Five years ago, Illinois passed legislation requiring electric suppliers to buy more renewable energy such as wind and solar power and then pass those costs on to customers.
The intent of the mandate was to have so-called green electricity accounting for a quarter of the power flowing into residences and businesses by 2025 while fostering homegrown jobs and cleaner air.
But that was before customers of the state’s two major electric utilities defected en masse to other suppliers that purchase power on the open market. With that move, the state is falling short of its green mandate, because money being collected from customers by these other energy suppliers isn’t being used for green energy purchases.
Instead, the money is going into a fund that’s sitting untapped because of obscure language in state law.
That $15 million account is on track to balloon to nearly $135 million by the end of 2014, according to the Illinois Power Agency, the state agency tasked with spending the funds.
Because of the language in the law, the agency can only use the money to buy renewable energy if the state’s two utilities are out buying renewable energy at the same time. With only a fraction of their customer bases left, the utilities already have more renewable energy than they need and aren’t buying more.
This obviously needs to be fixed. The state borrowed money from the account in the past (and paid it back), but a green energy account that’s mainly functioning as a revolving loan fund for the state government doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
* Try, try again: A handful of good-government and other lobbying groups plan to announce a push this week to collect 300,000 signatures from Illinoisans and amend the state constitution to change how political boundaries are drawn.
* Lucy’s Place in Litchfield offers non-traditional casino vibe: In Chatham, Village Trustee Joe Schatteman, who also works for the Illinois Municipal League, told trustees he didn’t believe gambling parlors was the intent of the 2009 legislation that legalized video gambling.
* Whenever something bad happens in the Loop, politicos quickly try to “do something.” I dunno if this bill will work, but it certainly falls into that aforementioned category…
Illinois legislators weren’t thinking about harmless flash mobs, like countless renditions of the Harlem Shake or over-the-top marriage proposals, when crafting new legislation recently.
A bill which passed the state assembly on Friday and the state Senate earlier would allow judges to “impose an extended term sentence” when new-age “mob action” involves “electronic communication.”
Democratic state Rep. Christian Mitchell, sponsor of the legislation, said he expects it to act as a deterrent to those considering participating in a flash mob attack like several along Chicago’s prestigious and bustling Magnificent Mile, a popular downtown shopping area.
* But whatever the case, this reaction was way, way over the top…
“Would this bill have stopped the murder of Hadiya Pendleton?” [Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago)] demanded of Mitchell. “The question, sir, is are children’s lives as valuable as the merchants on Michigan Avenue…Would this bill stop the murders of black boys and girls on the South and West Sides of Chicago, and if it doesn’t do that you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Provides that an obligor is not required to make child support payments, nor shall interest accrue on any outstanding child support balance due, from the date the obligor is incarcerated or ceases employment until he or she is released or secures new employment.
Heck, you could easily make an argument that Davis’ bill would actually make matters worse for kids.
So, I’m not sure how that crime-related bill “stops the murders.” Nor this one, or this one, or this one.
* Rep. Brandon Phelps, an avid concealed carry supporter, and Sen. Kwame Raoul, the sponsor of a rival concealed carry bill which is staunchly opposed by the NRA, talk it out…
* Back in March, before Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school system ordered several school closings, the Chicago Tribune editorial board published a Joyce Foundation poll which showed that 55 percent of Chicagoans strongly or somewhat agreed that the city should close under-enrolled schools.
Chicago voters hold a dim view of Rahm Emanuel’s stewardship of public education after a tumultuous year that featured a teachers strike and the mayor’s push to close many neighborhood elementary schools, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
Disenchantment with Emanuel’s education policy is particularly acute among minority voters, and that’s helping drive up negative views of the mayor’s overall job performance as he reaches the middle of his first term this week.
Nearly 6 of 10 surveyed said they disapproved of Emanuel’s attempt to downsize elementary schools, while just a third approved. Those numbers closely mirror negative feelings about Emanuel’s approach to public education, which he has labeled a top priority. […]
Asked whom they sided with in the debate over public school improvement, 41 percent of those surveyed said the teachers union and just 19 percent said Emanuel. Another 36 percent said neither.
* Dump Emanuel in 2015? Spare us, CTU: The Chicago political establishment, the useless one that has spent so long building “Chicago-style politics” into a joke, is going to get a very rude awakening in February 2015. Mr. Emanuel is going to keep raising money and run a competent, effective campaign. And then he’s going to face clowns and run over them like a steamroller: Slowly, leisurely, and permanently.
With mounting urgency, activists are calling on Speaker Michael Madigan, who rules the Democratic majority in the House, to help secure the final few votes needed to pass the bill into law. Democrats hold 71 seats, while GOP lawmakers hold 47. […]
“Madigan commands a super-majority, but is unwilling to spend political capital for gay equality,” said Bob Schwartz of the Gay Liberation Network, an LGBT rights direct action group. “As with other legislation, if Madigan wanted the marriage bill to pass, it would already be law.”
However, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown told Chicago Phoenix the bill’s chief sponsor will determine when it will be called.
Harris, has long been mum on how many votes he’s secured and his timeline for the bill, but said he is close to having secured the 60 votes required for victory. A government source among those backing the bill pegs the current count at 58.
It’s quite correct to say that if Madigan wants the bill to pass it’ll pass. He says he wants it to pass. The question now is when.
* The reported head count and Harris’ reluctance to move his bill both combine to suggest that Gov. Pat Quinn’s head count is probably off…
Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday called on Illinois House members to take action on a same-sex marriage bill that’s been dormant there for more than 80 days, adding that he thinks the votes are there to send the measure to his desk. […]
“I believe a majority exists to get this bill passed through the House onto my desk so I can sign it into law.” […]
“I think, you know, it’s time to vote,” Quinn said. “We’ve waited now three months, and it’s, I think, plenty of time for people to reflect on it. And now it’s time to pass it.”
If Rep. Harris isn’t moving the bill, they don’t have the votes, for whatever reason. I think some of the people Quinn believes are “Yes” votes are actually not quite there yet. But it’ll pass if the Speaker wants it to.
Two pro-gay-marriage robocalls — one by a former Chicago Bears player and another by a civil rights leader — are expected to go out in the districts of Illinois House Black Caucus members on Monday, urging support for gay marriage legislation that’s still awaiting a vote in that chamber in the waning days of the session.
One of the calls features civil rights leader Julian Bond; the other, onetime Bears player Brendon Ayanbadejo. […]
Several Republicans have committed to crossing over and voting “yes,” potentially leaving the Black Caucus with critical sway over the issue. […]
In recent weeks, some members of the Black Caucus have come out in support of gay marriage, including Illinois Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), who signed on as a co-sponsor to the pending bill.
The calls will target constituents in 17 House districts that include Dunkin’s; Monique Davis; Will Davis; Marcus Evans; Mary Flowers; LaShawn Ford; Esther Golar; Chuck Jefferson; Derrick Smith, and Art Turner, in addition to others.
OK, first of all “several Republicans” equals three: Two publicly, one privately.
Also, “some members of the Black Caucus” equals one: Rep. Dunkin.
But after many African-American churches and Chicago’s Catholic Archdiocese led by Cardinal Francis George stepped up their anti-gay marriage campaigns, house members representing predominantly black districts have publicly denounced the bill.
“My constituents have let me know in no uncertain terms that they object to that legislation,” said Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago).
Representative Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) said he leaned toward voting for the bill last winter.
“But seeing as the Cardinal and different reverends coming out in opposition, I’m looking closer at it and taking a more neutral stance,” said Rita.
One man who disputed IFI’s message began yelling during Americans for Truth about Homosexuality President Peter LaBarbera’s speech. The man broke one of the IFI protester’s signs before police intervened.
“Disagreement does not equal hate,” said Peter LaBarbera, in response to the man.
Smith addressed the scuffle later in the program.
“They’re the ones bullying us and intimidating Christians into silence,” he said. “I say no more.”
It’s about time that the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board stop treating the Illinois Constitution like yesterday’s newspaper.
For years the editorial page has loudly bellowed for and against Illinois pension proposals and petulantly insulted and denigrated lawmakers who dare to defy the editorial page’s blithe disregard for the state Constitution.
The latest example was a May 6 editorial’s shrill assault on 53 members of the Illinois House of Representatives who voted against a pension reform proposal sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan, charging that by exercising their function of office to vote “no” on a bill, they are “the do-nothing caucus.” […]
To assert that lawmakers who voted against Senate Bill 1 are part of a “do-nothing caucus” is as outrageous as it is ignorant of the constitutional dimension of the legislation, and ignorant of lawmakers’ mandate to consider the Illinois Constitution when voting on legislation. Some would consider the plain words of our Constitution at least as important as our critical need to reform Illinois’ pension system.
The assertion that lawmakers who chose to vote “no” on the Madigan bill have somehow avoided their duty or have inserted themselves into the pockets of organized labor is slanderous and insulting to the integrity of 53 members of the House who believe we need a pension bill that is fair, credible and constitutional. We may have wide disagreement on these issues, but that hardly rises to the level of “do nothing.”
While the Tribune editorial board may elect to write nonsense while ignoring the Illinois Constitution and to insult the integrity of legislators, lawmakers are elected to do the hard work of voting for bills they consider constitutionally worthy.
Unless the Tribune reverts to its rich tradition of responsible, respectful and thoughtful journalism, its influence on Illinois public policy will continue to erode further and its opinions will be as useful as yesterday’s news.
In a report out today, the Civic Federation says that a bill pushed through the House by Mr. Madigan “will produce pension savings of the magnitude needed to stabilize the state’s finances.” But a competing plan by Senate President John Cullerton “doesn’t even get us back to where we were last year,” said Federation President Laurence Msall in an interview last Friday.
“There’s a pretty stark difference in the savings of the one bill to the next,” Mr. Msall said. The Madigan bill “has the components we need.”
The federation has been increasingly outspoken about the state’s pension woes in recent months, but its flat endorsement of the Madigan bill comes amid a stalemate in which it’s uncertain whether each legislative leader will allow his chamber to take up the other’s bill and, if the measure is put to a vote, work against it. […]
(A)ccording to Mr. Msall, the Madigan bill would free up at least $1 billion more than the Cullerton plan for schools, health care and other needs in next year’s budget. It would do so by gradually raising the full-benefit retirement age to 67, requiring workers to pay an additional 2 percent of salary for their pension, and capping cost-of-living adjustments on pensions.
In comparison, while Mr. Cullerton’s bill would provide some savings, they’re not even enough to offset this year’s increase in how much Illinois has to set aside each year for pensions, the federation says.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady resigned last week just as a new statewide poll showed big trouble for his political party’s brand.
Brady had been under pressure to resign ever since the disastrous 2012 elections. The pressure increased publicly after Brady announced his support for a gay marriage bill. Multiple attempts to oust Brady were unsuccessful.
The way forward is unclear, to say the least. Some party leaders have a list of over 25 people to consider. This could easily turn out to be a total mess.
And this all comes at a particularly bad time for the GOP. A new Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll found that 52 percent of likely Illinois voters have a negative view of the Republican Party. Just 25 percent have a positive view, while 24 percent were neutral.
According to the poll of 1,036 likely voters taken May 6th, 54 percent of women have a negative view of the GOP (just 24 percent positive), while 48 percent of men have a negative view (just 26 percent positive). The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
And a mere 59 percent of self-identified Republicans have a positive view of the GOP, while 16 percent have a negative view and 25 percent are neutral - a combined 41 percent un-positive. Not good.
Perhaps more importantly, only 18 percent of independents have a positive view of the Republican Party, while 50 percent have a negative view.
So, it’s somewhat of a miracle that Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka is still polling as well as she is. According to the survey, Topinka leads Democratic Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon 45-38. A total of 24 percent of the calls were made to cell phones.
Simon will likely run for attorney general if Lisa Madigan steps up to run for governor, but she has said she is eyeing the comptroller’s race as well. Simon is the highest profile Democrat to consider a bid against Topinka, so this may be a high water mark for the Democrats. Topinka won her last race by 13 points in a very good year for the GOP.
Topinka leads among independents by 12 big and important points. Her lead also pretty much matches Lisa Madigan’s lead over Dan Rutherford and Aaron Schock in a somewhat recent Public Policy Polling survey. So, she’s doing quite well considering the serious headwinds. Topinka and Simon are essentially tied among women, but Topinka has a 53-34 lead among men.
But the news isn’t all that great for Democrats, either.
A Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll of 1,057 likely Illinois voters taken May 8th showed that 42 percent have a negative view of the Democratic Party while just 36 percent have a positive view. That’s not as bad as the GOP numbers, but it is “certainly an indictment of the political landscape,” as my pollster told me. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3 percent.
According to the poll the Democratic Party is viewed positively by a plurality of women, 43-37, and negatively by men, 50-28, compared to the poll about the GOP which showed that women and men viewed the Republican Party in a negative light.
Independents tend to lean more conservative because so many of them are former Republicans who no longer want to be identified with the party. So, the GOP has to do well with them to win. There are far more Democrats in this state than Republicans, but they aren’t a majority and must still be competitive with independents.
And according to that poll, the Democrats aren’t doing so well with independents right now. A strong majority of independents, 56 percent, viewed the Democratic Party negatively, which is six points worse than the Republicans fared. Eighteen percent - the same result as the GOP - viewed the party positively.
67 percent of Democrats viewed their party in a positive light, compared to the 59 percent of Republicans who viewed their party positively. The Democrats clearly have an advantage with their base, but it’s still not all that wonderful.
Just one region, Chicago, finds a majority positive view of the Democratic Party, with 56 percent positive and 23 percent negative. A 39-29 plurality of suburban Cook County voters view the Democratic Party in a positive light, while a 52-33 majority of collar county voters and a 56-24 majority of Downstaters have a negative view of the Dems.
* Related…
* Why candidates for ILGOP chairman are saying “no”: Downstate businessman Jason Plummer said no when he spoke to State Central Committeeman Gene Dawson Friday morning. Since running for lieutenant governor in 2010 and for Congress in 2012, Plummer remains involved in building the Republican Party in the Metro East area, raising funds and recruiting candidates. Plummer said Dawson asked if he was just too busy to apply for the chairmanship, and Plummer agreed that was part of the reason he rejected the opportunity to chair the state party.
* Lyons: State GOP needs new chair and living room set
* A new study by the Anderson Economic Group ranks Illinois 20th nationally in its business tax burden, “defined as the share of pretax operating margin that a firm has to pay out in combined state and local taxes,” according to Greg Hinz…
By that standard, businesses in Illinois paid 9.6 percent of their pretax profit in state and local taxes in calendar 2011, more than the average of 8 percent paid by the 10 lowest tax states but less than the average 14 percent by the 10 highest states.
The actual range among the states was from 5.1 percent in Delaware to 25.2 percent in Alaska, where the number is skewed by that state’s dependence on taxes levied on natural resources like petroleum, which tend to be high.
Perhaps more significant, Illinois ranks relatively well among other Midwestern states, even after jacking up its income tax at the beginning of 2011. Iowa is lower at 8.5 percent, and Missouri just below at 9.2 percent. But higher are Minnesota (10 percent), Indiana (10.6 percent), Ohio (11.1 percent), Gov. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin (11.3 percent) and Michigan (13.3 percent).
Down in Texas, whose Gov. Rick Perry recently came up here ona rather bellicose corporate raiding mission, the total tax burden is a little lower than ours. But at 9.2 percent — compared with 9.6 percent in Illinois — the difference is what a good Texan might call a lil’ itty-bitty.
Wanna bet that the Tribune editorial board, Bruce Rauner, Ty Fahner, the Illinois Policy Institute and the other folks screaming about how Illinois is about to die a self-inflicted tax death completely ignore this study?
* But that’s not to say we don’t have some very real problems here. For example…
For every hundred dollars in payroll, Texas employers pay 39 cents for workers’ compensation insurance; their Illinois counterparts pay $1.10.
Few big companies actually pay the full tax rate, but workers’ comp is another story. It has to be addressed… again.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said Thursday a controversial pension solution that would require suburban school districts to eventually pick up the tab for their teachers’ retirement costs is inevitable.
“This is going to happen,” the powerful Chicago Democrat said. “There will be a new plan.”
Brent Clark of the Illinois Association of School Administrators said a district’s ability to absorb pension costs may hinge on its property tax wealth. The more reliant on state aid a district is, the less likely it can accomodate the cost shift.
“The more property wealth they are sitting on, the more likely they are to be able to manage this,” he said.
Clark also suggested that school districts be given latitude in following some state mandates. A district could determine “which ones are actually appropriate for the district or not.” That could free up money that could then be directed to pension costs, he said.
* The Question: Could you support any sort of cost-shift plan? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Last week, I took Oscar the Puppy downtown and three people yelled out his name. Not one of them said “hi” to me. A couple of days later, Oscar and I went to the pet store and a blog reader gushed over the little guy and barely talked to me at all.
I’m sensing a developing pattern here.
So, by popular demand, here’s the real star of the blog getting a much-appreciated belly rub…
Posing…
* Oscar has been enrolled in puppy training class. Actually, it should be called puppy owner training class because we’re the ones getting the real lessons.
Friday, May 10, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The satellite television industry serves a crucial role in connecting Illinois to the rest of the world with content that informs, entertains and educates – in many instances it’s the exclusive broadcast service provider available to Illinois homes. In addition, the satellite TV industry is an important economic driver creating hundreds of jobs in our state.
Facts About Satellite TV in Illinois:
• Serves 1.3 million households in Illinois (almost a third of homes that subscribe choose satellite)
• Employs over 790 people, plus more than 1,000 technicians at 481 local retailers
• Rural Illinois depends on satellite TV since cable does not often provide service to their area
• Satellite TV offers a wider range of foreign language programming in comparison to cable
Lawmakers continue to be prodded by the cable TV industry to place a NEW 5% monthly tax on satellite TV service. Previous versions of this discriminatory tax proposal have been defeated in Springfield—and similar bills are regularly defeated in other states including three times in neighboring Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. This revenue generator needs to be clearly labeled what it is: An unfair tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV.
* From a recent Illinois State Rifle Association “special alert”…
The second subcategory of gun control’s true believers can be described generally as victims of violence. This subcategory encompasses a wide range of persons to include families of murder victims as well as first hand survivors of violence. Whereas the vast majority of victims of violence do their best to recover and get on with their lives, there is a minority who allow their grief to turn into seething bitterness. Rather than make a positive contribution to prevent future violence, they embark on divisive, hate-filled campaigns against lawful firearm owners.
These victims of violence are ideal advocates for the abolishment of private firearm ownership. On the surface, they are vulnerable and weepy-eyed. But, below the surface, they are boiling over with hatred for people who own guns. That deep hatred fuels their drive to do whatever it takes to punish lawful gun owners.
These victims of violence are all about payback, and the payback they seek won’t be meted out to the criminals by whom they were victimized. No, the objects of their ire are the tens of millions of hunters, sportsmen and target shooters who responsibly exercise their right to keep and bear arms. These victims of violence claim that their campaign for domestic disarmament has the best interests of the public at heart. Chances are, these people couldn’t care less if others suffer the same fate as theirs. In fact, additional acts of violence only serve to justify their calls for the abolishment of private firearm ownership.
These people love the limelight. That is why they reside in the top positions in the Illinois gun control movement. That is why they take every opportunity to get in front of the cameras, tell their stories, and then mercilessly bash law-abiding firearm owners.
The most effective way to deal with these people is to meet them head-on. When they have a public meeting, the audience needs to be flooded with firearm owners. When they have a media event, the media needs to see more gun guys than anti-gunners. We need to confront them at every turn and vigorously defend the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
Like pacifists, debating these people is pointless. They have dedicated their lives to destroying the 2nd Amendment. They cannot be reasoned with. They cannot be educated.
* The Illinois Republican Party raised no money during the first quarter of the year. If you want to see one reason why that happened, read this Sun-Times report…
A livid Ron Gidwitz called out the conservative faction of the party’s central committee on Thursday, telling the Sun-Times its ousting of Illinois Republican Party Chairman and lack of preparation to deal with the fallout has put a poor face on the party, “destroying” the embattled GOP’s chances in next year’s election.
“The state central committee — a faction of the state central committee — is destroying any chance that the Republican party has in 2014,” an angered Gidwitz told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. “I mean, how stupid is this! The lack of thoughtful, leadership … The state central committee is responsible for the leadership of our party. To push out the party chairman with no plan for a replacement — it is absurd. And with no thought to the consequences of their behavior.”
Gidwitz is typically one of the leading Republican cheerleaders in the state and is a major player in national and statewide politics, hosting a variety of fund-raisers, including for presidential nominees.
“They’re making the central committee irrelevant. The uncalled for attacks on Pat Brady and the lack of preparation once they started attacking Pat Brady, with no expectation, no strategy to replace him with a capable, respected individual,” Gidwitz said. “They are fundamentally creating an irrelevancy for the state party.”
Gidwitz blew up after the Sun-Times contacted him with a working list of possible replacements to Brady.
Gidwitz has been a leading member of what the Republicans euphemistically refer to as “the donor community,” which essentially means wealthy Republicans who traditionally give big bucks.
* The pension reform stalemate isn’t about personalities. It’s about policy and it’s also about the traditional conflict between the House and the Senate. Senators don’t like to be pushed around by the House. They never have. So Madigan is right here…
Q: How much of the pension debate is about finding common ground, and how much is about a battle of two big personalities?
A: “You can take that battle about personalities and throw it in the ash can, okay. This is all about correcting a serious fiscal problem for the state of Illinois. We’ve discussed changes in the pension laws for close to four years. We made a serious effort a year ago. It failed, but we’re back again. I think the bill passed by the House is a good solid bill, well thought out. It has a broad base of support, and it ought to be passed by the Senate. And I think they will pass it.”
* Senate passes Cullerton pension bill: In an interview with the Associated Press, the governor said the Madigan bill deserves to be called for a vote in Senate. That’s more than Mr. Quinn has said about the Cullerton bill in the House.
* Illinois Senate OKs union-backed pension deal: But Ron Holmes, a spokesman for Cullerton, said it didn’t appear Madigan’s proposal had enough votes to pass the Senate. He noted four Republicans voted with Democrats on the union-supported bill Thursday, and that a bill similar to Madigan’s failed to get the 30 votes needed for approval when it was before the chamber earlier this year. “If there’s some sort of shift that says we can get to 30 votes (on Madigan’s bill), the Senate president will take that into account,” Holmes said.
* A showdown in Springfield?: Bivins said he had been leaning in favor of the Cullerton bill, but he pulled his support after finding out about the opposition of the association representing retired teachers. “I discovered that this one group was never at the table,” the senator said. “They had concerns with the bill’s constitutionality. That was one of my concerns. It was a major mistake not to have them at the table.”
* Sun-Times Editorial: What’s ‘morally’ wrong? Fake pension fix: The Senate bill is the worst kind of reform: It looks like progress and it could be passed off as such by campaigning politicians. But the bill saves relatively little and allows Illinois to continue the outrageous pass-the-buck behavior that got us in trouble in the first place.
Lawmakers are human beings, and like most human beings they don’t make any major changes until it’s clear that something absolutely has to be done.
Pension reform is a good case in point.
It’s been obvious since just after World War II that Illinois’ pension systems were dangerously underfunded. But nothing was done until the problem was discussed at the state constitutional convention in 1969. The delegates came up with a plan that they believed would scare the Illinois General Assembly into finally providing adequate funding for the pension systems.
The idea was simple. Legislators were forever barred from cutting pension benefits. Constitutional delegates figured that legislators wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to short the pension systems and raise benefits to the point where it threatened the very existence of the government. The delegates were wrong.
Pension payments continued to be skipped and skimped while benefits continued to rise. In the 1980s, legislators compounded the interest on annual pension increases, making the problem far worse.
In the 1990s, Gov. Jim Edgar put in place a 50-year solution. But like those crazy mortgages in the last decade, the big balloon payments were put off until far into the future.
Even with Edgar’s “ramp,” pension payments still were skipped, and when the stock market crashed after the mortgage industry collapsed, billions of dollars contributed by taxpayers simply vanished.
The unfunded liability now tops $100 billion. Annual payments are so high and are rising so fast that they are literally eating up the rest of the state budget. Almost every dime of 2011’s huge state income tax increase now goes to the pension systems.
Two years ago, House Republican Leader Tom Cross along with Ty Fahner at the Civic Committee pushed a pension reform plan that actually increased annual payments by a billion dollars and knocked just $3 billion to $5 billion off the state’s unfunded liability.
Despite strong editorial support, unions flat-out rejected Cross’ plan and a bipartisan consensus developed against it. The bill went nowhere.
This past Monday, the unions unveiled a compromise plan with Senate President John Cullerton that knocks $10 billion off the unfunded liability and actually saves taxpayers $45 billion over the next 30 years.
But instead of being praised for their difficult compromise, the unions have been hammered for an insufficient effort.
If the unions had proposed their current plan two years ago, it would’ve immediately passed and they would’ve been praised for saving the state. Nothing proposed by that point even came close to the savings that the unions have now agreed to.
The problem for the unions is that House Speaker Michael Madigan passed a pension reform plan before they unveiled their own proposal. Madigan’s plan saves far more money than the union proposal and knocks billions more off the unfunded liability.
The delay in reaching an agreement with the Senate meant the unions could not go to sympathetic House Democrats and plead their case before the House voted.
So now we are once again stuck with two competing pension bills. The gridlock has not been broken. The irony here is after 65 years of pension woes, a one-week delay in coming up with an agreement may have made a huge difference in how the state ultimately decides to deal with the issue.
Timing is everything. And that’s really too bad. The solution to the pension problem ought to include the voices of those who are being asked to give up something that has been guaranteed by our Constitution.
In a recent alert, the ISRA criticized those who exploit shocking criminal events for the purpose of diminishing the Constitutional rights of law-abiding firearm owners. We regret that some have construed our remarks as being insensitive to persons who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Such was certainly not our intent and we apologize to those we realize were genuinely offended.
Like all Americans, the Officers, Directors and members of the Illinois State Rifle Association are saddened by the carnage committed by vicious criminals. We equally abhor the now predictable pattern of bashing law-abiding firearm owners that follows such events.
Background on the group’s inane statement is here. [Fixed link.]
From what I understand, ISRA got major heat from their legislative allies for that boneheaded move.
And I’m not sure this apology really cuts it, but whatever.
We’ve profiled Gov. Quinn before (Tenacious Gadfly), and not much has changed since then. Illinois continues to struggle under oppressive ($100 billion) public pension debt and multi-billion dollar budget deficits despite a sizable “temporary” state income tax now pumping more into state coffers. Quinn is often portrayed in press and the political blogosphere in terms of being hapless–not a great portrait for someone seeking re-election in tough times. Indeed, rumors continue to swirl of the possibility of fellow Democrats trying to take him out in next year’s Primary. But political coroners have tagged Quinn’s toe a number of times in the past only to be confounded. Will that be the case in 2014? Perhaps, but these approval numbers simply cannot be dismissed easily.
It’s problematic for Gov. Quinn that support among Independent voters continues to erode for him. Again, let’s be clear that these approval numbers can’t be viewed as a predictor of doom. Quinn’s dismal approval rating didn’t stop him from winning in 2010.
But we’re sure that some will look at these results and assume that Quinn can best be described as the Walking Dead.
The poll of 1,057 Likely Voters was taken yesterday and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.
* A group called Fair Economy Illinois was at the Statehouse yesterday to lobby for a corporate transparency bill and a proposal to close some corporate loopholes.
* But the group also forced its way into the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association headquarters yesterday. From the IMA…
A group of approximately 50 protesters forced their way into IMA’s Springfield lobby and briefly chanted anti-fracking slogans for about 10 minutes Wednesday afternoon.
The well-rehearsed protest disbursed when the group’s leaders heard police being dispatched via scanners they were monitoring.
No damage was done, no arrests were made, and no minds were changed about the benefits of hydraulic fracturing.
The IMA building has a secure, electronic entrance, but apparently one of the protesters posed as a flower delivery person and that’s how the rest of them got in. The protesters also apparently hung up a sign on the outside of the building calling the IMA the “Illinois Money-Grabbing Association.”
Like all people of good conscience, gun owners were appalled at that the crimes that took place in Newtown.
Nevertheless, gun owners really don’t put much credence in what the Newtown parents have to say.
After all, having a child murdered doesn’t automatically make one an expert in violent crime or an expert in the U.S. Constitution or an expert in the shooting sports. Likewise, being the parent of a murdered child does not give one the right to demand that lawful gun owners give up their constitutional rights just to bring closure to that parent’s grief. No, we gun owners will not be supporting any proposals to ban our guns, limit our magazines, tax our rights, snoop deeply into our backgrounds, or register us like sex offenders. As we have said many times before, we will not accept responsibility for what happened in Newtown because it is not our responsibility to accept. Obama, Biden and the rest of the gun-grabbing crew needs to understand well that our resolve is set in stone.
* By the way, ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson claimed this in an e-mail sent to members early this morning…
I want to share with you very important news (actually, I’m overjoyed): the Illinois State Rifle Association has reached a milestone by going over the 27,000 member mark. Thank you to all of you who have joined or renewed their membership. To overcome the entrenched anti-gunners and to achieve our goals in Illinois can only be achieved with a large and active membership. We must continue to grow, and we must continue to recruit new members. The outcome of what happens legislatively in Springfield is directly proportional of the power the organization has – we are not there yet, but we are definitely gaining strength.
* Passage yesterday was expected since the bill was sent to the Executive Committee, which means it was greased…
An Illinois Senate committee has approved a proposal that would allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
The Senate Executive Committee voted 10-5 Wednesday to send the measure to the full Senate. The proposal allows physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients who have been diagnosed with certain medical conditions.
The measure creates a pilot program that limits the frequency and amount of marijuana patients can buy.
Republican Leader Christine Radogno told [sponsoring Sen. Bill Haine] she doubted that if medical marijuana were legalized, it would strictly stay in the hands of its intended patients. “It will get out on the streets,” she said. She told Haine she thought the bill’s scope was too narrow for it to work. “I don’t think it addresses the bigger picture. I really think the question is if we should legalize it.”
OK, but would she actually vote for full legalization? If so, that’s huge.
Supporters have touted the bill as the most restrictive of its kind in the nation, but questions during the more than hour-long debate arose over whether the bill would open up legalization of other substances and whether marijuana is an addictive ‘gateway drug.’
“I’ve seen the devastation of illegal drugs,” said Haine, who served four terms as Madison County state’s attorney. “I’ve seen it, but we can’t build a civilized society on a foundation of fear of a few people that are demented or are addicted that abuse medicines.”
But Jacksonville police chief Anthony Grootens, who worked for the Drug Enforcement Agency for 21 years, testified that he’s seen marijuana linked with other drugs such as heroin and that the amount patients could obtain under Haine’s bill leaves too much room for abuse.
“I don’t know if it’s a gateway drug or not, but what I will tell you, in the thousands of arrests and search warrants that we’ve conducted…for either heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, we routinely found marijuana,” Grootens said. “Does it go hand in hand? I don’t know. But we found it, and we’re still finding it.”
Grootens claimed that even if changes were made to the bill, he wouldn’t support it because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.
* It’s either a poison pill, as the Sun-Times says, or a way to make the Senate’s pension reform bill save more money. We will soon find out…
The plan that advanced in the Senate coincides with possible movement on another pension issue in the House, where Madigan has scheduled a hearing Thursday to craft legislation to make downstate and suburban school districts shoulder the state’s cost of funding pensions for educators in their school systems.
The idea to end what Madigan has derided as a “free lunch” for those districts has faced resistance from Republicans and suburban and Downstate Democrats, who worry the pension cost shift from the state could result in higher property taxes.
On Wednesday, Madigan predicted that his chamber will “get the job done” on the cost shift.
Since Cullerton’s plan can be tweaked in the House, there is potential it could merely be a poison pill that could be added as an amendment to help quash the Senate president’s plan in Madigan’s chamber. A defeat like that would leave the Madigan pension-reform version as the only game in town as a scheduled May 31 legislative adjournment looms.
Asked if he intended to move the cost shift as its own piece of legislation or tack it on an existing bill like the Cullerton one, Madigan told the Chicago Sun-Times, “We’ll get to that later.”
* From yesterday’s Senate committee hearing on the pension reform bill agreed to by the unions…
Cullerton is exerting his full political muscle behind a legal theory that state worker pensions can be pared back if employees and retirees are given options. His position rests on the idea that the choice fulfills the need to have a contractual relationship between the state and its retirees to stay within the confines of the constitution. […]
But the Illinois Retired Teachers Association strongly disagreed that there is a way around the constitution.
“A choice that is kind of like ‘Either jump off a cliff or I’ll shoot you’ is not really a very good choice,” said Bob Pinkerton, the group’s vice president. He said Cullerton’s legislation does not provide “any choice that is beneficial” to the group’s 35,000 retirees.
As of this moment (9:22 am), 151 people “liked” Sandack’s post.
I don’t think this is a joke, by the way, even though Rep. Sandack supports the gay marriage bill.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** Illinois Review reports that State Central Committeewoman Deb Detmers listed folks who have been contacted by the state GOP and have expressed an interest…
* former Congressman Joe Walsh,
* former candidate for lietuenant governor Don Tracy,
* State Representative Ron Sandack,
* Cook County Commissioner Brad Schneider,
* former congressional candidate Jim Nalepa,
* State Central Committeeman Jack Dorgan,
* State Central Committeeman Mark Shaw and
* State Central Committeeman and head of Chicago Young Republicans Angel Garcia.
Eight others have been contacted with no reply yet, Detmers reported, while several others have been contacted and indicated no interest in “applying” for the position. The contacting process will continue until Sunday night, and then plans for interviews with the candidates will begin.
Thursday, May 9, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. They were first exempted from federal income taxes in 1917 to fulfill a special mission as valuable and affordable cooperative alternatives to for-profit banks. Even though credit unions are exempt from income tax, they still are subject to, and pay, property, payroll, and sales taxes, and a host of governmental regulatory supervision fees. Since their inception, credit unions have more than fulfilled their mission, as evidenced by Congressional codification of the credit union tax exemption in 1951 and 1998. Though the range of services has evolved to effectively serve their members in an increasingly competitive financial marketplace, the cooperative structure, which is the reason for their tax exempt status, has remained constant. Nationally, consumers benefit to the tune of $10 billion annually because credit unions are tax-exempt. In Illinois, by most recent estimates credit unions annually provide more than $198 million in direct financial benefits to almost three million members. In an era that continuously poses economic and financial challenges, credit unions remain true to one principle - people before profits - and represent a highly valued resource by consumers during these uncertain economic times.
Thursday, May 9, 2013 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Beneath Chicago’s streets lie gas mains that were put in place, in some cases, when horses and buggies were driving overhead. Since 1981, Peoples Gas has been replacing these outdated mains. So far, the utility has replaced about half of its 4,000 miles of old cast-iron and ductile mains with updated pipe.
In the years to come, we’re going to rely on natural gas more and more.
While natural gas supplies are abundant and wholesale costs are low, we need to focus on investing in our natural gas distribution system by modernizing this aging gas infrastructure. This investment will make natural gas delivery safer, quicker, and more reliable. It will be better for the environment, and it will create jobs.
But Illinois’ current regulatory system is unpredictable, outdated and inefficient, inhibiting investment. Illinois natural gas utilities need a legislative solution to have the continued confidence to invest in the replacement older, higher risk materials at an accelerated pace, protect over 1,000 jobs and provide natural gas customers with the safe and reliable service they expect.
