* The school voucher bill sponsored by Rep. Kevin Joyce, SB2494, has been placed on postponed consideration. A roll call vote showed the measure was 12 votes shy of the constitutional majority.
* Gov. Quinn and Sen. Brady were the keynote speakers at a luncheon for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and Illinois Retail Merchants Association today in a downtown Springfield hotel ballroom.
Quinn revealed his intention to push lawmakers to approve a sales tax holiday. The move is meant to tone down the school supplies bill parents face. The Tribune has more…
Taxpayers would get a break on paying the state’s share of the sales tax — which is 5 percent — from Aug. 6 through Aug. 15 under legislation that advanced in the House today. State sales tax would be waived for clothing, school supplies, sporting goods and computer accessories like flash drives and printers.
Quinn also said the proposed tax amnesty would likely be in the final budget package, and said he prefers public charter schools over school vouchers.
The governor also took the opportunity to take a few jabs at Brady. Though he declared himself a cheerleader for the state, Quinn said his opponent is the exact opposite. The AP reports…
Gov. Pat Quinn says his Republican challenger is “running down” the state of Illinois.
Quinn says state Sen. Bill Brady should stop criticizing Illinois’ business climate. The Chicago Democrat calls it disappointing.
Quinn says the governor should be a cheerleader for Illinois workers and the business climate, which Quinn says is strong.
The governor spent roughly 12 minutes with reporters after the luncheon. Here’s the first part of that question-answer session…
Brady struck down Quinn’s comments and fired back by calling the governor a populist for introducing the sales tax holiday instead of lowering the sales tax on a more permanent basis. Here’s some of Brady’s remarks to reporters after his speech…
1:30 a.m. I just realized the video embedded was of Gov. Quinn when I meant to post Sen. Brady. My apologies. The correct video is now posted.
* Quinn also said he would have to review Sen. Sandoval’s initiative to move the White Sox’s spring training camp out of Arizona (mentioned in today’s QOTD). Have a look…
* The Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has an answer for those who say that Illinois has a spending problem and not a revenue problem. We do, indeed, have a revenue problem…
For [the month of April], gross corporate income taxes fell $247 million, or $203 million net of refunds… Gross personal income tax receipts dropped $103 million, or $93 million net of refunds. Public utility taxes declined $37 million, corporate franchise taxes were off $7 million, interest income fell $4 million, and both vehicle use tax and other sources dipped $1 million each.
The state also saw a $345 million drop in federal sources for just this month. There were a few highlights mixed in with the lowlights…
Relatively few sources experienced gains in April. Sales tax receipts did manage to grow a decent $45 million, while insurance taxes were up $15 million. Liquor taxes as well as inheritance taxes managed to eke out $1 million in monthly gains.
And the fiscal year to date numbers are enough to make you choke…
Through April, gross personal income tax has fallen $697 million, or $629 million net of refunds. Sales tax receipts are off a disastrous $461 million, while gross corporate income tax is down $382 million, or $315 million net of refunds. Inheritance tax has declined by $51 million and public utility taxes by $84 million. All of the other revenue sources net an additional decline of $47 million.
All non-federal state revenue sources are down “a staggering $1.213 billion,” according to CoGFA. Take out the one-time transfers, and that decline grows by more than $100 million.
Also in the report, there were just 853 new single family housing permits issued in March, but that’s up almost 50 percent over a year ago. Man, talk about a crash.
* If you want a pretty good summation of where the state budget plans are right now, then you must watch this video shot today by my intern Dan Weber of House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie taking questions from the press…
The House Executive Committee [this morning] approved two versions of borrowing nearly $4 billion to make pension payments next year to state-backed systems. One would be a straight bond sale as Illinois has done in the past. The other is a more controversial plan to split the payment between a bond sale and basically issuing IOUs to the pension systems.
The latter idea would have to be approved by the Internal Revenue Service so the pension systems don’t jeopardize their tax-exempt status. The Quinn administration plans to seek that approval, but said it could take six months.
Republicans on the committee opposed both pension borrowing plans, which could be an ominous sign. At least one Republican vote is needed to approve a borrowing bill in the House. Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said if Illinois can’t borrow for pensions, another $3.7 billion will have to be found elsewhere to balance the budget. That could result in deeper cuts to programs.
The tax amnesty would allow people who owe back taxes to the state to pay up during a six-week period and avoid penalties and interest. The plan is estimated to raise $250 million. Gov. Pat Quinn last week said he wasn’t inclined to support an amnesty program. Currie said the administration supported the bill Wednesday.
* Republican state Rep. Roger Eddy explained his opposition to the school voucher plan to my intern Barton Lorimor yesterday. Eddy has been getting heat from the Tribune and others for his opposition. Eddy is a school superintendent and has received thousands of dollars in contributions from teachers unions, and that’s being used against him. Barton grilled him politely, but thoroughly. Have a look…
* Gov. Quinn and the Campaign For Better Health Care unveiled the governor’s demand that the General Assembly pass a bill to implement the new federal health insurance law. Background is here. Watch…
* The Paul Simon Institute has released more polling results from their survey of southern Illinoisans. Click the pic for a larger image…
Using a question construction that political scientists call a “feeling thermometer,” the poll asked respondents to describe their feelings toward groups or institutions on a 100-point scale, with ratings between zero and 49 representing “cool” feelings, a rating of 50 describing a “neutral” feeling, and ratings between 51 and 100 describing “warm” feelings. […]
“While our results confirm our assumptions that voters in the 18 southernmost counties of Illinois are more Republican and more conservative than voters in the rest of the state, the picture is more complicated than that,” said Charles Leonard, the visiting professor at the institute who supervised the poll.
“For example, the region has a long tradition of union membership in mining, manufacturing and the trades, and four of 10 voters here give warm ratings to unions. The average rating for unions is a relatively warm 53.3, which you might not expect in an electorate in which most partisan identifiers call themselves Republican,” he said.
According to an earlier question in the Southern Illinois Poll, 81 percent feel their area does not get its fair share of state spending. Southern Illinois voters may direct some of this resentment toward “People from Chicago,” as reflected in one question. Only 17 percent gave warm ratings to Chicagoans.
* Other breaking news…
* McPier’s Ochoa quits; top shows balk at proposed reforms, threaten to walk
* MAP college grants run dry, rejections to double
* Bill for Marion development awaits filing in Senate: Senate Bill 2093, sponsored by state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, and state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, will authorize Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds for the project as an incentive to bring major destination development businesses into the area. The project was announced Saturday, just one day after a similar deal proposed by project developer Holland Construction of Swansea was killed over arguments and disagreements in its establishment.
House Speaker Michael Madigan swayed the University of Illinois to admit the relatives of public officials, political allies and donors who contributed $115,200 to campaign funds he controls, a Tribune investigation has found.
Only five of the 28 applicants helped in three recent years by the state’s most powerful lawmaker lived in Madigan’s district, and many would not have been admitted on their own merit.
Among the beneficiaries: North Shore attorney Steven Yonover, a longtime contributor who has donated $71,800 to Madigan-related campaign funds. Three of Yonover’s relatives enrolled at the U. of I. in 2008 and 2009 after being sponsored by Madigan. The two who applied for 2009 had been wait-listed, and one had the lowest possible rating given by the admissions office.
Madigan also helped a relative of Thomas Ryan, who in 2005 was convicted of stealing more than $100,000 from the south suburban school district he oversaw. Between 2002 and 2005, Ryan gave Madigan $1,000 and was treasurer of a state school organization whose political arm gave the speaker an additional $30,000. That’s around the same time his relative vied for a spot, then enrolled in the U. of I. law school in 2004.
The Trib said it has identified 28 Madigan-backed applicants to the University of Illinois. 23 of those were accepted. However, the paper does not indicate how many families of those 28 applicants contributed campaign money. Reading the story, it looks like ten or so, but I’m not quite sure of the exact figure there. Maybe you can do better. Also, Madigan’s personal campaign committee has raised over $12.4 million since January of 2002, which appears to be the earliest year of contributions in the story. So, the U of I contris would be less than one percent of the total amount he raised in just that one fund over the years.
Still, the appearance isn’t good, and Madigan ought to quickly divest himself of those contributions.
The Illinois House has just voted to form a task force to study why bedbugs have made a comeback in the state. Yes, really. […]
No budget discussions so far. We’ll keep you posted.
If you’ve ever had bedbugs, you know what a horrific thing it can be. A buddy of mine accidentally brought some home after staying in an upscale out-of-state hotel and it was a freaking nightmare. He and his wife were basically living in one room of their house for weeks while the exterminator painstakingly killed all the little critters. The best solution is DDT, but that’s been outlawed in the US for a long time.
Also, contrary to the story, budget negotiations have been going on for weeks between the leaders and the governor.
This year Illinois will spend millions trying to attract visitors to the state — a business officials say brings in more than $30 billion a year. But critics say when the state is broke, that’s part of a failed strategy. […]
“We’re taking taxpayer money to build a statue of Lois Lane and to acquire a piece of property in Yorkville,” said John Tillman, Illinois Policy Institute. “I think it’s beyond belief and I think it should stop immediately.”
Tillman says the state shouldn’t be in the tourism business.
“This is why we have such a terrible problem in the state of Illinois…is that the people who dole out the money through the favor factory of state government or the tourism bureau think it’s their money when it’s actually the taxpayer’s money,” said Tillman.
He has a point, but all states spend money on tourism and there are legitimate, proven reasons to do so.
I often give Tillman and IPI a hard time here, but I will say this for them: At least they’re identifying problems and offering solutions, in some cases quite comprehensive solutions. I don’t always agree with them or their numbers, but I do very much appreciate the fact that they’re engaging in ways that others simply are not. For instance, today’s Peoria Journal Star editorial just whines and whines about the early adjournment without once mentioning what the hard budget choices it wants legislators to make would actually entail. Bogus.
llinois State Senator Martin A. Sandoval (D-Chicago) is urging the Chicago White Sox to move their spring training camp out of Arizona.
“I have been an avid White Sox fan all of my life and a State Senator who represents the heart of the Latino Community in Illinois,” stated Senator Sandoval. “Although I bleed ‘Sox Black’, I cannot change the color of my skin for the State of Arizona.”
The new Arizona Law requires law enforcement to question people about their immigration status and arrest individuals if law enforcement has a “reasonable suspicion” that they are in the country illegally. This law, if fully implemented, would institute and legitimize a policy of profiling that would infringe upon the civil rights of individuals and families, and would threaten the basic notion of decency, justice, and fairness which are essential elements of the American Way of Life.
“I am calling on Jerry Reinsdorf to move the team’s Spring training from Arizona altogether unless and until Arizona modifies or repeals this terrible law. The White Sox are a tenant of the Illinois Sports Facility Authority that owns U.S. Cellular Field,” said Senator Sandoval. “I believe the team has a special partnership with the State of Illinois and expect Mr. Reinsdorf to excise leadership commensurate with that special relationship.”
The State of Illinois contributes an annual subsidy of $5 million to the Illinois Sports Facility Authority. In these very difficult budget times, it does not seem prudent to continue to spend very scarce taxpayers dollars on behalf of an organization that chooses to continue to invest in the State of Arizona.
* The Question: Do you agree with Sen. Sandoval or not? Explain fully, please.
* As subscribers have known for well over a week, the governor isn’t having much luck convincing Democratic leaders to go along with this health insurance plan…
Two hundred million dollars in federal funding is available to help provide health insurance for uninsured Illinois residents. But before the state can tap into those funds lawmakers must first pass reform legislation. Governor Pat Quinn called on lawmakers to do that before they adjourn.
The pending bill would provide a new coverage for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions. The legislation would also create a health insurance bill of rights, which calls for guaranteed coverage for children with pre-existing conditions, guaranteed access to OBGYN services for women and it would require insurance companies to cover free wellness an prevention benefits.
The worry, as always, is what a vote for this could do to targeted Democrats in conservative districts in a bad Democratic year. There’s little chance of finding GOP support, so the Dems would have to go it alone, and they are not willing.
The first bill allows the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan to form an expanded high-risk pool with approximately $200 million in federal funds that will be made available this summer. The high-risk pool will provide affordable coverage for uninsured persons with pre-existing conditions and is required under the federal health insurance reforms.
The second bill creates the Health Insurance Consumer’s Bill of Rights. That bill will:
* Guarantee coverage for children with pre-existing conditions;
* Guarantee residents the ability to have health insurance rescissions reviewed by the state – the same protection available now for home and automotive insurance policyholders;
* Guarantee women’s access to obstetrical and gynecological care;
* Ensure that all dependents under the age of 26 are eligible to remain covered under a parent’s plan;
* Require insurance companies to cover wellness and prevention benefits such as immunizations and screenings at no cost to the policyholder;
* Require health insurers to publicly disclose important information about premiums, health care costs, enrollment and claims information.
Harris said that even though there would be some support for the idea of health insurance reform, there doesn’t appear to be any room for it on the legislative agenda.
“We’ve got a couple days left of the scheduled session in which we have to pass a state budget, deal with a $13 billion revenue shortfall, relieve [home] owners of undue burdens in the county of Cook, reform McCormick Place so that it can continue to bring billions of dollars of revenue to the state, possibly deal with school vouchers, and a couple of other small odds and ends. So I don’t know what the timing of this is going to be.”
* Speaking of last-minute snafus, the cigarette tax hike is short in the House…
“Last I looked, we were a handful of votes short,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.
Lawmakers representing border districts say higher tobacco taxes would push local citizens to neighboring states to purchase cheaper smokes.
“Some people from Illinois go over there already,” said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg. “If you do another cigarette tax increase, they will definitely go over there.”
Phelps’ district borders Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri, all of which have a cigarette tax rate under $1. With a $1 cigarette tax increase, Illinois’ rate would be $1.98.
Illinois would also be among the top 15 states in the nation for highest cigarette tax rate. Iowa has a rate of $1.36, for instance, which borders state Rep. Pat Verschoore’s district.
People sometimes forget how long our borders are. There are a lot of people who live close to another state here. That’s one reason why tax hikes are difficult to pass, particularly stuff like this. Send ‘em to Indiana for their cigarettes, and they may end up buying groceries and gas there as well, or even more.
[GOP State Sen. Dave Syverson] predicts that the governor will need to borrow from $5 billion to $6 billion in addition to skipping the scheduled $3.7 billion pension payment. “It’s being called a pension holiday, but in reality it’s a pension raid,” Syverson said. Illinois’ long-term pension liability is $85 billion, worse than any other state.
Syverson said Quinn just isn’t serious about economizing, noting that “while he proposes $50 million in cuts to mental health programs, the Department of Mental Health budget features $55 million in raises for department employees, and 1,000 employees are getting over 10 percent raises.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are preparing to stave off 465 State Police layoffs. Tuesday, the House passed a Senate bill raising certain court fees to come up with about $22 million to keep the cops on the force.
Suburban lawmakers questioned the motivation behind Gov. Pat Quinn’s last-ditch effort to revive a soon-to-expire property tax break for Cook County homeowners even as they embraced keeping the program in place.
“Is there some political motivation to it? Probably,” said state Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican. “Otherwise, I think we would have maybe seen it a little earlier.”
Quinn called for extending a tax exemption worth up to $20,000 for homeowners. His Sunday announcement came as lawmakers prepared to head back to the Capitol to finish up their final week of session. Extending the exemption wasn’t part of Quinn’s budget plan and has no effect on the state’s bottom line.
But with a $13 billion deficit likely to go unresolved, the state’s budget picture getting worse seemingly by the day, and plenty of voter disdain for proposed tax increases, lawmakers and Quinn are eager to embrace popular programs as they prepare for campaign season.
Downstate is the problem there, as always. I don’t think they have the votes right now. We’ll see.
Free rides for senior citizens on buses and trains would be scaled back significantly and transit systems throughout Illinois would net millions dollars under a new plan approved with bipartisan support in a Senate panel today. […]
“Today, we’re going to correct the Blagojevich mistake,” declared Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago. Sandoval forged the bill with a key co-sponsor, Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-Chicago, who long has fought to keep the free rides for all seniors in place. After beating back prior efforts to ditch the program, Hendon embraced this new proposal because it eliminated only a portion of the free rides. [Emphasis added to show why this has legs.]
* The Tribune once again insists that legislators must change current pension plans and finds a previously unreported nugget…
We’ve written twice recently on the legality of reducing pension benefits that current state employees earn going forward. Legislative leaders who pretend that isn’t possible had better hustle up their own remedy, and fast: Joshua Rauh, a public finance expert at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School, calculates that Illinois’ pension plans could run out of money as early as … 2018.
You can see that analysis by clicking here. I’m not sure yet if it’s totally accurate, but it’s definitely scary whatever the case.
* Related and a roundup…
* Developers up ante in Illinois project: Developers who want to put a tax-backed destination and retail development in Marion are sweetening the pot with an offer of money for area schools, in hopes of avoiding the kind of opposition that drove them out of Glen Carbon.
* Now it’s up to Quinn: The hard work, after all, was done by some dedicated lawmakers and school officials who believed the time had come to abolish the disgraced and useless Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education - then went out and made it happen.
* Lawmakers shoot down measure to classify tire burning as renewable energy
With Illinois struggling for cash, ComEd is offering half a billion bucks to lawmakers, but the trade-off could be higher electric bills for customers.
The Chicago-area utility giant offered Tuesday to give the state $500 million. That could help offset education cuts and a plethora of other funding shortfalls in a budget carrying a $13 billion deficit. And it comes as lawmakers scramble for budget Band-Aids with a scheduled May 7 adjournment rapidly approaching.
In return, the power company wants a rate increase locked in for four years by state law. […]
“You don’t jump into a swimming pool unless there’s water there,” Quinn said. “You’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention.”
The benefits Exelon and ComEd would get would dwarf what they’re offering.
Chief among them would be enshrining in law a minimum 10.3% return on equity for the utility and automatically increasing customers’ rates when profits fall short of that mark. […]
Under the proposed law, a rate freeze would remain in effect until June 2014. After that, the ICC would be largely removed from assessing the need for future rate hikes. And rates would likely climb since future investment in infrastructure would necessitate higher revenues to meet return targets. Such increases would not affect residential and small-business bills until after the rate freeze expires.
ComEd rates are expected to rise 8% in June, to about 12.2 cents per kilowatt-hour from 11.3 cents. ComEd wants to lock that price in for the next four years. Absent an unexpected reversal in today’s low power prices, it is significantly above what ratepayers likely would pay through much of that period.
The idea is a last-minute addition as lawmakers look for an easy way to get free money to help close a massive budget deficit and escape Springfield by Friday to begin their re-election campaigns. To some leading lawmakers, ComEd’s proposal is as politically unpalatable as voting for an income tax increase because it would lead to Chicago-area customers paying more for electricity.
If I was ComEd and Exelon, I might try to quietly derail the budget-making process to boost my chances. I’m not saying they’ll do it, I’m just saying.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 1 *** A rival utility is getting into the act. From a press release…
BlueStar Energy Solutions, an energy solutions company based in Chicago, today announced that it is offering Illinois residential consumers the ability to switch electricity suppliers to their residential service to avoid a proposed ComEd energy tax proposal.
BlueStar Energy is offering consumers a 12-month contract at an estimated 8% discount off ComEd’s current rate. Consumers will have the choice to go green for less too. BlueStar will offer 100% Renewable American Energy at an estimated 3% discount off ComEd’s current rate. […]
BlueStar is entering into the Illinois residential marketplace with a groundbreaking new approach: offering customers not only a choice in who provides their electricity – but also a choice in the type of power they wish to use. “Traditional energy or Renewable American Energy, customers will save with us either way,” said Morgan.
“It is my job to protect utility customers from excessive rates. I will not support any proposal that forces ratepayers to pay more than they should for electricity. That’s why I fought to eliminate the reverse auction that resulted in consumers overpaying for electricity in 2007. This is just another effort to lock in unjustified profits. I strongly oppose allowing ComEd to use the State’s financial crisis to try to increase their profits by asking ratepayers to pick up the tab.”
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Taylorville means jobs
• Nearly 10 million labor hours needed to build plant - resulting in almost 2,500 construction jobs at peak
• Hundreds of permanent plant and mining jobs
• Billions of private dollars injected into Illinois economy
Taylorville protects ratepayers
• Residential and small business customer rate impact capped at 2.015%
• No cost to ratepayers before 2015, when TEC comes online
• Increasing supply of “base load” power will hold down future prices
Taylorville safeguards the environment
• Emissions comparable to natural gas generation
• Net reduction of nearly 2 million tons of CO2 annually
• Dry cooling design cuts water needed by 70% - no fresh water used for cooling
U of I / Illinois Chamber of Commerce study shows clean coal economic “Ripple Effect”
• “Clean coal development produces significant energy, jobs, economic development and significant, long-term positive economic impact on the state”
• Taylorville and similar projects can boost central and southern Illinois economy
Taylorville supported by broad coalition including
• AFL-CIO
• American Lung Association of Illinois
• Citizens Utility Board (CUB)
• Clean Air Task Force
• Illinois Coal Association
