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SJR: Illinois should take clean-coal lead

Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

On November 28, the State Journal Register editorialized in support of Tenaska’s Taylorville Energy Center, Illinois should take clean-coal lead. Below are key excerpts:

“As the Tenaska foes’ hyperbole has escalated in recent months, however, so has our skepticism of the critics and the STOP Coalition’s underlying purpose. At the heart of the opposition is Exelon Corp., the Chicago-based power-generating and distribution conglomerate. As old coal plants shut down and power gets more scarce, Exelon — operator of nuclear plants — stands to benefit.”

“Passage of the bill by the General Assembly would allow construction on the plant to begin. Its failure, we believe, would strike a fatal blow not just for the Taylorville plant, but for any potential future development of clean-coal technology in this state. If Tenaska’s effort fails, we can’t imagine any clean-coal company attempting to do business in Illinois.”

“As lawmakers debate this bill, we urge them to keep that in mind.”

“They also must remember that every figure quoted by opponents of Tenaska is a worst-of-the-worst-case scenario…It also assumes power won’t get more expensive as new environmental laws force old coal plants to shut down…”

The Taylorville Project last week agreed to absorb two-thirds of the cost of capital cost overruns and two-thirds of the cost of carbon sequestration cost overruns — meaning these costs, if incurred, can’t be passed along to customers.

“We hope lawmakers see through the hyperbolic spin against this project and vote to bring jobs to central Illinois and put Illinois among the leaders in clean-coal technology.”

Learn the facts! Cleancoalillinois.com

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Money, money, money, money… Money

Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The last time a Chicago casino was on the table, some labor leaders were quietly hoping that the city could buy the Congress Hotel - which has been the subject of a strike since 2003 - gut it, and turn it into a classy Michigan Ave. venue with union employees.

In that same tradition of using a casino to solve a vexing, long-term problem, the CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber wants a new city casino to be located on the city’s Block 37…

Several years after a retail mall opened on the site, much of the building is still vacant.

Leaders of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce claim it’s the best possible location for a proposed new downtown casino.

“I want it to go in a location that will take advantage of our restaurants, our hotels, Macy’s,” said Gerald Roper, Chamber of Commerce CEO. “This is the type of amenity we need to have: an entertainment/casino to continue to attract people to our city, to keep people here more than one day, more than two days.”

Roper said a casino might draw other attractions to State Street, including perhaps a branch of London’s famed Harrod’s department store. And the old Carson Pirie Scott store that’s been vacant for several years might host a Chicago-based company of Cirque du Soleil.

Roper said a Chicago-based casino could create 17,000 new jobs.

* Speaking of money, for once the state isn’t the sole deadbeat behind a local school district’s woes…

With Jan. 1 less than a month away, finance officials in Elgin Area School District U-46 are unsure whether the district has enough cash to last through New Year’s Day.

To ensure the district can cover a $34 million debt payment due Jan. 1, the U-46 school board on Monday authorized issuing up to $30 million in short-term loans by Feb. 1, 2011. […]

U-46 finds itself in a cash crunch because the state is $22 million behind on payments to the district (as of November) and Cook County sent out its second-installment tax bills late.

U-46 Director of Financial Operations Dale Burnidge said Monday that the district’s ability to meet its cash needs hinges on whether Cook County starts to deliver some of that tax revenue to the district later this month.

* More doom and gloom…

The combined funded level of Illinois’ five state retirement systems would weaken further, even if the state issues some $4 billion in pension obligation bonds to finance its required annual contributions, according to a Moody’s Investors Services report on Monday.

An anticipated issue of eight-year general obligation bonds to pay the state’s pension contributions for the current fiscal year to the state systems “would at least limit deterioration in the funded status of the state’s pensions, which are the lowest-funded among states,” the one-page report said. “Nonetheless, we expect the state’s pension funded ratios to weaken further before improving, given that statutory contributions are below the actuarially determined amounts needed to amortize the plans’ unfunded liabilities.”

The state Senate last month in a special session failed to pass a bill to authorize the state to issue up to $4.1 billion in pension obligation bonds, even though the House passed the legislation 71-44, with two voting present, on May 25.

It never ends.

* I originally posted this below, but I’ve moved it because it fits better with this topic…

If the federal government bails out the nation’s debt-ridden states, Illinois will be among the first to grab a lifeline, according to one financial expert.

“If there’s even a hint of a bailout, you’re gonna have Illinois, New York, several other states right behind California,” said Christopher Whalen, bank analyst and managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics.

Whalen told the Business Insiders website that California, which is running a $25 billion deficit, is close to defaulting on its bills. Should that occur, the federal government would be compelled to come to California’s aid by crafting some type of financial restructuring plan or rescue effort.

The Senate’s Republican “moderates” are the ones who prevented more state money from being included in the original stimulus plan. It’s gonna take a mega crisis to get the feds to approve something new. But if Wall Street gets behind it, then we could see some movement.

Take a look, for instance, at what happened in Illinois earlier this year. When Wall St. analysts privately threatened Illinois with a double-reduction in its bond rating, both legislative chambers quickly pushed through a huge pension reform bill. When the bond guys say “Jump,” governments of all sizes usually ask “How high?”

* A case in point from the NYT…

This October, Moody’s issued a report explaining why it now rates all 50 states, even Illinois, as better credit risks than a vast majority of American non-financial companies.

One reason: the belief that the federal government is more likely to bail out a teetering state than a bankrupt company.

“The federal government has broadly channeled cash to all state governments during recent recessions and provided support to individual states following natural disasters,” Moody’s explained, adding that there was no way of being sure how Washington would respond to a bond default by a state, since it had not happened since the 1930s.

* Related…

* Instant payouts from expanded gaming plan unlikely

* Bankruptcy Is Not An Option For Illinois: The Land of Lincoln isn’t the only state dealing with a severe budget gap. Indeed, 46 states faced shortfalls when crafting their FY 2011 spending plans. In October, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities identified 39 states who already have projected holes for 2012. And almost every state government has to find a way to pay down long-term debts resulting from rising pension and health care costs.

* Illinois tax amnesty program collects more than expected, but money not ‘new’

* Inmate releases need a 2nd look: But in the heat of a hotly contested primary election, Gov. Quinn late last year suspended so-called “meritorious good time,” under which inmates could be freed up to 180 days earlier than their official release date. So instead of a program designed to save money and reduce recidivism, the state has a record high population behind bars.

* What Comes After MGT?: With the help of Young, the Reader’s Steve Borgia calculated that the early release suspension would add $158 million to Illinois’ balance sheet between now and July 2012. And that’s just the dollars and cents:

* Preckwinkle takes over as Cook board president

* Hire More Cops, Tax LaSalle Street, Re-do the Parking Deal

* Chris Christie is a role model to new governors, but do his cuts add up?

* Moody’s: Bond sale not enough to help Illinois plans

* Nicor buyer AGL vows to keep workers, but don’t expect lower gas rates

* IDOT upgrades popular travel website - Getting around Illinois redesign debuts for winter driving season

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Chicago Tribune: Taylorville’s Not Ready

Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

November 29, 2010

Dirty and dangerous, coal has a hard time making friends. The proposal for a Taylorville Energy Center in central Illinois isn’t helping.

You might think the Taylorville plan would be winning popularity contests all around the state: This wouldn’t be a typical coal plant, of the sort that provides roughly half of America’s electricity today. This would be a “clean” operation, using cutting-edge technology to reduce hazardous emissions, while taking advantage of the state’s abundant coal supplies. We have supported the idea of “clean coal,” with the caveat that it has to provide power at a reasonable cost to ratepayers. That is, there has to be the prospect that it can genuinely compete in the marketplace.

Taylorville has not met that test. The General Assembly should not give its approval to the $3.52 billion project.

As currently envisioned, Taylorville amounts to an extremely expensive and speculative bet on a long-term payoff that may never materialize. The one guarantee: It will hike the cost of electricity in Illinois for a long time.

A proposal going to the legislature would cap the rate increases paid by residential customers at 2 percent. But that would leave business and government to pay the rest of the increased costs, without the protection of a rate cap. Click here to continue reading.

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This thing of ours

Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* There was some hand-wringing on Twitter yesterday from Springfield reporters about this news…

The State Journal-Register announced Monday it is considering a move to print the Springfield newspaper in Peoria.

SJ-R Publisher Walt T. Lafferty said if the change is made, the Springfield newspaper would be able to take advantage of a more modern printing plant at the Journal Star in Peoria. Both newspapers are owned by Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse Media Inc.

The change in print location could occur within the first quarter of 2011, but any move is subject to bargaining with certain unions, Lafferty said.

It is unclear how many jobs would be lost as part of the proposed change. There are currently 32 full-time and 32 part-time positions in the departments that would be affected.

Let me be clear up front that I feel terrible for the people who may lose their jobs. But this could be a sound business move that could keep reporters working. If there has to be a choice, I’d take reporters over printers any day.

The Daily Herald is still reeling from its decision to build a gigantic multi-million dollar printing plant just as the Internet took off big. Ever since, it’s been newsroom cutback after newsroom cutback, and it shows in the quality of some of the paper’s reporting.

Newspapers, like every other business, need to make money. But they also need to put out a quality product. That product has suffered greatly as the bean-counters dumbed down their content so they could pay off the horrific debt the companies almost universally racked up during the gigantic buying spree earlier in the decade. If this move saves reporters’ jobs, then I’m for it.

* Not every media outlet these days is a for-profit venture. The BGA recently hired several ex-reporters as investigators and is doing some quality journalism. Today, the BGA is pointing to its online cache of every city mayoral petition.

BGA honcho Andy Shaw also has a daily “What I’m Watching” post that you should check out.

* From the New York Times…

In less than four weeks, NJN, the public radio and television network owned by New Jersey, will run out of state money to operate. Without a last-minute intervention, its outlets will go off the air on Dec. 31, and NJN’s 130 employees have already received layoff notices.

With plenty of competing options being floated to reinvent NJN, no one really expects it to go dark in the long term. Last week, Gov. Chris Christie told The Star-Ledger in Newark that he expected to delay the cuts in order to give interested parties time to come up with a plan. NJN had been receiving about $11 million a year in state subsidies, including $4 million as part of its $18 million operating budget.

One advantage Gov. Christie has over Illinois is that he inherited a far more featherbedded budget than we’ve ever had here. New Jersey has fewer people than Illinois and yet has vastly more state employees, for instance. And that public broadcasting budget is way more than what Illinois spends - both in per capita and in actual dollars.

At its peak, Illinois spent about $5 milion a year on public broadcasting, with TV getting three-quarters of that. This year, it’s down to about a million dollars or so, with the same 75-25 TV to radio split.

Springfield’s WUIS is getting about $25-30K this fiscal year. But some innovative ideas from station boss Bill Wheelhouse are starting to pay off. Wheelhouse is one of the greatest Americana afficionados I’ve ever met, and his Bedrock 66 concert series is currently showing a surplus.

More like this, please.

* Several of my subscribers have asked me why they’re getting daily promo e-mails from the Chicago News Cooperative’s mayoral race newsletter. I sent CNC an e-mail weeks ago inquiring about the situation, but haven’t heard back. Rest assured, I did not sell my list. It’s not for sale to anyone at any price unless they want to buy my company, and that won’t be cheap. A few years back, however, I accidentally sent out a Capitol Fax without blind-copying the recipients. I sure hope nobody is using that list because it’s copyrighted material. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

* Related…

* Tribune creditors to vote on 4 reorganization plans

* Tribune Co. reorg plan packet won’t include strongly worded letter: judge

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Street rackets mystery deepens and the trouble with gumads

Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The plot thickens…

City Treasurer Stephanie Neely submitted hundreds of election petitions bearing the names of two notaries who say they didn’t sign them — the same notaries who say their signatures were forged on petitions submitted by four candidates running for mayor.

The two notaries — Alex Caplan and Maricela Rodriguez — say their signatures were forged on 725 of the 2,331 petition pages that Neely submitted to city election officials last month so she could run for re-election in February. One of Neely’s petition sheets contains both Caplan’s forged signature and Rodriguez’s notary stamp.

We may be about to get to the bottom of what Mark Brown accurately called a longtime Chicago “street racket” this week - the neighborhood hucksters who make a few bucks every election doing things like circulating petitions and setting up “events.”

Neely’s campaign claims innocence, and there’s no reason yet not to believe her…

Neely’s petitions were circulated by ward organizations and volunteers, according to her spokesman Paul Stewart, who says she didn’t pay anyone to collect signatures. Stewart said he doesn’t know who gathered the petitions that bear the names of Caplan and Rodriguez.

“It’s horrible that people who say they were out helping us did something fraudulent,” he said. “Whoever turned in those sheets, it had to be the same source’’ who circulated petitions for the four mayoral candidates — former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, businessman Rob Halpin, state Sen. James Meeks and community activist Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins.

* Back when George Ryan was governor, some of his friends got themselves in trouble because they needed some untraceable (by their wives) cash to take care of their goomahs in style. All those guys made plenty of legit money, but they also thought they needed some on-the-side cash for their mistresses. By the looks of things, Phil Pagano might have had the same problem…

Metra’s longtime chief was supporting two other households in addition to his own, leaving his wife with staggering debts after he took his life, according to a lawyer for Phil Pagano’s widow.

James Mullally, who represents Barbara Pagano, made the disclosure in federal bankruptcy court last week, claiming that she was left with more than $1 million in debts.

Saying he didn’t want to get involved in “innuendo and hearsay,” Mullally said that “in addition to the household in Crystal Lake … Pagano had not one, but two additional households, one in Palatine and one in downtown Chicago,” according to a court transcript.

It wasn’t known who belonged to those households. Mullally on Monday declined to provide any names or details. Nor would he say if Barbara Pagano had determined who might belong to the “other households.”

There’s no proof yet, so keep things toned down in comments, please.

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Question of the day - Golden Horseshoes, Round 1

Tuesday, Dec 7, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It’s time once again for our annual Golden Horseshoe awards. Let’s start with something easy…

* Best political bar in Springfield

* Best political restaurant in Springfield

* Best Springfield hotel

Remember, I don’t just tally votes, I mainly look at the intensity of the votes. So, five unexplained votes for Tavern X won’t count as much as two well-written votes for Tavern Z. In other words, fully explain yourselves.

Also, as always, the decision of the judges (me and my other personalities) are final and we reserve the right to hold runoffs if we can’t make up our minds.

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