Patrick Fitzgerald talks about his future
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The famed US Attorney is leaving office next month. But he says there will be no campaigns and no criminal defense work in his future…
Fitzgerald — who oversaw prosecutions that sent two Illinois governors to prison for corruption — said he’s 100 percent certain he won’t ever seek elective office.
“I am not wired to campaign for anything or run for elective office, period,” he said. […]
Asked if he might consider doing what many former federal prosecutors have done and become a criminal-defense attorney, a potentially lucrative field, Fitzgerald, who is paid $155,000 a year as U.S. attorney, smiled and said, “Can you imagine me as a defense attorney? I respect what defense attorneys do. I won’t do anything I don’t feel comfortable because that’s not me.”
Though he dismissed the prospect of running for office, Fitzgerald made clear he isn’t ruling out some future post in government.
“I love public service,” he told reporters, speaking in public for the first time since announcing his resignation Wednesday. “Public service is in my blood.”
Any job ideas?
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Question of the day
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Senate Republican aversion to any government increases in taxes and fees no matter what was highlighted again yesterday when a bill requiring “concentrated animal feeding operations” to pay permit fees passed the Senate and was sent to the governor.
The bill was backed by environmental groups, but was also supported by the Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Pork Producers Association and the Illinois Beef Association.
* From one of the bill’s supporters…
The bill establishes a fee for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) that have National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to discharge pollution into waters of the U.S. The annual fees, though very minimal, are needed to fund the IEPA’s permitting program, which is required by federal law.
All other regulated industries such as municipal sewage plants and industrial processing facilities already pay permit fees.
To date, they have been paying for the CAFO program because livestock operations have always been exempt from paying fees. However, numerous CAFOs have been found discharging and they should contribute to the cost of regulating their own pollution.
* From the Illinois Farm Bureau…
The number of farms that will be required to have a permit will be extremely limited, impacting only a small number of farms… IFB supports HB 5642.
* Even with that farm-based support, 15 Republican Senators voted against the bill. Sens. Brady, Cultra, Dillard, Duffy, Tom Johnson, LaHood, Lauzen, McCann, McCarter, Murphy, Pankau, Rezin, Righter, Sandack and Syverson all voted “No.”
* There is another side to this issue. State funds are subject to sweeps. And while the state hasn’t done any sweeps the past few years, it’s always possible that the fee money will be snagged for use elsewhere.
* The Question: What do you think of a vote against a limited fee increase which is supported by the industry being targeted?
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* I’ve been warning subscribers about this development for almost two weeks. The Black Caucus made it official yesterday via press conference…
Most people in Springfield have been planning for next year’s budget with the idea that there would be a $2.7-billion cut in Medicaid, the state’s program of health care for the poor.
That includes the budget Senate Democrats voted for. […]
Shortly before the Senate vote, black legislators came out as a united front, protesting the Medicaid reductions.
Rep. Mary Flowers, a Democrat from Chicago, says cutting benefits like prescription drugs is a lose-lose proposition. […]
With just a week left in the legislative session, the fight over Medicaid seems to be holding up a broader budget agreement.
There are more problems with Medicaid than this, but without Black Caucus votes, the benefit/eligibility/provider cut package can’t pass unless Republicans also support the plan. Subscribers know more about that aspect.
* Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats pushed through their own budget yesterday…
emocrats rammed a budget plan through the Illinois Senate Wednesday, but the state’s financial blueprint for the coming fiscal year is far from being complete.
With the House still working to craft a bipartisan spending plan, action in the Senate was viewed as more symbolic than a finished product.
Republicans in Senate called the $33.7 billion proposal budgetary “sleight of hand” and a “sham” and wondered why Democrats weren’t waiting until there was more agreement with the House and Gov. Pat Quinn.
* Here’s some good reporting on what went down during debate…
“I don’t think that we want to be in a position of waiting for the House to pass a budget. We want to get the process rolling. We don’t know whether we will get to an agreement [on Medicaid] yet or not, yet. So we are going to move a budget to the House and continue negotiations,” said Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored two of the three budget bills that passed tonight.” […]
“So it’s more important to beat the House than it is to pass a sound budget that’s premised on everything that’s necessary to pass a budget, like what’s going to happen with Medicaid, the central issue in the entire budget? We are in such a rush to beat the House that we would rather do it fast … than do it right?” Sen. Matt Murphy, a Palatine Republican, asked during floor debate. Murphy said that the proposal would not put the state on track for financial stability when the recent income tax increase rolls back in 2015.
Democrats argued that Republicans have not presented a plan of their own, and the massive cuts they say they want would never be politically viable on either side of the aisle. “We think we’re doing this right. I could also suggest, if you don’t like this approach, we’d be happy to entertain a bill from you suggesting how we might do the budget,” Steans said. Democrats say that their budget is responsible because doesn’t spend more than the state will take in next fiscal year, and it would address $1.3 billion in overdue bills. The proposal would dip into money that is usually automatically transferred out of the General Revenue Fund and special funds to pay down the bills, and Steans said the money would not be repaid to those funds. […]
The Senate raced to keep up with the House last year and passed a budget that would have spent more than the other chamber’s proposal. In the end, the House won out. However, lawmakers did approve some additional spending later in the fiscal year. (For more on last year’s chamber vs. chamber budget battle, see the Illinois Issues blog.)
Sen. Dale Righter predicted that the history of last year would repeat itself. “It’s … a chamber squabble for you folks. It’s to beat the House of Representatives. And here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to go through all this turmoil over here and all this grief,” Righter, a Republican from Mattoon, said. “And what’s going to happen is these budget bills are going to zoom over to the House of Representatives, and they will meet exactly the same demise as your budget did last year.”
* This schtick of the Republicans not presenting their own cuts - even via amendments to the Senate Democrats’ budget bills - is really getting old. The Democrats extrapolated overall Republican budget demands (which I told subscribers about several days ago) and came up with some numbers…
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said the kind of cuts being demanded by Republicans would slash $446 million from education and $350 million from human services.
“It would be impossible to pass a budget with those cuts,” he said.
* But the SGOPs did make one very good point. From a press release…
Buried within a budget plan approved by Illinois Senate Democrats on May 23 was a $1.5 million earmark for a little-known program that is supposed to recruit and train parents and community leaders to become teachers.
The problem is, the program has already received more than $19 million in its first six years and only produced 29 teachers. That’s an average of $662,000 per teacher.
In fact, only 54 individuals have ever graduated from the program, which works out to $356,000 per graduate. Although students who fail to graduate or who do not take teaching jobs are supposed to repay their educational costs, most are “counseled out” of the program, which does not require a repayment.
Digging deeper into the statistics – a total of 615 students have started the program since it’s beginning in fiscal year 2006. That works out to a dismal graduation rate of 8.7%.
Despite the massive failure of the program, the Senate Democrat budget would provide a total of $1.5 million for the program.
Where does the money go? The program hands out grants to 15 consortia around the state. One of the requirements of the program is that each consortia must include at least one “community organization,” one school district, one two- or four-year college, a teachers’ union or a regional office of education.
* More…
Before approving the budget, Democrats added back money to keep the Jacksonville Developmental Center open. It was slated to close under an earlier version of the budget.
The spending plan also provides money to cover only about half of state employee health insurance costs next year. That would give Gov. Pat Quinn more leverage in union contract negotiations, Steans said.
* In other news, I received a desperate call today from a woman who’s trying to stop what she says would be devastating cuts to a crucial Medicaid program. Here’s her e-mail…
Dear Rich Miller,
House amendment 4 to SB 2840 includes a section, on p. 81 of the new amendment, that guts the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent Waiver for children. This program provides home nursing for 500 children with ventilators and other medical technology. The result of this amendment would be hundreds of children taken away from their families and hospitalized permanently, at three times the cost of care under the current program.
The new amendment would limit this program to families who earn 500% FPL or less, and imposes exorbitant copays that many families will be unable to pay. It also (p. 70) removes a guarantee in current law that states children with an institutional level of care or higher are eligible for home and community based services.
Here are the most important things to know about this issue:
1) This legislation could lead to hundreds of children being cut out of this program. These children are so medically complex that most of them will end up hospitalized permanently. It only costs $188,210 a year to care for these kids at home, but it costs $660,000 to care for them in the hospital, three times as much.
2) SSA law requires that the state cover costs for these children in a hospital/institution, but does not require them to cover home based services. Therefore, the state will be paying three times as much per child for every child who is cut off the program. Only 23 children would need to be hospitalized to erase all of the proposed savings.
3) Both Equip for Equality (Illinois’ federally-appointed Advocacy and Protection agency) and the Arc of Illinois have stated this legislation is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act as interpreted by the Olmstead Supreme Court decision. Both groups have written letters to the Governor and others expressing this fact. [See http://www.thearcofil.org/arc-fights-changes-to-medically-fragile-technology-dependent-childrens-waiver for the ARC of IL; the Equip for Equality letter is not yet on their website–we have an advance copy if needed.]
4) A family of 3 who earns 500% FPL would have to pay 246% of their income in order to keep their child at home, which is obviously impossible. $188,210 is the average cost of care, and some children have much higher costs. You would have to earn 1500% FPL just to break even after taxes for the average kid, and more than 2500% FPL for a sicker higher-needs child.
We have at least 17 families who are willing to be interviewed and have invited media and legislators into their homes. Our families are desperate–their children are about to be taken away from them because on paper it would save money, when in reality it would actually cost more.
I have attached a background information packet for your reference as well as our most recent press release. Please help us!
The background packet is here.
* Related…
* Quinn might close parks he once backed Legislators angered by perceived closure threats
* Illinois Senate budget called premature
* Senate Democrats’ budget includes Murray Center funding, but GOP calls plan ‘Blagojevichian‘
* Democrats ram budget plan through state Senate
* Illinois House, Senate get down to work
* Illinois subsidy cuts just part of squeeze on child care
* Voice of The Southern: Back to the drawing board, Mister Speaker!
* Cities fight proposal to freeze local share of state income tax
* Quinn lauds biz backing for pension, Medicaid reform
* Gov. Quinn Going After Senior Prescriptions
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Retirement age may not be raised
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ve been telling subscribers about this development for the past several days…
One piece of Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to overhaul state employee pensions may be facing a tough sell with lawmakers.
As part of his proposal to ease the cost of the state’s retirement programs, Quinn has called for the re-tirement age to be boosted to 67.
But, a key Democratic negotiator Wednesday raised red flags about the concept, saying it could trigger a wave of retirements that could result in far less savings for the state.
“There is some feeling that that is a tougher pill to swallow and that creates a rush to the door that we don’t necessarily want to create,” said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook.
Nekritz, however, cautioned that no provisions have officially been ruled out in the bid by lawmakers and Quinn to overhaul employee pensions.
Everything is still really fluid, but that specific Quinn proposal has hit a brick wall so far. We’ll see how it goes.
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Get Illinois Working Again
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
At a time of tough choices, the single largest job-creation plan in decades is now before the General Assembly.
SB 1849 is a gaming solution that would create more than 20,000 jobs and bring in $200 million in new annual revenue to Illinois. It would be an economic shot in the arm for our state, and we can’t afford to pass it up.
Illinois workers need a jobs plan. Unemployment in the state stands at 9 percent, families are struggling to make ends meet and the effects of the recession have further endangered thousands of already existing jobs, like the more than 30,000 statewide agricultural jobs that SB 1849 will save.
The job creation boost SB 1849 would provide is why major voices from Illinois’ organized labor community support this gaming solution. Supporters include Illinois AFL‐CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, IBEW Local 134, SEIU Local 1, and UNITE HERE Local 1.
These labor groups and over 80 members of the Illinois Revenue & Jobs Alliance know this bill would be a “win” for the state of Illinois and its residents. Legislators ought to pass SB 1849 – and start putting workers back on the job.
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This one might just break the mold
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As I’ve often said, gaming expansion is never accomplished without the support of all four leaders and the governor. This time, at this point, the governor is opposed, but legislators are hoping to do it without him…
Offering up a direct challenge to a resistant Gov. Pat Quinn, the Illinois House resurrected a huge expansion of legalized gambling Wednesday that includes a land-based casino in Chicago, four more on riverboats - including one in Danville - and allowing ailing horse-racing tracks to add slot machines.
Quinn responded to House approval with ridicule, asserting the measure “continues to have major ethical shortcomings.”
The 69-47 tally was two votes shy of what would be necessary to overcome a Quinn veto — something the Democratic governor promised to do last year with a similar bill. But in a state starved for cash, Rep. Lou Lang, the bill’s sponsor, was confident that tax revenue of at least $300 million a year would change the Democratic governor’s mind.
“I’m hopeful that with the vote total we got today that the governor will decide that economic development, job creation and saving an industry — the horse racing industry — is worth doing,” the Skokie Democrat said.
* That roll call may show some weakness to the naked eye, but there are more votes than the final tally seems to indicate…
During the voting, the number of yes votes hit 71 at one point — the number of votes needed to override a veto by the governor — but two legislators changed their “yes” votes to “no” before the official record was taken.
* And…
Two lawmakers voted present, and several more legislators could have lame-duck status after the November election, making it easier to vote for more gambling. The measure heads to the Senate, where sponsoring Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, plans to call a vote next week as the Legislature nears a May 31 adjournment date.
The two “Present” votes were Speaker Madigan and Majority Leader Currie. Madigan always votes “Present” on gaming bills, so that wouldn’t matter. Currie has voted for past gaming bills.
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s official statement…
“It’s ironic that on the very day that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced his resignation, the Illinois House would pass a gambling bill that continues to have major ethical shortcomings.
“This new bill falls well short of the ethics standards I proposed in my framework last October. Most importantly, it does not include a ban on campaign contributions as lawmakers in other states have done to keep corruption out of the gambling industry and out of Illinois. Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and bordering states like Iowa, Michigan and Indiana have all approved such bans.
“It does not provide the Illinois Gaming Board with sufficient time to make critical licensing and regulatory decisions. This bill also does not provide adequate oversight of the procurement process. It does not ensure clear oversight of the proposed Chicago casino.
“As long as I’m governor, I will not support a gambling bill that falls well short of protecting the people of Illinois. It is clear that this gaming bill still needs significant improvement.
“Finally, Illinois cannot gamble its way out of our fiscal challenges. I urge the members of the Illinois House and Senate to pay close attention to the most pressing issues that we must address by next Thursday, May 31 –pension reform and Medicaid restructuring.”
OK, fine. I get it. He wanted the contribution ban. But he had an opportunity last week to cut a deal on that and he didn’t follow through. So, now, he’s getting it stuck in his eye, so to speak.
Also, and I’m probably only going to say this one more time, but chastising legislators for not focusing on the “real” problems and then flying home to do a TV press pop at a middle school didn’t help the governor’s cause at all. I’ve gotten a ton of pushback from the administration on this issue, but it was obviously a stupid move that had some consequences yesterday. Don’t do it again.
* Related…
* House passes bill allowing Chicago casino — but vote not veto-proof
* Illinois House passes gambling bill with more casinos, slots at racetracks
* House passes gaming bill it previously rejected
* IL House approves gambling expansion bill
* Gambling Package Wins In The House
* Illinois House passes gambling expansion bill
* Illinois House approves casino expansion, slots at horse-racing tracks
* 24 GOP House members defy 2008 IL GOP Platform and support gambling expansion
* Our View: Rockford only few steps away from getting casino
* Illinois House passes gambling expansion bill
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A smart move undermined by a petulant boyfriend
Thursday, May 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I met Lance Tyson when he was working the Statehouse for city hall. He was a solid worker and respected in the building. He agreed to go to work for Todd Stroger to help settle things down over there and right the ship, but Stroger was not exactly the greatest boss in the world. Tyson did the right thing as a citizen, but he’s definitely tainted, even though his opponent probably won’t have the resources to exploit the problem…
A lawyer and aide to former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has been chosen by Chicago Democrats as a third-party candidate to challenge indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith.
The group led by Secretary of State Jesse White met Wednesday. They’ve been vetting candidates for the newly formed 10th District Unity Party.
* Ald. Jason Ervin was quite petulant after the ward committeemen chose Tyson…
Committeemen chose Tyson after two rounds of voting Wednesday. The panel split 5-4 in favor of Tyson, with the rest of the support falling to Winters.
Conyears had been considered the front-runner the day before, but her support dropped after committeemen were told she was the girlfriend of 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin, who sits on the panel. Committeemen said that although Conyears was qualified, they were concerned about transparency because the relationship was not disclosed before they began private deliberations.
On Wednesday, Conyears implored the panel “to not allow outside forces” to affect the decision, saying she should be judged on her merits and “not such a simple label.”
Ervin said Wednesday that Conyears was not given a fair shake, arguing that their relationship was well-known.
“If her only crime is by association with the alderman that had the most votes in any contested race in the city of Chicago, then that’s unfortunate,” said Ervin, who added that “there need to be some discussions” before he decides whether to back Tyson.
Whatever.
A Chicago alderman tried to put his girlfriend into the Illinois House. There are worse crimes, but that was a supremely stupid move in the wake of the Derrick Smith fiasco. He should’ve known better than that.
* More…
Tyson said he’d already secured support from unions to run in the district on Chicago’s West Side.
“I’m incredibly humbled to have gotten an opportunity to present my ideas on the free market.” he said. “It’s time to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”
As a third-party candidate, he will have to get 1,500 signatures to put his name on the ballot. Tyson said he is aiming for 4,000.
Backing Tyson was the smart move. Eddie Winters has run before, so he has experience, but he came up way short, getting less than 12 percent of the vote in the 2010 primary.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
As opponents continue to ignore closing coal plants and rising electric costs, the REVISED SB 678 offers SAVINGS FOR RATEPAYERS and LOW, HARD RATE CAPS FOR ALL CUSTOMERS. The new SB 678 would:
• Save Illinois ratepayers an expected $437.7 million over 20 years with below-market energy costs – yes you read that right – the revised Tenaska plant would have BELOW MARKET COSTS
• Require Tenaska to absorb 100% of any cost overruns
• Cap even the possibility of a rate hike at .75% for residential customers (less than 60 cents per month);
• Cap even the possibility of a rate hike at $0.00085 per kilowatt-hour for ALL larger customers
• Postpone coal-to-natural gas portion of Taylorville plant and preserve it as a hedge against potential future natural gas price increases, a back-up plan that couldn’t go forward without General Assembly approval.
Illinois needs to take action now. As the Chicago Tribune reported on May 17:
Residential electricity rates are expected to spike more than 10% beginning in 2015, with consumers paying between $150 and $330 a year more than this year, as coal plants, the least expensive producers of electricity, continue to close.
Tell legislators you agree with CUB, the Attorney General, business, labor and environmental groups that you want a smarter energy future in Illinois.
Tell them to approve SB 678 now.
SB678NOW.COM
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