The good news: \u00a0Michael Madigan and Pat Quinn do not yet have the votes to make permanent the \u201ctemporary\u201d tax hike. \u00a0Enough Democrats are standing their ground and holding to their promises, rather than buying Madigan\u2019s line that keeping promises is for suckers (well, paraphrased). <\/p>\n
They\u2019re not giving up, though. \u00a0The latest, according to today\u2019s Tribune, is to create a budget reflecting the scheduled tax rate, in order to \u201cpressure recalcitrant Democrats by showing them what they\u2019ll be giving up if they don\u2019t vote to make permanent what was billed as a temporary income-tax increase in 2011.\u201d \u00a0And, of course, you know this time-honored tactic will play the game of making the cuts the most punitive ones possible, to make the 5% rate appear unavoidable. \u00a0(Small favors: \u00a0in Illinois the property tax funding for schools works by determining the school district\u2019s budget, with a population growth + CPI cap, then backing into a tax rate per household based on the assessments, rather than the fixed millage rate back in Michigan, which always meant the schools had to seek millage increases \u2014 and always played games of cutting arts and sports rather than administration.)<\/p>\n
What\u2019s really appalling is how dead set the leadership is on this 5% rate. \u00a0Quinn\u2019s plan includes a trade-off of \u201crebating\u201d property taxes at the rate of $500 per household as a sweetener. \u00a0Now the Tribune reports that Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook, has proposed that gas sales tax money be diverted to fund construction projects rather than going into general revenue \u2014 in other words, proposing that the state use a part of the \u201cextra\u201d revenue to fund more spending rather than avoid spending cuts.<\/p>\n
Also in the news: \u00a0the State Board of Elections is claiming that the \u201cindependent maps\u201d redistricting amendment has too few valid signatures, a rate of 40% based on its initial sample, where the organizers believe they\u2019re at the 60% level. \u00a0Or, in the words of the e-mail sent to me as part of a mass distribution list:<\/p>\n
This week, we saw the state running a rushed, uneven and behind-closed-doors signature validation process.\u00a0 The result of that flawed process was the inaccurate claim that we didn\u2019t collect enough signatures.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s time for a fact-check: We have more than enough valid signatures to earn our rightful place on the ballot. We know our validity rate is above 60% because we conducted random samples on every petition that came in our door.\u00a0 Only a flawed review process from the State could have led to a result so biased against us, but now we are fighting back. Our field team is working hard to set the record straight by rehabilitating the supposedly \u201cinvalid\u201d signatures.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here\u2019s some of what we saw this week: \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State Board of Elections staff encouraged validators to rush through review, with a supervisor in the Chicago office repeating the directive time and time again.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The State Board failed to give staff instructions for how exactly to examine signatures. That meant each validator used his or her own criteria for determining if petition signatures matched. Consequently, we saw wide fluctuations in validity rates per validator.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State Board of Elections staff reviewed numerous petitions after the close of business, and without notice to the Independent Maps campaign.\u00a0 It was literally a back-room process.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Broken government has led us to this point, but that\u2019s exactly why this campaign is so crucial for our state. This fight is far from over, and we are confident we will make it to the November ballot. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This campaign will continue to stand up for the work that we all did over the past year and look forward to victory on Election Day. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Onward!\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Michael Kolenc<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The good news: \u00a0Michael Madigan and Pat Quinn do not yet have the votes to make permanent the \u201ctemporary\u201d tax hike. \u00a0Enough Democrats are standing their ground and holding to their promises, rather than buying Madigan\u2019s line that keeping promises is for suckers (well, paraphrased). They\u2019re not giving up, though. \u00a0The latest, according to today\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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