QUOTE OF THE DAY
NBC Chicago: Quinn Approves Same-Day Voter Registration in Illinois
Gov. Pat Quinn has approved same-day voter registration in Illinois, stoking criticism from Republicans who dismiss the move as a political tactic to entice Democratic voters to the polls in November.
The incumbent Democrat, running for re-election this year against GOP challenger Bruce Rauner, signed the same-day bill into law on Tuesday. It holds only for the Nov. 4 elections but backers want to continue the plan past that date, if a trial run is successful.
The measure allows Illinoisans to register to vote and submit a ballot on the same day. It also provides extra time to cast early ballots and removes a requirement to bring photo ID in order to vote ahead of time. What’s more, it makes it easier for students attending Illinois state universities to vote on campus: College kids are now allowed to transfer their place of residence from, say, their parents’ homes to their new school addresses.
Wall Street Journal: Free Speech and Labor Dues
The media swarm focused on the Supreme Court’s religious liberty decision (see above), but don’t be surprised if Monday’s ruling in Harris v. Quinn turns out to be far more consequential. A five Justice majority put new limits on the power of government to coerce union dues and fees from American workers.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority that Illinois violated the First Amendment rights of Pamela Harris and seven other home health-care workers when the state forced them to join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). About a dozen states have dragooned hundreds of thousands of home workers who receive Medicaid payments into paying union dues.
In Illinois some 20,000 independent contractors and family members caring for loved ones have had to pony up around $10 million in fees each year to the SEIU. That money is then used to re-elect politicians who vote to expand union pay and pensions, as well as Medicaid payments that the SEIU also gets a share of.
Chicago Tribune: Quinn’s IDOT chief resigns amid patronage questions
The head of the Illinois Department of Transportation has resigned following questions about political hiring at the agency, a move that could save Gov. Pat Quinn further political embarrassment as he seeks a second term this fall.
Out at IDOT is Ann Schneider, who Quinn appointed transportation secretary in 2011. The department came under fire in April after attorney Michael Shakman, who has long crusaded against patronage, asked a federal judge to investigate the agency’s hiring. Shakman argued positions were being “filled with employees based on political considerations rather than qualifications.”
Shakman’s allegations focus on an investigation conducted last year by the Better Government Association, a watchdog group that more recently found Schneider’s stepdaughter was hired by IDOT in 2006 as a part-time clerical worker but was later promoted to a full time post. At the time, Schneider served as IDOT’s director of finance and administration.
Chicago Tribune: State acquires Will County airfield in step toward new large airport
The state has paid $34 million to acquire a private airfield in Will County that occupies a small part of the almost 6,000-acre footprint that is envisioned as the first phase of a large commercial airport to be built in the south suburbs, officials announced Tuesday.
The transaction involving Bult Field covers 288 acres, including the airfield’s 5,000-foot-long runway, airplane hangars, a terminal and farmland near Monee, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The purchase increases the state’s land acquisition to more than 3,500 acres, at a cost of about $76 million, for the proposed airport, officials said.
The state has set aside a total of $100 million for land acquisition. Officials on Tuesday could not provide overall expenses to date on the project, which when completed would cost billions of dollars.
Chicago Sun Times: William Beavers’ tax fraud conviction upheld
Former Cook County Commissioner William Beavers’ tax fraud conviction has been upheld by a federal appeals court.
In a widely-expected ruling published Monday, the 7th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals found that Judge James Zagel made no significant errors in his handling of the gruff-voiced 79-year-old’s trial last year.
Even if the appeals court had ruled favor of the self-proclaimed “hog with the big nuts,” it would have had little effect: Beavers finished serving his six month prison service in May.
Daily Herald: Illinois union officials take stock after court decision
A union representing Illinois’ home health care workers took stock Monday of the potential for lost revenue and dues-paying members after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to public sector unions.
The High Court ruled unions can’t collect fees from home health care workers who object to being union-affiliated, arguing that taking so-called “fair share fees” violate First Amendment rights of non-union workers. The ruling was a financial setback to unions in Illinois and beyond that’ve bolstered their ranks by signing up hundreds of thousands of home health care workers.
The ruling impacts about 26,000 Illinois workers who help care for the disabled and elderly and are paid by Medicaid funds administered by the state. Roughly 70 percent are union members, according to Service Employees International Union’s Healthcare Illinois President Keith Kelleher. They pay 3.3 percent of their salaries for dues while nonmembers pay about 2. 5 percent in “fair share fees” to cover collective bargaining rights. The workers are eligible for collective bargaining under a 2003 executive order.
Crain’s: Companies warn of nearly 1,700 Illinois job cuts
Thirteen companies may cut nearly 1,700 jobs in the coming months, according to a new state report.
The biggest cuts are from commercial printer Quad/Graphics Inc., which is laying off 537 workers in far northwest suburban Woodstock, according to the June report for the Illinois’ Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN.
Sussex, Wis.-based Quad/Graphics is closing a plant there,according to reports earlier this year.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago alderman tries again to regulate BYOB
A West Side alderman is taking another stab at cracking down on Chicago businesses that allow patrons to carry in their own booze, but her latest plan would not affect the hundreds of BYOB restaurants in the city.
Ald. Deborah Graham began trying to regulate bring-your-own-bottle businesses last fall when a proposed banquet hall in her 29th Ward wanted to allow BYOB in a dry precinct. City Council colleagues balked at Graham’s first attempt, which would have ended BYOB in all businesses in the roughly 12 percent of Chicago precincts that are dry.
Several aldermen said last fall that businesses that lack liquor licenses rely on patrons being able to bring in their own alcohol to drive traffic into the establishments. Graham shelved the proposal and Mayor Rahm Emanuel said his administration would work on a compromise.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
