…every operator and passenger under the age of 18 on a motorcycle, motor driven cycle, or motorized pedalcycle to wear a helmet that meets federal safety standards and is properly fastened under the person’s chin with a chin strap.
Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton), an avid motorcyclist rights defender, staunchly opposed the bill…
“I don’t want anybody in this audience telling me how to raise my kids.”
Sen. Bill Brady voted “No.” One wonders if we might hear something from the governor’s campaign operation (such as it is) soon.
* In other news that could relate to the campaign, I think we’ve pretty much known this all along, but it’s now been confirmed…
The Obama administration plans to buy a state prison in rural Thomson, Ill. regardless of whether Congress allows terrorist suspects to be transferred there, a Department of Justice official said today.
In a letter to a member of the Illinois delegation to Congress, Asst. Atty. Gen. Ronald Weich spelled out the administration’s intent to go ahead with plans to buy the near-empty Thomson prison, even if lawmakers refuse to approve it as a new home for detainees at the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
At the very least, Weich said, the federal Bureau of Prisons intends to use the facility for high-security federal inmates. The letter comes in response to questions from Rep. Donald Manzullo, the Republican who represents the area in Congress.
When he was lieutenant governor, Gov. Pat Quinn supported a beverage container deposit bill that would have imposed a 5-cent deposit on wine, alcoholic liquor and beer containers, along with bottles and cans holding soft drinks, tea, coffee, juice and water.
His argument was that such containers constitute 40 percent or more of roadside trash, largely because people drink bottled and canned beverages while away from home and are careless with their disposal.
With 8 billion beverage containers sold in Illinois in 2002, according to Quinn, a bottle bill could keep a lot more of them from winding up as environmental eyesores. He noted that states with such bills report a reduction of nearly three-fourths of beverage container litter. […]
Bottle bills are not without their critics. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association and other groups believe such laws are a burden to businesses and consumers, and they don’t like the fact that people would be returning dirty bottles and cans to grocery and convenience stores, which could introduce bugs and contamination and make it harder to pass health department inspections.
* The Question: Should the state pass a bill requiring a 5-cent deposit on bottles and cans? Explain.
The decision will be watched closely by hospitals and policymakers nationally, following years of debate over how best to quantify the charity care that non-profit medical providers dole out in exchange for tax exemptions.
It’s the most notable case nationally in the past two decades of a hospital losing its tax-exempt status over questions of its charitable commitment, says Elizabeth Mills, an attorney at Proskauer Rose LLP in Chicago who specializes in tax exemptions for health care organizations.
“Everywhere I go in the country, people ask me about the Provena case,” she says.
The case goes back to 2003, when Champaign County tax officials stripped the hospital of its exemption. Officials cited the 210-bed hospital’s $831,724 spent on “charitable activities” a year earlier, saying it fell short of the medical center’s $1.1 million in property taxes. The state’s Department of Revenue upheld that decision.
* The court ruled that Provena could not apply for a not-for-profit exemption from property taxes for a few reasons. Here’s one…
[The hospital’s income is] not derived mainly from private and public charity and held in trust for the purposes expressed in the charter. They are generated, overwhelmingly, by providing medicalservices for a fee.
Provena Hospitals likewise failed to show by clear and
convincing evidence that it satisfied factors three or five, namely, that it dispensed charity to all who needed it and applied for it and did not appear to place any obstacles in the way of those who needed and would have availed themselves of the charitable benefits it dispenses. […]
When the law says that property must be “exclusively used” for charitable or beneficent purposes, it means that charitable or beneficent purposes are the primary ones for which the property is utilized. […]
Further undermining Provena Hospitals’ claims of charity is that
even where it did offer discounted charges, the charity was often
illusory. As described earlier in this opinion, uninsured patients were charged PCMC’s “established” rates, which were more than double the actual costs of care. When patients were granted discounts at the 25% and 50% levels, the hospital was therefore still able to generate a surplus.
Provena also asked for a religious exemption. That, too, was denied…
To qualify for an exemption under that statute, the property in question must be used exclusively for religious purposes. There is no all-inclusive definition of religious purpose for tax cases. […]
If Provena Hospitals’ argument were valid, it would mean that the church rather than the judiciary is the ultimate arbiter of when and under what circumstances church property is exempt from taxation under the constitution and statutes of the State of Illinois.
The Illinois Hospital Association responds…
The Illinois Hospital Association is extremely disappointed by the court’s decision, which could do great harm to a hospital and its ability to serve its patients and community. Imposing new tax burdens on a hospital could force it to reduce services and increase health care costs – jeopardizing access to quality hospital services as well as the hospital’s financial viability.
* Congressman Mark Kirk said far more at that event earlier this week than previously reported.
As we’ve already discussed, media coverage has mostly focused on Kirk’s referring to President Obama as “this guy” when talking about how Obama could be made a one-termer and then his health insurance reform bill could be repealed…
“This is a good example of why Washington is broken. You have Congressmen like Mark Kirk who are more interested in disrespectful name calling than in going to work in Washington and getting things done like passing financial reform and healthcare reform.”
But as I wrote yesterday, the substance of his remarks are probably more important. Kirk began his presentation thusly…
“I’m Mark Kirk and I can’t wait to vote against the health care bill next week.”
That got some loud applause.
And he summed up this way…
“As your senator, I would lead the effort to repeal this bill.”
In between came the rationale…
“I will just say, if it goes through, there is one thing about the bill not commonly known, all of the pain of the bill is upfront, and all of the gain is later. The bill includes ten new federal taxes, and dramatic cuts for senior healthcare under Medicare between 2010 and 2014. The actual benefit of the bill doesn’t start until 2014.
“In between this time and then, is a presidential election. If we can win in the White House, and we’re on the way to making this guy a one termer.
“If we move to repeal this bill in 2013, all you’re doing is removing the pain and not a single American would have benefited from it yet.”
“As for health insurance reform, people across Illinois and the country will have greater security this year, once the President signs this law.
“Small businesses will receive tax credits to help them afford health coverage for their workers.
“People with pre-existing conditions will finally have access to coverage they can afford.
“The lifetime caps on coverage that insurance companies impose today will be banned, and they will no longer be allowed to throw people off their coverage, just because they become seriously ill.
“The gaps in Medicare prescription coverage will be filled in, saving seniors across our state hundreds of dollars our of pocket.
“So if Congressman Kirk wants to travel our state and explain why he wants to take all that away and put insurance company bureaucrats back in the driver’s seat, he should.
“It may titilate a roomful of partisans, but I don’t think it’s going to impress the people of Illinois,” Axelrod said.
* Kirk also provided yet another explanation for why he flip-flopped on the cap and trade issue…
“I am against the cap and trade bill because I am for increased employment in the state of Illinois.”
In the past, Kirk used national security and cost as reasons for voting for the bill…
Kirk was the only member of the GOP’s Midwest delegation to vote for the bill. He told the Daily Herald he backed the plan because he wants the U.S. to end its reliance on foreign oil, especially the fuel produced in unfriendly nations such as Iran.
“They are arming against us with money we send them,” Kirk said. “We (must) defund the terrorists and the unstable regimes.”
Kirk also said he discussed the proposal with officials from Midwest Generation, which operates a coal-burning power plant in Waukegan. To his surprise, they supported the legislation.
The energy- and building-code regulations included in the bill actually are less stringent than those already in place in Illinois, Kirk said.
But when he decided to run for Senate, he got such an earful that he changed his mind and came up with this excuse…
“I voted for it because it was in the narrow interest of my Congressional district. But as your representative… representing the entire state of Illinois, I would vote no on that bill coming up.”
Kirk also addressed the “flip-flop” charge the other day…
“If you’re going to change your view on an issue, do it up-front, do it in public, do it on YouTube.”
The problem with Kirk’s “openness” comment is that Kirk rarely allows reporters to cover his events. The YouTube video of the first instance of Kirk’s flip-flop was taken by somebody who fed it to the national Democrats. Reporters weren’t invited to the event. Lynn Sweet…
Kirk’s staffers refuse to release Kirk’s campaign or governmental schedules in order to discourage routine press coverage, so remarks Kirk makes on the stump are rare. During the primary campaign Kirk’s political operation declined–even after the fact–to release any details of where he went to speak or raise money.
You can listen to the full cap and trade Kirk audio by clicking here.
* In reply to all of this, Kirk is trying to change the subject back to Alexi Giannoulias. From a press release…
Online clock will track how long it takes Alexi Giannoulias to explain $1.2 million loan to Nick Giannis in 2002 despite criminal record;
Giannis arrested last week for bank fraud, contributed nearly $115,000 to Giannoulias campaigns, convicted on gun charge in 1996
* Related…
* Obama Skirts Illinois Visits So Far as Democrats Battle Scandal: “He is going to get tarred with the outcome in Illinois whether he comes here or not,” [David Yepsen] said. “It is going to be portrayed as a referendum on him.”
* There’s talk of bankruptcy in East St. Louis. With property tax revenues down and gaming proceeds from the local riverboat tanking, the city is facing a $5 million budget shortfall and is having a rough time meeting its payroll…
Two councilmen said the city may be looking at filing for bankruptcy after the fire and police pension boards rejected the city’s request to borrow about $1.5 million from the two boards, and the bargaining units within the police and fire departments are crying foul over contract violations. […]
“Our backs are against the wall,” [Councilmen Roy Mosley] said. “The police bargaining unit doesn’t want to negotiate with us. The firemen have worked with us and I thank them for doing that. We can’t pay what we don’t have. We’re not trying to take any money from anybody. We just don’t have any money to pay the union contracts that were negotiated when the city had money, and that’s the bottom line.”
Mosley said the city has had to pay out large chunks of money in lawsuits to, and because of, several police officers. […]
He said, however, that “Eighty percent of the city’s budget is the police and fire departments.”
Marion also said, “If you cut everybody out of the budget, it wouldn’t be nearly enough to close the $5 million budget gap the city has.”
I’ll have more on New Jersey’s budget situation next week because I just haven’t had much time to study it, but one of the proposals by the state’s new governor is to forbid all local governments from getting in over their heads by limiting their lee-way in future contract negotiations…
[Gov. Chris Christie] also is calling for new handcuffs on towns and school districts as they bargain with unions, to prohibit towns from awarding contracts with pay increases, including benefits, of more than 2.5 percent.
One seriously doubts that’ll happen here, and it probably won’t even happen in New Jersey. Still, it’s an idea that I don’t ever remember seeing before.
* Gov. Christie mentioned Illinois in his budget address, by the way. After I wrote a column about Christie, I ended up (temporarily, at least) on his press release list, so somebody out there apparently saw it. Here’s what Christie said in his address…
…Many of our fellow states are resorting to the techniques and tricks that have gotten New Jersey into so much trouble in the past.
In Illinois, they are raising income taxes and increasing borrowing to solve this problem. Sound familiar? Like New Jersey, they will see taxpayers leave and revenues fall. We have already been there and feel the sting of that failed policy today.
* As I reported to subscribersyesterday, the House Republicans submitted a long list of budget ideas to Gov. Quinn this week. The Southtown Star does a story today..
House Republican lawmakers have sent Gov. Pat Quinn recommendations on how state government might look to cut spending in the state’s current financial crisis.
The four-page letter, signed by 46 House Republicans, urges Quinn to look at fiscal reforms, Medicaid changes and job creation.
While there’s not an exact dollar amount specified in terms of proposed savings, the letter identifies how more than $5.3 billion could be used differently.
Sounds like a lot of money, right? There’s a big catch…
House GOP lawmakers proposed, among other things, that Quinn look to eliminate General Assembly scholarships, abolish the lieutenant governor’s office, impose a freeze on state hiring and salary increases and redirect $5 billion earmarked for capital projects for operations.
As I’ve already told subscribers, redirecting $5 billion of the capital plan to state operations simply cannot be done with the current revenue situation. Plus, lots of members didn’t even know that item was on the list. Oops.
OK, so now they’re down to about $300 million in savings. Much of that comes from postponing funding for high-speed rail.
Illinois Issues Statehouse bureau chief Jamey Dunn has a partial list over at Illinoize. Some of the ideas aren’t bad at all, but this is no real solution.
* Since the top item on this post deals with unions, let’s throw this one in here. As our videos showed yesterday, Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady was bashed on the union issue…
Speaking at a gathering of the Illinois Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Quinn told the pro-union crowd that Brady owned a construction company that only hired non-union workers, and Madigan said the Republican senator from Bloomington would work “to spread that gospel all over the state of Illinois.”
“We’re not going to have a middle class if we allow a lot of anti-labor, anti-union operators to get in politics and tear to shreds fundamental things we all agree on,” Quinn said. “He doesn’t believe in the minimum wage. He wants to abolish it.”
Jerry Clarke, campaign manager for Brady, issued a statement in response: “We’re not going to have a middle class if we continue the job-killing policies and insider politics of the Blagojevich-Quinn administration.”
* Related…
* A first step in cutting pensions: Finally, a bill to create a two-tier state pension system isn’t dead on arrival in the state Legislature. On Wednesday, a bill to provide significantly lower benefits for newly hired employees in two of five state pension systems, the ones covering legislators and judges, passed a House committee. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, expects the bill to pass the full House this week. No other major pension reform bill has gotten that far in the last two years.
* Con-fer-ence: An excuse to spend lavishly?: Southland school administrators and board members - many who are running financially strapped districts - dropped a bundle on meals, hotels and travel to an annual fall conference they insist makes them better leaders. Their big destination: downtown Chicago.
* Sneed: Dart, who is no stranger to controversy, is going to force inmates to wash their own prison uniforms . . . and eat breakfast at 4:30 a.m.!
* Dispute over Downstate horse track leads House to oust board
District officials admitted Wednesday that in the past, the highly competitive schools have let in students who didn’t even go through the normal application process, and there was no district oversight.
Now, principal picks will be reviewed by CPS and an outside auditor.
The affordable-housing program that subsidized the cost of the house’s land required she live in the home for at least four years.
Graham said she was unaware of that requirement until she was asked about it Wednesday morning. Later in the day, she agreed to reimburse the city for a portion of the subsidy, as required under the program when someone moves out too soon.
* Trade show organizers meet with McCormick Place’s labor leaders
A representative from the National Restaurant Assn. told the Tribune that the meeting included a “hodgepodge” of McCormick Place clients and was a chance for labor leaders to hear directly from customers.
The trial of Governor Rod Blagojevich will begin June 3, U.S. District Judge James Zagel decided Wednesday, turning down a request for a delay from Blagojevich’s attorneys.
Attorneys for Blagojevich had asked to push back his corruption trial to November.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel said the trial should go forward as planned on June 3. He called a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision that could redefine a statute that some of Blagojevich’s charges are based on a “red herring.’’
“I don’t see any reason to continue this case,’’ Zagel said. “This is more than a year to acquaint yourselves with the evidence.’’
One can’t help but wonder if he filed the motion to gin up publicity for his TV show. Usually, I’d never assume something like that, but this is Rod Blagojevich, after all.
* He didn’t really say a lot, but it’s rare to post video of a full speech by House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Madigan spoke to the IBEW this morning. He talked about the budget, the upcoming campaign and Sen. Bill Brady, among other things. Have a look…
* Gov. Quinn was also at the event, and answered questions from the press afterwards. He talked about several topics, including Sen. Brady’s refusal to detail his own budget plans. Have a gander…
Quinn backed off of his previous suggestion that lawmakers skip their upcoming break and stay in Springfield to work on his budget plan.
“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary,” Quinn told Daily Herald reporter Tim Magaw and others covering the meeting.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Quinn’s speech to the union was peppered with slams on Sen. Brady and the Illinois Policy Institute’s budget proposal.
The governor noted that Brady wanted to abolish the minimum wage, opposed unions, and then predicted a “rough, hard tough battle” against him.
Quinn vowed a fight…
“I’m not a shrinking violet. I’ve been around awhile. I’ve been knocked down, just like folks I’m sure in your union have been knocked down. But I always get up. And that’s what we have to do in Illinois. We have to get up and fight.”
The governor also spoke about AT&T’s plan to rewrite the Telecommunications Act. He pledged to make sure that the IBEW was at the bargaining table and claimed that AT&T had made promises in the past that didn’t turn out to be true. Here’s Part One…
* Senate President John Cullerton also spoke to the union and answered a couple of questions from reporters. He talked about the governor’s suggestion that the General Assembly stick around through spring break if necessary to vote on his tax hike. He also talked briefly about the lt. governor situation. Watch…
* Remember back in February when the Champaign city council rejected a federal grant to fight underage drinking?
Ald. Tom Bruno questioned “the morality of accepting federal grant money for local purposes.” Mayor Jerry Schweighart said he wasn’t even sure if the city should accept a large federal broadband grant…
“We should be careful in accepting this [underage drinking] grant in a small amount or a large amount like $30 million that’s coming down the pipe.”
Well, the vote on that broadband grant was yesterday. And, guess what? The city council now loves them some federal cash…
Look out, Comcast. The city of Champaign says it’s ready to get into the broadband business.
In an anticipated vote, the Champaign City Council voted 7-1 to accept a $22.5 million federal grant to lay the infrastructure for a high-speed Internet network. The only dissenting vote came from Mayor Jerry Schweighart.
The last time I wrote about this, several commenters speculated that the city council was just using the “morality” of accepting federal grants to not so subtly cover for bar owners who serve a lot of U of I students.
Looks like they may have been right.
* Meanwhile, some folks in comments this week have questioned the legality of the release of video footage of Sen. Dan Duffy’s two red-light camera violations.
The footage was obtained through the state’s Freedom of Information Act, but now Schaumburg, which released the vids, is having second thoughts…
A Schaumburg attorney said the request for the videos was reviewed, nothing was found in the Freedom of Information Act to exempt the information, so it was turned over. However, upon further review of the red-light laws, assistant village attorney Rita Elsner, said Tuesday the policy would change.
“We will be updating our rules to make sure no others are released,” Elsner said.
Gov. Pat Quinn plans to sign legislation Wednesday to push Illinois’ primary election back to March. The 2 p.m. signing in the governor’s Capitol office ends the state’s experiment with a February primary after just two elections.
Gov. Quinn is remaining hush-hush about his choice for lieutenant governor this time — now that veterans chief/close friend Tammy Duckworth turned him down.
• Tipsville: But Sneed hears rumbles White House pressure is being put on Quinn, who favors a female sidekick, to select populist/Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool for the job.
• The mix: “Pat and Claypool have been joined at the hip for 30 years; Forrest was Quinn’s deputy when he was state treasurer,” said a top Dem source.
• The hitch: Would powerful state Dem party chief Mike Madigan want Claypool for the job?
Gov. Pat Quinn’s suggestion that lawmakers should vote on his proposed income tax increase before taking any breaks, including a two-week holiday this month, is “under review” by legislative leaders, House Speaker Michael Madigan said today.
“Our thought was that maybe Governor Quinn could use a nice break,” Madigan said after his proposed constitutional amendment requiring Illinois judges to be licensed attorneys for specified periods cleared its first step today. […]
But when asked how many lawmakers would have the same courage and vote in favor of the one percentage-point increase, Madigan only replied “We’ll find out.”
Yes, we will.
* Quote of the day goes to Gov. Quinn, talking about his proposed tax hike…
“For those who say we’re bluffing, where’s the billion dollars coming from? It’s not gonna come from heaven. We’ve got to find ways to replace that revenue,” said Quinn.
* And the SJ-R appeared to walk back an editorial from earlier this week blasting CMS for approving the Dept. of Aging’s expensive office consolidation. Here’s what they said Sunday…
So forgive us if we don’t take CMS at its word that spending $532,000 a year rather than staying at a state-owned building will be better for taxpayers. All we see is money being spent in a year when thousands of teachers may get pink slips because of state budget troubles. It’s going to be a while before we can treat the word “efficiency” as something other than a euphemism.
…we urge restraint for those inclined to get political mileage out of this incident. Taken to its extreme, the DOA lease deal is made-to-order ammunition for those who believe Illinois can climb out of its fiscal hole without any more money coming in. Thus far, Sen. Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, is using this extreme as the foundation of his campaign.
To that camp, we offer this math lesson: Illinois needs to find $13 billion. There are 1,000 millions in a billion. Therefore, it will take roughly 24,000 Department on Aging lease deals to close the gap.
* Governor can balance budget in three years, conservative panel says: And the group proposed abolishing the Illinois Arts Alliance — headed by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s wife, Shirley. That would save $7.6 million.
* Think tank proposes no-tax increase budget: “If (DCEO) was good at creating jobs, this state wouldn’t rank 48th out of 50 states in creating jobs over the last 10 years,” he said at a Statehouse press conference. “So it’s failing, and on that measure alone we think it should be eliminated.”
* Ag Supporters: Don’t Cut Funding: “The budget is six-tenths of one percent that goes to ag spending and ag programs. When they talk about across-the-board cuts, we’ve already (given) our share,” he said.
* Mental health service providers on Quinn’s chopping block
* Jeffrey Gomer: Illinois’ tax burden not that bad
* Unexpected vote leads to massive pay cut in East St. Louis
* Thomson prison sale inches forward: Documents released Tuesday show the administration wants to award a $30,000, no-bid contract to a Carroll County appraisal service as part of the price-setting process for the mostly dormant facility….In addition to ordering the appraisal, the Quinn administration earlier sent a letter to the 80 workers who oversee inmates at a minimum-security work camp at the prison. That letter shows that the state plans to close the facility by April 30.
Appearing before a Republican audience in the Chicago suburbs Friday, Rep. Mark Kirk, the GOP nominee for Senate, sought to rally the partisan crowd with language about President Obama that may not sit well with some Illinois voters.
“We are on the way to making this guy a one-termer,” Kirk said of Obama at a Republican dinner in Winnetka, according to audio obtained by POLITICO. The congressman was speaking in the context of how, with a Republican president, the GOP may be able to repeal healthcare legislation before much it goes into effect.
Aside from calling the president “this guy,” Kirk’s prediction of an Obama re-election defeat in 2012 puts him out of step with how most residents of the state feel about their own president.
“This guy?” “One-termer?” Dumb — even if the context of the remark was that a Republican president might be able to repeal Obama care and other things before they’re in effect long.
Rasmussen’s latest poll had Obama with a 56 percent job approval rating - far above where Rasmussen has the rest of the country.
And it’s not just Kirk’s language, it’s what he was saying. Repealing the healthcare legislation before it’s enacted is fine with the base, but just over half of Illinoisans told Rasmussen recently that they support the plan. Again, well above support levels Rasmussen reports for the rest of the nation.
* Both US Senate candidates issued press releases in the past twelve hours or so. From Alexi Giannoulias…
“We saw [yesterday] yet another disturbing sign that we have a long, hard road ahead of us when it comes to our economic recovery. People are really hurting right now, and with Illinois’ unemployment rate above 12 percent, we can’t afford to look to the broken economic policies of the past. It’s clear that we need a fresh voice in the Senate who will work for Illinois’ families and support policies that will create new, good jobs and help our businesses grow. I’m the only candidate in this race to put forward a comprehensive economic plan that would create jobs and get our economy growing again.”
Kirk…
The Kirk for Senate campaign today urged Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias to answer questions regarding a $1.2 million loan made to Nick Giannis, the Giannoulias campaign supporter arrested last week on bank fraud charges. The campaign also renewed its 12-day old request that Giannoulias and Broadway Bank release all documents related to loans and credit extended to organized crime figure Michael “Jaws” Giorango.
That’s pretty much how this campaign is gonna go.
…Adding… From the Giannoulias campaign…
“I was disappointed in Republican Congressman Mark Kirk’s disrespectful remarks referring to our commander-in-chief as ‘this guy’ and gleefully admitting he is working with Republicans to obstruct meaningful reform. He should apologize and get to work immediately with our President to tackle the enormous challenges we face. Illinois voters have a clear choice in this campaign: while President Obama and I will fight hard to move this country forward, Mark Kirk is just another typical Washington insider who would clearly rather stand with the corporate special interests and obstruct progress than get things done.”
* AIP endorses Joe Bell of Illinois for the United States Senate: America’s Independent Party affiliates, in Illinois and across America, enthusiastically endorse the 2010 candidacy of Independent Joe Bell for the United States Senate from the great State of Illinois!
