Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Mission accomplished?
Next Post: Emptying my in-box
Posted in:
* Tribune…
The Illinois Senate on Wednesday voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, renewing a push from decades ago amid the #MeToo movement to guarantee that rights can’t be denied because of a person’s sex.
The vote came about 36 years after the amendment appeared to die after just 35 states ratified it, three short of what was needed by the 1982 deadline. That means Illinois’ approval could be largely symbolic. Still, advocates have pushed for a “three-state solution,” contending Congress can extend the deadline and the amendment should go into effect if three additional states vote in favor.
The amendment passed on a vote of 43-12, with no debate on the Senate floor. It now heads to the House, where sponsoring Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, says he is working to build support but warned it’s far from a “slam-dunk.” The House and Senate each have voted in favor in the past, but it has yet to clear both in the same year.
* Tribune…
An effort to limit the amount of tax breaks the state would give to Amazon as officials seek to lure the company’s second headquarters to Chicago will not move forward.
Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Democrat from Chicago, said Wednesday she was told her proposal would not get a committee hearing, which essentially kills the effort for the spring legislative session.
She was seeking to limit potential tax credits to $50,000 for each job the company would create in Illinois, saying lawmakers must be careful to balance incentives.
“The reality is when we talk about these amazing opportunities, like with Amazon, it’s almost like pie-in-the-sky predictions without any concrete proof of what it’s going to be like,” Cassidy said. “Which is why I talk about relating the incentive to the kinds of jobs that will be created and the kinds of salaries that will be paid by them because otherwise we are buying a pig in a poke.”
* Press release from a couple of days ago that I forgot to post…
Ensuring teachers earn a livable minimum salary is one significant step Illinois can take to recruit more educators into rural and downstate classrooms and address the ongoing shortage, State Senator Andy Manar said today.
The Senate Education Committee approved his measure raising Illinois’ minimum mandated salary for full-time teachers for the first time since 1980.
“Fewer talented young people are going into the teaching profession for numerous reasons, one of which is pay. Would-be teachers can get a higher salary right out of college in other areas of the workforce, which his opposite of our priorities and our needs in this state,” he said.
Senate Bill 2892 updates Illinois statute by increasing the minimum mandated annual salary for full-time teachers to $40,000.
The statute has not been updated in 38 years. Currently, minimum mandated salaries are set at $11,000 for a teacher with a master’s degree, $10,000 for those with bachelor’s degrees and $9,000 for teachers with less than a bachelor’s degree.
Manar said there are teachers in his Senate district who have master’s degrees but live under the federal poverty level.
“To me, this is an issue of respect – for the teaching profession and for the credentials we ask teachers to bring to the table,” Manar said.
“Today, Illinois is investing record amounts of money in schools that tend to have the least competitive salary schedules. There are hundreds of empty classrooms all over the state in communities with enormous challenges and the highest rates of poverty because they can’t recruit teachers,” he said. “Updating Illinois’ minimum mandated teacher salary is a good place to begin addressing the problem.”
* BGA press release…
Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) introduced Senate Bill 3604 which will limit exorbitant severance packages for public executives in a move aimed at restoring taxpayer trust in government.
Not only do Illinoisans face years of budget deficits, cuts to social services, and tax increases, they also foot the bill for six-figure severance packages, known as golden parachutes, for public executives who leave their jobs under questionable circumstances. Cullerton introduced the bill after the Better Government Association (BGA) examined public severance limitations in other states and outlined multiple cases of golden parachutes in recent years that left Illinois taxpayers footing millions of dollars in payouts to make bad executives go away.
Senate Bill 3604, the Government Severance Pay Act, will stop employees fired for misconduct from collecting a severance altogether and it will limit severance packages for other public executives to a maximum of 20 weeks’ compensation. The legislation gives governments in Illinois the ability to remain competitive while eliminating abuses that fuel taxpayer distrust.
Elected government officials frequently are advised to grant rich severances in an attempt to head off employment litigation. By adopting the Government Severance Pay Act, state lawmakers can set a clean, clear plan that will eliminate those thorny decisions for elected officials, just as is done in Florida and other states.
“It’s time to get control of these huge buyouts for public executives and institute some best practices,” Cullerton said. “Taxpayers deserve to have their hard-earned money protected. Let’s end these golden parachutes now.”
“Time and time again,” said BGA President and CEO David Greising, “government officials who are found abusing the public’s trust are allowed to walk away not just unpunished, but, in fact, rewarded. The Government Severance Pay Act acknowledges that severance packages are a part of today’s competitive employment market, while at the same time protecting taxpayers from six-figure giveaways.”
The BGA examined golden parachute packages last fall and found nine recent instances at Illinois universities, Metra and elsewhere that cost taxpayers more than $5 million.
Since that time, Des Plaines Elementary District 62 officials granted a $127,000 severance to former superintendent Floyd Williams Jr. following accusations he denied that he had sexually harassed employees. In northwest suburban Vernon Hills, elected officials asked the long-time village manager John Kalmar to leave recently, but have provided few details on a financial settlement or the reasons for it.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:02 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Mission accomplished?
Next Post: Emptying my in-box
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
–An effort to limit the amount of tax breaks the state would give to Amazon as officials seek to lure the company’s second headquarters to Chicago will not move forward.–
Who was the co-sponsor, Don Quioxite?
Probably should pick smaller windmills to start with, and not in an election year.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:08 pm
“In northwest suburban Vernon Hills, elected officials asked the long-time village manager John Kalmar to leave recently, but have provided few details on a financial settlement or the reasons for it.”
Yes, this is infuriating.
Ironically, Libertyville Village Administrator, Christopher Clark was let go around the same time. I believe he was on the job less than a year and received an $85,000 severance. Money grows on trees here.
Comment by Sands Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:14 pm
Sorry, he was on the job 17 months (Libertyville). It didn’t feel that way
Comment by Sands Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:17 pm
–Libertyville Village Administrator, Christopher Clark was let go around the same time. I believe he was on the job less than a year and received an $85,000 severance.–
Libertyville is a Rigtheous-Not-To-Work community.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:23 pm
==The Senate Education Committee approved his measure raising Illinois’ minimum mandated salary for full-time teachers for the first time since 1980.==
Great idea…but where will school districts get this money? Does this mandated salary increase include the revenue necessary to pay for for it? Has Sen. Manar considered the possibility that the reason pay is so low is directly related to a lack of state funding?
Of course we need to pay teachers more, and the need is greatest in districts where revenue is already stretched to the limit. That’s one big reason why pay is so low.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:25 pm
==Manar said there are teachers in his Senate district who have master’s degrees but live under the federal poverty level.==
Which schools? The federal poverty level for a family of 4 is $24,600. Teachers w/ master’s degrees in Taylorville start out at $43,596, including a pension pick-up. In Litchfield, it’s $43,784.
Comment by City Zen Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:35 pm
“Pig in a poke”
Are these idoms often spoken in the 47th ward? Or, is Rep. Cassidy being influenced by downstate charm? Regardless, I like it.
Comment by Hamilton Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:52 pm
Libertyville is a Rigtheous-Not-To-Work community. -
No it’s not! That’s Lincolnshire.
Comment by Sands Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:53 pm
-Libertyville is a Rigtheous-Not-To-Work community.
No it isn’t. That’s Lincolnshire.
Comment by Sands Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 12:56 pm
Just getting 3 more states to ratify the equal rights amendment might not be enough - 5 states have rescinded their ratifications. The 14th Amendment was declared ratified as soon as the minimum number of states had ratified it, if you ignore the fact that 2 states had rescinded their ratifications. The Secretary of State declared that the rescissions were not effective. Whether they were effective was never really determined because 2 more states ratified the amendment within 2 weeks after it was declared ratified, so it clearly has been ratified by enough of the states.
Comment by Whatever Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:08 pm
it’s too painful to write much about how I feel that elected officials vote against including me in the constitution. please vote yes.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 3:09 pm
House Members, please take note:
Women all over the state are taking names on NOs and NO VOTES on the Equal Rights Amendment. If you won’t acknowledge that EVERYONE deserves equal rights, you don’t deserve your seat. Expect to be primaried.
Comment by Politix Friday, Apr 13, 18 @ 9:20 am