Subject: POLITICO Illinois Playbook: BUDGET progress in Springfield -- SENATE Dems advance school funding changeup -- KEN GRIFFIN’s very good, very bad day
From: Natasha Korecki <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 07:18:46 -0600

05/11/2016 07:30 AM EDT

By Natasha Korecki ([email-masked]; @natashakorecki) with Manuela Tobias ([email-masked]; @manuelatobiasm)  

Good Wednesday morning, Illinois. The wheels in Springfield are churning, with the so-called Budgeteer Group meeting in private on Tuesday evening and reportedly making progress in talks. 

That group (background here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb422ee259b4ea02e076ce6ffdee493c3a52614d74c4b7c022d2 is made up of appropriation leaders from both parties, and both chambers. On Tuesday, talk included the possibility of tax increases. 

The governor's office, too, has been meeting with the group and according to a Rauner administration official, there's real movement. "From the beginning of the process our office has been forward leaning in the interest of getting a deal," the official told Illinois Playbook. "The budget group is a place where only bipartisan, bicameral agreement can come forward. Folks with an agenda might want to advantage themselves by putting revenue ideas on one party but the group will only produce something that everyone can agree to." 

No huge surprises on the table here: The governor's office is willing to talk about revenue options but they must be paired with reforms. That's something Gov. Bruce Rauner has long discussed and the Republican first-term governor has backed off significantly from what reforms must be part of a budget package. The X factor, as always, is Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan. 

Madigan has repeatedly said he's wanted a mix of cuts and new revenue and has rejected pairing Rauner's turnaround agenda with a budget. But we are far away from the kinds of demands Rauner was making a year ago. We are also much farther in the hole on a bill backlog, pension debt, and we have a litany of social service groups screaming for help. 

What's promising about the Budgeteer group is that it includes some of the best budget minds in the state and was handpicked by the four legislative leaders and the governor's office. So everyone has skin in the game. We're told those who met on Tuesday were taking a day to digest productive conversations. 

Welcome to the POLITICO Illinois Playbook. Have a tip, event, announcement, endorsement? Send to [email-masked] or @natashakorecki 

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Senate Democrats, led by Illinois state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, advanced a school funding overhaul bill designed to bring more funding to needy school districts. What's its fate now? Manar talked to reporters in the Statehouse on Tuesday: 

Q: Have you talked to people in the house? Do you think you have support over there? 

Manar: We'll find out. 

On Republicans, Manar said: "The idea here is to stifle progress and to promote the status quo, which for some reason the governor on one hand admits is broken, but on another reason takes great steps and goes and to great lengths to protect it. So here's another example where we have a complete lack of clarity on the part of Governor Rauner on the most critical issue that faces the state today. So I'm disappointed by much of the debate where just flat-out false numbers were used and were stated during the course of what ought to be an above-board debate in the Senate." 

SENATE PASSES REFORM -- "School funding reform measure passes Senate; fate in House uncertain," by State Journal-Register's Doug Finke: "A school funding reform bill intended to direct more money to the state's neediest school districts narrowly won approval in the Illinois Senate Tuesday. The Senate voted 31-21, with three members voting 'present,' to send the bill to the House, where it faces an uncertain future. House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has formed a House task force to conduct its own review of school funding this year. Madigan also did not formally assign House members to a special task force two years ago whose work ultimately led to the bill that was approved
 Tuesday." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec89aafd217c1d14369889b33616a300207e6222e052abfa9a9e 

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE -- "Quit pouring money into unfair system," Decatur Herald & Review's Editorial Board: "While many Illinois school districts would welcome additional money from the state, there's a question whether it's wise to continue to throw more money into a system that is seriously flawed. That appears to be what Gov. Bruce Rauner and Republicans in the General Assembly want to do. Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, has been leading the charge for years to change the way public schools are funded in Illinois. The current system is grossly unfair, with rich districts spending up to $30,000 per student and poorer districts getting by on as little as $6,000 per student. The result is
 that students from low-income areas, which several studies have shown need more help in order to succeed, receive the least amount of help. The current system undoubtedly places more value on some students than others." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec89500063ba4439b5bc7f36d0c5b4a76aaf6ba35ccf48f8ab6a 

PAINFUL REVERSAL -- "City, school districts to return cash after state funding error," by Pioneer Press' Lee V. Gaines: "Evanston's two school districts will need to forfeit roughly a quarter million dollars each back to the state due to a calculation error announced last month by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The errors are part of a misallocation of $168 million worth of tax revenue dispersed by the state to local governments since 2014. About 6,500 taxing districts throughout Illinois were affected by the error and Chicago taxing districts were hit hardest. While Chicago Public Schools is on the hook for about $23.5 million worth of overpaid tax revenue, most taxing bodies affected
 by the error owe overpayments totaling less than $10,000." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec89a2d1d2fcef75f7b72b74926cdd3070a86e29dffdd7557e2c 

SCHOOL CLEANSES ITSELF OF DENNIS HASTERT -- "Yorkville HS removes Hastert legacy from halls," ABC7/Chicago: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec89e65271f59616756fb04d1d64baea11d0efe910173c3fdf6f 

GREAT DAY FOR KEN GRIFFIN! -- "Ken Griffin rated nation's best-paid hedge fund manager, again," by Chicago Tribune's Kim Janssen: "Add another superlative to the burgeoning trophy cabinet of Illinois' richest person, Ken Griffin. The Citadel founder has been named the nation's joint top-earning hedge fund manager in 2015 by Institutional Investor's Alpha, a trade publication that has been ranking hedge fund bosses for 15 years. Even though 2015 was Griffin's worst year since 2010, according to Alpha, he still raked in $1.7 billion last year. In what the magazine described as a difficult year for hedge funds, that was enough for Griffin to tie with Renaissance Technologies founder James
 Simons for the top spot." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec891333694132ba0439254c0d5e9e87f2794f7a34c8efd13890 

BAD DAY FOR KEN GRIFFIN. -- "Authorities Want to Know if Electronic Trading Giants Are Cheating Small Customers," by Reuters: "Federal authorities are investigating the market-making arms of Citadel and KCG Holdings, looking into the possibility that the two giants of electronic trading are giving small investors a poor deal when executing stock transactions on their behalf. The Justice Department has subpoenaed information from Citadel and KCG related to the firms' execution of stock trades on behalf of clients, according to people familiar with the investigation. 

"Authorities are examining internal data concerning the firms' routing of customer stock orders through exchanges and other trading systems, to see whether they are giving customers unfavorable prices on trades in order to capture more profit on the transactions, according to the people familiar with the inquiry. Under Securities and Exchange Commission rules, U.S. brokers are legally required to seek the 'best execution reasonably available' on orders, a standard meant to ensure that all customers get a favorable price and a swift trade." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec892aa666054f9cf3cfafad0c537ab542c8ffb183e78c13429a 

STATE NOD FOR SOUTH SIDE TRAUMA CENTER "U. of C.'s $270M Trauma Center Gets OK From State Regulators," by DNAinfo's Sam Cholke: "State regulators on Tuesday unanimously approved the University of Chicago's $270 million proposal to add a trauma center and more cancer care. The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted on Tuesday at its meeting in Normal, Ill., to accept the medical center's plan amidst a chorus of supporters the university bussed down for the meeting. 'The board's vote today will have a significant impact on our community,' said Sharon O'Keefe, president of the University of Chicago Medical Center." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6221e817835bec8914c3a808e69df73dc7b51353b09e59b875c398fca56636ea 

DETENTION CENTER CLOSURE MOVES FORWARD -- "Illinois to close Kewanee youth detention center despite objections," by The Associated Press' Sophia Tareen: "The leader of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice said Tuesday that the agency would forge ahead with plans to close a maximum-security youth detention center despite objections from a bipartisan legislative oversight panel. Director Candice Jones said the panel's advisory vote last week, where lawmakers suggested other uses for Illinois' newest juvenile jail, was 'disheartening," but it was hard to justify keeping the facility in Kewanee open. She said outcomes for teenagers have been poor and the state can now transition to
 smaller centers better proven to rehabilitate youth." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42ee59136386c74792ad71bff8b1f95b66ba30a2b0f9b087f2 

BUSTOS NOT HAPPY -- U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., had called on allowing the camp to remain open. Her statement on Tuesday: "Governor Rauner's decision to ignore the recommendation of a bipartisan commission of experts and eliminate 200 jobs in Henry County is devastating for this community. We had an opportunity to raise the bar by providing the highest quality care for the kids at this facility however Governor Rauner refused to give nearly 200 hard working men and women at the Kewanee Center a chance. My heart breaks for the families who are losing their jobs." 

FARMER'S WISDOM -- "'Farmer's advice to lawmakers: if you can't stop spending, become a private citizen," by Madison Record's Ann Maher: "Loren Klaus, 88, of Glen Carbon has sage advice for elected officials grappling with the state's fiscal crisis: When you don't have enough money to pay for things, you have to cut. In a recent submission to the Record, Klaus, a retired public education administrator who prefers the title of 'simple Illinois farmer,' diagnosed 12 ailments afflicting the state. His published letter was one in a series that the prolific author penned to this newspaper." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb4280390652c37b14e46743a5746eb8e8e8ada884cbd23a667c 

UNPLANNED IN THE HOOD -- "Planned Parenthood moves to city's west side after selling downtown building in 2015," by The State Journal-Register's Dean Olsen: "Not without controversy, Planned Parenthood of Illinois opened a new Springfield health center Monday in a new location - the city's west side - after selling its downtown building last year to make way for a future bus transfer center ... The move to 601 N. Bruns Lane, after $220,000 in renovations in recent months, surprised residents and business owners who learned they would be neighbors of Planned Parenthood only after signs were posted this past weekend." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb4218c7d863728e13362a4123cc65156a709e2d7730ed9408e9 

CITY  

100 YEARS FOR NAVY PIER -- "Navy Pier Ferris wheel has a name: Centennial Wheel," by Chicago Sun-Times' Stefano Esposito: "The 'soon-to-be-opened wheel will have temperature-controlled gondolas, flat-screen TVs and - gliding across the center hub, rim and spokes - an ever-changing light show, Murphy told a gathering at the Pier Tuesday. Its new name, announced Tuesday, plays off Navy Pier being 100 years old this year. 'We're going to use the wheel as a canvas,' Murphy said. 'We've asked our development team to design something different than just blinking lights [that] you could see at any wheel in any city.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb426c6e5d95c4981ea9d808bfaf9ce825d175e72c0b62d0ac54 

AVERAGE CHICAGOAN $37.4K IN COLLEGE DEBT -- "Chicagoans Have Brutal Amount Of Student Loan Debt (But It Could Be Worse)" by DNAinfo's Kelly Bauer: "Chicagoans are leaving college with a degree - and a ton of student loan debt. Chicagoans have an average of $37,445 in student debt, according to a study from WalletHub. That means Chicago ranks in the top 22 percent of United States cities with the most student loan debt. Outside of the city, people in Illinois who graduated from a four-year university in 2014 had an average of $28,984 in student debt, according to the Institute For College Access and Success. About 67 percent of those graduates had debt." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42c008805834e79289458764ffccf7e70924e4a6ce73b7fd70 

JUDGE OUSTED -- "State Supreme Court shocker: Cook County judge removed from case," by Chicago Sun-Times' Frank Main: "The Illinois Supreme Court has taken the rare step of removing a Cook County judge from a civil case, in which he sentenced a man to six years in prison for contempt of court. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the case transferred from Judge Daniel Lynch to the presiding judge of the law division of the Cook County Circuit Court, who will reassign the case to another judge. The order comes after one of the attorneys in the case alleged that Lynch was ignoring allegedly significant misconduct by opposing lawyers. The court offered no reason for removing the case." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb4223c2769b60915283cc1e8a24ab24e98f09d8feb1f1061273 

LOOKING FOR LEVERAGE -- "Preckwinkle's County Hospital rehab plan draws last-minute fire," by Crain's Greg Hinz: "Declaring that kids are more important than developers, Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin today moved to at least temporarily block plans to rebuild the old Cook County Hospital until the county finds more money to prevent gang violence. But County President Toni Preckwinkle immediately vowed to press ahead with the massive, $500-million-plus proposal to bring a hotel, apartments, shops and more to the Near West Side, a top priority for her administration. And Boykin hinted that he's not interested in obstructing the project as much as using it as leverage to fund things
 like summer jobs for unemployed youth in his West Side district." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42eb0c1198e5ed3384f6985f61fd764e67c748ba43694fcea0 

HOTEL COULD GO FOR $3.1M PER ROOM -- "Chicago's Soho House could sell for $125 million," by Crain's Ryan Ori: " The developers of Soho House have decided to sell the building that houses the hotel and private club, looking to cash in on soaring property values in the Fulton Market district. Shapack Partners and AJ Capital Partners have hired Jones Lang LaSalle to sell the 40-room hotel at 113-125 N. Green St., Shapack CEO Jeff Shapack said. He did not provide an expected price, but a person familiar with the property estimated bids could be in the $125 million range. At more than $3.1 million per room, that would shatter Chicago's record for hotel sales, although Soho House has other
 sources of revenue-including club memberships and rents paid by several restaurants and bars in the property-that make it different from a traditional hotel." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42c3520cffd5b3aae8426e4e817c2aa2e0e605db791e001a0e 

NO MONEY? RAISES ALL AROUND -- "DuPage County OKs pay raises for elected officials," by Daily Herald's Robert Sanchez: "A dozen DuPage County Board members will get 2 percent annual pay increases over the next two years to keep them in line with what their colleagues are scheduled to receive. But they won't get raises for fiscal 2019 and 2020. Meanwhile, several countywide officials will get annual 2 percent pay hikes during each of the next four years." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42bb072258de36d5a797da365431297d80e2ec90b45b77177d 

MOMENT OF LUCIDITY -- "Ex-Congressman Mel Reynolds Intends to Plead Guilty to Federal Tax Charges," by NBC Chicago's Phil Rogers: "Former congressman Mel Reynolds, in custody and awaiting trial on federal tax charges, has abruptly announced he intends to plead guilty. 'Under the circumstances of my confinement, I have no other chose (sp),' Reynolds said in a handwritten motion, mailed to U.S. District Judge John Darrah. 'It is more than clear that I cannot get ready for trial.' Reynolds, who is acting as his own attorney, had previously written Darrah from the Kankakee County Jail where he is presently housed, complaining of his accommodations and asking to be moved to a halfway house to
 better prepare for trial. At the time, he said he had suffered from chest pains, had briefly been hospitalized, and had been placed in a protective custody area for his own protection, because of his public positions against the Gangster Disciples street gang." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb4201a6fd459f771fdb09919a17e162ee090ede67548ebed96e 

GOING AFTER DUCKWORTH -- "Kirk Ad Hits Duckworth on 'Ethics Violations,'" by NBC Chicago's Tom Schuba: "Sen. Mark Kirk's campaign released a campaign ad Monday previewing Rep. Tammy Duckworth's May 12 court hearing related to a civil lawsuit filed against the congresswoman by former employees in the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth beat out former Urban League President and CEO Andrea Zopp and state Sen. Napoleon Harris in March's Democratic primary for Kirk's Senate seat. The complaint against Duckworth alleges workplace retaliation. Kirk's ad shuffles through a series of news reports detailing Duckworth's 'ethics violations.'" 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42bb40133fecc810a92b36a01b8377fad5ff9a5d1006871ff6 

SUPPORT FROM A DISTANCE -- "Walking a fine line, vulnerable GOP Senators 'support' their party's nominee, while staying as far away as possible," by Polimedia's DB Hebbard: "In Illinois, moderate GOP Sen. Mark Kirk faces an uphill battle to retain his seat against Democratic Re. Tammy Duckworth. But unlike Sen. Toomey, Kirk is not completely avoiding Donald Trump, saying he will support his party's nominee in the fall, while also staying very far away at the same time. When asked by CNN if he'll support Trump in the fall he said 'certainly, if he's the nominee.' ... but Kirk also said recently that he would be staying away from the convention in Cleveland, saying he would be working hard on
 his own campaign. Then a week after dropping that news said on a local radio show 'I've got to really do my hair that week.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb426b6f6632b737c47fce4a15e7546f36fa0d121b6a824bb747 

DUCKWORTH 'LIKELY TO SURGE QUICKLY' -- "Tammy Duckworth vs. Mark Kirk: Who Will Win?" by Chicago Mag's Carol Felsenthal: "'Salivating' is not too strong a word to describe the eagerness of Democrats to take back Republican Mark Kirk's Senate seat this year. The path to a liberal Senate-Democrats need only five wins to recapture control-runs straight through Illinois, making the neck-and-neck race between him and Tammy Duckworth an 11 on a scale of one to 10. A private poll conducted for Kirk in late March found Duckworth squeaking ahead, 42.7 to 39.6 percent. Still, if the 8th District congresswoman is tempted to measure for Senate office curtains, she has good reason: With an endorsement
 from President Obama and backing from deep-pocketed donors such as Emily's List, she's likely to surge quickly." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42af071b6b53fd342704c99c33a7f7765f5d0d2f7caf4f10d0 

TRUMP's TRASH TALK WITH HOWARD STERN -- "From playboy to president? Trump's past crude sex talk collides with his White House bid," by Washington Post's Mary Jordan: "Trump's crude talk on-air with Stern between 1990 and 2005 was part of an image the businessman cultivated as a Manhattan playboy who had so many women that he barely had time to sleep. He was often seen at trendy nightclubs with different women, appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine, wrote in his books about all the women chasing him and publicly boasted about his sex life. That reputation was useful as Trump, in his 40s and 50s, built a brand designed to equate his name with success and the high life. But it is
 problematic as Trump, 69, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, tries to wash away his tabloid past and fashion a more dignified persona - as a potential commander in chief and leader of the free world." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb025705f63afb42726bb9a1f51d6a7afec6101153422f08cfb7289671d587d0 

WHERE'S RAHM? In afternoon at Children's Home and Aid to talk One Summer Chicago 2016 job possibilities. 

WHERE'S RAUNER? In the morning, the governor and Secretary of Education discuss educational funding for upcoming school year in New Berlin. In the afternoon, governor Attends Interagency Committee on Employees with Disabilities Awards Ceremony Illinois State Library Atrium in Springfield then attends the Memorial Service for Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald. 

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