* Another lawsuit has been filed to overturn the state’s new law that strips retirees of their free health insurance premiums…
The retirees’ suit argues that the law “gives the director no intelligible standards” to determine the level of contributions and “as such, is an invalid delegation of legislative authority to an administrative agency or officer.”
The lawsuit says the law violates the pensions clause of the Illinois Constitution, which prohibits the diminishment of pension benefits once they are earned.
The suit also says the new law violates the contracts clause of the Constitution because state law provided for premium-free health insurance after 20 years as a “term and condition of employment” for the five plaintiffs.
One count in the complaint was brought specifically by Kanerva and Hoover, both of whom retired as part of the 2002 early retirement incentive program. The lawsuit says the state promised premium-free health and dental insurance for life to early retirees and that Kanerva and Hoover relied on that promise when they decided to take early retirement.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of an estimated 10,000 merit compensation employees who retired with at least 20 years of service. Merit comp employees are not covered by collective bargaining agreements.
Thoughts?
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Today’s history lesson
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Eric Zorn looks at the history of employer contributions to teacher pension funds…
Chicago started its own teacher pension fund in 1895, and the non-Chicago statewide fund started in 1913. Then in 1939, the laws were overhauled, benefits were standardized and the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois — the suburban and downstate program — was formalized.
Why didn’t the two systems just merge at that time?
“Because ours was older and much better funded,” said James F. Ward, 74, executive director of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund from 1967 until 1997. And Chicago was able to strike a deal that funneled a fair share of state tax revenues into funding pensions for Chicago Public Schools.
That all changed in 1995 with the deal that ceded control of CPS to Mayor Richard M. Daley. Part of the arrangement called for the Chicago Board of Education to have the flexibility to mingle education funds with funds formerly earmarked only for pensions, Ward said.
Another part of the deal was that the state would try to kick 20 to 30 percent of overall teacher retirement-fund payments back to Chicago, kind of like in the old days. But this aspiration — this goal — has lately gone by the wayside as budgets have tightened.
In fiscal 1995, the first year of the deal, Chicago got 23.2 percent of the money that went to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. Fair enough, or close to it.
By fiscal 2012, that figure had dropped to 0.4 percent — not quite nothing but almost — with Chicago getting shorted by roughly $540 million, according to Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund estimates. And some of the local money formerly earmarked for pensions instead went to paying the ongoing costs of running city schools.
Discuss.
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* Gov. Pat Quinn held a press conference today to sign the legislative scholarship abolition bill into law. From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today signed a new law abolishing the century-old political scholarship program in Illinois, one of his ethics reform goals since taking office. The Governor proposed to abolish this troubled program in 2009, 2010 and in 2011, and worked with the General Assembly to get it done this spring. Governor Quinn is committed to increasing college scholarships to students with merit who are in true financial need as well as restoring integrity to state government.
“There is no place for political scholarships in Illinois,” Governor Quinn said. “I believe in the power of education, the importance of ethics and integrity, and the idea that you can get ahead in life with a little hard work. That’s why today I enact this long-overdue reform and redouble our efforts to increase scholarships for deserving college students.”
Raw audio of Quinn’s announcement…
Raw audio of the Q&A…
* Coincidentally, or not, the Sun-Times splashed a related story today…
The U.S. attorney’s office has opened a criminal investigation into a series of legislative scholarships awarded by state Sen. Annazette Collins — marking an expansion of a federal probe into the scandal-tainted tuition-waiver program.
The Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday obtained a copy of a June 1 federal subpoena issued by then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office that seeks an array of records regarding the waivers the West Side Democrat handed out during an 11-year career as a state representative and senator.
The query follows Sun-Times reports in March about a series of questionably legal waivers Collins gave to five students who listed her former home as their official residence even though some had driver’s licenses or voter registrations linked to addresses outside her district. State law requires that legislative scholarship recipients reside in the awarding lawmaker’s district.
Reached Tuesday evening, Collins referred questions about the matter to her attorney, Michael Monico, who maintained his client’s innocence.
“This is a grand jury matter so it’s really not for us to comment on it at this point. We don’t believe that senator did anything criminal or that would arise to a federal criminal violation,” he told the Sun-Times.
The subpoena delivered to Collins’ district office asked that she “produce all information” concerning her “procedures for the establishment, awarding and operation of the Illinois General Assembly Scholarship” program.
Oof.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The younger brother of a good friend of mine had a very weird request for his 18th birthday last week. He asked me for a Capitol Fax subscription.
Now, I’m not in the business of handing out free subscriptions, but how can I turn down a high school student who is that interested in Illinois politics? I granted Andrew’s request.
Andrew is a really good kid, but he’s something of an odd duck. I mean, how many teenagers do you know who are addicted to this blog? Not many, I’d wager. Here’s a photo…
As you can tell, he’s also a bit of a joker.
* The Question: Caption?
And be kind, people. He’s only 18.
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IG out, Quinn issues executive order
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m still trying to catch up on the stuff I missed during my week off. Here’s a big one from the Belleville News-Democrat…
The head of a state agency set up to protect disabled adults has resigned after the News-Democrat reported that the agency did not investigate the deaths of people who were neglected or abused.
William M. Davis, the inspector general for the Department of Human Services, offered his resignation after Gov. Pat Quinn ordered him to meet with Michelle R.B. Saddler, the head of the Department of Human Services, regarding the findings of the stories. His resignation takes effect Aug. 1.
You have to wonder what, if anything, will happen to the people responsible for this policy besides IG Davis. So far, nothing.
* Davis’ resignation coincided with an executive order issued by Gov. Pat Quinn last week. From a press release…
Under Governor Quinn’s executive order, the state will strengthen protections for adults with disabilities who are suspected victims of abuse and neglect. The order will ensure referrals to the appropriate authorities are made and follow-up occurs after any death of an adult with disabilities who is the subject of a pending complaint investigation by the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), regardless of the circumstances.
Starting immediately, such cases will be reported, in writing, to local law enforcement and local coroners or medical examiners, and referrals will be documented. The OIG will follow-up on the cases to determine and document what actions have been taken and what determinations have been made by the law enforcement agency. In the past, the Office of the Inspector General referred many of these cases to local law enforcement and/or the medical examiner/coroner. In some cases, contact was made but not documented by OIG staff or the receiving entity, which is unacceptable. The OIG has also swiftly taken steps to strengthen policies and procedures to ensure referrals/notifications are properly documented.
The EO also calls for a review of all deaths of an adult with disabilities who was the subject of a pending investigation by the OIG since 2003. In such cases where documented referrals were made to law enforcement agencies, the OIG will follow up on the outcome. For all other cases, the OIG will undertake a detailed review of each file to determine whether further DHS OIG action or referral is required.
In the future, all cases, regardless of allegations, will be referred to local law enforcement.
* React…
State Sen. William Haine, D-Alton, said he thought the plan of bringing coroners and the police quickly into the investigation when a disabled adult dies is one of the strong points of the governor’s plan announced Friday.
“I think it’s an excellent plan. I’m very impressed by the quick turnaround by the governor and Secretary Saddler of the DHS,” Haine said.
State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, said Friday afternoon that he hadn’t seen the executive order but from a description supplied by a reporter said he thought it sounded like it could affect positive change. As for whether he will push for a convening of the House’s Human Services Committee, which he chairs, to inquire into past OIG procedures, he said he needed to study the order to detect “what gaps there may be.”
* The Tribune is half-impressed…
What the executive order does not address is the overly bureaucratic culture within DHS, which needs an overhaul. One provider told us the agency primarily pays attention to paperwork: An investigator might look at medical records or a financial audit, but thorough home visits are rarities. There’s not enough face-to-face contact with the disabled. […]
DHS needs more than a reactive executive order from Quinn. The state’s crisis-of-the-day management style in response to these cases doesn’t supply the focus on patients, not just paperwork, that DHS needs. “If someone gets into a community setting and they’re put in a place where their caretaker becomes their abuser, we need to react to that,” state Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, told us. “If it’s necessary to appoint a guardian and move them out, we need to be able to do that. There are so many things wrong with this picture.”
Illinois often finds itself fixing problems after the damage is done — and, we’d point out, often in reaction to atrocities uncovered by journalists, not the state’s own army of investigators and inspectors general.
Harris will hold a committee hearing on the issue this month. That’s good. Illinoisans deserve answers.
But legislators and the governor need to look beyond DHS and its front-line services. Illinois needs a comprehensive strategy at DHS, the Department of Public Health and the Department on Aging to coordinate their staffs, pool resources and fill systemwide gaps that put fragile lives at risk.
The governor’s executive order doesn’t reach that far. But we agree with the mission it sets forth: “The state has an obligation to protect its most vulnerable citizens from abuse, neglect and exploitation.”
Agreed.
And, in my opinion, IG Harris shouldn’t be forced to shoulder the blame alone. Did an order come from the top to stop investigating deaths because the dead didn’t qualify for services? The News-Democrat reporters haven’t been able to find that out yet. We need some answers here.
* Related…
* ‘All safe now’: The ordeal of one victim: But behind that apartment door, Robert Loveless called his disabled wife “a stupid retarded b*tch,” according to a 24-page report by an investigator for the Office of the Inspector General of the Illinois Department of Human Services. He didn’t work and spent her Social Security disability check on himself. He paid more than $500 from her monthly stipend to buy a laptop computer and an Internet hookup to watch pornography.
* ‘Why is someone dropping the ball?’ Coroners aren’t called after deaths of disabled adults: A week after Smith’s death, a juvenile relative said she saw the caregiver slip something into Smith’s drink, according to an OIG hotline call summary and a police report. Neither White County Coroner Carl McVey nor Carmi police knew about the June allegation to the OIG hotline. McVey never ordered an autopsy or directed that blood be drawn for a toxicological screening, he said.
* Committee will review role of state agency at center of fatalities investigation
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* This is probably no surprise to ComEd customers…
Commonwealth Edison Co. had the worst household customer satisfaction of any large electric utility in the Midwest in the annual survey released today by J.D. Power and Associates.
On a scale of 1,000 points, ComEd’s score was 579, well down from last year’s tally of 590 in the same survey and far below the next-worst utility, Ameren Illinois. Ameren had a score of 606. Last year, ComEd had the second-lowest ranking among large Midwest utilities. […]
In its release Wednesday, J.D. Power said that customer satisfaction for the utility industry as a whole fell about 20 points in 2012, and it attributed much of that decline to increased power outages due to violent weather. It said that utilities could help mitigate consumer unhappiness by setting up better communications systems during storms.
* The study is here. ComEd’s score of 579 ranked below only large utilities Connecticut Light and Power and the Long Island Power Authority. Midsized power companies Orange and Rockland and Kentucky Power ranked lower than ComEd as well.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Enough, already
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I couldn’t agree more with Brian Thomas…
I love Roe Conn (WLS-AM, 2pm- 6pm). But [yesterday] he started a nasty rumor about Jackson’s leave of absence, based upon two anonymous Washington sources. Until that story is confirmed (if it’s confirmed), he should have kept his mouth shut.
* Conn cited “two high-ranking people on the Democratic side of the aisle, in both fundraising and in the legislative branch” as sources for a rumor that Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. had attempted to commit suicide.
I asked a top Jackson staffer about that rumor and received this e-mailed response…
NO he did not. I hope you find the reporting of false rumors very disturbing. What has the news media become?
I do indeed find this all very disturbing. So did the congressman’s father…
“No, that’s not true,” Jackson Sr. told POLITICO. “He’s with his doctor and getting treatment, regaining his strength. That’s all I really want to say at this point.”
Jackson Sr. added that there is “no truth” to the WLS broadcast. “None at all,” he said.
An aide to the congressman also said the WLS report is inaccurate.
* From ABC News…
The source, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, declined to provide any details on where Jackson is seeking treatment, but said that he is genuinely suffering from “exhaustion.”
“That’s what he has. He doesn’t get a lot of sleep and he has sleep disorders. He’s very energetic, running full-steam ahead, working six or seven days a week often and he’s been doing that for a long time,” the source said. “There’s a great deal of pressure on him due to unfounded allegations [related to the ethics inquiry] and negative press onslaught against him that are not true, so it kinda all caught up to him. He needed downtime to get away from grind.”
* Sun-Times…
A senior aide to the congressman told the Sun-Times that Jackson is being treated at a medical facility outside Illinois and that his doctors will release information “soon,” perhaps as early as Wednesday, though not necessarily.
“His condition is not life-threatening,” the aide said. “He does have sleep disorders. He works seven days a week most weeks. He has been under intense pressures over the last four years, so he wants to see if he can figure out a way to get some decent sleep.”
* Congressman Luis Gutierrez wants full disclosure very soon…
“He has a responsibility to give us more information. I’m not demanding that information, but the people of his congressional district deserve it. The people of Illinois deserve it. If he’s gonna stand for re-election, you guys are gonna demand it,” Gutierrez said.
“Let’s not kid ourselves. He’s going to have to answer these questions one way or another or I don’t know you guys in the Chicago press very well. You’re gonna get the answer. Why not give the answer at the earliest, most opportune moment?”
Yes, Chicago reporters are aggressive. Thankfully so. But that doesn’t excuse this rumor-mongering. And there may be a little spite involved as well…
Last year, tensions ran high between Gutierrez and Jackson after the decennial redraw of the state’s Congressional map. Jackson angered Gutierrez when he sought answers about whether the state’s burgeoning Hispanic population required a second majority House district.
Good point…
The reverend noted that he has long supported the political career of Durbin and signaled that he would be willing to talk about his son’s health.
“If he really wants more, he could call me. He could call the office, and we could talk about it.” Rev. Jackson told WBEZ radio. “I think it’s not appropriate to go any further at this point.”
* I don’t, however, agree with the Sun-Times editorial today, which concludes…
Jackson is still a father, a husband and a human being who deserves a measure of sympathy. Let’s give him space.
He’ll get his space when he makes some honest disclosures.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Some early afternoon stories…
* Hoyer joins calls for Jackson Jr. to open up about mystery ailment: “Let me just deal with this briefly in this way: I think Congressman Jackson and his office and his family would be well advised to advise the constituents of his condition. He’s obviously facing a health problem. We have many members who are out right now. This is not an unusual circumstance. People get sick, and when people get sick, they miss work. Everybody in America understands that. But I think the family would be well advised to give his constituents as much information as is appropriate.”
* Pelosi expects Jackson to explain medical absence: House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says she expects Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to explain his weeks-long leave of absence after he has had an evaluation of his medical condition.
* Staff: Rep. Jackson could release more health info soon
* Rep. Jackson’s wife ‘hopeful’ doctors will release medical details soon: “I’m hopeful that my husband’s doctors will be able to release something soon,” she told the Tribune. “I’m in constant talks with them about Jesse’s condition and his medical prognosis going forward.”
* Quinn: Voters have ‘heard enough’ about Jackson: But the Democratic governor said Wednesday, “I think you’ve heard enough _ that he has some health challenges that he’s dealing with right now.”
* Jesse Jr. Story Goes National
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* Gov. Pat Quinn spent four days in Spain last week at his own expense, although the state paid for two staffers to accompany him. From last week…
Quinn has taken several overseas trips this year. This is the second trip his office did not announce before his departure.
Spokeswoman Brooke Anderson says Quinn is in Madrid meeting with businesses, commercial associations and government representatives. He arrived Thursday and is scheduled to return Sunday.
* The governor didn’t go into details at a recent press conference…
Back from a trip to Spain, Gov. Pat Quinn says there are opportunities to expand business relations with that country and Illinois.
Quinn says he met with companies in the bio-tech industry ahead of next year’s International Bio-Tech Convention to be held in Illinois.
“There’s opportunities for Illinois to grow a lot of jobs in this whole area of bio-technology so I got to visit with a lot of those companies,” Quinn said. “We’re anxious to have them come here, invest here, create jobs here, grow here and our exports to Spain are very strong. Last year we went up 29 percent and they’re good customers and you like to say thank you to people that buy your products.”
* But there was another agenda…
Gov. Pat Quinn traveled an estimated 8,000 miles last week to continue courting a train manufacturer looking to move out of Wisconsin. […]
Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson later confirmed Quinn met with representatives of Talgo, which is seeking to move its Milwaukee railcar manufacturing facility to a new state after Wisconsin officials said they weren’t interested in bringing high-speed train service to the state. […]
For now, it doesn’t appear Talgo is in a rush to make a decision that could bring more than 100 jobs to a state that is working to bring 110 mph passenger train service to the route between Chicago and St. Louis. […]
Talgo spokeswoman Nora Friend said there is no timetable for the company to decide its next move. A key factor will be whether the company wins new contracts to build additional train cars. […]
“We would be very happy to consider Illinois. We’d love to move to Illinois. We know that Governor Quinn is pro-rail. We’re still hopeful,” Friend said.
Quinn talked last year like the Talgo move was all but a done deal. It appears there’s more work to be done before we snag that company.
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* The first volley…
A retired state judge has filed suit in Sangamon County to block a new state law that will begin charging state retirees premiums for their state health insurance.
Gordon Maag, a retired appellate justice who lost a bid for the state Supreme Court in 2004, wants the law declared unconstitutional.
He also is asking that the case be declared a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all retirees affected by the law.
Maag argues that the new law “purports to diminish and impair the benefits of members of pension and retirement systems of the state of Illinois, in that [the law] abolishes free health insurance to Illinois retirees who were and are entitled to free health insurance on account of working for the state for 20 or more years of service, or, in the case of retired legislators, four years, and in the case of retired judges, six years.” […]
A staff member for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office will defend the new law in court, said hearings in the case apparently have not yet been scheduled.
* The fight will be over whether health insurance is a constitutionally protected benefit of membership in a pension system or whether it’s a perk granted by the General Assembly. From the Constitution…
Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The setup…
Springfield is Illinois’s third capital, the end of a migration that followed the state’s pattern of settlement from south to north. The first capital, Kaskaskia, is in the southwestern corner of the state. The second, Vandalia, is in Southern Illinois, along modern-day Interstate 70. The capital was moved to Springfield in 1839, as the result of a legislative campaign by Abraham Lincoln and his fellow Central Illinois senators. At the time, Springfield was close to the state’s population center. Chicago, which had been incorporated just two years before, had less than 5,000 people. It didn’t become a major city until the late 19th Century. By then, Springfield, which is located just a few miles from the geographic center of Illinois, in Chestnut, was established as the capital.
If we wanted a capital that was as close to all the people as possible, we could move it to Morris, which is the population center of Illinois.
* If you’re not familiar with Morris, it’s the red dot southwest of Chicago on this map…
* From Wikipedia…
Morris is a city in Grundy County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,636 at the 2010 census.
Morris is home to the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant, which provides a substantial portion of the electricity supply for the Chicago metropolitan area. Included among the Dresden plant’s reactors is the first commercial nuclear reactor, housed in a spherical concrete and steel shell; it has since been decommissioned, and two more modern reactors (of 1970s vintage) now generate its electricity.
Currently, Morris has one of the few prospering and historically intact downtowns in Illinois. Visitors and shoppers come a distance to enjoy the tranquil small town shopping atmosphere. In addition to the downtown, there are outlying businesses such as five motels, a theater, restaurants, a furniture store, two drug stores, boat sales, three grocery stores, hardware stores, banquet hall, and numerous retail stores and gift shops.
Morris enjoys the benefit of being the Grundy County seat and has a large hospital and modern schools. There are many small parks, ball diamonds, tennis courts, two golf courses, a swimming pool as well as the Gebhard Woods State Park and the William G. Stratton State Park for boat launching on the Illinois River and a skatepark located near White Oak elementary school. Morris Community High School is known to be located on an abandoned mining network that stems for approximately five miles. Each summer a live re-enactment of “King of the Hill” is performed daily by the Morris Players club at the intersection of Black St and Bedford Rd.
Morris is situated along the Illinois River at the intersections of U.S. Route 6, Illinois Route 47, and Interstate 80.
It’s also reasonably close to I-55.
* The Question: Should we move the Illinois capital to the state’s population center? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
And, yes, this is snark.
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Davis quickly rakes in major bucks
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Davis is getting a heckuva big jump…
Republican Rodney Davis raised about $440,000 in the six weeks since he became his party’s new nominee for the open 13th district in Illinois.
Davis, a former top aide to Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), will report just more than $400,000 in cash on hand to kick off his bid, according to a source close to the campaign.
* His Democratic opponent isn’t much on fundraising…
Gill’s aides did not return an email request seeking comment on the campaign’s fundraising numbers. But as of March 30, online records show Gill’s campaign had $20,000 in the bank — and the same amount in debt.
* And the Illinois Republican Party piled on today in an e-mail…
Three time losing Congressional candidate David Gill is showing once again just how far out of step he is with the views of Central and Southwest Illinois.
Monday, just minutes before President Obama announced he wanted to extend Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans making less than $250,000 per year, Gill told Champaign radio station WDWS (http://www.wdws.com/audio/2012-07-09/07-09-12-drdavid-gill.html) (20:46), “I certainly think we need to allow the President George Bush tax cuts to expire. I think that’s, at the least, a starting point.”
“If we needed any more proof that David Gill is far outside of the mainstream of Central and Southwestern Illinois residents, this seals the deal,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady. “David Gill wants to raise taxes on all of us. Residents of the 13th District are already having a hard enough time making ends meet, and David Gill wants to send more of our tax dollars to Washington. That’s the definition of a radical agenda.”
“Friday, we learned the national unemployment rate is above eight percent for the 41st month in a row,” said Brady. “David Gill’s radical and dangerous economic plan, combined with his plan for socialized medicine is an extreme combination for Central and Southwestern Illinois.”
Actually, if you listen to the interview, Gill was responding to a question about the top ten percent of income earners, and goes on to talk about taxing the wealthy. But he wasn’t specific and clear, so he left himself open to this shot, cheap as it may be.
The GOP has a new attack website up called DrRadical.com. There’s not much to it as of yet.
* Other stuff…
* Dold, Biggert, Schilling first up in DCCC ad attack
* If Jesse Jackson Jr. Were to Resign
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* No campaign contribution ban from casinos, no stronger oversight of the Chicago casino all adds up to no signature on a gaming bill, says Quinn…
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he won’t sign a gambling expansion bill in exchange for a promise that legislators will pass an ethics measure in the fall.
Quinn made the comment Monday at a ceremony during which he signed a measure into law that expands a tax credit program for businesses that hire veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
* Raw audio of the governor’s comments…
* Tribune…
Also Monday, a business and labor group pushing the gambling expansion sent Quinn a letter saying they support his call for tighter ethics controls, including limits on campaign contributions. It’s the first time the Illinois Revenue and Jobs Alliance has expressed support for increased ethics measures, and signals the group is willing to work with the governor to make the gambling expansion a reality.
The group wants more gambling to create new jobs and bring in hundreds of millions of dollars more a year to state coffers.
“While not a panacea, gaming expansion would bring desperately needed employment and revenues to Illinois,” wrote Bill Black, a former Republican state representative from downstate Danville who chairs the group. “We submit that Illinois is simply not in a position to say ‘no’ to jobs and revenue, while gaming customers continue to pour into neighboring states.”
But a close reading of the actual letter shows some hedging…
We remain flexible as to the precise language and what ethical guidelines should accompany SB 1849. As a group, we do not endorse one approach over another. But we do support a framework for campaign contribution limits, among other safeguards.
Quinn wants a ban, not just limits.
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Did the state/federal dynamic just change?
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* In upholding the federal health care reform program, the US Supreme Court also ruled that part of the law was unconstitutional. Congress could not withhold all Medicaid funding from states if they refused to participate in the law’s huge Medicaid expansion, the court ruled, calling it unconstitutional coercion. From Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion…
In this case, the financial ‘inducement’ Congress has chosen is much more than ‘relatively mild encouragement’ — it is a gun to the head
* The federal government is constantly putting strings on money it doles out to the states, so this ruling has made people wonder what might happen to current and future federal “inducements,” and if states might now be emboldened to take other federal requirements to court. NPR looks into the matter…
“It is true that this is the first time that the court has invalidated an expansion based upon restraint on federal power,” says James Blumstein, a law professor at Vanderbilt University who wrote an amicus brief in the Medicaid case that anticipated Roberts’ ruling.
“But they’ve always said for years, decades, that this [limit] existed,” Blumstein says. “If this [Medicaid rule] had not crossed the line, the line wouldn’t have existed.”
So where exactly is the line now? No one is certain.
In his health care opinion, Roberts cited a 1987 decision, South Dakota v. Dole, in which the court found that it wasn’t “impermissively coercive,” as the chief justice put it, to require states to raise the minimum drinking age to 21 or lose 5 percent of their federal highway funds.
The sum at stake amounted to less than one-half of 1 percent of South Dakota’s budget at the time — a lot less than the share of federal Medicaid money that makes up every state’s budget, which is about 15 percent, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
But because there’s such a big gap between the amount of money the court has said is permissible and the amount it has ruled is unconstitutional, no one has a clear sense of how much leverage Congress can wield over the states.
It’s possible that the Medicaid ruling will remain an outlier. Medicaid is far and away the largest federal-state program, and it was an unusual move for Congress to put the entirety of existing Medicaid dollars at risk, as opposed to a small percentage of program funding. […]
On the other hand, nothing in the court’s opinion suggested that it views Medicaid as unique because of its size.
Go read the whole thing.
…Adding… So far, six Republican governors have said they won’t participate in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion program. The Washington Post looks at the history of the program…
Medicaid got a chilly reception when it launched in January 1966. It was up to the states to decide whether to participate and only six initially signed up: Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Twenty-seven followed suit later that year. Across the country, governors weighed the boon of new federal dollars — Washington would foot half of Medicaid’s bill — against the drawback of putting state money into a new program.
Nascent Medicaid programs quickly faced threats: Republican legislators in the New York introduced a bill in 1967 calling for the state to “live within its means” and repeal its Medicaid program.
Doctors, meanwhile, lamented the program’s bureaucracy and griped that payments often arrived late. “Doctors’ complaints tie up our telephone lines all day, every day,” Frederick W. Richmond, chairman of the Citizen’s Committee for Medicaid, told the New York Times in 1967. Some pharmacists voted to boycott the program altogether.
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Suburban superintendent lashes out at Chicago
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As you already know, the Republican legislative leaders have stalled the pension reform negotiations over the question of whether Downstate and suburban schools should make their own employer contribution to the pension fund. They’ve demanded a study to demonstrate that Chicago is doing pretty well with school funding, and that the city’s claim that it is being forced to unfairly shoulder its pension contribution burden on its own is overblown.
That study won’t be completed until August, so the pension reform talks are on hold until then. But Margaret Longo, the superintendent of Forest Ridge School District 142, penned an angry op-ed in the Southtown Star that lays out the city’s advantages…
The Chicago Public Schools educate 16 percent of the children in Illinois, with the suburban and downstate districts educating the rest. The state’s funding formula for Chicago Public Schools — money for special education, bus transportation, free and reduced lunch and breakfast programs, summer school and educational service centers — is based on fiscal year 1996 student population totals that have not been updated.
Since then, CPS has lost enrollment, but the money has stayed with the school system, which now has a disproportionate share of funding relative to the number of students it serves.
As an example, Chicago Public Schools receive funding for teaching disabled students through a grant based on the old enrollment figures. CPS now educates 15 percent of the students with disabilities but receives 42 percent of the funding for special education. Is this the free lunch you spoke of, Mr. Speaker?
Another illustration of the disproportionate funding for Chicago Public Schools concerns students lacking English language skills. CPS has 26 percent of such students but an outdated formula results in the school system getting 40 percent of the money to educate them.
A more recent example is the federal grant program entitled “Race to the Top III.” Chicago Public Schools receive 89 percent of the money allotted to public schools in Illinois, or $19 million of the $21 million disbursed.
School districts throughout Illinois deal regularly with unfunded and underfunded mandates, and, thanks mostly to local taxpayers, our schoolchildren still get services despite the lack of federal and state funds. The taxpayers pay because most government education funds do not follow the students.
If you asked suburban taxpayers if they would rather pay $164 more per year toward teacher pension costs (to supposedly equal how much more Chicago taxpayers pay) or get millions of dollars for their schools that now go to CPS through an unfair and archaic funding formula, I think they would choose the latter.
Discuss.
28 Comments
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Retiring lobster wants reform
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bernie interviewed a retiring lobbyist the other day…
David Sykuta has been around the Illinois General Assembly for a long time, and he doesn’t like what he sees.
Sykuta, 62, of Springfield, is retiring at the end of the year as executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council. He’s been with the organization, which represents large oil refiners, marketers and transporters, since 1976 and has been executive director since 1986. He began legislative work in 1973 as an intern with Sente Democrats, but switched to Senate GOP staff until joining the council.
He’s not the first to say this, but what he’s seen over time is a concentration of power in leadership.
“They’re still fine people,” he said of lawmakers, “but I think the system has just become tilted way too much toward leadership power. I have a problem with a system that can allow leadership on either side to just replace all the members of the committee if they don’t like the outcome. … It takes on a lot of aspects of the Politburo. … And this is how we’ve ended up where we are right now fiscally.
“I always thought one person could make a difference,” Sykuta said. “I still feel that way, but not so much, just because the power of the leadership is so strong on both sides.
Whenever I’ve been asked what one reform I would make to the General Assembly I almost always say I’d forbid the leaders from appointing committee chairmen and committee members and make the staff beholden to the committees rather than the leaders. Right now, the entire process is so tightly controlled by leadership that they can basically do anything they want. A stronger committee structure would devolve some power away from the top.
* Meanwhile, the State Journal-Register editorialized in favor of removing caps on contributions when outside independent expenditures reach $250,000 in statewide campaigns and $100,000 in other campaigns…
The reform groups that worked hard to get the current limits onto the books are not pleased about this. That’s understandable.
“Gov. Quinn’s signature on this bill has carved a large loophole into the campaign contribution limits law,” said Brian Gladstein, executive director of the watchdog group Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “He has made it easier for large campaign contributors to buy political favors.”
This is how candidates like Rod Blagojevich end up on the phone discussing how to squeeze $100,000 from a donor in exchange for signing a bill beneficial to said donor. Luckily for Illinois, the FBI was listening when Blagojevich did exactly that in 2008. And really, who would be more prone to tacitly offer favors in exchange for heavy contributions than a candidate running in a panic from a powerful super PAC?
But there’s a fairness aspect to this that we can’t overlook. Set upon by a hostile, well-heeled independent expenditure PAC intent on a candidate’s defeat, it hardly seems fair that the targeted candidate must abide by limits that don’t apply to the entity intent on his or her defeat.
I couldn’t agree more. The reformers have yet to counter this fairness aspect with a valid argument. They’re simply living in the past.
13 Comments
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Nekritz: Pension reform after election
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* House Speaker Michael Madigan’s point person on pension reform told the Daily Herald that she doesn’t expect any action until after the election…
Illinois state Rep. Elaine Nekritz doesn’t expect lawmakers to act on pension reform until after the Nov. 6 general election, though Gov. Pat Quinn said they should be ready to return to Springfield this summer to work on the contentious issue.
“It’s not ideal,” Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat and a member of the governor’s pension reform committee, said of the prospect of politics delaying the issue until after the election.
However, “I feel that on May 30, we were so close to having a real piece of legislation. And so, if it gets done in a lame-duck session … it will get done because it’s the right thing to get done,” she told the Daily Herald editorial board.
Quinn and top legislative leaders have planned to meet again in August to try to hash out an agreement on pensions. On Monday, he warned lawmakers should be ready to return to Springfield.
“Summertime is a good time to act, and so the legislators have to be on their toes here that this is a matter that is confounding our state for decades, and it must be resolved, now,” he remarked during an appearance at Soldier Field in Chicago to sign a law on veterans tax credits.
Nekritz also said that she doesn’t believe any pension reform will take effect before July 1st of next year because the pension systems want the GA to stick to the fiscal year timeline.
Discuss.
18 Comments
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