— NBC Chicago News | Ahern, M. —

Watch the video.

In the wake of a Legionnaires’ outbreak that claimed the lives of 13 residents at a downstate veterans home, an email released Thursday has Democrats fuming.

The email, obtained by WBEZ, was penned by GOP Illinois Comptroller candidate Darlene Senger, and says that Republicans should “maybe tie this back to (Senator Tammy) Duckworth,” who was the state’s Veterans Affairs Director from 2006 to 2009.

The attempt to tie Duckworth’s name to the Quincy situation was denounced by Democratic gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.

Pritzker blasted the administration of Governor Bruce Rauner, saying that he was outraged that there would be an attempt to tie Duckworth to what happened at the home.

“An article comes out that criticizes them, and their first reaction is ‘who can we blame? Let’s blame Tammy Duckworth,’” Pritzker said. “I’m outraged that they would blame anybody.”

Mendoza sounded a similar tone, criticizing the governor and his administration for trying to pass the buck.

“The governor and his people are incapable of acknowledging or taking responsibility for their own wrongdoing,” she said.

Senger, a former top aide to the governor, reacted to the release of the email, saying that “our veterans homes suffered from chronic underfunding that impacted the care our veterans received.”

Duckworth’s spokeswoman says the senator stands by her earlier statement, which read in part:

“Why are we wasting time on this kind of stuff instead of troubleshooting and (focusing) on what we need to do to prevent another outbreak.”
A taskforce assembled by Rauner suggested that lawmakers approve a $245 million plan to build new facilities in Quincy for veterans, but it faces an uncertain future in the legislature as Republicans and Democrats alike gear up for the 2018 election.

Senator Dick Durbin has said the federal government would likely reimburse the state for a significant portion of the plan if it’s approved, and Pritzker also seemed to endorse it.

“We should do whatever it takes,” he said.

Watch the video: Ahern, M. (2018, May 3). Democrats Fuming After Release of GOP Email Blaming Duckworth for Legionnaires Controversy. NBC Chicago News. Retrieved from www.nbcchicago.com.

The post Democrats Fuming After Release of GOP Email Blaming Duckworth for Legionnaires Controversy [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Chicago WGN9 News | Bradley, T. —

Watch the video.

The deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, Illinois, lit up the campaign trail Thursday.

As the Rauner administration and lawmakers wrestle with how to fix it, the blame game continues.

Democratic candidate for Governor J.B. Pritzker and State Comptroller Susana Mendoza attacked.

“Veterans deserve better than staggering incompetence that this administration has shown,” Pritzker said.

Mendoza set her sights on the Republican running to replace her as comptroller, Darlene Senger.

Senger is at the center of a controversial e-mail, first reported by WBEZ Radio. Last year, while serving as Rauner’s deputy chief of staff, Senger suggested spinning the Legionnaires’ outbreak, writing: “We can maybe tie this back to (Senator Tammy) Duckworth.”

“Who does something like that?” Mendoza said. “Governor Rauner’s handpicked candidate for comptroller, that’s who.”

Duckworth, a disabled war veteran, ran the agency that oversees the Quincy home under Governors Blagojevich and Quinn.

A spokeswoman for Duckworth told WGN News the senator is not going to dignify any of this with a response.

But Mendoza is demanding Senger apologize to Duckworth.

“It’s the most reprehensible e-mail that I think a public servant, or a so-called public servant, could send,” she said.

The Senger campaign declined WGN News’s request for an interview but said in a statement:

The simple, bipartisan fact is that for years, including the past Blagojevich and Quinn administrations, our veterans homes suffered from chronic underfunding …. If we choose to ignore the past, systemic failures to fund our veteran’s programs, then we are destined to continue to face these challenges in the future and that was the point of my comment…

The Rauner campaign also put out a statement saying:

Governor Rauner took immediate action to address the problems at Quincy….It’s shameful that JB Pritzker is playing politics instead of focusing on how to provide the very best care for our veterans.

The Rauner administration is proposing building a new $245 million veterans home in Quincy. Pritzker said he will personally call Springfield Democrats to urge them to sign off. But lawmakers sound less than certain they’ll ok the proposal.

At this point it’s anybody guess whether Democrats will sign off on Rauner’s proposed Quincy fix. Politics could dominate this issue that everybody says should not be politicized.

Watch the video: Bradley, T. (2018, May 3). Deaths at Quincy veterans home reach the Illinois campaign trail. Chicago WGN9 News. Retrieved from www.wgntv.com.

The post Deaths at Quincy veterans home reach the Illinois campaign trail [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Chicago Magazine | Sfondeles, T. —

Democrats J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza on Thursday demanded that Gov. Bruce Rauner and his policy chief issue an apology to Sen. Tammy Duckworth for an email that suggested blaming the decorated war hero and former veterans’ affairs manager for a deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak in downstate Quincy.

Despite the political pressure, Republican comptroller candidate Darlene Senger — Rauner’s policy chief — isn’t backing down on the blame game.

Mendoza faces Senger in her re-election bid come November. And while the problems at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy where 13 have died have been campaign fodder for months, an email obtained by WBEZ this week revealed Senger suggested blaming Duckworth, who ran the state agency under former Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich.

“We can maybe tie this back to Duckworth,” Senger wrote in a Dec. 13 email.

Senger’s campaign on Thursday said the “point” of her email was to show that there’s a need to understand how problems in the home started in order to find solutions.

“If we choose to ignore the past, systemic failures to fund our veteran’s programs, then we are destined to continue to face these challenges in the future and that was the point of my comment,” her campaign said.

Pritzker was joined by Mendoza and two state representatives who also are veterans — Linda Chapa La Via, D-Aurora, and Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego — at the Plumbers Hall in the West Loop. He said they were outraged that Duckworth would be blamed for the deaths.

Duckworth, an Iraq war vet, lost her legs and shattered her right arm when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq on Nov. 12, 2004.

Mendoza implored Senger to apologize to the families of those affected by the Legionnaires’ outbreak and to Duckworth. She also blamed the administration for trying to hide the outbreak.

And she denied politicizing the issue; that, she said, is Senger’s doing.

“Darlene Senger is the person who chose to try to pin the deaths of 13 war heroes on an actual wounded war hero. It’s not me,” Mendoza said. “Darlene Senger disqualified herself as a person that could be trusted by this state the minute she decided to put the governor and his reputation ahead the personal safety of those veterans and the grieving families that were impacted by the deaths.”

Mendoza said she’s doing a “public service” in highlighting the issue “so that the people of Illinois don’t get conned for a second time” — referring to Rauner’s re-election bid.

And Pritzker focused his efforts on trying to pin the blame on Rauner.

“Shockingly the person that they tried to blame is U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran, an advocate for veterans rights who embodies the spirit and courage of this nation,” Pritzker said. “Gov. Rauner, Sen. Duckworth deserves an apology. She doesn’t deserve the blame that your administration is placing upon her, but instead thanks for her sacrifice and her service.”

Senger’s campaign on Thursday said the state hasn’t properly funded veterans affairs for years — citing the administrations Duckworth worked under.

“The simple, bipartisan fact is that for years, including the past Blagojevich and Quinn administrations, our veterans homes suffered from chronic underfunding that impacted the care our veterans received along with the critical maintenance and modernization of the state’s veterans facilities,” the campaign said in a statement.

The campaign also said “there is no doubt that the lack of proper funding for veterans over the last decade has exacerbated the problems we currently face.”

Rauner’s campaign did not address the apology request, instead pointing the finger at Pritzker for politicizing the issue.

“Governor Rauner took immediate action to address the problems at Quincy,” spokesman Will Allison said. “He has worked every day to implement all recommendations and has presented a plan to build a new home. It’s shameful that JB Pritzker is playing politics instead of focusing on how to provide the very best care for our veterans.”

View the article: Sfondeles, T. (2018, May 3). Pritzker, Mendoza demand Rauner, Senger apologize to Duckworth for vets email. Chicago Magazine. Retrieved from www.chicagomag.com.

The post Pritzker, Mendoza demand Rauner, Senger apologize to Duckworth for vets email appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— FOX Illinois News | WICS News Team —

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate J.B. Pritzker and Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza held a press conference in Chicago Thursday.

State officials and politicians discussed the Rauner Administration’s attempt to blame Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth for the mismanagement of the Quincy veterans home Legionnaires’ crisis at the Quincy veterans home.

“Shockingly, the person that they tried to blame is U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran, an advocate for veterans’ rights who embodies the spirit and courage of this nation. Governor Rauner, Senator Duckworth deserves an apology,” Pritzker said.

A spokesperson for Gov. Bruce Rauner responded, saying, “Governor Rauner took immediate action to address the problems at Quincy. He has worked every day to implement all recommendations and has presented a plan to build a new home.”

View the article: Fox Illinois, WICS News Team. (2018, May 3).J.B. Pritzker, Susana Mendoza demand apology from Rauner. Fox Illinois News. Retrieved from www.foxillinois.com

The post J.B. Pritzker, Susana Mendoza demand apology from Rauner appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— ABC News | Wall, C. —

Watch the video.

A controversial email connected to deaths at the Quincy Veterans’ Home sparked a war of words and finger-pointing over what has become a hot-button issue in both the gubernatorial and comptroller elections.

In an email dated December 13, 2017, to Governor Bruce Rauner’s top staffers, Republican candidate for comptroller Darlene Senger wrote, “We can maybe tie this back to Duckworth.”

The statement appears to refer to Senator Tammy Duckworth, who served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009.

Senger was a top legislative aide to Rauner in 2017. The email was written while the Rauner administration faced a media firestorm over its handling of the Quincy case, which has seen 13 residents of the veteran’s home die of Legionnaires ‘ disease since 2015. Several other residents were sickened in the outbreak.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza demanded a series of apologies after the email became public this week.

“Senator Duckworth deserves her respect and her gratitude, not continued false blame. Darlene Senger owes Tammy Duckworth an apology, and a big one at that,” Mendoza said.

Senger’s campaign said there was nothing malicious in the email.

“The simple, bipartisan fact is that for years, including the past Blagojevich and Quinn administrations, our veterans homes suffered from chronic underfunding that impacted the care our veterans received, along with the critical maintenance and modernization of the state’s veterans facilities,” the campaign said in a statement.

Senger’s campaign also pointed to an interview Duckworth gave in 2007, during which Duckworth noted the Quincy home “needs work.”

“There is no doubt that the lack of proper funding for veterans over the last decade has exacerbated the problems we currently face. If we choose to ignore the past, systemic failures to fund our veteran’s programs, then we are destined to continue to face these challenges in the future and that was the point of my comment–we need to understand how and when these problems started in order to find long-term solutions,” Senger said.

Mendoza also called out the Rauner administration over the lack of any response to the email.

“There wasn’t a single member of the governor’s leadership team who responded back saying something along the lines of ‘that is so highly inappropriate, like stop right there,’ Mendoza said.

The Rauner administration said there was no need to respond because Senger’s statement was a single, random suggestion.

A spokesman said they have responded to the Quincy crisis by replacing the water filtration system and following all the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control.

“Today’s statements were politically-driven, ill-informed… Our veterans deserve to be more than pawns in their political game,” said Rachel Bold, a representative of the Rauner administration.

JB Pritzker, who joined Mendoza at her news conference and echoed her calls for an apology from Senger, also continued his criticism of Rauner’s handling of the crisis.

“He should wake up in the morning and say how do I make this right, and whoever’s fault it is, how do I make it right, but it’s taken years now,” Pritzker said of Rauner.

Senator Duckworth declined to comment. She previously criticized the Rauner administration for focusing on politics when veteran’s health is the priority.

This week, a task force released a report calling for $245 million be spent on a new facility to replace the Quincy Veterans Home. Both Republicans and Democrats said they want to see a funding bill passed before the legislative session wraps up at the end of this month.

Watch the video: Wall, C. (2018, May 3). Email about veterans’ home deaths sparks controversy in race for governor, comptroller. ABC7 News. Retrieved from www.abc7chicago.com.

The post Email about veterans’ home deaths sparks controversy in race for governor, comptroller [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— CBS Chicago | Blakley, D. —

Watch the video.

More political finger pointing today over who’s to blame for the Legionnaires’ crisis at the Quincy Veterans Home that claimed 13 lives.

CBS 2 political reporter Derrick Blakley reports on whether politics will get in the way of a solution.

Joined by governors’ candidate J.B. Pritzker, Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza took direct aim at her Republican opponent Darlene Senger.

“Darlene Senger is the person who tried to pin the deaths of 13 war heroes on an actual wounded war hero,” said Mendoza.

She said Senger, then a top aide to governor Bruce Rauner last year, wrote an e-mail that asked whether the Legionnaires’ deaths of 13 vets at the Quincy home could be linked to U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth who ran the state’s VA under former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

Democrats claimed Senger’s email is part of a pattern by Rauner.

“He consistently blames everyone but himself,” said Pritzker.

But Senger’s responding statement still indirectly blamed Duckworth, among others.

“For years, including the past Blagojevich and Quinn administrations, our veterans home suffered from chronic underfunding that impacted the care our veterans received,” said Senger.

The bigger question is whether Democrats will approve up to 245 million dollars. Rauner wants to rebuild Quincy, with the legislative session running short.

“They’re almost setting us up for failure so nothing does happen this time in the game and we’re out of there at the end of May,” said Representative Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora.)

But veterans won’t accept excuses.

“What has been happening there has been a travesty and we need to fix the problem. Immediately,” said veteran and business owner Branden Marty.

Pritzker said we should do whatever it takes to preserve the security of the veterans, indicating he believes the money to rebuild Quincy will be approved.

Democrats would like to hang to this issue to use against Rauner in the fall campaign. But that’s tough to do when they’ve been demanding action and now there’s a plan on the table.

Watch the video: Blakely, D. (2018, May 3). Finger Pointing Continues Over Quincy Vet Home Illness. CBS Chicago News. Retrieved from www.chicago.cbslocal.com.

The post Finger Pointing Continues Over Quincy Vet Home Illness [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— NPR Illinois Station | Driscoll, J. —

Listen to the audio.

The Illinois Senate passed a measure Thursday that would require the governor to disclose his total office staff and pay them all from his own payroll. The bill now heads to Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk.

It started as an initiative called the “Truth in Hiring Act” which came from Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a Democrat up for re-election. Using the term “off-shoring,” those in support of the bill say it’s been done by both Democratic and Republican governors for years.

State Senator Jil Tracy, a Republican from Quincy, says the practice has some benefits. She uses early childhood development as an example:

“It operates primarily on federal funds,” said Tracy. “The office of governor runs on general revenue funds so it cannot receive these federal funds. So an intergovernmental agency agreement is then used so that another state agency can act as the fiscal agent and receive the funds and pay the governor’s office staff for their services.”

Still, the measure to end the practice passed the House unanimously, with only 7 “no” votes in the Senate.

Back in March, when the idea was first introduced, the Governor’s office said they would be open to discussion, but comments were not immediately available after the vote.

Listen to the audio: Driscoll, J. (2018, May 3). Illinois Senate Clears Payroll Transparency Bill. NRP Illinois. Retrieved from www.nprillinois.org.

The post Illinois Senate Clears Payroll Transparency Bill [AUDIO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Belleville News-Democrat | Mendoza, S. —

I really wish you would pay closer attention to what I say during my frequent visits to your Editorial Board. At no time did I ever “blame Rauner” for the entirety of “Illinois fiscal meltdown” as you misrepresented in your editorial.

I have told you on multiple occasions that Rauner walked into a mess and deserved no blame for the $5 billion backlog of bills he inherited. What he does own is more than tripling that backlog by deficit-spending more than any other governor in state history.

I did not “blame Rauner” alone for the bad practice of hiding staffers on other agency payrolls to mask the size of his staff and budget. My exact words to you were:

“It’s something that every single Governor as far back as we can tell has done. So it’s not unique to Governor Rauner … In all fairness, Governor Quinn was a chronic offender. It’s not okay if Quinn does it. It’s not okay if Blagojevich did it. It’s not okay if Ryan did it. And it’s still not okay that Bruce Rauner does it. But it’s not just a Bruce Rauner thing.”

One of the reasons Republican and Democratic legislators join together to pass so many of my bills unanimously is because I listen to both sides and target bipartisan problems with bipartisan solutions. My Truth In Hiring bill passed the House unanimously because both sides see the simple truth that the governor’s staff should appear on the governor’s payroll.

All the polls indicate we will get a Democratic governor this year. So if I wanted to be partisan, I would drop all my transparency initiatives right now and let incoming Governor Pritzker operate under the same lack of transparency that Governor Rauner and his Democratic and Republican predecessors have been able to. Instead, because I have always been bipartisan, I seek to saddle my candidate, Gov. Pritzker — and his successors — with new requirements to open the state’s books and make them more accountable. Does that sound like a “political lapdog”? Whether you want to support good government or just be partisan Republicans, you should support my initiatives either way.

As you know, I am one of the Democrats who led the impeachment efforts against the governor of my own party, Rod Blagojevich. As a legislator, I always had Republicans and Democrats on my bills. The only elected Republican in Illinois I have criticized since I took office is Bruce Rauner — not because of his party but because he has been a disastrous governor.

My most recent visit was not to have you sway your local state senator you don’t like. I never mentioned him during our meeting. You did. Bipartisanship starts with people of different parties listening to each other.

I work hard to pass my bills with more than party-line votes. I prefer bipartisan consensus. That’s why I talk to Republican legislators as well as Democratic legislators. That’s why I meet with conservative editorial boards, like yours, as well as liberal ones. If I present you with ideas we can all see the merits of — even though we back different candidates for governor — that’s the start of the bipartisan dialogue you say you’d like to see in Illinois.

You are upset with me for reporting that Governor Rauner ran up more late payment interest penalties in 2½ years than all the Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures did in the previous 18 years combined. I say if the shoe fits, Gov. Rauner can wear it.

You say the governor is the “last guy to arrive at the blast furnace” of the state’s fiscal meltdown. That may be, but he then shoveled more than $1 billion dollars into that furnace in late payment interest penalties. And that number continues to grow. I showed on my report the actual numbers of late payment interest penalties that each of his Republican and Democratic predecessors ran up. I admit there are no clean hands here.

My reports aren’t meant to make Democrats or Republicans feel good. They are meant to show members of both parties the true scope of the state’s fiscal problems because we can’t really fix our problems if we don’t acknowledge the extent of the damage. And we certainly can’t fix them if we don’t work together.

I try to show with all my legislative initiatives that bi-partisanship can work. I invite you to try it.

View the article: Mendoza, S. (2018, May 5). Illinois comptroller responds to editorial on state finances, politics. Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved from www.bnd.com.

The post Illinois comptroller responds to editorial on state finances, politics appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— The News Tribune | Connor, J. —

An Illinois county coroner’s practice of holding remains and death certificates of the indigent until their families can pay for burial is “disgusting behavior,” state Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Tuesday.

The Democratic comptroller reacted to an Associated Press report about Adams County Coroner James Keller’s practice and called for a ramped-up campaign to alert local officials that state-funded burial is again available. The AP report found Keller demanded $1,000 from family members of the indigent before he would release the remains and deaths certificates.

Mendoza wants Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration to “do more” to publicize the $1,655 available for the funeral, cremation and burial of those who die poor.

“Holding the remains of people’s loved ones for ransom is unthinkable,” Mendoza said in a statement. “Everyone deserves a respectful burial. Being poor is not a crime.”

State money to bury the indigent was completely shut off in 2016 because of a two-year budget stalemate, but even with funding restored in late 2016, claims for the program fell dramatically. Several officials and funeral directors told the AP they were unaware funding had been restored.

Mendoza called for publicity “so the costs aren’t pushed onto local taxpayers and businesses, and families aren’t faced with added stress in a time of mourning.”

Even before the budget crisis, Illinois was months behind on paying bills and funding had dried up in 2010, as well.

Keller, a Republican, told the AP he was doing his best to safeguard taxpayers while trying to be “supportive of families with the hand that we’re dealt with by the state.”

The Department of Human Services, which processes the claims, posted a letter online in September 2017 to notify funeral homes that funding was available and extended the deadline for filing. Spokeswoman Meghan Powers said Tuesday that another letter was sent to funeral homes in January to update them that the state is covering indigent burial costs.

DHS noted that in the 2015 fiscal year, the agency processed 5,652 burial claims. After money was restored in 2017, there were only 1,649 claims, and in the current budget year that ends June 30, there have been 1,084 — although Powers said last week the agency was still assessing 1,072 for approval or denial.

Of the $9.3 million for funerals and burials in the current budget, Mendoza said only $1.5 million has been spent.

Mendoza is responsible for paying overdue state bills totaling $6.9 billion, a pile that predates the budget crisis but was exacerbated by it. She said her office is prioritizing burial-claim payments. They’re typically paid within days of receipt from DHS. She nudged DHS to process outstanding applications quickly to “allow us to bring relief to the funeral homes that have been shouldering the cost of the state’s financial dysfunction.”

View the article: O’Connor, J. (2018, May 8). Comptroller wants more burial-funding notice after AP report. The News Tribune. Retrieved from www.thenewstribune.com.

The post Comptroller wants more burial-funding notice after AP report appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Journal Standard Newspaper | The Editorial Board —

If you work for the governor of Illinois, shouldn’t you be paid from the governor’s budget? That doesn’t sound too radical, does it?

Of course not. It’s common sense. But no sense is common in dear old Illinois, where corruption has been raised to an art form.

Consider Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office staff. According to the office of state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, just 44 of his staffers are paid from the governor’s budget. The other 58, the majority, are paid out of budgets for state agency payrolls.

This isn’t a new practice, Mendoza notes. It was standard operating procedure for past governors George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn. It may go back longer than that. Legislators in both parties have gone along with the charade without questioning it.

It’s deceptive, because money that is supposed to pay for other state services is being diverted to pay for most of the governor’s staff.

Mendoza came up with a solution, the Truth in Hiring Act, which says that people who work for the governor of the state shall be paid from the governor’s budget. The bill was bipartisan.

The Truth in Hiring Act passed the House 110-0 in April. The measure passed the Senate 46-7 on May 3. Among the very few “no” voters was our own state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford. We’re disappointed.

The bill is now on Rauner’s desk. We urge him to sign it so that he and future governors will have to ask lawmakers to pay the entire staff out of his budget.

Two more Mendoza initiatives have widespread support and have passed either the Senate or the House by wide margins. We support them.

The Vendor Payment Transparency Act, SB3560, passed the Senate 44-1 and is in a House committee. It alters the state’s Vendor Payment program to reveal how much money lenders make from the 12 percent interest the state must pay in late payment penalties. Waiting for their money for months on end has severely hurt some smaller companies that do business with the state.

“The Vendor Payment Program was created to assist struggling vendors as the state’s backlog of unpaid bills grew,” Mendoza’s office said. “VPP allows state-approved third-party lenders, known as qualified purchasers, to pay a portion of unpaid bills for vendors upfront. In exchange, the purchasers get the late payment interest penalties when they are ultimately paid by the state.” Mendoza’s bill would reveal the interest payments that go to lenders.

The third Mendoza initiative is the Prompt Payment Act, HB 5814, which passed the House by a vote of 110-0 and is now before the Senate. The bill requires governors to identify and account for the cost of late payment interest penalties in their budget proposals.

“The bill backlog more than tripled under Gov. Rauner,” Mendoza said in a news release. “The state fell far behind on paying its bills and that cost taxpayers more than $1 billion in late payment interest penalties. Yet the governor hasn’t had to account for those penalties in any of his budgets.”

We applaud the progress Comptroller Mendoza is making to open Illinois’ shady financial practices to the light of public scrutiny. These measures are long overdue.

View the article: Fishman, T. (2019, May 10). We applaud three reform measures promoted by Comptroller Susana Mendoza. Journal Standard. Retrieved from www.journalstandard.com

The post We applaud three reform measures promoted by Comptroller Susana Mendoza appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

Officials Demand Darlene Senger apologize to Sen. Tammy Duckworth for trying to falsely blame her for veteran’s deaths

WHO: State Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza; Democratic nominee for Governor, J.B. Pritzker; State Rep./US Army veteran Linda Chapa LaVia, Chair of the State House Committee on Veterans Affairs; and State Rep./US Marine Corp.veteran Stephanie Kifowit.

WHAT: Comptroller Mendoza, other elected officials and Democratic nominee for Governor J.B. Pritzker, will hold a press conference to discuss WBEZ’s story about Governor Rauner’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Darlene Senger’s email suggesting the deaths of 13 veterans at the state’s Quincy Veterans Home should be blamed on wounded veteran Senator Tammy Duckworth, who had left the state Veterans’ Administration six years earlier.

Visit my biography page to learn more about me.

The post “Outraged” | Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Central Illinois Proud | Cicchini, P. —

Watch the video.

The state’s comptroller is the first independently elected Latina to statewide office, something Susana Mendoza is proud of, but not something she necessarily believes deserves more attention.

The first-term comptroller is proud of what she’s been able to accomplish thus far by partnering with the legislature on transparency-related legislation. She says it’s helping the office gain the trust of the people of Illinoisans.

Mendoza is also taking aim at her GOP challenger Darlene Senger, a former aide to Gov. Rauner who made headlines last week for an email sent during her time as deputy chief of staff. WBEZ reports Senger suggested trying to pin the blame for the outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease at the Illinois Veterans Home Quincy on Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

View the article: Cicchini, P. (2018, May 7). Mendoza slams Senger over veterans home email. Central Illinois Proud. Retrieved from www.centralillinoisproud.com.

The post Mendoza slams Senger over veterans home email [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Herald-Whig | Herald-Whig Staff —

Getting Illinois’ financial accounts in order is a monumental task, and it’s only made more difficult when salaries are paid from accounts from which they shouldn’t be paid.

Known as off-shoring, the practice has gone on for years. Democratic and Republican governors alike have used various funds to pay for their staff. For example, an Associated Press article reports that Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office budget is $4.9 million, but Comptroller Susana Mendoza claims that his office is actually spending closer to $10.4 million, more than twice what is allocated. Where is the money coming from? It’s money directed from other agencies’ budgets.

A way to hide massive expenses, the practice should not be tolerated. Not only is it dishonest, but it also takes away tax dollars from agencies that should be helping Illinois taxpayers, not political allies.

Fortunately, Illinois lawmakers agree with the comptroller. A bill known as the Truth in Hiring Act passed both chambers of the General Assembly by wide margins. Last month, it unanimously passed the Illinois House. Earlier this month, the Illinois Senate gave the bill its assent by a 46-7 margin.

It is satisfying to know that the majority in both parties agree the practice is wrong and must end, and we applaud Rep. Randy Frese, R-Paloma, and Rep. Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, for their support of the measure. The bill now will go on to the governor to sign into law.

Rauner, who campaigned four years ago on shaking up the status quo in Springfield, is waiting for the Legislature to formally send him the bill.

In the meantime, he should voluntarily restructure his staff for the benefit of transparency. Their salaries should be financed through his office budget. If it can’t be done, the governor should either cut his employees’ pay or lay off members of his staff. Many businesses and organizations have had to face similar situations in the last few years; our elected leaders must face that reality, too.

Once he gets the bill, the governor should sign it quickly. Of course, because it would diminish the capabilities of his office, it’s always possible that he could veto it.

This would be a mistake, and West-Central Illinoisans are encouraged to call the governor’s office and urge him to sign the bill.

And should Rauner veto the measure, the Legislature must override that veto. With such overwhelming majorities voting to approve the bill, this should be no problem. There is no good reason for this practice to continue.

This is one of the rare issues that most Democrats and Republicans in Springfield agree upon, and we applaud any such effort — however small — to bring state spending into check.

The time for off-shoring has passed.

View the article: Herald-Whig Staff. (2018, May 25). Time to end off-shoring of governor’s office budget. Herald-Whig News. Retrieved from www.whig.com.

The post Time to end off-shoring of governor’s office budget appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

Officials Demand Darlene Senger Apologize to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth for Trying to Falsely Blame Her for Veterans’ Deaths

CHICAGO, IL – Illinois Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza; Democratic nominee for governor J.B. Pritzker; State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, U.S Army Corps veteran and Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee; and State Rep., U.S. Marine Corps veteran Stephanie Kifowit demanded Governor Rauner’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Darlene Senger apologize to U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth Thursday.

As WBEZ reported this week, when news broke of 13 deaths of veterans at the State’s Quincy Veterans Home last year, Senger’s first reaction was not to propose help; to seek answers as to why it happened; or to express concern for remaining veterans, but rather to attempt to falsely blame the deaths of veterans on wounded veteran Senator Duckworth, who had served as Illinois’ Director of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth’s term as Director ended six years before the first cases of Legionnaires’ Disease were reported at the Quincy Veterans’ Home.

“What kind of a person does that?” Comptroller Mendoza asked of Senger, who is now the Republican nominee for State Comptroller. “As we recover from the manufactured budget crisis that Governor Rauner created, my office continues to have to make tough choices when prioritizing state payments. That means Illinois needs a comptroller with a strong moral compass–not one just seeking to deflect blame away from the governor. Sen. Tammy Duckworth sacrificed her body on the battlefield fighting for our country. She deserves respect from Darlene Senger, not false blame. Senger owes her an apology. A BIG ONE.”

“While Bruce Rauner staged press stunts and paid lip-service to veterans and their families, this administration was hiding emails that contained a secret plan to shift blame away from their failed governor,” said JB Pritzker. “After years of Rauner’s fatal mismanagement, his administration tried to pin the blame on U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, a combat Veteran and advocate for Veterans’ rights who embodies the spirit and courage of this country. Governor Rauner, Senator Duckworth is owed an apology. She deserves to be honored for her service and sacrifice.”

“I am personally upset by the situation at the Quincy Veterans Home. All veterans — especially those at the Quincy facility — deserve our gratitude and a commitment to helping them when they need it the most,” said Secretary of State Jesse White, a veteran of the U.S. Army, Army Reserves and Illinois National Guard. “It’s insulting that as the Governor’s deputy chief of staff, Darlene Senger, would attempt to point blame and try to politicize a life-and-death issue facing our veterans. There is no room in state government for individuals who callously point fingers and attempt to skirt their own responsibilities.”

###

Media contact:
Christie Lacy | 630-673-9605
press@susanamendoza.com

You can download the PDF version of this release here.

The post Officials Demand Darlene Senger Apologize to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— WCPT 820 Chicago | Kay, D. —

Listen to the audio.

Listen to the audio: Kay, D. (2018, May 27). Back On The Beat w Dick Kay Guest Susana Mendoza. WCPT 820 Chicago. Retrieved from www.soundcloud.com/chicagosprogressivetalk.

The post Back On The Beat w Dick Kay Guest Susana Mendoza [AUDIO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— Illinois Channel | Martin, T. —

Watch the video.

Terry Martin, Executive Director, interviewed Susana Mendoza on the day the legislature passed the FY 2019 Budget. We asked for her thoughts on the damage done to the state by the long budget standoff, and where she is in now sending money to those organizations that waited years for funding.

We also discuss what reforms she would like to see to the state’s tax system and how bond rating agencies are reacting to her office’s initiatives.

Watch the video: Martin, T. Channel Staff. (2018, June 6). The Road to Financial Recovery: Comptroller Mendoza (D) on Illinois’ Tough Journey Ahead. Illinois Channel. Retrieved from www.illinoischanne.org.

The post The Road to Financial Recovery: Comptroller Mendoza (D) on Illinois’ Tough Journey Ahead [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

—WGN Radio | Pearson, R. & Mendoza, S. —

Listen to the audio.

Rick Pearson is joined by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza to discuss the recently passed state budget and the continued backlog of unpaid bills to providers of State services. Susana also touches on transparency legislation that she heavily supported and was approved by the General Assembly on a Bi-Partisan basis. The legislation allows taxpayers to know where money is being spent and creates a space for the governor to be held accountable.

Listen to the audio: Pearson, R. & Mendoza, S. (2018, June 10). Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza: “We deserve proper and honest budgets”. WGN Radio. Retrieved from www.wgnradio.com.

The post Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza: “We deserve proper and honest budgets” [AUDIO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

Susana Mendoza’s Statement on Trump’s “Zero-Tolerance” Border Policy

Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and I’m hoping you can spare a few minutes to hear me out.

On May 13, Mother’s Day, Marco Antonio Munoz, a Honduran man who had crossed the southern border into the U.S. with his wife and 3-year-old son the day before, committed suicide soon after being forcibly separated from his 3-year-old son.

Jailed and likely believing that he would never again see his family, he took his life in an act of ultimate despair.

People are literally dying as a result of a cruel Zero Tolerance immigration policy unapologetically embraced by President Trump that has already separated over 2000 children from their parents, forcibly, even as one was being breastfed by her mother.

This, in the United States of America.

Words can’t begin to properly express the depth of anger and horror that I feel towards the Trump Administration’s racist, anti-American and evil policy of tearing children away from the loving arms of their parents.

Parents who’s only “crime” was risking their lives to seek asylum and a chance at life for their children in America – the country they heard was a beacon of hope.

These acts are cruel, inflict irreparable harm on thousands of children, and do nothing to make our country safer.

President Trump would like us to believe that all immigrants are criminals, the worst of the worst, looking to infest our country.

While patently false, by referring to human beings as unwanted pests, he succeeds in dehumanizing them.

By dehumanizing them, he sets the stage for even worse atrocities to come.

America is in danger of losing her soul.

Look, if you support the separation of families – stop. It’s un-American.

If you’ve never walked a day in those people’s shoes and lack an ounce of empathy to try to relate, you should thank God that you won the lottery of being born in America.

Just try to imagine what it would feel like for you to have your screaming child ripped out of your arms. In the name of what? A Zero Tolerance Policy that has Zero Humanity?

Don’t say it’s for America because America is better than that.

Stop enabling a President who tweet by tweet and child by child is destroying the very fabric of what makes America what it truly is; the greatest idea ever created.

A country made of immigrants and built by immigrants and ideals, that welcomes and fosters dreams – not one that’s cruel and ruthless.

As the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, and one of the highest-ranking women in Illinois government, it’s not lost on me that my parents sacrificed their personal dreams to give their kids a shot at the American dream.

They loved this country.

Thanks to a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, they became proud Americans, model citizens.

And its people like my parents and so many other loving, caring, and hard-working immigrants, coupled with true Americans who open their arms to strangers in need, that make America great.

President Reagan was right. President Trump is dead wrong.

We are a nation of laws, but sometimes we get it wrong.

Rather than embrace this evil policy, President Trump can unilaterally end it – now.

But he won’t, so it’s up to us to make sure that Congress stands up to the President and his Zero Tolerance Policy of separating families, reset our nation’s moral compass and regain its soul.

We can be on the right side of history.

Please join me and so many others on both sides of the political aisle in speaking out and mobilizing against this inhumane policy.

Here are three things you can do to help.

1. Support advocacy organizations that are helping separated families. There’s a whole bunch doing great work. Pick one or pick several.

2. Contact your representatives in Congress and let them know you’re opposed to the Zero Tolerance Policy of separating families. Your voice has the power to force real change. Use it.

3. Exercise your Constitutional right (while you still have it) to protest. Show up to a march or rally near you and show that the America that we love, still has a beating and loving heart.

Helpful links:

Read this article – “How To Help Migrant Parents & Children Who Are Separated At The Border” – for a list of advocacy groups who need your support.

Find your member of Congress.

Find “Family Belong Together” events near you.

Support and donate to groups that provide legal representation to children and families in border states.

Sign up to volunteer with Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).

Donate to RAICES Family Reunification and Bond Fund.

Donate to LEAF Project for Universal Representation for Unaccompanied Children.

Visit the National Immigration Justice Center – they provide legal services and also advocate for policy change on the federal level.

Visit CARA – an umbrella organization for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. They offer legal services and policy advocacy as well.

The post Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza: “Zero-Tolerance” Border Policy Statement [VIDEO] appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— The State Journal Register Newspaper | Finke, D. —

Gov. Bruce Rauner Tuesday signed into law a bill that would outlaw a practice that he himself has employed.

Rauner signed House Bill 5121 that will stop the practice of “offshoring” that involves hiding salaries of governor’s office employees in other state agencies.

“Unlike previous administrations, we have been transparent in reporting headcount and salaries of all governor’s office employees,” Rauner said in a statement.

That’s not the way Comptroller Susana Mendoza saw it. Mendoza pushed for the bill saying that offshoring provides a distorted picture of the state budget and what kind of money is available to spend and where.

Mendoza said that a recent analysis showed that only 47 of the governor’s 110 staffers were actually paid from his office budget. The other 63 were paid out of agency payrolls. If all of them were paid from the governor’s budget, she said, the office payroll would be $10 million instead of $4.6 million.

Rauner is hardly alone in offshoring employee salaries. Illinois governors for decades have engaged in the practice.

“Offshoring is wrong,” Mendoza said. “It was wrong when Governor Quinn did it. It was wrong when Governor Blagojevich did it. It was wrong when Governor Ryan did it. All of that ends today.”

In signing the bill, Rauner said a law should be passed that applies the same standards to all five of the other statewide elected officials.

View the article: Finke, D. (2018, July 31). Rauner signs bill to ban payroll ‘off-shoring’ by governors. The State Journal Register Newspaper. Retrieved from www.sj-r.com.

The post Rauner signs bill to ban payroll ‘off-shoring’ by governors appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.

— The Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation | Civic Federation Staff —

Thanks to higher than expected revenues, the State of Illinois ended the last fiscal year with a backlog of unpaid bills that was about $900 million below earlier forecasts.

The bill backlog stood at $6.8 billion on June 29, 2018, the last business day of the fiscal year, which ends on June 30. That compares with a previous projection of $7.7 billion by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB).

The following chart shows Illinois’ General Funds backlog from January 2013 through June 2018, based on numbers from the website of the Illinois Comptroller’s Office, which are used for GOMB’s projections. It should be noted that the numbers on the Comptroller’s website are slightly different from that office’s Debt Transparency Report summaries. The Debt Transparency report summaries include certain group health insurance claims pending at the Comptroller’s Office that are not included in the website numbers.

The backlog surged during the two-year budget impasse that began in July 2015, as State officials failed to agree on a plan to address the drop in revenues caused by the automatic rollback of temporarily increased income tax rates. The peak of $16.7 billion occurred on November 8, 2017, after which the State cleared out about $8.7 billion of the bills using the proceeds of a $6 billion bond sale and related federal reimbursements for State Medicaid spending. The bond sale was authorized by the FY2018 budget, which increased income tax rates and ended the budget stalemate.

As previously discussed on this blog, the State collected over $900 million more in general operating revenues in FY2018 than previously forecast, according to a recent report by the Illinois General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA).

Actual General Funds revenues of $37.7 million in FY2018 were $961 million, or 2.6%, above the projection of $36.8 billion presented by GOMB in February 2018. (Both here and in the previous blog post, actual FY2018 revenues have been increased to include a $40 million balance recognized as revenue when the Commitment to Human Services Fund was reclassified as a General Fund.)

The State brought in $248 million more in income taxes than expected, which has been attributed to federal tax changes. Transfers were above projections, largely due to $198 million in additional payments from the Capital Projects Fund to reimburse General Funds for capital purpose debt service costs. Sales tax receipts of $7.8 billion were $141 million below forecast amounts.

Federal revenues deposited in General Funds, which relate mainly to Medicaid reimbursements, were $614 million above projections at $4.0 billion. To the extent that federal revenues were higher than expected in FY2018 because Medicaid bills were paid more quickly than anticipated, then those revenues will be deducted from projected FY2019 receipts.

According to the Comptroller’s website, the backlog stood at $7.6 billion as of 8 a.m. on August 3, 2018. Because the number reflects a point in time, it fluctuates based on revenue collections and bill payments.

There is currently no plan to clear the remaining backlog except through budgetary surpluses. The FY2019 budget projects a narrow surplus of $11 million, but even that amount relies on certain aggressive assumptions.

View the article: Civic Federation Staff (2018, August 3). Illinois Ends FY2018 with Lower than Expected Bill Backlog. The Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civil Federation. Retrieved from www.civicfed.com.

The post Illinois Ends FY2018 with Lower than Expected Bill Backlog appeared first on Susana A. Mendoza, Illinois Comptroller.