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* 112-0…
Rauner says debt transparency act is about “political manipulation” by Speaker Madigan and Mendoza so they can prioritize their own needs.
— Tina Sfondeles (@TinaSfon) October 27, 2017
* The full quote…
That, that bill was really, um, primarily about, um, enabling some more political manipulation by Speaker Madigan and Comptroller Mendoza on how they can prioritize, um, bill payment. That’s really what was behind that bill.
To be clear, I am a strong advocate for transparency. Very strong advocate. The way to have transparency is to invest in our computer systems so we can be fast and everything can be online and everyone can look. Our computer system’s budget was gutted, um, reduced dramatically, uh, by the Speaker and the appropriations that passed over my veto. Um, we need to invest in our IT systems and our infrastructure. Actually, that will reduce the cost of government over time and make everything much more transparent. So, we’ve gotta keep working on transparency. I will continue to be a strong advocate for transparency. And trying to do what I can to eliminate the politicism, politicization of bill paying, which is really what’s driving a lot of this right now.
…Adding… From GOP Rep. Dave McSweeney…
Hey Governor - You lost 112-0 and hid $2.8 billion of unappropriated fiscal year 17 bills. What did the Governor know about the hidden bills and when did he know it?
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Abdon Pallasch at the comptroller’s office…
No, the Speaker did not hypnotize every House Republican to vote against the Governor. That 112-0 vote – every House Republican joining every House Democrat – ends any discussion about whether this was about good policy or, as the Governor futilely tried to misrepresent, about “politics.” Comptroller Mendoza outworked the Governor and educated all House members about the need for our office – and for legislators and taxpayers – to know how many unpaid bills the Governor is holding at his agencies.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Tina Sfondeles…
State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said he was happy to co-sponsor the debt transparency legislation and asked Republican colleagues to unanimously support the override.
“It was the right thing to do. #thatsleadership,” Skillicorn tweeted. […]
Asked about the overrides this week, Rauner said his priorities are to make sure the economy grows to help job creators, protect taxpayers and “make sure we have a government that’s efficient, effective, transparent.”
“We set some priorities in this session and we prioritized,” Rauner said. “My vetoes, our priorities have been protected.”
Asked whether that meant the Debt Transparency Act wasn’t on the same level of priority as other vetoes, the governor reiterated that his priorities “held.”
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:16 am
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===I will continue to be a strong advocate for transparency.===
Just not my own.
Comment by PublicServant Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:18 am
In short…
“It was an ‘Up’ day and override” - Fake Bruce “Blago” Rauner
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:19 am
So the house voted unanimously for Madigan manipulation, sure.
Comment by Name/Nickname/Anon Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:23 am
My God he’s Blagojevich
Comment by Almost the Weekend Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:24 am
Rauner lies again.
Why did the bill backlog increase by $1billion, overnight, last spring?
https://capitolfax.com/2017/05/17/state-bill-backlog-rises-by-a-billion-dollars-overnight/
Madigan is a problem, but a different problem than Rauner’s inability to be a good agent.
If Madigan was telling the CFO’s at all Rauner’s agency to hold on to these invoices/vouchers/bills that would add a whole new dimension to Illinois’ dangerous financial chaos. /s
Comment by cdog Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:24 am
If he’s such a big supporter, he could go ahead and tell everyone about the millions if not billions of dollars worth of vouchers his agencies are holding onto.
He doesn’t need a law to be transparent.
Or does he?
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:24 am
==To be clear, I am a strong advocate for transparency. Very strong advocate.==
To be even clearer, your actions exposed you to citizens as a governor hiding our information from us and a man unable to be honest with us.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:25 am
Nobody can hear the dog whistle
Over Rauners’ perfidious lies
Wait till the perfidy is revealed
Purposely withholding payment
Purposely not honoring contracts
Purposely wrecking the small business who do business with the state.
Purposely Propogating Perfidy
All for the Koch brothers
With Koch owned Governors
Comment by Honeybear Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:27 am
Honey Bear, Thank You. No mystery behind Rauners actions. He does what the Koch brothers governors do….its no secret.
Comment by DeseDemDose Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:32 am
=== The way to have transparency is to invest in our computer systems so we can be fast and everything can be online and everyone can look.===
You mean like that $94 million contract for Morneau Shepell, which magically was the only bidder, which magically submitted a bid at 30 percent of the state’s estimated cost for the work, which was still hugely overblown on work that could have been done in house for almost nothing? Is that what you mean by investment in our computer systems, Gov. Gaslight?
Oh, and speaking of transparency, the state’s new ITAP site is complete crud. So thanks for nuthin’.
Comment by Nick Name Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:34 am
WTH?? This guy is making Quinn look smart.
Comment by Annon Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:34 am
“I tried to destroy transparency in order to save it from the evil clutches of Madigan.”
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:37 am
Take the L and move on, Bruce.
Despite what Ken Dunkin may have told you, the Century Club trophy is not a distinguished honor.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:37 am
Rauner has no sense of “incrementality”.
I mean, this is a first step toward transparency. Is it political? Sure it is — and why wouldn’t it be? But it’s also *incremental*. It’s a first step.
The backlog is Rauner’s to own. Obviously, this is going to demonstrate that the backlog is far, far larger than Rauner is willing to admit — or, perhaps, realizes.
But this whole “my way or the highway” thing doesn’t work in politics. Trump is proof of that. Rauner is proof of that.
Both of these guys — they’re bereft of pragmatism. It’s all dogmatic. The whole “I’m going to fight” slogan is proof of that. Politics isn’t about fighting. That’s fascism. It’s about pragmatism and compromise. That is — or, until Trump and Rauner et al. came on the scene, was — what American politics was all about.
Comment by Macbeth Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:38 am
wow, Madigan and Mendoza got the entire House to join them in their nefarious conspiracy. That’s some skills.
Rauner sure does want that IT pinstripe patronage army to get paid. You pile on $12B in unpaid bills to vendors across the state and your top priority is IT upgrades, allegedly for better financial reporting?
I’ll give you the financial reporting for free - chronic deadbeatism.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:40 am
Gov “i am all about transparency. Very strong advocate.”
Give it UP. Unanimous, that means everyone disagrees w you. If you cant admit you gotta do it, and will do so willingly, just be quiet for heavens sake. This amounts to, Yah-but. keep talking, and you keep looking stupid.
Comment by Langhorne Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:46 am
“Our computer system’s budget was gutted, um, reduced dramatically, uh, by the Speaker and the appropriations that passed over my veto.“
Once again, Rauner, who claims to be against the tax increase, complaining about the GA not allowing him to spend even more money. This man’s spending habits are remarkable.
Comment by Juice Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:47 am
You know what would have been a good way to de-politicize this issue? Sign the bill when it showed up on your desk.
Comment by Montrose Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:48 am
When Rauner talks and tries to defend himself or put the blame elsewhere, does anyone else think of the movie The King’s Speech? Does Rauner need lessons to be able to communicate effectively?
Comment by Flynn's mom Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:50 am
Is no one interested in how this is a make-work bill for pencil pushers? This could have been accomplished with the tech initiatives that were killed.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:54 am
===And trying to do what I can to eliminate the politicism, politicization of bill paying, which is really what’s driving a lot of this right now.===
Losing your wingman really sucked, didn’t it Gov. Gaslight.
Comment by Nick Name Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 11:54 am
Claire Ball, the Libertarian Candidate for Comptroller, had a great take on this whole issue.
Yes, Rauner’s veto of the bill was stupid politically and wrong on policy. But so was Mendoza torpedoing the state’s attempted IT upgrades.
If you haven’t worked with money in a state agency, it’s hard to imagine how bad it really is. Try reading some of the auditor general’s reports. Simple things like tracking incoming funds or collecting accounts receivable are often absent or inaccurate. The reason? The state has antiquated barely functional fiscal computer systems.
Rauner’s best argument against this bill is that the state agencies won’t be able to comply with it in an accurate way.
What we need is both a law requiring this reporting AND the tools for agencies to be able to actually do it.
Comment by Phil King Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:17 pm
===Comptroller Mendoza outworked the Governor and educated all House members about the need for our office – and for legislators and taxpayers – to know how many unpaid bills the Governor is holding at his agencies.===
Gotta love how Abdon Pallasch goes about his business.
===Hey Governor - You lost 112-0 and hid $2.8 billion of unappropriated fiscal year 17 bills. What did the Governor know about the hidden bills and when did he know it?===
Hopefully Rep. McSweeney doesn’t stop asking this…
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:24 pm
Rauner gets less believable every day.
Comment by Eddie Spaghetti Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:25 pm
==Is no one interested in how this is a make-work bill for pencil pushers?==
Nah, we’re not interested, Hud.
Comment by Arsenal Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:32 pm
“What did the Governor know about the hidden bills and when did he know it?”
Besides answering that question, the emails and timelines that preceded the backlog-jump-$1B-event, in obvious orchestrated fashion in May 2017, would be truly fascinating and telling.
Good FOIA exercise for an intern, retiree, or oppo group.
Comment by cdog Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:34 pm
Does Heaton have a new game plan to make GovJUnk do somethin’ dopey every day before noon?
Goin’ great so far
Comment by Annonin' Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:36 pm
Anon 11:54 is incorrect. The new IT initiative never sees a bill until it is submitted for payment. The new IT initiative cannot and does not track bills an agency sits on for whatever reason.
Anon is also wrong when he says the new IT initiative has been killed. It will just have to be slowed down and get in line for payment with all the other vendors. But the new IT initiative is a good idea compared to what the state has now. And it does make more work for state agencies.
Comment by Original Rambler Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:44 pm
–Rauner gets less believable every day.–
Excellent pivot talking points provided by new, pro communications team.
Heck of a job.
Or.
You can’t script stupid.
Comment by King Louis XVI Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 12:50 pm
On both sides. Just some more political gamemenship that solves ZERO problems.
Comment by Blue dog dem Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:01 pm
==Is no one interested in how this is a make-work bill for pencil pushers? This could have been accomplished with the tech initiatives that were killed.==
We’ll see now I’m confused. Sue, Lucky and the other Rauner supporters that post here tell us frequently that state worker “pencil pushers” are all a bunch of lazy, overpaid union bums that sit around and do nothing all day. If true, then we shouldn’t need to spend taxpayer dollars on new computer systems. Couldn’t the overpaid, do-nothing union state workers prepare these reports for the comptroller? Or have the Raunerites been lying to us all this time?
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:06 pm
===My God he’s Blagojevich===
Yes, he is. He always was. He’s Trump, too.
It’s too bad it wouldn’t be prudent to describe exactly what that is, but it isn’t a good thing.
Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:34 pm
===Yes, Rauner’s veto of the bill was stupid politically and wrong on policy. But so was Mendoza torpedoing the state’s attempted IT upgrades. If you haven’t worked with money in a state agency, it’s hard to imagine how bad it really is. Try reading some of the auditor general’s reports. Simple things like tracking incoming funds or collecting accounts receivable are often absent or inaccurate. The reason? The state has antiquated barely functional fiscal computer systems. Rauner’s best argument against this bill is that the state agencies won’t be able to comply with it in an accurate way. What we need is both a law requiring this reporting AND the tools for agencies to be able to actually do it.===
Considering my combative past with Libertarians, I have to grudgingly admit that she has a point here.
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:36 pm
“On both sides.”
112 on one side. 1 on the other.
Comment by igotgotgotgotnotime Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:39 pm
“Very strong advocate” of transparency.
I’ve directed my attorney to ask the judge, in that case where I am a defendant in a suit filed against me by that ungrateful wretch of a former partner whom I will soon bury, to unseal the court records.
Comment by James Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:40 pm
If the speaker could hypnotize the entire republican caucus, he couldn’t do a better job alienating them from BVR than the Gov himself has done. Natural mutiny is always more pure than synthetic.
Comment by Very Sleepy Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 1:48 pm
All of the “ums” and “uhs” are tells that he is making lies up as he goes usually. He would be a horrible poker player
Comment by Theq Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 2:09 pm
fact is Mendoza is purposefully holding Vendors payables she has been sitting on since she took office, racking up qt least 12M in interest costs.
All by herself.Is the fact folks
Comment by sharkette Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 2:18 pm
===fact is Mendoza is purposefully holding Vendors payables===
No kidding? You mean she’s not paying all the bills? Shocking [exclamation point]
Seriously, where have you been for the past few years, under a rock? Ever look at the backlog?
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 27, 17 @ 3:04 pm