* The State Board of Education is considering recommending legislation that could lead to pay-to-ride school buses…
Right now, the state reimburses school districts for a fixed percentage of whatever they spend on transportation. Under the new proposal, officials would determine the average statewide costs of getting students to and from school. Then, districts would be reimbursed for their costs up to that average level. That would encourage districts that spend more than the average to find ways of cutting costs.
As part of this approach, officials might eliminate the requirement that districts provide free transportation for students, which would allow some schools to charge a fee to recoup costs above the state average. Currently, districts must transport students who live more than 1.5 miles away from school, but changes could raise the threshold to two or more miles and follow routes with bus stops farther from students’ homes.
“I think you would have the potential to see transportation operations run more like municipal school buses, where we are just going to run certain routes, stop in certain places, students would pay a token or dollar and if you get on, you’re on and if you weren’t there, you didn’t,” Jim Lovelace, director of operations for the Ball-Chatham School District, told The (Springfield) State Journal-Register.
In theory, a district could even eliminate buses entirely, although Vanover said that would be unlikely.
State funding for school transportation has been slashed 42 percent since 2010.
* The Question: Could you support allowing local school districts to charge fees to ride buses? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
* Congressman Jesse Jckson, Jr. held a “symbolic” groundbreaking ceremony over the weekend for the third Chicago airport…
“We have found … developers who are willing to put up $700 million of their own dollars and backed by a guarantee from the government of Canada,” Jackson said in remarks broadcast by WBBM Radio. “And they want to be on this land by June 1 of this year. … Together, we can and we will build our future.”
With gospel music blaring and angry picketers shouting, pastors prayed, preached and sprinkled holy water over the site of the proposed airport near Peotone on Saturday morning. […]
Things got a bit dicier Saturday when Jackson and his supporters traveled out to a country road that lies in the footprint of the proposed airport.
There, Jackson and a group of pastors stood on a flatbed trailer, spoke, prayed and sprinkled holy water on the ground. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on the shoulder of the road.
A smaller group representing those opposed to the airport were there, too, carrying signs such as “Caution Snakes,” “Jackson Lies, Crops Die” and “Make Food, Not Pollution.”
The group stood in a field behind Jackson’s flatbed trailer holding the signs, shouting “Liar” and “Jesus wouldn’t do this to us” while he and others spoke.
Their shouts were largely muffled by the gospel music and speaker system on the trailer. Police and members of Jackson’s entourage attempted to keep the groups separate.
* But opposition to the third airport comes from far higher up the political and economic food chain than a few protesters…
This past week, Jeff Smisek, CEO of United Airlines parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc., said a third airport in Chicago would bring the city more harm than good and that there’s no demand for a new airport. Meanwhile, Emanuel has proposed expanding O’Hare International airport, saying it would be like adding a third airport without actually building a new one.
* And there’s more trouble for SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., which would fund the site’s construction…
Earlier this year, the firm caught flak for its dealings with the deposed Gadhafi clan in Libya. Then a couple of weeks ago, SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime abruptly resigned amid an internal probe of what the company said were $56 million in inappropriate payments to undisclosed agents.
Neither the firm nor the agents have said who those agents were. But there’s been lots of speculation in the Canadian media.
Chicago-area coverage has been minimal. But you can bet your runway that it’s been noticed in Mr. Quinn’s office, which now has a nice cudgel with which to beat back any rising Peotone interest.
Team Jackson says that SNC-Lavalin is a really big firm that surely can survive this. But, at a minimum, the company’s woes undercut the congressman’s bargaining position.
Jackson implored Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to release more than 2,000 acres of land that the state has purchased so far to the possible development of an airport for the south suburbs to bring thousands of jobs and prosperity.
Jackson said a developer from Canada wants to use private funds to develop the first phase of the airport: a runway with five gates. He said the backers want to start construction to start by June 1st.
In the end, Jackson said, opposition by Emanuel and others don’t much matter, but that Quinn holds the key.
“We must win Quinn. We don’t need to win anyone else. The person who controls the lease to this land is Governor Pat Quinn. The governor and the governor alone controls our future and with the stroke of his pin he can eliminate poverty in the south land,” Jackson said.
* Add former state agriculture director Becky Doyle to the list of wannabe appointees in the 13th Congressional District…
Doyle, 58, spent eight years as state agriculture director during Gov. Jim Edgar’s administration. She now is a consultant with The Context Network, which is based in Iowa. She and her husband, Ken, also are pork producers near Gillespie.
Doyle did fundraising and government relations for the United Nations World Food Program from 2001-2005. She was based in Rome.
* I’m also hearing that Chairman Parrott is very enthused about former Miss America Erika Harold as a candidate…
McLean County Republican Chairman John Parrott, one of the 14 chairmen in counties in the new 13th who will pick Johnson’s successor on the ballot, said he met Harold at a Republican event in Champaign last week.
“I think she’s an incredible candidate, extremely articulate,” Parrott said. He said she has a “great resume.”
“I think she’s an extremely viable candidate,” Parrott said, adding that he’s not yet casting a ballot. “One of the things that I think the Republican Party needs is a minority, conservative lady to be a part of the congressional delegation.” Harold is black.
But another Republican who had considered seeking the nomination, state Sen. Kyle McCarter of Lebanon, decided against it and said Monday he would run for reelection to his Senate seat.
McCarter had asserted last week that Johnson’s retirement was manipulated to help his former chief of staff, Jerry Clarke of Urbana, become the GOP choice.
“You know what’s really insulting about this? It didn’t just happen,” McCarter charged. “There was talk of this happening a year ago, and it’s a real insult to the people. Like I said, their vote was taken away from them.”
* Could there also be an independent candidate? Maybe…
John Hartman of Edwardsville, the chief financial officer of a St. Louis medical technology firm, is collecting signatures to run as an independent candidate in the 13th Congressional District that stretches from Champaign-Urbana on the northeast to Madison County on the southwest. […]
Hartman, 56, will need the signatures of at least 5,000 registered voters in the district by June 25 in order to get on the November general election ballot.
“I think I can do it. I’ve been working pretty hard,” he said. “I ask stores where there is foot traffic if they will let me courteously ask their customers for a signature. And I stand on the public sidewalks in front of post offices.”
He said he has been all over the district, including in Champaign County, in search of signatures. “I spent a good day in Champaign about 10 days ago,” he said.
* 11th Congressional District cash race neck-and-neck: Biggert has raised nearly $1.3 million and has $1.22 million cash on hand. Foster has raised $1.23 million and has just under $1 million cash on hand.
* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno says the Democrats should just go it alone on a cigarette tax hike to help patch Medicaid’s gaping funding hole if that’s what they want to do…
“The problem is that it is a revenue solution to a spending problem. We’re looking for money rather than looking at the spending side, and it’s that default position that has gotten us exactly into the mess we’re in,” Radogno told a City Club of Chicago audience.
Noting that Democrats, who control the General Assembly, last year passed a state income tax increase without any Republican support, Radogno said, “They can pass the cigarette tax increase on their own if that’s what they want to do.”
Though we support the tax, we also recognize there’s room for debate. The administration estimates gross savings from enhancing enforcement of Medicaid eligibility rules to be $120 million. The Illinois Hospital Association believes the savings could be triple that — and up to $720 million with a federal match.
And if the state doesn’t realize that extra $480 million from enforcement savings? Another big budget hole is what. Still, the IHA’s numbers are definitely worth a hard look.
“What we have to look at is the total (state) funding for education that goes in to the city of Chicago,” she said. “Chicago is treated differently in a number of areas, in fact, favorably in a number of (funding) areas relative to downstate and suburban schools, and those need to be addressed at the same time there’s any discussion about a shift in responsibility for pension costs.” […]
“The savings from the shift are not significant enough to derail it over this issue. It should be set aside.”
Also a good point about Chicago’s share of education funding, but that’s kinda apples and oranges since the funding is based on a specific formula. Also, the savings from a funding shift would be pretty darned big, particularly over time.
* Meanwhile, I’d never heard of this scam until today…
At least five states (Florida, Georgia, Maine, Utah and West Virginia) have enacted laws that target “tax-zapper” software that essentially allows businesses to keep two sets of books, the Associated Press has reported.
By plugging a flash drive into cash registers, the software lets businesses under report taxable sales. The new state laws make it illegal to possess or install devices that falsify a cash register’s electronic records. Other states considering such measures include Oklahoma, Indiana, New York, Tennessee and Michigan, AP reported.
Richard Ainsworth, a Boston University tax law professor who has studied the issue, estimates that 30 percent of businesses that primarily rely on cash transactions are using tax zappers. In the restaurant industry alone in California, the loss from zappers was estimated at $2.8 billion three years ago and in New York $1.7 billion, Ainsworth says.
During business hours, cashiers record the true sales and give customers accurate receipts. A log of real sales can also be stored electronically.
But after hours, a memory stick that contains the zapper is inserted to remove a given amount in sales from the day’s receipts, say, $500. For each altered transaction, the zapper will also re-total and recalculate the receipt. That changes the tax due and produces a second set of books.
Boston University tax law professor Richard Ainsworth, an authority on the issue, estimates that 30 percent of the predominantly cash businesses in the states are using tax zappers.
* The reason I heard about this today was that Rep. Jack Franks has introduced a bill to ban the zappers. From a press release…
Legislation barring the use of tax-cheating software was introduced by state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) to crack down on a practice of falsifying cash register electronic records by skimming receipts, thereby lowering sales taxes owed.
“The vast majority of Illinois businesses play by the rules and are put at a competitive disadvantage by this unlawful practice,” Franks said. “We have an obligation to stop those perpetrating tax fraud and harming honest businesses struggling to thrive in challenging economic times.” […]
“The notion that billions in state revenue could have been lost due to businesses cooking their books is unconscionable,” continued Franks. “Though it is already illegal to cheat on taxes, these devices have created an easy way for businesses to illegally lower their taxable income that is hard to track. We must act to ban the possession or installation of tax-zappers in Illinois.”
Dr. Richard L. Harvey, Medical Director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) Center for Stroke Rehabilitation today provided the following update on Senator Mark Kirk’s condition:
“Senator Kirk remains fully engaged in all aspects of his rehabilitation program. He is mentally sharp, and meets with his staff nearly every day to discuss policy issues and global current events. Senator Kirk is working very hard in daily therapy sessions to increase his strength and mobility, and has walked more than 10 miles in total since his arrival at RIC. In addition he is climbing stairs and getting in and out of vehicles. We are quite pleased with his ongoing recovery.”
Additionally, Senator Kirk will soon begin participating in a unique research trial at RIC that will last several weeks. The trial is focused on improving gait pattern through an intense regimen of continuous walking over flat surfaces, on stairs and on a treadmill every day. One of more than 200 research projects at RIC, the trial is open to participants who are one to six months post-stroke and not yet back to their pre-stroke walking pace.
The 90,000 gallon tank is home to more than 400 tropical reef animals, including sharks, stingrays, eel, a sea turtle and a host of colorful fish. […]
“They offered me the opportunity to come into the tanks, help clean the tanks, draw awareness particularly with the Guinness Book of World Records large picnic attempt trying to be made. Of such things, even we individuals in our own lives can help mother earth,” Rutherford said.
His visit was part of the aquarium’s Picnic for the Planet celebration. It’s part of an attempt to set a world record for the most outdoor picnics in 24 hours across the globe.
The bill is the result of a 2008 law, the Plastic Bag Recycling Act, which called for — you guessed it — a task force to study the Plastic Bag Problem. How to solve it? Here’s what is in the bill, now before the House:
•Require manufacturers of plastic bags and plastic wrap to register annually with the IEPA and pay a $500 fee.
•Require manufacturers of plastic bags to print their company names on the bags.
•Require manufacturers of plastic bags to create and maintain a plan for collecting and recycling plastic bags and submit their plan to the IEPA. That plan must include collection locations and a public education campaign.
•Require manufacturers of plastic bags to submit a report to the IEPA annually with a description of recycling and collection efforts, including weight in pounds of the bags — and plastic wrap — collected.
It gets worse. Retailers — from your local grocer to your Chinese carry-out — would be prohibited from buying plastic bags from manufacturers who aren’t following all the rules.
Yet the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, which represents store owners, and the plastics industry support the bill. Why? We suspect it’s because the bill blocks every town outside of Chicago from putting a ban, a tax or regulation on plastic bags. The bill even says plastic bag recycling is a state function.
This sets up a big state regulatory scheme and stomps on the authority of local government.
The Senate passed the bill 36 -15. The House should stop it.
You wonder how government gets so big? How state statute books grow by the inch each year? How spending goes up here and there, everywhere?
This is how.
Those are all decent points, but there is another side to this story. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association prefers consistent laws across the state, mainly because so many of its members are chain stores that operate in many different towns and counties. So, I can easily see why IRMA would back this change.
Cities across the country are passing or taking up plastic bag bans on their own. If it’s done right, getting out in front of what could end up as a crazy local patchwork quilt of varying ordinances and penalties can definitely be a good thing.
“I’ll tell you many (Senate) members that you meet in Chicago, they come from an entitlement mentality, that you are entitled to things,” LaHood said. “That’s not what made our country great. You can work hard, get an education, and the sky is the limit in this country. Many of you have done that … but it’s not about being entitled to things. That has permeated through many parts of our urban cities and that, in turn, affects many of the legislators. That entitlement mentality, I don’t think has served us very well in certain aspects of our society.”
That’s more than a little ironic at a time when so many Downstate legislators are fighting hard to keep their local state facilities open.
Tuesday, Apr 24, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The proposed Taylorville Energy Center coal plant would leave Illinois families and businesses paying nine times today’s market price for electricity every year for the next 30 years. That’s a cost increase to customers of $400 million every year, which would add up to $12 billion over the lifetime of this project.
Illinois already produces 30% more electricity than its residents use, meaning consumers would be forced to pay more for power we don’t even need.
In 2010 the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) concluded, “The TEC facility features high costs to ratepayers with uncertain future benefits, and uncertainties that potentially add to already-significant costs.” What’s more, natural gas and electricity prices have sharply decreased since the ICC’s study, meaning the Taylorville Energy Center has grown even more costly relative to alternatives.
As a result of the Taylorville Energy Center:
• Local governments and vital service providers would face huge new costs at a time when budgets are already strapped;
• Illinois employers and job-creators would be subject to nearly limitless financial risk from cost overruns and construction delays; and
• Illinois residents would battle more pollution due to the lax emissions limits project developer Tenaska has pursued.
The bottom line: the Taylorville Energy Center would send your hard earned money up in smoke for power that we don’t need. Tell your legislator to oppose SB 678 or any legislation that supports this unnecessary project.
