After weeks of listening to predictions of doom and gloom from top state officials, Democrats in the Illinois House are poised to roll out a spending plan that relies on an extension of the temporary income tax.
Rather than imposing tough cuts on schools, prisons, universities and social services, the spending plan would mirror a budget proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn that adds more cash for schools, universities and social service programs, said state Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat who chairs a House appropriations committee.
The majority party could schedule a vote on the budget blueprint as early as Thursday, with an eye on asking lawmakers to extend the temporary income tax at a later date. […]
State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said leaders are polling Democratic members to try to gauge how many members support an extension.
If they go ahead and do this and it’s somehow signed into law before the tax hike extension is approved, I don’t know how it could satisfy constitutional review.
The General Assembly by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.
They’ve gotten around this in the past by fudging revenue or even spending numbers (not making pension payments, for instance, or pushing Medicaid payments off to the future). But when the revenue numbers are clearly lower than the spending numbers, the budget could be challenged.
…Adding more… I can’t help but think this’ll really mess with the state’s bond rating as well. Talk about “uncertainty.” Sheesh, what a stupid idea this is unless they can actually pass a tax hike extension by the end of the month.
And those are only complaints that passengers reported. According to ABC, there are cab drivers on the road with up to eight complaints against them.
In contrast, Lyft and other ridesharing services value the safety of passengers and drivers above all else, and have rigorous safety requirements including criminal and driving background checks, vehicle inspections, and safety ride-alongs that ALL drivers must pass.
When you hail one of the city’s 6,600 licensed cabs, you may not know what to expect when that meter starts.
So the I-Team read through three months of recent cab complaints, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, from the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
“We get 12,000 complaints a year,” said Jeffrey Lewelling, BACP First Deputy Commissioner […]
The I-Team found that 48 percent, or about 1,400 of them, were about reckless driving. And in just three months, there were 28 total complaints of physical assault.
There’ve been a few allegations of physical assault against Uber/Lyft drivers across the country, but 28 Chicago cabbie assault complaints in three months?
* Despite overwhelming opposition by the state’s editorial boards and fierce lobbying against it by the Medical Society, David Ormsby writes today that legislation to allow psychologists to prescribe certain medication is gaining momentum…
A year-and-a-half battle between Illinois psychologists and psychiatrists may reach a critical point in the House this week. […]
The plan, which is sponsored by State Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and is being pushed by the Illinois Psychologist Association and community mental health agencies from across the state, cleared the Senate on April 25, 2013 on a bi-partisan roll call, 37-10-4, but stalled in the House last year.
The fight, which has brought out heavyweight lobbyists on both sides of the issue, tilted last week in the psychologists’ favor when a fresh amendment helped House sponsor State Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) propel the bill out of the House Human Services Committee on a bi-partisan 9-5-1 vote, a vote that drew 34 proponent witness slips and 104 opponents.
The key concession by psychologists was to agree to a “two-year conditional license” supervised by a physician before moving to a permanent “continuing license”.
Only two other states, Louisiana and New Mexico, have similar laws.
Psychologists and community mental health groups say that much of rural Illinois has no access to psychiatrists, which was the same basic argument used by optometrists when they wanted to be given some responsibilities of ophthalmologists a while back.
* The Question: With conditions, and despite physician disapproval of the concept, should psychologists be given the right to prescribe some drugs to their patients? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
(T)here’s one very big thing a governor can do on his own, without legislative approval. Pat Quinn won’t do it, but Bruce Rauner might. And it could make all the difference for the state of Illinois’ future.
When the current AFSCME collective-bargaining agreement expires in 2015, the governor will represent Illinois in the bargaining over a new contract. What if he tells the union — and all our citizens…
When the current collective-bargaining agreement expires, I’m going to ask our employees to take a reduction in wages. They won’t like it, but we have no alternative. And I’m going to continue to hold wages down until we get control of our runaway budgets.
“This will save on annual operating costs. It will also help deal with the pension debt. Pensions are based on career-end wages. If wage levels are reduced, so are pension obligations.
“Some employees will retire or find work elsewhere. Maybe we won’t replace them. If we do, we’ll replace them with “new employees” who come under the new, less-costly pension plan put in place a few years ago by House Speaker Mike Madigan. Or we’ll outsource to some company or firm that will do the work at market rates.
“The unions probably won’t agree, but that will be my bargaining position. If we can’t reach an agreement, then we’ll be at impasse. Some may strike. I hope not, but I’ll do what I think is necessary to save Illinois.
* The Illinois Policy Institute has been pushing for a major state worker wage cut in recent days, so this isn’t likely a coincidence. And Rauner pledged to do what Martin dreamed as far back as March of last year…
“I may have to take a strike and shut down the government for a few weeks [in order to] redo everybody’s contract.”
Martin omits any mention in his column of the essential services state employees provide, ignores years of budget cuts that have left Illinois with the nation’s smallest state work force per capita, falsely claims that state employees are paid more than private-sector workers and urges the next governor to violate Illinois labor law by refusing to bargain with our union. […]
Although a recent study by the University of Illinois found that salaries paid to state employees are 13.5 percent lower than comparable private-sector workers, Martin says cutting state employee pay “would make all the difference for the state of Illinois’ future.”
In fact, wages for the entire state work force amount to less than $1 of every $20 the state spends. Reducing that even by several percentage points wouldn’t dent our fiscal woes. And cutting the pay of middle-class workers will hurt the Illinois economy, not help it. The same U of I study found that public employment contributes $105 billion to the state’s GDP, and is responsible for sustaining 1.1 million jobs statewide, including 300,000 in the private sector.
* Meanwhile, in a somewhat related story, Chicago’s Blaine Elementary School Principal Troy A. LaRaviere recently penned a righteous letter to the editor about how he and other principals are being mistreated…
Since 2011, CPS principals and teachers have experienced unprecedented political burdens. Early on, teachers felt publicly maligned and disrespected by the mayor, leading to the historic strike of 2012.
While publicly praising principals in speeches and with awards, behind the scenes this administration has disregarded principals’ knowledge and experience. They have ignored and even suppressed principals’ voices in order to push City Hall’s political agenda for Chicago’s schools.
The administration’s interaction with principals is often insulting. During the debate over the longer school day, some principals questioned its merits. CPS officials were then dispatched to tell the principals their opinions didn’t matter. “You are Board employees,” a central office official told a room full of principals at a meeting, “and when you speak, your comments must be in line with the Board’s agenda.” He instructed us to have an “elevator speech” supporting the longer day ready at a moment’s notice. We were told that if Emanuel and the press walked into our schools, we’d better be prepared to list the benefits of his longer day. In a move that further humiliated principals, they were called on at random to give their elevator speeches at subsequent principal meetings.
Shortly afterward, CPS slashed school budgets, voted to close 50 schools and made disingenuous statements about the slashed budget giving more “autonomy” to principals. They insinuated these cuts would have little effect on classrooms. I spoke up to give Chicagoans a factual assessment of the effects of these cuts. A reporter from WBEZ Radio recorded a statement I delivered at City Hall in July 2013 and posted it on the station’s website. It became one of the station’s most downloaded audio files.
* The piece sparked a whole lot of interest. So much so that Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett felt the need to respond…
In a telephone call Monday, Byrd-Bennett said she was surprised to read the op-ed by Troy LaRaviere, principal at Blaine Elementary School in Lake View, whom she called “clearly one of our most distinguished.” […]
“He does a wonderful job. But he is feeling as if somehow there is this repressive environment coming from me and or my office, that he feels if he says anything there’ll be a retribution, I need to understand that and know where it’s coming from.”
Byrd-Bennett continued: “It’s a little saddening to believe that people think there’s a fear of retaliation. I know I have never set that fear. I have never called a principal in and said, ‘Off with your head.’ ”
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Ride-share car companies: they call it your own private driver, but do you really know who is driving?
FACT: Multi-billion dollar ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft are fighting standard criminal background checks and drug tests for drivers, including HB 4075, which would provide safety standards for all drivers across the board. Recently, a NBC 5 Chicago investigative team report found numerous UberX drivers with criminal pasts, including an ex-con on probation with a list of felonies over twenty years long, even after company “background checks.”
FACT: Ride-share companies are fighting standard insurance requirements for drivers. In fact, after an Uber driver hit and killed a 6-year-old girl in San Francisco, Uber denied responsibility and kept the little girl’s family from any insurance compensation.
These tragic stories show why the Chicago Tribune editorial board recently wrote they are “increasingly wary of leaving it to the ride shares to police themselves when it comes to making those checks, given (Uber’s) unapologetic disregard for rules” and the “same safety standard should apply to all ride shares.”
Customers deserve to have the peace of mind knowing that their driver has passed a comprehensive police background check and drug test and carries sufficient insurance in case of an accident.
* A press release from the Civic Federation, which should never be confused with Ty Fahner’s Civic Committee…
In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability opposes Governor Quinn’s recommended budget for FY2015 because it uses revenue from extending the 2011 temporary income tax increase for new spending. The State’s fiscal crisis demands that any increased revenue be used to stabilize State finances by significantly reducing its massive backlog of unpaid bills. The Institute’s full 36-page report is available at www.civicfed.org.
Under existing law, the State would lose $1.8 billion in General Funds revenues in FY2015 when the 2011 income tax rate increases are phased out beginning in January 2015. The Civic Federation is encouraged that the Governor’s plan addresses this fiscal cliff by extending the higher rates. The alternative – recommending budget cuts that are not based on specific public policy proposals – may be expedient but does not solve the State’s fiscal problems.
“The Governor’s plan appropriately recognizes that the State’s finances cannot withstand a dramatic reduction in revenues next year,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall. “However, new spending initiatives are just as contradictory to the State’s fiscal reality — especially those financed by borrowing.”
The Civic Federation opposes the Governor’s plan to spend $1.3 billion on a new homeowners’ grant program that would replace the State’s existing property tax credit on individual income taxes. Currently, the State provides an income tax credit for residential homeowners equal to 5.0% of the property taxes paid to local governments on their primary residence. The net cost of replacing this credit with the Governor’s proposed homeowners’ grant program is expected to be $715 million in FY2015.
The additional spending would require the State to borrow money to balance the operating budget, even after extending the higher income tax rates. The Governor proposes closing a $170 million budget gap in FY2015 by borrowing $650 million from funds outside of the State’s General Funds and repaying those funds with interest over the next two fiscal years. Although interfund borrowing is a low cost alternative to accessing transitional capital markets, this option should be reserved for financial emergencies and not to compensate for increased spending.
The Federation commends the Governor’s publication of a five-year budget plan, a first step toward true long-term financial planning. However, the policy choices made in the plan are projected to leave a substantial backlog of bills at the end of the five-year period and no strategy is detailed to establish a meaningful rainy day fund.
In its recent State budget roadmap for FY2015, the Federation recommended that the 2011 tax rate increases be extended for one year and then scaled back by 20% over the following three years. The Federation’s five-year plan also broadens the income tax base to include federally taxable retirement income. In the plan, additional revenues would be used to allow modest growth in agency spending while eliminating the $5.4 billion backlog of unpaid bills, providing relief to local governments and building up reserves to cushion against future economic downturns. The Federation continues to urge State lawmakers to adopt a similarly comprehensive approach to stabilizing Illinois finances.
The full analysis is here. Check out the section on the property tax “rebates”…
The State does not collect property taxes, so these payments cannot be considered property tax rebates or property tax relief. The existing property tax credit is nonrefundable, meaning it can only be used to reduce income taxes owed to the State and cannot be collected for any amount above the total individual tax liability. In contrast, new grants would be made regardless of whether the homeowner owes State income taxes, which adds to the cost of the new program. It is also possible the grant would be taxed by the federal and State governments as part of the calculation of homeowners’ individual income tax liabilities.
That could very well be true. In fact, I think it is true. Here’s your alleged property tax rebate, and, by the way, you owe income taxes on it.
Sheesh.
* I personally think the overall analysis makes some sense. The state shouldn’t be paying for that silly property tax “rebate” plan with borrowed money.
In its recent State budget roadmap report for FY2015, the Federation found that the steep rollback in income tax rates would destabilize Illinois’ already weak financial condition. The Federation recommended that the 2011 tax rate increases be extended for one year and then scaled back by 20% over the following three years and that the income tax base should be broadened to include federally taxable retirement income. The Federation urged that the additional revenues be used to allow modest growth in agency spending while eliminating the unpaid bill backlog, providing relief to local governments and building up reserves to cushion against future economic downturns.
That might be doable, except it relies on the retirement income tax. Man, that would be a tough political vote. Impossibly tough, more likely. Suggesting such a thing amounts to a belief in magical budget dust.
Other than that, it’s not far out of line. Although I agree with the governor’s budget office that the entire bill backlog doesn’t have to be eliminated. People and big corporations don’t pay bills the day they arrive in the mail.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
HFA #2 to SB 2187 – which would radically expand prescription-writing powers – puts patients at risk. Just ask the State Journal-Register.
In a May 7 editorial, the Journal-Register called on legislators to reject the bill, calling it “desperately flawed legislation.”
“Desperate” is right. The Illinois Psychological Association is desperate to expand revenues and shore up the schools of professional psychology. That’s why it’s pushing “RxP” legislation to let psychologists prescribe dangerous drugs. Under current Illinois law, advanced practice nurses (APNs) and physician assistants (PAs) can prescribe along with doctors. But they have medical training; psychologists don’t.
The Journal-Register saw through the IPA’s most dishonest argument: “Proponents of S.B. 2187 say the ability of mental health patients in underserved areas of the state to receive medication from psychologists will solve the problem of access. We disagree.”
* The pension reform fight between mayors and unions representing firefighters and police officers has been raging for months. The mayors claim that dozens of pension sweeteners passed by the General Assembly over the years has made the pensions unaffordable. Unions rightly point out that pretty much all of those increases were negotiated with the municipalities, and those agreements included union concessions as well. The unions, in turn, point the finger of blame at the municipalities for deliberately underfunding their systems. But WBEZ’s Alex Keefe manages to sort through the claims and counter claims…
Rather than “pension sweeteners,” longtime Illinois police and fire pension actuary Art Tepfer said the rapidly rising pension costs that towns are struggling with came about by design.
“This is the way that Illinois retains it’s No. 1 ranking as having the worst-funded pension funds in the country,” said Tepfer, who serves as an actuary to more than 100 downstate and suburban public safety funds in Illinois.
Tepfer points to a 1993 change in state law, when legislators approved a pension funding scheme that functioned similar to an adjustable-rate mortgage: low payments at first, but rapidly rising payments in the future.
“Well, we’re in the future now,” Tepfer said. “This is what’s happened. And that’s why we have a pension crisis. We saw it coming.”
Tepfer said smaller funds are also limited in how much money they can invest in stocks, which limits the amount of money they can make on their investments.
It appears Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider will take on the role to lead the Illinois Republican Party without a challenge.
Schneider’s potential challenger, Blair Garber, notified Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner that he is pulling his name from contention, a source close to Rauner said. Garber reached out to Rauner, saying he would not oppose Schneider in what was to be an election to succeed Jack Dorgan scheduled for Saturday.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* From a press release…
Statement from Jack Dorgan and Bruce Rauner on ILGOP Chairman’s Race
CHICAGO - The following statement was released today from Jack Dorgan, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party:
“Today, I am proud to announce that I will be joining Bruce Rauner’s Team as a Co-Chair of his Finance Committee. I will continue with the Illinois Republican Party as a member of the State Central Committee in the 5th District. However, with these new dual roles, I will no longer be able to run for re-election as chairman of the Party.
“It has been my great honor to lead the Illinois Republican Party as chairman over the last year, helping position our candidates across Illinois for an incredible victory this November. Our Party is exactly where I had hoped it would be: firing on all cylinders and ready to deliver a new direction to the people of Illinois.
“I believe that Tim Schneider is the best person to succeed me as Chairman. He understands exactly what it will take to spread the Republican Party’s message of more jobs, better schools, and value for tax dollars.
“Bruce and I look forward to working closely with Tim in the months ahead. We trust he’ll do a great job.”
Bruce Rauner today issued the following statement regarding Illinois Republican Party Chairman Jack Dorgan and the upcoming chairman’s election:
“Jack Dorgan has been an extraordinary Chairman, and he will be a great partner in our campaign. I’m honored he’ll be a part of the team. I applaud Jack’s service to the Illinois Republican Party over the last year and look forward to working with him to defeat Pat Quinn in November.
“As we work to shake up Springfield and bring back Illinois, I can think of no one better to be our next Chairman than Tim Schneider — a small business owner, fiscal conservative and proven reformer. Tim has served at the forefront of the fight against cronyism, corruption and fiscal irresponsibility in Cook County - and I know he will be an unmatched spokesman across the state for our pro-growth, pro-reform vision for Illinois.”
Blair Garber of Evanston, who sits on the committee from the 9th Congressional District, is the only other candidate.
But Schneider’s backing from both Rauner and Dorgan gives him a clear advantage going into Saturday’s vote. […]
Dorgan was first elected to the post a year ago following the resignation of Pat Brady of St. Charles, who was nearly ousted from the job after lobbying state lawmakers to vote for same-sex marriage.
It’s no secret that the national GOP is going to put some money behind the party’s nominee for governor here, Bruce Rauner, although Mr. Rauner has plenty of his own to spend on the campaign. But now comes word that the Republican National Committee is hiring 193 field staffers nationwide, boosting a variety of data collection and analytical tools and even springing for campaign offices as part of a Victory 365 program.
“The Illinois implementation of the program means several field offices around the state, advanced voter-contact technology, and a renewed focus on reaching out to new Republican voters,” the Illinois Republican Party said in a statement. Democrats “have taken the people of our state for granted for far too long,” added Illinois GOP Chairman Jack Dorgan.
In follow-up phone calls, officials aren’t offering any more details yet about exactly what will be spent and where. And, as is usual in such cases, the big decisions and financial commitments likely will wait until the fall, when insiders have a better idea which races are winnable and which are lost causes.
But the party already has dispatched a well-respected operative here to act as Illinois victory director, Tony Esposito. A staffer also has been assigned to help embattled downstate Congressman Rodney Davis, R-Champaign, hang on to his job.
* I heard yesterday that Bruce Rauner attended a big ACLU Illinois gala Saturday night and reached out to the group to see if they had any photos. No luck, so no caption contest today.
The fundraising party was intended to celebrate decades of pro-choice advocacy by the group. Illinois Review also got wind of Rauner’s attendance and filed this report…
Nearly 500 guests attended the ACLU event, which was hosted by a number of corporations and individuals, including Rauner’s wife Diana.
“Congresswoman Schakowsky spoke with confidence that reproductive freedom will continue to be protected throughout the states,” Youhnka said, alluding to ACLU-Illinois’ success in warding off attempts to restrict abortion in Illinois. […]
“It is disgusting that Mr. Rauner would give money to, and celebrate with, an organization that brags about its support of partial birth abortion, a gruesome procedure involving the severing of the spinal cords of fully developed unborn children,” Illinois Right to Life Committee’s new executive director Emily Zender told Illinois Review. […]
Zender told IR they had originally been informed that Rauner’s running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti was going to attend the pro-life dinner. However, when the Illinois Right to Life Committee refused to provide her a complimentary ticket, the Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate backed out, citing a scheduling conflict.
Today the State Universities Annuitants Association and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan reached a tentative agreement to postpone implementation of the State’s new pension law (PA 98-599).
The agreement is pending as it requires judicial approval before going into effect. The agreement delays implementation of the pension law until July 1, 2015. Specifically, the agreement protects SURS members currently eligible for retirement by allowing them to delay their retirement decision until the constitutionality of the new pension law is determined. It allows them to calculate their money purchase annuity based on the effective rates as of June 30, 2014 and allows them to avoid the skips in the annual increases if the changes to the pension are upheld. The agreement also ensures that any unnecessary pension contributions will be refunded.
The SUAA request had also asked for a stay of the entire pension law, but instead of holding out for that or going through a protracted court battle, negotiated the deal with the attorney general. Those involved say time is of the essence in hopes of holding off a retirement wave they argue will harm the state’s schools through a loss of institutional memory. They say the State Universities Retirement System has been overburdened with members trying to understand how the pension law would affect their benefits, and without enough time to meet with each, people have been forced to make retirement decisions without the full scope of information.
The tentative agreement between the SUAA and the attorney general resolves problems stemming from what can be described as typo in the pension law affecting university workers’ so-called “money purchase plans.” The SURS board recently voted to interpret the law as if the typo were fixed, so as to not inadvertently further cut some university workers’ pensions.
But the SUAA deal also goes beyond that; it eliminates issues involving so-called “refunds” that would have meant some university employees would have taken big hits were they to stay on the school payroll; the original request for an injunction, filed May 2, cited a man who would lose $190,000 if he kept working rather than retire by July.
The deal would also allow retirement systems to temporarily ignores a key provision of the pension law which reduces by one-percentage point how much employees must contribute toward their retirement; under the terms workers will continue paying what they do now, so as to not create additional harm if the law is found to be unconstitutional. There are additional changes, that affect individuals under systems besides SURS.
A coalition of labor unions on Monday asked a court in Springfield to prevent a new state law aimed at curbing Illinois’ public employee pension debt from taking effect next month until questions about its constitutionality have been resolved.
The legal filing in Sangamon County by We Are One Illinois came more than a week after a similar request was made on behalf of a group representing current and retired state university employees.
The pension law, approved by lawmakers and signed into law in December, sets a goal of wiping out the state’s $100 billion retirement debt within 30 years by reducing automatic cost-of-living increases for existing and future retirees while requiring workers to work longer before retiring.
“The pension theft bill must not be implemented before the courts have ruled,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan said in a statement. The coalition includes the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and other public worker unions.
