Time to face some hard realities
Monday, May 16, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight. In the meantime, the more he says they could find money other ways, the less credible he’s gonna appear when the tax hike vote hits the floor…
During his trip to Normal West High School this week, Rauner said [education] funding could come from a number of sources and raising taxes isn’t one of them.
“Number one: procurement reform,” said Rauner. “We could save a billion dollars from that. That’s a lot of school funding.”
Pension reform was another way Rauner said Illinois can save money.
“We can do it where we protect everybody’s pension – everything they’ve earned so far they get protected – but future work can have different options that may be more cost effective,” said Rauner. “That could save $1-2.5 billion.”
The governor added consolidating units of governments is an option as well. He said Illinois has 7,000 units of government.
I thought he’s said procurement reforms produced half that amount, but whatever. And I seriously doubt that any pension reform savings could be realized until the Supreme Court weighs in - and even then, I doubt those numbers are real.
…Adding… My preference is to be paid a billion-trillion dollars for Capitol Fax. But I would never say that with a straight face because people would think I was daft…
* Consolidation is most definitely needed…
Like any other, the Thompsonville High School graduating class includes its cliques: the athletes, the studious ones, the artists, the comedians, the popular kids and so on.
Though, in this case, the list really isn’t that long.
These “cliques,” as described by the students, also are a bit smaller in size — comprising just a few, or even one student, each.
That’s just part of the oddities experienced by a class of only 12 students.
12 kids in the graduating class. They have a principal, with full staff and infrastructure for 12 kids.
I attended a high school with 12 kids in its graduating class many moons ago. That high school (in Hanover, IL) was eventually consolidated with some other towns.
* Here’s another…
One of the advantages of attending a small school is that when it comes to graduation, each senior can really savor the moment. Shiloh High School’s 24 members of the Class of 2016 made their graduation Friday night a very personal affair.
There are indeed advantages to attending such a small school. There are also disadvantages, and overhead cost is just one of them.
Either way, there are 8 tiny high schools within 18 miles of Shiloh HS.
- Annonin' - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:29 am:
BigBrain aides reportedly told the private budget workin’ group they had just used a plug # ( aka place holder) for procurement savings. That was when the number was $500 million. Not it leaped to a billion. Talk about a Loopey plan.
- Thinking - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:29 am:
Funny last week House had a hearing on the Governor’s “procurement reforms” which really just amount trying to get contracts to his buddies. The superstars were asked to provide information on how this was going to save $500 million, which is the number they previously threw around. They couldn’t provide any breakdown or justification. Where’s the magic unicorn when you need it.
- MSIX - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:30 am:
Magic numbers from imaginary sources. How on earth did this guy succeed in business?
- TominChicago - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:31 am:
Why does Rauner continue the lie that he can wring saving out pensions by changing the rules for future work? The Illinois S.Ct. has made it plain that you cannot coerce an employee to forego the beneficial terms of their pension so why would any current employee volunteer to lose part of that benefit?
- doofusguy - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:32 am:
Austin Powers could relate to our Gov - ‘100 billion dollars’
- DuPage - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:39 am:
“Big” does not always translate into “better”. The biggest district, Chicago Public Schools, has a lot of problems.
- Ahoy! - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:40 am:
We need to be careful about saying consolidation saves money. I could be wrong (as I often am) but I believe most studies out there indicate that consolidation doesn’t really save much money. That being said, it usually provides a better service/education options for kids.
Will consolidation of units of local governments (not just schools) help save money? Yes, but it’s not going to be that much, vast majority of these units of local government have a purpose that will have to be filled and sometimes consolidation doesn’t just save money.
Instead of broad statements about government consolidation, we need to change the narrative to being, how can we help our local governments provide a needed service more efficiently?
All that being said, when consolidation is the best option it is often cumbersome and the legislature needs to make it easier for units of local government to consolidate.
- Anon221 - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:42 am:
Both Heritage and Georgetown-Ridge Farm HS’s have already gone through a consolidation once before- thus their names. Just an FYIy.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:46 am:
Why do we have an IBHE, an ICCB, and an ISAC, each with a Board and Executive Director. The Board members “only get expenses” but there will be far fewer expenses if you consolidate those Boards and we don’t need three different Executive Directors pulling in such large salaries.
- Anon - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:48 am:
I keep waiting to see this guy’s magical pension reform proposal.
- wordslinger - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 10:48 am:
–One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight.–
I’m not so sure. Judging by the governor’s actions to date, I think things are going to the un-shared plan.
He moves, grudgingly, a little, only when GOP GA members threaten to bolt.
- Norseman - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:00 am:
=== One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight. ===
Why? Rauner has been extremely successful in playing fast and loose with the truth.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:06 am:
===One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight===
It sure seems like Rich is the only reporter questioning the Gospel according to Raun(er).
I’m sure I’m missing something, because I’m no procurement expert, but maybe someone could pin him down on a couple of specific reforms and how much that might save. For example, we could do away with prevailing wage for construction projects, and end the goal system for MBE/WBE/DBE businesses. We could eliminate the conflict of interest checks, the deadbeat dad checks, the EPA polluter list check and other checks to ensure no “bad” businesses are getting state contracts. Although I’m not sure it’s the best idea, we could eliminate the low-bid requirement (or drop the bid requirement period), and end the practice of banning businesses that have tried to bribe public officials.
If we did all of those things, state agencies would have more autonomy and could more quickly procure the products and services they need to operate. But even if Rauner is projecting the savings out over a decade, $500M still seems high. And, this being Illinois, there is a reason the procurement code is so restrictive.
But who knows, maybe someone will catch him when he’s in the mood to chat about this. I’d love to see how procurement reform could save us a lot of money.
- Saluki - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:22 am:
175 days till election day. If Gov. Rauner does not get this figured out, he will have a reduced number of GOP members who will be able to threaten revolt, because many will be in the unemployment line. I heard a new analogy over the weekend concerning Rauner. This might be considered violent imagery, but the comparison was that Rauner is the political equivalent of George Custer at Little Bighorn. He thinks that his tactics will be able to overcome his smaller numbers. We know how it turned out for Custer. I believe it will be the same in a political sense for Rauner at the ballot box.
- Rufus - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:32 am:
““Number one: procurement reform,” said Rauner. “We could save a billion dollars from that. That’s a lot of school funding.”” —
Please!…. I am in procurement…. How are we going to save a Billion dollars…
Save some time in the procurement process… yes … lots of time can be saved there, it is far to bureaucratic.
But a billion dollars… pipe dreams.
- How Ironic - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:39 am:
It’s easy to save a billion dollars from procurement. If Procurement just stops buying things because they have no funds, it ’saves’ money.
So in essence, Rauner is going to deprive procurement of any appropriation. Therefore the lack of buying is now a ’savings’.
Or maybe he’s going by the old adage, I saw a really expensive car on the way into work today. I didn’t buy it though, and SAVED myself $150,000. Now where can I book that savings in….
- anotherretiree - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:46 am:
And I seriously doubt that any pension reform savings could be realized until the Supreme Court weighs in -
I thought RNUG had concluded the court has already weighed in that the contract is in force at time of hire till you are in the ground. Which was why borrowing from the pension funds was always a bad idea. Totally magical savings..
- Earnest - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:50 am:
>One day, he’s gonna have to play this argument straight.
I wish I could see that, but I don’t see it happening. Without pressure from House Republicans or from K-12 funding I think he will be content to do the occasional stopgap measure. He wants to see the small and weak go, leaving room for large companies to buy the small broken ones at a cheap price once things start going again. Watching it for over a year now it’s still hard for me to believe my eyes.
- Tommydanger - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:53 am:
Correlation does not equal causation, but having the highest property tax rates and the most units of government in the country seems like more than a coincidence to me.
- Jimmy H - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:55 am:
Rauner’s kind of “success” is inversely proportional to the success of R members and has achieved critical mass. Things have changed. Though, I don’t think Rauner will ever “play it straight”; he has other methods of mitigation.
- Amalia - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:07 pm:
all sorts of service locations provided by various governments have to be scrutinized for consolidation. constituencies for small entities can be very loud and the media has to resist finding loud to be a story, as do politicians. consolidate or tax/raise revenue in other ways. those are the choices. you can’t run government services on air.
- illinoised - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:13 pm:
Rauner is like a wind-up-toy that has several catch-phrases. He might as well carry around a cassette recorder to play whenever he is asked a question. Have his political advisers advised him to never discuss details?
- Ghost - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:14 pm:
Rauner promised 500 mil in saving from getting rid of waste as CMS. to date, he carved IT services into its own agency and increased the cost, since a new agency requires addtional mngt personnel, a director and overhead that is no longer shared.
So where is the 500 mil from CMS? so far he has increased costs! and waste.
- RNUG - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:20 pm:
Rauner is still spouting the discredited Sidley-Austin “not yet earned pension benefits can be changed” line. There will be no savings; in fact, the State will just waste time and money on another law suit.
- Facts are Stubborn Things - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:33 pm:
RNUG, nailed it — the courts could not be clearer on this point. I think Rauner may be the last person in Illinois who still thinks you can change pension benefits going forward. Also, for folks to accept changes in their pensions for consideration there just can not be much savings.
- Facts are Stubborn Things - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:35 pm:
The heavy lifting on pension reform has already been done — tier 2 was a huge pension overhaul and simply does not get enough credit or press on it’s long term impact on our pension underfunding.
- Liberty - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:40 pm:
School consolidation happens- nothing in the law to prevent it from happening at a local level.
Rich, You say a full staff for 12 students but that isn’t the issue. The issue is what will the tax rates be if they consolidated with another local district? Property taxes in these small districts for primarily farmers could go up dramatically by consolidating with a larger more expensive district.
Also what are the bus ride times and transportation costs in these areas?
- Fairness and Fairness Only - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 12:41 pm:
While we are consolidating units of government, I’d like to see consolidation from K-12 for the school districts. I am amazed by the number of K-8 and 9-12 districts, each with their own board, admin, policies, procurement, etc.
- Liberty - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:02 pm:
Another reason why small districts don’t consolidate is building costs. Consolidation would mean paying for a new large school building.
The taxpayers in these districts want their history and identity.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:20 pm:
===In the meantime, the more he says they could find money other ways, the less credible he’s gonna appear when the tax hike vote hits the floor…===
The mistake of ignoring the use of the Thonpson Pivot, and the discrediting and bemoaning of these narratives provide no cover, just good sound bites… today.
I guess if I could ponder aloud… “If the plan all along was to shut down the state, dismantle Social Services, spearhead the closing of state universities… why did Rauner use the Thompson Pivot at all? It’s suppose to be a quick turnaround political play with cover based on suprise and newness. If no move was going to happen, ‘what happened’ after the Pivot internally?”
Hmmm.
- downstate commissioner - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:32 pm:
School consolidation-Wow, what a way to open a full can of worms… small schools within 18 miles-probably doable, IF the voters in each school district agree, and I can’t believe that any politician would leave the voters out on THIS measure. A lot of people will vote to raise their taxes rather than consolidate schools. I do agree that Unit Districts make a lot of sense to me, and savings could occur, but a blanket statement saying that savings WILL occur is just wrong.
- RNUG - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 1:53 pm:
Towns will fight tooth and nail to keep “their” school. But it just makes sense that, in most cases, K-12 should be just one school district with one set of consistent administration. If you have a high school fed by multiple different towns grade schools should have their administration consolidated. Keep the individual grade schools for now; make that a fight for another day while doing what is easy.
- JS Mill - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 2:10 pm:
RNUG +1
- Mama - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 2:50 pm:
==- How Ironic - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 11:39 am: ==
+1
- Shiloh Alumni - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 3:02 pm:
Shiloh is already a consolidated school district. He is correct in saying there are other small schools located within 20 miles of Shiloh. However his information is misleading, some of those districts are also consolidated. They all do their best to share resources when possible. There are students in the district currently riding the bus 45 minutes to an hour. Imagine combining that with a district doing the same. Consolidation is not the only answer.
- Juvenal - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 4:25 pm:
Rauner is sabotaging his own tax hike.
He cannot keep running around the state saying “my preference is to cut taxes” — implying he is being forced by Democrats to raise them — and expect much Democratic support for his tax hike plan.
It’s nuts.
- AlabamaShake - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 4:53 pm:
**“Number one: procurement reform,” said Rauner. “We could save a billion dollars from that. That’s a lot of school funding.”**
Funny… I believe that the “unsanctioned” budget/turnaround group has procurement reform in it. They’ve estimated somewhere between $50-100M in savings.
- 37B - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 5:08 pm:
If I understand the Governor correctly, he says “We can do it where we protect everybody’s pension – everything they’ve earned so far they get protected . . .” However, the underfunding driving the ramp payments is a function of benefits already earned. If he agrees you can’t take away already earned benefits, he knows you can’t lower the underfunding payback by cutting future benefits. Even if you could “bargain” for the lowering of future benefits, I thought the normal cost of pensions was less than $2B. How does he “save $1-2.5 billion.”
- peon - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 5:37 pm:
We definitely need reform in how the rich can procure the IL Governorship.
- DuPage Dave - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 6:49 pm:
What is the total amount in billions Illinois procures each year? A savings of $1 billion is what percent of that total? Seems completely implausible that mere procedural changes could be so valuable.
Is Rauner saying that the regulations involved in procurement and the time required of bidders to comply result in over-payments of $1 billion?
Is he saying that a simpler procurement process will enable Illinois to buy exactly what it’s buying now for $1 billion less?
Or that we change the procurement process to benefit his business pals, give them a few billion dollars and laugh all the way to the bank? Perhaps there will be a special meeting of the wine club to celebrate?
- lost in the weeds - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 8:46 pm:
Consolidating those will cause long bus rides. That area is about as sparsely populated as any in Illinois. Take a drive on rte 49 betweeen rte 36 and rte 133 on moonless night.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illinois_population_map.png
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, May 16, 16 @ 8:48 pm:
School consolidation needs to balance the effect of higher travel times for students against savings in costs. With video conferencing and programmed learning the value added by bringing everybody into one place is reduced.
We should be acting in anticipation of technological changes.
As others have said, look at the work being done when considering consolidation of units of government. Sometimes consolidation makes great sense. Dick Lugar combined the city of Indianapolis with the County of Marion and saved a bundle. I think it makes sense to split Cook County into 3 parts, with one of the parts being the combined City and County of Chicago. Won’t hold my breath till it happens.