2015 Capital Program Bringing Improvements Systemwide

 

The Illinois Tollway is preparing for the 2015 construction season with plans to invest $1.63 billion in improvements throughout the 286-mile system.

This will be the fourth year of the 15-year, $12 billion Move Illinois: the Illinois Tollway Driving the Future Program, delivering the largest year of capital spending in the agency's history with projects to rebuild 310 lane miles, repair 122 bridges and build or improve 20 interchanges.

Highlights of the 2015 capital program include:

• Investing $839.6 million for the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) Rebuilding and Widening Project to start construction of the new, wider roadway from Elgin to the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). Learn more.
• Investing $319.8 million to continue the $3.4 billion Elgin O'Hare Western Access Project, including completion of the new Illinois Route 390 from Lake Street (U.S. Route 20) to Rohlwing Road, and the start of work to extend the new roadway east to Illinois Route 83. Learn more.
• Investing $241.1 million for systemwide interchange and bridge repairs, including completing work to rebuild the Grand Avenue Interchange (Illinois Route 132) Project on the Tri-State Tollway (I-94) in Gurnee. Learn more.
• Investing $108 million in the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), including roadway resurfacing and local bridge improvements from Illinois Route 251 to U.S. Route 52. Learn more.

Boone County wants in on Rockford casino action - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

BELVIDERE — If Rockford were to get state approval for a casino, the Boone County Board says the city should share tax revenue with neighboring communities.

House Bill 3564, introduced to the Illinois General Assembly on Feb. 26 by Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, would allow Winnebago County one license for a riverboat casino. But the bill could also be a starting point for lawmakers to work toward a bill that allows a brick-and-mortar casino.

"Drinking and gambling ... I don’t like that as a revenue source, but if we’re going to do it, and if a lot of people in our community patronize that kind of thing, then I think it’s fair that we share in the local contributions to the revenue stream," said Boone County Board Chairman Bob Walberg.

On Feb. 18, Walberg wrote a letter to Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, on behalf of the Boone County Board asking that he consider a population-based revenue sharing plan if a casino were approved.

The plan would give 43 percent of gaming tax revenue to Rockford, 29 percent to Winnebago County, and 7 percent each to Machesney Park, Loves Park, Belvidere and Boone County.

“The Rockford region has been especially hurt by the ‘Great Recession,’ and our unemployment still ranks amongst the highest in the state,” Walberg wrote. “Like it or not, revenue from gaming will help local governments with their infrastructure challenges. … I believe that for our area to become truly 'regional,' revenues obtained through these new sources should be shared.”

Rockford City Administrator Jim Ryan said the city is open to discussing a revenue sharing plan  But because Rockford shoulders costs for regionally beneficial things like public housing subsidies, the museum campus, the Coronado Performing Arts Center, the BMO Harris Bank Center and the Chicago Rockford International Airport, it should get the majority of tax revenue generated by a casino.

"I certainly respect his desire to have a share of casino revenues for Boone County," Ryan said. "(But) the lion's share of revenue for this casino should go to the central city, the area that bears the majority of socioeconomic costs for the region. ... We provide the lion’s share of subsidies, ... so if we're going to have a regional discussion on revenue sharing, we're also going to have a discussion on cost sharing."

Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford; Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Sycamore; Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford; and Rep. Litesa Wallace, D-Rockford, also received copies of Walberg's letter, as did Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey, Belvidere Mayor Mike Chamberlain, Machesney Park Mayor Jerry Bolin, Loves Park Mayor Darryl Lindberg and Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen.

"We’ve been able to get together in the past and reason and get to a fair analysis," Christiansen said. "A population-based plan might make sense. Not sure if the numbers (in Walberg’s plan) are exactly right, but I think it’s something that we should discuss." - See more at: http://www.rrstar.com/article/20150306/NEWS/150309627/11669/NEWS#sthash.cmGziYRd.dpuf

ProPublica and NPR Document the ‘Demolition of Workers’ Comp’ | Health content from EHS Today

States are competing with each other for lowest rate.  States are having a race to the bottom.

Cutbacks to workers’ compensation benefits have been so dramatic in some states that they “virtually guarantee” that an injured worker will “plummet into poverty,” according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR. Thirty-three states have cut benefits to workers injured or made ill by work, or have made it more difficult to qualify for benefits.

“The Demolition of Workers’ Comp,” written by Michael Grabell of ProPublica and Howard Berkes of NPR, notes that while employers are paying the lowest rates for workers’ compensation in decades and insurance companies earned a 18 percent return in 2013, workers are suffering. No longer able to work and fighting with insurance companies, workers and their families often are forced to seek public aid, like food stamps, in order to make ends meet.

The report discusses a study by J. Paul Leigh, of the University of California, Davis, that estimated “workers’ comp covered less than a third of injured workers’ medical costs and lost earnings in 2007 and that government programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid had shelled out about $30 billion to fill part of the gap.”

In other words, taxpayers are stuck with a bill that should have been paid by the insurance companies and the employers.

In its report, “Adding Inequality to Injury: The Costs of Failing to Protect Workers on the Job,” released March 4, OSHA claims that that on average, a worker who is seriously injured will earn 15 percent less over a 10-year period and will bear 50 percent of the costs associated with that injury.

“The costs of workplace injuries are borne primarily by injured workers, their families and taxpayer-supported components of the social safety net,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

Read “The Demolition of Workers’ Comp.”

ProPublica and NPR Document the ‘Demolition of Workers’ Comp’ | Health content from EHS Today

Byron Reactor Shuts Down Due to Ice - MyStateline.com - Powered by WTVO-TV and WQRF-TV

 

Byron Generating Station Unit 1 automatically shut down at 11am Tuesday after an 'ice intrusion' interrupted power on one of the unit’s transformers.  A plant spokesperson said the unit is designed to shut down in such situations, and the equipment acted properly.
Repairs will be done to the unit, although it is not clear how long that will take.
Unit 2 continues to operate at full power.

Byron Reactor Shuts Down Due to Ice - MyStateline.com - Powered by WTVO-TV and WQRF-TV

Rauner, Democrats disagree on short-term budget fix - Chicago Tribune

 

More than a week after Gov. Bruce Rauner declared he was "literally days away" from a solution to the $1.6 billion shortfall in this year's budget, the governor insisted Friday that he and Democrats are "very close" to a deal.

 

"We'll get it done," Rauner said after delivering a speech to business leaders in Chicago. "The critical thing … is that we don't raise taxes because of this and that we don't do borrowing because of this, we just reallocate."

By that Rauner means he wants to take money from some programs to pay for others on the verge of going broke. But doing so requires cooperation from Democrats, some of whom say the Republican governor hasn't done enough to persuade them to get behind his plan.

A key sticking point is what Democrats describe as a lack of specifics.

 

"We still need more information," said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago. "There certainly have been conversations, but we're still trying to mine out relevant information."

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, said the governor has yet to offer up legislation to spell out which programs he plans to raid or cut to solve the shortfall.

 

"I think the easiest thing to do is for the governor to be specific," Brown said. "We haven't seen a full bill. When the governor provides a full bill, then maybe something can move forward."

Rauner insisted all week that negotiations were progressing and a deal was "close." It's a familiar refrain from the rookie governor, who as a candidate had a habit of batting back reporters' questions about when he would offer specific proposals with promises of answers "soon" and "in due time."

Timing for the deal was better before last week's budget address, when Rauner laid out his agenda for sweeping cuts to programs favored by Democrats, Phelon said.

It was during that speech that Rauner said a deal on the current budget crisis was imminent. Madigan agreed at the time. Negotiations appear to have stalled.

"Once (Democrats) got a picture of how he intends to manage and how he intends to prioritize, that just made it harder for them to grant him a blank check or to grant him expanded authority to do the same thing in this current year," Phelon said.

A partial rollback of the temporary tax hike meant a projected drop of $4 billion in revenue that could have helped cover the shortfall, which threatens to cut off payroll for prison guards and court reporters, as well as funding for other programs. Already, state funding for a popular subsidized day care program has run out. Without more money, the options are to cut program spending, move money around between programs, or borrow.

On Friday, Rauner suggested Democrats were trying "to take advantage of the cash flow crisis to try to force a tax hike."

Leaders in both chambers disputed that claim.

"We have never made that a condition for solving the issues with (this year's budget)," Phelon said. "What we have made an issue of is a need for greater transparency when it comes to the types of things he considers nonessential services and the types of things he wants to cut."

READ THE WHOLE STORY:  Rauner, Democrats disagree on short-term budget fix - Chicago Tribune

Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules - NYTimes.com

 

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business as secretary of state, State Department officials said, and may have violated federal requirements that officials’ correspondence be retained as part of the agency’s record.

Mrs. Clinton did not have a government email address during her four-year tenure at the State Department. Her aides took no actions to have her personal emails preserved on department servers at the time, as required by the Federal Records Act.

It was only two months ago, in response to a new State Department effort to comply with federal record-keeping practices, that Mrs. Clinton’s advisers reviewed tens of thousands of pages of her personal emails and decided which ones to turn over to the State Department. All told, 55,000 pages of emails were given to the department. Mrs. Clinton stepped down from the secretary’s post in early 2013.

Her expansive use of the private account was alarming to current and former National Archives and Records Administration officials and government watchdogs, who called it a serious breach.

“It is very difficult to conceive of a scenario — short of nuclear winter — where an agency would be justified in allowing its cabinet-level-head officer to solely use a private email communications channel for the conduct of government business,” said Jason R. Baron, a lawyer at Drinker Biddle and Reath who is a former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration.

A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, Nick Merrill, defended her use of the personal email account and said she has been complying with the “letter and spirit of the rules.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules - NYTimes.com

Does mayoral runoff mean return of 'Rahmner?' | Chicago

 

Several elections ago, what feels like a political lifetime, a wealthy guy named Bruce Rauner wanted to run for governor.

In those early days of 2013, Rauner knew he had to appeal to the far right to get through the Republican primary, while staying somewhat toward the middle to not alienate voters he would need in the general election.

That meant staying as far away as he could from an old pal — Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

As one of my colleagues, Neil Steinberg, once entertainingly put it: the two are like lovers who see each other at a party but have to pretend they don’t know each other.

In the thick of the Republican primary, Rauner’s opponents tossed Emanuel’s name at him like it was a dirty word.

They called him “Rahmner.” They accused the private equity investor of making Emanuel wealthy after Emanuel left his post as White House chief of staff. They brought up the fact that the two took fishing trips together at Rauner’s Montana ranch and that their families vacationed together.

A Sun-Times analysis showed the two shared a slew of wealthy, top-tier contributors, including some of the wealthiest businessmen in the world.

The pair’s fine tastes in wine were the subject of much scrutiny before the gubernatorial election.

Rauner eked his way through the primary and went on to win the general election by a comfortable margin.

Now, the tables are turned. It’s Rauner who is the dirty word in the Emanuel camp, as the mayor failed to reach the more than 50 percent needed to avoid an April 7 runoff against Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

The governor just proposed a budget that would mean $125 million in cuts to the local share of income taxes coming to the city of Chicago.

Emanuel angrily slammed the plan, saying, “Do not think you’re gonna do this — not only on the backs of families and children, but on the resources that . . . pay for our police and firefighters and first responders.”

Garcia said he didn’t believe Emanuel and wanted to make sure the public knew the mayor and the governor had a high-flying backstory.

“He and Rauner are good friends,” Garcia said after Emanuel’s comments on the budget. “They apparently share expensive wines together. They talk on a very regular basis. I’m sure the mayor had advanced notice that these cuts were coming down. The mayor should have ensured that the governor wouldn’t have the audacity to even think about draconian cuts.”

Voters’ biggest beef with Emanuel was over closing 50 schools and for his reputation for making decisions unilaterally. So now isn’t the time to be seen hanging out with the governor, whose budget proposes cuts to the CTA and other city entities.

One Emanuel supporter told me Tuesday it’s the mayor’s hard-charging style that make him the best equipped to push back — or negotiate with — the governor.

But Garcia supporter and progressive caucus member Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) argues the opposite is true.

“Rauner and Rahm are drinking buddies,” Munoz said. “They’re wine-tasting buddies. They vacation together. I mean, who vacations with someone that you’re going to call out for cutting social services? Chicago is a beer-and-brats kind of town — not a cheese-and-wine kind of town.”

Those are not-so-veiled references to Rauner and Emanuel having been photographed vacationing in Montana, with the mayor holding a pricey bottle of wine. Rauner revealed during the governor’s race that he belonged to a $100,000 wine club. Not good, if you’re trying to get away from the “Mayor 1%” image.

So will the “Rahmner” taunts keep rolling as Garcia pushes for an April victory?

Not necessarily. While it could help Garcia politically to bash Rauner in the short-term — there aren’t too many Republican voters in Chicago — it could create friction down the road should Garcia prevail in April.

“I would suggest not doing it directly about Rauner,” said University of Illinois political science professor Dick Simpson.

Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, said Garcia would be wise to focus any criticism on the proposed budget itself, its potential harm to the city and the fact that it could further complicate efforts to fund a large pension payment that comes due later this year.

“I don’t know that he needs to get into a fight with the governor,” said Simpson.

Does mayoral runoff mean return of 'Rahmner?' | Chicago