Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in Illinois

October 28, 2019

The (Champaign) News-Gazette

Off limits

Chalk up one more entity that’s been put on ice in the wake of sprawling scandal that threatens to engulf government and politics in Illinois.

No, it’s not an individual - it’s the City Club of Chicago.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has ordered that no one in his administration is to participate in any speaking programs or panels. Pritzker’s edict comes after news reports that FBI targeted the club for a search. The feds were reportedly looking for information on a number of individuals, including Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, in connection with Madigan-associated lobbyists working for Exelon/Commonwealth Edison.

The City Club issued a statement in which it denied being a subject of the federal investigation, saying instead it was merely a conduit of information. But Jay Doherty, an Exelon/ComEd lobbyist and club president, apparently is under federal scrutiny.

Whatever the situation, Pritzker wants nothing to do with it.

This is the second time he’s made his distaste for scandal known and taken steps to separate his administration from anything questionable.

He publicly demanded that Senate President John Cullerton remove state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat, from his position as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Pritzker’s words came after the feds executed search warrants at Sandoval’s home and offices in connection with alleged payoffs for construction contracts.

After Pritzker spoke out, Sandoval resigned his committee post.

An administration spokeswoman said the governor is cutting ties with the City Club because the institution is under a shadow.

“While questions remain about the City Club’s involvement in the ongoing federal investigation, the administration is recommending state agencies pursue alternative forums to communicate with the public,” the spokeswoman said.

The City Club is a regular stop for the city’s movers and shakers, a place where political wannabes make speeches and try to make friends. It has a reputation of being bipartisan, but closely connected to the power elite.

But not to the power broker who occupies the governor’s mansion, at least not for a while.

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October 28, 2019

Chicago Tribune

Congress, fearing China, threatens a Chicago factory

Chinese workers at the CRRC plant in Hegewisch train American workers on how to assemble CTA rail cars June 13, 2019.

Chinese workers at the CRRC plant in Hegewisch train American workers on how to assemble CTA rail cars June 13, 2019. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

When the Chicago Transit Authority awarded a contract for 800 new rail cars to CRRC Sifang in 2016, it looked like a good deal for everyone. The agency would get spiffy modern rolling stock to replace much of its aging fleet, at a savings of $226 million compared with the competing bid. The Far Southeast Side would get a new factory to build the Chinese rail cars, employing 169 people.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel took great pride in the deal. “It’s one thing to order new cars and the customers will get a great experience,” he said. “It’s another thing to order those cars and create great manufacturing jobs in the city of Chicago and bring back rail car manufacturing to its proper home.” Union workers at the plant start out making $55,000 a year and average about $77,000. The plant has also generated business for 14 different suppliers in Illinois.

But the operation is now in peril because of paranoia and protectionism. Both the U.S. House and Senate have voted to forbid transit agencies from using federal funds to purchase Chinese rail cars, though they still have to work out differences in their bills. The existing CTA contract wouldn’t be affected, but Metra would lose the option of getting the 200 rail cars it wants to buy from a local manufacturer.

China’s takeover of U.S. rail car construction, including for the CTA, raises security concerns “

Any chance the Hegewisch plant could expand to build equipment for agencies in other cities would also be gone. Eventually, we can expect, it would have to shut down for lack of business.

Critics fear the company, owned by the Chinese government, could someday put American companies out of business. As it happens, there are no domestic rail car producers for it to compete with. But alarmists fear that CRRC, with unfair help from Beijing, will eventually want to build freight cars in the U.S., taking sales from existing domestic producers.

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The critics also fantasize that the Chinese company could incorporate technology to spy on Americans or sabotage transit systems. Said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, “China poses a clear and present danger to our national security and has already infiltrated our rail and bus manufacturing industries.”

If by “infiltrated” he means that Chinese firms have built factories and won contracts for rail cars and buses, he’s right. But what’s wrong with that? Foreign investment is good for the U.S. economy and American workers. Transit agencies benefit from having more choices.

Any threat to the privacy of Americans is far more likely to come from their Chinese-made smartphones, computers and other electronics. Before the rail cars are delivered, they are subject to thorough inspection by the purchasers. Afterward, they come under the control of transit agencies, not the Chinese government.

As for any potential illegitimate business practices on the part of Beijing, there are better safeguards. “The U.S. already has ample tools to address issues of unfair competition through antitrust, countervailing duties and other policies,” Scott Kennedy, an economist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, tells us.

The Rail Security Alliance, representing U.S. makers of freight cars, sees a danger if CRRC were to compete in that business. It’s hard to see any security threat there, either. Besides, the company says it has no plans to manufacture freight cars in the U.S. Should it change course, there will be plenty of time to address any possible concerns the decision would raise.

If the legislation becomes law, it will cost American jobs and needlessly raise the cost of mass transit. It deserves to be left at the station.

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October 27, 2019

The (Moline) Dispatch and Rock Island Argus

Protect rights of people, not the politicians

Advocates of right-sizing Illinois government have suspected for months that judges would determine the fate of a new state law that gives local voters more power to decide how they are governed.

We were among those predicting in August, for example, that McHenry County township officials would immediately get to work crafting strategies to get around a law just signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that reduced the draconian petition signature requirements that have historically kept local government citizen referendums from getting before voters.

It is, after all, standard operating procedure for elected officials whose power is threatened to do an end run around voters by seeking the assistance of courts friendly to the cause of government and elected officials.

We suspect, of course, that many of the supporters of township government in McHenry County truly believe the work these local officials do is important and that those officials know better than voters who should do it and how.

We, however, believe that in a democracy, those choices belong to the voters, not the people they elect to serve at their pleasure. Citizen initiatives like this do that by giving voters the opportunity to change governments that don’t work, and to support governments that do.

Unfortunately, motivated self-interest also is a powerful thing, and we suspect that is at least part of the reason some supporters of two township road districts in McHenry County —- Nunda and McHenry townships — filed suit last week challenging the constitutionality of the new law.

It’s hard to imagine that Illinois judges at any level would find it unconstitutional to give voters the power to choose their form of government. Still, there are plenty of worrisome precedents - for example, the Illinois Supreme Court’s rejection of a fair map petition signed by more than half a million Illinoisans - to justify concerns that Illinois courts will side with the rights of government officials over the governed here.

Also predictably - and wisely - township officials and supporters aren’t counting only on the courts to beat back these downsizing efforts. According to Capitol News Illinois, McHenry Township advocates have filed a petition with 1,000 signatures to put the question of township government dissolution on the March 2020 ballot. Reformers had hoped to go before voters in the November presidential election, when turnout will be much higher and prospects are always better for passing a populist measure such as this one. Instead, if the law survives, the referendum is expected to be considered in a primary election, where it will be easier for township advocates to persuade enough voters to impact the outcome.

At least a March vote would give the campaign to trim local government a fighting chance to succeed. If the courts decide that this law is unconstitutional, however, it could have wide-ranging and lasting consequences, and not just for residents of the 17 townships in McHenry County. Residents and taxpayers in the Quad-Cities and throughout the state need this experiment in government reduction to continue. If McHenry County downsizing is successful, it can help lay the groundwork for residents and taxpayers to to begin trimming waste and inefficiency from among more than 7,000 local governments statewide. That includes school districts, townships, road districts, soil conservation districts, mosquito abatement districts, and more.

As this case makes its way through the Illinois court system, we urge judges to do their duty to protect the rights of the people of Illinois, not the politicians elected to serve them.