Obscure court case could hold key to schools funding reform

 

RICH MILLER ON SPRINGFIELD

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By Rich Miller

 

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Gov. Rauner attended a meeting last week of his "Cabinet on Children & Youth," but it's not known if he pulled aside one of its members, State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, for a little chat.

The Illinois State Board of Education is reportedly mulling whether to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed eight years ago by the Chicago Urban League. The suit essentially claims that Illinois' education funding system violates minority students' rights because a disproportionate number of those kids reside in areas with the lowest property wealth and also attend schools with majority-minority enrollment. They're basically getting shafted by the state, so they sued.

According to the Urban League's CEO Shari Runner, the ISBE "walked away from lengthy settlement talks that we held this summer." The group has filed a motion for summary judgment and Runner said last week it is "awaiting ISBE's response." Runner said the group hopes to "hold ISBE liable for implementing an unlawful and discriminatory school system."

A settlement would drastically alter the way Illinois funds its school system, with wealthier suburban and Downstate districts losing tons of state money. It would also preempt long-stalled legislative action on the topic.

Last summer, when negotiations with the Urban League were still apparently underway, Gov. Rauner impaneled an education funding reform working group and charged it with coming up with a solution to the funding inequities by the first of next year. So, the Urban League's civil rights lawsuit may actually be why Rauner imposed such an ambitious timetable.

What the administration doesn't want (along with a whole lot of impacted legislators) is to take the tricky solution out of the hands of the governor and the General Assembly and give it to a Cook County judge. But there's no guarantee that the governor's funding reform working group will come to an agreement. A deal is politically complicated because legislators who represent wealthier school districts also tend to oppose tax hikes. But they'll be forced to choose between losing state cash or voting for higher state taxes. Some might actually welcome judicial intervention to spare them this fate.

Word from inside is that some ISBE legal staff are urging board members to settle the suit. The board's chief legal counsel, for instance, is a former Chicago Public Schools chief of staff. The city's school system filed an amicus brief years ago supporting the Urban League case.

Perhaps more importantly, though, a massive amount of supporting data has been compiled since the suit was brought all those years ago, mainly because of state Sen. Andy Manar's constant push to reform the system. The plaintiffs might be able to make their case more easily now than they could when their suit was filed. So, the logic goes, a settlement would be far better than a loss.

Superintendent Smith has made no bones about the fact that the state's funding system is archaic and harmful to minority children, but he apparently hasn't spoken up in the last couple of private board meetings when members discussed the litigation, and one board member swears Smith is not communicating directly with members about the case. Still, rumors abound that he is driving the settlement talks.

Smith has recently upped his national profile by traveling the country to talk about various education issues. He is not a popular man within the administration for several reasons, and his generous employment contract caused the Rauner folks quite a few headaches last year. Some Republicans claim he's angling for a spot in a potential Hillary Clinton administration, which he has denied.

State Board of Education Chairman James Meeks, a former state Senator who pushed hard for education funding reform for years and was one of a tiny number of high-profile African-Americans to support Rauner's 2014 election, has reportedly not taken an official position on the litigation. Meeks is said to be suggesting that board members also talk with the governor's legal counsel to get another side of the issue. The board insists that Smith doesn't have the authority to settle the case on his own, and there's no indication at this moment that he plans to do so.

A settlement would also create a thorny political problem for Gov. Rauner down the road. A big chunk of his political base would get the short end of the stick, which won't go over well when he runs for reelection in 2018.

Ironically, the state government got itself dismissed from the case several years ago, so I suppose we could see the administration try to get itself back into the game if the ISBE decides to move forward with a settlement.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Above is from:  http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160930/NEWS02/160939984/obscure-court-case-could-hold-key-to-schools-funding-reform

Rail opposition builds in Winnebago County

 

Hillary Gavan/Beloit Daily News

Against the new route

Jerri Noller feeds some of her Angus cattle. The newly-amended proposed route for the Great Lakes Basin Transportation (GLBT) rail line would cut through her property at 5892 Shirland Road. Noller is planning a meeting for Oct. 3 in Rockton to organize people to oppose the rail.

Posted: Friday, September 30, 2016 4:00 pm

By HILLARY GAVAN Senior staff writer |

ROCKTON — With the Great Lakes Basin Transportation (GLBT)’s proposed rail route now planned to go through Winnebago County, residents are clamoring to organize and find a way to stop it.

Jerri Noller said she will be hosting a meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3 at the Rockton Township Municipal Building, 1315 N. Blackhawk Boulevard.

“We are trying to get ourselves organized and figure out what direction we are going to go and how we are going to do this,” Noller said.

Noller said she’s reached out to the Boone County group in hopes of getting advice on how to proceed.

Noller said the newly-amended route would cut through her cattle field on Shirland Road. The land purchased in the late 1980s has been a bit of a paradise for the Nollers, which they would be sad to let go through eminent domain if the rail is approved.

“We worked hard for what we have,” she said. “We moved out here for the peace and serenity.”

Noller said the peace in the scenic countryside would come to an end as she wouldn’t be able to raise cattle anymore and her neighbors would see their property values plummet.

“Land values will go in the toilet,” she said.

With high-speed rail, Noller explained there will be trains coming through almost constantly with intervals of only 15 minutes between trains. With Nygren wetlands nearby, she worries the area could be vulnerable to any potential chemical spills. Because of a film of oil and residue which forms near railways, she said it could make farming difficult.

She also noted Meridian Road is home to the largest aquifer in Winnebago County which could be susceptible to contamination in the event of a toxic spill.

Brock McWilliams, group leader for the newly formed Winnebago County Against GLB, said the upcoming meeting will feature petitions and is hoped to create a base which will disseminate signage.

McWilliams said he’s hoping the other anti-rail groups will attend and advise the newest group how to move forward. McWilliams said he posted a Facebook group on Tuesday evening to distribute information on opposing the rail in Winnebago County.

In Winnebago County, McWilliams said the rail will cut through wetlands, multiple farms, wildlife sanctuaries and be within a quarter mile of public lands and forest preserves.

“We have an area that has been unblighted by the economy. Why would you sacrifice an area which maintained its value and put a railroad through it?” McWilliams asked.

Above is from:  http://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/rail-opposition-builds-in-winnebago-county/article_63304cae-871b-11e6-8369-5f1852087b0a.html

THE Sun Times WATCHDOGS: Rauner-Madigan money trees sprouting millions

 

As the only Republican legislator from the city of Chicago, state Rep. Michael McAuliffe has known for the past year he’s a target.

“Democratic colleagues and lobbyists came up to me and said, ‘You better get ready because they’re coming after your seat,’” McAuliffe, whose district includes the far Northwest Side and adjacent suburbs, recently told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board.

McAuliffe has won re-election by comfortable margins since taking office in 1997 following the death of his father, Roger, who served in the Legislature for 23 years.

But this time, Democrats — led by House Speaker Michael Madigan — are marshalling far more resources to defeat him. And state Republican organizations — bankrolled largely by Gov. Bruce Rauner — are helping him fight back: More than $2 million has been pumped into the race between McAuliffe and Democratic challenger Merry Marwig.

It’s a big-money trend playing out in a number of legislative districts statewide.

McAuliffe vs. Marwig is one of three House races where $2 million-plus is being invested to try to win control of a single legislative district, according to the non-partisan Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

State Rep. Michael McAuliffe, left, and challenger Merry Marwig before the Sun-Times Editorial Board. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

At the same time, Illinois comptroller Leslie Munger, a Rauner appointee, received $5.3 million in donations last week alone, and Democrats are expected to respond with help for challenger Susana Mendoza, who’s backed by Madigan.

Both sides are capitalizing on loose campaign finance laws for the proxy war between Madigan, who wants to keep Democrats in control of the General Assembly, and Rauner, who has vowed to break Madigan’s lock on power so he can institute a pro-business, anti-union agenda.

The millions of dollars are moving through a web of candidate committees, political parties and super PACs, which are allowed to accept unlimited sums of money that they can use to campaign for or against candidates — as long as they don’t coordinate with candidates themselves.

Thanks to hefty infusions of cash from multimillionaire Rauner and his wealthy supporters, the Illinois Republican Party topped the Democrats by taking in about $21 million since July 2015, state records show. Liberty Principles, a super PAC supporting Republicans, took in another $10 million.

“I’ve witnessed and been part of campaigns where we’ve been outspent by two or three times by the House Democrats,” said Jim Durkin, the House Republican leader. “Now we’re competing dollar for dollar statewide.”

Over the same period, the four political committees that Madigan controls — including the state Democratic Party, which he chairs — have collected more than $14 million. The top donors, as in years past, are unions and their political action committees.

All that money is funding a political showdown over the future of state government.

Democrats currently hold veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate, limiting Rauner’s power. The focus of both Madigan and Rauner for now is primarily on the House, where a Republican pick-up of one seat could end the veto-proof majority there and demonstrate a weakening of Madigan’s grip.

“I think there’s a real opportunity for some surprises this year,” said Republican activist and radio personality Dan Proft, who heads the Liberty Principles super PAC.

Despite the state’s deep financial problems, many Democratic legislators “go to Springfield and they’re just a roll call vote for Mike Madigan,” Proft said. “People are increasingly getting hip to that, and they’re disgusted by it.”

Democrats say their funding comes from unions and lawyers who represent “working families.”

“How the 1 percenters make their money, we’re not even sure how,” said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown. “But we know that the funding for Democratic candidates is raised pretty much on a grassroots level.”

Madigan entered the House in 1971 and has served as speaker for all but two of the last 33 years. A leading source of his longevity — and the perception that he can’t be defeated — is his potent campaign fundraising operation.

By using multiple political committees, Madigan and his allies are able to gather more money from donors than would be allowed for a single committee under state campaign finance laws. Funds also are being moved from one committee to another.

That’s been the case with the campaign war chest of Rep. Kate Cloonen, D-Kankakee. Cloonen, who won re-election two years ago by just 122 votes, is on the Republican hit list.

As her race grows more heated and expensive — at $1.7 million and counting — her challenger, attorney Lindsay Parkhurst, has received support from Liberty Principles, Proft’s Republican super PAC.

While she fights for her political life, Cloonen’s committee also has become a piggy bank for others. In the last week, more than $300,000 in contributions to her have been redistributed to Madigan’s committees and other campaign funds, including those of several legislators in tough races.

Among the recipients: Marwig, who is challenging McAuliffe for the House seat in and just outside Chicago’s Northwest Side.

“They’re able to transfer money from one candidate committee to another, and that allows the candidates to sort of raise their max this election cycle from their regular contributors — and to get that money distributed to where the party thinks it should go,” said Sarah Brune, executive director of the Campaign for Political Reform.

The dizzying money transfers are happening on the Republican side, too.

During his run for governor, Rauner was the chief donor to his own campaign committee, Citizens for Rauner, giving $27.5 million. Since winning office, he’s poured another $17.8 million into that committee, including $5 million last week.

Since July 2015, Citizens for Rauner has transferred $21 million to the Illinois Republican Party. The party then gave $12.3 million to the House Republican Organization and $2.8 million to the Republican Senate Campaign Committee. All three committees subsequently used that money to support McAuliffe and other legislative candidates.

Additionally, Rauner has sent $2.5 million to Proft’s Liberty Principles group and $2 million to the Turnaround Illinois PAC, a super PAC led by allies of Rauner.

Turnaournd Illinois then transferred $2.3 million to Liberty Principles to support GOP House candidates including Parkhurst.

Through a spokesman, Rauner declined to comment. The governor has travelled the state campaigning for legislative candidates, but he has repeatedly refused to discuss his involvement.

The seeds of the Rauner and Madigan money trees contrast sharply, records show:

• Since July 2015, 20 of the top 25 donors to Madigan’s committees were unions or their political action committees. The top overall contributor was the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters PAC, giving $410,000 altogether.

• Madigan’s four committees sent money or other assistance to 64 political funds or campaigns, not including his own committees or those of unions.

• Madigan doesn’t just send money to other candidates – he also dispatches staff. For example, Kylie Kelly is listed on a recent state payroll as a program specialist for the General Assembly. She was paid $42,006 from July 2015 through July of this year by two Madigan-controlled campaign committees to work on 20 different legislative campaigns.

To compete with Madigan, Rauner has tapped his personal wealth and turned to other wealthy donors. They include:

Citadel hedge fund founder and billionaire Ken Griffin. | AP file photo

• Billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin, who gave $5.6 million to Citizens for Rauner during the governor’s campaign and $8 million after Rauner was elected. In August, Griffin donated $1 million to Liberty Principles. Last week, he gave $3 million to Comptroller Munger, the Rauner appointee who’s trying to stave off Mendoza.

• Richard Uihlein, the founder and CEO of a shipping supply firm who’s a prolific contributor to Tea Party groups and other conservative causes around the country. He gave $630,000 to Citizens for Rauner during the 2014 campaign and $2 million following that election. In June he sent $4 million to Liberty Principles, and last week he gave $2 million to Munger’s campaign fund.

Proft said Republicans don’t need to apologize for being funded by millionaires. “It’s an environment where people are afraid to put themselves on the line because of the culture of reprisal in politics in Illinois,” he said. “There are some people with substantial resources who, to borrow a phrase, want to turn around Illinois. There’s no shame in that.”

 

Above is from:  http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/the-watchdogs-rauner-madigan-money-trees-sprouting-millions/

Sheriff wants Boone County Board to approve 5-year, $18.5 million wish list

Sheriff wants Boone County Board to approve 5-year, $18.5 million wish list

Wednesday

Posted Sep 28, 2016 at 8:08 PM Updated Sep 28, 2016 at 8:08 PM

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By Susan Vela
Staff writer

BELVIDERE — Boone County Sheriff Dave Ernest has a five-year, $18.5 million wish list some County Board members wish they could ignore.

But Ernest wants more deputies, squad cars and a slew of other public safety requests that address the Sheriff's Department's aging headquarters and maturing equipment.

County Board members say they can’t afford any additional public safety costs while trying to scrape $2.7 million from a proposed $17.4 million general fund budget that would begin Dec. 1 for basic, day-to-day operations.

“If the budget doesn’t hold, you’re not going to see me vote for it,” said County Board member Brad Stark, District 3. “If the money’s not there, the money’s not there. It’s an old building. It is what it is.”

The county’s coffers aren’t what they once were. Since 2008, annual public safety sales tax revenue has declined by at least $400,000 to $1.4 million. Regular sales tax revenue dipped by about $330,000 to $1.5 million over the same period, and motor fuel tax revenue from the state has dropped by about $140,000 to $625,000.

Ernest is requesting two separate five-year capital improvement plans — $1.7 million for more deputies, capital and equipment and $16.8 million for a Public Safety Building expansion and renovation, including about $825,800 in structural repairs, new roof and replaced air conditioners.

The county shares the 41-year-old Public Safety Building, 615 N. Main St., with the city of Belvidere. It houses the Belvidere Police Department, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Boone County Coroner’s Office and a dispatch center serving both the city and county.

Ernest, who runs his agency with an annual $3.9 million budget, was not able to immediately provide details of the proposed expansion. Half of his approximately 120 staff members work out of the courthouse next to the Public Safety Building.

“The expansion is in the five-year plan as just a reminder only, that an expansion is necessary sometime down the road — a constant reminder!” Ernest wrote in an email. “We are just out of space — the building was built over 40 years ago and both departments have doubled in size since then.”

In the $1.7 million request, he’s asking for 10 deputies, 20 squad cars, 60 radios, 13 semi-automatic Glocks, 36 computer laptops for the cars, evidence processing tools and K9 equipment.

Ernest said he had 44 deputies in 2008, six more than he has today. His squad cars are 2013 models with high mileage. The laptops are aging and require more maintenance. The radios are approaching their life expectancy.

“If we can kind of spread that out over a period of time, it’s actually cheaper in the long run,” Ernest said of the proposed purchases. “If the money’s not there, it really comes down to a priority list. We try to prepare the board and inform them as much as possible. The board has been very good with working with us.”

The county’s financial challenges are exacerbated by uncertainty over public safety tax revenues. County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said Boone County voters in 1999 approved a one-half percent sales tax to pay off bonds used to finance construction of a jail. He said voters were told the tax would retire in 2018, but that’s not in the referendum language.

“It’s really up to the board in 2018 to address that,” Terrinoni said.

Some board members also are satisfied with the sheriff's services.

“I think Boone County residents should and do feel safe in their community,” said Karl Johnson, chairman of the board’s Finance, Taxation & Salaries Committee.

That contentedness stretches into other communities, including the village of Poplar Grove.

Poplar Grove once contracted with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office for $150,000 a year but not anymore because of financial challenges.

“We work with the sheriff all the time,” Poplar Grove Administrator Diana Dykstra said. “We’re very satisfied. The communication has been outstanding with the sheriff’s department.”

Belvidere Police Chief Jan Noble still hopes the sheriff can make some headway. He said the dispatch center isn’t equipped to receive video and texts from community members.

“The equipment is becoming outdated and does not meet the standard for the next generation,” Noble said. "Imagine having a video of a fleeing vehicle with a license plate or maybe a video from a house on fire or a business on fire."

Voters in 2008 twice rejected a sales tax increase to pay for a $13.5 million buildout and renovation of the Public Safety Building.

Susan Vela: 815-987-1392; svela@rrstar.com; @susanvela

Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160928/sheriff-wants-boone-county-board-to-approve-5-year-185-million-wish-list

Fiat Chrysler supplier chooses Beloit

 

Thursday

Posted Sep 29, 2016 at 7:06 PM Updated at 12:03 AM

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By Brian Leaf
Staff writer

BELOIT, Wis. — An Ohio company that will supply components to Fiat Chrysler Automotive's Belvidere plant is moving to a facility on industrial property here, giving Wisconsin an economic development win in a border war with Illinois.

Toledo Molding and Die Inc., will bring 118 jobs to Wisconsin Stateline Industrial Park, at Willowbrook and Stateline Roads near Interstate 90/39, where in May Hendricks Commercial Properties started construction on a building without a tenant.

Toledo, which has nine facilities around the country, will make plastic interior and air and fluid management systems for the Jeep Cherokee, the new model that will be assembled in Belvidere.

Although land is available in Illinois closer to Belvidere, developers have avoided putting up spec buildings in recent years, despite what regional economic development groups have characterized as a shortage of new industrial space here.

The 105,000-square-foot building will be ready in November, just as Cherokee production ramps up.

..

“This building is the prototype for similar industrial development projects we are in the process of starting across the country so we are pleased to see how well it has been received here," Rob Gerbitz, CEO of Hendricks Commercial Properties, said in a news release.

There will be vacancies in and around the Belvidere plant in coming months as current Fiat Chrysler suppliers move out as production shifts to the Jeep Cherokee. But inventory is tight for companies looking for modern space they can occupy immediately.

“That’s true,” said Jarid Funderburg, executive director of Growth Dimensions, which provides economic development marketing to Belvidere and Boone County. “When it comes to modern industrial facilities, we just have very little vacancy.”

Fiat Chrysler was scheduled to end production in Belvidere of the Dodge Dart last month and is scheduled to stop building the Jeep Compass and Patriot in December. Cherokee production is expected to start late this year and ramp up toward capacity in 2016.

In recent years there has been fierce competition between Illinois and Wisconsin for economic development along the state borders.

During its negotiations with the city of Rockford over the $585 million hospital campus it was planning at Interstate 90 and West Riverside Boulevard this year, Mercyhealth threatened to move the campus to industrial land in Beloit. But an agreement was reached to keep Mercyhealth here.

In 2006, office supply company Staples Inc. put a huge fulfillment center just across the border in Wisconsin.

Andrew Janke, executive director of the Greater Beloit Economic Development Corp., said one of the ways the city of Beloit competes is by owning shovel-ready industrial sites that it will sell for $1 to a developer or end user who brings jobs and investment to the area.

Janke said that while Toledo may have chosen Beloit, the creation of 188 jobs will have economic tentacles along the I-90/39 corridor.

“We like to say our workforce extends from Madison to Belvidere,” Janke said. “Of course, we hope a tremendous number of those jobs are held by Beloiters. But at the end of the day, jobs will also go to people from Janesville, Clinton, Belvidere, Roscoe, Rockton, Rockford and other areas.

“These large economic development projects benefit the entire region.”

Brian Leaf:

 

Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/news/20160929/belvidere-fiat-chrysler-supplier-chooses-beloit

Size, Speed and Number of GLB trains requested by Government

 

Below is from:  https://www.stb.gov/ect1/ecorrespondence.nsf/PublicOutgoingByDocketNumber/81054FA67A25833D85258029004DBA88/$File/EO-2846.pdf?OpenElement

Rail line opponents want new chance to comment

 

An attorney representing several groups across the Midwest opposed to Great Lakes Basin Transportation's proposal for a freight train line is asking a federal agency to re-open a public comment period now that GLBT filed an alternate route.

In a Sept. 23 letter to Victoria Rutson, director of the Office of Environmental Analysis, Chicago attorney Thomas McFarland asks for a 77-day window for public comment.

The timeframe, he notes, is how long it took GLBT to respond to a request for an alternate route. That timeframe included a three-week extension.

"Procedural fairness dictates that there be a public comment period in regard" to GLBT's response, McFarland wrote. "The comment period should be commensurate with the time that was consumed by GLBT in filing its response…. A similar period should be allowed for public comment."

McFarland also notes that GLBT's filing, made Sept. 20 and including 24 documents, "is very lengthy and detailed," and includes substantive changes from GLBT's initial route. GLBT officials said in the filing that the new route was their preferred one.

"There are many people who are newly affected or affected in different ways by the new route, and in order to have a complete scope of the new impacts, their voices should be heard," said Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, whose Porter Township property would be bisected by the route.

An official with the Surface Transportation Board, which oversees the Office of Environmental Management, confirmed Monday that the OEA received the letter and said OEA officials are considering the request.

 

GLBT's proposal, at $8 billion using private funds, would be the largest new rail line in recent times and is meant to provide a bypass for Chicago's congested rail yard and take trucks off the road. The route, from Milton, Wis., into LaPorte County, will have the capacity for up to 110 trains a day.

Mike Blaszak, attorney for GLBT, said he had not seen McFarland's letter and declined to comment.

McFarland is representing opposition groups in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, including Residents Against Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, or RAILED, in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.

The OEA held a series of public meetings in the spring about GLBT's initial proposed route. Citizens and officials in all three states potentially affected by the freight train line also submitted more than 3,900 comments about that initial route. The STB twice extended the public comment period, which ended July 15.

All of the comments will be taken into consideration for an environmental impact statement. Ultimately, the STB will decide whether GLBT's plans go forward as suggested, on an alternate route, or not at all. McFarland also filed a motion in mid-July asking the STB to adopt a "no-build" alternative.

The alternate route filed last week shaved 21 miles off the initial route, takes it further away from Lowell Middle School, and runs south of Westville instead of through the city limits.

Modifications also were made to the route in Illinois and Wisconsin, but it is unchanged as it runs through southern Porter County.

"With the newly affected areas and yet more negative issues than previously existed, an additional comment period would be the right thing for the STB to do," said Eagle Creek Township resident Linda Cosgrove, adding the environmental impact statement would be flawed without additional comment. "The landowners know their properties and surrounding areas better than anyone and should be given the right to comment. If the STB wants to be transparent, they need to grant this."

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Copyright © 2016, Post-Tribune

Above is from:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-rail-opposition-st-0928-20160927-story.html