Most everyone has heard about “sanctuary cities” during the past few years due to the attention they received during the presidential election. But have you heard of sanctuary states? How about sanctuary government buildings? Governor Bruce Rauner has agreed to sign SB 31 into law — a bill that will make taxpayer funded facilities sanctuaries for people who are here illegally.

Here is one summary of what “sanctuary” means:

The concept of a sanctuary city does not mean it is a place where federal law is unenforced by the feds. Rather, it is a place where local authorities have elected not to spend their tax dollars helping the feds to enforce federal law. The term “sanctuary city” is not a legal term but a political one.

While the United States Justice Department begins to pursue withholding federal funds from cities like Chicago for their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement officials, our governor and General Assembly are about to enlarge the controversy, expected to cost the state billions of dollars.

Thomas Lifson at American Thinker wrote about the potential tally for just Chicago alone: Oops! Trump’s ‘sanctuary city’ penalties could cost Chicago $3.6 billion.

If the Trump Administration wins this fight (ultimately in the courts), it’s easy to figure the cost to Illinois taxpayers will be many times that Chicago estimate.

Money isn’t the only issue. The status of sanctuary state also creates a potential public safety issue.

This is from the Illinois General Assembly’s website page for SB 31 — I have separated them into bullet points for easier reading:

[CORRECTION — A reader kindly brought to my attention that the language below did NOT make it into the final version of the bill that was passed — see Amendment 3 here. In truth, the language was not necessary since state and local law enforcement officers are prohibited from making any arrests anywhere in Illinois according to the guidelines of the statute. Focusing on the “state-funded facilities” only made clearer the offensive nature of the law.]

Provides that absent a judicial warrant or probable cause of criminal activity, a government official shall not make arrests in the following State-funded facilities or their adjacent grounds:

• State-funded schools, including
• licensed day care centers,
• pre-schools, and
• other early learning programs;
• elementary and secondary schools, and
• institutions of higher education…

The list continues, but you get the drift.

The opinion divide on crime rates in sanctuary cities separates just as you would expect. “Sanctuary” proponents claim crime rates are not higher where illegal alien populations are greater, sanctuary opponents say crime rates are higher. Both sides cite studies to back up their contention.

What are the facts? In an April article at The Hill, Ron Martinelli, former minority community violent crimes detective, wrote:

Most states and our federal government have kept information and statistics about illegal immigration, crimes committed by illegals and the costs borne by you the U.S. payer out of public view. It is in fact difficult, but not impossible to locate accurate crime statistics involving illegal immigrants. The statistics are buried both to suit a political agenda and to avoid public outcry.

His article, “The truth about crime, illegal immigrants and sanctuary cities,” is worth your time. It is packed with important information to consider.

Another article to read is from Scott Erickson, posted at the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal website back in February: “The Truth About Sanctuary Cities and Crime Rates.” After a survey of the statistics, he writes:

No community of decent people—citizens, illegal immigrants, or otherwise—wants to live in a society beset by violence and social dysfunction. Stripping local law enforcement of the ability to merely cooperate with their federal counterparts on issues as plain as the removal of a dangerous criminal jeopardizes the safety of all law-abiding individuals.

If state and local law enforcement will be prohibited from making any arrests anywhere in Illinois according to the statute, let’s take another look at the kind of facilities that will be made into sanctuaries by Bruce Rauner signing SB 31:

• State-funded schools, including
• licensed day care centers,
• pre-schools, and
• other early learning programs;
• elementary and secondary schools, and
• institutions of higher education…

Is Illinois about to endanger children by preventing law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials?

Again, from the SB 31 web page showing the pre-amended bill — again, revealing legislative intent:

Provides that a law enforcement agency or official shall not (1) give any immigration agent access to any individual; (2) transfer any person into an immigration agent’s custody; (3) permit immigration agents use of agency facilities or equipment, including any agency electronic databases not available to the public, for investigative interviews or other investigative purpose in executing an immigration enforcement operation; or (4) respond to immigration agent inquiries regarding any individual’s incarceration status, release date, or contact information except insofar as the agency makes that information available to the public.

With Chicago’s murder rate and Illinois’ fiscal condition, is this really the time to have our state “harbor federal fugitives who have broken federal immigration law by crossing the border illegally”?

“Harboring federal fugitives” sure sounds different than the act of providing a “sanctuary,” doesn’t it?

Earlier this month, Illinois Review reported that according to the communications director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, “Signing SB 31 into law would make Illinois the state most open to illegal aliens besides California”:

“Not only would it make Illinois open to those in the country illegally, it could create dangerous situations for the public and add more financial burdens to the state,” Dave Ray said. “And isn’t the state of Illinois already having financial difficulties?”

To learn more about the current and historic legal tussle between the feds and the states, read this article by Douglas V. Gibbs: Sanctuary Cities Violate Supremacy Clause.

The Illinois Senate passed SB 31 on May 4th by a vote of 31-21, and the Illinois House passed it on May 29th by a vote of 62-49.  The bill has been on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk since June 29th.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to Gov. Bruce Rauner to ask him to veto this legislation. We only have a short window of opportunity to speak out.

ALSO: please call the public comment lines in the Governor’s office in Springfield: (217) 782-0244 and Chicago (312) 814-2121.

For even more on the politics, crime rates, and economics of sanctuary cities and states, a collection of articles can be found here.

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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Last time when we focused on the writings of government employee compensation expert Bill Zettler, I failed to mention that Bill had some great lines over the years, such as:

“Economics always wins.”

Despite the wishes and dreams of people on both the political left and political right, the day of accounting always comes. We are at that day right now as taxpayers face hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded pension liability. (Read this if you think that under-funding is due to a failure on the part of taxpayers. It’s not.)

“If something is impossible,” Bill also said, “it’s not going to happen.” There is no way all the state pensions will be paid. In fact, those government employees who are already retired and collecting their generous pensions are stealing from future pensioners.

Were you aware of the fact that twenty-five percent of our state’s budget currently goes to fund government employee pensions? In other states the number is about four percent.

The math doesn’t work and cannot be made to work. If you want to learn more about just how bad the pension system currently is, I would encourage you to check out the annual pension study conducted by Taxpayers United of America. One of the best resources they provide is the list of retired government employees whose pensions are over $100,000.

Are you ready for this? There are currently 17,000 of them — and the number goes up every year.

Here are the leaders from each of the top five levels — $500k, $400k, $300k, $200k, and $100k:

Leslie Heffez’s current annual pension is $581,227. Leslie paid in $768,611, and can expect to get out $21,945,104 in lifetime benefits based upon life expectancy averages.

Das Gupta’s current annual pension is $494,773. It took only one year for Das to recoup everything he paid into the system, which was $475,331. He could receive $5,290,301 before the grim reaper comes calling.

Herand Acarian gets $392,682 every year. Not bad for having paid in only $628,987, and with a good long life, Herand could get back $6,843,239 or more.

Eddie Williams wins the $200k column, bringing in six times the annual average Illinois household income (which is approximately $50k) at $299,991. Eddie coughed up a whole $277,792 to invest into the system, and has already received $842,452 in benefits.  (Please read those numbers again.) If he stays healthy, he could cash in for as much as $5,527,649 over his lifetime.

After flipping through over four full pages of pensions exceeding $200,000, Rick Taylor tops off the $100-k’ers at an annual pension of $199,909. For the record, Ricky paid in $229,400, has already received $1,162,854 (he retired at age 56), and life expectancy charts could gift him $7,267,441 or more if he eats right and gets enough exercise.

Hello?

For the most up to date information about where the state’s pension systems stand now the place to go is the Illinois Policy Institute’s website. For several years now, their researchers have been firing off warning flares about the dangers ahead. How Republican and conservative state legislators, let alone our Republican governor, have failed to notice, is a mystery.

If they had noticed, the problem would constitute a big part of their message to their constituents and the hard working families around the state.

There are proposed reform bills, but they all fall way short. To be honest, it’s as if the authors are not reading the works of Bill Zettler or the Illinois Policy Institute.

As for Governor Bruce Rauner, he boasts continually about wanting to spend more money on the K-12 system.

Where does he think a lot of that money is going?

I’ll give you one guess. That level of ignorance is almost incalculable. More money for the worst run level of government in the state?

The solution is a push for universal school choice where the money follows the student. That is where the savings will come, as Illinois families will be freed from the government school monopoly, and move to more economical and effective education options. Short of that, Rauner will never fulfill his constitutional duty to propose a balanced budget.

If Republican leaders had truly noticed those IPI and Bill Zettler warning flares, they would have spent the past many years making sure that enough Illinois taxpayers would be informed and thus demanding that the problem be fixed.

Read Part 1 — There is No Excuse for the Failure of Reform

Up next: More about the Illinois pension scam.

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Two important pieces of legislation are awaiting Governor Bruce Rauner‘s action — to sign, or to veto — and both bills should be vetoed!

For him to do this, he needs to hear from the Illinois’ pro-life and pro-family community.  He needs to hear from all of us, and the sooner the better.

The top priority right now is getting calls and emails in opposition to HB 1785 — which arrived on the governor’s desk on June 29th after passing the Illinois House by a vote of 63-43 and the Illinois Senate by a vote of 32-22.

This legislation would allow gender-dysphoric persons to falsify their birth certificates, which are both legal and historical documents. This will have consequences with regard to the relentless cultural assault on physical privacy through the sexual integration of previously sex-segregated spaces.

When IFI’s Laurie Higgins wrote about this bill earlier this year, her title said it all: “Corrupt, Nonsensical Legislation Reintroduced.” If you haven’t read it yet, we highly recommend that you do.

Among many other negative impacts, biologically intact men will have legal access to women’s restrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, shelters, semi-private hospital rooms, nursing home rooms, and prisons.

Governor Rauner must act to veto this nonsense by August 28, 2017 or it will automatically become law.

Secondly: We need pro-life advocates to continue to speak out against HB 40, a bill that would remove all restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortion.  This bill has passed both the Illinois House by a vote of 62-55 and in the Illinois Senate by a vote of 33-22.  A procedural motion has delayed it from being sent to the Governor’s desk, which gives us more time to speak out against it.

One of the many fake news narratives that Leftist love to promote is the phony “war on women.” With sixty million abortions since Roe v. Wade’s passage, one could easily make the case that we have seen a forty-plus-year real war on the preborn.

On July 4th, Governor Rauner vetoed a tax increase; he can and should veto HB 40 and HB 1785 as well.

Take ACTION:  Click Here to send an email or a fax to Governor Rauner’s office to urge him to veto both HB 1785 and HB 40.  Ask him to reject transgender birth certificates and taxpayer funding for abortion.

ALSO: please call the public comment lines in the Governor’s office in Springfield: (217) 782-0244 and Chicago (312) 814-2121.

No to taxpayer funding of abortion, and corrupt, nonsensical legislation for falsifying a legal document.

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The Illinois State House was back in session during the afternoon of July 6th to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a 32 percent permanent tax hike on Illinois families (SB 9). This tax grab also raises the corporate income tax rate by 33 percent. As anticipated, the House voted to override the veto this afternoon by a vote of 71-42 — with 61 Democrats and 10 Republicans voting in favor of increasing our taxes.

To see how your state representative voted, please click HERE. To see how your state senator voted, please click HERE.

Much has been written for many years now about how Illinois is being mismanaged. The votes to override common sense is only the latest chapter in that mismanagement.

Some panicked Republicans, fearful of a credit downgrade, decided to join in with Democrats to increase the tax burden on those who haven’t yet moved to other states. As the Illinois Policy Institute’s Michael Lucci reports, however, tax increases won’t help:

Moody’s Investors Service issued a statement July 5 explaining that Illinois is in a deep debt crisis, which the tax hike passed by the General Assembly won’t resolve. Moody’s is reviewing Illinois’ debt and might downgrade the state’s credit to “junk” status even if lawmakers override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of the tax hike and budget proposal and they become law. That’s because the tax increase and budget proposal passed by the legislature don’t tackle the state’s core problems; they merely address the symptoms.

In other words, the General Assembly is putting a tax hike Band-Aid on a gaping financial wound. And that Band-Aid is paid for by raising taxes by $1,100 on the average Illinois household.

No one I know is expecting Illinois Democrats to reform their ways. The Leftists that run their party have no understanding of economics and answer completely to tax-eating interest groups. When 25 percent of the state budget is going to pay pension costs, well, not much more needs to be said.

Twenty-five percent!

A few Republicans have shown leadership. Rep. David McSweeney (Cary) has been outspoken for two years about the no-state-budget crisis. He has never wavered in his stance against tax increases. State Senators Kyle McCarter (Vandalia) and Dan McConchie (Lake Zurich) showed much-needed life by offering a no-tax-increase budget a couple of months ago.

Unfortunately, none of those millions of dollars that are sitting in Governor Bruce Rauner’s campaign account were spent selling that budget to the people of Illinois. Instead, ads were run about masking tape and House Speaker Mike Madigan. Neither message resonated, and no progress has been made moving public opinion.

So, the Democrats do not understand economics, and Republicans do not understand how to fight and win the information war.

Again, here is Michael Lucci:

The problem is that Illinois has unsustainable debts and not enough economic growth to expand the tax base. House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton have shepherded a tax hike plan that raises taxes but does nothing to rein in the cost drivers — such as pensions and unaffordable government worker compensation and benefits — that have saddled Illinois with so much debt. And the new tax hike will further hamper economic growth by driving still more people — and taxable income — out of the state, and reducing economic activity.

The legislative Democrats’ tax proposal only prolongs Illinois’ unsustainable spending while putting off the day of reckoning with the debt. In Moody’s words:

“So far, the plan appears to lack concrete measures that will materially improve Illinois’ long-term capacity to address its unfunded pension liabilities.”

Unsustainable debts. Not enough economic growth. Unaffordable government worker compensation, benefits, and pensions. Unsustainable spending.

It is not a complicated situation.

The elections next year will be a contest to see which side can more successfully blame the other for this decades-in-the-making disaster. It won’t be surprising if many people add that to their list of reasons why they should leave Illinois. Who wants to hear grown men and women spending tens of millions of dollars explaining how the other party is at fault?

The money would be better spent explaining how we get out of this mess. It is not complicated. Tens of millions of dollars of effective advertising could win the kind of support needed for serious reform.

Effective advertising would leave out the words “masking tape” and the name “Mike Madigan.”

How Did They Vote?

Download the IFI App!

We now have an IFI mobile app that enables us to deliver great content based on the “Tracks” you choose, including timely legislative alerts, cultural commentaries, upcoming event notifications, links to our podcasts, video reports, and even daily Bible verses to encourage you. This great app is available for Android and iPhones.

Key Features:

• It’s FREE!
• Specific content for serious Christians
• Performs a spiritual assessment
• Sends you daily Scriptures to encourage and equip you
• You determine when and how much content you get

Tax, Spend, Repeat…

Tuesday (July 4th), the Illinois Senate took up the misguided proposal (SB 9) to massively increase the income taxes of citizens and corporations in Illinois, approving it by a vote of 36-18. State Senator Dale Righter of Mattoon was the only Senate Republican to vote in favor of this tax hike. (See the full roll call below.) This tax grab was approved in the Illinois House last Saturday afternoon, by a vote of 72-45.

It is ironic that the General Assembly voted to impose oppressive government taxes on Illinoisans during Independence Day weekend.

The good news is that Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed this proposal as soon as he could. The bad news is that the Illinois Senate already overrode his veto. So now it goes back to the Illinois House were we need to convince two or three state representatives to change their votes to ‘no.’

Apparently to lawmakers in Springfield, it was easier to dig deeper into the wallets of citizens than to address decades of irresponsible government spending and mismanagement. This is egregiously unfair to the citizens they are supposedly working to serve. It is a shameful offense that so many politicians chose to acquiesce to the inexhaustible demands of our ever-expanding and inept state government by placing a heavier burden on families and businesses in Illinois.

In approving these taxes, our state lawmakers ignored the “Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households” issued just two months ago. This alarming report suggests that 62 percent of Americans can’t cover unexpected expenses and almost a quarter cannot pay all their monthly bills. Taking more resources away from citizens to feed the insatiable appetite and reckless spending habits of state government will only exacerbate these problems.

For far too long, Illinois lawmakers have proven to be fiscally irresponsible. Why should hard-working and over-taxed citizens trust them with yet more of their money?

We’ve been here before. Between 2011-2014, Illinois citizens paid these higher taxes after Springfield politicians promised to pay down the backlog of bills, stabilize the state’s pension crisis, and strengthen the economy. That didn’t happen.

Unpaid bills and pension debt are out of control, and according to USA Today, our state economy is ranked 49th. Instead of using those increased taxes in an effective and efficient manner, government leaders squandered it. We have no reason to believe they will do better with more of our tax dollars.

Take ACTION: Please urge your state representative to reject any legislative proposal to increase tax burdens for Illinois citizens.  Ask him/her to vote NO to SB 9. You can also call the switchboard number Springfield at (217) 782-2000.

More:  Check out the Illinois Policy Institute’s online calculator to find out how much damage this tax hike will do to your family budget.

How Did They Vote?

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Gov. Rauner vows to veto reckless spending plan 

Late Sunday afternoon (July 2nd), the Illinois House passed a massive tax hike for families and businesses. What does that mean for taxpayers? Well, if this proposal isn’t vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, the personal income tax rate would increase by 32 percent, surging from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, and the corporate rate would jump from 5.25 percent to 7 percent. This would enable and fund business as usual. (“Enable” is the key word here…)

The final vote was 72-45 – with 57 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in favor of increasing our taxes. To see how your state representative voted, please click HERE.

It is very disappointing to know that so many state representatives ignored basic economic principles, and decided that the solution to irresponsible fiscal spending and mismanagement was to place a heavier tax burden on already over-taxed families in Illinois. Instead of reducing spending and cutting waste, they opted to feed the insatiable demands of our growing state government.

This proposal (SB 9) now moves to the Illinois Senate for consideration.

Thankfully, in response to this vote, Gov. Rauner issued a statement last night promising to veto this tax hike when it arrives on his desk, saying:

“I will veto Mike Madigan’s permanent 32 percent tax hike. Illinois families don’t deserve to have more of their hard-earned money taken from them when the legislature has done little to restore confidence in government or grow jobs. Illinois families deserve more jobs, property tax relief and term limits. But tonight they got more of the same.”

We know from recent history (2011-2014) that Illinois lawmakers were unable to improve the state’s fiscal condition with a temporary income tax hike — despite their promises to do so. There is no reason to believe that sending more tax revenues to Springfield now will be any different than before. They have proven themselves to be utterly irresponsible and reckless with the tax revenues they are getting now, so why would anyone think they would do better with even more taxpayer resources?

Take ACTION: Please ask the governor and your state senator to vote against any legislative proposal that would increase tax burdens for Illinois citizens. Ask them not to take much needed resources away from family budgets to boost imprudent spending of Illinois government.

Let them know that you oppose any new tax increases when they refuse to cut government waste and bloat. You can also call your lawmakers’ Springfield offices through the Capitol Switchboard at (217) 782-2000.

PLEASE ALSO CALL THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE at (217) 782-0244 and/or (312) 814-2121.

How Did They Vote?

Spread the Word!

Please share this information on social media and with your like-minded friends and neighbors.  Only a strong response from Illinois citizens can stop this tax exploitation from going through.

It is only because of concerned citizens like you that we are able to continue promoting pro-family values in the Prairie State.

>>Private, tax-deductible contributions keep IFI in the fight for truth in Illinois. Click HERE TO SUPPORT Illinois Family Institute.

State government summer re-run season is underway at the Illinois capitol building where both political parties are cooperating to send our state further into the fiscal abyss.

Midnight came and went as we closed out the month of June without a budget being signed into law, so Illinois has begun its third straight year without one. Governor Bruce Rauner and the leaders of the General Assembly once again have failed in their principle task.

On Friday the Illinois House voted on a budget proposal that leaves most of the financial problems unaddressed. State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) called the House plan “a disaster.”

In order to better celebrate Independence Day weekend, Illinois taxpayers may want to avoid reading the details of what our elected officials have once again produced. Perusing just one source, here are a few examples of their “accomplishments” as things stand midday, Saturday:

• “No other state has come close to the mess that Illinois is in.”

• The state’s credit rating is about to be downgraded to “junk,” which increases “the cost to taxpayers when the state borrows money.”

• “Illinois already has the lowest credit rating of any U.S. state…”

• Illinois “owes more than $15 billion in late payments to vendors — including doctors who provide health care to state employees and social service agencies that care for disabled people.”

• “Some homeless and domestic violence shelters have been forced to close or reduce services…”

If that isn’t bad enough, Illinois Review reported that 23 of the 51 Illinois House Republicans joined the Democrats in voting for the budget “disaster.” Thus we should expect that during next year’s campaign, those Republicans will not dare blame the Democrats for the state’s continuing fiscal mess.

So now they are working over this holiday weekend and are seriously considering a plan proposed by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) to permanently and massively increase your family’s personal income taxes.  This plan also calls for a dramatic increase in corporate income taxes and some new service taxes.  All this to cover their wasteful and reckless spending habits.

In addition to providing more very important information, the Illinois Policy Institute has an online calculator so taxpayers can measure the damage to their family budgets that will come with the bipartisan tax increase. Since the median household income for Illinois is approximately $60,000, here is what it will look like for a family of 4:

What is key, of course, is to keep in mind that this tax increase does not come anywhere near solving the state’s problems. As more people and businesses escape to states where taxes are lower, the burden will only grow for those who remain.

Currently, the state of Illinois takes in approximately $31 to $32 billion a year in tax revenue.  The proposed budget currently before the General Assembly is $36.5 billion, which is why tax and spend lawmakers are again looking to dig deeper into the pockets of hardworking families.

IFI’s Dave Smith points out: “Illinois lawmakers have proven themselves utterly irresponsible with the tax revenues they are getting now, so why would anyone think they would do better with even more taxpayer resources? In fact, between 2011-2014, the lawmakers hit citizens with higher taxes with the promise of righting the ship. Instead of using those funds in an effective and efficient manner, they squandered it.”

That irresponsibility is exhibited in the numbers that continue to get worse: $251 billion pension liability; $15 billion of backlogged bills; $800 million in late fees; and $3.1 billion in Medicaid funding.  You can read more HERE.

More taxes, more spending, more debt and more bleeding of Illinois families.  That’s the message too many state lawmakers are advancing for the citizens of Illinois.

UPDATE:  Late Sunday afternoon (July 2nd), the Illinois House passed this proposal to permanently increase taxes on the families and businesses of Illinois by a vote of 72-45.

It now moves to the Illinois Senate for consideration.

Take ACTION: Please contact the governor and your state lawmakers to ask them vote against any legislative proposal that would increase tax burdens for Illinois citizens.

Let them know that you oppose any new tax increases when they refuse to cut government waste and bloat. You can also call your lawmakers through the Capitol Switchboard at (217) 782-2000.

PLEASE ALSO CALL THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE at (217) 782-0244 and/or (312) 814-2121.

State Representative Ives, who voted against the House proposal, summed it up on the house floor yesterday in less than four minutes:

https://youtu.be/e_pEuHGwnAc

Read more:

Big Illinois Government’s Insatiable and Impossible Demands from Taxpayers

State Senator McConchie Outlines the Simplicity of the Budget Crisis

‘Taxpayer Bargain’ Budget Puts Taxpayers First

Spread the Word!

Please share this information on social media and with your like-minded friends and neighbors.  Only a strong response from Illinois citizens can stop this tax exploitation from going through.

It is only because of concerned citizens like you that we are able to continue promoting pro-family values in the Prairie State.

>>Private, tax-deductible contributions keep IFI in the fight for truth in Illinois. Click HERE TO SUPPORT Illinois Family Institute.

Written by John W. Mauck

Our nation is experiencing such political turmoil. Where can we find peace? In Messiah alone.

Fake news, alternative facts, secret investigations, “covfefes”—there is nothing new about the constant bombardment of news we receive all day, whether willingly or not.

When we hear about religious liberty laws, our ears should perk up. Right now our freedoms of expression, conscience, speech on the basis of religion are facing serious threats in Illinois and the across country. Though there have been victories, like this t-shirt printing shop in Kentucky and pastors in Illinois being able to counsel those with unwanted same-sex attraction, there is much that lies ahead for those of us bound to follow Jesus’ teaching.

In John 16, Jesus is telling His disciples of His going away, but that the Holy Spirit will join them and that He will come back. The disciples are confused as Jesus tells them about the grief they will feel. Finally Jesus tells them in verse 33:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Grandiose? Not for the Son of God. He has already overcome the world! So even though things seem chaotic, we rest in His promise that the Holy Spirit is with us and that Christ will return. If HB 1785 is signed into law, He has already conquered the sin that would take place after the gender-preferred birth certificates become permissible. Though hard to imagine, He has already overcome whatever grief and anguish would take place should HB 40 be signed into law and taxpayers are forced to pay for abortions.

This doesn’t mean we do not need to lobby, vote, preach, and call our government representatives and pray, but it does mean that there’s peace available to us. As we consider the future of our freedom to live based on our God-given convictions, we may take comfort in that He is in control and has already taken care of us.

Specific Prayer Items:

• Pray that there would be boldness for our pastors to preach the truth in love in sensitive cultural and legal areas.

• Pray for the compete healing of U.S. Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA).

• Pray that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner will veto HB 40, the bill which will require taxpayers to pay for abortions, as it will soon arrive on his desk.

• Pray for Illinois Bible College Association—a lawsuit waiting decision from the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals that will determine whether Bible colleges can award degrees to recognize its students’ achievement in the area of religious study without government approval.

• Pray that Governer Rauner will veto HB 1785, which allows an individual to change gender on their birth certificates. This would open doors to such chaos as male convicts legally claiming to be female and obtaining transfers to women’s prisons.

• Pray for the fiscal state of Illinois—nearly entering its third year without a budget.

• A couple of our clients at Mauck & Baker:
  • World Outreach— Still in court after 10 years of legal battle with the city. This Chicago homeless shelter suffered damages when the City refused to allow it to house displaced Hurricane Katrina victims.
  • Affordable Recovery Housing—The City of Blue Island tried to force this Christian recovery center to shut down, including vacating its now 100+ residents. Although Blue Island’s attempts were thwarted by court action, it is resisting paying for the legal fees of Affordable Recovery Housing. Unless ministries are allowed to recover legal fees they are often unable to obtain justice.

Thank you for being a prayer warrior alongside us!

John W. Mauck, an attorney for 40 years, is a founding partner at Mauck & Baker, LLC in Chicago. He is also an Allied Attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom. He received his BS from Yale and his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago. He and his wife of forty years have four adult children. John is the author of the books Jesus in the Courtroom (Moody Publishers), and Paul on Trial (Thomas Nelson), which was a Christian Book Award Finalist.

Majorities in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly recently flunked the kind of science test that used to be given to grammar school students. The question, which just a few years ago was not controversial, was “can a man become a woman?” “Can a woman become a man?”

Earlier this month, the Weizmann Institute in Israel released a study and posted an article about it under this headline: “Researchers Identify 6,500 Genes That Are Expressed Differently in Men and Women.”

This (un)shocking study was also reported on by Liberty Counsel:

“This recent study from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science further proves that you cannot fool Mother Nature,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.

“The saying, ‘I think, therefore, I am’ is best left to philosophy and not science. Gender confusion is mental, not physical or biological. God made male and female and no amount of protestation will change the natural created order. The fiction that a person can chose their gender does not help those who are confused” said Staver.

Changing the sex listed on a birth certificate also does not help a person suffering from gender confusion.

Yet on May 31st, HB 1785 passed in the Illinois State Senate by a vote of 32-22, and on May 25th it passed in the House by a vote of 63-32. That bill allows gender-dysphoric persons to falsify their birth certificates, which are both legal and historical documents. This will have consequences with regard to the relentless cultural assault on physical privacy through the sexual integration of previously sex-segregated spaces.

Simply put, biologically intact men will have legal access to women’s restrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, shelters, semi-private hospital rooms, nursing home rooms, and prisons.

The state of Illinois has no duty or right to be complicit in fraud by making it easier for men and women who wish they were the opposite sex to falsify their birth certificates, nor should Illinois public policy affirm deceit.

Now that it has passed in both chambers, it will be sent to Governor Bruce Rauner. Once he receives it, he will have 60 days to veto or sign it. If he does nothing, it automatically becomes law.

Take ACTION: Click Here to email Governor Bruce Rauner. Urge him to veto HB 1785 (and get an ‘A’ on this grammar school science test!). 

Please continue to call the governor’s public comment line every day until this is resolved: (217) 782-0244 and (312) 814-2121.  Also ask him to veto HB 40 – taxpayer funding of abortion while you are at it!

And let us not grow weary of doing good, 
for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
~Galatians 6:9

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It’s a sad tale of two cities.

The news out of Washington, D.C. this spring is that President Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress plan on cutting taxes. The unsurprising news out of Springfield, Illinois is that General Assembly Democrats are planning to raise taxes.

Also not surprising is that there is a hot debate about whether the GOP tax cut efforts in D.C. can succeed. There is no debate, however, about Illinois Democrats’ accomplishing their mission. Especially when Republicans, including Governor Bruce Rauner, appear poised to help the Democrats.

What is also not debatable is whether raising taxes in Illinois will be enough to make ends meet in a state where spending continues to be out of control. It won’t be.

Sometimes a trip to dictionary.com is helpful even when we all know the definitions. The first word for today is “insatiable”:

• incapable of being satisfied or appeased
• not able to be satisfied or satiated; greedy or unappeasable

As in an insatiable hunger for more of your tax dollars.

Here are three synonyms:

• voracious, unquenchable, bottomless

No one will ever provide the liberal Democrats in Illinois enough money to make them happy. I offer as proof the Illinois government employee pension systems. If Republicans would just use some of that Bruce Rauner/Ken Griffin money to get the word out about how corrupt those systems are, maybe Republicans would start to win more elections here.

Here is the title of an article from the Illinois News Network earlier this week: Study: Illinois’ public pensions are worse off than state claims. From the article (and notice the use of the word “bottomless“):

Illinois has on hand only 29 percent of the funds needed to meet the promises made to current and future retirees. That’s the worst record of any state, and [Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Joshua] Rauh concludes that for the state to stop sinking further into debt, it would have to contribute more than twice what it contributes now.

Illinois now devotes nearly 25 percent of its state budget to the state worker pensions, so doubling that figure means close to half of the state’s revenues would have to go to pensions to avoid accumulating further debt.

“I think people increasingly understand that they’re throwing tax dollars into a bottomless pit,” Mark Glennon, the founder of the WirePoints website and a former venture capitalist and financial adviser, told Illinois News Network.

Putting more money in the current system is futile, according to Glennon.

“The smart ones already know the current situation, but they’re not honest enough to talk about it in public,” he said.

A dozen years ago pension expert Bill Zettler began talking about it — and both political parties ignored his warnings. Bill regularly pointed out the simple truth that if something is impossible — it won’t happen.

That’s our second word for the day: impossible.

In that same Illinois News Network article, Mark Glennon merely confirmed what Bill Zettler had to say many years ago:

The promises that have been made to retirees in Illinois eventually will have to be broken, and the pensions won’t be made in full, according to Glennon.

“Ultimately, I think that’s unavoidable …” he said. “The numbers are far beyond insurmountable already.”

Getting back to the word “impossible” — as I wrote nine years ago, we have two competing impossibilities. Right now there isn’t support to make the needed changes, and yet there isn’t enough money to meet the obligations.

How do we get to a solution? Until public support is rallied — solving the pension problem in Illinois is “incapable of being done, undertaken, or experienced.” It is “incapable of occurring or happening.”

The credit rating agencies understand the situation in Illinois clearly. Note this headline from Crain’s Chicago Business: “Illinois’ credit rating slashed to a cut above junk.” Need I define the word “junk”?

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-and, please-

Two years after the “temporary” income tax expired, rapacious Springfield lawmakers are once again working toward raising our taxes, supposedly in order to solve the state’s fiscal problems. This time they want to raise the state’s income tax from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, raise the corporate tax from 5.25 percent to 7 percent and expand the state’s sales tax to include certain services.

In a partisan line vote, Illinois Senate Democrats passed these ridiculous proposals in SB 9 on Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 32-26.  Most of these lawmakers honestly believe that taking more money from citizens is the solution to the problem they created, instead of living within our means (which is $32+ billion annually).

SB 9 now moves on to the Illinois House.

Yet State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) recently gave a Facebook Live video presentation about the state budget that showed exactly how simple the problem is, as well as how simple the solution is.

The temptation for many is to make this matter of elementary math — addition and subtraction — resemble the complex study of particle physics. Actually, one of the best parallels used to explain the state budget is to compare it to a family budget. If you continue to spend more than you take in you are in for trouble.

As Sen. McConchie points out early on in his presentation, Illinois has set a new U.S. record by not having a state budget for 23 months. While 90 percent of the spending is still happening, the rate of spending is unchecked to the point where the state is falling further into debt at the rate of $15 million dollars a day.

Here’s a simple question: how can 118 state representatives, 59 state senators, a governor and his administration still continue to spend more than we can afford — to the tune of $15 million dollars a day?

According to Sen. McConchie, expected revenues for the fiscal year will be about $32 billion dollars, while expected expenditures will be about $38 billion. Basic math applied: that means the debt burden carried by Illinois families will increase by $6 billion dollars in just one year.

If that isn’t enough, our elected leaders have managed to accumulate $14.3 billion dollars in unpaid bills according to the Illinois Policy Institute.

For those interested in an overview of revenues and spending, Sen. McConchie used a few charts to lay out the details.

As you can see here, 51% of state revenues come via the income tax, 22% sales taxes, 12% Medicaid match by the federal government, and then a mix of other sources such as utility and cigarette taxes.

Sen. McConchie then showed where the money is being spent: 29% health care and family services, Medicaid, etc., 27% K-12 schools, 12% Department of Human Services, 8% higher ed, 5% Department of Corrections, and the other 19% is spread around other state agencies.

Sen. McConchie explained that negotiations continue in Springfield, but unfortunately they began with a discussion about raising taxes, not cutting spending. Sen. McConchie noted that the budget proposal presented by him and Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) focused on showing how the state could live within its means by cutting spending. Their “Taxpayers Bargain” budget does not contain any tax increases.

Also on the table is a massive expansion of gambling, which the Illinois Family Institute has shown to be a boondoggle every time it takes place.

Sen. McConchie did say that there are some good things happening, such as local government consolidation, procurement reform, and workers compensation reform.

Again, it is simple, just like basic math. The problem is a lack of leadership and courage to take on what is, at its core, a political problem:

The forces arrayed in support of spending are organized and well-funded and as a result, they practically own (through campaign contributions) most members of the General Assembly. Illinoisans calling for spending cuts are out-gunned despite the fact that they are not outnumbered. There are far more families and businesses suffering under an already heavy tax burden than there are beneficiaries of tax dollars.

That is also simple math: Illinois is losing population and businesses to other states because of its high tax burden.

Therefore, solving that political problem mentioned above is merely a matter of educating and activating enough of the taxpayers so their voices are heard above the din of the tax-eaters.

Bruce Rauner, who began campaigning for governor in 2013, has had four years to use his considerable wealth to do just that: educate and activate. His failure to do so is easily explained through the old but true statement: you can’t solve a problem with the same people who helped create it. Until Governor Rauner stops listening to the wrong people and starts listening to the right people, don’t expect to see any change. For the next year and a half we’ll just see the equivalent of more duct tape commercials paid for by a guy who likes to wear a gimmicky shirt as U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has done for years.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to tell your state senator and representative to stop expanding Illinois government “revenues” on the backs of hard working citizens and families.  Instead of raising taxes, Illinois leaders must cut wasteful spending and roll back the regulations and taxes that stand in the way of real, long term growth.

Ask your state lawmakers to vote against any legislative proposal that would increase any tax burden for Illinois citizens.

The Illinois Family Institute applauds Illinois Senator Dan McConchie’s work to help inform Illinoisans about the fundamentals of our state budget crisis.

We’ll close with a third graph from Sen. McConchie showing that Illinois’ spending problems are nothing new. As bad as this looks, it gets even worse. The above numbers don’t include the pension liabilities created by government employee unions through excessively generous and unrealistic employee contracts. That, too, is a simple problem that can be fixed. But not without leadership and courage.

Here is Senator McConchie’s Video Update:

Making Illinois a place where people want to do business and can afford to raise a family will do more for the bottom line than increasing the tax burden on Illinois citizens.

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Late Wednesday afternoon, HB 40 passed in the Illinois State Senate by a vote of 33-22. Thirty votes are needed for passage in the Illinois Senate. This bill was passed with a party-line vote by the Democratic majority without one Republican vote, and four Democrats not voting on this controversial proposal.

Click HERE to see how your state senator voted on this legislation, or look at the graphic below. (Look up your state elected officials HERE.)

Just a few weeks ago, on April 25th, it was passed by the Illinois House by a vote of 62-55.

Now that it has passed in both chambers, Governor Bruce Rauner will have 60 days to keep his pledge to veto it, once it reaches his desk. If he does nothing, it automatically becomes law.

**UPDATE:  A motion to reconsider has been made, which delays the process, however, we fully expect HB 40 being sent to the governor’s desk, despite political posturing and tactical schemes.

IFI’s concerns remain:

HB 40 forces taxpayers to pay for Medicaid abortions. In 1977, there were over 12,7000 taxpayer-funded Medicaid abortions. Based on the increased number of new Medicaid recipients in the last 5 years, Illinois taxpayers could be forced to pay for over 15,000 abortions per year.

HB 40 removes the policy statement in the Abortion Law of 1975, that an unborn child is a person.

HB 40 adds abortion coverage to state employees’ insurance plans which, as taxpayers, you also pay for.

HB 40 targets minorities. Blacks make up 30%, Latinos – 16% and Asians – 5% of the Medicaid recipients in Illinois. Combined, they are 51% of the Medicaid recipients.

HB 40 is a spending bill that expands entitlements. Illinois owes $10 billion in unpaid bills with tens of billions more in unfunded liabilities. Illinois has the lowest credit rating in the nation because we can’t pay our bills.

It’s outrageous that Illinois lawmakers would spend money we don’t have to kill unborn children!

Take ACTION: Click Here to email Governor Bruce Rauner. Urge him to keep his pledge to veto HB 40. Also, call the governor’s public comment lines: (217) 782-0244 and (312) 814-2121.

How Did They Vote?

Have you heard about the “Grand Bargain” that has been travelling the bumpy road of the legislative process in Springfield during this General Assembly session? Not surprisingly, it is neither a bargain nor grand for taxpayers.

Illinois Senate Minority leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) has been (or was?) working with Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) for a few months on trying to craft a budget that can pass.

There are conflicting reports about whether talks are still underway between the Radogno and Cullerton camps. There are not conflicting reports about the continuing Governor Bruce Rauner and Speaker Michael Madigan feud. Both sides are already blaming the other for the bargain’s failure.

Illinois has been without a budget for almost two years. What’s wrong with that? Many things, including what Illinois Senator Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) has pointed out, “Every day we go without a balanced budget, the state debt rises by $11 million.”

That deserves a repeat: Illinois’ debt rises by $11 million every day we don’t have a balanced budget.

Another not-so-little problem are reports estimate that without action, the state could have as much as $15 billion in unpaid bills by July.

Doesn’t it make you proud to live in the Land of Lincoln? On that topic:

Illinois registered voters are divided over whether they’d like to leave the state or stay, according to the latest poll from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Specifically, the poll found that 47 percent say they would like to move and 51 percent prefer to remain in the state. Just under 2 percent said they didn’t know.

It’s no surprise that taxes “are the single biggest reason” people want to leave.

The Illinois Policy Institute’s John Tillman recently noted that IPI “commissioned a poll that found that more than half of Illinois voters want lawmakers to balance the budget by only cutting state spending.”

With the help of our friends at the Illinois Policy Institute, let’s do a quick survey of some more of the unpleasant facts regarding Illinois’ fiscal state of the state.

Illinois Has Highest Overall Tax Burden in the Nation
A new report from WalletHub finds Illinois’ combined state and local tax burden is higher than that of every other state and the District of Columbia.

From the article:

Some state politicians want to make this tax burden even worse. The Illinois Senate is currently negotiating its so-called “grand bargain” budget deal, which includes billions of dollars in tax hikes for Illinoisans. Among the Senate’s ideas: a permanent 33 percent income tax hike, implementing a tax on sugary beverages, raising taxes on food and drugs, and expanding the sales tax to include previously exempt services.

The Truth About Your Property Tax Bill

From the article:

Illinoisans are struggling to pay the highest property taxes in the nation, and that’s largely due to unfair overspending in local governments.

How about those bloated and overly generous government employee pensions?

Interest on Illinois’ pension debt is $9.1B per year
A golden rule of finance is this: Debt that can’t be paid won’t be paid.

Just a few more:

Illinois Senate’s Spending “Cap” Doesn’t Protect Taxpayers, Core Services

From the article:

The Senate’s “grand bargain” contains a one-year spending “cap” that won’t improve fiscal responsibility. A real cap must come with structural spending reforms to return spending to a level that taxpayers can afford.

Lest you think it’s only income and property taxes being discussed:

Illinois Senator Pitches Expanding Sales Tax to Tattoos, Manicures and Pedicures, More

Illinois Pitches Sales Tax for Netflix, Spotify, Other Streaming Services

Ready for a silver lining (albeit a very thin silver lining)?

Six Illinois Republican state senators have pledged to not raise taxes:

Tim Bivins of Dixon
Kyle McCarter of Lebanon
Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove
Dave Syverson of Rockford
Bill Brady of Bloomington
Sue Rezin of Morris

Take ACTION:  Please send a message to your state senator to urge him/her to reject any and all proposals to increase taxes in Illinois. Springfield lawmakers need to understand that state government has a serious spending problem, not a revenue problem. Moreover, they have proven to be utterly irresponsible with the billions of dollars in revenue they already receive; why should they be entrusted with even more?

Image credit: Illinois Policy Institute.

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We normally send out prayer alerts to the IFI Prayer Team – to those 800 plus people who have opted into this special publication.  But in light of a new presidential administration and new legislative sessions in both Washington D.C. and Springfield, it is important that this message be viewed by as many Christians as possible, as we exhort each reader to prayer – fervent prayer, if I may be so bold. (Learn more about IFI’s Prayer Team HERE.)

Today, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45^th President of the United States.

Last week, state lawmakers were sworn into office in Springfield to begin the 100^th General Assembly (a two year session).

Two weeks before that, on January 3, 2017, our federal lawmakers were sworn in, starting the 115^th Congress (also a two year session).

All of these government officials have a tremendous duty before them to uphold the State and U.S. Constitutions and serve the general welfare of the American people. As Christians, we have an obligation to pray for them because it benefits us, our families, our neighbors, and society as a whole.

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” ~1 Timothy 2:1-2

POTUS

Pray for President Donald J. Trump. Pray that God gives him an abundance of wisdom, discernment and understanding of the issues before him. Pray that god-fearing advisers surround him.  Pray that his administration would do good, seek justice, defend the oppressed and do the hard things to establish sound moral and fiscal policies. Pray for his spiritual and physical safety and well-being.

Pray for Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Pray that God would use him in great ways to advise President Trump. Pray that he will have many great opportunities to share the truth of the Gospel and to disciple those within the administration. Pray that he would continue to seek God in prayer in all things. Pray for his spiritual and physical safety and well-being.

Let’s pray fervently for God’s hand of blessing and direction on Donald Trump over next 100 days!! May he learn to lean on the Holy Spirit in his new capacity.

U.S. Congress

We also urge you to pray regularly for U.S. Senator Richard Durbin and your particular U.S. Representative.  In addition, there are three federal lawmakers elected to new positions this session that we should also lift up in prayer.  They are U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (D- Schaumburg) of the 8^th District and Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) of the 10^th District.

Illinois General Assembly

Likewise, for our lawmakers at the State Capitol in Springfield, we must pray regularly for Governor Bruce Rauner and your own state senator and state representative. We also have a new Illinois Comptroller, Susan Mendoza. It would be wise to pray for her as she is in charge of the state “checkbook.”

In addition, we have twenty-three new elected officials who are in need of our prayers.  Here is the list:

Illinois State Senate:

Omar Aquino (D-Chicago)

Christina Castro (D-Elgin)

Paul Schimpf (R-Murphysboro)

Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg)

Illinois State House of Representatives:

Teresa Mah (D-Chicago)

Julia Stratton (D-Chicago)

Melissa Conyears (D-Chicago)

Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago)

Nick Sauer (R-Barrington)

Steve Reick (R-Woodstock)

Tony McCombie (R-Savanna)

Michael Halpin (D-Rock Island)

Ryan Spain (R-Peoria)

Daniel Swanson (R-Woodhull)

David Welter (R-Morris)

Jerry Long (R-Ottawa)

Lindsay Parkhurst (R-Kankakee)

David Olsen (R-Downers Grove)

Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville)

Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville)

LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis)

Dave Severin (R-Marion)

Although we may disagree with the politics and worldview of many of the officials above, Christians have the privilege of going “above their heads” to appeal to an omnipotent God who is able to turn the heart of a king like a stream of water (Proverbs 21:1).

Pray that God would accomplish His purposes through these elected officials for the welfare of our state and nation.

Finally, pray that Congress will move to defund Planned Parenthood quickly, and that our state lawmakers will reject HB 40 — the bill to have our tax-dollars pay for thousands of abortions every year.

May God be pleased to answer our prayers!

Join IFI at our Feb. 18th Worldview Conference

We are excited about our third annual Worldview Conference featuring world-renowned theologian Dr. Frank Turek on Sat., Feb. 18, 2017 in Barrington. Dr. Turek is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture:

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Yesterday, I wrote about the profoundly unjust decision of the ideologically imbalanced three-member panel of commissioners from the Illinois Human Rights Commission who decided that Christian bed and breakfast owner Jim Walder should pay $80,000 for refusing to rent his facilities to a same-sex couple for their civil union ceremony.

In that article, I questioned both the lack of ideological representation on the panel, which included two homosexual activists and no conservatives, as well as on the full 13-member commission. I questioned whether the commission is skirting the law that prohibits more than 7 members of the same political party from serving on the commission by identifying 2 of its members as Independents when in reality they are Democrats.

There are yet more questions about the political composition of the Illinois Human Rights Commission, this time about Commissioner Hermene Hartman who is identified as one of the five Republicans serving on the 13-member commission.

Hartman is the publisher of Chicago “lifestyle publication” N’DIGO.com. Her bio on Huffington Post describes Hartman as “one of the most significant and influential Black women in American publishing….N’DIGO, was founded in 1989, as a weekly lifestyle publication for progressive readers.”

Hartman was a Democrat until Bruce Rauner ran for governor and began disbursing money in the black community, which included, according to the Chicago Tribune, paying Hartman “$10,000 per month for her outreach efforts.”

After Rauner’s victory, he appointed Hartman to the Illinois Human Rights Commission, where the Chicago Sun Times reports Hartman earns “$46,960-a-year…accompanied by personal insurance perks.”

Interesting fiscal tidbit: The Better Government Association (BGA) reports that “Commissioners devoted an average 12.9 hours per month to official state business for the fiscal year 2011.” That comes out to approximately $322 per hour—on average.

The BGA explained that “Time commitments varied widely, from an average of fewer than seven hours per month to 20 hours.” Those who work 20 hours per month make a paltry $207 per hour, while those who work 7 hours per month make $594 per hour. Not bad, not bad at all. Perhaps those workers who are fighting for minimum wage increases should take a gander at what some state employees make in impoverished Illinois.

Hartman endorsed Hillary Clinton in the recent election. Maybe Hartman has converted back to the Democratic Party. If “Independents” Terry Cosgrove (a homosexual activist and pro-feticide fanatic) and Patricia Bakalis Yadgir, and “Republican” Hermene Hartman are all, in reality, Democrats, the Illinois Human Rights Commission is in violation of state law that limits the number of commissioners from the same political party to 7.

My math-challenged pea brain thinks there may be up to 9 Democrats serving on the commission that will decide whether to subordinate constitutionally protected religious liberty to homoerotic privilege.

If you haven’t let Govenor Rauner’s office know what you think of this feckless ruling and the corrupt IHRC, please do so now.

Take ACTION:  Please click HERE to contact Governor Rauner to express your opposition to his appointments of Democrats Hermene Hartman and homosexual activists Duke Alden and to urge him to investigate the Illinois Human Rights Commission’s efforts to circumvent the law prohibiting political imbalance on the Commission.

Listen to this as a podcast HERE.

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