* Neil Steinberg asks a good question in his column today: What if fixing teachers is the easy part? He references the recent education reform legislation which passed both chambers of the General Assembly and reprints an e-mail he received from a teacher…
I thought you’d enjoy this (or sigh). I’m a high school teacher in the south suburbs, and was making several calls home last week. The semester is ending, and one student in particular is far from passing. I’d called home before and sent grade sheets both with the student and by mail, all with no response from Mom. In fact, this student had my class before and failed it.
As I reviewed all of that, Mom asked what could he do now to make it up. I told her I would put a packet of missing work together he could do for a late grade. The only requirement, I told her, was that it had to be in Friday.
“No, he won’t be able to have it then,” she said. When I asked why, she told me he’d be “out for a week.”
Extended absences like this usually mean a suspension, and I asked if that was the case. It would not have been his first.
“No, no — we’re going to a family reunion. And he’s going! I already paid for the shirt.”
Pretty soon the sun will be blasting and the humidity will jump on us like a wildcat. Combine that with school letting out, a record high 27.5 percent teen unemployment rate and crippling budget cuts to programs that help keep kids off streets, and it won’t take too long for our children to grow restless and violent.
That’s not an exaggeration. Violence is known to flare up during summer, and children are about to be caught in the crossfire of Chicago’s seemingly unstoppable gun violence and shrinking youth resources.
“I strongly believe this is going to be one of the worst summers ever,” said Hector Escalera, a Cook County juvenile probation officer who covers a police district that includes Little Village. He is worried because grants have dried up for programs that keep kids engaged and safe during the long summer months.
“It’s not even summer yet,” he told me, and Little Village already has seen several murders and “recently a kid got stabbed. We have a lot of issues in the community, and if we don’t provide youth with mental health, education and work opportunities, we are going to lose the battle.”
Advocates for early education are rallying against a proposed 5 percent cut to the Early Childhood Block Grant in the FY 2012 budget with a comprehensive 23-year study (PDF) that shows preschool proactively saves the state of Illinois $530 million a year.
The research touts savings from things like special education and criminal justice costs, while also strengthening the tax base with a better-educated workforce. In FY 2010, a 10 percent funding cut to the same grant meant 8,000 fewer children in Illinois were enrolled in state-run preschool programs. If the proposed 5 percent cut is passed in this General Assembly for the upcoming fiscal year, the option of attending a state-funded preschool would be eliminated for another estimated 4,300 young children, the study said.
The cost-savings analysis was commissioned by the Ounce of Prevention Fund, Illinois Action for Children and Voices for Illinois Children. The data dates back to the late 1980s, when Illinois began to funnel money to preschool programs that were meant to prepare young children between the ages of 3 and 5 years-old for success in K-12 education, something the study calls “an investment.”
That investment, according to the study, has resulted in tremendous savings for schools and taxpayers alike. In K-12 savings, it’s estimated $21.9 million to $32.9 million are saved in school spending for special education because preschool can often prevent or remedy potential issues through early intervention for things like speech or language problems. Another $2.5 million to $3.7 million is saved in grade repetition — attributed to school readiness through preschool — alone. Between $172 million to $259 million is also reduced in government spending — some $146.8 million of that is attributed to having fewer youths in the juvenile criminal system.
Monday, May 23, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Gaming expansion cannot be smoking expansion!
A survey of Illinois’ casino gamblers by the Center for Policy Analysis (CFPA) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth finds that a large majority of this state’s casino gamblers either prefer casinos where smoking is prohibited on the gaming floor or it does not matter to them.
According to the random sample poll, conducted from April 27 to May 9, 2011, 45% of respondents who had visited a casino in the last twelve months say they are more likely to visit a casino where smoking is prohibited on the gaming floor. 31% say it doesn’t matter. Only 24% say they are less likely to visit a casino where smoking is prohibited.
Like the rest of us, gamblers are cutting back mainly for economic reasons: 40% cite the increased cost of gasoline and 35% cite the increased cost of living, while others blame loss of income (16%), falling behind on bills (15%), job loss (12%), and declining home values(11%).
Will allowing smoking in casinos increase state revenues? Not really! In fact, bringing back smoking could set Illinois’ casinos further behind: 36% of casino gamblers who smoke report that they too either prefer a smoking prohibition on the gaming floor or say it doesn’t matter. Think smoking and gambling go together? Actually, smokers do not constitute a disproportionate percentage of casino gamblers in comparison to the state’s general adult population.
Want a real, politically viable revenue option? Raise the cigarette tax!
School sales taxes approved by voters would no longer have to be endorsed by county boards as well under a bill passed by the Illinois Senate on Thursday.
“We let the taxpayers decide … and if they vote in favor of it, then obviously they want it,” bill sponsor Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, said.
Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, himself a former Iroquois County Board chairman, said it is important to keep the county board involved, as a school sales tax would affect an entire county.
However, proponents said voters know better what they want than their representatives at the county level.
The proposal limits the tax increases to a quarter of a point.
* The Question: Should voters be allowed to approve quarter-point school sales tax increases without their county board’s approval? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
* A couple of editorials have been published recently about the benefits of closing state institutions and transferring residents to group homes. From the SJ-R…
Among those institutions that Quinn rendered closure-proof are eight state facilities — in Dwight, Anna, Centralia, Dixon, Jacksonville, Kankakee, Park Forest and Waukegan — that house people with developmental disabilities. For years, advocates for the developmentally disabled have tried, with very limited success, to persuade the state to move away from reliance on institutions and toward greater use of residential group homes and community programs for those with developmental disabilities.
At the same time, programs that serve the developmentally disabled and their families have suffered through years of steady cuts to their budgets and long delays in payment from the state. These are organizations like Sparc in Springfield, which operates small group homes, runs programs that provide employment for the developmentally disabled and provides important services to families of children with disabilities.
Quinn’s budget proposal for fiscal 2012 proposes to cut $76.3 million from these types of programs while increasing the budgets for state institutions by $30 million. It’s time for the state to realize that both financially and therapeutically, that formula is backward.
Housing an individual in an institution costs about $190,000 a year, or roughly four times the cost of living in a community setting, says Tony Paulauski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, a consortium of roughly 60 agencies that serve the developmentally disabled and their families. Paulauski points to studies that show Illinois ranks fourth in the nation in the number of people housed in institutions and is 47th in the amount it spends on community services that keep people out of institutions and allow them to lead more productive lives.
Unfortunately, Gov. Pat Quinn has targeted some of Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens for his least sensible cuts.
Experts in the field calculate that in his proposed budget for 2012, Quinn whacks $76.3 million from community services for the developmentally disabled: That includes people with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other challenges. At the same time, Quinn directs $30 million in additional spending to state institutions that serve far fewer residents at much higher costs. His budget similarly favors institutional care for mental health over a community-based approach. Along the way, he would forgo tens of millions in federal matching dollars.
How wrongheaded can you get? For decades now, other states have moved away from institutionalizing the developmentally disabled and mentally ill in government-run facilities — with great success. Care is better, and costs far lower. Indiana recently went in that direction, and the results have been positive.
Across Illinois last year, more than 130 cases of abuse and neglect were investigated and confirmed in group homes for adults, a 33 percent increase compared to 2006, according to government documents obtained by The Associated Press. The reports of mistreatment and outright cruelty at the hands of low-wage workers with scant supervision, illustrate a mostly overlooked problem in Illinois.
The numbers reinforce concerns about the treatment of group home residents as the alleged beating death of a disabled man at a home in eastern Illinois has led to proposed legislation that would tighten state oversight and allow the public to more easily see abuse and neglect reports. The bill has passed the Illinois House and is expected to be considered next week in the Senate.
State funded and privately operated, group homes rely heavily on low-paid workers — some moonlighting a second job — to care for an increasing number of adults with autism, mental retardation and other disabling problems. […]
“The minimal wage makes it difficult to screen out some people who are less-than-savory characters,” said Jim Lopresto, executive director of Southern Illinois Community Support Services, an agency that runs group homes. “We kiss a lot of frogs. At the rate of pay we’re offering, that’s what you run into.”
After the horrific alleged murders committed by staff at a Downstate group home, it would be prudent for this state to look before it leaps.
Smaller can usually be better, but these homes have to raise their standards. The state spends $340 million a year on group home care for less than 10,000 residents. That’s still cheaper than institutionalizing them, and the AP story provides no data on abuse at state-run facilities.
Also, those 130 reports of abuse and neglect equal just over 1 percent of all residents in group homes. That’s quite small overall, but the problems at Graywood need to be examined much more closely to make sure this never happens again anywhere else.
* As I’ve been telling subscribers for a while now, there’s big trouble with the pension reform bill, and it’s coming from what some might expect is an unlikely corner: The House Republicans. HGOP Leader Tom Cross, of course, has been pushing the pension reform bill for months on end, but some of his members are starting to balk…
Sara Wojcicki, a spokeswoman for Cross, the House Republican leader, declined Friday to answer questions about what kind of trouble the bill faced in Cross’ caucus, what changes members are suggesting and how much more current employees will be expected to pay for their benefits.
“This is a very complicated issue and we are working to finalize the bill,” Wojcicki said. “There are many issues still to be resolved in the next couple of weeks.”
But Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, an opponent of charging more for benefits, said the bill faces serious problems among Republican members.
“I think Representative (Raymond) Poe had the best comment on that. He says, ‘If you don’t have any teachers in your district, then go ahead and vote for change,’” Brauer said. “To change somebody’s pension after they’re hired is wrong.”
Maybe things will turn topsy-turvy next week, but right now it doesn’t feel like there are only 10 scheduled days left in the General Assembly’s spring session. There just doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency around the place.
There’s plenty of stuff lawmakers could still do, from the budget and remaps to gambling expansion, workers’ comp, pension reform, utility rates and on and on. But it’s not hard to find lawmakers who think most of that stuff will be put off until the fall.
Either the next week will be one of the busiest ever for lawmakers, or the whole session will end with a whimper instead of a bang.
He’s right that a whole lot of issues are on the bubble at the moment. But there is lots of urgency behind the scenes as the clock ticks down to May 31st. For instance, gaming expansion…
Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Sunday threw her support behind a city casino.
She is urging the general assembly to authorize one before the end of the legislative session on May 31st.
“World-class cities have casinos,” said Topinka. “Having a casino here would help with tourism, with jobs - it would certainly put some money back in the till both for the city as well as the state, but I think you have to be responsible as well.”
Illinois Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association Executive Director Lanny Brooks has spent days lobbying in Springfield during the spring session on behalf of horse owners, and said an amendment will be added to a bill that could bring on-site gaming to the state’s horse tracks.
“I feel better than I did ever before,” Brooks said.
Brooks said he has spoken with the bill’s sponsor, Gaming Committee Chairman Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, and was told an amendment will be added to the gambling expansion bill, which includes on-track gaming as well as a new casino in downtown Chicago and two new riverboat casinos in the state. The amendment is expected to be formally introduced at 9 a.m. Wednesday before the House Executive Committee.
If the sudden agreement not to talk about workers compensation reform is any indication, negotiators in Springfield might be getting close to a deal.
It’s a deal that Illinois needs to boost its image as an employer-friendly state. But any deal must also be fair to everyone with a stake in the system.
* I’ve kinda lost track of where the school reform trailer bill is going, but the Tribune editorial board glosses over the real issue at stake…
Chicago Teachers Union officials are pleading with lawmakers to change the provisions in the bill that set a high bar for a teachers strike. The bill says that a strike can be called only if 75 percent of the union members vote to approve it. We won’t get into the arcane details, but the debate now focuses on who would get to vote on a strike authorization. The CTU demands changes in separate legislation that would make it easier to hit the 75 percent threshold and send teachers to the picket lines.
There’s good reason to oppose this effort to dilute the reform bill. Chicago has aggressive new leadership coming to the school system. Those leaders will have significant new tools to improve education, thanks to the reform bill on the governor’s desk. But Chicago schools also face a large deficit, and spending cuts are likely. This is a critical time for Chicago’s children. As the schools navigate through the reforms and the budget, parents need to know that Chicago teachers will be in the classroom to teach their children.
They don’t get into the “arcane details” because that would mean explaining that the CTU wants the 75 percent threshold to apply to members who are eligible to vote. That really doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. Debatable, perhaps, but not unreasonable.
* Sunday’s extensive remap coverage is here. You’ll also notice that just above the news feeds on the far right side of the page is a new pull-down index of handy remap links. Check ‘em out and provide us more links in comments if you can find them.
* Last night, the Senate Democrats passed three shell bills over to the House which will likely be used as vehicles for the new maps. The Senate Republicans cried foul. From a press release…
Senate Democrats apparently short-circuited the ability of individual senators to offer changes to the once-a-decade redrawing of state and congressional district boundaries on Sunday.
By passing three “shell” bills to the House which contained no content, the Senate likely surrendered the opportunity for members to offer up amendments or changes to the measures.
As the measures were being pushed through during a late Sunday afternoon session, Deputy Senate Republican Leader Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said the “shells” were being rushed through to make it easier for Democrats to adopt a final map “before anyone has got a chance to catch their breath, and look at the lines and figure out what’s going on.” […]
The three bills passed on party-line votes in the Senate (SB 1177, SB 1178 and SB 1179) contain nothing more than titles. The maneuver allows the House to add all the detail to the legislation and then send it back to the Senate for a single up or down vote with no opportunity for Senators to offer individual amendments.
Senate Republicans will now have to hope that their House counterparts can introduce amendments for them, if that’s even allowed.
Shortly before the hearing, House Democrats released racial and ethnic data behind the new districts they drew. The map shows 16 districts with a population of voting-age African-Americans ranging from 50.08 percent to 62 percent. It also showed 11 districts in which voting-age Latinos make up 50.4 percent to 78.3 percent of the population.
Combined with Senate districts devoted to minorities in the map, 39 of the General Assembly’s 177 seats would come from boundaries in which a majority of voters were from racial or ethnic groups.
But the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations said at the hearing that lawmakers could have crafted 57 such “minority-majority” districts. The group noted that under the current boundaries, there were six House districts with 65 percent or more of voting-age Latinos — a figure that would drop to three in the new map.
The rare Sunday hearing highlighted a fissure among groups advocating for greater Latino representation that developed a day earlier during testimony by a state Senate remap panel. Democrats had hoped in the mapmaking process to placate two key constituencies even though Latino population increased in the state while black population dropped significantly, primarily in Chicago.
Statehouse paranoia and angst always are at an all-time high every 10 years in Springfield.
Why? The new state legislative district maps are drawn, and that highly political process always involves generous amounts of partisan mischief-making and revenge.
This year is no different. The Democrats control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, so they can pretty much draw any map they want as long as they follow federal and state voting rights laws which protect minorities and other “communities of interest.”
The Republicans, locked out of power and influence, just knew they were in for a beating, and they got one. In many respects it probably wasn’t as bad as it was 10 years ago, when the Democrats drew a map so solidly partisan that the House and Senate Democratic majorities easily survived one of the biggest Republican landslides in history.
Partisanship aside, though, imagine being told that the only way to keep your job was to sell your house and move your family a few miles, or even a few blocks. That’s what some legislators have to go through every 10 years during remap season, and it’s what quite a few Republicans are facing — again — this time around. Several have been mapped into districts with fellow Republicans. One of those legislators in each of those districts will have to retire, move or suck it up and run in a primary against a fellow GOP legislator.
So, when Republicans like state Sens. Kyle McCarter and Dave Luechtefeld are put in the same district, reporters heard some very angry complaints. Luechtefeld’s house has essentially been pulled out of his old, deep southern Illinois district and put into a new district farther north that is (for the most part) currently represented by Republican Sen. John O. Jones. Jones’ house has been put in what is now Luechtefeld’s district. A big chunk of McCarter’s current district has been shoved at fellow Republican Sen. Sam McCann.
Confused? That’s the whole idea, man.
A new map usually means representing new territory, and that means legislators must get to know thousands, even tens of thousands of voters who have no idea who they are. That can be a dangerous thing in these politically volatile times. But in the case of Luechtefeld and Jones, they have to either familiarize themselves with almost 200,000 new faces or move, or retire.
The Republican pairings are quite numerous. Sens. Tim Bivins and Christine Johnson are in the same district. The Democrats even paired Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno with Sen. Ron Sandack. Sandack likely will run for a House seat.
Over in the House, southern Illinois Republican state Reps. Ron Stephens and John Cavaletto are in the same district, as are central Illinois Reps. Dan Brady and Keith Sommer. Eastern Illinois Reps. Chapin Rose and Bill Mitchell have been put together.
The mischief goes beyond pitting two Republicans against each other. Northwest suburban Republican Rep. Sid Mathias has been placed in the same district as Democratic Rep. Carol Sente. The district clearly favors Sente, so Mathias will either have to move or take a big risk.
Clearly, some of these folks had better hope the housing market improves soon.
And it’s not just the pairings which grate on the minority party’s nerves every ten years. Much of Sen. Dave Syverson’s Rockford-area district was taken from him so the Democrats could create a very favorable district for Marla Wilson, whom the Dems backed against Syverson last year.
I could go on, but I’m pretty sure you get the idea. Keep something in mind here if this all makes you angry. Two constitutional amendment were proposed awhile back to change the way districts were drawn. Backers of both proposals fell far short of the required petition signatures. Some of the same Republicans who are griping now about the way the maps are drawn probably should’ve put a whole lot more effort into one or both of those amendment petition drives.
Many of those Republicans might not have worked on those constitutional amendments because they figured they’d win the governor’s race and that would be enough to block the Democrats from drawing the map without a fight. After all, how could they possibly lose after Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment and during an inept Pat Quinn administration? Oops.
A Hoffman Estates man who finished a close second in the Democratic primary race for Illinois comptroller in 2010 said Saturday he is eying a run for Congress in 2012.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, 37, said he is forming an exploratory committee Monday to seek the 8th Congressional District seat currently held by Republican and tea party favorite Joe Walsh, who defeated three-term Democrat Melissa Bean of Barrington by 291 votes last November. […]
Krishnamoorthi says he would expect to challenge Walsh in an 8th District that includes the Northwest suburbs. Bean has said she will not seek her old seat, and Krishnamoorthi is the first Democrat to launch an exploratory committee in a congressional race that should draw national interest in 2012.
* Remap roundup…
* Dems on redistricting defensive: Republicans and groups like the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and Change Illinois said the Democrats are rushing to approve a map and are not being open enough to the public. State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, criticized a legislative maneuver referred as a shell bill, which is essentially a placeholder for latebreaking proposals. The map could be placed in a shell bill and fast-tracked to a vote
* State legislative maps released, but may change: “Ten years ago the Democrats put out one map, waited a few days and then they put out another map that had substantial changes to it, including in downstate districts. So everyone, whether they’re involved in the political process or not, needs to take a deep breath and recognize that this thing is very much drawn in pencil now.”
* New legislative map could split Mendota: Mautino’s district — the 76th — would change slightly. The northern border in Mendota is U.S. 34, which leaves part of the city in the 90th district, represented by Jerry Mitchell (R-Sterling). Mautino’s district also would expand east to include Ottawa and Marseilles; currently, the 76th district includes only part of Ottawa. The 75th district, represented by Pam Roth (R-Morris) would lose part of Kankakee and Iroquois counties, extending north instead into Kendall County.
* 2:05 pm - The House Redistricting Committee is meeting at 2 o’clock today in Chicago. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform is live-Tweeting the blessed event as are the House Republicans. You can follow them below. Underneath the live coverage of today’s House hearing is ICPR’s coverage from yesterday’s Senate Redistricting Committee hearing…
…Adding more… Now that the House hearing is over and the ScribbleLive program is closed, the chronology flips. So, you’ll see the Senate coverage first, followed by the House coverage.
* This was Saturday’s most important development, which subscribers already knew about last week…
A coalition of Latino groups that had worked together for more representation in the state legislature fragmented [Saturday] at a state Senate hearing over the effects of a proposed Democratic redrawing of Illinois’ legislative boundaries. […]
Juan Rangel, CEO of the United Neighborhood Organization and head of the Latino Coalition for Fair Redistricting, voiced support for proposed map lines that create an additional Latino majority Senate district on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
Rangel credited Democrats who control the Senate with how they were able to “strike a balance with other minority groups, particularly African Americans” who lost population in Chicago while the Latino population grew in the city and suburbs. […]
But Sylvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum, which had been part of the pre-map coalition with UNO that had been working to promote additional representation in Springfield, told the Senate panel the group was “disappointed” in the proposed map.
“Given the dramatic 33 percent growth of the Latino population over the last decade, our analysis indicates that Latino residents have been shortchanged by the current proposal,” Puente said.
But Dr. Mujahid Ghazi of the South Asian Community Alliance on Chicago’s North Side testified that the proposed map further fragments communities of people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
“We have already suffered for 10 years, and now if we suffer another 10 years, it is going to be a great disaster for our community at large,” said Ghazi, who was among about two dozen people who signed up to testify during the hearing. […]
During Saturday’s two-hour hearing in Chicago, Valerie Leonard of the Lawndale Alliance neighborhood association suggested senators tweak the map to increase the percentage of black voters in two proposed districts in the Chicago area.
But the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community was pleased because the greater Chinatown area in Chicago was largely consolidated in one Senate and one House district.
Illinois House Democrats posted a map of newly drawn legislative districts Friday, but refused to offer any demographic information showing how minority-population shifts influenced their mapmaking.
The 118 House districts that comprised the map were shaped using 2010 U.S. Census data that showed marked declines in African-American populations and a significant uptick in Latino populations.
An aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, would offer no insight into how the map was drawn or into the demographic make-up of each district, insisting only that the once-a-decade exercise in legislative mapmaking adhered to the Constitution and federal law.
“It follows the law. That’s what I know. That’s the way it’s always been done,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
“We were following requirements of the constitution, both state and federal. We were certainly making sure that there were equal populations from one district to the next,” she says.
State Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago), the committee’s minority spokesman, agrees. He says there’s little that can be done to avoid such changes when considering population changes and demographic shifts. He says this even though he’s one of the Republicans drawn out of his district.
“With population changes, there are going to be pairings of incumbents. Whether it’s me or somebody else, that’s going to be the basis,” he says. “You have to look at what are the population numbers, what are the demographic numbers, and does it make sense from that point of view?”
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego blasted the lack of racial and other demographic data in the map’s release.
“How can the residents of our state have time to access the information, digest it and be prepared to testify at a hearing in Chicago on Sunday afternoon?” Cross said in a statement. “A hearing in Chicago and one in Springfield is not enough; we are calling for more statewide hearings in the next few weeks before a vote is taken.”
“The remap sucks the air and the oxygen out of the Capitol and leads to an even more skittish legislature, which really needs to buck it up and make very difficult votes in the last two weeks for the future of the state,” said state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale. “It’s a really bad time to have a remap process going on.” […]
The GOP and Democratic caucuses in the House also have sought to cooperate on retooling the state’s workers’ compensation system and public employee pension changes. But bipartisanship may give way to hard feelings based on how the boundaries have been drawn.
“This is my own point of view, you know, but maybe our era of good feeling might be over with,” said state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, whom Democrats would stick in a district with another Republican lawmaker. […]
Several Republican lawmakers said the final days leading up to the scheduled May 31 adjournment may turn into a version of the January lame-duck session of the legislature. Lawmakers who lost in November’s election and those who opted to retire, no longer having to face angry voters, lent their votes to a massive tax increase and a pension borrowing plan.
Cross also called the map “very punitive to the Republicans” and said it could affect resolution of the state budget and other issues.
“I had hoped that we would have this passed before the map came out, because I knew that once the map came out this place would be up for grabs on all sides,” Cross said Friday during a taping of a Chicago radio show. “I think the next couple weeks are going to be a little tricky.”
* Related…
* Questions linger about new map for Illinois House: State Rep. Toni Berrios, D-Chicago, heads the Hispanic caucus in the Illinois House. Hispanics saw a 15 percent population jump in the 2010 census. “There are groups that have come together that are pushing Latino maps and minority maps, but we don’t know what the final map will be,” said Berrios.
* Y’all have just been tremendous this week. I always say I have the best commenters in the business and you proved it once again. Whether it was helping dissect the new maps or finding the file buried in the House Democrats’ redistricting website, I have just been amazed at how smart and sophisticated you are. Thanks for all the help and the hard work. But it sure was fun, wasn’t it?
I really couldn’t have done it without you this week. And I will need your help at least one more time very soon. I’ll be reopening comments if the new congressional map is released this weekend. Hopefully, I can borrow your brains once again.
This is more than just a political website. You proved once again that we’re a real community. Thanks so much for everything.
* Regular commenter “Corvax” posted this video earlier today. It’s Dolly Varden doing a live version of “The Wheels Have Left the Road,” which seems appropriate for those folks who got the short end of the stick during Redistricting Week. Have a listen…
I’ve seen you wake up screaming
I’ve seen you shaken up for days
* Google Earth (Right-click and save to your computer)
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Democratic congressional delegation will reportedly be in Springfield Saturday morning at 11 o’clock to take a look at their maps in the Stratton Bldg.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Statement from House Republican Leader Tom Cross…
“It is disingenuous for the House Democrats to release this map late in the afternoon on a Friday with very limited access to demographic data and an analysis that explains why they drew the boundaries where they did. How can the residents of our state have time to access the information (online or by written request), digest it and be prepared to testify at a hearing in Chicago on Sunday afternoon? A hearing in Chicago and one in Springfield is not enough; we are calling for more statewide hearings in the next few weeks before a vote is taken.”
The next few weeks? That ain’t gonna happen, but nice try.
Illinois House Democrats posted a map of newly drawn legislative districts Friday but refused to offer any demographic information showing how minority-population shifts influenced their mapmaking.
The 118 House districts that comprised the map were shaped using 2010 U.S. Census data that showed marked declines in African-American populations and a significant uptick in Latino populations.
An aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) would offer no insight into how the map was drawn or into the demographic make-up of each district, insisting only that the once-a-decade exercise in legislative mapmaking adhered to the Constitution and federal law.
“It follows the law. That’s what I know. That’s the way it’s always been done,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
* Gov. Pat Quinn was adamant during a Chicago press conference today that if the state is going to expand gaming, then he wants to keep it as narrow as possible. He strongly indicated that Chicago could get a new casino, but here’s what he said when he was asked what he’d say to the mayor of Danville, who also wants a new casino…
“I would tell him not to hold his breath.”
Downstate casinos are seen by some as a way to find votes for a Chicago casino. Sometimes, casino bills are too big to pass, but sometimes they can be too small. Time will tell.
* The governor has said time and time again that he opposes any education spending cuts in the budget. Asked whether he would veto a budget which cut education spending, Quinn wouldn’t go that far…
“No. What I’ve seen so far needs improvement.”
* The governor also indicated that he would sign a bill which passed today that protected the identities of FOID card holders. Gov. Quinn danced around questions about whether the newly proposed Senate district map was fair, but he did heap praise on the “openness” of the mapmaking process, pointing to the numerous committee hearings held and the upcoming hearings.
* Gov. Quinn tried to get out in front of a story yesterday by announcing a big shakeup at ISAC…
Gov. Pat Quinn [yesterday] shuffled the deck at the agency that oversees the state’s prepaid college tuition program by appointing two board members and dumping a longtime friend.
Out as chairman of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission is Don McNeil, a longtime friend and campaign contributor who roomed with Quinn back when they went to Georgetown University.
May 19, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today named Kym Hubbard and Miguel Del Valle to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Del Valle will serve as a member of the commission, and Hubbard will serve as its chair. Today’s actions come as the Governor works to bring a fresh approach to the board charged with increasing the affordability and accessibility of college in Illinois – one of Governor Quinn’s top priorities.
“Kym Hubbard and Miguel Del Valle both bring a fresh approach and a lifetime of public and private sector experience to this important board,” said Governor Quinn. “Access to higher education is a top priority of my administration, and I am confident that these appointments will help continue my mission of ensuring that college is affordable and accessible for Illinois’ students. I thank Don McNeil for his service and commitment to the people of Illinois.”
The move to replace Mr. McNeil comes after a series of stories in Crain’s Chicago Business detailing financial woes at the prepaid tuition plan, which has the biggest funding shortfall of any such plan in the nation. Crain’s also reported that ISAC Executive Director Andrew Davis shifted nearly half the plan’s $1.1-billion investment portfolio into hedge funds, private equity and other “alternative” holdings considered riskier than garden-variety stocks and bonds. Mr. McNeil staunchly defended Mr. Davis’ strategy and supported a 10% raise for the executive director that was approved by the ISAC board earlier this year.
Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) wants to move College Illinois from ISAC, saying he and other legislators “lost confidence” in the way ISAC handled the fund, which is currently under investigation by the state auditor.
College Illinois bills itself as offering Illinois parents a way to lock in today’s tuition prices for tomorrow’s college students, but the $1.25 billion fund is at least 31 percent underfunded. It’s unclear if the state will be able to pay tuition and fees for the 55,000 prepaid tuition contracts currently held by Illinois families.
Durkin said that “desperate calls from parents and grandparents” to state legislators about the fate of these contracts motivated him to try to move the agency to the comptroller’s office.
“I think it’s going to be tough but I want the issue out there,” he said of the likelihood the Illinois General Assembly will approve the move before breaking for the summer. “I want changes.”
But not everyone believes a management change will be the panacea to the plan’s problems.
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FastWeb.com and FinAid.org, a scholarship matching service and free encyclopedic guide to student aid, said he wouldn’t feel more confident in one department over the other.
“You still have this government or quasi-government entity managing it. What’s key is how it’s managed, not who is managing it,” Kantrowitz said.
* 10:20 am - Well, the Google Maps program was up when I did this post, but it’s down now. And I couldn’t figure out how to get the data before they took it down. Check back.
* 10:27 am - OK, it disappeared again. It appears that we’re playing a little game of cat and mouse. I’ll just back off for a bit. Please post anything you see in comments. Go here for the announcement. Clear your cache every so often, however.
* 10:55 am - A reader was able to download the HDems’ Google Earth file before it disappeared. I’ve now posted it. Click here for the file. One big caution: We’re not 100 percent sure yet whether this is the map they’ll formally release. Speaker Madigan’s spokesman denied knowing anything about the map release time.
* According to this map (thanks to a commenter), it appears that GOP Reps. Ron Stephens and John Cavaletto are in the same district.
* From a commenter…
Here’s a strange workaround, but a way to view that Google Earth file without a download.
2) In the “Search Maps” box paste this crazy URL: “http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=211224011660062925886.0004a3b72e644ab4953c3&start=1&num=20000&ll=41.389173,-89.165039&spn=2.299578,4.224243&z=8&output=kml” and hit Search Maps
* According to the map I have, GOP Reps. Dan Brady and Keith Sommer are both in the same district.
* Again, according to the map I have, GOP Reps. Bill Mitchell and Chapin Rose are paired in the same district.
* Another non-Google Earth workaround from a commenter…
Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross says hard feelings over Democrat-led redistricting are complicating the last few weeks of the legislative session. […]
Cross says lawmakers still have big ticket items to deal with in Springfield _ from the budget to pension reforms and workers compensation changes.
He says he’d hoped lawmakers would have dealt with those big issues before the chaos of the redistricting maps began.
It’s most certainly a gigantic distraction.
* 12:01 pm - Via a commenter and double-checked with the Google Earth map I have, GOP Reps. Randy Ramey and Franco Coladipietro have been put into the same House district.
* 12:04 pm - Again, via a commenter and double-checked, the map I have puts GOP Rep. Tim Schmitz and Mike Fortner together.
* Two good points from a friend…
These guys are going to be OK. They just have to move.
Madigan and Cullerton will do much to revitalize the housing market.
* Posted in comments by Yellow Dog Democrat…
The 112th District got a nice haircut that will benefit Jay Hoffman, if he decides to run again.
Dunlap Lake, Holiday Shores, and Prairietown have been shaved off. Those were republican-leaning precincts in Kay’s base.
If Jay was only thinking about running before, he’s in now.
* 12:30 pm - I’m told (can’t say by whom) that this map we have is “99.9 percent accurate.” The district pairings we have so far are right. The only differences between this map and the “real” map are extremely minor and don’t impact things like which member is in what district. But, keep in mind, this is not a legal copy.
* 12:38 pm - Drew Veeneman at PrecinctMaps.com told us in comments that he’s created some pdf files with county and township outlines…
* For the Chicago Tribune editorial board, the world is always about to end…
[Redistricting is] a prime opportunity for political gamesmanship, and the Dems did not pass it up. If their map is approved — and there’s scant chance it won’t be — several Republicans will find themselves in diabolically reconfigured districts.
Look, this is a politically harsh map. No doubt about it. And the Democrats went overboard when they put Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno into a district with another Republican. But does that make the Democrats diabolical? For some reason, that word makes me think of this…
To accommodate Latino growth, the map would create an additional Senate district with a majority of voting-age Hispanics. The four current districts have voting-age Hispanic populations of 53 to 68 percent. The five new districts have voting-age Hispanic populations of 50.3 to almost 65 percent.
“Legal precedent shows 65 percent majority is the precedent we use in terms of ensuring a Latino community can elect a candidate of its choice,” said Isabel Anadon, of the Latino Policy Forum. She said the proposal fell far short of what a Latino coalition was seeking.
Currently, there are eight Senate districts with populations of voting-age African-Americans ranging from 56 to 67 percent. But to deal with Chicago’s population loss, the proposed map creates seven Senate districts with voting-age black populations ranging from 50.5 percent to 60 percent. In an eighth district, voting-age blacks represent 48.6 percent of the population.
You can see a comparison of how the districts changed over the past ten years by clicking here.
Republicans scoffed. They noted half a dozen or more GOP lawmakers would be placed in the same districts under the Democratic proposal, forcing them to run against one another, move or step aside.
“This proves that the way we draw maps is corrupt, political and kind of despicable, really,” said Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, whose home would not be included in the new Democratic version of his district.
Just an FYI here, legislators can run in any district that includes even a little section of the district they currently represent. They do have to move, however. Most GOP districts weren’t redrawn with big partisan changes, just residency issues…
Political analyst John Jackson said it could be worse for the GOP.
The 54th District includes counties that typically vote Republican.
The 58th, which was changed only to carve Luechtefeld out and brings Jones in, has elected a republican for the past 20 years, Jackson pointed out.
In the proposed districts “[Luechtefeld and Jones] can win and essentially are the incumbents… they’re just not the districts they’ve been representing,” he said
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, dismissed GOP objections to the lines.
“I think they should introduce amendments if they want to change it,” Cullerton said.
It’s not at all clear yet whether the Republicans will follow through with changes. Nobody would clearly - or even obliquely - answer my questions about that topic yesterday.
Luechtefeld said Thursday he thinks his district was shifted in order to have a House district where Jerry Costello II, son of U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, can run for office.
“I think Jerry Costello Jr. would like to have his dad’s job someday, and feels like he has to get into government,” Luechtefeld said.
The congressman’s spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. Jerry Costello II did not immediately return a message left with his spokeswoman.
Luechtefeld said it’s his understanding that Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, will retire, and Jerry Costello Jr. will be appointed to the 116th House District seat or will run for the seat.
“I think this is a shocker map,” state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, said.
Bomke, who was one of the few downstate Republicans who said they liked their new district, said he expected another, less dramatic map, to come out soon.
One reason for a “shocker map” could be to get some GOP votes on tough issues. It’s a lot easier for a Republican to make an uncomfortable vote and keep his or her old district than to make the easy vote and have to start again somewhere else, Mooney said.
* Roundup…
* Suburban senators get a look at new political map plan
* Senate redistricting map cuts Springfield into thirds
* Empty state Senate seats: 51st Senate District: As you can see, there are two incumbent House members (Republicans Bill Mitchell and Chapin Rose) who live in this district, but no incumbent senators. Most of this Senate territory belonged to either Republican Sen. Dale Righter of Matoon or GOP Sen. Kyle McCarter, who lives in the Metro East but whose current district stretches up to Decatur. There are also chunks of Champaign and Vermillion counties that used to belong to Sen. Mike Frerichs, a Champaign Democrat.
* Want to run for Illinois Senate? Here’s where you should go.
A legislative oversight panel does not have the authority to block individual health insurance contracts for state employees, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office determined.
The decision appears to make it more difficult for lawmakers who want to reverse state government’s controversial decision to drop two popular health maintenance organizations offered to state employees and replace them with new health plans.
The General Assembly’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability sought the opinion because it was unclear if the commission could simply vote to reject the new health contracts negotiated by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Madigan said COGFA can review the health plans, but state law “does not authorize the commission to approve or disapprove individual health benefit provider or administrator contracts.”
An opinion issued by Attorney General Lisa Madigan notes [COGFA] cannot nix individual contracts, but it could attempt to block the implementation by looking at the state’s overall system of insuring workers.
This situation has been very poorly handled. Five weeks after the announcement, more information should be available. While it’s unrealistic for state employees to believe their health benefits and costs should remain the same when no one else’s are, they need and deserve the chance to make an informed decision - with full details on how much they’re being asked to pony up, plan options, physician choices, etc., as well as more time to make a call that may impact them and their families in critical ways. With the added context of what’s occurring in Springfield between possible pension changes and budget cuts that may impact their very job security, many can be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed. A delay in implementation here is warranted until the state can get its act together.
Ultimately, what’s the harm in delaying a few months - temporarily extending the existing contract, perhaps - in order to hash this out and publicly justify the monetary and service benefits, if in fact they do exist, to taxpayers as well as employees? Take the time, think this through, demonstrate that this is the right move, restore some confidence in the state’s competence.
Health Alliance covers nearly 100,000 state workers and retirees, who would have to change providers under the proposal. Last month, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services announced it was dropping Health Alliance from the state’s list of health care providers, with an estimated savings of $1 billion over the next 10 years.
“The administration’s numbers are a bunch of bunk, quite frankly,” said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.
State Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, said the governor’s decision would cost the state more instead of saving money.
* The scheduled end of session is just days away, the remap process is cranking up to full blast, the budget isn’t finished yet and a whole host of knotty issues resist untying. People are understandably tense, including me. For whatever reason, this song appeared to help…
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale.
* I think maybe our brains need a little break before crunch time crushes us all. So, please post YouTube links in comments to songs which you think might help brighten the mood a bit. It won’t change anything, but we still might feel a little better about our situation. Thanks.
Also, try to keep the songs clean, please. We don’t want to get anybody in trouble at work. Thanks.
