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It’s just a bill

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* Your thoughts on this?…


Families suing the state over Legionnaires deaths at the Quincy vets home get a boost. By a 50-0 vote, the Senate sent the House a bill to up the Court of Claims awards cap from $100k to $2 million. Sen. Hastings: "This bill will help those families in their grieving process."

— Dave McKinney (@davemckinney) April 25, 2018


* AFSCME Council 31 action alert

Senator Bill Brady has just introduced Senate Amendment 1 to SB 2680, which replaces everything after the enacting clause.

His amendment would amend the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to provide that the design, implementation, and administration of a health insurance plan shall not be the subject of negotiations between the State of Illinois and any union representing public employees, and that the duty of the employer “to bargain collectively” shall not include any obligation to negotiate health insurance or health benefits.

This legislation would let Gov. Bruce Rauner set employee health care premiums based on the devastating terms he has been trying to impose on state employees.

* Illinois Board of Higher Education Chairman Tom Cross

Illinois Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, has introduced a bill for the creation of a single state board with responsibility for higher education (SB 2597). I believe it outlines a positive means toward a stronger administrative structure for facilitating useful action steps to address priorities for Illinois’ higher education system. I urge members of the Illinois General Assembly to join with Senator Rose in reviewing this proposal further.

As a single board of higher education, leading a strategic process for development of statewide goals and recommendations for allocating state resources will be more effective. Simply put, one board, one staff, and one organizational structure streamlines the effort. Illinois higher education faces challenges concerning college costs; enrollment shifts resulting from increasing outmigration and changing needs of college students who are older, parenting, and working; and establishing effective and forward looking governance of Illinois’ higher education system. A unified board and staff organization can better focus on these challenges by being inclusive in representing the needs of students, public community colleges and universities, private institutions of higher education; and the faculty and staff serving the higher education system.

The legislation proposes a merger of boards and administrative operations of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. From my role as chairman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, I am convinced that collaboration of common activities is not only necessary but also should prove more efficient.

* Other bills…

* Senate bill to reduce child absences passes

* Our View: Budgets should include estimates of late payment interest penalties

* ACA-Related Bill Fails in Illinois House: The measure would prevent Illinois from seeking waivers from the federal law’s requirements - like the one that say insurance companies cannot exclude people with pre-existing conditions. It would also keep the state from imposing work requirements on people in the low-income Medicaid program. The Trump administration has been encouraging both moves.

* Rezin’s robocall bill passed through Senate: Under Rezin’s Senate Bill 2573, robo callers would face a separate violation if they disguise or falsify their caller ID in any way, which is commonly known as “spoofing.” In addition, Rezin’s legislation would require prior written consent before robo callers could use auto-dialer software. The Illinois Attorney General would be given the responsibility of enforcement.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:54 am

Comments

  1. Good for Hastings. There’s been no shortage of lip service paid to veterans and their families. His bill gives them at a shot a fair compensation for the state’s bungling of this crisis.

    Comment by factchecker Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 11:59 am

  2. –Illinois Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, has introduced a bill for the creation of a single state board with responsibility for higher education (SB 2597).–

    That’s a reasonable idea, certainly worth jawboning. Could be the way to go in organizing and allocating resources.

    Beats the heck out of the Rauner Social Darwinism method.

    Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:02 pm

  3. Just in general upping the cap on awards seems irresponsible. I don’t know if it’s time limited or anything, but even if you think the state should pay through the nose for the 13 families (so we’re talking maybe $26 million in excess of whatever it takes to fix the facilities) this seems to open the door to anyone.

    Comment by Perrid Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:05 pm

  4. Brady must have another job in mind for the future. This can only end badly. He is going to come under attack, from all employee unions, and the union workers. Not a smart move to try to move the agenda of a failed Governor. It hasn’t worked in the past, and the future for the Governor and the Raunerite party isn’t looking too good.

    Comment by Retired Educator Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:05 pm

  5. Thank you Sen Brady, you just motivated the living crap out of my Local members.

    Take Health Insurance out of collective bargaining?
    Just when it was getting hard to
    Rouse them to action
    This comes along
    Thank you thank you thank you
    But hey good news is
    With all the canvassing
    You just spawned,
    We will be a healthier work force
    No matter what happens

    There’s no stoppin’
    Got to get to knockin’

    Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:17 pm

  6. I assume this is in the budget, right?

    Comment by Shemp Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:19 pm

  7. ==Illinois Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, has introduced a bill for the creation of a single state board with responsibility for higher education (SB 2597)…Illinois higher education faces challenges concerning college costs; enrollment shifts resulting from increasing outmigration and changing needs of college students==

    So, how, exactly, will consolidation in Springfield help alleviate outmigration of graduating HS seniors? Students are leaving because the colleges, universities, and financial aid are so grossly underfunded that many students find cost savings by going to Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, etc. How much money does this save? (Hint: If it saves any money at all, it’s pocket change compared to what higher ed needs to recover from years of fiscal starvation.) How does this help EIU, WIU, Chicago State, and SIUC rebuild to what they were a couple of decades ago, before the GA decided to cut funding?

    Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:24 pm

  8. Mr. Rose’s bill… makes it easier for a single board to decide to close state universities(?)

    Hmm.

    Streamlining the closures(?)

    When I golf with Tom Cross this weekend, I’ll ask him.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:27 pm

  9. great. Another bunch of know-nothings wanting to make sick kids go to school so that they can make other kids and the teachers sick… The worst award in the world is the “perfect attendance” award…

    My wife taught for 31 years, brought every cold and flu epidemic home with her….

    Comment by downstate commissioner Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 12:32 pm

  10. Not sure if consolidating the higher ed boards is a good idea or not. But no question that IBHE is trying to expand their power.
    They haven’t exactly been helping Higher ed, especially under Al Bowman.

    Comment by Because I Said So.... Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 1:39 pm

  11. Wonder if TC knows his exec director Al Bowman is opposed to the Rose bill?
    The single board will make it easier to ration college classes in every region of the state.
    Another great day for GovJunk.

    Comment by Annonin' Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 1:40 pm

  12. The ICCB has acted as a lobbying agency for the community colleges rather than a regulatory agency. They often refuse to share information with other agencies, including IBHE. I wonder how they feel about this proposal?

    Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 2:08 pm

  13. Thanks for reminding everyone, Sen. Brady, to vote Democrat in the fall. Sheesh.

    Comment by Nick Name Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 2:15 pm

  14. What messaging is Brady trying to accomplish with that bill? It gets nowhere in the Senate but is red meat for union members.

    Comment by TominChicago Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 2:48 pm

  15. Introducing an amendment to end collective bargaining isn’t the best look.

    There was a time Labor and the GOP could find common ground.

    Rauner going after the trades will cause a move that will engage AFSCME and all of Labor, as Rauner made quite clear… in Decatur… organized labor is the enemy.

    The only way to read this… Eliminate collective bargaining.

    It’s a head scratcher. Had Rauner parsed Labor… maybe a different story. Now…

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 2:53 pm

  16. Lifting the cap in the Court of Claims doesn’t just cover Quincy. The road fund will take a huge hit if this thing passes as is.

    Comment by phocion Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 3:16 pm

  17. –What messaging is Brady trying to accomplish with that bill?–

    ‘I did what you told me to do, boss.”

    Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 3:38 pm

  18. In other embarrassing Illinois higher education news; https://www.chronicle.com/article/Want-to-Be-a-Volunteer/243221?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest

    Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 3:41 pm

  19. ==The ICCB has acted as a lobbying agency for the community colleges rather than a regulatory agency. They often refuse to share information with other agencies, including IBHE.==

    The ICCB advocates for CC’s because that is part of the agency’s function. On the other hand, the IBHE only grudgingly acknowledges the existence of community colleges and does little to support CC initiatives.

    Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 6:41 pm

  20. To Pot Calling Kettle - Hear, hear.

    Couple other reactions:
    -Bowman has said that combining the higher ed agencies probably wouldn’t save much money, if any.
    -Rose and others have been calling for IBHE to come up with a strategic plan for higher ed and get it implemented (which, by the way, would take giving IBHE back some of the authority over institutions that the GA stripped back in the ’90s). Consolidating the agencies doesn’t seem like it would actually help with either of those goals. I have to imagine that combining agencies would be a lengthy and complicated process–not only would the agencies have to sort out duties and policies, determine what actually overlaps, etc., but their people are on different retirement systems, accrue vacation differently, etc. That would be a tricky process to get right while also continuing to fulfill all of the agencies’ existing responsibilities. If I were the head of one of those agencies, I’d also be worried about my better, more marketable people getting nervous about this proposal and leaving. All that turmoil sounds like a distraction from developing a strategic plan, not a way to move it along. -Rearranging the agency staff seems like a way to sound like they’re doing something without actually driving along a strategic plan. How does it actually make anything better for students or improve the colleges and universities?

    Comment by Wait, but why? Wednesday, Apr 25, 18 @ 6:58 pm

  21. The worst part of a single higher ed board will be the directionals being ignored in favor of the U of I system. That’s what happened when the “system of systems” was in place before each had its own governing board.

    Comment by M Python Thursday, Apr 26, 18 @ 12:18 am

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