A state agency resisted passing along emission figures for a controversial Willowbrook company Gov. Rauner has an ownership stake in.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a Freedom of Information Act request last month with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency seeking emission data for Sterigenics, a Willowbrook company that has been accused of releasing carcinogens into the air. But the IEPA initially resisted passing along that information until being compelled to do so last week by leading Republicans in the General Assembly.
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It looks like Gov. Bruce Rauner got the government shutdown he wanted. The Illinois fiscal year began on July 1, and when that day dawned, we had no budget, and the government began to close down operations.
We certainly have fiscal problems, and they’ll require us to work collaboratively to make tough choices. It won’t be easy but I’m ready to do just that. Gov. Rauner was elected to do that too — to erase our budget deficit, pay down our pension debt and improve our bond rating.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner Asks Mayors to Support 'Turnaround Agenda' Phil Kadner April 1, 2015
Gov. Bruce Rauner is personally meeting with mayors throughout the state in an effort to get them to support his "turnaround agenda" for Illinois and put pressure on the legislature. But according to Southland mayors I spoke with, the governor is meeting with a frosty reception because of his threat to cut by 50 percent the towns' share of state income tax revenue and his demand that the mayors basically declare war on public employee unions. The governor's office has sent copies of a resolution and a supporting document to regional municipal groups (the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and Southwest Conference of Mayors, for example). The resolution is entitled "The Turnaround Agenda - Local Government Empowerment and Reform."
Click here for the full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-kadner-rauner-st-0402-20150401-column.html#page=1
ABC-7: Rauner's proposed 'Right-to-work zones' Meet Resistance in Oswego
March 31, 2015 Gov. Bruce Rauner's push to establish so-called "right-to-work zones" triggered a debate Tuesday night in southwest suburban Oswego. A standing-room-only crowd gathered as the largely pro-union audience gave the village board an earful. "If you support this issue, you are supporting the breaking of laws," said Hale Landes, a union worker.
http://abc7chicago.com/news/proposed-right-to-work-zones-meet-resistance-in-oswego/597914/
SJ-R: State Agencies to begin diverting 'Fair Share' Fees by Doug Finke
March 29, 1015
Chicago Tribune: Lisa Madigan seeks to intervene in Rauner's 'fair share' union suit Tribune Wire Reports March 9, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/chi-lisa-madigan-bruce-rauner-fair-share-union-dues-lawsuit-20150309-story.html
Chicago Tribune: Unions sue to halt Rauner's move to withhold 'fair share' fees by Monique Garcia and Kim Geige March 5, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/chi-unions-sue-rauner-over-fair-share-fees-20150305-story.html
In These Times: Billionaire Gov. Bruce Rauner Declares War on Illinois State Unions Through Executive Order by David Moberg February 9, 2015 http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/17614/bruce_rauner_unions
New Republic Article Republicans Think They've Finally Figured Out How to Kill Unions by Peter Moskowitz
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