Well, I am back from a contract negotiation session between Cook County and the 15 AFSCME locals including ours. I have to tell you that what we learned today from Jaye Williams, the new CFO for Cook County, is that the County is about $200 million in the hole for 2011, because of the half penny sales tax rollback passed by the county board. Commissioners, swayed by angry anti-tax rhetoric from the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times editorial boards, voted to decrease the tax because they are under the mistaken belief that such a reduction in taxes will actually generate revenue – - even when there is no basis to believe this. Ask yourself this question: Would you drive outside the county to make a $1000 purchase to save $5? I think not.
While Todd Stroger fought to veto this rollback, his efforts were thwarted by a new state law passed during the fall veto session by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Quinn that reduced the number of commissioners required to override a veto from 15 to 11. 12 commissioners voted for the rollback and so a veto by the President would have been meaningless. So now we are going to be $200 million in the hole. Before we could take solace in the fact that the budget woes were with the City of Chicago and the State but not with Cook County. Now we can join the State and City of Chicago in having an unbalanced budget and revenue shortfalls.
What we do know is that there will probably be a new County board president next year and maybe some new commissioners as well, and what they will have to address is how we are going to make up for the $200 million reduction in revenue. It’s a problem that was solved — and now is back and not going away any time soon.
This rollback of the sales tax, championed by Commissioner Larry Suffredin, and supported by 11 other commissioners has dealt a blow to the County’s financial picture and will undoubtedly have a significant impact on our ability to secure a fair contract [read 'wages and good health care'].
PEOPLE ENDORSEMENTS
On December 15th, Joe Gump and I attended the AFSCME Region 1 PEOPLE committee meeting, (all AFSCME local presidents and PEOPLE chairs are voting members) and the committee voted to not endorse Commissioner Suffredin in his reelection bid. The same “no endorsement” was given to each commissioner that voted to rollback the half penny tax. The only candidates for commissioner that garnered our endorsement were:
Jerry Butler (3rd), Elgie Sims (4th), Deborah Sims (5th), Joan Murphy (6th), and Jesus Garcia (7th). Also endorsed for Assessor was Joe Berrios.
Similarly, based on the pledges by Dorothy Brown, Toni Preckwinkle and Terrence O’Brien to rollback the rest of the penny tax, there was no endorsement in the President’s race either. Did I mention we did not endorse Todd Stroger? His fight to veto the rollback was spirited, but too little, too late. If you haven’t made up your mind yet on who you will vote for in the Cook County Board President race, you should attend a candidate forum that is being held on January 12th from 6-7:30 pm at the First United Methodist Church at Chicago Temple. Also, there was no endorsement in the Sheriff’s race.
And the “no endorsement” theme continues in the State races as well. Neither Hynes nor Quinn will step up and support an income tax increase. Illinois is in dismal financial straits, ranking only better than California. The money has to come from somewhere and that is why HB 174, which raises personal income tax and adds services to the list of things that can be taxed, is the best solution to the state’s fiscal crisis. We need to support candidates who understand that cuts in services and wage concessions are not going to balance the budget. And that is why the state PEOPLE committee declined to endorse either Hynes or Quinn for Governor.
DAN GALLAGHER, Carol Pearce McCarthy Vacancy, Cook County
ANN FINLEY COLLINS, 11th Judicial Subcircuit, Cook County
PAMELA LEEMING,* 11th Judicial Subcircuit, Cook County
TERRY MACCARTHY,**Philip Bronstein Vacancy, Cook County
*Pamela left the office when appointed to the bench last month.
**Terry is a supervisor at 26th St and a former local member.
If you looked at your paystub and noticed that you are not contributing $4.20 of every paycheck to the PEOPLE committee, you can call me at 26th Street for information on how to set up your voluntary deduction that will fund this vital political voice for our union.
UNICARE
Many of you have been asking about the status of Unicare HMO, which decided to pull out of Illinois effective December 31, 2009. Today we learned from the County that next week, insurance cards will be sent to current Unicare members from a new Blue Cross Blue Shield plan that will have a network that will be comparable to but not identical to the Unicare plan. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, however, will be included in the network.
ARDC
Withall the activity of the holiday season upon us we need to remember that a condition of employment is that we are on the master roll of attorneys licensed and registered to practice in Illinois. Please protect your job status and complete the registration for next year withthe ARDC before it’s too late. Although, we are in discussions with other state and local governmental agencies about approaching the Illinois Supreme Court for reduced rates for government attorneys, we must still pay the same rates as other practicing lawyers. Please avoid the headaches by ensuring that you have registered and paid your dues to the ARDC. You can even register online!
THANK YOU to the HOLIDAY PARTY COMMITTEE
If you attended the annual holiday party at Moretti’s, you should know that the people to thank are Melissa Myer, Sara Spivy, Sarah Fransene and Kyan Keenan. The hit of the party, as anyone who attended can tell you, was the photo booth that allowed members to dress up using festive props and have picturestaken with friends and co-workers that they could take home and enjoy for years to come.
TIME CONSIDERED SERVED – MITT TO ISSUE
Last week, Bryan Bowen (26th) left our office for private practice in Columbus, Ohio. Bryan was assigned to the Felony Trial Division and had been an assistant public defender since June of 2004. We wish Bryan the very best.
Soon, Brian Healy, a public defender since January of 1980, will retire. Brian has spent almost twenty years representing the indigent accused in
the Maywood courthouse. His level of dedication, experience and skill will be sorely missed. Brian, Happy Trails to you too and thank you for your years of service to the citzens of Cook County.
Finally, I want to wish you and yours a very happy and safe holiday season!
In Solidarity,
K. S. Galhotra
President
