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* AP…
After meeting Rauner in his office Wednesday, House Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan said he would proceed with his own plan. Madigan said the governor’s suggestion to have groups of lawmakers negotiate a [non-budget] agreement is going nowhere.
“My advice to the governor today is that he and his agents are not being persuasive in the working groups,” Madigan said.
The groups have been discussing possible changes to collective bargaining policies and how injured workers are compensated by employers, among other things. Rauner has said those changes are needed to improve Illinois’ economy and that he would support a tax increase to close a $5 billion deficit if he gets some of his demands. […]
Democrats have repeatedly said that Rauner’s proposals on unions and workers’ compensation would be devastating to the middle class and have shown little interest in debating those issues at the state Capitol.
They’re not debating them openly, but they have been working with the Republicans behind closed doors. So, the GOP understandably sees yesterday’s budget vote as an attempt to knock the negotiations off the rails.
* More…
A group of Republican legislators who are members of the working groups decried the Madigan budget plan, and his comments about the groups.
“In each and every instance we have had meaningful, substantive discussions, professional, collegiate, and progress has been made,” Sandack said. “It is not a show trial. It is not something that’s a façade.”
Sandack said the longtime speaker is “categorically misinformed” about the progress the working groups have made.
“In each instance, they have been productive and in each instance they have been persuasive,” Sandack said, calling Madigan’s budget a “very coordinated effort to derail the bipartisan rank and file process.”
Some of y’all are not fans of the man and may not want to hear it, but Sandack is right about steady progress at the working group level. Period.
* Leader Currie made the end game pretty clear last night…
“I don’t think we can afford to count on compromise. It didn’t work in the current fiscal year, and there’s no guarantee that it will in the next,” said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago. “And for us to turn our backs on our responsibilities and fail to leave an insurance policy in place in the event there is no further compromise would be a significant disservice to the people of the state of Illinois, particularly to those who are vulnerable, who are fragile, who have no place but to us to turn.”
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:36 am
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–Some of y’all are not fans of the man and may not want to hear it, but Sandack is right about steady progress at the working group level.–
So what’s the big secret? Let’s see what it is, so citizens can make informed judgments as to the benefits in relation to the continued price that’s being paid. The price is real and in the open.
The rest is not real until it’s in the open, someone puts their name to it and explains the benefits and advantages.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:43 am
What better way to short-circuit the progress being made by those in the working groups?
As one reporter observed, yesterday’s antics were the sort of behavior usually reserved for the last day of session.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:46 am
Maybe they need to debate the topics openly rather than behind closed doors if they want people to believe such talks are being productive.
Comment by Joe M Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:47 am
===Sandack is right about steady progress at the working group level.===
And the state is held hostage until that “steady progress” culminates in 60 votes. How long are we supposed to wait? Does anyone think we’re close to getting 60 votes now?
Further, why not pass a budget, even a bare bones budget, while the working groups continue? And when will Sandack or the Governor or anyone in the working groups, put pen to paper and explain how these reforms will improve the state’s economy?
The preconditions put in place by Governor Rauner and allies like Sandack are the cause of the problem. Time and again we’re told that these people can do more than one thing at a time, so let’s see if that’s true. Pass a budget and continue to work on reforms that will help improve the economic climate in Illinois.
(But again, please show us exactly how the proposed reforms will help improve the economic climate, not just talking points.)
Finally, if the reform side can not get to 60 votes, then maybe they ought to try a different approach.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:49 am
Apparently it’s in these working groups where the Ds are secretly capitulating.
I assume that’s the reason to derail, right? Short-circuit the capitulation process. Shut it down.
Rauner could move the ball forward by naming the Ds on his side. What does have to lose by doing so? He may gain more than he’ll lose.
Otherwise, this makes no sense.
Comment by Formerly Known as Frenchie M Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:56 am
- So what’s the big secret? Let’s see what it is, so citizens can make informed judgments as to the benefits in relation to the continued price that’s being paid. -
No kidding. Lots of straining to convince us that Rauner has become a softy, yet not one detail.
Comment by Daniel Plainview Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:57 am
As Rep Steans explained to the Trib, the Speaker’s =budget= delays and obstructs progress towards compromising on a =real solution=.
=”I am not a fan of the budget. I think it’s a fantasy budget but the reality is that it really hurt people,” said Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago. “There’s not the revenue to support it, and it delays us to getting to a real solution.”=
He does not want a budget or compromise.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:59 am
=Democrats have repeatedly said that Rauner’s proposals on unions and workers’ compensation would be devastating to the middle class and have shown little interest in debating those issues at the state Capitol.=
And Sandack’s remarks are considered hyperbole?!
How exactly does allowing a municipality more flexibility to control out-of-control costs “devastating” to the middle class? More so than those same municipalities going bankrupt?
And if workers comp issues being discussed were so “devastating”, how have other surrounding states survived this “devastation.” It seems the governor is repeatedly slammed for insisting on changes before agreeing to a budget - the ONLY political leverage he has with a Speaker so clearly unwilling to negotiate on these issues - while others are allowed to call reforms “devastating” without question. Is the so-called “devastation” some of these reforms supposedly will wreak worse than what’s happening now? or if session ends without K-12 funding? Hardly.
I’m sick of all of it. And when the rank-and-file finally decide to stand up and work together - possibly in passive defiance of their own leader(s) - the man trying to wreck it all for political wins in November not only gets a pass but is lauded as some sort of genius? Only in Illinois.
Comment by Anon Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:59 am
Risky move by the Speaker if there are a lot of Dems feeling they were making progress, only to have the rug pulled out from them.
Comment by Birdseed Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 9:59 am
It’s clear that the Speaker, Barbara Flynn Currie and the Democrats are acting with the citizens best interests in mind. This budget should be signed.
Comment by cgo75 Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:04 am
=== - cgo75 - Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:04 am:
It’s clear that the Speaker, Barbara Flynn Currie and the Democrats are acting with the citizens best interests in mind. This budget should be signed. ===
What budget?
Comment by Birdseed Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:06 am
The stakes are too high for “Trust me” on this one, Especially when GOP leader Rauner has fibbed on so many other things. The easiest way to prove that the talks are going well, would be for both sides to tell us what they have been talking about and why they consider that progress.
Comment by Joe M Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:06 am
THERE IS NOT MONEY!!! When will people get this? Raise the taxes to 7% to cover this new budget and then let’s see what the people say.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:21 am
==Some of y’all are not fans of the man and may not want to hear it, but Sandack is right about steady progress at the working group level. Period.==
I suspect “steady progress” was measured more in terms of ideological compromise than budgetary mathematics. The speaker saw that happening and pulled the plug for a reset to shift the focus back to a spending plan that everyone desires but revenue cannot support. But because it was all done in the shadows, we may never really know. No matter how connected someone may be, they’re getting spun and played most of the time in those types of negotiations. If the groups weren’t at the point where they had something on paper that both sides would admit to being accurate, the working groups missed their window of opportunity. By now, if there was something substantive, Sandack would have been talking up the points of agreement rather than just spewing expletives.
TA gives will have to be offset with support for spending near that level. The GOP will own the negotiated cuts & associated smaller tax increase in trade for the long-term benefits (likely still ephemeral) of some agreed TA items.
Treating all hostages equally bad with a full government shutdown hanging over their heads may be the only way to move forward. It works at the Fed level.
Comment by Markus Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:31 am
The real budget deadline is June 30. If there is a “grand bargain”, it will require Dem and GOP votes. May 31 is irrelevant this year, except that Dems have to pass some kind of budget before that date, lest they get whacked for not “using their (fictitious) supermajority to pass a budget”.
Comment by unspun Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:33 am
Let the working groups put out a basic outline of numbers they have and where they think they can get to. There must be working documents they use in their meetings.
Comment by zatoichi Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:38 am
This is just an appropriation. It in itself does not spend a dime. It only gives authority to spend. It’s just a credit card. The Governor is the one who spends the money and he does not have to spend a dime.
It’s an allowance that the Governor can spend or save as he sees fit, a concept that any 10 year old could understand. Why would any 10 year old veto his own allowance to negotiate a later bedtime is beyond me.
The House did its job of giving the state spending authority for the fiscal year. If it’s short on revenue, the Governor doesn’t have to spend it all or he can ask for more revenue to cover the shortfall.
Comment by A Jack Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:47 am
Was there something included in the 500 page bill that prohibits legislators from continuing to meet and discuss non-budget items?
No, Rep. Sandack?
I didn’t think so.
The bottom line is that the governor continues to insist that work comp be part of his turnaround agenda, yet he has rejected guarantees of bipartisan agreement.
Partisan work comp and bipartisan budget simply do not mix.
Comment by Juvenal Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:48 am
===Some of y’all are not fans of the man and may not want to hear it, but Sandack is right about steady progress at the working group level. Period.===
Period.
Comment by A guy Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 10:49 am
Anonymous-I think at this point the majority of voters on both sides of the aisle would be glad to take the 7% increase in taxes to put this nightmare behind us and to move forward.
Comment by cgo75 Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 11:11 am
=== - cgo75 - Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 11:11 am:
Anonymous-I think at this point the majority of voters on both sides of the aisle would be glad to take the 7% increase in taxes to put this nightmare behind us and to move forward. ===
It’s a LOT more than a 7% increase. Geez…..
Comment by Birdseed Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 11:15 am
Sorry for the typo. WMAY
Comment by Thoughts Matter Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 11:41 am
63 vehicle car wreck is a fender bender. Okay. Got it.
Comment by A guy Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 12:09 pm
I don’t know who to believe anymore. I’ve lost respect for both sides of this issue.
Comment by illinoised Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 12:58 pm
If this was an attempt to derail the working groups, the question is why Madigan would do so. Given that some neutral parties (such as Mr. Miller) believe progress was being made, the question becomes why doesn’t Madigan want this success? Is Madigan afraid he’s losing control of some of his people?
Comment by Anony Thursday, May 26, 16 @ 1:15 pm