* I told subscribers about this letter earlier today…
A bipartisan group of 30 Illinois House members on Tuesday threw their support behind efforts in the Senate to craft a bill package aimed at ending the state’s historic budget impasse.
“We ask the senators from both parties to pass the best negotiated package they can, and then we will take up their work in the House,” the group said in a statement.
The package, which includes tax hikes, pension changes and a local property tax freeze, stalled in the Democratic-led Senate in March, when most Republicans withdrew their support.
John Patterson, a spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton, said on Tuesday both sides are “trading ideas in trying to find agreement.”
That’s a positive. House members have been mostly silent on the Senate’s work until now. But 17 Democrats and 13 Republicans signed on to this letter. An excerpt…
We believe a solution that can pass the House and Senate and be signed by the Governor needs to include a package of bills that fundamentally addresses the needs of the state, and most importantly provides a normal, full-year budget for our state agencies, schools, and social service providers.
Let’s be clear; we aren’t looking at a simple all or nothing vote on a package sent from the Senate. We understand that a package sent from the Senate will not be complete or perfect, and it will change. Our legislative process allows hearings and amendments from both chambers, and we think that’s the best way to negotiate a deal that serves our constituents and the state as a whole.
Keep in mind that the letter came out hours after Speaker Madigan appointed four of his top members to negotiate with Rauner. The rank-and-file signers don’t appear to want that, however. Instead, they want to take up the Senate’s package and go from there.
* Meanwhile, some rank-and-file House Republicans prefer to focus on process arguments…
According to State Representative David S. Olsen (R-Downers Grove), nothing is more important in Springfield right now than the adoption of a full and balanced budget. To that end, this week the freshman lawmaker signed on as a co-sponsor of three pieces of legislation that provide revenue estimates that can be used as the starting point for the creation of a full budget.
“The implementation of a budget is a multi-step process, and step one involves lawmakers coming to agreement on a revenue estimate,” said Olsen. “The Illinois Constitution is clear; the responsibility for crafting and adopting a budget rests solely with the General Assembly. That process begins with the approval of a revenue estimate that tells us how much money we have to spend.”
I happen to like Olsen, but it’s silly to say that this is the GA’s sole responsibility. Also, we won’t know what revenue levels to estimate until they agree on the taxes they’re going to raise.
State Rep. Avery Bourne today released the following statement on school funding reform upon the House’s return to Springfield for the final month of the spring legislative session:
“For years, multiple legislative commissions and committees have studied the obvious inequities of Illinois’ school funding system. As it stands now, Illinois has the most inequitable school funding system in the nation. That means students are essentially forced to play a zip code lottery that will determine whether they learn in classrooms equipped with an iPad per student or one where students share decades old textbooks. This is a challenge we need to tackle as the legislature, and there is bipartisan agreement that it must happen soon. […]
“There have been countless hours spent in the last year around this bipartisan solution to our school funding problem. We cannot, however, take our eyes off of the goal. Our goal is a system that works for every student in this state. Getting this crucial reform passed is within sight. However, as often happens - this is when special deals are added or fairness is tossed out the window in exchange for what is politically expedient.
“When talking about state policies, I hear often from constituents that the money flows straight to Chicago while the rest of Illinois is forgotten about. We cannot let this happen again. The children of Illinois are too important. Understand though, I agree - the children of Chicago deserve a high quality education. Many of them are not afforded that opportunity under the current system. However, the children outside of Chicago, in central and southern Illinois deserve the opportunity to get a great education too.
The House Democrats have been working on a school funding reform bill, but haven’t yet convinced any Republicans to sign on. Gov. Rauner won’t go along with giving more money to Chicago’s schools without his pension reform deal, so this seems like a preemptive strike on Rauner’s behalf by Rep. Bourne.
*** UPDATE *** Remember that these are Sen. Bill Brady’s proposals. The Senate Democrats have yet to sign off on them. Greg Hinz…
Brady calls the plan “five for five”: The core is $5 billion in tax increases for what Brady says are $5 billion in spending cuts. […]
On the other side of the ledger, total spending would be capped at roughly $36 billion for each of the next five years.
To get to that figure, Brady would trim $435 million a year from employee group health insurance, save $700 million a year via accounting changes in the state’s pension systems and save another $500 million a year on pensions by moving new workers to 401(k)-style defined contribution plans.
Higher education would get a 15 percent across-the-board reduction, and most other programs outside of grade and high school support a 5 percent cut. Local units of government also would see a reduction in the the cut of state income taxes they now receive.
“This state needs a champion that’s going to stand up for our kids, that’s going to stand up for creating job, that’s going to fund education and stand up for health care,” he said.
Heather and Jackie have heard those promises before.
“Bruce Rauner said the same thing and we still have no budget yet,” said Grissom.
They say they want someone who’s going to fight for Southern Illinois.
Ortiz: I’d be remiss to not ask you about the rest of the Democratic field. Obviously there are some who see you and J.B. Pritzker and they’re a little concerned about all the money in politics these days in general. What do you say to those people who have those concerns about all this money being thrown around?
Kennedy: I think they should be concerned. You look what’s happening to the Republican Party in the state. It’s a disaster. What Gov. Rauner has done to our economy, what he’s done to the million people who he’s thrown out of the government programs, that’s unforgivable. But what he’s done to the Republican Party is shameful, the party of Lincoln. There is no one left who will speak up for the future of that party, who will offer any form of dissent. He’s bullied his own state reps with his money. He’s scared his own state senators with his wealth. He, his wife, and three friends supplied maybe 80 percent or more of the funding for state reps, state senators and constitutional officers in the last election. No one can afford to take the risk and object to anything that he’s done. We can’t let that happen to the Democratic Party. That’s wrong. We can’t say to our people, you know, let’s find another billionaire. Let’s find someone to fight our fights so that we don’t have to and make him our kind. If we do that, if we’re not willing to make the sacrifices to win an election, sacrifices such as taking time to go door-to-door, signing a petition, giving five or 10 or 15 dollars to a candidate, if we’re not willing to do that, we don’t deserve the freedom that comes with being an American.
Illinois owes a group of women whose police officer and firefighter husbands died in the line of duty more than $351,000 apiece for their losses, but the state’s chronic inability to pass a budget has left all of them unpaid like thousands of state vendors.
The widows’ plight in a state with a $12.7 billion unpaid bill backlog represents yet another frustrating byproduct of lllinois’ 22-month budget stalemate, a span of fiscal ineptitude unmatched by any other U.S. state.
Illinois has limped along without a full operating budget during that time because the state’s Democratic-led legislature and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner have clashed over a list of nonbudgetary demands he has insisted be part of any budget deal.
All told, seven Illinois women have been waiting as long as a year for their shares of more than $2.7 million in awards and interest owed under the state’s Line of Duty Compensation Act, which mandates one-time payments and burial reimbursements to the families of fallen first responders.
The pending allotments are part of a $45 million pile of unpaid awards through the Illinois Court of Claims, a body that adjudicates litigation directed at the state and approves line-of-duty awards. That overall amount also includes unpaid awards owed to a group of exonerated, wrongfully imprisoned ex-inmates and others who sustained injuries on state roads or in state facilities.
Students, faculty and staff gathered at Illinois Valley Community College on Monday to assure their voices were heard by legislators.
State Rep. Jerry Long, R-Streator, was the sole legislator in attendance at a legislators forum created for college officials and students to share concerns about higher education funding during the ongoing budget impasse. All of the 14 legislators in IVCC’s district as well as Gov. Bruce Rauner were invited to the event. […]
The college used to expect around $3 to $4 million from the state, but that amount fell to $611,000 in 2016. This leads to the college requiring more from students and taxpayers. […]
“I guarantee you I will fight tooth and nail to make sure we have the general fund that you need and also the MAP grants,” Long said. “Those are extremely important and I make you the promise that I will do what I can to fight for that.” […]
The representative said he was dedicated to finding funding for the school, but also said a stopgap budget would only “keep digging a hole” that would make the future financial situation even more difficult for the state.
Good on Long for being the only legislator to show up, but he’s a Tier One freshman target in a district that’s been represented by a Democrat since about forever. The Democrats already have a candidate against him. So, while he may “fight tooth and nail” for more state revenues, I’ll be the most surprised human in the world if he votes for a tax hike (or the second most, after Leader Durkin).
Also, the House’s stopgap isn’t really a stopgap. It’s a supplemental approp that spends money which is just sitting in two state accounts gathering dust. Even if they wait until they get a real budget to spend the money, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the cash will be used for its intended purposes anyway. So, why wait?
Cuts and deferred maintenance at Northern Illinois University will be necessary to keep reserves adequate, President Doug Baker said.
Without a state budget, Baker has said the university is facing a projected $35 million funding gap, and must prepare for a worst-case scenario until the next fiscal year – lack of funding and no Monetary Award Program grants, which about 5,000 students rely on.
Baker said in an email April 28 that to offset lack of funding, spending reductions must be made – including cuts. He added that attrition will not be enough to support the burden of personnel costs, and some staff members have been notified about how their employment may be affected, while others will hear about the status of their jobs this month.
Baker said other keys to closing the gap will be increased support from donors and other revenue generators.
* Hmm. But maybe spending $685 an hour for a total so far of $189K to defend the president during an OEIG probe might be looked at…
NIU has paid thousands of dollars in legal fees to outside counsel for President Doug Baker as a result of an Office of Executive Inspector General investigation.
The OEIG, a state agency that investigates allegations of misconduct, received a complaint about Baker’s administration and subsequently began an investigation. Because the agency does not generally comment on investigations, it is unclear when the complaint was made, though correspondence obtained on April 17 from NIU through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Northern Star shows that outside counsel for an OEIG investigation was retained on Feb. 20, 2015.
The nature of the investigation is unclear. There has only been one OEIG investigation that Baker is aware of, and he is not sure if it is ongoing or not. Lisa Miner, senior director of institutional communications, also confirmed that there was only one OEIG investigation into Baker and his administration.
There is also an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by former Controller Keith Jackson against NIU, the Board of Trustees, President Doug Baker and Nancy Suttenfield, former interim chief financial officer.
While lawmakers in Springfield struggle to agree upon a full budget for the third consecutive year and NIU employees are in danger of losing their jobs, a four-month $468,050.39 investigation conducted in 2014 provided only an oral report of recommendations for improved reliability of financial reporting and compliance with laws, regulations and policies.
This investigation into internal control seems to be referenced in a Dec. 22 Baker Report. Investigations concluded that in 2013 and 2014 there were “weaknesses in internal controls, some limited compliance violations, and lack of clarity of policies across multiple units,” according to the report.
The investigation was completed by the forensic audit firm Alvarez & Marsal, the same firm that former NIU Controller Keith Jackson’s lawsuit against NIU, the Board of Trustees, President Doug Baker and Nancy Suttenfield, former interim chief financial officer, alleges was hired to “dredge for evidence of wrongdoing” committed by Jackson and other individuals Baker and Suttenfield had targeted for termination.
* And check out this reasoning for stopping work on a program that’s supposed to, in part, find ways to save money…
“Between [Fiscal Year 2018] budget development on our campus, Springfield and an incredibly large number of ridiculous, I’ll say, legislative requests that we’ve had to respond to, we’ve just not have not had the human resources to devote to doing the assessment of Program Prioritization at the level we really want to communicate it,” Freeman said. “This is not an attempt to be opaque.”
“It’s almost like they’ve completely abdicated any responsibility on this issue,” said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council, an Itasca-based nonprofit.
Hersman said the drop in enforcement in Chicago is part of a national trend of police issuing fewer tickets for traffic violations, even as the number of traffic fatalities has jumped 14 percent nationwide in the past two years. But Hersman said she has seen nothing like the enforcement drop in Chicago anywhere else in the country.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that in 2015, Chicago police amended its cellphone citation policy to conform to a change in state law that mandated that cellphone violations follow the same process as other traffic violations. This means they would have to go to traffic court and require the presence of the citing officer to be upheld, requiring more police time. Previously, the municipal citations could be upheld before an administrative law judge without the citing officer being present. […]
Illinois State Police also reported a drop in enforcement of the state distracted driving law. Tickets dropped from 11,282 in 2014 to 8,229 in 2016, a 27 percent decline, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Mike Link. The downward trend continued this year, with just 2,502 tickets issued as of May 3.
The Illinois Senate has helped move state farmers one step closer to a return to production of industrial hemp, unanimously approving legislation sponsored by Sen. Toi Hutchinson, whose district includes parts of Kankakee, Will, Grundy and Cook counties.
Hemp was a key American farm crop, primarily its fiber to produce rope and cloth, from the founding of the nation until it was banned in the 20th century war on marijuana.
Its production was legalized during World War II, after the war in the Pacific cut off supplies of jute and other fiber plants for production of rope and other products vital to the war effort. It was banned again in 1957.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1294, now goes to the House, where approval is expected, the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, an agricultural group, announced Monday.
Statewide, 14 gun stores were burglarized last year, with a total of 280 guns stolen, according to ATF figures. That was up from five such burglaries in 2015 and three the year before that.
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, says gun stores across Illinois already are beefing up security in response to the rise in burglaries.
“The gangs are becoming bolder because not much happens to them,” Pearson says. “I think everyone is upgrading their security.”
But he says subjecting gun stores to state requirements for security is a bad idea: “Whenever you get the state involved, you add costs for everyone, with no results.”
A couple proposals before the state Legislature would cut some slack for those who run afoul of the law early in life and those who already have spent time in prison and are heading toward senior citizen status.
State Sen. Michael Hastings, a Tinley Park Democrat who chairs the Senate’s criminal law committee, said he will take up a plan this week that was shepherded through the House by state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat, to broaden the expungement of nonviolent juvenile records, bringing Illinois up to par with American Bar Association guidelines. […]
In the 10-year span from 2004 to 2014, an overwhelming majority — 87 percent — of Illinois counties averaged less than one expungement of a juvenile record per year.
If you’re a juvenile child molester, arsonist, murderer or violent offender, Hastings said, your criminal record will remain on the books, but if you got into trouble for drinking or drugs or petty theft as a minor, your interaction with the law should be sealed and can be automatically erased after a certain period of time.
Comments from one of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s agency directors have one state lawmaker concerned that the recent progress to reduce the state’s prison population could suddenly be undone.
“Forgive me for being suspicious, but we’ve got a governor saying he wants to reduce the prison population while at the same time his prison director is holding onto empty prisons just in case they’re needed? Something doesn’t add up,” said State Senator Mattie Hunter, a Chicago Democrat.
Hunter’s comments came in response to recent testimony from Illinois Department of Corrections Acting Director John Baldwin before a key Senate budgeting committee. Senator Hunter, a member of that committee, asked what the Department of Corrections’ plans were for unused prisons in Dwight and Tamms that once combined to house more than 1,000 inmates but have been shuttered for nearly four years.
With the prison agency seeking a funding increase in the next budget, Hunter suggested selling the property so the state could make some money in the midst of a budget crisis.
Acting Director Baldwin said there are no plans to sell off the prisons.
“You never know when you’re going to all of a sudden need it,” Baldwin said.
That set off warning bells for Hunter.
“When you have President Trump talking about the National Guard rounding up people in Chicago, I’m on high alert for the rights of our people,” Hunter said after the hearing.
Up until now, the Rauner administration has worked with lawmakers to cut the prison population. Rauner came into office vowing to reduce the inmate population by 25 percent. Hunter, also a member of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, shared that goal, concerned that too many productive lives are being lost in prisons.
Adding to Hunter’s concerns was that Rauner-backed Republicans recent opposition to a Senate plan that would have reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenses. The general idea was to reduce prison costs by focusing available prison space for longer sentences for violent, gun-related crimes. The idea grew out of a task force the governor created.
But that provision was doomed in the Senate after Republicans backed out.
That turnabout, combined with the prison director’s desire to hold onto surplus prison space, has Hunter worried there’s a dramatic shift in direction within the Rauner administration on criminal justice policies.
“Those prisons were built for one thing: to be prisons. They’ve been closed for years. The Rauner administration should pursue ideas for selling off the land or tell the public what’s really going on,” Hunter said.
* IDOC’s response…
It is a stretch for Senator Hunter to insinuate that Governor Rauner’s efforts to reduce the prison population are disingenuous. The reality is, the prison population is down approximately 11% since Governor Rauner took office. This administration has worked diligently to restore real second chance opportunities for people who return to society – such as giving former offenders the ability to get professional licenses.
As opposed to selling several shuttered facilities, the Department of Corrections has repurposed them in recent years – the former IYC Joliet will be used to treat offenders who are on the mental health caseload; the former IYC in Kewanee is now being used as a Life Skills Re-Entry Center, where offenders are learning skills that will be critical to their success upon release; and the former IYC in Murphysboro, which will also be a Life Skills Re-Entry Center.
So, Director Baldwin is right in saying you never know when the Department may need to utilize a vacant building – and that in no way means for the purpose of rounding people up for incarceration.
A hearing officer has recommended former state Rep. Frank Mautino’s campaign committee be fined for “willfully” violating the state elections board’s order to provide it with more information on spending.
Hearing Officer Philip Krasny released his 18-page report Friday, saying Mautino, now the state’s auditor general, failed to amend his reports in response to a Board of Elections request in May 2016. […]
In its May 2016 order, the board asked Mautino, who chairs the committee, to accurately break down expenditures for gas and car repairs at Happy’s Super Service in Spring Valley, identify the actual recipients of each itemized expenditure made to the gas station and identify the specific purposes of any expenditures made to Spring Valley City Bank.
Krasny said his report was limited to the board’s request to determine whether Mautino willfully violated the May 2016 order.
Go read the whole thing. Mautino’s lawyers used some pretty tortured logic to explain why Mautino couldn’t amend his filing.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown denied those [GOP] claims, saying the speaker’s offer is an effort to “move along.”
“All we did today was appoint senior leaders of our caucus to go work with the governor on the off-budget issues. We have [state Rep.] Greg Harris, a whole team working on an FY [fiscal year] appropriation proposal and these other people kind of take the governor’s off-budget issues. It’s trying to recognize the calendar and move along.”
Brown said House Democrats are “recognizing what has transpired” with “grand bargain” talks — alluding to the package’s plug having been pulled in March. […]
[House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie] said no reform items are “off limits.”
“It’s up to the governor to define those. His agenda does seem to change from time to time, and I’m not ever sure what’s on it today, but our point is he seems to have off-budget issues. We are happy to meet with him and try to figure out how to resolve those issues.”
* Former Gov. Pat Quinn didn’t hold a press conference after unveiling his official portrait yesterday, but the Tribune was able to get a moment of his time to ask him about the IDOT hiring investigation…
The portrait unveiling came weeks after a report from a court-appointed watchdog charged with looking into patronage hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation detailed how top Democrats clouted relatives and friends into positions during Quinn’s administration.
“As governor, I had nothing to do with hiring. I told all staff that the only thing we should deal with is double exempt jobs and that was the rule,” Quinn told the Tribune in an interview. Quinn repeated that he “took action” once learning about the improper hiring from the state’s ethics watchdog by replacing the head of IDOT.
* Republican Jeremy Wynes launched his congressional campaign today against 10th District incumbent Democrat Brad Schneider. He’s hired two consultants connected to Gov. Bruce Rauner: Mike Schrimpf and Chip Englander.
Press release…
Jeremy Wynes today launched a campaign to bring new leadership and fresh ideas to Congress for the people of Illinois’ 10th District.
It’s clear that Jeremy has the right background and vision to bring bipartisan balance back to the district. Last year, incumbent Brad Schneider was one of the most underperforming Democrats in the country, running nearly 10 points behind the top of the ticket. Additionally, a Republican has won Illinois-10 in every mid-term election since 1978, and the district has changed political parties every election since post-2010 redistricting. In 2018, Illinois-10 is poised to again show its independence by rejecting Brad Schneider’s partisan politics in favor of the bipartisan leadership exhibited by Jeremy Wynes.
About Jeremy:
Jeremy understands what it means to take risks and sacrifice to set the foundation for the next generation’s success. He grew up in Illinois learning the meaning of hard work and understanding the value of a dollar. His father ran the family’s farm and worked as a laborer to help make ends meet. His mother has worked three decades as a pre-school teacher.
When he wasn’t busy captaining his high school football and basketball teams, Jeremy spent his youth on the farm and working a variety of jobs to help his family. During the summers, he worked in his father’s small pool installation business and roofed houses and barns for neighboring farmers. During the winters, he helped his uncles chop and deliver firewood to local homeowners.
He took out student loans and worked his way through Illinois State University. In 2002, Jeremy became the first in his family to graduate from college with a four-year degree. Originally intending to pursue a career in law enforcement, Jeremy was inspired by an internship at the public defender’s office to attend DePaul University College of Law, where he graduated with a J.D. in 2006.
After two years in private legal practice, Jeremy began his public-policy career as a director in the Chicago office of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an internationally-respected advocacy organization dedicated to the bipartisan pursuit of a strong relationship between our country and our ally Israel.
Jeremy spent 7 years traveling across Illinois and other Midwestern states advising and working with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers for bipartisan U.S. foreign policy outcomes — like crippling sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran — while educating and inspiring hardworking Americans of all races, religions and political affiliations to engage in shaping United States foreign policy.
Concerned with the lack of U.S. international leadership, sluggish economic growth and lagging wage gains, in 2014 Jeremy launched a Chicago office for the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), a non-profit organization committed to a strong national security and fiscally conservative economic policies. During his time at AIPAC and the RJC, Jeremy helped lead the fight in Illinois against the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, efforts to isolate our allies and empower our adversaries, and the dangerous foreign policy of an America that leads from behind on the world stage.
Lesley, Jeremy’s wife of 9 years, was raised in Highland Park to parents who ran small family businesses. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School, Lesley currently serves as an assistant dean at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University while also managing her own small legal-education consulting business and the demands of raising a family. At the heart of the Wynes household are Lesley and Jeremy’s three young children – Jaclyn, 7; Isaac, 5; and Noah, 2.
The St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee voted to endorse JB Pritzker for governor. JB met with dozens of Democratic leaders across southwestern Illinois to listen and discuss the issues most important to their communities. The endorsement comes after JB’s several visits to Metro East.
“I am thrilled to have the support of Democrats across the state of Illinois, and St. Clair County is critical to Democrats’ chances of winning the governor’s race,” said JB Pritzker. “As governor, I will work to unify people to pass a budget, restore our social safety net, and stand up for working families. Unlike Bruce Rauner, I know pitting Illinoisans against each other won’t help us solve our state’s big problems. I’m ready to fight for all of our people, in every corner of Illinois.”
“We met with JB and discussed his vision for Illinois,” said Bob Sprague, St. Clair County Democratic Party Chairman. “He’s the right candidate to take on Bruce Rauner to create jobs, protect workers’ rights and fix the budget mess. We will support JB every step of the way in order to take back our state.”
The end-of-spring-session jockeying to avoid blame for the lack of a budget began in earnest Monday, but the efforts resembled summer rerun season.
The Senate resurrected an attempt at a grand bargain that eluded the chamber earlier this year. Talks are revolving around an income tax increase coupled with spending cuts in an effort to bring the state out of the red. Both parties also are working to see if they can reach an agreement on several changes that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has made a condition of a larger deal, such as a property tax freeze and overhaul of the workers’ compensation system to cut costs for businesses after an employee is hurt on the job.
Over in the House, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan announced he would appoint some of his top lieutenants to work with Rauner “to identify areas of his agenda where compromise can be reached.” […]
If nothing ends up getting accomplished, the two approaches afford a small measure of political cover. The Senate can say it tried to work out a budget deal, and Madigan can say he attempted once again to negotiate with Rauner. Last year, lawmakers and the governor went into overtime, agreeing on a stopgap spending plan at the end of June, just before the start of the state’s budget year. […]
“I am trying to stay hopeful, but we have been down this path before,” said Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago.
[Sen. Toi Hutchinson] noted talk of the expansion of taxes on services is still ongoing, which she called one of the most difficult parts.
“Illinois is not accustomed to taxing services, so politically speaking that’s a very, very heavy lift,” Hutchinson said. “So far I’ve been taken all the hits but that’s par for the course because whatever ends up happening they’re going to be a part of the negotiated package. … Not that we hope to raise taxes or like to do that.”
Still, she called talks “fluid” and urged senators to keep plugging along.
“This is a really fluid situation but it requires people to not pull the plug on it,” Hutchinson said. “You have to stay in it until it’s done.”
Sen. Hutchinson is carrying the Senate’s revenue bill. Several items in that bill were requested by Republicans, some of whom probably won’t even vote for it. Indeed, Sen. Bill Brady’s own legislation relies on the passage of Hutchinson’s revenue bill. He isn’t sponsoring a tax hike proposal himself.
* The Civic Federation carefully analyzes state budget proposals every year. So, while you may think this is a bit late to the game, it’s actually about right on time, considering the ongoing budget talks in the Senate…
The Civic Federation on Tuesday blasted Gov. Bruce Rauner’s recommended budget in a report that say it relies on “uncertain savings, one-time revenues” and the passage of the always in flux Illinois Senate “grand bargain” plan — while also blaming lawmakers for a “spectacular failure” for not enacting a budget.
The Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability on Tuesday said it can’t support Rauner’s budget because it has an operating deficit of $4.6 billion and doesn’t address the state’s backlog of bills. The group also cites concern over the reduction of pension contributions by $1.25 billion and the reduction of group insurance payments and nursing home placements caused by a new at-home care program for seniors not eligible for Medicaid.
The group also warns that “one-time resources” from the sale of the James R. Thompson Center may do nothing for next year’s budget and shouldn’t be used to help balance the budget. The governor last week said he hoped the sale would provide “long-term” help for the state — saying he supports Republican-sponsored measured to send property tax revenue from the site to Chicago Public Schools.
Rauner in February presented his proposal that presses for revenue, reforms and cuts to fill a gaping hole. But it was deemed “balanced” by the state’s budget director because it was reliant on the Senate plan passing. Within the budget proposal is a mixture of spending cuts, revenue and projected economic growth to try to reach a magic number of nearly $4.6 billion. The administration said in February it was seeking to fill the remaining $2.7 billion plus by getting legislative authority to make cuts. In terms of the state’s massive debt, state budget director Scott Harry said “the governor would be open to financing” to get the backlog down.
Declaring that budget to be balanced when it obviously was not was one of the biggest tactical mistakes the governor’s office made this year.
* With emphasis added, here is the Civic Federation’s press release…
For nearly two years, Illinois has operated without a comprehensive budget, during which time the State’s credit rating has fallen to near-junk status and unpaid bills have continued to climb. Judicial mandates, full-year appropriations for elementary and secondary education and the questionable payment of State employees without appropriations have removed pressure on lawmakers to compromise on a full spending plan.
“Operating Illinois on autopilot is not a solution, nor is it sustainable. Rather, it represents an abdication of the most basic constitutional responsibilities of proposing and passing a balanced budget,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall. “The Governor and General Assembly need to end this unacceptable stalemate by passing and enacting a comprehensive plan. Cherry-picking certain areas of government to fund while pledging to work toward a complete budget sometime in the abstract future has not and will not end the crisis and in fact is making it worse.”
Unfortunately, Governor Bruce Rauner’s recommended budget for FY2018 does not offer a sufficiently detailed plan to address the State’s immense financial problems. To close the deficit of $4.6 billion, it relies on uncertain savings, one-time revenues and a bipartisan agreement in the Illinois Senate, the provisions of which are in flux and likelihood of passage is unclear.
Further, the Federation cannot support a budget proposal that would allow the backlog of unpaid bills to increase to $19.7 billion if the gap is not closed. Because of the backlog, the State begins each fiscal year in a hole, using revenues from the current year to pay off the previous year’s obligations. A $19.7 billion backlog at the end of FY2018 would represent more than half (58.1%) of estimated FY2019 General Funds revenues.
The Civic Federation continues to recommend a comprehensive plan including spending restraints and increased revenues. Spending controls are at the center of the Federation’s plan, but significantly more revenue is needed to help reduce the deficit in FY2017 and close the gap in FY2018 without drastically changing the scope of State government.
In fact, [Msall] continued, the situation has gotten so bad that the state now has to spend the first six months’ worth of revenues paying off bills that accumulated in the prior year.
Let that sink in a bit.
*** UPDATE *** From the Pritzker campaign…
“Illinois needs a leader who can bring people together to put an end to this budget crisis,” said JB Pritzker. “While Bruce Rauner has decided to hold the state hostage for his teardown agenda, millions are suffering the consequences and future generations will inherit the mess he’s created. As governor, I will propose a balanced budget to protect middle class families and get Illinois back on track.”
