The credit rating of Illinois’ largest power supplier was downgraded to junk status today as state lawmakers haggle over a proposed electric rate freeze.
Moody’s Investor Services says Com-Ed has become a credit risk for investors because of the potential for a renewed electric rate freeze.
The debt rating agency downgraded the credit rating of Ameren Corporation’s Illinois utilities earlier this month because of similar concerns.
The Senate is considering legislation to bring ComEd into the rollback and rate freeze bill that had been exclusively applied to Ameren, which has an extremely angry customer base right now. That bill led to Ameren’s credit downgrade, and it appears the same thing is happening to ComEd.
As of yesterday, negotiations on what to do about electric rates were ongoing and nothing new was reported. Senate President Emil Jones has indicated to insiders that he wants to have an agreement by the end of this week for substantial rate relief or he’ll send the freeze bill over to the House. This downgrade news ought to spark some interest at the Statehouse.
For the third time in recent years, legislation offered in Illinois calls for bringing an end to split speed limits on the state’s interstate highways.
Rep. Robert Flider, D-Decatur, and Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, have taken up the battle to eliminate the provision that set up slower speed limits on rural interstates for vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds.
Currently, those vehicles are required to travel 10 mph below the 65 mph speed limit for other vehicles. If approved, the new rule would clear all vehicles to drive 65 mph.
Gov. Blagojevich vetoed the bill in 2003 and 2004…
Blagojevich said at the time he fears that faster trucks would mean bloodier accidents because the force of impact is stronger the faster a vehicle is traveling, The Associated Press reported.
But Flider disagrees…
“Studies have shown that uniform speed limits are safer in many instances. There are occurrences of a car driver coming upon a truck and suddenly realizing that truck is driving a lot slower. That can create some challenges on a busy highway, Flider said. “It seems to me, and I think studies have concluded, uniform speed limits actually would be safer as long as everybody follows the speed limit.â€
Even after being denied relief by two courts, a pro-life pharmacist looks like he’ll never give up…
An Illinois pharmacist says he’ll appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court after his lawsuit challenging the morning-after pill was dismissed.
Luke Vander Bleek of Morrison filed suit in 2005 after Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an executive order essentially forcing pharmacies to dispense so-called Plan B birth control pills. […]
He says that pregnancy isn’t a medical problem and therefore shouldn’t be terminated with drugs. […]
Vander Bleek’s lawsuit to block Blagojevich’s order was denied by the 4th District Appellate Court last week by a 2-1 vote. A Sangamon County court previously had done the same. […]
“Mr. Vander Bleek can appeal if he wants — that’s his right,” she said. “But the outcome will not change. There is no provision in our laws that will let a pharmacist deny a patient access to healthcare.”
I would suppose that any interest they could generate couldn’t hurt, but the Tribune’s headline wasn’t all that helpful to the GOP: State Republicans grasp a straw poll…
Illinois Republicans are trying to rejuvenate interest in their party by considering a non-binding presidential straw poll that would be held at this summer’s state fair if a Democratic-backed plan to move up next year’s primary date succeeds.
The move by the state GOP comes as top Republicans have begun aligning themselves with various presidential campaigns, reflecting the hurried race for the White House that formally begins with the Iowa caucuses in January.
“We’re in the early stages of trying to put something together,” state GOP Chairman Andy McKenna said. “The whole notion of a Republican [presidential] primary in Illinois is helpful in terms of what we’re trying to do, in helping Republicans think about why they’re Republicans in the first place.”
And I think this next part is exactly right…
But some believe Obama would face little challenge in a favorite-son bid to win Illinois delegates to the Democrats’ national nominating convention. Instead, the focus in Illinois might be on a GOP presidential field seeking the state’s Republican nominating delegates.
Also in the story is the revelation that House GOP Leader Tom Cross will serve as Rudy Giulianni’s state campaign chairman. Rep. Jim Durkin has already signed onto the McCain campaign, bringing several legislators with him.
Anyway, what do you think of this straw poll idea?
DuPage County Republican leaders plan to meet April 15 to vote in state Sen. Dan Cronin as the new county GOP chairman, said the current chief, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, Monday.
A 30-second spot, sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity, is set to run on stations in Springfield, Champaign, Bloomington and Peoria. In it, three businessmen talk about how the proposed levy would harm their companies and their customers. […]
Greg Baise, president of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Assn., a coalition member, declined to say how much TV time the group has purchased but said it would be “enough to get the attention†of state legislators watching television during their evening hours in Springfield.
Mr. Baise said the spot, or others, eventually will air on cable TV and radio in Chicago. Given the cost, however, the ad is not likely to appear on Chicago broadcast television, where a series of pro-tax ads funded by unions and the Illinois Hospital Assn. have been running.
And here’s the ad. Rate it in comments below…
* Meanwhile, a day after calling the governor “Comrade,” the Belleville News-Democrat publishes an Op-Ed by the headmaster of somthing called Governor French Academy in Belleville that claims Blagojevich is a “French socialist mole.”
You may think that his name is Rod, but the governor’s recent tax hike proposal makes it quite clear that his name is actually “Pierre.”
So how did our great Midwestern prairie state get a Frenchman as its chief executive? The answer is simple — Pierre Blagojevich is a French socialist mole whom the perfidious French government sneaked into the U.S. years ago to change our American free economy into French socialism.
The tax could wipe out small business profits, be passed on to consumers, or force some businesses to leave Illinois, Wilhelmi said. He added that he has “grave concerns” because the 1.8 percent gross receipts tax is not transparent. It won’t appear on any receipts and will be built in to the cost of products.
*** UPDATE *** Oops. I forgot to post this. From a press release…
Low-income, working families in Illinois are hit harder by the income tax than those in most other states. The income level at which Illinois families must begin paying taxes is among the lowest and worst in the country, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Families earning less than the poverty level still must pay income taxes in Illinois, which means they struggle to provide for their children,†said Jerry Stermer, president of Voices for Illinois Children. “Illinois can do better by increasing the state Earned Income Tax Credit so that low-income families can keep more of what they earn and give their children a better future.â€
Illinois begins taxing a two parent, two children family of four when they earn just $15,600, nearly 25 percent below the federal poverty level of $20,615. A single-parent, two children family of three is taxed at $13,600, below the poverty level of $16,079, according to the report. Illinois is one of only 15 states that tax three-person families in poverty and one of 19 states that tax four-person families in poverty.
One way to strengthen working families is to increase the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Nearly 765,000 low-income, working families benefited from the Illinois EITC last year. But because the Illinois EITC is set at only 5 percent of the federal EITC, the maximum amount a family can receive is about $220, the lowest in the nation.
“It’s buried,” said State Sen. John Millner, a Carol Stream Republican, who sponsored the bill. “The people who are lobbying against it, they don’t want a live bill out there.”
But House Bill 3131 proposes that terms of the supervision also include suspending the underage drinker’s license for three months, even if the teen was not in a car.
A consistent disagreement between Cole and Simon was spending. Simon encouraged conservative spending while Cole insisted the city has seen enough revenue increase to support some expenditures, particularly in adding personnel.
I just sent out an “extra” but I thought you might like to comment on this new development here. From a Senate President Emil Jones press release…
“I want to clarify unequivocally that I will not call any bill for a vote that raises the income tax or sales tax on people. The GRT will provide statewide property tax relief and put $10 billion more dollars in our education system in Illinois. The GRT is the fair way to fund education and healthcare and to make sure big business is paying its fair share.â€
Jones had said before that he might call another tax bill for a vote if the gross receipts tax failed. This statement ups the ante in a huge way.
It could be a long, hot summer in Springfield, campers.
*** UPDATE *** This is what Sen. Jones said right after the governor’s budget address…
[Asked about whether he would call HB/SB 750 for a vote…]
“I do not intend to put two tax proposals out there for the members to be voting on.”
[Asked what would happen if the GRT doesn’t pass…]
“Well, if it doesn’t pass then we go back to the drawing board, as we’ve done in the past.”
That statement is now, apparently, “inoperative.”
During that press conference, when Jones was pressed on whether he was leaving the door open to a personal income tax increase, he said, “No.”
However, when Jones was specifically asked whether the income tax increase was dead for this session, he said, “Possibly.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Meanwhile, the governor was red-baited by yet another editorial board, this time it was the Belleville News-Democrat…
We’d rather have lawmakers spend time debating the consequences of Comrade, er Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s gross receipts tax
Just about any client that former Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk signs up for his new lobbying firm will have some connections - direct or indirect - to the Blagojevich administration. But the Daily Herald found another string that runs through all but one of Monk’s new client base: GOP power broker Bill Cellini…
• The Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association, where Cellini is executive director. An investment firm owned by Cellini’s two children got a contract under Blagojevich with the Illinois State Board of Investment to invest $60 million in state worker pension funds.
• The Stough Group, a Hinsdale firm that builds affordable housing for seniors and relies on state-backed loans and rent subsidies through Blagojevich’s Illinois Housing Development Authority. Stough executive Michael Pizzuto used to work for another Cellini company. Blagojevich also appointed Pizzuto to the State University Retirement System board.
• Public Issues Management, the lobbying firm of Fernando Grillo, whom Blagojevich appointed director of the agency now known as the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Grillo used to regulate doctors but now lobbies for them on behalf of the Illinois State Medical Society. The medical society uses Cellini to manage its real estate holdings. And Grillo hired Monk to lobby with him on the doctors’ behalf.
And in case you forgot…
In the Rezko indictment, prosecutors listed Cellini as “Individual A,†alleging that he was an intermediary as Rezko and convicted political insider Stuart Levine attempted a $2 million shakedown of a businessman seeking state pension business. Cellini has not been charged in the case.
I saw Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias hanging out on a park bench near the Statehouse last week, shoes off on a beautiful day, Chicago Olympics financial report in hand.
We talked about various things, and he mentioned to me that former Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka wasn’t getting enough credit for the recent Bright Start college savings program revamp. I was planning to do a piece about that this week, but the Tribune editorial board beat me to it…
The core of the new program was negotiated by Judy Baar Topinka as she was finishing up her term as state treasurer. She allowed her successor, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, to negotiate the final details and he got some very sound improvements. They deserve credit for cooperation in a Republican-to-Democrat transition.
Giannoulias told me last week that Topinka also got the ball rolling in a major way on cleaning up the Springfield Cellini hotel mess, but that she didn’t want to take credit for it during the gubernatorial campaign because it would have brought up a sore subject.
Again, high praise for Giannoulias. He didn’t have to share credit, but he did. Class act.
Also, in case you were wondering if he was playing hooky from work, Giannoulias made it a point to say he was on his lunch break.
For whatever reason, my syndicated column hasn’t been posted yet this morning at the Southtown’s site, but I sent them an e-mail so you’ll be able to find it here later this morning. [UPDATE: The column has now been posted. Here’s the direct link.] The gist of the piece is that there are aspects of both major tax plans currently on the table that haven’t been discussed much.
First, the governor’s gross receipts tax…
The governor has claimed that his proposal is all about “tax fairness” because “fat cat” corporations are not paying their fair share of income taxes. He’s right about the corporations avoiding taxation, but a family-owned restaurant that sells a little over a million dollars worth of food every year (and there are lots of them) aren’t what you would normally think of as fat cats.
State Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) claims Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s chief of staff told him that if the state moved the minimum taxation level from $1 million to $2 million, the government would lose $450 million a year in revenue. Meeks believes that the “real” money from this proposed $6 billion tax hike will come mainly from small to medium sized businesses, not giant multinational corporations, and I’m betting he’s right.
And now, HB/SB 750, more commonly known as the “tax swap”…
Meanwhile, Meeks is supporting House Bill 750, which is almost universally described as a “tax swap.” In the past, similar legislation “swapped” a large income tax increase for large cuts in the property tax. However, almost never mentioned is that this new legislation would extend the state sales tax to all sorts of services.
The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, which also backs the Meeks bill, estimates that the revenue generated from those new service taxes would come to about $2 billion in the first year.
The idea of taxing services is fiscally sound. The service sector is where the real economic growth is, so the current state income and sales tax revenues aren’t keeping pace with the growth of the economy. But implementing such a broad tax on services has in the past proved politically difficult. Many service-oriented business have close contact with their regular customers, and they’ve been able to use those relationships to pressure state legislatures all over the country to beat back service taxes. Barbers tend to be the most outspoken, and they have extremely loyal customer bases.
In addition to barbers and beauticians, the legislation would tax services and businesses like travel agents, computer repairs, carpet cleaning services, dating services, dry cleaners, storage units, nail and skin care, consumer goods rentals, diet services, private investigation services, bail bonds, photo studios, interior designers, collection agencies, auto repairs, parking lots and garages, towing services, amusement parks, racetracks, bowling alleys, cable TV, golf courses and country clubs, fitness and recreational sports centers, sports teams, performing arts companies, miniature golf, sightseeing tours, limo services, movie theaters and more.
* Meanwhile, Copley takes a look at Gov. Blagojevich using “God” as a legislative ally.
“I’m personally offended by the governor trying to bring God into the debate of fiscal policy and taxation,” Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said Friday. […]
“Is he laying it on too thick? I think so,” state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said. “There simply is no way to know his motivation. I’m thinking it’s mostly just rhetoric, as unfortunate as it may be.”
Copley then digs up two unlikely proponents…
Muslim leader Abdul Malik Mujahid, meanwhile, said he would not object if Blagojevich had used blatantly Christian language. “I consider poverty to be a moral issue, and I also consider medical coverage to be a health-justice issue,” said Mujahid, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “People of all faiths are concerned with moral issues.” […]
Illinois atheist Rob Sherman said he has no problem with the governor’s allusions to God because Blagojevich has couched his comments as opinion, not fact. Sherman said Blagojevich’s approach is different from that of Alan Keyes, the 2004 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who recently contended that Jesus would not vote for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Blagojevich is “merely expressing what he believes God wants, rather than saying he’s God’s spokesman,” Sherman said.
The feds are investigating his fundraising, contracting and hiring practices. The state’s bills are backed up by $2 billion. Other leading Democrats are lining up at the Capitol against him.
Masses of people are clamoring for significantly more state spending on schools. ComEd and Ameren, the state’s largest electric utilities, are raising their rates exponentially. His apparent ambition to run for president was eclipsed by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, another liberal Democrat from Illinois.
On Monday, the governor’s taxpayer-paid staff continued a statewide blitz promoting his plan. They issued a news release saying it “could reverse the course of HIV/AIDS in Illinois.â€
The devil is in the details, but God is in the message.
It appears that my column in Friday’s Sun-Times might possibly have sparked a bit more coverage of the 3rd Ward aldermanic race featuring embattled incumbent Dorothy Tillman and hard-charging union-backed challenger Pat Dowell. The paper has two stories and a column today that either feature or include the race.
* Laura Washington (who I know was working on her own Tillman piece around the time my column was published)…
Senator and presidential wannabe Barack Obama is stepping into the aldermanic fray to help rescue Ald. Dorothy “The Hat” Tillman from oblivion. Tillman’s got an iron grip on every nickel that rolls into the 3rd Ward and has pulled in the backing of virtually every black big shot in the city.
Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) has made national headlines as a champion for slave reparations and sponsor of a disclosure ordinance that requires city contractors to come clean about past ties to the slave trade.
But the publicity “rings hollow” in Tillman’s South Side ward, according to Pat Dowell, who faces off against the 24-year incumbent in the April 17 runoff.
“Reparations start in your own backyard. She’s not taking care of her own backyard,” said Dowell, who got 38 percent of the vote to Tillman’s 42.9 percent in a Round One field of five Feb. 27.
* And Scott Fornek includes the contest in a broader piece that looks at union involvement in the aldermanic contests…
Based on his union’s polling and the February results, Morrison predicts at least five aldermen should start cleaning out their desks: Madeline Haithcock (2nd), Dorothy Tillman (3rd), Shirley Coleman (16th), Ted Matlak (32nd) and Bernard Stone (50th).
Tillman did not respond to requests for an interview, but the others all dismissed Morrison’s predictions — some with a thumb to the nose.
“Bring it on. Bring it on,” Coleman said. “Their money bought the first election, but it’s not going to buy this one.”
Stone said: “They can stuff their polls because everything I show is exactly the opposite.”
I’m not so sure about Stone, but the others are certainly in deep trouble.
* Back to Spielman’s story on Tillman, commenting on Pat Dowell…
“Pat is owned, bought and paid for by the unions. She’s on a mission to give this community over to the land-grabbers, and she’ll say or do anything to carry that mission out,” Tillman said, identifying one of the land-grabbers as the University of Chicago, where Dowell works.
Tillman is so far behind in the polls that she has to go nuclear negative to win this race. Expect lots more attacks like this.
* State collects $8 million in license plate renewel late fees
* Hitt: We’ll have a problem if Illinois retreats on charter schools
Chicago has already made plans to open 10 new charter campuses in the next two years. If Davis’ legislation becomes law, at least nine of those campuses will never open. Thousands of students will have to change their fall plans, and millions of dollars will have been wasted on capital development.
In Illinois, where the debate over medical malpractice reform has caused fireworks for many years, only about 12 percent of closed claims involving physicians or surgeons resulted in a payout. Of those claims, however, 17 percent generated payments of $1 million or more.
* Delaying bad news until after the election is ’so Daley’
* Austin tapped to lead Chicago City Council Black Caucus
* Son jailed in bribery scam hired as cop at water plant
“This is astounding, even by Chicago standards,” said Better Government Association President Jay Stewart. “In light of 9/11, there are genuine concerns at wastewater treatment plants. You can’t just walk onto those plants. To call this unwise would be an understatement. He has been given a second chance at the very thing he abused, and that was his public position.”
* Coffee klatches, politics sweet mix for candidates
It’s a cozy atmosphere, and that’s the point: coffee, conversation and a chance to meet local political candidates in an intimate surrounding. In Evanston and a few other Chicago suburbs, many candidates on the April 17 ballot are eschewing fancier fundraisers in favor of the coffee klatch as a way to reach voters.
* Jury hits the wall in Lake County sheriff pension scam case
