Feb. 19--Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield.
Topspin
Gov. Bruce Rauner marked his 60th birthday at a middle school a few miles outside Springfield, where he signed an executive order creating more coordination between state agencies that deliver services to kids.
The governor's staff made sure the occasion was known by planting a question in the audience of eighth-graders. Asked by a student why the day was a special one, Rauner chuckled and joked that he was at "the official entrance of old age."
Rauner said he'd celebrated the milestone birthday last weekend with his family, who gave him funny cards, including one with the punchline, "Hard Day's Nap" -- a play on the Beatles song, a reference lost on the gymnasium full of middle school kids.
Rauner fielded a range of other questions from the students, including inquiries about what he does as governor, and why the state hasn't raised taxes.
He said state government exists to provide highways, school funding, public health care and public safety, and said the governor's job "is to recruit the people to come in to help manage that whole process."
Rauner also offered a critique of the democratic process, saying political pressure has led the state into its financial mess.
"One of the flaws with democracy is, democracy is kind of about doing what's popular," Rauner said. "If you really want to do something superpopular, you spend a lot of government money and you never raise taxes. Well, what we've been doing in Illinois is a lot of popular stuff and delaying as much as possible, raising taxes to pay for it."
State government is currently spending money at a higher rate than it did last year and is on track to amass a $10 billion pile of unpaid bills by the end of June. Rauner on Wednesday proposed a budget that would spend billions more than the state is set to collect, and did not specify how he would cut spending to make the books balance, much like Democrats sent him a budget last year that was billions short. (He vetoed nearly all of it.)
Speaking to the eighth-graders, Rauner described his dispute with Democrats, which is at the core of the state's current financial mess, as "a little bit of a disagreement" over taxes and spending.
"We're trying to get a change in the structure so we have balanced budgets all the time instead of always unbalanced budgets and we stop spending too much, borrowing a lot and then raising taxes to try to cover it later," Rauner said. (Kim Geiger)
What's on tap
*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will appear at a ComEd training center ribbon-cutting in Bridgeport, speak at an African-American college-fund lunch and speak at the anniversary celebration of the Pullman National Monument.
*Gov. Rauner will be at a high school in Lombard to discuss unfunded mandate legislation in the morning and appear at a salute to African-American veterans in the Thompson Center in the afternoon.
*The Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate will have their third and final debate (and the first not involving a newspaper editorial board) at ABC-owned WLS-Ch. 7. Live stream here at 7 p.m. and on regular TV at 10:35 p.m. It's the only scheduled broadcast debate among U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, former Chicago Urban League CEO Andrea Zopp and state Sen. Napoleon Harris.
*A group pushing to have the state release money for universities and community colleges brings its news conference tour to the University of Illinois at Chicago on Friday morning.
What we're writing
*Rauner's education agency launches look into CPS finances.
*State budget impasse impacts Catholic Charities.
*Chicago Plan Commission advances redevelopment of Lathrop Homes.
*Lawsuit filed over Chicago lead water pipes. Earlier Tribune investigative story.
*Home-state president honors hometown hockey team at White House.
*Chicago Black Lives Matter activist declines White House invite.
What we're reading
*City Hall throws Desiree Rogers under the bus for tourism chief's departure.
*An update on the lawsuit against ex-Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford (h/t @AmandaVinicky).
*Government and politics stories a good way to spend your 10 free clicks each month.
*DuPage jail inmate mad jailers lost his Mr. Froggy.
From the notebook
*CTU contract talk update: Talks between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Board of Education are ongoing, a union attorney said Thursday after the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board rejected a union effort for salary increases mandated by its expired labor contract.
"I think there's still significant differences, things that divide us," union attorney Robert Bloch said.
Union leaders will meet to get some direction this weekend with a larger CTU bargaining team that unanimously rejected a CPS contract offer.
"We'll make another go at it next week," Bloch said. "I think there's a lot of ideas being floated, and I think we have to ascertain if we can find common ground."
The earlier offer from Chicago Public Schools barred economic layoffs, included some moderate pay increases and put a limit on the number of privately run charter schools. Union leaders deemed it a "serious offer" before it was rebuffed early this month by the union's "big bargaining team."
After the union's rejection, the district said it would end its practice of shouldering the majority of teacher pension contributions as early as next month and cut $85 million from school budgets this year. (Juan Perez Jr.)
*Ribbing Rahm: Mayor Emanuel attended the Local Initiatives Support Corporation Chicago's annual neighborhood development awards on Thursday night, where he formally announced his new plan to charge downtown developers extra for high-density projects and funnel that money into the city's most economically depressed neighborhoods.
Before he took the stage, Emanuel found himself on the receiving end of some ribbing from award winner Ghian Foreman.
Foreman received the PrivateBank Norman Bobins Leadership Award for his work as the executive director of the Greater Southwest Development Corp. Foreman joked that as a developer on the Southwest Side, he has 10 aldermen he has to work with but likes them all equally.
Then he turned his attention to Emanuel, noting that the mayor had selected him to serve on the Chicago Police Board. The citizen-led panel now finds itself at the center of the city's policing scandal and is interviewing candidates to replace fired former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
"Mayor Emanuel, you appointed me to the Police Board. I'm not sure if I should thank you or not," Foreman said to the loud roar of laughter from hundreds packed into a ballroom at the Hilton Chicago. (Bill Ruthhart)
*About that Foxx ad: It turns out that the unseen little girl reciting the Lord's Prayer in Cook County state's attorney candidate Kim Foxx's TV ad is her 9-year-old daughter, Kendall.
Mom revealed that tidbit during a speech at the City Club of Chicago on Thursday.
"She didn't get any face time, that's why she's here," Foxx said to much laughter, as her husband, Kelley, and Kendall sat at a table near the front of the room.
During the speech, Foxx played up her experience as both a public guardian and prosecutor in the juvenile justice system, contending that's where the "tough calls" are made about whether to put kids in foster care or prosecute them. "If we simply wait for people to enter our adult court systems to care about them, we have lost the battle," Foxx said.
Foxx and Donna More, both former prosecutors, are challenging two-term State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in a race that has drawn national attention because of the controversy surrounding the police dash-cam video of Laquan McDonald being shot by a Chicago cop. (Hal Dardick)
*Motorcyclists rev up for Noland in IL-8: Another day, another endorsement in the Democratic primary contest for the nomination in the northwest and west suburban 8th Congressional District.
On Thursday, ABATE of Illinois endorsed state Sen. Mike Noland of Elgin. It's a politically active group best known for keeping Illinois from adopting a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. ABATE stands for A Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education.
"I am proud of my record of standing up for the rights of motorcycle riders and ensuring that they can be on our roads in a safe manner," Noland said. "ABATE (of Illinois) members take a very active role in the legislative process, and I appreciate their advocacy on behalf of conservation efforts and promoting safe roads throughout our state."
Also seeking the nomination is Schaumburg businessman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Villa Park Village President Deb Bullwinkel. The seat is open since current Rep. Duckworth is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. (Rick Pearson)
*The Sunday Spin: On this week's show, Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson's guests include Tribune state government reporter Kim Geiger on the governor's budget speech; Dave Tretter, president of the Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities; and David Merriman, a budget expert and professor at the University of Illinois. The "Sunday Spin" airs from 7-9 a.m. on WGN-AM 720. Listen live here.
Follow the money
*A D.C. electrical workers union fund gave $30,000 to veteran Democratic state Rep. Dan Beiser of Alton, who so far doesn't have a Republican opponent this fall.
*Track campaign contribution reports in real time with this Tribune Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ILCampaignCash
Beyond Chicago
*Presidential race, Republican side: Trump vs. the Pope
*Presidential race, Democratic side: Major Nevada union not taking sides in caucus.
*Obama skipping Scalia's funeral.
*Poland's Lech Walesa was paid informant for communists he later fought, papers show.
