robertson Thursday, Jul 7, 11 @ 6:56 pm