Two former Rauner aides form a super PAC to back governor's agenda - Chicago Tribune

 

Two former campaign aides to Gov. Bruce Rauner have formed a new political fund to help the governor push his agenda at the Capitol, the latest effort to give the Republican leverage as his plans face resistance from the Democrat-controlled legislature.

Kim Geiger and Monique Garcia

As the Easter holiday weekend loomed, Gov. Bruce Rauner quietly trimmed $26 million from the state budget, including cuts in funding to bury the poor, help people with autism and aid smokers who want to quit.

As the Easter holiday weekend loomed, Gov. Bruce Rauner quietly trimmed $26 million from the state budget, including cuts in funding to bury the poor, help people with autism and aid smokers who want to quit. ( Kim Geiger and Monique Garcia )

Called "Turnaround Illinois," the fund will be able to raise an unlimited amount of money as a super political action committee. The group's goal is to "support state legislative candidates who support Gov. Rauner's bold and needed reforms, and to oppose those who stand in the way," according to paperwork filed with the State Board of Elections.

Documents show the group's chairman is listed as Lesley Sweeney, who was chief financial officer for the governor's campaign committee. Named as treasurer is Michael G. Adams, who was general counsel for the Rauner campaign.

While no contributions have been reported yet, big money is expected to flow in shortly. The new fund is on top of a $20 million pot of money Rauner established in his own campaign fund shortly before taking office to promote his agenda.

Rauner, who made his wealth as a private equity investor, put in $10 million of his own money, while Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel, provided $8 million, and Richard Uihlein, CEO of Uline Corp., added $2 million.

The new super PAC comes as Rauner has been touring the state promoting what he's billed as the Illinois Turnaround, a package of proposals ranging from limits on employee unions to business-friendly changes to workers compensation insurance and regulations to prevent venue-shopping for civil lawsuits.

The governor also is pushing changes to the state employee pension system that would shift all workers into a less generous benefit plan as well as huge cuts to the state budget that are fiercely opposed by Democrats who favor tax increases to offset the need for deep spending reductions.

The state faces an estimated $6 billion shortfall in the budget year that begins July 1, and Rauner has made no secret of his desire to use the massive budget hole to his advantage as he seeks changes. That sets the stage for Rauner to potentially cut a deal on higher taxes in exchange for lawmakers going along with some of his other plans.

"The opportunity to bring big structural change is right now, as part of the 2016 budget," Rauner said last week while addressing a group of school superintendents in Springfield. "Because once the 2016 budget happens, nobody is going to want to listen to any structural reform. They're going to move on to the next issue, now is the opportunity to drive change along with the budget. Because crisis creates opportunity for change."

Two former Rauner aides form a super PAC to back governor's agenda - Chicago Tribune

Marion school district announces two superintendent finalists | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather

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MARION — The Marion Independent School District on Monday announced two finalists for its superintendent position.

Joseph Dyer, a superintendent in Southampton, N.Y., and Michael Houselog, a superintendent in Belvidere, Ill., are the two final candidates, the district said.

Marion this year has been searching for a replacement for current superintendent Sarah Pinion, who will retire June 30. She has led Marion schools since 2009.

Ray and Associates, the firm hired to lead the search, received 46 applications and presented 11 to the Marion school board, said board president David Law. The board chose five to interview via Skype, he said.

Dyer and Houselog will be in Marion Thursday, Law said, for in-person interviews with the board, administrators, students, faculty, support staff and community members.

The board will decide on a candidate Thursday night and hopes to have a verbal commitment from the candidate that night or Friday morning, Law said. He added that he hopes to get a signed contract and announce the next superintendent on Monday or Tuesday.

Dyer has been the superintendent of the Tuckahoe Common School District in Southampton since 2010. He previously was a superintendent in Pennsylvania and earned a doctor of education degree from Virginia Tech University.

Dyer planned to leave the Tuckahoe district last year for a superintendent position in the Susquehanna Valley Central School District, also in New York, according to an October report from the Southampton Press and a release from the Susquehanna district.

The Susquehanna district later hired a different superintendent. Law said the Marion board did not “delve into” that situation in considering Dyer.

“We did not feel it had a great deal of bearing on our situation,” Law said.

“My hope is to serve where educational needs are a professional match with my skills as an educational leader,” said a statement from Dyer. “I highly regard the excellence and community pride that are characteristics of Marion Independent School District and am honored to be considered for the position of superintendent.”

Houselog has been the superintendent of the Belvidere Community Unit School District #100 since 2007. He previously was a superintendent at two other Illinois districts.

Houselog earned a doctor of education degree from Aurora University. He also has earned an education specialist degree from Drake University and a bachelor’s degree from Loras College.

Houselog previously was a candidate for Iowa superintendent positions in the Johnston, Southeast Polk and Dubuque districts, according to media reports and the Southeast Polk district. He has two adult children who live in Iowa, according to a news release from the Marion district.

“The Marion superintendency provides a rare opportunity for me to share my successes I’ve had in Belvidere and other locations,” said a statement from Houselog. “I am highly motivated to relocate my wife and younger children to Marion. Upon researching your school district during the past few weeks, I’ve concluded that my skill set could likely be a great match for the superintendent of schools position for Marion Independent.”

Dyer and Houselog did not return requests for comment Monday afternoon. The Marion district did not make available a schedule of the Thursday interviews.

Marion school district announces two superintendent finalists | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather

Labor group seeks rehiring of workers at 5 Wal-Mart stores - Yahoo News

 

YORK (AP) — A union is asking labor regulators to go to court to force Wal-Mart to rehire all 2,200 employees affected by the abrupt temporary closing of five stores a week ago.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, arguing the closings were retaliation for labor activism. Wal-Mart says it closed the stores to fix plumbing issues.

One affected store, in Pico Rivera, California, has been a hotbed for worker protests against Wal-Mart. It was the first store to wage such protests, in October 2012. The other stores are in Midland and Livingston, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Brandon, Florida.

The food and commercial workers union made its filing on behalf of OUR Wal-Mart, a group of Wal-Mart employees that it backs that has pushed for better pay and working conditions.

"This is a new low, even for Wal-Mart," Venanzi Luna, an eight-year Wal-Mart worker and member of OUR Walmart, said in a statement. "Through OUR Wal-Mart, we're going to keep fighting back until the company gives us our jobs back."

Wal-Mart said in a statement that it does not believe there is any basis for an injunction.

"As we have said all along, these stores were closed temporarily so we could fix the ongoing plumbing issues and it would be unfortunate if this outside group attempts to slow this process down for our associates and customers," the company said.

The stores will remain shuttered for up to six months, Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said. The company has said that the workers would be put on paid leave for two months and it would look to transfer some to nearby stores.

Lopez did acknowledge that it was atypical for Wal-Mart to temporarily close stores for plumbing issues but said the company wanted to improve the customer experience.

"We understand this decision has been difficult on our associates and our customers and we aim to reopen these stores as soon as these issues are resolved and improvements are made," Wal-Mart said in a statement.

Lopez noted that the stores have had between 100 and 140 service calls for plumbing issues, the highest incidence of plumbing issues in its 4,500 stores.

Wal-Mart emailed to The Associated Press excerpts from documents that highlighted issues at the Pico Rivera store that included incidents of leaky toilets and water flowing to the back room and onto the sales floor under egg coolers. It also cited clogged floor drains in the deli. Those incidents, said Lopez, were part of the reason why the Pico Rivera deli was downgraded by the Health Department to a "B'' rating, causing a temporary closing of the department.

He also said the retailer would look to make other updates to the stores. Lopez said the company has not filed any local construction permits because it still is assessing what needs to be done.

The worker group wants the labor board to seek a court injunction, which can be quicker than typical NLRB proceedings, the group said.

Wal-Mart has gotten itself in trouble for similar actions. In June 2014, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Wal-Mart had violated labor laws when it closed a store in Quebec. The employees in that location had voted to join a union. That made it the first unionized store in North America just before the store was closed.

Wal-Mart has been making moves to increase pay for its workers. The company announced in February that it was increasing the minimum wage it pays its hourly workers to at least $9 this month and to at least $10 in February 2016. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour

Labor group seeks rehiring of workers at 5 Wal-Mart stores - Yahoo News

Few Chicago-area hospitals shine in government's new patient star ratings - Chicago Tribune

 

he federal government has adopted a new patient satisfaction metric to rate the nation's hospitals, awarding each institution one to five stars after synthesizing the responses to consumer surveys.

In Illinois, the Chicago area stood out for having some of the lowest-rated hospitals — six received just one star — along with a handful of highly rated facilities that have focused on making hospital visits less unpleasant.

Of the 65 hospitals rated in Cook and the collar counties, just one received the top score of five stars: Midwestern Regional Medical Center, a cancer treatment center in Zion. Fourteen received four stars, according to Medicare data posted Thursday to the federal Hospital Compare site.

The searchable data base is available by clicking on the following:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-how-patients-rate-illinois-hospitals-20150416-htmlstory.html

The ratings are based on 11 facets of patients' hospital experiences as ranked in post-visit surveys, including how well doctors and nurses communicated, how well patients believed their pain was addressed and whether they would recommend the hospital to others.

Hospitals that performed well said their success came from listening to patients' complaints. They reduced wait times, encouraged patients to ask questions and resolved billing issues at bedside rather than during checkout. Some have taken less obvious steps; Midwestern Regional has a gym where patients and their families can exercise, as well as a Labradoodle named Tori that plays catch with patients.

Officials at low-ranking hospitals said a rating of one to five stars does not adequately capture the complexities of administering care, especially at facilities that see many low-income patients who often have chronic conditions.

 

"Rating hospitals is more complicated than judging a restaurant or hotel with star ratings," said William Dorsey, CEO of Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago, which received one star.

In assigning the ratings, Medicare compared hospitals against each other, essentially grading on a curve. The website notes that "a 1-star rating does not mean that you will receive poor care from a hospital" and that "we suggest that you use the star rating along with other quality information when making decisions about choosing a hospital."

Many in the hospital industry fear Medicare's five-star scale places too much weight on patient reviews, which are just one measure of hospital quality. Medicare also reports on other aspects of hospital care, such as how many patients died or contracted infections during their stay, but those factors are not yet associated with star ratings.

"Health care is fairly complex, and to try to capture the complexity of health care in one set of star ratings causes us to have pause," said Dr. Jay Bhatt, the Illinois Hospital Association's chief health officer. "We need to think about that in the context of other factors."

In Illinois overall, 13 of 147 rated hospitals received five stars, 62 received four stars, 50 got three stars and 16 got two stars….

Read the entire article by clicking on the following;  Few Chicago-area hospitals shine in government's new patient star ratings - Chicago Tribune

Rauner Trying To Broker Mega-Deal In Illinois Legislature « CBS Chicago

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Seizing on Illinois’ budget crisis as a political opportunity, Republican businessman-turned-governor Bruce Rauner is trying to broker a master deal to advance his pro-business priorities through the Legislature in exchange for new revenue to save programs near and dear to the Democrats.

Democratic leaders who control the General Assembly say they’re willing to negotiate, and talks with Republicans could begin in the next week. But they caution that some of Rauner’s proposals are non-starters.

Rauner has been heavily promoting structural changes that he says will help Illinois be more competitive and move beyond a lengthy history of financial mismanagement. They include overhauling workers’ compensation and unemployment, freezing property taxes, replacing Illinois’ pension system and creating “right to work zones” where union membership would be voluntary.

He says the roughly $6 billion deficit in next year’s budget — which Democrats want to close at least partially through a tax increase — creates the “leverage” he needs to get some of those changes.

“Crisis creates opportunity for change, and we have a crisis. … We’ve got to take advantage of that,” Rauner told attendees at an Illinois Chamber of Commerce event. “A lot people are saying ‘Bruce, just balance the budget and worry about other stuff later. We’ll talk to you later about reform.’ No, no, no. … If we do only that, they’ll never talk about reform. It’ll never happen.”

Rauner campaigned on his record as a successful businessman who could turn Illinois around just as he did hundreds of companies. But his efforts to mimic GOP governors in states like Indiana and Wisconsin have run up against a Legislature where Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers.

Democrats insist any budget deal must include both cuts in spending and new revenue, saying slashing spending alone will hurt working people, the disabled and others who rely on the state for services such as cancer screening and mental health care.

“You’ve got to look at income and you’ve got to look at expenses,” said Rikeesha Phelon, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senate President John Cullerton.

Rauner and legislative leaders have discussed creating working groups to try to negotiate areas of compromise behind closed doors, an approach that Republicans say signifies a new way of doing things under the first divided government in Illinois in more than a decade.

Rauner has left a door open to new revenue. During last year’s campaign, he proposed a sales tax on some services, and he wouldn’t rule out raising Illinois’ income tax — which dropped from 5 percent to 3.75 percent on Jan. 1 — provided it’s down to 3 percent within four years.

“The governor has indicated that perhaps he would consider revenue, but there’s a pretty tall order that’s on the table,” House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said. “The governor wants a lot.”

Republican Senate Leader Christine Radogno believes there’s potential for a multifaceted deal and that both parties recognize the need to compromise. She also said the discussions should include a review of Illinois’ tax structure.

“I would say we’re in such desperate straits that nothing can be off the table for anybody,” she said.

But Phelon said the Senate will not consider Rauner’s proposal to create right to work zones, which unions strongly oppose and she says wouldn’t make Illinois more competitive. She said Senate Democrats also have differences of opinion with Rauner on what changes are needed to programs like workers’ compensation.

Steve Brown, a spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, said it was too early to say what the speaker might be willing to support, but that Madigan agreed his caucus would participate in the working groups.

The attempt to reach a grand bargain is playing out as both sides try to win the hearts and minds of voters.

Rauner has been pitching his plan on a campaign-style tour of Illinois. The multimillionaire also has created a new political action committee, Turnaround Illinois, to support legislators who back his agenda and oppose lawmakers who don’t.

Democrats have focused on telling the stories of people and organizations already hurt by cuts in the current state budget or who would lose funding in Rauner’s proposed 2016 budget, which doesn’t include any tax increases.

Senate Democrats have held hearings on the effect of the cuts across Illinois. On Friday, Madigan announced that a new budget oversight panel will begin meeting Tuesday to review some of the cuts Rauner made to state grant programs.

“While I believe that a budget solution should include a balance of spending cuts and additional revenue, as a state it’s also our duty to protect our most vulnerable citizens, including children with autism, persons with developmental disabilities and lower-income women in need of breast cancer screenings,” Madigan said.

Rauner, meanwhile, is continuing the hard sell.

“I’m a salesman,” he said. “I’m also an arm twister, so we’re going to do the best we

 

 

((Rauner Trying To Broker Mega-Deal In Illinois Legislature « CBS Chicago

Former Boone County employee sentenced to 5 years in prison for stealing money - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

Click on the following to see earlier Rockford Register Star articles on this issue:

• • Former Boone circuit clerk deputy pleads guilty to felony theft...
• • Boone reviews audit process after employee arrested
• • Former Boone circuit clerk deputy charged with theft, misconduct...

By Ben Stanley
Rockford Register Star

Posted Apr. 16, 2015 at 4:28 PM
Updated Apr 16, 2015 at 4:32 PM

BELVIDERE — Former Boone County employee Donna Osoria was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday for stealing more than $24,000 in bond money while working in the circuit clerk's office.

Osoria, 58, pleaded guilty to felony theft on Dec. 4, 2014.

On Thursday, Boone County Circuit Clerk Linda Anderson testified that between March 15, 2010 and June 22, 2012, Osoria engaged in a cash lapping scheme with bond money paid to the circuit clerk's office for various unrelated felonies and misdemeanors. 

Osoria stole bonds paid on active cases and covered her tracks by transferring bonds paid on old and unrelated cases. She claimed she stole the money to help her mother pay rent.

"She just needed my help and if she hadn't needed my help I wouldn't be here right now," Osoria said. "I'm not a bad person I just made a really, really, really, really bad mistake. And in turn that mistake cost me just about everything that mattered to me."

However, Osoria's mother died in 2011 and thefts continued well into 2012. Judge Robert Tobin called Osoria's systematic approach to stealing bond money and covering her tracks a "true act of a criminal mind"

"A mistake is different than an ongoing theft, and this is behavior that went on for 27 months," said Special Prosecutor Chuck Colburn. "That goes beyond a mistake. This is a criminal enterprise that went on and on and on."

Above is from:  Former Boone County employee sentenced to 5 years in prison for stealing money - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Feds Target Corruption at Pace - Patronage & Contractor Kickbacks - McHenry County Blog

Very interesting article from Cal Skinner regarding the RTA and PACE buses.

 

Read all of the article by clicking on the following:  Feds Taget Corruption at Pace - Patronage & Contractor Kickbacks - McHenry County Blog