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* Rep. Allen Skillicorn unveiled this proposal with all of his usual understated subtlety…
As bills go to die in Rules Committee, so too apparently complaints went to an empty office for years never to be seen. As a freshman legislator I am continually shocked by the unbelievable malfeasance in the operation of our government, from bloated budgets and a burgeoning backlog of bills, to the unchecked abuse of power without oversight. The lack of a Legislative Inspector General (LIG) for years is further evidence of an out of control bureaucracy lead by a Democratic Majority that is incapable of recognizing any limit to its power.
Not only did the Ethics Commission neglect to appoint an acting LIG for years in accordance with 5 ILCS 430/25-10 (b)– “If the Office is vacant, or if a Legislative Inspector General resigns, the Commission shall designate an Acting Legislative Inspector General who shall serve until the vacancy is filled.” (Emphasis added)–according to the Daily Line, “A total of $1,875,000 million has been appropriated for an office which has not been occupied and to pay for a staff which doesn’t exist.” While I am pleased that a Special LIG was appointed over the weekend, I would go further and call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the current complaints.
And speaking of empty offices, where has the Attorney General been? From the AG’s website, “The first female Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan has long advocated in state government for women’s safety.” Apparently that doesn’t include the shenanigans at the Capitol just up the street. Since the AG has not seen fit to do something tangible about this unacceptable behavior, I have introduced HB4149 which creates a dedicated phone line maintained by the Attorney General through which persons may report instances of sexual harassment.
It is utterly absurd to have the Office of LIG which is supposed to “police” the General Assembly structured as a part-time position with little to no staff appointed with the approval of those same legislators. Further, the Office of LIG must be invested with the power necessary to bring charges forward for prosecution without the approval of legislators. Sexual harassment can take many forms, the most egregious, where power is abused by legislators to intimidate or coerce others, should result in a perp walk where those convicted follow in the footsteps of a few former Governors in “stamping out license plates” at the local prison.
* Press release…
State Representative Lindsay Parkhurst (R – Kankakee) this week filed legislation to strengthen individual property rights in Illinois. The goal is to curb the practice of using eminent domain for private gain. The legislation, HB 4150, amends the eminent domain act to strengthen eminent domain laws to make sure property acquisition is for a necessary public purpose and removes languages referring to freight railroads.
“Eminent Domain should be used only in appropriate circumstances truly necessary for public use. We must not allow our government to take private property for private gain. This bill is intended to strengthen private property rights and prevent the taking of private land for private gain such as the attempt by the Great Lakes Basin Railway,” Rep. Parkhurst said about the bill.
Parkhurst introduced HB 4150 on Monday, November 6 and it awaits committee assignment.
* From Rep. Kelly Cassidy…
We have introduced a resolution and a companion bill requiring a measure of common sense in our State’s pursuit of Amazon.com, Inc.’s new headquarters.
Just recently, the State of Illinois in conjunction with the City of Chicago responded to Amazon’s “request for proposals” with an offer of tax and land incentives. Though the full details of this offer have not been released to the public responsible for subsidizing it, initial reports place the total at several billion dollars.
HR655 urges caution and requests public hearings before any final deal is struck, complete with expert testimony demonstrating to the public whether this is an economically effective use of their money. The multi-billion dollar tax break recently awarded to Foxconn by the state of Wisconsin was widely panned by economists as a massive transfer of wealth from Wisconsin taxpayers to corporate shareholders. This is not an example Illinois wants to follow. The Foxconn deal equates to over $230,000 in tax breaks for each new job promised; HB4131 caps tax incentives offered to Amazon at $50,000 per new job.
“Job growth and retention is crucial”, Rep. Cassidy said. “But fighting with taxpayer money to win a bid from a corporation that has absolutely no financial need for subsidization is a dangerous path to tread.”
Illinois has been burned in deals like this before. In 2011, Illinois gave Sears $275 million to keep its corporate headquarters in the state. Only a few months later, it laid off 100 workers. Illinois taxpayers filled the corporate coffers and actually lost jobs in the process.New jobs are extremely important, but the true economic impact of trading massive taxpayer subsidies to corporations for promised jobs is poorly understood, and the supposed benefits are the subject of controversy among economists and policy experts.
Capping subsidies at $50,000 ensures at the very least that Illinois won’t get stuck in a deal it regrets for decades. But even so, public hearings should be required before any final deal so Illinoisans know exactly what we’re signing up for.
…Adding… Press release…
Today, State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Freeport) filed House Bill 4147 to make attacking a DCFS workers in performance of their duties an aggravated battery and a Class 1 felony.
House Bill 4147, filed this week, would make battering a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in the performance of his/her official duties or in response to their official duties an aggravated battery and a Class 1 felony. Aggravated battery subject perpetrators to more severe penalties when facing prosecution and sentencing.
“My deepest sympathies and get well-wishes go out to the victim of this horrible attack, her family and everyone in her DCFS family. Everyday DCFS workers put themselves at risk to protect the most vulnerable children in our communities,” said Rep. Stewart. “This legislation will give DCFS workers the same protections as policemen, firemen, and peace officers who also put themselves in harm’s way.”
This legislation is in response to the September 29th tragedy where a 59-year-old DCFS worker in Milledgeville was checking on a child when she was viciously assaulted by the child’s father.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 9:55 am
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Either we give Amazon the tax breaks or we don’t get Amazon…I would rather see an ‘evil corporation’ make a little extra money and see it’s headquarters in Illinois employeeing thousands of Illinoisans.
Comment by Shanks Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:04 am
Skillicorn is what happens when Breitbart trolls reach elected office. Why on earth he thinks the Attorney General should have done “something tangible” about complaints that weren’t reported to her and aren’t her department is beyond me.
Maybe Erica Harold can better utilize telepathy to transport binders in a capitol basement into the purview of the attorney general.
Comment by PJ Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:05 am
Update on the Great Lakes Basin Railway-
https://tinyurl.com/y8kbn4hk
What Indiana did earlier this year-
https://tinyurl.com/ycywn7tv
Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:07 am
One would think Lisa Madigan might be interested in stopping sexual harassment.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:11 am
The municipal leagues are sure to oppose any limits on eminent domain. Towns like to be able to condemn a property where the business owner doesn’t want to sell in order to resell the property to a different business.
Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:14 am
Skillicorn may bloviate a bit; but the utter abandonment of good governance on this important topic deserves scrutiny and a legislative fix. It will be interesting to see what Barbara Flynn Currie and Lou Lang do in committee on this one
Comment by Texas Red Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:18 am
== Towns like to be able to condemn a property where the business owner doesn’t want to sell in order to resell the property to a different business. ==
Which is exactly why we need more limits on eminent domain.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:34 am
As Illinois chief law enforcement officer, Lisa Madigan has access to a giant bully pulpit she has neglected to use to fight corruption and insider dealing among politicians in Illinois.
We are expected to believe the fact her Father is the most powerful Democratic politician in Illinois did not impede her judgement in any way.
She has never done so, despite the fact she will have served 16 years in office.
Here is a quote from her in 2002:
“All too often in recent years we have seen our current attorney general sit on the sidelines in the face of mounting evidence of government corruption,” Lisa Madigan wrote to the Tribune as a candidate in 2002.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-madigan-corruption-lisa-michael-attorney-general-edit-jm-20170518-story.html
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 10:35 am
The DCFS legislation is fine, but I hope the agency is also reviewing its security procedures with respect to its field workers. Like police, paramedics and other first responders they are often walking into situations in which the risk is uncertain. Was this tragedy preventable? I don’t know, but I hope it is being evaluated with an eye to preventing future tragedies.
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:07 am
What exactly could the AG have done? Ignoring the fact that, evidently, members of the commission had no idea that there were 27 complaints that were ignored, what law gives her the right to police ethics violation by the GA? That’s not rhetorical, there might really be something that gives her that power, she’s the AG, but as far as I know she has no explicit authority here.
Comment by Perrid Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:21 am
@Perrid - If Lisa Madigan can sue to enforce Chicago Police reform, I’m sure she can sue to force the appointment of a LIG since it is required by state statute.
Comment by Chicagonk Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:34 am
===Lisa Madigan has access to a giant bully pulpit she has neglected to use to fight corruption and insider dealing among politicians in Illinois.===
More bloviating nonsense. Let’s get some concrete examples of what you think she should have done here but didn’t. Her office was never even aware of the complaints, which makes sense because they have nothing to do with this process.
Comment by PJ Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:36 am
You don’t have to think very hard to ask why Lisa Madigan has not sued to appoint a legislative inspector general. Speaker Madigan can police himself just fine and does not need to answer to the nobody nobody sent.
One more brick in the wall why Illinois leads the nation in distrust of state government.
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:49 am
===You don’t have to think very hard to ask why Lisa Madigan has not sued to appoint a legislative inspector general===
Only someone who didn’t think very hard would come up with that idea.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 11:50 am
Thousands of miles of railroad track were ripped up and re-converted to other uses in IL from the 1920’s on, and people complained that the rails, or at least the property, should have been saved for the future. Now we have efforts to make it more difficult to ever build a new railroad again. I think it’s a sign of the times, and I am surprised that pipelines and electric utilities (also private companies) haven’t had their wings clipped yet.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:04 pm
To be clear, it’s not on Lisa Madigan that a Legislative Inspector General hasn’t been appointed. That is clearly on the Ethics Committee and the legislative leadership.
Comment by Chicagonk Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:05 pm
In 2002 when running for office, she said” the current attorney general sit on the sidelines in the face of mounting evidence of government corruption”
I have not seen her wear a headset but where was she on the ” Questionable state grants, an unchecked anti-violence initiative under former Gov. Pat Quinn, patronage scandals, quid pro quos at Metra, double-dipping public-sector workers, Chicago’s red light camera scandal, conflicts of interest, illegal campaign spending”
“But we’re talking about the attorney general of a state notorious for public corruption, who won office assuring voters that she’d take “an active, hands-on role in cleaning up government. That’s what people expect of their leaders and elected officials. And I will not let them down.” Where was she on the investigation of Frank Mautino who her father still supports?
Who thinks she lived up to her pledge to investigate government corruption? The Illinois legislature has proven it cannot police itself.
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:06 pm
++===You don’t have to think very hard to ask why Lisa Madigan has not sued to appoint a legislative inspector general===
Only someone who didn’t think very hard would come up with that idea. ++
Oh, I could easily see how someone might get the (wrong) impression that Illinois government only acts when compelled to do so by a court, and that filing a lawsuit is always the first and best response to any perceived flaw in how government is conducted in Illinois.
Comment by Whatever Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:09 pm
If nothing else, I think it’s pretty clear that up to know no one in the GA was too concerned about having a functioning legislative inspector general’s office.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:11 pm
== Now we have efforts to make it more difficult to ever build a new railroad again. ==
I can support eminent domain for public or quasi-public purposes, which includes railroads since they are part of the transportation infrastructure.
Where I have a problem is seizing a building or undeveloped property just to give it to another business that will build a new building that generates higher taxes. Yes, the new building’s taxes would be a public good of sort, but I draw the line at just transferring (potential or actual) profit from one private person to another private person; strikes too close to the Robber Baron age for me. And I do understand not all the courts view it that way … but I see it as an unfair takings issue.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:22 pm
I’m not opposed to the concept behind Rep. Stewart’s bill, however all it’s doing is making the aggravated battery a Class 1 felony vs a Class 3 felony because 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05(d)(6) already makes assaulting a DCFS employee aggravated battery by virtue of being an employee of the State of Illinois. His press release implies it wasn’t already aggravated battery and I wish legislators would know what’s in existing statute before introducing bills and be accurate in their press releases.
Comment by MyTwoCents Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:52 pm
New Ameren transmission project said to last for 60 years and cost all Illinois Ameren customers about 18 cents per month according to the interview on Sound Ideas today. The new poles will sit on a concrete base and be sunk 25-30 feet into the ground. Those along the proposed routes will be asked to give up a 100 foot easement around the poles. When Ameren just did an easement increase in our area, they really butchered the trees on the opposite side of the road from the current transmission lines if the tree fell into that 100 foot easement.
https://www.ameren.com/illinois/mclean-county
segment hasn’t posted yet: http://wglt.org/programs/glts-sound-ideas
Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Nov 7, 17 @ 12:57 pm