For several years, I have been looking norte of the border, and sighing at the whims, ways, and whines coming from Scotty Walker (R-TeaBuggerer). Although there were multiple efforts to slow down or stop his absurd and destructive attack on Wisconsin's government, we must admit that he succeeded far more often than he lost. He cut local union power, he destroyed the courts, and he managed to hide the worst impacts of his policies. He even survived a recall effort, which came surprisingly close to victory. (although the constitutional aspects of that remain muddy, according to my bar friends up norte)
It was with shock and horror that I watched local Illinois unions, especially govt, school, and police groups, turn away from Pat Quinn, and throw their support to Bruce Rauner, a billionaire who bought the governorship for a reported price of $20,000,000.
In his State of the State diatribe, Rauner caused some jaws to drop, especially in those who thought he would be low key, and potentially effective in managing our financial woes, especially the underfunded state pensions. One might even call them unfunded. He went on an attack of all things union, including the "fair share" requirement that everyone covered by a collective bargaining agreement had to pay union dues, even if they did not want union membership. This would lead to the same damaging impact on labor in Illinois as Walker's efforts across the border.
A bit of history here. The Illinois Supreme Court held that Quinn's effort to fix the pension system conflicted with the constitution and could not be enacted. It also pissed off the local unions mentioned above. Had the robes upheld it, I suspect there would have been a different man in charge down in Springpatch.
Another bit of history here. The State of Illinois has a position called "comptroller." An entire staff, several locations, and way too many employees are involved in how money is gathered, saved, spent, etc. by this office. Until last month, it was held by a smart, ethical, and earthy character named Judy Baar Topinka (R). Unfortunately, she died in office just after the election. Of any GOPers from this state, I can count several who I think did good, even great work. Charles Percy, even George Ryan, among others, always tried to do the right thing for the state, not for themselves. Judy probably topped that list. She was a straight shooter, and frankly, gave no thought to party labels. She worked hard, dressed cheap, and entertained people by her outspoken plain truth and honesty. She is missed.
Eventually, Rauner got to choose her successor, so he hand-picked Leslie Munger, a conservative republican, MBA and business exec from Helene Curtis.
Sorry about the long history, but today's breaking news requires some background. Here's what the Suntimes says this afternoon:
Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger, recently appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, won’t abide by his executive order setting aside “fair share” union fees without a court order. Munger’s office raised the question of whether it’s constitutional to withhold those fees and place them in an escrow account as Rauner had ordered.
On Monday, Rauner signed an executive order regarding union fees, saying its aim was to allow state workers to avoid paying so-called “fair-share” fees if they had opted out of joining a union.
However, the governor’s executive order does not apply to other constitutional officers, according to Illinois Attorney General office chief of staff Ann Spillane.
“There’s no question that under the current law that fair share fees are constitutional,” Spillane told the Sun-Times. “(Leslie Munger) can’t ignore validly-signed contracts. She is an independent constitutional officer, an executive order doesn’t change her conduct.”
Munger is charged with enforcing state statute and collective bargaining agreements unless or until a court order says otherwise, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office said.
CHicago Suntimes
I was not surprise that Ill. Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan (daughter of the man who controls and owns Illinois, Mike Madigan) was going to object to Rauner's executive order. It was a huge surprise that his hand-picked comptroller agreed with her.
Anticipating a problem, Rauner has already filed a court challenge using a taxpayer paid in-house attorney to attack this finding. He swore in his good buddy, Dennis Murashko, as a special attorney general, and also enlisted the famous Dan Webb, who has made many many millions at the public trough funded litigation. Perhaps out of some sense of shame at how many millions he received litigating on behalf of the state, Webb is doing this job for free, reportedly.
I suspect that Rauner is looking north and wondering, "Why was it so easy for that college dropout to get what he wanted? I'm following the same damned plan!"
Poor Rauner. He cannot buy his way out of this one.