Belvidere School District Superintendent Michael Houselog to retire and join Rockford University - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Chris Green
Rockford Register Star

Posted Jul. 13, 2015 at 10:00 PM
Updated at 7:16 AM

BELVIDERE — Belvidere Superintendent Michael Houselog will retire Aug. 14, according to a Belvidere School Board memo to the Belvidere Education Association.

The board president has been directed to engage firms to begin the search for an interim superintendent.

Houselog, 63, is leaving to become Rockford University's director of graduate programs; he starts Aug. 17.

"I will be working with all the graduate programs, recruitment and developing new graduate program," he said.

The Dubuque, Iowa, native had been pursuing jobs in Iowa for the past three years. Earlier this year, he was denied for the fourth time since 2012 to become superintendent of the Marion,  Dubuque, Johnston and Southeast Polk districts.

More than 8,600 students are enrolled in Belvidere's six elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools.

Houselog has been Belvidere superintendent for eight years. Before that, he worked for four years in the North Boone School District in Poplar Grove.

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

Belvidere School District Superintendent Michael Houselog to retire and join Rockford University - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Rauner Uses Deep Pockets to Erode Illinois Democrats’ Advantage - Bloomberg Business

Bruce Rauner spent more than $25 million of his own fortune to get elected governor of Illinois. While the state is running out of cash and thousands of state employees might not get paid because of a budget dispute, the Republican chief executive isn’t done spending yet.

As Illinois’s gridlocked government stumbles toward a shutdown, the independently wealthy Rauner remains in campaign mode. He sends cash to his party’s lawmakers and bankrolls statewide TV ads vilifying Democratic legislative leaders who oppose his agenda.

“All they want is higher taxes. Again,” says one ad, seeking to promote Rauner as a reform-minded, can’t-be-bought businessman fighting for the taxpayers of a state saddled with debt, bad credit and corruption.

In Illinois, one of the nation’s Democratic strongholds and home state of President Barack Obama, Rauner’s money makes him an unrivaled counterweight. The 59-year-old former equity capital executive had income of $61 million in 2013, according to tax returns. And he’s willing to spend it -- along with dollars from a few like-minded supporters -- to promote his agenda of tax cuts and less business regulation.

Rauner, the state’s first Republican governor in 12 years, has revived the spirits and the treasury of his party.

“He is unique. We’ve never had a governor like this,” said Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. Rauner’s money is shaping the policy debate and eroding the advantage Democrats have long enjoyed from union workers helping their campaigns.

“In an era when patronage is supposed to be dead, you have to have money to put out the get-out-the-vote programs,” Brady said. “Now we’ll be able to match the Democrats.”

Flush Governor

Rauner is as flush as the state is not. Its pile of unpaid bills exceeds $5 billion. Pension liabilities top $111 billion. Chicago and its public schools, burdened by unpaid retirement obligations, have seen their credit plummet. This year’s budget is $6.2 billion in the hole, and the failure to reach a spending deal means tens of thousands of state employees might not be paid next week.

In contrast, the governor’s campaign committee has $20 million. Rauner provided $10 million of that amount, Citadel LLC Chief Executive Officer Ken Griffin gave $8 million and Richard Uihlein, chief executive of Wisconsin-based Uline Inc., $2 million, according to state records. The committee distributed $400,000 to Republican lawmakers as the legislature considered Democratic budget bills that Rauner opposed.

A separate independent committee called Turnaround Illinois is funded by Rauner and Sam Zell, chairman of Chicago-based Equity Group Investments.

“He’s able to exercise influence far beyond what an individual wealthy donor or governor could do because he’s a combination of the two,” said Kent Redfield, a political-science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield.

A spokeswoman for Rauner said there was “nothing out of the ordinary” about his contributions to Republican lawmakers or other spending to push his agenda.

“Advertisements are merely a tool in the governor’s toolbox to get his message to the people of Illinois,” his press secretary, Catherine Kelly, said in an e-mailed statement.

Former California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used his wealth and that of others to promote ballot proposals intended to change the operation of that state’s government. While the initiatives were rejected by voters, the effort fueled the practice of mixing campaigning with governing.

‘Arms Race’

Rauner’s post-election spending takes it even further, said David Melton, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a Chicago-based watchdog group.

“This represents a significant upping of the arms race,” Melton said. “And it opens the door to a form of plutocracy,” with wealthy donors and politicians dictating the public agenda.

Rauner, a first-time officeholder, built part of his successful election campaign attacking Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who has led that chamber for 30 of the last 32 years. Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in the Illinois General Assembly.

Soon after the election campaign officially ended in November, Rauner began a new one -- blaming Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton for many of the state’s fiscal woes. Cullerton has been in the legislature since 1979.

“This is about good government taking on bad government,” Rauner said in a May 31 press conference. Madigan, he said, “pulls the strings” of lawmakers, like a puppeteer.

A month later, Madigan, 73, accused the governor of “functioning in the extreme” by promoting a political agenda over balancing the budget.

The outcome of Illinois’s solvency-threatening budget impasse could hinge on the money shaping the debate. Redfield said it has the potential of further perverting politics in Illinois.

“Replacing a legislator who’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the speaker with one who’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the governor does not advance the democratic process,” Redfield said.

Bruce Rauner spent more than $25 million of his own fortune to get elected governor of Illinois. While the state is running out of cash and thousands of state employees might not get paid because of a budget dispute, the Republican chief executive isn’t done spending yet.

As Illinois’s gridlocked government stumbles toward a shutdown, the independently wealthy Rauner remains in campaign mode. He sends cash to his party’s lawmakers and bankrolls statewide TV ads vilifying Democratic legislative leaders who oppose his agenda.

“All they want is higher taxes. Again,” says one ad, seeking to promote Rauner as a reform-minded, can’t-be-bought businessman fighting for the taxpayers of a state saddled with debt, bad credit and corruption.

In Illinois, one of the nation’s Democratic strongholds and home state of President Barack Obama, Rauner’s money makes him an unrivaled counterweight. The 59-year-old former equity capital executive had income of $61 million in 2013, according to tax returns. And he’s willing to spend it -- along with dollars from a few like-minded supporters -- to promote his agenda of tax cuts and less business regulation.

Rauner, the state’s first Republican governor in 12 years, has revived the spirits and the treasury of his party.

“He is unique. We’ve never had a governor like this,” said Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. Rauner’s money is shaping the policy debate and eroding the advantage Democrats have long enjoyed from union workers helping their campaigns.

“In an era when patronage is supposed to be dead, you have to have money to put out the get-out-the-vote programs,” Brady said. “Now we’ll be able to match the Democrats.”

Flush Governor

Rauner is as flush as the state is not. Its pile of unpaid bills exceeds $5 billion. Pension liabilities top $111 billion. Chicago and its public schools, burdened by unpaid retirement obligations, have seen their credit plummet. This year’s budget is $6.2 billion in the hole, and the failure to reach a spending deal means tens of thousands of state employees might not be paid next week.

In contrast, the governor’s campaign committee has $20 million. Rauner provided $10 million of that amount, Citadel LLC Chief Executive Officer Ken Griffin gave $8 million and Richard Uihlein, chief executive of Wisconsin-based Uline Inc., $2 million, according to state records. The committee distributed $400,000 to Republican lawmakers as the legislature considered Democratic budget bills that Rauner opposed.

A separate independent committee called Turnaround Illinois is funded by Rauner and Sam Zell, chairman of Chicago-based Equity Group Investments.

“He’s able to exercise influence far beyond what an individual wealthy donor or governor could do because he’s a combination of the two,” said Kent Redfield, a political-science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield.

A spokeswoman for Rauner said there was “nothing out of the ordinary” about his contributions to Republican lawmakers or other spending to push his agenda.

“Advertisements are merely a tool in the governor’s toolbox to get his message to the people of Illinois,” his press secretary, Catherine Kelly, said in an e-mailed statement.

Former California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used his wealth and that of others to promote ballot proposals intended to change the operation of that state’s government. While the initiatives were rejected by voters, the effort fueled the practice of mixing campaigning with governing.

‘Arms Race’

Rauner’s post-election spending takes it even further, said David Melton, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a Chicago-based watchdog group.

“This represents a significant upping of the arms race,” Melton said. “And it opens the door to a form of plutocracy,” with wealthy donors and politicians dictating the public agenda.

Rauner, a first-time officeholder, built part of his successful election campaign attacking Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who has led that chamber for 30 of the last 32 years. Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in the Illinois General Assembly.

Soon after the election campaign officially ended in November, Rauner began a new one -- blaming Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton for many of the state’s fiscal woes. Cullerton has been in the legislature since 1979.

“This is about good government taking on bad government,” Rauner said in a May 31 press conference. Madigan, he said, “pulls the strings” of lawmakers, like a puppeteer.

A month later, Madigan, 73, accused the governor of “functioning in the extreme” by promoting a political agenda over balancing the budget.

The outcome of Illinois’s solvency-threatening budget impasse could hinge on the money shaping the debate. Redfield said it has the potential of further perverting politics in Illinois.

“Replacing a legislator who’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the speaker with one who’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the governor does not advance the democratic process,” Redfield said.

Rauner Uses Deep Pockets to Erode Illinois Democrats’ Advantage - Bloomberg Business

Dems highlight positive workers' comp report

 

SPRINGFIELD — Seeking to blunt Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s push for an overhaul of the state’s workers' compensation laws, Democrats in the Illinois House say a new report shows that changes enacted in 2011 are saving the state money.

The report, compiled by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, shows benefit payments to injured workers have dropped by 19 percent since the changes went into effect — the largest decrease in the nation.

The report also found Illinois’ average medical payment per case fell 16 percent from 2010 to 2012, moving it from the highest cost state to near the median.

Discussion of the report at a hearing last week came as Rauner continues to push for  business-friendly changes to workers' compensation laws before he will sign off on a tax increase to avoid drastic cuts to state programs.

Rauner wants to increase the standards workers must meet to prove their injury occurred at the workplace, reduce reimbursement rates for medical providers who treat workers and adjust rules for workers who are injured while traveling to their job.

Last week,  Rauner outlined a series of tweaks to a workers' compensation overhaul, including several changes he says are supported by Democrats.

Among those is the creation of a workers' compensation ombudsman who could assist injured workers.

Democrats who control the House and the Senate have resisted the governor’s proposals, saying they would hurt middle class workers. And, during the hearing Wednesday, they suggested that the 2011 changes are already proving to be beneficial for businesses.

"If you read the report, it is filled with good news," said state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville.

Hoffman, who chairs House Labor Committee, accused the Rauner administation of blocking the author of the annual report from attending the hearing. In a letter to Hoffman, Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission Chairmwoman Joann Fratianni said she was too busy  to attend the hearing.

"To say I am disappointed, that is truly an understatement," Hoffman said.

A Rauner spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

State Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, also bemoaned the absence of Fratianni, who was appointed to the position by Rauner. He said she might have helped lawmakers understand the effects of the 2011 changes.

Bradley said more than two million Illinoisans were represented by lawmakers attending the hearing.

"I don't think I would just disregard that," Bradley said.

But Republican lawmakers businesses haven’t seen the estimated $500 million that was supposed to be saved by the 2011 overhaul.

"There is still lots more room for improvement," said state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington

Dems highlight positive workers' comp report

The Right’s Stealth Plan to Kill Unions: Do It County by County - The Daily Beast

 

In Kentucky and now Illinois, pro-right to work forces are skipping statewide pushes to gut organized labor in favor of local battles that they hope will upend the entire state.

CHICAGO — If there was an item in the Painters District Council 30 monthly newsletter regarding “right to work” in Illinois, Dave Schmidgall must have missed it. The longtime union painter, living in Peoria and approaching 50, has a mindset that many of his union brothers and sisters his age have:

“It’ll never happen,” he said.

Unless a union-busting lawyer from Florida and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner get their way, that is. Unable to pass a bill statewide with a Democratic supermajority in the legislature, Rauner and others are pushing for counties to enact their own “empowerment zones,” where right-to-work would become law. In Brent Yessin, the lawyer who runs a nonprofit called Protect My Check, unions have a powerful foe.

Union advocates argue that collecting dues from members who don’t wish to be represented by the union is essential to keeping the organizations alive. In right-to-work states—and in the “empowerment zones” Rauner and others like Yessin are pushing for—unions wouldn’t be allowed to collect these “fair share dues” from members who opt out of union membership. (As union membership declines, poverty increases.)

While many in Illinois, like Schmidgall, consider right to work impossible, they might want to start paying attention before counties begin turning anti-union one by one like they have in neighboring Kentucky. In last six months in there, Yessin has been instrumental in implementing right to work in 12 of Kentucky’s 120 counties. While he wouldn’t say who exactly he’s working with, Yessin made clear his organization is taking the fight to Illinois.

Yessin and Rauner contend that the Illinois constitution grants “home rule” powers to any municipality with more than 25,000 residents, letting cities and counties the right to decide for themselves if they want to become right to work.

“The goal would be to pass enough of them that you have an influence on state policy,” Yessin told The Daily Beast of local right to work ordinances. In Kentucky, Yessin and his allies believe they are reaching a “tipping point,” where lawmakers will pass right to work at the state level simply because so many counties have already done it.

“I think downstate Illinois gets a lot more interested as we push into Kentucky and Missouri.”

He may be correct. In June, Effingham, just a two-hour drive from the Kentucky border, broached the subject. The city council introduced a resolution to support Rauner’s agenda, which calls for cities and counties to decide for themselves whether to enact right-to-work. Dexter Sloan, a union worker, spoke against the resolution at a city council meeting.

“Almost five years ago, my firstborn son had a brain aneurysm and died in my arms—because I didn’t have insurance,” Sloan said, according to the local paper. “That’s when I left and went union.”

While union members like Sloan have been vocal in their opposition to right to work, those who support it are less likely to speak up. Cue Yessin and Protect My Check.

“Union people think it’s a bunch of millionaires sitting around in a room and deciding to push this,” he said. “Contrary to the union’s opinions on this, if there’s not a grassroots support, we’re not going to shove it down their throat.”

 

It’s virtually impossible to tell how true Yessin’s claim is. Protect My Check is a non-profit that isn’t required to disclose its donors. Like many political action committees, Protect My Check is designated as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization by the IRS. Such organizations are technically designed to promote social welfare, like charities and local church groups, but often serve partisan ends. Yessin said the group accepts donations from local business people who support right to work, but it also receives big donations and grants from larger groups, although he wouldn’t say whom.

Through Protect My Check, Yessin helps to craft right to work ordinances and, in some cases, defend them when they come under attack in court. This is currently the case in Kentucky, where some of the 12 right to work counties are now in a legal fight with unions who contend the ordinances violate state and federal labor laws.

Yessin has been involved in similar battles for decades, and his connections in the business community combined with his legal expertise make him a formidable ally for small town legislators looking to enact right to work. Yessin and his group give local governments the legal and financial muscle to defend their actions, muscle that is often only available to the unions they’re fighting against.

Rauner’s staff didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment, and the governor’s administration denied a Freedom of Information Act request that called for the release of emails related to right to work.

“I never comment on communications with elected officials unless it helps them,” Yessin said when asked whether he’s been in talks with the Rauner administration.

Democratic Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said that the National Labor Relations Act does not allow local units of government like cities and counties to enact right to work. The Rauner administration told the Chicago Tribune that it “respectfully disagrees” with Madigan.

Schmidgall hadn’t heard of Yessin, and while he certainly has his gripes with the union and the dues he has to pay, he said right to work simply isn’t feasible for him. He’s almost done paying off his house. A new-but-used Harley Davidson sits in his garage next to a truck with just a few payments left on it. His pool is clean, full and ready for summer; his fridge is stocked with beer.

“It’s never going to happen here, dude,” Schmidgall said. “Besides, I only have eight years until retirement. There’s no way in hell it’ll happen before then.”

From:  The Right’s Stealth Plan to Kill Unions: Do It County by County - The Daily Beast

Out on the piss? Danish festival recycles urine to make beer | World news | The Guardian

 

Organisers of Roskilde festival plan to collect 25,000 litres of waste liquid to fertilise barley crops that will ultimately be ‘beercycled’ into pilsner

Beer served at The Sinking Ships stall at the Roskilde festival in Denmark. Punters in 2017 could sup lager made with the help of urine from this year’s attendees. Photograph: Torben Christensen/EPA

Helen Russell in Aarhus

Under a cloudless sky, shirtless Vikings with plastic cups of beer in hand are queuing excitedly along a patch of sawdust-covered earth to urinate in a metal trough. Their “contributions” are being collected in specially designed storage tanks, which will then be transported to nearby fields to fertilise malting barley for brewing beer.

“From piss to pilsner” is a new initiative being launched at Roskilde – northern Europe’s largest music festival – in Zealand, Denmark, this week. Organisers hope to collect 25,000 litres of urine from more than 100,000 festivalgoers.

If everything goes to plan, guests at Roskilde 2017 will be served beer from barley fertilised by their own urine. “It’s about changing our approach to waste, from being a burden to being a valuable resource,” says Leif Nielsen from the Danish Agriculture & Food Council (DAFC), which is partnering with festival organisers to promote “beercycling”. …

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the following:   Out on the piss? Danish festival recycles urine to make beer | World news | The Guardian

APNewsBreak: US South getting its first big wind farm soon

 

On a vast tract of old North Carolina farmland, crews are getting ready to build something the U.S. South has never seen: a commercial-scale wind energy farm.

The $600 million project by the Spanish firm Iberdrola Renewables LLC will put 102 turbines on 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares) near the coastal community of Elizabeth City, with plans to add about 50 more. Once up and running, it could generate about 204 megawatts, or enough electricity to power about 60,000 homes.

It would be the first large onshore wind farm in a region with light, fluctuating winds that has long been a dead zone for wind power.

After a years-long regulatory process that once appeared to have doomed the plan, Iberdrola spokesman Paul Copleman told The Associated Press that construction is to begin in about a month.

Right now, there's not a spark of electricity generated from wind in nine states across the Southeast from Arkansas to Florida, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group.

But taller towers and bigger turbines are unlocking new potential in the South, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and the industry is already looking to invest.

And with the electricity system in the region undergoing a period of change as coal plants are phased out, some experts believe the door is open for renewables like wind.

Federal energy researchers have found stronger winds at higher elevations that can be tapped by new towers and bigger rotor blades. New federal maps of onshore wind flows at higher elevations than were previously available indicate that this new technology significantly increases the areas that wind can thrive, especially in the Southeast.

"If you go higher, the wind is better," said Jose Zayas, director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office at the Department of Energy. "The question is how you get there responsibly and economically."

The average tower height now in the U.S. is about 260 feet (79 meters); the new technology allows turbines to mine air at 460 feet (140 meters).

The project in North Carolina was not viable just a decade ago, company officials said. But the new, larger turbines unlocked the area's potential.

Wind farms in 36 states already generate about 5 percent of U.S. energy — low compared to other countries like Denmark (28 percent), Portugal, Spain and Ireland (16 percent each). South Dakota and Iowa already derive about 20 percent of their electric energy from wind, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The Energy Department believes the U.S. can generate 20 percent of the country's power with wind by 2030, and opening up the Southeast and other new areas is a key to achieving that goal.

There are hurdles: Utilities in most Southern states have not invested heavily in renewable energy. Also, only North Carolina has adopted a state law mandating utilities to increase their renewable energy portfolios.

But other factors are already forcing change in the region's energy market. Abundant natural gas, coal being phased out and aging nuclear plants are creating a potentially robust market for wind power as utilities seek the next best investment to add to their energy mixes, said Jonas Monast of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Still, without state renewable energy mandates like North Carolina's, the growth could be slow going, experts said.

Another issue facing wind farms in the Southeast is protecting the region's birds and bats.

The danger of wind turbines to birds like rare golden eagles and bats has plagued or derailed major projects in the West. Avian research is now factored into decisions on where to put wind farms, and can make or break a project.

Because no wind farms exist anywhere in the South, little research has been done on the issue. Researchers and developers will have to catch up.

___

Dearen reported from Gainesville, Florida.

APNewsBreak: US South getting its first big wind farm soon

Some Republicans not cashing checks from Rauner : News

 

•  Kurt Erickson and Jordan Maddox The Southern Springfield Bureau

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SPRINGFIELD -- Republican lawmakers may be following Gov. Bruce Rauner's lead when it comes to his battle with House Speaker Michael Madigan, but some members of the minority party say the governor's decision to dole out $400,000 in campaign contributions to them during the final days of the legislative session was unusual and possibly inappropriate.

In what amounts to a rare departure from the unity GOP lawmakers have shown in Rauner's first six months in office, a handful of downstate Republicans say they have not cashed the checks Rauner's political fundraising arm made to their campaign funds because it could be viewed as him buying their votes.

"I don’t want to make it look like someone is influencing me from the administration. So, it’s setting in a drawer and we’re going to hold it," said state Rep. David Reis, a Willow Hill Republican, speaking of the checks worth $3,000 to $10,000 that Rauner sent to each Republican member of the House and Senate.

“I thought the timing was unusual. So while we are debating issues, I thought it inappropriate to accept it," state Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, said last week.

In May, as the Legislature's regular spring session was lurching toward an uncertain end, Rauner sent checks worth a total of $400,000 to the 67 Republicans in both chambers. The first-term governor, a wealthy private equity investor before seeking the state's top office, had previously said he would back lawmakers who support his agenda, as well as use his considerable campaign fund to beat up on those who oppose him.

The move clearly made some lawmakers uncomfortable.

In the days after the checks went out, state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, told the (Springfield) State Journal-Register, that Rauner might have waited until after the dust settled from the spring session.

In June, an expert on state campaign finance laws told Illinois Issues magazine that the contributions were "unprecedented."

“The idea of a governor making contributions to a whole caucus is something I don’t remember ever happening," retired University of Illinois-Springfield professor Kent Redfield told the magazine.

According to a review of the contributions as of last week, six members of the Senate had still not cashed their checks, including state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

In the House, 16 of the 47 GOP members had not cashed Rauner's checks.

In all, the lawmakers have collectively left $119,000 of Rauner's money on the table.

Rauner, the first Republican governor in a dozen years, has locked horns with the Democrats who control the House and the Senate, leading to a stalemate over the state budget that has left the state on the verge of a potential shutdown. The governor also has blasted state labor unions, putting some GOP lawmakers -- who represent unionized workers at state prisons, retirees and university employees -- on the hot seat.

Along with Reis and Sommer, state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, was among those who said the contributions felt odd.

"While we appreciate the donation, I haven’t made a final decision of where, if and when, that I’ll do with the check," Brady said.

Brady said he may even give away the money Rauner gave him.

"As far as depositing the check, as far as possibly using the check to go towards other charities, or to other areas that might be beneficial, that’s what I’m looking at," Brady said.

State Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, also said he's unsure what he'll do with Rauner's cash.

“I’ve received a few contributions here during the session and I’ve just put them aside rather than to open them and deposit them while there was still legislation going through the process. Timing is a bit unusual,” Moffitt said.

Although Moffitt said he'd "probably" cash the check after lawmakers end their impasse over the budget, he said the contribution made him uncomfortable.

"I just thought to receive it while there is still pending legislation, I’d feel more comfortable after the session is over. And this one just doesn’t want to end," Moffitt said.

Those who have accepted the cash include Republican state Reps. Tim Butler of Springfield, Adam Brown of Champaign, Tom Bennett of Gibson City, Terri Bryant of Murphysboro and Bill Mitchell of Forsyth,

In the Senate, those who took the money include state Sens. Tim Bivins of Dixon, Bill Brady of Bloomington, Dave Luechtefeld of Okawville, Neil Anderson of Rock Island, Dale Righter of Mattoon and Jason Barickman of Bloomington.

Rauner spokesman Lance Trover did not return messages seeking comment about the contributions.

kurt.erickson@lee.net

Some Republicans not cashing checks from Rauner : News