Question of the day
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Zach Roth with the State Journal-Register…
Gov. JB Pritzker announced Monday that Illinois could enter the long-awaited bridge phase within five or six days, depending on whether current trends continue through the week. […]
“(The numbers) have been coming down gradually, which is terrific,” Pritzker said. “We have a period of time that we wait — I think it’s five or six more days of decline — which will allow us to move into the bridge phase and then onto Phase 5.”
Illinois has already vaccinated over 70% of people age 65 and older, along with more than half of the overall adult population. However, because hospitalizations were increasing as the state hit the vaccination benchmarks, the move into the bridge phase was delayed.
Metrics are here. Bridge mitigations are here.
* The Question: Will anything change for you if the state moves into the “Bridge” phase?
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* This has been a trend for many decades, so it’s not unexpected…
Coulda been worse. Gloom and doomers were projecting a two-seat loss.
…Adding… Sun-Times…
Illinois will lose one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Census Bureau said Monday in its announcement of the redistribution of the 435 congressional seats based on population shifts in the 2020 Census.
For the past 50 years, Illinois, reflecting the results of each new census, has been allocated fewer members in Congress, as other states increased in population but Illinois either held steady or declined.
Illinois at present sends 18 members to Congress; under the new reapportionment, the delegation will drop to 17 members. Of Illinois’ current House members, 13 are Democrats and five are Republicans.
Reapportionment is the step that takes place before a remap — that is, drawing new congressional district lines based on the latest census data. Each state gets at least one seat; after that the remaining 385 seats are distributed according to population, with the aim to have about the same number of people in each district. This system has been in place since the first census in 1790.
…Adding… A commenter rightly notes that Pennsylvania has now surpassed Illinois’ population. Click here for the list.
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker’s office…
Under the leadership of Governor Pritzker, the Census Office coordinated a robust, statewide effort to reach millions of Illinois residents, particularly those in hard-to-count communities. This effort included a network of 400 organizations, coordinated by 31 Regional Intermediaries that received grants directly from the state. These boots on the ground conducted direct census outreach and education through an array of channels and in multiple languages. Through canvassing, community events, press and social media events, food and masks distribution, and phone calls the state was able to conduct one of the most significant census efforts in the nation and achieved the top self-response rate of the 10 most populous states.”
Leader McConchie…
“The 2020 Census numbers show that Americans continue to vote with their feet,” said Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods). “People are leaving states where they can’t find economic opportunity and heading to states where they can. If we want to keep our talent and our tax base, our top priority should be passing pro-growth policies that will make Illinois more attractive to students, employers and families.”
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Center Square…
A new study by the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute reveals that police contracts are hindering internal investigations, making it difficult for police chiefs to get rid of problem officers.
Illinois labor law contains a provision that elevates collective bargaining agreements above state law. Section 15, included in the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, states union-negotiated contracts override all other state laws and regulations.
Analysis by IPI found the 10 largest municipalities in Illinois, outside Chicago, all have provisions in their police collective bargaining agreements that would supersede internal investigations and officer discipline. They include Joliet, Rockford, Springfield, Champaign, Naperville, Peoria, Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan and Cicero. […]
Two bills are making their way through Springfield addressing union contracts. House Bill 3891 would exclude police union contracts from the language in Section 15, meaning those contracts would no longer have more power than state laws. House Bill 3892 would limit negotiation by police unions to compensation only, preventing contracts from including disciplinary provisions.
Um, the bills are basically dead. They were both assigned to subcommittees and are now back in the Rules Committee where they will likely remain.
* Sticking with this topic for a bit, this is from the Capitol Fax subscriber edition on Sunday, January 10, 2021…
Most of the Senate Executive Committee testimony yesterday against the Black Caucus’ criminal justice reform bill was either way over the top or not exactly helpful to their cause.
“Do you want to stop law enforcement from finding murdered children?” asked one police chief, who pointed to phone call and police interview mandates in the bill which he claimed would’ve prevented officers from finding the dead body of AJ Freund “as quickly as they did.”
The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association has been claiming the bill would “de-fund the police,” and some Republican legislators have shared the claim on their social media accounts. The bill would, in reality, reduce a local government’s share of its state income tax proceeds if it didn’t comply with a police body cam mandate. The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police didn’t go that far, but did claim at the hearing that the bill would “de-fund” municipalities.
The Illinois Municipal League testified against several aspects of the bill, including the “end prison gerrymandering” section. The group pointed out that counting prisoners at their last known addresses instead of at their prisons would reduce Local Government Distributive Fund dollars to (mainly Republican) prison host communities. But the flip side of that coin is the change would also increase LGDF funding for Democratic Chicago and Cook County.
Sean Smoot was one of the only opponents who seemed to know how to tailor his appeal to a Democratic super-majority. Smoot is the director of the Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois, and he focused much of his testimony on the section that would eliminate discipline and discharge procedures from collective bargaining.
He said he wasn’t talking about protecting bad cops. “I’ve had the opportunity to represent officers who were being discriminated against because they were women,” Smoot said. “I’ve had the opportunity to represent officers who were being discriminated and disciplinarily discriminated [against] because of who they loved.” Smoot said he represented an officer in the Metro East area “who they attempted to terminate because he was Black.”
I don’t know if he succeeded or not, and threatening to scare the living daylights out of white voters has always been an effective tactic. But at least Smoot recognized who runs the Senate, didn’t try to bully anybody and seemed to be sensitive to the insanity this country and this state have just been through. We need more like him.
I shared that as a preface to this scintillating analysis from the Patch…
State lawmakers with Chicago Teachers Union cash jammed in their campaign war chests keep pushing bills in Springfield focused on providing union bosses more bargaining power and a lower threshold of member support required to go on strike.
Meanwhile, proposed legislation that would address police union contracts with provisions that remain roadblocks to criminal justice reform have been getting swept into the dark corners of the legislative session.
Yeah, it’s really tough to see why pro-union bills are being advanced in the Democratic super-majority GA while bills perceived as anti-union are not going anywhere this session. Also, the criminal justice reform law sets up a task force to make recommendations for future legislation. Here’s a statement from last week from Rep. Justin Slaughter, the House’s point-person on criminal justice reform…
When our General Assembly passed the historic police reform package in January, we made a commitment to form a task force that would continue these conversations deliberately and inclusively. The goal of the Task Force on Constitutional Rights and Remedies is to produce a report that clearly outlines how we better hold police accountable, and allow all stakeholders to operate from the same set of facts. We remain committed to moving these discussions forward, not only with the legislature but with communities across the state.
* This was certainly odd…
Three suburban Democratic lawmakers’ “present” votes temporarily halted legislation aimed at curbing gun violence in Illinois because of a disagreement over who could petition authorities for someone’s guns to be temporarily confiscated under a firearm restraining order.
House Bill 1092 is expected to come up for a vote again once the Democrats agree.
State Rep. Kathleen Willis of Addison, who worked for years on this issue, said she did not vote yes because the new bill altered the definition of a “family member” who could file such a petition to include “any former spouse (or) person with whom the respondent has or allegedly has a child in common.”
“We worked really hard” on the original wording, Willis said. “We had concerns that we did not want this to become a vindictive thing that someone could use in a divorce situation or just because you don’t like your neighbor or something like that.”
I dunno. Seems like there’s more to this than that.
* SJ-R…
The Illinois House passed a bill Friday which would make COVID-19-related expansions to telehealth services permanent through state statute.
House Bill 3498, introduced by Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, aims to reduce barriers in access to virtual and telehealth services and would bring standards for virtual care in line with physical health services.
Conroy said that access to telehealth, which became a necessity for many Illinoisans during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, would bring lasting benefits in managing chronic health conditions.
“Over the last year, we’ve seen firsthand evidence that telehealth preserves quality and safety, meets individual patient needs, decreases health care disparities, and protects public health,” Conroy said Friday.
Conroy’s telehealth bill failed to pass during last May’s truncated special session, but she’s worked it hard ever since.
* More…
* Illinois General Assembly passes hundreds of bills as session end approaches
* Illinois House passes gender-neutral bathroom bill, mandate to remove lead from drinking water
* Illinois House backs replacement of brain-damaging lead service lines, but wants Biden and Congress to pay for the work
* Illinois House backs bill that would make Juneteenth an official state holiday after Senate passes its version
* Senate passes journalism task force bill to help rural communities
* Windhorst’s Bill May Help Fill Teaching Vacancies
* Illinois Senate approves bill creating permanent council to protect Mahomet Aquifer
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It’s good to be the king
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Steve Daniels at Crain’s…
Just how good has Springfield been to local utilities since Commonwealth Edison first won the right in 2011 to set its delivery rates each year via a formula? It’s a good question as state lawmakers embark on their third crack at comprehensive energy legislation in the last decade.
Since the beginning of the “formula-rate era,” yearly earnings growth at ComEd, suburban natural gas utility Nicor and Chicago’s Peoples Gas have topped all but a handful of Chicago’s 20 largest publicly traded companies, according to a Crain’s analysis. […]
ComEd has watched its earnings grow to $638 million in 2020—adding back the $200 million fine for the company’s admissions of bribery in a federal probe of former House Speaker Michael Madigan—from $379 million in 2012, the year it first was allowed to set its delivery rates annually via a formula. ComEd’s profits grew 6.7 percent on average annually over those nine years. […]
As he seeks legislation to put Illinois on a path to a 100 percent carbon-free power industry, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has called for an end to formula rates, the annual rate-setting process that took away most of the ICC’s authority to push back on ComEd’s requests. But that hasn’t stopped utilities—and particularly their union allies whose members benefit from the unprecedented levels of capital spending—from continuing to propose provisions that would continue elements of the formula-rate era such as guaranteed returns for utilities.
* Related…
* Exelon, ComEd execs can’t convince judge to cancel investor fraud lawsuit over alleged Madigan bribery scheme
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* The virus trend is improving, the vaccination trend is not. Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 2,137 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 10 additional deaths.
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Peoria County: 1male 80s
- Pope County: 1 male 70s
- Will County: 1 male 40s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,323,170 cases, including 21,836 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 49,236 specimens for a total of 22,318,791. As of last night, 2,083 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 506 patients were in the ICU and 251 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from April 19-25, 2021 is 3.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from April 19-25, 2021 is 4.1%.
The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses for Illinois is 10,913,325. A total of 8,860,975 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 105,873 doses. Yesterday, 50,512 doses were reported administered in Illinois.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
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It’s long past time to keep these promises
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Sun-Times takes a look at the opposition to a legislative push to finally provide natural gas service to Pembroke Township, one of the poorest areas of the state…
“People here love the earth,” says Dr. Jifunza Wright-Carter, who farms 45 acres with her husband in Pembroke and promotes sustainable agriculture. “This natural gas pipeline has nothing to do with the wellbeing of our community. We don’t have to have it for our livelihood or economic development.”
Wright and her husband Fred Carter moved to Pembroke from Chicago about a dozen years ago, drawn by the history of what once was hailed as the largest Black farming community in the Northern United States. Through their nonprofit Black Oaks Center, they want to restore at least 1,000 acres there for sustainable family farming.
And the idea of a nearby pipeline carrying gas, especially at a time the world is moving away from fossil fuels, doesn’t mesh with their plans.
As many Illinois politicians talk about moving toward a clean energy future, [Hopkins Park Mayor Mark Hodge] has found support from U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Illinois, a number of state lawmakers and the Rev. Jesse Jackson to put more than 30 miles of natural gas pipeline in a poor, Black community in the name of economic development. It’s a debate that also has taken place elsewhere around the country.
To opponents who say it makes more sense to invest in renewable energy, Hodge says that’s too expensive. He points to one past estimate that it would cost $25 million to upgrade electrical distribution to allow for renewable sources.
Some are arguing that the area needs better sewer and water systems and broadband internet service, too. That definitely ought to be addressed in the state’s capital plan. It’s all a no-brainer.
The Black Oaks Center can still do its sustainable farming program if area residents can access natural gas. This is not an either-or proposition. But this is from the founders of the center…
In 2009, we moved out of our near 3000 square foot deluxe Beverly Chicago Bungalow into an off grid, 580 square foot Mennonite storage unit we re-purposed to be our home on the eco campus complete with outdoor compost toilets and a wood stove.
The motivation? To fall down the rabbit hole into an alternate reality of a low carbon life so we could help others do the same when the impact of a destabilized environment would tailor more and more of our lives.
Um, OK. And, again, there was a recent township supervisor election and the incumbent who sided with Black Oaks lost.
Also, Illinois PIRG and the Natural Resources Defense Council both filed witness slips in opposition over a tiny amount of natural gas use. Ridiculous.
Politicians in this state have been promising to bring progress to Pembroke for as long as I’ve been alive. They’ve never successfully followed through. Enough, already. The opposition has no realistic or even concrete alternate plan. The status quo should not continue.
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Chicago sues Indiana gun store
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Everytown Law press release…
The city of Chicago has sued a Gary, Indiana gun store alleged to have sold hundreds of illegal guns trafficked into Chicago. Filed by Everytown Law, the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, along with the City of Chicago Department of Law and the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, the lawsuit alleges that the store repeatedly broke federal gun laws and ignored clear signs of straw purchases and gun trafficking, contributing to a public nuisance in Chicago, including in connection with dozens of sales in 2020 and 2021 that resulted in federal criminal charges against the straw purchasers. The complaint cites years of previously-unseen audit reports by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, showing repeat violations, warnings, and two recommendations for revocation of Westforth Sports Inc.’s license to sell guns. It also points to court records showing that, between 2014 and 2021, over 40 federal criminal prosecutions for illegal gun purchases in the Northern District of Indiana, where Westforth is located, involved guns sold by Westforth.
The first civil lawsuit filed by Chicago against a major source of crime guns in more than two decades, the City is seeking a court order requiring Westforth Sports, Inc. to stop practices believed to be contributing to gun trafficking and gun violence in the City, as well as damages for the harm caused by Westforth’s actions.
“The City of Chicago is serious about reducing and eliminating violence of all kinds, which is why we’re fighting the tide of illegal guns flowing into our neighborhoods,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “As Mayor, I’ve worked tirelessly to reduce violence to keep our streets safe. Time and time again, however, it has become even more clear that holding accountable all those who contribute to gun violence here, regardless of where they are located, is key to our ability to create a safer Chicago. This lawsuit is about addressing a major source of illegal guns recovered in our city, and it should send an unmistakable signal about our commitment to reducing gun violence and stopping gun trafficking.”
“When this many crime guns are traced back to a single dealer, it raises serious questions about how that dealer does business, and in this case you don’t have to look far for the answer,” said Alla Lefkowitz, director of affirmative litigation for Everytown Law. “The ATF has cited Westforth over and over again for violating federal gun regulations, including for selling to straw purchasers. ATF inspectors twice recommended that Westforth’s gun dealer license be revoked. This lawsuit should be a wake-up call to ATF to take long-overdue action against Westforth to protect the public.”
The suit alleges that in the face of unmistakable indicators of illegal gun sales—including high volume, repetitive, and multiple-sale transactions involving duplicate or near-duplicate firearms—Westforth chose time and time again to look the other way and to falsify transaction forms, becoming a trusted source of firearms for traffickers and straw purchasers. For example, as detailed on pages 18-24 of the complaint:
• Over the course of seven months in 2020, one buyer is alleged to have purchased 19 handguns from Westforth, including ten guns bought in multiple-sale transactions, and nine others bought at intervals designed to avoid federal reporting requirements. With the exception of one gun that the buyer kept for himself, each of these guns were transferred to persons in Chicago. The buyer has since been charged criminally with making false statements in connection with his gun purchases at Westforth.
• Another buyer is alleged to have bought six handguns from Westforth in the spring of 2020, including three identical Taurus handguns and a pair of identical Smith & Wesson handguns. The complaint alleges that these duplicative multiple-sale transactions were unmistakable warning signs of straw purchasing, which Westforth ignored. One of the guns that Westforth sold to this buyer was recovered by the Chicago Police just over a month later, and the rest are believed to remain on the streets. In December 2020, this buyer pled guilty to a federal crime in connection with her purchases at Westforth.
• Another buyer visited Westforth in May 2018 and is alleged to have bought five Glock handguns—including two duplicate and near-duplicate pairs—in a single purchase. The complaint alleges that this suspicious bulk purchase of handguns was highly indicative of trafficking, and the buyer was indeed a trafficker. Just a day after Westforth sold these guns, two of them were recovered by law enforcement in Chicago during an altercation. One had been outfitted with a laser sight. This buyer has since been charged criminally with making false statements in connection with his gun purchases at Westforth.
The complaint is here.
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Pick a lane
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* When the Illinois Policy Institute believes double taxation is bad…
All Illinois drivers also pay sales taxes on top of their gas taxes, which is essentially double taxation.
* When the Illinois Policy Institute believes double taxation is good…
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By the numbers
Monday, Apr 26, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico…
After Friday’s deadline to send bills to the opposite chamber, here’s how the numbers play out. House Democrats saw 333 of their bills pass, while 74 from House Republicans passed. Senate Democrats saw 305 bills pass, and Senate Republicans, 47.
* If those numbers are correct, then the Democrats in both chambers passed about 2.8 times as many bills per member as their Republican counterparts…
House Democrats: 4.6 bills per member
House Republicans: 1.6 bills per member
Senate Democrats: 7.4 bills per member
Senate Republicans: 2.6 bills per member
Thoughts?
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* The percentage of people who have vaccine side effects is relatively small and is always short-lived, but most of the online notice is going to the people who complain the loudest on social media…
* Also, if you do have side effects, try not to be too melodramatic on your social media account because you’re only enabling goofs like this…
As soon as the United States authorized the use of the first COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December, a small but vocal group of skeptics and conspiracy theorists, baselessly convinced that the jabs were lethal, started hunting for dead people. At first their efforts were relatively small-bore and haphazard—although far from innocuous. But as the scale and sophistication of America’s vaccine rollout have exponentially ramped up over the last three months, so have efforts to hunt down alleged vaccine fatalities.
Starting in mid-January, several social media channels and websites emerged as hubs for stories, generated by admins and users pulling together snippets from across the internet and crafting them into cohesive narratives and brief posts, linking reported deaths to COVID vaccinations. Several of these platforms have grown notably, and become more formalized, in recent weeks. Unsurprisingly, given the robust safety profile of the vaccines in use in the United States, they rarely detail how a vaccination supposedly caused a given death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not found a causal connection between COVID vaccines and virtually any post-vaccination deaths—although the agency recently announced it is investigating three deaths linked to a rare blood-clotting disorder a few individuals developed after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Medical authorities shelved that vaccine temporarily because sensitive monitoring systems picked up on this issue quickly. However, anti-vaxxers often take this less as a sign that safety systems are working and more as a sign that they were right all along and many more dangers must remain hidden.
But even if the narratives these hubs string together are weak and not supported by extant research on vaccine risks, some evidence suggests seeing these sorts of stories repeated ad nauseam may turn otherwise open people away from vaccines. This is a problem, as experts warn that skeptics, especially in far-right strongholds, are holding us back from herd immunity.
And death-hunting hubs are overflowing with dubious stories about vaccine death.
* From the Washington Post: “These are the pro-vaccine messages people want to hear”…
Of the many strategies Brewer and his colleagues explored in a 2017 study on the psychology of vaccine uptake, one of the most effective was simply requiring it.
For some people, being allowed to travel to see the grandkids, to take a cruise or to return to the office or school is enough of an incentive to persuade them to get vaccinated. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted in late March, 7 percent of respondents said that they would get a vaccine “only if required.”
However, that step cannot occur before people believe vaccinations are safe.
“If there’s not some community-wide level of confidence in the vaccine,” Brewer said, “policymakers cannot implement all of these super-effective approaches without receiving a great deal of blowback from the general public.”
* Meanwhile…
(T)he Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Board of Higher Education won’t mandate vaccines for students.
“That’s going to be a local college decision,” said Matt Berry, Illinois Community College Board spokesman.
Melissa Hahn, spokeswoman for the Illinois Board of Higher Education, said the board is not issuing guidance mandating vaccines “but encourages continued use of face coverings, frequent hand-washing, and maintaining social distance.”
Community colleges in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties are not requiring students to be vaccinated but will continue COVID screening and other safety measures. In Chicago, DePaul University and Columbia College are mandating students be vaccinated for fall, bucking the trend.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
The fiscal news in Illinois of late has been a whole lot better than just about anyone expected. March’s base general funds revenue grew by $422 million versus a year ago, mainly because of stronger than expected receipts of personal and corporate income taxes and sales taxes. That follows a growth of $330 million in February’s receipts.
The revenue surge has been so rosy that some have openly wondered whether Gov. J.B. Pritzker was telling the truth last year when he warned voters that failing to approve a graduated income tax, which would’ve eventually produced more than $3 billion a year in new revenues, would result in budget cuts or higher taxes.
But a little noticed budget forecast published during spring break by the Legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability threw cold water on all the excitement.
“The 2017 income tax increase closed some of the structural gap in the budget but the state still has more work to do to truly be able to operate under a sustainable model moving forward,” COGFA reported.
That structural budget gap also came up in a recent report by the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs, which noted that Illinois’ expenditures exceeded revenue by roughly 10% each year between 2010 and 2020.
But back to COGFA’s report, which claimed that, “as demonstrated in this report, based on forecast models, the state needs to raise more revenue and/or reduce expenditures.”
The commission produced several scenarios, including one that used the projected spending for this fiscal year and next fiscal year and applied the 2.7% annual spending growth averaged here over the past five years. In that scenario, the Fiscal Year 2022 deficit would be $1.2 billion, FY23’s deficit would be $1.7 billion and the FY24 budget would have a $1.9 billion hole and a $9.9 billion backlog on paying bills. That backlog is currently $5.4 billion.
Basing projections on the same two fiscal years with an average 3.2% spending growth seen in Illinois over the past ten years, the projected Fiscal Year 2024 deficit grows to $2.3 billion and the bill backlog would be $10.6 billion.
But basing calculations on only this fiscal year’s spending would produce even higher deficits and backlogs: A $5 billion deficit and a $19.1 billion backlog by FY2024 assuming a 2.7% annual spending growth; and a whopping $5.7 billion deficit and a $20.5 billion bill backlog assuming a 3.2% spending growth.
To bring the bill backlog down to zero dollars, COGFA calculated that the state would need annual spending cuts of 5.3% and 4.7%, depending on which fiscal year spending base was used in the projection.
Zero-growth budgets would produce a $413 million surplus and a $6.5 billion backlog by 2024 in one scenario and a $1.4 billion deficit and a $12 billion backlog in the other.
But even achieving flat spending is hugely difficult because of ever-increasing pension obligations, medical inflation and education spending pressures, not to mention all the other programs that legislators and governors devise.
One of COGFA’s suggestions is to reduce statutory interest rates on past-due bills of between 9 and 12% annually, which it claimed could reduce spending by $15 million to $45 million per year. While it looks good on paper, the hard fact remains that vendors have been stiffed for two decades by this state and it’s already difficult to find people who will do business with Illinois. Cutting that interest rate would make it even tougher.
COGFA also suggested expanding the sales tax base, which is something the governor has rejected.
But the commission did have one piece of sound advice: Use the $7.5 billion from the federal government’s new American Rescue Plan to pay off the money borrowed from the feds, pay down the state’s bill backlog, use some of the cash to generate as much federal matching funds as possible and patch any COVID-caused budgetary holes.
That definitely would help keep down the projected bill backlogs, but it wouldn’t do much to correct the structural budget problems Illinois has had for many years. That opportunity was lost last November when Pritzker’s “Fair Tax” plan went down in flames at the polls.
While the governor’s $1 billion “corporate loopholes” proposal would make a dent in those projected holes, a new and comprehensive plan is necessary. But it’ll be pretty tough with an election year right around the corner. Petitions can be circulated in about five months.
* Meanwhile, here’s Capitol News Illinois…
A phased repeal of the corporate franchise tax, an addition to what properties qualify for the state’s machinery and equipment sales tax exemption, and a tax deduction for creating new construction jobs in the state were added to the budget proposal put forth by Pritzker in 2019 to secure Republican support.
All three provisions would be delayed or removed in the governor’s plan in order to generate approximately $102 million in savings for FY 22
That third provision, branded as the Blue Collar Jobs Act, was meant to go into effect Jan. 2021. At the time of its passage, the bill was touted by both Pritzker and Republicans as a tax credit that would bring more jobs and businesses to Illinois.
However, the construction worker tax credit had its implementation delayed by Pritzker, who cited losses in tax revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, questioned Sturm, the governor’s budget director, on why a program passed with bipartisan support needed to be cut if the state expected a surplus.
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