* Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart had this letter delivered to the governor’s office yesterday evening…
Illinois is in serious financial distress and we owe the citizens of this state an honest conversation about how we address the crisis, both from a fiscal standpoint and a moral one. Like many, I welcome a fresh look at how taxpayer dollars are being used and abused in all levels of government.
Yet, your budget proposals are alarming, not only for their insensitivity to the millions of lives they impact, but also for their lack of financial sense. In the face of jaw-dropping budget shortfalls, politicians for years have looked to cut state services that are crucial to large segments of our population who lack the cash and the lobbyists to fight back.
After just a month in office, you are proposing more of the same. Cutting already strained mental health programs; alcoholism and substance abuse treatment programs; criminal justice services and youth services does nothing to make Illinois a place people want to live. Slashing funding for our most vulnerable children through DCFS and kicking 18-year-old wards to the curb with no transitional support does nothing to right our ship.
Morality aside, such tactics – which are scaring hundreds of thousands of people and children across this state – are simply bad budgeting. When mental health and substance abuse programs are shuttered, where do you think the people needing that care end up? When a DCFS ward – even the ward’s child in some cases – is sent into the world without adequate help, what do you think will happen to that teenager on the street?
We know, all too often, they end up in the most costly government system of all, the criminal justice system. Once there, costs for prosecution and incarceration start racking up every minute, every day, every month.
You know this too. Your own budget calls for spending more money to reduce recidivism to save the state prison system money. You recently announced an ambitious goal to lower the state prison population by 25% in the next 10 years. Yet, cutting social safety net programs will only widen the pipeline to state prison for the most vulnerable members of our society.
Knowing your business acumen, I expected a budget proposal that was not so penny wise and pound foolish with people’s lives. Please reconsider this short-sighted proposal.
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It’s about the unions, governor, not the tycoon
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* President Obama is in Chicago to designate the Pullman Historic District as a national monument. It’s Chicago’s first national park. From the pool report…
THen at 2:25 [the President] gathered with officials, including Emanuel, and signed the official documents presumably designating the monuments.
Rauner tried to make his way onstage for the signing but was left at the rope-line.
Asked afterwards about not being invited onstage, Rauner just smiled and walked away.
Hmm. Quite a large number of other folks made it to the stage, including GOP US Sen. Mark Kirk. Obama even helped Kirk to the stage.
* So perhaps this is why the governor was rebuffed?…
Some helpful background on the Pullman strike is here.
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Governing ain’t easy
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last year, candidate Bruce Rauner’s “Bring Back Blueprint” promised $500 million in savings by reforming CMS.
But Gov. Rauner’s proposed budget contains a $22 million, 97 percent increase for CMS’ operational, grants and awards lines.
* Meanwhile, here’s candidate Bruce Rauner last October…
“(W)hat I am advocating and always have and always will is we’ve got to restructure Medicaid in Illinois. It is filled with waste and fraud.”
Also from last October…
“The waste and fraud under our Medicaid program is out of control.”
That same “Bring Back Blueprint” mentioned above claimed Rauner would save $250 million by implementing Medicaid verification reform.
His proposed budget produces nowhere near those savings…
Rauner proposes saving $75 million by being more aggressive in determining eligibility and by adding new efforts to “detect and prevent fraudulent and abusive billing practices by providers,” according to the budget document.
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Spiking, living large and the Supremes
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Riopell writes about a little-noticed Bruce Rauner proposal from yesterday…
Rauner wants to change a state law that makes local school districts pay penalties if they give big end-of-career pay raises to teachers and administrators.
School districts can still give the pay raises, but the state says local officials have to pay for the pension consequences.
Now, school districts have to pay penalties if they give late-career pay raises of more than 6 percent. Rauner wants to enact penalties for those pay raises if they’re greater than the rate of inflation, which lately has been around 1 percent. […]
Most districts avoid big penalties, even writing in a 6 percent pay raise cap into their contracts with teachers. But 1 percent is a lot lower, of course.
“While a so-called reform was enacted in an effort to prevent pension spiking, teacher contracts in recent years have made the six percent cap a floor rather than a ceiling,” Rauner spokesman Lance Trover said.
Whew.
* Meanwhile…
The ABC7 I-Team has been looking into a mind-boggling statement made by the Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday.
“One out of every four dollars taken from taxpayers by the state goes into a system that is giving more than 11,000 government retirees tax-free, six-figure pensions worth as much as, in one case, $450,000 per year,” Rauner said. […]
The person receiving a $450,000 pension went unnamed, but the I-Team has learned he is a man named Tapas Das Gupta, a doctor retired from University of Illinois Chicago Hospital. Currently taxpayers are footing his annual pension of $452, 843, but what the governor didn’t mention is that the No. 2 top pensioner also makes about that much. […]
Runner-up top state pensioner is Dr. Edward Abraham, a UIC orthopedic surgeon educated in Beruit, Lebanon, who retired at age 66 and receives a $439,000 a year pension.
Even as he receives that pension, Dr. Abraham has been hired back here at UIC part-time. It’s double dipping that is perfectly legal in Illinois and that other state pensioners take advantage of.
* And…
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced it will hear oral arguments in the state’s landmark pension-overhaul case on March 11.
Arguments will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the high court chamber in downtown Springfield.
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Illinois vs. Indiana – Workers’ Compensation
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois is often compared to our neighbor Indiana when it comes to workers’ compensation costs for businesses. Unfortunately, it is not a fair or accurate comparison. Wages are the main driving factor when it comes to workers’ compensation costs. Workers’ compensation benefits (non-medical) are based on a worker’s average weekly wage. On average, Indiana pays its workers 27 percent less than Illinois. Illinois ranks 8th in the country for average weekly wages, while Indiana ranks 35th. Because workers’ compensation replaces lost wages, lower wages in Indiana naturally creates lower workers’ compensation costs.
Indiana businesses may have lower workers’ compensation costs for employers; however workers injured on the job have meager options for their health care under Indiana’s workers’ compensation laws. In addition, Indiana’s early return to work program often forces injured workers back to work sooner than they should be and often leads to re-injury or new injuries.
Workers in Illinois deserve better. A fair and reasonable workers’ compensation system in Illinois helps injured workers get back on their feet and back to work.
For more information on workers’ compensation, click here.
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Today’s quotable
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois State University President Larry Dietz reacts to the governor’s proposed 31 percent cut to his school’s state funding…
“Some areas that could be affected include tuition – as set by our Board of Trustees – scholarships, faculty and staff compensation, hiring decisions and maintenance projects.
“Throughout the process, I want to assure you that protecting the jobs of our outstanding faculty and staff is our highest priority. We will do everything we can to prevent measures such as layoffs and forced furlough days.”
So, tuition and scholarships are on the table then?
I believe it’s imperative that we strengthen our university systems. But this insistence on protecting the bureaucracy to the detriment of the students is preposterous.
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* From a press release…
[US Sen. Mark Kirk], Diana Rauner To Highlight Success of Early Childhood Education Programs in Englewood
Participating Children were 35% Less Likely to Visit an Emergency Room
Every Dollar Spent Provides Return Investment of $5.70
* It’s probably no accident that Gov. Rauner proposed increasing early childhood education funding yesterday by $25 million. From a Wednesday press release by Illinois Action for Children…
Governor Rauner should be applauded for making early childhood a clear priority today. As the Governor said in his address, every dollar invested today in early childhood saves us more than $7 in the future.
It is a positive sign that the Governor has proposed to increase Pre-K investments and maintain child care funding in FY16, while also signaling that he and the General Assembly are negotiating to reach an agreement to fill the current $300 million shortfall facing the Child Care Assistance Program. Ending that crisis now must be the highest priority of our elected officials.
But much of that increase will be paid for by zeroing out all state funding for Advance Placement, Arts/Foreign Language, Agricultural Education, After School Matters, the Parent Mentoring Program, Lowest Performing Schools, funding to East St. Louis SD 189, Regional Safe Schools, Children’s Mental Health Partnership, National Board Certified Teachers, Tax Equivalency Grants, Teach for America, and Targeted Initiatives.
I wonder what Sen. Kirk and Mrs. Rauner think about those cuts?
* Greg Hinz has additional thoughts…
The advisory notes—correctly—that Diana Rauner heads the Ounce of Prevention Fund, which has done some very nice work trying to help poor families. It says that the federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Visiting Program has provided assistance to young mothers that not only makes childhood injuries less likely but has cut teen pregnancy rates. […]
I just have to wonder whether such needy folks might have a harder time of it if hospitals are less willing to provide treatment in the future because the governor has cut reimbursement rates. Or whether the fewer government-funded slots that will be available in alcohol and drug treatment programs might make a difference in their lives.
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Stop the satellite TV tax
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The cable industry is asking lawmakers to place a NEW 5% tax on satellite TV service. The satellite tax is not about fairness, equity or parity – it’s a tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV.
Satellite Tax Will Hurt Illinois Families and Small Businesses
• Satellite TV subscribers will see their monthly bills go up 5%.
• This tax will impact every bar, restaurant and hotel that subscribes to satellite TV service, which will translate into higher prices, decreased revenues, and fewer jobs.
• Rural Illinois has no choice: In many parts of Illinois, cable refuses to provide TV service to rural communities. Satellite TV is their only option.
Satellite Tax Is Not About Parity or Fairness
• Cable’s claim that this discriminatory tax is justified because satellite TV doesn’t pay local franchise fees could not be further from the truth. Cable pays those fees to local towns and cities in exchange for the right to bury cables in the public rights of way—a right that cable companies value in the tens of billions of dollars in their SEC filings.
• Satellite companies don’t pay franchise fees for one simple reason: We use satellites—unlike cable, we don’t need to dig up streets and sidewalks to deliver our TV service.
• Making satellite subscribers pay franchise fees—or, in this case, an equivalent amount in taxes—would be like taxing the air. It’s no different than making airline passengers pay a fee for laying railroad tracks. They don’t use; they shouldn’t have to pay for it.
Tell Your Lawmakers to Stop The Satellite TV Tax
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The right way and the wrong way
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The response from the Senate Black Caucus to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget proposal was mostly predictable, but on point…
“Yes, government leaders in positions of power hold many responsibilities, one of which is ensuring a thriving private sector, attractive to business and industry – but not to be forgotten are the awesome responsibilities of protecting and serving the people.” – State Senator Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood 4th)
“Cutting services that uplift communities are not only a slap in the face, but it’s an attack on the lower and middle class. This irresponsible, smoke-and-mirrors budget balances our state’s debts on the backs of the neediest, but refuses to close corporate loopholes.” – State Senator Donne E. Trotter (D-Chicago 17th)
“I am outraged that the governor is knocking middle and lower-class families down when they are already facing tough economic circumstances. He’s putting lives and livelihoods in jeopardy by treating our state’s most vulnerable people like burdens.” – State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago 3rd)
“This proposed budget would close doors of opportunity for youth in disadvantaged communities throughout the state.
“By cutting funding for anti-violence initiatives and services for wards of the state who face homelessness and exploitation when they turn 18, this administration signals that it is giving up on the tremendous potential within our young people struggling to emerge from difficult circumstances.
“And with one-third of higher education funding eliminated in the Rauner budget, young men and women who beat the odds and make it to college would face higher tuition, less assistance and fewer resources.” – State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th)
* Sen. Gary Forby also got in some licks…
“It’s pretty cold of the governor to propose cuts to energy cost assistance at a time when working families are struggling to deal with spikes in the utility bills.”
“This budget is filled with cut after cut after cut,” Forby continued. “Tuition costs are going to go up putting more of the burden on our students when they are trying to prepare themselves for the workforce.”
* As did Sen. Heather Steans…
In hearings starting next month, my colleagues and I will thoroughly discuss each agency’s needs and where savings can be achieved. But the numbers in today’s proposal simply don’t add up. I look forward to working with the governor’s office on a balanced budget that is realistic and fulfills our responsibilities to our most vulnerable residents.
* And Sen. Daniel Biss…
(T)he Governor’s proposal singles out working families and the most vulnerable among us for the deepest cuts, while asking nothing of the rich. It is simply unconscionable to slash Medicaid, foster care, and much of the rest of our safety net while leaving the most fortunate among us untouched.
* Sen. Trotter and others also did a credible job during WBEZ’s extensive coverage. But then Donne reverted to one of his bad habits…
Sen. Donne Trotter said Wednesday Rauner has proposed a “slash-and-burn budget.” The Chicago Democrat says Rauner acted “as if he was an ISIS warrior fighting a battle, not against the state of Illinois but against the people of Illinois.”
Rauner spokesman Lance Trover says the administration welcomes dialogue with legislators. But he’s urging lawmakers “to refrain from over the top rhetoric that demeans the process.”
Trover is right, Trotter is wrong.
What the Senator did was distract attention away from the governor’s cuts and put it onto himself.
C’mon, man.
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When spending less costs more
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed $1.47 billion in Medicaid cuts includes reductions in dental services, mental health care and other coverage. But some legislators and patient advocates say the targeted services don’t just help keep people healthy — they also save the state money. […]
“We found, for example, that if you cut people’s dental services and then they don’t go to a dentist, they end up going to an emergency room and it costs us more money,” Cullerton said. “So we went back and examined that and made a change.”
“People will not miraculously get better if they’re denied care for services,” said Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago. “They’ll just end up at a higher level of care in an acute care setting at the most expensive end of their disease.”
Other legislators responded that the added costs of emergency room services have not been well-documented.
“It’s theory,” said Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon.
No, it’s not a theory. This does happen.
* From a 2012 New York Times story…
In a report this year, [the Pew Center on the States] estimated that preventable dental problems were the primary diagnosis in 830,590 emergency room visits in 2009 — up 16 percent from 2006.
“It’s penny-wise and pound-foolish,” said Shelly Gehshan, the director of the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign. “Rather than an $80 extraction or a $300 filling, states are spending much more on emergency room visits that can’t fix the problem.”
* Also, this…
(M)any Medicaid enrollees continue to live with the pain and discomfort of tooth decay and gum disease, which can exacerbate other health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Eventually, some go to costly emergency rooms, which can do little but provide short-term pain relief.
…Adding… More on this general topic from the Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities group…
Governor Bruce Rauner’s $27 million cuts to drug treatment services undermine the very criminal justice reforms that he has been publicly championing.
Criminal justice reforms and cost savings simply cannot happen without drug treatment and coordinated case management upon which Illinois courts rely.
Last year alone, working with judges and community-based treatment providers, TASC diverted 2,080 people from prison and immediately saved Illinois $35 million. Under the governor’s proposed budget for next year, millions of those savings would be wiped out.
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Shared sacrifice is pretty one-sided
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
“If you’re going to look for major reforms and finding savings, I suggest you look at the tax code where there’s a bunch of corporate giveaways and corporate loopholes,” Emanuel said. “That’s a perfect place to start, but do not think you are going to do this, not only on the backs of families and children, but the resources that go directly to the city are things that we use to pay for our police, firefighters and first responders.” […]
Rauner’s draconian budget offers little hope for Emanuel that such solutions are on the horizon. Instead, it’s estimated Chicago could lose $135 million in income tax distributions, which Emanuel said would lead to sharp cuts in city services.
“We use those resources to pay for police officers, firefighters, basic services. The idea that you would be look at basic services and cuts to the municipalities when you have a tax code that has giveaways to corporations, in my view is the wrong priorities,” Emanuel said. “I understand the need for change. I understand the need for reform. Start with the tax code that doesn’t actually meet the obligations of the state’s economic opportunity and future.”
The mayor criticized Rauner’s mass transit cuts saying, “This is not the time to cut back on the support for mass transit. This is the time to double down, just the opposite” to drive economic growth and create more jobs.
Last year, Rauner repeatedly said he wanted to close several corporate loopholes. So, why didn’t he include them in his budget yesterday? Well, state law forbids this. Governors are required, by statute, to introduce budgets with existing tax revenue streams. The law was designed to prevent fantasy budgets from being submitted with tax hikes that couldn’t pass anyway.
He could have, of course, mentioned his desire for loophole closures yesterday. But that phrase has not crossed his lips since the election. Almost all the sacrifice he demanded is placed on the backs of public employees and the poor and those who serve them.
* Well, almost. He did make one cut that has gone mostly unnoticed. Rauner proposed cutting a $1.5 million DCEO grant to the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. Even so, the IMA had nothing but plaudits for Rauner’s overall budget yesterday…
While it’s a dose of tough medicine, Illinois needs to take action in order to get a healthy financial outlook once again. It’s important to stop kicking the can down the road and restore fiscal stability. Balancing the budget while preserving critical programs like education and vocational training will help jump start Illinois’ economic engine leading to job growth and economic development.
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* AP…
Rauner said Illinois could save more than $2 billion by moving all state workers to a less-generous pension system lawmakers approved in 2010 for employees hired after Jan. 1, 2011. Workers also would have the option of moving to a 401(k)-style plan. He said firefighters and police would be able to keep their current benefits.
Projected savings from any pension changes aren’t likely to be realized in the next fiscal year, however. Even if Rauner could get a bill through the legislature, the state’s powerful labor unions — with whom Rauner has clashed repeatedly since taking office — would challenge it in court.
Those unions and retirees already have sued over a 2013 pension overhaul that cut benefits. A lower court found the measure unconstitutional, and the Illinois Supreme Court is considering the case.
* Sen. Daniel Biss, who helped craft the current pension reform law, agreed via press release yesterday…
“It is completely irresponsible to claim to balance a budget through pension reforms that would surely be litigated. An inevitable lawsuit will leave the state in financial limbo while the proposal meanders its way through the judicial system, and banking the savings of such a plan during that process puts us at risk of further damaging the fiscal condition of the pension systems.”
* And so did Senate President John Cullerton…
Governor Rauner leaves a $2.2 billion hole in the budget by relying on unrealistic revenues from a questionable pension proposal. Even as the courts review a significant test case, the governor’s plan banks phantom savings for a pension plan that may fail key legislative and judicial tests. When we passed pension reform last year, we took care to exclude possible savings from budget plans pending a legal resolution. The governor’s plan rejects that wisdom.
* Speaker Madigan piled on…
Madigan said the governor shouldn’t be balancing his budget with money from a pension reform plan that has yet to pass, let alone be tested in court.
“I think the governor proposes to engage in conduct which I would consider reckless,” Madigan said.
He said Rauner’s plan cuts benefits, unlike the pension reform bill he championed that he said only cut increases in benefits going forward. Also, Madigan said the state did not count on any savings from the pension reform bill, which is currently being heard by the Illinois Supreme Court.
* But I agree with Mark Brown…
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Madigan renewed his call for an income tax surcharge on millionaires, which I don’t regard as either serious or responsible
The truth is, nobody is being serious about this budget. Not Rauner and not Madigan. The Democrats have been completely unserious for way too long, and the new governor clearly demonstrated yesterday that he’s not above the same sort of ridiculous sleight of hand games that the Democrats have played for years.
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What Rauner didn’t mention yesterday
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jamey Dunn points out that Gov. Bruce Rauner skipped over quite a few of the cuts he proposed yesterday…
Rauner touted increased education spending in the form of General State Aid. He talked about waste and special interest groups and laid out ways to combat both. But what he did not talk about are the cuts he proposed to programs that serve children, the elderly, the poor and the disabled in Illinois. Rauner’s budget plan includes substantial cuts to:
* The Department of Children and Family Services. It would also eliminate services for youth ages 18 to 21.
* Community care for senior citizens.
* Mental health services.
* Addiction treatment.
* Dental Care for adults on Medicaid.
* Support for children on ventilators.
After the speech, Democratic lawmakers on budgeting committees decried the proposed cuts of state funding for the Arc of Illinois, a nonprofit that provides services to developmental disabled residents and their families, The Autism Project, a major statewide provider of services to Autistic Illinoisans, and programs for epileptic.
Rauner wants to pump more into general funding for schools, but he is also making some cuts to education. The plan would zero out line items in the State Board of Education’s budget for:
* Arts and foreign language
* The Children’s Mental Health Partnership program
* Advance placement courses
* Regional Safe Schools, which offer education to students who are expelled or suspended.
Failure to mention those reductions shows either that he’s not wedded to those cuts, or he just didn’t have the guts to talk about them. Or?…
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The consequences of leadership
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kurt Erickson on GOP react to the governor’s budget…
Republican lawmakers downplayed Rauner’s tough talk, saying it is early in the budgeting process.
“It’s opening day here for the budget in Springfield,” said state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington.
But, he added, “All of those are going to be sacrifices, painful sacrifices.”
Brady himself will be asked to make a painful political sacrifice.
Illinois State University, which is in Rep. Brady’s district, is slated to receive a $23 million cut in state subsidies, a 31.5 percent reduction. Rep. Brady is the Republican Spokesman on the House Higher Education Appropriations Committee - which means if these university cuts survive the budget process, Brady will have to sponsor and argue for the approp bill in his chamber.
That’ll be fun.
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Smith sentencing today
Thursday, Feb 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Prosecutors are asking that former state Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) be sentenced to four to five years in prison for accepting a $7,000 cash bribe. He’ll be sentenced today…
Prosecutor Marsha McClellan argued in court papers filed ahead of Thursday’s sentencing that Smith’s “steadfast refusal to accept responsibility, no doubt contributes to the erosion of the public’s trust in its elected officials.”
But Smith’s attorney Vic Henderson urged U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman not to compare “Smith’s conduct to that of other Illinois politicians, such as Governor Ryan and Governor Blagojevich,” citing the small sum of cash involved and adding, “Derrick Smith did not orchestrate the incident leading up to his indictment.
“The situation was created by the government.”
Given Smith’s ongoing denial of guilt, he is unlikely to offer a full-throated apology on Thursday, though Henderson said Smith is “is remorseful for bringing himself and his family shame as a result of his arrest and conviction.”
In other words, he’s ashamed that he got caught.
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