* OK, here’s something you don’t see every day. Or ever. Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno reads a letter offering budget advice from Wu-Tang Clan. I kid you not…
* Groups call for closing state facilities: Disability advocates are again calling on lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn to shutter some of the state’s institutions for the developmentally disabled as a way to help smaller group home operators survive possible budget cuts
* Lawmaker: Feds, state strike deal on Thomson prison
* Opt-out HIV testing for inmates goes to governor
* Bottom Line: Chicago State University has hired Barnes & Thornburg to lobby on “all legislative action concerning higher education and the financing thereof,” according to lobbying disclosure records. Richard Boykin, former chief of staff to Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), is lobbying for the university.
* I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Cutting state money to local governments is a very bad idea, but still probably necessary during the state’s tight budget situation. This way over the top Daily Herald article does not convince me otherwise…
Facing a financial crisis Palatine officials are likening to both a horror movie and a Tony Soprano mob shakedown, the village is doing more than just speaking out against unfunded mandates and state proposals that would take away tax money from communities.
Staff broke down Palatine’s budget and identified $2.73 million in costs this year associated with unfunded mandates — programs the state requires but doesn’t fund.
A mob shakedown? Really? Here’s a Statehouse lobbying hint: Try to avoid that analogy during a committee hearing.
* The Daily Herald story goes on to note that mandates are just 4.4 percent of Palatine’s entire operating budget. And well over half appears to be this one…
Then there’s the $1.54 million spent each year on Social Security costs for police and fire employees. As a result of decisions made in the 1950s, Palatine is among just a handful of communities that pay into both Social Security and a pension system for police and fire. But federal lawmakers are resistant to let anyone opt out despite support from staff and union leaders.
That’s federal, man, not state.
* Next up, a polling press release…
Illinois voters overwhelmingly oppose efforts in Springfield to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars from local communities to help pay down the state’s budget deficit, according a recent statewide poll.
More than 80 percent of Illinois voters surveyed said the state should return the funds as required under current state law, while just over 12 percent preferred the state keep the funds and just over 7 percent were uncertain, according to the automated poll conducted earlier this week.
“The poll clearly demonstrates that Illinois voters will not tolerate lawmakers taking money from their communities, especially on the heels of a 66 percent income tax increase passed just months ago,” said Northwest Municipal Conference President Kerry Cummings, who serves as Village President of Glenview. “Pilfering these funds amounts to a ‘Stealth Tax’ on Illinois residents.”
To help close the state’s budget gap, some Illinois legislators have proposed changing the law to use locally generated revenue legally owed to municipalities that goes towards the funding of local services.
The We Ask America poll surveyed 2,970 voting households throughout Illinois on Sunday, May 15. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.85 percent.
In addition, a staggering 88 percent of Illinois voters rejected paying higher property taxes or cutting local services to pay down the state deficit, according to the survey. Just over 6 percent supported those measures and less than 6 percent were uncertain.
Unsurprisingly, the actual polling questions and full results were not sent out with the press release. But, I mean, really now. People are against specific budget cuts and also against tax hikes? It has always been thus.
* Several mayors held a Statehouse press conference today and most of them got very blunt. Here’s just one…
A couple of quotes…
“We’re the better stewards of that money. Would you give that ten percent, all of it, to the General Assembly and truly expect them to spend it wisely? I don’t think so.” […]
“When Representatives or Senators come to us for support, I tell you what… you’re going to see a whole different relationship between cities and villages and the General Assembly in the future.”
They certainly mean business, and they have a right to be furious, but there’s still no escaping the fact that everybody else is being cut.
*** UPDATE *** Kelly Kraft of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget was at the press conference and talked to reporters after. She made some good points. Watch…
Pay no attention to the Mike - uh, man - behind the curtain…
WPP wins a free ticket to the White Sox Caucus outing this summer. Today’s winner gets the same thing.
*** UPDATE *** According to LG Simon’s office, she participated in a Bike to Work event this morning with 50-75 other people. Here’s another photo for your perusal…
Chicago has a new mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who is impatient as all get-out to fix the city’s public schools, make dangerous neighborhoods safe and create more jobs, and none of that will happen without more money. Revenue from a city-owned casino, which Emanuel has expressed interest in, would help reduce the city’s deficit, which stands at $1.2 billion after factoring in unfunded pension liabilities.
The big casino being contemplated would bring the city an estimated local revenue share of $300 million to $400 million, create some 2,000 jobs and have a ripple effect on hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
The extra money also would be welcome by Illinois officials struggling to balance the state’s budget. Legislators are contemplating savage cuts to funding for schools and social services. Quinn told us Tuesday that he is “open to discussing proposals” that raise revenue, create jobs and lead to greater investment in schools.
Our preference would be for a gambling expansion bill that provides for a casino in Chicago and slot machines at the state’s six racetracks, the “racinos” being the necessary trade-off to get legislative support Downstate for the casino. Proposals for new casinos elsewhere — specifically north suburban Park City and the south suburbs — would be put on hold.
As that last sentence explained, such an expansion would - at least for now - rule out a new south suburban or a Lake County casino.
* Despite the Sun-Times’ hope that helping the racetracks would bring Downstate votes, Danville’s state Representative believes a Chicago casino and slots at tracks would actually necessitate Chicagoland support for a Downstate gaming facility…
Other lawmakers have said that new Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is much more open to the idea of a Chicago casino than was his predecessor, Richard M. Daley, who never publicly endorsed it.
“I think the city of Chicago may be interested in it now that the new mayor is seated.” [Rep. Chad Hays, R-Catlin] said. “And I think the opportunity to garner some downstate support for Chicago would hinge on a downstate community being in the mix.”
Danville has been pushing for a casino for years.
* The Question: Could you support gaming expansion that was limited to a Chicago casino, slots at tracks and a new Downstate casino? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Charlie Cook’s site has a big update on the Illinois map. They’re reporting that Illinois Democrats could wind up with anywhere from eleven to thirteen congressional seats. The Dems currently have eight seats to the Republicans’ eleven. Illinois also lost a district through reapportionment…
* Rep. Mike Quigley, the newest Democrat in the Chicago delegation, will see his 5th CD extended from the north side of Chicago to parts of suburban DuPage County. It will still be heavily Democratic, but will take a bite out of the district of GOP Rep. Peter Roskam (Ill.-06) to allow Roskam’s district to be merged with the DuPage County home of freshman GOP Rep. Randy Hultgren (-14). Roskam and Hultgren would then be forced to fight over one heavily Republican “vote sink” based in DuPage County.
* The 9th District of Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who represents Evanston and much of the immediate North Shore, will eat up Republican-leaning areas of freshman GOP Rep. Robert Dold’s 10th CD, such as Wilmette, Northbrook, and Kenilworth (Dold’s home). While Schakowsky’s district would still be overwhelmingly Democratic, Dold’s district would get more Democratic by adding on more heavily Democratic territory in Lake County, such as Mundelein and some of the Lakes. Dold would also lose his Republican-leaning portion of Palatine, making his reelection efforts much dicier. […]
* Democrats would seek to eliminate freshman GOP Rep. Joe Walsh, a tea party adherent, by moving his McHenry County home into more senior GOP Rep. Don Manzullo’s Rockford-based 16th CD. Manzullo already represents a huge chunk of McHenry County and would surely beat Walsh in a primary. The redesigned 8th CD would include the Democratic havens of Schaumburg in northern Cook County, Carol Stream in northern DuPage County, and the increasingly Hispanic outer suburbs of Elgin and Carpentersville in Kane County, leaving Walsh with no good options. […]
* Republican Reps. Bobby Schilling (Ill.-17) and Aaron Schock (-18) are likely to be merged into one super-Democratic district stretching from Rock Island to Peoria and Galesburg. Schilling would be the “majority stakeholder” in such a new district, and his best hope would be for Schock to abandon his Peoria home base and run in a neighboring seat, though the general election would still be daunting. Schock could conceivably run against freshman GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who lists his home in Kankakee County but originally hails from the Bloomington-Normal area.
The congressional map isn’t finished, so this is all preliminary. The Cook Report repeated some stuff reported yesterday by Greg Hinz, including the claim that the Democrats are creating a new district to lure John Atkinson away from a primary bid against Dan Lipinksi.
The Illinois Senate is sending Gov. Pat Quinn legislation that would prohibit lawmakers from giving school scholarships to relatives.
The bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale makes relatives — including those related by marriage — ineligible for legislative scholarships to pay for college from Senate or House members. […]
A proposal to change the process last year drew a veto from Quinn because he prefers to do away with it entirely.
The bill is here. The measure passed the Senate unanimously. Three House members voted “No,” LaShawn Ford, Connie Howard and Rita Mayfield. All three are Democrats. Probably not a great move before a remap primary next year, particularly for Howard, whose district will look very different than her current map.
Illinois residents under a restraining order or convicted of domestic battery will no longer be allowed to own firearms in legislation heading to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. […]
Currently, people convicted of domestic violence charges within five years of applying for a state gun permit are prohibited from owning firearms. The new bill would extend that “look back” period indefinitely.
Sen. Shane Cultra (of the “take tax exemptions from parents of fat kids” fame) was the only Senator to vote “No”. Rep. David Harris was his chamber’s only “No” vote. It’s highly doubtful that Sen. Cultra will have any real Democratic opposition, but the suburban Harris could, so that vote might not have been a great idea.
A bill that would lease a portion of Pyramid State Park near Pinckneyville for mining operations is headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk.
State Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, said House Bill 390 will create 45 jobs during the new operation and have a direct economic impact of $120 million locally. […]
“This is a victory for all the mine workers in Southern Illinois, not just one district,” Forby said. “With this legislation, we’re putting people back to work and boosting our local economy. This is part of what it’s going to take to move our region forward.”
In total, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would lease about 160 acres to Knight Hawk Coal for surface mining operations. The overall acreage of the Park is 19,701, which makes it the largest State Recreation Area in Illinois.
* A couple of other bills that you might or might not think should already have been the law…
* I posted an Illinois Statehouse News piece in the subscriber section yesterday morning about a supposedly “hush-hush” legislative pay hike embedded in a Senate bill, but with some serious reservations. I couldn’t find the text they were referring to in the bill and no other news outlet seemed to have found it either. So, I kept it behind the firewall until I could learn more. The Senate Democrats eventually knocked it down, and I updated my post to reflect that. ISN took the story off its site yesterday, but WLS Radio flogged the piece yesterday and still has the false info on its website…
CHICAGO (WLS) - At the same time Illinois’ top lawmakers work to cut spending, some in Springfield are giving themselves a pat on the back.
The Illinois Statehouse News reports that the Senate Executive Committee passed an amendment to Senate Bill 260 on Monday which would give pay raises as high as 47 percent to Senate and House committee chairmen.
The same bill, sponsored by Sen. Dan Kotowski, would force other General Assembly members to take 12 furlough days to help balance the state budget.
The salary hikes are on top of each lawmakers base pay of $67,836.
Some commenters here asked about the story yesterday, so that’s why I decided to bring it out into the public sphere today.
* The confusion stems over a different, appropriations bill which was debated last Friday. Essentially what happened is there was a typo on page 22 of an amendment dealing with committee stipends. Instead of $1,064,000 for stipends it read $1,640,000. And, yes, it was truly a typo. I checked with the comptroller’s office, because the money is traditionally appropriated through that office to pay the stipends, and was told that “nothing nefarious or sneaky” was done by anybody. “It was just a simple typo.”
However, if the Senate Democrats had bothered to hold a committee hearing on this approp bill last Friday before they debated it, the typo might have been corrected. Instead, it got pointed out during floor debate and the bill was withdrawn.
Illinois’ top political figures would have to take 12 furlough days during the next budget year under a bill approved by the Senate Executive Committee Monday.
The bill also prohibits cost-of-living pay increases for lawmakers beginning July 1 and cuts daily expense money paid to lawmakers while they are in Springfield.
Sen. Dan Kotowski, D-Park Ridge, said the reductions are the same as those in place for top officials this year. It will save the state more than $1.2 million next year, he said.
The 12 furlough days apply to state lawmakers, statewide elected officials and top management at state agencies, including directors. For state lawmakers, who make a base salary of $67,836 annually, the 12 unpaid furlough days amount to about $3,119.
* Mistakes happen in this business, so it’s good that ISN took its story down. WLS should immediately follow suit, as should the Illinois Review.
Spokeswoman Mica Matsoff insisted the Democratic governor isn’t giving up on that idea. “We haven’t been given any indication that all debt-restructuring is off the table,” she said.
She said Quinn will review both the Senate and House budgets and then work with legislators to dump their negative parts and keep the positives. The negatives, she said, include cutting education. As for the positives, “I’ll call you back,” Matsoff said.
A key Senate Democrat said Tuesday that roughly two-thirds of the state’s retired workers should begin paying more for their taxpayer-financed health insurance starting this year.
State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, D-Evanston, wants to begin phasing in higher employee contributions by targeting retirees who were not part of any labor agreement during their tenure as state employees. […]
While most retirees pay at least half of their health care costs in retirement, the study said only about 9 percent of retired state workers pay anything - besides out-of-pocket costs - for their medical coverage. […]
Boosting the amount all state retirees pay into their health care plans to closer to a 50 percent level could generate an estimated $260 million to help offset an annual $680 million tab for employee health care.
Among the budget cuts in the latest spending proposal is a nearly 10 percent cut to local and state fair budgets. The Illinois Department of Agriculture, which pays for the Illinois State Fair in Springfield and DuQuoin State Fair in DuQuoin, also helps to support dozens of local fairs in counties statewide.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget proposal set aside $900,000 for county fair distribution. The state House proposal ups that amount by $900. The state Senate budget plan, however, trims the governor’s budget to $675,700.
* Freshman budget input differ in different chambers
* Press Release: Murphy’s audit resolution of questionable program held in limbo: A grant program allegedly meant to quell violence within the state’s most dangerous communities but whose funds were instead funneled into less violent Chicago communities just weeks before last year’s close governor election, is being called into question by State Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine). On October 6, 2010, Governor Pat Quinn announced the release of grants through the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative (NRI) program within the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority (IVPA).
* Local leaders express concerns about Quinn proposal: “If they vote to support this, it’s a recipe for huge cuts in public safety,” Mayor Jim Ardis said Tuesday, one day before he plans to join a group of mayors in Springfield to speak out against the governor’s suggestion. “Frankly, I think it’s irresponsible for them to come after our percentage of the income tax to help balance a budget they can’t balance on their own.”
* Illinois budget will shape or limit service agencies: “The House version would cut 52 percent — about $28,500″ from an emergency and transitional housing program that serves women and children, said Madonna House Executive Director Barb Hicks.
* A couple of years ago, Gov. Pat Quinn pledged not to link the capital bill to the budget, then did it anyway. He’s now pledging not to link the budget to the remap. We’ll just have to wait and see if he changes his mind again…
Quinn has one huge bargaining chip: his signature on legislation redrawing House and Senate districts across the state. […]
In theory, Quinn could threaten to block the legislation unless he gets some concessions on the budget, but Matsoff said he won’t do that.
“He’s focused on the budget as a separate issue,” she said.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, expects hard feelings over the new political map. It was probably good that the House passed a budget before the redistricting fireworks begin, he said.
I’ve said before that touching that map would be more politically dangerous for Quinn than just about anything else he could possibly dream up. But, we’ll see.
According to a report in Tuesday’s Capitol Fax, a political newsletter, legislative Democrats, who are in charge of the redistricting process, have decided to draw a Democratic-leaning district that would connect Springfield’s east side and Decatur.
Springfield Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner also said Tuesday that she has been working with people, whom she declined to name, about creating such a district. […]
Rep. Adam Brown, R-Decatur, who beat longtime Democratic representative Bob Flider in 2010, said he has not seen a map of the potential new district, but said it sounds like a proposal released by a coalition of Chicago groups, including the Chicago Urban League, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Cook County Bar Association.
That plan would create a barbell-shaped district with east Springfield, which is currently within Poe’s 99th House District, being connected by Interstate 72 to large parts of Decatur. Most of the Decatur part of the new district now is inside Brown’s 101st House District. Brown and Poe are Republicans.
Thirty-two percent of the population in the coalition’s proposed district would be black, while 64 percent would be white, according to an analysis. Springfield’s black population grew from 15.3 percent in 2000 to 18.5 percent 10 years later, according to the 2010 Census.
Keep in mind that nothing is completely set in stone until we see the map itself. Laura Washington wrote more about that coalition proposal…
The group, African Americans for Legislative Redistricting, is demanding a remap that “would protect the interests of 1.8 million African Americans in Illinois, while proposing three minority-led “influence districts” in Springfield, Rockford and East St. Louis.”
The coalition is led by the Rev. Leon Finney, a longtime black businessman and leader of The Woodlawn Organization, and includes the NAACP, the Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition, the Chicago Urban League and the Cook County Bar Association.
They want a new map that would preserve the same number of African-American majority districts that were drawn 10 years ago.
There’s a lot to lose. According to the 2010 census, Chicago’s black population declined by about 180,000 in the last decade. Latinos have picked up 25,000 residents.
So as the June 30 deadline looms to redraw voting districts, blacks, Latinos, Asians and Arabs are working to strengthen their ties, wary of being played against one another in a political game where poor people—of all colors—may be the true losers.
“This is really tough,” said Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a Cook County commissioner and 45-year resident of the city. “The relationship between Latinos and African-Americans will be quite challenging because Latinos will gain – as their numbers indicate that they should – but you definitely can see patterns of development that don’t bode well for poor or working people, in general.”
* And the census numbers, combined with African-American demands that they keep the same number of seats in both chambers have combined to create some very elongated districts…
[Sen. Donne Trotter’s] district, for example, may stretch south from Chicago’s Southeast Side into Beecher, a rural Will County community of about 2,000 residents. His district would shift from 72 percent black, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, to 51 percent black.
Only two members of the State Senate who are black — Sens. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields) and James Clayborne (D-East St. Louis) — represent districts that do not have a federally-mandated minimum percentage of African-Americans. That means their new districts can be made up of any racial percentages. Hutchinson, for example, said she expects to pick up Grundy County under the new map, a mostly rural farming and manufacturing community currently represented by freshman Republican Sen. Sue Rezin of Peru.
Jones expects the legislative remap to be unveiled on May 18, leading to speculation that the majorities in the General Assembly have completed the Congressional and legislative boundary drawing process. Rumors have circulated the Capitol for months as to how the legislative districts will be drawn to maximize the majority party’s hold on political power.
The cynics among us think the maps are done, hidden in the basement of one of the Democratic leaders, ready to be thrown at lawmakers for a last-minute vote.
Democratic lawmakers have been tweaking their districts for well over a week. If the Rockford Register Star hadn’t laid off its Statehouse reporter, the editorial board would’ve known this. But, they do make a decent point here…
The current redistricting gives us only the illusion of democracy. Politicians choose the voters rather than voters choosing the politicians. Maps are drawn so the party in power can have as many like-minded folks within the boundaries as possible, based on the legal constraints.
The process needs to change. Thirteen states have established nonpartisan or bipartisan commissions to take the lead in redistricting.
The Illinois League of Women Voters led an effort to get Illinois to a better system, but failed to get enough signatures on a petition to put the issue on the ballot. That kind of effort needs to continue.
It took six tries before California got redistricting reform.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
1. Grid modernization must be done at some point. Delay only increases the costs to consumers.
2. Delay puts Illinois at a competitive disadvantage in attracting and retaining businesses to our state.
3. Delay prevents Illinois businesses and households from reaping the benefits of smarter energy management technologies.
4. Delay deprives businesses and households of greater reliability with reduced power outages and service disruptions, which takes an economic toll.
5. Delay deprives consumers of improved service such as automatic outage notification to the utility, virtual elimination of estimated bills, and cost reduction due to items such as bad debt.
6. Delay prevents the creation of new jobs in building a modern grid.
Illinois needs to act now on House Bill 14 to make grid modernization a reality.
* NASA has some great satellite photos of the recent flooding along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Click here for the high resolution versions. This is the Cairo area on April 29th of last year, to give you an idea of “normal” conditions…
* Here is the same region on April 29th of this year, just before the Army Corps of Engineers blew that fuseplug levee on the Missouri side…
* And this is from May 4th, after the fuseplug levee was blown…
* This website will be co-sponsoring a fundraising event next month for Little Egypt towns hurt by the flood. Stay tuned for more details and lots of haranguing from me.
Illinois in 2011 is on pace to provide much more money in financial incentive programs to businesses to retain and add jobs, with the total through early May exceeding $230 million pledged to 27 companies.
To put this into perspective, that’s almost as much money as Quinn handed out all of last year, but to half as many companies ($236 million to 53 companies), and almost twice as much as he handed out in all of 2009 ($116 million to 47 companies).
Not all of that money will be spent this year, of course. Motorola Mobility’s $117 million (half of this year’s announced amount) is a ten-year dealio.
The identities of 21 of the 27 companies receiving a total $53.1 million were not disclosed in a list provided to the Tribune on Tuesday by the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The company names weren’t released because of nondisclosure agreements with the companies, because contracts have not been finalized or because employees had not been told of plans at the companies in question, department spokeswoman Marcelyn Love said in a statement.
A breakthrough of sorts came when Illinois Chamber of Commerce chief Doug Whitley, as reported in Capitol Fax [yesterday] morning, said a deal “in principle” has been reached to cut medical costs but not to implement “causation” language that biz really, really wanted.
Another business leader, Illinois Manufacturers. Assn. chief Greg Baise, confirms that, if forthcoming language says what it’s supposed to say, “we would be supportive.”
The big difference between what reportedly has been agreed to now and what was proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration a few weeks ago is that the Democrats have agreed to require arbitrators to use American Medical Assn. guidelines to set the level of impairment.
But “causation” language that any injury must have been mostly caused at work is out.
Arlington Heights officials have declared their support for a plan to add slot machines at the village’s horse track, and state legislators say they hope to resurrect the gambling expansion measure that would allow the new machines.
Breaking with past resistance, an informal conversation among trustees at Monday night’s Village Board meeting found the majority in favor of adding slots at Arlington Park.
A plan to add slots wouldn’t require the village’s approval, but state legislators asked the village for an opinion. Mayor Arlene Mulder said Monday night she would draft a letter summarizing the village trustees’ stances, which ranged from lukewarm to enthusiastic.
Park officials argue the slots are vital to the track’s survival, and Mulder said the village had to act to help “preserve the viability of thoroughbred racing in Illinois and in Arlington Heights.”
* But not all legislators were enthused or persuaded by the informal support…
And Rep. Fred Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, said he’s on the fence as well and called the board’s support “weak.”
“If anything, it sheds light on that it’s a very controversial issue,” Crespo said.
Whether the controversial issue even gets voted on in Springfield this year remains an open question.
Supporters of gambling expansion have taken preliminary steps to prepare for a vote in the final two weeks of lawmakers’ annual session in Springfield. But the last several attempts at expanding gambling in Illinois have fizzled under heavy and complex political pressures.
* Biz roundup…
* Automatic rate hikes zapped in IL energy bill: llinois power companies seeking money to modernize will have to do without a change that would have let them raise rates first and ask for state approval second, a key lawmaker said Tuesday.
* State’s top court hears arguments for scrapping $31B building plan
* Illinois high court hears argument on construction plan
