* You can listen to the address live here or here. I’ll also be on Public Television just before and after the address if you’re interested in that. Please help live-blog in coverage. I’ll post live and recorded videos and commentary as the day goes along, so check back often.
We’re going to try a new software today called “Scribble Live.” Reuters used it during the Egyptian protests and I thought it was wonderful…
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in Chicago last year, lawmakers in Springfield started off the year by pushing to give people the right to carry concealed firearms in public.
Similar legislation has been defeated in the past, but lawmakers have not given up. Some lawmakers in both chambers have introduced a slew of proposals to expand gun ownership rights.
House Bill 112, House Bill 148 and Senate Bill 82 are similar pieces of legislation, all of which would allow the county sheriff to issue permits to authorize the possession of concealed firearms. Applicants for the permit must be at least 21 and meet certain requirements, such as completing classes and training for live-firing exercises.
Co-sponsor of SB 82, state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Highland, said the majority of the people in his district support the right to carry firearms. He said the Supreme Court’s ruling made that clear.
* The Question: I know we’ve done this before, but attitudes may be changing, so let’s try it again: Do you support a right to carry a concealed gun?
Yesterday’s gun question fell flat. Maybe today’s will do better.
* We had a discussion about Sen. Ed Maloney’s home schooling bill, which would require that all home schooled students be registered with the state board of education. A subject matter only hearing was held yesterday. Sen. Maloney withdrew his bill to make changes based on the testimony. Hundreds of home schoolers showed up…
As a crowd of hundreds sang “God Bless America'’ and “Amazing Grace'’ outside the hearing room, the committee heard “subject matter'’ testimony, meaning there would be no vote on legislation.
Maloney, in testimony, expressed surprise at the outrage over the bill. “The majority of parents do an exemplary job'’ at homeschooling, he said. He said the concern is those who use their right to homeschool as merely an excuse to let their kids stay out of school.
In the crowd was Larry Wright of Harvard, Ill., who said his reasons for homeschooling his kids were both religious and philosophocal. “I want to raise them the way I think they should go,” he said. “I’m responsible for my kids, not the state.”
He said he understands the bill would require just registration, not restrictions, but that it’s still “intrusive and unnecessary.'’ “They’re trying to fix something that’s not broken,” he said.
While the bill was not up for a vote at the Senate Education Committee, members heard testimony from professional educators and home-school parents. One, James McDonald of Mapleton, pointed out Illinois is the home of perhaps the most accomplished home-schooler of all - Abraham Lincoln. McDonald said the government was not breathing down young Abe’s neck, asking, “Did you register?”
Bill Reynolds, a truant officer in Monroe and Randolph Counties, says too often parents hide behind the words “home school” when really their families are engaged in “no school.”
Janet Hasselbring, of Braidwood, home schools her three children, and arrived early Tuesday morning to voice her opposition.
“The government does not need to put more controls in place,” said Hasselbring, who was among a throng of protesters waiting to enter the Capital. “This bill will add expenditures — to register this many home-schoolers in the state — in an already failing budget.
Michael McCreery, executive director of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, said that most parents who came out on Tuesday were the “cream of the crop,” and that he’s more worried about the ones who didn’t show up.
“We can point to programs. We can point to home schooling. We can point to those areas that are available to them. We can assist. We cannot assist without knowledge of their existence,” McCreery said.
“The great majority of parents do an exemplary job of educating their children,” Maloney said. “Some even offered standardized test results as proof that their children do better but ironically would not want test results to be mandatory.”
Maloney said he was not concerned about parents who were doing well but he wanted to find a way to identify parents who were not committed to educating their children at home.
Even though parents are not required to register their home-schooled children, they may choose to do so with their local school boards.
Illinois parents also are required, under current law, to teach the same core requirements, such as language arts, math and science, that students of corresponding age in public schools are taught.
* Two workers’ compensation arbitrators who have been the focus of Belleville News-Democrat exposes in recent weeks have been put on paid leave of absences…
“Effective immediately, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission arbitrators John Dibble and Jennifer Teague are on administrative leave,” said Alka Nayyar, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Central Management Services.
Teague and Dibble have been the subjects of recent stories in the Belleville News-Democrat, including those in which Dibble received a workers’ comp settlement for carpal tunnel syndrome and Teague had one pending for cubital tunnel syndrome.
These two were allegedly the most egregious actors. But there’s plenty of suspicion that this is a structural problem over at the commission.
Also, the commission’s chairman has gone mum…
Mitch Weisz, chairman of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, said Tuesday he no longer could answer questions about the matter and referred all questions to Central Management Services, which helps process paperwork in workers’ compensation settlements.
* Chicago’s population grew by 4 percent in the 2000 Census. This time, there was a huge drop…
Chicago’s population plunged by 200,418 people — a 6.9 percent decline from 2000, according to the official census count released Tuesday.
The drop was significantly more than indicated by previously released census estimates, and over the next decade it could cost the city hundreds of millions in federal funds, which are partly distributed on the basis of population counts. […]
Chicago’s black population fell the most, nearly 17 percent. Today, blacks make up only 33 percent of the city’s population, down from 36 percent 10 years ago. […]
Hispanic population grew 3.3 percent in the city. But since this is less than the birthrate it is likely that Hispanics also are leaving the city for the suburbs.
Non-Hispanic whites are now 32 percent of the population, while Hispanics of all races make up 29 percent
200,000 people is almost four wards. Suburban Cook’s population grew by about 18,000.
People continued to spread out far from the region’s urban hub, as thousands flocked to Will, Kane and McHenry counties, all of which experienced a second decade of vigorous double-digit growth, the numbers showed.
“I think these data from here and elsewhere in the country reflect that the United States has become a suburban nation,” said Scott W. Allard, a University of Chicago associate professor of social service administration. “It is a continuing migration from the city out to the suburbs while there are also immigration waves directly to the suburbs as well.” […]
For the second decade, Aurora and Joliet experienced dramatic growth. Aurora (197,899) passed Rockford (152,871) to become the state’s second-biggest town, while Joliet moved up three places to No. 4, with 147,433 residents, nearly 40 percent more than in 2000.
In those cities and others, Latinos found homes far from the city’s traditional ethnic enclaves.
Much of the state’s population growth was in downstate counties such as Champaign and Mclean with heavily white-collar economies, and in counties that surround Chicago, such as Kendall County where the population more than doubled. […]
The strongest growth was in counties around Cook County, such as Lake (whose population grew by 9.2 percent), Will (up 34.9 percent) and Kane (up 27.5 percent), according to the census. Other strong growth counties included DeKalb, where population grew 18 percent, Champaign, where population increased by 11.9 percent, and McLean, where the population grew 12.7 percent.
“There’s 102 counties in Illinois — 101 of them registered growth in the Latino population,” said Matthew Hall, a demographer at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
State Rep. Keith Farnham’s predominately Kane County district, which encompasses Elgin, Carpentersville and East Dundee and portions of South Elgin and Barrington Hills, has seen a tremendous amount of growth in the last decade, due to a large influx of Hispanics.
There are now nearly 160,000 Hispanics living in the county, 65 percent more than 10 years ago.
“Someone told me my district may be smaller, but then again … I’ll work whatever it is,” Farnham said.
Rep. Kay Hatcher, a Yorkville Republican, also has a district that has grown significantly, due not least to Aurora’s population growth by a whopping 38 percent to 197,899.
Gov. Quinn will propose a $52.7 billion budget for next year that does not increase any additional taxes or fees, relies on massive borrowing and imposes spending cuts of about $1 billion, according to legislative sources briefed on the plan Tuesday. […]
Quinn’s budget plan does not include a $1.01-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax sought in January, nor does the governor intend to ask for any other additional fee or tax increases, sources said. Among the cuts Quinn is expected to lay out is the elimination of Illinois Cares Rx, a Medicare prescription-drug supplement impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich launched in 2006 to much fanfare, legislative sources said. The move will save more than $100 million.
Quinn also intends to ask for about half a billion dollars in cuts from health-care providers who service the state’s Medicaid population and an additional $95 million in cuts in reimbursements the state provides public school districts for transportation costs, legislative sources said.
While health care costs are still expected to rise, the Democratic governor also hopes to reduce Medicaid reimbursement rates to save $552 million, sources said.
The state is expected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for education as stimulus money expires but will boost general fund spending to make up for at least part of the difference, sources said. The governor is also targeting for elimination some transportation money for schools and encouraging school consolidations in some of the state’s smaller districts to save administration costs, the sources said. […]
Quinn also is expected to call for the elimination of a $24.2 million circuit breaker program that helps the poor pay property taxes and prescription drug costs, but it was unclear whether these programs will be replaced, sources said.
Money will be set aside to train prison guards as a way to save money in overtime costs, and the administration will seek to rebid medical services at prisons to get a better deal, sources said.
Quinn also may seek to borrow money from various special funds to help right the overall budget and pay back the funds with interest over about 18 months, sources said.
The governor will renew his call for borrowing to pay old bills, but Republicans on Tuesday already declared the idea “dead on arrival.”
“This is our opportunity to impose some fiscal discipline in Springfield, and we’re going to take it,” said Palatine state Sen. Matt Murphy, the Senate Republican point man on budget issues.
Quinn needs some Republicans on board because the borrowing requires a three-fifths majority.
But Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said cuts and efficiencies should be considered in public safety, child care and even education. She said spending for schools possibly should be held “flat for a while” after getting hundreds of millions of dollars in increases year after year.
* WBBM Radio has react from Republicans on the borrowing plan…
Republican lawmakers say they have yet to see the budget, but they already don’t like it.
“The governor’s $8.75 billion spending proposal is dead on arrival in the Senate,” state Sen. Matt Murphy (R- Palatine) said earlier this week. “We will not continue to help feed the governor’s insatiable appetite for more spending.”
Senate Republicans say not enough spending cuts have been outlined by the governor following last month’s income tax increase, which took effect retroactively at the beginning of this year.
In a statement, Quinn also said Republicans have been no help in determining where to reduce spending.
“The governor’s office has sought Republicans’ input on alternatives, and they have proposed none,” it said. “The governor has made actual spending reductions while they have called broadly for ‘belt-tightening.’ The governor’s office has proposed specific cuts only to hear Republicans say ‘not in my district.’”
The last was an apparent reference to Springfield’s Republican legislators, who complained when the Department of Agriculture cut funding for the National High School Finals Rodeo to save money.
Asked to name specific cuts they support, the 20 Republican senators at Tuesday’s news conference offered almost no specifics or details. Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said it’s possible education funding could be kept flat for a while or that changes could be made to child-care programs.
* I’m going to try out some new live-blogging software today. I’m not sure yet how much I’ll do during the governor’s budget address, but a post will be up so you can comment as it’s happening. You can watch the address by clicking here or here.
…Adding… Related…
* Quinn budget relies on borrowing, would increase spending overall
* Zorn: Borrowing –It’s not a bad answer to Illinois’ problems
* Posturing, policy problems ahead of Quinn’s budget speech
* Today’s Question is not getting much action. I think it was the way I worded it. Anyway, let’s try this…
Mayor Richard Daley today said he’s retained an agency to book him for speeches nationally and internationally after he leaves office in May.
Daley said he has signed up with the Harry Walker Agency, a company that sets speaking engagements for a roster of public figures that includes President Clinton, Lance Armstrong, Bono, former political leaders and other public figures.
“Both U.S. and abroad,” Daley said of where he will likely give speeches, though he does not have any specific engagements in place. “I’ll talk about leadership, talk about government, talk about decision-making.” […]
The mayor said he does not know how much he will get paid, but his spokeswoman, Jacquelyn Heard, noted that other speakers at the agency can receive in the neighborhood of $50,000 per appearance.
* The 2nd Question: Speech topics for retired Mayor Daley?
* As you already know, Rod Blagojevich and his lawyers claim there is a missing tape of a conversation that Rahm Emanuel allegedly had with a top Blagojevich staffer the day before Blagojevich’s arrest which would, if exposed, exonerate him…
The lawyers say there is a “missing” recording from a Dec. 8, 2008, phone call between a Blagojevich aide and Rahm Emanuel, then the White House chief of staff.
Blagojevich says Emanuel, now running for mayor of Chicago, offered a deal to give [Attorney General Lisa Madigan] the seat and help the governor pass a legislative package. Last week, Emanuel said an internal administration probe found “nothing inappropriate or any deal-making.”
Even if the tape existed, this would signify nothing. As I’ve said many times before, Blagojevich knew the FBI was taping his conversations, so in my opinion he was most likely attempting to create an alibi for accusations that he tried to sell the Obama US Senate seat by announcing a Madigan appointment. He was busted before he could pull it off.
In a statement filed Monday, prosecutor Reid Schar said such a recording does not exist, and that if the conversation took place, it happened on a phone line which was not tapped.
“As the defendant well knows, from reviewing the discovery” said Schar, “there is no missing recording.”
* Mayor Daley unveiled his annual gun control proposals yesterday, but the emphasis was on punishment…
The four newly proposed measures would automatically transfer to adult court cases of 15- to 17-year olds arrested with a gun; require at least five years [without parole] behind bars for felons caught with weapons; require 10 years in prison for people who point guns at police and firefighters responding to emergencies; and make it a felony to commit a crime with a child in tow if that child is injured by gunfire.
* The Question: Do you have problems with any of these ideas? Explain fully.
State and local officials in northwest Indiana are investing $250,000 in an advertising campaign to lure Illinois businesses across the state line.
The cash has been and will be spent on billboards, newspapers, websites and cable TV. When you consider that Indiana’s campaign started in late January and will continue a while longer and how large and expensive the Chicago media market is, this buy will barely make a blip.
* They also have a little - and I do mean little - website…
Indiana Commerce Secretary Mitch Roob (ROHB) says the campaign’s website already has generated 2,000 unique visits.
2,000 unique visits! Wow! That’s worth about $50 to AdSense. Hooray! They’re rich! That Indiana budget deficit will be balanced in no time flat, baby.
Seriously, 2K uniques since January 24th? That’s less than 100 per day. And, keep in mind that some unique visitor tracking software restarts every few hours, so 2K uniques since 1/24 doesn’t necessarily mean 2K different people.
“In Indiana, Republicans and Democrats alike don’t believe you tax your way out of a deficit,” Roob said. “We do not believe you can tax your way into prosperity.”
Yeah, except for that last Indiana tax hike that nobody seems to remember.
The two-pronged push, by the Northwest Indiana Forum and the Indiana Economic Development Corp., was the focus of a press conference Monday afternoon at the Hammond Marina.
So, they announce an Illinois ad blitz in Indiana. What does that tell you? This is as much, if not more, about local consumption by the rubes than it is about Illinois.
*** UPDATE *** As subscribers already know in more detail, the Senate Republicans are turning thumbs down on Gov. Pat Quinn’s borrowing plan…
The Republican caucus declared Tuesday that they are unanimous in opposing the idea. […]
But Republican leader Christine Radogno says Illinois should instead pay the backlog gradually by cutting spending. She said everything should be on the table for cuts, including education.
Radogno says many government programs don’t do much to improve life for state residents. She offered child-care services as an example of what could be reduced.
She might ask single moms working fulltime jobs if childcare services improve their lives.
A review of the document suggests a gap of more than $3 billion between income and expenses in the coming year. On top of that, the state owes about $8.7 billion to groups that provide services on government’s behalf, to corporations waiting for tax refunds and to the program that provides medical care for government employees.
In other words, expect cuts.
* That being said, one would expect the Chicago Tribune editorial board to be deliberately clueless on why the state should borrow to pay off past-due bills. They’re just that way…
What’s truly infuriating is that much of the money Quinn wants to borrow would go not to paying old bills, but to propping up other state spending. The synopsis of the borrowing bill, introduced by Senate President John Cullerton, says the proceeds of the bond sales “shall be used to pay vouchers that are at least 60 days past due, medical expenses incurred by the State under its health plans, corporate income tax refunds, and other operating expenses of the State.”
Bills are often drafted broadly, but the main purpose of this borrowing legislation is to retire past-due bills. Medical expenses and the refunds are part of that unfortunate milieu. The whole idea is to use a portion of the income tax hike to make the bond payments. That’s actually written into the tax hike bill.
Elaine P. Maimon, president of Governors State University, asked Radogno how she believes the state can catch up on its overdue payments like appropriations to public universities without borrowing.
“We wait and wait and they don’t come,” Maimon said of state payments. “So I just wonder what alternative plan there might be, for universities in particular, to get their appropriated funds without borrowing?”
Radogno said those payments should begin to be made with new revenues from the 67 percent income tax increase approved last month.
“Even if we can’t pay you every penny because it’s not all coming in at once, we can certainly start,” she said.
Every dollar from the income tax hike which is used to pay off old bills is another dollar of new deficit creation. The tax hike was designed with the borrowing bill in tandem. The tax hike pays down the structural deficit and to make the payments on the borrowing, which is then used to pay off the old bills. If you use the tax hike money for old bills, you’re creating new past-due debt unless you come up with corresponding budget cuts. The Republicans are promising to do that, but they haven’t done so yet.
* What really bothered me today, however, was reading the Southtown-Star’s editorial page. Just about every word in today’s editorial is wrong. For instance…
If you thought, perhaps, the estimated $7 billion in new revenue generated each year by the income tax hike for the four years it is to be in effect would stave off any additional borrowing, you’re sorely mistaken.
Who the heck thought that? The borrowing idea is not a brand new plan just floated today. The media has been writing about it since December. The tax hike and the borrowing plan have been inextricably connected since at least then. As mentioned above, the bond payment schedule is actually written into the tax hike law. If this caught the Southtown-Star by surprise, then they’re simply not paying attention.
More…
This $7 billion in new revenue should go to the estimated 36,000 vendors awaiting payment for services already doled out in past years, including school districts, child care providers and a host of others. Borrowing to make those payments is simply irresponsible.
Once again, you use that new tax revenue to pay off $7 billion in old bills you will then create $7 billion in new, unpaid bills unless you make corresponding cuts. There’s about $10 billion or so in state spending that can be cut. If the Southtown Star wants to get rid of 70 percent of that, then I’d be more than happy to publish their complete list. Their examples today barely reach the millions (except Medicaid reform, which the paper doesn’t seem to realize has been and continues to be tackled).
More…
Although Quinn likes to say he’s cut $3 billion from the budget, we’re hard pressed to find concrete examples.
As I explained to subscribers yesterday, a huge chunk of Quinn’s list he released last week was phony. But well over a billion dollars in real cuts were listed. It ain’t enough, but it’s there.
For crying out loud, start paying attention, people.
* Related…
* Illinois Union Ally Turns Critic: Mr. Madigan’s challenge to current workers’ pensions has drawn fire from the state-employee unions that supported him for much of his career.
* Editorial: Time for clear state budget proposals from both parties
As always with that channel, the debate was focused and crisp. The candidates seemed to shy away from too many overt attacks on each other, but they all came across quite well, I thought. Nothing even approaching a knockout punch on Emanuel was thrown. I’m told to expect something far more brutal during ABC7’s Thursday debate. Let’s get to the coverage…
Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel said Monday he would re-organize the Chicago City Council — and strip Ald. Ed Burke of his police bodyguards and possibly his Finance Committee chairmanship — if he is elected mayor.
“There will be reform of the committees. There will be some committees closed, chairmanships will change,” Emanuel said. “There will be a shared sacrifice, including for Ed Burke and all the City Council. If Ed Burke has six police officers, that just can’t continue.”
During an hour-long debate at WTTW-Channel 11, Emanuel was not the only mayoral candidate who talked about reducing the starring role that Burke has played in the City Council.
City Clerk Miguel del Valle said the Council has developed “an unhealthy dependence upon Ald. Burke,” and it has to stop.
“It shouldn’t be one-person rule — you can’t have everything going through one alderman,” del Valle said. “It does not mean that Ald. Burke will not be Finance Committee chairman. It does mean that Ald. Burke will have to give up a lot of that power that he has exercised to make the City Council a more democratic place.”
Burke has put himself out there as Chico’s main backer. “Mess with the bull, get the horn” goes both ways.
Asked what Daley’s biggest mistake was, del Valle listed the mayor’s overnight tearing up of Meigs Field, while Braun said Daley hadn’t done enough to build the city’s neighborhoods. Chico said Daley had too narrow of a relationship with the council. Emanuel said the mayor was overly aggressive about pursuing the 2016 Olympics at the expense of economic development.
Chico said he will spend the final days focusing on Emanuel’s tax proposal, which would decrease the sales tax by a quarter-point in return for allowing unspecified services to be taxed. Chico stopped just short of calling Emanuel a liar.
“He is a pathological evader of the truth. We have no answers and the citizens are about to go to the polls in a couple of days,” Chico said in reference to the role Emanuel played on the Freddie Mac board and failing to say what services would be included in his sales-tax swap plan.
“Families are going to be sucker punched with this tax,” Chico said, adding that he has repeatedly asked for a list of services and received “nothing.” […]
On [Emanuel’s] criticism of Daley focusing too much on the Olympics: “Too much of our economic future was pinned on one endeavor and that was the Olympics. And when we didn’t get it, we were left without an economic strategy and I think we need one.”
If Emanuel cuts the city sales tax rate to 1 percent from the current 1.25 percent, how much would his hypothetical “working family” need to spend to save $200 in sales tax? Answer: $80,000. […]
Emanuel’s campaign said it was basing its savings estimate on a median family income of $46,000 and an assumption the family spent about one-fourth of its income on items subject to sales tax. Under that scenario, I told them, that family would realize a savings of just $28.75 in sales taxes. (One-fourth of $46.000 is $11,500, multiplied by .0025) […]
In one sentence he’ll talk about the 9.75 percent overall sales tax rate charged in Chicago and in the next mention his one-fifth proposed reduction, when he’s really only lowering the city’s 1.25 percent portion. Then he throws in the planned half-cent reduction in the county’s portion of the sales tax as if he has something to do with it, when Toni Preckwinkle will be doing all the heavy lifting.
That’s before you even get into the legitimate questions that Gery Chico has raised about what services would actually be subject to Emanuel’s luxury tax.
When you do the math, Emanuel’s tax plan doesn’t add up.
Speaking at a Northwest Side luncheon for seniors hosted by outgoing Ald. Patrick Levar (45th), Emanuel also criticized rival Gery Chico for “accepting … with enthusiasm” the endorsement of the Chicago Tea Party Patriots, a conservative activist group.
“The entire purpose of the Tea Party is to stop the president, his agenda, and stop his presidency, and the notion that one would accept it with enthusiasm means that they see the Tea Party as legitimate in what they’re pushing in trying to stop President Obama,” Emanuel said.
Chico issued a news release blasting Emanuel for claiming that Chico had accepted the endorsement. While Chico has not renounced the endorsement, he said, “I am a lifelong Democrat and a fighter for the working families of Chicago. Unlike Mr. Emanuel falsely suggests, I did not seek the endorsement of this group and in reality, have nothing in common with them.”
“Gery has a record of building coalitions across racial, ethnic and party lines to achieve common goals,” Chico’s Press Secretary Brooke Anderson told HuffPost Chicago. “We welcome their support in addition to the broad range of support we have received from a diverse range of organizations, elected officials and residents as we fight to take Chicago in a new direction.”
Last night, Chico briefly said he repudiated the endorsement, but it was quickly glossed over.
* Related…
* New poll projects victory for Emanuel: The fourth and final We Ask America poll conducted by the Chicago Retail Merchants Association (CRMA) found Emanuel building onto an already commanding lead among every demographic and geographic category tested. Emanuel was favored by 58.2 percent of respondents, an increase of 6 points since the January 24 poll. His closest rival, former school board president Gery Chico, garnered 23.7 percent. Emanuel’s lead of 35 points is well outside the poll’s margin of error of 2.06 points. [Full results here.]
* Workers Question Emanuel’s Visit to Secured Airport Warehouse: The Rahm Emanuel campaign describes it as a goodwill visit, but there are questions about whether the mayoral candidate broke rules when he stopped by O’Hare International Airport on the night the blizzard ended. Some aviation department employees told us they were stunned when Emanuel came into their secured building with donuts and coffee. The warehouse, which is on airport property, is surrounded by a tall chain link fence topped with barbed wire and security cameras. You have to show an aviation department credential just to get past the gate.
* Gery Chico’s Success Based on Hardworking Grandparents, Diverse Family
