* No surprise here…
An Illinois legislative commission opposes Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to close two prisons and a center for people with developmental disabilities.
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability voted 7-3 Tuesday against closing prisons in Tamms and Dwight. It also advised against closing the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia.
The panel’s action is only advisory. Quinn can still close the facilities, which he says must be done to cut spending and improve care for people with mental disabilities.
* More…
The commission agreed with the plan to close an office of the Department of Children and Family Services in the Chicago area. But it voted down the Administration’s closure plans for Tamms, the Murray Center for the Developmentally Disabled at Centralia, Dwight Correctional Center, the Illinois Youth Center at Joliet, and two adult transitional correctional centers in Chicago and Joliet.
* This is odd…
n a surprise, the commission’s chairman, Sen. Jeffrey Schoenberg, D-Evanston, said the City of Centralia had proposed in recent days that the Murray Center campus be made available for private use, if it were to close.
Schoenberg said the sate had received “some documentation from the City of Centralia, in the last couple of days, sketching out a proposal” for a consortium of not-for-profit groups to acquire the campus.
After the commission’s meeting, Centralia Mayor Tom Ashby said the city had made no such proposal. Ashby said he thinks it was “just something that was suggested by the commission.” […]
Two area lawmakers, Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, and Rep. Paul Evans, R-O’Fallon said it was the first they’d heard of such a proposal.
*** UPDATE *** From AFSCME…
AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer issued the following statement in response to votes today by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) rejecting Governor Quinn’s proposed closures of Dwight Correctional Center (by a vote of 7-3), Joliet Illinois Youth Center (5-5), Murray Developmental Center (7-3), Peoria Adult Transition Center (10-0), Tamms Correctional Center (7-3) and Westside Adult Transition Center (5-5).
“We applaud the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability for rejecting Governor Quinn’s wrongful and damaging closure threats. The commission voted to protect essential public services and preserve more than 2,000 Illinois jobs.
“The governor’s push to force individuals with disabilities out of their homes, reduce mental health treatment, jeopardize prison safety, end reentry programs and put thousands of public servants out of work are the wrong priorities for Illinois.
“The commission’s work is an example of good government in action. COGFA brings together lawmakers from both parties, both chambers and every part of the state who along with their diligent staff studied Governor Quinn’s proposals. Unlike the governor, they toured the facilities, visited the communities and listened to testimony from employees, advocates, local officials, individuals and families. In stark contrast to the Quinn Administration, they considered all the evidence, reached the sensible conclusion and rejected each of the closures.
“We call on Governor Quinn to listen to the commission and withdraw his ill-considered closure plans, and we urge the legislature to make sure all state facilities are fully funded in the 2013 budget.”
COGFA also clarified that absent any motions made to reconsider, its previous votes stand, rejecting the threatened closures of Jacksonville Developmental Center, Murphysboro Illinois Youth Center, Singer Mental Health Center and Tinley Park Mental Health Center.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There were a lot of lowlights from yesterday’s arraignment of Rep. Derrick Smith. Here’s a quote from Smith…
“God gives us all a cross to bear and this lawsuit is mine.”
Um, excuse me, Representative, but this is no mere lawsuit you’re facing. You’ve been indicted on federal bribery charges. Perhaps you need to look up the difference between civil and criminal matters.
* Mark Brown talked to some Chicago politicians who backed Smith in the Democratic primary against a white Republican who appeared to be campaigning as a black Democrat…
“I’m a bit disappointed quite frankly,” Congressman Danny K. Davis told me Monday after learning of Smith’s comments. “I would have hoped that Rep. Smith would have resigned his position as a member of the General Assembly.” To be clear, Davis would like him to resign his spot on the ballot as well.
Davis, who headlined the group that urged a vote for Smith after his arrest, said he did so because he “thought it was for the greater good of the district.”
At this time, “the greatest good would be served if Rep. Smith would put people out of their agony [by resigning]. Only he can do that,” Davis added.
Davis said he appreciates that Smith is in a difficult position and he’s entitled to the presumption of innocence, but added: “Sometimes you have to put the good of the group before your individual self.”
Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), chairman of the West Side Black Elected Officials who convened the pre-election press conference backing Smith, also said he should resign.
“The sooner the better,” Mitts told me. “He’s got enough to deal with without holding the district hostage.”
Mitts said Democratic committeemen whose wards encompass Smith’s 10th legislative district are preparing to run an independent candidate against him if he doesn’t step aside. That effort is being organized by Secretary of State Jesse White, Smith’s political mentor, who engineered his appointment.
* And WBEZ had a doozy of a quote from Smith’s attorney…
Henderson said the case reminds him of a poem.
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist,” Henderson said, reading a printout from the website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I am not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak to, for me.”
That poem is about Germans who ignored Nazi actions.
Asked if he was really comparing Derrick Smith’s case to the Holocaust, Henderson replied that when the government does something wrong, everyone has “an obligation to stand up.”
“Today it’s Derrick Smith,” he said. “Who is it tomorrow? That’s the point of [my reading] the poem.”
Oy.
* The Question: Derrick Smith is to _____ as Rod Blagojevich is to _____?
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* The Republicans want to intensely vet the folks who want to be appointed to the ballot in the 13th Congressional District in the wake of Congressman Tim Johnson’s retirement. They’ve devised a questionnaire and some of the questions are pretty basic…
Have you ever been delinquent with personal, business or property taxes?
Is your voter registration current with your current election authority?
Have you ever voted in the primary of any political party other than the Republican Party?
* But some are fare more personal…
Have you ever been denied car insurance or had car insurance cancelled?
Has any member of your immediate family filed for bankruptcy?
Has the IRS audited you or your business or family business?
An IRS audit doesn’t mean anything unless the IRS found something bad. Even then, it’s usually no big deal.
* And this set of questions appears to be directly aimed at Jerry Clarke, who once worked for the House Republican operation, which was the subject of a federal probe years ago…
Have you ever been questioned by state or federal authorities in connection with the alleged commission of a crime? If so, when? If applicable, did you provide testimony or material evidence (testimony or documents) in the case? What was the ultimate disposition of that case?
Have you ever testified or been served with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury, trial court, administrative or regulatory agency? If so, provide all details.
Have you ever been served with a subpoena to produce records to a grand jury, trial court, administrative or regulatory agency? If so, provide all details.
That’s one more possible nail in the coffin.
* They also want a “one-page outline demonstrating how you will win the 13th Congressional District.” But as Jon Zahm points out, not a single policy question was asked.
* Meanwhile, Common Cause wants Attorney General Lisa Madigan to investigate the American Legislative Exchange Council to check to see if it’s in compliance with state tax and lobbying laws. From a press release…
On the heels of filing a whistleblower complaint with the IRS charging abuse of federal tax laws, Common Cause Illinois today asked Attorney General Lisa Madigan to look into the tax status of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Illinois.
ALEC is registered in Illinois with the Attorney General’s Office as a charitable organization, and at the federal level, where it enjoys tax-exempt status under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. A letter delivered to Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Tuesday, May 1st, charges that ALEC is primarily a lobbying organization and may therefore be in violation of its tax exempt status. Common Cause Illinois is calling on the Attorney General to review ALEC’s 990 form and investigate their activities to ensure that they are in compliance with state tax and lobbying laws.
“ALEC is a corporate lobby front group masquerading as a public charity on the taxpayers’ dime. Illinoisans shouldn’t have to subsidize ALEC’s agenda to limit voting rights, undermine our public schools, spread Stand Your Ground gun laws, and weaken laws protecting our environment. Tax fraud is illegal, which is why Common Cause Illinois is calling on the Attorney General to review ALEC’s registration as a charity and whether its lobbying activities in Illinois are being properly disclosed,” said Rey López-Calderón, Executive Director of Common Cause Illinois.
Common Cause Illinois’ letter comes just days after the national organization of Common Cause filed a whistleblower complaint with the IRS on the grounds that ALEC is flouting federal tax laws by posing as a tax-exempt charity while spending millions of dollars to lobby for hundreds of bills each year in state legislatures across the country. The complaint was filed on Common Cause’s behalf, pro bono, by the prominent whistleblower law firm Phillips & Cohen LLP, under the Tax Whistleblower Act of 2006.
The full complaint is here.
* Related…
* Watchdog groups file FEC complaint against U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock: “Rep. Schock and Leader Cantor’s campaign spokesman Ray Allen told Roll Call in no uncertain terms that a solicitation was made for $25,000, which amounts to a public confession to a clear violation of the law,” said Paul S. Ryan, Campaign Legal Center senior counsel, in a statement. “The FEC must pursue this violation by Rep. Schock or the agency would in effect be green-lighting candidates soliciting multimillion-dollar contributions to the ostensibly ‘independent’ super PACs that have been doing the dirty work of presidential candidates in the primaries — an activity expressly banned by the agency.”
* Aaron Schock hit with FEC complaint
* Campaign Finance Watchdogs File Complaint Against Illinois Congressman
Stay on top of Chicago business with our free daily e-newsletters
* How ALEC became a political liability
* American Legislative Exchange Council to abandon gun rights, other social causes
* Legislative group turns focus amid Martin backlash
* Did the American Legislative Exchange Council Give Me the Full Story?
* ALEC’s ‘ghostwriting’ legislation an excellent practice
* ALEC valuable resource for good public policy in Idaho
* American Legislative Exchange Council has a hand in S.C. politics
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There They Go Again: Nine Times? $12 Billion? Really?
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Opponents of SB 678 and the Taylorville Energy Center have a math problem.
Since Illinois law limits any rate increase associated with the project to 2.015% over 30 years, or about $1.67/month for a “typical residential customer” according to the ICC, their math has to be pretty creative to scare the public.
After all, if they were honest and said, “it may cost you less than a ½ gallon of gas per month,” few people would be too concerned. Instead they’ve unleashed their robocall invasion around the state to scare seniors into believing electric bills will go up NINE times, which is only an 898% exaggeration.
And because an 898% exaggeration wasn’t enough, last month Exelon paid $40,000 for a bogus study claiming the Taylorville rate impact has spiked.
The Truth?
While projected natural gas and power price decreases have caused a modest rate impact increase, 40% lower interest rates (which will save the project nearly $900 million over 30 years) have more than offset any increased rate impact.
Remember the SJR warning:
“ComEd would do anything necessary to protect its bottom line and keep competition away, no matter how much hyperbole and alarmism was necessary.”
Springfield Journal-Register Editorial – September 13, 2011
So next time the Exelon-funded STOP coalition tries to scare you and your constituents about SB 678 and Tenaska, remember: there they go again.
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Oh, yeah, this will soothe a lot of tensions
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This was at the bottom of a press release yesterday from Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider announcing the state’s new multi-year transportation construction program…
To ensure the continuation of the state’s capital plan and projects like these, which are putting hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents back to work, Governor Quinn has proposed necessary changes to stabilize and restructure the state’s pension and Medicaid programs after decades of fiscal mismanagement.
The proposals outline up to $85 billion in savings from changes to the pension system (based on current actuarial assumptions), and $2.7 billion in savings from restructuring Medicaid. These changes will lead to greater certainty in Illinois’ business climate and help respond to serious concerns from the ratings’ agencies.
The billions of dollars saved through these reforms are key to the state’s ability to ensure that critical capital improvement and road safety projects in Illinois are able to move forward.
* One possible translation: Kicking seniors and poor people off their health care coverage and zapping pensioners is a really great thing because we can patch more potholes! Hooray!
* Secretary Schneider defends herself...
Four years ago, the state’s road fund was responsible for $60 million in pension payments for employees responsible for road projects, Schneider said. Next year, that amount is projected at $172 million, she said.
“Without any action to address the pension problem, in just six years that pension contribution could be upwards of $400 million per year for IDOT employees at our current headcount level,” Schneider said. “We think it is a significant issue that needs to be addressed.
“I believe by addressing the issue this session it could potentially free up additional funds for transportation improvements,” Schneider said.
Similarly, she said, if the state can control Medicaid costs, it will stabilize the state’s credit rating, making it less expensive to issue bonds for road projects.
Schneider said she could not point to specific projects that could be undertaken if pension and Medicaid costs are controlled.
So, yeah, her statement has plenty of logic and facts behind it. But it’s still a bit unseemly and might possibly even enflame the debate.
And it doesn’t help that black and Latino legislators have been upset at IDOT and road contractors forever because of their truly lousy minority hiring records. They might look at this statement as tossing the poor over the side in order to employ more white men. Did anybody over there bother to think of that? Of course not. It’s IDOT.
Try harder, please.
* Related…
* U.S. investigating IDOT payments for jobs program
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Let’s see what you got, before it’s too late
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A whole lot of state employees comment here. I have no objections to that. In fact, I welcome their input and even encourage it.
But ever since Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled his pension reform plan I’ve found myself deleting more of their comments than usual. Most of the deleted comments were all heat and no light. All anger and no reason.
So, when I saw the State Journal-Register’s story today quoting four Springfield-area Republican legislators about pension and Medicaid reform, I found a passage that will help me illustrate my recent thoughts on this matter…
As for the governor’s pension plan, the four lawmakers echoed public employees’ contention that the state is to blame for underfunding the systems — but offered few solutions.
[Rep. Rich Brauer] said the state needs to see how much it can save in Medicaid first.
“They’ve used that thing as a credit card,” Brauer said of the pension system. “Now you want to punish those people (employees) who put the money in.”
* Listen, folks, when the state is talking about kicking tens (even hundreds) of thousands of some of Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens (elderly and the poor) off Medicaid programs, it’s really tough to totally sympathize with public employees. Senior citizens paid taxes their entire lives, but now health care benefits are about to be snatched away from them. So, this whole idea of how you contributed to your pension and how the state screwed up so you should now be spared any cuts at all just doesn’t pull at my heart strings.
I am opposed to this disgusting national race to the bottom. I cannot stand the argument that just because millions of people are never going to be able to retire at any sort of comfort level that public employees ought to be forced into the same nasty fate. And I fully understand our state Constitution and why it was drafted to protect pensioners.
But, I gotta tell you, I’m really growing tired of your complaints. And if you’re alienating me to this extent, imagine what effect you’re having on everybody else.
* So far, the unions and the workers have been all about criticism and nothing about alternative ideas.
And, by the way, there ain’t gonna be another tax hike. Forget it. That’s not a viable alternative and y’all know it. Don’t insult my intelligence by proposing one.
* Look, I don’t want to see any lives destroyed or irreparably harmed. My favorite uncle (who’s more like a big brother to me) is a retired state employee and I really doubt he could afford to pay his full health insurance premium.
But it’s time for some workable solutions here, and so far I’ve seen nothing from your side but anger and endlessly repeated history lesson talking points. What’s done is done, man. It’s time to move forward.
In this business you’re either part of the solution or you wind up as roadkill. Trust me when I tell you that you’re about to be the latter.
* Related…
* Civic Federation lauds Quinn’s proposed 2013 state budget: Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed fiscal 2013 state budget is getting a big thumbs-up from an unexpected source: Chicago’s Civic Federation. In somewhat of a man-bites-dog mode, the usually critical federation says Mr. Quinn’s proposed $57.4 billion budget not only “acknowledges the depth of the state’s financial problems” but would put finances “on the road to recovery with major reforms” of Medicaid and worker-pension spending.
* Civic Federation press release
* Civic Federation budget analysis
* Rural school districts prepare for cuts
* Is Illinois still a ‘union-friendly’ state? - Organized labor taking on ‘friendly-fire’ from Illinois Democrats.
* States scaling back worker pensions to save money
* State job losses drag down recovery: Since the beginning of Obama’s presidency, 611,000 state and local government jobs have been lost. That number includes 196,000 teachers, and the decrease in state and local spending caused by the job losses has played a role in the glacial pace of our economy’s recovery.
* State lawmakers consider constitutional amendment to contain pensions
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* From an e-mail to his supporters…
It has been an honor serving as your Secretary of State for over twelve years promoting positive change, improving services and restoring integrity to an office once plagued by corruption.
Our work is not done. My goals for this office are to continue to modernize customer services, fight drunk driving and to make our roads even safer. I will continue to protect our new teen drivers and to ensure that the Illinois Organ/Tissue Donor program remains the best in the country.
Because of this and more, I am seeking a fifth term for re-election as your Secretary of State in 2014. I have devoted my life to public service. Whether it was as a paratrooper in the Army, a school teacher, a legislator, a county and state elected official, or as the founder and coach of the Jesse White Tumbling Team, I have worked hard to protect and improve the lives of the people of Illinois. I ask you to partner with me once again, so that together we can continue working to make Illinois a better place for all of us to live, drive and raise our children.
I am equally proud of my electoral successes. As you may recall, in 2002 I was the first candidate from either party, in over 40 years, to win all 102 counties. In 2006, I won another landslide victory and again, in 2010, I won 100 of 102 counties in a year that was certainly tough for Democrats. Since being first elected to the Secretary of State’s office, I have successfully advocated for important initiatives that impact the quality of life for all Illinoisans.
As we prepare for the 2014 election, our campaign will continue to send you information about upcoming events and ways you can get involved to help energize and engage voters in the electoral process.
I appreciate your support and friendship.
Sincerely,
Jesse White
Secretary of State
Unsurprisingly, White made no mention of his role in the Derrick Smith saga.
Discuss.
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