Topspin Gov. Bruce Rauner is traveling to Germany and Poland next week in what he described as an effort to bring companies from the two countries to Illinois. The trip makes good on a pledge the Republican governor made last fall to visit Europe, after taking a trip to Japan and China. Rauner disclosed his plans during a question-and-answer session with members of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon in Springfield on Wednesday. He pointed to a Germany as a model for training a workforce that can meet the needs of businesses, noting teens who go to trade school rather than a traditional four-year university. Of the trip to Germany, Rauner said, "We've got a bunch of announcements." "We're bringing German companies more here and expanding German investment in the state," he said. "Poland is becoming more free-enterprise, they're actually growing some pretty big companies, and the No. 1 state where they should be investing when they come to the U.S. is Illinois," he said. Before he leaves, the governor is set to meet with legislative leaders on Thursday in Springfield to discuss the budget. (Kim Geiger) What's on tap *Mayor Rahm Emanuel's schedule wasn't available. *Gov. Rauner will be in Springfield for the budget meeting. He'll also speak to an Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers convention in Springfield, participate in a Holocaust remembrance ceremony and act on a bill about local regulation of cell towers. *The Illinois House and Senate are in session. *Hillary Clinton will speak at a fundraiser downtown. (More on that below.) *The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights will announce a health care initiative at Rush University Medical Center. From the notebook *Attempt to limit Amazon tax breaks stalls: An effort to limit the amount of tax breaks the state would give to Amazon as officials seek to lure the company's second headquarters to Chicago will not move forward. Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Democrat from Chicago, said Wednesday she was told her proposal would not get a committee hearing, which essentially kills the effort for the spring legislative session. She was seeking to limit potential tax credits to $50,000 for each job the company would create in Illinois, saying lawmakers must be careful to balance incentives. "The reality is when we talk about these amazing opportunities, like with Amazon, it's almost like pie-in-the-sky predictions without any concrete proof of what it's going to be like," Cassidy said. "Which is why I talk about relating the incentive to the kinds of jobs that will be created and the kinds of salaries that will be paid by them because otherwise we are buying a pig in a poke." (Monique Garcia) *Clinton's in town: Hillary Clinton will be downtown today, speaking at a lunch fundraiser for a political committee formed to support African-American women for office in Illinois. The campaign fund is named for Chicago journalist Ida B. Wells and was started by Clinton supporter Delmarie Cobb about a year ago. "Black women still lag behind their white counterparts in job opportunities and wages," Cobb said in a statement. "This is the time to put our issues front and center, because when all women win the nation wins." Clinton was in town last year to plug her book. Just this week, news broke that Chicago-based U.S. Attorney John Lausch had been picked to handle congressional requests for documents in some of the Justice Department's big cases, including the investigation of Clinton's use of a private email server. *McCarthy fundraiser: Mayoral candidate and former Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced a fundraiser for next week at an Irish bar. His first fundraiser was at the Irish American Heritage Center. Tickets to this one start at $45, he tweeted. What we're writing *In Janesville, Wis., Ryan's exit illustrates Republican divide, challenges this fall. *Illinois Senate approves federal Equal Rights Amendment, more than 35 years after the deadline. *To boost gender pay equity, Emanuel bans city departments from asking job applicants for salary history. *Crime-fighting technology in Chicago gets $10 million boost from billionaire Ken Griffin. *Posting signs outside of Chicago tobacco stores could warn teens of vaping dangers, officials say. *Hipsters in Homewood? Suburbs try to lure millennial city dwellers by showing they're cool, too. What we're reading *IHSA giving high schools the chance to buy concussion insurance for their athletes. *Before the movie, "Rampage" the video game offered destruction without death. *It's baby penguin season across Chicago: Cuteness overload or something more? Follow the money *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens hit woman, she tells lawmakers. *Paul Ryan won't run again. *Zuckerberg goes back for Round 2. *Cambridge Analytica CEO steps down. | 
沒有留言:
張貼留言