State Representatives Invite Governor to Help Craft a Budget

By Mary Helt Gavin

Thirty State Representataives have sent a letter to Governor Bruce Rauner asking him “to immediately engage with us on budget negotiations,” saying they believe there are “reasonable solutions” to the State’s financial crisis.

The State’s fiscal year began July 1, 2015, and, eight and one half months in, there is no sign of compromise to craft a budget. Not having a budget, the letter said, is “devastating for our universities, social service agencies, businesses, communities and the state.”

The State is responsible to provide for the “health, safety and welfare of the people; eliminate poverty and inequality; and assure legal, social and economic justice,” the letter said.

Many State bills, including salaries, are being paid, as the results of consent decrees and court rulings, but many social service agencies and public colleges and universities have not received promised funds.

A Republican, Gov. Rauner inherited a potential budget gap when he took office last January, since the temporary income tax increase lapsed almost at the same time he took office. Legislation leadership, Democrats Michael Madigan, House Speaker, and John Cullerton, Senate President, and the Governor have appeared equally obstinate in refusing to propose reinstatement of the income tax increase. 

Gov. Rauner has linked his Turnaround Agenda to passage of a budget. Two foci of that agenda are weakening the power of unions and allowing – some would say “encouraging” – municipalities to seek bankruptcy protection. Yet there has not been widespread acceptance of that agenda.

“The impasse has gone on too long,” the Representatives’ letter said. “Our joint accomplishments over the past year have been achieved when we have collectively focused on individual issues that need to be addressed. As you stated in your State of the State Address, this is how we passed criminal justice and unemployment insurance reforms. We should do the same with the budget. Based on the number of local governments that have rejected the Turnaround Agenda, it is not presently a point of common ground.” The letter said the Representatives “are happy to consider” the Governor’s priorities separately from budget negotiations.

The Representatives said the appropriations committees are ready to develop a balanced budget, adding, “For seven months, businesses have been asking for stability and a long-term solution to the fiscal crisis in the state.”

The letter concluded, “For the sake of all the people of Illinois, our businesses, our communities and our children – let’s get it done.” Robyn Gabel, 18th District, and Laura Fine, 17th District, are among those who signed the letter. Rep. Gabel’s name is the first of the 30.

Above is from:  http://www.evanstonroundtable.com/main.asp?SectionID=15&SubSectionID=26&ArticleID=11649

Representatives Gabel and Fine are both Democrats

FACEBOOK: Cathy Ward speaks of railroad spur

Cathy Ward

12 hrs ·

TRAIN COMING TO BOONE COUNTY? Lots of rumors of a train coming along the east side of Boone County and many people want more details. Just heard from our County Administrator that public hearings are likely to be held in the next month on the proposed track. Also, Ken (county administrator) expects this to be discussed at our county roads meeting on Tuesday, March 1, 6 p.m. in our board room on Logan Ave. Some think it is pie in the sky after all the train talks we have heard, but this one seems to be moving ahead. Stay tuned.

Rock River Times Editorial-- City Beat: An overwhelming case for transparency

 

 

City Beat: An overwhelming case for transparency

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016 Shane Nicholson 2076 Views

The FBI investigation into the Winnebago County Board rages on, and still the best the community can get so far is mere lip service from its leadership.

It seems that stowing away the corruption which allowed these transgressions to go on isn’t as easy as hiding as a sauna. Sadly, hiding behind the tried and true “ongoing investigation” excuse is enough for the Chairman. But wishing it to disappear will not provide the answers the taxpayers need.

Rockford has a transparency issue – our leaders in government seem to all agree. From missing funds to gym equipment to (gasp) New Towne, every foul up is followed by a mea culpa from someone who should’ve known better.

Only 75 of the nearly 7,000 bodies of government in Illinois have received Sunshine Awards for their efforts toward full transparency, the latest being Wheatland Township in Will County. This comes as no shock for residents of a state identified by its rampant government corruption.

I’ve heard excuses ranging from Local Government Body X is too big/too complex/too overburdened, to the never failed We just can’t afford it. None of those really stand up, though, especially when you consider the whole of the Kane County government, with its 515,000 residents, is capable of achieving a perfect score for its transparency efforts.

So why not now? Why do we need to wait for the next lawsuit, the next federal oversight investigation? Why can’t questions just simply be answered by public officials? Sheriff Gary Caruana’s office uncovered the spending issues running rampant through the Winnebago County government in short order, and only by looking at a single year’s budget and expenditures.

And yet we still are without anything resembling a decent answer from the elected officials on the board. Invariably, the response is to either blame a deposed purchasing director or defer to the ongoing investigation excuse. It’s a game of hurry up and wait for the FBI and the Department of Justice to tell us what has become of the tax money that was meant to improve the community, not stock a political campaign run far too close to official government offices with enough chocolate bars for a small army.

Everyone knows communication is lacking. Fix the communication problem, starting today. Fulfill FOIA requests; don’t default to an “overdue burden” response every time a resident files one. And answer questions before they’re put to you. Your community deserves it, and it deserves it now.

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Shane Nicholson | Managing Editor

Above is from:  http://rockrivertimes.com/2016/01/26/city-beat-an-overwhelming-case-for-transparency/

Trump’s winning streak reveals bigotry’s appeal in GOP

 

February 24, 2016 Shane Nicholson 182 Views 0 Comment

What it means that the most popular candidate in the Republican field is also the least conservative

By Anthony J. Gaughan
Drake University

Donald Trump’s path to the Republican nomination gained crucial momentum in Nevada on Tuesday night.

Trump won the Nevada caucuses with 46 percent of the vote and defeated his closest challengers by more than 20 points, his largest victory margin yet. Trump’s third straight win in the GOP presidential race makes clear that the New York billionaire has broad and deep support from all wings of the party.

A sense of inevitability is settling over Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination. The latest polls show he will likely win nearly all of the 10 states that will vote in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 1. He also benefits from the complex and front-loaded nature of the Republican delegate apportionment process, which gives him a clear path for securing the GOP nomination.

The fact that a vulgar, xenophobic, twice-divorced New York real estate developer and TV celebrity with no conservative credentials is on the verge of winning the GOP nomination is highly revealing. It shows how deep racial and religious prejudice runs in the Republican Party of 2016.

Trump is not a traditional conservative

Trump supporters cheer his victory in Nevada. | REUTERS/Jim Young

By any traditional measure, Donald Trump is the least conservative candidate in the GOP race.

On one issue after another, Trump defies conservative orthodoxy. During the most recent GOP debate, Trump condemned George W. Bush for invading Iraq and for not preventing the September 11 terrorist attacks. Trump also opposes the longstanding conservative goal of reforming Social Security, and he has even defended Planned Parenthood, a women’s health organization despised by social conservatives. He advocates protectionist policies, such as a huge tariff on imports from China, that would reverse decades of Republican support for free trade.
He has signaled support for state Medicaid expansion that GOP governors across the country oppose. And he supports tax hikes on the wealthy.

It is not surprising that Trump’s populist policies attract support from working-class voters who oppose trade liberalization and tax policies that benefit the rich.

But Trump’s appeal extends far beyond blue-collar Republicans. He is winning among both high-income voters and low-income voters. He is winning evangelical Republicans and non-evangelical Republicans. Most striking of all, he is carrying all educational levels, including college graduates, professionals and voters with no education beyond high school. In his Nevada victory speech, Trump declared: “I love the poorly educated.” But the truth is, highly educated Republicans support him too.

So what is the common theme that binds Trump’s supporters together?

The disturbing but undeniable answer is entrenched xenophobia, racial prejudice and religious bigotry among a large segment of Republican voters.

GOP voters opting for prejudice over conservatism

As the 2016 election demonstrates, Republicans no longer have a shared set of political ideas or a coherent ideological philosophy.

Instead, the only thing that seems to hold the party together is a deep-rooted fear of the social, economic, cultural and demographic change the United States has experienced in recent decades.

It is certainly true that the pace of change in American life is occurring at an accelerating rate. In 2008, the United States elected its first African-American president, an enormous step forward for a nation that upheld racial segregation as recently as the 1960s. Social attitudes are changing, too. A majority of Americans now support same-sex marriage, combat roles for women in the military and implementation of international treaties to battle climate change and protect the environment. Meanwhile, immigration from Latin America and Asia is transforming the racial demographics of the nation. In 1980, over 83 percent of Americans were white; today only 62 percent of Americans are white. The percentage of whites will fall rapidly in the decades ahead. Already a majority of American children are nonwhite, and racial minorities will constitute a majority of the nation’s population as a whole by the 2040s.

From any objective perspective, these developments should be welcomed. America’s extraordinary capacity for change is an enormous source of national strength.

But that is not how Republicans see the changes under way in the nation. As America becomes a more diverse and tolerant nation, Republicans have embraced apocalyptic views of the nation’s future. Almost 90 percent of Republicans believe the country is in poor shape. In an effort to pander to Republican pessimism, nearly all of the GOP candidates have described the state of the country in alarming and catastrophic terms.

But none of the candidates peddle fear as well as Trump. When he announced his presidential candidacy last summer, he declared that “the American dream is dead” and “we’re becoming a Third World country.” Since getting into the race, Trump’s rhetoric has only gotten grimmer. He mixes anger, paranoia and xenophobia more skillfully than any modern presidential candidate.

Trump is thus the perfect vehicle for expressing the poisonous spirit that animates Republicans in 2016. He wants to ban Muslims from the United States. He calls Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “drug dealers” and he has declared that immigrants “from all over” are “killers and rapists.“ He even wants to strip the constitutional right of birthright citizenship from American-born children of foreign parents.

In short, the billionaire TV star is not running on a coherent set of political ideas. He is running on irrational fear, rage and prejudice. And, to an appalling degree, that’s exactly what a critical mass of Republican voters want, as Trump’s victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada demonstrate.

Party of Lincoln is now the party of Trump

Trump’s divisive campaign reflects how far the GOP has drifted from its roots. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, saved the Union and ended slavery. In the process, he argued in eloquent fashion that freedom and equality for all constituted America’s most important founding principles.

Today the Republican Party is in a very different place. Dividing Americans, not uniting them, is the dominant mood within the GOP. The momentum gathering behind Donald Trump’s campaign makes it starkly apparent that Lincoln’s legacy has no home in the modern Republican Party.

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Anthony J. Gaughan, Associate Professor of Law, Drake University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Above is from:  http://rockrivertimes.com/2016/02/24/trumps-winning-streak-reveals-bigotrys-appeal-in-gop/

Mastroianni to retire as RVC President

• was sad to read of Rock Valley College President Mike Mastroianni's decision to retire from his job in January 2017. The 18-year employee of the college, who served in a variety of positions, has been president since 2014.

  He's packed a whole lot of action into those three years. Under his tenure, guided by a strong, independent and forward-thinking board, Mastroianni oversaw building of the greatly expanded Aviation Maintenance Technology building at Chicago Rockford International Airport, where students are learning aviation-related skills that will lead them into well-paying careers, perhaps just a few yards away at AAR Corp.'s new maintenance, repair and overhaul twin hangars. Five hundred will be hired initially; the number of employees could double in a few years.

• AR has promised to interview RVC aviation graduates.

  Under Mastroianni, RVC's new, downtown Rockford campus is being constructed on the second floor of the News Tower. They sure are making a lot of noise upstairs!

  RVC and Northern Illinois University announced Tuesday an engineering partnership that will begin classes this fall.

  Finally, the Health sciences Center will start classes in 2017.

  That's a heck of a lot of work! Mastroianni deserves our heartfelt congratulations for a job well done.

  As the board begins its search for a new leader, I hope trustees will look for someone who will continue in the Mastroianni mold. Moving RVC forward is difficult right now, with state funding grinding to a halt, MAP grants ended and student enrollment down. Those are temporary situations, though.

  RVC is vitally important to the region's future, and the next college president has to believe in the mission the board has set for it.

  Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; csweeny@rrstar.com; @chucksweeny

• Above is from (see second half of:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160224/chuck-sweeny-state-rep-john-cabello-introduces-illinois-police-chase-bill/?Start=2

Top operative for Koch brothers will join Marco Rubio's campaign

 

A key player in the Koch brothers' inner political circle will work directly on Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, bringing deep connections to the brothers' vast network of donors and experience helping oversee their sophisticated political operation.

Republican power brokers Charles and David Koch haven't endorsed a GOP primary candidate, but Marc Short's decision to move to the Rubio camp, first reported by Politico, comes as the party’s top figures grow increasingly alarmed by Donald Trump’s rise and looks for ways to stop his momentum.

Short has been highly respected for running Freedom Partners, the Kochs' political organization, for the past five years.

"Marc leaves behind a strong leadership team at Freedom Partners and working with them, we will continue to work to further our goal of a free and prosperous society for all Americans," Mark Holden, Freedom Partners' chairman of the board, said in a statement Tuesday. "We look forward to continuing our work with our partners to further these goals in 2016 and beyond."

Short's move is further evidence that Republican party leaders are uniting behind Rubio as the strongest alternative to Trump, who has won primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina and is favored to win the Nevada caucus Tuesday.

Alex Conant, a spokesman for Rubio, confirmed Short will join the campaign but declined further comment.

Since his second-place showing in Saturday's South Carolina primary, Rubio has gained endorsements from 15 members of Congress and Gov. Asa Hutchison of Arkansas, which holds its primary March 1.

Above is from:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/02/23/top-operative-koch-brothers-join-marco-rubios-campaign/80799762/?siteID=je6NUbpObpQ-bdiDdh_fTxDqr4Uko2dcvg

Five Boone County Board members do not complete Open Meetings training until Attorney General gets involved

 

Here is a recent letter from the Boone County Administrator supplying proof that all board member have now completed the  required training regarding open meetings.  A citizen’s complaint regarding Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act caused the Attorney General to require proof that all board members completed the required training.

Note that Chairman Walberg, who chairs county board meetings, was not compliant with the law until February of 2016. How many years has Mr. Walberg been chairman?  Have county board meetings been compliant with all requirements of the Open Meetings Act? Has this county board or the County Administrator “really” taken the Open Meetings Act seriously?

Also note long term members Karl Johnson, Denny Ellingson, and Criag Schultz only recently became trained as did first termer, Sherry Branson.