Forbes: IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan's 'Friends and Family' $1 Million Patronage Pay Problem(s)
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has handed out $1 million in patronage pay increases since 2010. Her increases dwarf that of all other Illinois constitutional office holders. In Illinois, patronage employees are excused from the normal rules of appointment and firing of state employees. These lucky 109 “exempt” employees are the friends or personal hiring picks of the Attorney General.
This pattern didn’t start with exempt hires. Madigan’s “non-exempt” hires have also come under scrutiny. In December, the Chicago Sun-Times refreshed a 2012 story of For The Good of Illinois. Ronald Yawger was the Chicago Police (CPD) investigator who “missed” key evidence linking a Mayor Daley nephew to the punch that killedyoung David Koschman outside a city bar. In 2007, Yawger retired – but was immediately rehired by Attorney General Lisa Madigan as a Special Investigator. Since 2008, Yawger’s pay has been spiked from $53,195 to $119,745 (2013). Including his $77,000 CPD pension, Yawger now out-earns every employee in the Attorney General’s office.
Chicago Tribune: Most Chicagoans want to eliminate or cut back Emanuel red light program
Nearly three in four Chicago voters believe Mayor Rahm Emanuel should eliminate or reduce the city’s troubled and scandal-plagued red light camera ticketing program, a new Chicago Tribune poll has found.
Daily Herald: Glen Ellyn considering fee for shoppers who want paper, plastic bags
Shoppers who want to use a plastic or paper bag may soon have to pay a fee at some Glen Ellyn businesses.
The village’s environmental commission has drafted an ordinance calling for some retailers to charge their customers a fee of not less than 5 cents per disposable bag when they check out.
Points and Figures: What’s It Take To Make A Market?
The other day I blogged about physical versus cash delivery. It piqued the interest of some people and we delved into a conversation about what makes a market. There are lots of two sided markets that turn into massive businesses. Uber is just one of them.
Markets feed on themselves. They have network effects. But, they are incredibly hard to startup. Once they get going, they roll and usually get bigger than you expect. A few examples of companies I have invested in that are creating a two sided market are Public Good, Kapow Events, Dabble, Desktime, and Brilliant.
One of the things you learn in business school if they teach economics correctly is that markets are everywhere. Humans are rational. They make decisions based on costs/opportunity costs and they try to maximize their utility. You don’t need money to make a market. This is why I have the case study The Economics of a POW Camp on my side bar. It’s a seminal study in markets and marketplaces.
New York Times: White House Seeks to Limit Health Law’s Tax Troubles
Obama administration officials and other supporters of the Affordable Care Act say they worry that the tax-filing season will generate new anger as uninsured consumers learn that they must pay tax penalties and as many people struggle with complex forms needed to justify tax credits they received in 2014 to pay for health insurance.
The White House has already granted some exemptions and is considering more to avoid a political firestorm.
Mark J. Mazur, the assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, said up to six million taxpayers would have to “pay a fee this year because they made a choice not to obtain health care coverage that they could have afforded.”
Chicago Sun Times: Pension fix? We'll get back to you later
Before the end of this year, the mayor of Chicago — whoever that is — must make a very important decision about how to find more money to pay for city employee pensions.
But the five mayoral candidates who debated Friday before the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board either don’t have a solid plan or aren’t ready to share it.
You might think there would be no avoiding the issue that is sure to dominate the next mayor’s agenda.
Pantagraph: Rauner defends paying staff more than predecessor
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is defending paying his staff members significantly more than his predecessor, saying he’ll pay what he has to for top talent.
The Republican told reporters Friday that some of his administration hires from the private sector were taking pay cuts to work in state government.
The Associated Press found annual salaries of ten top staffers in Rauner’s administration outpace those of comparable aides to former Gov. Pat Quinn by roughly $380,000 — or 36 percent.