Progress Illinois

Deluged by the thousands of foreclosure cases that have clogged the Cook County court system, Chancery Division Presiding Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird made a bold move back in June when she called for a two-month reprieve on mortgage defaults. Despite her effort to buy homeowners time to seek mediation,  resources remain too scarce -- particularly for people from the low-income communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.

With the county pulling in millions in foreclosure filing fees, some local housing advocates are calling on Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to get creative and start redirecting that money toward mediation services. The local community organization Action Now estimates that the spike in $300 foreclosure filing fees has generated an additional $15 million for the county's coffers. Still, the Stroger administration has yet to allocate any of that money toward foreclosure prevention. "Why not use some of that money for mediation?" Marsha Godard of West Lawndale asked at a rally outside Stroger's office this morning. "At least that would give people a fighting chance."

It's no secret that low-income and African American neighborhoods have seen the highest concentration of foreclosures here in Illinois. "We saw someone getting put out on our way down here," activist Michelle Young of Austin reported at the rally. "This is about people losing their homes -- people who are moving out in the middle of the night because they're ashamed to say 'I'm having trouble with my mortgage.'" Watch:

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For those who haven't been following it closely, here's the latest news on the Democratic primary candidates for Cook County board president. As you'll soon learn, it's a messy, messy affair at the moment. 

Danny Davis
For months now, the 7th District congressman has insisted that he is "in" for county board president, despite simultaneously circulating petitions for reelection to Congress.  During the third quarter, Davis transferred $130,000 from his federal campaign account to his state coffers -- indicating a certain degree of seriousness.  Last Monday, he officially filed for the board president race.  But doubts about his candidacy persist, and for good reason.  As the Tribune's John Byrne reported, he also filed petitions for Congress yesterday. 

So what's the next move?  As Cook County Clerk David Orr told WTTW last week, Davis has until November 9 to drop out of one of the two races.  For the slew of candidates preparing to run for his House seat -- State Rep. Annazette Collins, Chicago Alds. Robert Fioretti and Sharon Dixon, Jim Ascot, Clarence Clemons, and Joyce Washington -- that decision couldn't come soon enough.

Todd Stroger
The incumbent board president created some suspense yesterday afternoon, waiting until an hour before the filing deadline to present his 22,000 petitions to the county clerk.  Not surprisingly, he had a tough time finding folks to circulate on his behalf.  From the Sun-Times:

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Private hospitals in Illinois have received their fair share of criticism for taking property tax exemptions with one hand and simultaneously turning away the uninsured with the other. The bad rap is well-deserved; in an April report, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) found that, in 2008, these facilities pulled in a collective $490 million in tax breaks for serving the poor last year while only providing $176 million worth of care (PDF). To put the figures in perspective, CTBA estimates that the excess tax benefit – $327.2 million – could have been used to provide medical care to an additional 47,836 Illinoisans that year. Meanwhile,  in shirking their obligation to the needy, these private hospitals are adding strain on the same public institutions they are intended to support.

One major problem is that the private hospitals do a dismal job of identifying those patients eligible for so-called "charity care."  The CTBA report details how this results in them racking up "bad debt":

By simply doing a better job of identifying patients eligible for charity care, the Hospitals Studied could have increased the amount of charity care delivered by $109.5 million, at no additional cost to such Hospitals. The Hospitals Studied reported a bad debt cost of $218.9 million. Bad debt is the amount of uncollectible hospital bills. Many hospital finance experts estimate that approximately 50 percent of hospital bad debt is owed by individuals who would qualify for charity care if they were identified for eligibility prior to going through the collections process. Accordingly, better identification of patients eligible for charity care would have increased the amount of charity care delivered by the Hospitals Studied by $109.5 million, with a corresponding decrease in bad debt.

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The latest from the Illinois electoral landscape ...

IL GOVERNOR

A poll released by the Paul Simon Institute on Public Policy late last week showed Gov. Pat Quinn with a sizeable lead over comptroller and Democratic gubernatorial challenger Dan Hynes:

Quinn:  33.9%
Hynes: 16.5%
Someone else: 14.2%
Don't know/No answer: 35.4%
MOE +/- 5/4%

Since our last 2010 round-up, this race has also seen its share of additional endorsements.  A week ago, Quinn accepted the backing of Rep. Phil Hare, who said that the "Illinois Congressional delegation finally has a partner inSpringfield, instead of a punch line."  Watch a video put together by the campaign: 

Today, Quinn is scheduled to receive the endorsement of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. Last week, that same union's state council announced their support for challenger Dan Hynes, who also received the endorsement of the sheet metal workers union.

IL SENATE

In the nation's Capitol last week, reporters spotted Alexi Giannoulias leaving the White House where he told them he'd been huddling with senior adviser David Axelrod to discuss the Democratic Senate primary. At this point, Giannoulias is leading in the polls and in the fundraising race, but doubts remain about his viability among the Democratic establishment in D.C. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported on that dynamic:

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Back in Springfield for the fall veto session, state lawmakers made measured progress yesterday on some legislative priorities we've been tracking for months. Here's a brief rundown of what transpired:

Campaign Finance Reform

The big news was that a House committee approved a revised version of the ethics package vetoed by Gov. Pat Quinn in late August. This bill (SB 1466), introduced by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), covers much of the same ground as HB 7. It also applies campaign contribution limits -- $5,000 from individuals; $10,000 from corporations, labor organizations and associations; and $50,000 from political action committees or other candidates -- to the election cycle rather than the calendar year, an improvement designed to protect challengers who don't file until close to the election date.

But Madigan did make one major, self-serving change that has reformers up in arms.  He stripped the $90,000 cap from party and legislative leader campaign committees to candidates, allowing himself to continue directing unlimited resources to his preferred candidates.

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The latest from the 2010 electoral landscape ...

IL GOVERNOR

This morning, Rep, Mike Quigley formally endorsed Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn in the 2010 gubernatorial primary, saying that "the best indication of future behavior is past performance."  Watch an excerpt from Quigley's remarks:

The Quinn campaign has also posted some highlights from UNITE-HERE's recent endorsement, which you can watch here.

U.S. SENATE

This morning, Republican Senate candidate and congressman Mark Kirk announced a $1.6 million third quarter fundraising haul:

Five-term GOP Congressman and Navy veteran Mark Kirk, the leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois, today reported his campaign set a new single-quarter fundraising record for federal Republican candidates in Illinois raising more than $1.6 million. That brings the campaign’s total receipts for the election to more than $2.9 million with $2.3 million in the bank.

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In the crowded field of Democratic contenders for Cook County board president, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) has stood out from the pack when it comes to defining and articulating her platform.  For months now, before potential voters and press, she has made her reform agenda quite clear.  Meanwhile, some of the other candidates still haven't provided their full view on the issues.

Most recently, Preckwinkle appeared on ABC 7 this past weekend, where she reiterated three ways she would break from Todd Stroger's administration: begin to roll back the sales tax hike gradually; make permanent the Cook County Health System's independent governing board; and expand jail diversion programs already being administered by the Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's office (including the Day Reporting Center, Sheriff's Work Alternative Program, and the Sheriff's Boot Camp). Watch as she talks at length about the last priority and emphasizes that back-end support for the formerly incarcerated should be a key component of any strategy to limit the county's jail population. It's a point she's been making for months:

For more depth, you can check out Preckwinkle's recent sit-down with Jeff Berkowitz, who has also interviewed incumbent Todd Stroger and challengers Terry O'Brien and Dorothy Brown.

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is not having a very good week. On Monday, court-appointed hiring watchdog Mary Robinson released a new report which found that the Stroger administration is violating its own anti-patronage policies by giving favored applicants a leg up.  (Specific practices include: providing test answers, waiving interview requirements, and ignoring criminal backgrounds.) Things got worse last night, when Cook County prosecutors subpoenaed some county financial records. What started as a probe into Stroger's controversial hiring of Tony Cole has apparently widened into what the Tribune is calling "questions about how the administration spent money and accounted for it."

As we wrote yesterday, reform in Cook County must begin at the top. To that end, board president candidate Toni Preckwinkle quickly released a statement this morning blasting Stroger and outlining how she would change the business of hiring if elected:

"Cook County government and its hiring process lack both transparency and accountability. Too often, county positions are not filled by the most qualified candidates, but by the most politically connected ones. Political influence in the hiring process has obstructed the efficiency of County government and strained the morale of County employees," said Preckwinkle. A candidate for Cook County Board President, Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (4th) has been vocal on the need to institute transparency and legitimacy in Cook County's hiring process, including all Shakman-exempt positions. [...]

"As Cook County Board President, I would work closely with hiring monitor Mary Robinson to ensure that policy practices are in place to prevent subversions of the decree." said Toni Preckwinkle. "Additionally, I will examine the hiring records over the last four years to determine if the Shakman decree has been honored."

As far as we know, none of the other Democratic candidates have statements out yet, but it is encouraging to see Preckwinkle take the lead.

Cook County politicians have been talking a lot about reform this week. First, a handful of officials unveiled a proposal that would finally force lobbyists to be upfront about their contracting connections. Then, suburban Commissioner Liz Gorman (R-Orland Park) made the common-sense suggestion that county employees shouldn't be handing out contracts to their relatives. The capstone, however, was the report (PDF) released by Mary Robinson — the court-ordered monitor keeping tabs on Cook County’s expensive patronage habit — as part of her ongoing hiring investigation. Not surprisingly, Robinson found that taxpayers are still forking over loads of cash to keep the county’s payroll padded with under-qualified, yet politically-connected, workers.

This is nothing new.  Reform-minded commissioners have, for years now, occasionally launched incremental efforts to clean up county government. Meanwhile, local reporters have regularly exposed the waste so common in this bureaucracy. But what's clear is that real change won't come until the board president's office makes a commitment to reform.  After all, even with her watching every hiring decision his administration makes, Robinson found that Todd Stroger's staffers continue to feed insiders answers on employment tests, allow favored applicants to skip job interviews entirely, and ignore criminal backgrounds. Stroger's brazen response? "[W]e don’t use clout in our system."

"Sunshine may be the great disinfectant," NBC 5's Steve Rhodes aptly pointed out yesterday, "but cockroaches are immune."  On that note, it was nice to see Democratic board president challenger and Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) voice support for the lobbyist sunshine ordinance noted above.  From a press release:

"Transparency is essential for efficient and effective government," stated Alderman Preckwinkle. "Though lobbyists are an important part of the system, they need to be held accountable by the citizens. This initiative guarantees the transparency that ensures citizens are able to hold their government accountable." [...]

"This initiative is a significant advance towards instituting the real and responsible change that Cook County needs," said Alderman Preckwinkle.

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The latest from the 2010 electoral landscape ...

IL GOVERNOR

In addition to receiving the backing of the SEIU Illinois State Council (which sponsors this website), Gov. Pat Quinn also rolled out endorsements yesterday from numerous elected officials, including Rep. Jan Schakowsky.  Watch a video put together by the campaign with clips from the Schakowsky event:

Here are the additional Quinn supporters announced yesterday:

State Sen. Heather Steans
Former Illinois State Sen. William A. Marovitz
State Rep. Will Burns
State Rep. Harry Osterman
Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin
Chicago Ald. Joe Moore
Chicago Ald. Mary Ann Smith
Chicago Ald. and 44th Ward Committeeman Tom Tunney
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Debra Shore
Laura Ricketts, Co-Chair, Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus
Brandon Neese, Co-Chair, 9th Congressional District Steering Committee
42nd Ward Committeeman John Corrigan
46th Ward Committeeman Tom Sharpe
48th Ward Committeewoman Carol Ronen
49th Ward Committeeman David Fagus

Furthermore, challenger Dan Hynes published his first Daily Kos diary late last week, introducing himself to members of that online community.  Read it here.

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