School money flows to House Speaker Michael Madigan's district despite Gov. Bruce Rauner's spending freeze - Chicago Tribune#page=1#page=1

 

At a time when Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has frozen state spending and cut the budget, a $35 million state grant got paid in full last month that helps build a 1,500-student school in the district of House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The grant went through thanks to a longsighted legislative maneuver by Madigan and his fellow Democrats, who tucked the money away more than a year ago so that no governor could touch it: They sent it to the office of Secretary of State Jesse White, a party loyalist.

Unlike other grants Rauner halted in the budget he inherited from Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, the $35 million sought by the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools was never in jeopardy because it sat safely in the account of another statewide officeholder.

Budget maneuver delivers grant money to Chicago schools (map)

Tribune Graphics

Gov. Bruce Rauner has frozen many state grants, but Chicago Public Schools still received $35 million that will help pay for a school in House Speaker Michael Madigan’s district. The grant, protected by a legislative maneuver last year, also is funding school projects in two districts represented...

Gov. Bruce Rauner has frozen many state grants, but Chicago Public Schools still received $35 million that will help pay for a school in House Speaker Michael Madigan’s district. The grant, protected by a legislative maneuver last year, also is funding school projects in two districts represented... ( Tribune Graphics )

White's office signed a contract this spring with the Chicago Public Schools to turn over the funds, saying he had little choice except to make sure the money got spent properly. By contrast, $40 million sent to the State Board of Education for Downstate and suburban school maintenance initiatives got swept up by Rauner to help ends meet before the new budget year began.

The money trail provides a case study into how Madigan deftly works the system to get what he wants — enabling the money to reach schools in his district and those of his allies even as others saw funds from the state disappear. The results underscore Madigan's ability to stay not just a step ahead in the political game but to see several steps down the road.

The state sent the funds to the Chicago Board of Education on June 16, amid a still-unresolved showdown with Madigan over the new budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.

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The biggest slice of the $35 million grant — $13 million — will help fund a $48 million middle school under construction in Madigan's district to relieve overcrowding as the Hispanic population grows in his Southwest Side power base. The school will feature computer labs, music rooms, gymnasium space and athletic fields with synthetic turf, according to plans with the Chicago Public Building Commission, the project's overseer.

An elementary school in the neighboring district of Rep. Dan Burke will get $6.5 million for roofing, masonry and other work, and $5.5 million will go to two schools in House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie's South Side district. The remaining $10 million is slated for air conditioning — an expansion of which Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing — in 35 schools elsewhere in Chicago.

Madigan and other Democrats directed the money to White's office while writing the budget in May 2014, a time when it was far from clear that Rauner would defeat Quinn in the November election. And Quinn, though also a Democrat, often butted heads with the speaker.

At the time, Republicans criticized the budget move as an end run around the governor's office.

Tribune coverage: The Madigan Rules

Since 2010, the Tribune has documented Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s political power base and the intersection of his public and personal interests. The series of stories has examined how he wields clout to help friends and allies, benefit his legal clients and maintain his decades-long...

Since 2010, the Tribune has documented Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s political power base and the intersection of his public and personal interests. The series of stories has examined how he wields clout to help friends and allies, benefit his legal clients and maintain his decades-long...

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Madigan's spokesman, Steve Brown, acknowledged as much. "Yeah, that was the point," Brown said in an interview this month. "You see hijinks from the governors' offices all the time — regardless of party, regardless of time."

Inserting the money into White's budget was "just a way of safeguarding that spending decision — made by the legislature, signed into law," Brown said.

Both Democrats and Republicans have seen governors break promises on funding, throwing up roadblocks or sometimes rechanneling or freezing appropriations. Madigan had so little trust in former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is now in prison, that the speaker negotiated written memorandums of understanding to hold the administration to its word.

cComments

• @Rico Muscatel I'd rather be stood up than put $Billions$ in debt.

  CRN1967

  at 6:59 PM July 17, 2015

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Republicans call the $35 million school construction earmark an abuse of political clout and say it siphoned money from the same pot of general funds that pays myriad bills — from state worker salaries to far-reaching social services that are getting squeezed.

"We saw people take real cuts so that pork like this could be spent in (Madigan's) district," said Palatine Sen. Matt Murphy, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, who derided the move as "business as usual" for the veteran speaker.

A Rauner spokesman declined comment.

Along with passing out licenses to drive and plates to mount on bumpers, the secretary of state holds the job of state librarian. White has often distributed grants to libraries, including occasional projects that the legislature adds to the office's budget without him making a request, an aide said.

CaptionMadigan at Capitol 2015

Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune

House Speaker Michael Madigan holds a news conference at the State Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

House Speaker Michael Madigan holds a news conference at the State Capitol in Springfield on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

(Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

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CaptionMadigan news conference 2015

Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune

Michael Madigan speaking to the media on June 30, 2015.

Michael Madigan speaking to the media on June 30, 2015.

(Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

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White spokesman Henry Haupt said the secretary had not sought the $35 million grant and that it was unusual in size and scope. He compared the office's role to that of a pass-through agency for the funds, adding that officials worked with CPS to ensure the money would be used as designated.

"The General Assembly directed our office to administer the grants, and we had no statutory basis to refuse it," Haupt said. "We had no authority to block it. We had no options but to administer."

When the rookie Republican governor took over in January, it was the middle of a fiscal year, and the state's finances were wildly out of whack. Following weeks of wrangling, he and lawmakers worked out a deal that used $300 million in cuts and $1.3 billion swept from special funds to cover shortfalls in the budget year that ended June 30.

Going into the Easter weekend, Rauner trimmed $26 million more, including funds to bury the poor, aid people with autism and help smokers who want to quit. He backed off that decision amid growing outrage from Democrats, using the time-honored move of citing rosier revenue projections.

Along the way, many grants were halted or frozen as Rauner tried to rein in costs. Where he could exercise control, Rauner sliced, borrowed or suspended funds in the budget he took over, including for park districts and job training, public universities and elsewhere.

As the Rauner administration scrutinized other grants, the $35 million for Chicago school construction slowly rolled through the arcane contracting and payment process.

Once White signed the $35 million contract with Chicago school officials in April, the payment request moved through a line that includes the state's $5 billion backlog of bills.

The Chicago Public Schools said the money went where school officials had identified a need — not because of the heavyweight politicians representing those areas.

"Absolutely not," added Currie, Madigan's second in command. "This was a top priority for CPS."

CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said the state grant money allowed the schools "to fix some of the worst overcrowding in our classrooms. ... These funds are allowing us to develop classroom space that will allow our children to have the learning environment they deserve."

CPS said additional state money for the school in Madigan's district came from a larger, separate pot of school construction dollars allocated in a prior year.

The new middle school in Madigan's district will be for grades five through eight when it opens in 2017 at 6018 S. Karlov Ave., according to CPS. The new school will give relief to Peck and Pasteur elementary schools, long identified as two of the district's most severely overcrowded, where students sometimes learn in a cafeteria and meet with counselors in a projection room, the school district said.

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No government job too small for House speaker to exert his considerable influence

No government job too small for House speaker to exert his considerable influence ( David Kidwell, John Chase and Alex Richards, Tribune reporters )

At Edwards Elementary in Burke's district, money will go toward a new roof and masonry stabilization to go with a new annex to ease crowding. The school district said the school has held 1,452 students in a space designed for 900 — 161 percent of capacity.

In Currie's district, Kenwood Academy High School has grown significantly. The changes would shift an academic center for seventh- and eighth-graders to the nearby, previously closed Canter Middle School and open more seats at Kenwood for freshmen through seniors.

The state budget drawn up in 2014 also set aside $40 million for maintenance at suburban and Downstate schools. But, in contrast to the Chicago grant, that money didn't make it to the school districts.

The funds were allocated to the Illinois State Board of Education, a more routine route for school dollars, but the Quinn administration asked state education officials not to spend the money without giving a reason, a board spokesman said.

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Rauner froze the funds shortly after he took office. Then, to make ends meet and pay old bills during the current budget standoff, he largely drained the fund — along with others — near the end of June and shifted the money into the pot of general funds, officials said.

Word that Rauner had taken the $40 million angered Democratic Rep. Frank Mautino, a budget expert from Spring Valley.

"I consider that Downstate money," Mautino said.

Although state law calls for the Downstate and suburban school money to be repaid within 18 months, that could change if the issue gets caught up in future budget negotiations.

Madigan letters offer glimpse of clout in Cook County judge selection

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House Speaker Michael Madigan and other politicians often weigh in on the selection of Cook County associate judges — a process supposed to be free of political influence.

House Speaker Michael Madigan and other politicians often weigh in on the selection of Cook County associate judges — a process supposed to be free of political influence. ( Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty, Tribune reporters )

"Maybe I wish I'd put the grants in Jesse's office," Mautino said. "Then 900 Downstate school districts would have had access to maintenance grants."

School money flows to House Speaker Michael Madigan's district despite Gov. Bruce Rauner's spending freeze - Chicago Tribune#page=1#page=1

NRC Completes SER Process for Braidwood And Byron NPPs - Nuclear Power Industry News - Nuclear Power Industry News - Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers

 

There are no technical issues that stand in the way of 20-year license renewals for two Exelon Generation Company nuclear power plants in Illinois, the Byron and Braidwood plants that house two reactors each, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Exelon submitted applications in May 2013 to have the NRC review all four reactors’ licenses for additional 20 year renewals. The NRC said it had issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) and found “no technical issues to preclude license renewal” of the four reactors.

Byron’s two pressurized-water reactors are located approximately 17 miles southwest of Rockford, Ill. Braidwood’s two pressurized-water reactors are located approximately 20 miles southwest of Joliet, Ill.

If approved, Byron Unit 1’s renewed license would expire Oct. 31, 2044, and Byron Unit 2’s renewed license would expire Nov. 6, 2046. If approved, Braidwood Unit 1’s renewed license would expire Oct. 17, 2046, and Braidwood Unit 2’s renewed license would expire Dec. 18, 2047, the NRC said.

Braidwood’s two Westinghouse-designed reactors in Braceville, Ill., began commercial operations in July and October of 1988. Unit 1 is capable of generating 1,194 net megawatts of electricity, while Unit 2 has a 1,166 net MW capacity, according to the company’s Web site. Combined, Braidwood’s reactors can provide electricity to more than 2 million average U.S. homes, Exelon says.

Byron’s Unit 1 and Unit 2 have an approximate capacity of 2,336 net megawatts of electricity. The facility in Byron, Ill., includes two massive towers close to 500 feet tall. These units began commercial operations in September 1985 and August 1987, respectively.

The application process to date has involved an NRC review of the license applications and site audits of Byron’s and Braidwood’s “aging-management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation,” the NRC said.

Exelon was judged to have identified actions to manage the structures and components of the plant to ensure ongoing plant production that meets NRC safety specifications.

The process proceeds along two tracks, the NRC explained. One track involves safety issues. The other involves environmental considerations.

The watchdog agency called issuing the final SER “a significant milestone in the license renewal review process.”

The SER(s) and applications for Byron and Braidwood have been forwarded to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an independent body of experts who plan to review the two license options in a September meeting and then make recommendations to the NRC.

NRC Completes SER Process for Braidwood And Byron NPPs - Nuclear Power Industry News - Nuclear Power Industry News - Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers

Do the math: Rauner’s call for repeal of prevailing wage law doesn’t add up | Chicago Reporter

 

Illinois residents are starting to feel the pain from the state’s budget stalemate, as Governor Rauner continues to insist that his anti-union “turnaround agenda” be part of any budget solution.

As part of that agenda, Rauner has called for repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law, which requires that state-funded public construction projects pay wages comparable to average rates in a region. In his state of the state address, he argued that the prevailing wage law increases the cost of construction by 20 percent and raises school construction costs by $160 million a year.

That’s not mathematically possible, according to Frank Manzo of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute.

He points out that wages only account for 20 to 25 percent of the cost of public construction projects, so reducing costs by that amount solely through wage cuts would require paying workers something close to zero.

Indeed, studies of school construction costs in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Pennsylvania have shown that reducing wages by eliminating or adjusting the prevailing wage has no effect on construction costs.

How can that be?

Manzo said evidence shows that while wages go down 8 to 13 percent without the prevailing wage, productivity decreases between 11 and 14 percent. Contractors paying higher wages hire more skilled labor and use more large equipment, he said. They also save on material and fuel costs.

The alternative is “a low-wage, low-skill, low-quality system,” Manzo said. He tells of an Illinois contractor who took a job in Florida. As the contractor told him, “he does a job in Illinois, the workers show up in hardhats, with tools, properly equipped, properly trained and ready to go. In Florida, he tries to hire local labor, they show up in flip-flops, no hardhat, they’re carrying a hammer, they don’t know what they’re doing. He told me he had to bring workers in from Illinois.”

One study of the industry in Colorado showed no difference in the size of bids for federal projects covered by the prevailing wage and comparable state projects that weren’t covered. To Manzo, this suggests that contractors are simply increasing their profit margins when they’re allowed to pay lower wages.

Another thing—injury and fatality rates are significantly higher in states without a prevailing wage. If Illinois had the safety record of low-wage states, he says, there’d be at least seven more construction fatalities a year (there were 27 in 2010).

It’s wrong to think of it in these terms, but for Governor Rauner’s benefit: injuries and fatalities reduce productivity, damage equipment and cause construction delays.

And while Rauner argues that lower wages would boost the state’s economy by increasing competitiveness, Manzo argues that the opposite is true. Lost wages and reduced consumer demand—as well as lost work, as low-wage contractors come in from out of state—would cut the state’s GDP by over $1 billion if the prevailing wage was eliminated, he estimates.

And cutting workers’ wages would reduce state tax revenues by $44 million, he says. One study shows that construction workers earning the prevailing wage pay more than twice as much in income and property taxes as those who don’t.

Based on the history of exclusion of African Americans from building trade unions, some opponents of the prevailing wage argue that it increases discrimination. Manzo says outreach efforts need to be stepped up. (That’s happening in some unions, but much more needs to be done.) But he points to recent research showing no relationship between prevailing wage laws and African American participation in construction employment, and new studies indicating that prevailing wage laws may in some cases increase the proportion of African Americans in construction jobs.

A similar argument is made against raising the minimum wage by opponents who say it would reduce employment for people of color.  And when the same politicians attacking the prevailing wage are also going after public sector jobs and unions—where blacks are heavily represented—their  concern over racial parity rings hollow.

The prevailing wage issue is “part of a broader debate about what kind of state we want to live in,” said Manzo.  “Do we want an economy that pays workers enough to support a family?”

The economic claims may be a facade for another motivation. “When you look at the evidence, you don’t see any economic boost” from eliminating the prevailing wage, “but you do see a huge impact on declining unionization,” Manzo said.  “That means more power for employers, less power for employees, more wealth for the wealthy.

“It’s part of the playbook of reducing workers’ influence and reducing workers’ share of the economic pie

Do the math: Rauner’s call for repeal of prevailing wage law doesn’t add up | Chicago Reporter

State Senate partially overrides Governor's budget veto | WEEK News 25 - News, Sports, Weather - Peoria, Illinois | Top Stories

 

By WEEK Reporter

July 15, 2015Updated Jul 16, 2015 at 10:23 AM CDT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Illinois Senate passed a temporary stop gap spending plan while no state budget is in place and lawmakers remain at an impasse.

Gov. Rauner has been vocal in his opposition to the $2.3 billion temporary budget and vetoed the bill as soon as it hit his desk Wednesday afternoon.

But the senate can still override that veto.

In fact, the Senate overrode a number of gubernatorial budget vetoes today. All bills passed with at least three-fifths required votes.

The House now has 15 days to do the same.

Republicans say the social services now funded by the overrides are going to suffer more when the state runs out of money.

"This puts us on a path to basically just cementing in an out of balance unconstitutional budget," said State Sen. Matt Murphy.

"It addresses key essential services, key components of the budget to make sure we continue to invest in the people of our state," explained State Sen. Dan Kotowski. "Make sure they have every opportunity to lead a good quality of life."

There were originally 18 total budget bills vetoed. Five were overridden Wednesday.

State Senate partially overrides Governor's budget veto | WEEK News 25 - News, Sports, Weather - Peoria, Illinois | Top Stories