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AP: Rauner to propose huge budget cuts, pension reform

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Subscribers know so much more….

Illinois’ new Republican governor on Wednesday will pitch a plan for fixing the state’s budget mess that includes deep cuts to Medicaid and higher education and a new plan for reducing pension costs, according to three lawmakers with knowledge of the proposal. […]

The three legislators, briefed on details of the plan discussed in a Tuesday meeting between Rauner and legislative leaders, told The Associated Press that the governor will recommend cutting Medicaid by $1.5 billion and reducing funding for higher education by nearly $400 million, or 31 percent. They said he’ll also propose reducing state aid to local governments and ask lawmakers to approve a new pension reform plan he says will save Illinois $2.2 billion. […]

A Rauner administration official said Tuesday the governor will call for hiring more prison guards and spending more money on mental health care for inmates. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly before the noon speech.

The mental health funds are aimed at meeting a federal court mandate that requires Illinois to improve its services, while the official said hiring more than 470 new prison guards would reduce overtime costs by about $10 million.

* Meanwhile…

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would establish the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as an “independent entity,” according to an administration source with knowledge of the budget.

No details were immediately available on what form that entity would take.

The presidential library and museum is now managed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which oversees more than 50 historic sites and memorials across the state, including Lincoln’s Tomb and the Old State Capitol in Springfield and Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville.

Under Rauner’s proposal, the management of all sites under the Historic Preservation Agency — except the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield — would be transferred to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. DCEO’s Illinois tourism office would be in charge of administration of the sites.

You’re not going to get a better overview unless you subscribe. Just sayin…

* Sun-Times…

Rauner wants to cut off services for former foster care children who have passed the age of 18, the source said.

News of that recommendation already drew the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has longstanding legal battles with the state and its child welfare agency.

“For us to essentially throw them out on the street at age 18, if that’s what the governor is going to propose, is just plain cruel,” said Benjamin Wolf, associate legal director of the ACLU of Illinois. “If you want to increase homelessness and suffering, abandoning them at age 18 is a good place to start.”

Child-related funding that was spared the budget ax includes early childhood education. The governor wants to increase state support by $25.3 million. He also wants to continue funding for the All Kids health care program, including for undocumented children, and leave intact health and human services programs for children of immigrants.

* And…

Rauner wants the ability to move funds within the current budget to plug gaps in a day care program that helps low-income parents. The state’s main tax collection agency, the Department of Corrections and the Illinois State Police also face funding challenges that could be resolved by giving the governor more flexibility to shuffle money within the budget.

Madigan, however, said that concept remains a hard sell among Democrats.

“There are certain members of the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, who will not be anxious to give up authority,” Madigan said. “It’s going to require some persuasion.”

       

172 Comments

  1. - x ace - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:28 am:

    “reducing state aid to local governments”

    Knock Rauner down another 11 points in Rural Illinois


  2. - UIC Guy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:42 am:

    “reducing funding for higher education by nearly $400 million, or 31 percent. They said he’ll also propose reducing state aid to local governments and ask lawmakers to approve a new pension reform plan he says will save Illinois $2.2 billion”
    1. What I’ve heard is that UIC has been planning for a 20% cut, and looking on that as a worst-case scenario. That would be very hard to manage, especially from one year to the next; 30%? I don’t know how that could be done. (Especially as the Board of Trustees at U of IL decided not to increase tuition for the coming year. I wondered at the time why they had not waited to see whether GRF going to the university was cut, but they don’t seem to pay any attention to me.)
    2. I wonder whether talk of a new pension reform plan means that he will ask the lawmakers to repeal SB1, or whether his proposed ‘reform’ and savings is on top of that. In any case, I suspect that the law (plus the laws of arithmetic) will defeat the effort entirely.


  3. - QCLib - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:53 am:

    Can’t say I’m shocked. Kind of a slap in the face to his rural Republican colleagues, no?


  4. - Rod - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 5:42 am:

    I got up early to get ready to go over to the Capitol for morning meetings, now I want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.


  5. - Abe the Babe - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 5:55 am:

    Unpalatable…the leaders should give him all the rope he needs because if this isn’t a ruse to raise taxes then he is surely trying to hang himself.


  6. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 5:59 am:

    I think Rauner’s message today and for the next couple of weeks will be that this what a budget in a financially insolvent State looks like. I’m hoping that the GA will help me solve this problem.


  7. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:02 am:

    Pension reform would be paying the debt off, as opposed to the past practice of using pension funds to pay for state programs while maintaining a ridiculously low income tax rate compared to surrounding states. That’s the reform pensions really need. The state’s already gone through the worst of the ramp up and by sticking with the current pension ramp, which is law by the way, would allow the state to pay the accumulated debt back to the pensions now instead of kicking the can down the road even more. Anything else isn’t pension “reform”, just more of the same bad governance that got us into this mess in the first place.


  8. - Secret Square - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:04 am:

    Kinda appropriate for Ash Wednesday, dontcha think?


  9. - Secret Square - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:06 am:

    I mean a message of severe austerity intended, at least ostensibly, as “penance” for the state’s past fiscal “sins”.


  10. - chi - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:11 am:

    I thought you meant he was trying to burn the state into ashes. Works either way.


  11. - chi - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:12 am:

    I meant turn the state into ashes. Works either way.


  12. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:14 am:

    Haven’t we seen yet that austerity in a demand-starved economy is not only not “pro growth” as Rauner claims as his goal…at some undefined point in the future, but is in fact contractionary? If the government spends less when everyone else is spending less doesn’t that throw even more people out of work, who then also spend less producing even less growth and more dependence on government programs like snap, etc?


  13. - Shanks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:27 am:

    Hiring more prison guards would lower the overtime payroll down 10 million…but with benefits, training, etc etc be a lot more than 10 million???


  14. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:28 am:

    ==Haven’t we seen yet that austerity in a demand-starved economy is not only not “pro growth” as Rauner claims as his goal…at some undefined point in the future, but is in fact contractionary? If the government spends less when everyone else is spending less doesn’t that throw even more people out of work, who then also spend less producing even less growth and more dependence on government programs like snap, etc? ==

    It likely depends on whether the State’s pension and retiree healthcare dollars are being spent in Illinois…I think Rauner argues that cuts are needed to fix liabilities so private sector businesses know the true costs of expanding or moving in to Illinois.


  15. - state worker - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:35 am:

    What are the old or new ways we could see the GA change this path. Dems and GOPs deciding they won’t get re-elected with this budget and demanding higher taxes?

    It will be interesting to see if there is any fast, collaborative thinking.


  16. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:38 am:

    ===I think Rauner argues that cuts are needed to fix liabilities so private sector businesses know the true costs of expanding or moving in to Illinois.===

    1) “Fix” liabilities? Define that bud. Throwing people out of work aren’t going to “fix” their liabilities, and when they are forced onto state aid programs, that’s not going to “fix” state liabilities either. It’ll make them worse.

    2) Private businesses aren’t going to expand in the face of lax demand that Rauner is about to make worse. Why would they expand, if they are already making enough widgits to meet demand?

    3) They already know the “true costs” unless they’ve been on Mars for the last decade or so. But, please, let me know how Rauner’s plan is going to make the “true costs” more knowable by those businessmen out there?


  17. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:41 am:

    Austerity will play will in suburbia where Rauner is trying to establish a base. How does this budget freeze suburbia’s property taxes? The proposed budget - with cuts to municipal funding - probably causes a big spike in suburban property taxes unless his K-12 funding benefits the suburbs much more than the City of Chicago and downstate? I agree that he’s looking to the GA to propose income tax increases and more unpopular tax and fee spikes. I wonder what Republicans are on tap to carry this budget Bill and the certain amendments to it?


  18. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:54 am:

    Austerity won’t play well to people whose jobs depend on a certain level of demand by the public. If it drops, they’re out of work. Pretty simple really. Contractionary policy causes the economy to contract. Whouda thunk huh?


  19. - PatrickinCary - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:08 am:

    He’s not a dumb guy. And he has some pretty experienced political operatives around him. So I think we can conclude that he can’t possibly believe that the GA will give in on many of these proposals (30% reduction to higher ed? Nothing like cutting out opportunity for economic advancement into the middle class…).

    So the question is, what is he really up to? There has to be a political motive in fronting extreme ideas that will never see the light of day….

    Anybody?


  20. - Mitch59 - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:12 am:

    I still can’t believe this guy got elected!


  21. - Concerned - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:23 am:

    So the Kansas model is where Rauner wants to take Illinois?

    There is a disturbing trend among states following the “Koch-think” that tax burdens should be eased on the most able to pay, and increased on those least able to pay (e.g., more consumption-based taxes). And at the same time, they push cuts that affect those at the low end of the economic spectrum and those aspiring to move up (e.g., massive cuts to public higher education).

    What sort of society will that leave us with?


  22. - Give Me A Break - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:26 am:

    This should be a pleasant day for the Dems who sat out the election due to their dislike of Quinn.

    And for you AFSCME members in Sangamon County who voted for BR and for you AFSCME members who shut down Gov’s day two years screaming at Quinn, how’s your day shaping up?


  23. - Archiesmom - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:27 am:

    This is as one would have expected considering his advisors. Austerity alone does not work; it must be coupled with revenue, and the kind of revenue generated by increased taxes (through a new income tax structure eventually). Look to California for a model of painful but fair recovery, not Kansas or Indiana.


  24. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:27 am:

    == Austerity won’t play well to people whose jobs depend on a certain level of demand by the public. If it drops, they’re out of work. Pretty simple really. Contractionary policy causes the economy to contract. Whouda thunk huh? ==

    I agree there is some value to the Illinois economy of state employees having disposable income - especially downstate. I just think that Rauner doesn’t care about this type of spending f it impacts the creation of private sector jobs and/or hurts property vales (by increasing property taxes). I think Rauner cares even less about the purchasing power of out of state retirees.


  25. - archimedes - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:29 am:

    SB1 reduced the pension costs by $1.1 billion for 2016. It will be interesting to see the mechanism he uses to double that reduction for 2016. So far, he has only said everyone can keep whatever has been earned to this point - going forward no more defined benefit system, defined contribution instead. Even if the State funds nothing going forward (for current employees) that would only reduce cost by $1.6 billion.

    I think today we will here goals, but little detail on how those might be achieved.


  26. - ZC - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:32 am:

    Did Rauner target the Monetary Assistance Program, e.g. the MAP grants? It would be weird given the above if he did not, but if he didn’t it would add some weight to the whole spare-the-suburbs theory.


  27. - Archiesmom - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:33 am:

    And everyone better get cooking on pension reform - the oral argument is now set for March 11, and the plaintiff’s brief filed yesterday is pretty devastating to the AG’s positions.


  28. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:35 am:

    Beans and Franks, the purchasing power of state retirees isn’t being hurt by whatever Rauner says today…newsflash, Illinois has never missed a pension payment. Rauner, I’m sure, doesn’t care what effects his policy goals have on other people. It’s all about him. He has enough money to make him societally independent. Everyone else, however, needs American society to flourish like it did in the 60’s when the middle class was at its strongest. When things go south here in the US and Illinois, he’ll just yacht off to some other island of prosperity to suck dry.


  29. - UIC Guy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:38 am:

    Archiesmom: do you have a link to the plaintiff’s brief, or to discussion of it? I’ve yet to see it.


  30. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:40 am:

    Beans and Franks, you’re way over your skis as to the state budgets impact on businesses and the Illinois “economy.” We dont exist in a bubble. Where do they teach that stuff?

    Having said that, sounds like university towns will take another haircut. Who represents them in the GA?

    Still, I’m waiting on the budget books to finally get some details out of this guy.


  31. - Kirkcjenkins - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:43 am:

    Here’s a summary and commentary on the main plaintiffs brief -http://www.appellatestrategist.com/2015/02/articles/jurisdictions/illinois/the-illinois-pension-plaintiffs-brief-the-cause-of-state-underfunding-and-the-constitutional-convention-revisited/


  32. - Kirkcjenkins - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:52 am:

    From what I understand about Rauner’s pension reform proposals coming today, if SB1 falls, his proposals won’t survive either.


  33. - UIC Guy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:53 am:

    Kirk: thanks for the link, and the useful discussion. (I recommend it to anyone interested.)


  34. - Jocko - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:55 am:

    We knew the cuts were coming, but where’s the revenue? Rauner HAS to reinstate the 5% by calling it something other than a tax increase.

    If Rauner thinks the GA is going to do the heavy-lifting, he’s dreaming…unless he’ll be adding a millionaire’s tax or calling in one of his ten “markers” (both doubtful).


  35. - NewWestSuburbanGOP'er - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:15 am:

    Wonder how many Rauner Republicans in the House and Senate will be applauding him now? How many union workers who supported and voted for Rauner are applauding him now? How many southside ministers in the City of Chicago who supported and told their congregations to support and vote for Rauner feel now? Can’t really blame Rauner, he said all along in his campaign he was going to “Shake up Springfield”, well he has “now shaken up the whole State of ILlinois”. Enjoy!


  36. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:19 am:

    If Rauner actually manages to get something enacted into law through actual, you know, this thing called leadership, that’ll be “Shaking up Springfield”, otherwise his “budget” will be laughed out the door, thus shaking up…nothing.


  37. - KirkCJenkins - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:24 am:

    Should have made clear - click the title of the plaintiffs brief in my commentary (link above) for a pdf of the brief itself.


  38. - Arizona Bob - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:27 am:

    Madigan and Cullerton still have the power to raise taxes if they wish to save some of the spending they’ve used to maintain political power. They can pass the bills and override Rauner’s veto.

    Madigan won’t be able to have another “midnite raid” in a lame duck session to push through a huge tax increase without much debate.

    The GA sets revenue. They have to learn to live within the revenue they raise. They’ve ignored this through the last decade during absolute Democratic rule through kicking the can until now through borrowing from the pension fund and selling bonds. Those options aren’t viable anymore.

    Now a tax increase will require a Democrat leader to come forward and justify it to the people of Illinois.

    The question now is whether Madigan can lead anywhere but in smoke filled back rooms…..


  39. - Cassandra - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:31 am:

    One reads that universities, including state universities, have heavy, one might even say bloated, administrative costs. If the higher ed cuts can be made there, I approve. Illinois universities should not be clerical and administrative jobs generators for the locals at the expense of taxpayers. In the private sector, middle management jobs are declining. We shouldn’t have to fund dinosaur middle management bureacracies in universities or any other government entities; there are better uses for the money.


  40. - cdog - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:31 am:

    The game of Monopoly is over when one person has all the money. It’s a lot more fun if there is a little redistribution to keep more players in the game.
    Think of this as a metaphor for capitalism–an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
    I am sure gov r’s “10 things” will some how make a nice ROI for somebody, until the game is over.


  41. - Excessively Rabid - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:32 am:

    I loved the bit about saving millions from the IHPA maintenance budget by transferring the properties to DCEO. Which I guess means DCEO won’t maintain the properties.


  42. - AC - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:32 am:

    Cutting local funding isn’t a tax cutting strategy, it’s a way to avoid taking personal responsibility for inevitable tax increases that will occur no matter what. Middle class homeowners are in for a big shock if the governor gets his way on the budget. At least he’s finally offering some specifics, as irrational as they are.


  43. - Anon - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:33 am:

    A reporter needs to inquire today how much is proposed to be “borrowed” from the Road Fund (or other MFT distributions) for state operations??? Budget docs may not reveal such but its a likely source of standing cash.


  44. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:34 am:

    ==Now a tax increase will require a Democrat leader to come forward and justify it to the people of Illinois.==

    If they can’t justify it given the current situation then (a) they are horrible salesman; and/or (b) the people of Illinois simply don’t care about those that need assistance the most (given that Rauner is taking the ax to social service programs).

    Whether you think so or not, this budget is DOA and an agreed budget cannot work without BOTH new revenues and spending cuts.

    Period.


  45. - Sue - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:34 am:

    Wake up everybody. Rauner didn’t create these problems. All of you public sector types have bled the state dry. There is no money for all of your pie in the sky programs. This is what happens when the adult supervision was kept out of the room for twenty years


  46. - Sir Reel - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:35 am:

    Public Servant and others who think now is not the time to cut State spending because it hurts the economy, while I agree with you in principle, unlike the federal government, State government must balance its budget, at least ostensibly.

    State spending at current levels means higher taxes which reduces personal spending. So, from an economic standpoint, what’s the difference between reducing State spending and reducing personal spending?

    The GA has had plenty of time to increase revenue, but politics intervened. Even if Rauner agrees to increasing revenue, I doubt the money would arrive in time to keep all these programs afloat. Painful cuts will come unless they yet again play fiscal roulette which is what got us into this mess.


  47. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:37 am:

    ==All of you public sector types have bled the state dry==

    What. A. Dope.


  48. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:44 am:

    ===from an economic standpoint, what’s the difference between reducing State spending and reducing personal spending===

    Sir Reel, state programs primarily benefit lower and middle income earners. They spend every dollar they get, thus helping to spur the economy. The Rauners of the world who benefited most from the recent tax rollback, have no need to spend those extra dollars, since they had more than enough before the extra tax savings occurred, thus having a net negative economic effect overall. Unless, of course, they use those dollars to purchase public office and/or buy politicians who will write laws to benefit them even more that is.


  49. - OneMan - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:44 am:

    When it comes down to it, you can’t spend money you don’t have and I think the voters made it clear they don’t want the tax increase to continue…


  50. - sparky791 - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:44 am:

    -Sue-

    Bruce wants his eggs over easy this moring


  51. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:46 am:

    - Sue -,

    Starting today, thus is where the rubber meets the road, and all the Raunerite talking points, and blasting state workers, and Unions, and Career Politicians, and Pensions…

    All that…

    It’s now about “60″, and it’s now about “30″.

    Talk time is over. No matter what is said, going to be said, compromised, never compromised…

    It’s now about “60″ and it’s now about “30″

    Enjoy it - Sue -. Blame “ain’t gonna git” anyone closer to “60″ or “30″…but if you feel better by your Raunerite talking points…


  52. - Cassandra - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:48 am:

    It’s true that 18 year olds need help past their 18th birthday. If you have adult kids, can you imagine them being completely on their own at 18.

    Most kids come into state foster care when they are much younger than 18, though. If they are still wards of the state when they are 18, then the agency has failed in its permanency responsibilities. Maybe it’s the courts’ fault too, as a commenter said yesterday. But DCFS is the guardian-the agency needs to figure out how to deal with local courts. Permanency, I would note, doesn’t necessarily mean return home. Adoption and subsidized guardianship with relatives are also options, but it takes work to make them happen.

    If the agency and its private contractors were doing their job on their permanency responsibilities,which are federally mandated, aid to wards aging out of the system would be too minuscule to warrant budget cutter attention.


  53. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:48 am:

    ===All of you public sector types have bled the state dry===

    Seems like us public sector types have been propping up state spending while taxes have been kept artificially low, thus the 70 years in the making 100 billion+ debt that the state has rung up. That debt, by the way, has nothing to do with pensions needing reform, and everything to do with the state not properly funding its programs.


  54. - Carhartt Representative - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:48 am:

    =Wake up everybody. Rauner didn’t create these problems. All of you public sector types have bled the state dry.=

    All you fancy pants teachers and librarians driving around in your fancy 2006 Ford Foucuses bled us dry. It has nothing to do in a flat tax, billions in corporate tax breaks, or not paying our debts when they were reasonable to keep spending up while keeping the tax liability artifically low.


  55. - Leroy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:52 am:

    DOA.

    Next!


  56. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:55 am:

    Anyone talking about “veto-proof” majorities to raise taxes is truly clueless on a number of levels.

    Couldn’t happen, wouldn’t happen, won’t happen. Politics doesn’t work that way.


  57. - Mongo - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 8:57 am:

    Sue, that was not only unnecessary but inaccurate. The “adult supervision” I assume you refer to is the Illinois Republican Party, the losers for 20 or more years, the headless horse men and women. The elected Republicans have certainly contributed to the problems we have.

    And really, “all you public sector types”? Many on this blog worked in both the public and private sector, including me. I resent your gratuitous insult. I worked harder for less in the public sector than I do today.


  58. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:01 am:

    Agreed on the “Veto-Proof” to raise taxes or do heavy lifting.

    “Veto-Proof” is to stop things, to require other thoughts, not to put 71 votes on tax increases the governor of the opposite party will veto (Optics) or put 39 votes on “special interest” spending that the governor of the opposite party can rail on and beg for an override to be made a martyr.

    Talk like this reminds me of the guy who has the Ferrari, but speeds in the school zones.


  59. - NewWestSuburbanGOP'er - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:03 am:

    Sue, other than getting a rise out of everybody this morning, what is your sole purpose in life?

    Your statement is one of the most vile and insulting
    things I have heard in a long time.


  60. - zatoichi - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:05 am:

    I am no Rauner fan, but what other choices would anyone have if they were in the big chair? You cannot simply say things will be fine. He is being forced into the details that have been purposefully avoided. Raise taxes? You know you will get blasted. Just do cuts? Go back and read above or the comments to come. Do cuts and taxes? The issue becomes how intense will each side be? Does Rauner go deeper than Quinn’s not-recommended budget ‘because it must be done’? My guess is Rauner’s business operations thinking is cut as deep as required to turn a profit ASAP and grab people by the ears. Horrible service and job losses are just collateral damage because if the company goes under there is no service. The reality is all the can kicking and pension holiday solutions have, while being totally anticipated and known, have led to this. Round 1 of the broadsides has come. The blowback has been building for years before an actual shot. Now it is here. At the same time Madigan and Cullerton cannot be sitting/smiling while waiting for the right opportunities.


  61. - Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:06 am:

    “voters made it clear they don’t want the tax increase to continue…”

    Voters overwhelmingly voted for a millionaire surcharge, so they want a tax increase on the wealthy.

    I was reading today about Minnesota, and how well that state is doing compared with Wisconsin, who went in the opposite direction with corporate tax breaks and steep cuts.

    I agree with those who say that in an economy that has demand issues due to stagnant or weak income growth for the middle class and poor, tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy, along with drastic spending cuts, is not the way to go.

    Then there is the often-mentioned optics issue: a multimillionaire and his billionaire supporters want to implement drastic cuts that will hurt among the poorest and sickest.


  62. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:07 am:

    - through borrowing from the pension fund -

    Bob, I know you’re a clueless wingnut, but check recent history. You may hate Pat Quinn, but he didn’t short the pension at all during his tenure.

    If you’re really honked off about borrowing from the pension payment, talk to the heroic Big Jim Thompson.


  63. - NewWestSuburbanGOP'er - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:08 am:

    Sue-how insulting of you to say such a thing. I am very thick skinned, but that was outright crazy.


  64. - DuPage - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:10 am:

    @Archiesmom7:27 =Look to California for a model of painful but fair recovery, not Kansas or Indiana.=

    California used some “claw back” of sharing state income tax with local governments. Sounds a lot like “reducing state aid to local governments.”


  65. - Judgment Day - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:11 am:

    “The GA has had plenty of time to increase revenue, but politics intervened. Even if Rauner agrees to increasing revenue, I doubt the money would arrive in time to keep all these programs afloat. Painful cuts will come unless they yet again play fiscal roulette which is what got us into this mess.”
    ——————

    A lot of places built their administrative infrastructure to ‘fight the last war’. Spent a lot of money accomplishing it. Worked on the basis that the “Go Go Years” would continue into infinity.

    Problem is, a lot of the spending created sunk costs around administrative edifices (offices, administrative systems, and people) which in today’s post 2008 world are pretty inefficient. And we’re talking expensive.

    And supporting all these monuments to current day inefficiencies is extremely expensive. I look at a lot of these local governments, and there’s inefficiency everywhere.

    But it’s never going to be addressed until they simply don’t have the money to keep doing things they way they currently are. That’s harsh, but truth is, most places won’t do the heavy lifting until they really don’t have a choice.

    Time to change the rules. Can’t keep working the old game, and the best you are likely to get in terms of raising taxes is putting the temporary tax increase back into effect.

    There’s going to be a lot of stuff put on the table, and it’s either going to be the ultimate grand bargain, or it’s going to crash in flames.

    We’ll see.
    —————–

    “All of you public sector types have bled the state dry”

    You don’t have to like it, but there’s a whole lot of taxpayers out there who feel that way.

    Not saying it’s right, but when non public sector taxpayers see some of the anecdotal stories about high dollar value public sector retiree benefits - well, they’re not buying what the defenders of the system are selling.

    And calling them “Dopes” - well, you’re not doing yourself any favors. You do that, pretty soon nobody’s talking to each other. And then you got real issues.


  66. - Gooner - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:12 am:

    A graduate of an elite private school wants to cuts spending on a public school.

    He could afford a great education. Apparently, he doesn’t care about the rest of us.


  67. - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:14 am:

    ==DOA. Next!==

    lol. This budget plan will probably be very upsetting to me, but the only thing really DOA is the past 20+ years of budgeting.

    Unless you like the Quinn Madigan Cullerton budget we are currently enduring. They really shot themselves in the foot credibility-wise with that one.


  68. - anon - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:15 am:

    Cut Medicaid? Fine. Let’s legislate a little transparency in medical costs. Lead the way in this IL Dems. The hard-working folks in IL, those of us with $5000 deductibles from Obamacare, need to be able to be can shop for those MRIs we all need when we are over 50 yrs old.
    Make a deal Dems! If Rauner wants to rock the consumers of medical care, lets rock the producers too.


  69. - Gooner - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:16 am:

    The other interesting point is that although Rauner ran on his record of business experience, he doesn’t seem to understand Illinois business.

    If you ask people who run businesses what the positives and negatives are for Illinois, they will tell you that high on the list of positives is that IL has a high quality workforce. The list of negatives starts with workers’ comp.

    So far, the Gov. is moving to reduce one advantage that we have and unless I missed something, he hasn’t made any real move on workers’ comp. reform.

    Maybe if he was in the trenches running a business, as opposed to just pushing paper, he might understand.


  70. - Joe M - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:17 am:

    ==All you fancy pants teachers and librarians driving around in your fancy 2006 Ford Foucuses bled us dry==

    I wish I could afford a 2006 car. I drive a 1998 Chevy Prism


  71. - the Patriot - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:17 am:

    We have gone 16 years without a governor who even considered fiscal responsibility and long term viability. Obviously Madigan is not going to freely give up power.

    But in the end the legislature is going to have to come to the table with some ideas. They either have to make the decisions or live with what the governor does with the veto end of his pen come budget time. Yea, they can over ride, then democrats will again bear 100% of the responsibility. Goal number 1 for Madigan is to shift as much blame for our mess to Rauner.

    Considering the democrats have failed to put together a long term viable budget for over 10 years, I doubt they have any fresh ideas now.

    No matter what he has to do, Rauner can still sit back and remind folks whatever pain they are feeling, it it because he is fixing the Rod, Quinn, Madigan mess.


  72. - Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:18 am:

    Yeah, the guy who’s company defrauded the Georgia medicaid system wants to cut medicaid. If he can’t make a dishonest buck off it, no one can!!!


  73. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:21 am:

    Rauner’s reveille is upon us how many g’s are going to be dropped today? Any word games?


  74. - OneMan - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:21 am:

    == Voters overwhelmingly voted for a millionaire surcharge, so they want a tax increase on the wealthy. ==

    Everyone is generally in favor of someone else paying more taxes…

    Also it was advisory and it would appear to do it you would have to modify the state Constitution and that would take some time. Also unless I have missed something I haven’t heard anyone really pushing it now.

    Look at the minimum wage, people voted to increase that too and the legislature did nothing about that (because it appears it was a political ploy after all, kind of like the millionaire surcharge)


  75. - low level - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:24 am:

    Yes, locking up criminals, teaching kids, providing opportunities for people to improve themselves and their families through higher education, maintaining all those roads - have “bled the state dry”.

    If that’s the Raunerbot line of the day, you guys are worse off than I thought.

    Somehow I don’t think Bruce realizes that his proposals require other people (aka legislstors) to vote for or approve his proposals. He is not running one of his businesses any longer.

    OW is exactly right: 30 and 60. Seeing as he is only starting out with 19 and 47, he better do better than he has been so far


  76. - chi - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:25 am:

    So this bill does “shake up Springfield”, but for how long? Rauner could say today that the entire budget should go to zero. The legislature is still the body that will need to pass a budget.

    The question becomes what budget bill will he sign? Because I don’t think we’re going to have a veto-proof majority this year. Unless, that is, there is a GOP revolt and they join forces with Dems and completely neuter the Governor.


  77. - Sunshine - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:26 am:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGzxWuLQP8

    The Times They Are A’Changin’


  78. - chi - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:27 am:

    “this bill” = “this budget proposal”


  79. - foster brooks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:28 am:

    I dont see rauner offering specifics until Donna arduin wields her axe


  80. - illinoised - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:31 am:

    If Rauner truly wants to be Mitch Daniels, he picked the wrong state, because in Illinois the GA is controlled by the opposite party.
    As for the GA, shame on them for not having the guts to increase revenues when they had the same party in control of the executive branch. The GA did not act because they were/are more concerned about pleasing their campaign donors than they are about fixing the fiscal problems of their state.
    Due to the above two facts, I believe that Rauner and the GA deserve each other. One side only cares about him and his friends getting richer and the other side is gutless. And the rest of us suffer as a result.
    As soon as I can afford to completely retire, I am leaving this state.


  81. - AC - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:32 am:

    I for one am looking forward to new and innovative ideas, like shorting the pension contributions. If only there were a kinder, gentler name for it. I’m going to propose “pension holiday” because it has a nice ring to it. Then, let’s propose pension diminishment, because if there’s one thing the corrupt prior administration never tried it’s that. There again, it needs a nicer name, I’d suggest “pension reform” because it just sounds better. That reminds me, I need to stop by the barber shop and get my hair reformed, it’s been about a month and it’s getting shaggier than Pat Quinn’s lawn. It’s such a perfect day, and Bruce keeps me hangin on.


  82. - low level - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:33 am:

    I love how these ideas come from the party that is always trumpeting its “Christian values”.

    There is nothing in Judeo-Christian tradition, or any other religious theology I’m aware of, that says drastic cuts to government programs that assist the most needy are justified. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is directly opposed to those teachings.

    Unless you worship at the Altar of Ayn Rand….


  83. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:34 am:

    “Yea, they can over ride, then democrats will again bear 100% of the responsibility.”

    Hilarious.

    The governor always takes the blame. Look at the last election. The Governor lost his job, the GA Dems didn’t even lose their supermajorities.


  84. - Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:39 am:

    @Arsenal

    Absolutely true! When you are the governor, and you can’t stop the legislature from imposing their will, you look like a fool, a boob, a complete incompetent. Because if they somehow manage to raise the income tax, balance the budget, and fend off these massive cuts, he doesn’t get credit. And will in fact, get blame for not being able to do it himself. And still gets the double edged sword of having a tax increase under his tenure (no matter how loud he yells against it).


  85. - ash - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:43 am:

    “One reads that universities, including state universities, have heavy, one might even say bloated, administrative costs. If the higher ed cuts can be made there, I approve.” Most teachers would agree, but unless specifically told where to cut, the administration is likely to continue to cut faculty. Our university has seen a drastic reduction in teaching positions over the last 5 years, but we haven’t lost any admistrative or administrative staff positions and all coaching spots are filled at a 100% level.


  86. - Bruce Almighty - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:44 am:

    Attention lawmakers: A lower tide will begin at noon. Many boats will hit bottom. Few will be spared. No rain in the forecast.
    Yours truly,
    Gov Rauner.


  87. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:47 am:

    You have to wonder when the casino expansion and marijuana legalization Bills get filed?


  88. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:47 am:

    How could it be that the new governor thinks he is leading our state with a budget that indicates that his proposals to our fiscal crisis is doing less with less? How hard was this to put together? Did anyone on the new governor’s staff take into consideration anything innovative or new?

    So far, Governor Rauner has failed to bring to Illinois’ fiscal crisis anything remotely original. Instead of finding an Illinois solution unique to our state, he is treating us like no one before him knew how to govern. The business approach we are seeing seems to be straight from the mind of a flea market vendor.

    If “do less with less” was a solution to balancing our governing needs with our budgetary needs, it would have been done a decade ago. Mr. SuperSuccessfulBusinessman is proposing a budget that anyone without a shred of governing experience could propose.

    So far, we are discovering that the Rauner Administration’s ability to lead Illinois is like discovering that the vacation villa you rented is really an abandoned single wide in Gary Indiana.

    If this budget is what they consider 21st Century Gubernatorial leadership - everyone got screwed.


  89. - Aldyth - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:49 am:

    Sue, I hate to break it to you, but Illinois has cut so massively that we are ranked in the bottom 5 states in just about every kind of human service imaginable. We’re #50 in a couple of categories. There is no big pot of play money to draw from. Every cut hurts people who rely on Illinois as their last resort.


  90. - DuPage - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:49 am:

    Rauner promised to increase education funding, and some other areas as well, WITHOUT extending the 5% income tax rate. We will all see how Rauner keeps his promises today.


  91. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:50 am:

    OK budgeteers, help me out. I was under the impression that the Governor must proposed a budget based on current state law, not the laws he hopes might pass that would free up some money for him. If my impression is accurate, then this budget is a non-starter.

    Did anyone tell Donna Arduin that she can’t use fake savings from hypothetical new laws?


  92. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:51 am:

    ===she can’t use fake savings from hypothetical new laws===

    She actually probably can. I went over the law with the sponsor last night. The idea was to prevent governors from propping up budgets with fantasy revenues, not fantasy cuts.


  93. - Monday morning - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:51 am:

    It makes no sense to move IHPA’s state-managed historic sites to an agency whose mandate (DCEO) doesn’t include managing property, especially property that includes historic buildings and archaeological sites. On second thought, it does make sense when you’ve got a governor who thinks management is all about how much money you can squeeze out of an entity before discarding it.


  94. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:52 am:

    You wonder if a millionaires tax plus a tax on financial services is in order if Rauner doesn’t propose new revenues today? The Democratic super-majorities may be able to do those two items with any Republican support or consequences at the ballot box. I suppose that’s why it’s in both party’s interests to negotiate.


  95. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:54 am:

    ===not fantasy cuts===

    OK, thanks. But then his proposed pension reforms that prop up everything else in the budget are hypothetical at best, unconstitutional at worst. And preventing that sort of budget chicanery isn’t what the sponsor had in mind?


  96. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:57 am:

    @ Ducky-

    Disagree, actually. If the legislature does all that- and, EXTREMELY IMPORTANTLY, if it works*!- then the Governor will get credit, or at least all the credit he needs (re-election).

    *- Where works is defined as making lives better for the majority of Illinoisans

    People don’t get too hung up on process. If things are getting better for them, they’ll want to keep the political status quo, at least after only one term.


  97. - Dick Vitale - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:59 am:

    He’s doin’ it, baby! He ‘a shakin’ up Springfield! Get ready for an exciting and most definitely low-scoring game!


  98. - Beans and Franks - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:00 am:

    == OK, thanks. But then his proposed pension reforms that prop up everything else in the budget are hypothetical at best, unconstitutional at worst. And preventing that sort of budget chicanery isn’t what the sponsor had in mind?==

    If you push this line too hard, you may play into a Rauner strategy that allows him to blame public sector unions for P-12 cuts.


  99. - walker - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:01 am:

    Have to see the numbers to make any critical comment.

    Rauner has a history of faking the numbers, or relying on mythical economic forecasts. We’ll see how far he tries those tactics.

    Some general impressions:

    If he wants to keep his promise to increase state funding to education, he certainly won’t be counting colleges and universities in that number.

    If he want to keep his promise to “freeze local property taxes”, he won’t be helping by cutting state support for local governmental units. It will all be on them, not Rauner, to somehow keep his promise.

    DCEO might be counting on significant private sector financial support to meet his fiscal objectives for them.


  100. - forwhatitsworth - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:07 am:

    Sue @ 8:34 - Take a hike! You are obviously a very ignorant person in it’s truest sense and add nothing intellectually to this blog. Dope! Save your whining for your spouse if anybody could even live with you.


  101. - ChiTown Seven - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:12 am:

    Rauner and his crack team have put Rauner in a box. He’s said publicly many many times that balancing the budget requires both new revenues and appropriation cuts. So now he introduces a budget without proposing new revenues? There’s a reason that no one is going to take this budget seriously — and that’s because Rauner doesn’t take it seriously. So, he waits and waits for Cullerton and Madigan to approve a vote on new revenues, but they don’t, you see, because they don’t need an enacted budget as much as Bruce does. So, what’s Rauner setting the table for? A government shut-down? How does he avoid wearing the jacket for that when he’s said over and over again that new revenues are needed? He’s got no strategy and no end game. And instead of using his time and resources to sell the idea that new revenues are needed, he’s wasted weeks bashing unions. Did you ever see footage of an actual loose cannon on a ship’s deck? That’s what Rauner looks like.


  102. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:15 am:

    –tax on financial services–

    Find another whale, Capt. Ahab. You’ll never harpoon that one.

    CME got a massive tax cut from the GA and Quinn in the depths of the recession.


  103. - quincy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:21 am:

    GIVE ME A GREAK ride on bother your right and as a republican I’am In your corner. I didn’t vote for Brucie. Little God will speak at high noon


  104. - Joe Blow - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:28 am:

    I guess the war on poverty is over in Illinois and the war on the poor has begun shall we call it BR day!!!!!!


  105. - Millie K. - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:43 am:

    After working with the Quinn administration the past three years I see LOTS and LOTS of ways to save money….not hurting the middle class, but “friends” who were given non-bid contracts for useless activities…..time to tighten everyone’s budget…..as for me I am willing to sacrifice to get this state back on track….and I am definitely middle class, and not a Republican….something has to be done.


  106. - AnonymousOne - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:46 am:

    A war on poverty or the poor is bad enough. This appears to be a war on people who are employed and pay taxes and vote. He seems determined to have people earn less, apparently so he can save them from paying more in taxes and maybe for even some of them start to qualify for some government assistance. I would think that working and paying your own way in life is a desirable thing. This is what our schools do—-teach skills so people can be self sufficient. But our very wealthy governor seems to want people to struggle more financially. How this benefits the state is puzzling.


  107. - Norseman - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:47 am:

    So Rauner wants to increase k-12 funding, but slash and burn higher ed. I guess he figures that the state needs educated cashiers and low wage workers more than teachers, engineers and other professional folks.


  108. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:48 am:

    “After working with the Quinn administration the past three years I see LOTS and LOTS of ways to save money….not hurting the middle class, but “friends” who were given non-bid contracts for useless activities”

    I wish Rauner would cut those things instead of Medicaid and higher education.


  109. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:49 am:

    Here get all your bills paid and out of debt by two ways of new revenue: 1. Legalize fireworks 2. Legalize pot


  110. - RNUG - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:53 am:

    == So Rauner wants to increase k-12 funding, but slash and burn higher ed. ==

    To SOME extent, I’m actually OK with that. The whole education system needs to improve and colleges today waste a bunch of time with remedial classes for stuff that should have been learned before they got to college. If we get K-12 right, then maybe we won’t need the cost of the remedial classes at the college level. Where I would have a big problem is if all the new money goes to just charter schools.


  111. - Kodachrome - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:57 am:

    “I wish Rauner would cut those things instead of Medicaid and higher education.”

    Arsenal - how do you get the politicians in this state to agree to do this, including dealing with all political landmines (”friends” being fired, pet projects being cut, localized spending to benefit reelection campaigns, etc), other than to say to those places that need to be cut, “you have no more money”?


  112. - AnonymousOne - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:57 am:

    Cut no-bid contracts to “friends”? Are you kidding? That would make entirely too much sense. Tax people who can actually afford to pay more? Ridiculous! You have to go for the pennies, not the dollars by taxing the little people. And as for educated cashiers as opposed to teachers and engineers? If you have money, you should be able to afford higher education. If you can’t pay for it handily, work in a fast food chain for minimum wage (which he hopefully can blow out of the water and reduce to pennies). That should be good enough for those who aren’t of the appropriate financial stature.


  113. - archimedes - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 10:59 am:

    Rauner doesn’t have to work on the budget at all.

    Just take Quinn’s “Recommended” and “Not Recommended” budgets and reverse the labels!


  114. - Frenchie Mendoza - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:01 am:

    Freezing pensions as of July 1? Is he serious?

    No way that passes muster. No way.


  115. - How Ironic - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:04 am:

    @Millie K

    “I see LOTS and LOTS of ways to save money….not hurting the middle class, but “friends” who were given non-bid contracts for useless activities”

    For a minute there I thought you were talking about the hiring of Sara Wojcicki Jimenez Bruce’s wife’s $100,000-a-year chief of staff.

    Because that would be a good place to start. Or about all the raises he’s given his hires over what Quinn’s office was paying for similar services.

    Maybe you can buy yourself a clue with some of the savings you’ve identified.


  116. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:05 am:

    As an opening bid, I like it. Some of it, of course, is straight-up crazy. If it’s true that he wants to completely eliminate money for indigent burials, well, that’s an issue, and it’s hard to imagine that we’re talking a huge amount in the scheme of things.

    But facts is facts. The state has been spending money it didn’t have for a long, long, long time. The middle class has been hurt the most by this complete lack of fiscal responsibility, and spare me the argument that union members who work for the state are the foundation of the middle class. That’s rubbish. You have to cut something, a lot of something’s. Dramatic change in the pension system that passes constitutional muster is needed, and this accomplishes that. Sure, it would be nice to keep giving foster kids money after they turn 18, but that’s the age of emancipation in this country whether we like it or not. At the same time, he wants to increase money for K-12 ed (good), prisons (good), mental health care (good) while reducing prison population (good).

    Like or not, Rauner is keeping campaign promises, and he won by a healthy margin. IPI shows low approval ratings, sure, but no one expected that he was going to win a lot of friends early on.

    He’s not going to get everything, but he may get a lot more than some people expect. After all, he’s got enough money to run a PR campaign to counter what the unions are going to do, and both Madigan and Cullerton can, to a certain extent, say tough nuts to the unions and other constituencies that are going to fight this. It’s not like those constituencies have an alternative other than to back Democrats, even if the D’s don’t do their bidding. Quinn proved that.

    Wondering, though, what happened to his promise to shake up the tax system. I don’t see that here at all. Maybe that’s the other shoe that’s going to drop, maybe not with a huge increase, but with a foot-in-the-door installation of a service tax.

    Forget June. We might be here until Labor Day.


  117. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:06 am:

    ===Legalize pot===

    I want whatever Rauner is smokin…


  118. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:11 am:

    ==Dramatic change in the pension system that passes constitutional muster is needed, and this accomplishes that. ==

    And you conclude that how? It still reduces employee pensions which is clearly unconstitutional.

    ==The middle class has been hurt ==

    State employees are also middle class. Why is it ok to hurt those people? Wanna explain that one?


  119. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:16 am:

    ==he is treating us like no one before him knew how to govern==

    If his predecessors knew how to govern, we would not be in the fiscal mess we are now.


  120. - Arsenal - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:19 am:

    ” and spare me the argument that union members who work for the state are the foundation of the middle class. That’s rubbish.”

    No, I think I’m going to make that argument because it’s true and you don’t prove it otherwise just by saying “Rubbish”.

    “Dramatic change in the pension system that passes constitutional muster is needed, and this accomplishes that. ”

    It sure doesn’t look like it’s going to pass Constitutional muster…


  121. - Come On Man - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:20 am:

    All you complaining Republicans this is your guy you elected. Now he will be spreading the cutbacks around now you are crying about it. It is funny when it affects your republican communities a across the state. Did you really think the O’ mighty Bruce would target just the Dems. Get real folks. He is going after both parties will cuts. Even though you did not like Quinn is anybody missing him right about now? There are 20 million reasons too!


  122. - AC - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:20 am:

    ==It’s not like those constituencies have an alternative other than to back Democrats, even if the D’s don’t do their bidding. Quinn proved that.==

    Quinn lost. If he treated unions well, then fewer than 40% of union households would have voted for Rauner. What you are saying makes sense in a world where people rationally vote consistently with their own self interest.

    The other lesson the Quinn experience taught unions is that the Republican primary really matters. I’d bet AFSCME wishes they’d but a little more effort behind Dillard.


  123. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:21 am:

    Bruce’s mojo is high on his birthday,will there be singing and spanking and playing pin the tail on the donkey?


  124. - Norseman - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:30 am:

    === If his predecessors knew how to govern, we would not be in the fiscal mess we are now. ===

    You presume that this guy knows how to govern. It’s easy to make proposals, it’s another much harder thing to get those proposals implemented.

    Based upon what I’m hearing, Rauner doesn’t know how to govern.


  125. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:37 am:

    ==No, I think I’m going to make that argument because it’s true and you don’t prove it otherwise just by saying “Rubbish”.==

    It’s math, my friend. There are far, far, far more people in the middle class who are not union members or state employees than there are union members who are state employees. It’s a factor of something like a trillion to one. OK, I made that last number up, but you get the meaning. When non-union members who don’t work for the state outnumber union members who work for the state by this sort of margin, it is ludicrous to suggest that members of the middle class, such as myself, somehow owe any success we have to unionized state employees. I don’t care how you spin the ripple effect. All Rauner has to do is point to Wisconsin, where the sky is still in place, to pull the rug out from under the argument that everyone’s well-being depends on unionized state employees.

    No matter whether I’m right or you are, I like Rauner’s odds of winning the PR battle on this, particularly when it comes to fundamental change in the pension system.


  126. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:39 am:

    ==You presume that this guy knows how to govern. It’s easy to make proposals, it’s another much harder thing to get those proposals implemented.==

    Whether Rauner knows how to govern remains to be seen. I never said that he did. I merely pointed out the fallacy inherent in defending the proposition that his predecessors did.


  127. - RNUG - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:45 am:

    == when it comes to fundamental change in the pension system. ==

    Legal changes were made in 2011 with the implementation of “Tier 2″; we just need to wait for the existing workforce to age out and retire, which could be up to 45 years.

    Any further changes will have the same problem of only applying to new hires and then waiting for the changes to take affect as the existing workforce retires. There is too big a body of existing law on pensions for anything else to happen; anything Rauner tries to do to exisitng workers / retirees will eventually be shot down by the courts.


  128. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:45 am:

    JMO, what do you get for winnig the “p.r. battle” on “fundamental change to the pension system.” Green Stamps?

    It’s a Constitutional thing. If “p.r. battles” trumped Constitutions, most of the Bill of Rignts would have been gone long ago.


  129. - Responsa - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:06 pm:

    We’re going to end up, when the dust settles, with substantial cuts that will both affect many of us as individuals and others, and which we will not like one bit. We’ll also end up with targeted tax increases that many of us will not like. But things simply cannot go on in this state as they have been. It’s hard not to feel pity for the people who desperately still want to believe that things can just continue on without big changes to both spending and revenue, or without experiencing considerable pain all around.


  130. - archimedes - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:21 pm:

    The pension proposal is a Hard Freeze as of July 1 - no future credits earned, plus accrued credits will be based on current salary, not the salary of the employee at retirement. Otherwise, there would be no savings at all, since the current unfunded liability is the value of benefits already earned applied to the actuarily predicted salary at time of retirement.
    All future work will be Tier 2 benefits (which, in the case, of teachers, they pay 9.4% for a total normal cost of 6.4%).
    The $2.2 billion savings is compared to laws prior to SB1 - not in addition to SB1.


  131. - Cassandra - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:29 pm:

    Thanks to RNUG for stating what we should all be thinking. The state pension system problem has an end to it, assuming legislators don’t start plumping up the pensions again. Anyway, sorry, even with longevity increases, Tier 1 pensioners will not last forever. And their generous (in modern terms) pensions will end when they do. We can ride it out. Would that all of our Illinois state govt problems had such a clear-cut end.


  132. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:34 pm:

    ==JMO, what do you get for winnig the “p.r. battle” on “fundamental change to the pension system.” Green Stamps?==

    Winning hearts and minds in the electorate, potentially at least, to support in the legislature, where you need it and it matters. Assuming that the plan is constitutional–and I’m assuming that it is (certainly, it sounds more constitutional than SB 1)–he’ll need GA support. And also some cooperation from unions, which he acknowledged in the budget address. Public opinion does matter when it comes to politics.


  133. - archimedes - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:44 pm:

    JMO - assuming the Supreme Court affirms that SB1 is unconstitutional I find it highly unlikely that a Hard Freeze of current employee’s pensions would be constitutional. Shifting Tier 1 employees to Tier 2 during their employment is clearly a diminishment of pension benefits. Even if you want to manufacture/add the word “accrued” to the Pension Clause - changing the formula so already earned pension credits are applied only to current salary levels (versus the formula’s average of the highest 4 years in the last ten) - would diminish already earned pension benefits.

    As RNUG already stated, many cases already from the Supreme Court speak to this.


  134. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:47 pm:

    I can see the union bargaining down pension and healthcare benefits as long as they keep their fair share dues. Its about dues to the union. It doesn’t hurt the union a bit for their members to pay higher healthcare or receive less in pensions.


  135. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:52 pm:

    JMO, put one of those cones around your neck and you might stop chasing your tail on “pension reform” for Tier I employees. Years have been wasted on that pipe dream.

    Constitutional language and intent, plus case law, quite clear, and has been for some time except for the deluded.


  136. - Tsavo - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 12:57 pm:

    Interesting he said police and fire would be exempt from pension reform, yet no mention of judges.

    Will judges be exempt as they are currently in SB1?


  137. - ZC - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:15 pm:

    Bruce Rauner:

    “Laughed at my first address? WHO’S LAUGHING NOW???”


  138. - Federalist - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:25 pm:

    @ RNUG
    “to SOME extent, I’m actually OK with that. The whole education system needs to improve and colleges today waste a bunch of time with remedial classes for stuff that should have been learned before they got to college. If we get K-12 right, then maybe we won’t need the cost of the remedial classes at the college level. Where I would have a big problem is if all the new money goes to just charter schools.”

    If anyone does that only the public universities are bloated but the K-12 system is not they have not been paying attention.

    Of course, it is very fashionable to target public universities. Just remember that in 2015 the GRF allocated to public universities was $100 million LESS than it was in 2000.


  139. - Federalist - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:29 pm:

    Interesting he said police and fire would be exempt from pension reform.

    I am confused. Who is our Governor- Scott Walker or Bruce Rauner? What a crock!


  140. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:30 pm:

    Re pension reform. Who will be paying the Fica taxes for the 80 percent of the state workers who will no longer be Fica exempt?


  141. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:40 pm:

    Tsavo,

    If memory serves, pensions for judges were addressed five years ago.


  142. - ZC - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:50 pm:

    It needs to be noted about at this point, the most “bloated” sector today of spending by government is health care and retirement security for the elderly. It’s the runaway winner.

    We can talk about bloated universities and bloated K-12 and bloated state payrolls, but in part what we’re doing, when try and keep revenue constant, is transferring revenue, from these spending sectors, to keep somewhat on track with the “bloat” in that first one.


  143. - RNUG - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 1:51 pm:

    == If memory serves, pensions for judges were addressed five years ago. ==

    I believe that was not pensions but trying to stop a AAI (COLA to laymen) for the judges.


  144. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 2:11 pm:

    @Just My Opinion:

    You seem to be almost giddy about taking things away from state employees.

    == members of the middle class==

    There you go again. I’m pretty sure most, if not all, state employees are solidly middle class.

    ==I like Rauner’s odds of winning the PR battle on this, particularly when it comes to fundamental change in the pension system.==

    And that gets him what exactly? Because PR doesn’t equal change, especially when that change is clearly unconstitutional. Still would like to know how your legal analysis thinks taking benefits away from somebody by moving them from Tier 1 to Tier 2 doesn’t violate the Constitution. Any way you slice it you are reducing benefits. That’s illegal.


  145. - Georg Sande - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 2:23 pm:

    The days of over promising and spending are over. Reality has set in.


  146. - CapnCrunch - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 2:32 pm:

    “…what do you get for winnig the “p.r. battle” on “fundamental change to the pension system.” Green Stamps?”

    Your are correct Wordman but “winning the pr battle” may make It more difficult in the future to pass a tax increase if it is perceived to be for funding pension benefits. The state makes this very point in their brief before the Supreme Court in the pension reform case. They say that we don’t care about taxes in the abstract but we “might react more strongly” to a tax increase that raises money for pensions rather than additional public services.


  147. - Chicago boy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 3:35 pm:

    It is crazy to try to solve our budget problems with cuts alone. We are going to need more revenue. I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned taxing retirement income. There are various ways to do that, but this is about the only source I can see for new revenue.

    Realistically, though, I predict that we will continue our bad practices. Rauner’s budget is DOA.

    Can a state declare bankruptcy? That is where we are headed.


  148. - Juvenal - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 3:48 pm:

    You have your cart before the horse.

    Foster children are wards of the court, and DCFS is the court-appointed guardian.

    DCFS has no power to terminate parental rights, nor authority over judges. It is the other way around.

    DCFS also can’t compel parents to follow a plan nor draft adoptive parents.

    They are social workers, not mind controllers.


  149. - carbaby - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 3:55 pm:

    So his way to totally gut the DCFS budget is to cut off the age at 18 for access to services? The over 14 population is the largest population of wards. This would also require many significant changes to the Juvenile Court Act.

    This would dismantle services for Independent Living and transitional living programs, Youth in College and Employment and a significant number of wards that are currently in residential and group home care. There are many services that are exclusively geared toward preparing for independence.

    Interesting to note, the last three Directors DCFS has had(Samuels, McEwin and Calica- I’m not counting any Interim), their vision and focus was to provide the optimal services for the adolescent population because that is the largest population.
    This population has the least resources and have the most to lose. Our own children who have the support, guidance and resources available to them aren’t prepared to be sent out to the world with nothing at age 18. So let’s just cut to the chase and realize we will be just sending them from one system to another.


  150. - carbaby - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:03 pm:

    And forgot to throw in that those cuts to DCFS are going to directly affect the private sector the most as that is who provides 85% of all of those services- not DCFS.


  151. - Ginhouse Tommy - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:06 pm:

    It sounds like Historic Preservation is paying for going against the powers that be. It seems like that agency is being dismantled and could be absorbed by another. I’m probably jumping the gun on that but we’ll see. The library and museum will probably be a separate entity and end up being filled with politically backed stiffs. The more things change…..


  152. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:23 pm:

    ==You seem to be almost giddy about taking things away from state employees.==

    I don’t mean to sound giddy. And I don’t think that we should be unfairly taking things away from state employees or anyone else. But I do think that we should be realistic, and I do not think that continuing the system that we have now is realistic or sustainable. If this premise is true, then state employees will not have things as good in the future as they do now and have had in the past. I don’t think that’s a matter of being fair or unfair. I think that’s just how life goes sometimes. Ask those of us in the middle class who do not have state pensions or union protections.


  153. - Cassandra - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:24 pm:

    DCFS is the court-appointed guardian which is supposed to develop and implement permanency plans for the kids under state care and custody. Courts are often part of the widespread problem of delayed permanency, but DCFS and its contractors are too. They are not helpless bystanders.I hope we are not returning to the days when long-term foster care was the norm. The Rauner administration should focus on improving permanency outcomes, so that as few kids as possible have to “age out” of the system.


  154. - RNUG - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:52 pm:

    == Can a state declare bankruptcy? ==

    No.


  155. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:56 pm:

    ==Ask those of us in the middle class who do not have state pensions or union protections.==

    I see you are still on that dopey “middle class” talking point. What do you think state employees are? Also, I’m sorry you don’t like your benefits. Get a new job if you don’t like them. Bringing people down to make others feel better isn’t an answer.


  156. - RNUG - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 4:58 pm:

    == I do not think that continuing the system that we have now is realistic or sustainable ==

    You do know that:

    1) the system was already changed in 2011 (Tier 2 for new hires), so it isn’t continuing

    2) according to a number of studies, the Tier 1 system was sustainable had the employer payments been made by the State as required … the people who passed SB-1 to try to change the exisitng system even admitted in the bill and legal pleadings that the underfunding was the major cause of the problem


  157. - better days - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:31 pm:

    God Bless Gov Rauner for starting to put Illinois up again
    Wasteful, corrupt Illinois Government spending everywhere you look


  158. - better days - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:33 pm:

    The Democrat money gravy train for Illinois Public unions is OVER !!!!!!!!!!


  159. - Enviro - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 6:34 pm:

    It should be noted that corporate tax breaks cost Illinois taxpayers billions of dollars each year and are a big cause of this state’s budget problems.


  160. - The Dude Abides - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 7:37 pm:

    @better days, get real. So do you really think that Union political donations to Democrats (and some Republicans) is over but wealthy corporate figures will continue to be allowed to contribute millions of dollars to Republicans like Rauner.
    It sounds like you think that Unions influencing politicians is bad but corporations influencing politicians is good. Rauner is obviously doing the bidding for the corporations, the wealthy and the powerful. That’s why there was no mention today of ending corporate tax write offs or having millionaires pay a bit higher tax rate than the average Joe, which is how it’s done in most states.


  161. - Just My Opinion - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 9:03 pm:

    ==according to a number of studies, the Tier 1 system was sustainable had the employer payments been made by the State as required … the people who passed SB-1 to try to change the exisitng system even admitted in the bill and legal pleadings that the underfunding was the major cause of the problem==

    That was then, this is now. While you are absolutely right, what’s done is done.

    Do you realize, can you grasp, how much $110 billion is? I confess that I cannot. I do know that’s how much the pension funds are in the hole. It really doesn’t matter how we got there. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. That’s where we are. Pointing fingers at this point is like crying over so much spilled milk.

    At the present rate, with the state’s economy in the doldrums and no light at the end of the tunnel, the pension funds are going to go bust and retirees will end up with nothing or next to nothing. What will we do then? Keep blaming politicians for bad decisions made years ago? How will that solve the problem?

    We shouldn’t blame Rauner for this. He didn’t create the problem. And I don’t think that he’s going to be able to solve it. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. The legislature is going to render Rauner irrelevant by running things its own way. They are plenty used to it by now. And the day of reckoning will be delayed. Myself and others in the middle class who don’t work for the state will move out of Illinois, keep moving out of Illinois, until there is no one left to pay the bills. At that point, all the finger pointing in the world will be even more useless than it is now.


  162. - RNUG - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:30 pm:

    == retirees will end up with nothing ==

    Nope, this isn’t the private sector where a venture capatilist like Rauner can slash, burn and dump pension obligations on the US taxpayers via the PBGC.

    The IL SC has already ruled multiple times that the pensions must be paid when due, period, noi exception specified. The only question that the courts left on the table was if the State choose to pre-fund the pensions via regular contributions to the 5 trust funds or whether the State would choose to pay the annual expense of the actual pensions out of that year’s GRF. The other thing the courts have previously ruled is that if a pension fund was in immenent danger of going broke, the retirees could go to court for an order compleling the State to place monies into that pension fund.

    So it’s pretty much established law. In the event of a default, a simple request to the courts for payment is all that would be needed.


  163. - Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Feb 18, 15 @ 11:47 pm:

    And the immediate situation is not that dire. In 2014, the SERS reported that its net position was $14.6 billion, that it had paid out $1.9 billion in benefits that year, and had gained nearly $2.2 billion on its investments that year due to a nearly 18% return on its investments. On paper, the system looks like it is treading water right now, not sinking into oblivion.

    https://www.srs.illinois.gov/PDFILES/oldAnnuals/Summaries/SERS/sers_summary14.pdf

    Every year there are more Tier 2 employees making contributions to the system, who are revenue positive. As many commenters have stated, there are a finite number of Tier 1 employees and retirees, and their number will diminish every year until someday they are all gone. It may be a big obligation, but it is not an immediate obligation, and its dimensions are known and will not change.


  164. - stormyweather - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 5:18 am:

    The government needs to hold parents accountable for their delinquent teens instead of placing them in DCFS care, the system was designed for abuse and neglect!! Not lockouts and failed adoptions. Foster parents receive pennies compared to residential facilities, but the state answer is take children which you have no means to provide care. Children should be cut off at 18, because the child runs from care or end up in jail. The state has no care plan for older teens. Most teens in care are not abuse or neglect kids..


  165. - Carhartt Representative - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 6:40 am:

    If the pension scheme went through, it is destined to cost the state big money. FICA taxes will greatly reduce any savings, while workers will keep working much longer at a higher salary because they can’t afford to retire. There’s a reason when Nebraska and West Virginia tried to move their workers to a 401k, it didn’t work and they abandoned it.


  166. - Anon - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 7:14 am:

    Negotiated pension changes will pass constitutional muster. The unions were talking about a compromise a few years back that would have cut pension benefits. So for those that say pension changes proposed by Rauner will not hold up…. they will if they are agreed to in negotiations.


  167. - Demoralized - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 7:42 am:

    ==they will if they are agreed to in negotiations.==

    Pensions are an INDIVIDUAL right in the Constitution. The union can’t negotiate that away. So, while they may try, it’s not likely it would be binding on any employee.


  168. - PublicServant - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 7:42 am:

    Anon, you do realize that many state employees are not represented by a union. The pensions aren’t something a Union can negotiate away.


  169. - Demoralized - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 7:42 am:

    == So for those that say pension changes proposed by Rauner will not hold up==

    And, they won’t. Forcing people into Tier 2 isn’t a choice.


  170. - PublicServant - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 7:43 am:

    Great minds Demoralized…


  171. - PublicServant - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 7:44 am:

    Demoralized, keep an eye on the blog, I gotta go cash my pension check, brb.


  172. - Sue - Thursday, Feb 19, 15 @ 1:40 pm:

    75 percent of the budget


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