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Question of the day
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Lots of people hate cigarette smoke. Quite a few hate smokers. But I’m wondering what you think of this bill…
llinois smokers, increasingly barred from smoking in public places, could soon be prohibited from lighting up in their cars if children are present, under a new proposal in the Illinois House.
The new legislation would make it a class C misdemeanor for drivers to smoke in their automobiles if children age 8 or younger are in the vehicle. The offense would be punishable by a fine of as much as $1,500 and 30 days in jail.
The bill will begin making its way through a Legislature already considering two other bills that aim to establish near-total statewide bans on smoking in public places. […]
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, said it was the state’s responsibility to protect children from adverse health effects from secondhand smoke.
Too far? Not far enough? Slippery slope to banning smoking in the home? Why or why not?
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Budget roundup
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Daily Herald starts off our coverage of the governor’s budget proposal…
The $60 billion budget - a new state record for spending if enacted - also calls for selling the Illinois Lottery and borrowing $16 billion to shore up the shaky state worker pension system, a new payroll tax on companies that don’t offer health care to employees and revamping riverboat casino taxes. But the Regional Transportation Authority would not receive a requested bailout, and it’ll be up to lawmakers to propose a way to pay for a transportation-centered capital spending plan.
All of that new money for schools and health insurance would flow from a new tax on businesses’ gross receipts the administration projects will fetch $2.6 billion in the first year and $6.3 billion once fully implemented.
* It looks like the Tribune either broke the traditional embargo or did what I did and got a budget book through back channels. Their story is the most complete in the mainstream media…
The gross receipts tax would include a 0.5 percent levy on the transaction of goods and a 1.8 percent levy on service firms, to generate $3 billion in the next budget year and $6 billion yearly when fully operational. The tax would be imposed on revenues that business takes in, regardless of profitability, sources said. […]
Revenues from the gross receipts and payroll taxes would help fund Blagojevich’s recently unveiled Illinois Covered health-care plan, which is eventually aimed at helping 1.5 million uninsured and underinsured state residents get health-care coverage. The administration says the cost of that plan would be low in the next fiscal year. When fully implemented, the administration says the cost would be $2.1 billion a year, through critics contend the figure could go much higher.
Actually, the budget book I have estimates the annual cost by Fiscal Year 2011 (which starts in three years) to be between $3.2 and $4 billion a year. Anyway, as I told you yesterday the budget offers up $1.5 billion for schools in the first year, but as the Tribune correctly notes…
(T)he $6,020 per-student figure Blagojevich is proposing falls short of the $6,405 figure that state education finance advisers recommended two years ago.
* Copley has more details on smaller aspects of the governor’s education plan…
# Allocating $60 million to expand early-childhood programs and reach 12,000 additional children. Another $10 million would go to early-childhood program providers.
# Setting aside $40 million to pay “quality teachers” to go to or stay at schools that are underperforming or hard to staff.
# Working with teacher unions and school officials to create a “performance pay” program recognizing good teachers and schools where students improve their academic performance.
# Encouraging school districts to consolidate.
# Creating a statewide teacher-mentoring program.
# Creating a new program to serve homeless students.
* Back to the Daily Herald story, which points out that the governor will not propose any direct property tax relief today…
“More money is good, it’s hard to squabble over that,” said state Sen. James Meeks, a Chicago Democrat who dropped his bid to challenge Blagojevich for governor last year after Blagoejvich promised to reform education funding. “But reform has to include property tax relief.”
* Senate President Jones supports the gross receipts tax, but Sen. James Meeks says that his SB 750, which includes an income tax increase and property tax relief, is still on the table…
Meeks said Jones assured him that S.B. 750 would be kept alive as “a backup” plan to the gross receipts tax.
* And Sneed claims the governor is prepared to play some hardball…
Word is Blago told insiders during a hush-hush meeting that if his proposal to insure all Illinois residents who lack coverage does not pass, there will be no money for capital infrastructure and construction programs and other special projects.
* You can watch the budget address on the General Assembly’s website, or you can tune into your local public television station, which should be carrying it live. I’ll be on PBS starting at noon to help with the lead-in and wrap-up coverage.
25 Comments
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Adams is in deep, deep denial
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
This argument by DHS chief Carol Adams makes no sense on so many levels…
Failing to quell a political furor, a top state administrator Tuesday defended being driven around by an $84,660-a-year special assistant as a good deal for taxpayers.
Human Services chief Carol Adams said she was able to answer office phone calls and work on her laptop while being shuttled by a worker, who did more than act as a chauffeur.
“Really, it would be a waste of the taxpayers’ money to pay me to drive when I could be working,” she said.
How much of a “waste” of taxpayers’ money would that be? The guy made over 80 large a year. Let’s say making her drive herself “wasted” 10 percent of her salary. Unless she’s making $800K a year, then the taxpayers come out on top.
Also, if making her drive herself is a waste, then why isn’t paying somebody $84,000 a year to drive part-time a waste? Shouldn’t that person be working on real projects instead of donning his little chauffer’s hat?
If she’s telling the truth, then there’s been a problem over there for a while now…
Adams also told lawmakers the agency under previous administrations used two drivers — one in Chicago and one in Springfield.
More from the Sun-Times…
[Senate President Emil Jones] said it was hypocritical for lawmakers to be on the attack over the use of drivers when they, for example, rely on staffers to shuttle them to and from the airport. “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” he said.
That would be true if each legislator had an $84,000 driver. It would also be true if legislators had high-paid staff driving them around all the time. I see plenty of legislators driving themselves around Springfield or walking.
Steve Brown, a top aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), stopped short of calling for Adams’ and Wertz’s ouster. But he said the sex scandal is “a huge embarrassment and a continuing embarrassment for people who try to do a good job working in government.”
A spokesman for Gov. Blagojevich said the governor has not lost confidence in Adams but stressed that [chief of staff] Wertz is “not a gubernatorial appointee.”
The bus is warming up.
Adams has reassigned her chief of staff to special projects in the wake of publicity over a lawsuit alleging that her chief ordered her own driver to have sex with her in a shared Springfield hotel room.
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Morning Shorts
Wednesday, Mar 7, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* Why did the test scores rise in Illinois?
Illinois elementary school pupils passed the newly revamped state achievement exams at record rates last year, but critics suggest it was more the result of changes to the tests than real progress by pupils.
* Daley defends Chicago schools ISAT gains
* House’s latest electric rate freeze unlikely to clear Senate
Critics argued Tuesday that reinstating the rate freeze would cause consumers more long-term pain by sending Ameren and ComEd into bankruptcy. Some said the vote was designed to score political points for supporters, not provide real relief for consumers.
‘’This has been a comedy of errors, and we will probably be compounding it today,'’ said Rep. Bill Black (R-Danville).
* Deregulation law: A tale of two states
* CUB spokesman & Rep. Bradley to meet with Herrin Chamber
* Editorial: Legislature must act on spike in electric rates
* AG Madigan subpoenas Ameren on heating ads
* Illinois House votes to roll back electric rates
* Michael Sneed: tidbits on Blagojevich, Daley, Reilly
* Cindy Richards: Making Illinois a safe state again
* Springfield’s image really is improving
* Cook Co. Circuit Court associate judgeships named; 31 added to the bench
In past years, critics of the associate judge selection process said politics determined who got picked. But this year, of the 15 names State Democratic Party Chair Mike Madigan sent on a letter to judges’ homes, only seven were chosen. And all 15 had mostly good ratings.
* Trustees may hold public discussion for ‘clarity’ over Illiniwek
* Potential mailing list stokes hot Dist. 214 race
* Streamwood trustee challenges may be just the beginning
* Aurora alderman drops out of race
* “Vote early vote often” phrase tossed around a lot in Chicago
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$10 billion for schools
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The governor’s budget will include $10 billion for schools over four years.
The first year would provide $1.5 billion with $3 billion in the other years.
17 Comments
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The governor brought up “God’s will” the other day in reference to his health care plan.
“If you can have health care but your neighbor can’t that isn’t how God intended it to be.â€
I’ll stipulate right up front that I think the governor is dead serious about passing his massive health insurance proposal. He lives and breathes this issue.
Conservative Republicans inject God into public debates on numerous issues, from stem cells to abortion to gay rights, etc. We don’t often see this coming from a Democrat (I think there’s a specific reason for this, but I’ll save it for tomorrow’s Capitol Fax).
Rev. Jennifer Kottler, of Protestants for the Common Good, sent me this e-mail when I asked her about injecting God into the health insurance debate. She began by saying that she considered the question “a fair one.”
Far be it from me, or anyone else for that matter, to claim to know the will of God. However, through our religious teachings and traditions, our faiths attempt to understand the heart of God — and the heart of God is clearly revealed through God’s love for all whom God has created and compassion for all who are in need and in pain.
There may be a number of ways to address the need to provide access to healthcare for all who need it and the Governor’s plan is one way to do that. There should never be one “Christian” or “religious” viewpoint claiming to speak for God in order to justify a particular piece of legislation (although religious groups are certainly within their right to advocate for particular policies or legislative priorities).
But clearly, the religious teachings from many faiths on justice, mercy and love that come out of our religious traditions require that this issue be addressed and we applaud the Governor’s effort to do just that.
Question: Is turnabout fair play? If it’s OK for legislators to vote against gay rights bills because their church rails against the legislation, should it be allowed, even encouraged, in other debates?
Let’s try to stick to the topic. I saw one commenter yesterday questioning the governor’s religious beliefs. Stuff like that is just unacceptable.
49 Comments
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Tax and health care roundup
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Here’s an important bit I missed over the weekend. Senate President Emil Jones supports the governor’s gross receipts tax.
Jones, the Senate president and a top legislative ally of Blagojevich, has already indicated support for the new tax.
“If the governor does indeed propose a gross-receipts tax, the president believes that this is the right direction to go in, and it boils down to an issue of fairness,” said Jones’ spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer.
* The governor’s idea for a 3 percent payroll tax that I told you about earlier is still not getting much play. The tax would be levied on almost all businesses, which would then receive a rebate for every dollar they spend on employee health insurance. When the tax is being mentioned, it’s almost parenthetical, or in this case, literally parenthetical.
* The idea of leasing the Lottery is much sexier and is receiving quite a bit more coverage.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday will propose issuing another $16 billion in bonds and leasing the state lottery to reduce Illinois’ crushing pension debt.
Between the two proposals, administration officials said, the state can dramatically improve the funding picture for its pension systems and save billions of dollars over the next 40 years.
Administration officials also said their plan will make annual contributions to the pension plans more predictable. Unlike two years ago, Blagojevich does not plan to recommend any money-saving changes in pension benefits for future state employees. […]
Justin DeJong, a spokesman for Blagojevich’s budget office, said Monday the plan will save the state $60 billion over the next 38 years because the state pays 8.5 percent interest on the outstanding pension debt and can borrow the money at a lower interest rate.
* House Speaker Michael Madigan remains unconvinced about the Lottery component of the pension scheme.
The lottery plan last year met legislative skepticism. House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) wrote Blagojevich, asking him to explain the package and assure that it wouldn’t allow keno parlors to open in every community.
“We raised a number of questions on changing or revamping the operation or ownership of the lottery,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. “To the best of my knowledge, that letter wasn’t answered, and all of those questions remain to be answered.”
* You will recall that Blagojevich intially promised to use the Lottery sale/lease money to fund education - a deal that got Sen. James Meeks out of the governor’s race. Now comes word that he’ll use the gross revenues tax to fund schools. Meeks still prefers an income tax hike. More on that another time.
* Meanwhile, groups are lining up for and against the governor’s health insurance plan…
Although details of the proposal won’t be known until later this week, interest groups are already starting to take positions for or against Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s plans to expand health insurance to hundreds of thousands of people without medical coverage.
Some business groups don’t like the proposal, in part because it would cost them billions of dollars in new taxes.
The hospital industry likes the plan, in part because it means it would see fewer uninsured patients seeking care but lacking money to pay for it.
Meanwhile, some consumer advocacy groups back the plan as a first step toward insuring at least some of the state’s 1.4 million uninsured. But others say the plan is so complex it won’t work, nor does it go far enough.
“It’s too complicated,” said Dr. Quentin Young, chairman of Illinois Health Care for All and past president of the American Public Health Association. “It’s noble in concept but it is almost certain to fail.”
Young advocates for a national, single-payer health insurance system.
* I’ll be on Public Television immediately before and after the governor’s State of the State/Budget Address Wednesday. Coverage starts about noon.
44 Comments
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Congressman Oberweis?
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Charlie Johnston may or may not be right about this, but I think he’s giving Oberweis way too much credit for “growing.”
Get ready to call him Congressman Oberweis. And if you’re in the main stream media get ready to be surprised at how effective a Congressman he is. And if you’re part of the Republican establishment get ready to be surprised at what an effective and broad-spirited party leader he becomes.
I’ll believe that when I see it. Charlie continues…
Poor Jim Oberweis: he’s made all his political mistakes in front of God and everybody. Everybody has focused on the mistakes and miscalculations - and missed the political learning curve of a very good, if often frustrated, politician.
I didn’t see much of a learning curve at the end of the 2006 gubernatorial primary when he demanded that the other candidates draw straws to see who would go up against Judy Baar Topinka, then said he should get more than one straw. He also claimed that Bill Brady was part of some conspiracy against him devised by the Topinka folks to siphon votes away from his pure conservative candidacy. Oy.
What got lost in the shuffle of the bizarre 2006 race was that Oberweis had learned how to put together a well-organized, disciplined and motivated grass-roots effort. He had worked out most of the kinks in his message - and stayed disciplined on message. At events he had developed a real charm that engaged voters - not too light, not too edgy, but just about right.
It didn’t work on enough voters, obviously, or he would’ve won the primary. Anyway, on to the point, the eventual primary race to replace Congressman Denny Hastert…
Much more manageable than a statewide race, his skill at grass-roots politics will play a much more decisive role. While the media will almost certainly see him in the old Oberweis template, the portion of the district that is in the Chicago market is on his home-turf. The rest of the district is divided between the Rockford and the Quad Cities market. Oberweis can buy up nearly all the TV time in both of those markets and largely control his message. Besides the grass-roots advantage of running in the geographically smaller district, Oberweis can do a lot more one-on-one campaigning, and he has developed into a formidable stump campaigner. Finally, he has done very well in that district in all of his state-wide bids.
Right now his most likely primary challengers are State Sen. Chris Lauzen, a solid grass-roots conservative candidate himself and State Rep. Tim Schmitz, who some of the establishment are lining up behind. Neither has the money Oberweis can bring to bear. While both have had electoral success in low-profile races, neither has been in the sort of high-profile race this will be. Lauzen was the nominee for comptroller in 1998, but though statewide, that is still a low-profile race.
This is otherwise known as: “exporting our problem to Washington, DC.”
And, please, the drive-by attacks on Charlie in comments are really getting old. Try to evaluate the message, not so much the messenger. Thanks.
19 Comments
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Is this really a scandal?
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
On the one hand, former IDOT Secretary Tim Martin makes a very valid point that if he wanted to get a job in the private sector he’d probably have no other choice but to work for a company that did business with his state agency.
On the other hand, the media (and I’m sure commenters here) love to pounce on this kind of stuff…
A law barring state employees from using their clout or connections for personal gain has been relaxed to allow Timothy Martin to go immediately from being Illinois transportation secretary to a lucrative position at a major contractor on the Dan Ryan Expressway and other projects.
The company that Martin joined, Chicago-based Consoer, Townsend & Associates, did almost $50 million in state business during Martin’s term in office. […]
The revolving-door provision is part of a new ethics law that Gov. Rod Blagojevich championed several years ago. It requires state workers to wait at least one year before jumping to private-sector jobs in industries they formerly regulated or did business with.
In 2006 alone, Martin signed IDOT contracts totaling $10.3 million with Consoer Townsend, a subsidiary of AECOM/CTE that is known in the engineering trade as CTE, according to records obtained by the Tribune.
The law wasn’t “relaxed.” There are specific provisions allowing for waivers from the revolving door provisions. The IDOT case is a big reason why the waivers were put into the law in the first place. And the process seems to have been pretty well vetted. Then again, it is the Blagojevich administration…
In the past, there was a lot of Martin hatred in comments, much of it deleted. This is a warning to all of you IDOTers out there: Keep it reasonable or find yourself banned. Yes, I know he had his problems, particularly with African-American legislators who thought he was more than just a bit racist and way too arrogant (the mention of his departure led to a rousing ovation at a recent Black Caucus dinner).
But I’ve seen IDOT’s employee morale surveys from years gone by and you guys have been PO’d about every single Transportation Secretary for the last decade or more. Rein it in.
32 Comments
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Rate rage roundup - More trouble for Ameren
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More bad news for Ameren. AG Madigan to investigate Ameren’s “all-electric” program
Responding to consumer complaints about soaring electric rates, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Monday she is investigating the way Ameren Corp. promoted its so-called all-electric discount program.
In a release issued Monday, Madigan alleged that Ameren promoted and encouraged customers to sign up for the discounted rate program long after the company knew the discount would be eliminated.
Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris denied the charge.
“Those rates have not been promoted in at least a decade, and I’m confident much longer than that,” Morris said Monday. […]
“If Ameren was promoting this discount plan to residential and business consumers or to builders after it knew the discount would disappear shortly, then we need to know about it,” she said in the release.
Madigan didn’t just jump on this right away. She took her time to quietly look into the situation before announcing the investigation. There are reports out there about people and businesses being urged to take advantage of the discount as late las last June. Ameren could be in for another world of hurt.
* Pat Gauen puts the blame on legislators for the mess, but makes no mention of the ICC’s blatantly skewed reverse auction plan.
The power company is in business foremost to make money for stockholders, not to save money for consumers. We elected legislators to do that. They are the ones who signed off on this plan.
It was a gamble that not everybody’s lawmakers took. Missouri’s didn’t, and now our next-door neighbors have no comparable angst. California did deregulate, then tried to hold down rate increases and in the process darned near collapsed the state’s electric system.
Now fully awake after a 10-year nap, Illinois electricity customers are baying at Springfield for relief from what amounts to a lost bet. It’s as if we put our cash on black at the Casino Queen and demanded a refund after the roulette ball landed on red.
Except, this isn’t a game of chance, it’s a game of politics. And the people didn’t bet on deregulation at all. We bet on getting a good outcome from the General Assembly. It turns out that, like it or not, Ameren and the state’s other power companies find themselves betting on the same.
As of this writing, legislators were reaching for that roulette ball, with no clear indication of where they will finally put it.
* But the Herald & Review editorial hits all the notes in a piece entitled, Remember rate hikes at the ballot box…
What we have here are elected officials who saw a problem approaching but didn’t do anything about it, a commerce commission that allowed the utilities to railroad them into an unfair process, a leading legislator who won’t even allow an issue to come to a vote because of his support for one of the utilities and a governor who sits by and does little.
* Two GOP Senators haven’t actually organized any protest, but are asking people (through the media) to bring their bills to the Statehouse…
Republican state Sens. John Jones of Mt. Vernon, Dale Risinger of Peoria and Bill Brady of Bloomington are asking anyone burned by higher power rates to bring copies of their bloated bills to the governor’s office before he gives his annual address. […]
So far the senators are unaware of any groups chartering buses or carpooling from their districts. For their part, security staff at the Capitol say they are not planning any extra measures in anticipation of rowdy power-bill toting crowd.
* On a mostly unrelated note, check out how local school districts are upset about allegedly being gouged for not reading the fine print…
The biggest advocates for Illinois’ school boards and administrators have been making millions of dollars off school districts and taxpayers, court and financial records show.
The Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Association of School Business Officials and the Illinois Association of School Administrators set up a non-profit energy company in 1999 to help school districts get better deals on electricity and gas.
But to the surprise of many school officials, the Illinois Energy Consortium, as the company is called, has been charging the districts fees that have nothing to do with utility service. The financial details are disclosed in a Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit filed in June.
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Local Elections Roundup
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* Rich Miller: Entrenched Natarus ousted by ex-House Dem Staffer
* Sandi Jackson gets her turn
* Brendan Reilly, the new prince of downtown
* Matlak endorsed by primary opponent [press release,pdf]; more here
* Naisy Dolar campaign video in 50th ward
* Make way for the real local elections now that silly primaries are finished
* Elgin voters say “no” to extreme stance
* A look at Mayor Davlin’s fundraising
* Strom proposes open government measures for Springfield while criticizing mayor
In addition, Strom criticized Davlin’s campaign television commercial that touts his leadership in the wake of the March 12, 2006, tornadoes, saying, “It’s unfortunate that the mayor chooses to use a disaster to somehow frame himself … in sort of a heroic posture.”
* Challenger sues electoral board and city’s mayor in Prospect Heights
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Morning Shorts
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* AG Madigan keeping a close eye on Tribune foundation
* Editorial: Sunshine needed as a disinfectant: “Taxpayers spend $7 million a year on the office of the executive inspector general but can learn virtually nothing about what it does.”
* How will the state pay for the cost of Real ID
White estimates that could cost Illinois taxpayers about $150 million over five years. The price tag could have been more, but Illinois already has bought some of the necessary advanced photo systems.
* Metra aims to ease CTA rider’s woes
* Highest ISAT test scores go to Chicago schools
* Illinois set to lead stem-cell research science
* Michael Sneed: Tipsville, Beavers, Steele, Ald. Burke
* Kane Couty State’s Attorney Meg Gorecki wins lawsuit
* Youth gets out the vote, but their elders rock it
* Presidential candidates learning to navigate the political web
* Author describes Springfield-based 233rd as spearhead into Iraqi anarchy
* Diebold may get out of e-voting business
* UIUC student shows passion for politics
* Kane County dumps Washington lobbyist
With his Speaker of the House duties behind him, the Plano Republican will have more time to focus on his district’s needs, Wyatt said. Hastert’s term as speaker ended when the Democrats gained a majority in Congress after the November election.
* Rare library border battle costs over $125,000 and counting
* Arrington biography a must read
* Many leave U.S. Attorney’s office for better pay: “The reasons for recent departures are varied, but money is usually a factor. Former prosecutors are sought-after in big law firms because of their trial experience in complex cases.”
* Duckworth nominated to investigate Walter Reed Medical Hospital
* Two state agencies get new leadership: IEMA, IDES
* Palatine to spend $15,000 to promote itself as ’smoke-free’
* State smoking ban needs Senate Executive Committee approval
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