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Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column takes on a familiar topic…

I talked with former state Sen. Howie Carroll last week about state Rep. Bill Mitchell’s (R-Forsyth) proposal to kick Chicago and suburban Cook County out of Illinois.

Mitchell’s resolution has just a tiny number of co-sponsors, but he’s managed to get himself lots of statewide and national media coverage. He clearly appears to be enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, claiming that his region of the state is tired of paying for Chicago’s costly, liberal programs.

Carroll knows all too well about breaking the state in two because he sponsored just such a resolution back in 1981. Carroll, a Chicago Democrat, proposed to make Cook County a separate state. Newspaper accounts at the time said the resolution was introduced in the midst of heated fighting between Chicago-area and downstate legislators over funding for mass transit.

Carroll’s proposal flew out of the Senate on a voice vote. He claimed that once the state was divided in two, downstaters would finally realize that Cook County was paying a lot of their expenses.

Everybody thought Carroll had devised a fine joke — just another in the long line of shots that Chicago legislators were taking at downstaters and vice versa. State Sen. Roger Sommer (R-Morton) told United Press International that he could score points with the folks back home by voting for Carroll’s proposal.

“This is something my constituents have wanted for a long time,” Sommer said.

Carroll’s resolution soon zipped through the House as well. But then House Speaker George Ryan’s lawyers took a closer look and realized that Carroll had exactly followed the U.S. Constitution’s requirements for mandating a congressional vote on splitting an existing state into two.

Carroll wasn’t joking.

Speaker Ryan ordered one of his House members to file a “motion to reconsider” the next day to prevent the resolution from automatically being transmitted to Congress (governors have no say on resolutions). Without that action, Congress would’ve taken a vote on Carroll’s demand.

The debate at the heart of Carroll’s resolution still rages today. Many, if not most, downstaters assume that their taxes are subsidizing Chicago, and Chicagoans tend to have an outsized estimate of how much revenue they’re generating for the rest of Illinois.

A regional analysis of state expenditures versus state revenue hasn’t been done in many years. The General Assembly’s Legislative Research Unit has refused to conduct a new study because of the uproar created the last time it did.

That last report, in 1987, found that the suburbs (including suburban Cook) paid 46 percent of state taxes but got back just 27 percent of state spending.

Downstate was the biggest “tax eater,” paying 33 percent of the state’s taxes while benefiting from 47 percent of the state’s spending, according to the report. It also said Chicago paid 21 percent of the taxes and got 25 percent of the spending.

A few months ago, the highly respected Taxpayers Federation of Illinois published a study of state tax collections. Downstate paid 30 percent of all the personal income and state sales taxes collected in 2009, despite having 35 percent of the population.

Chicago and suburban Cook County paid 40 percent of the two taxes, while having 40.5 percent of the population. About even. And the suburban collar counties paid 30 percent of the two taxes, while having only 24 percent of the population.

Again, we see that the Chicago suburbs are paying an outsized load, while downstate isn’t holding up its end.

The taxpayers federation didn’t look at the corporate income tax. There are a lot more corporations in Chicago and the suburbs compared to downstate.

An official with the federation told me they hope to soon do a regional spending study. But it’s not looking good for downstate’s case. It simply doesn’t have the kind of money that exists in the Chicago area.

Downstate generated just 29 percent of the state’s personal income in 2009, while Cook County had almost 45 percent. And downstate roads, schools, etc. rely heavily on state assistance.

Mitchell and lots of other downstaters might still want to kick Cook County out of Illinois, but, whether they like it or not, taxes and (most likely) spending can’t be used as an excuse.

The Taxpayers Federation study is here.

* Roundup…

* Top Ten Things to Know About Illinois’ Prisons in 2011

* 2012 brings more than 200 new laws to state

* Tax increase, impact, dominate Illinois Capitol in 2011

* Economy, elections could mean rough 2012 for Illinois

* Video: 2011 Year in Review

* New rules govern everything from seat belts in back seats to hotel smoke detectors

* Local police ready for new laws

* With new year come new tax, fee hikes

* A Look Back At The Budget Battle In The Capitol

* Illinois Bikers Can Run Red Lights Sometimes, But Not In Chicago

* Washington: Some toasts and takedowns of 2011

* Illinois implements new security laws for 2012

* Illinois law intended to improve truck routing

* Bakke: Springfield Christmases past

* Schoenburg: A few things we can hope for in 2012

* Top Quinn aides, U.S. Rep. Jackson meet on Peotone

* Mayoral Bill Misses Cut, Not Dead Yet

* Quinn signs law that tweaks smart grid
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32 Comments

Question of the day

Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The setup, from WBEZ…

Illinois Lottery officials want to offer lottery tickets over the Internet by next spring, and they’re closer to their ambitions now that the federal government recently gave the OK for states to create and regulate in-state, online sales of lottery tickets and other gaming products.

Both the state and gambling critics agree selling lottery tickets online could be a financial boon for state coffers, but such a development could come at a hefty social cost, said Anita Bedell, the head of the anti-gambling group Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems.

“Well, it could be a boon … but at the expense of addicted gamblers,” Bedell said, adding that simple mouse clicks could prove too enticing for some gamblers.

“They could gamble on home computers, from the office, they could gamble on their cell phones, on their iPhones,” she said. “So, it’s making gambling too accessible.”

* The Question: Do you support or oppose allowing Illinoisans to purchase lottery tickets on the Internet? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.

Online Surveys & Market Research

53 Comments

The Sears story may not be over

Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* So, last week Sears announced it would close 100-120 stores. The news prompted a media uproar in Illinois because the state had just given Sears some big tax incentives. Nevermind that the subsidy was designed to keep the headquarters in Illinois, not keep stores open.

But then, lo and behold, no Illinois stores were on Sears’ closure list when the list was released a few days later. Apparently, Gov. Pat Quinn reached out to the company…

Earlier [last] week, Gov. Pat Quinn said he hoped the state wouldn’t see many closures, given the large tax breaks the state just approved to lure the retail giant to keep its corporate base in Hoffman Estates.

“The governor had a good, long conversation with Sears CEO Lou D’Ambrosio [last week],” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said Thursday. “And we’re pleased with today’s outcome.”

Does anyone else find it a bit odd that Sears originally said they were closing at least 100 stores and then produced a list of 79 stores slated for closure? I’m wondering whether Gov. Quinn merely forestalled the inevitable. If he did, that’s some temporary good news for those workers. I can’t argue with that. But this story may not be over.

* Meanwhile, the governor wants to get rid of something that he created when he signed the tax cut package into law…

Embedded in the legislation that gave tax breaks to Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was a measure to allow individuals and businesses to challenge tax assessments by using a third person, rather than going directly to the Department of Revenue. This “tax tribunal” must be operating by 2013, under the law.

It’s something Gov. Pat Quinn says has no benefit to everyday homeowners, calling it “not No. 1 on my hit parade.”

“I can tell you I doubt very much a regular homeowner is going to be spending much time before a tax tribunal,” Quinn said. “This is more for big corporations with lots of lawyers and accountants and people in three-piece suits that spend their lives trying to keep the corporations from paying their taxes.”

Background…

The law calls for a so-called tax tribunal to be set up by 2013. Details are still to be worked out, but the idea is to give taxpayers, whether individuals and businesses, the chance to protest assessments to someone not answering to the Illinois Department of Revenue, which assesses taxes in the first place and currently has last word on appeals.

The move is a way for Illinois lawmakers to show business interests they are serious about tax reform and fairness, said Senate Revenue Committee Chairwoman Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields), who sponsored the bill.

Currently, an Illinois taxpayer who wants to challenge an assessment may file a protest — but through the Revenue Department. An administrative law judge, a position created in 1995, hears the case, but the final decision is made by the Revenue director. A taxpayer may bypass the administrative review and challenge the assessment in circuit court, but the person or business first must pay the tax into a protest fund.

“If you want to challenge a decision by the Revenue Department, you have to challenge the people who said you were wrong,” Hutchinson said. “We’re looking for more fairness.”

Thoughts?

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The Cardinal doubles down

Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* So, instead of disavowing his previous statement or just letting sleeping dogs lie, Cardinal George doubled down last week…

Setting off a new round in his dispute with gay right activists, Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has issued a statement defending his recent comparison of the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan.

George’s initial comments came in connection with a controversy over whether next summer’s gay pride parade would interrupt morning services at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Lakeview neighborhood.

That dispute was resolved last week, but the cardinal’s KKK comparison – and his new explanation of those comments – have kept the controversy boiling.

“Organizers (of the pride parade) invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church,” the cardinal said in a statement issued Tuesday. “One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.”

A whole lot of politicians march in that parade every year. The Cardinal has just thrown down a very big gauntlet: If you march in that parade, you’re no better than a Klansman.

Wow. Just, wow.

* By the way, the decision to alter the parade route and move the start time up to 10 o’clock from noon was made in conjunction with the city, including the mayor’s office. That little factoid has been all but ignored by the media since this controversy broke.

Also, I’m told that an agreement to move the start time back to noon was hammered out with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church (which objected to the new, earlier start time because it would inconvenience parishioners) two days before the Cardinal made his original KKK remarks.

* It’s difficult to disagree with the Tribune’s editorial…

Responding to the blowback, a diocesan spokeswoman said the remarks were taken out of context and suggested people listen to the entire interview. We did. They aren’t. George reiterated them on Wednesday, issuing a statement just when things might have been dying down.

* This topic has generated some heated comments in the past. But I want you to take a very deep breath before you comment today. Keep in mind that two wrongs do not make a right.

52 Comments

Report: One in three hospitals are in the red

Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The bad news just never ends…

Medicaid payment delays of up to six months are causing fits for supportive living centers throughout Illinois, and some owners are worried they may have to close if the situation doesn’t improve soon. […]

The delay followed the end of the economic stimulus program, which sent more than $3 billion in additional federal Medicaid funds to Illinois over a 27-month period and required the state to pay Medicaid providers promptly. […]

One of every three Illinois hospitals is operating in the red, and officials at many of those hospitals say Medicaid delays add to their financial burden. […]

Nursing home industry spokeswoman Pat Comstock, executive director of the Health Care Council of Illinois, said a notice from state officials Friday indicates many nursing homes may receive checks in January for services rendered to Medicaid patients in July.

That’s good news, Comstock said, but there’s no guarantee that monthly checks — even for services provided six months earlier — will be sent in February and beyond. Nursing homes are owed a total of $800 million in Medicaid payments, she said.

Oy.

* Meanwhile, the House Speaker won’t even sign off on what a lot of people believe is a no-brainer budget cut…

Illinois does have a chance to consolidate two elective statewide offices that are occupied by incumbents who thoroughly support the idea. Springfield should seize the moment.

The offices are those of state comptroller and state treasurer. The central responsibilities of those offices — investing the state’s money and paying the bills — could easily be managed by just one.

The incumbents, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and Treasurer Dan Rutherford, say merging the offices could save $12 million a year by eliminating duplication. Topinka has held both jobs.

Earlier this year, legislation that would have paved the way for the merger was introduced in Springfield. It would have put the question to voters in a 2012 referendum. If the referendum passed, it would have created the new consolidated office of comptroller of the treasury starting in 2014. The legislation breezed through the Senate, but was blocked in the House by Speaker Michael Madigan.

The two separate offices were created by the 1970 Illinois Constitution in reaction to a 1950s scandal uncovered by the Chicago Daily News in which state Auditor Orville Hodge embezzled $6.15 million by altering and forging checks.

A spokesman said Madigan, a Democrat, believes the division of the offices, in which the treasurer invests the money and the comptroller writes the checks, remains a necessary precaution. Cynics might suggest that Madigan’s record indicates the only consolidation of power he’s ever shown interest in is his own.

Tax hikes, tollway rate increases, etc., etc. The Democrats had better start making some high profile budget cuts this year or they are gonna pay dearly come November.

14 Comments

Let’s ease our way back in

Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We have a lot of ground to cover today since I was off last week. While I figure out where to start, how about you tell us what you did over the holiday?

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Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

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