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Moving the goalposts?

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Illinois

* Sen. Scott Bennett (D-Champaign)…

“I had a conversation with one of the members in the workers compensation committee meeting,” said Bennett, “and the adjective used was insatiable. We’ll come and say that we’ll work with you and do this and this and this. And then when we have a deal all of a sudden the sand shifts and it’s a totally different deal at the end. Now they want more.

“The governor has made a lot of money by being a good negotiator and he’s used the word leverage over and over and over. I’m not putting words in his mouth. He said it. The budget is good leverage to get the things he wants.”

Bennett said Rauner “knows we’re sitting in here talking about cuts. That bothers us a lot, which puts him in a pretty strong negotiating position. I made the analogy of the way you negotiate to buy a car. And imagine the last thing as you’re handing over the keys, he says, ‘You’re going to throw your spouse’s car in too, right?’”

The Democrats are also doing this in the workers’ comp talks.

* And then there’s this…

A state senator from suburban Chicago plans to move forward with a bill that would ban the trapping of bobcats and the sale of their pelts ahead of the state’s first legal hunting season for the once-threatened species in more than 40 years.

Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said he was holding his bill because he’d reached an agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that would have reduced the number of permits available for hunting and trapping the small wild cats and further restricted where they could be hunted. But he said the department’s director, Wayne Rosenthal, walked away from the agreement toward the end of the General Assembly’s spring session “for reasons unknown to me” […]

“[We’re] proposing a very small number of permits, relatively speaking, according to the department,” he said. “And with trapping, there’s really no way to gauge how many animals you might take. If you set a half a dozen traps and you have a permit for only one bobcat, what happens if you take two?”

To be clear, Harmon specifically wanted to limit the trophy pelt business angle before new rules were promulgated ahead of hunting season. They worked on the bill for months.

* And then IDNR walked away…

The department says Harmon shouldn’t be surprised that it’s moving forward with the rules as proposed because the senator didn’t uphold his part of the agreement. He had agreed to advance a bill that would do away with registration requirements for small boats, which would save money, according to the department.

IDNR also wanted Sen. Harmon to get that proposal through the House, but wouldn’t hold off on its new rules.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 11:44 am

Comments

Democrats should just announce that they have heard from a lot of constituents that are opposed to raising taxes since returning from Springfield…

…and demand the governor introduce a budget that includes no new revenue or borrowing that can be voted on by July 1.

Not a stop gap budget, or a partial budget, but a balanced, 12-month budget like he was supposed to submit 4 months ago.

That will stop the games.

Comment by Juvenal Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 11:52 am
Wild earh guardians has a federal suit acusing USFWS of violating NEPA in issuing bobcat permits as well as other. A new paper on bobcat populations in WV admits that we really don’t have goog information on these species so I think we have a good chance three will be a suspension of these seasons at some point anyway.

Comment by illinois manufacturer Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 11:55 am
We should have expected the goal posts to be moved. It gives 1.4% the excuse that the Democrats are unwilling to work to pass any bill.

Comment by Huh? Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 12:06 pm
It is astonishing to see the amount of time, energy, and capital expended on the discussion of bobcats in Illinois.

Comment by Indochine Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 12:28 pm
With regard to wildlife (animals, etc., not human), it would be nice if Illinois could keep politics out of making these type decisions being established by wildlife (animal, etc, not human) managers with degrees in such matters…but then again, this is Illinois.

Comment by LINK Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 12:31 pm
- Juvenal - Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 11:52 am: -

Good point. Maybe you should call Brownie and let him know.

Comment by Mama Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 12:54 pm
It’s a shame the Governor signed this into law despite overwhelming public opposition. The IDNR has done little research on the formerly threatened species other than rely on it’s biased furbearer biologists who would like to subsidize the pelt industry. Very little is known about these poor animals in IL and research is still being conducted about their habitat. Just a shame but typical for IL.

Comment by Anon Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 12:55 pm
You can always blame the badgers;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9yZaybApCU

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 1:13 pm
Republican legislators and staff don’t have the Governor’s proxy when they enter these “negoiations”. Any deal they get close to gets tanked at the end because Rauner thinks he is dealing with people who aren’t his equal. He has little to no respect for the process or its participants, on both sides.

Comment by Signal & Noise Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 1:15 pm
I don’t care how it gets done. Trapping or hunting. The bobcat population has got to be significantly reduced.

Comment by blue dog dem Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 1:38 pm
blue dog dem- population counts and reasons why??? Many times, when a top predator is removed in an ecosystem, another predator moves in, and/or the prey population increases significantly (rats, mice, rodents). If it’s because the bobcat(s) are eating chickens, build a better fence. I’ve lost more chickens and turkeys to my neighbor’s “free-ranging” dogs, than to any other predator, and I’ve had coyotes howling right under the windows of my house.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 1:54 pm
Anon221. I spend hundreds of hours all over the state watching wildlife. Doesn’t matter were I am at. Being doing it for 60+ years. Bobcat sightings so numerous its silly. Quail, turkey, rabbit, and even the pesky squirrel populations down. I don’t need some expert telling me what I know to be true. Kill a bunch , it won’t put a dent in the population.

Comment by blue dog dem Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 2:37 pm
Anon221 - My grandfather always said you need three things to deal with varmints and feral dogs: 1. A shovel, 2. A closed mouth and 3. A rifle.

Comment by Huh? Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 2:37 pm
** 1. A shovel, 2. A closed mouth and 3. A rifle. **

The shovel is optional depending on where you live…

Comment by DGD Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 2:43 pm
Huh? - or you can hire Foghorn as a hit chicken:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFxfF8aNfgk

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 2:49 pm
=I don’t care if it is hunting or trapping. The bobcat population has got to be reduced.= Really? Why? And trapping is a hideous thing to do to these animals — it is a practice that belongs back in another century.

Comment by kimocat Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 2:51 pm
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3783915?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

The commentators who don’t think people care or should care about the issue

Comment by Out of Touch Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 3:10 pm
blue dog dem- Why do you want to “kill a bunch”? Is it to protect prey species for hunting? You don’t have to say, but surveys and actual numbers do matter if a hunting season for any animal is going to be started or reinstated. In my neck of the woods, prey animals such as rabbits and deer are not in short supply. Bobcats- very low if any population, and rarely seen.

Good report done by SIU researchers. Give a read, and don’t dismiss them out of hand as know-it-all experts.

http://www.dnr.state.il.us/ORC/Wildlife/furbearers/bobcat_10.pdf

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 3:18 pm
–Republican legislators and staff don’t have the Governor’s proxy when they enter these “negoiations”.–

I guess that explains how the social services approp. passed the GA without a dissenting vote, yet the governor won’t sign it.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 4:53 pm
It’s almost as if Rauner doesn’t want to reach a compromised deal. It like he’s not negotiating as much as attempting to enforce his will over others.

Comment by Bulldog58 Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 6:08 pm
Bulldog58- It’s not as if, it IS. And it’s high time the GA stood up to him. The honeymoon is over. Rauner does not deserve any more “hand holding”.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 22, 16 @ 10:17 pm