Rauner orders posting local government salaries online
Back in 2012, Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation that called for salaries of most county, township and city workers to be put on a website that already displays similar information for most state workers.
State Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said it was a simple move to let taxpayers know more about government.
It never happened.
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday used one of the executive orders of his infant administration to get the process moving.
Former Gov. Pat Quinn's administration never implemented the law, arguing it didn't have to because it wasn't given the money to follow through.
"The issues here are not only at the state level," Rauner said. "They're at local government."
Rauner says the executive order means the state's main purchasing agency will "help" local governments get moving on it. The order doesn't mention any deadline.
Bipartisan coincidence
Rauner announced the proposal in a news conference Thursday morning as Franks stood behind him.
It was the second news conference this week for Rauner and also the second that included a Democratic lawmaker. Tuesday, he was joined by state Rep. Scott Drury of Highwood.
"This is a real example of bipartisanship," Franks said.
Last April, Drury and Franks basically blocked a proposal from House Speaker Michael Madigan to raise taxes on people who make more than $1 million per year when the two announced their opposition. Madigan's proposal was widely seen as a shot at the independently wealthy Rauner.
Dold breaks with party
U.S. Rep. Bob Dold of Kenilworth was the only Illinois Republican to vote against a plan that would block President Barack Obama's recent immigration moves.
Dold said Obama's executive orders could "hinder momentum for actual legislative reform," but he didn't vote for a plan to take away the money to pay for Obama's actions.
"For far too long, Congress has shirked its responsibility to address this problem by passing sensible, bipartisan immigration reform," Dold said.
Veteran suicide
Legislation to help prevent veteran suicides was approved by the U.S. House again this week.
It was cowritten by U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, and supported by U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, a Wheaton Republican.
"Too many veterans return home from combat suffering from PTSD or other mental illnesses but never access the resources available to help them get well," Roskam said. "And, tragically, an estimated 22 veterans take their own lives each day."
The proposal would make it easier for veterans to find treatment options, among other things.
"As the nature of war changes, the injuries our warriors sustain also change," Duckworth said. "Increasingly, theirs are invisible wounds, which do not have simple treatment and do not always manifest immediately."
Congratulations from Topinka
Duckworth remains on maternity leave after the birth of her daughter in November.
On Thursday, Duckworth posted on Twitter that she had just received a congratulatory letter on stationery from Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka's office, dated Nov. 18.
Topinka died in December weeks after winning re-election in November.
Duckworth noted it was typical of Topinka to be so thoughtful.
Changing numbers
People engaged in the Springfield fight over school funding will need to change their fliers, T-shirts and buttons.
Suburban school officials had pushed on either side of legislation that would change the way state passes out money to schools, decrying the infamous Senate Bill 16.
When a new class of lawmakers was sworn in this week, that legislation became defunct.
Now, Senate Bill 16 could end up as a proposal about campus safety, not the school funding legislation that polarized the suburbs.
Democratic state Sen. Andy Manar, the legislation's chief author, has filed Senate Bill 1 to eventually carry the next version of his plan.