Boone County Watchdog: 06/09/16

Thursday, June 9, 2016

How much did it cost Rauner to be governor

It appears that the number is $40,000,000 BUT WHAT IS THAT TO A BILLIONAIRE. see “Donations & Expenditures”

Note that Alpine Bancorporation WAS THE 15TH HIGHEST CONTRIBUTOR, donating $223.599.50.

Above information is from: http://illinoissunshine.org/committees/citizens-for-rauner-inc-25185/ This site also has available all expenses and contributions arranged by date.

Rauner delivers one school message in Chicago, another Downstate

A week after legislators left Springfield with no budget and no plan to fund education, Gov. Bruce Rauner began his Monday morning in Chicago, where he likened some of Chicago Public Schools to “crumbling prisons.”

By mid-day, the governor made his way to Ottawa — his third of three planned stops — where he again chose to pit Chicago against the rest of the state. There he reminded taxpayers to dial up their state representative —State Rep. Andy Skoog, a Democrat targeted by Republicans — to have him stand up against the “Chicago political machine

“They want your tax dollars to bail out Chicago,” Rauner said at an Ottawa courthouse. “That’s not right. It’s not fair to the people of LaSalle County or any other county in the state of Illinois. So we cannot allow that to happen. It’s not fair. But the super majority Democrats have said, publicly said, they want to hold up school funding. They want your schools not to open as leverage to try to force you to bail out the city of Chicago.”

The governor was met by dozens of union protesters, which forced a venue change in the town of about 18,500.

“I’m not anti-union. I’m pro-job creation, and I’m pro-taxpayer,” Rauner told the crowd, while reminding them his grandfather was a dairy farmer and union member.

It was a day of disparate messages for Rauner, who had set out to advocate for an education funding bill and a stopgap budget, but found himself calling Mayor Rahm Emanuel the “one major disappointment” during his 18-month term as governor, and also added “woeful” and “tragic” to his description of some CPS schools.

“The simple fact is that when you look objectively at the state of Chicago Public Schools, many of them are inadequate. Many of them are woeful, and some are just tragic. Many of them are basically almost crumbling prisons. They’re not a place a young person should be educated,” Rauner said.

The comments sparked outrage on Twitter, where CPS parents and students began a #notaprison campaign, detailing accomplishments at their schools.

It also brought out another Donald Trump comparison from Emanuel. Last week, Emanuel likened Rauner to the presumptive Republican presidential and condemned Rauner’s blame-game tour of the state.

On Monday, the mayor responded to Rauner comparing some CPS schools to “crumbling prisons” by escalating the war of words with his old friend, former business associate and vacation companion.

“Last week, I said his rhetoric of division and divisiveness — of targeting [and pitting] one group of people against another — was Trump-like. Now, it sounds like he’s auditioning to be Donald Trump’s running mate,” the mayor said.

Emanuel said Rauner “may have a stereotype that plays to his political philosophy, but those are not the results” in Chicago Public Schools under the mayor’s five-year watch.

“I would just say to him, ‘This is not about right-wing ideology. It’s about results.’”

“Now, I know you’re gonna try to play a political game and some rhetoric. [But] I ask all of you to do the responsible thing and put the data out about what the results are. It’s a University of Chicago report that talks about graduation rates, college attendance that are hitting remarkable highs,” the mayor said. The Sun-Times first reported the results Monday.

During his Chicago stop at technology hub 1871, Rauner talked about the failure of the General Assembly to pass a budget and said he is “deeply concerned” that schools might not open on time this fall.

While Rauner has said he’d put his “Turnaround Agenda” aside to fund education and get the state running, albeit temporary, he’s still advocating for changes in collective bargaining and workers compensation. Democrats say that will hurt the middle class. And Rauner has consistently said he won’t support a tax hike to balance the budget unless some of his favored reforms are attached.

Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to find a way to fund education and have long favored a complete reworking of the school funding formula. But for now, Rauner is pushing support for a bill to keep the doors open this fall that doesn’t include an overhaul of the formula.

Above is from: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/gov-rauner-calls-some-cps-schools-are-like-crumbling-prisons/

Crucial points to remember about Illinois budget impasse

Wednesday, Jun 8, 2016

* Voices for Illinois Children…

The legislative session is over, and Illinois is about to enter its second year without a budget. Where does all of this leave the state?
Voices for Illinois Children’s Fiscal Policy Center offers eight takeaways to put matters in perspective and lead the way to a solution that gets Illinois back to making the public investments needed for the state to flourish.
1) Illinois is Dismantling the Foundations of a Prosperous, Compassionate State. As the Fiscal Policy Center has chronicled, the lack of a fully-funded state budget is causing our higher education system to fall apart, service providers to shut down, and our safety net to collapse.
2) Public Safety is Jeopardized. At a time when Illinois needs a coordinated, public health-centered approach to violence that plagues many communities, we are going in the opposite direction, cutting mental health and substance abuse treatment, after-school opportunities for youth, and programs like Redeploy that rehabilitate youth in their communities.
3) Lack of Resources Drives This Crisis. The real problem is Illinois doesn’t have the money it takes to meet public needs. After last year’s 25-percent tax cut, Illinois needs more than $7 billion in new revenue a year to return to the level of services of the 2015 fiscal year — the last year with a full budget.
4) Delay In Raising Revenue Means More Debt. Illinois is racking up debt even with deep cuts in spending, because the state must still pay for a variety of things mandated under state and federal law. Every day lawmakers and Governor Rauner fail to agree on raising critically needed revenue, Illinois’ finances worsen.
5) Debt = Less Investment in Future. Increasing the state’s backlog of unpaid bills not only means unfair payment delays to people providing goods and services. It also restricts what Illinois can do in the future. Debt must be repaid using future revenue, taking resources away from schools, transportation, public safety, and other building blocks of broad prosperity.
6) Without More Revenue, Increases to Public School Funding Crowds Out Other Investments. Without new revenue, the large proposed increases to public school funding mean that Illinois will further increase its debt and be forced to cut a range of services for children and families that support children’s healthy growth and development. We cannot continue to pit education against human services — children and families need both to succeed.
7) Short-Term “Emergency” Budget is Not a Solution. At best, a six-month emergency budget to get elected officials past the November elections only slows the deterioration of our higher education system and our social safety net. Much of any emergency six-month budget would likely just fill existing holes and would not sustain critical services into next fiscal year.
8) Governor Rauner Has Bill on His Desk that is Part of His Desired Six-Month Budget. The legislature passed by large bipartisan majorities Senate Bill 2038 to provide urgently needed funds to service providers owed $700 million by the state. The money sits in state accounts, unable to be spent until Governor Rauner signs the legislation he received nearly three weeks ago. More than 220 organizations, including Voices, have urged him to sign this bill.

To avoid further damage to our state, lawmakers and Governor Rauner must come together to enact a fully funded budget that raises billions of dollars in new revenue to support critical services and public investment in Illinois’ future. Anything else falls far short of strengthening our state.