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* Yep, bloggers are bad because everyone in the mainstream media says we just aren’t trustworthy sources. Well, here’s an MSM story that ran yesterday…
$3 billion is heading to Illinois to fund education. Governor Pat Quinn and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to pay school districts for funds owed for this year and will provide $174 million more for the 2010 fiscal year.
Um, wrong. About $1.8 billion of the federal money is being used to balance the state budget, not to increase funding for schools. The rest (about a billion) will go to schools via existing federal programs for poor districts and the disabled.
Look, I was pleasantly surprised that states like Illinois were allowed to skim stimulus money ostenibly earmarked for education and use it instead to balance their budgets. We desperately need every federal dollar we can get to avoid an even bigger tax hike or deeper budget cuts.
But $3 billion is definitely not “heading to Illinois to fund education,” even if the party line is that we’re actually using the money to avoid cuts in our education budget. That would not have happened. Don’t be silly.
Simply restating whatever the governor says got us all into a lot of trouble during the last two administrations. Time to stop.
* US Education Secretary Arne Duncan tried to be diplomatic yesterday, but his message seemed pretty clear…
Asked about Gov. Pat Quinn’s plans to use a large portion of the federal stimulus money meant for education to plug holes in the state budget, Duncan declined to discuss specifics.
“If folks are playing shell games, if folks are operating in bad faith, it puts their second chance at billions of dollars in jeopardy,” he said. “We have significant carrots and sticks.
There’s no “if” about it.
Background on Duncan’s comment…
The former Chicago Public Schools chief said the state has a real chance to compete for a share of $5 billion the Obama administration plans to make available for states that want to try new approaches to improving education. But Duncan also acknowledged skepticism about the odds Illinois will change its stripes, given his years of frustration in unsuccessfully lobbying for reform in Springfield.
“Business as usual, to be clear, would basically eliminate Illinois from competition,” Duncan said. “But we’re not looking just at past track record. We’re looking at folks who are really willing to challenge the status quo.”
* Speaking of the budget, this angle is not getting nearly the coverage it deserves…
While the stimulus funds are “reducing the harm” in Illinois, budget cuts to social programs remain on the table. For instance, the Department of Human Services has planned a questionable consolidation of offices across the state and the governor has proposed reductions in both home care and child care spending.
* Related…
* Sales-Tax Revenue Falls at Fastest Pace in Years
* Thanks To Stimulus, IL Triggers 13 Extra Weeks Of Jobless Benefits
* Quinn earmarks U.S. education stimulus funds
* Ill. advocacy groups push for EITC increase
* Advocacy groups push for big increase in tax credit
* Tax talk of how to protect low-income workers
* Governor Quinn Says Illinois’ Bills Must Be Paid on Time
* Federal Economic Stimulus Money For Illinois Schools
* Huberman: Stimulus Funds for Computers and After-school
* Stimulus funds to improve struggling CPS schools, Huberman says
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 10:59 am
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Nobody in the MSM wants to work the numbers. Sad, but true.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:08 am
Skimming money from one dedicated fund to pay for other things is “business as usual” since Blago was first elected. About $700 mil per year for 6 years (totalling around $4 bil) was skimmed from the highway fund for other programs.
Question: Which of the following two subjects regarding Illinois state government is good and why?
1. Rod Blagojevich
2. ISO at IDOT
Answer: Blagojevich, because he’s gone.
Has this been posted already? Oh well, positive reinforcement never hurts.
Comment by Heironymus Merkin Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:10 am
Rich, I apologize for my thin skin, but how did restating what Governor Ryan said while he was Governor get us into any trouble?
Comment by steve schnorf Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:15 am
From the State Superintendent’s newsletter of April 14 on the ISBE website (http://isbe.net/board/archiveme
ssages/2009/message_041409.pdf)–
Governor Quinn has submitted Illinois’ application to begin accessing the $2.055 billion in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds that has been set aside for our state. It is our hope that this funding will become available to Illinois as soon as possible. As you know, the Governor’s intent is to use the SFSF funds in the General State Aid (GSA) program in FY09 and FY10 to minimize the possible impact of the state’s current fiscal deficit upon payments of GSA to Illinois school districts.
While utilizing the SFSF funds for GSA will alleviate some of the state’s fiscal pressures, it also means some additional paperwork. As we have stated before, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) includes additional accountability and transparency requirements for all agencies that receive stimulus funding. Districts will need to submit an application, which was sent to you earlier, in order to receive the remaining GSA payments…
In addition, although we have not yet received the guidance on record-keeping and reporting, districts will be required to track this funding separately. You will need to report on specific uses, as well as track and account separately the remaining GSA payments. We will provide additional guidance to you as soon as the U.S. Department of Education provides it.
We have completed calculating preliminary allocations of IDEA Part B Flow Through and Preschool funds that you are scheduled to receive in FY 2010, as well as the preliminary IDEA amounts that you are scheduled to receive under ARRA. Final allocations will be available this summer.
Comment by Nearly Normal Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:23 am
Rich,
Thanks for the comments and for the FAX today. It is about time people start telling the truth about what is going on instead of merely repeating Quinn’s talking points which are deliberatly misleading.
If he wants to use stimulus money to balance the budget, he should say so instead of trying to fool people.
If he wants to steal pension fund money and them claim the budget is balanced, he should say so instead of trying to fool people.
People who thought Quinn was going to be a breath of fresh air are now finding he spews the same old pollution as his predecessors.
I’m not sure what it says about the state of our state but I believe that most legislators get most of their information, not from their “leaders”, not from their staffs,certainly not from the papers, but from the Capitol Fax and Blog. Thanks for giving it to them straight.
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:26 am
I don’t think that shifting funds to other purposes as a result of federal targeted fund bonanzas is confined to Illiois, although our state, with its long history of Republican and Democratic corruption, probably does it more than most.
And this is the main reason why I am so opposed to a middle class tax increase. Sure, the schools will get plenty of money, and that’s good. But under our Democratic leaders, money that would have gone to the schools in the absence of a stimulus will likely be diverted to less salubrious purposes, including preserving thousands of porky patronage jobs in state government and the continuation of massive numbers of overpriced contracts.
When you pay your Illinois state income taxes, you can’t be sure where the money will end up, but you can be sure that the corruption tax will be taking a large bite of it. Arne may have good intentions when he says that’s not supposed to happen but that doesn’t mean he can actually follow through. At the end of the day, the feds will likely hand out the next batch of money.
And a lot of it will get “shifted.”
Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:53 am
Now Rich, accusing every so-called mainstream publication of not getting it and then picking on one poor sap would be like the so-called MSM using one wacko blog post to deride the entire blogosphere.
Oh. Now I see your argument.
But please, could everyone just be a bit more specific about who sucks rather than cast aside every paper, website, blog, etc.
Hate the player, not the game.
Comment by Frank Booth Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 11:59 am
Frank, I probably should’ve written that I used that story because I’ve seen essentially the same claim repeated endlessly in the MSM.
I could’ve linked to many more examples of this goofiness, but, frankly, Frank, I’m a bit under the weather and have too little energy for the huge linkfest that would require.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 12:03 pm
Also, Frank, all-out war has been declared on us by the AP. As a result, I’m in little mood to go out of my way to defend the great, all-knowing, always-right MSM.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 12:08 pm
I agree with Bill.
One of the most important ways Illinois lawmakers can re-establish their lost credibility with voters is to be honest. Everyone knows we are in a deep hole that will not be easily fixed.
We’ve had a decade of spin, and we know it was spin. What we had the patience for during this time was an end to the political talk and a start of the political work - but the “work” part of the equation never materialize. All we heard was continued spin to justify not addressing the ever-increasing budget deficits.
We’ve had enough unjustifiable “happy talk”, and voters seem to be very tired of being treated like ignorami. We are not stupid, and know that bills have to be paid. What I have been witnessing has been an inability of state leaders to understand the order in which most voters wish to address our current fiscal mess.
No tax increases - until:
1.) We see our leaders lead by publically cutting back on what little pork there is within this budget.
2.) Legislators make some budget cuts beyond cosmetic PR stunts. (We’ll know this when constituents’ complaints make news.)
3.) We see some kind of improvement in Illinois government after years of paralysis and hostilities among the Four Tops.
4.) How about some reforms? How about some ethics? YOU KNOW, stuff we voted for back in 2002?
With sincerity and honesty, some of the credibility lost over the past decade could be restored. You guys simply cannot expect voters to accept the clownish antics that have been embarrassing Illinoians for the past decade to be accepted - AND get an increased tax bill, do ya?
Voters will pay for adult leadership. We haven’t been seeing much of that from the General Assembly for quite a while. Show us, and perhaps you may find us easier to work with!
Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 12:16 pm
So we’re plugging budget gaps with one-time revenues? Isn’t that the Rod Blagojevich modus operandi?
Comment by Fan of the Game Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 2:12 pm
So Rich, you’re tired and cranky and don’t feel like doing the work needed to prove your point?
Welcome to the world of the MSM.
You’ve got a good century or so before your business model completely collapses.
FYI, a nap on the futon always seems to energize.
Comment by Frank Booth Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 3:28 pm
I remeber in olden days when we called simplistic stenography cut and paste….
Comment by Ghost Wednesday, Apr 15, 09 @ 4:19 pm