Question of the day
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Michael Cabonargi, a member of the Cook County Board of Review, is considering a Democratic bid for state treasurer.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Michael who? What the heck? But he had almost $350K in the bank as of January 1st.
So, let’s welcome him to state politics, shall we? Here is Cabonargi with Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon…
* The Question: Caption?
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Fun with numbers
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune editorial board…
Here’s a haunting statistic that we cannot repeat too often: Of all the school districts in the U.S., Chicago Public Schools has one of the longest waiting lists for admission to a charter school. There are 19,000 students on the list this year.
* Actual facts…
There’s just one problem with that number: it’s not accurate. It significantly overstates demand.
A WBEZ analysis found the 19,000 figure counts applications, not students, meaning if a student applies to four schools, he or she is counted four times. It includes kids who have turned down charter seats and are now enrolled in other schools.
Perhaps the most startling finding is that a significant chunk–about 3,000–are high school dropouts applying for alternative schools. What’s more, saying that 19,000 students are on waiting lists to get into charter schools ignores another figure: there are between 3,000 and 5,000 available seats in charter schools right now, according to charter advocates.
The waiting list number comes from a biennial report compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2012. The figure is roughly calculated from a chart in that ISBE report that compares numbers for how many applications a charter school received with to the number of available seats. The numbers are from 2010-11, the most recent available.
But 19,000 applications is not the same as 19,000 students. [Emphasis added.]
* Tribune editorial board…
Last year, state lawmakers were forced to slash those services to save money. They limited prescription drugs coverage. They curbed or eliminated some surgeries, dental and podiatric treatments and mental health services. There was real pain for people who belonged on Medicaid in part because of … those who didn’t. Every dollar Illinois spends on an ineligible recipient is a dollar not available to care for low-income people who rely on this program to keep them healthy.
The pain is not over. Those Medicaid budget cuts are still a work in progress. Hamos says the state will fall $464 million short of the promised $1.6 billion.
I, too, cited Hamos’ $464 million last month and then received this e-mail from state Sen. Heather Steans, an approp committee chairperson…
I just wanted to let you know that while savings are behind in SMART Act, the FY12 Medicaid liability came in $395 million under estimates, which makes up much of the difference.
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* From a press release…
The Bruce Rauner Exploratory Committee announced today that it raised $1.3 million since its inception on March 5 and carried forward more than $1.2 million into the second quarter. The fundraising figures include a $249,000 contribution from Bruce Rauner.
The fundraising haul comes amidst a statewide Listening Tour that has already included 20 stops. Bruce has visited with voters in Cumberland, Coles, DuPage, Effingham, Mason, McDonough, Richland, Shelby, Tazewell, and Washington counties, and Elmhurst, South Holland and Winnetka.
“The folks I’m meeting as I travel the state understand Illinois needs a political outsider willing to take on the failed status quo in Springfield, and I’m excited by their response to my exploratory committee,” said Bruce Rauner. “The amount of support we’ve received in less than a month exceeds expectations and underscores the fact that Illinoisans are looking for someone to bring a fresh perspective to solving the challenges facing our state.”
Bruce’s next stops on the Listening Tour this week include Rockford, Rosemont, and Monroe County.
“The more time I spend discussing both the hopes and the concerns of people who want to see a better Illinois, the more convinced I am that our state’s future is bright,” Rauner said. “The fact is Illinois’ greatest resource is her people. Unfortunately, they have been let down time and again by the politicians in Springfield. It’s time for an outsider.”
That $249,000 contribution from Rauner means he is just $1,000 under the self-funding law. Another grand in the calendar year and all contribution caps are off for all gubernatorial candidates.
Also, I highly doubt that most of his high-dollar, often out-of-state contributors went to any of his Downstate listening tour stops. For instance…
Interestingly enough, Rauner has not yet reported that contribution from himself.
* He is doing well in comparison to the other candidates, however…
$ Raised (01/01/13-03/31/13)
Brady - $2,000
Dillard -$86,958.75
Rutherford - $202,759.00
Lisa Madigan - $14,250
Quinn - $60,500
TOTAL = $366,467.75
* In other Rauner-related news, the possible GOP candidate is running a Facebook ad of a choked chicken. I kid you not…
Do your very best to keep it clean in comments, please. Seriously. Let’s not demean ourselves just because his ad is goofy. Go ahead and snicker first, make the joke in your own head, then proceed to comment in a very clean fashion. Thanks.
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AFSCME prez says Quinn has “price to pay”
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* National AFSCME President Lee Saunders lit into Gov. Pat Quinn again and promised retaliation…
He also chastised Democratic officeholders, including Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who have sought concessions by public workers such as pay cuts, higher health insurance premiums and lower pensions.
“It really does annoy me when we support candidates and after that election is over with, they have amnesia and they forget how they got there and who supported them, and they want to take us on rather than work with us to resolve problems,” Saunders said. “And when politicians do that, I think there should be a price to pay, and I think we need to be more aggressive in our approach in holding politicians accountable.”
He said a contract agreement was reached recently with the state of Illinois only after workers “put heat on the governor,” including staging protests at his public appearances.
So, was that a good contract or a bad contract? If it was a good contract, then that kinda undercuts his argument, no?
* Meanwhile, I didn’t see much new in this Sun-Times story about Lisa Madigan. Pat Brady and Don Rose obviously disagree about her candidacy…
“Honest to God, it is incomprehensible to me that you would have a speaker who is as powerful as he is and then have his daughter as governor,” said state Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady.
“It will be a big issue, it will be a national story, if that comes to pass. I cannot imagine the major donor community having the stomach for it. … What happened to checks and balances? On so many levels it is not good for the state — I believe. I think that’s a big, big issue that she’s going to have to address early.”
Rose said while the issue is a real one, he doubts it would gain enough traction to hurt Lisa Madigan’s run.
“The question would come up: Is this putting too much power into one family? It’ll affect the election, marginally, I think,” Rose said. “It’s not enough to defeat her by any means. It would probably be the only issue against her. Stacked up against the power of Mike’s organization and her own popularity, it would be a real issue, but it wouldn’t drag her down.”
“Have his daughter as governor,” is, to me anyway, borderline sexist. Brady is really gonna have to watch his mouth next year if she runs. Brady was full-on sexist about LMadigan in 2012, but almost nobody took notice because Brady couldn’t find a real opponent for the AG. That won’t be the case if Lisa runs for governor, however.
* And Bill Daley is apparently peeved that Lisa Madigan has been getting all the attention lately, so he penned an op-ed for the Tribune last week. But he said almost nothing new…
Like a lot of people across Illinois, I look at our state government and I am amazed at how dysfunctional it continues to be, year after year — same old political fights, same old bickering, nothing gets done.
I’d take him a whole lot more seriously if he formed a campaign committee.
* Related…
* Kwame Raoul: I will ramp up bid for Illinois Attorney General — if Lisa Madigan is out: Other possible contenders for the seat are Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.
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Lang defends his bill
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. Lou Lang has penned an op-ed in favor of his medical marijuana bill…
Under the proposed four-year pilot program, Illinois patients would be prohibited from growing their own marijuana and would be limited in the amount of marijuana they could receive. Qualified patients would have to receive certification from their own physician with whom they have a “bona fide” physician-patient relationship. The physician must attest that the patient is suffering from a specified illness or condition, defined in the legislation, and would receive therapeutic benefit with treatment. The patient’s medical history would be turned over to the Illinois Department of Public Health, which would issue the patient an ID card, only if it verifies the information. All patients and caregivers would have to submit to background checks and convicted felons would be prohibited from obtaining an ID card.
The ID card would allow the patient, or licensed caregiver, to purchase a limited amount per month from one of up to 60 state-licensed dispensaries, or medical cannabis outlets, dispersed throughout the state. It would also: limit a dispensary’s location to certain industrial and commercial zones; prohibit them near schools, playgrounds, parks, libraries, churches, and other dispensaries; regulate hours and security, equipping them with 24/7 surveillance cameras; and prohibit on-site medical consultations. The state would track sales to monitor who’s buying medical marijuana and how much and oversee how much marijuana physicians recommend to their patients.
Up to 22 competing state-licensed cultivation centers operating separately from the dispensaries would grow marijuana and distribute an affordable product to the dispensaries. These secure facilities would be monitored with 24/7 cameras and grow only a specific number of strains to ensure patient safety and quality that law enforcement could easily track and determine if it was prescribed for medical use. The state would require the cultivation centers to employ state-of-the-art testing methods to produce controlled quality-controlled marijuana and cultivated to most effectively treat specific illnesses. All products would be tested and labeled accordingly, listing the active ingredients and their amounts to ensure safe dosage.
* This is definitely not a California type law, which is very nearly de facto recreational use. The sorts of illnesses that medical marijuana can be prescribed to treat are very limited. The complete list…
(1) cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, cachexia/wasting syndrome, muscular dystrophy, severe fibromyalgia, spinal cord disease, including but not limited to arachnoiditis, Tarlov cysts, hydromyelia, syringomyelia, Rheumatoid arthritis, fibrous dysplasia, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and post-concussion syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Arnold-Chiari malformation and Syringomyelia, Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA), Parkinson’s, Tourette’s, Myoclonus, Dystonia, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, RSD (Complex Regional Pain Syndromes Type I), Causalgia, CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndromes Type II), Neurofibromatosis, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Sjogren’s syndrome, Lupus, Interstitial Cystitis, Myasthenia Gravis, Hydrocephalus, nail-patella syndrome, or the treatment of these conditions; or (2) any other debilitating medical condition or its treatment that is added by the Department of Public Health by rule as provided in Section 45.
Some might say that the bill is just too restrictive. I wouldn’t argue. But, as Democratic as Illinois is, it ain’t totally liberal. Baby steps are in order.
Whatever the case, absolutely nobody can truthfully say that Illinois will be another California or Colorado if this bill becomes a law. You won’t be able to just pop by some 420 friendly doc and tell him that you’re depressed and immediately get a quickie weed script. Not gonna happen.
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Sen. Kirk announces support for gay marriage
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Wow…
A second Republican senator has announced his support for gay marriage, with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) joining Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
Kirk, who recently returned to the Senate after suffering a significant stroke, suggested in a statement that his near-death experience has changed his perspective.
* From Sen. Kirk’s blog…
When I climbed the Capitol steps in January, I promised myself that I would return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others.
Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back– government has no place in the middle.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Going to market
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
*** UPDATE *** Despite all the hoopla during the past few months, Illinois got a pretty good price. From a press release…
The winning bid for the $450 million Series 2013 A tax-exempt bonds went to Bank of America Merrill Lynch with a bid of 3.92%. This bid is 68-to-145 basis points over the corresponding AAA-rated municipal index. This rate matches the 20-year-low rate of 3.92% that Illinois received on a $525 million in tax-exempt bonds in its last competitive sale January 11, 2012.
The winning bid for the $350 million Series 2013 B taxable bonds also went to Bank of America Merrill Lynch with a bid of 4.97%. This bid is 97-to-245 basis points over the corresponding U.S. Treasury rates. This is better than the 5.29% rate the Illinois received on its last offering of $275 million of taxable bonds, also on January 11, 2012.
Nine banks submitted bids on each offering Tuesday.
“While we are gratified by the attractive low all-in costs, the state continues to pay a significant penalty for its failure to address the shortfall in its pensions,” Illinois Director of Capital Markets John Sinsheimer said.
“Gov. Quinn has warned the General Assembly on many occasions that investors have told us we need to rein in our pension costs and that until we do, they would command a higher price for Illinois’ bonds,” Sinsheimer said. “Today’s rate is a direct result of the General Assembly’s failure so far to pass a pension reform bill. The good news is that members of the general assembly appear to be moving in that direction, passing several promising component bills in March.
“These bonds will help fund critical capital projects — roads, rails and schools — that might otherwise have to shut down. It will keep Illinoisans employed,” he said.
The state was advised by Public Resources Advisory Group with Mayer Brown and Burke, Burns and Pinelli as co-bond counsel.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* After a months-long delay, Illinois is about to sell a bunch of bonds…
With nearly $500 million in spring transportation projects planned, Illinois will sell $800 million of debt Tuesday with the hope that buyer demands for steeper interest rate penalties have softened after a two-month delay in the state’s first bond offering of the year.
The state will sell the general obligation bonds competitively through PARITY. Mayer Brown LLP and Burke Burns & Pinelli Ltd. are bond counsel and Public Resources Advisory Group is advising. Ahead of the sale, rating agencies affirmed the state’s ratings. The deal offers $450 million of tax-exempt paper and $350 million of taxable securities.
Proceeds will finance capital development, school building, and transportation projects included in the state’s ongoing $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now program. Gov. Pat Quinn announced $486 million in road and bridge projects last week. Capital fund coffers are running low. “Illinois has a world-class transportation system and we are making it even stronger by carrying out one of the largest spring construction programs ever,” Quinn said.
The deal comes after a series of downgrades due to the state’s massive unfunded pension obligations and bill backlog of up to $9 billion.
* And things are looking upbeat…
Buyers demand 1.3 percentage points of extra yield on 10-year debt from Illinois and its localities, close to the smallest since February 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
That spread will be put to the test [today] when the state offers its first issue since Standard & Poor’s cut its rating to A-, six levels below AAA.
Friedland and Wendy Casetta at Wells Capital Management said the state’s 10-year general-obligations will probably price to yield about 1.5 percentage points more than AAA munis, about where they’re trading in the secondary market. Both said they would consider adding the debt.
“We don’t expect to see them go below A-,” said Casetta, who helps oversee $32 billion in munis for Wells Capital in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “We’ve been big buyers of Illinois debt in the past, and we’ll continue to support the state, particularly now that they’re trying to do the right thing.”
Keep your fingers crossed, unless, of course, you’re one of those folks who’d like to see a major crash.
* Related…
* CTBA: The Illinois State Budgetand Tax Primer
* Wheeler: Legislature should work smart, not just hard, on the pension fix
* Downstate schools shorted in state funding, senators say
* Illinois seeking to hire more tax fraud investigators
* Bob Williams: Boeing serves as pension example for Illinois lawmakers
* Editorial: Fire insurance tax warrants review at state level
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MLB open thread
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I was at opening day at Sox Park yesterday for our 1-0 win. While the hitting could’ve been much better, obviously, I’ll take the win.
Baseball hope always springs eternal in April. So, let’s hear what you have to say about the upcoming season.
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Cleaning up the place
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the most overlooked provisions in Illinois’ video gaming law is that possessing old, basically unregulated poker machines at your bar or truck stop is now a felony…
A Heyworth bar owner faces felony charges for allegedly having illegal video gaming machines in the business — the first such case to be filed in McLean County since the state approved video gambling last year.
David Rehker, 54, was taken into custody Friday after agents with the Illinois Gaming Board and the McLean County Sheriff’s Department seized seven machines from Circle II Bar and Grill at 503 W. Cleveland St. He was released after posting $325 on a charge of possession of an illegal gambling device.
According to a prosecutor’s statement, an agent with the state liquor control commission saw the machines during an inspection Thursday and reported the alleged offense involving machines with reset buttons, which are illegal because they allow local operators to run an independent payout system. Agents returned Friday to investigate.
The old machines, which were pretty much everywhere, allowed the mob to profit. So, this video gaming law is probably the biggest hit to mob profits in decades. That’s a good thing.
* Meanwhile…
Governor Pat Quinn has already rejected several plans that would make way for five more casinos in Illinois. […]
But [a new version of a gambling package] also paves the way for Illinois residents to legally bet online. The legislation says “the Internet has become an integral part of everyday life” and that many Illinois residents already use the web to gamble using unlicensed, illegal sites. This would allow the state to regulate and profit.
Quinn isn’t sold.
QUINN: “I think that’s problematic. It’s a brand new idea and there hasn’t been much review on that at all. Anytime you have something brand new it shouldn’t just be thrown into a bill at the last minute.”
Discuss.
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An amateur blunder
Tuesday, Apr 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Possible Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has been assuring his bigtime donors that he has already done an opposition research project on himself, so no worries. He knows what’s coming. He can handle it.
Umm…
A suburban venture capitalist who is openly exploring a Republican primary bid for governor improperly claimed three homeowner exemptions for a number of years, a Daily Herald investigation has found.
After being notified of the error Wednesday afternoon, Bruce Rauner on Thursday paid Cook County $1,616 to cover the extra tax savings he received, spokesman Chip Englander said.
Englander described the situation as “an oversight that was corrected immediately.”
County records show Rauner claimed homestead exemptions on a Winnetka home, a Chicago penthouse and a condo on a separate floor but in the same building overlooking Millennium Park. He claimed primary exemptions on the Winnetka property and the Chicago penthouse from 2008 to 2011 and on the second Chicago unit in 2010 and 2011.
By law, Illinois residents can claim the exemption only on the property that is their primary residence, even if married couples are residing in different homes. The exemption reduces the amount of property taxes owed by lowering a property’s assessed value.
Lots of politicians have been dinged on this very issue for the past few years. It’s a mistake made by a ton of people and not terribly horrible.
But what is unforgivable is that this should have been caught months ago, before Rauner ever began “exploring” a gubernatorial bid. It’s an amateur mistake, but Rauner has assured everybody that, despite his lack of experience he plans to run a first rate campaign.
Not yet, he ain’t.
* Related…
* Bernard Schoenburg: Rep. Aaron Schock visits controversial leader in India
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